Cabellera vs. Cabellera: Chico
Che vs. Gringo Loco
I miss
watching Chico Che working violent matches, dude brings it every damn time, but
it seems he’s disappeared lately, working some low-end indies and shit. Doesn’t
work with IWRG anymore, I don’t know why. I wish all these new feds would book
him. Anyway, this match is another proof of his immense talents, just a stiff
and straight-forward brawl with Chico unleashing some serious punishment on
Gringo Loco during his comeback period. He kicked him right across the face few
times, full fucking contact. Both guys bled, and obviously the legendary bucket
was used. But Chico also bumped well, including that SICK powerbomb to the
floor. They built the finish on controversy because referee no-called a
piledriver on Chico, which was hit or miss, but it didn’t ruin the mood.
Generally speaking, this is great little apuesta war and another gem in Chico
Che’s impeccable collection of violence.
This
championship constantly produces some of the best title matches in the entire
world of pro-scraps. I see some people being confused thinking it all started
with HARASHIMA. Well, it didn’t, because if you find title matches even from
2008/09 onwards, even the random ones out of order, you’ll never be
disappointed. Sanshiro Takagi showed everyone very clearly that matches for the
top strap in DDT are taken very seriously, and really, when you watch them they
feel like they’re from some other universe, and not from the DDT lowcard &
midcard one. That’s what I love about DDT, when you watch their shows they’ll
make you laugh countless times with light-hearted approach and hilarious gags,
but when time comes to wrestle for tag team and singles titles – shit gets
real, very real. They even produce best damn pre-match video packages that feel
very sportslike.
Apparently
this is the 14th time these two face off in a singles match. I’ve
only seen the two matches from last year and they were both great. This one was
even better, as they added so much variety to make it feel fresh and different.
Both guys played dirty by using closed fist punches, despite both being “good
guys”. I loved it. HARASHIMA was the particular asshole as he punched KUDO’s
stomach and head almost a dozen times. His signature midsection attacks were
excellent once again. The match was getting more and more brutal as they were approaching
towards the end, and both sold everything so well. Some new tweaks to the combos
and moves were used I’ve never seen before from these two. Drama was super high
in front of the amazing Korakuen people. Such a great match.
LA
Park, Atlantis, Volador Jr. vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., Sombra, Rush
Wild and
out-of-control brawl mixed with some crazy flying, man oh man, this match was
all it needed to be. Park and Wagner working their first CMLL match in seven
years drew big time and Arena Mexico was filled with red hot fans who created
an electrifying atmosphere and were into everything. Wagner was posing and
stalling for like 80% of his ringtime, but I didn’t mind it at all, lol. So
many stories, plots and subplots in this match, with old grudges and the new
ones. Park and Rush have an unbelievable promising chemistry, they beat bajesus
out of each other here, there were nasty headbutt and German suplex battles, also
Park was choking him with cables and hitting him with a stretcher. Park is
bringing it! Assuming Park stays in CMLL long enough, their eventual apuesta
clash should be amazing. Park and Wagner also didn’t forget their bitter feud.
Atlantis and Sombra did a great job in building towards the upcoming mask vs.
mask match at Aniversario, but they were also hinting at Atlantis/Wagner, which
is an old beef with some sort of resolution still to come. Volador was here to
bump around and do the flying part. All in all, this was a totally crazy
scuffle and a proper return match for Park and Wagner, you better watch it.
Completely
straight-forward and brutal match, it’s almost like Finlay and Low-Ki turned
female and charged at each other because of some long time beef over dick size
or something. This was basically a slugfest sprint as they were kicking the
shit out of each other almost right off the bat. Nakajima’s devastating
suplexes and stomps were awesome. Satomura’s hellish strikes and nasty counters
and cutoffs were even better. Satomura took an insane ring apron DDT bump.
She’s like joshi Daniels of mad veteran bumping. This match also contains one
of the very greatest high kick counter attacks I’ve ever seen in my life. Also
the selling was detailed and careful, exactly what you’d expect from Meiko.
1.Psycko
Kid, Astro Rey Jr., Fulgor I, Fulgor II vs. Rey Apocalipsis, Tony Cisneros,
Extreme Fly, Luz Clarita
I know maybe
one of two guys here, at best, so naturally I had no idea what to expect, other
than it had to be crazy by default considering it’s an indie atomico we’re
talking about here. When they were doing the actual crazy shit, the match was
good, there were two amazing series of spectacular dives and topes, but the
problem is they wanted to try other things as well, and it was mostly a
failure. Regular in-ring stuff was not very good, matter fact it was really bad
and sloppy at many moments, not to mention all the awkward eliminations. But oh
well… At least we got the dives. Passable match, but barely.
**
2.Dr.
Cerebro vs. Virus
Yep, this
match is a true delicacy for all the matcore enthusiasts out there, me being
one of them. The match was 16 minutes long, with 13 minutes being spent
entirely on the mat and then with 3 minutes of “action” leading to a fantastic
finish. That’s it, they didn’t need to do more. Everything felt purposeful, raw
and sophisticated at the same time. The matwork was crazy good, totally insane,
it’s some of the most mesmerizing chain wrestling you’ll ever see, with
struggle for every move. The way they were jockeying for positions was brutally
good and it looked both intense and gracious, all those escapes were
mindblowing.
