great match roundup, 2012 catchup part 4

Rest of October, and the rest of the year. This one has more GIFs. It just worked out that way.

Titán vs Pólvora for the Mexican National Welterweight Championship (Guadalajara, 10/16): GREAT – this was much more a spot fest the 2013 match (watched much sooner than the 2012) match. It didn’t work out well doing that way the entire match – multiple times where Pólvora is destroyed by a move then up perfectly fine a few seconds later because it’s onto the next – and Pólvora probably could’ve done a few less powerbombs, but the crazy Titan show is just enough to get it on the Great list. This was the Palacio Negro dream match, one big move after another, and probably the best ramp dive he’s done (because these fans totally weren’t expecting it.) Finish didn’t go great and I’d definitely put the 2013 match ahead of this one, but it’s still in the worth checking out pile.

Pequeno Reyes del Aire match (Guadalajara, 10/30): GREAT – the minis match I liked the best this year, I think – it didn’t seem to ask too much from anyone, and everyone was able to contribute a lot. The middle section of eliminations and big moves was a lot of fun. It did not finish smoothly – I’m not sure what that ref bump was about – but there was plenty good before then and the powerbomb in the corner always looks deadly.

Dinamic Black, Golden Magic, Relámpago vs Carta Brava Jr., Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro part 2 (IWRG, 11/08): GOOD – not making good by much, plenty of other matches better. Plenty of other matches don’t have Relampago in them, and Relampago is bad at wrestling. He’s the last guy in for the técnicos in the fall, working with Fierro, and seems to forget every spot he’s supposed to do for a minute and a half. They just beat on him and pin him in the second, which is the right call. Relampago was bad in AAA, is bad in IWRG, and I’d be very disappointed if he got to complete the set in CMLL.

FILL vs Konkreto [Copa Higher Power] (IWRG, 11/13): GREAT – This was a lot of fun. The visiting team was a lot stronger than the Tony Rivera team reviewed early; most guys were fine for their experience level, Mr. Leo was really solid (and it makes sense he’s picking up more regular work), and técnicos should be fighting over who gets to adopt Kiuby as their mini. The real selling point is both sides showing genuine dislike for each other. The post match brawl and the one during the match were both intense, and even the usual skirmishes outside the ring felt like fights and not the usual semi-comedy bits. It’d help if the outside guys were more identifiable – only the two I mentioned and Jhon Crazy (the least of his team) are the ones I’m absolutely sure I can match names to bodies, and not doing a full fledged recap makes it more obvious to me how hard these matches can be to follow when you don’t have someone reminding you who’s left and who’s gone on each side. There were some definite rookie mistakes (Eterno’s elimination!) but I’m overlooking them for the action and the atmosphere

el Ángel vs Trauma II for the IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship (IWRG, 12/16): GOOD – First two falls were fine, but the most interesting to me was trying to figure out if Trauma II was wrestling in New York Yankees baseball pants (I think yes, maybe?) There is no figuring out why. Brawl in the third fall was great and has me excited for the mask match they seemed to be building up here, but all the 911 interference in the third fall took it back down. Angel did a good job of going with the crowd and playing slight rudo.

Dr. Cerebro vs Cerebro Negro, hair vs hair (IWRG, 12/16): GREAT – felt all over the place on this one; I wanted to go as high as excellent at times, but not near as high at others. I thought the way they set up the first fall weapon spot was well done, but there were too many of them at the end (and light tubes are just a turn off to me – even when the point of them is to backfire like it did here.) This was a really good brawl that occasionally became a wrestling match. I would’ve liked a different kind of finish but there was a lot of great stuff which came before it.