Bestia Salvaje, Jerry Estrada & La Fiera v Huracan Sevilla, Blue Demon Jr. & El Hijo del Solitario (CMLL, 1/24/92)
How's that for a fucking rudo unit? Bestia, Estrada and Fiera are like a gang of scummy, sleazy rapist bandits whose faces folk put on 'WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE' posters outside taverns in Dodge City. Huracan Sevilla is the bounty hunter tasked with hunting them down. Of course he picked a shitty goddamn posse to bring along with him. He really had no chance here with these kids. Blue Demon Jr. hits a decent enough looking tope (camera doesn't quite catch it, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt), but is otherwise just kind of whatever (which I suppose is better than wretched, at least). Hijo del Solitario pisses off Fiera at some point and Fiera abuses him in tremendous fashion the rest of the time. Fiera was pretty damn inspired in this, actually; spin kicking everyone and trying to strangle Solitario's kid for ripping off his bandana. Match only went two falls and did feel pretty squashy, but LOOK at those teams. There was really only one outcome for the tecnicos, and it wasn't them walking away with that bounty. Post-match brawl was pretty awesome as well. Fiera body slams Solitario's face into the ring apron board which, I mean, c'mon. I can't even do that justice.
El Dandy, Atlantis & Ringo Mendoza v Javier Llanes, Mano Negra & Black Magic (CMLL, 2/15/94)
This is the lead-in trios to Dandy/Llanes that people had been clamoring for for years. I actually think a couple trios from the feud have surfaced now, but I know this is the first of them I've watched. It's pretty much everything you want in a lead-in trios. Dandy/Llanes is obviously the central pairing; they make no bones about that, and as a result the other four guys sort of play supporting cast, especially Atlantis and Ringo. Black Magic and Negra are very much thug henchmen here, cutting off Dandy any time he starts to build up a head of steam against their captain. This also has to be Norman Smiley's finest hour in Mexico. He wasn't the least bit tentative and looked like a natural rudo shitheel with his interference and begging off -- the perfect lackey. He's always the first to try and shut down Dandy's comebacks, takes a splat bump to the floor by literally diving through the ropes to get away from Atlantis, does an amazing Indian "war dance" to mock Mendoza, and he celebrated at the end like Llanes had just picked up the biggest win of his career. He was a true ride or die lieutenant. Mano Negra only really had a few moments to shine, but they were great moments. At one point Atlantis demands he get in the ring and fight, so he pulls on his black glove like he means business only to be promptly dropped by Atlantis. First caida isn't a TOTAL brawl, but it progressively goes down that road into the segunda, albeit in fairly one-sided manner as the rudos have no compunction about triple teaming. The tecnico comeback in the second caida is basically a Dandy comeback. He's the catalyst for it, and everything leading up to that point really meant Dandy had to kick the shit out of someone (and all three rudos do indeed get popped, with Smiley especially deserving of being punched in the mouth). Third caida almost feels like a Dandy/Llanes singles match. They go toe to toe for pretty much the entirety, but fuck if it wasn't great. Best moment of the whole match might've been when Dandy finally decided he'd had enough of Mano Negra's horse shit by stepping out onto the apron and absolutely flooring him with a right hand. Killer match.
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