Tag: 2019 indie catchup

Pagano vs Joe Lider vs Psicosis I vs Nick Gage
(AAA/EMW @ 07/12, 15:11, liolio liopaque)

The most shocking part of this match was when Pagano went for a pinfall on Joe Lider and got a two count. It was a rare acknowledgment that this was a wrestling match and not a slow-moving stunt show. The pretense of a fight was pretty much abandoned in favor over unhurried setups for a big spot. The best two are around 15:10 and 16:40 if you want to skip up the frustratingly long time it took to set each of them up. A four-person match shouldn’t have such dead time, but this turned into a Psicosis/Gage match and a separate Lider/Pagano match, with the other people ceasing to exist while the first fight was going on. Joe Lider dramatically dumping thumbtacks in a ring already covered with light tube glass and dust was hilarious. Pagano taking light tube bumps with his head and neck because he couldn’t fall right was very Pagano. Gage seemed to have trouble getting on the same page with the others here – there’s a group superplex spot where he seemed to go back and forth on what he was doing four times – and wasn’t really treated in a big deal way. This style is not my favorite but I didn’t think it was even a particularly good version of this style.

Hijo Del Vikingo & Laredo Kid vs Arkángel Divino & Black Boy and Douglas James & Jake Atlas
(AAA/EMW @ 07/12, 10:58, good, liolio liopaque)

Vikingo stands out once again, but this is a six-man show that flows well despite having to get all those moving pieces. James & Atlas fit in fine with the other guys, though Atlas doesn’t seem to get in his best here as he has in other matches. The only part that dragged was when they had to stop the match to allow the valet to get in a spot (and then she disappeared), but I guess I don’t have too much of a problem with people getting easy paydays. Three-way tags don’t lead to much of a story but it’s still good fun.

Súper Astro Jr. vs Oro Jr. in a lightning match
(CMLL @ 07/21, 6:40, good, thecubsfan)

The sort of dive based match you’d hope and expect to see when these guys meet. Both show a little bit more out of them than the usual trios while it’s mostly about them getting to do their high spots at a faster pace than with the usual rudo veterans. The finish comes off really great (and the replay shows the first angle they used was the best one.) Not long but enjoyable for a CMLL lightning match.

Dragón Bane vs Arez vs Látigo
(7:28, PWM @ 07/21, good PWM Pro Wrestling México)

Some of the most creative action you’ll see. This was ideas on top of ideas, both in individual moves and stringing them together in a sequence. They moved around fast and not everything went the way they wanted, but this felt much different than the usual indie Destroyer match in a positive way. Dragon Bane hit the bigger moves but Latigo and Arez strung the match together with positioning and weird submission. This would’ve been outstanding if everything came together. It’s still a worthy watch.

Penta vs Arez
(Madriza @ 07/07, 15:52, good, Estrellas del Ring)

This is the not really a repeat of the bloody destructions of years past; Penta doesn’t really stab people with bottles these days. It’s more just a moves competition, which makes the beautiful looking weapon finish incongruous with the rest of the match. The moves do look good but the story of Arez being an underdog trying to finally overcome his biggest career obstacle doesn’t totally connect with a crowd just happy to see big star Penta do his big moves. They do finally get them with Saharawi Suplex near the end but it feels like there’s a moment that’s passed here.

Puma King & Ricky Marvin vs Arez & Látigo
(07/13 @ GH, 19:01, excellent, mluchatv)

This is great Ricky Marvin and a more serious Puma King than some of his other appearances, which makes for an outstanding match. The match feels like it really waked up with Arez flipping off the wall, and it escalates from there into an intense back and forth last few minutes. Arez and Ricky bring out the best of each other again, and Latigo and Puma match their seriousness. There are a few creative spots and it still feels like a battle. This is where my scale fails; I think there points they could be better at here (some of the double teams look a little too manufactured) but I feel like this is a match everyone should check out. Excellent is for something everyone should check out and I don’t want it to get lost in the raft of Great matches.

