Good Matches So Far in 2012
Flamita/Daga/Eterno vs Traumas I y II/Sadico (1/14/12): Tremendous match! Reports came in after the show that this was the show-stealer and a legit MOTYC even though it only occured a few days into the year and those reports did not lie! Looooooong first fall with multiple mat exchanges climaxing with Daga putting a leglock on Trauma I and getting FUCKING SLAPPED IN THE FACE! This was one of those moments where you question whether we were watching a work or shoot since both guys seemed to get angry with each other and the Traumas are no angels when it comes to that sort of thing. I loved the pull-apart since it looked like both guys wanted to just murder each other. The crowd completely understood what was going on and got real into the match at that point. This is one thing lacking when the Traumas pull this stuff - they'll work stiff with some idiot like Violento Jack who doesn't understand what to do and it never goes anywhere so it's just pointless. In this case Daga knew exactly how to play it off and it built to an epic moment in the third fall when Daga/Trauma got in the ring together and the crowd was super hot for it. Just genius. Flamita would seemingly be a guy totally out of his element here but he's really improved. I loved his second rope springboard into a Skayde Special. Did I ever think I'd see that spot done? No. It was awesome! Third fall had the previously mentioned Daga/Trauma section plus some great near submissions. It all built to a crowd dive by Daga and somersault dive by Flamita. Eterno then seemingly had the match won with a submission until Trauma II was able to turn it around into a Boston Crab type hold for the clean submission. FANTASTIC FINISH! A must-see match via BlackTerryJr: www.youtube.com/luchatvdelpasado
Atlantis/Blue Panther/Solar I vs Ultimo Guerrero/Felino/Negro Navarro (1/14/12): I don't know why the crowd was unhappy with this being one fall. Have they never seen an Ultimo Guerrero three fall match?:) On paper this looked amazing and the wrestlers did a great job but there was one thing that really stood out - everyone was paired off. There were no Panther vs Navarro sections. No Solar vs Ultimo Guerrero sections. No Atlantis vs Navarro sections. They each picked their respective partner and just worked with them. It was like watching three seperate singles matches until the end when they began doing eliminations. The entire reason I prefer trios matches is you get more of a chance to see people work together with multiple opponents. In that sense this match was a failure. But it's hard to call it a bad match when so much talent is involved and these guys are all masters of the professional wrestling. They all did a great job and got the crowd back after the initial boo'ing of the one fall announcement. The finish though left a lot to be desired. They did the typical draw. I don't think it's a case where someone didn't want to lose so they just settled on a draw... I think it's just the wrestlers view a draw as showing both teams were equal. But the entire concept of professional wrestling is a match where two or more people fight and we see who the better person is. It's not fun to invest 20+ minutes into a match and see no winner decided at the end. Not to mention no rematch announced. Seeing older wrestlers like Solar/Navarro do draws in singles matches is fine because they are just doing exhibitions anyways and not real matches. When you include currently active wrestlers who are feuding (Panther/Felino) a draw comes off as cheap.
Atlantis/Delta/Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Escorpion/Dragon Rojo Jr. (1/6/12): This was the first time I was able to watch this rudo trio and grasp the fact they are an actual trio! They had good teamwork, their bumping for the tecnicos was co-ordinated perfectly and the match actually had flow rather than three wrestlers just doing their moves one-by-one. The match wasn't long but it served it's purpose which is strange b/c CMLL matches tend to be random and with no goal in mind. The rudos looked like a strong team early on, the tecnicos fought back and looked spectacular and finally the tecnicos dominated the third fall and got a clean win! Why? Because they're the champions! And the following week they beat another set of champions to prove they are #1. Tomorrow they face this same team and you can probably put money on the Guerreros getting their win back, perhaps via cheating. Maya was his usual awesome self here, Atlantis was motivated and Delta looked the best he has in a long time. When Delta is on you know a match is worth watching since it happens so rarely!
Centurion/Dinamic Black/Triton vs Alan Xtreme/Carta Brava Jr./Imposible (1/5/12): I've come to expect no less than excellent stuff from this crew of IWRG youngsters and if they keep delivering like this I have no doubt they'll be AAA or CMLL bound before the end of the year. Triton may need a new name though.:) Just an excellent match with everyone looking great. The rudos offense was absolutely killer and they got plenty of time to control the match instead of it just being a tecnico showcase which is something that IWRG matches tend to turn into. Alan Xtreme IS the best young wrestler in IWRG unless you still count Trauma I as a young wrestler. Either way Alan Xtreme is either #1 or #2. He should be a main eventer any month now and deserves it. Imposible has upped his game lately and Carta Brava has always been great. I hope they stick together as a team while moving up the card. The tecnicos did some real complicated spots but hit it all perfectly outside of Dinamic Black almost taking a header on his Brillo Dorada. He needs to leave that for Centurion who has the best version of that spot (aside from Mascara Dorada of course!).
Also, I just re-watched this and even though it's not from 2012...
Aero Star/Laredo Kid/Sugi vs Dark Dragon/Super Fly/Ultimo Gladiador (6/9/11): This match suffered from my elevated expectations the first time I saw it. Konnan had been on F4D and said they stole the show and Aero Star looked like the best flyer in the world. People who saw it live put some clips on youtube of the more spectacular stuff and at the same time I came up with like a billion spots in my mind that I thought they might do. So even though the match was excellent when I watched it I left feeling a bit let down b/c I expected way too much. I finally rewatched it (since it only recently became available in higher quality) and not only was this excellent - it may have been one of the best AAA matches of the year! These guys just tore it down from the start with the multiple springboard dropkicks culminating with Super Fly destroying Laredo Kid! The rudos were on fire hitting every triple team spot perfectly and when Sugi tried to fuck up a spot Super Fly seemed to get legit angry and threw him right on his head on the floor! I APPROVE! Even with Sugi having a terrible night these guys all kept it together and Aero Star more than made up for Sugi. A great one-man show every time Aero Star was in the ring climaxing with him walking the guardrail into a rana on Ultimo Gladiador! They did a bunch of sick moves leading to nearfalls at the end and then did a super frankensteiner/inverted frankensteiner spot leading to double dives from Sugi/Laredo Kid! Just when you thought the match was winding down Dark Dragon did another crazy dive where he almost got caught on the top rope and that left Super Fly to put Aero Star away with a flying senton. Words cannot do a match like this justice and thankfully it took place in a front of a very appreciative crowd in Arena Naucalpan!
