CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-01-06 

Recapped: 01/06/2018

Matches: 

Fiero, Flyer, Magia Blanca vs El Coyote, Templario, Yago
(9:44 [6:16, 3:28], 1/2, great, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Pegasso & Titán beat  Raziel & Virus
(24:13 [8:16, 5:22, 10:35], 1/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Soberano Jr. beat  Rey Cometa
(6:20, 2/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

1. Rey Cometa Canadian Destroyer (1:37)

2. Soberano tornillo (1:27)

3. Soberano springboard legdrop (3:16)

Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón beat Drone, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr.
(16:06 [6:52, 3:03, 6:11], 1/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL )

Niebla Roja beat Gran Guerrero
(18:54, 2/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

1. Gran Guerrero reverse armscissors (2:02)

2. Niebla Roja huracanrana (3:50)

3. Niebla Roja Furia Roja (13:02)

Último Guerrero & Valiente  vs Cavernario & Volador Jr. in a relevos increíbles match
(15:26 [4:11, 1:44, 9:31], 1/3, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened: 

Though Audaz was announced for the match, Fiero wrestled under his previous name. After he won the match, Panico and JCR came to the ring to talk him up, and announce he’d be now known as Audaz. Fiero switched masks and celebrated. Panico spoke about this being the first of a lot of opportunities for young talent this year.

Thoughts: 

The main event had the elements of a good match, but it was missing a little heart for me. The issue with this format of rematches of big matches is the rematches are not as big. The rematches lack the same stakes that drove the wrestlers and the fans in the first match, and it feels a little flat in comparison. This one felt more like an all star tag exhibition match of showcasing moves rather than one where people were desperate to win. Último Guerrero, the worst offender, is better in theory in tag matches because there are people who can come in and out and he can’t just do the checklist match. In this one, he crossed a while bunch of the checklist with Volador before finally letting the other people play. They didn’t just do UG’s stuff, they repeated what seemed to be a lot of the final, but no one quite got into it as much the final, and it was one of those matches where no one was really close to winning until it was time to finish. There’s far worse and it entertained the fans, it just wasn’t all that interesting.

The Gran Guerrero/Niebla Roja match went very long. Maybe the plan, maybe because they were making up for other things going short. It led to it having a slow pace all the way thru, not even the rush at the end that happens frequently. Maybe they would’ve gotten to that moment; the finish seemed like it was a three count that shouldn’t have been one. The big moves were impressive, the crowd hating Niebla Roja was also impressive. I think I would’ve better enjoyed a much shorter version of this.

The fourth match was about normal for the NGD of late. They’ve plateaued on offense, rolling out almost the same spots every match and could use some freshening up there. Their selling is still good, actively making the técnicos look better in a way uncommon for a lot of rudos. Esfinge looked really good in this match, and I can’t credit him for all of that. They got a lot of time and tried to make use of it all the way thru better than the second match.

Soberano/Cometa was going along well enough, then Edgar counted three when Rey Cometa kicked out, or Cometa waited until too late to kick out. It seemed more on Cometa, and it seemed a disappointment compared to what was expected: this was effectively a lightning match with fall breaks. The highlights looked good but the match didn’t come the way it could’ve been. It’s alright if you’re not expecting a lot.

The segunda was going to have trouble following what happened to open the show by any means, but this match would’ve been a downer on a dead Tuesday show. Raziel & Virus killed the pace, with only sporadic moments of interest and no real direction. Pegasso & Titan would’ve had to go all out to make it work, and they could just make it sort of passable. The crowd wasn’t reacting to anything they were doing, which just make it stick out worse. They did end up unloading everything they could do b the end, and the crowd did react to Titan eliminating Raziel, but it sure took a long time to get to that point, and it was odd this came down to Pegasso.

I’m probably overrating the match because I was so excited to see an all out match in an CMLL opener, and these guys haven’t been as overexposed as others. Fiero’s superb, and they not so subtly made all the biggest moments of the match about him to build him up for his name change. This still wasn’t a one many show, with everyone else getting their own moments. Templario might one day surpass his técnico rival, and that they had him work every big spot with the guy they’re trying to get over speaks very well of him. Magia Blanca looked completely lost when he started in CMLL and has come so long way. Everyone looked like a strong prospect for the future, a hopeful way to start off this show.