Matches from CHIKARA Aniversario: Scotch Mist 5/26/19

The Crucible (EM Demorest/Matt Makowski/Tunku Amir) vs. The Colony (Fire Ant/Green Ant/Thief Ant)

ER: I hadn't heard of Makowski until that Bloodsport show a couple months ago, where he had one of my favorite matches of the year opposite Rory Gulak. So, obviously I'm going to seek out more Makowski, and here we are! This is a fairly sloppy trios match, but the sloppiness kind of worked to the match's advantage. Makowski looked cool throughout, looked great on his missed strikes (great spot where he swung for face on a kick that Fire Ant narrowly avoided) and landed well on his big strikes, and tangled Green Ant up into a cool triangle attempt. All members of The Crucible are super new, and Demorest and Amir look super new, but Makowski already looks like he's been doing this for awhile. It's kind of amazing how quickly MMA people have been able to crossover and adapt. The Crucible is a pretty cool idea, a group of guys throwing a wrench into the gears of the most established trios team in the company. I dug all the spots of Crucible catching the Colony on dives and interrupting their momentum and flow, and how it lead to cool stuff like Green Ant absolutely crushing Makowski with a double stomp off the top while Makowski had a submission locked in. Crucible interrupting the flow of dives, Colony interrupting subs, that's just smart layout. The Colony were clearly pros leading a some sequences, and that's cool, as my main takeaway was just how awesome Makowski looked regardless of experience.

Ophidian vs. Mike Quackenbush

ER: Well this was not what I was expecting. Ophidian jumps Quack to start and locks on a guillotine, then hits a flipping piledriver after sufficient choking had taken place, locks on a sub and Quack's arm hits the mat three times. Well, I'm the one who always gripes about how flipping piledrivers mean nothing, and this certainly put over the danger of a flipping piledriver. The angle was put over strongly by Quack, who did insanely great neck selling post match, looking like a guy who clearly knows the ins and outs of neck pain and neck injuries. I was obviously hoping for an actual match, but am admittedly curious where this angle leads.

43. Mask vs. Mask: Dasher Hatfield vs. Boomer Hatfield

ER: Now I'm not someone who keeps up on Chikara storylines, but that's why I have always appreciated Quackenbush's commentary skills. He presents silly information with a straight face, like Joey Styles without the smarm or digs at competition, and there aren't many commentary guys who can naturally go over storylines while calling action, explaining why certain moves should have more meaning. This is a father and son mask vs. mask match, Dasher one of the longest tenured Chikara guys, and the confusingly named youngster Boomer being an 18 year old rookie. There's a pretty significant size difference, Dasher being possibly the largest guy presently in Chikara and Boomer being practically half his size. But they made up the difference well, with Boomer relying on fast leverage moves like backslides, crucifix roll-ups, hanging off Dasher with guillotines, or just flying into Dasher body or feet first. Dasher worked this less flashy, really being a bully, coming in hard with big one knockdown chops and hard single arm lariats, and using his size advantage to toss him around like a dummy, but also doing dickhead heel stuff like faking a ball shot only to get a minor cheap advantage. Dasher hits a couple powerbombs - one a huge running Liger bomb - and maneuvers him into a cool Gory Special, and I liked how after taking some damage, Boomer started firing back with nice uppercuts. I thought they ramped nicely into the big spots, with one awesome moment really ramping things up: Boomer had reversed lariats into a hanging guillotine a couple times already (and Dasher was really great at selling the guillotine, making it seem better than it looked, really yanking on Boomer's arm to try to free himself), caught him in another, and seeing no better way out Dasher rushed the ropes and took both of them painfully to the floor. Dasher even suplexes him into the ringpost/buckles once they're on the floor. I thought they did a real good job at working like they knew what was coming, really putting over the mentee son angle, and I liked a lot of the learned behavior results (loved Dasher catching a running back elbow and quickly converting it into a Gory bomb into the turnbuckles). I did think the ending was a bit sudden and meant Boomer had to shrug off some pretty big offense, but overall this was a great main event that I thought captured the drama that an apuestas match should have.

