Lucha Madre Torneo Nuevo Fuego (2020)

Recapped: January 2020

What Is It:

Lucha Madre is a pandemic-birthed promotion. This is the third event; the last two were relatively normal no fans shows at CAR The Crash. (The Arez/Tromba match on the previous show was the most notable match so far.) Lucha Madre seems to be distinguishing itself by leaning more heavily into gimmicks, playing up the existing personalities more than they appear in most indie shows. The more notable ones include

  • Shere Khan, previously the youngest member of the Lions Club (with Leon Dorado Jr. & Mr. Leo), gets talked into joining drunk punks Jerry & Glenn Calavera early on
  • Yoruba, previously a Rastafarian, now seems to be a cannibal
  • Tromba and Cobre are space aliens
  • Killer (Tio) Korton is fully embracing his weirdo monster bit
  • Camuflaje, always military-themed, is now going as far as marching knee smashes and such during matches.

This concept tournament, Fuego Nuevo, also goes into the supernatural bit. Each luchador is summoned and travels through a mystical green tunnel for their match. Many of the matches have (randomly) assigned stipulations. The winner of the tournament gets a Cubo Madre – a Marvel cosmic cube, an all-powerful wish giving device – though that’s not really pushed until the final.

It’s really just a sixteen-person single-elimination tournament with some gimmick matches. It aired in 2021, the videos are labeled in 2020, so I assume it was taped in December. All the matches are in a Mas Lucha playlist. They’re asking for donations; their Paypal is luchamadremx

What’s Worth Watching:

Ciclon Ramirez versus Killer Korton in a bull terrier match is the best outing of the tournament. Lucha libre chain matches are typically fun counting exercises for the audience and not interesting to watch. These two sidestepped the repeated corner touching bits to use the chain as a weapon. Ciclon Ramirez didn’t miss a moment to wrap it around his fist or foot, trying to cut down the bigger Korton. “Tio” can come off as too silly in this character usually, but came across as menacing in the context of this match. They both had plenty of ideas on how to make the chain work outside the usual one bit everyone does; the only flaw here is they went a little too long going through all those ideas. Still, it was a great surprise and a cut above everything else.

I’m still the biggest sucker for good Belial matches (which are all Belial matches), but his opening match with Yoruba also did a good job of showcasing his new canibal character. Yoruba’s been around for years around the same level; the new look and style changes make him come off like a star. He also brings the aggressiveness he needs for this character. Their match stip – falls count anywhere – ends up being a useful excuse to do a lot of dangerous moves off the apron. It’s a solid reintroduction. Yoruba comes off so strong in this that it was disappointed they nerfed him a bit in later matches; his new cheating spot shouldn’t have failed him so soon.

Leon Dorado (ex-Metaleon) has been every high profile Mexico City indie for years. Thunder Storm generally works barely visible small shows with other CMLL trainees (or those who’ve given up getting through their school); turning up on the ChinampaLuchas shows was the equivalent of a high profile gig for him. Thunder Storm looked just about as good as Leon Dorado in their chairs match. Maybe he was going all out, taking a few crazy bumps, to get a call back in place like this. Maybe Thunder Storm was always good but doing in shows no one saw. The chair-related mayhem was generally the lesser parts of the match; Dorada and Storm’s normal sections brought out the best in both. The finish in this one was especially brutal.

Rey Quetzal vs Glenn Calavera is a lesser version of that same match. Quetzal has no discernible personality and a plain character (especially for this promotion), but is a totally solid wrestler who showed himself to be useful if put into the right role.

Leon Dorado and Ciclon Ramirez’ second-round match is more the traditional big move lucha libre indie match. It’s complete with a sequence where Ciclon looked terrible for ten seconds and then immediately superb for forty. The two had good chemistry and the match would’ve worked well even outside the context of a tournament. It might have been better; Dorado seemed to be pacing himself a bit.

What’s Worth Skipping:

The final’s not particularly good and ending a long tournament with a stun gun bit feels like they’ve wasted the viewer’s time. It’s not done without reason, it is done as the kickoff to the larger storyline that may lead to something better, but Lucha Madre is so new that it hasn’t earned the sort of trust that they’ll make it to the payoff.

