NWA lucha results from Mexico City
Dave Fields
NWA Popularity Ratings
1. Octagon (masked face)
2. Vampiro Canadiense (North American face)
3. Conan El Barbaro (Cuban-American face)
4. Atlantis (masked face)
5. El Rayo de Jalisco (masked face)
6. Kato Kung Lee (Panamanian face)
7. Lizmark (masked face)
8. Cien Caras (heel)
9. El Dandy (face)
10. Mascara An~o 2000 (masked heel)
Results
Los Metalicos (Oro, Plata, Platino) {faces} drew with Bestia Salvaje, Tony Arce, and Vulcano {heels}.
Ringo Mendoza, Anibal, Vampiro Canadiense {faces} def. MS-1, Masakre, and Herodes {heels} 2/3 falls.
Eddy, Mando, and Chavo Guerrero def. Cachorro Mendoza, Apolo Dantes, and Javier Cruz 2/3 falls {all faces}. At the end of the match, Javier Cruz appeared to take a heel turn when he took a studded glove from the heel referee and began to beat up Apolo Dantes. This was *the* most boring lucha match I've ever witnessed.
Mano Negra, Mascara Sagrada, and Atlantis {faces} def. El Gran Markus, Jr., Pierroth, Jr., and Fuerza Guerrera {heels} 2/3 falls.
Notes on the luchadores:
Los Metalicos are a brand new masked team composed of Oro (gold), Plata (silver), and Platino (platinum). They didn't show much in this match.
Bestia Salvaje (Savage Beast) is a former NWA welterweight champion, but now a minor figure in the NWA.
Tony Arce and Vulcano are long time partners who wear rather peculiar trappings over their faces (not masks, but impossible to describe). They're journeymen, but highly competent.
MS-1 is a formerly masked wrestler named Pablo Fuentes. A minor figure, as are Masakre and Herodes.
Ringo Mendoza is a very popular small man (I'd be surprised if he weighs 170 lbs.) whose popularity I don't understand. Low work rate, little charisma, but the fans love him.
Anibal is a minor masked face.
El Vampiro Canadiense is a well-muscled North American (his name means Canadian Vampire, but they frequently allude to his being from Los Angeles). He looks to be about 6'2" and weigh about 230, but he's real solid. He shaves the sides of his head (a la the Nasty Boys), but what's left is waist length dreadlocks, frequently dyed purple. He paints his face rather fearsomely and has tattoos all over his arms. He began wrestling in the NWA about 3 months ago as a heel, but has recently turned face and the fan
s really love him. He gets more response from the fans than anybody else except maybe Conan (who, by the way, no longer wears a mask for those who might have seen him during his brief WCW and WWF tours of duty). His work rate isn't much, but he has a lot of charisma, and potentially could become a major star in the US if he can bulk up a little bit.
Cachorro Mendoza is unknown to me. Apolo Dantes and Javier Cruz are minor faces.
The Guerrero brothers are North American chicanos well-known to US fans. They usually put on an excellent show and seem to be working quite a bit in Mexico of late.
El Gran Markus, Jr. (The Great Markus, Jr.) is a fairly minor masked heel. A large man, he looks to be about 240-250 lbs, muscular but chubby. Not much of a work rate.
Pierroth, Jr. (any Arnold Schoenberg fans out there?) is a major masked heel who works the crowd quite well.
Fuerza Guerrera (Martial Force) is a dynamite little guy (he's the NWA welterweight champion), solid muscle and tough as nails. His matches frequently are quite bloody, and his work rate is phenomenal. A real big star - and a masked heel. He's currently feuding with Octagon, and they seem to be working an angle toward a mask vs. mask match. Octagon has already issued the challenge, but the match hasn't happened yet.
Mano Negra (Black Hand) is a masked face, a relative newcomer, and hasn't shown me much yet. I'll reserve judgment for now.
Mascara Sagrada (Sacred Mask) is a masked face who is very popular with the fans, and a pretty good worker. Not a top flight work rate, but a main eventer nonetheless. His mask is quite bizarre, having no mouth or nose holes and those opaque eye holes like the Machines used to have. It must get *real* hot in there. His whole body is covered by his costume, and I'd guess he must lose 10-15 pounds every time he climbs into the ring.
Atlantis is an excellent masked face, the NWA middleweight champion. His work rate is phenomenal and, like Fuerza Guerrera, he's tough as nails. I've seen him sit out an entire fall after getting his bell rung (he and a guy named Kung Fu were having a major feud earlier in the year, and Kung Fu liked to use Atlantis' head for a soccer ball -- Atlantis was clearly and legitimately watching the birds circle his head after several of these attacks), then climb right back into the ring and work like a champ. I
've also seen him dislocate his knee several times, have a colleague pop it back into place, and climb right back into the ring. One of his favorite maneuvers is to throw somebody out of the ring, run back as fast as he can to slingshot off the ropes, then leap head first between the top and middle ropes into his opponent on the ring floor. Both luchadores usually wind up sitting out the rest of the fall when this happens.
Dave Fields | Internet: df2%tdat...@suntzu.west.sun.com
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