IWRG from Arena Naucalpan taped March 14th!!!!!!!!
*** Saito and Zonick vs Crazy Star and Cobra.- Saito is now using a white bodysuit with a red belt, is that a hint of a gimmick? Who knows, it looks as if they book every Japanese worker as a rudo, but Saito has been with the good guys for some time. Cobra and Zonick have been in the recaps before, Crazy Star is a new comer to this page's reports, he uses black trunks, and no mask, hard to say why he got the 'Crazy Star' name and what is his gimmick.
3.- They only show the last fall: Cobra sneak attacks Saito, so he and Crazy Star start working on Saito with double team moves, then, Zonick enters to get more of the same, Saito manages to turn the fall to his favor with some restholds on Crazy Star, but Cobra enters to make the save and put Saito into a double armbar hold, so Zonick enters to break the hold and deliver a couple of 'stunners' on Cobra, then, a half powerbomb and a Boston crab, but Crazy Star makes the save. More hold+saves go on, and eventually Zonick puts Crazy Star into a Boston crab, Cobra goes to make the save, but Saito gets him into a sunset flip from the ttb to get a rana+bridge pin at a total match time of 10'45''.
I guess Saito should learn a little more Spanish or at least get more used to work with the Mexicans, he's been improving every show I see him, but last week vs Judo Suwa he looked very good, but now, it looks as if they don't really know what to do next, still, this was a cool match, I've been noticing that the first match of the IWRG shows how the entire card would be played...
*** Mercurio and Rockambole jr vs Kanda and Fantasy.- Rockambole is now using an outfit somewhat similar to Hijo del Solitario's one, Rockambole even looks pretty tall, Hijo del Soli is probably the biggest failure of a jr in the whole lucha history, and I hope Rockambole doesn't start looking more like him. I've not seen Kanda before, like Saito, he is a 'tecnico' Japanese. Fantasy have not impressed me in any way, but he looks competent, Mercurio's first match (that I saw) was good, but since, he hasn't show that much.
1.- Lengthy matwork by Rockambole and Fantasy, as they trade holds, armdrags, and pin attempts, Mercurio frequently entered to break Fantasy's holds, and to gather some heat from the crowd. Kanda and Mercurio tag in, they trade some basic moves, Kanda does a hot tag to Fantasy, who then gets some holds on Mercurio, but Rockambole interferes breaking those moves, so Fantasy soon is more concerned about Rockambole over Mercurio... The tecnicos start dominating the fall, but Mercurio drop-kicks Kanda, and it seems he was a little too stiff as Kanda almost got KOd! Rudos enjoy a brief moment of control, as they manhandle Kanda, but at the end, Mercurio whips Kanda to a corner, but Fantasy assist the Japanese to jump out to the apron, Rockambole charges but gets back body dropped, ready for Kanda to give him an elbow drop, while Fantasy powerslams and pin Mercurio. 8'45''
2.- Interview with Starboy, Punch Power and Dr Cerebro shown instead.
3.- Rockambole gets the better part from a slap/dropkicks tradeoff with Kanda, the rudos start beating Kanda with gang tactics, then Fantasy is also ganged up on. But the tecnico stages the comeback by escaping a corner splash from Rockambole and slapping Mercurio out of the apron, Kanda and Fantasy get some payback time, but they don't seem to be used to work as a team, as soon the rudos react, both teams start going back and forth trading holds and pin attempts, with the rudos gaining a slight advantage, until Fantasy reverses a whip and makes Mercurio get a big boot from Rockambole! Still, the rudos keep dominating, the end comes as the try to whip the tecnicos into each other, but Kanda jumps over Fantasy and then does a German suplex that makes Mercurio fall on his head and made me say 'S#!T!!!', quite and ugly way to fall, he and Rockambole get pinned at total time of 21'15''.
My first impression from Rockambole jr was, that he was sort of a Electro Shock guy, they both look big and mean, and they even take similar bumps (here, Rockambole did a Electro Shock's classic, --trip on the rope while trying to enter the ring and take a bump by falling face to the mat-- spot). I guess I should said the same from Kanda than I've said earlier from Saito, Kanda should also get used to work with Mexicans, he has potential and did well here, but he never could connect with Fantasy to deliver a solid team work, something the rudos did well and took advantage of in the match.
