CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-07-06 

flying guerreros

Recapped: 07/06/2018

Matches:

Robin & Starman beat Apocalipsis & Inquisidor
(11:43 [5:06, 2:55, 3:42], 1/3, ok)

Dalys, Metálica, Tiffany beat La Guerrera, La Jarochita, Marcela 
(13:31 [6:48, 2:45, 3:58], 2/3, ok)

Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr., Tritón beat Puma, Tiger, Virus
(15:30 [5:22, 4:21, 5:47], 2/3, ok)

Atlantis, Flyer, Soberano Jr. beat Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
(13:11 [4:24, 2:48, 5:59], 2/3, ok)

Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rock Star, The Chris beat Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
(10:40 [3:00, 4:09, 3:31], 1/3 DQ, ok)

Penta El Zero M, Rush, Terrible beat Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. in a relevos increíbles match
(9:52 [3:11, 1:59, 4:42], 1/3, ok)

What happened:

Puma

Volador & Valiente made no attempt to help Carístico in the main event, even arguing with him in the third fall. Los Ingobernables attacked Valiente & Volador, so they did participate in the match. Terrible pulled Valiente’s mask off in the second fall for the DQ. While Penta & Carístico feuded, it was Rush & Terrible who pinned Valiente to set up a tag title match in the future. After the show ended, and in the back, Rush & Terrible attacked Penta.

Ciber snuck in a foul on UG to win. The Chris hit Gran Guerrero & Euforia with cane shots afterward. Both teams suggested the idea of a trios title match in backstage promos.

Thoughts: 

Caristico

The main event was strange. The crowd seemed into the Caristico/Penta feud, but they didn’t play that up as strong as they could’ve. The crowd could’ve gotten into Volador & Valiente betraying Carístico too, and going for the tag team title match was presented as an underwhelming third choice. The match seemed disjointed. The part that stood out was a long camera shot of Valiente waiting in the corner, with both the técnico and the production crew anticipating a moment where he’d start running for the Valiente Special, only it just never came. It wasn’t clear what happened, though it was noticeable that everyone was distracted by Penta & Carístico brawling outside of the ring. It was two different matches going on at the same time in moments, and the match didn’t live up to expectations.

I guess Klan Kaoz was better this week, but the semimain was mostly about the técnicos working really hard and out of character as técnicos. They did a great job of it, it’s not every day you get Euforia & Gran Guerrero stage dives. Klan Kaoz was willing, I couldn’t believe Ciber took the big press slam. It’s just that everything the Guerreros were doing here were smoke and mirrors they could’ve done with any other team, so either the Klan Kaoz have to come off as a big deal (and they didn’t) or they have to be really promising to build off. The finish suggested we’re not done with them any time soon.

Flyer

The fourth match was largely better than expected. The NGD were aggressive, impressively attacking Atlantis early on. They were good matches to Soberano and Flyer’s aerials. The Forastero/Flyer sequences were the best he’s looked since winning the Gran Alternativa (and a reason to be disappointed that Tuesday bit never went anywhere.) Atlantis dropping Sansón badly on the Atlantida was sad, and sadder still is no one being able to convince him to cut out attempting a move he can not reliably do well. No one would have an issue with Atlantis winning with cradles, and it wouldn’t be as deflating ends to otherwise good matches like tonight’s finish.

The tercera was slightly disappointing to me while still being fine. This match didn’t seem quite as fast moving and sharp as some of the recent Puma/Tiger matches. The individual parts seemed right, and Esfinge wasn’t Esfinge enough to take it down, but the match just didn’t work all the way thru for some reason. There were good moments; Puma’s first fall front cracker on Maya looked fantastic.

The women’s match was the usual rehearsed feeling matches, not fast enough to evade the feeling of people running thru a routine. This division is missing people who standout; la Guerrera’s careful rope walk + springboard spot gives her something. Jarochita has been around for far longer and doesn’t have anything that interesting. Unfortunately, the spin was still the same Dalys/Marcela stuff that’s been done to death, complete with Dalys running thru everyone before the finish.

Inquisidor and Apocalipsis remain a thoroughly uninteresting pair of luchadors. They were more willing to take moves on the floor and moving a little faster on a Friday night, but they were still largely forgettable. Starman and Robin didn’t do a lot better.

La Guerrera

CMLL Puebla: 2018-07-02 

UG is strong

Recapped: 07/03/2018

Matches: 

Ares, Guerrero Espacial, King Rocker beat Black Tiger, Hijo de Centella Roja, Meyer
(13:45 [5:28, 3:21, 4:56], 2/3, n/r,
via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Oro Jr., Rey Samuray, Tigre Rojo Jr. beat Espíritu Maligno, Príncipe Odín Jr., Rey Apocalipsis
(14:53 [5:28, 4:41, 4:44], 1/3, n/r,
via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Princesa Sugehit beat Amapola for the Mexican National Women’s Championship
(11:28, 2/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

