CMLL Mexico: 2019-07-09

Recapped: 07/10/2019

Matches:

Cholo & Yago beat Robin & Sonic
(9:59 [3:52, 2:30, 3:37], 2/3, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Akuma, Espanto Jr., Espíritu Negro beat Pegasso, Stigma, Súper Astro Jr.
(13:00 [6:25, 2:12, 4:23], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Rey Cometa beat Dark Magic, Kawato San, Pólvora
(20:06 [8:19, 5:40, 6:07], 1/3 DQ, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. beat Felino, Negro Casas, Tiger
(17:51 [8:22, 3:34, 6:05], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Templario beat Carístico, Flyer, Volador Jr.
(17:22 [4:25, 4:52, 8:05], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Dragón Lee beat Cavernario
(13:48 [2:56, 2:37, 8:15], good, 2/3, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

This show will be remembered as the strangely long Tuesday show but we’re still not sure why. Dragon Lee beat Cavernario in their match but there’s nothing there more than the result. Polvora and Blue Panther Jr. exchanged mask match challenges but it didn’t seem entirely serious.

Thoughts:

Cavernario going to the top rope against Dragon Lee in the third fall of the main event seemed like a very bad sign, because it was only going to end with Cavernario getting double stomped and that often ends CMLL matches. I breathed a sigh of relief when Cavernario kicked out of that double stomp. Dragon Lee immediately gave him the desnucadora for the win. I shouldn’t have breathed. This is a good match where both men worked hard for the time that it feels mean to degenerate as not their best, but also it was very clearly not their best. They did better than most people would do in a thrown off singles match on an off night but Cavernario & Dragon Lee have raised the bar higher than that. I assume the show length caused them to go shorter than they would’ve, but I’m not sure of that. It would probably be good for us if they had the sense to not go all out on a Tuesday but it’s not quite as good for us.

Often the triple dive spot leads to the tecnicos winning a fall. In this semi-final, it led the tecnicos coming back in the ring, falling down, and immediately getting submitted. That doesn’t seem great. Seemed weird that Gran Guerrero was getting a pin on Caristico to win a match. In between was well-worked match that didn’t really peak but used the time the best of three long trios matches.

The fourth match went long, but it felt like a normal match worked at a slightly more leisurely pace. Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, and Soberano still make a good trio and the Casas family worked well as opponents. Angel de Oro is getting a lot of screams. Tiger seemed to like working with new people and I appreciate the effort to start something with Soberano even after the match.

The Polvora trios match didn’t feel totally weird until the second fall. The first fall was long but in the way that some midcard matches just can randomly have long falls. By the second fall, there was brawling out to the crowd for a while for no perceptible reason. The reason so had to be stalling. After the match, they let Polvora talk, brawl, and talk more when they’re usually very quick to shut the mics off when things are going too long. Edgar didn’t try to cut it off either, which meant it the weird meandering promos were part of some of plan. The match itself didn’t seem like a plan, something that meandered with comebacks and endings coming with little setup. The whole match didn’t help anyone, but Dark Magic popping up on a stream for the first time in months to lay in some chokes was very much not great. He’s got the most robotic stomps I’ve ever seen and it has to be some kind of messed up stomp for me to notice how bad they are.

The second match was fine for who was involved. CMLL cameras are really good at shooting Super Astro Jr.’s reverse tope. This match also featured the worse version of the front cracker/wheelbarrow suplex spot I’ve seen. The rudos did seem to have teamwork spots, so I believe their desire to be a permeant trio is not just some random thought. It just doesn’t seem likely to happen.