Tag: CMLL Claro

Recapped: 05/29/2017

All matches aired live from Arena Mexico

Matches: 

Cancerbero & Raziel defeat Flyer & Oro Jr. (13:19 [4:00, 4:36, 4:43], 1/3, ok, via thecubsfan)

Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Virus defeat Fuego, Star Jr., Stigma 
(16:42 [7:02, 3:02, 6:38], 2/3, good, via thecubsfan)

Puma, Sam Adonis, Tiger beat Blue Panther Jr., Rey Cometa, The Panther (15:12 [3:59, 3:32, 7:41], 1/3, good, via thecubsfan)

Stuka Jr. beat Pólvora in a lightning match (8:24, torpedo splash, ok, via thecubsfan)

Ángel de Oro, Mistico, Niebla Roja beat Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero (7:09 [1:25, 2:38, 3:06], 1/3 DQ, ok, via thecubsfan)

Bárbaro Cavernario, Pierroth, Rush beat Carístico, Marco Corleone, Valiente (11:15 [2:45, 2:43, 5:47], 1/3, ok, via thecubsfan)

What happened: 

Niebla Roja wore has a gold mask, complementing his brother’s mask instead of the Guerreors colors. I think it’s new, but not sure. It still has the UG design influence. Último Guerrero unmasked Niebla Roja for the DQ, then yelled at him for again not changing his mask. Último Guerrero vowed to keep taking the mask until Niebla Roja changed. Niebla Roja put on another version of his mask, and Último Guerrero took that one too.

There’s no sound for a couple minutes in the segunda because CMLL forgot to turn up the sound coming out after a break again.

The first fall of the first match started before I could start recording, and I guess I could’ve found someone else’s version but did not. It didn’t seem like I was missing much.

Thoughts:

This one of those shows where the middle matches were good and the bigger matches were not. At least they were setting up things in one of those matches.

Watching the invisible soccer game be down to Rush playing with La Mascara is the saddest thing ever. They’re never going to let the Los Ingobernables die, but they are so dead. Rush himself was still over, was still the biggest star in this match, still dropped Carístico hard on the Rush Driver for the absolute clean win. (Caristico’s rant on this CMLL run is going to be great someday.) This was the normal main event with no storyline going on and not the big working names, and the crowd seemed happy enough with it.

The semimain did a good job of establishing the issue if not exactly delivering a good match. The first two falls weren’t just quick,bbut there just wasn’t much to them and the third fall wasn’t a lot better. They may not have wanted to give up too much the first time, that just didn’t work for this match. Niebla Roja did fine with Último Guerrero for his first time in that role in a long time, but I kind of wanted more aggression and less normal tecnico offense.

The lightning match had big spots but really didn’t feel like it added up to a full thing. The dive off the stage is a fun thing to look, but they hadn’t really built up to that spot or anything else as it happened. It might have just been that the matches prior to it moved really well, but this one didn’t do a lot for me.

The third match was maybe even a little better than expected. Everyone was on for this one, the (many) superkicks looking sharp and the timing really great thru. Even Blue Panther Jr. seemed like there might be a good wrestler deeply buried inside him. I’m not sure how I finished this recap because I died when the camera missed the shot of the Cometa/Junior double superkick. At least the comedy bit before it was well done. The Panther somehow has gotten faster, and one day he’s going to accidentally fly thru the ropes he’s trying to hang in for an amazing GIF. Sam Adonis fit in this mix, and the last few seconds with him and Rey Cometa were solid stuff. Adonis may need to work on wrangling Cometa on dives, but there’s nothing stopping CMLL from booking that lightning match.

The second match was a lot more fun than CMLL usually has at that spot. Partly it was a bunch of people who normally work higher and better, partly because they did a lot more with the layout of the match than usual. The only thing rarer than a dive in the first two matches of a CMLL show is an interesting near fall, and there was a few of those along side some teamwork spot. Fuego may not be the top pick for a Virus opponent in a big match, but they’re great playing off each other in this middle of the show trios match environment, and Sagrado & Misterioso remain really good. Star had a good match too. This is not must see but an easy watch.

