Atlantis vs. El Faraón (3/22/85)

[Phil Schneider]

Atlantis vs. El Faraón (3/22/85)

[tim.]

Faraon is another guy I want to see a lot more of, damn he was good here.  Atlantis was no slouch either.  First fall matwork was fantastic stuff and the stretch that ended it was probably the most painful that move's ever looked.  Faraon pouncing on Atlantis at the bell in the second fall was really cool as was Atlantis' comeback; Atlantis going to town on the arm was great, with the highlight being the super-wrenching on the standing  wrist lock, and Faraon sold it beautifully.  Faraon coming back with those standing clothelines with the good arm was also awesome.  They go all out on the first fall with a bunch of dives and rollups, Atlantis' second dive being especially great.  Really cool ending with Faraon going nuts in the roll up trying to kick out.  This will do well on my ballot.

[Curt McGirt]

Seeing this after a match taken off of Youtube, probably filmed by Japanese guys yet having local play-by-play, is completely surreal. It's like changing prescriptions on your glasses, all of the sudden you have incredibly vivid clarity. Atlantis still seems kinda green here with his overselling. El Dandy is Faraon's second and looks incredibly skinny. This one has very little flow and is pretty underwhelming. A couple good dives and Atlantis wins with a very 'after the thought' feeling rollup. I can see these two having a better match a couple years down the road (and involving some blood), but this ain't it.

[Graham Crackers]

I was a bit lukewarm to El Faraón at first but he's grown on me after the last few brawls. I didn't know what to expect when this turned out to be a title match but I definitely didn't expect El Faraón to turn in such a great performance. He was great on the mat. I liked that rather than carefully set things up on the mat he would just grab Atlantis and take him down hard. There was a roughness to much of his offense that was fitting for a rudo in this setting. When Faraón was on defense in this he was even better. He took really took the time to effectively sell the pain of each hold before trying to escape. Atlantis was a bit of a disappointment here. He wasn't awkwardly playing to the crowd after every bit of offense this time around but his selling was definitely a bit too hammy. I thought it was appropriate for selling Faraón's axe bombers but he was already writhing around in agony during the first fall. This escalated nicely and settled into a fun final stretch run. This is better than some of the weaker title matches early in the set but doesn't reach the heights of the Mocho Cota vs Americo Rocca series or Satanico vs Gran Cochisse.

[Exposer]

This was damn good. This match had some nice variables to it. On one hand it was a match between an underdog and the veteran. Technically, it was a match built around body part work and selling which I love. I’m not a big fan of Atlantis’s full body selling of moves. I think one squirm is enough instead of thirty eight. He got better at it as the match went along though. The first fall is the traditional mat based opening fall of a title match. There’s a really nice flow to it and the transitions are pretty seamless. The ending of it was great with Faraon focusing on the neck. The second fall was really good also. This is in reverse with Atlantis working on Faraon’s arm and shoulder. Faraon was awesome at selling his right arm and his forearm clotheslines were tremendous. That submission to end the fall was great and Faraon’s selling and facial expressions during it were great. The third fall lets loose some and we get some great dives from Atlantis. I loved that Faraon kept going after Atlantis’s neck. His submission sitting down on his neck looked painful. The finish is awesome. Faraon thinks he’s won by count-out after seemingly riding the storm of Atlantis’s last comeback. And then bam, he gets hit with the victory roll from behind for the pin. Faraon is livid post-match but Atlantis isn’t shedding a tear. Great match with an excellent build.

This is over four stars. I’d call it an A-. Great stuff. 

[goodhelmet]

I agree with Graham that this is probably the third best title match on the set to date. Below the two he mentioned but way above the stuff from Disc 1. 

[Matt D]

Ah, glorious, glorious VQ, which is great because Atlantis is looking swank and Faraon's green shiny jumpsuit is freaking amazing. Faraon is a guy whose strikes I've liked a lot so I'm curious to see him in the title match environment. The VQ works against this on some level as while Atlantis is doign a good job wrenching the arm early on, he looks pretty bored. Faraon doesn't have that problem. He's pretty good at expressively selling too. The first fall is smooth but not very compelling and Atlantis' selling distracts instead of inspiring sympathy. The butt bounce after the neckbreaker is particular hilarious. Dude has ants in the pants. The end of the first fall seemed pretty listless to me too. He casually beat up Atlantis a bit and then tossed him into the turnbuckle and put on a submission. Then they replay it twice. I think the best part of the first fall was Dandy taunting Rayo De Jalisco with the towel after the fall. 

