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Sangre Chicana vs. Ringo Mendoza (10/28/83)


Phil Schneider

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Refreshing to see Chicana in a traditional title match right after the blood feud with MS-1.  This is a match where he clearly feels like the superior worker to Mendoza and leads him to a good match.  I can also see this match having some huge proponents because the targets of Chicana's neck and Mendoza's back play into the strategy of multiple falls.  Chicana emphasizes the back in everything he does in the third fall.  The finish is a letdown and I actually could have had 5-6 more minutes of this but overall it was very good and showed great versatility for Chicana.

 

B+ (***3/4)

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Great match with a ton of really cool stuff in it.  The arm drag sequence to start off where they become locked at the arm is both awesome and hilarious and Mendoza's dive fake out spot is just outstanding, playing off both Sangre's earlier dive fake out and the drop kick exchanges they were doing.  Liked the submission finishes being followed up on immediately at the beginning of the succeeding falls.  Mendoza's submission and roll-up counters in the third fall were really good, especially Chicana's stretch into the torture rack.  I thought both guys looked great here.

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The kids love Sangre Chicana. The opening matwork is pretty cool, especially because I don't think I've seen Chicana in a setting like this. The dueling armdrag sequence where they remain locked up outside the ring and have to be separated by the referee was great and established that neither guy was going to give an inch. I just assumed because it's 1983 we wouldn't get such a workrate heavy first fall with all of this rope running and dives but we did. I may love a good matwork heavy first fall but all of the rope running, dives, and feints were executed really well and at a good pace so I still really liked this. That replay went on for way too long though. They each take a fall by submission and both follow up by working over the bodyparts the submissions targeted with moves. I'm surprised at how American this match feels at times. It started to feel like it was getting back to the cool matwork in the third fall but then we got the double pin. I liked this even though it was kind of like a 2000s CMLL match with 1980s offense and American limbwork.

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UWA Lt. Heavyweight Title: Sangre Chicana © vs. Ringo Mendoza (10/28/83)Really fun matwork to start with Ringo taking a wristlock from the ring to the floor back to the ring back to the floor. Both guys are feeling each other out and it has that indy standoff thing going on which was cool. Ringo takes the advantage hitting a nice plancha to the floor before submitting Chicana to take the 1st fall. Ringo continues his domination here really rocking Chicana with some fun knee smashes before missing a plancha off the ropes giving Chicana an opportunity and he goes for a Stretch Muffler which looks like it hurts like shit to tap out Ringo. The 3rd fall kicks into another gear with Chicana going for a Gory Especial setting the table as both guys go for various submissions and this is really awesome shit as Chicana makes Ringo submit after they go to a double pinfall but Chicana gets his shoulder up for the win. The postmatch was great as Chicana & Cota are picking up all the money in the ring that the fans throw in there. Very strong technical match.

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Nice change of pace from what we've seen of Chicana so far.  I loved the sequence leading up to Mendoza's dive in the first fall.  

 

Other than that, nothing really stuck out for me.  It was a very nice technical match.  I like the work they did just fine.  The second fall was a little slow, but everything around it was real nice.  

 

Probably somewhere in the middle when it's all said and done.

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I thought this was pretty middle-of-the-road overall, some good submissions but the first fall seemed really sloppy. However the end is worth it all as Chicana seems to demand a hair match while still being sportsmanlike to Ringo, then they start picking up coins in the ring. Somebody throws a cup and Chicana starts to put money in it, then there is a shower of money with seconds and little kids start scooping it up, and finally the ring is invaded by young fans surrounding Chicana. Also someone decides right after the final fall to "make it rain" and you see three or four bills drifting over the ropes. Surreal.

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I really enjoyed this and felt that it showed just how great Chicana was coming after the previous two brawls on this set. I'll watch this again down the road to see if it stands up, but I really enjoyed how both guys were moving at a fast pace to see if the other could keep up, and I loved the back and forth matwork in the 3rd fall. You had big dives, weird submissions and back and forth matwork, what else can you ask for in a lucha title match?

