AEW Five Fingers of Death 10/21 - 10/27

AEW Collision 10/26/24

FTR vs. Rush/Dralistico

MD: Look, I got exactly what I wanted out of this match. The initial pairings were Dax and Dralistico and RUSH and Cash. While Dax has a good punch and all the personality you'd want and a Foley-esque sense of knowing how to create big, meaningful moments that stand out, there's just something to Cash. My go-to description of Ashura Hara is that he wrestles like a guy with a gambling problem in the best way. Cash wrestles like a guy who's just one bad day away from snapping. In any other walk of life, that wouldn't be a plus. In pro wrestling, it's a godsend. Of course, RUSH had his bad day close to fifteen years ago, a series of them, one after the next, when the Arena Mexico crowd refused to get behind him as an up and coming young tecnico and he decided that the world just had to burn down. He never looked back. All I wanted from this one was the two of them, either with an early exchange or one in the finishing stretch, getting to slug it out with each other. I knew RUSH would awaken something in Cash, the sort of thing which could make him a top singles act if he could channel it constantly without going so method that he was in constant backstage altercations. And so he did. All it took was one little slap and Cash was all over him. RUSH turned Cash into CASH. RUSH is less about big spots and more about cracking people in the jaw. No one else in wrestling is going to do a complex bypass only to slap someone. Only RUSH. What a guy.

Prior to that, we did get Dax and Dralistico to start. Dralistico's an interesting case. People more focused on lucha tend to have disdain for him, but I think he's kind of self-aware. How do you stand next to RUSH as your brother and see how Dragon Lee carries himself on the other channel and not, after all these years, have some sort of self-awareness? There's another reality where Sin Cara became a big star up north and Dralistico got to coast on being Mistico II forever (whether the crowd was behind him or not). Here though? Here I think he kind of gets it. He knows he can walk all over Dax (literally) and then after getting smacked slink off to the corner and tag in his brother to hide behind. I kind of wonder if he doesn't get quite enough credit for his act. Maybe he doesn't stick to it consistently enough, but there's something to "failed idol who decided to go into the family shitheel business," right? If you squint, the lack of smoothness at times can almost be a boon if he's leaning into it somehow. It's the little things. After RUSH redirected Dax into the corner to set up the heat, Dralistico added insult to injury by giving him a halfhearted shove into the post again. It's a little bit understated in a world of larger than life characters, but I kind of dig it. Eric's already the world's biggest Bestia del Ring fan so maybe I should watch myself here. 

I got what I wanted right from the get go, so the rest was sort of gravy. They focused on Dax's shoulder. RUSH knocked Cash off the apron to delay the hot tag. Dax had to really work for it. Cash came in hot. Dralistico hit that wild crucifix driver. They went home strong with the Mortos miscommunication. Maybe you didn't want LFI losing so early into their revitalized run, but this is the RUSH/Dralistico pairing where the money pairing is the RUSH/Mortos one. They more or less got their heat back after the fact. It'd probably be good for them to get a couple of single wins coming out of this even if you don't necessarily want FTR or Outrunners to lose on the way to whatever they're doing. Run Truth vs Mortos, Dax vs Dralistico, Cash vs RUSH (Yes, please, run CASH vs RUSH) next week. Have them split wins 2-1 with LFI on top. Then figure out how to glue together a six-man or eight-man. They can get a few more weeks out of this on Collision. That's the joy of Collision. This was great fun. Now we just need that CASH vs RUSH super libre match. 

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Lucha Worth Watching: Niebla's Return! Mephisto's Title Loss!

Mr. Niebla/Mephisto/Rey Bucanero vs. Diamante Azul/Dragon Lee/Mistico CMLL 3/12/19

ER: This was Niebla's return to Arena Mexico after 6 months of suspension, and he kind of owned it. Niebla owned this with the confidence of a white dude waltzing back into his old government job after accepting a voluntary demotion. Niebla was walking around ringside slapping fives with regulars like someone greeting people at the You Served Your Time cookout thrown in his favor. This is a total throwaway straight falls Arena Mexico main event, but I love that straight falls because Niebla lost the first fall for his team because he was kicking too many asses. Always feel bad for the tecnico getting his hand raised because his ass got kicked too hard. This whole thing just livens up the second Niebla high-stepped it across the ring to palm slap Mistico across the dome. I was dying. It looked like a hilarious move Sandman would use to kick someone off the Apollo stage. Niebla just slapped his way through this whole match, in the ring and out, and it was great. He mugged with fans, slapped face, and looked like a megastar. Azul hits a great dive, Bucanero throws some nasty chops at Mistico's throat, Mephisto plants Dragon Lee with a powerbomb, the whole thing was short mean and triumphant.

Mephisto vs. Dragon Lee CMLL 3/19/19

ER: A match that lost me at points during the long tercera, but that overall felt like a big enough match for a title to change hands. I know lucha titles don't mean a whole lot to American fans, Mexican fans, or the promotion themselves seemingly, but it feels like Mephisto has had this thing for ages and that should mean SOMETHING. They went big enough with this that it felt like a big stip match, so I think it earned it's third fall bloat. Also, I just really liked Mephisto in this, especially his work in the primera/segunda, but he had plenty of nice rudo moments in the tercera. It really felt like a guy sadistically beating down Lee, smacking down this punk coming for his belt, and that's a great pro wrestling feeling. The primera is short but mostly matwork, and it's cool to see Mephisto work some maestro exchanges that we don't often get to see from him, some cool tricks like standing on Lee's foot while shoving him over. He controls all the matwork, and when Lee breaks free into some rope running he immediately tricks Lee into a pin. And then Mephisto only gets MORE dominant in the segunda, when he starts stalking and dishing stiff kicks. He does a flapjack and hits a mean kick on the way down (possibly because Lee didn't get as much height as expected), and then does a second flapjack, Lee gets tons of height, and then gets kicked just as hard on his way down, again. I liked Lee's selling during these nasty kicks a lot, as he showed great pain through the mask, and was also working to loosen the area of his mask around the nose, freeing up the pressure and selling it like Mephisto had broken his nose [note: if I find out later that Lee just got his nose broken, forget all the stuff I said about good selling]. Mephisto goes on to throw a few more kicks, slowly, confidently, letting Lee crawl around on the mat while he would come in with a hard kick to the face or chest, letting the crowd really build a Lee comeback. The comeback stuff wasn't as exciting to me, as we knew we'd eventually get a long series of nearfalls, but some of them I really liked and the match threatened to lose me at a couple points but never did. There was always something to bring me back into it, like Mephisto casually waiting on the apron to catch Lee's high jump rana and just planting him with a nasty powerbomb on that apron, or Lee crashing fast into Mephisto on two straight topes. There were at least two moments where I was positive Mephisto had sealed up the title defense, and while I didn't love a couple of the kickouts in this I thought the overall excitement level sustained. Mephisto is 50 now. He lost his title that is a thing. Now he needs to go on more grimy indy shows like Ultimo Guerrero and be an old guy asskicker.

