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 week two of the comeback of IWRG Thursday Night Wrestling reviews right here, ON LUCHA CENTRAL (cheap pop), and I got to be honest, this may be an even more difficult night than last week’s running diary. As fate would have it, my computer is in the shop getting repaired, leaving me with my backup laptop, which has a keyboard that works just as well as Triple H booking WWE in 2026. Unlike Triple H, I ain’t going to pack my bags, rest on my laurels, and give up…alright, you’ll still get the usual pop culture references and jokes, but other than that it’s a full effort from yours truly! And that’s more than IWRG might be able to say given we’re getting ready for another show headlined by Limp Bizkit of lucha, El Hijo de Dos Caras. But we still got time till then. For now, THE SAGA CONTINUES!
Last time, ON IWRG Z, match after match was followed by angle after angle, as the promotion speeds towards Festival de la Mascaras. Among the highlights were Kali setting her sights on Sagittarius and the IWRG Intercontinental Women’s Championship, Rey Halcon issuing a challenge for Histeriosis’ Reyes del Aire Championship, and a potential fissure between Los Strippers Big, brought on by Ovett Jr.’s brothers Lunatik Xtreme and Super Boy. Tonight, some of these issues will be followed up, and Lunatik and Super Boy battle Ovett and Big Mike, while Kali teams with Maying Fly to battle Sagittarius and Principe Centauro. The main event will also see follow up, and El Hijo de Dos Caras returns, teaming with Aquiles and Caballero de Plata to battle Revolution Crew for a second straight week. Will Caras test my patience again? Will Los Strippers Big explode, leaving us all crying in the club? Will IWRG run more angles for a second straight week? And how many times will I bring up The Great Evil, Real Madrid, seemingly fumbling their signing of Rodri, leaving him to negotiate with Barcelona instead? Find out, TODAY!
Fly & Kavuki defeated Dezzendiente & Fauno after Fly pinned Fauno with a Canadian Destroyer and Kavuki pinned Fauno with a Shooting Star Splash. I have seen many an IWRG opener this year and 99% of them have had the effort level of Kazuchika Okada wrestling Mark Briscoe at AEW Grand Slam Mexico last year. So it was a bit shocking, and refreshing, when this match featured four guys giving the effort of Okada facing Konosuke Takeshita at AEW Double or Nothing! Alas, this wasn’t as good as Okada reacting to Mistico’s entrance at Grand Slam Mexico, but then again what is?
Seriously though; if there was a better IWRG opener this year, I either a) missed it during my hiatus or b) forgot about it cause it wasn’t this good. And this wasn’t perfect; a lot of the timing on the pinfall breakups was off, and there was one Fly/Kavuki double DDT spot off the top that went spectacularly wrong. But I can’t get too mad at it because no one is ever trying those spots in this spot, and everything else hit. Kabuki, who I haven’t see before, looked like an up and coming star. Fly had one of the wackiest, and coolest, Brillo Moonsaults ever, and he was pretty damn good the rest of the match. But the real key was that Fauno and Dezzendiente weren’t your typical opening match rudos. They had the basing, yes, but they also had the offense, delivering some fantastic sequences while they were in control. Other IWRG talents could learn from those two; if you try in these matches and do cool stuff instead of just basic offense, it’ll take your match to the next level. Although I suppose it is hard to be as dynamic as Dezzendiente, who is legit one of the best undercard luchdors IWRG has when he wants to try. He did tonight, and with Fauno lifting his game and Fly and Kavuki looking like livewires, this was the rare IWRG opener worth your time. *** ¾
Kali & Maying Fly defeated Principe Centauro & Sagittarius after Maying Fly pinned Centauro with a Frog Splash and Kali pinned Sagittarius with a Death Valley Driver that it sure looked like Sagittarius kicked out of. Lucha libre referees; they’re about as trustworthy as an M. Night Shyamalan film after Signs! Anyways, this was not as good as the opener. The effort was actually there for the most part, but the structure of the match was far more basic, and the work wasn’t as good. I generally like Sagittarius, but she spent the match half going through the motions, and only really came off strong when she and Kali were brawling. Kali herself was just okay, while Centauro was fine, and Maying Fly was decent; I wonder if he was trying to equal his pal Fly’s performance, and while he didn’t quite get there, he was smoother than usual and had a great (and crushing) Super Calo esq dive onto Centauro late in the proceedings. That was really where the excitement began and ended though. I get it in some respects; this was to build heat to Kali vs.Sagittarius, and the crowd was hot for those interactions so it seemed like it worked. As a match though? It was bang average. ** ½
Speaking of Kali vs. Sagittarius, we got some more build to that after the match, with Kali once again challenge Sagittarius and Sagittarius trying to avoid confrontation. I am not a betting man, but I would say the odds of that match happening at Festival de las Mascaras are around the same as me watching One Night Only when it becomes available on streaming. In other words, those odds are pretty damn high.
