The family tournament and Titan/Forastero were the best of the first two Korkauen Hall shows. People who don’t watch a lot of CMLL like Titan/Forastero, the tournament final and (bafflingly) Okumura & Stuka a lot more than I did. Maybe you will too if you’re reading this just to dip in for a few matches.
The Reyes del Aire is way better than it looks. Better than the recap makes it look; I had an idea to do something with Black Panther’s dives, made a note to wait to post the recap until I did it, and then just posted it anyway. These would all get done faster if I just forget the GIFs to start with.
Recommended Matches
rating
matches
TV Show
taped
great
Drone vs Templario, Rey Cometa, Kawato San, Príncipe Diamante, Akuma, Black Panther, Hijo del Signo, Star Jr., Virus, Esfinge, Disturbioin a CMLL’s Reyes del Aire Tournament match
CMLL YouTube: 2020-01-14
2020-01-14
good
Místico vs Mephisto
CMLL YouTube: 2020-01-14
2020-01-14
good
Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi vs Douki & Namajague
NJPW World: 2020-01-16
2020-01-16
good
Euforia & Soberano Jr. vs Cuatrero & Sansón [CMLL FAMILY] and in a tournament semifinal match
NJPW World: 2020-01-16
2020-01-16
good
Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Negro Casas & Tiger [CMLL FAMILY] and in a tournament semifinal match
NJPW World: 2020-01-16
2020-01-16
good
Titán vs Forastero
NJPW World: 2020-01-17
2020-01-17
good
Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Cuatrero & Sansón [CMLL FAMILY] and in a tournament final match
NJPW World: 2020-01-17
2020-01-17
Other Matches
rating
matches
TV Show
taped
ok
Titán vs Templarioin a lightning match
CMLL A Ras De Lona: 2020-01-12
2020-01-05
ok
El Audaz & Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Kanemaru & Luciferno
NJPW World: 2020-01-16
2020-01-16
ok
Dulce Gardenia, Flyer, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Bushi, EVIL, Takagi
NJPW World: 2020-01-16
2020-01-16
ok
Stuka Jr. & Titán vs Forastero & Okumura
NJPW World: 2020-01-16
2020-01-16
ok
Carístico & Kojima vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Último Guerrero
NJPW World: 2020-01-16
2020-01-16
ok
Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi vs Douki & Luciferno
NJPW World: 2020-01-17
2020-01-17
ok
Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Kanemaru, Namajague, Okumura
NJPW World: 2020-01-17
2020-01-17
ok
Dulce Gardenia, El Audaz, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Bushi, EVIL, Takagi
NJPW World: 2020-01-17
2020-01-17
ok
Carístico & Kojima vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Último Guerrero
NJPW World: 2020-01-17
2020-01-17
ok
Negro Casas & Tiger vs Euforia & Soberano Jr. [CMLL FAMILY] and [3rd place]
NJPW World: 2020-01-17
2020-01-17
below average
Astro, Kaligua, Shockercito vs Espíritu Maligno, Joker, Pierrothito
CMLL YouTube: 2020-01-13
2020-01-13
not rated
Asturiano, King Jaguar, Tigre Rojo Jr. vs Ares, Centella Roja, Policeman
CMLL YouTube: 2020-01-13
2020-01-13
not rated
Black Panther, Esfinge, Stigma vs Dark Magic, Kawato San, Olímpico
CMLL YouTube: 2020-01-13
2020-01-13
not rated
Kráneo, Valiente, Volcano vs Máscara Año 2000, Rey Bucanero, Universo 2000 Jr.
CMLL YouTube: 2020-01-13
2020-01-13
not rated
Diamante Azul, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Felino, Gran Guerrero, Templario
CMLL YouTube: 2020-01-13
2020-01-13
not rated
Acero & Aéreo vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
CMLL YouTube: 2020-01-14
2020-01-14
not rated
Eléctrico, Magnus, Oro Jr. vs Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro
CMLL YouTube: 2020-01-14
2020-01-14
not rated
Blue Panther Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Dark Magic, Misterioso, Sagrado
Carístico & Kojima vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Último Guerrero
(11:43, Kojima lariat Ultimo Guerrero, ok)
Euforia & Soberano Jr. beat Negro Casas & Tiger in the CMLL Family 3rd Place match (8:40, Soberano Destroyer Tiger, ok)
Cuatrero & Sansón beat Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja in the CMLL Family 1st Place Match (12:18, Sanson super torture rack bomb Angel de Oro, good)
What happened:
Titan kept his title. NGD won the Family tag team tournament.