I feel like I’ve written enough about Cobre’s moonsault. I just can’t get over the aspect of doing it in minute two of a match and then just went and did a normal match. It’s the least thought out thing. Cobre actually wrestled impressively the rest of the match, but it’s hard to care. It also feels notable that no one – not Lucha Madre, not Mas Lucha – didn’t seem to be making a big deal out of the moonsault off the roof. It wasn’t promoted or especially mentioned. I can’t tell if that’s bad advertising or having second thoughts about the stunt.

Cobre’s earlier match with Glenn Calavera is a barely one, ending quickly and then getting into nonsense.

Jerry Calavera and Chavin had a first-round match where the winner would be the first to land thirty strikes. It’s an interesting concept for a match, but a concept they mostly ignored. They wrestled a normal match, hitting each other (and trying to avoid being hit) no more than usual, and ending with a Big Move that wasn’t a strike because that’s what they’re used to doing. It was not helped by the wrestlers, the announcers, and the on-screen scoreboard all on different counts. Or by Chavin accidentally winning the match by striking too many times.

The three fall Mimo and Chavin match goes too long. The winner seems to be worn out from it in their next match. Jerry Calavera and Camuflaje have a table match without a table (a makeshift board and chairs are used instead.) Both work each other over submissions and Jerry goes for pinfalls that aren’t counted, neither man making an attempt to win until the actual finish.

You’ve got to fix those banners that fell out of place or take them down. There’s a lot of time and energy on special effects here undermined by a few bits of plastic-looking sloppy.

What Happened:

Yutani, said to be a Japanese kid who came to Mexico to train under Ricky Marvin, debuts in the opening match. He loses to Tromba, who’s then said to be injured (though he appears fine in a tournament ending bit.) Instead of putting Yutani back in the tournament, Cobre is inserted in Tromba’s spot. Cobre is on all the promotional material and in a big banner hanging above the ring before he’s even in the tournament, making it appear as he was always planned to be included. (It also seems like they tape one of Cobre’s match out of order. I’m not sure what happened here but it feels as though something did)

Blaze, not otherwise in the tournament, shows up as Camuflaje’s second in the final against Leon Dorado. Blaze helps Camuflaje change his mask twice during the tournament, then passes him a stun gun to shock Dorado behind the referee’s back to win. (It’s unclear how the referee didn’t hear the loud buzzing noise we were treated to in post-production.) The tournament had been interference-free to that point.

Leon Dorado is awarded the Cubo Madre and uses it to open a green portal to summon a battalion of wrestlers to stand beside him and Blaze. (I’m not certain if we were supposed to recognize them; some may have been wearing the other masks Camuflaje had on during the final, others may have been guys like Chavin and Thunder Storm.) The rest of the Lucha Madre roster come to the ring to confront the army, only for Korton to betray them. Korton beats up the Lucha Madre roster and tosses Pirana to the army guys, but doesn’t appear to be with them – he and Yoruba sneak out the back while the others are fighting. The army kidnaps Pirana and leaves through the portal before the Lucha Madre wrestlers can stop them, and the show ends there. No next show announced.

Match ratings for dumb completeness:

  • Tromba vs Yutani: OK
  • Belial vs Yoruba: GOOD
  • El Mimo vs Shere Khan: OK
  • Jerry Calavera vs Chavin: BELOW AVERAGE
  • León Dorado vs Thunder Storm: GOOD
  • Glenn Calavera vs Rey Quetzal: GOOD
  • Camuflaje vs Piraña: OK
  • Ciclón Ramírez vs Tio Korton: GREAT
  • Yoruba vs Mimo: OK
  • León Dorado vs Ciclón Ramírez: GOOD
  • Camuflaje vs Jerry Calavera: OK
  • Cobre vs Glenn Calavera: BELOW AVERAGE
  • León Dorado Jr. vs Yoruba: OK
  • Camuflaje vs Cobre: WHATEVER
  • León Dorado Jr. vs Camuflaje: OK

What’s Next:

Nothing’s announced. The angle at the end hints at a new show, but no exact idea when we’ll see it. These shows seem to take a little bit longer to put together, so it may be a while.

AAA Autoluchas episodes 4, 5, 6

Episode 4

  • Chessman & Súper Fly beat Pagano & Psycho Clown
    (10/11 2nd, 14:14, ok, Lucha Libre AAA)

    • Chessman snuck in a foul on Pagano
  • the Maximo/Iguana vs Carta/Mocha from 10/04 3rd show
  • Laredo/Octagon from 10/04 3rd show

Psycho Clown has really grown out his hair during the pandemic. The light tower dives are a great example of those things that looks silly on TV but might be coming off better live. There’s a large stretch here that’s just a repeat of another Psycho Clown but, so much that’s the way. The finishing sequence with Chessman and Pagano was no good and a reminder their singles match could be a fiasco.

