2014 Ongoing Match of the Year List

43. Guerrero Maya Jr./Hechicero v. Traumas 1 & 2 CMLL Sanchez 11/15

PAS: Really fun mat based match which very much delivered on the promise of Hechicero mixing it up with the Traumas. We open with a spectacular Trauma 1 v. Hechicero section which has some cool athletic counters, and a series of nasty rolling cradles into submissions. We also get a cool second fall exchange between T2 and Hechicero. Maya looked good when the match sped up a bit, but he looked a little lost during the mat stuff, Trauma's will eat you up if you can't hang. The other thing that kept this from being really high end was the wonky finish which felt like some sort of double pin cop out so on one had to job. More of a match with great exchanges then a great match, but man alive were those exchanges amazing.

ER: This was a fun match but really more of an amazing mat exhibition than an actual mat that built to finishes. But if you're going to to a mat exhibition, might as well break out some of the most gonzo crazy submissions you've ever seen. Some of the submissions here I can't even begin to describe. When people hear about "trippy lucha submissions" I don't think they've ever seen anything like this. Hechicero vs. either of the Traumas was the stuff lucha dreams are made of. Hechicero might be the best current mat guy in the lucha game, and yes I understand implications of that statement. I want to see Hechicero against Thatcher/Gulak as he can easily work the lucha version of their thing, and some of his movements are just so damn impressive. He always does these cool things with leverage and is really great at highlighting how close some of his riskier submissions can come to being reversed. He'll lock on a high leverage move but you can see how it can be quickly reversed by an able opponent. Hechicero will lock on a nasty legbar and then when wrenching it in will take the leverage too far, and then the Traumas gamely take control back. My favorite sub was this nasty three-parter with Hechicero starting with a half Rings of Saturn, holding onto that while locking in an Indian deathlock (with it locked in by holding Trauma I's legs in place with his chest, and then rolling all that through into a surfboard. That he didn't make it look like Trauma was just waiting around to be put into it speaks volumes about both men. Maya was lost during all the mat stuff and did a bunch of annoying stuff like offer up his arms without making Trauma even begin to fight for them, but Hechicero vs. Traumas heals all wounds.


2014 MASTER LIST