CMLL Puebla: 2019-08-05

Recapped: 08/07/2019

Matches:

Centella Roja, Espíritu Maligno, Fuerza Chicana beat Astro, King Jaguar, Millenium
(12:10 [7:34, 2:54, 1:42] , 1/3, ok, 00:02:27)

Fuego, Stigma, Star Black beat Misterioso, Okumura, Difunto
(16:27 [9:25, 2:02, 5:00], 2/3, ok, 00:23:23)

Eléctrico © beat Virus to retain the Mexican National Lightweight Championship
(22:02, 2/3, great, 00:49:22)

1. Virus La Rosa (6:43)
2. Electrico springboard splash (4:12)
3. Electrico crucifix cradle (11:07)

Ángel de Oro, El Audaz, Niebla Roja beat Ephesto, Mephisto, Vangellys
(16:32 [6:33, 3:14, 6:45], 2/3, ok, 01:19:17)

La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible beat Carístico, Diamante Azul, Valiente
(11:27 [4:50, 2:01, 4:36], 1/3 DQ, below average, 01:45:02)

Volador Jr. © beat Dragón Lee for the NWA World Welterweight Championship
(20:59, 2/3, good, 02:11:14)

1. Dragon Lee casadora cradle (4:34)
2. Volador Spanish Fly (1:43)
3. Volador flipping DDT (14:42)

What happened:

Rush was disqualified for unmasking Caristico in the second fall. That didn’t feel like the planned finish though Rush also didn’t accidentally unmask Caristico. Rush faked a foul in the third fall, setting up a singles match.

Star Black & Difunto replaced Triton & Tiger, though they were probably meant to be working this show from the moment they were announced as being around this week.

Thoughts:

Dragon Lee put in a strong performance for a Monday night, enough to make this watchable on his own, and just didn’t have enough to work with. You could make the argument that Electrico did better in his match than Volador did in his, which is perhaps the harshest thing I’ve ever said about Volador. The two slips on the top rope were the most glaring problems but not the other one. Volador’s issues seemed more fitness-related than health-related. A year of wrestling every match in low gear made very hard for him to shift up to Dragon Lee’s speed. It left Volador exposed as not on Dragon Lee’s level at the moment and hopefully will inspire him to up his game. Volador wasn’t awful and this match had a good plan that it couldn’t always execute. This was another in the string of big Volador matches which weren’t what they should’ve been. In the meantime, maybe CMLL needs to look stronger at not including Volador in these matches and giving Dragon Lee some different challenges.

Los Ingobernables weren’t really feeling like doing much in the semi-final. What these six were doing wasn’t really good. Bestia del Ring almost got up over Valiente at 2.75 in the first fall but the referee wisely counted the pin anyway. Diamante Azul couldn’t take a Boston crab in the same fall. He didn’t seem ready to be back. Caristico and Rush turning over two rows of seats was amusing but it didn’t make for much of a complete match.

The Angel de Oro trios was a typical solid midcard match. Audaz works a lot with Vangellys for a rudo who doesn’t normally seem like a comfortable base. I guess he’s a big target. Vangellys collapsed taking a rana in the first fall, but he and Audaz did better later. Mephisto had trouble keeping up with the Chavez brothers and they’re not the fastest dudes.

The Virus big title match was a treat, as they usually are. The third fall was just a great dramatic back and forth. There was a good build to that point in the earlier falls, but the third fall put real stakes into every moment. The finish was done cleverly, Virus getting caught just when he was surely safe. Electrico did enough to keep up, from the mat sequences in the beginning to the near falls in the end-stage. Virus subtly kept the match going on track when it might have been a struggle with someone else. Electrico was fine but this came off more a one-man effort on a rewatch.

The segunda was a match was a surprise second fall win, which led to the rudos dominating for a whole bunch of the match. Difunto made a better impression than Star Black, who has the flashy Rayo de Jalisco moves but seems a little bit slow for them. Difunto moves better and has a good chop. Difunto and Stigma did about kill each other getting lost on a spot, but it is Stigma. Good for doing something different on the finish.

King Jaguar decided he was a high flying superstar in this week’s opener. He was wrong. But he tried. Astro did much better at it. Millenium didn’t get much at all.