Technically watching the Terra feed for the first two matches.
Match 1: Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Rush © vs Euforia, Shinsuke Nakamura ©, Último Guerrero
Arena Mexico, 06/02/2013
rudos
Winner: rudos (2-1)
Match Time: 10:50
Rating: good
Notes: Monito is with Atlantis. Referee is Edgar.
1: Euforia and Azul start off with a battle of tall guys doing headlocks and sunset flips. Jumping snap sends Euforia out, Ultimo Guerrero in, and Atlantis in to confront this. Crowd like this idea much more than UG. They quickly get to a standoff and tags. Kicks and forearms back and forth buckle Nakamura and Rush but don’t' knock either one down. They just push each other to hit each other harder. Nakamura finally slips in a headlock, Rush switches to one of his own, shoved off, Euforia gets in a shot form the apron and the rest of the rudos jump the rest of the técnicos. Rudos quickly set up Rush on the ropes and Euforia's booted into the flying sit. UG submits Atlantis.
Nakamura works over Azul with knee lifts, but has problems getting him over with a snap mare. Euforica Special goes better.
2: Monito is kicked down and hurt on the outside. Rush rushes around the ring to get to Nakamura, but the rudos get a hold of him and hold him for Nakamura's kicks. Guerreros with a front faceslam, Nakamura adds a running knee to the back of the head, Rush kicks out a two. Nakamura stops Rush with a knee lift. Corner whip, charge in, Rush moves and dropkicks Nakamura thru the ropes. Rush runs – tope, shoulders right into Nakamura's chest. Other four in, and the tecnicos take it – Atlantis much quicker than Diamante Azul, but Azul has a plancha to do first.
3: UG clotheslines Atlantis, but Atlantis comes back with a plancha. They both oddly circle to slow down before Atlantis get the monkey roll to send UG out. Atlantis start to teases a dive, UG falls down, Atlantis climbs out of the ring and scares UG off. Azul does Azul things to Euforia, Euforia goes corner to corner on the monkey flips. Rush and Nakamura have a big face off before they start, and Nakamura boots Rush in the face. Rush get up to dropkick him, and then they go skull to skull again. Forearm and chops back and forth. Nakamura wins with a kneelift again, high kick misses, spinning back foot kick does not. Nakamura poses and taunts the fans. Rush fights back and headbutts Nakamura to knock him towards the other ropes. Whip, evasion, Rush jumping elbow smash. Nakamura up and jump kicking Rush into the corner. Nakamura looks around, shakes and chokes Rush with his foot. Corner whip, Rush revers, charges in, stops short and slaps Nakamura in the face. Nakamura's dropped to the mat, and Rush murders him with a dropkick straight to he face. That was viscous. Azul ducks a double clothesline and boost dropkicks Euforia Euforia out, UG following after his knee bump. Topes by the blue duo (though Rush is wearing blue too.) Nakamura drops Rush with his inverted powerslam, but charge for the Bomb Ye and rush moves out of the way. Rush corner punches, Nakamura pulls him off with a powerbomb, feet on the rope rope, one two three! Pretty good to get your feet all the way on the top rope.
Nakamura poses on Rush, then taunts Monito. Atlantis pulls Monito from safety, depriving the world from a great gif. Nakamura stomps Rush a few more times and gets his hand raised. Replays. Rush gets the microphone, yelling at Nakamura as he lays on the ramp and demanding a singles match. Nakamura signals to Rush to bring it and walks off. Rush talks to Miguel, saying whatever style, wherever, he wants Nakamura in a match.
Match 2: Negro Casas vs Máscara Dorada for the NWA World Welterweight Championship
Arena Mexico, 06/02/2013
Mascara Dorada double bounce springboard casadora (4:02)
Winner: Mascara Dorada
Match Time: 17:40
Rating: excellent
Notes: Seconds are Zacarias and Triton. Nearly the same. Mascara Dorada weighs in at 77.5 kg, Negro Casas at 78 kg. Referee is Bestia Negra. Handshake before the whistle. Dorada has a giant tiger painted on his chest, but that won't last long.
1: Dorada and Casas exchange kicks, and Dorada backs Negro into the ropes. Negro pulls Dorada down into an armbar, Dorada rolls free, Negro covers for a zero,, Dorada breaks free to a tilted crab with an armbar added on. Negro kicks with his free foot, wraps Dorada's legs around him, and bends back for a pin. Two count. Dorada spins him over, back bridges onto his head, one two NO. Miguel can't think of a time where he ever saw a mascot as a second in a title match. Dorada with a reverse facelock takedown, Negro to a headscissors as they get words from Zacarias. Dorada quickly headstands back out to the front facelock. Back up and battling over headlocks, then back down to the mat. Negro trying to keep this on the mat, but Dorada goes with him. Negro puts on a sort of STF, Dorada battles, and then gets out to a modified Fujiwara. Negro rolls free, brings Dora up, and Dorada headlocks him. Shot off, over, under, Negro under, Negro under another leapfrog, Negro clothesline misses, Dorada headscissors him out. Dorada looks at him, runs – and lands a tope to the chest. Bestia counts them both out. Zacarias waves his towel at Negro. Dorada back in, Negro headbutts him away, reverse plancha from the top rope, kicks to the knee, knee to the chest, knee to the chest, Dorada ran to the ropes but back with a double bounce into a casadora cradle one two three! Negro is not quite sure how that just happened. Replays shows it was Dorada being bouncy – stepping on the top rope, dropping down into the rope bounce, then back onto Negro for the cradle.
More words from Zacarias. I wonder if Triton talks.
2: Dorada misses a corner charge, and Negro is on him with knees and kneelifts. Corner whip, reversed, Dorada charges in, flips off Negro's chest (! been a while since that one) but Negro caps him with a dropkick to the knee. Elbow smash to the left knee, and Negro holds onto get a few more shots in. Kneebreaker too. Dorada in some pain. Negro yanks the leg, stretching it backwards. Negro turns it into ankle lock for another kneebreaker. Dorada rolls out for a moment, but rolls back in and takes another dropkick to the knee. Negro half crab, and Dorada is in serious trouble here. Dorada crawls, stops, crawls some more, and gets the bottom rope. Negro holds on as long as allowed, then kneedrops Dorada's arm while it's still grabbing the bottom rope. Corner whip, reversed, Dorada runs in, Negro flips him to the apron, and dropkicks the knee too. Dorada hangs thru the ropes, an Negro batters him with kicks to the chest. Negro motions to the crowd, who gets a lot louder. One more kick, but Dorada catches this one and twists Negro's knee with a Dragon screw. Dorada springboard dropkick, Negro takes it, bounces off the ropes, and comes right back with a clothesline. Negro is the king of bouncing off the ropes after taking a move. He covers, but can only get two. Negro sizes Dorada up, shoulderblocks Dorada, off the ropes, and Dorada clobbers him with a dropkick. Dorada off the ropes, tope con giro flattens Negro Casas. Replay of the big dive, where Dorada landed on his feet. Negro in first, Dorada forearms him, springboard plancha connects but doesn’t hold him down. Negro trips Dorada, casita, Dorada breaks free and shakes his finger, Negro dropkicks him in the knee, Dorada pushed him off and shakes his finger again, Negro armdrags, casita on the three try one two three! He's getting the move, you can't stop him. Negro fans are very happy. Loud Negro chant during replays. Triton fans Dorada while Zacarias talks a lot.
3: Negro dropkicks Dorada in the knee before he can start, but makes the mistake of walking Dorada to the other opposite corner. Dorada just walks up the middle rope and armdrags Dorada away. Negro charges, Dorada leapfrogs, Negro charges back, Dorada monkey flips Negro into the other corner. Corner charge, Dorada flipped but slapping Negro back. Dorada to the top, drops down to the middle rope, tries for another springboard and slips bad. Crowd gets on Dorada as he improvises an armdrag to send Negro out. Dorada backs up, charges, leaps to the top rope and does a big plancha off! That literally quiets the hooting crowd. A Negro chant does break up as we see replays. Dorada makes it first. Dorada knee to the midsection, whip, reversed, Dorada huracanrana one two NO. Negro clothesline misses, Negro casadora , Dorada shoves him off an inside cradles him one two NO. Crowd is behind Negro, or at least the louder portion. A sympathetic Dorada chant does break out there. Dorada drops Negro an odd position and goes up – Negro starts to set up, and Dorada wallops him with a senton con giro to the face, bowling ball style. One two NO. Dorada pulls Negro up by his hair. Whip, reversed, Negro slides and trips Dorada out, then pulls him out to the apron by his heel. Dorada kicks Negro away with his free leg and backs up for a dive, but Negro surprises Dorada by jumping on the apron. Chop fight, Negro headbutts, Dorada headbutts knocks Negro down. Negro lays on the apron, Dorada goes up, Negro moves, Dorada rolls thru a senton con giro, but Negro spikes Dorada into the post. That was great. Negro on to the apron, running full speed into a silla on Dorada. Negro may have as much body paint on him as Dorada does by now. Replay of the dive, which looks more fierce than that sort of dive often looks. Negro in, and waiting for Dorada, who has to pull himself by the middle rope to to get on the apron. Negro kicks him on the way thru the ropes. Negro backs up, three point stance, a big running clothesline. Negro takes his time, and Dorada sprints at him – armdrag into a sunset flip another two count. Negro is in better shape as they get up, and rolls into an ankle lock on Dorada. Dorada rolls forward, grabs Negro's legs and cradles him for another two count. Crowd seems quite but into the match. Negro whip, Dorada picks the leg and rolls it around into a crossface. Dorada bends Negro's head far back, but Negro won't give quite yet. Negro points to the crowd for support, as he he's bent backwards, and finally gets in a questionable low elbow smash. Negro with a frontward legsweep into an inverted figure four – Felino's submission – and Dorada is pretty well stuck for a while. He's in pain, but pulls himself to the ropes. Negro holds on to the legs and tries to keep him back, but Dorada gets the bottom rope. Negro looks frustrated. Both up, both clothesline, neither goes down. Negro gets in a knee lift, of the ropes and Dorada takes him down with a Sling Blade one two NO. Dorada drags Negro near the corner stomps him, and goes up – middle rope moonsault one two NO. Dorada starts to climb up, takes a look back, climbs up all the way and Negro shoves Dorada to the floor. Negro laughs to himself about sending Dorada on a hard ride, then goes out to the apron for a silla – caught and turned into a ram into the ringpost. Negro won't let go, Dorada tries to sit again, and Negro turns into a silla into the post! Negro goes up the ramp, Dorada mets him there, Negro shoves Dorada back, but Dorada bounces off the ropes and headscissors him. Dora reaches for Negro, Negro kicks him from the mat, and gets his own headscissors. Dorada backed to the apron, Negro charges, and Dorada hiptosses him in. Dorada backing up now – does he have enough left? Negro up to one knees, Dorada floating headscissors in. Negro out the side, nearly taking out a cameraman, and Dorada follows with an easy Asai moonsault. Easy for him, not for the rest of us. Replays of that. Negro up the mat, but Dorada holds him over the apron for kicks to the chest. Dorada backs up for another one, Negro moves, Dorada lands on the apron, and Negro kicks him in the chest. Negro goes for another, Dorada ducks under, kips up, Negro grabs him by the head for another ringpost shot, Dorada puts on the breaks, slaps Negro back. Negro swings and misses, Dorada shoves him down by the head up, up – moonsault meets feet! Casita, Dorada rolls thru, Dorada casita, one two three! Mixed reception, with the boos louder. Dorada and Triton are pretty happy.
Replays. Casas takes the belt, talks about how great Dorada is and gives him the belt. Dorada asks for a handshake, but Negro puts the belt on Dorada instead. Dorada talks up Negro as well. Dorada makes the required mask vs hair match challenge.