Opener didn’t work out well. Raziel seemed in a particular bad mood with Flyer in the second fall, making sure to mess up his nice new outfit. It derailed that section of the match, and it didn’t allow the técnicos to do enough to stand out. Oro & Flyer got in a bit more than most Cancerbero matches but they’re not really successful in the role of helping out youngsters. It does feel more like a fight at times.

Recapped: 05/19/2017

Matches: 

All matches aired live from Arena Mexico and can be seen on YouTube. My feed was iffy for the start of third match, and I had to restart the stream.

Magnus & Sensei defeat Akuma & Espíritu Negro (11:05 [4:12, 3:06, 3:47], winning falls 1/3, good)

La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Silueta defeat Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis (14:47 [6:54, 3:09, 4:44], 2/3 DQ, good)

Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. defeat Sagrado, Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora
(15:52 [4:02, 2:44, 9:06], 2/3, good)

Cavernario defeated Titán in a lightning match (9:17, cavernaria, good)

Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Valiente defeat Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero
(7:22 [4:55, 2:27], 1/2, ok)

Carístico, Marco Corlone, Mistico defeated Ephesto, Mephisto, Negro Casas
(11:16 [4:51, 2:06, 4:19], 2/3, good)

What Happened:

Niebla Roja and Los Guerreros finally split. Niebla Roja had been refusing to participate in rudo tactics and wanting to wrestle only cleanly since March 28^th. On this show, Niebla Roja would not fight his brother Angel de Oro, and tripped up Último Guerrero to cost him the first fall. The Guerreros confronted Niebla Roja, who still refused to work with his partners and cut off Último Guerrero with a superkick as he was going for his over the barricade elbow smash. Gran Guerrero immediately attacked Niebla Roja. The Guerreros brought Roja back to the ring to rip his mask off, but were cradled for the straight fall win.

Angel de Oro saved his brother after the match, and the two sets of brothers faced off. Último Guerrero kicked Niebla Roja out of the group, and demanded Roja return the mask and make his own name if he truly believed he was good enough to go on his own. Roja dared UG to take the mask and UG did, storming in the ring and ripping it off Niebla Roja in a scrum. Roja ended up wearing an extra Angel de Oro mask.

The big outside the ring storyline saw Marco Corleone replaced Máximo, following the incident between the Alvardos and Último Guerrero’s car earlier in the day. CMLL made no statements about the incident and Último Guerrero passed on the usual post match interview.

Sagrado also replaced Bobby Villa.

The second and third matches both ended in mask pulls. Zeuxis unmasked Princesa Sugehit in their continuing rivalry, while Pólvora fouled and unmasked Stuka for no particular reason.

Review:

The crowd was well into the main event, but it felt like it pushed the guys into it to do more than just coasting on. Carístico was moving really well and had a smooth match. Casas had fun playing opposite of Marco Corleone. Mistico looked super. It was just a better version of the usual show closing match, but it came off as definitely a better verison.

It really didn’t matter how good the semimain was, it was just great to finally have Niebla Roja (apparently, hopefully) broken up with the Guerreros. What they did here was good, and would’ve been more appreciated if it didn’t take so long to get there. They had a good brothers versus brother direction to come out of it, they know what they’re doing, it’s just been a little bit slower

The lightning match was a fun match with the old rivals breaking out a lot of the usual tricks but doing it well. It was the best of the group of good matches to me. They pushed the time limit pretty far while keeping in a pace, and it felt more creative than the usual lightning match. Titan’s timing on his moonsault was incredible and needed Cavernario to be ready for him. Cavernario is really good and I hope he gets moved onto Soberano sometime this year.

The tercera was pretty fun until the finish, which didn’t make any real sense in the context of the match or with it having just happened about the same way in the last match. Sagrado was at his best being a jerk to everyone and the getting kicked in his head. All the big dive spots got over, and the técnicos generally had a lot of good offense. Dragon Rojo seemed to almost take himself out with a double stomp but everything else went ok. I like all the first three matches about the same and can’t decide if that means they’re all good or all OK.

