May 18, 2018 – luchablog

2018 watch later catch up, part 6 of ∞

May 18, 2018May 18, 2018 thecubsfan

Recapped: 05/17-18/2018

Chef Benito vs Power Bull
(IWRG @ Arena Naucalpan on 3/14, 7:54, ok, via thecubsfan)

Someday, someone will ask me “Did you watch any of the short lived chef character in IWRG?” and I will now be able to prove I did. Power Bull has been around IWRG trainee shows forever at this point, and works with Benito to find a few things he can do well. I do not know if Benito was wrestling under another gimmick before this weird one, but they put together a match better than you’d expect for a rookie, building around a couple spots he can do and the punishment he’s willing to take. Benito can do a backcracker, he can take a powerbomb onto a barricade, all the IWRG essentials. He doesn’t do enough Chef spots for my liking but he’s fine here.

Benito pays the price for too many people doing this headscissors spot

Tiago vs Látigo vs Astrolux vs Rayo Star vs Torito Negro for The Crash JUNIOR championship
(The Crash @ Auditorio de Tijuana on 03/17, 8:17, good, via MegaKakashi619)

It’s been a moment since I’ve watched a The Crash show on video. This renewed my frustrations of watching a spot fest with two heads blocking out the screen while a ringside camera taped a version of the match that will never be seen or, worse yet, will only be seen years after everyone’s moved on. The match itself as a good spot fest though it never seems to develop a lot more beyond just every big spot and it’s tough to tell the success rate when some of the moves are just noise. Crowd was well into the match despite not having a Tijuana local involved, and received the surprise winner well. This is an all highlight match, so you can probably get just as much from the cutdown versions at better angles.

SSP scares the people blocking the camera

El Bandido & Flamita vs Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs Aeroboy & Séptimo Dragón [The Crash TAG]
(The Crash @ Auditorio de Tijuana on 03/17, 11:04, good, via MegaKakashi619)

A good exhibition match, especially showing off the Xavier/Wentz and Flamita/Bandido teams. The three way nature prevents it from building all that much. Everyone gets a turn on offense, there are dives, and there are pinfall breakups, but there’s also probably a better match with just two teams. This wasn’t as frantic as the other Crash match, and probably needs to be seen in full to be appreciated. It’s too bad that’s not an option. Xavier & Wentz did enough here to impress and you’d probably be better off watching them against Flamita/Bandido from elsewhere.

Atomic Star, Metaleón, Rafy vs Fly Star, Fulgor I, Fulgor II
(MexaWrestling @ Arena San Juan Pantitlan on 03/24, 20:09, good, via Carxyus)

A usual super indie brawl, in that it looked a lot of fun in the building and hard to follow on video. The two sides meshed well, and Atomic Star gave the most to this match – both in blood and balcony dives – but no one stood out too much above each other. The twist about which match they were building up to at the end was well done.

watched this and decided this would be a tag spot I would absolutely steal if I was a luchador

Aramis vs Toxin vs Moria vs Séptimo Dragón vs Látigo winner gets a shot at the The Crash Junior championship
(MexaWrestling @ Arena San Juan Pantitlan on 03/24, 14:19, good, via Carxyus)

A fast moving five way match, almost exclusively staying as with a multiman structure (1 vs 1, with people being bounced in and out) and a lot of action. It wasn’t all clean, and it got a little too sloppy for me in the middle, but they were plenty of moments to make a highlight reel. Moria looked pretty good outside his DTU environment but was clearly the least over of the group. Aramis had the best match and was the crowd favorite. Septimo Dragon did a lot of head drops and I liked him more than usual

Latigo comes back from a blown spot to hammer a spinning clothesline

Eterno & Ricky Marvin vs Belial & Impulso vs Astrolux & Freelance
(MexaWrestling @ Arena San Juan Pantitlan on 03/24, 12:22, Arena San Juan Pantitlan, great, via carxyus)

Easily the best of the three Mexa Wrestling matches on this show for me. It’s got the same level action as the other two – in fact, it’s a little numbing to watch all three together because it’s such similar action – but it’s a cleaner execution. The tag team format does give it a little bit different feel, even if it’s still mostly big moves and pinfall breakups. Belial & Impulso come off as the most coordinated team, with a few good team spots and sequences. It seems really easy for everyone to do spectacular stuff with and to Astrolux. Ricky Marvin has his monster moments, destroying people leading to the finish, and this fits well with his strong 2018. And Freelance steals the show at times with his flying. This doesn’t come off as a deeply meaningful match but it’s a well done one.

Gran Alternativa final, AAA TV in Tehuacan, DTU/Powerbomb

May 18, 2018May 18, 2018 thecubsfan

this is the one that has all matches so we’ll go with it

DTU (THU) 05/17/2018 Autolavado VM, Tulancingo, Hidalgo [+LuchaTV]
1) Corazón Latino, Dayami, Zarco b Extreme Flyer, Josh Sniper, Saider
2) Billy Gamer & Luigi Bros b Devitt Rodríguez & Hard Boy
3) Dallys la Caribeña b La Magnifica [Copa 40 Anniversary]
Scheduled for a one fall match. They went to a draw, then decided to go for another fall which was won by Dalys.
4) Tiburón b Hormiga, Hércules Negro, Black Fire, Kaleth
Kaleth’s first match since 2014. Scheduled as a trios with Pesadilla, coverted into a five way.
5) Crazy Boy, Negro Casas, Paranoiko b Camuflaje, Jimmy, Mr. Cóndor

This show is more notable for an announcement about it than anything that happened on it. Powerbomb.TV announced DTU would be coming to their subscription service, starting with this show. There’s no information yet on when it’ll be poster or if other older shows will be coming. DTU would become the only Mexican indie promotion making full shows available on a subscription site, with most instead relying on clips and occasional full matches on +Lucha’s YouTube channel. (LLF has a pay per download model.)

Powerbomb started off with a lot of lucha libre content from Black Terry Jr. & Carxyus, but had added little since launching beyond a single RIOT show. Adam Lash appeared to be the contact for the Mexican sources. Once he was removed from the company, it was unclear if there would be any more content coming (but then, again, it wasn’t as if there was a lot coming in beforehand.) There were DTU matches posted on Powerbomb around launch via Black Terry Jr. handhelds, but they were removed a few months in by request of DTU. They didn’t want their video to be part of the service at the time, so this is a reversal. Last year, some DTU shows started appearing on Smart Mark Video’s site (a partner of Powerbomb), though that footage appeared taped by Game Changer Wrestling as part of their wrestlers being on DTU tours. DTU themselves have occasionally been posting full matches on their Facebook site this year. DTU’s taken steps in the past to model itself like US indie promotions, but have also tended not to follow up and instead fallen back into simpler models.

Once again, CMLL and AAA are running big shows at overlapping times tonight. CMLL’s usual Friday night show includes the final of this year’s Gran Alternativa tournament. AAA tapes TV in Tehuacan with – well, who knows.

This is AAA’s first taping in four weeks, the longest break between those shows this year. The last show, April 20th in Tijuana, centered around the AAA debut of the MAD faction. Juventud Guerrera, Killer (Kevin) Kross and Teddy Hart were in-ring representatives. A video that was clearly of Konnan but not acknowledged as such also aired. There’s not been much advancement in the intervening month. A couple of lineups for Verano de Escandalo, one with surprises, and one with a bunch of names, implies a lot of other people joining MAD. No one’s officially been added to the group, and Teddy Hart might have been removed from the group since he doesn’t appear on any of these lineups. It’d be helpful to get more answers on tonight’s show, though it seems more likely the big reveals – like Konnan being acknowledged on screen – might wait until that June show.

Tonight’s AAA show is a question mark, because most of the matches have been unrevealed. The two openers are completely unannounced, and two more matches have one side listed as simply luchadores sorpresa. The main event has everyone listed, but it is also a mystery needing to be resolved. Texano’s listed as teaming with MAD’s Guerrera & Kross, which may mean he’s also in MAD, or may mean he’s just teaming with them to face rival Hijo del Fantasma. Pagano & Psycho Clown complete the tecnico side, and we’ll get to see if Psycho Clown’s comedy leanings fit in a promotion invasion storyline.

The other complete trios match is the fourth on the card, with the OGT taking on Poder del Norte. These two rudo teams will rematch on Verano de Escandalo in a hair versus hair match, which is battling two issues: AAA (Vampiro) went over the top in declaring the match between these teams at Rey de Reyes would be the final one, and it’s hard to believe Poder del Norte is going to win the apuesta match. Carta Brava, Tito Santana and Mocho Cota have won the titles since their rocket push began a year ago, but have lost every apuesta match they’ve been in (which just also devalues those title wins.) I don’t think they can fix the first issue, and I’m not sure what they could still do fix the second, but that’s what they’ll probably be working at tonight. The matches between the two teams have at least been pretty good.

As for the others matches, Hijo del Vikingo, La Mascara and Maximo faced a team TBD. Champion Dr. Wagner Jr. faces Rey Escorpion in a match that doesn’t fit with either of the two’s current stories but might be the best chance for a good Wagner match in a while. It’ll be interesting to see how/if Wagner fits into the MAD storyline after kind of blowing it off at the last taping. Aerostar & Drago face two mystery people, who are hopefully two good bases, and the two openers are completely unknown. It’s a little surprising AAA’s announced the full Verano de Escandalo card and offered no updated on this one. Tickets must be moving relatively well.

This show will begin around 9pm CT on AAA’s Twitch channel, and it’ll be available for VOD after it concludes for AAA’s subscribers. Lucha Central also has a show on the preview.

CMLL completes it’s three week Gran Alternativa tournament with a pretty good final. Block A winners Flyer & Volador Jr. take on Block B winners Templario & Ultimo Guerrero in tonight’s main event. Templario’s been featured as a rising star through this year and feels like the favorite. I don’t think Flyer can be totally dismissed, because this comes off as situation where Templario’s going to end up advanced on the card eventually regardless of the outcome. Both the outcome and the performance means more to Flyer. His Torneo Nuevo Valores final peformance was shaky, he really needs a big night to separate himself from the first/second match pool of wrestlers, and it might be a long time before he gets another final like this. Volador & Ultimo Guerrero are reliable, probably a bit too reliable in what they’re going to do, and Templario’s been both solid and spectacular. It’s Flyer who’s going to determine if this is just a good Friday night main event or something close to last year’s MOTYC level final.

MedioTiempo has an interview with Ultimo Guerrrero & Templario, who are confident about their chances.

There’s not much going on the rest of the card. The Kraneo/Ingobernables matches continue in the semimain, with Atlantis & Diamante Azul tagging along. The NGD face Angel de Oro, Mistico and Soberano, which would be the best match on the show most nights. Fuego and Guerrero Maya Jr. meet in the lightning match; their only previous singles match in January ended when Fuego unmasked Maya (and it didn’t go anywhere.) The Panther kids & Dragon take on Puma, Tiger and Okumura in the second match. The only match airing before AAA might be the worst one of the night, Astral & Electrico taking Espanto Jr. & Hijo del Signo.

The show starts at 8:30pm, airing on Marca & Facebook, then will be up on YouTube later. Lucha Central also previews this show. The CMLL show looks the better of two on paper, if only because we don’t really know what the AAA card is. It’ll be a surprise if any match is better than the CMLL main even too.

CMLL looks back at the 2016 and 2017 Gran Alternativa. CMLL skipped Rey Escorpion winning the tournament, but does mention him going to the final in 2016 with Fujin (YOH).

El Sol de Monterrey has a big article about the MDA/Memes show in the arena tonight. Laura Rodriguez is mentioned as the MDA promoter, and talks about this show focusing on introducing more younger luchadors to their fans. The article cites Virus (49) as one of the young wrestlers. He is younger than his opponent Charles Lucero. They do actually have young ones, that’s just a funny pick.

The Club Production show tonight in Veracruz – Cibernetico, Mr. Electro, Sharlie Rockster vs Hijo de Dos Caras, Mascara 2000 Jr., and Pirata Morgan – has been canceled. The promoter straightforwardly says not many tickets were sold, though a lot of people said they wanted a big lucha show in the area.

Ayako Hamada’s remains under arrest for stimulant drug use & possession in Japan. The initial report on her arrest had a lawyer stating this was a first time Hamada had used this drug. An updated report on the investigation has Hamada now saying she first started using it when wrestling in Mexico City.

El Hijo del Santo writes about Masdek, who he unmasked in 1989 and is living in Australia now.

CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-05-11

May 18, 2018May 18, 2018 thecubsfan

Recapped: 05/14/2018

Matches:

Acero & Aéreo beat Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
(13:47 [5:24, 3:09, 5:14], 1/3, below average, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Fuego, Pegasso, Stigma beat Cancerbero, Disturbio, Raziel
(17:45 [7:01, 4:49, 5:55], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Dragón Rojo Jr., Hechicero, Pólvora beat Esfinge, Titán, Tritón
(19:03 [8:02, 3:28, 7:33], 1/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Negro Casas beat Soberano Jr.
(9:08, casita, great, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

The dumb battle royal went 3:03

Akuma & Euforia beat Astral & Niebla Roja in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal
(5:52, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Carístico & Star Jr. beat Cavernario & El Coyote in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal
(9:045, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Audaz & Kráneo beat Príncipe Diamante & Valiente in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal
(4:38, ok, via Video: VideosOficialesCMLL)

