D3AN~!!! Day 5: MAD DOG~! DEMUS~!

DEAN~!!! 3 9/6/25

Mad Dog Connelly vs. Demus [Hair vs Hair]

MD:  This begins and ends with the eye. Injured the day before in San Francisco, Connelly stumbled and crashed down the aisle in Philadelphia, a flimsy eyepatch the only thing protecting one of the most vulnerable parts of the body, already woefully damaged. He'd barely survived Demus on the first DEAN~!!! show, and now with stakes infinitely higher, on a more even playing field outside of his trademark match, he began from a deep, almost impossible deficit. 

Like a wounded animal, he leaned into his own pain and targeted Demus' eye. He knew his own agony and wished nothing more than to share that feeling with his opponent. Connelly's desperate back-against-the-wall impulse drove his every action. He went for an early pin and then started to tear at Demus' shirt. At first, I thought this was to expose the chest for chops, and he did that, but more so, it was to gather resources. The shirt became a weapon, one that he could use in the absence of a dog collar in order to hang Demus over the rope.

But as desperate as Mad Dog might have been, Demus' own survival instincts were canny and activated. He'd lost hair matches before. He knew the bitter shame of such defeats. He would not face it now, especially not against a damaged opponent. So for the first time in the match (but certainly not the last), Demus went to the eye to escape. This would be a theme as the match went on. All things equal, maybe Connelly could beat Demus and maybe Demus could beat Connelly. But all things were not equal, and Demus would stop at nothing to win. 

Before long, the eyepatch was torn off, and the mutual sense of desperation had escalated. The two were throwing their own bodies at one another. Demus crashed off the turnbuckles with the bulkiest body block you'll ever see. Connelly, able to stay in it with an awesome punch and crushing chairshot, went careening into the chair in the center of the ring as a seated Demus moved at the last moment. Demus likewise crashed and burned off a senton attempt. 

That left Demus open to Connelly's best shot, a Gotch style pile driver. Given the low center of gravity at play, the skull hit the ground with no give, no mercy, no respite. Yet still, Demus somehow survived it and desperation creeping back in, the wounded dog climbed the ropes once more. This time however, Demus made it to his feet too early and was able to brandish the chair himself, tossing it straight up and straight at Connelly's eye.

The throw hit true and Connelly was left staggered and hopeless. From there, Demus hefted him up and dropped to his knees with the meanest Muscle Buster you'll ever see. Connelly, channeling that desperate spirit one last time managed to kick out, but it was all for naught. Demus had one last trick up his sleeve, a dog collar of his own. If this had come into play earlier in the match, it might have turned the tide for Mad Dog, but now he was barely able to stand, and with it, Demus, in a pique of dark irony, was able to hang Connelly with his own twisted trademark. 

There'll always be the question of what might have happened on this night if Connelly had entered healthy. Maybe the pain drove him. It absolutely allowed Demus to prey upon a vulnerability and gave him an advantage in the match. Animal pride had empowered both men throughout and Connelly was possessed by it in the post match, causing chaos and shaving his own hair. He was defeated, but it would take far more than this for him to be truly vanquished.

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DEAN~!!!

ACTION presents DEAN~!!! 4/4/24

MD: A year ago today, we lost DEAN. Eleven months later Phil, Eric, and Matt Griffin (being Jacey North Matt, not me Matt) did something amazing. In true DVDVR fashion, Eric has a road report in the works. Were I to give you a report, it would be why I wasn't there and would involve in-law family wedding drama, conciliatory water parks with the kids, and a bunch of other excuses. I missed being there, being part of that atmosphere, meeting a bunch of people who I respect and admire (and Johnny Sorrow too; I would have liked to meet Johnny). That said, it means I can come in with a slightly different perspective here, and hey, there's also this: DEAN the human was so important to me in expanding how someone could think about wrestling and Phil and Eric are my "people" in everything we do creatively, but because I watched from home (in part in the DVDVR discord, yes, but a lot on my own), I got to watch it with Dylan Hales in my ear, and there was no one I conspired with more closely between 2010 and 2015 about wrestling than Dylan, so while I couldn't be there with you guys, you were all with me as I watched.    

Alex Kane vs Colby Corino

MD: When I say "my people", I do mean a lot of this crowd too and that made it the perfect crowd for this specific match, one that knew how to act, how to buy in, how to give in, how to be wry but not ironic, clever but still earnest, just like the match itself. The wrestlers committed. The crowd committed. The match committed. It's probably sacrilege on a card with the back half that this one has to even consider this as potentially my favorite match of the night, but maybe it was!

Colby came in exhausted (six matches in six days). He had a size disadvantage. The match was always one suplex away from being over. So he embraced the headlock. It was a way to control distance, to control leverage, to frustrate Kane, to make Kane exert himself because Colby couldn't. It was wry, like I said, but it also made sense within the context of the match. Even at the beginning, there were multiple differentials for Colby to overcome and the headlock was a means for him to chip away at them. That's important. The headlock was never an end unto itself. It was the means to even the odds.

As the match went on, it went from being a way to contain Kane to a way to open him up for escalating offense. It went from being a survival mechanism to the entry point for all of Colby's title hopes and dreams. It opened up the bulldog, or an air raid crash, or the front DDT that he was likely going for to maybe finish things off. The problem with such a close contact strategy, however, is that all it took was one mistake, one wrong breath, one chance for Kane to plant his feet, and it was up and over, metaphorically and literally. Colby did valiantly for a man at the end of his rope, but that rope was just long enough for him to hang himself. Honestly in contention for my favorite match of the night (It's up there with Slim J vs Adam Priest as the most "Matt D" match on the card), as wild as that sounds.

O’Shay Edwards/Amboss (Laurance Roman/Robert Dreissker) vs The Good Hand (Kevin Ryan/Suge D/Tyler Stevens)

MD: I think that in some ways this match had the most to work against on the card. For the traveling crowd, there was probably less familiarity with the wrestlers here. It had a sort of similar theme to the "flippy guys vs strong guys" six-man later on the card but couldn't lean too hard into that without taking away from the match higher on the card. What it did have going for it was the ability to lean into the set units here to play with all of the tools you'd get in a southern or mPro style tag.

The Good Hand played their part perfectly, just annoying, arrogant, scuzzy heels, but maybe not carrying with them the sort of madcap delusion that the Sucklings were about to bring to the ring in the next match. These were three guys who were more than the sum of their parts both in style and in substance. They controlled the ring, cut off Roman, threw out a bunch of quick offense and double and triple teams. And then, when it was time, they got their comeuppance, only to take back over with something slick or underhanded or opportunistic. Basically, they used all the tricks of the trade, both in how they presented themselves and in how a match like this could be structured, to overcome some of the disadvantages they were facing. And the babyfaces were the straight men, constantly trying to work their way back into the match and then, when it came time, raining down justice and punishment. Like I said on the night, if you embrace wrestling, it will embrace you, and that's exactly what they did here.

Violence is Forever (Kevin Ku/Dominic Garrini) vs The Ugly Sucklings (Rob Killjoy/White Mike)

MD: I loved how tight and compact this was. That allowed for the Sucklings to do their pre-match promo, which made a lot of sense actually It was driven not just by ego and mania (though there was that as well) but by the relatable idea that if they had a good showing against a top team, they'd get more bookings and put food on the table. Scuzzy but relatable, a fine line to walk. Then, they went right into heat. That worked because ViF even just coming out as the surprise team with the Road Warriors pop... that was the shine. There was a sense of glorious inevitability here in the best way. The Sucklings were organized and effective and persistent but doom was heading their way from the moment Zombie hit, maybe even from the moment they signed an open challenge.

So this went right to the ambush-dirven heat then into the comeback and the finishing stretch and it was all just a wonderful celebratory bonus from guys with big presence. For people not at all familiar with the indy scene, obviously guys like Priest and Connolly stood out but I heard from a few people who only had a working knowledge that they immediately wanted to track down more Sucklings footage, so the mission from the pre-match promo was accomplished. Overall, this match set up a sort of party atmosphere to prepare people's appetites for the chaos and violence to come.   

Gypsy Joe Rules Match: Coven of the Goat (Jaden Newman/Tank) vs 1 Called Manders/"Filthy" Tom Lawlor

MD: This was the match where, on live viewing, I realized I couldn't just turn a write-up out for the show and that I needed some time to process. I'm still struggling a bit with this one. One thing will stick with me, and I mean forever stick with me, like Owen kicking Bret's leg out of his leg or whatever other super iconic wrestling moment is seared into my brain: That's the sequence of Lawlor getting Newman onto a chair and running around the entire ringside area to attack him while Tank and Manders were simultaneously sharing a beer right by the DEAN chair. The contrast was just this serene moment of pro wrestling wonder. It devolved quickly into Tank spraying Manders and Lawlor smashing Tank and Manders getting the revenge spray and of course then revisited it a few minutes later with the headbutt war. What am I going to say critically about this? It was madness and chaos and action with some stuff that was smartly put together but that didn't feel put together at all, that just felt wild and spontaneous and that, along with, you know, punches (and this had a few good ones) is what I could use so much more of in wrestling today. You weren't going to see the strings here, just the flailing limbs and crazy abandon. (EDIT one year later: I was later informed that nothing was put together and it all felt wild and insane because it was wild and insane; any coherency was my pro wrestling watching addled brain magic eying and the natural logic of pressing iron up against iron and watching the sparks fly).

3 Flippy Guys (Bobby Flaco/Brayden Toon/Rico Gonzalez) vs 3 Strong Motherf*ckers (Danny Demanto/Hoodfoot/Isaiah Broner)

MD: Hey, the WAR six man. This was fun. You didn't really get to see Rico do too much. In fact, most of the match was everyone just beating on Flaco, which is kind of what you want in a match like this really, just flipping guys bumping big and getting crushed. Brayden didn't do a ton (really this was mainly Bob getting destroyed) but everything he did looked great. Finish worked ok because the Strong folk were obviously goofing around and taking their opponents lightly; sometimes you live by the door, sometimes you die by it. This was a nice mix of levity and roadkill to give everyone a breather given what was to come.

