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 8/16/14

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 8/9/14

All of these matches were from the 7/25 Arena Mexico show. 

1. Rey Escorpion, Ultimo Guerrero & Shocker vs. Atlantis, Dragon Rojo Jr. & Titan

 Fun match that was quick and violent with lots of mask ripping and stiff strikes. Escorpion has been on a roll lately and here's another match with him dishing a beating to Dragon Rojo. He punches him all over the ring and violently rips his mask off. At one point he was tearing Rojo's mask off with his teeth while also punching his face. Rojo hit a great corner flip dive as a comeback at one point. But the match even ends with Escorpion dragging Rojo around by his mask while stomping the hell out of him. It was odd seeing Shocker as a rudo here since he's mostly been featured on TV this year as a tecnico opposite Rush and his goons, but here he gets dropkicked by Kemonito and it's awesome (has Kemonito not appeared with Atlantis for a really long time, or is that just me…). For the most part Shocker and Titan stayed out of the mix. Most of it was naturally centered around Atlantis/UG, and all of their stuff was nice and snug. Both of them dished it out, with Atlantis ripping apart UG's mask, UG hitting a fast Jerry bump, Atlantis handing out quebradoras to every man in his way. Fun, high energy match with a few stories going on at once.

2. Marcela, Goya Kong & Silueta vs. Princesa Blanca, Amapola & Zeuxis

Decent, if sloppy match. Marcela isn't on TV as much as the other gals even though she's clearly heads above all of them. She always breaks out more daring things than the others and looked good here, with a nice rolling senton off the apron, big bump into the front row, does a cool armbar takeover on Blanca over the top rope. Kong is always somebody I get excited to see. I don't know if she's really that good, but she's always fun and the crowd always responds big to her. She breaks out some big splashes, misses a big elbow, does an apron dive, a bunch of fun stuff from a bigger gal. Silueta is cute and is fairly decent at pumping up a crowd, but she's also not that great. She's kind of sloppy and there's a pretty unfortunate botch that is covered up about as much as it can be by Amapola. Amapola is a good hand, but Zeuxis also isn't very good. She gamely attempts big spots but usually blows a couple, so I guess she gets some points for trying. Blanca is a great ruda, one of my absolute favorites to watch, and her and Marcela always work great together. Here is no different as both of them can really wail on each other. Hilariously, the match ends with a powder to the eyes DQ, with Blanca missing her powder shot and Marcela hitting hers, with the ref seeing and DQing Marcela. I cannot remember ever seeing a powder to the eyes finish in a lucha match. That seems like something so American that it was just weird seeing in lucha. Maybe Mexico has a long history of powder to the eyes finishes, but damn if I can't recall any. Now I want to see some hide the object lucha matches!



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

Awesome short match, full of guys working stiff and with a hot surprise finish. Rush and Casas beat the holy hell out of each other here. I'm not sure how Casas' throat can stand up to some of the stomps that Rush unleashes on it. Both guys throw some nasty kicks to the other's chest and face, shove each other violently into the ring barricade. At one point Rush charges Casas in the corner, stops short, whips his hair back and slaps Casas right across the ear. Great dickhead spot. Niebla is a guy who can wrestle lazy when he's not feeling things, but then we get *this* Niebla and all is well. He slaps guys the whole match, really laying the shots in to a nasty degree, and at one point even breaks out his great back bump to the floor (Rush front kicks him and he falls through the ropes backwards onto the floor). Volador stayed out of most of this, spending a lot of it getting kicked and stomped by Sombra/Mascara, but does hit a spectacular top rope moonsault to the floor. And obviously he plays into the finish which I really dug. Sombra is kinda manhandling him, but Volador gets the surprise flash pin by reversing a Sombra samoan drop into a brutal Sombra head drop. Flash pins don't feel like they get used in lucha that often, and I really love how the match just ended since Volador pinned the captain. Felt like they finally outsmarted the rudos and the cuts to a surprised Rush on the floor were a nice touch since Rush hasn't shown tons of ass in this feud. This could have been epic with more time, but for a straight falls match I can't imagine it being much better. This was some of the stiffest ring work I've seen in lucha this year, and no matter how long it was this was a hot match. (Oddly, the TV version of the match completely edits the 2nd caida down to just the Sombra/Volador finishing run, making the total match seem like 7 minutes instead of 12. This caused the episode to end 8 minutes early, so I have no clue why they edited out Casas' comeback or any of the other fun stuff from the segunda. Really strange.)

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 7/26/14

All matches were from the 7/11 Arena Mexico show.