Thoughts:
The tournament final will play better for NJPW fans who don’t watch a lot of CMLL than people who watch everything. It’s a tour of what both teams have done a lot in Mexico, done with polish but without much new added. The NGD came impressively with their double teams, there was plenty done here to help the viewer understand why they’d been so dominant. It didn’t offer as much to those who are familiar with them. They did pinfall breakups for a long time in the match and that portion could’ve been better. They were using match ending moves but rarely giving a chance for them to breathe as if the match could end. Covers were broken well before three, submissions were on just for an instant, the drama at the moment was kind of missed as if they were in a hurry. They got a lot of time, and it’s just an additional second or two that would’ve made the difference. The finish came off good at least.
Soberano & Euforia were better as individuals in the third-place game but didn’t get to show as much teamwork. They were at the best in small stints with Negro Casas, though Casas seemed to tire at the end. Tiger was again fine but no more than fine. It feels strange to see a Destroyer actually win a lucha libre match as opposed to being a random midmatch spot.
If you want to see Kojima bizarrely try a top rope headscissors just so Ultimo Guerrero can reverse it into a powerbomb, the Friday version of this tag match had that. The Thursday did not. There are other small and irrelevant changes outside the different finish but no strong reason for two of these matches needing to exist.
Body part selling like Titan’s hampered ankle is very rare in CMLL. It seemed to be a play toward NJPW sensibilities and hopefully worked out for him. Forastero showed more offense here than he has in most of his recent singles match, but he’s not a guy who’s going to work well just trading big spot, so maybe the build around the drama of the ankle was for the best. Titan balanced showing the pain in his ankle while still fighting through his big spots well and this was probably about as good a match as these two guys were going to have.
We’re halfway home on the LIJ matches and they’re basically following the same pattern and having the same results. Tanahashi wrestled a little bit more in this match but these are hard spots. It’s mostly a lot of Dulce spots, with the third tecnico getting in a dive and a little more and definitely taking the pin. The matches are fine for what they’re setting out to do but don’t stand out.
The second match worked in bits and parts. Maya looked good, they were successful in building up Okumura and Stuka (as much as that can be done), the action generally moved well. Flyer looked off a little bit if you’re looking for it and Kanemaru is just not on the same page as the CMLL tecnicos.
Fuego and Taguchi did a little bit less tonight compared tonight one. We’re getting plenty of them, that’s fine, but the match felt quite short.
CMLL (TUE) 01/28/2020Arena México [+LuchaTV, CMLL, The Gladiatores]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia b Acero & Aéreo rudos took 1/3
2) Amapola, Metálica, Tiffany b Avispa Dorada, La Guerrera, Princesa Sugehit rudas took 1/3
3) Súper Astro Jr. b El Coyote [lightning] 7:06.
4) Disturbio, Misterioso, Sagrado b Diamond, Oro Jr., Pegasso Rudos took 2/3. Oro Jr. didn’t get over the top rope on a Brillo dive at the end of the first fall and did not finish the match.
5) Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Terrible b Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. rudos took 2/3
6) Atlantis Jr., Carístico, Soberano Jr. DQ Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón Straight falls. Sanson fouled Cuatrero in the second.
CMLL did a Sanson & Cuatrero finish on Monday and Tuesday. That’s partly a product of the same people working those shows of late, but also the low effort in booking. Caristico wants a trios title shot, while the NGD are offering a rematch. It would make sense if one of these feuds ended up in a trios match and one in a 1v1 but it doesn’t have to make sense.
Diamond, who lost to a team of Misterioso, Sagrado, and Disturbio, talks about wanting to begin the third boom of lucha libre. They say CMLL doesn’t tell interesting stories but whoever convinced Diamond that he was really going to be the next Mistico once he put on the Santo suit is a master storyteller. Also, I guess the two other booms are Mistico and the early 90s but I feel like it’s possible people watched wrestling before the 90s.
