El Hijo del Santo vs. El Hijo del Solitario vs. Angel Blanco Jr., Triangular de la Muerte, 3/31/12

There are about three or four handhelds of this available on youtube. The handheld with the best angle is broken down into half a dozen parts. It's also the most complete, from entrances to post match unmasking and celebrations. A couple of the other versions are clipped.

This was fairly typical for a Triangular de la Muerte match. As soon as a three-way match was announced I had an inkling that it would be along these lines rather than a classic. The early falls are perfunctory, but there's always the hope that the mascara contra mascara section will be something special. In this case it was the standard Santo singles match. After such a bloody and violent feud, I was disappointed by the lack of blood. The heat, on the other hand, was fantastic and something which won't be captured in the televised version. If you ever want to hear Santo draw huge heat for his signature spots then this is the match for you. Blanco did the long lineage of unmasking rudos proud by kicking the bottom rope a couple of times and attacking Santo after he was given Blanco's mask and the post-match celebration was enjoyable, but nothing about this was great.

I thought it would've been far cooler to do Santo and Villano vs. Solitario and Blanco Jr. masks vs. masks match.

El Hijo del Santo & Villano IV vs. El Hijo del Solitario & Angel Blanco Jr., Todo X El Todo La Venganza, 3/23/12

This was nowhere near as good as their first match, but as the middle part in the feud it was still pretty good.

The February tag defied a lot of lucha libre conventions, whereas this was more along the lines of a traditional pre-apuestas match. The rudos milled about drawing heat while the technicos bled, then they switched roles. The rudos didn't care so much about winning this time round and just wanted to rub salt into the wound. The technicos gained a measure of revenge by winning the match, but were denied a total victory and will have to sit and stew for longer. The difference between the two matches is that this one didn't go the distance. The third fall was short and as with most matches pre-apuestas they held back on the big stuff. That said, there was still plenty of cool shit. I really liked Santo in this match. I thought he took a tremendous back against the ropes beating and bleed so much his mask looked burgundy. The highlight of the match was the set-up for his tope, which looked like it was cut and paste from 1986. There aren't too many people who do a better tope than Santo, but this one was particularly nasty. Blanco took an awesome backflip over the ring barrier and looked like he'd been knocked into next week. He looked like the off-stump after a West Indian fast delivery for those of you who understand cricket. Other highlights included Solitario playing Fuerza-like rudo tricks with a kid and folks shielding themselves from Villano's blood which splattered with each blow. Like I said, the rudos won't have minded losing this match, and for that reason this was a bit of a slow burner to build more heat for the mask match, but it was another chapter in what just might be the feud of the year and well recommended.

Virus vs. Guerrero Maya Jr., CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship, 7/6/11

This was a great match. It was almost assuredly the Match of the Year for 2011 and hasn't been topped since.

The early part of the match was a clinic from Virus. There's plenty of matwork where you get a more even contribution from both participants, be it Navarro and Solar, Casas and Panther or even Virus and Valiente, but in terms of carrying a guy this had as much rhythm as any of those match-ups and was a testament to what a great worker Virus has been for the past fifteen years or so. He spent most of the first fall circling Maya, applying one hold while all the while thinking two or three holds ahead. At one point he clung to Maya's back like a parasite trying to worm its way into a submission opening. When nothing came of it, he tried a different route, probing and circling and all the while waiting... Recently, there was some criticism on this site that lucha matwork rarely plays into the finish. I'd argue that you're much more likely to see a submission finish in a lucha match than the NWA style it was patterned after; but in this match, after a cool looking segment where Maya had to bridge his way out of a head scissors, sure enough they took to the ropes. Now the argument goes that this usually leads to one guy missing a move and the other guy scoring either an instant tap-out or flash pin. And to be fair, it's true that this happens a lot in the most uninspiring of lucha. But let's take a look at this match: instead of Maya scoring a flash pin from taking it to the ropes, Virus went in for the kill. And what a kill. When I said he was waiting, it was like a shark waiting for the right time to strike. Objectively speaking, I don't see how anyone can say that Virus didn't set that finish up. And when people say the grappling wasn't as good as the IWRG style, that may be true but you don't see the same psychology in those matches.

