Blue Panther vs. Villano V: Hatred Over Reason

Villano apuestas in Arena Mexico just hit different.

This is not the kind of match I typically expect of Blue Panther. For the most part I know Blue Panther as the silky smooth llave technician. Some of his most famous matches demonstrate this beautifully, whether it be his 1991 title bout against Atlantis or the Korakuen Hall display against El Hijo del Santo. Panther does his best work on the mat, finding his way in and out of beautiful classical lucha holds, and then building to a big crescendo with some stunning dives. That’s the Blue Panther that I know.

Villano V refuses to give Blue Panther that match.

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It’s worth noting that at the time, Villano V was very much expected to lose this match. He was no longer wrestling with the same regularity as before, and the general consensus was that he was coming in for a big payday to lose his mask in a celebration of his contributions to lucha. Meanwhile, Blue Panther’s own iconic hood was starting to be seen as one of those legendary white whales of wrestling that no one would ever be successful in nabbing.

With that in mind, there’s a fascinating vigor to how Villano V approaches the first fall. He refuses to play by the book or engage Blue Panther on the mat, instead immediately starting a fire fight. There’s so little respect displayed in this tactic, no space to showcase skill and ability. Instead these two just throw heaters, and this opening fall is some of the hardest hitting lucha that I’ve ever seen. Not only some truly crisp chops but also some great punches as well. These aren’t the big, theatrical swings of a Sangre Chicana, but real mean closed quarters potshots that rattle the jaw of the viewer as much as the combatants.

It’s fascinating then that forced into this more violent exchange, Blue Panther has no qualms about accelerating his own strategy. In place of working his way to a big crescendo, there’s a fresh desperation to when he’s finally able to create enough space to nail Villano V with a tope suicida. And it’s a beautiful tope suicida, the first of many to come in the match, made even more important by how significantly it turns the tides of the match. Because of the tope, Villano V accidentally bumps the back of his head against one of the seats in the front row. It’s not immediately noticeable at first, but it quickly becomes clear that this opens up a wound at the back of his head that starts seeping blood through his yellow mask. It’s a great visual and one that instantly ups the stakes of the match.

CMLL

Worth noting here is the little presentational flourishes that CMLL adds to this moment as well. Later on the match, in breaks between the falls, they replay this important suicida from multiple angles. My favorite touch though sees production do a zoom on the moment of impact between Villano V’s head and the seat. It’s a nice touch to make everything feel just a little more sports-like, but also it’s a remarkable flex of the inherent danger of the reality of pro wrestling. This shit hurts, and that’s important for the match as a whole.

The tope changes everything in the match in a few ways. For one, Villano V panics and once he gets back into the ring, he yanks Panther’s mask off which ends up costing him the first fall. This directly ties into the finish of the second fall as well though. In the breaks between the action, Villano V’s second Perro Aguayo Jr. pores water down the nape of Villano’s neck to try to wash the blood away. This has a secondary effect, however, of making the mask a little more slippery. When in a rage Blue Panther tries to tear at Villano V’s mask to go after the wound, he ends up yanking it clean off instead, giving the rudo here the second fall by disqualification.

The choice to end both of the the first two falls by DQ via unmasking perfectly matches the tone that’s been set. While this wouldn’t top any lists of the bloodiest or most brutal lucha brawls, there’s an animosity and heated nature to the action that naturally leads to tempers flaring between the participants. It’s no shock then that both get lost in the moment and end up costing themselves due to their own pettiness.

Coming into the final fall, there’s an element of interesting Villano lore that I can’t quite tell is intentional or just my mind making connections. Another famous rivalry that ended in a Villano in an apuesta is the Villano III/Atlantis feud from 2000. In their February 11th, 2000 match, Villano III gets carted off to the back after losing the second fall. However, Villano III is still able to come back out for the final fall and sneaks a sudden win over Atlantis despite looking on the very verge of death just a fall prior. A common reading of this finish among many fans is that the Villano family played a dirty trick by swapping out Villano III for one of his brothers who ends up stealing the fall from Atlantis.

As such, there’s a bit of that drama here too when Villano V slinks off to the back after winning the second fall. For a moment when he comes back out, I felt that old fear of—well, is that really him?

CMLL

Luckily there’s a quick and easy way to show that this time we know that the same Villano who left returned. Even with a fresh mask on his head, the blood is still quick to seep through the back of Villano V’s mask. Just a beautiful accident that has such dramatic implications on the match.

The third fall is quite simply breathtaking.

Once again, it’s built around Blue Panther using the weapon that’s served him best in this match: the tope suicida. Panther shoots himself out of the ring like a goddamn rocket and Villano V bumps on each dive with the same ferocity. The man absolutely throws himself backwards, whether that be onto the floor or right into the laps of the Arena Mexico faithful. It is astonishing to behold, especially all these years later having consumed hundreds upon hundreds of mediocre imitators. These are suicide dives that look like they could kill the man taking them, and Blue Panther comes goddamn close.

The tragedy of the match is that’s all too little, too late for Blue Panther. No matter the momentum he builds, he’s spent much of the match firmly in the Villano wheelhouse—fumbling about with masks, brawling, engaging in shenanigans in and out of the backstage area. It’s just a little too much to overcome and Villano’s ready for him in the end. A single counter is all Villano V needs to pin Blue Panther’s shoulders to the mat and take his mask.

The post-match is just as big and beautiful as the rest of it. One of my favorite moments sees a woman in the crowd—perhaps a family member of one of the combatants, perhaps just another fan—pick up a Blue Panther replica mask off the ground. In a bout of frustration, she flings it out into the crowd. A shot like that feels just as vital to the whole package of this match as Blue Panther’s unmasking, the tears shed as he faces the crowd, the joy of Villano V carrying his opponent on his shoulders at the end.

On top of all that, sometimes it just sucks when your guy loses.

Pro fucking wrestling, it doesn’t get much better.


IS IT BETTER THAN 6/3/94? Both matches are tragedies in their own way. In All Japan, the tragedy comes from Toshiaki Kawada tasting the ecstasy of finally breaking through to a new level of competency against his career rival, only to be brutally put back down and humbled in the finish. Here, it’s living legend Blue Panther losing a match that nobody thought he had come to lose. Both are fantastic, but there’s something special to this particular outing. Perhaps it’s the magic that exists only in Arena Mexico—complemented by those sweeping crowd shots, the overwhelming emotion of an unmasking like this. Panther and Villano V cinch the win here.

Rating: ****3/4