1. Dark Angel, Marcela & Estrellita vs. Amapola, Princesa Blanca & Zeuxis

Blanca has awesome crimped hombre hair, looking like the Russian experiment clone on Orphan Black. Primera is really good with Estrellita taking a beating, Marcela missing a somersault senton off the apron and splatting on the floor, and Zeuxis hitting a package piledriver on Dark Angel (so are piledriver type moves legal now in Mexico? Seems like a lot of workers are doing these kind of moves now, which look exactly like automatic DQ moves of the not too distant past). Segunda is really hot, with Amapola taking a big Cassandro bump around the turnbuckles and then Dark Angel hitting a huge crossbody off the top onto her. Marcela especially had a great fall (and match) with some impressive power spots like a sort of deadlift quebradora, throwing a dropkick through Zeuxis' face (while she was leaned up against the bottom rope) and then hitting a nice rana on her off the apron. Straight falls, but the match was really hot. Well worth checking out. 

2. Negro Casas, Barbaro Cavernario & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Rush, Maximo & Marco Corleone

Very fun match ruined by the most hot dogshit finish you can possibly imagine. It's nice to see Cavernario in with the big boys, and Casas had a hell of a showing here. Casas got to take it to Rush throughout most of this, hitting all sorts of big kicks to the chest and face (which Rush leaned right into). Rush worked a lot of this as a traditional tecnico, which didn't garner much sympathy from the Arena Mexico fans, but was fun to see. Marco stuck to UG/Cavernario, flexing his abs, hitting his nice lefts and some big crossbodies. Now lets get to that most garbage of finishes, where Casas beats Rush around the ring, and we're talking the most offense Casas has gotten on Rush in ages. Gets him in the corner and kicks the hell out of him, kicks him to the floor where he hits the Thesz press off the apron, drags him around by the hair so Cavernario can hit his giant awesome big splash from the top to the floor, rolls Rush back in the ring…

and Rush just powerbombs Casas for the win. Well, fuck us then. What an awful, pointless, lazy finish. This is one of the worst no sells I've ever seen in pro wrestling. And it's not like Rush collapsed after hitting the powerbomb either. He was totally fine, walking around, back to normal as if the big splash recharged him or something. Just an awful finish that made everybody look bad. The kind of finish that would make anybody who got sucked into the match feel like a doofus. Casas gave him everything he had, and Rush basically just shrugged. Is Rush just Jason Vorhees now?

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 6/7/14

These matches all happened on the 5/23 Arena Mexico show.

Rey Escorpion, Ripper & Mr. Aguila vs. Maximo, Marco Corleone & Titan

Well this is becoming a bad trend. Short, short matches with practically non-existant primeras. Remember when the primera used to be awesome? It still happens occasionally, but it's becoming more and more rare. Aguila may be the worst worker in CMLL, especially among the ones higher up the card. He looks horrible here. Can you name me a worst moonsault in wrestling? He still insists on doing it in just about every match, but I can't remember the last time it actually hit. Usually it ends with his arms draped over the other guy's knees, and usually it ends a fall. Woof. This whole match was plagued by poor timing and sloppy work, namely from Aguila and Ripper. Titan didn't do any of his silly stuff, and hit a nice springboard somersault dive. Corleone looked good, hitting a few nice rolling arm drags and the Superman bodypress from the ring to the floor, still doing it with no hands. That looked great, and I don't know if I've ever seen him do that. He almost always hits it from the rampway to the ring, really don't remember him doing to the floor before. And with this, we're well underway in our Complete & Accurate Marco Corleone project.

Dark Angel, Marcela & Princesa Sugheit vs. Dalys, Princesa Blanca & Zeuxis

So are piledrivers and ball shots totally cool in Mexico now? Are the times a-changin'? Last show had Mascara win a match with a plain view shot to the balls, and Zeuxis wins a fall her with a package piledriver. Match was short and fun. I really love the nasty streak that Dalys has embraced ever since getting her head shaved. Her charisma is coming through more now and her work with Marcela in this was quality. Loved the running double knees into Marcela's chest from Zeuxis and Dalys. Blanca and Sugheit were kind of working their own match this whole time, constantly going at it and tearing each other apart.

Relevos Increibles!

Rush, Ultimo Guerrero & La Sombra vs. Atlantis, Shocker & Volador Jr.

A bit of a letdown compared to other Relevos Increibles but still exciting because you have Rush and his sneak attack lacky La Sombra. The other guys kinda did their own thing. UG and Atlantis tore into each other during the entrances and didn't stop, replete with mask tearing and I can only assume mask challenges post match off camera. But Rush and Sombra delivered and Shocker really ramps up his work when facing Rush, at one point hitting a heavy body press from the top rope to the floor. Haven't seen him do something like that in awhile. Sombra continues his awesome dick trend of blindsiding guys, really leveling Shocker with a dropkick to the back that Shocker couldn't have seen coming. Right between the shoulder blades, sends him face first into ropes. He and Rush each take their shots on him in the corner with Sombra hitting the running double knees and Rush caving his chest in with a dropkick. Match ends when Rush and Sombra get disqualified for beating the hell out of Shocker for too long, which is really the dry hump of the lucha match finishes.