Match 3: Fantasy vs Aéreo, Eléctrico, Demus 3:16, Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Warrior, Pequeño Violencia, Bam Bam, Shockercito, Mercurio in a cage match and for the mask and for the hair
Arena Mexico, 06/02/2013
Pequeño Warrior escapes (4:56)
Loser: Pequeño Violencia
Match Time: 12:26
Rating: ok cage match
Notes: This is the TV version. Not all sad to see a cut down version of a lucha cage match.
This picks up 20-30 seconds in, as already Bam Bam is climbing back into the cage. He left when the match started, then found out the rules of the match. Since he's up there, Bam Bam of course does a plancha in. A lot of people laying on the mat not doing anything less than a minute in. Everyone mostly breaks up in to their own battles, and I start to think about proofreading the last match. This cage is a lot more stable than the Guadalajara one, for sure. It looks actually better than usual, as if it's had a recent paint job. Half the field tries to escape, can't escape, and it scarcely matters since there's not the whistle to escape yet. Ah, there's the whistle, about 2:07 in (so we missed more than I even thought.)
A bunch of people make a break for it, no one succeeds. There's no succeeding in lucha libre cage matches. It's all failure. People climb up, people get pulled down. It's generally rudos vs técnico, but Bam Bam does stop Shockercito. Pequeño Warrior gives Shockercito a spinebuster, which is like an actual wrestling move. Warrior nearly escapes but Violencia stops him (and Warrior climbs very slowly.) Bam Bam gives Violencia a top buckle headscissors, a tough task to do in this short of cage match. Bam Bam goes to to the top rope, Demus boots Warrior to deal with him, and Warrior just stomps on Bam Bam's head as he climbs out. One down!
Eléctrico decides a top rope elbow drop is a good idea in a cage match. It works out fine, but still. Fantasy somehow manages to do his guillotine moonsault on Mercurio, even though I don't know how Mercurio can just be hanging there. Fantasy then just climbs up and leaves. Once he got his finisher in, it was time to go.
Pequeño Nitro is next, reversing an Eléctrico move into a grab of the cage, and climbing out to safety.
Already to the portion where they're just setting up escapes. Eléctrico actually gets out when the camera is watching Bam Bam and Aereo fight on the cage, and it's not really clear what Eléctrico does – it looks like Demus is accidentally helpful.
Shockercito about gets dropped on his head on a rebound double hiptoss, another move that doesn't work well when the cage is just beyond the edge of the ropes. Violencia stops Demus from climbing and tells him to come back. Violencia turns around, and Demus just leaves. (No wonder Violencia was upset about that later.)
Aereo tries to scape on a corner whip, and just does. The rudos plans of standing and watching until it was too late didn't work out great there.
Mercurio, Shockercito, Pequeño Violencia and Bam Bam left. Rudos take control of the ring. Violencia drops down to all fours for a Mercurio boost clothesline, Shockercito moves out of the way, Mercurio just grabs on to the cage anyway and climbs out.
Tecnicos double team Pequeño Violencia. Shockercito teases leaving while Bam Bam is chopping Violencia, then actually breaks for it when Violencia turns it around, but Violencia puts him down. Those two start chopping each other again, Violencia misses the corner charge, Bam Bam runs the other way, and climbs out.
Violencia and Shockercito immediately climb out, of course. Bam Bam mocks them from the ramp. Edit as the announcers talk about 1 fall left.
Back just in time to see Violencia kick Shockercito in the face. Violencia walks Shockercito around by his hair, and slaps him in the chest. Jumping fireman's carry side drop, I guess. Referee is Maya for this, by the way. Violencia goes up, bu Shockercito pulls him off with a super armdrag. Deep cover, one two NO. Violencia misses a clothesline, Shockercito casadora, Violencia throws him off hard into a powerbomb, or close. Violencia ties up the legs and goes for a big stomp, Shockercito moves, Violencia kicks him in the face anyway. Violencia poses in the center of the ring. Pequeño Violencia chops around Shockercito, whip, Shockercito stops it and chops him back. Whip, Violencia slides under, Shockercito waved by, and back with a headscissors. Reinera, and Violencia holds out, and then he doesn't.
Violencia says he'll win the other battles, then tells JCR that the other rudos were scared cowards who left him behind.