2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Cuatrero vs. Angel de Oro Mask vs. Mask!

53. El Cuatrero vs. Angel de Oro CMLL 3/16

ER: Fun mask match that sees Angel de Oro really step up more than I've seen from him. He showed a personality in the trios sprint the week before, really putting in some quality tecnicos work, and I think it carried over into the big apuestas match. Match starts wild with Cuatrero taking the big Sgt. Slaughter bump to the floor, with Oro attempting to vault out after him but getting matador'd right into the barricade. And that would be the story of the match. Oro was going to take flying risks knowing it was his way in, Cuatrero was going to try to send Oro into the barrier or off into the crowd. He sends him into the barricade, throws him into another barricade, crotches him on the barricade, drags him into the crowd and powerbombs him in the aisle, easily wins the primera. By the time he's ripping at Oro's mask, and Sanson is putting the boots to him from the apron (never underestimate how awesome your stomps will look when you're wearing a nice-fitting suit jacket w/ lucha mask. Sanson looked like an Ivy League valedictorian majoring in Sneaky Ass Kicking here), the fans are dying for an Oro comeback. And I think he does great with all the big spots: He hits a dive off ring entrance, beautifully times a moonsault to the floor, hits a wild handspring moonsault, and the fans are into it all. Cuatrero does get to plaster him into the barricade once more on a dive, and we get a compelling nearfall stretch run. They went to the well a couple times too many on some of the spots, but overall I thought the stretch built well, especially liked how some classic lucha spots played into nearfalls (such as Oro getting a rana with a pin, but Cuatrero smoothly rolling it through for a close call in the tercera). I didn't know who won when I watched the match, and I thought they did a great job of making it seem like any man's game down the stretch. Oro is really good at milking his unmasking, but eventually he is revealed to....look exactly like his brother, Niebla Roja. Sheesh no wonder they tossed these two into a team with Hector Garza, they all look alike (although the brothers were under masks then so it makes no sense). This was a nicely done big time stips match, with modern luchadors (i.e. guys 30 and under). Usually a mask match needs some kind of age or sympathy or legacy to get me involved, and while this didn't have those things, I thought they worked great with what they did have.

PAS: I really liked the opening of the match. I love a lucha apuestas match where the rudo dominates the Primera and Cuatrero side stepping the tope, smashing his head in the door and powerbombing him in the crowd was awesome. I also liked how Oro stole the segunda after getting beaten down. Tercera I liked less, it felt very 2018 lucha with the stage dive and a bunch of big moves. I did love Cuatrero's bullet tope which bent Oro's back. I thought Cuatrero was a great brawler early, and I would have liked to see the end be more of a war, instead of a moves match. Still this had some great moments and was a solid new generation mask match.


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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Dinamitas vs. Young Fliers

49. Cuatrero/Forastero/Sanson vs. Soberano Jr./Mistico/Angel de Oro CMLL 5/18

ER: Dinamitas getting to go all out against a team of fliers dying to impress has been a really fun match type the past year. Dinamitas are all such great fast bumpers, really know how to whip themselves out of and around the ring on ranas and armdrags, and are also great classic lucha brawlers; not theatrical, but very believable as asskickers. I love Forastero's deadlift tilt a whirl backbreaker, and their springboard elbowdrop is one of my favorite finishers of the past several years, and they broke out all kinds of new crazy with Cuatrero catching a rana and spinning around a couple times before hitting a powerbomb, and Forastero hitting a wild springboard dropkick to a seated Soberano. There rudo offense is super athletic but explosive. But I always look forward to them for their bumping. I love how these guys fall. And the fliers all dial it way up and by the tercera we got some fantastic spots. Soberano sometimes comes off as a bit much, but I like that he seems like he's out there just thinking up things he wants to try, just crazy ideas that might end with him falling on his face. But when he's on we get intricate multi jump huracanranas, gorgeous Fosbury Flop dive, a tornillo into the ring, and a physics defying handless tornillo over the top. That tornillo was just insane, looking like he wouldn't clear the ropes and instinctively lifts his body at the right time. Mistico doesn't want to be outdone and he throws in a nice flip dive and then blows that effort away with a huge flip dive running from the rampway and running up and over the turnbuckles. A hot lucha crowd is a wonderful thing, and the crowd was getting to fever pitch levels as these guys kept building the match hotter and hotter. Great fun.

PAS: This reminded me of the really great run of IWRG Oficiales matches a while back. This wasn't at that level because none of these technicos are Freelance or Suicide Segura level dudes, but the Nuevo Dinamitas are a great classic rudo team. The group of kids in this match are just up to try crazy shit, and lots of it would have gone very badly if not for a solid group of rudos keeping it together. I believe that Soberano will get really good, he really has moments of off the charts craziness, but then will hit something off or awkward. Once he works off the yips I think he will be a real treat to watch. I imagine having him really pair off the the Dinamitas will help that development. I haven't seen much of Mistico 2 before, but he had some really impressive moments. I was never a big Mistico 1 fan, maybe I will debut the Slate pitch claiming M2 as the superior Mistico like the people who like the Monkees more than the Beatles.


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Lucha Worth Watching: Cuatrero/Angel de Oro!

Cuatrero/Negro Casas/Ultimo Guerrero vs. Angel de Oro/Volador Jr./Atlantis  CMLL 3/9/18

ER: Hot sprint building up next week's mask match between Oro and Cuatrero, with the two of them getting super loud crowd reactions with some mask ripping and mask removal, Cuatrero blatantly pulls Oro's off to lose the primera (with Oro returning and flying off the entrance balcony) and Oro getting a huge reaction when he rips Cuatrero's in the middle of the ring. I've never seen Oro appear so interesting. The other four aren't as important to the match, but all make solid cameos. Casas is back from his rib injury and looking energized (and he's so tan that I assume he's going to start working as Chief Jay Casas any day now), UG took his big Jerry bump to the floor, Volador came in with a huge springboard rana, Atlantis and Casas have an old guys showdown, all fun noise. Oro has never made an impression on me, Cuatrero is my favorite Dinamita, and I am suddenly more interested in their mask match, all in about 7 minutes of work. Well done. You all thought this was gonna be the mask match write up. That's coming next.

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Lucha Worth Watching: Panther Familia, and Kraneo vs. Smaller Men

Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. & The Panther vs. Misterioso Jr., Bobby Z & Sagrado (CMLL 8/5/16)

This wasn't the match I expected, but I was pleased with the match we got. I was expecting this to be a showcase of everybody's highflying, but man do the dives keep coming. BP's kids get to show off their fast topes, BP himself hits two sturdy and impressive ones, Misterioso gets his nice rolling senton off the apron, Bobby hits a killer plancha to the floor while Panther Jr. is already lying on the floor, and Sagrado hits a mean springboard flip dive. That's not even counting all the numerous springboard and top rope moves into the ring. Then throw in Misterioso's great Cassandro bump and Bobby's big Jerry bump and this match had way more guys leaving their feet than any Sky Team match I've seen. Wild stuff. There's plenty of great character moments, with Sagrado not playing along with Panther Jr. sequences, and Bobby Z's ever-growing unwitting doofus character that is hopefully finally getting bumped up the card. BP and Misterioso have some wonderful sequences, and I especially loved their mat rolls to start. Blue Panther always does at least one little thing I love in his matches that have some primera matwork, and here I loved him rolling backwards and catching Misterioso's ankle on his way over. A small but wonderful part to a fun big spot match.

