Recapped: 07/23/2017
All matches were taped at Poliforum, Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas on 06/19/2017
Matches:
Estrella Divina beat Pimpinela Escarlata
(5:30, moonsault, below average, Lucha Libre AAA)
Averno & Súper Fly beat Argenis & La Parka
(5:47, Super Fly frogsplash Argenis, ok, Lucha Libre AAA)
Dr. Wagner Jr., El Mesías, Kevin Kross beat Hijo del Fantasma, Pagano, Psycho Clown in a relevos increíbles match
(16:42, Kross pin Fantasma after Texano interference, ok, via Lucha Libre AAA)
What happened:
Even though the main event has been hyped as a trios match for the rest of the show, there’s a graphic for Psycho Clown vs Kevin Kross. The rudo team all come separate, but the tecnico team enter with Psycho Clown. The rudos beatdown the tecnicos for two forever, with Pagano getting his knee wrapped. It lasts long enough that fans actually boo. Comeback finally comes after eight minutes.
After about 15 minutes, Kross and Fantasma were left in. Texano walked down to ringside with his bullrope wrapped around his hand as if a loaded glove, and punches Fantasma in the face with it. Kross was surprised, but cover for the pin. Fantasma and Texano brawl into the crowd, really doing a lot more grabbing and walking than brawling as far as we can see. Everyone else wander out to fight for no real reason – Marty is there, mentioned by name at the end this week. Sangre Chicana shows up to music and punches Averno for attacking Pimpienla (almost falling down in the process.) Wagner hand Psycho hit each other with a chair, and end up wearing each other’s mask for the laugh. Texano ends up with Fantamsa’s mask. This goes on and on and on.
Averno berates the crowd like usual before his match, before they cut back stage where Niño Hamburguesa and Argenis have found Parka laying on the floor. He’s apparently been attacked, though the OGT are all in the ring so maybe they didn’t do it? (At the end of the show, in the usual highlight package, there’s a shot of Vampiro leaving the room and waiving at the camera no – but it comes off more like an outtake than some teaser, especially since Parka’s standing away fine at that point.) Security checks on Parka, then tries to stop Argenis from going to the ring by himself confusingly. The OGT throw the mic to Argenis, who decides to fight 1 on 3 instead. It works, even though he keeps alive by getting a move here and there. Eventually Super Fly smacks him with a clothesline, and all three OGT wrestlers, including the guy in the match, stomp on Argenis. Chessman does leave, and Super Fly and Averno double team Argenis by themselves, but then he helps out when they go outside.
Argenis gets a comeback and a near fall (which the OGT hasn’t bothered with), but Chessman comes into break it up. No DQ. That is Parka’s cue to hobble in and clear house, but Chessman breaks up his pin with a chair. No DQ. Averno fouls Argenis and Super Fly adds a frog splash to that to win. OGT unmask Argenis post match.
Divina attacks Pimpi on the outside to lead into the opener. About 5 minutes in, Pimpinela climbs to the top rope and falls down to the mat without anyone touching her or the ropes. Divina quickly tries a moonsault (that mostly misses) to win.
Arturo Rivera interviews Psycho Clown backstage (right in front of the flags of Joaquin and Antonio) to start the show. Psycho Clown is totally different from usual, with them playing up the Psycho part of Psycho Clown while talking about this rivals. There’s lots of dramatic breathing. Arturo is taken aback by Psycho’s action.
Noti AAA has Ashley & Black Fury talking about participating in La Llave de la Gloria (and thanking the sponsors) as they promote the final tyrout in Ceyala.
Jonny Mundo & Kross have a phone conversation to establish that Mundo wants Kross to win and Kross is frustrating with Mundo ordering him around so much. It’s one of those phone conversations they haven’t exactly been told what the person is going to say and it’s awkward. (Kross: “Stop calling!” Mundo: “Okay, you better be.”) By the end of the show, Kross has stopped answering Mundo’s calls.
Thoughts:
Just a totally skippable episode. Nothing really happens outside of Kross and Mundo teasing problems and AAA being unable to remember which briefcase is supposed to be for the title shot.
The main event was average, hitting all the normal beats, just much longer than usual because everything else went so short. The length didn’t really help it, and it didn’t help the brawl afterwards, it felt like both were really stretched out. (And, despite all that it felt like Fantasma was ignored to give plenty of time to Pagano & Psycho Clown.) It was another thing where they tried to get five angles done at once and got none of them over. Kross actually tried to do things during the very long beatdown, which was ineffective but appreciated.
The tag match was not a tag match but definite a waste of time. Argenis vs the two rudos were fun while it lasted; this would be a decent feud if not for LA Parka and for it not going anywhere at all. Super Fly looked great as usual and Argenis’s comeback bits made this more watchable than the usual one sided long rudo beatdown. The florescent OGT color scheme doesn’t work at all with Chessman’s look but Averno’s talked him into wearing it anyway.
It’s not really a surprise Divina/Pimpinela was a match I didn’t like – the people who decided have very different criteria for what is a good idea to put on TV and believe Pimpinela is so over that the quality of the match isn’t much good. The surprise is how amazingly not over Pimpinela was, especially in strong base of Nuevo Laredo. She got a reaction for the entrance and a bit of one for the rope walk, but the crowd was so dead for the rest of this. It made the middling action look even worse, and Pimpi’s fall looked sad. Divina didn’t impress in this one, and a lot of that was on Divina’s own offense.