CMLL on CadenaTres: 2015-01-24

recap

taped 2015-01-20 @ Arena México

Metatrón & Robin vs Akuma & Camorra: [OK] First two falls of this match were better than you’d expect for this crew, and then the third fall was based around Camorra butt biting spots. Oh well. Akuma looked like the better rudo prior to that, but it was like they all ran out of gas after the second fall ended and it was fast forward time. Camorra doing butt biting spots is an odd choice.

Shockercito, Stukita, Último Dragoncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito: [good] This is among the best possible trios matches CMLL’s mini division has to offer and it delivers even given the restrictions of being in a segunda. Finish does come out of completely nowhere, stopping the match which seemed like it had a few more minutes to go, but the action up to that point is really good. My perception is Stukita is the most popular luchador among diehard lucha libre fans who is most unknown by anyone who’s not a diehard lucha libre fan. Maybe he’ll get a big singles match this year that can get some more attention, but he remains great in trios. The slow build to Shockercito/Mercurio, a hair match about mocking dances, continues unabated.

Blue Panther Jr., Starman, The Panther vs Misterioso Jr., Raziel, Sagrado: [good] barely on this side of the line, but it doesn’t actually matter. Panthers were not smart to pick Starman as captain. Raziel tried a really cool looking cradle to win the first fall. It seemed to completely fail because Starman had no idea what was going on, but the attempt was appreciated. The Panther looks like he gets destroyed on every finisher he takes. Sagrado as comic villain is good fun and Misterioso’s ability to lose a match at nay moment fits rights in. He and Sagrado are perfectly good henchman lacking a decent boss.

Delta, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Ephesto, Felino, Hombre sin Nombre: [OK] Very much in the “generally wrestled fine but completely unremakrable.” First fall was best fall of the match, things kind of slowed down after that. Fuego & HSN were better here in their first exchange than they were in their entire lightning match.

Blue Panther, Dragón Rojo Jr., Titán vs Euforia, Hechicero, Niebla Roja:[good] there’s probably a better to be had with these gets involved, especially since this was not that long of a match, but there were enough positive moments for me to recommend it. It was really the Dragon Rojo/Niebla Roja show with everyone else stepping into the background. Panther and Hechicero got to start with some mat work, Titan got the neat Titanics variation to win the first, and the other four guys popped up in spurts, but they were well focused on the feud of the moment. It didn’t start off well, with Dragon Rojo struggling with an ill considered armdrag, but they did better with more conventional offense and gave some hope that their singles match might be pretty good. Roja really hasn’t had many big wins, so giving him both pinfalls in the third, a nice touch.

Estrellita vs Zeuxis: [good] much better than their last lightning match. It was not as adventurous as their previous match, but the simpler spots they did here ended up looking much better. It was nice back and forth match where both woman looked good and Estrellits just got caught in Zeuxis’ submission by the end. I’m interested in how their title match went after this; this was probably a condensed version of that, but they might have really had one if they added the big moves to that and it went well.