Episode 5

  • Murder Clown beat Abismo Negro Jr. and Octagón Jr.
    (10/10 1st, 8:34, good, Lucha Libre AAA)
  • Carta Brava Jr. beat Mr. Iguana and Dave The Clown
    (10/04 2nd, 9:01, ok, Lucha Libre AAA)
  • the Faby Apache/Hades match from the 10/04 3rd show
  • Texano Jr. beat Drago
    (10/11 2nd, 11:34, good, Lucha Libre AAA)

Notes

  • AAA’s started to air promos during these shows, with individual wrestlers making random challenges (similar to the Stronghearts & Daga promos put on social media a month or so ago.) These challenges have a low success rate of going anywhere, but for the sake of keeping track:
    • Texano challenged Jinetes del Aire, Laredo Kid (for the megachampionship if should win it) and Murder Clown
    • Psycho Clown challenged Rey Escorpion, who hasn’t been otherwise seen or mentioned.*
    • Mr. Iguana suggested he and La Hiedra challenge for the mixed tag titles (this aired on the previous show too)
    • Pentagon Jr. challenged Averno

The main event started with a lot of time left in the file, but they handled it pretty well. Texano seems to be doing better in this structure or just is more motivated after a break. He found interesting ways to (literally) tie Drago down before the comeback. His run of wins would feel like they were going someplace in another setup.

There’s a lot of three ways on these shows and I tire of that setup quickly. The second one had a lot of chair play and didn’t feel like it meant much, though Dave the Clown successfully basing for Mr. Iguana is stunning. The first one effectively played off Murder Clown’s size, which proved to be too much for the smaller guys. Octagon had a great looking dive.

Episode 6

These are all from the early evening Dia del Muertos show (the one that didn’t stream)

  • La Hiedra & Lady Maravilla beat Faby Apache & Lady Shani
    (11/01 1st, 10:14, ok, luchalibreaaatv)
  • Parka Negra beat Carta Brava Jr., Dinastía
    (11/01 1st, 9:27, ok, luchalibreaaatv)
  • Murder Clown beat Chessman, Abismo Negro Jr.
    (11/01 1st, 7:44, good, luchalibreaaatv)
  • Laredo Boy & Laredo Kid beat Octagón Jr. & Octagoncito
    (11/01 1st, 10:50, great, Lucha Libre AAA)

Notes

  • Hiedra & Maravilla seem to be an official team, which was teased earlier this year
  • Poder del Norte again beat up the tecnico after their match

Maybe the strongest individual episode, at least for all news stuff. Octagons versus Laredo could’ve just worked for the novelty but they also tried to kill each other so that was cool too. It’s a pleasure to see Octagoncito back in the mix, it is too bad Laredo Kid tried to merge the two Octagons into one at the end of the match. They wrestled this was an urgency and pace that you’d expect out of these guys individually, but maybe no in a match on a drive-in show. The level of teamwork was unexpected, since these ‘partners’ really don’t get to work together that much, but they came off as natural duos. Laredo Boy was a little hesitant at times but by no mean a problem. Definitely a match to seek out among the Autoluchas batch.

The second three-way was the better of the two easily. Parka & Carta played out the rote script of two rudos working together and being shocked when both wanted to win the match. Chessman, Abismo, and Murder Clown were just guys going after each other the whole match. Abismo’s continued to put on good performances during this run of shows, and took advantage of facing bigger guys to fly a bit more than usual. Chessman seems in good form going into the TripleMania match.

The women’s match didn’t come through via execution of moves, but it’s still worth a look. The personality shown by the rudas was almost enough to make up for some atypical sloppiness. Maravilla has come so far in her character work; she did a great job of getting every bit out the spot where Copetes inadvertently saved her from a tapatia. Hiedra & Maravilla doing male effeminate embracing spots plays a little bit different as women. Their act could get over big with crowds once those exist again.

ChinampaLuchas: 2020-10-16

Spider Fly flies

The most recent ChinampaLuchas show was the best of the ones they’ve run so far. The lineup was the strongest they’ve had and they didn’t have a bad match. It’s still a promotion more notable for the visuals – running a tiny island in a lake – but they still had one match you should go out of your way to see. The full show is on Mas Lucha and it was still free at last check.

