What are you watching: August - December

[Tim Evans]

El Satanico/Kung Fu/Fuerza Guerrera vs. Ringo Mendoza/Octagon/Pirata Morgan 3/31/1991 CMLL

Awesome match right here. Kung Fu might be my new favorite guy in 90's CMLL. He uses Numb chucks though out the match to attack Octagon. Plus you had Pirata and Satanico beating each other out and Fuerza Guerrera being Fuerza. I'll upload this in a couple days.

Guerrero de la Muerte/Supremo I/Supremo II vs. Gran Apache/Solar II/America

Good undercard match. It's nice to know Apache was always great. America is now known as El Pantera.

Blue Panther/La Fiera/Kendo Nagasaki vs. Ultimo Dragon/Atlantis/Apolo Dantes 5/17/1992

This was about as weird as you would think it would be with Kendo Nagasaki. He mostly worked with Ultimo Dragon though. The star of the match was La Fiera and his crazy bumps while looking like a mexican version of Model Rick Martel. Apolo Dantes still sucks.

[Mando>Eddie]

Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Davey Richards - FIP Heatstroke '07 Night Two

Davey gets criticized a lot for not knowing his mechanics in-ring and being a veritable Dynamic Kid clone. An aspect of his work I think has been overlooked is his ability to rile up a crowd. On his way to the ring he calls one kid a bastard, another young boy tries to reach his hand over the rail for a high five and Richards hastily kicks at it. Hotty is the complete opposite, slapping hands incessantly on the way down, making sure to give the children their moment. This is easily one of the loudest FIP crowds I've heard. Richards bumps for a Scotty shove like a torrential wind just blew him away--hope he had insurance. Richards is reveling in the crowd heat, the old school heel reaction he's receiving here rivals even his loudest ROH reaction. I think I'd rather be working for passionate kids and families than middle-aged comic book nerds that won't pop for anything for the same reason they didn't attend dances and other social gatherings. Scotty removes his shirt to a molten reaction. They go to tie-up but a loud "Scotty! Scotty!" chant distracts Richards who bails to the floor to jaw with the kids in the crowd. In this environment I could see Richards being the perfect fit for The York Foundation had he been around back then, give him some Buddy Holly glasses, a golf shit, and a pocket calculator and he'd have been a nice pairing with Terrence Taylor in tag bouts. Davey stooging for Scotty's goofy offense is somehow much more satisfying then him playing tough working Tyler Black in a fifteen-minute derivative throwaway bout. You've really got to see this as its remarkable how over 2 Hotty is. This is actively better than anything in the Malenko/2 Hotty series in 2000, not so much a compliment to Richards' work, but to the maturity and timing of Scotty in-front of a drastically different crowd. Davey retreats, trying to leave through a curtain but Hotty spins him around and belts him in the face with a couple right hands. Davey finally gets the advantage, beating Scotty into the ring and stomping him upon entering. After a knee to his mid-section Hotty does a really great job of selling anguish on the mat. Scotty reverses a "Camel Clutch" by biting Davey's hand, the same hand that alternately rewinds a Benoit VHS comp. on his 12-inch Panasonic and yanks his manhood. Davey's chinlock is less than convincing. Davey does a snap suplex, Scotty thinks, "I've had your idol's and it was much crisper". Scotty does this real wild flying clotheslines that'd be ideal in CMLL. Could a Scotty 2 Hotty world tour be what this business needs? After seeing this I know I'd pay to see him work Jun Akiyama. A ref bump sees Erick Stevens run out, he tosses Davey with a huge German suplex, but Richards scrambles to get into position for the next spot without even selling any damage. Scotty capitalizes on a downed Davey and hits his patented "Worm" for the finish. Without the crowd heat you couldn't call this much of a match, but, this had an old school energy that was palpable and Scotty worked much better in this context and setting than he did on the big stage in WWE. I also enjoyed Davey more as a stooging, impatient heel; with better timing, I think that might be his calling, but instead we're generally supposed to buy him as a colossal ass-beater.

[Tim Evans]

Mano Negra vs. El Hijo del Santo March 2nd 1996

Good match with Santo injuring his thumb and Negra just working on it. Santo tries to come back with some dives but Mano makes him submit. Sadly it was joined in progress so don't know how he injured it.

Pantera/Bronco/Mascara Magica vs. Astro Jr./Espectro Jr./Cadaver de Ultratumba 3/9/1996

I've only seen Pantera and Magica before I saw this match. Bronco was pretty decent and Magica looked really good. The rudos weren't great but they were competent and bumped good.

[Tim Evans]

Mascarita Magica vs. Damiancito El Guerrero (Virus) (CMLL Minis Title) 3/11/96

Pretty good match thanks to the 3rd caida. Very mat based first two falls which were good but Magica wasn't that great I thought at it. 3rd Caida was great with two crazy dives that sent Damiancito into the 5th row.

Damian El Guerrero/Espectro Jr./Cadaver de Ultratumba vs. Ultraman Jr./Ciclon Ramirez/Fantastik 3/16/96

Very disappointing. Basically a squash match with only Ciclon getting some offense in early in the 1st fall. I wanted a Crazy Ciclon dive but the rudos just dominated. They weren't that good at it.

Silver King/Dos Caras/Lizmark vs. Mano Negra/Hijo de Gladiador/Dr. Wagner Jr.

Good match but not great. Some decent Dos/Wagner mat work to start. The real star of the match was Mano Negra. I didn't expect him to so fun. All the guys were pretty good in it. Mano had some problems with his partners after the match.

[Tim Evans]

Bestia Salvaje/Mascara 2000/Rambo vs. Los Brazos 3/16/96

Last match on the disc and probably the best. This match made me a Rambo fan forever and wanting to get every match of his on Tape. He's not the best worker but he has a look and charisma about him that helps a lot. The story here is he won't take off his Bulletproof vest so they stall about 5 minutes while officials try to take it off. Meanwhile The brazo's get angry and Porky takes out his frustrations on Mascara. Finally Rambo takes the vest off and the rudos never look back as it turns into a bloody squash match. Poor El Brazo does a Sangre Chicana type bladejob and it's real nasy. Porky misses his famous splash and gets injured and might have had a heart attack who knows? Just awesome Lucha Libre here which was basically all shtick and shenanigans.