Triton/Caveman

CMLL 2015/09/16

Campeonato Nacional Peso Welter: Triton vs. Barbaro Cavernario ©

What a fantastic clash. I was expecting a great match, but not this great, because Triton is not Titan. But this was even slightly better than Cavernario/Titan from months ago. Here we had the 2014 version of Cavernario, which means he didn't give a shit about traditional matwork and chain wrestling, all he wanted is to beat Triton up, in gruesome ways. Cavernario doesn't respect the sanctity of a lucha title match, no way, he simply wrestles every match like lucha de apuesta. They totally beat bajesus out of each other here, all the dives and slams were highly punishing, not only they matched Lee and Kamaitachi in that department, they also topped them. Also the fans were into it, which didn't hurt. There were few instances of loose timing in execution and technique, but it didn't hurt the match at all, and there were also two botches in tercera, one of them being very funny, it might affect some people's judgment/rating of the match, but I didn't mind them. This shit was amazing.

****3/4

AAA 09/13

Volador/Rush and Stigma/Virus

CMLL 2015/09/25

Volador Jr. vs. Rush

At the end of the day, this was an angle more than it was a match, but it was a damn fine angle. You’ll totally struggle to find a better dickbag asskicker than Roooosh, he’s a terrific brawler and it’s never boring with him on offense. Also Volador’s always been willing to bump around to make others look good, so there you go. Primera was all about Rush, but he still lost, as Volador caught him off guard for a roll-up win. Segunda was more back-and-forth, with Volador doing his stage plancha and Rush getting a nasty cut on his shoulder. Just as the match was really heating up, Sombra, Mascara and Marco interfered for a DQ and 2-0 for Volador. Some might be upset because of that, but this is still the early phase of the feud, as all signs point to a hair vs. hair match, so all things considered, I’m happy. Good shit!

***3/4

CMLL 2015/09/26

Stigma vs. Virus

Wow, another Virus instant classic, and it came out of nowhere, because this is from a Sabado Retro show, and CMLL doesn’t air those. Thankfully, the good sir TKD117 recorded this doozy clash and shared it with us. Not to mention he had a ringside seat, so he caught all the action, and needless to say – it’s excellent. This match was divided into three acts: one and two were tons of nifty scientific/chain wrestling, good old llaves contra llaves with pure struggle for control, it wasn’t as matcore as Cerebro/Virus, but it was still captivating for some other reasons, mainly due to its sheer simplicity and sense of clear progression from Stigma.

Both “rounds” ended in a stand-off with Stigma standing tall and proud of himself for not being outclassed by Pequeno Maestro, and with Virus smirking in disbelief and probably thinking “oh yeah? let’s see if you can brawl!”, because Virus totally changed his gameplan after that, as he unleashed some nasty smackdown on poor Stigma, all the gnarly chops, rope-running hits and tosses looked painful and beautiful at the same time. It’s been awhile since Virus beat the shit out of someone that way and that hard, Stigma must’ve struck the major nerve during the first half to piss him off like that.

Basically, it was a fantastic piece of character work and storytelling, so subtle yet so enlightening, felt like Matthew Weiner wrote it. To cap it off, Stigma’s hard-earned comeback during the third stage was seriously great, and the way Virus managed to lock him up once and for all was even better. All hail this amazing encounter!

****3/4

Verano de Escandalo '15

AAA Verano de Escandalo 2015

(2015/06/14)

CMLL Puebla

CMLL 2015/09/14

Valiente, Angel de Oro, Stuka Jr. vs. Dragon Rojo Jr., Polvora, Hechicero

Badass match made by the awesome rudos and Valiente’s unbelievably awesome dive. Also Hechicero is a god, but you already knew that.

***3/4

AAA 09/10

Atlantis/Sombra

CMLL 82 Aniversario

 (2015/09/18)

Mascara vs. Mascara: Atlantis vs. La Sombra

Damn, CMLL is really hitting it on all cylinders with big mask vs. mask matches for third year straight now. I’ve watched this one four times since Friday already, and it gets better every time. Totally stellar match, I was rooting for Atlantis, and I was so happy when he won. One of those feuds where you just don't care about booking consequences and the future, all you care about is your guy winning. And since I was so into the whole thing, I wasn't too emotional during Sombra's unmasking (unlike UG's from last year), I was more like "fuck yeah, not this year, you Ingobernable cunt!", plus he's a handsome fella and he'll be just about fine.

