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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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 10/8/11

1. Trueno/Bengala vs. Camorra/Zayko

Well...this wasn't that good. I don't really like the two rudos, but I can see Zayko being OK in a couple years. I don't think Camorra has been doing this for too long so I don't really expect much out of him and don't get much. He's your pretty standard newbie rudo, backcrackers and all. He bumps in really slow motion and is just boring. Zayko can at least bump to the outside off headscissors OK. Bengala is a guy I've seen a bunch and he regularly shows why he is right where he belongs, working paint-by-numbers openers at Arena Mexico. He never shows any emotion and there's rarely any flow to anything he does. It seems like before he does anything, he says to himself, "OK, now I have to do *this*". "OK, now I have to flip him over. OK, now I have to put on a surfboard." There's that delay. Trueno is a good tecnico and seems to have more potential than the others here, though he has a problem overshooting things. This was the definition of a skippable opener.



2. Goya Kong/Marcela/Ray vs. Amapola/La Seductora/Mima Shimoda:

Quick and fun women's match. Goya Kong is always a blast as the crowd always loves her and she uses her size well (big butt attacks, and an awesome "trust fall" senton where she just fell straight backwards onto an opponent), but also does really nice armdrags and has a very nice springboard arm drag that looks impressive. Marcela always looks great and is arguably the best luchadora in CMLL, with Amapola the being the other one I would argue for. This is great because they match up a few times and look great. Ray is a Tajiri student who I had never seen, but had some fun flying offense, nice rana, silly little dive off the apron. I really dug Shimoda's axe kick to a seated Ray. Fun popcorn match with not too much substance, but plenty of fun individual moments.



3. Angel de Plata/Metal Blanco/Palacio Negro vs. Cancerbero/Nosferatu/Raziel:

Some good moments, some stumbly moments, overall fairly decent. The rudos trio are kinda hard to pin down into a "quality of work" hierarchy. Every match I see, a different member of the group looks like the better worker. I think it's called the "Los Oficiales Conundrum". Cancerbero seems to get better every match, and Raziel is probably the most consistent. Nosferatu has impressed me before but has had a pretty bleh 2011. So I'd go Cancerbero, Raziel, Nosferatu. Nosferatu also doesn't do anything remotely like a vampire. He doesn't even have fangs on his mask as far as I can tell. Blanco can be fun when his spots are on, but he seemed just a *little* off in this one. And his knees and ankles hate him for not being able to enter a ring without doing a springboard flip while landing on his feet. I do like Blanco's springboard "crotch myself, then bounce off the middle rope back to the top rope and do a rana" spot. Palacio Negro seems to get some praise around the internet, and sometimes his spots are cool, but other times there is a hilariously awesome amount of set-up time. It's like when Chris Hero was working his "2001 JAPW throwback" gimmick and the NOAH fans were confused. Negro can't just do a rana to the guy on the floor, he has to bounce off the opposite ropes, roll over the top rope to the floor, spin around, then do a rana. That being said, his ranas always do look nice when he actually finally does them.



4. Blue Panther/Super Porky/Toscano vs. Ephesto/Euforia/Vangelis:

This was good, and quite frankly if it had been nothing but the two minutes of Panther/Ephesto matwork then I would've loved it just as much. Panther is having one helluva year, and my favorite part of it is all the different people he's worked. When Panther comes into the match against an opponent I haven't seen him work so far this year, it's always a really exciting moment, and it seems like he always gets a solid 2 minutes against a bunch of these guys. So far when looking back at the year, when you think of who so and so matched up best with, Panther's name is always the one that immediately comes up. Panther, Virus and Arkangel all can hang their hats on certain workers' "best 2 minutes" this year. I'm pretty sure this was Ephesto's best 2 minutes this year, and he's always good. Panther seems to work the mat different with every single person he works, doing things I've never seen him do before each and every time. Him slowly getting out of an Ephesto headscissors was maybe my favorite mat transition of the year. All the bridging back and forth and fighting for leverage just looked totally great.

Toscano was wearing some absolutely ridiculous jorts that just came off too desperate. I just don't know what to do with you Tarzan Boy. Dude has to be one of the lazier workers of the last 10 years, and it's annoying because when he tries then he can totally rock it. His 3rd fall performance here (once he did a Garza and removed the stupid pants) was awesome, with him whipping off a great rana and a great missle dropkick. The more I see Euforia the more I love him, just a big bumping rudo who allows tecnicos to shine. Vangelis always stands out since he's a power worker and usually the only power worker in a given match. Here he hits a cool spear through the ropes onto the rampway and a nice dive into Panther. Also of note was Blue Panther getting a hot tag and starting to undo his pants, threatening to remove his tights while poking fun at Toscano getting a cheap pop from the ladies. Blue Panther, ladies and gentleman: Best wrestler in the world, 2011?



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

Niebla hides on the rampway to start and blindside Atlantis after he makes it down the stairs and while all of this is fun while it lasts, I knew we weren't long for this world (match started with about 11 minutes left in the show). Rudos get DQ'd 2 straight falls in a row, first one for taking Atlantis' mask off, 2nd for Niebla just punting Atlantis in the balls right in front of the ref. Volador was awesome trying to roll up Atlantis immediately following the ball shot, as if nothing happened. The rudos get fun runs with Fantasma in the 2nd, with Ultimo leveling him with a shoulderblock (great bump by Fantasma), Fantasma and Ultimo work a lightning fast segment where Fantasma charged, got tossed to the top rop by Ultimo, Ultimo gets his arm kicked away (love that spot) and then Fantasma snaps off a rana. Volador has the same luck against him, with Fantasma nailing him with a big enziguiri. Niebla figures out the Fantasma riddle by just punching him in the face and it rules. Super short match, but enough fun moments for me to enjoy.

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