Dr. Cerebro vs Gringo Loco

MD: This could have absolutely just been a "traveling match" sort of exhibition and it wasn't at all. It was a weird and surreal inversion full of a sort of emotion that isn't neat or clean or crisp. This match wasn't a straight line. It felt a little like a therapy session unveiling in real time through the back drop of gritty, gripping, beautiful lucha libre. It just wasn't a redo of 2010. Gringo Loco has evolved and in some ways, in this match, Cerebro devolved. He sure as hell wasn't wearing his mask against the Gringos VIP. Moreover, even though Gringo worked rudo, he was a pretty clear babyface for a lot of this. That happens! Usually it happens with a guy like Casas or Satanico up against an unfortunately reviled tecnico or an even more deplorable rudo, but it happens. Here it was because Gringo had something of the homefield advantage and because both of them had a chip on their shoulder.

While I loved some of the early matwork (Cerebro scooting around into an amazing contorting bit of torture was likely the hold of the night), and of course the Cerebro dive that almost took out Marty's wife in the third row was electric, it was that underlying snag of emotion that really put this over the top. Gringo's paid his dues, has traveled the world, has been on TV in big arenas and has wrestled in the dingiest, dirtiest venues imaginable; he's grown into a true base god, and yet Cerebro, maybe empowered in all the wrong ways by the mask he was donning once again, refused to forgive the sins of the past. When Gringo wanted a shake, Cerebro made like a matador. When Gringo escalated things, Cerebro was all to happy to call and raise. He raised all the way to bringing in a chair and tearing apart Gringo's shoulder. Watching it, you can't help but wonder if it was because instead of finding a 25 year old that would likely bend under the pressure, he found a man pushing forty who had no give in him at all. Maybe it was because even though he had traveled north and presented himself in all of his glory, the crowd still leaned towards Gringo instead.

Regardless, he crossed a line that both men had crossed many times years before. It wasn't the end, however. The match restarted. Despite the damage to the shoulder, Gringo fought his way back. When the opportunity arose to cross that line himself, he took it. He couldn't transcend past it. Cerebro wouldn't be the bigger man but Gringo couldn't either, not after what had transpired. Cerebro ducked the chair, kicked it into Gringo's face, and honed in on the damaged shoulder for a submission. They wrestled a gripping match, one with a resolution in the record books, but you couldn't help feeling like nothing was truly resolved.

Krule vs “Warhorse” Jake Parnell

MD: On some level, on top of being a tribute to DEAN and on top of being something cooked up by the mad geniuses I write with here on Segunda Caida and powered by the ACTION engines, this whole show was a tribute to the Indies in general, to all eras and all regions. As such, this felt like it could have been the main event of a NWA New Jersey Coralluzzo show from the late 90s or an early 00s ECW successor promotion and I liked it along those lines. They worked hard. They hit hard. They flew hard. It had all the overworked bs you'd expect for the finish. As such, I almost think they did too much; maybe Parnell shouldn't have flipped out of a chokeslam attempt, maybe that dive shouldn't have been a flip, maybe some of the more complex Krule offense should have been straighter and to the point. They did a pretty good job keeping up with parts of the rest of the show but maybe they didn't need to. Maybe they should have leaned harder into the contrast instead. That's a lot to ask of them though, especially with the title on the line, and they did an admirable enough job all things considered.

Matt Makowski vs Arez

MD: I was going to call this a sprint and explain how instead of just spots it was layered with all that and more, but that's not what it actually is. It's a lucha lightning match and it's one of the best I've ever seen. It's cheating a little because it has the patina of a "different styles" fight but it's close enough to a lightning match in my eyes. A lot of it also speaks for itself, with Arez bounding around, hitting from every angle, and Makowski keeping up while trying to ground and stop him. For them to go that fast it for everything, no matter how unlikely, to still come off as plausible in this strange shared reality where Manders and Tank can sit in chairs headbutting each other as hard as possible takes incredible talent and commitment. I loved the transition where Makowski was able to jam the Casita and snap the arm. Arez wasn't exactly selling down the stretch but Makowski was so single minded in getting the cross arm-breaker in that you knew he felt like he was on to something and if he felt that way, you, as the audience, felt that way as well, even if Arez wasn't exactly putting out signals. Then it was all about working three moves ahead while dealing with the world's most unpredictable wrestler, to plant him in the center with the chaos theory cross-armbreaker. Thrilling stuff and a testament to knowing that they'd pack so much coolness into every second that they could let this go relatively short for the sake of the overall card but still feel fulfilling. Trust was the name of the game here, trust in the wrestlers, trust in the fans, trust in the mission

Slim J vs Adam Priest

MD: Yeah, ok, sorry to the first match, which I did thoroughly enjoy, but this is definitely my favorite match on the card. It couldn't be more down my alley. Two guys so good at doing the small things well hitting the fundamentals of what makes pro wrestling work perfectly and then adding just that added bit of creativity to put it over the top. Slim J's been positioned as a heel on TV for the last year or two but he's one of the best babyfaces of the 21st century and it was so great to see him on this stage, in front of this crowd, against this opponent, in this role. Talk about trust. They let this simmer and build so that when they hit bombs down the stretch they meant as much as possible.

Priest came in early with the trash talk and the early posturing and it was all about who would get the first shot in, and even more than that, who would be able to position the referee best to their advantage. Priest got Slim J into the corner behind him but couldn't follow up. Slim J, maybe a babyface here but a guy who knew every trick in the book and invented a good few of them, managed to snatch the ref's hand and use it (with just enough plausible deniability, of course) to smack Priest. Priest stalled just enough to rile the crowd without losing momentum. When he took over it wasn't just catching Slim on the way in with a knee, but then turning it into a neckbreaker over the second rope. It was never the easiest path but always a direct one with the extra little bit generally something additive that didn't distract from the key message.

Slim was always scrappy, always trying to fight back and his hope spots started small and close, an armbar or a chop back, but Priest cut him off definitely and then really added insult to injury as he grinded Slim down. It all built to the escape from the abdominal stretch where it seemed that Slim had come back, but Priest cut him off with a killer pile driver. That, in and of itself, set up the actual comeback as Slim reversed the second attempt at it on the apron. Even then, because the fans had just been fooled on a hope spot attempt, and because Slim was so good at staggering about in the ring selling his neck, the clotheslines he hit to really get back into it and launch the finishing stretch felt all the more striking and miraculous. Just amazing babyface work here.

That finishing stretch was the first time that they really launched bombs. Because they showed the restraint through the match, the big headdrops, which would have meant something just by their innate nature, ended up meaning all the more. Discipline creates opportunity, allows for the ability to build potential energy that can be turned kinetic. Then they paid it off with a finish that people probably didn't expect but that made the crowd happy. Just two architects building a castle of pro wrestling here.

Wasted Youth (Austin Luke/Marcus Mathers) vs Sinner & Saint (Judas Icarus/Travis Williams)

MD: This was as sprinty a juniors tag as you could get. Not entirely my thing but it had a place on a card that celebrated both the indies and DEAN. The first thing that comes to mind is hanging out on the DVDVR board the day that someone posted Brian XL/Divine Storm vs Red/SATs, probably in real media format, tiny file size, tiny video, and how all of us, the big guy included, reacted, like a whole new world opening up. Twenty+ years later, that wave has swept over all of wrestling a couple of times over, and it's led to a match like this. Icarus and Williams carried a lot of the middle of this with their more experienced and superior teamwork. They had a lot of clever tandem spots and sequences. I probably liked the Gory Running Punches the best though I would have liked to see a little more consequence to them. Mathers' connection to the crowd stood out more than anything else on the other side. This was breathless stuff. At times, the camera barely knew which way to focus next because things were going to come so quickly and explosively. This was candy before the steak to come but it was the expensive stuff and not some cheap knock off brand.

Dog Collar Match: Mad Dog Connelly vs Demus

MD: What am I am even going to say about this? How do you write about this? I thought about taking the coward's way out and just writing a paragraph about how Mad Dog Connelly has maybe the most amazing eyes that I've ever seen in pro wrestling, how you can track the entire match just focusing on them and in doing so, it's something different than you've ever experienced, how I'd never even thought about watching a wrestler's eyes a way to track emotion in this way because either the video quality isn't good enough or the quick cuts are too prevalent or whatever you're watching just doesn't rise to that level. How Connelly breaks a mold that you never even had reason to give a thought to before. I could go on about that but while totally accurate, it'd be both pretty weird and also a dodge. But seriously, rewatch this and just watch the guy's eyes. If you even can, because...

So let's try this instead. This match was a roller coaster ride. I hear you groaning. How dare I reduce this thing to some bullshit out of the can nonsense phrase. Just stop, ok? Stop and think. It wasn't like a roller coaster because it had ups and downs and it went fast. Nothing like that. Imagine actually being in a roller coaster. Imagine the first time maybe, when you were a kid, when you strained your neck to just be tall enough to hit the height marker and be allowed on. Imagine that it was one of those old wooden coasters, big and rickety, creaking, without some of the whirls and turns and technology and gimmicks of the last twenty years, just a looming monstrosity that might collapse at any moment because of one loose eighty year old screw. It's not the falling that gets you when you're on a coaster like that. It's not the speed. It's not even the anticipation as you're slowly going up. It's the fact that you're strapped in, you're helpless. If the thing fell apart, there'd be nothing you can do, nothing anyone could do to save you. You can't stop midway. You can't get off. No power in the world can stop it once it gets going. You're trapped.

