Posts Tagged FantasticaMania

CMLL/NJPW FantasticaMania Day 3: 2013-01-20

Feb 25

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Depsite being the biggest day of the show, the crowd seemed dead again here. There was good stuff here, but it was not the final day show the previous years had been. There was nothing on the level of Sombra/Volador or Mistico/Averno or the Apollo 33/Golden Lovers tag match the last couple years. They did the best they could to tell a story leading up and thru the main event, but they could’ve just not made it the main event.

This was the show where I figured out that a) SamuraiTV/NJPW must only have footage of CMLL’s big shows and that’s why some of the footage was odd (the establishing Titan shot is the one where he’s wearing half of Triton’s mask?) b) Samuari TV decided the June big show was Rey Escorion vs Black Warrior, and not the women’s match and c) they must’ve not sent the Busca en un Idolo footage over and that’s why Euforia didn’t have a video clip. He wasn’t on the other big shows. Useful factoids are what you come here for, totally.

taped 2013-01-20 @ Korakuen Hall
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CMLL/NJPW FantasticaMania Day 2: 2013-01-19

Feb 24

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This was the most responsive crowd of the three days. This is also where the gap between what’s probably best for the live crowd and what I wanted to see widen. Maximo doing the bit he does twice on TV every week does not work for me, but Maximo doing the bit he only does three times a year entertains the Korakuen Hall fans. Euforia/Atlantis is interesting to me because it’s a unique match for CMLL, but it’s probably not as special for people who all the CMLL match up are unique matched. (Stil, could’ve used more Euforia/Atlantis matches on these cards.)

taped 2013-01-19 @ Korakuen Hall
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CMLL/NJPW FantasticaMania Day 1: 2013-01-18

Feb 22

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I’m not doing pbp recaps for this set of shows. (There’s a strong argument I shouldn’t be doing any of those.) I do have thoughts on each match and maybe some moving pictures.

This was the least intersting day of FantasticaMania since they’ve started to them. There’s not one match I’d grade as “GOOD”. The Devitt/Rojo seemed like the best of the day but it’s an easily skippable day. Attendance on all three days seemed down – even more than NJPW claimed – and the crowd wasn’t as responsive. It doesn’t seem like it was a great idea to extend this to 3 days. Maybe that was a tradeoff to bringing over more guys.

taped 2013-01-18 @ Korakuen Hall

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NJPW/CMLL 2013 FantasticaMania Lineups

Jan 4

Posted by thecubsfan in news | 6 Comments

Lineups. HOORAY.

NJPW CMLL (FRI) 01/18/2013 Korakuen Hall
1) Tama Tonga & Titán vs Euforia & Shigeo Okumura
2) Bushi, Diamante, Ryusuke Taguchi vs Ishii, Rey Escorpión, Yujiro
3) Rush vs YOSHI-HASHI
4) La Máscara, Máscara Dorada, Máximo vs Taichi, Taka Michinoku, Volador Jr.
5) Jushin Liger, Mistico, Tiger Mask vs Gedo, Jado, Mephisto
6) Prince Devitt vs Dragón Rojo Jr.
neither man’s titles are on the line
7) Hiroshi Tanahashi & La Sombra vs Misterioso Jr. & Shinsuke Nakamura

Main event Misterioso (to take the pin, but he may main event more times in Japan this year than in Mexico.) Devitt & Rojo is a rematch of their Arena Mexico match, where they didn’t seem to mesh well to me. Rojo’s probably not going to be challenging for Devitt’s Junior title so he’s unlikely to get a win here. Mistico teams with other gimmicks, including someone else who’s taken on the name of a more famous (and better) wrestler. Rush gets to resume his beatings on Yoshihashi. Titan is the opening match, where’s unfortunately stuck for most of the matches.

NJPW CMLL (SAT) 01/19/2013 Korakuen Hall
1) Máximo & Tama Tonga vs Taichi & Taka Michinoku
2) Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Titán vs Gedo, Jado, Misterioso Jr.
3) Diamante & Máscara Dorada vs Mephisto & Shigeo Okumura
4) Bushi, Prince Devitt, Ryusuke Taguchi vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI
5) Mistico vs Euforia
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi, La Máscara, Rush vs Okada, Rey Escorpión, Volador Jr.
7) Shinsuke Nakamura vs La Sombra [IWGP IC]
Nakamura is champion

Sombra gets his title match! Sombra’s probably not going to win his title match, but you’ve got to be in it to win it. I’m most interested in seeing how that match is going to go of all of them.

That’s the first Rush/Okada matchup, but probably not the last.

Mistico gets the best opponent he could get to look good in Euforia. They’re making sure not to expose him here.

NJPW CMLL (SUN) 01/20/2013 Korakuen Hall
1) Máximo vs Taichi
2) Bushi, Diamante, Jushin Liger, Máscara Dorada, Tiger Mask, Titán vs Gedo, Ishii, Jado, Misterioso Jr., Shigeo Okumura, Yoshihashi [cibernetico]
3) Rush vs Rey Escorpión
4) Dragón Rojo Jr. vs La Sombra [NWA WELTER MIDDLE]
Dragon Rojo is champion
5) La Máscara vs Volador Jr. [MEX LH]
Mascara is champion
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mistico, Prince Devitt vs Euforia, Kazuchika Okada, Mephisto

Main event is IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Junior Heavyweight and Mistico together for the photo op.

Mascara and Volador had that singles match 7 times last year, and could do have again in their sleep. That’s especially good for Mascara, who didn’t appear to be awake when he was here two years ago. That’s the one title match on this tour I’m not quite sure how is going to finish, but I know how it’ll go.

Sombra’s coming home with a title belt on the trip. There’s no way he gets two title matches and loses them both unless he’s just not coming back here anytime soon. (Also, it’s Dragon Rojo, and he has another belt. That probably means he’s winning on Saturday, since Friday & Sunday seem bad draws for him.)

If Rey Bucanero was healthy, it’s him versus Rush on this card and probably a Rush title win. Rush is still set up for a pretty strong weekend.

Mascara Dorada, Titan and Diamante don’t really get highlight matches this three show trip. There’s only so many guys you can highlight. You can argue any of them over Mistico, but that’s a problem with making Dragon Lee Mistico, not really the booking. Anyway, the point is this cibernetico is the best place to change that. It may be the best match of these shows.

Maximo vs Taichi is the annual match.

CMLL.com mentions all three shows will be taped for SamuraiTV. No mention of iPPV; I’m not really sure how many times NJPW plans on making their shows iPPV a year, but Sunday would be the show to do if they’re doing any of them.

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