CMLL Fanastica Mania in Tokyo Day 3: 2019-01-21 

Recapped: 1/21/2019

Matches:

Bárbaro Cavernario & Templario beat Audaz & Flyer
(9:34, Barbaro Cavernario cavernaria Audaz, good)

Atlantis Jr. beat Okumura
(7:39, Atlantida on Okumura 7:39, ok)

Bushi, Shingo Takagi, Terrible, Tetsuya Naito beat Sho, Raijin, Satoshi Kojima, Toa Henare  
(12:17, DQ for Suzuki Gun interference, ok)

Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © beat Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Titán for the Mexican National Trios Championship
(14:27, Cuatrero crucifix powerbomb Angel de Oro, good)

Gran Guerrero, Namajague, Último Guerrero beat Dragón Lee, Místico, Soberano Jr.
(13:25, Último Guerrero Guerrero Special Soberano, good)

Dragón George & Sweet Gorilla Maruyma beat Ginbae Mask & Gokiburi Mask
(13:02, Dragon George Dragon Maker Ginbae? Mask, ok)

Volador Jr. beat Carístico
(17:45, Volador Spanish Fly Carístico, great)

What happened:

NGD kept their trios titles. Carístico gave credit to Volador for being the better man, and both men reacted like normal (Volador making sure to bring that up in his promo, Carístico celebrating forever after the match anyway.)

Thoughts:

Volador/Caristico was Volador’s best singles match in a while. They did a unique thing of just going dive crazy to start the match for about the first eight minutes, and then just staying in the ring for big near falls the rest of the way. Their big moves came across smooth and there was more intensity in the match even when it was just mostly flying. The Mistica tease was well done, a moment we don’t get often in Arena Mexico. If you’re tired of Volador, this isn’t going to change your mind, but it was still a good tour ending match.

I don’t know what to say about the semi-main. It was truly as weird as it set out to be.

All the undercard CMLL matches delivered on the last night, with all action and generally bigger moves than we had seen before. Soberano and Místico both had spectacular moments, looking as good as they in the rest of the tournament. Namajague & Dragon Lee fought well and made it clear they’re going to be doing it again sometime in 2019. Guerreros seemed to get to show off more moves here than they had even in their tag match yesterday, and Último dropped Soberano hard on the finish.

The NGD finally got the monkey flip senton and a lot more. They’ve been fine as individuals but the trios title match made the best impression by far. Their team-work spots were on point the whole way, and they came off as worthy champions. Atlantis was fine, maybe better than fine, in the match which seemed like it was going to be the biggest test for him. Angel de Oro & Titan did good, though this match wasn’t as much about them. This was exciting all the way to the finish, and worth checking out.

A great mystery is most everyone in the LIJ match showing more effort in the match that was ending with a run-in DQ. Sho & Yoh really stood more here than as Fujin & Raijin, but it felt like we got more out of BUSHI & Takagi as well. They made a point of Henare trying and failing again. Even failing, it gives Henare an arc and a storyline carrot, which is a lot better than being in trios matches with no direction.

Atlantis Jr. showed good effort in his match, though the execution didn’t seem to always be there. The finishing sequence, where he had to put on the Atlantida three times for it to work, was not the smoothest thing. He looked good the rest of the match, coming out strong with the dives early on. His quebradoras are better than Diamante Azul, not that’s saying much. Atlantis Jr. needs to be taken a little slow in Mexico because he’s not really on the level of the guys in the opener yet, but more regular work should help. He’s not on the cards yet for next week, but hopefully, he starts as a regular before long.

They just went all out from the start in the opener, both sides just doing everything they could for ten minutes. Templario works well with everyone, so it was more surprising to see a whole bunch of Flyer & Audaz team moves scattered into the highlights. Flyer had his best match in this tour in the process, and the other wrestlers weren’t far behind. Templario and really Audaz have made great impressions; luchadors in their position don’t usually get brought back in the same year, but they seem to have a good chance to come back someday.