Lucha Tape Watching:
Mr. Niebla vs. Dr. Wagner in 1997
by Homer J. Fong

Over on Guest Columns, thecubsfan said something about a lack of a list of good lucha stuff. I did a top 10/11, but really didn't get too in-depth. So, I went through my lucha tapes, picked some stuff that has one really good match as a part of it, and then review it, and let you know where you can find the matches.

9/13/1997

1. Pepe Aguayo, Tony Rivera, Atlantico vs. Arkangel, Mano Negra, Guerrero de la Muerte

Several new faces. Guerrero de la Muerte is unmasked (lost it to Mascara Magica), and his orange and cyan tights really don't fit the moniker. Mano Negra is an older than dirt veteran. Atlantico is Atlantis' brother, and his mask is the same style, albeit with sea horses. Pepe is a pretty boy type, and is the nephew of Perro Sr.

Fall 1: The pairings are Atlan/GdlM, Rivera/Negra & Ark/Pepe. The latter of the three was the strongest of the bunch, although it was all still solid. It eventually becomes a rudo beatdown. Arkangel busts out a sweet little release Northern lights suplex during that segment. A missed move turns the tide for the tecs, and Atlantis wins the fall with a top-rope rana, followed with a sharpshooter.

Fall 2 It opens with all the rudos performing various beatdowns on the tecs, until Pepe rolls up GdlM out of nowhere for 3, while Rivera gets the mudhole stomped in him.

It's too bad Pepe seems to have vanished from lucha TV. I enjoyed his stuff around this time. Neither Arkangel's nor Rivera's position has changed much, but at least Rivera doesn't have the pink & orange fringe on his boots any more. I'd call this about a 70 on thecubsfan's lucha scale, docking something for the ending. It was still nice to see some of the rearely used undercard guys again.

2. Negro Casas, Brazo de Oro, Felino vs. Scorpio, Violencia, Satanico

Fall 1. Rudo beatdown for several minutes, which start to feel like hours. Tecs land absolutely no offense, and it ends with Violencia sharpshootering Felino.

Fall 2. This time it is a tecnico beatdown. Thankfully, much quicker than the first fall. A Brazo Sharpshooter finishes Scorpio, and a Half Boston from Negro finishes Satanico, with Felino adding the armbar for the smidgen extra.

Fall 3. Finally, they find their working boots, although you can usually rely on Scorpio to slow things down. Which the lucha backne king does. I love how Magadan screams out "Violence" on occasion whenever Violencia scores a move. Negro wins it with a somersault on Scorpio. The third fall had moments, but overall, this was nothing special. Felino and Satanico were the highlights. 63.

3. TAKA Michinoku, Mascara Magica, Olimpico vs. Karloff Lagarde Jr, Halcon Negro & Rey Bucanero

Karloff is just another unmasked, mullet-sporting rudo - nothing special. Halcon Negro has a ginormous afro and has a butterfly pattern on his mask. Bucanero & Magica are both still masked at this point.

Fall 1: Magica and Karloff were in a program at this point. TAKA and Bucanero pair up for a quick exchange. This is before Rey got really good, but the segment is still entertaining. La Arena states that Magica used to be married to Akira Hokuto. All three rudos pile on to Magica to win the first fall after a Lagarde spinebuster, after TAKA is pinned with a running powerbomb from Rey.

Fall 2: It starts with the obligatory rudo beatdown, mainly Halcon assaulting Olimpico. The tecs quickly charge the ring after an Olimpico clothesline. TAKA does the springboard plancha onto Rey that he did frequently in the WWF, but due to the Arena Mexico setup, more controlled. He still crashes into the second row, though. Magica perfectly topes Karloff, and Olimpico submits Halcon to even the falls.

Fall 3: TAKA and Bucanero's time in the ring is highlighted by TAKA almost springboarding over Rey with a high cross body. Halcon's exchange with Olimpico is well worked, with some super counters. It ends disappointingly fast, though as Halcon rolls up Olimpico with a variant on the Magistral (instead of rolling across the back, he spins Olimpico to the side, almost like a crucifix).

Cool stuff in this one. The ending came out of nowhere, but everything else looked very crisp. 81.

4. La Fiera vs. Bestia Salvage (Hair vs. Hair)

The seconds are Mr. Niebla & Scorpio Jr, respectively.