PAS: This was shockingly great for a match between an old timey baseball guy and a smaller old timey baseball guy. I couldn't be less interested in this match on paper, but man did they deliver. Dasher was really great as a Great Santini style abusive dad, who continued to escalate his abuse as he began losing control. I thought all of the cheap shot stuff really worked as Dasher was especially dastardly while trying to beat and unmask his son. I thought they built to guillotine really well, with Quackenbush putting over how quickly that move can put someone out, and Dasher already desperately diving out of the ring to avoid it earlier in the match. I didn't like Boomer almost no-selling a top rope powerbomb to put it on, but that was really my only problem with this match. I get the sense that this match was worked out move for move at a training center, but it kind of makes me want to watch more huge Chikara main events.


ER: It looks like you'll be seeing more Chikara on Segunda Caida. We've mostly avoided it over the years, but I watched this show on a lark and came away impressed with some things I wasn't expecting. I liked the allure of the mask match - that's mostly what brought me here: I'll give any lucha unknowns a chance if it's a mask match. I'm a sucker for them. Phil mentioned the main event felt really written out, and I agree, but it's a kind of worked out that makes me want to seek out more of their main events as well. I like how they laid this out and presented the story, and would like to see more of their layouts. We're a Chikara blog now? Seems like.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2000 Match of the Year

Atlantis vs. Villano III CMLL 3/17/00

PAS: We have been waiting for a while to write up this match, and talking about his most legendary performance is a great way to salute Villlano 3, what an all time great may he rest in power. I hadn't watched this in over a decade and it was as great as I remember. The early matwork was tight and crisp, and then Villano 3 goes rudo by unloading a punch and then taunting Atlantis. There is some brawling and we get some mask ripping by V3 and a big tope which splits both guys open (there is a great replay which shows them clashing heads like in a southpaw versus conventional boxing match). Atlantis especially is just gushing blood, and we get an epic lucha moment as his mask goes from white to pink to dark red. Much of the rest of the match was dramatic near fall after near fall, it isn't a match structure I normally love, but so much was at stake in this match, every close two count or big submission felt huge. These are both guys with great pacing and timing on the application of holds, Villano's escape of the first Alantida was awesome, just desperate hurling himself to the mat. After that escape he is just stumbling around holding the small of his back, he hits a clothesline to the back of Atlantis's head, but he doesn't have much left, and when he gets caught again, and Atlantis drops to his knees with the Atlantida, it is all over. Matches aren't bell to bell, and the dramatic teary unmasking, with his father Rey Mendoza removing his mask with his family around him was one of the great emotional moments in wrestling history. Pretty much a perfect wrestling match.

ER: Yeah I'd like to make it clear that when we started our All Time MOTY project we outlined the whole thing and put in placeholders for years we hadn't yet written up. This was the year 2000 MOTY from go, and now is as good a time as any to write it up. I'm with Phil, I haven't seen this in over a decade and watched it tonight right when I got home from work. It was better than I remembered. We get two very different dives in this match - a big plancha to the floor late in the match from Atlantis, and a big tope from V3 early. My favorite moment in any mask match is V5 getting the back of his head smashed into a chair  off a Blue Panther dive, causing a big blood stain to spread across the back of his mask. Here V3 clonks heads with Atlantis and Atlantis gets up trickling blood, which turns to a drip which evolves to a dark red soaked mask. V3 winds up with the entire right side of his mask as one large port wine stain. And bloody luchadors fighting for glory is always the best part of the best lucha matches.

