CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2016-09-16 

Recapped: 10/03/2015

What happened:  CMLL honored legends by putting them in the ring. Many should’ve passed on that honor. Matt Taven debuted and cheated to beat Rush. Rey Escorpión had his last match as an Ingobernable, though no one knew it at the time.

What was good: The main event was the worst match on a major show in any promotion in the world this year.

I liked the two current day CMLL matches, and the third match was the most salvageable of the legend matches.

Where can I watch it: I watched it on RockerGamer’s channel. I think.

Match 1: Estrellita, Marcela, Sanely vs Amapola, La Jarochita, La Metálica
Arena México, 09/16/2016
Notes: This aired but wasn’t on any of the internet feeds.

Match 2: Blue Panther, Kahoz, Negro Navarro vs Mano Negra, Solar I, Súper Astro
Arena México, 09/16/2016
Video: RockerGamer30

1. team Super Astro
   • Super Astro reverse tope Kahoz (7:23)
   • Mano Negra body slam Negro Navarro (7:44)
2. team Kahoz
   • Kahoz standing reverse armbar Solar (2:37)
3. team Kahoz
   • Negro Navarro keylock armscissors Solar (3:33)

Winner: team Kahoz (2/3)
Match Time: 13:54
Notes: The fall ends abruptly, as if everyone but Kahoz and Solar weren’t in on that being the finish.

Review: [below average] The difference between the three guys who are still active and the three who are not (or at least not at any high level) was really obvious and immense. Blue Panther, Negro Navarro and Solar looked like their normal selves, and Super Astro, Mano Negro and Kahoz all looked rough and would not have been plausible performers anywhere outside of a legend’s show. Even given the allowances for this sort of show, Super Astro had a rough night. I was glad he at least landed his tope to end the match so there would be some good moment for him. Negro Navarro appeared to slam himself for Mano Negra’s finish. Navarro & Solar were actually slightly helped for me by the format, as they had to get to the point a little quicker than usual (and ended up doing it a lot quicker than usual) and didn’t overindulge in your move/my move submission. They were also mostly working with other people except for a couple bits in the third fall; it would’ve been nice to group all the guys who could still go in one match, but the thought had to be to try and carry the weaker guys thru as best as they could.

A dance number follows.

Match 3: Fuerza Guerrera, Negro Casas, Satánico vs Atlantis, El Fantasma, Máscara Sagrada
Arena México, 09/16/2016
Video: RockerGamer30

1. rudos
   • Negro Casas scorpion Fantasma (6:41)
   • Satanico half crab Mascara Sagrada (6:44)
2. técnicos
   • Atlantis tapatia Negro Casas (2:26)
3. técnicos
   • Fantasma inverted bear hug Fuerza Guerrera (6:35)
   • Atlantida on Negro Casas (6:35)

Winner: técnicos (2/3)
Match Time: 15:45
Notes: This crowd is so old school and rudo heavy that Atlantis gets a fair bit of boos.

Review: [ok] Nowhere near the lows of the previous match, but really maybe not the highs I thought they were going to reach: they did a safe, solid spotlight match for the tecnicos, with the rudos spending most of the match selling and bumping for the técnicos. The match was built around Fantasma, which was not going to be the most exciting choice but also kind of predictable. (Crowd went nuts for his finish, but I’m sure it’s because they thought he was going for a martinete.) Fantasma was alright, Mascara Sagrada was slow, and I wanted more of Satanico and Fuerza than we got. I spent part of the match trying to reason why they should do an Atlantis/Fuerza mask match (they’d get 15K at high prices easy, even at this point), but there really wasn’t enough between them here to back it up with any reason.

Match 4: Valiente vs Bárbaro Cavernario in a lightning match
Arena México, 09/16/2016
Video: RockerGamer30

Winner: Valiente (Valiente buster)
Match Time: 7:04
Notes: Valiente is a replacement for Mascara Dorada, who later said he had flight issues. Valiente, facing away from Tirantes, believes he’s heard a three count on the finish. He lets go of the pin and starts to turn around, only to realize late it was a two count. Valiente turns back and covers, and Tirantes counts a third time. Everyone but those two men are vastly confused. Fans boo.

