More IWRG. There are twenty days left in February. Oh Jesus.
Solar, Ultraman y Super Astro vs Negro Navarro, Black Terry y Signo, March 21st
I watched a couple of these matches from 2009, and they were good stuff, but this one seemed a step above those. The match is predicably built around Solar and Navarro, their first section is long but, at times, breathtakingly quick, and it seems like they deliberately stepped it up to elevate their exchanges above the first two pairings. They only had one fall to work with, so they switch partners. Terry, while less spectacular had different, yet equally compelling exchanges with each of the three opponents. I get the impression he leads the way with Ultraman, bumps like crazy for Astro and works equally on the mat with Solar. It really builds up to a crescendo - and a fitting one, with Navarro and Solar left in the ring for one more dazzling series of exchanges.
Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro y H. del Signo vs Pantera, H. del Pantera y Zatura, February 11th
The Cerebro-Zatura matwork in this was really nice - both guys are fast and slick and I could have watched more. Terry vs. Pantera was the focus here, and their interactions, especially their brawling, was top notch. Pantera sold a beating and his comebacks like a trooper (who, as the simile suggests, are notoriously good at selling beatings) and I guess they were playing off the fact Terry had just lost his hair a few days before and wasn't interested in playing games. It is really an all-out performance by him. There's a moment in the third caida where Terry gives a look and physically readjusts before going back into battle again. It's those little performance details that set him apart.
Black Terry y Doctor Cerebro vs Hijo del Diablo y Gringo Loco, February 7th
What I found, watching this match soon after the January match, is that cage contains and focuses the violence of the first brawl. I remember reading that once about the Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard I Quit match from 1985. That's not to say this match has the exact same feeling as that one - no-one here is Tully Blanchard, trying to get away from his predicament - but it's pretty intense all the same. The Gringos team do what they need to do, beat up the smaller Mexicans and bump around for their comebacks, but its the selling . I loved Gringo Loco faking out on a dive and escaping the cage - very no-honour-amongst-thieves.
Black Terry, Negro Navarro and Villano IV vs Ultimo Dragon, Blue Panther and Olimpico, April 24th
Tremendous match. Blue Panther vs. Navarro is obviously the banner matchup here, and it's as good as you might imagine. I've got to say that, strictly in pure matwork terms, I thought Panther was better. I'm aware that this really like comparing sticks and stone (when the task at hand is breaking bones), but there are just moments when Panther looks so effortless as he moves around the floor or rolls into a new hold in an improbable way that no-one else can do. Terry vs. Olimpico was also a really nice matchup - it's a different sort of long matwork section which is heavier on the takedowns and tussle, and lighter on and I also liked Villano IV as a chunky, slap-you-down counterpoint to the intricate beauty of Navarro/Panther. Dragon didn't actively offend me, although there must be a hundred other guys I wish had been in there. In his defence, most of those guys would probably be professional wrestlers.
Trauma I vs Hijo del Pirata Morgan, August 4th
I had high hopes for this, because I like a Trauma and I like pirates. As it turns out, it was all very OK, but I wasn't blown away. The first fall was all trading submissions, which was nice, but it wasn't the most exciting matwork I've seen in IWRG this year. I also quite liked the stiffness of their around-ring brawling, and both guys are not afraid to give a kick to the head, nor take one in return. Maybe it was that it sort of lost steam nearer the end, but I just didn't love it.
Showing posts with label lucha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lucha. Show all posts
Monday, 7 February 2011
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
A Bunch Of: Black Terry Junior Handhelds (part one)
So, IWRG seems like the place to see the wrestlers who should be occupying the top spots of a list of best wrestlers in 2010. The good news is that I have already watched some IWRG. I've copied in some old reviews from boards and drafts and things into this post, then I'll put new stuff later tonight.
Los Traumas I/II vs. Suicida/Zatura, (IWRG January 14th) - from an old and unnecessarily long review in my draft folder
One thing I really like about Trauma II is his long mat sections: watching him always feels like he's improvising holds as he goes along. I'm sure if you properly broke it down, they would all be variations on a theme, but a lot of his stuff actively feels like he's coming up with new things to do every few seconds. I really liked his, well, ah, the problem with his stuff is there aren't names for these submissions, so all I'm left with is redundant sentences like, "I really liked his submission hold where he bent Suicida in a number of uncomfortable directions". What I did not expect from a Trauma II opening mat section was that he's learned that the best counter to most unlikely lucha submissions is to punch his opponent in the face. There's a couple of sections where the Suicida-Trauma II mat sections break down into brawling, which made this feel like something a bit different. From there it descends, in a really good way, into just a brutal beating. Trauma II completely no-sells when Zatura misses a dropkick from behind and immediately slaps him on the floor. Trauma I blocks a Zatura tope by kicking him in the chest, then after Suicida was pinned both Trauma smack him all around the outside area. Trauma II has some great worked punches, even with a close up handheld they look great, and he mixes them up with audibly violent wild swinging slaps. This first fall was really great. After that, I felt a little disappointed with the next two falls. Both are short, but the way the first fall was set up, it felt like this should have been worked as a mismatch, with Zatura and Suicida only getting back into it by fluke. To me, aside from the opening minute of the second fall when Trauma I gets all knee-happy with Suicida, it seemed like they almost reset after the awesome beating of the primera. Anyway, I don't want to stray into fantasy booking, but the second two falls undercut the first fall, and the end result fell flat. Still, given that two third of the match was the first fall, the overall result is still a good match.
Black Terry/Dr. Cerebro v. Gringo Loco/El Hijo Del Diablo (IWRG, January 24th)
Tremendous brawl. Terry, in particular, eats an awful beating then comes back with one of his own, but all four guys were great throughout. Super-hot way to kick off the feud.
Negro Navarro/Black Terry/Dr Cerebro vs. Solar/Zatura/Suicida (IWRG, January 28th)
This match is absolutely dominated by the first fall, nearly 20 minutes long and packed full of some of the best wrestling of the year (which I have seen). Each pairing brought something new. The Solar/Navarro sequence was packed full of a selection of familiar exchanges and new things. I liked how, as it went on, the number of counters increased, as neither man was happy to be bested. There's something pleasing about one guy rolling away from a submission, only for the other guy to catch a stray leg and keep a sequence going. Terry vs. Zatura may have been even better for long, organic series of counters. This sort of matchup plays to Terry's ability to work with younger guys and adapt to them. It's one of the areas he clearly has the edge over Navarro. Unlike the 50:50 split of control in Solar vs. Navarro, all of these exchanges felt like the veteran in control, only to be one-upped by the younger technico. Terry seems to enjoy the sport of it, visibly smiling to himself at times. Finally, Suicida and Cerebro put an exclamation point on the matwork with an exhilirating minute of rope-running and an awesome tope.
And despite their shortness, I appreciated the second and third falls. They played off the themes set up at the beginning, and it makes sense that they should not be lengthy, given the mini-epic that was the first fall. That said, the climax really felt like it had been reached at the end of the first fall.
Negro Navarro/Trauma I vs. Pirata Morgan/Hijo del Pirata Morgan (IWRG, January 31st)
Pirata Morgan is, in his old age, as out of shape looking as Navarro is in great condition, yet he still moves with a surprising grace. His matwork isn't elaborate, but he works little things. I loved the section with him controlling Trauma on the mat through working on his leg, building up to the big enziguri. It was simple stuff, but done really compellingly. The younger Pirata matches up well with Navarro, he's a step behind and doesn't have as much ingenuity on the mat but he earns his handshake at the end. In fact, this match really highlighted the younger guys, first having them match up against the parents, then having them go for each other once they older two are eliminated. This leads to a really great, dramatic, hard-fought finishing stretch. I loved the visual of the two dads watching from the sides.
Hijo del Diablo vs. Dr. Cerebro (IWRG, January 31st)
Just a really well put together match. I was struck by how relatively simple all the individual parts were, yet it comes together as a fantastic whole. It sort of has the title match structure, but with elements of a grudge match thrown in (for fun, etc.). First fall is all on the mat, both guys working pretty straight. I think the relative simplicity of this mat section, compared to the more elaborate things Navarro and Solar might do, held allow the match a sense of gradual build, especially as the out-of-ring elements of the match kicked in. The second fall has Cerebro down, only to fight back. Again, nothing here was particularly complicated. Cerebro's blood certainly added to the drama of his comeback, as did the crowd heat. The third fall is where they bring out everything - topes, dives, top rope moves, seconds getting involved and a screwy crowd-pleaser of a finish. Cerebro's selling throughout is great - he really conveyed the stoic determination of a outsized champion whilst still showing the effects of the battle.
Black Terry and Shu El Guererro v. Negro Navarro and El Signo (HH, February 14th)
Shu vs. Navarro have a fantastic long mat section, packed full of nice reversals and intricate takedowns. Loved Navarro rolling away, with Shu catching him by the leg and pulling him into the next hold. The mount position stuff was really nice as well - the camera picks up Navarro scouting out his way in. Maybe as good as most Solar vs. Navarro mat sections. Signo vs. Terry is a less impressive mat section, but a tremendous brawl, Signo absolutely unleashes on Terry at the end of the first fall, opening him up (hardway?). This builds through the second fall with loads of violent looking stuff until the final showdowns, which are completely epic, Terry and Navarro slugging it out and looking exhausted. Plus the setting, which has been noted ad infinitum.
Sangre Chicana, Black Terry and Negro Navarro vs Solar I, Rocky Santana and Olimpico (UWE, February 13th)
This was some tremendous Solar vs. Navarro, really complicated and fast and several new things (to these eyes). But it's hard not to love Sangre Chicana as the sleazy counterpoint to the elegance of Solar and Navarro. It must say something not good about me, but I think I may have loved the three or four really amazing Chicana face punches as much as ten minutes of Solar vs. Navarro. Terry is playing third fiddle here, which is a bit of a shame. His matwork section with Santana was pretty nice, but it served as more of a warm up to the main event.
So, overall, Terry, Trauma I and II, Solar, Dr Cerebro and Negro Navarro are all top 15 candidates. Need to go back over other things to sort out the rankings, and watch more IWRG. Zatura and Suicida are top 40 guys, at a guess. Shu, Pirata Morgan, Signo and Chicana will make the list based on these single performances, probably midway down. I daresay I will find space for Gringo Loco and Hijo Del Diablo by the end - they were lucky to be matched up against the best guys in the world several months, but neither are slouches when it comes to brawls and general slimy rudoism.
