Black Terry vs. Aeroboy
June 10, 2016
Hair vs. Mask
*** 1/2
This match was promoted in Aeroboy’s hometown of Tulancingo. The idea seems to be that the local boy putting his mask on the line against a notable wrestler and frequent opponent like Black Terry would make for a bigger-than-usual main event. From thousands of miles away, I never got the impression pre-match that Aeroboy was in any danger of losing his mask. However, you never know what is going on behind the scenes. If for someone reason Aeroboy was retiring as a luchador or heading in another direction, dropping his mask in front of his hometown fans against a strong opponent like Terry would not be completely out of the question. So while I wouldn’t say there was a lot of drama and intrigue going into this one, there at least existed the possibility that there might be.
To their credit, Black Terry and Aeroboy worked a rather intense match that resulted in an overall solid apuesta match. I am ambivalent on Aeroboy for the most part. When Black Terry Jr. records an Aeroboy match, it is not necessarily a must-buy match like it is for others but I don’t just gloss over his matches like I do for some others. That said, this might be the most I have ever enjoyed an Aeroboy singles match. He gave one heck of a babyface performance. He was good on offense, but he was even better on the other side of the ball. Aeroboy bled heavily, took a beating from Terry, and screamed his head off when trapped in holds. The painful screaming added a lot of drama. That might sound like the typical exercise of finding something minute to praise about a match but trust me, it is not. At on the BT Jr. handheld, Aeroboy’s painful screams do more to get over the danger he is in than any normal level of facial selling ever could.
The structure is about what you would expect. They go at it right away and keep up a torrid pace throughout. The match is a definite brawl, as it should be. We know Terry – even at 63 – can brawl with the best of them but Aeroboy kept up. He took Terry’s punishment, threw some hard kicks that he should use more often (they will help him stand out), and wrestled with the intensity needed for this type of brawl. There were some wicked head butts and post shots as well, both of which are Terry staples.
After both guys were bloody and beaten, they went to an extended period of submission finish teases where we got Aeroboy’s screams. I thought that section of the match was strong. It didn’t get great heat or anything but it worked in the sense that the holds – Terry wrenching on Aeroboy’s arm in particular – were violent enough that they didn’t feel like a letdown after the brawl. The tough thing to get right in a match like this is following up on the great brawling section. Flashy moves or mundane submissions don’t necessarily work in that instance. I thought they got it right both in theory and in execution by following up the blood and brawling with a section where they mixed in-ring brawling and limb pulling. Likewise, Terry’s way of performing a back cracker makes the move look rough and painful in a way few others are able to convey. I didn’t mind the Canadian Destroyer too much. While that move is way overused, I thought it felt relatively natural the way they used it and in line with the rest of the match. If I had any complaint about the near fall portion it is that Terry kicked out way early (barely two) on a flash pin from Aeroboy. The move suckered me in to thinking that might be it, but Terry kicking out early killed my reaction (it didn’t get much from the crowd either). Aeroboy did eventually win with a small package. While I didn’t mind the actual move, it was kind of telegraphed and the ending fell a little bit flat as a result.
In terms of recent indie lucha apuesta matches, I have this comfortably above Latigo and Toro Negro’s mask match from Cara Lucha. That was a higher stake match on paper and felt like a bigger deal when watching it, but this match had the better work. It sounds like the upcoming Freelance/Impulso hair match will not see the light of the day which is too bad because it would be nice to compare that one to this match.