  1. Amapola modified cruz nipona (3:24)
  2. Princesa Sugehit La Regia (2:32)
  3. Princesa Sugehit La Mistica (5:32)

El Malayo, Okumura, Olímpico beat Drone, Lestat, Stigma
(12:49 [5:37, 2:31, 4:41], 1/3, n/r, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro, Mistico, Niebla Roja beat Cuatrero, Mr. Niebla, Sansón
(8:11 [1:53, 2:22, 3:56], 2/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Volador Jr. beat Último Guerrero
(13:08 [2:33, 2:16, 8:19], 1/3, good,
VideosOficialesCMLL)

  1. Volador backcracker (2:33)
  2. Último Guerrero Pulpo Guerrero (2:15)
  3. Volador huracanrana (8:19)

What happened: 

bowling with Mistico

Sansón fouled Angel de Oro, then unmasked Mistico while Cuatrero fouled Niebla Roja for good measure. Angel de Oro challenged for a rematch

Thoughts: 

The main event was the cut down version of Último Guerrero & Volador. Without checking, I’m going to assume every other match they have had was better than this one. This one was still fine. It had enough that it doesn’t belong with all the OK matches, though I equally would not watch it again. This match-up is exhausted and needs a significantly different approach if it’s going to mean much again. UG’s inside cradle bomb looked cool. Tirantes slow counting UG and helping Volador win made no sense but it got Tirantes a reaction so I’m sure he was happy.

The semimain was unique for the Angel Brothers/NGD matches, with a lot of crowd brawling and not a lot in the ring. The first two falls didn’t have much wrestling to it, and the third fall got cut off before it really got going. It was Mr. Niebla & Mistico who started the brawling, and went further with it than usually done (or permitted) in Arena Puebla. The first rows of seats usually only topple over on dives, not people being thrown through them. The other four eventually got into it as well and the crowd did as well, but it was so unlike what anyone but Rush & Park are doing that it’s likely to get them in trouble for not being Rush & Park.

The women’s championship match was fine, I guess. They tried to do a technical match and keep it simple to keep it clean, but the lack of creativity made for an uninteresting slow match. Amapola got a lot of third fall near wins but never one that convinced anyone but her that she had a chance. It’s probably time for her to go Mephisto and let people kick out of Devil’s Wings often in big matches, assuming she gets another big match. Sugehit definitely has fans but this match was nothing special.

King Rocker SSP

Penta debuts in Arena Mexico tonight, LL Expo, Mysterio

poster by CMLL

After two weeks of big singles matches, tonight’s a bit more of a traditional CMLL card. Except for the skeleton ninja in the main event.

Penta el Zero M makes his Arena Mexico on this show, teaming with Los Ingobernables Rush & Terrible to take on Caristico, Valiente, and Volador. Penta versus Caristico is the rivalry, though the story seems as much about everyone versus Caristico. He can’t really trust his partners since Volador attacked him for pretty much no reason last week. It should make for a good atmosphere for the main event, though maybe not the of matches.

Also maybe not the best of matches is the semimain, where Guerreros Laguneros takes on Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rock Star, and The Chris. The Klan Kaos members had terrible names and worse wrestling performances last week. They were largely saved from a negative spotlight by Penta showing up and their match being forgotten in the aftermath. It would seem like they’d need to be much better against the Guerreros, as the ex-AAA luchadors are more capable of brawling than basing at this point in their careers, but they’d have to be a lot better just to be good. It’s not clear it matters – next week’s Atlantis tribute show is likely to also be a poor match and that’s not stopping CMLL from running it. It probably matters more if CMLL believes fans will turn out for these guys or care about their matches, and that’s harder to determine.

Flyer, Soberano, and Atlantis face NGD in the fourth match. The third match has Puma, Tiger and Virus taking on Triton, Esfinge and Guerrero Maya (since Titan is busy elsewhere.) The opening two matches are for completists only – an average women’s match and the unwelcome surprise of Apocalispis & Inquisidor making it into a Friday night opener. The middle matches may be good but this doesn’t look to have the peaks of the last few shows.

Lucha Central has a preview.

The show will air on Marca and Facebook at 8:30pm. Neither feed is geoblocked today.

Titan & Dragon Lee will be wrestling on the King of Indies show. You can buy it on FITE.TV for $10, and it starts around 10pm. I suspect Titan is going out in the first round against Flip Gordon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Dragon Lee wrestled 2-3 matches tonight before a match versus Takahashi tomorrow.

Vice has an interview with Microman, Angelito, Microangel and Chamuel about wrestling and politics.

Yesterday, Wrestling Standard reported Rey Mysterio had signed a two-year deal with WWE, and would start “As early as” the Tuesday after SummerSlam (August 1st.) Wrestling Standard is not known as a big source of information. This story was unexpectedly led credence by All In announcing Kazuchika Okada versus Marty Scurll for their show. Judging from Twitter reaction, plenty of Twitter wrestling people had been under the belief Okada/Mysterio was happening on that show, and saw Scurll in the match as a sign Rey really had signed. Later in the night, Dave Meltzer said the Wrestling Standard story was not true at this moment, but may eventually be true.

