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
CMLL 2015/07/17
Ingobernables
(Rush, Sombra, Marco Corleone) vs. Atlantis, Volador Jr., Diamante Azul
Helluva
mixture of brawling and high flying. It’s only logical (not really) that CMLL
once again pushed the Sombra vs. Volador beef, they both pinned each other to
resume their rivalry for the nth time. At least Rush beating the shit out of
tecnicos felt fresh and satisfying. Dude’s crazy good, felt so awesome watching
him harass the old man Atlantis. Marco and Azul were perfect sidekicks here.
They did a big style match, we saw some dangerous flying, ramp slams, entrance
stage fighting, etc. Nasty match that totally delivered.
****1/4
CMLL 2015/07/13
Astral,
Electrico, Shockercito vs. Sauron, Espiritu Maligno, Mini Joker
Relatively
short, but they managed to get the most out of it. Great rudos/tecnicos
dynamics, slick work, good match. Shockercito is amazing.
***
CMLL 2015/07/13
Super
Porky, Fuego, Stigma vs. Pierroth, Puma, Bobby Zavala
A Super
Porky match, featuring Pierroth. Smh… At least the other four did some of their
stuff, which was cool.
**3/4
CMLL 2015/07/13
Campeonato Mundial Peso Ligero del CMLL:
Kamaitachi vs. Dragon Lee ©
Another
great match from these two, it’s hardly surprising. Not on the level of their
apuesta slugfest, but certainly an awesome clash on its own way. Their
chemistry and all the martial arts strikes, kicks and tricks combined with
freaky athleticism looked so awesome in the gritty Arena Puebla. It’s not a
high-end shit due to tercera missing that trademark lucha touch of
graciousness, but still an excellent match that’s a must-see, especially if you
like the competitors.
****1/4
CMLL 2015/07/13
Rush,
Marco Corleone, Maximo vs. Euforia, Rey Bucanero, Terrible
Lazy and
totally heatless primera, silly and short segunda, really good tercera. Best
moment of the match was Marco and Terrible doing awesome exchanges and Marco
throwing two beautiful left hooks at him and Bucanero.
**3/4
CMLL 2015/07/17
Cabellera vs. Cabellera: Ultimo
Guerrero vs. Rey Escorpion
Whoa, what a
great, great match! Well sure, I did expect something around ****, but they did
even better. First two falls were a perfect mixture of street fight boxing and
bar fighting, with few pro-wrestling moves in between. They hit each other so
hard, to the point where UG got his nose busted open. Sheeeeit, man, I can’t
remember the last time I saw someone throwing pure, totally illegal punches in
series. That was very nasty and very cool. Best thing is, both falls felt
purposeful, complete and rich. Tercera had your typical big CMLL match
structure, but they derived as much as they could out of it, and selling was
excellent. I do wish they worked some things differently, but I won’t complain
here. It was as good as it gets with “my turn, your turn” CMLL mantra. As great
as Rey Escorpion was at playing a badass rudo, this was the UG show, people
attended Arena Mexico to see him taking his hated rival’s big hair, they were
100% behind him and it made for an amazing, electrifying atmosphere. UG is such
an incredible big match worker.
****1/2
CMLL 2015/08/04
MATCH
RELAMPAGO: Fuego vs. Tiger
Your
standard MR when you have two good wrestlers in there, with some fine
chain/counter llaves at the beginning that builds to bigger moves later. No
complaints here.
***
CMLL 2015/08/03
Volador
Jr. vs. Sombra
Again these
two… CMLL has no shame, they will milk this series to death, you just know it…
But there is one huge upside in this one – first two falls got 6 and a half
minutes combined, which is way more than usual with these two. Success! Both
primera and segunda made some actual sense. Tercera was your typical
Volador/Sombra thing with big and crazy moves, especially daredevil highspots.
Volador might be a highly flawed luchador sometimes, but there’s one thing you
can’t take away from him – technical precision, especially for hurricanranas
and shit like that. He always hits those perfectly. Plus the crowds love him
and are into his comeback spots, so what do I know… Sombra was also really good
with his Ingobernable shtick, he always finds new ways to inject some first
class trolling and stalling into his matches, gotta love it.