Ortiz (LAX) & Santana (LAX) vs Hijo Del Vikingo & Laredo Kid
(AAA/EMW @ 05/31, 12:06, great, LNDLC)

More of a TV version of what these two teams could do than an epic all-out match, but both teams showed up to work and with some cool ideas. (It’s weird to think Vikingo doing an SSP to the floor and then onto two stacked people isn’t an epic.) LAX is great, and I’m glad we’re going to get at least one chance to see them in AAA before whatever their next step is. Their tag work is on point and they feed into the Jinetes moves great, these two teams fit together smoothly. Vikingo is just as smooth when he has a rare slip, keeping it going beautifully into another springboard spot. The hanging rebound moonsault idea was really cool and also amazing that they’ve got more ideas that haven’t hit on TV yet. I think the ceiling is higher for these two teams but I was glad I watched this.

LA Park & Voltron vs La Bestia Del Ring & Rush
(FMLL Guatemala @ 06/09, 22:07, great, Lucha Libre Arena Guatemala Mexico )

LA Park & Rush take their match to Guatemala. Voltron, the champion here forever, reminds me more of an Atlantis type in general and didn’t seem a good fit for this match. I was wrong, it turns out he can throw a good right hand. The first two falls are all chops and belt shots, but they’re very loud ones of those and the crowd gets very into it for a fun time. The last fall is more normal stuff, which loses a bit when Voltron & Bestia are in but still has the good Park/Rush stuff you’d expect. I’m probably lower on this than others would be and it’s worth your time if you want more of their brawls. I was really not expecting much and got a lot out of this.

Dinamic Black, Eterno, Fresero Jr., Imposible, Mr. Leo vs Black Dragón, Latigo, Fly Warrior, Lunatik Xtreme, Puma de Oro
(IWRG @ 06/19, 20:39, good, mluchatv)

There were two major flaws here. Lunatik Xtreme goes for a Brillo Dorada but it goes bad and he’s laying in the ring being checked on for a couple minutes while the fight goes on around him. (He does continue, though he’s obviously hurt.) The other is the match ending on the first pinfall, when everyone but the people in the ring is the impression this must be an elimination match because it’s 5v5. The announcers talk about it being the first elimination and are baffled when the winning team raises their arms in victory. They still did go 20 minutes. There is some neat Latigo wrestling and Puma de Oro killing himself on dives. The Puma de Oro/Eterno stuff they build up is fun but doesn’t get to go anywhere. Maybe they went home early because of the injury, but this feels like it’s missing a bigger end game.

El Audaz vs Kawato San for the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship
(CMLL @ 06/30, 18:21, good, HVSLuchaLibre)

The question going into this match is how Kawato would handle taking Audaz’s tricky headscissors spots. The answer is Kawato took one headscissors on the night, just the easiest version Audaz does. This match pushed Audaz to wrestle with some of his best moves off the table. He managed well, showing he had a bit more to it. It really is Kawato’s match though, getting in the big moments in and out of the ring (a stage dive!) before winning in the end. He’s feeling it too. I’m not sure if something clicked or they ran thru this enough to make it work, but Kawato’s offense looks a lot better than usual and he never seems lost. He’s doing a lot of offense we haven’t seen from him to this point and just generally comes off as a lot more confident wrestler than he’s been since coming to CMLL. Kawato even catches dives fine. This needed a little bit more Audaz for me, but it was way better than would’ve been expected. It’s too bad we didn’t get this Kawato in CMLL right away, and that he disappeared right after having pulled this off.

Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf vs Hijo de LA Park & LA Park
(The Crash @ 07/05, 21:01, good, Arena Clandestina)

A usual Crash match that felt like it must’ve been better live. The crowd is way into it, though it loses me a little bit when the camera loses them on the brawl. They give you a lot of moves, though there’s no great story to them. On the other hand, this is one where there had to be some unhappiness going in – this was supposed to be a tag title match wasn’t by virtue of one team not wanting to lose – but it doesn’t show in their effort. There are some good ideas here, though it felt like both teams would be better with different opponents.

