Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Diamante AzulbeatEuforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
(10:43 [4:29, 1:51, 4:23], 2/3, ok)
Star Jr. & ValientebeatFugaz & Místicoin the CMLL Gran Alternativa final (17:42 [4:08, 2:13, 11:21], 1/3, great)
What happened:
Star Jr. & Valiente won the 2019 Gran Alternativa. The final fall came down to Star Jr. & Místico, with Star Jr. rolling thru a La Mistica into a cradle for the win. The announcers repeatedly stated Star Jr. would get to be in the main event the following week.
Thoughts:
Angelito
Star Jr. came thru big in the main event. He is a deserving winner of the Gran Alternativa, and of moving out of the second match pool of wrestlers he’s been stuck in for the last several years. Fugaz is good, both rookies had solid performances, but everything he did came off a lot like what plenty of other guys do on the roster. (Fugaz was almost a perfect fit for Místico because they do several of the same spots.) Star Jr. brought out more new ideas for the big show, stuff as complex as a new tornillo dive and a simple as a well-timed punch. He came off a better flying prospect than Flyer did last year (and definitely better than Flyer now) and giving him the big win over Místico in the end really cemented this as a big win.
This one of those shows where the stream just wouldn’t play correctly for me. Battling takes a lot of focus away from actually watching the show. My impression was the show was largely just ok, though my impressions may be more off than usual. Both the fourth and fifth matches were familiar patterned matches, missing some life or reason for them to standoff. The NGD match felt like it went much longer, though maybe it’s just the rudo routines that happen to last longer. The tecnico opposition was good and it’s great news that Atlantis Jr. can already fit in on a team like that, but they didn’t really graduate to doing anything we don’t normally see of them. NGD took a lot of the match, which continues to help them look dominate but doesn’t do much for the tecnicos. The semi-main moved a little better and had a minor Caristico/UG issue to give the match something to build around, though it also felt overly familiar.
a Stigma tight takedown
Cometa/Stigma had the theoretical advantage of feeling unusual for being a new matchup. They tended to fall back into the usual tropes, including this week’s stage dive with no real meaning. My heart sank when Stigma got Stigmatic and I was relieved when the match continued after a kickout. It probably shouldn’t be as big a deal; Cometa’s a much less error-prone luchador than Stigma, though also less likely to break from his usual routes.
I don’t know why there was an excessive violence disqualification in the second match. I don’t know why Pegasso thought a cameraman was a rudo to leap onto from the apron. It was all strange. It’s also strange that the Panthers seemingly debuted a tag team move here; for two guys who constantly team, they don’t really have many spots as a duo. It is a little progress.
Angelito would be interesting in a division where other people were trying. That is not the CMLL mini division. Pierrothito seemed to be wrestling thru an injury, not that it made a lot of difference.
Star Jr. & Valiente won the tournament and will advance to face Fugaz & Místico next week.
Felino used the ropes to beat Rey Cometa and was strangely angry about the win.
Chamuel fouled Microman once again.
Grako powerbombed Electrico in the second fall of the opener, only for Electrico to accidentally pull Grako’s mask off as he fell. (Electrico had his hands around Grako’s head to keep him up as Grako ran.) Referee Edgar immediately ruled Grako had won, though Grako angrily stomped and unmasked Electrico after the. This sequence must’ve seemed utterly bizarre to the tourists.
Thoughts:
Audaz
CMLL adjusted from last Friday’s show. They ran the same amount of, just cutting a half-hour out of it. The resulting was a show rushing to get done by the end, despite a truncated opener by several minutes. The block final did get some time for drama, but only in between the last five minutes, including a rudo attacking a tecnico before the start to get them going quickly.
The main event was absurdly short, shorter than the time it took to get everyone out there for it. The two trios tried to pack in a lot in a little time. It was still obvious how the rudos didn’t do pretty much anything, that it was nothing but a setup to a couple of finishes. Místico continues to win often in the new era.
I’d be interested in knowing how the tournament feels to people who know the outcome. There was a sense of creeping and overwhelming dread for most of watching live. Perhaps knowing Star Jr. was safely going to win would make it more enjoyable than the displeasure it was in real-time. Maybe it would take the hope of CMLL I’m currently missing. CMLL’s been so disappointing that Espanto Jr., one of the consistently worst wrestlers employed, seemed like a realistic option to win. Star Jr.’s win felt less like a triumph and more of relief about the company not slipping into senility. Super Astro Jr. & Star Jr. looked like the other best two novatos through the tournament, though Astro struggled in his first match. Yago and Sonic did well with fewer opportunities.
hope we get to see the Titan/Astro team again. Titan is short a tag partner anyway.
I nearly forgot to write about Rey Cometa & Felino. There’s not much to say anyway. Cometa did the apron headscissors again. Cometa is very repetitive, but he seems like the more promising and exciting luchador. Felino seemed grouchy even after he got his win. I missed what caused it if anything did.
The first half of the card was no better. By the standards of this undercard, Atlantis & Audaz were shining beams of light by just doing what they do in every. Atlantis, being unable to do a front roll for a snap mare, was more like the rest of the first hour. Hechicero worked as well with these tecnicos as you’d hope, though they need something more to push them farther, or maybe a better third partner.
The micros have fully stagnated at this point. Every (outside of the mask) ends with Chamuel getting disqualified. He and Microman do a couple of cool things beforehand, though not as much as they did initially. Other micros try, and it doesn’t quite work. There’s no enough variety for how often we’re seeing them.
The opener was a joke, with a disastrous finish leaving the referee laughing at his own faulty decision. The referees do have the ability to rule a mask removal accidental and keep going. That wasn’t the decision here, and everyone was left looking dumb.
Negro Casas lost to Big Daddy, Último Guerrero, Cavernario, Volador Jr., Gilbert el Boricua, Ciber the Main Manin a cage match and for the hair
(13:23, ok, 02:19:10 )
4:05 Big Daddy Escapes
4:49 Gilbert el Boricua escapes
5:38 Barbaro Cavernario escapes
6:30 Volador escapes
8:15 Cibernetico escapes
13:23 Guerrero Special Negro Casas
What happened:
Audaz
The cage match starts without Volador, Cavernario attacking him on the outside before the match starts. Volador climbs up the cage and does a plancha on anyone. A three-minute timer starts the moment he gets in, with it being shown down to the microseconds for some reason. Big Daddy does not understand the rules and attempts to leave first. Cavernario also attempts to leave. People try to bolt at the 3-minute mark, with Volador timing his climb up there just to get on the cage at the mark. Negro Casas got his hair messed up but not completely shave off, which was odd.
Fantasma was the commissioner on hand for the trios title match. He hasn’t been seen much in Arena Mexico in recent years. Rambo handled the women’s title match.
Niebla Roja & Angel de Oro asked for a tag title rematch to loud boos.
Reina Isis (Dalys) & La Infernal (Metalica) were seconds. The finish has Dalys attempting a casita, Metalica blocking it and scissoring the ropes with her legs for leverage and the three. Dalys is on her side at the pin, with one shoulder up directly in front of referee Metalico, who doesn’t hesitate in counting her down. Dalys and Reina Isis protest and get the crowd on their side while Metalica just sort of accepts it. (My read of the situation is it was an intentional botch, with the idea of Dalys losing but not really losing. The only reason Metalico would count that and Dalys wouldn’t escape when she heard him hitting the mat would be because they knew it was the designed ending.)
Rey Bucanero pulled Diamante Azul’s mask to end the first fall of the segunda. The second fall ended with the thrice-yearly DQ for press slamming someone (Titan) over the top rope, though the rudos made sure to shove the referee and all stomp down Dulce to make it a more obvious DQ.
Thoughts:
big man splash
Nothing special about the cage match. Ultimo Guerrero & Negro Casas got about four minutes to do near falls, and that was the only interesting part. Everyone else was rushed out in order. The three minutes of fighting before escapes seem less than usual, but it’s also not like that portion is ever any good. It wasn’t good here. They did sort of a royal rumble bit but in reverse for the eliminations, with everyone taking a turn getting a run and then leaving. Big Daddy left first, after having one telegraphed but good highspot with Guerrero and then looking off with everyone else. They set it up as he’ll be back, and it won’t be a good thing. None of the other early escapes did much. Ultimo Guerrero defeating Negro Casas on an Aniversario will look big in the history books and the fans did react equally big in the final matches, but the match itself is better forgotten.
