MLJ: Guerreros del Infierno Bonus: Emilio Charles Jr., Rey Bucanero, Satánico vs Apolo Dantés, Black Warrior, Dr. Wagner Jr. [CMLL TRIOS, torneo, final]

1997-03-21 @ Arena México
Emilio Charles Jr., Rey Bucanero, Satánico vs Apolo Dantés, Black Warrior, Dr. Wagner Jr. [CMLL TRIOS, torneo, final]

I wanted one more match to ride out the week and it was between this and Satanico vs Mascara Magica. That was before Magica went heel with GdI though so it didn't seem to fit as much. Also, it wasn't as compelling and if I'm going to do Satanico apuestas matches, there are much better ones to choose.

This, on the other hand, looked interesting on paper. It's the youngest I've ever seen Bucanero (21 here), and also the only time I've seen him with his mask (he lost it to Shocker two years later). This was a one-fall final to the CMLL Trios Tournament which took place after Garza jumped to AAA (He'd been teaming with La Fiera and Dos Caras which is a pretty weird team for 1997). Satanico, Charles, and Bucanero had gone through Shinobi, Tsubuasa and Ultraman, Jr, and Atlantis, Lizmark, and Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. to get here. Interesting that they'd finish it with a rudos vs rudos pairing.

A word on Bucanero before we start. I think, in the grand scheme of things, it's tempting to call him an underachiever in his career, especially compared to his contemporaries like Shocker and Ultimo Guerrero, and I certainly went through his tecnico turn and how disappointing that was. This was almost twenty years ago though, and in the crazy non-booked world of CMLL, he's still relevant, even as late as just a few months ago. I don't think he was always the most talented wrestler, and that's true here, in 2001, in 2006, and today, but I do think he's matured into a very skilled one. I love that match with Mistico in 2010, for instance, and that's all on him being a skilled, canny, experienced rudo, and he can still put on performances like that today.

Again, this was just one caida, so they ran through the pairings, Satanico and Wagner, Charles and Dantes, and Bucanero, and Warrior, and then picked up the pace to take things home. I really need to see more Charles. He's good in everything I've seen him in so far. I like Dantes as a sort of opportunistic rudo in the two matches I've seen with him. Warrior was young here and he's generally fine but often I lose track of him in trios matches. It's always surreal to me to see Wagner so colorless, both literally and in his actions; I'm used to him being this larger than life superhero, hamming it up in both the best and the worst ways.

Even subdued, he was a lot of fun paired with Satanico to start things off. They had a few minutes of solid matwork with the highlight probably being Satanico kicking out the Mil Mascaras/Hijo del Santo prone cross-legged headscissors takeovers, which was more than a little surreal to see, being the world's most tecnico hold. The best part was at the end however, when following a top wristlock war, they went head to head like rams:

The other pairings went quickly. Dantes played to the crowd (just as Satanico had introduced some tecnico offense given the situation). He and Charles did a bunch of reversals and some equal matwork. Bucanero and Warrior were there for rope running and arm drags and what not. It was fine but not really memorable. Then they started to switch things up with escalating action and neither side having an advantage. It felt a bit like elements of a primera that led right into elements of a finishing stretch tercera.

It closed out with a couple of big dives. First Satanico hit an awesome senton from the apron on Wagner:

Then Charles hit a tope suicida which actually caused the crowd to move in preparation. Usually they just stand there like deer in headlights:

That cleared things out for Bucanero vs Warrior. After eating an electric chair drop on a victory roll reversal, Rey hit a powerbomb reversal of a 'rana out of nowhere and picked up the win for his team. Fun little tournament final with some good and unique stuff given the cleaner title-match rudos vs rudos pairing.