CMLL Puebla: 2017-03-06

Recapped: 03/06/2017

What happened: Rush outsmarted UG to win the main event. Carístico wants a rematch with Hijos de Infierno after Mephisto pulled his mask. Policeman and Espiritu Maligno continue to feud.

The new mat fell apart. It’s not really the mat that’s falling apart, but they seem to retouch (repaint?) the logo every week, and the logo disintegrates as the night goes on. Some of it ends up on the luchadors, someone if gets spread out on other parts of the mat (and some of it’s big enough chunks that the referees put in their pockets.) It looks awful by the end of the night and they need to stop doing it – either get rid of the logo entirely or embed it in the mat in a way where it doesn’t rub off.

The level of excitement I have for this show is shown well by writing more about the canvass logo than any match.

What was good: The main event was the best match on the show, better than expected, though still not a great bout

Where can I watch it:  It’s on CMLL’s channel.

Match 1: Hijo de Centella Roja & Vega vs El Malayo & Guerrero Espacial
Arena Puebla, 03/06/2017
Video: VideosOficialesCMLL

1. rudos
   • Malayo top rope elbow drop Hijo del Centella Roja (5:56)
   • Guerrero Espacial standing on legs hammerlock Vega (6:10)
2. técnicos
   • Centella Roja satellite armbar Malayo (2:16)
   • Vega huracanrana Guerrero Espacial (2:32)
3. rudos
   • Malayo leg trap armbar Centella Roja (5:16)
   • Guerrero Especial espectrina Vega (5:34)

Winner: rudos (1/3)
Match Time: 14:16

Review: [ok] Had some moments, but wasn’t interesting all the way thru. Centella and Malayo’s exchange looked rehearsed, maybe not enough since they were still having timing issues and Malayo just walked thru a headscissors. Centella did look better the rest of the match, when he wasn’t being chopped to death, and has shown improvement over the time we’ve seen him. Malayo occasionally does a small thing that’s cool, like the way he tossed Vega out of the way of the action prior to the finish. Vega extremely nice gear for a guy who barely wrestles. He did well in his return but didn’t get to walk the ropes.

Match 2: Black Tiger & Espíritu Maligno vs Hijo del Signo & Policeman
Arena Puebla, 03/06/2017
Video: VideosOficialesCMLL

1. técnicos
   • Black Tiger tibaruzon Hijo del Signo (6:50)
   • Espíritu Maligno espectrina Policeman (7:03)
2. rudos
   • Policeman second rope senton Espiritu Maligno (3:57)
   • Hijo del Signo cross armbreaker Black Tiger (4:07)
3. rudos
   • Hijo del Signo nudo signo Black Tiger (3:31)
   • COR (3:44)

Winner: rudos (2/3)
Match Time: 14:54
Notes: Policeman and Espíritu feuded

Review: [below average] I need to stop watching Black Tiger & Policeman matches. I know they’re going to be a struggle for me to get thru, and yet I keep watching. Booking is dumb here, with Espíritu losing his first match on the técnico side cleanly. Black Tiger is the king of the fancy reversal that you think is going to end in a submission but requires him to reset everything before he can put it on. This really bored me despite the heavy feuding.

Match 3: Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Stigma vs Canelo Casas, Sangre Azteca, Virus
Arena Puebla, 03/06/2017
Video: VideosOficialesCMLL

1. técnicos
   • Soberano underhook seated amrbar Virus (4:54)
2. rudos
   • Virus leg trap head crank Hijo del Soberano (8:10)
3. rudos
   • Sangre Azteca counter dropkick Stigma (3:06)
   • Canelo Casas wheelbarrow half nelson release slam (3:30)

Winner: rudos (2/3)
Match Time: 16:34

Review: [ok] Soberano and Virus taking the whole first fall and Soberano out smarting Virus was neat and different. The downside is the other guys seemed to feel like they needed to do long opening mat segments too. Those weren’t as interesting and the match felt like it took 15 minutes to get out first great. Finishing stuff was better, but this was a bit slow and directionless for me.

Match 4: Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Bobby Villa, Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora
Arena Puebla, 03/06/2017
Video: VideosOficialesCMLL

1. Revolucionarios
   • Bobby Villa dropkick to the backside Angel de Oro (4:15)
2. técnicos
   • DQ Dragon Rojo [unmasking Angel de Oro] (3:42)
3. Revolucionarios
   • Pólvora splash counter Stuka (4:01)
   • Super Pólvora Driver on Titan (5:06)

Winner: Revolucionarios (1/3)
Match Time: 13:03
Notes: Titan got stretched out after the finish, but it seemed to be selling the move. No one in the ring was concerned and Titan was wrestling like normal the next day.

Review: [ok] borderline match, but felt a little bit too stock of a match with not enough personality and some loose endings. The second fall was moving along well until the mask pull, and it was a really strange spot for a second fall which didn’t go anywhere in the ring. Third fall was really big trios match trope-y, with the double triple dive, the group suplex and the stacked up superplexes. At least that last part actually worked for Pólvora, because he countered the usual splash easily.

Match 5: Atlantis, Carístico, Dragón Lee vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
Arena Puebla, 03/06/2017
Video: VideosOficialesCMLL

1. Hijos del Infierno
   • Luciferno Clash on Dragon Lee (4:57)
   • Mephisto tirabuzon Atlantis (5:07)
2. técnicos
   • Atlantis casadora cradle Luciferno (1:31)
   • Dragon Lee huracanrana Ephesto (1:33)
3. técnicos
   • DQ Mephisto [unmasking Carístico] (4:12)

Winner: técnicos (2/3)
Match Time: 10:52
Notes: Carístico demanded a rematch, a title match, and one more fall after the finish. He got one of those.

Review: [ok] This seemed more energetic than some of the undercard, maybe because they didn’t have as much time to work with. Mephisto & Carístico were enough of the focus that Atlantis and Dragon Lee had an easy night, but looked good in what they did. I don’t know if the rematches are going to get much better – Ephesto struggling to take a huracanrana from Dragon Lee lowers my expectations for that match and the Dos Leyendas title match – but they didn’t do all they could here.

Match 6: Rush vs Último Guerrero
Arena Puebla, 03/06/2017
Video: VideosOficialesCMLL

1. Rush corner dropkick (4:09)
2. Pulpo Guerrero (2:59)
3. Rush foul (6:12)

Winner: Rush (1/3)
Match Time: 13:20
Notes: UG and Rush start brawling immediately and keep going, with neither one really playing a técnico. Último Guerrero slow boils over after (typical) Tirantes slow counts and flips out after what he thinks is another one on after a super powerbomb. It’s not really, Rush just stopped Tirantes from counting three and UG can’t see it, but it’s enough for UG to shove Tirantes down to the mat. Rush uses the opening to foul UG and an annoyed Tirantes fast counts the match over.

Review: [good] It didn’t come across the first time I watched, but the story of UG losing his patience with Tirantes and Rush taking advantage of it is really strong on the rewatch. The finish works great, with UG thinking Tirantes has totally screwed him over thanks to Rush’s manipulations, and Rush wasting no time taking advantage of it. The work before it was more of an effort than we’re seen out of Rush on these shows of late. It wasn’t dramatic but they chops felt intense, and they did more than the routine walk thru. I’m not sure about Rush going for a super huracanrana to set up the superbomb, but they otherwise stayed away from the UG checklist. Rush returned the favor by totally laying off him on the dropkick, but at least it wasn’t the stop in front of the corner quick kick bit again.