What a
goddamn match!
*****
3.Keira
vs. Zeuxis
Good opening
matwork with some really painful holds, great, intense strikes and rough beatings
all around, but the match was just not good, not enough for three stars. The
last 3-4 minutes almost ruined the whole thing. I don’t want to see package
piledriver kickouts in my wrestling. I don’t need that crap, especially not
coming from ladies. And that wasn’t even the only highly implausible kickout,
mind you! The finish, however, holy fucking SHIT! Probably the sickest thing
I’ve seen in a long ass time, it was only one split second, even less, before a
decapitation. Just a nasty dance of death, Grim Reaper was lurking closely.
**3/4
4.LUCHA
DE QUATRO TERCIAS: Aero Boy, Super Mega, Magnifico vs. Iron Kid, Alas de Acero,
Aramis vs. Impulso, Belial, Arez vs. Disturbio, Garrobo Punk, Ciber Punk
This match
had a little bit of everything, but at the end of the day, it delivered in key
aspects. It was crazy, dynamic, action-packed, there were some batshit insane
spots, etc. I mean, shit, there was 12 fucking competitors in the match, with
only Disturbio not being an indie guy, and ***1/4 is as good as it gets all
things considered, trust me on this. Some botches and funny failures did
happen, but nothing too hard that would ruin the mood, so yeah, overall this
match didn’t leave me grouchy.
***1/4
5.Trauma
II vs. Blue Panther
Another
great matcore match with story being Trauma II trying to impress Blue Panther with
his rich lucha knowledge, passed on him by his father Negro Navarro, T2 was
trying to show everyone his father’s school is just as good as Panther’s. This
match was all about the matcore, and the escalated “action” was even shorter
than the one in Cerebro/Virus, and guess what – the finish was just as awesome,
but still, this match is clearly at least one level below Cerebro/Virus. The
body of work just wasn’t as captivating and tight. But fuck me, Cerebro and
Virus sure as hell set the bar too damn high, because this was still a nifty
mini-classic. The aforementioned finish was the best part of the match, its
simplicity and brutality was off the charts, and I really want to buy a drink
or three to whoever thought of that one.
****1/4
6.Guerrero
Maya vs. Guerrero Maya Jr.
In case
you’ve been living under the rock, Maya Senior is actually Black Terry. And
Maya Junior is his alleged son. Which means this is a father on son, son on
father violence. But it’s nothing new for these two troopers, as they’ve been
feuding on indie scene for quite a while now, and then there’s their bitter
feud from IWRG years ago, so they’re not strangers to beating each other silly.
This started off as something we’ve already seen in Cerebro/Virus and
Trauma/Panther, but you just knew something’s off with these two fucks and it
was only a matter of time before hell breaks loose, tensions were high during
those opening minutes. And then a violent blood brawl started, first with Maya
Jr. laying some serious smackdown on his dad, making him bleed, ripping his
mask, pretending he’s not 63 years old, etc. He even used Arena Naucalpan’s
signature bucket for a headshot. Nasty! Senior’s eventual comeback was amazing
and led to 5-6 picture perfect minutes of revenge violence. Terry is probably
the best brawler in business, he’s proven that countless times before, and once
again here as he was charging on his son with elbows, Jake LaMotta jabs, super
stiff kicks to the spine, he made him bleed hard, he used that bucket back on
him, etc. The entire thing was one big orgy of mayhem, I adored it. The final
2-3 minutes saw both men selling the beatings inside the ring and trying to win
at all cost, which led to a DQ finish. Since I knew there’s no way this would
end up clean, I was fine with the way they called it a day, and especially because
they fought some more after the match.
This was
amazing, boys and girls!
****3/4
7.Caifan
& Avisman vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Hechicero
Some truly
great parts here, but also some headscratching parts as well. Like, there were
just enough annoying moments that prevented the match from being great. Early
matcore was very cool and when they transitioned into a strike-heavy slugfest it
got even better, but as the match was getting longer, its structure was getting
looser and looser, and some illogical stuff occurred. I’m not going to bother
you with all the details because the match was 25 minutes long and lots of it
happened in there. Hechicero and Caifan still have a great chemistry and it
looks we might get another singles clash between the two. I’m pretty damn
pumped for that!
***3/4
8.SUPER
LIBRE: Pagano vs. Trauma I
So, this
Pagano fella, right? He gets bed rep on internet because he’s a trashy hardcore
guy, but I think it’s just because most fans hate the style. Newsflash – he’s
not that bad. I mean, sure, he’s not very athletic or technically sound, he can
be pretty sloppy and too slow at moments, but at least he’s willing to bump
hard and do crazy shit to compensate and to entertain the crowds. I guess that’s
why he’s one of the most popular indie guys in Mexico this year. He brings
blood and violence, and knows how to work with weapons.
This was a
really good hardcore tussle, with both guys taking turns in desecrating each
other with chairs, forks, broken glass bottles, lighttubes, PUNCHES, etc. The
match had its structure and flew well, more or less. All those Pagano negatives
I mentioned in first paragraph happened in this match too, but good things
outweighed that easily. All things considered, this was a super fun hardcore
brawl with tons of violence and brutality, I recommend it.
