MLJ: Sombra Spotlight 4: Felino vs La Sombra 1

2010-02-02 @ Arena México
Felino vs La Sombra

3:55 in

I don't know entirely when lightning matches started but that's the place you'd expect to see Sombra as he was climbing up the card, and we don't have them, so my gut says "after this." I really wanted to look at him in a singles match, though, and this seems like one of his first big singles feuds. As such, it's worth taking a look at. We've got three singles matches, ending with the apuestas match.

Moreover 2010 Felino is a slightly different beast than 2015 Felino. He's not exactly 1998 Felino or anything but with the right opponent and with the right inspiration, he could still go (he can still go, but it's a lot easier to walk around with a plunger and use body humor instead). Unfortunately, as with some of the full shows posted from 2010, we only have around 90% of the match, but it's enough for some take aways.

First off, Sombra felt more like the Sombra I know. Previously, he was more of a generic flyer. Now, he had the rap music and a little more swagger. Felino was a hybrid, but more Pesta Negra Felino than not, even with his mask. He came out in the trash suit (and with the painted abs), but it was just a ruse, a fake Felino, allowing the real one to ambush Sombra in the ring, which is the sort of thing I'd love to see more from CMLL. The primera was a beatdown, having started with the ambush. Felino made sure to rip Sombra's shirt off and toss it to someone wearing a Sombra headband in the crowd. After a few minutes of it, Felino missed the knee in the corner and Sombra flew out with a really dynamic tope. Felino recovered first, though, and hit a low dropkick for the fall.

I liked the structure there. The tope felt almost like a high risk hope spot with the end of the fall being the cut off. They kept the heat going in the segunda, including an iconoclasm by Felino. I don't think I've ever seen him do that before.

Unfortunately, Sombra was still doing goofy crap like hanging himself between the ropes so that he could get casually dropkicked. Fortunately, Felino followed it up with a great dive. He could definitely still go, and this was a pretty effective version of him, a mid-point between the pure shtick that would come and the athleticism that marked his earlier career.

They did a nice little bit of parallel structure where Sombra happened to recover from the dive a little earlier and took back the advantage. It wasn't as heated a comeback as it could be, but it did lead to the best split legged moonsault I've ever seen Sombra pull off:

We don't have all of it, but from what we do have, the tercera was good, with a lot of spots, a lot of energy, and a lot of heat. It started with mask-ripping and went from there. From the result I read (thank you 2010 cubsfan archive), Felino went over with a foul that the ref didn't catch. In general, this was good. I wish they had paid off the heat a little more but I liked the plancha as a hope spot and Felino's dive as a transition seemed appropriate within the mtch. Some of the spots were great and both guys really flowed together. Sombra still did some stupid stuff. In general, he seemed over with the kids, but the crowd was still a little split. By this point, though, it was past the point of him just having potential. He held his own in the match.