Random CMLL

Jerry Estrada, Pirata Morgan & Emilio Charles Jr. v Salomon Grundy, Satanico & Super Astro (CMLL, 3/11/90)

Well this was a blast. Salomon Grundy looks like an even more obese Jerry Blackwell (although he's not nearly as good as Blackwell), and this is all about the rudo poachers trying to topple the elephant for his tusks. Satanico and Astro are a pair of FEMA activist and fight for the animal rights and also happen to totally fucking rule it. Jerry Estrada is a guy that, if you don't like him, you HATE him, but he's one of my favourite wrestlers of all-time, and I thought he was awesome in this. He dresses like a coked up Alice Cooper (well, a MORE coked up Alice Cooper) and swings wild punches and kicks and everything he does looks reckless. Like he's actually trying to kill you. He also bumps like a fucking psychopath. Like he's actually trying to kill himself. He seemed way more coherent here than he normally does (he manages to walk across the apron without falling face first into the ring post), but there's this weird moment where he and Emilio play Mouse Trap with Astro and Astro whips him into the ropes, and he winds up crumpling in a heap like he was whipped into a wall and not ring ropes, so it's probably silly to think he was COMPLETELY drug/alcohol free. There's a cool bit where Grundy gets Irish whipped and Jerry starts walking along the apron, and as Grundy hits the ropes Jerry flings himself to the floor like he got hit by a bus. I'd assume it was a planned spot (you can never tell with Estrada, which is why I love him), but his set up to it was so great that it felt truly organic. All of the bits where the rudos swarm Grundy were cool as well. They just jump on him and punch and kick him everywhere to get him off his feet. Emilio leaps onto his back and starts choking him while Pirata is punching him dead in the face and Estrada is stamping on his toes. They go all out to make it look like they're up against an immovable object. And then they do a bit where all three rudos get trapped in the corner and Grundy does a running avalanche, and Jerry Estrada tries to convince the ref' he was kicked in the balls. Greatest. When they finally get him down it looks like an honest to goodness gang beating. Grundy is fat and wears dungarees and is probably autistic. This is like Dead Man's Shoes (with more FAT) except Satanico and Astro don't wear ski-masks. 1990 CMLL is such a fucking goldmine.


El Dandy, Super Astro & Popitekus v Los Brazos (CMLL, 5/5/91)

Super fun trios. It's pretty standard trios formula, but that's a good formula, and after watching some late 00s CMLL singles matches recently, I'm reminded of how much I can get out of a good formula done right (because modern day CMLL singles formula can be fucking awful). Everybody pairs off in the first fall, and we get a couple nifty exchanges between Dandy/Oro and Astro/El Brazo. It's technico v technico, so everything is all fairly well-mannered and gentlemanly, but Super Astro doesn't need to be fighting a rudo to do something spectacular, so there's some Super Astro rope running sequences that look like Super Astro rope running sequences. Porky/Popitekus match up and the crowd - as poorly mic'd as they are - totally eat it all up. When they run straight into each other it sounds like two gigantic slabs of meat being smashed together. They have another exchange in the second fall where Popitekus manages to slam him, and I'm surprised it didn't give both of them a heart attack (they're both PORTLY). The Astro/Porky exchange was great as well. Running underneath a Brazo de Plata leapfrog must feel like running onto the motorway and lying underneath a speeding truck. The big dive train had everything you'd want out of a dive train with Super Astro and two fatties. Dandy's bullet tope sent Brazo de Oro STRAIGHT the fuck up the aisle, then Popitekus and Porky give us an amazing 1-2 punch with crazy fat man dives.Someone needs to give Super Astro the Complete & Accurate treatment, btw. Yesterday.