Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras

[6.0] "I would like to give the match a better note as there were a lot of good moments, and amazing displays of mat wrestling but the end feels really bad, as having a match like this ending on count-out feels underwhelming. I feel like Mil Mascaras trying to protect his credibility makes him look worse as you can see in pretty much every one of his matches how he always try to protect himself instead of doing what's best for the match"

[9.0] "[4.5*] What a fascinating match-up. For those who don't know, this is the match that made Kenta Kobashi become a pro wrestler, so I was already thankful for these two legends even before the bell rang lol. This was the 1977 Tokyo Sports Awards winner for MOTY and I knew I didn't need to take the average rating so seriously, with all due respect. The 1st fall is a match of its own. It's a very complete and amazing technical wrestling battle, with tons of super cool submissions, transitions and well-executed limb-work. I can see why some people may find this type of wrestling boring, but I'm just delighted at the opportunity to see such an high quality professional wrestling like this. The match is so fluid and the time passes so fast. Mil won with an amazing submission. The 2nd fall was shorter and faster paced. The finish of the 2nd fall was beyond impeccable. Jumbo locked a Bear Hug, Mil reversed into a Guillotine, Jumbo reversed again into a Boston Crab, but he connected the fucking Giant Swing. He hit Mil with a Running Knee, an Airplane Spin and a Diving Dropkick for the win. In both cases, the selling between falls from the losers was perfect. The third fall was the shortest of them all, it was pretty heated bombastic, Mil did a sequence of lucha moves and Jumbo fell on the ringside. Then he did his classic Plancha from the top rope. Both of them fell to the ground and the match ended via count-out, the classic non-finish in big title matches from this time. More than a technical wrestling masterpiece, this was a very important match that landed a mark forever in lucharesu."

[8.0] "This match featured gorgeous technical work, particularly from Mil Máscaras. The dynamic was such that Jumbo focused on defense and tried to find ways to counter, while Mil Máscaras displayed dominance through exceptional technical skill, showcasing beautiful transitions as he navigated around Jumbo's anatomy. The first fall primarily highlighted technical mat work, demonstrating Mil Máscaras as the more skilled competitor, as he dominated much of the match and consistently responded effectively whenever Jumbo tried to take control. Nonetheless, Jumbo was not entirely ineffective, as he had moments that indicated he could compete. The closing run appropriately picked up the pace. I loved the intermission between the first and second fall because Mil Mascaras was on his feet walking around while Jumbo was selling the exhaustion while down on one knee being attended to. In the second fall, Jumbo relied more on his strength to extricate himself from predicaments and was able to apply more offensive tactics, which resulted in his victory. The second intermission between falls, Mil is selling as if he's disoriented, which is excellent work in in putting over Jumbo's offense. In the third fall, Mil Máscaras demonstrated that he was still the superior competitor in terms of technical skill, but deviating from his approach led to him crashing and burning. Although the last two falls are far from perfect due to needing more development, I simply loved the ideas in the direction they were taking them. Overall, I enjoyed this match far too much and how well their dynamic was executed. ****"

[10.0] "This match is long, slow-paced and I'll probably never watch it again. Still, can't help but feeling it was a beautiful experience. Masterclass by both competitors, two of the best wrestlers I've personally ever seen. Mil being an embodiment of classic Lucha Libre style in all of its extension & Jumbo with his stellar talent for which he was always known. Such a joy to watch, regardless of the structure and stipulation."

[8.0] "For some, the match that made Jumbo. Certainly it is a very good match, though not in Jumbo's very top tier. Mil is obviously very good, and Jumbo is so good at adapting to his opponents - in the 1976-1977 period he has top matches against Baba, Rusher Kimura, Terry, Mil, and Billy Robinson, to shortlist. We get an extremely elegant, fluid, highly contested matwork first fall, building to Mil getting the submission. Jumbo hangs very well here (unsurprisingly). Jumbo wants to break out - shades of Baba against Dory and the Briscoes - and does so in the second fall, with a nice airplane spin and missile dropkick for the pin. We get continued good escalation in the third fall, which is unfortunately very short, with Mil crashing and burning outside and getting counted out. A bit more build here and this steps up a rank. As it is - especially as it gives us a decision finish - this is very good. 4/5"

[8.0] "ive decided to start watching some classic traditional NWA stuff and considering the more high tempo of these two plus the historical significance of this match i decided to start here, matches from before the mid 80s are very very different from the modern style its not better its not worst its just different, Jumbo and Mil Mascaras work a match with lots of great holds (mostly mascaras with amazing llave) and go for a quick high pace third fall, the finish is...well its the 70s and mil mascaras is quite famous for his reluctance to job but thats how wrestling was back in the day great match comes completely recomended (8.3)"

[7.0] "This match takes place in August in Tokyo and yet through most of the match Jumbo's body is steaming. So either the air conditioning in Denen Colosseum is the best known to man or Jumbo was working harder than I've ever seen an athlete work in that August heat which I'd believe because this man kept up move for move in Mascaras' style of wrestling despite it being so (no pun intended) foreign to his style of work. He even threw in the old giant swing AND airplane spin. Jumbo's the man."

