"MLW's upcoming Los Maximos vs. Mexico's Most Wanted match quite intriguing for avid Indy and Lucha fans"

By LucharesuFan619
Wednesday, September 3, 2003
NoHoldsBarredWrestling.com

Major League Wrestling, Inc. announced on August 25 that for its "WAR GAMES" supercard that is scheduled to occur on September 19 in Fort Lauderdale, FL, it would be flying in one of the premiere tag teams in the world all the way from Mexico to combat Los Maximos (better known as The S.A.T. [Spanish Announce Team] - brothers Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo). The recently announced bout between Los Maximos and the team known as Mexico's Most Wanted, comprised of Damien (sometimes spelled with an "a" instead of an "e") 666 & Halloween, has sparked considerable buzz from the indy wrestling world and the small - yet lively - community of Lucha Libre fans here in the U.S.. Both of these teams have very unorthodox styles that have the potential to clash brilliantly if provided the correct circumstances and judging by the attention that MLW has given to Los Maximos in the past, the bout (which will mark Los Maximos' one year anniversary of working on MLW [they debuted in the promotion on September 26 of last year]) is one of the most intriguing in the promotion's history.

MMW currently work on a regular basis in Mexico's CMLL promotion. Besides teaming together, Damien & Halloween also partner up with former-"big three" luchadores Nicho el Millionario (Psychosis in WCW) and Super Crazy under the collective alias of "La Familia de Tijuana" (or The Tijuana Family) often. Damien made his wrestling debut in 1985, while Halloween wrestled his first match in 1990 and from then on, both men - both as singles wrestlers and together as a tag team - produced impressive resumes.

Damien made an impressive showing in the 1995 New Japan Pro Wrestling Super J Cup and has held such singles titles as the IWAS World Light Heavyweight Title (twice), the WWA (Mexico) World Middleweight Title, the NAWA Middleweight Title, and the AWWA World Middleweight Title. Besides finding tag team success with Halloween, he has held the WWA (Mexico) World Trios Title twice (both times w/ Kiss & Aguila de Americano). As Amigo Ultra and under his regular Damien alias, he competed in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) on assorted shows from 1991 to 1995. He has also wrestled in Michinoku Pro a few times and - believe it or not - in ECW. His ECW work came mainly in 1995 and believe it or not, he worked with a couple of upper level opponents, including Chris Jericho, Sabu, and Raven (who he received an ECW World Heavyweight Title shot against).

Halloween, meanwhile, is a former-AAA Baja California Light Heavyweight, LAWA World Middleweight, WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight, IWC Middleweight, and WWEA Extreme Champion. Together, the two have traveled the world, having tag-teamed and wrestled in singles matches in both Mexico and the U.S. They debuted in WCW in 1996 and competed there for on assorted shows until 1999. In WCW, Damien worked as both Damien and Galaxy and Halloween performed as Ciclope. Both men competed in the 1996, 1997, and 1998 World War III battle royal matches and on various editions of WCW Nitro and Thunder. Also in WCW, Damien was a member of the popular Latino World Order faction, a takeoff of the nWo.

In 2000, the duo competed together in AJPW. Throughout their career, they've held the the WWO Tag Team Titles, Mexico D.F. National Trios Title (along w/ Nicho), and the XPW World Tag Team Titles (twice). Plus, they're currently double champions, as each man holds the Revolution Pro Tag Team Titles and the X-LAW Tag Team Titles.. It was in XPW that they gained probably their most prominence in the U.S. They made their XPW debuts on April 15, 2000 in a great Lucha-style match against each other, but immediately after that began teaming up with each other under the MMW alias.

Along with their female valet, Lady Victoria, MMW became the most successful team in XPW history, having had excellent matches with the likes of Vampiro & Insane Clown Posse member Shaggy 2 Dope, Xtasis & Venom Black, the New Panthers (Brian "Malcom" XL & Smokey Charmichael), the Dead Prez (Boogalu & Low Rider), Youthanazia (Matt "M-Dogg 20" Cross & Josh Prohibition), and Southern Comfort (Chris Hamrick & Tracey Smothers). Most recently, MMW made a surprise appearance on the March 12, 2003 NWA-TNA Pay-Per-View by battling David Young & Jerry Lynn.

