Instead of trudging through Raw, you guys should instead watch this carefully curated selection of lucha libre presented by me, tm24, for all your viewing pleasure. Here you'll find the best lucha libre has to offer from its past, recent past and from now featuring the best of lucha libre
QUICK NOTES ABOUT LUCHA
-Matches are 2/3 falls
-In tag matches, both members must be pinned for a fall to be won. In trios, there's a captain who if pinned, counts as a fall. The other two can be pinned to win a fall also. Tags are also done elimanation style, so there's a lot of dual pins in lucha. Tags dont have to be tags, anytime a wrestler rolls out his partner can come in.
-El Martinete (a pildriver) is the most illegal move in pro wrestling and usually results in a wrestler being dead.
-Removing the mask entirely is a DQ. you will see a lot of ripping of the mask though
-Lucha matches generally are paced differently from WWE matches, usually to set up a sequence of spots such as the amazing dives
THE CLASSICS
Santo, Octagon & Rey Misterio Jr vs Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera & Psicosis
A great trios match to start the showcase off. The match tends to revolve around certain pairings and just clicks with everyone getting their moves in. One of the best trio matches of the 90s
Rey Misterio Jr vs Hijo Del Santo
A classic between a young flier and the legend. Great matwork and high flying allround by both men
Rey Misterio jr vs Juventud Guerrera 6/16/95
Hey, remember that ECW match? This is basically that, but better
Rey Misterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera 4/21/95
Hey, remember that last match? This is basically that, but better. Considered the best of the Rey/Juvi matches. Seriously, i don't know what was in the water in Tijuana, but it somehow gave us 3 of the best high flying luchadores ever
El Hijo Del Santo vs Psicosis
The other great luchadore from Tijuana is Psicosis, and here he defends his belt against the icon in a great long match. Watch Psicosis do nutty dives galore while the master tries to slow the young gun down before responding with his own bombs in the air
Rey Misterio jr vs Psicosis
Fun fact, Rey and El Hijo del Santo basically dominate any and all great lucha match lists. This is probably one of the best matches of any of the cruisers and this has it all
El Dandy vs Negro Casas vs El Hijo del Santo Mask vs Hair vs Hair
Some background to this match. Hijo del Santo is the biggest babyface this side of his dad, who is still the biggest babyface in the world. So after leaving CMLL for AAA, Santo decides to rekindle his decade long feud with Negro Casas as a rudo since Casas was now a technico, The set-up was a trios match with Negro Casas, El Dandy and Héctor Garza as technicos against Felino, Scorpio, Jr. and Bestia Salvaje (The last two being Casas fomer partners) as the rudos. Felino is Casas' brother and when he came to the ring, he stopped and just watched as all hell broke lose. The fans were expecting Felino to help his brother but Felino took off his cape and mask, revealing himself to be El Hijo del Santo in disguise and then shit hit the fan. Riots broke out, fists were thrown in the crowd and kids cried. This is the aftermath of the turn and a total brawl follows.
Hijo Del Santo vs Negro Casas Mask vs Hair
After failing to get the result in the last match, the two winners from the last match go at it in a straight up brawl. No fancy lucha moves here, this is the culmination of decades of hate.
El Hijo Del Santo & Octagón VS. Eddie Guerrero & Love Machine Art Barr Double Mask vs Hair
Easily the most famous lucha match of all time. The feud was between Hijo Del Santo and Eddy, whose fathers teamed up as La Pareja Atómica (The Atomic pair). Eddy felt that Santo used his dad and Gory didn't get his due because of it which the feud is the basis of. Eddie wanted to restore his family's honor by taking Santo's mask This match became a tag match at the last minute due to Art Barr pleading to get on the show and the match is better cuz of it. Art Barr was the best heel in Mexico and is one of the biggest heat magnets ever. Truly a shame the man died 2 weeks after this. Seriously, just watch. Pure greatness.
Torneo Cibernetico - 4/18/97
The torneo CIbernatico! Luchadores galore! This is basically 40 minutes of amazing lucha. A cibernetico works in that there's a large amount of wrestlers on each side, and they take turns cycling as tags happen either naturally or by leaving the ring. Featuring basically every great heavyweight of lucha of the 90s. Tons of matchwork, flying and just crazy spots. COnsidered by many to be the best lucha match of the 90s
THE RECENT PAST!
