CMLL Puebla: 2017-11-27 

Zac is dangerous

Recapped: 12/08/2017

Matches: 

Espíritu Maligno, Meyer, Vega beat Joker, King Jaguar, Sombra Diabólika
(14:11 [6:13, 4:02, 3:56], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Black Tiger, Oro Jr., Robin beat Arkángel de la Muerte, Policeman, Rey Apocalipsis
(17:48 [8:55, 4:16, 4:37], 2/3, n/r, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

El Malayo, Felino, Misterioso Jr. beat Blue Panther Jr., Rey Samuray, The Panther  
(15:34 [9:58, 1:55, 3:41], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Valiente beat Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Pierroth
(11:12 [4:20, 4:31, 2:21], 2/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Carístico, Mistico, Rush beat Máscara Año 2000, Mr. Niebla, Último Guerrero
(7:37 [2:46, 4:51], 1/2, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened: 

this week in Vega

UG comes out last for the main event, and immediately gets in a brawl with Rush. Rush ends up beating UG totally clean in straight falls.

First fall of the third match lasts an extra minute because Felino has to pull The Panther back in after Tirantes says he didn’t get the submission the first time. No one cared.

I fast forwarded thru most of the second match but had to stop and rewatch a horrendous missed headscsisors spot with Apocalipsis & Robin a few times.

Thoughts: 

Rey Samuray sky high headscissors

The bit of UG & Rush brawling was good, and Rush winning clean was a surprising set up for the singles match. Didn’t seem like the rudos would be able to do anything with Mistico and Carístico and went out that way. No idea why Mascara didn’t catch Msitico’s dive at the end since it wasn’t going anywhere.

The semimain was mostly forgettable match. It’s crazy that Gran Guerrero/Niebla Roja had the same long term impact as Cholo/Canelo Casas, but Niebla Roja seems to be more over now months later.

The tercera was an uninteresting match for the CDMX guys. They allowed the Puebla guys work against the CMLL guys instead of each other, and that was the actual interesting part. Samuray stood out more than Malayo, and I think this was the first time he pulled off the springboard huracanrana.

The opener was the usual basic stuff. Maybe a bit more solid than usual, but not really a lot going on by design. Crowd didn’t react much, not even to the finish. Vega did a couple cool things, Meyer’s dive to the floor was impress. I’m amused the Puebla locals are using the Invasor bomb now that there’s not enough remaining Invasors to actually do it. Joker & Diabolika’s outfits are bright, and I hope it’s working for them on whatever indie shows they’re doing. Local tag teams haven’t gone anywhere in Arena Puebla itself.

Meyer making the most of it

CMLL Puebla: 2017-11-20 

Vega

Recapped: 12/05/2017

Matches: 

Millenium & Vega beat Ares & Guerrero Espacial
(12:59 [7:00, 2:28, 3:31], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Asturiano & Stukita beat Joker & Pequeño Nitro
(15:45 [7:38, 3:31, 4:36], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Dalys beat La Vaquerita in a lightning match
(7:20, spinning side slam, ok,
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Virus beat Fuego, Stigma, Stuka Jr.
(12:22 [3:26, 5:43, 3:13], 2/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro, Dragón Lee, Soberano Jr. beat Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
(14:08 [5:20, 1:24, 7:24], 2/3, good, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Máscara Año 2000, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero beat Niebla Roja, Rush, Valiente  
(9:43 [2:45, 1:39, 5:19], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

Both UG and Rush have their feet in the ropes on the finishing pin, but Tirantes never even looks in the direction of the pin as he counts.

Pequeño Nitro is a late sub for Pierrothito – so late, they actually just place Pierrothito’s music for him.

Thoughts:

Dalys looks behind herself to a bump, then scoots into position for the next spot

The main event wasn’t long, though it was freshened up a little by Rush actually being in the técnico side. He still wrestled like a rudo, but Rush getting annoyed at someone else’s shenanigans is always a good deal. Niebla Roja and Mascara 2000 engaging in a pose off was odd, and so was them playing it out like Mascara was some giant and Roja a tiny guy. Valiente and Negro Casas were technically in the match.