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 5/24/14

These matches were from the 5/9 Arena Mexico show



Ephesto, Mephisto & Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Valiente, Titan & Marco Corleone

Real fun match, bunch of cool Ephesto stuff, nice Mephisto showing and maybe the best Marco performance of the year. Definitely the best showing from him in my recent memory (jeez we sure do talk a lot about Marco Corleone on SC these days). With just a liiiitle bit more time and a littttttle less Titan silliness I could see throwing this on the MOTY list. Primera was a short blast, with Valiente and Ephesto tearing it up on the mat (wish I got to see these two go on the mat more), Marco tightening up his punches more than he has in a long time (he's been doing these big looping hooks, here he was tossing them more like a short left uppercut and they looked real good). Ephesto and Mephisto did a nice job of cutting off Marco, especially Ephesto coming in and blindsiding him with a big kick to the chest. Marco still does obnoxious stuff (here he bumps to the floor off a dropkick, and the first thing he does is bend over and hike his kneepads), but also breaks out some great stuff like using his abs to mime punching buttons on a telephone, before walloping Dragon Rojo, and tosses out some real slick armdrags that would look cool even if they were done by a smaller man. Valiente hits his lightning fast dive (probably the best straight dive in lucha today), Mephisto has a goofy devil mask like he's in a Damn Yankees production, Titan hits a nice rana on the floor, and this was a nice brisk 15 minutes. Tons of fun.

Tiffany, Princesa Blanca & Dalys vs. Marcela, Princesa Sugheir & Lluvia

YES! Tiffany is back on my TV! It's been too damn long. She and Blanca have the matching pleather catsuits like they're in the Doll Squad or something and this is awesome. Dalys is sporting her fashionably short 'do with pride! Dalys looks awesome here, breaking out a sweet running Akiyama knee in the corner on Sugheit, and a mean running corner clothesline on Lluvia. The rudas absolutely own the first fall and get DQ'd for Blanca shoving a ref, because they're strong women who don't let men run their lives. Dalys continues to rule throughout this, catching a slick Marcela rana from the apron to the floor. Lluvia's fishnet bodysuit seems like it would take ages to get into. Oh shit the match ended with Sugheit hitting La Mistica. Damn that was short. Fun for the time allotted, maybe best Dalys performance I've seen, and it's been too long since I've seen Tiffany. She's like the Christine Baranski of CMLL.



Mascara Dorada, Atlantis & Volador Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Niebla Roja & Gran Guerrero

Well blink and you'd miss this match as the whole thing is less than 10 minutes, but it's packed with tons of killer action. Dorada was on fire here and had a pretty wild death wish. His ranas always look spectacular but here he includes his high speed tornillo which is just so sick. Volador can snap off a nice rana of his own when he's not being a shithead, and he looked better here than he has during most of his 2014 run. UG was a good ringleader here (though I like the team WAY more when Euforia replaces Gran G) and took his Jerry bump super fast (since the whole match looked like their normal match, but played about 25% faster). My dvr cut off the very end so I assume there were Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero mask challenges lobbed back and forth. Skim through for some Dorada craziness.

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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 LATV Workrate Report 4/6/14

These matches were from the 3/23 Arena Coliseo show.


Dark Angel, Goya Kong & Estrellita vs. Princesa Blanca, Princesa Sugheit & Zeuxis

Really awesome women's match. I haven't seen Blanca in awhile and she's slimmed down a bunch and looked great in the ring. She was really great at fast turnaround rope segments, did smart little rudo apron work like grab or kick at girls if they got too close to their corner. Dark Angel looked really great here too with all sorts of cool roll ups and fast work. Estrellita had one of her best showings in a while, and I absolutely loved her float-over backslide to win the tercera. That thing looked snug as hell and there was no way Blanca could have kicked out. Zeuxis here showed more energy than I'm used to seeing from her. Kong is super over and has fun big girl offense and charisma. I mean this was just a great lady trios, best one I've seen in ages. Everybody had their boots on, the crowd was fueling them, everything just clicked.

Reaper, Olimpico & Felino vs. Valiente, Super Porky & La Sombra

Same thing as the previous match, in that everybody had their boots on so the match seemed so much tighter than standard matches with some of these guys. Olimpico appears to be working a Keegan Michael Key gimmick now, and he looked awesome. Stooging all over, bumping big, all his sequences looked tight. Valiente also threw out one of his best performances in awhile, looking like a total star with giant dives, slick ranas, fast ringwork and great body charisma. Porky is practically immobile at this point but can still work fun sequences. I liked his punch exchange with Olimpico, and him holding his arms out for the ref to pick him up after sitting on Reaper is either the saddest thing or the most endearing thing. He was just holding out his short little arms towards the ref, in the same way a child will ask their father to pick them up because they're tired of walking (I wonder if Porky also pretends to be asleep in the car so his dad will carry him inside after a long car trip!).

