CMLL 01/26

2016/01/26

This Match Is Why I Adore Pro-Wrestling

CMLL 2016/01/01

Cabellera vs. Cabellera: Maximo vs. Kamaitachi

Okay now, just hear me out. I think this was a perfect pro-wrestling match. Holiday spirits, New Year’s Day, big Arena Mexico crowd being 99,99% pro-Maximo, evil Japanese prick with long, trendy hair taking on the super beloved exotico, etc. Everything was there. The match was so simple, and yet it was so fucking amazing. Matter fact, I think it turned out so goddamn awesome mostly because the layout and body of work was so simple and straight-forward. They kept it real. It’s impressive, really, after witnessing Kamaitachi’s crazy berserkfests with Dragon Lee to see him work a totally different match with Maximo here. He picked a legwork as his strategy and it almost paid off. It was definitely paying off for like 90% of first two falls, the other 10% is, you guess, Maximo’s comeback.

Primera and segunda were amazing in its simplicity and I loved both finishes, especially Maximo’s to segunda where he made that amazing midair hook on Kamaitachi’s leg for extra leverage. Crazy! Tachi was excellent at dismantling Maximo’s leg, and needless to say, Maximo sold it like a true student of the game. And then in tercera they managed to go the extra mile without having to make the match too similar to Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi classics, because Maximo was still selling the legwork amazingly well and it made for such a marvelous pace that made the match stand out. Maximo was always reminding us his leg was in big pain, his desperate highspots were truly – desperate. Masterful selling right there, folks. Drama was high-end and the crowd totally old school and unpretentious, everyone and their mothers were rooting for Maximo, except for that Kamaitachi lady mark and two other tourists from Japan. Arena Mexico was going bananas for every little thing Maximo did on offense. In the climax both competitors faked low-blows and I loved it. The finish was great too.

I have to watch and rewatch a lot of stuff from January, but I don’t think anything will top this as my current Match of the Year.

*****

CMLL 01/19

CMLL 2016/01/19

Arena Mexico 10/16

CMLL 2015/10/16

Cabellera vs. Cabellera: Shockercito vs. Demus 3:16

Great apuesta match, as one could expect. Primera was bombastic and made sense, which is awesome because too often short primeras don’t look very compelling. Not here, though. Segunda had Demus putting his shit together and finally molesting Shockercito properly via heavy chops and nasty mini-powerhouse moves and combos. Tercera had that one great stretch of nifty back-and-forth with Shockercito executing his glorious signature moves, but all the time he was mostly focused on Demus’ shoulder as the ultimate endgame plan. It made the finish much better and emotionally engaging. Awesome little hair match, with both guys playing their characters masterfully, every fall had great finishes, and the crowd reacted amazingly on Shockercito’s key spots. Big thumbs up for this one!

****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

Four Rather Neat CMLL Trios

CMLL 2015/08/11

Valiente, Dragon Lee, Rey Cometa vs. Ephesto, Hechicero, Luciferno

Great match with all six guys working hard. Primera was marvelous with all the nifty matwork and eventual crazy flying (including Lee’s INSANE dive miss) that led to the tecnico win, which pissed off the rudos and hence segunda being all things dirty bar fighting. Rudos losing primera and then dishing out revenge punishment in segunda is one of my favorite things in CMLL trios. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, it always works. Hechicero and Valiente were fired up. They were involved in the finish that served as a prelude to their mano a mano match one week after this. Also so good to see Cometa back!

****

CMLL Puebla 08/31

CMLL 2015/08/31

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

DUD

CMLL Ketchup

CMLL 2015/08/03

Valiente, Angel de Oro, Titan vs. Mephisto, Ephesto, Polvora

Short but very to the point trio that would be even better if they got few more minutes to go all-out in tercera. The story was mostly about Polvora and de Oro advancing their feud and it worked. Everyone looked good in this match.

***3/4

CMLL Bastante Nuevo

CMLL 2015/07/17

Mistico, Valiente, Dragon Lee vs. Negro Casas, Mephisto, Ephesto

Wow, Arena Mexico casuals fucking loathe Mistico II. I mean, sure, he always gets some heat, but this is not your usual Friday night Arena Mexico event, no, this one has a huge ass crowd and they boo him every single time, no matter how much he bumps around. Children and women would cheer his dives and ‘ranas, but they’re outvoiced very fast by adult males. This match was kind of weird, it was all over the place and it produced both good and not so good moments. Negro Casas still did his thing, though, and it was great, loved the early matwork with Lee. Speaking of Lee, he was kind of non-contributor here, which is a strange (CMLL!) way to present your hot new tecnico. He also got some hate, especially after that one botch, lol. The endgame was Mistico vs. Casas, the battle of the captains, and obviously the crowd was heavily pro-Casas.

***1/2

Newish CMLL (Lazy-Ass Edition)

CMLL 2015/06/09

Angel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Pegasso vs. Hechicero, Okumura, Bobby Zavala

Typically good trios match in three acts and great reminder of Hechicero’s amazing talents, him and Zavala were killing it here.

***1/4

Newish CMLL (Casas/Lee!)

CMLL 2015/6/2

Ingobernables (Rush, Sombra, Tetsuya Naito) vs. Thunder, Shocker, Ephesto

Tremendous trio totally carried by the Ingobernables swag. Naito fit in very well as an invading rudo, and teaming with Dickbag #1 and Dickbag #2 brought the very best out of him. Great booking here, the rudos were dominating the entire primera but then at the very end of it Sombra and Naito got caught off guard and pinned by Shocker and Ephesto, and needless to say, it infuriated Ingobernables to the point of unseen douchebaggery. Rush completely lost his mind in the segunda and carried Thunder to a damn good match-up, Thunder is progressing properly under the surly Rush watch. The finish of segunda was all sorts of fantastic and legit funny as hell. Excellent match.

****1/4

CMLL Bastante Nuevo

CMLL 2015/5/19

Triton, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther vs. Kamaitachi, Tiger, Okumura

Borderline great match with everyone looking good, Kamaitachi was super here with all the natural heat he was displaying. The primera got some nice time for classic llaves lucha, great stuff. BPJ busted out maybe his best performance yet.

***3/4

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

Recentish CMLL

CMLL 2015/5/19

Marcela & Vaquerita vs. Tiffany & Reyna Isis

Solid ladies match that got plenty of time, the spread was proper for every fall, and while there was some aimless roaming, things were mostly held together in a satisfying manner, everything was a movement. I dug the Marcela/Tiffany match-up.

**3/4