The finals of the 2020 Family Tag Tournament were decided as Fantasticamania returned to Korakuen for the second of four days.
We’re still at Korakuen Hall, with Chris Charlton and Mavs Gillis back on commentary…
Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Luciferno & DOUKI
I think they might have hit Fuego’s overdub way too early… and we start with Fuego coming through the crowd. Korakuen’s looking a little light today, but I guess that means Taguchi and Fuego can have their fun. Just like in Impact…
An armdrag from Fuego has DOUKI on the back foot early on, and to his credit, DOUKI’s selling the pipe sodomy from Taguchi last night. Luciferno and Taguchi come in, trading chops before a hip attack from Taguchi finally lands. That sent Luciferno outside as we’re back to DOUKI and Fuego, with the latter Matador’ing handshakes before he faked out DOUKI on the way to a springboard armdrag.
Luciferno has more luck as he trapped Fuego in a full nelson, only to get chopped by DOUKI as the rudos were taken outside… only for duelling baseball slides to miss as Taguchi and Fuego were sent into each other. Fuego’s hurled into the crowd as they take control, with Fuego taking a low DOUKI dropkick before chops took Taguchi down. He misses a hip attack in the corner then tried to Fuego-out Luciferno, only to get met with an atomic drop, eventually rebounding with a tope con giro.
Back in the ring, DOUKI tries to unmask Fuego, then rolled him into a seatbelt cradle for a near-fall, only for Fuego to come back with a trip and a springboard splash… before he pulled DOUKI into a trapped-arm armbar. I do like how lucha submissions are like the “old days” of wrestling, where the mere hint of the hold makes people submit, as opposed to the long struggles we get nowadays. This was fine, but this Korakuen crowd is either badly miced or really flat today… **¾
OKUMURA, Namajague & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Stuka Jr., Flyer & Guerrero Maya Jr.
They’re doing OKUMURA vs. Stuka Jr. on Sunday, hence all these “prep” tags…
Guerrero Maya Jr. and Yoshinobu Kanemaru start us off as they lock up into the corner, before they worked over each other’s legs with heel hooks. A tiltawhirl backbreaker takes Kanemaru outside, where Maya followed as Flyer and Namajague took over. There’s a poke to the eye from the rudo, who then took a springboard armdrag to the outside as Flyer faked out a dive.
Stuka and OKUMURA come in, with Stuka pissed about having his mask ripped off him yesterday. He lands some headscissors to take OKUMURA to the outside, where a dive followed as the tags flow freely. Another ‘rana from Flyer takes out Namajague, but OKUMURA’s tiltawhirl backbreaker stops him. Mima Shimoda trips Stuka as OKUMURA stayed on top, going for the mask once again.
Namajague and Kanemaru stomp away on Guerrero Maya – it’s like they do this a lot – and the rudos stay on top as Flyer gets triple-teamed. Stuka had a similar fate, but he overcame it and eventually suplexed Kanemaru onto Namajague. Flyer’s back in with a ‘rana to take Kanemaru out for a tope con giro, while Namajague’s dropkicked out so Guerrero Maya could hit the same dive.
OKUMURA’s in to steal the win though, ripping off Stuka’s mask as a roll-up gets the pin… and I think there’s a case to be made for velcro instead of laces on those masks! ***
After the match, OKUMURA demanded that his match on Sunday with Stuka be for the title… and I guess it’s on? Stuka wants it to be mask vs. hair instead, but OKUMURA just wants the belt.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) vs. Audaz, Dulce Gardenia & Hiroshi Tanahashi
The revolving door of partners for Tanahashi and Gardenia continues here… will they find more luck today?
Audaz and BUSHI start, but headscissors take the masked LIJ man outside as Audaz fakes out a dive. Tags bring in Shingo and Tanahashi, with the Ace landing some armdrags before a crossbody out of the corner had Shingo down. Dulce Gardenia screams exactly like Juice Robinson, and comes in to try and get some of Shingo… who just kicks him away. Shingo gets free and clotheslines Gardenia and Tanahashi… then went after the exotico on the outside.
EVIL and Tanahashi head into the crowd as someone’s got a… KEMONITO MASK?! Where can I get one of those?! LIJ dominates in the crawling as we settle down to Tanahashi getting caught in a Shingo chinlock, before a camel clutch from EVIL – with some hair – kept the Ace on the defensive.
