Curt McGirt

I just plowed through disc 2 of the Legends of Mid-South Wrestling set. First off we get some angles with JYD and Butch Reed where the Dog first gets white paint dumped on him, then in Memphis gets tarred and feathered in front of an apologetic Lance Russell. Two incredibly racial bits that you could never do today; JYD even says Reed is from the woodpile. Honestly I'm not one for watching JYD at all except in a total brawl and luckily that's what we get with the Ghetto Street Fight. Pretty vicious with some mean piledrivers and belt action, then a ref bump and screwjob finish involving Ernie Ladd and another guy. Ehhh. I have to admit I've never seen a Midnights/Rock and Roll match before. Yeah, that's pretty crazy. There's two on here back to back, with the first being No DQ, $50,000 and titles on the line that hit #61 on the DVDVR ballot, and the other having Jim Cornette (wearing a mask due to being cueballed) being straight-jacketed and lifted up to the ceiling in a telephone crane! The work here is exactly what I've always heard: heels cutting off the ring, Morton being beaten on, hot tag. They cut a great pace and the selling is off the chain. Cornette also has the best explanation for using the chemical-soaked rag in the first match -- he just wanted to disinfect Bobby's cut forehead! Ha. Next is a job match between Shawn Michaels and Ted DiBiase, which a nice little interview with Shawn talking about Teddy teaching him psychology. He gives Shawn three roll-ups on him and it makes the crowd believe he might just pull off the upset. Of course he gets soundly thrashed to boot. Finally we got Terry Taylor telling an AWESOME story about his Superdome show against Ric Flair. Flair comes in late and barely able to walk, totally hungover/still trashed from the night before. Terry is pissed. Flair says give him an hour and a cup of coffee, Terry gets madder. Ric follows Terry out and he's immaculate and ready to go; he blows up Terry and they go 40 minutes. Then Flair goes back to Bourbon Street that night. Terry says "he's not from planet Earth". A blown up Terry sits "in the iron lung catching my breath" while Flair is partying again. The way Taylor tells this story is so engaging and hilarious. The match itself is what you know it to be. NWA touring champion broadway making the local face look good. It's pretty epic, lots of really fast work at the beginning, incredible heat from the 25,000 people in the stadium, Flair surprisingly doesn't get chippy and cheat-y until halfway through. Terry is more than capable trying to wrench Flair's head off and going chop for chop with him. Reminded me of his broadway with a young Barry Windham. This one's #16 on the ballot for a reason. Recommended for the Flair match alone. There's other really great stuff on the set too that blows this disc out of the water.

That's ORNDORFF? Wow. I totally remember watching that tea party and laughing my ass off. Really wish Kozlov didn't wash out of WWE because he was great.

If you don't like Cena after watching that, just fuck off already.

Charro has this awesome mask with a spade on the face and in the pre-match interview also has his kid wearing one too as he is interviewed in dead seriousness by Dr. Morales... then as soon as the match starts he's kicking the shit out of Mogur before he can even get his jacket off and we definitely know he's not a tecnico. Tim is 100% correct about the first fall, if you are gonna blast through and end it quick you might as well do it like that. No replays this time as it jumps right back to the action. Mogur is selling his ass off during his comeback while whooping the piss out of Charro and we get another short fall. Charro does this hilarious deadfall off a posting that is like something you would see in a silent film. Then he does a dive and you think these guys are totally spent until we get a fake-out and a Mogur dive right in front of an incredulous grandfather. Then there's ANOTHER plancha and these two are done. We get a crappy foule-fake faceoff and a flash pin and the crowd loses it and crowds the ring. Really awesome for such a short match despite the bunk finish and lack of demasking.

Third time I watched it now. This is The Negro Casas Show. Every little thing he does is perfect. Towards the end they get a little no-selly, jumping right up after big moves but you buy it because this one is for all the marbles. Casas is the good guy who's pride is on the line and forced into the role of super dick in order to win, and Santo is trying to hold onto his mask for the sake of his family and his honor. After the vicious camel clutch Casas raises his opponent's hand and openly weeps as his locks get buzzed. You just don't get much better than this, folks. It's one of the matches I could watch on an endless cycle, like Andre/Hansen. I'm not sure if it's legit better than MS-1/Sangre Chicana but it's gonna be a fight.

