CMLL
Arena Mexico (Mexico City, Mexico)
This tournament carried some intrigue in terms of potential interesting match ups (largely involving Negro Casas) most of which were not delivered on. Blue Panther had been feuding with Casas. Atlantis had been feuding with Casas and their two teams had a very good match just a couple of days before this show. Casas seemingly split form Peste Negra so this was the first change to see if there were any hard feelings. Of those three match ups, the only one we got was Negro Casas’ team versus Atlantis’ team.
Seeding Battle Royal: Delta vs. Tiger vs. Cachorro vs. Herodes Jr.
There was nothing to see here at all. At less than three minutes of total match time it was already very short, but could have been shorter. Cacharro and Herodes are eliminated so those two teams start.
Semi-Final: Blue Panther, Black Panther & Cachorro vs. Peste Negra (Cavernario, Herodes & Mr. Niebla)
Some comedy from the rudos to begin. Blue Panther goes first for his team and does nothing of note before tagging out. Cavenario and Black Panther had a nice exchange after a couple of minutes of little action. I do like the new Peste Negra lineup. Cavernario and Herodes fit in well with Niebla in terms of look and style. Black Panther hit an ugly-looking tope and nearly didn’t reach his opponent to break the fall. Blue Panther followed up with a much better one, showing his son how it is done. Peste Negra hit a cool double team where they launched their opponent into the air and Cavernario connected mid-air with a nice top rope drop kick to pick up the win.
Semi-Final: Atlantis, Delta & Guerrero Maya, Jr. vs. Negro Casas, Puma & Tiger
This was the best section of the tournament as you would probably assume would be the case. Solid work all-around but obviously not on the level of their standalone matches. Atlantis wants Casas of course and he eventually gets him. Casas eats another Panther tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. That has been happening to him a lot recently. Maya and Delta get Puma and Tiger on a pin and submission respectively to advance on. I guess Atlantis and company had to beat Casas and nephews sometime, but the all rudo final with the Casas/Peste Negra added intrigue would have been more exciting.
Final: Peste Negra (Cavernario, Herodes & Mr. Niebla) vs. Atlantis, Delta & Guerrero Maya, Jr.
A big brawl kicks off the finals. This was short and ultimately unremarkable. The new Peste Negra – in their very first night as a team – pulls off the upset to take the tournament. I doubt they will actually be pushed all that hard, but rather this was just a way to establish the team lineup.
Overall, there was nothing all that great from this tournament. The second semi-final was the strongest match but those six have had better bouts in the past couple of weeks. Unless you are dying for some CMLL mini-tournament action, this can be skipped.
Lucha Trios | Common | Gimmick (Tournament)
