CMLL on Marca: 2018-11-16 

Recapped: 11/16/2018

Matches:

Espanto Jr. & Grako beat Astral & Eléctrico
(13:30 [5:22, 4:12, 3:56], 1/3, below average, 00:01:10)

La Guerrera, Lluvia, Marcela beat Amapola, Dalys, Tiffany
(11:33 [6:03, 5:30], 1/2 DQ, ok, 00:23:20)

Misterioso Jr., Okumura, Vangellys beat Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa
(12:20 [5:35, 2:57, 3:48], 2/3, ok, 00:44:10)

The dumb battle royal went 2:52.

King Phoenix and Cavernario advanced past Titán, Volador Jr, Flyer, Místico, Soberano Jr., Tritón, El Audaz, Dragón Rojo Jr., Felino, Virus, Mephisto, Templario, Kawato San, Tiger in CMLL’s Leyenda de Plata Tournament
(34:52, great, 01:16:34)

1. Audaz springboard headscissors Kawato San (7:56)
2. Templario frontcracker powerbomb Tiger (9:35)
3. Dragon Rojo double stomp Triton (12:20)
4. Soberano front piledriver Audaz (13:28)
5. Virus motocicleta Flyer (14:51)
6. Felino superpowerbomb Titan (18:19)
7. Mephisto super Devils’ Wings Virus (19:20)
8. Cavernario springboard splash Dragon Rojo (20:43)
9. Soberano guillotine moonsault Felino (21:27)
10. Volador reverse rana Templario (23:01)
11. Fenix springboard dropkick to the face Mephisto (24:24)
12. Cavernario cavernaria Soberano Jr. (25:25)
13. Volador Canadian Destroyer Místico (28:50)
14. Cavernario cavernaria Volador Jr. (34:52)

Gran Guerrero, Penta 0M, Último Guerrero beat Carístico, Diamante Azul, Valiente
(9:42 [2:14, 1:29, 5:59], 1/3, ok, 01:56:30)

What happened: 

UG turned a La Mistica straight into a crucifix cradle.

Felino might have picked up a hip injury taking Soberano’s moonsault. The final four came down to only Místico left on his team against King Phoenix, Volador and Cavenario. Those last two decided to start fighting Phoenix, and fought the final as a three way leading to the finish. Cavernario & Phoenix advance to next week’s final, a rematch from earlier this year.

Dalys would not let go of a choke – a choke she’s never ever done before and probably will never do again – and she was disqualified without a count. (This was a typically strange way to do a DQ in a women’s match where there’s no mask involved.)

Grako lost Astral on a powerbomb. Instead of picking him up again, he just dropped him badly. Eléctrico was strechered out after taking Grako’s hanging double underhook facebuster, though it was less clear if that was a real injury (brought out by his head being too low) or if he was selling the move.

Thoughts: 

The main event seemed liked it was going to be a usual super rush trios match to follow a really strong match for two falls. It slowed down and gave a little bit of time in the third fall, though the action was never really noteworthy. It was more interesting what they didn’t do (Azul/UG dropped) than anything they did do. Penta based well for Carístico but mostly existed as something for Valiente & Diamante Azul to be angry about. They seemed annoyed he’s so over, which is an odd thing to be angry about. The finish was nicely done.

The Leyenda de Plata was easily the best of the recent run of ciberneticos, a borderline great/excellent match. The overall performance level was better than those, and this had an insane section of the match that was just missing from the others. The action was really solid for most of the way – until Fenix’s slip on a springboard felt like it derailed the action and the crowd for a couple of minutes. Fenix got them back with a dive, but it was just long enough where I couldn’t go with the high grade. Fenix looked super throughout the rest of the match, with his best moments coming in the second half of the match. Templario had a great run, carrying a lot of the middle and doing great with whoever he was working with them. Soberano looked really good if also a bit dangerous. Triton & Audaz did well in short runs (while you could’ve replaced Felino with anyone and gotten the same.) Would’ve liked to see more of Titan but they did get to mix it up with other people. This is an easy recommendation.

Vangellys getting a strong showcase win in his return was the purpose of the third match. That’s a strange purpose but I suppose he was fine with it. Rey Cometa did an impressive dive and then Vangellys quickly pinned him. The match was the most professional of the undercard, the standard solid if predictable CMLL midcard trios match.

The women’s match was the same as always, just with a little less crowd reaction than normal. It held all the way to the finish, where no one really bought the finish. This division desperately needs something fresh to happen. This was the opposite, Dalys & Marcela feuding again. I feel like I’ve seen the Amapola dropkick the person on the middle rope spot 1000 times and La Guerrera took the bump differently than everyone else, so that’s something to say for this match. It didn’t go well.

The opener kind of derailed when Grako dropped Astral badly, as tends to happen. The rudos stalled out the second fall to give Astral some time to recover, and openers don’t need any more time to cool down. Grako seemed off the rest of the match, though he hasn’t looked on a lot. Grako trying to take a bump into the corner off an Electrico dropkick and landing on referee Pompin’s feet is about as well as this one went.