Los Traumas I/II vs. Suicida/Zatura, (IWRG January 14th) - from an old and unnecessarily long review in my draft folder
One thing I really like about Trauma II is his long mat sections: watching him always feels like he's improvising holds as he goes along. I'm sure if you properly broke it down, they would all be variations on a theme, but a lot of his stuff actively feels like he's coming up with new things to do every few seconds. I really liked his, well, ah, the problem with his stuff is there aren't names for these submissions, so all I'm left with is redundant sentences like, "I really liked his submission hold where he bent Suicida in a number of uncomfortable directions". What I did not expect from a Trauma II opening mat section was that he's learned that the best counter to most unlikely lucha submissions is to punch his opponent in the face. There's a couple of sections where the Suicida-Trauma II mat sections break down into brawling, which made this feel like something a bit different. From there it descends, in a really good way, into just a brutal beating. Trauma II completely no-sells when Zatura misses a dropkick from behind and immediately slaps him on the floor. Trauma I blocks a Zatura tope by kicking him in the chest, then after Suicida was pinned both Trauma smack him all around the outside area. Trauma II has some great worked punches, even with a close up handheld they look great, and he mixes them up with audibly violent wild swinging slaps. This first fall was really great. After that, I felt a little disappointed with the next two falls. Both are short, but the way the first fall was set up, it felt like this should have been worked as a mismatch, with Zatura and Suicida only getting back into it by fluke. To me, aside from the opening minute of the second fall when Trauma I gets all knee-happy with Suicida, it seemed like they almost reset after the awesome beating of the primera. Anyway, I don't want to stray into fantasy booking, but the second two falls undercut the first fall, and the end result fell flat. Still, given that two third of the match was the first fall, the overall result is still a good match.
Black Terry/Dr. Cerebro v. Gringo Loco/El Hijo Del Diablo (IWRG, January 24th)
Tremendous brawl. Terry, in particular, eats an awful beating then comes back with one of his own, but all four guys were great throughout. Super-hot way to kick off the feud.
Negro Navarro/Black Terry/Dr Cerebro vs. Solar/Zatura/Suicida (IWRG, January 28th)
This match is absolutely dominated by the first fall, nearly 20 minutes long and packed full of some of the best wrestling of the year (which I have seen). Each pairing brought something new. The Solar/Navarro sequence was packed full of a selection of familiar exchanges and new things. I liked how, as it went on, the number of counters increased, as neither man was happy to be bested. There's something pleasing about one guy rolling away from a submission, only for the other guy to catch a stray leg and keep a sequence going. Terry vs. Zatura may have been even better for long, organic series of counters. This sort of matchup plays to Terry's ability to work with younger guys and adapt to them. It's one of the areas he clearly has the edge over Navarro. Unlike the 50:50 split of control in Solar vs. Navarro, all of these exchanges felt like the veteran in control, only to be one-upped by the younger technico. Terry seems to enjoy the sport of it, visibly smiling to himself at times. Finally, Suicida and Cerebro put an exclamation point on the matwork with an exhilirating minute of rope-running and an awesome tope.
And despite their shortness, I appreciated the second and third falls. They played off the themes set up at the beginning, and it makes sense that they should not be lengthy, given the mini-epic that was the first fall. That said, the climax really felt like it had been reached at the end of the first fall.
Negro Navarro/Trauma I vs. Pirata Morgan/Hijo del Pirata Morgan (IWRG, January 31st)
Pirata Morgan is, in his old age, as out of shape looking as Navarro is in great condition, yet he still moves with a surprising grace. His matwork isn't elaborate, but he works little things. I loved the section with him controlling Trauma on the mat through working on his leg, building up to the big enziguri. It was simple stuff, but done really compellingly. The younger Pirata matches up well with Navarro, he's a step behind and doesn't have as much ingenuity on the mat but he earns his handshake at the end. In fact, this match really highlighted the younger guys, first having them match up against the parents, then having them go for each other once they older two are eliminated. This leads to a really great, dramatic, hard-fought finishing stretch. I loved the visual of the two dads watching from the sides.
Hijo del Diablo vs. Dr. Cerebro (IWRG, January 31st)
Just a really well put together match. I was struck by how relatively simple all the individual parts were, yet it comes together as a fantastic whole. It sort of has the title match structure, but with elements of a grudge match thrown in (for fun, etc.). First fall is all on the mat, both guys working pretty straight. I think the relative simplicity of this mat section, compared to the more elaborate things Navarro and Solar might do, held allow the match a sense of gradual build, especially as the out-of-ring elements of the match kicked in. The second fall has Cerebro down, only to fight back. Again, nothing here was particularly complicated. Cerebro's blood certainly added to the drama of his comeback, as did the crowd heat. The third fall is where they bring out everything - topes, dives, top rope moves, seconds getting involved and a screwy crowd-pleaser of a finish. Cerebro's selling throughout is great - he really conveyed the stoic determination of a outsized champion whilst still showing the effects of the battle.
Black Terry and Shu El Guererro v. Negro Navarro and El Signo (HH, February 14th)
Shu vs. Navarro have a fantastic long mat section, packed full of nice reversals and intricate takedowns. Loved Navarro rolling away, with Shu catching him by the leg and pulling him into the next hold. The mount position stuff was really nice as well - the camera picks up Navarro scouting out his way in. Maybe as good as most Solar vs. Navarro mat sections. Signo vs. Terry is a less impressive mat section, but a tremendous brawl, Signo absolutely unleashes on Terry at the end of the first fall, opening him up (hardway?). This builds through the second fall with loads of violent looking stuff until the final showdowns, which are completely epic, Terry and Navarro slugging it out and looking exhausted. Plus the setting, which has been noted ad infinitum.
Sangre Chicana, Black Terry and Negro Navarro vs Solar I, Rocky Santana and Olimpico (UWE, February 13th)
This was some tremendous Solar vs. Navarro, really complicated and fast and several new things (to these eyes). But it's hard not to love Sangre Chicana as the sleazy counterpoint to the elegance of Solar and Navarro. It must say something not good about me, but I think I may have loved the three or four really amazing Chicana face punches as much as ten minutes of Solar vs. Navarro. Terry is playing third fiddle here, which is a bit of a shame. His matwork section with Santana was pretty nice, but it served as more of a warm up to the main event.
So, overall, Terry, Trauma I and II, Solar, Dr Cerebro and Negro Navarro are all top 15 candidates. Need to go back over other things to sort out the rankings, and watch more IWRG. Zatura and Suicida are top 40 guys, at a guess. Shu, Pirata Morgan, Signo and Chicana will make the list based on these single performances, probably midway down. I daresay I will find space for Gringo Loco and Hijo Del Diablo by the end - they were lucky to be matched up against the best guys in the world several months, but neither are slouches when it comes to brawls and general slimy rudoism.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Lucha Libre Mexicana in Brussels: A Day
Ah, Brussels. To me, the very name conjures up an image of the people of Brussels going about their lives and their work in the city where they work and live. Of course, whatever else you may think, there is one thing we can all agree on - Brussels is not in Oxford. Yet, that is where I found myself on Sunday morning, nine hours before the Cirque Royal hosted the second of two Todo X El Todo shows which I had a ticket for.
I set off at half five of the morn, first by car (Suzuki Swift, my flat to the bus stop), then by bus (Oxford Espress, bus stop to Baker Street) then by underground train (underground train, Baker Street to London St Pancras). I have never travelled on the Eurostar before, and it was an enjoyable experience. Recent air journeys has conditioned me to associate checking in and passport control with invasive personal searches and ludicrous restrictions on hand luggage contents, so it was refreshing to meet the bored eyes of an attendent who couldn't care less if I went through the scanner laden with metal coins and have packed in my bag a bottle of (non-clear) Apple Tango. Ha! The fools. They won't be so care-free when I work out how to make an explosive device out of metal coins and (non-clear) Apple Tango. I concede that the prototypes have been failures, mainly looking like damp metal coins.
I watched some of disc three of the New Japan set on the train (Killer Khan vs. Andre is a really great match, Bret Hart vs. Tiger Mask is a really bad match) and listened to Immortal's 'Pure Holocaust' on the iPod, then arrived at Brussels Midi at 12.30pm, Belgian time, and took the metro to Madou, the final leg of the journey. It was at this point I stepped outside for the first time since Baker Street. The first thing you notice about Brussels is how cold and wet it is during a freak storm which killed fifty people in France that day. I walked towards Grand Place for a quick ham and cheese omlette, chips and a Tongerlo Dubbel (brune, if you're asking), Belgian beer being a secondary reason for making a day trip to Brussels. Back to the theatre for 2.30pm, collected tickets, took seats.
The Cirque Royal was a really nice venue, seating down to floor level all the way around the ring, then a huge ring of balcony seats going up a long way. According to Santo, the Saturday show was a sell-out. This was not, however, but most of the lower seats were full. The crowd was a mixture, plenty of masked children in Rey Mysterio t-shirts with parents, some older rowdy teens and then plenty of couples both young and old who had gone out for the Sunday to watch some lucha libre. There was no-one there who looked liked they be chanting at a wXw show, for example.
The show started about twenty minutes late, which is practically early by most lucha shows standard. There were two annoucers, one in French and the other in Flemish due to the biligual status of Belgium's capital. I was waiting for Terry Wogan to summarise it in English (a niche joke, at best). They were probably doing the standard "lucha for non-lucha fans" spiel about lucha being about good vs. evil, technicos vs. rudos and then, out of nowhere they are both saying "Black Terry", and I shot out of my mental happy place where I retreat every time foreign languages are spoken around me. Black Terry is my favourite luchadore in the world, I was thinking only last week how I may never see him live as he doesn't seem to be one of the guys who does Santo's European tours. And there he is, first guy out. In a referee's top. Mother of fuck. Who flies Black Terry out to Belgium just to referee? I will tell you now: it was not a Jesus who loves me.
Anyway, we are five paragraphs in, so let's talk about the wrestling. The opening match was the minis title match, with Octagoncito against Mascarita Dorado (who, unless I've forgotten what he normally wears, was dressed as a mini el Hijo del Santo. A Santitocito, if you will). I thought this worked well as an introduction to the style, which is a good idea on a show promoted as much to art fans as to die-hard lucha fans. They started simple, with the rowdy teens ironically cheering every takedown and moved on to some arm drags and other lucha rope running stuff. They seemed to be having some problem with the ropes, which were too loose. Also, Dorada ended up botching a springboard moosault after slipping off the top rope. Octagon drew boos by pelting Dorada in the chest a bunch of times, and it was nice to be amongst people who aren't desensitised to that. Slaps to the chest, as we shall see, were a great way of getting heel heat on this show. I think I was hoping for something more spectacular though, Dorado seemed quite restrained. This wasn't, for example, the exhibition that Dorada vs. Pequeno Damien 666 was from last year, but then Octagoncito is nowhere near the base that Damien is.
Next up was Solar vs. Negro Navarro. They were wrestling an una caida match, so we got a sixteen minute matwork masterclass, as they worked through some of their extensive repetoire. They build up from simple takedowns to longer counter wrestling sequences and more unlikely submission and while I'm aware this may be a minority interest - it did not strike me that many people around the arena were watching this thinking to themselves, "here's the WKO100 third best wrestler of 2009" - I found it mesmerising. I think I may have been sat agog because I had the sense that the little Mysterio-shirted kid next to me was looking at me as if to say, "Whats so great about this? Where's the 619?". "Screw you, little kid", I said back inside my brain, "and watch these two guys take each other down in 619 different ways". Yes, I'm quite the quick thinker when I have time to write down an imaginary conversation nearly a day later.
