MLJ: 2010: A Garza Odyssey 18: Strong Man & Volador Jr. vs Héctor Garza & Místico [Relevos Increíbles]

Taped 2010-05-24 @ Arena Puebla
Strong Man & Volador Jr. vs Héctor Garza & Místico [Relevos Increíbles]

7:48 in

http://youtu.be/zTZr2WZy_qE

http://youtu.be/lS8fXwvY278

http://youtu.be/CEC2EmCZyDw

A few notes to start. First, Mr. Aguila interfered at the end of that Sombra vs Psicosis match I don't have video of that was at the last show. Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. came out to even the sides so he's working with CMLL. Then the press conference happened (here's a link of pictures/recap: http://estrellasdelring.blogspot.com/2010/05/independientes-vs-cmll-proimo-6-de.html), where they announced Garza and Aguila the leader of the group and set up a bunch of matches for Sin Salida. They didn't announce Maximo vs Taichi hair vs hair yet, but that's a brilliant match idea since Taichi's hair was so freaking annoying. Normally the Sin Salida ('No Exit') name represented the cage match but this year they pushed away from the gimmick to do the Los Invasores series.

As of now, I intend to go through the whole card once I get there but we'll see. It wasn't a particularly strong card on paper. Either cubs or Rob (I forget which) pointed out at the time that the crowd who was going to go see LA Park vs La Parka (II) at the AAA show the same night weren't going to be swayed by Los Dinomitas vs Rayo. Maybe they would be partially swayed by CMLL running a $1 peso for kids promotion.

I've got a series of Strongman matches here, but they all have something going for them. In general, in small doses, I actually think Strongman was servicable. He was a useful prop, not unlike Porky in some ways, though Porky obviously brings a lot more charisma to the table. Strongman, on the other hand, bring strength and athleticism to some degree. Good wrestlers can use him, and the ones I'm looking at over these matches are Mistico, Garza, Terrible and Texano, Jr. Also, I'm glad to get a last look at rudo Mistico in the increibles match here because he's about to turn back once and for all.

So this was a revelos incriebles match, presumably because when announced, Garza was still on the line of turning and Mistico was about to turn back. I'm glad they got to work together like this at least once or twice though. Volador and Strongman were a pretty brutal team but at least they were over. In a US (See: Southern) tag match, Volador would eat the heat as face-in-peril and Strongman would make the hot tag. In Lucha that doesn't entirely work. Instead, they had a lot of drawing Strongman in so he could get double teamed from behind, and when they finally started to work on Volador it was effective, but only for a minute or two. They were preventing the tag, but ultimately it didn't matter as Volador just rolled out. It isn't totally ineffective since the idea is that rudos can double team so long as tecnicos can't mount a comeback but it's still a little backwards. Anyway, the primera ended with a tandem alley oop dropkick on Strongman and the use of Volador as a range weapon onto his partner, with a double pin followed by the appropriate image of Strongman sitting up pissed off.

Segunda was more of the same, with a decent amount of preventing the tag for no reason, before Strongman finally comes in, unleashed, allowing for the comeback, including Volador hitting La Mistica. Tercera was a reset and a lot of using Strongman as a prop and bouncing off of him before the eventual foul by Mistico and the challenges for a supre libre match.

The very best part of it was Garza's taunting after breaking up a tecnico advantage.

I've been watching his matches for the entirety of the year and his charisma was just off the charts amazing. His character work was so good and believable. He was absolutely the rogue you loved to hate and hated to love. Mistico on the other hand was a perfectly fine rudo. He did things right. He did them with meaning and gusto, and I think it fit his natural personality in some ways, but he was worth so much more as a tecnico. I'm not saying it's EASY to be a rudo dick, but there is a paint by numbers element to it. You still need to paint well and if you want to stand out, bring something unique to the table but Mistico's dynamic execution and energy and his connection with the crowd made him so much more valuable as a tecnico.

Anyway, this was fine for what it was but what it was had some endemic flaws. I'm kind of curious what they'll do with the Super Libre match.