There Ain't No Grave Can Hold Black Terry Down

Guerrero Maya/Guerrero Del Futuro/Damien El Guerrero v. Cachurro Mendoza/Ringo Mendoza/Ciclon Ramierez CMLL 1/10/93- FUN

This is the kind of solid lucha libre six man which CMLL kicked out a half a dozen times a week throughout the 90's. Everyone looked professional and talented, and the structure was classic lucha libre. This didn't have the kind of stand out moments which would push a match beyond that point, but this is the kind of thing I wish CMLL still did more of. Terry is under the Guerrero Maya mask and he felt a bit in the periphery, there was a nice punch exchange with Ringo and all of his bumps looked good, but he wan't the focus. We got a fair amount more of Guerrerro Del Futuro and he looked pretty great, especially in his match ups with Ciclon Ramierez, still I can only get so enthusiastic for a Ciclon Ramierez match without a tope.


Black Terry/Dr. Cerebro/Cerebro Negro v. Negro Navarro/Captain Muerte/Durango Kid IWRG 5/21/09-FUN

PAS: This is the most Navarro v. Terry we have seen so far in 2009, and it was damn good, but not great. They have two mat sections, one at the end of the first fall, and one in the second fall. Both had some super slick stuff, but were done in the hold, release, hold style that most of these matches have been. I think the battle of technique stuff is pretty cool, but there is a point in the second fall where Navarro does a totally sick reversal of a Terry hold, and I remembered how much I miss reversals. The third fall is the brawl fall, with Terry and Cerebros doing a bunch of triple teams, there is this point when Navarro gets back into the ring and the intensity is palpable. He is like Kobe in the fourth quarter, the match really kicked into gear then, with two nice dives by Durango and Muerte, but the fake foul was a bit abrupt. Lots of promise here, but not a great match

TKG: I think Durango Kid is the La dojo guy who taught lucha to Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov but I’m not going to hold that against him.I really liked the dynamic in the Navarro family matches (especially the Xochimilco revancha) where you have this bad ass father who is both proud and very protective of his sons. He’ll attack guns a blazing if he feels they are being taken advantage of. You need to isolate Navarro to beat his kids. There is a neat reverse mirror image in the relationship between the Cerebros and Black Terry. The Cerebros are really proud of their mentor and have his back at all times. First fall ends with them running into ring to protect their mentor after he’s been submitted, second fall really is about them coming in to defend their mentor and support him in the fight, third fall has them taken out and Black Terry left looking (like a guy who starts fights knowing if shit goes wrong he always has tough friends who will back him up) suddenly alone. “Aw shit noone has my back now”. It should be said that the dives that took out the Cerebros in the third fall were just nasty dives that really looked like they’d take a guy out.Both had the hard look of someone dropping a heavy table on you.My guess is that Navarro never gets the trios title but there is a real awesome Dusty chasing Flair feel to this whole series (well back when Dusty chasing Flair was fresh) and this is easily the most exciting feud of the year.

Black Terry/Dr. Cerebro/Trauma I v. Hijo Del Pantera/La Pantera/Zatura IWRG 2/18/10-EPIC

PAS: Merciful Mother of Fuck is Black Terry awesome in this match. This was pretty much a three fall brawl, and I don't know if there is a better brawler in the world. He is just kicking everyones ass here. There was a moment in the first fall where he is faced off with Pantera and yells something at him and just cracks him with a headbut. It was a total barfight move. There is also a great point in the post match, Zatura is protecting a downed Hijo Del Pantera and Black Terry lifts his had as if to say "OK the match is over, we are good" and then he just sneak shots Zatura in the chops. I am reading a biography of Gene Tunney and Terry reminds me of the Pittsburgh Windmill Harry Greb. Greb was the master of dirty fighting, he is described as a guy talented enough to win cleanly but his temperament caused him to take every advantage in the ring. That is how Terry felt to me here. For this kind of brawl, Trauma I is a way better third rudo then Hijo Del Signo, he is such a nasty bruiser and totally the guy you would want watching your back in this kind of bar fight.

TKG: This was a blast. Pantera is a guy who normally does lots of Walking Tall selling, here he did more Dusty beat down struggling to walk tall selling. He constantly had this “what the hell did I do to deserve this” look on his face. After he had already been isolated and triple teamed in the ring and forced to roll to floor to try to regain composure, Pantera crawls back in a second time to go through whole process again. Pantera’s selling of the whole Sisyphean nature of reentering a brawl after you’ve taken a beating is awesome. I have mixed feelings on the Hijo del Signo v Trauma I question here. This is a superlibre match and yeah you want Trauma I in a no DQ match beating people down. And he did a ok job (although not as impressive as last time) at selling for Hijo Del Pantera’s flying. But there were moments where I though we missed the Hijo del Signo/Hijo Del Diablo “young guys as equals dynamic”. As I had a hard time buying Hijo del Pantera when he wasn’t playing victim role. Pantera trades punches then headbutts and posts Dr Cerebro. And it’s only after that, that Hijo del Pantera gets in his offense run against Cerebro. And Hijo del Pantera as a guy who can only get in cheap shots on a hurt opponent makes for a weird baby face. Oh yeah let me echo Phil here: Merciful Mother of Fuck is Black Terry awesome in this match.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY