Recapped: 06/15/2018
Matches:
Shockercito & Stukita beat Mercurio & Pequeño Nitro
(13:47 [4:53, 3:02, 5:52], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL )
Blue Panther Jr., Pegasso, Black Panther beat Kawato San, Okumura, Universo 2000 Jr.
(13:26 [4:38, 2:56, 5:52], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
Esfinge, Titán, Tritón beat Felino, Puma, Tiger
(16:49 [5:41, 3:26, 7:42], 2/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL )
Hijo de LA Park, Niebla Roja, Valiente beat Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
(16:02 [4:49, 4:16, 6:57], 1/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL )
Carístico beat Dragón Lee in a lightning match
(8:12, La Caristica, great, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
Cibernético, Rush, Terrible beat LA Park, Rey Fénix, Volador Jr. in a relevos increíbles match
(16:49 [5:50, 10:59], 1 DQ/2 DQ, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
What happened:
Rush faked a foul in the first fall of the main event, with help from Edgar being taken out. Referee Edgar got involved in Rush’s favor a couple times during that fall. Commissioner Rambo ejected Edgar from the match and replaced him with Tirantes. Tirantes was knocked down by Rush sending him into LA Park in the second fall. LA Park got a visual pinfall soon after, just as he did in the first fall. La Comandante passed nunchucks to Rush to use. LA Park knocked them loose, grabbed them and flashed them around. Tirantes saw Park with them, and called the disqualification. LA Park again demanded a super libre and a mask versus hair match with Rush. Rush accepted for next week.
Arkangel de la Muerte, who passed away on Wednesday, was remembered between the third and fourth matches of the card. Mephisto dressed up as Arkangel, complete to the black marker goatee, for his match.
The Panther was called “Black Panther” all match and in the preview for next week. It appears to be a permanent name change. (And a little bit confusing one, since his brother was the one called Black Panther before.)
The Titan/Triton/Esfinge trio are trying to change their name (or at least the spelling to One Atos Style) though CMLL hasn’t taken that one up yet.
Thoughts:
The main event was a definite improvement over the last couple of weeks. Rey Fenix being involved helped, though he and Cibernético felt like AAA editions. Not because they were former AAA wrestler, but because they were big guest star names added to a match where they didn’t have an important role, like Laredo Kid and Brian Cage at Verano de Escandalo. Fenix and Cibernetico being matched up was not ideal (and must’ve been weird for both of them), and they still made it work. Like in the past, Cibernético seems willing to sell and go along with whatever spots the técnicos want to try in big CMLL matches. His bumping isn’t great, but I was content getting him taking Fenix’ spinning heel kick. Volador continues to feel like a luxury item in this feud, doing well while doing 20% of what he does when he’s the focus instead. Those supporting players being good added to the overall match, and the referee shenanigans helped create the chaotic feel that needs to be present in the LA Park/Rush feud. LA Park is an abnormal presence in CMLL and it should never feel like any routine CMLL match – the ref bumps and the ejections can’t and shouldn’t be done for everyone but they absolutely work in the context of the out of control rivalry taking place. The stuff done here makes a lot of sense if they’re finally coming back with the super libre match next week. The nunchuck spot is going to be forever remembered.
The lightning match far exceeded my expectations. Dragon Lee is Dragon Lee and is always going to be pretty good. Carístico was surprisingly excellent and the two meshed together wonderfully. Carístico was up Dragon Lee’s bonkers ideas, Dragon Lee playing rudo made the match work out pretty well, and the two were smooth against each other for a match we haven’t seen. Caristico’s walk up the rope Spanish Fly was super impressive; I was concerned he’d come off as a lot less athletic than Dragon Lee and that wasn’t the case. I was also expecting another draw once it started getting alone, so an actual finish was a nice surprise. Go watch this one.
The fourth match had a hard time picking the crowd back up after the Arkangel moment. The crowd really only reacted to the dives until the last moments. The action wasn’t so great that these guys were cheated out of a reaction. It was a basic Hijo del Infierno match. Hijo de LA Park is very indie, willing to try big moves and not really smooth with them. He was lucky not hurt himself on his diving headscissors, but scooting across the ropes at least made it feel different than the dozen other ones we get a week. I can not believe Mephisto took the pin.
The Tiger/Puma match was the usual good Tiger/Puma match. Felino looked a lot better than usual, maybe trying a little bit more because he was with his sons. They came off as a better unit than usual, so something was working. Titan & Felino mixed well. Puma had really timing. The match seemed a little rough at times, so I wouldn’t put among their best, but it was still good for a Friday night watch.
The segunda wasn’t as the pace of other Panther matches – these rudos are just not that fast – but it wasn’t as huge a dropoff as it seemed. This was borderline good. The Panthers have their match down and can do it with pretty much anyone. Kawato included! Kawato had a nice dive, I shouldn’t be so mean. There were a lot of stutter steps during the second fall comeback because the timing just wasn’t there. It was still fine. Universo is getting new moves, needed new moves.
Of all the recent OK openers, this was definitely the best one. Shockercito & Stukita looked good, Mercurio’s comedy work, and they didn’t go too long. They even did the only thing rarer than dives in openers: near falls. Mercurio & Pequeño Nitro lived up to a reputation of being halfway decent when they try. There’s probably also a bit of me avoiding minis matches like the plague of late so this felt a bit more fresh.
