CMLL on Marca: 2018-11-09 

Recapped: 11/09/2018

Matches:

El Coyote & Grako beat Arkalis & Príncipe Diamante
(11:46 [5:33, 3:11, 3:02], 1/3, ok, 00:00:00)

Esfinge, Titán, Tritón beat Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Virus
(14:07 [5:30, 2:54, 5:43], 2/3, ok, 00:19:45)

Cuatrero, Hechicero, Sansón beat Kráneo, Stuka Jr., Volcano
(18:39 [6:29, 5:52, 6:18], 2/3, ok, 00:46:42)

Forastero beat Soberano Jr. in a lightning match
(7:24, headscissors/armbar, ok, 01:15:04)

Diamante Azul, Místico, Valiente beat Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
(9:45 [5:18, 4:27], 1 DQ/2 DQ, ok, 01:27:20)

Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Volador Jr. beat Cavernario, Rush, Terrible
(11:02 [2:16, 2:50, 5:56], 2/3, good, 01:45:56)

What happened:

Diamante Azul and Último Guerrero feuded. Diamante Azul was meant to toss his mask to Último Guerrero to draw the DQ in the first fall, but dumbly spiked it on the mat instead. Último Guerrero legit unmasked him in the second fall.

Thoughts:

There wasn’t a lot to the main event, like there wasn’t a lot to all the matches on the show. The main event felt like an upper level house show main event, people working decently hard while not switching up from the usual routines. Angel de Oro seemed fired up to get a Friday night main event, and went thru his usual spots with more energy than usual. Cavernario took big bumps for him, for Carístico and made the finish looked spectacular. The little Caristico/Rush stuff they did worked fine.

Místico had a mostly good run in the second fall, being showcased well against the Guerreros like usual. The rest was fairly forgettable. Valiente had a really bad moment where he couldn’t get a tapatia on in the first fall, and recovered to be fine in the second fall. Azul & UG didn’t really work a lot together except for the finishes. There’s no reason to see them again so soon (or at all) after their recent title match.

The dives in the Soberano/Forastero match were nice, but they needed a lot more in between and the finish really didn’t feel built to at all. This felt like they were pacing it out for a match that would easily take them past ten minutes, and then Forastero just suddenly got on his usual armbar finish for the win. They never really found a higher gear or showed much depth. I expected more.

The tercera seemed pretty long to me. The crowd enjoyed the Gorillas, and the rudos meshed well as their opponents. Stuka & Hechicero themselves didn’t feel like they meshed well, with less chemistry in a long first fall sequence than you’d expect from guys who recently feuded. That match flowed better when Volcano & Kraneo were on offense or when all three rudos were working as a unit. Volcano was solidly ok, a step up from usual. Not something you’d need to see but was fine over the course of the show.

The second match got the crowd going, but there wasn’t a lot to it that the técnicos don’t do in every match. Titan taking out all the rudos from the apron is always well done, but not particularly novel. The catapult/DDT spot was an awesome idea that almost worked, just Pólvora was not taking a face-first bump on the apron. I’m not taking that bump either, I don’t blame him, but it could’ve worked a lot better. Triton had his one cool rope trick spot and then not much more. It’s still more than Esfinge. This was fine.

The opener fit the same mod as last week: everyone was more willing to do things than in the veteran openers, and everyone was much less smooth at doing those things than those veteran openers. I’d rather have the effort than the boredom, but there were hesitant and off moments here that could use work. Arkalis’ legdrop to win the second fall looked good, but he looked off in bigger spots in the third fall. Coyote & Grako were just alright, and the finish with Grako and Arkalis looked mistimed.