Lucha Worth Watching: Blue Demon Jr., IWA-MS Wrestler

1. Blue Demon Jr. vs. LA Park vs. Silver King (Liga Elite 9/9/16)

ER: This match is pretty notable just because of the ridiculous beating that Demon takes. I've seen Demon in some damn lazy performances, and here he just gets pummeled. This performance made me feel sympathy for Demon, and somehow root for him. That's never happened before. Park and King just start beating on him with hard plastic chairs, and even throw him 4 rows into the crowd. Demon takes a man size bump getting tossed through a bunch of chairs, really crazy and out of character for him. He disappears for awhile after getting absolutely wailed on, and then we get more of a Park/King brawl. King hits his middle rope dive to the floor, Park gets launched into the crowd and takes an even more brutal bump than Demon. Eventually Demon makes his triumphant return and waylays dudes with chairs, masks get yanked up, DQ's happen, and I weirdly earned some respect for Demon. Strange for him to turn 50 and start taking furious beatings. I mean, I was at a Timothy Thatcher/Blue Demon match where Thatcher started the match with a stiff chop and Demon clearly leaned in and told him to back off, as Thatcher then held way back on every strike the rest of the match. And here Demon isn't even in Arena Mexico and he's getting beaten like he owes money. Crazy choice, but respect.

2. Blue Demon Jr./Xtreme Tiger/Golden Magic vs. Rey Escorpion/Sharly Rockstar/Cibernetico (Liga Elite 9/14/16)

ER: Blue Demon is now apparently this past his prime southern brawler, still working indies and paler and fatter than he was in the 8x10s he's selling, taken in his prime 20 years prior. Blue Demon comes out slowly, with his shoulder in a sling because of what happened up above on this electronic page. He immediately gets sucked into a brawl on the floor with Escorpion, who is pretty much the worst guy in lucha to get sucked into a brawl with. He'll beat the skin off of your face. And immediately he's beating Demon into the crowd, hitting him with chairs, kicking him through other chairs, Demon is falling around on concrete with one arm, getting thrown over the railing, just taking another beating. Later he gets to stand tall in the ring, bravely going up against everyone like he had two good wings, bending Rockstar into a nice, violent cloverleaf with his good arm, great triumphant tecnico moment. Xtreme Tiger lives up to his name and hits a rana from the top rope, onto Escorpion on the apron, and landing on his feet while Rey took a violent bump into the narrow and hard ringside area. Good lord, guys. Cibernetico is kind of a poor man's Pierroth in this, a rigid gassed up stiff working dude. But, that's an easy step up from typical Cibernetico. Golden Magic also stood out to me for the first time, even though I've seen him probably 6 times already. He's a generic tecnico but hits some nice generic tecnico spots, big rana and nice armdrag. He's got a cool mask and a good look, nice guy to have on the cards in a trios. I usually don't expect a good match when Blue Demon AND Cibernetico are in it, but this was a good one. I don't know what's wrong with me, suddenly becoming a Blue Demon @ 50 fan.

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Lucha Worth Watching: Overkill!!

Since overkill is the new canon best style in professional wrestling history, I thought we'd look at a couple recent lucha matches that had both had a) overkill to the nines, and that b) I enjoyed a lot.

Valiente vs. Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL 6/17/16)

ER: Real quality Arena Mexico singles match with a hot crowd that made the big moves feel like a big deal. CMLL singles matches typically disappoint me, as those neverending terceras filled with heatless near fall trading until something inevitably finishes things just make me completely impatient. This managed to work within that formula, while surpassing the same old tired feelings that formula creates. This actually felt like a big stips match to me, despite going into it not knowing why Valiente got a title shot, and despite never having cared about any sort of lucha title reign. But I got sucked into this one. We get a bunch of fun mat stuff, like Ultimo does in his indy matches, but more importantly Valiente actually got a chance to shine on the mat, something we don't often get to see (and those watching TV would not get to see, as Lucha Azteca cut 4 minutes of his mat stuff out of the match). I loved the leg bar stuff and that weird freaky Backlund-ish arm lift. Valiente's weird single leg indian deathlock sub looks really painful and I have zero problems with Ultimo screaming the second Valiente leans back with it. I like the direction things take as they spill to the floor, with Valiente wildly getting out there by Fuerza-ing himself, leading to Ultimo tossing him into the crowd and then nailing him with his hip attack. Valiente came off more like a star in this match than I've seen him in some time, and his big moves all looked spectacular. Those fast and stocky topes, that gorgeous Valiente Special moonsault to the floor, even his sometimes silly offense looked devastating, like his tombstone jawjacker that catches UG in the teeth. There was certainly overkill, but I think it built in a far more satisfying way than typical CMLL singles. It really felt like Valiente was pulling out all the stops and he was able to convey that great.

Rey Escorpion vs. Teddy Hart (Liga Elite 7/21/16)

ER: Super flawed but super fun match, with so much overkill that some jersey metal head is blaring it from his 1989 Nissan Sentra. Teddy Hart is a tough bastard who is usually too interested in bullshit to be tough. Escorpion is a guy who likes to punch people and Hart is a guy who you want to see get punched. We do some fun roll-y stuff, and you can see the moment where Rey lets Teddy know what kind of match this is going to be. They're working some arm stuff and Rey is pinning him, and kicks the heel of his boot right across Teddy's face. From there Teddy takes plenty of stiff shots, runs into boots, and delivers a couple nice punches of his own. Teddy comes off like an aloof douche, but he has no problem leaning into shots so who cares! Rey drops a huge leg, and all his covers are extra nasty in the way he grinds his forearm into Hart's face. The overkill gets ridiculous with both dudes getting dumped on their heads with flipping piledrivers and Rey getting powerbombed in sick fashion over Hart's knees. But while the kickouts got silly, I liked so much of their stiffness and attention to little things, that I still really dug the match overall.

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2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Park v. Escorpion

40. LA Park v. Rey Escorpion Liga Elite 11/4

PAS: Really great LA Park style arena brawl with Escorpion predictably fitting in great. Both guys really pound the crap out of each other, chucking chairs and cases of beer at heads and faces. Escorpion has some of the best punches in the world and he really cracks PARK. I loved Rey battling over the snack tray with the vendor, total asshole heel move to steal a guys popcorn just to whack PARK. Also really liked both of PARK's fatboy dives, he is approaching early 90's Super Porky level and is totally smushing people when he lands. Finish was kind of dumb,  but perfectly within the kind of thing you get in your PARK brawls.

