[1994-11-30-AAA] Rey Misterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Kevin Ridge]

Turn the lights on please. Misteiro is so fluid in the ring and Guerrera is able to keep up the pace. Juventud hits a bunch of suplexes including a catapult back suplex using the ropes. Just folded up Misterio. Less mat work and more high impact moves. Crazy dive by Misterio through the ropes on to Juventud who is lying the floor. How's the back feel? Guerrera hits his own drive and someone tries to shove a mic in his face for a comment. Was that Ray Rougeau? It’s dark but the dives appear to be hit very cleanly. The seconds get involved at the end and Misterio wins the deciding fall by disqualification. Not the ideal finish but great match between these two which they seem to do quite well.

[Loss]

If I remember right, this is the Rey/Juventud match after they watched a boatload of tapes from all the Japanese promotions. But I don't see too much aping. There are occasional things, like the superplex and powerbomb, but they could have picked that up anywhere. Most of this is typical lucha stuff, although it is well done and on the higher end. I don't think I'm quite on board with Dave, who called this a ***** match. But when I look at most of the wrestling surrounding it, it stands out in a way where I don't think Dave is insane for rating it that highly. This is my personal favorite match that I've seen between these two. Because it has more time to develop, and because they get the chance to show that they are just as good on the mat as they are in the air, and because this finish isn't overbooked to death, for me, it was more memorable than anything else I have seen them do in WCW, WWE, ECW, WAR or AAA. Yes, Fuerza is running in at the end to low blow Rey behind the ref's back, but it doesn't take this down too much, and it does set up rematches. What they did well (just about everything) overcame what they didn't do well (give us a satisfying final two minutes).

[jdw]

If I remember right, this is the Rey/Juventud match after they watched a boatload of tapes from all the Japanese promotions.

That would be more along the lines of the 1996 match in TJ... before Konnan had the clusterfuck run in... which came from watching too much ECW as well.

 

John

[Exposer]

This was a tremendous match. The first fall has some awesome mat work, lucha arm drags, and rudo bumping by Juvi. Rey gets the advantage in the end and wins with the hurracanrana/pin combo. Juvi takes control in the second fall and gets the win to tie it up in the end with some a sick looking back suplex off the ropes followed by an equally sick looking german for the pin. The third fall is really tremendous for the most part with some incredible dives and awesome near falls. The finish is disappointing but goes over huge with the crowd and it set up a re-match so there's not too much to complain about there.

[soup23]

Really felt like a coming of age match for both competitors as they had the athletic ability to make everything look great here but also had enough skill to make the match solid and not devolve into a straight spotfest or showcase. Finish is a little annoying but this is one of the best matches of the year and feels like you are seeing the future of the genre.

[PeteF3]

With the tape quality this looks like a lights-out match in the most literal sense of the term. Juvy's still wearing his dad's mask. The match itself is absolutely tremendous, probably the #2 lucha match of the year behind When Worlds Collide. A fantastic showcase of just how complete a wrestler Rey was at this point, as he works the first two falls and most the third with no flying at all, just matwork, selling, and a bit of high-end offense. Juvy busts out all kinds of suplexes--including Hase's golden arm bomber, so there's one tape influence--and basically wrestles as a dominant heavyweight. Tons of heart-stopping near-falls and then an ending that pissed me off mightily, and not even in a "I hope they let them go at it again" sense. Antonio Pena is starting to turn into 1987 Dusty Rhodes, using screw finishes as a crutch rather than a tool.