Sabu A Day:Day 4 vs La Parka Mexican Massacre Match

MLW should have been the best of the three upstart promotions of 2002. They did not do the stupid shit TNA did and they were not wrestling as performance art  indy classic bullshit of ROH. But nothing they did ever worked. Even stuff that should have been good in theory.


The Sabu vs La Parka feud however is one of the things that did work. This is not their first match. That one ended with Sabu bludgeoning Parka with scissors. Tearing his mask open and leaving him a bloody mess. It had this awesome visual of a bloody Parka crawling desperately toward Sabu.

This is the rematch some months later. They did some angle where Parka injured Bill Alfonzo, so he sends his brother the Cuban Assassin in his place. Parka comes out in some sweet ring gear. Wearing a crazy rubber skull mask over his regular crazy skull mask. Joey Styles wonders if it is a Missy Hyatt mask.

Match starts with some nice mat work. Sabu takes down Parka with an armbar. They end up brawling on the floor. Both of them taking some nasty bumps. Watching this I wonder if they genuinely dislike each other. Sabu throws a chair in Parka's face and Parka tries to cave in Sabu's skull.

Parka tries to throw Sabu into a table, Sabu escapes and slams Parka's head into the hardwood. Looks really nasty. Parka responds by trying to decapitate Sabu with a short arm clothesline. These two are dropping bombs like a lightweight Hansen/Vader.

Parka hits a great looking suicide dive. Parka misses a senton in the ring. Sabu locks on a Camel Clutch but Parka fights to the ropes. Guys dragging guys to the ropes to escape submissions sometimes bugs me. Like seeing Rey Mysterio pull Edge across the ring to escape the Sharpshooter. But here it works with Parka having a size advantage and it really looks like a struggle.

Lot of people dislike Joey Styles. Hell he bugs me at times. But I think he was good here. One thing he got across was how familiar he was with Sabu. Later he pointed out that Sabu was at a disadvantage not having Fonzie, since he had no chemistry with Assassin. But putting over Assassin is a wrestler which makes him less of a liability.

Parka faceplants Sabu into a chair and again it looks nasty. Parka and Sabu trade punches on the turnbuckle. Parka gets the advantage and faceplants Sabu into the chair from the second rope. Ref tried to move it but you see Parka threaten him. He tosses Sabu out and hits another brutal looking suicide dive.

Parka hits Sabu with a broken table and I don't know where it came from. The match is not edited so I must have missed something.

Sabu tosses Parka into the table shrapnel in the corner. Sabu pins Parka covered in the shrapnel and it is a great visual. The match is disjointed in places. But they go by that old rule of when in doubt beat the shit outta each other and it works. Parka knocks down Sabu and cuts a little jig.

Parka is a guy who really should have been a far bigger star in this country. Lots of charisma, good in the ring and big enough to credibly fight heavyweights.

Weird spot on the apron. It looks like they are having a disagreement on what to do so Sabu hip tosses him into the ring and Parka reverses.

Parka hits a stiff standing enzugiri on Sabu. Hits a sitout Powerbomb, but he can't finish him off.. Sabu escapes the table but is hit by a Crossbody block off the top. Assassin comes in and knees Parka in the gut. The type of brute force that Fonzie can't provide. Sabu hits the Triple Jump Moonsault spot on.


 Assassin proves a liability. He can't move as fast as Fonzie or set up the tables and chairs properly. Which for Sabu is crucial and he pays for it in the end. While Sabu is climbing up top, Assassin comes into hold Parka down. But Parka nails him with a chair and Sabu puts Assassin thru the table. Parka hits a moosault somersault block onto Sabu for three.

This match is not perfect. It is disjointed in places. But the action is stiff and nasty enough I can overlook its flaws.