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 Galavision Workrate Report 2/16/13

These matches originally happened on the 2/8/13 Arena Mexico show.

1. Demus 3:16/Pequeno Violencia//Pequeno Olimpico vs. Bam Bam/Fantasy/Astral

Hey! A TV appearance from Fantasy! Demus vs. Bam Bam is one of the modern great lucha match-ups, so I always get excited when they're opposite each other. Demus' charisma is a cut above the rest of the minis division and it's a shame he didn't get to become a real boy the other year. Match is good junk food. No substance but goes down pleasantly. Fantasy is always good for some fun (his springboard moonsault while his opponent is hung up in the ropes is pretty nutty), Astral at least finally works with a shirt on to spare me from his topographical back, Bam Bam crashes and burns pretty spectacularly (though not as good as Demus), and the ending made me jump forward in my chair. Demus has Bam Bam up in a muscle buster, parades him around the ring, and Bam Bam wriggles free and drops straight down, catching Demus legs at the last minute and rolling him up. Sounds normal, but the way it looked flipped me out. Bam Bam just sheer vertical dropped, head straight down, and tucked at the very last minute possible. I thought he was just going to get spiked and die. Dude is crazy.


2. Namajague/Misterioso Jr./Okumura vs. Rey Cometa/Stuka Jr./Hijo Del Fantasma

Short but really fun match to build up to the eventual hair/mask match. Namajague is his awesome self here, blowing mist and ripping Stuka's mask, throwing nasty back elbows and taking a massive monkey flip bump on the rampway. Fantasma hits his really cool running ramp-to-ring clothesline and a massive flip dive. Cometa gets spectacularly bullied by Misterioso and does his great flip bump off a stiff clothesline. Misterioso beats him up good and it all builds to some beautiful ranas and the tornillo you want to see. Okumura looked great here, too working his low-rent SUWA/Dinamitas style. I dig all these guys.



3. Ultimo Guerrero/Terrible/Tiger vs. Atlantis/Rush/Shocker

This was alright but also was used to build up the UG/Atlantis mask match, which is a MASSIVE mask match right there. The UG resurgence these past couple years has been really awesome. He's a guy who was one of my absolute favorites in 2000-2001, and my the middle of the decade he kinda personified all my least favorite parts of lucha. So it's nice to see him so energized and awesome again. Speaking of guys who were amongst my favorites 12 years ago, Shocker looks soooo sloooow these days. He looks to be getting in better shape than last year, but he still tries to do all his old spots, just so much slower. Terrible is fun here slapping around Rush and I know I'm way down to see UG and Atlantis tear it up. UG levels him at one point in the match with a brutal baseball slide dropkick (basically did a Fuerza bump dropkick) that sent Atlantis flying. Best "through the ropes" dropkick since the Owen Hart/1-2-3 Kid KOTR match. I'm game for two dudes in their 40s bleeding and dying for their masks.

Also was I napping or did CMLL rock una caida matches this week?

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 2/9/13

These matches all took place on the 2/1/13 Arena Mexico card.



1. Arkangel de la Muerte/Skandalo/Nitro vs. Hombre Bala Jr./Fuego/Super Halcon Jr.

First fall is kind of a mess as it all boils down to Nitro being the foil for Fuego and Halcon's double teams, and nobody does much of anything very well in the set-up. Arkangel is not surprisingly the highlight of the first fall, as his work with Bala looks pro. Even little things like locking up look engaging when Arkangel is involved. I did really like Fuego's sunset flip that saw him climb up and over Nitro. 2nd fall is all about some awesome Bala/Arkangel sequences. Arkangel has an expert way of falling into position for crazy and/or silly tecnico offense and he puts that to masterful display here. Bala does two weird dives that Arkangel falls for, one of them being a dive through the bottom ropes into a splash on the ramp way, the other being an AWESOME dive while Arkangel is sitting in the corner. Bala vaults off Fuego and goes torpedoing headfirst into Arkangel, coming in at a fierce diagonal. Crazy. Third fall is all about the rudos getting tecnicos into prone positions and then doing running dropkicks to their taints. It seriously happened like 4 times. At one point Fuego hits a balls out insane dive over the top to the floor, coming in completely vertical. Overall the match wasn't much, but definitely worth watching for all the cool Arkangel moments.



