There’s a lot of positives when your uncle comes up to visit from Maryland; attending minor league baseball games, going to Cape Cod, and just having a grand old good time. There’s also some drawbacks though, like him saying that the movie Sorcerer is bad (it’s a timeless classic Uncle Dave, what are you doing?!) and missing the IWRG Thursday Night Wrestling show because there’s too much going on. Fortunately, this is IWRG we’re talking about, and thanks to their partnerships, tonight is essentially a non-canon show. And not just any non-canon show, it’s a non-canon show with LA Park! HIT THE MUSIC!
Last time, ON IWRG Z, Lucha Random took over Arena Naucalpan, while also continuing several long running feuds, and setting up a battle between Revolution Crew and the Puerquiza Extrema. That was followed by Festival de las Mascaras, a show that featured no mask vs. mask, mask vs. hair, or hair vs. hair matches, though it wasn’t lacking for lucha libre legends going at it. Just days later, Thursday Night Wrestling returned to normal, with Ovett Jr. seemingly siding with Big Mike instead of his brothers Lunatik Xtreme and Super Boy, while Revolution Crew overcame Puerquiza Extrema to retain the IWRG Intercontinental Trios Championships. But none of that will matter tonight, as IWRG partners up with Lucha Libre Boom to present a mixture of usual IWRG talent and outside indie names, including the return of LA Park, who will battle Pierroth Jr., El Simbolo, and IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion DMT Azul in a four-way main event. Who will prevail? How much crowd brawling will there be? And how many times will I refer to LA Park as the GOAT in this review? Find out, TODAY!
Fly & Genki defeated Kikiri Boom & Kikiri Kid and Lobo de Oro & Shura King after Fly pinned Lobo de Oro with a Package Piledriver and Genki pinned Shura King with an Avalanche Cradle Shock. This match was nuts, and not in a good way…well mostly not in a good way. These six were out there trying their damndest to have an all action great match, and at times it came together. For the most part though, this was a mess. It felt like there was a period of time where every hurricanrana spot was botched, and there was a particularly hilarious moment where a Genki Spanish Fly to the floor had to be redone because he slipped off the ropes attempting the move. In his defense, he and Fly weren’t supposed to be there, replacing Joanna Sanchez and Mr. Maicool, who I guess had better things to do than be here (or perhaps are replacing someone else later in the show, TBD). Based on this performance, I think I can go a little while longer without seeing them again, or anyone else in this match not named Kikiri Boom, who I’ve at least seen have good matches. The effort was there, the execution was not. **
Angel Kid, Fauno, and Toki defeated Barack, Heroico, and Tormento Jr. after Angel Kid pinned Tormento after Mascara de Hierro interfered and booted Tormento right in the nads. Why did he do this? I have no unearthly idea, and quite frankly I didn’t appreciate it given how much I was enjoying everything else. Watching this match gave me an epiphany; the best workers in IWRG are all luchadors in animal costumes. Well, other than Hell Boy, should he ever return from whatever hole he disappeared into.
In case you haven’t figured it out, this was a Toki showcase and what a showcase it was. The giant Yeti was on from the word go in this one; he provided a little comedy here in there, but it was otherwise just good solid lucha from him, all the way up to him hitting a Fosbury Flop towards the climax of the match. This is not a regular luchador doing a Fosbury Flop mind you; this is a tall guy in a heavy Yeti costume doing it! Very impressive. Everyone else in this match wasn’t quite as impressive, though Angel Kid and Fauno were solid, and the rudos were largely in the right place, though they did have some sloppiness here and there. I was leaning towards going four stars on this because Toki was that good, but the interference finish was enough to bring this down a tad. Still, good work Toki. If you can get Wisin el Dog back into Naucalpan, you and him might be able to have the first five star match in IWRG this year! *** ½
Aguila Oriental, Aguila Roja, Hysteriosis, and Principe Centauro defeated Estrella del Ring, Olmeca, Rey Espectro, and Taquero Maldito Jr. after Hysteriosis pinned Estrella del Ring with a Rope Walk Moonsault and Roja pinned Taquero Maldito with a Hurricanrana Roll Up. This was the second match to be changed (it was turned into an Atomicos with Aguila Oriental and Rey Espectro added), and it wound up being one of the most entertaining matches I’ve seen in a minute, precisely because one team here was excellent and the other team was, as Immortan Joe would say, mediocre. It was the lucha equivalent of watching Atletico Madrid play a minnow I suppose, with the tecnicos following the path of Simeone and the rudos following…I don’t know which path, but not a good one. In fairness, Estrella del Ring was pretty damn good, and Taquero Maldito, dressed as a line cook, held his own as well. The problems were Rey Espectro and Olmeca, who alternated between being endearingly bad to just flat out bad, even when they were hitting dives. Fortunately, their partners were good enough that it canceled things out, and the tecnicos were just flat out terrific. This was a night where Hysteriosis was hitting everything flush, the Aguila’s were just flat out awesome (as they usually are) and Principe Centauro was also there! Nah, he did some good stuff, just not as good as his partners. A low end great match, but I had such a great time watching it that I’m rating it higher than I should. It’s like how I loved Masters of the Universe; it’s no Odyssey, but it doesn’t change that I had an absolute joy viewing it. ****
Big Mike, Multifacetico Jr., and Tonalli defeated El Hijo del Alebrije, Falcon Fire, and Jimmy Chang after Tonalli pinned Jimmy with the Guerrero Special. Yet another change to this card; this was supposed to be a four-way match between Falcon, Jimmy, Multifacetico, and Tonalli, then I thought it turned into a six-way with Big Mike and Alebrije added, only to then figure out midway through when thai was being worked as a trios match that it was, in fact, a trios match. The only thing that’s sure about IWRG is nothing’s for sure! Honestly, this was the first disappointment of the night for me. You look at the six names in here, and this match looks like something that could be super, especially if you remember that Jimmy Chang is the same Jimmy from Los Nerds who went on to have a few Dragon Gate tours. Unfortunately, these six worked it like a traditional IWRG trios; a lot of brawling and rudo control to start, the tecnicos then turning the tide, then a shockingly quick reset before they went to the finish. It wasn’t until the end when these guys finally started going livewire, and then it was over before it started; I was disappoint! The good news is these guys are so good that the work was never boring, and we did get some great highlights in Alebrije’s springboard corkscrew moonsault, and the tecnicos pouring beer down the referee’s back and then whipping him with the belt. Alas, I was expecting more than that; good stuff, but could’ve been great. *** ¼
Bebote Valdez, Cowboy Jr., El Hijo de LA Park, and LA Park Jr. defeated Lunatik Xtreme, Mascara de Hierro, Ovett Jr., and Super Boy after Hijo de LA Park pinned Lunatik Xtreme following a Crunchy Driver onto a chair. Let’s start with the most amazing thing about this match; it happened with everyone who was advertised for it participating! In the words of Cyrus from The Warriors, THAT…
As for the match itself, the first thing that comes to mind is HOLY CRAP WAS IT LONG! A quick look at the clock shows that it went around 26 to 28 minutes, and frankly I thought it may have been 10 minutes longer. That’s not good. What was good was almost everything else. By my eye, the only glaring flaw in this bout besides the length was LA Park Jr. slipping while trying to hit his dad’s top rope corkscrew dive, a move he still mostly pulled off. Beyond that, everything else seemed to work. Yes, there was the long rudo control sequence and the long tecnico comeback, and there were a whole lot of weapons. Fortunately, before we got to that, the match started with each side going back and forth and getting a chance to do actual lucha, which was really good! And then once the dust finally settled, they got right back to that, and low and behold, that was also really good! This was among Mascara de Hierro’s better days, while Lunatik, Super Boy, and Ovett (inexplicably teaming with his brothers after the last few weeks) were at their usual standard.
The real story for me though was LA Park Jr. Last I saw him, the youngest Baby Park was quite green. He did have the slip up, but other than that he reminded me of his father in a way Hijo de LA Park never has, in that Park Jr. had the charisma, he had the movement; it just felt like he had the IT factor. If not for the fact that the Park’s travel together in packs, I’d think the kid would have a chance to break out on his own. In fairness to Hijo de LA Park, he was solid (as he always is) doing his indie routine, while Cowboy was fine and Bebote Valdez bounced back and forth from good luchador to great exotico/comedy luchador. It was all that good! If it had been shorter, I think this match truly would’ve hummed. As it was, it was low end great, and it definitely has me wanting to see more of LA Park Jr. going forward. Naturally, I probably won’t see him for another few years now! ****
LA Park defeated DMT Azul, El Simbolo, and Pierroth Jr. in a four-way match after Park pinned DMT Azul after fouling him with a kick to the nads. Honestly, I cannot say with 100% certainty that this was a four-way match. It was advertised as such, it was seemingly worked as on early on…and then by the end it seemed like Park and Simbolo were teaming against Azul and Pierroth. Who among us can say what is going on anymore?!
What I do know is that if you’ve seen every LA Park house show match over the last decade, than you’ve seen this match. Was there brawling? You’re damn right there was. Was the match too long? You better believe it! Did Park’s mask rip all the way off, basically exposing his face? Of course it did! Did Park look far better than he had any right to at his age? Duh, THAT’S WHY HE’S THE GOAT! Was the finish wonky? Is there any other kind of finish in an LA Park match? Oh, and of course, we had challenges between Park and Azul after the match for either an IWRG Heavyweight Title match that will never come, or a Park vs. Azul mask vs. mask match that will never come, another Park staple. All of this was business as usual, and hey, it’s not the most exciting thing in the world if you’ve seen it as much as I have, but it worked for this crowd (much like almost everything else did). It was helped too by the fact that Simbolo and the new Pierroth are actually good and had some very nice sequences together in the latter half; turns out a little good lucha goes a long way to helping a formula match stand out. In the end, I can’t complain too much. This will not go down in the pantheon of all-time great LA Park matches, but it was great to see the man I consider to be among the greatest performers I’ve ever seen do his thing once again. Could he just do it a little shorter next time? ** ¾
And so ends what might’ve been the longest IWRG show I’ve covered since I started doing these reviews in March. Goodness me this was a trek; the next time Bryan Alvarez moans about AEW shows being too long, he should be forced to watch this show (he wouldn’t last a minute I bet). Unlike Alvarez, my complaining about show length is going to stop here, because a) I decided to spend my time watching this and am a big boy, and b) I don’t feel my time was wasted. Yes, this could’ve been shorter, but it was also a show that featured two great matches, several good ones, and nothing that wasn’t interesting, for better or worse. Compared to some of IWRG’s shorter shows, that’s a marked improvement. It also helped that this was a hot crowd and a sellout crowd, clearly drawn in to see the Parks. Crowds help make shows, and Arena Naucalpan being loud and full gave this show a bigger feeling than usual, and I’m pretty sure helped the matches. It was a long night, but it was a fun night, and I can only hope next Thursday is just as fun. Until then, how about a gif of LA Park rocking out for the road?!
