Lucha Worth Watching: Panthers & Dinamitas & Metalico, Oh My!

Blue Panther Jr./The Panther/Blue Panther vs. Sanson/Cuatrero/Mascara Ano 2000 (CMLL 6/6/17)

ER: I love this feud! New guys are always stepping up depending on the match, you never know who the star is going to be but they always treat the match up like a big deal. BP was fired up crazy eyes tecnico, Mascara was amusing rudo stooge, and all the sons ramped up the meanness. My favorite thing about this match was all of the great pinfall saves, especially from the Panthers. Panther runs in to break up a pin by kicking Sanson in the eye, Jr. runs in and just fully double stomps to break up a pin, and it went on like that the whole match! I loved 2000 playing chicken, actually running around the ring and hiding behind the ref to prevent being touched. BP looked like he was having a blast during their showdowns. All the Panthers hit dives, but they always do that. This might have been the most impressed overall I've been by the Panther clan, as the kids brought more than just dives and really seemed to be gelling as a team. Cuatrero dialed back the crazy bumps and instead worked in and around all the Panther clan's offense, and I think he's really great at that type of thing. Sanson brought more offense, thought the clip towards the end of he and Jr. running to attack in opposite corners came off great, that kind of thing can usually seem cheesy. They also structured falls differently that you see from most CMLL trios matches. You didn't get three pinfalls/subs happening all at once, you would get scattered pinfalls that didn't mean the end of a fall, which is far more exciting. Like Brazo kids vs. Villano kids, this is a match up I'm always going to go out of my way to see.

Metalico/Sangre Azteca/Arkangel vs. Oro Jr./Principe Diamante/Star Jr. (CMLL 6/13/17)

ER: Metalico gets us off on the right note by driving out on a constantly stalling motorcycle (that gets pushed at one point), dressed up like a highway patrolman cosplaying Mussolini. His entrances are wonderful low budget Sakuraba. And in the primera we get some fun and uncommon matwork with him working over Diamante, and he shows that his grudge against Oro for taking his mask is not any less than it was 3 years ago. Sangre Azteca ties Oro up in some really great knots,  my favorite being his backpack full nelson maneuvered into a nasty octopus hold. And every time Oro starts to reverse the tide, Metalico comes in and kicks or slaps him back into Azteca's advantage. Diamante and Star each try springboard moonsaults to the floor, but Azteca yanks Star's legs and Metlalico clotheslines Diamante right in the shins, both of them take great chin first bumps into the apron. The segunda is filled with rudos holding tecnicos prone so Azteca can dropkick and elbow drop them in the taint, and we get other fun moments throughout the tercera: A neat midair flip headscissors from Star, a tornado lariat from Arkangel; I especially liked a little moment where Star went to snapmare Metalico and Metalico held onto the ropes to reverse it. I love that kind of stuff. It all builds to a showdown with Metalico/Star Jr. in the tercera. Every time Metalico had battered Oro, Star had run in at his defense, always backing Metalico down. When they finally go at it it's really fun. Metalico ends up hitting a weird bearhug overhead suplex to get the win, and while Oro sits on the mat in disbelief at the loss, Metalico helps him out to the floor by booting him in the chest.

Blue Panther/Rey Cometa/Titan vs. Hechicero/Morphosis/Rey Bucanero (CMLL 6/13/17)

