Guapos/Villanos

IWRG 2000/5/11

SUPER LIBRE: Super Guapos (Shocker, Scorpio Jr., Bestia Salvaje) vs. Villanos (III, IV, V)

This was 15 minutes of good old school lucha sangrienta awesomeness, two surly rudo trios going into a grueling battle filled with violence and tension. The Guapos worked as the “true” rudos here, dominating the primera and good chunk of segunda before an amazing Villanos comeback where they got super pissed off and just beat the shit out of Super Guapos for the whole tercera before the screwjob finish. Needless to say, there was blood, Scorpio was covered in red. When it comes to the body of work, there was nothing fancy about it, just heavy punches, biting, mask ripping, kicks, etc. Basically, a Villanos match, hehe. I especially adored the V4/Scorpio tussles, those were gnarly as hell. Excellent match.

****1/4

Psicosis/Tajiri

ECW 2000/8/20

Psicosis vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri

Almost a perfect cruiserweight style match, just a marvelous work from both guys. They started off with some neat ground game, exchanging holds and stuff, then Tajiri began throwing his famous vicious kicks left and right, Psicosis was giving his very best lucha that was a reminiscent of his best AAA work from the middle of the 90, etc. Excellent lucharesu interesting to compare with today’s wrestling between young athletic guys, this match was all about “less is more”, they took their time and built things, they were patient and it paid off big time. Smashing match with an amazing finish, that shit was straight brutal.

****3/4

Happy Festivities!

CMLL 2000/3/17

Mascara vs. Mascara: Villano III vs. Atlantis

So much ink has been spent on writing about this masterpiece, it really feels futile for me now to try and come up with something even remotely fresh and cool to treat the match with. Simply put, it’s one of the greatest matches ever, not just in Mexico, it’s also one of the biggest matches that ever happened in lucha libre, the hype and anticipation were unbelievable and the match totally delivered. This show was also CMLL’s first ever pay-per-view, so this match was historic from many different angles, here we have two grand superstars wagering their iconic masks, both guys have their own respective armies of rabid and loyal fans, this is one of those bigger-than-life situations where rudo/tecnico institute seems unnecessary and counter effective because these two are cheered/booed no matter what. The drama is insanely high-end and as fabulous as anything you’ll see from your favorite pro-graps. Fucking epic shit. They use grueling and simple old school submission moves that have the crowd going bonkers, less is more indeed, they deserve especial props for an innovative bladejob that came from a vicious dive. It looked nasty, they bled a lot but still managed to continue the match in hellish rhythm. And HOLY SHIT at the finish and crowd reaction, it still gives me chills to this day. The post-match stuff is one of those emotional lucha rollercoasters of warm feelings, excellent stuff.

The timeless classic.

*****