IWRG 12/25/09

Black Terry Jr has put up three of the matches from this show. I am numbering them based on where they would be on the card in case he decides to ever put up the other matches.

2.Hijo del Signo, Vampiro Metalico v Gemelos Fantasticos

TKG: One of the Gemelos Fantasticos has gotten on the gas, which means I can now tell them apart. There is the bloated twin with thinning hair and the lanky twin with full head of hair. I think the bloated one is the better of the two. This is real basic undercard tag match. Three short falls. First fall mostly hip toss and arm drags leading to near fall section. There was some blown stuff here. Second fall fast rope running into heel double team stuff. Beginning of this is fast exchanges with one Gemelo getting the best of both heels in succession, then the other Gemelo doing the same. Vampiro Metalico cheap shots to offense and the two heels take over. I thought this was an actively good fall. Which is pretty shocking considering it’s the Gemelos Fantasticos and Hijo del Signo is still green. Hijo Del Signo is a lot more confident than the last time we saw him and his offense looked crisper and he ate stuff nicely here. Vampiro Metalico makes lots of Larry Zbysco like infuriated and slow burn faces that entertain me. They do an amusing spot where the faces try to get the chubby Vampiro Metalico to take off his shirt. Vampiro Metalico talks one of the Gemelos into doing a muscle pose which opens him up for chop. Feels like a spot Jwow should steal. Third fall had some good and bad stuff. Still second fall impressed.

PAS: I remember there was a point where both Harris twins were working TNA, but Ron had gotten weirdly in shape while Don had gotten fat (it might have been the other way around). Ron tried to work like a guy in shape, trying to do spots and stuff, which kind of sucked, meanwhile Don just punched people in the face and brawled. I didn't get a sense that either Gemelo was varying his offense in that kind of way. Although the Gemelos Fantasticos are really poor man's Harris Twins.

4.Hijo Del Diablo, Gringo Loco, Avisman v Ultaman Jr, Bushi, Angelico

TKG: Mixing it up a bunch here: with Angelico working Avisman in first, Hijo Del Diablo in second, and Gringo Loco in third; Ultraman Jr getting Hijo Del Diablo in first and third and Avisman in second; and captain Bushi getting Gringo Loco in first all three in second and Avisman in third. Lots of this match was messy and bad. But I was surprisingly pleased with Ultraman Jr. In 2008 Ultaman Jr was a skinny awkward highflyer, he appears to have eaten a bunch of Super Astro sandwhiches and had the feel of guy who knows where to be in a match. I dug his first fall mat exchanges with Hijo Del Diablo a bunch. Most of that may be Hijo Del Diablo but still. The two worked a really organic unrehearsed style going for takedowns, and turns. With this and the 11/26/09 match that’s two primera caida’s that I’ve enjoyed Ultraman Jr. When Bushi blew his rope climb toward a dive, Ultraman Jr was the guy who went over from the apron and kicked at the heels to help kayfabe why they’d still stand there waiting to eat dive. He also whipped out a nasty in ring reverse tope and a tope that either was ugly or had a bruising flying shoulder tackle feel to it depending on your mood.

PAS: Ultraman Jr. did look good, but this match was a train wreck. Avisman is very good, but he failed at semi carrying Angelico on the mat, as their exchanges looked way worse then your average Angelico v. Trauma or Navarro section. This was the worst Bushi looked in a while as he was blowing stuff badly. The normally solid Gringo Loco looked terrible too, as his timing seemed super off. Bad match with a couple of nice Ultraman Jr. spots

5.Los Terribles Cerebros v Los Oficiales

PAS: These are six of the best wrestlers in IWRG (and really in the world) and you are going to get a lot of good shit when they match up. Terry and 911 are wedded here and I really like all of their interactions. The opening matwork was very good, and all of Terry's arm and wrist manipulations were sweet looking. Still I think that these are teams who could use technicos. You can do rudo v. rudo if you make it a bloody brawl, or even a battle of one upsmanship with both teams attempting to battle technically. That was the template used in the excellent Dinastia Navarro v. Terrible Cerebros matches earlier in 2009, start with a battle of skill, move into a battle of rudismo. Oficiales aren't really that type of team though, and here though it felt a like both teams were working as bumping bases with triple teams. It needed balance, it was kind of like the flip side of all of the disappointing flyer v. flyer matches you might see on the indies. Also they really went into backcracker overkill here, IWRG desperately needs another move, jack the RKO or something.

TKG: I actively liked the template they used here and thought the balance was the key to how this worked. In the last match you had Angelico wins his mat exchanges with Avisman in the first fall, win his brawling exchanges with Hijo Del Diablo in the second and win his fast exchanges with Gringo Loco in the third. He worked as guy who is equal to (if not better) than opponents in their specialized field. In the Terribles Cerebros v Oficiales no one worked “guy equal to opponent”. First caida starts with Fierro v Dr Cerebro doing technical exchanges. Cerebro is the superior worker on the mat, Fierro is the taller guy with more standing leverage and that is the story of their exchanges. Again compare this to Angelico v Avisman trading holds where there is an even bigger size difference that never plays into how they work the holds. Fierro and Dr Cerebro’s exchanges were all about leverage with Fierro having an advantage standing and working from top half while Dr Cerebro is more likely to get a takedown by attacking lower extremities. 911 and Black Terry match up and again these guys aren’t equal; instead it’s 911 being stronger countered by Black Terry being cannier. It’s a really neat first fall which sets up the story of the rest of the match. The fall laid out both teams strategic advantages in rest of match. I’m used to seeing Terribles Cerebros as bad ass brawlers but instead we’re told here they will be the MX in essentially a Powers of Pain v MX match up. The second fall is essentially a Nikita and Powers of Pain v RnRX and Dusty match up, where the Oficiales absolutely dominate and the backcrackers acts as underdog dropkicks. Second fall works although I think they could have done better. Third fall is technical heels outsmarting, out-techniqueing and outmoving brawling heels, and getting a bunch of visual pinfalls ( I missed how the ref got bumped out) before the brawling heels get their win.