When Black Terry Has Learned To Really Live, He'll be Old Enough to Die

Black Terry/Diablo Jr. vs. Black Warrior/Black Warrior Jr. IWRG 9/3/17 - SKIPPABLE

Black Warrior was a guy I was really into when I first started watching CMLL in the 90's he had a cool tope and an awesome mask, age has not been kind to our man though, he is 15 years younger then Terry but looked 10 years older. This was by far the weakest Terry/Diablo tag I have seen and it's a bummer that they dropped their belts to this team. BW Jr. is OK, but is really green and isn't even wearing the cool black and orange mask. Terry and Diablo try, Diablo hits a nice tope, and Terry really cranked his Primera Caida submission, but at some point even they start looking for the exits. 25 minutes or so, I watched this so you don't have to.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Villano Familia v. Black Terry and the Boys

51. Black Terry/Demonio Infernal/Diablo Jr. v. Villano IV/Kortiz/Villano III Jr. IWRG 5/3

PAS: This was a good old fashioned smash a head into a beer cooler Arena Naucalpan brawl. Villano III Jr. is a little green and a little slight for a Villano but I though he had good energy and he and Terry really went after each other. This was worked as local rudos vs. invading rudos which is always a fun lucha trope. The little moments of VIV and Terry brawling were sublime, at one point Terry starts bleeding and Villano IV just goes after that cut with a true bit of nasty focus. Kortiz looks virtually indistinguishable from a classic Villano, slightly different outfit but otherwise he would fit right in a UWA match in the 90s. The only downside of this match was a weirdly blown finish with Villano IV rolling up Terry but Terry clearly kicking out before three, no idea whether the ref just missed it, or it was supposed to be a weird rudo ref thing, it was deflating though. Otherwise this was well worth watching.

ER: The odds are pretty good that if a match literally opens with Black Terry and a Villano punching each other on the floor, that I'm going to like the match. And guess what? I liked the match. This was my first time seeing Villano III Jr., and he had a couple kinks (if you can't throw a decent back elbow, don't throw one at Terry, as he will demonstrate how to strike) and he's real lanky, like no Villano you've ever seen (compared to Kortiz, who may as well have been Villano V, just the same exact shape, even his face looks similar through his mask), but he takes some big bumps (that backwards flip bump into the crowd is quite the crazy lucha bump to be turning into a common bump) and he does have certain "Villano" things down like that "left left left right" strike combo, and I liked his kicks. He doesn't spam superkicks or anything, he just had solid "normal" kicks. That's a good sign for his future work. Diablo is getting better literally every match I see him, Kortiz too. They're becoming guys I need to seek out whenever they make tape. But if you're watching this, you're probably watching it to see Terry and V4 mix it up, and they certainly mix it up. As I said, the file literally starts with them punching each other, and they kinda stay at each other's throats for the first two falls. Terry gets buster open quick and bleeds the way Terry bleeds, scraps with everyone throughout the match, and Villano looks as badass as ever. V4 has slowed down a bit but throws some great strikes, barrels through dudes with a mean western lariat, really works like a bully. Finish of the match is total horse apples, with Terry kicking out well before the 3 but the ref counting anyway. Laaaaaame. The ref didn't even seem like he was working lucha heel ref, just looked like he kept counting and stubbornly stuck to his guns. In a year of lousy finishes, this might be the worst. Still, enjoy the journey and all that, there was tons of gold to be found.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Traumas v. Terry/Diablo

43. Black Terry/Diablo Jr. v. Los Traumas IWRG 4/23

ER: I really liked this match and I actually watched it twice. It had some subtle little things that kept grabbing at me and made me want to revisit it immediately. Diablo has improved a lot (I don't ever remember him being bad, but he also has never been on my radar like this year) and his mat stuff against T2 is all good. He hangs in and they each work some twisty leg subs, and then T2 does a painful double chickenwing. My favorite stuff was when they do some neat twists on traditional armdrags, with Diablo whiffing on one when T2 holds the ropes, and then Diablo trying to catch one of T2's so T2 alters to a head drag, really cool stuff. I dug how Terry came in and got tapped quick, requiring Diablo to get back in a try to hang with a fresh T1, who locks on his nasty whipping figure 4. Segunda is quick but it happened right after Traumas spent way too long firing up the crowd with bullhorns, Diablo and Terry hanging around looking like assholes waiting for them to stop patting themselves on the back, so Diablo rushing in, hits a leg drag, and locks on some awesome and vicious cross arm twisting armbar, like an arm version of T1's figure 4. T2 sells it like his shoulders are disconnected. Diablo needs Terry to focus up in the tercera, and after some nice brawling and Diablo hitting a coconuts flip dive into T1/the railing, Terry and T1 finally commence beating the hell out of each other, with Terry destroying him with headbutts. I'm really liking this Terry/Diablo team, really liked the unique structure of this tag.

PAS: This was really fun, IWRG has had a good under the radar year (which is really our fault, if anyone is going to pimp IWRG it's us) and the Terry/Diablo team is a big part of it. Diablo looked perfectly competent working the mat with T2 and even added his own flourish or two. Highlight of the match was the first couple of minutes of the third fall where it spills to the floor and we get to see Terry get gritty. Terry and Trauma 1 really lace into each other with chops and headbutts, while T2 gets vaguely unprofessional with Diablo Jr. The finish of the third fall wasn't as violent as I was hoping as it got down to T1 and Terry again and they wrestled instead of murdering each other. Still this was good stuff and part of another top 10 in the world year from the legitimately ageless Black Terry.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Black Terry/Diablo Scrap w/ Veneno/Chicano

22. Black Terry/Diablo Jr. v. Chicano/Veneno IWRG 2/26

PAS: This is a tourney final for the IWRG intercontinental titles and has exactly what you want from an IWRG title match. The opening fall had some really fun matwork, Veneno is a guy who I didn't like for years, but has turned into a really fun veteran in his old age. He appears to have take a jujitsu class as his mat stuff is more shootstyleish then most lucha. The highlight of this match though is when it got violent. Veneno starts cracking Diablo Jr. with headbutts, Terry tags himself in and they just start smashing each other with gross headbutts including Veneno opening up a huge gash on his forehead. Finish was pretty dumb with Danny Casas running in and throwing a weak chair shot on Veneno so Terry could pin him. Terry is still what he is.

ER: The only logical explanation for what happened with Veneno, is that when Olimpico lost his mask in 2010 some kind of Freaky Friday scenario took place, and Olimpico switched bodies with Veneno, thus making Veneno suddenly very watchable and Olimpico very skippable. It's the only thing that makes sense. I thought Veneno looked great in this. I thought his matwork against Terry was a real highlight; him beating at Terry's clasped hands to try to break them and give him the armbar was awesome. I loved all of Veneno's dropkicks, they pack a nice wallop and were used in cool, different ways (high horizontal dropkick as a big move, low dropkick to Diablo's kneecaps after faking a lock-up, the missed dropkick that blasts the ref). Diablo works with a nice energy, and Terry brings his brand of gravitas to things, peaking with him coming in to sacrifice his own noggin to save Diablo from taking Veneno's vicious headbutts (and my god those headbutts were vicious). Finish is agreeably stupid and lazy, fitting well within 2017's theme of terrible match finishes.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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