Lucha Worth Watching: Kraneo! Hechicero! Rush! Ultimo Guerrero!

1. Rush vs. Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL 12/5/17)

ER: Classic Arena Mexico dickhead performance from Rush, really hamming it up and soaking in squeals from the ladies. He stomps all over UG and does plenty of Burt Reynolds Cosmopolitan poses throughout the match, on the mat, on the ropes, on the corner of the guardrail; he kicks UG in the face a bunch, and I like the way his corner dropkicks built throughout the match: He hits it flush to end the primera, later he does it again, stops short and kicks UG right in the cheek, then goes for it again in the tercera, leading to UG finally moving and Rush whiffing. Rush beats him to the floor and smacks the barricade door of UG's head, then grabs a mighty full soda and bounces that of UG's head (and onto about a dozen people in the first couple rows). Guerrero gets to pay him back in the tercera with his own cup bounced off the head, but he's a tecnico so he politely throws it away from the crowd. Rush had an awesome bit of rudo shtick that I've never seen before, hitting a running dropkick  that sees him land on his back with his legs on the middle rope...so he improvises and starts doing some elevated crunches, then flips it over for some quick push-ups. So great. Guerrero ends up cheating to win, using Rush's bullshit against him and grapevining the bottom rope during a pin. Guerrero didn't bring tons to the match, and the crowd sounded smaller and quieter than normal, but Rush didn't let that stop him from being Rush.

2. Kraneo v. Hechicero (CMLL 1/19/18)

ER: This is gonna be the year of the biggest Luchador to ever lucha, Kraneo baby! This is a super fun lightning match and really I don't even remember the last time I saw a Kraneo singles match, so him in a lightning match is a fun treat. With Kraneo's monstrous size and Mije's constant interference (there must be a weigh limit on the person interfering for it to count as a DQ) we get Hechicero cast as a tecnicos which is a role he hasn't played much in CMLL. Kraneo is fun bumping around for Hechicero, and Hechicero hits a pretty crazy dive early on, so Kraneo relies more on Mije to even things up. I loved Hechicero going after Kraneo's knee and ankle, because jesus look at the guy! Carrying that much weight around has to be murder on your knees and ankles, it's just smart business. Kraneo sells it all really well and continues to pay service to the legwork (which nicely sets up an end of match ankle lock false finish). Kraneo is big enough that him merely missing a move is huge, as it immediately shifts the tide, so you don't need to have your giant bumping for tons of moves as he can do just as much damage to himself. At one point he teases a dive but Mije ends up taking it, getting caught by Hechicero who teases a bunch of great thrown into the crowd spots....and as the camera pans back towards the ring Kraneo crushes BOTH of them with an awesome plancha off the apron. Good gracious. The end stretch isn't as good as the beginning stretch, but we get a nice Hechicero strap removal spot, and him lifting Kraneo with a fireman's carry got a deserved big cheer, but he just wasn't enough for Man Mountain Kraneo.