The segunda one of the better women’s matches in a while, with the six women working well together. Silueta had a really good match, asked to cary a lot of action and doing it smoother than usual. Zeuxis was very good as always, the dropkick was as awesome as always and her partners did well. Jarochita wasn’t a big presence but her dive went well and she’s willing to get killed by big moves. Sugehit had some odd moments but was overall positive.

The opener was a bit better than usual. Espíritu & Magnus aren’t around much and were fresh. Espíritu does enough weird things – the flip bump especially – that he sticks out in these. Maybe I wouldn’t feel that way if he didn’t disappear for six months a time. Magnus was sharp. He’s also much thicker than he used to be – not out of shape, but he’s put on weight without it hurting his flying, bigger than most of the técnicos (especially at this level.) Third key to this match was it was under 12 minutes; I’d much prefer time limits than move limits on these, just to force them to go at a good pace. They don’t all need to go 15.

 

Recapped: 05/12/2017

Matches:

All matches aired live from Arena Mexico.

Leono & Sensei defeat Artillero & Hijo del Signo (12:40 [6:08, 2:22, 4:10], 1/3, below average)

Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus beat Astral, Príncipe Diamante, Robin (18:20 [7:47, 3:30, 7:03], 1/3, ok)

Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón beat Drone, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. (16:18 [6:05, 3:37, 6:36], 1/3, ok)

Soberano Jr. beat Rey Cometa © for the Mexican National Welterweight Championship (16:32+, great)

1. Cometa Spanish Fly ?:??
2. Soberano guillotine moonsault 0:50
3. Soberano Canadian Destroyer 15:42

Ángel de Oro, Dragón Lee, Valiente beat Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas (12:36 [2:49, 2:08, 7:39], 2/3, ok)

Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Stuka Jr. defeat La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush
(14:14 [2:28, 3:30, 8:16], 1 DQ/3, below average)

What happened: 

Soberano Jr. defeated Rey Cometa to become the 75^th Mexican National Welterweight Championship. CMLL’s feed went out prior to the opening fall of the match but returned to show most of the match.

Atlantis and Rush feuded in the main event, which could be spun into something more later on but more felt like they were just doing a usual bit

Thoughts: 

Pretty much a one match show, with the title match being the only thing notable and memorable from the show. It was a great exhibition of big moves, with more than a half dozen dives in the third fall alone. The flaw of the match is it didn’t feel like there was any build or sequence to the moves, with the most spectacular dives done early on and some of the lesser stuff added on late just to do moves. The match also suffered from going about a move too long – Soberano’s Fire Driver finish looked great, the Canadian Destroyer which followed didn’t, and they clearly missed their moment. Still, I thought the highlights were pretty good and the ending of third fall was still decently dramatic even as a move exhibition. It also felt like something was accomplished with a tournament and a championship match, which doesn’t always happen here.

The rest was filler. They always should go with the title match last, and tonight was a good reason why. Peste Negra at least played to the crowd while running their usual match. The main event was a whole lot of nothing, as flat as the opener with bigger names involved. The Dinamitas match wasn’t as good as usual, with the timing especially being off during the second fall comeback. The second match had one really neat spot, which is admittedly one more than usual.

Recapped: 05/05/2017

Matches: 

1. Oro Jr. & Starman beat Arkángel de la Muerte & Espíritu Negro (15:09 [5:31, 4:40, 4:58], 1/3, ok)
2. Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis beat Estrellita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit (14:38 [8:28, 2:32, 3:38], 2/3, below average)
3. Ángel de Oro beat Ripper in a lightning match (9:19, mecedora, ok)
4. Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr., Soberano Jr. beat Bobby Villa, Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora (15:51 [5:49, 6:04, 3:58], 1/3, good)
5. Euforia, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero beat Dragón Lee, Stuka Jr., Titán  (11:52 [4:35, 2:41, 4:36], 1/3, ok)
6. Carístico, Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone beat La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush (10:42 [4:52, 5:50], 1/2 DQ, ok)

What happened: 

Los Ingobernables wore Mosquetero del Diablo tribute outfits. Pierroth fouled and unmasked Azul to end the main event La Mascara and Rush had slight issues during the match, which might have been the sign of something bigger or might have just been part of the homage to the Brazos.