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MLJ: Recent Elite matches: Traumas vs Guerrero Maya Jr./Rey Cometa and Cavernario/Negro Casas vs Mistico/Caristico

2015-12-27 @ Arena México
Trauma I & Trauma II vs Guerrero Maya Jr. & Rey Cometa

El Cavernario & Negro Casas vs Carístico & Mistico

I'm still playing catch up, so here are two Elite matches from the last couple of weeks. There are two different video shots for them, one having better VQ, the other being less cut. You get the idea for both though.

You could tell, clipping or no, that they were fairly short, brisk affairs, but they were both a lot of fun. I still can't tell the Traumas apart as in I couldn't tell you which of the two was better, but their act is great (and they were paired up well against Puma/Tiger in previous weeks). I love how they dominated early on here, with a choreographed attack of letting Cometa in, only to slide out pull him back out to set up the double team dive onto the apron. 

The comeback here was very brief, a missed move, a dive, and Maya's finisher. In general, I thought Maya looked better than Cometa. I really don't think he ever quite recovered from losing his mask, even if it was for a good cause. He comes off as a poor man's Volador and could probably do well if he was paired with him in a trios. Maya just comes off as far more charismatic, even if Cometa does his his stuff cleanly. The tercera was a lot of tecnico shine until the Traumas finished it out of nowhere. Not a classic but a great use of ten minutes.

People could watch the Traumas tag and be happy. They should actively watch the Casas/Cavernario tag, though. That's probably my favorite quasi-makeshift tag team in the world. They're great together and the Misticos were great foils for them (though really, of course, it was meant to be the other way around). This was just as brief. 

It won't take you much more than ten minutes to watch, less if you watch the clipped version, but the clipped version sort of comes off as a good parts version, and it's all good parts, from the initial ambush to every bit of awesome Cavernario offense, to Zacarias getting to do a 619, to Casas doing a Fargo Strut, to seeing Caristico interact with Casas and Cavernario, to sort of accepting Mistico's crummy superkick, to the way that Casas and Cavernario make the tecnicos work for their comeback, to the fun back and forth tercera, ending with Casas' Oscar-deserving antics to break up the last pinfall so his team can win.

Negro Casas never not been revitalized but he feels even further so against Caristico. I'm looking forward to them having a singles match. Cavernario's such a star too, seeming like he absolutely belongs in there with the rest. 

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MLJ: 2015 Volador, Jr! Wrestler of the Year? Still Sort of Crummy? 6: La Máscara, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs. Bárbaro Cavernario, Negro Casas, Shocker

Taped: 03/17/2015 @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
La Máscara, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs. Bárbaro Cavernario, Negro Casas, Shocker

As best as I can tell, this is my 200th MLJ. I might be one or two off, but I'm close enough that I'm going with it. That's a lot of them. I've kept up the 3x a week schedule which is a minor miracle. Once again, thanks to Phil and Eric for letting me do this. I'm not sure if we've kept up the everyday posts over this year like we did for last, though we've got to be close. In the midst of the kerfuffle over my first Volador match last week (and I finally got to look at things on Twitter a few days after the fact, even though I don't have an active account), one thing that Rob (and still, no hard feelings, Rob, I mean it) said stood out. He likened what I was writing and the impetus behind it to Segunda Caida not being on the Mistico bandwagon years ago. I got a kick out of that. I write here because I like and generally agree with what's been written on this site over the years, so thanks, Rob, for doing more than anyone in making me feel like I belong here.

So, we've got a throwaway 10 minute trios match as my 200th. That's great. Some of it was the timing. I tried to tack on the Leyenda hair match too but I just didn't have time, and you know what? I'm okay with that, because this match sums up a lot of things I've written about so far and a lot of things that I associate with CMLL.

First off, the rudo side is Shocker, Negro Casas, and Cavernario, who I have spent a ton of time on collectively. It features Shocker and Casas vs an Ingobernable in Mascara. It also represents, so very well, just how screwed up and nonsensical CMLL is. Mascara is a tecnico who is absolutely a heel. It has Casas and Shocker who are rudos that are cheered. Shocker went rudo just to be able to fight with Rush. He didn't really change anything he did, just who he teamed with. Casas is probably the most over babyface in the company.

And maybe there's something to all that. On paper, there's something interesting about the lines drawn and the contradictions inherent in Mascara teaming with Mistico and Volador, about Mascara being booed because he acts like a terrible jerk and Mistico being booed because they just don't like him and the whole dynamic therein. The problem is that over time, and this has run over so much time, everything becomes muddied and things that might stand out and snap just become an ooze of meaninglessness.

It was true in this match too. Mascara, for his failings, has done much better in his role as an Ingobernable, maybe not as well as Sombra has, but still, he's such a dick in this match. He spends the initial beatdown in the crowd with the fans. He teases going up against Shocker and then ducks right back out of the ring. He argues with his partners. When Shocker finally gets his hands on him, it's a big moment, even in such a small match. Except, then everything inverts again because Mascara's in the tecnico role. Shocker getting his hands upon him is a near catalyst for the tecnico comeback and almost immediately thereafter, Mascara gets to have a pure tecnico "vs the world" segment where he rope runs and ranas and faces off against hardship as he goes through the rudos one at a time. It's maddening, because the character needs of the match are absolutely different than the structural needs and the match tries to fit both. This isn't something that would happen anywhere but CMLL because at some point someone would step in and point this out and explain how it doesn't make any sense, how it is painfully (as in it causes someone pain to watch it) dissonant.

Yet I kind of say it with love, because even after months and months of it, it's this amazing trainwreck, and one where everyone does his job as he's supposed to, but it's like building an underwater bridge, or a stairway to nowhere. It's this incredibly misguided construction, one that is just fulfilling old contract obligations, worked hard upon, with some artist flourish, but without direction or thought. An earthquake changed the landscape two years ago and they keep on building like nothing's changed. That's CMLL. It's wrestling for wrestling's sake, but it's glorious in its own excess.

Anyway, this was ten minutes long. The rudo side was great, hard hitting, with Cavernario perfect in his role. Casas took a couple of bumps that no one his age should take. The tecnicos were spirited. I thought Volador was very good at fighting against odds during the beat down, which is something he often does well, though it doesn't usually translate into the comeback. It had the world's worst backcracker on Shocker, which in and of itself wouldn't matter but CMLL, wonderful CMLL, showed it THREE times from three different angles. In slow motion. Just amazing. There was even a callback spot to transition with Zacarias which I thought was very well done.

Of course this wasn't a great match; it's ten minutes long and deeply flawed, but it was a match with so much to love. Love's the right word too, because following CMLL is an act of love. There's so much to have affection for, to have feelings for, to be engaged with and that will make you happy, but you don't get to pick what you love most of the time, and there are so many traits that you wish would change but probably never will. Love is hard. CMLL is a brutal mistress.

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MLJ: 2015 Volador, Jr! Wrestler of the Year? Still Sort of Crummy? 3: Euforia, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero © vs Mistico, Valiente, Volador Jr. for the CMLL World Trios Championship

Aired: 2015-02-21
Taped: 2015-02-13 @ Arena México
Euforia, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero © vs Mistico, Valiente, Volador Jr. for the CMLL World Trios Championship

This was a tough one. Normally, I'd have watched the 2-3 matches in the build to this one and really get a sense of things. I just don't want to spend a month watching these matches though. I have other things to watch. I half thought I'd do a Kraneo trios today and then two of the matches to set this up but that'd mean a second week of things before I even got to this. I'll just for the highlights instead.

This was a trios title match with the new, assumedly quite marketable Sky Team getting the big push. Granted, I don't get why they were all in Ingobernables black. That sort of defeated the purpose of appealing to kids. Los Guerreros Laguernos had them since the previous March (almost a year) and had beaten Valiente and Mistico (along with Mascara Dorada) to get them. Volador, Jr. had actually never held them before. I'm not saying that the outcome was really not a big question coming in, but it sort of wasn't. That said, this match had a ton of time, and for the most part was something I'd go so far as to call borderline great.

The primera started with Guerrero vs Valiente and they did a really strong job setting the mood of a title match. There was a real sense of feeling out here, as well as struggle, and frankly, I was surprised. I know UG's had some good indy showings in the last year when it came to this sort of thing, but it's some of the best title match primera caida work I've seen out of him. I liked Volador vs Euforia less, with Volador putting him in position more and having more of a sense of moving on to the next spot, which I didn't get nearly as much with the other pairings. They ran through said pairings before UG swarmed and by doing so and giving things time, it all felt weighty. That's so, so important in a title match and CMLL Gets it wrong more often than they get it right (Though I feel they've been better about it lately. That might just be a selection of what I've watched though). It ended with this silly but still awesome UG spot (And I'm stealing cubs' gif on this one because I actually found his review of this:

Again the segunda got just enough time to go over the line between not mattering and mattering and it was hugely appreciated. Too many of these modern title matches have a flash pin out of nowhere after thirty-five seconds to even things. This had a real comeback. It meandered for a moment but got me back too. There were two GDI alley oops first including a twisting one on the floor and then the comeback came with a dodge after a whip and the sky team diving (Valiente's fireplug tope, Mistico's huge shooting star press, and then Volador finishing things up). They meandered back into the ring after that, but it was to hit the superkick, backcracker, Valiente Special combo which really worked for me once I realized what they were going for. Could have used another minute but that's almost always the case.

They reset with a ton of time left in the match for the tercera so I was a little worried but they delivered. I'd call Ultimo Guerrero both the star and the biggest perpetrator of the tercera as he hit some great power stuff, had an awesome sense of weariness in his selling, and was generally in the right place at the right time all the time, including an amazingly timed corner knee out bump to help set up the finishing stretch, but he also fought against the odds a little too much for a rudo and took just a bit too much which meant that I was inclined to cheer for him, not the response you want in a match that's there to set up your tecnico superstars.

Volador hit his stuff and was a cog in this high spot machine. My only real complaint about his work here past him draging down the primera matwork a bit was that he, more than anyone, recovered too soon to get the next spot in. Usually that's not a huge issue in a trios match because, by its nature, guys sell and take a breather so that the next person could hit a spot, but he took some crazy, crazy things and recovered way too soon. Maybe it's because I'm watching him with a closer eye, but he seemed the one to do it the most. There were a few two-count kickouts that I wish had been broken up by a partner, but more often than not, they did that, protecting everyone's moves while still maintaining a hugely exciting bunch of nearfalls.

If you haven't seen this one yet and like high-octane title matches, you should go out of your way for it.

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MLJ: 2015 Volador, Jr! Wrestler of the Year? Still Sort of Crummy? 2: Máximo, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Último Guerrero

Aired: 2015-01-31
Taped 2015-01-23 @ Arena México
Máximo, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Último Guerrero

I realize I'm taking some heat for Monday's match, but I'm going to keep going. There is a method to this. I'm moving chronologically and I thought the first singles match of the year we have posted online with a luchador isn't a bad way to start an examination of his work. I plan on hitting a number of matches, more than ten. The idea that you would just look at the most heavily regarded matches of a wrestler in order to understand how good he was in a certain year is completely and utterly against the way I look at wrestling. You look at a broad spectrum and try to get a total picture. I'll watch as many singles matches as I can. On the docket through his March work is this trios, the tag title trios, a singles match with Ultimo Guerrero, the Parejas Increibles finals, another trios vs Casas and Cavernario, and then the hair match. Then I'll see what we have online after that.

