Los Intocables vs. Octagon/Apolo Dantes/Mascara Sagrada, 4/3/92

Los Intocables was the trios Pierroth Jr. formed in 1992 with Masakre and Jaque Mate, which represented probably the highwater mark of Pierroth's career. Individually, they weren't as good as the Brazos or Infernales, or even some of the more randomly thrown together trios in Mexico at the time; in fact, you could probably argue that in this case the whole was equal to the sum of the parts, but the trios gave Pierroth a chance to shine as leader of a group and he took the bull by both horns and had a fantastic 1992. This wasn't a particularly outstanding match (in truth none of Los Intocables' matches were), but it was interesting to see what the rudos did with their share of the match. Pierroth was always a guy with a flair for the dramatic. He used to take the kraziest of bumps in even the most banal trios matches until a particularly nasty one almost marked the end of Pierroth Jr. Now that he was starting to get noticed, he shelves the killer bumps, but he still loved attention and nowhere was that more noticeable than in the extended and incredibly detailed sell he did from a slap to the face. For a guy wearing a mask, you'd swear he was Brando. The rudo beatdown was good too. I swear it was more measured than all of the rudo beatdowns in the last three years of CMLL combined. How difficult is it to kick, punch or knee someone then sell like you think you're great for kicking or punching someone? Here's another thing I swear, the next guy who watches old tapes and copies this will be declared a genius new wrestler.

The other interesting thing about this match was watching a young Apolo Dantes. Dantes would go on to become a good worker and modest star, but man was his style all over the place. Somebody should've put him on the straight and narrow. The great failing of lucha is similar to Japan in that the next generation of great wrestlers never emerged. Workers like Dantes should've taken us through to an early 2000s full of great matches but it never happened and the seeds for that are back in the early 90s as good as that period was.

Mano Negra/Gallo Tapado/El Misterioso vs. Espectro Jr./Espectro de Ultratumba/Fuerza Guerrera, 2/24/91

This was part of the fun mini-feud between Fuerza Guerrera and Gallo Tapado, the Rooster. CMLL had a habit during this era of bringing in older guys who were willing to drop their masks to rudos like Fuerza and Pierroth Jr. who could benefit from an apuestas win. It was all very respectfully done and in this case Gallo Tapado was a maestro of Fuerza, so there were no problems. Fuerza is a guy who I always forget about for the sole reason that he doesn't have a lot of singles programs that made tape, so this is a rare-ish opportunity to see him in a lead role and to be honest I think his charisma is on parallel with someone like Negro Casas. Casas was a little different in that he was maskless (along with being one of the greatest actors in the history of professional wrestling, as well as one of the most multi-faceted characters), but for a guy with a mask Fuerza was remarkably expressive. It seems that for awhile their careers were on a similar trajectory, but Fuerza never really got that career defining push possibly because he was too small. Anyway, this wasn't a great match, otherwise I would've devoted an entire entry to it, but it had its fair share of fun moments. Some nice comedy from the Espectros.

El Satanico/Kamala/Pierroth vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr./Black Magic/Ringo Mendoza, 3/24/91

Kamala vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr is worthy of a Jack Kirby splash page. This was another fun "Kamala in Mexico" match. It didn't quite live up to the last Kamala match I commented on, but there a krazy Pierroth bump (as referred to above), a glorious experiment in how to remove a limb from its joint between falls (whatever happened to that sort of work?), and a rough end to the night for El Gran Davis. Lucha should be fun and that's exactly what this was.

Los Misioneros de la Muerte (Negro Navarro/El Signo/El Texano) vs. Jason/Leatherface/Chessman, LLL, 11/16/03

Disappointing. It would be easy to blame the AAA guys and say they can't work but the Misioneros were just as uninspiring.

Villanos III, IV & V vs. Blue Panther, Pimpinela & Enterrador, 5/18/00

Decent "scientific" match. I love that term -- scientific wrestling. The only problem with the match was that it was too slow. The Villanos have always been a trios that struggled with rhythm and IWRG matches are wrestled at a slower pace than most lucha but this was slow even by those standards. In isolation it may not have been a problem, but contrasting it with those early 90s matches it seemed a bit faded.

