LUCHA SET DISC 10

El Brazo, Brazo Del Oro y Brazo Del Plata vs. Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan y El Verdugo (10/27/89)

Yep, this is pretty workrate-y, and it drags in spots (especially at the start of tercera caida) but it's a very entertaining introduction to los Brazos. A young, spry Super Porky is just the best. His charisma is so natural -- no one expects him to do the things he does -- and he uses it to a tee. The spot with him falling on all three Bucaneros, covering them up for a pin during an elaborate three-man submission, the monkey flips... it's amazing. Not like anyone else here was a slouch either. The first dive was probably the best and craziest and sadly wasn't topped. There was also a part where two of the guys did I believe a monkey flip spot and then did it IN REVERSE. That said this is what it is, a technical spotfest that feels like it falls in the dead middle of the pack. I would have liked to see at least a little hate to build to the next matches between these guys.

El Brazo, Brazo Del Oro y Brazo Del Plata vs. Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan y El Verdugo (Super Libre) (11/10/89)

I dig the feeling of the tide turning in the second fall because los Bucaneros got clowned through the whole first. And what a clowning it was! They open with Porky splatting Morgan in the corner and I said out loud to myself "just end the fall now". He proceeds to die several more times, they repeat the Plata deadfall splash from the last match, Verdugo channels Johnny Valentine falling face first on the mat and all three of them scuttle like roaches to escape further abuse. Tremendous. After he falls to the fat of Porky again (with the great image of them dragging him off to the corner) they decide to bring the pain. Bala's all "you fucked with my brother" and he whoops the piss out of Porky. That is some stiff shit for lucha. Then they isolate Brazo and he's bleeding like a stuck pig. We get a repeat of all of the Brazos spots from the last match but Bucaneros add in their own that we didn't see yet to balance it out. Ending is kind of weak but goddamn, what a match this was.

Pirata Morgan vs. Brazo De Oro (11/17/89)

I wasn't too hyped to see this when I read it was a clean title match, I wanted hate and blood, guess that comes next match. Still it's perfectly fine stuff. Pirata's subtle cheating and more than that his selling are the best. Things get suspenseful in the final fall with both guys having damaged legs, which doesn't stop Oro from busting out a huge plancha that has him sliding down Morgan's torso like a slip'n'slide. Emilio Charles is a good second and earns his stripes by eating a Morgan tope (and having the funny Marlboro logo towel). Oro keeps hurting his knee with ill-advised offensive moves and finally Morgan locks in a Cobra Clutch, slowly falls back with it and twists which looks nasty enough for the chokeout win. I would have preferred him going back to the legs but it looked like a legit finisher. Not sure where this fits into the big title fights picture right now but it was solid.

El Brazo y Brazo De Plata vs. Hombre Bala, El Verdugo (Hair vs. Hair) (11/17/89)

Let's see if this is what I've been waiting for. I'm already psyched because los Brazos are wearing the Japanese headbands and Porky doesn't even raise his hand when he's announced, he just stares ahead stoically, ready for the fight. Of course the rudos jump immediately for the beatdown. It isn't long before the red red krovvy starts flowing and Hombre Bala is spitting it in the air like his brother. When Brazo first blades there is this awesome shot of him puffing his cheeks out and the blood dripping onto his arm which is even better than the spitting. It looks so dramatic. He gets back on offense while Verdugo takes a tumble into the seats and Brazos take it with two splashes and a cool senton assist from Brazo onto Porky's own back. Tercera is high speed fun with everyone just bringing it, including five huge dives (Porky apron splash vs. Bala rolling senton is the question of which is best). Brazo finally steps it up to win with a pair of rollups and one guy literally jumps out of his seat at the three-count. He weeps and crosses himself while Porky raises dollar bills to the sky in celebration. Fuck, you can just end the set now, that would be such a great note to go out on. Then Porky brings presumably his daughter into the ring and raises her up while the rudos get shaved, to make it even better. This will go irrationally high for me.

Emilio Charles Jr., MS-1 y Tierra, Viento y Fuego vs. Atlantis, El Dandy y Mascara Sagrada (11/24/89)

I like the simple, hateful open of two guys piefacing each other, gradually leading up to pushing and then confrontation. TVF sells a Dandy punch like a spastic. In fact, everyone's selling each other's strikes like world-beaters. The part where Dandy sidesteps MS-1 to sucker punch Charles is just the best, it reminded me of Kawaka kicking Misawa off the apron. I also love Charles ducking two huge swings from Dandy only to bail and give up the fall. If I was his partners I'd be pissed, they just got beat in technical fashion and now this guy turns chickenshit. In fact they do seem pissed! Atlantis countering a backdrop into a hiptoss while him and MS run the ropes is just a thing of beauty. The yin to that yang, of course, is Dandy pissing blood out of his head while Charles beats the shit out of him. You know it's heated when Dandy is kicking back from the floor. Finally he gets one good lick in, the tide turns and he goes all "DIE CHARLES DIE". However, Charles gets in the wheelbarrow slam reversal and it's all over. This was one of the great feud-building tags on the set that feels like it might be better than the blowoff. Also, someone needs to count how many times these guys fall out through the bottom ropes, it's got to be over a dozen.

