Lucha Worth Watching: Tiffany! Niebla!

Tiffany/Dalys/La Metalica vs. Princesa Sugehit/La Jarochita/Maligna (CMLL 1/2/18)

ER: I've seen a lot of lucha, and a lot of uninspired lucha. And sadly a lot of luchadora matches are the same damn matches, every year, same spots, run through like they've done them a thousand times (and they have). But occasionally you get some actual fire and intensity, and Tiffany brings both of those here. I love Tiffany. She's always been one of my favorite luchadoras, and now she's a little older, a little bigger (and considering the portions and constant snacking that her husband Kraneo is throwing down, you'd have to be Karen Carpenter to not snack more than normal) and meaner than ever. I'm going to need a Total Luchadoras show with Kraneo and Tiffany just dicking around doing errands with Mije and their corgi (they own a corgi because it makes for good TV). But Tiffany is a total badass all throughout this match, really targeting Sugehit. They have a cool standing maestra sequence with Tiffany twisting her around and working little standing exchanges, fast armdrags, there's a cool feeling of oneupmanship you don't always see in ladies trios, and you know it's real when Tiffany dishes a nasty stomp to the back of Sugehit's head. Maligna is pretty new and Jarochita is someone I've seen many times and rarely remember what she does in a match, so this relied on a fine tecnica performance from Sugehit and Dalys being a savage with the other gals. Dalys is scary at this point, looking manlier and manlier and meaner and meaner, and seeing Sugehit eventually come back against her was great (even if the match ended with Sugehit getting smashed hard into the barricade). The rudas rough up all the tecnicas and I loved all of them hitting increasingly stiff sentons and always putting the boots to them. But Tiffany was what made this whole thing awesome, really looking like the best luchadora on the roster. I want Tiffany, Dalys, and Reina Isis as a trio of mean girl thugs.

Mr. Niebla/Felino/Sagrado vs. Stuka Jr./Soberano Jr./Guerrero Maya Jr. (CMLL 1/2/18)

ER: Alright guys, who tricked Niebla into giving a damn again? This is beyond a coincidence at this point, the guy is clearly working as if he has something to prove. I love when this kind of thing happens, when a guy becomes wildly resurgent. Niebla was just a ball of energy in this match, not just waiting on the apron to hit a couple of spots, but really aggressively making himself a part of the match, getting involved in as many moments as possible, really making the match. Early on when things don't go Sagrado's way Niebla is already in the ring smacking people with his big lefts, and his presence kinda dominates the match from there. He throws big bombs all match, eats a big dive from Stuka (I always love big Stuka dives), hits a fat senton, and then throws in a couple great bumps: He breaks out his backwards fall through the ropes to the floor that I LOVE (and the camera almost misses) and later goes for a kick on the apron and misses, taking a big comical back bump. I don't know what the hell started inspiring this guy to show up, but I love it. The odds of getting an inspired Niebla AND Felino in the same match has to be about the same as winning your office Super Bowl squares after drawing 2 and 8, but it happens here. I love when Felino ramps it up against flippers, he always throws in fast rope running (love the showoff move of bouncing off the bottom rope) and works stiff, it's a beautiful thing. The tecnicos bring their share, with Stuka always have nice rope sequences and dives, Soberano breaking out his big Fosbury Flop (and really coming into his own as a tecnicos star these last several months), and Maya hitting a big dive in the tercera. This was a blast and probably didn't look like that on paper. It's amazing what happens when guys actually show up.