Tag: CMLL Martes

Recapped: 12/10/2019

Matches:

Angelito & Shockercito beat Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
(14:41 [7:56, 2:50, 3:55], 2/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Grako, Hijo del Signo, Inquisidor beat Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial
(15:54 [7:53, 3:18, 4:43], 1/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Estrellita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit beat Amapola, Dalys, Tiffany
(12:33 [6:00, 1:52, 4:41], 1/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Espíritu Negro went to a draw Príncipe Diamante in a lightning match
(8:59, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Universo 2000 Jr. beat Esfinge, Black Panther, Espanto Jr., Magnus, Príncipe Odín Jr., Stigma, Robin, Halcón Suriano Jr., Bengala in a CMLL La Copa Junior semifinal
(20:36, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)

• 08:02 Magnus double knee smash Principe Odin Jr.
• 10:01 Robin half-spin northern light suplex Bengala
• 11:35 Espanto backcracker Halcon Suriano Jr.
• 14:19 Stigma torito Magnus
• 15:46 Universo 2000 Jr. double knee smash Espanto Jr.
• 16:25 Panther springboard dropkick Robin
• 17:19 Black Panther DQ (Esfinge mask removal)
• 18:58 Universo 2000 Jr. powerbomb Sitgma
• 20:36 Universo 2000 Jr. piledriver Esfinge

Euforia, Shocker, Terrible beat Carístico, Star Jr., Titán
(17:12 [7:22, 3:27, 6:23], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

The dumb battle royal went 1:29 and set sides as

• Universo 2000 Jr., Black Panther, Magnus, Halcon Suriano Jr., Bengala
• Robin, Esfinge, Espanto Jr., Stigma, Principe Odin Jr.

Thoughts:

Nothing much going on in the main event, which made more sense after realizing the big matches here would be announced Wednesday. Shocker looks heavier than ever, though he did end up taking a lot more bumps than I would’ve thought. His offense is 90% chops at this point and he’s lost all his charisma (probably because he’s lost all his confidence), but it could’ve been worse. Shocker’s elbow drop is going to look great because he’s not protecting his victim all that much.

The Copa Junior cibernetico had good action, got better as it went along, kind of dipped off at the end but not horribly so. Bengala looked better than some tecnicos who stayed longer, made me wish he got a miracle run. It didn’t take long for the crowd to get behind Super Halcon, wonder what would happen if he was pushed. Universo forgetting to go for a pin was not a great sign. Panther has promise if he goes rudo but it’s hard to believe he’d get something to do on that side when nothing’s happened for so long. Universo did look better late in the match and at least the final will be about deadly piledrivers.

Espiritu Negro & Principe Diamante was more about providing heated moments than having a good match this time out. They did a lot of dives and a lot of mask ripping and I’m not sure a lot was all that interesting in-between. Hate can carry you a long way and there was plenty of that. There still seems a wide range of possibilities for how this mask match is going to go.

Recapped: 12/03/2019

Matches:

Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito beat Fantasy & Último Dragóncito
(13:53 [4:30, 5:05, 4:18], 1/3, ok, 00:00:00)

Cancerbero, Espíritu Negro, Raziel beat Eléctrico, Pegasso, Príncipe Diamante
(10:57 [3:14, 4:53, 2:50], 1/3, ok, 00:20:57)

Guerrero Maya Jr. beat Blue Panther Jr., Drone, Sangre Imperial, Toro Bill Jr., Oro Jr., Hijo del Signo, Leono, Tiger, Yago in a CMLL La Copa Junior semifinal match
(19:53, good, 00:40:47)

• 7:08 Oro Jr. moonsault Leono
• 7:42 Hijo de Signo armbar Sangre Imperial
• 9:08 Drone reverse figure four Toro Bill Jr.
• 10:12 Tiger casita Yago
• 11:04 Blue Panther Jr. side slam Hijo del Signo
• 11:29 Guerrero Maya Sacrifica Maya Oro Jr.
• 13:03 Tiger powerbomb Drone
• 14:01 Blue Panther Jr. nudo laugnero Tiger
• 19:53 Guerrero Maya Tormento Maya Blue Panther Jr.

Ángel de Oro, Soberano Jr., Niebla Roja beat Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
(20:06 [5:22, 7:00, 7:44], 1/3, ok, 01:11:11)

Euforia beat Carístico
(14:48 [4:12, 10:36], 1/2, good, 01:40:25)

What happened:

Euforia both fouled Caristico and pulled off his mask for the win.

