SLL's 2010 MOTY List

1. Sangre Azteca, Dragon Rojo Jr., & Misterioso II vs. Mascara Dorada, El Metro, & Stuka Jr. (Mexican Trios Title Match) - CMLL 1/6
2. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (IWGP Heavyweight Title Match) - NJPW 1/4
3. Solar I, Ultraman Jr., & Angelico vs. Negro Navarro, Trauma I, & Trauma II - IWRG 1/7
4. Pantera, Suicida, & Zatura vs. Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, & Dr. Cerebro - IWRG 1/7

1. Sangre Azteca, Dragon Rojo Jr., & Misterioso II vs. Mascara Dorada, El Metro, & Stuka Jr. (Mexican Trios Title Match) - CMLL 1/6

The old, classic lucha title match presented as straightforward athletic competition has been dead in the major lucha feds for some time now. This match isn't quite a revival of the style, but it was definitely a shock to see how close they got, and how well they did with it. You had a 10-minute opening fall based on long Stuka/Misterioso and Dorada/Rojo matwork exchanges. I thought they had laws against those ("Mistico Protection Act of 2007"). They really caught me by surprise, and looked really good, too boot. Second and third falls get more into the high-flying stuff and these guys do it without falling into the bad NJ junior wannabe style that a lot of your young Mistico-era CMLL workers fall into. This feels like actual lucha libre, and really good lucha libre at that. They crank things up in the third fall, throwing in the Poder Mexica contingent slapping the shit out of Stuka, a nice dive train that included an awesome turnaround crossbody off the top to the outside by Stuka, and a long finishing stretch that feels legitimately dramatic for a change. There was a certain novelty to this match. If it didn't quite match the old "lucha title bout" style, it at least came closer to it than any other CMLL match I've seen in a few years.