I guess, objectively, it was about standard for them, but there were a couple of thing I found from seeing the live version. Firstly, they never stop talking. It's either meaningless noise or Spanish (the happy place again beckons), but it really adds to the competitive one-upmanship. Secondly, one of the reasons they work so well together is the way they split to roles. Solar is constantly interacting with the crowd, posing, encouraging them to cheer, whilst Navarro is nearly stoic, occasionally nodding his head when he knows he's been bested or sniffing in derision. Standing there, he looks like the toughest human being on the planet, it is an aura that almost can not be quantified, and only live performances do it justice. After about fifteen minutes of matwork, Navarro slaps Solar in the chest and the audience really react, whilst he slowly turns his head around to look at the most vocal with a slight smile and menace in his eyes. Just a tremendous performance.
After an interval of thirty minutes, they introduce a title match between Angel Blanco and Hurracan Ramirez Jr. This wasn't particularly good, and was the time during the show when my brain really went, "you booked this over a Black Terry match? He's standing right there, and he would have made Ramirez look amazing". Angel Blanco did some decent bumping, but this mainly struck me as not having many ideas, and the ones they did have weren't really well executed. They even did two near identical tope spots.
The main event was Cassandro and El Hijo del Santo vs. Magno and el Hijo del Solitario. Right up front - this was the most fun I have ever had watching a wrestling match ever. Before I start wheeling out superlatives, this was a best of three fall match with a classic formula: technico fall, rudo fall, comeback technico fall. Cassandro comes out and I will say (as a tribute to Eric), he was wearing a fabulous two piece robe radiating the same brilliant blue as the heavens from where he descended. This is what he was wearing the night before. He had unreal hair both days, looked truly beautiful and felt a confusion I had not felt since my corporal beatings in the headmasters office during my boarding days at Repton. I have seen two recent Cassandro matches previously, yet from those and (mostly) from this, I have no problem calling him the most spectacular wrestler, anywhere, in the world.
I love the reaction he got, which was identical to the first time I saw him in the London show. I didn't understand the tradition of exoticos in lucha libre, assumed he'd do an entertaining gay or drag queen act with a load of schtick. What nobody expected is the extent of his athletic gifts. His first armdrag and flip up are met with a collective "Wha?". From then on he continued to amaze a crowd that was already won over. His execution is perfect. His workrate is tireless - he'll go from one takedown, to a quick hip shake at the crowd then run straight into the next sequence. He drops in comedy spots before doing something else. I loved his rope running bit where he prances over Solitario. I got the impression from the short video on Belgian TV that on the first night Santo, maybe the luchadore with the all-time most beautiful opening fall work, did a lot more of his spots in the first caida. In this match he took a back seat and allowed Cassandro a complete showcase. They also both seemed to be having a great time, Cassandro was smiling almost constantly between bits, which could only add to the enjoyment.
Santo is someone I love watching so much that providing I see him once in a year, for long enough to go, "yeah, he's still El Hijo del motherfucking Santo", he'll appear in my list of the best wrestlers alive. I also really enjoyed the rudos. El Hijo del Solitario was hugely entertaining, from the moment he camply ran to the ring lip-syncing to AC/DC's 'You Shook Me All Night Long', thrusting himself into the turnbuckle. He ran up into the crowd at the start to shout at a teen, followed by Santo who walloped him in the middle of the people. Both rudos bumped all over and did everything they needed to do in a match all about the technicos. They both also had some really stiff strikes, I remember Cassandro taking an audibly nasty right hand from Magno to the side of the head, and Santo ends up sprawled across the front row while Solitario chopped him right in the chest. In fact, the rudos were so aggressive in the second fall that they had the old lady (and many others) next to me covering her eyes after a series of strikes, then a senton, then a double team assisted front lungblower.
The deciding fall finished with stereo topes (the ring rocking as our technicos hit the ropes at the same time), Santo's like a dart and Cassandro's with a little giro. Our seats were above to exit right in front of the ring, so the dives came towards and then under us. The visual of seeing Santo and Cassandro dive out of the ring and then right out of sight was amazing. The whole theatre, young children and elderly couples alike, cheered and laughed and clapped in awe and it was just a fantastic moment.
After the show I followed a similar route to the one I took there, only in reverse. I forwent stopping around afterwards for photos to make sure I made my train, only realising when I got there how much time I would have had to spare. In keeping with a theme I listened to Immortal's 'Sons of Northern Darkness' and watched a couple more New Japan matches, but mostly half-slept. I got home at half ten, British time, and then did the other half of the sleep. A good day.
I set off at half five of the morn, first by car (Suzuki Swift, my flat to the bus stop), then by bus (Oxford Espress, bus stop to Baker Street) then by underground train (underground train, Baker Street to London St Pancras). I have never travelled on the Eurostar before, and it was an enjoyable experience. Recent air journeys has conditioned me to associate checking in and passport control with invasive personal searches and ludicrous restrictions on hand luggage contents, so it was refreshing to meet the bored eyes of an attendent who couldn't care less if I went through the scanner laden with metal coins and have packed in my bag a bottle of (non-clear) Apple Tango. Ha! The fools. They won't be so care-free when I work out how to make an explosive device out of metal coins and (non-clear) Apple Tango. I concede that the prototypes have been failures, mainly looking like damp metal coins.
I watched some of disc three of the New Japan set on the train (Killer Khan vs. Andre is a really great match, Bret Hart vs. Tiger Mask is a really bad match) and listened to Immortal's 'Pure Holocaust' on the iPod, then arrived at Brussels Midi at 12.30pm, Belgian time, and took the metro to Madou, the final leg of the journey. It was at this point I stepped outside for the first time since Baker Street. The first thing you notice about Brussels is how cold and wet it is during a freak storm which killed fifty people in France that day. I walked towards Grand Place for a quick ham and cheese omlette, chips and a Tongerlo Dubbel (brune, if you're asking), Belgian beer being a secondary reason for making a day trip to Brussels. Back to the theatre for 2.30pm, collected tickets, took seats.
The Cirque Royal was a really nice venue, seating down to floor level all the way around the ring, then a huge ring of balcony seats going up a long way. According to Santo, the Saturday show was a sell-out. This was not, however, but most of the lower seats were full. The crowd was a mixture, plenty of masked children in Rey Mysterio t-shirts with parents, some older rowdy teens and then plenty of couples both young and old who had gone out for the Sunday to watch some lucha libre. There was no-one there who looked liked they be chanting at a wXw show, for example.
The show started about twenty minutes late, which is practically early by most lucha shows standard. There were two annoucers, one in French and the other in Flemish due to the biligual status of Belgium's capital. I was waiting for Terry Wogan to summarise it in English (a niche joke, at best). They were probably doing the standard "lucha for non-lucha fans" spiel about lucha being about good vs. evil, technicos vs. rudos and then, out of nowhere they are both saying "Black Terry", and I shot out of my mental happy place where I retreat every time foreign languages are spoken around me. Black Terry is my favourite luchadore in the world, I was thinking only last week how I may never see him live as he doesn't seem to be one of the guys who does Santo's European tours. And there he is, first guy out. In a referee's top. Mother of fuck. Who flies Black Terry out to Belgium just to referee? I will tell you now: it was not a Jesus who loves me.
Anyway, we are five paragraphs in, so let's talk about the wrestling. The opening match was the minis title match, with Octagoncito against Mascarita Dorado (who, unless I've forgotten what he normally wears, was dressed as a mini el Hijo del Santo. A Santitocito, if you will). I thought this worked well as an introduction to the style, which is a good idea on a show promoted as much to art fans as to die-hard lucha fans. They started simple, with the rowdy teens ironically cheering every takedown and moved on to some arm drags and other lucha rope running stuff. They seemed to be having some problem with the ropes, which were too loose. Also, Dorada ended up botching a springboard moosault after slipping off the top rope. Octagon drew boos by pelting Dorada in the chest a bunch of times, and it was nice to be amongst people who aren't desensitised to that. Slaps to the chest, as we shall see, were a great way of getting heel heat on this show. I think I was hoping for something more spectacular though, Dorado seemed quite restrained. This wasn't, for example, the exhibition that Dorada vs. Pequeno Damien 666 was from last year, but then Octagoncito is nowhere near the base that Damien is.
Next up was Solar vs. Negro Navarro. They were wrestling an una caida match, so we got a sixteen minute matwork masterclass, as they worked through some of their extensive repetoire. They build up from simple takedowns to longer counter wrestling sequences and more unlikely submission and while I'm aware this may be a minority interest - it did not strike me that many people around the arena were watching this thinking to themselves, "here's the WKO100 third best wrestler of 2009" - I found it mesmerising. I think I may have been sat agog because I had the sense that the little Mysterio-shirted kid next to me was looking at me as if to say, "Whats so great about this? Where's the 619?". "Screw you, little kid", I said back inside my brain, "and watch these two guys take each other down in 619 different ways". Yes, I'm quite the quick thinker when I have time to write down an imaginary conversation nearly a day later.
I guess, objectively, it was about standard for them, but there were a couple of thing I found from seeing the live version. Firstly, they never stop talking. It's either meaningless noise or Spanish (the happy place again beckons), but it really adds to the competitive one-upmanship. Secondly, one of the reasons they work so well together is the way they split to roles. Solar is constantly interacting with the crowd, posing, encouraging them to cheer, whilst Navarro is nearly stoic, occasionally nodding his head when he knows he's been bested or sniffing in derision. Standing there, he looks like the toughest human being on the planet, it is an aura that almost can not be quantified, and only live performances do it justice. After about fifteen minutes of matwork, Navarro slaps Solar in the chest and the audience really react, whilst he slowly turns his head around to look at the most vocal with a slight smile and menace in his eyes. Just a tremendous performance.
After an interval of thirty minutes, they introduce a title match between Angel Blanco and Hurracan Ramirez Jr. This wasn't particularly good, and was the time during the show when my brain really went, "you booked this over a Black Terry match? He's standing right there, and he would have made Ramirez look amazing". Angel Blanco did some decent bumping, but this mainly struck me as not having many ideas, and the ones they did have weren't really well executed. They even did two near identical tope spots.
The main event was Cassandro and El Hijo del Santo vs. Magno and el Hijo del Solitario. Right up front - this was the most fun I have ever had watching a wrestling match ever. Before I start wheeling out superlatives, this was a best of three fall match with a classic formula: technico fall, rudo fall, comeback technico fall. Cassandro comes out and I will say (as a tribute to Eric), he was wearing a fabulous two piece robe radiating the same brilliant blue as the heavens from where he descended. This is what he was wearing the night before. He had unreal hair both days, looked truly beautiful and felt a confusion I had not felt since my corporal beatings in the headmasters office during my boarding days at Repton. I have seen two recent Cassandro matches previously, yet from those and (mostly) from this, I have no problem calling him the most spectacular wrestler, anywhere, in the world.
