Místico seems to be taking Marco’s old place as the King of Tuesdays, doing a lot in a match where everyone else was pretty much coasting. It was a quick main event on a quick show but the tourists go home having seen a stage dive, which must’ve been cool for them.
The semi-main was a lot of fun, especially on the Tuesday sliding scale. Soberano & Templario is a magic combination which just needs some decent effort around it. They got a bit more, with Audaz doing crazy Audaz things and Flyer and Kawato having steadier matches than they’ve done recently. Rey Bucanero was not great and visibly struggled with a couple of moves, but he also kept the match on track when it seemed like Flyer was not where he needed to be to start the comeback (maybe Kawato’s fault.) Flyer did a middle rope moonsault instead of the top rope one and seemed more confident at it, which hopefully means he’ll stick with it. Soberano found a different way to do a Destroyer and Flyer didn’t take one, which was nice. There’s a higher ceiling than where they got to but this was still more worth your time than usual.
this was strong
The fourth match was one of those where they weren’t going long so they went fast. I don’t mind those at all, though the finish felt like it came out of nowhere. The match overall was more professional than Friday’s Panther match, with both brothers looking sharper.
Dalys was wrestling like a female version of Los Cancerberos the first half of the lightning match, being the one to get in her own dive and pulling up Jarochita on two counts as if she was about to win on a dropkick to the back. Jarochita got in her cool tope – mostly cool in how it Dalys seems like she is completely wiped out by it – and then immediately got beat up again. It never got much better. I’m unsure if Jarochita just couldn’t be trusted in doing much or if Dalys decided that was not the way the match should go, but this was close as one sided as these go.
Principe Daniel didn’t show much in the segunda, but it is not as if a rudo crew of the Cancerberos and Nitro are going to showcase anyone at this point. A two fall win for the rudos is not a great help either. This segunda served its true purpose, making sure everyone got in a match towards their monthly minimum, and not really much more. It would sincerely be great if all the wins Raziel & Cancerbero actually paid off in some way, even if it is just a match Triton & Esfinge.
It is great to have the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas card already. The trios title match sounds exciting and we have a Micros match to look forward. It does leave the next three CMLL Friday night shows with a little less excitement as a tradeoff. At least there’s a little hope for two of the matches.
The NGD (Nueva Generacion Dinamita) main event tonight, facing a dream team of Caristico, Mistico, and Volador. One of the things hoped for this year was the young Dinamitas being moved up to face top-level competition. This is top-level competition. This is also giving the underutilized Mistico something interesting to do on a Friday night. If CMLL had not announced H2L card already, this could easily be seen as a set up to a trios title match on that show. The thing is, CMLL could just do that title match some other week, they have plenty of time and space to use tonight as a setup to a bigger match next week or beyond. It is just not clear CMLL is that interested.
CMLL made one change to the card, affecting the other interesting match. Barbaro Cavernario as Titan has been listed as a lightning match, ten-minute time limit. It is not just a match, That seemed exciting, any match between those two is fun and they could do a lot in ten minutes. It is not being listed as just a match, which means they get up to three falls to do whatever. These two have not had a chance to do that sort of match against each other since 2015 when they had one of the best matches of the year. Both Cavernario and Titan are better now, though they’ll get a little less time without anything on the line. Still, the potential is very high for something memorable.
A reason to make this change is this will be the first CMLL show back on Televisa. CMLL TV mindset is they air one match per half hour of TV, lightning matches don’t fit that length, but stretching it to three falls does work. A strong Cavernario/Titan match is also a good way to make a first impression, assuming there are actually new people watching CMLL on Televisa.
The rest of the show is passable at best. Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, La Bestia del Ring and Terrible preview their hair match in the semi-main. Diamante Azul & Gilbert el Boricua fill out the match. Gilbert continues with no purpose in CMLL as if they gave up on him seeing his condition but are still committed to fulfilling his dates. Some of Felino, Hechicero and Shocker are also in the category of just filling out some dates. They take on Stuka, Kraneo, and Volcano, who has been off streaming shows for a month. Drone, Fuego & Pegasso face Virus, Sagrado and Misterioso in the second. They would be a fun tecnico team with the right opponents, they do not have the right opponents. Same could be said about the opener, where Arkalis & Magnus have the displeasure of wrestling Hijo del Signo & Metalico.
The show starts at 8:30 pm and continues to stream on Marca (Mexico only) and Facebook (not blocked this week.) I’ll stream it on YouTube.
In Record, Leo Riano praises himself for reporting CMLL would be on Televisa, I guess assuming people will forget will he said the opposite last week. Riano praises Sofia Alonso and Julio Cesar Rivera (!) and says there are not currently any plans for him to be on the show despite the social media support.
