Mizzie & The Spin’s Wacky Lucha Libre Adventure
MF: Greetings, spinnerets & mizfan fans! And welcome to yet another column series by yours truly! I have no doubt you’re all sick of me by now, which is why I’ve brought a new friend along. A relative newcomer to our dear ol’ CF, he approached me about a collaboration that sounded just too tempting to say no to! So please, this being your project more than mine, say hello to the nice people Spinmaster, and tell ‘em what we’re doing here!
SM: Spinnerets? I like it and hopefully by the end of this series I will actually have a few. So hello column forums regulars and those of you, like myself, who come in and read everything but only comment when you think you have something worthy of saying. So I have actually been around LOP since the great DaveyBoy was in his heyday but I have never really had the time or courage to start writing, even though I am a huge fan and an English major. Years ago I wrote a column reviewing Summerslam 2002 but soon after my quest to become a teacher took over my life. With that completed I have decided that it is time to get fully into this column writing thing and what better way than teaming up with the series addict named Mizfan, who I am a huge fan of. As a child I watched wrestling but when I moved to Newfoundland I suddenly drifted away. Then one day I was at a neighbour’s house and Summerslam 2002 was about to start. The first match would change my life and create a life-long fan of WWE and everything else I could get my hands on. That match was Rey Mysterio vs Kurt Angle. Rey Mysterio was the first wrestler that I really clung to when I started to watch wrestling again. For many years after that night Rey was the top guy for me and I was a pure mark for him. It honestly took a long time before someone finally joined him on the top pedestal of my fandom. It ended up being someone that Rey would fight a plethora of times which meant my allegiances were constantly being tested. As for who that was you’ll have to wait and see. So with this fandom in mind I approached Mizfan and asked if he would be interested in writing a series of columns documenting the career of Rey Mysterio from his debut as Colibri all the way to his current run in Lucha Underground. The series will run for 10 columns and we hope to post weekly. What we have here is the first which will focus on his career before debuting with ECW.
MF: I have a very similar experience to this. As a lot of you probably know, I started watching wrestling in 2003, and one of the very first things I saw was little masked man being tied to a stretcher and being battered against a ringpost by a giant. Somehow this bewildering scene drew me further into the world, and it wasn’t long before I learned that little masked guy was in fact totally awesome. I don’t think he was ever my TOP guy, a position that cycled between Tajiri, Chris Benoit, the Undertaker, and a couple others in those early days of my fandom, but he was always right up there, and I looked forward to seeing him more than more. His feud with my current and long reigning favorite, the aforementioned Tajiri, was very formative to my tastes as a fan. The more I’ve seen of Rey, the more I feel he is one of the greatest of all time, and well worth revisiting in a long form series like this.
SM: I am in complete agreement with you there. Mysterio is the greatest Lucha Libre competitor I have ever seen and he is easily one of the greatest overall to enter a ring. I absolutely commend your love for Tajiri. He is a wrestler that I do not think gets the love that he deserves. Maybe that’s something to think about at a later time. So when it comes to a series like this I think it is important for me to talk a little about how I view and judge matches. I rate matches based on enjoyment and to be honest a lot of the time my opinions are not those of the majority of the IWC. I love wrestling and I can normally find something I like in even the worst matches. For that reason it is hard for a match to be rated under 2 stars for me.On the flipside I do not give out 5 stars easily because I am still of the belief that 5 stars means perfection. For me 2-3 stars is a good match. 3-4 stars is a great match and 4-4¾ is a classic match. However, in saying that I will be surprised if I don’t hand out a couple of 5 stars during this series.
MF: I’m with you my friend, enjoyment is precisely the thing I rate, but where we differ is that to me this means sometimes my ratings run high as compared to others. I may give out as many as a dozen 5 star ratings in a year, as long as I truly feel like I enjoy the match on that level and would watch it over and over again. For the sake of the series I’m going to adjust my scale a little bit, so that we are not constantly wide of each other’s mark, but I have no doubt we will be in complete agreement on some of the coming classics.