2. Amapola/Princesa Blanca/Princesa Sugheit vs. Dark Angel/Marcela/Estrellita

First fall is a pretty good shitkicking of Estrellita. Amapola in particular looked like she wasn't holding back very much , but then things got awesome when Estrellita made her comeback and didn't hold back on Amapola, wrenching her around by her hair and giving her a stiff as hell dropkick to the floor. All that continues into the 2nd with more stiff clotheslines and Amapola taking a brutal Cassandro bump through the corner ropes that saw her barely catch the turnbuckle. She basically did a suicide dive to nobody. Nuts. Dark Angel has some pretty ranas and Blanca is a gal who is great at taking ranas. Tecnicas win in straight falls but it's all action and really fun.



3. Ultimo Guerrero/Mephisto/Terrible vs. Maximo/Rush/Shocker

First couple falls were all angle and a total schmozz, but an awesome schmozz that saw UG attack Atlantis at the announce table and bust his lip open, and then Atlantis take off his belt and threaten UG. Maximo bumps big into the guard rail and Rush continues looking really great while Shocker continues to look slow and busty. UG will take a massive Jerry bump (here he wasn't going to get much height so clearly pushes off with his arms to fling himself higher. Crazy.) but he's mostly occupied with shit talking Atlantis from the ring in this match. Rush is probably the star of the whole thing, hitting a nutso running dropkick from the apron to the floor, timing a superkick great while Maximo is doing a do-so-do with Terrible, and generally jacking up the crowd. Maximo looked great here too as he and Mephisto match up really well together for complicated armdrag spots. So yeah, not much of a "match" as things are fairly short and chaotic, but I would say it's well worth checking out.

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 2/2/13

These matches are from the 1/25/13 Arena Mexico show.

1. Princesa Sugheit/Amapola/Princesa Blanca vs. Luna Magica/Silueta/Estrellita:

The rudas get to tear it up here and Estrellita makes me sad. She is the the embodiment of every woman who makes out with another woman in a bar for attention from weird guys, just because it's some sort of attention. At this point I'm just hoping she takes to aging more gracefully than Lil' Kim. But boy does it make it that much more fun to watch the rudas beat her down. Match ended with a gang beatdown by those evil women that saw Tigre Hispano thrown down. What's insane is that, racking my brain, I don't remember the last time I saw a ref bumped like that. It was such a constant thing in the late 90s/early 00s. My friend Carlos' grandma used to get furious when somebody would hit the ref to end a match. She wouldn't get furious because it was a crap finish, she would get furious because the ref was impartial. "He didn't DO anything! Why would they HIT HIM!?" She felt for those poor refs, so I imagine Hispano getting bumped and then instantly, proudly standing up and calling it for the tecnicas would have made her happy. But seriously, are ref bumps still a thing and I'm just way out of the loop? I know TNA was still regularly doing them as recently as a few years ago, but that's to be expected when they were still booking like Crash TV was all the rage.

2. Lightning Match: Atlantis vs. Mr. Niebla:

Well this is already the greatest lightning match I've ever seen because Niebla ambushes Atlantis with a fucking CHAIN wrapped around his fist and punches ATL right in the face a few times, then WHIPS him while he's prone on the entrance ramp!! Whipping a guy with a chain is a tough thing to pull off in wrestling, as to make it look good you pretty much have to whip a dude with a chain. And these chain whips looked brutal, right across the ribs. Then these guys whip each other into the ringside barriers, and usually those little do-si-do Irish whips look pretty silly but here I totally bought into the physics and momentum of the whole thing. Rest of match was a cool sprint with powerbombs, a great Atlantis dive, nice missile dropkick, slick dana and mask ripping and ball shots and a jacked dude in the crowd wearing a Kemonito mask which made me super jealous. Best lightning match of the last year +.

