recap – Page 16 – luchablog

2019 watch later catch up, part 19

January 21, 2020January 21, 2020 thecubsfan 1 Comment

Templario vs Rey Cometa in a lightning match
(CMLL @ 12/14, 6:29, good, HVSLuchaLibre)

Cometa & Templario rushed through some of their bigger spots, trying to get in as much as they could instead of setting anything up. The finish looks effective but is also abrupt. It’s watchable but not strong so; there’s no depth to it. Templario seemed to adjust mid-spot to a springboard tope instead of a dropkick, which worked better for the moment and also is a bit more variety.

Eléctrico © vs Halcón Suriano Jr. for the Mexican National Lightweight Championship
(CMLL @ 12/22, 15:34, good, HVSLuchaLibre)

Virus is much better than Halcon Suriano Jr., at least when it comes to getting something out of an Electrico title match. This was a good move exhibition with not much more to it. Electrico wrestled a lightning match with some more mat work at the start. He repeated spots near the end because he doesn’t really have that much to do. Suriano actually shelved some of his usual spots, pulling out stuff we’ve never or rarely seen from him. One wonders what he could do if he was given a better opponent. The wildest part of this was seeing Leono & Bengala as title match seconds.

Canibal, Mike, Teelo, Voltrex vs Águila Oriental, Dinámico, Noise Boy, Spyder Boy
(MexaWrestling @ 10/26, 9:59, great, CaritaJC denigrando la lucha libre)

I couldn’t find a rating for this one, which is odd for a match I’m sure I watched and GIF-ed around the time everyone saw and was blown away by the creativity. This still holds up as amazing even when you’re not surprised by it. Some of it feels heavily choreographed, but there are other matches which feel choreographed that’s not nearly as impressive as this. There are stretches here as amazing as anyone pulled off all year and I’m interested in finding out if this is the start for a lot more with these guys or just one moment of brilliance. Bonus points for the guy taking the finish to belay dead still on the mat for two minutes while everyone else is still celebrating the reaction.

LA Park vs Blue Demon Jr.
(IWRG @ 12/15, 20:57, great, +LuchaTV)

2019 is the best year of Blue Demon’s career as best anyone any tell, and it’s so weird. He’s getting cut by a broken bottle to end the year and I don’t think anyone saw that coming 12 months earlier. LA Park carries this brawl in the usual fashion, but Blue Demon’s totally up for it. He’s into from the first moment, ready to take Park’s fight to him and willing to get covered in blood while doing it. It’s the total LA Park screwy finish you’d expect – where you’re left realizing they did some of it for no reason other than they like doing it – but it’s fine as long as you know what you’re getting in for.

CMLL/NJPW FantasticaMania Tokyo Day 4: 2020-01-20

January 20, 2020January 20, 2020 thecubsfan

Recapped: 2020-01-20

Matches:

Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Douki & Kanemaru
(7:12, Fuego armbar Douki, ok)

Tiger Mask beat Tiger
(6:52, Tiger Suplex, ok)

El Audaz, Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr. beat Euforia, Luciferno, Namajague
(8:05, Flyer legdrop Luciferno, good)

Bushi, EVIL, Takagi beat Dulce Gardenia, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Uemura
(11:30, Takagi pumping bomber Uemura, good)

Negro Casas, Okumura, Último Guerrero beat Kojima, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr.
(10:49, Negro Casas casita Stuka, ok)

Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © beat Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Titán for the Mexican National Trios Championship
(14:39, Catapult Dinamita Angel de Oro, good)

Carístico © beat Bárbaro Cavernario to keep the NWA World Middleweight Championship
(16:06, Caristico La Mistica, great)

Thoughts:

Caristico & Barbaro Cavernario had the most all out match of the tour, something fitting of the main event. They changed the flow around from Mexico, with dives piling onto each other for effect. Cavernario seemed bugged by a boot that won’t stay tied, but it didn’t seem to affect the match outside of one awkward pause. Cavernario put real pressure on Caristico, Caristico made a well-timed comeback, and they didn’t push the match too far. This worked fine as the tour ender.

