By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “CMLL Fantastica Mania 2024”
February 12, 2024 in Osaka, Japan at Edion Arena Osaka
Streamed live on New Japan World
The venue is a large gym with everyone seated on the floor. Attendance was maybe 800-1,000. Walker Stewart provided English commentary. He pointed out that there are no guardrails at ringside, giving the high-flyers more room to work.
1. Douki and Difunto defeated Bone Soldier Jr. and Gedo at 6:16. Bone Soldier wore a black mask and camouflage fatigues and he is more muscular than a typical luchador. Difunto is “the living corpse and he has long brownish hair coming out of his mask that looks like a wig. The heels worked over Difunto early on. Douki hit a top-rope crossbody block at 4:30 and a plancha. Bone Soldier Jr. hit an impressive dive to the floor. Douki applied the Douki Chokey on Gedo, who submitted. Acceptable opener.
2. Magnus vs. Tiger Mask ended in a time-limit draw at 10:00. Magnus’ mask is nearly identical in style to Tiger Mask but he wears black. They shook hands and it’s evident Tiger Mask is giving up a lot of height and overall size. Magnus twisted at TM’s mask and got booed. Magnus rolled to the floor and ran from a potential dive to the floor. Back in the ring, he again tore at the mask at 4:00 and was booed. Magnus hit a 619, then a backbreaker over his knee at 6:00. He hit an enzuigiri. Tiger Mask hit a top-rope flying crossbody block to the floor, and they were both down at 8:00. The counts are in Spanish. In the ring, TM hit a Tiger Suplex and he tied up Magnus on the mat, but Magnus reached the ropes. TM hit the Tiger Bomb right as the time limit expired, before he got a chance to make a cover.
* Magnus attacked Tiger Mask from behind after the bell and he ripped off the mask and celebrated with it, and was loudly booed.
3. Kamaitachi and “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Bushi & Tetsuya Naito, and Titan defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Brillante Jr., Stigma, and El Desperado at 12:59. Brillante wore a white mask with some green streaks. Stigma is in blue and wore a title belt. Titan is a member of LIJ but Kamaitachi (in a fluffy, furry red outfit like a high school mascot) is not. Walker may have been indicating that Kamaitachi is really Hiromu Takahashi in that outfit, and the flowing purple-red hair tells me Stewart was right. Brillante and Titan opened. Stewart said Brillante is 24 years old and a fourth-generation wrestler. Titan beat up Brillante on the floor. Naito entered at 3:00 to face Desperado, but Kamaitachi attacked Desperado before he could lock up with Naito! Naito tied up Desperado on the mat and pulled back on the tassles on the mask.
Naito removed the cartoonish sphinx mask Taguchi was wearing, and Taguchi covered his face in shame (even though we could all tell it was him! Funny.) Titan stomped on Desperado’s arm. Desperado hit an Exploder on Titan at 7:30. Stigma and Bushi tagged in for their teams. Brillante hit a springboard moonsault onto several wrestlers. Titan and Stigma traded offense in the ring. Taguchi (wearing the silly sphinx mask again) tagged in at 10:30 and traded offense with Kamaitachi. Taguchi hit a buttbump and a kokeshi. All of Desperado’s team tried to make covers on the LIJ team as this has turned cartoonish. Taguchi made the Rainmaker pose and went for the move, but Kamaitachi ducked it, got a rollup, and pinned Taguchi.
4. Yoh, Okumura, and Strong Machine J (w/Mima) defeated Dark Panther, Pegasso, and Tomoaki Honma at 10:54. Honma was dubbed “Super Strong Kokeshi Machine,” but like the prior match with Taguchi, it’s obvious it is him. Dark Panther wore a black mask and black singlet. Okumura is older and his mask covers his nose and mouth but not his eyes and hair. Pegasso wore mostly white with splashes of blue, and he entered at 2:30 and traded quicker offense with Yoh. Honma entered to face SMJ; Walker Stewart played along and kept talking about Super Strong Kokeshi Machine and how he came out of the ‘machine factory.’ Strong Machine J wore a simple black singlet with one strap. Honma missed a Kokeshi.
