Lucha Memes: Super Indy Fifi Show 1 & 2 + Homenaje al Negro Navarro

The other three Lucha Memes shows on IWTV

2020-11-01 Super Indy Fifi Show 1

Samuray Jr. vs Coco Rojo Jr. vs Perro de Guerra Jr. vs Blaze: [good] a little bit too many four-way tropes, including people standing around and clapping instead of participating in the match, but it’s a lot of action and good action. Perro looks the best, wins impressive, so that much worked. A good enough opener.

Látigo vs Garrobo Punk: [ok] I think this was a little bit less than the tournament match for me, but the camera switches made me give up on the match and the finish wasn’t great. The outcome makes sense – this is the start of the Memes deciding to do something with Garrobo – but it wasn’t executed well.

Iron Kid vs Freelance: [good] This was going pretty well until Iron Kid landed on Freelance double knee first on the 450 splash finish. Freelance seemed to be milking it more than in actual pain to excuse the loss, so that was nice. Iron Kid looked better than him most of the match, though that’s more because Freelance is losing a step rather than Iron Kid has grown a lot this lost year. You should at least watch the dives.

Corsario Negro Jr. & Drako vs Oficial 911 & Oficial AK47: [ok] You don’t need to go out of your way to see this but it was a useful tone change break from the usual Lucha Memes matches. They leaned heavily into the comedy, the crowd enjoyed it, maybe I’m underplaying it by going with OK because it was nice to get something trying to be different.

Aeroboy vs Avisman: [good] This was the smooth hold versus hold mat wrestling you’d expect from an Avisman match. Aeroboy hung with him on that style, and the only disappointment is it ended so quickly. Avisman wrestling in his mask on this shows seems strange because I can’t even remember him being masked at this point – I know he was, it just has been so long.

Arez vs Black Terry: [good] Lucha Memes has fans – this wasn’t 30% capacity, I have eyes – and the fans made this match work where it would’ve struggled in an empty action. They still believe in everything Black Terry is doing, which made the slow action come off as dramatic and the submission holds as a big deal. Arez got knocked around big by Terry’s punches and it felt like enough of a fight to work.

Aramis vs Calibu vs Toxin: [great] A really hot match, especially early on. Aramis is reliable and this was one of Toxin’s better days. His complicated moves came off well. Calibus kept up, though it felt like they could’ve given him a little more to stand out. The match maybe was a bit too long, cooling down at the triple knocked out spot, but the last couple of bits worked well.

2020-11-01 Super Indy Fifi Show 2

Perro de Guerra Jr. vs King Gato: [ok] this show went just under 100 minutes. This match was 20 minutes. No opener needs to go 20 minutes, and almost no match at all needs to go 20 minutes. This seems to be a consequence of running two shows on the same day and trying to reduce match time for those working twice by having this go long, but wow was this long.

Toxin vs Joe Lider: [NR] I didn’t even give this one a chance. Poor Joe Lider though; Toxin goes for the back suplex on the apron deal but lines up wrong, dropping Lider partly over the top rope and causing him to land weird on the apron. Looked like Lider couldn’t take the bump at full speed but Toxin set him up wrong.

Belial & Impulso vs Astrolux & Black Metal: [OK] inventive but sloppy. Astrolux missed taking a hard header into the mat just by luck. The last half of the match was better, but this wasn’t much of a long match either.

Arez vs Aeroboy [good]: this was ‘second match on the day’ good, they should have a better match in them. Arez woke up one day and decided he’s just going to start kicking people in the elbow. Seems to be working – well, not for the other people. Aeroboy’s reversal at the end was fun but I wanted more out of him. I’ve been missing a crowd for most of the year but not as much this match; the fans were reacting to football chants (since this was the battle of the Necaxa fans) and who knows what else instead of the action for most of the way.

Corsario Negro Jr. & Drako vs Látigo & Tromba: [good] big man/smaller man tag match generally worked because both sides leaned into it. Corsario & Drako probably want to save a few of the bigger moves; it makes their package piledriver seem ineffective when they’re being kicked out mid-match.

Alas de Acero, Aramis, Iron Kid vs Canival, Mike, Teelo: [great] Easily the best math on the two shows on this same day. Mike’s crew isn’t quite as good here as they are with the MexaBoys but they’re still so skilled at basing that I”m not sure how they’re not used a ton. They’re valuable in making everyone look better. Also, it looks super impressive when Aramis can actually get Mike on his shoulders. Iron Kid looked better here than he did in his earlier match and that had to a bit too his opponents; there’s no way he’d even think of trying to toss out of the ring headscissors with anyone else. (Alas de Acero had a hard day, on the other hand.)  The TripleDive spot looked good and pretty much everything went after it was spectacular.

2020-11-29 Lucha Memes : Homenaje al Negro Navarro

This show is meant to be “win by submission” only show. The luchadors either are unaware or forget often, leading to moments where the referee refuses to count a pinfall and everyone gets mad. That part is not good. Everyone works a methodical mat wrestling style, making for much longer matches than usual; this is an hour longer than the previous Memes show.

Perro de Guerra Jr. vs Belial: [great] I couldn’t get into this at all the first time I watched and gave it another try. These matches take some focus I’m sometimes missing. They did a good job going into this style, transitioning from hold to hold in a way that made it feel like a competition and not an exhibition. The bigger spots felt like they helped pick up the intensity. Neither luchador is one I would’ve expected to work so well in this way, and their work was pretty solid. Memes have done well in elevating Perro de Guerra from just “a random local” to “a guy”, though he probably needs an upgraded look if he’s going to farther.

Judas el Traidor vs Tromba [good]: I have no notes, just that it was good.

Aramis vs Black Terry: [great] Physical match, worked in a style where Terry looks effective. Didn’t go long but worked for the story of Terry neutralizing Aramis enough to surprise him for the win. Aramis did a better job of selling the bad arm than most. The pinfall spots were not great, but the crowd getting angry at Aramis for kicking Professor Terry hard was amusing. Aramis was too nice of a guy to get this win.

Arez vs Trauma II: [ok] Trauma II wasn’t feeling it. The surfboard spots around the ropes were painful but not the right kind of painful.

Dr. Cerebro & Negro Navarro vs Aeroboy & Solar I: [good] Something a little bit too metaphoric about this match being squeezed in as the sunset in Coacalco. Aereoboy and Dr. Cerebro do their jobs well as foils (and poor Aeroboy gets dropped hard on a Cerebro Driver after he had already submitted), but this is the Solar/Negro Navarro story it was meant to be. They’re at the points where these tribute matches can end up being depressing, but they have enough left to make this work. The crowd is super into this, making up for any speed or polish they may be missing now. If it’s not as strong as those past efforts, it’s still a solid effort in an emotional setting. Navarro losing clean on his own tribute show felt like a possible farewell.