*** Dr Cerebro, Star Boy and Punch Power vs Micke el Suicida Segura, Ultimo Vampiro and Multifacetico.- At first, I thought that Multifacetico was Mega, but it looks as if he is a new guy, at least, he hadn't been since I started doing the IWRG's recaps. The other 5 guys (+ Mega) are the best of the IWRG local guys, with Shiima Nobunaga being the best from the orient, and Judo Suwa coming close (he was pretty good on his match on the previous show). The rumor is that Micke Segura might be heading up for ECW to feud with none other than Super Crazzy!!!
1.- Cool fall, there were a lot of brief segments of fast action, with the rudos taking their bumps and the tecnicos doing their armdrags and flying headsicssors, at times, the rudos would also get into the armdragging craze, doing a good job at keeping a fast pace, but at the same time, the heat was 'in creccendo' and it looked as if a brawling was about to erupt, the end comes as Star Boy goes to the floor, so Ultimo Vampiro gets him with an over the top somersault plancha while Micke and Multifacetico get a couple of Huracanranas to get the pin on the rudos. 8'20''
2.- The rudo brawling loomed during the first fall, and in this one, it materialized, as they start beating Ultimo Vampiro and then Multifacetico, Micke gets some good offense on Dr Cerebro (his arch rival at IWRG), Micke works like Esther Moreno! He does a lot of gymnastic stuff... anyway, Multifacetico and Vampiro are not able to hold Micke's effort, as soon get dominated by the rudo team, the rudos get into their overwhelming mode and swiftly take the fall at 4'00''.
3.- Since the rudos have the momentum on their side, the tecnicos look in trouble, the rudos keep outnumbering and dominating the tecnicos, who can't do much about it, this last for some minutes, until Dr Cerebro holds Multifacetico in a double nelson down on the floor, and Star Boy goes for a tope suicida, and yes, you guess right, Multifacetico steps away and Star Boy nails Dr Cerebro!! They both end on the first row, the tecnico comeback is on, they fight for a while all over the place, later, Micke makes a headlock on Cerebro, Punch Power enters to headlock Micke, Multifacetico does the same on Power, Star Boy on Multifacetico, and Ultimo Vampiro on Star Boy!! They break the hold and all 6 guys are in the ring, tecnicos slap the rudos out of the ring, and things look as if going to cool down, as both teams make it back to their corners, and Cerebro faces Multifacetico, Multifacetico drop-kicks the rudo out of the ring, and then decks him with a ttb plancha, Star Boy follows with an over the top somersault plancha that again, takes him and Dr Cerebro to the first row!! They make it back to the ring side area so that Micke can hit a reckless tope suicida mainly on Starboy, Punch Power jumps to the ttb, but loses the balance and falls back to the ring, so he settles to go to the floor and start slapping Multifacetico, Ultimo Vampiro gets Power after jumping over one of the referees with a plancha!!! The tecnicos keep stomping or punching the rudos down there, and the cameraman gets distracted, but it seems that Multifacetico uses a Northern Lights suplex to pin Dr Cerebro and take the match at 19'10''.
Quite good, I like the way Dr Cerebro and Star Boy can go toe to toe with the tecnicos if they feel to do so... and still do decent brawling and rudoness falls if they want, now that Punch Power has lost his mask, he could get better if he fights with guys better than Kato jr. I still don't know what's the difference between Multifacetico and Mega.
*** Los Nuevos Brazos vs Los Oficiales.- I could say that 'this is the moment I've dread since starting seeing IWRG's recaps', but I don't really understand what 'dread' means, and I guess that sentence would be grammatically uncorrect, so, the bottom line is, this match was not on the top of my 'must see' list, well, OK, I was a little curious about Oficiales, since the beat, who? Villanos or Payasos or someone like that to win the DF's title, oddly enought, Naucalpan is not in the DF zone!!
1.- Maniac Cop is with the Oficiales instead of 'Viguilante', the rudos jump on the Brazos and soon the brawling is all over the place, punches, kicks, slaps, stomps, etc. Somehow, los Brazos react (well, the transition has two rudos going for a double vertical suplex on Brazo Cibernetico, but 'he's too fat' (he's not nearly as fat as Brazo de Plata, but they act as if he was), so they can't, rudos go for it again and Brazo enters to block the move and make the comeback... they take the first fall.
