Atlantis vs. El Satanico (1984)

[Phil Schneider]

Atlantis vs. El Satanico (1984)

[soup23]

First fall is all Atlantis.  He shows his amazing grace from the onset with a great dropkick that sends Satanico regrouping to the outside.  He also does a leap up  cross body.  He hooks on a camel clutch that I thought might be it but Satanico shows his resourcefulness by biting his hand.  Atlantis puts him away with a rocking horse type submission that has Satanico reeling to end the first fall.  Satanico complains on the outside in between falls and then gets in and starts putting the boots to Atlantis.  Atlantis shows he can mix it up in that area and gives some back drops to Satanico and hooks in the abdominal stretch with a cravat variation.  Satanico comes firing back with throws into the turnbuckly and outside.  Sataico celebrating on the outside and raising his hands in the air is glorious.  He puts Atlantis inside the ring and gives him some hip tosses and a elbow drop and finishes it with a pin.  He continues to put the beating on him in between the falls.  Third fall ups the ante even more with some mask ripping and stiff punches and knees to Atlantis.  Satanico is a complete vicious loon just hammering away and biting at him.  The ref gets heavily involved by pulling Satanico’s hair to finally pull him off.  Atlantis is a bloody mess with it all over his chest.  We then get Problemas de Transmission and we go to black and white.  This doesn’t detract from the violence though as Satanico continues to put the boots to him.  We get a badass king of the mountain spot with Atlantis having to grab one of Satanico’s legs and wrap it around the apron to allow him to get in.  We then get revenge spots as Satanico is sent into the corner and Atlantis bites him.  Satanico is a bloody mess now.  Atlantis goes back to that ab stretch submission but Satanico is able to get in a short elbow and now both competitors are drained and we have a nasty slugfest between the two.  Atomic drop from Atlantis gives him the advantage and he follows that up with a backbreaker but Satanico socks him right in the mouth.  Atlantis kills him with two beautiful dropkicks and goes for the victory roll but Satanico cuts him off again.  Satanico then hooks in the camel clutch but Atlantis fights out of it. Another crazy dropkick sends Satanico to the outside and we get a dive from Atlantis.  He goes for a flying headbutt and again Satanico ducks away.  Satanico is looking really strong here and this match is a war.  Sunset flip gets our closest near fall of the match for Atlantis and now he hits the flying headbutt but he tries again and hits the turnbuckle.  Amazing resourcefulness.  Santanico then gives him the boots and locks on the submission for the clean as a shit victory.  Holy shit was this amazing and told a great story.  Both guys come out looking spectacular.  I watched this match twice to make sure I wasn’t crazy on first watch but this would be the best match I have seen in 2013 and therefore it deserves the rating I am giving it.

*****

[tim.]

I wasn't planning on going onto the second disk tonight but the post above drew me in; I don't like it to that extent but it's definitely a great match.  Man Satanico is just so charismatic, his huge, expressive selling off Atlantis' spine buster slams, how dominant he looked in control and all the little touches he added to so much in the match.  Satanico really going after Atlantis with abandon in the third fall was great, just beating the hell out of him, tearing the mask and focusing on the cut with punches and bites for a huge gusher.  The king of the mountain spots are really great as is Atlantis' comeback off one of them; Atlantis pays Satanico back for drawing blood in beautiful fashion afterward.  Favorite part of the match is towards the end where they're totally out of it trading punches, both guys collapsing after each strike is hit.  Satanico's submission to end it looked like he was stretching Atlantis to death.

[Graham Crackers]

This is a cool match to watch coming after the last one and it might even be better. Rookie Atlantis is here again but this time in a singles match against a far more formidable foe. The slower pace brings more attention to his flaws but that is a compelling part of the story told in this match. That lack of confidence I talked about in the tag with Atlantis and Santito comes into play here. Atlantis turns to the crowd after almost every move. It's common to appeal to the crowd in lucha but look at the difference between how Satanico looks to the crowd and how Atlantis does it. The stance that Atlantis adopts throughout the match is a bit awkward too. His arms are stiff and he keeps them at his sides. He only looks up to appeal to the public. When I watched this back in late 2008/early 2009 La Sombra vs Ephesto was a match that was getting a lot of hype and I remember someone drawing a parallel between his performance and Atlantis in this match. Similar to that match we do get to see Atlantis show more confidence the more he controls the match. Of course this match is nothing without Satanico. He gives Atlantis a lot but never too much and rather than take away from Atlantis's athleticism he cuts him off by being crafty or just plain ruthless. He'll bite his fingers to break a hold or rip his mask. I think this will be a popular match with those who haven't seen much lucha as it's easy to get into this kind of rookie/underdog performance.

[Log]

I agree with Graham's idea that this is a good intro to Lucha match.  This really had a little bit of everything.  Strong matwork, flying and brawling.  

 

I didn't like this as much as Soup, but thought it was a really great match still.  After two discs, this will be pretty high.

[lovchunky]

I went into this match without reading any of the above posts and rated it very high. My initial reaction, five or so minutes into the match, was that this felt like a typical U.S. "television" match.

