2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Lomeli v. Negro

87. Chavo Lomeli v. Guerrero Negro Jr. Coahuila 1/1

ER: Every neighborhood in Mexico must have a tubby local tecnico or a tubby local rudo, born and raised in that neighborhood and wrestling exclusively in that neighborhood. Chavo Lomeli is in his late 40s, wears great tassel tights like old tubby Jerry Estrada, looks like current Felino (+ 40 lb.) and was unseen by mine eyes until now. And again, there are hundreds of Chavo Lomelis in Mexico, and I'm always excited when a new one pops onto my radar. This was a fun New Years hair match, and Lomeli has a great head of hair on the line. You remember Negro as the worst participant in the Busca de un Idolo, and he's mostly what you remember: A guy who can do a dive and take a couple nice bumps. Chavo is a big bumping fatty which is probably the quickest way into my wrestling heart. Negro roughs him up with knuckle punches and Chavo continues the tradition of fat guys being great bleeders. Negro tosses him into the third row of not ready fans, and Negro has a bunch of bad body seconds roaming the ringside waving towels and sneaking boots in on Chavo. Negro eats a chairshot, Chavo does the excellent Harley Race bump where he falls backwards through the ropes and splats onto the floor. Negro hits a dive and Chavo ends up tossing HIM into those same fans. Finish is typical lucha ref fast count BS, but happens with good reason as Negro throws a punch at Chavo, misses, and ends up throwing the nastiest strike of the match right into the ref's jaw. Fun start to the indy lucha year.

PAS: Sort of a B- bloody hair match, but we get so few bloody hair matches these days, and bloody hair match is such a great match type, B- is going to get you on a list. Guerrero Negro Jr. is easier on the eyes when he has less to do, he isn't trying to keep up with Dragon Lee, he is just trying to punch an old guy in his bloody head. There is an obvious Negro blade job, but otherwise he was fine. Lomeli was a blast, you just know he has defended that luxurious mane many times before (probably in better matches) and he knows how to work a compelling apuestas match. We have the dominant heel opening caida, the quick turnaround second fall with Lomeli turning a sunset flip into a reverse package piledriver (which must have shocked Negro). Third falls has all of the bumps and dives you want, and a fine BS lucha finish. I love grimey lucha hand helds and this was a blast.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 7/12/14

These matches were all from the 6/27/14 Arena Mexico show.

En Busca de un Idolo Cibernetico:

1. Negro Casas, Barbaro Cavernario, Dragon Lee, Cachorro & Soberano Jr. vs. Virus, Rey Hechicero, Guerrero Negro Jr., Star Jr. & Super Halcon Jr.

Ciberneticos tend to be fun exhibitions during the initial pairings, and then kinda pointless once they run through the inevitable string of six eliminations in 4 minutes. Out of the early pairings Cavernario/Star Jr. was really fun with really fast work, with Star breaking out really cool armdrags. Hechicero always finds neat new ways to bump to the floor. Cachorro hits the dive of the match, almost beheading Star over the barrier. Soberano hits a crazy tornillo, Casas hits a violent Thesz press off the apron onto Virus, even Halcon hits a nice flip dive. Hechicero was such a big deal in the tourney that I wish he was given more to do here. He gets to hit a great Fuerza bump and takes a nutso slingshot rana from Cachorro, but I wanted more. Seeing Hechicero work Casas was just a brutal tease as it just showed how desperately the upper card needs this guy in there regularly. Dragon Lee makes Guerrero Negro look like a monster, wiping out onto the side of his head on a clothesline. Virus lets Dragon Lee kick him a bunch, and Lee is a guy with some nice looking kicks. I had seen that Phil wrote this up when it happened, and I am stunned that he didn't comment on Cavernario and Hechicero BOTH pulling down their straps when they squared off. Hechicero also does his weird inverted monkey flip to sort of hotshot Cavernario. And then they have to have a double pinfall elimination, because of the stupid awful Torneo Cibernetico charter of 2005, which states "Henceforth all Ciberneticos must have a stupid fucking double pinfall elimination where both men have their shoulders down in a move that otherwise would never be counted as a pinfall, but for dogshit lazy reasons will be counted as a double pinfall in this instance because fuck you." We get a long Casas/Virus showdown to end it which is really fun. Also made me think how odd it is that these two have been around forever, but this was probably the most I've ever seen the two of them match up. Which is sad. I liked this match a lot more than Phil, I thought it was much better than the other ciberneticos over the last few years.