ER: I'm sure I've seen Panther and Hechicero match up before, but it feels like something I haven't seen in several years, and even then I don't know if I've ever seen this much of them together. Hechicero is super generous and Panther looks like he belongs, and the two have a few of the most fun sequences I've seen in a couple months. The primera ends with those two going at it, Hechicero being the aggressor with Panther rolling through with cool counters, getting some slow counter matwork with Hechicero showing off his strength, Panther holding onto armbars even while Hechicero is standing up and propping BP on his head, culminating in Panther rolling through to wristlock that bends Hechicero's forearm back over his bicep, and Hechicero is still smarting from that lock in the segunda. We get some fine Cometa headscissors and a nice rana off the apron to Bucanero. Bucanero looks extremely sluggish but still catches fine. It's obviously been a day since I've seen Morphosis, since I haven't seen him unmasked until now. He mainly stays out of things, throws some big time chops at Titan, and then catches a huge top rope springboard moonsault to the floor towards the end. But I was too busy waiting to see more Panther/Hechicero, and we got another nice run with Panther again showing he can keep up. Hechicero grabs a waist lock, Panther runs him into the ropes, sends him rolling with a back to front armdrag, gets run into the corner and hits a pretty headscissors that sends Hechicero rolling to the floor, and completes a happy Saturday morning for me. Those two were the center of the match, which naturally makes it essential viewing for me - and hopefully you.

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2015 Ongoing Match of the Year List

8. Kraneo, Morphosis & Olimpico v. Blue Panther, Fuego & Super Porky CMLL 1/11

ER: I didn't go into this expecting much, even though I always love Kraneo and Panther. But then every single guy in this match wrestles like they have something to prove, nobody dogs it, and all of it works. Panther and Olimpico tangle to start and I really love their matwork together, both are quick and very familiar with each other, but it managed to look smooth and graceful while never feeling rehearsed. The whole rudo team busts ass the whole time, like they had a running bet to see who could work harder. This was the best Morphosis has looked in over a year, really throwing everything he had into bumps, being the perfect base for Fuego and breaking out a couple awesome pendulum arm drags. Kraneo matches up a lot with Porky and this was also the hardest I've seen Porky work since probably the Escorpion feud over a year ago. He actually seems like he is actually trying to run, he leaves his feet a LOT which is rare for him, and he and Kraneo start by just trying to dislocate each other's shoulder with some huge shoulder blocks. Both guys really slam into each other and Kraneo is a master of making Porky look great. Kraneo bumps like a maniac through all of this, getting super height on a back drop from Porky (and truthfully bumping a little too freely for Fuego). Even Kemonito gets in on the action with some of his best stuff in ages, coming in and potatoing Mije a bunch in the eye socket and hitting a great low (high?) dropkick. It's great seeing just a random trios with a tossed together team, where everybody just decides to go for broke. It's one of those little lucha mysteries, but it's so wonderful when it happens.

PAS: I enjoyed the hell out of this too, I had completely forgotten that Morphosis existed (apparently he is the ex-Histeria), and really haven't enjoyed a Olimpico match this much since the 90's, but both guys ruled. Olimpico used to be a mat guy, and he and Panther have a throwback thursday exchange or two. The Porky v. Kraneo sumo section was probably the highlight, but this had a bunch of fun stuff. Porky wasn't doing comedy at all, he was just rumbling, including doing an apron dive, which is still crazy looking. I love trying hard Porky, last time I remember it was when he and Rey Escorpion were trying to punch each others eyes out, so it is weird to see it show up in a random trios. They should just set up him taking Kraneo's mask at an Anniversary show. Maybe I need to be watch all the Invasors matches

2015 MASTER LIST

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MLJ: 2010: Invasores Interlude 2: Gran Alebrije, Histeria II, Psicosis II vs Hijo del Fantasma, La Mascara, La Sombra

Taped 2010-04-26 @ Arena Puebla
5 of 5: Gran Alebrije, Histeria II, Psicosis II vs Hijo del Fantasma, La Mascara, La Sombra

http://youtu.be/UpwSCdn9Wys
http://youtu.be/-a6Y1OvYx9I
http://youtu.be/k0kYqltpZZs

A couple of weeks after the initial attack and we have the first match between Los Invasores and the CMLL regulars, in this case, the same trios that they initially attacked, which is amazingly well put together for CMLL if you ask me.

Psicosis II is Ripper, of course. Alebrije is Kraneo (and he has Cuije with him), Histeria is Morphosis now. At least Alebrije and Histeria (along with Latin Lover) were right out of a legal case against AAA over the potential use of their names, though I'm not entirely sure how that worked out. Maybe more interesting still was the fact that Alebrije and Cuije were just back from the King of Trios (which was mentioned). Unfortunately, Claudio/Cesaro vs Alebrije/Kraneo wasn't QUITE the amazing match up that it looks like on paper. Here it is though.