Atlantis/Blue Panther/Solar I vs Ultimo Guerrero/Felino/Negro Navarro (1/14/12): I don't know why the crowd was unhappy with this being one fall. Have they never seen an Ultimo Guerrero three fall match?:) On paper this looked amazing and the wrestlers did a great job but there was one thing that really stood out - everyone was paired off. There were no Panther vs Navarro sections. No Solar vs Ultimo Guerrero sections. No Atlantis vs Navarro sections. They each picked their respective partner and just worked with them. It was like watching three seperate singles matches until the end when they began doing eliminations. The entire reason I prefer trios matches is you get more of a chance to see people work together with multiple opponents. In that sense this match was a failure. But it's hard to call it a bad match when so much talent is involved and these guys are all masters of the professional wrestling. They all did a great job and got the crowd back after the initial boo'ing of the one fall announcement. The finish though left a lot to be desired. They did the typical draw. I don't think it's a case where someone didn't want to lose so they just settled on a draw... I think it's just the wrestlers view a draw as showing both teams were equal. But the entire concept of professional wrestling is a match where two or more people fight and we see who the better person is. It's not fun to invest 20+ minutes into a match and see no winner decided at the end. Not to mention no rematch announced. Seeing older wrestlers like Solar/Navarro do draws in singles matches is fine because they are just doing exhibitions anyways and not real matches. When you include currently active wrestlers who are feuding (Panther/Felino) a draw comes off as cheap.
Atlantis/Delta/Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Escorpion/Dragon Rojo Jr. (1/6/12): This was the first time I was able to watch this rudo trio and grasp the fact they are an actual trio! They had good teamwork, their bumping for the tecnicos was co-ordinated perfectly and the match actually had flow rather than three wrestlers just doing their moves one-by-one. The match wasn't long but it served it's purpose which is strange b/c CMLL matches tend to be random and with no goal in mind. The rudos looked like a strong team early on, the tecnicos fought back and looked spectacular and finally the tecnicos dominated the third fall and got a clean win! Why? Because they're the champions! And the following week they beat another set of champions to prove they are #1. Tomorrow they face this same team and you can probably put money on the Guerreros getting their win back, perhaps via cheating. Maya was his usual awesome self here, Atlantis was motivated and Delta looked the best he has in a long time. When Delta is on you know a match is worth watching since it happens so rarely!
Centurion/Dinamic Black/Triton vs Alan Xtreme/Carta Brava Jr./Imposible (1/5/12): I've come to expect no less than excellent stuff from this crew of IWRG youngsters and if they keep delivering like this I have no doubt they'll be AAA or CMLL bound before the end of the year. Triton may need a new name though.:) Just an excellent match with everyone looking great. The rudos offense was absolutely killer and they got plenty of time to control the match instead of it just being a tecnico showcase which is something that IWRG matches tend to turn into. Alan Xtreme IS the best young wrestler in IWRG unless you still count Trauma I as a young wrestler. Either way Alan Xtreme is either #1 or #2. He should be a main eventer any month now and deserves it. Imposible has upped his game lately and Carta Brava has always been great. I hope they stick together as a team while moving up the card. The tecnicos did some real complicated spots but hit it all perfectly outside of Dinamic Black almost taking a header on his Brillo Dorada. He needs to leave that for Centurion who has the best version of that spot (aside from Mascara Dorada of course!).
Also, I just re-watched this and even though it's not from 2012...
Aero Star/Laredo Kid/Sugi vs Dark Dragon/Super Fly/Ultimo Gladiador (6/9/11): This match suffered from my elevated expectations the first time I saw it. Konnan had been on F4D and said they stole the show and Aero Star looked like the best flyer in the world. People who saw it live put some clips on youtube of the more spectacular stuff and at the same time I came up with like a billion spots in my mind that I thought they might do. So even though the match was excellent when I watched it I left feeling a bit let down b/c I expected way too much. I finally rewatched it (since it only recently became available in higher quality) and not only was this excellent - it may have been one of the best AAA matches of the year! These guys just tore it down from the start with the multiple springboard dropkicks culminating with Super Fly destroying Laredo Kid! The rudos were on fire hitting every triple team spot perfectly and when Sugi tried to fuck up a spot Super Fly seemed to get legit angry and threw him right on his head on the floor! I APPROVE! Even with Sugi having a terrible night these guys all kept it together and Aero Star more than made up for Sugi. A great one-man show every time Aero Star was in the ring climaxing with him walking the guardrail into a rana on Ultimo Gladiador! They did a bunch of sick moves leading to nearfalls at the end and then did a super frankensteiner/inverted frankensteiner spot leading to double dives from Sugi/Laredo Kid! Just when you thought the match was winding down Dark Dragon did another crazy dive where he almost got caught on the top rope and that left Super Fly to put Aero Star away with a flying senton. Words cannot do a match like this justice and thankfully it took place in a front of a very appreciative crowd in Arena Naucalpan!
Labels: aaa, cmll, lucha libre, wrestling
posted by Rob at 3:25 PM
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