CMLL 01/26

2016/01/26

New CMLL

CMLL 2015/11/06

Astral & Electrico vs. Demus 3:16 & Pequeno Olimpico

Good minis match, but nothing more. Demus was awesome, Olimpico was serviceable, Electrico was… there, and Astral was good, but his execution still makes your brain hurt (many 50+ year olds hit those armdrags much faster). Also, Demus lost twice in a row by DCO. Didn’t care for that. Good shit that could’ve been so much better.

***1/4

CMLL Ketchup

CMLL 2015/08/14

Magnus & Soberano Jr. vs. Cancerbero & Raziel

Very good match, almost great, there was a lot of smart tag team wrestling, you could totally tell Cancerbero and Raziel are Virus’ pals. There was a lot of structure and pacing changes, the tecnico duo made few great hope spots and they got cutoff many times. Cancerbero is just an awesome bruiser. Some really innovative double team shot as well, pretty nice match.

***3/4

CMLL Puebla 08/31

CMLL 2015/08/31

Marcela, Vaquerita, Skadi vs. Zeuxis, Tiffany, Seductora

DUD

Newish CMLL

CMLL 2015/5/29

Ingobernables (Rush, Sombra, Tetsuya Naito) vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia, Thunder

Naito el Ingobernable is fantastic, and if he carries over that attitude to New Japan, it might end up being epic. He slaps people around, steals UG’s signature hand gesture, constantly does the obnoxious eye thing, his offense is stripped down, just in general he looks and acts mean. And then when it’s time for bumping for tecnicos or doing highspots, he does it perfectly, he’s simply an outstanding rudo invader from Japon. This trio brawl was excellent, the first two falls got plenty of time for developing plots and stories, I was positively surprised to see the segunda getting WAAAY more time than your typical CMLL segunda caida. Ingobernables slapping the Guerreros and Thunder around and decimating them was wonderful, the comeback was well done, and then we got UG and Thunder developing/accelerating their own beef by stealing falls on Rush from each other. Needless to say, they were noth involved in some heavy smackfests with Toro Blanco, and it was great. You know what, I’d totally like to see them doing a 3-way apuesta clash, would be radical! And to cap off this entire thing, we got an awesome post-match tussle, pure chaos and beatdowns everywhere. Excellent match!

****1/4

Newish CMLL

CMLL 2015/5/26

Pequeno Olimpico & Pequeno Nitro vs. Ultimo Dragoncito & Fantasy

Slick and clean match, everything was so smooth and the layout was catchy and designed to bring out the best. The Pequenos were relentless aggressors and the tecnicos’ comeback was super. I also really liked the finish.

***1/2

Freshish CMLL

CMLL 2015/5/5

Terrible, Rey Bucanero, Vangelis vs. Ingobernables (Rush, Sombra, Mascara)

This was a solid, hard-hitting brawl that could’ve been much better if it actually got some time, because all three falls were too short here. At least in tercera Rush and Terrible did a surly tribute to their great feud from few years ago.

**3/4

Newish CMLL

CMLL 2015/4/26

Campeonato Nacional Trios: Reyes del Atlantida (Atlantis, Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr.) vs. Peste Negra (Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Felino) ©

As good as it gets with Niebla and Felino in the ring at the same time. Fuck me, they are truly awful.

**1/2

CMLL 2015/4/26

10-MAN CIBERNETICO: Sombra, Mascara, Cavernario, Dragon Lee, Ripper vs. Marco Corleone, Titan, Polvora, Kamaitachi, Morphosis

Fun, action packed cibernetico. Team shuffling led to some amusing moments. Nothing must-see, just a nice 20 minutes to kill.

***1/4

CMLL 2015/4/17

MATCH RELAMPAGO: Polvora vs. Titan

Usual good work from these two, Polvora was especially effective in rudo role, he did the domination parts very well. Obviously Titan did a number on himself via dangerous bumps and dives. Dude’s crazy and needs to tone it down, for his own health’s sake.

