CMLL Super Viernes Review: I Was Wrong
Are you ready to see something you’d never thought you’d see…once again this week? Are you ready? You ready yet? I’m going to assume you are so allow me to get it off my chest already; I was wrong. Holy shit I was wrong! And let me reassure you that when it comes to this review of last night’s CMLL Super Viernes show that won’t be the last time you hear me say that. I haven’t been this wrong about something since I watched the X-Men: Apocalypse trailer and decided, “This is going to be pretty good!” I was that wrong. That and the fact that that Social Distortion song is playing right now STILL doesn’t begin to reach the levels of wrongness I reached.
Okay that should be enough. I suppose your next question is why was I so wrong about a show that, in my preview column, I pretty much dismissed as two matches and a whole lot of the final season of How I Met Your Mother? That’s because the show ended up more like season four! Top to bottom last night’s Super Viernes was the win, the whole win and nothing but the win; six good to great matches with some great action and, in the most pleasant surprise, finishes that ACTUALLY MOVED THINGS FORWARD! I haven’t been this satisfied with a wrestling show since…wow Ultima Lucha Dos wasn’t that long ago was it? In any event I really enjoyed this show, my spirit for lucha has been renewed even with the LU on break and all I want to do is share this with you now. So let’s begin. Moses, Moses, Moses; meme me again Sam. No I don’t get what I just said either.
Robin & Sensei defeated Artillero & Cholo two falls to one
So I wasn’t wrong about this being one of the lesser bouts of the evening; of course that’s only because everything else on the show rocked but hey, let’s not argue semantics now. Overall I came out of this a lot more impressed than I expected; there were some sloppy spots (especially with Artillero, who lumbered around like a peg leg at times) but mostly the action was crisp, with Robin and Cholo really standing out with a good pace from both. Not really much more to say other than a good start to the show and a match that has me rethinking my stance on Robin, who hadn’t really impressed me all that much beforehand. Hey, anyone who hits a Tiger Bomb like he did to close the match deserves a second chance amirite?
Astral, Eléctrico, Último Dragóncito defeated Demus 3:16, Mercurio, Pierrothito two falls to one
If you thought I was wrong about the first match, wait till you see how wrong I was about this match! I completely dismissed this minis bout, pretty much comparing my interest to it to that of a Creed reunion tour. The lesson as always; I’m an idiot. Holy shit was this match killer! The layout, the pacing, the performances, the chemistry between the two teams; everything about it clicked at a really nice level. While everyone impressed though (seriously; you could find a highlight from everyone here), the best things about this bout were Astral and the use of Demus 3:16. The latter was only in the match for maybe five minutes at most, but he made the most of those five by looking like a monster, dishing out power moves and selling like a champ. And my God Astral; I don’t know how I’ve missed this dude but he literally jumps off the screen, whether it’s the high flying or even something as simple as mat wrestling. This dude is money folks and probably should be wrestling ahead of some of the guys who tend to main event these shows (like Pierroth Jr. How that guy is allowed to portray that character while the much superior guys here are stuck at the bottom is beyond me). Honestly all these dudes should be. Perhaps I’m over atoning for my dismissal of this bout but I don’t care; this was a fantastic bout that was easily the second best match of the night and something you should check out if it ever hits YouTube. You won’t see a better running California Dream otherwise. The fact that I’m just bringing that up now just goes to show you a) how bad ass this match was and b)…wait there is no b. My mistake folks!
Golden Magic, Sharlie Rockstar, Súper Crazy defeated Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Terrible two falls to one
It was about this time that I expected the show to go into neutral before we made it to the two main event matches. Clearly you can see where this is going. Everything that needed to happen here happened; Shocker didn’t embarrass himself and was actually overall decent (well at least by his standards), Terrible was his always entertaining self, Sharlie Rockstar looked great in limited action (his suicide dive was the best of many suicide dives this evening and I don’t care who knows it!) and most importantly Rey Bucanero vs. Super Crazy was furthered. You couldn’t have separated these two with a divorce; they were going at it all match, with plenty of brawling, Crazy turning back time to hit a sweet moonsault or two and Bucanero essaying the cowardly rudo routine perfectly well (especially with his match ending low blow to Crazy that ended the match). I was more than satisfied with their interactions and I’m all in on a future title match between the two, which I expect will happen in the next few weeks. Really there are only two things I’d have liked to see more; Golden Magic let loose and Rockstar. Magic had some really nice moments but he wasn’t really given a chance to go full out, while Rockstar was limited to that one suicide dive and a nice twisting figure four submission move. Give me a little bit more of those guys next time and I’ll be a satisfied Panda CMLL. And I haven’t been a satisfied Panda since…God why does it feel so long since Ultima Lucha Dos? DO I MISS IT THAT MUCH ALREADY?!
Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Stuka Jr. defeated Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto two falls to one
I might as well just start singing that Social Distortion song now because once again, I was wrong. Much like the previous bout the key to this match was that it actually set stuff up for the future by giving the Atlantis team a victory, allowing for a title match to happen. The most surprising aspect though was the fact that I actually want to see this rematch! I don’t know if it was the bad ass entrance where they all came out as druids or if Mephisto replaced Ephesto and Luciferno with two other dudes and gave them the names, but that trio came to play last night. Whenever I’ve seen Ephesto and Luciferno in the past they’ve either looked slow, out of step and just plain boring. Not so this time; aside from one botch (Ephesto mistiming his run into Diamante Azul for a spinebuster esq move) they were just as good as their more respected partner and helped make this match an unexpected joy. Credit also goes to the technicos too; Stuka, hot off his ROH match, continued to look strong, Diamante Azul made me second guess what everyone’s been saying about him by hitting some crisp monkey flips and a beautiful diving senton from the stage and Atlantis…well he was Atlantis, the coolest dude not named L.A. Park or Negro Casas to walk the face of the earth. In short; this was enjoyable, it moved things forward and it did the impossible; it made me excited to see Ephesto and Luciferno again. Not since Sunkist moved past Orange Crush has there been an upset of this magnitude.
Mistico, Valiente, Volador Jr. defeated Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero two falls to one
Yet another match that plays into the theme of how wrong I was this evening. I know I know; I predicted this match would be great and it was great. The problem is that the rest of this show had been so unexpectedly good that I wondered out loud before this bout if it would jinx the quality. The lesson as always; I am a major idiot. On a scale from one to LUGER WON THE TITLE, my idiocy last night was even higher than that time James Dolan traded for a superstar he was going to sign months later anyway. YOU COULD’VE HAD A MELO, AMARE, GALLO THREE HEADED MONSTER YOU MORON!
Now that we’re past that, WHAT A MATCH! Easily the best match of the night, this is everything a lucha libre fan would want and more. There were dives, more dives and just when you didn’t think there couldn’t be any more dives, BAH GAWD there was Mistico, Volador and “Buff” Valiente flying around like they were in the most exciting episode of JAG ever. Combine that with UG, Gran Guerrero and Euforia (who I legit had trouble telling apart till I realized that that Gran was the bigger of the two) doing the leg work and this was just a whole lot of fun. Perhaps the most surprising aspect was that Volador, who usually explodes off the screen, was only the third of fourth impressive guy. That’s because his teammates were just out of this world. Valiente, who is usually good but not great to me, absolutely flew off the screen and hit perhaps the best moonsault I’ve seen in eons towards the end of the match. As for Mistico, who from this day forth shall be known as Mistico Mistico MIIIIISTICO in honor how the announcers call his big moves, this was the best I’ve ever seen him, which is saying something because the man is usually the bomb diggity. He was something else here though; maybe it was the crowd finally being behind him or maybe it was that sick hurricanrana to the outside he hit after getting an unexpected assist from the UG but he just seemed to be on a whole other level. What else can you say other than it was an unreal performance in an unreal match. Can we please get a rematch CMLL?! I’ll give anything, other than the opportunity for Rush-L.A. Park at the Anniversary Show, to see the sequel!
Leyenda de Plata Final
La Máscara defeated Negro Casas two falls to one
I’m betting I’m going to be the one who liked this match more than the rest of my fellow lucha fans. That’s not to say that this was a classic match because it wasn’t. That has nothing to do with the performers though and more to do with the fact that this match only got a little over minutes to work their magic. Sure you can have greatness in that time period, but it’s rarer than a Mew in Pokémon’s Red, Blue or Yellow. By the by, those are still the best Pokemon related things Nintendo has ever done. You heard me Pokemon Go players; what are you gonna do about it?!
Even if it wasn’t a classic though this was still an easy match to enjoy. Negro Casas is such a wonderful performer that you can find numerous things from his matches to grasp on to, whether it be his never ending energy or something as simple as him smiling after hitting a sunset flip powerbomb. And Mascara was good too; you could tell he was motivated for this one and he did his damndest to be crisp with everything, be it his rudo work, his lone hurricanrana or the three straight suicide dives he hit in the third fall. I could be wrong but with another ten minutes this match could’ve easily been a bonifide hit that left us all marveling at Mascara stepping up and Casas pulling the rabbit out of the hat again. In the end CMLL decided against going that route and instead went in the direction of solidifying Mascara as a top rudo with him stealing the match ala low blow into small package (done thanks to Casas’ second Tiger distracting the referee accidentally) and then attacking Casas post match. I think it probably would’ve been better if either Rush or Dragon Lee had gotten involved to further those issues and there likely will be nothing that comes out of Tiger costing his uncle the match (though that would be an exciting bout), but ultimately Mascara did look like a dick and I doubt that fades away in a week when he resumes his issues with his bigger rivals. I guess in the end you can say this; it wasn’t perfect, but the match was fine and it did what it needed to do. With the way the rest of the night went it’s hard to be that disappointed, and at least it does show that Mascara against Lee and Rush should be pretty good. If you can hang with the GOAT, you can hang anywhere.
That’ll do it sports fans. I’m off to listen to a whole lot Social Distortion and so should you! Till my next column in the uncertain future, let us give in to the call of the MYSTERY MEME!
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