My Lucha Journey: Rush vs Shocker Part 8: Marco Corleone, Máximo, Rush vs Euforia, Shocker, Último Guerrero

aired 2014-03-23
taped 2014-03-10 @ Arena Puebla
Marco Corleone, Máximo, Rush vs Euforia, Shocker, Último Guerrero




Home stretch now. There's one more trios match left after this one but that's a Negro vs Rush one. While they face off and rouse the crowd up no less than three times, it doesn't really fit into this narrative like the previous ones did, so I'll probably skip it, even if it would give me a chance to say something about Kraneo. I'm sure I'll have more chances. This was another story driven match, admittedly somewhat less substantial than the one the week before, but still quite good for what it was. Honestly? I'd take this sort of a match over most of the crazy high impact lightning sprints with big spots and dives that people are going crazy over right now. I'll fully admit that I couldn't tell Ultimo and Euforia apart well, though, so what do I know, right? This was close to my first time of seeing Euforia. He had a few matches in the parejas increibles tournament this year but my bearings were even less then than they are now. Euforia's got the longer hair, Ultimo has the pointier mask. La Tercia Sensacion (or are they El Bufete del Amor?) remain one of my favorite things about lucha in 2014 (and I got a kick whenever they happen to do their super pose mid match like they did here here). I'm thinking after I get through these next few matches, I'm going to go back and look at some more of Marco. He's reached a point where he's very effectively utilized in the trios matches(here, for instance, he's got this great moment of bemused crowd interaction as he's getting his legs hugged by a rudo during an ambush set up) but I don't have a good sense for whether or not he's actually good and I'd like to work that out, especially in singles matches.

This trios was definitely more straightforward and brisk then the last, but it turned the page nicely towards the hair match on a story level and was certainly effective at achieving its goals and entertaining to boot. Here, Shocker ambushed Rush once again, beating him around the ringside area. This time, however, it lasted all the way through the primera caida, letting Guerrero and Euforia dominate in the ring and pick up the fall. Shocker wasn't afraid to be a rudo here, using his partners to hold Rush and beat him liberally right up until the comeback. It's always such a great visual when the camera swoops forward, and you catch Rush's feet flying in from the side of the screen, ESPECIALLY when the crowd is behind him. They were here too, which might have been, in part, the fact they weren't at Arena Mexico, but a lot of it had to do with how both Shocker and Rush were working. I still believed it was them, relative to their work over the last many months, but at the same time, they were much more clearly locked into rudo and tecnico roles. Again, this was straightforward: Rudos pressed the ambush and took the first fall. Tecnicos came back and quickly took the second (and celebrated with the pose right into Shocker getting pecked by Maximo).

This all led back to a tease of Shocker vs Rush after the tercera caida reset, and Shocker shifting back to that awesome chickenshit stalling. It was all for naught as Maximo quickly came in and hit all of his stuff as smoothly and fluidly as he always does to take out Shocker's partners leaving him no one to hide behind. I honestly don't get why people don't talk about Maximo more. Yes, his stuff is mostly comedy but its still very physically impressive and he utilizes it really well within the context of the matches; it feels so natural and effortles and organic. Back on point, once Shocker realized he had no choice but to fight Rush they killed each other here. They brought a metric ton of hatred and violence, a really solid exchange, until Rush got the better of things and Shocker escaped again, allowing the tecnicos to press their advantage and leading right on to the finish.

In the previous trios the week before, Shocker had gotten the better of Rush through the stalling and frustration tactics. Here though, he was ultimately outmatched, and, with his partners paying the price for his failings, he was left with no option but to blatantly foul Rush. He may not have won the match, but at least he could finish the thing as the one standing. It provided a nice piece of punctuation for the big match's build, as Rush's stubborness and purity of purpose, self-obsessed to the point of both obliviousness and empowerment, drove Shocker further and further towards desperation. Now there was nothing left for him but to make his last, compromised stand at the apuesta match.