Euforia, Felino, Último Guerrero beat Ángel de Oro, Atlantis Jr., Carístico
(11:54 [4:55, 2:40, 4:19], 1/3, ok, 01:34:07)
What happened:
Hechicero used the middle rope to foul Stuka, ending the semi-main in straight falls.
Thoughts:
Rey Cometa throwing himself in it
Hechicero & Stuka resuming their feud gave some life to an otherwise unremarkable second match. It’s hard to believe it’ll go anywhere this time but they seemed excited about it. Volcano went a whole match without anything going seriously wrong, which is a victory in itself.
Rey Cometa threw himself into making a match with Universo 2000 work and got the best out of him that he could. I’m not sure it’s a match you need to go out of your way to see, because Universo is still clumsy and doesn’t add much himself, but he was willing to get by a lot of dives and takes a shaky superplex at least.
The tecnico team in the tercera was interesting because Diamond looked nervous and unsteady and Dulce Gardenia seems totally ready for a higher position. The fans also get into Dulce a lot and make no noise for Diamond. It’s not really a fair comparison.
The second match had people trying things and it barely kept together, but it did keep together.
Diamond, Fuego, Stigma beat El Perverso, Espíritu Negro, Toro Bill Jr.
(12:53 [5:35, 2:06, 5:12], 2/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Gran Guerrero, Shocker, Último Guerrero beat Diamante Azul, Soberano Jr., Titán
(14:27 [6:43, 2:29, 5:15], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Felino, Negro Casas, Volador Jr. beat Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Cavernarioin a relevos increíbles match
(13:00 [3:04, 3:08, 6:48], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)
What happened:
Zacarias cut Cavernario off from a splash on Volador, Cavernario attacked Zacarias and Volador fouled Cavernario (though he claimed it was a clean hit. Cavernario strangely cuts a tecnico promo in setting up a match with Volador.
good times for Astro!
Thoughts:
The main event was one of those where it felt low effort even as people were doing dives out of the ring. They make it look easy while taking it easy. It also spent two falls teasing out a Cavernario/Angel de Oro vs Casas brothers match, then right turns into another Volador/Cavernario singles match. CMLL paring down the types of feuds they’ll do is a big factor in why everything feels so repetitive. 90% of the main events seem to make no difference, but there’s still only one type of main event they’ll try.
The third fall of the semi-main, with Titan & Soberano going thru their athletic spots and Shocker goofing around, is the most watchable fall to that point in the show. (It’s not a good show at all.) Gran Guerrero does just enough with Soberano to wonder if he can have the sort of matches Templario does with the tecnico. They’ve never done that singles match. Shocker probably shouldn’t be beating Titan at this point but that would be treating these matches as if they were meaningful.
Fénix & Pentagón Jr.beatTaurus & Australian Suicide and Laredo Kid & Puma King (13:16, Fenix Black Fire Driver Australian Suicide, good, 02:05:04)
La Bestia Del Ring, LA Park, Rush Toro Blanco beat Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Pagano (21:48, LA Park spear Monster Clown, ok, 02:31:39)
What happened:
Aramis on target
Chessman attacked Pagano late in the main event, throwing him off the stage. That left the other two Clowns easy pickings for Los Ingobernables.
Los OGTs attacked Penta & Fenix after the tag title match. Averno particularly went after Penta.
Los Mercenarios attacked Jinetes del Aire after their match and demanded a trios title match right now. Vikingo accepted, the two teams fought briefly, Vikingo landed the 630 on Hiedra, and Tirantes counted a pin. The English announcers were confused if this was meant to be a real match or not, though the Spanish announcers were clearer that it was meant to be a defense.
Rey Escorpion seconded La Hiedra, interfering freely (but late needing a distraction to get involved again.) La Hiedra & Lady Maravilla fought during the match, but then both covered Lady Shani at the end. Tirantes counted three while both were covering, but was confused at what to make of it. Escorpion raised Hiedra’s arm, then Tirantes raised both arms.
Nino Hamburguesa & Mascarita Sagrada were this show’s Ingobernable beatdown victims, after the opening match, to make sure the rudos got booed later. Konnan appeared with Los Ingobernables for the first time since Guerra de Titanes, though he never got in the ring with them and only posed with them after. (By including him in that way, it only shows how extraneous he is to the concept.)