ER: These two are a pretty natural match, and even though Rey doesn't stiff Park quite as badly as we've seen him stiff others, this was still plenty fun. Park keeps getting bigger and bigger and I honestly have no clue how he keeps up this pace. He works a lot, and works hard, takes big spills on joints that have to be barking extra loud at this point. But he chose this style and damn if he doesn't excel at it. He and Rey brawl through the crowd to the shock of nobody, hitting each other with beer boxes, beer bottles, beer buckets, beer coolers and aisle end ashtrays. Park is great at finding loose garbage and equipment and incorporating it on the fly, and here he grabs a large plastic beverage tub and clonks Rey with it a bunch on the way back to the ring, and in a crazy spot that could have ended absolutely terribly for all, he powerbombs Rey onto this bin from the apron, and Rey just splats onto it and settles in. Park lobs off a tubby senton from the apron for good measure. Rey was more about facilitating Park in this one, but he was able to sneak back with cheapshots and violent mask rips, yanking Park's cool reptilian mask fully off at a couple points, and even Baby Richard Jr. gets into the fun with a big bump to the floor. Match peaks with Park just absolutely leveling Rey with a mammoth dive off the top to the floor, and you almost expect them to go crashing through the floor like in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Ending is total silliness with low blows and ref bumps aplenty, but you don't really expect finishes in Park matches anymore. I've made the fat Elvis comparison with Park before, and it never stops being relevant (even though Park has shot past the king by a decade at this point): sometimes the wandering gets long, sometimes he introduces the band a third time to catch his breath, but he's a guy who is still captivating even during his performance lows. You can look past the occasional long or lazy move set up as his floor as a performer is just so much higher than most, and the peaks make it all worth it.

2016 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Lucha Worth Watching: More Familia Pierroth! More Mascara!

Rush/Pierroth/La Mascara vs. Terrible/Rey Bucanero/Shocker (CMLL 5/13/16)

I realized I had skipped a couple matches in the Pierroth/Mascara saga, which I have absolutely loved. The was the Ingobernales EXPLODING and it was great. Mascara and Pierroth come out in matching yellow on black masks, and Rush/Pierroth are on fire the whole match. Father and son, juiced to the gills, stooging and stiffing. Pierroth starts things with a running dropkick to Shocker, pops Terrible on the apron and then stomps on a displeased Shocker's head a bunch (Shocker pays him back with a post-match stomp to the back of the head). Mascara's timing screws everything up for the boys, forcing them to look like doofs and hit the wrong guys. C'mon, Mascara. At one point Rush goes to do his soccer kick taunt, drops his invisible soccer ball, Pierroth goes searching on the mat for it, finds it and tosses it back to Rush...who then Pele kicks it into the crowd. Holy shit. Lucha Azteca are ignoramuses and rob me of hearing crowd noise during that segment. Shocker looks slow and a step off throughout, but Ingobernales cover nicely for his shortcomings. Bucanero looks fired up though, and hits a nice crossbody to the floor on Rush/Pierroth. But you want to watch this for Rush and his dad, their cross ups, their beat downs, their ousting of Mascara. I just adore the asshole charisma that Rush and Pierroth bring to this.

Pierroth/Kraneo/Rey Escorpion vs. La Mascara/Terrible/Shocker (CMLL 6/10/16)

Here is some more of the saga to love. I mean, when Kraneo is in a match there is ALWAYS more to love, but take a look at that rudo team! That's a rudo team right there! It's not a team for everybody, but a team of lumpy asskickers is a team for me. Even the entrances are fun as the rudos won't let the tecnicos get into the ring, and as Mascara comes out Pierroth meets him on the ramp and they start beating the hell out of each other. Rudos easily dispatch the tecnicos and it leads to all those great moments of Kraneo and Escorpion holding Mascara prone so Pierroth can land cheap shots in between shit talk. And damn does Pierroth beat down Mascara. I love that overhand chop-knife edge chop combo he does is an awesome strike that he uses so effectively, and here he kicks Mascara's butt into the crowd and plows him into the announce station. Then Pierroth backs down a fan like Vader backing down police dogs!! Shoot even Mije gets in on the beatdown and starts lobbing kicks at Shocker's eye. Jesus, Mije. Pierroth and his thugs get DQ'd for being merciless in assbeating, which has to be like winning a fight because the other guy broke his fists on your nose. The rest of the match isn't quite as exciting as the primera, but the tecnicos get an admirable comeback, Pierroth shows ass by taking his own bump into the announce tower, then gets his mask ripped off by Mascara. Mascara gets his fired up pants removal spot and I pray for a cocky Pierroth coveralls removal spot...AND WE GET IT!! It's incredible. He rips open the coveralls, and then Escorpion starts helping, like a gentleman removing a lady's coat at dinner. And then Pierroth takes forever because coveralls are really hard to take off over wrestling boots, so Mascara attacks!! Nothing else could have happened in this match and if I got that spot I would have loved the match. We get a double ballshot finish, but with some expertly timed interference spots. Pierroth is prone and Mascara is running in for the kill, Escorpion comes out of nowhere with a perfect trip allowing Pierroth to kick some BALLS! Then Shocker makes a last minute save by pulling the ref away before the 3 count, allowing Mascara to punch some BALLS! I really love this feud. Pierroth beats the hell out of Mascara, and then has no problem leaning way in on payback superkicks, and there's just so much attitude and hubris on display. It's too much fun.

Dragon Lee vs. La Mascara (CMLL 7/29/16)

And now we get the great rudo Mascara, picking on Rush's little baby bro, and rudo Mascara is goooood. He's wearing absurdly small trunks that say "Papi", he oles Lee right into the barricade on a tope, powerbombs him into the jagged metal announcers station, rips at his mask, throws some brutal low superkicks to a slumped in the corner Lee, and then puts the exclamation point on things with a swift kick to the balls to end things. Mascara is coming for the Pierroth family's testicles. This didn't get much time, Lee didn't get a whole lot of shine in this, and it really could have used a Pierroth pull apart at the end, but I love the angle of Mascara being the good guy against Pierroth, but being a sadistic asshole to his sons.

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2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Pierroth and Rush!

24. Pierroth/Rush/Rey Escorpion v. La Mascara/Terrible/Shocker CMLL 5/20/16

ER: Hey look at that, a 10 minute violent brawl with father and son being untethered dickheads, and it's awesome! Rush and dad jump Mascara on the ramp and drag him to ringside, smashing him through the barrier. We get tons of brawling through this, with Pierroth throwing the best strikes. His chops looked brutal, and when he and Terrible matched up it looked like a slaughter. I loved him holding punks nice and snug so Rush could get cheapshots. Pierroth would really yank on arms and Rush would blast them with kicks, then make dumb faces at the crowd. It was glorious. I loved when their mugging would cause a momentary tide shift, like when Pierroth was goofing off and Terrible just ran past him in the ring to break up a pin. Rush is super violent with Mascara and him getting held by Pierroth and Escorpion as Rush rips his mask apart was vicious, like we were witnessing a scalping. It made Mascara charging out with a fresh mask in the segunda even better, hitting a spinebuster on Rush on the rampway. This was a total father and son show, and it was killer.

PAS: I really liked this, had the ragged violent feel of your best lucha brawls. One of the things I love about Rush is his mastery of pace, his fast stuff is really explosive and his taunting really feels like it is in the right place. Also happy to see Rey Escorpion again, he disappears and shows back up and is always worth seeing, he is in the background here but is wailing on dudes in the background. Pierroth was pretty great, he has a very Kurisu crowbar vibe which is awesome, every shot he throws is a little nastier then everyone else, loved his body shots and he had a surprisingly great powerslam. OG Pierroth was also a great old man brawler and new school Pierroth lives up to his legacy.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2015 Ongoing Match of the Year List

8. Ultimo Guerrero v. Rey Escorpion CMLL 7/17

PAS: Man was this great, this is two years in a row Ultimo comes up huge in an apuestas match. The opening was fucking bonkers with both guys unloading with over hand slaps, with Rey Escorpion slipping in a straight right hand, he then delivers some nasty stomps in the corner,  finally leading to them trading shoot punches right into each others face. It looked like Hashimoto v. Ogawa or something, and UG comes up with a bloody and swollen nose, his facial damage kind of served the same dramatic purpose as a blade job, adding some pop and pizzazz to the match. The work itself was really great, with UG breaking out a bunch of cool dives, including a stage dive style plancha off the top rope to the floor, and off the apron, and Escorpion laying in some cool powerbombs. Finish felt like UG may have shrugged off a package piledriver a bit to quick, but was otherwise very good. Great match.

