Wasson vs Arez
Decent enough stuff, both
guys seemed pretty competent. The opening matwork was well worked, especially a
lovely float over into a headscissors by Wasson. Things started to heat up a
bit after a nice slingblade by Wasson, as they follow this with a fluid little
sequence ending with a Wasson tornillo to the floor. Arez seems to have a nice
variety of kicks, including a nice capoeira kick to the back of Wasson’s head.
I also liked him stopping a top rope armdrag by just yanking Wasson off the top
onto his knee. The problem with the match is that it feels a little bit too
co-operative, both guys sit in place waiting for moves in an unrealistic
manner, and they both seem to look at one another to make sure they’re ready
before hitting a move. I also thought Arez hitting a big sit out piledriver was
wasted, should have been the finisher, before Wasson hits a huge cannonball in
the corner to win.
Negro Navarro vs Herodes
Jr
This is almost entirely
worked on the mat, and I know if I’d seen this when I was 21 and didn’t know
much about lucha, I’d have hated this. Just two unimpressive looking men, not
even wearing masks for goodness sake, grappling on the man. I’d also have been
very wrong, because this was really lovely stuff. Navarro is always slightly
ahead of Herodes, you can tell he’s very comfortable on the floor, but at the
same time he doesn’t just overwhelm Herodes, letting him show what he can do.
In contrast to the first match, which felt very co-operative, things here felt
earned, and you could see each of them always looking for a weak spot to grab
to escape a hold or chain to their next one. There’s a lovely bit where Herodes
has an abdominal stretch on Navarro, and starts elbowing him in the ribs, only
for that to lessen his grip on the hold and for Navarro to reverse and hit his
own string of harder looking elbows. Given Navarro’s dominance there, it makes
sense for Herodes to try and get things working off the mat, but Navarro is
always able to yank him back down, applying an armbar for the victory.
Metaleon & Power Bull
vs Impulso & Belial
This one kicks off with a
bang right away, featuring a string of fast action and dives before I’ve
managed to work out who is who. I really liked Belial in this, he’s got a nice
variety of kicks and he hits Metaleon with an insane bullet tope into the
railings. Impulso also has nice strikes and hits maybe the most insane highspot
of the show, as he hurls himself over the top rope in order to hit an elbow
drop onto Power Bull on the floor. Impulso and Belial also have some nice
double team moves, with Belial flipping his partner into a moonsault from an
Alabama Slam position. This was a really fun spot fest tag match, no resting
and though Metaleon and Power Bull don’t get to look quite so flashy as their
opponents, they’re still a lot of fun. Metaleon picks up the win with a running
DVD on Belial, and I really need to see more from all four of these guys.
Virus & Valiente vs
Solar & Black Terry
This was a really good
match to finish on, both teams looked terrific. The Virus/Solar exchange was
the highlight of the early part, it had that same kind of feeling as the
Navarro/Herodes match where every escape and counter felt earned, but these two
felt more like contemporaries, more equal on the mat. By contrast, Terry and
Valiente decide to try and smack the shit out of each other, wobbling each
other’s legs with vicious slaps to the face. Terry at this point was in his
early sixties, but you wouldn’t know it from how he flipped over for each
Valiente armdrag. We end up with all four guys in the ring, and the ref counts
a dual pin, with Solar pinning Valiente and Virus pinning Terry. From the
referee’s gesturing, this gives each team a fall, and we end up with another
few minutes of just Virus and Solar in the ring, Solar getting the win with a
rolling cradle that took out Virus’s legs. Really good bout
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