2017 watch later catch up, part 12 of ∞

Tigre Rojo senton

El Bandido vs Astrolux
(WMC @ Salón Balumcanan on 08/20, 11:21, great, Estrellas del Ring)

The first few moments of this match feel strange. It took my mind a little time to adjust to little Bandido embracing his inner Último Guerrero and wrestling as the strong rudo in this match. It totally work. He came off as Astrolux’s best opponent, throwing him around incredibly (especially on the finish) while also basing in a way to make Astrolux’s offense look great. This might be the best Astrolux ever just for Bandido’s effort. There’s not many people Bandido can really work like a rudo like this for, but he can absolutely do it if needed. Astrolux and Bandido seem to get lost a bit for a minute before the finish, and the match would’ve been better just cutting it out, but this whole thing is worth seeing.

Estrellas del Ring matches are still joined in progress for whatever reason, but it’s unedited from there and they’re more complete than in past years. Got to be happy with incremental improvements in Mexico. (Still, Astrolux does a flip rana that’s just out of frame, making me wish for professional cameras.)

slowed this down so you could appreciate Astrolux landing perfectly in the chair
why pick between doing a tope con giro or a tornilllo, just do both
this seemed way too easy for Bandido

Iron Kid vs Demus 3:16
(LuchaMemes @ Coliseo Coacalco on 06/18, 7:25, great, via +LuchaTV)
Demus freed from the shackles of CMLL minis division is a fantastic thing. He was always capable of great matches there, but clearly was bored out of his mind for most of the last few years. This year’s indie run has really got his juices flowing again – or, with a fork from a helpful fan, has allowed him to get others juices running. This was a CMLL lightning match taken to the dirt of Coacal
co, with Demus allowing Iron Kid a few moments of glory before knocking the life out of him with the scariest version of his piledriver yet. Iron Kid’s dives looked spectacular, as did his fling in to the pole to start the match. A match this short needs to go full ace the entire way and it seemed to slow down a bit to me, but it’s still worth your time. It won’t take long.

you’ve seen this many times by now but really need to put it in my GIF library
Iron Kid going for the roof
max Demus Driver

Black Taurus & Hijo de LA Park vs Daga & Rey Fénix
(WWCI/ANCLA @ Arena Lopez Mateos on 09/30, 24:40, good, via hector godfrey)

Note: There’s no opening whistle here. They finally get down to two people in the ring at about 2:15, but there’s more stalling from there. You can jump it at 5:00 if you just want the action.

Review:  A good match to half pay attention too. There’s no great flow here, the match actively drags at points, and they’re making it up as they go so stuff like the row of seats being thrown in goes nowhere when the referee ushers them back out. There’s plenty of cool spots to make a highlight video of this match, but it takes a long time to settle into something more than spots. d I’m not sure it ever really did. I know this is good action but I also know I didn’t find it altogether interesting as a package.

Fenix dumped
Fenix double stomp
Fenix Brillo Cometa
Park deep into the crowd

Flyer, Magnus, Oro Jr., Príncipe Diamante, Robin, Star Jr. vs Esfinge, Explosivo, Mágico, Omar Brunetti, Star Black, Vaquero Jr. in a cibernetico match
(CMLL @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara on 10/03, 27:37, good, via thecubsfan)

Notes:

for the Guadalajara side

  • Magico is in blue and black.

  • Explosivo is in white with red/orange flames, and a black/white mask.

  • Star Black is black and white, with a big star on the back of his gear.

  • Omar Brunetti is unmasked in Superman gear.

  • Vaquero Jr. is unmasked in black and silver.

I always like the concept of locals versus Mexico City guys, and it’s always helpful to have an idea of the local guys to see if anyone stands out. The action was alright, but no one really had that kind of stand out performance. Star Black is the one being pushed the most, though not in this match. They have him doing some Rayo spots to get him over with this crowd. It feels forced, and he doens’t connect much with the crowd otherwise. Omar Brunetti feels like the most complete of the Guadalajara crew and could be placed in the DF midcard without being a problem, but doesn’t feel like he has much more upside ethan that. (He also has the Dragon Rojo thigh band going on, which make me wonder if him disappearing at times from Guadalajara is actually injury related.) Vaquero seemed to get the best reaction, and was OK. Magico is a veteran feeling guy, Explosivo is a skinny rookie. The Ciudad de Mexico guys were just fine too, with Star Jr. having the best night. People cheered Esfinge winning, so that was nice for him.