***1/4

CMLL 2015/4/21

Dragon Lee, Fuego, Triton vs. Virus, Tiger, Puma

Really good match, although not the sprint I expected. They took their time and the match was generally slower than your usual Dragon Lee/Tiger/Puma affairs. The best thing about this one was Virus not forgetting his beef and title loss to Dragon Lee, they had ace sequences here, but that’s such a given already, their chemistry is off the charts. Puma was great too, practically right up there with DL and Virus. Damn good match!

***3/4

CMLL 2015/4/21

Sky Team (Mistico, Volador Jr., Valiente) vs. Guerreros Laguneros (Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia, Gran Guerrero)

Typical CMLL trio with a three act structure, a fall and a half it was all about Guerreros, then the tecnicos made the high flying comeback, although I gotta give them credit here, the ending to the segunda was quite unusual for modern CMLL, and then we got a back-and-forth tercera. Good match!

***

CMLL 2015/4/28

Magnus, Flyer, Oro Jr. vs. Disturbio, Canelo Casas, Hijo del Signo

I should probably watch Magnus more frequently, but what can I do when he’s always paired with Flyer. In case you wondered, Flyer is a botch machine, dude has major problems with executing the most basic lucha moves and combos, yet he keeps getting regular Arena Mexico spots. Such a CMLL thing to do. Hijo del Signo is someone I’ve never seen before and it needs to change after this match, he’s a badass and his submission finisher is rather unique and groovy.

***1/4

CMLL 2015/4/28

Campeonato Internacional del CMLL-Reina: Princesa Sujei vs. Narumiya ©

This was bollocks, I felt really bad for Princesa, it sucked she had to deal with embarrassingly awful Narumiya. Probably the worst performance of the year, she botched a lot, sucked at timing, etc. Disgrace.

bad

CMLL 2015/4/28

Atlantis, Blue Panther, Dragon Lee vs. Negro Casas, Shocker, Vangelis

This was an amazing brawl, vicious and mesmerizing tussle that felt like a throwback asskicking helter-skelter. In some other era, Atlantis’ mask would be ripped off and blood would be pouring down his face, also Blue Panther would bleed a bucket or two, with Shocker licking their blood respectively. Unfortunately, there’s no juicing in modern CMLL, but no biggie really, great wrestlers still find many ways to make it work. This match is pure example of modern CMLL brawl executed down to a T, each fall got plenty of time and stories and subplots were highly developed. The focus is Atlantis & Panther vs. Casas & Shocker, with Dragon Lee and Vangelis in supporting roles. And it’s kind of surreal and awesome to see the veterans paired up and beating bajesus out of each other, you get the real sense of CMLL’s roster depth and size, also you get the sad feeling of many missed “dream match” opportunities. Rudo trio was dominating the match for a long ass while, and they were fantastic at it. The first 90& of the match was incredibly one-sided, just a badass rudo mayhem, which is one of my favorite things in lucha. This is a must-see match and I can’t wait for the tag title match next week, it’s guaranteed to be great after this fantastic build-up.

****1/2

CMLL 2015/4/26

Stuka Jr., Stigma, Pegasso vs. Virus, Okumura, Nitro

Kinda by-the-numbers match, but hey, this is still a Virus sprint, co-starring Stigma, so of course it was good.

***

CMLL 2015/5/5

MATCH RELAMPAGO: Titan vs. Gran Guerrero

Good match, one helluva Titan carryjob.

***

CMLL Ketchup Goes On

CMLL 2015/2/24

La Sombra vs. Rey Bucanero

The first two falls got two minutes each, which is your modern CMLL standard and something we have to accept, but they used it well, I loved La Sombra being a dickbag badass and breaking the ring girl’s “Segunda Caida” sign on Bucanero’s head. The finish to segunda was kind of fishy, but waddaya gonna do. The tercera had its cool moments and spots, but in the end it was all about cheating and ugly finish attempts. Solid match overall, but nothing to write home about.