ER: Sometimes things can happen during a match, that take me out of a match. This often hurts the match, but in rare cases like this it adds gobs to the match. And the shoot punches to the face in this match jarred me right out of my chair and completely absorbed my eyeballs into what was happening.  We've seen these kind of shoot punches from Escorpion before, popping Porky several times during their feud. But this...this was different. Escorpion starts taking rough shots on UG and UG starts firing back and here you have a legit Frye/Takayama situation of two guys playing zero defense and just punching each other in the worst parts of the face. It was horrifying but I couldn't look away and it immediately made me legit want UG to kick Escorpion's ass. I don't know if that says something about me, or something about modern wrestling heels that the thing that brings legit heat is punching a man several times in the face, but there it is. UG looks like he doesn't see the hard shots coming, takes him a bit to figure out just what is happening, and then BOOM it's on and it adds a level of drama to the beginning of the match that sustains all the way through. For all of the times you've seen lucha camerawork take away from a moment, the up close shots of these punches really added to things. Cameras don't get this close even in UFC. This is a fight, filmed like pro wrestling. UG added his jumping hip attack a year ago and here he threw out several variations of it, crashing into Escorpion off the rampway, apron, into the crowd, off the top rope. All of that early drama really marked it, really said that "this match is a big deal" and it hooked me the whole way through. Love these guys.


ONGOING MATCH OF THE YEAR LIST

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CMLL Worth Watching 8/9/15 & 8/28/15

LA Park, Atlantis & Volador Jr. vs. Rush, La Sombra & Dr. Wagner Jr. (8/28/15)

LA Park's big (and he certainly is big...) return to Arena Mexico! The prospect of seeing Rush vs. Park is something that should be high on the wishlist of every lucha fan, and those two together here was magic. Neither holds back, with Park tossing out some nasty headbutts during a headbutt exchange, and several times kicking Rush right in the face. I've seen some people complain about Rush taking liberties, but he never seems to have any problem leaning face first into offense. Park is a tub now, but he still has that Park magic. He still has a way to go to get to full on Kraneo level mega tub. Kraneo is probably better than Park in the ring at this point, but he doesn't have nearly the same level charisma. Clearly we need them to combine fat forces. Anyway, everybody tries to steal the spotlight in this one, and the fans are amped the whole time. Atlantis, Sombra and Volador all took turns seeing who could take the most dangerous ass over crown bump over the rail into the crowd. Sombra did it a couple times. We get all sorts of bullshit leading to the end, all of it pretty fun, with Atlantis going for the Atlantida and accidentally swinging Sombra into the ref, then some ball shots, then Park breaking up a pin by dropkicking the ref (couldn't he have just kicked Sombra....), then a demasking and more ball shots. Park hits a fat guy tope that Rush mans into, Rush hits a gorgeous high speed swan dive, Volador hits a sweet slingshot rana, Wagner hits his somersault dive high and hot on Park, and this whole thing was as good as you expected it to be. I'm not sure if this was a one time deal or not for Park, but I loved seeing him. A Rush feud would be tremendous.

Ephesto, Mephisto & Luciferno vs. Atlantis, Guerrero Maya Jr. & Delta (8/9/15)

This is for the trios titles and while it was a fun trios match, it never had the immediacy of a title match. It didn't feel any different from any of the other regular trios matches these teams had around this same time. There was really no drama of any kind. No desperation, no fear over losing the titles, just three falls of standard lucha trios. So that stinks. But the match was fun, so that doesn't stink! Delta is a guy I don't need to see as often as I do, but Maya seems to be steadily improving. I love that one of his regular spots is hitting a super fast dive that sends him into the front row. Here he hits his massive flip dive and then takes out a row of chairs, clotheslining some fan in the process. Ephesto sets up Delta's stuff about as well as possible, even gamely waiting around for his little ropeflip headscissor from the ring to the floor. Atlantis is still super spirited at 53, and at one point he comes in and hits backbreakers on all three rudos with more energy than anybody else showed. All three tecnicos hit stereo dives, but really it was kinda weird how standard the finish to a title match was. They did their dives, Atlantis got back in the ring with Mephisto, and Mephisto hit his top rope pedigree for the win.

Rey Escorpion, Rey Bucanero & Terrible vs. Mistico, Valiente & Volador Jr. (8/9/15)

Super quick paced match with both Reys having a contest to see who could SUWA more rana and headscissors from Mistico and Volador. I think Escorpion wins it, but truly, we ALL win. We. ALL. Win. Escorpion really makes Mistico look maybe the best he's ever looked here, with Mistico getting crazy air on a bunch of stuff and Escorpion catching it all perfectly. Bucanero makes Volador look super smooth. We don't get the usual Escorpion or Terrible violence, although we do get probably the most violent "tie the tecnicos up in knots" posing spot. Tecnicos get all their limbs tangled, Mistico stretched over the top of them, with Escorpion posing on top. I will never complain about a fun bump clinic with excellently hit spots. This is a fun way to spend 10 minutes of your day.

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MLJ: July Matches Week: Ultimo Guerrero vs Rey Escorpion [Hair vs Hair]

CMLL Lucha Azteca: 2015-08-01
taped: 2015-07-17 @ Arena México
Último Guerrero vs Rey Escorpión, hair vs hair

I actually thought I'd be looking at a Tortugas match but I was fooled by European styled dating and the one available for July with Black Terry and Dr. Cerebro, while looking interesting, probably isn't the best introduction. I'll do a week at some point and probably come off like a nuanced killjoy. Best to avoid that for now. Then I thought about the King Jaguar vs Lestat match but there's really not a lot to say about that. I liked the broad strokes of hubris surrounding transitions (Lestat going for the mask prematurely and losing the advantage because of it; Jaguar outright cheating and paying for that, etc), but man the work was not smooth.

Quick plug before we go with what I did decide to watch. Mark had Vandall Drummond and Karl Stern on (along with a few minutes of me talking Piper in Portland and TCM's Summer Under the Stars of all things) the Winter Palace Podcast this week, mainly on Piper but with some talk of the busca trios match I covered on Monday.

I figured I'd finally look at UG vs Escorpion from CMLL's big show in July. I'm not running through all the matches leading up to it due to time restraints, but this stands on its own anyway. I thought it was really good, and I thought it was really good for reasons that didn't necessarily have to do with anything either guy did.

First, a quick review on CMLL big matches, especially those with our friend Ultimo Guerrero in them:
1.) Generally either a short even primera with a decisive "catch"/mistep that leads to the win or a thorough one-sided beatdown that does the same.
2.) A very brief segunda with a lightning comeback, or more usual, a lightning pin.
3.) Then a tercera with a reset followed by an early dive or otherwise right into big moves with long stretches of selling (generally laying around) for fifteen minutes with escalating near-falls.

