Welcome to the CMLL Roundup. Let’s get caught up on the major moments from the past week. Jushin Liger’s final opponents in Arena Mexico have been named, LA Park is coming back to CMLL, and the Mexican National Trios Championships were put up for grabs.
If you missed the sad news, CMLL owner and president Paco Alonso has died. Check out the Lucha Central write-up for more information on why Paco Alonso was an important figure in lucha libre.
Jushin Liger’s farewell opponents
Jushin Liger’s retirement tour will have a stop in Mexico City on July 19. His opponents have been announced.
LA ÚLTIMA LUCHA DE LIGER EN LA ARENA MÉXICO SERÁ DISPUTANDO UN NOVEDOSO RELEVO
— Lucha Libre CMLL (@CMLL_OFICIAL) June 26, 2019
El 19 de Julio en la lucha de despedida de Liger de México en La México, el Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre presenta una novedosa modalidad, el RELEVO CMLL, en el que tendremos un enfrentamiento pic.twitter.com/2Ve2hTAf70
Negro Casas, Caristico, and Ultimo Guerrero will battle Jushin Liger in a four-way bout. That is a unique contest for CMLL. They rarely, if ever, do four-ways. In fact, it may be the first time ever.
It is nice to see something special for a luchador that deserves it. It should also be an excellent blend of styles. Negro Casas can do the mat work, Caristico can do the high-flying, and Ultimo Guerrero can do the heavy lifting.
The return of LA Park
On that very same show to honor Jushin Liger on July 19, lucha libre legend LA Park will return to CMLL. He’s bringing his sons, Hijo de LA Park and LA Park Jr., to compete against a rival family in Rush, Mistico, and La Bestia del Ring. That is another fine match in what is looking to be a stacked card.
Could it be a kick-start to finally set up a mask vs hair match against Rush? That hot feud died down when Park went over to AAA to compete in the Poker de Ases main event of Triplemania XXVI.
Match of the Week: Sanson, Cuatrero, & Forastero vs Titan, Triton, & Esfinge for the Mexican National Trios Championships
The pick for ‘Match of the Week’ may not necessarily be the best bout, but it will be one I think has value and will be enjoyable if you only consume one CMLL contest from the week’s offerings.
This fight took place on July 5 from Mexico City. Festivities begin at the 53:30 mark of the show. The bout went about 25 minutes. Fall 3 was the most exciting. If you want to skip to that, it begins around 1:14:30.
Prior to the bout, the locker room emptied as luchadores filled the ring to honor the recently deceased Perro Aguayo. The six competitors remained in the ring for their title contest. Sanson, Cuatrero, and Forastero were the defending champs. Sanson and Titan were the team captains.
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The match began with extended grappling culminating in an upside down slap fight. Fall 1 popped off after that with springboards and dives. Esfinge pinned Forastero with a bridging pretzel leg roll-up. Cuatrero was pinned on a 450 splash by Triton.
Fall 2 had a quicker pace with the tecnicos bouncing on ropes and posing to work up the crowd. Los Dinamita took over when the action spilled to the floor. They pinned Triton and Esfinge off a teamwork monkey-flip cannonball catapult maneuver into the corner.
Los Dinamita were roughhousing the tecnicos to start Fall 3. The tecnicos came alive with a double springboard hurricanrana. Los Dinamita countered with a triple suicide dive. The tecnicos followed up with a triple tope con hilo. Pin covers were fast and furious on a springboard frontcracker by Esfinge, a bridging German suplex by Forastero, a springboard splash by Triton, and a fireman’s carry sitdown slam by Sanson. The action continued with more springboard moves, kicks, Mexican Destroyers, and a Tower of Doom.
Cuatrero was the first elimination for Fall 3. He was pinned by Esfinge on a bridging pretzel leg roll-up. Triton gave his team more momentum with a huge springboard moonsault to the outside. However, Forastero nailed Triton with a ramp running springboard dropkick to pin the tecnico captain and win the match as Los Dinamita retained their trios titles.
That was a dynamite affair. Fall 3 was wild with moves aplenty and a different pin order than the usual routine. That makes the trios reign for Sanson, Cuatrero, and Forastero 713 days and counting.
Spotlight of the Week: Rider
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The ‘Spotlight of the Week’ will feature a luchador that isn’t in the main scene. This week’s pick is the CMLL debut of Rider. He has wrestled elsewhere under the name Principe Tihegus and is the son of Princesa Sugehit. Tihegus is Suhegit spelled backward. That’s a cool homage. I don’t know enough about Sugehit to tell if they share any moves. Let’s see what Rider has to offer.
Rider competed as a rudo in tag team action with Akuma against Sangre Imperial and Retro in the opening bout of Tuesday’s show on July 2.
Rider picked up both pins in Fall 1 via flying swanton and being superplex slammed in a teamwork maneuver onto his opponent. He ripped off his pants in Fall 2 to the roar of the ladies and also engaged in the rudo tactic of a fake handshake. Rider was pinned off a Northern Lights suplex without the leg hook. Rider was also pinned in Fall 3 after a suplex slam then a flying splash to his back.
That was a solid debut for Rider. He looked like he belonged, didn’t make any obvious errors, but didn’t really stand out either. There were some cool moves but nothing special. Rider did show charisma. I think he’ll be just fine in CMLL.
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 (July 1, 2019)
In the main event of the show, the team of El Terrible, La Bestia del Ring, and Mr. Niebla was victorious over Sanson, Cuatrero, and Forastero. In the very end, Terrible tried fiddling with the mask of Sanson, so Sanson kicked him in the balls. The referee saw it and called for the bell.
There was no post-match mic work, but let’s pretend it set up the main event for Monday, July 8. They are going to run it back, except Rush will be there instead of Mr. Niebla. I prefer to believe that Rush is joining the fight to stick up for his Ingobernables mates. It should be an entertaining affair.
In the second bout of the evening, King Jaguar and Perverso were in trios action to set up a feud. Perverso’s rudo team won under questionable circumstances. Jaguar’s mates had the rudos in submissions, but they didn’t quit. Meanwhile, Jaguar ate a powerbomb to get pinned, but Perverso had his feet on the ropes. New referee Tigre Infante missed it on the count. Credit to the booker man for a creative finish.
Jaguar grabbed a mic to complain. Jaguar issued a singles challenge. Challenge accepted for Monday, July 8.
Tuesday from Mexico City (July 2, 2019)
The main event of the show featured trios action in Dragon Lee, Caristico, and Angel de Oro versus Cavernario, Negro Casas, and Mr. Niebla. The tecnicos were victorious in the end when Cavernario yanked off the mask of Dragon Lee. The referee disqualified Cavernario.
Once Dragon Lee’s face was properly masked again, he spoke on the mic to challenge Cavernario in a singles bout next week. Or they could do it now. Cavernario told the grimy fans who don’t have money to pay for next week’s show to quiet down. Cavernario is the king of singles. He ripped off Dragon Lee’s mask again. And a third time before exiting. That singles contest will main event Tuesday, July 9.
Friday from Mexico City (July 5, 2019)
While Ultimo Guerrero was in France, Ciber the Main Man kept their feud churning in trios action on the show against other Laguneros in Gran Guerrero, Euphoria, and Soberano. (Side note: Soberano is the son of Euphoria. I did not know that.) Ciber yanked off the mask of Gran Guerrero to lose his team’s bout. Ciber will wrestle Ultimo Guerrero one-on-one as the main event for Friday, July 12.
One other lower feud to keep an eye on is between Atlantis Jr. and Hijo del Villano III. They had a lightning match and fought to a double countout. Neither was satisfied and ripped each other’s mask after the bell.
What do you think about Jushin Liger’s opponents for his farewell match in Arena Mexico? Will that bout be the best of the evening or will LA Park and sons versus the familia Muñoz steal the show? Who are you picking for this week’s big contests? Dragon Lee or Cavernario? Ultimo Guerrero or Ciber the Main Man?