Csonka’s NJPW/CMLL FantasticaMania Review 1.19.18

Csonka’s NJPW/CMLL FantasticaMania Review 1.19.18

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Okumura defeated Fuego @ 6:52 via pin [**½]
– LIJ defeated Dragon Lee, Hirai Kawato, Satoshi Kojima, & Star Jr. @ 16:04 via submission [***¼]
– Atlantis, Drone, Mistico, & Volador Jr. defeated Barbaro Cavernario, Puma, Disturbio, Ultimo Guerrero @ 12:30 via pin [**¾]
– CMLL Middleweight Title Match: Cuatrero defeated Champion Angel de Oro @ 11:55 via pin [**¾]
– Mexican Welterweight Title Match: Champion Sobernaro Jr. defeated Sanson @ 11:33 via pin [***¾]
– CMLL Light Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Neibla Roja defeated Gran Guerrero @ 16:27 via pin [***¾]

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– My Top 23 EVOLVE Matches of 2017.
– My Top 24 ROH Matches of 2017.
– My Top 8 Matches of December 2017.
– My NJPW WrestleKingdom 12 Takeaways.
– My Top 38 WWE Matches of 2017.
– My Top 25 Matches of 2017.

Fuego vs. Okumura: They look to work some basic back and forth, with Fuego taking the early advantage. Fuego is too quick for Okumura and fucks around a bit to piss him off, before sending him to the floor and hitting a suicide dive. Back in and Fuego hits a RANA, but Okumura rolls through into a sunset flip for 2. Okumura follows with a clothesline for 2, and then argues with the ref, allowing Fuego to roll him up for 2. Okumura then hits a Tower of London out of the corner, covering for 2. They work to the floor, Okumura’s wife (Mima) tries to help out but he slaps her on purpose instead. They hug and make up, but the distraction allowed Fuego to hit a moonsault to the floor. He follows with a Fosbury flop. Back in and Fuego hits the high cross, and they trade chops. Fuego with a trip and springboard splash gets 2. The slam follows, and Fuego misses the lionsault, and Okumura gets a cradle for 2. Okumura now hits a draping DDT, but Fuego makes the ropes. The inverted DDT follows and Okumura picks up the win. Okumura defeated Fuego @ 6:52 via pin [**½] This was a perfectly solid little opener here, with fun stuff from Fuego and an interested crowd.

That was Okumura's first singles win since 12/27/2016 over Puma.

— luchablog (@luchablog) January 19, 2018

– Next up is the Black Cat memorial match.

Black Cat's wife comments that every year she's surprised that it's gotten another year longer. She thanks everyone for coming and hopes that next year all the Mexican stars will be back again. #njcmll

— chris charlton (@reasonjp) January 19, 2018

Dragon Lee, Hirai Kawato, Satoshi Kojima, & Star Jr. vs. BUSHI, Rush, Hiromu Takahashi, & Tetsuya Naito: LIJ attacks before the bell and takes the fight to the floor right away. Naito even attacks Milano as he tries to do commentary, choking him out. Naito helps him back to his chair and then beats on him some more and slams him off of the announce table. Back in the ring and Rush works over Kojima. Kojima fires up and lays in chops and shoulder blocks. Star tags in and lays in chops, but Rush cuts him off and lays the boots to him. Star battles back with a head scissors, and hits a springboard dropkick. He then wipes out Rush with a corkscrew moonsault to the floor. Back in and Rush cuts him off, and tries to rip off his mask and almost rips if all the way of, tearing at it. Naito tags in, working in his hoodie, Star’s mask is barely on at this point as Naito is in full gives no fucks mode. BUSHI tags in, taking the heat and isolating Star. LIJ rushes in and stomps the shit out of him. They pose in celebration. Takahashi tags in, continuing to rip at the mask, Kawato rushes in but Naito takes him out. Star fights back, and hits s running kick. Lee gets the hot tag and fights off BUSHI by running Takahashi into him and covering Takahashi for 2. They trade chops, both fire up and pick up the pace and trade Germans. Takahashi then hits the overhead toss into the corner, and Lee tags in Kojima as Rush gets the tag. Rush works machinegun chops, but Kojima fires right back with his chops and lights up Rush, the corner forearm follows, but Rush cuts him off with stomps and a kick to the face. He and Naito pose. Kojima cuts Rush off with the cutter, follows with forearms but Rush hits the dropkick. Kawato now gets the tag and works over BUSHI and then Naito. The faces isolate BUSHI, working corner attacks and Kawato hits the missile dropkick for 2. He follows with kicks, and then the crab but BUSHI makes the ropes. Takahashi in and LIJ attack Kawato. They clear out the faces, leaving Kawato on his own. BUSHI hits a slam, and he locks on the crab. Kawato fights, but has to tap as LIJ hold off the faces. LIJ defeated Dragon Lee, Hirai Kawato, Satoshi Kojima, & Star Jr. @ 16:04 via submission [***¼] This was a good match with a great crowd, about what you’d expect from this match in a good way, and it was a ton of fun.

