UWA Solo Clasicos Vol 1

This is an IVP Videos compilation I've had for a while. As with all previous lucha reviews, I apologise for my ignorance about the genre in the following reviews...

Great Sasuke & El Matematico vs Rudy Reyna & Cassandro

Really dug the rudo team of exoticos here, especially Cassandro. Loved his vicious slaps to the chest of Sasuke when downed with a groin stretcher. Cassandro and Sasuke really pair up well in this one, both seem to complement each other well. Cassandro seems happy to bump big for all Sasuke’s offence, and they pair up well on the mat. Liked the dynamic of Matematico outsmarting the exoticos, until Reyna kisses him on the lips to confuse him. Technicos win the first fall with a Sasuke moonsault press on Reyna, which forces a change of tactics. In the second fall, the rudos are sneakier, using a double-teaming tactic of distracting and blindsiding, which works wonders for them. It allows them to isolate Matematico with a top rope legdrop/sideslam combo. Final fall sees the rudos continue to dominate, with a great German suplex by Cassandro to Sasuke, before both technicos are pinned and the exoticos win the bout. Dug this.

Los Espantos (Espanto IV & Espanto V) vs Los Estrellas Blancas (Estrella Blanca I & Estrella Blanca II)

Fun little bout here, with Los Estrellas Blancas clowning Los Espantos for most of the match, easily reversing their moves, evading any onrushing Espanto and causing Los Espantos to stooge around, before the Blancas win the first fall with a sunset flip. It takes a distraction from the referee for Los Espantos to take over, and their double-teaming is really fluid to behold. They lock in a swank double-team sub to take the fall. In the third fall, the teams split, with one pair battling inside the ring, and the other on the outside. Loved one Espanto doing an exaggerated sneaky walk to get in the ring and break up a sub, before the Espantos win the decisive fall by reversing a sunset flip. Good stuff.

Scorpio & Scorpio Jr vs Celestial & Transformer

This was a real blast, a nice pairing of dastardly rudos and really fun technicos. Scorpio Snr is an impressively ugly man, and I dug him protesting hairpulls every time he was taken over, as well as Jr just cheapshotting opponents from behind. They control the first fall with sneaky tactics, double-teams and cheap blows. Every time one of the technicos gets in the ring, they get worn down by the same cheap tactics, before a legdrop from Snr and a senton from Jr give them the first fall. This continues into the second fall, before a missed dropkick from Jr takes out his father, and the technicos take control. Loved Transformer’s spinning headscissors, and Celestial impressed with his fluidity and speed, working a nice sequence against both rudos at once. A seated senton and a sunset flip give them the equalising fall. The bulk of the final fall sees the rudos taking advantage of Transformer’s ill-advised scarf, taking it in turns to choke him with it. Everything swiftly breaks down, and the technicos win with a victory roll and an abdominal stretch. Really fun match here, really dug it.

Dr Wagner Jr & Espanto Jr vs Celestial & Coloso

This starts off with some nice mat exchanges between Espanto and Celestial, but the rudo team – and Wagner in particular – ensure this doesn’t remain a friendly contest. Coloso stupidly falls for a handshake and hug from Wagner (brilliantly assisted by Espanto Jr coming in the ring and gesturing, as if to say “Don’t worry, you CAN trust him”) and gets blindsided. The rudos use all manner of distractions and cheapshots to retain control, and soon pin both technicos for the first fall. They control the ring so easily that Wagner is confident enough to walk Coloso to the corner to tag in Celestial, knowing the referees won’t see it and won’t allow the tag. The technicos do finally comeback, and I loved the image of Celestial stalking Wagner outside the ring, who still find time to angrily gesture at the crowd. The technicos even things up with a count out, with Celestial getting backdropped outside by his partner at a great height onto Espanto Jr. Looked amazing. Things are pretty close in the final fall, and I dug Celestial stopping a pinfall by calmly grabbing the refs hand and, when Wagner looks up, slapping him in the face. Wagner has had a few close calls when attacking below the belt in the match, and him dropping Celestial bollocks first on the top rope in the final straw, earning a DQ. This was really fun, and they took advantage of having some time to give each fall plenty of time to breath.

