Day: September 6, 2018

2018 watch later catch up, part 10 of ∞

thecubsfan
indie lucha libre

Iron Kid vs Komander
(Lucha Memes @ Coliseo Coaclaco on 06/03, 9:50, good, Doradafan)

About as good as should be expected with two young guys doing a lot of tricky moves leading to an injury ending. Komander can do cool things and seems to succeed at the most of the time. You can see the talent there, though you can also see the need for refinement and god base to work with. Iron Kid doesn’t seem like he’s usually in the position of basing for people, and does a decent job with it. The last spot gets a bit away from him, and becomes the end of Komander for now. Iron Kid didn’t get to show much and this came off as Komander exhibition to set up bigger things, which made the finish even more unfortunate.

coming thru

Látigo vs Arez
(Mexa Wrestling @ Arena San Juan on 06/09, 12:41, great,Adrian Martinez)

Arez & Latigo having an interesting and entertaining without killing each other or themselves. This felt as much about their growth as lucahdors as much as this match themselves. They had the ability and confidence to put together a fun mat wrestling segment to the match, the sort they’re probably not going to be doing much on Twitch streams any the match. They moved it to some dives and some harder back and forth as they went along, highlights by some wellconstructed sequences. They played off these fans knowing Arez’ big spinning slam by teasing it a couple of different ways, and Latigo finally got caught taking too big of a risk and was taken out. This was a really smart match.

I think this is #strangestyle?

El Bandido vs Steve Pain
(Mex Wrestling @ Arena San Juan on 06/09, 10:18, good,Adrian Martinez)

The Pain/Bandido has the expected great Bandido offense spots. It just seemed to lack a ton in between. The first few minutes seemed to be Pain slowly punching Bandido around. Bandido took over with the multiple rotation headscissors, but the match itself jumped between flashy spots and not much happening. It didn’t have much of a flow or story to the match, though there were some big highlights.

Bandido

Niebla Roja vs Furia Roja for the hair
(CMLL @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara on 06/12, 14:15, good, via thecubsfan)

Good effort and fine execution for the hair match. It lacked the hatred of a big apuesta match and Furia Roja pulling up his opposite on a pin late in the third fall really didn’t sell the serious of the moment. It came off more like a general CMLL title match and was fine for that, though you’d want a little more out of Furia Roja in his big opportunity. He tried, there just wasn’t much to remember him by.

a Furia Roja highlight

Carístico vs Mistico
(CMLL @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara on 06/12, 11:55, ok, viathecubsfan)

I think I’m just going to end up watching every Mistico/Mistico match. Mistico losing his own mask on a powerbomb, only holding the cover for two, and then demanding his arm raised should go in the Mistico highlight reel. Caristico’s second fall finish mistake is not the worst only because it followed that. The rest of the match picks up to make sure this isn’t overall bad, but the Puebla match is definitely better and more definitive.

the best

Ricky Marvin vs Daga
(LLB/MDA/Memes @ Arena Lopez Mateos on 06/17, 12:54, ok,CaritaJC LuchaLibre)

(Watched the Carita version, thinking it was in full. It has some small edits.)

I was excited to see this match, I’ve liked Marvin this year and I keep waiting for a signature Daga match. I’m still waiting. They did have some ideas in this match but the execution is not good at all. The opening six minutes are dedicated to Daga attacking to Marvin’s arm. Marvin occasionally tucks in his shoulder in pain a couple times after that, and then it’s all forgotten and goes nowhere. It’s a little bit more startling when Marvin uses that same arm to do all sorts of moves, but so it goes sometimes in spot heavy matches. The problem with a long time on the arm comes in more that the match falls apart because one or both men are exhausted by the end. Maybe not spending so much time on stuff that was going to go where would’ve allowed them to finish a lot better. I wouldn’t argue this was a bad match because there are sequences and moments in here where a good match could be built around. There’s also bad moments shockingly bad, much worse than you’d expect from either man. The bit where Ricky Marvin goes for a clothesline, then just freezes because Daga hasn’t turned around to kick it yet, feels like something out of an IWRG trainee match. The suplex reversal into a cradle at the finish was horrendous. I don’t know enough to know who to blame, but I do know it made both guys look terrible. This was a disappointment.

made this GIF so you can cringe like I did

Scoria & Cuervo out of AAA, Volador on Mr. Niebla, Zorro out of Kaoz, CMLL Anniversario attendance

thecubsfan

I have no big story or results today, just a lot of medium stories.