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Lucha 1.9Sangre Chicana vs. Ringo Mendoza (10/28/83)Ringo Mendoza looks like a real thug. Much more technical style of match now from Chicana. After some early mat stuff there's a nice neckbreaker. A little later there's one that sort of misses. I've never seen someone "miss" a neckbreaker before. Still Mendoza is clearly targetting Chicana's neck here.Very "scientific" stuff this. Chicana targets the upper back and shoulder area with his holds. Mendoza is trying to bend and twist Chicana's neck. That's the story of this match pretty much from start to finish -- as stories go it's a very mildly diverting one, but little more than that.If you're going to work 3 falls, my preference is to make each fall standout in some way. Here all three were worked in the same pace and gear. No real transitions to speak of. And I like transitions. Will be lower-middle.C

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This grabbed me quickly and was my favourite match of the first disc, even if I'm the only one.

 

After about a minute of caution both guys thought 'sod this, let's go'. It had a great pace to it but was never spotty. They also flawlessly fitted in submissions despite never slowing down much and losing the tempo. Such a lovely flow to the work with plenty of variety. Both men were clearly experts of their craft. With two technicos they kept it clean and there was no brawling. Which isn't to say anyone was holding back or being Mr. Nice Guy.

 

The stretch was particulaly exciting with some mark out near falls. I was also thinking that one of the submissions could end it. There's often such a difference in how quickly the wrestlers submit the first time compared with the second. That's all down to smart strategy in the 2/3 falls format. Yes you may be able to hang on and eventually escape the submission, but it's not worth getting injured for. Therefore it's better to give up one fall so you can enter the next in better condition and stand a better chance in the long term. This is something that also becomes an interesting metagame factor in tournaments such as the G1 Climax.

 

In the end they went to a cheesy double pin, which wasn't that that bad as both deserved to have their hand raised. Over the space of two matches Chicana showed such great versatility. One a brutal street fight, the other a clean title bout. Not only that but he had pop star popularity with the fans, who mobbed him afterwards in wild scenes.

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Never was a huge Ringo Mendoza fan but he was good here and Sangre Chicana was great as usual so they combined for a very good match. A dive in the first 3 minutes! Is this a 2013 CMLL match??? The nearfalls were very believable and I really liked the third fall back-and-forth. I can see some people being let down by the draw but I was fine with it. The 80's were full of title matches that went to draws since back then the folks in charge of CMLL actually cared about protecting guys in big singles matches.

 

Will probably end up putting this higher than most.

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I really got a kick out of this match and is was a nice technical change of pace after the two matches before it. Chicana's versatility is just amazing, as he works a technical style just as well as he brawls. I've never seen Mendoza before, but I liked what I saw.

 

As someone who favors technical lucha, this may end up pretty high.

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Chicana delivered again. This guy is just incredible. He’s remarkable at selling. It’s full body, engaging, believable, and he always works with a sense of desperation. The opening mat work wasn’t anything too special in my opinion but the dive teases were great and I loved Chicana nearly wiping out on his tease because it was like if he pulled the trigger on that shit he would have taken himself and Ringo to the fifth row. Ringo’s tease was brilliant as he just flattens on the mat, waits for Chicana to get on the apron, then kicks him off and hits him with a flying body press. That whole sequence was great. That leads to Ringo winning the first fall by submission and with a back cradle. Chicana sells his back for the rest of the match and limps around. It’s awesome to watch. Ringo works over Chicana’s back for the entire second fall and Chicana is great at building sympathy. He fights back and submits Ringo with his sick ass submission. So now Ringo’s hurting in the back as well. Chicana’s neck was worked on too so he’s nursing that in the third fall. The third fall is good as fuck with both guys targeting each other’s pains then going to brutal mat work to close it out. The final three minutes of this are superb with Chicana fighting out of a half crab, locking in a variation of the Rings of Saturn or some shit, and then having this tremendous struggle with Ringo over leverage and holds. The counter of the Rings of Saturn hold into the torture rack on the knees was fucking great. Ringo then goes for the camel clutch but Chicana awesomely struggles out of it. Ringo tries this crazy shit to hurt Chicana’s back more but Chicana turns it into a surfboard pinning combo that is tremendously built up for the win. My God, Chicana was great in this. Ringo held his own too. I liked this a ton. Chicana is the absolute gem of this set so far.

