2005 Tapatia Discussion: Best Wrestler

The 2005 Tapatia Awards are – still not underway. This week, in a blatant attempt to fill space, we’re just previewing some of the deserving candidates for each award. Voting has not yet begun; this is just an occasion for discussion. I’m not trying to say who you should vote for; the idea is to give some names/events as possibilities, and everyone else discusses them.

Tentative Schedule of discussion:
Monday: Best Wrestler
Tuesday: Best Promotion, Best Rivalary
Wednesday: Best Tecnico, Best Rudo
Thursday: Best Legend, Best Female, Most Improved, Most Underutilized
Friday: Best Match, Best Singles Match, Best Non-Singles match

Best Wrestler (choose your top five)
2004 Winner: LA Park

I believe this category is wide open in terms of possibilities; you could with a few different wrestlers as #1, and I think lists 1-5 could vary. The candidates break down into a few different categories:

The No Doubters

If Mistico and Perro Aguayo Jr. aren’t on everyone’s ballots, I’d be shocked. I think they’re so obvious, it’s not even worth stating the cases of why they should be in your top 5; the only debate for me is which guy is better. I lean towards the guy who had to work in in more varying circumstances. Mistico was an underdog tecnico constantly, while Perro worked rudo and tecnico depending on who he was feuding with the second. Mistico was more spectacular, so I could see a case the other way.

The Almost No Doubters

If Atlantis and Dr. Wagner Jr. had The Match, one of them would be unanimous wrestler of the year, I believe. It probably would’ve been Wagner, and it probably would’ve been despite losing his mask. It was an unexpected year for both of them – Dr. Wagner had turned tecnico last year, but I’m not sure you could’ve predicted how over he’d get, and anyone who saw the Atlantis rudo stuff coming probably should’ve tipped off CMLL management earlier and saved everyone a lot of heartache. The fact that they didn’t have The Match, leaving a big void where a meaningful match should be (though Atlantis picked up quite a few trophies), might be a strike enough to leave them off a crowded list.

The Drawing Freaks

There’s no great internet groundswell for Konnan, Vamprio, or Groon; they probably won’t get a match of the year vote, and would be far more likely to appear in Worst Of The Year votes. Still, Gronda drew while in AAA and in the months just after he left, and Konnan and Vampiro were the big names on the biggest drawing shows of the year. If what the ticket paying fan gravitated to is a factor in your decision (and it could be! and it could not be! it’s your vote), you’d have to strongly consider these three because fans did want to see them.

I’m not exactly confident, but I think you could add Latin Lover (who may be more important, but is also wrestling less and didn’t have a big year) and La Parka Jr. (who won Rey de Reyes, and I still don’t know how) to this category.

Notable Mentions For The Year

It’s impossible to consider Perro Aguayo without considering his normal rival, Universo 2000. Given a better opponent then better years, it seems like he’s had a better year, not to mention big headline wins over Garza and Halloween. Universo’s in this category rather than the next because he’s an old man who conserves his energy by making the run of the mill matches feel very much so; I’m not confident that he just won’t start seeing everything as run of the mill sooner or later.

In my mind, Dark Angel is less important as an in-ring wrestler than as a symbol of the boom/bubble for women’s wrestling in 2005. There are probably more talented and likely more beautiful, but she was the eye of the hurricane, and her popularity (however it came) affected the composition of wrestling cards she wasn’t on, and gave opportunities to women she had no more than an indirect relationship. It wasn’t just Dark Angel (and next year, maybe it won’t be her, or maybe it won’t last), but as a 2005 symbol of the rise of women’s wrestling, Dark Angel perfectly fits the picture.

The perennials

Until they suffer an injury, or fall off greatly, or just vanish, there’s a group of people you can pencil in for great years before the year even starts. You know they’ll get an opportunity and they’ll make the most of it, even if they don’t have a particularly noteworthy moment during the year. This group currently includes Ultimo Guerrero, Hector Garza, Negro Casas, Shocker and, with a slight stretch, Rey Bucanero. Santo has wrestled enough to throw himself in this list, this year. These are the guys who you look forward to watching, but may get slighted in a Best Of list, because it wasn’t particularly their year.

Who did I miss? What arguments am I missing? What do you think? Add your thoughts in the comments!


