Recapped: 02/01/2019
Matches:
Akuma & Espanto Jr. beat Robin & Star Jr.
(12:03 [4:49, 4:40, 2:34], 1/3, ok, 00:02:34)
Kaho Kobayashi, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit beat Amapola, Dalys, Reyna Isis
(14:16 [8:12, 3:06, 2:58], 1/3, ok, 00:21:47)
Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Niebla Roja beat Hijo del Villano III, Mephisto, Villano IV
(12:15 [5:21, 2:36, 4:18], 2/3, ok, 00:46:40)
Flyer, Místico, Volador Jr. beat Euforia, Templario, Último Guerrero
(9:03 [6:00, 3:03], 1 DQ/2, ok, 01:09:00)
the dumb battle royal went 3:01
Terrible beat Stuka Jr. in a CMLL Universal quarterfinal
(2:31, top rope splash, ok, 01:39:48)
Gran Guerrero beat Valiente in a CMLL Universal quarterfinal
(5:16, super Samoan driver, ok, 01:44:08)
Dragon Lee beat Forastero in a CMLL Universal quarterfinal
(4:45, suplex powerbomb, ok, 01:51:12)
Carístico beat Cavernario in a CMLL Universal quarterfinal
(3:23, La Mistica, ok, 01:57:50)
Terrible beat Gran Guerrero in a CMLL Universal semifinal
(3:38, nudo lagunero, ok, 02:03:11)
Dragón Lee beat Carístico in a CMLL Universal semifinal
(5:00, suplex powerbomb, good, 02:08:57)
Terrible beat Dragón Lee in a CMLL Universal Championship
(10:06, blocked cradle with bottom rope, great, 02:15:20)
What happened:
Terrible won the first block of the 2019 Universal tournament. He defeated Stuka Jr., Gran Guerrero and Dragon Lee on this night. Dragon Lee was the star of the night, upsetting Carístico to reach the block final before fighting well against Terrible despite giving up a lot of size. Terrible hooked the bottom ropes on a pin to finally put away the lightweight champion. Terrible advances to the final on 15th against the winner of next week’s block.
Flyer suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury in the fourth match. Volador attempted to toss Flyer in the ring on the run from ramp, a spot he often does with Místico. Flyer did not get much height and his left leg hooked between the middle and top rope. It was not a gruesome injury but Flyer still appeared to be in a tremendous amount of pain, laying on the mat unmoving after he was freed and in tears as he was placed on the apron. Volador & Místico quickly finished up the match.
Atlantis Jr. made his official Arena Mexico debut, winning with an Atlantida on Hijo del Villano III.
Thoughts:
The Universal tournament saved the show, shockingly. I didn’t care for most of the early matches, which stuck too close to the pattern of the losing luchador getting in all his usual offense before losing. (Cavernario/Caristico was the normal version of that. Valiente/Guerrero was the hyper version.) It was the Dragon Lee/Caristico match that turned it around, a competitive back and forth match with Carístico taking a lot of Dragon Lee’s big moves while still ultimately losing at the end. They played off their somewhat forgotten issue, and showed enough here that I’d really love to see a single match all day.
It also did a great job of setting up a tired Dragon lee against Terrible. Terrible tossed Dragon Lee around early and made Dragon Lee look like a heroic undergo for fighting back and coming so close to winning. Terrible cheating to win robs us all of another Dragon Lee singles match in a couple of weeks. Terrible was up to the task in this block final, but it was really about Dragon Lee being able to have a great match with anyone given the right amount of time.
You don’t need to spend much time on the rest of the show. The fourth match was just gearing up when Flyer got hurt. It was likely meant to go for a third fall and ended early when Flyer looked to be in bad shape. It is possible that time got tacked on the main event.
The tercera was a mixed bag. Atlantis Jr. had nice dive and no problem at all with the Atlantida. His big offense in the middle did not look good, with his spinning backbreakers being at Diamante Azul level. I think he did enough well that the crowd didn’t leave disappointed but he’s going to have to get a lot better. Hijo del Villano III looked smoother in his second match out, though both felt not really ready for the position they’re in. I guess the hope here is what happened with Gran Guerrero, where he was clearly over his head for the first year and a half Working with better guys seemed to eventually help him but there were a lot of bad gifs getting there. It’s going to be a marathon.
Kaho and Dalys messed up the first spot they tried together, which was not a great sign for their women’s match. Kaho seems like she could do things but maybe not with this crew. The match lacked some rhythm, with a strange técnico section in the first fall and an odd comeback to end the match. These matches are usually safe but solid and this was less solid than usual.
Robin did a great job of powerbombing himself for the finish of the opener. Akuma stood nearby, not really helping. It was still better than Espanto Jr.’s Destroyer. The younger tries a bit more than veterans in this pot but it still wasn’t close to being good.