This Match Is Why I Adore Pro-Wrestling

CMLL 2016/01/01

Cabellera vs. Cabellera: Maximo vs. Kamaitachi

Okay now, just hear me out. I think this was a perfect pro-wrestling match. Holiday spirits, New Year’s Day, big Arena Mexico crowd being 99,99% pro-Maximo, evil Japanese prick with long, trendy hair taking on the super beloved exotico, etc. Everything was there. The match was so simple, and yet it was so fucking amazing. Matter fact, I think it turned out so goddamn awesome mostly because the layout and body of work was so simple and straight-forward. They kept it real. It’s impressive, really, after witnessing Kamaitachi’s crazy berserkfests with Dragon Lee to see him work a totally different match with Maximo here. He picked a legwork as his strategy and it almost paid off. It was definitely paying off for like 90% of first two falls, the other 10% is, you guess, Maximo’s comeback.

Primera and segunda were amazing in its simplicity and I loved both finishes, especially Maximo’s to segunda where he made that amazing midair hook on Kamaitachi’s leg for extra leverage. Crazy! Tachi was excellent at dismantling Maximo’s leg, and needless to say, Maximo sold it like a true student of the game. And then in tercera they managed to go the extra mile without having to make the match too similar to Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi classics, because Maximo was still selling the legwork amazingly well and it made for such a marvelous pace that made the match stand out. Maximo was always reminding us his leg was in big pain, his desperate highspots were truly – desperate. Masterful selling right there, folks. Drama was high-end and the crowd totally old school and unpretentious, everyone and their mothers were rooting for Maximo, except for that Kamaitachi lady mark and two other tourists from Japan. Arena Mexico was going bananas for every little thing Maximo did on offense. In the climax both competitors faked low-blows and I loved it. The finish was great too.

I have to watch and rewatch a lot of stuff from January, but I don’t think anything will top this as my current Match of the Year.

*****

Random CMLL (Perrito, Mistico, Wagner, Santo...)

CMLL 2008/08/01

Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Hector Garza vs. Mistico, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas

Fun two-fall mayhem, but it was rather short and they didn’t even air all of it. The Arena Mexico crowd was REEEDDDD HOOOTTTT, watching all the grown-ups marking out and making funny faces like they’re kids was very amusing. Niebla/Wagner was central match-up here as they were building to a mano a mano title match, and obviously there was also the eternal Perro/Mistico beef. Lots of surly brawling and manly posing for the crowd. Mistico got his ass kicked pretty bad. Niebla and Wagner were afer each other’s masks. Fun match that needed to be longer.

***1/4

Black Terry Christmas and Cerebro New Year

IWRG 2015/12/20

Cabelleras vs. Cabelleras: Black Terry & Dr. Cerebro vs. Eterno & Apolo Estrada Jr.

Good match, but man, it could’ve been so much better. Obviously the finish was not clean because lucha libre reasons, but that’s not the only negative, because Eterno and Apolo were so fucking bad here, they had to be carried by the veterans and it was a painful ride for me as a viewer. Terry was tremendous, though, but you already knew that, as he once again displayed his amazing brawling abilities, Cerebro had a big match tercera, but all of that was barely enough, because Eterno and Apolo were so sloppy, too slow, tired etc. it felt like watching backyard amateurs. Terry and Cerebro were really into it, they wanted to fight fiercely, but Eterno and Apolo couldn’t meet them half way. They almost ruined all three falls, especially the brawling portions from the first two, but fortunately the booking was strong enough to hide their weaknesses with few neat shortcuts and tricks, and the aforementioned Terry & Cerebro carryjob managed to save things. But at the end of the day, the match was good, and I don’t want to complain too much, let’s rather focus on nice things, such as Terry wrestling like a rabid fucking bulldog and Cerebro busting out his very best in tercera.

***1/4

Perro Versus Two Dickbags

AAA Triplemania I

 (1993/04/30)

Cabellera vs. Mascara: Perro Aguayo vs. Mascara Ano 2000

Semi-main of the first Triplemania ever, the big culmination of the heated rivalry, epic clash in front of 48,000 Perro marks, fucking great apuesta encounter. Perro loses primera via controversial foul, Dos Mil loses segunda via obvious foul (brassknuckles) and tercera was your good old lucha restart with big moves, bigger drama in front of electrifying fans. They created such grand high-end match by using nothing but the most basic moves and sequences, and the match was totally 50-50 because you don’t often see the hair losing to the mask, plus Dos Mil’s second, Universo 2000, is basically like the biggest piece of shit you’ll ever see and is fucking GREAT at cheating. Obviously Perro bled, but it wasn’t your usual Perro-as-a-slaughtered-animal bladejob. Mascara Ano’s mask was also red, but I couldn’t tell whether it was a bladejob or Perro’s blood. The only thing I’d change about the match is the ending. While the low-blow finish from Perro felt sooo fucking good to the fans due to Dos Mil finally tasting his own medicine and looking like a dork in the biggest match of his career, I’d still have preferred an additional blast or two. But nevermind, because this match is still a goddamn groovefest!