***3/4
CMLL 2015/07/28
Peste
Negra (Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Cavernario) vs. Atlantis, Mascara, Titan
Really fun
match. The key for success was to limit Niebla and keep his ringtime to the
minimum, and they did exactly that in key parts. All he did in first two falls
was throwing few slaps around and catching Titan’s dive. He was involved in the
match finish, but luckily that went shockingly well. All the other usual
suspects delivered. Atlantis is a pro’s pro.
***3/4
CMLL 2015/07/28
Guerrero
Maya Jr., Delta, Fuego vs. Rey Escorpion, Dragon Rojo Jr., Hechicero
Ridiculously
fun trio with each fall getting enough time to tell amusing stories. The rudo
team was amazing here, and while Rey and Hech are proven classes, it was Dragon
Rojo bossing around that really caught my attention. There were three or four
moments where he busted out some beautiful heel antics that are so simple to
the core, yet so effective even in 2015. When done right, of course. Fuck, I
borderline hated the guy during his tecnico run, but as a rudo he fucking rules
the world, highly underrated wrestler.
****1/4
CMLL 2015/07/28
Marcela,
Vaquerita, Skadi vs. Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis
Good, vivid,
fast paced and hard-hitting match. Every time I watched the CMLL ladies this
year, they delivered. Dalys was great.
***3/4
CMLL 2015/07/20
Mascara vs. Mascara: Lestat
vs. King Jaguar
Considering
I’ve never watched these two relatively obscure luchadors before, this match
was good enough, at least judging from the way TV editing presented it. I’d say
they overdelivered, if that makes any sense. First two falls were REALLY good
but tercera was kind of… awkward, but not totally bad to the point of ruining
the match. If I never see Jaguar wrestle again, I won’t be any sad, but Lestat
seems like a cool dude worth checking out here and there.
***1/4
CMLL 2015/07/20
Hechicero,
Okumura, Bobby Zavala vs. Triton, Fuego, Stigma
Very
exciting match where once again every caida got enough time, which is great. As
usually, we got some really nifty mat wrestling at the beginning with each guys
getting an opportunity to display their llaves skills, then the rudos were
dominating the majority of the first two caidas and it was smashing. Hechicero
is simply the best at trolling/taunting the crowds. Tercera was superb with all
the back-and-forth, drama and huge highspots. Once again CMLL midcard delivers
big time, this was an excellent trio clash.
****1/4
CMLL 2015/07/20
Blue
Panther, Valiente, Angel de Oro vs. Hijos del Infierno (Mephisto, Ephesto,
Luciferno)
Killer
little 12 min long trio where they squeezed in a little bit of everything, with
the best thing being the opening Panther/Ephesto matfest. The usual dives and
isos were nice as always, rudos/tecnicos dynamic was strong which resulted in a
swank little match.
***3/4
CMLL 2015/07/28
Campeonato Mundial Semi-Completo de CMLL:
Polvora vs. Angel de Oro ©
This was
very long for CMLL standards, but I enjoyed just about every moment of it. For
example, Volador and Sombra WISH they could have a match like this together.
First two falls were six minutes long combined and once again CMLL did the
right thing in letting the wrestlers develop stories during the opening minutes
instead of just quick wins. Both falls were rich and purposeful, with strong
finishes. Tercera was really long, but it wasn’t a total spotfest. And while
there was indeed a tugboat of big moves, dives and kickouts, it didn’t feel
cheap, au contraire, it was far from it. They sold everything nicely, and due
to all the previous grueling physical work, it felt more than deserved. Amazing
drama. If you pay attention, you’ll notice a nifty little touch or three during
all the pin attempts and holds. These guys know their techniques. They even did
a New Japan fighting spirit sequence better than New Japan.
What a
superb match, wonderful, one of the very best this year. I used to dislike
Angel de Oro, but not anymore, heeeeell no!
*****
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