Matches reviewed in this one
- Sammy Guevara vs Syrus vs Ronnie Mendoza, Gran Plaza, Fort Worth, Texas, 08/06/2016
- Ryan Kidd vs Puma King, Aeroboy [OWA US], 2100 Park Blvd, San Diego, California, 11/19/2016
- Teelo vs Rafy, Leo, Mike, Salón Citlalli, Ecatepec, Estado de México, 09/04/2016
- Máscara Dorada vs Extreme Tiger [falls count anywhere], Arena Naucalpan, 03/06/2016
- Black Terry vs Judas el Traidor in a super libre match, Arena Naucalpan, 08/10/2016
- Brian Cage & Sammy Guevara vs Laredo Kid & Rey Mysterio Jr., Brownsville Sports Park, Brownsville, Texas, 11/05/2016
More random matches to get thru 2016, as we’re down to the matches I kind of wanted to see and can actually find easily. A huge chunk of the remaining stuff is Lucha Memes where I have to decide if I’m going to watch in part or not at all. Didn’t even put the Christmas day show on the list.
Sammy Guevara vs Syrus vs Ronnie Mendoza
Gran Plaza, Fort Worth, Texas, 08/06/2016
Video: victor Martinez
Winner: Ronnie Mendoza (backcracker on Syrus)
Match Time: 8:21
Review: [good] As I work thru this list for 2016, I’m thinking about how I’d like to change it for 2017. Less three way matches for sure. They rarely are worked in a way I find interesting, and it’s a lot of teasing of a better match that can’t happen because a third person is has to come in for their turn. I’m not sure I’ve seen this Syrus before, he seemed fine, he unsurprisingly took the pin, but I would’ve rather seen Mendoza/Guevara match. This one took forever to get really going, and there was an absurd double rolling spot to start that I think confused the crowd and took me out of it. The last half of the match had enough quality high impact stuff to make it worthwhile, helped a bit by Mendoza playing a bit of rudo to give this match a little bit of a direction. He looked the sharpest of the three, and I’m still waiting for the breakout match from Guevara. You could see he’s got the athletic ability to do it, it just didn’t come totally together here. Just like the match.
Teelo vs Rafy, Leo, Mike
Salón Citlalli, Ecatepec, Estado de México, 09/04/2016
Video: +LuchaTV,
Winner: Mike (super backcracker)
Match Time: 8:52
Review: [great] Outstanding four way match between the Ninja Turtles. A little bit of comedy, a lot of high end Alto Impacto style lucha. There’s some spectacular sequences and sheer crazy falls to the floor. There was one moment of awkwardness, but the real biggest disappointment of the match was how I wanted to see them keep on going and it turned out to be an elimination match. Rafy as the best Ninja Turtle is stuck in my head because of how much I’ve liked his previous work, but there’s cases for everyone here: Leo and Mike aren’t far behind and Teelo is a nutcase for that hiptoss to the floor. The Ninja Turtles characters are possibly holding them back from being taken seriously as top flight indie wrestlers, but it’s a better gimmick than a generic Mexico State luchador has and they’re getting booked a lot more because of it – it just shouldn’t get lost that these guys are very good. This match proved four ways are better than three ways, but they just worked a 2v2 a lot, just switching up who was with who at different times. The pace was even faster, and it felt like more than moves and pinfall break ups.
Ryan Kidd vs Puma King, Aeroboy [OWA US]
2100 Park Blvd, San Diego, California, 11/19/2016
Video: Ryan Kidd
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Puma King sit down powerbomb Aero Boy (5:23)
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Ryan Kidd foul Puma King (8:06)
Winner: Ryan Kidd
Match Time: 8:06
Notes: There’s a light show going on during the match which must look better in the venue, because it looks not good at all on the video. Match appears to be lightly edited. Puma has the pinfall on a powerbomb, but Kidd is in the ropes. A ref bump later, Kidd sneaks in a foul. Kidd wrestles the whole match with a mask and unmasks randomly after the match.
Review: [good] the light show makes this really tough for me to recommend, but mostly it’s a quality sprint that doesn’t really feel like it hits a high level. The three way portion is sold work but no two working for any length of time. Aeroboy is good, but the match is better when it’s one on one. Kidd fits in with the other two fine and they get to do a lot of their signature spots, so it’s a good enough time and probably better live. It’s also another another CMLL match on the indies with a wacky finish.
Máscara Dorada vs Extreme Tiger [falls count anywhere]
Arena Naucalpan, 03/06/2016
Video: tvluchadelpasado, RUDO VISION, MisticieroTV, Estrellas del Ring, R de Rudo, Fresbee Mex, +LuchaTV
Winner: Extreme Tiger (exploder suplex)
Match Time: 9:31
Notes: I watched the Freesbe Mex version.
Review: [great] if you can get past the part about this being a Falls Count Anywhere match where they just have a normal match, it’s a very fun spotfest. There is no build here, they just go to the big shots right away and all the way. All the big offense looks perfect, and Tiger is able to match Dorada with his variety. Both of these guys had really good 2016s among a variety of places, and a Greatest Hits Album works with where they’re at right now. There’s not a lot of depth to this match, and their Liga Elite match was a little bit more showy, but this would fit among the other matches from that tournament. Tiger winning comes off as a nice surprise, especially months later when I’ve totally forgotten the finish.
Black Terry vs Judas el Traidor in a super libre match
Arena Naucalpan, 08/10/2016
Video: thecubsfan
Winner: Draw (double pin on a caverneria)
Match Time: 14:23
Review: [good] I’ve liked the Terry stuff enough to give this one a try too. It’s watchable, but not something that’s necessary to watch at all. After the crazy plancha, the two just were in one speed brawling back and forth for about 10 minutes, and it didn’t get much deeper than that. The brawling was strong, but felt like it went on too long, and it took it out of them for the last five minutes of the match. Judas ages so much when he loses his bandanna, but more so on the fake dive sequence near the end. That bandanna may have super powers, or he may have just gotten exhausted by the end of the match; he’s moving great in the first few minutes at least. Double pin finish felt a little flat, but it was nice to see people actually doing the super libre rules.
Brian Cage & Sammy Guevara vs Laredo Kid & Rey Mysterio Jr.
Brownsville Sports Park, Brownsville, Texas, 11/05/2016
Video: TGBHtv
Winner: Laredo Kid & Rey Mysterio (frog splash on Cage)
Match Time: 12:04
Review: [great] Cage & Guevara are so perfect as rudos in this, just being jerks the entire way. They controlled the ring, they trapped poor Laredo in their forever, and they were right there for the técnicos. Crowd was totally into this match, would’ve been just for Rey wrestling on a football field in Brownsville anyway, but those two guys totally went for it and it made the match so great. They played off each other well, and Sammy’s much better at playing a whiny heel than a técnico at this point. Flipping Rey off while stomping Laredo was more personality that he’s shown in all the other matches so far. Laredo looked good, and must’ve been so fired up by teaming with Rey that he thought doing a missed moonsault to the turf was a good idea. I really loved the enziguri fakeout on the hot tag, only for Laredo to get thru a few seconds later. Rey did a fair amount, looked sharp with everything he did, and the crowd went crazy for his signature spots. This was a fun time.