Templario & Último Guerrero beat Máscara Año 2000 & Universo 2000 Jr. in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal
(4:38, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Carístico & Star Jr. beat Akuma & Euforia in a CMLL Gran Alternativa quarterfinal
(3:37, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Templario & Último Guerrero beat Audaz & Kráneo in a CMLL Gran Alternativa quarterfinal
(3:30, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Templario & Último Guerrero beat Caristico & Star Jr. in a CMLL Gran Alternativa semifinal
(7:13, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro, Mistico, Volador Jr. beat Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
(7:07 [0:22, 2:41, 4:04], 1/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

Templario & Ultimo Guerrero advanced to the final of the Gran Alternativa

The no time limit rematch of the ten minute time limit draw between Soberano & Negro Casas went less than ten minutes.

Thoughts:

The main event was a Tuesday style short main event after a very long show, but they tried to get in as much as they could with the time. Only the first fall felt cut short, everything else was just worked at twice the speed as normal, with no time to rest. It was mostly a técnico exhibition and the técnicos looked good – not quite good enough to get the crowd to stop booing Mistico, but good enough.

On this block of the Gran Alternativa

Star Jr. was having a nice night before the big slip at the end, and it threatens to overshadow the entire run. He’s very close to being very good, but just a little bit off.
Templario got to do a little bit of everything in his tournament matches and pulled it all off well. I was surprised Carístico was willing to take the gutwrench powerbomb at the end, but that’s a good sign for the rudo. The final should be great for him.
I wished they switched around the order of the matches to give Audaz more time; he’s got in about 20 seconds of hot spots in the match with Último Guerrero & Templario, but is capable of more than he showed. It’s still surprising they didn’t just do the Templario/Audaz final, and hopefully that means they’re saving his big day for later.
Akuma has a good tope, nice looking offense and can set up técnicos well enough. I keep thinking there’s more for him than he’ll get to show here.
Universo and his uncle went with mostly in-ring brawling, which wasn’t the most exciting way of controlling their match but fit with their image. It’s tough to make punches to the gut look dangerous when people are taking super powerbombs, and I don’t think they quite achieved it.
Principe Diamante working with Audaz didn’t really benefit either of them. They both had to slow down to get a hang of it and it made them look a lot more artificial.
Coyote’s made a great effort to look a like Cavernario, but couldn’t wrestle at his level tonight. He was shaky with both técnicos, and didn’t stand out on his own.
Astral seems between weight cuts at the moment, looking more like old Valiente than current Valiente, but it didn’t seem to affect his flying – he seemed less than a robot than usual.
A modern Negro Casas special: faster pace singles match with some surprisingly big bumps, a fight over a casita, and a finish in under ten minutes. It looked like Soberano was going to be one to take the bigger falls early, but Casas outdid him by receiving that super powerbomb. He was up surprisingly quick after, because they just got to keep matches moving with Casas involved. They got in a lot of Soberano’s trademark spots while making them work in the flow of the match, and this one where he’s not hurt by losing. I thought this was slightly better than the Aramis/Casas match, and you’ll like this if you liked that.

The tercera was a borderline match, with parts really fun and a feud to liven it up. They did a lot with Hechicero & Esfinge, and fans who don’t follow anything but the local arena are probably going to be confused when that feud is never followed up because it got finished in Guadalajara. Crowd went nuts for Titan’s Mistica into a backslide. The Mexican crowds always react well for a tricky technical move done impressively. Titan & Triton had a normal match, but it was solid, which can also be said for the rudos.

The second match was better than usual, even if it wasn’t quite enough to get a higher grade for me. The second fall seemed to be just a long stretch of Pegasso being unable to legally tag Fuego and that’s a big anchor to the rest of the match. Still, Raziel & Cancerbero seem to be more in to the matches when they’re working with good veterans they trust, and Fuego & Pegasso are good veterans. Stigma was also there, at least until Raziel totally missed catching him on the match ending dive.

The opener was exactly the boring match you’d expect from these two teams. They did a lot near falls for a match no one would’ve missed if it was skipped. Mercurio appears to be growing out his hair, even though there’s no minis hair match obviously coming. CMLL is falling in love with the overhead camera at the wrong times; the bump Mercurio took from the tecnico’s doomsday dropkick finish would look a lot more impressive if we could see how far he was falling. Same thing on the package piledriver at the end.