AAA

I found a great source for 2009 lucha libre and have been digging into that for the last week or so. I've been watching AAA since there's less available than CMLL and thus an easier project to devote time to. Also the energy & vibe is much more American style wrestling so it's a super easy thing to watch. It reminds me of ECW in a way with many of the story lines and segments intertwining. I'm cherry picking as usual and only giving recommendations for the matches that I think deserve it. Can't watch everything so I'm sure I'll miss something.

X-Pac, Alex Koslov, Rocky Romero vs. Ozz, Escoria, Cuervo (12/06/08): This was a blast. Lots of cool offense from the baby faces... I can't really call them technicos as this is pretty close to TNA X Division. Cool finish and a excellent post match that actually makes me want to watch more of this angle. Helps that I know just about everyone (saw Dark Ozz & Cuervo in AJPW 2010's).

Joe Líder & Nicho el Millonario vs Jack Evans & Teddy Hart vs Extreme Tiger & KENTA (12/17/08): Holy crap, this was pretty wacky! It's a ladder match for the tag titles. Nicho is Psicosis btw. All kinds of way too dangerous spots but Teddy and Jack are in this so, you probably suspected that. Anyhow, not necessarily lucha libre but a demolition derby. 

Extreme Tiger &  KENTA vs. Joe Líder & Nicho el Millonario (12/19/08): A straight tag match and this is pretty fun. Lots of cool action. Excellent face/heel stuff where you want Tiger & KENTA to whoop Joe & Nicho's ass. The finish was a lot of fun too. Liked this a bunch.

Octagoncito/Mini Charly Manson/Mascarita Sagrada vs Minis Psicosis/Abismo Negro/Histeria (12/19/08): Holy cow! This was awesome! These guys wrestled their asses off. I sorta knew this about the minis but this was way more than I expected. Loved it!

Laredo Kid, Aero Star, El Ángel vs. Tigre Cota, Río Bravo, Tito Santana (01/18/09): All  acrobatic action. Crazy moves! 

Mesías, La Parka, Silver King vs. Joe Líder, Nicho el Millonario, Electroshock (01/25/09): Oh this was good stuff! Having Lider & Nicho/Psicosis in there made this better than the typical match with Konnan since they infused more wrestling & hard-core action. I'm glad to see Silver King but I'm not sure he added a ton...I think he'll be great to have him in the mix. Loved this one! Mesias/Banderas is a cool heavyweight tweener hero for AAA.

Mesías, La Parka, Silver King vs. Kenzo Suzuki, Nicho el Millonario, Joe Líder (01/31/09): More good stuff! Silver King had some nice moments. Kenzo/KENSO is a simple heel but is a nice complimentary partner to Nicho & Joe. Liked this one!

02/07/09
Mini Charly Manson/Octagoncito/Mascarita Divina vs. Minis Chessman/Psciosis/Histeria, 2009/02/07: Holy cow, Octagoncito is like 10x more exciting than regular Octagon! This was a blast. The mini matches feel relatively traditional compared to some of the main event stuff. They like all of this period of Triple A are 1 fall but have a rudo/technico dynamic. I'm a fan of the story stuff too. Excellent post match also which ties the main event stuff all the way to the curtain jerkers. 

Extreme Tiger &  KENTA vs Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov: Very good all action match. I was going to say Extreme Tiger should go to NOAH but he has! We get shenanigans towards the end but it works for the storyline and it's a pretty cool finish.

AAA - Silver King, La Parka, X-Pac vs. Zorro, Nicho el Millonario, Joe Líder, 2009/02/07: Good stuff and even crazier as Silver King turns on his team & AAA. Konann is working the fans into a frenzy post match. This compelling stuff even if you don't know Spanish. 

Mesias vs Chessman: No DQ match. This started with a bang! It dipped as Chessman worked Mesias' leg with chair shots. He sold them until it was time for the spectacular comeback. I wish people would just stop attacking the legs...it really requires you to devote the rest of the match to storytelling. Anyhow, fuck it, it's TV so the comeback is pretty fun and the finish/end of the show is pretty crazy.

This was a really exciting episode of TV and I get ECW vibes from it in the best way. It's got a bit of everything. 

