DISC 9

[goodhelmet]

DISC 9

Blue Panther, Emilio Charles Jr. y Hombre Bala vs. Blue Demon, Javier Cruz y Hombre Sin Nombre (8/4/89)

MS-1 y Maskare vs. El Dandy y El Satanico, (8/11/89)

Super Astro, Atlantis y El Faraón vs. Fuerza Guerrera, Blue Panther y Emilio Charles (8/18/89)

Atlantis, Mascara Sagrada y Super Astro vs. Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan y Verdugo) (September 1989)

Atlantis y Satanico vs. MS-1 y Tierra Viento y Fuego (Hair/Mask vs. Hair/Mask) (9/22/89)

El Dandy, Apolo Dantes y Eddy Guerrero vs. Emilio Charles Jr., Pirata Morgan y Ary Romero (October 1989)

Blue Demon Jr., Super Astro y Mascara Sagrada vs. El Supremo, Espectro Jr. y Blue Panther (10/6/89)

Jerry Estrada, Ary Romero y Rick Patterson vs. Javier Cruz, Eddy Guerrero y El Dandy (10/6/89)

All Star, El Dandy y El Texano vs. Espectro Jr., Jerry Estrada y Rocky Star (10/13/89)

Chavo Guerrero, Cien Caras y Mascara Ano Dos Mil vs. Lizmark, El Satanico y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (10/20/89)

Jerry Estrada vs. Javier Cruz (Hair vs. Hair) (10/20/89)

[Graham Crackers]

Blue Panther, Emilio Charles Jr. y Hombre Bala vs. Blue Demon, Javier Cruz y Hombre Sin Nombre (8/4/89)

This match follows a standard trios formula. First two pairings work the mat, third pairing runs the ropes, flashy first fall victory for tecnicos, rudos come back with cheating and brawling to win second fall, rudos control the ring in the third fall, a tecnico comeback with dives, and the finish (in this case a low blow). It's a solid formula and this is a solid match but it isn't much more than solid either. The rudos looks good but this tecnico trio is lacking. Cruz is miles better than his partners but we don't see him in the ring nearly as much as we see them.

 

MS-1 y Maskare vs. El Dandy y El Satanico, (8/11/89)

This is as awesome as it looks on paper. This is a brawl though not a bloody one until the final fall. El Dandy and Satanico mesh really well and MS-1 makes just as great an opponent for Satanico as he did a partner. I loved Dandy's variation on the running around the ring to confuse the rudos spot. Here it was used to separate the rudos to put an end to their double teaming and lead directly to Dandy and Satanico's comeback after being mugged for much of the match so far. The MS-1 vs Satanico brawling during the next two falls is pretty awesome and makes me really want to see a hair vs hair match between these two. Finally we get one of the best low blow finishes of the entire set. Perhaps even the best low blow finish on the set. Nobody has more tricks up their sleeve than Satanico.

 

Super Astro, Atlantis y El Faraón vs. Fuerza Guerrera, Blue Panther y Emilio Charles (8/18/89)

Fuerza fucking Guerrera. THAT is an awesome Fuerza Guerrera performance. Fuerza is such a fucking goof. I always love the Fuerza bump, especially when it gets used as a miscommunication spot. I love Atlantis teasing a dive against Blue Panther then turning and slapping Fuerza right off the apron. I love Fuerza eating a punch from Faraon, spinning around, and accidentally posting himself. I love Fuerza's spaghetti legged selling of all of Faraon's punches. I loved Fuerza selling his frustration at the victory roll getting blocked before the finish and selling the pain in his nose after it gets countered. I love Fuerza Guerrera.

 

But like a great rudo he never steals the show. It's the spectacular tecnico offense that makes most of the list of highlights in this match. There is tons of graceful high flying from Atlantis and Super Astro while Faraon keeps it simple with good matwork and great punches. The rudo team does a great job with their miscommunication spots and stooging and it makes an already great batch of tecnicos look better. I'm not sure if the "Atlantis hits the quebradora on all of his opponents" spot has ever looked better and I thought the fake out with Blue Panther almost blocking it at the end made it even better. The dives at the end were amazing too. Atlantis has a great fast tope and Super Astro's tope en reversa to the outside was insane. This is a high end trios match.

 

Atlantis, Mascara Sagrada y Super Astro vs. Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan y Verdugo) (September 1989)

Originally I said: This is merely a glimpse of great lucha. It looks great but we don't get to see much. Los Bucaneros are some of the best rudo bases ever and they excel in a sprinty environment like this one. Atlantis and Super Astro are great again. Duh. It was weird to see a babyface miscommunication spot. I'm not sure where to rank this.