Super Astro talks about his latest lightning match win. Often, I just look at the Facebook summaries of these promos; the Panthers promo was skipped entirely. (They congratulate the rudos for beating them while saying getting the reactions of the fans is most important.)
Oro appeared to try for a Brillo dive, didn’t get any spring, hit the top rope, and fell over it to the floor. He turned over as he felt, landing on his back and side. CMLL put him in the neckbrace and on a backboard, but it looked more spectacular than damaging. He says he’s fine.
CMLL (TUE) 01/28/2020Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Mágico & Tigre Blanco b Paymon & Relámpago tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Magia Blanca, Mr. Samurai, Retro b Hijo del Signo, Inquisidor, Jabalí tecnicos took 2/3
3) Dulce Gardenia, Fugaz, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Dark Magic, Kawato San, Universo 2000 Jr. tecnicos took 2/3
4) Ephesto, Mephisto, Vangellys b Kráneo, Stuka Jr., Valiente rudos took 2/3
5) Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja DQ Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero tecnicos took 2/3, Gran Guerrero unmasking Diamante Azul for a DQ.
Impact posted highlights of Vikingo’s match with Josh Alexander last night. He looked great and it’s worth going out of your way to see. The confidence to go for the moonsault spot was impressive. His match with TJP will air next week.
On +Lucha’s website, Bernardo Guzman writes how incidents like the Ripper/Konnan fight are more common in wrestling than reported. They’re rarely reported in Mexican wrestling, though there seems to be a cottage industry to uncovering them in the US. Guzman hints at a time where Psycho Clown nearly attacked Jeff Jarrett in 2015 in Queretaro while avoiding details. (I think Guzman means 2018, since that appears to be the only time Jarrett wrestled in Queretaro.)
El Rey Network is asking viewers to contact DirecTV & ATT after the network was dropped by those channels. This doesn’t seem to matter for Lucha Underground any more. The promo doesn’t include it as one of those shows on the network. It does include the AAA in New York show, though that may just be because there’s not much other new content to use. The channels were dropped for six days before El Rey mentioned it and the post mentioning it has four RTs at the moment.
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.
Eléctrico, Magnus, Oro Jr. beat Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro
(11:56 [5:32, 2:37, 3:47], 2/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Dark Magic, Misterioso, Sagrado beat Blue Panther Jr., Pegasso, Stigma
(14:17 [6:45, 3:04, 4:28], 1/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Templario beat Drone, Rey Cometa, Kawato San, Príncipe Diamante, Akuma, Black Panther, Hijo del Signo, Star Jr., Virus, Esfinge, Disturbioin a CMLL’s Reyes del Aire (23:22, great, VideosOficialesCMLL)
09:22 Drone rope flip moonsault Akuma
10:50 Disturbio front backbreaker Principe Diamante
11:55 Black Panther springboard dropkick Hijo del Signo
A new ring announcer debuted. Jesus is from Guadalajara and his last name may be something like Escara, but I’m not sure. He replaces Enrique Gil, who retired in December.
Místico made mask match gestures after the main event.
Thoughts:
Tuesdays are an alternate world of CMLL, where the fans are eager to cheer Místico against the forces of evil. There were more Mistico chants in this match than most years of Friday shows. Mephisto played his part by being cruel early on; the mask pull right when Mistico made a comeback worked with it. Mephisto also expanded what he did a little bit, though someone might want to notice the “surprise” Canadian Destroyer got no reaction. The unexpected two fall structure helped, though it was hard to ignore it was happening when the second fall was more ten minutes old. It didn’t overstay their welcome; getting out when they did instead of doing more just to do more was the right call. A perfectly satisfying main event.
The Rey del Aire was a lot better in the ring than on paper. Templario and Star Jr. got showcased big, and they were good picks for the role. They had a strong last four minutes, with the crowd really buying into the Dragon Rana/Torito near fall. The pace was strong there and all match, with the match never really letting up after it got going. The rudos who didn’t fit, like Akuma & Signo, threw themselves into topes and stayed out of the way until getting eliminated. Panther threw a lot of topes, though one less than the announcers thought. He’s learned from his father to do things that stand out even and to keep getting reactions even when he’s not in the plans (and going on fifth meant he was really not in the plans here.) This held together well with no problems or dead moments. There’s been better Reyes del Aire but it was better than it had seemed.