Rey Escorpion, Averno & Polvora vs. Maximo, Diamante Azul & Marco Corleone

This was also a match that was on the show. It was also happening at that critical time where I had just enough booze in me where several minutes can go by and leave me with zero memory of those minutes. It was fun seeing Azul in Coliseo, as he couldn't just rely on doing his cool rampway flip dive. Corleone has been working a little too gingerly lately. His body presses land super soft. Maximo has been on fire lately, breaking out some smooth and fast sequences like he's Virus or something. Plus good lord I want that LEGO Maximo shirt. I wear size M. Come on people. The back of it says he the master of sex or something!

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 2/9/13

These matches all took place on the 2/1/13 Arena Mexico card.



1. Arkangel de la Muerte/Skandalo/Nitro vs. Hombre Bala Jr./Fuego/Super Halcon Jr.

First fall is kind of a mess as it all boils down to Nitro being the foil for Fuego and Halcon's double teams, and nobody does much of anything very well in the set-up. Arkangel is not surprisingly the highlight of the first fall, as his work with Bala looks pro. Even little things like locking up look engaging when Arkangel is involved. I did really like Fuego's sunset flip that saw him climb up and over Nitro. 2nd fall is all about some awesome Bala/Arkangel sequences. Arkangel has an expert way of falling into position for crazy and/or silly tecnico offense and he puts that to masterful display here. Bala does two weird dives that Arkangel falls for, one of them being a dive through the bottom ropes into a splash on the ramp way, the other being an AWESOME dive while Arkangel is sitting in the corner. Bala vaults off Fuego and goes torpedoing headfirst into Arkangel, coming in at a fierce diagonal. Crazy. Third fall is all about the rudos getting tecnicos into prone positions and then doing running dropkicks to their taints. It seriously happened like 4 times. At one point Fuego hits a balls out insane dive over the top to the floor, coming in completely vertical. Overall the match wasn't much, but definitely worth watching for all the cool Arkangel moments.



2. Amapola/Princesa Blanca/Princesa Sugheit vs. Dark Angel/Marcela/Estrellita

First fall is a pretty good shitkicking of Estrellita. Amapola in particular looked like she wasn't holding back very much , but then things got awesome when Estrellita made her comeback and didn't hold back on Amapola, wrenching her around by her hair and giving her a stiff as hell dropkick to the floor. All that continues into the 2nd with more stiff clotheslines and Amapola taking a brutal Cassandro bump through the corner ropes that saw her barely catch the turnbuckle. She basically did a suicide dive to nobody. Nuts. Dark Angel has some pretty ranas and Blanca is a gal who is great at taking ranas. Tecnicas win in straight falls but it's all action and really fun.



3. Ultimo Guerrero/Mephisto/Terrible vs. Maximo/Rush/Shocker

First couple falls were all angle and a total schmozz, but an awesome schmozz that saw UG attack Atlantis at the announce table and bust his lip open, and then Atlantis take off his belt and threaten UG. Maximo bumps big into the guard rail and Rush continues looking really great while Shocker continues to look slow and busty. UG will take a massive Jerry bump (here he wasn't going to get much height so clearly pushes off with his arms to fling himself higher. Crazy.) but he's mostly occupied with shit talking Atlantis from the ring in this match. Rush is probably the star of the whole thing, hitting a nutso running dropkick from the apron to the floor, timing a superkick great while Maximo is doing a do-so-do with Terrible, and generally jacking up the crowd. Maximo looked great here too as he and Mephisto match up really well together for complicated armdrag spots. So yeah, not much of a "match" as things are fairly short and chaotic, but I would say it's well worth checking out.

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 2/2/13

These matches are from the 1/25/13 Arena Mexico show.

1. Princesa Sugheit/Amapola/Princesa Blanca vs. Luna Magica/Silueta/Estrellita:

The rudas get to tear it up here and Estrellita makes me sad. She is the the embodiment of every woman who makes out with another woman in a bar for attention from weird guys, just because it's some sort of attention. At this point I'm just hoping she takes to aging more gracefully than Lil' Kim. But boy does it make it that much more fun to watch the rudas beat her down. Match ended with a gang beatdown by those evil women that saw Tigre Hispano thrown down. What's insane is that, racking my brain, I don't remember the last time I saw a ref bumped like that. It was such a constant thing in the late 90s/early 00s. My friend Carlos' grandma used to get furious when somebody would hit the ref to end a match. She wouldn't get furious because it was a crap finish, she would get furious because the ref was impartial. "He didn't DO anything! Why would they HIT HIM!?" She felt for those poor refs, so I imagine Hispano getting bumped and then instantly, proudly standing up and calling it for the tecnicas would have made her happy. But seriously, are ref bumps still a thing and I'm just way out of the loop? I know TNA was still regularly doing them as recently as a few years ago, but that's to be expected when they were still booking like Crash TV was all the rage.

