EDITOR’S NOTE: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Lucha Central and Masked Republic.
By El Cultico
I had a vision, of a world without the Internacional Wrestling Revolucion Grupo. CMLL grounded out a little more profit than they already were, and the reanimated corpse of AAA (infected by the disease known as WWE) tried to shut them down, one show at a time. And it was all so…oh god, I’m quoting The Dark Knight again and just inserting lucha references in. This is what happens when you’ve played the Batman: Arkham series nonstop over the last few weeks (save for Arkham Origins, because Grodd forbid anyone remaster that underrated gem) and you’re bored waiting for Thursday Night Wrestling. But hey, the show is starting now, and it’s time to move on from Batman references and start with the Dragon Ball Z references. MUSIC!
Last time, ON IWRG THURSDAY NIGHT WRESTLING, the evil trio of Chessman, Hell Boy, and Samoa got their act together, defeating the teams of Ciclope, Miedo Xtremo and Falcon Fire and the Revolution Crew to pick up their first big win as a unit. To the shock of everyone, the trio received an unlikely assist from Los Villanos, though it remains to be seen if the Villanos are joining the group, or were merely out to get Revolution Crew, who themselves turned down an opportunity to side with Ciclope and Xtremo. Meanwhile, an even bigger development occurred, as Cagematch finally revealed the name of the Chessman/Hell Boy/El Mexicano/Samoa stable as Legion Oscura (The Black Legion), finally allowing me to stop referring to this stable as the Chessman/Hell Boy/El Mexicano/Samoa group! Now, the group will look to continue the momentum tonight, as Hell Boy and Samoa team with El Mosko to face Aguila Oriental, El Hijo del Alebrije, and new IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Champion Flamita, who Hell Boy cornered in his win over Toxin just a week and a half ago. Will Flamita prove to be an inside man for Hell Boy, Samoa, and Mosko tonight? Who will participate in Lucha Random? And where the hell is our hero Wisin el Dog? Find out (maybe), TODAY!
Angelux & Lilith Dark defeated Gasparin Jr. & Krissta after Lillith pinned Krissta with a German Suplex and Angelux pinned Gasparin with a Crucifix Driver. I’ll note here that this was IWRG’s Kids Day show, which meant a bigger house than usual and the announcers and wrestlers dressing up as kid movie characters. As such, this gave Gasparin the excuse to dress up as a comic book character for this match, so he naturally dressed up as Deadpool. That’s right; Deadpool, cause when you think of kid friendly characters, the fourth wall breaking killing machine that swears more than a Quentin Tarantino character is the first thing that comes to mind. Actually, now that I think of it, that’s probably exactly what the kids are into these days. Way to read the room Gasparin!
Anyway, this match was really good, far better than the usual IWRG openers are. I’m going to give most of the credit to Gasparin. Not only did he bring the costume, but he brought the action as well, not just doing his lethal “through the turnbuckle dropkick/apron double stomp combo,” but pulling out maybe the spot of the night when he hit the Super Calo dive to Angelux while he was seated on the barricade. We’re quickly reaching the point where Gasparin is going to be too exciting to stay in these opening match spots; hell, we may be there already. Fortunately, as good as he was, everyone else was game as well. Angelux did a great job playing Gasparin’s car test dummy, Lilith Dark was hitting hard (she looked far better here than when I’ve seen her in the past) and Krissta, while the least impressive of the four, didn’t do anything to stand out negatively. A very strong start to the show. *** ¾
Principe Centauro & Rey Halcon defeated Ayumo & Iron Kid after Iron Kid was pinned by Centauro, Halcon, and Ayumo following a Halcon Crucifix Driver after Ayumo turned on Iron Kid. There were a few changes to this one, with Revolution Crew’s Rey Halcon moving down a few matches to replace Super Boy, while Alas de Acero, Iron Kid’s long-time Kamikaze del Aire stablemate, was replaced by Ayumo. Big mistake by Iron Kid there given the result! The Ayumo turn was completely nonsensical, as he and Iron Kid worked together the whole match and there was no sign of a turn happening till Ayumo brained him with a sign. Beyond that, I thought the match was on the lower end of good. Iron Kid, as per usual, was awesome, once again reminding people that he probably should be at a much higher level than he is. Everyone else was fine; Ayumo toned down the drunk gimmick he did a few weeks ago in favor of some solid work, while Centauro and Halcon did a far better job getting heat than some of the other lower card rudos (although Halcon’s Crucifix Driver could use work). The bulk of the match was very well done, but the finish being completely out of left field took this down a peg. ***
Toki defeated Big Mike in Lucha Random after Toki pinned Big Mike with an Avalanche Spanish Fly. Before I describe what happened prior to this match, let me remind you that this is IWRG’s Kids Day show. First, we had a beer cam segment. Then we had Big Mike and Toki (thanks to lofighostguy for giving me the correct identity here), who is a blue sasquatch character for those who have never seen him, come down to the ring. Then we had Toki pull a fan from the crowd, leading to him and Big Mike each doing a Magic Mike style stripper routine, before Mike attacked Toki from behind, sending Toki into the fan, who took a bump. I swear on Cthulhu, this all really happened.