El Dandy vs. Emilio Charles Jr. (12/1/89)

Matwork at the start is fast and furious with the first fall having a good callback to the last match as Dandy loses to the same wheelbarrow slam thing. I'm getting behind the idea that these guys can beat the shit out of each other all they want, but for the belt they need to prove it as tecnicos. Short segunda and some clipping, then we get a long figure four spot with Dandy in agony. Ref has to break the hold and Charles looks like an angry Lou Ferrigno. Then he goes into the Scorpion to increase the pain. Dandy mashes some fans after a dive and this is just kind of rambling along. Am I crazy or does Dandy bust out a Tazmission here? They go back and forth some more until it looks like Dandy eats floor off a tope suicida. Finally Dandy wins with la Magistral, which is a good end for the kind of match they were bringing to the table. Still, it wasn't awesome or anything. The first fall cut a good pace but they couldn't get out of second gear for the rest, and it suffered from what I see as the lucha psychology of "try something, that doesn't work, just try something else".

Fuerza Guerrera y Rocky Star vs. All Star y El Hijo Del Santo + Fuerza Guerrera vs. Rocky Star (12/1/89)

Fuerza really threw me off with his mask, that is NOT the same and I've never seen him wear anything different. Maybe that's just me not seeing much of his work or this is a crazy one-off. I guess he's trying to color-coordinate with Rocky Star which is a bad idea. This is a bunch of tepid brawling which especially doesn't mean much when you know one of the two Stars is losing their mask and neither is very good. Rocky busts out a good tope which I guess is a mark in his book. Actually everyone minus Fuerza bust out a dive so at least they're trying, plus there is some mask ripping which I don't really care for without any blood. Wait, is Rocky bleeding? I can't tell. We get another sideboard posting and I am happy to see that happen one last time on the set. God, the crowd really doesn't give a shit about this match. Neither should you. I have the feeling that Rocky Star lost his mask because he had to pay off a gambling debt and Fuerza said "it's cool bro, I'll get the seamstress to make me a similar getup, maybe they'll even throw us some pesos". Then he turns into a complete dick and rips the mask off himself because the bookies told him to.

Pirata Morgan vs. Ken Timbs (12/8/89)

This is like someone spliced Pirata Morgan into a mid-late Global main event. Don't tell me Blondy doesn't fit right in with the likes of the Davis Brothers or Hollywood John Tatum. Morgan would have had a better match with Raven or even Buff Bagwell. I had more fun writing this than I did watching the match.

Fuerza Guerrera vs. El Hijo Del Santo vs. All Star (Mask Match) (12/8/89)

So the rules are, everyone has a coin toss, Santo and Fuerza win and All Star gets whoever survives their singles match. You already know who's going to lose as in the previous Relevos match on this disc so your mileage may vary. I don't see the heel Santo stuff, is there something I'm missing? I didn't really feel it even in his definitive heel turn against Casas later on either. We get a short fall where Santo falls to his own finisher and then get with the mask ripping and blood. Sadly the crowd can't very ignited for this and neither could I. Fuerza does his schtick but it's all for naught. Finally we get Santo coming back to face All Star (goddamn these are some weird rules) and apparently they are working this 2/3 falls as well. Santito submits to one of the few Tapatias on the set, which is nice to see. Then we get back to All Star biting and doing his shitty heel work. He will murder people flying into the crowd which is always nice. Damn, I guess the crowd really doesn't like Santo, this is strange. I think it's a Cena reaction, to coin a term. There is a really horrible spot where Santito barely runs into the turnbuckles and sells it and now I feel like the crowd turning on the match. Then, wow, we get a poor countout finish but el Hijo turns into a complete asshole kicking the shit out of All Star, trying to rile up the crowd, and acting like a fucker during the de-masking. That alone is worth watching even if the match itself isn't. That is a heel turn, you actually feel like the guy's real attitude is showing all of the sudden and he is just a prick. Good job ending the set on that.

DISC 10

1. El Brazo y Brazo De Plata vs. Hombre Bala, El Verdugo (Hair vs. Hair) (11/17/89)
2. Emilio Charles Jr., MS-1 y Tierra, Viento y Fuego vs. Atlantis, El Dandy y Mascara Sagrada, (11/24/89)
3. El Brazo, Brazo Del Oro y Brazo Del Plata vs. Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan y El Verdugo (Super Libre) (11/10/89)
4. El Brazo, Brazo Del Oro y Brazo Del Plata vs. Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan y El Verdugo (10/27/89)
5. Pirata Morgan vs. Brazo De Oro (11/17/89)
6. El Dandy vs. Emilio Charles Jr. (12/1/89)
7. Fuerza Guerrera vs. El Hijo Del Santo vs. All Star (Mask Match) (12/8/89)
8. Fuerza Guerrera y Rocky Star vs. All Star y El Hijo Del Santo + Fuerza Guerrera vs. Rocky Star (12/1/89)
9. Pirata Morgan vs. Ken Timbs (12/8/89)

Obviously the Brazos disc and they deliver in spades, with #1 being an easy top five pick for me. We also get more Dandy vs. Charles action and of course los Bucaneros acquit themselves expertly as the foils for los Brazos. Morgan/Timbs was the pits and will probably be next-to-last in my rankings and dead last for most. A lopsided disc but the treats are super sweet.