Black Dragón, Dinamic Black, Hijo del Alebrije vs Dragón Fly, La Mosca, Marado
(IWRG @ Arena Naucalpan, 12:04, good +LuchaTV)

Just a generally fun IWRG undercard Naucalpan match. The highspots were failing right at the start of the math but got much better from there. I feel like Hijo del Alebrije has significantly improved but maybe I wasn’t really paying enough attention to him before. The referee sequence near the end is very IWRG. You’ve never seen a man pin for a 13 count before.

Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero © vs Carístico, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. for the CMLL World Trios Championship
(CMLL GDL @ , 7:40, ok, A Los Raketazos)

Guadalajara TV no being accessible should stop me from watching these matches which I’m frequently let down by, yet here we go again. I’m pretty sure there were good Guadalajara matches in this past. This title match disappointingly isn’t one of them. It’s a Tuesday Arena Mexico level length, with all three falls feeling rushed. The tecnico just role thru their usual spots and get beat at the first opportunity. The fan camera angle does give a nice unique look to the dives and the crowd is game for something big. They just don’t get it.

Aramis, Imposible, Metaleón vs Demonio Infernal, Eterno, Lunatic Extreme
(IWRG @ 06/06, 14:52, great, mluchatv)

This match shifts to everyone standing in their corners waiting for tags and it is hard to remember that is actually what is supposed to be happening IWRG matches. It’s after many minutes of usual Naucalpan chaos, with attempted three person dives and the staircase being used. These are two steadily exciting teams with each captain shining the most. There’s a closing stretch of this match where it is very easy to shift from “actually, it’s Eterno who is making Aramis look so good” back to “no really Aramis is the best guy” in a short period of time. The finish was a screwy finish but it hit me as funny enough to nudge this to a higher grade.

Dragón Bane vs Fly Warrior
(IWRG @ 06/06, 11:15, ok, mluchatv)

This was not a good match. This was a spectacular match but not in positive ways. This match started with someone seemingly being injured and ended with someone seemingly being injured and there were a few more moments in between where it seemed like people broke themselves too. Dragon Bane can do exciting things and so can Fly Warrior but there was no consistency to them or this match. This was the pro-typical highspot indie guys who can only do half the spots they try match, except these two guys are usually a little better than that. I guess you give them some credit for not letting up but it probably was time to take it home when Fly Warrior whiffed on the huracanrana. There may be entertainment value in the car crash nature of this, it just wasn’t good.

Iron Kid & Príncipe Aéreo vs Fulgor I & Fulgor II
(IWRG @ 06/16, 6:53 seen, good, +LuchaTV)

Los Fulgores returning to IWRG and regular streams remains a pleasure. They were fun as a team, good on their own offense and good at setting up Iron Kid. Principe Aereo basically operates as “not-Iron Kid” and is fine, while Iron Kid himself is frequently spectacular during the match. Iron Kid feels more polished than he used to be while not losing any of the amazing moves. It’s a little on the short side and a shade less than perfect executed but totally enjoyable.

Dragón Bane, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Negro Casas vs Hechicero, Trauma I, Trauma II
(IWRG @ 06/16, 13:11, good, mluchatv)

The announcers seemed to think this was going to be Traumas vs Dragon Bane & Canis Lupus, but Trauma II wanted to brawl with Negro Casas and so they did. This is a good main event IWRG brawl which seems shorter than time. Hechicero didn’t get to do much beyond based for one big spot. The spot went well. Negro Casas showed more energy than in a usual CMLL trios match, though standing and chopping back and forth with Trauma II is probably easier than taking headscissors. I didn’t feel strongly for it but it did what it intended well.

Aramis vs Demonio Infernal © for the IWRG Rey del Ring
(IWRG @ 06/19, 13:50, good, mluchatv)

An enjoyable title match. The best work I’ve seen from Demonio Infernal has been wilder and he demonstrated some nice range by having a solid near fall focused title match. Aramis did cool stuff and almost landed badly on his big sprigboard plancha. The last few minutes peaked well and they didn’t have any of the missed move issued expected for IWRG guys this young. This suffered a little bit from having a spare and not vocal crowd. They worked for a better reaction than they got. I’m rating these last three all good, but this match (and the Fulgor match) were significantly better than the Traumas one to me.

