LUCHA SET DISC 2

Atlantis vs. El Satanico (1984)

This was The Satanico Show. I wasn't feeling Atlantis with his playing to the crowd with that goofy expression after every bad move that Satanico oversold to make it look good, minus his submissions which were already ace -- that wheelbarrow whatever the fuck thing to end una caida was weird and awesome. Tercera is where everything picks up, the mask ripping begins and the blood stars flowing and then surprise! Either Vince secretly owns the footage and wanted it PG or we are in a time warp back to the golden age as technical difficulties occur and everything goes black and white for awhile. There's a great moment where Satanico gloats outside the ring with his arms outstretched and his head held high and you realize that facially, he's the Mexican Adrian Adonis. The end with Satanico raising Atlantis' arm only to punch him again was nice. Probably gonna end up high middle of my ballot.

Mocho Cota vs. Americo Rocca (1/27/84)

Matwork, matwork, matwork. This one looks to be all about it. Not a million miles an hour, but everything looks really snug and painful. Mocho starts out doing the great rudo thing of going to the mat like a tecnico, but complaining about the tecnico cheating when he isn't. In segunda caida the armwork gets intense with Rocca taking a double armwringer among other things. I love Cota's pin with the knee against the face, very Regal-esque. By the way, the close-up on his missing fingers is gross and completely took me off guard. After some more armwork Rocca starts to get the upper hand, Cota hits a gorgeous dropkick and follows with a plancha to the outside, then goes right back to the arm. In all this praise I can't overlook Rocca, he's a perfect foil for the devious Cota throughout the match. Finish should have fueled a riot.

Mocho Cota vs. Americo Rocca (2/3/84)

El continuacion! More matwork. I could watch these guys stretch each other all day. The finish to una caida is freaky, graceful, and completely beautiful, everything you want out of lucha. Something I've noticed that nobody ever mentions is the use of the whistle instead of a bell to announce falls in lucha, it makes me feel like something is missing. The announcers seem to be mentioning Sinaloa and Guadalajara a lot in these matches and I wonder if the feud is regionally-based. Three guesses on which guy is Sinaloan! (Sorry, a bad stereotype, I couldn't resist.) They Flair/Steamboat the ending and I want a rubber match.

Atlantis y Lizmark vs. El Egipcio y El Faraón (2/17/84)

Lizmark comes off as far more polished here, with Atlantis still doing his dumb pose from the Satanico match. Despite being green as goose shit he sells really well and has some good fiery comebacks. Watch the ref dive out of the ring to separate the opponents near the start, you don't see that very often. I dug the pin from both teams at the same time. Overall though this is pretty middle of the road. We get our first de-masking of the set, which is notable.

El Faraón, Herodes y Mocho Cota vs. Lizmark, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar (2/24/84)

Herodes is awesome. Not only does he have the thinning afro, Harley Race chops-into-mustache with soul patch, and barrel gut that says "professional wrestler", he absolutely beats the shit out of the tecnicos in this one. Really comes off like a big old ass-kicker and someone you don't want to fuck with. Rudos mug the shit out of of a bleeding Tony Salazar in segunda caida then the tecnicos have a huge comeback after the extended beatdown. This is a whole lot of blood and hostility and the foule at the end is so hateful. Really great trios match.

Solar, Ultraman y Super Astro vs. Sergio El Hermoso, Bello Greco y Rudy Reyna (2/26/84)

A trios match with three high-flyers versus some exoticos, so you get great, intricate spots mixed with broad comedy. All the whistling at the exoticos was great. Those of us who got the New Japan set have already seen Sergio and Bello Greco in action and they're hilarious. I was surprised at how small Super Astro is. This looks like the template for a lot of the midcard trios matches running today that you'll see in CMLL and fun to see done so far back in the day. It really feels like you're sitting at Arena Mexico watching the chaos of lucha libre unfold. This is gonna finish high.

Enrique Vera vs. Dos Caras (2/26/84)

The only time I've seen Papa Del Rio before this is when he was breaking Sasuke's skull in M-Pro so obviously this is an entirely different beast. The baby blue and red gear on him is really ugly. This desperately needs some commentary to cover the drunk fans blowing horns in the cheap seats. Slow start but it picks up after a cool inverted full nelson (I have no clue what else to call it) from Caras. Segunda caida has a classy rollup that ends the fall in seconds. I dig Caras' second stretching out his fingers between falls, it makes him have a purpose to being there instead of just being a towel boy. In tercera caida they trade off submissions and pin attempts in a very "your turn/my turn" fashion that will not be pleasant to those struggling with lucha psychology (or lack thereof). A little slow for my taste, but still solid.

