2016 watch later catch up, part 8 of ∞

• Cavernario vs Black Terry
  Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 06/11/2016 
• Imposible © vs Emperador Azteca for the IWRG Intercontinental Lightweight Championship
  Arena Naucalpan, 07/13/2016 
• Laredo Kid vs Brian Cage
  8105 Camp Bowie, Benbrook, Texas, 07/15/2016 
• Dragón Fly vs Demonio Infernal for the mask
  Arena Naucalpan, 08/03/2016 
• Arez vs XL, Fly Warrior [XNL CHAMP]
  Salón Citlalli, Ecatepec, Estado de México, 07/31/2016 
• Carístico vs Titán (CMLL), Volador Jr., Máscara Dorada [Copa Boom Internacional]
  Arena Naucalpan, 10/16/2016 

I finally watched the IWRG mask match everyone’s been talking about! (Wait, what? Oh.) I was actually making good progress on getting thru this list, feeling like there was an outside shot of getting this done before February, maybe even in 2016 itself, and then I got derailed this week. This particular post was sitting around for a week because uploading GIFs broke my site repeatedly and I just gave up for a while. Plus, I went thru Rob’s list and found about a dozen more matches to watch. This is what I have left, plus whatever I add for December. The recommended match list has also been updated.

Cavernario vs Black Terry
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 06/11/2016
Video: TVLuchaMundial, Estrellas del Ring, RUDO VISION, Ricardo Peña

Winner: Cavernario by DQ
Match Time: 13:36

Review: [good] A barbaric brawl. Their attempts at technical wrestling lasts about two minutes, and then it’s just both men embracing their inner caveman. This was so many headbutts, especially early on, and it just stayed on the level the whole way thru. It felt especially violent about eight minutes in, when Cavernario runs into a support beam and had a hard back and forth with Terry a little later. This is the night after the Aeroboy match, and I ended up liking that much more because there’s an actual story and finish to that. Here, there’s a move that looks blown (but might have been intentional), a random injury fake out, and then two low blows to end it. It’s really unsatisfying. The Aeroboy/Terry story telling is really good, the story here is really not good, and that’s a big difference for me. If you’re less bothered by the endings of matches, you may like this nearly the same.

Imposible © vs Emperador Azteca for the IWRG Intercontinental Lightweight Championship
Arena Naucalpan, 07/13/2016
Video: thecubsfan, mluchatv

1. Emperador Azteca fireman’s carry bomb (1:39)
2. Imposible powerbomb (3:58)
3. Imposible double underhook piledriver (5:16)

Winner: Imposible (2/3)
Match Time: 10:53
Notes: Emperador Azteca decides to attack Impossible on the way to the ring. The camera stays fixed on the ring while the fight is happening before slowly picking it up. They fight out for a few seconds, then just walk in the ring and start the match like nothing’s happened. Emperador does kick Impossible in the face before everyone’s cleared out, but that was odd.

Review: [good] Emperador has been a vanilla guy in both IWRG and Elite, but is angry at Imposible for whatever reason and it really makes the match more interesting than it might have been as a generic IWRG title match. It’s much different than the Freelance match too, a lot of brawling elements early on. (It might also be the first Imposible title match where he doesn’t get in the chair silla spot.) The brawling comes off as more serious than usual for young guys, and feels like something you might see more in a big grudge match than a title match. There’s a screwup with Imposible pulling off Emperador’s mask by mistake, which should’ve been a DQ and a title change. That’s not the plan, and the referee covers up by turning away, but it still distracts from the match and feels too much there they do a bunch of other maybe DQ spots right after. It’s only the foul shot by Emperador that feels like a time where he might actually win, and they needed more than that. Still, this was a bit better than I was expecting.

Laredo Kid vs Brian Cage
8105 Camp Bowie, Benbrook, Texas, 07/15/2016
Video: victor Martinez

Winner: Laredo Kid (corner powerbomb)
Match Time: 10:12
Notes: Skip 3 minutes in to avoid the seizure including flickering light show.

