Lucha Worth Watching: Dalys vs. Isis! Rush & Cavernario Put Up Their Hair!

Dalys vs. Reyna Isis  CMLL 9/7/18

ER: This wasn't in an easy spot on the card, right after a micros trios match that was fairly epic in scope, had a ramp dive and got a lot of time, big triumphant Micro Man finish. So this match had to follow that, and they opted for opening with 3 minutes of snug matwork. They went right out and said "you're getting something different" and I liked it. Dalys works mean throughout the whole match, totally turning a woman who is the QUEEN of ISIS into a tecnica. I liked their mat exchanges, a lot of hard takedowns and nice headlocks. Dalys muscled her around and stomped her around the ring, hit a couple nice throws and looked real scary in spots. Isis had a couple nice tecnica comebacks, a nice rana, dive off the middle rope to the floor, a nice Santo rolling sunset flip. But Dalys was real tough here, came off like someone who could believably work intergender trios. Dalys finished with a stiff senton, and I liked how energized Isis was throughout, and even while getting pinned she was still limply trying to kick her limbs out. I thought this was a tough match, and probably the most interested lightning match I've seen this year.

PAS: Dalys looked awesome in this match, sort of a mix of Finlay and Cris Cyborg. She really punishes Isis, putting her in a STF and yanking up on her neck, driving her knee into Isis chest, lifting her up by her hair. All of her slams had Isis landing flat backed, which is pretty rare in lucha, and felt like she knocked all of the air out of her. Isis had some headscissors and an OK dive, but I really didn't buy her getting any offense on Dalys. Joe Gomez wasn't ripping off offense on Fit or anything. Still a great vicious performance by Dalys and I need to dig around and watch more of her.

Hair vs. Hair: Barbaro Cavenario/Rush vs. Volador Jr. Matt Taven  CMLL 9/14/18

ER: Say what you will about this match, but these are four heads of hair worthy of a hair match. If my head were shaved, it would be grown back to where I typically keep it within 6 weeks. Not a valuable guy to have in a hair match? But Cavernario has the most hair by volume in the fed, Rush has the most valuable hair in wrestling, Volador's is among the longest in the fed, and Matt Taven is a garbage direct to video Pauly Shore as Slender Man. The match has plenty of flaws, Matt Taven stinks up most of his time in the match, but he's countered by a touchstone big match performance from Cavenario, a performance that really cements him among the best main event workers in the world today. A crazy tercera also helps kick this to the good side, with plenty of big moves, a huge moment I don't think I've seen, and that continually crazy Barbaro performance. Barbaro breaks out some some unhinged caveman moments, diving off the entrance ramp with a big splash, diving off the top with a big splash, crazy missile dropkick that he lands on his feet, breaking out his from the apron past the ringpost dive, nearly beheading himself on a Fuerza bump, eating a flip dive from Volador, taking a suicide elbow from Taven, eating Volador's flipping piledriver with a death wish, taking a rana standing on the top rope....it was a fucking stunt show and Cavenario was Hal Needham. Taven looked like shit and even spent a large part of the match getting booed. Did the crowd sense the rudo turn, or were they just sick of his dogshit flipping neckbreaker variations? Sick of him hitting bad springboard dropkicks? Volador does  plenty of stuff I dislike, and I think we're beyond needing a moratorium on backcrackers in lucha, but he throws himself hard into a quebrada and a big flip dive and that adds to the match. Rush walked around like a punk and threw some hard corner dropkicks, had an excellent timely save, and absolutely planted Volador with the piledriver finish. This whole thing was plenty fun, even with flaws, but even if the match stunk it would be worth seeing just for Cavenario.

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Lucha Worth Watching: Sugehit's Quest for Hair

Princesa Sugehit/Marcela/Kaho Kobayashi vs. La Seductora/Amapola/Dalys  CMLL 4/20/18