It doesn't really work. The brevity of the first two falls mean that the selling in the third isn't earned; they're offering the crowd something that's facile and empty that is supposed to seem important but never quite gets there.

This did, and it worked for a few minor reasons and one major one. Ultimo Guerrero was burst open hardway and that made a difference. The primera and segunda got a bit more time and had a bit more meat to them. There was also an element of novelty to some of the spots, things like Escorpion slapping the guardrail into UG's head, or Guerrero leap springboarding off of it into the crowd to get his opponent.

Most of all, and this is what I meant by saying that the wrestlers didn't really work it that differently than any other of these matches, it was the crowd that made all the difference. There's a general sense, that I don't disagree with, that a crowd can help a match but rarely hurt it. I think it helps here, immensely. You'd have a totally different experience watching this match on mute. It'd just be another, slightly more heated, big CMLL singles match. With the crowd though, things that usually don't mean much, suddenly had meaning. It's interesting to me, because it makes me wonder about the evolution of this style of match. Apeustas matches from the 80s don't look like this, and I wonder when and how the changeover happened, because I think it may have happened naturally and then with the crowds dropping off and the tecnico fans getting chased off, something that worked (albeit as a shortcut) suddenly stopped working.

Again, though, the primera and segunda helped. Escorpion taking it right to Ultimo Guerrero, the nasty punches between the two, all that helped. Escorpion ducking out of the ring to avoid the first senton de la muerte attempt helped. Him rushing back into the ring to ambush UG, the blood that first became apparent shortly thereafter, all of this helped. It built the mood and the anticipation. It put some real heat on Rey. The crowd was behind Ultimo Guerrero to begin with. He's the CMLL mainstay, the bandit leader of years past, Arena Mexico's rudo. Rey took the first fall soon after the ambush by turning a rana attempt into a power bomb. It felt right and it just pissed the crowd off more.

After that came the slam with the rail, UG fighting back from a point of difficulty, which is one of the things he does best, and then getting cut off with a low kick. Back in the ring, UG pulls him back down into the corner on a reversal and hits the senton de la muerte and since it had the build from the previous caida, it's a huge moment. From there he just unloads hitting his seated body shot from the top to the outside and that running springboard jump off the rail into the crowd. It's a great mix of violence and showmanship, just a heated comeback. All of it was good, but it was really just a few minutes. They still had the tercera with the laying about ahead of them.

It worked, though. It worked better than almost any of this style of match I've seen and it worked because the crowd was the orchestra and the wrestlers were the conductors, and usually, in a situation like this, they're trying to conduct without the orchestra. Here, though, it boomed. When both wrestlers were selling, they focused their collective energy into Ultimo Guerrero and he responded in kind, feeding upon it. During chopfests or moments where Escorpion had the advantage, he recoiled from the boos, his power and confidence chipped away by it.

They hit spots, including teasing another big power bomb reversal by Escorpion, and a huge dive off the ramp by Guerrero, top rope moves and counters, and the crowd reacts. It leads to this real feeling of inevitability with Escorpion just feeling it all slip away. When he hits a late match press slam and climbs the ropes, presumably for a moonsault, time seems to stop. Ultimo Guerrero is just there, cutting him off and yanking him over backwards for the Guerrero Special. The look on Escorpion's face as he realizes what's about to happen and what it means is golden.

It was interesting to me. We're really quick to damn the laying about and the faux drama but when the crowd actually buys into it, it puts an entirely different lens upon things. This was a match that seemed sort of unnecessary, with Escorpion not promoted on Guerrero's level (he was barely used for a while before this feud started), that just seemed like standard CMLL stopgag booking, but that somehow drew a crowd that wanted to believe in it. It wasn't Atlantis vs Guerrero, but they didn't care. They came, they screamed, and they helped to power a match that should have probably been running on fumes and misguided effort.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report 7/27/14

Alright looks like we're back into a regular rhythm as these matches were all from the 6/22 Coliseo show.



1. Lightning Match: Blue Panther vs. Ephesto

Well damn this was great. This is like something that would pop up on some cell phone shot indy show, not on an actual TV show. We get 9 minutes of a purely grappling/mat based match that really illustrates how junk most lightning matches are. Most of them are just guys going in to show off their trademark highspots, and here two guys totaling over 100 years of age go in and show what can be done with the unica caida quick match format. It's an extra cool display knowing that Ephesto wanted to be like Blue Panther when he started, and here there are trading hold for hold. The first three minutes are just cool standing exchanges with some neat stuff you haven't seen, and once they take it to cool pendulum armdrags and mat stuff I was beyond hooked. There are some old man moments but they don't detract as they seem more real because hey these guys are old. Sometimes you're gonna end up in awkward positions on the mat. Panther playing possum on the mat before rolling through into a half crab was beautiful. Again this kind of thing showing up on TV, knowing that somewhere a couple of cool old guys are working a no bump grappling match while the cameras are rolling and not just because some flea market ring was too hard to bump on, but because it was a cool match to work is really special. [**This match ended up landing at #51 on our MOTY list, and I used this very same identical review as my review in THAT write-up! Hopefully you find more of value in the rest of this electronic post. If not, tell me that I'm cheating you by re-using 45% of the content from a prior post and you demand more original content. Then I'd likely feel bad and sorta guilty, and probably do something nice. Phil, however, would go tell you to kick rocks.]



2. Okumura, Puma & Kamaitachi vs. Stuka Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr. & Delta

Well damn this was really good too! The primera was especially great. The rest of the match had plenty of nice moments but that primera was awesome. It was well on its way to making the MOTY list before finishing merely nice, instead of keeping up that pace. Primera we got all sorts of cool fast match ups, my favorite being the Puma/Stuka mat stuff, but Kamaitachi (first time I've seen him) had cool scrambly mat stuff as well and Puma looked really great. As the match goes on we break down into more 3 on 1 rudo stuff which isn't always interesting, but the tecnico comebacks were always spirited. Maya hits another crazy dive because that's his thing, Kamaitachi feels like this year's Namajague (oh where have you gone Namajague?!) as he bumps all around and looks like he's having a ball working in front of a Mexican audience. All of this was really fun.

3. Rey Escorpion, Dragon Rojo Jr. & Polvora vs. Maximo, Super Porky & Volador Jr.

This one was not as good. It was not very good in general. It's disappointing to remember the fire Escorpion temporarily lit under Porky last year, and then see him here. I've been a long time Porky defender but god is he just mostly horrible now. You occasionally see flashes here and there, but so much of what he does looks so bad and just drags a match down. At one point he gets tossed into the ropes to get kicked by all three rudos, and he wasn't even able to bump backwards into the ropes. Instead he hilariously took the kicks, turned around and walked towards the ropes, then took waaaaay to long to step through the ropes and kind of sit on the apron. It would have been a hilarious comedy spot if it was intentional, and didn't instead look like somebody's grandfather needing to find a place to sit down at the supermarket because he got dizzy. Escorpion didn't bring any of that fire towards Porky, and maybe it's because it wouldn't get returned, who knows. At one point Porky at least hit a crossbody off the apron so he tried something. Maximo looked good here and hit a wild dive, but this whole thing was a dud.

