November 24, 2018 – luchablog

CMLL (FRI) 11/23/2018 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Lucha Central, Marca (Cavernario), Marca (Mascara), Ovaciones, R de Rudo, thecubsfan]
1) Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Oro Jr. & Súper Astro Jr.
11:39 Rudos took 1/3.
2) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Fuego b Kawato San, Okumura, Universo 2000 Jr.
12:38. Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Soberano Jr., Titán, Tritón b Dark Magic, Luciferno, Vangellys
9:37. Tecnicos won in straight falls clean.
4) Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. b Ephesto, Mephisto, Penta 0M
11:11. Tecnicos took 1/3.
5) Cavernario b King Phoenix [Leyenda de Plata]
20:26. Cavernario won the second fall when he moved out of the way of a Phoenix dive, then top rope splashed him. Phoenix was unable to beat the count. Cavernario submitted Phoenix to the cavernaria in the third. Phoenix was stretchered out, having suffered a groin injury. Cavernario was given the Leyenda de Plata plaque
6) Cuatrero, Forastero, Máscara Año 2000, Sansón b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero
11:10. Dinamtia took falls 1/3. UG tried to use the ropes to beat Mascara 2000 but was caught. Mascara did the same and got away with it. Mascara challenged UG to a hair match and UG accepted. Cien Caras appeared and joined commentary for the match.

The Mascara/Ultimo Guerrero challenges seemed like a thing done for fun and not to be taken too seriously.

CMLL has post-match promos from Barbaro Cavernario, Guerreros Laguneros, and Los Dinamtia. The big news from interviews is Templario is officially a Guerrero Lagunero now. I suspect it’ll be like the early days of Niebla Roja in the group, where he is associated with the group but still not teaming with them much.

The big missing thing is a promo from King Phoenix. Getting stretchered out and not showing up on social media tends to be a big sign, and he confirmed it this morning: he’s done for the year with a groin pull. Last night, people thought it was the second Cavernario splash, from the stage, where he got hurt. He seemed to be limping noticeably even setting up to the spot, and I think the dive to nowhere might have at least contributed. Either way, Fenix says in his statement (in the Spanish part, not the English) not to blame Cavernario for the injury and congratulates him for the win. Fans are/were accusing Cavernario of being unprofessional, but the missed dive appeared to be a planned spot.

The Fenix injury changes a lot of US plans – today, he was supposed to face Matt Sydal in AAW and I’ve got no idea what they’ll do on short notice there – and has obvious issues for AAA. Fenix was scheduled to defend the AAA Megachampionship against Brian Cage next Sunday. Cage getting a surprise win seemed very possible. If AAA was set on changing the title, then just stripping the title from Fenix and bringing in someone else to face Cage also seems very possible. Merging the Latin American and Heavyweight Championship also seems possible, but these are all possibilities. The thing most likely to happen is AAA not to explain the situation or update their lineup between now and next Sunday.

Fenix being injured also takes him out of the Lucha Capital tournament, where he had at least two more matches scheduled. After last week, the tournament already makes no sense, but it takes maybe the best guy in the tournament away from having matches. I guess it opens up a spot for Scarlett?

It is theoretically possible AAA will address some of this today because they have a special bonus live Twitch stream at Mexico City. The show is said to start at 7pm CT. We know none of the matches, only that there will be some interaction between Chessman and a sponsored character. I would keep your expectations in check for the show. I won’t be around for this one.

CMLL’s Friday lineup appears to now be coming out late Saturday evening. Last night’s show announced that it would be a legend’s show. Canek, Rayo de Jalisco, Villano IV, Trio Fantasia, Negro Navarro, Los Diabolicos, Solar and Fuerza Guerrera are said to be on the show. So is Jerry Estrada, who has not wrestled in Arena Mexico since 1992 (he jumped to AAA a couple months after it started.) The main event last night was good because they had young wrestlers mixed in and carrying most of the load. That does not seem what will happen next week and it will probably have some very trying matches as a result. It will be a show for people who do not care about how good the matches are. The lineup is below now.

A university in Neza is offering wrestling classes.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 11/25/2018 Arena Naucalpan
1) Ángel Estrada Jr. & Chef Benito vs Carnicero & Death Metal
2) Black Shadow II & Mexica vs Picudo Jr. & Sairus
3) Black Dragón, Dinamic Black, Pasion Kristal vs Demetrio, Hip Hop Man, La Mosca
4) Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro vs Lunatic Xtreme & Murciélago Plateado
5) Aramis & Freelance vs Alas de Acero & Dragón Bane
6) Hijo del Alebrije, Imposible, Toscano vs Karaoui, Sinn Bodhi, Zumbi
7) Rokambole Jr. & Villano V Jr. © vs Capo del Norte & Capo del Sur [IWRG IC TAG]
first defense

The fifth match looks like another good match in that run of matches.

CMLL (FRI) 11/30/2018 Arena México
1) Súper Muñeco, Súper Pinocho, Súper Ratón vs Gallego, Mr. Cóndor, Rocky Santana
2) Gallito, Guapito, Microman vs Chamuel, Mije, Perico Zakarías
3) Cavernario, Rush, Terrible vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
4) Felino, Mano Negra, Solar I vs Fuerza Guerrera, Jerry Estrada, Negro Navarro
5) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero © vs Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. [CMLL TRIOS]
first defense
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Canek, Máscara Año 2000, Villano IV

This is a little better than I figured. Semi-main has nothing setting it up but should be great. The Sky Team/Guerreros matches were all very good and Caristico should be able to replace Valiente fine. Ingobernables versus NGD could be interesting. Micros should be fun. So there’s some positive stuff

The main event will not be good at all. They built last night’s main event on limiting what Mascara 2000 had to do. There’s good chance he’ll have to carry much of the match for his side next week; he might be the second best wrestler in that match at this moment. The fourth match is positive for Octagon being excluded for Felino. I respect CMLL for refusing to recognize the Super Muneco/Super Pinocho feud.