Jerry Estrada vs. Ultraman (3/2/84)

Jerry immediately gets points with me for rocking the bootleg Iron Maiden shirt. The matwork on here looks much crisper and better-sold than the previous match, with Jerry in particular standing out -- great facials from him. Something I've noticed on this set during the title matches is the skill of the refs in counting shoulders down in pin attempts and submissions. They jump right on that every time. It's a small thing but I dig the attention to detail. In segunda caida Jerry decides he's gonna take Ultraman's arm home with him but Ultraman responds with a freaked-out submission to win the fall. Jerry's selling does gets into Mr. Perfect territory but I don't mind. The dives in this feel really reckless and lead up to the finish well. I love Ultraman getting carried out over a dude's shoulder while Estrada wins the belt that looks like something an rodeo attendee would wear. I'm gonna probably rate this higher than most will.

Tony Salazar vs. Herodes (3/2/84)

My find of the set so far is Herodes, this guy really is Race-like in look and execution. Bumps big, mauls people, not afraid to bleed, and not afraid to fly either. Anyone notice the mats outside the ring are the same blue and red color/pattern of the old All Japan rings? I love Tony trying to apparently hold the blood in his his head with his hand and then later, Herodes does the same only he looks like someone just shot him in the eye. The pops for Herodes kicking out of the rollup and the foule at the end are enormous. The sentons in this rule so much, too.

Hijo del Santo, Cachorro Mendoza y Chamaco Valaguez vs. Jerry Estrada, Fuerza Guerrera y Talisman (3/9/84)

Damn, I had a whole review written and accidentally erased it. Oh well. The story behind this is totally Santo contra Fuerza though everyone else holds up their spot. Jerry bumps, Talisman stooges, the other two guys do sloppy ranas. Crowd is pretty quiet until Fuerza decides he's going to take Santo's mask completely off which isn't a common thing on this set, usually we get mask ripping but Fuerza wants the whole enchilada. The exchange of masks during the white-hot brawl at the end is the best part of the match. The second best part is the epic Fuerza Handshake that ends in a fucking hug right before the cheapshot. Also notable is the ring announcer who looks like a broke-ass Liberace. Payoffs must have been bad because Chamaco and Cachorra scramble for all the loot filling the ring (along with little kids in the crowd). Fair trios that was mostly a couple really cool parts strung together instead of an all-around great match.

Lizmark vs. El Satanico (April 1984)

This is the last match on the set I have yet to see and seems pretty divisive as has been the norm so far. Let's watch, shall we?

Starting out there's some pretty intense matwork. The pieface tells you that there is no love lost between these two guys if you already didn't get the hint. This isn't high-speed, both guys are just kind of grinding into each other with maximum force. Satanico gets caught in a headscissors, turns it into a Walls of Jericho (!), which gets reversed into a roll-up and after that they decide to amp up the pace. There's a pin off a butterfly suplex and that's only something you will either see here or in a '70s Japanese match. Satanico is great at milking the punishment, begging for relief, and Fuerza Guerrera yanks him outside to the protests of Mascara Ano 2000. The second fall ends in a Quantum Leap into the '90s with a powerbomb reversal after a couple piledrivers that Satanico sells gloriously. Lizmark starts selling the fatigue and we get a great tercera filled with desperate attempts to win before we get a Flair/Steamboat double pin to secure Satanico's status as King of the Screwy Finishes. This is a great lucha title match with some really good selling and almost Regal-like work in the beginning, just a mean little slow burn fall. Satanico can do no wrong.

DISC 2

1. Tony Salazar vs. Herodes (3/2/84)
2. Mocho Cota vs. Americo Rocca (2/3/84)
3. Mocho Cota vs. Americo Rocca (1/27/84)
4. El Faraón, Herodes y Mocho Cota vs. Lizmark, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar (2/24/84)
5. Solar, Ultraman y Super Astro vs. Sergio El Hermoso, Bello Greco y Rudy Reyna (2/26/84)
6. Lizmark vs. El Satanico (April 1984)
7. Atlantis vs. El Satanico (1984)
8. Jerry Estrada vs. Ultraman (3/2/84)
9. Hijo del Santo, Ringo Mendoza y Chamaco Valaguez vs. Jerry Estrada, Fuerza Guerrera y Talisman (3/9/84)
10. Enrique Vera vs. Dos Caras (2/26/84)
11. Atlantis y Lizmark vs. El Egipcio y El Faraón (2/17/84)

I'm going with my initial reviews on this one, though it's been forever. Both of those Rocca/Cota matches will be watched again and will probably be over the Herodes/Salazar match. I just stuck the Satanico title matches next to each other because I hadn't seen the Atlantis one in so long. There are some immediate rewatches I want to do on the next disc but after that, this is getting its deserved attention.