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report 7/6/14

So this week we appear to catch back up to the previous schedule (not sure what the 6 month flashback was all about, but lucha gonna lucha). These matches were all from the 6/8/14 Arena Coliseo show.

1. Puma, Skandalo & Metalico vs. Triton, Oro Jr. & Sagrado

Boy, just about as forgettable a match as you can get. Most CMLL guys have enough talent where if they're given a decent amount of time they can through together something suitable. And even though this was straight falls, it was still given over 10 minutes. And there was practically nothing memorable about it at all. Skandalo did that thing where he targets a guy's taint the whole match, so poor Oro got kicked in the taint a couple times. Triton broke out wretched early 2000s Scoot Andrews offense. Sagrado has improved less than anybody else in CMLL in the last decade. Oro Jr. did the most hilariously bad missed dropkick you've ever seen. You know that overused missed lucha dropkick? The one that happens so much that you just accept it as part of lucha instead of recognizing how awful it looks? The one where a guy kind just jumps up and lands on his tummy, basically to get into position for somebody else to do offense? It always looks bad, some guys make it look less worse. But Oro Jr. took the bad missed lucha dropkick to levels of high art here. To get into position he just dropkicked gently into the center of the ring, with no other wrestlers within 7 feet of him. Anybody watching would have had no reason to believe he was attempting to hurt somebody. It's like he just took a really bad bump from a move that never happened. So…I guess something memorable did happen!

2. Lightning Match: Valiente vs. Vangellys

Too short to be much of anything, shorter than a lot of lightning matches. Valiente blasted Vangellys with a couple of consecutive dives, although that might have been because Vangellys stumbled a bit on the catch of the first one, so when Valiente hit him he looked like he sold it by kind of tripping over a lady's purse in the aisle. For all I know Valiente was like "dude we're doing that again and you're gonna bump down the aisle).

3. Blue Panther, Fuego & La Mascara vs. Virus, Niebla Roja & Comandante Pierroth

Boy that's a WAR-like random assemblage of 6 guys right there. And hey look at that, the match was really fun. Everybody got a chance to do their thing, so we got Panther doing some fun mat stuff with Pierroth, Fuego being a nice punching bag for Virus and Pierroth. Virus was easily the star of this as he always knew what tone to hit at the right time. He stooged for Panther (though really would have rather seen them tear it up), bullied Mascara and especially Fuego, even threw in some comedy when Mascara  took his shirt off and soaked in lady squeals, Virus teased his own shirt removal before shoulder tackling Mascara's knees. Plenty of neat Virus "little things" on display here. He really throws himself into everything, and it adds to the match that he also does that on planned misses. He cuts low on missed clotheslines and leveled teammate Roja with a nasty elbow on a miscommunication spot (you know, as if he was actually aiming for the guy he was supposed to hit and wasn't expecting him to move, sending him into his own guy). Fuego ended it on a real slick trapped leg Russian leg sweep rolled into a snug submission. Looked cool.

4. Negro Casas, Rey Escorpion & Felino vs. Rush, Maximo & Atlantis

Another short match, fitting 3 falls into about 9 minutes. I mean, there was a lot of action, but when the whistle blows and there's only 10 minutes left in the episode you kinda know you're not about to watch a classic. This is kind of an odd match as Casas works most of it rudo and Rush works most of it tecnico but it's pretty clearly opposite when they're opposing each other. So Rush was kind of tecnico for half the time, except when he was being kicked a bunch by Casas. Not enough Escorpion. Escorpion/Rush would have been an interesting pairing, I don't remember the last time I've seen them oppose each other. Also, I just don't want to see Felino on TV anymore. I'm getting sick of the ceiling being "well Felino wasn't entirely miserable to watch during this match". He ran the ropes nicely at one point here. His comedy (?) is very much not funny.

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 9/13/14

These matches were from the 8/29/14 Arena Mexico show.

1. Rush, Atlantis & Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Negro Casas, Rey Escorpion & Niebla Roja

Absolute nothing first two falls, and absolute blast third fall. First two falls are like 2 minutes. Rojo doesn't even take off his vest. Third fall we get some fun Casas/Atlantis interaction (odd that I just watched a big trios with them from January the other week, but don't remember them interacting at all the rest of the year. I just happened to see them on opposite sides in matches 7 months apart, in the same week), with Casas concurrently playing stooging rudo opposite Atlantis and fiery tecnico opposite Rush. One minute he's stumbling away on his knees after a quebradora, and the next he's firing up the crowd by kicking Rush. Finish is ridiculous and hilarious as Rush gets into it with the ref and while he's arguing chest to chest, Casas reaches through the refs legs, grabbing Rush's foot and forcing it to kick the ref in the balls for the DQ win. Totally absurd. Awesome.



2. Cavernario, Mr. Niebla & Felino vs. Mascara Dorada, Valiente & Rey Cometa

It's funny because if you only watched the Lucha Azteca program, you would have no idea the kind of year Cavernario is having (and really not even know who Cometa is). And this was a really fun match so hopefully these guys make Azteca more often. It's a pretty fun match up with a bunch of guys who you don't see against each other. Mascara Dorada is a complete loon and he really gets to show why here. Oh sure he'll take a high back drop bump and hit some keen headscissors and a smooth flip dive, but then in the tercera he hits a tope on Niebla that practically made me spit out my drink. Dorada gets a full head of steam and hits Niebla while he's completely vertically upside down. They both slam into the barricade and Dorada practically brainbusters himself. I love Dorada. Niebla works smartly with the fliers, brushing off attacks when appropriate (Cometa hits a light dive on him, so he doesn't sell it much, but then moments later gets slammed by a Valiente dive which takes him down). Cavernario got to show off here, kissing a gal in the crowd and then flipping over the barricade into the front row to sell a big dive. A couple of the falls end by ball shot DQs so I can't call this a MOTY, but this was the perfect kind of fun on a groggy Sunday morning.

3. La Sombra vs. Ultimo Guerrero for the CMLL Universal Title

I hate that going into big CMLL main events you always just expect them to be bad. This wasn't bad, but it was disappointing as both of them could have figured out smarter ways to do all of the stuff they did in this match. The thing that bugged me the most was UG popping up to hit his finisher in the 3rd, after taking a move that caused him to be pinned in the 1st. He took La Sombra's running double knees to lose the 1st, but then apparently the move barely damages him in the 3rd. Awful. The match finished with him taking the knees, Sombra going up top to hit a moonsault to polish him off, and UG just jumping up to hit the Guerrero Special. That's just lazy. The match overall wasn't bad as both guys looked good, they just shot the move psychology full of holes. I even had higher hopes as we started with some amusing exhibitiony mat work which usually doesn't happen when the main event is going to turn into a your move/my move affair. We never really got to a traditional awful CMLL ym/mm section, as the move trading in the 3rd made sense. But man what a stupid ending.

