Today's "That was awesome!" comes courtesy of Cagesider Finian1 (whose avatar made me laugh for a solid five minutes). He suggested the time Rey Mysterio nailed fellow Mexican luchadore Psychosis with a hurricanrana off the hood of a car.
I'm much more a fan of a harder hitting style. Stuff from Japan, Canada, or England suits me just fine. The lack of impact in lucha libre really challenges my suspension of belief.
So when Mysterio and Psychosis showed up in ECW and adding an "extreme" flair to their moveset, I was instantly intrigued. At its core, the matches were still something you'd see in AAA or CMLL south of the border but they added a little bit more, a little bit to assuage the diehard Philly fans in the ECW Arena.
Those two -- along with Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Raven... you get the idea -- were pillaged by WCW and given a truly national spotlight to shine. I can't fault them for taking the big Turner bucks but it's just another example of the genius and forward thinking that Paul Heyman had during a rather stagnant time creatively in the business.
Let's take a look.
WELP, unfortunately, I couldn't find a video of this moment on YouTube. Sorry for the ol' bait and switch! To make it up to you, here's a video of the Mysterio and Psychosis Mexican Death Match in full!
I love the ending spot where Rey Rey hits a hurricanrana off the freaking crow's nest to put Psychosis down for the count.
Another classic ECW match.
Unfortunately since then Mysterio has ballooned up to a weight that his skeletal frame simply can't handle and he's undergone knee surgery after knee surgery after knee... well, you get it.
Psychosis followed his countryman to WCW and then WWE until he was fired after being arrested for carjacking a man in Mexico. Since then, he's plied his trade in AAA.
If you have any ideas for something that made you say "that was awesome!!!" pass it along. Make sure to include your SBNation handle and you'll get a shout you out if your idea is used! Contact me at sergio.hernandez.tx@gmail.com.