Rey Cometa versus Soberano for Cometa’s title was set for next week. But nothing else on this show, which turns out to be one of the useless Friday nights of the year.

Thoughts:

The main event was better than usual for this rivalary, with Los Ingobernables more into the match and the Azul/Pierroth issue not being as dominant this time. The Brazo outfits were really great too. The finish was terrible but that’s about to be expected.

I’m done with the Niebla Roja betraying his partners bit and can’t get into any of these matches until they get on with it. It’s not just me on this one, the crowd is loudly turning against Niebla Roja for not fighting, which sure seems to be the opposite effect of what CMLL is trying to get out of this. Speaking of opposite effects, a team breaking up usually loses pretty much all their falls, but an Último Guerrero team is winning their matches 2 on 3 – I’m not even sure what he has to be angry about, but he spent most of this match mad at Niebla Roja. Titan and Dragon Rojo looked good in some of their usual stuff but this was not at all for me.

The fourth match looked like the best chance for a good match on the show and lived up to that early, less so latrer on. Soberano got the focus and looked good on his big spots. The tornillo off the stage was a winner, and double dives got over big. The Revolucionarios didn’t click together as much as they have in other matches, but Dragon Rojo and Soberano worked well to the finish.

Angel de Oro & Ripper was a a totally professional lighting match which was much better than what had preceded but didn’t do a whole lot for me. They had a solid match, Angel de Oro doing all of his Angel de Oro spots, maybe going a bit long, and winning when Ripper missed his senton on the end. It’s the same as every other Angel de Oro match, offered no surprises, but they didn’t cheat on effort.

The women’s match was obnoxiously bad for a few minutes in the fall and had shaky moments after it. There were a couple spots that saved it from being a total disaster, but Esterllita was horrible and Marcela was messing up things too. They kinda sorted hinted at the possible tag feud, but mostly this came off as some you’d prefer not to watch.

The opener was the usual long, mostly boring Arkangel match. Oro Jr. looked good and was obviously the best guy here, so they showcased Arkangel by letting him do the big plancha to the floor. Starman either has new tattoos that didn’t show up well or body paint that didn’t seem like a good idea. It sure seems like someone’s offering the CMLL crew free or cheap tattoos based on how many are suddenly popping up, but you get what you pay for. This was free, and we got what we paid for here too.

Recapped: 04/28/2017

All matches aired live on ClaroSports and are archived on my channel.

Matches: 

Eléctrico & Fantasy beat Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Olímpico (15:05 [6:09, 4:38, 4:18], 2/3, ok)

Estrellita, Metálica, Sanely beat Dalys, Marcela, Zeuxis in a relevos increíbles match (9:33 [5:45, 3:48], 1/2, ok)

Soberano Jr. defeated Sansón to win the Copa Junior Nuevo Valores (18:33 [3:48, 0:55, 13:50], 1/3, great)

1. Soberano guillotine moonsault 3:48
2. Sansón springboard guillotine knee drop 0:55
3. Soberano sit down piledriver 13:50

Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Valiente beat Hechicero, Kráneo, Ripper (13:24 [5:36, 2:07, 5:41], 2/3, ok)

Carístico, Dragón Lee, Mistico beat Cavernario, Mephisto, Negro Casas (12:18 [2:58, 2:15, 7:05], 2/3, good)

La Máscara beat Volador Jr. (13:41 [1:20, 1:44, 10:37], 2/3, good)

1. Volador backcracker 1:20
2. Mascara double knee smash 1:44
3. Mascara campana 10:37

What happened: 

La Mascara wrestled the main event and won, defeating Volador cleanly with la campana, in a match taking place only hours after his father Brazo de Oro passed away. The promotion remembered Brazo de Oro with a moment of applause before the match. La Mascara tearfully held up a banner to honor his father to end the show.

