Graham Crackers

Box Brown (who has a graphic novel about Andre the Giant coming out this year) is selling some really cool drawings of wrestlers. http://boxbrownart.storenvy.com/

My rankings have changed so much since I started watching things over. This was the number 9 match of 1984 in my original rankings and now it's my fourth best match of 84 and in my overall top 15. It's such a sick match.

Malanko vs Fujiwara is probably my favorite Joe Malenko match. Those 1989 AJPW midcard workrate tags are really fucking fun. I think Malenko and Kobashi vs the CanAms is on ditch's site and it's one of my favorites.

Yeah, both of those definitions can work though it's not automatically a bad thing. I'm comparing these matches because they are similarly fast paced and rely more on strikes, takedowns, and moves than on matwork. Using Morgan vs Dandy as an example: it's an apuestas match so it obviously has more striking than matwork but it also has all of those big suplexes and nearfalls at the end. I was trying to compare this match with other matches on the set that combine aspects of lucha and what I associate with junior heavyweight wrestling as well as matches like Santo vs Casas that are purely lucha in style but feature a lot of workrate like this one. I think that for some reason I am struggling to find a way to put those thoughts into words that make sense.

Morgan vs Dandy is definitely worked differently (violently) but I'm alluding to the juniors style influence on that match which I think you can also see in this match. On my second viewing of this match I didn't think that influence was as strong as it was the first time I watched it but it's still there.

It's hard to rank a match like this based upon what we do see and not what I hope happened. A lot of the work is really awesome. On my second viewing I was popping for every punch that Dr. Wagner threw. I just need a little something more from the match's narrative. I kept watching it and thinking that one really great transition could push this up my ballot but we never really see one. The only one I remember is Solitario reversing the abdominal stretch which isn't really that spectacular. This is right in the middle for me right now.

Two random thoughts while I work on my rankings this morning: 1.) 1989 EMLL was fucking awesome. 2.) I'm starting to think I like Los Bucaneros more than I like Los Infernales. I have three Bucaneros matches in my top 20 right now.

I was working on my rankings this morning and thinking about how much I loved this feud but how disappointed I was by this match. Admittedly, my expectations were out of control and definitely set me up for disappointment. That pre-match hype was inspired by how engaged I had been with their previous matches but also the knowledge of other Dandy title matches. I was picturing the epic matwork of the Casas and Angel Azteca matches married to the intensity of this feud. I was picturing a top 5 match, maybe even a number 1 contender. I decided to watch this again along with a few other matches and it compared to them rather favorably. In my first post in this thread I compared this match to Atlantis vs Charles and Dandy vs Morgan and I felt that this match failed to combine juniors style wrestling and lucha the way that those matches did. Well, it felt much more like a lucha match to me this time around, particularly in it's rhythm. In a lot of ways it's very similar to the Santo vs Casas match from 1987. I feel as if I'm constantly talking about other matches on this set to explain how I feel about this one but for whatever reason that's the only way I can put this into words. Anyway, Santo vs Casas is a great lucha match and in particular a lucha match that really moves forward. The matwork is fast and the exchanges are often built around what the wrestlers do on their feet before they can take an opponent down to the mat for a submission. It's high workrate lucha but definitely still lucha. Some of the moves in Dandy vs Charles resemble New Japan juniors but most of their exchanges and the space between those exchanges feel like lucha. Atlantis vs Charles is great and the visuals in that match are certainly more spectacular than those in this one but I don't feel as emotionally invested in it as this match. That's partly because this is another chapter in a rivalry I've already been following on this set but also because this match has a better title match atmosphere. Dandy and Charles just seem so determined to win this match. The Atlantis match is great but there is something kind of sterile about it. It's still great and isn't that far behind the other matches I'm talking about in this post but it's definitely ranked lower than the others. That leaves me with Dandy vs Morgan, Dandy vs Charles, and Santo vs Casas. All three are great matches but don't precisely deliver what I love about lucha so that keeps them out of the top 15 but they are still great enough that all three are hovering around the number 20 spot at the moment.

Maybe he has Karis La Momia on his other arm.

I found most of the WCCW 80s set to be kind of disappointing but I fucking loved the 1989 stuff with Embry. I'm going to try to watch that match he had against Invader I from Puerto Rico soon.

I've never seen a picture of Pepe from before he became a referee. It's crazy how much Felino looks like him unmasked.

Not the easiest fancam footage to watch and that's probably why it didn't make the set. And the Brazos vs Bucaneros stuff is fucking awesome.

It's La Cavernaria, named after Cavernario Galindo.

I haven't watches this in a couple of years but I remember this being my favorite Headhunters match.

I've been giving some matches from this set a second viewing over the last week in order to put together better rankings and as you'd expect some matches have grown in esteem and some have fallen. Here are some that are moving up my ballot: Sangre Chicana vs Perro Aguayo - This was already a top 10 match but it felt a bit more special the second time. Infernales vs Faraon & Fiera - third time watching this and while the VQ is an issue this is just too brutal for me to ignore. This is looking like a top 20 and possibly a top 15 match for me. 8/18/89 trios - Fuck, this is such a fun trios match and it's satisfying in every way. This could even sneak into my top 10 (which is half trios matches at the moment).

Mysterion isn't really a wrestler, he's a manager. Actually, promoting wrestling is new for him because he's more known for his activity in the burlesque and sideshow communities. I've met him several times and he seems like an okay guy but I never thought I'd have any interest in his wrestling shows so I've never bothered to check them out.

Three flannel shirts (from three different people), City Lights Criterion Collection, and a Super 8 projector.

RIP Yusef Lateef

It is so tragic that we don't have more UWA footage. Between this and OJ's history thread I find myself agonizing over more lost matches every day. If it makes you feel any better, we do have the main event of this show:

Some pics from El Toreo in 1979.

Here are some highlights from El Toreo de Cuatro Caminos' 1985 Anniversary show. Blue Panther vs El Cobarde on the left, Super Astro vs Satanico on the top right, and El Signo vs Villano III on the bottom right. The main event was Canek & Dos Caras vs Stan Hansen and Babe Face.

Just like the relevos suicidas match I had seen this one a few years ago. I didn't like that one but I thought this one was great at the time. On second viewing I still really like it but it definitely has some dull stretches. I wouldn't say the first fall Fuerza vs Santo stuff was bad but it didn't live up to what I remember it being like. The 1984 Santo vs Fuerza trios match on this set is probably a better match between the two of them. All Star really brings it as this thing goes on and makes you believe that he really wants to keep that mask. He has a few nice throws peppered in with the brawling. The crowd tuning on Santo and the way he reacts are the things I remember best and they definitely hold up. It's not nearly as good as the triangle hair match with Casas and Dandy from 1996 but there are similar vibes between how Santo worked rudo then and in this match. This is probably a top half match but there are just so many amazing matches on this set that I don't really know how high it'll end up going.