CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-07-07 

don’t mess with Monito

Recapped: 07/07/2017

Matches: 

All matches aired live from Arena Mexico.

La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Silueta beat  Dalys, La Seductora, Zeuxis
(12:58 [5:17, 3:08, 4:33], 1/3, ok)

Blue Panther, Pegasso, Rey Cometa beat Misterioso Jr., Sam Adonis, Virus
(12:54 [4:41, 2:43, 5:30], 2/3, ok)

Pierroth, Ripper, Rush  beat Shocker, Terrible, Vangellys in a relevos increíbles match
(11:01 [3:39, 2:40, 4:42], 2/3 DQ, bad)

The battle royal lasted 2:56

Diamante Azul beat Ephesto in a CMLL Universal eighthfinal
(3:28, side slam, ok)

Último Guerrero beat Marco Corleone in a CMLL Universal eighthfinal
(1:58, roll thru pin, ok)

Mistico beat Mephisto in a CMLL Universal eighthfinal
(7:28, La Mistica, good)

Niebla Roja beat Soberano Jr. in a CMLL Universal eighthfinal
(3:22, middle rope Furia Roja, ok)

Último Guerrero beat Diamante Azul in a CMLL Universal quarterfinal (3:36, pulpo Guerrero, OK)

Niebla Roja beat Mistico in a CMLL Universal quarterfinal
(5:31, Canadian Destroyer, ok)

Último Guerrero beat Niebla Roja  in a CMLL Universal semifinal
(7:31, mask pull, ok)

What happened: 

he’s inescapable

The final card before the (so far unnamed) big show on July 14th had some very predictable stories. Último Guerrero won this portion of the CMLL Universal bracket, going thru Marco Corleone, Diamante Azul and new rival Niebla Roja on the end. Último Guerrero used a mask pull to beat Niebla Roja, but only because he wanted to – he was clearly winning the match to that point. Niebla Roja challenged Último Guerrero to a mask versus mask match, then corrected himself to a mask versus hair match. Utlimo Guerrero challenged the same thing back, and then said they’d decide after this tournament ends.

This week’s Ingobernables/Vangellys match had no Fake Sombra and very little action. It did have tape and cords to tie Vangellys to the ropes during the match, and knuckles for Pierroth to knock Vangellys out at the end. Vangellys was unconscious for minutes, which seems like the sort of an injury which should keep someone out for at least a week. I think we’re still getting the mask match anyway.

The other two matches kept the current feuds running in place. Sugehit submitted Zeuxis this week, while Blue Panther did the same to Sam Adonis. The Panther/Adonis issue seems to be a real feud, though one with no certain direction.

Thoughts: 

Operacion Dragon

This show wasn’t much good.

Último Guerrero was cheered like crazy, really thru the whole tournament but especially at the end. Most people were happy with him with him winning and will go home having had a fun time at lucha libre. It was an OK quality match as a standalone thing. In the context of what CMLL is trying to promote, it was disaster. The Niebla Roja técnico stuff has been not done well from the moment it started and this night was definitely not a turning point. Roja needed a strong final – he had good times with Soberano and Mistico but no one’s going to remember those – he needed something to show he could go with Último Guerrero if the effort they’ve put into him is going to turn into anything. Instead, it was Último Guerrero doing the Último Guerrero match at the worst possible time.

CMLL tournaments matches tend to showcase the person who was losing to let them look good (and get in all of their stuff) before they exit the tournament. Niebla Roja was hasn’t done anything impressive outside his spinning forearm as a técnico (and he did that right away); this was the time for him to show he could do a lot more. What the match turned into was 80% Último Guerrero offense, playing all his favorite hits, and 15% of what Niebla Roja got was just the same spots every técnico gets in so Último Guerrero can take all his favorite bumps too. Último Guerrero could’ve saved all that for next week (and he’ll do the same exact things anyway), the only thing he needed to get out of this match was getting his hand raised after unmasking Niebla Roja. It helps Niebla Roja – and Último Guerrero too since he’s tied himself to this dude – so much if he was the one getting in 80% of the offense, if UG’s moves weren’t working because this guys had figured them out and UG needed to cheat just to get out with the win. Instead, they did a match where Niebla Roja came out looking like just another guy, a fool who screwed up his own challenge at the end. Último Guerrero has a great reputation as a wrestler, but nights like tonight should be part of his reputation as well.