2.- Brazos stay on control for quite some time, with some weak tecnico offense (armdrags, making rudos hit themselves, etc), but at the end, rudos kick into the brawling mode to get the fall awarded to them.3.- The fight goes on, and there is some juicing from Brazo (plain), they cut into a Kato jr interview and then they go back to the fall, where Mr Niebla (II-IWRG) is there getting beaten by Oficiales, I guess they should have DQd los Brazos, but they keep going, with the tecnicos on control, Oficiales react and pin Brazo Cibernetico, and Brazo de Platino even does a (semi)fat tope suicida, leaving Maniac Cop and (plain) Brazo to define the match, they both get decked by double clotheslines, B.Ciber enters the ring (they should have DQ them again), but the referees only stop him, then they leave him alone as one of the Oficiales is also entering the ring, so the Brazo can get there and put his brother over Maniac, to get the 3 count.
I got 4 word to say: Brazos versus Hermanos Dinamitas. That was it. Some people seem to like Dinamitas old time rudo heat + 3 moves brawling, and the Oficiales do so, I've read that AAA and/or CMLL have shown interest for those guys, but they're light years behind the fresh and somewhat innovative gang style that the Batos Locos and Vipers are doing right now...
*** Kato Kung Lee Sr and Jr and Moonwalker vs Pirata Morgan, Fireman and Bombero Infernal. Moonwalker was not in the card, they only had "???" printed there, meaning, 'surprise' luchador. I have no idea about who he is, I guess I've never seen him before (with that gimmick/name anyway), it looks as if he is debuting here, so a newcomer going directly to the main event while they have some other good workers who where not in this show (Slayer, Mega, even Mr -fake-Niebla)? On the other hand, Pirata Morgan is here in the recaps for the first time ever!!
1.- Jr and Bombero work for some time, with Pirata soon gathering heat as he often breaks Kato jr's holds, Bombero's work looked a little better than I would have credited for, he even dominates Kato a little, and then takes a (Ultimo Guerrero-like)-miss-a-knee-corner-splash-and-go-out-of-the-ring-bump, later, Kato sr wants a piece of Pirata, and after a lot of teasing around, he gets it, Pirata surprises Kato with some offense, taking Kato to the ttb, but then, Kato Kung Lee blocks a punch and delivers a tornado DDT!! Pirata recomposes and bodyslams Kato sr, but meets his boots when trying a ttb splash, Pirata goes out of the ring after a 'reverse tope' (a la Rayo). Moonwalker does a couple of 'quebradoras con giro' on Bombero, and goes for the pin, Kato jr steps over them to do an in ring tope on Fireman, but it turns out that he screwed something in one of his legs and was taken to the locker rooms later, the tecnicos couldn't get the pin and the rudoes rally back to take the fall after a plancha on Moonwalker, who was the captain, but they still counted out the Katoes.
2.- Since the rudos have the 3 on 2 advantage, they easily dominate the remaining tecnicos, Pirata could have pinned Moonwalker on a couple of times, but he refused to do it, at the end, the tecnicos do the last minute comeback after Fireman and Bombero Infernal double clothsline Pirata out of the ring. 3.- They forget about the gang approach and one on one match ups occur, with Moonwalker and Pirata exchanging some pin attempts, and then Kato getting a 2 count and a submission via 'la de a caballo' from Bombero Infernal. They keep going, at the end, Moonwalker hits missile kicks from the apron to the floor on Fireman, and both referees start the 20 count of them, so Pirata Morgan low punts Kato and goes unseen, one of the referees wants to make the 3 count, but the other gave the match to the tecnicos by DQ even if he didn't saw the foul.
Typical Tropicasas ending, I know that was worked that way, but endings like those take away any credibility to most (Mexican) fans, I can understan someone not getting DQ b/c the referees didn't see the foul, but giving the DQ even if not seeing it? It is weird how the classic 'tecnicos' are almost extincted, clear pins/endings are gone from almost any promotion in Mexico, now tecnicos will use any way to win, and the crowd is pleased with that. Actually, both the semifinal and final matches had very weak booking, Scorpio or Salsero should work on that...
After a month of seeing IWRG regulary, I can say that they're pretty good. The main events usually result the weakest match of the night, since they use the 'older big names' (Mascara Sagrada, Kato Kung Lee, Pirata Morgan) just like AAA would use Perro or Sangre Chicana, and CMLL Rayo and Dinamitas. The good thing is that they're a lot easier to get into it, since they work everything on weekly shows, as opposed to CMLL who have several shows a week, and PAPSA, who has even more tv tapings and sometimes uses the 'if isn't on tv, it didn't happen' approach. Besides, IWRG uses 2 full hours.
