WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 5

Abbey Laith vs Rachel Evers

This was a step up for Evers after her wretched first round performance, but this wasn’t as good as Laith/Gabert from the first round. Laith hits a scary looking dive early where they cut to an angle that disguises the fact that she’s caught her for on the middle rope. Evers hitting an RKO as a random early move seems a bit odd. I like them basically hitting reset on a double big boot, and I really liked Evers hitting a big second rope slam. Laith seems to win out of nowhere, catching an Evers big boot into a powerbomb, and pinning her with the Alligator Clutch. This was fine.

Piper Niven vs Serena Deeb

You have to question the logic of Deeb deciding to try and slam Niven just moments after failing to take her over with a headlock takeover – unsurprisingly it doesn’t work. Despite that, I did quite enjoy how Deeb built up to finally getting Niven on the mat, working a headlock and using the rope to get elevation to take Piper over. A second attempt at a powerslam looks poor, I don’t buy Deeb having the strength to pick up Niven, and it looks really sloppy. With that being the case, her decision to try and pick up Piper into a fireman’s carry seems like a rookie mistake, and inevitably ends up with Niven countering and hitting a cannonball in the corner. Vader Bomb only gets two, despite it looking like a finisher. The actual end is good though, as Piper misses a splash but is able to sidestep the spear and whip Deeb straight into a Michinoku Driver to win. Another good Piper performance.

Princesa Sugehit vs Mercedes Martinez

Not a bad match, but ultimately a little forgettable. It starts with a nice little mat sequence, before a schoolboy in the corner sends Mercedes head backward into the bottom turnbuckle in a nice spot. Martinez goes for the three amigos, looking a bit laboured in the transition (and really, it’s only Eddie Guerrero who has ever made the swivelling of the hips look believable) but I liked it ending with a draped neckbreaker. The end felt like it came from nowhere, as Martinez escapes Sugehit’s armbar finisher and, using the affected arm, hits a fisherman buster to win.

Kairi Sane vs Bianca Belair

Feels like a real breakout performance by Belair here. Everyone knows how good Sane is, but Belair is right there in the match with her. Her hair-whipping was brutal here, making a loud sound as she beats down Sane in the corner. She also gets to show impressive strength – doing squats whilst holding Sane up for a delayed vertical suplex – and some nice highflying – missing a perfect looking 450 splash. You got the feeling that Belair will really be something in a few years if she keeps up at this rate. However, Sane was also impressive here, and facing a larger, more powerful opponent she needs to be convincing at taking down a stronger opponent. Her sliding D in the corner and vicious spinning backfist will certainly do the job. The big elbow gets the victory, and this was a great showing by both.

WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 1

Kay Lee Ray vs Princesa Sugehit

Pretty fun match to kick off the tournament. Liked Sugehit laying in some nice kicks early, bringing the fight to KLR. Kay Lee has some nice early touches too, loved her spinning Sugehit around on the apron to swing her into a nice looking forearm. A sliding flatliner by KLR looks a bit off, but this is the only glaring moment. Sugehit rolls KLR around the ring with a cradle, and it nicely leaves Kay Lee dizzy for some big kicks to the head. A Gory Bomb gets two for Ray, but she misses a Swanton and Sugehit locks in an armbar for the tap.

Serena Deeb vs Vanessa Borne

Interestingly worked, as even though Deeb is the veteran, Borne has a slight size and power advantage that allows her to control the match for the most part. Liked her nasty headbutt that rocks Deeb. It allows Deeb to gain sympathy and she’s really good at working from underneath. Deeb makes a comeback, but hurls herself into the corner in a nice missed move. It leads to a Borne swinging neckbreaker that feels like the ending, but only gets two. Samoan Drop also gets two and Borne starts getting frustrated. This leads to a missed splash, a missed clothesline and Deeb nailing a spear for three. Decent story, nicely told.

Shayna Baszler vs Zeda

This only goes two minutes, but is pretty fun for it’s runtime. They work a nice little grappling sequence before Baszler goes to the strikes. Liked Baszler blocking a suplex, so Zeda instead locks in a standing choke from the same position. Unfortunately for her, Shayna powers her into a suplex, transitioning straight into a rear choke for the tap. Zeda looked pretty competitive considering the length, it’s just that Baszler got a sudden death move for the win.