That's what it feels like to watch this match. The second you hit play, it's like you're watching one of those videos from a Japanese horror movie. You're trapped. You can't shut it off. You can't look away. You can't even breathe. You can't even stop to think. You just have to watch one act of brutality seamlessly flow into the next. It's a river made of blood and you're adrift on it. I can't talk about specific moments of this. I can't break apart some sort of structure or go on about transitions. I've seen this two, three times. I remember the chain whip by Connelly to start. I remember people going into chairs. I remember biting and the smearing of blood. I remember the attempt at a hangman's choke and Dylan proclaiming it was that selfsame blood making things too slippery to hold it. Maybe there was a flying body press of some sort? Connelly choked him out to win. That's what I remember. I literally just watched this. Five minutes ago! It's all a violent blur. It's not a match. It's an experience. It's a sensation. You stare at the screen and your heart tries to leave your chest as you're buffeted by the violent, visceral gale. And like a roller coaster, the second you get off, you just want to get back on and go again. Look, I got nothing. Just strap back in and watch the thing again, ok?

Daniel Makabe vs Timothy Thatcher

MD: Full disclosure. This is an important match to cover well and I think I know what I want to say, even if it opens me up to be a little vulnerable. It's sort of the absolute worst time to highlight personal inadequcies, but here we are. Be kind. Maybe in part because I've got that most recent viewing of Connelly/Demus rattling around in my head, I don't know exactly how to start it. Let's go with this. Late in the match, Dylan likens this to Battlarts, and of course part of the inspiration here was Ishikawa vs Ikeda; Makabe wore his heart on his sleeve there if you get what I mean. So while this had its hybrid elements, much like Battlarts did, I think you could fairly safely classify this as shoot style. Shoot style, to me, is impenetrable in a good way, because I don't entirely get how they do it (Here's the vulnerable part). I watch so much wrestling. I write about so much wrestling. I think so hard (too hard, I know) about structure and narratives and patterns and comparative mythology and symbolism and whatever else is at play. And shoot style done well takes me back to being ten years old in the Boston Garden watching Bret Hart wrestle the Barbarian and just trying to wrap my head around how they could possibly know what to do next. And I've never gone out of my way to change that. I get so much enjoyment out of wrestling in so many ways, but only with shoot style is there still that hint of magic and wonder.

As I understand it, shoot style is a game of opportunities and openings, of mastering technique so well that all the physical possibilities to counter and progress the match are open to you in any moment. A little bit of give leads to a lot of take and the process repeats itself. Whether you're watching Fujiwara and Super Tiger or Volk Han, a lot of the storytelling is entirely implicit, driven by physical advantages and chance and consequence in the moment and over time. The drive for realism leaves certain basic, contrived narrative possibilities out of reach, but when done as well as it can be done, it can pull you in as much as any other form of pro wrestling. That was absolutely at play here, with every touch representing struggle and every contortion, simple or outlandish, feeling earned instead of given. What took this to another level was the genius at play. Yes, the storytelling was by necessity implicit, but underpinning and giving it color it was the weight of all of their previous encounters, the impending Sword of Damocles that hangs over Makabe's head, the expectation of what this match could be and what we all knew it was not (that being Ishikawa vs Ikeda), the well of emotion of the night and what people had just witnessed. 

Genius really is the only word for the alchemy of all of these things coming together, in small ways and in big. That could be Thatcher refusing the initial handshake or his look of glee as he was bending Makabe's wrist. It could be Makabe making the first inroads on the taped-up knee and Thatcher escalating to strikes out of desperation in response and then Makabe working at the upper body in order to open up the lower body to stay on it. Or it could have just been both of them stomping out each other's arm in frustration at the European Uppercuts they were throwing at each other. History creates the personality. The personality defines the character. The character decides how opportunities are capitalized on, and somehow, out of all of it, you end up with the richest, most compelling wrestling match imaginable. When it came to wrestling (and music, and a few other things), DEAN was like a cool older cousin to me, half a generation older, having gotten there first but selflessly willing to share. To him, everything was about sensation in the moment. To me, it's about thought after the fact. A match like this lets me meet the memory of my friend midway, and I'm very grateful for that.

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Lucha Worth Watching: Demus! Fly Star!

Demus vs. Fly Star ANLLEL 2/29/20 

PAS: Nothing like an old fashioned gritty Demus brawl. Fly Star isn't much in this match, but he goes ahead and opens up his forehead a bunch. Demus takes him out to the parking lot and leaves a nice blood smear on someones PT Cruiser, and Demus grabs a lady's cigarette and extinguishes it on Fly Stars head, staining her dress with his blood. What a gross little troll he is. I wish Fly Star's comeback was better as he doesn't really match Demus's attack, still worth watching for the filth.

ER: This was a pretty by the books Demus crowd brawl, but by the books Demus is a thing I am fine with right now. I didn't care for the match when Fly Star was involved. At one point he goes to hit a prostrate Demus with a chair and aims that thing at concrete a foot past Demus. It looked like he was trying to squash a spider, not beat a bridge troll. Jokes on him though, because whether you stiff him up or not, Demus is going to beat the hell out of you; Fly Star should have gotten his licks in while he had the chance. I think Demus's brand of through the crowd brawl holds up better than a lot of this stuff, because he populates the empty spaces with more punches and headbutts than most people. If there's ever any moment where you think there's too much walking hair holding, it typically ends immediately with Demus biting face. Both guys bleed, and my favorite parts of the match come when Demus drags Fly Star into the parking lot. Demus flings Star onto the hood of a car in a real cool way, with Star falling off on his head. But Star hits a nice moonsault to the floor and finishes with a big in ring moonsault after burying Demus in chairs. He earns that win by getting punched and headbutted a ton by Demus, the exact kind of thing you come into a Demus match to see.

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Lucha Worth Watching: Demus! Robin! Dark Magic!

Demus vs. Robin RLL 6/1/19

ER: I love seeing Demus pop up in indy singles matches, pretty much regardless of opponent, so seeing him show up against I like is obviously going to be something I seek out. And this kept flirting with jumping up onto MOTY List level, but a couple things held it back. It was worked much more like a lightning match (and was a nice brisk 11 minutes) which means that it didn't have some of the drama, and a couple spots didn't quite hit flush, but these are two guys who will do a couple stupid cool things in a match. Demus is his amusing self: Early he takes his belt off so he can choke Robin with it, but the ref takes it away pretty quick. And I then laughed several times as we get the reveal that it was a load bearing belt, and Demus is pulling up his jeans for the rest of the match. I kept rooting for a spot where Demus asked for the belt back as long as he promised to not use it as a weapon. Robin takes plenty of big bumps on a hard mat, to the floor, and one I'll get to in a bit; he splatted several times missing flying moves into the ring (all his landings on Demus slams looked hard as hell, and his corkscrew moonsault bump landed with a splat), hits a great tope, and is generally a fun opponent to see Demus headbutt a ton (and Demus is going to headbutt you a ton). The absolute spot of the match - and what made me root hard to include this on a list - was crazy and unexpected. Robin sets Demus up on the entrance ramp and goes for a running somersault senton from in ring to out of ring. Demus moves and Robin crashes to the ramp...and then Demus spears him off the ramp, into the crowd and chairs below! Holy shit. I didn't think the rest of the match was tidy enough to make list (Robin gets up from the spear immediately back in control, and kinda whiffs on a tornillo to the floor, Demus drops Robin while attempting the muscle buster, etc.), but had one moment that I loved: Robin has Demus locked in a bow and arrow, and Demus breaks it by reaching behind his head to grab Robin's head, and forces Robin to headbutt the back of his own head. Things like that keep me coming back for more Demus. The double underhook piledriver is completely insane and really shouldn't be allowed in lucha, but who can contain Demus?


Dark Magic/Polvora/Kawato San vs. Black Panther/Blue Panther Jr./Rey Cometa CMLL 7/9/19

ER: I really liked the big energy in this midcard Tuesday Arena Mexico match. Occasionally that happens and it's always great. This was spirited as hell and at times felt like an ECW house show fancam brawl. We get crowd brawling during several points of the match, guys really giving the fans their monies worth by getting them right up close. This kept the crowd loud for the duration of the match and that always makes these things more exciting. Black Panther looks huge, and he hits a nice tope that slams Polvora hard into the barricade; Cometa as Tonto is growing on me and I'm starting to think he looks cool, and it's awesome to see Tonto hitting a nice tope con giro. Dark Magic comes off like a guy trained by Norman Smiley, hitting axe handles and straight kicks to the chest, taking a fun tumble over the barricade, leaping off the apron; what I'm saying is everybody here did something I liked. A bump, a hard shoulderblock, a swift mask rip, all throughout. Add in an engaging crowd brawl and this became one of those fun midcard gems that happen to shine brighter than usual without real reason to.

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Negro Navarro's Bloodsport 10/27/18

ER: So, Negro Navarro ran a show inside an octagon, for reasons I personally do not know. But I've never seen lucha take place in an octagon. I've seen plenty of lucha cage matches (which are mostly dreadful) and plenty of Octagon (which I couldn't say is completely dreadful) but never lucha in an octagon. This feels worth writing about (even though it is almost certainly going to be dreadful). The show was not actually called Bloodsport, but it probably had some kind of name like Arena Lopez Collision Course! so we'll instead go with Bloodsport.

Explosivo/Murcielago vs. Dankar/Fuerza Ballenata

ER: Well, yep, it's certainly weird. The first part of the match is normal, as it's mostly in the center of the cage and has the guys pairing off doing the kind of lucha exchanges that you'd expect. There's more mat stuff, more arm drags, more standing work around arm twists and blocking hip tosses. It's weird because the partners are just standing inside the cage off to the edge, waiting for their turn. It doesn't turn into a full tornado match until halfway through, and then it gets amusing as we get rope running exchanges with no ropes. So guys are bouncing off the cage, or just working more clever start/stop spots, rolling away to get distance before running back to do quicker lucha spots. I have next to no clue who any of the guys are. I think I have one of them figured out - the stout rudo has "Fuerza Ballenata" across his back, which would seem to be a strong indicator that he is Fuerza Ballenata...but he also has the Batman logo on his shirt. Murcielago = Bat. It's as if these guys weren't even thinking about the white men who would be writing up this show at a later date. There are no sure things. The guy in gold (Explosivo?) took some nice bumps into the cage, Ballenata threw a couple decent low dropkicks and bumped big off a dropkick to his own knee, and one match in we're definitely already feeling confined by the octagon.