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4 thoughts to “2005 Tapatia Discussion: Best Wrestler”

  1. you should have put in a biggest dissapointment catagory.

    your also missing tito santana. ARIBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

  2. I didn’t want to be the first to comment but oh well…

    Mistico – As you said, a no doubter. If you understand anything about Lucha Libre, Mistico has to be in your top #5. Not saying he has to be everyone’s #1(though most likely he’ll be mine), but I dare anyone to name 5 other wrestlers who have more qualifications than Mistico to be Wrestler of the Year.

    Perro Aguayo Jr. – Same thing I said about Mistico applies here.

    Atlantis – I doubt he’ll crack my list though I haven’t made my picks yet. If I had to vote right now, I doubt he’d make it just b/c the first seven months of the year were pretty boring for him aside from passing the tag titles onto Averno/Mephisto. He showed no fire at all until the Wagner feud and even then he went against the fans boo’ing him and tried even harder to be a tecnico until he was finally forced to be a rudo. And like I’ve said in other places, I’m not sold on him as a rudo yet though supposedly he starts to get great in November so we just gotta see the new batch of TV soon. If we were just judging on the last 2-3 months of the year as the Mexican magazines do, he’d be a no-brainer but we aren’t gonna do that thankfully.:)

    Dr. Wagner Jr. – I’d say for certain he’ll be in my top #5. Granted, I am not a huge fan of his work as he often dogs it anywhere else but Arena Mexico and even in Arena Mexico his shtick is pretty predictable if you’ve been following Lucha for any length of time. Still… he draws people, he’s popular and even half-assing it he’s still working harder than a lot of guys who have main event roles.

    Konnan – Barely spends time in Mexico. When he does, he’s lazy and only books angles for himself where he is in a big match and can have someone else doing the bumping for him. Was a draw inititally when he came back but IMO his current drawing power in Mexico is SEVERELY OVERRATED.

    Vampiro – See Konnan’s comments minus having someone bump for him. Unfortunately he tries to bump himself. He’s still a draw but he doesn’t fit into the scheme of things in AAA and his jump was handled poorly. He wouldn’t make my top 20.

    Gronda XXX – He wouldn’t make my top 5 no matter what but my question now would be what criteria are we using for Wrestler of the Year? Workrate or drawing power? Or both combined? If it’s just workrate, he wouldn’t be in my top 500. If it’s just drawing power, he’d be #6. If it’s a combo of both, he’d be behind lots and lots of people who can draw and work.

    La Parka Jr. – He’s gotten really lazy in the ring. I used to always stand up for him and say sure he does a ripoff gimmick but he tries hard in the ring and still does spots he doesn’t have to do but that is not the case any more. Seems content to just dance through matches and do comedy. He’s fallen big time and thus won’t crack my top 5.

    Latin Lover – Borderline. It seems he has picked up his game which is the total opposite of La Parka Jr.. Lover used to be the guy to sleepwalk through matches but now thanks to Chessman he actually seems to try hard and do stuff he doesn’t have to do for a guy who works only two/three times a month. He’s still the main guy in AAA no matter what anyone says and is one of only three wrestlers in my opinion who would have a major impact if they jumped from AAA to CMLL.

    Universo 2000 – Borderline. He really is the total package of rudos unless you’re Dave Meltzer who fast forwards all of Universo’s matches. He carried the Pierroths/Capos feud in late 2004 and then elevated Perrito’s game big time during the Perros/Dinamitas feud. Real intense wrestler who can bring the best out of an opponent that tries to sleepwalk through his matches. One big plus I’ll give him is he never mails it in on all the smaller shows I’ve seen. Same intensity and willingness to take that cornerpost bump at the snap of a finger.

    Dark Angel – MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You crack me up Cubs. Her only chance of winning is if you go $hill the awards on Ernesto’s board.

    Ultimo Guerrero – He’ll be in my top 3 with Mistico and Perrito. I just haven’t decided the order yet. I guess it depends on how you answer my above question. Guerrero is a machine… there really is nothing else to say. Really, I sat here for 5 minutes trying to think of something to say about Ultimo but I just couldn’t. That’s not a negative… it’s just you really need not say anything, he should be an automatic.