I've gotten so tired of modern CMLL title matches that just devolve into a series of turn trading 2 count exchanges, that it was jarring how much I enjoyed these two doing just that. The stakes felt bigger, the falls felt dramatic, the submissions felt wrenched, and the crowd kept getting louder (also I forgot how jarring all the cutaway shots to mostly indifferent faces were in this era lucha). I was blown away by Villano's athleticism here. We've all seen plenty of V3's post-unmasking brawling matches from when he was (not much) older and moving slower, but there were moments here where he moved like Santo. I loved him popping up for a sub and rolling up Atlantis, pivoting his hips in the waistlock to turn it into a high cradle; later he (twice) pulls himself up out and over Atlantis during subs, looking as if he was being pulled skyward by an invisible force, the kind of thing you don't often see from guys half his age. He also picks and chooses when to use his short punches, throwing a few out early and then opting to play Atlantis' game, getting more and more frustrated by kickouts until he unloads on Atlantis in the corner with some shots that would make Satanico suck on his teeth. I like how both men worked in and out of submission predicaments and pinfalls, and the two Atlantida moments were spectacular. The home stretch sequence of V3 getting caught in it (and how often does someone escape that move once it?) followed by that nasty lariat to the back of the head, leading to V3 charging his way right into his doom, was expert. V3 hadn't charged Atlantis the entire match, but had to sense victory was near after that lariat and went for another. Arturo Mendoza graciously carrying Atlantis around the ring on his shoulders immediately after losing his identity was a rare, warm moment


ALL TIME MOTY LIST

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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Cuatrero vs. Angel de Oro Mask vs. Mask!

53. El Cuatrero vs. Angel de Oro CMLL 3/16

ER: Fun mask match that sees Angel de Oro really step up more than I've seen from him. He showed a personality in the trios sprint the week before, really putting in some quality tecnicos work, and I think it carried over into the big apuestas match. Match starts wild with Cuatrero taking the big Sgt. Slaughter bump to the floor, with Oro attempting to vault out after him but getting matador'd right into the barricade. And that would be the story of the match. Oro was going to take flying risks knowing it was his way in, Cuatrero was going to try to send Oro into the barrier or off into the crowd. He sends him into the barricade, throws him into another barricade, crotches him on the barricade, drags him into the crowd and powerbombs him in the aisle, easily wins the primera. By the time he's ripping at Oro's mask, and Sanson is putting the boots to him from the apron (never underestimate how awesome your stomps will look when you're wearing a nice-fitting suit jacket w/ lucha mask. Sanson looked like an Ivy League valedictorian majoring in Sneaky Ass Kicking here), the fans are dying for an Oro comeback. And I think he does great with all the big spots: He hits a dive off ring entrance, beautifully times a moonsault to the floor, hits a wild handspring moonsault, and the fans are into it all. Cuatrero does get to plaster him into the barricade once more on a dive, and we get a compelling nearfall stretch run. They went to the well a couple times too many on some of the spots, but overall I thought the stretch built well, especially liked how some classic lucha spots played into nearfalls (such as Oro getting a rana with a pin, but Cuatrero smoothly rolling it through for a close call in the tercera). I didn't know who won when I watched the match, and I thought they did a great job of making it seem like any man's game down the stretch. Oro is really good at milking his unmasking, but eventually he is revealed to....look exactly like his brother, Niebla Roja. Sheesh no wonder they tossed these two into a team with Hector Garza, they all look alike (although the brothers were under masks then so it makes no sense). This was a nicely done big time stips match, with modern luchadors (i.e. guys 30 and under). Usually a mask match needs some kind of age or sympathy or legacy to get me involved, and while this didn't have those things, I thought they worked great with what they did have.

PAS: I really liked the opening of the match. I love a lucha apuestas match where the rudo dominates the Primera and Cuatrero side stepping the tope, smashing his head in the door and powerbombing him in the crowd was awesome. I also liked how Oro stole the segunda after getting beaten down. Tercera I liked less, it felt very 2018 lucha with the stage dive and a bunch of big moves. I did love Cuatrero's bullet tope which bent Oro's back. I thought Cuatrero was a great brawler early, and I would have liked to see the end be more of a war, instead of a moves match. Still this had some great moments and was a solid new generation mask match.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

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THE MOTHERFUCKING INTERNET: Klan v. Klan, Hood contra Hood