In general, I'm going to make sure to find things that interest me as I move chronologically. A 2015 GdI reunion interests me. It happens, not often, but it happens. Really, more often than not they're on opposite sides but sometimes Bucanero and Guerrero do team together. This is one of those times.

I have another theory about Volador, and it's that he's a lot more functional in trios than he is in singles matches. That's true with almost anyone though (Valiente is a great example of that). Guys who are good at hitting their stuff, getting beat upon, and having spectacular (if emotionally wooden) comebacks, are better off in trios than in singles matches. Other people can carry the other things. The only problem is if they're the focus.

Anyway, this delivered what I wanted it to, a GdI nostalgia fest. UG ambushed Mistico on the way out, and that I didn't mind in the least because after seeing that start to a match a thousand times in 2013-2014, I just haven't seen it that often lately. When you only see it once in a while, it's fine. From there Guerrero whipped Mistico with his jacket, Maximo got beat on in the corner, and Volador got thrashed on the ramp. This led to the GdI special body splash and while they didn't do the huddle, at least Rey got to do his repeated arm thing. This led to a triple corner attack ending with the Senton de la Muerte and a pretty hilarious triple submission (watch Volador just give his limbs up like usual) and as three minute beatdown opening falls go this was about as enjoyable as it gets and really brought back what made GdI so effective in that scenario.

The segunda wasn't quite as much beatdown as I would have liked but the comeback had zip to it, and it had some solid moments. My absolute favorite was Rey Bucanero holding Maximo down and taunting his partners so Maximo couldn't tag. You rarely get little face-in-peril moments like that in Mexico but it's the sort of attitude that Bucanero brings to the table when he's at his very best. Terrible kissed his hand, touched Maximo's face, and punched him which is a sign that they've worked together a thousand times, but it was also welcome. UG even went after Mistico's mask a bit. Eventually though he missed a corner charge, basically due to his own hubris, and then ate a superkick and a rana and the tecnicos just unloaded, culmanating with a flying top rope Maximo rana, doubel topes, and the Mistica on UG. Good stuff, and even better, Kemonito got to terrorize UG between caidas (with Maximo almost kissing him too).

They reset for the tercera, and we got a lot of rope running and cutoffs. I like how Terrible portrays a bully when he has the advantage and a coward when he does. It's solid stuff. There was a lot of tecnico showcase here but it was perfectly fine and really quite enjoyable given the setting. The rudos were all great bases for it including eating double flip dives towards the end. The biggest problem I had with the finish was that the tecnicos got a pinfall on a non-captain but it wasn't evened up, so it meant that the last exchange, Maximo vs Terrible was really obvious. It all would have been better if Terrible was the captain since then there'd be some question on the finish. Regardless, he ate MAximo's top rope armdrag for the pin.

When I say "I could watch fun, throwaway trios like this all day," I mean a match like this. It was no match of the year contender but everyone did what they were supposed to and it was good, fun candy, with high flying tecnicos and underhanded, cruel rudos. This is the sort of match that Volador looks his best in.

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CMLL Worth Watching 2/6/15 & 3/22/15

Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia & Niebla Roja vs. Mistico, Volador Jr. & Valiente (2/6/15)

Fun quick and dirty spotfest. Ultimo has been so much fun ever since losing his mask. I love when guys get a new lease on life like that. I love how the match starts with Volador taking the Sombra bump asshole over elbow into the crowd, then Ultimo high jumping the barrier to crash into the recovering Volador. Rudos mostly set up nice spots for the tecnicos in this. Volador actually looked much better here than usual. Roja was doing the lord's work catching some Mistico ranas and making them look good. Euforia is always an admirable bumper. Valiente has one of those matches every several months where he just has no balance, and that was this match. Poor guy. Everybody else looked about as on point as possible, and he fell a couple times and seemed rattled. Nice recovery though for the big finish as the Valiente Especial looked wonderful. This is 3 falls in well under 15 minutes, and as lucha junkfood it worked just fine.

Virus, Okumura & Bobby Zavala vs. Dragon Lee, Pegasso & Fuego (3/22/15)

You see that team of tecnicos and instantly think "those are three guys I like watching opposite Virus"  and that is not only accurate, but fun. I would have liked to see him opposite Pegasso more, as they don't seem to pair off that much. But Virus/Lee is a guarantee win and he usually brings some extra spice out of Fuego. Bobby Zavala is a unique presence who never really gets talked about, but he feels like he has Rush breakout rudo potential. He always has the false modesty to him, a real "who, me??" face. He plays to the crowd using some old Hector Garza tactics and that attitude has been missing from CMLL. Okumura works really nicely with Pegasso here, taking some complicated armdrags and flinging himself into the barricade off a rana from the apron. We get some big dives, and while you know these same six guys could have an epic match, they weren't given the time to do so, but still had a fun one. Come for the opening Virus/Fuego matwork, stay for the rest!

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 5/10/14

These matches all took place at the 4/25 Arena Mexico show.

Mistico, Titan & Volador Jr. vs. Puma, Dragon Rojo Jr. & Polvora

Wow, this match actually felt like it got a lot of time, with each fall getting plenty of time to stretch things out…but it doesn't really add up to much of anything. The guys that usually look good, looked good. But there was no real cohesion to anything being done. No real consequences to anything, and the dynamic shifts in team control were erratic and messy. It was worked more like an every-man-for-himself scramble match, with some guys rushing to get their shit in and it just ending eventually. Individually, Mistico looked real good, hitting some beautiful ranas and dives, and also taking a monster bump over the barrier into the crowd. Between Mistico II, Dragon Lee II and Rush, I'd be hard-pressed thinking of another family making more of an impression in wrestling right now. Dragon Rojo is a guy I have a hard time pinning down, as sometimes he's an excellent base (here making all of Titan's stuff look great) but then does really obnoxious stuff like catch a big flip dive, and then sit right up to adjust his mask and run his fingers through his hair, making sure it's tossed back over his shoulders the right way, before going back to selling the dive. Puma has been a favorite of SC this year, and he looks good here when allowed to, but most of the time he's matched with Volador who is one of the more selfish tecnicos. Puma has to settle for playing handshake matador with him, only really getting to shine later in the match when paired briefly with Mistico. I like the opening mat scramble with Titan and Rojo. It wasn't like Panther or Arkangel matwork, it was more flippy and showy, but it worked for them. So yeah, disappointing overall given the long time, with a couple nice moments.