Romano García vs Dr. Cerebro
(Memes/LLB/MDA @ 04/20, 5:52, good, mluchatv)

This was catch and release llaving-ing early and I was immediately regretting having put this match on my list to watch. And then Dr. Cerebro grabbed Romano Garcia in the setup for la Cerebrina and I decided this was an automatic Good if he just hits the Cerebro Driver out of it and wins. He did! Automatic. The holds they were doing before were creative enough but also sometimes these maestro matches should absolutely go this way. If they’re trading all sorts of potentially fatal holds, they ought to be as fatal in minute five as they are in minute twenty. Dr. Cerebro was good enough to get to it in minute five, won, great story.

Arez vs Aramis
(Memes/LLB/MDA @ 04/20, 11:12, great, mluchatv)

If you could take, say, around the first half of this match, then splice in an Arena San Juan big move section as the second half of this match and put in a place that gets a lot of spotlight, people would be talking about this match and these guys as the future of wrestling. It was that impressive. They were super creative in the sequences they were doing and just as smooth in executing them. They were so clean at doing such complicated that I could see some people being turned off for it feeling as a choreographed fight. For me, a person who enjoys cool reversals, it came off more like people thinking and moving faster than I could imagine. The second half is still pretty good, though the parts where they’re doing llaves because that’s the bit instead of doing what would normally make sense in that situation stick out. Aramis & Arez were very loyal to what the promotion was looking out of this show. It should be commended on some level, though it also felt like this was headed to a match of the year level fight if they just decided to throw out the concept. Worth checking out for something different than you’d expect.

Negro Casas vs Trauma II
(Memes/LLB/MDA @ 04/20, 8:17, good, mluchatv)

Casas & Trauma are Casas & Trauma and so they’re not at all bothered to stick to the concept of this show. It’s basically Trauma II getting to have a vaguely CMLL style lightning match, with a little nod towards the idea of using holds. There’s some stuff that doesn’t come off well (that dragon screw leg whip) but it is an increasingly rare chance to see Casas in a rudo/rudo battle with someone willing to be nasty towards him. He’s catching forearms instead of dives, something the Arena Mexico tecnicos aren’t going to give him. There’d be a great feud here if Casas was a bit younger. The finish is bad but that’s just what you’re getting with the Traumas at this point.

Atomic Star, Auzter, Puma de Oro vs Fly Warrior, Fulgor I, Fulgor II
(IWRG @ 05/12, 11:30, good, Internetv Deportes)

A really good undercard action match with about the usual Arena Naucalpan craziness. The return of the Fulgors as a team I can see regularly and enjoy has a been a pleasant 2019 surprise. The lunacy of a double clothesline doomsday device is exactly what I want out of IWRG undercard matches. The injury in the middle of the match seemed to throw people off but they were back and hitting the barricade in painful fashion before long.

Star Boy, Viento, Zarco vs Animal, Demencia, Silver Star
(The Crash @ 05/24, 16:15, great, Arena Clandestina)

A crazy brawl, over the top violence with fans at ringside in the danger zone. Just a great Tijuana rudo brawl with fun teamwork and destruction. The weakest stretch of the match when they were actually having a normal match. The best is when they were throwing the referee out of the ring. (This was actually great, a wronged party actually going after the evil referee instead of just teasing it like always.) Most of the matches in this list don’t have announcing or the announcing is forgettable. I wish they had it here just to keep track of who is who and to explain the angle at the end.

Penta 0M & The King © vs Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf for The Crash Tag Team Championship
(The Crash @ 05/24, 11:32, good, Arena Clandestina)

A good action match and something that felt worthy of a title change. They go to the Dramatic Near Falls pretty early, but are able to keep them feeling intense and meaningful all the way until the end. I’m sure this would be one that was better in the building just because they did make this feel like this was important. It felt like Bestia & Mecha Wolf accomplished something when they finally got the win after a few tries. I could’ve used a bit more Fenix, especially down the stretch. His armdrags early were cool at least. Everything in this match felt sharp, even if it also felt like the Lucha Brothers were saving their top effort for the next night.

