IWRG 2/25/10

From http://www.youtube.com/user/tvluchadelpasado

There is additionally about four minutes of the Flor Metalica/Tiger Fuka v La Diabolica/Lady Metal match available from estrellas del ring blog at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej3Pz__RVa0

IWRG on Segunda Caida

Alan Extreme/ Keshin Black v Dinamic Black/ Heros

TKG: This is the first time we get an all recent nuevo figuras tag. No Eragon, Signo, Comando Negro (guys who have worked in front of this crowd for 1/1+ years) or Avisman (actual trainer/veteran). This is guys with under 6 months in front of this crowd being left to their own devices (I mean I guess Keshin Black has been around for over a year but he may as well be a 2 month rookie) going really long…and that’s what it felt like: guys being given a lot of time that they couldn’t fill. Heros had a bunch of neat highspots in the second and third fall. Would have made for nice momentos estrellares but everything else was just dull, uninteresting and messy. Alan Extreme is a guy who at one point worked really well opposite Dinamic Black. Here the two struggled not to blow all their fast exchanges, and Extreme has dropped the more idiosyncratic stuff that made them an interesting pairing in favor of a more generic heel formula that he can work with anyone. That may be a wise career decision. But in the end there was nothing memorable about his stuff opposite either technico. And well outside of eating ranas/catching dives, Keshin Black doesn’t bring much to the table.

PAS: You need rudos to contribute more then they did for a match this long to really be something worth recommending. Still Heros was delivering some crazy shit in this match, the in ring first rope springboard flip to the floor is a dive of the year candidate and he hit some other crazy ranas and armdrags. I thought his first caida matwork was pretty good too. If he becomes something special in the next couple of years this will be an interesting match to look back on. Not a particularly interesting match to look at now though.

Avisman/ Hijo Del Diablo/ Gringo Loco v. Eragon/ Freelance/ Suicida

TKG: This is the rarest creature in the world, a short IWRG match. The all rookie opener got 25 minutes while this gets maybe 13. These are six guys I like who really don’t have enough time to do do anything. I mentioned that Eragon was missed from the opener, and you see this on paper and are hoping for Avsiman v Eragon technical exchanges. Having Eragon weakly do fast exchanges instead is a poor use of him. Gringo Loco looked oddly off. There may have been one nice Freelance backdrop eat and a nice Sucida arm drag but this match was a nothing.

PAS: This was definitely the abbreviated CMLL style trios match, but Freelance was totally on point in his brief appearances, everything was done with the little extra speed, flash and height that an all cylinders Freelance brings to a match. He rips off some of the pretty armdrags and headscissors you will see. Totally disappointing match, compared to how it looks on paper, but Freelance's performance was worth checking out.


Dr Cerebro/ Hijo Del Signo/ Trauma I v Hijo del Pantera/ Pantera/ Zatura

TKG: This is a captain’s hair mask (the captain of whichever team loses, loses his hair) and a really strong performance by tecnico captain Pantera. He wrestled with a little extra oomph, like something important was on the line. I also don’t know what hair care product Pantera was using but I can’t remember his hair ever being as expressive as it was here. Wrestling is a visual art and there are lots of neat visuals that scream “these guys are in an epic battle": post blade job dried blood, face paint peeling due to erosion from sweat or blood, blood mixing with sweat and peroxide in hair to flat iron curly hair and then surround it with a glow, etc. And then there is just guys who have hair that can go from controlled and neat to matted and out of control over the course of a match. The late Jack Brisco had great wrestling hair where at the beginning of a match it would look thick and wavy (like he just came from a stylist) but over the course of match it would matte down in sections and form little bushes in other ones and at the end of match you’d go “that hair has been through a war”. Pantera’s hair worked that way here at start it was a really tight noble perm and over the course of match it would just frizz out and fall apart as the match went on. As Pantera became more frantic and pissed his hair matched hid mood. This was a match where you really felt the absence of Black Terry. For a guy who has been wrestling a little over a year this was a really assured performance from Hijo del Signo as third guy on heel team. Knew where he should be, was surprisingly good as guy opposite Zatura, was a guy who could never win an exchange with Pantera unless it was a two on one exchange, and matched up evenly with Hijo del Pantera (who was a real problem in this match as he had to be second most important guy on face team as any shot at Hijo is essentially a shot at father, and really felt like a guy who isn’t ready for his main event push). Dr Cerebro was also just awesome workhorse. Awesome opposite Pantera. Fun fucking with Hijo del Pantera including a really stiff low blow. And he has some nice interaction with Zatura including at one point a springboard step onto Zatura’s neck that was just vicious. Cerebro is all over the ring attacking everyone and making saves. The first time through I thought Cerebro was the heel captain until he was eliminated. When I thought he was heel captain, I thought he was weirdly deferential at times taking back seat to Trauma I. He really worked here like he would with Terry, where Cerebro does one of these big workrate performances and leaves Terry to do some of the more subtle character stuff. Trauma I was the captain and he is great opposite Pantera and Zatura…there are some really cool moments opposite Hijo del Pantera (including the point where Hijo is in mount and Trauma I defends from blows) …but there was no point where I felt like he was working as captain, like he had his hair on the line.

PAS: I agree that this match was desperately missing Black Terry, the entire feud seemed focused around Terry. In the first match it felt like the technicos were taking liberties with him, in the second match he was truly delivering a rudos rudo performance, like he was reminding everyone just how nasty he can be. It felt very wrong for him to be absent here. Still a really fun match, man is Trauma I a tremendous performer in this kind of streetfight, I loved him coming out throwing huge vicious headbutts, such a cool visual. Him cutting off Zatura's dive to sink in his awesome spinning ankle lock was also great. I loved the finish, ref getting wiped out on a tope is a really cool ref bump, and you have to love powder in the eyes. This period of IWRG was all about the creative Memphis finishes, it felt like Bill Dundee was on vacation and booking IWRG for a month. They did a nice job of setting up Cerebro v. El Hijo Del Pantera, unfortunately El Hijo Del Pantera is still a couple years away from being able to live up in the ring to the booking.