Los Maximos, meanwhile, have been wrestling for about four years each, but don't let that convince you to count them out. Generally considered to be the most entertaining duo on the indy circuit, they and their brother, The Amazing Red (who competed in MLW briefly as the masked Fuego Guerrero) were trained by veteran ECW competitor Mikey Whipwreck. The Maximos and Red became sensations on the indy circuit within a year of their debut. The duo initially gained popularity in CZW, which they remained in from early 2000 until late 2001.

Upon the formation of Ring of Honor in early 2002, they left CZW and became regulars in ROH, where they still work on a regular basis. In ROH, they have produced fantastic "Scramble" matches, as they're called, with teams like The Backseat Boyz, Da Hit Squad, Divine Storm (who they trained along side of with Whipwreck), and Special K. On April 27, 2002 in ROH, the Maximos received a very rare opportunity, as they squared off against their brother, Red, and current WWE star Eddie Guerrero. They've also been lucky enough to square off a few times against Whipwreck in both ROH and JAPW.

In mid-2002, the Maximos began balancing their schedules between both ROH and NWA-TNA, where they made their Pay-Per-View debuts. In TNA, they feuded with - among others - the Flying Elvises, comprised of Jimmy Yang & Jorge Estrada. Although they left TNA a few months ago, the Maximos certainly not short of work by any means, as they continue to work in ROH and various other indy promotions such as ECWA, where they're the current World Tag Team Champions, and USA Pro. They made their debut on the West Coast a few months ago by competing in a fantastic four corners tag team elimination match in APW-LA. Plus, the Maximos are the current ECWA Tag Team Champions. The other promotions that the Maximos have competed in throughout their career include as ICW, PWA, PCW, the PWF, QWA (Whipwreck's short-lived, self-operated promotion), and NWA Wildside. Also, in early 2003, they worked a series of ZERO-ONE shows in Japan.

However, even with all of those different promotions that the Maximos have worked in, they have yet to even compete on the same show as MMW, let alone in a match against them. Believe it or not, a match was actually scheduled between the two teams at XPW Hostile Takeover on August 31, 2002. Chris Hamrick contacted the Maximos (who was and still is great friends with him) and told them that XPW was interested in having them and Red wrestle on the show. XPW wanted to have MMW defend their tag team titles against the Maximos. In an interview thatI conducted with Hamrick on May 18, 2003, the former-ECW performer, he said that "They told [me] that they wanted to do the show. Then - a few weeks before the show - Hamrick called them back to reconfirm that they'd be on the show and they again assured him that they would.

However, PCW promoter Donnie Bucci booked the Maximos to compete in the Russ Haas Memorial Tag Team Tournament, also scheduled for August 31. He stated that "they never even called me to tell me they changed their minds" and that he later learned that "they were afraid Mikey Whipwreck would get mad at them" for working XPW. So, the match between Los Maximos and MMW never occurred, setting the stage for their upcoming match in MLW.

Los Maximos' upcoming match against MMW comes off the heels of a series of excellent MLW bouts in which they have partcipated. Their most recent bout was on August 22 against the dream tag team of Nosawa & B-Boy and - although the footage has yet to air oon MLW Underground TV - the match has received great reviews. At the MLW show before that (on July 26), they defeated Jimmy Yang & Tony Mamaluke in a fantastic contest. Los Maximos also wrestled - among others - Dick Togo & Ikuto Hidaka in their first MLW appearance almost a year ago. Simply put, MLW has not used the same, relatively bland formula that so many of the other promotions that Los Maximos compete in. Instead of booking them against Divine Storm or the Backseat Boyz or Special K for the hundredth time, MLW has used the vast variety of competitors that it features to experiment with potential dream matchups that include Los Maximos and opponents of all different styles. The match vs. MMW looks to be potentially the duo's best match in MLW yet.