The trios titles match will absolutely resonate stronger with people who check into CMLL infrequently than those who watch all of it. The match had plenty of excitement, some cool runs of dives, and a good reversal finish. It was fun. It was also not much more than we get from these guys on a normal Friday night, with that same finishing reversal sequence happening a lot and the tecnicos doing the same dives in the order often. Mistico, Carisitco, and Valiente are probably teaming again no more often than any random three CMLL people, but it was disappointing that they didn’t anything to sell the idea of them as a group of people. Both teams have had a slightly smoother version of this match before, some odd hesitations near the finish thru off the rhythm. This was a strong effort physically but could’ve used more mentally I guess. I wouldn’t put this among the best match of the year, but if you’re watching four or ten CMLL shows a year, this is probably something you’re going to enjoy and so it worked for an Aniversario.
dancing Dulce
The micros mask match was a success. Microman had lots of highspots, Chamuel based for him well, Chamuel put him in danger a bunch, and Microman hit something spectacular to win. The stage dive was cool, but it was the last few minutes that took it up for me. If Microman had just won with his normal finish it would’ve felt a bit too simple, and the Code Red came off strong. I think they probably could’ve gone even longer with this match but what they did all worked.
The relevos increibles match seemed rushed, especially early on. The Guerreros team had a lot of fun teamwork once again, and I just wish they had more time to do it. The first fall finish was clever. I hope they continue to add ideas to the tag title match. What they have here was pretty smooth and moved well, but I’m not thrilled about the match happening in a perfect fluke a third time in a row. Those boos seemed to get into the tecnicos heads in the post-match promo, they showed it, and it only made the boos louder. I don’t think they’re going away for big shows.
Metalica & Dalys had a better-executed version of the same match. Metalica did better than that disaster performance. Yet, she still seemed like she was out of gas by the last half of the third fall. Dalys seemed to take 75% of the match, and not with any direction. It wasn’t like Metalica really ever made a rally, it was Metalica getting in a move to break up the Dalys run of offense every so often. Dalys was dominant and also playing tecnica to the crowd to get cheered, which worked for her but this match-up continues to be terrible for Metalica. The finish lapped Ciber/UG as the new worst finish of the year and it wasn’t even funny. It was frustrating knowing the finishing sequence and then watching the match because there were other teases of other ways to end this. Dalys went to untie Metalica’s mask at one point. A mask removal DQ in a title match would be annoying but it’s still better. There’s the briefest of a double pin sequence, which would’ve been fine. Instead, they picked a worse finish.
mean Chamuel
The second match has some guys were helping in various degrees, some being just OK, and Diamante Azul not being OK. He’s still out of shape, wearing a random shirt o the biggest show of the year to hide it. The look isn’t as much a problem as the work. He seemed to come in when he wasn’t supposed to in the first fall (Dulce was trying to get in), which seemingly caused Bucanero to pull his mask quickly to just get out of it. Dulce and Bucanero starting right off the second fall seemed to confirm they were picking up the intended plan. The rest of the match did seem like people trying to set it up for a big show, with more thought put into the rudo section than usual, with some good co-ordination leading to the end. Dulce and Titan looked good. Hechicero continues to be great in meaningless trios matches of late, carrying this one for his team again.
The opener was better than an average Friday night opener, though it still felt like the fourth match on a Tuesday with a couple of extra moves. Tiger was the only guy who seemed to dress up for the occasion. Stigma was trying moves he doesn’t normally and didn’t have a great success rate by the end. Audaz feels like he pulls out the most unexpected dives, though it also may be the cameras not catching up to him. Fine but forgettable.
Místico & Fugaz (a late sub for Star Black) move on to the final on 10/18.
Templario told Soberano he would repeat this win on Sunday and take his title. Soberano wanted a mask versus mask match. Templario remained focused on the title match.