2. Rush, Ultimo Guerrero & La Sombra vs. Atlantis, Shocker & Mr. Niebla

Super fun match that delivered even more than I expected. Sombra really came off like a star here. Really great 1st fall rudo beatdown, with Niebla getting kicked off the rampway into the crowd, Sombra running around giving big boots to everybody, Rush caving in Niebla with his corner dropkick. Big intensity. Tecnicos get quick revenge in the segunda, and the tercera is really hot. Niebla gets to slap Rush around, hitting him with his big slap on the floor, and then back in the ring when Rush covers his face Niebla just sweeps his legs out. Sombra leans way into Shocker's stuff, and they have a good strike exchange with Sombra throwing his awesome left/right elbows. UG obviously rips Atlantis' mask, and Niebla and Shocker awesomely cheat to win, with Niebla pinning Rush with his feet on the ropes. Sombra unmasks himself but Shocker don't care and just pins him, with the ref not noticing. Fun match.

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En Busca de Un Idolo - Cibernetico

6/27

Cachorro/Cavernario/Dragon Lee/Soberano Jr./Negro Casas v. Virus/Hechicero/Star Jr./Guerrero Negro Jr./Super Halcon Jr. - Spare Moment

Pretty flat disappointing match for all the promise it had on paper. Often the best part of Ciberneticos is your first set of exchanges, but we had bad match ups here, your mat section was Cachorro trying to do something interesting with Negro Jr., Virus was stuck with Soberano Jr., Casas was saddled with Halcon, we did get Lee v. Hechicero but that was the fastest of the match ups and was basically just a set up for a dive. For a tourney with some jaw dropping spots, this didn't really have any memorable dives or bumps. Virus looked good and the final run with him agains Lee and Casas was really fun, but overall kind of bummer. Hopefully when Cavernario gets his title shot that will be good.

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En Busca de un Idolo -Week 7

5/13

Cavernario v. Guerrero Negro Jr.- Must See

This was more of brawl then most of these matches and a fun change of pace. Negro Jr. doesn't look particularly good in his brawling, punches are subpar, kicks don't land great, but he does bump OK, and Cavernario absolutely flies around the ring. The finish is what pushes this into Must See territory. Cavernario hits a crazy suplex to the floor and follows it up with his awesome superfly to the floor. Great performance by him, and adds him to the short list of guys who had a good match with Negro.

Dragon Lee v. Super Halcon Jr. - Don't Bother

Match was a mess, first real trainwreck of the tourney. Most things both guys tried were awkward looking or semi blown, and the cool things in the match weren't enough to outweigh that. The last minute was especially bad looking, with Lee trying to hook in his bridged suplex and dropping Halcon before fully landing it. This is the kind of thing you are bound to have with young kids, so I don't mind a strikeout or two, but that is what this was.

5/16

Cachorro v. Super Halcon Jr. -Spare Moment

The boys come out throwing huge bombs, within the first three minutes, we have a Cachorro bullet tope, a Cachorro running powerbomb on the floor, and a Halcon running death valley bomb into the ring boards. I appreciate the balls outetness of the whole thing, but that much front loaded is bound to lead to a slightly underwhelming finish run. Halcon Jr. also breaks out a Virus/Super Astro somesault senton to the prone Cachorro, and a throw into the turnbuckles, before getting caught in a flash Fujiwara. I do love how Cachorro has made that a kill shot move, always adds a bit of unpredictability.