There’s probably a MOTYC coming at some point in the next 12 months out of NGD versus Soberano, Dragon Lee, and whoever they find as the sixth man. This wasn’t that match. It had nothing to do with Angel de Oro, who’s perfectly fine as a third man, but just the usual ceiling of a normal b-show match. Still, even with those limits, you can tell these guys were enjoying working with other and smoothly going from one thing to the next. They did about half of what they could do and it was still a pretty entertaining match. Dragon Lee scares me when he gets really excited to do something, but the tope con giro to the floor went fine.

someone’s got to talk him into stopping this

The fourth match lacked a lot of the usual energy in these things, especially on the técnico side. Stigma’s tope was a nice way of breaking the usual formula, but it’s not a good sign when he’s clearly the one most into the match in his trio. Fuego messed up the thru the legs top for the first in forever, that’s about how that one went.

I guess you ought to give everyone tries at singles matches to see if something comes from them. Nothing much came from the women’s match, and the crowd wasn’t much outside one near fall. Dalys can’t help but make the matches look choreographed at times, taking the intensity down and making it clear she’s getting in position for moves.

The dives at the end of the minis match woke me up, from a show that was becoming really boring to watch. I’m not sure how much it really woke up because it looks I never finished this paragraph.

The opener had a lot of mat wrestling and none of the Vega high spots I wanted to see. Millenium’s 450 is an excuse to mark this as OK, but it’s not really that good.

Stukita

CMLL Puebla: 2017-11-13 

Puma bomb

Recapped: 11/29/2017

Matches: 

Joker & Sombra Diabólika beat Astro & Meyer  
(13:06 [6:32, 3:29, 3:05], 2/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Arkalis, Black Tiger, Tigre Rojo Jr. beat Arkángel de la Muerte, Nitro, Sangre Azteca  
(15:19 [5:43, 5:16, 4:20], 1/3, n/r, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

La Vaquerita & Lady Maravilla beat Dalys & Reyna Isis
(17:14 [6:41, 6:36, 3:57], 2/3 DQ, n/r, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

El Malayo, Puma, Tiger beat Johnny Idol, Lestat, Rey Cometa  
(17:08 [7:14, 3:58, 5:56], 2/3/, ok, via 
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Valiente beat Rey Apocalipsis, Sam Adonis, Terrible
(14:25 [5:59, 3:18, 5:08], 2/3, ok, via 
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Volador Jr. © beat Negro Casas for the NWA World Welterweight Championship
(15:25 [3:42, 1:11, 10:32], 2/3, good, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

  1. Negro Casas scorpion (3:42)

  2. Volador bridging inside cradle (1:11)

  3. Volador backcracker (10:32)

What happened: 

triple dive

Sam Adonis and Rey Apocalipsis are substitutions. Apocalipsis is a late enough one that he only has his sombrero and serape, no gun or Adelita.

The rudas are disqualified rather suddenly for excessive violence (hairpulling and punches?). It came off like a bad planned finish rather than the referee calling an early end to it.

Review:

Astro nifty headscisosrs and armdrag

Volador/Negro Casas proved they could have a good match without Negro Casas taking death bumps a 50 year old guy probably shouldn’t be taking 9on b-shows? at all?) There was worked at a generally fast pace but without all the dives you’d expect from Volador match. They still had near falls, and they had the crowd most into any of the matches all night. I would’ve loved to see Casas kick out of the back cracker, and kept on going until Volador won some less traditional way; it was missing a little more to make it a strong recommend for me, but it’s a fine use of time.

Lestat & Malayo looked fine if not noteworthy in their chance at a higher match. Rey Apocalipsis, on short notice looked out of place and awkward trying to fit in here. No one was really clicking; it took Marco punching Sam out of nowhere to wake up the crowd, and it was a lot of standard stuff the rest of the way.