Bull Pain, Zandokan & The Killer vs El Texano, Silver King & Enrique Vera

One of the nice things about wrestling is discovering someone you’ve never heard of, but appears to be awesome. Based off this one match, Zandokan falls into that category for me. Looking swank as fuck in black trousers and a nice shirt, hair slicked back in a ponytail, he looks like a drug cartel kingpin from an awesome 80’s straight-to-video action film. He does lots of things here that I dig, including getting fed up with Texano’s cutesy handshake avoidance and giving him a vicious headbutt in the clinch. I also loved him faking getting kicked in the groin by Vera in an attempt to win the final fall by DQ, plus he takes the biggest bump of the match by going over the top rope to the floor. Pain also looks good, dishing out a few headbutts to the arm of Silver King when in control. With the match poised at one fall apiece, The Killer proves himself to have quite the inaccurate name by running to the back from Vera, leaving his partners to eat the fall and give the match to the technicos. Fun stuff.

Fishman, The Killer & Tigre Canadiense vs Transformer, Gran Hamada & Silver King

Bit of a sprint this one, clocking in at just over ten minutes, but it’s pretty good. There’s a terrific opening section between Tigre and Silver King, just so quick and fluid, with both guys missing stuff with aplomb. Transformer fancies his luck against all 3 rudos at once, and manages to outsmart them all. Hamada wins the first fall with a rana on the Killer. Silver King hitting an RKO on Fishman is a bit of a surprise in the second fall. The rudos plan here seems to be to take out Hamada, crotching him on the ring post, then Silver King, thus leaving them able to isolate Transformer, which occurs pretty easily for the three. Final fall, and we get a good chunk of brawling all round the venue. The technicos seem in control, until a 3-way bulldog is reverse, sending all three crashing into each other and all three are pinned for the rudo victory.

Babe Face, Negro Casas & Dr Wagner Jr vs El Hijo Del Santo, Gran Hamada & Solar

Heck of a way to finish the disk. Love the real rogue’s gallery of rudos here. Opening section is Solar and Wagner working the mat, trying to force the other’s shoulders down for a 3 count. Casas and Hamada also matchup really well in their brief stint in the ring together. Casas has so much presence. The technicos take the first fall, but the rudos rebound in the second, isolating Santo and, via a double-team submission, forcing him to submit. The deciding fall sees the rudos isolate Solar, coming SO close to holding his shoulders down on a dogpile pin attempt. Solar fight back to allow Santo in, and he’s a house of fire. First he hits Babe Face with a big rolling senton, then hits a belly-to-belly on Casas for the victory. This was so fluid, all six guys looked great.

IWA Japan King Of The Deathmatch 1995

Tiger Jeet Singh vs Mr Gannosuke
Odd to see how thin Gannosuke was before he bulked up in later years. This is also the most entertaining thing about this match, which is otherwise appalling. This is supposed to be a chain match, but Singh assaults Gannosuke with his sword before the match and embarks upon one of those dull brawls where Singh walks Gannosuke around and throws him into things and hitting him with the occasional chair. This drags on for minutes before Singh decides to choke Gannosuke with the chain. He lets go, then chokes Gannosuke on a barbed wire board for the submission win. Gannosuke’s post-match vomit is the only entertaining thing here.