The trios title match was a little bit disappointing. It didn’t feel like it was building at any point, just going back and forth through the moves. The offense was cleanly performed, but it lacked big moments before the finish. The physical abilities of the NGD are obvious but the mental part of it stands to be improved.

The fifth match had good moments but not a great rhythm. It was moments from previous matches in the same match but not all that connected. It was nice to see Negro Casas to pick up a win. Maybe he’ll be back next year, but he at least got to celebrate one more time if it’s the last time.

Dulce is over but struggled in the ring a bit more than usual. There were a couple of noticeable slips in his early run. It didn’t really matter much, the Japanese crowd I in love with the kiss spots. The second half of the match was built around those and Uemura hope pin spots, and it got over huge. It may not be what you want if you’re looking for something with more substance but these six got a lot of comedy out of it.

The Audaz trios match was a surprisingly strong comedy match. The rudos showed some great buffoonery, making fools of themselves to help the tecnicos look good. Audaz himself showed more comedy timing than usual in between doing some of his best flying. Flyer & Maya were sold, even the referee got involved but the real credit was to Luciferno, Euforia, and Namajague willing to be silly for the sake of the match.

CMLL’s Tiger started off hot against Tiger Mask. He had trouble building on it, which was consistent with the rest of the tour. Some of that might have been Tiger Mask preferably a slower pace; it definitely ended up slower. Tiger could use deeper and more varied offense if he’s to get more single match chances. His best work in CMLL has been basing for flyers and he didn’t really get to do a lot of that here, but he’s got to show more if he’s going to advance.

Taguchi/Fuego had one more enjoyable opener. They varied their bits, playing off what they had done in the last few matches, though it wasn’t materially different than what they had done before. It got the crowd going, serving its purpose, but maybe not needed to watch later unless you really love this team. DOUKI wrestled about 90% of the match for his team.

CMLL/NJPW FantasticaMania Tokyo Day 3: 2020-01-19

January 19, 2020January 19, 2020 thecubsfan

Recapped: 2020-01-19

Matches:

Luciferno & Namajague beat El Audaz & Tsuji
(7:47, Namajague german suplex Tsuji, ok)

Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Soberano Jr. beat Douki, Kanemaru, Tiger
(7:30, Soberano Jr. Fire Driver Douki, good)

Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Titán vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
(12:26, Angel de Oro mecedora Sanson, good)

Stuka Jr. beat Okumura to keep the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
(10:24, Stuka splash Okumura, ok)

Bushi, EVIL, Takagi beat Dulce Gardenia, Fuego, Ryusuke Taguchi
(12:03, Bushi Roll Fuego, ok)

Último Guerrero © beat Kojima to keep the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship
(13:18, Guerrero Special, good)

Carístico, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tiger Mask beat Bárbaro Cavernario, Euforia, Negro Casas
(11:31, Tanahashi High Fly Flow Negro Casas, good)

Thoughts:

The main event was the best of what FantasticaMania can be, mixing the NJPW and CMLL stars in an entertaining fashion. Cavernario, Euforia and Negro Casas are a strong rudo team and meshed well with Tanahsahsi & Caristico. They gave us a bit of Euforia vs Tanahashi and Casas vs Tanahashi and that’s just what this match needed. Caristico worked hard leading into the title match, Tanahashi did a bit more than in his previous matches and the ceremony around it was nice. A good main event.

Kojima blocked the super powerbomb and got a headscissors, so there was a lot to like about this match. Ultimo Guerrero fought a bit Kojima’s style, Kojima did some flying, and they meshed well. This had a little bit of Ultimo Guerrero’s checklist-style but they deviated from it. The trip into the crowd didn’t really payoff – I wonder if something went wrong – but it picked up after that. This was a fun match.

Dulce matches remain built around Dulce going for kisses, and not much more. They may have peaked the kiss too soon for this one, or maybe kiss based matches just don’t need to go 12 minutes. It was some good comedy for a while. Dulce is popular even after just three matches.

