CMLL Nominees

[Wrestling_KO Mike]

THE LIST:


Cicloncito Ramirez/Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Damiancito El Guerrero/Pierrothito, CMLL 4/5 - 3 YES

THE NOMINEES:

Negro Casas/Atlantis/Ultimo Dragon/El Dandy/Mascara Magica/Shocker/La Fiera/Brazo De Oro vs. El Hijo del Santo/Dr. Wagner, Jr./Felino/Scorpio, Jr./Black Warrior/Kevin Quinn/Satanico/Silver King [16-Man Cibernetico] (EMLL, 4/18/97)

This post has been edited by Wrestling_KO Mike on Jul 27 2012, 07:58 PM

[Wrestling_KO Mike]

Nominate:

Cicloncito Ramirez & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Damiancito El Guerrero & Pierrothito - CMLL 4/5/97
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D05InQNgYX4

I'm not entirely sure if this is a MOTYC since '97 was an absolutely amazing year, but I have no problem calling it a great match. Loved the matwork. A lot of it was silky smooth, but there was enough scrappiness/struggle to make it feel competitive. A number of spots were quite intricate and unique. Dummies who label all lucha matwork as a time killing exhibition should watch this as it's blatantly obvious here the workers are trying to finish whenever they find an opening. For example, around the four minute mark, Pierrothito went for a roll-up which resulted in a nearfall. The set up as well as the psychology behind the move is no different to a guy like Tamura going for an armbar. Rudo control section was done really well. There's this awesome little moment where Pierrothito viciously yanks Ultimo by the mask preventing him from making the tag. Neat finishing run, too.

[Blackheart]

YES to minis 4/5/97. C&P of Lucha MOTW (which I'm going to make an attempt to catch up on tonight).

I really liked pretty much everything about this. It's not going to stand out as a MOTYC, but 1997 is pretty nuts; January alone has Misawa/Kobashi, Han/Tamura and the Cicloncito/Damiancito singles. Still, I could go back and watch this any time and feel like I've watched something really good. I definitely agree with the first fall being the best. Seems like in the openings of every minis match from the 90s I watch there's a good two things I've never seen in any other match; Pierrothito had this pretty wicked looking armdrag thingy which he bridged backwards after. Fall 1 didn't have the rudos acting as rudoish as the other falls, but who's going to complain about that when Damiancito rules the mat like he does? Ending to the fall was nuts; Dragoncito lands pretty much on his head on that whateversault. Fall 2 was really rudoish. Pierrothito looked to be the REAL dick of the team and then Damiancito follows suit and decides instead of mat work he'll just start killing Dragoncito too. I liked how Cicloncito was tagged in only for them to knock him out so when Dragoncito gets back he has no one to help him. Final fall was good with rudos still getting some time to work over Dragoncito before Cicloncito makes the save after some failed attempts. Cicloncito didn't exactly get a "hot tag" in, but it looked like the matches version of a hot tag was his strikes getting him back on top. Finish was insane, yeah. Looked like Dragoncito might dive on pierrothito before moonsualting outside onto Damiancito. Really nutso spot. I really dug this; if this kind of match was happening week to week on any televised wrestling program I'd never miss it.

[Big Rob]

Cicloncito Ramirez & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Damiancito El Guerrero & Pierrothito - CMLL 4/5/97 (YES)

I'd agree that the first fall is the best, actually by some distance, which isn't really what you want, but it's still a very good match. I like the turning point in the first fall from slick matwork to a rougher style stemming from Pierrothito flubbing his entrance into the ring. The counters to the earlier matwork were generally fantastic, and it was so much more intricate than much of what I've seen in lucha matches.

The other two falls weren't as good, but still had a lot of stuff going for them. Some of the crazier moves were saved until later on in the match, and it was very well paced on the whole. Like has been said, I don't see it making a huge impression when the final list comes in, but it's definitely something that everyone should go out of their way to see.

[Hijo del Parties]

Nomination: Negro Casas/Atlantis/Ultimo Dragon/El Dandy/Mascara Magica/Shocker/La Fiera/Brazo De Oro vs. El Hijo del Santo/Dr. Wagner, Jr./Felino/Scorpio, Jr./Black Warrior/Kevin Quinn/Satanico/Silver King [16-Man Cibernetico] (EMLL, 4/18/97)

DVDVR's best lucha match of the decade, I hadn't seen this in many years. There now seems several things from CMLL '97 alone which surpass this (Santo/Casas, Santo/Felino, the best Virus stuff), but it's still a wild time and a perfectly decent place to start. Starts with a Casas-Santo exchange that is great if typical for the parties involved around this time. Porky had some nice chain wrestling and rope running but doesn't play much of a role throughout. Silver King was Silver King: solid performer who tries hard but feels a little too Rick Martel for my taste. Kevin Quinn is barely here, Scorpio is solid. Despite being there at the end Ultimo Dragon doesn't do much of note aside from his usual five hundred ranas per match. I was impressed with Shocker and Magica: both had frantic sprawling mat work and were very flying around the ring, and Shocker has the match's only real tope, a total bullet. Wagner works hard throughout.

But the real all-stars of this are Casas, Fiera, Atlantis, and to a lesser degree Dandy on their team, and Felino, Santo, and Satanico on the other. The Atlantis/Satanico exchanges are fucking good and a showcase for Satanico. Atlantis throwing fast jabs was cool too. Dandy is an aggressive but quick tank throwing stiff punches and powerbombs. Casas stomping Santo was great. Fiera is fucking great with these weird back bumps he takes, just an awesomely agile guy. And of course the Felino run is a great story and a fantastic all-around performance. This didn't feel like fantastic dramatic lucha in the old guard way of the year's best singles, but as a fun display there's a lot to like here. Worth watching if only to assess how it measures up all these years later - if nothing else it made me want to seek out more Fiera from '97.

[KB8]

Cicloncito Ramirez & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Damiancito El Guerrero & Pierrothito - CMLL 4/5/97 - YES

I fucking loved the rudos here. I watched this a couple years ago and thought Pierrothito stood out as being the best guy in the match, and I'm not even sure I'd change my mind on that, but as great as he was as a little bruiser, his partner wasn't afraid to act like a vicious little motherfucker as well. The way he'd keep wrenching Ramirez down to the mat by his arm looked real nasty, and there's an amazing bit in the second caida where he sort of feigns to lock up before headbutting him right in the cheekbone. Damiancito/Cicloncito is pretty much always an awesome match-up. Their title match is probably my pick for the best match of all time, their exchanges in the October trios ruled, and everything they did together in this was great as well -- their first mat section in the primera was pretty spectacular. Pierrothito flubbing on a somersault entrance in the primera basically getting the ball rolling on the rudos ditching the niceties and trying to break skulls was such a cool part of this, too. And yeah, mini Ultimo's moonsault at the end was crazy good; looked like he smashed Damiancito into the ground like a garden peg.