taped 2014-03-07 @ Arena México
This was a less interesting tournament.
Titan/Felino: Místico refused to fight Titan, then they teased the matchup, then they just fought like it was normal all within about 3 minutes. That’s like four months of matches in one tournament lucha. Felino & Titan got to do a little but this was much more for the other team.
Cometa/Polvora: Cometa and Pólvora got in trademark moves just to have them done, but Cometa got a knee to the gut on his tornillo and Pólvora had his special kicked out to no reaction, so maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.
Valiente/Vangellys: The one Valiente/Vangellys match just felt like guys doing random moves with nothing to them. Vangellys & Valiente basically worked as rudos; UG as a rudo in danger from another rudo kind of works, but there wasn’t enough Sombra/Valiente to get a feel for that.
La Mascara/Ephesto: La Mascara & Ephesto’s sole match was another getting in the spots as quick as possible situation – look, it’s Ephesto’s dive, it’s a campana tease, it’s a shoulderbreaker, etc. Mascara doesn’t have many spots so this worked out okay. The only advantage is I believe the early near falls, because there are only early near falls.
Místico/Reaper: Does Reapper’s snake have a name? Is it spelled differently every show like Reapper is? Místico and Escorpion had a stumble stating off and they were both kind of useless for a while, but still managed the dangerous headscissors to the floor. Every other team was generally on the same level, but Místico was treated like a big star and Reapper like just a guy.
Averno/Volador Jr.: Volador was the only one who seemed to work at changing his outfit each time out. Averno & Volador were the efficient team they were this time last year and it reminds me that I’m still not so sure why they’re enemies. Crowd, which was deathly quiet for this show, was their loudest for the Volador/Sombra face off. It’s not for a lack of doing big spots in this tournament – there were a ton of them in the second semifinal – but it came off as no one cared about them. Or maybe someone just turned crowd mic sound by accident, who knows.
Ultimo Guerrero/Sombra: UG has to get in all his near falls even in a tournament, as always. This team probably had the two best matches of the tournament. Their semifinal with Averno & Volador was the last four months of a much longer and better imaginary match, and the final was the most complete story told in four minutes. Sombra switching to being ticked off mode right away helped, and they had some good people to work off.
Rey Escorpion & Maximo: Escorpion’s change from complete dismissal of Máximo to grudging respect was the best part of this tournament; I’m not sure if they planned it that way or Rey Escorpion is just smart enough to work it out. It was the only thing really connecting the matches and the only thing that made them seem meaningful.