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Post by elliott on Dec 3, 2017 17:11:27 GMT -5
Atlantis vs Villano III (Mask vs Mask – CMLL – 3/17/2000)
My pick for the third greatest match ever. The only lucha match to ever win WON MOTY, which is pretty amazing if you think about it. When I last watched it, I said they tried to tell the entire history of Lucha Libre in one match and succeeded. Amazing match from entrances to exit.
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Post by Cap on Dec 3, 2017 21:18:44 GMT -5
Second
I love this match. This is probably the match that made me really fall in love with lucha. I had seen some other high end matches before this, but a lot of the stuff I was really drawn to was brawls, which I think are a little easier to transition to if you haven't watched a ton of lucha. This was so digestible though. It just clicked. To me, it is the epitome of drama in lucha. This is a lock on my list.
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Post by Grimmas on Jan 4, 2018 16:37:16 GMT -5
Yeah, this match is my number one coming into the project. The most dramatic match in the history of wrestling. One of the few matches that will make you cry. Plus, as seen in the PWO2K Project, one of the best builds to a match in history.
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Post by karlpg on Jan 7, 2018 14:40:22 GMT -5
I re-watched this today. Such a gripping match - the drama is off the charts, the crowd is super hot and the wrestling is of the very highest order.
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Post by gordi on Jan 8, 2018 23:01:48 GMT -5
My MOTD for the 2000s. It's either this or Santo vs Dandy vs Casas or the Cibernetico that Felino won (which is a personal favourite) for my top Lucha match. I'm a decidedly casual watcher of Mexican pro wrestling but it's likely that at least one of those matches (or maybe some other lucha classic that this project turns me on to) will make my top 20 (in the interest of diversity, if nothing else).
But this match in particular: I agree, it's maybe the easiest technical lucha libre epic for a casual fan to get into. Why? Because it is extremely well worked. It is very dramatic.
The PWO2K project threw this match into context for me, as well, and that only made me love it more.
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Post by Grimmas on Jan 15, 2018 0:17:01 GMT -5
I love every second of this match, from the appearance of Villano III till the show goes off the air. The crowd is jacked! Atlantis is Bret Hart in Calgary over. It's a special environment and one I can't think of any other match topping.
We start off with two maestros having a classic maestro match. Both men want to prove who is the fucking man here! It starts to break down and get rougher, then Villano hits this brutal tope where their heads connect and Atlantis and Villano are both BUSTED OPEN! The Doctor comes out to make sure they can continue. He's not a good doctor, because he lets them continue with obvious concussions and lots of blood loss.
It's to our benefit though as know we have a bloody hate filled brawl with the masks on the line! In the midst of this we get our first HUGE nearfall where Atlantis tried this huge stalling vertical suplex, but it gets turned into an inside cradle by Villano for two.
The hate and drama continues and with each submission the crowd gets louder and louder. I get freaking chills watching this at home 18 years after it happened. They trade huge nearfalls to an insane crowd. Atlantis this goes for tope, gets tripped up, so does a dropkick. Then hits a plancha from the top to the floor.
What's so great here is that this is all about winning. The mask is so important any chance to pin the other or make them submit is taken. Each get huge reactions, especially when Atlantis is close to losing.
Atlantis goes for his torture rack and the crowd and announcers lose their shit. Such a reaction, but Villano counters out of it. What a moment. We then get close ups of their bloody masks and faces and fuck this match is the best! We move into Atlantis getting the win and it's the best reaction to a finish by any crowd in history.
So, yeah, 6 stars. Greatest match ever!
Villano gets carried around by his brothers and brings some small child into the ring, putting over the importance here. Villano gets interviewed as we see people in the crowd crying. His dad is here now to remove his mask and it's quite the moment.
7 stars?
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Post by bossrock on Jan 16, 2018 16:27:45 GMT -5
If you need proof that blood can instantly make a match better, look no further than this match. While it's still a very good match in a vacuum, the blood loss is really what adds to the drama and urgency. You have your standard mat work before the accidental headbutt, but once that happens we're off to the races. Both guys(Atlantis especially as he drops Villano on top of him during the Bow and Arrow lock) sell absolute exhaustion as they try every submission and pin attempt in their bag of tricks to put the other away. Really interesting and unique war of attrition.
