#vangellys

WARNING SPOILERS BELOW AS I NEED TO SPOIL TO TALK ABOUT SOME MATCHES

Vangellys, Polvora & El Hijo del Villano III vs. Triton, Audaz & Esfinge

Who’s who?

Vangellys in red, Polvora in flame mask and Villano in Villanos signature pink.

Triton/Esfinge in matching gear, with Tritons boots both being white and Audaz as always is in gold. 

How’s the match?

Good, much better than any opener you’ll see on CMLL with a normal broadcast. Obviously because this is thie big spring event and normally the 2nd biggest show of the year. I’d suggest watching this, the rudo team is pretty whatever outside of El Hijo del Villano III, who is still green/new to CMLL, but did a good job here one of the few times we have seen him without uncle Villano IV teaming with him. Polvora/Vangellys aren’t bad, but Polvora does best when paired with teammate Dragon Rojo Jr., who is currently injured. I don’t like Vangellys a great deal, but he held his own in this contest.  

Microman, Atomo & Gallito vs. Chamuel, Mije & Perico Zakarias 

Who’s who?

Microman in blue, Atomo in red & Gallito in red/white masked.

Chamuel in black, Mije in white & Perico with a bird mask. 

How’s the match?

Good, this isn’t a standout match from the smaller class of mini, but they so seldomly have matches that each time they come out it’s plenty of fun. Microman as always is a star and Chamuel very recently ditched his clown mask for a more luchador looking mask. It’s a fun match, but not a highlight of the night. With AAA pretty much not having a mini’s division anymore, this is the place to get mini’s action and I’m glad CMLL included them on the PPV. As all these guys train and work hard like the rest of the roster and deserve to shine. Though at the same time, I wonder why the luchadoras didn’t make this card. Even more confusing when they have Kaho in from Japan and a spot on this card would have given her more exposure, but oh well. 

Diamante Azul, Titan & Soberano Jr. vs. Mephisto, Ephesto & Templario.

Who’s who?

Azul/Soberano both in white, with Azul being bigger & Titan in blue.

Mephisto in Blue Demon tribute mask, Ephesto having ram like horns and Templario in silver.

How’s the match?

Very good, the card picks up here and begins to feel more like a PPV. Not offense to the opener or minis, but both felt like they could have been on any show. This could have easily been on any Super Friday, but on any Super Friday it would be praised as one of the best matches on the card, if not the best match on the card. The tecnico team in particular worked so well and are all so varied that CMLL should think about putting them together more often. Mephisto too, as always has the best tribute mask of the night. Honestly, I’m surprised Azul wasn’t looking more like Blue Demon, as his repackaging years was meant to make basically another Blue Demon and his first big win as this name was the tournament in honor of Blue Demon.   

NGD(Sanson, Cuatrero & Forastero) vs. La Peste Negra(Negro Casas & Barbaro Cavernario) + Gilbert El Boricua

Who’s who?

NGD are told apart easily by boots. Sanson in black, Cuatrero in white and Forastero in gold. They have different mask and tight designs too, but the boots are the easier go to if you’re new and confused as to who is who. 

Negro Casas is in his signature plain black gear, Barbaro is the cave man & Gilbert in camo pants.

How’s the match?

Great, I was expecting a good match here, but I think this even surpassed my expectations. NGD are big match players who tend to change up their normal team offense or at least kick it up a notch when called to do so. They made this match grea, but that’s not to diminish the efforts of the other team either. In fact this is probably Gilbert’s best CMLL or trios match since arriving in the company for the first time last year. Barbaro/Casas did good too. This is the return for Negro after being sidelined for a leg injury, which is even referenced in this match. One of the best match of the week/month/year in CMLL so far. 

Los Guerreros Laguneros(Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero & Euforia) vs. Caristico, Volador Jr. & Dragon Lee for the CMLL World Trios Championships

Who’s who?

Ultimo maskless, Euforia the tall man and Gran in Ultimo’s old mask design and all three in the stables signature colors of green and black.

Tecnicos in all white, Mistico in full pants, Dragon Lee in trunks and Volador Jr. without mask. 

How’s the match?

Great, for most this will be the match of the show and it’s easy to see why. I might prefer the previous match for the main reason of it being something we haven’t seen as much. This feels plenty like Los Guerrero Laguneros title defenses of the past. It’s still very good, but it just isn’t something so new that I’m going to gush about it. Still very good and the finish stretch was a great combo of moves/moments. For sure a great match, but too similar to other matches Los Guerreros Laguneros had the last 2 years. It’s a shame Fenix/Pentagon couldn’t make this match. As it would make this feel more fresh. Dragon Lee is new here, but Volador/Mistico/Valiente is pretty close to his team with Caristico and Mistico even having the same finisher. I also don’t understand the thought of putting Dragon Lee here instead of Mistico, with the line-up of Mistico/Caristico/Volador Jr. in recent weeks feuding with Los Guerreros Laguneros/NGD as Dream Team. Seems bizarre to not follow that string of matches with a title match here. 

Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs. Terrible & Bestia del Ring, Hairs vs. Hairs

Who’s who?

Oro in gold and Roja in red.

 Terrible with facial hair and Bestia in western boots. 

How’s the match?