Shingo sucker punches Tanahashi, but gets caught in a Twist and Shout, as tags bring in Gardenia and BUSHI. Who just sidesteps a running dropkick from Gardenia, whose braids get used to take him into the corner before BUSHI ran into his arse. Gardenia tries a smooch again, but has more luck with a rope-walk armdrag before he tried to show EVIL that not everything had to be evil.
Gardenia eventually gets his kiss on BUSHI, but BUSHI shrugs it off to hit a flying ‘rana on Audaz, before EVIL returned to catch Audaz with a Bronco buster. Audaz responds with a Sasuke special to the outside, while Gardenia moonsaults into BUSHI on the floor… Tanahashi joins in with a cannonball off the apron, before Audaz held EVIL as Gardenia… kissed his own man. EVIL’s had enough of the romance, and tosses Gardenia outside, before a Darkness Scorpion quickly made Audaz tap. Easy enough for EVIL in the end, and perhaps the best undercard tag on this tour so far? ***½
Forastero vs. Titan
A rare singles match on this tour, and Forastero’s got a bit of a height advantage, but Titan’s speed advantage helped him take orastero outside for a wild tope suicida.
Yep, definitely NOT the flying hug.
That dive looked to take a lot out of Titan as he needed time to compose himself… Forastero capitalises by trying to unmask him before he hung Titan in a Tree of Woe for a low dropkick. It gets a solid two-count, as Forastero followed up tripping Titan ahead of a leg grapevine that was thankfully close to the ropes, before a baseball slide dropkick took Titan to the outside.
Forastero keeps working over the leg, but Titan gets free, chasing Forastero into the corner for a through-the-ropes clothesline as he’d been trying to relieve the pressure on his ankle. A gamengiri on the apron follows, as do headscissors and another dive into the crowd as Titan’s leg looked to get worse.
Back in the ring, Titan misses a springboard stomp, which jars the ankle as he’s again caught in a heel hook… with Forastero rolling him away from the ropes, but the momentum just takes him to the other side. Titan’s offence is almost desperate here, as he trips Forastero into the corner before lifting him up top… but the top rope ‘rana needs two goes to come off!
It almost gets the win, as the pair resort to trading chops before Forastero went right back to the heel hook. Heading to the ropes for a break, Titan just gets suplexed in off the apron… but he’s able to rebound, hitting that springboard stomp for a near-fall, before another one, this time of the top rope, gets the W. Pretty decent stuff, with Titan almost KO’ing himself in the opening seconds before gutting through all that leg work on the way to a win. His tour’s not done yet… and has the work of Forastero mean that Titan’s weaker going into the trios title match on Monday? ***¼
Ultimo Guerrero & Barbaro Cavernario vs. Satoshi Kojima & Caristico
“He went to the family business in Connecticut”. OOF. That’s one way to describe Caristico’s run as Sin Cara…
Cavernario and Caristico start us off, swapping snapmares before Caristico rolled outside and stepped away from a teased dive. In comes Kojima and Guerrero, who trade shoulder tackles before they stepped up into chops, then headed outside, where Guerrero clocked Kojima with a chair to the back.
Caristico takes over in the ring but is instantly double-teamed as a Cavernario springboard Vader bomb gets a near-fall before Caristico came back with a ‘rana. Kojima’s back as bodies are flying, with Caristico landing a tope suicida to the caveman. Guerrero goes for Kojima, but gets cornered with Machine Gun chops, and takes the top rope elbow as Kojima almost won it there.
Kojima goes into unfamiliar territory, and his top rope ‘rana’s countered as Guerrero turned it into a powerbomb for a near-fall. Caristico’s in and gets put off by Cavernario’s spittle, which starts another strike battle that ends with a handspring elbow. A gamengiri makes Cavernario do the worm, before Caristico’s springboard armdrag took Cavernario outside.
Guerrero trips Caristico, who’s taken outside for a springboard crossbody to the floor, before a brainbuster from Kojima back in the ring nearly put Ultimo Guerrero down. A lariat seconds later gets him a little closer, before the Cozy Lariat gets the win. Solid enough, and Kojima gets a bit more steam under his belt going into Sunday’s CMLL World championship match. ***
CMLL Family Tag Tournament 2020 – Third-Place: Negro Casas & Tiger vs. Euforia & Soberano Jr.
