2015 watch later catch up, part 12 of ∞

Matches recapped in this post

• Apolo Estrada Jr. & El Hijo del Diablo © vs Hijo del Pantera & Pantera for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
  Arena Naucalpan, 11/22/2015 
• Ángel de Oro, Argos, Golden Magic vs Pegasso, Rey Cometa, Titán
  Arena México, 11/22/2015 
• Felino, Puma, Tiger vs Negro Navarro, Trauma I, Trauma II
  Arena México, 11/22/2015 
• Atlantis, Carístico, Negro Casas vs Black Warrior, Cibernético, Mephisto
  Arena México, 11/22/2015 
• Centvrión, Fly Warrior, Látigo vs Metaleón, Mr. Leo, Wasson
  Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 11/28/2015 
• Rey Cometa vs Golden Magic
  Arena México, 11/29/2015 

Apolo Estrada Jr. & El Hijo del Diablo © vs Hijo del Pantera & Pantera for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
Arena Naucalpan, 11/22/2015
Video: thecubsfan

1. Panteras
   • Hijo del Pantera huracanrana Hijo del Diablo (6:54)
   • COR Apolo Estrada Jr. (7:08)
2. Gringos
   • Hijo del Diablo powerbomb Hijo del Pantera (2:55)
   • Pantera blocked Casita Apolo Estrada (3:20)
   • Hijo del Diablo reverse suastica Pantera (3:47)
3. Panteras
   • Apolo powerbomb Pantera (10:35)
   • Hijo del Pantera huracanrana Hijo dl Diablo (11:25)
   • Hijo del Pantera Ephesto roll Apolo Estrada (11:56)

Winner: Panteras (2-1)
Match Time: 22:51

Review: [good] liked this better than the other Panteras title match in this reviews. It had more drama and more time where Hijo del Pantera got to go all out. IWRG title matches, IWRG matches in general, get so much more time than any other TV lucha libre matches and it slowed down the pace of the match more than I’d like. It meant there was about a minute and half of pump the armbar over the top rope spots before it finally back fired for the rudos, but it also made the payoff seem bigger. The Gringos are really good stooges and it’s sad to see them break up (which was very slightly teased at the end), but Apolo came off as the better one of the two – Diablo struggled when he tried to show off tecnico moves. The pace is not the style I’m used to watching, and I’m often left wanting a bit more action. They did prove the action with big dives near the end of the falls, and they added drama with the eliminations. The last elimination came in about thirty seconds both times, which is really missing out on the fun part. The second fall eliminations seemed weird, as if Pantera had shoot blocked the casita and the rudos had no idea what was going on.

Ángel de Oro, Argos, Golden Magic vs Pegasso, Rey Cometa, Titán
Arena México, 11/22/2015
Video: decadas80s90s2000

1. Team Cometa
   • Rey Cometa Spanish Fly Angel de Oro (4:10)
2. Team Angel de Oro
   • Argos backcracker Titan (5:41)
   • Angel de Oro mercedora Pegasso (5:42)
3. Team Angel de Oro
   • Pegasos headscissors cradle Argos (5:41)
   • Angel de Oro mecedora Pegasso (6:05)
   • Golden Magic Canadian Destroyer Rey Cometa (6:56)

Winner: Team Angel de Oro (2-1)
Match Time: 16:48
Notes: If you’re watching the handheld, you can tell Golden Magic and Angel de Oro apart earlier by looking at the back for the mask – Golden Magic has a tail, Angel de Oro does not. Cometa kicked out the finishing pin at 3.00000000001 and an extended argument took place over the count. Cometa demanded a singles match with Magic. Magic accepted, and Cometa challenged him to a hair vs mask while slapping him.

Review: [great] easy call for a great match, and much improved over last week. There was more action, and better action, even if there was less a feeling of who was supposed to be the tecnico team. Cheer for your favorites (except for Angel de Oro, who was a bit more overt about being a rudo.) It broke down in to chaos a few times, especially between the first two falls, but it gave it a different feeling than usual CMLL matches and made it feel fresher. Golden Magic got the big spots he needed, like the headscissors to the floor, to really stand out a lot more than Emperador Azteca did in the previous match. He had to have it anyway to set up the singles match, but it wasn’t just all in the finish. Argos generally looked better this match, though he still has flubs. Missing the top rope twisting senton on Pegasso without Pegasso moving was hilarious, and he needed the Brillo Dorado to redeem himself. You can tell it’s a different crowd than goes to the indie shows because the fans didn’t reflexively boo Golden Magic for existing, but did move the NJPW style extended slap fight spot.