Cavernario v. Soberano Jr. - Spare Moment

Fun match with Cavernario going full rudo and ripping up Soberano's mask and throwing him around. Soberano had some awkward moments, not hitting his stuff as cleanly as he had in other matches. I did love the finish with Soberano taking a nasty bump on missed top before getting splatted by the superfly to the floor. Another great Cavernario carry job, he seems to be really good at putting together compelling finishes.

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En Busca de un Idolo - Week 5

4/29

Cachorro v. Guerrero Negro Jr. -Spare Moment

The weakest Cachorro match so for, Guerrero Negro is just so bland. Here he tries some stuff, a plancha and a Canadian Destroyer, but nothing jumped out and his little stuff didn't look good. Cachorro had a cool springboard rana to the floor which I hadn't see him do before, and he is good enough that he is always worth seeing but Negro did his best to make me not care.

Dragon Lee v. Cavernario - Must See

The more Dragon Lee I watch, the more I think he belongs in the same discussion with the other finalists. He has some very nice opening matwork here before they start throwing bombs, and boy do the bombs comes. We almost had violence overkill here, Cavernario powerbombs Lee on the floor, and into the turnbuckle, Lee murders Cavernario with a tope, and hits him with a sunset flip bomb to the floor, just a ton of nasty shit for 8 minutes. Finish was great as Cavernario breaks out of a powerbomb attempt with a nasty headbutt and brutal knee, before hitting a flapjack and submission. Almost felt like the last 7 minutes of a epic Puro match.

5/2

Dragon Lee v. Cachorro - Must See

The Dragon Lee train rolls on. Another great match and great performance. Right away they get in each others faces and this almost immediately feels like the beginning of a great rivalry. Lee backs him into the ropes and lands a hard chop, and Cachorro responds with a big double leg tackle. Dragon Lee continues to get killed on the floor, as he takes a running Liger bomb on the concrete. There was a great near fall here, as Cachorro whips out his flash Fujiwara, but too close to the ropes. The crazy Manami Toyota suplex Lee uses to win this match takes a bit too long to set up, but it was still pretty cool looking. I want to see these two guys match up consistently, this was their great sprint, I want to see their great title match and their great apuestas match too.

Soberano Jr. v. Guerrero Negro Jr.- Spare Moment

I got to give these two some credit, there were execution issues and lots of stuff didn't hit clean, but they left it all out there. Some crazy shit here, Negro catches a rana attempt and just chucks Soberano into the barricade, Soberano tries a six twist plancha to the floor, after Negro just flies out of the ring onto his head. Like I said, they were off on a lot of their timing and moves, but at least it wasn't dull.

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En Busca de un Idolo - Week 3

4/15

Cachorro v. Soberano Jr.- Spare Moment

Soberano Jr. is the best of the tourney also rans. He has a really good vertical leap which adds something to his leapfrogs and dives, I imagine he would have made a good Jr. College 2 guard. Cachorro is the other contender for wrestler of this tourney. He doesn't do anything mind blowing here, but he is great at adding little beats, and seasoning to his moves. Only thing that kept this from being higher is the brevity, this only goes about four minutes which is even short for this tourney.

Star Jr. v. Dragon Lee- Must See

These are the two craziest flyers in this tourney. Often flyer v. flyer dream matches don't live up to expectations (I remember being super disappointed by Red v. Jody Fleisch back in the ROH days), however this is pretty much what you want from two crazy lunatics given 8 minutes to kill themselves. Star Jr. wins the bump contest as he dives at Lee who straddling the top rope, Lee moves and Star Jr. does a flip dive splat on the floor, and as he stumbles up he gets cracked by Lee. I actually thought Lee had a couple of nifty mat moves at the beginning including breaking out of a Indian deathlock with a nice forearm. He also put on a cool submission after a top rope armdrag. I would lose my shit if this was on Nitro in 1998 which is my standard for these matches.

