TripleMania

AAA TripleMania XXIII

(2015/08/09)

Nasty Lucha

IWRG 199???

Misioneros de la Muerte (Signo, Texano, Negro Navarro) vs. Villanos (III, IV, V)

So, I have no idea what’s the date for the match, all I know is it has to be from the late 90s due to V3 still having his mask on. This is a classic. Great primera with some tight clinic on the mat, it ended properly, in a classic lucha fashion, but then in segunda all the hell broke loose as Misioneros got sick of llaves and turned the match into a violent dogfight. Poor Villanos got their asses kicked pretty hard, as Misioneros were ripping off their masks, making them bleed like pigs, shoving them into ring posts head first, Texano was stabbing them with his fork… Madness! Best thing is, the rudos took their time and the whole sequence was just uncomfortable to watch, it was some heavy shit. Obviously it made the Villanos’ comeback in tercera super sweet, it was their time to dish out some good old scuffle punishment. Excellent, nasty brawl, totally recommended.

****1/2

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

Ray Mendoza Jr.: A Man on a Mission

CMLL 2009/3/27

Guerreros del Atlantida (Ultimo Guerrero, Atlantis, Rey Bucanero) vs. Ray Mendoza Jr. (fka Villano V), Villano IV, Texano Jr.

Rudos contra rudos, this was a revenge match, first time seeing Villano V wrestling unmasked, the new chapter of his life has begun, he’s a man with a mission now, and the first stage is the annihilation of Ultimo Guerrero, and boy oh boy, he did a pretty damn good job here. He was a nasty, surly beast with all them stiff punches, slaps, vicious chops to the neck, etc. He looked like the best goddamn wrestler of all time here, and his hermano VIV was right up there with him in his own quest of trying to avenge his brother’s mask loss. Texano was more than a suitable backup, so naturally this turned out to be a top notch entertainment. The Guerreros’ comeback in the segunda was marvelous, there was that one sequence where UG looked like an action movie character made by Leonardo da Vinci, if that makes any sense, it was unreal, beautiful poetry in motion. Atlantis did his stuff, which is always good, including the gnarly crowd killing tope that might put him in prison some day, he could kill someone in the front row. Bucanero was kind of the weakest link, but that’s absolutely no biggie considering the amount of greatness the other five dudes produced. This is a must-see high-end action, one of the best trios ever, mos def.

****3/4

Villano V/Ultimo Guerrero in a Mask Match

CMLL 2009/3/20

Mascara vs. Mascara: Villano V vs. Ultimo Guerrero

This is a follow-up to the Panther/Villano mask match, UG is here to avenge his fellow lagunero’s mask loss. While not as high end as that match, this was still a great spectacle with red hot crowd that gave us thunderous dueling chants. The match was only 12 minutes long, the first two falls were rather short, the tercera was longer but not what you’d expect from a grand lucha de apuesta like this. Still, it was a great tercera with both guys kicking out of each other’s finishers before UG managed to scoop the huge victory using Villano’s own endgame move. The drama, suspense and storytelling were there, but they could do without rushing things, it would make for a probable masterpiece instead of just a “great match”.

****1/4

Panther/Villano V in a Mask Match

CMLL 75 Aniversario

(2008/9/19)

Mascara vs. Mascara: Blue Panther vs. Villano V

Loved this, a fucking spectacular match, the atmosphere is through the roof, hot and electrified, here we have two big stars and legends wagering their iconic masks, both guys have their respective armies of rabid fans rooting for them. Sometimes in matches like this, the rudo/tecnico institute doesn’t matter, these guys are bigger than life and they’re being cheered no matter what. Villano is doing what he does the best, that’s vivid brawling with a big ass variety of different strikes from different positions and ranges. Panther is normally a mat wrestler, but it doesn’t work here simply because Villano is the one dictating the pace here, so he must try with high flying, and it seems to work because his big ass suicida almost killed Villano by shoving his head into the chairs, which makes the back of his head bleed hard. It pissed Villano off and he loses control for awhile, he takes Panther’s mask off and loses the primera by DQ.

Now, that makes him even more mad and turns him into a surly dog in the segunda, he’s on the verge of being DQed again, but manages to put his shit together, and in the manner of a true rudo, he rigs the mask removal in the finish of the segunda and poor Blue Panther loses by DQ. Such an amazing heel move by Villano, huge props there.

The tercera was all about Blue Panther at first, he hit Villano with three GIGANTIC topes into paying customers, female customers mostly, that shit was crazy as hell. All this time we have an amazing camera work that give us quite a cinematic feel to everything, Panther’s topes looked particularly cool. The final chapter of this grand apuesta match has the crowd losing their shit because every move, every reversal can mean the end, until one of them finally does it. Wow, this was incredible, a true and proper mask match that totally lived up to the hype, an immense rollercoaster of drama, suspense and emotion, it all made for a spectacular experience.

This match is right up there with the greatest classics of the decade.

*****