CMLL Roundup: Mascara 2000 & Kaho Kobayashi lost their hair, Metalico lost his career, title change, more!

By Manolo Has Pizzazz Jun 3, 2019, 6:30pm EDT

Welcome to the CMLL Roundup. Let’s get caught up on the major moments from the past week. It was very busy with the Torneo Increible de Parejas finale from Puebla, Rush kicking butt on Tuesday, and El Juicio Final on Friday with Ultimo Guerrero vs Mascara 2000 in hair vs hair, Amapola vs Kaho Kobayashi in a women’s hair vs hair, Virus vs Metalico in career vs career, and a tag team title bout.

Before we get to the results, here is some quick news. Friday, June 7 will mark the beginning of the Copa Dinastias (Dynasty Cup). Two-man squads of family members will make up the teams. Phase 1 will feature Volador Jr. & Flyer, Negro Casas & El Felino, Rush & La Bestia del Ring, and Euphoria & Soberano Jr. It should be a dandy, especially if we get a confrontation between Los Laguneros and Los Dinamita.

In other family news, brothers Rush and Dragon Lee are scheduled to wrestle the Briscoes at ROH’s Best in the World on June 29. That match should be quite the spectacle.

Time to hit the major bouts of El Juicio Final. It was a pretty good show, which you can watch for free on YouTube (here).

Hair vs Hair: Ultimo Guerrero vs Mascara 2000

A highlight package of the feud aired prior to the entrances (starting at 2:09:50 of the show). The dancing girls were wearing Laguneros gear. Is the fix in against Mascara 2000? Gran Guerrero was the second for Ultimo Guerrero, and Disturbio seconded Mascara 2000.

Boom. The two veterans began throwing fists during the introductions. The referee separated them. Once the opening whistle blew, they went back at it. Mascara 2000 socked Ultimo Guerrero up with a bevy of punches to knock him on his keister. Ultimo Guerrero tried to hulk up after receiving some clotheslines, but he got caught in an octopus submission. Disturbio hopped on the apron to distract the referee. Mascara 2000 dropped to the mat to fake a nut kick and won Fall 1 via disqualification.

Mascara 2000 started Fall 2 by treating Ultimo Guerrero like a heavy bag. Ultimo Guerrero had no defense and ate all the shots. Ultimo Guerrero reversed an Irish whip into the corner then hit Mascara 2000 with a devastating upside down vertical dropping crotch thrust to the face to win Fall 2.

Fall 3 saw the two fighting in the crowd. Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots continued. The top move was a Vader bomb by Mascara 2000. Gran Guerrero hurt his own cause by hopping on the apron when Ultimo Guerrero had an octopus submission locked in. That distraction allowed Disturbio the opportunity to put the boots to Ultimo Guerrero to break the hold. Gran Guerrero and Disturbio brawled ringside and were thrown out.

Oh shit, business just picked up. Ultimo Guerrero was trying to pin Mascara 2000, then a five-men crew of Los Dinamita showed up to support Mascara 2000. Mascara 2000 tried to kick Ultimo Guerrero in the balls behind the ref’s back, but Ultimo Guerrero blocked it and rolled up Mascara 2000 for the win.

Fireworks exploded from the ring posts and also from the boots of Los Dinamita as they stomped Ultimo Guerrero. The ring was eventually cleared by security and Mascara 2000 received his haircut, but not before punching the referee onto his ass.

Hair vs Hair: Kaho Kobayashi vs Amapola

There was a highlight package of past encounters with subtitles for Kobayashi (starting at 1:06:00 of the show). Kawato San was the second for Kaho Kobayashi, and Ephesto had Amapola’s back as her second.

Amapola attacked during the official introductions. Amapola won Fall 1 within the first few minutes. She used an armbreaker takedown to transition to an octopus pin. Fall 2 was quick as well and all offense for Kobayashi. She got the pin on a roll-up off a headscissors.

Fall 3 was back and forth. Highlights include a crushing spear by Amapola, a Fisherman’s suplex by Kobayashi, a cannonball by Amapola through the ropes, a flying crossbody by Kobayashi to the outside, and a superplex by Amapola.

The finish looked to be for Kobayashi after she hit a Frankensteiner, a flying dropkick, and a standing moonsault all in succession. However, Amapola kicked out. A minute later, Amapola won off a double underhook front suplex.

Kobayashi took her haircut with honor.