Terry Funk vs Leatherface
I quite like the fact we get a pre-match promo from Leatherface, the psychotic killer from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre…being very polite and respectful towards Funk. It’s another chain match and the match is far better than the opener, but the way it’s laid out makes no sense. Within a minute of the bell ringing, Leatherface has hit a moonsault on Funk. 30 seconds later, he throws Funk from the ring onto a barbed wire board and, boom, the big spot of the match is gone. This is something to build towards, and it’s done in less than 90 seconds. That said, the rest of the match is still more enjoyable than the Jeet Singh debacle. There are some odd moments (Leatherface attacks Funk with a chainsaw, drawing no blood), but there is still fun to be had. Leatherface takes a nasty bump onto a table as Funk prevents a top rope splash by simply pulling him to the floor by the chain and both men climbing a chainlink fence to fight at the top is odd, but enjoyable. Back inside, Funk wraps his left hand with the chain and punches Leatherface out for the 3 count.

Cactus Jack vs Terry Gordy
The first match thus far that actually tries to build around the gimmick, in this case a big tray full of tacks in the middle of the ring. We actually get Gordy teasing putting Jack in the tacks, first with a hiptoss from the corner that narrowly misses, then with a bulldog attempt that Jack blocks. Jack blocks several more attempts to throw him in the tacks, but isn’t able to avoid getting thrown from the top rope to the floor in a nasty bump. Outside the ring, Gordy piledrives Jack through a table, then inside finally gets Jack onto the tacks, first stamping his face into the tray, then throwing him down with a nasty looking powerbomb. A 2nd on the mat gets a two. Jack rebounds by throwing a handful of tacks into Gordy’s face and hitting the double-arm DDT onto the tacks for the win.

Shoji Nakamaki vs Hiroshi Ono
Essentially, both are pretty ordinary looking guys in t-shirt and jeans. They seem a bit less ordinary moments later when they both no-sell being hit with a barbed wire bat. Nakamaki whacks Ono headfirst on a table and then proceeds to walk him around the stadium for a bit until they reach another ring. Ono rebounds with a few wrestling moves, nailing a side Russian legsweep and a shit uranage. A top rope clothesline gets two. Nakamaki ducks a clothesline and nails a big one of his own. He then casually walks Ono to another ring, before the two fight over the tray of tacks. Nakamaki tries a bulldog, but Ono blocks and hits to belly-to-back suplexes onto the tacks, leaving a circle of tacks sticking out of Nakamaki’s head. Ono tries a third, but Nakamaki lands on top of him then powerbombs him onto the tacks for a two. What we would now call a Skull Crushing Finale onto the tacks earns Nakamaki the win. Oddly entertaining.


Takashi Okano vs. Flying Kid Ichihara
This is for Ichihara’s WWA Light Heavyweight title. It’s also pretty heavily clipped, as I think the full match goes 13 minutes, whilst it barely goes 3 here. Not that I’m complaining, as this is pretty pedestrian. Not bad, just a touch bland, though Ichihara looks pretty smooth, hitting a nice moonsault press and dropping Okano on his head with a belly-to-back suplex. Okano doesn’t get much offence, making it even more surprising when he rolls through a rana for the win.

The Iceman vs. Kamikaze
You know when you see a local indy show, and a chubby guy is wearing a mask in an attempt to convince you he’s a highflier? Well that’s Iceman here, whose paunch is noticeable through his bodysuit, In fact, with his long hair sticking out, he looks like John Zandig filming a remake of the video for “I Found Out” by the Pigeon Detectives. He’s not very good either, whiffing an armdrag over the top early doors and hitting a clumsy pescado. This is another clipped match, but we get to see some decent offence from Kamikaze, who hits a nice tope. Iceman misses an appalling looking knee drop from the top, but bumbles his way into a reverse pin to win.

Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Round two of the tournament, and guess who does the most bumping? This makes the first Jeet Singh match look like Savage/Steamboat in comparison. The entire first 5 or so minutes consists of Singh hitting Funk with his sword outside the ring, pausing for 5 seconds, then doing it again. They finally get back into the ring, only for Singh to knock Funk off the apron into...something, as the crack camera team entirely miss the bump. Another angle eventually shows Funk lying in a tray of glass, getting hit by Singh. Finally, Funk hits a head butt for his first bit of offence and goes for the spinning toehold, only to meet Cactus Jack interference. Jack goes to hit Funk with Singh’s sword, only for Funk to duck, causing Singh to take the blow and get pinned for 3. Utter shite.