ER: You don't get a lot of gritty women's brawls in Arena Mexico, and this felt unique because of that. There was a great vibe throughout, with the rudas all being assholes, Dalys being a muscular bully, Amapola putting in her typically solid work, and Seductora being this crazy eyed, bad dye jobbed psycho in a gimmick that doesn't totally feel appropriate. Marcela is killing it in fight braids, Kobayashi is smaller than the others, and comes off green (despite having done this for a few years) but has good energy and is a good tecnica in peril, and Sugehit is a GREAT sympathetic tecnica and the crowd absolutely loses their shit for her comeback in the segunda. It was a fantastic, loud, joyous reaction. Seductora was a real lunatic at points, biting at Sugehit's head, ripping at her hair, hangs her upside down in the corner just so she can literally stand on her vagina, slams her face in the mat, clotheslines her in the back of the head, all great stuff. Sugehit ends up on the floor in the front row holding many parts of her body, and Seductora does not let up. The rudas are really running the boards, all taking their turns getting Irish whipped into offense on Sugehit in the corner, so when Sugehit runs out of the corner with a dropkick on Seductora it's a very simple but very HUGE moment. The crowd explosion was justified. I didn't have a ton of opinion on Seductora before this, but I loved how mean she was, then loved how much ass she showed for Sugehit's comeback, doing all these great exaggerated head motions and eye rolls, runs away from her down the ramp, runs away from her into the crowd, then acts like the queen of the world when she taps her in the tercera. I'm in, I want to see where this goes.

Hair vs. Hair: Princesa Sugehit vs. La Seductora  CMLL 4/27/18

ER: I liked this, but it never really felt like an actual apuestas match to me. The prior week's trios felt way more aggressive, way more immediate, and the chaos of 4 other people wandering around beating each other up while Seductora beat Sugehit around the arena made things seem like a bigger deal. This felt like a big title match, but it didn't really get to that level of desperation and violence that I like from apuestas matches. They probably bit off a bit too much, and the match went a bit long and felt dragg-y in spots, and we also got two pretty dull performances from the seconds, Dalys and Kaho. Kaho smacked the apron occasionally, and Dalys waved a towel around, but both really could have added more juice to this. Seductora did her part, came out really hateful, ripping at Sugehit's hair and throwing her around the entranceway, choking her over the bottom turnbuckle and just straight stomping her pussy a bunch while Sugehit was hung in the tree of woe. Jeez, Seductora. Sugehit got tossed to the floor, thrown into the barricade, tossed into the announcers stand, all of it effective. But I didn't love how the primera or segunda ended, both felt a bit sudden and hasty, even though I liked Sugehit coming back with a bunch of stiff kicks in the segunda. Seductora is weirdly bad at bumping through the ropes, so we got a few different spots of her getting dropkicked to the floor, or thrown back in the ring, and they all looked clunky. But I DID like her willingness to use the ropes in the tercera, as it lead to a very well done nearfall, but I still think the tercera would have played better if they had snipped some time. Seductora runs away during the haircutting, which was a plus, as Sugehit got to jump her and drag her back. But then she made funny faces during the cutting, which was a negative. The shaved head gives her a ruda Emma Gonzalez vibe, so maybe they put her together with Sam Adonis. I think the revanche trios has a shot at being the best match of the series, as I liked a lot of what they did but don't think they had "long singles match" in them. More bodies and a fired up ruda crew could make this good.

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Lucha Worth Watching: Tiffany! Niebla!

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

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

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

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

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 7/19/14

These matches were all from the 7/4 Arena Mexico show, on a day that was decidedly less celebratory than any events happening in the United States that day. I'm not sure anybody in Mexico sat through a fireworks show while a Lee Greenwood CD played.

1. Valiente, Titan & Atlantis vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Niebla Roja & Gran Guerrero

Really fun match. Primera had some fun mat rolls with Valiente and Gran Guerrero, two guys I've never seen go on the mat against each other. They do a series of fun little ankle picks leading into some nice Valiente arm drags. We get UG ripping Atlantis' mask and a big time Atlantis dive. Valiente had some more killer moments in the tercera, hitting some nice ranas (with a beautiful one off the top on Roja) and a super fast dive that Roja mans up for on the catch. Titan and Guerrero clumsy up some things here, with both doing offense that dumps them on their own heads. Titan throws in more silly somersaults than usual, coming off like a more snug RVD at some points. Ending was a nice little surprise as it looked like Atlantis was gonna get the pinfall on UG, but GG sneaks in and snares him into a nasty little submission.

2. Tiffany, Dalys & La Seductora vs. Princesa Sugheit, Lluvia & La Vaquerita

Damn this is kind of digging deep for the women's division. Vaquerita isn't somebody who really pops up that often. And the match is about as forgettable as a lucha trios can be. It's super short, even for just a straight falls match, and is really just a bunch of chopping and poor rope running with some nice apron dives thrown in at the end. Vaquerita didn't look like much, Dalys seemed off her game, Sugheit was working tecnica and seems to thrive when being a dick. Tiffany is always eminently watchable to me, but there just wasn't enough here to warrant even showing it.