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 8/30/14

So on 8/15/14 (and, sadly, 8/22/14) it looks like they did a tournament for the CMLL Universal championship. Tournament lucha, baby! Catch that 150 second action!! So we all know these matches will be, best case scenario, the 2nd or 3rd best match on an episode of Worldwide, so I'm not really going to review the matches themselves because why bother. I'll make some notes of standout individual performance. The one positive I can take from this is that we might get some unique match-ups, however brief. It looks like there are a lot of rudos in the tourney so we may get some fun rudo on rudo shenanigans.

1. Terrible vs. Euforia

Terrible and Euforia already start the tourney off with a classic tournament lucha staple: selling like you're in the fight of your life after the first move of the match. Euforia hits a clothesline and gets a two count, and both men linger on the mat, breathing heavily, before valiantly fighting to their feet 20 seconds into the match. Fuck you, tournament lucha. Strike exchanges, sunset flips, no drama, I've clearly made a horrible choice.

2. Felino vs. Shocker

Felino is wearing some spectacular tassel tights (tassels down the legs and around the cuffs) so this is already an early match of the night contender. Felino tries here more than usual, hitting a sweet elbow off the top rope. Match ends pointlessly 2 minutes in after a Shocker sub.

3. Rey Escorpion vs. La Sombra

Now we're getting spoiled as we get almost 3 minutes of action! How horrible would it be to take a trip down to Mexico with the hopes of seeing lucha, and they run a tournament during the show you attend? Escorpion puts the boots to Sombra a bunch and Sombra lays in the running double knees in the corner. They tried to cram a decent amount of stuff into the time, but it still didn't add up to tons.

4. Negro Casas vs. Mephisto

Haven't seen Mephisto in awhile. He's wearing a Spider-man get up which is…something. We get a couple nice Mephisto powerbombs including a big one off the top rope. Casas won it with a wrenched in Crippler Crossface. Never forget.

5. Euforia vs. Shocker

Euforia mixes it up a tiny bit by attacking Shocker on the ramp. This wasn't particularly good but it had an immediacy that the other matches didn't have. The others have been worked more as "last two minutes of a really bad epic" and this one was at least guys trying to go for flash leveraged pinfalls. That at least makes more sense. Shocker's winning roll-up was really snug and looked like any man would have trouble kicking out of it. So that's something.

6. Negro Casas vs. La Sombra

Actually a fun match, not coincidentally the one that has gotten by far the most time so far. Sombra gives Casas a long beating and Casas' comeback is really good, shoving Sombra off the top to the floor and beating him into the crowd barrier. Sombra always flies nicely into a barrier. Also I really dig Casas' dragon screw knee breaker he's been using lately. Looks cool. Finish is kind of weird as Sombra wins with a nut shot schoolboy, with poor Casas' balls taking another beating. But what was weird is that it just looked like a normal schoolboy. I rewound it and didn't see an actual ball shot. Casas may just be dealing with some residual ball aches.

7. La Sombra vs. Shocker

Pretty nondescript match although I like how they're transitioning Sombra's running double knees into a death blow. Also kind of surprising that none of the tourney matches built to a dive of any sort. I was expecting to see a dive exchange in the semi at least. I don't need dives to enjoy my lucha, but it just seemed odd not seeing any.

8. Ultimo Guerrero, Niebla Roja & Gran Guerrero vs. Atlantis, Marco Corleone & Diamante Azul

Pretty paint by numbers, but with a fun tercera. First falls were really quick, with about the only notable thing being UG holding up Marco for a long time on an impressive vertical suplex. Tercera had several fun moments with the Diamante Azul/Gran Guerrero exchanges standing out the most (which was not what I was expecting going in). They did a bunch of cool standing exchanges, Azul threw a high bridge german suplex, fun stuff. Roja and Marco were odd bedfellows who didn't really work great together, but tried. They tried a goofy spot where Roja used Marco's abs to mime dialing a telephone, answered the phone, then handed the phone to Marco before hitting him. Har har guys, but kind of gave me a little nightmare flash forward of lucha becoming wildly obsessed with Chuck Taylor indie goofball dogshit. We've already seen the back cracker become the scourge of the lucha finisher world, now I'm picturing a nightmare hellscape where luchadors come up with shitty move names like "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto" or "Avoid the Noid".

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 8/23/14

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

1. Rey Escorpion vs. Dragon Rojo Jr.

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

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

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

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

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

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MLJ: Rush vs Negro Casas 14: Atlantis, Máximo, Rush vs Felino, Negro Casas, Rey Escorpión

Aired 2014-06-08
taped 2014-06-08 @ Arena Coliseo
Atlantis, Máximo, Rush vs Felino, Negro Casas, Rey Escorpión


Atlantis, Máximo, Rush vs Felino, Negro Casas...

This was pretty refreshing. I think I've said it before but there is some feeling of diminishing returns in watching these matches in a row. I think if I was going to have someone see just the essentials of the feud, I'd point them to the Arena Mexico matches. Any sort of innovation they introduced elsewhere showed up in those matches and they just feel more important. That said, the throwaway stuff you get elsewhere can be more fun since there's more chance to have random pairings or partners, or, in the case of match like that, a fairly refreshing set up where Rush was more or less a tecnico and the rudos got to be rudos.

Basically, when you're teaming with 2014 Atlantis and Maximo, there's only so much of an Ingobernale you can be. This was a fairly standard beatdown-comeback-reset with tecnico advantage match, and frankly, that's a fine thing to be. The pairings were Casas/Rush, Felino/Atlantis, and Rey/Maximo, so no big surprises there either. Atlantis and Felino was a little bit interesting since Atlantis wasn't about to put up with much of the grossness, but everything else was old hat, if not very clean and crisp. Rey and Maximo have worked each other a ton over the last couple of years and it shows.

Rush did well as a tecnico, eating a lot of punishment in the primera (getting tossed into the chairs repeatedly). I've said it before but it bears repeating: he's excellent at getting stuff in while he's getting beat down. He'll fight back as much as he can without it actively taking away from the match and he's good at drawing that line, so in the end, he looks tough and his opponents look tough and everyone ends up looking better than if he just limply took the beating. The moment of transition was him coming out of the corner with the dropkick. After that point it was more of the Rush we're used to, biting and choking Casas, pounding on him on the outside, and even sulkily walking towards the back after his team took the caida. I'd say he was a little more over in a positive way than usual, but that might have just been a higher female presence in the crowd.

I'm not sure if it's the Terra production or Arena Coliseo, but there's a more intimate feel to this setting too. Before the match they had the rudos on the ramp for an interview, then they interviewed a female fan (apparently of Fuego), and when we saw Zacarias, he was in the crowd with one of those clapper gimmicks. There was also more interaction with the cameramen, with Rey, Casas, and even Maximo harshly pushing him out of the way.

The tercera was a nice brisk bit of sequence, with a run through the pairings. It should be noted, as part of the role reversal, Rush was the one who got to clap and rouse the fans for his section against Casas. In Arena Mexico, it's usually Casas who does that. Maximo always looks really good in his exchanges though, like I said, having Rey to work probably helped. They finished it off, with Rey breaking up the Atlantida but eating (literally), the oft teased Kiss of Death. Casas tried to break it up, but Rush caught him in his Saito style suplex for three. Post match he shifted back to regular Rush fully, taunting him on the mic and stomping away. Fun, little match with a slightly more classic feel.

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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 8/2/14

These matches were from the 7/18 Arena Mexico show.