Good, but unsatisfying as a main event. I don’t want to shit on this main event as I think all involved tried hard and that it went bad because of an injury. It’s really too bad as this was Oro/Rojo’s moment of redemption after both being unmasked at 2/3 last major CMLL events. Terrible in the big ending moments between him and Oro right after Rojo/Bestia had been eliminated in the 3rd fall, dislocated his arm. This meant that the long segment he and Oro likely had planned was thrown out and the finish came what felt much too soon. Good show, but the main event, which was the main selling point didn’t land well. 

Vangellys, Kawato San & Okumura vs. Blue Panther Jr., Black Panther & Stigma

Who’s who?

Vangellys in black, Kawato in red & Okumura in orange.

Blue Panther Jr. in blue, Black in black & Stigma in black/red.

How’s the match?

Good, but just as this match is picking up... it ends. So as far as I’m concerned this is one of the more underwhelming matches from the Kawato/Okumura vs. Panther Bros. feud/series of matches. Which in turn makes this a pretty skippable affair, I’d just suggest one check out one of the plenty of other matches in this series from 2018. When this series started via Kawato San coming to CMLL from his home promotion NJPW. I was actually pretty shocked when the finish came as it felt like this match should’ve/could’ve gone one for a few more minutes.  

Stuka Jr., Valiente & Diamante Azul vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero & Euforia

Who’s who?

Stuka Jr. in light blue, Valiente in metallic blue and Azul in dark blue. 

Ultimo maskless, Gran in shorts and Euforia the biggest in full pants/masked.

How’s the match?

Very good, Los Guerreros Laguneros are pretty good at putting together a fun trios match even when it’s just a semi-main on Puebla. They also have a good trio of tecnicos to work off of. This had all the Guerreros spots you’d expect and even the catapult off the ramp that Stuka/Valiente have been known to bust out. Honestly, I think those two would make better tag champs than Azul/Diamante Azul, but that’s not really all that important here. I’d perhaps even give this a great, but 2018 has been a baller year for Los Guerreros Laguneros. So this sorta doesn’t stack up to their best matches this year. Stuka Jr. had to be stretchered out post match, hopefully it’s not too serious. They did a slow mo replay and the landing didn’t look too nasty.

Caristico, Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs. Barbaro Cavernario, Rey Bucanero & Hechicero

Who’s who?

Caristico in white, Oro in gold/silver & Roja in red/gold.

Barbaro looking like a caveman, Bucanero bald & Hechicero masked.

How’s the match?

Very good, this was a fun main event match. The main feud here was Caristico vs. Barbaro Cavernario. While the Universal Championship seems like it may not happen at all, if it were to happen those two being in the finals has to seem somewhat likely and we got a preview of what that might mean here. Niebla Roja and Bucanero feuded a little bit here as well, still falling out from the shaving of Bucanero. The ending here was a little predictable, but for a Monday Puebla main event, that’s sorta called for. I’m glad we got an ending instead of just a DQ who cares ending like often happens on these secondary show main events. 

Highlights :

Vangellys, Sagrado and Misterioso vs The Panther, Blue Panther Jr and Stigma

Who’s who?

Vangellys is in the black body suit and white boots, Sagrado has a black mask with a thick white cross on it, while their 3rd misterioso is in a green mask and pants.

The Panther is in all black, his brother is in blue while stigma is the smallest man in red/black mask and attire.

How’s the match?

Good! I’m always a fan of the Panther Bros, but really everyone did good in this match. Vangellys even continues to look good, even if his offense is limited to a handful of spots, just like last week where he probably did 2 moves... they looked good even if they were few and far between. 

Kraneo, Angel de Oro, and Valiente vs Johnny Idol, El Felino and Barbaro Cavernario

Who’s who?

Kraneo, is in a purple bodysuit with a bizarre mask like always, Angel de Oro is in black and gold while Valiente is wearing blue/white mask and ring gear.

Johnny idol has long hair and idol on his briefs, Felino is wearing a tail while their 3rd is Barbaro Cavernario.

Interesting the teams are mixed here with Idol teaming with 2 rudos, while Kraneo is with 2 tecnicos. Odd teams aren’t that uncommon on this show. Idol is normally tecnico, but was defaulted as a heel for Gran Prix as was Team International in general. 

How’s the match?

Good, it was a fun match. Kraneo is always fun, even if he is less than a technical marvel. He and Felino share that, but it’s more than made up for by the other 4 men who are great in the ring. This in the grand scheme of things is a pretty unimportant match, but that could be said for most matches airing from Puebla. Come for fun, not importance for this one and you’ll likely leave satisfied. 

Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas and Satoshi Kojima vs Octagon, Caristico and Volador Jr.

Who’s who?

Gran Guerrero is the only masked man on team rudo, Negro Casas is in black while NJPW transplant Kojima is in orange and Black. 

Octagon is in the black bodysuit with red headband and belt, Caristico is in all white with Volador Jr. is the only maskless man on their team. 

How’s the match?

Good, though it feels like a rehash of last weeks. I also have to question why Octagon was given another win here. He isn’t officially on the CMLL Anniversary card Saturday, though he could sub in for Diamante Azul who sounds like he won’t make the show. You’d think Gran would be getting the rub, since he is in the main event. Perhaps with Roja MIA, they want to keep Gran cool so he and Roja can be on equal footing? This might be better than last weeks main event, but Octagon did pretty much the same stuff. I’m interested to see what CMLL does with him, but I can’t say I have very high hopes, despite him being a legendary talent, I don’t know if Octagon will main event a mask vs mask match in his remaining years. 

Highlights :