Fun Lucharesu - Day 1

NJPW/CMLL Fantastica Mania 2016

(2016/01/17)

Arena Puebla 12/28

CMLL 2015/12/28

Meyer, Astro, Zaeta Roja vs. Malayo, Guerrero Espacial, Mini Joker

I have never seen any of these dudes wrestle, except for Mini Joker. It was a good match, I liked how they worked a strict and heavily controlled structure instead of chaotic and overambitious botchfest. They kept it tight and the pacing was strong. Zaeta Roja and Malayo looked the best. Fun opener that got enough time to showcase its competitors’ abilities.

***

Random CMLL (Perrito, Mistico, Wagner, Santo...)

CMLL 2008/08/01

Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Hector Garza vs. Mistico, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas

Fun two-fall mayhem, but it was rather short and they didn’t even air all of it. The Arena Mexico crowd was REEEDDDD HOOOTTTT, watching all the grown-ups marking out and making funny faces like they’re kids was very amusing. Niebla/Wagner was central match-up here as they were building to a mano a mano title match, and obviously there was also the eternal Perro/Mistico beef. Lots of surly brawling and manly posing for the crowd. Mistico got his ass kicked pretty bad. Niebla and Wagner were afer each other’s masks. Fun match that needed to be longer.

***1/4

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

Random Apuesta Shit

CMLL 1983/12/09

Mascara vs. Mascara: Egipcio vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr.

Wow, what a superb match, such a tremendous “discovery” I checked the moment I saw it uploaded on YouTube. Lucha really is loaded with hidden gems, including big apuesta matches with famous stars. This was magnificent and followed your classic big match formula that always works, with three acts of rudo domination, tecnico comeback and tercera restart with big moves and drama. Egipcio was an awesome bruiser in first two falls, giving some really hard time to Rayo Jr., and the latter sold it perfectly, he was making those torture screams and noises, it was scary good and compelling. Third fall was pure perfection and what really launched this match into the stratosphere. Marvelous high-end shit with a plethora of mesmerizing workrate pieces, big moves, dramatic pin attempts and Arena Mexico going crazy. Incredible match.

*****

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

Arena Puebla Ketchup

CMLL 2015/09/07

Molotov, Lestat, Tigre Rojo Jr. vs. Toro Bill Jr., Rey Apocalipsis, King Jaguar

Relatively fun, albeit heatless for the most of time. Bill and Apocalipsis are a fun act.

**3/4

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

Arena Mexico 09/04 Quickie

CMLL 2015/09/04

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

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 (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

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

CMLL Bastante Nuevo

CMLL 2015/5/5

Campeonato Mundial de Parejas CMLL: Atlantis & Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas & Shocker ©

Really good match, but not a worthy follow-up to the all-out brawl from a week before. The primera got a plenty of time and it was spent on the mat for its entirety, the match-ups were Casas/Panther and Shocker/Atlantis, they worked tight hold-for-hold style and it was great, basically the entire primera was a mini-match perfection. The segunda was a nothing fall, it went under two minutes and really it was just a cheap CMLL trick we see all the time. The tercera looked very promising based on video time, but unfortunately it was quite short, way shorter than primera and also some weird shit happened in there. I really have no idea why they held back in the tercera, instead of going full throttle they worked a low-bump style that seemed more like a table-setting of some form, instead of culmination of previous work in the match.

***3/4

CMLL 2015/4/28

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

This was so similar to the previous match, the primera got over 10 minutes and it was glorious, it was mostly spent on the mat (GG/Valiente, Euforia/Mistico, UG/Volador) and it felt really natural and organic, the pacing was great. Then the segunda happened and it was really short, CMLL style, and the tercera was good in places, but also too by-the numbers in other places. But as a whole, this was a damn fine and enjoyable match, even though it doesn’t touch some other efforts from the rivalry.

***1/2

CMLL 2015/5/3

Campeonato Nacional Peso Welter: Barbaro Cavernario vs. Titan ©

Goddamn amazing match where every fall got enough time to develop stories and subplots, it was truly awesome. The primera was a swell back-and-forth matfest that escalated into semi-big moves which the Caveman won, and thus he gained tremendous confidence that carried into the segunda where he properly beat the shit out of Titan, whose eventual comeback was excellent. And then the last fall was the very best CMLL style could offer, there was a lot of big moves and smart callbacks and cut-offs that linked to their previous clashes. Cavernario didn’t do his crazy, knee-shattering splash to the floor (which is good for his health), instead he let Titan do it instead of him, hehe, who cares, Titan’s crazy anyway. Really amazing lucha title match and it’s so fucking beautiful that both Dragon Lee and Cavernario are singles champions at the same time, it means CMLL is doing at least something right. Now, if only they put some strap on The Panther too, I’d never say one bad word against them again.

****3/4

CMLL 2015/4/24

Sky Team (Mistico, Volador Jr., Valiente) vs. Hijos del Infierno (Mephisto, Ephesto, Luciferno)

Solid two fall sprint, but nothing to write home about, except for Sky Team triple dive that’s tailormade for highlight reels.

**1/2

CMLL 2015/5/5

Mercurio, Pequeno Olimpico, Pequeno Violencia vs. Shockercito, Stukita, Electrico

Fun, vivid minis’ sprint with constant movement and rapid fire exchanges. Shockercito and Stukita shined in terms of slick techniques and athleticism, while Mercurio shined at being a great dickbag.

***

CMLL 2015/5/5

Virus, Tiger, Canelo Casas vs. Fuego, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther

Another neat trio from Virus, Tiger and the Panther boys, about what you expect from them, grand stuff all around, highlighted by STUPENDOUSLY beautiful tope from The Panther.

***1/2

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.

***