Matches reviews this time
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Fénix, Hijo del Fantasma, Pentagón Jr. vs Flamita, Hijo del Fishman, Sky Man
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 01/01/2015 -
Centvrión, Fly Warrior, Látigo vs Magnífico I, Magnífico II, Metaleón
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 10/03/2015 -
Último Guerrero vs Black Terry
Deportivo 18 de Marzo, Gustavo a Madero, Distrito Federal, 07/18/2015 -
Keira vs Marcela
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 10/17/2015 -
Rayo Star & Sky Man vs Astral & Stukita
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 10/17/2015 -
Hechicero (CMLL) vs Trauma I
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 10/17/2015
The first three are from Black Terry Jr.’s handheld videos. You can find his full list of matches here and find out information about purchasing those videos on his site.
Fénix, Hijo del Fantasma, Pentagón Jr. vs Flamita, Hijo del Fishman, Sky Man
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 01/01/2015
Video: tvluchadelpasado, RUDO VISION, RUDO VISION
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Team AAA
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Hijo del Fantasma powerbomb Skyman (10:53)
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Fenix double stomp to back Hijo del Fishman (11:16)
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Team Flamita
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Flamita Flam Fly Fenix (6:26)
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Team AAA
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Fire Driver on Flamita (14:21)
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Winner: Team AAA (2-1)
Match Time: 31:40
Review: [great] incredible one man performance. The story of this match is Team AAA has no respect for this indie trash and they’re pretty much proven right for believing some. Hijo del Fishman is terrible, with a spot so bad that I couldn’t tell if it was a dive spot or not, and Sky Man was inconsistent as always. (You kind of feel bad for Pentagon and Fantasma, who are stuck mostly working with those two.) The one problem for team AAA is Flamita is so good, it doesn’t matter who he’s teaming with, he’s enough to make the match work. This is January, when maybe people hadn’t grasped how much Flamita had grown as a luchador in Japan – maybe that’s why Fenix tries to bully him far beyond the context of a wrestling match early on. (Black Terry Jr. does some of his best work during the long choke out attempt – and the rest of the match – realizing every interaction between Fenix & Flamita is far more important than whatever else the other four try.) Fenix tries to put Fenix ‘in his place’, Flamita isn’t having it, and they beat each other up and give each other death stares the rest of the match. Flamita matches Fenix move for move, and the crowd desperately wanted Flamita to win with the Flama Fly at the end. They go quiet when he doesn’t get three, and have to talk themselves back into the match (which ends soon after anyway), but this one re-established Flamita despite the loss.
not so good
Centvrión, Fly Warrior, Látigo vs Magnífico I, Magnífico II, Metaleón
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 10/03/2015
Video: tvluchadelpasado, +LuchaTV
Winner: Mala Hiebra (triple pin)
Match Time: 19:40
Review: [great] This one of a bunch of these recaps I lost in a file saving issue (it didn’t save), and this was the one most worth having an excuse to rewatch again. These two teams mesh well and make the most use of a near twenty minute tag match. Mala Hiebra feels like a team in the first real appearance as one – their first sequence of spots went great, the second one not as much – and I guess it might be one of the last time we see the Magnificos together. The other good thing about the rewatch is I now think I know which Magnifico is which (the red one does the same tornillo as Magia Blanca), so I’m gaining knowledge right when it’s about to become useless. The match feels like an exhibition at first, but really accelerates after the first set of dives and there’s a great set of big moves near the end. Crowd totally bought into the near finish right before the end, and Centvrion escaping the next try looked cool.
Último Guerrero vs Black Terry
Deportivo 18 de Marzo, Gustavo a Madero, Distrito Federal, 07/18/2015
Video: tvluchadelpasado, MisticieroTV, +LuchaTV, RUDO VISION
Winner: Ultimo Guerrero
Match Time: 11:56
Review: [good] This is the main event from the one – and apparently only? – Lucha Mutante show. It’s another Black Terry singles matches on an indie show, but in a different role. Ultimo Guerrero is the young wrestler who’s getting his big shot against a legend, Terry’s scratching and calling to stay with the guy who’s at the top of CMLL. It plays out like it should. Terry’s still good enough to stay with Ultimo Guerrero, but only can rarely put him in moments of big danger, and Ultimo Guerrero doesn’t have to unleash his full arsenal to win. (Much to everyone’s relief.) Terry is aware enough not to climb up with Ultimo Guerrero right away, but goes up anyway because what can he do. This is heavy on being a grappling battle and a showcase of a holds, and less so a fight until the last half. There’s enough even many chops between two guys who can throw some hard ones.
Keira vs Marcela
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 10/17/2015
Video: +LuchaTV, RUDO VISION
Winner: draw (double pin on a tapatia)
Match Time: highlights ran 5:20
Review: [good] Didn’t realize this was only a six minute video when I put it on the list, watched it anyway, and realized it was probably a lot longer than six minutes because they want thru the effort of editing it into extended highlights. (RudoVision, who I watched, was doing Leyendas Inmortales at one point, so maybe editing for content is something they’re used to doing.) I would’ve preferred to see the whole thing, or another whole match between these two, because it looked superb from what we saw. Keira hadn’t really impressed me before the Zeuxis match, but this is another solid fight to add to her resume. It feels like a fight at times, with Marcela hitting back very hard, and looing more into this match than she has many others this year. It’s not full of great sequences, but they come off an evenly matched. The finish, a double pin draw, feels earned from their match but crowd doesn’t like it at all.
Rayo Star & Sky Man vs Astral & Stukita
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 10/17/2015
Video: RUDO VISION
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CMLL minis
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Astral kneebar Rayo Man (6:43)
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Stukita rolling tapatia Sky Man (7:05)
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Sky Stars
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Sky Man springboard double stomp Stukita (4:24)
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Sky Man rope flip Spanish Fly Astral (4:43)
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CMLL mini
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Stukita top rope splash Rayo Star (7:15)
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Winner: CMLL Mini (2-1)
Match Time: 19:03
Review: [good] nice action and the smoothest the Sky Stars have looked in the matches I’ve been watching, and Astral and Stukita were fun as well. It was missing something take to take it out of exhibition form to be more memorable to me; there’s a moment to start the third fall where a crazy brawl breaks out over something Stukita said on the microphone (I think), but then they just go back to do moves at a normal pace after. Still, it’s a long Stukita match and there are never enough of those. He wins the crowd over quickly in the first fall, then turns on them by the third, and is easily the most charismatic guy in a ring with three other luchadors who aren’t connecting with the crowd as much. And Stukit’as corkscrew headscissors is as good as anyone’s.
Hechicero (CMLL) vs Trauma I
Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, 10/17/2015
Video: +LuchaTV, RUDO VISION
Winner: Hechicero (rolling half crab)
Match Time: 15:56
Review: [good] solid opening segment of a match that never gets into second gear. If match cut off at the fourteen minute mark, I could’ve been talked into believing they were going thirty given the pace. There’s never really the urgency or drama in their fight, and it feels like something they could do at a random spot show seven days a week without either guy getting banged up in the least, but that also meant it didn’t feel much special. They never got beyond trading holds with little resistance, even limiting themselves to few chops. Hechicero makes Trauma battle for his holds more, though Trauma was still back to letting them go for no real reason at the end.
