The Alamo Busters (or the Original Guerreros)!

Chavo & Hector Guerrero v Shawn Michaels & Mike Jackson (11/8/84)

How about that for an all-star babyface team? Michaels was 19 here and looked 14. Mike Jackson was probably in his thirties and looked 44, like he always did. Was this the Midnight Rockers version of Eaton and Koko Ware's Midnight Express that never was? In an alternate universe did Michaels fling Mike Jackson through a barber shop window? This was the Guerreros' debut in Mid-South, though they'd been killing it in Houston for a while. You can figure out how this went; the Guerreros got four minutes to do their thing, the babyfaces landed a few hits, but ultimately the result was never in question. Jackson's rolling single leg crab looked slick as you like, at least. He strung together a few dropkicks, then in one of those cool little bits of attention to detail you get in Guerreros matches, his last attempt was thwarted when Chavo shoved Hector out the way. Hector's twisting splash always looks a million bucks and it's been a minute since I've seen that double team finisher. 


Chavo & Hector Guerrero v Brickhouse Brown & Master G (Mid-South, 11/22/84)

I obviously love the Guerreros. They're a huge personal favourite of mine and whether it's a three minute studio match or a twenty minute arena match, a tag match or they're working singles, I'll be interested in watching it. I love the Guerreros. But beyond that they feel pretty clearly and legitimately like one of the best tag teams of the 80s. They're creative as heck and it's fairly evident that they try to add fresh new wrinkles into everything they do. This time Chavo hit a headscissor takedown on Master G and that started off a sequence of G hitting several headscissor takedowns on both Guerreros. They underestimated his big tall fella agility! That then led to G holding onto the top rope as he had another headscissors on a standing Chavo, and as Hector came around on the apron G swung Chavo through the ropes and into his brother's kneecaps to knock him off the apron. Finish was cool as well, with Brickhouse grabbing Hector in an airplane spin and Chavo whacking him in the gut with a bandoleer. Just a super fun little four minute TV match, which is the Guerreros' bread and butter. Watts remarking that they don't look the way Americans would typically think Mexicans look because they're not itinerant farmers or labourers, and in fact own condominiums in Texas and drive a Porsche, was...well it was something, I guess. 1984 was wild as fuck.


Chavo & Hector Guerrero v Rock n Roll Express v The Fantastics v Midnight Express (Mid-South, 2/10/85)

What a frustrating thing this is. Not because of anything the wrestlers did -- that was about as good as you'd expect from everyone involved. I mean look at those names, you know what you're getting. We just have a deeply unfortunate big stupid bastard commercial break that cuts out not only what appeared to be a Tommy Rogers in peril segment, but a lengthy Ricky Morton in peril segment as well. And lots of Guerreros shenanigans as Joel Watts explains on commentary how Chavo and Hector bludgeoned Morton with their bandoleers! I'll assume this would've been top 20 on the Mid-South set if we had it in full. Maybe the uncut version is sitting pretty in a WWE vault somewhere. Anyhow the Guerreros are so good. Hector gets popped by a Morton right hand and takes an amazing face-first bump to the canvas, then gets up and popped again and takes an amazing bump onto his back. Chavo's horse shit on the apron ruled and at one point he dropkicked Bobby Fulton in the arse through the ropes. And then their offence is impeccable as Chavo fucking murders Rogers with the greatest delayed northern lights suplex we've ever seen. It goes to commercial right as Hector hits a butterfly suplex and you just know for a fact the Rogers beatdown would've been immense. Somehow this is Joel Watts' fault. Leading up to that we got lots of fun interactions between all four teams, everybody playing some chess, some guys trying to strategically effectuate certain match-ups. The RnRs and Fantastics are on good terms and bask equally in any humiliation of the other two teams. When Rogers and Morton end up in there together - which Cornette just gleams at - they have a nice respectful exchange. They trade a couple headlocks, a few snap armdrags, it was almost a precursor to your indie standoff of the future. Then they fist bump in acknowledgement and go punch a Guerrero or Midnight Express member, which of course counts as a legal tag. The Midnights/RnRs section at the end probably wasn't on the level of their absolute best stuff together, but it's these guys, it's a bloody foreheaded Ricky Morton getting pummeled, it's Dennis Condrey dropping knees on his throat, it's Cornette battering someone with a shoe. Come on, this was never going to be anything short of good. You just know there was an incredible part that we missed out on.