CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2016-10-07

Recapped: 10/24/2016

What happened: Volador kept the welterweight championship over Cavernario. La Mascara helped Rush win, much to Dragon Lee’s displeasure. Pequeño Olimpico either forget the rules of lucha libre or sabotaged his own match.

What was good: Volador/Cavernario for sure. I really liked the second match, and the fourth and six matches were good.

Where can I watch it: It’s on my channel and elsewhere.

Match 1: Fantasy & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Olímpico
Arena México, 10/07/2016
Video: Noyolo, thecubsfan

1. rudos
   • Ultimo Dragoncito huracanrana Pequeño Olímpico (2:59)
   • Fantasy faceslam Pequeño Nitro (3:16)
2. técnicos
   • Pequeño Nitro guillotine plancha Fantasy (2:27)
   • Pequeño Olímpico kneeling neckbreaker Ultimo Dragoncito (3:04)
3. técnicos
   • Fantasy middle rope Spanish Fly Pequeño Olímpico (4:06)
   • Pequeño Nitro powerbomb Ultimo Dragoncito (4:24)
   • DQ Pequeno Olímpico (illegal re-entry) (4:42)

Winner: técnicos (2/3)
Match Time: 11:02
Notes: Joined in progress (because the feed started late.) Pequeño Olímpico is clearly pinned for three, but comes back in as if twas only a two count. It’s not a messed up three count or anything, and even Pequeño Nitro is ticked off at the finish.

Review: [below average] Pequeño Olímpico screwing up the match, either because he wasn’t paying attention or because he was actively trying to mess up the match, was quite amazing. He early forgot how to do a press slam and someone probably needs to have a long chat with him. The rest of the match was the forgettable minis match you’re used to, although Pequeño Nitro finally got drop on someone hanging on the ropes after having that happen to him roughly 200 time, so that was nice.

Match 2: Hombre Bala Jr., Soberano Jr., Star Jr. vs Okumura, Puma, Tiger
Arena México, 10/07/2016
Video: Noyolo, thecubsfan

1. rudos
   • Puma backcracker Hombre Bala Jr. (4:00)
2. técnicos
   • Hombre Bala headstand double knee smash Puma (3:20)
3. rudos
   • Okumura superplex Star Jr. (5:24)
   • Puma Kingdom Soberano Jr. (6:38)

Winner: rudos (1/3)
Match Time: 13:58

Review: [great] fast paced action match, with everything going pretty well and the six in the match pushing what they could do in a segunda match. They mixed up the matchups and just kept going all match long, with great timing and tricky moves. Puma had really great timing on the backcracker, and the third fall kept escalating until the finish. I think it might have actually taken Puma & Soberano three times to get where they wanted, but they flowed thru it well enough that it didn’t really matter. Puma, Tiger and Okumura have worked enough together to be consistent, but the técnicos are more a random collection and still felt like a team. They got the most out of this match.

In between matches, Sanely and Máximo came to the ring wearing pink (well, Sanely, Maximo just had his hair) as part of the breast cancer awareness month.

Match 3: Estrellita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, Dalys, Tiffany
Arena México, 10/07/2016
Video: Noyolo, thecubsfan

1. tecnicas
   • Lluvia casadora cradle Tiffany (6:01)
   • Princesa Sugehit Mistica Amapola (6:13)
2. rudas
   • Dalys swinging side slam Marcela (2:13)
3. tecnicas
   • Marcela tapatia Dalys (3:27)

Winner: tecnicas (1/3)
Match Time: 11:53

Match 4: Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Valiente vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Felino, Pólvora
Arena México, 10/07/2016
Video: Noyolo, thecubsfan

1. rudos
   • Felino reverse figure four Atlantis (4:22)
2. técnicos
   • Valiente half crab armbar Pólvora (3:58)
   • Mascara Dorada senton con giro Felino (4:04)
3. técnicos
   • Atlantida on Dragon Rojo Jr. (5:50)

Winner: técnicos (2/3)
Match Time: 14:16

Review: [good] only made sure to watch this because Mascara Dorada in 2016 is very hard to skip; he was good, but this wasn’t his bigger showcase matches. It was actually kind of ordinary for about two falls and really got the crowd with a sharp third fall – regular técnico offense, but done well enough to make the fans care. Dorada doing his dive (one of his easier ones!) and then magically appearing next to Atlantis five seconds later was kind of amazing.

