One request I get from time to time on Twitter – especially late in the year – is to bring back the match rating post. It dropped off when the world stopped. Mexican wrestling is back to normal, but I’m not watching the amount or specific things I was watching back in 2019. I don’t expect I’d go back to watching and recapping three CMLL events + AAA show a week. What I’ve been doing mostly is paying close attention to Friday night CMLL and AAA’s TV, and then maybe having streams on as I work on other things or maybe watching something else if it gets pushed on me. Doing these weekly posts does help keep my thoughts organized, and helps me build a list for later. I’m not promising to keep this up, but I’ll try to post one of these on Tuesday or Thursday while it’s in mind.
I didn’t do a weekly post for 2022 and instead went back through the year to see/remember what I liked. There’s a 2022 MOTYC list here if you’re looking for it, which may still get updated. I’ll add a 2023 MOTYC list once we get more than one match on it.
This particular post is awkward because I’ve got to handle three different years. RIOT released its November 27, 2021, show at the end of December 2022. I got to it this past week.
| good | Jimmy vs Willy Banderas, Gravity (Indie), King Rex, Oni El Bendito |
| ok | Kaientai & Lord Byron vs Origen & Skam 13 |
| ok | Damián 666 vs Muerte Extreme [no DQ] |
| good | Xtreme Tiger vs Iron Kid (Estado de México) |
| good | Prometeo vs Baby Xtreme, Kratoz in a Number One Contenders Match for the RIOT championship |
| great | Hechicero (CMLL) vs Erick Ortiz |
The main event was really good, but not quite as good as their previous matches. I wonder if it would’ve hit better had I see it when that feud was still going. The opening scramble has the biggest spots but the scramble bit made it hard for anyone to stick out.
AAA’s still airing 2022 footage:
| rating | matches | TV Show | taped |
| good | Aramis, Octagón Jr., Willie Mack vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © for the AAA World Trios Championship  |
AAA on Space: 2023-01-06 | 2022-12-17 |
| good | Aerostar & Sexy Star vs Abismo Negro Jr. & Flammer for the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship and in a Number One Contenders Match match |
AAA on Space: 2023-01-06 | 2022-12-17 |
| ok | Komander, Pagano, Taurus vs Cibernético, Dralistico, Rush |
AAA on Space: 2023-01-06 | 2022-12-17 |
Those feel like generous scores but I’m trying not to think too much about them. If you’re new to these posts or my ratings, most matches I think are just “OK”. I got something out of Good match, but I’ll probably not think about either of them again. It takes a lot to get to the other ratings.
And, Friday’s show, which took place in 2023
| good | Mercurio vs Angelito |
| good | Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus |
| good | Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Guerrero Maya Jr. & Titán |
| ok | Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto |
| great | Soberano Jr. vs Templario |
Once this gets rolling with everything in the same year, I probably won’t have to sit here and justify my thoughts to fill up space as much. Soberano/Templario was a touch below their previous matches but it was still pretty strong by other standards. This group shows the flaws in my system – there’s a gap between Chavez vs Titan/Maya and the minis match in my mind, but I’m not adding another data point to the scale to get to it (and there were a few off moment that made this week’s tag match noticbaly less than the one the week prior.)