Soberano Jr. defeated Sansón to win the Copa Junior Nuevo Valores 2017.

Marcela, Dalys & Zeuxis fell apart in the second fall of their match, with friendly fire incidents leading to Dalys & Zeuxis attacking their tecnica partner. No challenges were made after, so it’s unclear if this starts another cycle of Dalys/Marcela or if it’s a tag feud (with Sugehit?)

Thoughts:

The main event is hard to evaluate as a match itself. It wasn’t really the emotional match or La Mascara one night técnico performance you might have expected of the situation, but something not that far off from what they might have done had there nothing else gone on. La Mascara did vow to be not an Ingobernable but a Mosquetero de Diablo tonight, and did his best to live up to it. He still wore the breakaway pants, but fought tougher and more serious than usual, especially when he attacked Volador hard from the start. It kind of turned into a usual Volador as it went on. Mascara still did more than he usually does in these matches, which might have happened anyway because it was a Friday main event, but felt like a bit part of the moment. The match felt professional, but it also felt understandable like their hearts were totally into it – they did the match because that’s what Brazo de Plata would’ve wanted, but their minds weren’t in it. They made the right call to have La Mascara win and win clean, and made the best of a tough day.

Soberano & Sansón felt appropriate as the end of a young stars tournament. There were moments which didn’t go smoothly and maybe some ideas that could’ve been thought out better, but the potential of these guys was obvious and they wowed the fans with their athletic activities. After the usual sped thru falls, they went back and forth for a long time in the final fall. Soberano’s big moves looked bigger, but Sansón did well to be there right with him to catch and to get in his own offense. This feels like a match we’ll see again, and another achievement in a big 2017 for Soberano.

The rest of the show didn’t have a lot to it. I thought the semimain was good, but only barely so with some rough moments and the spark missing from similar matches. Dragon Lee and Negro Casas’ extended fight atop the turnbuckle to set up the finish was the most fun part of the match. The crowd liked the fourth match, a comedy heavy trios which smartly brought the crowd back up from the Brazo de Oro tribute, more than the one with all the flyers in it. It didn’t do as much for me, but it definitely achieved it’s purpose. The women’s match was just a strange setup to restart the one main world feud which never seems to end. I’d say the setup hurt the match, but those matches are just about the same whoever is on which side. The opener was the usual minis opener deal.

   

 Recapped: 04/25/2017

Matches:

All matches aired live from Arena Mexico. You can see them on my channel.

1. Canelo Casas & Espanto Jr. defeated Flyer & Robin (12:01 [4:33, 3:31, 3:57], 1/3, ok)
2. Drone, Fuego, Rey Cometa beat Nitro, Raziel, Virus (17:19 [6:11, 4:27, 6:41], 2/3, ok)
3. Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Luciferno in a lightning match (6:22, Dos Caras Clutch, ok)
4. Sansón won the Copa Junior semifinal cibernetico (22:36, good)
   • Star Jr. suplex into backcracker Artillero (8:20)
   • Forastero wheelbarrow suplex Stigma (10:18)
   • Sansón pin Star Jr. (12:12)
   • Blue Panther Jr. Canadian Destroyer Magnus (14:10)
   • Sansón springboard guillotine knee smash Esfinge (17:03)
   • Blue Panther Jr. inside cradle Forastero (18:47)
   • Sansón suplex Blue Panther Jr. (22:36)
5. Diamante Azul, Stuka Jr., Valiente beat Mr. Niebla, Pierroth, Sam Adonis (8:45 [2:00, 1:33, 5:12], 2/3, ok)
6. Cavernario, La Máscara, Negro Casas beat Carístico, Dragón Lee, Volador Jr.  (8:41 [2:47, 1:23, 4:31], 1/3 DQ, good)

What happened: 

La Mascara pulled off Dragon Lee’s mask to escape the hanging double stomp, then took advantage of Tirantes being knocked down to fake a foul from Volador for the win. Volador challenged La Mascara to a hair match. Mascara says no. Volador asks again, and Mascara teases coming back to fight, only to turn around and walk out.

