MLJ: Cavernario Spotlight 3: Esfinge & Gallo vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Espectrum

Aired 2012-11-10
taped 2012-11-06 @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
Esfinge & Gallo vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Espectrum

This was an opening match on a Guadalajara show, not the sort of lucha I usually get to watch. I know that there's a lot that I just don't see, like, you know, the entirety of modern AAA, and I see all the posters for indy shows, so there's just a lot out there. There's just so much that I haven't seen that it's hard to rationalize some of that when there are, let's say, a whole bunch of El Dandy matches I need to eventually get to. Thankfully, I can watch something like this and it still feels sort of relevant.

The immediate downside is that I have no idea who the other three luchadors in the match are. Esfinge looks to be a third generation member of the Halcon Furia family, who had only been wrestling for three years or so at this point, which is good, because I liked a lot about him but he still obviously had a long way to go. I'd be curious to check in on him now. El Gallo (which means the Rooster!) is the son of El Lider and has apparently been a local attraction in Guadalajara for years. He has a hair match with Hijo del Fantasma vs Mascara Magica and Malefico from 2008 where I wonder if it made tape. He does have a mascot, so good for him. Espectrum has an amazing match, a big cheshire cat type smile across his face. Luchawiki has almost nothing on him. He was a bit more sluggish than the others, but hey, great mask!

So, I would describe this as a mix of energy, clumsiness, inventiveness and some annoying stuff I'm not used to in lucha. For instance, after a couple of harsh rear waistlock takedowns by Cavernario (who's sporting some lines for facepaint, by the way), he and Gallo ended up in a pretty ridiculous chopfest. They just kept hitting each other back and forth in the ring, and then out, and then back in. I liked Cavernario's retreating during this but not much else. Espectrum and Esfinge worked pretty well together though, with Espectrum a suitable enough base for Esfinge's flying about. They ended the primera with some of that inventiveness: the over the head alley oop into a top rope Cavernario dropkick, and a crazy double knee counter to an Esfinge back springboard body press. The alley oop spot worked much better than in the trios because it worked organically in as a 'rana counter. It was the transition away from tecnico shine and went right into the finish of the caida.

The beatdown wasn't much to write home about but again, it had a nice little inventive transition that I don't see much. Cavernario went down on his hands and knees so that Espectrum could bound off of his back for some poetry in motion. He was dragged out before it could work, however, causing Espectrum to wipe out in the corner and the tecnicos to fire back. The timing of the comeback spots seemed a little off throughout, ending with dual quebadoras that didn't quite work out (it seemed like Espectrum didn't go up for his well enough), though they recovered quickly as the tecnicos locked on submissions to take the caida. The comeback was a good idea but the execution just wasn't there. They did pick up the mascot for an assisted legdrop between falls.

The tercera had the rudos clowned and the tecnicos looking good. My favorite moment in it was Cavernario kicking the ropes as Esfinge tried to launch an Asai moonsault from the floor, causing him to wipe out. I don't think I've ever seen that before. They followed immediately with Cavernario going for a tope but Esfinge moving. Then they rushed right to the finish with a cool Esfinge submission and Gallo hitting this goofy sit down belly to back over the shoulder back breaker on Cavernario. This was fine for what it was. A little sloppy with some good ideas and ultimately fun. Esfinge showed me some potential but I had the impression that Gallo and Espectrum were sort of coasting by this part of their career. Cavernario played his role okay but it wasn't really a showcase match for him.