El Satanico/Herodes/Kamala vs. El Dandy/Atlantis/Rayo De Jalisco Jr., 11/30/90

You can't judge a book by looking at the cover and you can't judge a trios by looking at the workers.

This was fucking choice. It was on the undercard of the Fabuloso Blondy/Ringo Mendoza fight (a neat memphis style performance from Timbs let down by some inconsistent selling from Mendoza) and was really just a precursor for the action later that night, but it continued the ridiculously awesome cat and mouse game Satanico and Dandy were playing at this time. Kamala, for his part, was actually really good and certainly beat out a lot of other superheavyweights I've seen in Mexico. His selling was fantastic and his reactions really added to a match that wasn't meant to be taken that seriously. This was a ton of fun. All of the Kamala spots were awesome.

Sangre Chicana vs. Heavy Metal, Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, 6/15/97 (clipped)

This was a bloody street fight that couldn't have been more 1997 if it had tried. Half the clip was spent tracking the workers through the crowd with a spotlight. When they finally made it back into the ring, there were some typically good punches from both guys before a shitty AAA finish, but there was enough here to suggest that maybe (just maybe) there exist some quality AAA Sangre Chicana brawls. I dunno who Heavy Metal was trying to style himself after here, but he was straightening his hair to look like someone. Perhaps the dude from Type O Negative?

Blue Panther/Negro Navarro/Enterrador vs. El Dandy/Mr. Niebla/Super Parka. IWRG, 4/5/01

Only worth watching for the El Dandy/Negro Navarro exchanges, but well worth watching for those exchanges. Has it really been ten years since the DVDVR guys were pimping this shit? Almost.

El Hijo del Santo vs. Perro Aguayo, Sr.

I'm not sure when this took place but Aguayo was fairly old. It was *exactly* what you'd expect a Santo vs. Perro Aguayo match to be like. You could've sat down before the match, blocked it out and got it almost exactly right, but in the end it was still fun as hell. I guess that sums El Hijo del Santo up for me: predictable as hell *and* fun as all hell. There were familiar elements from some of the Monterrey brawls Santo has had in the past and Aguayo was a relentless old bastard who wouldn't stop coming at him. The finish was cool and surprisingly decisive.

Los Infernales vs. Los Brazos, Arena Coliseo, 1991

This wasn't their famous match from Arena Mexico but a smaller match from Arena Coliseo. There appeared to be a fall missing and the finish was pretty crappy but the main thing I took away from this was just how good everyone was in 1991. Six of the greatest trios workers ever, each of them capable of playing the lead role. I've thought long and hard in this blog about the differences between old-school and modern lucha, and finally I believe it boils down to this: these guys were able to take exchanges they'd done a thousand times before and make them seem original. Modern guys take exchanges they've done a thousand times before and make it seem like the thousandth time. And while I think there are huge problems with pacing in modern lucha, it's really the performance aspects that are the biggest thing holding it back. The Infernales and the Brazos were comical characters that had that unique lucha charm to them, but there was also a flesh and blood element to them that made them compelling characters. These days, nobody can act anymore and I can't understand why the promoters don't see fit to change that since characters are ultimately their lifeblood.

Negro Casas/Satanico/Mano Negra vs. El Dandy/El Brazo/Ultimo Dragon, CMLL 1/17/93

