Best Part of This Year's Busca

CMLL 2015/07/24

Negro Casas, Guerrero Maya Jr., Esfinge vs. Virus, Bobby Zavala, Disturbio

Fucking great Maestros-Busca match, only a little bit weaker than the last year’s cult classic, like, for just one HOLY SHIT crazy move weaker, something among those lines. Esfinge was pretty much useless here, except for that one late part in tercera, but that’s why everyone else owned the place, your usual suspects delivered big time, with Casas being the MVP as he both took and gave hellish beatings, he also more than legitimized Zavala and Disturbio from the other trio by playing such a fantastic FIP. It’s baffling that Casas and Virus never worked a singles match, but because of it every time they meet in a random trio or cibernetico, it feels special and quite big deal. Their exchanges were glorious here. Maya and Zavala were good as always, and Disturbio was easily the most pleasant surprise of the match, he played a masterful rudo here. I’m far from an execution mark, but his surgically precise punches were mesmerizing and looked very effective.

TLDR, this was awesome!

****1/4

Takayama/Suzuki

NOAH 2015/07/18

GHC Heavyweight Championship: Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Minoru Suzuki ©

Even in 2015, even with Big Tak being one DDT away from dropping dead, you can still classify this meeting as “dream match”, or something like that. The screenshots for this were insanely attractive as they showed Takayama’s face soaked in blood. Also the story basically wrote itself, Takayama challenging for the GHC strap one last (?) time, etc. And yes, most of the match was really fucking good, they brawled very well and Takayama bled like a slaughtered pig, but unfortunately, many endless interferences really brought the whole thing down. I could live with Taichi being a colossal dickbag with his constant ringside antics, but the entire SZKG going after Takayama in the finishing stretch, with the ref getting bumped and stupidly distracted like ten times in a row… Wow, it was just too much. Makes you appreciate Bullet Club. Really, huge props to Takayama for his heroic performance, he looked like a fucking warrior, gladiator out there, also props to MiSu as well for playing the invader cards so well, but Jado’s booking prevented this from being a classic.

***

Satanico/Panther

CaraLucha 2015/07/25

Satanico vs. Blue Panther

Man, this match can serve as a school example of how a shitty and poorly executed “dirty” finish can bring down the whole thing. Everything before the finish was a suave, slick and charming old school llaves loaded with nifty armdrags and armwork. These are two of the very best luchadors of all time and they will always have good matches, no matter the age. I just don’t get the ending route, it just doesn’t make any sense why they went with that, smh…

**3/4

G1 Climax 25 - Day 3 (Lazy-Ass Edition)

G1 Climax 25

(2015/07/24)

G1 Climax 25 - Day 2 (Lazy-Ass Edition)

G1 Climax 25

(2015/07/23)

Araya and Tenryu Going HAM at Each Other

WAR 1998/01/14

Nobutaka Araya vs. Genichiro Tenryu

Hands down the greatest puroresu brawl of all time, this goddamn helter-skelter was 13 minutes of sheer violent perfection. I can guarantee you’ll never again see a kendo stick usage like in this match, because the way Araya was annihilating Tenryu with it was breathtaking. First, one would not expect that Tenryu of all people would take a BEATING like that. Second, WAR is his goddamn promotion and yet he got manhandled like that. And third, that scene was nasty and ugly to the point where it felt like a medieval torture of the heretics. Never before or after I’ve seen the Greatest of All Time in such a precarious position, as he was receiving rough shots all across the hands, arms, neck and head, his arm was bleeding due to Araya’s fury. But all that punishment he took was just a trigger for things to come, as Tenryu turned the malicious mode and unleashed all hell on Araya in a brutal, merciless and blood-soaked comeback. Definitely one of the best comeback punishment sequences ever, with Tenryu going ECW at Araya by doing all kinds of crazy shit all over the ringside, and then the punches – oh my fucking god, the punches were absolutely devastating as Tenryu was going full contact at Araya’s nose, shit got bloodied very fast. Straight outta Irish bar! When Araya managed to regain some control later in the match, we got an amazing and highly dramatic closing stretch where every move could mean a death blow due to all the previous violence we just witnessed. Holy fuck, this match is insanely wonderful!

*****

AAA 06/28

AAA 2015/06/28

Campeonato Mundial Mini de AAA: Mini Psycho Clown vs. Dinastia ©

Great 10 minute match, as clean as title matches in AAA can get, with only two rudo interferences by the second (Super Fly) and one tecnico second (Aerostar) save. This was the tale of two halves and both were nifty, first we got a lot of nice chain and hold-for-hold llaves with beautifully executed armdrags and shit, then the other half evolved into big moves and counters. Beautiful little match with both minis looking awesome, loved it.

****

G1 Climax 25 - Day 1

G1 Climax 25

(2015/07/20)

Dutt/Styles

AML Confrontation

 (2015/04/19)

Sonjay Dutt vs. AJ Styles

Good house show type match, but nothing must-see, it really depends on how much you can tolerate Dutt’s weird (not in a good way) and indecisive mix of lucha and “strong style”. AJ did his signature spots and pushed for his own structure, good match overall, they went 15 minutes and never overstayed their welcome, which is always a positive.

***1/4