CMLL 2005

Mistico vs. El Averno, 2/11/05

Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero, 2/25/05

Dr. Wagner Jr./Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero, 3/12/05

Mistico vs. Perro Aguayo Jr, 5/13/05

El Hijo del Santo/Mistico/Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero/Averno/Mephisto, 8/26/05

Perro Aguayo Jr, Mr Aguila, Halloween & Damian 666 vs. Pierroth, Apolo Dantes, Mascara 2000 & Universo 2000, 10/14/05

El Hijo del Santo vs. Atlantis, 11/05/05

Halloween vs. Universo 2000, hair vs. hair, 12/02/05

El Hijo del Santo/Negro Casas vs. Averno/Mistico, 12/16/05

El Texano, Negro Navarro & El Signo vs. Super Astro, Ultraman & Solar, IWRG, 02/10/05

OK, so I idolise late 80s-early 90s CMLL and pretty much anything from before then, with this being my first real foray into recent lucha. It's not the lucha I know, so let's see if I can get to grips with it.

Might as well start with Mistico... I wasn't expecting him to be a great worker, so it wasn't much of a surprise... His timing is good & he's unbelievably quick. Gets amazing height. What he really lacks is poise. Back in the days of matwork, technicos would string together a sequence that left the rudos reeling... A rudo would back himself to go mano a mano, they'd trade holds and then -- like pulling a rabbit from a hat -- that show of superior technique... I can hardly remember anything about Mistico vs. Averno, except that the rudo worked at the pace of the technico, matching him hold for hold. I could hardly tell you who upstaged whom, where, what, when... It was all a blur. Shortened matches have really upped the pace. I suppose we're beyond the point where an armbar is magnifico, but Mistico needs to learn rhythm; how to work those spots so they really mean something. If you look at 1984 Atlantis he hardly had it together, but he ended up building a magnificent technico career out of the same repeated spots. It's all about poise.

The Mistico/UG match accomplished a fair bit in 10 minutes & the Perro match was quite good. I don't buy into Mistico as an underdog, but he's a decent technico (which isn't easy) & has the crowd behind him. The act just wears a bit thin after a while. The best lucha always feels like improv, even when it's not. That's something heel Atlantis struggles with. Long serving, excellent technico, but sucks as a rudo. Wagner, on the other hand, is ungodly charismatic. Wagner never used to be this good, now it feels like everything he does is off the cuff. He's gotta be my favourite guy in Mexico.

The Perros/Capos stuff was OK. The hair vs. hair match was... listless. I'm all for broken down rudos working hair matches, so long as they're actually brawling.

I haven't really cared for the Santo/Casas team since they were feuding with Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio, Jr. I don't like the way they bought into the new workrate style... Averno and Mephisto have cool entrances and aren't bad workers, but as rudos they're workrate machines & sadly recyclable. Don't see how they're different from Los Guerreros del Infierno, to be honest.

The Los Misioneros de la Muerte trios is still the best match I've seen from 2005. Once a year Negro Navarro shows up on tape to remind us what real lucha is like.