SM: A dozen in a year? Wow! We definitely differ at that front. I will be lucky to hand out half a dozen five star matches in a year. This number has grown since I began to watch more and more wrestling promotions. I may be over stating my toughness in rating but I guess we will see how far apart we truly are once we get to reviewing. Before we get there though I shall do a little breakdown of Rey Mysterio’s early career. Nothing too extensive but some information that should be known in order to get this thing a rolling. Mysterio was trained by his uncle Rey Mysterio Sr. and his hope was to carry on the family name and live up to the standard that his uncle had set. I for one think that he easily did this and surpassed it in many ways. Carrying on a family name is not easy to do in Mexico so he had to begin his career using other names until he had earned the right to carry the name that means “King of Mystery”. His first names in Mexico were Colibri (Hummingbird) and La Lagartija Verde (the Green Lizard). For the first part of his career he rose up to prominence in AAA and fought many competitors that we would meet again in his later years. Though early on he may not have been the household name that he would become it is still easy to see how he was able to rise up to the heights that he achieved in the WWE and America. That is my brief and scattered breakdown. Stay with me everyone this is my first column in a long time so Mizfan may feel like he is Shawn Michaels wrestling a broom. What else would you like to add Mizzie? I’m sure there has to be at least something that I missed and some nuggets of wisdom that you can impart upon us.
MF: Any commentator worth their salt will tell you Mysterio debuted at 16 and eventually took on the name of his uncle, but how much thought do people really give to those early years? Even though Rey’s explosive entry into the US scene, via ECW and WCW, showed he was clearly already on an elite level, like so much below-the-border lucha libre it is mostly regarded as inaccessible by modern fans. I think there’s a larger discussion to be had about why fans tend to gravitate towards seeking matches from Japan and not Mexico, but that’s for another day. For now, I’m very interested in getting a taste of early Mysterio through these selections. Let’s get started!
Debut as Colibri, in 1990!
Proof that Rey Mysterio can look younger than he does now!
MF: I’m not going to try to say when or where this match took place exactly, because I have no clue and research isn’t giving me very exact information. But if you want to watch along, you can do so by clicking here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-oK4q-8UVg
SM: To everyone that has decided to watch along I apologize for the terrible quality. Even through that though it is still possible to enjoy and get a lot out of this match. So here is his debut match as Colibri. Lockups into arm drags seem to be as common in Mexican wrestling as the push into the turnbuckle from a lock up is in WWE.
So it is easy to see that Rey is a bit green here and the two seem somewhat out of sync, such as Rey trying to give his hands to the opponent instead of waiting for him to grab them. Even saying that it is amazing how great this guy was at the young age of 14. Most wrestlers do not have this level of skill after 20 years in the sport.
We enter a section of the match that has biggest little man being rag dolled around the ring but nowhere near as much as what would become his staple later in his career. I love the little preview of the 619 and the flashes of the lucha libre legend he would become. Some stuff here confused me a little such as the ref counting a pin even when the opponent was not pinning Rey. Maybe this would have been better understood if there was actually any sound on this match. I have watched a nice bit of Mexican wrestling through AAA and CMLL and I don’t remember that ever being a rule that being down means being counted for a pin.
Overall, this is a fine match with some exciting spots thrown in. A bit clunky at times which can be attributed to the fact that Rey was just starting out. However, the opponent seemed just as clunky so maybe this was a start for him as well. I think that the ending was a little disappointing with both men being outside the ring and Colibri just makes it back in before the 10 count. It’s a good win for Colibri without hurting the opponent, really wish I knew who he was. I really enjoyed seeing Mysterio as Colibri for the first time. I guess it is time to see how tough my rating really is. I think that it is pretty good for a debut match at the age of 14 and it was a good match that I would maybe watch again. I’ll go with **¼.
MF: As a guy who has watched quite a bit of old wrestling at this point, I’m kind of immune to low quality videos. Still, what REALLY got me here was the lack of sound. Holy crap, it is weird to watch wrestling in dead silence.
Still, I quite enjoyed this, probably a little bit more than my good buddy Spin did judging from his write up. There were some odd moments, and I can definitely confirm the weird tendency of the ref to count a pinfall whether someone was making a cover or not isn’t a typical lucha things, but on the whole? I was surprised by just how good this was. Rey in particular looked amazing, considering this seems to be his first ever match. From the very first move, Rey is ping ponging outside the ring in wild fashion! That’s probably what impressed me the most here, Rey had some mad bumping already down to a tee, and it was a lot of fun to watch. True, he would get even better with time, but there are clear signs of what he can do, and that includes offense as well. Like much of lucha, there are armdrags for days, but I dig that, and they do so many different and creative types that I can’t help but smile. The ending wasn’t too bad for me considering this was surely a low card match anyway, Rey using an Asai moonsault to get the countout victory is not only a pretty smart tactic for a rookie but also protects the other guy (whoever he is) from taking a clear cut loss to a young newcomer. An extremely solid debut that already showed a lot of promise.