Recapped: 06/24/2019

Matches:

Toro Negro vs Virus
(MexaWrestling @ 04/05, 18:12, good, mluchatv)

Virus & Toro Negro demonstrated some holds and did so for an extended time. It was a lot of showing off a holding, not getting the submission and letting go to circle around, like a not great version of a Negro Navarro match. It wasn’t strictly that way, there ere some sequences, it is just offputting that these guys are masters of putting on holds but not on escaping them. The holds were still good, it just never found a higher level.

Arkángel Divino & Último Maldito vs Dragón Bane & Séptimo Dragón and Aramis & Látigo
(MexaWrestling @ 04/05, 12:37, good, mluchatv)

An exciting match and an inescapably sloppy one. There’s a middle section where these six guys are just nailing every big move possible in fantastic fashion. It just follows an opening where things are going wrong and builds to a dive where one person slips on the ropes on the way over. These guys are all talented and decided to go for The Best Match Ever. It might have been up there if they could’ve hit everything they went for, there’s no shortage of effort (or Canadian Destroyers.) Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito have the wildest swings, showing why everyone was originally excited about them and also why it has cooled off a little bit back to back. This is a fun match that won’t hold up to the higher recommended matches of the year but worthwhile for the insanity.

Sansón vs Flamita
(MexaWrestling @ 04/06, 10:24, good, mluchatv)

No indie name match is ever going to end in 30 seconds by design but Flamita did his best to make someone believe this would be the time it happened. Unfortunately for both him and his match, Sanson appeared to have only 30 seconds of effort for the duration of this match. This crowd was rabid for a strong Flamita match from the start and they got a B-night Sanson performance. It didn’t even feel like he was being slow and disinterested as a rudo move, it just came off as this was another match to get thru. Sanson pounding the mat and waving for support made me yell at my screen, and also seemed like a sign he wasn’t much invested in a deep heel character work. Sanson’s better than this. Flamita tried hard but this is the mildest good possible.

Bestia 666 vs El Diablo Fly Star
(MexaWrestling @ 04/05, 17:36, good, mluchatv)

This was a death match and they gave the people who wanted to see death plenty of it. This is still not my favorite but they did a respectable amount of damage to themselves and each other during this match. Fly Star feels like the signature MexaWrestling star, except he’s also not on the next MexaWrestling show so maybe they see it differently. Maybe he’s more the Arena San Juan signature guy with other names coming and going more often. Bestia was the right opponent for this style of match. Anyway, this match delivers the big stunt spots, so much so that I didn’t want to include them as GIFs because seeing them come together is the biggest part of the enjoyment in the match. Those big spots work out, which certainly isn’t the case in every one of this type of matches.

Aramis & Imposible © vs Dragón Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
(IWRG @ 04/28, 10:58, great, +LuchaTV)

A perfectly 2019 IWRG match, from the crazy dives to the dueling head drops. These guys were going for a superb match just as much as the MexaWrestling match at the beginning of the match and pulled much more of it off. The Bane brothers working as rudos let the match come down a little bit after the hot start and then come back up with crazy Aramis spots. Aramis & Imposible don’t have any visual cohesion as a group but they do work well together. The tyical bit of everyone hitting a move in series felt more organic than usual. Dragon Bane probably needs to learn moves that aren’t head drops but the ones he used here were at least effective. This match was just nuts and I liked it very much.

Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Myzteziz Jr. vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
(AAA/CANTU @ 06/03, 13:47, good, jose de jesus patiño)

A step below their usual TV matches, probably for their own safety. Vikingo “taking it easy” seems to be slow up at the end of the match. It seemed like it was going to be something more early on, with Poder del Norte being in full destruction mode in front of their home fans. The corner charge sequence to Laredo Kid looked brutal. Stopping for falls messed with the flow a bit; it came off CMLL-ish when Laredo did the usual headscissors to break up a careta spot. Laredo & Myzteziz looked good and many chairs were knocked over, this may just be a victim of high expectations. Definitely worth a watch if you’re enjoying these trios matches but doesn’t definitely rise above previous ones. I wouldn’t argue with putting it a bit higher.