– Post match, LIJ beat down the faces, with Rush beating on Kojima’s knee with a chair (they face on Monday). Naito attacked Milano again after the match.

Atlantis, Drone, Mistico, & Volador Jr. vs. Barbaro Cavernario, Puma, Disturbio, Ultimo Guerrero: Disturbio and Drone begin, They work some back and forth, and into a stand off. Mistico & Guerrero tag in, and they both take turns stalling. They lock up, work into a series of counters, and Mistico gets the better of things. The crowd is behind Guerrero here, he takes control, grounding Mistico but Mistico escapes and gets back to his feet. Mistico hits a head scissors and Guerrero bails to the floor. Volador tags in, as does Cavernario (they face off Sunday). They work some back and forth, Volador hits a kick, so Cavernario does the worm. Volador tosses him to the floor, and follows with a slingshot RANA. Atlantis & Puma tag in, and the heels clear the ring and isolate Drone, take him out and then work over Volador, with Cavernario looking to do some damage. Volador fights back with the back handspring elbow, and the faces clear the ring. Disturbio & Drone in, and Disturbio takes control, laying in chops. Drone hits shotgun knee and a corner dropkick, but Cavernario dropkicks him to the floor. Volador in and Cavernario cuts him off, lays the boots to him, but Volador quickly cuts him off. Guerrero and Mistico tag back in, Mistico hits a superkick and chops, but Guerrero is not amused. They work up top and Guerrero hits a gourd buster off the ropes. Mistico takes him back up top and hits the SUPER RANA, covering for 2. Puma & Atlantis in, Atlantis hits a monkey flip and then tosses him to the floor. Disturbio cuts him off, Drone in and sends him to the floor. It breaks down, Mistico flies in with a RAN, and Volador hits a head scissors and we get a trio of dives by the faces, as Atlantis makes Puma tap. Atlantis, Drone, Mistico, & Volador Jr. defeated Barbaro Cavernario, Puma, Disturbio, Ultimo Guerrero @ 12:30 via submission [**¾] This was a pretty good, but hectic match, that never felt fully locked in, but was fun overall.

– Post match, Cavernario tells Volador that he’ll leave with the title on Sunday.

CMLL Middleweight Title Match: Champion Angel de Oro vs. Cuatrero: Ultimo Guerrero is out with Cuatrero. They lock up and into some back and forth before a standoff. Oro now looks to work the arm, follows with arm drags, but Cuatrero runs him over with a shoulder block, covering for 2. Pro then sends Cuatrero to the floor and follows with a suicide dive. Back in and Oro hits a high cross, goes for a RANA, but Cuatrero rolls through into a sunset flip for 2. Cuatrero now hits a clothesline, covering for 2 and follows with mounted strikes. He then lays in chops, and hits a spinebuster before locking in a single leg crab. He transitions that into an STF. Oro makes the ropes, but Cuatrero continues to attack, laying in the boots to the leg. The basement dropkick follows and Cuatrero covers for 2. Cuatrero misses a corner charge and falls to the floor. Oro follows him out with a moonsault, but can’t follow up as he sells the leg. Back in they go and Oro covers for 2. Oro then connects with a dropkick, but Cuatrero sends him to the floor and follows with a suicide dive. Back in they go, Oro hits a springboard arm drag and then busts out a Sasuke special. Dragon Lee is out to second him now. Back in and Oro catches Cuatrero with a kick and lionsault, covering for 2. Cuatrero battles back, hitting a sitout powerbomb for 2. Oro looked for a submission, but Cuatrero attacked the leg and hit a code breaker and spinning powerbomb to win the title. Cuatrero defeated Champion Angel de Oro @ 11:55 via pin [**¾] In what was a surprise to many, they pulled the title change here in a match that took a while to get going, and ended up being pretty good. The title change is good in the fact that it may add more drama to the final two matches, making the crowd feel that another possible title change may happen.