That’s the Mexaboys (Águila Oriental, Dinámico, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly) versus the Miniesstrals (Mike, Teelo, Voltrex) & Hellboy. It’s a near rematch of one that went viral last year. I had this one rated Great; it’s the first time since where it really all worked again. It’s the same formula, but still fresh. The fantastic offense of the MexaBoys is a pleasure to watch – it’s nice to have Mascara Dorada offense back even if we can’t get the person himself. The rudo control sections are my favorite parts of these matches though. Some of the smaller guys stuff is a bit staged, but the rudos are just bulldozing through them at a high speed when they take over. Only Poder del Norte matches them in explosive organized destruction. This didn’t have a large crowd losing their minds like the Arena San Juan match did, but it was equal in terms of mind-blowing spots.

Thunder Storm vs Kid Sombra vs Sol vs Dehyna and Baby Star Jr. vs Ciberblack were both Good. ChinampaLuchas bills itself as wrestlers from Arena Olivares. I’m more familiar with many of the undercard wrestlers from Nueva Arena Revolucion, which seemed to be a meeting point for a lot of former/current CMLL trainees. Baby Star is the champion that arena, and he and Ciberblack (a long ago prelim CMLL luchador) had a very technical match that worked well as a counterpoint to everything else on the show. Baby Star had a couple of spots that didn’t go correctly but looked impressive elusive in the match. The effort was strong here even if it didn’t all work. The fourway was more moves, but the moves hung together better than normal for this level of indie. I believe I’ve seen Thunder Storm mostly as a tecnico; he was better as a rudo here and vital for the match holding together. Sol looked good working with him. Dehyna was a step slower than the others at times, but not so much that it hurt the match.

The other matches were fine, but skippable if you’re hurrying through the show. Farsante & Minos vs Rey Optiums & Tempo was on the long side and the finish seemed to hurt the person giving it more than taking it, but they were trying the match. (The effort level difference between this and the CMLL Ticketmaster Live show the same night was noticeable; this was easily the better of the two shows.) Gran Felipe Jr. & Rey Halcón Jr. versus Jitsu & Kunay was one too of the same style, where others were just a bit better. The Jitsu chair dive spot took forever to set up. Draztick Boy, Falcón Fire, Lady Cat versus Cíclope, Lilith Dark, Mr. Jerry had a bit of entertainment but was really just a (too) long set up for a Ciclope & Mr. Jerry breakup to tease a promotion feud. Mr. Jerry is one of the weaker performers but he’s also the guy who’s on every single show so I’m sure it’s in everyone’s best interest to give him something to do.

2020 lucha libre catch up, August/September IWRG

IWRG seems like it’s been good since their restart; there’s usually been at least a match worth watching. Shun Skywalker’s stint helped, but their regulars have performed well.

Shun Skywalker vs. Hijo de Canis Lupus for the IWRG Rey del Ring
(IWRG @ 08/30, 22:38, good, +LuchaTV)

An entertaining match if one that doesn’t completely come together. Hijo de Canis Lupus often comes across as a person who has seen clips of exciting matches but hasn’t watched on them in full. It didn’t fall apart, but they’re close to having a bigger feeling match with a little more thought about what they’re doing, and it’s unclear if Canis Lupus is going to get there. (He’s the one who I’m going to have to see for the next decade if I keep watching, so Shun getting it doesn’t help as much.) The match flows better when the much bigger Canis is playing rudo to the much better seller Shun Skywalker, but Lupus can’t totally commit to it.

Demonio Infernal © vs. Shun Skywalker for the IWRG Rey del Ring
(IWRG @ 09/06/2020, 16:00, great, +LuchaTV)

The dramatics were played up big all match here. It didn’t totally work – there was a fair bit of one man being near death and then being fine a moment later – but they got the crowd with the antics. It is about as loud as a 30% capacity Arena Naucalpan crowd will sound on the last few moves. These aren’t two guys who would naturally mesh together, but they go with a hard-hitting match, and it holds up better than the one the previous week. Demonio Infernal is a great representative of IWRG.

Toxin vs. Puma de Oro in a super libre match
(IWRG @ 09/13/2020, 10:52, good, +LuchaTV)

I really liked Toxin bringing a chain and attacking Puma de Oro right off the bat. Might as well use a weapon with no hesitation in a super libre match. The match drifted towards a generic big move exchange from there, but both treated the victory as a big deal.

