Recapped: 12/25/2018
Matches:
La Parkita, Mini Psycho Clown, Solaris beat La Parkita Negra, Mini Monster Clown, Mini Murder Clown
(10:08, Mini Psycho Clown Canadian Destroyer Mini Monster Clown, good, 00:18:25)
Chica Tormenta, Demus, Toxin beat Chicano, Vanilla, Villano III Jr.
(14:55, Demus Driver on Chicano, good, 00:39:51)
Keyra & Lady Maravilla beat Faby Apache & Lady Shani
(9:29, DQ Lady Shani [Lady Maravilla fake mask removal], good, 01:05:21)
Myzteziz Jr., Halcón 78 Jr., Hijo Del Vikingo beat Emperador Azteca, Samoano, Tonga
(9:32, Vikingo reverse 450 splash Emperador Azteca, good, 01:25:25)
Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly beat Australian Suicide, Golden Magic, Jack Evans
(10:14, OGT double three-man powerbomb Golden Magic, good, 01:45:31)
La Parka, Pagano, Psycho Clown beat Electroshock, Rey Escorpión, Taurus
(17:08, Psycho Clown casita Taurus, ok, 02:08:01)
What happened:
Elite won the first two matches. AAA won the last three to win the series. The announcers called it the “Ultima” confrontation, though they may have just meant the last one in 2018.
Rey Escorpión stole Psycho Clown’s mask post-match for no real reason. They’d be feuding during the match.
Hades seconded Samoano & Tonga again and seems to be their permanent manager, so that wasn’t just a dark match fever dream.
Thoughts:
The AAA main event followed the normal formula for those matches. La Parka did some comedy, Pagano blew spots, Psycho Clown looked good. It didn’t hold my interest as the 12th straight match I’d watched but seemed about average for that spot. Rey Escorpión messing with Psycho Clown after the match felt more like Rey Escorpión doing something on his own than any angle, but we’ll see.
The semi-final was about where I got overwhelmed about how many things were going on at once at lost track a bit of what I was happening in front of me. This seemed like another good action match with weird sides. The OGT worked like rudos even though they were the home team. That made for the more exciting match, with the “Elite” team breaking out a lot of flying against a good team of bases, even if it didn’t make a lot of sense in the overall show narrative. I liked some of the other matches more but this was still enjoyable.
The fourth match was well over expectations. Myzteziz & Vikingo are clearly trying to make very match special. It was really the Samoanos who were much better than they’ve been in any other match, peaking with a giant Tonga dive sequence at the end. They came across strongly and Hades did well with her couple of interference spots. Samaono hasn’t done much to be taken seriously to this point, but they might be able to get something of the unit. Halcón and Emperador were fine for what they were asked for. Crowd booing Myzteziz Jr. for existing is not a good sign. He did win them back over when he did a cool move a moment later.
The women’s match turned into the usual extremely hard-hitting match expected from this quartet. Keyra launching into Shani with the corner dropkick and then getting unexpectedly obliterated by Faby Apache was brutal and perfect for this match. Faby & Keyra had a brief sequence of murdering each other that was stupendous. Everyone fought hard for how long it lasted. This was good in a different way than the match the other matches prior to it on the card. Lady Maravilla shows infinitely more personality in AAA, coming across strongly on her post-match promo. AAA missing the finish was a bit hilarious but at least they showed the it in the replays.
The segunda had a lot of action and some errors, as might be figured with a match running as long as it ended up with some inexperienced people. There was one sequence with Demus, Chicano and Villano III Jr. that had some embarrassing botches, but most of the action held up. Chicano did some amazing things and had some weaker moments; he seems to be going a 100 MPH to try to make an impression and get on these shows regularly, which might not be to his benefit. Vanilla had a solid match, which seems notable when it comes to her, and got crushed by the Elite team a couple times. Villano III’s new look is cool and he had a mostly good match. Toxin made a positive impression. Demus’ finish looked killer.
The opener was interesting for the weirdness of a lot of these people finally existing. Mini Gronda moved better than either of the other two Grondas and doesn’t really fit the gimmick besides dressing up in the look, but that’s fine. The rest was a lot more comedy than in most AAA matches, and it came off well as a chance of pace. The new crew of minis can wrestle well enough that it’s not just a reliance on comedy to get thru everything. These minis worked as something different though not something I need to exactly see on every taping.