The second half of the match was an offensive showcase for Guerrero Maya Jr. I haven't seen much of Maya so I don't know how good he really is, but it's difficult to imagine that he's the former Multifacético. What really made this match was how great the tercera caída was. Maya reminded me of 1984 Atlantis in his second fall comeback, but in the third caida he took it up a notch with all sorts of nasty modern offence. The third caida was a really modern CMLL fall, but these can be exciting with the right rhythm and plenty of cool spots. The difference between this and so many other matches like it is that they got the timing right on every single spot. From the dropkick from behind to the senton to the outside to the armdrag takedowns, the match kept building and building; and for the first time since probably Sombra's match against Ephesto I found myself actively rooting for a technico to win. You can't beat that sort of drama in a wrestling match and that's why they haven't been topped since last summer. Probably the Match of the Decade thus far.

Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas, hair vs hair, CMLL 3/2/12

This was the match that pretty much everyone expected it would be. I won't go into too much detail about it as I assume everyone's seen it by now, but I'll share a few thoughts:

There wasn't any blood and it wasn't a hair match. You're not going to see blood at Arena Mexico, but it's still worth mentioning that it wasn't a hair match. The workers lost their hair but that was about all it had in common with classic lucha. It was a tightly worked affair with a lot of holds applied, and the tercera caida was notable for the lack of big moves and nearfalls that you usually see in a hair match. In other words, there was a hell of a lot more wrestling. The upside of all that wrestling was that the match had a ton of psychology; the downside was that it was short on storytelling. People can always come up with a story if they want to, that's a trait of any match that people like, but I don't think this match had the level of selling that you'd expect from a performer like Negro Casas and the tercera caida wasn't dramatic enough to compare it with a Sangre Chicana hair match or a Pirata Morgan hair match. They made up for that by having a keen contest, but it was a different sort of match. The best parts were similar to their lightning match and involved plenty of invention and skill, but I was disappointed in the tercera caida which I thought dragged and was more suited to a title match than a brawl. The match was geared more towards a technical brawl than biting each other's foreheads and spraying blood everywhere, but it slowed down in the final fall and there wasn't the same level of intensity. It didn't stop me from appreciating what an excellent match it was, but I watched it three times and it never got any better. I did think it was a better match than they could've had in their primes, since their collective age and experience has played such a big part in it being a maestros feud and Panther was never that great at apuestas matches, but at the same time I thought it exposed some of the weaknesses in Panther's work since he unmasked. No matter how hard he tries, he's just not that expressive. To really excel at these matches you have to be charismatic. The deranged old man act and the biting through the boot bit are fine but not enough to carry a match. I liked the Fujiwara armbar in the opening fall, though it seemed to me that they blew the spot later in the match. But again, it wasn't enough. Not to make this a truly great match. I actually liked the Black Terry/Chico Che hair match more than this as I thought Terry outperformed both Casas and Panther. The wrestling might have been better here, but I thought Terry captured what a hair match is all about.

Still, Casas/Panther, it's stupid to complain. Sticking these two together has been great and dream match-ups like this are something you rarely ever see in lucha. Therefore, it'll be in the reckoning come Match of the Year time.

Angel Blanco Jr./El Hijo del Solitario vs. El Hijo Del Santo/Villano IV, TXT 2/25/12

This was an excellent match and a vintage Santo brawl. I guess the surprising thing about that is that Santo didn't feature prominently. With the focus squarely on El Hijo del Solitario and Villano IV and an excellent performance from Angel Blanco Jr, Santo was left to do his bits. Santo being Santo it was all very crowd pleasing.

