Lucha Worth Watching: Sugehit's Quest for Hair

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

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

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

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

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CMLL Worth Watching 2/23/14, 9/21/14 & 9/28/14

1. Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Escorpion & Mephisto vs. Atlantis, Valiente & Volador Jr. (9/21/14)

Wow, really must have been something in the water this show. Every match saw every guy working hard. Lucha is so bizarre and unpredictable in that way. Guys worked harder on this show than a lot of guys on the big Mask show a couple days prior. This is a hot little short match, just two days after Atlantis took UG's mask. UG comes right out and blitzes Atlantis during his entrance and the Coliseo crowd is hot the whole way through this. For a lot of them this is probably the first time seeing UG with no mask. The other 4 guys could have easily hung back and let UG beat the tar out of Atlantis, and they do to a degree but they also pick their spots and hit some nice stuff. Volador doesn't make it about him but he hits his nice slingshot rana to the floor, Valiente hits his giant moonsault to the floor, Escorpion and Mephisto are good at facilitating UG's beat downs on Atlantis. And really a lot of this match was UG taking out his maskless aggression, beating Atlantis into a bunch of fans in the crowd, popping him in the jaw, hitting all his traditional offense extra snug. Guys fighting in the crowd and leaning on and falling into fans is one of my favorite things in lucha, and overall this match was short, sweet but also made me sad about no blood. Feels like it could have been special back in the 90s with UG coming out and immediately bloodying up Atlantis. I miss bloody torn masks :(

2. Skadi, Princesa Sujei, La Vaquerita vs. Zeuxis, La Comandante & La Seductora (9/28/14)

This wasn't a great match, or maybe even a good match, but it was my first exposure to Skadi who I really enjoyed. I was watching this, didn't recognize the thicker well built gal, and apparently she is Marcela's daughter. I also did not realize Marcela was 45 and clearly old enough to have a daughter in her early 20s. Her daughter gets a kind of showcase here, getting long sequences with everybody and while there is some hesitance in some of her offense she does have some nice stuff, and took a real great splat bump to the floor. It's always nice seeing new faces (erm, masks) and this was a perfectly nice women's tag. Zeuxis has also been coming into her own this past year, usually conveying more of a mean streak than the other ruda gals. This probably got too much time, but I liked it.

3. Goya Kong, Estrellita & Lady Afrodita vs. Princesa Blanca, Tiffany & Princesa Sujei (2/23/14)

I have a brazen love for Goya Kong and I do not care who knows it. I love how the crowd reacts to her, love how the men clearly love her but more importantly how the older ladies love her. They react to her like they would react to their own daughter. There's always so much pride in female fans' faces during Kong matches. I can't really think of another current wrestler who inspires these kind of reactions. It's too bad female wrestlers can only go so far in CMLL as I think they have a potentially huge star on their hands. Primera is all about Kong getting to do a bunch of fun offense including a great elbow drop and senton. Segunda sees all the rudas come back for revenge and put the boots to Kong. Tiffany has always been a favorite of mine as she exudes bitch better than most, and Blanca is always a remarkable Fuerza for Estrellita's Octagon. Blanca was on fire in this, she's arguably the best female worker in CMLL. I do not think Estrellita is very good, and she always makes me feel sad, but Blanca always makes her look like a real threat. Blanca was all super slender here and rocking a lime green catsuit, bumping big for all of Estrellita's improbably armdrags. Lady Afrodita is the most ill-fitting and unfortunate gimmick name in lucha.

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2014 Ongoing Match of the Year List

24. Marcela/Princesa Sujei v. Princesa Blanca/La Seductora CMLL 8/1

ER: Sujei and Seductora are putting up their masks, and Marcela and Blanca are putting up their hair! Again, I actually didn't realize this match happened before watching it, and it was extra exciting going into it not knowing who was going to win. Blanca has probably the longest hair of any gal in CMLL, and Sujei and Seductora have had their masks longer than any CMLL gal I can think of. So in my brain there is a lot at stake here, and I think they more than delivered. Marcela is probably the best luchadora in the fed, and her and Sujei make a great team here. Both take some big bumps (Marcela missing a somersault senton off the apron to the floor, Sujei crashing and burning after getting kicked off the ropes onto the apron and also earlier launching herself spectacularly into the front row), and Blanca and Seductora really work like bitches. Seductora was always dropkicking and stomping throats, and Blanca genuinely felt like a woman who desperately did not want to lose her hair, scrambling and brawling the whole time, throwing women by the hair, or planting them with the most badass spinning powerbomb I've seen in ages. I really loved this match, a lot of it really felt like a struggle and the stakes felt real. The end potential interference was also really exciting, with Seductora getting thwarted from cheating to win, and Marcela and Sujei gratefully embracing on the mat post victory. Crowd was hot for this too, much hotter than most Arena Mexico crowds. I get it.

