Great but for different reasons than your typical CMLL singles. We still get a lot of smoothness and stunning dives in this one, just look at the beautiful Hechicero over the top tope, but there’s a more grounded edge to this. Hechicero gets to display a lot of his llave trickery in this, and it works especially well when Stuka Jr. fights and resists in small ways that Hechicero has to overcome. It’s not always obvious, and perhaps not even intentional, but Stuka Jr. always seem to be just slightly capable of throwing off Hechicero’s momentum on the mat.
Stuka Jr. himself is excellent in this. His trademark bitterness is on display here, really leaning into the more aggressive aspects of rudo wrestling. There’s only so much you can do in modern CMLL as a rudo, but Stuka Jr. seems to have found the perfect balance. He throws some real great overhand strikes, he has a great worked punch, and not only does he pull at the mask, he bites at it too. At one point, he even pokes Hechicero right in the eye holes to escape a hold in mat. Wonderful heel wrestling.
It’s made all the more satisfying by how he’s made to pay for his crimes. He buys an unfair advantage by unmasking Hechicero behind the referee’s back, but decides to go for his big splash to follow up. Given just enough time to recover, Hechicero catches him on the way down and ties him up for a feel good submission victory.
Lots to enjoy here, well worth the watch.
Rating: ****
