Christmas comes early as I got to watch Lucha today, and damned if I didn’t pick a good week to return.
WHAT WORKED
Hot dancing girls! Atlantis says something! Alfonso Morales talks while there’s a match going on in the back! Tarzan Boys shows up and irritates him! Sniff, it’s good to be back.
Hey, minis! Mascarita Sagrada &Tzuki & Shockercito vs. Fire & Pierrotito & Espectrito, to be precise. Espectrito looks like Super Porky’s satanic mini. Primera caida is Sagrada-centric, as he works fun sequences with Espectrito and Pierrotito. He flattens Espectrito with a slip dive on the floor while Tzuki and Shockercito take out the other rudos with bodypresses for the first fall. Hell, this works just for tiny Tzuki actually making it to the top rope. Segunda caida sees Sagrada work another fun sequence, especially the “where did Sagrada go?” bit. Rudos take over as fire takes out Shockercito with a submission and Espectrito doing the same to Sagrada. Pierrotito gives Tzuki a gorilla press into a hotshot on the top rope, and the little guy takes a hideous bump. Tercera caida sees Shockercito say “You think that’s a bump? I’ll show you a bump” as he takes a flapjack right on his face/neck. Rudos go on to terrorize Tzuki with a cool suplex/dropkick combo. Sagarada gets the comeback started by ducking a Fire and Pierrotito clothesline (actually, he so much tinier than the rudos he barely had to duck at all). Fire halts the momentum and gets Tzuki with a Cerebrolock, only to walk into a Reinera from Shockercito. Lil’ Shocker shows he’s watching his Rey Jr. tape, as he hits a 619/West Coast pop combo on Pierrotito, then flattens him with a tope. Sagarada seals with the deal with a rollup thingee on Espectrito. Good action all around.
Not making us watch the Pierroth match works every time.
Who are all these guys? Oh, this must be “Guerrero U.” We’re helpfully informed that it’s Arkangel, Nitro, Sangre Azteca (woo hoo!), Coreano, Dr. X, and Loco Max (apparently doing a Gimp gimmick this week). Wow, Bucky really went all Big Poppa Pump with his haircut.
OK, main event sees Santo & Negro Casas & Atlantis & Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Buccanero & Tarzan Boy & Averno. This is my first time seeing Mistico, so we’ll see what he’s got. Ultimo and Mistico start us off, as we get the “disrespect the rookie” bit, until Mistico knocks UG outside and hits a ka-razy pescado into a ‘rana. Neat. Hey, how about Santo and Buccanero and Ultimo? Don’t mind if I do. Santo hits a HUGE dive to the floor on Ulitmo while Mistico hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors into a Fujiwara Armbar on Tarzan and an Atlantida takes care of Averno for the first fall. Segunda caida opens with a quick sequence between Casas & Averno, then switches to Bucky bullying Mistico some more, until Bucky gets knocked outside with a springboard ‘rana. Tarzan blocks a Mistico dive, but gets taken down with a “run up the ringpost” armdrag. God, Tarzan’s facial expressions are so great. No matter as the rudos take over at that point and win with an Ultimo Guerrero submission to crazy to try and describe. Tercera caida sees the tecnicos makes a comeback in a goofy manner as Buccanero takes out Averno with his “vaulting splash while the other guy’s on the ropes.” Things settle down for about a minute until chaos breaks out again. Santo hits his tope onto Averno, while Mistico tries an Orihara Moonsault and nearly kills himself crashing into the apron. In the ring, Atlantis gets Tarzan with a guillotine choke, but Bucky blocks the Casits and puts his feet on the ropes to pin Casas and win the match for the rudos. Great match. Mistico looked fine, although I’m not sure why they’re elevating him over the 4,000 other guys they’ve got floating around the undercard.
WHAT DIDN’T WORK
The refer-eye camera thing. Yeah, let’s show grainy 8mm footage from the ref’s point of the view that’s no better than the usual camera angles.
Not too much to Stellar Moments this week. Hey, I’ve got to pad out this side of the ledger. Good to see old SM regulars Ramstein and Sangre Azteca again.
Vampiro walks away from Pierroth mid-match, allowing him to get beat on by Black Tiger, Apollo Dantes, and Universo Dos Mil. Pierroth’s kids run in for the save. Hey, it’s La Nazi! This gives me flashbacks to 2002. Where’s Bulldog? Veneno? Gran Markus?