(I’m not at all convinced Niebla Roja is the right guy, he’s been alright but not showing enough as a técnico and has generally come off as a person just lucky to be given this storyline. He caused himself to look like just another guy by deciding to use a Canadian Destroyer as a finish. Still, if you’re going to do this, do this for real, don’t do this to set up another failed tecnico.)

Jarochita lived

Speaking of failed técnicos, they’ve reached the point where Mistico is underutilized and underpushed in CMLL. It stuck out back when he wasn’t on the Gran Prix team, CMLL’s kind of missing out on something because they’re afraid the crowd will turn on him. Maybe the Anniversary show one still will, but he’s getting good reactions the other 51 weeks of the year and he’s not done much at all during them. His match with Mephisto was the only decently long good match of this tournament and the best thing on this show.

The Los Ingobernables trios was a mess and a joke and a waste of time. It’s also foreshadowing CMLL doing all those things and more next week to try and get around this obviously awful match they’ve been insistent on doing.

Adonis/Panther had none of those bells and whistles – no one really did all that much in that match until the third fall, to be honest – but the crowd is so into Adonis that they don’t have to do all that much. It’s cool they’re using Panther in this role as a specific call back to the Love Machine feud (which, to be noted, wasn’t really a US/Mexico focused thing until they brought it back in AAA), but I’m not sure that’s going to be a great looking singles match. It could really work as a setup to one of Panther’s sons avenging their father, but that’s way down the road. Right now I’m just amazed they’re doing something with it (and Misterioso keeps on stealing masks too.)

Sugehit & Zeuxis seemed to work less with each other this week and this was the most running in place match yet. I hope they get on with it after the Copa Natalia Vazquez, because it’s gone too long with nothing added for a long time. Jarochita attempting to break her neck is the only really memorable moment of the match.

CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-06-30 

Negro Casas is 57

Recapped: 06/30/2017

Matches: 

All matches aired live from Arena México

Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón beat Drone, Pegasso, The Panther  
(14:09 [5:56, 2:55, 5:18], 1/3, good)

Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, Titán beat Pólvora, Ripper, Virus
(15:37 [6:35, 3:44, 5:18], 2/3, good?)

Dragón Rojo Jr., Mephisto, Sam Adonis beat Atlantis, Blue Panther, Soberano Jr.
(15:19 [4:21, 3:16, 7:42], 1/3, good)

Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys beats Misterioso Jr., Pierroth, Rush in a relevos increíbles match
(7:36 [2:44, 4:52], 1 DQ/2, Arena México, ok)

The battle royal went 3:12.

Shocker beat Valiente in a CMLL Universal eighthfinal
(3:52, powerbomb with feet on the ropes, ok)

Volador Jr. beat Hechicero in a CMLL Universal eighthfinal
(6:58, off the rope headscissors, good)

Negro Casas beat Ángel de Oro   in a CMLL Universal eighthfinal
(2:21, casita, ok)

Dragón Lee beat Luciferno in a CMLL Universal eighthfinal
(5:51, hanging double stomp, good)

Volador Jr. beat Shocker in a CMLL Universal quarterfinal
(4:28, backcracker, ok)

Negro Casas beat Dragón Lee in a CMLL Universal quarterfinal
(3:55, casita, ok)

Volador Jr. beat Negro Casas in a CMLL Universal semifinal
(5:54, reverse frankensteiner, good)

What Happened

Forastero dropkick

Volador Jr. won Block A of the Universal tournament, defeating Hechicero, Shocker and Negro Casas to advance to the final on 07/14.

