MLJ: Recent Uploads: Solar I vs Blue Panther [FLLM MASTER]

Taped 2015-12-20 @ Arena Coliseo Monterrey
Solar I vs Blue Panther [FLLM MASTER]

This was a joy to watch. It's just a little over twelve minutes, one fall, and it's not perfect, but it's two of the best ever doing what they do in front of an appreciative crowd. Is it perfect? No. the last minute especially falls apart, but it, like so much else in the match, is a testament to the two of them because they never lose credibility in the face of it.

In fact, they have so much built up credit that they're able to not only get away with things they shouldn't be able to, but to make them strengths. The early feeling out matwork is looser than almost anyone else could manage. They're whipping arms about, and countering with such effortless motion, but never for even a second does it seem like they're collaborating. They're just that good. They know it. The crowd know it. We know it, watching. There's a sense of "well, of course Blue Panther got out of that so easily." When they take time to bask in the aftermath of a successful exchange, the respect feels earned and the moment feels warranted. It feels like the right pacing for the match, which is madness when you think about how short it ultimately is. They just bring with them that level of gravitas.

They reward your faith later on too. As the match escalates, it's no longer enough to grab a limb or slip out. Gradually it becomes a matter of Solar rocking his body back and forth multiple times to garner the leverage necessary, or locking in a headscissors and taking Panther all the way over to reverse an armbar, or Panther driving his foot down upon the back of Solar's leg. The hooking and cinching become more complete and complex as well.

Sure, as the match went on, not everything worked. A rolling cradle didn't quite roll (but then was it Panther struggling to fight it? You just can't discount that). Even after hitting a nice headbutt and getting lifted up and over the top for a plancha back into the ring, Solar couldn't quite get up for the lifting dodge in the corner, and the following roll up by Panther didn't quite work. I've seen someone like Blue Panther Jr screw up that corner spot and it completely derail a match. Here, though, it didn't bother me in the least because the context is everything and the recovery was fine. They had been doing not just complex holds, but athletic ones as well, and late match exhaustion, even in a match so short, felt moer than acceptable, even if not entirely warranted, in this situation. I just wish that Solar had gotten Panthers' shoulders down a little more quickly on the finish since the ref had to delay his count by a second, which was probably a proper decision by the referee but not necessarily the right one. Little blips aside, this was a great example of two masters able to combine their skill with their reputation to create something no one else could pull off.