taped 2014-08-22 @ Arena México
Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Máximo vs Cavernario, Euforia, Mephisto: blurb: [OK/GOOD] but possibly better than that live. Crowd seemed to be very into the match, but they were obviously jumping around a fair bit on TV. Really just a simple trios to make sure Atlantis stands in the middle of the ring winning while the announcers sell the anniversary match. Máximo/Cavernario dominated what we saw, and it seemed like those would be two having a hair match if anyone was supposed to be having one.
UNIVERSAL TOURNAMENT BLOCK B – STILL NOT INTERESTING
Mr. Niebla probably shoudl’ve saved his near gear for an occasion where he got to use them for more than 3 minutes. Also: maybe the Nieblasault to the outside! I don’t know what’s with him of late but he’s trying more.
Virus didn’t last very long in this, but still found time to be the coolest man ever. Like, now I’m sure Virus has been standing on the apron, thinking for years about how he would counter Dragon Rojo’s corner lowblow dropkick if he ever got the chance, and he did it easily the first time. Virus would defeat everyone if given the moment.
Niebla Roja got totally and completely squashed by Diamante Azul, which still saw Diamante Azul blow spots and look not fun to work with. I wasn’t sure Roja was hurt on the german suplex only because there were so many other times he could’ve been hurt. These two did not work well together.
Titan got in the Titanics as the first move in the match, then followed soon after with a dive. Might as well have been wearing a “I’m going to get eliminated here” shirt, though that was kind of obvious once he was drawn with Volador. Titan got all the offense before the finish, which would’ve been a nice way to give him some credibility if Tigre Hispano didn’t go into the business for himself on the three count. Volador’s look of disgust
Dragon Rojo had a neat back and forth match with Virus, and then a match only doing signature spots and resting in-between with Ultimo Guerrero. Amazing how that happens. The rest time between Dragon Rojo’s ramp dropkick and the next spot felt longer than some matches in this tournament.
Diamante Azul worked a Diamante Azul match with Niebla Roja, and then worked a Diamante Azul match with Volador. Diamante Azul really only has one outfit and one match and that’s it. At least Volador figured out how to do spots with him as a bigger, less mobile Sombra.
Volador works a very repetitive style, but it felt much more varied than Ultimo Guerrero by the time they matched up. Actually, in some ways, Ultimo Guerrero is the best type of rudo for him to go against to get people to react to him as a técnico (which has also gone a lot better for Volador of late than it did at the start) and they have some chemistry together. The style just drives me crazy.
Ultimo Guerrero had Ultimo Guerrero matches. I continue to be generally bored with them, though the catch and toss into the post on Voaldor’s dive was crazy impressive. They’re really reminding people who the Guerrero Special is certain doom to anyone who takes it by having him beat everyone in this tournament with it (while kicking out of the backcracker at the end), which sure points to something for the Anniversary show. UG was also more creative in setting it up here, though in a way which won’t work with many other people.
This may seem like a stupid question, but what exactly did Tigre Hispano do to anger Volador? It seems to me like he counted to three when he wasn’t supposed to but Titan did not look like he was going to kick out.
He counted to two, then he stopped because he thought Titan had gotten a shoulder up. Titan had not moved and (maybe more importantly to Volador) that was pretty obviously supposed to be the finish. Volador covered again and got the three. (Not all of that made the gif.)