Glass Hand Disolving: Los Brazos

 

vs Los Destructores (UWA 5/8/1988)

Los Destructores are Emilio Charles Jr, Tony Arce, and Vulcano. All 3 Brazos are still masked here, which will not be the case not too far in the future. Things start of really hot with all six competitors in the ring and throwing punches, just when it seems like order might be restored, and the rules in place, the fight breaks out again. The brawl continues, El Brazo's mask is ripped. Brazo de Oro's mask is ripped off entirely. With Brazo de Oro out of the picture, Los Destructores focus on El Brazo; all three are pounding on him inside the ring while using the numbers advantage to keep Brazo de Plata from getting in the ring at all. Brazo de Oro comes rushing into the ring with a new mask on and totally turns the tide. Turnabout is fair play here, and the Brazos are able to isolate Emilio Charles Jr in the ring and beat him bloody using the numbers advantage. Somewhere in all of this, Los Destructores take the first fall for unclear reasons, but even after the fall is decided, nothing much changes. Everyone is fighting everyone else. Somehow, the referees are able to get things in order, everyone is mixing it up, in and out, but the pace catches up with Los Brazos. Brazo de Oro hits Super Porky with an accidental tope, and Los Destructores are able to capitalize on the 3-on-1 opportunity and gain the win. 

vs Los Bucaneros (EMLL 11/3/1989)

Los Brazos are the trios champions here. The first fall is a lot of mat wrestling, and never gets too heated until just before the fall. Verdugo really is the one to take it up a notch by attempting a top-rope move of some description before taking it to Braze de Plata and eventually hitting a plancha. In that somewhat limited chaos, Pirata Morgan gets El Brazo in a pinning predicament and Los Bucaneros the first fall. The standout in this match so far is Super Porky keeping up in every exchange and then showboating after. The Brazos take the second fall, but still we haven't seen much vitriol or violence yet. The third fall starts with a pretty proasic stretch with Brazo de Oro working a hold on Pirata. Porky gets in and brings some energy, but he eventually gets caught in a Camel Clutch from Verdugo. In this fall, get one of those very convoluted lucha pinning situations where everyone in the match is either pinned or pinning, and everyone kicks out at 2. A bit later, Hombre Bala hits Pirata with a dive when one of the Brazos moves out of the way. That's our first domino, and we get a series of dives and near falls, leaving Pritata Morgan and El Brazo alone in the ring for an extended, and pretty good sequence, ending with Brazo pinning Morgan with a cradle. 

vs Dos Caras, Blue Blazer, & Gran Hamada (UWA Spring 1991)

This just isn't very good. Owen Hart is presaging 2026 Wrestling by doing a bunch of moves that don't look good for no reason other than he thinks they look cool. Gran Hamada is trying his best, and Dos Caras is fine, but even Super Porky is just kind of there, not doing all that much that rises above bog-standard. Even the finish is bad, El Brazo just bumps out of nowhere, not a soul is nearby, he might be doing it to break up the count, but I truly don't know. 

vs Los Infernales (CMLL 11/24/1991)

This is the final of the Trios Tournament. The Infernales here are MS-1, Pirata Morgan, and El Satanico. The opening fall is pretty mild-mannered with a lot of matwork, until Super Porky tags in. The crowd loves Porky, and he wrestles like it. He does a really neat spot where he drags Pirata around in a headlock instead of shooting him off the ropes.  There's a lot of good action in the first fall, involving everyone, really. Los Brazos get the first fall in one of those lucha things where all three guys on a trios team get pinned, which I really don't dig. The second fall has the same energy, good 1-on-1 sections, and good sections where everyone is involved. Again, we have a really cooperative spot, one of those lucha star submission things, but it is short-lived. The Brazos must have taken the brunt of that sequence, because two of them bail to the outside right after.  Brazo de Oro takes a beating, but it is Super Potku who gets pinned after hitting the ring to save his brother; he just can't handle the numbers advantage. The third fall has a pretty good dive train, but the bilk of the final fall is 1-on-1, and a lot of this is on the mat. Infernales are in control for th bulk of the final fall and Pirata Morgan eventually gets the win.

vs Los Villanos (CMLL 1/25/2002)

We have Brazo de Platino here instead of El Brazo. Platino takes a lot of the first fall, before tagging in his father, who does very little. Brazo de Oro comes in, they triple-team one of the Villanos and win the first fall. The 3-on-1 continues at the very start of the second fall, but very quickly, all 3 Villanos hit the ring, go after Porky, and take the second fall. We've lost all sense of decorum at this point; we're not quite at a full-blown brawl, but all semblance of a wrestling match is gone. until Villano III and Platino reestablish the action in the ring and the rest of the wrestlers acquiesce. It doesn't last very long, Porky chases III outside after Platino sent the action back outside, and we are back to some lightly structured chaos. The referees have seen enough, we get a double count-out finish, and this is over, but it's not over. 

Verdict

You know I don't know what I expected. I would have assumed Los Brazos were an all-time great trio, and there are high spots in here for sure. The match with Los Destructores is the highlight of this set; the Villanos match is good, as is the Infernales match, but that is more on the Infernales in my mind. I think ultimately, I just don't get a ton of mileage out of trios, especially lucha trios. I can appreciate a good match, but there are a lot of spots and match constructions that this style embraces that I don't really like. So, if I rank teams, I wouldn't expect to see a lot of trios on that list.