Cobre & Tromba vs Shun Skywalker & Yoshioka
(07/31 Lucha Madre, 19:56, good, mluchatv)
I didn’t really recognize how small Cobre is until this match. Maybe the giant referee really skews things. His small size was an asset, because it made Team Dragon Gate come off as even more evil as they trapped Cobre in the ring for an extended portion of this match. Skywalker & Yoshioka didn’t often work overtly rudo as they did here, and they were good at it. The Mexican team showed good team work and kept up at times, but both Cobre & Tromba had slips at just the wrong time. Tromba’s house of fire run after Cobra finally made the tag seemed to hit a wall after he had trouble on a springboard, and Cobre’s biggest spot in the ring on Yoshoika didn’t go well for either man. It was an exciting end, though the unusually strictly enforced tag rules seemed to confuse everyone.
Látigo vs Baby Camaleón
(10/18 CLL, 12:27, good, CHARLY 316)
2020 hasn’t been good for many, but Latigo has at least excelled at being a sort of touring champion. Give him your guy who wrestled twice a month and he’ll do his best to pull an entertaining match out of it. Baby Camaleon is not bad, but he comes off as a generic indie flyer. Latigo works in this role of making sure the challengers’ biggest moves come together while still getting a definite win in the end. I’ve liked some of the other matches better, this still was good enough for weird pandemic wrestling.
Arez vs Blue Win
(10/18 CLL, 13:10, great, CHARLY 316)
Arez working the teacher side of teacher/student matches makes me feel very old. This was young Blue Win throwing everything he had at Arez, looking impressive doing so, and also not getting all that close to winning because Arez is on a much higher level. That gap is so big that I’m not sure completely sure how good Blue Win is and how much of that was Arez; there were parts where the match definitely would’ve gone bad had it been against someone more on Blue Win’s experience level. This match occasionally felt too rehearsed, but it still maintained creativity. The Arez hook kick into another move is cool every time he does it.
León Dorado vs Charro Negro
(11/21 AULL, 15:16, good, mluchatv)
This was a little sloppy early on, with a Charro headscissors spot going very well. He looked cool the rest of the way, peaking with the double backbreaker into a cradle count bit. They stayed away from flying more I’d expect, with Dorado trying a lot of submissions that miss a little bit of intensity. Charro shows off surprising strength at times; the finish was good but Charro seemed like the more impressive guy.
Freelance vs Impulso for the AULL Lightweight Championship
(11/21 AULL, 14:33, great, mluchatv)
A title match worked like the apuesta match – which makes some sense, even an AULL championship might be more valuable than either of these frequently shaved heads. Still, Freelance’s face being covered in blood before he gets in one offensive move may be different than what you’re expecting. It works, Freelance remains a compelling underdog even if he’s not as a graceful flyer as in past years. Impulso holds it together, gets crushed a bit, and crushes Freelance well on the finish. Well worth the time.
Centella Oriental © vs Villano III Jr. for the AULL Welterweight Championship
(11/29 AULL, 14:47, good, mluchatv)
Is it possible Villano III Jr. left AAA because it was taking time away from his true passion, questionable body art? I don’t know how to evaluate body art, maybe it is great, it is definitely now plentiful. This is a Villano III who wants to press all the buttons: Centella de Oro gets hit by a box full of beer bottles and a row of seats in the first half of this match. Villano III Jr. stops the match to sweep the debris out of the ring, then of course breaks the broom on Centella de Oro; he’s like someone who grew up watching Black Terry Jr. filmed brawls and finally being free to reenact his favorite moments. Centella’s comeback is outshined by Villano III’s willingness to take big and painful-looking backdrops. The third fall develops into Villano giving tackling dummy Centella a variety of big moves and pinning him very close to the ropes before Centella makes his comeback by moving slightly and trying an ill-designed cover. The Spanish Fly spot looks nice and would’ve been a fine finish except for the apparently necessary fooling around which follows. Centella’s win made him look like a fluke, though the Arena Lopez Mateos seemed to enjoy it. I wonder how much of this Villano we’re going to see when he faces someone he sees more on his level.