On Facebook, Scoria posted a video with him and Cuervo declaring they were now both independents, and out of AAA. There was a rumor about this last week, and the two have disappeared off TV since the booking change. There’s already a tease of them getting back together with former partners Ozz & Escoria for indie bookings.

Hijo del Fantasma told TJ Sports that he’s staying in AAA and not going to NXT, which is the expected rumor whenever someone in Mexico loses their mask. Sombra was able to keep the deal he had in hand very quiet until the day he was to show up in WWE, so there’s nothing Fantasma can really say that proves he won’t be going to WWE but it does appear everyone’s operating under the idea he’ll be in AAA for a while.

AAA has added an 11/18 TV taping in Juarez to its upcoming show page. November in Juarez seems to be a regular thing: they’ve run TV there that same week every year since 2015. It’s tough to tell at this point because there’s no telling how much of the upcoming TV dates AAA’s announced, but it does appear AAA may be getting away from running a TV taping as they’ve done this summer (for reasons never explained.) The ones they’ve announced so far are a little more spaced out.

A video of two gas station employees doing lucha spots went viral this weekend. AAA’s trying to find them to bring them in for a show, and may have found them already. I didn’t think the spots were that good, even for gas station employees. I am a harsh judge.

Volador Jr. was doing interviews to promote the Anniversario show yesterday. This article, with PubliMetro, is about what normally comes out of them: Volador thinks he’s an underdog, feels Taven was the best choice as a partner because he’s got issues with Rush too. Less usual is this article on ESPN, where Volador’s actually asked about the most recent Mr. Niebla incident. Volador says he could tell something was wrong with Mr. Niebla right away when he came out the side entrance and fell off the top rope. He decided then to end the match as soon as possible, knowing the fans would be disappointed and there might be consequences, but not wanting Niebla to expose the business more or to risk someone getting hurt. On the video, Volador is visibly trying to untie Niebla’s mask from the start of the match, which backs up his story. Volador noted there have been no consequences, and I’d guess most people in charge of CMLL wouldn’t have noticed it even happened if it didn’t become something of a viral video for a day.

On CMLL Informa, Julio Cesar Rivera claimed 70% of the tickets for the 85th Anniversary show have been sold. That would mean just over 11,000, a good number for eight days out. This was part of a rant about people complaining about the show on the internet. This is probably not the week to go with the “people just complain about wrestling on the internet and don’t buy tickets to anything” concept, but I would not expect CMLL to be aware of things outside their doors. If they’re really sold out 70%, I’m not sure why they’re even considered with people on the internet in the first place. Anyway, Euforia had a good joke and that’s all that matters.

There’s no mention of what CMLL might be doing for streaming the Anniversario show. It’s possible they’re just doing nothing special and streaming it like normal. It’s possible they’re doing it on a delay to protect that attendance (even as great as JCR says it is.) They’re not currently listed on internet.tv, and I think they would’ve announced an iPPV if that was what was happening. Everything seems an option and we probably won’t find out what’s happening until they mention it in passing tomorrow night during the regular Friday night stream.

Kaoz Promotions sent out a press release announcing they’ve split with ways with Zorro. Zorro had mentioned a couple days ago that he would not be working this Sunday’s Kaoz show, where the poster (still) has him in the main event. Kaoz happened to have a press conference to promote a Saturday Kaoz show in Satillo, where Alfonso Botello was listed as the director (and Zorro was still mentioned as wrestling.) Zorro had been the public face of the promotion and the programmer behind the scenes. The money guy and the lead wrestler falling out after all of about four shows seems about right for Mexico. The press release makes a point of saying “Klan Kaoz” is a name the promotion owns, which may cause a change in CMLL – since the Kaoz shows were never released on video in a meaningful way, that’ll be the way most people outside of Monterrey notice a change.

CMLL has a look back at Renato Torres vs Ciclon Veloz Jr. and Barbaro Cavernario winning El Busca de un Idolo.

Microman won a micros title in Huejutla, Hidalgo.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has some notes from the ExpoLucha, which sounds like it was enjoyed by the people who went but not enough people went to make it work financially. The AAA show on Saturday night is listed as having the biggest turnout at 650. The fans seemed more into the modern guys than the legends, which seems different than Mexico. LA Park (& Hijo de LA Park) refused to do a scheduled meet and greet, and the promoters say they’ll never use him again. LA Park has a long history of prickly dealings with US indie promoters, which make me wonder how things like tonight’s debut in MLW is going to turn out.

RIOT has Fanboy on 09/29. Matches announced

Lucha Talk previews the 85th Anniversario show.