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

Yeah buddy, this is what I'm talking about. I'll admit to not fully understanding the reasoning behind the rudo/tecnico designations in these match-ups. Rush's team is the tecnico side, but spends zero seconds working as tecnicos; Casas' side is billed as the rudos but they all get jumped the moment they pop their heads out of the entranceway and milk the crowd for sympathy the rest of the way. So I will admit my ignorance as to how all of this is being booked, mainly because I love all the ring work and personalities involved. Maybe there is a cultural reason why these young sculpted tecnicos are acting like dickheads, maybe there's another reason why the old and/or chubby rudos are so good at drawing sympathy. Maybe it was just an error by the graphics team, and they billed one side as rudos and one side as tecnicos. Look, I don't know. I won't claim to understand it, but I'll continue to enjoy Rush stomping and head butting his way through Arena Mexico. La Sombra doesn't really move my needle much as a tecnico, but I'm really digging his rudo side. He's a perfect complement to Rush, with both men attacking Casas and Shocker on the ramps and Sombra acting as a kind of weasely Rush lackey the whole match, always running to save him by kicking Rush or Shocker in the back (seriously, always attacking from behind like a total dick). Sombra and Mascara both hold Shocker by the arms and Rush gets to do all the great puffed-chest tough guy "hold him for me, boys!" mannerisms while kicking and thrust headbutting Shocker. All the "tecnicos" also do their off balance stomps to all the "rudos", with them gleefully stomping with both feet and falling all over, not caring. Rush has his great stomps in the corner, Sombra now has his brutal running double knees. Casas is one of my favorite rudos of all time, but matches like this always remind me he's one of my favorite tecnicos of all time as well. His comebacks and triumphs are always great and no one really connects with Arena Mexico in that way like he does. Shocker and Niebla soak it up as well, with Niebla slapping everybody in sight, Shocker looking dashing in his new crewcut, and the crowd just loving to get behind the "old" guys. Really good match, fun continuation of the feud.

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report 4/20/14

These matches were from the 4/6 Anniversario show at Arena Coliseo. I got higher than normal hopes for this one as I know guys historically have pulled out all the stops on big Anniversary shows, so I'm hoping for some better than average stuff here. I'm watching the show with my buddy Charlie who is always fun to watch wrestling with, as he loves it enough so that when I visit him he requests I pick out cool wrestling for us to watch…but at the same time he would never and has never watched any wrestling on his own (past the age of 12). It's always great watching wrestling with Rachel or somebody like Charlie, as they are watching this stuff with completely different eyes and always make some fresh-faced observations from a perspective that I wouldn't consider. It makes me appreciate things in a whole different way.

Averno, Ephesto  & Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Mistico II, Valiente & La Sombra

This was really fun, not so much flat out great as past Anniversario spotfests have been, but really fun nonetheless. The tecnicos all got to do tons of spectacular stuff, with Valiente especially shining by hitting a crazy fast tope and a somehow even faster Valiente Special. It is probably the craziest spot in wrestling, two crazy fast springboards into a no-look moonsault. He did it so fast here my brain could hardly process it, meaning I can't imagine actually willing my body to do it. Sombra and Mistico each do a couple big flip dives, Averno catches a bunch of Mistico ranas, Sombra breaks out some cool tilt-a-whirl floppy armdrags. So, a bunch of fun stuff, but not quite bumping up to that next level.

Mr. Niebla vs. Atlantis

First two falls were way too short, but the tercera was worked a little bit more like a longer lightning match. It was funny as Atlantis took so much of the match that it turned Niebla tecnico, as after seeing Atlantis control so much the fans spontaneously starts a Niebla chant! Niebla is great at catching onto that and using it to hulk up. Atlantis can kinda hold back in trios and blend into the background, so it was nice seeing him forced to break out enough offense for a singles match. Few guys do roll-ups and old school lucha ranas as graceful as Atlantis, so it's always a treat to see. Niebla takes a big bump to the floor and mans up to catch a big Atlantis tope. Niebla also works some fun comedy in at appropriate times, such as doing the most blatant ropes hold on a rolling reverse cradle (picture Andre stuck in the ropes with both arms draped over, and that was Niebla holding the ropes while pinning Atlantis with his legs). Not much drama in this as Atlantis wins the first with a roll up, Niebla wins the segunda after a splash after Atlantis misses a dropkick, and then even with all the fans newly behind Niebla in the tercera, he doesn't really even get any sort of pitfalls. It just eventually ends up with Atlantis winning, as everybody assumed he would.

Minis Cage Match up next, loser unmasks!! I don't think I've really seen a very good multi-man lucha cage match, as escape rules matches don't usually do too much for me. Mini matches are usually made spectacular by their crazy spots and awesome rudo bases, but a cage takes away all spots to the floor, and escape rules make doing top rope spots psychologically stupid, as the guy should just climb over the top.

Pierrothito vs. Pequeno Olimpico vs. Fantasy vs. Stukita vs. Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Electrico vs. Astral vs. Acero vs. Pequeno Halcon vs. Pequeno Nitro

Yeah this match was pretty much what I was afraid of. Ten people crammed into a cage, more worried about climbing over the cage than doing cool stuff. I'm sure some have to exist out there, but is there such a thing as a good multi-man lucha cage match? I'm thinking 6 combatants or higher. I have no doubts there could be a good singles cage match, or even a tag team. But at 6+ people I'm asking you, tell me the good lucha cage matches. I'll watch those motherfuckers right here. So we had a long series of assorted guys jumping up to turnbuckles, only to be pulled off of those same turnbuckles. Moreover, we had a series of assorted guys jumping up to turnbuckles, only to evade capture, climb to the top of the cage, flex muscles in celebration at the top of the cage, and then escape. Escape rules do not leave much room for highspots, unless the psychology is all out of whack (he wanted to hit a gigantic move off the top sooooo badly that it overrode his desire to escape!!), and there are not many here. Stukita tries to fit some stuff in, and in cramped quarters is somewhat successful. I applaud his effort. Pierrothito is a standout at working with the match constraints, as he is one of the only ones who manages to show some sort of personality while working escapes and battle royal-type bullshit. It comes down to Pequeno Halcon and Astral. They work some pretty decent submission exchanges, in that both guys were able to get across the consequences of tapping out. Astral wins, Halcon unmasks. He looks like many Mexican men you have known in your life. He was my pick to lose from the beginning, as he had a) the most boring mask, and b) the least interesting look and gimmick. I don't think losing the Pequeno Halcon identity will make any difference over his long term career. I may not know the whole story, but I'm failing to see the Halcon identity being a huge boon to his career. Are there many Halcon fans out there still? People going "I used to watch Super Halcon. This man is dressed much like him, but smaller. He looks somewhat like a smaller Halcon."

