IWRG 8/27/09

More Slambamjam IWRG, god love Alfredo

Miss Gaviota/Star Boy vs. Carta Brava Jr./Vampiro Metálico

TKG: I dug the first two falls of this a bunch. Carta Brava and Star Boy match up really well as did Gaviota and Metalico. The crotching of StarBoy into heel offense was a fun transition spot. These opener tags sometimes fall apart either during the heel double team section or when the faces comeback from those double teams. It didn’t here as Metalico/Brava team have some nice heel double team stuff and both of he faces are guys who can do comebacks well. Unfortunately, it did fall apart during the third face dominated fall as a lot of stuff felt off.

PAS: This was the best I have seen Miss Gaviota look, I am not sure she is much of a wrestler, but this had a ton of really amusing well worked exotico spots. I loved the octopus which forced her opponent to wave effeminately, and all of the showing of ass and kissing was timed really well. I am with Tom on the first couple of falls being good, and the third fall not being good, although in the second fall Star Boy does blow a kip up about as badly as I have seen. It looked like if I was taking a Pilates class and tried to kip up to impress a divorcee.

Bushi/Chico Che/Freelance vs. Avisman/Fantasma de la Ópera/Gringo Loco

TKG: The announcer describing all the participants in the match says that Gringo Loco reminds him of the great touring artist of the seventies Kris Kristopherson. I didn’t know Kristopherson was a country icon in Mexico. And really never really associated him with Gringo Loco. But now I can’t separate them in my head. He mostly does a bunch of Alice Doesn’t Live Here any More heel shtick here although he and Avisman have a bunch of neat double teams including The Sunday Morning Coming Down double leg drop. Somewhere in the long first fall Freelance absolutely concusses himself performing a top rope leap into a rana. Fantasma does a swanton type headbutt to Freelance prone head. And the whole thing is absolutely scary. Freelance looks completely loopy and you expect the whole match to fall apart. Instead he gets back in for another two falls takes every bump for a chop on the back of his head and does a ton of crazy suicidal dives. I mean I think this was a good match but I really couldn’t pay attention to anything but Freelance’s toughness and insanity.

PAS: Yeah this was really hard to judge as a match, as the second and third falls are completely judged through the lens of Freelance being the badest motherfucker on earth. Minutes after spiking himself on the top rope diving rana on the mat, he decided to do the same move to the floor. He also does an Asai moonsault which landed really nastily into the crowd. Chico Che looked really great too, as he has some really great moments of graceful flying. Freelance wins the match and does some post match mike work which I assume was something like “I want to thank the fans of El Salvador for the welcome, Pineapple, Wheelbarrow, Turkey Sandwich”

Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro vs. Barba Roja, Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr. [EdM Trios]

TKG: The Piratas really felt out of their league here. First fall has Dr Cerebro matched up opposite Jr, ,Black Terry matched up opposite Barba Roja and Cerebro Negro opposite Hijo. Black Terry strained his arm on an armdrag had a doctor check it out and then had Barba Roja work over his arm. Terry is really good at the wounded tough warrior stuff and that may have been the best first fall interaction. The other Piratas looked completely lost working technical mat based offense. Second fall was rope running move fall where everyone switched up partners and third fall was all about the big moves where member of team runs in to prevent the fall. Piratas were way more comfortable in those settings. The second fall where they were most comfortable was short, and the third fall felt kind of mechanical.

PAS: Black Terry cuts a post match promo basically saying “It is good for young guys like that to get experience against wrestlers like us.” The match really felt worked like that, with Cerebros being polished professionals, carrying some green rookies through a match. There was individual moments of competence from the Piratas, but this match was 90% Cerebros

Head Hunter I & Sangre Chicana vs. Scorpio Jr. & Villano III

TKG: This is a bunch of old guys stabbing each other and bleeding. Head Hunter I is a guy with a lot of Japanese experience and really plays to the ring side cameras, there were moments where he really delivered a great Pro Wrestling Gold Abby v Austin Idol cover shot opposite Scorpio. The Villano III comebacks didn’t involve any DDTs and really weren’t as energetic as his comeback run in the trios match. Heels win two straight falls which is kind of an odd booking for a show built around celebrating 25th anniversary of Scorpio Jr in wrestling. All four do mic work post match and all four are really good on the mic and make me want to see the matches this set up.

PAS: Scorpio Jr. spent most of those 25 years as a rudo, so it is appropriate to have the rudos dominate. Chicana was truly the standout here, as he was pretty energetically running around stabbing dudes in the head. He really has an expressive forking. Lots of gory headwounds from old dudes, which is what you want from this match.