The most outstanding thing about the match was the amount of blood. All four guys bled buckets and by the end of the match both Santo and Blanco's masked were stained red. It was an authentic lucha brawl, perhaps the most authentic we've seen in a while. You could've taken any number of still shots, printed them in grainy black and white and imagined you were reading an old-school lucha libre magazine. But it also had a clever structure. What seemed like it would be an easy first up fall for the technicos was cut off and turned into a long beatdown. El Hijo del Solitario and Angel Blanco Jr, neither of whom is a worker of note, spent a long period working the technicos over, and you know it's not easy to make ripping a guy's mask open interesting. They actually spent longer working a cut than a rudo typically would in one of these matches and the fact that they could keep it from being dull was commendable. I watched the match twice and the second time I was tracking Angel Blanco Jr during the rudo control segment and I really felt that he contributed some excellent spots, including my favourite spot where both he and El Hijo del Solitario began punching Villano IV simultaneously on the mat. El Hijo del Solitario is a tall, sort of thinnish worker, who reminds me of how Cien Caras used to move in the 80s. His stuff doesn't look that good and he has these sort of swiping punches that almost look like open handed strikes (only his fist is closed), but either he was hitting Villano for real or Villano was selling them like a champ because it was all pretty effective. After so much abuse, the technicos' comeback was super hot. The Villano boys know how to brawl and there was plenty of swinging chair shots and sweet payback. A lot of people moan about lucha structure, and in truth the technicos probably took over too easily in this fall, but it's the heat for the comeback that really matters. The third fall is always a back and forth slugfest, but the point of the second caida is to give the technicos momentum heading into the final fall and show that they can deliver later on in the match. That momentum came in the form of Santo's famous plancha to the outside, which is one of the most perfect spots in all of wrestling and still breathtaking after all this years. The twist here, however, was that the technicos couldn't take the fall and so that momentum eventually whittled away. The rudos winning in straight falls was a smart piece of booking, I thought. The finish was great and the post-match wet everyone's appetite for the mask match at the end of this month. The rudos definitely came of this looking stronger than anyone could have possibly imagined. It also showed, from a structural point of view, that those easy falls that people complain about in lucha are only small windows of opportunity much the same as any other sport. You don't see that type of psychology in lucha often, but it exists.

I will say this, though: it didn't grab me as the Match of the Year. The latest in a run of excellent matches coming out of Mexico, but not the Match of the Year. We'll have to wait and see about that.

Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas, lightning match, CMLL 1/27/12

-- for a lightning match this was extremely good. Ten minutes can either be too short or too long in a lightning match, and many workers struggle to deliver something substantial, but this was as close to a proper match as you'll get with this stip. It wasn't perfect as they couldn't transition into the finish very well and the finish itself was contrived, but what shone through was how good these guys are at keeping things interesting. Panther was especially good with his selling and transitions, but both guys dug into their bag of tricks and the time simply wasn't an issue. It wasn't a MOTYC or anything like that (that's a bit of an overreaction), but as far as setting up a hair match goes it was as good as anything I can remember.

Atlantis vs. Ultimo Guerrero, CMLL 2/3/12

-- this is the sort of match I'd usually give a wide berth, but I was impressed with both these guys in that January trios so I thought I'd give them a chance. Ah, I thought it was all right. They tried to have a physical match with mask ripping and punch combos and plenty of body shots. A few people commented that it was indicative of the modern CMLL main event style, but there's nothing special about trying to have a huge tercera caída in a lucha libre match. Atlantis has been working this way his entire career. Things petered out on this occasion, but at least they tried to add something extra to each transition. It wasn't Casas vs. Panther, but it wasn't exactly spotty either. Atlantis is looking good this year, but I was kind of shocked by how grey he is.

Negro Casas vs. La Sombra, NWA World Welterweight Championship, CMLL 2/20/12

This was an excellent match. I'm struggling to think of any Casas matches I enjoyed more than this in the past 14 years. I don't know why everyone's working so hard lately, is it because business is down? I don't know what it is, but my opinion of CMLL has changed dramatically in the past few weeks. I haven't had this positive a vibe about the promotion since I first started this blog. This wasn't the classic lucha of 20 years ago, but it was smart and provided the perfect framework for how to have a modern match with a little bit of thought put into it. Sombra's been in more exciting matches than this, but I doubt he's been in anything as well worked. Casas was fantastic in this. His selling has always been his stock and trade, but what really stood out to me were the clever transitions. I'm starting to sound like Herb Kunze in this entry, but in the transitions in CMLL (and all wrestling really) have been so telegraphed for so long now that the work I'm seeing of late is exciting. Really smart use of a striking game against a bigger man and two big counters in the third caida that were sold about as well as the guy on offense can sell. Suddenly, I'm looking forward to CMLL matches.

