July 27, 2019 – luchablog

CMLL (FRI) 07/26/2019 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Marca, Ovaciones, thecubsfan]
1) Akuma & Sangre Azteca b Magia Blanca & Magnus
11:59. Rudos took 1/3. Sangre Azteca replaced Espanto Jr. Akuma picked up a leg injury some point late in the match.
2) Drone, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Hijo del Villano III, Misterioso Jr., Tiger
13:23. Rudos took 1/3. Hijo del Villano III replaced Kawato San.
3) Audaz, Soberano Jr., Titán b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
12:43. Tecnicos took 1/3.
4) Cavernario b Valiente [lightning]
7:48. Cavernaria.
5) Ciber the Main Man, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush b Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
8:37. Straight falls. UG powerbombed Rush but Ciber pulled the ref out, fouled UG, and Rush got the pin. Both sides fought again after the match.
6) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón DQ Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr.
11:22. NGD took 1/3, the last by DQ when Forastero tossed his mask to Volador. Tecnicos (as the Dream Team) asked for a trios title match anyway. NGD offered a rematch before both sides fought.

CMLL posted promos Ciber (still wants a title match) and Barbaro Cavernario (King of 1v1 matches).

This was generally a tourist show. This was enjoyable if this was the only time you get to see the CMLL or if you really love CMLL. It was also similar to so many other CMLL shows they run that it came off as competent but forgettable. Bigger stuff happened last week and may arrive the next six weeks, this was just a show in between.

Odd to do that main event to set up a title match, but maybe the title match isn’t actually happening next week. CMLL ought to really save it for the Aniversario show if they’re going to do NGD/Dream Team.

CMLL gave the name “CMLL Universal Femenil” to the women’s tournament starting next Friday. That’s the obvious name to go with for what they wanted the tournament to be.

The Rey Horus, Flamita, Bandido versus Puma King, Laredo Kid, and Black Taurus match from PWG last night was said to be outstanding, the best match on the show. Bandido is the only person of that bunch currently in the promotion’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament. PWG stopped announcing names for that tournament last week, which I assume was to see how some people would do on this last show before the tournament to see if they belonged in the tournament. Those six guys seemed like they belonged, though there’s probably not many spaces left for them.

AAA is off this weekend. They’ll be back the next two weekends. One of them is rather big. It’s a slow weekend in general, but there are a few notable shows:

Saturday

Nacion Lucha Libre has their second taping, in the unusual choice of Fresnillo, Zacatecas. It appears to be a sold show to a fair, with low ticket prices, so they should have no problem getting a good crowd. The main event is Alberto & Hijo de Dos Caras vs Bram & MVP. This show should begin airing in a week from today, with Nacion finishing up the rest of the Mexico City taping today.
- I did watch the first episode this week. Bandido/Rey Horus and Park/Wagner are fun matches but the television and promotional aspects didn’t impress me. There are just basic matches and nothing more than hoping the announcers get the wrestlers over. The biggest revelation is Kamille isn’t there just to be someone for Sexy Dulce to beat, she’s there to be the lead heel (male or female) in the promotion from the way it was presented. She’s the one who confronted Alberto in the opening segment and is leading the heel army, in something similar but not exactly like Salina de la Renta in MLW. Whoever’s in charge is enamored with her looks, because there’s no other reason to make this decision – her promos are fine but her promos are also in English.
Tijuana indie Tr3s Caidas has the biggest show of its short existence in Auditorio de Tijuana. Dragon Lee vs Bandido headlines, Bestia & Rey Horus face Jonathan & Tony Casanova and Flamita & someone in the semimain. (Flip Gordon was scheduled, is out with injury, no replacement has been announced.) Puma King vs Black Destiny is third from the top.
Arena Coliseo has a Rey Cometa vs Tiger lightning match.
LA Park, Hijo de LA Park and Drago make their way to Pro Wrestling Revolucion in King City, California.

Sunday

Arena Mexico main event is Los Ingobernables vs Angel de Oro, Soberano, and Atlantis.
A Lucha Libre Boom & DTU show at Arena Naucalpan includes a Pagano vs Demus vs Crazy King vs Wotan. Extreme wrestling has been frowned upon in that arena in the past (barbed wire no, broken bottles yes), so I’m not sure how that one is going to go.
Ciber & Zorro face the Lucha Brothers in a first and maybe only time match in Arena Coliseo Monterrey

ROH announced Felino & Okumura for their 08/24 (Atlanta) and 08/25 (Nashville). It’ll be Felino’s debut in the promotion and Okumura’s return since being in their initial trios tournament long ago.

ROH also mentioned Dragon Lee will be working more dates with them, and that several wrestlers will be headed to Mexico soon. That sounds like the Gran Prix. We know that can’t happen in CMLL on 08/23 at the soonest (because the CMLL Universal Femenil wraps on the 26th.) ROH has TV tapings that weekend so it’s probably out, as is the 09/06 weekend. August 30th is the week if it is happening before the anniversary show.

Cain Velasquez posted a training video. It looked more impressive than I was expecting.

