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
It’s a good night for some lucha libre. I mean, every night is a good night for some lucha libre, but this is an especially good night for it. Not only is there a new Social Distortion album coming out tomorrow, not only is AR Fox getting a Ring of Honor TV Championship match against Nick Wayne next week (a match Fox could win!), and not only did I just totally destroy the Cloudburst in Batman: Arkham Night for the 9,001st time, but this IWRG card tonight? Pretty good. It’s not quite Hell Boy vs. Flamita good, but then again what is? I’d go more into this match not being booked, but we’ll save that for the next paragraph when I inevitably morph into my Dragon Ball Z intro routine. And you know what; it’s about time we started with that. HIT THE MUSIC!
Last time, ON IWRG Z, occasional friends Hell Boy and Flamita turned into bitter rivals, with Flamita picking up two straight wins over the IWRG Mexico Champion, first by reversing a One Winged Angel into a roll up last Thursday, and then with a Phoenix Splash on Sunday. Those issues will have to wait, however, as Hell Boy is getting a rare night off, leaving Flamita to team with new partner Falcon Fire against Los Macizos and Mala Fama, with the winners getting a shot at Noisy Boy and Spider Fly for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championships. Meanwhile, another title situation will be resolved, as the vacant IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship is up for grabs in a ten-man match. Among the talents involved are former champion Caballero de Plata, who was stripped of the title weeks ago, and the Chileans Jasper Faster, Nicolas Richard, and Shocko, who successfully campaigned for Plata to lose the belt, and have been unsuccessfully nagging the Naucalpan commissioner to give one of them the title. Can they earn the title in this match? Will Plata win back the belt he was never beaten for? Which team will get to face Noisy Boy and Spider Fly? Find out, TODAY!
We started this show with the only thing rarer than a Mew in a Pokemon game; A BACKSTAGE SEGMENT! Caballero de Plata was being interviewed about his return tonight, when Jasper Faster and Shocko attacked him from behind and ultimately left him laying (there may or may not have been a cooking sheet involved). Big development ahead of the Intercontinental Welterweight ten man later. I can see it being a write off for Plata if he’s not cleared, or something for him to overcome. In the words of every television cliffhanger, to be continued!
Angel Kid, Fly, and King Cobra defeated Black Ninja, Boca Negra, and Mascara de Hierro after Boca Negra pinned Angel Kid with a Argentine Blue Thunder Bomb and Hierro pinned Cobra with a regular old Powerbomb. I’m used to IWRG shows featuring changes were guys are replaced in a match, but this is the first time where no one needed to be replaced and two guys (Cobra and Hierro) were added anyway. I will say one big positive of this was that it allowed me to brainstorm an idea where Cobra Kid starts blatantly ripping off Cobra Commander from G.I. Joe, and has a year long feud with a bunch of lucha commandos before it’s stooged off to Hasbro and they sue.
Part of the reason I was able to brainstorm this idea is because the first few minutes of this opener wasn’t just dull, it was Victor Laszlo competing against Rick Blane levels of dull. Fortunately, it did pick up in the back half, with Angel Kid and Black Ninja in particular delivering a nice flip dive into the crowd and a Brillo Dorada where it was touch and go whether Ninja would fully rotate enough to do the dive. Was the spurt at the end enough to make this match good? Not quite. The first half was still that boring, Cobra, Negra, and Hierro were all fine but not exactly noteworthy, and Fly was just flat out bad. There was one spot where he was supposed to hit a top rope moonsault, and somehow got close to hitting while also being nowhere near close to hitting it. That’s quite the accomplishment if I do say so myself. An opener you won’t remember, save for a few spots and Angel Kid making his entrance to the main theme from Titanic. Now there’s something you don’t see every day. ** ½
Eddie Maceira & Gasparin Jr. defeated Angelux & Dezzendiente after Maciera pinned Angelux after a Senton Bomb and Gasparin pinned Dezzendiente with a Canadian Destroyer. The ending was wonky as they were going for Maceria and Gasparin getting the pin at the same time, and the timing was was off (and that may be kind). Besides that though, this was a strong rebound after an iffy opener, and not just because Gasparin is the win, the whole win, AND NOTHING BUT THE WIN (let’s see if that catches on). Granted, he was the star of the match, bringing his usual creativity, that awesome in between the ropes dropkick, and a nice jolt of energy after the initial Maceira/Angelux sequence to get things going. Everyone else was good too though; Maceira was hitting hard with Dezzendiente, Angelux seemed more active than usual, and Dezzendiente had a performance resembling the good work he did during the IWRG Tryouts. He needed it too, because since the Tryouts he’s been resembling an NBA player who decided to half ass it after getting the max. It was nice to see him get back on track, and for this show to get the show going heading into the big matches. *** ½
Hip Hop Man defeated Nicolas Richard, Shocko, Jasper Faster, Ayumi Gunji, Papacho, Principe Centauro, Carinoso Jr., X-Devil, and Histeriosis in a ten-way elimination match to become the new IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship. The match began with Caballero de Plata attempting to enter the ring, only for the doctor, commissioner, and referee to tell him he wasn’t cleared to compete. As a result, Plata went to the back and brought out Hip Hop Man to take his place, though he remained at ringside to watch. The finish came after Hip Hop Man pinned Richard with a Superplex, following a chaotic final stretch that featured Jasper and Shocko interfering on Richard’ behalf, Caballero de Plata preventing a Hip Hop Man loss from pulling the ref out, and Plata ultimately gutting through the pain to take out Jasper and Shocko with a tope. Incredibly, this is the first title Hip Hop Man has won in the thirteen years he’s spent in IWRG, making this the equivalent of Crash Davis from Bull Durham actually making it back to the majors and leading a team to the World Series, or Richard Williams’ The Thief and the Cobbler finally being completed. Seriously though, that last one should happen; have you seen the stuff Williams was cooking up for that film?
This match was the exact opposite of what I expected; usually with multi-man man matches like this, you’d expect a lot of spots and a whole lot of pace. There were spots and there were faster moments, but this match, surprisingly, was a story match, with Jasper, Shocko, and Richard teaming with fellow foreigners Ayumi and Papaco to stack the deck against the luchadors. It worked, as they eliminated everyone (except Hip Hop Man), followed by Jasper, Richard, and Shocko turning on Ayumi and Papacho to lead to the closing stretch. It wasn’t always the most exciting, but my goodness, it was certainly captivating, in large part because IWRG had put in the work with this story leading into the match. It also doesn’t hurt that Hip Hop Man is beloved and no one can resist a classic comeback, which this match delivered with Hip Hop Man overcoming a 3 to 1 disadvantage to pull it out for the fairytale ending. Moves wise, this match was average, some guys here (particularly Papacho) weren’t good at all, and long-term I’m not sure of the viability of Hip Hop Man holding this title. But for what they did tonight, I thought this worked and worked tremendously. A great match, and not at all in the way I expected it to be. ****
Aguila Oriental, El Hijo del Alebrije, and Rey Leon defeated Aguila Roja, Cerebro Negro, and Zarco after Alebrije pinned Zarco with a Split Legged Moonsault. This was apparently a Captain’s Rules style match, because it also saw Oriental eliminate Roja with a Code Red, and Cerebro eliminate Oriental with an Air Raid Crash. I must’ve missed that announcement while I was refilling my water bottle in between matches. Speaking of that, there was another long wait between the last match and the semi-main much like last week. Unlike last week, this in between time was welcomed; it let me do stuff around the house and get hydrated. It was frankly the happiest I’ve been since the full version of the Mascara Sagrada vs. Black Cat match was posted! If only this semi-main had been able to keep the good times rolling. It wasn’t a bad match, but this was every by the book IWRG/AAA trios match you’ve ever seen; semi-fast start, rudos have a long heat sequence, technicos make a comeback, things go back and forth, and the the match is over. It’s fine, there’s a reason promotions do it, but this felt like a match where it needed more action and it just never truly came together. We did get some bright spots; Roja and Oriental were really good (especially together), Cerebro Negro remains an ageless delight, and the inconsistent El Hijo del Alebrije was more good than bad here. Alas, Rey Leon was just there, and Spain’s Zarco offered not that much more, beyond looking like a cross between Roman Reigns, Andrade El Idolo, and Seth Rollins. If only he wrestled like Andrade and less like Espanto Jr. ** ½
Falcon Fire & Flamita defeated Los Macizos (Ciclope & Miedo Xtremo) and Mala Fama (Latigo & Toxin) to become the new #1 contenders for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championships. The finish came after Flamita and Falcon pinned Xtremo and Ciclope following Frog Splashes. Bare with me here; the other day I was watching the 1999 classic 10 Things I Hate About You, which features a scene where Bianca Stratford says “I know you can be underwhelmed and you can be overwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?” As it turns out, the answer is yes, you can be whelmed and this match is proof.
Just wait Kat, I’m only getting started!
I do want to be clear; this was not a bad match. In fact, I would say it was a very good match when all was said and done. But as Shinsuke Nakamura’s WWE career has taught us, there can be matches that are good and disappointing at the same time. That’s what we got here. When I see these six luchadors, all of whom I consider to be, at worst, good, my expectations are we’re getting a high end match. Instead, with the exceptions of Flamita and Falcon, this felt very low effort, perhaps best exemplified by Ciclope wrestling the first third of this match in a bright pink jacket. Yes, I did laugh when he let Latigo wear it, but come on dude; can you at least pretend like you care about this match? He certainly felt like he was going through the motions, Latigo and Toxin seemed to be following suit, and while Xtremo was a bit more engaged, it was essentially by default. Now again, these guys can have good performances even while half assing it, and with Flamita and Falcon going full throttle and delivering some cool stuff, this match still wound up being a good watch. Perhaps I am the fool here, but I just expected far more. Here’s hoping we get it when Flamita and Falcon get their day with Noisy Boy and Spider Fly. *** ½
Welp, that was this week’s IWRG, and it’s probably not one I’m going to remember all that much aside from Hip Hop Man’s moment of glory. Ultimately, that was the highlight of the show, and again, it had nothing to do with the action and more to do with IWRG paying off the story of Jasper, Richard, and Shocko convincing the commission to strip Caballero de Plata of the Welterweight Championship, stacking the deck by taking him out before the match and eliminating all the technicos, and Hip Hop Man taking Plata’s place and pulling out the miracle win. Unfortunately, the rest of the show didn’t have any action either besides spurts here and there, and the main event kind of summed up the show as a whole; fine, good in spots, but overall disappointing. But hey; there’s always next week, right? Till then!
