Tag: 2013 catchup

Again, a lot of gifs. And I should probably post the full list later today.

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Break for too many gifs. You see many things in 45 minute ciberneticos.

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Still not done. So many gifs.

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10-21 Máscara Dorada, Mistico, Valiente vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Rey Escorpión for the CMLL World Trios Championship (Puebla) – very good, borderline great, probably a great if I saw it earlier in the year or (more definitely) if the anniversary match wasn’t already on the list. Místico was better in this match in points, but but the trios title defense from the Anniversary just felt like a more epic match. This one ended a few minutes before I was ready for it and didn’t break out much new, just did what they usually do very well.

11-03: La Sombra vs Volador Jr. (Puebla) – A three fall match where they weren’t very interested in the first two falls, and where the third fall was just dives and kicking out of finishers. The downside of CMLL singles matches were way there were many with no story except for guys doing big moves so the other guy could kick out for about seven minutes, and this is strongly in that group. There was no build to them kicking out, and there was a lack of drama as they did the kickouts – there’s no struggle to do the moves, they’re always going to be set up for the next trademark move, though at least there was a moment where Sombra was able to hit two moves in a row. It’s numbing often and it was numbing here.

11-11: Negro Casas vs Rush and Shocker (Puebla) – GREAT. A video game threeway in terms of involvement; this wasn’t one of those matches where one guy sits out for a minute while the other two have a normal, but all three guys getting involved frequently. It was the right style for this matchup, which needed to be a brawl and stayed that way the whole way. Shocker was up to the challenge of the other two, and kept up with their intensity. Match was shorter than I’d like but it was good action for the time. Rush’s pose just before the foul was hilarious.

11-17: Aero Boy, Astro Rey Jr., Titán (CMLL), Latin Dragon, Magnifico (Chilangamask) – Finally, science proves an unblocked chair shot to the head is less painful than a Canadian Destroyer, so everyone can just stop doing unblocked chairs shots to the head now. (I’m not sure “cumulative damage” exists in Mexico, quiet.) This was truly a secret Titan/Aeroboy/Latin Dragon three way with guest appearances from the other two. Elimination matches are fun and all, but the logical person in me wants everyone to switch to one fall to a finish for multiman matches so everyone can do all the pinfall break ups they want without looking like they don’t understand the rules of the match. Also, people who really don’t want to get pinned will no longer have to take weird countout eliminations. If I could actually write about the match itself for a second, it was a fun multiman match with exactly what you’d want out of a match like this – big moves and some dives. It was good with all five guys but the three man back and forth was the best stretch. I’d want to see a Titan/Aeroboy match after seeing this, which is good since they did one of those.

11-17: Rey Cometa vs Impulso, falls count anywhere [Chilangamask] – Rey Cometa had Impulso scouted! Get your knees up on his big dive to the outside and win (and hurt your knees, but a win is a win.) I liked the stuff in the ring even though it was their dives which were the bigger selling point; the experienced major promotion guy came off as such, and Impulso looked good just for being able to hang with him. The chops in here where fierce, as was Cometa’s reversal of the satellite armbar into a Michinoku Driver. Good match.

11-17: Belial vs Ricky Marvin – EXCELLENT. Belial had no chance at winning this. Ricky Marvin knew this, Belial knew this this, everyone on the crowd knew this was a mismatch. Still, Belial wants to win this, so he surprises Ricky to start and goes after him hard until Ricky stops him and slows him down. Belial gets in a few more shots, but Ricky out does him every time is more frustrated at the referee for not ending this than by anything Belial can do. Belial just continues to survive, then throws bombs every chance he gets, bombs the crowd believes once or twice might actually finish the international star. Belial pushes Ricky farther than he thought he would have to go on this day, and so Ricky has to murder him at the end. It was a good way to die.

