What happened? Valiente defeated Hechicero to win their very short feud. The normal C3 feed wasn’t working and I missed the opener.
What was good? Puma & Tiger did fun Puma & Tiger things despite having not great opponents. I think I liked Hechicero/Valiente more than most, though it wasn’t what it might have been a few years ago.
Where can I watch? What I got is on YouTube. Links with each match.
Recapped: 08/26-27/2015
Match 1: Leono, Metatrón, Molotov vs Espanto Jr., Espiritu Negro, Inquisidor
Arena México, 08/18/2015
Was not recorded
Match 2: Oro Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Okumura, Puma, Tiger
Arena México, 08/18/2015
Video: thecubsfan
- rudos
- Okumura hanging DDT Oro Jr. (6:10)
- técnicos
- Pegasso frog splash Tiger (3:12)
- rudos
- Tiger backcracker Pegasso (3:38)
- Puma casita Stigma (4:17)
Winner: rudos (2-1)
Match Time: 13:39
Review: [good] totally absurd that Puma & Tiger are this low on the card and messing with Oro & Stigma, but at least they totally trashed the técnicos for most of the second fall. Okumura best move was getting out of the way while the cats dropkicked the heck out of poor Stigma. They’ve got their act down, they just need bigger matches to show it off. The first fall kind of got lost for a while when it seemed like someone was out of position (Oro? Probably Oro), but the match was at it’s best when it had a lot of people in sync. Oro definitely didn’t help Pegasso by pulling Tiger too far for a 450 and too close for a normal splash.
Match 3: Blue Panther, Stuka Jr., Tritón vs Cavernario, Felino, Rey Escorpión
Arena México, 08/18/2015
Video: thecubsfan
- técnicos
- Triton springboard huracanrana Rey Escorpion (4:18)
- rudos
- Rey Escorpion half crab/armbar Blue Panther (3:21)
- técnicos
- Blue Panther fujiwara Felino (2:03)
- Stuka torpedo splash Cavernario (3:23)
Winner: técnicos (2-1)
Match Time: 11:02
Review: [ok] very standard match, which is very nonstandard for Blue Panther. Panther did get a third fall submission out of nowhere, but so out of nowhere that the crowd didn’t seem to react to it. A couple of trademark spots for usual people (would be nice to see a longer version of Triton/Cavernario since Cavernario works so well with those type of técnicos), some Felino wackiness, and some aimless brawling in the third fall.
Stellar Moments
La Combinacion: Raziel & Cancerbero double submission on Soberano Jr. & Magnus
Lo Espectacular: double tope con giro into the crowd by Stukita & Ultimo Dragoncito
El Rudo: Demus 3:16 takes down referee Edgar
El Tecnico: Stukita 450 splash on Mercurio
El Detalle: Brazo de Plata with Miguel Espada
Match 4: Valiente vs Hechicero
Arena México, 08/18/2015
Video: thecubsfan
- Hechicero reversed rana while grabbing the bottom rope (2:57)
- Valiente seated armbar (2:49)
- Valiente arm trap half crab (11:20)
Winner: Valiente (2-1)
Match Time: 17:06
Review: [good] Good enough singles match. I’m sure I liked it better than other people. Valiente didn’t do a lot of different stuff, but he did break out the swinging neckbreaker and big armdrag to the floor we don’t see out of him in random trios matches (or even most trios title matches.) This just wasn’t the mat based matchup we might have gotten out of Valiente a decade ago or maybe even today on another show. Instead of Valiente working indy style, this was more the continuation of Hechicero ‘learning’ to work CMLL singles match. This had the required dives and many near falls in the third fall as a CMLL match, only missing the cavernaria spot (and Valiente seemed to try that!) I’d like to see it be a lot more creative, but I also liked it more than Mephisto/Atlantis. The thing that actually most bugged me was Hechicero pulling Valiente back from getting in the ring near the end to send him into the barricade, then pushing him back into the ring. That was dumb, and gong right to the finish after wasn’t much better.
Match 5: Ángel de Oro, La Sombra, Marco Corleone vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys
Arena México, 08/18/2015
Video: thecubsfan
- TRV
- Terrible top rope splash Sombra (4:33)
- tecnicos
- Marco Corleone Aero Italia Rey Bucnaero & Vangellys (2:07)
- técnicos
- La Sombra double knee smash Terrible (5:40)
Winner: técnicos (2-1)
Match Time: 12:20
Review: [ok] a really tough match to care all that much about, since it’s the TRT (who don’t seem to matter) and the Ingobenrables (who don’t care) – this was worthwhile for Sombra antics and Sombra outclassing Terrible for the last 30 seconds and pretty much nothing else. One wonders when Rey Bucanero will decide to start naming his groups with actual names instead of initials, so they could just keep Vangellys in reverse for whenever Shocker is otherwise occupied. (Vangellys was treated like he was a member of the trio again here. He might be!)
