El Hijo Del Santo v Felino (CMLL, 4/5/96)
I had no idea this even happened, so I was pretty psyched when I came across it on the '96 yearbook. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as good as I was hoping. I mean, I wasn't expecting it to hit the heights of their '98 Monterrey match, but I still figured it could've been really good. Definitely wasn't terrible, but still disappointing. First two caidas are pretty short, but the matwork in the primera was solid enough. Felino isn't a guy I think of as one of the all-time great lucha mat workers - nor is Santo for that matter...maybe - but I always dig these two working the mat against each other -- Felino is always someone I can buy being genuinely petrified of being caught in the camel clutch. Third caida is really what makes the match, though. Santo has had some of the most spectacular dives in lucha for the last 20+ years (shit, it's closer to 30 now), and he hits a couple corkers in this. You can see about three rows of spectators scatter as he's gearing up for his tope, and when Felino crashes into the fixed seats and almost tears an entire row off the floor, you understand why. And sure enough Felino fights and fights and fights, but Santo WILL have that camel clutch. Not the classic they're capable of having, but plenty good. Still, it's all background noise to what I really wanted to talk about...
Pirata Morgan v Masakre (Hair vs. Hair) (2/28/92)
THIS was the fucking greatest. Pirata Morgan is pretty much a God when it comes to working hair matches. He punches you right in the face, takes outright insane bumps, bleeds like a fucking faucet, and generally brings everything you'd want someone to bring in an apuestas match. He jumps Masakre at the start, and the first fall, which lasts only a few minutes, is basically him opening Masakre from ear to ear and drinking his blood. He bites him in the open cut and gets right in there for a mouthful of it, then he spits the blood in the air like Masakre's head was a water fountain. He doesn't half ass this -- it's Gangrel drinking out of that goblet and spitting it everywhere, except Pirata is actually doing it with real blood. When Masakre fights back in the second fall Pirata takes one of the nastiest postings I've ever seen (you audibly hear the THUD) and bleeds all. over. the. place. I'm not sure anybody takes a posting like Pirata Morgan. There's a post in the third fall where Masakre is repeatedly drilling his head into the post and Pirata is taking all of them completely unprotected. He also takes a crazy bump from the apron to the floor that was pretty unnecessary in amongst all of the other mutilation he'd inflicted upon himself already. Masakre is a capable brawler, mostly stumbling around selling the blood loss when he's not beating someone up, and Pierroth plays a Hell of a second to him, but it's Parata's performance that makes this so awesome. He really looked like one of the best wrestlers in the world here.
No comments:
Post a Comment