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.

*****

Kana's NXT Debut and Sasha/Bayley

NXT Respect

 (2015/10/07)

Asuka Debut Match: Dana Brooke vs. Asuka

Kickass debut match for the asskicker formerly known as Kana. I dunno who Dana Brooke is, but she was a perfect foil for an all-out Asuka showcase here, and generally she looks like a very capable wrestler. Color me intrigued then. The match had so much nifty moments and moves despite being short, such as Asuka’s beautiful armbar counter, then signature lethal kicks, and lastly the groovy finish. Damn good debut showcase, basically as good as it gets.

***3/4

NXT Respect

 (2015/10/07)

30 MIN IRONWOMAN for NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley ©

Okay, plenty of problems with this one. First of all, the sheer pre-match visual of Steph McMahon standing ringside and chanting your typical indie nerd shit was disgusting to me. Second of all, the match had major issues with logistics: the clock kept ticking in between the falls, there was and wasn’t pause between the falls, all that shit was clearly designed to kill some time. I felt insulted and patronized, but what the fuck… I hate inconsistency. Also the first three minutes were terrible, all they did was some bad stalling to steal time, those were some piss poor attempts at creating drama and intensity. Bayley is clearly great, but man, does she try way too hard with sad panda faces or not? Sasha was excellent here in her own continuum, but she couldn’t go against the failed logistics and lazy booking. They did all your usual Iron(wo)man tropes that aren’t worth spending time on, so all in all, yeah, I was massively disappointed with the match, whoever put this together clearly had no idea how not to do a generic Ironman Match, and the performers just couldn’t fight it properly, I can’t blame them really.

**1/2

Well, Hey There! Are You IWRG? Long Time No See!

IWRG 2015/10/18

LA Park, Trauma I, Trauma II vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Golden Magic

Massive disappointment, nothing even close to an out-of-control Arena Naucalpan mayhem I was secretly expecting. It was the worst possible version of Park vs. Wagner, with all the posing, shenanigans, annoying stalling and screwy finish. Wagner was the worst here with all the unnecessary posing and crap like that. Such a real life douche, but you gotta give him credit for being a smart worker who knows how to get and stay over with the crowds with minimal fucking efforts. Even when Park and Wagner actually wrestled, it was painfully average, with lots of sloppiness and low-bump shortcuts. Wagner’s son was useless here. Terrible wrestler. The Traumas and Golden Magic were the saving graces of the match, they did some cool and fancy shit and made sure the match stays somewhat coherent. I also liked some brawling portions but those were rare, unfortunately. Such a meh match.

**1/4

Random Perrito Shit from AAA

AAA Rey de Reyes 2012

 (2012/03/18)

4-WAY for 2012 Rey de Reyes: Jack Evans vs. Hector Garza vs. Hijo del Perro Aguayo vs. LA Park

Oh man, what a bad match! One would probably never guess based on talent involved, but the match was truly bad, and it’s all because of AAA being the worst here. We got some solid stuff before the first elimination, which happened after Jeff Jarrett hit LA Park with a guitar. On the entrance stage far away from the ring. With fucking Karen being involved. The guitar wasn’t even smashed. Guitarshot suddenly means a killshot, after three million wrestlers kicking out of it in various places. So now the one and only LA fucking PARK has to lose like some rookie geek to advance a shitty angle? FUCK! YOU! It was all downhill from there. Ringwork blending in with shitty booking, everyone looking bad and lazy, etc. The only somewhat saving grace was Hector repeatedly interfering and messing with referee during Jack Evans’ pin attempts on Perro. That shit was legitimately funny and the only reason why I didn’t DUD this crap. Such a mess, just a vintage AAA clusterfuck.

bad

Don’t You Dare Stare, You Better Move

CMLL 2013/11/22

Rush vs. Negro Casas

This might be the very best under-10 minute match of all time. I’ve never seen this one before, hell, I didn’t even know it existed until accidentally stumbling upon it on YouTube. And bah gawd, it’s all about Rush and 4:40 going HAM at each other in a highly violent and gruesome fashion, holy shit was this scuffle glorious or what? Negro violently charges at Rush early on, realizing it’s one of those “kill or be killed” situations where he mustn’t leave any room for his bitter enemy to breathe, show no mercy because this is a dirty war. But Rush is just way too young and strong for Negro, which means he managed to outpower him, so when he gained control he unleashed a truly rough and barbaric beating on poor Negro. What followed was one of my favorite brawling bits I have ever seen, true story, with Rush just using the 50+ year old as his own personal punchbag, and Negro selling everything like he got hit by a fucking speeding bus. It was borderline uncomfortable. But it was fantastic. This match is a “pure” pro-wrestling brawl, it was short, but they still managed to convey a relatively traditional mini-closing stretch, with dramatic counters and all. Stupendously superb tussle, such a must-see clash that really puts things into perspective when it comes to the wonderful Rush/Casas feud.

*****

HIAC 2015 (Cherry-Picked)

WWE Hell in a Cell 2015

 (2015/10/25)

WWE United States Championship: Alberto del Rio vs. John Cena ©

Fuck you Alberto, you’re a prick etc. etc… The match wasn’t much, tbf. In fact, it was quite bad. These two never had anything that would resemble good chemistry, therefore, I wasn’t even disappointed. Look, I’m not bashing the match just because Alberto jumped ship, I simply thing it was uneventful and with no energy whatsoever. Cena is bad opponent for Alberto, put him in there with Roman, Cesaro and Harper. :) At least Zeb Colter did well on the mic.

bad

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.

*****

Heroes Inmortales IX (Part 2)

Emilio/Atlantis

CMLL 57 Aniversario

 (1990/09/21)

Campeonato Mundial Peso Medio de NWA: Emilio Charles Jr. vs. Atlantis ©

Emilio and Atlantis had quite a rivalry back then, but I never watched any of it. I don’t even think more than two mano a manos exist on the almighty internet. Obviously this is one of them. There’s a whole bunch of trios, though, and I should hop on those soon (I hope). This match was good, really good considering the time it got. There’s a clear cut story here – Emilio can barely keep up with the crazy fast and too spirited Atlantis, hence Emilio getting annoyed and embarrassed, but he still manages to take primera by cutting off Atlanits, which gives him enough confidence to do a big dive in segunda, but that was about it, because he lost that fall, and then again the SUPER short tercera via Atlantida. I can totally see some people getting upset with Atlantis beating other luchadors so quickly in decisive falls via Atlantida, but it really puts over the move as a killshot weapon, and that dividend is paying off to this day. That’s how you protect and invest time in your character. Very good match.

***3/4