Video link to the match on Youtube : https://youtu.be/AlHV_KZJwCs



Cagematch page for this match/event.

Who’s Who?

Dr. Wagner

Making his debut in 1961 by 1985 Dr. Wagner was a bonafide legend of the latter half of the Golden Era of Lucha Libre which was the 1950′s and 1960′s. Getting his start in EMLL before becoming a big star for UWA when that company launched in 1975. As mentioned in previous days UWA/CMLL worked together and would allow talent to work with the other company. So he didn’t close the door on CMLL, but did end up becoming a big deal in UWA with a tag team he formed with Ángel Blanco. Together they held the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship and the Mexican National Tag Team Championship. They were known as La Ola Blanca or The While Wave. They also won Boxing and Lucha Magazines Tag Team of the year for 1966 and 1967.

Working Solo in the 1970′s Dr. Wagner Jr. would win the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship 3 times along with NWA’s Light Heavyweight Championship. Should also be noted that while Tiger Mask was fighting lucha talents in NJPW in 1981 Dr. Wagner at the same time was doing an extended tour of AJPW in 1980 and 1981. A continuation of lucha talent being in AJPW after Mil Mascara and his brother Dos Caras brought Lucha to AJPW in the late 1970′s which raised demand for Lucha talents in the Japanese promotions.

He also won both tag team and solo Lucha de Apuestas matches a total going into this Apuestas match of 9-0-0 with 4 of those 9 being tag matches and 2 of those tag matches being with his most formal of partners Angel Blanco.



El Solitario

El Solitario made his debut in 1960 just a year earlier than Wagner and with a similar career path. Working outlaw shows(most of which are lost to the annals of lucha history) and EMLL which was the only major promotion when he started. In 1975 Ray Mendoza(the guest ref in this match) founds his own company UWA(Universal Wrestling Association) which quickly becomes the #2 company in Mexico behind the standard bearer of Lucha EMLL. Thanks in great part to fantastic talents like El Solitario and Dr. Wagner working there.

Before this clash El Solitario had already captured the following belts NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, NWA World Middleweight Championship, UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship & UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship the last two being held in 1983. He never had any team belts that I saw in my research.

He too of course having 25 years of Lucha under his belt had a Lucha de Apuestas record as well. In fact a much more substantial record compared to Dr. Wagner’s because El Solitario was more of a singles guy and really one of the biggest guys in his time. Not many peers of El Solitario can say they stand above him. 24-0-0 24 singles matches all of them won by El Solitario. Would Dr. Wagner be the 25 mask in El Solitario’s mantle. Joining his long time tag Partner who El Solitario unmasked in ‘72 and shaved in ‘74. Would Wagner get revenge for his ally over a decade later?

How is the match?



Fantastic, this match and yesterday’s match are just obviously classics. I don’t really need to defend them because people have loved them since they happened and will continue to love them as long as they can be found. In an era where lots of stuff is lost, I’m grateful to the gods of chance or whatever ensured that this match didn’t get lost in time. I loved Dr. Wagner being the bruiser and methodical wearing down the good guy Solitario.

It really felt like a brawl with Dr. Wagner steering the contest in that direction. At one moment Solitario pulls out a fancy arm drag and Dr. Wagner just doesn’t play ball instead responding with a punch to the chin. Both masks get ripped up, which is pretty common in a mask vs mask match. It works particularly well here like it does with Santo giving lots of blood on a silver mask, obviously it also works well with white masks as well.

Dr. Wagner while being a bruiser showed what he can do with submissions. Getting a fall with one after the pin attempt didn’t work out. If at first you don’t succeed, try to get a submission which worked wonders for Wagner. While Solitario’s fall came from a roll-up which even Dr. Wagner tried to make use of. That is legitimately at this point my favorite roll-up/pin attempt ever. I just love how great it looks with Wagner using Solitario’s hand/arms for leverage.

A MUST WATCH. I’m not going to say who won it here.

The sad reality

For those of you who don’t know, tragedy stuck both men shortly after this. In 1986 El Solitario died because of internal bleeding injury he suffered in the ring dying in the hospital when undergoing surgery. While Dr. Wagner in 1986 was in a car accident that paralyzed him for a time and ended his career. His long time 20+ year tag partner Ángel Blanco was in that car with him and died instantly. They were on their way to a venue where they would be wrestling in a tag match vs each other and their newly debutting sons.

Doctors said Dr. Wagner would never walk again, but he not only walked again, he recovered enough to become a trainer and lived until 2004 when he was 68. You can see him in Dr. Wagner Jr. and Silver King’s entourage from time to time or for big matches who of course are both his sons. Angel Blanco Jr. still wrestles as well and continued to wrestle despite his father’s early death.