Vangellys snuck in a low blow to beat Pierroth in straight falls. The start of the match was more interesting than the start or the middle: a luchador in a Sombra outfit accompanied Los Ingobernables to the ring. The announcers wondered if it was the real La Sombra without mentioning that name (and the real La Sombra teased that he was at the arena.) It appeared to be someone else in the outfit.

Blue Panther and Sam Adonis are working a lot against each other in matches. It’s unclear if it’s meant to be an actual angle or them doing their own thing.

Marcela & Volador Jr. each received the Copa Bobby Bonales.

Thoughts:

Soberano gets caught

The Universal tournament had two styles: the matches with Shocker and the matches without him. Shocker’s match with Valiente was a nothing match meant to save as much as possible of Shocker for the next match. (The guy who won last year’s tournament was quietly eliminated first.) That was a decent plan, only Shocker still didn’t have enough left to finish a four and half minute match with Volador before gassing out badly. Shocker did a multiple quebadora spot and was just done but had to go on. He needed a bit of a break before the match could wrap up. This was not a good idea.

The rest was a good idea! Hechicero/Volador was the lightning match they’ve never had but should again. Luciferno/Dragon Lee was Luciferno going all out in his annual loss versus Lee. And Negro Casas was great as usual: he made Angel de Oro look like a chump, he recreated about half of his Monday lighting match with Dragon Lee, and he took crazy punishment from Volador Jr. again. They should be giving Casas another trophy. These matches were short but felt like they had a lot to them.

locoiferno

I know this week’s Pierroth/Vangellys match wasn’t bad, because the promos afterwards definitely were bad and the match didn’t last long to be of that quality. This was the predictable build up a couple weeks out from the hair match, a match that’s not going to work at all unless Rush carries the match like he’s taking care of the talking. Guessing at the Sombra mystery was a lot more fun than the match.

The tercera played like the week delayed reward for Soberano winning the En Gran Alternativa. He got a to of the offense on his side, he dove off the stage, and they generally showcased him well. The crowd was loudest for Adonis, riled up whenever he’d grab the flag, thrilled when the técnicos finally ganged up on him. I assume Adonis & Panther are doing their own thing here, but maybe they can make it into something real. Adonis took great care of Panther on the Finish.

Sanson bomb

The second match struck me as a simple match done well, where the opener had a bit more effort. They did everything really well; Virus was sharp, the técnicos were effective in their movements, and they built strongly to the end of falls. These guys have really strong timing too, with not the hesitation sometimes seen in the other one. It also had the totally random Virus/Ripper issues and Ripper wrestling in his Psicosis outfit for unexplained reasons.

This show opened with a rare fun opener. It didn’t feel like they totally let these guys go (though we got the dive), but both teams did a lot more than most people are allowed to the opener. Drone was exciting if sloppy early, and he and The Panther work well together. There’s no chance he’s going to replace Blue Panther Jr. as the regular partner, but he would work as the trio partner. All the action doesn’t work if the NGD aren’t on the other side and willing to go with it; I almost don’t want to see them moved up because the midcard tecnicos won’t have any one better to work with right now. There are better exhibitions of what they could do, but this match was a good showcase of how useful they are for everyone else.

there were bigger spots but Negro Casas’ reaction is great so whatever

CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-06-23 

occasionally Rush does something to remind me why he’s actually good

Recapped: 06/27/2017

Matches: 

Eléctrico, Shockercito, Stukita beat Mercurio, Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Violencia
(16:49 [7:22, 3:46, 5:41], 2/3, ok, via thecubsfan)

Estrellita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit beat Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis
(11:41 [5:14, 2:22, 4:05], 2/3 DQ, ok, via thecubsfan)

Vangellys  beat Pierroth in a lightning match
(5:17, inside cradle w/ropes, below average, via  thecubsfan)

Ángel de Oro, Dragón Lee, Niebla Roja  beat  Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero
(11:09 [0:58, 4:45, 5:26], 1/3, ok, via thecubsfan)

Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Volador Jr. beat Cavernario, Euforia, Rush in a relevos increíbles match
(8:07 [3:06, 5:01], 1 DQ/2, below average, thecubsfan)

What happened: 

dive catch gif

Diamante Azul returned from another trip to France to get his mask destroyed in the first fall. When he finally got a new one, his comeback led to an almost instant win for his team, with Rush pinning Azul.