Baronessa/Lolita vs. Chika Tormenta/Ludark Shaitan

ER: Also having to guess who is who here. I was hoping one of them would have a Nabokov shirt on or something and then we could move from there. But I'm gonna pretend Tormenta is the blond bully, and this was pretty fun. As in the first match, I think the one on one portions are strong but things get messy once it breaks down into a tornado tag. We need the partners standing awkwardly in their respective corners. I cannot wait for the trios on this card as you'll just have bulky guys lurking around the edges of this very large octagon. I liked the standing exchanges, and Lolita-or-Baronessa had some nice arm work, a few cool ways to work into an armdrag, nice back elbow and she also takes a nice face first bump into the cage. Tormenta has a really impactful dropkick and nice big boot and a cool inverted Samoan drop, and Tormenta/Ludark work a backcracker/chestbreaker combo that doesn't come off forced and looks good. Ludark takes a suplex at a nice high angle and throws a nice butterfly suplex of her own. This was fun.

Demus 3:16/Pasion Cristal vs. Angel Del Amor/Jessy Ventura

ER: This octagon is really proving to be quite a hindrance, as so far all three matches would have been much better inside a normal ring. I am now regretting watching this entire show, and not just the intriguing main event (which was the only reason I even found out about this show). But also, the matches have gone on entirely too long. 18 minute una caida matches in a limiting environment feel eternal, and every match so far has been allotted way too much time. More than anything, this made me want to see a Demus/Jessy singles. I believe this is my first time seeing Ventura (and Jessy Ventura is a GREAT exotico name) and I came away impressed. She has great dramatic exotico chops and slaps, really laces in with stomps and kicks, cut out the knees on a cool backdrop, and seems like someone who would be great within an actual ring. Her brawling with Demus was a real highlight of this, as was her putting the boots to Cristal, as was her 0.8 Zeuxis level hair. Demus didn't go fully enraged honey badger, but it was telling that 15 (!) minutes into this when the octagon door got opened and the combatants started spilling out I thought "oh this might actually be picking up!" This was not bad, the exoticos and Demus looked good (though all seemed completely thrown by not be able to time rope running, and there was a weird botch where Cristal just kind of fell off a cage after taking awhile to get up there), but at least they brought some unique elements to a restricting environment: crowd brawling, and brawling on top of the octagon. And it should be noted that while the octagon is a problem so far, the real problem may be the continued insistence on working traditional lucha style within the octagon. If the matches had all been worked more appropriately to their confines and focused far more on shorter matches structured around matwork, this could have been killer.

Heddi Karaoui/Zumbi vs. Francois/Pierre Montanez

ER: This definitely felt like the most wholly realized version of the show's gimmick so far. Francois and Montanez come off much more like MMA guys in a lucha environment whereas everyone else on the show have been lucha guys uncomfortably doing lucha in an MMA cage. This match seemed to get the vision right. It was kept to 8 minutes and was almost entirely a tornado tag with guys pairing off working submissions concurrently, with some fun moments of pro wrestling thrown in. It felt exhibition-y, but in a mean aggressive way. The transitions made up for lack of real struggle with what looked like some actual pain, which is good! Karaoui and one of the MMA guys trade armbars and Zumbi is watching from a distance and is really great at getting involved, with my favorite moment being Zumbi running in and breaking up a sub with a hard dropkick. The chaos on this was cool as it looked like 4 guys doing gym sparring so there always looked like danger, with the fun added element of a partner trying to rush over when things got dangerous. Two moments showed that these guys knew how to come up with neat ways to utilize the octagon setting more than anyone else on the card (so far): Early on Karaoui threw an MMA guy into the cage and hit him with a great belly to belly as the guy was recoiling from the cage; and for the finish Zumbi locked in a triangle but was picked up and swung into the cage a few times before sinking in the triangle for the stoppage. I liked Zumbi's energy in this, throwing strikes and mixing up subs, and Karaoui worked some tough looking holds with both MMA guys. If the whole show was like this, I would be recommending this show.

Ricky Marvin/Estudiante Jr./Hijo Del Solar vs. Trauma I/Trauma II/Hijo del Fishman

ER: We're getting a little warmer, but this concept is still dead in the water. The ring ropes can provide such visual distance and now it's just every single person involved in the match standing inside the octagon, off to the side. Someone will lock on a nice submission, but teammates are literally standing a few feet away against the cage, so nothing has time to breathe. Traumas both at least understand that the way to make this work is to just work stiff, so they mostly avoid the prior "just try and work bad lucha without any of the ropes that make it work" and just beat down Hijo del Solar. A lot of this is them cutting off the octagon and stiffing Solar Jr. . Marvin shows good spunk but all of his spectacular spot potential is taken away by the cage, so he does a really nice dropkick and a less successful crossbody off the top. I really liked the Traumas here, but this is a tough style to work with, and they were more successful than most. They really started throwing hard shots (T1 bullied Solar Jr. through the cage door and dragged him back in) and T2 was using the cage to work takedowns, but everyone being so close means there is no drama for submissions.

Negro Navarro/Mascara Ano 2000/Scorpio Jr. vs. Solar/Mano Negra/Canek

ER: We made it! We made it to the end of this cursed show that I was tricked into watching by Siobhan. And this match and the prior were the ones that excited me enough to fall for the obvious trick. But man this match was a bummer. These guys are old, and I love old man matches, but these guys were old old. And what's annoying, is that we were one guy away from having a legitimately 60-and-up match. Scorpio Jr. is 52 (and moves as if he was the 5th oldest in the match) and fucks up everything. However, the mean age of the participants is 61, so make no mistake this match is still filled with old as fuck luchadors. Mascara is easily the most feisty, taking far and away the most bumps on the clearly hard as hell mat. But Mascara took rolling armdrags and was the only one keeping the rhythm tight when the match broke into classic comedy routines. This whole show had been clunky shootstyle and clunky lucha, and it's like Mascara noticed that and fell back on an old routine, an established stand up falling back on greatest hits from their first special. The rudos all accidentally chop each other when tecnicos move, and they work in a genuine funny moment when Mano Negra (masked) is holding Scorpio Jr.'s arms behind his back, and Mascara sneaks in behind Negra aiming to kick him, and Negra turns around as Mascara comically holds back on his kick so as not to kick Scorpio. Navarro repeats the bit. It's a funny bit done by old pros, in the middle of a lucha octagon. But this was rough. Canek is the elder statesman of this group, and while he looks cosmetically in impressive shape for a 67 year old, he moves slower than maybe any wrestler I've seen. He came off slower than late career Andre or Baba. He could barely lift his arm to throw a couple lariats and couldn't hit with any ounce of force, and his best armdrag was him holding out his arm to his side and falling to the mat, as Mascara held the arm and rolled through it like he was being tossed by a legend. Canek was kind of sad here, but weirdly inspiring as he still looked resplendent as fuck in his luminescent deep orange tights. Canek slammed Andre. I'm cool with him throwing bad lariats several years into AARP eligibility. Solar also looked slick as hell; his gray, black, and dashes of red ensemble made him look like an asskicking NES, and as you can imagine we did get moments of he and Navarro doing their thing. Not as many as you'd think (Navarro disappeared entirely for large portions of this), though Solar's climb up victory roll was a cool as hell move for a guy in his 60s to pull off. This was not good, but had some moments of inspired surreality, and made me like Mascara Ano Dos Mil somehow even more than I already do.

This was a show with some genuine, weird on paper appeal to it. But no match on this card benefitted in any way from that damned octagon, and here we are at the end of the show when we wind up saying aloud, "literally every one of these matches would have been better in an actual ring." I am dedicated to viewing weird things people tell me to view. But goddamn, people. Appreciate my efforts, please.

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WWCI Arena San Juan Pantitlan 2/16/19

Another week, another cool looking Indy Lucha show put up by Lucha TV. Grabbed what looked cool to review

Demus vs. Bam Bam

PAS: Bam Bam was a mainstay of the CMLL minis division, but seemed to disappear around 2014. Demus welcomes him to the indies with a classic Demus bloodletting. Bam Bam comes in with Demus style face paint on and Demus tries to wash it off using Bam Bam's blood. Lots of great looking brawling from both guys. Bam Bam hits a great looking tope early, but when he goes for it again, Demus steps aside and flings him head first into some ratty looking chairs. It is a crazy bump and a great way to finish a match. Demus brawls are one of the most fun things in wrestling and welcome back Bam Bam.

ER: Bam Bam was out! He was done! So, welcome back to wrestling Bam Bam, and if you're curious, here's what a bunch of your blood looks like! I loved these two feuding a decade ago, would love to see them feuding right now. Bam Bam is a little chunkier, but that's probably because he was told that people love bleeding chunky luchadors, so he probably took a few years off to get that proper size. The weight doesn't appear to slow him down a lot, his rope running was still whip fast and he hits a tope in the first minute of the match that looks as good as his topes looked a decade ago. Demus won't stand for that, naturally, so proceeds to bust Bam Bam wide open. And it's one of those really great lucha bloodlettings where Bam Bam's face and torso get covered in dark red and you realize Bam Bam is a lunatic who must have wanted this! The finish is incredible, truly a finish worth of a count out victory: We get a scene very similar to the beginning of the match, a Bam Bam feint sends Demus to the floor, tope clearly coming...and Demus steps aside and helps Bam Bam find the front row of painful chairs instead. This needs to be run back all throughout 2019.

Impulso/Drako vs. Fly Star/Toscano

PAS: Three young indy guys and Toscano (the former Tarzan Boy) put on a shortish spotfest. I don't think I have seen Drako before, and I am always going to enjoy a fat guy who wrestles fat. He had a nice tackle, a baseball slide splash to the floor and a stiff powerbomb. Fly Star and Impulso are clearly setting something up, and they try some complex spots, some of which they pull off. The finish was true young guy dippshittery with Fly Star hitting a running electric chair headrop right into the corner, really looked like the kind of thing a backyard wrestler might break a cervical vertebrae with. I think we get hair challenges post match, which makes total sense, I would want to shave a guy bald if he tried to break my neck like that.