You know you're watching real lucha when the picture has snowy reception. This was another match from Arena Coliseo, which is generally speaking an easier night's work for most wrestlers, but it speaks volumes of these guys that they were able to put on a compelling match without exerting themselves too much. The match was wrapped around the simple idea of El Dandy having to fend off his two biggest rivals at the time, Negro Casas and El Satanico Daniel Lopez. Satanico was starting to show his age here and 1993 would mark the beginning of his decline, but he was still good enough to make Ultimo Dragon look like a passable luchador, which was no mean feat at this stage. Negro Casas, on the other hand, was flirting with the peak of his powers. It's a shame that as Casas was approaching the peak of his powers, CMLL had the core of its talent ripped out and that many of the UWA guys choose to go with the hotter ticket, as Casas spent a number of years without any true competition. I say this as a fan of course, since he cemented a CMLL position for life and will still be wrestling there when I'm long gone, but you can almost leapfrog the years between the Casas/Dandy feud and the Casas/Santo feud and that's a shame really. He was going through his football player phase here, complete with socks and boots, and was letting his ass hang out too. But more on that another time! He lined up a lot of goals during this era and his aim was true. The other cool thing about this match was the scrapping between Mano Negra and El Brazo. I kept thinking how cool it would've been if Brazo had taken Negra's mask instead of Atlantis. It probably wouldn't have drawn as well, but it would've surely been a better match.

Los Villanos I, IV & V vs. Apolo Dantes/El Texano/Mascara Sagrada, 4/22/90

This was a rare appearance by the Villanos on the CMLL undercard during the tail era of the CMLL/UWA working relationship. For some reason or another, it didn't have a very big arc, whether that was because it was an undercard match, a "guest" appearance by outside workers or simply the short comings of the workers, but it was rock solid and as technically good as you'd expect from Los Villanos. Villano I is another guy whose name you can add to the list of guys who've made Mascara Sagrada look good (and he really did make him look surprising competent on the mat) and the mat exchange between Villano IV and Texano was off the charts good. It's easy to forget how much of a beast Texano was on the mat, but the guy was phenomenal and tore shit up with cuatro

Satanico/Emilio Charles, Jr./Fuerza Guerrera vs. Atlantis/Kato Kung Lee/Octagon, 1991

This was beautiful. To be honest, I watched a lot of awful matches for this "random matches" entry, to the point where I was wondering whether I liked lucha anymore; but this right here, this reminded me why I eat this shit up. The match started off in the best possible way that any lucha match can start off and that's by having Satanico get into it with somebody. There are certain wrestlers (not many, but a few) who can get into it with anybody, and Satanico is one of those wrestlers for the simple reason that he fucks everyone off. I've told this story before, but it's like my father used to say about Precious Pupp: "he had a face that just made you wanna kick him up the backside." Invariably, the best guys for Satanico to get into it with are veterans (think Ringo Mendoza and Gran Cochisse), and Kato Kung Lee did not disappoint. They were building towards an Arena Mexico hair match with this trios, and if there's ever a Satanico comp made anything that's available from this feud ought to be included because this shit was tight. One of the things that Satanico truly excels at (and this is no faint praise since he excels at everything) is the "second go around." The second go around is my term for when wrestlers pair up for a second time in the same fall. I've seen Satanico do this a hundred times but it never ceases to entertain me when Satanico gets a head of steam up and gets his ass handed to him. Sometimes he recovers to win the fall, sometimes he doesn't, but it's a great example of how a well-honed act is what sustains a wrestling career. Other highlights in this match include quality exchanges between Fuerza and Octagon and Emilio Charles, Jr. and Atlantis, including an awazing series of punches from Emilio worthy of some local district belt. Watching the Octagon/Fuerza stuff, I still maintain that Octagon gets a bum rap. Yeah, Fuerza bumped for him better than anyone but that was some tricked out, intricate shit that Octagon was pulling off. The dude was a perfectly good poor man's Black Man.

Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro vs. Bombero Infernal, Maldito Jr., Samot [captains hair], 6/24/10

Black Terry rides again!

This was uploaded by an occasional source for IWRG on youtube and shot from the balcony, giving it a more classic handheld look. The first fall was rubbish, really, as both Maldito Jr. and Samot are useless at delivering a rudo beatdown. How you can be useless at your bread and butter is beyond me, but the next two falls were impressive. Los Terribles Cerebros have been resurgent of late after going through a late season funk last year. This match swung on their comeback and from the balcony it was noticeable how much the Cerebros' brawling opens up a match.