Felino, Puma, Tiger vs Negro Navarro, Trauma I, Trauma II
Arena México, 11/22/2015
Video: MisticieroTV

1. Felinos
   • Felino inverted figure four Negro Navarro (6:57)
2. Navarros
   • Negro Navarro STF Felino (3:50)
3. Navarros
   • Trauma I Lo Negro del Negro Tiger (2:46)

• Trauma II Lo Negro del Negro Puma (2:46)

Winner: Navarros (2-1)
Match Time: 13:35 seen
Notes: Match is edited, cutting out dead periods and spots

Review: [good] really crossed the line for me in the final minute or so; I would’ve been more down on the match if all three falls had ended with Negro Navarro & Felino when the kids were more interesting. The first fall had a lot of the parts of the Navarros I’m not a fan – lots of demonstrating holds and letting them go – but the Puma & tiger show took over in the second fall and they built to a really storng enough with a great visual. That’s the sort of thing Elite needs to justify the indie guys, and the crowd went crazy for it. Trauma II took a lot of big impacts, including the early swing into the barricade from Puma, and taking the dives after on. Puma & Tiger have great timing, and I’ not sure this same match works without them.

Atlantis, Carístico, Negro Casas vs Black Warrior, Cibernético, Mephisto

Arena México, 11/22/2015
Video: decadas80s90s2000, mluchatv, decadas80s90s2000

1. rudos
   • Black Warrior casita Negro Casas (4:21)
2. tecnicos
   • Atlantis pin Black Warrior (2:07)
   • Negro Casas scorpion Mephisto (2:20)
3. tecnicos
   • DQ Cibernetico [foul on Caristico] (5:55)

Winner: tecnicos (2-1)
Match Time: 12:36
Notes: brawl starts before the whistle. Decades attempts to video tape this by shooting the video screen for the first minute. It does not work out well.

Review: [ok] totally skippable match, barely making ok. It’s a Monday Puebla filter except some outside guys are in it, and they’re not necessarily a plus. Cibernetico does little, probably because there’s little he can do. That’s better than Black Warrior, who comes off as if he’d like to be doing anything but lucha libre yet is being forced to wrestle this main event match. He blew the monkey flip with Atlantis badly, then left the ring and started walking away from the ring. If he had left, he wouldn’t have been missed. The first fall is all slow aimless brawling before going into usual CMLL structure, and no one looks good enough any time to make this worthwhile. The video guy has a tough day with a guy standing in front of him during the match; it was a better effort on his part than the guys in the match.

Centvrión, Fly Warrior, Látigo vs Metaleón, Mr. Leo, Wasson
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 11/28/2015
Video: Ricardo Peña

Winner: Mala Hiebra (Centvirion Katai Driver Metaloen)
Match Time: 9:43 seen
Notes: edited match.

Review: [good] another one so edited that I don’t really know what to do with it. Too long to consider as highlgihts, but so obviously missing chunks of it that maybe they’re hiding all the bad stuff or maybe they’re just really bad at editing. (The match opening with a dive cut in half and then about 20 seconds of standing around points to the latter.) Mala Hiebra and the Lion Brothers have good chemistry, though some of this look a little too choreographed – or not enough, as they were hurrying to get into the next spot while not realizing the last spot was cute but didn’t totally make sense. (I’m mostly thinking about Wasson’s roll evasion, which left him behind the other trio, who just walked away from him to go to the next spot.) There’s still a lot of cool stuff and this feud has been a fun part of the last few months, I just wish it was easier to see this complete.

Rey Cometa vs Golden Magic
Arena México, 11/29/2015
Video: MisticieroTV

1. Rey Cometa Canadian Destroyer (0:40)
2. Golden Magic 450 splash (2:08)
3. DCOR (5:52)

Winner: draw
Match Time: 8:40 seen

Review: [good] likely higher grade if it was viewable complete; this looked really well done, and it’s only the frequent time jumps which made this a little hard to watch. Golden magic needs to apply for political asylum in Arena Mexico: the crowd there doesn’t know/care about the Castle of Terror, he’s got great people to work with like Cometa, and he comes off as more of the underdog he needs to be for his style. I think that’s the intention for him in IWRG too, but he’s won every big match so often that no one believes him. Magic came off as a bigger star as an outsider who just had great offense. Here, he got a ton of big and beautiful looking moves, including the big moonsault near the end, and Cometa kept the match together. This probably would’ve worked a little better as a one fall match, but maybe the first two falls were more fleshed out in real time. Considering the editing, they gave them a lot of time and they made the best use of it. The finish is weak, but that’s a common issue on these shows.