I love the reaction he got, which was identical to the first time I saw him in the London show. I didn't understand the tradition of exoticos in lucha libre, assumed he'd do an entertaining gay or drag queen act with a load of schtick. What nobody expected is the extent of his athletic gifts. His first armdrag and flip up are met with a collective "Wha?". From then on he continued to amaze a crowd that was already won over. His execution is perfect. His workrate is tireless - he'll go from one takedown, to a quick hip shake at the crowd then run straight into the next sequence. He drops in comedy spots before doing something else. I loved his rope running bit where he prances over Solitario. I got the impression from the short video on Belgian TV that on the first night Santo, maybe the luchadore with the all-time most beautiful opening fall work, did a lot more of his spots in the first caida. In this match he took a back seat and allowed Cassandro a complete showcase. They also both seemed to be having a great time, Cassandro was smiling almost constantly between bits, which could only add to the enjoyment.
Santo is someone I love watching so much that providing I see him once in a year, for long enough to go, "yeah, he's still El Hijo del motherfucking Santo", he'll appear in my list of the best wrestlers alive. I also really enjoyed the rudos. El Hijo del Solitario was hugely entertaining, from the moment he camply ran to the ring lip-syncing to AC/DC's 'You Shook Me All Night Long', thrusting himself into the turnbuckle. He ran up into the crowd at the start to shout at a teen, followed by Santo who walloped him in the middle of the people. Both rudos bumped all over and did everything they needed to do in a match all about the technicos. They both also had some really stiff strikes, I remember Cassandro taking an audibly nasty right hand from Magno to the side of the head, and Santo ends up sprawled across the front row while Solitario chopped him right in the chest. In fact, the rudos were so aggressive in the second fall that they had the old lady (and many others) next to me covering her eyes after a series of strikes, then a senton, then a double team assisted front lungblower.
The deciding fall finished with stereo topes (the ring rocking as our technicos hit the ropes at the same time), Santo's like a dart and Cassandro's with a little giro. Our seats were above to exit right in front of the ring, so the dives came towards and then under us. The visual of seeing Santo and Cassandro dive out of the ring and then right out of sight was amazing. The whole theatre, young children and elderly couples alike, cheered and laughed and clapped in awe and it was just a fantastic moment.
After the show I followed a similar route to the one I took there, only in reverse. I forwent stopping around afterwards for photos to make sure I made my train, only realising when I got there how much time I would have had to spare. In keeping with a theme I listened to Immortal's 'Sons of Northern Darkness' and watched a couple more New Japan matches, but mostly half-slept. I got home at half ten, British time, and then did the other half of the sleep. A good day.
Monday, 12 October 2009
IWRG 18th June 2009: Trauma II vs. Zatura
I had a few other Trauma singles matches lined up to watch, but I ended up only watching this, and then a couple of other minor matches from the same card. The Piratas trios has its moments, but was pretty standard fare. I'll try and watch Dr Cerebro vs. Juvi tomorrow.
This is a title match, and it is a deeply, deeply pleasing one. The mat work here is focused on injuring bodyparts, which is somewhat unusual in this setting. I thought both guys looked great moving around on the mat, and the holds all were designed for submissions, not the kind of one-upsmanship you often get (to be clear, I like that style, especially where used to tell a story, but sometimes feels a little disjointed). The first fall is predominantly Trauma II in control, and he uses a number of painful looking arm submissions on Zatura's taped up shoulder. He's also not afraid to punch Zatura right in the arm in between. I liked the suddeness of the finish, with Zatura locking one of those all-limb, inescaple holds that is completely lucha. In a nice touch, the hold was predominantly controlled using the legs.
Over the course of the first and starting again in the second fall, Trauma develops (or possibly redevelops) a shoulder injury also, which is the focus of Zatura's second fall control. There's a moment where Trauma exits the ring to get a breather, and he seems to convey a frustration over how close he's come to losing in two straight falls. The second fall finish was beautiful - a rope assisted rolling takedown into a (again predominantly leg-controlled) arm submission.
The third caida is where they drop the mat stuff and go for broke. Trauma does a great corner powerbomb, Zatura later responds with a gorgeous top rope moonsault. They spill to the outside - Trauma gets a (OKish) tope. The last few minutes are really good. It descends into both guys throwing punches - a long way away from the early matwork - before Zatura tries for a pin with some takedowns. I feel like I'm in danger of over analysing the finish, but how I would like to see it would be that Zatura had to break his tapatia due to his injured arm (if you watch, you see he releases that arm first). This allows Trauma to reverse the move and secure the win.
The match feels like its included a mixture of different influences - the control and transition of the matwork is distinctly lucha, but the submission work feels a lot more puro/shoot-based. The extending selling of a bodypart as the main story isn't typical either. I thought they really managed to pull it off and achieve something that felt, for want of a better word, new and exciting.
This is a title match, and it is a deeply, deeply pleasing one. The mat work here is focused on injuring bodyparts, which is somewhat unusual in this setting. I thought both guys looked great moving around on the mat, and the holds all were designed for submissions, not the kind of one-upsmanship you often get (to be clear, I like that style, especially where used to tell a story, but sometimes feels a little disjointed). The first fall is predominantly Trauma II in control, and he uses a number of painful looking arm submissions on Zatura's taped up shoulder. He's also not afraid to punch Zatura right in the arm in between. I liked the suddeness of the finish, with Zatura locking one of those all-limb, inescaple holds that is completely lucha. In a nice touch, the hold was predominantly controlled using the legs.
Over the course of the first and starting again in the second fall, Trauma develops (or possibly redevelops) a shoulder injury also, which is the focus of Zatura's second fall control. There's a moment where Trauma exits the ring to get a breather, and he seems to convey a frustration over how close he's come to losing in two straight falls. The second fall finish was beautiful - a rope assisted rolling takedown into a (again predominantly leg-controlled) arm submission.
The third caida is where they drop the mat stuff and go for broke. Trauma does a great corner powerbomb, Zatura later responds with a gorgeous top rope moonsault. They spill to the outside - Trauma gets a (OKish) tope. The last few minutes are really good. It descends into both guys throwing punches - a long way away from the early matwork - before Zatura tries for a pin with some takedowns. I feel like I'm in danger of over analysing the finish, but how I would like to see it would be that Zatura had to break his tapatia due to his injured arm (if you watch, you see he releases that arm first). This allows Trauma to reverse the move and secure the win.
The match feels like its included a mixture of different influences - the control and transition of the matwork is distinctly lucha, but the submission work feels a lot more puro/shoot-based. The extending selling of a bodypart as the main story isn't typical either. I thought they really managed to pull it off and achieve something that felt, for want of a better word, new and exciting.
Saturday, 10 October 2009
A Bunch Of: Black Terry
It's coming towards the end of the year, and I'm catching up with some matches for some guys who'll appear near the top of my WKO 100 ballot. This one is all Black Terry.
First up, the trios between Cerebro Terribles and the team of Zatura and the two Traumas, from June 15th. This had a great matwork first fall. Zatura and Cerebro Negro had a nice long section with nice matstuff and armdrags. Trauma II looks really useful matching up against Dr Cerebro - I like flowing matwork where it looks like the moves between holds seem to involve some work, or leverage. Trauma I isn't quite as good, but he's in there with Terry, who leads him through some nice sequences. There's a great reaction by Dr Cerebro near the end of the fall after Trauma I gets Terry in a leglock straight out of his father's playbook. The technicos take the fall. The rest of this match is a little odd, as the Cerebros take the second fall and dominate most of the third falls, without much of a technico comeback. Terry works on Trauma I's arm for large parts of this, and Trauma does a good job selling his arm, although it doesn't matter for much for the match. There was a couple of time Terry seemed to be missing punches to Trauma, before I realised he was punching him in the arm, not the chin. Cerebro Negro seems to legitimately injure himself, leading to medical attention, which seems to throw everyone off. Overall, solid but not that special.
Moving forward to August 10th, and we have a Cerebros trios not involving Navarro or his offspring. Almost as good though, because this was the pirates. Who doesn't love pirates? I really liked this. It has a great opening - Terry ends up in los Piratas corner, and fights off all three with elbow, before Hijo del Pirata Morgan ends up in the same position, and does the same, and they have a huge standoff, and I thought it was glorious. Really long matwork fall to start. Terry and Hijo seem to really be working hard in their section, fighting for each hold. There's some cool stuff in there too - Terry stands on Hijo's hand to move behind him. Loved the faceoff with Barba Roja on the apron. I'm never sure who I like more out of Dr Cerebro and Cerebro Negro. Dr Cerebro does a lot more arm-drag type stuff (although there was a lovely long sequence in the middle with at one point the Doctor leveraging Morgan Jr over with a complicated looking leg entwinement), while Negro does a lot more holding on to limbs, moving between numerous holds in one sequence. I don't really have a strong preference either way, especially as their sequences always look good and they are working slightly different roles within the trio. The matwork breaks down with another Piratas breakup of a submission, and soon after a short rope running exchange between Morgan Jr and Dr Cerebro, the Cerebros take the fall with two submissions and a pinfall, all simultaneously. Very much a classic fall, with a classic finish.
The second fall breaks out of the matwork pairing, and moves into more intense brawling sections around the ring, with the rudos taking control. Los Piratas looked like a great unit here, during the triple teams. This ends with the Dr Cerebro and Negro getting back into the fall sending two of the Piratas to the outside, followed up with great topes (Dr Cerebro's is a real head first suicidal) before Hijo del Pirata Morgan throws his mask at Terry. Terry's reactions here are delightful, slowly working out what the mask in his hand means, then his protests to the referee as he was disqualified.
The final fall begins with the rudos in charge, but this switches over and then the Cerebros get to control with their triple teams, which are very slick. Cerebro Negro does a nasty looking double foot stop over the rope to the apron. I really liked the pacing of this match, especially the way brawling and triple team work was used as a basis to build upon towards the finishes. Each falls felt like a seperate encounter with an real sense of momentum and control. It was interesting to see the Cerebros working crowd favourites here, but also to see Terry win with a low blow - both equalising the cheating in the second fall, and a nod to old rudo habits. I wish the revancha the following week had been aired, because this is one of my favourite lucha trios of the year.
Finally, I've got Black Terry, Cerebro Negro and Fantasma de la Opera vs Dinastia Navarro (this is from IWRG on 9th July). This had an inauspicious start, as they break straight into brawling. I didn't think it was particularly bad, like ohtani's jacket did, just not very interesting. There is a point in the second caida, however, where Navarro gets really intense and starts fighting back, throwing great punches, which Terry takes exactly like he always does, rocking about yet still standing up. I love this sort of brawling - so often you see one person punching another, and the other running away, so it looks very weak. Here, Terry and Navarro are right up against each other, and it looks great. The fall ends with Navarro staring out the referee, and he looks like the biggest badass on the planet. The third fall is good, with a sequence of submissions and breakups, before the dives leave Terry and Navarro alone for the finish, which is exactly what you want. Good stuff.