The crowd was so dead for the Cometa/Puma trios match, especially early on. I’m not sure if the bad finish in the women’s match killed it or they just weren’t coming thru well, but it was weird watching a match that quiet. It never gets much better, and it hurts what’s otherwise a decent if not spectacular match. Cometa & Puma remain smooth working with each other on the seemingly rare occasions when they do.

Astro’s found a way to do a lot of cool armdrags in this opener. Both Meyer and Astral had a fun run of offense in the second fall, and then the rudos put a stop to that. They actually weren’t so bad, and there’s probably a pretty good match between these teams some place with less limitations.

CMLL Puebla: 2017-11-06 

an early match highlight!

Recapped: 11/20/17

Matches: 

Lestat, Rey Samuray, Tigre Rojo Jr. beat Fuerza Chicana, Perverso, Policeman
(16:06 [7:08, 5:14, 3:44], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

La Comandante, Reyna Isis, Tiffany beat La Vaquerita, Lady Maravilla, Sanely 
(13:39 [5:59, 4:08, 3:32], 2/3, n/r, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

El Malayo, Olímpico, Virus beat Drone, Johnny Idol, Stigma 
(14:56 [7:12, 2:44, 5:00], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Negro Casas beat Volador Jr. in a lightning match
(6:19, casita, good, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Kráneo, Rey Bucanero, Terrible beat Mistico, Niebla Roja, Valiente 
(10:34 [2:10, 2:38, 5:46], 1/3, ok, via 
VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened: 

Negro Casas beating Volador set up a title match the following week.

Thoughts: 

never go casita for casita with Negro Casas

The main was nothing much. A highlight of the first fall was Kraneo covering Valiente for about 10 seconds before Tirantes could be bothered to count. Kraneo inviting himself to Niebla Roja’s pose off at least made Niebla Roja interesting. Roja did more in the Sunday match and that wasn’t a lot. Mistico and Valiente weren’t much in, the rudos bumbled a bit, but this really wasn’t much by main event standards.

In CMLL, you really only can get your finisher once. Negro Casas plays by slightly different rules: you can really only escape the casita once, but he’s going to beat you with it gets another chance. The lightning match was not very long and didn’t have a lot big moves, but it was well worked while it lasted. It’s fun to see Negro Casas in this way, but it’s nothing huge.

Not much to stay about the tercera. The finish of the first fall was built around Drone’s finishing move taking way too long and Johnny Idol not being good, so points for accuracy. Drone using the over the top ramp splash was good. Malayo didn’t stick out in his big opportunity.

The opener went very long, enough for the técnicos to try to have big moments but not enough for them to actually pull them off. Perverso is now looking the best of this rudo batch. Samuray’s springboard fail was sad. The triple finish was a neat idea.

Bucanero summarizes what it feels like to watch this show

CMLL Puebla: 2017-10-30 

Sagrado is actually the best

Recapped: 10/31/2017

Matches: 

El Perverso & King Jaguar beat Millenium & París 
(10:14 [3:25, 3:54, 2:55], 2/3, n/r, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Cancerbero & Raziel beat Espíritu Maligno & Tigre Rojo Jr.
(16:05 [4:53, 5:50, 5:22], 2/3, n/r, via 
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Virus beat Astral in a lightning match
(7:41, legscissors kneebar, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Olímpico, Pólvora, Sagrado beat Blue Panther Jr., Fuego, Rey Cometa  
(18:24 [8:00, 3:21, 7:03], 1/3, ok, via 
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Soberano Jr. beat Hechicero, Kráneo, Rey Bucanero
(13:25 [5:12, 4:48, 3:25], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Mistico, Valiente, Volador Jr. beat Cavernario, Ephesto, Mephisto
(10:20 [3:15, 2:21, 4:44], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened: Nothing. There were some matches! People won, people lost, nothing meant anything. Nothing was much good either.