Kraneo/Hechicero/Sagrado v. Triton/Hombre Bala Jr./Angel de Oro (CMLL 5/10/16)

I love a good rudo team, and that right there is three rudos I like seeing together, and this is the first time we've been lucky to see them together. Hechicero teaming with Kraneo is a beautiful thing, and together they're like Jack Handey's shark riding on an elephant's back, just trampling and eating everything they see. Sagrado has really found new life as a rudo these last two years, gone are the days of him clumsily blowing tecnico offense, now he's found his calling being an asskicker and bumping great FOR tecnico offense. He takes tons of armdrags from Triton that ramp up faster and faster and make me think my video was glitching and speeding up. I loved all of Hechicero's stuff with Bala, with Bala getting a rare chance to shine (apparently replacing Super Porky, which likely made the match take an entirely different tone than it otherwise would have) as Hechicero takes his ranas and knees with force, and Bala takes all of Hechicero's endless bag of tricks. Loved Hechicero hitting a pointy running knee in the corner, then whipping him with a couple of sick jabs I've never seen him do. Bala mirrors him with a couple of flying knees of his own and Hechicero is great stooging for him. But then Sagrado and Triton get to tear it up on the edges of the camera, with Triton getting flung upside down into the barrier and Sagrado hitting a killer sliding lariat to a slumped-in-the-corner Triton. Kraneo is such an awesome mismatch for most tecnicos, eating and trampling, flattening fliers, elbowing guys off the apron, accidentally booting poor Mije, but he goes down like he got shot for a couple Oro superkicks, really times them perfectly to actually make them look like kicks and not thigh slaps. We get some crazy flying down the stretch, with Triton hitting a big asai moonsault to the floor, and Triton hitting a wild asai tornillo that sees him go upside down through his opponent and possibly onto his own head. And everything ends with Kraneo just flattening Oro with a sick senton which the announcers refer to as a "mega senton". Indeed.

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Lucha Worth Watching: More Dragon Lee/Kamaitachi and Porky vs. Ingobernales

Dragon Lee v. Kamaitachi (CMLL 11/27/15)

ER: This is the WorldWide match of all WorldWide matches right here. I am not sure how two guys could cram more into 6 1/2 minutes. This is a lightning match so you have that large clock looming in the background at all times, and after a breathless segment of ducked strikes and missed charges and reversed armdrags the camera pans back to show that we were only 58 seconds into this whole thing. Sheesh. Psych is out the window here, this is just two cool athletes showcasing their coolest shit, and it's most definitely cool. Kamaitachi has a couple cool Canadian Destroyer variations that he's able to hit without it being expected (the match ender off a Lee powerbomb attempt was NOT what I expected to happen). Both men have been taking stupid bumps and murdering the other for practically two years now and this whole thing is no different. Kamaitachi suckers in Lee when Lee attempts to do his top rope stomp, sends Lee flipping fast and painfully to the floor, then caves his neck in with a lariat sending Lee over the ringside barricade. Feet fly into faces, stomps get laid in snug, both men take ludicrous headdrops, Lee breaks out a typical gorgeous dive. These guys enjoy making each other's offense look nasty, and I enjoy watching them murder themselves.

Rush, La Sombra & La Mascara vs. Super Porky, Super Parka & Angel de Oro (CMLL 10/9/15)

ER: I didn't go into this one expecting too much, it being buried in the middle of a card featuring a singles match tournament, but something about the match-up intrigued me. Ingobernales are the big trios team, and here they were against a curiously tossed together team, none of whom have anything to do with one another. I mean, Porky and Parka share a Super, and Porky's arm is silver while he's teaming with a gold angel, but those are some loose slippery connections. I was drawn to this one as it's Ingobernales versus an undercard, weird team. It's not quite the 4 Horseman vs. Joey Maggs, Frankie Lancaster and Men at Work, but it's an odd match-up for a big team. And nobody dogs it, which everybody essentially could have. We come *this* close to getting one of THOSE Porky performances, the kind where a bunch of bullies pick on him until he snaps and starts stiffing dudes. He does throw more strikes than normal and they are plenty stiff, after all the Ingobernales take turns seeing who can slap him harder. Rush was a king-sized cocky beast in this, slicking his hair back after throwing stiff kicks, laughing off strikes to blast Oro and Parka with his sick thrust headbutts. Mascara and Sombra are left bumping around for Porky comebacks, including his running bombs away on the rampway, and even better a trust fall senton on both of them. Parka knocked them down and kept jumping on them with splashes, and we were all waiting for Porky to do a sloppy belly first leap....and then he just turns around and timmmberrrrr falls backwards onto them. Squish. It set up a great spot later when it looked like Porky looks like he might finally get one up on Rush, knocks him unexpectedly on his ass, does a quick trust fall...but alas Rush moves and then gives Porky a double stomp. Parka and Oro hit stereo dives and Parka is a lunatic near-60 year old man!! Doing a dive sounds crazy to now-35 year old me, I can't imagine it will sound like a better idea in 25 years. Oro is getting better about picking his spots and looks better for it. Ingobernales did tons of terrific poses all throughout. One of the poses looked like if all three decided on the three gayest 1995 Shawn Michaels poses and then did all of them, so you have Sombra lying down all spread awkwardly like Michael's Playgirl photoshoot, while Rush stands over him doing the sexy boy dance, while Mascara kinda fawns over Sombra's abs. It was glorious. Shoot just writing about the match makes me love the match that much more.

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2015 Ongoing Match of the Year List

31. Blue Panther, Rey Cometa & Angel de Oro v. Virus, Polvora & Dragon Rojo Jr. CMLL 9/11

ER: This is pretty much what you hope for when you watch a trios featuring non-feuding guys. There's nothing major at stake, just guys wanting to put their best foot forward. And you can always tell pretty quickly in non-stake trios if guys are going to be dogging it a bit or at least attempting to do something special. And right out of the gate Panther and Polvora look like they're really going for something. A spirited Panther is still one of my absolute favorite things in wrestling, and this match was a great BP performance. He and Polvora get a few minutes to tear things up and it's all good, cool float overs, Panther doing a great headstand out of a headscissors, just beautiful lucha matwork. That starts the match on a great note and the rest of the match is all smooth, quick work, everybody showing what they got. Oro isn't great but hits some big moonsaults including one from the middle turnbuckles to the floor. Cometa starts off a little glitchy but by the tercera he's rolling. Virus eats a big Oro dive in the primera.....but you know what you want from this match when looking at the lineup, and it delivers wonderfully. Right around the 22 minute mark Virus locks a nasty bow and arrow on Oro, really bending him back, and then Panther casually walks in pats Virus on the shoulder, and Virus just drops the submission while keeping his eyes on Panther the whole time. You start to get excited, and the crowd got that same kind of excited. Crowd started getting nice and electric when they saw BP/Virus about to happen. Up to this point they matched up for literally 4 seconds of the match, and suddenly it was like the dance floor cleared to make space for a showdown. And we got a killer little showdown with Virus clearly showing off and Panther looking impossibly smooth. I could watch these two roll and tumble and work in and out of sequences on an infinite loop. This all peaks with Virus getting plastered by a high speed Panther tope, crowd going nuts, Panther jumping up and down.....and then Panther hitting a second awesome tope. Virus pays him back by winning with a nasty looking sub that had BP yelping immediately. Match had a super quick pace, tons of spots, everybody working with something to prove, and that little slice of heaven that was BP/Virus. What more would you want?