First up, the trios between Cerebro Terribles and the team of Zatura and the two Traumas, from June 15th. This had a great matwork first fall. Zatura and Cerebro Negro had a nice long section with nice matstuff and armdrags. Trauma II looks really useful matching up against Dr Cerebro - I like flowing matwork where it looks like the moves between holds seem to involve some work, or leverage. Trauma I isn't quite as good, but he's in there with Terry, who leads him through some nice sequences. There's a great reaction by Dr Cerebro near the end of the fall after Trauma I gets Terry in a leglock straight out of his father's playbook. The technicos take the fall. The rest of this match is a little odd, as the Cerebros take the second fall and dominate most of the third falls, without much of a technico comeback. Terry works on Trauma I's arm for large parts of this, and Trauma does a good job selling his arm, although it doesn't matter for much for the match. There was a couple of time Terry seemed to be missing punches to Trauma, before I realised he was punching him in the arm, not the chin. Cerebro Negro seems to legitimately injure himself, leading to medical attention, which seems to throw everyone off. Overall, solid but not that special.
Moving forward to August 10th, and we have a Cerebros trios not involving Navarro or his offspring. Almost as good though, because this was the pirates. Who doesn't love pirates? I really liked this. It has a great opening - Terry ends up in los Piratas corner, and fights off all three with elbow, before Hijo del Pirata Morgan ends up in the same position, and does the same, and they have a huge standoff, and I thought it was glorious. Really long matwork fall to start. Terry and Hijo seem to really be working hard in their section, fighting for each hold. There's some cool stuff in there too - Terry stands on Hijo's hand to move behind him. Loved the faceoff with Barba Roja on the apron. I'm never sure who I like more out of Dr Cerebro and Cerebro Negro. Dr Cerebro does a lot more arm-drag type stuff (although there was a lovely long sequence in the middle with at one point the Doctor leveraging Morgan Jr over with a complicated looking leg entwinement), while Negro does a lot more holding on to limbs, moving between numerous holds in one sequence. I don't really have a strong preference either way, especially as their sequences always look good and they are working slightly different roles within the trio. The matwork breaks down with another Piratas breakup of a submission, and soon after a short rope running exchange between Morgan Jr and Dr Cerebro, the Cerebros take the fall with two submissions and a pinfall, all simultaneously. Very much a classic fall, with a classic finish.
The second fall breaks out of the matwork pairing, and moves into more intense brawling sections around the ring, with the rudos taking control. Los Piratas looked like a great unit here, during the triple teams. This ends with the Dr Cerebro and Negro getting back into the fall sending two of the Piratas to the outside, followed up with great topes (Dr Cerebro's is a real head first suicidal) before Hijo del Pirata Morgan throws his mask at Terry. Terry's reactions here are delightful, slowly working out what the mask in his hand means, then his protests to the referee as he was disqualified.
The final fall begins with the rudos in charge, but this switches over and then the Cerebros get to control with their triple teams, which are very slick. Cerebro Negro does a nasty looking double foot stop over the rope to the apron. I really liked the pacing of this match, especially the way brawling and triple team work was used as a basis to build upon towards the finishes. Each falls felt like a seperate encounter with an real sense of momentum and control. It was interesting to see the Cerebros working crowd favourites here, but also to see Terry win with a low blow - both equalising the cheating in the second fall, and a nod to old rudo habits. I wish the revancha the following week had been aired, because this is one of my favourite lucha trios of the year.
Finally, I've got Black Terry, Cerebro Negro and Fantasma de la Opera vs Dinastia Navarro (this is from IWRG on 9th July). This had an inauspicious start, as they break straight into brawling. I didn't think it was particularly bad, like ohtani's jacket did, just not very interesting. There is a point in the second caida, however, where Navarro gets really intense and starts fighting back, throwing great punches, which Terry takes exactly like he always does, rocking about yet still standing up. I love this sort of brawling - so often you see one person punching another, and the other running away, so it looks very weak. Here, Terry and Navarro are right up against each other, and it looks great. The fall ends with Navarro staring out the referee, and he looks like the biggest badass on the planet. The third fall is good, with a sequence of submissions and breakups, before the dives leave Terry and Navarro alone for the finish, which is exactly what you want. Good stuff.
Monday, 20 July 2009
A Trio of Trios: Cerebros Terribles vs. Dinastia Navarro (part 1)
Cerebros Terribles are Black Terry, Dr Cerebro and Cerebro Negro, and have been teaming together since 2008. Black Terry is, at this point, the guy I would most happily knock over my grandmother to watch. I mean, I'm not all that keen to do it, but if someone tells me that I am definitely going to have to knock her over, then there had better be some Black Terry professional wrestling behind her. Otherwise, it would just be wrong. Dinastia Navarro is Negro Navarro and his two sons, Trauma I and Trauma II. Black Terry vs. Negro Navarro would be the match I need to see in 2009. Anyway, someone loves me, because a bunch of their matches have appeared (and my grandmother remains blissfully unassaulted). Let's put them together.
All these matches are basically round four hundred and fifty two (and three and four) in their series of "Who's the greatest?". First one is from March 28th of this year. Primera caida is pretty much all on the mat. Terry starts out with Trauma 1.5 (I.V?) - I have no idea which is which, so I take their expected value, for five minutes all on the mat, and then Navarro comes in for another five minutes with Dr Cerebro. Terry's and Navarro's mat sections are very different though, and play to each guy's strengths. Trauma is game, and knows some nice stuff, and isn't lazy selling submissions, but Terry is leading him through the transitions and creating a competitive encounter on his own. There are loads of real nice little touches - he finds a complicated submission, but only holds it for a few seconds because of a sore leg from the previous bit. It's not Terry's most spectacular matwork ever, but I still find him compelling working with a less experienced guy.
Navarro is matched up against a much more experienced guy in Dr. Cerebro, and they engage in a back-and-forth battle of one-upsmanship. The transitions and level of complexity are much higher here - a number of Navarro's holds fabulously intricate. The last few exchanges up the intensity - Navarro counters one Cerebro hold with a version of his own that's slightly more elaborate, and then they properly hit the mat (rather than exchanging standing holds) for the last couple of holds and counters. They finish the fall with some rope-running from the Traumas and a couple of awkward moves - this is a slightly abrupt end to an otherwise excellent fall.
Terry and Navarro start out the second fall, which eschews all mat stuff in favour of brawling. They roll outside for a brief flurry from Navarro and a standoff and you really want to see more. What we get after is a pretty simple rudo beatdown fall, which is fine, with all of the Navarro's losing out to double teams and effective offence from Los Cerebros. This lead to the third fall which carries on in the same way until it all spills to the outside and we get another brief glimpse of Terry and Navarro brawling. Navarro throws some really great rights, Terry is ducking with jabs, Navarro boots Terry into the ring chairs - felt and looked really genuine. Overall, I think this comes in as being really good, but not really great. The first fall is great, and the second two are well done, with brief glimpses of hopefully what 2009 has in store.
I'll skip over the second match (the rematch from the following week) and move onto match three, which is on IWRG's TVC Deportes show from April 16th, in the next post. I can no longer find the April 23rd match in full, which up to this point was my favourite of the series, so I'll have to substitute in something else down the line.
All these matches are basically round four hundred and fifty two (and three and four) in their series of "Who's the greatest?". First one is from March 28th of this year. Primera caida is pretty much all on the mat. Terry starts out with Trauma 1.5 (I.V?) - I have no idea which is which, so I take their expected value, for five minutes all on the mat, and then Navarro comes in for another five minutes with Dr Cerebro. Terry's and Navarro's mat sections are very different though, and play to each guy's strengths. Trauma is game, and knows some nice stuff, and isn't lazy selling submissions, but Terry is leading him through the transitions and creating a competitive encounter on his own. There are loads of real nice little touches - he finds a complicated submission, but only holds it for a few seconds because of a sore leg from the previous bit. It's not Terry's most spectacular matwork ever, but I still find him compelling working with a less experienced guy.
Navarro is matched up against a much more experienced guy in Dr. Cerebro, and they engage in a back-and-forth battle of one-upsmanship. The transitions and level of complexity are much higher here - a number of Navarro's holds fabulously intricate. The last few exchanges up the intensity - Navarro counters one Cerebro hold with a version of his own that's slightly more elaborate, and then they properly hit the mat (rather than exchanging standing holds) for the last couple of holds and counters. They finish the fall with some rope-running from the Traumas and a couple of awkward moves - this is a slightly abrupt end to an otherwise excellent fall.
Terry and Navarro start out the second fall, which eschews all mat stuff in favour of brawling. They roll outside for a brief flurry from Navarro and a standoff and you really want to see more. What we get after is a pretty simple rudo beatdown fall, which is fine, with all of the Navarro's losing out to double teams and effective offence from Los Cerebros. This lead to the third fall which carries on in the same way until it all spills to the outside and we get another brief glimpse of Terry and Navarro brawling. Navarro throws some really great rights, Terry is ducking with jabs, Navarro boots Terry into the ring chairs - felt and looked really genuine. Overall, I think this comes in as being really good, but not really great. The first fall is great, and the second two are well done, with brief glimpses of hopefully what 2009 has in store.
I'll skip over the second match (the rematch from the following week) and move onto match three, which is on IWRG's TVC Deportes show from April 16th, in the next post. I can no longer find the April 23rd match in full, which up to this point was my favourite of the series, so I'll have to substitute in something else down the line.
Thursday, 4 June 2009
AULL: 16th May 2009
Negro Navarro vs. Solar is an absolute can't fail match-up. I'm relatively new to both guys, but I've never been anything other than amazed by the two veterans. Firstly, age has no effect on their pace - these guys can put together some sequences as fast as much younger guys. Secondly, both guys are old-school is the most meaningful definition of the term - their matches are built around the classic psychology of struggle for the upper-hand and superiority. Solar is a permanent technico, but Navarro doesn't wrestle strongly rudo. The focus is on the moves and the grappling, and that is rooted firmly in an old school mentality.
This match here could be a contender for lucha match of the year, and is a title match, so while 2009 has already seen some great instances of Navarro brawling, especially with Black Terry, this is going to hit the mat hard.
