Joseph and Colette Discuss Perro Aguayo vs. Sangre Chicana

Welcome to the end of week two of BIG EGG. This week, we watched one of Joseph’s favorite lucha libre matches, and something wholly new to Colette, the 1986 hair match between Perro Aguayo and Sangre Chicana. Here’s the match, if you’ve yet to watch it:

If you need to catch up on essays for the week, get to it!

Joseph: Sangre Chicana and Perro Aguayo Paint with Broad Strokes
Colette: Sangre Chicana vs. Perro Aguayo is a pro wrestling miracle

Colette Arrand
I feel like a recurring theme of BIG EGG is that I’m going to be inexperienced, not just with the matches we cover, but whole genres. My experience with 80s lucha is mostly from a brief obsession I had with Andre the Giant’s pre-WWF stuff. You’ve been working on acclimating yourself to 80s lucha for awhile — what’s the draw for you?

Joseph Anthony Montecillo
Lucha was always one of the big blind spots in my fandom, and I still generally consider it as such even though I've seen more of it with time. I think the draw for me really is as simple as trying to understand this facet of pro wrestling that is a huge part of its history but is oftentimes overlooked by fans outside of Mexico. Some--not all--people have this image of lucha libre as being just flips and crazy high flying stunts, but in my time exploring I've found I'm drawn way more to bloody brawls and mat wizardry. I love discovering that stuff at its best, and there's nothing quite like it when it's done best in Mexico.

Colette Arrand
Yeah, growing up, I had the privilege of having lucha libre on WCW TV, but they emphasized the aerial stuff because it was more marketable. But there was a kind of underbelly to that division where technicians and brawlers lived from squash to squash. I loved the Villanos, for instance, because they had a twin magic gimmick. I knew there was more to it, I’ve engaged with modern lucha through things like NJPW and CMLL’s FantasticaMania, but this is the uncut stuff. Massive punches, lots of blood. It’s fun, and I will probably try to track down some television from the era because I want to see the marketing behind it work beyond the lucha mags I own.