[2005-02-11-CMLL] Mistico vs Averno

[ohtani's jacket]

This was much better than I expected. It was a title match for the NWA World Middleweight Championship, and while it was far from a traditional title match, I appreciated the measured approach they took to the opening fall and the amount of selling Mistico did. They managed to work a compelling match despite the fact that workrate and elaborate spots had replaced matwork and submission teases as the main focus of a lucha title match. We tend to think of modern workers as not slowing down to sell and let a match breathe, but they're not helped by the television editors who are just as jumpy as the workers. I'm sure if this was edited with a slower rhythm that people wouldn't have been so down on the state of modern lucha at the time.