Sunday saw the final day of this year’s Fantasticamania tour, with the final card at Korakuen Hall showcasing some of CMLL’s best.
We’ve got dubbed-in music and commentary here – and my word, we’re going to get some dubbed-in gems here!
El Barbaro Cavernario, Gedo & Jado vs. Blue Panther Jr., Soberano Jr. & Henare
Your typical opener, but with an upgrade in quality here, as we started with Soberano flipping around Jado, before a ‘rana send him to the outside for a faked-out dive from Soberano… who just got rammed with a knee from Gedo and Cavernario.
We got a comedy spot as Jado and Cavernario splashed each other (and Gedo) as Soberano outsmarted them… so the caveman took a powder after he was chewed out. Jado kisses and makes up with Cavernario, so that team stays together… for a few seconds as Henare scores a trio of shoulder tackles.
Henare scores a top rope shoulder tackle for a near-fall on Gedo, before he runs into a thrust kick to the midsection. An eye rake sees Henare taken into the wrong corner as he’s quickly targeted with chops from Jado, before Cavernario comes in to kick him in the ribs. Henare finally makes a comeback and tags out to Sobrano who hits a tornillo of the top rope, before he’s caught by Cavenario… who’s then knocked off the apron by Gedo and Jado.
Sobrano stays on top of the bookers and hits a double jump springboard to the floor whilst Blue Panther takes over on Cavernario. Barbaro duck a leap over and tries for his Cavernaria, before Panther gets the feet up to block a springboard splash. Panther succeeds with an avalanche clothesline, but he takes too much time to celebrate as the caveman shocks him with the Cavernaria for the instant submission. Decent for an opener, but not much else to write home about. **¾
Hechicero, Raziel & OKUMURA vs. Stuka Jr., Tiger Mask & Jushin “Thunder” Liger
OKUMURA had his wife, Mima Shimoda, with him… hopefully not to take any bumps. We started with Stuka and Hechicero, as a headlock takedown gives way to a wristlock from Hechicero, then a double armbar that Stuka escapes by jumping onto Hechicero’s shoulders, and eventually resulting in a series of pinning attempts. Hechicero picks up Stuka in a sort-of stalling slingshot, but Stuka sits up before spinning free as some headscissors take down Hechicero.
OKUMURA comes in next to take on Liger, who’s quickly tripped by Mimoda… who then gets shoved into her other half. Lucha tiltawhirl backbreaker from Liger to OKUMURA, before he hiptosses the heels out of the ring for a trio of faked-out dives! The rudos return as Raziel wraps up Tiger Mask in a figure four surfboard stretch, before he tries to unmask Tiger. That’s stopped by Liger trying to unmask him… add in Hechicero, then Stuka, and we’ve got the unmasking equivalent of the BOLA thumb-in-bum spot!
With the hoods loose, Tiger Mask and Raziel accidentally unmask as their faces are shown briefly before they swap hoods… and apparently Liger can only recognise people via their heads and not their gear, as he dishes out a tiltawhirl backbreaker to Tiger Mask… because he was wearing Raziel’s hood. Stuka has to explain what happened, and again the rudos take over as Hechicero scores a swinging hammerlock into a backbreaker on Liger.
Stuka’s dropped with an OKUMURA spinebuster, before Hechicero rolls him up into a kick, but they head outside as Stuka gives the lucha special backbreaker to all three rudos on the floor. Hey, Shimoda takes one too, before Stuka heads up top and lands on all four with a backflip splash.
Back inside, Raziel nearly pins Tiger Mask with a Blue Thunder bomb – leading to a weird spectacle as the Raziel-masked Tiger Mask hits a Tiger Bomb, then a Tiger Suplex for the win. Aside from the swapped mask spots, this was just a fun comedy match, with a hint of identify exposure… after the match, Liger lifted up the hood and confirmed that it was really Tiger Mask under the Raziel hood, before they use towels to put the right masks back on. . **½
Dragon Lee & Titan vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
The tease to the Takahashi/Dragon Lee title match on February 11 continues here!
There’s a jump start from the faces as a pair of topes wipe out the Ingobernables junior heavyweights, with Dragon Lee hooking away at Hiromu on the outside. Who’s meant to be the good guy here?! Takahashi is cornered as Dragon Lee and Titan double-team him for a spell, ending with a diving clothesline as Titan hit Takahashi before sailing through the ropes. Takahashi comes back, sending Dragon Lee into the corner as BUSHI deals with Titan, and we get the Ingobernables trying to unmask their opponents, with little success. BUSHI nails a missile dropkick on Titan, before he blindsides Lee for more double-teaming as that mask is once again targeted.
A superkick decks Lee after Hiromu threw him chest-first into the ropes, before Titan’s leg was held so he could be kicked in the thigh by Takahashi as BUSHI went for an STF. Titan finally comes back with a Dragon screw after blocking a pop-up atomic drop, and from there Dragon Lee rushed in with a dropkick to Takahashi for a near-fall. Dragon Lee goes flying with a tope con hilo – and given that Milano Collection AT uttered an S-bomb, I guess it wasn’t caught cleanly! Titan Matrixs out of a clothesline, then walks on his hands before a headscissor takedown sends BUSHI to the floor and into the path of a quebrada!