SM Rating: **¼
MF Rating: ***
Rey Misterio Jr, Super Calo & Winners vs. Heavy Metal, Picudo, & Psicosis, 2 out of 3 Falls
AAA Sin Limite, February 7th 1993
Ladies and Gentlemen Heavy Metal (close enough)
If you want to watch along, you can do so by clicking here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0TMDdVeCrE
SM: Once again some low quality here but nothing that takes away from the match. I’ve seen much worse and at least this one has some sound. What I noticed right away is how much Rey’s stock seems to have risen in the three years since he debuted as Colibri.
The match starts in complete chaos reminding me of a multi man WWE match. I like 2 out of 3 falls matches in Mexico but I feel like the falls happen so randomly and without much build or reason. However, this is able to be countered by the sometimes hard to follow rule that a fall does not occur until the captain of a team is pinned. The first pin occurs seconds in and puts the technicos as the underdogs which is an age old story that works 80 percent of the time (unless your name is Roman Reigns, then it never works). Honestly I am so distracted by Psicosis. Is he going to wrestle the whole match in a cape? Nice little preview of the Psicosis and Mysterio feud that will define their early careers. First time I’ve ever seen a pin while hidden by your opponents cape. Mysterio controls a lot of this section and takes the first fall for his team.
Thankfully the cape is off for the second fall!! I suffer from OCD and am so easily distracted by things like that (Naomi’s shoes throw me off constantly). Second fall starts with some self fighting on the rudo side and a lot more Mysterio and Psicosis. We can see some moves that they will be trademarks in their future matches. It is kind of an uneventful second fall with the rudos tying it up.
Now things really pick up with the third fall breaking into a fun frenzy. The chaos continues and then out of nowhere Rey has been pinned and the match is over. It’s not bad but I was not able to ever get fully invested in the match. Each time that things seemed to really get going a fall occurred and everything came to a screeching halt. It is nice to see Mysterio and Psicosis mix it up in their early years. Just a couple years before their feud would begin to cross countries and promotions. Everyone else in the match I have seen before. No one is truly bad but none stand out in the same ways that the other two do.
I think this match could easily be seen as a great match for many people. For me it’s a bit better than the first match but not by a lot. I am sure that we are going to be far apart on this one. I will say that it just sneaks into my great category with ***.
MF: Indeed, this one started off very chaotically, but sometimes that’s part of the fun. I do appreciate how fired up the lucha style usually is. I will disagree with you a little bit in terms of the participants, I was actually quite impressed with Heavy Metal, who showed off a lot of charisma, and honestly I thought everyone did a pretty good job.
Lucha matches have a flow that is a little different from the more familiar forms of America or Japan, so while I wouldn’t exactly say that the falls come out of nowhere, it can be difficult to get used to the subtle changes in the rhythms that many of us are used to with the more commonly watched styles.
Two things that made me really love this match. First, especially in the third fall, the rudos were absolutely on point. Rey got to play face in peril for much of this match and did a great job, but the bulk of it was carried by fun stuff done by the rudos. At one point they executed a great triple team that saw two members pin the tecnico in a standing position, and then the other climbed up to stand on his back and pose. I love stuff like that! The other thing that really stood out to me was the absolutely nutty sequence of dives that took place late in the match, starting with Mysterio taking a seriously mental looking bump out of the ring via the corner, and leading to just about every member of the match doing at least one seriously crazy piece of offense.
In the end Metal pins Rey with a crazy suplex pin combo, and I find myself thinking this is a pretty great match in my book. I believe Meltzer in fact actually threw five stars at this one, though that only means so much as he seems to sometimes have weird opinions on lucha. I would not go that far, at any rate, but with the scale I’m using for this series I’ll go as high as ****¼, I really enjoyed this one.
