Recapped: 2020-01-16
Matches:
Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Douki & Namajague
(7:22, Fuego casadora cradle Douki, good)
El Audaz & Guerrero Maya Jr. beat Kanemaru & Luciferno
(10:17, Audaz pin Luciferno, ok)
Bushi, EVIL, Takagi beat Dulce Gardenia, Flyer, Hiroshi Tanahashi
(11:00, Takagi pumping bomber Dulce, ok)
Forastero & Okumura beat Stuka Jr. & Titán
(9:07, Forastero armbar Okumura, ok)
Bárbaro Cavernario & Último Guerrero beat Carístico & Kojima
(13:05, Cavernario cavernaria Caristico, ok)
Cuatrero & Sansón beat Euforia & Soberano Jr. in a CMLL FAMILY semifinal
(9:30, Cuatrero inverted bear hug Soberano, good)
Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja beat Negro Casas & Tiger in a CMLL FAMILY semifinal
(12:52, inverted campana, good)
What happened:
Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja meat Sanson & Cuatrero in the Family tag team final. They exchanged words after the main event.
Thoughts:
The main event was the best match of the night, the two teams meshing well and no big errors. Casas was having a lot of fun laying in shots in the main event. He made more of the match than Tiger. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja were smooth and got overdoing their act. There’s nothing on this show that needs to be seen but the last match was the most pleasant watch.
The opening family tag match was more enjoyable than most of the matches on the show, though it felt less than their best. I appreciate Soberano figuring out a way to force in a stage dive in Korakuen Hall, and Soberano jumping into the finish was well done. The crowd seemed less receptive to the match, and most matches, then in the past. Euforia playing against his usual style didn’t work as well here too, probably because they’re not using to seeing Euforia at all. Cuatrero rebounded from a tough start.
When the Caristico match turns into dueling posing early on, it suggests it’s not going to be the hardest working match. That tag match was some exhibition, some build to the singles match, nothing particularly shocking. All of these matches feel long to me, but it is just a one fall match and my CMLL brain is used to shorter periods. Work wasn’t really great near the finish.
A lot of the undercard seemed like b-level matches, but it also may be personal. Titan & Stuka should’ve had a better match than they did in the fourth but there really wasn’t much the rudo were adding to it. It was a basic showcase match of the big spots but one easy to skip.
The Gardenia trios were fine, despite the noticeable botch at the end. Gardenia taking the pin doesn’t really matter as much Gardenia surviving stuff earlier; he’s elegant but also tough. I didn’t think much about Flyer in this match which is alright by for him.
Japan has brought us many amazing things. The second match brought us Luciferno wrestling without a shirt. He did get a new top that matched his gear. The match didn’t flow great together, Audaz doing some spectacular things but not really getting into the flow of the match. I’m not sure there was a flow to the match at all and it ended with Luciferno seemingly kicking out of the finish.
Fuego & Taguchi are good for amusing openers and were good at it here. They did a lot more comedy than Fuego usually does alone, but it works well with Taguchi as the opposite. Namajague fits in these wells too. DOUKI didn’t get to do as much but that’s not really his role for these.