Hijo del Santo vs. Brazo de Oro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e42TRDeHhFg

Unfortunately I've had a work and sickness heavy few weeks so I didn't really get an opportunity to do as large a search as I wanted to for this. From what I did watch, this is probably my favourite. Brazo de Oro is a great sleazeball and I liked how rough he was with Santo, throwing body-shots through the ropes and yanking on his mask, bending his neck in odd angles. Gave a good sense of beef between these two. Santo having small bursts in the first fall, only to come unstuck each time when Oro blocks the turnbuckle blow, was neat. It also feeds into a cool moment later on, after Santo is bloodied and down a fall. He finally strings some offense together, tossing Oro into those damned turnbuckles. Sick blade job ensues. Liked Santo's urgency in following his breakthrough with a dive and his clutch finisher. Final fall meandered a little before they start diving at each other. Santo stealing the blood-soaked towel from around Oro's forehead, wrapping it in his fist and then punching Oro was really cool. This won't redefine brawls in anyone's eyes but there's certainly worse ways to spend twenty minutes.

I won't feel the need to watch this again, seen it at least twice and loved it for almost a few years now. The matches that got me into lucha were pretty mat based or flashier, and this was really one of the first bloody brawls from Mexico I watched. Might have been the first if I watched this before the 96 triangle. I really can't name anybody I'd rather watch in an apuestas match than Santo; when he's tecnico like he was here he usually lets the rudo pound the shit out of him for a bit until making a comeback in the second fall. Worked that way with Espanto, Cerebro, Negro, and yeah, Oro. Oro kind of blew me away here when I first watched this; los Brazos are all comedic and shtick in what I saw them so seeing him deliver such a total fucking-up of someone was surreal. Total monster in that first fall especially. Santo's comebacks always rule- I've said this a lot, but no matter how big a spot he does, it always looks like a hope spot that actually has the intention of wiping his opponent out.

Is there anything available that lead to this match other than the Santo/Eddy/Satanico v Brazos tag from 9/90?

Watching a great bloody lucha brawl always calls to mind for me a quote from an Alejandro Jodoworsky interview from the DVD extras of El Topo, "When I show the blood, I am showing the force of life." This match is raw and human. I think the first 2 falls are about perfect. This match is maybe the best example of Santo working his formula for an apuestas. (Eating a beating and going down a fall, coming back after some more beating in the second fall). The '97 Casas match and the '96 triangle are better Santo apuestas matches, but aren't formula. I'd put this above the '87 Casas or the Cerebro match. Finish doesn't quite sit with me just right though. No problem with it being a small package counter to a bodyslam, but it feels like it wasn't quite the right moment. I don't know. Doesn't bother me all that much, and does virtually nothing to detract from the match.

'Tis was a fun bloody brawl. The first two falls were pretty uneventful. Santo gets dominated and losses the first fall, but gets the second fall under his belt after a Superman-esque comeback (complete with some questionable no-selling). With that being said, I loved how Santo teased his comeback multiple times before it actually happen. His little bursts of strikes sent the crowd into a frenzy and was the main redeeming quality of this part of the match.

The final fall was where shit really picked up. Santo returns the fave and busts Brazo de Oro wide open. Everything felt equal and the match felt like it could of went either way. The highspot and nearfall trading at the end was very tense and the crowd ate it up. I have no complaints about the small package finish either.