2019 watch later catch up, part 16 of ∞

Aramis tope

Arez © vs Aramis for the RIOT Championship
(RIOT @ 11/02, 21:25, great, Luchamania Monterrey)

I was concerned when the martinete reversal spot kept going. These two pride themselves on being creative and different that they can detour themselves into absurdity. That spot wasn’t totally coming together either, which could’ve derailed the match. It really didn’t. (Though, in the long gap between writing this and posting it, that bit seems like the only thing remembered from the match.) They got a lot of time for the match to develop, giving them an occasion to try ideas and still pull it back a bit. This was a little slower-paced than expected, possibly because they were going long. It also allowed them to pull the crowd into it strong by picking it up in the last few minutes. The Aramis tope felt like a turning point that turned up the intensity. That got that intensity even while mostly eschewing the usual cliches – it’s not even just that they stayed away from doing shoulders, they stayed away from doing long chop/forearm exchanges. The attacks towards each man’s shoulders felt a lot more impactful as something different and played well into the submissions they were trying to win bye. I think the guys have an even better match in them if they keep progression but this is an easy recommendation to check out.

a very good sequence

Cavernario © vs Forastero for the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
(CMLL @ 11/02, 15:39, great, thecubsfan)

Cavernario/Forastero stands out because it’s leaps and bounds better than all the other Forastero matches, strong enough that it’s not impossible to imagine why CMLL might think Forastero was worth so more shots. He shows a lot more aggression against a rudo than he has against those tecnicos, bitting at Cavernario’s face and hitting hard with big boots. He pulled out the double jump springboard dive not seen much, and definitely not seen with the tecnicos. Maybe a lot of it was Cavernario, who is smooth and quick and held the match together over two botched spots late. Maybe a big chunk of it was a crowd very loud for a match they had no real reason to be very loud about. This still had a lot more thought and effort into it than those rest of those matches and it’s so confusing.

Forastero saving this for the caveman

Tromba vs Sádico
(MDA @ 11/10, 15:00, good, LuchaTV)

Early on in this match, it seemed disappointing that this wouldn’t be three falls. The submissions holds they were doing look good but couldn’t end a match that early. And then the match ended because it actually was three falls. Sadico continues to have a few gems every year despite being unheralded. He and Tromba had some elaborate and interesting sequences, especially the one on the outside in the second fall that led into a german suplex. It didn’t always pay off quite that well, and the crowd wasn’t really into this, which made it hard to rate it for higher. It’s an easy match to like because they had a lot of ideas, they just couldn’t quite get them all to work. The ending was odd; there was a submission spot that seemed like it could’ve ended to a ref stop, it didn’t, but the match ended unrelated about thirty seconds later. This was more interesting than good and wanted me to see more of Tromba.

a fancy way to snap an elbow

Soberano Jr. © vs Templario for the Mexican National Welterweight Championship
(CMLL @ 10/06, 14:32, great, thecubsfan)

There have been a few Templario/Soberano singles matches this year and danger of them being repetitive. They did mix it up here, trusting they could get some counter spots and submissions over in the first couple of falls. It seemed successful for this crowd, made the match feel a bit different than those others, and got made those usual big spots feel bigger. They did end up doing destroyers, but they did other moments not expected from them. I’m watching this the same weekend as the Audaz/Templario match and there’s a substantial difference there in inventiveness. The finish was designed to make everyone unhappy and has to be considered a massive success. Still, this is worth watching even if you’ve seen a lot of these guys already.

they’ve pulled this off better but this was still cool

El Bandido, Flamita, Neza Kid vs Dragón Bane, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Súper Nova
(Invasion Indy @ 11/15/2019, 12:54, good, mluchatv)

This one mostly fell around the “fun but not totally vital” matches. These names being involved are slightly hampered by Neza Kid & Super Nova being the focal point. There’s entertaining stuff but it doesn’t really peak. The brief Flamita & Dragon Bane tiff was worth watching. It also remains amusing to see Freelance do very specific Freelance things while pretending (?) to be someone else. Not sure if the Neza ring is small, the wrestlers making big movements, or me just noticing it more often, but there were a lot of awkward falls onto the bottom rope.

not sure why I couldn’t find a better GIF from this one

Drone vs Guerrero Maya Jr. in a lightning match
(CMLL @ 10/13, 5:29, ok, thecubsfan)

Two of the good but never pushed CMLL tecnicos getting to face each other. Instead of having an ok match with a semi-competent rudo, they opted to have an ok match with each other. Drone had a nice moonsault but looked sloppy, Maya looked sharper but not really into it and the match didn’t go long. There are worse lightning matches but this was very much part of the middle 90% of them, destined to be quickly forgot.

a nice moonsault