 

After the first fall, I thought this would be a clean win for Atlantis. After the second fall, I still thought Atlantis winning would be the typical outcome. The third fall, and especially the work of Satanico, put this match over the top. The third fall was always a sure victory for Atlantis, until Satanico won the match. Absolutely surprised me. That might be because I'm "new" to Lucha. Atlantis is a name I recognize; it just didn't occur to me that he still would have been a rookie at the time. Even Satanico sucker punching Atlantis to follow the match surprised me to an extent. Now that I understand Atlantis was a rookie, this match takes on a completely new meaning. I refuse to lower it in my rankings though. A really great job of story telling by both wrestlers. Consider me a fan of Satanico, especially, after watching this.

[Curt McGirt]

This was The Satanico Show. I wasn't feeling Atlantis with his playing to the crowd with that goofy expression after every bad move that Satanico oversold to make it look good, minus his submissions which were already ace -- that wheelbarrow whatever the fuck thing to end una caida was weird and awesome. Tercera is where everything picks up, the mask ripping begins and the blood stars flowing and then surprise! Either Vince secretly owns the footage and wanted it PG or we are in a time warp back to the golden age as technical difficulties occur and everything goes black and white for awhile. There's a great moment where Satanico gloats outside the ring with his arms outstretched and his head held high and you realize that facially, he's the Mexican Adrian Adonis. The end with Satanico raising Atlantis' arm only to punch him again was nice. Probably gonna end up high middle of my ballot.

[Exposer]

This is a match that I might be an outlier on. First and foremost, this was a really good match. I might even call it a great one. However, I struggle to see how it’s as good as some people are letting on. It’s certainly a match that’s a good introduction to the style. There was blood, mask pulling, brawling, some good holds, and Satanico pulled some great clever rudo tactics. The low blow out of the referee’s sight was awesome. That was the perfect way to transition into Satanico taking control. I think Atlantis has good offense too. He’s pretty varied and his back breaker is a really good one. The third fall had the blood and brawling which was great. Satanico wiping his face and seeing his own blood then going getting pissed about it was the best moment of the match. The punches were pretty sweet here too. Both guys sold really well here as well. I loved Satanico bringing Atlantis in for a handshake then decking him afterwards. That’s such great heel work. Ultimately, there wasn’t enough in the first two falls to engross me to give this the highest praise. There was nothing bad, but also anything terribly remarkable either. However, the third fall was really great and Satanico’s mannerisms were superb.

Four stars or so. Maybe a A- for this or a B+. This is a great match but not a really great one.

[KillerSpeed]

This is the first taste of real bloody mask ripping on the set and what better man to do it than Satanico? He's one of the true ring generals, a dude who doesn't look like much at first glance but makes epic matches and controls the crowd with simple gestures. The first two falls of this are actually closer to what you'd expect in a US style match with a vet carrying a rookie. Not as violent as an apuestas match but certainly not a title match. Most of the moves are really basic wrestling school stuff like armdrags, whips into the post and a big backbreaker and some dropkicks as highspots. Just simple wrestling done greatly. Satanico is just ruthless and nothing else, he will really wrench in his pinning hold and knee you in the kidney. In the third fall it turns into a real lucha match with Atlantis mask ripped open and spraying blood all over his chest. I love the transmission problem here with the screen turning black and white while both guys are getting their offense run, then when it turns back to normal they are all bloody and exhausted. It builds to a really awesome finish with both guys throwing punches and some great nearfalls and momentum shifts. Pretty by the numbers stuff, but simply amazing execution.

[KrisZ]

This was a really solid match here between the young Atlantis who was starting to come into his own and Satanico who was one of the best in the world at this time. This match built really well as they worked a more technical style to start before going into the blood and violence as the match went on which added to the drama. This is a pretty great match even with the picture issues in the 3rd fall where we would go black & white for a bit.

[DouglasC]

I rewound this to see if the Corona signboard on the ring apron was cracked before Satanico slammed Atlantis' head into it. I guess it was, which made Satanico's gloating after the blow slightly less evil. My only complaint is that Atlantis' constant playing to the crowd got annoying, and started taking away from all the hatred that Satanico was bringing to the match. I can still see this one finishing high on my ballot, though. Only MS1/Chicana is ahead of it.

[JerryvonKramer]

Lucha 2.1
Atlantis vs. El Satanico (1984)

Like some of the stiffness in the early exchanges. The sea-saw surfboard thing was gnarly. Satanico's kicks to the gut look good. Backbreaker! And again. Nutshot for Satanico marks the transition. Big bump on the apron. Viciously goes after the mask now.

Atlantis is cut open pretty bad. This is quickly turning into a brawl. Satanico is cut open now as the footage goes black and white.

Two more backbreakers now from Atlantis. Awesome moment as Satanico just dumps Atlantis going for the victory roll. I liked that. Flying headbutt. And again ... misses! Submission win for Satanico.

This was really good, but for some reason I wasn't all that emotionally invested in it.