    Hector Garza – Definitely gonna get consideration to fill in the end of my list. I dunno how well he draws but I think he’s very underrated in the sense of what he brings out of his partners and opponents. Perrito never hit his stride in CMLL until Garza was brought in and Perrito felt more comfortable doing the shtick he wanted to do… the shtick he did with Garza in AAA. If Garza hadn’t have jumped, I really doubt Perrito would have got the confidence to do what he does teaming with the like of Tarzan Boy and Terrible. When it comes to his opponents, Garza is just great at making them look like a million bucks. He’s actually my third favorite guy to work with Mistico ahead of both Averno and Mephisto. I have a feeling Garza will get overlooked on some ballots but hopefully there will be enough support to get him into the overall top 5.

    Negro Casas – Have never been a big supporter of his but from the first year I watched Lucha regularly(1997) till this past year… I gotta say, 2005 was the year I most enjoyed his work. There could be a direct relation betweem me enjoying his work and him not getting a main event run though. I have no problem with Casas in the ring until he does his stupid phony injury angles and somehow manages to start a feud that is meant for someone else. The Santo/Negro vs Averno/Mephisto thing sure came out of nowhere but it made sense to me and the right people went over. There was no need to have Santo/Mistico teaming and jobbing right away, even if it was gonna be a hard fought match. Negro has been brilliant this year and kept himself in a position on the card that I can tolerate him in. Would love to see him and Bucanero have a feud in 2006, perhaps with Bucanero getting a much needed big match stipulation win. In fact, I’d even set it up with a Santo vs Guerrero match for the WWA Welterweight Title where Santo wins due to Negro’s interference, Bucanero makes a challenge and there’s your March main event. I know, I fantasy book too much. It’ll just be the usual: Perrito/Aguila/Garza vs Capos in a cage.:)

    Shocker – He started the year strong but I can’t say enough about how his AAA jump bombed. It was huge news when it happened but then he entered AAA and did NOTHING. Hell, he didn’t even show up at the biggest show of the year b/c of his TNA commitments. Then when he finally made regular appearences, he couldn’t decide if he was a face or a heel and had nobody to work with. Konnan/Vampiro stole the spotlight from him as well which didn’t help. His work has suffered to as aside from when he is in the ring with Chessman, he looks like a typical lost AAA main eventer. I’m a fan of Shocker but I dunno… maybe he is just an illusion of the amazing CMLL top rudos? He won’t be on my top 5.

    Rey Bucanero – I love the guy… but no. Not a draw on his own. Great worker… but stuck in the shadow of the best worker in Mexico. Barring a shocking face turn, can’t see him ever breaking out of Ultimo’s shadow.

    El Hijo Del Santo – Always a candidate. Will stay borderline for me until I can think up ways to not have him in my top 5. One strike against him is from all the stuff I’ve seen of his later in the year, he is very repetitive with everything he does. He used to be like that but now it really stands out when everyone is trying new stuff and he’s doing… well… let me just describe everything he does: headscissors on the mat, armdrag to send rudo outside, gets tagged in and does a kneelift, bodyscissors on one rudo and headscissors on another rudo, gets tossed into the air to dropkick one rudo outside, spinning armdrag on the other rudo to send him outside, tope suicida. Voila. Add in a third fall plancha off the top and diving tope/camel clutch finish and that’s all you will ever see from Santo. So workrate wise he’s had a really disapointing year. He will always be a draw though but I doubt that’s enough to carry him onto my list.

    You missed:

    Cibernetico – He’s one of the more important AAA guys but I’d say no. He’d make my top 20 though assuming this isn’t workrate centered.

    La Parka – Shame Alfredo is sitting on all that indy stuff with Parka from 2005 as that is almost all we have to go on when ranking him. His short CMLL appearences were spectacular but I’d need more footage to rank him overall with the the other guys mentioned above. You’d have to think with weekly TV or even just two appearences per month, he’d be an easy top 5 candidate.

    Rob

  3. I’m late to the party!

    I will have a hard time pick a #1 spot with Perro Aguayo Jr., Mistico and Ultimo Guerrero all having such strong years. The kid in me likes the Mistico pick but the adult in me wants to put a rudo in the first slot. Some combination of Mistico/Perrito/UG for my top three and then Parka/DocWag/Negro/Garza/Universo in the last two.

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