Lucha Tape Watching:
EMLL's 66th Anniversary Show
by Homer J. Fong
Again, trying to help addict more people to lucha by reviewing some of the
shows in my collection. Next up, some early AAA.
First, the unaired matches, borrowed from prowrestlinghistory.com
-Super Astro, Starman, & Tony Rivera beat Violencia, Rencor Latino, &
Virus in three falls.
-Ricky Marvin & Sombra de Plata beat & Fugaz & Sangre Azteca.
-El Satanico, Ultimo Guerrero, & Rey Buccanero beat The Headhunters &
Emilio Charles, Jr. in three falls, Charles & The Headhunters were DQed for
the third fall.
The first two of those sound pretty good. I don't think I would have wanted to
see Rey & Ultimo try to carry the Headhunters, though.
1. Fuerza Guerrera, Blue Panther, Dr. Wagner Jr vs. Negro Casas, El Hijo del
Santo, Olimpico
Santo's ring girl is wearing the tightest silver bodysuit in the history of
time.
Panther & Wagner play to the fans like crazy in the opening seconds of the
match. Things go to the ring, and it ends quickly as Negro magistrals Wagner for
the three. I assume (hope) this fall was very heavily clipped.
I'll also assume fall 2 was clipped like mad. Early in, there's a cool double
team move from Panther/Wagner. A press slam from Panther, and then Wagner comes
off the top rope with a Diamond Cutter. Negro then submits as Fuerza puts on a
half crab. Olimpico is then lifted up the buckles by Wagner/Panther, where an
awaiting Fuerza powerslams him to even the falls.
As we go to the third fall, the tecs continue to take a beating. Wagner hammers
Negro with part of the rampway. The Olimpico/Fuerza segment briefly turns things
for the tecnicos, but a Wagner run-in stops that. Negro enters, and during his
segment, nicely escapes the Wagner driver, delivering the reverse DDT in the
process. Lots off misses from both the rudos and the tecnicos. The Olimpico/Fuerza
segment ends with a huge plancha from Olimpico. Panther gets a slam and climbs
the buckles, only to get pushed to the floor by Santo. Plancha by Santa, and
we're left with Negro & Wagner. Quickly, there's a Splash Mountain on Negro
for a 2. Negro slips out of a second powerbomb, and kicks away, only to be
fouled seconds later. The ref didn't see that, but he does see Negro pull off
Wagner's mask as the good doctor tries for the Figure 4. That's the DQ.
Difficult to gauge with what I hope were the edits, but what was shown was
pretty good. 65.
2. Apolo Dantes, Scorpio Jr, Universo 2000 & Val Venus (sic) vs. Gigante
Silva, Rayo de Jalisco Jr & Super Porky
Val Venus, is of course, Val Venis, aka Cheif Morley. He gets 4 valets, and he's
the best worker in this match by about tenfold. He does the "Hola, chicas!"
for his intro, then runs down Jalisco. He and Rayo had a program in 1997 and
1998, ending with Rayo taking Val's 'Steel' mask in June 1998.
The match itself, is poor, but the segments with Venus and Jalisco gets
incredible heat. It ends with Porky holding down Val & Universo for a Silva
splash from the buckles, and all the tecs piling on top for a 3. This was a 40,
but try to catch Steel/Jalisco from 4/97. It's Rayo's only watchable match that
I've seen - Morley is Flair to Rayo's broomstick.
Momentos: A Tzuki Asai moonsault onto Espectrito. Aguila, then Antifaz tope
Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero. Silva splashes Bestia & Scorp. A bloodied
Atlantis gets the submission on V-3. Santo defeats Panther with a sunset flip.
3. Vilano 3 & Atlantis vs. Shocker & Mr. Niebla
This is just a one-fall match (but both members of each team must be
eliminated), and then following the team's loss, they immediately go at it in a
Mask vs. Mask match.
Each wrestler has one of the ring girls bring out a sign with their name on it,
before arriving in the ring from a different corner of the arena. V-3's almost
wipes out as she comes out, and overall, Niebla's wins this battle of the babes.
Niebla & Shocker are already arguing. It starts with some throws and
takedowns from V-3 & Niebla. Nobody gets an advantage on this one. Shocker
goes over to kick Atlantis off the apron, and he then shoves down Niebla for
good measure. They move into the ring for their segment, while outside the ring,
Vilano picks up a row of seats and pitches them at Niebla. Meanwhile, Shocker
pulls Atlantis around by his mask. The assault continues with a DDT, and then a
series of clotheslines in the corner. Atlantis mounts a brief comeback with a
quebradora, and Shocker gets toped as he heads for the floor. Vilano &
Niebla take over in the ring now. Atlantis trips V-3 as he runs the ropes, and
he then continues to trade blows with Shokcer. There's a short tecnico vs.
tecnico segment. Niebla gets in a powerbomb, but it is broken up when V3, sunset
flips Niebla for a near fall. I like that spot. Atlantis ranas Niebla. Niebla
rolls through, but, and assisted by Vilano 3, Atlantis rolls back through, and
Niebla is eliminated for his team. The veterans then double team Shocker. Front
suplex by Atlantis, and a senton from V-3, but only 2. Again, a 2 off a top-rope
dropkick from Atlantis. As things continue, Atlantis rolls up Shocker, bridges,
only to have V-3 break the bridge with a senton. Shocker then gets the pin, and
there are only rudos left. They think that it will be tecnico vs. tecnico for
the mask. Or at least Shocker does, as he balances Vilano 3 on his shoulders in
celebration. The celebration lasts until V-3 Victory Rolls Shocker for 3. Now
that's experience. Atlantis & Vilano 3 fight for a bit, tearing off each
other's masks before they get sent to the back. And now, someone is going to
lose their hood.
4. Mr. Niebla vs. Shocker
Quick slam and a springboard elbow gets 2 for Shocker. Spinebuster, followed by
a Crippler Crossface. The crowd is getting into it now, as Niebla crawls to the
ropes. Niebla tries to charge, but gets hip tossed to the floor. Perfect tope of
death from Shocker, and Nielba is in the second row! Hot damn that was crazy!
Shocker returns Niebla to the ring with a suplex, but Nielba small packages him
and gets 2. Shocker is first up, and he destroys Niebla with a pair of brutal
powerbombs, but 2 only. Niebla mounts a short-lived comeback that ends with a
missed moonsault. A minute or so later, Shocker fouls Niebla and pins him with
the Greco-Roman foot-on-the-ropes. However, Ray Mendoza (father of Los Vilanos,
who passed away on the 4/17/2003) orders the match to continue. Shocker moves
in, and is spinebustered down, and Niebla slaps on La Nieblina (a submission
hold that I couldn't begin to describe if I even tried to), and Shocker is
forced to submit the match, sacrificing his mask. Seven year pro Jair Soria from
Guadalajara has his face revealed to the world. He hands the mask to Niebla, and
offers the sporting handshake. Shocker gets the mike after this, and doesn't
have too much of a problem with the loss. Because he is GUAPO. And the new
gimmick was born.
This was an outstanding contest. Get this match. There's one blown spot in the
tag match, but the drama is great. It's worthy of three digits: 100.
Sources for these matches, but really, the only match that is needed is the mask
match, so here are links to a couple of sources:
Click
Here (highspots.com) On the Highspots compilation: Shocker %1000 Guapo
Click
Here (wrestleholicsvideos.com) EMLL 1999 Volume 7 - Includes the other two
matches, and other TV from this time
Click
Here (prowrestlingtapescom) On tape #M54: Best of Lucha '99 Vol 3