PAS: This was a solid slightly above average trios for most of the matches. The Panther v. Polvora stuff was really solid, and another example of how great Panther still is. It isn't like you are searching out Polvora matches, but he looks totally awesome matched up with Panther. The finish run with Panther stepping up and going after Virus was spectacular. I loved the idea of Panther tapping on Virus's shoulder and saying "let's move the kids out of the way and show the fans some lucha." Totally unexpected treat, the equivalent of putting on an old pair of pants and finding $20.


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MLJ: Dragon Lee vs Virus/Casas 6: Hombre sin Nombre, Sangre Azteca, Virus vs Ángel de Oro, Dragon Lee, Stuka Jr

Taped 2014-11-25 @ Arena México
Hombre sin Nombre, Sangre Azteca, Virus vs Ángel de Oro, Dragon Lee, Stuka Jr

To sum up: in the midst of the newest Dragon Lee vs Kamaitachi match being heralded as the CMLL match of the year, I'm off to the side watching Lee vs Virus from last fall instead. If we want to be positive towards me, then we can go with the fact that a lot of people are watching the former match due to the hype and I'm giving them a jumping on point to watch more Dragon Lee. We'll just go with that.

So this is the run up to Lee challenging Virus two weeks later for the Lightweight championship, which means this week's worth of matches will be a little more focused than this mini project has been up until now. (It's been an overglorified excuse for me to watch Casas or Virus matches). For those unfamiliar, Sangre Azteca is the world's most single-minded wrestler, his entire offense centered around groin shots. Hombre sin Nombre is the former Hooligan and current Luciferno. He looked really good here.

The primera was basic and solid. Pairings, slight tecnico advantage for the first two and then an outright rudo swarm during the third. interestingly, they put Stuka and Virus together (with Oro and HSN and Sangre and Lee), which might have been misdirection as the match would ultimately culminate with Dragon Lee vs Virus. It could have just been to keep things interesting. Nothing really stood out. Virus is awesome. We know that. He's as good as anyone at moving his opponent around and making sure that the opening matwork seems competitive and not collaborative. Stuka was fine. The match had a decent amount of time and they let the opening two exchanges breathe, but not to the detriment of the match. It ramped things up to set up the swarm after Lee came in and got an immediate advantage on the roperunning vs Azteca. Even so, the tecnicos held on, with Oro diving in with a plancha only to get his mask yanked by Virus from the outside in a nice, little spot. That set up the corner groin crush by Azteca and the fall.

The segunda was primarily a beat down, but a solid one. Virus and HSN looked good here, with nice intensity and variation of offense. Azteca kicked people in the groin and then danced around. So it goes.

The transition was a nice spot where Lee, having been beat upon by Virus slid out of the ring, sending Virus right into Oro's trap, followed by your usual heel miscommunication with tecnicos diving in, Oro's rocking submission and Stuka hitting bombs away. Notably they had Virus back-peddle from Lee during the actual moment of the fall, setting up the tercera.

The tercera was your usual reset and pairings. The crowd was surprisingly pumped for Lee vs Virus. Lee isn't quite as good as brother Rush in getting the crowd pumped up but I do think he's learned from him because he's better than a lot of the CMLL roster. Anyway, this was about what you'd expect: a lot of quick action, with some tecnico vs the world sequences and rudo cutoffs to delay the dives. When they finally came, it allowed the ring cleared for Virus vs Lee once more. I don't think the final encounter ultimately lived up to the build for it within the match, as Lee especially looked a little rough on the finish. For a first match out of three, it was fine, though, and it was obvious that Lee was getting a little better every week.

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CMLL Worth Watching 5/10/15 & 6/19/15

Comandante Pierroth, Tiger & Sagrado vs. Fuego, The Panther & Blue Panther Jr. (5/10/15)

Man I dug this. Pierroth has been one of my favorite CMLL guys this year, real high energy ass kicker who always wings nasty clubbing shots, stomps guys into oblivion, jumps all over them while stomping them, breaks out some nice slams, etc. He's like a throwback Dinamita. As in, if you've been missing Mascara Ano 2000, Cien Caras or Universo 2000 on your TV (and I have been), Pierroth has been an oddly, unexpectedly great fill-in this year. Sagrado as a rudo is the only worthwhile stuff he has done in his entire career. This guy was just a clueless tecnico, always tripping over himself, and now suddenly he looks capable, has nice presence, takes a tope like a man (god did Panther just snap Sagrado's back over the barrier on a tope) and hits a mean piledriver to end the primera (say aren't those things sorta illegal down there?). BP Jr. is pretty green and can't really work long sequences, but he hits a nice dive in the tercera, and the greenness of BP's kids works to the match's advantage, as the segunda has a satisfying finish with the rudos getting cocky, chasing BP Jr. and Fuego up the ramp, allowing Panther to get a surprise roll up on Pierroth as he roots on his goons. Tiger sold the loss great, like he could not believe they lost even one fall to these wimps. Real satisfying story here, and the work fit the match nicely.

Blue Panther, Maximo & Marco Corleone vs. Euforia, Niebla Roja & Gran Guerrero (5/10/15)

You've probably seen some combination of this trios a dozen times, but sometimes guys show up a bit more spirited than other times, and this was one of those times. I always love Panther but spirited Panther is just the best. Here he works a nice long opening mat sequence with GG, which was arguably the most interesting thing GG has ever been involved in. Panther has a million reversals and the way he rolls through into various grapevines and leverage moves always leaves me slack-jawed. We don't get any dives in this, and the falls go quick, but the tecnicos amusingly must have decided before the match to see who could throw the nicest/neatest arm drag. Panther throws more in this match than I've seen him in years, including one where he gets tilt-a-whirled by Roja into performing an upside down arm drag on Euforia; Maximo throws some nice rolling ones too, one springing high off the top rope and another rolling over Roja's back. Even Marco throws a shockingly good one while rolling over Euforia's back. Marco's punches have been looking kinda lackluster this year, and here he breaks out some nice ones as he pinballs his fists back and forth between Roja and Euforia. Kind of a one sided affair for the tecnicos, but everybody busted ass and it's stunning to see Panther so spry at 54.

Stuka Jr., Angel de Oro & Super Porky vs. Barbaro Cavernario, Felino & Okumura (6/19/15)

So I'm not sure this is very good, but "worth watching" and "very good" are two different things, and I thought this was worth watching, more for its parts than its sum. Firstly, Porky takes FOUR bumps in the primera. This feels noteworthy to me. Porky is a guy who goes to great lengths to avoid bumping. Yet here he's splatting all over the mat for shoulderblocks and lariats. Think of the effort it takes him to stand up from a back bump!!! And here he does it 4 times in about 40 seconds. I admittedly starting writing this up right after witnessing that. I had made up my mind to immediately include it in a "worth watching" list. Beyond that we got one of the better Oro performances, as he hits a couple very impressive flying spots, and then spikes himself on an Okumura apron DDT. We get a Kemonito apron splash, Porky doing a seated senton to the rudos on the rampway, Felino not acting like current Felino (including getting heat from starting the match wearing his mask and jawing with the Arena Mexico old people) and Stuka Jr. doing his awesome bullet splash. It's like 8 minutes of your life, and it will bring you joy.