Angel de Oro pinned Gran Guerrero cleanly as they feuded all match.

Vangellys used the ropes to beat Pierroth, then challenged him to a hair match. He got a response from Rush, sneaking in behind to club Vangellys. The Munoz family destroyed Vangellys while accepting his challenge.

Dalys tried to distract referee Edgar long enough for Zeuxis to toss her mask to Princesa Sugehit. Dalys didn’t do her part long enough, and Edgar turned around in plenty of time to watch Zeuxis commit the deed. Edgar considered giving the match to the rudas for the briefest of moments before raising Sugehit’s arm.

Estrellita had a shoulder brace on, which probably explains why she started missing matches after this show.

Thoughts: 

Vangellys selling

This was a marked step down from previous shows. None of the matches were particular good and some were just not good. The matches around the feuds didn’t come off as strong as usual.

The main event was derailed by Rush doing too good for a job destroying Diamante Azul’s mask. Everyone pretty much stopped until he could find a new one, and then the match went about 20 seconds after he came back. That was no good. The match was no good.

Both the semimain and the women’s match pushed those feuds fine, but there was not a lot to the matches. The finish in the women’s match came off as it was messed up and Edgar was left to DQ Zeuxis when that wasn’t the finish, but also that didn’t matter at all. The semimain had Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja showing off a lot of tag team moves for a team that’s not booked as a 2v2 team. It probably should be a tag feud against Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero, but that requires the promotion to have tag team titles.

Stukita

Vangellys & Pierroth was predictably poor in outcome, though I was mildly surprised how they got there. Sons modeling their wrestling styles after their fathers is normal, but I can’t recall a father trying to be a fourth rate clone of his son like Pierroth did here. He’s not very good at it, completely lacking the charisma that makes it work for Rush, and it left a match where neither man was doing much. Pierroth wasn’t going to do much than brawl, and it came off as if they weren’t trusting Vangellys to do any moves to him. The one thing Pierroth could do was his big second rope senton, so of course Vangellys barely sold it and went right to the finish after it. I can not believe someone thinks it’s a good idea to do a longer version of this match.

The minis match got good in the third fall and Stukita’s established enough that the fans pick up the moment he gets in the ring. They could do more with him, but they won’t, so it didn’t feel like it mattered much.

CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-06-16 (Soberano wins Gran Alternativa)

new heroes

Recapped: 06/16/2016

Matches: 

  1. Raziel & Virus beat Magia Blanca & Sangre Imperial (12:31+ [3:50+, 3:23, 5:18], 1/3, ok?)
  2. Dragón Rojo Jr., Misterioso Jr., Pólvora  beat Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr.(13:40 [5:48, 3:13, 4:39], 2/3, ok)
  3. Shocker, Terrible, Vangellys beat Kráneo, Pierroth, Rush in a relevos increíbles match (16:18 [2:12, 5:36, 8:30], 2/3, bad)
  4. Dragón Lee beat Cavernario in a lightning match (9:42, hanging double stomp, good)
  5. Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Valiente beat Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas (5:09 [3:36, 1:33], 1/2 DQ, ok)
  6. Carístico & Soberano Jr. beat Sansón & Último Guerrero in a CMLL Gran Alternativa Tournament final (19:39 [4:25, 2:50, 12:24], 2/3, excellent)

What happened: 

Dragon Lee lived

Soberano Jr. & Carístico won the 2017 Gran Alternativa, cleanly defeating Sansón & Último Guerrero by taking the last two falls of a spectacular main event.

Gran Guerrero unmasked and humiliated Niebla Roja in the semifinal, at the cost of losing his own match in straight falls. The Guerreros continue to make Niebla Roja pay for his behavior and for wearing the Guerrero mask.

