Atlantis v El Faraon (3/22/85)
Pretty sure this is the first time I've seen Faraon in a title match setting. Every other Faraon match I've seen has been full of forehead biting and blood and brawling, and I've come to enjoy him when he's doing that. This has none of that, but I liked him here as well. The matwork in the primera was pretty great, but I wish it lasted a little longer. Faraon's chain of offence to round out the fall did look really painful though, especially the spinebusters, and the finishing submission looked super nasty, like he was really trying to tear ligaments. Dug Atlantis working the arm for his comeback. A lot of his stuff looked like it was designed to tear ligaments as well, and Faraon rolling out clotheslines with the opposite arm in response was a cool touch. Atlantis hasn't set the world on fire through the first three and a half discs (that'll come, of course), but his tope still looks fucking killer. He hits two in this, with the second one being absolutely gorgeous. Didn't think this was on the level of the best title matches so far, but still really good, and at this point I'll take pretty much any lucha title match involving guys I have even a little interest in.
MS-1, Satanico & Pirata Morgan v La Fiera, El Faraon & El Egipcio (3/29/85)
This is not a hard match to follow. It has a simple formula with very few momentum shifts. One of the things I love about lucha is that trios matches in general have a really simple formula (which isn't too dissimilar to most kinds of wrestling match, I guess), but there's a bunch of ways to play around with it. Could be a hateful brawl where the rudos take the first caida by swarming and mugging before the tecnico comeback in the segunda. Could be the other way around, with the rudo mugging coming after losing the primera. Might have an opening caida full of matwork with guys pairing off. The pairings might not have any matwork to speak of, and instead they'll work it like a sprint with a bunch of quick exchanges and spots. Could be a mix of everything. This is really basic in layout and has like three transitions over the course of the whole three caidas. Primera -- rudo beatdown. Segunda -- tecnico comeback. Tercera -- free for all to the finish. It's about the most straightforward match you'll see. And it was completely awesome. It's actually not as wild and chaotic as some of the previous trios during the first two caidas, but the Infernales are an amazing pack of thugs, and they've gotten even better now after bringing in Pirata. How many guys in wrestling history have the sort of badass aura that Satanico does? You wouldn't need many fingers to count them. Infernales taking penalty kicks on Faraon at the end of the primera was fucking incredible hooligan behaviour. Feels like Pirata/Egipcio is the main match-up here, and in true lucha fashion it probably led to an amazing apuestas match that will never see the light of day. Pirata throws Egipcio head first into a row of fixed seats in the primera, then in an awesome revenge spot in the segunda Egipcio chucks him clean through the ring boarding (then he smashes him with a broken piece of it). There's a great bit during the tecnico comeback where you can see Pirata hanging around outside the ring like he's wondering if it's in his best interest to try and put that fire out (and in the end he decides it's not). Third caida is where this gets really great. It's like the rumble scene from 'The Outsiders' and just gets better and better as it goes. Really has everything you want in a big lucha gang riot; choking, biting, eye-gouging, fish-hooking, punching, stomping, postings, reckless dives...all of it. I actually thought Fiera was actively pretty poor for the first couple caidas and the weakest guy in the match by a fair margin, which isn't something I recall ever thinking about him before. He'd come in a few times in the primera like he was gonna deck someone, but then he'd just kind of posture a bit before leaving when the ref' told him to. He redeemed himself in the tercera though where he just about kills himself dead with a dive. He basically flings himself backwards from the top rope to the floor where he bounces off of Satanico and lands on the back of his head. I have no idea what he was actually trying to do. Match coming down to Pirata and Egipcio while the other four have taken themselves out on the floor was fitting as well. Yeah, this was great.
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