Klu Klux Klan I v. Klu Klux Klan II Mascara contra Mascara 1993

A member of the wrestling Grimaldo family has shown up on youtube and is posting early 90s indy lucha for us all to enjoy. This is a battle of Klansman to see who gets to continue wearing the hood and who is forced to just join the alt-Right. Early parts of this match have two guys of similar builds wearing identical outfits pounding on each other, with the occasional small cut and blurriness it was a little like watching 3 card monte, you never knew which guy was which. 2 rips 1s mask pretty bad, and after that you could get a sense of who's who. This was baseline apeusta lucha, nothing stood out completely, but baseline apuestas lucha is pretty great. Good punches, some mask ripping, a lot of heat, that is wrestling I am going to enjoy

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2008 Match of the Year

Villano V v. Blue Panther CMLL 9/19/08

PAS: I remember this being a totally shocking result when it happened. Villano V wasn't really wrestling super regularly, and it felt like he was being brought in specifically to get a mask loss payday, plus Panther had one of the iconic masks that you figured he would keep forever. Panther is a guy best know for his llave, but this was a straight up brawl which had some of the greatest topes in wrestling history. Villiano V delivers an insane dive bumping performance, he is flying recklessly back on every Panther tope. There is the iconic moment in the first fall where he smashes the back of his head on an armrest leading to a grisly bloodstain, but also he hurls himself into the crowd on another tope, and takes a full force back bump on the floor on a third, Panther has a great looking tope but Villano made it look like a cruise missile. Loved the finishes of all three falls, Villano is woozy from blood loss and tries a rudo trick by swiping Panthers mask, and rolling him up before he can recover, before he could steal a fall, the ref sees the maskless Panther and DQ's V5. Perro Jr. is V5's second (which is kind of weird, he's Villano 5, aren't Villano's 1-4 available to second their brother?) and he spends much of the fall break pouring water on the bloody back of Villano's head, including loosening his mask. Panther rips the mask to work the cut and his slips right off in his hand giving V5 the even up fall. Third fall is awesome with more great topes and a sneaking old school finish, Panther nearly gets the tap with his snap Fujiwara, but when he goes for it again, Villano counters with a crucifix pin. This match had a odd pacing with the Villano injury, but man did it build to an epic climax, worthy match for Panther drop the hood.

ER: This is actually my favorite all time wrestling match. I remember being shocked and almost heartbroken at the result when it happened. Blue Panther's mask is my favorite in lucha, and he's one of my favorite luchadors. This match seemed like an impossibly obvious result, like when I went to see Super Parka challenging for Santito's mask. But if Panther had to lose his beautiful mask, at least it happened in an all time match. We don't see any matwork or smooth headscissors here, these guys come out ready to fight, with V5 throwing some of his classic lefts and even suplexing BP on the floor. But soon we get to one of the sickest spots in pro wrestling history, with Panther hitting a big tope that sends the back of V5's head into the point of a metal armrest. By the time he gets up from being attended to there is already a large blood spot forming on the back of his head. They replay the shot from every angle and every one of them looks bad. You know V5 has to be seeing triple. Back in the ring Panther immediately hits a sidewalk slam and the crowd sounds shocked that he would immediately slam the back of V5's head into the mat. Panther was this close to babyfacing a Villano. Perro immediately cheats by grabbing Panther's leg, almost to get the crowd back behind Panther. Both guys go after the other's mask, ripping at them and each getting DQ'd a fall.


By the time the tercera starts Panther is in all out win mode, and Villano is in all out "let's guarantee I concuss myself and forget math" mode by taking tons of bumps on the back of his head. Panther hits a couple crushing dives that Villano bumps wildly for (seriously some of the best bumps you've ever seen off a dive, flinging himself backwards into the crowd like a man being blown back by an explosion), and this time when Panther delivers another sidewalk slam, the crowd loudly cheers. Panther goes for a plancha and we get one of the only great spots involving a prone opponent getting a leg up in the nick of time. In the 80s and 90s you saw that absurd spot of a heel jumping off the middle buckle in to the boot of a lying down opponent, and it never looked good. What was the guy going for, an axe handle on a horizontal opponent? Then in the 00s we graduated to the moonsault into boot, which looks spectacular the first time and then when it becomes a trademark bump it gets silly real fast. Here Panther flings himself to the floor and Villano desperately gets that boot up to catch Panther, and it totally works. Villano is crazy and hates his brain, so he delivers a couple superplexes, and misses a flipping senton for a great nearfall. Panther almost gets the tap with an armbar, and sensing that he goes for it again and gets reversed into the pinfall that sees literally 30 years of his mask vanish in 3 seconds. Probably the most shocking upset in wrestling history. Panther is the man though, and a true gentleman competitor, and he graciously parades V5 around atop his shoulders.


