Csonka’s NJPW/CMLL FantasticaMania Review 1.22.16

Csonka’s NJPW/CMLL FantasticaMania Review 1.22.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Fuego & Stuka Jr. defeated Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu @ 5:40 via pin [**½]
– Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI, Bobby Zavala, OKUMURA & Hechicero defeated David Finlay Jr., Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, The Panther & Guerrero Maya Jr. @ 10:13 via submission [**]
– EVIL & Tetsuya Naito defeated Juice Robinson & Atlantis @ 7:59 via pin [**]
– CMLL National Welterweight Championship Match: Champion Barbaro Cavernario defeated Titan @ 10:57 via pin [***½]
– CMLL World Welterweight Championship Match: Mascara Dorada defeated Champion BUSHI @ 13:33 via pin [***½]
– Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada & Virus defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Dragon Lee @ 15:09 via submission [***½]
– Mephisto & Ultimo Guerrero defeated Volador Jr. & Mistico @ 18:28 via pin [***¾]

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Fuego & Stuka Jr. defeated Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu: Standard fare opener here, with the Young Lions working hard and the CMLL team working really well together. Tanaka and Komatsu will be heading to CMLL for their excursion, so this is a small preview of what is to come. They did well overall, but I can’t wait to see them in 9 months or so working this style. The Lions, as they do, took the loss in a fine opening bout.

Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI, Bobby Zavala, OKUMURA & Hechicero defeated David Finlay Jr., Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, The Panther & Guerrero Maya Jr.: This was a very paint by the numbers, multi man NJPW undercard match. It had some fun moments, including a wacky submission circle towards the end. It was solid, but I didn’t enjoy it as mush as the opener; this was the definition of “just a match.” Young Finlay took the loss here, and we move on.

EVIL & Tetsuya Naito defeated Juice Robinson & Atlantis: This was another lackadaisical match here, it largely felt like filler as EVIL and Naito did their deal and Juice Robinson continues to exist. I just do not buy him in any way as a fired up babyface. The goal here was to score a dominant victory for Los Ingobernables, and they did that. There was nothing wrong with this match overall from a technical standpoint, it was just boring and another match you could really skip and not miss anything. This show has been nothing special at all so far, lets hope the action picks up as we move forward.

Champion Barbaro Cavernario defeated Titan: Ok, this was more like it. They started the match on fire, with some great work that really got me back into the show. Barbaro Cavernario is an ultra charismatic MEXICAN CAVEMAN that I love to watch, due it a ton of fun and does some wild shit, which plays into the fact that he is a MEXICAN CAVEMAN. I have seen some of their stuff from Mexico, and this felt like a slightly fast forwarded version of that, but I felt that it worked here. They got in, they hit all of their shit, and they woke me up and made me care about the show. It was the right match at the right time. Cavernario picked up the victory and retained the title with the Cavernaria. This was not a blow away match, but it was very entertaining and certainly helped to get the show back on track.

Mascara Dorada defeated Champion BUSHI: In our second title match, we got a title change as Mascara Dorada won back the title from BUSHI as many expected him to do here. We got the usual shenanigans from Los Ingobernables, but Atlantis was with Dorada and helped to fight off Naito. That is where this match was different than the previous one; the previous title match had a ton of wild shit, while the point of this match was to tell the story of Dorada overcoming the odds to get the title match. And I felt that they succeeded here, while at times this can be something that hurts the match, I felt it clicked here, with the crowd reacting well to what they did. BUSHI still isn’t working for me big time as a singles, but he has the look and as part of the Los Ingobernables I can dig it; there is room to improve still. Dorada looked really crisp here, and won the title back after fighting off EVIL and hitting the Dorada Screwdriver. Another good match, and the show is starting to pick up nicely.

Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada & Virus defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Dragon Lee: This felt like the usual NJPW semi-main multi-man tag, which in this case isn’t a bad thing because they tend to be good to great. Dragon Lee and Virus did some nice stuff together, but they were limited in ways, likely due to saving them for the next show. And that’s where these tags can benefit the company, because you can still have a good match without burning everyone out. They all worked hard, the action kept a good pace, we got some dives and even some comedy mixed in. And it worked well to deliver the third quality match in a row. Virus used the stretch (La Motocicleta? Moto Virus?) on Lee to score the win, and post match, Virus vowed to get his title match. This was a good match and set up the title match for the next show, so mission accomplished here.

Mephisto & Ultimo Guerrero defeated Volador Jr. & Mistico: I really love when we get the CMLL specials on these shows for a main event, I do not get to watch as much Lucha as I would like, so it is always a treat for me. I thought everyone just worked so effortlessly together here, both in one on one situations as well as from a team work standpoint. I wasn’t sure what to expect here, but I love tag team wrestling and this was just a blast from start to finish. We got some great dives, and as opposed to other things on this show, this felt very fresh and lively. Mephisto took out Volador with a dive late in the match, which allowed Guerrero to hit the reverse superplex on Mistico for the finish. This was a very match to close out the show, the best of the night; the final four matches turned this show around big time.

– If you want to learn more about New Japan, my friends over at Voices of Wrestling have released their NJPW 2015: Year in Review eBook. Support their hard work and give it a look.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.4

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was a tale of two shows, as the first three matches were not worth the timer invested, and could have made me turn it off if I wasn’t reviewing it. They weren’t bad, but they just did nothing for me to keep my interest. Thankfully the final four matches delivered, turning things around and making the show wothk my time. If you are short on time, skip the first three matches and go to the final four, there is nothing that will make the MOTY list in December, but it’s a very fun and enjoyable home stretch that made the show worth my time.