Thoughts:
This show was very long for a CMLL show. It was longer than last week’s Aniversario show. They didn’t really cut down match times, except perhaps in the tournament, and so this nearly reached three hours. Long for a CMLL show is still shorter than most any other major league promotion, but it seems more of a factor with a higher percentage of casual fans.
The main event paid the price for the long show. It wasn’t as exciting as the original match. It did seem better than the second one, but the second one didn’t have a dead and departing crowd. Those who stuck around stuck boos on the Chavez brothers, and I’m not sure standing and staring at the boos is the way to go. They did switch a few things around and didn’t go to the same exact finish a third time, but it is probably time to move onto a different set of opponents.
Chavez
None of the Gran Alternativa matches were particularly worth watching as standalone matches. Most of the novatos had unnoticeable performances. Retro wasn’t good. It’s increasingly difficult to see a scenario where he’s going to make it. Coyote & Grako were at their usual level. Arkalis looked a little better than them, but he’s heavy for a young guy in a promotion that seems to like bodies. (Arkalis’ better path might be as an indie guy.) Difunto worked well with the tecnicos and is the one most likely to make it big out of this bunch, but he didn’t have a standout moment.
Both undercard trios matches could’ve been skipped easily. Titan and Cuatrero was the best part of the second match, with Titan breaking out a Fenix like rope bounce spot not seen from him off with the NGD member. They had good chemistry for a match-up we haven’t seen as much. The rest of the group was solid and/or Flyer.
Espiritu Negro has a dive
Espíritu Negro seemed like the Raziel “way too old to be in a young stars tournament” bit. He also pulled off the Raziel “actually useful if motivated and working with top people” bit. Raziel’s only lately gotten a slightly higher position due to departures so it’s hard to imagine anything but openers for Espíritu Negro.
Dulce working with Niebla, Terrible and even teaming with Volador felt a little disorienting. Dulce’s mostly wrestled mid-level luchadors, those who hadn’t really wrestled Maximo for years before he was gone from CMLL. Gardenia moved up to face some of Maximo’s regular former opponents here, and often seemed to be doing the same bits Maximo had been doing. There are small difference, though I’m not sure if it was enough. I’d say Dulce should never do the crawling in for a kiss spot again, but that spot always seemed to get over. The concern is Dulce might get rejected if the hardcore fans feel he’s just ripping off the last guy’s act. It didn’t happen here, maybe it’s a dumb concern then, but I’d be careful about it.
Fugaz – or whoever laid out his first-round match – really got what this tournament and this crowd needs for an impression. He did an impressive crazy dive in the first minute of his match and everyone was onboard. I’m not sure anything else he did really matched it, but he kept near that level for the rest of his run. He was a good compliment to Místico. Making the final, even if he doesn’t win it, should mean he’s back in Mexico City much more. This tournament did turn into a Místico story, the one Munoz left in CMLL winning a block with a guy who wasn’t even supposed to be in this tournament. I think there’s a lot of attempting to prove they can just make a star out of anyone in these decisions, but Mistico came thru with a good performance too.
Maya clearing house
Soberano & Templario was the big move showcase you’d expect from them, done bigger than every. (Done with no Destroyers too.) Everything seemed to come together well, they kept it interesting for a long fall period than they’re used to going, and the finish was a bit of a surprise. Both this and the tag title matches are recent repeats. These two guys seemed to feel a bit fresher in their rematch. They also had much more interest from the audience. Templario & Soberano might be the CMLL rivalry of the year if you throw in their outside of CMLL matches. It also seems like a case where getting to do these matches in other places have helped them in bringing it back to Arena Mexico.
There were no surprises in the segunda. Guerrero Maya & Rey Cometa had moments of fun that were drained away by the rudos performance. Dark Magic had trouble laying flat after taking the stacked up suplex spot, which seems like not that hard of a thing to do. He’s still not much good and his teammates weren’t anything special. No idea why the opening matches went three falls given the time crunch on this show.
Silueta & Magnifica were both trying for bigger offense than usually seen in women’s matches early. It didn’t look clean – the sequence right before the first finish stuck out as messy – but the effort is always nice in these matches. The match started to drag with the rudas in charge and never really recovered.