Soberano Jr. © vs Negro Casas for the Mexican National Welterweight Championship
(CMLL @ 06/02, 11:22, great, thecubsfan)

Negro Casas pulled Soberano to his most complete singles match in a while. No destroyers and not a lot of moves just for the sake of moves; Casas doesn’t have time or tolerance for that. Head drops can be cool but this match got more out of the back and forth kicks on the apron than they did with the DDT that followed. I really love how a consistent character trait of Soberano is he can almost never win one of those back and forth strike battles, he’s just far too skinny and Casas knocks him down silly every time. Casas went a little bit longer than usual and they made this feel not like a repeat of the lightning match, both nicely positive things.

Death Metal & Karaoui vs Aramis & Imposible for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
(IWRG @ 03/24, 12:51, good, HECTOR GODFREY TV)

Has IWRG shifted to all one fall matches and I haven’t noticed? Feels like something I should’ve picked up on earlier. This match is the most I’ve liked Heddi Karaoui, obligatory 2019 Destroyer and all. He wrestles more power than mat style in a match that’s just a fun collection of back and forth offense. It is so back and forth that no real great momentum ever picks up, but everyone handles it well. Death Metal does fine in his big title shot, Imposible & Aramis look like cool tag champions and there’s an IWRG finish that makes sense. Can’t complain.

Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro vs Demonio Infernal & Eterno
(IWRG @ 03/24, 16:12, ok, HECTOR GODFREY TV)

Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro don’t seem to team a whole lot nowadays. They remain effective as a team. Maybe too effective. It felt like they dominated this match, taking most of the main part of the match, then only losing on a fluke submission and one big move by Demonio Infenral. The last fight was good, the overall work was sharp, but it comes off as unsatisfying when the wrong team wins. This was well performed but nothing I particularly enjoyed.

Karma I, Karma II, Skayde vs Arez, Aztlán, Látigo
(The Crash DF @ 03/31, 9:55, good, Estrellas del Ring)

This match peaks with Arez and Skayde’s exchanges at the start. They are both enjoying exchanging holds and it’s the thing Skayde can do most effectively without exhausting his limited gas tank. He really looks tired during his comeback bit and it was maybe not the best for the match to focus so much on him. The rest is the usual indie match. Red shirt Karma is better than white shirt Karma in a very limited viewing. Aztlan does not seem as good as either of them.

Arez, Dragón Lee, Místico II vs Drako, Hantar, Ricky Marvin
(The Crash DF @ 03/31, 12:33, good, Estrellas del Ring)

Entertaining exhibition match that never fully develops. Ricky Marvin and Arez interact but it’s nothing like it is in Coacalco. There’s a bit of brawling early and it seems more inconsequential than usual, to the point where you can jump in at the 7 minute mark and feel like you must’ve missed nothing. Dragon Lee utterly frightens some fans on the narrow side of the ring by leaping at them to get on the apron, but everyone lives. Mistico & Dragon Lee love doing dropkick double teams but might need a little more than that if they were to team regularly.

Miedo Extremo vs Arandú
(AKE @ 04/06, 26:30, great, Arena Clandestina)

There’s a lot of time spent on maestro mat exchange early on and it never really clicks with me. It feels like Miedo proving he can do it rather than Miedo trying to win. The match totally picks up when Miedo decides to try and destroy Arandu’s arm, transforming from an exhibition into an actual fight. The bigger picture is the two going thru a lot of different styles in the near half hour it goes and I guess it’s for the best they saved the better ones for later. Arandu moves well for his age, so well that I had to make sure I had the right age for him. The back and forth chops feel brutal on video, and his little veteran distractions come thru strong. He also takes a lot of supelxes, taking enough damage that it’s almost believable he might really take the big extreme spot Miedo sets up at the end. (He does not because Miedo is the crazy one.) This one really felt like it took time to get going but was worth that investment.