The first part of primera caida is a one-upsmanship battle of takedowns. There is an element of increasing complexity to each armdrag or snapmare as a form of posturing to the audience. Solar holds on after a hiptoss, rolls Navarro through into an arm lock and flips his opponent to the mat again in one particularly lovely sequence. From the takedown and reset stuff, they move through one shorter and then one longer sequence of complicated lucha submissions and counters. One of the joys of lucha matwork is the way leverage is used to generate some truly unlikely combinations. From a crucifix armbar submission on his front, Navarro moves into a position to be able to ease the pressure on his arms and follow round into a stretch muffler. Solar counters by taking one of Navarro's legs and moving around until he had the leverage advantage and Navarro was on his back. The blend of elaborate submissions but constant struggle for position is really the pinnacle of lucha matwork. They move into a quick rope running section, with Solar hitting several armdrags, a headscissors and a quebradora, before taking the fall with a submission.
Segunda caida is a more intense Navarro - bearing in mind he's a pretty intense looking guy in the first place - coming out to even the score with leg takedowns and a series of very twisty leg locks. One day I'm going on a course to learn the lucha names for all these submissions. Solar has a few counters here, but Navarro is in full maestro mode, and has a hundred different ways of positioning Solar to lock in another nasty looking hold. The double ankle lock one is really nice, holding on ankle, while locking and twisting the other with his legs. Both guys know to add in little extras that make the battle look harder - loose limbs are grabbed to add an extra contorsion to the submissions; Navarro wrenchs back on a headscissor. Solar seems to take advantage on the rope running section that completes the fall, but Navarro counters a roll-up pin with a complicated sequence of twists that leads to his own cradle pin, and then stops Solar running off the ropes with a rolled through front face lock. This last bit is breathtakingly quick.
The third fall does to an extent capture the idea of a final tussle for the winning combination, but I didn't get a sense of huge drama. There is again some impressive submission stuff in here - Navarro's mid air Indian deathlock is quite a feat of balance, if not strength, as was the campana hold. I liked the exchange between the two tapatias - again, the guys move around to manipulate leverage that makes an unlikely counter seem reasonable. The third fall also had a running section. You get the slight sense that Solar picks it up at the end - his tosses and takedowns seem more forceful. The finish made sense - Navarro misses an elbow, Solar follows up by going for that arm, before using the injury for an armlock/pin combination for the win and the title - but comes across a little flat, as there seems to be nothing particularly special about that particular combination. It's probably fits into their mentality of match-building - the combination of the intricate and unlikely matwork combined with the hard fought sense of struggle - leading to what could be considered a more legitimate-looking finish. Justifiable, but still flat.
Overall, while there is depth to this match, with subtle shifts in control worked throughout, they weren't particularly noteworthy. The wrestling certainly is noteworthy - really great, intense mat work and fast sequences between two guys who could have a good match together whilst actually asleep. A match I'll rank highly, but the lack of a stronger story prevents it from top of my list for the year.
This match here could be a contender for lucha match of the year, and is a title match, so while 2009 has already seen some great instances of Navarro brawling, especially with Black Terry, this is going to hit the mat hard.
The first part of primera caida is a one-upsmanship battle of takedowns. There is an element of increasing complexity to each armdrag or snapmare as a form of posturing to the audience. Solar holds on after a hiptoss, rolls Navarro through into an arm lock and flips his opponent to the mat again in one particularly lovely sequence. From the takedown and reset stuff, they move through one shorter and then one longer sequence of complicated lucha submissions and counters. One of the joys of lucha matwork is the way leverage is used to generate some truly unlikely combinations. From a crucifix armbar submission on his front, Navarro moves into a position to be able to ease the pressure on his arms and follow round into a stretch muffler. Solar counters by taking one of Navarro's legs and moving around until he had the leverage advantage and Navarro was on his back. The blend of elaborate submissions but constant struggle for position is really the pinnacle of lucha matwork. They move into a quick rope running section, with Solar hitting several armdrags, a headscissors and a quebradora, before taking the fall with a submission.
Segunda caida is a more intense Navarro - bearing in mind he's a pretty intense looking guy in the first place - coming out to even the score with leg takedowns and a series of very twisty leg locks. One day I'm going on a course to learn the lucha names for all these submissions. Solar has a few counters here, but Navarro is in full maestro mode, and has a hundred different ways of positioning Solar to lock in another nasty looking hold. The double ankle lock one is really nice, holding on ankle, while locking and twisting the other with his legs. Both guys know to add in little extras that make the battle look harder - loose limbs are grabbed to add an extra contorsion to the submissions; Navarro wrenchs back on a headscissor. Solar seems to take advantage on the rope running section that completes the fall, but Navarro counters a roll-up pin with a complicated sequence of twists that leads to his own cradle pin, and then stops Solar running off the ropes with a rolled through front face lock. This last bit is breathtakingly quick.
The third fall does to an extent capture the idea of a final tussle for the winning combination, but I didn't get a sense of huge drama. There is again some impressive submission stuff in here - Navarro's mid air Indian deathlock is quite a feat of balance, if not strength, as was the campana hold. I liked the exchange between the two tapatias - again, the guys move around to manipulate leverage that makes an unlikely counter seem reasonable. The third fall also had a running section. You get the slight sense that Solar picks it up at the end - his tosses and takedowns seem more forceful. The finish made sense - Navarro misses an elbow, Solar follows up by going for that arm, before using the injury for an armlock/pin combination for the win and the title - but comes across a little flat, as there seems to be nothing particularly special about that particular combination. It's probably fits into their mentality of match-building - the combination of the intricate and unlikely matwork combined with the hard fought sense of struggle - leading to what could be considered a more legitimate-looking finish. Justifiable, but still flat.
Overall, while there is depth to this match, with subtle shifts in control worked throughout, they weren't particularly noteworthy. The wrestling certainly is noteworthy - really great, intense mat work and fast sequences between two guys who could have a good match together whilst actually asleep. A match I'll rank highly, but the lack of a stronger story prevents it from top of my list for the year.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Lucha Matches of the Year 2008
Apparently I didn't post this. I've put together my lucha match of the year list. 2008 has been a great year personally, having been pointed in the direction of, and having been able to watch, a load of guys I'd never known before. Black Terry, in particular, might be my favourite guy in Mexico, but this year also marks the first time I've watched Negro Navarro, Freelance, Los Oficiales, a bunch of CMLL undercard guys (Arkangel de la Muerte is my favourite of those) and Cassandro.
Access to IWRG television has been an excellent addition to my watching, though I think it will be short-lived. I weep. I've been watching a bit of CMLL from the first half of the year, and it's been OK. I need more Panther stuff from the second half, though.
I went with Blue Panther vs. Villano V for my lucha match of the year. This irked me a little because my puro match of the year is the BattlArts six-man, and I thought it was a bit dull to agree with so many other lists (especially the Segunda Caida guys and other the Wrestling KO guys). But, both of those matches really are a bit special - the intensity, the depth, the violence of the BattlArts trios, and the unbridled emotion, drama and atmosphere of the mask match are unequaled in 2008. Happily (I have decided), it's just as interesting to see what comes after those top two matches on these lists. Plus, a choice between being a bit unoriginal or being a contrarian just to be a contrarian, isn't a hard choice for a credible fan.
I went with Blue Panther vs. Villano V for my lucha match of the year. This irked me a little because my puro match of the year is the BattlArts six-man, and I thought it was a bit dull to agree with so many other lists (especially the Segunda Caida guys and other the Wrestling KO guys). But, both of those matches really are a bit special - the intensity, the depth, the violence of the BattlArts trios, and the unbridled emotion, drama and atmosphere of the mask match are unequaled in 2008. Happily (I have decided), it's just as interesting to see what comes after those top two matches on these lists. Plus, a choice between being a bit unoriginal or being a contrarian just to be a contrarian, isn't a hard choice for a credible fan.
Anywhere, here's my final list of lucha. I haven't reviewed much of it here, unfortunately. I will try a do the London show at some point soon - Santo is still a treat to watch, and in 2008, quite a rare treat. Should also put the Blue Panther stuff together at some point as well.
1. Blue Panther vs. Villano V, CMLL 19th September
2. Freelance/Fenix/Pendulo v. Black Terry/Negro Navarro/El Hijo Del Pierroth, IWRG 3rd October
3. Mystico De La Juarez/Silver King/Rubi Gardenia v. Cassandro/Magno/El Hijo Del Santo, Lucha Libre London 9th December
4. Averno vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 4th November (YouTube link, because it's impossible to find)
5. Rey Cometa/Pegasso/Freelance v. Los Oficiales, IWRG 16th October
6. Atlantis vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 11th July
7. Black Terry v. Multifacetico, IWRG 28th February, YouTube link2. Freelance/Fenix/Pendulo v. Black Terry/Negro Navarro/El Hijo Del Pierroth, IWRG 3rd October
3. Mystico De La Juarez/Silver King/Rubi Gardenia v. Cassandro/Magno/El Hijo Del Santo, Lucha Libre London 9th December
4. Averno vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 4th November (YouTube link, because it's impossible to find)
5. Rey Cometa/Pegasso/Freelance v. Los Oficiales, IWRG 16th October
6. Atlantis vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 11th July
8. La Sombra vs Ephesto, CMLL 7th December
9. Negro Navarro/Shu El Guerrero vs. Solar/Super Astro, Monterrey 18th May
10. Rey Cometa/Pegasso/Freelance v. Los Oficiales, IWRG 9th October
11. Sombra/Volador Jr./Sagrado vs Hijo Del Fantasma/La Mascara/Valiente, CMLL 30th April
12. Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas, CMLL Guadalajara 3rd August
13. Perro Aguayo Jr vs Hector Garza, CMLL 21st March
14. Mistico/Marco Corleone/Shocker vs. Perro Aguayo/Averno/Mephisto, CMLL 30th April
15. Mistico/La Sombra vs El Averno/El Mephisto, CMLL Guadalajara 27th January
9. Negro Navarro/Shu El Guerrero vs. Solar/Super Astro, Monterrey 18th May
10. Rey Cometa/Pegasso/Freelance v. Los Oficiales, IWRG 9th October
11. Sombra/Volador Jr./Sagrado vs Hijo Del Fantasma/La Mascara/Valiente, CMLL 30th April
12. Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas, CMLL Guadalajara 3rd August
13. Perro Aguayo Jr vs Hector Garza, CMLL 21st March
14. Mistico/Marco Corleone/Shocker vs. Perro Aguayo/Averno/Mephisto, CMLL 30th April
15. Mistico/La Sombra vs El Averno/El Mephisto, CMLL Guadalajara 27th January
Friday, 13 February 2009
A Trio of Trios: Los Oficiales
Happened to have three trios from IWRG all featuring Los Oficiales (911, AK47 and Fierro) on my computer, so I thought I'd write them up together.
The first one is from 18th September this year, and is, slightly unusually, a rudos contra rudos title match against Black Terry, Cerebro Negro and Doctor Cerebro. The latter team sort of kind of take the technicos role, dominating the first fall, being beaten down in the second and coming back in the third before the finish. There's certainly enough "Terry" chants (not from me) to imply the crowd were siding one particular way.
