healthy and normal behavior
The final one of these posts this year! About half The Crash and one-forth regrets. There’s eight matches here, so a total of 80 matches over these extra roun ups. Hope they’ve been useful.
Volador Jr. vs Mephisto
(CMLL @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara on 11/14, 8:16, ok, via thecubsfan)
An abbreviated version of exactly the match you’d expect from these. Short on term, though really short only about two of the near falls you’d expect. (No time for the ground floor Devil’s Wings, direct to the super version.) The pace is worked a little bit faster at the start but it doesn’t really amount to anything, and the TV network actually loses the picture during the finish. You get the replay and you can figure out what it’s going to be in advance, but this isn’t worth the time even for a Volador or Mephisto completest.
Rey Fénix vs Flamita
(The Crash @ Auditorio Miguel Barragan, San Luis Potosí in 11/29, excellent, 15:42, excellent, via Juan Zárate)
This is out of order; I saved this one for last so I knew I’d have something good to watch. This absolutely delivered on that. Flamita & Fenix were going fast and big the entire match, pulling off sequences with and against each other that I’m not sure if anyone else could do. The 619 avoidance segment, partially blocked out by a referee who involved himself in the match a bit too much early, is otherworldy. My notes for this match aren’t much, I was too into the match, but they looked sharp thru the match. Fenix breaking out a farmer’s roll out of a torito was a random as all get out and a great curveball to the usual cradle battle bit . There’s sections of this match where the crowd isn’t make much noise. It’s not that they don’t care, it’s a rare lucha crowd so into the match that they don’t make a lot of sounds while the action is going. They do after big turns of events, and go more deliriously crazy as the match goes on – the San Luis Potosi fans lose their minds on Fenix’s triple springboard double stomp. This is a surprisingly pro-Flamita crowd at times, and I appreciate that they’re having these finishes go back and forth even though Fenix seems like the bigger star in the rivalry. They probably could’ve added more to go even longer, but it felt like it built well at the time they had, and hopefully they’ll keep having chances to mix more stuff in.
Aramis, Astrolux, Black Boy vs Látigo, Tiago, Toxin
(The Crash @ Arena Neza on 12/15, 6:00, great, via Adrian Martinez)
The time didn’t seem right when I checked the video, but both version of this match are about as long. It is edited in a t least one moment, but this is mostly just a hyper speed sprint, guys flying around just to try and get what they can in while they can. Aramis stands out the most, looking strong against Tiago, getting knock for a loop and pulling out a beautiful dive moments later. I don’t think that I can say everyone had their moments because there just wasn’t enough time for moments, but there was always something crazy to look at. It’s about as good as six minute flippy indie match is going to get, which makes it a very slight Great for me.
Neza Kid & Séptimo Dragón vs El Bandido & Laredo Kid
(The Crash @ Arena Neza on 12/15, 7:10, ok, via Adrian Martinez)
Lots of action, and yet still a little unsatisfying. It’s a tag match which doesn’t at all feel like one. They’re all going at the same time, coming off more like a four way and I’d imagine it’s pretty easy to get confused on teams. Everyone did a lot in the short time they got, but the crowd really just reacted like it was a missable opener match in the video I saw. The crowd reacts to the dives – which seem to turn into a contest about who can most overshoot their target and hit the guardrail – though it’s definitely helped there by the luchadors giving the crowd a moment to react to the dives coming rather than just speeding thru them. I like fast action but it’s also somehow got to register and a lot of the more physically impressive stuff just melded together into one piece. I didn’t hate it but it could’ve been better.
Daga © vs Mike Segura vs Willie Mack for a LWA Championship
(The Crash @ Arena Neza on 12/15, 13:05, good, via Adrian Martinez)
This was much better than the tag match for having less people in it (so much so that I had to reconsider my grade for that.) Willie Mack most was just in random trios for 2017 The Crash and shows here he could do so much more. The Neza crowd really wanted to root for Daga and Mack stole the match. This was a lot of one on one, which made it feel like Mack wrestled Segura & Daga back to back. (Mike disappears on the outside for the last four and half minutes; it was so unusual that I thought he got eliminated somehow.) Mack comes across as a monster again both smaller opponents, knocking Segura around and making it more impressive when Daga’s able to suplex him over and over again. He wasn’t really playing rudo, no one was, but he was shocking the crowd with the agile stuff he usually does. The was about as good has looked lately too. He’s not taking over a match the way he used to, but he does have a nice run here.
