Lucha Azteca7 Elite: 2016-05-27 

Recapped: 06/03/2016

What happened: Carístico won his new title in a cibernetico. Cibernético won his new title by getting dropped on his head. Neither title match came off strong.

What was good: The cibernetico was technically good but not nearly as much as it felt like it could’ve been with the people involved, and the fans reject the end. I totally rejected the main event. You’d be all right skipping this week.

Where can I watch it: It’s on my channel and AztecaDeportes in better quality.

The show begins with seemingly randomly chosen highlights of fighting from previous shows, focusing on the backstage kits and fighting outside the ring. This leads into their kiss cam, and then both new title belts being presented in the ring.

Match 1: Carístico vs La Máscara, Atlantis, Mephisto, Argos, Valiente, Toscano, Ángel de Oro, Puma, Golden Magic in a cibernetico for the new Elite Middleweight champiomship
Arena México, 05/21/2016
Video: thecubsfan

1. Mephisto running powerbomb Argos (6:56)
2. Puma casita Toscano (7:44)
3. Atlantis casadora cradle Valiente (10:43)
4. La Mascara moosnault counter kick Golden Magic (12:08)
5. La Mascara double knee smash Puma (13:01)
6. Carístico La Mistica on Angel de Oro (13:55)
7. La Mascara reversed huracanrana Atlantis (15:07)
8. Mephisto Rosa DDT La Mascara (16:30)
9. Carístico La Mistica on Mephisto (21:18)

Winner: Carístico
Match Time: 21:18
Notes: The seeding battle royal goes about two minutes and sets teams as Valiente, Argos, Angel de Oro, La Mascara, Toscano vs Mephisto, Carístico, Atlantis, Golden Magic and Puma.

Valiente takes the gentlest escape from one of these I’ve ever seen. Argos is apparently eliminated off camera – he’s just hanging around outside when they do a crowd shot. In a first as far as I can remember, they spill out to the ramp for spots. Angel de Oro clearly lands on it and not the apron doing spots, but they keep going until Mephisto knocks Angel de Oro down.

Argos & Carístico do briefly fight, though only after La Mascara jumps Carístico first. Announcers thought Argos got beat by a Canadian Destroyer, but it looked more like a powerbomb. Could’ve been meant to be the other way. Argos lays on the apron a long time and is eventually stretchered out, though no one in the match seems all that concerned about him. Puma reacts as if beating Toscano is a big surprise even to him. Golden Magic has La Mascara beat after a 450 splash, but Carístico breaks up the pin (presumably so he can beat Mascara; this gets loud boos.) Carístico fights with Golden Magic even though they’re on the same team. Golden Magic later cheapshots his partner for the moment Puma; he’s beat seconds later. Angel de Oro outdoes Carístico on the dueling flipping run spot, then gets beat. Mephisto, who’s stayed out of most of the match, turns on Carístico when they get to the final three, but turns on La Mascara soon after, dropping him with the Devil’s Wings & Rosa DDT. At that point, they break to show replays of the match so far, which seems to confuse even the announcers. There’s a Senorita Cometa segment.

The final two are reintroduced as if it’s a new one fall match, and it feels like there’s an edit as they jump back in action. The La Mistica to win comes out of nowhere

Review: [good] A tepid recommendation. There’s a fair bit of action, but the few stories they tell – Mascara beats a lot of people so he still looks like a big star, Carístico wins in the end – aren’t really interesting, and they don’t do nearly enough with the other people to keep it interesting. The final two was nothing special, only interesting for the crowd turning on Carístico as he was closing in on the title. It was amazing when they did casita reversals, because it was a rare moment of them not doing move/pin/rest. This is the fulfillment of Elite as Caristico’s vanity promotion, and it’s not that interesting; there’s no matches set up to see or excitement for a future, the king simply puts on his crown. Argos botching one of his first spots and then being out shined by Golden Magic is so Argos. The Carístico/Golden Magic series didn’t make any sense. Mephisto, normally great at catching dive, wasn’t so great with Toscano. He seemed to be taking the match off until the final two, but then was moving slow there too.

Match 2: Rush vs Último Guerrero, LA Park, Cibernético, Máximo Sexy, Súper Crazy, Diamante Azul, Hijo De Dos Caras in an Elite Battle for Elite Heavyweight Championship
Arena México, 05/21/2016
Video: thecubsfan

1. Super Crazy out (by Diamante Azul) (2:45)
2. Máximo out (by Cibernético) (4:40)
3. Hijo de Dos Caras (by Rush) (4:59)
4. Diamante Azul (by Ultimo Guerrero) (5:26)
5. LA Park (by Ultimo Guerrero) (6:44)
6. Ultimo Guerrero (by himself – missed a charge on Cibernético ) (7:35)
7. DQ Rush [martinete] (12:58)
   

Winner: Cibernético
Match Time: 12:58
Notes: An Elite Battle is a battle royal with the final two going to a pinfall or submission (at least in theory.) Cibernético attacks LA Park on the aisle, so they’re battling outside when the whistle blows. Rush goes the entire battle royal without taking off his entrance jump suit. Maixmo goes out trying to kiss Cibernético. Hijo de Dos goes out trying a springboard. Diamante Azul goes out trying a monkey flip on Ultimo Guerrero and getting pushed out from behind by LA Park. La Park does a fancy move, and it takes all three guys taking turns to get him off the apron. UG does his corner knee bump out. As with the last match, replays and other material are shown before the final two actually start.

Rush bails to start the on one to the outside. Cibernético follows and gets beat up, and Rush even has enough time to undress. There’s a couple teased finishes, Cibernético goes for the chokeslam, and Rush blocks it, kicks him, and drops him with a martiente. Referee Edgar is slow reacting, and gets dropkicked after the fact. Rush explains he’d be champion if he wanted to be, but he’s gifting Cibernético the win. Cibernético is carried out on a stretch with the title belt laid on top of him.

Review: [terrible] The work wasn’t as bad the grade, but it wasn’t a lot better and also not enough to overcome the terrible booking. This is mostly a battle royal. There has never been a good lucha libre battle royal. This is not bucking the trend, even longer than normal. Cibernético and Rush had a normal match, nothing feeling special, and a dumb finish to establish a new title. In a world with five million title belts, you have to convince people the one you have means something, and they went the opposite route. This is also the third piledriver of the show and the only one treated like it’s a big deal, which just doesn’t make any sense. This is dumb and a complete waste of everyone’s time.

Highlights of the women’s title match, and the segunda trios match are shown. No highlights are shown of the Copa Maestros match.