****3/4

Random Apuesta Shit

CMLL 1983/12/09

Mascara vs. Mascara: Egipcio vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr.

Wow, what a superb match, such a tremendous “discovery” I checked the moment I saw it uploaded on YouTube. Lucha really is loaded with hidden gems, including big apuesta matches with famous stars. This was magnificent and followed your classic big match formula that always works, with three acts of rudo domination, tecnico comeback and tercera restart with big moves and drama. Egipcio was an awesome bruiser in first two falls, giving some really hard time to Rayo Jr., and the latter sold it perfectly, he was making those torture screams and noises, it was scary good and compelling. Third fall was pure perfection and what really launched this match into the stratosphere. Marvelous high-end shit with a plethora of mesmerizing workrate pieces, big moves, dramatic pin attempts and Arena Mexico going crazy. Incredible match.

*****

Pirata/Faraon

CMLL 1990/11/16

Cabellera vs. Cabellera: Pirata Morgan vs. Faraon

Totally legendary hair match, and rightfully so, because it really is fucking amazing, to the point I’m putting it right behind Casas/Bestia on an imaginary Top Apuesta Matches of the 90s list. Like, this match would be 2A and Casas/Fiera would be 2B. Yes, this match is that fucking great. And unlike most of the seen apuesta matches of that era(s), this one was worked in a hectic workrate style, as opposed to Satanico’s, Santo’s, Casas’ and Estrada’s minimalism. Pirata and Faraon basically worked the best possible workrate industrial, full of hard slams, selective flying and unbelievably awesome punches. Everything was paced perfectly, so the spots and flow were super catchy and easy to remember. I don’t recall another match where ringposts were used in a deadly manner like in this one, it was so fucking brutal and barbaric. Every time they shoved each other’s heads into it, you could feel the end approaching. Both warriors bled a lot, with Pirata bleeding much more. Everything about this match is perfect, especially the insanely dramatic closing stretch that had the crowd going wild. I loved the doctor stoppage ending, it was nice to see refs not being the ones calling a TKO for once.

Timeless classic.

*****

Arena Mexico 10/16

CMLL 2015/10/16

Cabellera vs. Cabellera: Shockercito vs. Demus 3:16

Great apuesta match, as one could expect. Primera was bombastic and made sense, which is awesome because too often short primeras don’t look very compelling. Not here, though. Segunda had Demus putting his shit together and finally molesting Shockercito properly via heavy chops and nasty mini-powerhouse moves and combos. Tercera had that one great stretch of nifty back-and-forth with Shockercito executing his glorious signature moves, but all the time he was mostly focused on Demus’ shoulder as the ultimate endgame plan. It made the finish much better and emotionally engaging. Awesome little hair match, with both guys playing their characters masterfully, every fall had great finishes, and the crowd reacted amazingly on Shockercito’s key spots. Big thumbs up for this one!

****1/4

80s' Lucha, Vol.3 (Ratings Only)

Vol.1

Vol.2

CMLL Ketchup

CMLL 2015/08/14

Magnus & Soberano Jr. vs. Cancerbero & Raziel

Very good match, almost great, there was a lot of smart tag team wrestling, you could totally tell Cancerbero and Raziel are Virus’ pals. There was a lot of structure and pacing changes, the tecnico duo made few great hope spots and they got cutoff many times. Cancerbero is just an awesome bruiser. Some really innovative double team shot as well, pretty nice match.

***3/4

Dat Chico!

IWRG 2009/11/05

Cabellera vs. Cabellera: Chico Che vs. Gringo Loco

I miss watching Chico Che working violent matches, dude brings it every damn time, but it seems he’s disappeared lately, working some low-end indies and shit. Doesn’t work with IWRG anymore, I don’t know why. I wish all these new feds would book him. Anyway, this match is another proof of his immense talents, just a stiff and straight-forward brawl with Chico unleashing some serious punishment on Gringo Loco during his comeback period. He kicked him right across the face few times, full fucking contact. Both guys bled, and obviously the legendary bucket was used. But Chico also bumped well, including that SICK powerbomb to the floor. They built the finish on controversy because referee no-called a piledriver on Chico, which was hit or miss, but it didn’t ruin the mood. Generally speaking, this is great little apuesta war and another gem in Chico Che’s impeccable collection of violence.

****