CMLL on Marca: 2018-12-14 

a good moment

Recapped: 12/14/2018

Matches:

Halcón Suriano Jr. & Robin beat Espanto Jr. & Grako
(10:04 [3:53, 3:08, 3:03], 2/3, ok, 00:01:10)

Cancerbero, Disturbio, Raziel beat Astral, Eléctrico, Fuego
(16:14 [7:57, 3:20, 4:57], 1/3, ok, 00:18:43)

Esfinge, Titán, Tritón beat Misterioso Jr., Templario, Vangellys
(14:02 [4:51, 4:57, 4:14], 1/3, below average, 00:43:48)

Forastero beat Soberano Jr. in a lightning match
(9:24, Forastero spinning reverse slam, ok, 01:08:06)

Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja beat Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Terrible
(10:06 [2:23, 7:43], 1/2 DQ, ok, 01:23:00)

Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. beat Cuatrero, Sansón, Último Guerrero
(10:02 [2:49, 2:42, 4:31], 1/3, ok, 01:42:20)

What happened: 

This was a very skippable show.

Rey Bucanero tried to fake a foul from Niebla Roja and got caught.

Titan hit the apron on a springboard moonsault to the floor, which followed some confusion about who was supposed ot be diving where. Triton hit the ropes as Titan was moonsaulting it, which caused the accident. Titan seemed more frustrated than hurt.

Thoughts: 

this wasn’t supposed to be quite this but it worked out okay

The main event was a walked thru match of no intensity. They blew the comeback spot and didn’t a lot before or after it. Monito challenging Sansón was the match highlight. The whole show felt like a b-show, and this was no different.

The semi-main alternated between bad and forgettable, which was the theme for the show. It was a match I would’ve gleefully and correctly skipped thru on a Tuesday show. Bestia is worse than Shocker.

Forastero & Soberano matches are missing the spark and energy they both show in trios matches. They executed their spots better than in the previous matches, but there was no particular order or build to make them more exciting. The last couple of spots were some of the less impressive moment of the match; they’re struggling at putting together what the know how to do in a meaningful way. Both could use some matches with people who do know how to do that, but I’m not sure who that would be. This was borderline ok/good match that I wasn’t really excited about so it go the lower grade.

The tercera was a very standard and not unemotional version of the usual Guanatos Style match for the first two falls, with a bonus moment of the técnicos looking really dumb to end the second fall. They seemed to get lost in the third fall, with Titan almost paying a big price for it. No one tried to do much they don’t already do in this one, and there’s a lot better matches you can see it.

The segunda was boring, even by Cancerbero standard. The first fall was interminable. Raziel was back in form if that form is not being in the right position for the tecnico moves. It got better in the third fall, though they had long lost the crowd. Fuego being in this match seemed like punishment and he wrestled like a guy who didn’t much want to be there.

Halcón Suirano celebrated his promotion to the main division by doing an illegal dive in the opener. He’s absolutely doomed and will never make it out of the first two matches but he’ll be a pleasure to have along for as long as he can manage to last. This wasn’t a good match – Grako is still not all the way there, Signo Espanto will never be there – but Suriano will probably eventually have the rare CMLL good opening match at some point. He just needs to find the right opponents on the right day.

CMLL Martes: 2018-12-11 

Drone

Recapped: 12/13/2018

Matches:

El Coyote & Grako beat Bengala & Leono
(11:32 [6:19, 2:29, 2:44], 1/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Akuma, Camorra, Nitro beat Hijo del Signo, Raziel, Yago
(10:31 [2:49, 3:11, 4:31], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Star Jr. beat Kawato San, Tiger, Virus
(10:34 [6:56, 3:38], 1/2 DQ, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Okumura beat Drone in a lightning match
(8:23, cutter, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Luciferno, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero beat Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr.
(10:52 [2:33, 1:58, 6:21], 2/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Stuka Jr. beat Cavernario, Euforia, Terrible
(10:57 [3:30, 2:11, 5:16], 2/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

Tiger, dressed as the Grinch, unmasked Guerrero Maya for the DQ

This is Raziel’s first streamed match after being out five months with injury. Signo & Yago attacked Akuma on the way to the ring. Camorra from the outside helped Akuma pin Signo for the win. Challenged followed.