You don't often see carries in IWRG. The workers tend to wrestle exactly to their level and the good matches are predominantly wrestled by the good workers, but this was a strong carry. The Cerebros struck me as the only old-school trios left in wrestling and looked resplendent in their matching outfits. Cerebro Negro hit a couple of topes that looked fantastic from the balcony and there were some cracking exchanges between Dr. Cerebro and Bombero Infernal. Terry was less prominent than usual, but that's okay since the best trios have always been three-pronged attacks. The "Cerebros" picked up the slack here and the third fall was geninuely good stuff.

Sometime around the beginning of the year, I asked the question: "which will last longer, Black Terry Jr.'s handhelds or this good patch IWRG are going through?" Fortunately for us, they both lasted longer than expected.

Now that Terry has quit his handhelds, all that remains is to thank him. I think we're all indebted to BTJr. for capturing a unique period of lucha libre history on film. Hopefully, it can be perserved in a more durable form than internet video sharing files, and hopefully this isn't the last we've seen of our Naucalpan favourites. Though it's poetic in a way, isn't it?

Los Terribles Cerebros vs. Los Gringos VIP, Distrito Federal Trios Championship, 5/20/10

The ongoing Cerebros vs. Gringos feud has produced most of the top matches in Mexico this year despite the fact that it doesn't have an ascertainable storyline. After watching lucha for a number of years, I have decided that the key feature of lucha booking is creating gimmicks. Once a gimmick sticks, a worker or group of workers can prosper for a mighty long time by going through the same basic cycles. This is in direct contrast to the fidgety booking styles of US companies, who'd sooner have the Gringos turn on one another than have the gimmick meander on forever. Lucha can be a bit rudderless at times, and this match was a case in point.

Title belts on brawling rudos is a cheap prop, in my opinion. Brawling rudos winning trios titles from their rivals is an acceptable piece of booking but brawling rudos winning a trios title tournament is wonky in my view. I'm probably forgetting a thousand instances where this type of thing happened in the past, and lucha title booking is a bit of a merry-go-round at the best times, but if you can't mount a lucha title defence to any great degree then I don't think you should be wearing the props.

Avisman is the most capable of the three on the mat and should probably be working as the lead-off guy because of his stature within the group, but the problem with that is that it leaves the less talented workers as first and second drop, and there's never really been a memorable trios match where they weren't building better and better exchanges with each pairing. Hijo del Diablo did some fun stuff with Dr. Cerebro on the mat this year but it's questionable how much of that he can reproduce outside of his ring time with the doctor. I think Diablo has a good captain's fall in him, but Gringo Loco is the "gringo" in Los Gringos VIPs and there's not much happening on the mat there. He's improving in his general exchanges with people, but his matwork is a below par version of the stuff Cerebro Negro passes off as matwork. Since the group dynamics prevent them from having their best worker as the ace in their pocket, they're an awkward bunch when it comes to title matches and the upshot of all this was that this match was more like your standard trios match than a proper lucha libre title match.

And by standard, I really mean the kind of record that was massed produced when the gramophone was first invented. Not the world's most original trios match this. My advice is to stick to the brawls.

Los Terribles Cerebros vs. Los Gringos VIP, 6/5/10

This was more like it. The first fall was too compact for my liking but they ratcheted up the match in the second fall to the point where I thought perhaps they were easing their way into the match in the first fall and I had been too harsh. The catalyst for all the excitement was all three members of Los Terribles Cerebros blading and the galvanising effect it had on their comeback effort. Easily the best Terribles Cerebros performance since their performances started to go South towards the end of last year. If this is the last I see of Terry for a while (or indeed ever), we can be rest assured that camera or no camera Terry will keep brawling into the sunset.

Black Terry y Negro Navarro vs. Ultraman y Solar, 5/1/10

Since the Celtics couldn't grab a rebound to save themselves, I thought I'd drown my sorrows in some professional lucha libre where the results are fixed and the outcome doesn't matter that much. And people wonder why Dave Meltzer wishes the world was booked.

(I've got to admit, Celtics/Lakers was probably booked the right way storywise but it still sucks.)

