CMLL Workrate Round-Up 10/10/14 & 7/20/14

1. Kraneo, Mr. Niebla & Shocker vs. Marco Corleone, Diamante Azul & Valiente (10/10/14)

Short and sweet match with tons of great Kraneo moments. Not only is Kraneo really great, but I think he brings the best out in guys like Niebla. Niebla is not as good as Kraneo, but nobody wants to be the dog of the match. Kraneo is just a total beast though and also makes opponents look great. He spectacularly ends a fall with a wild senton off the top, but also takes a massive bump to the floor off a Marco clothesline, really whipping himself over the top super fast, but also does little detail rudo things like holding Corleone in place by *grabbing his balls from behind*!! Then casually walking off tapping his own inner thigh to the boos of the crowd. Marco kicks things up a notch too in his work opposite Kraneo as he's really the only luchador in CMLL who can match him for size (although Thunder is pretty huge as well), and Marco logically uses his size in the tercera to wipe out Kraneo/Niebla with his huge no hands plancha, this time from ring to floor (instead of his usual ramp to ring). Kraneo is a bull and these kind of matches are almost always worth watching to see what he'll do.

2. Rush, La Sombra & La Mascara vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Thunder & Euforia (10/10/14)

Also quick and to the point, with Ingobernales going over in straight falls, but it is notable for an actual spirited and fine tecnico appearance from Thunder. Thunder is a guy who has not really registered with me so far, other than "hey that guy is large and muscle-y" but here at the end of the primera there he was out on the floor dishing stiff shots to Ingobernales. UG is a guy I like but here he just works like UG, rudo or tecnico, just UG here. Thunder actually worked like a tecnico who had been disrespected by these douchey coveralls wearing punks. You knew what you were getting from the rudos in this, but I was pleasantly surprised by the tecnico I knew least about.

3. Metalico, Cancerbero & Raziel vs. Oro Jr., Starman & Triton (7/20/14)

I love when little matches like this exceed non-existent expectations. Nobody ever expects anything out of a third match on a Sunday card. I've seen dozens of these and most of the time they are exactly what you think they're going to be. I mean look at those 6 names. That is a list of maybe the 6 most "also rans" on any given CMLL midcard. If I asked you "hey name 10 luchadors whose names you always see in results and stuff but you don't actually go out of your way to watch" there is a good chance all six of those names pop up on that top 10. And then occasionally those kind of guys give you get a fun little gem like this one where everybody works hard and seems like they're all trying to stand out. Metalico was a little ball of rage here. Up until now if somebody had asked me about Metalico I would have told them that he was definitely one of the top 5-10 guys in CMLL with a Tiger gimmick. But here he was a total asshole southern heel. He stiffed up all the tecnicos and especially targeted Oro Jr., was constantly taking cheap shots at guys on the apron, and was cursing and spitting at the crowd from the apron, and begging off in the tercera. He was wrestling like a guy who just got laid off but was then asked to finish out the week, oh and also we won't be giving you a recommendation. Oro Jr. was a fun punching bag and took some mean bullying from all the rudos. His "pushed too far" moment was satisfying. Starman hits a wild tope (I think Phil may have dubbed this year the "Return of the Classic Lucha Tope" and this one can be added onto that list) and this match was just unexpectedly fun. And damn man, Metalico. I like this guy pissed off. It was kind of a weird out of nowhere performance as I don't ever remember him doing this stuff before, and other guys in the match were still trying to have a traditional lucha match, but shoot Metalico's act would have played well on the 80s Memphis set.