Monday, February 11, 2013

NJPW/CMLL Fantasica Mania 2013 - Night 3 (01/20/13)

Maximo vs Taichi [*1/2]
This was not as good as the tag match the previous night. Maximo's gimmick worked so well with more people involved in the match. Maximo does a great job at putting over his kiss as a move that will make the recipient faint for three seconds. The ending is so epic where Taichi turns the gimmick around on Maximo with great success and ends up winning the match. Apparently Taichi has taken a liking toward men as he chases his partner TAKA to the back. Odd is the only way to sum up this match.

BUSHI, Diamante, Jushin Thunder Liger, Mascara Dorada, Tiger Mask & Titan vs CHAOS, Misterioso Jr & OKUMURA - 12 Man Elimination Torneo Cibernetico Match [***]
The heels/rudos have won more than I expected during this weekend. We got a fun Cibernetico with tons of action. The eliminations were super fast and included Liger getting a pin with a Thez Press. Tomohiro Inishi of CHAOS picked up the win in a super fun, super fast match.

Rey Escorpion vs Rush [**1/2]
I wasn't as big a fan of this match as I had hoped I would be. Rush is a wrestler with a dynamite look and a killer finisher but showed very little in between to me. His Rush Driver is boss and another finisher (like Escorpion's Aguijon Mortal) that can end a match in an instant. In a great show of continuity from the previous night's tag match where Escorpion flattened Rush with the Aguijon Mortal, this time Rush countered into his Rush Driver for the pin.

Dragon Rojo Jr© vs La Sombra - NWA World Middleweight Title [***]
This was a good title match with both guys working hard and laying in all of their spots. La Sombra is a crowd favorite and gets the win and the title here after the Brillante Driver. This was pure Lucha with the combatants fighting all over the ringside area and dives aplenty. These two are fun to watch.

La Mascara© vs Volador Jr - Mexican National Light Heavyweight Title [**1/4]
I was not a huge fan of this match. They went with a breakneck pace for a couple of minutes and then rest then repeat. A gradual build or a consistent pace would have done this match a lot of good. Their moves were very good, including a moonsault suicida which is a favorite of mine. La Mascara takes the match with La Campana submission.

Euforia, Kazuchika Okada & Mephisto vs Atlantis, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Prince Devitt [***]
We get a very short main event that provides good action but a finish I hate. Mephisto hits the Demon Driller on Atlantis and only gets two. Atlantis immediately gets up and applies La Atlantida for the submission win. There was no setup for Atlantis's finisher just kick out and apply the hold and its over. Okada and Tanahashi get a very nice exchange near the end with Okada striking out on two Rainmaker attempts and getting High Fly Flowed on the floor. They have such great chemistry together I would love to see another rematch, though I may be in the minority on that front.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Night 3 was very good and might even top Night 2 in quality. I like the Cibernetico match which was all action and the Middleweight Title match was the match of the night. Nothing special here just a good solid night of wrestling.

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