4/18

Cachorro v. Cavernario- Must See

Another absolute corker of a match. There are two of the three best guys in this tourney and this is the best match I have seen. We open up with a bunch solidly wrestled exchanges and then the hot death starts. Cavernario opens up with a great through the ringpost tope. A bit later he takes a fun Dick Murdoch back first bump after his legs get caught in the ropes, before getting smashed by Cachorro's bullet tope. Then we get almost as great a one two punch pair of spots as in the Hechicero match, as Cachorro tries another tope, gets bealed head first into the barrier and then eats the Superfly to the floor, which looks like it smushes him like a grilled cheese getting sat on by a fat kid. Another big in ring splash looks like it will finish him, but as Cavernario picks him up for more, Cachorro throws on a flash Fujiwara for the tap. About as good a 9 minute sprint as you are going to see. I have been down on young CMLL for a while, but with guys like Rush, Terrible and Rey Escorpion plus these guys in this tourney, my optimism is rising.

Dragon Lee v. Guerrero Negro Jr.-Must See

Speaking of bright futures, Dragon Lee is 18 years old and debuted in 2014, and is already pretty damn great. I really dug this match, it felt a little chippier then other matches in this tourney, both guys were throwing nasty shots at each other in between spots. Lee hit a great looking Ohtani boot in the corner for example. Lee also absolutely smashed Negro with a tope. There was one awkward moment where Negro went for a double stomp to the floor (after Lee takes a sick clothesline bump on the ring apron) and I can't tell if he hits it or misses it. Lee breaks out a nice Spider german and bridged german to win the match and the more I watch of him, the more he belongs in the top four

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En Busca de un Idolo-Week 2

4/8

Super Halcon Jr. v. Guerrero Negro Jr.-Don't Bother

No real execution problems, but really vanilla uninteresting wrestling. Felt a little like an undercard black trunk New Japan juniors match in the early 2000's. Super Halcon Jr. hit a tope con hilo but it didn't have the speed or height on the really great looking dives we are seeing in this tourney. Finish was a solidly executed moonsault which also lacked pizzaz. Forgettable stuff, I really prefer the home run or strike out approach of guys like Star Jr. and Dragon Lee.

Hechicero v. Cavernario-Must See

Both of these guys were kind of local cult heroes, Cavernario was a guy you would search out being crazy in Guadalajara, while Hechicero was the local mat wizard of Monterey. Pretty cool to see them both get a shot at the big time, and both perform so well. The opening matwork was a step above what we had seen before, that is Hechicero's calling card, but the caveman was really solid too. Then we get one of the crazier back to back spots in the history of professional wrestling. Hechicero had last years bump of the year with his chair leg tope, he tries for the 2014 title as he attempts to dive on Cavernario from the ring apron, catches the barrier with his feet and smashes the back of his neck on the floor. Cavernario one ups him, with his crazy top rope to the floor Superfly splash. They battle back in the ring for a bit, and we get some nasty Cavernario headbutts and a great counter into a spinning submission by Hechicero. These guys really set the bar on day 3, not hard to see how they ended up doing so well in the judging.

4/11

Hechicero v. Guerrero Negro Jr.-Spare Moment

I enjoyed the early parts of this a bunch. It was really fun to watch Hechicero eat up Guerrero Negro Jr. with really cool standing counters and leverage arm twists. Negro is about the most generic maskless luchador ever, even his name seems like it comes out of a random lucha name generator. He is fine when asked to do simple things, but when he tries to get fancier the match falls apart. He tries a slingshot double stomp to the floor, but only grazes Hecheicero, then tries an octopus and ends up falling into the ropes. By the time Negro wins with a power bomb, it felt like a mercy killing. Worth checking out for the first part, but it got messy.

Super Halcon Jr. v. Cavernario- Spare Moment

Similar to the previous match, as we had one of the best guys in this tourney trying to pull something out of one of the dullest. This didn't have the high points of the previous match, we got some cool Cavernerio brawling, but nothing as cool as Hechicero's judo,  but it didn't fall apart either, just kind of chugged along. I really like Cavernario's shoulder scars, it looks like he was swiped by a sabertooth tiger. Unmemorable, but inoffensive.