Explosivo fireman’s carry powerbomb
bad times for Omar

Tigre Rojo vs Bárbaro I, mask vs hair
(Arena Coliseo San Ramón on 10/15, 23:14, good, via Diiva Moxha)

Barbaro got very heavy, or this is a different one than I saw long ago in Arena Puebla and Monterrey. I couldn’t figure out where he was bleeding from in the second fall, then I realized Tigre Rojo was bleeding so heavily that his opponent was getting soaked in his blood. That’s a lot blood. Barbaro caught up with Tigre Rojo in the third, and is completely red by the end of the match. This was the massive bleeding apuesta match that you’re unlikely to see outside of indie shows now, which makes it a feel very different. This is a simple match in what they do with it – the risky dives are the biggest things attempted – but the mask match stipulation and the blood produce a lot of drama. It’s slow paced, either due to both men losing so much blood or at least selling that destruction. The speed makes some of the later reversal spots hard to believe. The other Babraros interfere in the match to distraction, which doesn’t add much but gets the crowd more annoyed. This might be one where I’d be more into it if I had see them outside of this one isolated match. The home building fans seem very into it.

a lot of Barbaro coming down
senton to the floor

Kalibus vs Cobre vs Centvrión vs Rafy vs Low Rider
(Mexa Wrestling @ Arena San Juan Pantitlan on 10/21, 14:07, great, via Adrian Martinez)

I’m not sure if it was translation issues or silliness to call this match Five Star Match, but it comes crazily close to living up to the name with the outstanding insanity all the way thru. All the more impressive for the weirdo crew from different parts of the indie scene. Cobre’s a DTU guy, Low Rider is a northern Mexico/Texas guy now who rarely makes it to Mexico City, Centvrion & Rafy both dip into IWRG but rarely are against each other nowadays and Kalibus is a Neza local. They make it work, great chemistry for a match which often featured three or more people fighting at the same time. Cobre is murdered by Centvrion before the finish, which is too bad because he’s a guy want to see more of. You can see why DTU is high on him with some of his flying here. Rafy is the best wrestler in the world at points. Low Rider is an immense character who can also wrestle. Everyone contributes to the madness well.

stuck turtle
mexican indie wrestling in a GIF – crazy spot that’s half seen
Low Rider is maybe the craziest of the crazy people
Cobre with a tight headscissors

 

Ultimo Guerrero cheats Atlantis, Kobyashi/Sugehit tonight, LU new home

a finish

IWRG (WED) 02/07/2018 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del Ring]
1) Full Contact & Guerrero 2000 b Fly Star & Fly Tiger
2) Dragón Bane & Lunatic Xtreme b Atomik Star & Haziel
Atomick Star replaced Angel Oriental, feuded with Lunatik.
3) Shadow Boy & Súper Brazo Jr. b Leroy & Odín
straight falls
4) Demonio Infernal, Imposible, Ram El Carnero b Aramis, Black Dragón, Dinamic Black
5) Capo Del Norte, Capo Del Sur, Eterno b Dragón Fly, Hijo del Alebrije, Rafy

I’m not paying enough attention to IWRG, because I only noticed there were no results for last Wednesday’s show when Estrellas del Ring posted a recap. And I’m still not sure they’re right because Demonio Infernal is listed twice in the semifinal. Didn’t air.

CMLL (MON) 02/12/2018 Arena Puebla [CMLL, CultIconMT]
1) Astro, Asturiano, Black Tiger b Joker, King Jaguar, Saurón LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 12  DE FEBRERO DEL 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Cancerbero, El Malayo, Raziel b Ares, Arkalis, Millenium LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 12  DE FEBRERO DEL 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Ares replaced Starman (missed a couple of days). Rudos took 1/3.
3) Stuka Jr., Titán, Tritón b Kawato San, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 12  DE FEBRERO DEL 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Mistico, Rush, Soberano Jr. DQ Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 12  DE FEBRERO DEL 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Rush replaced Volador on Wednesday. Tencicos took 1/3. Mephisto fouled Soberano Jr., setting up a singles match.
5) Último Guerrero b Atlantis LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 12  DE FEBRERO DEL 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
UG took 1/3, the last with an arm and a leg on the ropes.