Back to Mexico, this was a hell of a first outing for the invaders. Maybe due to the fact they were in Puebla, they had a ton of time, and it really had a big match feel. There were tons of fans with camera around the ring to begin. Both side had interviews to lead off. The rudos had such unique looks with the purples and the pointed masks. They were outlandish, real invaders.

I want to lead off by saying that this match was really more than the sum of its parts. The opening matwork wasn't all that high end. The transition was just there. The beatdown was quite good, though, but then the comeback was spirited but not all that interesting. After that, they pulled it all together well but not well enough to make it sublime on its own. It was the feel of it all though, the hot crowd, the unique nature of the invasion, the build from the previous ambush, and a lot of interesting if not entirely smooth work. I liked this a lot but it's not technically the strongest match I've seen lately. In that regard, it reminds me a lot of something like Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero, though not on that level.

The crowd was definitely into it. They started it smartly with the rudos taking the ring only for the tecnicos to retake it. Fantasma had a chant straight from the get go, paired off against Histeria (Captains were Sombra and Psicosis), and this was fun, at least, with a nice rolling leglock and a solid sense of struggle. Mascara and Psicosis followed things up, picking up the pace, but we didn't get a chance to see too much before everything broke down (robbing of us Sombra vs Alebrije).

From there the rudos picked up the advantage and the beatdown began. They had quite a bit of interesting tandem offense and pressed the advantage to the point of really ramping up the pressure for the comeback. Cuije even beat up Kemonito. There was a tree of woe. Sombra had his mask ripped. There were double kicks. Tecnicos were isolated. And the primera ended with a wheelbarrow lift up and a double dropkick before a facebuster, then an elaborate sequence of corner shots and tandem offense before a brutal Alebrije spear. Showy stuff. They followed it by making a wish and more Cuije offense.

The comeback was short and sweet and not quite heated enough and more important than that, felt earned. Mascara was outnumbered but managed to roll under a double clothesline to hit a superkick on Alebrije, before getting knocked out. Fantasma flew in but Psicosis took him out. Finally, Sombra evened things up and hit a huge dive. This allowed Fantasma and Mascara to lock in a leg submission and a Casita for the fall. Afterwards, before the reset, Kemonito got some revenge on Cuije.

The tercera had a lot of time and while it had its moments of sloppiness, it was ultimately a lot of fun. It was back and forth, with everyone hitting their spots and endless teasings for the dives that should finish the match. The tecnicos were able to do their sequences vs all three rudos and frankly, they seemed motivated by having some new opponents. The rudos hit their cut offs when needed only to get overwhelmed again and again. Kemonito had his comedy spot with the shirt coming off and Cuije got to dropkick him to end it.

The match ended exactly as it should have. Everything broke down in the end and it looked like the tecnicos were about to finally hit their dives. Mascara went for either a seated senton or a rana off the apron but got caught and powerbombed right into the post in a really nasty spot. Then Fantasma went for a tope only to for the rudos to move at the last second and the brutalized Mascara to be thrust right into the path of it. Despite all that Sombra almost pinned Psicosis, but Cuije broke it up. Kemonito charged in and in the chaos that followed, Psicosis fouled Sombra and pinned him. It was a great ending because it set up matches to come. The satisfaction of the dives never came to fruition and the rudos still cheated to win. I hope this drew money because it deserved to.

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report 7/20/14

And now one week later we flash back forward to shows from June. These matches were from the 6/15 Arena Mexico show. So the only real consistency with these LATV shows are that they're showing 2014 CMLL shows that took place on Sunday (whether that be at Coliseo or Arena Mexico). I won't complain too much as I like Kraneo showing up on my TV as often as possible, and him showing up on LATV means his match won't be edited.