Recapped: 2018-11-23

Matches:

Akuma & Espanto Jr. beat Oro Jr. & Súper Astro Jr.
(11:39 [5:38, 2:14, 3:47], 1/3, ok, 00:00:48)

Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Fuego beat Kawato San, Okumura, Universo 2000 Jr.
(12:38 [5:00, 2:31, 5:07], 2/3, ok, 00:19:45)

Soberano Jr., Titán, Tritón beat Dark Magic, Luciferno, Vangellys
(9:37 [4:54, 4:43], 1/2, ok, 00:41:58)

Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. beat Ephesto, Mephisto, Penta 0M
(11:11 [3:09, 2:16, 5:46], 1/3, ok 01:01:24)

Cavernario beat King Phoenix to win CMLL’s Leyenda de Plata Tournament
(20:26, 2/3, excellent, 01:25:26)

Phoenix Fire Driver (4:25)
COR Phoenix (4:49)
Cavernario cavernaria (11:12)

Cuatrero, Forastero, Máscara Año 2000, Sansón beat Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero
(11:10 [3:55, 2:26, 4:49], 1/3, good, 01:58:55 )

What happened:

Mascara Año 2000 wrestled in his mask for his 40^th Anniversary match. Templario now has a color matching Guerreros outfit and was said to be an official member post-match. UG tried to use a rope grab to beat Mascara 2000, but Mascara escaped with help from the ref, and Mascara did the same to UG. Mascara challenged Último Guerrero a hair match after, and Guerrero seemed to agree.

Fenix dramatically landed on the floor after a Cavernario moved out of the way of a tope con giro. Cavernario splashed him, and Fenix was counted out to end the second fall. Cavernario later splashed Fenix from the stage in the third fall, which may have left Fenix injured (or maybe more injured.) Cavernario defeated Fenix on his second cavernaria though the finish came off strangely – Edgar didn’t indicate a submission immediately, rushing to break up the hold and then declaring Cavernario the winner. The doctor immediately checked on Phoenix with more concern than CMLL’s usual worked injury spots, and he was stretchered to the back as Cavernario was given the Leyenda de Plata.

Thoughts:

Mascara 2000 might have improbably had the best Anniversario match of the four this year. They had him do less than the legends in the other matches while picking his spots and giving him a suitable win. It worked fine because the other seven guys were having a strong match around them. The Dinamitas and Guerreros meshed better than in the recent Puebla run, and Templario looked great as the newest Lagunero. If CMLL had actual tag teams, he and Gran Guerrero should take the good chemistry they showed here and form a regular team. The kids provided a lot of action and Último Guerrero getting outsmarted at the end worked for the occasion. I do not think a Mascara 2000 versus Último Guerrero singles match would be a good idea, but this went well enough that they could talk some fans into it.

King Phoenix versus Cavernario was the CMLL house version of Toxin versus Fly Star. There was extreme violence by Arena Mexico standards, some very impressive and deadly moves that probably should not be done by right-thinking people. If you’re going to crash and burn on a tope con giro the floor, and maybe you shouldn’t, at least they made the most of it. They made Cavernario’s splashes memorable if also completely insane. Both men were more selling “broken” than “exhaustion” by the end, and it was very believable that they were broken. Most everything seemed to go how they wanted and it was pretty exciting in the end, though it did seem like the crowd was stronger into the last match than this one. I’d put this match about the same as level as the quality of the last, and hope they don’t try to top this for personal damage.

The fourth match didn’t come off well. Penta missed on catching Místico and then missed on a trip in the second fall. The comeback was off too, with wrestlers not taking a bump for Volador’s offense, probably because Penta had to go right into a spot with Carístico. Even the Mistica at the end didn’t go well. They had a lot that got over with the crowd I between that, but the match could’ve obviously gone better. It’s still a little frustrating on CMLL bringing in Penta to do nothing with him, but I’m about to give up on that.

Titan’s team won in straight falls while also taking a lot of the match, which meant a lot of high points to the match and good action. The rudos did better basing for the técnicos than figured, with Dark Magic doing fine catching Triton’s dive and Vangellys moving around better this week. Luciferno worked very hard on his side to make the match worked and it was a borderline good match.

The second match was an average Panthers match. It was a little stronger in the third fall with near falls every fifteen seconds. It was a little weak in the first fall when Black Panther was trying to led Kawato thru some complicated mat work. This was crowd pleasing and quickly forgettable.

Super Astro has a sort of magical style, and that made the opener better than usual. He brings a bit more fun to these matches than most técnicos. Oro had a good springboard headscissors. The match was still sloppy, especially at the end of the first fall and the length set up to the Signo/Espanto spot on the outside.

Day: November 24, 2018

Cavernario wins Leyenda de Plata, Fenix out for rest of the year, AAA mystery show tonight on Twitch

CMLL on Marca: 2018-11-23

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