Cuatrero is now
* Occidente Trios Champion
* Mexican National Trios Champion
* Arena Coliseo Tag Team Champion
* CMLL Middleweight Champion#njcmll

— luchablog (@luchablog) January 19, 2018

Mexican Welterweight Title Match: Champion Sobernaro Jr. vs. Sanson: Volador & Cavernario are the seconds here. They lock up and keep things pretty basic to begin, they start to pick up the pace and Sobernaro hits a head scissors and Sanson rolls to the floor. Sobernaro says it’s Fosbury flop time and wipes him out as the seconds have words. Back in and Sanson cuts off a RANA, hitting a shoulder breaker for 2. Sobernaro battles back, hanging Sanson in the ropes and following with an asai moonsault for 2. He then superkicks Sanson to the floor and hits a sweet corkscrew tope. Back in and Sanson sidesteps the missile dropkick. Sobernaro cuts him off with an enziguri, Sanson is sitting up top, but catches Sobernaro and hits a superbomb off the ropes for a good near fall. Sobernaro sends Sanson back to the floor, they tease dives and Sanson sends Sobernaro back to the floor and hits a springboard high cross. Sobernaro fights back, heads up top and hits a wild corkscrew dive to take Sanson out. DO ALL THE FLIPPIES BOYS! They work back into the ring, Sobernaro hits a corkscrew high cross, covering for 2. Sanson hangs Sobernaro in the ropes and hits a knee drop off the ropes. He follows with knee strikes, but Sobernaro lays in chops and they trade strikes. Sanson up top, gets cut off and Sobernaro hits him with a run up dropkick. Sobernaro looks to follow him up, but Sanson hits a rack bomb off the ropes for a great near fall. Sobernaro then hits the sitout piledriver to end things and retain. Champion Sobernaro Jr. defeated Sanson @ 11:33 via pin [***¾] This was a very good match, and the most wide open match stylistically on the show so far. They worked well together, delivering a ton of fun action, some good near falls and just an insanely fun match overall. Please book Sobernaro for BOTSJ.

CMLL Light Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Neibla Roja vs. Gran Guerrero: Guerrero controls early, looking to ground Roja. Roja picks up the pace, and they work into a standoff. Roja hits a high cross and head scissors Guerrero to the floor; he catches a dive, NO FLIPPIES for you Roja, as Guerrero hits a powerbomb on the floor. Back in and Guerrero hits a pop up flapjack and dropkick before raising the roof. Guerrero then sends Roja to the floor and follows with a tope. He follows with chops and they roll back in. Guerrero beats down Roja with chops, but Guerrero misses a charge and falls to the floor. Roja then connects with a tope. Back in they go, Roja hits an enziguri and high cross for 2. he follows with kicks and a code red for 2. Roja follows with a pop up knee strike, covering for 2. He then lays the boots to Guerrero, and the springboard splash connects, but the lionsault eats knees and Guerrero covers for 2. Guerrero hits a facebuster, and again, covers for 2. The uranage by Guerrero connects for 2. Guerrero hits a version of a flatliner, and that also gets 2. Roja cuts off Guerrero with a dropkick and follows with a run up high cross to the floor. They work back into the ring, they trade big time strikes and clotheslines and Roja hits the rolling forearm for 2. Guerrero heads up top, gets cut off and Roja looks for a RANA and gets it, covering for 2. Roja sets Guerrero up top again, follows him up but Guerrero fucking lawn darts him to the mat, covering for 2. Guerrero lays the boots to him, but Roja rolls into a pendulum hold, but Guerrero escapes. Guerrero up top, Roja cuts him off and follows him up but Guerrero hits the Michinoku driver/Gran Guerrero special off the ropes for a great near fall. Guerrero takes Roja back up top, but Roja hits the double chicken wing slam off the ropes and retains. Champion Neibla Roja defeated Gran Guerrero @ 16:27 via pin [***¾] This was another very good match and a string way to close the show. They really picked it up down the stretch with some great counters and near falls, and had the crowd the entire time. Really good stuff here and with the previous match, made for a very strong closing for the show.

– Post match, Roja cuts a promo

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.2

The final score: review Good

The 411

I don’t get to cover lucha like I’d like to, so I always look forward to these FantasticaMania shows. They are always fun and it gives me a chance to watch a lot of talent I’d otherwise not see. The first live show of 2018 for the tour was a good and strong show, and clocking in at 2 hours and 20 minutes, was a breeze to watch. Nothing was bad, and while I wouldn’t call anything great, the final two matches are certainly worth your time.