ONGOING ALL TIME MOTY LIST

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CMLL Worth Watching 8/10/14, 8/31/14 & 9/14/14

Decided to change the name of this from CMLL Workrate Round-Up to CMLL Worth Watching, as really the only CMLL stuff I write up now is stuff that I think is worth watching. Why beat around the bush? I watch the CMLL, I spend time writing about the stuff I think is worth writing about, so let's just say that.

1. Mascara contra Mascara: Oro Jr. vs. Metalico (8/10/14)

This was not great, and not nearly as fun as the few trios matches used to build it up, and that is mainly because Oro Jr. just isn't really that good. The build to this match was pretty lopsided, with almost every part of the trios matches being Metalico walloping Oro and cutting off every single thing he attempted to do. Now obviously the big stipulation singles match couldn't be worked like that, unless it was the weirdest mask match in lucha history. Obviously there was going to be some sort of back and forth, which meant there was going to have to be Oro offense, and Oro is not very good at offense. He can bump well enough and he's flexible so he's good at being twisted into knots by rudos, and he can hit a dive, but his move and submission execution are really, really lacking. Every time he would lock on a flippy arm submission he would end up flipping Metalico close to the ropes. That was fine when the plan was for Metalico to break a hold, but when it was something he had to tap to or create drama, Metalico would have to subtly move himself farther away from the ropes. Oro is just kind of stumbly and clunky. Metalico, on the other hand, continues to impress me and if anything this feud has given me a new cool guy to look for. Metalico has a cool southern heel vibe to him that I've never ever picked up on before this feud, doing great stuff like sneaky little punches and probably my favorite knee lift in current wrestling (depending on whether or not you count Brock Lesnar's sternum-caving knees). At one point in the tercera he drags Oro out of the corner and just blasts him with a bunch of consecutive knees, to the stomach and face. They all looked great. He also locks on a bunch of cool subs that would rank up with any maestro. Metalico's mom also kept getting shown in the crowd rooting him on and that's something that would get me more into everything. So yeah. Match was about what I expected, but overall I'm excited to see where Metalico takes things from here.

2. Felino, Misterioso Jr & Bobby Zavala vs. Stuka Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr. & Delta (8/31/14)

Man fuck Felino. It's so much better to have never have experienced love than to love and have lost. Felino is an asshole who is actually a good worker who just chooses to act like the worst worker in lucha 85% of the time. Here he runs ropes faster than anybody in the match (even showing off by bouncing off the bottom rope when he does it), does these really great drop downs, fast dropkick sequences, just a totally different guy than you get most of the time. and why? What's he proving in this match that he doesn't feel the need to prove when working with his brother? Delta hits a wild moonsault to the floor, Stuka always tosses in a couple nice dives or splashes, Zavala is always an amusing low rent Rush, Misterioso is a pro and then there's fucking Felino outworking them all, being the most frustrating guy in lucha.

3. Terrible, Vangellys & Rey Bucanero vs. La Mascara, Titan & Volador Jr. (9/14/14)

I really wasn't expecting much from this on paper but the execution was nice. This became apparent just a minute into the match when Titan took a wild sideways bump into the ring barrier and Terrible decked Volador with a mean right and a hard headbutt. The Volador involvement was limited for most of this, with Terrible always cutting him off with face punching. Volador getting regularly punched in the face is enough to make me recommend a match. There was a story within the match of Mascara naturally not caring about his team, but Volador and Titan trying to make him feel welcome and almost try to recruit him back from the lawless side. That kind of thing can drag a match down but I think it helped this one. It worked because Mascara kept interrupting Titan and Volador's worst offense to just get to the fucking point and finish things. So it was actually a quite clever way to capitalize on guys having to stand around selling while Titan does his little handstand. Titan walks off on his hands and while Terrible is focusing on him for reasons, Mascara just runs in and rolls him into a pendulum sub. It does kind of blow up how silly some of Titan's stuff can be, but I already knew that so thought this worked incredibly well within the existing universe.

