CMLL Roundup: Heavyweight championship tournament, Michael Elgin hossing Ultimo Guerrero

Welcome to the CMLL Roundup. Let’s get caught up on the past week’s news and wrestling action. Up first are the match recommendations in case you want to watch before learning the winners.

Match recommendations

First off, last week’s Grand Prix 2018 is now up on the CMLL YouTube channel for your viewing pleasure.

The pick of the week is Soberano Jr., Esfinge, and El Audaz versus Dragon Rojo Jr., Templario, and Polvora from Viernes Espectacular. It was a high-flying, rope-bouncing, flippy spinning type of bout you would expect from lucha libre. That match begins at the 52 minute mark of the event.

Monday’s show (Oct. 8) had Michael Elgin and Flip Gordon in trios action. The main event was Volador Jr. defending the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship against Cavernario.

Tuesday’s show (Oct. 9) featured a torneo cibernetico for the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. That was the most important contest of the week. If you have time, go check it out at the 1:37 mark before proceeding to the next section of the roundup if you don’t want to know who won. The main event had Flip Gordon and David Finlay in trios action.

Viernes Espectacular (Oct. 12) had arguably the best match of the week in Michael Elgin against Ultimo Guerrero in a rematch of the Grand Prix 2018 finalists. My pick of the week was more fast-paced action. This bout was harder hitting and slower, but not in a boring way.

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Heavyweight title fight!

Ultimo Guerrero will battle Diamante Azul to win the vacant CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. You may be wondering how those two earned that opportunity. Well, a torneo cibernatico, of course. Last Tuesday had twelve luchadores mix it up with the final two getting the title shot. Details of that match are down below later in the roundup.

Marco Corleone (aka Mark Jindrak) was the last wrestler to be the heavyweight king. Corleone’s reign lasted 442 days, but he gave back the belt on August 22, 2018 when he left the company. CMLL has not had good luck with their heavyweight champions. Three of the last four have vacated the belt. There has only been four since 2011, however, nobody ever gets that nice rub of winning the belt off the champ.

I’m still new to watching CMLL, but it seems like Ultimo Guerrero and Diamante Azul are fixtures on the scene. Guerrero was champ back in 2008 for 963 days. Those two probably won’t be leaving anytime soon. CMLL must have recognized that when deciding who will be the next heavyweight champion.

Watch the big fight on YouTube. By the time you read this, the show should be posted in full to watch at your leisure on the CMLL YouTube channel.

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Copa Halcón Suriano

This Friday on Viernes Espectacular will have a celebration for the 40th anniversary of Blue Panther. In his honor, the Copa Halcón Suriano will be up for grabs. It appears to be another torneo cibernetico. Yeah! Those have all been fun so far.

Blue Panther Jr., Black Panther, Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, and Stuka Jr. will be the tecnico squad. The rudos will consist of Luciferno, Dragon Rojo Jr., Misterioso Jr., Espanto Jr., and El Templario.

You can watch an interview in Spanish from last week with Blue Panther at the one hour, four minute mark. During that chat, it was announced that Blue Panther will lead the team of himself, Black Warrior, Panterita del Ring, and Euphoria against Mascara Año 2000, Sanson, Cuatrero, and Forastero. That atomicos bout sounds like a blast for people who enjoy watching old people wrestle.

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CMLL in Japan

In other news, Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr. are visiting New Japan Pro Wrestling for the Road to Power Struggle tour from October 14 to November 4.

Also with New Japan, Fantasticamania 2019 will begin January 11, 2019 in Osaka, Japan. There will be eight events, but no talent is mentioned by name in the press release.

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On to the recap and reaction of the matches I watched from last week’s action.

Monday Arena Puebla (Oct. 8, 2018)

I checked in on the top two matches for that evening. A trios fight with Michael Elgin and Flip Gordon, as well as a championship bout between Volador Jr. and Cavernario. You can watch the entire event on YouTube.

Michael Elgin, Mistico, & Flip Gordon defeated Negro Casas, Shocker, & Rey Bucanero, 2-1 (at 1:18)

Fall 1 to the bad guys. Rey Bucanero hit Flip Gordon with a sitdown slam. Michael Elgin was stunned with a teamwork leg splitter to damage his groin. Bucanero pinned Elgin after a back splash.

Fall 2 evened the score for the good guys. Big Mike military pressed Negro Casas onto his partners. In the ensuing confusion, Mike slapped a crossface submission onto Shocker. Flip did a running flip then a top turnbuckle flip to pin Bucanero.

Fall 3 had a humorous chop exchange. Elgin put both his hands behind his back and flexed his giant man pecs. Bucanero chopped to no effect. Elgin ripped open Bucanero’s t-shirt for his turn. Slap chop to the ground. Same to Shocker. Negro Casas remained outside on the apron to offer cowardly heel applause for Big Mike.

The match ended on a captain pin as Mistico did his fancy roll-up pin on Negro Casas to win. Afterward, Negro Casas raised the hands of his foreigner opponents then turned around to chop fight with his rival Mistico. They had a few heated exchanges during the match. I don’t know how long their feud has been brewing, but I am totally on board to see an eventual blow off finale between the two.

Volador Jr. defeated Cavernario, 2-1, (at 1:37) to retain the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship

Fall 1 to Cavernario with a shoulder submission. Fall 2 to Volador Jr. after a flying crossbody, superkick, then a back cracker. Both falls were relatively quick.

Fall 3 took about ten minutes. There were a couple exciting kick outs at two. One minor story was the referee counting slow for Volador. Damn that Tirantes. Damn his son in AAA too. It wasn’t like Tirantes was counting quick for Cavernario, but his counting cadence did feel extra slow for Volador.

The finish begin with a powerbomb by Cavernario. He took too much time playing to the crowd and climbing to the turnbuckles. Volador sprang to life to execute a super hurricanrana. One, two, kick out. Tirantes smirked at Volador’s failure to win on that pin cover.

Cavernario had a burst of energy to run the ropes, but he ran right into a flipping piledriver by Volador. That was finally enough for Volador to successfully defend his championship.

Tuesday Arena Mexico (Oct. 9, 2018)

The tournament was the only match I viewed. That was a nice surprise. I was not expecting such an important match to take place out of nowhere. You can watch the entire event on YouTube.

Heavyweight Championship Tournament (at 1:13)

This was a tag team elimination match (torneo cibernetico) similar to the Grand Prix. The final two will go on to battle for the Heavyweight Championship at a later date (Oct. 16). The teams were Rush, Diamante Azul, Kraneo, Volcano, Blue Panther Jr., and El Valiente against Ultimo Guerrero, El Terrible, Shocker, Rey Bucanero, Gran Guerrero, and Euphoria.

The hefty contest was what you would expect from a match with that many competitors. They went through the ranks a time or two before the first luchador was pinned. One story was pals Rush and El Terrible standing together despite being on separate teams. They would often double team an opponent even though they had different squads.

The final three were Diamante Azul and Rush against Ultimo Guerrero. Diamante had Guerrero up in a military press and threw him at Rush. Rush took exception and ripped the mask off Diamante. That is an automatic disqualification in CMLL. Rush kicked Diamante in the balls on the way out.

The eliminations were as follows:
1. Blue Panther Jr. by Euphoria via modified sleeper
2. Shocker by Rush via running dropkick
3. Volcano by Gran Guerrero via middle rope suplex
4. Gran Guerrero by Kraneo via running leg drop
5. El Valiente by El Terrible via el powerbomb
6. Euphoria by Diamante Azul via Boston Crab
7. Kraneo by Rey Bucanero via flying twist onto the knees of Ultimo Guerrero
8. Rey Bucanero by Rush via double dropkick with El Terrible
9. El Terrible by Diamante Azul via German suplex bridging pin
10. Rush via disqualification for tearing off the mask of Diamante Azul
Winners: Diamante Azul and Ultimo Guerrero

The winning two will go on to face each other for the vacant CMLL World Heavyweight Championship on Tuesday, October 16.

Viernes Espectacular (Oct. 12, 2018)

I only had time for three bouts. I went with the amazonas, the high-flyers, and the beefy brawl main event. You can watch the entire event on YouTube.

Dalys, Amapola, & Reyna Isis defeated Princesa Sugehit, Avispa Dorada, & La Jarochita, 2-1 (at 28:00)

CMLL

Everytime I see Sugehit written, it makes me think of Suge Knight. I keep waiting for her to enter to a Death Row song. Somebody should make a Suge Knight lady character as a wrestler.

Fall 1 went to the rudas. Dalys pinned Princesa Sugehit when Sugehit attempted a fancy pin but Dalys powered a counter cradle. Fall 2 to the tecnicas on a back breaker by La Jarochita to Reyna Isis and an arm breaker submission by Sugehit to Amapola.

Fall 3 back to the rudas. Dalys pinned Avispa Dorada on a spinning powerbomb and Amapola pinned Jarochita on a double underhook face slam. Dalys was in control for most of the third act. She crushed her competition with her power advantage.

Dragon Rojo Jr., Templario, & Polvora defeated Soberano Jr., Esfinge, & El Audaz, 2-0 (at 52:00)

CMLL

Fall 1 went down after El Audaz sort of leapfrogged his teammate Esfinge for extra air on a flying attack to the outside. Esfinge followed with a springboard backflip. In the ring, Templario caught Soberano Jr.’s hurricanrana and turned it into a back cracker for the pin.

Fall 2 had plenty of neat moves. The good guys had a trio of leaping attacks to the outside. Soberano also did a super corkscrew. Templario performed a cartwheel on the ramp into a flip splash over the ropes. The rudos swept after Dragon Rojo Jr. submitted his opponent with a spinning submission and Polvora smashed a corner face buster on his adversary.

Ultimo Guerrero defeated Michael Elgin, 2-1 (at 2:04)

This match was indeed on another level as advertised. Both men beefed it up. It was interesting to see Michael Elgin booed. During his work up to the Grand Prix, he had been mostly cheered or at least shown appreciation for his effort. Ultimo Guerrero was clearly the fan favorite here. At one point, Elgin played into that by spitting on his hands and rubbing it in Guerrero’s face.

Fall 1 was mostly controlled by Elgin with brawling, a suicide dive, and a delayed vertical suplex. However, he missed a Stinger splash and Guerrero twisted him up in an octopus submission to take the lead.

CMLL

Big Mike continued to be in charge during Fall 2. He tied the score after a rolling bowling bowl maneuver off the barrier and then a sitdown powerbomb in the ring for the pin. A medic checked on Guerrero’s neck during the intermission. I’m not sure if that was story drama or valid doctoring.

Elgin still had the upper hand in Fall 3. He powerbombed Guerrero on the ramp then taunted the crowd with Guerrero’s raise the roof motion. Guerrero crawled back to the ring only to be greeted with a brutal running clothesline and a Razor’s Edge setup into a sitdown powerbomb. It was a two count though.

Guerrero turned the tide with a super face buster. It didn’t last long. Elgin fought back with a hurricanrana and a flying leap to the outside.

The fight continued with some very close two counts. The finish began when Guerrero kicked out at two from a Tiger Driverrrrrrrr. Body slam by Elgin. Big Mike climbed the turnbuckle. Guerrero charged up and took control for a reverse suplex off the top. 1, 2, 3!!! Ultimo Guerrero was victorious. His expression made it look like even he was surprised.

After the match, Elgin cut a short promo saying he respects Guerrero. (At that moment, thunder erupted outside my house and scared the crap out of me.)

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That was a very solid week of lucha libre action. Michael Elgin continues to impress. Volador Jr. is earning my attention as a fan. I am enjoying the frequency of high stakes contests since I have started following CMLL. Challenges, tournaments, title matches. Yes!

The heavyweight title bout should be interesting. I’m curious if Ultimo Guerrero’s battle with Michel Elgin will take a toll on his body. It would only be three days to recover from that fight on another level. Whoever wins, I fully expect Rush to be the first rudo challenger. Who do you think will win? Diamante Azul or Ultimo Guerrero?