2/18/09
Superfly & Laredo Kid vs Nicho & Joe Líder: Super Fly indeed! This was fun - crazy dives & moves. A sweet post match with Parka & Silver King.

La Parka vs Silver King: A good brawl with a nice double count out ending. I don't mind that kind of finish when the guys are duking it out in the crowd. Really fun stuff!

2/28/09
Aero Star, Súper Fly, Laredo Kid vs. Río Bravo, Tigre Cota, Tito Santana: Crazy ass move match. These actually seem closer to the lucha libre of CMLL whereas the bigger money matches are pretty close to American style wrestling.

La Parka, Crazy Boy, Alex Koslov vs. Silver King, Nicho el Millonario, Joe Líder: Pretty good main event. Rudos beat down the technicos...again feels more heel & face stylistically... good guys make an exciting comeback... especially Alex Koslov. 

I definitely recommend checking this stuff out. It is super fun and simple to follow along. If you have a hard time getting into lucha, AAA is a great place to start. It's one fall, matches are structured like American matches a little bit more than CMLL and like ECW rules are relaxed to say the least. Many matches have crooked refs but I don't think they ever ruin a match...I think they add to the drama. From what I've seen the pure match quality isn't on par with CMLL's best. That said, it's a clear alternative and watching both promotions seems easy. And that's my plan 🙂

CMLL

07/03/09

La Máscara vs. Felino: Lighting match, 1 fall. This is 6 minutes of pure action! It's essentially a WCW Cruiserweight or TNA X Division match on TV. Just one awesome move, counter move or sequence after another. I like that it's not at a breakneck pace so you're able to actually absorb what you're watching. Easy recommendation for lucha novices.

Místico, Volador Jr., La Sombra vs. Averno, Mephisto, Ephesto: Quick & spectacular first fall. Fall #2 was a lil slow but Fall #3 is where it's at! Honestly, this could have just been the 3rd fall and I'd still recommend it. If you like flyin' lucha libre, you'll dig this!

La Máscara vs Ephesto (07/10/09): Another lightning match and another very good action packed bout. I'm really digging the pacing of these ones...maybe it's the single fall? That's something that I do like about AAA over CMLL. These lighting matches don't necessarily tell a story but there's never a perfunctory 2nd fall to slog through on occasion.

Mascarita Dorada vs. Pequeño Warrior (07/17/09): The CMLL ring babes seemed particularly frisky dancing to Sean Paul and they had one that had a cyber punk look who showed her tongue ring! This was all pretty crazy to start. And then Peq. Warrior Running Razors Edge buckle bombed Mascarita! Later M.D. did a diving rana on Peq. Warrior and swung him straight into the front row!  This was all pretty pretty damn wild 😄 M.D. is a little person but Peq. Warrior is an average sized man. In fact he's a muscular guy just not as jacked as Black Warrior (his analog). So this in a way is a David and Goliath match. That's a great dynamic for any wrestling bout. LOVED this from start to finish! 

Místico vs Mephisto (07/19/09): 2/3 falls title match. Very good stuff but rough in a couple spots. The good outweighs those moments though mainly because its acceptable for lucha to be rough in spots like WAR or Indie stuff. Here they probably get too complicated but again, A singles match that delivers. Mephisto has my favorite mask of the 2000's guys.

NJPW

07/16/82
Tiger Mask & Kengo Kimura vs Dynamite Kid & Bret Hart: This was very exciting. It had great moves but they also kept it simple. Dynamite and Bret were great rough neck heels while still showing they were technically adept. I think this should be included in the list of Tiger vs Dynamite matches to see plus its another excellent Bret in Japan match. So a must see for any Hitman Hart fans. This is a great all action tag match. Easy recommendation!

Adrian Adonis, Greg Valentine & Rick McGraw vs Tatsumi Fujinami, Yoshiaki Yatsu & Tiger Toguchi: Scrappy & full of personality, quick pace & nice action - this is one for fans of  80's US & Japanese wrestling alike.

Vader vs Shinya Hashimoto (09/14/90): A fantastic battle of violent hippos! They were blasting each other with strikes. And man, those were ring rattling slams & suplexes. Great stuff! This era of Vader may be his best. Also I'm really digging his outfit and thinking about painting a squad of Chaos Marines like him in all black with red veins/lightning bolts. Any 40k dorks out there? 😋