B+

[keith_h]

Things that are awesome about this match:

• Atlantis graceful flying
• Satanico being a huge dick (even after the match!)
• Blood
• Hate
• Mask ripping
• The ref having to rip Satanico off Atlantis by his hair!
• Little kids imploring Atlantis to get back in the ring so he's not counted out after his plancha in the third fall

Yeah this match was GREAT. Best singles match I've ever seen from Atlantis (granted I've only really seen his big stuff from the 90's and early 00's).

 

A or ****3/4

[Matt D]

I was about to say that I thought Satanico was going to be the Nick Bockwinkel of this set when it comes to versatility and general all-star-ness, and then he used the King of the Mountain and it led to the big transition and now I am sticking with that.

 

I love how this match escalated from the really short first fall into the absolutely war that it ended up as. It was paced really well.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

I wasn't particularly keen on Atlantis's performance in this, for reasons Curt mentioned, in particular the goofy body language. The first couple of falls were pretty bad, I thought, and I was wholly unimpressed with Satanico during the second fall, too. Then it just exploded in the tricera caida, I thought Atlantis was selling really well, and Satanico was just awesome. Double crimson mask and mask ripping means that the match can't be all bad. Hard to rank though, because I really don't think the first two falls were good at all.

[puropotsy]

Great match with Atlantis as a strong young babyface and Satanico as uber-heel.

Soup, that was a tremendous write-up that I couldn't top. So ya, what soup said.

 

I've got this # 2 for the set right now.

[newtalkingwall]

I have to agree with the people that think Atlantis held this back a bit. Throughout the match, his offense was extremely choppy and had no pace or sense of purpose. This mainly happened if he was in control for a segment where the pace slowed down for a moment.

That said, Satanico was an absolute blast in this, and carried an obviously green Atlantis to a really great match. Satanico was either putting on an absolute display of excellent rudo brawling or was taking complete advantage of a younger wrestler (both?), but either way it made for a great match. Even with my problems with Atlantis, I can see this finishing in the top 20.

[Lee B.]

I think this match flowed very well, with great back-and-forth and counters and transitions.  Often on this set, one wrestler or team will dominate the first fall, and then they switch gears abruptly and the other team dominates.  This match was not so clear-cut and obvious.  The ending was a real surprise, and I second all the love for Satanico.  I can see the Adrian Adonis comparison, and some of his early yelping reminded me of Larry Z.  I could see having this in my top 3-4 matches so far.  I liked this.

[Robert]

Pretty good underdog tecnico vs experienced rudo match. Atlantis' flying was crisp and Satanico was great when he took over and decided to teach the young punk a lesson. The blood and mask ripping really added to the drama. As most have said this was more the Satanico show than the Atlantis show and he deserved most of the credit for a very good match. Probably not gonna be a high end match for me but was very good overall.

 

I wonder if there was a group of "smart" fans back in this time period who hated Atlantis as much as certain folks did Mistico in the 2004 - 2008 era. I mean... I'm sure there was - older people hate change or guys who are different. Just funny to think how we watch this now and talk about how great Atlantis was even as a green rookie but if there was a time machine the same people saying that would probably HATE a guy unlike Villano III, Perro Aguayo, MS-1, Sangre Chicana, etc. getting a push and being treated as pretty much an equal.

[fishbaugh]

As I'm watching this one I'm trying to figure out if we have double juice and then the color comes back on the video exactly at that moment and it is just such a striking visual. Add that to the great stuff between the second and third falls with Satanico slamming Atlantis' head into the ground and smacking him around and I have this in my top 5 so far.

[thecubsfan]

The great thing about not paying attention is I don't know what's on any DVD until I grabbed the list off the DVDMB, so I was surprised and thrilled to see Atlantis & Satanico list first. The not great thing is I can't remember what weird scheme I was using to rate these. (Out of 100 but not actually posting it anywhere? Hmmm.) This was a great fight. Satanico, arrogantly beating the upstart técnico was good, but Satanico bumping around the ring like a crazy man for every one of Atlantis' shots was better. No one's taking dropkicks better than Satanico does early here. The best when Satanico is selling and Atlantis is walking around like an hombre barely in control of his body moments for he is so full of rage. Satanico's the master of the small touches too - Satanico's foul in the second fall was so subtle that I had to rewind multiple times to even spot it – subtle fouls are a thing that don't exist in 2014 – but really perfectly done.

 

I think they were still figuring out how/when to use the replay, as they seemed to slow motion replay a full minute of the first fall. (Then again, the match hadn't started when they got back, so maybe they knew better.) Seeing guys who I'm familiar with from watching more recent lucha is the most disorienting. A lot of those guys were fully formed by the time I started watching, changing little for a decade and a half to follow. These are two very different guys who are wearing the same clothes. I was wondering why Atlantis wouldn't switch in the spinning backbreaker for the side one he was doing, and then realized he might have not known how to pull it off yet. Atlantis' blood is shocking – it's just not what I'm used to him from the last decade of CMLL, and his chest is suddenly covered in red. Both guys get color, though the pictures loses it for a while.