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 9/27/14

So last week the randomly decided to show matches from the 9/13/13 Arena Mexico show. I'm unsure why. It had the Volador/Sombra mask match, so it's possible they were hyping up the Atlantis/UG mask match by showing the promotion's last big wager match? The match that set up the Volador/Sombra match was a relevos increibles match featuring Atlantis/UG vs. Volador/Sombra, with the winners of the match fighting in a singles match for their masks (which seems like an oddly harsh punishment for the winners of a match…), so maybe they were showing just how close Atlantis and UG came to fighting for masks just one year before?

Or maybe the promotion was late delivering the show and they just picked a random show from the last year to air.

Either way, they jump a couple weeks ahead from their normal schedule to bring us the two big WAGER matches from the 9/19/14 Anniversario show!

Hair vs. Hair!

1. Barbaro Cavernario vs. Rey Cometa

This was a real good match, though not as good as the Rush/Casas hair match or the women's mask vs. hair match from that same show. But this was really good. Both guys pulled out some crazy stuff here, with Cometa hitting a moonsault off the entrance and a big time tornillo. Cavernario hits his great array of splashes (the killer one to the floor, all the cool Vader bomb style ones) and bumps all over including a cool Cassandro bump. Cometa leans into all of Cavernario's stiff shots, my favorite being Cavernario blasting him with a superkick on the floor that practically scalps Cometa. Cometa's selling is great afterwards with an awesome "what the hell did I just get hit with!?" expression on his face. I believe Phil pointed it out that it was weird seeing a wager match-as-spotfest, and that's what this was, and it was kind of odd. This did not have the drama of the women's match, it never really felt like either guy had anything major at stake. Even though it should have as both guys have two of the more desirable heads of hair in the promotion, with Cavernario having the MOST hair, and Cometa having a shiny, thick mane (God we're gonna get so much cross-traffic from bronies if I keep typing shit like that). It felt like a big showcase main event for both guys, and I felt it succeeded at that. But it did not feel like MORE than that, which you really need from a great wager match. Still, well worth going out of your way to see.

Mask vs. Mask!!

2. Atlantis vs. Ultimo Guerrero

This match was one of the best of the year and easily made Phil's and my Match of the Year List. I'll just go ahead and link to our review of the match here:

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2014/11/ongoing-2014-match-of-year-list.html

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Ongoing 2014 Match of the Year List

3. Atlantis v. Ultimo Guerrero CMLL 9/19

PAS: Wow. Totally exceeded my expectations. Really felt like a classic mascara contra mascara match. The stakes felt really high, two huge stars wagering their masks, which made every near fall huge. Ultimo Guerrero was throwing huge bombs, and Atlantis was trying to survive and catch him with the Alantida, there was a great moment where Guerrero hits the superbomb, rushes in an gets caught with the Altantida, only to have Atlantis collapse against the ropes unable to hold him. I didn't love the finish with UG hitting his reverse superplex, which is always a kill shot, only to get two, and then get caught in the Alantida, almost felt like Atlantis no sold it a bit. This was a superhero in a mask match, so I forgive it a bit, but I thought it was slightly abrupt. Guerrero's career match, everything he did seemed like it was done with more force and intensity, he knew he was losing his mask and he wanted to go out on top. Atlantis is such a great big match worker, he has tremendous timing and presence, he is the Idol of the Children and fights like losing will be breaking the hearts of little kids. Postmatch is great with UG surrendering his mask while his family is sobbing and the crowd is throwing money