Back inside, Titan goes up top for a moonsault, but it gets nothing but BUSHI’s boots as the Ingobernables take over again, ending with a Codebreaker from BUSHI for a two-count. Dragon Lee and Takahashi exchange fire briefly, but it’s BUSHI who gets the win after mule-kicking Titan, then rolling him up with a backslide. A fun match, but a little too short to really get going. ***½
Lee and Takahashi get into it again after the match, and Takahashi actually rips off Dragon Lee’s mask before standing over him with it as a trophy… all whilst ringside attendants in the background struggle to remove a t-shirt to cover his face with.
Maximo Sexy, Ryusuke Taguchi and Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & Ephesto
The NJPW World music dubbers are finding some awesome tunes to use today! Maximo Sexy has his eyes set on a hooded Okada, but he’s forced to wait on the apron as we get Juice Robinson and Ospreay starting us off.
From the tie-up, Ospreay tries for a waistlock, but Robinson grabs the arm… and that leads to the see-saw kip-ups as Will works free. A headscissor takedown sends Juice to the floor, and Will chooses to fake out a dive… which gives Maximo Sexy the opportunity to sneak behind him and cop a feel. Juice comes into add to Will’s woes, but Ospreay gets out of the way as Robinson gets a juicy kiss from Sexy.
The ring fills up a bit as Okada gets sent to the outside with a hip attack, before Juice, Taguchi and Sexy decide to Pharaoh it up. Okada several clotheslines as Taguchi ducks them… then decides to keep ducking imaginary clotheslines all while Ospreay shouts “this is so weird”. Eventually, Okada DDTs a worn out Taguchi as we get some double-teaming to the imaginary Pharaoh, then to Juice. Sexy squares up to his three opponents, but he’s overcome before they slap his rear end en route to a dropkick from Okada. Juice comes in for some Dusty punches to Ospreay, but the punchline at the end is a kiss from Maximo, before Robinson dishes out some Diamond Dust and a cannonball to Will.
Robinson tries for a Pulp Friction, but Ospreay avoids it and gets clotheslined to the outside, before trading places so he can land a Space Flying Tiger Drop. Back inside, Okada misses a Rainmaker as Taguchi comes close with a La Magistral cradle, before some attempted interference from Ephesto ended with a seated Sexy senton.
Maximo goes flying with a tope to take Ephesto out of it, whilst Okada avoided a suplex from Taguchi in the ring. A knee strike follows, as Okada tries for a sit-out tombstone, before instead opting for his trademarked dropkick. The masked Okada then gets a Rainmaker, and that’s enough to end a nonsense, but fun six-man tag. I wonder if Masked Okada qualifies for the Best of Super Juniors? ***½
After the match, I think someone must have clued in Milano Collection AT as to what was coming next, as he repeatedly went “ah shit” on commentary, just before Maximo Sexy went over to give him a kiss. Milano used commentator Hiroki Mikami as a human shield instead… because he don’t want none! Someone who did though, was Taguchi, who got a kiss of life from Sexy after playing dead, just to keep up this fun nonsense, before Maximo forced himself on Masked Okada for the real money shot!
Just a thought: Taguchi and Tanahashi are working on these shows… where was Maximo Breakfast (Nakanishi)? They missed an easy chance for a masked trios title match for those NEVER six-man belts…
Atlantis, Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA & David Finlay vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & Rush
They actually did it… they used La Cucaracha for someone’s entrance. In this case, Atlantis!
We get the obligatory Ingobernables jump start, but Atlantis leaves Rush laying on the outside after he’s posted. Naito gets immediately revenge as he and Rush double-team the lucha veteran, whilst Finlay has to overcome SANADA and EVIL in the ring. Rush and Atlantis end up in the ring for a nothing-happening stretch that saw Atlantis somehow outsmart the Ingobernables by avoiding their attacks.
Atlantis finally gets tripped by Naito, who tries to rip off the hood, before returning to the ring to work over the arm of KUSHIDA. Naito posts KUSHIDA, before Rush once again tries to unmask Atlantis… which fails, so he sets him up for that nonchalant kick in the corner. Atlantic finally fights back against EVIL, but a back senton gets a near-fall as the veteran was quickly shoved down.
Hiroshi Tanahashi finally comes in to clear house, dropping EVIL with a forearm before SANADA ate a Dragon screw. EVIL and Tanahashi go back and forth with right hands before Tanahashi’s forced to skin the cat and eventually send EVIL to the floor. SANADA comes in for his double leapfrog and dropkick, before he takes the cartwheel kick from KUSHIDA as the pace quickened.