1. Stuka Jr., Atlantis & Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Rey Escorpion, Ultimo Guerrero & Polvora

Fun match with an asskicking performance from Escorpion and nice contributions for the others. Escorpion went after Rojo right from the beginning and didn't let up the whole match. He was really punching Rojo in the dome, as Escorpion can do, and didn't let up so that it looked like they would eventually work a hair vs. mask match. Even between falls Escorpion would follow him to the floor and club him. Stuka always breaks out impressive stuff. I love his torpedo splash, and he throws a nice flip dive. He also manned up for a beating here, taking a big back bump to the floor off a baseball slide. Nothing revolutionary happened here, but it was all fun while it lasted. Seriously wonder if they're setting up an Escorpion/Rojo feud though.

2. Negro Casas & Shocker vs. Rush & La Sombra for the CMLL Tag Titles

I was not a fan of their tag title match a few weeks before this, but this I liked. I thought that match lacked intensity and drama. Seeing this match shows everything that previous match lacked. These four were at each other's throats the whole match, and both teams actually felt like teams. A key part of what made this match so great was the team work. Not the double teams, but each person saving their partner at key moments throughout the whole match. Saves are a great way to build drama and cut down on silly kickouts, and I loved all the saves in this. Sombra has really come into his own under his rudo persona. It added an edge his character needed and just didn't have as a faceless flier. Now he's a smug shrugging prick who gets bailed out by his even tougher buddy and opportunistically dishes out violence of his own. His running knees to Shocker were brutal, but he has no problem giving back (watch him fly ass over elbow over the barrier off a clothesline). Shocker breaks out his fat guy tope, and some other cool stuff like his abdominal stretch slam (which sends Sombra right onto his head). Casas looked on fire too, having some fun scrambly matwork with Sombra, locking in one of the snuggest STFs onto Rush that you'll ever see, kicking Sombra's chest in while he's tangled in the ropes. This match builds off stuff from their previous tag match, and I especially loved Casas setting Rush up for the Thesz press and Sombra saving him out of nowhere by clotheslining Casas right in the shins. Awesome, heated match.

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Lucha Azteca Workrate Report 7/5/14

2014 Leyenda de Azul

feat. Valiente, Maximo, Rush, Rey Escorpion, Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia, Atlantis, Shocker, La Sombra, Super Porky, Mr. Niebla, Terrible, Rey Bucanero, Dragon Rojo Jr., La Mascara & Vangellys

We start with a battle royal to decide Group A and Group B teams and much of the battle royal is spent with me watching and wondering how the hell Porky is going to take a bump over the top rope. La Mascara has never watched a battle royal before as he takes a break to celebrate on the apron while the camera cuts to two people old enough to know better wildly tongue kissing in the crowd. Niebla takes a fast and crazy looking elimination bump. UG takes his elimination like a man getting monkey flipped by Atlantis and flipping wildly to the floor. Escorpion just walked over and punched Porky in the boob (left). Ohhhhh all of the first 8 people eliminated are all in one Group. That makes sense. But also means that I didn't get to see how Porky would take his elimination bump since he was clearly in the group of guys who didn't get eliminated.

The cibernetico itself starts out pretty hot with Rojo hitting a big rana off the apron onto Euforia and then Porky shockingly being the next person in the ring (I assumed he would need a bit of a breather before getting back in) and damn if I don't really dig Porky's bit with UG, seeing Porky take a big bump off a stiff shoulder block and come back with a deep arm drag. Nice. Escorpion hits a nasty baseball slide through the bottom ropes into Rush, with Rey flying all the way out to the floor. Rush and Vangellys have a real fun run (for two guys who never actually fight each other due to affiliations) with Rush really kicking the shit out of him but also leaning face first into a seated Vangellys dropkick. Shocker adding the Stunner actually fits pretty well with his style and isn't soul crushing like indy Lawler doing it. Valiente hits the most badass high speed headbutt tope on Niebla and then we get a cool UG Euforia showdown which obviously has never happened, ending with Euforia hitting a wild dive. Holy shit and then we get Porky/Maximo…but Sombra and Mascara are dicks and break it up before anything happens, but that does lead to Porky hitting a headscissor/headlock takeover on both so who can be mad? Escorpion hits a giant guillotine leg drop on Rojo, which is not a move you see much anymore, for whatever reason. Porky is a special kind of fat, as his belly sticks out just as much when he's lying down as when he's standing. Rush has mastered the rich dick hair flip. Maximo hits a couple really cool delay hang time arm drags on Escorpion. Eventually things end up with Atlantis opposite Ultimo Guerrero and they have their standard exchanges and work about a 4 minute singles match. We get some mask ripping, a nice Atlantis dive, some big move nearfall exchanges that I zoned out during, and a win for Atlantis.

Overall this was much more interesting than many of the ciberneticos they've run over the last few years. This was given WAY more time than most of those (excluding the battle royal this clocked in at over 30 minutes) so you didn't have a bunch of awful strung together eliminations off moves that would never end a regular caida. Add to that the battle royal setting the teams provided some unique match-ups that I've never seen. It sounds odd to like a match in part because Euforia did a cool headscissors to UG, but lucha match-ups and feuds don't always get mixed up that much, so it was neat seeing brief "new pairing" moments. Fun match, tons of cool stuff in it.

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MLJ: Rush vs Negro Casas/Shocker BONUS: Negro Casas, Shocker, Terrible vs Máximo, Rey Escorpión, Rush

Aired 2013-07-06
taped 2013-06-28 @ Arena Mexico
Negro Casas, Shocker, Terrible vs Máximo, Rey Escorpión, Rush in a relevos increíbles match

I was on a pretty good pace with these, but it's not often that I get a comment telling me to watch a match. For the record, if you respond to one of my posts here asking me to watch a match, chances are I probably will. Don't abuse that though. I don't think we need a 10 match Gronda series or something. This was from bucky, who is a fine, outstanding pillar of our community, so I figured what the hell. It was apparently a key match in the Rush vs Negro Casas rivalry, but as much as that, if not more so, it felt like a key match in the Rush vs Shocker rivalry, so it made sense for me to at least look at it.

While the interaction between Rush and Casas was pretty great here, I'm not 100% convinced this was the absolute starting point. For one thing, they'd wrestled against each other something like ten times in the previous two months. Also, there was still some lingering Rush vs Terrible focus, though maybe not as much as a few months earlier, where matches would still be structured to build to the two of them facing off, much like Rush vs Casas face-offs have been built to in the last year. Moreover, Rush HAD been shown to be fiery and even possess some rudo tendencies before this match. Maybe it really started to come to head here though. It was definitely the first of a number of relevos increibles matches to come over the next many months which pitted tecnico Shocker against tecnico Rush.

I always sort of love the team dynamics in these matches. Obviously there was a bit of a rivalry between Maximo and Rey Escorpion here, and throughout the match there was a long build from them arguing outside the ring as Rush was getting swarmed to teasing a high five to them actually hitting it. Rey and Rush didn't really interact much, save for once or twice when Rey got pissed as Rush's temper cost them, which ultimately led to the finish. Shocker, on the other hand, fit right in on the rudo side, being totally unafraid to punch Maximo in the face from the get go, and double and triple team with Casas and Terrible.

