Volador Jr. © vs Bárbaro Cavernario for the NWA World Welterweight Championship
(CMLL GDL @ 03/05, 9:27, good, thecubsfan)
I think Volador’s problem is overexposure. Here I am seeking out more Volador matches to watch. Who’s the real villain? This is a lightning match in three falls form, with two finishes that never are one and selling near doom two minutes in to the third fall. You do get most of the dives, though Volador thankfully cuts Cavernario off from the most dangerous one. It is really just one more Volador match, which might be good and I’m jaded or might be only ok.
Galactar, Rico Rodríguez, Silver Tiger vs Imposible, Súper Nova, Yoruba
(Revolucion Lucha Libre @ 03/09, 14:04, good, Estrellas del Ring)
I think a Hector Godfrey one might be longer but there are days where it is not worth the time to go thru 6 different versions of the match to see which one is complete. (Maybe I should go back to not linking to more than one video per match from him?) All these micro-promotions with their interchangeable rosters may not do a lot for me but they were working great for this crowd, who totally got into the brawling parts of the match (and post-match.) Super Nova’s fire helped with that crowd reaction. Yoruba’s tope was really good. On the other hand, Imposible did so little in this match that stood out that I was sure it was Emperador Azteca in the match until I looked at the lineup. Doing two different chop standoffs in the last minutes kind of slowed the match down too much for me besides being repetitive. Still, this was better than the random collection of people would respect.
Lilith Dark vs Ludark Shaitan
(IWRG @ 03/10, 7:40, good, Internetv Deportes)
Didn’t think much of this early; Lilith messes up an early exchange enough for Ludark to cut her off, and there’s another awkward moment shortly after. This match also made me wonder if the chop exchange spot has become the Guerrero/Malenko roll up sequence of a new generation. This turned with some hard hitting corner dropkicks, Lilith had a nice looking suplex and Ludark totally killed her in the end. Not the strongest recommendation but still a bit worthwhile.
Aero Boy & Súper Crazy vs Black Taurus (Indie) & Dragón Bane
(Lucha Libre Real @ 03/15, 8:05, good, Estrellas del Ring)
Fast paced if obviously edited match. Aeroboy & Taurus is a matchup I haven’t seen a lot of despite them both being around the indies for the last few years. They seemed to work well together, even if a thing here or there looked off. Super Crazy did not seem particularly thrilled with young Dragon Bane when Dragon Bane wanted to do something on the ramp. Crazy really didn’t do a lot besides lock the finish in, but he really locked the finish in.
Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Alas de Oro, Alas De Plata, Diamante
(FILLM @ 03/16, 11:55, good, Estrellas del Ring)
A solid NGD trios match, not really slipping from their CMLL effort levels. The técnicos didn’t do anything special for me but their timing was good on offense. Rafael el Maya looks like he got walloped by a foot for the ref bump here. Might have been a trick of the camera angle but it still was impressive. I’ve noticed an Estrellas del Ring pattern of cutting the first fall to 20 seconds in these matches. It is not a pleasant pattern.
Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Esfinge, Titán, Tritón for the Mexican National Trios Championship
(18:16 [3:51, 3:02, 11:23], 2/3, great, thecubsfan)
A very fun trios title match that builds in stages. It’s just a normal weekday match between these two teams for a while, then they go past that to do some of the usual title match bits, and then they find a bigger higher dramatic level in the last section. It doesn’t feel like anything special at first but has the time to get there, in a way to seen with most of these Guadalajara title matches. The técnicos get the necessary one big near fall moment, but that’s not the end of it, they keep attacking. The OneAtos team wearing matching gear – that I can’t even remember if they had before – was a nice touch to make it feel like a bigger match. The finish is pretty definitive on which team is on a different level, though they had to work to get that win. This might be the best Guadalajara match all year.
