CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-12-22 

Recapped: 12/22/2017

Matches: 

Fiero & Oro Jr. beat Raziel & Templario
(5:48 [2:45, 3:03], 1/2 DQ, ok, YouTube)

Puma, Tiger, Virus beat Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Soberano Jr. 
(13:31 [5:34, 4:22, 3:35], 2/3, good, YouTube)

Ángel de Oro, Mistico, Niebla Roja beat Cavernario, Cuatrero, Negro Casas
(14:46 [6:12, 2:35, 5:59], 2/3, good, YouTube)

Rush defeated Mr. Niebla, Último Guerrero, Terrible, Shocker, Sansón, Kráneo, Euforia, Máscara Año 2000, Rey Bucanero, Gran Guerrero, Forastero, Pierroth, Hechicero, Misterioso Jr., Vangellys  to win CMLL’s Leyenda de Azul tournament
(28:40, ok, YouTube – right to the match, skipping the battle royal)

1. Sansón submitted Misterioso Jr. (9:10)
2. Hechicero Magia Negra Vangellys (13:11)
3. Pierroth Boston crab Mascara 2000 (13:34)
4. Euforica on Shocker (14:12)
5. Rey Bucanero small package Forastero (15:16)
6. Mr. Niebla Nieblina Rey Bucanero (17:58)
7. Mr. Niebla pin Gran Guerrero (21:30)
8. Gran Guerrero pin Mr. Niebla (21:30)
9. Rush corner dropkick Hechicero (22:20)
10. Kraneo running hipcheck Sanson (23:05)
11. Terrible drokick Kraneo (23:32)
12. Último Guerrero Pulpo Guerrero Terrible (24:33)
13. Rush pin Último Guerrero w/help from Pierroth (25:44)
14. Euforia armabr Pierroth (26:54)
15. Rush martillo negro Euforia (28:40)

Carístico beat Volador Jr.
(15:26, 2/3, great, YouTube)

1. Volador backcracker (2:56)
2. Carístico torito (2:55)
3. Carstico La Caristica (9:35)

What happened:

Carístico challenged Volador to a NWA World Welterweight championship match for next week. Volador said OK, before playing around doing it tonight and then walking out.

Pierroth & Rush fought, but only for a moment before hugging, and teamed up to cheat Último Guerrero out of the tournament. Rush at first mocked the trophy, then seemed happier with the belt.

Sansón unmasked Angel de Oro for no obvious reason.

Rudos had the técnicos dead to rigths in the second fall of the opener, but choose to unmask them instead for the DQ.

Thoughts:

Carístico dying on a missed dive early on gave this match with a Volador a different feel from the start. Volador repeatedly waiting in the ring for Carsitico to climb back, content with a countout win but more eager just to kick Carístico’s head in as he got into the ring, made sure he came strongly as a rudo and that this was something more move turn taking. They still did a lot of big spots, and Carístico seemed to recover from his death a little too easily, but they got the fans into it after some less than interesting stuff that preceded it. Volador going for La Mistica as the ultimate humiliation and getting caught in the other way was a smart finish for Caristico’s big win. Next week is going to be challenging, I’m not sure there’s enough there to come back for a third singles match between them in such short time. I don’t blame them for trying.

The Leyenda de Azul tournament didn’t seem to have any reason to exist, except that somehow Rush hadn’t won one of the 30 different tournaments or titles CMLL had this year so I guess that had to be checked off before the calendar page turned. Crowd seemed to tire of this concept about 7 minutes in and these guys weren’t the ones to get them back. Mr. Niebla had a really good night and some guys (Euforia, Terrible) had obvious fun working as técnicos for limited periods, but this was a really long match that didn’t go anywhere interesting. There are better ways to use your time.

The tercera was alright, but after two matches that were almost what they could’ve been, I was again hoping for a little bit more. The crowd was so into cheering Negro Casas and booing Mistico that it kind overshadowed everything else. It made it more memorable that way, though it was fighting the way they wanted the match to go. Angel de Oro’s moonsault to the floor on Cuatrero in the second fall was really well timed.

The second match looked like it could be great, especially with Soberano added to the match. It felt more like they worked to the position on the card, with some fast moving action but not going over the top with big action as they shown at other times. Everything they did try looked pretty well, with some good timing on on a slightly unusual sequence at the end, but I think people might still view this one as a little bit of disappointment given the names involved.

The opener was all about letting people know these people are having a cage match in three days by shredding everyone’s masks. They did get a few good spots, and it’d be nice to get a real version of this match someday. Fiero & Templario looked nervous in the first fall, but a lot steadier in the second fall. They did a cool reversal of Fiero’s finishing armbar into a powerbomb that would’ve been way over if people knew it was Fiero’s finish. The match didn’t go long enough see if Raziel was actually trying, but his suplex at the end was cool.