Recapped: 2020-04-25
Matches:
Big Mami beat Vanilla
(5:39, Gori Special, below average, 00:14:26)
Lady Maravilla beat Keyra
(7:13, Maravilla back bridge neck crank, ok, 00:28:27)
Lady Shani beat Faby Apache
(8:05, powerbomb, bridge cradle, good, 00:45:03)
Chessman beat Myzteziz Jr.
(7:11, spear, ok, 01:00:14)
LA Park beat Laredo Kid
(10:35, hanging DDT, great, 01:17:22)
Pagano beat Octagón Jr.
(4:43, rebound inverted suplex, ok, 01:35:44)
Pentagón Jr. beat Niño Hamburguesa
(8:26, top rope double stomp, good, 01:47:50)
What happened:
Lady Maravilla did a promo about beating mixed tag champion with Villano III for years to come. It seemed only to exist to set up a mixed tag title match to come. She also attacked Big Mami after her match (with Faby Apache making the save), only for Mami to do the same to her and Keyra after her match.
Laredo Kid attacked Chessman after his match for no explained reasons. Carta Brava Jr. ran out for the save, only for Laredo Kid to attack both of them. This bit made no sense. Myzteziz was laying hurt on the mat being checked on (though seemed fine late), so perhaps his part was missing wand would’ve explained it.
Lucha Fighter did a more thorough job of explaining the concept, though they’re hazy on some details. It remains a single-elimination tournament. Next week is the semifinals, which makes sense for the women’s tournament (four people left) but not the minis (two people left) or the men (eight people left.) The minis could just be skipped. The size of the men’s field suggests AAA is going to sidestep having to pin most of these people by doing a non-elimination four-way match or a battle royal similar to Lucha Capital. It also leaves open a question of what would be left for the final week – surely it can’t only be the three final matches.
There were many run-ins on the show, nearly one after most matches. Many seemed to have little or no purpose on this episode. (Also, if we’re to believe this was live, as insisted by the announcers, that meant AAA had Carta Brava Jr. come to a show he didn’t have a match on, simply to catch a dive. That seems non-essential.)
The announcing did mention some of the people’s donations via SuperChat, so either the commentary was live or they had people working the chat room.
Those still alive:
- Men: Hijo del Vikingo, Dr. Wagner Jr., Texano Jr., Psycho Clown, Chessman, LA Park, Pagano, and Pentagon Jr.
- Women: La Hiedra, Big Mami, Lady Maravilla, Lady Shani
- Minis: Laredo Boy, Dinasita
Thoughts:
The main event was truly an extended squash. Hamburguesa got in offense solely to prolong the match. He was never in danger of actually winning a thing. He was only in danger of suffering, the suffered Pentagon was more than happy to provide. Pentagon showed respect to Hamburguesa before and after the match, while enjoying destroying him in between it. He had fun doing it and the joy was infectious.
I will never think about Pagano & Octagon Jr. again. It was fine for a TV match. Pagano worked a technical style and nothing went wrong. Octagon was steadier than his teammate Myzteziz but didn’t steal the show.
They took away the crowd, so LA Park could not brawl among them, could not rely on them to go nuts for spots, could not steal the drink trays in between. LA Park still did great. It’s like he’s a great wrestler. He did a great number of things with Laredo Kid that I was sure were not happening when the match started, especially taking the Spanish Fly spot. LA Park also seemed to be watching his Kenny Omega taped judging by the V-Trigger spots. I doubt we’ll ever get an interview with LA Park where he’s totally open and introspective about his wrestling thoughts but he seems like a guy who makes a point of adapting his style to the times. He adapted to the situation here, going heavier on the action in a short time. Laredo helped a lot, sold big, wasn’t totally hurt by this, but this was another LA Park show. (It’s also got to be the shortest LA Park singles match in quite a while.)
Chessman rare singles TV matches in the last decade have tended to be lumbering brawls, and he’s not looked like his younger self in basing for tecnicos. It was a pleasant surprise to get him doing as much as he did for Myzteziz Jr. in their match. The tecnico seemed a little hesitant at times, but Chessman was right there with him for his high spots. Maybe Chessman getting the win motivated him, but he came off as the better guy of the two in the match.
The best women’s match was easily the Shani/Apache encounter. Shani’s progressed that she can go hold for hold with Faby. She’s also not afraid to kick hard, knowing the hard kick is coming back the other way. Faby teasing being stopped early by a shoulder injury seemed like a bad sign – not that she was actually hurt, but that it felt like a veteran who was very unhappy about being asked to lose and might tank the match – but she did great as a sarcastic ruda here. Clapping on the tapatia for the non-existent fans was nice. They mixed up what they did well, and Faby can still go at a high level.
The running theory on Dr. Wagner’s tired performance last week is it was actually his second or third match that night, with AAA quietly having taped earlier that day. That might have happened with Lady Maravilla too. Or maybe she was just gassed from the run-in prior, or not having wrestled for a month, because she looked exhausted early on. She got a second win later on, but Keyra carried most of a match that doesn’t really live up to the ones they’ve had in the past (or might again in the future.) The kicks to the face were nice and the last few minutes were good, but better is expected here.
Vanilla is a limited wrestler. Big Mami is a very limited wrestler. Putting them in a cold match was not ideal. Mami’s limitations are easier to overlook in a bloody match where she’s fighting for her life with the crowd rooting her on. The empty arena just showcased her kicks that came nowhere close to the intended target and struggles selling. Vanilla probably can be carried to a good match with a strong opponent but wasn’t the person who could make this Mami match work. In a better situation, Mami is left out of a tournament like this entirely; she’s instead wrestling at least two matches (and maybe a third based on the promos.)