2. Lightning Match: Atlantis vs. Mr. Niebla:

Well this is already the greatest lightning match I've ever seen because Niebla ambushes Atlantis with a fucking CHAIN wrapped around his fist and punches ATL right in the face a few times, then WHIPS him while he's prone on the entrance ramp!! Whipping a guy with a chain is a tough thing to pull off in wrestling, as to make it look good you pretty much have to whip a dude with a chain. And these chain whips looked brutal, right across the ribs. Then these guys whip each other into the ringside barriers, and usually those little do-si-do Irish whips look pretty silly but here I totally bought into the physics and momentum of the whole thing. Rest of match was a cool sprint with powerbombs, a great Atlantis dive, nice missile dropkick, slick dana and mask ripping and ball shots and a jacked dude in the crowd wearing a Kemonito mask which made me super jealous. Best lightning match of the last year +.

3. Volador Jr./Psicosis/Mr. Aguila vs. Mascara Dorada/La Sombra/Titan:

First fall of this is a little choppy with some stuff being out of sync and guys hitting their marks a bit early (or a bit late). Volador takes a rana better than just about anybody, and his reverse rana is one of the sickest moves in wrestling (especially with Sombra snapping back over from it). Things pick up a bit in the 2nd with some cool triple teams (love the pendulum powerbomb with Volador running through Titan and making him spin up and over and splat. Dorada's springboard moves are always spectacular and his ranas in this are no different. Him going from the apron, to the inside middle rope, to a rana that ends with him standing just looks impossible to pull off. He also takes a sky high bump over the top to the floor. Volador shows everybody how to take a dive by absorbing Sombra's hilo like a man, and Sombra later repays the favor by leaning way in to Volador's nutso moonsault to the floor. After a shaky start there were plenty of rad spots in the 2nd and 3rd. This was kinda like lucha junkfood as there wasn't much substance but was plenty enjoyable.

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 11/10/12

These matches were from the 11/2 Arena Mexico show and all the ring girls are dressed up like corpse brides. The sluttiest corpse brides these eyes have ever seen (and I live in a college town).

1. Skandalo vs. Delta

This was what it was. I really dig Skandalo but I don't think he's as well suited to singles matches yet, same goes for Delta. Skandalo had a foxy gypsy girl with him that helped him cheat to a bunch of dropkick offense (tie Delta up in the corner, running dropkick to inner thigh. Tie Delta up in the ropes, running dropkick to ass.), and Delta bumped admirably (including a nice sprawl into the ring barrier after getting chucked by the mucho stockier Skandalo), but at a certain point this was just Skandalo getting in the way of Delta's flipping and lying there while Delta flipped onto him.

2. Princesa Blanca/Princesa Sugheit/La Commandante vs. Luna Magica/Dark Angel/Estrellita

Everybody is wearing Halloween/Day of the Dead costumes and Blanca/Sugheit look awesome as mourning widows. Dark Angel is wearing a body suit and somehow looks way hotter than when she is hardly wearing anything at all. You see that, ladies, it's all about what you DON'T show. The fans seem to agree with me as every time she's in the hoots 'n' hollers start up (which I don't remember ever hearing when she's dressed in her normal gear. Odd). Commandante I assume is dressed as 80s Billy Crystal or Diego Luna's dad. This was actually really surprising, because the rudas just dominated most of the match. Tecnicas would always transition to offense by the rudas missing a move, never by just fighting back. Most of the match was Blanca and the others just treating them like they didn't belong, tossing them around by their hair, calmly stepping out of the way of flying attacks, foiling tecnica ambushes, etc. Just a really weird structure. Conversely, Dark Angel cat suit.



3. Ultimo Guerrero vs. Rey Escorpion

Now this was a really really good CMLL main event. They took the lousy main event structure, but worked within those confines to mix it up a bit. 1st caida is usually a 90 second move sprint ending with a move that shouldn't normally end a fall. 2nd is usually a 30 second fall ending with the other guy getting a submission that doesn't look painful. Then the 3rd is usually a your-move-my-move extravaganza. Those elements were all somewhat present here, but twisted just enough to make it work VERY well. 1st caida was just a straight mugging by UG, with Escorpion taking a gnarly flat back bump to the floor, then getting hit by a UG tope, then getting hit by a UG flip dive, then getting hit by a UG plancha from the top to the floor. Escorpion gets counted out and UG wins the first. I LOVE that way to end a fall, just not giving your opponent time to breathe and if you only have a couple minutes to work in a fall, that's a great way to do it. 2nd fall is your standard super short fall, and ends by Escorpion submission, but only because UG gets cocky and tries to go for some loopy, silly submission, loses it, and allows Rey to sink in a better one to capitalize on UG's mistake. So there was just more behind the sub than simply a guy taking a back bumped and locking it on like it usually goes. UG went for some silly shit while in control, Rey made him pay. 3rd does have move exchanges, but both guys sell damage nicely, moves build upon other moves. UG blasted Rey with a nice sit out powerbomb earlier in the match, in the 3rd he goes for one off the 2nd rope and there's a cool exchange where Rey is trying to take UG's mask off while UG is struggling with whether to hold onto his mask or hold onto the powerbomb. Great spot with great struggle that added mightily to things. So yeah, CMLL main event formula pretty much blows, but this is GREAT proof that those will talent can overcome any crummy formula. Check it out.