Thoughts: 

Virus is secretly strong

The main event was less than you’d expect. This was an off night for Volador, only notable for his continued new love of polo shirts. He seemed to be dealing with right knee pain between the last two falls, laying on the apron after he tagged out. It seemed to throw off the third fall a little bit, but it didn’t seem as if they were headed to anything big to start with. This was not a fraudulent main event, but it didn’t seem like much of one.

The semifinal fit the mold of most of the rest of the show, crowd pleasing matches which didn’t offer interesting offense. It was a fair effort if not exciting outside of Sobreano’s big move. Marco’s leap onto Kraneo was good too, and he brought back the oversell comedy spot he’s not done a lot of late. Bucanero caught Soberano’s dive well.

The tercera was not much. Do you want a long stretch of rudos attacking Blue Panther’s arm with no payoff? This match is for you. The técnicos played strongly to the crowd and get reactions, so this match probably sounded better in the arena than it did watching, where nothing much happened or mattered. Sagrado overselling was a highlight. Blue Panther Jr. is so much slower at doing the corner springboard spot than his brother that he really shouldn’t be trying it. Olímpico gave up his submission so fast that no one was sure if Fuego had submitted or not.

Mije fun

It’s always nice to see Virus in singles action, even if he and Astral didn’t totally mesh here and it was they were probably only matched up because they’re the shortest guys on the roster. Astral messing up a flip in the ring made him look silly. He was better on his dives. Astral doesn’t do much strength moves for a guy who’s all about how muscular here. Virus is fast when he needs to be and sells Astral’s holds better than Astral could. I have no idea how his finish worked but it’s Virus so it’s always credible. This turned out to be the best match of the night.

CMLL Puebla: 2017-10-23 

this is how the show went

Recapped: 10/26/2017

A disposable show with nothing much to recommend it. None of the match I watched was bed, but it’s very replacement level CMLL.

Matches:

Black Tiger, Meyer, París beat Ares, King Jaguar, Sombra Diabólika
(15:51 [6:58, 3:34, 5:19], 2/3, not rated, via:
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Arkángel de la Muerte, El Malayo, Rey Apocalipsis beat Astral, Espíritu Maligno, Tigre Rojo Jr.
(19:32 [6:57, 5:40, 6:55], 2/3, not rated, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Misterioso Jr., Pólvora, Sagrado beat Blue Panther Jr., Drone, The Panther
(11:00 [5:13, 0:34, 5:13], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja beat Hechicero, Terrible, Vangellys
(14:51 [5:49, 3:04, 5:58], 2/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. beat Cavernario, Kráneo, Mephisto
(11:58 [2:42, 2:42, 6:34], 2/3 DQ, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

What Happened:

Carístico and Volador don’t get along, but it’s played down after the opening moments. Cavernario sort of ducks Volador all match, and fouls him at the end.

Review:

this is the only other GIF I grabbed

The main event had lifeless parts, and they didn’t do much to make the Cavernario/Volador direction obvious until the finish. (You would’ve thought it was Cavernario/Carístico for most of the way.) It was about average quality for the rest of the show. Valiente and the rudos seemed to be on different pages for the comeback spot, and then there was so much stalling before the third fall really got going. Mephisto came off as really passive. The luchadors can get the crowd to react, and I guess that’s all that matters. It’s a bit tedious to watch if you’re not there and OK feels generous.

The semimain was as routine as the rest of the show. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja show more life as a tag team then they do separately, and it’s too bad CMLL doesn’t have a functioning 2v2 division to roll with it. Usually, Terrible probably should be getting some wins over Diamante Azul to build suspense, but no amount of trios wins is going to convince fans the obvious is not happening and so they might as well go all the with Diamante Azul if they’re so set at it.

The tercera was a standard and less interesting variation of the usual Panthers/Misterioso/Sagrado match ever present thru 2017. Pólvora being the one cradled was the one twist, but it also meant a short second fall and the rudos lethargically controlling most of the action. The Panther is putting on weight, which is making it slightly harder to tell him from his brother. I don’t need that. Pólvora lifting a guy much larger than him for his finish was impressive.