Mistico vs Averno 1/30/05
Mistico! Before he was Sin Cara, he was Mistico, the brightest star mexico had seen in years. Here, he starts his rivalry with Averno that would span 10 matches. Watch him as he grows to be the legend of Mexico
Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero
On the heels of his amazing match with Averno, Mistico takes on the leader of Los Guerreros, Ultimo Guerrero in another classic
Mistico Vs Black Warrior Mask vs Mask
Once tag team champs until an inadvertent collision from Mistico caused Black Warrior to be pinned , Mistico and Black Warrior's feud started over a belt until it escalated into this Mascara contra Mascara match. One of the best matches of 2006
Mistico vs Averno 1/5/07
After taking the mask of Black Warrior, Mistico returns to his greatest rival in another classic match with Averno
Mistico vs Dr Wagner Jr
yeah, Mistico was involved in a lot of great matches. Though his opponents were pretty good themselves. Here he takes on Dr Wagner Jr in of the best matches of 2007
Mistico vs Averno Fantasticamania 2011
The last Mistico vs Averno match takes place in Japan and its just as good as every match
RECENT
La Sombra vs Volador Jr
Two of the best high fliers in Mexico go at it
Averno vs La Mascara Mask vs Mask
Averno once again has issues with a great high flier. This time is escalates into a Mask vs Mask match
Averno vs La Sombra
What started the current hottest feud in Mexico. Averno for like the 5th time has issues with other high fliers
Another La Sombra vs Averno match
Probably the best match of 2012. Just great high flying all around. Averno really is the best rudo on the planet right now
Máscara Dorada vs Mephisto
La Máscara vs Volador Jr.
Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Virus
More high flying action!
And bonus minis matches!
Mascarita Dorada vs. Pierrothito
Pequeno Reyes del Aires 2012
A cibernetico involving minis!
WHERE TO WATCH AND FOLLOW
Theres two great uploaders on youtube. WarriorsX2000 uploads the weekly shows from CMLL, AAA and IWRG. The Cubsfan runs not only one of the best lucha sites, but also uploads a lot of the same material but seperates them into the matches. And then there's my channel, which is gonna be full of stuff
http://www.youtube.com/user/WarriorsX2000
http://www.youtube.com/user/thecubsfan
http://www.youtube.com/user/tm24
As for sites, my 2 favs are http://www.luchaworld.com/ and the aforementioned TheCubsFan blog at http://www.thecubsfan.com/cmll/
QUICK NOTES ABOUT LUCHA
-Matches are 2/3 falls
-In tag matches, both members must be pinned for a fall to be won. In trios, there's a captain who if pinned, counts as a fall. The other two can be pinned to win a fall also. Tags are also done elimanation style, so there's a lot of dual pins in lucha. Tags dont have to be tags, anytime a wrestler rolls out his partner can come in.
-El Martinete (a pildriver) is the most illegal move in pro wrestling and usually results in a wrestler being dead.
-Removing the mask entirely is a DQ. you will see a lot of ripping of the mask though
-Lucha matches generally are paced differently from WWE matches, usually to set up a sequence of spots such as the amazing dives
THE CLASSICS
Santo, Octagon & Rey Misterio Jr vs Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera & Psicosis
A great trios match to start the showcase off. The match tends to revolve around certain pairings and just clicks with everyone getting their moves in. One of the best trio matches of the 90s
Rey Misterio Jr vs Hijo Del Santo
A classic between a young flier and the legend. Great matwork and high flying allround by both men
Rey Misterio jr vs Juventud Guerrera 6/16/95
Hey, remember that ECW match? This is basically that, but better
Rey Misterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera 4/21/95
Hey, remember that last match? This is basically that, but better. Considered the best of the Rey/Juvi matches. Seriously, i don't know what was in the water in Tijuana, but it somehow gave us 3 of the best high flying luchadores ever
El Hijo Del Santo vs Psicosis
The other great luchadore from Tijuana is Psicosis, and here he defends his belt against the icon in a great long match. Watch Psicosis do nutty dives galore while the master tries to slow the young gun down before responding with his own bombs in the air
Rey Misterio jr vs Psicosis
Fun fact, Rey and El Hijo del Santo basically dominate any and all great lucha match lists. This is probably one of the best matches of any of the cruisers and this has it all
El Dandy vs Negro Casas vs El Hijo del Santo Mask vs Hair vs Hair
Some background to this match. Hijo del Santo is the biggest babyface this side of his dad, who is still the biggest babyface in the world. So after leaving CMLL for AAA, Santo decides to rekindle his decade long feud with Negro Casas as a rudo since Casas was now a technico, The set-up was a trios match with Negro Casas, El Dandy and Héctor Garza as technicos against Felino, Scorpio, Jr. and Bestia Salvaje (The last two being Casas fomer partners) as the rudos. Felino is Casas' brother and when he came to the ring, he stopped and just watched as all hell broke lose. The fans were expecting Felino to help his brother but Felino took off his cape and mask, revealing himself to be El Hijo del Santo in disguise and then shit hit the fan. Riots broke out, fists were thrown in the crowd and kids cried. This is the aftermath of the turn and a total brawl follows.