Caifan vs. Ultimo Guerrero

PAS: Ultimo Guerrero is one of the five biggest stars in one of the biggest promotions in the world, and for some reason he will show up in a tiny filthy arena to cut him self open and leak all over the ring. I am as captivated by indy brawl Guerrero as I am bored by CMLL main eventer Guerrero. Caifan is a great, great wrestler who never got a break, and he jumps Ultimo and posts him, and 90 seconds into the match Guerrero is dripping. Caifan whoops him all around the ring, including chucking a bunch of beers into his bloody head. Guerrero comes back, opens up Caifan and they just exchange big shots on the floor. This goes about 10 minutes and maybe 90 seconds are in the ring. Finish was kind of a lame low blow DQ, and they set up a hair match on the next show (third hair challenge on this show but they are doing this one.) They sold me.

ER: I loved this! UG is such a bizarre and fascinating glutton for this kind of a dirty gritty small crowd arena brawl, here he is leaving blood souvenirs on chairs and bystanders and merch all over Arena San Juan Pantitlan, beaten bloody and bumping hard on a ring that doesn't move an inch. I don't know what his deal is, but it's weird how my eyeballs glaze over his CMLL matches at this point and yet actively seek his indy work. It would be like if Dean Ambrose were currently working his typical fast forwardable Raw matches, but also bloody brawls from random VFWs near wherever Raw was taped. It makes no sense. Caifan is really great. He's someone who knows just how well to set up UG's trademark offense, while also knowing when to step in and bop him on the nose. And a LOT of the early part of this is nose bopping. I might have to break the stopwatch out to see who started bleeding earlier, UG or Bam Bam, but we're the winners in that race. UG gets smashed around ringside, Caifan is really mean about sending him tumbling and then running after him with a hard kick before UG can regain his bearings, and we get all time great brawl violence like Caifan wrapping UG's head in a banner and then punching his face through the banner. I love Caifan's hockey fight style of lucha. Ultimo's comeback on the floor is great, shoving through fans, grabbing drinks to bounce off Caifan's head, doing his flying hip attack into Caifan who was also sitting on a fan (and that fan went wandering off after being on the bottom of that pile making that teeth sucking face of someone who accidentally opened a car door into their own balls); at one point Ultimo is slamming Caifan's head repeatedly into some chairs and right behind them you can see 4 or 5 young boys just staring at these bloody lunatics in awe, not knowing how to react to the violence right in front of them. I like how Caifan handles a couple signature UG spots, namely how he ran headlong into eating a front suplex off the middle ropes (onto that damn hard ring). We've all seen UG just climb the ropes with his opponent on the way to doing that move, so it's cool that instead we get Caifan setting UG up for something and then getting grabbed on the run. Big ball shot finish works for something like this, and honestly with how much they killed each other here I have no clue what they're going to do in their hair match to top it...but I can't wait to see them try.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Lucha Libre Real 1/26/19

Lucha TV is putting up full lucha indy shows every week, and I want to start at least cherry picking the fun stuff from those shows. This week it is this Lucha Libre Real show with some fun looking stuff.

Demus vs. Robin

Demus is pretty much a must watch at this point. He is maybe the best brawler in the world right now and we get a fun tour of the bleachers with Robin, where he tosses him into chairs, smacks him with a ladies purse, and hits him with a giant metal pipe. There are some moments of fun in ring stuff too, Robin has a nice tope, and Demus hits his great muscle buster. Robin didn't bring a ton from his side, and hopefully we will get tons of these great Demus performances, and to make the list we need some cooler stuff from the B Side.

Black Terry/Pirata Morgan vs. Fresero Jr./Mr. Iguana

Brutal mauling, with Pirata and Terry in the role of twin Abby's bloodying up these two young guys in gruesome ways. Pirata is especially grotesque, painting Iguana's body with his own blood, and smothering him with his hand. Terry is really great at brawling as we all know, and he gets some big time exchanges with both Fresero and Iguana when they get moments of hope. I dug Iguana getting press slammed by his partner into his opponents. Probably too much of a squash to be a real MOTY list candidate, but it was a spectacle for sure.

Juventud Guerrera/Mr. Aguila vs. Los Traumas

Traumas are totally aggro in this, with Juventud talking some trash on the mic and T1 just slapping him right in the teeth. Lots of really hard shots by the Traumas on team Monday Night Wars, Aguila still has some agility and Juvi still has some charisma although they aren't what they were certainly (meanwhile Rey is ageless). Match has some real moments but kind of peters out with a double count out and a post match invasion angle and Aguila turning on Juvi and Vangellys, Grako, and Gangster Jr. running in for a pretty lame invasion angle


Everything I watch was pretty fun, with nothing hitting list. Still I am looking forward to digging into more of this stuff and mining gems

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY

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2019 Ongoing MOTY List: Demus vs. Virus

9. Virus vs. Demus 3:16 RLL 2/16

PAS: These two had a hell of a brawl back in 2011 where the loser had to go back to being a midget (maybe my favorite wrestling stip ever). It is crazy to see these two pick their war up 8 years later and not miss a beat. You don't normally think of Virus as a brawler, but he was really kicking the shit out Demus early, busting him open, removing the padding of the ring barrier so he could smash Demus's skull into it, chucking chairs, throwing hands. Demus gets some control when they brawl on the ramp and he hits an awesome ramp to the ring spear, and head smushing senton. The in ring lucha was almost as great as the bloodletting early. A lot of lucha indy dream matches underwhelm, this did not.

ER: We get a lot of glimpses into longtime CMLL guys venturing into the indies and brawling in ways that we don't get to see them do in CMLL, and it's no shock that Virus is as good at it as anyone. It's really a treat to get up close and personal into what these guys do, to see that up close magic and see what is magic and what is just tough surly guys clonking each other. Virus really brings the hard chops and meaty fists to Demus' chest, jaw, and back, and I loved all the stuff with that unyielding chair, especially when he kicked it right between Demus' legs. You don't see any kind of "Hey, are your balls protected before I do this?" communication, just Virus blasting Demus in the nards with a chair. I loved all the stuff on the rampway, love the way they come up with fun stuff in tight confines, like Virus bumping chest first into ropes and setting up the rope slide into the ring. Virus throws a bunch of great stiff arm lefty lariats, Demus hits a bitchin spear from the ramp into the ring, and that musclebuster really looks like it would throw my body out of alignment for months, and all that biting and punching is just icing.


Note: Because this is a lucha indy match, which is never easy, there is a "best way" to watch this match.

This link the best camera angle, and we get some great close up shots of punches and headbutts and bleeding:

BEST VIEW OF THE MATCH

However the video cuts off, so the last two minutes can be watched here (link picks up where the first link ends):

REST OF THE MATCH


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Minis in a Cage

Demus 3:16 vs. Dragoncito De Oro vs. Mini Rey Misterio vs. Espectrito vs. Caramelito vs. Pentagoncito vs. Pequeno Anibal vs. Super Loco vs. Aguilita vs. Mini Difunto vs. Mini Pinochito Lucha Libre Boom 10/6

PAS: This is a cage match with the loser losing his hair or mask. These type matches normally stink, but you lock a rabid badger like Demus in a cage and he is going to go nuts. The big feud this match focused on was Demus vs. Pinochito and both little dudes are covered in blood by the end of the match, Pinochito wears Demus out with a chair, and Demus gets his revenge by chair shotting everyone in the cage. We also get some close fighting, which Demus is the best in the world at, both guys are on their knees exchanging heabutts and nasty tiny fist punches. We get some highlights from other people, Mini Rey Mysterio (who may be an inch taller and twenty pounds heavier then Rey Jr.) does a top of the cage plancha, and Dragoncito puts up a nice fight before losing his mask, but this was the Demus show and that is a show I will always be excited to attend.

ER: These matches always stink, it almost doesn't matter how good the talent involved is. Fill a match like this with bigger stars and they tend to just lazily brawl around the ring. The matches almost always feel sluggish, and the only danger involved is usually how ratchety the cage looks. But this starts hot with Demus entering the cage and attacking the other 9 guys, really being a ferret in the pants, and when Mini Rey Misterio (and Phil is totally right, Mini Misterio just looks like a same size or larger Rey Mysterio. You'd really need a Tzuki size guy to be a proper Mini Rey) isn't allowed to enter the cage he climbs to the top and does a beautiful crossbody onto several guys as his entrance. Everyone is really good at staying active here, Rey starts throwing a chair around and Demus goes "oh yeah!" takes the chair and blasts everyone with it, one after the other. Super Loco tackles him from behind when he's done and everyone who got hit by Demus puts the boots to him. The escapees all get out nicely, and they all stay at ringside to root on their boys (tecnicos) or rile up the crowd (rudos, leading to ringside fans throwing full drinks at them). We get a nice little section in the middle between Rey and Pentagoncito, some nice juniors exchanges in the middle of 7 remaining guys still fighting, and everyone puts in nice moments: Aguilita takes some hard back bumps, Difunto gets his mask ripped and responds angrily, Caramelito is wearing a Candy Land Chico Che outfit with shiny pants covered in smiling lollipops, Espectrito hits a couple hard lariats and does a slick dodge when escaping, and calling Pinochito a mini is truly an oxymoron. Pinochito is muy gordo, with normal size legs and a truly majestic giant round belly. He and Demus go at it the whole match, Demus bleeding immediately (because of course) and Pinochito not far behind after getting his mask ripped. I wanted him to stab at Demus' cut with his long pointy Pinnochio mask nose, feels like good shtick to add in, but you know beating at each other's wounds is cool too. I was extra excited for Pinochito's escape due to his giant belly, and he was great just lying and resting on the top of the cage when he finally made it up. Poor poor Dragoncito gets spiked nastily to lose his mask and cap off an unexpectedly wild lucha cage match that actually lives up to the promise of a wild lucha cage match.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Demus vs. Wotan

37. Demus 3:16 vs. Wotan Club Apolo 4/1

PAS: Small show dirty floor, possible staph infection Demus brawls are my single favorite type of match in 2018. This one was a little lightubey for my tastes, although at least there wasn't any long construction spots, and more just smashing each other with tubes, they used the tube shots in the place of strikes, and I wish they just used punches. Lots to love in this though, Demus is such a persistent fucker, he is like a wolverine who smells blood, and I love all of his takedowns into headbutts and punches. I also loved Wotan grabbing him and just fireman's carrying him into a discarded pile of tubes, felt more like a spot in an action movie fight, then a garbage wrestling match. For some reason these guys are incapable of having a decent finish, as this had a loooong double count on a vertical suplex and then a Demus low blow, two in a row between these guys soiled by a stinko ending.

