I gravitate to mat work like a moth to a flame, and it only makes sense for me to do it. Particularly as I keep trying to fill the blind spot for me that is lucha. The more mat work I watch, the more I fall in love with it. I get sucked in, I am no longer watching the match from a computer, but at times, I can imagine myself vividly in the crowd. It plays perfectly here.
In fact, it should be a crime that this can be viewed for free. The fact that they barely throw any strikes, refusing to throw one until nearly half an hour into this match, that's what wrestling is.
Clean, gripping mat work, the frustration that Dandy portrays, there's just something that sticks out even today about this match. I bit onto every near fall, I bit onto how competitive it felt.
Just a hair below the Tamura/Kohsaka match, but both stand the same.