Video link to the match over at Youtube : https://youtu.be/WzBu_ps7UjM



Cagematch page for this match/event.

Who’s Who?

American Love Machine

Art Barr made his debut in 1987 in regional promotion Pacific Northeast Wrestling where at the suggestion of Roddy Piper, he took on a Beetlejuice like gimmick. Which was even picked up briefly by WCW. But his previous trouble with the law(rape/possession of cocaine charges) coupled with his small size made his time in WCW short lived.

After which he made his debut in CMLL which had just changed its name to signify it splitting from NWA from EMLL to CMLL. Mexican Wrestling Company to World Wrestling Council. Art Barr’s time in CMLL was less than a year with this match being the big moment/match from that run. His run in Mexico would continue, but for the rival upstart company AAA which have yet to run their first show. It would be about another month before AAA launches, but by the end of the year both Blue Panther and Art Barr would be working for them.

At this point Art Barr had won the NWA Pacific Northwest Television Champion and the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Champs 3 times with his brother Jesse once and twice with Big Juice Jeff Warner. He had not won any mask vs mask or mask vs hair matches from what I could tell.

Blue Panther

Blue Panther made his debut in 1978, but wouldn’t get to a bigger company until the 1980′s where he would be called in by UWA and start working there where he got his start. Winning both the UWA World Welterweight Champion and UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Champion in the mid to late 80′s before coming to CMLL more full time in the early 90′s where he won the CMLL World Middleweight Champion from Satanico which he is still holding in this match.

Blue Panther is on the short list of greatest modern luchadores. His feud with Atlantis the year prior established him as a top rudo from UWA.

Unlike American Love Machine, Blue Panther did have some mask vs mask matches under his belt by this time. Having a 10-0-0 record with two of those wins being tag team matches where he teamed with Mathematica(in Panthers first ever mask vs mask) and Black Man(who he’d unmask in ‘86). So, if experience is favored, Blue Panther would have to be the favorite going into this match. As noted above by the end of the year both men were working in AAA. With Blue Panther it was about 2 months, while Art Barr wasn’t in AAA until November of 1992.

How is the match?



Great, some people might pick an issue with this match being a little too short. I think it still clocks in at a decent length. I appreciate a match that keeps a quick pace. Art Barr looked really good here, but it wasn’t the thoroughly one sided affair Villano III vs Pegasus Kid was. In fact, early on Blue Panther is going tit for tat. I really enjoyed the head bashing that Love Machine pulled out first, then Blue Panther does it back to him once he has the advantage.

I don’t think this match is on the same level as Dr. Wagner/Solitario, but I don’t think it’s meant to be an epic. It feels more like the lighting of a fuse than of a bomb going off. This would be a feud that would continue for the rest of Art Barr’s career. It’s also the biggest match of his career to this point. This match famously selling out Arena Mexico with big screens playing to thousands of people watching outside the Arena.

The ending might annoy some people, but I think it’s pretty interesting. It gets referenced in future matches and really is something that became a focal point in the Love Machine/Art Barr saga. He will appear again in this list, as Los Crazy Gringos are going to make an appearance. Being one of the biggest things going in Mexico during the early 90′s. Blue Panther will also be on this list at least 1 more time as well.