Vanguardia: 2021-02-20 (Amor y Control)

Results:

1. Gasparín & Símbolo Azteca b Dragón Boy & Falcón Fire to earn a shot at the BMLL Tag Team Championship (12:01)
2. Billy & Jeff Killer b Dayami & Miedo Extremo (10:39)
3. Calibus, Devitt Rodríguez, Edward Gutierrez DQ Colmillo Blanco, Jitsu, Rey Dragón (11:08)
4. Jimmy & Mago NF Aero Boy & Ciclón Infernal (15:58)
5. Aeroboy, Calibus, El Mago, Jimmy, Miedo Extremo b Ciclón Infernal, IAW Mystery Man 1, IAW Mystery Man 2, Jitsu, Rey Dragón (8:07)

The show is up complete on Mas Lucha.

What Happened:

The IAW versus Vanguardia feud continued, with Aeroboy and Ciclon Infernal falling apart as a team in the scheduled main event. The match ended without a finish, leading into an angle where Infernal, his two masked (and still unidentified) IAW allies, and Sindicato’s Jitsu & Rey Dragon attacked the tecnicos. Calibus & Miedo Extremo made the save and kicked off a 5v5 surprise tag match to close out the show with the home team winning.

Calibus debuted The Fresh Club, a trio of himself, Devitt Rodriguez, and Edward Gutierrez (the former Luigi). They won by DQ on a Jitsu foul, with Ciclon Infernal distracting prior. Colmillo Blanco – el Mago’s grandfather – replaced the missing and unmentioned Santy Hernandez.

Jeff Killer teamed with the Bikers in an early match, though it was left slightly indefinite if it was a full-time change or a short-term deal with Murdock not around. The Bikers remain undefeated.

Gasparin Jr. & Simbolo Azteca won a title match with Drolux and Moria at some future point.

Thoughts

The 5v5 surprise match was fun, and kind of had to be. It was not on the scale of the previous show’s 5v5 match, more sort of an enjoyable bonus tacked onto a show. This would’ve been a frustrating show without that bonus; the last two matches ending in a random foul and a complete no-finish is less than ideal. This was a taped show and I knew the results before watching, so the lack of an ending didn’t disappoint me as much as it might have live. The flipside is they had a sixteen-minute match where I was just waiting for it to end so they could get to a real match. (It also wasn’t much of a setup to the match falling apart; Ciclon Infernal & Aeroboy were fine for fifteen minutes and at each other’s throats in the final one. They also seemed to work as tecnicos, an odd choice for the story the rest of the night.) If this is the setup you’re going with, make the first match a lot quicker.

The 5v5 was a fun, just a sprint of everyone’s doing a bit. It wasn’t the epic building drama of the 5v5 on the last show, but it was enough to send everyone home happy. I thought Aeroboy looked the best in it, and on the show in general. It’s been this way for a while now, but he was the right guy to get the win at the end. I don’t know how the “mystery IAW guys” worked with half outfits and covered faces; I hope they don’t have to try to do that again.

The Fresh Club looked cool until Jitsu fouled Calibus for no real purpose; they could’ve really used a pinfall win over anyone in their debut. I’m going to miss Luigi being Luigi though I can understand why they’d want to try something more with him. Colmillo Blanco tried his best, though they may have asked a little too much out of him.

The announcers and the backstage interviews seemed intentionally vague on if Jeff Killer was meant to be permanent with Los Bikers or just filling in as a rudo for one night. (Billy’s usual partner, Murdock, also didn’t appear on the previous show.) He stood out more here, showing more emotion than he has as a tecnico. Dayami’s highspots didn’t seem to go well and she took some rough shots in this match. Didn’t seem to stop her. Miedo played a more traditional tecnico role than usual and it worked out fine.

The opener went well for the first half but started to break down sloppily as it went. Gasparin & Simbolo Azteca did look like the better pair. I’m not sure the dive off the (much lower than the last few) light towers really added anything to this, but at least it was safer than usual.

This was an easy watch, even if the individual ratings don’t look impressive. There was some crowd noise (in a building that seemed at least partly open), the effort was there, the execution just didn’t come together. It’s a show you can throw on while you’re doing something else, though you’re not going to miss much if you just skip to another one.

Ratings for Dumb Completeness

• Gasparín & Símbolo Azteca vs Dragón Boy & Falcón Fire [ok]
• Dayami & Miedo Extremo vs Billy & Jeff Killer [ok]
• Colmillo Blanco, Jitsu, Rey Dragón vs Calibus, Devitt Rodríguez, Edward Gutierrez [ok]
• Jimmy & Mago vs Aero Boy & Ciclón Infernal [ok]
• Aeroboy, Calibus, El Mago, Jimmy, Miedo Extremo vs Ciclón Infernal, IAW Mystery Man 1, IAW Mystery Man 2, Jitsu, Rey Dragón [good]