Here’s what we can be sure of with Rey Mysterio

  • Mysterio is eventually going to sign a deal to return to WWE.
  • WWE is reluctant to offer exactly what Mysterio wants, or this deal would be done already.
  • Mysterio’s greatest leverage is the All In show, which WWE doesn’t want him to be on.

Wrestling Standard probably is going to be right eventually, if they’re not right now – if WWE wants Rey in to not work All In, they’d need him in by August. Rey’s not on the upcoming The Crash July show, and he might not be around by the August one. He’s probably not going to be available for TripleMania, where he might have been Alberto’s opponent.

Lucha Libre Expo (Las Vegas) made a couple of announcements. They had previously said their 08/31 show will be headlined by Rey Mysterio, Penta el Zero M, and Rey Mysterio against Juventud Guerrera, Nicho el Millionario and Super Crazy. They announced their 09/01 show as being LA Park & Psycho Clown vs Hijo del Fantasma & Texano Jr., with the idea that – over the two shows – you’ll see the person who lost their mask at TripleMania wrestle unmasked in the US for the first time. They’re also announcing Drago, Aerostar, Maximo, La Mascara, Pagano, Lady Maravilla, Keira, Chik Tormenta, Aeroboy, Hijo de LA Park, Demus, Black Danger and Destino Negro (Black Boy) for the show.

However, they’ve also announced that the CMLL wrestlers – Rush, Negro Casas, Polvora, Felino, Puma, and Tiger – are now off the show. They would’ve worked the Saturday show, but CMLL said they couldn’t work the entire expo because of other people who were booked, even before the AAA show was set. This is disappointing for the Expo and also a reminder of what is and is not actually going on in lucha libre. CMLL is open to using some indie wrestlers, as long as they’re not wrestling in AAA at the time. AAA is open to using indie wrestlers, and don’t seem to care all that much where else they’re working. CMLL still is not working with AAA, is not working with people who are wrestling on AAA, and is not working with other people they’re angry for a variety of random reasons.

FWIW, my hunch is WWE might still let Rey appear/wrestle at Lucha Libre Expo if they did sign him. All In is just another animal.

Kylie Rae has been added to the DTU August tour. DTU’s also listing about five different surprise dates.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

A Bolivia Cholitas story.

+LuchaTV has a new edition of Aqui esta la Lucha.

great match roundup, week of 2018-06-23

a caveman can spin

shows

These are late because I’m in no hurry to post bland recaps of bland shows. Soberano/Titan was good at least. Phoenix/Cavernario was bigger.

I need to try to get in at least one more catchup post before AAA kicks in and everything goes off the rails again.

rating matches TV Show taped
excellent King Phoenix vs Cavernario LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE JUNIO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-06-29 2018-06-29
great Soberano Jr. © vs Titán for the Mexican National Welterweight Championship LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 25 DE JUNIO DE 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-25 2018-06-25
great Mil Muertes vs Jeremiah CraneFénix [grave consequences] Lucha Underground: 2018-06-27 2018-02-23
good Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Esfinge vs Felino, Puma, Tiger LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 25 DE JUNIO DE 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-25 2018-06-25
good Hechicero vs Felino in a lightning match LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 26 DE JUNIO DE  2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-26 2018-06-26
good XO Lishus vs Jack Evans Lucha Underground: 2018-06-27 2018-02-23
good Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. vs Ephesto, Mephisto, Templario LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE JUNIO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-06-29 2018-06-29
good Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Niebla Roja vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE JUNIO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-06-29 2018-06-29
ok Astro, Asturiano, Stukita vs Joker, Mercurio, Saurón LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 25 DE JUNIO DE 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-25 2018-06-25
ok Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola in a lightning match LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 25 DE JUNIO DE 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-25 2018-06-25
ok Flyer & Volador Jr. vs Templario & Último GuerreroLA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 25 DE JUNIO DE 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-25 2018-06-25
ok Astral, Eléctrico, Oro Jr. vs Cancerbero, Nitro, YagoLUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 26 DE JUNIO DE  2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-26 2018-06-26
ok Esfinge, Titán, Tritón vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Luciferno, Pólvora LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 26 DE JUNIO DE  2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-26 2018-06-26
ok Dragón Lee, Flyer, Mistico vs Euforia, Forastero, Negro Casas LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 26 DE JUNIO DE  2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-26 2018-06-26
ok Pegasso, Star Jr., Stigma vs Disturbio, Kawato San, Okumura LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE JUNIO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-06-29 2018-06-29
below average Magnus & Príncipe Diamante vs Espanto Jr. & Hijo del Signo LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE JUNIO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-06-29 2018-06-29
below average Ciber the Main Man, Sharly Rock Star, The Chrizhvs Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE JUNIO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-06-29 2018-06-29
not rated Meyer, Millenium, Tigre Rojo Jr. vs Espíritu Maligno, King Jaguar, King Rocker LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 25 DE JUNIO DE 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-25 2018-06-25
not rated Bengala & Leono vs Apocalipsis & Cholo LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 26 DE JUNIO DE  2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-26 2018-06-26
not rated Estrellita, La Jarochita, Marcela vs Dalys, La Metálica, Reyna Isis LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 26 DE JUNIO DE  2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2018-06-26 2018-06-26