Felino, Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III beat Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Flyer
(14:36 [6:22, 4:33, 3:41], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Soberano Jr. and Templario went to a draw in a lightning match
(10:00, TLD, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Big Daddy, Gilbert el Boricua, Último Guerrero beat Cavernario, Ciber the Main Man, Volador Jr.in a relevos increíbles match
(6:57 [3:07, 3:50], 1/2, below average, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Neither team in the semi-main got along or even really attempted to do so. Promos followed.
Soberano & Templario collapsed after the ten minutes were up then started fighting more
Chamuel got caught unmasking Microman for the DQ
Thoughts:
The main event had all the moves, but it just was shockingly off in some parts. It seemed more the rudos, who are never this inconsistent. Maybe Euforia was working through a leg injury because he couldn’t even get the celebration with Gran Guerrero to go correctly. It was not terrible, but there was enough wrong with that you should pick something else.
The semi-main was an intentional mess. It was hard to watch outside of the attempt to have a hot last sixty seconds. Even that ended with Ciber noticeably not wanting to keep his shoulders down on the final pin. Big Daddy dove once. Not much else that looked good. Cavernario & Volador screwed around a lot. Ultimo Guerrero seemed like the only one who was into this, including those outside the ring.
Big Daddy shoots, misses
Soberano & Templario felt like a fifteen-minute match cut off at the ten-minute mark. They were killing each other with big moves; it just also never felt like they got close to the point where they focused on winning. There were a couple of spots that seemed like they were about to fall apart, but Templario is a good enough rudo to keep them together. Soberano and Templario are really at their best against each other and hopefully will get another chance later.
The tercera didn’t come entirely together for me despite having some good individual performances. Dulce Gardenia had his most complete match so far, even while relying less on the exotico spots. Atlantis Jr. continuing to show improvement is one of the best stories of the year in CMLL. There was a heroic performance by Hechicero to keep a complicated Flyer headscissors from falling apart. Hechicero carried a lot of the action for his side.
The minis match was not much, just another unmasking bit to build up to next week’s mask fight. Even Microman and Chamuel seemed to be saving their best stuff for the following week. It’s an easy skip.
Super Astro & Sonic are about as an entertaining tecnico duo as CMLL throws in the Mexico City openers. They had a lot of fun in the third fall especially, pulling off flashier moves than usually seen in this place on the card. The execution wasn’t smooth; Espiritu Negro & Grako were will if not able. It was still better than an average opening. Maybe calling it good is judging on a curve but it deserves some notice.
Ciber the Main Man, Gilbert el Boricua, Titán beat Carístico, Místico, Último Guerrero
(9:57 [1:41, 2:41, 5:35], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Cavernario, Diamante Azul, Dragón Lee, Forastero, Negro Casas, Rush, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. beat Big Daddy, Delirious, Jay Briscoe, Kenny King, Luke Hawx, Matt Taven, Mecha Wolf 450, Oráculoin a CMLL Gran Prix Tournament match
(49:05, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)
16:55 Rush corner dropkick Oraculo
19:45 Kenny King Royal Flush Forastero
23:55 Delirious top rope splash to the back Soberano
26:04 Cavernario reverse springboard splash Luke Hawx
28:17 Rush corner dropkick Delirious
29:21 Diamante Azul German suplex Kenny King
32:33 Mecha Wolf 450 splash Diamante Azul
34:28 DQ Rush [weapon usage]
38:43 Dragon Lee Descondora Mecha Wolf 450
42:23 Jay Briscoe Jay Driller Dragon Lee
44:03 Volador top rope huracanrana Matt Taven
45:41 Cavernario Rosa suplex Jay Briscoe
47:18 Big Daddy Rainmaker Cavernario
48:28 Negro Casas casita Big Daddy
49:05 Volador Jr. backcracker Negro Casas
What happened:
over the top
Team Mexico eliminated three of Team World in a row, leaving them down to Mecha Wolf, Big Daddy, Matt Taven and Jay Briscoe pretty quickly. Team World remained behind most of the match. For reasons unclear, Dragon Lee threw a whole bunch of television cable in the ring after Rush hit the corner dropkick on Matt Taven, leading Rush to whip and choke Taven with it until he was disqualified.
