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
This Thursday morning was a rarity for me, as I woke up, got ready for the regular 10-4 shift…and realized midway through that I had no idea what tonight’s IWRG card was. In my defense, my mind has been preoccupied a bit; it’ll happen when AR Fox is scheduled to win the Ring of Honor World Television Champion, and I’m only 35% through my replay of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. What’s important is I asked my good pal, the man who keeps the gears churning at Lucha Central, Pep Carrera about tonight’s show, and he was kind enough to show me tonight’s poster. And what did I see on it? The match I have been waiting weeks to see, and the only thing that could match the excitement I have for AR Fox’s big moment. It’s not showtime folks; IT’S HELL BOY VS. FLAMITA TIME! PLAY THE GORRAM MUSIC!
Last time, ON IWRG Z, IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Champion Flamita put himself in position to win another title, as he and Falcon Fire outlasted Los Macizos and Mala Fama to become new number one contenders for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championships. But that title match will have to wait, as not one, but two consecutive victories over Hell Boy from previous shows have finally paid off, as Flamita and Hell Boy will square off in singles action in tonight’s main event. Can Hell Boy get a measure of revenge against his former friend till rival? Will Flamita keep the momentum going? Is it possible for the semi-main event of Aguila Roja vs. Aguila Oriental to top this match? And can either hope to be as memorable as new Ring of Honor World Television Champion AR Fox?! Find out, TODAY!
Eddy Maceira & X-Devil defeated Angelux & Boca Negra after X-Devil pinned Negra and Maceira pinned Angelux after Maceira hit Angelux with Top Rope Styles Clash onto Negra. It’s a sad state of affairs for this match when the most interesting thing to happen was the spirit of Bryan Alvarez invading my body, leading me to mistaking Boca Negra for X-Devil. It could’ve been worse I suppose; at least I didn’t go on a ten minute rant about Will Osprey, Kendall Grey, or Je’Von Evans. Anyway, there wasn’t a lot to this match. Some of the kicks from Angelux and Maceira were pretty good (there was one corner dropkick that was so stiff that Keyra would’ve shed a tear of joy watching it) and Maceira had a very strong comeback sequence. Unfortunately, the rest of the match was nothing, exemplified by Boca Negra dressing like 2001 Jeff Hardy and 2001 Lita, only to wrestle like Jacked Jameson. Among the low lights was Negra slipping on a Lionsault attempt, and not rotating enough on a X-Devil Swing Bottom, leading to X-Devil botching the move. As Wisen El Dog would say, WOOF (and that’s not a good woof). Of all the matches you should seek out, this is not one of them. * ¾
Carinoso Jr. & Dezzendiente defeated Caudillo & Gasparin Jr after Carinoso pinned Gasparin with a second rope moonsault and Dezzendiente pinned Caudillo with a top rope splash . Another week, another Gasparin match that gets IWRG back on track after a disastrous opener. Actually, that’s unfair to last week’s opener, which was just unremarkable. This week meanwhile was like looking into the abyss, and I don’t mean the underrated James Cameron movie starring Ed Harris and the giant CGI tidal waves.
These people are running away faster than me when I see Jasper Faster on the card
To say this was an improvement would be an understatement. There were a few hiccups; Carinoso came up a bit short on the ropes during the latter half of a rope walk springboard armdrag spot, and frankly, his plancha to the floor and his second rope moonsault could’ve used a little work (he seemed to come up short on both). But those iffy moments weren’t enough to dull what was otherwise a tremendously paced, all action match where both sides got their fair share of moments in and looked good doing so. The standouts, however, were Dezzendiente, a second straight strong performance after a week of iffyness, and of course, Gasparin. Each week I fall more in love with this dude; I honestly think he may be one of the best luchadors in IWRG. The energy, skill, and creativity he brings to every match is terrific, and he once again had a standout moment on this show, hitting a Double Stomp to the floor on one side of the ring before hitting the Super Calo dive on the other side of the ring seconds later (and yes, he went into the crowd). IWRG, it may be time to elevate this dude; like Zayda Steel, he is the real deal. Yes, I just said that and no I don’t feel bad about it! *** ¾
Jasper Faster, Pablo Rivas, and Shocko defeated Luka, Luki, and Toki after Luki was disqualified for using a cookie sheet. Of course, he didn’t actually use it; the Chileans instead pulled the old Eddie Guerrero spot of hitting the ref when his back was turned, tossing the cookie sheet to Luki, and feigning the injury. Frankly, this was a worse finish than the one we could’ve had a few minutes ago, when the sasquatches turned the Chileans into a human centipede and took turns doing corner splashes on them. No, I’m not making that up, it really happened, and I have photographic proof.