This was your typical sort of maestros match. The focus here was on the exchanges with not much else holding the match together; not the sort of match you watch if you want to see how great wrestling can be as a storytelling medium, but definitely worth watching if you want to see how cool lucha libre exchanges can be. There wasn't a lot of matwork this time round, but this sort of middle ground between matwork and running the ropes has long been one of my favourite parts of lucha libre. Solar and Navarro, in particular, really excel at working the middle ground. I know I've complained about too much of a good thing when it comes to Solar and Navarro but some of the stuff they did in this match was ultra slick.

The first two falls of this match were pretty crips with everything humming along nicely. The third fall wasn't the greatest in terms of ideas or execution but it was still pretty fab. It was a great crowd and you kind of wish they'd turned it up a bit in the third caida but the lucha indy circuit isn't much of a Chitlin' Circuit in terms of raw soul. Stilll, it was an easy watch on a lazy afternoon and helped chase the blues away.

Black Terry, Negro Navarro y Villano IV vs. Blue Panther, Ultimo Dragon y Olimpico, UWE 4/24/10

This was a beautifully worked match and definitely the purest trios I've seen this year. Black Terry Jr. really spoiled us with this one. Thank you, you magnanimous young man.

I've often complained that when Black Terry works these UWE matches alongside Negro Navarro he's nothing like the Terry we see on his home turf. That Terry is an unqualified legend, but in UWE Terry pretty much does his thing and heads back to the apron. Not on this night, however. Terry packed his working boots for this trip. His stuff may have been secondary to You Know Who vs. You Know Who, but he really gave Olimpico a match here. And it's fair to say that Olimpico responded in kind. The two of them put on probably the best standard trios stuff Terry has done all year.

Whatever happened to Olimpico's career, anyway? He came across as a lost good worker here. If someone would kindly tell me why he's working nothing but indy dates, I'd appreciate it.

Of course the main reason to watch this match was the battle of the maestros; Blue Panther and Negro Navarro being arguably the two most deserving recipients of such a title. I can't think of too many potential match-ups in lucha that are more appealing to the vocal minority than Blue Panther and Negro Navarro and let me just state emphatically that they did not disappoint for a second. This was some serious, serious wrestling. I know Panther's wrestled just about everyone in the business in his 32 year career and works a ton of dates each year, but a guy with the skills that he possesses HAS to appreciate working a match against Navarro. How could he not have enjoyed that? Panther's having a good year from the little I've seen, but anytime he wants to have a falling out with CMLL and be reduced to working indy dates to survive he's welcome to go right ahead.

A lot of times in matches like these, Solar and Navarro dominate the ring time and there's little tying the falls together but I thought this was a tidy little match with nice balance to the exchanges. They even managed to hit the ring well for the finishes and there were a couple of dives at the end. You're never going to get the really great trios we saw in early 90s Arena Mexico in the sort of arenas UWE run and it's hard to work that sort of a match in front of smidgings of people, but this was another three stars is the new four stars classic and another Black Terry Jr. handheld victory. Watch it if you haven't.

Black Terry y Cerebro Negro vs. Trauma I y Trauma II, IWRG 4/29/10

I took a bit of a break from lucha over the past couple of months. It wasn't something I intended to do, but I'm back and ready to talk about the Grupo Internacional Revolución.

The IWRG style of wrestling isn't perfect, but one thing's clear and that's that their workers try harder than just about anyone in the business. In wrestling you can either work big or small depending on he venue and the size of the crowd. With an arena the size of Arena Naucalpan, IWRG workers are forced to work small all the time. There's no distinction between studio and arena match like there was in the old US territories or in companies where multiple venues are used. When you work small, you need to work small and sell big. That means working with the type of energy and charisma that draws people's attention and builds that interest into heat. Wrestling like you're working in front of a hundred people, selling like you're performing for ten thousand. This, of course, is easier said than done. Oftentimes, IWRG matches never get off the ground. They become bogged down in half complete ideas and lack any sort of forward momentum, which often occurs when the performances aren't "big" enough.