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MLJ: Cavernario vs Titan 7: Ángel de Oro, Dragon Lee, Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Felino, Negro Casas

Aired: 2015-02-28
Taped: 2015-02-17 @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
Ángel de Oro, Dragon Lee, Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Felino, Negro Casas

Same idea as the last match, with Dragon Lee and Negro Casas subbed in. This is a good thing since, of course, I'll want to check out their Leyenda de Plata final at some point and getting a look at the two of them together can only help in that. Also, I haven't seen a ton of Dragon Lee against opponents other than Kamaitachi, and he's as close to a "next big thing" as CMLL has in some ways. I'm not super enthused so far, to be honest, but I know I'm in the minority there. I wasn't as enthused with Titan before really taking a look at him. I think he's come out of this "series" looking pretty good, with the great 2014 titles match and being the one to hold together that match that Blue Panther, Jr. flubbed to death.

This was also my second look at Oro in close succession and I thought he came off well. He worked the mat strongly against Negro Casas here and maybe that's not hard but they did some very fun stuff with dueling holds (including Oro getting out of a few Casas Crippler Crossfaces) that ended with leg selling from both. He was also good in the comeback and picking up speed in the tecera with Felino. My comparison point there would be a Mascara Dorada maybe? That could just be my subconscious conflating their names though. The one thing I didn't like much out of him was when he was in a chop off with Felino. Don't do it if you can't make it look good. Compared to some of the things I've seen recently (including just about everything Cavernario does) it wasn't good. What was great, however, was how effortlessly he hit a moonsault from the second rope (having climbed it from the apron) to finish clearing the ring for the end of the match.

Dragon Lee accounted well for himself. He had a great exchange with Casas to start out the tecera and I'm excited to see their singles match now. I love Casas' spinning back king. It's got such zing to it. Once they picked up the speed the quality continued and that specific exchange with Lee moving to the apron quicker than I could process and leaping off with a rana to the outside. We didn't get to see much of him in the primera since it was his exchange with Felino that was cut short for the start of the beat down. It should be noted that Cavernario got to rip his match a bit which is exactly what I want out of him.

Structurally, this was straightforward. They ran the opening exchanges up until Dragon Lee was ambushed. Felino directed Cavernario to drop Oro exactly where he wanted him to set up the second rope elbow drop and take the fall. The comeback hinged on rudo miscommunication and another Titan Asai Moonsault. I'm not sure how I feel about Dragon Lee's corner hang double stomp. The set up was very contrived here. I could see it working better if he had a partner that helped get his opponent in position. That ended the fall though. Then they were pretty even in the tercera, with the good Dragon Lee vs Casas stuff. That ultimately ended with Casas reversing a back suplex and locking in the Casita and Cavernario leaping to the second rope in one quick motion as a whip reversal and hitting a missile dropkick and then the Cavernario Vader Bomb on Titan.

There wasn't a ton to this match but what we got was good. I came out of it more impressed with Dragon Lee than how I came in, certainly.

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MLJ: Cavernario vs Titan 6: Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Felino, Pólvora

Aired: 2015-01-04
Taped: 2015-01-04 @ Arena México
Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Felino, Pólvora

The next two matches have Angel de Oro, which is good since I don't have a great sense of him and I always like broading my luchador base. This one has Polvora and Stuka Jr. The next one has Negro Casas and Dragon Lee. I have to admit I'm looking forward to the next one more, even if I'm not exactly dreading this one. I'll be able to have a better sense of Oro after next match so I'll hold off judgment of him til then. For now, I find the wings on his crotch a little dubious. On the other hand, I love Felino and Cavernario dancing on the way in. Felino has his problems but I'll take him over Niebla for the most part.

The pairings for the primera were Stuka vs Cavernario, Felino vs Titan, and Oro vs Polvora. I thought Cavernario looked good against Stuka, making things a struggle and moving himself and his opponent around well. Titan had to feign annoyance and frustration at Felino's antics (probably wasn't very hard actual). Ultimately, he lost a cheer off, which is not uncommon for poor Titan. Insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Polvora played much more of a traditional rudo role in this and the fans booed him accordingly. My gut says that so many of CMLL's problems would be solved by turning Pesta Negra tecnico and Ingobernables full on rudo but who knows. Some of CMLL's problems seem to stem from the sheer fact that it exists in the first place.

Anyway, the primera turned the corner when the rudos tried to swarm, but it all felt a bit off. That's because instead of being a tidal shift, it just led into an Oro vs the world section and some tandem topes from Titan and Oro. This left Stuka to hit a fireman's carry drop onto Felino and his big splash. After the fall Cavernario tried to eat the camera, which was awesome.

In case I hadn't established this yet, Titan and Cavernario work well together. They did the fun back monkey flip spot. At some point in the last year, Cavernario developed a really nice superkick out of nowhere to cut off his opponents' athletic bs and he hit it here (and then recoiled at Felino's armpit so yeah). Titan (during his "vs the world" exchange) went for the Titanics on Polvora but turned it into a headscissors instead. Little switches like that make the world go round and make it a little less egregious. The crowd still booed him and that's starting to get painful though. Eventually Stuka and Felino picked up the speed with Stuka getting the best only to get swarmed by Cavernario and Polvora. Check out this flurry:

The beatdown led to the Polvora Bomb and the alley oop Cavernario dropkick to let the rudos take the segunda.

The tercera had some mask untying, good control of the tecnicos by the rudos, and some fun comedy with Oro doing a Three Stooges routine in the corner getting chopped. Stuka eventually reverses a double armdrag off the ropes and  ducks a double clothesline to allow tecnicos fight back. Everyone goes down one after the next and this leads to Titan majestically moonsaulting Felino from a springboard. I'm not a big high spot guy or dive guy. It's one of the least important parts of lucha to me, but I like Titan's huge moonsault. He usually works out ways to be clever about it or to set it up well (or to set up the decision on which way to go at least) and then he just gets a ton of hight from the apron out. Anyway, this had followed a Stuka roll up of Polvora and leads to Oro turning a roll up into his swinging suplex on Cavernario.

The fans boo the finish since they weren't really behind the tecnicos, but that's a shame because they deserved some acclaim here.

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CMLL Worth Watching 1/2/15, 1/4/15 & 1/9/15

1. Barbaro Cavernario, Felino & Polvora vs. Stuka Jr., Titan & Angel de Oro (1/4/15)

Another fun match from a card with a few fun matches. Felino really works best when separated from Niebla and his brother. He always ends up looking like an actual wrestler instead of spending the whole match honing his comedy chops. He must have lost a hair match at some point too as he's all buzzed (different kind of buzzed than when he teams with Niebla) although it would be amusing if he just showed up with a shaved head without cashing in. Barbaro gets a bunch of great runs in this, the guy really knows his way around a nice standing sequence. He also takes a nice reckless Cassandro bump to the floor leading to the other rudos also spilling out, and some big dives by the tecnicos. Titan had some supreme dorkiness during this as he comes off at times like he's working a parody of Chris Hero's old "indy athleticism" gimmick. Stuka is always a nut and it feels like he should get talked about way more. I am a sucker for his "hands at sides" dives. Match also featured an unintentionally humorous spot where Polvora was fighting with Titan, and Felino threw a chop block at Titan but didn't connect enough so Titan didn't know to sell the chop block. So basically we saw Felino fly into frame stage right, and then roll away stage left...while nobody else reacted.