AAA advertised Daga despite him working the Impact show instead. Four of the six matches were changed around as a result. AAA had issued a new card a couple of days prior to the event when the venue was moved around but did not update the lineup.
Thoughts:
Fenix connects
Ingobernables matches work best when the crowd loudly reacts to their wild antics. The acoustics of this building (or the micing of it) didn’t allow for that all night. It was a problem and most of all for the main event. The violent beatdown by the rudos came off less so than in previous matches when it felt like no one was reacting to it. It also went on for a lot longer; these are always going to be long matches with LA Park involved, but they didn’t quite have the people for it to work. The holes in this matchup stood out more with a weak atmosphere.
The Lucha Brothers three-way tag was a step below the Guerra de Titanes equivalent, though Australian Suicide seemed to make more out of his involvement here than in that match. It may have been hurt by being yet another match of people doing big moves and someone else breaking them out; no one seems to kickout of moves and the saves aren’t particularly dramatic. Only Suicide near the end got in a near fall during the match, the rest was just more moves. The high points of the action were good and sometimes dangerous, but there were off-track moments and people getting in each other’s way. Fenix was upset about something at one point, but it stood out more when Puma & Taurus went through a table and Penta & Laredo picked the same side of the ring to do a package piledriver and nearly fell off onto them. Laredo came off as a guy in the mix but not a particularly important one, which is weird going into a title match (but admittedly not so weird for AAA.)
Chessman crashed and burned on a tornillo so the Jinetes del Aire match was great. That’s pretty much it. The tecnicos looked good, even without going full out. The rudos worked very hard to keep up with their moves, with Averno especially seeming to do more than usual. This match built better than anything else on the show, and the action held together the best. It was the best match of the night. The two minute title match leading out of it was at least a pleasant change from just having rudo teams beat down the tecnicos after most matches. Doing an actual pinfall was truly weird. The booking felt like an indie show but the action was nice while it lasted.
strange style powerbomb
The early three way tag was a clunky match built around the Hijo de LA Park & Parka Negra feud. Parka Negra usually looks good but didn’t as much in this feud. I can’t say anyone really did; there were a few moments for everyone, but it never came together. Rudo versus rudo matches have worked in AAA but they have the intensity to make this one work, and this just felt like a lot of people thrown together. The six-man suplex was all-time bad, from Arez tripping jumping into Argenis being lost at where to stand to everyone being on different timing. It felt like this was missing someone in charge directing things – both the suplex spot and the match in general.
The worst AAA match of the year isn’t saying much because it’s been a pretty good year. The women’s match effort wasn’t terrible and there will be worse matches than this in most year. It was just such a mess, far below their usual standards. The three way match on Lucha Capital were all better thought out than this one. Rey Escorpion interfering all match but then needing a distraction to interfere again made no sense. Hiedra & Maravilla fighting each other and then getting a pin together made no sense. This went wrong.
AAA concerned they didn’t have all six man match shows, so they added Demus & Hamburgesa to this. The opener didn’t get to the insanity of previous shows, a more solid match building around Mascarita Sagrada highlights. Draztick Boy drew Nino Hamburguesa so he didn’t get to show much, but the crowd loves Hamburguesa so it worked fine for them. The Aramis & Latigo sequence at the start was creative and held together, which doesn’t often work.
Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr.beatBlue Panther & Fuerza Guerrera in a torneo nacional increible eighthfinal (7:26, ok, 01:23:14)
Ángel de Oro & SansónbeatEspíritu Negro & Rey Cometa in a torneo nacional increible eighthfinal
(6:00, ok, 01:33:49)
Atlantis Jr. & Negro CasasbeatCuatrero & Valiente in a torneo nacional increible eighthfinal (5:00, ok, 01:42:26)
Cavernario & Volador Jr.beatSoberano Jr. & Templario in a torneo nacional increible eighthfinal (3:52, ok, 01:50:12)
Ángel de Oro & SansónbeatGran Guerrero & Stuka Jr. in a torneo nacional increible quarterfinal
(5:08, ok, 01:57:15)
Cavernario & Volador Jr.beatAtlantis Jr. & Negro Casas in a torneo nacional increible quarterfinal (2:39, ok, 02:04:29)
Cavernario & Volador Jr. beat Ángel de Oro & Sansón in a torneo nacional increible semifinal (7:35, ok, 02:09:19)
What happened:
Volador & Cavernario advanced to the block final, facing Caristico & Forastero next week. Caveranrio notable beat Negro Casas in a block final.
