Anima III (Chihuahua), Forastero Jr., Iron Black, Radamantis vs Asombro Jr., Brillante Jr., Cobra Oriental, Onnix
(AMLL @ Auditorio Municipal Torreon on 07/15, 23:28 [5:38, 4:54, 12:56], good, via LUCHAMANIA AMLL (falls 1 & fall2), LUCHAMANIA AMLL (falls 3))
I have no idea who any one is: they do announce the guys names over the PA when the match starts, but it’s not so clear who they are and I can’t make it out anyway. Without names, this appears to be another match in the eternal lucha libre feud of skinny guys and fat guys. This seemed like an ok/good match for a lot of the first half, with it getting progressively bigger as the match went along. It wasn’t as fast paced and other matches, and there were some iffy moments, but they were also pulling off dangerous looking dives as the match came to an end. This wasn’t must see for me but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of these guys.
Extreme Tiger vs Virus
(Lucha Memes @ Coliseo Coacalco on 07/15, 17:22, excellent, via +LuchaTV)
Extreme Tiger showed more holds than I expected. And then Virus dropkicked his face off. Extreme Tiger has no face now, it’s very sad. Extreme Tiger feels like he’s disappeared this year: he was all over Elite in 2016 but that’s not a thing in 2017, and he was only in the Crash early in the year. Tiger seemed in his best from ever in Elite, and the year off TV hasn’t changed anything. This is one of his best performances ever, surprisingly matching mat work with Virus for the first several minutes, before going high speed and going back and forth entertainingly with a very game Virus. The finish kind of goes wrong, in that if you’ve seen a couple Extreme Tiger matches you know what move he was going for, but this version of Extreme Tiger adjusts and makes it still work. I was concerned they had peaked and were going to lose the crowd when Tiger survived Virus’ big match finish, but they brought the match down and then back up again for one more run really impressively. I’m probably too much invested in late match near falls and intensity, but this had a lot of that if that’s what you’re also looking for. This was outstanding.
Skayde vs Dr. Cerebro
(HUMO/Rey Gato at Salon Citlalli on 07/16, 10:11, good, via Adrian Martinez)
Review: [good] A good, mostly mat wrestling match between two veterans. Dr. Cerbero seems a little bit more into the action, looking cool on the mat, about killing himself on a tope, and then killing Skayde on a piledriver. Skayde’s alright here but Cerbero seems more motivated to make something out of this, and does.
Eterno vs Bombero Infernal
(IWRG at Arena Naucalpan on 07/23, 7:22, good, via IWRG tv)
Review: [good] This was a good brawl. The rope grab situational comedy was strong, and a remarkable dedication to cheating. Bombero takes some big bumps for a guy in his 40s who’s not really wrestling all that much. I was just really thrown off when they started to do post match promos after the first fall because I could not understand how it was only a one fall match. Definitely going to watch the hair match now.
Hijo de LA Park & LA Park vs Dragón Lee & Rush
(Tortas Super Astro in Arena Lopez Mateos on 07/29, 21:07, great, via Videoblog Tortas Súper Astro)
Review: [great] this was the usual bit of LA Park bringing out the best of Rush. It was less of a brawl then usual – they must’ve been told to stay away from the crowd and actually listened. It was also worked like it was a three fall match, only with the pinned team kicking out at the obvious fall break spot and starting the comeback right here. LA Park spearing Rush is one of the best spots in lucha libre, and both of them choosing to stomp their enemy then help their friend said a lot about their characters. I’d like to see Hijo de LA Park in bigger matches in 2018 to see if Dragon Lee made him look like a star here or if he’s actually gotten good.
Emperador Azteca vs Hijo del Pantera
(IWRG on Arena Naucalpan on 08/27, 10:55, ok, via IWRG tv)
Review: [ok] Hijo del Pantera has a small thin board, pretty much a paddle, that he strikes and pokes Azteca with at the start of the match. The thing about IWRG is you know Pantera just found it laying around somewhere and decided to go use it. This is very much a random IWRG match, with a bad finish and then a more nonsensical second finish tacked on to it. The guys give their standard performances; Azteca is talented but cold, Pantera is good as a rudo though not as impressive as a técnico. This set up a match a month later and maybe that was the one I meant to put on this list?
