MLJ: Volador 2015 Something Something 8: La Sombra vs Volador Jr. © [UIPW HEAVY]

2015-03-22 @ Portrero Nightclub, Cudahy, California

La Sombra vs Volador Jr. © [UIPW HEAVY]

At around the 22 minute mark of this match, I thought to myself "Man, I wish they go home soon. This has been pretty good." The atmosphere was cool, being a LA indy. It was paced really quite well. The selling was good. Sombra was making sure things were spaced out enough and mattered. There were a couple of individual moments I loved, like Sombra grabbing two chairs after a dive. I thought the heat to start the tercera was good and they had some call back spots i liked. Sure, Volador hilariously put himself into position for the double flip moonsault at the end of the primera but it was still the best I ever saw that spot work. It almost felt okay. These are two guys who are used to working with each other who can execute a lot of things well, and one guy, in Sombra, who has come into his own as a character so thoroughly.

They didn't go home. About six minutes later, when Sombra hit his double knee in the corner, I begged the match to be over so I didn't have to watch the next asinine spot. As the match went on and the selling should have escalated to make things mean all the more, the sheer absurdity of the moves they were doing escalated instead. When they did sell, it was confusing in nature. Sombra would be down one minute, doing a cute pose as Volador climbed the ropes the next, and then barely able to stand after playing possum, obviously, a moment before. Volador would completely no sell a corner clothesline, hit a superkick, fall down, clap to the crowd while laying down, and then inexplicably put his head down so that Sombra could frigging CARTWHEEL into a back flip kick. This wasn't some sort of complex and arcane 90s AJPW selling where you have to watch twenty-three matches to figure out exactly why Kawada blinked in minute fourteen. It was just poorly contrived set ups to moves placed in the worst possible part of the match imaginable.

Spots are great. Great spots are even better. But they have to mean something and the key to that is pacing and selling and escalation, knowing when to do what and when not to do what. It's the build up and the pay off. Wrestling is symbolism and lucha even more so, but it's important that symbols are used smartly. Here, after a more than decent first fifteen minutes, Volador's wrestling was completely devoid of any of that. Sombra was able to tap into it at least a little, and I think that showed in the crowd being way more behind him. He connected in a way Volador couldn't hope for, no matter how many cool moves he did. Even so, Volador brings the worst tendencies out in most wrestlers, Sombra especially. Wrestling, and even lucha, no, especially lucha, can be so much more than acrobatic masturbation.

That's it. The Volador experiment is over. I'm tapping. He's a blight on 2015. Black Gordman worked EMLL. Jose Lothario worked EMLL. That's good enough for the Journey. I'm following Phil's lead and reviewing Jose Lothario vs Black Gordman from Houston (NWA Classics) on Friday instead. All they do is punch each other in that match and it's a thousand times better than this dreck, because they manage to make every movement, big or small, mean something. Volador and Sombra could have as well, even going high octane with a hundred spots. Having good matches where things matter just doesn't seem to be something Volador's interested in.