ER: This goes to the floor about a minute in and I already knew Phil would be way on board at that point. Not long after that and Wotan is bleeding from bites, and we're in our Demus small show comfort zone. The tubes are distracting, as there are tons of them set up, and I too would rather just see these two bleeding weirdos punch each other. They do, that, and I did like the moments where the tubes came into the match a bit more organically: Instead of one guy grabbing one while the other waits, we had a big moment where Wotan hefts Demus up and drops him with a death valley driver into a pile of them, with Demus following with a double leg takedown into the tubes. A pile of tubes that required no match pausing for spot set-up, that I can get behind. Chairs get flung, a big stack of connected plastic chairs gets used, children get protected by grossed out mothers, it's definitely a small show Demus match. My favorite moments of the match are the quieter ones, like Demus celebrating only to have Wotan run up behind him and punch him right in the kidneys, then deliver a few more great body blows to drop Demus in the corner. Demus really is one of the all time great bleeders in wrestling, and both guys bleed all for one of the most putrid match finishes of the year: The match was last man standing, supposedly, even though pinfalls had been counted all match, and a vertical suplex just leads to them lying there, fans confused about the finish, Demus improvising a new low blow finish, total confusion, match basically just ends. So awful. How can they not think of a better finish to a match!? BUT we had 10 minutes of guys pasting each other before that, and this match wouldn't have made tape a decade ago, so sit on it.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Fuerza vs. Demus

6. Fuerza Guerrera vs. Demus 3:16 Innova Aztec Power 2/4

PAS: Demus deciding he wanted to leave CMLL to have filthy brawls in warehouses can't be good for his overall life, but it has made mine better. This is a nasty brawl with both guys spurting blood. It is falls count anywhere, while I don't remember any actual pin attempts there is a lot of brawling around this dirty floor with open cuts. There are some real grim visuals like Fuerza biting Demus's bloody head while try to close his nostrils and smother him. The lucha exchanges were a little clunky, which isn't surprising consider how old Fuerza is, but he wasn't afraid to fly into chairs and bleed a bunch. Sleazy lucha indy wrestling at it's best.

ER: Jeez what a grimy little brawl. It's in a dank warehouse, it's dark so there are a couple bright lights focusing on the brawl (which makes it look like footage from a night raid on an episode of COPS), they bleed a bunch, and they attack each other's balls seemingly constantly, and a large batch of pork rinds gets wasted as a delicious weapon. Fuerza is officially a senior citizen, no need for him to be bleeding in a dirty warehouse while being assaulted by a bridge troll. But once the brawl around the warehouse starts it's impossible to look away. Demus beats him all around the arena, at one point literally grabbing Fuerza by the taint to keep him from getting away. I'm not making that up. Fuerza is walking away and Demus casually reaches up and under and just...holds him, and holds him longer than necessary. They punch each other into some really nasty tumbles through chairs, Demus gets thrown into a fan and practically armdrags him, they both knock a 10 year old down, Fuerza gets his mask ripped and pays Demus back by HOLDING HIS NOSTRILS SHUT while biting and ripping at his forehead. I have never seen that, Fuerza is a freaking monster. The stuff in ring never threatens to compare with the awesome violence that happened all around the ring, but it's good stuff, with Demus crushing him with his cannonball, and especially when the straps come down and Fuerza belts Demus, sending him down hard to the mat. The match finishing crab was sunk in deep and looked like something that should finish a match.


2018 MOST MASTER LIST

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Demus vs. Wotan! Beard vs. Hair!

89. Demus 3:16 vs. Wotan Generation XX1 12/18

PAS: This was a hair v. beard match which adds to Demus's under the radar wrestler of the year candidacy. Wotan is too enamored with goof lightube shit to really be on a list of the greatest wrestlers in the world, but a couple of times a year he puts that to the side and just has these filthy hellacious brawls and they are awesome. We open in the crowd and Wotan is already bloody and Demus is throwing him recklessly into walls and chairs. I love how Demus uses his tiny body, he will just hurl it at whoever he is fighting, at one point they are both on their knees throwing punches and Demus just pounced forward into Wotan with a tiny tackle. I didn't love the finish, lots of setting up a particle board on some chairs and the Demus misses a splash and gets pinned, still there was plenty of this to love, and I am super sad about Demus shaving his awesome beard.

ER: I don't believe I have ever seen a mask vs. beard match, so it was weird seeing "Barba vs. Cabellera" at the top of the screen. It's also weird that a guy with a mask is putting up his hair, and a guy with hair is putting up his beard. Did Albert ever work a back hair match? If Lucha Underground never does a beard vs. beard match with Mrs. Madness and Mrs. Havok's sons then they're idiots. Joey Ryan feels like someone who should have already been touring with a "I shave ALL my body hair if I lose" match. Santino could have worked a unibrow match. Really, now that we know that a beard match is a thing, it just highlights how uncreative every other apuestas match has been, with proper credit given to Bill Dundee putting up his wife's hair.

And aside from an absolutely terrible, woeful ending, this match was awesome. Both guys are big bleeders, and the first shot we get of Wotan is him already covered in that deep, dark cherry blood that luchadors wear so well. We've already seen Wotan in maybe the best brawl of the decade, and sadly for him his best performances seem to come when he's opposite a total powder keg who will bring a beating to him. And Demus is certainly the most powder keg guy around these days. Demus-as-projectile is a guaranteed win, he's like this heavy medicine ball getting thrown at opponents. His cannonball always crushes, he flies into splashes and sentons, and he looks exactly like one of the aliens in Critters (seriously, tell me I'm wrong). Wotan has some nice offense (I really like his ankle roll senton, like Brad Attitude does, but with a little more lucha flair) and is a huge bumper (watch him fully commit to a massive missed dive as Demus sidesteps him). Both guys bleed buckets and throw big bombs into cuts, and really this match could have ended with both men just punching each other out and it would have landed in our top 25. But my heavens this ending was bad. We had an interminable prop set up, with the flimsiest board getting set up limply on 6 chairs, with the REF getting involved to help Wotan set up this spot that was never going to look good. Demus is selling this whole time, finally gets up and punches both men, then Demus takes time to readjust the awful prop, tries to splash Wotan but crashes through it and gets fast counted. What a terrible finish tacked on to a tremendous brawl. We would have been so much better off getting the video cut off and missing the finish. The match would have gone down as this legendarily clipped brawl and "Oh my god if only the match was complete!! Who knows what greatness we missed!?" Sometimes it's just better not to know.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Iron Kid v. Demus

7. Iron Kid v. Demus 3:16 Lucha Memes 6/18

PAS: Just a hellfire of a short violent sprint, and for pure fun as good as anything I have watched this year. Match has one of the best opening spots I can remember seeing, as Iron Kid goes for a dive, Demus catches him and just recklessly throws him into a support beam. Zero consideration for the health and wellbeing of his fellow man. Demus then breaks out a fork and rips IK's mask and starts poking. We get some really great violent hurls by Demus, and some crazy dives by Iron Kid who gets just incredible height, like maybe higher then prime Freelance, he is floating in the air and the crash awesomely on the dirt floor. Classic tale of plucky technico being mauled by some sort of psychotic troll.

ER: Wow wow wow wow! Is this the greatest WCW syndicated match in history? Maybe! What an absolute 7 minute banger. The match STARTS with Iron Kid trying to hit a tope on Demus while Demus is walking to the ring, but Demus in all one motion catches Kid mid-dive and just bucket brigades him into the crowd, with Kid's body hitting a woman, a support pole and a couple of chairs, all at once. If the match had been as paint by numbers as possible after that start, we still would have found room for it at the bottom of the list somewhere. But the match never slows down from there. Demus beats him through the crowd and bashes him with a chair, gets out a fork and stabs at him with the best fork shots you've seen. Iron Kid eats tons of spinach and lentils and broccoli and Iron jokes though, so you know he's gonna make a big comeback, and wouldn't you know Demus wraps him around a ringpost and Kid hits some gorgeous dives. He hits a Aerostar-esque flip dive where he vaults off the middle rope inside the ring with one foot and just soars into Demus, crashing onto Demus' back and shoulders. Both men get dusty and dirty in this Lucha Memes lot that I NEED to see pro wrestling at (the same site as the infamous Terry/Wotan gravel brawl and a zillion more matches of grimy lucha perfection). Kid smacks him into a chair and plows through him with a tope con hilo and you know this thing is the best. This is peak Demus, and Iron Kid has a savage death wish, and the finish is excellent: Kid moonsaults painfully into Demus' legs and it's rough, like that physics defying moment in the Aja Kong/Meiko match from a year or two ago. Kid just gets stuck on those legs and Demus follows up with the most dangerous double underhook piledriver/powerbomb, the kind you would feel bad doing to your Wrestling Buddy as a kid. Afterwards Demus gets jumped and eats a nasty chairshot and bleeds all over everything. This match, this venue, these guys, all of it. ALL OF IT!