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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, 5/12/12

1. Hombre Bala Jr./Super Halcon Jr. vs. Cholo/Apocalipsis:

Damn, Cholo and Apocalipsis? Did I accidentally start reviewing an LATV show? This was kind of a tale of the two good guys on each team, Cholo and Bala. Those guys rule. The other two aren't bad but they're just kind of...guys. Bala was awesome here, and he broke out all sorts of tope variations that I haven't seen before. He did one onto the rampway, splashing Apocalipsis in the process. It was basically him doing a giant running Pete Rose head first slide but landing right on the guy. Later he did the same Pete Rose to Cholo sitting in the corner and ended it in a headbutt instead of a splash. Awesome. Does Osaka Pro still have a large baseball stable? Change his name around and make him the Human Baseball.



2. Tiffany/Princesa Blanca/La Commandante vs. Lady Apache/Marcela/Dark Angel:

Really fun women's match with all ladies firing on all cylinders. Marcela and Tiffany always match up nicely together, always dig them on the mat and Tiffany kicking her face, and dig Marcela's cool springboard double knees to the stomach (which later cost her). They start the first few minutes and have a nice singles match. Lady Apache looked really fired up here. She always looks good, but she was approaching her peak level work here, though Blanca tends to bring out the best in other ladies. When Dark Angel was in with Commandante, it sure felt like one of the largest "foxy" to "rake face" ratio I've seen in some time. Match sputtered a bit at the end with the normally awesome Tiffany looking a little lost at sea, but I take my good women's wrestling when I can get it, and this was mostly really good.



3. Ephesto/Rey Escorpion/Mephisto vs. La Mascara/Mascara Dorada/Black Warrior:

Well God Damn is Dorada awesome or is Dorada awesome? The answer, in fact, is that Mascara Dorada is awesome. I know I spent last week's review just blowing La Mascara but good lord did Dorada just outclass him here. I could watch a match that was nothing but Dorada ranas. So smooth, so effortless. How neat is it when he does one and lands on his feet as the other guy goes sprawling away? You know I love me some Ephesto and Escorpion, and those guys always shine against Dorada and Mascara, as they are the aforementioned other guys that go sprawling. Black Warrior seems to be one of the main pushed guys in CMLL right now, at least that's how it comes across on TV. I don't know. I don't mind the guy. He does some cool things, has some good energy. I like his slingshot elbow. Hits a fast tope. But is he really a guy they're pushing that hard? It seems like Galavision is really pushing Rush and Black Warrior. Am I crazy?

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CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 2/11/12

1. Princess Sugehit/Princesa Blanca/Amapola vs. Lady Apache/Estrellita/Dallys:

Pretty short match, so the falls ended way too quickly, but everybody seemed to work more aggressive than normal so it benefitted from that. I like the rudas team a lot, they have no problem just wandering around and smacking ladies. Sugehit is always a treat in matches like this. Apache always looks way better than the other tecnicas, just a whole level or two higher. Estrellita comes off so desperate all the time. Something about her just seems to constantly scream "Oh please please look at me."



2. Ultimo Guerrero vs. Atlantis:

This was definitely a modern era CMLL main event. First two falls? 3 minutes total. Then a long, laborious your move/my move third fall, filled with big moves, guys kicking out of those big moves, and then guys lying around for a long time before getting up and switching. It just went on forever and wouldn't end. All the goodwill UG built up in 2011 with me (and he had TONS of awesome performances in 2011) pretty much went right out the window here, as this was every UG main event I hated from 2004-2010.

And naturally that Reyes Del Aire was on this same card, but that gets scrapped. Should I mention again how much I hate that CMLL is only 1 hour? I'll watch the RdA sometime soon and post the match with a review.

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 11/26/11

Zayco/Camorra vs. Robin/Freesbee:

Freesbee and Camorra ain't that great. Especially Freesbee. That guy is just a stumblebum. Zayco and Robin have made some great strides in 2011, starting the year as guys I didn't think were very good, but being guys I enjoyed by the end of the year. They match up very nicely against each other, too. Maybe they just look good because of their respective tag partners. Huh.



Bronco/Inquisidor/Apocalipsis vs. Sensei/Starman/Metatron:

Fairly forgettable midcard match that wasn't without its moments. Bronco would work out great as a fake Dinamita. He's a real nice throwback to that style of lucha. Here he goes above and beyond by taking a really low and quick bump to the floor. Sensei is like a Great Sasuke throwback, just without the death wish. The others are fine.