MMW's decade-plus experience plus the added addition of having worked with wrestlers of a variety of different styles has helped them to become two of the smartest in-ring performers in the business. They are able to have great matches with teams of any type, from any country, with any amount of experience. Add to this that the styles of Los Maximos and MMW are reasonably similar, making the possibility of a great match between the duos all that more likely. It is definitely true that Los Maximos are younger and more agile than their opposition, but never count out MMW. Their afforementioned experience helps them to produce excellent matches with performers of a vast variety of styles, including that of the S.A.T. Their matches in XPW against the high-flying duos of the New Panthers and Youthanazia proves that they are able to coexist in the same ring as much younger and often more energetic tandems. It is this type of opposition that Los Maximos will presumably bring to the table on September 19, for youth and stamina is their advantage.

Meanwhile, MMW will most likely rely on their greater size and the power and strength that comes with this, along with their veteran knowledge of the business. Los Maximos should be aware of MMW's signature double-team manuevers, such as their double-team inverted death valley driver, spike sitout inverted powerbomb, Poetry in Motion combo (made famous by The Hardy Boyz), and especially their finishing hold - the simplistic, yet visually fantastic and painfully effective "Montezuma's Revenge," which is a big swing/running low Japanese dropkick to the head combo. An added suggestion for Los Maximos would be to use both their signature manuevers off the top turnbuckle and huracanranas sparingly. Being crotched on the top turnbuckle often results in Damien grabbing his foe off of the top turnbuckle and delivering his singles finisher, the Martinette (a Dropdown Folded Fisherman's Neckbreaker Crunch), while a huracanrana could be countered at any moment with a powerbomb, which both MMW members have been seen using on more than one occasion.

One factor that makes this match so interesting is the Lucha Libre-type style that each team uses. For MMW, this style is intrinsic, done without a speck of thought. They've engaged in countless memorable wars that were solely based around this technique over this year. On the otherhand, the application of such a style will be slightly less natural for Los Maximos, seeing as how it is not the sole method that they have relied on to win matches throughout their career (whereas it is in regards to MMW). However, rest assured that Los Maximos can bring the Lucha style to the ring with surprisingly crisp execution. Their matches with Divine Storm (especially those between the two teams in CZW) and their work against high-paced foreign performers like Ikuto Hidaka, Jimmy Yang, and Nosawa has prepared them for MMW's offense as sufficiently as any form of practice possibly could.

So, it will be quite interesting to see if the two teams execute the extensive, traditional Lucha-Libre style sequences that feature intricate exchanges of armdrags and variations of such, considering that Los Maximos do have the experience to perform such series. Plus - although they are considerably older than Los Maximos - both MMW members can both perform high-flying manuevers quite effectively and - believe it or not - Damien (who - at 42 - is 10 years older than his partner) is arguably the more aerial-based of the two. Throughout his XPW career, he has often pulled out traditional Lucha moves like slingshot crossbody blocks, slingshot dropkicks, and ropewalk armdrags. Don't let that make you count out Halloween, though, for he often uses a flying Splash and a missile dropkick, along with a very impressive leaping spinning heelkick.

It's possible, but pretty unlikely that fans will see Los Maximos hit the Spanish Fly (generally considered to be the most outstanding double-team manuever in the U.S. today; it's basically an All Standing Moonsault Rock Bottom/Uranage off of the top turnbuckle and must be seen to be believed!), since - as amazing as they are - Damien nor Halloween would be willing (or able, for that matter) to absorb the manuever. However, what they can expect are the innovative, fast-paced meanuevers that Los Maximos have popularized during their careers. MMW, meanwhile, will most likely impress first-time watchers quite a bit with their unorthodox style, which is based primarily on the Lucha Libre fundamentals.

Most fans attending the show probably haven't seen MMW in action before, so there will be many in for quite a surprise, assuming that MLW allows each team to go all out (which - judging by the time and freedom they've given to Los Maximos in their past matches - is near certain). Those at the show can safely expect to see some exciting, crisply-executed, fast-paced action from both duos and - if they're lucky - maybe even a U.S. Indy Match of the Year Candidate.

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