3. Rush, La Sombra & La Mascara vs. Negro Casas, Shocker & Mr. Niebla

Oh man, Rush and his boys come out in suits, pork pie hats, Mascara is wearing a vest, Sombra has his dress shirt unbuttoned way too low under a suit jacket, Rush is wearing no shirt under his jacket. They look like the three most aggressive dry humpers at the club. They look douchey enough that one of them should have "Don't you know who I am?!" tattooed on them. And this match was awesome. It was way more even than most matches between these two teams, and while there was never any real flow to it, that was because each team kept cutting off the other in logical ways. It was a really great use of 6 people as right when one side would gain an advantage, a guy who had been on the floor or apron would come in and cut the momentum right off. The work in this was as stiff as expected, with Sombra rattling Shocker's teeth with plenty of elbows, Mascara delivering plenty of on-point superkicks of the non-thigh slap variety, Rush and Casas each leaving boot imprints on the other's face. Shocker had a great showing here with some of his best selling ever. At one point he fell on his butt after some Sombra elbows and it was downright Kawada-esque. Earlier while selling his knee he valiantly limped right into a Mascara superkick. Niebla hits a dive out the corner past the turnbuckles like it was 1999, Rush boots a charging Casas right off the rampway, Sombra goes full douche by posing while splayed out across the middle rope, and this shit was all awesome. Go watch this.

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 6/7/14

These matches all happened on the 5/23 Arena Mexico show.

Rey Escorpion, Ripper & Mr. Aguila vs. Maximo, Marco Corleone & Titan

Well this is becoming a bad trend. Short, short matches with practically non-existant primeras. Remember when the primera used to be awesome? It still happens occasionally, but it's becoming more and more rare. Aguila may be the worst worker in CMLL, especially among the ones higher up the card. He looks horrible here. Can you name me a worst moonsault in wrestling? He still insists on doing it in just about every match, but I can't remember the last time it actually hit. Usually it ends with his arms draped over the other guy's knees, and usually it ends a fall. Woof. This whole match was plagued by poor timing and sloppy work, namely from Aguila and Ripper. Titan didn't do any of his silly stuff, and hit a nice springboard somersault dive. Corleone looked good, hitting a few nice rolling arm drags and the Superman bodypress from the ring to the floor, still doing it with no hands. That looked great, and I don't know if I've ever seen him do that. He almost always hits it from the rampway to the ring, really don't remember him doing to the floor before. And with this, we're well underway in our Complete & Accurate Marco Corleone project.

Dark Angel, Marcela & Princesa Sugheit vs. Dalys, Princesa Blanca & Zeuxis

So are piledrivers and ball shots totally cool in Mexico now? Are the times a-changin'? Last show had Mascara win a match with a plain view shot to the balls, and Zeuxis wins a fall her with a package piledriver. Match was short and fun. I really love the nasty streak that Dalys has embraced ever since getting her head shaved. Her charisma is coming through more now and her work with Marcela in this was quality. Loved the running double knees into Marcela's chest from Zeuxis and Dalys. Blanca and Sugheit were kind of working their own match this whole time, constantly going at it and tearing each other apart.

Relevos Increibles!

Rush, Ultimo Guerrero & La Sombra vs. Atlantis, Shocker & Volador Jr.

A bit of a letdown compared to other Relevos Increibles but still exciting because you have Rush and his sneak attack lacky La Sombra. The other guys kinda did their own thing. UG and Atlantis tore into each other during the entrances and didn't stop, replete with mask tearing and I can only assume mask challenges post match off camera. But Rush and Sombra delivered and Shocker really ramps up his work when facing Rush, at one point hitting a heavy body press from the top rope to the floor. Haven't seen him do something like that in awhile. Sombra continues his awesome dick trend of blindsiding guys, really leveling Shocker with a dropkick to the back that Shocker couldn't have seen coming. Right between the shoulder blades, sends him face first into ropes. He and Rush each take their shots on him in the corner with Sombra hitting the running double knees and Rush caving his chest in with a dropkick. Match ends when Rush and Sombra get disqualified for beating the hell out of Shocker for too long, which is really the dry hump of the lucha match finishes.

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