Recapped: 12/25/2017
Matches:
Pequeño Nitro & Pierrothito beat Fantasy & Shockercito
(12:24 [5:33, 3:17, 3:34], 1/3, below average, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
La Jarochita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit beat Dalys, Tiffany, Zeuxis
(12:37 [6:23, 2:12, 4:02], 1/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL )
Ángel de Oro, Blue Panther Jr., Niebla Roja beat Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Terrible
(12:21 [5:43, 1:55, 4:43], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL )
Kráneo, Pierroth, Sam Adonis beat Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
(9:35 [3:33, 1:48, 4:14], 1/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
Hijo del Signo lost to Star Jr., Nitro, Oro Jr., Templario, Starman, Cancerbero, Fiero, Pegasso, Raziel in a cage match, losing his mask
(19:40, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
- Pegasso out (3:42)
- Nitro out (4:40)
- Cancerbero out (6:08)
- Oro Jr. out (7:00)
- Raziel out (8:47)
- Fiero out (9:29)
- Templario out (11:23)
- Star Jr. out (12:15)
- Starman Air Raid Crash Hijo del Signo (19:40)
What happened:
A new inexplicable twist in the cage match was a firework explosion would go off any time someone tried to climb out early. This required people to try to go out a lot earlier, and keep trying it even though things were exploding. There was also a giant Sin Salida graphic super imposed over the ring during the countdown, which made it really hard to watch the action. There was plenty of other places to put the graphic and the graphic didn’t add anything.
Signo Jr. and Starman climbed out of the cage after Star Jr. did and brawled out on the outside before going back in for their actual match. Signo badly ran out of gas and it took three tries for Starman to lift him up for the finish. Signo unmasked as Marco Antonio Sánchez Rodríguez, 38 years old. He attacked Starman too.
The MicroStars were out earlier to help Niebla promote the 01/01 show, and all came out again as part of the semimain. Microman, Zacarias and Guapito stayed far away of the ring. Mije, Chamuel, and someone in a Grinch mask (Chico Temido?) got involved a little bit.
Thoughts:
This was about as B-show as B-shows can be. The cage match didn’t change that, the holiday didn’t change it. The effort all around was actually lower than usual for most of the matches, and the crowd response matched it. There is no reason to watch this show more than a minute or two of this show.
The lucha cage match was a lucha cage match. The explosions were a strange new twist, but the action itself wasn’t anything special outside a few Templario spots. There were also crowd dives, which were forgotten as quick as they happened. Signo & Starman’s brawl outside was good, but their match in the ring was really bad.
The show was better off for the bit of randomness with the micros being around the semimain. The match wasn’t helped off, it was a strange way to build up Casas/Adonis as a serious thing, but this show was boring and The Micro Grinch choking people from the apron at least gave a uniquely strange feel. They didn’t go as crazy as they could’ve with the micros, which was a bit of a disappointment, but they did enough that it didn’t feel like a regular match.
The tercera was mostly a dry match, but it at least picked up in the last few minutes. The rudos were willing to go with the técnicos when they went thru the offense in the last few minutes, and there was passing reference to the upcoming Blue Panther Jr/Hechicero title match. This just felt like it too a long time to get anywhere though.
The women’s match felt like they were putting for decent effort, but it just wasn’t that interesting. Sugehit & Zuexis had an obligatory confrontation, and it would’ve been more interesting for them to feud instead of doing nothing, but they just went with nothing. The people who are usually not good remained so. The Jarochita tope felt like the one high spot of the match.
The minis disappointed, doing less than usual. Pequeño Nitro throwing himself into post was just about it, and the lack of effort in the opener set a bad tone for the rest of the show.
You know I am okay with Hijo del Signo losing his mask, there is no Real future return on him, but to Starman??? Really??
I don’t much about lucha cage matches, but I have a question about them. Since the loser of the match loses his mask, why don’t the competitors, that don’t want to lose their mask, just leave as soon as they enter? Do they have to be in the cage a minimum amount of time before they are allowed to escape? Also, have any of the losers actually become stars after they unmask, or is the whole thing just a gimmick for the holidays, and a way to get the low carders a payday?
Lucha cage matches have a time rule – depends on the match, but 3 minutes of late in CMLL – where escapes don’t count before that time.
The losers rarely become stars. The Christmas Day cage match has been used as a way to do an mask match (and give a payoff) for someone too low on the card to be in a major match on their own.