CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE
87TH ANIVERSARIO
SEPTEMBER 25, 2020
MEXICO CITY, MÉXICO
ARENA MÉXICO
CMLL 87 Aniversario shouldn’t be happening. In this article, TheCubsFan did an outstanding work explaining the COVID situation in México, lucha libre and specifically CMLL. It’s not pretty but the company has decided to go ahead with the show anyway and at least it’ll be contested in an empty Arena México.
The show was streamed via live PPV with no On Demand option and every match was a one fall title bout.
CMLL MICROS CHAMPIONSHIP
CHAMUEL (C) DEF. MICROMAN
There’s no better reminder of how sad empty arena wrestling is than a Microman match. This fantastic luchador is a god to Arena México, so despite the piped-in crowd noise, it was kind of depressing watching him doing tijeras to zero response.
However, this match was entertaining enough. As we saw last year, Chamuel and Microman work really well together, and tonight they had a solid bout. Chamuel controlled the match early on by kicking, stomping and throwing Microman around. He’s a great heel and despite the sad atmosphere, he managed to keep my full attention. Microman’s comeback was sloppy; the kind of sloppiness that would’ve worked with a crowd. He did some tijeras and a couple of arm drags, but eventually Chamuel put a stop to his offense and made him tap out with a leg submission hold. I appreciated the great effort both guys put into the match. It was impossible to not miss the crowd though. ***¼
By the way, CMLL is so dumb that they brought 67-year-old commissioner Rambo to pose in a photo for this match. Very unnecessary.
CMLL WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
TITÁN (C) DEF. SOBERANO JR.
These guys killed each other in a stiff and exciting match that would’ve easily been a MOTY with a crowd. Not having the 2 out of 3 falls stipulation allowed these guys to go all out from the get go, and for 25 minutes they rarely slowed down. We got savage elbows, slaps and kick exchanges and a couple of insane Titán dives, but what made me pop the most was Soberano brutally powerslamming Titán into a corner.
After the 20 minute mark, Titán and Soberano exchanged excellent nearfalls and made sure to add some drama; after hitting a big move, they would be unable to go for the pinfall due to exhaustion. Soberano applied a Boston Crab, Titán reached the ropes. Then they had a tremendous sequence that ended with Soberano using a Fire Thunder Driver for yet another dramatic nearfall. Titán recovered and used la Titánica cradle to pin Soberano and retain the championship. These guys hit each other so hard that momentarily I forgot it was empty arena lucha. Titán deserves better than CMLL. ****¼
MEXICAN NATIONAL WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
REYNA ISIS DEF. METÁLICA (C)
Neither Reyna Isis or Metálica are gifted wrestlers and they had many hiccups along the way, but they worked their butts off to create a cool little match. We got some hard chops, solid llaveo and bold dive attempts. However, during the last portion of the match, there were clear communication errors as Metálica stopped midway through a spot to hear Isis’ instructions in the corner. Isis hit a codebreaker for a nearfall, followed by a couple of short topes and a Death Valley Bomb for the win. This should’ve been at least 5 minutes shorter but I commend their efforts. ***¼
MEXICAN NATIONAL TRIOS CHAMPIONSHIP
NUEVA GENERACIÓN DINAMITA (SANSÓN, CUATRERO & FORASTERO) (C) DEF. VIRUS, RAZIEL & CANCERBERO
Once upon a time, Nueva Generación Dinamita were an exciting trio delivering great matches every week. But somewhere along the way, they decided to stop caring. Now, they do the same spots in every match. What a waste.
It was frustrating to see Virus, Raziel and Cancerbero working so hard against three guys that just don’t care anymore. The challengers did manage to bring some fire out of NGD, which made for a cool second half but at the end of the day, I just couldn’t buy the possibility of the titles changing hands. This was a good match that could’ve been great. It also highlighted the fact that Cancerbero should be higher on the card. ***¼
CMLL WORLD WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
DALYS DEF. MARCELA
After an excruciatingly bad and slow match, Dalys applied a Sharpshooter hold on Marcela, then Marcela tapped out, but somehow the referee called for DQ because ‘Dalys didn’t release the hold after 5 seconds’. This garbage finish happened because Dalys refuses to lose clean. And it’s the second year running that she does this.
Not only is Dalys a terrible professional wrestler, but she’s a selfish, horrible, unprofessional woman. It’s disgusting. DUD
NWA WORLD HISTORIC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
VOLADOR JR. (C) DEF. TEMPLARIO
A fantastic 20-minute match that felt like a 10-minute sprint. This was frantic and beautiful. Volador and Templario exchanged spectacular dives and managed to keep up the high tempo for almost the entire duration of the match. Tope con giro, asai moonsault, Sasuke Special, tijeras, german suplexes, you name it. These guys crammed a lot of cool stuff in a short window of time. But Volador got the win after spiking Templario with a sick reverse rana. When Volador Jr. is inspired he can be as good as anyone in the country. ****¼
CMLL WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
CARÍSTICO & MÍSTICO (C) DEF. LOS ATRAPASUEÑOS (ESPÍRITU NEGRO & REY COMETA)
A fast-paced bout that flew by. In the first half, we basically had a contest of ‘Who’s going to do the coolest dive?’ and it was a blast. Unfortunately, Rey Cometa got tangled when going for a crazy-looking tope, which momentaneously sucked the air of the match (I felt so bad for Cometa). But mere seconds later, Místico made an insane dive to make up for it. After more flippy stuff and a cool Canadian destroyer variation by Cometa, the match ended abruptly when Místico and Carístico used Místicas at the same time to submit the challengers. I wished they had taken their time with the last portion of the match; with some drama, this could’ve been a contender for Match of the Night. But the high octane action sprint was enough for me. I really enjoyed this. ****
FINAL THOUGHTS
Even without fans, CMLL 87 Aniversario was a better show than last year’s Anniversary show and in fact, I think this might be one of my favorite shows of this weak 2020. Everyone except Dalys worked their butts off to make the night feel special. Even NGD’s laziness was outshined by the tireless efforts of their opponents.
I gotta give kudos to CMLL for successfully applying two very simple ideas. By getting rid of two unnecessary falls and making every bout a title match, they managed to raise the stakes of the show. Everything felt important and fresh, and pretty much everything over-delivered. Both Soberano Jr. vs. Titán and Volador Jr. vs. Templario were excellent, must-watch matches that ironically might never have happened without a pandemic.
However, it’s sad that all these luchadores had to risk their lives in and outside of the ring because CMLL didn’t bother to try to create a safe working environment during the last few weeks. Mexico is flooding with COVID right now and I fear for more cases appearing in the CMLL roster. Let’s just wish that ‘la seria y estable’ doesn’t regret pushing forward for this Aniversario show.
