[1997-10-03-Promo Azteca] El Hijo del Santo vs Psicosis

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

1997 is relentless in match quality. It would appear that Santo is only a heel in CMLL while still a babyface everywhere else in Mexico. I think I like this match far better than previous matches between these two because Psicosis has matured as a wrestler and heels it up in a big way. Some really nice matwork early on and nearfalls in the end. Psicosis is really great at feeding Santo's offense. The low blow and pin finishing sequence was awesome. Lucha handhelds are in some ways preferable to television (especially when the camera work is this good) because it's easier to hear the crowd.

[soup23]

Wow I liked this more than the mini's match and Santo is having quite the year. Psicosis heeling it up is pretty great and he took numerous psychotic bumps in this match to the outside. The santo dive to the back of the head of Psicosis was insane as was the diving senton to a pron Psic on the floor. Finishing sequence mixed in some great drama and intrigue and I loved the finish of Psicosis seeing an out with the low blow and taking full advantage of it.

[PeteF3]

Yeah, this was fantastic, and I'm not sure this wasn't better than Santo/Casas to boot. Some terrific offense in this one as this almost turned into a lucha-meets-NJPW-juniors type bout. Psicosis dies for our pleasure on about 4 or 5 different occasions and then fucks Santo over to get the win in a very cleverly done finish, right when Psicosis looked dead and buried. This might be the best year for lucha since 1990.

[ohtani's jacket]

#388

 

I can't say I'm a fan of Psicosis acting like a member of the NWO. That's not the Psicosis I get a kick out of. The action here is pretty good; but it's very much a house show version of the touring Santo show, and a 1997 Tijuana version at that. The stuff you'd expect to look good looked good, but the general tone was toward house show lucha, and I have a hard time seeing how this comes close to the top 10 for an extremely stacked year in lucha.

[JKWebb]

#388 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-400-351/

 

Psicosis gets a ton of heat playing to the crowd after the first fall. I loved the spot with him charging at Santo, Santo moves, and he absolutely NAILS the ringpost at a 100 mph. Then we get an awesome dive from Santo onto Psicosis on the outside. I also liked the powerbomb (from the corner) finish of the second fall. I liked how Santo returned to the left arm work that was established in the first fall in the third fall. I thought Psicosis did a great job of selling that arm while trying mount his comeback. Especially after a top rope missile drop kick where he ends up landing on that arm. The nearfalls were a little anti-climatic for me, and then the dive from Psicosis to the outside looked pretty rough. They sucked me right back in with a suplex to the outside by Santo followed by an insane dive onto Psichosis who was still lying on the floor. Oddly, Psicosis returned to the ring to boast before receiving a cross-body from Santo off the top rope. It felt out of place with the rest of the story. I did like the finish. Overall, I thought this was a good match. ***1/4

[Zenjo]

Promo Azteca - Good in theory, run by Konnan. This was probably the promotions best offering. Santo and Psicosis carried over their rivalry from AAA. At times it felt a bit house-showy, although it had higher workrate than AAA TV tapings. Psicho's new wave brand of rudoism was certainly American influenced. Uninspiring matwork in the early going. It was better once they picked up the pace with some nice dives. Good stuff for the most part, lower end top 100 for the year. The finish was cheap and nasty.