The dumb battle royal (2:35) set sides as Drone, Sangre Imperial, Yago, Blue Panther Jr., Oro Jr., and Leono, Tiger, Hijo del Signo, Toro Bill Jr. (CDMX debut) and Guerrero Maya Jr. Late in the match, Blue Panther makes a point of untying Guerrero Maya’s mask, then ramps him into the post on the apron. Maya’s mask clearly comes off – clear to everyone but Pompin, who just counts Maya out as he gets reset on the outside. It felt like that was maybe meant to be a DQ, but they play off it on the next spot and keep going for another minute.

Espiritu Negro bumped into Bestia Negra, fouled Principie Diamante, but was caught before the pin was counted.

Pierrothito grabs the microphone to cut a promo before the match starts. Unfortunately, CMLL has not turned up the sound on the feed at that point.

Thoughts:

Mistico/Euforia was a whole different match than Volador/Euforia. It seemed like it was at first a conscious effort to play to a different audience. The casual Tuesday might get more into a match where the rudo cheats a lot instead of doing the power moves more impressive to the weekly Puebla audience. It became clearer as it went along, especially in the second fall, that this was more a chance to give Caristico as much as the offense as possible to make him look as impressive as possible in a match he was going to lose in straight falls. Euforia may not have gotten in a move which wasn’t a counter of a Caristico move for about five minutes straight. There were also bits of Caristico building anger towards the referee to set a finish where the referee cost him the match. It wasn’t at all like a normal CMLL big singles match, and the way it played to Caristico’s ego wasn’t great. It did also play to this crowd really well, getting them very into the last moments of the match. I kinda want to recommend this one because it – like that first Alberto match on Nacion Lucha Libre – is so different from normal that it’s an entertaining change, even though it doesn’t check off many of the boxes usual for good.

The semi-main was the go-home happy match, except weirdly twice as long as it normally is for no particular reason. It wasn’t like they were doing anything that impressive. They went home on the best spot they had, so there’s that, and it got the show to about the normal length, which might be all the reason they needed.

The cibernetico was flawed but entertaining. The stretch of dives early on was a good example, with some fun stuff but also people just falling out of control all the time. The ending stretch had cool moves (including Maya breaking out the Tormento Maya for the first time in a long time) but also Blue Panther Jr. looking sloppy. It did make it really easy to pick someone to root for out of those last two, though that probably wasn’t the intention. No one really raised or lower their stock in the match. Toro Bill Jr. looked better the day prior, and maybe a bit nervous here. The match falling into a four-way late with teammates fighting each other was as weird as always, though they at least took care to make sure a teammate didn’t pin each other here.

The Espiritu Negro/Principe Diamante feud is set up for the rudo to destroy Diamante for a long time and Diamante to make a quick comeback. Espiritu is still coming off as much more impressive adjusted for that. Principe Diamante is fine, just not making the same impression and not looking any better than his two nondescript partners. This is surely Espiritu’s one chance to do something, and possibly his last few matches in CMLL, so he’s laying in the dropkicks while he can.

Ultimo Dragoncito may have something to offer, he just moves too fast for the mini rudos (especially Violencia) to keep up with him. Fantasy is closer to their speed, though that’s not great to see.

Recapped: 11/19/2019

Matches:

Bengala & Sangre Imperial beat Apocalipsis & Inquisidor
(10:15 [4:24, 2:20, 3:31], 1/3, n/r, 00:00:00)

Espanto Jr., Hijo del Signo, Nitro beat Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr., Oro Jr.
(11:58 [5:20, 2:33, 4:05], 1/3, n/r, 00:17:40)

Blue Panther Jr., Pegasso, Príncipe Diamante beat Cancerbero, Espíritu Negro, Raziel
(10:20 [6:24, 3:56] , 1/2 DQ, ok, 00:39:40)

Guerrero Maya Jr. beat Vangellys in a lightning match
(6:25, Guerrero Maya huracanrana, ok, 00:59:06)

Ephesto, Kawato San, Luciferno beat Dulce Gardenia, Kráneo, Rey Cometa
(16:45 [5:46, 4:25, 6:34], 1/3, ok, 01:11:06)

Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Niebla Roja beat Cavernario, Felino, Mephisto
(14:40 [5:06, 3:29, 6:05] , 2/3, ok, 01:39:47)

What happened:

Caristico bizarrely stormed the announce booth to demand a mask match with Mephisto. The two hadn’t been feuding much in the match; Caristico submitted Cavernario to win.

Espiritu unmasked Principe Diamante for the DQ again.