Stuka carried his title match with Okumura to something watchable, though there were few surprises. Okumura pulling out the Ultimo Guerrero cradle out of the torpedo splash was at least one good near fall. Stuka crashing and burning was one memorable spot. It was otherwise the same match they’ve been doing on these shows forever, done fine, but with no surprises.

Tomorrow’s trios title match looks like it’s going to be pretty strong if the tecnicos build on what they did in Sunday’s match. They kept a fast pace, they switched up a few things from usual and broke up the NGD’s rhythm. Tomorrow’s total match should exceed this easily but it’s a good starting point.

The second match felt the most like a CMLL match, in that the rudos got the advantage and then just triple-teamed for a lot of time. The action kept never dragged. DOUKI matches up well with the CMLL guys, which is a shame we’ll probably not see it much after this

The opener didn’t last long enough to mean a lot but the action was good while it lasted. Audaz’s early run was his best moment of the tour. I don’t know that he’s ready for the Best of Super Junior spot they’ve talked about here; he’s not showing enough variety that nine singles matches seem like a welcoming idea. Tsuji doesn’t seem like he’d automatically fit in with CMLL’s style but maybe someone different is ok. Namajague’s German suplex looked good.

CMLL on Marca: 2020-01-17

January 18, 2020January 18, 2020 thecubsfan

Recapped: 2020-01-17

Matches:

Akuma & Espanto Jr. beat Retro & Robin
(11:22 [4:13, 3:20, 3:49], 1/3, ok, )

Avispa Dorada, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit beat Amapola, Metálica, Tiffany
(15:33 [7:08, 3:15, 5:10], 2/3 DQ, ok, )

Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. beat Espíritu Negro, Pólvora, Vangellys
(15:56 [6:01, 3:21, 6:34], 2/3, ok)

Templario beat Rey Cometa in a lightning match
(6:58, super powerbomb, good)

Atlantis Jr., Kráneo, Valiente beat Ephesto, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero
(13:48 [4:55, 3:47, 5:06], 1/3, ok)

Diamante Azul, Místico, Volador Jr. beat Gran Guerrero, Shocker, Terrible
(9:48 [5:08, 4:40], 1/2 DQ, ok)

What happened:

this went better for Gran Guerrero than Templario

Gran Guerrero unmasked Mistico this week for the DQ, setting up a singles match next week.

Vangellys & Blue Panther feuded but weren’t involved in the finish. (This was like the recent Angel de Oro/Felino issue.)

Amapola was eliminated in the third fall of her match but broke up a Marcela pin on Tiffany. Metalica suffered a leg injury near the end of the first fall (trying to catch Marcela’s apron dive) and was attended to at the end of the third fall.

Thoughts:

The main event was on the level of last week, maybe a little more since the tecnicos got to do more before they got to the DQ spot, but the same sort of match. The tecnicos did their hot spots late, Gran Guerrero powerbombed Místico hard earlier, Terrible and Shocker also picked up a paycheck. Diamante Azul has done that ramp clothesline for years but isn’t great at the timing when he starts it; everyone had to freeze for a few seconds to wait for him to get there.

The semi-main was a predictable match, though one the crowd comfortably enjoyed. Valiente connected very hard on his tope. Atlantis Jr. has his routine down and varies from it as little as anyone else in CMLL, but it’s still an exciting routine. Mije and Monito being in the same corner was an odd situation.

Templario lost Rey Cometa on a catch powerbomb spot, but they nailed everything else. Their lightning match here held together better from move to move. The handspring Destroyer looked great; I’d say to save it as a finish, but I’m not sure if the timing would be right without anyone beyond Templario. Cometa’s tornillo looked cool, and Templario gave him a big shot on the powerbomb.

The Panthers seemed to get the most of their match that was possible. That’s not a high ceiling, but they’ve got their bits down. Black Panther’s tope looked cool, Blue Panther Jr. is using his cartoon physique for impressive power spots, the crowd always gets behind the older Blue Panther. Vangellys & Panther feuding but not being involved finish gives hope a boring feud may go away. Espiritu Negro didn’t look out of place in this match, which seems to be the case when most of the first/second match goes up. There’s not a big difference between them and third/fourth rudos at this point.