Tag Team Championship: Diamante Azul & El Valiente vs Gran Guerrero & Euphoria

Diamante Azul and El Valiente defended their tag team titles against two-thirds of the trios champs in Gran Guerrero and Euphoria.

Fall 1 focused on mat work. The champs scored submissions on unique maneuvers. Gran Guerrero and Euphoria won Fall 2 with their own submission combo.

Fall 3 was more heavy hitting. Highlights include a flying clothesline and suicide dive by Diamante Azul, a super fireman’s carry driver by Gran Guerrero, a running tope con hilo by Diamante Azul off the entrance ramp, a tope con hilo by Gran Guerrero, and a suicide dive by Valiente.

For the finish, the challengers launched Diamante Azul from a double military press super slam. They did the same to Valiente, except his body landed on top of Diamante’s. That led to the challengers slapping on submissions to become new tag team champions.

That ended the 194 day title reign of Diamante Azul and El Valiente.

Retirement Match: Metalico vs Virus

Metalico was dressed as a cop. I guess it was supposed to be inspired by iconic movie star Pedro Infante. Metalico sang a song during his entrance, then clicked a button to make his tie light up, and danced like there was no tomorrow. There may not be a tomorrow for his lucha libre career after this retirement match. With that entrance, he could have a middle-aged stripper career set up.

This bout was hand to hand for one fall. The first big attack was by Virus with a running dropkick through ropes. They went at it for about fifteen minutes with closed-fist punches, roll-ups, and submissions. Highlights include a suicide dive by Metalico, a springboard moonsault by Metalico to the outside, and a belly-to-belly suplex by Metalico.

In the end, both luchadores were gassed, or acting that way, and fought with everything they had. Virus connected on a rolling type of slam off the turnbuckles then hit this type of suplex in the photo below. I couldn’t figure out the name.

Virus used a motorcycle stretch to defeat his opponent.

Virus lives to wrestle another day, while Metalico will head off into retirement. The fans threw money in the ring and gave one final applause for Metalico.

CMLL action in the ring

Let’s go over some storylines and other big matches from the week. The shows from Monday, Tuesday, and Friday can all be viewed on CMLL’s YouTube channel.

Monday from Puebla (May 27, 2019)

Torneo Increible de Parejas Final: Volador Jr. & Mephisto vs Niebla Roja & El Terrible

We have reached the finale of Puebla’s first Torneo Increible de Parejas. Volador Jr. and Mephisto won stage 1. Niebla Roja and El Terrible won stage 2. The two teams were ready to square off for all the glory (starting at 1:24:15 of the show).

The pace was a little slow as they worked over the crowd. Fall 1 went to Volador and Mephisto. Volador used a superkick and roll-up to pin Terrible, while Mephisto used a double underhook front suplex to pin Niebla Roja. Fall 2 went to Niebla Roja and Terrible. Niebla Roja used a sunset flip powerbomb on Mephisto, while Terrible used a Styles Clash on Volador to tie the score.

The action picked up in Fall 3. Highlights include a tope con hilo by Volador, a springboard crossbody by Niebla Roja, a tope con hilo by Niebla Roja, a flying crossbody by Volador, Terrible with a big swing of Volador into a dropkick by Niebla Roja, a super double underhook front suplex variation by Niebla Roja, a super double underhook suplex by Mephisto, and alternating Mexican Destroyers by Volador and Niebla Roja.

For the finish, Volador hit a superkick and a backcracker on Terrible, while Mephisto utilized a super double underhook suplex on Niebla Roja. There was good sportsmanship all around afterward as the winners posed with pointy glass trophies.

Caristico and Mr. Niebla set up a singles feud

In the semi-main, Caristico teamed with Soberano, and Valiente, while Mr. Niebla teamed with Barbaro Cavernario and Negro Casas. The bout was used to set up the June 3 main event of Caristico vs Mr. Niebla in singles action.

Niebla attacked Caristico immediately and never let up in Fall 1. Niebla hit Caristico with a welded stack of chairs. He pinned Caristico in Fall 1 after a flying back splash.

The beating continued on Caristico during Fall 2 until he broke free for a suicide dive onto Niebla. Later, he hit a flying crossbody on Niebla, but Niebla kicked him in the cojones when the referee was distracted. Niebla pinned Caristico to complete a 2-0 sweep for the rudos.

Caristico grabbed a mic to challenge Niebla. He stated the same gist as usual. He likes to win or lose clean in the ring. Caristico sees that Niebla’s partners left like babies, but he sees that Niebla has the big pants. He likes opponents with big pants. Caristico wanted one more fall, mano a mano. Not just any mano a mano, but mask vs mask. Niebla accepted a singles bout but not mask vs mask. It is set for tonight, June 3.

Tuesday from Mexico City (May 28, 2019)

Angel de Oro vs Rush

Angel de Oro entered first for the main event grudge match (starting at 1:46:42 of the show). Not a smart move when wrestling an Ingobernable. He was attacked from behind on the entrance ramp by Rush. Rush hit his running dropkick to a downed opponent in the corner to win Fall 1 in less than a minute.

Rush beat up Angel by smashing him into the announcers’ console and slamming a door against his head. He slapped on an armbreaker over the ropes. After Rush let go, he did some Jane Fonda aerobics on the apron before doing his signature pose.

Angel eventually came alive with three consecutive suicide dives. Rush was knocked over the wall into the crowd. Back in the ring, Angel hit three running clotheslines then a running superkick to win Fall 2. Those bursts of offense by Angel de Oro were pretty cool.

Fall 3 was an even affair. Highlights include a moonsault by Angel to the outside, a slingshot into a springboard moonsault by Angel, and a suplex by Rush over the ropes into the ring. Near the end, Angel had momentum but argued with referee over a three count. That gave Rush the opening he needed as he tossed Angel into the corner on an overhead suplex then won the match after a double underhook piledriver.

That was a pretty good showcase for both luchadores. I haven’t seen too many singles bouts with Rush, so it was nice to see what he is capable of. I’ve never really cared much about Angel de Oro or his brother Niebla Roja, but this outing earned my attention. Angel looked good and fought with fire in his belly. I look forward to his next bout.

Here is a post-match promo from Rush with some of his highlights. He is continuing to shut mouths and show he is at the best moment of his career.

Friday from Mexico City (May 31, 2019)

Let’s jam through the rest of the bouts from El Juicio Final.

Blue Panther Jr., Rey Cometa, Black Panther vs Misterioso, Kawato San, Disturbio

Fall 1 had a sweet ending. Black Panther was getting beat up and stretched to make the hot tag to Blue Panther Jr., however, the referee wouldn’t allow the tag for some reason. Not that it mattered. Blue Panther Jr. waited a few seconds then ran in the ring anyway to deliver a huge running shoulder block to knock Kawato San over the ropes onto his partner Disturbio. Two whirling backbreakers and a slam by Blue Panther Jr. set up Misterioso in the corner for a 450 splash by Rey Cometa. Fall 1 to the tecnicos.

To start Fall 2, Rey Cometa and Black Panther took flight for crossbodies off the upper stage. Disturbio had a cool suicide dive splash onto the entrance ramp. The tecnicos got the 2-0 sweep after Kawato San was disqualified for yanking off Black Panther’s mask. That was a hot opener.

Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano vs Mephisto, Luciferno, Ephesto

Fall 1 went to the rudos after Mephisto pinned Angel de Oro on a super double underhook suplex. Fall 2 went to the tecnicos after Soberano pinned Mephisto on a flying corkscrew crossbody. The match was won by the tecnicos when they took Fall 3. Angel connected on a slingshot into a springboard moonsault to pin Mephisto.

Caristico, Volador Jr., Mistico vs Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Cavernario

Fall 1 was fast-paced. It started with a bang of a triple flying attack from the tecnicos and finished with a hammerlock suplex by Cavernario followed by a flying splash by Mr. Niebla to pin Mistico.

Fall 2 kept the action flowing. Volador hit a tope con hilo, Caristico hit a suicide dive, and Mistico won the fall by submitting Mr. Niebla via whirling armbreaker.

Fall 3 had crowd work with taunts and signature spots. The tecnicos were victorious when Volador pinned Cavernario off a Mexican Destroyer, and Caristico pinned Negro Casas on la casita.

El Juicio Final was a rock solid event. The undercard bouts all delivered excitement. The specialty matches weren’t the greatest in terms of wrestling, but they were all entertaining due to the high stakes and drama. The appearance of Los Dinamita at the end set up what should by an intriguing Copa Dinastias if they can get their hands on any of the teams formed from Los Laguneros.

What did you think of El Juicio Final? Which teams would you like to see in Copa Dinastias?