3. Volador Jr./Psicosis/Mr. Aguila vs. Mascara Dorada/La Sombra/Titan:

First fall of this is a little choppy with some stuff being out of sync and guys hitting their marks a bit early (or a bit late). Volador takes a rana better than just about anybody, and his reverse rana is one of the sickest moves in wrestling (especially with Sombra snapping back over from it). Things pick up a bit in the 2nd with some cool triple teams (love the pendulum powerbomb with Volador running through Titan and making him spin up and over and splat. Dorada's springboard moves are always spectacular and his ranas in this are no different. Him going from the apron, to the inside middle rope, to a rana that ends with him standing just looks impossible to pull off. He also takes a sky high bump over the top to the floor. Volador shows everybody how to take a dive by absorbing Sombra's hilo like a man, and Sombra later repays the favor by leaning way in to Volador's nutso moonsault to the floor. After a shaky start there were plenty of rad spots in the 2nd and 3rd. This was kinda like lucha junkfood as there wasn't much substance but was plenty enjoyable.

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 11/17/12

These matches were from the 11/9 Arena Mexico show.

1. Sangre Azteca vs. Fuego

Not bad at all. Sangre hits a wicked springboard seated dropkick to Fuego's "inner thigh", Fuego gets a nice nearfall off a rana, and this was over quickly even for a lightning match. 

2. Okumura/Puma King/Namajague vs. Rey Cometa/Stuka Jr./Triton

First fall is fucking GREAT with Stuka launching a bullet tope into Okumura, Rey Cometa improving by the month (he is just so much more fluid than most of the young fliers in CMLL that get pushed above him. His headscissors are my favorite since Freelance was regularly making tape), Okumura always fills the empty place in my heart left by SUWA, and Namajague has a real great snap to his bumps which really puts over Stuka and Triton. He really whips himself into face first bumps and flings himself into the ropes on a monkey flip, and really makes a seated dropkick to his chest look like it collapsed his sternum. Cometa has that same snap and makes every single kick that Puma throws look like he's getting blasted by vintage Cro Cop. Cometa's flip bumps off clotheslines are a thing of beauty. 3rd caida features all three tecnicos one-upping each other with dives, as Stuka hits his beautiful arm-tucked tope en reversa off the top to the floor, Triton hits an insane springboard moonsault to the floor, and then Cometa twists about 18 times on a plancha before hitting Puma. So awesome. This is probably the most fun CMLL match I've seen in 6 months and everybody got to shine, and they all looked fucking GREAT. This match was AWESOME. Once Cubs posts it I will throw it up here and make it mandatory viewing.



3. Volador Jr./Ultimo Guerrero/Terrible vs. Marco Corleone/Maximo/Rush

Volador has the best superkick in the bizzzz, and UG does the best Jerry bump in the bizzzz. No clue how his ankles just haven't shattered by now, and no clue how Volador hasn't beheaded someone at this point. Corleone looks like a total goober here with his football jersey, caesar haircut and chinstrap beard. I assume he got tired of Mexican pussy at some point and began actively trying to ugly up in an attempt to turn it away. Volador can make a standard headscissors look like it breaks his neck and bumps spectacularly for Maximo. Rush is really getting good, too. I used to not be able to stand this guy, but his comebacks and stomps and fire are getting undeniably natural. Do other people like Marco? I don't think I've honestly heard an opinion either way. Am I the only one? I genuinely liked him during his original CMLL run, and he hasn't really missed a beat. I like his looping left, he bumps big for his size, and his charisma is undeniable. Yeah, he pussed out on a Volador superkick, but I understand. Maximo hits a stunning ropewalk flip dive to the floor, and Terrible gets to go over Marco super clean, and this match completely delivered in every single way. Cubs needs to post these stat, as both of these last two matches are 100% must see. Probably my two favorite CMLL matches from the last 4+ months.

