Mascarita Sagrada & Octagoncito vs Jerrito Estrada & Espectrito
The rudos have a size advantage in this one, but really that's just to let the technicos show off their high flying even more. Rudos have control early and I loved Espectrito lifting Sagrada up in a military press and Estrada coming off the top rope with a double axe handle to the back of Sagrada's head into the press slam. Octagoncito comes in and gets the advantage with some high flying then tags Sagrada in who's on the defensive right away before countering an irish whip and hitting some great high flying moves culminating with a springboard into a hurrincanranna. Estrada does a sneak attack on Sagrada, but Octagoncito comes right in and evens things up and both technicos hit dives to the floor. The heels get right back on the offensive though and start working over Octagoncito. Octagoncito counters with a backbody drop on Espectrito then Sagrada hits a moonsault for the slowest three count I have ever seen.
6/10 It's a fun match and one I could easily watch again, but there is no real flow to the match. The rudos keep taking control immediately after any technico offense then keep it for a short time before another technico comeback. The in ring action is fun though so it's at least got that going for it and they keep the match short and lively, which might be why there's not a ton of flow to it.
Madonna's Boyfriend (Louis Spicolli), Psicosis, & Fuerza Guerrera vs. Rey Mysterio Jr, Latin Lover, & Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal and Guerrera start the match off then we get Rey and Psicosis and Rey sends Psicosis to the floor with a flying hurrincanranna then runs further up the ramp so Rey can't hit a dive. Spicolli comes in and uses his size advantage to catch a couple of Rey dives and sets him on the top rope but falls victim to a top rope dropkick and Rey tags in Lover so it's a little more even size wise.They go back and forth until Lover sends Spicolli to the floor with a superkick and then we get Metal and Psicosis facing off. We get a bunch of back and forth until eventually the rudos isolate Metal in the ring and take out the other technicos on the outside. Spicolli tosses Rey into the crowd with a press slam then hits a big suplex on the outside. Metal escapes the ring and Lover comes in, but Lover is immediately double teamed on his back foot. Rey gets into the ring and Psicosis tosses him up and lets him fall face first to the mat then tries again, but Rey grabs his head and hits a face buster on the way down. Lover comes in with a hot tag and counters a double leg kick from the corner by Guerrera into a powerbomb.Metal comes in and takes advantage and sends Psicosis to the floor with an enziguri. Spicolli gets knocked down to the floor on the outside and Rey hits a top rope somersault senton to the floor on him. Back in the ring Metal hits a double underhook suplex then misses a senton on Guerrera then Guerrera hits a powerslam and locks a submission on Metal for the win.
6/10 Like the last match it doesn't have a whole lot of flow to it and goes back and forth, but it has a little bit more structure to it and like the last match it's still a fast paced match where everything is done right so it's still a lot of fun to watch. Rey is definitely the best part of the match and gets a lot of great moments in here.
The Pegasus Kid, 2 Cold Scorpio, & Tito Santana vs. Jerry Estrada, La Parka, & Blue Panther
We get some back and forth between everybody in the match as well as Estrada and Parka fighting over getting to face Santana. Rudos take control and start working over Benoit until he hits a nice german suplex on Parka then tags out to Scorpio. Scorpio hits a big powerbomb on Parka who tags out and the rudos have some more friction on the outside. Blue Panther and Benoit face off and Panther sends Benoit over the top rope to the floor with a backbody drop. Benoit gets back in and sends Panther to the floor to hit a suicide dive. We get Parka and Scorpio facing off and Scorpio muscles Parka up into a powerbomb and Estrada breaks up the pin by kicking Parka then attacking Santana. Panther dodges a flying headbutt from Benoit and then a moonsault from Scorpio. Estrada and Parka start trading punches as they both want to pin Scorpio. Santana and Estrada fight to the outside and Estrada holds Santana for a dive from Pakra , but Santana moves so Parka takes out Estrada, but doesn't really have the distance to hit him. They start brawling as does Santana and Scorpio hits them all with a crossbody off the top. In the ring Benoit moves out of a crooked moonsault from Panther and hits a powerslam. He hits a guillotine leg drop for a two count. Panther hits a powerbomb on Benoit and Scorpio immediately breakes up the pin. Panther goes for another powerbomb and Benoit counters into a hurrincanranna into a three count.
4/10 Again, like the previous two matches, this match doesn't have a lot of flow, but it's also not as fast paced or as well wrestled as them so it's nowhere near as fun to watch. The Parka and Estrada rivalry is happening right away with no inciting incident so it just makes it seem dumb that they are a team. Santana is terrible in this match, but generally when you have a combination of Blue Panther or Parka against Benoit or Scorpio its pretty solid wrestling. Doesn't feel like these people are on the same page at all in this match and it just never really clicks, although it does make me want to see Panther in singles matches against Benoit and Scorpio.
Octagon & El Hijo Del Santo vs. Art Barr & Eddie Guerrero
Barr and Guerrero do a bunch of bailing out of the ring, begging off, and taunting to start the match before it properly starts. Eddie and Santo start off this match doing a bunch of nice technical work. Octagon gets the advantage over Barr so Guerrero comes in and chucks him out of the ring and they start working over Santo. Barr puts Santo on his shoulders and Guerrero hits a hurrincanranna off the top rope to get a three count. Octagon comes in and gets superplexed then Barr hits a frog splash to get the three count and win the first fall.