The match is notable for being pretty stiff by lucha standards, which may have resulted from the all-rudos setup. Cerebro Negro in particular landed some hard right hands, as well as a couple of nasty-looking headbutts. There was plenty dropkicks to the face and punting the other team out of the ring. Terry is once again the star here - he led 911 through some nice matwork on a couple of occasions, is a great brawler when needed, and his facial reactions and little selling touches add some much. There's one point when all three Oficiales were controlling the ring at the start of the third fall, and Terry was looking for a way in, with a face drenched in concern, and his eyes darting around, looking for the safest way in.
Los Oficiales were clearly the most coherent unit here, as evidenced by much more than their uniforms. When they get in control, they have plenty of triple team moves to stay in control. There's a feeling sometimes of watching a violent gang mugging at times, too - they seem at times to move together, whereas the other tea, while in control, are a series of individuals, almost taking turns to beat down the other guy. Fierro seems to be more obviously athletically gifted, while 911 is the least elegant. The stereo topes showed this quite well.
Such discussion may actually be pointless, though, because I think I read someone talking about how they swap costumes for different matches. I enjoyed this match, especially the Black Terry parts, though Cerebro Negro was also up for the fight. I probably would rate it lower than a number of other trios from this year (especially the October 3rd one). The next two matches have Oficiales in a more traditional role as bases to some high flying technicos.
First one is from 9th October, and the opponents are Freelance, Rey Cometta and Pegasso Extremo. Primera caida is a decent Oficiales beatdown rudo fall - lots of triple teams (including a back body drop where Freelance hits an insane height), plenty of stomping, point gets made. The segunda starts the same way, until the technicos make their come back. All three hit over the top rope tope con giro. Freelance gets incredible height and distance on his, doesn't touch the top rope and flies straight into the crowd (and an Oficial) at an insane speed. Amazing stuff. The fall finishes with two 450 splashes from Rey and Pegasso, and a spectacular pinning hurricanrana from Freelance - he leaps up to stand on 911's shoulders, before dropping down and revolving with speed.
All of which sets up the third fall, which starts with both teams in their corners. Tne fall starts off with lots of exchanges with the rudos bumping around the techichos armdrags and headscissors. Los Oficiales strike me as being pretty great at this as well. Freelance lands and balances on the top rope before leaping off with for another armdrag, and then follows up with a dragonrana from the ring to one of the Oficiales on the outside, who is flung into the front row. The finish features a magnificent top rope quebrada from Freelance, a bunch of dives from Pegasso and Rey - one of them lands badly (and on head-fully) after undershooting their spinning pescado. Freelance takes the win with a sunset flip powerbomb, further the feud and leading towards a title match at some point in the future.
And here's the title match, recorded on 17th October - same team's as the previous week. Los Oficiales saluting each other before the match is grand. They are also wearing different masks to the previous match. Are they title-defending masks? My gut says they are. Both non-Freelance technico are here and not dead after that botched dive, which is pleasing. This match is a little shorter than the first one, has a lot less rudo beatdown, and a lot more crazy diving.
Primera caida has a bunch of nice exchanges, the most spectacular of which is Freelance one-upping himself from the previous week, again landing on the top rope, but this time jumping backwards into a hurricanrana. Fierro hits a wild tope, sending Freelance crashing back-first into barrier. The rudos take the second fall again dominated by the technicos, until Oficiales take control with some triple teams. The final fall is full of crazy dives from all three technicos - Freelance's springboard somersault plancha makes me jump in my seat. It comes down to capitan vs. capitan again, with 911 taking the victory this time, after kicking out of some stuff that Freelance had won with before.
I mention Freelance a lot, at the expense of noting all the fun stuff Pegasso and Rey do, because he's in a couple of steps above them, as well as most other technicos. His flying is pretty amazing, but he couples that with being pretty spectacular in between dives as well. He is fast between the ropes, and has about a hundred different armdrag and headscissor variations. He should be more well noticed.
Overall, the Oficiales come off as a really great unit - they bumped huge in that titles match, which I guess I liked better than the first match. AK-47 takes a couple of face first slides out of the ring that looked rough. They work as great bases for all the flying and armdrags and headscissors and takedowns, which is probably the most important quality in a rudo team, and they also look really dominant when in control. IWRG is the place to be.
The first one is from 18th September this year, and is, slightly unusually, a rudos contra rudos title match against Black Terry, Cerebro Negro and Doctor Cerebro. The latter team sort of kind of take the technicos role, dominating the first fall, being beaten down in the second and coming back in the third before the finish. There's certainly enough "Terry" chants (not from me) to imply the crowd were siding one particular way.
The match is notable for being pretty stiff by lucha standards, which may have resulted from the all-rudos setup. Cerebro Negro in particular landed some hard right hands, as well as a couple of nasty-looking headbutts. There was plenty dropkicks to the face and punting the other team out of the ring. Terry is once again the star here - he led 911 through some nice matwork on a couple of occasions, is a great brawler when needed, and his facial reactions and little selling touches add some much. There's one point when all three Oficiales were controlling the ring at the start of the third fall, and Terry was looking for a way in, with a face drenched in concern, and his eyes darting around, looking for the safest way in.
Los Oficiales were clearly the most coherent unit here, as evidenced by much more than their uniforms. When they get in control, they have plenty of triple team moves to stay in control. There's a feeling sometimes of watching a violent gang mugging at times, too - they seem at times to move together, whereas the other tea, while in control, are a series of individuals, almost taking turns to beat down the other guy. Fierro seems to be more obviously athletically gifted, while 911 is the least elegant. The stereo topes showed this quite well.
Such discussion may actually be pointless, though, because I think I read someone talking about how they swap costumes for different matches. I enjoyed this match, especially the Black Terry parts, though Cerebro Negro was also up for the fight. I probably would rate it lower than a number of other trios from this year (especially the October 3rd one). The next two matches have Oficiales in a more traditional role as bases to some high flying technicos.
First one is from 9th October, and the opponents are Freelance, Rey Cometta and Pegasso Extremo. Primera caida is a decent Oficiales beatdown rudo fall - lots of triple teams (including a back body drop where Freelance hits an insane height), plenty of stomping, point gets made. The segunda starts the same way, until the technicos make their come back. All three hit over the top rope tope con giro. Freelance gets incredible height and distance on his, doesn't touch the top rope and flies straight into the crowd (and an Oficial) at an insane speed. Amazing stuff. The fall finishes with two 450 splashes from Rey and Pegasso, and a spectacular pinning hurricanrana from Freelance - he leaps up to stand on 911's shoulders, before dropping down and revolving with speed.
All of which sets up the third fall, which starts with both teams in their corners. Tne fall starts off with lots of exchanges with the rudos bumping around the techichos armdrags and headscissors. Los Oficiales strike me as being pretty great at this as well. Freelance lands and balances on the top rope before leaping off with for another armdrag, and then follows up with a dragonrana from the ring to one of the Oficiales on the outside, who is flung into the front row. The finish features a magnificent top rope quebrada from Freelance, a bunch of dives from Pegasso and Rey - one of them lands badly (and on head-fully) after undershooting their spinning pescado. Freelance takes the win with a sunset flip powerbomb, further the feud and leading towards a title match at some point in the future.
And here's the title match, recorded on 17th October - same team's as the previous week. Los Oficiales saluting each other before the match is grand. They are also wearing different masks to the previous match. Are they title-defending masks? My gut says they are. Both non-Freelance technico are here and not dead after that botched dive, which is pleasing. This match is a little shorter than the first one, has a lot less rudo beatdown, and a lot more crazy diving.
Primera caida has a bunch of nice exchanges, the most spectacular of which is Freelance one-upping himself from the previous week, again landing on the top rope, but this time jumping backwards into a hurricanrana. Fierro hits a wild tope, sending Freelance crashing back-first into barrier. The rudos take the second fall again dominated by the technicos, until Oficiales take control with some triple teams. The final fall is full of crazy dives from all three technicos - Freelance's springboard somersault plancha makes me jump in my seat. It comes down to capitan vs. capitan again, with 911 taking the victory this time, after kicking out of some stuff that Freelance had won with before.
I mention Freelance a lot, at the expense of noting all the fun stuff Pegasso and Rey do, because he's in a couple of steps above them, as well as most other technicos. His flying is pretty amazing, but he couples that with being pretty spectacular in between dives as well. He is fast between the ropes, and has about a hundred different armdrag and headscissor variations. He should be more well noticed.
Overall, the Oficiales come off as a really great unit - they bumped huge in that titles match, which I guess I liked better than the first match. AK-47 takes a couple of face first slides out of the ring that looked rough. They work as great bases for all the flying and armdrags and headscissors and takedowns, which is probably the most important quality in a rudo team, and they also look really dominant when in control. IWRG is the place to be.
Friday, 6 February 2009
IWRG: October 3rd 2008
As mentioned in the Rumble post, I've been watching all sorts of things this last month, trying to decide my ballot for the WKO 100. Black Terry and Negro Navarro are two guys who until December I had never watched (to my shame, seeing as Negro Navarro came to London last summer). I have begun to realise that they are possibly the best two guys in Mexico at the moment, and they stack up pretty well against the best in the world in America and Japan too.
The most incredible thing about them is that they both in their fifties. Of course, while Japan older workers are still highly regarded because they make being older part of the psychology of the match, and in America older workers begin to rely more and more on their well known spots, in Mexico age never seems to mean anything. (Santo was as graceful in 2005 as he was in 1987). Black Terry and Negro Navarro are both guys who are as good on the mat as you will ever see - frequently mesmerising and awe-inspiring. And the opening trios from this IWRG show is as good an example of that as you will find. Plus, throw in three high flying technicos on the other side, especially Freelance, and you have the set up to a great lucha trios. Here we go.
The first caida is all on the mat. Freelance and Black Terry do a section of evenly matched and flawless holds and counter holds and reversals, before Navarro and Fenix tag in. Navarro then puts on a masterclass of matwork, burst out all his complicated submission holds, and an incredibly slick counter to a surfboard submission. Fenix is just there as someone for Navarro to wrestle around and stretch. Seriously, Navarro's movement between holds is spell-binding. The fall finishes with a Pendulo somersault tope, and a tidy little sequence where Fenix and Freelance avoid colliding, and Fenix sends Freelance over his head to land on Navarro with a pinning hurricanrana.
Segunda caida is a shorter affair, with Freelance armdragging everyone in every possible way, Pierroth and Fenix have a quick exchange, before Terry stops his momentum and take the fall with back cracker while Navarro rolls into a smooth indian deathlock. This just leads to the third fall, which is based around a series of convoluted submission holds being broken up by a member of the other team. Finally Terry and Freelance get chance to tie up again, finishing in a spectacular quebrada by Freelance, Fenix misses a moonsault, and Navarro and Pierroth finish him and Pendulo off with various lucha-y submissions.
