CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2016-04-29 

Caristico Dudley
Caristico Dudley

Recapped: 04/29/2016

What happened: Mephisto & Mistico won the incredible pairs tournament. Carístico beat Mistico in the third fall, only to lose to Mephisto in the deciding decision.

Rey Cometa beat Cavernario in a lightning match. It came off as a setup to a title match, but no challenge was made.

What was good: I liked everything, to varying degrees. The lightning match was the best match, but the entire show as watchable.

Where can I watch it: The main event is on Claro’s site, and the show will be on my channel Tuesday.

Match 1: Flyer & Star Jr. vs Cancerbero & Raziel
Arena México, 04/29/2016

  1. tecnicos
    • Star Jr. tornillo Cancerbero (5:08)
    • Flyer springboard splash (5:33)
  2. Cancerberos
    • double hanging dropkick on Star Jr. (3:31)
    • Raziel arm trap cloverleaf Flyer (4:13)
  3. Cancerberos
    • Raziel suplex/Cancerbero top rope silla on Star Jr. (5:40)
    • Cancerbero slingshot/Raziel bulldog on Flyer (6:41)

Winner: Cancerberos (2-1)
Match Time: 16:00

Review: [good] This has some flaws, but greatly exceeded the average normal opener and my expectations going in. Flyer and Star Jr. got to do a lot, in both the first run and more in the comeback. Flyer’s stuff doesn’t always look great – he had a big springboard slip here – but he is trying to come up with new things to do and that’s too rare on the undercard. His headscissors thru the roep was a neat idea. Cancerberos are a good mean team, but ought to cut out the hanging double dropkick bit – it takes a lot to pretend it actually is hitting. Still, this has a lot more creative high spots than most of the matches on the last two streamed shows, regardless of their position.

Flyer being tricky
Flyer being tricky

Match 2: Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi vs Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis

Arena México, 04/29/2016

  1. tecnicas
    • Marcela casadora cradle Dalys (7:35)
  2. rudas
    • Zeuxis double knee smash Skadi (2:36)
    • Amapola Devil’s Wings Princesa Sugehit (3:09)
  3. rudas
    • Dalys scorpion Marcela (3:36)

Winner: rudas (2-1)
Match Time: 14:20

Review: [good] This one went very well. It seemed to have a chance on paper with the three best rudas and two of the better tecnicas, but it was helped a lot by everyone working hard for the occasion. The rudas were effective in their offense (especially the teamwork) and went well with the tecnicas for their offense. Skadi seemed like she’d be the issue, but was mostly ok. She may not want to actually legdrop people in the face, but she was where she needed ot be for most of the match. This was pretty fun.

Zeuxis boost double knee smash
Zeuxis boost double knee smash

Match 3: Blue Panther ©, Stuka Jr., Hombre Bala Jr.vs Bobby Z, Hechicero, Kráneo ©

Arena México, 04/29/2016

  1. rudos
    • Hechicero reverse monkey flip into kicks Hombre Bala (4:36)
    • Hechicero german suplex Stuka Jr. (5:20)
  2. técnicos
    • Hombre Bala huracanrana Hechicero (2:58)
    • Stuka DDT Bobby Z (3:06)
  3. técnicos
    • Blue Panther fujiwara Kraneo (5:23)

Winner: técnicos (2-1)
Match Time: 13:49
Notes: Hombre Bala replaced Super Porky.

Review: [good] I feel jerky to say a match is better without Super Porky every time, but this match was totally different and better with the substition. Hombre Bala got to play with the big kids for once and, while he didn’t get a lot in the match outside of the super reverse tope late, fit in fine. Blue Panther had a lot of fun in the match, facing off against Hechicero early and Kraneo late in two very different styles, and the crowd reacted to him like a much more mobile Porky. Kraneo, who probably would’ve been mostly comedy if this went as scheduled, instead worked with everyone and worked really well everyone. Hechicero had one late slip on a springboard but a good match the rest of the way, and Stuka and Zavala were good too.

Blue Panther is strong
Blue Panther is strong
Hechicero Tiger Knee
Hechicero Tiger Knee

Match 4: Rey Cometa vs Cavernario in a lightning match
Arena México, 04/29/2016

Winner: Rey Cometa (Canadian Destroyer)
Match Time: 8:37

Review: [good] high speed big move match, with Cavernario destroying Cometa for the first section of the match and Cometa making a great comeback. It felt like the build to a bigger match – they protected the cavernaria for another day and Cometa didn’t do anything – but they’ve both are deep enough to not do everything and still have a busy match. It’s maybe just a less played out finish from being Great for me, and I’m still undecided on it. (I think I would’ve liked it more if they went to the time limit draw.) This was really fun, a high end lightning match, and hopefully we get to see the title match soon.