Thoughts: 

welcome back Raziel

The lightning match had a lot of action if not a lot of smoothness. Drone doing the slide splash underneath the referee was a good idea that didn’t work right, because Okumura was too close to the ring. He had other good spots in a match that was just a lot of spots, and really ate it on the cutter at the end.

There’s not much to say about the tercera except the crowd was weirdly way into Guerrero Maya and less weirdly into Tiger Grinch. They’d have something if they followed it up into a match. Guerrero Maya is facing Misterioso in an irrelevant lightning match instead.

The segunda rudo feud produced a competent match, which is a bit more than I expected. There were no real embarrassing moments and the people involved in the feud seemed excited about it. Those people are the only ones who care, but at least it’s something. Competent doesn’t mean good. Yago & Akuma having a solo match might be interesting, and Signo & Camorra each add nothing. Returning from a knee injury Raziel looked a lot better than Nitro.

regular CMLL Friday show tonight, first AAA taping of 2019 announced

today

CMLL has an ordinary Friday night card, marking time until the winter holidays. It is unclear if CMLL will shift their slight efforts to build up matches to the Tuesday shows for the next few weeks, or if they’ll also hold big matches on Friday nights. As is, this is just six matches with not a lot behind them.

The main event sees Carsitico, Volador, and Valiente taking on Ultimo Guerrero, Sanson and Cuatrero in the main event. Volador and Ultimo Guerrero had last week’s singles match; this looks like it might be better.

Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, and Diamante Azul face Shocker, Rey Bucanero and La Bestia del Ring in a match which doesn’t look promising. This is Shocker’s first Friday match in two months; he’s been shuffled off to the B-shows almost exclusively this year. Soberano versus Forastero does look promising, but their previous lightning match was a bit of a disappointment.

Titan, Triton, and Esfinge take on Vangellys, Misterioso, and Templario in the tercera. Raziel, Cancerbero and Disturbio take on Fuego and former minis Electrico and Astral. The newest former mini, Halcon Suriano Jr. (the former Stukita) has his first match under the new name by teaming with Robin against Espanto Jr. & Grako.

The show starts at 8:30 pm. You can watch it Marca and Facebook. I’ll be streaming on YouTube.

Lucha Central has a preview of the show.

CMLL sent out a press release to hype Dragon Lee returning on Christmas. Dragon Lee has been told by a doctor that he’ll need an operation to fix his ear infection, but he’s looking for a second opinion. I would guess he won’t get anything done until after FantasticaMania if at all possible.

Mexico City’s Pepsi Center WTC announced they’ll be hosting an AAA TV taping on Saturday 01/19. No matches are announced, the poster is just a generic roster shot. AAA’s first TV taping of the last few years has been a Mexico City taping and this will also probably be the first taping of the year. Those tapings were in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera, AAA’s longtime home in CDMX, so it’s surprising to see them anywhere else. The capacity of the venue varies – from 3,000 to 7,000 depending on how they set things up – so it could be more or less than the usual building. There’s a lot of AAA history in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera but it is not one of my favorite venues to look at and I wouldn’t despair if it was no longer a regular stop.

I keep thinking Laredo/Fenix and Shani/Taya/Starfire??? will be happening on this 1/19 show, but nothing is for sure with AAA. I know of a 01/26 taping in Tampico that has not yet been announced – but the last few attempts for AAA to run Tampico has been canceled, so maybe put that one down as tentative.

The viral La Parkita will be appearing at the AAA/EMW show in Tijuana on Saturday.

+LuchaTV posted a video of Konnan trying to recruit Pagano for MAD. If you can figure out who is supposed to be in MAD, what it is supposed to be, and why I should care if it exists, then let me know.

Zona Ruda notes an el Hijo del Santo on Azteca interview with Santo says he’s finishing writing for the upcoming series about El Santo, and filming is expected to begin in 2019.

