My Lucha Journey: The Marco Corleone Experience 4: Blue Panther, Marco Corleone, Negro Casas vs Atlantis, Mephisto, Toscano

CMLL Guerreros del Ring on 52MX: 2007-06-09
taped 2007-06-03 @ Arena Coliseo
Blue Panther, Marco Corleone, Negro Casas vs Atlantis, Mephisto, Toscano

So I gave a few reasons for watching these matches before. Here's another. It unlocks other things for me. For anyone reading, please do not underestimate my lack of knowledge here. I know what I know and it's really not all that much. Straight off the bat, this is my first look at Tuscano/Tarzan boy, my first real look at tecnico Casas, and most important of all, my first look at rudo Atlantis. Look, I didn't even know that that he had been a rudo, especially not for so long, and I think in a lot of ways, he was the highlight of this match. Also, I just said that I couldn't go around watching up all the Blue Panther/Negro Casas matches out there and then I immediately went and watched one, but the third guy is Marco so it's relevant for this.

This was a pretty formulaic match, but the talent involved made it worth watching. It was also a good look at Marco in 2007. I had gone through a few AAA matches just to see what things were like there as this project allowed for it and between the blatantly rudo ref and the matches-as-angles and the disjointed spotfest feel of what I watched, I'm going to hit a few 2007 matches and probably move on. I'll talk up Atlantis and the match in a moment. The biggest difference with Marco from 2007 to today is that a lot of what looks fairly awkward today he was able to hit more cleanly then. It makes sense as he's gotten older, he's lost a step physically, but his jumps were higher, his body presses and clotheslines smoother, and he had a really impressive dropkick that he can't call upon anymore. The flip side is that a lot of the flourishes, timing, and nuances he works in now (and they're relatively minimal compared to someone like Casas but still worthwhile and worth noting, I think) hadn't developed yet. Instead he almost constantly was flapping his arms like an eagle. It got old very, very quickly though it did give the rudos something to do by mocking it.

Anyway, like I said, the match was fairly formulaic. Early on the rudos controlled, including some really fun work by Atlantis in keeping Marco off balance and off his feet. The tecnicos came back through Marco doing really what he does best, play the role of the explosive and powerful tecnico force that can change the momentum with one big move, this time a body press reversal on all three rudos leading to the fall. The tecnicos controlled into the segunda caida until Panther went for Atlantis' mask, which was distracting enough that the rudos were able to triple team and after a pretty good beat down take the fall. I still haven't seen much of him but Mephisto conveyed a very solid bullying physical presence. It stood out. Toscano, on the other hand, really didn't stand out to me save for some very effective arm flapping mocking. This also wasn't a great Panther showcase. The beatdown continued into the tercera caida, with my favorite part being Atlantis positioning guys to eat Mephisto's kicks from the inside out. Eventually Marco hit another splash on everyone to turn the tide and Casas kicked out some really great offense (Rush's corner dropkick. Two great postings on Mephisto on the outside, etc). It ended with Panther and Casas holding up two rudos at once as Marco hit a big dropkick on both.

It's funny because I'm not usually one to say this, but despite being so much better at character work and fitting into more elaborate spots, I almost think that in a match like this, where there are a few really great luchadors, Marco was more useful in 2007 where he could hit a few more big moves and a few of the ones he still does now more smoothly. Not every match will have Casas, Panther, and Atlantis in it though. It goes back to the importance of roles in lucha, which is a concept that does exist in other styles of wrestling but not to this degree. My other big takeaway is that I'm going to watch a heck of a lot more rudo Atlantis later on. By this point, only four matches in, I have a pretty good feel for Marco. I'm still going to do a few more though, because like I said, having some focus to what I'm looking at just unlocks other things since it gives me a bridge into whatever I want to look at next.