NWA Classics On Demand -Price Tag Reviews #7

Dusty Rhodes/Junkyard Dog v. Ted DiBiase/Kamala 4/12/83 -$1.00

This was a bullrope and dog collar tag match. Dusty and DiBiase were tied together with the bullrope while JYD and Kamala had a dog collar on. Pretty much a classic example of a babyface walking tall blowoff match. This is your pair of super charismatic super heroes getting their hands on the dastardly villains and making them pay. DiBiase flies around for both guys and bleeds a ton, Kamala does some great weeble wabble selling of big shots. There is a little glory for the heels, and Dusty bleeds because of course he does, but this is mostly just comeuppance.

Harley Race v. Gino Hernandez 12/12/80 - $3.00

Another true hidden gem. 2/3 Falls NWA title match, with Gino as the local heel challenging a heel champion. It was a pretty great performance by Gino as he turns the crowd over to his side by the end, kind of a devil we know better then a devil we don't situation. I am not the world's biggest Harley fan, but he looked pretty boss here, all of his offense was super nasty looking, his big headbutts looked like they smooshed skulls and he had this awesome looking big right hand in the corner. Gino was a total boss, jumping Harley at the bell, piledriving him on the floor, spraying blood as he goes for his giant back elbow. He was so good as the local heel, it really makes me want to see more Southwest Tully to compare them in those rolls. More Gino please!!

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MLJ: Misterioso/Volador 5: Misterioso, Rey Misterio Jr., Volador I b Rocco Valente, Tony Arce, Vulcano

1993-04-30 @ Plaza de Toros Ciudad de México, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal
Misterioso, Rey Misterio Jr., Volador I b Rocco Valente, Tony Arce, Vulcano

(This is all of TripleMania: Match starts at: 37:45)

So this is Triplemania I, or at least part of it. I've tended to avoid this stuff because it's well-trodden. I'm not saying that people new to lucha immediately gravitate towards it now, but there's certainly a history of that. This was an under card match, third of eight, and I think it was very well received at the time.

I don't have a lot to say about Valente, Arce, and Vulcano right now. They were Los Destructores and as best as I can tell, they were very good at what they did. Amongst other things, they were the rudos that Rey cut through early on in AAA. They're also really hard to tell apart in the ring, this being my first time seeing them. When I watch these matches, I often find things that I want to delve deeper into later. They're one.

So, Rey, Volador, and Misterioso apparently teamed enough to be called La Tercia Del Aire. I'm not sure how many matches they had together but they'd been teaming since September (and feuding with Los Destructores for about that long it seems). Rey was a good addition to their act, since he could take a beating but also be a spark that could help light up a comeback. He was still billed as a "super nino" here.

Pairings here were Volador and Arce, Misterioso and Vulcano, and Rey vs Valente. Of the three, I thought Rey's was probably the weakest, just maybe a step off in some of the execution, without the higher level of difficulty I was expecting. It wasn't bad by any means, but I've seen better from him from around this time. I'm not sure if he was nervous or what. My favorite spot in this initial feeling out/quasi-shine was Volador doing that armwrench/backflip thing that sometimes goes along with a rocker-dropper fake out, but flipping backwards into a headscissors/arm drag combo onto two rudos. I'd never seen that before and it was well done. It's amazing how many spots you see in matches from twenty-plus years ago that you don't see at all now.

Rudos eventually had enough, swarmed, and took over. Rey took some nasty shots here, especially face first into the turnbuckles, just lawn darts, and a pressed-up spike super powerbomb. It didn't last long, however, as the tecnicos came back on the wings of this great run up moonsault press (as in Volador ran up the chest of one rudo and moonsaulted another). With spots like that, you can see why people praised this match so much at the time (the time being the much more spot-starved 1990s). This led to a triple tandem tope and a few tecnico-vs-the-world exchanges and a fun finishing stretch of cutoffs and action until the tecnicos rolled through for the win. Enjoyable match that, once again, seems to highlight the feeling of an era. I need to cehck out more of Los Destructores.

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