SM Rating: ***
MF Rating: ****¼
Rey Misterio Jr, Heavy Metal & Latin Lover vs. Fuerza Guerrera, Madonna’s Boyfriend, & Psicosis
AAA When Worlds Collide, November 6th 1994
Louie Spicolli’s Girlfriend
If you want to watch along, you can do so by clicking here. https://youtu.be/NJ_1DPGIX3I?t=17m24s
SM: So this is the first match of the series that I have already seen and from what I remember I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, up until we decided to do this series this was the oldest Rey match that I had seen because it was on one or more of Mysterio’s DVD’s.
I find it telling that even in multi-man matches Psicosis and Mysterio are never far away from each other. Even the commentator mentions that they are two of the possible superstars of the future. Well, he was definitely right about Rey Mysterio and, I guess, to a lesser extent Psicosis. Another point he made that I never really thought of before is that the tilt a whirl backbreaker is used so often in Lucha Libre and is as much about embarrassing your opponent as it is hurting them. I guess I can see how that may be true. Mike Tenay and the other commentator do a lot of building up Rey during this match even though it is clear that Rey is still treated as mostly a rookie in the match. I guess they could see what I saw in him during this match. He may have been a rookie but it was clear, even here, that he was going to rise above the rest of the men in the match. The signs are there for Rey’s rise to prominence but in this match he is still earning his place and making his name.
Spicolli and Latin Lover come into the ring and I find myself trying to remember why I know both of them. Since I will not be able to focus until I know I have to go search.Ok, found it. Latin Lover was in the Rumble of 97 and Spicolli was involved in a relatively major feud in ECW. I love that in this match everyone has their own strengths and no one feels overmatched or out of their league. Just want to mention how much I love the Lucha Libre rules for tag matches. Whenever someone exits the ring one of their partners can immediately come in without a tag. This eliminates a lot of slow down time or people getting out of the ring to rest all the time. There is a mention of Rey being taken in by the fans even though he is American. I’ve never thought of it like that. In my mind Rey has always been a Mexican in life and in wrestling. He trained there, wrestled there and spent a lot of time there.
So, obviously at some point Heavy Metal made the switch from rudo to technico since he was fighting against Rey in the last match and is now teaming with him. This is something that I would likely understand more if I had the background of the match. Then suddenly the match is over. I really am having a hard time switching gears to the lucha libre style but I am really enjoying these matches. This had a real big match feel even though it was only the second match of the show. The men took that feeling and added to it which is a testament to the skill these men have. Easily the best match so far but still not going to get up to classic.
MF: Ah, interesting, I quite liked this match but thought it was a step down from the previous match. I think what struck me the most is how much fun I had with Louie Spicolli, who used the truly strange “Madonna’s Boyfriend” ring name in Mexico. Spicolli will always be a minor “what if” guy to me, as personal problems hindered his work and eventually took his life, but I’ve always liked him and think this may be one of his best performances. After Mysterio, he was the one who impressed me the most. By far the biggest highlight of the match was him press slamming Mysterio over the rail into the concrete floor. That was quite the spot, and they worked a lot of good stuff together based on their size difference.
I think what stops me from ranking his higher is it feels very much like an undercard match, which it very much is. Besides Spicolli and Mysterio, I didn’t feel like anyone was going above and beyond. Most were still doing really good stuff, Psicosis and HEavy Metal again deserve a nod for some good work, but it doesn’t stand out to me quite as much as some of the other matches on the set. I thought Fuerza in particular was not as good as he could be here. Some of his holds looked quite lazy, like a poorly applied Sharpshooter, and the weird armbar which ended the match somewhat anti-climatically. All in all this match is really excellent, but a slight step below a flat out classic.
SM Rating: ***½
MF Rating: ****
Rey Misterio Jr, El Hijo del Santo & Octagon vs. Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera, & Psicosis, 2 out of 3 Falls
AAA Sin Limite, March 17th 1995
Octagon and !*&^%$#%@ (So that’s what happens when I try to write his name)
If you want to watch along, you can do so by clicking here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYEzgcljww8
SM: In a move that surprises no one Mysterio and Psicosis find themselves on opposite sides of the ring. Psicosis really was the yin to Mysterio’s yang. In this match they start the match off against each other. Through watching these matches you can see their stock rising year by year and it is easy to see why Paul Heyman wanted them for ECW. Rey and Psicosis start this match by showing they are more than just spot monkeys with some technical wrestling.