As much as I’ve begun to soften on Jasper, Shocko, and their fellow Chileans over the past few weeks, when I saw they were in this match against the sasquatches, two of which move like Canek trying to navigate the Arena Mexico stairs, I debated escaping to the kitchen to grab some Pizza Pringles. In hindsight, that’s what I should’ve done. Grodd bless these six, but unless Toki was doing tornillos, this was a tough watch. As noted, Luka and Luki don’t exactly have the greatest of skill; they tried to make up for it with some comedy, but it’s hard for me to get amused when everything else they’re doing is shoulder blocks and slow-mo dives. And with only one opponent who could really do anything, Jasper, Shocko and Rivas (who I’m less familiar with compared to the others and Nicolas Richard) were left with little to do but their usual heat control sequences, and as seen, those can be a bit dull. At least it was better than the opener, but if I were IWRG, I’d stick to booking Wisin, and send the sasquatches back into the wilderness. Already, maybe not Toki, he seems fine. ** ¼
Caballero de Plata, Hip Hop Man, and Histeriosis defeated Multifacetico Jr., Rey Leon, and Zarcos after Plata pinned Multifacetico and Hip Hop Man pinned Zarcos after Rey Leon fouled both of his partners. In fairness, they did turn on him first after he accidentally hit them with a dropkick minutes earlier, so he was justified. Normally I’d be questioning why Leon wasn’t DQ’d for the fouls, but he fouled his teammates, which means they would’ve been DQ’d and lost anyway, so I must say the ref was justified, much like the ref was justified in calling a handball in the Celtic-Motherwell game yesterday (bring it on haters, you know I’m right!). There was a lot going on at the end of the match and after the match, as Jasper, Shocko, and Rivas came out to attack Histeriosis, Hip Hop Man, and Caballero, leading to a wild brawl that continues the Chilean/Hip Hop Man-Cabellero rivalry. As such, it almost distracted from the match itself, which was good! It wasn’t super; I thought it lacked a certain oomph, the finish was goofy enough to bring things down, and the referee’s count was at times so slow that I had to resist doing another joke about Canek walking down the Arena Mexico stairs. But the action was always, at worst, solid, I really liked the opening exchange between Leon and Caballero (who looked very good in my first time seeing him wrestle properly) and there was a moment of brilliance when Caballero and Hip Hop Man unleashed a La Campana/Camel Clutch double submission spot on Multifacetico and Zarcos. Top quality stuff that would’ve hit even more if the rest of the match had. Still, even if it wasn’t the most exciting and the finish was what it was, this was solid enough that you’d enjoy it if you had the time. *** ¼
Aguila Oriental defeated Aguila Roja after reversing a Powerbomb into a Snap Hurricanrana. After the match, Oriental immediately got on the mic, and seemed like he was ready for more, issuing a challenge for the IWRG Intercontinental Lightweight Championship. Roja had some brief mic trouble, but he got things working and seemed to accept, which is a good thing because if he hadn’t after this last match, I would’ve flown down to Arena Naucalpan myself and done whatever it took to get this rematch made. Hell I would’ve hung out with Jasper Faster! I wouldn’t have enjoyed it, but I’d have done it, much like Guy Pierce and Russell Crowe worked together at the end of LA Confidential.
They move almost as quickly as Aguila Oriental and Aguila Roja did!
Speaking of LA Confidential, this match wasn’t as good as that film…but dammit it was still pretty damn great! In fact, it was pretty much exactly what I expected from it, only at the highest level. There were moments of self indulgence (the Oriental Poison Rana that was quickly answered by a Roja Canadian Destroyer), there were a couple of moments that could’ve been cleaner (Oriental’s Frog Splash, Oriental’s Golden Triangle Moonsault), and then there was just high octane lucha goodness by two dudes who have terrific chemistry together. We’ve seen it in the trios matches they’ve had against each other, but it really exploded off the screen here. Aside from the examples given above, everything here was crisp, almost everything was exciting (Roja did try to slow things down before given in and embracing the madness) and there was one moment of absolute brilliance when Roja tried to flip Oriental over the ropes, only for Oriental to spring off them perfectly to reverse it into a Liger Bomb. Spectacular! The amazing thing is you feel there’s some truly insane stuff they left in the bag, probably cause they knew another match was coming. Thank Grodd! This was the best match I had seen in IWRG for a few weeks…at least to this point. **** ¼
Flamita defeated Hell Boy after reversing a Death Valley Driver into a Crucifix Bomb. In a moment, I will try to put some words together regarding this match, but for now, this gif sums it up perfectly.
After the encounters these two had in multi-man matches last week, my expectations for this match were through the roof. And by Grodd they exceeded them, and did so in a way I didn’t expect. It started with Hell Boy attacking Flamita in the back, and from then it was an all out brawl that featured the ref being taken out by a Flamita tope, chairs, boards, and Hell Boy absolutely braining Flamita with a wooden crate. The only thing missing was the blood, and even without it, the action felt super intense, bolstered by Arena Naucalpan absolutely losing their mind. The best part though was, despite the brawling, it didn’t get in the way of the wrestling, which was flawless. Part of what made the Hell Boy-Flamita interactions so exciting in the multi-man tags was how fluid and fast these two worked together without any mistakes. It carried over here; I thought the wrestling combined with the fast pace was impeccable, and the counters and reversals in the end were, dare I say, world class. This is not surprising coming from Flamita, who has been awesome for years, but it’s terrific to see that Hell Boy is close to his level. This is a guy who has superstar potential, and you can only hope he gets more opportunities to show off his skill. Based on Flamita’s post-match challenge, and the fact that he and Hell Boy will be doing this again with Jack Morris (a strong Hell Boy opponent earlier this year) on Sunday tells me he will. It’ll be tough to top this one though. This ranks right up there with the match where Wisen el Dog jumped off the balcony as among the best things I’ve seen out of Arena Naucalpan in 2026. **** ¾
If the first half of this show was like Flock of Seagull’s “I Ran (So Far Away),” the second half was like The Beaches’ cover of “I Ran (So Far Away);” a spectacular piece of art that overshadowed its predecessor. In fairness, the first half of the show did feature another strong Gasparin performance and a solid trios match to counteract the dumb opener and the sasquatch shenanigans, but that couldn’t hold a candle to how this show finished up. I am just one man with a Seattle SuperSonics hat, but in my eyes, this show ended with one of the best IWRG matches of the year, and a terrific high flying showcase from two of the more impressive young luchadors going today. Short of Wisen and Diosa Quetzal appearing, what more can you ask for from IWRG? Just terrific stuff, and a perfect way to leave things off until Sunday, a show I will probably not review but will definitely watch for that three-way match. Till next week, I wish to extend to you, and to each of your families, a Happy Lagwagon Day this weekend. Remember, it’s just another Saturday, but also, it’s not!