ER: Great great GREAT match. I was really nervous going in that this was going to be a bad CMLL move exchange main event, but man it was so much more than that. These are two big masks right here and I love how CMLL kept panning back to show the crowd. They never do that (is it because the upper deck is usually empty?) but pulling back here made everything feel more grand, more large scale, more epic. The drama here was intense, with every move having extra gravity. But I don't think the match was good just because of the stakes, I think even without masks on the line this same sequence of moves would still have created a very good match. The Atlantida collapse into the ropes may have been the spot of the year. UG knowing he was that close to certain doom, like a car accident happening seconds after you squeaked through an intersection. Atlantis knocking UG to the floor has to be among the bumps of the year. That's a move you never see countered and here it happens in extravagant fashion with UG spilling dangerously onto the apron to the floor. The match did lose me a bit with the finish, which I did not like. These two spent the whole match crafting neat counter sequences based on knowing each other's gameplan so well, and then the finish is just one guy hitting their finisher, with the other just standing right up and doing his for the win. That's lazy and obnoxious. But then they go and win me right back with the postmatch, with Ultimo's voice cracking as he removes his mask, and his beautiful family tearfully embracing him. It was an amazing moment that caused me to tear up a bit. And I can honestly say that not many things do that to me. Overall just fantastic stuff.


2014 MASTER LIST

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Phil's Ongoing 2008 MOTY List

1. Yuki Ishikawa + Alexander Otsuka + Munenori Sawa v Daisuke Ikeda + Katsumi Usuda + Super Tiger II BattlArts 7/26
2. Blue Panther v. Villano V CMLL 9/19
3. Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer IWA-MS 3/1
4. Floyd Mayweather v. Big Show WWE 3/30
5. Mike Quakenbush v. Johnny Saint WXW 3/8
6. Teddy Hart v. Eddie Kingston v. Homicide JAPW 1/19
7. Yuki Ishikawa v. Carl Greco BattlArts 6/1
8. Necro Butcher v. Predator IGF 6/23
9. Blue Panther v. Atlantis EMLL 7/11
10. Necro Butcher v. 2 Cold Scorpio IWA-MS 8//17
11. Yuki Ishikawa v. Alexander Otsuka RJPW 6/18
12. Mitsuhara Misawa v. Takeshi Morishima NOAH 3/2
13. Bryan Danielson v. Nigel McGuiness ROH 2/23
14. Erick Stevens v. Roderick Strong FIP 2/8
15. Trik Davis v. Sami Callihan IWA-MS 8/17
16. Nigel McGuiness v. Austin Aries ROH 3/28
17. Evan Bourne v. Chavo Guererro WWE 10/14
18. Finlay v. JBL WWE 3/30
19. Shawn Michaels v. Ric Flair WWE 3/30
20. El Valiente + El Hijo Del Fantasma + La Mascara v. La Sombra + Volador Jr. + Sagrado CMLL 4/30

2. Blue Panther v. Villano V CMLL 9/19

For some reason in current lucha libre most masks are lost in multi person cage matches or four ways, I can’t remember the last time we have seen this kind of mano a mano mascara contra mascara. Luckily for us Panther wasn’t going out in some bullshit cage and we got a taste of how it is supposed to be done.

We start out with a fun brawl with Panther eating a nasty post shot and Villano throwing some nice looking chops and punches (including a sweet left hook). The first big spot of the match, ( and one of the spots of the year) has Panther nuking Villano with a tope into the seats, either Villano busts the back of his head legit, or the crazy fuck bladed the back of his head as he wrestles the rest of the match with a blood smear growing out of the back of his mask. The first fall ends with Panther getting his masked ripped off, and the second fall ends with Villano getting a receipt, really went with the crazy atmosphere of the whole thing.

Third fall was close to perfect, Panther hits three great looking topes, one after another, smashing Villano further into the seats on each of them. Panther pescadas his face into Villanos feet, and then Villano takes control, getting some big near falls with multiple superplexes. Finish was awesome, as first Panther counters with the Fujiwara armbar for a really insane near fall (at this point the roof is about to blow off Arena Mexico) and when he goes for it again, Villano counters with a crucifix and the place erupts. You had fans in Villano masks going berserk and fans in Panther masks crying. Really couldn’t ask for more from either guy, and a truly awesome way for Panther to lose his mask.

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