Review: [great] I mostly picked this one because those names look like it’d be a weird matchup. And it was, though not really like how I thought: Cage didn’t overpower the smaller Laredo Kid, it was much more just two guys doing different but equally effective styles. Cage’s strength helped him take control, but normal back elbows and kicks from Laredo were enough to slow him down, and there two wrestled more as equals. Laredo’s offense looks really good with Cage, and Cage throws him around well (except the second corner powerbomb, which got landed a little lower than they would’ve wanted.) These first three matches have all been near my imaginary, totally arbitrary cut line. This one felt a little bit more smoother than the other two, but it’s not a big difference. Laredo looked sharp, and Cage was giving a strong effort on a show that’s probably wasn’t among his most important.

Dragón Fly vs Demonio Infernal for the mask
Arena Naucalpan, 08/03/2016
Video: thecubsfan, lucha libre, lucha libre, lucha libre, lucha libre

1. Dragon Fly reverse bodyscissors cradle (4:32)
2. Demonio Infernal double underhook piledriver (4:14)
3. Dragon Fly top rope Canadian Destroyer (9:23)

Winner: Dragon Fly (1/3)
Match Time: 18:09
Notes: The rudos set up an elaborate plan, where Demonio Infernal stands on the apron to lure Dragon Fly in as he walks to the ring, and his rudo second (his father, Bombero Infernal) kneels beside the barrier to trip Fly. It actually works. They blow the whistle for the match long before anyone makes it to the ring. Demonio Infernal hangs from the upper level barrier and is stomped off to the main floor, which is missed by the camera switcher. They brawl for about 90 seconds on the floor without getting counted out, which is a pretty smooth move.

Review: [good] OK, my ratings are screwy. This is the same level as the other matches, but those other matches are much better. This is good for two rookies having their biggest match, it doesn’t fall apart at any time, and they don’t completely run out of things to do with all the time. It still feels long and not especially creative past the opening gambit and the first fall. Chairs that aren’t DQs, the técnico second getting harassed all match before getting in a dive, a Canadian Destroyer – this feels more like graduation for basic lucha training in 2016, and they deserved to graduate, but I wanted a bit more. They should be happy with their efforts but this isn’t something you have to see unless you’re investigating the IWRG rookies.

Arez vs XL vs Fly Warrior [XNL CHAMP]
Salón Citlalli, Ecatepec, Estado de México, 07/31/2016
Video: Estrellas del Ring, TVLuchaMundial

Winner: Arez (Santa Maria on Fly Warrior
Match Time: 13:14
Review: [good] XL misses a springboard dropkick by a foot early on, and it’s hard to get in to past that. It was improved past then, but three way’s lack of flow makes it hard to go in. Fly Warrior seems to be limping and doesn’t have the same spring in his legs after the opening Brillo Dorada. XL is steadier as a suplex/superkick guy then his when he touches the ropes, and Arez looks the steadiest of them all. It just struggles to come together as more than some spots, and the spots aren’t done well are impressive enough for this to stand out. It’s not just the high end stuff, the Arez/Fly Warrior sequence where one GTS is blocked and one is not and they both look about the same as making contract is not a great moment. The timing isn’t as good either, with XL disappearing for a couple minutes, giving him plenty of time to set up a balcony dive that still seems late. This was not a bad match by any means, but the crowd dug this much more than I did.

 

Carístico vs Titán (CMLL), Volador Jr., Máscara Dorada [Copa Boom Internacional]
Arena Naucalpan, 10/16/2016
Video: Estrellas del Ring, TVLuchaMundial, R de Rudo, +LuchaT

Winner: Mascara Dorada (Dorada Screwdriver on Titan)
Match Time: 16:11

Review: [great] an all star spot fest. They start off really fast and I wasn’t sure if they were going to be able to keep it up over the length of the match, but they retain most of it. I prefer the one on one sections more than four guys fighting randomly at time, and they do a fair bit of both at a high level. Mascara Dorada was the best of the four to me. It’s weird that he won, because they could’ve had one of the two guys who wasn’t just about done in Mexico pin Titan instead, but his great running the ropes elbow drop seemed to suggest he deserved it. The Brillo Dorada looked cool too, even if Carístico caught it instead of taking a bump. Outside of one botched La Mistica, Dorada seemed to be the best psuedo-rudo of the match too, working well with Titan especially to set up spots. Everyone got their spots, and Carisitco got annoyed with the fans for choosing people over him, so a good time was had by all.