Fuego/Valiente vs. Arkangel de la Muerte/Virus, CMLL 2/21/12

Here's another excellent match. What is in the water? This was fabulous. Just pure lucha. The opening exchanges between Arkangel and Fuego weren't the greatest, but I'm not sure everyone appeciates the beauty of cooperative lucha holds. They didn't get the rhythm right here but it's a beautiful thing when they start flipping holds. The closest comparison I can make is a "veronica" in bullfighting. Valiente and Virus were outstanding. They're such a natural pairing and their opening exchange was gorgeous. I've never really made the connection before, but Virus reminds me of Dandy in a way. One thing that was really noticeable was how much better Arkangel's exchanges were with Valiente than Fuego. The monkey flips were awesome as was the begging off. Those are the moments to savour in lucha and a good example of what I'd like to see more of in those maestro tags where Navarro and Solar never wrestle anybody else. I know I've been saying this a lot, but I can't remember the last time I saw a rudo comeback this good. Perhaps it's because I didn't watch lucha much last year, but that karate chop foul was brilliant. And how much fun was the third fall? It was a bit short, but the rudo beatdown, the technico comeback, the fast paced exchanges, tope and the all in finish were fantastic. I feel like I'm being spoilt.

Pierroth vs. Mascara Sagrada, Mexican National Light Heavyweight title, 2/1/91

If ever there was a test of how good Pierroth was during this time frame then this is it. Mascara Sagrada was not... very good... After a while, you accept him as part of the crew and sometimes you're impressed with what a rudo can do with him in trios, but we talking about trios. This was a twenty minute, two out of three falls title match. It wasn't exactly a miracle match, but it could've easily been a disaster. It was more of a heel vs. face match than a true title match, partially because Pierroth wasn't good enough on the mat to carry Sagrada but also because his strengths lay in being a "character worker," which he'd use to great effect the following year when his charisma exploded. The work is outrageously bad when Sagrada is on offense as you'd expect, but pretty entertaining when Pierroth is in control. Pierroth was sort of a second tier worker (as much as I like him), but he pulled this off. Would've loved to have seen him against Octagon, who was the best possible Mascara Sagrada on the roster.

Hoping to keep more up to date with lucha this year.

Black Terry/El Hijo Del Pirata Morgan/Skyde vs. Negro Navarro/Trauma 1/Trauma 2 Arena Neza 1/1/12

-- This was ok. I read some criticism of the Terry/Trauma II matwork but it was nowhere near as frustrating as it can be. Navarro vs. Skyde was a nice change of pace but they could've done more. The best parts were the Terry/Navarro exchanges. Ever since those clips of Terry and Navarro fighting each other cut to Metallica's Unforgiven I've been clamouring for a singles match between the two. I could quit watching and die a happy man if it ever happens. El Hijo Del Pirata Morgan was a bit disappointing in this and played an odd role as fall guy.

El Hijo Del Santo vs. Angel Mortal Jr., Arena Neza 1/1/12

-- This was boring as shit. The same match Santo's been working for twenty years against a bad worker.

Blue Panther/Atlantis/Solar vs. Ultimo Guerrero/Felino/Negro Navarro, 1/14/12

-- This was a good match. Panther and Felino were awful on the mat, but the Solar/Navarro exchanges were amazing. I'm one of those people who think they wrestle too often, especially in matches like these, but I was floored by their work here. More surprising, though, were the Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero exchanges. Atlantis looked great, but Ultimo Guerrero was fantastic. I don't want to get carried away and call it the best match he's ever had, but it was certainly the most I've enjoyed him.