The end of the primera did set up a satisfying Rush vs Casas pairing. It started with a great little transition where Maximo, Rush's longtime partner, used his body to stop Rush's momentum off a whip in the ropes. This gave his side the chance to take over, first with a rush sueprkick and then with the kiss of death on Shocker. Rey hit a big dive on Shocker. Maximo ducked Terrible in the corner (causing him to sail out with a great bump) and he hit a dive on his own, leaving the ring emptied for Rush vs Casas, full of all the tenets we're used to that must have seemed fresh here. Casas killing Rush in the corner, Rush picking him up and putting him on the top, them fighting from that vantage point, and Rush taking over, stomping away in the corner until the ref called the fall against him as a DQ.

There was plenty of solid action in the segunda, leading up to the decisive Shocker vs Rush stuff. I love the Terrible/Maximo pairing; Maximo played up being terrified of the guy, and Terrible just punches him in the face repeatedly. It's fun and sort of clensed the pallette before they went back ro Rush vs Casas, with the two of them killing each other and Rush catching the dive from the apron into ap ower bomb and then doing a partial giant spin into the guard rail, basically eliminating Casas for a matter of minutes. Shocker then knocked Rey out of the ring, but when he went for the dive, he ran into a Rush kick and the two of them started to go at it (previously, Rush had hit Shocker on the apron for no real reason). Rey came back in though and had the advantage right up to the point that Rush thundered back into attack a prone Shocker in the corner. Rey realized that was how they got DQed in the first fall and started a pushing match with Rush. This let Terrible grab him into a suplex and Casas came off the top with a dropkick. Shocker quickly blindsided Rey and Maximo decided to faint for Terrible, and that was the match. Post-match, the winners, including tecnico Shocker, brutally stomped away on Rush.

This had all the makings of a really good revelos increibles match, lots of chemistry, guys on opposing sides willing to make things interesting, and plenty of visceral heat. I think my favorite part of this was how they used it to build feuds though: coming into the match, Rush had a lingering issue with terrible; after it, Rush had potential issues with Negro Casas, Shocker, and Rey.

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MLJ: Rush vs Negro Casas 4: Máximo, Negro Casas, Volador Jr. vs La Sombra, Rey Escorpión, Rush (relevos increíbles)

Aired 2014-04-20
taped 2014-04-11 @ Arena México
Máximo, Negro Casas, Volador Jr. vs La Sombra, Rey Escorpión, Rush in a relevos increíbles match

Now this was more like it. As much as I disliked the trios with Stuka, Jr. and Herodes, I liked this. I'd say it was even one of my favorite trios from 2014, though I admittedly have a lot of gaps in what I've seen. Much of what I'll be reviewing in this series, moving forward, I haven't yet seen. That said, they have run a lot of relevos increíbles matches this year, which makes a lot of sense given the dubious nature of Los Ingobernales' affiliation. This match felt a bit more like a bridge, though, with good exchanges, fun storytelling, including what felt like Rush crossing yet another line, and quite a lot of heat.

Volador, Jr. and Sombra have a pretty active past, if not necessarily a storied one. I've seen almost none of it. Though Sombra is almost ten years younger than Volador, they had a very long run as tecnico partners and then a lengthy feud with Volador as the rudo, culminating with Sombra taking his mask in the fall of last year. Afterwards, Volador turned tecnico again and Sombra's, of course, been sliding towards the shadows for most of this year. They've had a ton of title matches, both as partners and against each other, and I've seen none of them. I might be lacking a little bit of context here. Sufficed to say, Sombra is more than happy to work with Rush and Escorpion to beat the living hell out of Volador, despite the fact they're both supposed to be tecnicos. Overjoyed, even. On the other hand, Volador and Casas seem to have an uneasy alliance at best. At least, they did for a moment on the rampway before everyone started pounding on each other as the match began.

As I said, the nature of the Ingobernales make these relevos increíbles matches pretty natural and straightforward. For the sake of this match, Rush and Sombra were rudos and Casas was a tecnico. Rush, Sombra, and Escorpion made for a wildly effective rudo side, triple teaming one opponent and then the next, teaming up to hold one opponent for their partner to get free hits on him, ripping off Volador's shirt, etc. This lasted right up to the point that Maximo charged in and the match became all the more interesting. Maximo spent a lot of the last few years in a trio with Marco Corleone and Rush, after all, and instead of continuing the rudo beatdown, Rush hesitated, sort of nodded, and stepped to the outside. It wasn't until Maximo almost put the kiss of death on Escorpion that he decided to intervene, and even then it's half-hearted. All of this was great foreshadowing for the finish of the fall. After some more mauling of tecnicos, including a massive Sombra dropkick to ridiculously half-shirt wearing Volador, who frankly deserved it for looking like the Miz of Mexico, Volador came back with a springboard double back elbow off the ropes. In the chaos, Maximo nailed Rush with the literal kiss of death and Casas hit la casita for the pin.

There are lots of ways to sell getting kissed by an exotico who just happened to be your longtime friend and partner in the middle of a match. You could do it comedically or you could brush it off pridefully or remember your friendship and the fact that you involved yourself with the triple teaming first and take the high ground. You could do any of those things. Or you could completely lose it and beat him to an utter pulp. That's what Rush did here and it was pretty glorious. Between the falls, he just unloaded on Maximo, beating him around the ring and then outside against the guardrail, making the fans all the more angry at him.

Really, from this point, it didn't let up. Almost the entire segunda caida consisted of the
rudos beating the living hell out of the tecnicos. There was a brief reset to start the fall once the chaos of Rush unloading on Maximo got cleared up but it all broke down again quickly. Volador somehow got a new shirt and hit a massive dive off the top of the stage onto Sombra, but it didn't do him much good. Sombra recovered first and rushed into the ring  to help his partners win the numbers game. By the time Volador made it back, the rudos had enough of an advantage that they were able to tape him to the corner, and that was the beginning of the end. This was one of those story devices that if overused would get really tedious, but since they don't use it much, it became super effective here in building heat.

With Volador taped up and unable to leave the corner, the rudos wore down his partners and continued to beat on him. Ultimately, they got in an incredibly believable hope spot, one that you could really get behind where Volador, taped in the corner, hit a superkick and Casas rushed the ring, tossing Rush out, but when Casas went for his seated senton dive to the outside from the apron, Rush turned it into a power bomb. A moment later, Maximo whiffed on a dive as Escorpion side-stepped, and all three rudos came back into the ring to continue the beating on Volador. Tirantes, ever the valiant ref, tried to stop this and call off the fall, but Escorpion pushed him first, and then, crossing maybe his third line in the match, Rush shoved him over, leading to the DQ. The tecnicos won the match but it only got worse after that, as they taped Volador's legs to the ropes as well and continued the beating.

In some ways it was more of a spectacle than a match, which might keep it off best of the year lists, and there really weren't a ton of memorable exchanges, but I liked it a lot. Sombra was incredible effective as a rudo, showing this visceral hate for Volador and destroying him in the corner with elbows and fists and knees. Rush is probably the most interesting wrestler to watch in the world and his character work here was a lot of fun. Just a solid performance all around and a very interesting scenario that left me wanting to see more. We'll see if they overdo these relevos increíbles matches as the year goes on though.

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