Credit: IWRG
Somehow, after all of that, these two then had a match, and it was GREAT! I don’t know why that surprised me so much; IWRG’s best matches appear to involve luchadors dressed in mascot costumes, and this was no different. Much like Wisin, Toki is very good; he might be a little lesser than our favorite lucha dog, but he has plenty of athleticism and crazy ideas, exemplified by him doing a tope into the crowd. It did help that he had Big Mike to work with; the most underrated base in the world was at his usual high level, and seemed to embrace the chaos of the moment almost as much as Toki did. Most importantly, both guys seemed to have a blast, and wrestling really is at its best when the performers are having fun. In a way, this was the perfect match for children; it was all action, it was somewhat preposterous, and it never stopped being a delight. And it all came after a stripper routine! Only on the IWRG Kid’s Day show. **** ¼
Jasper Faster, Nicolas Richard, and Shocko defeated Revolution Crew (Aguila Roja, Multifacetico Jr., and Rey Halcon) after Shocko rolled up Multifacetico with a School Boy following Nicolas hitting Multifacetico with a cookie sheet. As it turns out, Rey Halcon didn’t move down the card at all earlier, he was just wrestling the first of two matches this evening. What a trooper, and frankly, I thought he was significantly better here than he was the first go around. Then again, I also thought this match was far superior than that one, and was probably the best match I’ve seen from Jasper, Nicolas, and Shocko since I first saw them (and if you’ve kept track of my reviews, you’ve seen that they’ve started to win me over the last few weeks). What made this work was that it didn’t feature the usual long, heatless rudo beatdown Jasper, Nicolas, and Shocko usually employ. Instead, both teams had short bursts of heat segments, allowing for a better pace and flow. The result was both teams matching each other with cool moves and smooth, creative wrestling; even the ref bump was well executed. We also got a continuation of the Chileans seeking out the vacant IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship after the match, and a tease for another match between these sides, giving Revolution Crew another group to feud with. Good stuff all around, and we are now living in a world where I no longer dread watching Jasper, Nicolas, and Shocko wrestle. It be the weirdest thing I experienced tonight if I hadn’t seen that the Knicks beat the Hawks by 2 million points a few hours ago. *** 3/4
Luka, Luki, and Toki defeated Bombero Infernal, Cerebro Negro, and Oficial AK47 after Toki pinned Oficial with a Spear. You would think that a match like this, featuring Toki pulling double duty with his fellow sasquatch friends against famous corrupt cop Oficial AK47 and long-time veterans Bombero and Cerebro Negro (who’s really, really good) would’ve been right in my wheelhouse. But for the life of me, I couldn’t get into this match, and it’s nothing that these guys did. It’s the fact that it took almost 30 minutes for this match to begin, with the time being filled by ads, and an in-ring segment involving kids. That last part was good, great even, and why IWRG just didn’t do that I’ll never know. The rest of it? BAD! If I wanted to watch a wrestling show where there were more ads than wrestling, I’d put on WWE. The downtime left me so annoyed that I wound up watching this match annoyed. To everyone’s credit, the work was fine, Luka, Luki, and Toki did some nice commentary, and while there were sloppy moments, there wasn’t anything objectively horrifying. But unless you’re delivering a really good match, it’s tough to get into a match that’s just okay following the show coming to a screeching halt. ** ¾
Aguila Oriental, El Hijo del Alebrije, and Flamita defeated El Mosco and Legion Oscura (Hell Boy and Samoa) after Flamita pinned Hell Boy after reversing One Winged Angel into a rollup. Following the long wait for the semi-main and the semi-main not helping my grumpiness, I really needed this main event to remove the bad taste from my mouth. All praise to Grodd, because it did just that.
Now to be fair, this was not a super match, and I was a bit annoyed that the Flamita-Hell Boy friendship that helped Flamita beat Toxin a few Sundays ago was forgotten, with the two just facing off as if nothing ever happened. Between that and Hell Boy teaming with Toxin this Sunday, it goes to show that IWRG’s probably more concerned about day of booking than long-term plans. Even still, I can’t be mad at a match that, if a bit formulaic, was really well done. There were a few iffy moments with Samoa (who did not look as impressive as he did last week), but overall the work was really good, with Hijo del Alebrije having the best night I’ve seen from him in a bit, Mosko showing some great creativity (he backbreakered Oriental onto Alebrije at one point), and Oriental continuing to be nuts. But the best part, oddly enough, was Hell Boy and Flamita working against each other. As much as the two now being rivals was weird, it was easy to get over when the sequences these two had were utterly fantastic. The speed, the precision, the technique that both displayed was off the charts, right down to the smoothness in which these two executed the finish. By the end, I was hoping we’d get a singles match between the two, and Hell Boy and Flamita cut promos on each other after, I think my wish will be granted. There are recoveries, and there are strong recoveries, and this match was a strong recovery from the semi-main. *** ¾
There’s never a dull moment with IWRG and the Kid’s Day Thursday Night Wrestling show was no different. For a hot minute, I thought this was going to be a terrific show. Then the long lull between the fourth and fifth match happened, the fifth match underdelivered, and I was souring faster than a film critic watching the third act of Sunshine. But then the main event happened, the show turned around again, and all was right with the world. What a rollercoaster, huh? In a way, shows like this really sum up the IWRG experience. There’s a lot of inexplicable decisions, from booking to show format, that make you realize why IWRG is where it is in the lucha ecosystem. But at the same time, there’s Hell Boy and Flamita looking like the world class guys that they are, and Big Mike and the blue sasquatch himself Toki tearing it up after performing a pre-match Magic Mike style stripper routine. In short, IWRG is imperfect, occasionally maddening, and often delightful. This show was no different, I expect next Thursday will be no different, and I will be seated for it all the same. But until that time, let’s take a look at what AEW International Champion Jack Perry is up to.
