CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-03-09

Recapped: 03/09/201/8

(CMLL hasn’t put up the video, so none of the video links work. Maybe later.)

Matches:

Cancerbero & Raziel beat Astral & Eléctrico
(16:52 [5:55, 5:15, 5:42], 1/3, below average, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Dalys, La Seductora, Tiffany beat Lady Maravilla, Princesa Sugehit, Sanely
(16:09 [8:04, 4:34, 3:31], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, The Panther beat Johnny Idol, Kawato San, Puma
(13:03 [5:21, 2:32, 5:10], 1/3, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)

The dumb battle royal went 2:57

Ephesto & Mephisto beat Titán & Tritón in a CMLL World Tag Team eighthfinal
(3:55, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Diamante Azul & Stuka Jr. beat Blue Panther & Blue Panther Jr. in a CMLL World Tag Team eighthfinal
(4:51, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Rey Bucanero & Terrible beat Okumura & Sam Adonis in a CMLL World Tag Team eighthfinal
(4:17, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Marco Corleone & Niebla Roja beat Cavernario & Mr. Niebla in a CMLL World Tag Team eighthfinal
(4:36, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Diamante Azul & Stuka Jr. beat Ephesto & Mephisto in a CMLL World Tag Team quarterfinal
(3:38, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Rey Bucanero & Terrible beat Marco Corleone & Niebla Roja in a CMLL World Tag Team quarterfinal
(2:37, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Rey Bucanero & Terrible beat Diamante Azul & Stuka Jr. in a CMLL World Tag Team semifinal
(4:26, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Volador Jr. beat El Cuatrero, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
(7:04 [3:00, 4:04], 1 DQ/2 DQ, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

Terrible and Rey Bucanero advanced to the final of the CMLL tag team tournament, despite Terrible splitting from Rey Bucanero two weeks ago. They will face Volador & Valiente next week.

Cuatrero unmasked Angel de Oro in the first fall for a DQ, and kept the mask. Angel de Oro unmasked himself in the second fall, throwing the mask at Cuatrero while jumping at him. The referee saw Cuatrero with the mask and disqualified him. Both men yelled at each other to build up next week’s mask match.

The opener was Electrico’s first match in a month, after suffering facial injuries in a similar Friday night show.

Thoughts:

You can skip this whole show. I think the tercera was good, weekly TV good and nothing beyond that. The tournament wasn’t much, and the opening matches were dreadful.

The main event was successful in reminding people the mask match is coming. The fans did seem excited for it, which seems good for next week. It just wasn’t much in itself.

The tournament lack the one standout match we’ve seen in these block shows recently. The format itself is exhausted and exhausting. Common sense says CMLL should not hold another one of these for months, even if there was a plan to run a Gran Alternativa soon. Common sense wouldn’t have Terrible & Rey Bucanero as a winning team though.

Kawato was enthusiastic if not exactly sharp in his match. He slipped on a missile dropkick, then nearly banged his head on the floor on a tope con giro. He’s trying, he’s getting a better feel for the rhythm of the matches and his kicks look better. Puma and Rey Cometa felt like the glue that held the match together, and they worked well together on a big headscissors to the floor at the end of the match. Braided pony tail rudo Johnny Idol is much more tolerable than the técnico version.

The women’s match had the usual problem. It was shocking to see Seductora do a (very assisted) rope walk plancha because she didn’t seem to be able to do much the rest of the match. Tiffany reduces everyone slap fighting, because it’s not a great idea to do more. Rudas won and looked unimpressive in doing so. Tecnicas got good reactions and tried a little but this match was set up to be no good and was no good. It’d be helpful if the luchadoras themselves are better. It’d be simpler if CMLL stopping booking trios matches for the sake of booking trios matches, and just left the lesser women on the bench.

One of the worst CMLL openers of the year, even with experienced guys. Cancerbero got annoyed and stopped helping the técnicos, leading to multiple poor looking moments. This wasn’t going to have high hopes, it was the usual grumpy rudo format with a bright spot here or there. It was just the worst version of that bad format, with everyone sticking with the plan when it clearly wasn’t working. The last minute felt like everyone wasn’t on the same page and were annoyed to be working with each other. There will be worse matches. This was still fairly terrible.