As wrestling fans we tend to make a big deal out of big performances and often exercise our own creative juices when describing a big match performance and the story that came out of it. That's a fan's prerogative and I have no problem with a bit of artistic license, but it struck me while watching this match that a little bit of antagonism is all it takes to charge a professional wrestling match and give it the spur it needs. When you think that all story is based on conflict and all professional wrestling is based on fighting, that makes sense I believe. But what really made this match work was how the workers turned that conflict into forward momentum.

I was impressed with how each detail in this match was followed up on and expanded upon as the match progressed. Now the idea that a Black Terry match would become chippy and confrontational is a pretty simple idea narrative wise and not particularly startling considering it happens in practically every Black Terry match, but I don't think workers ever get enough credit for stringing together a central theme in "real time." To lay out all those details, build off them and pay them off without the ability to go back and edit and revise anything and to just adlib and juggle it all in your heads makes wrestlers far more talented performers than they're given credit for. As a viewer, it's easy to watch a match and piece things together (and even easier to criticise when there's nothing to piece together) but for workers to work structure on the spot, so to speak, never ceases to amaze me.

Make no mistake about it, this wasa big performance from Black Terry. The other workers were all good but it was Terry's charisma and selling that made this a more compelling match than usual. If you ask me, Black Terry is the Most Interesting Man in the World and certainly the most badass 57 year-old on the planet. I'm starting to wonder if a reasonable case can be made for Black Terry as a top 10 lucha guy all-time at least in regard to what exists on tape. Terry's reached a level like Satanico or Casas where you'd consider his performing to be acting. He may not be a real actor in the stage sense or anything like that, but in terms of wrestling his performance skills are on a far higher level than the average worker. I mean when you think about it, this was a two-on-two tag match, a form of wrestling that most luchadores are uncomfortable with and matches that tend to underwhelm even in IWRG, yet Terry's personality still dominated.

On a side note, this was the first time I'd seen Cerebro Negro wrestle in quite some time. I wasn't sure whether he'd been injured or if he was in the doghouse but it was a solid return. His early exchanges with Trauma II surprised me as I couldn't remember him being so quick with the type of armdrag/judo throws that they were working. I did think the end of their exchange petered out a bit, however. Particuarly in comparison to the upward swing that Terry usually leaves his exchanges on.

Anyway, it's good to see that IWRG is still kicking out the matches. Which begs the question: is this one of the greatest indy runs ever?

Got some catching up to do.

3/21 - Gimnasio Nuevo Leon

Los Cadetes del Espacio (Solar I/Super Astro/Ultraman) vs. Black Terry/Negro Navarro/El Signo

Have people watched this match yet? Because I thought it was tremendous.

Space Cadets and Terry & the Misioneros in a match where everybody looks good? Don't tell me Black Terry Jr. handhelds have spoiled folks. This was only a one fall match, but they really went to town here. Definitely, the slickest this group has looked in a while. Usually, I complain about how much Solar vs. Navarro dominates these matches but in this case everybody got a chance to shine and the match was considerably better for it. El Signo has been resurgent of late, which may have something to do with him announcing his retirement. He may be paving the way for a comeback by leaving folks with a good impression, but no matter, Signo is busting ass again and has leapfrogged a great many luchadores in my estimation. Like I said, there will be no complaining about Solar and Navarro this time. Quite the opposite, as I thought they produced some of their best ever work in this match. Maybe I was caught up in the rhythm, but I thought they built to their usual crescendo with amazing aplomb. Instead of slowing the pace, they built on the rhythm that Signo and Astro and Terry and Ultraman had set. Navarro and Solar working fast is a beautiful thing and I was really pleased that they worked this like a Space Cadets match instead of Navarro's usual pace. After liftin' things higher and higher, they reached their usual impasse and then everyone changed partners!! Hallelujah! The second half of the match was the best non-Puebla classic lucha I've seen in ages. We got a glimpse of Solar vs. Terry in this quasi-fall and it was good. Very good. They had a match last year, but it was before Black Terry Jr reinvented the internet. Anyway, it was fantastic and built to topes from the Space Cadets and the greatest fucking showdown at the end between Navarro and Solar. They did the most kick ass submssion finish they've ever done and for a while I felt like testifying. This was a serious groove.

