CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-09-01 

 

Recapped: 09/01/2017

Matches:

Cuatrero, Máscara Año 2000, Sansón beat Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther
(20:02 [7:50, 2:27, 9:45], 1/3, ok)

Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis beat Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Silueta
(9:33 [2:05, 2:14, 5:14], 1/3, ok)

Carístico, Mistico, Soberano Jr. beat Cavernario, Felino, Negro Casas
(10:37 [1:33, 2:57, 6:07], 2/3, great)

Diamante Azul, Dragón Lee, Euforia, Mephisto, Rush, Último Guerrero, Valiente, Volador Jr. beat Johnny Idol, Juice Robinson, Kenny King, Kojima, Marco Corleone, Matt Taven, Michael Elgin, Sam Adonis in a CMLL Gran Prix Tournament match
Arena México, 09/01/2017

1. Dragon Lee Spanish Fly Johnny Idol (12:03)
2. Volador top rope frankensteiner Sam Adonis (15:58)
3. Kenny King springboard blockbuster Euforia (21:17)
4. Matt Taven frog splash Mephisto (25:28)
5. Rush corner dropkick Marco (28:27)
6. Juice Robinson Pulp Friction Dragon Lee (31:08)
7. Valiente Indian Deathlock Kenny King (32:17)
8. DQ Rush (33:49)
9. Ulitmo Guerrero Guerrero Special Matt Taven (36:04)
10. Kojima lariat Valiente (36:49)
11. Volador backcacker Juice Robinson (40:14)
12. Michael Elgin bottom rope Falcon arrow Volador (41:52)
13. Pulpo Guerrero on Kojima (44:12)
14. Michael Elgin crucifix powerbomb Último Guerrero (46:53)
15. Diamante Azul German suplex Michael Elgin (54:17)

What Happened:

The Gran Prix aired on internet.tv iPPV. This was a little more buffering compared to the normal CMLL shows and the feed briefly went out at the start of the Gran Prix, but it was generally a satisfactory streaming experience.

Matt Taven landed horrifically on a middle rope move with Mephisto. Mephisto seemed to think it was a Devil’s Wings and Taven turned over as if for a powerbomb, but mostly landed neck first. Everyone was obviously concerned and Taven seemed dazed at the moment, but rolled out, talked to the doctors, and continued on to take (designed) big painful moves later on. Volador seemed to kick out before the three count from Elgin. Edgar was very definite that he was eliminated. Rush got himself eliminated, like usual.

Zeuxis ripped up Sugehit’s mask in the first fall. Sugehit unmasked and ripped up Zeuxis’ mask. Neither were involved in the third fall finish. A promo for the 09/16 presents the Niebla Roja & Gran Guerrero and Zeuxis & Princesa Sugehit match as two matches on the same level, and CMLL’s account retweeted a message saying the women should be in the main event. (I still don’t think it’s happening, but the people marketing the shows at least are aware of the conversation.)

Review: 

I couldn’t figure out what grade to put this match, so I looked back at what I gave last year and decided this was close enough. I thought the Mexico vs the World bit actually came thru stronger last year, but there were more impressive individual performances. Michael Elgin completely stole the match, from his opening cartwheel out of a Volador headscissors to making Diamante Azul look impressive at the finish. His sequence with Dragon Lee was outstanding and I really want to see that match. Elgin has delivered in both tours he’s been in Mexico and is going to be a big star for CMLL every time he comes in. Taven should get a lot of credit for surviving and continuing to take even more crazy stuff. I’m reluctant to give Diamante Azul too much credit, but they did set up a lot moments for him to look like a powerhouse and he delivered on them. The German suplex came off big. Kenny King looked very good in his opening run with Dragon Lee, and less good with Euforia later. Kojima didn’t have a big influence on the match but what he did generally looked good and it was surprising to see him take the powerbomb. Idol out first was no surprise, but Adonis going out quick without being much part of this was a definite bit. This remains a fun concept which should continue as long as CMLL’s alliances are strong.

The semimain was really short by these standards – they were clearly worried about time by this point – but they squeezed in a lot of impressive técnico stuff for the expected showcase. Anything that cut must’ve been for the rudos, but they still contributing to a clean feeling match. Each of the técnicos got a short fun exchange with Negro Casas, who made it feel like a big deal each time. Soberano’s tornillo was out of this world, not sure I’ve seen anyone do it just like he did it. The Cavernario spear into the spot is not new, but Mistico doing a flip to set it felt innovative and set up his offense well. There’s a better match here, which maybe we’ll see at some point, but there was enough interesting stuff to make it worthwhile.

The women had another solid match, with Sugehit & Zeuxis both ripping up mask and also doing a fair bit more in the ring. The crowd wasn’t into this a great amount (just Negro Casas showing up got a noticeably large attention), but they were respectful for sure. Dalys didn’t look good, feeling someone more performing as a wrestler than someone fighting. She also got the top rope snap back at her, which can’t be fun. Silueta’s double jump headscissors was nice.

Disappointingly slow speed match, with the older men getting much of the spotlight and the early potions of the match seemingly worked around what they could do instead of the younger guys. They weren’t shut out, but it wasn’t the blowout match for a big show most of the way. The last few minutes did pick up the action a bit, but it felt like a lot of stuff around Blue Sr. & Mascara 2000. That’s a not great matchup and they weren’t as over as usual until Panther did his dive. The Panther standing in the path of his father’s tope didn’t really make any sense, but I guess it’s how they wanted to set up eliminations. Those eliminations were good and the last few minutes of the match were the best, just needed more before it.