DVDVR Puerto Rico 80s Set: Los Pastores vs. The Invaders (8/2/86)

Disc 2, Match 17: Los Pastores vs. The Invaders (8/2/86)

This was a great little paint by numbers 80s tag. There's nothing more satisfying in wrestling than the southern tag formula done well, and while this was brief at points, nothing in it ever wore out its welcome either.

I've seen a lot of Sheepherders in the last few years between Portland, Houston, and PR, and my biggest takeaway is that while Luke is probably somewhat underrated, it's Butch Miller that was a truly special and unique talent. I can't think of anyone else quite like him. He was always on in the ring, always acting and reacting with weird and engaging physical ticks that portrayed a sense of mania. He'd find these oblique ways to sell, stomping or recoiling or writhing and he'd implement them in his offense as well. It didn't always make logical "real life" sense but it wasn't supposed to. It was heightened reality and it created a sense of both danger and impact. He was affecting everything around him and was equally affected. In fact, throughout a lot of these matches, between the single camera and the video quality and their shared look, I have a hard time telling Luke and Butch apart right up until the point they start moving. While Luke aped it to a degree, Butch's body language is so distinct and fascinating that you ultimately can't mistake them.

I think people have come to resent the terms in the last few years, but they fit and they work and they help classify these matches. Shine. Heat. Comeback/Finish. That's what happened here and each segment was very good for what it was. The shine was exceptional with the Invaders working over Luke's arm at a rapid fire pace, clowning the heels at every point. It was a bit heel-in-peril with the missed tags and miscommunications and babyface cheating but it moved so quickly (which is a testament to both teams and the manager/ref) and finished with a bit of hubris (the distracting of the ref ultimately allowed for a Butch cheapshot from the apron). The heat wasn't hugely interesting offensively, but it had a few really good cut-offs and some great selling by Invader I (who is one of the absolutely greatest sellers ever, so...), with Invader III more than competent as the cheerleading/upset guy on the apron. The hot tag worked well, the comeback was fiery, and frankly, all of the BS at the end was completely fine because it had an ebb and flow to it, the crowd was into it, and it got the Sheepherders over as a threat and the Invaders over as triumphantly courageous. As far as BS DQ finishes go, there was a lot to it and it had weight. Miller's blade job was somehow both obvious and so lightning fast that it was impressive as hell. It's probably the only blade job I've ever seen in such plain sight that somehow still seemed acceptable because of speed he did it.

I've said it before, but I could watch matches like this one all day every day.