Review: [good] that finish was about as cold as possible, and I‘m not sure the right guy won, but they went all out for the time before. Valiente didn’t bust out his biggest dive, but his tope still looked good and Cavernario did a lot with him in that match. Cavernario’s one of the best at taking Valiente’s monkey flip, and Valiente is small enough that Valiente can throw him around a bit. Would’ve still rather seen Dorada.

Match 5: Pierroth, Rey Escorpión, Rush vs Euforia, Matt Taven, Último Guerrero
Arena México, 09/16/2016
Video: RockerGamer30

1. Ingobernables
   • Rush missile dropkick Ultimo Guerrero (2:15)
2. Team Guerrero
   • Ultimo Guerrero pulpo Guerrero Rey Escorpión (3:04)
   • Euforia senton Pierroth (3:10)
3. Ingobernables
   • Matt Taven pin with the ropes Rush (6:35)

Winner: Ingobernables (1/3)
Match Time: 12:00
Notes: Taven enters without incident, but the Ingobernables and Guerreros start brawling right away. Rush pulls Taven away from it so they can fight. This turns out to be Rey Escorpion’s last CMLL TV match for the time being, switching to Elite, though no one know that for sure at the time. Rush ranted on the microphone, challenging Taven in broken English by the end.

Review: [good] the crowd helped this match the most, as the usual rudo/rudo brawl was livened up by a crowd way into cheering for Ultimo Guerrero and team (though it was weird to do that with the idea of Matt Taven being the bigger heel for cheating at the end.) Taven really did good in his debut match, especially considering this is a weird match to start. His sequence with Rey Escorpión looked super (Rey Escorpión looked super the whole match) and he never seemed lost. Rush sold big for him, but it’s always amazing how much he sells for his tough character. It still doesn’t hurt his character. Meanwhile, tough guy Pierroth is trusted in the ring for all of five seconds before his friends rush in.

Match 6: Cien Caras, Máscara Año 2000, Universo 2000 vs Canek, Dos Caras Sr., Rayo de Jalisco Jr.
Arena México, 09/16/2016
Video: RockerGamer30, R de Rudo

1. rudos
   • Universo 2000 cradle Canek (7:17)
2. técnicos
   • Rayo & Dos pin Universo (3:29)
   • Rayo & Dos pin Mascara (3:51)
3. técnicos
   • Dos Caras Clutch on Mascara (4:35)
   • Canek armscissors armbar Universo (4:40)

Winner: técnicos (2/3)
Match Time: 15:48
Notes: There’s a live band to back Mascara Ano 2000 singing his way to the ring. They still have the Universo entrance video, which is shown briefly before deciding to stick with Mascara singing. Everyone enters wearing their masks. Dinamitas wear their masks. The crowd starts whistling starts about 7 minutes in. They never loudly turn out the match, but they’re negative on it the last two falls. It’s never really evident if people are leaving during the match, as was said, but there are much more empty sections visible immediately at the finish of the match than usual for a packed show.

Review: [bad] one of the worst matches of the year. You can give allowances for the ages of these guys and it was still pretty terrible. CMLL was smart enough to stick people who could still move around a bit in the other legends matches. It’s unclear why they didn’t do in this match – or, worse still, they thought they did. Rayo de Jalisco was the best guy by having not been good to start with and not sinking all that far. Dos Caras couldn’t do much, but was the best hidden. Canek was horrid, and the Dinamitas were somehow worse. Look, I get the idea that (promoters believe) people are paying to see Cien Caras at wrestling shows in 2016. They’d probably be ok with just seeing Cien Caras stand in the ring and wave to his fans and maybe they could play his music. If he spent 15 minutes taking photos instead of trying to have a wrestling match, everyone would be so much happier. He was unable to do much and they had him doing a lot. His brothers were scarcely any better, and it was past comedy how bad some of the exchanged. Anyone with sense in their head should’ve known sending these guys out there for 17 minutes was a terrible idea, and yet it was allowed to happen by a lot of people. There’s no way this match should’ve happened like it did after the Villanos match last year, but no one seems to learn anything in lucha libre.