Four stars maybe on the dot. B + range. Chicana was brilliant in this. Man, he’s fucking great. The post-match was something else too. The fans loved him as well. 

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It's almost surreal watching Chicana doing these graceful cartwheels. This may have been the weakest title match of the 3 so far but by now means is it bad. Plenty of cool stuff here. Chicana really is phenomenal. You can tell he could've easily gotten by with his camera but he wasn't afraid to work his ass off. Match felt weirdly short for a lucha title match which is the only thing keeping it down.

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This was awesome stuff. Dives and big bumps to the outside in the first fall! Chicana is just so amazing, his selling, bumping, and comebacks are just off the chart. This was my second favorite singles match of the set so far, it just clicked for me and I loved every minute of it.  

 

B+ or ****

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is more proof that I can't figure this stuff out without my usual methods. I'm getting feels as I watch with the listening party and as a "feel" I liked this the best out of the title matches so far on the set. It felt like a lot less "matwork for the sake of matwork." They broke it up more in all the falls and there was more emotion and intensity that I could process. I liked Sangre Chicana's selling. But I couldn't tell you what the story of the match was, not really. I liked the falls but I'd have to really break things down to tell you how they fit in and why the mattered. I enjoyed it, but I don't feel confident putting it up against things yet. I am confident saying that it showed another side to Sangre Chicana where he seemed to merge his style with the title match style and it worked well for me at a glance.

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There was a lot of stuff I liked about this, even though at times, particularly in the first fall, it seemed a little bit loose. I really liked some of the funky submissions they were pulling out, especially the one that won the 1st caida for Mendoza. The Gori Special into a sunset flip was a real nice nearfall. Cartwheel into a headscissors smooth as hell. Chicana brought the match up a couple of notches with his selling in the 2nd caida. A real work of art. I liked this a lot. I didn't get the finish though. I thought Mendoza was the champ going in. I got Backlund/Bret vibes at the end, with Chicana basically doing nothing wrong, but kinda being a bit of a dick parading around with the belt in front of Mendoza, and Mendoza reacting to it. No crossface chickenwing though.

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  • 1 month later...

I enjoyed this match, although I can sympathize with Matt D in feeling a bit out of it in Lucha-land.  Did Chicana really do a double foot-stomp from the top turnbuckle down onto Ringo's stomach in the third fall?  I really love Chicana's selling of the torture rack-type hold in the third fall as well, when Chicana was just rolling around in extreme pain like he was on fire.  The post-match with the coin-throwing and the ring slowly filling up with boys was fun as well.  It kind of reminded me of a recent Kansas-Colorado basketball game that Colorado won amazingly at the last second, resulting in the crowd mobbing the floor and totally obscuring the players.  I have no idea where this ranks, other than top-half for sure. 

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  • 1 month later...

Upon rewatch this is a really interesting match. They seem to be going for a slow build at times but then burst into moments of speed to try and steal an advantage. The handshake is cool too. It's like they are too evenly matched as opponents, at least until Ringo takes the advantage and Chicana's awesome selling kicks in. Then Ringo gets his chance to sell his ass off for the second fall and the Gory Special afterward. Both men's application of holds are so hurty-looking and panicked, then we get the dual pin. These two guys were made for the hair match they tease afterward and it's a shame we don't get to see it. Both guys are pretty basic workers, not especially fast or bogged down in schtick or crushing it on the matwork, they are your meat and potatoes guys that know how to sell and bleed and come off as solid guys to the crowd whether rudo or tecnico. It's nice to see them work each other in an even-steven title match where they can make some money and have a bunch of people loving it. I'm glad I watched this one again. 

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