CMLL Martes: 2018-08-14

thecubsfan
Stuka splash

Recapped: 08/16/2018

Matches: 

Pequeño Nitro & Pierrothito beat Acero & Aéreo  
(12:52 [4:14, 4:10, 4:28], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Pegasso, Star Jr., Stigma beat Espíritu Negro, Hijo del Signo, Nitro
(11:58 [6:35, 1:32, 3:51], 2/3, ok,VideosOficialesCMLL)

Black Panther, El Audaz, Tritón beat Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr.
(14:53 [6:01, 4:32, 4:20], 1/3, good,VideosOficialesCMLL)

Blue Panther, Soberano Jr., Titán beat Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
(11:46 [6:35, 5:11], 1/2, ok,VideosOficialesCMLL)

Stuka Jr. beat Hechicero ©  for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
(17:49, 2/3, great,VideosOficialesCMLL)

  1. Hechicero magia negra (4:56)

  2. Stuka Jr. casita (0:55)

  3. Stuka Jr. torpedo splash (11:58)

Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón beat Ángel de Oro, Kráneo, Niebla Roja  
(14:11 [3:34, 4:21, 6:16], 1/3, good,VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened: 

Hechicero weighed in at 94 KG and did not have a second. Stuka weighed in at 93 KG and had Black Panther as a second. Stuka won the title.

Thoughts:

Magia Negra

NGD, Angel de Oro and Niebla Roja can have good trios matches in their sleep by now. This wasn’t sleepwalking. This was a lot more energy than normal for any Tuesday main event, much less one following a really strong title match. This felt more like an even battle than the NGD just running thru offense, with the tecnicos being on the edge of winning before Angel de Oro’s tope went wrong. Kraneo being the big bruiser the NGD can’t quite overpower makes for an interesting counterpoint to them always throwing around the little guy. This was a welldone match that would’ve been the standout match on most Tuesday shows.

Hechicero/Stuka over delivered, with a deeper and more creative match than expected. It was surprising from the start, with Hechicero finding a delightfully complicated way of getting in to his Magia Negra submission. (He tried it a different way later; maybe finding unexpected ways to get into his pretzel hold is a new thing.) Hechicero had to figure out how that would work before he did it, and the whole match seemed like it had more thought than even the average title match. Stuka pulled out all sorts of head/neck attacks, some of which he doesn’t do regularly. It all built well to the back superplex and the piledriver he only pulls out for big matches. It made it a totally sensible outcome even if the title change was still unexpected; Stuka just outsmarted Hechicero on this night. This had the same amount of really big spots as other title matches – this is a big month for Hechicero’s springboard moonsault to the floor – but it also had the small touches not in other title matches. Hechicero rolling away from the first torpedo splash attempt before Stuka could try it was a finish tease which isn’t done in CMLL much. It also perfectly set up Hechicero rolling out of the way later, only to roll right in position for Stuka doing the crazy splash on the ramp instead. This was a really well done match. I’m not sure what it was missing for me to rate it higher, but they got the crowd that was there for this match to care a lot about it.

Hechicero sault

The fourth match was the most Blue Panther of weird Blue Panther led trios match. The first fall was a match itself, with the técnicos making two different comebacks over about seven minutes of action. The second fall was dominated by the rudos, they eliminated Soberano, and then they passed up chances to defeat Panther & Titan until Mephisto finally pulled Titan’s mask. It made for exciting moments at times but the match didn’t feel like it had a great flow to it because of all the weird shifts. Soberano & Titan looked good in what they did and the crowd is always on Panther’s side but I would’ve liked something a little bit more traditional, or at least coherent.

Audaz being Audaz took the tercera up a bit, but it wasn’t him alone. The rudos did far more work than usual. Sagrado remains underutilized as a base for flashy técnicos, but Misterioso and Universo were with him for fun team offense you usually don’t get to see out of them. Enough went smoothly to push the técnicos to do more and was a fun stretch to the finish. This was a standout match for a Tuesday show.

knee->conjuro

The técnicos in the second match had a hot stretch to finish out the third fall. The rest of the match was plain. The rudos didn’t sabotage the técnicos this time but there wasn’t much to their sections.

The opener was a borderline good match, something you wouldn’t mind watching if you were already watching the show. Both teams seemed to have a lot more energetic than usual, and less prone to holding someone and yelling at the crowd for moments. They strayed from the usually scripted sequences, though some of it (like Aereo’s flip over the double clothesline) looked less than sharp because of it. I think Acero got defeated twice in the third fall, which was a little odd. That can happen when you actually try to do spots in the third fall and that part was nice. This was definitely better if not exciting.