Brazo De Oro Jr. vs Súper Nova, Mexica, Hijo Del Ángel, Fly Warrior [Amos del Aire Nacion]
(NLL @ 10/31, 9:37, ok, HVSLuchaLibre)
This didn’t really come together; it’s a slower than it would seem early on and there are some disastrously botched spots. The Nacion Lucha Libre presentation doesn’t help (though they did work harder at trying to explain who these people were more than most.) Brazo de Oro is wrestling like a budget Soberano but there’s talent in that and what he shows and it seems like he’d be worth watching if he could find someplace to develop him.
Ángel de Oro vs Euforia
(CMLL @ 11/2, 14:26, great, thecubsfan)
Just a random enjoyable Guadalajara singles match. Euforia is really good and gets a strong Angel de Oro performance. Both change up the usual routines, pull out offense unusual for them, and Angel de Oro’s normal dramatic works well against the much bigger man. Euforia so smooth in his first fall ending sequence. Angel de Oro getting desperate at the end fits the moment and plays right into Euforia’s hands. There’s some fun crowd interaction early on, in a match where there’s really not much of a crowd.
Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario
(KAOZ/CMLL/ERLL @ 03/31, 18:24, excellent, Estrellas del Ring)
Cavernario & Titan are doing their usual exchanges to start the match, not surprising but solid because they know each other really well. They get to a point where it feels like the finishing stretch, only it goes, and goes some more, and then there’s a dive that makes it clear they’re not actually finishing that soon. The atmosphere of this match is hurt because the crowd is not big and not as into it as the luchadors, but this is them giving their Arena Mexico level effort in a match in front of a few hundred. I don’t think this is making my top 10 because that crowd reaction is missing and I’m worried that I’m overrating this (especially after later seeing some of this done better in Soberano/Titan), but it came off as top-level work.
Aramis, Imposible, Relámpago vs Cerebro Negro, Fly Warrior, Hijo de Canis Lupus
(IWRG @ 09/16, 17:25, good, mluchatv)
A typically crazy IWRG trios match – a little bit of crowd brawling, a few dives in the crowd, a little bit of dropping people on their heads. They saved the big head dropping to the end, making it a bit more meaningful. This still was one of those matches where no one’s really trying to get a pin until the finish, which makes it feel a bit like an exhibition and missing a little bit of seriousness.
Fly Warrior & Puma de Oro vs Fulgor I & Fulgor II
(MDA @ 10/20, 12:37, good, +LuchaTV)
I think I saw this one when it streamed live and liked it a bit more then. Not sure why the match didn’t change. Both teams have good teamwork spots, though the tecnicos are a little slower at setting up. Fulgor II survives nearly landing on his head to compete in the rest of the match (though it looked so bad that it made me check if that was when he took time off; it was not.) There’s a lot of fun midcard IWRG matches which are hampered by being isolated from going anywhere and this is one of those.
Kastigador vs Vengador, mask vs mask
(G21 @ 11/05, 34:53, excellent, +LuchaTV)
It’s difficult to keep the energy up in a match this long where it’s so high from the beginning, and maybe the most remarkable thing is how they manage to pull that off. Slipping in a break late helped with that, but these generally seemed better at their spots and working with the crowd then I’ve seen them otherwise. The crowd sincerely bought into this as an important match, reacting strongly to everything, and they give them a lot of dramatic near falls to react towards. The last spot may have been a big much but it was going to take a lot to get to an ending. This definitely feels like a big stakes apuesta match.