Thoughts:

Angel de Oro eventually getting to grab his hair and point at Felino dressed up an ordinary main event. The send them home happy match usually has a few more highspots than this tecnico trio is really going to do. They didn’t get booed by the tourists, so that’s one plus for putting the Chavez on a Tuesday.

The semi-main wasn’t really worth seeking out but it was a bit wild. Ephesto did a surprise tope in the third fall and seemed surprised when he got caught in the middle of the comeback spot in the second fall. Luciferno’s attempt at a shoulderbreaker ended up with a knee right to Cometa’s head. Kawato has come back deciding to murder everyone, which is at least interesting. The finishing sequence on Dulce looked rough, and maybe the start of a feud. Dropping him on a headscissors seemed less intentional.

This Vangellys lightning match was better than last week’s Vangellys lightning match. There was the slightest bit of a story because Vangellys was the rare luchador to actually go after the heavily taped body part. It didn’t end up going anywhere, but it gave a purpose to Vangellys methodical attacks and was an obstacle for Guerrero Maya to overcome. Nothing you want to see but something watchable.

Espiritu and Principe Diamante’s feuding was held off until the last stages of their match, which made the match feel a lot more routine the last week. They seemed to work ok together but not a lot was interesting here until the finish. Espiritu at least covered for not being able to get the mask off on the first try better than most.

Recapped: 11/07/2019

Matches:

Angelito & Fantasy beat Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Universo 2000
(12:10 [5:33, 2:44, 3:53], 2/3, below average, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Súper Astro Jr. beat Grako, Inquisidor, Príncipe Odín Jr.
(13:59 [6:39, 3:35, 3:45], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Nitro beat Magia Blanca in a lightning match
(7:11, piledriver, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Blue Panther, Kráneo, Volcano beat Felino, Hechicero, Okumura
(15:16 [5:09, 5:35, 4:32], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Stuka Jr. © beat Rey Bucanero for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
(15:14, 1/3, good, VideosOficialesCMLL

1. Stuka suplex (2:39)
2. Rey Bucanero headscissors (1:40)
3. Stuka torpedo splash (10:55)

Místico, Star Jr., Titán beat Mephisto, Templario, Terrible
(12:07 [5:13, 6:54], 1/2 DQ, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened: 

Templario unmasked Star Jr. for the DQ, an act of no meaning with the two not scheduled to face the following week or ever.

Thoughts: 

The main event was the two fall version of the usual hot Tuesday main event, rudos taking control just long enough to heat up those tecnico comebacks. Terrible works well in this, fearsome enough to the good guys that their moves feel like they mean something when they finally take him down. Teasing Star Jr./Templario with no follow up is cruelty though perhaps not intentional; intent implies purpose into booking where none is apparent.

Stuka & Rey Bucanero went for big spots and nothing in between, which was probably the best bet for something good out of Bucanero. He is willing to destroy himself a few ways to make it exciting, and Stuka is good who’s mostly about his signature offense anyway. It was a spectacular highlight show that was off at times, especially early. The last-minute of the first fall was one issue after another: Stuka walking around outside after his rebound armdrag spot went wrong, then Metalico not counting three on the intended neckbreaker finish, and an awkward suplex to finish it. It got smoother as they went along, though it’s easier when it’s just everyone standing for one spot, a rest break, and another spot. They made a lot out of a few things.

Magia Blanca got nothing in but dives, hurt his knee catching a Nitro dive (?!), and walked to limp into Nitro’s finish. It was not much unless you like a lot of Nitro. It was not a good showcase for Magia Blanca but a match with Nitro was never going to be one.

The Electrico run in the third fall included Principe Odin losing him on a headscissors, Grako getting lost in their sequence, and a great spot requiring the coordination of three different people. They’re not really consistent or good enough in the segunda. They are getting a good reaction, the tourist reacting to the novelty of it early before the middle of the card wears them out.

Angelito was actively bad in the opener. It seemed like maybe the people he was working with at first, but he was terrible on his complicated moonsault finish. Not sure what was going on here.