PAS: Yeah this was shockingly good. I loved the dropkicks in this match, they were really just smashing each other in the mouth with these nasty low kicks into the mouth. I agree with Eric about the drama, wager matches add so much excitement to what would normally be more of a run of the mill match. Every near fall really felt like a huge deal, and all four women clearly ramped up the violence and the bumping. Very good stuff.


2014 MASTER LIST

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 8/23/14

These matches were from the 8/8 Arena Mexico show.

1. Rey Escorpion vs. Dragon Rojo Jr.

I've been loving the build up to this singles over the previous couple weeks, with Escorpion punching the hell out of Rojo's face and blindsiding him in trios matches. I guess I'm a pretty easy guy to please if I can get excited for a match just by seeing a guy hit another guy. But this match was a major letdown. Everything that made me excited for it during the build was completely absent from the match itself. We had a match ruined by bad quick fall formatting, and a bunch of spots - some of them very impressive - that didn't have too much rhyme or reason to them. We also had a lame and oddly out of place strike exchange. Just an uninteresting match. The first two falls are blink-and-you'll-miss-'em, so even though they have some cool matwork in them, you're already kind of set up to see what kind of match this is going to be. And sure enough, the tercera plays out like the worst kind of lightning matches, with them heatlessly taking turns showing off what neat moves they can do. Escorpion does a dive, Rojo hits a gnarly dropkick off the rampway, Rojo hits a powerbomb, whatever. The move order seems like it was drawn out of a hat, with the moves determined ahead of time. No flow, just moves. The strike exchange was hilariously bad, with it coming out of nowhere to start the tercera. Both men immediately start selling like they'd been in a WAR!! with Rojo selling a chop by staggering around like current Pacino milking a heart attack death scene. The match had two incredibly quick falls, and suddenly these guys are just using the last of their strength to throw kick combos. Which is even more hilarious since they were totally fine afterwards, fine enough to run through the depths of their offense. Just a brutally constructed match, made both guys look awful.

2. Marcela, Princesa Sujei & Goya Kong vs. Amapola, La Seductora & Zeuxis

Fun match although it would have meant a bit more if Blanca had been in it the week after losing her hair. Amapola looked good and continued to be her same under appreciated self. I love the way she flings herself into the Cassandro bump. Zeuxis looked pretty sloppy last week and her she was nasty, hitting big running kicks and a wild moonsault off the top onto Kong. Kong has great charisma and I love how excited the Arena Mexico fans get for her. Plus her apron dive can look pretty great. Sujei and Marcela didn't make a giant impression here, but considering they won a mask and a whole lot of hair the week before I think that's fair.

3. Rush, La Sombra & La Mascara vs. Negro Casas, Ultimo Guerrero & Shocker

Not a bad match but I was expecting a lot more after last week's amazing Rush/Casas showdown. Look at me, watching something with raised expectations. La Sombra has really come into his own this year, but this match was not the one to show somebody if you were trying to prove that point. He was off the whole time, flopping bad on a headscissors and over-shooting a big flip dive that sent him stumbling chest first into the ring barrier. Shocker had some nice moments opposite Mascara, with my favorite being Mascara doing a drop down and Shocker just splatting him with the biggest elbow drop. Ultimo Guerrero integrated Sombra's double flip moonsault about the best way you can, by purposely rolling out of it so that he could make Sombra hit his knees. Now Rush vs. Casas. That was about as limp dick revenge as I could have possibly imagined. It's like both guys were sore from the week before so just agreed to take it easy on the other. Casas' big revenge moment came off so bad, where Rush goes to kick him in the balls again, and Casas just kicks him first, with a glancing blow that Rush just kind of falls over from. And then Casas runs around the ring jumping up and down like he's never beaten anybody in his life. It looked so pathetic. If that was supposed to be a moment I can't imagine many ways it could have fallen harder on its face.

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 8/16/14

These matches were both from the big 8/1 Juicio Final show. I actually didn't even realize until this episode that there was a luchadoras mask vs. hair match on the undercard of the Rush/Casas hair match.  I saw there was a Volador/Sombra match and I just assumed they would take the opportunity to show the 300th singles match between those two, so I was very pleasantly surprised that they showed the ladies match.