Mascara contra Caballera: Rey Hechicero vs. Caifan Rockero I

This was a real indy style mascara contra caballera match and not traditional in the slightest. Watching this, I wondered if I could live with this as the modern style of lucha libre wrestling. Quickly decided I couldn't, but Rey Hechicero is a fun worker.

Haven't done one of these for a while. Would you please welcome back, Mr. Raging Noodles!

PERRO AGUAYO Y PERRO AGUAYO JR VS. CIEN CARAS Y MASCARA ANO 2000, hair vs. hair, CMLL 3/18/05
aka The Blowoff to Perros vs. Dinamitas

RN:

The Perros started off with a lot of fire, Perrito looked fantastic running in with his rapid fire brawling. Perro really looked to be hurting and struggling at times, but he's always so interesting to watch and no one matches the emotion and charisma he brings to pro wrestling. I mean, at this point I really think Perro Aguayo Sr. may be the most charismatic pro wrestler ever. No doubt I've seen bad matches with Perro Aguayo Sr. in them, but I've never been bored or ever thought of turning it off, he has a real star presence and his battered scarred up face is iconic (also I can't imagine wrestlers 50 years from now having the sort of legendary faces that Perro Sr. or Villano III have). When I first watched "When World's Collide", the most memorable image of the show was of teenage girls hugging and kissing the battered Perro Aguayo, who happened to be covered in blood in the most gruesome violent manner possible. Also, I must admit that sentimental value may be involved here since Perro Aguayo Sr. was the first genuine star I ever saw as a kid at a live pro wrestling show in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

As expected, the first two falls are very short and quick, but what really stood out was how great Los Hermanos Dinamitas were at working these two short falls. Both guys were eating Perro and Perrito's offense in a very entertaining fashion, but what was even better was how great their teamwork was. Everything they did together offensively, from hitting simultaneous moves or hitting the same moves one after another just flowed so smoothly. It was pretty simple but it was so pleasing to watch what they were doing. As the final fall opens and we see some more great work from the brothers, it dawns on me that this is one of the great career matches of Mascara Año 2000. He was incredible at everything in this match. He was awesome dishing out hard headbutts and strikes to Perro Aguayo Sr. and just as cool when he was beating the shit out of Perrito by slamming him on the steel rampway. I was really impressed at how he would eat Perrito's dropkick during transitions and how he would throw himself and fly to the outside in such a spectacular way. Mascara Año 2000 was so great in here, he's one of the main reasons why this match is as good as it turned out to be. Perrito is also great at making a big comeback in the third fall, and beating the shit out of a Mascara Año 2000 (especially when he was stuck to a ringside chair). I can see how some people would be turned off by how histrionic and how much of a scene-chewer Perrito could be at times, but I just really dig how much energy he brings to these type of matches.

What I really loved about this whole spectacle, was the layout of the match (especially the way the tercera caida unfolds) and I was thrilled at how well it worked for this match. It was so precise and tight, it made this whole thing feel epic in a way that we don't see often anymore. It was like a formula B-movie that exceeded its expectations due to some fine craftmanship, the talent and charisma of its performers. I don't really want to spoil exactly what happens in the third fall since it's a very exciting conclusion but I'll give some details. They manage to fill this final portion of the match with some pretty clever twists, exciting nearfalls (from great high-end moves executed from Mascara Año 2000 and sold perfectly by Perrito), failed double team moves, well timed eliminations, outside interference, momentum changes, referee distractions (and referee bumps), and miscommunication spots. During the third fall, I was thinking how much better this would have been if Black Terry Jr. was at ringside filming this, just so we could get a good taste at how hot this Arena Mexico crowd was. They really seemed like the hottest crowd ever, but we'll never know thanks to how terrible Mexican TV audio is. But back to the main point, this match really delivered the goods.