Cactus Jack vs. Shoji Nakamaki
This is the other end of the bumping scale. In his first book, Foley points out that Nakamaki was known as the “Danger Man” since, although he couldn’t wrestle, he was willing to take a lot of abuse. The result is that we get two guys trying to out bump each other. It’s close, but I’d say Nakamaki takes the worst of it, taking the nastiest bump when Jack covers his prone body with a bed of nails, then hits an elbow from the ring apron to drive the nails into the Danger Man. Jack does a similar move elsewhere in the match, hanging Nakamaki on the second rope and placing a bed of barbed wire onto his opponent, before crashing into him with a flying knee. Jack takes a fair bit of abuse too and, whilst the match is frequently sloppy (Nakamaki can’t bump very well, so sandbags Jack on occasion), it is at least enjoyable. Jack wins with the double-arm DDT onto the barbed wire.

The Headhunters vs. El Texano & Silver King
King and Texano are defending the IWA tag titles here. The Mexican team fare pretty badly early doors, getting overpowered by the huge Headhunters. The Headhunters are pretty fun to watch as big, fat highfliers, crushing El Texano with a big splash/leg drop combo. Texano and King try to use their speed to take over, both hitting topes on one Hunter, only for the other to follow with the biggest tope of them all. There is a section of control by Texano and King, but this is really all about the size and power of the Headhunters, who pick up the win and the titles with a top rope power bomb.

Dan Severn vs. Tarzan Goto
This is for Severn’s NWA title. The main theme running through this match is that both guys have a preferred environment to fight in and, if they get their opponent there, they’ll win. Hence Goto slaps Severn and goes to the outside, trying to lure Severn to brawl outside, only for Severn to sit on the ring ropes and gesture for Goto to get in the ring for a beating. Goto actually does a decent job at getting Severn onto the mat, but Severn soon reverses and takes control. They roll outside, where Goto smashes a bottle to get a weapon, which Severn blocks with a chair. They continue to brawl, decimating rows of chairs, and Goto gets the upper hand, hurling chair after chair onto a prone Severn. Goto heads back into the ring and we get the awesome site of Severn emerging from a pile of chairs, eyes full of fury and hate, ready to fuck Goto up. Goto does manages to subdue him in the ring by using a chair, but Severn takes control and locks in a rear naked choke for the tapout win. Good match.

Cactus Jack vs. Terry Funk
The tournament final is a Barbed Wire Rope, Exploding Barbed Wire Boards & Exploding Ring Time Bomb Death Match, which essentially means the ring will blow up in ten minutes. Being the best two workers in the tournament, this is pretty darn good. I especially loved the way that Funk dragged a board into the middle of the ring at the start, essentially daring Jack to come at him. They also wisely build to the board explosions, with Funk teetering over a board for ages before finally getting knocked onto it for a big pop. I also like the way that, even though the explosives on a board have been used up, they both know that whacking their opponent with a board of barbed wire looks fucking painful, with Jack covering Funk with a board and dropping an elbow being particularly painful-looking. Tiger Jeet Singh makes an unwelcome return to save Jack from a spinning toehold. Jack hits the double-arm DDT for two and hits another as the ring announcer starts a ten second countdown for the explosion. Funk is left in the ring and....some fireworks go off at the edge of the ring, to a muted response from the crowd. Funk looks rightly baffled and so him and Jack go to war for the next 3 minutes, as Cactus brings in a ladder and nails an elbow off it for two. Funk manages to topple the ladder as Jack climbs for a second time, him directly onto the barbed wire ropes. This is Funk’s last bit of energy gone though, and Jack crawls over to him for a slightly anticlimactic three count.