Recapped: 11/11/2018
All matches aired live from Coliseo La Concordia, Orizaba, Veracruz
Matches:
Mini Psycho Clown, Samoano, Samoano 2 beat Halcón 78 Jr., Solaris, Tromba
(5:10, Samoano splash Solaris, ok)
Lanzelot, Parka Negra, Toxin beat Arcángel Divino, Dinastía, Dragón Bane
(10:52, Parka Negra top rope splash Dinastia, good)
Aerostar, Niño Hamburguesa, Súper Fly beat Black Danger, Taurus, Último Maldito
(8:48, Aerostar super Canadian Destroyer Último Maldito, ok)
Cíclope (DTU) & Miedo Extremo beat Joe Lider & Pagano
(12:16, Ciclope Flaming Wizard Joe Lider, ok)
Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata beat La Máscara, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr.
(11:39, Máximo kiss La Mascara, ok)
Angelikal, Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid beat Carta Brava, Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
(10:48, Laredo Fly on Carta Brava, good)
Dr. Wagner Jr., Drago, Psycho Clown beat Hijo del Fantasma, Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Kross
(14:04, Drago Dragon’s Lair Hijo del Fantasma, ok)
What happened:
Máximo challenged La Mascara to a hair match. La Mascara fouled him, the rudos beat up the exoticos, and the challenge didn’t seem to be officially accepted.
Parka Negra replaced Aramis, though whomever’s running the entrances was unaware of that change. Lanzelot appears to be a rudo now, attacking unmasking his brother after his match (though Parka Negra gets the pin because he’s the only pushed guy of this group.)
Black Danger & Último Maldito are back to those identities, though they’re acknowledged as being Espectro & Kahoz in the Copa Antonio Pena. Monster Clown tried to surprise attack Aerostar, and Aerostar at least kept it even until a foul. Super Fly saved him from more but also got fouled. Averno made a surprise run-in to also make the save. Monster Clown seemed to signal for a trios match, though it’s not clear what form that’d take.
The opener was really the dark match, starting as the announcers were previewing the show. Hades was seconding the rudas and was given a Samoano mask.
In a segment missing audio, and cut away from oddly, Niño Hamburguesa got a letter from a secret admirer. Or at least it was a secret from us. This aired right before the exotico match. Every time AAA does this angle, it’s an exotico as the admirer.
A message from Scarlett was played, but the sound also didn’t work for this bit. She stripped in silhouette in the background. She’s presumably coming back to AAA soon.
Earlier, Fantasma challenged (the not-present Fenix) to a title versus title match. Jose Manuel Guillen did bring up the Laredo Kid challenge, which hasn’t gone anywhere in a couple of months. Drago interrupted to challenge for a shot at Fantasma’s title. Fantasma told him to go wrestle the minis, shoved Drago down and turned around to pose. Drago fought Fantasma, Fantamsa ripped up Drago’s mask, Psycho Clown made the save, and Los Mercenarios ran in after him to beat up both técnicos.
Jarrett wrestled about half the main in a mask to hide his bald head. (It’s not that bald after a couple weeks.) Wagner eventually chased Jarrett to the stage, where Blue Demon appeared and attacked Wagner. Drago made the title challenge again after pinning Fantasma, only for the rudos to again beat up the técnicos.
Thoughts:
The main event was the usual Wagner & Psycho showcase, with a lot of Jarrett screwing around and more Kross suplexes than usual. Fantasma, in theory trying to challenge for the biggest title in the promotion, came off as the fifth or sixth most important person. The entire finish was overshadowed by Demon beating up Wagner in the background. AAA’s not playing around about which feud is the important one here. Drago was alright in setting up the match with Fantasma and doing this in the main event at least is a half effort chance of making it work. It’s just surrounded by so much that didn’t work.
The semi-main was a big opportunity for the técnicos, and they made the most of it. Angelikal picked the right moment to pull out a double moonsault, Vikingo had lots of cool offense and Laredo Kid finished the match strong. The team lacked a common thread, but they individually looked very effective. Poder del Norte was more interesting when their offense was something other than chair shots. They at least can keep up with the técnicos when they’re going at a fast pace, and these técnicos were pushing that pace. Vikingo might have been better of taking a breath and letting some of his offense sink in at it times, but it did keep the match interesting with the técnicos were in charge. This would’ve been easily a grade higher if the rudos could vary their offense a little more.
The fifth match was the usual exotico showcase, which worked for well for crowd reactions and not so much in taking the rudos seriously. It was much the same match they do all the time, though it seemed to work better for this crowd. The Los Mercenarios are having a tough time being taken seriously while being in a feud with a comedy team, but maybe La Mascara taking his cousin’s hair will help.
The fourth match really wasn’t going to be for me, but it also seemed counterproductive. Pagano seemingly took 70% of the match, not the ideal thing when Ciclope & Miedo Extremo are debuting and seemingly supposed to be built up as threats. Pagano had a pretty shaky match, even by Pagano standards, but he got his desired crowd reaction and that seems to be the important thing to him. Ciclope & Miedo looked a lot more polished in the moments they got, though AAA’s camerawork didn’t help much on Flaming Wizard spot. If you missed this one, I’m sure you’ll get about the same in Juarez.
There’s definitely some potential with Taurus teaming with the two young rudos (whatever name we’re calling against them this week), but they didn’t really reach it here. Maldito’s sloppy powerbomb caused Aerostar to pick up a leg injury and seemed to derail the last half of the match. The rest was a lot of usual Niño Hamburguesa stuff. Super Fly being weirdly included seems to be going somewhere, though it’s strange to see the OGTs as técnicos.
The actual opener eventually turned into a good match, but it left a lot on the table. The first half of the match, thru the dives and the Lanzeloth/Dinastia sequence, was pretty sloppy. People were running past each other on spots, people were being thrown to the top rope but not making it there, things just didn’t look right. I’m not sure if they just calmed down, but it did go a lot smoother once they got back to their corners. Toxin and Dragon Bane had good moments late. Lanzleot being a rudo opposite of Dinastia would give both a direction, if it’s followed up on.
It was neat to see the dark match, getting a glimpse at people who mostly had been on TV once or twice over the last two years but hadn’t been seen lately. No one stood out positively like they needed to be on TV, but it was at least interesting to see people like Hades and Solaris still exist. Samoans were alright flattening the técnicos – who never got the comeback you’d expect in this sort of match – and Hades as their mastermind is an idea that might have some legs on a less crowded roster. Didn’t get as much a sense of the others, but it wasn’t really about them. Halcón 78 failing to get out of the ring properly must feel terrible.