Fall 1: Bestia quickly lays out Fiera, following that up with the Homer Simpson approved kicking of back. Down to the mat with an abdominal stretch, and a quick submission sees the rudo take the first fall.

Fall 2: We're outside the ring, and Bestia continues to lay in the kicks. Lots of towel waving from Niebla, and Fiera returns to the ring to continue getting kicked. Punching and biting is thrown in for variety. Bestia starts jawing with the crowd, so Fiera crescent kicks him, and evens the falls up with a powerbomb.

fall 3: Again, it begins outside the ring, with Fiera controlling the action. Sweet hell! A tope con hilo from La Fiera! Fiera seems to take the worst of the fall though, so Bestia topes him into the second row. Fiera beats the count back to the ring, where Bestia Fireman Caarry slams him. Missile dropkick, but 2. Another fireman's carry, and again 2 off a top-rope senton. Several quick kicks, the last of which was an enzuigiri gets things back for Fiera. He slips behind Bestia, and puts him in a cross-face chicken wing, thus making it haircut time for a crying Salvage.

The third fall was great, with some nice flying moves from two folks that one doesn't associate with that style. Perfect fit though, as they are fighting to save their hair. Passion makes this match, and the work is their as well. 83 on the cubsfan scale, and probably higher if you factor in the fact I'm not a fan of either, and may have lowered this accordingly.

5. Dr. Wagner Jr vs. Mr. Niebla

I mentioned their '97 match over on the Guest Columns forum, and this is the one.

The seconds are Lizmark on Niebla's side, but I don't 100% recognize Wagner's. It looked like Arkangel.

Fall 1: Several minutes of some really nice mat based chain wrestling. Both keep up their end of the bargain in it. Niebla dropkicks Wagner outside, and delivers a nice follow-up tope. Both men beat the 20 count to the ring, There, after some flips, Wagner gets a sunset flip, only for Niebla to roll back through and get the three and the first fall.

Fall 2: Niebla charges Wagner, and hets backdropped. Niebla comes back, somersaulting around the ring. He gets a pair of monkey flips, but his attempt at a rana sees Wagner plant him with a powerbomb. Wagner goes to the buckles, but after taking way too long, the headbutt misses. Wagner bails out of the ring. He moves out ofthe ring of the first tope, but a perfect corner tope (Niebla jumped over the head of Wagner's second). Back to the ring, Niebla is first in, but Wagner hammers him down. Off the ropes, and one crucifix later, the falls are even.

Fall 3: Wagner opens strong with a DDT. An abdominal stretch into a rollup nets 2 for the Dr. The same result off a powerbomb, and now the Coliseo crowd starts chanting for Niebla. A figure 4 can't get the 'Hombre Elastico" to submit, as Niebla reaches the rope. He hobbles to the outside, where Wagner trips him up and hits the injured leg into the floor. Back to the ring, with a Dragon Screw whip. The crowd is really getting into this. Niebla gets the advantage back with a springboard dropkick, and then a tope con hilo. Niebla goes to suplex Wagner in. Wagner gets behind, but then so does Niebla, and there's two off a German suplex. Two again off a perfect top-rope rana. Another dropkick to send Wagner out - followed with Niebla getting incredible height off a plancha. Into the ring, and two off a Niebla powerbomb. Both men are selling fatigue at this point, and there's almost a double countdown. Both men trade reversals into two counts now, as the pace picks up after the short break. Finally, Niebla tries a float-over in the corner. He's caught, and dropped ith the Wagner driver. That's it - Niebla's toast.

Great stuff. Great drama, and some great spots. I complain about Wagner's tendency to be lazy if he's not feeling it - but this isn't one of those times. The final fall is magnificent to watch as the two fight for the holds, highspots and reversals in the final minutes. My only complaint is Niebla stopped selling the leg injury. This is certainly one of the better lucha singles matches you'll see. A well-deserved 96. It would probably have been in my top 10 list, but I just saw it for the first time a few weeks back.

Several of the matches are on this tape from Highspots, and they include the final 3 matches in this review.

Click Here (highspots.com)

I'll look at the Niebla/Shocker mask matches when I get to the next one, along with a couple of the other televised matches on the 66th Anniversary show.

BACK