Atlantis, Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Morphosis, Psicosis, Volador Jr. [MEX TRIOS] CMLL GDL 1/17/12

-- This seemed okay. I think you have to be in rhythm with the match to enjoy this type of wrestling as there's no breathing space between moves. Prefer the darkened arenas to the usual CMLL lighting.

Chico Che vs. Black Terry, IWRG 1/22/12
Chico Che vs. Black Terry, hair vs. hair, IWRG 1/29/12

-- This is what I'm talking about when I say Terry is better at working brawls than maestro tags or IWRG matwork. Both these matches deserve their own posts, but let me just say that the first match is an excellent mano a mano bout and the second is best Terry match I've seen. You should all go watch it now instead of reading any more, but long time IWRG viewers will be pleased to know that it takes the best aspects of Terry's feuds from '06-08 and pits them against a legitimately good worker in Che. Both guys bleed buckets, the strikes are great and the headbutts legendary. The key spots in the hair match work really well, especially the stuff lifted from Terry's match against Multifacético that Raging Noodles and I reviewed a few years ago. Loved all the involvement with the seconds and thought Alan Extreme's tope was sensational (and extremely well caught by BTJr.) The opening falls were fleshed out, the decider was dramatic while still being appropriate for the size of the arena, and the bullshit with the ref was fun. Terry was in his element bleeding and selling and these matches ruled.

Black Terry/Negro Navarro vs. Trauma I/Trauma II, LUCHA POP 8/27/11

This was a fairly typical match between these workers. It was bare bones in terms of layout and structure; Navarro dominated, Terry played second fiddle, and yet it was still pretty good. When Black Terry Jr's videos first started appearing it was Trauma II who showed the most potential among Dinastía Navarro, but for the past year or so Trauma I has been beastly. I don't know if he's overtaken Trauma II, but it sure looks that way. Mind you, everyone gets relegated to secondary status when Negro Navarro is in the ring. That's what happened to Terry & Trauma II, who worked the usual "my turn/your turn" pattern. The selling was decent, but Terry's a stronger character than Navarro and I don't really like seeing him in this environment. Sure he can work holds, but his forte are those Terribles Cerebros brawls where he does his best character work. Here Terry and Trauma II spent most of their time trying to hook each other, but it's obvious who's hookin' who if you keep taking turns. Not only that, but they always manage to go too long. I don't know if I've ever seen a Terry/Trauma exchange that ended on an upbeat. Navarro vs. Trauma I was outstanding, however. They worked this tiny little story where Trauma slapped the old man, and talk about teaching your boy a lesson. Trauma did a fantastic job of screaming basically, as Navarro taught his ever-improving son that he still doesn't know squat. Trauma I vs. Navarro has tremendous potential as the younger Trauma has the size to fight back against his old man, whereas big brother would have to work from underneath and probably get mauled. Navarro eased up on his boy after the armlock and ended up giving him the bout, but the signs were there that Navarro vs. Trauma could develop into one of wrestling's better match-ups. Here's hoping they wrestle each other more often than Navarro and Terry do.

Blue Panther vs. Super Astro, Mexican National Middleweight Championship, AAA 10/9/92

I've always thought this match was a disappointment and still do. The matwork in the first caida is nothing special and actually pretty weak by lucha title match standards. When you consider that it's a Blue Panther title match it's even more frustrating. Worse still is the second caida. I'm sure we've all made concessions for a weak caida in the past, but a soft fall is not what you'd expect from an oft-cited classic. I'm not against short falls by any stretch of the imagination, but a pinfall or submission shouldn't just fall into your lap. They do some good things in the third fall but it doesn't happen in rhythm with the rest of the match so it's hard to get excited about. It does salvage the match to a fair extent, but not to the point where it's a classic. Panther vs. Angel Azteca was better than this and that's hardly a classic either. When I think about what's missing from this match it's difficult to imagine what people see in it. There's none of the beauty and struggle of Panther's matwork against Atlantis or the breathtaking work of Super Astro in trios. I'm not sure what causes people to elevate this match beyond its proper station, but at least their impression is favourable. Hopefully, they use it as a gateway to the better stuff because I just don't see this as a high point in either guy's work.