Recapped: 07/11/2016
What happened: CMLL offered a show after the fact as a $1 VOD, to the surprise of all. I only paid a lot of attention to the main event and the rookie debuts. Ultimo Guerrero defeated Michael Elgin in a non title match.
What was good: Elgin/UG was very good. Could skip the rest, though the Stuka trios seemed fine.
Where can I watch it: It’s still on CMLL’s channel for $1. Read More
Recapped: 07/01/2016
What happened: Team Mexico defeated Team Rest of the World in the 2016 edition of the Gran Prix. Volador Jr. defeated Tama Tonga for the victory, despite Rush and La Mascara turning on each other. (Those two rise to the top of the list for Anniversary match.)
Bárbaro Cavernario once again defeated Rey Cometa in an an excellent match.
What was good: Everything, with the top two rising the MOTYC level
Where can I watch it: Sigh. An editing version will air on Azteca in about a month. I’d suggest tracking down the show however you can find it. Read More
Recapped: 03/18/2016
What happened: Volador defeated Negro Casas for his hair in the main event, winning cleanly with no interference from any family members (and Casas even had Mephisto instead of one of his nephews in his corner.) Rush also defeated Máximo for his hair in their match, though he had a little help from Comandante Pierroth. They acknowledged each other as family (though it didn’t seem like Rush outright admitted Pierroth was his father) and suggested they would continue to be together (though again it wasn’t outright said Pierroth would be an Ingobernable.)
The semimain saw friendly fire between Cibernetico and Ultimo Guerrero led to an all out fight. The rudos lost the match, and the two argued their way to a singles match next Friday. It was a rare case of CMLL building to a next week’s show on a major show.
The feed mostly held thru; it died in the main event (just around 11pm local, suggesting there was an automatic setting to cut it off then.) They got it back, but not everyone was able to get it working again. CMLL also quietly offered the show on Playstation’s Live Viewer, and the feed apparently did not come back for people using that service.
The changes to Arena Mexico were slight: new video boards and maybe a new ringside floor were all that were visible.
What was good: I though both hair matches were excellent and the atomicos was great. The second match was fun and you can skip the rest.
Where can I watch it: You can’t legally right now. Claro Sports will air matches 2, 3, and 5 whenever they air these things, and Azteca will air the two hair matches four weeks from now.
Recapped: 01/04/2015
What happened: The iPPV failed! And then they put up the matches for free on YouTube and I decided I needed to watch them even though it was fairly obvious none of them were going to be any good. (This justification means I’ve got some lightning matches to watch soon.)
In the actual matches, Kamaitachi & Maximo and Super Parka & Negro Casas signed their contracts for hair matches. No one could quite decide if the matches were being announced for the first time there only being finalized (though they had been announced a few days ahead of time.)
This is neither here or there, but this show is the best example not to judge attendance by what it looks like during the first match. It looked dire during the opener and increased greatly by the middle of the card.
You can find my reviews of the two matches which did air as scheduled here.
What was good: Not much. Cavernario was really good and Super Porky had a Super Porky match.
Where can I watch it: They’re on CMLL’s website and YouTube channel, but only linked to a hidden page sent to people on their mailing list. They’re also linked below. One of these matches may turn up on Lucha Azteca Read More
Recapped: 01/01/2016
What happened: Maximo & Negro Casas defeated Kamaitachi & Super Parka for their hair in separate singles matches. Volador declared war on all of the Casas family for their cheating in the main event. Caristico accidentally fouled Rush leading to both losing the semimain, and teasing a Rush/Caristico vs Voaldor/Cibernetico. (Volador is a busy guy.) Thunder still exists
What was good: The Kamaitachi/Maximo match is the best match of the year. It’ll still be a really good match when there’s more than one day.
Where can I watch it: Matches from this show will be on Azteca on January 23rd.
Recapped: 12/25/2015
What happened: Super Comando lost his mask to the Panther in the final of the Infierno en el Ring cage match. Puma, who had be feuding with both, was one of the first to escape. Raziel was the other member of the final three instead. Super Comando is Gusatvo Torres Ramirez, 34 years old, 17 years a wrestler from Neza.
Super Parka and Negro Casas and Kamaitachi and Maximo signed hair versus hair contracts for next week. (Despite being announced yesterday, this was somewhat treated like a surprise announcement.)
The iPPV failed, with only a couple of people able to see the first hour of the show. At nearly exactly an hour in, CMLL switched to playing the feed over YouTube, on a stream that was free to any who had the link. CMLL blamed cleeng, cleeng seems to be unaware of what was going on. It’s unclear if refunds will be offered at this point. Anyone considering buying next week’s iPPV should be aware of this situation and act appropriately.
What was good: Nothing especially. Cage match was a cage match (and the singles match at the end was fine, but nothing special.) The one match we got to see was a quick all star match that was just OK.
Where can I watch it: The main matches will air on Lucha Azteca in three weeks.
No recaps for the first three matches. Read More