Vangellys fouled Pierroth to defeat him, somewhat getting the best of him two weeks in a row.

CMLL promoted a concert taking place on July 29th harder than they promote most of their shows (and we’ll probably see the ad for the next six weeks.)

Misterioso is making a low key point of unmasking a técnico after every match now. It doesn’t look like he’s getting that Soberano feud, so he’s going to go after everyone.

Thoughts: 

Ultimo Guerrero is really strong

This looked like a really strong complete show on paper. It turned into a two match show, but those two matches really delivered.

The main event was all about making Soberano. Último Guerrero was the exact perfect opponent for him, working with him as he had with Mistico and Sombra and another Mistico in the past, making each other look brilliant from their first fall exchange on. Guerrero sold it like he was frustrated by this youngster, and bested by him at the end. Carístico was obviously super motivated by both the spotlight and the outcome, trying to keep up with Soberano’s spectacular moves. Sansón wasn’t given as much in this match – the Copa Junior was a better spotlight for him – but he made the most of what he got to do and didn’t feel out of place. Soberano did everything he needed to do as well as he could do it. CMLL’s gotten behind him in a major way, and he’s shown they made the right call.

Sanson giant springboard plancha

There’s some shakeyness near the end. Sansón & Soberano have a super complicated sequence when seems to end not how it planned. The actual finish of the match seems a little too soon. It’s enough to make me debate which grade to put on it. The idea behind a scale is that an excellent match is that anyone who has interest in wrestling, not just lucha libre, should check the match out. This match has a few flaws but fits that criteria.

Dragon Lee & Cavernario shouldn’t be overlooked. This was not their best match, due a malfunctioning front cracker spot early on and whatever plans they had for apron insanity going awry, but 85% of what they wanted to do is still pretty exciting. It got better as they want along, and Dragon Lee seems like he’s picked up a few tricks from Japan that he’s just waiting to try out: the rolling slam into a moonsault into a Spanish Fly was new for Arena Mexico. This was oe where the time limit draw would’ve been an acceptable finish, but at least we’ll get a few more minutes of them in upcoming matches.

The rest of the show had some low moments. The semimain just wasn’t much, a hurried match just to re-enforce the storyline. It might have been cut short because other things went long. The Pierroth/Vangellys match very visibly derailed for a while; I think people were out of position for the comeback spot and it took about two minutes of talking and standing around to get them where they wanted. The rest of the match was not good. It’s a testament to how hot the crowd was for the show that this they survived one of the worst matches of the year without really being hurt for the rest of the show. The second match was missing a lot of the usual rhythm and crispness with that group of guys. Only half the opener aired on the stream, but what we saw included Sangre Imperial screwing something up badly and/or Virus sabotaging him, so I don’t think we missed all that much.

double dive

CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-06-09 

Soberano & Caristico

Recapped: 06/09/2017

Matches:

Metálico & Tiger beat Príncipe Diamante & Robin (16:07 [7:50, 3:19, 4:58], 1/3, ok)

Estrellita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit beat  Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis (15:12 [7:54, 7:18], 1/2 DQ, ok)

Guerrero Maya Jr. went to a double countout with Misterioso Jr. in a lightning match (5:40, no rating due to stream issues)

Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero beat Atlantis, Dragón Lee, Mistico (5:21+, 5:21 [?:??, 1:45, 3:36], good from what we saw)

Soberano Jr. & Oro Jr. won the dumb battle royal (5:16)

Canelo Casas & Negro Casas beat Astral & Valiente in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal (4:45, below average)

Akuma & Pierroth beat Drone & Niebla Roja in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal (8:07, ok)

Flyer & Volador Jr. beat Mephisto & Raziel in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal (6:53, good)

Carístico & Soberano Jr. beat Ángel de Oro & Oro Jr. in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal (7:58, good)

Canelo Casas & Negro Casas advanced over Akuma & Pierroth in a CMLL Gran Alternativa quarterfinal (forfeit due to injury)

Carístico & Soberano Jr. beat Flyer & Volador Jr. in a CMLL Gran Alternativa quarterfinal (8:28)

Carístico & Soberano Jr. beat Canelo Casas & Negro Casas in a CMLL Gran Alternativa semifinal (6:37, ok)

What happened:

Los Guerreros dancing triple Gori Stretch

Soberano & Carístico advanced to the final of the Gran Alternativa next week, to face Último Guerrero & Sansón. It was a strange tournament with unusual matches and outcomes.