 

The transition in the second fall is okay, mainly for Faraon's selling. Atlantis has some fire which is good but it doesn't really transfer into his execution. Faraon's selling on the pumphandles and top wristlock is really top notch. I do like a lot of the momentum shifts in the second fall. I still think there were more than a few flubs though. Atlantis seems greener here than before, but obviously the level of difficulty here is higher. There are times in this match where he really seems like he doesn't belong in the ring with Faraon. The submission to end the second fall is pretty nice, though, and incredibly believable given the arm work. The best part of this match is Faraon's facial expressions.

 

The second best part is the transitions though. Faraon redirecting Atlantis into the turnbuckle after two flying headbutts at the start of the third fall was great. Then we get the return of the ants in the pants sell on another neckbreaker. Faraon's dropped the arm-selling which isn't surprising but is a bit disappointing. Still it's a good little thrashing (and better than the one in the first fall) until Atlantis has another good reversal. I love Faraon putting Atlantis up on top just to chuck him off, and the "Sit on his head" submission that follows is really nasty too. He just keeps on him too until Atlantis flips back and hits his dive. I love how slow the count was during the kind of clumsy roll ups. Anyway, we get another couple of dives and then Faraon stumbling back in and playing to the crowd only to get rolled up one final time from behind for the pin.

 

In short, all I liked here was:

-Faraon's selling/facial expressions

-The Armwork in the second fall/Atlantis' energy

-The transitions in the second and third falls

-Faraon's dismantling of Atlantis in the third fall

-Atlantis' divefest and Faraon surviving it only to lose on a victory roll

 

Which on another set might be enough but here isn't really enough to overcome what I saw as Atlantis' general sense of being lost. I didn't think the first fall was either dramatic or particularly high end. I might have to watch it again since the rest of you liked it a lot more than I did. There wasn't a huge sense of struggle to me and Atlantis frankly seemed bored. The second and third had the transitions, Faraon's great arm selling, and one good run of Faraon really beating on Atlantis but I didn't love this.

[Lee B.]

I have not been a huge fan of El Faraon so far on this set because his offense seemed kind of one-dimensional.  However, I was nicely surprised here.  Faraon used some fun counters during the opening matwork.  Atlantis's flopping around was a bit much, I agree, in the first fall.  Faraon's arm-selling in the second fall was indeed great, as was his missed senton from the top.  I liked the fact that Faraon took a while to submit at the end of the second fall.  Usually it is a pretty fast process.  Atlantis's dives in the third fall are good, and I enjoyed how the final pin played out.  This match, which ultimately will end up mid-range, made me want to see more Faraon.

[soup23]

First fall started with some good armwork from both and then Atlantis moved on to the leg. Faraon's comeback was pretty fierce and I don't think you can really praise some of Satanico's selling and criticize Atlantis here. The first fall plays off as Faraon locks him in a submission and Atlantis is crying uncle. Second fall looks like easy pickings for Faraon until Atlantis makes his comeback to to a great reaction to even things up. THird fall really ratcheted things up with a ton of reversals, big moves, pinning combos, and dives tot he outside. Dandy may have a claim that the ending count was fast.  My third favorite title match on the set as well so far. (****1/4)

[goc]

I may have to rewatch this, but that might not even happen because I feel asleep on this 2 nights in a row. Finally got through it tonight and I feel like this is the WORST title match on the set so far. I get that they were selling exhaustion but some of the exchanges in the 3rd fall looked about as bad as anything I've seen on $5 wrestling. This is at the bottom of my ballot so far. Right under another match involving both Atlantis & El Faraon.

[Robert]

This was excellent and will do well on my list. Watching the new young masked flyer getting out-wrestled by the veteran and having to make a fiery gimmick before resorting to trying to tope him to death in order to earn victory. Just amazing. I didn't see the issue others had with Atlantis looking lost. Thought his selling was excellent (though Faraon's was better) and he timed the comeback perfectly. The two battling for pinfalls in the 3rd fall was a great visual. The icing on the cake was the finish with Atlantis scoring the pinfall out of nowhere and Faraon desperately trying to kick out. It's also a great sign of the times as back then that finish was likely rarely (if ever?) done so the crowd went CRAZY. These days that's a generic nearfall in every by the book CMLL title match where the crowd barely flinches.