Abbey Laith vs Jazzy Gabert

They start this really nicely, as Laith tries repeated blows on Gabert only to get thrown away time and again. The audience reacts really well to this. Gabert looks great dominating early, hitting some blows to the neck of Laith and hooking in a neck crank. Loved the flurry of brutal punches Gabert hits in the corner. Laith has some nice comebacks, including an Octopus Stretch in the ropes. Her kicks look pretty weak in comparison to some of Gabert’s strikes. Gabert’s lariat looks terrific. Jazzy seems to be in control, but Laith escapes a Gory Bomb with a cradle for three. Really good match, Laith looks great in surviving and Gabert looked like a monster in control.

CMLL 23/08/2015

Still not going to pretend I fully "get" lucha, but I enjoyed some of the CMLL I watched last year, and wanted to try to keep on top of my lucha knowledge.

Dragon Rojo Jr vs Rey Escorpion

I liked elements of this match, but it did feel a bit brief, not helped by some clipping. The first two falls are rushed through, Escorpion winning the first after some brief matwork, rolling through a roll-up to lock in Rings of Saturn for the submission. Rojo equalised with a victory roll, before the third fall sees both guys rushing through a bunch of stuff. Lovely flip dive by Escopion, great running stage-dive dropkick from Rojo and a really nice finish with Rojo blocking a rana and turning it instead into a slingshot powerbomb, but it all felt a bit hollow. Momentum seemed to shift too easily, and the end saw both guys on their feet in the ring, seemingly shaking off the previous damage. I liked the move execution, less enamoured with the match layout.

Goya Kong, Marcela & Princess Sujei vs Amapola, La Seductoria & Zeuxis

This was a pretty fun deal following on from Sujei and Marcela claiming the mask of Seductoria in a tag match the previous week. Really enjoyed Zeuxis in this, she blasted Kong with some vicious knees in the corner and hit a lovely moonsault to the floor onto Kong. Actually, all the rudos looked good, with Seductoria hitting a nasty looking seated senton to Kong and Amapola planting Sujei with Angels Wings. This earned a pinfall and Seductoria tied up Marcela for the submission to complete the first caida. The rudos maintained control and I dug them using the size of Kong as a weapon against her partners by using her to sandwich them in the corner. However, Kong was strong enough to plow through the rudos with a corner clothesline and nail Amapola with a guillotine drop for the equalising fall. The rudos still controlled the third fall until Amapola hit the post on a corner charge and Kong followed up with a big apron dive, which looked great. The remaining technicos pick up the win, Marcela hitting a top rope stomp and Sujei hitting a Michinoku Driver for the falls.

Negro Casas, Shocker & Ultimo Guerrero vs Rush, La Sombra & La Mascara

This is a follow-up to Rush low-blowing Casas en route to winning a hair vs hair match the previous week. Casas actually jumps Rush during the entrances, but this is a poor decision as he gets outnumbered quickly. His partner try to help, but are at a disadvantage, and this puts them on the back foot throughout. With Casas eliminated, Rush hits a top rope senton to pin Shocker and a corner dropkick on Guerrero to earn the primera caida. Both falls go to Rush too, making him look great. The second fall sees the captains Rush and Casas face off and end up brawling all over the floor. With this going on, Guerrero gets knees up on a Sombra moonsault and Shocker hits an odd-looking pump-handle slam on Mascara to even the ties. While that felt a bit underwhelming, the third fall is actually pretty fun. Rush and Casas kick off, and it really shows off how good Casas still looks, with his strikes and kicks looking on point. He’s really fluid. As they brawl outside, we get a good bit of ring time from Shocker who, even if he’s bigger and less mobile than 10 years previously, still has some nice moments. Loved him dropping a hefty elbow drop on a drop down. Sombra hits a massive dive to the floor, sending him flying into the railings. The end sees Casas get retribution as he rolls up Rush with La Majistral, only for the ref to get pulled out of the ring by Rush’s teammates. However, this distraction lets Casas hit a low blow on Rush for the winning fall and a bit of karmic revenge. Didn’t really get going until the last fall, but this was ok.