Daga returned to Impact TV last night, being inserted in to LAX to replace an injured Santana. Reports are pretty clear Ortiz & Santana leaving Impact for elsewhere, so Daga being included might just not be another one-off appearance but the start of how they’re going to finish up the current LAX members.

Golden Magic talked about the concept of being a new Jinete del Aire on a TV show. If they’re going to do this, they need to have matching gear next week.

We’re probably due one more AAA press conference before TripleMania. The annual pilgrimage is on Thursday, so that day wouldn’t be it and it’d probably make sense earlier in the week. Nothing’s been announced that I know of.

Ex-AAA luchador Intocable is now working dates as a stand-up comedian. (Actual video proof.) Intocable was a generic handsome cowboy man who never showed any comedic sides.

Morelos luchador El Corsario passed away Thursday at the age of 92. I was thinking I’ve seen his name on cards lately, which doesn’t make sense for a 92 year old guy, and then realized I’d seen his name on cards from the 1966 shows I’ve been working on with the likes of Santo.

Monclova luchador Black Toro reached 30 years of wrestling.

all he had to do was stand up, Ciber bent over

Recapped: 07/26/2019

Matches:

Sangre Azteca & Espanto Jr. beat Magia Blanca & Magnus
(11:59 [5:22, 3:00, 3:37], 1/3, ok, 00:00:29)

Drone, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. beat Hijo del Villano III, Misterioso Jr., Tiger
(13:23 [4:11, 4:40, 4:32], 1/3, ok, 00:20:47)

Audaz, Soberano Jr., Titán beat Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
(12:43 [3:24, 4:26, 4:53], 1/3, ok, 01:06:50)

Cavernario beat Valiente in a lightning match
(7:48, Caverneria, ok, 01:06:50)

Ciber the Main Man, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush beat Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero in a relevos increíbles match
(8:37 [1:50, 6:47], ok, 01:19:40)

Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón beat Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr
(11:22 [3:38, 3:43, 4:01], 1/3 DQ, ok, 01:38:24)

What happened:

Forastero tossed his mask to Volador to draw a DQ and win the main event. The tecnicos – the Dream Team – asked for a title shot anyway. NGD only offered a rematch before attacking the tecnicos again.

Ultimo Guerrero may have defeated Rush with a powerbomb if Ciber hadn’t pulled out the referee. Ciber fouled UG, with Rush picking up the win. Both sides fought again after the match, with Rey Bucanero making sure to strongly visibly support his old tag partner.

Hijo del Villano III replaced Kawato San.

Akuma seemed to pick up a right knee injury in the opener. Sangre Azteca replaced Espanto.

Thoughts:

The main event followed the pattern of most of the card. The moves were generally there, and it was probably a fun show to jump in if you watch CMLL a few times a year. The spirit wasn’t much there, and many of the matches felt like reassembled versions of matches seen many times over. The main event was the best of these kind of matches, but it was still one of those matches. NGD did some of the stuff they do weekly, the tecnicos came back to do some of the stuff they do, and a finish that made no sense within the match or what they’re going with next. Volador again seemed unable or uninterested in doing as much as his teammates, though he was still the center of things at the end. The rematch might be better than this, but a lot of stuff felt like we’d seen the rematch already.

Only the semi-main broke from the repetitive match feel because the lame brawling parts were different from usual. Rush & Casas did meet again and find some good energy. Ciber & UG was the opposite, with Ciber finding a new way to make the barricade leap dive go wrong. I guess barricade dives are not an issue for a cage match. There was a moment where Rey Bucanero tried running early and he probably shouldn’t try running again. The crowd was way into Ultimo Guerrero and will get into any sort of big match finish but this concept wasn’t a lot better than the one on one match.

The lightning match seemed a comprise, a Valiente showcase match in exchange for a Cavernario won. Valiente took most of the match and Valiente is not a thrilling singles match competitor. He did a couple of impactful dives. Cavernario took big bumps for his offense but didn’t get much of his own until the finish moments.

The tercera was nothing you haven’t seen before from these same group of tecnicos. They executed pretty well, with Soberano looking extra springy on his knees when he wasn’t taken his required Canadian Destroyer, but it’s exactly the sort of match that blends in with the fifty other very similar ones. Audaz still could use some conversion of his evasion flips into some cooler offense. His springboard guillotine 450 splash for the finish didn’t go so well.

Tiger & Guerrero Maya led a professional segunda that was missing a little bit of excitement. They found some of it with the special triple pin but, but the match didn’t stand out much despite the charisma of some of the wrestlers. Fuego seems to wasted in CMLL as a guy working segundas, but there’s no real great solution for him. Villano III needs to spend the week working on kicks to the chest. The first fall ending sequence was well done.

The opener was in the usual range. The rudos don’t do much while in control and the match was lacking pace. The corner dropkick Akuma came up woefully short. Magia Blanca did have some better-looking offense than usual, looking smooth even if some spots didn’t get much rudo help. Sangre Azteca has been doing the same four spots since about 2011, so this was an appropriate show for him to resurface on.

Day: July 27, 2019

ordinary CMLL Friday night show, PWG lucha trios raves, NLL second show

CMLL on Marca: 2019-07-26