One of the best parts of this match was getting a chance to watch Octagon again who I had seen once before in a match against Wild Pegasus in a Super J Cup tournament match. I’m surprised he did not become a bigger star than he did. I would think he was someone that could have made a bigger career in America.
So as the match continues it falls into the standard fare for these 6 man AAA matches. Easily watchable but nothing to write home about. Rey Mysterio has begun to show off his ability to do things that make people do a double take and ask how. One such move is the handstand springboard off the ropes and up onto his opponent’s shoulders. There seems to be a formula to these matches with the first couple falls not taking up much time and then the third fall breaking into chaos before settling down for the ending sequence. These matches show to me how much talent there was that was never seen by people who only watched WWE or WCW.
I noticed in this match a lot of untying of masks by the rudos which is something that is so small but makes the crowd get riled up and really makes the rudos seem even worse. I just did not get the same level of enjoyment out of this one as I did with some of the others but the good heel work does add a bit but not enough for me to call it a great match.
MF: We are indeed somewhat off on our tastes, it seems! But that’s all to the good, it means we’ll likely have more to talk about. I think I disagree, to some extent, about your analysis that all these lucha matches follow the same formula. Yes, the greatest emphasis is on the third fall, but I see a lot of variation therein. I wouldn’t say all American matches are formulaic, even though almost all follow the time tested babyface shine, heel heat, finishing stretch pattern. The bare bones are what they are, that’s pretty much true in all wrestling, but there is a tremendous amount to be seen within those confines.
Anyway, on to the match itself. Mysterio and Psychosis are indeed really developing their rivalry, in fact I would say 95 is definitely the peak of their historical feud, which we have really only seen a sliver of through this series. I imagine Heyman was moreso willing to take anyone that Konnan was willing to bring to the US rather than specifically seeking these two out, but it certainly worked out well for all concerned. Unlike the previous match this does not immediately descend into chaos, but moves into gear smoothly with some feeling out and stalling. Of course, the high flying theatrics are never far behind. Mysterio is once again an early standout, though he does nearly smash his own head on the floor doing a particularly daring move. I’m also digging Santo early on, definitely one of the biggest stars of any era and he brings the action to match.
The unifying story of the match seems to be Fuerza and Octagon having an issue. Fuerza really gets on him at times, faking a low blow to try to get him DQ’d, and as you mentioned tying his mask to the ropes. I didn’t love Fuerza in the previous match, but he’s showing a lot of personality in this one. As to Octagon, I think it bears mentioning that he never really attempted to become a star in the US, and was from what I understand a pretty big deal in Mexico.
After trading the first couple falls, we get a pretty climactic final fall which sees Rey doing some very nice face-in-peril work to get the crowd really rocking. Octagon is in bad shape as well, he even nearly loses his mask at one point. The way the momentum shifts here is one of my favorite things we’ve seen in the series so far, the rudos attempt to do a triple team combination submission and taunt which involves Psicosis standing on the back of one of the tecnicos, but he’s overconfident and ends up getting knocked all the way to the floor in a crazy bump! From here they tell a truly great story in the finishing stretch, as Octagon exacts some excellent revenge on Fuerza for all the dirty tricks he’s been pulling, while Mysterio and Santo do some truly sweet dives to take out the rudos. This leaves Octagon free to force Fuerza to tap out and give the win to the face team!
This was very enjoyable in my book, not quite as good as the crazy highlight reel of the ‘93 match, but slightly better than World’s Collide.
SM Rating: **½
MF Rating: ****
Rey Misterio Jr & Rey Misterio Sr vs. Juventud & Fuerza Guerrera, 2 out of 3 Falls, WWA Tag Team & Mexican National Tag Team Championships
AAA Sin Limite, March 26th 1995
The OG of Mysterious Kings
If you want to watch along, you can do so by clicking here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HmBF3QmiBQ
SM: I was so happy to see you pick out this match Mizzie. I did not even know that it existed and it is a special match to get the opportunity to watch. Finally getting a chance to watch uncle and nephew in the ring on the same team. This is actually the first time I have ever watched a match with Senior. Another first for this series is getting to see Rey and Juventud against each other and it likely will not be the last. Juventud is not as frequent an opponent as Psicosis but they still had quite the storied feud.