Match 5: Volador Jr. © vs Cavernario for the NWA World Welterweight Championship
Arena México, 10/07/2016
Video: Noyolo, thecubsfan

1. Cavernario springboard splash (1:53)
2. Volador Canadian Destroyer (3:25)
3. Volador Spiral 2 (13:58)

Winner: Volador (2/3)
Match Time: 19:16
Notes: Seconds are Soberano Jr. & Okumura. No weights are announced.

Review: [great] an exciting rematch well worth watching, yet still seemed slightly inferior to the majority of the previous week’s battle. It was a great display of athleticism and a rare moment when Volador was out daredeviled in a match; Cavernario’s dive off the stage was incredible and he seemed to be on a mission to perfectly hit all the high risk moves after stumbling last week. (He did avoid doing the one he slipped on, but I’m not sure anyone would’ve noticed.) Beyond the big stuff, I loved the big where Cavernario was holding Volador by one hand to keep him close so he could keep punching him in the face, and I enjoyed how smoothly and suddenly Volador was able to finish him with Destroyer in that fall. My complaint is the usual one I come to in Volador matches, the long third fall stretch where the match is simply each guy taking a turn doing a move with no particular believable consequence. I’m finding the latter part the more central frustrating: when Cavernario does a dive, gets back in the ring, and stands with spit hanging off his mouth for Volador to get ready springboard back in, that’s not a great wrestling sequence and it doesn’t say much for the impact of the dive. They helpfully got away from that pattern late, with Volador breaking out his big moves and being unable to put Cavernario away, and that made the one time Cavernario got in the cavernaria all that bigger deal. I was surprised they didn’t try to play off the previous week’s finish at all – I didn’t really need to see it, but that’s the usual CMLL pattern. I’d argue Cavernario got more out looking great in a loss here than he did with a brushed aside win last week.

Match 6: Dragón Lee, Mistico, Rush vs Euforia, Mephisto, Último Guerrero
Arena México, 10/07/2016
Video: Noyolo, thecubsfan

1. rudos
   • Mephisto powerbomb Dragon Lee (1:15 seen)
   • Euforica Special Mistico (1:28 seen)
2. Munoz Family
   • Dragon Lee huracanrana Mephisto (1:20)
   • La Mistica on Euforia (1:28)
3. Munoz Family
   • Dragon Lee hanging double stomp Mephisto (5:42)
   • Euforia powerbomb Dragon Lee (6:04)
   • Rush foul Ultimo Guerrero (7:12)

Winner: Munoz Family (2/3)
Match Time: 10:08 seen
Notes: joined in progress. With Tirantes busy with the guys on the outside (and Mistico down after a missed dive), UG spears Rush and puts him into a Pulpo Guerrero. A person in a Sombra mask, but clearly not him walks to the ring. (The announcers don’t identify the Sombra mask, and just ask who this is.) Rush used the distraction to foul Ultimo Guerrero, and gets the pin. The person unmasks as La Mascara and walks off. Dragon lee isn’t happy with this and lets Rush know.

Review: [good] more than I thought there would be given the time, just a fun one off trios match with the brothers before the angle kicks in at the very end. Mistico doing the missed moonsault to the outside for this match was totally unnecessary, though it did make his injury look very plausible. Mephisto doing the Kamaitachi piledriver was random, and shows Dragon Lee has a bit to do with hit. They really tried to sell the idea of Sombra showing up to the live crowd, which is slightly interesting.