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Demus v. Terry

6. Black Terry v. Demus 3:16 ANCLA WWCI 6/24

PAS: Black Terry goes to ratty filthy war once again. This is another grimy classic, as Terry just keeps getting better as he keeps getting older. Demus looks like a demented bridge troll as he just plows forward with violent shots, only to see Terry fire back just as hard. Terry in brawls has a super high floor, but there were a couple of things that pushed this to another level. Demus had some awesome ground and pound punches including a spot where he had a reverse headlock on Terry and just rained shots down on his face. Finish was super nasty too, as Demus hits this great looking choke. It felt like a best case scenario for Brock v. Joe if both guys were basically midgets.

ER: Add another one to the growing list of "violent brawls that make me fascinated and confused by Black Terry". I love that Phil calls out Demus for looking like a demented bridge troll, because I watched this thinking he looked like Warwick Davis in Leprechaun, then saw what Phil wrote. These two are small, almost small enough that if they did an electric chair spot, you could picture them wearing a gigantic trench coat and sneaking into an R rated movie. But their fists are huge and loud and they make liberal use of them. The arena/backyard/swap meet/building is always as much a character in Terry singles brawls as the workers themselves. This building isn't quite a tented yard with jagged rocks like in his Wotan match, but damn is this building the best. It's got people standing on 3 levels, the staircases up to the levels look hastily planned, people's legs dangle off the upper stories as they sit and lean against the railing; it looks like a background you'd see in Street Fighter II. You get your fight on top of an aircraft carrier, your fight in a bathhouse, your fight in front of a Thai statue, your fight in a dimly lit Mexican building that smells like dog blood, etc.

The gold in this one obviously starts when they brawl out to the crowd, throw each other face first into chairs, slip in beer, punch each other literal inches from people's faces, everything you'd want from a Terry brawl. A woman - showing herself to be total marriage material - hands Demus the rest of her beer, then cheers wildly as he spits it into Terry's face, and the face of a fan Terry is leaning against. They roll around on the floor, fly into ringposts, both men punch each other hard in the face - no matter if they're in front of fans totally losing it or totally there to crack jokes, they're equal opportunity punchers. Terry is a great bleeder and these handhelds always fascinate me: the idea of a son following his dad around, filming him while he bleeds in dirty buildings. What are the car rides like afterward? Does he nap? BTJr. is missing out by not just making a Black Terry 24/7 live feed.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Terry v. Demus

38. Black Terry v. Demus 3:16 WMC 8/16

PAS: The 2016 Black Terry run continues as he grabs Demus out of CMLL minis hell and lets him brawl and bleed like a crazed Warwik Davis in a Mexican Leprechaun remake. They start out with some lucha exchanges, and Demus raises Terry's hand and cheap shots him, and it gets gritty. Demus throws him outside, smashes him with a chair and tries to open up his skull on a concrete pillar. By the end both guys are leaking and are doing a lariat battle. Finish has some unnecessary ref shit which may keep it from the level of peak 2016 Terry, but it was such a treat to show up in BTJR's feed. Well worth the 4 bucks.

ER: CMLL minis have seemed sadly uninspired for the last couple years, so it's terrific seeing Demus matched up against a guy like Terry instead of another opening match opposite Ultimo Dragoncito. Demus just seems like a weird guy, whereas Terry just seems like freaking Charles Bronson at this point. After this match and the Cavenario match I just want to see the old mustachioed avenger go up against a weirdo series of supervillains. It's fun watching Terry react to their quirks, and it's even more fun when we hit the inevitable, still inexplicable, violence. Black Terry is absolutely fascinating to me. He works so hard in these small little flea markets and boxing gyms, always ends up crawling around on the floor, punched in the face, hit with chairs, bleeding all over. How much money does he make for this? Does he have a day job? Once they roll to the floor questions just start racing through my brain, and sure enough Terry is bleeding and Demus raps him on the head with a dirty chair. Yeah, Terry gets some hands up but really only enough to prevent him from immediately forgetting math, that shot still blasted him. Before long Demus is bleeding and they're falling into fans, and we see poor BT's balls take another beating, and Demus takes a chestbreaker all laid out and right on the chin. There needs to be a documentary crew following Black Terry around.


2016 ONGOING MOTY LIST

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Lucha Worth Watching: CMLL Minis! Also, Normal, Slightly Larger CMLL Men!

Demus 3:16 & Mercurio vs. Stukita & Fantasy (CMLL 11/20/15)

I like several CMLL minis but often their matches don't make tape, or their matches get uploaded after I've already moved on to other shows. So I thought I would dive back into the list of matches I had set aside, ones that sounded good on paper, and pull one at random. And this was a pretty good one. I'm sad that Demus never got the chance to move up out of the minis division as the iron was hot for it several years ago. He still brings tons of energy and showmanship to opening matches, which is admirable. He's the mini I tend to check out the most, but he's even more fun when matched with Stukita, and Stukita's tiny little death wish. Primera is okay but forgettable. The tecnicos tie the rudos up with some wristlocks, so some headscissors, you know the drill. I came for the beatdown, and that arrives promptly in the segunda, with Demus and Mercurio just lacing into poor little Stukita. And Stukita is just a total nutbar. It begins with Demus holding him so Mercurio can hit a big baseball slide dropkick to the floor, then they toss him around for a bit and he takes a super high bump into a flapjack on the floor. Ick. Back in and Demus splats him with a cannonball followed by a Mercurio dropkick in the corner. But he is not just crazy at the bumps, but just a nut in general. Him doing the arms-at-sides splash from the top to the entrance ramp is loony. And this was all just really fun. Demus should be in a trios with Virus, he's just being wasted where he's at. Mercurio always has nice showings as well, I really like him as Demus' lackey, and even though he finds obnoxious times to adjust his elbow pads, then he'll break out a nice tornillo and I won't care as much. Now I must seek more Stukita to see how much crazier he can get...

Barbaro Cavernario, Negro Casas & Felino vs. Rey Cometa, Valiente & Volador Jr. (CMLL 5/6/16)

Cometa was a guy who looked to be breaking out a couple years ago, and for the last year plus I've been wondering where that guy is. And this was the most I've enjoyed Cometa since probably 2014. He and Cavernario matched up great, which is a good sign going ahead for their feud. Their armdrag sequence in the primera was tremendous fun and Cometa really seemed energized throughout. Felino is also totally unpredictable as many matches of his are filled with all sorts of unfunny comedy and general laziness. Here he's at least semi-inspired in his role as third wheel and his apron work was great. Valiente going for an asai moonsault and Felino shaking the ropes at the perfect time to fell him was legit one of my favorite lucha moments of the year. So unexpected, perfect timing, great moment. Casas always seems to take joy in picking on Volador, but is always generous when taking Volador's ranas and dives, though in this match mostly Felino was matching up with him. Casas was busy absorbing Valiente's big dive, Cometa took some big spills, Cavernario looked like a star after being lost in the middle for awhile, and this was all fun.

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CMLL Worth Watching 7/12/15, 8/9/15 & 8/14/15

Blue Panther, The Panther & Blue Panther Jr. vs. Virus, Sangre Azteca & Okumura (7/12/15)

So, after showing some potential early last year, Panther's boys have so far revealed themselves to be duds. Clutzy, awkward, prone to confusion in the middle of segments. Luchadors can peak late, so there's still time, but for now it's best to expect nothing out of them. No, you watch this match expressly hoping for the few moments that papa Panther matches up with Virus. And those few moments totally made this worthwhile for me. Some of their exchanges lasted mere seconds but when you're dealing with two masters like them, sometimes that's all you need to see flashes of brilliance. At one point Panther armdrags Virus, Virus grabs BP's leg while going over, rolls through with it, Panther pulls Virus in with the captured leg and kicks off with the other. A 4 second moment, but gorgeous in its execution. There are more moments with them, and they're all the best parts of the match. There is some expected badness from BP's boys, though Jr. hits a nice dive at the tercera's peak, Virus wraps himself around a ringpost while also splatting on the apron, BP's opening mat play with Azteca was nice. A simple trios, and full of irony as I labeled it "worth watching" while later realizing it's not been uploaded by Cubs. I watched it on LATV. Add this to the pile of me historically documenting lucha matches that no one else will ever watch. (EDIT: It's up now)

Cabellera contra Cabellera: Pequeno Violencia vs. Aereo (8/9/15)

I can almost always get into a lucha stip matches, but I must say when the tecnico has 7/8" hair in a hair match, it kind of takes away some drama. You can almost guarantee it's going to be Violencia's ponytail getting got, and if it doesn't then Aero's hair will be back to the same cut within 4 weeks tops. But it's still fun to see minis get an extended singles match. It's tough to top a spot in the primera, as Aereo goes for a dive and Violencia just introduces him right into the floor. Splat. It sadly doesn't mean a whole lot as both men get into the ring at about the same time. Violencia immediately gets a leg lock to win the fall, and later in the match Aereo shows no hesitation in doing an even bigger dive. Aereo is real tiny, but doesn't quite have the same snap that fellow tiny minis like Shockercito have. Still, you get some nice headscissors and armdrags, just slower than the other guys. In that same vein, Violencia is your lesser bulky mini rudo, nowhere near as good as Demus or Pierrothito, and not anywhere near as exciting as a less bulky rudo like Mercurio. BUT, I like when 4th rung guys like this get showcase matches, get the chance to stretch out a bit. It doesn't always work, but there are usually fun moments. And this had fun moments.

