Day: February 29, 2020

Caristico & Forastero win tournament via distraction, Templario & Hijo del Villano III win other tournament block

thecubsfan

CMLL (FRI) 02/28/2020 Arena México [+LuchaTV, culticon, ESTO, Marca, Ovaciones, R de Rudo, Record, thecubsfan, TUDN]
1) Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Halcón Suriano Jr. & Sonic
9:30. Rudos took 1/3.
2) Sagrado & Soberano Jr. b Dulce Gardenia, Luciferno, Black Panther, Stigma, Hijo del Villano III, Disturbio [MEX TAG, battle royal]
2:28
3) Disturbio & Virus b Pegasso & Stigma [MEX TAG, 8f]
4:45.
4) Hijo del Villano III & Templario b Dulce Gardenia & Fuego [MEX TAG, 8f]
6:59.
5) Ephesto & Luciferno b Black Panther & Blue Panther Jr. [MEX TAG, 8f]
3:30.
6) Misterioso Jr. & Sagrado b Soberano Jr. & Titán [MEX TAG, 8f]
5:56.
7) Hijo del Villano III & Templario b Disturbio & Virus [MEX TAG, quarterfinal]
5:24.
8) Soberano Jr. & Titán b Ephesto & Luciferno [MEX TAG, quarterfinal]
5:18.
9) Hijo del Villano III & Templario b Soberano Jr. & Titán [MEX TAG, semifinal]
13:43.
10) Felino, Negro Casas, Terrible b Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja
17:25. Rudos took 1/3.
11) Carístico & Forastero b Cavernario & Volador Jr. [Torneo Nacional Increible de Parejas, final]
12:19. Straight falls, the last when Felino distracted Cavernario and Felino.

CMLL promos: Akuma & Espanto Jr., Templario & HIjo del Villano III, Felino, Caristico & Forastero, and Barbaro Cavernario.

Pressroom interviews: Caristico & Forastero and Hijo del Villano III & Templario.

The main event was the better of the two 2v2 finals, but the finish kind of made the whole tournament pointless. The Soberano/Titan vs Villano III/Templario match had more issues but a much better ending. The next best tag match on the show might have been the opener.

El Grafico writes about the mixed feelings about the CMLL barricades around the ring following Valiente’s injury. The article correctly attributes them to a Sombra/fan interaction, though the details are slightly off. Hijo del Villano III says it was too risky before the barricades (though he didn’t wrestle in CMLL Before the barricades.) Pierrothito and Halcon Suriano Jr. are less positive about it.

Miguel Reducindo talks about the pointlessness of bringing back the tag team belts: there are too many belts as it, fans do not show up in more numbers to see title matches and champions do not benefit from them.

On the Lucha Time show last night, The Mummy became the first overall champion, while Baby Extreme became cruiserweight champion. Or at least that was what on the poster. Neither report on the show mentions belts, so maybe they were just matches.

AEW has a PPV tonight. Penta & Fenix do not appear to be on it. No lucha libre talent made the show this time. That’s disappointing. The show looks good and I’m going to be there, but still.

Dragon Lee did not win the ROH championship last night. Tonight’s show includes

  • Rush vs PCO vs Mark Haskins for the ROH World Championship
  • Dragon Lee vs Dak Draper for the ROH TV Championship
  • Rey Horus & Bandido vs Jonathan Gresham & Bandido

The show starts at 7 pm tonight, straight up with the AEW show. It is possible Rush wins the championship back tonight, though it’d be a disadvantageous night with attention elsewhere. Dak Draper hasn’t shown anything but height in his Ring of Honor matches so far so it’d be disappointing if he beat Dragon Lee (and I don’t think Dragon Lee is losing.) Horus & Bandido get a tag title shot if they go to a win or draw. It’s possible but there seem to be many contenders for the tag titles already.

There is no AAA Twitch stream this weekend but there are other shows Saturday

The way things work now, where promotions don’t take care of their videos themselves and everyone’s reliant on a few people deciding where they’d like the spend their night, means there absolutely will be five versions of some of these shows and no video of other ones. This frustrates me even though I probably won’t actually watch most of this.

Sunday

Maximo talks about the rumors about his health, says it was just he and his family being extra thorough about a minor issue following La Parka’s injuries.

Segunda Caida watches one of the recent CMLL Japan matches that have been posted to YouTube.