Thoughts:
Stuka with a different way to get into a backbreaker
Last week’s tournament shined because there was an exciting team getting to have good matches and making it through three rounds. There wasn’t any of that this week. Angel de Oro & Sanson were there physically but not mentally, showing little effort as a team or opponents. Volador & Cavernario were impressive and did show effort, and got shorted on time. That time didn’t go to anything good; Blue Panther/Fuerza Guerrera tried but were a bit exposed by the end. Espiritu & Cometa made the most of what might be one chance to the team, but their opponents weren’t there for them. Templario & Soberano had no chance to do anything. The crowd did care about the final but this was a slog to watch. The whole show was that way.
The Caristico trios was the best match on a fairly boring undercard. There weren’t any surprises in this one either, with the match going exactly as expected for these guys in this spot. Titan did his rope flip armdrag trick, Diamante did his ramp dive, Caristico walked up the ropes for an armdrag, you’ve seen this match. The usual tecnico big spots did wake up a drowsy crowd. Caristico seemed slow, or Ephesto & Mephisto were a little off setting up him up.
The lightning match was two big men moving slowly with Panther trying to do flying spots and not looking good at them. Vangellys didn’t look good at anything but he was also not trying to do much so it’s about correct. They didn’t blow anything but there’s not a lot to recommend about this.
The first fall of the women’s match was slow and felt too obviously like a rehearsed match. The pace picked up in the later falls. One thing you pick up after watching too many of these matches is Dalys always catches the dive, which also means she’s not there to take the one pinfall her team has to take. Mystique is trying to do a lot that she’s just barely pulling off, and it seems like a recipe for disaster.
The opener was the usual waste of time. They keep putting Retro’s big offense leading into the rudos winning, which seems like a waste to me. He still somehow looked the best of the four guys, though that may have been by design. Magnus should switch from a backbreaker to a tilt-a-whirl slam if he doesn’t want to put the knee out.
I think Psycho Circus versus Poder de Norte was better than any match CMLL ran this week. Maybe there was a great Sunday match I missed. Maybe you’d have the Caristico/Forastero vs Bandido/UG higher.
recommended matches
rating
matches
TV Show
taped
great
Hijo de LA Park & LA Park Jr. vs Súper Fly & Villano III Jr. and Myzteziz Jr. & Octagón Jr.
AAA on Twitch: 2020-02-08
2020-02-08
great
Hijo Del Vikingo, Puma King, Rey Horus vs Rey Escorpión, Taurus, Texano Jr.
AAA on Twitch: 2020-02-08
2020-02-08
good
Drago Kid, Iron Kid, Laredo Boy vs Látigo, Low Rider, Parkita Negra
AAA on Twitch: 2020-02-08
2020-02-08
good
Big Mami, Dinastía, Mr. Iguana vs La Hiedra, Lady Maravilla, Parka Negra
The strength of current CMLL is wringing every bit of drama out of singles matches. There’s clear good and bad, especially when Caristico is involved, and their crowd gets into that aspect strongly. It also produces a slower match with less creativity, trying to keep it simple for the smallest child or the least paying attention adult to keep follow along easily. The athleticism in this match wasn’t as impressive as matches Sanson has had with Soberano, but they got the crowd to care nearly as much as while doing less. It was definitely less, and an overally long feeling second fall to do the surprise two fall ending. If they’re going to keep it simple in what they do in the matches, the matches themselves have no need to be as long as they currently are.
The micros had another match built on different match ups, which meant not much of the Microman/Chamuel one. It’s still a work in progress, with a lot of work needed. The first fall meandered so badly that Zacarias was beating up Microman on the stage while his partners were waiting to finish the fall. It got better in the second fall but never strong.
