Asturiano/Black Tiger/Centella De Oro vs Espiritu Maligno/Fuerza Chicana/Siki Ozama Jr., Arena Puebla, 1/26/09

This was my first look at the Puebla locals and I was impressed.

It wasn't a perfect match, but cubsfan nailed it when he said: "being there to hit your move just as the guy turns around to take [it] is such a great skill but one seemingly missing from a lot of CMLL guys." These guys showed that with the right timing you can hit upon a far better rhythm than "baseless" lucha. Add to that some colourful characters and a Black Terry-ish veteran in Centella De Oro and you have the best undercard action since 1997. The match was mostly spots and guys acting as bases for each other, but even in the slower patches I thought the work was good. In most trios matches, the falls overlap each other. If the rudos win a fall, they'll pick up where they left off, forcing the technicos to mount a comeback. It's a transition period of sorts, and can be difficult to execute, but in recent times the tendency has been to view it as dead air. Workers have started skipping over it or culling it altogether, but without that down time, the comeback is forgettable. These guys weren't exactly seamless with their transitions, but they carried momentum through three falls and filled in the early parts of each falll, and for that they ought to be saluted. Fun match.