IWRG seems like it’s been good since their restart; there’s usually been at least a match worth watching. Shun Skywalker’s stint helped, but their regulars have performed well.
Shun Skywalker vs. Hijo de Canis Lupus for the IWRG Rey del Ring
(IWRG @ 08/30, 22:38, good, +LuchaTV)
An entertaining match if one that doesn’t completely come together. Hijo de Canis Lupus often comes across as a person who has seen clips of exciting matches but hasn’t watched on them in full. It didn’t fall apart, but they’re close to having a bigger feeling match with a little more thought about what they’re doing, and it’s unclear if Canis Lupus is going to get there. (He’s the one who I’m going to have to see for the next decade if I keep watching, so Shun getting it doesn’t help as much.) The match flows better when the much bigger Canis is playing rudo to the much better seller Shun Skywalker, but Lupus can’t totally commit to it.
Demonio Infernal © vs. Shun Skywalker for the IWRG Rey del Ring
(IWRG @ 09/06/2020, 16:00, great, +LuchaTV)
The dramatics were played up big all match here. It didn’t totally work – there was a fair bit of one man being near death and then being fine a moment later – but they got the crowd with the antics. It is about as loud as a 30% capacity Arena Naucalpan crowd will sound on the last few moves. These aren’t two guys who would naturally mesh together, but they go with a hard-hitting match, and it holds up better than the one the previous week. Demonio Infernal is a great representative of IWRG.
Toxin vs. Puma de Oro in a super libre match
(IWRG @ 09/13/2020, 10:52, good, +LuchaTV)
I really liked Toxin bringing a chain and attacking Puma de Oro right off the bat. Might as well use a weapon with no hesitation in a super libre match. The match drifted towards a generic big move exchange from there, but both treated the victory as a big deal.
Fulgor I vs. Black Danger
(IWRG @ 09/20/2020, 11:08, good, mluchatv)
A solid match, though the rudo/rudo nature hurt it. Fulgor doesn’t get many wins here but needed one if he would be thrown into an angle (which happens next), so this worked well enough. Danger took Fulgor’s big moves well while looking like a threat. Fulgor seems to be working on a wizard beard.
Toxin © vs. Puma de Oro for the IWRG Mexico Championship
(IWRG @ 09/20, 14:58, great, +LuchaTV)
This shouldn’t have worked this well. Toxin & Puma de Oro are guys who try a lot and don’t always succeed. They pretty succeeded without compromising on the complicated spots. They were just much cleaner at it than usual, astoundingly so on the first few spots. There was good competitive drama in the last few moments, and they saved the biggest stuff for last. This was much better than they’ve shown capable of before, even in this generally well-done feud. I would like to believe these guys suddenly leveled up (maybe a couple of times over.) It might have been they just had an excellent night. The result’s the same either way.
The referee spots were among the parts that didn’t work as well. At least Fulgor interfered only a couple of times, without it getting excessive. Toxin pulling the ref into a submission hold to break it up didn’t work at all, was something I could only figure out what was supposed to have happened by the reactions after the fact. It would be beneficial if Mexican indie rudos learned how to demonstrate their rudo nature outside of spots where they obviously should’ve been disqualified. There are non-cheating ways to act like a rudo; you could be cruel or cowardly to start.
Diosa Atenea & Fulgor vs. Alas De Plata & Diosa Quetzal
(IWRG @ 09/27, 15:53, good, +LuchaTV)
It was actually reassuring for the Quetzal/Atenea over the top rope spot near the end to have a hiccup, to be sure I was watching a real match. Diosa Quetzal was unbelievably good in this match. Not just good for her, but a genuine good exciting wrestler that fully matched her star rep. The other three wrestlers contributed mightily, but Diosa Quetzal definitely wasn’t pulling off top rope double stomps into perfectly timed Destroyers before. Like Puma/Toxin, she overachieved expectations here in a difficult situation. You could tell she knew; she was beaming about post-match despite the loss. I’m not sure how this happened, but they have something to get it to happen again.
If you get a chance could you update 2020 MOTYC list?