Recapped: 08/25/2017
Matches:
Robin & Star Jr. beat Akuma & Espanto Jr.
(11:06 [4:17, 3:44, 3:05], 1/3, ok)
Disturbio, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado beat Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso
(17:20 [7:29, 3:56, 5:55], 2/3, ok)
La Vaquerita, Princesa Sugehit, Sanely beat Amapola, La Comandante, Zeuxis
(8:29 [3:07, 5:22], DQ 1/2, good)
Soberano Jr. beat Cavernario in a lightning match
(9:13, powerbomb, good)
Dragón Lee, Mistico, Niebla Roja beat Gran Guerrero, Shocker, Terrible
(11:04 [2:22, 2:05, 6:37], 2/3 DQ, ok)
Juice Robinson, Matt Taven, Michael Elgin beat Diamante Azul, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. in a relevos increíbles match
(13:10 [3:53, 2:33, 6:44], 1/3, good)
What happened:
The foreigners are now wrestling completely as rudos, with Juice being an over the top heel. Johnny Idol came down the aisle in the third fall, distracting Tirantes from a Matt Taven foul on Ultimo Guerrero. The foreigners beat up Guerrero post match, taunted the fans, and swore they would win the Gran Prix next week.
Gran Guerrero fouled and unmasked Niebla Roja to end the semifinal, then shoved Edgar down too. That felt like the only time they got a reaction.
Tirantes prematurely counted the three count in the lightning match. Cavernario obviously kicked out of the powerbomb, which the announcers pointed out on the replay. Both Cavernario and Soberano argued the finish and went to their planned finish (a Fire Driver) but Tirantes refused to count.
Sanely replaced Silueta in a women’s match. Zeuxis pulled of Sanely’s mask on purpose in the first fall. The rudas ripped that up, but Sugehit quickly had a backup mask handed to her – so Zeuxis took that one right away and ripped it up too. Sugehit left, to the back, and got a third mask. Sugehit returned and went right after Zeuxis and her mask. The two brawled far into the crowd, and Sugehit ultimately won by unmasking Zeuxis on a cradle.
Thoughts:
The main event flowed better than last week, with both teams showing more familiarity with each other and with their opponents. It really wasn’t much about the action, but the cartoonish evil performance of the rudos. I don’t want to say they weren’t taking it seriously, but Elgin, Taven and Robinson were clearly having a lot of fun playing broad uncomplicated evil foreigners. It was almost like something you’d see on a kid’s show version of wrestling – or maybe Peste Negra at their ‘best’, when they’re so charismatic rudos that the crowd ends up rooting for them. There’s no danger of the crowd rooting for the International team here, and they still built up the importance of next week’s Gran Prix well. I’d hope that one is going to be a little more serious, but just as fun.
The semifinal was fine, bordering on good. Dragon Lee worked hard and pulled out some new stuff. Shocker is moving a little bit better and looks like he lost some weight. He’s still not good, but it’s progress I had pretty much given up on. The Gran Guerrero/Niebla Roja feud was shockingly not over, even compared to normal – there was no reactions until a brief one for the reaction. Both guys want it to be good but they don’t have any ideas on how to make themselves stick out and feel important. This match would be in trouble on a b-show. Maybe, in a weird way, they’re helped out by being on the Anniversary show because people will still get into it because of the importance of that show.
Soberano & Cavernario was an exciting match, though one where it only seemed to scratch the surface what they could do. They were hitting their head on the ten minute ceiling with their planned finish, and the proximity to being a draw is probably the reason why Tirantes counted a three count early. There’s no explanation for why Tirantes slow counted a pin earlier. A championship match between these two could be superb. Cavernario tornillo felt like came out from nowhere, a much less contrived set up than Soberano’s (obviously still) beautiful stage dive tornillo. Soberano had a great run late in the match, but it was really set up by Cavernario keeping him down for an extended portion of time instead of going back and forth.
Zeuxis & Sugehit was an unexpected fun brawl, with the unexpected action in the crowd. They seemed out of control and heated, exactly how you want any mask mask to fill. No one else was out of this world, but the work but other four were solid for this type of match, with the dives coming off well. They’ve made Zeuxis & Sugheit feel like a big deal and they’ve still got weeks to go.
The semimain was a little bit disappointing, there wasn’t a lot of life to it for a while. The triple dive spot work people up, but the dives were actually not so great. It was the regular reminder that Sagrado is quite good and should be doing something more, but maybe he shouldn’t be trying to murder Drone with the Buca Storm.
The opener was a very normal prelim match, none of the excitement of the last few matches. Still think Robin has gotten better but would really need him into something bigger to tell. His dive here was super great and that’s enough to carry him into better trios.