CMLL 16/8/2014

After hearing good things about the promotion in 2014, I decided to catch up with a bit of CMLL, taking in this big broadcast from last year, with two big stipulation matches

Marcela & Princesa Sujei vs Princesa Blanca & La Seductora

This is a hair and mask vs hair and mask match, with the hair of Blanca and Marcela on the line, along with the masks of Seductora and Sujei. You can tell the stakes are high early doors as the rudos (Blanca and Seductora) attack in the aisle. I really like Blanca’s aggression here as the rudos dominate, including lifting Sujei clean off the mat by the hair. Seductora nails Marcela with a huge dropkick as she’s tied in the ropes, which deserves a replay. Marcela tries to fire back but takes a huge bump, cannonballing off the apron onto no-one. Seductora nails Sujei with a top rope Thesz press for three, and Blanca swiftly polishes off Marcela to take the primera caida.

The rudos maintain control at the start of the secunda caida, with Blanca tearing at Sujei’s mask. Momentum swings as Seductora misses Poetry in Motion, and Marcela just nails a vicious dropkick to the face of Blanca. Marcela pins Blanca with a Michinoku driver, before Sujei finishes Seductora with another driver, only adding a flipping senton and two elbow drops for emphasis.

This leaves all to play for, and the final fall is really exciting. Marcela is all over Blanca, until Seductora pushes her off the top rope, and hooks her in a swank looking half crab for the tap-out. Sujei wastes no time in locking up Seductora in a neat looking hammerlock submission to even the odds, and we’re now down to Blanca vs Sujei in a battle of Princesa’s. Really fun ending, with Blanca getting a huge nearfall from a spiral powerbomb. They battle over roll-ups, before Seductora tries to assist Blanca. Marcela prevents this, and this allows Sujei to roll up Blanca for the win. Really good stuff.

Rush vs Negro Casas

Another hair vs hair match, and this one is even better. Rush seems to be coming out to Chris Benoit’s old ring music. Rush is really aggressive from the bell, steamrolling Casas. Though Casas gets a few comeback blows, Rush nails him with a massive dropkick to the face for an easy fall. The segunda caida sees Casas come back with a vengeance, and I loved his offence of just vicious looking kicks, which Rush is happy to meet with his own. There is an odd bit where another luchador comes to the ring with Casas holding an STF on Rush. This interference causes Casas to release the hold, but then following a Rush powerbomb, the referee is still distracted and doesn’t count, so the interference seems to have helped neither man. Casas quickly locks in a La Majistral cradle for the fall to level things up.

If the first two falls were good, things get really good in the final fall. The crowd is solidly behind Casas, and he reacts accordingly, totally pumped up for battle. These two just batter each other, and it’s amazing to watch. Casas nails a seated senton from the apron to the floor and Rush, as if to be not outdone, nails Casas in turn with a huge dropkick from the apron. The end, though a cheap one, is great, as it allows Rush to come off as a total dick against the crowd favourite Casas: a ref bump allows Rush to punt Casas in the balls and he covers him for the win. Just a great piece of pro wrestling.

The Best of Deathmatch Wrestling - Mexican Hardcore

This is another treat from Lovefilm, a DVD I added to my list with no idea of wrestlers or matchlisting. A cursory glance at the menu when it arrived showed quite a few wrestlers I really dig, like Psychosis, LuFisto and Super Crazy, so I was looking forward to this. The initial presentation led me to have some doubts though, as all the matches seem to have a metal backing track for no reason. Worse, the commentary is done by the XPW team of the vaguely-amusing Larry Riviera and the frequently-inane Kriss Kloss....

Princessa Sugey vs LuFisto
The ropes are covered with barbed wire on two sides, which is a running thing throughout the DVD. Sugey gets the early advantage, hanging LuFisto in a tree of woe, then dropkicking a metal tray into her face. A lightbulb shot to the head is essentially no-sold by LuFisto, who fires back with a Michinoku Driver onto some bulbs. Disappointingly, there is no build-up to the first barbed wire spot, instead Sugey just dumps LuFisto into it, which gets less reaction than it should. Sugey hits a Michinoku Driver of her own onto lightbulbs for two. They start to brawl in the crowd with an odd lack of gusto, with only a LuFisto suplex onto the floor looking good. It's all pretty unimpressive, as they just go from weapon spot to weapon spot with no build up. Sugey sets up a few lighttubes to bridge two chairs, but gets caught up top and superplexed through for two. LuFisto finally hits Emerald Frosion onto yet more tubes for the win. Pretty forgettable.

