CMLL Puebla: 2017-04-10 

Recapped: 04/11-12/2017

Matches:

All matches aired live from Arena Puebla on 04/10/2017, and can be seen on CMLL’s YouTube channel.

• El Joker & Rey Apocalipsis beat Asturiano & Zaeta Roja (2/3, 15:23 [7:54, 3:29, 4:00], ok)
• Black Tiger & Tigre Rojo Jr. beat Fuerza Chicana & King Jaguar (1/3, 15:25 [7:05, 3:19, 5:01], below average)
• Drone, Fuego, Stigma beat Disturbio, Puma, Tiger (2/3, 14:55 [5:04, 3:45, 6:06], ok)
• Espíritu Maligno defeated Policeman for, in a hair vs hair match (2/3, 11:30 [2:09, 2:31, 6:50], good)
• Mistico, Titán, Valiente defeated Cavernario, Negro Casas, Niebla Roja (2/3, 12:17 [4:10, 4:09, 3:58], good)
• Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis, La Máscara, Rush in a relevos increíbles match (1/2, 4:59 [0:46, 4:13, 0:00], below average)

What happened: 

Espiritu Maligno defeated Policeman in a hair match. It’s Policeman’s fourth straight hair match loss and Espiritu’s first hair match win after losing his last two.

Rush and Atlantis agreed to a match after Rush cost them the match this week.

Thoughts:

Ingobernable matches are easy skips. Rush seemed to be working harder than usual, but it was an absurdly short match to set up a bad finish. That’s the norm and not the exception.

The semimain was nothing fancy, a simple match worked really well. Mistico and Negro Casas did the easy trading of casita pinfalls to give the match a beginning and end, and they were sharp in between even if they weren’t going full out Cavernario & Niebla Roja looked good in this and Roja will be missed as a rudo, if he’s ever going to actually turn.

The hair match was a medium level Puebla locals match made by the occasion. This is a good watch if you can feel the crowd, and not a big deal if you can’t. Policeman is the same Policeman he’s always been, even back to the new stars tournament in AAA, but Espiritu used to be a more dynamic wrestler and doesn’t seem as much today. He’s always been willing to throw himself around and the highlights of this match are the big bumps he takes and his slightly off aim moonsault to the floor. The moonsault didn’t look great, the thru the ropes exit really didn’t look great, the effort is there but it wouldn’t have been enough to carry the match if not for the stipulation. CMLL style is generally static, but it changes a bit, and it’s weird to see the dive→cavernaria spot here after it used to be so common and now is never gone. The finish comes off really odd, with Espíritu taking a powerbomb on the floor, and then getting in all the offense to get the win.

The third match’s first fall ends with Tiger trying to give Stigma a backcracker once, Stigma not going, Tiger trying again, Stigma taking the backcracker but no selling it out and attacking Puma before he can come off the top rope for his own front cracker. It goes nowhere, Puma and Tiger turn it right back around and Puma gets the same front cracker in for the win, and came off like Stigma forgot what he was doing or just decided he wasn’t going down that way. It looked really shakey, either way. The rest of the match was better, and they made use of the time they got it. It didn’t feel similar to the usual Puma/Tiger matches though it had about the same rhythm. That first fall bit so annoyed me that I can’t recommend it but can see why other people might feel more positive about.

In the first fall of the segunda, Tirantes counted three on a spot where both rudos kicked out. (Tirantes looked down on the mat and had decided it was the end of the fall no matter what.) It’s clearly not supposed to be the end of the fall, but they do a better job of going with it than usually when Tirantes messes something up. Tigre Rojo looked better than normal, but the rest of the match wasn’t noteworthy and this is not so much a great use of time to watch.

The opener seemed sloppy, with Joker & Zaeta having trouble early. Joker just was generally in the middle of issues: he did a top rope splash and didn’t cover when it wasn’t a pin, and he kicked Asturiano hard in the back of the head. Asturiano rolled out, and didn’t come back in when it seemed like he was supposed to finish the fall. (The doctor checking Astruiano’s eyes seemed like a clue.) Asturiano continued, and the double pin they did made it seem like an angle, but they’re not matched up next week so whatever. Asturiano was the best guy in the match when he had his wits among them.