I love this match - from the amazing Navarro mat work at the beginning, the glimpses of what a Freelance-Black Terry singles match may look like, the armdrag sequence, Pierroth clubbing Fenix, the pacing, and the one-upping of submissions and submissions and submissions at the end, leading to a satisfying series of dives and finishers that was exactly the right length. As a match to judge who is better between Terry and Navarro, it's a toss-up. Navarro's clinic in the first fall is unequalable. But Terry is more rounded - he bumps harder, moves faster, and is a better brawler. He's also noticeably more engaging as a performer - Navarro is all about competition through wrestling. Terry on points? Maybe.
The most incredible thing about them is that they both in their fifties. Of course, while Japan older workers are still highly regarded because they make being older part of the psychology of the match, and in America older workers begin to rely more and more on their well known spots, in Mexico age never seems to mean anything. (Santo was as graceful in 2005 as he was in 1987). Black Terry and Negro Navarro are both guys who are as good on the mat as you will ever see - frequently mesmerising and awe-inspiring. And the opening trios from this IWRG show is as good an example of that as you will find. Plus, throw in three high flying technicos on the other side, especially Freelance, and you have the set up to a great lucha trios. Here we go.
The first caida is all on the mat. Freelance and Black Terry do a section of evenly matched and flawless holds and counter holds and reversals, before Navarro and Fenix tag in. Navarro then puts on a masterclass of matwork, burst out all his complicated submission holds, and an incredibly slick counter to a surfboard submission. Fenix is just there as someone for Navarro to wrestle around and stretch. Seriously, Navarro's movement between holds is spell-binding. The fall finishes with a Pendulo somersault tope, and a tidy little sequence where Fenix and Freelance avoid colliding, and Fenix sends Freelance over his head to land on Navarro with a pinning hurricanrana.
Segunda caida is a shorter affair, with Freelance armdragging everyone in every possible way, Pierroth and Fenix have a quick exchange, before Terry stops his momentum and take the fall with back cracker while Navarro rolls into a smooth indian deathlock. This just leads to the third fall, which is based around a series of convoluted submission holds being broken up by a member of the other team. Finally Terry and Freelance get chance to tie up again, finishing in a spectacular quebrada by Freelance, Fenix misses a moonsault, and Navarro and Pierroth finish him and Pendulo off with various lucha-y submissions.
I love this match - from the amazing Navarro mat work at the beginning, the glimpses of what a Freelance-Black Terry singles match may look like, the armdrag sequence, Pierroth clubbing Fenix, the pacing, and the one-upping of submissions and submissions and submissions at the end, leading to a satisfying series of dives and finishers that was exactly the right length. As a match to judge who is better between Terry and Navarro, it's a toss-up. Navarro's clinic in the first fall is unequalable. But Terry is more rounded - he bumps harder, moves faster, and is a better brawler. He's also noticeably more engaging as a performer - Navarro is all about competition through wrestling. Terry on points? Maybe.
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
WWE No Mercy 2008
I watched this last night, and posted some thoughts on the DVDVR board, many of which I have recreated below from memory and also from copy and pasting. Overall, I liked all three title matches, and was not really interested in anything in the middle. Some parts came off like an segment on RAW, which was odd, but a person could probably spend too long worrying about such things. Because I bristle with positivity, let's mainly focus on the stuff I liked.
Henry vs. Hardy was as good a big man vs. little man sub-ten minute match as you will watch. It was the best version of the "smaller opponent goes for larger opponent's legs" story I can remember. Hardy got in a good amount of offence, and Henry made it look entirely credible. I loved the finish, where Hardy blocks Henry's slam by punching his leg before hitting his finisher.
I don't get the love for Show vs. Taker I've noticed from listening to various people. I mean, the finish is really bold, innovative and completely surprising, but the rest of the match was just WWE brawling. Fine, but nothing I'm over going to watch it again. I should watch it again just to make sure I don't need to.
Triple H vs. Hardy was a good slow build to hot finish section WWE main event. I winced at Jeff full back bump from the tope - that's really quite insane. The last few minutes were really exciting - possibly because there really was an element of wanting to know if they would pull the trigger on a Hardy title run.
The main event did everything I hoped for, and more. This was a ladder match where the ladders were weapons, as is fitting for the feud. No tables, no elaborate setups, no nonsense. The couple of bigger spots were well placed. I also appreciated some of the details - Jericho dangling by one leg as a nod to this year's MITB finish, the eye shot to make Michaels drop the belt and fall off. The tug of war at the finish was an amazing visual, and one of those things that really makes you think, "why has no-one thought to do that before?" The announce table spot made me think of the Mind Games match, and actually, I think that's a good comparison for this match - while similalry being built around spots, there is a natural progression and coherent story to the whole thing.
The best thing about Jericho's title run is that people will now stop referring to his 2001-2 title run as the pinnacle of his career. It was getting like how we Brits still talk about how we won the World Cup in 1966, or Americans still talk about how you won the Ryder Cup in, you know, whatever year that was. Also, this run will clearly be much better, and will replace any bad memories left from it - back then Jericho didn't have nearly the same strong character to base his few title matches around. This time, his role, and the tenor of his title run are well defined.
Henry vs. Hardy was as good a big man vs. little man sub-ten minute match as you will watch. It was the best version of the "smaller opponent goes for larger opponent's legs" story I can remember. Hardy got in a good amount of offence, and Henry made it look entirely credible. I loved the finish, where Hardy blocks Henry's slam by punching his leg before hitting his finisher.
I don't get the love for Show vs. Taker I've noticed from listening to various people. I mean, the finish is really bold, innovative and completely surprising, but the rest of the match was just WWE brawling. Fine, but nothing I'm over going to watch it again. I should watch it again just to make sure I don't need to.
Triple H vs. Hardy was a good slow build to hot finish section WWE main event. I winced at Jeff full back bump from the tope - that's really quite insane. The last few minutes were really exciting - possibly because there really was an element of wanting to know if they would pull the trigger on a Hardy title run.
The main event did everything I hoped for, and more. This was a ladder match where the ladders were weapons, as is fitting for the feud. No tables, no elaborate setups, no nonsense. The couple of bigger spots were well placed. I also appreciated some of the details - Jericho dangling by one leg as a nod to this year's MITB finish, the eye shot to make Michaels drop the belt and fall off. The tug of war at the finish was an amazing visual, and one of those things that really makes you think, "why has no-one thought to do that before?" The announce table spot made me think of the Mind Games match, and actually, I think that's a good comparison for this match - while similalry being built around spots, there is a natural progression and coherent story to the whole thing.
The best thing about Jericho's title run is that people will now stop referring to his 2001-2 title run as the pinnacle of his career. It was getting like how we Brits still talk about how we won the World Cup in 1966, or Americans still talk about how you won the Ryder Cup in, you know, whatever year that was. Also, this run will clearly be much better, and will replace any bad memories left from it - back then Jericho didn't have nearly the same strong character to base his few title matches around. This time, his role, and the tenor of his title run are well defined.
Monday, 6 October 2008
WWE Unforgiven 2008
I had this to watch before I put No Mercy on. Yeah, I know, I hear there's TV shows in between each PPV. I've been skimping a bit.
So the gimmick of the show was the three Scramble matches. I liked the ECW version, which kept the action going for the full 20 minutes, helped greatly by opening the show and having a fresh crowd. Plus, the finish was really exciting - you got the sense of panic as everyone frantically trying to find a winning move in the last minute, while Matt Hardy desperately runs away stopping everyone doing the same. Really believable and dramatic. The Smackdown version didn't have as much energy throughout, and had a much stupider finish. Why did Jeff not stop HHH's final pinfall, but go for one of his own? He was standing right there to stop it. Now, if they had done it so HHH got his final pinfall at 19:58, but the ref counted Jeff's fall as well, which creeped in at 19:59, well, that would have been clever. I did like that HHH had to keep his entrance to under 10 minutes.
I liked the tag match. Nothing original or groundbreaking, but they worked the formula fine, right down to the Midnight Express lure your opponent out of the ring to catch them with a surprise double team. A longer, heated finisher stretch would make take this up a level.
The Michaels-Jericho fight was another good installment in the feud. It was by no means perfect - I'd rather see a match built around "I punch your eye" than around gimmicked violence - the table spot, the announce desk spot, for instance. Plus, no blood. You have to escalate these things, and as there was blood in the July match, there are certain expectations. Basically, the level of hate-fuelled violence wasn't enough for the way it was sold by the commentators and the after-match angle. Michaels does an interview afterwards, and says that he is content, but not satisfied. I suspect he is also bearded, but not with beard.
The main was really quite slow - for the third version of the same match in one night, you would think they would try to find something new to do to keep the concept fresh. However, once Jericho made his surprise entry, then didn't do anything after his first failed attempt to hobble into the match, the finish was obvious. Not unappreciated though - Jericho's is at his very best right now (especially in his present self-righteous heel character), and Punk will be better off taking on another main event feud before a proper title run. I can't believe, a year ago, I was worried about him returning to be a pale comparison of the Jericho of 2000, or even Jericho of 2005. I need never have worried.
So the gimmick of the show was the three Scramble matches. I liked the ECW version, which kept the action going for the full 20 minutes, helped greatly by opening the show and having a fresh crowd. Plus, the finish was really exciting - you got the sense of panic as everyone frantically trying to find a winning move in the last minute, while Matt Hardy desperately runs away stopping everyone doing the same. Really believable and dramatic. The Smackdown version didn't have as much energy throughout, and had a much stupider finish. Why did Jeff not stop HHH's final pinfall, but go for one of his own? He was standing right there to stop it. Now, if they had done it so HHH got his final pinfall at 19:58, but the ref counted Jeff's fall as well, which creeped in at 19:59, well, that would have been clever. I did like that HHH had to keep his entrance to under 10 minutes.
I liked the tag match. Nothing original or groundbreaking, but they worked the formula fine, right down to the Midnight Express lure your opponent out of the ring to catch them with a surprise double team. A longer, heated finisher stretch would make take this up a level.
The Michaels-Jericho fight was another good installment in the feud. It was by no means perfect - I'd rather see a match built around "I punch your eye" than around gimmicked violence - the table spot, the announce desk spot, for instance. Plus, no blood. You have to escalate these things, and as there was blood in the July match, there are certain expectations. Basically, the level of hate-fuelled violence wasn't enough for the way it was sold by the commentators and the after-match angle. Michaels does an interview afterwards, and says that he is content, but not satisfied. I suspect he is also bearded, but not with beard.
The main was really quite slow - for the third version of the same match in one night, you would think they would try to find something new to do to keep the concept fresh. However, once Jericho made his surprise entry, then didn't do anything after his first failed attempt to hobble into the match, the finish was obvious. Not unappreciated though - Jericho's is at his very best right now (especially in his present self-righteous heel character), and Punk will be better off taking on another main event feud before a proper title run. I can't believe, a year ago, I was worried about him returning to be a pale comparison of the Jericho of 2000, or even Jericho of 2005. I need never have worried.
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