Day: January 29, 2020

Recapped: 2020-01-17

Matches:

Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Douki & Luciferno
(8:06, Fuego armbar Douki, ok)

Kanemaru, Namajague, Okumura beat Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr.
(9:36, Okumura mask pull inside cradle Stuka Jr., ok)

Bushi, EVIL, Takagi beat Dulce Gardenia, El Audaz, Hiroshi Tanahashi
(10:44, Evil scorpion deathlock Audaz, ok)

Titán beat Forastero
(13:14, Titan springboard stomp Forastero, good)

Carístico & Kojima vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Último Guerrero
(11:43, Kojima lariat Ultimo Guerrero, ok)

Euforia & Soberano Jr. beat Negro Casas & Tiger in the CMLL Family 3^rd Place match
(8:40, Soberano Destroyer Tiger, ok)

Cuatrero & Sansón beat Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja in the CMLL Family 1^st Place Match
(12:18, Sanson super torture rack bomb Angel de Oro, good)

What happened:

Titan kept his title. NGD won the Family tag team tournament.

Thoughts:

The tournament final will play better for NJPW fans who don’t watch a lot of CMLL than people who watch everything. It’s a tour of what both teams have done a lot in Mexico, done with polish but without much new added. The NGD came impressively with their double teams, there was plenty done here to help the viewer understand why they’d been so dominant. It didn’t offer as much to those who are familiar with them. They did pinfall breakups for a long time in the match and that portion could’ve been better. They were using match ending moves but rarely giving a chance for them to breathe as if the match could end. Covers were broken well before three, submissions were on just for an instant, the drama at the moment was kind of missed as if they were in a hurry. They got a lot of time, and it’s just an additional second or two that would’ve made the difference. The finish came off good at least.

Soberano & Euforia were better as individuals in the third-place game but didn’t get to show as much teamwork. They were at the best in small stints with Negro Casas, though Casas seemed to tire at the end. Tiger was again fine but no more than fine. It feels strange to see a Destroyer actually win a lucha libre match as opposed to being a random midmatch spot.

If you want to see Kojima bizarrely try a top rope headscissors just so Ultimo Guerrero can reverse it into a powerbomb, the Friday version of this tag match had that. The Thursday did not. There are other small and irrelevant changes outside the different finish but no strong reason for two of these matches needing to exist.

Body part selling like Titan’s hampered ankle is very rare in CMLL. It seemed to be a play toward NJPW sensibilities and hopefully worked out for him. Forastero showed more offense here than he has in most of his recent singles match, but he’s not a guy who’s going to work well just trading big spot, so maybe the build around the drama of the ankle was for the best. Titan balanced showing the pain in his ankle while still fighting through his big spots well and this was probably about as good a match as these two guys were going to have.

We’re halfway home on the LIJ matches and they’re basically following the same pattern and having the same results. Tanahashi wrestled a little bit more in this match but these are hard spots. It’s mostly a lot of Dulce spots, with the third tecnico getting in a dive and a little more and definitely taking the pin. The matches are fine for what they’re setting out to do but don’t stand out.

The second match worked in bits and parts. Maya looked good, they were successful in building up Okumura and Stuka (as much as that can be done), the action generally moved well. Flyer looked off a little bit if you’re looking for it and Kanemaru is just not on the same page as the CMLL tecnicos.

Fuego and Taguchi did a little bit less tonight compared tonight one. We’re getting plenty of them, that’s fine, but the match felt quite short.

Recapped: 2020-01-16

Matches:

Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Douki & Namajague
(7:22, Fuego casadora cradle Douki, good)

El Audaz & Guerrero Maya Jr. beat Kanemaru & Luciferno
(10:17, Audaz pin Luciferno, ok)

Bushi, EVIL, Takagi beat Dulce Gardenia, Flyer, Hiroshi Tanahashi
(11:00, Takagi pumping bomber Dulce, ok)

Forastero & Okumura beat Stuka Jr. & Titán
(9:07, Forastero armbar Okumura, ok)

Bárbaro Cavernario & Último Guerrero beat Carístico & Kojima
(13:05, Cavernario cavernaria Caristico, ok)

Cuatrero & Sansón beat Euforia & Soberano Jr. in a CMLL FAMILY semifinal
(9:30, Cuatrero inverted bear hug Soberano, good)

Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja beat Negro Casas & Tiger in a CMLL FAMILY semifinal
(12:52, inverted campana, good)

What happened:

Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja meat Sanson & Cuatrero in the Family tag team final. They exchanged words after the main event.

Thoughts:

The main event was the best match of the night, the two teams meshing well and no big errors. Casas was having a lot of fun laying in shots in the main event. He made more of the match than Tiger. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja were smooth and got overdoing their act. There’s nothing on this show that needs to be seen but the last match was the most pleasant watch.

The opening family tag match was more enjoyable than most of the matches on the show, though it felt less than their best. I appreciate Soberano figuring out a way to force in a stage dive in Korakuen Hall, and Soberano jumping into the finish was well done. The crowd seemed less receptive to the match, and most matches, then in the past. Euforia playing against his usual style didn’t work as well here too, probably because they’re not using to seeing Euforia at all. Cuatrero rebounded from a tough start.

When the Caristico match turns into dueling posing early on, it suggests it’s not going to be the hardest working match. That tag match was some exhibition, some build to the singles match, nothing particularly shocking. All of these matches feel long to me, but it is just a one fall match and my CMLL brain is used to shorter periods. Work wasn’t really great near the finish.

A lot of the undercard seemed like b-level matches, but it also may be personal. Titan & Stuka should’ve had a better match than they did in the fourth but there really wasn’t much the rudo were adding to it. It was a basic showcase match of the big spots but one easy to skip.

The Gardenia trios were fine, despite the noticeable botch at the end. Gardenia taking the pin doesn’t really matter as much Gardenia surviving stuff earlier; he’s elegant but also tough. I didn’t think much about Flyer in this match which is alright by for him.

Japan has brought us many amazing things. The second match brought us Luciferno wrestling without a shirt. He did get a new top that matched his gear. The match didn’t flow great together, Audaz doing some spectacular things but not really getting into the flow of the match. I’m not sure there was a flow to the match at all and it ended with Luciferno seemingly kicking out of the finish.

Fuego & Taguchi are good for amusing openers and were good at it here. They did a lot more comedy than Fuego usually does alone, but it works well with Taguchi as the opposite. Namajague fits in these wells too. DOUKI didn’t get to do as much but that’s not really his role for these.