Pierroth & Akuma surprisingly beat Nieba Roja & Drone, with Pierroth getting the win mostly by himself: a modified piledriver on Drone, and a mask pull and a foul on Niebla Roja. However, Pierroth & Akuma did not wrestle any more in the tournament, because Vangellys came out of the crowd and beat Pierroth with a bat. Vangellys also slammed the barricade gate into Pierroth’s shoulder many times. Pierroth & Akuma came out for their next match against Canelo Casas & Negro Casas, but the comission refused to let Pierroth wrestle with his injury and gave the Casas team the win by forfeit. Vangellys declared he was going after the Ingobernables for humilating him last week and done with TGR too.

The bottom half of the bracket saw Carístico & Soberano defeat Angel de Oro & Oro Jr., then Volador & Flyer in matches which were longer than usual for a CMLL tournament. They defeated the Casas family to advance to the final, which will repeat the Sansón/Soberano Jr. final from the Copa Junior.

Volador & Flyer

Vangellys/Pierroth wasn’t the only feud on this show. Zeuxis’ team lost in straight falls when she was eliminated from the match but returned to attack Sugehit (who was about to win anyway.) Zeuxis left Sugehit unmasked as their issue continues. The lightning match ended in a rare draw, when Misterioso & Guerrero Maya were counted out while brawling outside. Referee Edgar tried to stop them, only for Misterioso to chop him and throw the referee into the barricade.

Tiger made an unusual opening match appearance, replacing Arkangel. Tiger noted it was an emergency situation, and CMLL was caught off guard enough to play Arkangel’s music.

Marca/Claro changed the video player, and maybe the underlining streaming technology. It was a failure: the feed died early and often in the first half of the show, and streamed in poor quality when it was working. I have video of the matches, but it doesn’t look good. Hopefully it’ll be better next week.

Thoughts: 

Edgar goes into the barricade

It was just too bad the stream wasn’t good this week, because people were clealry giving up on this after an hour of problems (and it never got any better.) I hope CMLL’s getting good money not to just put these up on YouTube.

This was one of the better tournament block shows CMLL’s done in recent memory. It was about half giving these matches a reasonable about of time, and half grouping the best teams all in the same half of the bracket. Flyer/Volador vs Mephisto/Raziel was good in the usual Flyer fashion, Angel de Oro/Oro Jr. vs Carístico/Soberano had unexpected chemistry and Flyer/Volador vs Carístico/Soberano was everyone just unloading what they had in the case. Soberano is great and, while it would be strange for him to win two straight of these, I don’t think anyone would object to the super push at this point. The night really belonged to Flyer, who was pulling of the Mistico end of the Mistico/Volador spots as a team and looked just as good as the winner. It’s probably back to the early matches for Flyer after this, but he showed he could do a lot more if he ever gets a chance again.

The tournament was far from all good. Canelo Casas was the worst luchador on this show. He looked bad in both his matches, and somehow managed to look bad even in the stupid battle royal. Falling was a problem for him. I don’t know if it was nerves, because he’s always having problems, but it was noticeable how much they were avoiding doing anything with him in the main event, a cold ending to a run off good matches. Canelo had the same shot as Flyer to prove CMLL’s been missing something with him, and he went the exact other way with it.

Oro pulls out a cool headscissors

The Guerreros/tecnicos match was the usual good match from them, though that was the one most hampered for me by stream issues. Maya/Misterioso was fun too, and the crowd was loudly into most everything all night.

