Fun Lucharesu - Day 1

NJPW/CMLL Fantastica Mania 2016

(2016/01/17)

Have a Lucha New Year!

CaraLucha 2015/09/16

Centvrion & Latigo vs. Fly Warrior & Mr. Leo

Sooo, thecubsfan uploaded this match today for free because he watched it live and loved it, but the match is simply not good, IMHO. It’s a generic athletic indie match, no different than what you see in USA, but here it just happens that participants wear cool masks and the crowd chants “esto es lucha” instead of “this is wrestling”. The best parts of the match were the opening five minutes of cool matwork and maybe two really awesome fancy moves/dives, but that’s about it, because everything else was just – average. Technically, they did everything mostly right, but the match lacked flow and there was no emotional depth. Basically – a match. Some cool and visually attractive shit happened, that’s for sure, but it wasn’t enough to make this match good.

Apparently a turn and stable formation happened after the end, and I always take that stuff into account (rating), but it’s not shown in this video, therefore I don’t know whether it added or took away from the overall story.

**3/4

Averno/Titan x4

So… I’ve always wanted to give this feud a proper watch, but just kept forgetting, smh. They faced off five times mano a mano, IIRC, and I found four matches and checked them. Can’t find the fifth one, from January 2014. Waddaya gonna do… Now, the right thing to do would be watching two or three prelude trios before every singles match to “get” the whole picture, but as of now I don’t feel like it, mainly due to its time-consuming nature.

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

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

Chismo Pick: Best of 2014

I just realized I never posted the list of my favorite matches of 2014, so here's my Top 15. Now, why 15? Why not 10? Or 20? Fuck me if I know. 16 is my fave number but I can't go with that. So I'm going with the closest thing. Then why not 17? Oh well... It needed to be more than 10, though, because 10 matches is way too few considering the fact there are thousands of televised pro-graps matches every year. Ergo:

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

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.

***

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