1. Blue Panther, Stuka Jr. & Sagrado vs. Kraneo, Olimpico & Morphosis

Really good stuff and some match ups you don't see that often. This is a pretty fantastic Kraneo showcase that sees him do all sorts of cool stuff. Not just the nice bumps, but he's really good at incorporating his size into matches, without becoming some unwieldy object that people just have to work around. He brings a cool power element to things, completely obliterating people with shoulderblocks, first in the corner, other times using them to cut out offense out of nowhere. It's a cool element to bring when a tecnico is setting up a dive, and there's this unseen behemoth who can agilely burst onto the scene at any moment. He uses that same "out of nowhere" agility to break up a pin, running in with the biggest nastiest full weight senton you've seen in ages (poor Olimpico on the bottom of that mess). Panther and Olimpico start us off with cool mat stuff. A lot of it seemed Panther guided, like Olimpico taking him down by the wrist, but Panther really whipping himself into the mat. Stuka also hits an awesome dive on Kraneo at one point, just barreling into him headfirst and Kraneo is arguably the best catcher in the fed. He always stands his ground and absorbs all of a dive. This one is well worth checking out.

2. Virus vs. Fuego

This was a match where I seemed to be the only person who did not like it. Not just that, but most people (Phil included) praised it as one of the best lucha singles of 2014. Here were my original thoughts:

"I did not love this match. What's cruel, is that I loved the primera. It had some of Virus' best matwork of the year, really established his dominance over Fuego, and had other great moments like Virus plastering him with a brutal thrust headbutt from the apron. I was into it. I was excited for it. It was as advertised. But then my god would it just not end. And through most of this match Fuego just looked flat out bad. I thought he was a fine counterpoint to Virus' early mat stuff, and the two dives were a cool touch. But by the end of this Virus had to put himself into Fuego's submissions. I really hate matches where one guy takes his 50% up front and the other guy goes on his run right after. The tercera especially felt sluggish to me, with none of the momentum shifts making sense. And it wasn't just Fuego in the tercera, but Virus looked downright bored. No emotion, no rudoing, just mindlessly going through the moves waiting for his turn. I felt zero drama whatsoever in the tercera and it felt like all of the heatless 2.9 count lucha main events that I can't stand. This match was even more disappointing to me since it started on a high and was just a slow and painful death afterwards. Did a Fuego match really need 20+?"

But I rewatched it, because it was on, and because I'm an open-minded guy. Whenever I differ from the consensus on something it doesn't bother me too much. Like a band that others don't? Not uncommon. Like a movie more or less than someone? Oh well, I like what I like when it comes to movies. And it's the same way with pro wrestling, except this time some of my absolute favorite wrestling minds (and Phil Schneider) all liked a match that I disliked. I wouldn't say that made me second guess myself, but it did make me curious to try and see things from a different perspective.

And I disliked it just as much as the previous viewing. All of the same complaints up above were still right there, with new ones that I guess I didn't notice on the first go 'round. This time I noticed even more of Virus' awesome matwork in the primera. He did one of the absolute coolest leg sweeps I've ever seen, sweeping around from his back and forcing Fuego's (who was standing) ankle painfully outward, until Fuego had to drop down to ease the pressure, which of course was exactly what Virus wanted. Virus continued to tear that leg apart. What I didn't remember was that leg work continuing on into the segunda, with Fuego doing a more than admirable job selling. Adding in a slight limp when moving around, clearly selling that leg.

Until the moment he needs to go back on offense and then all that leg work and all that selling goes away forever and we get zero call backs to it. I'd like to think I'm not a "convenient selling" Nazi, but when limb work takes up the bulk of a match and then vanishes as if it was a part of a different match then that's just sloppy. Not just that but he goes from non-stop leg injury, and the first moves he does right after he decided to not be bothered with that injury are all springboard moves. Just really rubbing in. The tercera was as bad as I remembered, with awful fatigue selling after every move. Fuego does a move, both men lie there tired and just stunned that it wasn't the move that ended things. Virus does a move, Fuego reacts the same. It's garbage. Even after things like roll ups and ranas. Just both men, heaving, going through a WAR, shocked a roll up didn't get the 3. I had to put it on 2x speed after awhile it was so bad.