MASCARA CONTRA CABALLERA!



Marcela & Princesa Sujei vs. Princesa Blanca & La Seductora

Sujei and Seductora are putting up their masks, and Marcela and Blanca are putting up their hair! Again, I actually didn't realize this match happened before watching it, and it was extra exciting going into it not knowing who was going to win. Blanca has probably the longest hair of any gal in CMLL, and Sujei and Seductora have had their masks longer than any CMLL gal I can think of. So in my brain there is a lot at stake here, and I think they more than delivered. Marcela is probably the best luchadora in the fed, and her and Sujei make a great team here. Both take some big bumps (Marcela missing a somersault senton off the apron to the floor, Sujei crashing and burning after getting kicked off the ropes onto the apron and also earlier launching herself spectacularly into the front row), and Blanca and Seductora really work like bitches. Seductora was always dropkicking and stomping throats, and Blanca genuinely felt like a woman who desperately did not want to lose her hair, scrambling and brawling the whole time, throwing woman by the hair, or planting them with the most badass spinning powerbomb I've seen in ages. I really loved this match, a lot of it really felt like a struggle and the stakes felt real. The end potential interference was also really exciting, with Seductora getting thwarted from cheating to win, and Marcela and Sujei gratefully embracing on the mat post victory. Crowd was hot for this too, much hotter than most Arena Mexico crowds. I get it.

CABALLERA CONTRA CABALLERA!



Rush vs. Negro Casas

[Note: This match ended up landing at #11 on our Best of 2014 list. My review is reposted below, here's a link to Phil and my co-write up: http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2014/10/2014-ongoing-match-of-year-list_15.html]

Well this was awesome. Totally lived up to everything I wanted it to be. Rush comes out in a white suit with his hair tied up in a bun, so he can unfurl its majesty on the hate filled Arena Mexico crowd. And then Rush turns into an absolute hulked up bacne covered steamroller. Some matches you can see guys getting into position for parts of the match, purposely moving the match to a specific turnbuckle they need to be in to hit their mark. But here Rush just organically beats Casas' ass all over the ring. Hits a clothesline, pie faces Casas down to the mat, kicks him to the floor, kicks him on the floor, etc. Casas runs and Rush casual chases him down. Casas peppers in his comebacks when Rush gets cocky, and man does Casas blast in his own kicks. I love Casas' short low kicks to Rush's chest, and I love how every time he got his chance he really tried to make the most of that chance. Watch him desperately/shrewdly latch onto Rush's left arm during La Casita, using any ounce of leverage he can to get the pin. Rush plays a vicious game of oneupsmanship here taking what Casas dishes and bringing it back fiercely. Casas kicks him in the corner? Rush kicks him harder and then gloats to the crowd while standing on his throat. Casas hits the big Thesz press? Rush hits a lunatic dropkick off the apron, not giving a shit how hard his own body thuds onto the ground. And then there's poor Casas getting back into the ring, and Rush punting him right in the face. Casas gets a busted lip and few few brain cells taken off his hands, and the crowd goes silent. I'm not sure I've seen anything like that before. Casas still makes great comebacks and as I told Phil a few days ago, I'm not sure there's a better fired up babyface comeback in wrestling than Negro Casas. I love him going toe to toe with Rush, trying to outwit him, trying to strangle him with subs, ripping at Rush's hands. But it wasn't enough. Rush was too much. He even risks losing the match just for the opportunity to punt Casas in the balls, just because. Great, great match.

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 7/19/14

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report 4/27/14

These matches were from the 4/13 Arena Coliseo show.

Princesa Blanca, Princesa Sugheit & La Seductora vs. Marcela, Silueta & Lady Afrodita

Boy Lady Afrodita is not one who pops up very often. I'm not sure I understand the gimmick name as her ring gear is best described as a mother who kept her figure and is on her way to yoga class. When your name is Afrodita and you're the most conservatively dressed worker in the match, there are things you should reconsider. Possibly a name change to Lady Good for Her, or Lady Getting Back Out There. This match was plenty fun though, with Marcela landing double knees to various ovaries and did a cool apron dive, Seductora and Silueta doing some cool armdrags, Blanca and Sugheit are total bitches. This is all good. Primera was really good and the last two falls were too short, but still good stuff.