Yoh’s team worked over Pegasso. Okumura and Yoh hit sentons on Honma, and the female valet Mima hopped in the ring and hit one too, and that got a pop. Honma hit a Kokeshi on Strong Machine J. SMJ hit a dropkick in the corner on Honma. Dark Panther hit a hard dive to the floor on Yoh. In the ring, Pegasso hit a huracanrana on Okumura for a nearfall. Okumura hit a stunner for a nearfall. He hit another one for the pin. Solid action.
5. Hechicero, Rocky Romero, and Soberano Jr. defeated Templario, Atlantis Jr., and Volador Jr. at 14:36. Rocky’s heel team stalled at the bell with no one wanting to start. Rocky and Templario locked up and traded quick reversals. Rocky hit a huracanrana and did his hip swivel at 2:30. Volador Jr. hit some huracanranas on Soberano Jr. Volador hit a Code Red for a nearfall. Atlantis and Hechicero tagged in at 4:30 for their respective teams; they traded rollups but then some hard forearm strikes. Atlantis Jr. hit a dropkick. Templario and Soberano Jr. brawled on the floor.
Rocky’s heel team began working over Atlantis Jr. in their corner, and they tied him up on the mat. Atlantis hit tilt-a-whirl backbreakers. Volador Jr. got the hot tag at 10:30. Hechicero hit a backbreaker over his knee on Volador Jr. Templario hit a dive through the ropes on Hechicero at 13:30. Soberano Jr. hit a Fosbury Flop on Templario. Atlantis Jr. dove over the top rope onto everyone. That left Volador and Rocky in the ring and they traded rollups. Romero hit a Dudebuster piledriver along his back to pin Volador Jr. Fun match and easily best so far.
* I’ve written this before, but former WWE wrestler Gran Metalik has wrestled at times as Mascara Dorada since he left WWE. The wrestler in the next match is NOT Gran Metalik. This Mascara Dorada is clearly younger, thinner, and taller than Gran Metalik.
6. Mistico, Mascara Dorada, and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Ultimo Guerrero, Stuka Jr., and Francesco Akira at 14:52. Akira was in that violent cage match 24 hours earlier. Stewart said Guerrero has a hand injury and had not won a singles match in a year, preferring multi-man matches because of the injury. Dorada is still just 22 and Walker accurately called him “the hottest rising star” in CMLL. Guerrero hit Mistico from behind before the bell but the ref kept everyone separated. Mistico and Stuka Jr. opened. Mistico is in white-and-gold pants and mask tonight. Mistico ripped off Stuka’s mask at 1:00! Mistico hit a huracanrana. Dorada, in shiny silver and gold pants, entered at 2:30 to face Akira. They traded amdrags, tried dropkicks and had a standoff.
Guerrero and Tanahashi entered; Guerrero removed his mask before locking up with Tanahashi, and they tugged on each other’s long hair. The 5:00 call is right-on as they traded chops. Guerrero tossed teammate Akira onto Tanahashi. Guerrero hit a baseball slide dropkick on Mistico at 7:30. The rudos began working over Dorada. Tanahashi’s team teased dives to the floor but they pulled up and posed at 9:30. Akira was suddenly angry and he traded forearm strikes with Dorada. Dorada hit an enzuigiri in the corner. Mistico got back in at 11:30 and again squared off with Guerrero. Mistico hit a huracanrana. Hiroshi hit a second-rope crossbody block on Akira at 14:00, then a plancha onto Akira. Mistico hit a huricarana. Dorada hit a top-rope Shooting Star Press to pin Guerrero. A great-looking move to conclude the match.
* Dorada spoke mostly in Spanish, saying it was an honor to fight alongside great wrestlers like Hiroshi and Mistico.
Final Thoughts: It’s only a six-match show, but if you don’t want to tune in for all of it, at least catch the last two matches. The guys who have all looked so good on AEW TV in the past three weeks were in those two matches. Dorada is clearly a star, and I like what I’ve seen of Templario and Soberano Jr. I could have done without the silliness of Taguchi and Honma. There are certainly better juniors in NJPW I would have rather seen in those slots. I also want to applaud Walker Stewart for clearly doing his homework and being ready for calling this show solo.
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