I don't regret watching it again, as I was legit curious. But it stinks. Killer primera though.

3. Valiente, Atlantis & Marco Corleone vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Mr. Niebla & Niebla Roja

Fun match that only gets about 10 minutes, but that seemed like an appropriate amount for what we got.  It was best case scenario as it meant we got no down time and that guys that might need covering up didn't get exposed. Corleone got to punch people and flatten Roja with his crossbody, Valiente hit a brutal high speed dive on Niebla, Roja actually played off Corleone as his perfect foil, showing real promise as a rudo. Every spot opposite Marco always ended with the advantage, but Roja always got to mug and do things I always love in wrestling, like pointing to his head after momentarily foiling Marco.  UG looked like a badass leveling Valiente with a mean clothesline, crushing Atlantis with his headstand pendulum and mocking him after ripping his mask off to get DQ'd in the tercera. All fun stuff.

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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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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report, 12/14/13

These matches took place on the 11/29 Arena Mexico show.



1. Atlantis, Diamante Azul & Shocker vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia & Tama Tonga

Match starts out as a pretty slow-paced nothing type affair, and sometime around the middle of the 2nd picks up a bit, before having a hot as hell tercera caida. Ultimo and Atlantis stood out early with both guys working fast (Atlantis can often slowly go through the motions, so it was noticeable here that UG was forcing him to pick up the pace on their sequences). This is probably the best I've seen Shocker look in months as he's moving as fast as early decade slim(mer) Shocker as he breaks out a cool headscissors and starts working circles around Euforia, to the point that Euforia appears to gas out! Yes, modern Shocker caused somebody else to blow up. Third fall is awesome as everybody starts working up a notch, with Azul doing his crazy somersault senton into the corner and a crazy flip dive off the ramp way, Atlantis working fast and throwing spinning backbreakers at everyone who comes near, UG bumping around big and cutting low on lariats, just tons of fun in the 3rd. I was seriously ready to write this off after the first and I'm glad I didn't.



2. Torneo Cibernetico: Kraneo, Psyco Ripper, Volador Jr., Morphosis & Mr. Aguila vs. Blue Panther, Mascara Dorada, Valiente, Mistico & La Mascara

These ciberneticos are like lucha junk food. Depending on the participants they can be really good, or they can be like a lot of so-so lightning matches stacked on top of each other. Thanks to the internet we can at least see all the opening matwork (which was almost always edited off Galavision broadcasts). Panther and Morphosis tear it up for the first couple minutes, with Morphosis (the former Histeria) really impressing me with not only keeping up with BP but tossing off some cool armbar transitions and leglocks. Kraneo gets paired up with Dorada which is hilarious since Dorada is probably the fastest guy on the tecnicos side. Kraneo squashes him with a nice leg drop and then catches a cool rana from Dorada. Eliminations start early (which always happens in these which is disappointing as these matches could really go twice as long as they normally do) which robs us of some potentially awesome pairings. The brief Panther/Volador pairing was a treat as I don't remember these two matching up before and it's only 20 seconds but made me want to see a bunch more. Bunch of wild dives happen, people gang up awesomely on Kraneo with him taking a headscissors to the floor from Valiente and then eating two dives in a row (with Dorada's being completely reckless and has him ricocheting off Kraneo on the floor). Kraneo towers over everybody here, with he and Valiente looking like Batman coming face to face with Killer Croc. Kraneo uses his size well, knowing when to cut off tiny little tecnicos by just running into them. Shame that Aguila is one of the final two rudos with Psyco Ripper and Volador. Aguila is clearly the worst guy in this cibernetico (watch him hit the worst standing moonsault I've ever seen, then not call an audible and still end an elimination with it!). Overall the match was fun as hell and got plenty of time. Dorada is a lunatic, Kraneo is my new fattie obsession, Volador still gots the goods even though I liked him more when he worked full rudo instead of this tweener mess he's in now.

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