Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 3/15/14

These matches were all from the 2/28 Arena Mexico show.

Rush, La Sombra & Diamante Azul vs.  Terrible, Rey Bucanero & Shocker

More angle than match, building up the Rush/Shocker hair match (Rachel hates Rush's hair so wants it IDO) but I do really love how Rush and Shocker match up. The whole Rush dynamic is pretty fascinating to me, as it seems like Rush turned rudo a year ago yet he's been a tecnico the whole time (technically) but the guy is just a total cock. Every dumb party douche gesture is great because it's always followed by a cut to the crowd of a pissed off older lady just p'shawing the whole thing and talking to their son or daughter about how disrespectful that young man is. Hector Garza was the last guy to really get that kind of "anger the oldest fans" heat although Garza was really forward with it and would openly flaunt it right to all the old ladies in the front row. Rush ain't there - yet - but he was still great here. Shocker brought the heat too, dishing some big knees and showing more energy that he normally has over the last couple years. Terrible threw in a nice background performance, Bucanero did the worst dive catch possible by completely whiffing Sombra's flip dive, and Azul's cool apron flip (he does every match) looked especially reckless. So, all angle, but very worthwhile. Plus you need your weekly fill of Rush corner kicks.

Lightning Match: Stuka Jr. vs. Vangellys

Fun little match highlighted by Stuka getting planted into the ring barricade by a big Vangellys tope and  then throwing out a move that shows he is clearly insane: a moonsault over the ringpost to the floor, all the while with his hands glued to his sides. Think about your body momentum for a moment, and how difficult it would be to do something like that with your hands held at your sides. Stuka also adds a cool  new wrinkle to the Cesaro/Nigel rebound clothesline, doing a cool rebound headscissors against the barrier on the floor. I've not seen that one before.



Mascara Dorada, Valiente & Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia & Niebla Roja

Well this was awesome. Tons of great spots at a breathless pace. You get all your alley-oop spots with Roja getting tossed into a tornillo and vaulted into a rana, Mistico gets vaulted into a rana, everybody gets to show off their high jump rana skills with Dorada naturally winning. Euforia is still your base god and he makes Mistico look godly here by taking his ring-to-floor dragon rana and there's such a great moment where Mistico tries the same thing in the tercera, Euforia catches it and powerbombs him into the ringpost. Yessssss. Dorada is maybe the most spectacular flier in wrestling today. His tope is one of the best, his ranas are beautiful, he really just dances all around on those ropes and it's pretty stunning. He's really becoming a guy I go out of my way to see. Roja has never stood out tons to me but he looked good here and is clearly a better UG/Euforia partner than Gran Guerrero. The dive sequences here were all amazing, the rudos were working as a well oiled machine doing a bunch of little things that can get glossed over when going through standard rudo sequences (like actually making kicks look good on the triple team kick spot, UG picking up tecnicos by the mask holes, guys making their forearms look good when they're not the focus, etc.) and you should really check it out.