Lucha Azteca AAA will have matches from the 01/26 Ciudad Madero show. Everything but the opener is listed as airing, which should mean some interesting reactions to the Ciclope & Miedo Extremo versus Joe Lider & Pagano match.
For what it is worth, I’ve tried a little bit to find ratings for Lucha Azteca AAA and have had no such sites. There seemed to be sites who were posting rating date but are no longer. Neither AAA nor Azteca has said anything about the numbers.
Martinez Entertainment tonight has Penta 0M & Rey Fenix versus Dragon Lee & Rush in Fort Worth, Texas. There’s people on the poster (Aeroboy) who don’t appear to have matches, so I’m still not sure of the full card. I’m still not sure if this will air – their shows have turned up on +LuchaTV in the past, but there’s no logo on their poster this time. I guess wait to see if there are results posted on +Lucha’s social media account tonight.x
Australian Suicide was announced for Glory Pro and AAW this weekend in the US midwest. Suicide joked that last week’s AAA show was his first & last announcing gig. it may not have been much of a joke. Suicide got bookings thru at least WrestleMania weekend in the indies and he’s not a big enough name yet that people are going to fly him in from Mexico City regularly. Suicide is listed back in Mexico next weekend but who knows with AAA lineups.
Lucha Underground’s Chris DeJoseph, whose Twitter posts about LU’s future kind of blew up because everyone is so desperate for any news about the show’s future/demise, will be on The Wrestling Guy Podcast next Wednesday. He had said he just wanted to do a single podcast, so that might be the last we hear from him for a while.
After a long pause, Segunda Caida has made it to episode 14 of Season 4 of Lucha Underground. I’m trying to figure out if they will get to the end of Season 4 or if Lucha Underground will make a public decision about their future first. I think I like Segunda Caida’s chances better.
CMLL (MON) 02/25/2019Arena Puebla
1) Arkalis, King Jaguar, Robin vs El Perverso, Joker, King Rocker
2) La Avispa Dorada & Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola & La Comandante
3) Ángel de Oro, Flyer, Niebla Roja vs Felino, Rey Bucanero, Shocker
4) Carístico, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
5) Último Guerrero vs Vangellys
The main event is a first time ever match. Not all first time ever matches are good ideas. I don’t think Vangellys is actually going for his first ever moonsault because I’m doubtful he’ll want to take that bump on a random Monday.
CMLL (TUE) 02/26/2019Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Explosivo, Metatrón, Rielero vs Carlo Roggi, El Chakal, Mr. Apolo
2) Arkalis, Magnus, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Difunto, Raziel
3) Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Okumura, Tiger, Virus
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. vs Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Terrible
5) Diamante Azul, Dragón Lee, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Euforia, Gran Guerrero
Gemelo Pantera I, Gemelo Pantera II, Tyson La Bestia beat King Jaguar, Rey Samuray, Tigre Rojo Jr.
(12:31 [6:02, 2:03, 4:26], 1/3, n/r,VideosOficialesCMLL)
Dalys, La Comandante, La Seductora beat Marcela, Mystique, Princesa Sugehit
(15:22 [7:00, 3:44, 4:38], 2/3, n/r,VideosOficialesCMLL)
Hijo del Villano III, Último Guerrero, Villano IV beat Atlantis, Dragón Lee, Vangellys
(10:11 [3:17, 1:49, 5:05], 1/3, ok,VideosOficialesCMLL)
Ángel de Oro, Kráneo, Niebla Roja beat Euforia, La Bestia Del Ring, Terrible
(11:54 [1:30, 4:06, 6:18], 2/3, ok,VideosOficialesCMLL)
What happened:
Niebla Roja tried rushing Terirble and Pierroth before the match. It did not go well for him, or angel de Oro when he tried to help out. Terrible fouled Niebla Roja for the DQ.
Último Guerrero used the ropes to beat Vangellys in the third fall of the semi-main, setting up a singles match.
Thoughts:
The main event started with a lot of emotion and settled down into something people were just getting thru to be done with. Kraneo’s comedy seemed out of place in what was supposed to be a serious issue, but then Niebla Roja and Terrible did a lot of posing too. Bestia did not much and Angel de Oro was smart enough to dive onto Euforia instead.
Vangellys & Último Guerrero showed nothing of a rivalry, there’s no particular reason to see them fight next week. Villano III Junior’s red and block gear looked cool. Villano IV and Atlantis were dedicated to not doing much. Villianos is at least willing to take his falling out of the ring bump (which is probably not a great idea to be taking so much), while Atlantis was not moving much from one spot. I was unsure if Dragon lee was actually in the match at one point, but he was able to do his usual run with Villano III Jr. and then
Everyone on the rudo team tossing around Stigma as part of the third match beatdown was fun. The match really never got going otherwise, though there were a couple small Hechicero moments (liking kicking Stigma in the face) that were fun.
