CMLL Puebla Preview: Reset Show
I know what you’re thinking sports fans; today sucks. Not only is it Sunday, which means one more day before that cold hearted bastard named Monday comes back around, but for many it’s the last day of April vacation. Good bye lazy days, hello soul sucking grind, amirite? Luckily it’s not a total drag, as CMLL will be back tomorrow night with their Puebla show and I’m back now to preview it. So at least you have that. I hope you have more than that because it be pretty sad otherwise but…I don’t know what my point was. Let’s not waste any more time figuring out what it was and just get to the lucha. Moses, meme it like there’s three more weeks of April vacation left!
Lestat, París, Zaeta Roja vs. El Malayo, Guerrero Espacial, Sombra Diabólika
What to Expect: Remember a little while ago when Lestat was getting looks in the third and fourth matches on this show? Pepperidge Farm remembers. Sadly CMLL doesn’t, which means Lestat is back at the bottom again, mixing it up with other hopeless luchadors París and Zaeta Roja has they take on the usual ho hum rudo team. I will say this does have a shot of being something if everyone tries, and Sombra being on the rudo side guarantees at least one dude the technicos can have some good sequences with. But let’s be real; it’s an opening match in Arena Puebla. The chances of this match being something other than okay are slimmer than Kate Moss.
Winners: When in doubt, go with the rudos. They take it in three falls.
La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Sanely vs. Amapola, Tiffany, Zeuxis
What to Expect: Good news; the Queen is back! The bad news; there is none! DID YOU NOT HEAR ME SAY ZEUXIS WAS BACK?!
I mean I suppose you could argue that the presence of Tiffany and Sanely is something to shield your eyes from, but take those two away and this is a solid match up featuring two great luchadoras, one really good luchadora (Amapola) and one promising luchadora (Jarochita). And you just know that Zeuxis and Sugehit are at least getting four or five sequences where they’ll just kill it and make you wonder why CMLL isn’t setting up a match where Zeuxis takes Sugehit’s mask. So unless Tiffany and Sanely dominate this match, it should be very watchable and potentially quite good, especially if Zeuxis and Sugehit get going. Here’s a helpful hint; turn away whenever Sanely tries to run the ropes. It’ll enhance the experience tenfold.
Winners: The sun will rise in the east, the sun will set in the west and I will never, under any circumstances, bet against the Queen. Team Zeuxis wins after Zeuxis catches Sugehit with a Package Piledriver. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Zeuxis challenging for the title again, but seeing as that just happened in Puebla I’ll say that doesn’t happen in this instance.
Esfinge, Fuego, Soberano Jr. vs. Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
What to Expect: Cancerbero may have been unable to save us from Nitro taking his spot on the team this past Friday, but he’ll be around Monday night for what could be the best match of the show. Honestly, it depends on what Esfinge we get. We know Fuego will be his always reliable self, we know the rudo team is going to display great teamwork and unity and above all else we know Soberano is going to be lights out because he’s gorram Soberano and only knows one way. What we don’t know is whether Esfinge is going to be lame, third wheel Esfinge or the guy who was trying new things in the Copa Junior semi-final this past Friday. If it’s the latter, we’re in great hands. I’m banking it’s the former though, so look for this to be merely good instead of great. As I always say though; a good match in Arena Puebla is nothing to sneeze at, especially since their rarer than a Mew without a cheat code.
Winners: This feels like a match the technicos should win. The problem is that Cancerbero and Raziel are on the other side and they NEVER lose unless someone else takes the pin. I don’t see Virus being that guy this evening, so look for Los Cancerberos del Infierno to go home happy after three falls, with Raziel destroying Esfinge and Virus tapping Fuego.
Ángel de Oro, Johnny Idol, Titán vs. Cavernario, Felino, Mr. Niebla
What to Expect: Is it just me or does this feel like the first time we’ve seen a full blow La Peste Negra team in eons? Maybe I’m just forgetting but I can’t recall any time we’ve seen any combo of that unit together over the last few months. No matter; they’re here now and they’ve got a half decent technico team to work with. In the end I suppose it comes down to how much these guys want to do and whether or not CMLL wants to use this match to lead to a singles. I don’t know if people remember but Ángel de Oro is the CMLL World Middleweight Champion now, and he’s also in the midst of a stretch where he cannot seem to be toppled. If CMLL’s serious about pushing him then I wouldn’t be shocked to see one of the rudos not named Mr. Niebla (who can’t be trusted putting a Sprite in the fridge right now) feud with him here, setting up a bout for next week.
Winners: You didn’t think I brought up that scenario just for my health, did you? My crystal ball tells me that Cavernario gets one over Ángel de Oro in two of the three falls and then challenges the champ to a title match next week. Who would’ve thought that Ángel de Oro vs. Cavernario would be a possible big time singles match in 2017? Anyone?
Atlantis, Carístico, Volador Jr. vs. La Máscara, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
What to Expect: Last week we got a super good Atlantis-Rush singles match that a) was great without giving too much away (you know, because these two are likely facing each other at the Anniversary Show this year) and b) annoyingly (but understandably) set up continued issues between Atlantis and Los Ingobernables when La Máscara interfered. Thus here we are a week later with Atlantis on one side, La Máscara on the other side, and the chances of a match between them not being set up slimmer than Kate Moss. Did I use that joke already? I DID! Dammit all I’m starting to turn into Stephen King. I’ll be cracking wise about killer lamps before you know it!
Now the question of this match is whether or not CMLL’s setting something up imminently between Atlantis and Máscara. On one hand, it sure seems like it. On the other, this match overall has a lot of good pieces in it, the preceding match also can be used to set up a potential singles match and, thinking logically, doesn’t it make more sense for CMLL to build Atlantis-Máscara over two weeks while running another singles match in between, thus giving you two interesting (and potentially very good) matches? I know; it’s not a wise idea to bank on CMLL using logic (or even knowing what logic means), but…I don’t know, I just get the feeling CMLL’s going the other way here. I’ll probably end up wrong, the semi-main will turn out to be nothing more than a half decent match and Atlantis-Máscara will be headlining the April 30th edition of Arena Puebla. But for now, I get the sense it’ll go the other way and this match will actually be quite fun before we get the inevitable fuck finish that sets up a trios rematch that will then set up Atlantis-Máscara for real. And with that I’ve given away my prediction for this match. I am on a roll today!
Winners: In case you missed the end of the last paragraph, the technicos will win this one (the first technico victory of the night according to yours truly) when Máscara fouls Atlantis in plain sight of the ref. Challenges will be made, we’ll get a trios rematch next week instead of a singles and only after that match will we get a singles match between Atlantis an Máscara. I think I finally know what it’s like to think like a CMLL booker. It’s pretty frightening.
That’s game sports fans. I’m off to await the inevitable Bruins choke job, eat some lunch and watch some Pro Wrestling Guerilla! I’ll be back tomorrow for a Puebla review and a Tuesday show preview though. Till then, why don’t we just keep the “THIS!” thing going? It’s a nice gag I feel.
