Match #40
Rey Misterio/La Parka/Halloween vs. Damian 666/Vampiro Canadiense/Rey Misterio Jr.
2/3 Falls Match
Lucha Libre in Tijuana - October 26, 2001
This is such an interesting matchup for a lot of reasons. First, it's got Damian/Halloween and Rey Sr./Rey Jr. on opposite teams (is there some sort of connection between La Parka and Vampiro that would complete this?). Second, all of these men except Rey Sr. spent a bit of time in WCW. And third, it's 2001, so you've got L.A. ParK still calling himself La Parka and unmasked baggy pants Rey Jr. It's also filmed with handcam, so might be hard to follow at times. Let's dive in!
La Parka is the only one whose entrance is in the video, and he taunts the crowd and tears something up in the ring. Probably something referencing AAA's other La Parka. There's a valet involved, whose name is apparently Lady Victoria. Seems there's been some sort of acrimonious situation between Halloween and Damian, the way they're staring each other down. Rey Sr. comes into Rey Jr.'s corner to smack some sense into his nephew before Vampiro and Damian chase him off. Big chants of something I'm pretty sure is a slur against Parka. In response he threatens to walk out. Multiple times. Pretty sure they're now calling him "La Polla". Which is funny. The match finally starts with Halloween and Vampiro being the ones in the ring... or not, because Halloween tags in Parka, who tags in Damian, who scares Parka off.
Okay, now we have a match. Vampiro is mega over, especially for not being a great wrestler. Halloween disagrees with how an official is doing things, so he argues with... a completely different official? This lets Vampiro get a roll-up for 1. Vampiro grabs the leg, leading to the slowest grab-the-leg-enzuigiri spot I've ever seen. Like, seriously, Vampiro's frozen to the spot for like 20 seconds solid before Halloween delivers the kick, why didn't he do anything? Vampiro spin kicks Halloween out, and his sell is genuinely the first bit of good athleticism we've seen so far.
After another pair of Damian-scaring-off-La-Parka spots, we've now got Rey Sr. against Rey Jr. This is much better already, quick exchanges of holds, neither really letting the other establish control. Jr. makes the mistake of trying to crossbody his taller and much bulkier uncle and gets slammed, but still manages to avoid the senton that would come afterward. Now it's Rey Jr. trying to goad La Parka into finally coming in. He's about to, but then, you guessed it, Damian tags in again! Parka stalls for time until Halloween comes back in. He and Damian remember that they were tag partners, once, and decide to handshake, hug and kiss(??) it out. Then Halloween DECKS Damian!
Parka trips Damian from the outside, and NOW he's willing to come in and engage him. This eventually leads to a trio of singles brawls going on, with Halloween/Rey Jr. and Rey Sr./Vampiro.
On the outside, Rey Sr. absolutely clatters Vampiro into the barricade. Meanwhile Parka's taken Damian into the crowd and is smashing and throwing shit all over him, including yes, multiple steel chairs. Back in the ring, Sr. and Halloween are dealing with Jr., and tosses him against the ring ropes so hard he actually rolls to the other side of the ring. Rudos in full control. Rey Sr. sends Vampiro to the barricade but he doesn't sell it this time. Then Rey Jr. gets atomic dropped on the barricade! Ouch. Pretty sure Damian's bleeding already as Parka kicks him over the barricade. Parka takes a bit of wood board and does a pseudo-table break spot with it. Both his partners are spinebuster-ing the tecnicos, which Rey Jr. takes FAR better than Vampiro does. Sr. takes the first fall against Jr., but that doesn't stop Parka propping up the rest of the wood in the ring and powerbombing Damian through it. Then hits a slingshot senton over the broken plywood. Way to rub it in.
The tecnicos tend to a pretty broken-looking Damian before the second fall. It looks like it's about to be Rey Jr./Halloween, but Parka comes from behind and sets up a double team! Which turns into a triple team! One of the officials is preoccupied with keeping Vampiro in the corner, so this feels like it should be a referee distraction, but the other ref seems to be fine with what's going on. Rey Jr. beats a slow count of two, then Rey Sr. drags his own nephew by the belt buckle and puts him in the camel clutch... That feels very slightly sexual assault-y. Halloween introduces another wood board then brings Damian back into this match. Parka's about to toss Damian into the wood, but Damian turns it around and gets Parka instead! Shame Rey Sr. and Vampiro were in the way of that spot, it must have been awesome to see.
Back to chaos as Damian takes Parka to the outside - and it seems like even the referees are fighting! Chairshots in that same area of ringside, while Rey Sr. is treated to some barricade action like Vampiro. This is basically the reverse of the first fall (it's like poetry, it rhymes). Crowd is HOT. Back in the ring, Parka pleads for mercy but doesn't get any. Parka takes a couple of headscissors and rolls to the outside to send Halloween in. Now it's Halloween/Rey Jr., but Jr. gets double teamed by Sr. and Halloween again. He fights out the corner and Vampiro gets a splash! Vampiro's going for a crossface, but Rey Jr. in the meantime is stacking up Halloween to take the second fall!
After a bit of audience interaction with Parka again, fall 3 starts with Rey Jr. vs. Parka. Rey uses his pace and skill to make Parka look like an idiot, including a nice spot where he makes Parka think he's tossed him over the top to the floor and jumps on him while he's doing a taunt. Rey Jr. again makes the mistake of trying to crossbody a larger man, and Parka does the strut while carrying Rey!
Then he pinches Rey's lil' cheek like the baby he is!
CLASSIC stuff from Parka. He gets headscissored out though, and we're back to Halloween/Vampiro. Vampiro nails Halloween with a superkick, and he does what you do in the third fall of a lucha match and slaps on a random chinlock. Victoria is the one to break it up. Vamp's about to toss Victoria to the absolute JOY of the crowd before Halloween and Parka give him the business.
Now it's Damian back in. Parka loudly counts five chops he can give to Damian in the corner, until Damian turns it around and counts, with the crowd, SIX chops! This is the joy of having a hot crowd. Parka goes for a dropkick, absolutely clatters himself on the ring post, and falls back to the mat with a pretty nasty thud. Parka drops Damian out with a dropkick and hits a Tope Suicida, then Reys Sr. and Jr. go at it, then Halloween and Vampiro go at it! Halloween has Rey Jr. hung in the corner, but Rey pulls himself up and gives Halloween a shoulderful of ring post! Vampiro slingshots to the outside! Rey Jr. gives a sliding kick right to his uncle's balls! Then he does a SLIDING HEADSCISSORS to the outside! Shame the camera missed that, right? It's Damian/Parka again, and Parka starts killing Damian but keeps lifting him up on pins because he wants to punish him more. He drapes a bunch of merch over Damian's prone body... until Damian gets a small package for the win!!
That was GREAT. Never that technically amazing, but chaos in a fun way with a hot crowd behind it, and a consistent story paid off superbly. I was not expecting to have this much fun when we started with Vampiro/Halloween.