 

I was really worried the main event was going to be very not good when they spent the first three minutes just playing to the crowd in about the same fashion as La Parka & Dr. Wagner did on Friday night. It turned out better than that match. Also, we learned that Tirantes will take a bump in your match if you promise he gets to shine in the finish. Everyone’s got to their comeback.

Soberano & Mephisto are both welterweight champions so one or both title should be on the line if they actually wrestle.

Tonight’s CMLL Arena Mexico show has under at least three different revisions. I think I have the right lineup now. It’ll probably change again.

The main event is now Marco Corleone, Titan and Valiente against Cavernario, Euforia and Mephisto. Euforia is a replacement for Mr. Niebla, who has possibly been benched once again following his strange performance on Friday night. One of the things many people were asking about in light of Drone’s incident is how CMLL would handle the next time a someone like Niebla did something similar on their own show. Guess we’re finding out.

(Speaking of Drone: a normal CMLL suspension is about 3 weeks, which means he should be back in circulation following Friday’s show. He’s not on the Sunday cards, but that’s just one show. If he doesn’t turn up at all next week, then it confirms they’re going to hold him out longer than normal as rumored.)

The lightning match is now Kaho Kobayashi versus Princesa Sugehit, in Kobayashi’s first singles match and easily the most interesting thing on the show. The semimain is Blue Panther, Guerrero Maya and Stuka against Hechicero, Johnny Idol and Okumura. Audaz & Virus meet again in the tercera, with the frequent foursome of the Panthers, Misterioso & Sagrado filling out the match.

The second match also had a change, with Electrico still not cleared to wrestle. Sangre Imperial will be back on a stream for the first time this year, teaming with Astral & Flyer versus Akuma, Hijo del Signo and Templario. Acero & Aereo face Pequeno NItro & Pequeno Olimpico in the opener.

Guadalajara tonight is Mistico, Rush, and Diamante Azul vs Shocker, Terrible, and Rey Bucanero. There doesn’t seem to be anything carrying over from last week.

CMLL announced the tournament to fill the vacant CMLL tag team championship will have eight team blocks on March 2nd & 9th, and the final will take place on March 16th. No teams were announced yet.

The timing is terrible, even as an attempt to get a second ‘big’ match on the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas card. CMLL will have three Friday nights of the incredible pairs tournament, a normal show, and then right back into three more Friday nights of another tag tournament. (And the Gran Alternativa is probably not far away.) At least the second tournament should have less teams breaking up, though the scheduling means the logical Cuatrero & Sanson and Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja teams aren’t going to the finals. (Diamante Azul & Stuka, who were set up to win the tag team titles from Shocker & Casas at one point, are the favorites if they’re in this tournament.) It’ll be good to have the tag titles back in circulation, though the method of doing it is not pleasant.

This does make me wonder where Audaz/Virus is going, so they wouldn’t be having Virus cheat to win so much if there wasn’t a planned destination and it’s unlikely they’ll have a third notable match on H2L.

It is also weird Negro Casas & Shocker should both be healthy and around before this tournament starts, so they could have just defended (and lost) the title. Something always happens when they try, so maybe this is still for the best. Or maybe they have some big names on both sides planned for that match.

Reyna Isis & La Jarochita are headed out to REINA again. They’ll be going to Japan on 02/23, have their first match on 02/27, and will be staying for three months.

In an exclusive piece with Uproxx, Lucha Underground officially announced they’d have a new location for Season 4. That, the upcoming dates, and the idea they’re taping on Fridays in addition to Saturday & Sundays, had been out for a while and are confirmed here. That link has a few images of the new setup, which includes a catwalk which Aerostar will definitely be asking to dive the moment he sees it. On the flipside, at least Angelico will no longer feel compelled to jump off an office again, if Angelico is even around. That’s a question – who’s still around? – that goes with “when is Season 3 going to be on Netflix?” that isn’t answered in that article and everyone really wants to know.

Tickets are probably going out any moment. I think I’m not going this year – I’m not sure wanting to talk about a match for eighteen months and being legally unable that entire time to was really good for me, among other reasons – but I hope the energy in putting together a new set is also used in putting together other new things.

My real concern about LU waiting so long to announce their tapings is that maybe the people involved in putting together LU Season 4 are just doing because someone’s paying for it and they’re legally required to do it. If LU is going to make the effort and expense to do run this race one more time, they need to do it in a way that’s bigger or better than they’ve done before – just doing 21 episodes to air on a small network and the rest of the promotion to disappear into the void doesn’t seem worth the trouble. LU’s been really quiet up to now, though some of that can be explained by wanting to get media attention by giving it an exclusive. I hope they’re louder going forward.