 

On a second viewing this was really fun. I wish it felt more like a full match but this is a more entertaining whole than a number of three fall trios matches on this set and features tons of crisp/cool offense. It's hard to argue with fun so I could even see this somewhere near the middle of my ballot.

 

Atlantis y Satanico vs. MS-1 y Tierra Viento y Fuego (Hair/Mask vs. Hair/Mask) (9/22/89)

Good brawl with a great finishing stretch. tim really nailed it when he said the intensity really blows up after those dives. Satanico crawling back into the ring to counter the double sub on Atlantis was a great comeback and that's when the false finishes really began. I loved the space between eliminations as well. Still, this wasn't as great throughout as the tag with Dandy and Masakre from earlier on this disc.

 

El Dandy, Apolo Dantes y Eddy Guerrero vs. Emilio Charles Jr., Pirata Morgan y Ary Romero (October 1989)

This was nothing special. Ari Romero was amusing and young Eddy made this feel unique but everything else was merely solid. To be honest I'm having trouble remembering more than a couple spots from this match.The only other thing that is standing out to me is some of the limbwork which I thought was pretty boring. This isn't an absolute bottom match but it isn't going to be too much higher than that either.

 

Blue Demon Jr., Super Astro y Mascara Sagrada vs. El Supremo, Espectro Jr. y Blue Panther (10/6/89)

This was kind of fun but is still a match that'll rank lowish. Blue Panther and Super Astro are pretty awesome in this and when either of them are in the ring you get the kind of breathtaking lucha that reminds you why you love wrestling. The rest of the match isn't like that but it's not complete shit either. When they aren't in the ring it's more goofy fun with guys in wacky and colorful outfits making big theatrical movements. Outside of Astro and Panther this isn't very crisp and it has some weak stretches but this isn't an absolute bottom of the barrel match either.

 

Jerry Estrada, Ary Romero y Rick Patterson vs. Javier Cruz, Eddy Guerrero y El Dandy (10/6/89)

The rudos were pretty easy to hate here which is really the best thing this match has going for it. They were pretty entertaining when soaking in the crowd's hatred or engaging in any schtick. Unfortunately that didn't add up to a compelling match. I'm still not sold on Jerry Estrada. His taunting and punches in this match were among the best things I've ever seen him contribute to a match but for most of this he looked as out of it as usual and with him being one of the main focuses of this match that ended up dragging the whole thing down.

 

All Star, El Dandy y El Texano vs. Espectro Jr., Jerry Estrada y Rocky Star (10/13/89)

The first fall was fun but felt pretty standard. The chaos of the second rope coming off and Jerry Estrada selling his ass were pretty entertaining. it felt like they were building up some kind of rivalry between All Star and Rocky Star. Their exchanges were decent fun but not something that is going to blow anybody's mind. The match as a whole is mediocre to solid and is something that'll probably end up finishing close to the bottom.

 

Chavo Guerrero, Cien Caras y Mascara Ano Dos Mil vs. Lizmark, El Satanico y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (10/20/89)

Everybody throws some hard shots in this one and especially Lizmark, Satanico, and Chavo. This isn't the best Rayo vs Capos stuff you'll see but it's something I find myself getting a kick out of more often than not these days. I'll take Rayo doing cat and mouse comedy spots over main eventers trying to have an epic and failing. The third fall has a fun exchange of trios spots. This didn't have the kind of arc or interesting transitions that hold together a great match and that hurt it but this was still a match that had enough fun spots to keep it away from the bottom.

 

Jerry Estrada vs. Javier Cruz (Hair vs. Hair) (10/20/89)

So, going into this I'm not a fan of Jerry Estrada from everything I've seen but I've heard people speak highly of this match. I've also read OJ and tim's reviews so I'm not exactly expecting to be sold on him either. The first two falls feature some solid brawling though there are moments that hint at just how fucked up Estrada is. As this thing goes on it just gets so fucking weird. That does lead to some crazy moments and images. I like how gross and violent and fucked up wrestling can be and those images definitely make this match worth watching. Jerry accidentally posting himself is kind of funny but kind of tragic as well. The way he just stands around every time he's knocked to the floor is kind of creepy. He does some really dangerous stuff too like that nasty victory roll counter. On the other hand some of those dangerous moments take away from the match like how he ends up in the wrong position for dives and flying moves but corrects himself at the last minute or doesn't even capitalize on his opponent's "mistake." So in the end the most memorable images are not enough to save this one. I'm going to watch this again but this feels like a bottom half match at best. At the same time this is a unique spectacle and I'm glad I watched it.