CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-08-24 

Recapped: 08/24/2018

Matches:

Angelito & Último Dragóncito beat Mercurio & Pequeño Nitro
(13:18 [5:35, 2:50, 4:53], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

El Audaz, Esfinge, Tritón beat Kawato San, Templario, Virus
(15:24 [5:41, 2:34, 7:09], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro beat  Titán in a lightning match
(9:17, mecedora, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Hechicero, Mephisto, Negro Casas beat  El Hijo de L.A. Park, Flyer, Soberano Jr.
(20:17 [6:40, 5:35, 8:02], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rock Star, The Chris beat Gran Guerrero, L.A. Park, Último Guerrero
(14:41 [5:07, 4:05, 5:29], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Cavernario, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush beat Carístico, Matt Taven, Volador Jr.
(8:06 [1:10, 6:56], 1 DQ/2, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

Volador blatantly fouled Rush in the first fall of the main event. Cavernario used the ropes to beat Taven in the second fall, which set up a singles match next week.

Ciber beat Último Guerrero with a foul. Either Rockstar or The Chris was hurt on the outside after the match, which would be the second straight match of that.

Villano III was honored after the third match, with members of his family (including his wife and sons) there. Mephisto and LA Park wore Villano tribute outfits.

Thoughts:

All those people Rush heard last week who was more excited to see him face Volador than Park sure didn’t seem to show up this week. The crowd was not dead, but it was also nothing special, and nothing feels like an Anniversario three weeks away. CMLL building up a match they could not deliver, then substituting a lesser match seemed to kill the enthusiasm for this match and this whole show. These guys were still working hard, but it felt desperate. Cavernario doing the splash to the floor on Taven for no reason – it wasn’t played up as a big spot and they were both back up to do a finish with a cradle a moment later – felt like a super desperate attempt to create a moment. Carístico was a non-factor and Bestia was his usual determent. The time and hurried feeling of the match didn’t allow the other guys to show their best, and nothing they did felt like it was more than a regular feud on a Tuesday. It’s not the fault of the people in the match, but you’d have to be pretty delusional to watch many of the Friday night shows and not realize something’s gone wrong here. Luckily for CMLL, they appear to be mostly delusional.

Different day, same song. Klan Kaoz is honestly trying to have good matches good matches, it’s not happening, and it’s painful how little the crowd cares when they’re in control of matches. CMLL diehard fans love of the Guerreross is the only thing keeping any heat in this match, but they could get the same reaction with any other trio. This was the least LA Park has been over since being back. It’s not clear if it’s this matchup that hurt him or not having the other one. The third fall was best of anything, but it was not something you need to watch.

The fourth match was a classic CMLL match that would look great cut down into a highlight reel and felt bloated in real time. There was just too much for the sake of having a lot. The flow was not existent times because they were just going for moves. Flyer had an off night and didn’t mesh with Negro Casas at all. Hechicero & Soberano were good together, but Soberano is another guy who has a need to do all of this spots and take all of his bumps, even if it doesn’t really fit. This was the most indie Hijo de LA Park we’ve seen yet, for good and bad.

Angel de Oro & Titan came up with some different ideas to work in the usual offense, and it made the match fun. The strike exchange early on was really strange for a CMLL match, but Titan using a bunch of closed fists got the crowd to turn against him and gave the match clear sides. I’m not sure if that was even the idea when they did it, but it worked. That they got to do dives obviously helped, but there was more effort than usual for a lightning match, all the way thru the finish. Not must see but easily the first really worthwhile match.

The second match didn’t come together; The limitations of being that early in the card definitely limited the match. It’s still had plenty to watch with Audaz involved. He looked spectacular. CMLL is cruel for not doing the Templario match yet because those two are awesome together whenever they’re together. Kawato and Audaz even did a well together. Most everyone else was doing their B-match, and I’m afraid to know what Audaz’s A-match is if he was taking it easy here.

The opener was a boring match most of the way that turned out to be a little better late. Most people had turned out by the time Angelico had decided to do tricky moves, somehow starting with the most tricky and moving down from there. This wasn’t a match where anyone in looked all that interested in being there and they communicated that feeling well.