For the beginning of this match the elder Mysterio seemed to be used as a special attraction almost like how part timers are used now. The idea being that when he finally got in it would be a big moment, but I don’t think it paid off when he did get in since it was immediately treated just like it had been before he got into the ring. The match steps up a beat whenever the two younger stars are in the ring, however the senior competitors more than hold their own.
The last few minutes amped up the adrenaline and the competitors began moving at the furious pace. I loved the double low blows and pins that brought us down to the two lucha legends at the time. This is the payoff from the building spectacle at the start of the match. Senior is now coming off as the legend that he was presented as when the match began. The ending was a little bit of a let down but I can see the reason behind it. We end up with a double pin resulting in a tie between the two legends.
The tag work, the building pace, the spectacle and the overall talent lead to quite the enjoyable fare here. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this match as I figured it was going to be more about the situation and less about the match. Gotta rate in on par with the When Worlds Collide match and give it ***½.
MF: This time I think our ratings will be similar, but some of our thoughts might digress. Rey Misterio Sr is an interesting character. He’s a member of a famous family and definitely popular in Mexico, but I’m not sure he would be considered a “legend” per se. His nephew would definitely surpass him several times over in terms of legend and popularity, though that hadn’t happened at this time. His reputation hasn’t survived that well either over time, in fact he’s essentially a footnote to his own nephew. At any rate, he’s only in his 30s here (remember how young Rey Jr is!) so if you’re expecting to see him presented as some grand legend, I think you may be off base. I saw him as a respected veteran but not someone who is going to come back and headline a major card, or anything. If anything, Fuerza Guerrera is probably the most legendary guy in the match at the time.
Refocusing on the match itself, I get the strong feeling that Fuerza is a guy who is really good at story and character stuff, if not so much the actual wrestling. He did a good job conveying himself as the senior rudo, for example offering his son Juvie instead when Rey Sr wanted to wrestle. Juvie, by the by, seems very athletic already but somewhat sloppy, a trait that I’m not sure he ever fully shakes off.
All in all, I thought the old guys slowed this down a bit too much at times, they did a lot of posturing and stalling at times, and while Fuerza partially won me back with his antics, I decided at the end of the day I was not overly fond of Rey Sr, who had his moments but didn’t always deliver for me. The young guys really brought it though, particularly Mysterio who again had a standout performance. I especially enjoyed some character driven stuff where Juvie took over on Rey Jr for a while, and then Rey Jr turned it around and smacked Juvie into each and every ring post on the outside, leading Juvie to beg off and almost flee the arena. The final sequence took the young guys out of the equation, and the old guys probably did their best work at the end with some strong mat work. The draw finish was not entirely satisfying but worked for what they were going to do. It probably sounds like I’m down on the match but generally I thought it was really good, just not quite great.
SM Rating: ***½
MF Rating: ***¾
Rey Misterio Jr vs. Psicosis
WAR Super J Cup – 2nd Stage, December 13th 1995
The first of 1,345,622 times that this match occurred
If you want to watch along, you can do so by clicking here. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2...cup-1995_sport
SM: Ok so when I picked this match I knew that I was technically cheating the rules that I set myself. I wanted to do the columns in time periods with the first being pre-ECW. This match match occurred during the time that Mysterio was already a competitor in ECW. However it fits in with the early career work that is being featured in this column so I think it fits best here.
Nice touch with the interviews before the competitors come to ring. Something I still see in Japan now, except I think it is mostly after the matches now. I do not know a lot about Japanese wrestling history. Is this Super J Cup in the same lineage as the one in NJPW. If yes, when did it switch from WAR to New Japan.
What we have here is another step in the career feud between Mysterio and Psicosis. If you look hard enough you will find a match between these two in every promotion they have been a part of. I half expected to see Psicosis appear in Lucha Underground just so they could check that promotion off their list.
Starts off with much more technical wrestling than many would expect from two proficient high flyers. As I have began reliving this feud I have come to realize how technically gifted these two men were. Rey has become even more technical in his legend days since his body can no longer handle the style of his early years. As the match continues they mix in more of their high flying and the crowd ooh’s and aww’s. I love how appreciative the Japanese crowd is of everything that is done in the ring. You can feel the excitement whenever one of them flies over the top rope or launches off the apron.