Fulgor I vs. Black Danger
(IWRG @ 09/20/2020, 11:08, good, mluchatv)

A solid match, though the rudo/rudo nature hurt it. Fulgor doesn’t get many wins here but needed one if he would be thrown into an angle (which happens next), so this worked well enough. Danger took Fulgor’s big moves well while looking like a threat. Fulgor seems to be working on a wizard beard.

Toxin © vs. Puma de Oro for the IWRG Mexico Championship
(IWRG @ 09/20, 14:58, great, +LuchaTV)

This shouldn’t have worked this well. Toxin & Puma de Oro are guys who try a lot and don’t always succeed. They pretty succeeded without compromising on the complicated spots. They were just much cleaner at it than usual, astoundingly so on the first few spots. There was good competitive drama in the last few moments, and they saved the biggest stuff for last. This was much better than they’ve shown capable of before, even in this generally well-done feud. I would like to believe these guys suddenly leveled up (maybe a couple of times over.) It might have been they just had an excellent night. The result’s the same either way.

The referee spots were among the parts that didn’t work as well. At least Fulgor interfered only a couple of times, without it getting excessive. Toxin pulling the ref into a submission hold to break it up didn’t work at all, was something I could only figure out what was supposed to have happened by the reactions after the fact. It would be beneficial if Mexican indie rudos learned how to demonstrate their rudo nature outside of spots where they obviously should’ve been disqualified. There are non-cheating ways to act like a rudo; you could be cruel or cowardly to start.

Diosa Atenea & Fulgor vs. Alas De Plata & Diosa Quetzal
(IWRG @ 09/27, 15:53, good, +LuchaTV)

It was actually reassuring for the Quetzal/Atenea over the top rope spot near the end to have a hiccup, to be sure I was watching a real match. Diosa Quetzal was unbelievably good in this match. Not just good for her, but a genuine good exciting wrestler that fully matched her star rep. The other three wrestlers contributed mightily, but Diosa Quetzal definitely wasn’t pulling off top rope double stomps into perfectly timed Destroyers before. Like Puma/Toxin, she overachieved expectations here in a difficult situation. You could tell she knew; she was beaming about post-match despite the loss. I’m not sure how this happened, but they have something to get it to happen again.

some notes on the first two round of Welcome To Mi Barrio’s tournament

Welcome To Mi Barrio is in the midst of a twenty-four man tournament to crown a first singles champion. It’s been going since August, but it was only this past week when I put a bracket together for the luchawiki. It got me curious to actually watch the tournament and see what it was like. I’ve watched very little of Welcome To Mi Barrio since it debuted as a Mas Lucha staple about a year ago. They use a lot of people who don’t seem to work outside the promotion (except for planned inter-promotional bits.)  didn’t expect to find a treasure-trove of an unheralded match of the year candidates if went through the tournament, but I wanted to get at least have a sense of what the product.

The tournament – “El Poder de Barrio Calavera” – either doesn’t actually have a playlist on Mas Lucha’s channel or I’m terrible at finding it. A fan helpfully created one if you want to look through it. They appear to be alternating blocks each week, which means there’s a lot of tournament matches in the first three weeks and increasingly fewer each week. The first two rounds of the tournament are up, the semifinals started on Wednesday (didn’t see it yet), and the final will air around 10/28 at the current pace. These have been all empty arena shows so far, though it’s possible they’ll have fans there by the final.

It’s a slow pace. It matches the house style. Welcome to Mi Barrio, at least for this tournament, has a slower and less impactful sort of wrestling compared to what you’d see almost anywhere else. The matches hold together generally well. I only saw one or two which fell apart to the level of the worst CMLL empty arena matches. They’re also as intended to be casual fan crowd-pleasing matches in the way CMLL does them. There’s more time between the moves, more in control brawling, and a lot less flying. The current en vogue indie moves are not be found, making WTMB feel older while also a bit fresher. Gym Shu el Guerrero is listed as a sponsor and he’s been mentioned as a trainer for some of these guys before, so I wonder if this his influence. The outside guys stick out more for working differently. The main roster wrestlers seem to struggle to build towards a finish at times. I’m always biased toward a faster pace and a bigger finish, so this wasn’t really in the wheelhouse. They did push forward a few interesting people, enough that I’ll try to catch the last couple rounds later on.