Also, I've had a lot of bourbon. I'm confident it hasn't affected my viewpoint. I have drunk dialed numerous ex girlfriends, however.

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 11/10/12

These matches were from the 11/2 Arena Mexico show and all the ring girls are dressed up like corpse brides. The sluttiest corpse brides these eyes have ever seen (and I live in a college town).

1. Skandalo vs. Delta

This was what it was. I really dig Skandalo but I don't think he's as well suited to singles matches yet, same goes for Delta. Skandalo had a foxy gypsy girl with him that helped him cheat to a bunch of dropkick offense (tie Delta up in the corner, running dropkick to inner thigh. Tie Delta up in the ropes, running dropkick to ass.), and Delta bumped admirably (including a nice sprawl into the ring barrier after getting chucked by the mucho stockier Skandalo), but at a certain point this was just Skandalo getting in the way of Delta's flipping and lying there while Delta flipped onto him.

2. Princesa Blanca/Princesa Sugheit/La Commandante vs. Luna Magica/Dark Angel/Estrellita

Everybody is wearing Halloween/Day of the Dead costumes and Blanca/Sugheit look awesome as mourning widows. Dark Angel is wearing a body suit and somehow looks way hotter than when she is hardly wearing anything at all. You see that, ladies, it's all about what you DON'T show. The fans seem to agree with me as every time she's in the hoots 'n' hollers start up (which I don't remember ever hearing when she's dressed in her normal gear. Odd). Commandante I assume is dressed as 80s Billy Crystal or Diego Luna's dad. This was actually really surprising, because the rudas just dominated most of the match. Tecnicas would always transition to offense by the rudas missing a move, never by just fighting back. Most of the match was Blanca and the others just treating them like they didn't belong, tossing them around by their hair, calmly stepping out of the way of flying attacks, foiling tecnica ambushes, etc. Just a really weird structure. Conversely, Dark Angel cat suit.



3. Ultimo Guerrero vs. Rey Escorpion

Now this was a really really good CMLL main event. They took the lousy main event structure, but worked within those confines to mix it up a bit. 1st caida is usually a 90 second move sprint ending with a move that shouldn't normally end a fall. 2nd is usually a 30 second fall ending with the other guy getting a submission that doesn't look painful. Then the 3rd is usually a your-move-my-move extravaganza. Those elements were all somewhat present here, but twisted just enough to make it work VERY well. 1st caida was just a straight mugging by UG, with Escorpion taking a gnarly flat back bump to the floor, then getting hit by a UG tope, then getting hit by a UG flip dive, then getting hit by a UG plancha from the top to the floor. Escorpion gets counted out and UG wins the first. I LOVE that way to end a fall, just not giving your opponent time to breathe and if you only have a couple minutes to work in a fall, that's a great way to do it. 2nd fall is your standard super short fall, and ends by Escorpion submission, but only because UG gets cocky and tries to go for some loopy, silly submission, loses it, and allows Rey to sink in a better one to capitalize on UG's mistake. So there was just more behind the sub than simply a guy taking a back bumped and locking it on like it usually goes. UG went for some silly shit while in control, Rey made him pay. 3rd does have move exchanges, but both guys sell damage nicely, moves build upon other moves. UG blasted Rey with a nice sit out powerbomb earlier in the match, in the 3rd he goes for one off the 2nd rope and there's a cool exchange where Rey is trying to take UG's mask off while UG is struggling with whether to hold onto his mask or hold onto the powerbomb. Great spot with great struggle that added mightily to things. So yeah, CMLL main event formula pretty much blows, but this is GREAT proof that those will talent can overcome any crummy formula. Check it out.

