2020 lucha libre catch up, part 1

This is the occasional series watching selected matches from shows/promotions I don’t recap weekly or don’t want to cover a full show. I’m trying to just write about stuff that I find interesting.

Fuerza Guerrera NG, Puma King, Séptimo Dragón vs Demonio Infernal, Dragón Bane, Hijo de Canis Lupus
(IWRG @ 01/05, 15:14, good, +LuchaTV)

A well-worked trios match without a lot of memorable moments. The teams worked well within each other (or at least communicated quickly when they weren’t on the same page) and the match kept moving with good action and the finish was a nice reversal on an earlier tease. Not everything hit perfectly but the match was smooth and moved along well for fifteen minutes. Demonio Infernal fits in these matches fine despite seemingly being a step slower than them.

Ángel Jr., Esfinge, Sky Bird vs Aramis (Estado de México), Black Terry, Freelance
(915-656 @ 01/12, 23:22, good, Estrellas del Ring)

This is a three fall match, though it’s not entirely clear at first on the version I watched.

The match was interesting, but the IWRG guys worked as the tecnicos against the hometown Juarez guys, and the clear better wrestlers early on. The tecnicos are always supposed to be the more skilled luchadors, but they got put over so strong in the first few minutes that the Juarez guys seemed out of their league. Team Naucalpan brought them up a little bit (and I think Angel Jr. was the one who looked the best), but it was an unusual match layout given the context. This was one the better Black Terry matches since his return, getting to show off on the mat and letting his partners take care of a lot of the movement. Freelance looked sharp and was willing to randomly throw himself into the seats, and Aramis did really good some evasion spots. The Juarez team is game, they just don’t shine as much. Still, one team being clearly superior instead of everyone being 50/50 makes it a more interesting match than usual.

Dinámico vs Baby Extreme
(The Crash @ 01/18, 13:11, great, Arena Clandestina)

Baby Extreme might be putting it all together and it is exciting to see. He’s looked more consistent in his RIOT appearances and took it to a higher level with Dinamico here. The opening mat exchanges were a little forced and getting from one spot to another can feel a bit staged, but it is great when they get going. Xtreme’s problems has been inconsistently pulling off moves without hurting himself along the way. He went for some high risk stuff here, everything looked great, and he stayed in one piece. Dinamico is just as agile as him and they made a good compliment to each other. The match went wildly into the crowd, like a good Tijuana opener, and kept getting better as it went on. People would be talking about this one as one of the greatest Mexico matches in the year if it happened in CMLL, and it’s slipped unmentioned because that’s where The Crash is in 2020. It’s worth going out of your way to see.

Dinámico & Spider Fly vs Noicy Boy & Voltrex
(IWRG @ 01/19, 9:57, good, Estrellas del Ring)

Through the magic of Mexican wrestling, this is a different Dinamico than the one in the last match. These are the MexaBoys, who I probably should know better based on their flips. Though, if you can’t tell which one is which by looking at their gear, they probably need better gear of better names. Spider Fly helpfully has spider imagery on his gear and impresses the most with big spot, though this one doesn’t find a high level with just the ids working among themselves.

Titán vs Templario in a lightning match
(CMLL @ 01/05, 9:16, good, HVSLuchaLibre)

There are two of these I need to watch. This is one in January, which has a lot of action but doesn’t really develop beyond usual back and forth. It’s worked at a fast pace and they’re solid at what they do, but the turn-taking is such that even a big move just leads to the other person taking over ten seconds later.

Arez vs Kamik-C in a Batte of Tijuas quarterfinal
(Lucha Memes/TWE @ 02/16, 10:00, good, Arena Clandestina )

This worked well as an exhibition of Arez’ holds. Skinny Kamik-C was good at being tied up in various ways, and Arez can do a lot of creative moves. It really didn’t show a lot of Kamik-C, who had a few moments but was largely overmatched. I think I can safely tell him and Skalibur apart now, but he didn’t come off strong enough.