MOTW 126: Hijo Del Santo vs Dr Cerebro

"M.O.T.W. #126: Hijo Del Santo vs Dr. Cerebro" - ink & digital illustration

Today brings us to the 126th edition of our Chris Things Art 'Match of the Week' illustration series! And this week we travel to the world of 2001 indie-Lucha with the 'International Wrestling Revolution Group' for a Dos De Tres Caidas Lucha bloodbath for the ages!

This utterly fantastic match took place on February 22nd, 2001, at the long-running home of IWRG, the famed Arena Naucalpan.

So firstly, I need to thank my dear pal, Richard of @video.plant for the recommendation on this one! A more excellent hot tip I could not fathom, SUCH a wonderful hidden gem!

This match has it all; amazing crowd, classic rudo/tecnico dynamic, perfect Lucha 2/3 falls flow & escalation, chock full of passion, beautiful Llaveo wrestling, excessive roughness & my gosh, what a crimson mask!! Perhaps the dictionary definition of 'crimson mask'?!

As a big fan of 'Santito', this is another example of just how amazing he was. Combining a beautiful, gracefulness, immaculate in-ring wrestling skills, the pure charisma of a tippy top level tecnico, with a level of 'kick ass babyface' that often verges on an uncomfortable pleasure in inflicting pain when ticked off. I hadn't actually seen much of the maestro that is Doc Cerebro (other than his wonderful @actionwrestling1 DEAN~! matches) but dang if I am not a complete convert! Such a great badass rudo who also can just wrestle his butt off. He brings it to Santito something fierce in the first fall, just beating the breaks off of everyone's hero. Hijo Del Santo gives him some well-deserved comeuppance in the 2nd & then oh boy if the 3rd is not one of the greatest falls of Lucha I ever did see!

What makes this so magical I think is the contrast between incredibly beautiful Llaveo wrestling & an incredibly violent brawl - and often going back & forth between one another. This felt both beautiful & dirty. Low & high brow. Esto es LUCHA!

Highly recommended!!

ENJOY!!

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