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My Lucha Journey: Valiente Interlude 2: La Sombra, Mistico, Valiente vs Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero

aired 2014-05-04
taped 2014-04-21 @ Arena Puebla
La Sombra, Mistico, Valiente vs Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero




I figured I ought to look at something a bit more up to date, especially as the Shocker/Rush series gets further and further away from "Current." Here's a more current Valiente match (very much so actually) that also lets me see the Guerreros Laguneros/Los Guerreros del Infierno. I've seen extremely little Ultimo Guerrero and he's another guy, much like Virus, that I really intend to watch a lot more of in the upcoming months.

From the get go, there was something weirdly refreshing about this. I hadn't seen Gran Guerrero or Niebla Roja at all before and their gear matched pretty well; it had actually been a while since I came into a match not able to tell the luchadors apart well and it brought back a nostalgia of, what, four months ago? Also refreshing was how thoroughly primal/tecnicos vs rudos this match felt. There's been a lot of shades of grey stuff going on this year with Casas and Rush and La Sombra and what not, so the fact that the rudos here were brazen and dickish and the tecnicos were flashy and daring and had the crowd behind them was nice to see.

It was also nice to see, now that I've got a bit more lucha under my belt, that the formula does work. This was by the numbers. The tecnicos started out with an immediate finesse advantage. The rudos lured Sombra into their corner and the mauling began. One by one, the tecnicos would end up out of the ring and the next one would valiantly go up against the odds only to fall to the numbers game. Finally, the Guerreros locked on a couple of finishers and took the primera caida. The mauling was perfectly fine, varied and interesting, even if the whole affair was just a little sloppy (though not ineffective). The tecnico fire was believable. A lot of character came through from both sides.

The character kept on coming through the transition too. There was little time between falls, as the Guerreros did a great triple vault onto Sombra using the ramp, followed by some awesome stooging. When they tried it again on Sombra a minute or two later, though, Valiente was recovered enough to break it up, leading to a hiptoss over the top rope in, a couple of pretty spectacular acrobatics from Mistico, and a quick knotting up/split-legged moonsault allowing the tecnicos to even the falls. It wasn't an extended comeback by any means but it did sort of hit the spot and set things up for a reset to start the tercera caida on equal terms. The tecnicos came out the better of the early action, the cheer-off, use of rudo miscommunication, and even the big dives, but Ultimo's able to slip Mistico onto the top rope and hit his reverse superplex for a quick win.

This was all very straightforward but no less enjoyable because of it. It's funny. I said that the Valiente vs Virus lightning match from 2009 was what I might have thought lucha to be back then, but this trios was a lot of what I would explain it to be now, structured with an opportune rudo mauling leading to a big tecnico comeback and a tercera caida that gave some closure to the pairings and some big moments, with an exclamation point at the end. It's what I might call middle of the road but not in a bad way; it's a road that I'm really enjoying to walk down, after all. As for Valiente, he's got the best tope suicida out of anyone I've seen recently: he's like a bullet given his body type and the speed he can manage. He's also one of the best tecnicos on the roster at rousing the crowd and playing to them in the heat of the moment. Sombra might have led them in a bit of a cheer-off here, but it was Valiente who was able to make it feel all the more natural and organic. I still need to see more of him though, both him and Ultimo.

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 4/19/14

All matches are from the 4/4 Arena Mexico show. We start with an extended 4 minute Feugo entrance, complete with full choreography and a bunch of dancers wearing matching Fuego outfits. But what's odd is that Fuego didn't even wrestle on this card. He just came out, danced to start the show...and then they went to the announcers.



Kraneo, Reapper & Morphosis vs. Mascara Dorada, Mistico & Volador Jr.

Yeah buddy, rolling like a big shot! Kraneo is the man in all this and watching all the fliers gang up on him was a hoot. At one point in the tercera he gets hit by three straight dives; first Volador, then Dorada hitting him vertically all crazy, and then Mistico finally taking him off his feet with a flip dive. But all match Kraneo is ruling with his fatness (loved his running shoulder/belly attack that sent Mistico flying to the floor) and catching ranas as agile as men half his size (which, most luchadors are clearly half his size). Haven't seen Morphosis (former Hysteria) in some time, and he's a good trios member for that team. He and Reapper are really similar so they balance out the fast bumping fatness of Kraneo with cool back elbows and sentons. Dorada and Mistico get to do most of the coolest flying spots here, with Dorada also taking a big bump to the floor that sees him crashing into the barricade. But of course Volador is made out to be the star, despite his stuff not looking as impressive as anybody else's.



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

Hot match that had everything going for it except for a disappointingly abrupt finish. Up until then it was a hot 15 minutes with everybody ramping up the intensity. Casas has been known to dog it on some Arena Mexico shows, but when he's in a program that matters you can tell he soaks up everything from the crowd. He's practically beaming in his interactions with Rush. The glee on his face as his kicks Rush in the face on the rampway is infectious. Shocker has also been reinvigorated by the Rush feud and has been more electric (har har) the last several months than at any time over the last 5 years. Him running around straight kicking people in the face was beautiful, as were all his assorted elbow drops. Mascara was on the receiving end of several of those kicks and elbow drops, and he took them like a man. Rush of course was awesome in this, kicking face and rubbing into the face of the Arena Mexico crowd. At one point he kicks Casas' butt to the floor and throws him into the crowd, hopping the barricade to soak Casas in random beer glasses he finds. One fan throws his beer at Rush who catches it, then mimes drinking it the way a man would guzzle water handed to him with a mile to go in a marathon. Awesome Rush moment, amongst plenty of others (especially nice was his short thrust hands-free headbutt to Shocker). Everybody got little moments in this, even Niebla got to splat Atlantis with a nasty top rope senton. Ending was abrupt and disappointing, as Shocker forces to straight pins with just a short double leg takedown. Not even a spear either, just a double leg takedown. The one on Rush is while he's holding Casas, so it's supposed to look like Rush getting his legs taken out while Casas falls on him, but the execution doesn't really work. Still, most of the match is killer stuff.