Euforia, Ultimo Guerrero & Comandante Pierroth vs. La Mascara, Titan & Diamante Azul

This was about as by the book as you can imagine. It ended when it ended, and before that stuff happened as it happened. Guys alternated between looking good, and looking not good. The tercera especially was sloppy, with really lazy rope running featuring guys just kind of moving past each other and going through lazy motions of getting into position. Pierroth looked good in the first in a cool Dinamitas kind of way, and he looked like a muscle headed lunk by the end of this. Titan was a bright spot as he broke out some cool ranas, nice running boots, and even the old Tiger Mask II feint which I always like. But this was very skippable.

Rey Escorpion, Dragon Rojo Jr. & Polvora vs. Valiente, Maximo & Marco Corleone

This match was super listless too. Without list. The first two falls went by with just a whisper. Stuff happened. I don't even remember seeing Valiente until the tercera. He's a pretty easy guy to see, too. The tercera does start with a bang, with Escorpion fishhooking Maximo while punching him knuckles first to the forehead. So that's awesome and reminded me of the great end of 2013 Porky clan vs. Escorpion feud. The rest of the fall doesn't really live up to that opening moment, even though the rudos beating down Maximo was fun. Meh.

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CMLL on Fox Deportes Workrate Report, 3/1/13

These were the other matches from the 2/15 Arena Mexico show. And like almost every lucha show that I've randomly discovered on my cable, this channel stopped showing CMLL like a couple weeks after this. I don't know why Mexican cable teases me so, but whenever a channel other than Galavision starts showing lucha, it usually just disappears after a couple months. This time it continued to appear on the schedule, and it would record as "Lucha Libre CMLL", but then I'd watch it and it would be an old UFC show from 5 years ago.

1. Amapola/La Comandante/La Seductora vs. Estrellita/Dalis/Silueta

Boy when Silueta is making TV you know you're really digging deep on some women's matches. Amapola blindsides Estrellita during her ring entrance to at least save us all from that sadness. And that's kinda the story of the match. Amapola and Estrellita match up well and work pretty violently with each other but good lord this felt pretty long for what it was. Dalis and Silueta are what they are, Comandante is usually fine as the 3rd best ruda in a trios, and Seductora doesn't do much for me (although I admittedly have hardly ever seen her).  The dive/plancha spot was OK but pretty sloppy, and Estrellita's finisher Indian death lock/armbar was really cool, but took longer than Undertaker's triangle to set up.

2013 Reyes Del Aire Final! 

2. Volador Jr. vs. La Sombra

Holllllllly shit that match was AWESOME! I was excited for it and this was WAY better than I thought it would be. Volador has been one of my favorite wrestlers period over the last couple years and he did not disappoint here. La Sombra was MORE than game and this was an absolutely insane match with some crazy spots. I loved it. You like headscissor hurricanranas? Well I sure do, motherfucker, and there were tons of them on display here. Each of them gorgeous, each of them in a different part of the building: in the ring, on the floor, on the ramp way, into the barricade, tons of ranas and all of them awesome. Volador sending Sombra upside down into the ring barrier. The dives were plentiful and also nuts, with Sombra doing a hands-free flip dive over the ring post and Volador returning the favor with a nutso swanton to the floor. And when you had so many ranas, you know you're gonna get guys getting caught in ranas and planted with powerbombs and motherfucker we had some of that too and it was glorious! Sombra had a couple ridiculous suplex spots, with him going for a schoolboy, rolling through and doing a Backlund-esque one arm dead lift overhead suplex. Later in the match he goes for a wheelbarrow suplex with Volador grabbing his mini sidekick to prevent it, so Sombra ends up heaving both of them overhead and they all sprawl out fantastically across the ring. Everything about this was fucking awesome with Volador stiffing Sombra with kicks, Volador flying all over the place at fast speeds making Sombra shine, a double mask pull-off finish, shit even Tirantes bumps big after getting a dropkick run into his face. I loved it all and this was just truly great. DEFINITELY go out of your way to watch this. You will not regret spending 20 minutes of your life on this. 

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 11/19/11

I've been falling behind. I'm sorry. Turner Classic Movies has been really good lately. They've been digging deep and showing great stuff like Dodsworth and weird 70s prison movies like The Slams. So lucha fell by the wayside a bit. But I'm back. This episode had two short matches that I enjoyed. In fact, I loved the main event. It was short, sure, but everybody was working with a passion that you don't always see in your Arena Mexico main events. Volador is fast becoming my favorite luchador, but this match highlights another great Ultimo Guerrero performance, who's showing more energy in 2011 than he has in years. Main event is well worth watching. More below.



