2014 Ongoing Match of the Year List

Cavernario/Dragon Lee Jr./Negro Casas v. Virus/Hechicero/Cachorro CMLL 5/23

PAS: Total blast, another great match from the year of the six man tag. These are the top four finisher in the Busca de Un Idolo tourney matched up with the two maestro coaches. It is pretty fun to watch Casas and Virus mix it up in the go-go style. It is pretty crazy to watch a 46 year old guy like Virus to fly over the top rope into a senton, or a 54 year old guy like Casas fling himself off the ring apron into a Thez Press. Lee Jr. is the least of the young guys but he isn't afraid to do some crazy shit. He took an armdrag over the top rope full speed to the ground, and then he gets smushed by a Cachorro bullet tope. Your other three Busca guys all looked great too, I especially liked the energy Cavernario brings every time he comes into the ring, and how Hechicero has been heeling it up lately. Finish was a bit underwhelming considering the craziness that came before, which is the only thing that keeps this from the tippy top tier.

ER: Well this is my slam dunk favorite trios of the year (well…Mexican trios). Crazy spots and super tight ringwork, and Virus/Casas matching up with a bunch of guys you've never seen them match up against. Casas and Virus are guys who look good in every match, but here you can tell they bust ass more than normal to show these youngsters (well…Hechicero could be 40 for all I know, dude kind of came out of nowhere a couple years ago…). Casas and Virus both break out stuff they don't normally do. Casas threw some all time nasty knees and you could tell he was working go go go instead of his more usual "Arena Mexico showman" style. This was about one-upping newbies. Virus goes batty and breaks out a somersault senton to the floor and some of his best matwork of the year. Cachorro has really impressive ring awareness, and that's not a trait I ever think to compliment a guy on. He just seems really great at getting into position for things, knowing where he's at in the ring, and making his positioning play well into the match. Navigating ropes and moving into and out of sequences with other workers are things we kind of take for granted, but he seems to have a much better grasp on it than most. Hechicero is in the conversation for best wrestler in the world right now, all of his stuff looks fantastic and he makes simple sequences look so refreshing and good that it blows the lid off the genie's bottle and kinda makes me realize how much fucking standing around there is in most lucha matches; Standing around and clumsily forcing guys into position for middling offense. These teams don't go out for any silly lucha stuff you're just kind of immune to at this point (like how often to you see a rudo just put their hands on a tecnico's shoulders and just walk them into position. Here, you stand right in this spot). Hechicero does cool little things you don't see other guys do, and he does them in a way that doesn't scream "HEY! Check out this moooooove innovation!" His Fuerza bump was worked into the match because it fit, not because it was a "gotta get my kewl spot in!" His sidewalk slam/powerbomb reversal on Dragon Lee's Code Red looked natural and spur of the moment, and his slick little roll through tapatia into face planting his opponent was really cool and didn't look like he and his opponent were both concentrating on hitting this cool new move. He works fast, he works tight, he doesn't dog it when he's not the focal point, he takes and receives, he strings together chains nicely, just everything. The guy always makes me notice and appreciate something new in every match. I'm also incredibly amused that the nutbar hiptoss over the top to the floor is now replacing the backcracker as the move de rigueur in lucha. In the last week I've now seen Dragon Lee and Arkangel do it, and not long before that Charles Lucero. Are the notoriously firm Mexican rings so hard that guys are now voluntarily taking stupid bumps to the floor instead? Anyway, go watch this. I had a big smile on my face the whole damn time.


2014 MASTER LIST

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MLJ: Atlantida Rising 5: Blue Panther, Brazo de Plata, Virus vs Olímpico, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero

Aired 2006-05-06
Taped 2006-04-30 @ Arena Mexico
Blue Panther, Brazo de Plata, Virus vs Olímpico, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero

Ah, riches in the from of silver, of only the finest panther pelts of azure, and of, well, I suppose unless you're some sort of bond villain, viruses aren't really riches, but Virus absolutely is. This is one thing lucha will almost always have over all American wrestling save for maybe late WCW Syndi shows. There are a billion guys that work for CMLL and if watching in some sort of sequence, you'll suddenly go from a half dozen Mistico matches to THIS.

Let's run through the pros. I get to see a slightly younger Porky. I get to see Virus in a role I really haven't seen him in yet. I get to see more Blue Panther which is always a joy since I know I haven't scratched the tip of the iceberg on his work. Maybe most of all, I get to see the Guerreros in a situation where they're not against a young upstart in Mistico or a charismatic blowhard like Wagner, but instead against Porky, who is as babyface as babyface can be when it comes to the crowd's support.

There were absolutely some cool heel trappings with the Guerreros. They celebrated together and with the sections of the crowd that were behind them. They had flashy triple team offense. Atlantis was still over with parts of the crowd. Ultimo seemed over with other parts, and you had Rey and Tarzan Boy and Olimpico who all had a certain level of swagger. The big difference between them and far less effective (dare I say "cool") heels of a similar ilk is that they weren't afraid to show ass. I knew that Porky was beloved. I see how beloved he is now and in this match, I heard the crowd behind him. Even so, I didn't think for a second that the Guerreros weren't taking this match. That it ends with Ultimo getting literally squashed by his opposing captain was really surprising to me.

Porky was an interesting case here. He was super over and he was also able to do more things than now, eight years later. That's hardly surprising. It was a bit of a duel edged sword though. It meant that he went for some things that he doesn't now, some things that maybe he shouldn't. Currently, he's this force of gravity that people work with and around. Back then, when he tried to do more, some of it looked too collaborative. It was a transition time. That said, it was still fun to see Ultimo work with him, and it was nice to see some comedy in a Guerreros match in general, since there hasn't been much of that in what I've been seeing.

Virus and Panther were likewise a lot of fun. This match had an opening stretch of feeling out, unlike the last many Guerreros matches I saw. Ultimo got to work Porky. Rey and Panther did some solid, if too short, matwork, and Virus and Olimpico kicked out a frenetic bit of roperunning. The tercera ended with a revisiting of the match-ups and some dives, including Ultimo taking one from Porky, before the two captains faced off and Porky sat down on a sunset flip attempt for the win.

In general, the match felt fairly disposable but definitely enjoyable. Los Guerreros got to work with some different opponents and show off even more varied offense. There was a great backflip to powerbomb on Panther and a huge Olimpico springboard splash on Virus, who was being held up by his hands and legs. they did the alley-oop body splash on Porky and his selling of it almost made the match worth watching all by itself. Both Olimpico and Ultimo took crazy knee first flip bumps, Olimpico on a back body drop and Ultimo into the corner and out of the ring to set up Porky's dive. It is a testament that they were able to vary up what they did so much without losing the focus of the match. Weekly wrestling can really be a joy to watch, even when it's eight years old.

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