Demus 3:16, Pequeno Violencia & Mercurio vs. Stukita, Shockercito & Ultimo Dragoncito (8/14/15)

This was real fun, too quick to be revolutionary, but tons of craziness which makes it an easy recommendation. The double dive alone is worth watching several times, which I certainly did. Stukita flies through Mercurio and lands right on the barrier, and Dragoncito gets a wild head of steam and comes in too hot, sending him crashing and burning OVER the barrier and into a front row chair, sending beer and a woman's smart phone flying. One of the camera angle looks like a beer geyser goes off. I mean he really just flew right into that front row. You crazy crazy tiny Dragon. Demus is kind of a nutbar, really has an outsized personality which is not something you ever see from minis. He really jaws with the ref, knows how to work a crowd, and is easily the best base of all the mini rudos. Shockercito goes for an around the world headscissors and Demus is nutty so he flips Shocker 4 times around his body and then upside down and then perfectly bumps through the ropes to the floor in an impossibly fluid way. The crowd kept getting louder with every revolution and he somehow made a 100% implausible move seem like something that could actually be done. Stukita is super smooth and breaks out all sorts of armdrags and moonsaults that he makes look effortless. I know the minis often have their matches recorded, but they rarely seem to make TV for whatever reason. This is the first time they've popped up on actual TV in...sheesh, over a year maybe?

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MLJ: Sin Salida 2010 Part 1

Sin Salida 2010 Part 1

I'm going to tackle the first two matches on the card today. The plan is to make it to the main event, double back to the trios which helped set up Maximo vs Taichi and then finish with 2010 with the hair match. I'll probably double back through the anniversary show (sticking with Garza) at some point.

I've seen very few whole shows in my lucha watching. I've also seen almost nothing when it comes to mini matches, ever, as in "ever," my whole life. I'm sure I've seen a bit of what WWF fed me back in the late 90s but for lucha, nada. I'm sort of curious to see these first two matches in the context of a card, because I don't have a great idea for how one's put together in Mexico, especially a big CMLL show.

For big shows in the states, there are a couple of things I'd expect from the first couple of matches on a card.

1.) The first match is there to get the crowd going, engaged. This is a principle dating back at least thirty years and probably far longer. Wrestlemania I started with Tito Santana vs Buddy Rose for a reason, an admitted reason. Most WWE PPVs over the last two years started with a spot-filled tag team title match for the same reason. Again, I'm not super familiar with minis matches but my instinct is that they're high-velocity affairs and it makes sense to lead off the card with them.

2.) These aren't the matches that are supposed to steal the show. They should be energetic and for a certain breed of fans I'm sure that's what's most engaging. I have a feeling, however, that they're not supposed to contain some of the more key themes that'll be in the later matches. There'll be less build and payoff, less heat to the beatdowns, less complexity to comebacks.They'll get a little less time and maybe won't even have the big dives that'll come later in the night.

Now, these are just assumptions. I honestly don't know, and there's never been any assurance of CMLL being logical about this.

Taped 2010-06-06
Bam Bam & Shockercito vs Demus 3:16 & Pierrothito


So, minis. Bam Bam is just an inch shorter than me, so there you go. I would probably be a mini. I feel a connection already. He was the Mini-Estrella champ. Shockercito is 500% guapo which is pretty funny. Pierrothito is the NWA Light Heavyweight Champ which is a belt they had cycled down to the minis a year before. Demus used to be mini Damian. He's got a pretty good look.

This was what I expected. It had about ten minutes and it was almost all quick action with most of the normal elements of a match compressed (shrunk down even). Now and again you'll see a match structured in two falls with a shine, beatdown (ending the first), extension of the beatdown and then the comeback foiled in some horrific way. This was what happend here.

The early exchanges were really just "an early exchange." One or two interactions and then out of the ring and back to the other pairing. What they did was smooth and athletic though. The rudos took the primera with a wheelbarrow into a facebreaker. onto Bam Bam and then this really cool reverse powerslam/rolling neckbreaker submission combo by Demus onto Shockercito.

The segunda started with the continuation of the beatdown (including a giant swing/dropkick combo) followed by the comeback that consisted of comedy miscommunication by the rudos mainly. This all set up the finish which was Shockercito and Pierrothito ending up on the apron with Pierrothito flat on his back. Shockercito charged forth but got monkeyflipped. He was supposed to end up in a powerbomb position by Demus on the floor but it didn't quite work out and looked nasty. Back in the ring Demus and Bam Bam had a roll up fest with the rudo getting the better of it for the win.

This was quick but fun. I really need to dip my foot deeper into the mini waters.

Taped 2010-06-06
Metro, Rush, Stuka Jr. vs Histeria, Maniaco, Monsther


This was my first look at Monsther. He fit right into Los Invasores, far more so than some other guys in the stable. Chucky is so in your face and over the top as a mascot too. He was all over the match and you can hardly blame them for it. Stuka was the captain for the tecnicos and pretty much the only guy over in a good way. There were signs with the Porra Tecnico and everything. Rush had a surprising amount of boos for so early in his career. I hadn't realized they had turned on him so quickly.

I thought Rush looked good here. It's the earliest I've seen him and my plan is to spend more time with him in 2011 after I finish this show. He was definitely Rush, down to beating the crap out of Chucky in a way that put sympathy on the mascot and elicited boos from the crowd. Monsther was pretty funny as Stuka tried to rope run with him and just got goozled for his trouble. The tecnicos took the primera after Stuka did his reverse course leap out of the ring, leaving Rush and Metro to take out the remaining rudos (including Metro doing this really great backcompression submission over his knee.)

Rudos took over in the segunda, in part because the tecnicos were spending too long going after Chucky. It wasn't anything special. Histeria got Stuka from the outside in on a rope running sequence. The finish was a little goofy as I swear he got pinned twice and Monsther splashed his legs instead of something that made more sense, but it was ultimately harmless. Anyway, and this could be an indication of the spot on the card, the comeback in the tercera was almost immediate with Stuka moving out of the way of a charging Chucky, some humorous rudo miscommunication, and Stuka's dive bomb.

This was short and sweet, with a bit of flubbing here and there. Metro looked good. Monsther fit in well and Chucky was certainly energetic and happy to take a lot of abuse. It was pretty much what it was supposed to be. I thought it was most interesting how quickly Stuka started his comeback in the tercera and that they managed to clear the ring without dives (since they were saving those for later in the night, I guess).

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report 6/15/14

So after consistently showing matches from two weeks prior for the last several months, suddenly they jump way back in time as these matches were from the 1/5/14 Arena Mexico show. I don't know if this was a trend or just some "hey we never showed that minis cibernetico from 6 months ago. Let's put it up!"

Goya Kong, Dark Angel & Estrellita vs. Tiffany, Amapola & Princesa Sugheit

According to Cubsfan's match finder this is only the 2nd time these 6 women have all been involved in the same match, and the last time was three years ago. That's kinda neat. The match itself was kind of okay. Things got a little unfocused so my attention wandered. At some point it felt kind of like just fillin' time. I do like a good Goya Kong showcase though, and I haven't seen her on TV in some time. She drops a mean leg here and crushes Tiffany in the corner with an avalanche. Haven't seen Tiffany in a long time and she's another favorite of mine. She's all stooging and bitch face and she's awesome. She leans into everything and makes Estrellita look like someone with talent. Really for the six people they assembled here and the time it was given, this should have been way better. Marcela replacing Estrellita would have been the only obvious upgrade. Dalys has been good lately but not sure she's better than the three rudas here. But yeah, real disappointment here. And, the thing is that you'll have to take my word for it! This may be the only match all year that Cubsfan hasn't uploaded. So that's right, these printed words are among the only historical records of this match's existence. In 30 years when somebody is doing The 2010s Project some weirdo will go, "hey did these women ever all match up" and then they will find their answer here, and maybe not trust my opinion that the match kinda blew, but likely believe that Dark Angel looked foxy.

Pequeno Reyes Del Aire!

Demus 3:16, Pierrothito, Pequeno Nitro, Pequeno Olimpico & Mercurio vs. Shockercito, Electrico, Stukita, Ultimo Dragoncito & Astral

This gets 30 (!) minutes, and for the first part I was amped, ready to tell Phil to check it out for our MOTY list. But it loses steam and can't really recover. There is definitely such a thing as a match being too long, and there aren't just enough tecnico minis (does Bam Bam still work?) that I like now to justify them getting this much time. The people you expect to look great, look really great. Demus 3:16 and Pierrothito rarely disappoint and they certainly didn't here. They're clearly the best bases and all the tecnicos are better for it. Mercurio got a little showcase time and showed some big bumping skills that I've never really seen from him before. Astral and Electrico are apparently working like mini La Mascaras which is not really at all what I want to see from my mini tecnicos. I did really dig Stukita and Shockercito and was very pleasantly surprised by Ultimo Dragoncito. Stukita is super tiny, but more in a athletic 13 year old kinda way (as opposed to a Mascarita Sagrada way). But he's got crazy energy and while his stuff doesn't always look ultra impactful (I mean, he does appear to be like 70 lb. so while I'm sure taking a moonsault from a 12 year old would hurt, it's not exactly Scorpio flattening you here) he does put a lot behind it and makes it look as good as possible with his tiny frame. He hits a triple moonsault and eats knees on the third and I admired how he had no problem flying face first into those knees.

Ultimo Dragoncito has the spot of the match with his crazy flip dive that sees him fly back first and upside down into the ringside barricade. All the dive stuff was great with Pierrothito flattening someone with his Silver King dive and three tecnicos hitting epic stereo corner dives. This was worked a lot more like a normal trios match (yes yes, even through there were 10 people) as there were a lot of double teams and general teamwork spots as opposed to the usual exclusive one on one stuff you normally get from ciberneticos. Not sure how I felt about it as I didn't end up loving the overall match anyway as there just wasn't enough meat to fill 30, but it was an interesting change of pace at least. Lame eliminations are kind of a cibernetico staple at this point so you expect a few of them, and they often come from moves that would never normally pin a guy, and there's always that moment where you get the feeling that the plan was "okay, we worked our allotted time, now to start burning through the eliminations". You get your lame finish where one guy pins another with a suplex but it turns out HIS shoulders were actually down and everybody groans and there's nobody who could possibly like this finish. Not sure why we needed to protect Pequeno Olimpico on a finish. "Ya gotta let Peq. Olimpico leave with his heat! Fans are gonna remember the 5th elimination of a Cibernetico!" Match ends on the flattest note possible as someone either legit or storyline gets hurt and the doctors wave it off, so Electrico wins by not getting injured. Yay?

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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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