Tiffany/La Seductora/La Commandante vs. Lady Apache/Dark Angel/Estrellita:

Yeah!! Tiffany is back and she fucking ruled it in this match. Talking tons of shit and bumping all over for all the tecnicas. When did Estrellita turn? Tiffany goes out with an injury and Estrellita is just a good girl now? A good girl wearing caution tape over her business? Rachel is watching this with me and she thinks Commandante looks like Harvey Keitel. Like, current Harvey Keitel. She also looks like that couple in the crowd who look like twins (are they brother/sister? Two people who fantasize about having sex with themselves? Mother/son? Love triangle with Commandante?). Lady Apache is clearly a cut above here, though Dark Angel always looks good. Tiffany was the real superstar though. She does all these little things that can get easily skipped in lucha, such as standing on Apache's wrist while everybody gets in position to triple team her. How many times in lucha have you seen somebody just waiting around to take a beating? It drives me batty sometimes. A tecnico will get bodyslammed, and then just lie motionless on the mat waiting around for all three rudos to sync up and start beating his ass. But here, Apache runs into a boot, and Tiffany awesome stands on her fucking wrist, waiting for her rudas to get into position to commence ass beating. Such a tiny thing, but something that gets skipped a lot in rushed CMLL lucha. Tiffany is awesome.



Ultimo Guerrero/Volador Jr./Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Jushin Liger/La Sombra/Atlantis:

Liger isn't wearing his stupid yellow wig, to the thanks of everybody. Rudos attack before the fall on the rampway and it is swift and violent. Oftentimes rushed CMLL main events are just pointless quick spots and unrealistic pinfalls, with guys just being pinned after hardly taking any offense. But the rushed nature actually worked in this match's favor. The rudos were rushing through spots in the first fall, yes, but it gave the rudos a sense of immediacy and brutality, with them coming off as a wicked well-oiled machine (instead of guys just trying to get their spots in). Rojo smacks Liger around with glee, Ultimo beats the piss out of Atlantis, and Volador is my favorite wild card in lucha right now. He rarely sticks to one tecnico during a match, just floating around and beating up whomever needs it. He hits a running superkick in the first fall that is just sooooo fucking great, pretty much my favorite superkick in the history of my wrestling fandom. Atlantis gets thrown into the turnbuckles, and Volador sprints across the ring and just superkicks the feeling out of Atlantis' face. I'm not sure I've ever seen a running superkick before. It's a move performed with an opponent running towards you, or from standing next to your opponent. But Volador just sprints corner to corner and plants it under Atlantis' chin. Brutal. I literally played it back 8 times. It's around the 2 minute mark of the youtube video embedded here (huge thanks again go out to Cubsfan for posting all of these). Atlantis gets tossed violently to the floor, rudos pull off an complex slingshot/missle dropkick combo from the ramp to the ring, UG stretches the shit out of Atlantis with a nasty over shoulder single leg Boston crab, while grapevining Atlantis' neck with his legs. Fucking awesome sub. So that's the first fall, just about 4 minutes, but a non-stop violent beating.

Second fall is more rudo beatdown until the tecnico comeback, with UG taking his now-common lightning fast head over heels bump to the floor, Liger hitting a nice big plancha from the top onto Rojo, and Volador making a Sombra finish look great. Sombra had Volador in an electric chair position, dropped him into a belly to back, then dumped him with a German. It looked awesome, too.

1st fall dance partners square off in the 3rd, with UG clotheslining Atlantis' face off (nice bump from Atl off it, too), and then UG taking another ridiculous bump to the floor, with him whipping over the top and just plunging out of sight. Volador and Sombra top their sequence, though, with one of the more spectacular rope running segments since the days of Freelance regularly making tape. Crazy fast evasions, a couple great headscissors from both, Volador throws a missed clothesline that would have robbed Sombra of his taste if he didn't duck, Volador spills to the floor and Sombra hits a GREAT flip dive, which Volador then just fucking AWESOMELY ignores, standing up and swinging. Volador looked very uncooperative on that dive no sell, but in a way that totally added to the segment. I mean, Volador was practically up on his feet before Sombra, and Sombra seemed legit surprised when Volador jumped him. Back in and UG takes a THIRD nutty bump over the top to the floor (good lord!) and Atlantis hits a great dive that sends UG into the seats. Sombra hits a big moonsault into Volador, who then knocks into UG, sending him into the seats again (awesome). Rojo rolls through a rana and pins Liger to win, and this was just too much fun and awesome. One of my favorite "under 10" matches of the last couple years. WELL worth taking 10 minutes of your day to watch this.

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