great match roundup, 2012 catchup part 3

One more June match, then some stuff from September and October. I guess I saw all I needed from July and August already?

Trauma II vs Shadow Phoenix and Oficial 911 in a losers advance match/Trauma II vs Shadow Phoenix for the mask (IWRG 06/17): GOOD – This is a match I would’ve liked there to be there live for, and I think I’d probably have a higher opinion if I was in the midst of those Traumas fans going crazy. On video, it came across as fans carrying a very simple match – rudos beating on Trauma II, only pausing to hit each other to length the fight (and eventually give Trauma II a chance to get in a comeback), but it didn’t feel like the luchadors were doing a lot more than costing on the reaction that was there.  It showed when Trauma II was eliminated and Oficial/Phoenix had to fight it out among themselves; action was better but crowd was not as into it. The final section with Phoenix and Trauma II was good, and makes me think I would’ve gotten more into this also if I’d had seen it at the time (I had forgotten about Shadow Phoenix’s deadly arm hold until it came on near the end – and Trauma II easily reversed it), but as a single event in itself this was not as much as I thought it was going to be.

Rush vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (Puebla 09/03): GOOD – I think there might be a TVC Deportes airing of this match that I haven’t linked. If it exists, I’d go track down that one instead of this – I didn’t correct the EstrellaTV/CMLL video aspect screwup correctly, but there’s nothing I could’ve done to fix their messed up audio track; the announcers are many minutes ahead of the action in the third fall, and it kind of hurts your enjoyment of a match when they’re talking about the finish when there’s still about seven minutes left (and then reset the commentary after.) Shockingly bad production. The match itself wasn’t really that exemplary until just about that time. The first two falls and the early third fall were done like a normal lucha libre title match, which really didn’t seem to work. Tanahashi didn’t come off as very interested, and Rush really needs to be a fight to get the best out of him. Once Rush finally started to throw chops, it got there, though not enough at the end to recommend it. (It was the only place you’ll hear Tanahashi compared to Art Barr in 2012, so there’s that.)

Chicano vs Cerebro Negro for the World Wrestling Stars Welterweight Championship Deportes part 2 Deportes part 3 (IWRG, 09/16): GOOD – just barely good and no higher; it seemed like they were telling a story of Chicano being no match for Cerebro Negro, but the the story would just drift away and Chicano would hit moves. The finish was kind of that way – both Chicano and Imposible got hit with the seconds dive, then Chicano just came back in the ring and beat Cerebro Negro within 20 seconds. I could understand it was good but it didn’t do much for me.

Centvrión, Dinamic Black, Saruman vs Carta Brava Jr., Imposible, Rayan TVCDeportes part 2 (IWRG 09/16): GREAT – I downloaded this match by accident; my links were messed up (don’t trust YouTube playlists), and I decided to just let this play while on my TV while I fixed that. And then this turned out to be great. First fall was fun, second fall and most of the third were killer, the rudos just destroying the técnicos with no sympathy. Imposible’s stairway dropkick to the face was beautiful. Rudos had trouble catching dives at the end and this felt like just a random weekly match with highly energetic people willing to hurt each for fun, but it was still enough to push it over the line. This match is also a handy stand in for the many matches which probably should make this list but won’t because I was too dim to see them (or no one shined a bright enough light towards them.)

Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro vs Alan Extreme, Black Terry, Temerario Infernal for the Mexico State Tag Team Championship TVCDeportes 2 TVCDeportes 3 (IWRG 09/16): GOOD – kind of an early and deflating ending to a match that seemed like it had a few more minutes of good action to go. Not everything seemed to be going smooth (thanks to the indoor rainstorm!) in this match, but they did a good job of making it still look natural. These two teams didn’t seem like good natural opponents, because they’re both really good rudo teams but not as great técnicos, but there were sections of this match which worked well.

Virus vs Fuego for the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship (Puebla, 10/01): GREAT – a rare CMLL title match where it the champion came off as nearly dominant and the challenger was battling just for chances to get something in. This was overall worked a lot different than usual CMLL matches, with the long and mostly one sided but well done first fall and not as much reliance on moves and kickouts in the third fall (though they did get there.) Virus looked super in the first fall and both guys busted out moves they normally wouldn’t try but had to because of the circumstances. The finish even worked – Virus kept getting Fuego in holds he could barely escape from, and finally Fuego just couldn’t get out any longer. This match worked in Arena Puebla where it might not have worked in the other arenas; they were very patient during a much slower than normal smart, where Arena Mexico might have turned on the match. I’d love to see more variance like this, but there’s not many guys who could do it.

Devil Rocker, Machine Rocker, Soul Rocker vs Alan Extreme, Carta Brava Jr., Comando Negro part 2 part 3 (IWRG 10/04): GOOD  – I find I’ve picked a lot of lot of weekly IWRG trios matches and am disappointed when they don’t have the complex endings you really shouldn’t be expected from weekly matches. Still, I wanted just a bit more from this match, which was a really good Rockers with the IWRG rudos working well as both rudos against the AAA rudos early on, and then more usual técnicos near the end. I find I like Carta Brava Jr. more the more I’ve been watching him, and he was the star of this match.