Towards the end we get an early version of the West Coast Pop and a sky high Asai Moonsault by Mysterio. He is really coming into his own and starting to resemble the Rey that I first saw when I became a wrestling fan. I have never seen a kick that makes the opponent fly onto the top rope like Mysterio delivered to Psicosis here. Not sure how I feel about it. Got to suspend the disbelief a bit but with the right competitors it does work. A great springboard top rope hurricanrana by Mysterio followed by a standing snap hurricanrana gets him the win.
This is typical Mysterio vs Psicosis, which is in no way a bad thing. These two could put on a great match blindfolded. I absolutely love this but I know that it is not the best that these two can do. I feel like they still had a lot to learn and were holding back some of the stuff for later matches. So that puts Rey at 1 and Psicosis at 0 for this series. Of the six that we watched for this column this was the best for me. In fact I was very close to giving it 4 stars but just couldn’t get past the fact that I knew they could do much better.
MF: Well, I think our star ratings will match pretty closely this time, but in terms of opinion we are probably still a little bit off in our thinking here. I did think this was a really good match, but not the best we’ve seen in this part of the set. The chemistry these two have is famous of course, but part of me felt they were only just starting to warm up when the match ended somewhat abruptly. I’m debating mentally your point about whether they still had a lot to learn or were just trying to fit within the time limit given to them by the promotion. Probably some of each, over time Mysterio became a master of the 10 minute TV match but it may be less familiar to him in this time frame.
To answer one of your questions, the Super J Cup has kind of a weird history. It’s always been very cross-promotional, and as such has been hosted by many different promotions, including NJPW, WAR, Michinoku Pro, and I think perhaps one or two others. It’s all vaguely in the same lineage but there are also a lot of years where it doesn’t take place at all, which makes it a bit stranger still. I’m glad it was going on in this period though, I think it is great for guys like Rey and Psicosis to get experience in an environment like Japan.
I also like your point about the extremely high level of technical wrestling these guys have already exhibited. I think it’s important to recognize that, even though the general impression of lucha is that it is all about high flying, the technical aspect is just as important and sometimes much more so. Mysterio is particularly adept in this regard, though in his US career he definitely has wisely accentuated his flying ability to make himself more memorable in the minds of the audience.
One last point to make in response to your comments, I’m very surprised you have not noticed the lucha trope where a kick from your opponent while running will mysteriously propel you to all sorts of strange places! In some of the multi-man matches, I saw people tumble nearly all the way up the ramp to the back after being hit with one of those kicks. I think it takes a little getting used to, but in reality it’s not more far-fetched than an Irish Whip. It’s just a trope that’s not used in America or Japan, so you have to adjust your thinking a little bit.
Now, speaking further to the match itself, what we get is a lot of fun. Psicosis plays a bullying role, including some awesomely rough powerbombs, but slo isn’t afraid to get in some high spots and some crazy bumps, especially that nutty one where he gets bounced off the top of the ringpost. Mysterio is, of course, phenomenal, making Psicosis on the mat and using his superior quickness and agility to gain the advantage. That Asai moonsault he fired off was beautiful, and the standing West Coast Pop at the finish? Just fantastic stuff.
It’s funny to think that if he was coming up today, Rey could probably be PWG Champion or something and nobody would bat an eye, even in the super flippy culture of today he’d still be far and away one of the best guys going. I have no doubt they will easily top this performance, but it’s pretty good for what it is, just a little bit better than the tag that preceded it.
SM Rating: ***¾
MF Rating: ***¾
SM: So it is clear that we are quite far apart on a lot of our ratings but what we can agree on is that Rey Mysterio has a fantastic career and that this column series is going to be an absolute blast. I thank you for being willing to add yet another series to your plate. Maybe as we continue my icy heart will melt a little and our ratings will begin to sync up a little more. Or maybe not. Only way to know is to check out the next column.
MF: I think it’s yet more evidence about how subjective rating is, because we are enjoying a lot of the same things in these matches, but to you a ***½ match is a great match while to me it might mean the match is only good. Relative scales, and all that! But yeah, I think we’re pretty in sync on the overall picture. These matches have really been fun to watch, and we are only scratching the very surface of Rey’s legendary career.
SM: This was a great starting point for revisiting the career of the King of Mystery. He may not be at the level that I have come to be accustomed to but you can easily see the absolute superstar that he will soon become. I look forward to seeing the growth of Rey as he moves through promotions and ascends to the top of the industry. Up next, Lucha Libre goes EXTREME.