Negro Casas beats Big Daddy as the last man on the foreign team, after a Cavernario trip (mostly missed by the cameras.) Everyone celebrates as if the match is over, except Volador attacks Negro Casas because the match isn’t over. Casas still gets in a casita on him, only for Big Daddy to pull the referee away. Volador wins via backcracker. He gets booed. Promos go back and forth, teasing some combination of Volador & Big Daddy vs Casas & Cavernario.
Zacarias seconded the Ultimo Guerrero team, as seemingly part of paying him to work this show despite not wanting him to be ringside for the Gran Prix. Gilbert stole a pin from Ciber in the first fall. Gilbert tried to do the same in the third fall but UG kicked out. This led to a smart use of CMLL’s usual obstinate refereeing. Both Ciber and Gilbert tried to cover UG, the referee got Gilbert to stand up and back off because only one person is allowed to cover, and Ciber used the distraction to get in a foul for the win. Ciber & Gilbert faced off, with both issuing challenges to Ultimo Guerrero.
Chamuel barreled into referee MicroAngel to take him out, then tossed his mask to Microman to draw the DQ. Mask challenges followed.
Thoughts:
Chamuel cleans house
The hottest moments of this year’s Gran Prix are the initial scrums. The match never completely dies off but the crowd doesn’t seem to be loudly into much until the last few minutes. The action is kind of just fine most of the time, with everyone trying and no one really clicking. There just wasn’t a really strong stretch, and the end was flat. There was enough action to make it worth watching once but it’s not something I’d need to invest all that time in again. I think having an unknown group of wrestlers played a factor in the reactions, though it seemed like there was a similar problem last year. Mecha Wolf was the standout on the foreigner side, meshing well enough with Dragon Lee (outside of one spot) that you’d want to see them get a chance to do it again. I thought Jay Briscoe was good too, though his elimination spot takes three trios to sort out. Diamante Azul seemed like the worst guy in the match – his sequence with Kenny King was cringy and it wasn’t on King. Big Daddy might have actually been the least but they went out of their way to protect him, having him barely in before he was needed for the finishing sequence. Why Big Daddy is needed is an entirely different question. The idea here seemed to be emphasizing his size by putting him in the with talented small guys, but I’m not sure he really impressed. Not a lot here did, and this will just go down in the record books as having happened.
The semi-main was one of the lesser Ciber/UG and friends matches because the angle to get Gilbert involved with the feud derailed the match frequently in the first two falls. The third fall was solid if not exciting. Titan getting to work rudo, or at least do all his usual stuff and also some mask pulling, was a little different.
Microman & Chamuel was a good exhibition of Microman spots, though it could’ve benefited from a bit more aggression typical to mask match feuds. This wasn’t a great time for a Chamuel guillotine legdrop, need more clobbering instead. Chamuel really laid out MicroAngel on the referee bump, maybe the hardest hit of the magic. They’ve got room to go higher in the mask match.
Microman
The tercera got a little bit of time, enough to give a showcase for everyone. Templario’s agility stood out among the usual NGD/Chavez fighting. The match didn’t get too deep, there were no real near falls, but it was better than the average match in this spot.
The second match never really hit second gear. The big stuff they tried to didn’t come off as big; the stage dives were set up by some hard to ignore standing around by the rudos waiting to hit. Cuatrero was at least selling when Angel de Oro did the spot later. Atlantis Jr. came across as the best of the tecnicos, with Audaz never putting together a big moment. Flyer seemed the most focused on, an odd choice, but it also didn’t help that he was working with Rey Bucanero. They were on different pages in the third fall. This was usual trios filler and could’ve been more.
The women’s match featured that good psychology where the tecnicas won the second fall and started the third fall on the defensive. Dalys has to get in her moves, which seemed like the entire portion of the match. I wish they didn’t get in the brutal guillotine spot. This match wasn’t terrible and Metalica didn’t collapse so it was at least better than the last Friday women’s match. It seems a waste to use up an Aniversario spot on something that is clearly not over but I guess that could apply to many things.
