Love Machine & America & Mano Negra vs. Tony Arce & Vulcano & Rocco Valente 19:54. Love Machine was a masked Art Barr, who had been wrestling in Mexico since November of 1991. America was El Pantera II under a different gimmick. Los Destructores (Tony Arce & Vulcano & Rocco Valente) dominated the second fall with lots of cohesive teamwork. This wasn’t the most exciting part of the match, but it got us to the third fall. The third fall started off with more lucha brawling by Los Destructores. At some point, los tecnicos (the babyfaces) were able to fight back against los rudos (the heels). Not surprisingly, the best dive in the match was by America. The match was okay, but the finish was kinda crappy. Love Machine got fouled, but the ref didn’t see it. In an act of revenge, Machine gave one of the heels a low blow, but the ref saw it and disqualified him. Okay match. **

Pirata Morgan & MS-1 & Satanico vs. Pierroth Jr. & Jaque Mate & Masakre. Los Infernales vs. Los Intocables. Los Infernales are some of the most overrated luchadores in Mexico. The ring announcer claimed Pirata Morgan was the best wrestler in the world, in spite of him not even being in the top 100 wrestlers in the world back then. Satanico was announced as the number one heel, in spite of there being at least thirty heels that were better heels than him at that moment in time. None of these guys showed any real skills. Pirata Morgan was the best in this match, but that wasn’t saying much. Jaque Mate bumped and sold quite well. Other than that, this wasn’t worth talking about. This match was the epitome of mediocrity, as it wasn’t horrible, but it definitely wasn’t good either. Mediocre match. *½ 

Brazo de Oro & Brazo de Plata & El Brazo vs. Vampiro Canadiense & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. & Solomon Grundy. This was Vampiro in his early days, back when he was still a 24-year old heartthrob nicknamed “Vampiro Casanova” who was extremely popular in Mexico due to his punk rock-esque look being so different from the other non-masked luchadores at the time. His in-ring work was still mediocre at best, though. Rayo de Jalisco Jr. was a top babyface because of him being the son of Rayo de Jalisco. Solomon Grundy was a 460-lb fat guy from Kentucky who couldn’t do much and moved in slow-motion. To his credit, he wasn’t useless, as he bumped and sold better than you’d expect from a man of his size. “Super Porky” Brazo de Plata looked tiny compared to him. Los Brazos knew they had to try to be somewhat serious in order to carry this heavy load. Overall, the wrestling in this match never became good, but there weren’t any really bad moments either. They were smart enough to only use Grundy for big-man freak show moments without relying too much on him as an actual participant. Mediocre match. *¾   

Hair vs. Hair: Bestia Salvaje vs. Huracan Sevilla 19:13. This was a big “lucha de apuestas” (fight of bets) that saw both men put their hair on the line in a show-saving battle. Both workers showed the desperation required in a hair vs. hair match. Both men had grown their 1987-style mullets reasonably long to maximize the idea that losing this bout would indeed be quite the embarrassment, as neither man looked forward to resembling the Warlord instead of a reputable luchador. Whenever there was a spectacular move, it was clear that it was not to show off or entertain but purely with the intent to take the opponent out. This bout truly was a Latin American sports contest in the sense that it combined athleticism with lots of passionate intensity. It wasn’t just what they did, it was especially how they did things that made this match stand out. Both men did a great job of turning this match into a fascinating drama thanks to their understanding of doing the right things at the right time, which made the intrigue factor optimal from start to finish. Both did a great job putting over the idea that they did whatever it took to not lose this fight. Except for the short second fall, the match never felt predictable. And it really felt like they exceeded expectations and tried to give their very best performance. This was the most intense lucha match of the year ‘92 so far. This was overall even better than the excellent 1/31/92 Ultimo Dragon vs. Blue Panther match due to the tremendous ferocity displayed. While Huracan Sevilla certainly deserves credit for his role here, this was a match that truly saw Bestia Salvaje show what he was capable of, as he carried this in an impressive manner. Great match. ****½ 

Show rating: 6.5/10.0. Good show

YouTube Review Playlists