Toki defeated Kikiri Boom in Lucha Random after pinning Kikiri with a Top Rope Spanish Fly. The beautiful thing about Lucha Random is it sometimes pits two great workers against each other, sometimes it gives you the worst of the worst like El Veneno, and sometimes it truly gives you the most random shit this side of Howard the Duck. This match, featuring a dude in a blue sasquatch costume (Toki) and a green parrot with a name like a Legend of Zelda character (Kikiri Boom), not only captured the latter beautifully, but it may have been the most random Lucha Random match of all time. And the best part; it was an honest to Grodd great match! Given these are both comedic characters, I foolishly figured that this was going to be a comedy match. Instead, both guys took it seriously, both guys worked their ass off, and we got Super Calo dives into the crowd, airhorns being broken over heads, some near falls that would make Kyle Fletcher weep with joy, and that finish, which saw Toki (who is legit really tall) walk up the ropes to hit the Spanish Fly! Like Cape Verde vs. Argentina, this came out of nowhere, and like Cape Verde vs. Argentina with football, Toki vs. Kikiri Boom is why I can’t walk away from this sport! **** ¼
A video just aired featuring Latin Lover promoting Festival de la Mascaras, which I guess means Latin Lover will be at that show. Good on you Latin; I’d also choose IWRG over having to sit there and listen to Undertaker talk about how ICE is actually good.
LJ Cleary defeated El Hijo del Alebrije in Lucha Random after pinning Alebrije with a Canadian Destroyer. Just when I thought the randomness was over, IWRG unveiled a surprise Lucha Random match (this was not advertised; look at the poster if you don’t believe me) and then revealed one of the participants was LJ Cleary. Yes, the same LJ Cleary of More Than Hype fame in Ireland’s OTT (miss you Darren Kearney), the same LJ Cleary that once challenged PAC for the AEW International Championship,the same LJ Cleary that is the significant other of WWE star Lyra Valkyria, and the same LJ Cleary I just watched have a really good match with Action Andretti on Ring of Honor earlier this evening. That would’ve been wild enough, except he was put against Alebrije, the last person I ever expected Cleary to wrestle. Tom from Blink 182, sum this up for everyone.
There was still a match to go after all this shock, and frankly I had to spend a few minutes wondering how this would go. Cleary, for those who don’t know, is legit really good, but his only lucha experience that I could find was wrestling as Lucha Lee in Ireland back in 2014, and Alebrije is an IWRG star as hit or miss as they come. In the end, I would say they did a decent job. There were so hiccups; Alebrije looked like he got concussed during Cleary’s very good flip dive, and even without that Alebrije probably is a notch below the level Cleary would need to have a good match. But Alebrije did what he could, Cleary was definitely game (he took a bodyslam on the Naucalpan steps in case that wasn’t clear) and I came away from the match hoping we see more of Cleary here. Will we? I mean, I didn’t go into this show thinking we’d see him or a blue sasquatch and a parrot have a four+ star match, so this should prove that all things are possible. *** ¼
Lunatik Xtreme & Super Boy defeated Big Mike & Ovett Jr. after Big Mike was counted out and Lunatik pinned Ovett after, and this is true, sticking a hyperbolic needle through his cheek. If it wasn’t clear that all things were possible beforehand, Lunatik and Ovett going full blown Swerve Strickland/Hangman Page should’ve done the trick! So yeah; this match was nuts. Big Mike bled buckets, Lunatik and Super Boy used all sorts of weapons, Big Mike tried to counter them, and Ovett spent the whole match CONFLICTED! On the one hand, I don’t love that WWE theater camp bullshit and Ovett isn’t exactly the thespian to pull it off. On the other hand, I appreciate them trying to tell some story in addition to the blood; Ovett is loyal to Mike (a teammate of his late father after all), but Lunatik and Super Boy are his brothers. So while he was willing to wrestle them, he was not willing to go the extra mile by using weapons, and didn’t want Mike to use them either, continuing the friction between the two. In the end, it cost him, because Lunatik and Super Boy, after being hesitant to go after him, were more than willing to butcher him as well. Between that and the action, it was enough to override some of the silly elements and make this another highlight on a show full of them. ****
The drama wasn’t done though. Lunatik Xtreme talked trash about Ovett Jr. after the match, prompting Ovett to…walk out on his brothers and Big Mike. Mike then got on the mic, seemed to indicate he was done with Ovett, and indicated he wasn’t done with Lunatik or Super Boy. If I had to guess, we’re getting a Mike and a partner vs. Lunatik/Super Boy soon, and sooner or later Ovett will have to make a choice. That or IWRG will forget about this and he and Mike will reunite in two weeks like nothing ever happened to wrestle Revolution Crew or something.
Cerebro Negro and Revolution Crew (Aguila Roja & Rey Halcon) defeated Falcon Fire, Halcon Suriano, and Histeriosis after Halcon pinned Histeriosis with a Crucifix Driver from the top rope. There were two stories to this match, one which I had forgotten. The first was Rey Halcon and Histeriosis following up on last week, which they did. The second was how Cerebro and Revolution Crew would coexist after he helped Latigo fight them off last week following his match with Toxin (who hasn’t wrestled since that match, for those curious about his health). Turns out they coexisted fine, as Cerebro cut a promo at the start of the match resetting the status quo, and they had no issues from that point forward. Really, the only “issues” here were between Histeriosis and Halcon. Some of their sequences were good, but they had some iffy moments in there as well, a reminder that Histeriosis is the lucha equivalent of a baseball player that hits 30 to 40 home runs and strikes out 200+ times. In other words, he’s Joey Gallo! Everybody else I thought was really strong. Falcon Fire continues to show he was the right guy to win the IWRG Tryout competition earlier this year, Cerebro Negro was Cerebro Negro (a total pro who looked smooth through and was always in the right place, Suriano had the best performance I’ve seen from him in quite some time, and Aguila Roja was just flat out awesome. It’s no coincidence that both Suriano and Falcon Fire were at their best in this match when Roja was with them; few people in IWRG bring the consistency and excitement like that guy does. So yeah; very good match. What else is new on this show! *** ½
After the match, Rey Halcon issued another challenge to Histeriosis for the Reyes del Aire Championship, only Histeriosis was still a bit too loopy to answer the challenge. Pencil that one in for Festival de la Mascaras I guess. We also got the Sunday card, which revealed that there’d be a Mexico vs. The World card, with Dr. Wagner Jr. leading Mexico against a team featuring Jack Morris and LJ Cleary. So that’s why Cleary was here. Also, huge pop to IWRG running their own “Mexico vs. The World” deal just days after the CMLL Grand Prix. It’s like when Asylum released their cheap knockoff of a blockbuster released at the same time. Remember those? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
As if this night couldn’t get more shocking, we got the rare backstage segment! Big Mike found Ovett Jr. in the locker room and the two continued their argument from earlier. Ovett tried to get Mike to relax, Mike wouldn’t relax, and he ultimately gave Ovett a choice; you can be a Big Stripper, or you can side with Lunatik Xtreme and Super Boy. Remember when I called that earlier in the evening?! I don’t know what Ovett will take, but personally, if I had to choose between hanging out with the guys who attack you with needles or Los Strippers Big, I’m going Los Strippers Big 100% of the time EVERY TIME! Then again, I am a Queens Park Rangers fan, so what do I know?
Revolution Crew (Hijo de Canis Lupus, Multifacetico Jr., and Rey Mictlan) defeated Aquiles, Caballero de Plata, and El Hijo de Dos Caras after Lupus pinned Caras with a roll up that either the referee didn’t finish counting, Caras kicked out of early, or Lupus let go of early. Either way it was mistimed, it came after Caras speared Caballero by accident and oh my Grodd, who the hell cares, can we please get El Hijo de Dos Caras out of Arena Naucalpan and out of my life already?!
You know, I knew things were going so well. This show had everything from fury creatures having great matches, needles, a high wire opener, and just overall good lucha. So it’s only natural that El Hijo de Dos Caras would come in and ruin everything with his terrible strikes, glacial movement, and vibes so bad that it makes the Pink Floyd during The Wall tour look like one big happy family. I’m not sure there is a luchador out there these days that I detest seeing as much as this man, and that’s with CMLL still pushing Esfinge consistently and WWE and AAA trying to convince us that El Grande Americano is a Mexican and not a white German dude. In case it’s not obvious, Caras being here ruined the whole match for me. The rest of these guys tried, there were some cool moments, and Rey Mictlan’s introductions remain terrific. But it’s hard to see the positives when Caras is lumbering around and bringing the mood down. And unfortunately he’s not going anywhere, because Lupus challenged him to a singles match after. As I said last week, I have given a name for my pain; it’s El Hijo de Dos Caras, and he’s sadly sticking around to make me hurt even more! ** ¼
So that was IWRG Thursday Night Wrestling, and based off that last match you would think this was a horrible night. In fact, it was a really fun one, and as depressing as that main event was, it can’t put that much of a damper on the rest. The opener was among the best openers IWRG’s put forward this year. There were two legitimately great matches on this show, and several other good ones. LJ Cleary of all people showed up. Several matches were effectively built for the future. And by Grodd, Lunatik Xtreme stuck a needle through Ovett Jr.’s cheek! With all that, it’s hard not to leave this show excited. Yes, the main event left me sadder than the “We are Groot” scene in Guardians of the Galaxy, and this show wasn’t on the level of CMLL’s Tuesday show this week and especially not AEW Grand Slam Mexico last night. But still, this was a strong effort from IWRG that only they can produce, and I’m excited to see where we’re going. Till then though, here’s a photo of Lunatik, Ovett, and the needle, just in case you still don’t believe me.
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