A seeding battle set the teams for the Copa Junior. Star Jr. (now with dreadlocks?), Magnus, Esfinge (wearing a heavy hoodie for no good reason) and Forastero face Artillero, Stigma, Sansón and Blue Panther Junior. It goes about three minutes Forastero and Sansón don’t want to fight when they start off together, hugging instead. Sanson later pulls Stigma off of Forastero to save his cousin, who defeats Stigma moments later. That puts Sansón & Blue Panther 2 on 4, but they eventually beat the four on the other side to finish against each other. Along the way, Sansón steals a pin on Star Jr. from Blue Panther when Panther sets up for a moonsault. Sanson later attacked Blue Panther as he is about finish off Esfinge. Forastero does the same to Esfinge as he’s about to beat Sansón. The match turned into a two on one with just Blue Panther Jr. left, which at least made more sense than the usual odd three way at the end of a cibernetico. The Dinamtias grabbed and argued with Tirantes for not counting fast enough, Panther surprised Forastero with a cradle, and Tirantes count really fast (and ignored a kick out, which appeared to be playing off the bit.

Tiger claimed all the predictions had Luciferno defeating Guerrero Maya. He seemed to be doing a bit.

There’s no opening whistle for the first match because the regular rig announcers are elsewhere (doing a Boing ad?) and the TV announced don’t realize they’re supposed to blow a whistle or don’t have one. It would be embarrassing if anyone cared about such things. Pompin eventually shrugs and tells them to start fighting. Flyer and Robin wore matching outfits, as they occasionally do when they team.

Thoughts: 

The main event was very much on the short side for this situation, but they worked at a super fast pace and everyone gelled. Volador, Dragon Lee and Carístico looked like a well coordinated regular unit, and the rudos worked really hard. Mascara tries a bit harder when he’s in a Friday main event rather than in a random Puebla match with Rush. Carístico & Volador did a bunch of teamwork spots for two guys who weren’t getting along so much a few weeks ago, but it worked out fine.

Diamante Azul attempted to destroy Sam Adonis’ flag before the match, which set of an early brawl.

There wasn’t much to the semimain, mostly just yet another Diamante Azul/Pierroth feuding match with the rest sprinkled in. Mr. Niebla is looking bigger than ever.

Both this week’s Copa Junior and this one are rated about the same, but last week’s was clearly more exciting. This one had more of a story with Forastero & Sansón getting along, which did more to get over their partnership as a concept than it did for this match. Blue Panther Jr. seemed like he was out of gas and never really stood out, just happened to be the técnico who survived until the end and could’ve just as easily been replaced by one of the others. Sansón looked good, Forastero really didn’t get much to do. Magnus & Artillero looked good in the only real important match they might get in CMLL this year, though they were eliminated so early that I’m not sure things like Magnus’ crazy senton to the floor stuck around. Star Jr. also had a nice night.

Maya & Luciferno had some good spots but arranged in no particular order. The big dives are two minutes in and then they just kind of trade moves after that part. It’s very forgettable.

The técnicos looked good in the segunda – Fuego & Cometa are among the best CMLL has at pulling in a crowd, especially the casual fans. It just was’nt all that much interesting of the match, and stuff like going for the triple dive and then just pulling up came off awkward. They built the match up in the last few minutes but this is an easy skip.

The opener was about usual for the that level, maybe a little better.. It’s impossible to take an opening match team seriously in CMLL, but the técnicos tried heard to get over the concept and worked well together. Of course they lost. Their opponents didn’t offer all that much. Espanto had Flyer beat after tossing him onto the barricade in the first fall, but drug him back in to do a running powerbomb anyway. He doesn’t seem to have much sense.