2017 watch later catch up, part 1 of ∞

In this post,

• Rey Hechicero vs Caifan
  Cholo de Tijuana, Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California, 01/06/2017 
• Blue Panther, Stigma, The Panther vs Puma, Tiger, Virus
  CMLL, Arena Coliseo, 01/21/2017
• Freelance vs Aramis vs Araña de Plata vs Demonio Infernal vs Black Dragón
  IWRG, Arena Naucalpan, 01/22/2017 
• Imposible vs Relámpago for the IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship in a super libre match
  IWRG, Arena Naucalpan, 01/22/2017 
• Templario © vs Corsario Negro Jr. [CaraLucha The Best]
  Cara Lucha, Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 02/04/2017 
• Volador Jr. vs Fénix El Rey
  Cara Lucha, Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 02/04/2017 

I’m kind of forcing myself to get started with this, because I’ve got more time now to do it (though these seem to take a lot longer than normal TV recaps) and maybe I won’t have the time later. There’s still a bunch left from the first two months of the year to catch up with, it just does not stop.

The MOTYC list should go up soon.

Rey Hechicero vs Caifan
Cholo de Tijuana, Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California, 01/06/2017
Video: Facebook

1. Caifan leg hook reverse cobra clutch (8:16)
2. Hechicero rolling half crab (3:23)
3. Hechicero double wristlock bodyscissors (9:59)

Winner: Hechicero (2/3)
Match Time: 9:59

Review: [great] the touring Caifan/Hechicero match come to Tijuana, which turns out to be a struggle for the first half. The crowd doesn’t really get into their style, and isn’t making much noise in general, but they finally win them over completely by the time Hechicero does a rolling tapatia and they’re into it from there. All the work is solid, if maybe a little less spectacular than usual – this more an old school title match than a brawl or something with a lot of flashy spots. I struggle with rating these because there’s a lot of these sort of matches and this doesn’t separate. This time, I think I’m acknowledging the work over the necessity of seeing it.

Blue Panther, Stigma, The Panther vs Puma, Tiger, Virus
CMLL, Arena Coliseo, 01/21/2017

1. rudos
   • Tiger backcracker/Puma double stomp Stigma (9:43)
   • Virus reverse figure four The Panther (10:09)
2. técnicos
   • The Panther springboard dropkick to the head Virus (3:33)
3. técnicos
   • Stigma Stigmatica Tiger (5:54)
   • The Panther torito Puma (5:58)

Winner: tecnicos (2/3)
Match Time: 19:40

Review: [good] A very well executed version of the usual Panthers/Cats match, with Virus and Stigma subbing in for the regular guys. Puma & Tiger are as efficient as ever, nailing the first fall sequence and getting way laid in the end. Virus & Panther don’t really touch until a good ending sequence. Watching this match from up close gives a better fell of how fast they’re going, and this one really doesn’t slow down much until the end. It does have the usual midcard off day weakness over no real drama over the result, but the crowd gets very much into the match. The beats are about the same as much as when this match happens on Mondays and Tuesdays and there’s nothing so special that you need to figure out whatever mystery way I saw this, but these guys are reliably entertaining and this will likely end up as one of the better Arena Coliseo matches of the year. (Not that we’ll see many of ‘em.)

Freelance vs Aramis vs Araña de Plata vs Demonio Infernal vs Black Dragón
IWRG, Arena Naucalpan, 01/22/2017
Video: thecubsfan, iwrgtv, mluchatv, mluchatv

1. double submission on Black Dragon (12:04)
2. Demonio Infernal spinning DDT Aramis (0:48)

Winner: Demonio Infernal
Match Time: 12:52
Notes: Demonio Infernal and Aramis submit Black Dragon at the same time, which doesn’t quite work in a single winner match. There’s a shoving match, then a discussion,

Review: [great] insane action match, in a typical frantic IWRG style. Freelance fits right in with the youngsters, diving into the crowd, then coming right back into immediately take a unnecessarily crazy bump to the outside of fa kick. Everyone had spots as the match moved fast, but I thought Aramis looked the best. He looked good when he was flipping around, he looked good when he was headbutting people, he looked good when he did a flip for no reason to set up a German suplex. Aramis started off a one dimensional flyer, but looked like a complete luchador and one of the best indie guys in Mexico in this. The need to restart to do the finish did take it down a little, but this was still definitely worth watching.