LuchaMania Monterrey recap of Sunday’s AAA/KDNA show noted Hijo del Vikingo wrestled with a neck brace. There was a moment early in his title match on Friday where Vikingo landed badly on his head and I couldn’t figure out how he didn’t get hurt. I guess he did.

AAA’s Twitch channel has now switched from airing episodes from 2003. 2003 was not a super great time period for AAA, which also means there’s not a lot of video that was saved and later put up on YouTube – most of it hasn’t been seen since it aired, and some didn’t air out of Mexico at all. I need to go thru it and figure out what might be there that we don’t even know about.

AAA’s still posting the Televisa episodes on YouTube, if you miss that set of AAA announcers. There doesn’t seem to be anything added from Guerra de Titanes, with Noti AAA focusing on the press conference for Rey de Reyes and TripleMania. The only thing that really stuck out for me is they’re still using the “25th Anniversary” tour logos while they’re on the tour of the conquest, which is a very CMLL thing.

CIMA & Negro Casas will be on a DTU show this Saturday. CIMA is already in the country to work for The Crash on Friday. I’d assume a lineup is coming soon. I wonder where he’s going Sunday – IWRG?

Lucha Memes 03/11 in Coacalco

Veracruz Cien Mascaras says he came up with the name because he had like 100 masks. And then he just decided to wear a blue mask.

The Crash announced Austin Aries for their WrestleCon show.

+LuchaTV is spending Valentine’s Day with Cibernetico.

LuchaWorld has the latest Poster-Mania.

Lineups

CMLL (SUN) 02/18/2018 Arena México
1) Bengala & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Magnus, Sensei, Star Jr. vs Espanto Jr., Metálico, Príncipe Odín Jr.
3) La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Sanely vs Reyna Isis, Tiffany, Zeuxis
4) Marco Corleone, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Felino, Hechicero, Pólvora
5) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Mistico vs Ephesto, Rey Bucanero, Shocker

As announced about 2 seconds after I posted yesterday, Domingos Elite are on indefinite hiatus due to unclear TV situation and these are back to being CMLL only shows. Azteca promoted the announcement of the show, so I think Elite actually had a TV deal and something changed on the Azteca side. It still feels like a think that only happens with ELITE. With Elite, they could be back next week or six months from now. In it’s place, is a normal boring CMLL card.

CMLL (SUN) 02/18/2018 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr. vs Frentico
2) Cosmos & Micro vs Quka & Relámpago Azul
3) Javier Cruz Jr. & Yaqui vs Carlo Roggi & El Chakal
4) El Alteño, El Divino, Omar Brunetti vs Guerrero de la Muerte, Nautilius, Thunder Boy
5) Explosivo, Star Black, Vaquero Jr. vs Joker, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno

I can’t think of anything to put here. Nothing follows from last week.

new lucha videos for the weekend of February 9, 2018

Azteca seems like it’s getting the same matches Teleformula is getting, which seems to defeat the purpose of having two shows. I dunno.

CMLL Guadalajara: 2018-02-10
taped 2018-02-06 @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara – Mega/YouTube
1) Kaho Kobayashi, Lady Maravilla, Sanely vs La Seductora, Reyna Isis, Tiffany
2) Blue Panther Jr., The Panther, Tritón vs Disturbio, Puma, Tiger
3) Dragón Lee, Marco Corleone, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero

CMLL Lucha Azteca: 2018-02-12
taped 2018-02-02 @ Arena México – Mega
incredible pairs tournament block A

IWRG Zona XXI: 2018-02-12
taped 2018-02-11 @ Arena Naucalpan – Mega/YouTube
1) Alas de Acero & Haziel vs Fandango & Odín
2) Demonio Infernal & Hijo del Alebrije vs Eterno & Lunatic Xtreme
3) Emperador Azteca © vs Cerebro Negro for the IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship
4) Ovett, Trauma I, Trauma II vs Aramis, Hijo del Pantera, Internacional Pantera
5) Danny Casas, Hijo De Dos Caras, Imposible vs Dr. Cerebro, El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Máscara Año 2000 Jr.
6) Black Dragón vs Spartan for the hair