Princesa Blanca/Princess Sugei/La Seductora vs. Ayumi/Luna Magica/Estrellita:

Damn do Sugei and Ayumi match up well. Just a whole bunch of nice kicks and knees getting thrown around. Estrellita makes me sad. She's not a very old woman, but dressing so young makes her seem so much older than she really is. I get the fake boobs. Some gals get them to fill out tops better. Others get them because they desperately want attention. Whatever. But the hot pink outfits and now the pigtails? I'm surprised she doesn't have dark red blush painted on her face. She comes off as a mom who wears the same outfit to the mall as her 15 year old daughter and dances with her daughter's friends at birthday parties. Something about it just bums me out. Just...play it down a bit. Your desperation is playing to the back row.



Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Escorpion/Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Atlantis/Guerrero Maya Jr./Delta:

LATV has this stupid visual effect that they use occasionally, where in the middle of a match they'll start showing it in "widescreen". Now I put widescreen in quotes because it's not actually widescreen, they just add large black bars across the top and bottom of the screen, literally obscuring about 40+% of what's going on. Matwork going on? tough luck, buster, because it's underneath the bottom bar. It's really maddening and happened a bunch in this match. TNA does this as well when they take up the bottom third of the screen with their "Upcoming Events" news. The matwork from the recent Storm/Roode match was almost totally obscured by these screen pop-ups. I just don't get the point in doing that. That being said, I don't think the youtube videos do this, I think it is specifically LATV. Allll that being said, this match was fast-paced and fun, and seemed to be built as a major showcase for Maya and Escorpion. The more time he gets to shine, the more Maya shows that he totally belongs. I love the snap he puts on his dropkicks. Big things should be happening for him. Ultimo continues to have maybe the comeback of the year, as he's been busting ass all 2011.



Terrible/Rey Buccanero/Texano Jr. vs. Hector Garza/La Mascara/Super Porky:

Pretty paint-by-numbers. Garza strips in the 3rd and hits some great headscissors, Mascara hits a few nice ranas (each one faster than the last), Terrible and Texano are total pros bumping around for those two, and the spot where Terrible punches Porky down to the mat and follows up with kicks to his stomach was great. Not much to the match, but there are always fun moments.

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 12/10/11

Princesa Blanca/La Commandante/Zeuxis vs. Marcela/Luna Magica/Lluvia:

Not really sure why this match needed so much time to stretch its legs. It's good to see Luna Magica back on TV, as she brings something different to the table than most of the tecnicas. Her butt splash in the corner in the match was awesome. Blanca/Marcela is always a match-up worth seeing, but Lluvia/Zeuxis is about as polar opposite as you can get. And we got a lot of that here, with a lengthy match never really evolving beyond "one side lying around while the other side does sloppy triple teams". Plenty of painful moments of Zeuxis or Commandante struggling to lock on lousy submissions. Just mostly ugly stuff here. Zeuxis' bodysuit is pretty fantastic, though.



Arkangel de la Muerte/Nitro/Skandalo vs. Rey Cometa/Stuka Jr./Dragon Lee:

This was all about Rey Cometa: Bump Freak, and Arkangel: Twister of Young Tecnico Limbs (you probably already guessed that last one would happen). Arkangel gets cool sequences with everybody here, including throwing Lee around by his arm in the first fall, but the 3rd is really his time to shine. He works some cool spots with Cometa, and Arkangel/Cometa is fast becoming one of my favorite pairings in all of lucha. CMLL must agree with me, too. Arkangel is just the perfect base for this guy, never getting lost on his inside out armdrags and catching all his ranas (dropping from some great heights). Arkangel looked flat out great here. Cometa, though, also looked great. He took two nasty bumps in the 1st, one a flat back bump to the floor after spilling through the ropes; the other a massive bump from the ropes to the ring ramp, sending him asshole over elbow after being dropkicked by Nitro. Lee is always good for some spectacular flying, same goes for Stuka. There were also two separate synchronized dive trains by the tecnicos (the first with all three doing big somersault topes almost totally in sync). This match really had potential to be just a tossed off throwaway midcard trios, and the longer it went the more it kinda built into something special. It just kept gaining momentum and being just about the best possible version of this match-up. I recommend you watch it.



Misterioso Jr./Polvora/Okumura vs. Valiente/Metro/Sagrado:

Pretty longish match that doesn't really go anywhere but is never unpleasant. Kinda seemed like a house show match instead of a match taped for TV. None of the faces get to unload and do anything really spectacular (though Valiente did leap up like he was about to do Valiente Special, but leaped back into the ring to do a halfway-across-the-ring rana). Misterioso still got to look like a tassly, slick-bumping star, Okumura threw some fine back elbows, Sagrado threw in a surprisingly good performance, and Metro had an brutal somersault senton into the corner in the first fall. Just full on sprint and then splatted right into Misterioso. Ending move was pretty great as Sagrado just leveled Polvora with a superkick, which knocked him into a bridged Metro german suplex (landing him on his head).



