Lucha Review- UWA Solo Clasicos Vol. 1

This is the first review in a series I'm going to be doing on this set of UWA discs that were recently made available to the US trading circle from a Mexican dealer. A huge thanks goes to secondcoming for organizing the buy, and making it happen so quickly. The bulk of these matches appear to take place in 1990-1991, with a handful of matches from the 70s and 80s that are dated. These discs are not complete shows, but compilations. I can't tell yet if they're in chronological order, but hopefully things will start to clear up once we get a few discs in. There are various title, mask, and hair matches on the set, so we will be able to date any title changes, or losses of masks or hair with the information provided at the fantastic LuchaWiki site. I am in no way an expert on Lucha Libre style or history, so this will be a learning experience for all of us. We've got a lot of discs to cover, here's Vol. 1.

UWA SÓLO CLÁSICOS VOL. 1

1. Ninja Sasuke/El Matematico Jr. Vs Rudy Reyna/Cassandro
We start out with young Great Sasuke teaming up with El Matematico Jr against what I believe is known as Los Exoticos, Rudy Reyna and Cassandro. Reyna and Cassandro work the gender bending gimmick perfectly, crowd pops big when Reyna kisses Matematico in the 2nd fall. I was a bit taken away by how comedic the crowd treats the gimmick, the flamboyant acts would have still been drawing good heat in the States at this time. Young Sasuke is really on in this match, hitting a 2nd rope moonsault and a few nice planchas. He works the trademark kicks in, ending with a particularly stiff spinning back kick to the chin of Cassandro. The finish was a bit too premeditated, but the 5 awkward seconds spent setting it up was about the only negative mark on the match. A very good match, actually a good bit better than I expected to start off with.

2. Los Espantos IV & V vs Las Estrellas Blancas Sr. & Jr.
Los Espantos y Las Estrellas wear identical tights and masks, making it way too tough tell who's who on either team. Villanos IV y V had it right with the numbered tights. Los Espantos were really impressive in this one. They are sons of Los Espantos III, from the original Espantos team of the 50s. One of the Espantos uses a fan's bell to do some work on one of the Estrellas, when the Estrella tries to retrieve the bell to retaliate the fan shoves it under his chair. Though rudos, the crowd is really into the Espantos. Two great back to back dives from both sides. Both dives took place directly to the left of a nice healthy lady, who appears to have an orgasm with each one. Chicks dig the topes. Los Espantos do enough innovative double team moves to send a ROH crowd into a frenzy. Another solid match.

3. Scorpio Sr & Jr vs Transformer / Celestial
Not quite as exciting as the first 2 matches. Transformer has some great entrance attire though.


4. Dr. Wagner Jr./Espanto Jr. vs Celestial / Coloso
Espanto Jr and Celestial start us off with some back and forth ground work. Espanto Jr has great facial expressions, something that tends to stand out when you watch lucha, with all the masks and what not. Espanto Jr was not a an actual family member of the original Espantos, but was given permission to use the name by Espanto II. Jr would later go on to be the original Pentagon, before a tragic near death experience ended his career in the mid 90s. Wagner Jr heels it up well. There's something about a great heel wearing all white that really seems to get to the crowd. Coloso launches Celestial high into the air and to the floor on Espanto for the biggest plancha thus far. Coloso follows it up with a decent little tope of his own. Coloso really didnt do much in the first 2 falls, but comes with some unexpected acrobatics in the 3rd. He's built like Mil Mascaras, but certainly moves a bit better. Wagner delivers the first low blow of the disc, and the rudo ref declares it a head butt to the abdomen. Coloso really sells the nut shot, and the heat piles onto Wagner. All 4 men really picked up the pace for the 3rd fall, with a few nice little spots that lead into the finish. This match is solid, this set is looking really promising.


5. The Killer/ Bull Pain / Zandokan vs Enrique Vera/Silver King / El Texano
Shit. Bull Pain? There really is some variety in this set. Someone stole a pink Macho Man jacket and is parading around the outside with the rudos. Zandokan is another guy who has great facial expressions. Zandokan takes a kick to the mid section from Vera, and sells the shit out of a nut shot. The rudo ref started to raise his hand, but the technico ref is having none of that jazz. Nothing too special here, but Zandokan is a fun rudo to watch, and its always nice to see Silver King and El Texano.

6. Fishman/ The Killer / Tigre Canadiense vs Gran Hamada/Silver King/Transformer
Young Hart Dungeon graduate Mike Lozansky is wrestling here as Tigre Canadiense, and he was also trained a bit by Bad News Allen. He's maskless, so this match is sometime shortly after October of 1991. Macho Man jacket man is back in the Rudo corner, with another fly jacket. Fishman definitely does not bang the Gran Hamada set, and he takes a cheap shot every chance he gets. He doesnt even have to be the legal man. If Hamada is slippin, Fishman is looking to get a shot in. Tigre comes out looking decent, with a nice little spot with Silver King. He then awkwardly climbs to the 2nd rope, and drops back into the weirdest looking elbow Ive ever seen. It wasnt the greatest match, but not bad.

7. Babe Face/Negro Casas/Dr. Wagner Jr vs El Hijo del Santo/Gran Hamada/El Solar I
This line up has potential. Wagner Jr and Solar set a great pace to start the match. Fast enough to catch your attention, but not so fast that they cant kick into a higher gear later on. Negro Casas really delivers as a rudo, his charisma is incredible. I got a good laugh when Wagner Jr completely no sold a Hamada submission break up attempt. He just keeps stretching Solar as the ref moves Hamada out of the ring, never turning his head to acknowledge that Hamada was there. When Wag wants to stretch someone, he's gonna stretch someone. Hamada probably shouldn't have tried it anyway, with only a few minutes left in the match Wagner Jr was working to a nice little hot tag from Solar to Hijo del Santo. The crowd eats up the finish. El Hijo del Santo finished Negro Casas off with a belly to belly suplex, hooking the head and leg for the pin. Santo holds on after the fall, wrenching Casas' neck and roughing him up a bit. I'll be looking forward to future encounters between the two. A bit shorter than I would have liked to see from the final match, but another good one.

Overall this was a fun watch. The final match delivered with the names, but match 4 is the stand out. The team of Dr Wagner Jr and Espanto Jr is great, I hope to see more from them in this set. Here's the matchlist for the next disc, we get our first taste of Bad News Allen in Mexico, as well as Bam Bam. This set also features what I believe is the last series of matches that Andre the Giant wrestled. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the match where he shits on Bad News doesn't appear to be on the set. I'm excited to see Negro Casas and Espanto Jr teaming up, two rudos with great skill and charisma.

UWA SÓLO CLASICOS VOL. 2
1. El Solar I/ El Celestial vs El Engendro/Kahoz
2. Negro Casas/El Espanto Jr vs Super Pinocho/El Halcon
3. Enrique Vera / El Psicodelico vs The Killer / American Eagle
4. Mil Mascaras/El Canek/Villano III vs Bad News Allen/Phill Lafon/Doug Furnas
5. El Texano/Silver King vs El Indomito/El Engendro
6. Enrique Vera / Dos Caras/ Villano III vs Gaint Warrior/Rambo/Bull Pain
7. Los Villanos vs Los Misinoneros de la Muerte
8. Andre The Gaint/Bam Bam Bigelow/Rambo vs El Canek/Los Villanos

I just previewed the disc, sadly there is a bit of pixelation and the ratio is off. Gonna be a tough watch, but I'll see what I can do.