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Post by microstatistics on Mar 17, 2018 0:52:44 GMT -5
Top 50 contender. Sublime wrestling and unbelievable drama and emotion. The tope spot is one of the great transitions.
It's already been said but this truly has the highest stakes of any match, ever. And it is because of that, the back and forth nature of the match works so well because each nearfall and submission hold is treated like life or death. That's what makes this match unique and different from basically every match that is constructed in a similar manner.
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Post by bossrock on Jun 7, 2018 20:21:10 GMT -5
Re-watching this and it's still a great match. Love the urgency, drama, and selling of each move post-headbutt.
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Post by Cap on Aug 16, 2018 11:43:57 GMT -5
From my rewatch project on 8/16/18 Atlantis vs Villano III (Mask vs Mask – 3/17/2000)Rank: 42 Trending: Even As I mentioned before, this was probably the first lucha match I ever really loved, I ever came away in awe of. Nothing really changed this time around. What this might lack in terms of conventional notions of action or athleticism it more than makes up for in emotion and drama. The stakes in this match are so high. They hitch their wagon to those stakes and ride it greatness. They milk each move, each dive, each submission for everything it is worth. The pacing and the selling are wonderful. This is a big fight with a big fight feel from beginning to end. What really puts this over the top is the home stretch. Villano hanging on for his life is pure theater. Atlantis can’t finish with the stretch muffler hold and every time I see it I think that’s it. That is how you know a spot or a sequence is effective, when it gets me even well after I have seen the match multiple times. Ultimately, this match is probably about where it should be. It might move up or down just a bit as other things move around it, but I came away thinking this is a solid top 50 match. Full Post Can Be Found Here: gweproject.freeforums.net/post/2888/thread |
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Post by Cap on Aug 12, 2020 12:45:09 GMT -5
Two years removed from my last rewatch for this... Atlantis vs Vilano III (Mask vs Mask – 3/17/2000) Current Rank: 37 Trending: Down There are few types of wrestlers I have more faith in than old luchadors to put on an entertaining match. Look, the stakes don’t get any higher than this and you don’t even really have to understand the importance of the mask to come away with that. They make you believe it in through the physical storytelling of the match. Two old dudes putting it all out there for one memorable match. Unfortunately, storytelling and investment are par for the course in the top 100 (especially top 50) matches. I compared this to the Kobashi/Kikuchi v Can Ams match. I don’t want to put too much weight on the physicality part, but this lost just a little ground on that front and might see a little drop by ballot time. Full Post: gweproject.freeforums.net/post/8263 |
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Post by club on Jun 9, 2023 11:18:27 GMT -5
Rewatched this for the first time in about a year.. and I'm leaning towards this is my #1. Its this or the first Hokuto vs Kandori.
In terms of drama, in terms of beauty, in terms of high-stakes, I don't think this is surpassed.
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Post by puropotsy on Jun 28, 2023 11:33:29 GMT -5
This feels like the best possible apuestos match. Blood, pin attempts, submission attempts, dives, hate and history all mixed in with expert psychology. This is a second viewing for me (the first being 20 years ago) and this holds up extremely well. It ending with a submission was such a nice exclamation point. Might be in my Top 10.
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Post by lemming on Nov 14, 2023 9:19:38 GMT -5
I voted this at #70 on my ballot.
That was a screw up by me though, I shoulda had this higher. Big (*really big*) time match that delivers on every metric. Drama, intrigue, emotion and of course beautiful work.
Structurally this starts with some classical lucha then pivots around the awesome tope spot which leaves both men bleeding and staggered. After that point there's a desperation behind everything as they are both vulnerable and feel on the brink of defeat. With such high stakes it becomes a scramble for that one pinfall or submission which they need to win the match and save their mask.
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Post by timm on Dec 2, 2023 17:56:59 GMT -5
If I had to choose the single best wrestling moment ever, the referee jumping and falling over to call the submission followed by Atlantis pumping his hands in triumph before falling forward would be on the very very short list.
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