[2000-08-04-CMLL] Mr Niebla & Villano IV vs Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero

[soup23]

I guess Emilio is injured as this was supposed to be a trios. He has quite the limp when he appears before the crowd. The first fall is all rudo as is traditionally the case. Bucanero and Guerrero have some awesome double team moves including the finishing run where they flip Niebla around finishing into a half crab. The second fall is more of the same but I loved the transition into the face comecback of them having Villano slumped over the top rope and Ultimo flying into the corner. Niebla and Villano then go nuts on the rudos including Ultimo getting posted right in the face. I enjoyed how the match flowed from the comeback where the finish of the segunda caida didn’t just occur. Niebla has some beautiful dives including a moonsault to the outside and Villano locks on a tight submission to secure the second fall. Third fall has some unique work too. Niebla locks in a figure four and they go to the outside. Ultimo tries to break it up and Villano slams him on top of Bucanero which was an awesome move. The third fall opens up with some wild dives to the outside including a spin tope from Ultimo. Bucanero gets monkey flipped into Ultimo on the outside and the tecnicos give two big topes to wipe them out. Again, the rudos aren’t dead though as when Niebla dives, they move out of the way and he plows into Villano. Now, we get some great double team moves from the Infernales again and they finish with a stretch/Indian Deathlock submission from Villano. Ultimo gets cocky and Niebla is able to tie up Bucanero for the submission and we are down to Ultimo/Niebla 1 on 1. We get a good bit of back and forth and Ultimo gets a big feather in his cap again on a marquee show where he hits a can opener from the top rope to secure the win for the Infernales. This was a great structured tag that showed good resourcefulness for the shifts within the match and all four men looked stronger coming out. **** (8)

[AstroBoy]

This was a triumph of patience, pacing, and structure. The opening fall beatdown by Bucanero and Ultimo was good but not anything special. The second fall comeback has a few stilted moments and isn't world-beating. And the final fall puts it all together and finally clicks with the missed dive to the outside allowing for the final act to come into full focus. All these individual moving parts of the match build to the taking out of Villano, followed by the clever turning of the tables and the elimination of Bucanero. And a short but impactful stretch between Ultimo and Niebla ends this definitively. As a whole, the match just took its time and built and built to that final hook which paid off tremendously and elevated fine work into something more fulfilling. I thought Bucanero stood out in a good way making offense look good and Niebla put in a good effort trying to appeal to the crowd and get them behind his comebacks.

 

****

[ohtani's jacket]

This was a nice showcase for the hard working Infernales pair but I thought it lacked rhythm. Tag matches used to be the predominant form of lucha before trios matches became the norm. These days they're something of a lost art. The first fall was a standard rudo fall but the second fall had a weak comeback and the third fall didn't swing back and forth like a third fall ought to. I didn't help that there was zero chemistry between the tecnicos and that Niebla was having one of his off nights but they really should have shortened the second fall and had more near falls in the third. The beginning of the tercera was a muddled collection of spots and even the dive train was awkward. I also thought it made little sense for the match to continue, so to speak, only for the rudo to go over cleanly. The booking at the end only made sense to me if Niebla was going to pull off the win. The Infernales continue to put in the work and climb the ladder but this wasn't a match I'll remember as being particularly great.

[Tim Evans]

I gotta agree with OJ on this. Infernales were pretty good but the tecnicos didn't add much. I wouldn't call it a squash but this was about as dominant as Satanico/tarzan. I wonder if the Emilio injury changed things? Probably would have been better if Villano V replaced Niebla.