**1/2

CMLL 2015/3/3

Divinos Laguneros (Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther) vs. Virus, Tiger, Puma

Oh yeah, this was fantastic. Slick, smooth and rather clean match, just a straight-forward trio with so much good in it, so, so much good. The match-ups in the primera were BP/Puma, BPJ/Tiger and Cachorro/Virus. The first two were really good with some really smart and well executed hold-for-hold chain wrestling, but then came The Panther and Virus and just tore the house down with their rapid fire scientific llaves, their chemistry is off the charts. The entire primera was pretty much perfect. The segunda had pissed Virus busting out his very best throwback llaves onto Panthers, everyone moved onto high spots and it ruled, especially The Panther’s epic dive. Jesus fuck, I love that spot so damn much. The tercera was very good, but unfortunately it was only four minutes long, they didn’t aim for an epic, that’s a shame because these two teams are more than capable of it. We even got some BP vs. Virus action, which was beautiful to see, only for Puma to heel it up and sucker-punch BP from behind and break the whole thing. This match is also the best Blue Panther Jr. has ever looked.

****1/2

CMLL 2015/2/17

Angel de Oro, Dragon Lee, Titan vs. Peste Negra (Negro Casas, Felino, Cavernario)

Could’ve/should’ve been much better instead of just going through motions. The opening minutes looked promising, but they never quite went there. Felino is scary bad. He’s, like, really, really, REALLY awful nowadays. The match could’ve used more of Dragon Lee vs. Casas, and Cavernario fooling around. Glad to see there are more unresolved issues between him and Titan.

**1/2

CMLL 2015/2/24

Volador Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero

First two falls were quite terrific, UG was a tremendous force of evil and Volador was bumping well for him. Volador’s comeback superkicks were stupendously stiff. The beginning of the tercera was still very good but then they hit a reset button and just moved onto exchanging big moves until the finish. The crowd kind of died too. Shame, this could’ve been a great match if they stayed focused and tight.

***

CMLL 2015/2/24

Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Triton vs. Polvora, Luciferno, Kamaitachi

This was borderline excellent. Nifty little sprint with a constant rush hour running and quick exchanges, it was insanely rhythmic and captivating. Kamaitachi <3!

***3/4

CMLL 2015/3/3

Ingobernables (Rush, Mascara, Marco Corleone) vs. Shocker, Negro Casas, Euforia

Such a great and genuinely fun brawl. Negro Casas had good intentions at the beginning as he tried to chain wrestle La Mascara, but then Rush, Marco and Shocker just started talking smack at each other with no one thinking of backing up, sort of like in jail. And then the whole “this might be a clean match for at least one fall” thing fell apart. Left hooks, directs and kicks everywhere, taunts and gimmick infringements, gang isolations and ruthless beatdowns, the whole thing was both hilarious and badass at the same time. We got a little bit of everything in there: Rush/Casas, Rush/Shocker, Marco/Shocker, and it was all awesome. The finish was super clever, enjoyed it. This was a fantastic tussle and everyone should watch it.

****1/4

Newish CMLL

CMLL 2015/1/27

Disturbio, Espiritu Negro, Akuma vs. Sensei, Magnus, Flyer

Average trio match. Flyer was botching lots of key moves, he got huge anti-tecnico heat from the crowd. Espiritu Negro and especially Magnus were bloody great here. First time seeing Magnus and he seems an awesome guy, his lucha makes sense and he’s not afraid of doing crazy shit.

**3/4

CMLL 2015/1/27

Zeuxis, Tiffany, Seductora vs. Estrellita, Princesa Sujei, Dark Angel

Nonstop action and constant movement, there wasn’t a moment in the match without someone getting smacked hard. CMLL ladies like their hard hitting style of lucha, Tiffany especially, she was the undisputed MVP of the match with all the aggression and malicious intensity she displayed. Sujei was a tremendous lady hero who takes no shit from anyone, Dark Angel was awesome as well, totally Ishii-ish, I know her as a hot fitness chick, but boy oh boy, she can wrestle very well. Damn good match.

***3/4

CMLL 2015/2/3

Zeuxis, Tiffany, Dalys vs. Estrellita, Princesa Sujei, Dark Angel

CMLL ladies do it again, this was another neat trio, with Dalys instead of La Seductora on the rudo side. They got a solid amount of time and they took advantage of it. Sujei was great.