El Hijo del Santo shows up in a sick red car and gets carried to the ring on people's shoulders... that might just be the best wrestling entrance I've ever seen. Holy shit. Casas is already in the ring and is, well, Casas. He wins the first fall with la Magistral and SOAKS UP THE HATE. Just looking at him you want to slap him so bad. Another thing to note: within a huge ring with very big and very loose ropes, these guys adjust perfectly for their style. I'm having to pause this as the most brutal Tapatia ever wins the fall and I am losing my shit watching this match. *cut to the finish* I just watched that twice now. Sorry I can't give more play-by-play, the damn thing is just too fantastic. It may be one of the top matches I've ever seen. Wondering if this will be #1.

1. I can't believe I just saw a trailer I actually liked. 2. I can't believe I might watch a remake of a film I love so much that I can quote pretty much every scene. 3. KILL THE THING ON SAM JACKSON'S HEAD BEFORE IT GETS TO HIS BRAIN

I was completely unimpressed by this one. Cien Caras appears to be pinning himself at multiple points and the VQ is so bad you can't even enjoy the blood, which is one of the only reasons to enjoy the match. I don't blame the crowd for throwing trash at all. There is one cool point where Siglo XX applies the "rocking horse" submission (I don't know what else to call it) a second time but otherwise, not much to see here aside from some crappy brawling.

My next personal comp is gonna be spearheaded by these three songs. I make no apologies for shrill vocals or complete insanity

It is, in the next Infernales match

Bobby was fun in WCW when Dusty was around to bounce his stuff off of. The Regal/Finlay match where he made a joke out of Dusty's pronunciation of Jeeves is a priceless moment. Speaking of color guys, Big Dust could be great when he wasn't babbling about the NWO.

Where the hell is the Bret and Tanahashi pic from, and what's the context behind it?

Beaver paddle. I have never heard THAT one before. cue Joey Styles

DISC 6 RANKINGS 1. Babyface, Cien Caras y Mascara Ano 2000 vs. Lizmark, Rayo De Jalisco y La Fiera (September 1986) 2. Atlantis, El Hijo del Santo y Tony Salazar vs. El Satanico, El Dandy y Espectro Jr. (4/3/87) 3. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Atlantis y Alfonso Dantes vs. MS-1, El Satanico y El Dandy (3/27/87) 4. Tony Salazar, Mogur y Alfonso Dantes vs. Hombre Bala, Talisman y Tony Bennetto vs. Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre (4/10/87) 5. Americo Rocca, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar vs. Negro Navarro, El Signo y El Texano (Hair vs. Hair) (9/19/86) 6. El Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., La Fiera y Tony Salazar (3/20/87) 7. Blue Panther, El Talisman y El Dandy vs. Stuka, America Rocca y Chamaco Valaguez (11/86) 8. Jerry Estrada, Pirata Morgan y Hombre Bala vs. Atlantis, Alfonso Dantes y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (Feb 1987) 9. Americo Rocca, Javier Cruz y Chamaco Valaguez vs. Talisman, El Dandy y Guerrero Negro (3/13/87) 10. Lizmark, La Fiera y Kung Fu vs. Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala y Jerry Estrada (2/27/87) What a hard disc to rate. Since it's all trios the matches can get confused in your head; luckily I'm keeping all my reviews in a separate file. #1 is stellar, 2-5 could duke it out pretty hard, 6 and 7 are solid but lower, 9 and 10 are just okay. This is full of great wrestling but it wears on you after awhile; luckily some of the matches are pretty short (and surprisingly #2 which is really short is really good).

Ah lucha. The hits just keep on coming

This starts off all chippy with people taking potshots at each other while the announcer's still reading the rules. Not even the rudos are getting along as los Infernales seem to have it out for Hombre Bala. I'll break this down by match. Salazar/Mogur/Dantes vs. Bala/Talisman/Bennetto: Never seen Mogur before. He almost runs off the suitably scummy-looking Tony Bennetto, then later works a fun little segment with Talisman and Bala. Lots of rudo miscommunication in this one. Talisman actually gives up without a fight and powders to end the match. Satanico/MS-1/Masakre vs. Mendoza/Atlantis/Llanes: God, everyone hates los Infernales. They're such a great rudo team, gesturing, talking shit, making faces, lying to the ref. I like how La Estrella is broken up and turns right into MS-1 and Masakre wishboning Llanes. Salazar/Mogur/Dantes vs. Satanico/MS-1/Masakre: We open with Infernales already beating on Dantes. He kind of plays the Super Porky role of fat (granted, not Super Porky fat), hapless tecnico that gets beat up and sells a lot but has great comebacks. MS-1 and Masakre get pinned leaving a begging Satanico to the wolves. Infernales win segunda caida with a nutty multi-man submission and finally we get a three-way pin/sub finish that the crowd is not happy about. Afterwards Dantes is still pissed and bests Satanico in a boxing match before tossing him into the seats. This could have been a really great and chaotic match if they played it like a cibernetico and had elimination rules. The havoc hinted at in the pre-match was a cocktease. Still worth watching for Infernales being themselves: completely shitheaded rudos.