2. Negro Casas vs. Mascara Dorada (1/2/15)

I always love when one my favorite old guys shows up in singles matches, against anybody really. If there's a Panther or Casas singles, I'll watch it no matter who the opponent is. And Dorada is a guy I really like so naturally I'd be excited for this match-up. And these two are really no strangers to each other in singles matches, as they've matched up several times over the last 5 years, often over this very title. And while this match is somewhat disappointing, that does not mean that it's not worth watching. It's disappointing in its formatting, which is almost always the reason a CMLL main event is disappointing. I can't recall the last time I thought a CMLL match would have been good if not for one man's performance, it's almost always due to lousy format. And it stinks to see Casas wedged into a format. Casas matches always excel because of his wonderful attention to details, and this match was too much boiled down to his moves and nearfalls that it didn't have as much room for character. There were still those terrific Casas moments here, such as him pumping his boots into Dorada's face on a moonsault attempt, then smiling giddily to the crowd over his shoulder as he scrambled for a pin; or him screaming to the heavens after getting beaten by the Casita for the second time in the match. But there just wasn't as many classic Casas moments as you'll find in his best work. But these two are both good, and formatting be damned there will be enough good moments that shine through, enough to make it better than most CMLL main event singles. Their standing go behinds had nice struggle, Dorada's dive was fast and hit high, Casas' press off the apron hit with such force that it sent him flipping wildly into the front row. Those kinds of things add up to a fun watch, and while it wasn't as great as it could have been there was still plenty to appreciate.

3. Kamaitachi vs. Dragon Lee (Lightning Match) (1/9/15)

Only 6 minutes, but played out like a really fun Lucha Underground style match. The opening strike exchange had elements of old Low-Ki stuff and was really fun when both guys knocked each other down with stereo roundhouse kicks. Kamaitachi always leans into things and Lee has a bunch of cool strikes that look great when guys lean into them. We also get one of Lee's trademark suicidal topes with his head plowing into the side of Kamaitachi's neck at high speed and both men sprawling out. There were a bunch of cool reversals in ring, Lee got dumped on his head by a clothesline, Kamaitachi got dumped on his head with a suplex. Crowd was not liking that Kamaitachi won while sneakily unmasking Lee.

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CMLL Workrate Round-Up 8/3/14 & 11/14/14

1. Metalico, Virus & Bobby Zavala vs. Rey Cometa, Fuego & Oro Jr. (8/3/14)

More awesome from this little feud that I didn't see anybody talking about. It is very possible I'm just reading the wrong places. But ever since a couple weeks ago when I first noticed Memphis heel Metalico tearing apart Oro Jr., and have since seen two more of their trios, it has become the thing I most look forward to in wrestling. So far, yes, the feud has been one-sided, with Metalico punching his way into my heart. Looking back, even though the tecnicos took the 2nd and 3rd, this match was 90% rudos. The segunda was won by DQ, and the comeback in the tercera didn't happen until late. Up until that point it was Metalico taking out all his frustrations on poor Oro Jr., which meant Oro taking tons of Metalico's cool hooking southpaw lariats, tons of punches to the temple, tons of forearms scraped across his eyes, and tons of getting yanked rudely around by his mask. Virus and Zavala kind of purposely took a backseat to Metalico beating down Oro. At one point I was begging Oro to fight back! Virus and Zavala would keep the other two at bay, and those two are guys I'm always entertained by when they're being dick heels. Virus has a great moment scraping and yanking Cometa's finger crotch over the ropes. Jesus Virus is taking torture to paper cut tantamount levels. Oro Jr. is kind of like a tecnico Stevie Richards, as he bumps big but has basically zero offense. So his big comeback in the tercera falls somewhat flat as he sorta hits Metalico with meek little kicks, but it was still satisfying seeing him rip Metalico's mask right back. Two weeks ago Metalico was just one of those guys who I had seen a bunch but barely registered with me. Now he's a guy I'm actively seeking out. Funny how these things work. Watch this feud now!

2. Silueta vs. Zeuxis (8/3/14)

Another good match for these two. It got a lot of time and I think they filled it pretty admirably. The tercera went probably a little too long, but overall I liked this. The primera especially was fun as they do some cool mat stuff and standing exchanges that doesn't usually happen in the women's matches. Silueta grapevines the leg of a standing Zeuxis and kicks out her other knee, felt like William Regal with a prettier face. They throw out some pretty big things in this, with Zeuxis doing a nice Spanish Fly and a great moonsault to the floor, wiping out both seconds (Halcon and Super Comando). Silueta has a nice rana roll up and manages to do the "opponent trapped in ropes while I dropkick them from the top" spot without making it look too absurd. Crowd was really hot throughout the whole tercera so they were doing something right, even if I thought it had too many near fall exchanges. Crowd was into every one of them.

3. Mephisto, Kamaitachi & Ephesto vs. Titan, Valiente & Angel de Oro (11/14/14)

Really fun sprint with a nice spirited Mephisto performance, and one of Titan's best showings of the year. Angel de Oro continues to look sorta clunky but it was easy to just watch all the other guys do their thing. I'm really starting to love rudos cutting off Titan. Last week we watched Terrible punch him right in the face after a handspring floor routine, and now he somersaults onto the rampway from the ring, turns around to run back and runs right into a mean Ephesto clothesline. Mephisto was really great at cutting guys off all match, catching all the flying offense and even hitting a great dive. Ephesto also hit a nice big chubster dive. Kamaitachi continues being a blast, love his high jump dropkick from the ramp. Everything was worked super fast and didn't have any time to get bad.

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CMLL Workrate Round-Up 7/20/14 & 7/27/14

1. Terrible, Vangellys & Rey Bucanero vs. Rey Cometa, Angel de Oro & Titan (7/20/14)

Well hey this was good! Motivated Terrible is a great thing, especially when he's blindsiding floppers. Here he's after Titan and it's glorious. In one of my favorite wrestling spots of the year Titan tags in, slingshots over the ropes and begins hand springing his way across the ring and finishes doing a dorky bow and arrow mime, and Terrible just runs over and throws a brutal left hook, flooring Titan. Awesome spot. This match is full of rudos dropkicking tecnicos right in the middle of dangerous looking moves. Oro and Cometa both do moonsaults at different points and get kicked in the stomach right in the middle of them, which if you think about the physics basically stops their momentum and dumps them on their heads. Vangellys dropkicking Cometa during an Asai moonsault was an especially nasty moment. Bucanero doesn't always show up but he was game here, and aside from throwing shots at the floppers (oh god including powerbombing Cometa right into the freaking ring post) he also took a hilarious bump off a Cometa rana from the apron, making sure to somersault his way towards a couple bosomy ladies in the front row, and then recovering whilst draped over their laps. But this match was the Terrible show, and when he's on he's on. Here he took a bunch of bumps from big springboard offense, and then dished it right back including ending the Segunda by catching a springboard rana into an brutal powerbomb. Awesome stuff in this.