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My Lucha Journey: La Sombra, Mistico, Tritón vs. Averno, Mephisto, Puma

CMLL on CadenaTres: 2014-04-05
taped 2014-04-01 @ Arena México
La Sombra, Mistico, Tritón vs Averno, Mephisto, Puma

I've seen a decent amount of Averno lately, but I had no idea that he was mystically turned to he dark side by Satanico until I did some research. He's Bob Roop/Maya Singh. That's pretty awesome. I have no idea what his shirt means. Anyway, from what I've seen so far, he's a rudo's rudo, just a real nasty bad guy who revels in being a jerk without getting the crowd behind him like Negro Casas does. Mephisto's his buddy (also a Satanico-transformed good guy?) and Puma is Felino's kid. I've seen him and his brother round out trios as sort of athletic upstart underlings. Triton has a cool mask that reminds me of Matthew Lesko's infomercial question mark jacket for some reason. Sombra I've seen once or twice and he did pretty well in the title match I saw him beat Negro Casas in. Mistico is Mistico, of course. I really want to go back and see the original at some point. He's got a great theme/look/entrance/aura, successor or not.

I'm pretty sure this match is to set up a title defense for Mistico vs Averno the following week by having the rudos go over strong and by enraging both Mistico and the fans against Averno to heat things up. So the rudos go over in two straight caidas, ripping the hell out of Mistico's mask in the process. This prompts Averno to taunt Mistico who is definitely ready to defend his belt later on but also wants to make a challenge right then and there. Averno accepts but it's both a tease and a prodding as he rips the mask off the rest of the way and Mistico has to cover up. Revenge and emotional satisfaction will have to be deferred until the title match. Money will be spent.

The match itself is really enjoyable, at least to me who hasn't seen much of this stuff. Averno's team dominates throughout, ambushing the tecnicos even to the point where the ring girls have to scatter which I haven't seen nearly as much as you'd think. Puma swings Triton into the guardrail beautifully and the rudos don't look back. They put on a clinic of rudo bullying tactics. I'm sure a lot of this stuff is just commonplace, but a good deal is new to me. I imagine someone watching a Southern tag for the first time and being wowed by all the heel positioning and ref distractions and how it ramped up the heat. It might not even be the best execution of the theme, but just seeing it is special in its own way. I get that feeling all the time when watching lucha, especially when I feel like I'm tapping into some primal trope or story that I just hadn't seen before. Here it's all about controlling the numbers game.

As best as I can tell, lucha really is all about momentum shifts, building the anticipation of them and then paying them off in a satisfying way. For the first fall and a half, the rudos do a great job of making you want to see the tecnicos come back. They beat them down, cut off any attempt of offense, and just control the ring, the ref, and their opponents at all points.They weave in all the little tricks, offering a handshake so that your partner can nail you from behind, one tecnico in a standoff with two rudos only to get ambushed by the third, that sort of thing. I'm not going to say it's flawless in execution. There's one sort of embarrassing mistimed spot where Puma isn't there in time get a punch in while Mephisto has one of their opponents up. All in all, though, it's effective, with high points being the bumps over the guardrails that all three tecnicos take and the nasty posting of Mistico between caidas.

The very best part is the mask work, since that carries the general story of the match. All three rudos take turns working on Mistico's mask on the turnbuckles, with each one distracting the ref so the next can take over. By the end of it, the mask is a mess and Mistico is out of action long enough for Puma and Mephisto to take down Sombra and Titan with big moves for the fall. They continue to crunch down on the tecnicos in the segunda caida, including a really nice doubleteam slingshot toss on Sombra. It all goes back to the mask, though. After almost getting it off, Averno leads his team in a taunting fake dive. This allows the tecnicos to come back with a flurry of offense and some huge dives of their own. Ultimately, it doesn't feel that satisfying though, and it shouldn't since this is all to set up a future match. The technicos don't get their real payoff revenge, not even when it ends up Averno and Mistico in the ring. Mistico's mask is in such shambles that you can pretty blatantly see his face and he's white hot fury, but ultimately makes a mistake (maybe due to the emotion) and Averno scores the fall.

Add in the post match mic barrages and the brief tease of a match where Averno grabs the mask and runs, and I sure want to see the title match between the two. If that was the goal here, then this was really effective. Obviously, it wasn't as satisfying or complete as a match where the rudos get their full comeuppance and there is more of a definitive tercera caida, but I thought it was a very strong showing of rudo dominance to generate an emotional response and build heat to a big match.

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CMLL Puebla Workrate Report, 11/18/12

These matches are from the 11/5 Puebla show.



1. Arkangel de la Muerte/Hooligan/Skandalo vs. Virus/Raziel/Cancerbero

THIS excited me to no end because it has to be like 10 years since I remember Virus and Arkangel being on opposite sides since Virus hasn't really been a tecnico since around 2003/04. This is weird as both teams are rudos, and both teams work as rudos. Arkangel appears to take the rudo reins early by cheating a bunch and using his foxy gypsy valet Isis to interfere...but then Virus comes in and he's a dick too. The match never really reaches any sort of great heights, but has plenty of nice sequences throughout. The Virus/Arkangel showdown in the 3rd does not disappoint, as Arkangel gets to rough up the "young" punk (I assume they're both basically the same age) by throwing some awesome overhands to Virus' neck, and then hitting a perfect rolling tope en reversa to knock Virus out of the ring. These guys are all capable of much greater things, but nevertheless this was plenty fun.



