Recapped: 12/23/2016
What happened: Carístico beat Último Guerrero, clean even. CMLL hurried to end the show before they’d have to explain why the mask/hair match wasn’t happening next week. Máximo beat Mascara Año 2000, not cleanly at all, which puts some major doubt into the finish next week. (Weird how it works that way.) Triton returned and did not immediately lose!
What was good: I liked the tercera and the main event.
Where can I watch it: It’ll be on my channel and you might be able to find it on my twitter feed.
Match 1: Demus 3:16 & Mercurio vs Fantasy & Último Dragóncito
Arena México, 12/23/2016
- rudos
- Mercurio legdrop Último Dragoncito (5:14)
- Merucrio & Demus piggy back corner senton Fantasy (5:46)
- técnicos
- Último Dragoncito huracanrana Demus (3:00)
- COR Demus 3:16 [Fantasy senton con giro that missed] (3:27)
- rudos
- Demus valagueza Último Dragoncito (3:57)
- Mercurio piledriver Fantasy (4:23)
Winner: rudos (1/3)
Match Time: 13:36
Review: [below average] rudos weren’t into and weren’t any good, and the técnicos weren’t any better. Fantasy missed his bigdive to the apron, which CMLL was wise enough to skip in replays. Dragoncito was the best guy and didn’t get to do much, no one really did much early on. It’s really weird rudo Demus has a reoccuring spot that’s about showing him as much more agile than the técnicos. It’s not like there’s a payoff with the técnico out foxing him at the end, the point is Demus is just better at the técnico stuff than the técnicos. I didn’t hate it as much as others, but it was not good.
Match 2: Blue Panther Jr., The Panther, Tritón vs Sangre Azteca, Okumura, Sagrado
Arena México, 12/23/2016
- técnicos
- Triton senton con giro Okumura (6:10)
- rudos
- Sagrado jackhammer Triton (2:03)
- tecnicos
- Blue Panther pin Sagrado (7:51)
- Okumura german suplex The Panther (7:51)
- Blue Panther Jr. nudo lagunero Sangre Azteca (8:38)
Winner: técnicos (1/3)
Match Time: 16:51
Review: [ok] average match which really picked up in the last few minutes. Unfortunately, Claro’s feed fell apart for me during that section, making this match hard to watch and borderline ungradeable. It was disappointing to see Sangre Azteca in for Forastero, but Azteca put more effort in than usual and didn’t just focus on low blows. Triton also seemed motivated to put in a good performance in his return. Not everything he tried to work (the off the shoulders headscissors didn’t look good at all to me), but it was a good bit of reminding people who he was. The Panthers came on nicely in the third fall. Better than it looks in the lineup even if not super notable.
Match 3: Guerrero Maya Jr., Soberano Jr., Titán vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Luciferno, Pólvora
Arena México, 12/23/2016
- rudos
- Pólvora Driver on Soberano (5:02)
- Dragon Rojo Jr. inverted gory stretch Guerrero Maya (5:03)
- técnicos
- Guerrero Maya Dos Caras Clutch Dragon Rojo (3:43)
- rudos
- Luciferno Hooligan Clash Titan (7:51)
Winner: rudos (1/3)
Match Time: 16:37
Review: [good] Totally fun match. Soberano looked super, helped by having good opponents and having no obvious limitations. Maybe the piledriver isn’t something we need all that much, but he came off as a star. The other guys weren’t pretty entertaining too, as they found a way to sneak in the Guerrero Maya/Dragon Rojo match, and Titan found a way to take a crazy powerbomb to end the first fall. The result really stunk. Luicferno had a solid match, but I so didn’t want to see him to win there. Might have rated it higher with something less deflating.
Match 4: Atlantis, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Kráneo, Mephisto, Ripper
Arena México, 12/23/2016
- técnicos
- Atlantis bridging cradle Mephisto (5:06)
- rudos
- Kraneo corner hip smash Atlantis (2:48)
- tecnicos
- Stuka torpedo splash Ripper & Atlantis (5:06)
Winner: tecnicos (1/3)
Match Time: 13:00
Review: [ok] crowd pleasing match, but one that never seemed to get going at a decent pace. It was slow going and only slightly picked up at the end. Mephisto bascially had an off night and Ripper got dropped on his head for not paying attention late. Tecnicos were fine but not driving this to be better than it was, and this was easily outshined by the match prior.
Match 5: Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Máscara Año 2000
Arena México, 12/23/2016
- tecnicos
- DQ Mascara Año 2000 [ref shove] (2:40)
- tecnicos
- Máximo foul Mascara ano 2000 (1:45)
Winner: tecnicos (1/2)
Match Time: 4:25
Review: [below average] a nothing match just to run thru the finishes. They didn’t even try here, which is a bad sign for the match. Máximo won both falls, which is a bad sign for the result. There’s been worse matches.
Match 6: Carístico vs Último Guerrero
Arena México, 12/23/2016
- Carístico torito (3:42)
- Pulpo Guerrero (1:44)
- La Mistica (10:29)
Winner: Carístico (1/3)
Match Time: 15:55
Notes: CMLL quickly wrapped up the broadcast after the win, not giving either man a chance to talk (or to address the unofficial stipulation.)
Review: [good] Pretty much the classic UG/Caristico match, or as close as they’re going to come to it in 2016, with Carístico even winning with La Mistica in the end. Carístico has lost some athleticism and the moves that were high end last decade are now just kind of normal, but there was a cleanness to this match and a connection to the crowd that a lot of the rest didn’t. Carístico stopping to react for the audience’s benefit before reversing out into a torito, or before making a suicidal charge at Último Guerrero adds something that not a lot of people in CMLL are capable of giving. Not a lot of people are also capable of catching Carístico and powerbombing him very hard. There were the usual issues I had with the unchanging patterns of this style of singles match, but they did this match well. I kinda of like the Soberano match more, but this was still pretty good.