Rush is clobbered with the handspring kick, before KUSHIDA adds in a handspring elbow for Naito and SANADA, then a plancha off the top rope to SANADA on the floor. Atlantis comes in for that lucha staple to Naito and Rush, before Finlay drops Naito with a uranage backbreaker for a near-fall. An Atlantis tope takes out Rush, before Naito needs some help from EVIL to double-team Finlay for a near-fall as a double press slam gets the Ingobernables the win. Just your usual Ingobernables multi-man tag, but it did pick up towards the end thankfully. ***
After the match, Rush tried to get Milano Collection AT involved again, but he doesn’t like fun… so they decided to mug Tanahashi instead.
Euforia vs. Mistico
For those keeping track, Euforia got the same dubbed track as Jay Lethal, and he starts by barging Mistico out of the ring at the opening bell/whistle.
Mistico returns and gets a headscissor takedown, then an Asai moonsault after Euforia thought he’d gotten free with a baseball slide to the outside. Euforia misses a dropkick after rolling out of a sunset flip, then nearly gets pinned from it, as Mistico keeps trying some wacky ways to get a pinfall.
Euforia drops Mistico with a buckle bomb, but he’s again sent outside for a springboard shooting star press that sent both men into the front row! We’re barely minutes into this, and Samurai TV’s given us two replays – which is a rarity for any match! Mistico sends EUforia back inside, before springboarding back in with a seated senton that’s caught and turned into a Golden Star-esque/Last Ride powerbomb that Euforia chooses to break his own cover on. After absorbing some chops, Mistico again sent Euforia to the outside, this time for an Asai moonsault off the middle turnbuckle… but he was caught, before turning the move into an armdrag as Mistico decided to go into the crowd so he could leap off a stage with a seated senton!
Back inside, a pop-up rana gets Mistico a near-fall, as does a schoolboy, before Euforia dumps him with a trio of pumphandle facebusters. Not quite the bitter end, but close, as Mistico kicked out at two. Mistico blocks a German suplex out of the corner, before he takes a big boot, only to sidestep as Euforia goes back to the outside for… yep… another replay worthy dive as a flying Dragonrana gets Mistico a fourth replay.
Euforia almost nicks the win with a sunset flip, then again with a roll-up, before he nearly steals it with a sunset flip in the corner whilst grabbing the ropes. Fortunately, the ref noticed and stopped the count, before a La Mistica was caught and turned into a running slam into the turnbuckles. This time it’s Euforia who goes up top, but he misses a senton bomb as Mistico rolled away, before he hits La Mistica for an instant submission! For the style, this was a solid match – I can see why some may not like it, since the bulk of the match seemed to be nothing more than “how many ways can Euforia get sent to the outside for a dive”, but I enjoyed it. ****
Ultimo Guerrero vs. Volador Jr.
At over 15 minutes, this was one of the longest matches on the tournament, and by the end, was one of the best in terms of spectacle.
Both men had to unmask, but not before Volador whipped Ultimo Guerrero with part of his pleather ring gear. Ultimo went to the outside to pull his “raise the roof” theatrics, before Volador went outside… and got clocked from behind. Guerrero chops Volador, then press slammed him into some hurriedly-emptied seats, before adding insult by crotching Volador in the ringpost.
After a brief spell in the ring, Volador turfed out Guerrero for a tope, before they returned for a nice flip that saw Volador abort a Code Red attempt and end up with an armdrag before a plancha-rana to the outside dropped Guerrero for another replay shot! Volador breaks the count-out so he can go airborne again, but his tope con hilo is caught and turned into a sickening powerbomb on the floor as Guerrero gets his replay.
A body press off the top rope sees Guerrero take out Volador once more, and he needs almost the whole 20 count before making it back to the ring… where he’s quickly dumped with a front superplex for a near-fall. Volador comes back with a superkick as he rebounded from an avalanche clothesline, but Guerrero quickly replies by sending him back into the corner for a headstand into a seated senton! A second one is blocked as Volador pushes him to the outside, and it’s dive time again, this time with a springboard ‘rana to the floor, but the tables again turn as Volador’s sent flying courtesy of a baseball slide off the apron. The pair head into the crowd, where a guard rail’s dragged into play… just so Ultimo could do a running jump over it and into a seated Volador. Yeah, that might have been a little contrived a spot!
Back inside, Volador snapped back with a rana off the top rope… but it’s caught and turned into a powerbomb for a near-fall. A back cracker gets Volador a two-count, so Volador goes back up top in search of a top rope ‘rana, and this time he gets it! Guerrero kicks out at two after that, and Ultimo gets cut off with an enziguiri as he climbed the turnbuckles, with Volador joining him up top for another springboard ‘rana that collects yet another two-count.
Guerrero comes back with some rolling surfboard stretches, which see him pull back too much as he has to release the hold to stop him and Volador from being pinned. An inverted superplex almost gets Guerrero the win, but Volador barely kicked out in time, so Ultimo goes back up top… and again gets caught as Volador threw him across the ring with a Spanish Fly for the win! Much like the prior match, this too felt like it was more a variety of stunts with a tenuous link between them, but they did have a decent match underneath all that – and this was a fine way to wrap up the Fantasticamania tour. ****
Another show that was easy to watch, with only the last two matches going over the ten-minute mark. If you’ve got a couple of hours free, this is worth a watch, else just fast-forward your way to the last two matches.