Andre Runs Around in the Rain with a Hole in His Brain

Andre the Giant/Villano III/Canek vs. Kokina/Buffalo Allen/Black Scorpio UWA 5/17/92 - FUN

ER: I had always seen this match on paper and thought it looked like an excellent WAR combination of guys (man I would have loved to see even this era of Andre in a trios with some WAR sumos) but had never watched it. It doesn't get crazy, but it's very satisfying doing what it does. Andre looks mammoth here, big belly and butt, a curly shag and sideburns that makes him look like a spitting image of George Demosthenes Savalas from Kojak, only doubled in size. He's also wearing a red singlet which just looks weird, but I like the attempt at switching up his looks for a different area. It's wild to think of Andre working Mexico this late in his career. It's Juarez, so he didn't have to fly deep into Mexico or anything, but I am dying to know more about end of days Andre bumming around Mexico and southwest Texas for a month in between gigs. The dates he worked Mexico in '92 are close enough together that I imagine he just stayed there and didn't opt to fly in and out several times in a month. I imagine he was keeping air travel to a minimum at that point, but I don't know! I need to know more. It would make a fantastic article. I would write the article! I just have no idea where to start looking for info.

Andre in 1992 still throws some of my favorite punches, just these big round fists slowly lunging at guys; they look like someone getting hit by a breaking pitch that didn't break. He throws big chops, sits on guys for a pinfall, and even sits on the back of Allen's neck (while Allen is in a seated position, so Andre's butt was forcing Allen's head down between his own legs) which isn't an Andre spot I remembered. He also gets trapped in the ropes - my favorite - and gets members of his team thrown into him. It's fun. The rudo team is great, made up of guys who worked Mexico who nobody thinks of as guys who worked Mexico. Black Scorpio is 2 Cold under a mask, best shape of his life, landing absurdly light on his feet for everything (can't imagine how dope a 450 splash must have looked to a 1992 Juarez crowd). This whole thing really deserves to be the Kokina show, as he's taking these great stooge bumps inside and out of the ring, and we get cool glimpses of the most famous giant of all time vs. one of the most famous big men of all time. Canek gets some great moments including two effortless press slams on Scorpio (one of them throwing him onto Kokina and Allen). Sadly V3 felt a little underutilized, but there were huge fat guys and a mysterious masked flier and major star Canek, so somebody was going to get lost in the shuffle. I would love more lucha Andre.

PAS: Andre is pretty much just a boulder that needs to be moved, or has guys thrown into him, but he is a great fucking boulder.  2 Cold didn't have a huge role in this match, but man did he look light on his feet, I kind of like later in his career bruiser 2 Cold the best, here he looked Ricochet fast and jumpy which was cool and different. Allen is a guy who was always cooler than great, but he is pretty good at bouncing off of Andre. This wasn't the match where Andre pooped on Bad News, but knowing that story adds a bit of extra drama to the match, you are constantly wondering whether the poop is coming.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE ANDRE THE GIANT