Every tournament needs a third-place play-off it seems, and this is no exception.
Soberano crashes into Tiger with a leaping knee early on before some chops gave way to leapfrogs and flip overs. A nice swinging ‘rana takes Tiger outside, as Casas ran in to clobber Soberano into the corner, following in with a stalling dropkick for a two-count… broken up by Euforia tapping Negro Casas on the back. The hell?!
The relative veterans trade chops, with Euforia knocking Casas on his arse, before Negro Casas hits a clothesline for a delayed two-count. Tiger’s back to kick away a floatover, but he’s met with a clothesline and some rolling suplex attempts before we swapped around, with Casas and Soberano trading big boots. Casas has enough of being kicked, so he throws some chops before he got dropkicked to the floor by Soberano, who followed up with a Sasuke special. Back in the ring, Euforia powerbombs Tiger then bulldozed him to the outside as Negro Casas had to survive some double-teaming. A forearm from Euforia decks Casas, but a missed dropkick from Soberano takes out the wrong man.
Soberano makes it worse as he threw Casas into Euforia on the floor, before finally landing a Tornillo to Tiger. Another ‘rana to Tiger’s caught and turned into a powerbomb, before a suplex looked to have Soberano in trouble… but he’s back to catch Tiger with a springboard guillotine legdrop… then a Destroyer for the win! The hell?! That move wins a match now! On the whole, a rough day at the office for Soberano Jr., despite getting the win, but at least he gets the proverbial bronze medal here. ***
CMLL Family Tag Tournament 2020 – Final: La Sangre Dinamita (Sanson & Cuatrero) vs. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja
Sanson and Cuatrero lost in the finals last year – can they go a step better here?
We start with dives, as Sanson and Cuatrero – still in their chaps – hit corkscrew planchas to the outside, before they whipped their foes using their ring jackets. Entrance gear is more than just for looks, guys!
Sanson uses a chair from the front row to lay out Roja, and things continue to get worse as Niebla Roja’s double-teamed back in the ring. A double dropkick has Roja down, just in time for Oro to come in and take a similar beating as he ends up getting a double-press slam across the ring.
Eventually there’s a turnaround as Roja came back with a splash to Cuatrero and Sanson, before they got sent outside for a tope con giro and a moonsault in stereo! Back in the ring, Cuatrero and Oro trade corner clotheslines, before Sanson broke up a cover as he ended up landing a pop-up Falcon arrow for just a one-count. Roja breaks up the pin there and looked to finish off Sanson with an elbow, eventually landing a rolling elbow in the corner… then a second one for a near-fall. Some double-teaming has Roja in more trouble as low corner dropkicks had him laying… but Oro makes another save before popping up Cuatrero into a Roja kick for a near-fall.
A springboard elbow drop from Cuatrero nearly puts Oro away as the tide shifted, leading to a nice double-team from the Hermanos as Sanson’s dropped onto Cuatrero with almost an avalanche Dodon. It’s not enough though, and they’re quickly caught with duelling inverted bear hugs that they rolled out of for some near-falls. A Boston crab and seated surfboard’s next as the Dinamitas almost gave up, but Cuatrero ends up missing a running knee, sending himself into a cameraman on the outside. Roja dives onto him to keep him there as Sanson looked to finish the job, picking up Oro for a whirlibird powerbomb, but Oro kicks outbefore a superkick and a Quebrada from Oro kept the pressure up.
Oro tries to take Sanson down off the top rope, but it’s countered as a rack bomb from Sanson off the top rope’s enough to get the win. La Sangre Dinamite’s able to one-up themselves and win the tournament – capping off a solid night’s action. ***½
The show ends with Sanson and Cuatrero celebrating with some generic VICTORY trophies, straight out of Pro Evolution Soccer…
All in all, this was an improved night of action compared to Thursday, even if the Korakuen crowd felt a little light and quieter at times. There were some bright spots here, with the tag tournament final worth your time, along with the LIJ trios tag – and after a day off on Saturday, Fantasticamania’s back for two more nights at Korakuen as the tour wraps up.