Universal Title Tournament - Block A

Fantasy booking! My favorite thing to do!

The participants for Block A are as follows:

Ultimo Guerrero
Efesto
Texano Jr.
Averno
Mephisto
Mascara Dorada
Stuka Jr.
La Sombra

Out of those 8, you'd have to figure the only ones without a chance in hell of winning are Stuka Jr. and Efesto. So when you have an 8 man tournament with 6 wrestlers who could easily win the entire thing - that's a challenge to fantasy book! It also means the CMLL bookers really can't go wrong with whoever they pick to win. Oh - it also means that with workers of this calibre - next week CMLL Sunday is can't miss TV!

I should note I'm biased going into this fantasy booked tournament b/c I think the finals are going to be Sombra vs Volador to set something up for the Anniversary Show in September. I'm also hoping the bookers remember the tournament from last year and play off that a bit b/c it could lead to some very interesting possibilites.

On with my picks...

Round 1:

Averno vs Mascara Dorada: Not sure what the bookers are planning for Dorada here. He could go far and impress or are just bust everything out in his first round match before going down. I want Dorada to go far but the tournament really doesn't work in his favor with 5 strong rudos in this bracket. Winner: Averno.

Ultimo Guerrero vs Stuka Jr.: This seems pretty logical. Stuka Jr. will either get Ultimo, Averno or Mephisto in the first round. A rudo who can take his offense and then crush him at the end. Winner: Ultimo Guerrero.

Sombra vs Efesto: Sombra should get an easy pass in the first round and no better easy pass than Efesto! Winner: Sombra.

Mephisto vs Texano Jr.: I like this to end round 1 b/c after the seeding battle royale you can build suspense by having these two left at the end and the crowd wondering what will happen between them when they fight. Then it's up to the bookers if they want to start an angle or just do a straight rudo vs rudo match. Winner: Texano Jr.

Semi-Finals:

Averno vs Ultimo Guerrero: Guerrero needs a big win to look strong since I think he goes down in the finals and Averno is the strongest rudo in the tournament besides Ultimo himself. Winner: Ultimo Guerrero.

Sombra vs Texano Jr.: This plays into last year as these two met in the finals of Block A. This time a semi-final match would be just as good and Sombra can get revenge for his loss last year by going over. Winner: Sombra.

Final:

Ultimo Guerrero vs Sombra: I went with this final b/c I think CMLL will want to make sure if Ultimo isn't winning the tournament again, he has to lose to someone who is making the finals otherwise the win will be tainted for whoever comes out on top. So this is the perfect position for Sombra. He can beat the ex-champ and prove he deserves to be in the finals. Winner: Sombra.

So like I said... in theory this sets up Volador Jr. winning Block B although that will take some fancy booking since Lyger is in that group and may not be okay with doing a job unless it's leading somewhere. (Big upset for La Mascara?)

I'm really looking forwards to the live updates next Friday b/c with every twist will come a whole new set of predictions! Last year I wasn't a huge fan of this tournament but this year I'm definitely excited to see how it ends up and whether the finals tie into the Anniversary Show at all. Really the only thing that could turn this tournament into a bummer would be Ultimo going all the way again and matching up with Lyger in the finals. Their match last September was terrible, Ultimo is not going to win the tournament again, Lyger doesn't need to win this tournament and it won't lead to anything this September.