Mecha Wolf & Sammy Guevara vs Flamita & The King
(The Crash @ Arena Neza on 12/15, great, 10:06, via Adrian Martinez)
Fenix & Flamita are such an absurdly great make shift team that it makes this match worth seeking out even if there had been nothing more to it. Guevera & Wolf are good, though they’ve had better nights, but it feels like the wrong when they get a questionable win. Fenix & Flamita are just super humanly fast when they’re working together and spectacular when they’re fighting alone. Fenix’s ramp running dropkick look so spectacular that I’m pretty sure all Fenix matches should have a ramp now. Flamita & Guevera taking the backwards bump over the top rope to the floor to set up the finish was crazy. The result seemed to set up a rematch or Fenix/Mecha, but who knows with The Crash.
Imposible vs Dr. Cerebro
(IWRG @ Arena Naucalpan on 12/17, 4:38, ok, via IWRG tv)
I didn’t realize this was so short until getting ready to watch this match, and then it’s even shorter than it seems. They try to go fast to make the most of the time, but you’d have to absolutely nail it to make it work in under five minutes and they’re not that close. Imposible standing still while Dr. Cerebro slipped and recovered on the ropes was not the greatest moment. It just comes across as a lot of stuff and then a sudden finish.
Arez, Bombero Infernal, Dr. Cerebro, Fantasma de la Ópera, Internacional Pantera, Oficial 911, Robin Maravilla, Yakuza vs Akira San, Cadilac, Diablo Jr., Dragón Bane, Fulgor II, Lacerado Kid, Moto Cross, X-Corpio in a cibernetico match
(IWRG @ Arena Naucalpan on 12/20, 27:10, good, via thecubsfan)
This is the teachers versus students version of Copa High Power. I thought this was decent though I’m a sucker for elimination matches and the logic didn’t make much sense: this is students versus teachers, shouldn’t the teachers have a pretty easy win here? The finish was not much good no matter what the set up was. I also have no member of Arez being in this match so don’t go be watching this if you’re looking for him. This is the AYM broadcast so the announcers (with Avisman?) have no clue who’s who in this sort of match, making identifing the unknown rookies a challenge. The one who stood out the most was “Lacerado Kid”, who normally spells it Lasserado Kid. He’s a Pantera trainee from Guanajuato who showed superior agility, busting out a Triton like moonsault at one point. He’d be a guy to watch if it was actually possible to watch him; whoever put the match knew what they have to let him go very long at least. The kid in orange – might have been Yakuza’s trainee Akira San? – was also impressive in spurts. I got two names to look for out of this, so it wasn’t all bad by any means.
Caifan vs Mr. Niebla
(Lucha Memes @ Arena Naucalpan on 11/20, 12:40, great, via +LuchaTV)
I watched this one much later the the rest in this back, when I looked at match of the year listings and realized this was the big lucha match that had slipped past me this year.
Caifan decides the right away to approach this match is to hit Mr. Niebla with a loaded punch as soon as possible. He appears to be correct! Caifan is so dominant in this match, Niebla doesn’t even get in a shot in the first six minutes. Caifan comes off as so strong and in control that the CMLL guys winning with his finish move at the end feels shockingly like some sort of upset. Caifan is great, great enough that he was set to make this match worthwhile even if bad Mr. Niebla had shown up, so great that I’m heartbroken that this will be has last great match if his retirement actually sticks. I can see him moving awkwardly at times with his knees bugging him, I’m sure it makes sense for him to stop wrestling when there’s no big money payoff coming if one hasn’t come already, it’s still sad to see.
Niebla turns out to be game for this, which turns this match into something close to a Rush/LA Park brawl than you’re likely to see elsewhere. Bottles of beer get involved, there’s a wooden box sitting in the ring for an extended period of time, fans are frightened by luchadors fighting inches away from them. There’s even a Park tribute ludicrous ref bump, though Caifan’s casual foul later on is great. Niebla keeps talking about wanting to do the match with Atlantis, but he’s the guy who should be going after Rush if he can find a way to fight like he did here.
