Recapped: 2020-01-24
Matches:
Akuma & Espanto Jr. beat Halcón Suriano Jr. & Magia Blanca
(11:39 [4:18, 3:09, 4:12], 1/3, ok, 00:03:18)
Drone, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. beat Olímpico, Tiger, Virus
(11:56 [5:21, 3:10, 3:25], 2/3, ok, 00:21:27)
Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Titán beat Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Terrible
(11:47 [3:59, 5:10, 2:38], 1/3, ok, 00:42:53)
Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón beat Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Niebla Roja
(13:04 [2:35, 2:48, 7:41], 2/3, ok, 01:04:36)
Místico beat Gran Guerrero
(15:09, 1/2 DQ, good, 01:32:25)
- La Mistica (3:20)
- DQ Gran Guerrero [mask pull] (11:49)
Felino, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. beat Carístico, Cavernario, Valiente in a relevos increíbles match
(9:25 [3:11, 2:20, 3:54], 1/3 DQ, ok, 01:54:11)
What happened:
Cavernario & Felino started brawling from the moment the match started. There’s no build to it, they just fight like they hate each other. Neither man comes off as the tecnico, though it is Cavernario who leaves Felino laying after unmasking him. UG also treats Cavernario like he’s disrespecting Niebla’s memory by attacking Felino and asked for a rematch. Felino & Cavernario fight again after the talking is done, with Cavernario getting the better of it. Felino grabs the microphone saying he doesn’t know the future of Pesta Negra but thanks the fans for supporting them.
The show opens with words to and about Mr. Niebla from Ephesto, Blue Panther, Rey Bucanero, Olimpico, Shocker and Felino. The announcers wear Mr. Niebla wigs and Niebla armbands. The edcanes wear the wigs as well, and many wrestlers are wearing a Niebla styled mask or gear. Olimpico, Shocker, Rey Bucanero, Ultimo Guerrero and Felino wore their old masks.
Mr. Niebla’s family was honored after the fourth match. Franco Colombo represented CMLL and Shocker handed his mask to the family.
Gran Guerrero unmasked Místico after both had ripped up each other’s mask. Gran Guerrero shoved the referee too.
Stuka replaced Diamante Azul in the fourth match. Diamante moved up to replace Volador.
Diamond did the “next week” bumper. The crowd was reacting a lot louder than usual, but they may have to react to the wrestlers coming out to the Niebla tribute.
Thoughts:
The Cavernario/Felino feuds feel like I missed a month of CMLL TV and I’m dreading going back and watching it. It’s not even abruptness that makes it hard to meet emotionally, it’s that missing part. This is specifically a storyline about two grieving friends directing that grief into anger against others, but we’re only allowed to see the anger instantly and have to assume the feelings that led to it. Their behavior in the match doesn’t begin to make sense until the talking after it. Cavernario’s supposed to be the rudo of the two, based on that post-match interaction, but that’s never allowed to come thru in the match itself. Cavernario and Felino make the best of it and maybe I’ll catch up to them as it goes along. The match itself was wrestled smoothly, and moved along well, though it had trouble following what had happened before it. Diamante Azul would be better as a rudo; he did well catching Caristico’s dive at the end.
Místico won the crowd over with a springboard shooting star press. Winning this crowd over is more impressive than the actual athletic move. Gran Guerrero gave Místico a lot too, Místico kicking out of a super version of fireman’s carry powerbomb he’s used to putting a lot of people away. The flow of the match was heavy house formula, all one moves, and pinfall attempts in the second fall. It definitely worked for this crowd, though it felt too slow for me. The effort level in Arena Mexico was much higher than the Puebla match; there wasn’t a back superplex on Monday for sure. That Monday match felt like just a normal random B-show main event, while this one came off like something that could headline a major show.
The crowd being really into the Dinamtias (and the rudos in general on this show) helped carry what was a pretty ordinary fourth match. The reaction for the trip NGD tope felt like it belonged to a much stronger match than this. The only difference between this match and most recent ones is the rudos did triple-team stomp down in the ring instead out of it, and it seemed like the tecnicos were a little jet-legged still.
The tercera was about Shocker & Rey Bucanero wearing their old mask and not much more. Soberano flew a little bit but Titan & Star Jr. weren’t part of it much. The crowd enjoyed seeing Shocker on this show and he didn’t have to do much to get their approval. That’s was good news for him.
The segunda was a little bit more active than usual even while not amounting to a lot. Olimpico came out working very hard in the first fall and then faded back. Olimpico never seems great, but maybe there would’ve been more life to his last few years had they regimmicked him under a new mask. The old mask took a decade off his age.
Akuma & Espanto Jr. are committed to the Ola Negra concept, coming up with more two-man spots to sell themselves as a team. It’s not a bad idea for an early match group. The problem is Espanto Jr. is still likely to look a fool twice a match blowing a spot. Halcon Suriano needs to be higher up for promotion if playing to the crowd counts so much.