2. Rush, Maximo & Marco Corleone vs. Mr. Niebla, Euforia & Niebla Roja (7/20/14)

What an odd match. I actually had to check the date to make sure LATV wasn't just showing an old match, but no this match actually happened in 2014. What was so weird was everybody worked it as if it were 2012. Rush was working tecnico with Maximo and Corleone as if he hadn't been a total dickbag the entire last year (although the onscreen graphics kept referring to them as rudos). But it wasn't just Rush, as Niebla was also doing little things he hasn't done since 2012, most notably not dressing like a total asshole and just wearing his old Niebla gear, not doing a stupid spit spot, Zacharias was getting involved in the match (and really he's just been sitting at ringside for the last 1-2 years), Niebla also broke out his fun face first apron bump that I haven't seen him do in a couple years, and also the Harley Race "feet caught on bottom ropes" headfirst bump to the floor. This time the Race bump had a fun twist as while he was hung up in the ropes Zacharias was tossed onto him sending both of them crashing to the floor. Euforia seems to match up really well with Marco's big left hands, and he ran into a few great ones here. Maximo also had a spry performance, tossing out some cool armdrag variations and working some nice sequences with Niebla. And there Rush is the whole match, working a weird turn back the clock gimmick. This whole match was seriously bizarre.

3. Metalico, Virus & Skandalo vs. Dragon Lee, Oro Jr. & Fuego (7/27/14)

Fun straight falls match with more of Metalico taking out all of his life's aggressions on Oro Jr. Oro bumps even bigger in this one than their showdown the week before. Even before the match starts Oro is waiting in the aisle for Metalico, which immediately backfires as Metalico sidesteps him, hits a great kneelift, and then tosses Oro into the ring post. Oro takes a really awesome Lawler style bump into the post. Oro takes another big beating from all the rudos here, with Metalico being the standout again as the vicious asskicker. The segunda sees the big tecnico comeback with all of them hitting big dives, Lee getting a big flip dive and a nice rana off the apron, and Oro about to exact his revenge when Metalico unmasks himself and gets the DQ win. I'm really liking this feud as it's really done a great job of making two guys stand out who I have never really giving second thoughts to. The fact I'm looking forward to more Metalico and Oro Jr. stuff really says something.

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report 2/23/13

These matches were from the 2/15/13 Arena Mexico show.




1. Lightning Match: Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. El Hijo del Fantasma

Lightning matches are pretty hard to judge as I don't believe I've ever seen one with much structure, unless "offense exhibition" counts as a type of structure. Judging selling and build and pace in a lightning match seems like a fool's errand, as none of the wrestlers are trying to do any of those things. They're just trying to do their coolest looking moves in as short amount of time as possible. The absolute best luchadors all try and work a show-off style in these matches, so they're kind of odd in that really great workers like Virus essentially work like Delta. So with all that in mind, this was one of the better lightning matches I've seen. The big spots were big, the other spots were hit cleanly. Rojo seemed a little selfish in this one as he very clearly had a Kurt Angle "waiting to get my shit in" look on his face (well...what's visible of his face). Fantasma hit a great tope that smashes Rojo into the barrier, but he sells it by fixing his hair. Oooookay. But then he hits an insane running dropkick from the rampway to the floor and who gives a shit how he sold a tope. Finish looks awesome as Fantasma goes for a rana, Rojo catches him, bounces him super high off the top rope and into a massive powerbomb.



2. Namajague/Averno/Mephisto vs. Valiente/Stuka Jr./Angel de Oro

1st fall is an extended rudo beatdown, as Okumura comes out dressed up as Namajague so that the REAL Namajague can ambush those sucker tecnicos. Namajague beats down Stuka the whole time, ripping at his mask and throwing stiff clotheslines while Averno is awesome on the ring apron riling up all the Arena fans. Oro wants to throw a beating on Averno but Averno stands with his head down and hands behind his back and Oro is too honorable and then Mephisto just blindsides him. Mephisto finishes this with an absolutely brutal Pepsi Plunge, with him holding Valiente up on the middle rope for a crazy amount of time before planting him. Rudo beatdown continues most of the way through the 2nd, making the tecnico comeback all the more satisfying. It was also satisfying because all three rudos are guys who know how to fly around for tecnico offense. Stuka hits a nice tope that sends Namajague flying into the barrier, Oro hits a nice moonsault from the 2nd rope, and Valiente hits his insane Valiente Special at crazy speeds, nailing that moonsault from the top to the floor. Back in and Namajague gets a kick caught and Stuka throws him down into the splits, misses the running knee and Namajague punches him in the balls to get a straight falls rudo win. Match wasn't much as it was all about setting up the mask/hair match, but it was fine for what it was and SOME indy dude needs to steal the "catch kick->pull opponent into doing splits->knee opponent in the face" move chain. Seems like something that would have already been done in Beyond Wrestling.



3. Ultimo Guerrero/Niebla Roja/Euforia vs. Atlantis/La Mascara/Super Porky

Again more of an angle than an actual match, setting up the Atlantis/UG mask match which should be amazing. It feels like I haven't seen Porky on TV in months, maybe over a year. He seems more immobile than the last time I saw him, but still manages to do his trademark spots (headlock/headscissor takeover, big splash off the top with assist from his team, giant running butt splash to all three rudos), it just takes him way longer to get to his feet afterwards. Roja looks really good here, being a total shit disturber while UG bumps around like a lunatic. Nothing stands out as being spectacular, but it passed the time.

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CMLL on Fox Deportes Workrate Report 2/17/13

1. Sensei/Oro Jr. vs. Super Comando/Artillero

I always get stoked when Sensei makes TV, and I don't believe I've ever seen Oro Jr. before. Artillero and Comando easily go under the radar as they only work openers, but usually they look pretty decent. HERE,  however, they look downright AWESOME. This was probably my absolute favorite performance by the two brothers. They were just shit kicking, smack talking jerks here. They also got to shine offensively more than usual. Comando hit a beastly missile dropkick that sent Oro sprawling, and Arti got to work a bunch of real cool wrist/arm work on Oro that likely wouldn't have been shown on Galavision. Sensei gets to do cool stuff (love his triangle rana) and love this as the coming out party for Comando/Arti. They are now officially guys I look forward to.



2. The OTHER Reyes Del Aire semifinal!!

Volador Jr vs. Virus vs. Valiente vs. Psicosis vs. Mascara Dorada vs. Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Maximo vs. Sangre Azteca vs. Mephisto vs. Rey Escorpion vs. Angel de Oro vs. Diamante vs. Niebla Roja vs. Puma vs. Triton vs. Fuego

Yeahhhhh buddy. Really looking forward to this as I think my boys Volador and Virus and Valiente can shine in this type of setting. I think on paper this Cibernetico looks stronger than the other one. And there is some awesome shit at the start of this. Psicosis takes a nutty Fuerza bump, Valiente hits an amazing bullet tope that sends Escorpion into the crowd, Maximo hits a gorgeous rana on Virus, and this is just a blast. Sangre Azteca is a guy who more people should talk about as being awesome, because he is. He doesn't get a long run here but he shines BRIGHT. You know that spot where guys drop to their tummy when an opponent is running the ropes to trip him up, but usually it just looks like going through spots as the guy drops down immediately? Well Sangre actually slides into Angel de Oro  , MAKING Oro jump over him or else he actually would have tripped. It's that extra mile. He gets eliminated by Valiente but goes out looking killer, taking two massive monkey flips into the ropes (like Eddy used to!) and shit that guy is good. But then holy shit Guerrero Maya does a flip tope that sends him flying into the 2nd row and YES that guy is awesome. I'm loving this.

