Cmll Super Viernes Review 2/28/20

That’s right sports fans; this isn’t a mirage, this is real. I am back on the old blog! Just to clear things up, no I have not left Lucha Central; the site is just going through some maintenance stuff right now and until that’s done I am allowed to come back to the wonderful world of Hubpages, where I can bring you my weird ass previews and reviews. Like this review of tonight’s CMLL Super Viernes for example, a show loaded with tag matches that ranged from forgettable to good to very good! Overall I had a good time with this show, though CMLL still has a ways to go before one can say the show is definitively good again. But we’ll worry about that next week. For now, let’s just break this bad boy down.

Akuma & Espanto Jr. defeated Halcón Suriano Jr. & Sonic the Luchador two falls to one

Yesterday I said this match would disappoint because Espanto Jr. would ruin things despite the best efforts of Akuma, Sonic and Suriano. Now would be a good time to cue up a certain Social Distortion song.

As it turns out sports fans Espanto Jr. didn’t ruin the best efforts of the other three guys. Frankly he didn’t do much of anything and that is just the way I like it; the less Espanto does, the better things generally wind up. And things wound up pretty good here, with Sonic and Suriano stealing the show with some really creative offense and one tremendous Suriano dive to the floor that Espanto actually based perfectly for. Of course he wasn’t the main base; that was Akuma, and his performance was a solid reminder of what he’s capable of when the lights are on. I would’ve preferred a technico victory here but when the CMLL opener exceeds expectations like this you can’t be that mad. A strong start to the show and no, I can’t believe I’m saying it either.

Mexican National Tag Team Championship Tournament, Block A

Disturbio & Virus defeated Pegasso & Stigma

I enjoyed this match for one reason and one reason alone; everyone expected Virus and Disturbio (in for Universo 2000 Jr.) to get cold cocked immediately, only they went on to win the match! Great stuff. The match itself wasn’t actually that bad either, with Pegasso having a relatively good day while Stigma wasn’t around enough for me to get too annoyed. Thank Grodd this tournament wasn’t in Puebla because otherwise Stigma would be on his way to carrying Pegasso to a tag title. Instead they’re going home and I am quite content with that.

Hijo del Villano III & Templario defeated Dulce Gardenia & Fuego

There was a brief moment before this match began that I wondered if CMLL would actually be dumb enough to send Templario home early in favor of the admittedly fun (but not nearly as good as Templario) Dulce/Fuego team. Thankfully CMLL made the right decision while also giving the technicos a lot in order to come out looking good. They did just that; Dulce Gardenia had some terrific spots in this match with both Templario and Villano (who honestly looked better than he has in awhile in this spot) while Fuego looked completely energized against a pair of competent bases. Not every day he gets to work with guys like that. As a result of that effort the action flew by, was largely enjoyable and then firmly enjoyable when the right team picked up the W. I have no complaints yet again.

Ephesto & Luciferno defeated Black Panther & Blue Panther Jr.

Well…for a moment I thought CMLL would go three for three on making the right decision. Then Ephesto and Luciferno finished off the Panthers and that was that. Bummer. To add more salt to the wound this was easily the worst of the first round matches. Black Panther and Junior had some interesting ideas and were trying really hard, but Ephesto and Luciferno were practically comatose, even more so when they were in control! As such the Panthers had no hope no matter what they did and this match was DOA because of it. A lame match with a lame result.

Soberano Jr. & Titán defeated Misterioso Jr. & Sagrado

You know something sports fans…I’m beginning to think that this Soberano Jr. guy is really friggin good! Then again you have to be a good worker with a nickname like his.

This match won’t go down as a Match of the Year contender or anything but boy did I enjoy it. It’s easy to forget that Misterioso and especially Sagrado are really good (mainly because they try once, maybe twice a year) and they were on their A game here in what will likely be their highest profile match of the year. It wasn’t flashy and it wasn’t chock full of dives but they tried hard and it made the job a lot easier for Titán and Soberano, the latter of whom had an outstanding dive over the turnbuckle that you’d think would’ve been reserved for the final. If only. In any event, I really enjoyed this match and yet again the right team won.

Hijo del Villano III & Templario defeated Disturbio & Virus

The good news is that the right team won again and Disturbio, Templario and Virus all looked pretty good throughout, with Virus even busting out an apron hurricanrana. The bad news is that Hijo del Villano III reverted back to the guy he was prior to the last bout. He wasn’t bad (aside from a terrible Codebreaker spot that will never be mentioned again) but my goodness were his big spots uninspired and lacking in excitement. It’s the big difference between him and his brother, Villano III Jr. The AAA star does exciting stuff basically to a fault while being technically sound; meanwhile Hijo del Villano III is sound but not always smooth and nothing he does has any oomph. That was hidden well in the first match but it was glaring here, enough so that it led to the match not making much of an impression.

