Lucha Azteca7 Elite: 2016-08-20 

Volador crowd dive
Volador crowd dive

Recapped: 08/21/2016

What happened: Rey Escorpión picked up 3 points, and Volador & Mascara picked up 1. This aired out of order, so who knows what it means.

What was good:  The two Liga Elite matches were great, and the Dinamtias match was good. I liked the Medicos match a bit.

Where can I watch it:  It’s on my channel, and more of it’s on the LigaElite channel.

Match 1: El Bandido, Jinzo, Rocky Lobo vs El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Karonte Jr.
Arena México, 08/04/2016

  1. técnicos
    • Bandido inverted frankensteiner Dr. Karonte (6:34)
    • Rocky Lobo springboard cutter Hijo de Dr. Wagner JR. (6:41)
  2. rudos
    • Hijo de Dr. Wagner spear Rocky Lobo (1:38)
    • Dr. Karonte Jr. guillotine senton con giro Jinzo (3:12)
  3. rudos
    • Medico Asesino behind the back piledriver Rocky Lobo (4:43)
    • Hijo de Dr. Wagner brainbuster Jinzo (4:43)

Winner: rudos (2/3)
Match Time: 14:38
Notes: Brazo de Oro is referee again. The voiceover hasn’t been fixed, and they’re still promoting shows for next Thursday.

Review: [good] Another Elite undercard trio which feels close to being something noteworthy, but just doesn’t have the right combination of people. The rudos push feels like a perfect example of bookers/programmers pushing what they grew up with (evil doctor trios used to be a thing) as opposed to what’s going on now (small guys doing lots of spots). Maybe we can find Hijo de Wagner some better friends in the medical profession, because it’s not even the right three guys. Medico again was limited by his knee injury, and it’s hard to hide his limp. Karonte was slow and careless, especially in his last big exchange with Bandido. The rudo trios game generally needs to be tightened up for major league (or TV) work; the meandering around and not getting to the other pinfall in the second fall killed the pace and the impact of Wagner’s awesome looking spear. Jinzo and really Rocky Lobo stole the spotlight on the técnico side, with Bandido being less of a factor than usual.

20160820elite_match1-1
Mendoza tornillo
20160820elite_match1-2
reverse springboard cutter
20160820elite_match1-3
Wagner obliverates Lobo
20160820elite_match1-4
the doctor is out

Match 2: Carístico, Súper Crazy, Valiente vs Cavernario, Euforia, Mr. Niebla
Arena México, 08/04/2016

  1. rudos
    • Barbaro Cavernario Mammoth Kick Super Crazy (2:06)
    • Mr. Niebla top rope splash Carístico (2:18)
  2. técnicos
    • Super Crazy suplex into the ring Cavernario (1:54)
    • Valiente Buster on Mr. Niebla (2:06)
  3. técnicos
    • Carístico octopus Euforia (4:14)

Winner: técnicos (2/3)
Match Time: 8:38
Notes: Carisitco is wearing a protective belt here and moving slowly.

Review: [ok] pretty much a Peste Negra comedy match, with Cavernario & Mr. Niebla doing a lot of their usual bits. Carístico didn’t look anything close to 100%, running slowly for his dive and not even trying La Mistica in the usual spot at the end. Super Crazy’s had better matches, and the bit with him trying to get Cavernario in the Tarantula was very rough. The comedy was good and some of the earlier spots were fine, but this is an easy skip.

I decided this was the Mammoth Kick and didn't tell anyone
I decided this was the Mammoth Kick and didn’t tell anyone

Match 3: Último Guerrero vs Rey Escorpión in a Liga Elite match
Arena México, 08/04/2016

Winner: Rey Escorpión (ajuicon mortal)
Match Time: 12:31
Notes: Later in the show, they show that Rey Escorpión scaring and gently slapping an announcer.

Review: [great] This was a lot like Rush/Ultimo Guerrero match (taking place after this one but airing before to be confusing), going from early rudo brawling to the UG style exchange of big moves and kicks out later. I felt this one had more to it, with Escorpión adding more on the beatdown and pushing UG later on. No screwy ref finish helps too, but Escorpon just generally seemed more invested in making this work than Rush. UG’s numerous moves that require people to be in strange positions really stood out to me (besides the top rope stuff, he now needs someone to lay on the apron, to go over the barricade, and to stand near the ramp for all of his spots) – the dude could use some moves he can just do in the center of the ring for balance.

Rey Escorpion is an amazing jerk
Rey Escorpion is an amazing jerk
Ligerbomb
Ligerbomb

Match 4: Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Dinamic Black, Hijo del Pantera vs El Cuatrero, Forastero (CMLL), Sansón
Arena México, 08/04/2016

  1. técnicos
    • Pantera huracanrana Cuatrero (3:17)
    • Ciclon Ramirez Jr. armscissors wristlock Sansón (3:28)
  2. Dinamitas
    • Forastero twisting splash Ciclon Ramirez Jr. (1:52)
    • Sansón/Cuatrero backbreaker/inside springboard elbow drop Pantera (2:17)
  3. Dinamitas
    • Sansón springboard kneedrop Dinamic Black (2:57)

Winner: Dinamitas (2/3)
Match Time: 8:42
Notes: This is listed as highlights and is obviously edited, but isn’t really that much shorter than the Carístico match.

Review: [good] I wouldn’t normally rate something so meant to be highlights, but the highlights were really good. Forastero and definitely Ciclon Ramirez Jr. were much better here than they’ve been in other appearances, suggesting they might have been toned down in CMLL. (Doesn’t really explain Dragon Gate.) Whatever the reason, this gave me better rudos than in the Medicos match, with the Dinamitas both destroying people and looking good taking the técnicos moves. Sansón and Cuatrero could obviously move up at any time, but Forastero isn’t really far behind them and should have a bigger role. Hijo del Pantera has been a little disappointing since coming back to Mexico, mostly because he’s been so far off the radar of late, but he had a good night with his flying on this show.

Ciclon ringpost headscissors
Ciclon ringpost headscissors
dives everywhere
dives everywhere

Match 5: Volador Jr. vs La Máscara in a Liga Elite match
Arena México, 08/04/2016

Winner: draw (DCOR)
Match Time: 12:15
Notes: Edgar (quickly) counts out both when they brawl near the announce booth. They had been brawling out before for an extended period of time, though this was clearly the designed finish.

Review: [great] so much better than I thought it would be Volador turned into into a crazy dive fest, and La Mascara gamely went with it. His willingness to be as crazy as Volador gives me more hope for La Mascara versus Dragon Lee than anything so far. At the very least, he has a good superkick. All the big spots came off well, and there were just so many of them. They may have traumatized the woman who happened to be sitting in the front row dive zone. The brawl leading to the countout and after was rather good too. They were clearly going for something like Rush/LA Park, and actually came closer to that out of control feel than you wouldn’t thought on paper. Edgar took a great bump for the superkick. Not sure building your promotion around non-finishes in your main events is a good way to go, but they’ve got bigger problems.

?
Volador tope con giro
gotta move if you're in the front row
gotta move if you’re in the front row
beer everywhere
beer everywhere
why didn't Rush think of this?
why didn’t Rush think of this?