Cavernario thru the corner tope
Cavernario thru the corner tope
parrot worm
parrot worm

Match 5: Maximo, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Ephesto, Felino, Rey Escorpión
Arena México, 04/29/2016

  1. rudos
    • Rey Escorpión pulpo Máximo (2:47)
  2. técnicos
    • Mascara Dorada huracanrana Felino (2:22)
    • Volador top rope springboard frankensteiner Ephesto (2:22)
  3. técnicos
    • Máximo middle rope kiss Rey Escorpión (5:31)

Winner: técnicos (2-1)
Match Time: 10:40
Notes: Máximo replaced Angel de Oro.

Review: [good] This was another match built around técnico high spots, though with less story with the undercard men’s trios and overall felling more like an exhibition than a battle. They still did exhibited some huge spots, with Rey Escorpión seemingly catching all of them. Dorada looked good and his mask looked better. Crowd loved Máximo. Ephesto and Felino being in this match was weird – I wonder where the Guerreros are that we haven’t seen a lineup from them – but they were sufficient.

super high backdrop
super high backdrop
double tope
Dorada in, Maximo out

Match 6: Mephisto & Mistico vs Carístico & Cibernético in a National Parejas Increible final match
Arena México, 04/29/2016

  1. Cibernético & Carístico
    • Cibernético Garra Cibernetica Mephisto (3:34)
    • Carístico toss cutter Mistico (3:40)
  2. Mephisto & Mistico
    • Rosa Driver on Cibernético (1:57)
    • Mistico torito Carístico (2:15)
  3. Mephisto & Mistico
    • Mistico springboard splash Cibernético (6:09)
    • Carístico powerbomb Mistico (7:22)
    • Mephisto Devil’s Wings Carístico (9:41)

Winner: Mephisto & Mistico
Match Time: 15:36
Notes: Carístico & Cibernético worked as rudos for parts of the match, though the crowd preferred to boo Mistico.

Review: [good] This was weird. It seemed like I liked the match more than the other people on Twitter, and more than most people in the building. The layout, especially for the third fall, just was weird. This is match I least liked on the night, though it looks like I’m going to end up with the same grade for everything.

This is the second big Cibernético match on a Friday night where he seemed to be both a draw in a ticket sales and a silencer in reactions. The crowd who came was into the Mistico/Caristico face off and not the rest of the match, which made for some quiet periods of a supposed big deal main event. I didn’t notice the same lack of interest in Cibernetico in his Liga Elite match with LA Park, and Cibernético came off much better in this match than with Ultimo Guerrero, but it doesn’t feel like he’s connected with this audience like the AAA one. I’m skeptical of the idea that AAA & CMLL fans are mostly unaware of the other promotion’s stars, but maybe this is an example of it. It’d harder to pinpoint what’s going on because people are still buying tickets, but I’d be a little concerned about building up to big Cibernético matches at the moment.

That may not be the issue at the moment, because the bizarre order of eliminations in the third fall only make sense if CMLL’s going big with Mephisto for the next five months to set up him losing his mask at the Anniversary show. (Probably to Carístico, but maybe even still to Mistico.) It’s incredible Carístico beat Mistico without it being the culminating finish, and it’s amazing the least important guy got the spotlight at the end unless there’s some bigger plan coming out of this. We’ll probably know more on Tuesday – if Mephisto loses to Dorada, then it’s just CMLL being bad at simple things – but sacrificing Mistico to Carístico cleanly is crazy unless it had to be done to build up to bigger things. The fanbase is convinced Carisitco is the better guy, convinced Mistico’s not on his level, they confirmed it in a match, and presumably Mistico’s going to be the guy on most every Friday night show and Caristico’s not going to be around. And they did in a way where they got the least out of it. Maybe they were trying to downplay it by making it the second to last elimination, but they just reduced the interest in the match in the closing stretch by playing it out that way. The moment people wanted was a back and forth Mistico/Caristico stretch with one guy coming out on top, but they put only a little more drama in it than if it was Angel de Oro & Esfinge wrapping things up. Mistico/Caristico should’ve been an epic encounter and it felt not a lot different than the many other técnico vs técnico matches of the last two weeks.

Outside of the greater context, and maybe with the mute button in use, it was a hard working big matches. Carístico & Mistico worked together much better than Myzteziz & Misterio. Caristico’s obviously most comfortable in the CMLL box and got in the most trouble when he tried to do things he doesn’t normally do. Carístico & Cibernético were definitely the rudo team, but they still had a match where Carístico could do most of his técnico spots and wasn’t outside brawling or trying to put people thru tables. Mephisto transitioning to being a técnico was a harder fit, but the three man dive sequences were fun (and Cibernético tried to jump that one time.) This tournament handcuffs the luchadors, makes them work in ways they’re not as comfortable or as skilled at doing, and these guys handled the limitations as best as could be expected

The importance of this match and tournament was always going to depend on the follow up. They didn’t do the big loud turn which would’ve required some sort of follow up, CMLL did a quiet sequence of pinfalls. It’s going to look just as strange if they don’t follow those up anyway.

Operacion Dragon
Operacion Dragon
Mistico distracted by leaping into the third row
Mistico distracted by leaping into the third row