#21: Villano V

by Phil

One of the interesting things about lucha libre, is that you have a huge group of awesome luchadores in their 40s and 50s who can be under the radar for years and then get some focus on them and have huge resurgences. We have seen it recently with guys like Navarro, Black Terry and Super Astro and last year Villano V comes out of semi-retirement and has the match of the year (What is Emilio Charles Jr., doing? I think it's time for his return.). He makes this list based pretty much entirely on the Blue Panther feud, but man was that a great feud. Mask match was the MOTY, and you had a pair of really great revanchas as well. I loved the way he changed from the mask match to the revancha matches. He was clearly working as an underdog in the mask match, but after pulling the upset he was way more vicious, contemptuous and aggressive in the rematches. It was the kind of character growth you don’t normally see in wrestling.

Recommended 2008 matches:

~vs. Blue Panther (Mascara contra Mascara), CMLL 9/19/08
~vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 9/28/08
~vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 9/29/08
~w/ Villano III/Villano IV vs. Black Warrior/Blue Panther/Último Guerrero, CMLL 10/31/08

Career Recommended Matches:

~w/ Villano III/Villano IV vs. Blue Panther/Pimpinela Escarlata/Entredorr, IWRG 4/00
~w/ Villano III/Villano IV vs. Black Warrior/Dr. Wagner Jr./Blue Panther, CMLL 12/15/00
~w/ Villano III/Villano IV vs. El Signo/Negro Navarro/El Texano, IWRG 12/04
~w/ Negro Navarro/Villano IV va. Dos Caras Jr./Heavy Metal/Solar 1, AULL 11/02/06

2009 Outlook:

Not great, as he lost his mask to Ultimo Guerrerro (which I haven’t seen yet, but to put it lightly Ultimo Guerrerro is no Blue Panther). His run is pretty much over, and I doubt he makes a 2009 list.