08-12 Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Boby Zavala, Namajague, Shigeo Okumura

GREAT. Definitely one where other people would have matches which don’t make the final list higher than this one, but I enjoy this guys work and they were working hard here. Not any new ground but one where everything were trying went off well and they were going full effort despite ‘only’ being in Arena Puebla. Rey Cometa really only tried the running Spanish Fly with Namajague and this was the best one they pulled off, plus there was some good Delta/Guerrero Maya tag team work (and hoping for more of that in 2014.) Surprised the finish happened when it did; not used to seeing Namajague successful!

08-19 Rey Escorpión vs Último Guerrero for the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship

The longest first fall in an Ultimo Guerrero singles match in years! (The second fall lasted under a minute.) And then a third fall much like any other. The other Escorpion/UG worked because it Escorpion was super aggressive and threw Ultimo Guerrero off his predictable match. This was the opposite, Ultimo Guerrero having his Ultimo Guerrero match, with the bonus of Tirantes going all Tirantes in the last few minutes. This was better than most UG matches have been of a late but nothing worth seeking them out.

 

08-25 Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Black Terry

GREAT. Black Terry really brings out the hate in Guerrero Maya. Maya was so different here than his CMLL appearances, almost the rudo (though maybe it’s just both guys were the rudos.) Straight brawl from before the bell which finds it’s way back into the ring but always feels a bit of control. This was a fight and a good one. There was was some technical oddness (like Maya pulling Terry off the mat while covering him after the Tormenta Maya to stop his own count), but the match flew by and the finish was neat.

08-25 Valiente & Virus vs Trauma I & Trauma II

GREAT. The Traumas trying tricks and cheap shots, only they try it against the wrong two guys and are lucky to keep it even. This match was already great in the first couple minutes when Valiente met Truma II eye gouge for eye gouge and Virus was taking down Trauma I when he tried a cheap slap. Everything was very solid and it was a very close match. Crowd was super into this match the entire way. It did seem out of order early, with Trauma II and Valiente attempting to rip out each other’s eyeballs leading into more sedate mat wrestling from Virus & Trauma I and then just a normal match for a while, but they picked the intensity back in up in the last third of the match. Finish was well down for what it was, but will still a let down after all that had let up to it. If that sort of finish is the trade off to get the match to happen, then it’d take it 10 times out of time, but obviously the match would’ve been better with something even slightly conclusive.

09-08 Dinamic Black vs Golden Magic for the IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship

Another IWRG finish missed by LAS camera work – they were in replay and had no idea a double countout was coming so they would’ve missed the ref counting 20 anyway. The little we did see included both guys standing right next to the ring staring at each other instead of going in, so I’m not sure this would’ve been a finish to help the match. This became Dinamic Black’s last match, which was also the end of the very short lived Golden Magic & Centviron rudo turn. (You wouldn’t have known they were meant to be rudos until after the match. Centviron’s towel as scarf was hilarious.) It’s obvious there were issues about Dinamic Black around this time just by the way everything changed after it. (I believe the story is this wasn’t the finish they were originally supposed to have, but I’d guess there was more that led up to that.) Different issues than Fenix/Dinamic, or at least a different type of match as a result – this one was missing a spark or some energy. There was a good match here but not a great one, not what you’d hope for when two long time partners finally face each other. Enough spots for highlights but not a complete match. That said, crowd was into (and ref was way into it!) so I may be just be thinking too much and not just seeing things. This match just seemed less fun than it should’ve been.

09-30 Atlantis, Blue Panther, Shocker vs Black Terry, Negro Navarro, Solar I

I got completely derailed by the sound not matching up at all with the video; it took me a while to attempt to fix that, and longer to get back to watching it. (It still didn’t fix; I should’ve broken it down to individual falls.) This was a very good match, worked intensely for a maesto match and breaking down into more of a normal style match with different spots by the third fall. The finishes in the first fall and third fall seemed very sudden; all the CMLL 2013 maestros matches have felt like they could’ve gone longer but just abruptly end. It was weird for Blue Panther to be downplayed (and eliminated) in his own anniversary celebration – it was Shocker and Terry feuding which actually came off strongest.

(gifs came out particularly huge this time, you are warned)

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