[1994-03-12-AAA] Espectrito vs Mascarita Sagrada

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Well, this is still one of my favorite matches ever. It's the best match of 1994 to date too. Espectrito takes some incredible bumps from the ring to the floor, and Sagrada's dives from the top rope to the floor are beautiful. There are also some really nifty holds from Espectrito that I've never seen before, coming up with all sorts of terrifying looking ways to bend Sagrada like a pretzel. Sagrada is undersized, even for a mini, which allows Espectrito to work as a monster heel, which is probably not a role he was used to, but still pulled off amazingly well. Sagrada was a brilliant highspot artist, not too far below Rey Jr. at the same point in time. His bend up counter thing at the beginning of the third fall is also pretty mind boggling. The timing of the spot where Espectrito accidentally did the tope on Espectro is impeccable.

 

But more than all of that, the biggest positive for this match has always been the big match feel, which this has in spades. This has heat building and atmosphere on par with just about any heavyweight main event you'll ever see. This remains one of the greatest matches of all time -- one that if anything, I liked more than I ever have when watching it this time. The best AAA match ever, and probably in or near the top ten anywhere for the whole decade.

 

I need to finally see Damiancito El Guerrero vs Cicloncito Ramirez, since people who love this as much as I do seem to like that one even better.

[jdw]

Was there this night, and it was a load of fun live. Nice to see that nearly two decades later folks still like it and that we weren't just hitting the Live Bong on it.

 

John

[Exposer]

This was spectacular. I actually think it's the most impressive match I've ever seen. I think what's really remarkable about this match is the timing of all of the spots. The way the match flowed from spot to spot was incredible. Espectrito uses some really aggressive and nasty looking holds to try and incapacitate the smaller Sagrada. He does everything he can to ground him and when he does it's usually successful. Sagrada's speed and agility is often too much at times for the larger Espectrito. He can't even manage to get settled back into the ring for a big portion of the first fall. The dives in this were unbelievable as well. Each one got a massive pop and rightfully so. In the final fall where they do the misdirection spot with Espectrito diving into Espectrito instead is the greatest timed spot I've ever seen. That is not an exaggeration. The closing seconds were really great as well and even with the possible botch of the finish they corrected it like nothing happened and still managed to end the match with Sagrada executing another brilliant move to finish off Espectrito. I will say though that possible first attempt at the finish was brutal with Espectrito getting spiked on his head. This is the best match of the year by a pretty fair margin. It's really a sight to see and one of the most impressive matches I remember ever viewing.

[soup23]

After reading Loss and Exposer's comments, I was pessimistic about this match. I don't think I liked it quite as much as they did but it was still really awesome and I have it in my top 3 for the year so far. My favorite spot was the surfboard spot with Mascarita constantly raising up out of the pin attempts. The timing here was really well done and the match did have a heavyweight style clash and was worked accordingly. This was a serious match so no comedy or other unnecessary factors where mixed in because they are minis. This was a great site to see and is my favorite minis match of all time.

[PeteF3]

Definite MOTY so far and something I want to make sure stays in the top 3-5, at least. And the minis GOAT, hands down. Until the very end, when I think they botch the ending and have to improvise a new one, there's not a single spot or bump or position that's out of place. Even Tirantes is used perfectly, looking the other way during Espectro's interference and making an impact on the match without overwhelming it (loved the announcer screaming, "TIRANTES!" when Espectro is holding Sagrada up outside the ring). And yes, that attempted double-team tope with Mascara making the save was spectacularly done by all parties. One of the most epic, "cinematic" wrestling spots ever--up there with Hokuto after her loss to Shinobu Kandori, or Dutch Mantell using Shoo Baby to yank Koko Ware off the turnbuckle. I also can scarcely wrap my mind around how Espectrito and Espectro take all those bumps without boots on, or padding outside the ring. It's all cringe-worthy and it seems like their ankles should be perpetually broken.

[Zenjo]

This was the first great Lucha match that I ever saw. It was fun looking back at my review from the time when I said: "It's an amazing feeling to know I've opened up a whole new world of greatness." Unfortunately I drifted away from it for a few years by going about my viewing in the wrong way. All the advice I saw back then was to watch mid 90's AAA, it's the best thing ever. Had I watched more CMLL instead I'd have been properly hooked. Still no matter. Over the last 4 years of watching the Yearbooks and a whole lot more supplemental footage my heart has become pure of Lucha.

 

I'm more than a little jealous of JDW having seen this live. This incredible night in LA has to be the career highlight for Sagrada. He was an absolute superstar out there. A wonderful performance as well from the ever impressive Espectrito. Everything is relative, and this was a classic battle of power vs speed. The green alien controlled the action when the pace was moderate whilst Sagrada attacked with quick offensive flurries. Nice structure and classical storytelling. The involvements of the namesakes as seconds and the heel ref supplemented the drama. The biggest highlight was the four man tope sequence near the end that everyone here is waxing lyrical about. The crowd was molten BTW. This is the best Minis contest I've seen to date. Not an all time great match for me however. The execution was incredible for their stature, but on an absolute basis there were a few errors. I have to judge on a level playing field when going up against the best.