CMLL on Marca: 2019-02-22

Recapped: 02/22/19

Matches:

Hijo del Signo & Metálico beat Arkalis & Magnus
(12:24 [6:03, 2:40, 3:41], 1/3, below average, 00:00:41)

Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Virus beat Drone, Fuego, Pegasso
(10:43 [5:33, 2:16, 2:54], 1/3, ok, 00:20:55)

Felino, Hechicero, Shocker beat Kráneo, Stuka Jr., Volcano
(11:55 [3:40, 4:32, 3:43], 2/3, below average, 00:41:40)

Titán beat Cavernario
(24:08, 2/3, excellent, 01:04:59)

1. Plancha Neanderthal (3:56)
2. Titanics (4:57)
3. Titanica (15:15)

Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja beat Gilbert el Boricua, La Bestia Del Ring, Terrible
(8:11 [2:42, 5:29], 1 DQ/2, ok, 01:38:45)

Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. beat Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
(12:09 [2:01, 3:06, 7:02], 1/3, good, 01:58:10)

What happened:

CMLL would like you call Carístico, Místico and Volador the Dream Team.

The semi-main had the first fall end in excessive time in the ring DQ. Angel de Oro and La Bestia del Ring were eliminated in the second fall, but Angel snuck in a foul on Terrible to help Niebla Roja win. Bestia dropkicked Edgar after the match. Niebla Roja said they were going to cheat if Los Ingobernables were also going to cheat.

Thoughts:

CMLL tried to end the show with a showcase match for the técnicos, focusing on all the wild moves they could do. They got some of that, but they got a lot of finishes that didn’t look right. The La Mistica in the first fall and Sansón powerbomb in the first and second falls looked not that far off from normal but not exactly right. The Volador reverse huracanrana for the third fall finish (with a Carístico Mistica) looked bad enough that they really should’ve just done any other spot. The rest of the match was good while lacking intensity, feeling more like a Tuesday send the crowd home match than a big Friday night one. It is also not a great sign for CMLL that a slow series of Canadian Destroyers is seen as an important moment in a big match. This was still the second best match on the show but they’re capable of more.

The semi-main was decent build up to to the big match, though it appeared two of the people appeared to believe the big match was Diamante Azul & Gilbert el Boricua. The crowd didn’t seem that into Chavez brothers and Ingobernables this week, though also it seemed to feature a lot more Bestia and a lot less Terrible. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds but it was still fine going two falls.

I was concerned early on in the Cavernario/Titan match. It did not start as a sprint. They were pacing for a long match and it didn’t seem a certainty the would actually get that sort of time. It was not a concern I needed to have; they got their lightning match time in the first two falls and then nearly twice that in the third. They built and built in a match showcasing their best moments, treating this more like the culmination of a long feud than a random one off match. It felt more like an introduction than an evolution of what they’ve done in the past, though maybe that was the idea – if this match does end up on Televisa, it would be the first time either of them were really featured on that channel, their ascension has come during this period when they’ve been off the network. The slight problem with this match is CMLL tropes dictate Cavernario has to try his caverneria at least once before the match ends, and usually, it instantly ends the match. They subverted that a bit and Titan found a moment to pull out his new most favorite strange cradle. This ranks up there with Cavernario’s best non-apuesta singles matches.

The tercera was terminally boring. Only some inventive stuff by Stuka and Hechicero prevented it from being a total waste, and it was still pretty much nothing. This felt much longer than it probably actually was, but it still wasted time that could’ve gone elsewhere.

The second match was very much to form for the six people involved, down to Drone doing Rey Cometa’s headscissors with him not being around. Fuego seemed excited to be there, which was more than you could say about many of the others. The finish with Virus & Drone looked bad but at least no one got hurt. This wasn’t much but it was still significantly better than the one that preceded it.

The opener was not good in many ways but it was really the clotheslines that Metálico was trying that pushed this from the “I don’t want to think about this, ‘ok’” to “i really hate that I’m spending my time on this, ‘below average’”. Hijo del Signo was carrying the load on the rudo team, which was exactly a bad idea as it seemed to be. Arkalis may be a good wrestler but there’s no way to determine it.