MLJ: Black Terry Boot Camp 9: Black Terry vs Rey Hechicero (11/15/2015)

2015-11-15 @ Unidad Deportiva Martin Alarcon Hisojo, Metepec, Estado de México
Black Terry vs Rey Hechicero

After how fun the two 2014 matches were, I had to go out of my way to see this one. I wasn't disappointed either. This wasn't a war like their last two matches, but they still went at it with the same amount of intensity and aggression. They just never quite reached that level of violence.

I know people think that Hechicero is better on the indies, and for the most part he is because he has more freedom and a more appreciative audience, but I do think that working all of the CMLL cards has helped made him better. He's more of a big picture wrestler than he was before, and ironically, part of that is paying more attention to the little things. I love what he does with his hands these days, all of the over the top conjuring and wizardry. It makes him stand out and draws the crowd in. It got him over way bigger in Japan than he would have been otherwise, but it all fits into what he's doing too. It comes off as mind games. It's the character work where I think he's come the most. It wasn't just that but all the trash talking he did here.

Like I said, this had all the intensity you could while staying mostly by the books. They were moving at a rapid pace, grabbing limbs and locking in counters. This might have been the first match I've seen where the cross-limb stuff wasn't just to add intrigue and painful contortions to the submissions but to actually, actively prevent countering. If someone's tied up, that's one less limb that they can use to find a way out with. Usually, it's just lip service to that, but here, both wrestlers had such a hard time getting an advantage that it really resonated.

Once things stopped being so even, this really got good. Hechicero taunted. Terry slapped the taste out of his mouth. Hechicero took an advantage. Terry escalated his game by slamming Hech's knee onto the mat again adn again. Hechicero rolled through for an anklelock (which he tried repeatedly in the match). And it kept going from there. By the time they finally started to do some of their more signature holds and moves, they had earned the end-of-match exhaustion selling, even in a one fall match, and that exhaustion played well into the finish.

I really think that Terry could be Hechicero's best opponent. Watching them match up is well worth a few bucks. Check this out.