Eliminations start flying fast and Maximo hits a wicked tope with no wussy hands to shield the blow, just face into face, arms at his side. Brutal. Volador and Valiente have a hot segment like you knew they would. And okay why is everybody doing a goofy "powerbomb a guy onto my own knees" spot. Three different guys have now done this same spot in the last 2 minutes. Admittedly Volador may be the guy who brought backcracker offense into Mexico and he seems to be amongst the biggest offenders, but fuck it. He does all that stuff with such speed and snap that I don't give a damn if it's all played out. As with all these matches, they do their thing until the finishes start happening, and then there's a pinfall every 45 seconds. But this was consistently awesome and I would highly recommend checking it out. All the guys seemed to be treating it like a really big deal and this was definitely better than the other one. Tons of awesome stuff.

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 8/11/12

1. Ultimo Guerrero/Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Atlantis/Diamante Azul

I really like the opening section with Atlantis and Rojo. As many of you know, a major problem with CMLL main events the last couple years has been them rushing through the first two falls in 3 total minutes to get to a your move/my move 3rd. But here the first fall gets some good time with Azul pairing off with UG and Atlantis pairing with Rojo. I *loved* the Atlantis/Rojo pairing getting to work some nice engaging mat segments. Rest of the match was OK. I liked Azul more when he was Metro. He was a youngish tecnico that would bust out some cool spots, and now it seems like they have him working more as veteran maestro...but he isn't a veteran maestro. So now he's just kinda more boring. UG and Atlantis always match up great (I don't think anybody makes Atlantis' rolling monkey flip look better than UG. His bumps to the floor are always majestic), and Atlantis just owns the 3rd. He has a couple minute run that is just pure awesome and shows yet another luchador who should own a "Life Begins at 50" shirt. 50 years old and he starts with a rad low and fast crossbody, and then rolls through a few different roll-up combos that look really cool, smooth, fluid, graceful, etc. Match did not blow me away but had plenty of cool moments and was fine for a big tag main event.

2. Ephesto/Mephisto/Euforia vs. Mistico/Valiente/Angel de Oro

So this is the debut of Dragon Lee as the new Mistico. The results were...mixed. The crowd actually seemed way into him, so that is a plus. I do not follow much lucha "news", as in attendance or booking decisions, or that kind of thing. Why was this done? Why did CMLL resurrect a supremely popular character a few years after his peak? Do they pass him off as the original? Do they play it off like a guy getting to play James Bond for the first time? In 20 years will people have their favorite Misticos? I go back and forth on my favorite Bonds all the time. Rachel likes some combination of the aloofness of Roger Moore and and look of Connery, I like all Bonds but Brosnan, with an odd fondness for Dalton.

The easy Dragon Lee/Mistico joke to make is that they needed someone who would accurately replace Mistico, so went with a guy who would blow a couple complicated armdrags and botch a springboard move per match. That being said, I like the choice of Lee as Mistico. I still need all the intentions explained to me as to WHY they resurrected Mistico, but he seems like a good choice. He's a risky flier who takes a lot of chances, and because of that will blow some spots. But when he spots hit holy GOD can they look fucking killer. In this match he hits an unreal rana to the floor that had me rewinding over and over again. Euforia was on the floor, Lee bounced off the opposite ropes, ran up the ropes and came vaulting over the top into a rana. It looked insane. Euforia jumped up a lot in my rankings as well by catching that rana like it was nothing. Later in the match Lee hit a springboard shooting star press to the floor. Nuts. Valiente and Ephesto are two of my favorites, so seeing them working all fast and reckless is always a treat, and Oro is a guy who has grown on me a lot over the last couple years. This match was all sorts of fun and the crowd seemed pretty hot for the debut. It had some botchy moments but so what, I would recommend watching it (even if you just fast forward looking for the rana spot!).

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 12/3/11

Cholo/Rammstein vs. Horuz/Camaleon:

Damn, LATV is really crate digging this week. This reminds me of episodes a year ago before more stars got injected into LATV. I believe this is the first time that Camaleon has popped up this year, and the first time I have ever seen him. He seemed OK, hit a big dive, has a goofy fun mask. Horuz looked even better here. He's another guy I haven't seen since like March or April, and I wasn't too into him then. But CHOLO. Motherfucking CHOLO is where it's at. I want a Cholo/Bronco team, of tallish rudos who are not flashy, but always solid. Cholo also has a great mask (it looks like Super Calo's, but with a drawn on Mexi-stache). He bumps, he hits a nice splash, you might not think of him often, but you appreciate him while watching him. Rammstein is getting tubbier, but hey, I like fatsos.



Tiffany/Mima Shimoda/Amapola vs. Lady Apache/Estrellita/Silueta:

Well this was pretty sloppy. There seemed to be some spots where gals got lost, and the whole thing was pretty directionless and meandering. Some good spots (Tiffany was awesome again, I really love her head stomps), Amapola stiffing Silueta, Shimoda throwing a boss elbow drop. The crowd started making a lot of noise when Tiffany and Estrellita were in against each other (because booobz), and isn't that what it's all about, America? Just women taking armdrags and throwing 'bows and having jugz. Silueta also hit a neat Thesz press off the apron.



Loco Max/Hooligan/Euforia vs. Angel Azteca Jr./Dragon Lee/Diamante:

Another disappointment. I like most of the guys in this, but this never really got the chance to get rolling. Dragon Lee will hit some crazy stupid awesome stuff off the ropes, Hooligan was wearing a completely ridiculous and amazing get-up, with union jacks and tassles and leather vest, Loco Max makes Diamante look pretty great in taking a nasty bump on the apron, then getting just leveled by Diamante's crazy flip dive. So the match wasn't without merit, just had no cohesion.



Rey Buccanero/Terrible/Texano Jr. vs. Sangre Azteca/Stuka Jr./Sagrado:

You know, this match got a decent amount of time, and I can hardly remember anything about it. Sagrado may be the most forgettable wrestler on the entire roster. Is there anybody who likes Sagrado? Dude is blandness with a capitol B. He's been around for years now and he seems no better now than he was when his failure of a debut push happened. Sagrado: The answer to the question nobody asked. Terrible and Texano are always fun together, they're always playful and look like they're having a good time, kinda goofing around and just punching and kicking dudes. Stuka Jr. is always good for some pretty flying, and Azteca hit a giant jumping ball stomp off the top rope. Hey, it wasn't bad. You won't remember it tomorrow.



Averno/Ephesto/Mephisto vs. Angel de Oro/La Mascara/Super Porky:

Averno and Ephesto are just born to make guys like Mascara and Oro look good. I think Oro and Mascara are fine, but their value goes up insanely when they are opposite Averno/Ephesto. Like, when Phil or SLL post something write after I post something, they look way better just by association. Phil is my expert rudo base who makes all my ranas look good and bumps faster than necessary to the floor. But, hey, I *like* Oro and Mascara, and I *like* their ranas and headscissors and flippy hoo-ha. It's fun and slick and looks good. But I was a big fan of Mistico's flippy hoo-ha and we've all seen how that works out when a guy (you'd think would be capable) like Chavo gets his mitts on a Mistico special. Sin Cara still works for me because he has more physical charisma than most guys that do what he do. He takes moves well and projects well and gets great height on moves. I have a feeling that Oro would look pretty ugly in the ring with Curt Hawkins. But I enjoy Curt Hawkins. Just don't want to see him as a lucha base. And that's why Averno and Ephesto are fucking awesome. They make me want to see guys do moves to them. And Ephesto has an amazing mask that nobody ever really talks about. He looks like a stalker that Arnold would kill early on in "The Running Man". I mean that in the best possible way. Richard Dawson.