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 2/15/14

Phil's favorite!!! It's tournament lucha!!! The dry hump of lucha libre!!! This is the Gran Alternativa tourney from 1/31.

1. Blue Panther & Cachorro vs. Averno & Rebelde

Wow, 5 minutes for a tourney lucha match that isn't the finals? Color me spoiled. This was really fun for what it was. Panther and his kid vs. Averno and Hooligan's kid (which is to say, Averno teaming with Hooligan's son. I don't think Averno and Hooligan have a sexual relationship). This is my first time seeing Rebelde and he breaks out a bananas dive on Panther, almost going vertical before crashing into him. In the ring he hits a cool corkscrew splash off the top. Cachorro gets his own big dive, Panther does some swank armlock on Averno. Really this is the most you can hope for with tourney lucha.

2. La Sombra & Oro Jr. vs. Rey Bucanero & Akuma

And then there's this. 150 seconds of dry indie moves delivered heatlessly and pointlessly. Oro hit a pair of nice moonsault presses, one to the floor. Indie move, guy gets up, other guy does indie move, etc.

3. Maximo & Hombre Bala Jr. vs. Terrible & Guerrero Negro Jr.

Wow. If anybody needed any proof of why tourney lucha is the worst, here we have a 45 second match where they go to nearfalls right out of the gate. Maximo goes to kiss Negro, Negro fights, and then amusingly Terrible forces a kiss on Maximo which shocks him enough for Negro to get the pin. Clever, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a waste of everybody's time (is there anything more lame than sitting through entrances that last longer than the match?).

4. Volador Jr. & Soberano Jr. vs. Mephisto & Espanto Jr.

It usually takes about 3-4 matches into a lucha tourney to make you wonder why the hell you even bothered, but then you know you're half way through the whole thing and you've come this far and you still haven't learned to cut your losses after all these years. Soberano is wearing his dorky spider-man jammy jams and does just about the ugliest standing moonsault you've ever seen. Throw in his sloppy backcracker and you have indie goober Yahtzee. Volador took forever to set up a rana off the top rope, which in a match this short was essentially 1/3 of the match. The best part of the match was when they cut to a gal in the crowd drinking beer, 3 solo cups deep. I'd be getting wasted too if I had shown up for some Friday night wrestling and was presented with a collection of 2 minute matches.

5. Blue Panther & Cachorro vs. La Sombra & Oro Jr.

Cachorro hits another epic tope that just plasters Sombra into the back wall. Panther gets hit with Oro's moonsault press and looks like he's starting to turn the pinfall attempt into some sort of cool crucifix submission...but his son runs in and breaks up the pinfall.

6. El Terrible & Guerrero Negro Jr. vs. Volador Jr. & Soberano Jr.

All of the dated indie spots! I'm starting to think when I put a bunch of old Japan and indie wrestling VHS tapes on craigslist that they somehow ended up in the hands of undercard luchadors. Here was Soberano and Volador doing some throwback Scoot Andrews spots while Negro tried his fucking damndest to make it look plausible. A for effort. Volador looks sluggish and bored.

7. THE FINALS: La Sombra & Oro Jr. vs. Volador Jr. & Soberano Jr.

Sombra dumped himself on his dome a couple times whipping off Volador Code Red variations, Volador absolutely brained Oro with a superkick in the corner. The crowd is usually mic'd down quite a bit and you could hear a noticeable uproar immediately following the kick. The ref even checked on him. It looked nasty. But most of this match was inept 2.9 counts with no heat or drama. The most hilariously inept was towards the end when Soberano and Oro, the two featured young guys in this whole tournament, finally were left solo in the ring to square off. They're both getting their sides of the crowd hyped up, crowd is wanting it, Oro rushes at him...and Soberano just powerbombs and pins him. Waah waah. No exchanges, no flash, just...bloop.

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