SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
CMLL’S 93rd Anniversario is in the books. It was pretty strong outing from the world’s oldest wrestling promotion featuring two very good matches and a main event that went pretty much the only way it could. There was one baffling, simply befuddling booking decision which we’ll discuss. Let’s unpack the good and bad from the biggest event of CMLL’s year.
HITS
Bandido vs. Soberano Jr.:
Easily the Match of the Night. When calling the CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston match at AEW Full Gear 2021, Jim Ross at one point exclaimed, “What a goddamn firefight!” That call came to my mind when watching Bandido and Soberano Jr. fight. These two absolutely went at each other. This wasn’t about a dazzling display that lucha can be. This was about two guys who wanted to beat the hell out of each other. Soberano tearing the top of Bandido’s mask off and Bandido reciprocating by ripping Soberano’s mask to the point where he needed a replacement was evidence of how personal this one was. I thought Bandido had him beat with the 21Plex, but Soberano Jr. kicked out. The Soberano Driver on the top turnbuckle looked devastating and that was followed by a Soberano Driver in the middle of the ring which looked just as painful. Now let’s hope CMLL finds a way to capitalize on this win.
Andrade El Idolo vs. Volador Jr.
This feud dates back to Andrade’s time in CMLL as La Sombra. Volador Jr even donned his mask for this match. These worked so well together. Everything was crisp and fluid. Volador Jr. diving from the top of the stairs to the stage onto Andrade was the spot of the night. Andrade winning was no surprise, but I don’t think it’s Volador Jr. at all. Yes, he has one of CMLL’s 32 titles (no that’s not an exaggeration), but he’s on the tail end of his career and Andrade isn’t.
Tìtan vs. Komander
Unlike the Bandido-Soberano match, Tìtan and Komander did put on a dazzling display of lucha. Both of these guys were flying around the ring, routinely defying gravity. Komander’s Space Man Rope Walk remains one of the most ridiculous moves in wrestling. I was hoping that Komander would win the CMLL World Welterweight Title. He’s so talented yet he routinely loses and he did just that here. At least way Tìtan bent him in half for the submission looked excruciating. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this in any other CMLL column, but Tìtan has some the best entrance music in wrestling.
Mìstico vs. Averno (Mask vs. Hair)
Mìstico & Averno winning the four-way tag and main eventing Anniversario was the only sensible option. Mìstico is the biggest star in the company. He had to be in the main event of the biggest show of the year. The match itself was fairly paint-by-numbers, but it gets a soft hit for how over Mìstico is and how much Averno enjoys being a heel. Mìstico is an underrated seller, in my opinion. He sold his ass off in this match before making his big comeback and getting the win with La Mistica. Averno got his head shaved (he somehow looks more evil when bald), but immediately got his heat back by stealing the masks of all three members of El Sky Team
Los Hermanos Chavez vs. Los Hermanos Calvera vs. El Sky Team vs. Los Villianos
A soft hit for a fun opener that showed off a lot of CMLL’s talent. The most surprising aspect of this match was the outcome. Los Hermanos Chavez already broke the record for most tag title defenses. There’s really nothing left for them to do with the belts. Having them retain the titles then was a questionable decision, at best. It would’ve made way more sense to put over Los Hermanos Calavera or even El Sky Team and then let Angel de Oro split off from his brother move up the card.
Production
It felt like CMLL upped their production game for this show. They had some cool new camera shots with a drone cam, updated graphics that looked punchier, short videos from the heads of NJPW, Stardom, RevPro, MLW, and AEW wishing them happy anniversary, and of course a special performance this time by Sonora Santanera. CMLL always does a good job making these big shows feel special. Having videos sent in by the heads of each of their partner promotions was a nice touch. It makes it feel like a cohesive wrestling world.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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MISSES
Persephone vs. Tessa Blanchard vs. Starlight Kid vs. Mina Shirakawa
All four of the women in this match are good to great workers. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was that Starlight Kid and Mina Shirakawa had no reason to be in this match. There was a lot chatter about how many talent from partner promotions were on this card and it really stuck out here. This match was really about Tessa and Persephone. The most interesting moments came when those two were squaring off. Starlight Kid and Mina Shirakawa just felt like superfluous extras. As if that wasn’t egregious enough, the finish was basically a non-finish. Persephone used the old Eddie Guerrero trick making the referee believe Tessa had struck her with the title belt which led to a DQ. I was fully prepared for Tessa to win the title by pinning Mina Shirakawa which would’ve been a cop out in its own right. To do that DQ finish on the biggest show of the year was just inexplicable. I don’t like Tessa Blanchard but there’s no arguing she’s over. Just get it over with and put the title on her already.
Hechicero vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Not a bad match from an in-ring standpoint, but like the previous match this one also suffered from too many participants. Hechicero against either of these guys in a one-on-one match would’ve been preferable. More importantly, though, it feels like this was a missed opportunity for a CMLL talent like Xelhua to have a big match on a big stage.
Barbaro Cavernario & Dragon Rojo Jr vs. Zankodan Jr. & Star Jr. vs. Último Guerrero & Templario vs. Mìstico & Averno
I actually think CMLL did a pretty good job of building up three out of the four of these feuds. Unfortunately, the match was just kind of there. Everyone worked hard, but there just wasn’t much in the way of audience investment. Perhaps the crowd realized that Mìstico vs. Averno was inevitable.
