This review was commissioned by Alistair Gilmour over on my Ko-fi account.
It’s not quite what it could be. This honestly doesn’t feel like such a bad time for the match to happen. Rey’s undoubtedly already well seasoned and great at this point of his career, he’s had extensive TV experience in the States, and he’s only about a year and a half away from wrestling what many consider to be the first real classic of his career. Meanwhile, Santito’s in the midst of his rudo run in CMLL which may have produced mixed crowd reactions, but still results in some of the best matches of his career including what may be one of the greatest matches of all time later in this year. Which means that generally speaking the talent to have something great between two (eventual, in Rey’s case) all-timers is there.
It never all quite comes together.
I think most of that comes down to the primera here. Far too much of it is built around tension between Rey and Misterioso who’s Santito’s second on the floor. The tecnico/rudo divide is never quite as clear cut here as I may have liked, as with much of the stuff in Santito’s run at this time, he’s still loudly cheered for being such a goddamn legend. Rey himself seems to get a little more heat throughout the match despite having Misterioso against him, and being the smaller and more sympathetic of the two in the bout. It’s a weird dynamic that keeps things just a little stilted all throughout.
They also do take their time in the first fall as well. The matwork is slick and good, but never quite the very best of Santito stuff. Rey acquits himself well in these exchanges though, keeping up well enough on the mat and being just slippery enough to prove a real challenge for Santito. Even then, there’s some fantastic bits here that take advantage of Santito’s mat savvy and Rey’s flexibility. My favorite comes when Rey has a headscissors on Santito powers him up into a Boston crab position instead. Hell yeah.
Rey, as is typical for him, gets the advantage when pushing the pace though. It’s only when he’s able to really get out of Santito’s grasp and start running the ropes that he’s able to get the first fall victory. It’s a great release tension, having worked our way through the more patient matwork and the tedious drama with Misterioso, finally letting Rey start moving feels like such a delightful release. It forces Santito to try to keep up the pace in the segunda too, and ends up costing Rey when Santito catches a West Coast Pop attempt into a powerbomb instead.
The tercera gives us the best view of what might have been with this pairing. It’s a more traditional finishing run, moving back and forth between each competitor. It’s mostly playing the hits, building up to big dives and bumps, but there are these small touches that really show how well this might have worked if given another go. Perhaps the most compelling touch for me would be just how well Rey puts over losing his grasp on the match. As Santito’s able to exert himself more authoritatively, there’s a desperation that seeps into Rey’s body language, best exemplified in him scrambling out of the La de a Caballo multiple times. He’s horrified of that hold and Santito looks frustrated but keeps just cool enough to keep applying the pressure before getting the win. The closing moments are so great that I wish we had a match that took full advantage of what these two could have produced.
Somewhere on the border of a great, probably just a little shy.
Rating: ***1/2