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 10/29/11

1. Arkangel/Loco Max/Skandalo vs. Dragon Lee/Angel de Plata/Pegasso:

Really good first fall, 2nd fall got derailed by an injury, 3rd was non-existent. First fall you knew would be good, because it was a bunch of expert rudos beating up a bunch of fliers. Pre-match graphic lists Rey Cometa instead of Plata, but it's definitely Plata. I like Plata, but this got me falsely excited for a Cometa/Arkangel mat sequence that was not to be. All the rudos are wearing Dr. X tribute shirts which makes me sad. What a shame. Arkangel matching up against Pegasso was awesome, as Arkangel matching up anybody kinda so-so always is. I want him to put a hurting on Pegasso, as Pegasso was wearing a tank top cut so that his nipples *just* peeked out the sides. Make him pay for that. Arkangel always has really great takedowns, really forces a guy to the ground with his leg scissors takedowns. He breaks out some cool mat submissions and generally twists Pegasso around, which was exactly what I hoped for. 2nd starts with rudos kinda killing time until the tecnico comeback (though it did feature a nasty Loco Max kick to Dragon Lee's taint), Skandalo takes a great spill to the floor, and when Pegasso/Lee do stereo springboard moves, Lee gets stumbly on the ropes and basically does a swanton to the floor. Luckily he was able to compose himself enough to flip all the way over and didn't just go head first. He gets stretchered out (as CMLL replays it 5 times) and Skandalo is awesome beating up Lee on the stretcher. But then they cut to a quick Plata roll up finish, and the 3rd is a nothing fall ending in quick rudo DQ.



2. Silueta vs. Ray:

Really good women's match that would be well worth going out of your way to check out. I have only seen these two a couple times each and it was always in a trios so I never got a great feel for how good they were. Well, I would like to see more after this match. First two falls were very quick but had some good spots and good action. Ray's roll up to win the 2nd looked cool. But the 3rd is where it really picks up, and it's mainly because suddenly Ray starts working as a southern heel out of nowhere. It had been worked as a face/face match up until this point, and Ray comes out in the 3rd and starts, well, chopping Silueta right in the tits. Ouch. I mean, like 15 chops, right to the tits. Not upper chest, is what I'm saying. And the fans INSTANTLY turn on Ray. Sounds like mostly dudes booing her, too. Ray soaks it up and starts choking Silueta in the ropes and then kneels on her head while choking her in the ropes and I am loving evil Ray! Sadly, she gets less evil as the fall goes on and it does fall a bit into move trade offs, but it still was very very good and kept me engaged. Each woman gets to do their take on a somersault dive off the apron, nice superplex by Silueta, a GREAT nearfall for Silueta, and then the ending is kinda botched as the ref holds up on the 3 count, the whole crowd reacts to the nearfall...10 seconds go by....and then the ref just kinda raises Silueta's hand. Flat finish for a title win, but the match was very good and the CMLL ladies have really been delivering this year.



3. Misterioso Jr./Rey Escorpion/Vangelis vs. Angel de Oro/Black Warrior/Delta:

A match that had a lot of fun moments and nice individual spots, but wasn't really much of a match. Misterioso always brings it and he was probably the best guy here. Even if he wasn't he is always tassled out, which would make a bad wrestler look at minimum awesome. Delta didn't break out any real insane spots like he usually does, Vangellis hit his rad spear through the ropes onto the ramp, Oro hit a bunch of nice looking stuff (sweet little moonsault from the middle turnbuckle to the floor in the 3rd). Escorpion looked kinda off in this one, though. Overshot two moonsaults bad, and then took forever to do the "pull off mask, roll up Delta" finish. It was already a cheap finish, and then he kinda made it worse. So, some good moments, not much as a whole.



4. Dragon Rojo Jr./Averno/Mr. Niebla vs. Rush/Super Porky/La Sombra:

This went pretty much like the last match: Not much to it, but some good individual spots. And too much Rosa Concha. Averno takes Sombra's stuff real well, Rush hits a giant flip dive (Rush actually got cheered for doing it!), and that's about it. Not a very good main event by any means.

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 10/15/11

1. Pequeno Halcon/Aereo vs. Pequeno Universo 2000/Mercurio:

A bunch of minis who rarely make TV, I really like the two rudos though. Mercurio and Universo bump around great for the bland tecnico offense, especially Univero. He adds an extra snap to all the little armdrags and other things that could look really lifeless otherwise. Mercurio hits a boss corkscrew plancha and there isn't too much to this, all empty calories but it goes down super smooth. Suddenly 20 minutes goes by and you don't remember much of what happened, but nothing offended you and you had a good time.



2. Leono/Molotov/Trueno vs. Bronco/Rayo Tapatio I/Rayo Tapatio II:

Yes! The Tapatios finally back on my TV screen. This was like a throwback match to LATV a year ago, where they would just throw on these heatless openers with fun rudos who never make TV. This was from a Fan Appreciation show so the crowd is heated and it rocks. Los Rayos and Bronco are great old style rudos who don't do much on offense but they make so-so tecnicos shine and put over their offense wonderfully. The older Rayo is just the best, as he really works like my favorite type of rudo (like an Arkangel or Dinamitas type) who will throw a great back elbow, work the mat, and then take a bunch of armdrags. He blasts Molotov with a back elbow out of the corner that just made me squeal with glee. Bronco is like the Stevie Richards of lucha, as he has zero offense, but is always compelling in matches. All the tecnicos are just fine, but this was a great show for the rudos. I'm glad CMLL throws these guys on TV every so often.



3. Angel de Plata/Fuego/Pegasso vs. Hijo Del Signo/Nosferatu/Raziel:

Theme of the night is solid rudos who know their role. Pegasso kinda bums me out because I always think he's Rey Cometa when I first see him, but Cometa is way better. Pegasso usually hits a decent dive or rana or something, but whatever. Fuego keeps getting TV time and the more I see him, the more I like him. Signo seems like the kind of worker who is guaranteed to never get pushed. All the young fliers get pushed, and he's like a young Cien Caras, which is not what the young women and children want to see these days. I love you though, Signo. Plata hits a big dive, Signo boots dudes in the stomach, business as usual, nothing flashy nothing bad, fun solid 2011 lucha match.



4. Ephesto/Misterioso Jr./Vangelis vs. Angel de Oro/Black Warrior/Metro:

Too short to mean much of anything, but I like all the guys here. Vangelis inspires fans to bring a bunch of Nazi signs to Arena Mexico which is...difficult...to explain to my girlfriend. This just went by so freaking quick that I hardly remember anything in this.



5. Atlantis/Hijo Del Fantasma/La Mascara vs. Mr. Niebla/Ultimo Guerrero/Volador Jr.:

Another super quick match as it goes by in two straight falls, but there is TONS of stuff to see in these quick falls. This was a total Volador showcase as he really makes Mascara work for his tecnico pops. Cuts him realllll low on missed clotheslines and really allows Mascara's spots to have maximum value. Niebla and Ultimo ain't no slouches here either, with Ultimo hitting his awesome butt splash in the corner and Niebla just blasting somebody in the corner with his awesome left hand. Atlantis is really a truly great tecnico as he was just on fire throughout all of this. But still, Volador, people. Volador. His timing is expert and he carries himself like a total superstar. It's hard not to get into everything that this guy does. He's like the best possible version of rudo Mistico. So yeah, super short match, nothing MOTY worthy, but there's tons of good stuff here crammed into a tiny amount of time.

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