2. Misterioso Jr./Vangelis/Euforia vs. Rey Cometa/Maximo/Diamante

Another match that will be rather unimportant in the grand scheme of things. It should be noted that Maximo seems to have lost a bit of weight as he looks to be in the best shape of....well, since whenever I saw my first Maximo match. He's slimmed down quite a bit and it's made him a bit more spry in the ring (he hit a sweet running dive off the apron and a beautiful head scissors, landing on his feet afterwards). Euforia is a good worker who I often forget about. Diamante kinda gets in the way. Cometa is a guy I now look forward to and may start going out of my way to see. Vangelis is maybe the best power worker in CMLL and looks better every time I see him. Misterioso Jr. almost always looks good. But hey, this was a Monday match and it seemed like a Monday match most of the time.



3. Mephisto/Dragon Rojo Jr./Tama Tonga vs. Mascara Dorada/La Sombra/Mistico II

Good lord Mephisto got HUGE! The guy is enormous and just jacked to the gills. He looks like a boss battle villain in Arkham City. Tonga looks fine but sorta out of place in a lucha setting. I like Dragon Lee as Mistico. He's able to get the same crazy height on bumps. Dorada looked like the star out of the tecnicos but that shouldn't be much of a shock, as he has looked awesome for some time now. Rojo has gotten real good without me really noticing. He never really does much that stands out, but when you watch him you never think "Man this guy stinks," which sounds like some backhanded praise but he's actually quite good. This match was fairly unremarkable outside some nice flying stuff from Dorada and to a lesser extent, Mistico.

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 8/18/12

1. Lady Apache/Princesa Blanca/Princesa Sugehit vs. Goya Kong/Dark Angel/Luna Magica

These 6 are really good so it's no shock that this match delivered. And it warms my heart that Goya Kong is so over, the fans really go nuts when she tags in. Her working arm drag, arm twist, arm wrench, arm wringer spots with Blanca was hypnotic and awesome. It was like some weird dance that got cut from "Beat It". And I was drunk.

2. Mistico II/Atlantis/La Mascara vs. Ultimo Guerrero/Dragon Rojo Jr./Euforia

Now this was just super fun. Great showing by new Mistico, and an awesome showing by Euforia (who I suppose is going to be the Averno in this relationship) and UG. Euforia and UG bumped wildly all over the place and set up new Mistico very nicely to look spectacular. And boy were there a couple spectacular moments, including another awesome ran from the ring to the floor, which saw UG vault Mistico over his shoulders, over the top rope, into doing a rana on poor Euforia on the floor (who again, sticks the catch awesomely and continues vaulting up my rankings). One of my favorite things about Mistico originale was how high he would bump for everything. He would get insane height on backdrops and bumps to the floor and press slams and all sorts of stuff, and always do really great belly flop bumps as he came back to earth. Lee has started trying to bump that way and it kinda works for him. There was a great press slam spot on the floor with UG pressing him into the guard rail and Mistico spilling out all nastily (I do love press slam spots though). Also there was some really well done team tension with Rojo and UG. both of them want to do their corner offense on a upside down opponent, they argue, UG pie faces him (which I foolishly thought looked too "real" to be part of the match, like Rojo was just in the way and UG got pissed and acted unprofessionally and pulled rank), and then when UG is doing his headstand buttsplash Rojo runs over and shoves him over the ropes. It all looked really awesome and was a great example of team miscommunication adding to a match. Well worth checking this one out.

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 8/11/12

1. Ultimo Guerrero/Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Atlantis/Diamante Azul

I really like the opening section with Atlantis and Rojo. As many of you know, a major problem with CMLL main events the last couple years has been them rushing through the first two falls in 3 total minutes to get to a your move/my move 3rd. But here the first fall gets some good time with Azul pairing off with UG and Atlantis pairing with Rojo. I *loved* the Atlantis/Rojo pairing getting to work some nice engaging mat segments. Rest of the match was OK. I liked Azul more when he was Metro. He was a youngish tecnico that would bust out some cool spots, and now it seems like they have him working more as veteran maestro...but he isn't a veteran maestro. So now he's just kinda more boring. UG and Atlantis always match up great (I don't think anybody makes Atlantis' rolling monkey flip look better than UG. His bumps to the floor are always majestic), and Atlantis just owns the 3rd. He has a couple minute run that is just pure awesome and shows yet another luchador who should own a "Life Begins at 50" shirt. 50 years old and he starts with a rad low and fast crossbody, and then rolls through a few different roll-up combos that look really cool, smooth, fluid, graceful, etc. Match did not blow me away but had plenty of cool moments and was fine for a big tag main event.

2. Ephesto/Mephisto/Euforia vs. Mistico/Valiente/Angel de Oro

So this is the debut of Dragon Lee as the new Mistico. The results were...mixed. The crowd actually seemed way into him, so that is a plus. I do not follow much lucha "news", as in attendance or booking decisions, or that kind of thing. Why was this done? Why did CMLL resurrect a supremely popular character a few years after his peak? Do they pass him off as the original? Do they play it off like a guy getting to play James Bond for the first time? In 20 years will people have their favorite Misticos? I go back and forth on my favorite Bonds all the time. Rachel likes some combination of the aloofness of Roger Moore and and look of Connery, I like all Bonds but Brosnan, with an odd fondness for Dalton.

The easy Dragon Lee/Mistico joke to make is that they needed someone who would accurately replace Mistico, so went with a guy who would blow a couple complicated armdrags and botch a springboard move per match. That being said, I like the choice of Lee as Mistico. I still need all the intentions explained to me as to WHY they resurrected Mistico, but he seems like a good choice. He's a risky flier who takes a lot of chances, and because of that will blow some spots. But when he spots hit holy GOD can they look fucking killer. In this match he hits an unreal rana to the floor that had me rewinding over and over again. Euforia was on the floor, Lee bounced off the opposite ropes, ran up the ropes and came vaulting over the top into a rana. It looked insane. Euforia jumped up a lot in my rankings as well by catching that rana like it was nothing. Later in the match Lee hit a springboard shooting star press to the floor. Nuts. Valiente and Ephesto are two of my favorites, so seeing them working all fast and reckless is always a treat, and Oro is a guy who has grown on me a lot over the last couple years. This match was all sorts of fun and the crowd seemed pretty hot for the debut. It had some botchy moments but so what, I would recommend watching it (even if you just fast forward looking for the rana spot!).

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