Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 3/22/14

These matches were from the 3/7 Arena Mexico show and is part of the Parejas Increible tournament, where a rudo and a tecnico team up, one keeps the apartment messy and one's a neat freak, but they end up learning a lot about the other, they learn to live, they learn to love. They learn how to be a man.

Reaper & Mistico vs. Titan & Felino

Zacharias is sitting creepily in the background this whole match, on the entranceway steps. A creepy child-sized man in a bird mask sitting on steps like he's being punished seems like something you'd find by opening the wrong door at the Overlook Hotel. For the most part tournament lucha is the worst lucha. But I always kind of dig the PI tourney as you get some unique tecnico/tecnico and rude/rudo match ups. So while you still get mostly short una caida matches you get to see something a little different. That being said this doesn't linger too long or give much of a sense of any one guy. Boy sometimes Felino really busts ass and then turns around one second later and looks like the laziest guy in lucha. Reaper started out the year as a crazy bump freak and now it's been a couple of months since I've seen him take wild bumps.

Rey Cometa & Polvora vs. Rey Escorpion & Maximo

Tournament lucha! This is pretty nothing although Maximo gets some good moments. Within the last 24 hours I've now seen Porky, Goya and Maximo all do the exact same leap off the apron. Cat's in the cradle and all. Cometa does his springboard tornillo and catches Escorpions knees on the floor. Ouch.

Valiente & Vangellys vs. Ultimo Guerrero & La Sombra

See this had a couple cool match-ups, with UG pairing off with Vangellys and Valiente pairing with Sombra, so it was kind of a trip seeing them trade sequences. But we get basically nothing. No substance. Valiente takes UG's top rope reverse suplex nicely, really skidding across the mat. But this was short and blew.

Averno & Volador Jr. vs. Ephesto & La Mascara

Damn this was the Ephesto show right here! That guy is so damn good and he really needs to be on TV more. Here he did his killer ram's head tope and all his tricked out armdrags with him whiplashing all over the ropes. This is lucha. There needs to be more tricked out armdrags in lucha. Where have all the tricked out armdrags gone!?!? Me loving Ephesto so much ensures that his team takes the loss.

Reaper & Mistico vs. Rey Escorpion & Maximo

Mistico hits the epic rana off the top to the floor that Escorpion takes like a freak. He also takes a mean one back inside. Maximo is one of the only guys in this tourney that is actually embracing the concept, as he goes rudo on Mistico and starts trying to unmask him. He also hits his awesome tope, so Maximo is the current one-minute match tourney MVP.

Averno & Volador Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero & La Sombra

UG kinda works tecnico and it's weird seeing him hit dives onto guys on the floor. Never really been his style. Sombra's wheelbarrow suplex looks cool. Two longtime rudos like UG and Averno going toe to toe feels like something that should get time. Naturally this gets not much time.

Rey Escorpion & Maximo vs. Ultimo Guerrero & La Sombra

The Pasion de Maximo almost blows it for their team, as he plants an accidental beso on Escorpion. They win confusingly anyway, with Escorpion planting Sombra with a double underhook piledriver (I thought those things were illegal...). Pretty underwhelming way to finish off an expectedly underwhelming episode.

Ahhhhh tournament lucha.