Amapola & Marcela didn’t have anything to do with each other until the finish. Metalica’s injury dominated the rest of the match. The disqualification may have been a way to get out of it if Metalica couldn’t do the planned finish. However, that did not appear to be the situation – Avispa’s dive onto Metalica ended the match for both of them. Metalica being so hurt made it more surprising she was able to base for Avispa Dorada’s two great spots. This match was another Dorada appearance where she got in those two spots and no more. It wasn’t because the rest were doing exciting things.

There was no particular speed in the opener and nothing much to take from it. Retro did a big two-person slam, and the tecnicos never got in another move. It’s quite a way to make that move look pointless. At least this opener was over quick.

CMLL Puebla: 2019-12-30

January 13, 2020January 12, 2020 thecubsfan

Recapped: 12/30/2019

Matches:

Asturiano, Millenium, Rey Samuray beat Black Tiger, Fuerza Chicana, Policeman
(13:14 [6:49, 3:01, 3:24], 2/3, ok, 00:03:13)

Arkalis, Drone, Súper Astro Jr. beat El Malayo, El Perverso, Toro Bill Jr.
(13:30 [6:22, 3:35, 3:33], 2/3, ok, 00:25:06)

Stigma beat Rey Cometa in a lightning match
(6:03, Stigmatica, good, 00:46:30)

Diamante Azul, Felino, Rey Bucanero beat Ángel de Oro, Terrible, Valiente in a relevos increíbles match
(12:03 [4:30, 1:57, 5:36], 2/3, n/r, 00:56:28)

Carístico vs Volador Jr.
(17:18, 2/3, good?, 01:18:12)

Volador backcracker (4:46)
DQ Volador mask pull (2:44)
Caristico La Mistica (9:38)

What happened:

The main event starts with three minutes of Caristico trying to get Edgar thrown out. Edgar then distracts Carisitco into getting hit by Volador. Volador pulled Caristico’s mask and rolled him up for the three count, seemingly ending the match. Volador dumbly held up the mask to celebrate and Edgar called the DQ. Both faked fouls in the third fall before Caristico won.

Thoughts:

It’s strange to end the year where AAA does athletic matches with big moves and clean finishes while CMLL does a main event with referee shenanigans and a lot of cheap reactions. It isn’t all like that, but this main event was a lot of playing heavily rudo and tecnico to get the crowd. It worked for them, even if it wasn’t a competitive match. It did kind of work in an expectation-defying way. Carisitco took most of the offense in the way that usually happens in main event matches he’s going to lose, except he actually won this one. The seemingly only alternative here would be a match with a lot of near fall spots, rest breaks, and repeats, and I’m not sure that would’ve been any better. Maybe if there was an ongoing narrative, if Carisitco getting a (rare) win over Volador meant something, this would have more meaning. I don’t know. This was successful in getting a lively crowd to reaction big in the same way an AAA main trios match would do the same. I’m not sure I’m looking for that out of a CMLL match but the job wasn’t to give me what I was looking for out of a match.

I was not paying a lot of attention to the semi-main but even the announcers couldn’t remember who was on which team and who was the captain. Angel de Oro & Felino seem to be keeping their feud going on their own at this point, which suggests they got turned down for whatever was happening.

Rey Cometa was great at moving around at fast speed, pulling off some moves and doing his best to make Stigma look good. Stigma wasn’t awful, Stigma was just stuck in generic CMLL tecnico mode outside of the Santo screw headscissors. The best part of this match was Stigma won clean and there were no challenges. It’s hard to understand why Cometa was used in this feud instead of any rudo if there’s no payoff but I’m not complaining about it being finished here. It was better than a typical lightning match.

The rudos got the crowd going a bit during the second match but there really wasn’t much action. There have been cooler Super Astro performances. Toro Bill did take a crazy bump to the floor in the third fall.

Black Tiger was the worst person in the opener, which is a problem when he’s also the trainer of the school. Rey Samuray came the closest he’s ever going to come to landing the springboard 450. It’s still not very good. The match moved quicker than the time suggests, especially with the brief last two falls.