Hijo Del Santo vs Negro Casas Mask vs Hair
After failing to get the result in the last match, the two winners from the last match go at it in a straight up brawl. No fancy lucha moves here, this is the culmination of decades of hate.
El Hijo Del Santo & Octagón VS. Eddie Guerrero & Love Machine Art Barr Double Mask vs Hair
Easily the most famous lucha match of all time. The feud was between Hijo Del Santo and Eddy, whose fathers teamed up as La Pareja Atómica (The Atomic pair). Eddy felt that Santo used his dad and Gory didn't get his due because of it which the feud is the basis of. Eddie wanted to restore his family's honor by taking Santo's mask This match became a tag match at the last minute due to Art Barr pleading to get on the show and the match is better cuz of it. Art Barr was the best heel in Mexico and is one of the biggest heat magnets ever. Truly a shame the man died 2 weeks after this. Seriously, just watch. Pure greatness.
Torneo Cibernetico - 4/18/97
The torneo CIbernatico! Luchadores galore! This is basically 40 minutes of amazing lucha. A cibernetico works in that there's a large amount of wrestlers on each side, and they take turns cycling as tags happen either naturally or by leaving the ring. Featuring basically every great heavyweight of lucha of the 90s. Tons of matchwork, flying and just crazy spots. COnsidered by many to be the best lucha match of the 90s
THE RECENT PAST!
Mistico vs Averno 1/30/05
Mistico! Before he was Sin Cara, he was Mistico, the brightest star mexico had seen in years. Here, he starts his rivalry with Averno that would span 10 matches. Watch him as he grows to be the legend of Mexico
Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero
On the heels of his amazing match with Averno, Mistico takes on the leader of Los Guerreros, Ultimo Guerrero in another classic
Mistico Vs Black Warrior Mask vs Mask
Once tag team champs until an inadvertent collision from Mistico caused Black Warrior to be pinned , Mistico and Black Warrior's feud started over a belt until it escalated into this Mascara contra Mascara match. One of the best matches of 2006
Mistico vs Averno 1/5/07
After taking the mask of Black Warrior, Mistico returns to his greatest rival in another classic match with Averno
Mistico vs Dr Wagner Jr
yeah, Mistico was involved in a lot of great matches. Though his opponents were pretty good themselves. Here he takes on Dr Wagner Jr in of the best matches of 2007
Mistico vs Averno Fantasticamania 2011
The last Mistico vs Averno match takes place in Japan and its just as good as every match
RECENT
La Sombra vs Volador Jr
Two of the best high fliers in Mexico go at it
Averno vs La Mascara Mask vs Mask
Averno once again has issues with a great high flier. This time is escalates into a Mask vs Mask match
Averno vs La Sombra
What started the current hottest feud in Mexico. Averno for like the 5th time has issues with other high fliers
Another La Sombra vs Averno match
Probably the best match of 2012. Just great high flying all around. Averno really is the best rudo on the planet right now
Máscara Dorada vs Mephisto
La Máscara vs Volador Jr.
Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Virus
More high flying action!
And bonus minis matches!
Mascarita Dorada vs. Pierrothito
Pequeno Reyes del Aires 2012
A cibernetico involving minis!
WHERE TO WATCH AND FOLLOW
Theres two great uploaders on youtube. WarriorsX2000 uploads the weekly shows from CMLL, AAA and IWRG. The Cubsfan runs not only one of the best lucha sites, but also uploads a lot of the same material but seperates them into the matches. And then there's my channel, which is gonna be full of stuff
http://www.youtube.com/user/WarriorsX2000
http://www.youtube.com/user/thecubsfan
http://www.youtube.com/user/tm24
As for sites, my 2 favs are http://www.luchaworld.com/ and the aforementioned TheCubsFan blog at http://www.thecubsfan.com/cmll/