Xtreme Tiger vs Crazy Boy
Frustratingly, this match has been really awkwardly clipped, taking out seconds of resting to skip to the action. This gives an odd sensation that no-one is selling, even though they may be. The result is, this feels like a total spotfest. Xtreme Tiger bumps around early for Crazy Boy, progressing to getting put into a dustbin and dropkicked several times. Tiger comes back, sending Boy outside the ring and hitting an insane moonsault to the floor. Crazy Boy then sets up Tiger under some lightbulbs, then moonsaults through them, probably hurting himself as much as Tiger. Tiger comes back by hitting a rana through a table from the top rope. Not content to let Tiger hit all the cool offence, Crazy Boy lands a one-man Spanish Fly through a table from the top. Crazy produces a star made of lightbulbs from somewhere, but his attempt to moonsault it onto Tiger misses, hitting only mat and shattering the bulbs. Some unnamed wrestlers come out to interfere and give Tiger the DQ win. After a bit of all round brawling, Crazy Boy gets put on a table at ringside, and Tiger gives him a 450 splash. Bit of a mess to be honest.

Joe Lider & Crazy Boy vs Psychosis & Xtreme Tiger vs Damien 666 & Halloween
666 and Halloween are dressed in jeans and t-shirts, so at least they're dressed for the occasion. Crazy Boy hits a swank Asai to the outside on 666 early doors, which sets the tone for the parade of spots to come. The phrase "shades of Steve Rizzono" is used for the second match in a row on this DVD, which is absurd. We do get a lovely Psychosis/Halloween in-ring segment, which is the nicest display of wrestling we see in the match. It ends with Halloween running into a chair headfirst. Predictably, it all breaks down with all 6 in ring. I like the way that it starts off with guys trying to take control individually, before the team aspect comes into it with a series of slick double teams. 666 and Halloween introduce the weapons into the match, and they really go on a tear. Lider hits a terrible looking Van Daminator on Halloween, as it dawns on me that I've not seen a pinfall attempt yet. After what feels like forever, Lider and Crazy Boy hit a Spanish Fly on Tiger through some lightbulbs to win. Just a bunch of spots that felt like it would never end.

Dralion vs Nightmare
This is billed as a table match, but the ref counts a pinfall attempt 30 seconds in, so I guess it's just another hardcore match but they've brought some tables out too. Insane suicide dive by Dralion 30 seconds in endears him to me greatly. The DVD clips to Dralion hitting a Phoenix Splash through Nightmare on a ringside table. In the ring, Dralion hits a Sky Twister Press right onto Nightmare, who has got nothing in so far. Dralion bizarrely appears to hurl himself out of ring for no reason. This gives Nightmare a chance to dominate, so maybe he just felt sorry for him. Nightmare sets up table, and gestures that the match is about to be over...then hits a Tiger suplex for a two count. Really odd. Nightmare hits a moonsault through the table, but this only gets a two, so either way it's not over. I wish it was though, even if some of Dralion's spots have been impressive. This is just sloppy brawling with some spots awkwardly bolted on. Dralion hits a dragon suplex, but for some reason the ref doesn't bother counting. I assume he's as bored of this match as I am and has drifted off. In a ludicrous blown spot, Dralion dives out of ring to hit a 450 splash through a table, but hilariously totally misses as the table is too far away. Nightmare hits springboard legdrop through the table (which he moves closer to the ring), but is unable to continue due to being too injured. So the match just ends suddenly. A total whack of shit.