The Technicos quickly take advantage at the start of the second fall and hit stereo suicide dives to the outside. Santo gets Guerrero inside the ring and drops him down face first to the mat then climbs to the rope and Guerrero pops up and crotches him then hits a hurrincanrana for a three count on Santo so they just have to pin Octagon two on one. Gringos Loco try to double team, but Octagon counters a pop up into a hurrincanrana on Guerrero for a three count then tilt a whirls into a submission on Barr to even the match at one fall a piece.
The rudos control Santo early, and while Santo keeps countering into rollups they get broken up quickly. Santo fights back with some Octagon help and takes control of the match again and gets a nearfall with a suplex on Barr. Santo gets an avalanche electric chair drop on Guerrero for two before Barr breaks up the pinfall and Barr clears the ring and the Gringos hit stereo suicide dives. The technicos get some offense in, but Barr manages to hit a tombstone piledriver behind the ref while he's watching Guerrero and Santo on the outside which gets a three count, the move is done behind the ref's back since it's illegal. Gringos hit a nice double team move on Santo where Guerrero suplexes him over as Barr hits a clothesline. Guerrero hits the suplex on Santo which Barr follows up with a frog splash for a two count. Guerrero hits a big crossbody on the outside to Santo and Barr goes to follow up, but Blue Panther pushes Barr off the ropes and hits a piledriver and Santo crawls in to get a pinfall so we're down to one on one. Guerrero takes control of the match hitting a bunch of big moves including a dragon suplex that gets a two count. Guerrero goes for another suplex, but Santo counters with a rollup to get a three count and win.
8/10 Interesting to watch since I know it's a hugely famous match and a five star match from Dave, but I don't see it. I love how well the first two falls setup a new fan for knowing everybody's finisher and what to look out for knowing it will matter and then to care when it's kicked out of in the third fall. Still a lot of just back and forth in this match without too much selling for big moves. It's still more focused than the previous matches with only two competitors per team and needing to pin both competitors for each fall. There is a lot of great wrestling in this match that really helps, the doomsday 'rana that Gringos bust out in the first two minutes was a huge deal a decade later when Whitmer and Jacobs used it as their finisher. I don't know if there is much flow to this match, but they spend most of the time at the fireworks factory and pull of the big moves so it's fun to watch.
Eddie and Barr cutting each others hair as the technicos pose with the hair and then hand it out to the fans is very good.
Konnan vs. Perro Aguayo
Aguayo starts the match off hot to the delight of the crowd. He whips Konnan into the corner and climbs up him then up the cage, but Konnan stops him and hits an electric chair drop off the second rope. Konnan whips Aguayo into the cage then lifts him up and drops him face first into the cage two times in a row and busts Aguayo open. Konnan rakes Aguayo's forehead along the cage then climbs up the cage and steps on the back of Aguayo's head pushign him into the cage. Konnan tries to climb out and Aguayo brings him down with an electric chair drop. Both men brawl on top of the ropes and Aguayo gets the advantage and knocks Konnan down to the map then hits a running double stomp to the midsection. Aguayo hits a bunch of punches and then a flying clothesline off the second rope. Aguayo tries to climb out, but Konnan leaps up with a sack tap that drops Aguayo back into the ring. Aguayo regains control and runs Konnan face first into every side of the cage. Aguayo goes to climb out and almost gets there, but Konnan stops him then climbs up and they're both hanging over the top of the cage. They both go down to the top rope and Aguayo knocks Konnan off with a top rope then hits a seated senton then goes to the other corner and starts climbing. Eddie and Spicolli run down to the ring and Eddie throws soda in Aguayo's face then tosses brass knucks to Konnan. Konnan hits a sitout Razor's Edge then starts taunting the crowd as Aguayo continues to bleed. Aguayo is now a bloody mess as Konnan just keep shitting moves and taunting. Konnan goes for a powerbomb, but Aguayo blocks it then punches and stomps Konnan, but runs out of energy. Konnan gets another pair of brass knuckles and hits a big punch to Aguayo. Konnan is trying to escape when some technicos I don't know run down to eliminate the Rudos from ringside. Konnan nearly gets out and one of the new technico's punches him and knocks him back down into the ring and Aguayo slams his head into the cage. Aguayo hits a double stomp off the top then walks across the ring and climbs out to get the win.
6/10 Not a bad match, outside of one pretty bad dropkick by Konnan, but it's also not that exciting of a match either. Definitely a showcase of what would work better for the live crowd with Konnan's recent turn and people looking forward to Aguayo getting some revenge on the heel. The outside interference is done really well to get the crowd more into it and since it goes both ways doesn't feel like it ruins the purity of the match.
Overall
This is a show that has a lot of historical meaning and if this was your first exposure to lucha libre would definitely be a great watch, although the main event probably wouldn't matter to you at all. The first three matches are good on their own, but all have built in hooks to get you to keep watching. I'm not sure what the biggest issue with going back to the show is with how lucha has evolved or the fact that a lot of the matches aren't the normal two out of three falls matches the company normally had. Even without a lot of the matches being outstanding it's still great to see so many of these wrestlers at such an early part of their career. I'd definitely recommend watching this wherever you can find it, especially since it's just a two hour long show and isn't going to take a lot of your time. I didn't love it as much as most people, but having one of the most praised matches in wrestling history on the show is also a big selling point for it. 8/10
