New Footage Friday: CMLL Juicio Final 12/2/95

Parts of this show have flickered on and off on the internet over the years, but we get the three big matches all in one place so we can write about them!

El Dandy/La Fiera vs. Blue Panther/Fuerza Guerrera 

PAS: My dream version of this match has Panther and Dandy getting a long chance to work the mat, and then building to a climax. This wasn't that, much more a traditional rudo vs. technico brawl, with the rudos bloodying Dandy and the technicos making fiery comebacks. These are four all-timers, so that kind of traditional lucha brawl is going to be elevated when it's El Dandy throwing the big shots. Pretty intense match from the start, so we don't get much shtick from Fuerza, although there is a great moment of him celebrating a spin kick, only to get enzigiried while he is raising his hands in glory. Fiera hits his beautiful over the top tope, Panther and Fuerza get their mask ripped and we end up in a technico triumph. Very enjoyable stuff, although maybe not the classic it looks like on paper.

MD:  This was technically for the Mexican National Tag Team Titles and was supposed to be Juvi with his dad but they had a falling out and it became this instead. No one's going to complain about Panther being in there. After some immediate, still wearing ring jackets, tecnico fire, this got to the beatdown quickly with Fiera accidentally hitting the spin kick on Dandy and then getting reversed right into Panther's feet in a great spot. Dandy bled shortly thereafter with a shot into the post. Panther went right to biting the wound to set the mood (with Fuerza being Fuerza and fouling Fiera simultaneously, also setting the mood). They had some fun tandem offense, like an elevated faceplant and working together to toss Dandy off the top by his hair. The mid-90s Panther who hangs out with Fuerza and bites a guy in the head and poses and stooges freely (the big transition was Dandy ducking a shot and Panther running into Fiera's foot on the outside and selling it like he got his jaw dislocated) is one of my favorite versions of the guy; what range, right? The tecnico revenge had everything you'd want: the image of bloody Dandy standing over Panther and ripping his mask, Dandy's punches, Fiera's spin kick, one guy setting the other up for offense including a huge Dandy smack on the side of the ring, people fouling Fuerza, etc. before rolling into some really fun match up moments and spots for the finish.


El Hijo Del Santo vs. Negro Casas -EPIC

PAS: This has to be in contention for the best in-ring series in wrestling history, so when I get to see a new one it is a mitzvah. We get an entire first fall of matwork and it is brilliant stuff, lots of twisting and reversing leglocks and armlock, they do a really cool section based on a top wristlock, Santo has his signature headscissors counter and wins the first fall with a facebuster into a sick armlock for the tap. Absolutely top tier mat work, two perfect grapplers at the top of their game. Casas works the neck in the segunda with a pair of nasty neckbreakers and a seated torture rack for the win. Third fall remained in the ring, remained primarily a grappling battle, there was a ton of little cool moments, things that Negro Casas brings to a wrestling match. There is a point where Santo tries to snap mare Casas, 999 of a 1000 times that is a throw away transition move, but here Casas uses a wide base to block the snap mare twice before Santo is able to power him over. So cool, and an example of the high end brilliance of both guys. This was a less complete match then some of their other super classics, this was all scientific and wrestling based, this is one of the only Santo matches I can remember seeing with out any of his signature dives, and we never got into the violence that both guys can bring, but the tune they did play was perfect. 

MD: Straight title match between the two. Casas escalated things with an elbow drop out of nowhere and some strikes in the segunda to answer the end of the first fall but otherwise, this was relatively clean. Unsurprisingly, it was really good too. I loved all of the little bits of maneuvering for leg grapevines and reversals in the primera. Casas whipped these double arm flips throughout, one leading to the tercera's finish but another setting up a cool little reverse monkey flip early on. One of the best truths in wrestling is that you'll almost always see something new in a Casas match. Here, for me, it was him using his knee jammed hard into Santo's back to escape the bridging cross-footed (Mascaras) headscissors. Santo's seated arm driver into a armbar ended the primera and it's such an underrated move. You always kind of forget he has it until he uses it. They turned up the speed for the tercera and I could have maybe used one or two more near-falls, but the Casita not ending things was a shocking enough moment to make up for it. Post-match there were challenges, but nothing would come of that for another couple of years.


Bestia Salvaje vs. Satanico vs. Hector Garza

MD: We come in with Bestia taking a huge bump into the post. It's a matter of time after that, with Satanico beating him around the ring until he got a little bit of hope but missed a somersault senton and got tied up in the Knot. Garza vs Satanico was a nice little preview of the singles apuestas match to come. Satanico was sure to get all of his advantages off of Garza missing moves due to youthful exuberance. There was a nice hope spot int here where Garza kicked him out of the ring on a Knot attempt and then hit a dive, but he kept missing his follow-ups The third or fourth time Satanico ducks a move, he faked the foul as well and the place comes unglued as it the ref fell for it. Bestia vs Garza gives Hector a surprise nearfall to start, but he's quickly fouled leading to an extended bloody high stakes beatdown. Bestia bleeds even better on the comeback, with some scrapping preceding Garza getting in all of his big dives. This fell apart just a little towards the end with Garza looking hesitant or lost at times, but the crowd went up for the finish and ultimately the match did its job. Garza came out of it with a big win and looking like he had a shot to defeat Satanico two weeks later and save his hair, but maybe not a very big one. If nothing else, Bestia got a well deserved payday.

PAS: The Satanico parts of this match are nice little aperitifs for a bloody banquet of a main event. It was worked as a sprint, and a great one. Both guys are opened up and you would expect and this was a showcase for Bestia's world beating offense. He hits a tope which was more like a flying lariat to the floor and a senton splash which was Togoesque. Garze seems a bit green at this point, but had some really big moments of his own including his corkscrew plancha and a quebrada which totally brained Bestia. Maybe could have used a couple more minutes to milk drama a bit, but this was a heck of a showdown, and a great chance to see two under appreciated greats get a big showcase moment. 

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