Recapped: 02/11/2018
Matches:
Shockercito & Stukita beat Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
(12:29 [6:37, 2:32, 3:20], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Sanely beat La Comandante, Metálica, Tiffany
(15:26 [8:19, 3:16, 3:51], 1/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
Sangre Azteca, Tiger, Universo 2000 Jr. beat Magia Blanca, Pegasso, Stigma
(12:50 [5:21, 3:37, 3:52], 1/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
Hechicero, Pólvora, Shocker beat Esfinge, Rey Cometa, Tritón
(16:24 [4:55, 3:10, 8:19], 1/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
Mephisto © beat Titán to keep the CMLL World Welterweight Championship
(18:24, 1/3, excellent, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
Mr. Niebla, Pierroth, Rey Bucanero beat Guerrero Maya Jr., Marco Corleone, Stuka Jr.
(11:37 [2:46, 2:17, 6:34], 1/3, n/r, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
What happened:
Nothing except Mephisto keeping his title
Thoughts:
Mephisto versus Titan is as good a title match which will happen in Arena Mexico all year. The Volador matches may be more spectacular, but titan brings more of an exciting rollercoaster to his matches. It’s not just the big moves, though there are absolutely big moves in this one. It’s the fast small moves, the submissions that might actually, the back and forth counters and escapes. Titan big title matches are full of drama that’s not just limited two-and-a-half counts. It starts off strong, with Mephisto surprisingly cutting off a normal opening fall sequence to Titan in a submission. It did feel like a fall blown thru because they don’t really want to do three falls, it felt like Mephisto made a smart move and forced the match to end early.
That also made Titan as the underdog for the rest of the match, both on the scoreboard and just from getting pummeled for the next half of the second fall, and rallying back from a deficit is where he excells. He’s also gotten really good at pulling the fans into his matches. The crowd was way into this match from the double dive spot on since it came so fast and spectacularly, but he still worked at rallying them as he was going for his (doomed) headscissors of the apron. It doesn’t feel forced, it feels like he desperately needs that support.
I thought they went back and forth in interesting ways, not just relying on the big kickouts to get a reaction. It was smart to not just do the Super Devil’s Wings the first chance they had, because it made Mephisto actually connecting on it the second time feel even more sure as a match ender. Titan got something out of it even if he didn’t last much longer. I don’t think Mephisto added a lot besides doing his signature moves a few times and being in the right place, but that’s all he needed to do with Titan. This is an easy recommendation.
The fourth match featured Rey Cometa looking the wrong way in a group pose and Shocker & Hechicero having a mid match rock/paper/scissors contest (both went scissors on the first try, Shocker won with paper over rock on the second), so it was not the most serious affair. It was pretty fun CMLL filler, with Triton capable of doing some incredible things. Hechicero set up Shocker’s spear to look great in the end. Cometa is full on committed to being a goofball at all moments – his wacky dance was one thing, but he also exited the ring by laying on the middle rope and falling over to the apron.
The tercera was better than usual. There were a few moments of awkward waiting but the pace was really good otherwise. All that teaming with the Panthers has taught Pegasso that the key to happiness is doing a lot of topes in a row, a lesson he tried to pass to his partners here. Magia Blanca suffered a lot in this match. He’s also as good or better than Universo Junior. Universo is greatly benefiting from his name and height at the moment.
The women’s match had a hilarious bad ending to the second fall, where Metalica went up top for the flip senton only to find Tiffany had pulled Silueta too far away to do it and just decided to do nothing. Marcela is wearing gear with “CTFRM” on it and I don’t know what that means.
The opener wasn’t far off the better Friday minis match, for better or worse. The crowd wasn’t much into it at first, but Stukita put on a good performance and Shockercito was trying.