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 4/21/12

1. Diamante vs. Polvora:

So last week I was going nutso and being super impressed by Diamante Azul, thinking that Diamante (who I previously thought was good) had suddenly gotten really good and got pushed into main events under some sort of Blue Demon "Blue Diamonds" gimmick, and I fawned all over his somersault senton off the rampway last week. But now I found out that Diamante Azul was actually the repackaged Metro. And I'm a guy who looooves me some Metro. Metro is like a top 50 CMLL guy for me, which sounds pretty unimportant, but I'm a guy who likes CMLL more than the average joe. I genuinely think there are at least 50 really good wrestlers on their gigantic roster. Shoot, I like over 125 guys on the CMLL roster. If I ever get off our collective butts and do a 500 (totally my fault, as I know Phil and Dylan and Tom would be well on board if I spearheaded) then CMLL guys would likely take up 25% of the 500. Shoot, the top 100 would probably be 25% CMLL guys. So I dig Metro and would probably have him somewhere in the 101-200 range. And Diamante is a guy who I enjoyed last year, but would probably fall somewhere in the 400-500 range.

And then this match happened and made me feel like an idiot for doubting Diamante. And feel like an idiot for doubting Polvora. You know, some of these lightning matches feel like lame little exhibitions where the guys run through some tepid sequences in about 5 minutes (last week's Super Commando match felt like a guy who really didn't need anymore singles match time), but Diamante and Polvora treat this match as if their jobs depended on it, and it was full on best possible 1 A.M. Worldwide performance ever. Diamante is just nuts in this, spilling to the floor spectacularly on a couple occasions, making Polvora's baseball slide dropkick look deadly, taking a backdrop on the rampway, just throwing that body around. After one of the spills he gets up, runs back to the apron and immediately snaps off a springboard rana (then gets caught doing the same thing later in the match! Callback!). Polvora takes a nice Cassandro bump, Diamante breaks out a cool rolling armbar as if he just got done watching some 2001 Minoru Tanaka matches, and the match ends with a nasty spill from the top. I can't imagine a lightning match getting much better than this one. Well worth your 6 minutes.



2. Misterioso Jr./Shigeo Okumura/Namajague vs. Valiente/Stuka Jr./Hijo Del Fantasma:

Awwwww yeah! Valiente is starting to fatten up again and that can only mean good things for all of us. The chubbier he gets, the more awesome he gets, and he was pretty awesome here. Okumura is another guy I really like who I feel nobody else in the world of online pro wrestling fans really cares about. He really reminds me of guys like SUWA or Cien Caras who know how to rile up a crowd and stooge great for a tecnico. Here he helps Fantasma get a great reaction (and bumps great for Fantasma's awesome ramp-run flying clothesline). Stuka has a death with and his hands-to-his-sides tope en reversa to the floor is a thing of beauty and pure insanity. Misterioso brings big bumps and flawless tassles without fail. Here he takes a great Cassandro bump and a huge monkey flip on the floor (followed by Kemonito splash off the apron!). And then there was Namajague, whom I had never seen before this. Apparently he's a NJPW junior and here he's dressed up like Onibaba or some other Japanese ghost who has nothing better to do than hang around some Japan village waiting for some poor guy to break an insignificant promise or tell somebody an unimportant secret. Then kill him when he does after waiting for like 10 years. I feel that Namajague's matwork was about as interesting as that ghost waiting around 10 years for that guy to slip up and reveal a secret.



3. Averno/Ephesto/Mephisto vs. La Sombra/Diamante Azul/Rush:

So in my break from CMLL, it appears that guys have gotten fatter. Valiente has chubbed out again, Stuka looks fatter, and Averno/Ephesto/Mephisto have all packed on some weight. So things change, guys get fatter and still stay awesome...and yet Rush is still a tecnico. Why, oh why, is Rush still a tecnico!? This match was worked at a super fast pace, which some people will not like. Usually when you see a CMLL main event that has guys rushing through spots, then you know you're in store for about an 8 minute match with a bunch of quick, silly falls. But then this match kept going, and it kept up that pace. So really you just had a nice long match with constant action. Sombra/Averno/Ephesto put on a helluva show in the 3rd. I have no idea how those guys weren't just totally gassed. Sombra did tons of ranas, and (without checking the actual tally) I estimate that Averno/Ephesto took about 17 monkey flip bumps. The pace didn't stop for the duration, just constant bumps and neat movez. I can deal.

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