Matches:

From Lucha Maniaks Totalmente Payaso Pt. 2 (01/25)

1.Black Taurus vs Alex Arsenal ***1/2

From MEXA Wrestling Origen (01/27)

2.Fulgor I, Centvrion vs Fuerza Guerrera NG, The Mummy ***3/4

From CMLL Funcion Especial a Puerta Cerrada 22 (01/30)

3.Best 2/3 Falls: Virus vs Polvora ***3/4

From Galardon Vanguardia Premiando a La Mejor del 2021 (01/31)

4.Jitsu vs Gasparin Jr ***1/2

5.Los Mazisos, Crazy King, El Mago, Simbolo Azteca vs Gamer, Dayami, Devitt, Killer, Luigi ****

Thoughts:

Match one was better than expected. Taurus is great, of course, but I have super limited experience with Arsenal so my expectations were that it'd be good but outside of recommendation levels. Instead, there was just enough to put it over. Mileage may vary, but I'll note that while a lot of indies are looking to restock this year, I wouldn't be surprised if I started seeing Arsenal pop up far more often (presuming he's willing to travel).

The MEXA match was great, balls to the wall fun. They got in, flew around, and got out. Not much more I could have hoped for. The talents involved are typically worth checking out and this was true once more. Go ahead and give it a click if time allows.

Over to CMLL for their one pull of the month, and we have tech-wizard, Virus, against the underrated Polvora. It was a well rounded match with some fun stuff sprinkled in nicely along the way. If you like technical wrestling and, especially, if you've never seen the style done in the lucha world, this one is fore you. If you're already a fan of the genre, you should know already that a Virus match is worth seeing. I'd love a rematch. Great stuff.

We close with two from Vanguardia.

Jitsu and Gasparin Jr's outing was a fun spotfest. Not everything landed perfectly, but props for the general athleticism for sure. Meanwhile, my fat ass is dealing with a sprained ankle that I've had for two weeks making it where I can barely walk let alone run and do anything close to this shit. These two are talented either way, leaving me wondering what the ceiling is. Because predictions are fun, I'll say they both stick around the indie scene but that we'll get at least Jitsu in a violent apuesta at some point in, maybe, MEXA. Gasparin will likely be a dude that works IWRG for a bit etc. If he manages to catch the eyes of someone in the states that matters he could get a few indie spots from time to time there, even. But yeah, for this match they got in and started the show nicely. Worth considering.

Note that this show was ran as an award style gig. Gasparin won luchadore of the year.

Last up, a ten-man cluster. Luigi comes out legit dressed like Super Mario Bros' Luigi, but if it's some random frat dude that tried to make the costume for Halloween as cheaply as possible. He's actually decent, at least. I'd argue that this is tied with Virus/Polvora for being the most complete feeling lucha match of the month in review. Given a decent run-time, everyone got a bit of a chance to show off and the entire thing honestly overdelivered and built into a fantastic match. I'd probably only suggest fans of modern indie lucha libre check it out, but if that shoe fits ya make sure to go ahead and take the dive. Intergender fun!

As Mexico continues dealing with COVID, and promotions continue to respond to the pandemic with mixed results, the quality in general remains in a flux. Still, there's a lot of hungry masked dudes that are looking to stand out. This collection sees vets and rookies showcased nicely and everything is entertaining at the very least. Expect February ASAP and make sure to put anything of interest on your own pull lists at home.