Recapped: 2020-02-28
Matches:
Akuma & Espanto Jr. beat Halcón Suriano Jr. & Sonic
(9:30 [5:00, 1:56, 2:34], 1/3, ok)
The dumb battle royal went 2:28
Disturbio & Virus beat Pegasso & Stigma in a Mexican National Tag Team eighthfinal
(4:45, ok)
Hijo del Villano III & Templario beat Dulce Gardenia & Fuego in a Mexican National Tag Team eighthfinal
(6:59, ok)
Ephesto & Luciferno beat Black Panther & Blue Panther Jr. in a Mexican National Tag Team eighthfinal
(3:30, ok)
Soberano Jr. & Titán vs Misterioso Jr. & Sagrado in a Mexican National Tag Team eighthfinal
(5:56, ok)
Hijo del Villano III & Templario beat Disturbio & Virus in a Mexican National Tag Team quarterfinal
(5:24, ok)
Soberano Jr. & Titán beat Ephesto & Luciferno in a Mexican National Tag Team quarterfinal
(5:18, ok)
Hijo del Villano III & Templario beat Soberano Jr. & Titán in a Mexican National Tag Team semifinal
(13:43, good)
Felino, Negro Casas, Terrible beat Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja
(17:25 [5:59, 8:00, 3:26], 2/3, ok, )
Carístico & Forastero beat Cavernario & Volador Jr. in the Torneo Nacional Increible de Parejas final
(12:19 [4:18, 8:01], good, ½)
What happened:
Felino distracted Cavernario (and Volador), leading to Caristico & Forastero beating them in a straight fall tournament win.
Templario & Hijo del Villano III advanced in the national tag team tournament bracket.
Thoughts:
The main event followed a dreary semi-mas well as a tournament final that was all about near falls and was going to have a bad WWE distraction finish. It would’ve taken a special to succeed in that spot. Caristico, Forastero, Cavernario, and Volador just had an ordinary high spot tournament final instead. They got more time and probably was technically better than the other one, but that finish was lame and this was still the second one to air, which made it feel too same-ish. CMLL (purposefully) lacks variety in their styles and this is a night where it hurt the enjoyment of the show. The tournament format also hurt, since there wasn’t a natural tecnico team to root for and neither team tried to played rudo. Forastero did do well in this situation, keeping up and having the best of the night. The effort was there, just the first fall wasn’t much and the second fall was extra extended since they weren’t doing three. Even the finish didn’t feel like they had built up to a big moment; Cavernario doesn’t win big with that splash. It all added to a that was fine during the time but I can’t imagine watching again.
The only purpose of the semi-main seemed to be as a buffer between the two tournaments. It was set up for people to get in, work quickly, and get out. Instead, they worked very slow and long. I have no idea what happened or why it did happen. This was persistently boring.
The tournament final is the one of the block worth your time. Dulce remains good and only got one round out of it. Other teams tried and the match didn’t develop. Luciferno & Ephesto really shouldn’t have gone two matches (and maybe one.)
Templario & Hijo del Villano III versus Titan & Soberano suffered a bit from going straight into dramatic back and forth near falls with no build. It took a while in a drama to build enough to match what they were doing. Hijo del Villano III was also inconsistent and didn’t feel like he raised his level to meet the other three people. Soberano & Titan showed more teamwork, which made Templario overcoming them both more impressive.
