My Lucha Journey: The Marco Corleone Experience 2: Vs Ultimo Guerrero and Parejas Increibles 2012

aired 2012-03-03
taped 2012-02-28 @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
Marco Corleone vs Último Guerrero

10:47 for a three fall match with entrances (albeit shortened ones) doesn't necessarily bode well, and at the very least invites the idea of clipping. This was actually pretty good for what it was though. I'll catch Ultimo Guerrero however I can in the process of whatever I'm working on and there aren't THAT many mano a mano Marco matches out there. This was on CMLL Guadalajara and I'm not entirely sure what that was but the announcers seem to be enjoying themselves. I just figured out that this was RIGHT around the parejas increibles tournament for the year and I'm actually going to make a quick sidetrip to watch the Marco/Guerrero matches since they were paired for some context. Bear with me for a moment.

A few thoughts: Marco could fill time really well in short matches. The eightfinal vs Hijo del Fantasma and Misterioso Jr. was less than four minutes but he started it with a fun, shticky big vs little exchange with Misterioso Jr. I'm happy that Fantasma actually had a Phantom mask, in 2012. It also had probably the best dive I've seen out of Marco, as he just propels himself, no hands, over the top to the floor. They even worked in a little call back spot involving a sunset flip reversal. Not bad for four minutes. The quarterfinal vs Black Warrior/Rey Escorpion got a whopping two minutes. This was my first look at Black Warrior and it was just a glimpse. It was cute though, as Ultimo set up his foes for the Superman dive and Marco landed on all three (and pinned all three, which annoyed Ultimo). I know this tournament lucha is really slight, but you do get some extremely distilled character work at least. The semi was vs Rush and Terrible and clocked in under six minutes. Rush and Terrible were feuding at the time, I think. I've actually yet to see any Terrible of note. This was 2012, but Marco and Rush were part of a trios already. There was this awesome moment of hesitation where Terrible was holding Marco's leg in the corner and Rush seemed like he wasn't going to kick him and then he just unloads. What a jerk. He even followed it up by choking Marco in the corner. Rush is Rush. Marco's comeback was a lot of fun as he ended up leapfrogging everyone twice, it seemed. Unfortunately, Ultimo and Rush were paired off again so Marco didn't get revenge. Instead, he ran right into a huge superkick as Rush reentered the ring. They did a call back to the Superman leap on all three guys but this time, they all kick out. I love continuity within a tournament. Anyway, Rush and Terrible worked better as a unit and ultimately won the thing (after Rush held down Marco so Terrible could splash him). That was a nice little diversion and showed me what I pretty much already knew, that Marco works real well in a tag setting, especially in short falls where he can work to his strengths and really stand out.

Back to the match at hand. I'm not 100% sure if this was right before or right after the tournament but it doesn't really matter. All three caidas were understandably short, but the first, which was shortest of all but had good intensity, did raise one of the major problems I have with Marco. He took the thing with this goofy modified leg-sweep, and yeah, he hit it with some impact, but I don't think it's the sort of move that a giant in the land of lucha should be doing to take a fall. He should have used something that accentuated his stature a bit more. Sometimes he doesn't work as big as he should. It's a necessity, I think, in a setting where he has to continuously give his opponents at least a fall and make them look good and where he also has to face the same guys week in and week out, and often times he hits the balance really well, with some of his more aerial and fancy moves awkward in a way that works towards his character. Sometimes, however, it misses the mark and here I think it did. The flip side is that he's very good at giving his opponents quite a bit and making them look good. Case in point was the end of the short and fairly back and forth segunda caida where he goes up really high for a huge powerbomb that allowed Ultimo to put his feet on the ropes and pick up the pin. Also see his frequent spot where he does a missed body press into the corner and ends up stuck on the top rope in one movement, which he did do here.

That was part of a pretty heated tercera caida, where he also wasn't afraid to eat a pretty visually striking second rope goardbuster. There's good stuff in here, like a momentum shift when Ultimo capitalized on Marco gloating too much, or a nearfall off of Ultimo luring Marco in to do a flying body press and then reversing it. It felt organic, not just happenstance but like Ultimo was savvy and using his wits against Marco. The finish worked well too, as Marco hit a powerbomb of his own and used the ropes, in yet another call back spot. When I was watching a lot of Portland, which is all 2 out of 3 falls matches, I noticed that they used them quite a bit. I had thought that it was maybe just Buddy Rose being so good a pro wrestling, but I'm starting to think it might be a trapping of the medium. It's one of my favorite things in pro wrestling so I consider myself lucky that it shows up so much in lucha. Again, this wasn't a match of the year candidate for 2012, but it was a great way to spend ten minutes and another sign that Marco can hold his own in singles matches too.

The parejas increibles matches are below: