CMLL in Mexico City: Zim’s in-person report on the show headlined by Rush vs. Caristico (a/k/a Mystico/Sin Cara)

1/15 CMLL Live Event
Mexico City, Mexico
Report by Dot Net staffer Zack Zimmerman

The arena holds over 10,000 people but was significantly less than half full. Maybe one-third full. All of the matches in CMLL are contested under best two-of-three rules, which sounds like a neat gimmick but after a while it gets old. It also hinders the flow of the matches and the unpredictable aspects that can make matches different and more exciting.

1. Mercurio and Pierrothito defeated Shockercito and Stukita.

2. Estrellita, Marcela, and Silueta beat Zeuxis, Dalys, and Reyna Isis.

3. El Terrible, Rey Bucanero, and Vangellys over Blue Panther, Angel de Oro, and Rey Cometa. Blue Panther was awesome. He looks to be about 65 years old, but everything he did mattered and got a huge response from the crowd. He was perhaps the best part of the show.

4. Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, and Felino defeated Super Parka, Valiente, and La Mascara. The technico team was unable to overcome the burden of being saddled with an Ingobernable teammate in La Mascara. Also for what it’s worth, Valiente’s tights and mask had the NJPW lionmark on them along with “Team Omega” logos.

5. Thunder, Dragon Rojo, and Polvora over Niebla Roja, Euforia, and Gran Guerrero. This one came to an end when the rudos unmasked one of the technicios, which is building to something bigger down the line.

6. Rush beat Caristico (f/k/a Mystico, Sin Cara, and Myzteziz). Despite leaving a trail of disappointment everywhere he’s been in the past 7ish years, Sin Myztecaristico is still very popular with the Arena Mexico crowd. Rush score the first pin early and lost the second fall when he ripped off Caristico’s mask (which revealed half of his face for the remainder of the matches). Towards the end, Caristico got a bunch of close false finishes, but he came up short when Rush’s fellow Ingobernable La Mascara interfered and allowed Rush to score the win. I wouldn’t be surprised if this built to a Mask vs. Hair match between these two this year.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience for what it was, and attending a show at Arena Mexico is something that I can cross off the wrestling fan bucket list. Lucha can be beautiful to watch, but there is such a lack of psychology to their work that it’s difficult for me to buy in as anything more than a mediocre choreographed dance routine where they forget steps fairly often. Again, I enjoyed myself and the two hours went by quickly, it’s just not a wrestling product that grabbed me in a way where I will be following significantly more closely going forward.