CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 11/12/11

1. Demus 3:16/Pequeno Nitro/Pierrothito vs. Electrico/Astral/Ultimo Dragoncito:

Once I found out it was a Fan Appreciation show, and it had my two favorite minis (Pierrothito/Demus), and that minis usually turn it up to 11 on Fan Appreciation days, I had pretty high hopes for this. It didn't live up to them, but it was good, especially when things started firing on all cylinders in the 3rd fall. Demus, Nitro and Pierrothito are all guys that will take big bumps to the floor, and they didn't disappoint here. Each one tried their hand at the corner Cassandro bump (winner was Pierrothito), and did a couple other major spills to get ready for dives. Astral is now totally juiced to the gills and his chest looks like it's covered in infected spider bites. It was so gross I was worried Demus' brutal chops would cause all sorts of pus to burst forth. Best moment of the match was in the 3rd when Ultimo does an insane flip dive that lands him into the 4th or 5th row, almost on top of a baby. AWESOME. I mean, he was just sprinting at high speed and just FLEW. And it was great because it led to him being unable to help his partners as they got demolished by Demus/Pierrothito. First 2 falls were super short, but 3rd more than made up for it.



2. Loco Max/Nitro/Skandalo vs. Diamante/Fuego/Guerrero Maya Jr. :

This was all out fun with all the rudos being great at beating the collective asses of little flying tecnicos, and all the little flying tecnicos being great at hitting nice dives and springboardy things and armdraggy type stuff. Maya is the real deal, Fuego is turning into a real good flier who also happens to bump big (hit a nice dive on Skandalo and then splatted on the rampway for Skandalo's running kick to the balls), and Diamante does some real cool silly springboard balance moves. I really like this rudo trio, they all work real well together and can just throw down a fun beating, working quick, bumping big and throwing great elbow drops to dudes' balls. Just a fun match that when the 20+ minutes is up you're going, "Wait, that was the 3rd fall?"



3. Alebrije/Olimpico/Shigeo Okumura vs. Delta/Maximo/Super Porky:

Awwwwwwww YEAH! CMLL is finally bringing Alebrije back to my TV, and he is all fat and awesome in this. The guy is not only mammoth in waist, but he towers over everybody else here (Rachel made the joke that that likely means he's about 5'9"). His drawn on abs look spectacular over his ever-growing stomach, and he really seems like the best worker out of the bunch right now. He works great with each tecnico during this match, taking all of Delta's ranas and armdrags, throwing a GREAT right to put down Maximo (after unwanted advances, naturally), and of course looking great against the OTHER fattest man in lucha, Porky. When he and Porky finally squared off the crowd got reallllll noisy. He had to man up and take TWO different Porky bodypresses in this match! TWO! One off the middle ropes and one from the apron to the floor. Ouch. He was also just tossing Cuije around like he wasn't even a real person, launching him up in the air for a massive splash. It's amazing how quickly Alebrije can move and get up after arm drags. His body looks like the type of body that would see him make horrible groaning noises when getting up from chairs. I like Olimpico, but now that I know my Hector Garza is gone, seeing Olimpico doing the Garza schtick just doesn't do it for me. The begging off, the falling into women at ringside...I just want to see Garza doing it. Maximo really feels underrated. People don't really talk about him, but he's having a really strong year and always gets a massive reaction during matches. Loved his springboard hip attack and he has one of my favorite running ranas in lucha. Maximo also breaks out the skeeziest backrake ever, as it's more of a light, one-handed back caress on Olimpico, that makes Olimpico question his desires. I thought this match was awesome, but I am also insanely in love with 2011 Alebrije. Watch it for the Alebrije, stay for the Maximo.



4. Averno/Psicosis II/Volador Jr. vs. La Mascara/La Sombra/Rush:

Volador is wearing his totally bad ass Darth Maul get up and holy cow does it look badass. I'm just going to say it right now: I'm officially a full-fledged Volador superfan. The guy just has IT. I'm not 100% sure what IT is, but dude has IT. I am fully enamored with him now. I like the way he bumps around, and I like the way he gets a reverse John Cena reaction from the crowd. He and Averno take ranas and armdrags better than just about anybody. They were expertly getting tossed around by Sombra and Mascara as if they were Mini Abismo Negro with a 70 pounder. Rush is a guy who will finish in the 400s on the Segunda Caida 500, but once he turns rudo he'll probably end up in the top 10. Sombra had some awesome headscissor and armdrag variations in this. I have no clue how Volador/Averno don't get seriously crossed up during those sequences. After seeing Sin Cara just try to pull off La Mistica with the WWE roster and that rarely going well, seeing Sombra whip all around Volador's body in weird angles is pretty damn impressive. I have really enjoyed CMLL this year, and this match was another example of a real fun 2011 Arena Mexico main event. Hot crowd, plenty of dives and action, rudos being rudos, women screaming when tecnicos take their shirts off, fucking VOLADOR, and that couple who sit by the rampway that look like twins. What the fuck are they!? Are they husband/wife, brother/sister, mother/son, WHAT ARE THEY!? They both look exactly the same! They have the same jheri curl and they look somewhere between the ages of 32 and 66. This week they had a baby with them!! Am I the only one noticing them?