Joseph and Colette Discuss Sangre Chicana vs. MS-1

It's a great match, but how does it fare on the BIG EGG MASTERLIST?

Welcome to lucha libre month, y’all. We kicked things off in a big way, tackling one of the most highly regarded wrestling matches in the history of the form, the apuestas between Sangre Chicana and MS-1 from EMLL’s 50th Anniversary Show. This is the first match Joseph and I have discussed under the new rubric for these posts, which means that we not only talk about its merits, but how it fares against the rest of the matches on the BIG EGG MASTERLIST. If you’re a paid subscriber, check the MASTERLIST out! If you’re not, consider becoming one!

Next Up: We jump ahead in time to 1996, where Rey Misterio Jr. and Juventud Guerrera put pink slips on the line in the middle of a steel cage, which prompts Rey to bust out a few tricks he learned up north in Philadelphia. AAA gets taken to the Extreme, babyyyyy.

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Colette Arrand
According to some we covered the greatest wrestling match of all time. Most of the criticism I’ve seen of it that isn’t outright foolish (looking at you, Cagematch guy who said the punches aren’t good) tend to fall along the lines of your piece, which is that the third fall is a bit deflated compared to the first two. I think there’s room for that viewpoint, but I was completely taken by the vibe of the room, and Arena Mexico does not lose interest as Chicana and MS-1 go to the mat. If anything, they’re even more riveted than before, with the two men on somewhat equal footing, everything on the line. Regardless, this is a truly special wrestling match. Why did you choose it for this outing? What were your expectations going in?

Is Sangre Chicana vs. MS-1 the Greatest Wrestling Match of All Time?

Joseph Montecillo
As the people who have been keeping a close on my Twitter have seen, I've been real big in exploring lucha of late. A lot of factors play into that between CMLL being my favorite promotion going, @elClubLucha's MVs gracing my timeline, and commissions pushing me in the right direction. But I've found it to be extremely rewarding, and 2024 is perhaps the first time in my wrestling that I'd call myself comfortable discussing lucha libre in a critical sense. That being said, it was a good time for me to re-confront one of those monolithic classics of the genre in MS-1/Sangre Chicana. I knew I would love it, just based on its reputation and the aspects of it I struggled with in past viewings being things I understood about the genre better now, so this go around was a lot more about clarifying exactly where I stood on the level of its greatness.

Sangre Chicana vs. MS-1 is The Real

Colette Arrand
Have you written about this match elsewhere? Your viewing this again against a deepening appreciation for lucha is more interesting than my "wrestling is just feelings, y'all" approach to things outside of my comfort zone, though I will say that a big aspect of what made me love this match so much is that it's Sangre Chicana's mother and family in the crowd, and how genuine their time in the camera's gaze felt as compared to, say, the 700th time Ric Flair's family watched him bleed out in Charlotte, North Carolina.