Lucha Worth Watching: CMLL 7/21/17

Rush/Kraneo/Pierroth vs. Marco Corleone/Caristico/Diamante Azul 

ER: I really like this rudo trio, whenever Kraneo fills in it brings a different kind of chaos, the guys pair off differently, and he's just awesome. They all bully Caristico around, Rush slams his head in the barricade door, later goes to hit his high jump corner dropkick, stops as Caristico braces for the dropkick, then just kicks Caristico in the teeth with his boot toe. The rudos run wild, Kraneo hits the running hip attack and dances around the ring, Pierroth hits a stiff senton on Azul, Marco punches a bunch to comeback but it's not enough. I love when Kraneo is opposite Marco as otherwise you don't have a heavyweight presence large enough to counter the biggest tecnico. Dominant tecnico is a difficult thing to pull off, and it's easier with Kraneo looking massive across from him. Pierroth rips off Caristico's head, kicks it over to Pierroth, Pierroth juggles it a bit, kicks it up to his chest and belly, bounces it around some more, kicks it up for Rush, and Rush boots it DEEP into the Arena Mexico cheap seats. We get some nice comebacks, with Caristico hitting a crashing dive into Kraneo, Rush takes a couple big bumps to the floor, Marco hitting the high jump crossbody and even Azul hitting a high jump flying clothesline. I love how Rush and his team never truly get comeuppance, it's going to be the biggest thing in lucha history when it finally happens. The second things are going badly for the team, Rush boots Caristico in the balls directly in front of the referee, then rips his mask off. He is hate.

Euforia/Gran Guerrero/Ultimo Guerrero vs. Niebla Roja/Dragon Lee/Volador Jr. 

ER: A lot of these guys feel like they match up a lot, so it becomes clear pretty early in a match when they're doing something a bit beyond typical. This is the best version of their match, long enough to satisfy, short enough that everyone could go go go, nobody dogging it, and some actual hate instead of just through-the-motions spot rehearsal. Euphoria gets matched up with Dragon Lee a bunch and admirably keeps up, and both Euforia and Niebla Roja had star caliber performances. I thought the rudos gelled great and had some great taunts (the huddle rally while holding the tecnicos in Gory Specials was inspired), all of them bump big and put on super impressive catching displays, and their double teams all looked violent (Gran's powerbomb off a Roja springboard was gross). It was fun to see Lee mix it up with a different kind of rudo; usually he's against younger, crazier guys, so it's cool to see him against older sturdy guys like Euforia and UG. They both know how to eat his creative kick combos, loved the one where he slams a guy's head into the buckle from the apron and kicks it. Roja broke out impressive flying and made me jump out of my seat when he dodged Euforia (Euforia takes his nice bump around the ringpost) and then hit a BOSS rolling elbow all the way across the ring. UG takes his fast Jerry bump to the floor, Lee smooshes him with a big flip dive, but Volador/Euforia break out the holy shit moment of the evening, when Volador doesn't just hit a hurricanrana to the floor, he does a SPRINGBOARD first, and Euforia is standing close to the barricade, so Volador really has to leap to grab him, and Euforia is a crazy person for catching something that far. Awesome spot. Gran Guerrero and Roja mix it up most of the match, and GG has really improved over the last 6 months. He's acting like a real violent rudo, and I'd love a mask match between the two. Everybody in this match busted ass and made this thing pop. Nothing better than some young guys showing star power, and old guys showing they still belong.