By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
CMLL “Dream Match Friday”
December 19, 2025, in Mexico City, Mexico, at Arena Mexico
Streamed on TrillerTV+
This show has Spanish-only commentary. The lighting was good, and it appears the stadium was packed.
1. Sin Salida Preview Cibernetico. I see this had 16 participants, and I barely recognized a few names among them. This isn’t the match I wanted to see, so I skipped it. The winner is someone we’ve seen before in MLW.
Virus won the 16-person match at 42:57.
2. Atlantis Jr. and Xelhua vs. Yutani and Angel de Oro. UGH, Atlantis Jr. and Xelhua are both wearing blue pants and a white mask. Oro opened against Xelhua (his mask is more metallic than white). Friendly reversals between them. Atlantis Jr. and Yutani entered at 2:30. They brawled toringside, where Oro and Yutani whipped Xelhua into the guardrail. They worked over Atlantis in the ring. Yutani (blue hair, ‘Crow’ makeup) hit a springboard moonsault at 5:00.
Xelhua hit an Asai Moonsault on Yutani, while Atlantis dove through the ropes on Oro. In the ring, Xelhua hit a headscissors takedown on Yutani. Atlantis hit a powerslam; Xelhua hit a Gorilla Press, tossing one opponent onto the other, and he gota nearfall at 7:30. Oro gave Yutani (teammate!) a back-body drop over the ropes onto their opponents! Oro then hit a top-rope twisting dive onto everyone. Cool spots.
In the ring, Yutani hit a sit-out powerbomb at 9:30. Oro hit a Michinoku Driver, and suddenly all four were down. Yutani hit a twisting frog splash. Yutani hit a Styles Clash on Atlantis while Oro was hitting a piledriver on Xelhua along his back, and they got stereo nearfalls at 11:30. Atlantis and Xelhua hit stereo frog splashes for a nearfall. Those two each applied a submission hold, with Oro and Yutani tapping out. Lots of fun lucha spots there.
Atlantis Jr. and Xelhua defeated Yutani and Angel de Oro at 13:02.
3. Soberano Jr. vs. Kevin Knight. Soberano Jr. has been injured most of the year (he didn’t wrestle from the end of March until early November); now that he’s back, I hope he gets into the mix in AEW. He is thin and wears a black mask and black pants. Knight is a heel tonight; he flexed a lot and jawed at the crowd. An intense lockup and Knight stalled, and he flexed some more. They hit stereo shoulder blocks, and both fell at 3:30; they both did sit-ups to show off. Kevin hit some armdrags, but Soberano Jr. posed, and that angered Knight.
Kevin hit a flying forearm, then a plancha to the floor at 5:00. He swung Soberano’s head into the guardrail. In the ring, Knight applied a Figure Four, but Soberano Jr. reached the ropes at 8:00. Kevin began untying Soberano’s mask! That drew the boos! Soberano hit a bodyslam. He hit a top-rope spinning splash onto a standing Knight. Kevin fired back with a gutbuster over his knee at 10:30, and he went back to posing before he got a nearfall. Soberano hit an impressive flip dive to the floor onto Knight, and he got a nearfall in the ring at 13:00.
Knight nailed a Frankensteiner for a nearfall. Soberano went for a moonsault, but Kevin got his knees up, and they were both down at 15:30. They traded forearm strikes on the apron, and Knight hit a DDT onto the apron. Knight hit a dropkick at 17:30. Soberano hit a moonsault as Knight was in the ropes for a nearfall.
Knight hit a springboard clothesline onto Soberano, who was standing on the at-level entrance ramp. Kevin then ran the length of the ramp and dove onto Soberano in the ring at 19:00. Soberano hit another top-rope twisting dive, then a Fosbury Flop to the floor on Knight. In the ring, Soberano hit a modified Snow Plow Driver for the pin. A very good back-and-forth match and it was fun seeing Knight play up as a cocky heel.
Soberano Jr. defeated Kevin Knight at 20:38.
4. Mascara Dorada vs. Mike Bailey for the World Historic Welterweight Title. I love how the wrestlers pose, with the belt being held between them. They shook hands at the bell and immediately traded rollups. Cagematch.net stats show this is their fifth-ever meeting as opponents, with Bailey at 1-0 in singles matches (They fought in TNA in 2022!). They sped it up with quicker lucha reversals. Bailey hit his Speedball kicks to the thighs and ribs, then the Corner Moonsault to the floor at 3:00.