CMLL on Marca: 2020-01-10

January 11, 2020January 20, 2020 thecubsfan

Recapped: 20201-01-10

Matches:

Fantasy & Shockercito beat Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
(13:11 [5:29, 3:05, 4:37], 1/3, ok, 00:00:00)

Lluvia, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit beat Amapola, La Comandante, Tiffany
(13:04 [7:24, 2:14, 3:26], 2/3, ok, 00:19:29)

Esfinge beat Universo 2000 Jr. in a lightning match
(7:20, nudo egipica, ok, 00:40:47)

Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. beat Ephesto, Felino, Vangellys
(19:15 [5:06, 5:31, 8:38], 2/3 DQ, ok, 00:52:40)

Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Valiente beat Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Templario
(17:29 [7:04, 2:26, 7:59], 2/3, great, 01:22:57)

Gran Guerrero, Shocker, Terrible beat Diamante Azul, Místico, Volador Jr.
(8:45 [4:36, 4:09], 1/2 DQ, ok, 01:50:39)

What happened:

Gran Guerrero tossed his mask while taking a headscissors to draw the DQ. It wasn’t clear it was intentional until a replay and seemed to set up a singles match with Místico.

Ephesto hit the ropes and came up short on his normal tope in the fourth match. He seemed wobbly to start the second fall but was allowed to continue and did get better as the match progressed. Vangellys, already eliminated in the third fall, came back into foul Blue Panther Sr. to end that match in a DQ.

Universo’s knee may have gone but after taking the nudo egipica. He submitted before Edgar could make the full three count and was getting medical assistance as CMLL pulled away.

Thoughts:

Diamante Azul spent about a minute and a half kneeling on the stage, doing nothing but waiting for his comeback spot. It felt right for this match, which had a nice dive catch by Gran Guerrero that didn’t get paid off in any way and not a lot else. The fight felt improvised, with not a lot of thought before getting to the key spots at the end. Gran Guerrero’s mask removal was so confusing it seemed accidental – the tecnicos continuing the match more than normal contributed – but it ended up just being strange.

Rey Bucanero, Hechicero and Templario wrestled the semi-final as if they’d been a permanent team for years. It really clicked at the end of the first fall, when this rudos had more sequenced spots than most of the regular units. Hechicero & Templario have quietly been a great pair and Bucanero stepped up his game; turning Hechicero’s reverse monkey flip into a front cracker was the smartest bit anyone’s done with it. Star Jr. and Atlantis Jr. stepped up to match them. Star Jr.’s maybe doing the superman punch a bit but the comedy bit he did to set up the first one showed some great personality. Atlantis has become better the farther he’s gotten from mimicking his father’s moves. (The Atlantida will be back someday, but it’s been ages since we’ve seen it.) It’s tough to figure out where to rate this; so much more thought was put into it than most of the recent CMLL matches that it really stands out, but it might get too much credit for the context. It’s on the line; Valiente wasn’t as into the match as everyone else and Bucanero was literally hit or miss. Still, if you are looking for CMLL to watch, this is one to go out of your way to watch.

The fourth match had some ups and downs. Ephesto crashing and burning on his tope derailed things pretty good. The second fall was a lot of stalling to allow him to get his wits back but the Panthers made an unlikely and quick comeback to win the fall got the fans pretty excited. It did not seem to carry over to the third fall at all, where some of the usual Panther tricks received a surprisingly small reaction. It was a long way to go to get a foul after all of that.

The Esfinge/Universo match seemed like it was peaking for a finish around the five-minute mask, which was fine. Universo instead broke up Esfinge’s sequence to keep it going for a couple of minutes. It added another dive and not a lot more. Nothing Esfinge did was memorable but the crowd did get into it. Universo still seems clumsy.

Marcela and no Dalys means a tecnica win. This lineup meant a weak match. It was the same as usual for the women, with some clunky sequences sticking out.

Mercurio has done well since returning, but he showed he can still mail it in when there’s not much hope of the match being good. There wasn’t much here, so we got one cool Shockercito multiple rotation headscissors spot and not much. Pequeno Violencia is not much help at this point and Fantasy remains just there.

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