CMLL (MON) 01/27/2020Arena Puebla [CMLL, Lucha Central, Tribua Noticias]
1) Black Tiger & Rey Apocalipsis b Asturiano & Rey Samuray Asturiano replaced Milenium. Rudos took 2/3.
2) La Comandante, La Infernal, Reyna Isis b Marcela, Mystique, Sanely rudas took 1/3
3) Stigma b Kawato San [lightning]
4) Shocker, Templario, Vangellys b Audaz, Dulce Gardenia, Flyer rudos took 2/3
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Carístico, Soberano Jr., Titán rudos took 1/3, Sanson cheating to beat Caristico
The matches went longer to make up for not having as many of them. Matches going longer just fill time makes for worse action. A better solution would’ve been to have six more people on the card as usual. Hopefully everyone got paid more for doing more. (That probably didn’t happen.)
Today’s CMLL show has another NGD main event, this time with Atlantis, Carisitco and Soberano Junior. Blue Panther, who was given another sports awards (this time from Iztacalco) yesterday, teams with his sons versus Hechicero, Rey Bucanero and Terrible. Hechicero and Panther will probably do something weird. Diamond has a rare match without Espiritu Negro in the fourth match. Super Astro & Coyote meet in the lightning match. It is possible some of the undercard or other matches may change with the Nitro trainees around. The show will stream at 7:30 pm on CMLL YouTube.
Karis La Momia Jr. told the press at Sunday’s Arena Neza show that it is way too soon for him to start using the La Parka name and he’ll only do so when it becomes necessary.
I missed this, but Konnan did show up with Faccion Ingobernable on Saturday’s AAA show. It was just after the show, making a run-in with their post-match interview.
As has an interview with Laredo Kid about his time in Exatlon. The surprising part is he says he won’t be returning to AAA until March. That’ll be about a six-month break between matches. Laredo has a family that he’s been away from for 17 weeks, so he can’t really argue with him with wanting to spend the next five or so weeks with them.
Lucha Memes has started a YouTube channel and said they’d be posting matches once they get to 100 subscribers. They did reach 100, so Demus vs Neptuno from New Year’s Day is up. I’d go with a bigger name match but they’re Lucha Memes, Neptuno was basically a meme, it makes some sense.
I neglected to write about the shows I went to last weekend. I went to both AAW and GALLI primarily to go see Aramis’ matches. The one on GALLI – I bootlegged it for YouTube – was the better of the two. The simplest way to get Aramis over to a new audience is to for him to show his most spectacular offense – the tope, the spinning torture powerbomb (la Desnucadora del Mosquetero) and the rope walk tope con giro. Aramis got in the rope walk dive in AAW and spent much of the match selling, which was to be expected with Juventud Guerrera as a partner. (Juventud took most of the spotlight in the match, but he talk up Aramis before and after it.) He got that dive and the powerbomb in the second match, which felt like a better showcase. Aramis did take the pinfall in both matches, which was more confusing with GALLI since it set up a return date for a title match. The GALLI people fans interested in seeing the match so it seems fine. I’m not sure if he impressed enough in AAW to for certain to get brought back (though it’s more likely if AAW & GALLI weekends lineup again), though the crowd did give him a nice reaction after the match. Really though, the indie/fringe AAA luchador who got over the most in front of US audiences this past weekend seemed to be Arez on the GCW PPV.
CMLL (SUN) 02/02/2020Arena México
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Aaron Sykes, Remington, Retro vs Akuma, Jerome, Nitro
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. vs Misterioso, Pólvora, Tiger
4) El Audaz vs Vangellys [lightning]
5) Kráneo, Soberano Jr., Volcano vs Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Sansón
6) Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja vs Cavernario, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
Jerome appears to be Jerome Gryffen; I can’t find anything under that name. Remington is Ryan Remington. Aaron Sykes name is spelled correctly, and they’re all on the Arena Rey Bucanero card next Saturday. Maybe all the trainees are getting one match, which would leave two more spots to fill.