Los Infernales son la lucha libre profesional, hijos de puta (yeah, I got that from Google Translator. I dropped out of Spanish halfway through my second semester of it in college)

Oh yeah baby, you want dat matwork, we got dat matwork. I don't care if it gets a little exhibition-y with the Dandy/Atlantis part, this shit rules. It's good to see Espectro Jr. again even if his mask in close-up is total nightmare fuel. They get to rope-running a bit with a gorgeous Santo segment and then we get a cool end with Santo busting out his rolling senton and Atlantis getting the Atlantida. Unfortunately the rudo takeover is pretty listless. It starts to pick up when Tony and Satanico go at it and Tony hits the best bulldog EVER. No joke, I had to replay it a couple times. Then he does it again! We end with a couple awesome dives and a gorgeous tope en reversa for the tecnicos to take it in two straight falls. Short and sweet.

More like anything to get more Richard being a killer, instead of a conflicted sadsack. He needs to have a Van Alden moment and come to terms with the fact that he was born to assassinate people.

There's also a thread below for disc errors

He also worked part time as a pimp. Wait, what?!

We get an intro by Enrique Llanes with Gory Guerrero and a bunch of other old-timers and it warms my heart. Satanico later gets introduced as "el rudo el numero uno en Mexico". Awesome. It's funny how smaller El Dandy looks to his partners and opponents. He still fights over his head. Pretty standard (and boring) rudo domination caida until MS-1 gets vampiric on Dantes' hand which is hilarious. We cut to a full-on tecnico rally and SHIT IS ON. Dantes tries off his boxing skills then Atlantis and Dandy have an exchange where Dandy bumps all over before hitting a hellish (for lucha) chop before eating the floor. This is how you do a great tecnico fall, with them cleaning house in revenge with a bunch of perfectly timed big moves. We get a 30 second final fall with some really great finishers to send the crowd home happy and I understand why this was done, but I could have done with this going broadway with a better opening caida. Still, a standout on this disc.

I can tell from the start this is gonna be better with the whole crowd chanting what sounds like "PERROS" at los Infernales while they laugh in pride and mockery. They even sign like two autographs, amazingly! Tony Salazar does some of the most ridiculous selling of turnbuckle bumps, running all the way across the ring and falling on his face. We're back to Fiera selling the leg again and get a bizarre triple sub to end him, before torturing him on the ropes in exquisitely evil fashion. I have no idea how Rayo gets his hair sticking out his mask and is bit so viciously with no juice. No idea how segunda caida ends; I'm guessing count-out. Tercera is fast and furious and Fiera gives the international "fuck you" high-sign before an enziguri, hell yeah! Then suddenly Infernales win. That could have used blood from Rayo and a couple more minutes (and dives) at the end. Still, better than the last two.

Great, now all the tecnicos are wearing the same gear. I'm starting to feel how folks did about the New Japan set with all the black trunks. At least then you could get a better look at people. If you look close their names are on the front of their tights though (totally not helpful in a high-speed lucha match). Immediate end to the first fall. These guys are really cooking with gas, moving fast as hell. Rudos slow it down for some beatings to win the second after Dandy's Dick Togo Senton. He hits a pretty fresh tope after that too. Then we get UN TERRIBLE FOULE (TM tim./Morales) and I'm wishing there was more footage to replace something like this on the set. Man, it's not incompetent by any means, it's just short and inconsequential. Starting to get burnt on the trios and ready for the variety of the next disc.

Better VQ and closer shots of los Bucaneros this time, which still doesn't help me out much. I guess the shortest guy with red headband is Morgan. Kung Fu does his thing including a kick to the shin which is pretty comical. I have no idea how una caida ended on a single pinfall, especially when I thought it was Estrada getting pinned. Later on he throws his patch, which along with the boot tassles gives him away. Lots of flashy stuff from the tecnicos in this one. We get a nice series of rolling sentons from los Bucaneros to take out Lizmark, then they start on Fiera's leg. I must've missed the end to segunda caida because all of the sudden this is over. Pretty uninteresting overall and the first match that feels like filler on the set, though the work was good.