Crazy Boy & Joe Lider vs Super Crazy & Xtreme Tiger
Really hoping Super Crazy can improve our match quality here. Crazy and Tiger attack from behind and already this is a bit more heated than we've been getting previously. Crazy hits a tarantula over the barbed wire ropes on Lider, which has to hurt him as much as Lider. Then again, he is the insane luchador. As per the previous matches, there is no tagging as it seems to be contested under tornado rules. Crazy seems to vanish from the match, so Crazy Boy and Lider dominate Tiger. Nice Van Daminator by Lider onto Tiger, wisely setting up the spot for the midpoint of the ring to avoid the possibility of missing the move. Lider and Boy attack Tiger's knee, which seems like good strategy, but they don't focus on this again. Emerald Frosion on Tiger gets two. Suddenly, some flaming lightbulbs are in the ring from nowhere, and CB and Tiger whack each other with them. You'd think this would be quite important, but it's just another spot. Lider hits the worst legdrop I've ever seen from the top of a ladder, and somehow his Canadian Destroyer is even worse. Eventually, Tiger hits a 450 to the floor onto Crazy Boy, whilst Super Crazy rolls the dice on Lider to win. This was alright when Super Crazy was involved, but it was still just another mess of a spotfest.

Damien 666 & Halloween vs Supreme & Angel
Oh fuck right fucking off! The last thing this DVD needed was more XPW influence. There are lightbulbs set up on the ropes for this match. Mexico's Most Wanted dominate the early parts, which is good as it saves us from the XPW team's offence, but soon Supreme takes over as he powerbombs one MMW member onto the other. Angel outrages the fans with some "gay comedy", rubbing his crotch and arse into his opponents faces. We get some basic crowd brawling, but to be honest this is better than a lot of the previous matches. There is the bare minimum of random, no-sold insane spots and the brawling actually builds to the weapon shots. They could do with teasing some of the spots more - the pile of thumbtacks spot should have been built up better - but this is generally ok. Supreme staples money to Damian's head, which is always my least favourite hardcore spot, but again the crowd reacts to it. Angel gets splashed through a table, but because they've minimised the nonsense, it actually gets a reaction as being a big deal. Supreme tries to chance his hand with MMW's valet, but gets lowblowed and suplexed through a pile of lights and table bits for the 3 count. Honestly, best match so far.

LuFisto vs Joe Lider
This is helpfully billed as man vs woman match, in case it wasn't obvious from LuFisto's lady face and lady body. LuFisto dominates early, but Lider comes back, using his superior size to overpower her. The tough balance to get right in intergender matches is keeping the match credible, especially since male wrestlers are much bigger than female wrestlers. Here, the use of weapons helps with the credibility, as anyone getting blasted with a chair by LuFisto is going to be in trouble. We get an obvious clip as Lider's singlet suddenly has the straps down. Lider hits a Michinoku Driver onto barbed wire. We get a pretty nice LuFisto top rope rana onto barbed wire, where Lider lands directly onto it. LuFisto then hits a cannonball through bulbs. Lider comes back, but LuFisto German suplexes him through more bulbs. Have to give Lider credit here, he's letting LuFisto kick the shit out of him. Psycho Driver by Lider, only gets a 2, which I don't mind too much as Lider hasn't really given LuFisto much offence so far. Lider takes an insane bump, missing a twisting senton onto arena floor. Lider recovers to block some attempted LuFisto offence, and plants her with Spanish Fly from apron through bulbs. Insane bump. That gets the 3 count. Another decent match, and the best Lider showing on the DVD. He went all out to make LuFisto look good, and the result was pretty fine.

Damian 666 & Dragon Shyru vs Crazy Boy & Joe Lider
This seems to be set up as Mexico's Most Wanted vs Crazy and Lider, but Halloween is unexplainedly taken away pre-match. Crazy Boy asnd Lider dominate both Shyru and Damian early doors, but advantage swings as Damian takes Lider outside and hurls him through a large wooden board. I feel like I've sat through this match 3 or 4 times on this DVD. Just a collection of spots with very little build. Here, the spots are actually quite smoothly executed with the bare minimum of botches, but it's hard to care about the weapon shots when they essentially mean nothing. The reason the XPW guys match was the best on the DVD is because they actually built up to huge spots. Here, Lider DVD's Shyru through a table to the floor from the top rope, and he's soon back in the match as if it was nothing. A bunch of stuff happens, but it's all meaningless. The match ends when Nightmare interferes, allowing Crazy Boy to pin Damian. Terrible stuff.