OJ:

It's funny how things change. There was a time when I would've balked at watching this match. After all, I grew up in an era where Los Hermanos Dinamita were synonymous with bad wrestling. If the Wrestling Observer had been some bizarro publication that covered mainly lucha, Cien Caras would have won all those Worst Wrestler of the Year categories year after year and I wouldn't have bat an eyelid because it was accepted that headliners were stiffs who could barely move a muscle. The Aguayos, Rayos and Dinamitas were the Hogans of Mexico and that's pretty much how we made sense of lucha libre. Turns out we were wrong and Los Hermanos Dinamita were just about the perfect main eventers.

This match is pretty much your atypical, latter day main event. There's no blood of course and not enough time for any real control segments, so you have to create drama in other ways, booking twists and turns in the match and blocking it out so that the wrestlers know where their marks are and when to be in position. It's basically a WWE style of working, right down to the Spanish equivalent of "Good God almighty" commentating. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with working to a formula -- it helps wrestlers to structure their matches and is something that every worker should learn -- it's when the match seems choreographed that there's a problem. This match (Perros vs. Dinamitas) came awfully close to looking choreographed and was saved by one thing and one thing alone -- selling. That's right! The "S" word. The most important thing in wrestling. The dividing line between good and bad. And the saving grace of the CMLL style.

In the second caida, for example, there's a transition that would've looked completely choreographed if not for some awesome selling from Caras. The transition occurs when the Perros are double teaming Caras and Perro Jr signals for Senior to use the ropes to put some oomph into the attack, but they telegraph it too much and Caras ducks out of the way. It's a fairly standard transition -- a trigger spot for the rudos to take over -- but you can see Caras eyeing his chance as the Perros line him up and when Perro hits his son, you know it's game on. Y'see, this was the last hurrah for the Dinamitas. Caras had come out of retirement to do this angle and it was pretty much the end of the road for Los Capos. What you had here was one final assault. Los Capos was a really fun era of Los Hermanos Dinamita. I liked how Caras dyed his hair jet black and used his real name to great effect, Carmelo being an awesome name for a capo. Noodles is right that Mascara Año 2000 was the guy holding this together (and had pretty much as close to a Black Terry performance as Mascara Año 2000 can get), but Caras was the guy marshalling the attack. The thing about Caras is that he looked like the sort of prick you could meet in everyday life -- a teacher, a co-worker, a coach, an inlaw -- he had this sort of universal "prick face." He always reminded me of the all-American asshole in that Dennis Leary song, except that he was Mexican. There's a part where he cheats in the tercera caida to eliminate Aguayo and I swear his shit eating grin makes him look like the world's biggest asshole. The "rudo segment" of this match was no longer than the ones we see today but the brawling seemed to have far more urgency to it. Strange that a 55 year-old guy beating on a 59 year-old guy should look better than anything since. The fact that both guys were slow and could barely raise their legs was a big part of why the pacing was good, but I'm still trying to figure out why this is good and Flair vs. Hogan sucks. It's a curious thing why veteran wrestling is better everywhere in the world except the US.

The Dinamitas basically succeeded in churning out something entertaining in the modern CMLL style, which few, if any, rudos have done since. Perro Aguayo Jr. brought good energy to this match and later matches as a rudo, but he was a blatantly modern worker. He charged about looking like he knew what he was doing but he was heavily reliant on those turning points in a match where something controversial happens. Take away those crutches and he looks like the myth that El Hijo del Santo created. It seems so simple that for every move you do -- whether you're on the receiving end or attacking -- you should sell. I mean that's as simple as reacting, but for some reason CMLL guys are like drones. I suppose I could come around to them like I did with Los Hermanos Dinamita. That's pressuming that the next generation of luchadores is even worse than the current lot (which seems more than likely.) But Jesus, those air horns. And the lack of selling. And the lack of asshole rudos like Caras. The Dinamitas rode off into the sunset after this match and cast a long shadow on the lucha that was to come. I wonder if we'll ever see their like again? It would be wrong to say that they were fantastic workers as they could be pretty terrible at times, but when they had their working boots on they knew how to entertain.

Anyone who says rudos like Los Hermanos Dinamita can't get over at Arena Mexico anymore is kidding themselves. That type of thinking is an excuse for how poor the rudos are today. If the Dinamitas were younger, they'd do it again, taking the lucha world by storm.