In the ring, Bailey hit a stiff kick to the spine and a double knee drop to the ribs for a nearfall at 4:30. Dorada came off the ropes, but Bailey caught him with a kick. Bailey tied up Dorada’s legs, and he spun to the mat into a Trailer Hitch leg lock. They fought on the entrance ramp, where Dorada hit a headscissors takedown. Dorada climbed a staircase, and he hit a crossbody block (falling 10 to 12 feet) onto Bailey below at 7:30. Dorada ran the length of the ramp and hit a running moonsault onto Bailey in the ring for a nearfall. Cool.
Bailey missed a running Shooting Star Press. Dorada missed a top-rope Shooting Star Press. Bailey missed one. They hit stereo spin kicks to the head at 9:00 and were both down. Dorada hit a twisting dive to the floor. Bailey hit a twisting springboard moonsault onto Dorada. Bailey missed a moonsault kneedrop on the apron at 11:00. Dorada immediately slammed him in the ring for a nearfall. Bailey hit a moonsault knee drop to the ribs, then a spin kick to the head for a nearfall. Dorada hit a spin kick.
Dorada does essentially a One-Winged Angel where he catches Bailey’s head for a stunner, and he got a believable nearfall at 13:00. Dorada went for a 450 Splash, but Bailey got his knees up. They traded rollups. Bailey hit a superkick, then a Tornado Kick in the corner. He nailed the second-rope Ultima Weapon for a nearfall! They fought on the ropes in the corner; Dorada put Bailey on his shoulders and flipped him to the mat. Dorada then nailed the top-rope Shooting Star Press for the pin. That was really good.
Mascara Dorada defeated Mike Bailey at 15:58 to retain the World Historic Welterweight Title.
5. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Ultimo Guerrero for the CMLL World Heavyweight Title. Castagnoli attacked him on the entrance ramp and flipped him into the ring, and Claudio posed with the belt before the ref finally took it from him. Claudio stomped on UG and kept him on the ground. They rolled to the floor, where Claudio hit some European Uppercuts, and he whipped Guerrero into the barricades. They got back into the ring, with Claudio stomping on UG in the corner, and Guerrero rolled to the floor at 2:30.
Claudio followed, and he placed Guerrero on top of the guardrail; he leapt off the apron and hit an elbow drop on Guerrero. In the ring, he hit more European Uppercuts. Guerrero fired up and hit some punches, then a baseball slide dropkick at 5:30 that sent Claudio to the floor. Guerrero hit a top-rope flying elbow onto a standing Claudio on the floor. In the ring, UG hit a clothesline for a nearfall at 7:30. Claudio hit his pop-up European Uppercut for a nearfall. Guerrero hit a second-rope inverted suplex, dropping Claudio stomach-first to the mat, and they were both down at 9:30.
Claudio hit a twisting dive over the top rope to the floor. Claudio hit a top-rope crossbody block in the ring for a nearfall at 11:00. He backed Guerrero into a corner and hit repeated punches to the ribs and European Uppercuts. Guerrero hit a powerbomb for a nearfall. He went for a Stretch Muffler, but Castagnoli grabbed him, rolled him up, and got a nearfall. Castagnoli did the Giant Swing, spinning UG multiple times! He then hit the Dominator faceplant for the clean pin. That was really good, and I admittedly am not a big fan of Ultimo Guerrero.
Claudio Castagnoli defeated Ultimo Guerrero to retain the CMLL World Heavyweight Title at 13:08.
* The confetti cannons went off, covering Castagnoli in confetti and streamers. Kevin Knight joined Claudio in the ring to celebrate his win.
Final Thoughts: Those top three matches were all really good. I’ll go with Bailey’s for best, then Knight, then Claudio, but all three were highly watchable. We all know how strong Castagnoli is, but I really didn’t expect he would be able to do the Giant Swing so effectively, for so many rotations, on a guy as big as Ultimo Guerrero.
CMLL gets covered but not AAA.
The AEW bias continues.
You’re so right. If I were you, I’d leave and never come back. For the record, I don’t assign Chris anything. He covers what he wants. Apparently, a AAA show that WWE barely plugged wasn’t a high priority for him either. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to my AEW marathon on HBO Max. Have a shitty Christmas and a dreadful New Year, you miserable prick.