CMLL 01/26

2016/01/26

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

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 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

Rush/Shocker Saga (Cherry-Picked)

CMLL 2013/11/18

Rush vs. Shocker

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 Ketchup (two apuesta matches)

CMLL 2015/3/24

Sombra, Stuka Jr., Dragon Lee vs. Peste Negra (Felino, Negro Casas, Cavernario)

Pretty light-hearted primera, short and sweet match-ups, DL/Caveman was the best. The segunda was pretty much the same, only a little bit longer. The highlight was Sombra and Casas beating bajesus out of each other. The tercera was brawlish for awhile before the double foul/cheating by Casas and Sombra for the finish, which was funny, I must admit. All in all, fun match, but nothing that’ll stay in my memory for the rest of the week.

**3/4

CMLL 2015/3/24

Luciferno, Hechicero, Boby Zavala vs. Blue Panther, Valiente, Triton

Really neat and rather different than your typical CMLL trio match, probably because this one had Panther and Hechicero on opposite sides and as the central match-up. They had the opening scientific exchange on the mat that was absolutely brilliant and it set up the bar so high that the rest of the crew stood no chance in making a follow-up to it. They tried, but one simply cannot reach those levels of awesomeness. What surprised me most that the tercera and the climax didn’t have crazy balls-to-walls action and vivid topes, they rather built drama around tight nearfalls and submission struggling. Really cool match.

***3/4

CMLL 2015/3/20

Mascara vs. Mascara: Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi

This totally lived up to its potential, such an athletic, freaky and nasty apuesta slugfest that eats little babies. In a manner of typical CMLL booking, the first two falls were short, Kamaitachi won the primera with a couple of fantastic Germans, then dominated the segunda via heavy blasts but still lost it via super double stomp. Damn, DL makes that move look like a true killshot. They obviously banked everything on the tercera, and shit man, it paid off big time. They mutilated each other just like in all those build matches, they hit all the signature moves and the crowd loved every second of it. Fucking seven hells, they really fucked up each other on few occasions, those shots were brutal. They botched two spots, probably due to fatigue, but it wasn’t anything scary that would take away from the match. Fantastic lucha de apuesta and I so want to see even more of these two, I want to see them in two totally different situations now – for Dragon’s freshly won title and in another lucha de apuesta. Their chemistry is glorious and they need to milk every atom of it before Kamaitachi returns to New Japan. The most fascinating aspect of this is they managed to get the most out of such a predictable outcome.

****3/4

CMLL 2015/3/20

Cabelleras vs. Cabelleras: Volador Jr. & Maximo vs. Rey Bucanero & Terrible

So, Volador comes out dressed as Johnny Mundo. Mkay then. Another match with terribly predictable outcome, and another match where they did the most out of what they got. Logically, the first two caidas were insanely short and once again the tercera had to carry the load. They did tons of big moves, including some awesome looking topes, suicidas and other high flying stuff, both tecnicos were top fucking notch in execution. All things considered, it was good, but the ending was mismatched and prevented the match from reaching four stars. First Volador pinned Maximo’s rival Terrible, then Bucanero pinned Volador, and then Maximo defeated Bucanero to win the big match for his team. I don’t know, it seemed kind of anti-climatic considering what the actual feuds were. I wish they did 2-1 finishes for caidas 1 & 2 and 2-0 the tercera, with Volador defeating Bucanero and Maximo defeating Terrible. This way it felt strange to see Volador taking Bucanero’s hair after he lost to him just few minutes earlier.

***3/4

Newish CMLL Ketchup

CMLL 2015/3/17

Campeonato Mundial Mini-Estrella de CMLL: Mercurio vs. Astral ©

Great match that could’ve been a masterpiece if Astral didn’t look fucking CLUELESS at least 3-4 times during key submissions and transitions, he was trying to bust out some ultra complicated fancy holds only to fail miserably. But at least he made up for some of it with that great finish. Virus should come back to the division and teach him a lesson of five. Very dramatic third fall, seeing all the old ladies and teen girls losing their shit was priceless. Mercurio was outstanding here.

****

CMLL 2015/3/10

Blue Panther Jr., The Panther, Esfinge vs. Okumura, Puma, Tiger

Lucha on auto-pilot. There were some cool moments here and there (Cachorro’s dive!), but overall this was mostly uninspired and too by-the-numbers.

**3/4

CMLL 2015/3/10

Ingobernables (Rush, Sombra, Marco Corleone) vs. Terrible, Shocker, Negro Casas

Fucking sweet, this was right up my alley, just look at the line-up, it’s five guys who adore throwing nasty smacks at their opponents… and Sombra. I like Sombra, but here I didn’t care for him at all, I was too busy marking the fuck out for all things BRAWLING, the entire match was nothing but gang isolations and vicious beatdowns, just a complete tussle. Goddamn it, it’s so good to see Rush back in action where he belongs, here he is, against the three dudes whose hairs he took, there’s plenty of heat and hatred, left hooks, chops, surly forearms and uppercuts are being thrown around all over the place, stomping and kicking, just awesome. Rush and Marco look fabulous in the same unit. Fantastic match full of violence and charm, and be sure I’m the only one rating it this high, I’m well aware of it, but these CMLL brawls involving Rush are just amazing in its simplicity.

****1/2

CMLL 2015/3/17

Atlantis, Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Hijos del Infierno (Mephisto, Ephesto, Luciferno)

Good match albeit little bit aimless. The rudo trio hanged surprisingly well with the tecnicos in athletic sense, but their control sessions were nothing special to spice things up. Of course Maya did his crazy tope into customers.

***

CMLL 2015/3/17

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

Short match that started off normally but turned into a brawl very quickly, overall it was enjoyable prelude to the title rematch. Probably.

***1/4

CMLL 2015/3/17

Campeonato Mundial de Parejas CMLL: Rush & Marco Corleone vs. Negro Casas & Shocker ©

Another quality product of the Casas & Shocker vs. Ingobernables rivalry. Not a high-end tussle like some previous tags and trios but still a very good semi-brawl with Casas being punished like some young punk, and this is the 50 and something year old Casas we’re talking about here. The Shocker/Marco punchfest was fun, Rush getting bored with ground game and going into striking was also fun, the finish was such a sweet little thing, all in all this was enjoyable enough.

***3/4

CMLL 2015/3/13

Shocker, Rey Bucanero, Terrible vs. Atlantis, Volador Jr., Maximo

Fun little nonstop brawl prelude to the double hair match, with Atlantis and Shocker brought in to exchange falls. Great crowd heat for this one.

***1/2

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