Mascarita Dorada vs Pequeño Damian 666, Lucha Fiesta, 3/20/09

I've never been a big fan of lucha in Japan, aside from the 70s when Baba would bring in guys like Mil Máscaras, Dos Caras and Dr. Wagner. The UWF stuff I could never get into. The crowds always felt the need to do something, whether it was booing or cheering, and the hardcores were more interested in the masks, which still fetch a price if they were actually worn. But I was surprised by how well this got over.

I haven't seen anything from the minis this year, and only really watched this to see how Pequeño Damian is doing, but it was cool. It was the same length as a lightning match, and could've easily turned into a juniors style match, but Damian gave a really solid rudo performance and the response didn't sound canned at all. In fact, Damian jawing with a fan is probably the closest you'll get to a Japanese guy acting like a front row fan at Arena Mexico. And Dorada was outrageously good, pulling off all these awesome spots that make you say, "fuck the old school." Well, for five seconds anyway.

But seriously, he was really good. He span like a record at the end and the crowd gave him plenty of coin. He came across like the miniture star that he's supposed to be, and Pequeño Damian might as well be Pequeño Virus the way he carries a Dorada through awesome exchanges.

The different camera angles were cool too, especially the one that showed just how far Dorada leapt from the turnbuckle. It's pretty far when you're that small.