Terrible/Rey Buccanero/Mephisto vs. La Mascara/Angel de Oro/Rush:

Second match in a row with a kind of random rudo team of guys who usually team with others. First fall showed potential for this to be a pretty great main event, but then the rest of it got kinda rushed. Rudos were getting good heat (not exactly difficult to do opposite Rush), Terrible has stepped up his game over the last couple months and has been coming off like a superstar, and Mephisto stepped things up here (maybe saw an opportunity to shine more than usual since he wasn't teaming with Averno and Ephesto). Oro has been bringing it, too, and Rush kinda just stayed out of the way so it could have been worse. Kind of the story of most of this episode, with a bunch of wrestling that mostly stayed out of the way, exiting your memory as soon as you see it. The Arkangel/Rey Cometa match is worth spending 20 minutes on, but the others are kinda "fan only" affairs.

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 11/5/11

1. Robin/Freesbee vs. Camorra/Zayko:

Probably my favorite Robin match of the year so far, seems to be breaking out a bit and gaining confidence. I liked his armdrag exchanges (and they looked better compared to a couple of Freesbee's). I also loved his fast fall-ending rana (and I forget if it was Zayko or Camorra that SUWA'd the rana and made it look worthy of finishing a fall). Robin also had an awesome out of control dive in the 3rd, sending Camorra flying. Zayko and Camorra are serviceable but fairly uninteresting rudos. Camorra at least is starting to make it look like he's legitimately missing things like clotheslines, instead of just looking like he's getting into position. Freesbee don't do much for me.



2. Metatron/Sensei/Starman vs. Apocalipsis/Bronco/Inquisidor:

That was good clean fun that was about the same amount of time as the first match, but flew by much quicker. Plenty of dives (really liked Sensei's corkscrew asai moonsault), and Bronco hit an insanely great top rope splash to end the 2nd that saw him leap 2/3 of the way across the (large) ring. Very impressive. Inquisidor had a fun but goofy springboard assisted lungblower, Metatron did nothing I remember, and it's always fun seeing a Sensei appearance. It seems like he's only on like once every 6-8 weeks.



3. Ayumi/Estrellita/Luna Magica vs. La Seductora/Princesa Blanca/Princesa Sugei:

Opening match card says it's Estrella Magica, but it's kind of hard to miss that it's Estrellita. This match was really fun and the CMLL women have been bringing it pretty nicely in 2011. I'm far from the biggest women's wrestling fan in the world, but I've found myself enjoying a bunch of the CMLL ladies this year. Sugei has quietly been having a real good year, always works stiff and still puts over all the tecnicas (stooges better than maybe all the other women), and Blanca has been just as good, but in different ways. Blanca bumps tecnica offense really well (really gets high on monkey flips, slides far on armdrags). I liked Ayumi's comeback offense, but it was done in a real puro kinda way and the fans didn't seem to respond to it much. Luna Magica is very underrated but always seems to put on a good show. Estrellita has ridiculous fake boobs. And where has Tiffany been, now that I think about it...seems like I haven't seen her in months and she has always been one of my favorite luchadoras.



4. Atlantis/Delta/Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Escorpion/Dragon Rojo Jr.:

First 2 falls were pretty rushed, but the 3rd had tons of good action. Delta especially got to throw in some awesome stuff in the 3rd, with Rey and Rojo bumping around great for him. Delta's rope flip headscissors was done slower than he normally does it, but the end result looked really good. I would have liked more Atlantis vs. Ultimo as all their sections seemed short, but this had tons of moments showcasing the worth of Rey/Maya/Delta.



5. Hector Garza/La Mascara/Super Porky vs. Rey Buccanero/Terrible/Texano Jr.:

It's really weird that LATV has commercials for syndicated episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" every commercial break. That seems like a very strange show to be pushing to hispanic households. I can't imagine too many spanish speaking American homes gathering around to watch nerds crack jokes about theoretical physics and Deep Space 9, but I'm not in advertising. Very good match that would have been downright awesome if it had a real 2nd fall. La Mascara got to look like a star all throughout this, hitting a bunch of great rana variations and really whipping around on them all cool. There's a fan in the crowd that looks exactly like Terrible. I looked up and saw him standing in the crowd and thought it was Terrible...until I realized Terrible was standing in the ring LOOKING at that guy. It's like wearing a t-shirt of you wearing a t-shirt of you wearing a t-shirt. Garza must have it written into his contract that he just gets to totally own the 3rd fall of every match he's in. He tore it up here with all sorts of cool kicks, made women scream, hit a neat assisted headscissors, Porky hit a fat crossbody off the apron, crowd was way into Mascara, and there was a great moment in the first fall where Terrible just beats the shit out of Porky. Just beats him down with great punches and then kicks him a bunch while he's down. Looked awesome. Porky looks infinitely better with a goatee. I'm so glad it's back. He looked weird with just jowls. Fun match, easily worth the time.

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