MLJ: Babe Face, Negro Casas, Rambo b Villano I, Villano IV, Villano V

1992-03-06 @ Arena Neza
Babe Face, Negro Casas, Rambo b Villano I, Villano IV, Villano V

I was in a Villanos mood still, and looking through the various things decadas80s90s2000 has posted over the years and found this. There's a lot of stuff on there which isn't easy to search for on youtube or catalog. I found a number of things I want to get to at some point. This may not have been the best choice. It was fun disposable lucha, but I wanted to see some more 92 Casas in a match that isn't one of his hyped ones.

This was something of a trainwreck with lots of feeding and lots of bumps, lots of ducked moves and lots of counters. There was some shine at the beginning and some heat in the middle but it was really just a constant flow of action. I'd say that the entire rudo side delivered in one way or another here, though Babe Face the least. He had to be getting up there in age by this point and it showed. That said, he had some great comedic sells and at least an attempt of a few bumps. He was just a half step behind everyone else. Rambo, on the other hand, was a blast. I need to see more of him. He was an amazing cheerleader on the outside and his offense is just so offbeat and novel. It's not that it's well executed or brilliant or anything, but he just has a way of using his body as a weapon that fits his scummy, over the top character perfectly. I need to see more of him. He came off like the perfect Mocho Cota partner here.

Casas was above and beyond. One thing that amazes me, absolutely amazes me, is that you can watch a random Negro Casas trios and you will, maybe seven or eight times out of ten, see him do something you've never seen him do before. It almost always fits. It almost always makes sense. It almost always adds to the match. It never seems forced or contrived. It just seems like Casas wanted to do something different that night, to try inflicting pain a different way or to react differently. I'm not sure I've ever seen another wrestler like that. Here, he took the monkey flip bump to the floor, which I'm sure he must have done other times in this era. However, he also did a fun comedy spot where Rambo fell straight backwards, like a tree-falling senton, trying to break up a pin, and the Villano moved. Casas got his knees up to save himself and Rambo sold it like he was shot in the back by his own man. He also did a double corner clothesline (tried a corner clothesline on a Villano in the corner who got his arm up), which is one of those sort of no-brainer spots you've just never seen before. He added so much energy and excitement and motion and character to the match.

I had no context here, but it didn't matter. I'm glad to watch great rudos clowning and bumping and bullying for super tecnicos and it's always great to see near-prime Casas. He could do almost everything he does now in adding meaning and purpose and character to a match but he could do all the more athletically back then.

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MLJ: Brazos vs Villanos/Hijo Del Santo

1991-03-07
El Hijo Del Santo/Los Villanos I, III & IV vs. El Brazo/Brazo de Oro/Brazo de Plata/Super Brazo


Santo/Villanos vs Los Brazos 3/7/91 Part I by ragingnoodles

Santo/Villanos vs Los Brazos 3/7/91 Part 2 by ragingnoodles

I've seen some of these UWF (or other assorted Japanese) shows from this era, and while they can have fun match ups and really interesting crowds, usually the matches are more style than substance. They're single fall and meant to pop and amuse the crowd. I couldn't pass this one up though as we had four Brazos (the usual suspects plus Super Brazo) against three Villanos and Hijo del Santo, which is such a weird atomicos group.

It was more or less exactly what you would expect, but in the best possible way: disposable, fun, with memorable suplexes and rote comedy spots executed to perfection. The surprise came in the restraint and the build. They cobbled together at least the loose frame of a match, with some really hilarious comedic stalling with the crowd, even exchanges, a tecnico shine (lots of arm drags), building to rudo miscommunication and dive teases, at least some lip service towards heat, with the Brazos using teamwork and girth to keep control, a comeback moment, and a drawn out finishing stretch with languid cutoffs building to some big throws, the promised dives, and a finish.

There were individual things that stood out, some of the suplexes, certainly, that comedic stalling in the beginning, Santo's super sharp work with Oro (I think it was Oro at least), the Villanos playing the tecnico role during the rudo miscommunication so well, some big bumps on back body drops or out of the ring, and how well the Brazos played to the crowd with one shout or mannerism anytime that they seemed to be losing interest. It didn't really coalesce into anything greater than the sum of its parts though, which was a shame given that they really did show some restraint and build. I think if everything was broken up with the 2/3 fall structure, it could have really been great. Those pauses and logical break points can be so valuable when it comes to pacing.

They didn't really seem to pay off to the crowd though. I don't know if it was because the finishing stretch was just a bit too methodological or they were burnt out by how fun the start of the match was, or maybe because it was a match that just tried to be too much, but they seemed much more into things at the start than the end. In some ways, the match was a huge testament to the versatility of the wrestlers, but you can only give that so much credit when you're not sure at how the end result was received. Ultimately, it worked for me, though perhaps more as a novelty and a spectacle than a fully formed match.

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