The Panteras – Hijo is the one who was in Japan, Jr. is the one we haven’t seen much before – were both highlights. They’re working at a different speed than everyone else, and there’s a sharpness with them that the regular WTMB roster just doesn’t have at this point. They’re also coming from different experiences. One of the funnier moments of the tournament was Hijo del Pantera doing a 20 count count-out tease. He saw it a million times in Japan, I’m sure. Payaso Purasanta has been wrestling in Mexico instead and had no idea what was going on, staying out to hold Pantera in a chinlock before Pantera visibly told him to go back to ring so he could dramatically slide in at 19. The Hijo del Pantera/Camuflaje and Pantera Jr./Mara second-round matches were the ones I’ve liked the most so far. The Mara one is a feather in someone’s hat because Mara’s first-round match with Radical was among the weakest matches. I would love to see the Pantera’s in other environments to see how much of their speed is real and how much it is just relative to who they’re working with.

(Random thing I was distracted by: there’s a red digital clock on one of the walls visible when the wrestlers go outside. It’s only very occasionally on-screen, but you can see it enough to notice how they’re taping these matches in no particular order, sometimes hours before the last one. Or on vastly different days, I guess.)

There are three Payaso Purasanta luchadors in Welcome To Mi Barrio. The idea is it’s a father and two sons, though that may be a gimmick. Payaso Purasanta moves like you’d expect for an old man. Hijo del Payaso Purasanta is solid. Payaso Purasanta Jr. seemed like the best of the trio: showed good personality, had a range of impressive offense, made something out of an opponent who didn’t seem entertaining on his own. And then he lost, which was the strangest decision. DTU’s Kevin losing in to an inferior seeming opponent in the first round also was surprising, but he was a late sub whom I’m willing to believe just wasn’t available for future tapings. (Kevin’s good though; he’s got to be the guy getting the shot at the DTU Alto Impacto title.)

The tournament opening Criatura Azteca/Ambu match was better than I was expected, and may have messed up my expectations for the rest of the tournament for a bit. Xerjes was not at Pantera Jr.’s level here yet has promise as a skinny guy who can get beat up well. Secreto Negro seemed intriguing even if his match wasn’t much to talk about. It’s just hard to figure out positive places for these guys to go elsewhere because the style they worked here would get rejected as boring elsewhere. The positive thing Welcome to Mi Barrio is doing is a lot of in-between vignettes to try get over personalities and feuds. If they can get fans to care about the luchadors and their stories, the style issues aren’t nearly as much an issue.

Nothing here is must-see. I’d have maybe two matches borderline good, but people looking for AAA style action are not going to want to spend time on this. Both the Panteras have made the semi-final six (with the final as a three way.) I presume one will be eliminated, but at least one of the making the final gives it a chance at being something. Rugido or Hijo del Payaso Purasanta, based on being regularly focused on luchadors in this promotion, seem the most likely to actually win the whole thing. Tournaments are generally overdone, but this one was useful to get looks at a lot of different people without feeling like I needed to watch every match of a six week (and counting) show.

CMLL on Televisa: 1995-12-30

can’t escape Pantera

Recapped: 2020-08-02

Matches:

I must’ve seen a tape list that had an extra match on it because it’s on my list as airing but it’s not on what Roy put up. It’s OK, just makes this last 1995 show brief.

El Dandy, La Fiera, Pantera beat El Hijo Del Gladiador, Felino, Kahoz
(Arena Coliseo @ 12/29, 21:01, 1/2 DQ, ok, Roy Lucier CMLL)

What Happened: Kahoz fouled Dandy for the DQ.

Review: The first fall is very long, simmering at low heat, then Pantera pulls out an amazing spot with Felino that makes it worth it. Pantera pulls out a great dive in the third fall. The crowd is into Dandy but the other four guys aren’t doing much for me in this match, and the match ends in an unappealing way after all the time spent on it. La Fiera is in the right position for his spots but seems off at other times.

Atlantis, Shocker, Silver King beat Dr. Wagner Jr., Emilio Charles Jr., Negro Casas
(Arena Coliseo @ 12/29, 12:53, 2/3, ok, Roy Lucier CMLL)

Mostly notable for Shocker being put over strong; he’s the equal of Negro Casas for most of the match and wins cleanly at the end. The mask match comes off as a real elevation, not just a one week blip, though it’d take a few more years for Shocker to really get where he was going. I think I keep expecting these 95 trios matches to build to a bigger ending, but they’re just weekly TV matches and during a holiday week; that’s probably not happening.