Recapped: 10/31/2019

Matches:

Grako & Príncipe Odín Jr. beat Leono & Sangre Imperial
(12:05 [6:18, 3:23, 2:24], 1/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito beat Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito
(16:15 [7:48, 3:41, 4:46], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Blue Panther Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma beat Dark Magic, Raziel, Vangellys
(16:53 [6:02, 4:32, 6:19], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Star Jr. beat Rey Cometa, El Audaz, Dulce Gardenia, Black Panther, Pólvora, Virus, Disturbio, Universo 2000 Jr., Tiger for a Rey del Inframundo championship match
(20:57, good, VideosOficialesCMLL

• 07:23 Rey Cometa 450 splash Unvierso
• 09:22 Polvora counter dropkick Black Panther
• 12:28 Dulce Gardenia moonsault Disturbio
• 14:26 Audaz top rope headscissors Tiger
• 15:02 Virus Skayde Special Dulce Gardenia
• 16:34 Super Polvora Driver on Rey Cometa
• 19:17 Star Jr. huracanrana Polvora
• 19:45 Virus wristlock armscissors Audaz
• 20:57 Star Jr. entanglement submission Virus

Cuatrero, Forastero, Rey Bucanero beat Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr., Valiente
(10:18 [4:53, 5:25], 1/2, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

Rey Bucanero won his match in straight falls, setting up a title match in the process. He also seemed to cut a hand reversing the torpedo splash into a submission. Bucanero made the most of the injury.

Thoughts:

Stuka & Bucanero set up next week’s title match with the sort of mask ripping more accustomed to a personal feud. It’s probably the only way Bucanero can really make this work, though it left him getting beat up a lot and getting little in before the surprise submission. There’s no strong way to build a Rey Bucanero/Stuka match in 2019 anyway. There was a usual Tuesday main event around it.

The cibernetico had generally good action though it rarely got hot. They made use of having a lot of people involved for some hot multiperson sections. Universo battering one tecnico after another was the best he’s ever looked in particular. It didn’t keep that level at the end; the action was fine but the excitement wasn’t quite there. This was fun for Virus pulling out winning holds from nowhere; not sure Dulce still knows how he got beat.

The repetitive matchups of the minis division has numbed me to the concept. The crowd in Arena Mexico reacted as loud as you’ll hear, for the mini tecnicos making a comeback in the second fall. Angelito did get a chance to work in a trios, which doesn’t seem to happen a lot in streamed matches and helped bring some extra energy. This still wasn’t something worth remembering but it felt like the effort was there more than usual.

Recapped: 10/22/2019

Matches:

Kaligua & Shockercito beat Pequeño Universo 2000 & Pequeño Violencia
(4:57 shown, 2/3, n/r, 00:00:00)

Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Inquisidor beat Oro Jr., Retro, Robin
(13:50 [8:03, 2:28, 3:19] , 1/3, ok, 00:07:08)

Blue Panther, Drone, Rey Cometa beat Dark Magic, Okumura, Universo 2000 Jr.
(14:18 [5:14, 2:16, 6:48], 1/3, ok, 00:29:55)

Tiger beat Guerrero Maya Jr. in a lightning match
(7:11, casita, ok, 00:54:05)

El Audaz, Kráneo, Volcano beat Ephesto, Luciferno, Pólvora
(13:45 [7:46, 5:59], 1/2 DQ, ok, 01:06:55)

Felino, Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero beat Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Stuka Jr.
(13:13 [4:31, 6:07, 2:35], 2/3, ok, 01:30:10)

What happened:

Rey Bucanero signaled for a title match after defeating Stuka. Announcers thought Stuka was welterweight champion.

The stream with the opener already going for the second straight week. They didn’t pick up until the last minute of the second fall. The ring announcer announced the win in the third fall as Violencia was still being counted out.

Thoughts:

The Stuka/Bucanero feud came out of nowhere coming into the show, though it was the central focus of this match. None of the interactions seemed particularly exciting though they did steal the finish right out of Hechicero’s playbook. Negro Casas being charismatic and the fans interacting with the Chavez were more memorable than this match.

Perhaps the best part of semi-main was the announcers deciding to randomly imitate Polvora’s deep voice after the finish. Audaz did some Audaz things and has decent chemistry with his apparent new rival, though there are better matches to see Audaz of late. The rest of the guys did about the usual.

Guerrero Maya and Tiger had a solid lightning match with some big spots. It was lacking a bit of intensity, perhaps in part because everyone was distracted by Pompin’s increasingly slow counts. The superplex looked painful on the Arena Mexico mat and Tiger faking a handshake of respect was nice but I expected more out of both guys.

Blue Panther matches seem to use every trick to get a reaction. They broke out the star, they did pointless stage dives, Okumura teased a martinete for some reason. It seems cheap at times but they at least get the crowd to care. Black Magic got lost in the third fall, not being in the right place for Drone’s dive (so he didn’t do it) and being confused with Cometa near the end. Still, this was the best match on the show.

The segunda had a couple of good moves, one bad rebound headscissors spot, and some slow dives. Novel to see dives in the second match, but they were dives showcasing why they don’t dive often. Inquisidor breaking out a headscissors looked better.