A promo for the AAA/EMW/MLW show.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 03/06/2020 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Shockercito vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dulce Gardenia vs Misterioso, Sagrado, Virus
3) Titán vs Soberano Jr. [lightning]
4) Rey Bucanero & Shocker vs Felino & Tiger and Cancerbero & Raziel and Pólvora & Vangellys and Atlantis Jr. & Flyer and Rey Cometa & Star Jr. and Drone & Esfinge and Audaz & Fugaz [MEX TAG, battle royal]
5) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [MEX TAG, 8F]
6) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [MEX TAG, 8F]
7) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [MEX TAG, 8F]
8) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [MEX TAG, 8F]
9) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [MEX TAG, quarterfinal]
10) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [MEX TAG, quarterfinal]
11) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [MEX TAG, semifinal]
12) Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Euforia, Último Guerrero

Atlantis & Flyer seem the favorites. CMLL trying to force the second generation Atlantis/Villano feud into happening seems like their top priority. Audaz & Fugaz have an outside shot, but it’s hard to imagine any of the other tecnico teams actually winning the championship. Cometa & Star Jr. would be fun secondary tag team champions but CMLL doesn’t have time for them.

Felino & Tiger seem destined to lose via Cavernario distraction. Shocker & Bucanero being in this tournament is a statement on how far they’ve fallen – everyone else is solidly midcard – and yet they’ll probably advance far. The matches would be better if Cancerbero & Raziel did instead.

Titan and Soberano are going to have a really good match again. Titan won the last one.

CMLL Marca: 2020-02-28

thecubsfan
Forastero

Recapped: 2020-02-28

Matches:

Akuma & Espanto Jr. beat Halcón Suriano Jr. & Sonic
(9:30 [5:00, 1:56, 2:34], 1/3, ok)

The dumb battle royal went 2:28

Disturbio & Virus beat Pegasso & Stigma in a Mexican National Tag Team eighthfinal
(4:45, ok)

Hijo del Villano III & Templario beat Dulce Gardenia & Fuego in a Mexican National Tag Team eighthfinal
(6:59, ok)

Ephesto & Luciferno beat Black Panther & Blue Panther Jr. in a Mexican National Tag Team eighthfinal
(3:30, ok)

Soberano Jr. & Titán vs Misterioso Jr. & Sagrado in a Mexican National Tag Team eighthfinal
(5:56, ok)

Hijo del Villano III & Templario beat Disturbio & Virus in a Mexican National Tag Team quarterfinal
(5:24, ok)

Soberano Jr. & Titán beat Ephesto & Luciferno in a Mexican National Tag Team quarterfinal
(5:18, ok)

Hijo del Villano III & Templario beat Soberano Jr. & Titán in a Mexican National Tag Team semifinal
(13:43, good)

Felino, Negro Casas, Terrible beat Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja
(17:25 [5:59, 8:00, 3:26], 2/3, ok, )

Carístico & Forastero beat Cavernario & Volador Jr. in the Torneo Nacional Increible de Parejas final
(12:19 [4:18, 8:01], good, ½)

What happened:

Felino distracted Cavernario (and Volador), leading to Caristico & Forastero beating them in a straight fall tournament win.

Templario & Hijo del Villano III advanced in the national tag team tournament bracket.

Thoughts:

Soberano easily clearing the ring post

The main event followed a dreary semi-mas well as a tournament final that was all about near falls and was going to have a bad WWE distraction finish. It would’ve taken a special to succeed in that spot. Caristico, Forastero, Cavernario, and Volador just had an ordinary high spot tournament final instead. They got more time and probably was technically better than the other one, but that finish was lame and this was still the second one to air, which made it feel too same-ish. CMLL (purposefully) lacks variety in their styles and this is a night where it hurt the enjoyment of the show. The tournament format also hurt, since there wasn’t a natural tecnico team to root for and neither team tried to played rudo. Forastero did do well in this situation, keeping up and having the best of the night. The effort was there, just the first fall wasn’t much and the second fall was extra extended since they weren’t doing three. Even the finish didn’t feel like they had built up to a big moment; Cavernario doesn’t win big with that splash. It all added to a that was fine during the time but I can’t imagine watching again.

The only purpose of the semi-main seemed to be as a buffer between the two tournaments. It was set up for people to get in, work quickly, and get out. Instead, they worked very slow and long. I have no idea what happened or why it did happen. This was persistently boring.

The tournament final is the one of the block worth your time. Dulce remains good and only got one round out of it. Other teams tried and the match didn’t develop. Luciferno & Ephesto really shouldn’t have gone two matches (and maybe one.)

Templario & Hijo del Villano III versus Titan & Soberano suffered a bit from going straight into dramatic back and forth near falls with no build. It took a while in a drama to build enough to match what they were doing. Hijo del Villano III was also inconsistent and didn’t feel like he raised his level to meet the other three people. Soberano & Titan showed more teamwork, which made Templario overcoming them both more impressive.

Dulce Gardenia