***3/4

CMLL 2015/2/10

Divinos Laguneros (Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther) vs. Comando Caribeno (Pierroth, Sagrado, Misterioso)

The primera was literally the shortest fall ever, the segunda was mediocre, the tercera was very good and saved the match, The Panther was easily the best guy in there and once again he proved his ability to make things hot with just one move, dude’s unreal.

***

CMLL 2015/2/10

Volador Jr., Dragon Rojo Jr., Angel de Oro vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Polvora, Hechicero

Really fine trio match with great primera and peculiar finish that advanced the Volador/UG beef. The primera was nifty with everyone hitting their stuff on the mat and the rest of the match was your typical CMLL trios action, but done right. Volador and UG have a great chemistry. It’s really cool that every Hechicero match gets good amount of time for primeras to display llaves, I like to think he manages to talk the other participants backstage into it, I’m telling this because matwork is something I wouldn’t expect from this combo of names involved.

****

CMLL 2015/2/6

MATCH RELAMPAGO: Maximo vs. Rey Bucanero

Average lightning match.

**3/4

CMLL 2015/2/6

Campeonato Mundial de Parejas CMLL: Mascara & Sombra vs. Negro Casas & Shocker ©

Hot damn, this rivalry is so fruitful, it delivers once again. Casas and Shocker are pretty much a perfect tag team of surly veteran badasses schooling younger luchadors, they’re glorious in this match, especially the underrated Shocker who had great matches with Mascara and Sombra last year and the mutual chemistry is clear. Very fun match with an awesome structure.

****

CMLL 2015/2/8

Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Dragon Lee vs. Virus, Puma, Kamaitachi

This was fucking great all the way through, 15 minutes of high-octane action carried by Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi hate, Virus and Maya revisiting their rivalry and Delta being the MVP of the match(!), I’m telling you this was amazing and my new CMLL MOTY. Holy shit, the mask match can’t come fast enough. Maya’s dive into paying customers was both dangerous and glorious.

****1/2

CMLL 2015/2/8

Maximo, Valiente, Marco Corleone vs. Ephesto, Mephisto, Cavernario

11 minutes of crazy diving and gnarly smacking. Fuck, Cavernario/Corleone stuff was tons of fun. There was a moment with them in the middle of the ring, the caveman was mocking Marco’s antics only for the latter to punch him in the jaw silly. Smashing. Great match.

****

CMLL 2015/2/10

Maximo, Mascara, Marco Corleone vs. Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Cavernario

Super fun match, probably the funniest this year, all things Marco/Cavernario/Terrible was genuinely amusing, they played off the punching thing beautifully and all the taunts and teases were gold.

***3/4

CMLL 2015/2/13

Maximo, Atlantis, Marco Corleone vs. Terrible, Rey Bucanero, Thunder

Short but good, once again Marco and Terrible were building on their mutual love for left hooks. The finish was great.

***1/4

CMLL 2015/2/17

Divinos Laguneros (Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther) vs. Comando Caribeno (Pierroth, Sagrado, Misterioso)

Neat, heated rematch from a week earlier, this was a nasty brawl dominated by the rudos before the Panther family got a chance to execute their excellent comeback with a series of awesome moves, including The Panther’s AMAZING dive. Shit man, that one was crazy great. The fans love him, and so do I. BPJ has been improving rapidly, btw, I see him shining in this year’s Busca de un Idolo (if there is one, you never know with CMLL).

***3/4

CMLL 2015/2/13

Campeonato Mundial de Trios del CMLL: Sky Team (Mistico, Volador Jr., Valiente) vs. Guerreros Laguneros (Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia, Niebla Roja) ©

Spectacular trio title match, back-and-forth tussle with everyone doing the right thing. Yes, that includes Niebla Roja as well. Funny. The Guerreros’ simple plan is to calm the pace down and tame the tecnico trio via questionable brawlish methods, and it works for a fall and a half before Sky Team’s inevitable big ass comeback. From there on, the match is a breathtaking spectacle fucking loaded with both sumptuous visuals as well as captivating story elements. Truly awesome match and my NEW match of the year by the oldest active promotion in the world.

****1/2