Imposible vs Relámpago for the IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship in a super libre match

IWRG, Arena Naucalpan, 01/22/2017
Video: Estrellas del Ring, thecubsfan, mluchatv, iwrgtv

1. Imposible underhook armbar (0:51)
2. Relampago armbar back mounted (5:48)
3. Relampago mask pull (4:12)

Winner: Relampago (2/3)
Match Time: 10:51
Notes: Imposible and his second Arana de Plata dive on to Imposible and Diablo Junior. I before they get to the ring, leading to more than three minutes of brawling before they get into the ring. The referee stays out of the ring, as part of a super libre rules, just leaning into the ring to count falls and signal submissions. He’s turned towards the crowd, reacting to someone, when Relampago gets the mask pull. The pin is also on the opposite side of the ring, so he can’t see Imposible has his mask off when Relampago counts three.

Review: [excellent] A wild brawl for two falls, feeling much like a big apuesta match rather than a title match and much longer than I have it timed up there. The scene of them hitting each other while sitting on the top of the wall was great, and part of a lot of chaotic violence moments. Starting off with the dives and going into crowd even before the match started really worked. The falls ending on submission did too, the hate coming out of each of them as they tried to dislodge each other’s shoulders. Imposible is as great as always, kind of the MVP of this promotion for about two years now, but this is also somehow Relampago’s best match ever. He keeps up with Imposible and it never feels like a one man show. The finish is so slight, and the third fall is the least of the three falls, that it make me question where I should put it. I think this is the best match I’ve seen in Mexico this year so far, so I’m going to rate it excellent, but there’s an even better match here if they go for it.

Templario © vs Corsario Negro Jr. [CaraLucha The Best]
Cara Lucha, Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 02/04/2017
Video: TVLuchaMundial, Estrellas del Ring, Ricardo Peña

Winner: Templario (double underhook piledriver)
Match Time: 15:52

Review: [ok] this was the tournament final for Cara Lucha’s first ever championship, and you really want a hot match in that situation. This was not that, unfortunately. It was a decent lightning match at times with added near falls, but a really slow pace for a Cara Lucha match. Corsario Negro isn’t the kind of guy associated with big matches in this building. He’s not going to do a lot of flips. They could’ve worked off that better, with Corsario keeping Templario down until Templario made a big comeback, but it instead was just an even match where neither guy looked that impressive. Corsario and Templario really struggled on spots where Corsario had to be in the ropes, and the finish took two tries because Corsario looked gassed by the end. This just didn’t go well.

Volador Jr. vs Fénix El Rey
Cara Lucha, Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 02/04/2017
Video: +LuchaTV, TVLuchaMundial, +LuchaTV, Estrellas del Ring, Ricardo Peña, Adrian Martinez, Canal Imparable del Ring

Winner: Volador Jr.
Match Time: 12:47

Review: [great] This was missing something, but it’s hard to put my finger on it. The effort was there, they gave themselves a decent amount of times, there was nothing weird about the finish (except it feeling like Fenix never came that close to winning.) Starting off right away with heavy spots might have hurt it, because it felt like they were always at the same level of the match. It never really built (or went down and came back up), they were just humming along at an above average level for about 14 minutes. There was a little intensity missing, but they weren’t mailing it in at all, it just was lack the epic feeling of two top guys from different worlds facing off. (Maybe that happened in the three way match, which I haven’t seen yet.) This is still worth watching, better than I thought based on the reports, but it’s not quite the dream match.