I find this match slightly better than Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero, but it's very fucking close, like, 50,05% - 49,95%. Atlantis/UG was much more emotional due to huge backstory and UG being more charismatic and WAY more liked than Sombra. This year's main event only had a 6-week build, but they got the most out of it, and naturally it wasn't going to feel as emotional as last year due to Sombra being universally hated by the old school fans and being such a good douchebag rudo. If Atlantis had lost, though, then we'd have a totally different emotion-wise talk right now.

Bell-to-bell and workrate were clearly better in this one. Atlantis looked like he was working the match of his life, he was bumping around like a perky rookie, Sombra’s flying was spectacular once again, early brawling was awesome and its intensity carried on to the rest, Rush was such a glorious shit-stirrer, etc. Tercera was crazy and highly dramatic with all the neat and slick pin attempts and nearfalls, that shitcunt Rush interfered once again, etc. High-end stuff right there. Arena Mexico was going bonkers for the old man Atlantis, and when he won everyone was jumping out of happiness and hugging each other. Crazy! You’ll rarely see something this cinematic and emotional in pro-wrestling today.

So, the big mask matches in the last 15 years: Atlantis vs. Villano III > Blue Panther vs. Villano V > Atlantis vs. La Sombra > Atlantis vs. Ultimo Guerrero > Volador Jr. vs. La Sombra. All stellar and spectacular matches.

*****

When Pushing Your Carryjob Button Just Isn't Enough (One of Those Days)

CMLL 60 Aniversario

 (1993/10/01)

Mascara vs. Mascara: Mano Negra vs. Atlantis

Wow, this was such a disappointment. Mano Negra didn’t make much of the first fall while on offense, his supposed aggression was so bland and soulless, it felt tedious and didn’t do Atlantis any favor in playing the eternal role of a valiant tecnico who fights back. But Atlantis has always been an amazing big match worker, and somehow he made sure that primera gets somewhat memorable. In fact, he pretty much saved the match right there, because segunda had such a crappy ending (blind ref) and tercera was literally 20 seconds long before the Atlantida for the win. What a head-scratching booking! But at least the crowd popped big time for Atlantis’ victory. I haven’t seen much of Mano Negra, and after watching this match, I have no desire to see anything more.

One other thing, I watched CMLL Informa featuring Mano Negra few weeks ago, and he was wearing the mask he lost here. I’m so sick of all these old luchador farts wearing the masks they lost ages ago. YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MASK, WE ALL KNOW WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE! RESPECT THE BUSINESS, YOU SHITCUNT!

**1/2

SummerSlam (Cherry-Picked)

WWE SummerSlam 2015

 (2015/08/23)

WWE US & World Heavyweight Championship: John Cena (US)© vs. Seth Rollins (HW)©

Wow, Rollins’ white version of his attire looks like shit. I’d make a 70s movie reference, but can’t think of any at the moment, because it truly looks like – SHIT. His black version is not good either, but this one is just horrendous. This match was actually very good until the moment it wasn’t. Obviously Cena got AAed like in every other big match, obviously we got another finisher festival, obviously a referee bump happened and that fucking chode John Stewart interfered. Obviously. Zero fucks given. Eh, at least the figure four leglock sequence was neat.

**

Meh

CaraLucha 2015/09/16

3-WAY LUCHA EXTREMA: Pagano vs. Damian 666 vs. LA Park

Damian working instead of Rush, because CMLL vetoed their wrestlers from working indies that have Park and Wagner booked. Park’s “fuck your mothers” thing is now – a thing. Like a new catchphrase. Mkay then. And this match? Well, it was good every time they hit each other with various objects during ringside brawling parts, and it was actively bad almost every time they stepped into the ring. Pagano’s sloppiness was painful to watch, and in general there were lots of awkward moments that are so typical for 3-ways. There was no Rush or Trauma to carry Pagano. Passable hardcore match, but barely.

**