CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2016-04-01 

Recapped: 04/01/2016

What happened: Rush fouled Marco in the main event, and Marco demanded a singles match. La Mascara cleanly beat Angel de Oro, and challenged him to a title match. At least one of those singles matches should happen this week.

Also, this show was head to head with a WWE NXT special, and was following the first episode of Lucha Azteca 7; it felt much less important than usual in the moment it was happening.

What was good: I liked the first half of the card. Fans threw in money after the third, which felt a little bit generous but not totally undeserved. The rest of the show wasn’t bad, and the show enjoyable.

Where can I watch it: The main event is up on Claro’s website, I’ll have all the matches on Tuesday, and the top matches may air on Azteca US in about a month.

Match 1: Oro Jr. & Soberano Jr. vs El Cuatrero & Sansón
Arena México, 04/01/2016

1. rudos
   • Sansón tapatia/Cuatrero blockbuster combo Soberano Jr. (5:18)
   • Oro Jr. casadora cradle Cuatrero (5:46)
   • Sansón powerbomb backbreaker Oro Jr. (6:06)
2. técnicos
   • Soberano Jr. springboard moonsault bodyblock Sansón (3:55)
   • Oro Jr. senton con giro Cuatrero (4:27)
3. rudos
   • Sansón inside springboard elbow drop Oro Jr. (4:16)
   • Sansón springboard curb stomp knee smash Soberano (5:28)

Winner: rudos (2-1)
Match Time: 16:01

Review: [good] This was much better than the H2L match; they had better chemistry and less time to kill. Hey, they even built the third fall around Oro Jr. wrestling by himself while Soberano was out on the ramp (maybe as a storyline, maybe because the limp he had earlier) and the match didn’t totally fall apart. That was a good sign. Sansón and Cuartero continue to come up with new moves, with the tapatia/blockbuster move looking spectacular. Soberano looked good as always, and they skirted the rules enough to do exciting high spots and make this work. Sansón and Cuatrero are not long for opening matches.

Match 2: Blue Panther Jr., Fuego, The Panther vs Fujin, Okumura, Raijin
Arena México, 04/01/2016

1. técnicos
   • The Panther double springboard dropkick Okumura (6:24)
2. rudos
   • Okumura STF Blue Panther Jr. (3:56)
   • Raijin powerbomb/Fujin tope con giro The Panther (4:33)
3. técnicos
   • Flashina on Raijin (5:45)
   • Blue Panther Jr. german suplex with backwards rolling cradle (6:23)

Winner: técnicos (2-1)
Match Time: 17:20

Review: [good] A fun trios match, fitting in with the other ones with iteration of these two trios. The Japanese trios is willing to do just about anything. Not all of it is going right (the Panther headscissors to the floor looked brutal), but the effort is definitely there. Blue Panther Jr. pulled out a new variation on his German suplex, but it stands out how the foreigners feel like they’re improving much quicker than the natives. They’re definitely better at showing a character. Second fall finish looked wild. I do wonder if we’re going to be thinking of them as a team forever; they got a combo entrance video (the only people to have one), but Fujin had unique gear that makes you think they might be teaming splitting up a little bit.

Match 3: Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, Blue Panther vs Hechicero, Kráneo, Ripper

Arena México, 04/01/2016

1. rudos
   • Kraneo running hip smash Blue Panther (5:09)
2. técnicos
   • Rey Cometa frog splash Kraneo (3:19)
   • Rey Cometa torito Hechicero (3:32)
3. rudos
   • Ripper behind the back faceslam Rey Cometa (7:18)
   • Kraneo legdrop Blue Panther (7:18)

Winner: rudos (2-1)
Match Time: 15:59
Notes: Blue Panther replaced Super Porky.

Review: [good] I was distracted early in this match, and this match didn’t pull me in as much as the other two did at first. Hechicero and Blue Panther had well done mat wrestling, but they’ve done that before and things were exploding on other screens. This match got picked up (and got me back in the second half), with a really smart sequence leading into the second fall finish and a strong third fall. Cometa looked really sharp while being asked to do little, and works really well with Hechicero. Blue Panther’s tope to Hechicero’s back came as a total surprise, and he was an obvious improvement over having Brazo de Plata in the match. (Even the usual ‘the crowd reacts strongest to Porky’ reasoning wouldn’t work in this match, since the crowd reacted strong enough to toss in money after this one.) Kraneo was his usual good stuff, and his bit of falling on a pin to break it up was especially amusing.

Match 4: Ángel de Oro vs La Máscara in a lightning match
Arena México, 04/01/2016

Winner: La Mascara (double knee smash)
Match Time: 5:37

Mascara demanded a title match after his win.

Review: [ok] this was another one I couldn’t manage to watch a lot of live, but it was also the normal spots by both men with a quick ending that seemed to even surprise the announcers. Mascara has his character down better now, Angel de Oro has his bit of offense he can hit perfectly, but neither man seems is that deep of a singles luchador and seeing them again in a longer match doesn’t seem especially appealing.

Match 5: Dragón Lee, Máscara Dorada, Stuka Jr. vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
Arena México, 04/01/2016

1. Hijos del Infierno
   • Mephisto powerbomb Mascara Dorada (3:17)
2. técnicos
   • Mascara Dorada torito Mephisto (2:23)
3. técnicos
   • Dragon lee double stomp Ephesto (4:34)
   • Stuka torpedo splash Lucifierno (4:47)

Winner: técnicos (2-1)
Match Time: 10:27

Review: [ok] This one did start slow, and never totally got going in the way the previous trios did. The last minute or so was entertainingly hectic, but it was a short formula match prior to that. The first two falls were also surprise endings, where it felt like nothing much that mattered happened before those finishes. The other matches were more interesting, but Mephisto’s latest design looks nice.

Match 6: Carístico, Marco Corleone, Volador Jr. vs Cibernético, Negro Casas, Rush in a relevos increíbles match
Arena México, 04/01/2016

1. tecnicos
   • Volador backracker Negro Casas (2:14)
   • Caristico armbar Cibernetico (2:22)
2. técnicos
   • DQ Rush [foul on Marco] (5:18)

Winner: técnicos (2-1)
Match Time: 7:40
Notes: Marco demanded a singles match with Rush, and Rush refused. Caristico took out Volador with a dive late, and the two had slight issues after the match.

Review: [ok] interesting match, but really hurried to get done in time. The Marco/Rush brawling was good, and Marco’s sudden Air Corleone in the first fall onto Rush was a nice big spot. They’d have an interesting singles match, if it got to it. They did enough of Caristico/Volador to make sure it was noticed in the end, but it was a small story in the match – so was Ciberentico/Caristico, really.