[2022-09-16-CMLL-89. Aniversario] Atlantis Jr. vs Stuka Jr.

[corwo]

Watching a good apuestas match is like eating a good soup. It's comfort food, easily digestible and hard to get wrong. Stuka and Atlantis Jr. aren't exactly reinventing the wheel here, but they didn't need to.

Atlantis Jr. comes out of the gates hot, running up the stage and diving onto Stuka. Atlantis Jr. comes up favoring his knee after a topé suicida. It's a small detail, but one that adds heft to crucial moments of the match. Stuka dumps Atlantis Jr. into the crowd with an Irish whip, and the latter hits the barricades with the momentum of a runaway train. When Atlantis Jr. goes to the top rope for a dive, he takes a moment too long, and Stuka capitalizes with a superplex. Another thing I love about apuestas matches is the crowd shots. From the camraderie of fans cheering on their favorites to people crying as the stakes set in, it all carries a certain emotional weight. Atlantis Jr. heads to the stage for a another running dive, but Stuka has him scouted. Stuka connects with a Stuka Splash on the stage shortly thereafter. Both competitors threw caution to the wind, their desperation to maintain their family's legacy seeping through the screen.

Atlantis Jr. takes one of the nuttiest bumps I've seen all year, diving head-first into the barricade. At this point, the match begins to reach its apex. Hopelessness begins to set in for Stuka, with Atlantis Jr. kicking out of his signature Stuka Splash. Stuka heads to the well once too many times, and Atlantis Jr. reverses it into a pin. Atlantis Jr. locks in La Atlantida and gets rolled up for one final near-fall, but he applies the submission again and steals the win.

What a joyful experience. Lucha is rich in emotion, colorful characters and tradition, and this match is no exception. Set aside twenty minutes or so, maybe grab a snack, and soak it all in.