CMLL Arena Mexico: 2016-02-16 

Recapped: 02/16/16

What happened: Zeuxis suffered a foot injury in the lightning match. It looked serious, though Silueta went on with a planned title challenge for next week. Hijos del Infierno cheated to beat the Divinos Laguneros, which may set up a rematch next week.

Caristico made his return to Tuesday shows. Raijin made his streaming debut. Both looked fine.

What was good: Nothing really. I liked the main event the best but even that was a not worth going out of your of watching. There were parts of matches that were good but nothing came together and some stuff fell apart.

Where can I watch it: It’s on CMLL’s YouTube channel.

Match 1: Bengala & Leono vs Akuma & Espanto Jr.
Arena México, 02/16/2016

1. rudos
   • Espanto Jr. top rope splash Leono (6:34)
   • Akuma valagueza Bengala (6:56)
2. tecnicos
   • Leono elbow drop to the back Akuma (2:25)
   • Bengala triangular del solar Espanto Jr. (2:49)
3. tecnicos
   • Bengala Cradle on Akuma (2:30)
   • Leono half crab/armbar Espanto (3:00)

Winner: tecnicos (2-1)
Match Time: 12:45

Review: [below average] boring match with the rudos largely doing nothing (though the toss onto the barricade was nice) and Bengala not being enough to save it this time. He really had a quiet match and so did everyone else. This just didn’t have much interesting things giong on.

Match 2: Astral, Stukita, Último Dragóncito vs Demus 3:16, Mercurio, Pierrothito
Arena México, 02/16/2016

1. rudos
   • Pierrothito nudo Stukita (6:09)
   • Mercurio powerbomb Ultimo Dragoncito (6:15)
2. tecnicos
   • Astral huracanrana Demus (5:47)
   • Stukita torpedo splash Pierrothito (4:47)
3. rudos
   • Demus Driver on Ultimo Dragoncito (4:52)
   • Astral kneebar Demus (6:02)
   • Pierrothito foot raised moonsautl counter (6:55)

Winner: rudos (2-1)
Match Time: 17:57
Notes: Match was stopped after Ultimo Dragoncito took Demus’ move for him to be checked on by the medics. The doctor had Dragoncito roll out, so it presumably was worked injury.

Review: [ok] I was liking this match for a while, but the third fall turned quite bad. Astral and Mercurio started off with miscommunication moment, botch spot and Mercurio was left loudly slapping his leg to kick air near the end. Ultimo Dragoncito and Demus botched a spot and Demus seemed to end the sequence early to drop Dragoncito on his head. There was some good energy, the rudo corner attack was fun, but there was stuff like that and Astral’s iffy huracanarana to end the second fall. This could’ve been better.

Match 3: Delta ©, Fuego, Pegasso vs Okumura ©, Raijin, Nitro
Arena México, 02/16/2016

1. tecnicos
   • Delta frog splash Okumura (5:51)
2. rudos
   • Nitro inverted susspended half crab Delta (2:47)
3. rudos
   • Raijin German suplex Fuego (3:01)
   • Okumura German suplex Pegasso (3:01)

Winner: rudos (2-1)
Match Time: 11:39
Notes: Nitro was a late sub for Sangre Azteca.

Review: [ok] Not much to this match, kind of weird it got six less minutes than the last one. The sole interesting than was the debut of one of the NJPW kids. They don’t trust Raijin to do much yet alone – he was almost never left alone, and Nitro wrestled much more of the match than you’d like. He didn’t look that bad, though he and Pegasso did a double duck down at one point. He looked better than Nitro, who struggled taking armdrags. Communication is probably the big issue and he’ll get that in time.

Match 4: Silueta vs Zeuxis in a lightning match
Arena México, 02/16/2016

Winner: Silueta (missile dropkick)
Match Time: 6:49
Notes: Zeuxis suffered a foot injury and the match ended abruptly on a move Silueta doesn’t normally win on. Silueta challenged Zeuxis to a title match as the medics were working on Zeuxis. Zeuxis stopped them to angrily agree to the match, though her level of pain suggested it’d be unlikely for the match to actually happen.

Review: [ok] this was generally going well, and then Silueta tried a top rope diving armdrag to the ramp and things went bad. Zeuxis hurt her foot on the landing and was limping a bit. She was still going with the match until the Silueta top rope plancha to the floor. Silueta landed well short of where Zeuxis was standing, right on Zeuxis’ feet. She was in immense pain at that point. The match was done at that point, though they managed to get back I to do a finish.

This match was going well up to the point of the injury, but that sees to be the way of the matches between these two: they try very hard, they push their limits, and then they push past those limits and something goes wrong. Usually it only looks bad. I give them credit for trying, but wish they would do a complete good match first, or at least look a little more critically before they leap. They had the makings of a good match until that point, which seems to happen a lot with them

Match 5: Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
Arena México, 02/16/2016

1. Hijos del Infierno
   • Mephisto grounded crucifix cradle Blue Panther Jr. (3:52)
   • Mephisto kick to the face The Panther (4:08)
2. Divinos Laguneros
   • Blue Panther casadora cradle Mephisto (2:10)
3. Hijos del Infienro
   • Luicferno Crash on The Panther (2:52)
   • The Panther fujiwara armbar Luicferno (3:15)
   • Luciferno foul Blue Panther (4:27)

Winner: Hijos del Infierno (2-1)
Match Time: 10:45
Notes: Luciferno came back in to foul Blue Panther as the referee was distracted. The Panther demanded a rematch. Rudos took their masks instead

Review: [ok] A quick match where I couldn’t even find something to gif. Neither of the younger Panthers made much of an impact on the match and there wasn’t much going on outside the finishes. The Hijos del Infierno are winning a lot suddenly, though that’s probably coming to an end on Friday. Not excited for the rematch.

Match 6: Carístico ©, Rey Cometa, Súper Porky vs Boby Z, Felino, Mr. Niebla © 

Arena México, 02/16/2016

1. rudos
   • Felino standing figure four pin Brazo de Plata (1:25)
   • Bobby Z dropkick to the side Rey Cometa (2:01)
2. tecnicos
   • Super Porky sit Felino (2:55)
   • Rey Cometa huracanrana Bobby Z (2:55)
3. tecnicos
   • Caristico La Mistica Mr. Niebla (6:05)

Winner: tecnicos (2-1)
Match Time: 11:01

Review: [ok] seemed like the best match on the show, an enjoyable if nothing of significance. Porky is back and looking fatter than ever. It didn’t stop him from doing his normal moves but he was moving even slower in between them. Caristico looked great, like the best guy on the show, and played off the crowd much better than most. Rey Cometa fit in well as the third wheel and his dive was nice. The rudos were here to fail and they did. The Mistica looked a litte off but everything went well.