Soberano Jr. & Titán defeated Ephesto & Luciferno

All that needs to be said here is a) the right team won, b) Luciferno was so bad Sansón was embarrassed watching him, c) the right team won, d) I’m not sure Ephesto was awake for this match and e) did I mention the right team won? Honestly that’s what is most important; yes the rudos were terrible and Luciferno in particular should ashamed of his performance. Alas it’s a match we’ll forget about by tomorrow and again, the right team won and went to the finals, which was most important.

Mexican National Tag Team Championships Block A Final

Hijo del Villano III & Templario defeated Soberano Jr. & Titán

I have one complaint about this one sports fans and that’s that I would’ve had Soberano and Titán go over. Of course that’s because Templario was teaming with Hijo del Villano III, who went from good to bad to good to bad again throughout this entire match. Fortunately it didn’t matter because the technicos were so good and Templario is on that Batman level at the moment. What a one man performance by him!

That’s not to put all of this match’s success on Templario because Soberano and Titán were fabulous throughout, more than holding up their end of the bargain. But they had each other to bounce off of; Templario had Villano, who at one moment looked good and the next looked more lost than a punk at a romantic teen comedy film. It didn’t mean a damn thing because Templario, who was in Pittsburgh just a night ago for WrestleRex mind you, is just out of his mind right now. He was off the charts great in this match, whether it was flying, basing or just dishing out Grade A punishment with Soberano like those two like to do. It was the performance of a luchador who knew he needed to be great for himself and his partner and he succeeded. It does open up concern for how Villano will do in the final two weeks from now but as long as CMLL gives Templario a good team to work with I don’t think it’ll be too much of a concern. Look at how this match turned out for crying out loud! It was a three man match that was supposed to be a tag, and because Soberano, Templario and Titán are so great they pulled the rabbit out of the hat anyway. A borderline great Block A final, and I wouldn’t be mad if you argued it was better than that.

Felino, Negro Casas, Terrible defeated Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja two falls to one

After a tournament that went very, very long, CMLL decided that the best course of action for this match was…you guessed it, three falls. I don’t get it either, even after what we got with the main event. This was the perfect place for CMLL to go uber quick with a match and keep it to a two fall sprint, and instead these guys got around ten minutes and three falls to work with. None of it was remotely interesting; there was a dive or two here and there and maybe a spot of interest, but overall this match was worked by six guys who probably thought they were going to the showers immediately. Even Negro Casas seemed to be going through the motions; NEGRO FREAKIN CASAS PEOPLE! Whatever CMLL was thinking here I’ll never know, but they got it wrong and kept this lifeless match going too long.

Torneo a Parejas Increibles Final

Carístico & Forastero defeated Cavernario & Volador Jr. two falls to none

Where to begin with this one sports fans? Well for starters I guess you can say this match was…fine? Borderline good maybe? It was certainly nowhere near the previous Torneo a Parejas Increibles Finals but a large part of that was due to a) this match only getting two falls (thus limiting all four luchadores) and b) CMLL being more focused on building to their Homenaje a Dos Leyendas main event between Cavernario and Felino. The work outside of that was largely good; sure there was a Canadian Destroyer fest in there that was over the top but overall I thought all the guys looked good and Forastero, the weak link, did indeed step up to have a really strong performance. They definitely could’ve had something if CMLL wanted them to and the fact that we’ll never get to see that is…well it’s not sad I suppose but it does leave me with a feeling Vincent Price knows all too well.

And yet despite that, I have to say that I think CMLL made the right call with the direction they took this. It has been a few weeks now since Cavernario and Felino have even interacted and while the match does have heat, a little extra never hurts. So I totally understand why CMLL had Felino run out to cost Cavernario and Volador this match and quite frankly I thought CMLL nailed it. It made perfect sense given where they’re going, the crowd reacted well to it, the post match interactions between Cav and Felino were strong; this was really good stuff in my book that will probably suffer because people were more focused on wanting this match to be great. For me at least though it really worked and I think this will help pay off for CMLL greatly come March 21^st. We’ll see. In any event the match was solid, if not what it could’ve been, and the post match angle was really good, thus overall leaving the show on a high note in my book.

And with that I’m off to pass out while Chuck is on. TILL NEXT TIME!

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