REINA announced Marcela will wrestle on their 01/27 show, facing Tae Honma. That’s the week before Fantastica Mania.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

LuchaTalk has a new episode.

Puma King checks in from Japan in his latest video.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 12/18/2018 Arena México
1) Kaligua & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Universo 2000
2) Akuma & Camorra vs Hijo del Signo & Yago
3) Audaz, Drone, Rey Cometa vs Disturbio, Nitro, Sagrado
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Flyer, Stuka Jr. vs Luciferno, Máscara Año 2000, Mephisto
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero

Maybe a good Friday main event. Probably not a good segunda.

CMLL (TUE) 12/18/2018 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Magnum, Star Black, Tigre Blanco vs Carlo Roggi, Exterminador, Mr. Apolo
2) Avispa Dorada, Estrellita, La Guerrera vs Amapola, La Comandante, Tiffany
3) Esfinge, Pegasso, Stigma vs Difunto, Pólvora, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Blue Panther, Kráneo, Volcano vs Euforia, Rey Bucanero, Vangellys
5) Carístico, Diamante Azul, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, La Bestia Del Ring, Terrible

Possibly an insta-feud to set up something for Christmas. With Caristico/Cavernario busy in Puebla, it leans towards another Diamante Azul/Terrible.

IWRG (FRI) 12/21/2018 Arena Naucalpan
1) Dulce Luna & Quimera vs Lili Dark & Ludark Shaitan
2) Black Dragón, Dinamic Black, Multifacético vs Death Metal, Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka
3) Imposible vs Eterno
4) Aramis, Hijo del Alebrije, Relámpago vs Demonio Infernal, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Lunatic Xtreme
5) Dragón Bane © vs Freelance [IWRG REY DEL AIRE]
4th defense
6) Mr. Electro © vs Máscara Año 2000 Jr.Toscano [hair, IWRG IC HEAVY]
would be Electro’s 5th defense
7) Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. & Rey Wagner vs Hijo de LA Park & LA Park

Dragon Bane/Freelance should be fun again. Semimain is probably a title switch.

CMLL Puebla: 2018-12-10

Sonic knows a hold

Recapped: 12/10/2018

Matches:

Astro & Sonic beat Ares & Guerrero Espacial
(11:22 [5:29, 2:00, 3:53], 2/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Millenium & Rey Samuray beat El Perverso & King Jaguar
(10:36 [5:39, 2:46, 2:11], 2/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Átomo, Gallito, Microman beat Chamuel, Guapito, Perico Zakarías
(11:09, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Vangellys beat Fuego, Tritón, Volcano 
(12:22 [6:10, 2:25, 3:47], 1/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Niebla Roja beat Cavernario, Hechicero, Rey Bucanero
(13:37 [4:39, 4:01, 4:57], 2/3 DQ, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Volador Jr. beat Terrible
(8:40, 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened: 

Terrible attacked Volador before the whistle and beat him quickly. Tirantes got himself involved in the match.

Cavernario fouled Carístico to the end the semi-main, setting up a rematch for next week.

The micros match was a one fall match for some reason. It was announced as a three fall match but they were working it as a one fall match until the finish.

Thoughts:

got most of it

Volador & Terrible was the mailed-in match expected as soon as they announced the match. Volador not really caring about the umpteenth singles match he’s doing is fair, CMLL continuing to book him in singles matches not fair to anyone else. It is not like this singles match helped the draw at all. Terrible kinda/sorta tried, and maybe Terrible defending his own title against literally anyone would’ve generated a little more hunger. This match that happened would be more objectionable if Volador didn’t have an even more annoying match three days prior. It’s easy just to handwave it and move on.

There were a couple of fun moments but this micros match was one of the weaker ones they’ve done. Changing it to one fall with no reason was strange. It was more meandering than past outings. Microman working primarily with Guapito cut down on the number of high spots. Guapito did more comedy with other wrestlers than Mije usually does, but it wasn’t great enough to make up for it. Atomo and Chamuel felt like they were barely in, with Chamuel just taking one odd looking bump to the floor, and it worked like a 2v2 match for a large portion of the match.