[10.0] "Watched back to back Jumbo Tsuruta matches tonight, goddamn this man knew how to wrestle. He has an amazing opponent in Mil Mascaras, one of the greatest luchadores to ever live. This match was an intense two out of three falls match. The crowd really got into it, which makes it an even better experience."

[8.0] "Mil dominated Jumbo on the mat but Jumbo had a chance once they got pass the mat work, however Mil rolled him down into a submission for the 1st fall. The second played on this with Jumbo trying to quicken the pace while Mil attempted to slow the match down at every turn. Until Jumbo got Mil disorientated with a giant swing, followed by an airplane spin to hit a missile dropkick to even it out. The 3rd fall saw Mil try a completely different tactic as his took the fight to Jumbo but it backfired as he took a hard knock on a top rope crossbody to the floor and got counted out. Mil was amazing showing off the lucha Libre styles while Jumbo was mostly along for the ride, Jumbo has some good babyface fire in his comebacks ***3/4"

[8.0] "While not on par with other early 70s matches people like the funks, Jack Brisco, Inoki, or Baba would put on, this match has it's fair share of perfectly acceptable and innovative mat works, with some very exciting and awe inspiring moments, for its time anyways! This was also my first time seeing Mil Mascaras in a match (aside from the bizarre royal rumble appearance) and I was pleasantly surprised to see how ground based he was in his offense. I was even more surprised seeing how much of the match time was spent with Mascaras constantly twisting Tsuruta in different submissions and holds, but I suppose that's more so because I'm used to 80s unbeatable Tsuruta though! Overall, I would say watch this if you are interested in Tsuruta's early years or if 70s wrestling is something you're interested in!"

[4.0] "A very long match, with the mass majority of it being mat work from Mil Masceras. The other parts of the match that weren't mat wrestling weren't exciting enough to justify a high rating. Everything was well-executed but in a very bland way and the final fall was extremely anti-climatic. I realize older matches will be slower and I get that, this just didn't deliver for me."

[6.0] "I didn't know anything about Mil Mascaras, but if we're going to talk about what I expected: it was that Tsuruta would interfere with the fast Lucadors as much as possible by grounding him in every way possible, and the strange thing was that Mascaras was grounding himself, and doing it very successfully. To be honest, I thought it would be much more interesting. Maybe you need to know more than I do to taste the fruits of this match, but I had no interest in the match. The technique didn't seem mesmerizing, like in the Tsuruta-Robionson match, it seemed... ordinary... There were some good moments, like Tsuruta's comeback, but otherwise I was a little disappointed and the ending was also sad and crumpled. ***1/4"

[7.0] "This is the 1993 USC/Penn St. game of wrestling: mostly a bore with an exciting finish. Obviously, these older matches are going to have a slower pace and will be more mat-based, but I wasn't overly impressed with Mascaras' work. Particularly his selling. It was almost like he didn't really want to be there and was just going through the motions, never doing anything above and beyond until the end. The storytelling and psychology are good enough, but it wasn't until the end that I really felt invested, and then it was over. ***1/2"

[9.0] "A long match but a great one. I really enjoyed how Mil was able to primarily control the match through superior technical skill and submissions, throwing in his headbutts when needed, and it was up to Jumbo to find counters and look for small windows to use his size and power to gain an advantage. Strong storytelling, and I liked the ending as well, even if it was a bit of a copout, but it made sense because Mil finally took a big chance and it ultimately backfired."

[5.0] "So the story of the match was Mascaras dominating on the mat and Jumbo being totally outclassed. So Jumbo had to try to stay off the mat and pick up the pace but any attempt was shut down by Mascaras. I didn't really find any of the mat work by Mascaras interesting. My favorite part of the match was definitely Jumbo's comeback to win the second fall. Mil picked up the pace big time in the third fall but when he went for a dive to the floor, he got hurt and counted out. Abrupt finish just as the match was starting to get good. **1/2"

[9.0] "The first fall was pretty great with them trading holds, working it slow, trying to fight over the control of one another. The 2nd fall was even better with it being about Jumbo's desperation, his big comeback before winning the fall was awesome. The 3rd fall the shortest of 'em, it was pretty much dominated by Mascaras, but he made one mistake & that ended up costing him the match. This was great. ****"

[10.0] "This was the ultimate Lucha vs Puroresu match back in the day and it delivered. Just fantastically wrestled by Jumbo and Mil on the match, with some great highspots from Mil. This was sure excellent for its time and probably the best match of Mil Mascaras his career. Jumbo was so so amazing. ****3/4"