Negro Casas vs Virus
(Lucha Memes @ Coliseo Coacalco on 10/21, 7:18,+LuchaTV, great)
Knowing now that Casas was working short matches because he was working with a knee injury, this match is all the more impressive for how much Virus and Casas get out of it without doing a lot of movement. There are grappiing battles which feel like an actual battle and not people just going thru normal sequences, there’s hard strikes exchange, and there’s Virus doing most of the running. It’s not a great match for IGFs if GIFs is what you’re looking for, but it does have the character of Casas taking his eyes off Virus for a second and paying for it. This felt like a borderline match, because it is quite short, but it is really enjoyable for how long it lasts.
Ricky Marvin vs Hechicero
(Lucha Memes @ Coliseo Coacalco on 10/21, 11:52+2:34, great,+LuchaTV)
What Happened: It’s about a five-minute break between the end of the match, the obviously planned screwy finish of the match, and the match getting restarted. Except, there is no referee since they already killed him off, so it is just weirdness for a while. A referee does show up just in time for the finish.
Like Virus/Casas, Marvin is not much for moving, and he and Hechicero have a more built on creatively struggling than big action spots. There’s some good submission work, there’s idea sat big spots that don’t quite come together, but it is a fun time. The epilogue to the match is delightful overshadows the match; they clearly wanted to get out of the match with the screwy finish of the match (which was as absurd as hyped) and it completely backfired with the crowd demanding one more fall and the wrestlers having no way to get out of doing it. They also had no way to get out of it. Hechicero was clearly thinking they’d go 20 seconds for a submission but there was no referee to call the submission. Everyone who does a pointless screwy finish on an indie show simply because they don’t feel like losing should also have to fall out of the ring into the Coacalco dirt like these two. I recommend this match for this level for of comeuppance but I’m being a weirdo here.
Eterno vs Aramis, hair vs mask
(Lucha Memes @ Coliseo Coacalco on 10/21, 17:46, excellent, +LuchaTV)
What Happened: This is a three falls count anywhere match, though there’s no real breaks between the falls.
Review: One of the best matches of the year. It started incredibly hot and somehow managed to keep up an amazing level of action. There were moments of Aramis doing crazy things, there was Eterno being a super base, there was the kind of battling on the dirt floor that only seems to happen from Coacalco, and it was a huge war by the end. They could’ve ended earlier, I thought they were going to end earlier, and it still would’ve been a super memorable match. They played off a real injury for the finish but still made you wait for it to happen, and they made what seemed to be a sure outcome really in doubt. The best big apuesta matches have been on the indies this year and it is great we’ve gotten to see them like this.
Daga vs Hechicero in a half hour ironman match
(The Crash @ Auditorio de Tijuana on 10/06, 21:15 seen, good,Arena Clandestina)
What Happened: This is a 30 minute iron man match. In indie lucha libre fashion, they start the clock before the match has started, making it more of a 28:22 iron man match. This is the most complete version I could find of it, and they still cut off a few minutes.
Review: I did not get into this version of the match. It felt like a slower pace, maybe because they were working to the clock. There was little benefit to using that stipulation, feeling most of the way like a normal three falls match that just had a clock playing. (This pace might have been better if they were doing the 30 minute time limit draw, not one with a lot of falls.) The Tijuana crowd really wanted to hate Daga but they didn’t play into a lot. They were trying to build up some reactions with how hard they were fighting evenly, but that’s not what the crowd was looking for. The action had positive moments but didn’t look as sharp as other matches with them. This wasn’t a bad match by any means but you’d be better off watching the other two.
Willie Mack vs Austin Theory, Zumbi, Flip Gordon
(The Crash @ Auditorio de Tijuana on 10/06, 5:57, good,Arena Clandestina)
Review: A standard multiman match in form, with everyone getting their own moment and no structure beyond that. People reacted for the spots and got into a couple of the wrestlers, but the match didn’t have much weight to it. Seemed pretty complete even for a normally edited match. Borderline ok/good match; I didn’t hate it and it’s a decent use of six minutes but nothing made an impression.
El Bandido & Flamita vs Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
(The Crash @ Auditorio de Tijuana on 10/06, good, 13:06,La Poesia De La Lucha Libre)
What Happened: This version is clipped.
Review: If there’s one Briscoes in Mexico match you need to see this year, this isn’t it. (It’s the trios in Arena Mexico.) There’s some hints of a much better match here, enough that it’s still a good match. Neither team seems at their very best, and the way they drift from a normal hot tag setup to a crowd brawl and then back to normal disappointing. The dead crowd doesn’t help; this is very much a super indie special and those work better with a crowd that sees these matches as something special. There are people who care, but there’s a lot of empty red seats. Still, this gets better as it goes along, and it’s a better match than four way.
