[1998-10-18-Monterrey] El Hijo del Santo vs Felino

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I thought this was an excellent match, even though I think they had better matches in 1997. This has the dynamic from those in reverse, with Felino as the underdog heel. Santo outwrestles him at every turn, and almost every momentum shift in Felino's favor is the result of luck and circumstance more than anything. At first I thought Felino didn't look nearly as credible as he needed to look, but considering the finish which only served to emphasize Felino's opportunism, it was actually foreshadowed pretty effectively.

[soup23]

I liked their 1997 series a lot and I don't know if this just came along at the right time in the year as we haven't seen much lucha in a while, but this match blew me away. The opening caida featured some of my favorite Santito maestro mat work that I have seen using signature stuff like his head scissors lock but also mixing in really cool stuff like his hanging abdominal stretch. He really moved around beautifully and I didn't want this sequence to end. I also liked how he had to mix in dives and more fast paced work to take the first fall.

The second fall is more of the same and Felino is in deep shit until he relies on his "cat" like slyness. I didn't see this as Felino getting lucky as much as him being resourceful and advantageous. Santo works the leg and Felino bails to the outside feigning legit injury but really just rehabbing the leg enough that he can get a spurt of offense. When he comes back inside, he attacks like crazy in a fury and ends up taking the second fall.

 

Santo doesn't respond to this kindly as he unloads on the final fall with more desperation and anger than in the first two caidas. Huge dives mixed in with power moves. Felino also seemed to be just close enough to the ropes or able to reach down and kick out. The kick out of the sunset flip powerbomb was especially beautiful in the way Felino came to life right at the last moment. Santo starts getting more visually frustrated and taking more chances. Felino instituted a rope a dope strategy and waited for the right moment he could hit a foul and end up gaining the victory.

 

This was up there as the best lucha matches I have seen and would be a top 20 lucha match for me in the decade. ****3/4

[Zenjo]

I went in with high expectations, and in parts it was high end. Some outstanding matwork in the primera with smoothness and innovation. Santo was displaying all his skills and looked like such a boss. It lost a bit of momentum in the 2nd with some dodgy cat selling. Santo had his arm hurt which proved a focal point. Some minor heel ref annoyance early in the 3rd. The selling of the arm was excellent and they moved onto an escalating climax. Alas it had a horrible screwjob finish with the low blow to pin. It was held in Monterrey so I can't say that I wasn't warned. It made sense from the perspective of Felino defeating a higher tier competitor but ugh. These two could've potentially had a MOTYC so I'm looking forward to viewing their '97 battles. This was really good even with some flaws.

[Tim Cooke]

Paul and I rewatched this last night and damn, it may be better than both 1997 CMLL matches (which we also really liked). The only downside is a complete audio shit show as there is a constant hum throughout the match and you can hear the crowd get excited occasionally but the poor mic'ing of lucha tapings continues. But move for move, psychology wise, this was terrific.

[PeteF3]

Man, '98 seems like it's been the quietest year for lucha so far in the '90s. Even reading along in the Observers, there have been a few apuestas matches that drew big gates, namely La Parka vs. Pierroth Jr., but very little that had me thinking, "Man, I wish the Yearbook had included that." But I love these two and I love this match-up. I think I liked the '97 matches a bit better, but this certainly did a great job of building to some huge moves, whereas in '97 the matches were more bombfests, as if the masks and outfits had been donned by the Steiner Brothers. This has some really cool technical wrestling to go along with that and a really well-done finish that Santo sells like death. Definitely a lucha MOTYC if possibly not one on a worldwide level.

[Jetlag]

My god what an absolute pro wrestling classic, even better than I remember it being. First fall alone was better than a lot of single matches. Just relentless matwork with Santito wrenching the shit out of Felino. There is a difference between Santo and regular dudes working holds, your average wrestler may work snug, but Santo will add these little touches like driving his head into the other guys spine to increase pressure. Neither guy let up, starting when Felino got a cheap single leg after a ropebreak and Santo later repaying him in kind when he snuck up behind him and caught him in a Cavernaria. Santo constantly working for his finisher on the ground also adds a lot of tension. Felino is also a guy who will bust out judo throws and olympic moves in the middle of luchariffic exchanges and that is always cool. I had no problem with Felino taking the advantage using his quickness after Santo had thoroughly pushed his shit in on the mat. Then you get Felino pouncing on Santos leg. I am shocked nobody has mentioned the greatness of that legwork and selling. Felino looked like a dangerous hooker and Santo was doing everything to prevent him from zoning in on his weakspot. Then you get Santo believably working lucha exchanges and dives while limping. A damaged Santo throwing out huge desperation moves in order to try and turn the tide was pretty great and exactly how you should use spots like that. Will admit that Felino doesn't sell on the level of Santo and the match could've done going a few minutes less, but to hell with the nitpicking. Easy slam dunk lucha MOTY.

[Jetlag]

I am actually thinking the date on this is wrong. The finish doesn't match cubsfans results. The real date might be 3/8/98, considering a match of the same date was added to the Cagematch matchguide (probably based on a recommendation by Rob Viper).

[Cap]

That would make sense to me. I had trouble finding anything substantive confirming the 10/18 date.