Recapped: 10/04/2019
Matches:
La Seductora & Reyna Isis beat La Magnifica & Silueta
(16:47 [7:31, 5:05, 4:11], 2/3, ok, 00:00:00)
Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa beat Dark Magic, Okumura, Vangellys
(15:37 [6:12, 3:48, 5:37], 2/3, ok, 00:24:18)
Templario beat Soberano Jr.
(14:02, powerbomb backcracker, great, 00:49:54)
Cavernario, Cuatrero, Hijo del Villano III beat Flyer, Titán, Valiente
(13:02 [4:01, 3:37, 5:24], 2/3, ok, 01:11:29)
the dumb battle went 3:57
El Coyote & Terrible beat Grako & Mephisto in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighth-final
(6:18, ok, 01:43:53)
Dulce Gardenia & Volador Jr. beat Espíritu Negro & Mr. Niebla in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighth-final
(6:41, ok, 01:52:24)
Fugaz & Místico beat Arkalis & Stuka Jr. in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighth-final
(3:56, ok, 02:01:30)
Difunto & Último Guerrero beat Diamante Azul & Retro in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighth-final
(2:11, ok, 02:07:45)
El Coyote & Terrible beat Dulce Gardenia & Volador Jr. in a CMLL Gran Alternativa quarterfinal match
(4:22, ok, 02:11:17)
Fugaz & Místico beat Difunto & Último Guerrero in a CMLL Gran Alternativa quarterfinal match
(2:05, ok, 02:18:02)
Fugaz & Místico beat Dulce Gardenia & Volador Jr. in a CMLL Gran Alternativa semifinal match
(7:03, ok, 02:22:10)
Euforia & Gran Guerrero © beat Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship
(12:14 [2:42, 2:49, 6:43], 2/3, good, 02:31:13)
What happened:
Místico & Fugaz (a late sub for Star Black) move on to the final on 10/18.
Templario told Soberano he would repeat this win on Sunday and take his title. Soberano wanted a mask versus mask match. Templario remained focused on the title match.
Thoughts:
This show was very long for a CMLL show. It was longer than last week’s Aniversario show. They didn’t really cut down match times, except perhaps in the tournament, and so this nearly reached three hours. Long for a CMLL show is still shorter than most any other major league promotion, but it seems more of a factor with a higher percentage of casual fans.
The main event paid the price for the long show. It wasn’t as exciting as the original match. It did seem better than the second one, but the second one didn’t have a dead and departing crowd. Those who stuck around stuck boos on the Chavez brothers, and I’m not sure standing and staring at the boos is the way to go. They did switch a few things around and didn’t go to the same exact finish a third time, but it is probably time to move onto a different set of opponents.
None of the Gran Alternativa matches were particularly worth watching as standalone matches. Most of the novatos had unnoticeable performances. Retro wasn’t good. It’s increasingly difficult to see a scenario where he’s going to make it. Coyote & Grako were at their usual level. Arkalis looked a little better than them, but he’s heavy for a young guy in a promotion that seems to like bodies. (Arkalis’ better path might be as an indie guy.) Difunto worked well with the tecnicos and is the one most likely to make it big out of this bunch, but he didn’t have a standout moment.
Both undercard trios matches could’ve been skipped easily. Titan and Cuatrero was the best part of the second match, with Titan breaking out a Fenix like rope bounce spot not seen from him off with the NGD member. They had good chemistry for a match-up we haven’t seen as much. The rest of the group was solid and/or Flyer.
Espíritu Negro seemed like the Raziel “way too old to be in a young stars tournament” bit. He also pulled off the Raziel “actually useful if motivated and working with top people” bit. Raziel’s only lately gotten a slightly higher position due to departures so it’s hard to imagine anything but openers for Espíritu Negro.
Dulce working with Niebla, Terrible and even teaming with Volador felt a little disorienting. Dulce’s mostly wrestled mid-level luchadors, those who hadn’t really wrestled Maximo for years before he was gone from CMLL. Gardenia moved up to face some of Maximo’s regular former opponents here, and often seemed to be doing the same bits Maximo had been doing. There are small difference, though I’m not sure if it was enough. I’d say Dulce should never do the crawling in for a kiss spot again, but that spot always seemed to get over. The concern is Dulce might get rejected if the hardcore fans feel he’s just ripping off the last guy’s act. It didn’t happen here, maybe it’s a dumb concern then, but I’d be careful about it.
Fugaz – or whoever laid out his first-round match – really got what this tournament and this crowd needs for an impression. He did an impressive crazy dive in the first minute of his match and everyone was onboard. I’m not sure anything else he did really matched it, but he kept near that level for the rest of his run. He was a good compliment to Místico. Making the final, even if he doesn’t win it, should mean he’s back in Mexico City much more. This tournament did turn into a Místico story, the one Munoz left in CMLL winning a block with a guy who wasn’t even supposed to be in this tournament. I think there’s a lot of attempting to prove they can just make a star out of anyone in these decisions, but Mistico came thru with a good performance too.
Soberano & Templario was the big move showcase you’d expect from them, done bigger than every. (Done with no Destroyers too.) Everything seemed to come together well, they kept it interesting for a long fall period than they’re used to going, and the finish was a bit of a surprise. Both this and the tag title matches are recent repeats. These two guys seemed to feel a bit fresher in their rematch. They also had much more interest from the audience. Templario & Soberano might be the CMLL rivalry of the year if you throw in their outside of CMLL matches. It also seems like a case where getting to do these matches in other places have helped them in bringing it back to Arena Mexico.
There were no surprises in the segunda. Guerrero Maya & Rey Cometa had moments of fun that were drained away by the rudos performance. Dark Magic had trouble laying flat after taking the stacked up suplex spot, which seems like not that hard of a thing to do. He’s still not much good and his teammates weren’t anything special. No idea why the opening matches went three falls given the time crunch on this show.
Silueta & Magnifica were both trying for bigger offense than usually seen in women’s matches early. It didn’t look clean – the sequence right before the first finish stuck out as messy – but the effort is always nice in these matches. The match started to drag with the rudas in charge and never really recovered.