The Vangellys/Pierroth bit is an actual feud now, one that’s probably going to occupy space on a regular basis and end in a hair match. That’s not good for any CMLL card coming up soon. Pierroth has his obvious problems but Vangellys is also a weird guy to invest this much time in – unless he was the guy who agreed to lose his hair and that got him the spot.

The Maya/Misterioso thing felt like a random finish which won’t mean anything. Zeuxis/Sugehit felt like slightly moving on that angle, but it was time for a post match challenge and there wasn’t any. That match might be better than I’m giving credit for, but it’s tough to enjoy people looking like blurry blocks. Tiger looked worlds better than the técnicos in the opener.

CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-06-02 

just another Rush day

Recapped: 06/02/2017

Matches: 

All matches aired live from Arena Mexico

Shockercito & Stukita beat  Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia (13:42 [4:57, 2:44, 6:01], 1/3, ok)

Drone, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. beat Disturbio, Misterioso Jr., Virus (14:52 [6:25, 3:10, 5:17], 2/3, ok)

Dragón Rojo Jr. vs Rey Cometa in a lightning match (6:01, Dragon Rojo double stomp, ok)

Hechicero, Pierroth, Rush  beat Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Vangellys
(9:02 [4:11, 4:51], straight falls, ok)

The dumb battle royal went 4:35

Blue Panther & Pegasso beat Mistico & Star Jr. in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal (5:44, ok)

Sansón & Último Guerrero beat Espanto Jr. & Kráneo in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal (6:00, ok)

Forastero & Shocker beat Stigma & Titán in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal (5:23, ok)

Atlantis & Esfinge beat Cuatrero & Máscara Año 2000 in a CMLL Gran Alternativa eighthfinal (6:31, ok)

Sansón & Último Guerrero beat Mistico & Star Jr.   in a CMLL Gran Alternativa quarterfinal (5:04, ok)

Atlantis & Esfinge beat Forastero & Shocker in a CMLL Gran Alternativa quarterfinal (3:29, ok)

Sansón & Último Guerrero beat Atlantis & Esfinge in a CMLL Gran Alternativa semifinal (6:21, ok)

What happened: 

I guess at least he didn’t give up

Sansón & Último Guerrero won Block A of this year’s Gran Alternativa. The tournament played out exactly as expected after the seeding was revealed and pretty much as could’ve been expected just back when the block was announced.

In the rudo versus rudo semimain, Vangellys inexplicably attacked his partner Negro Casas, setting him up for a Pierroth win. Vangellys had actually not participated in the match pretty much at all to that point, though it wasn’t focused on. After the match (and after a badly scheduled commercial break), Vangellys explained he did it to prove he should be the new Los Ingobernable member. Pierroth turned down Vangellys’ application, Vangellys attacked Pierroth, and both Rush & Pierroth destroyed Vangellys.

Thoughts: 

this was a show where Stigma was a highlight

Are you reading this recap because you didn’t actually watch the show? This is a smart move. This was not a show to actually watch. Nothing was horrendous and there was one really out of left field angle, but there’s better uses of two hours.

Everything up there is OK, but it’s a lot of passive OKs, where the matches meant so little that it wasn’t worth the time to decide if they were actually worse. There were good moments in the Gran Alternativa, with the Mistico & Star Jr. team being the best of the bunch, but nothing that really felt like a good match. Sansón & Último Guerrero should set up a good final with whoever they face, but I’d prefer to skip ahead to it than another week of this.

The undercard matches weren’t much better. The first two matches had some of the usual spots from the guys but no real spark of life. Rey Cometa seemed to get in all but about two moves of the lightning match, but the problem was one of those moves was the match ending top rope double stomp. The other problem was it was a typically ugly Dragon Rojo top rope double stomp, where he can’t land it standing up and falls down on impact. The bit with Vangellys was completely random and could be the starting point to an entertaining angle, but you have to wait for CMLL to follow thru on something before believing it’s going anywhere.