Carryjobs Are Not Easy

Lucha Memes 2015/11/22

Pagano vs. Ultimo Guerrero

Few months earlier, the almighty RUSH carried Pagano to his best match of career. Not that I watched a big number of Pagano’s matches, lel, but it’s very fucking hard to imagine he’d ever managed to create/accomplish something better than the doozy Rush brawl, which was one helluva experience. Rush is better wrestler than Ultimo Guerrero, and exactly THAT was the difference in match qualities. UG did a very good carryjob, he brawled hard, he bled (which quite a sight!), he gave a beating, he took one too, the fans were so into him, etc. He totally legitimized the shitty Pagano and the match itself. The structure was not much, but the chairshots were damn brutal. Yeah, this was THAT kind of a match, but it was done right and I really liked it.

***1/2

AAA 10/17

AAA 10/09

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

Perro Versus Two Dickbags

AAA Triplemania I

 (1993/04/30)

Cabellera vs. Mascara: Perro Aguayo vs. Mascara Ano 2000

Semi-main of the first Triplemania ever, the big culmination of the heated rivalry, epic clash in front of 48,000 Perro marks, fucking great apuesta encounter. Perro loses primera via controversial foul, Dos Mil loses segunda via obvious foul (brassknuckles) and tercera was your good old lucha restart with big moves, bigger drama in front of electrifying fans. They created such grand high-end match by using nothing but the most basic moves and sequences, and the match was totally 50-50 because you don’t often see the hair losing to the mask, plus Dos Mil’s second, Universo 2000, is basically like the biggest piece of shit you’ll ever see and is fucking GREAT at cheating. Obviously Perro bled, but it wasn’t your usual Perro-as-a-slaughtered-animal bladejob. Mascara Ano’s mask was also red, but I couldn’t tell whether it was a bladejob or Perro’s blood. The only thing I’d change about the match is the ending. While the low-blow finish from Perro felt sooo fucking good to the fans due to Dos Mil finally tasting his own medicine and looking like a dork in the biggest match of his career, I’d still have preferred an additional blast or two. But nevermind, because this match is still a goddamn groovefest!

****3/4

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.

*****

Kana's NXT Debut and Sasha/Bayley

NXT Respect

 (2015/10/07)

Asuka Debut Match: Dana Brooke vs. Asuka

Kickass debut match for the asskicker formerly known as Kana. I dunno who Dana Brooke is, but she was a perfect foil for an all-out Asuka showcase here, and generally she looks like a very capable wrestler. Color me intrigued then. The match had so much nifty moments and moves despite being short, such as Asuka’s beautiful armbar counter, then signature lethal kicks, and lastly the groovy finish. Damn good debut showcase, basically as good as it gets.

***3/4

NXT Respect

 (2015/10/07)

30 MIN IRONWOMAN for NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley ©

Okay, plenty of problems with this one. First of all, the sheer pre-match visual of Steph McMahon standing ringside and chanting your typical indie nerd shit was disgusting to me. Second of all, the match had major issues with logistics: the clock kept ticking in between the falls, there was and wasn’t pause between the falls, all that shit was clearly designed to kill some time. I felt insulted and patronized, but what the fuck… I hate inconsistency. Also the first three minutes were terrible, all they did was some bad stalling to steal time, those were some piss poor attempts at creating drama and intensity. Bayley is clearly great, but man, does she try way too hard with sad panda faces or not? Sasha was excellent here in her own continuum, but she couldn’t go against the failed logistics and lazy booking. They did all your usual Iron(wo)man tropes that aren’t worth spending time on, so all in all, yeah, I was massively disappointed with the match, whoever put this together clearly had no idea how not to do a generic Ironman Match, and the performers just couldn’t fight it properly, I can’t blame them really.

**1/2

Well, Hey There! Are You IWRG? Long Time No See!

IWRG 2015/10/18

LA Park, Trauma I, Trauma II vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Golden Magic

Massive disappointment, nothing even close to an out-of-control Arena Naucalpan mayhem I was secretly expecting. It was the worst possible version of Park vs. Wagner, with all the posing, shenanigans, annoying stalling and screwy finish. Wagner was the worst here with all the unnecessary posing and crap like that. Such a real life douche, but you gotta give him credit for being a smart worker who knows how to get and stay over with the crowds with minimal fucking efforts. Even when Park and Wagner actually wrestled, it was painfully average, with lots of sloppiness and low-bump shortcuts. Wagner’s son was useless here. Terrible wrestler. The Traumas and Golden Magic were the saving graces of the match, they did some cool and fancy shit and made sure the match stays somewhat coherent. I also liked some brawling portions but those were rare, unfortunately. Such a meh match.

**1/4