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Best of February 2025
Best of February 2025
Wrestler of the Month
Wrestler of the Month
HM:
Mistico, Titan, Hirooki Goto, El Barbaro Cavernario, & Hechicero
5. Neon
5. Neon
Just a great, fun luchador. The best highflyer in CMLL. Whoever came up with Team Sky is a genius, and I think they deserve Booker of the Year at year's end. Obviously, his trio's matches are great, as can be said for most in CMLL, but where he really stands out is his singles stuff. He was made for the lightning matches that CMLL does. 10 minutes of non-stop action fits him perfectly. I would love to see him expand into some more matches outside of CMLL as well (would've loved to see that Takeshita match) as he's probably my favorite singles match wrestler in the company. Almost every week, Neon has some notable trios, or if we're lucky, singles match. Keep your eyes on this guy.
Match Recommendations:
W/ Flip Gordon vs Los Hermanos Chavez (2/3)
W/ Adrenalina & Brillante Jr. vs El Hijo del Villano III & Los Infernales (2/11)
vs Max Star (2/14)
vs Zandokan Jr. (2/27)
4. El Hijo de Fishman/Mascara Sagrada
4. El Hijo de Fishman/Mascara Sagrada
Grouping these two because I haven't seen any other matches they've had this year. Possibly the most chemistry any two wrestlers have in the world. Both of these guys have put on a countless amount of great matches this year (well, 3 to be exact). This month alone, they have 2 of the best matches you'll see anywhere against each other. Their wrestling is what is missing in companies outside of Lucha Indies; it's just endless bloody brawling. They will undoubtedly begin to pull away from each other on this list as the year progresses; that Fishman/Demus match approaching will almost certainly give him the edge, but right now, they're equals and more importantly, two of the best in the world.
Match Recommendations:
El Hijo de Fishman vs Mascara Sagrada (2/2)
El Hijo de Fishman vs Mascara Sagrada (2/16)
3. Atlantis Jr.
3. Atlantis Jr.
His comebacks are untouchable. Whenever he wrestles, he feels like he has such a bright fire lit up under him the whole time. His comebacks never falter as the Rudos work away on him and his partners. His backbreakers are so great. I didn't realize how good of a month he had until reviewing for this list. Of course, he has great matches in CMLL, but his matches outside of it really bring him up. The Ultimo match is a fun exchange by the two in NJPW, and he has an awesome trios match in ROH (all of those ROH trios matches are great). Of course, he has some of the best cast in the world to wrestle against and with by being in CMLL, but even with these excellent wrestlers to compete against, I always find him being the one to draw me in the most.
Match Recommendations:
W/ Mistico & Titan vs Los Infernales & Soberano Jr. (2/3)
W/ Atlantis & Fantastico vs. Los Guerreros Laguneros & El Satanico (2/4)
W/ Mascara Dorada & Templario vs Magnus, Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr. (2/11)
W/ Mistico & Titan vs Averno, El Barbaro Cavernario & Volador Jr. (2/14)
vs Ultimo Guerrero (2/27)
2. Soberano Jr.
2. Soberano Jr.
So, I've been using a point system to keep track of my WOTY contenders this year. Every match above ***1/2 stars gets you some points and at the end of the year, the wrestler with the most points will most likely be my WOTY. It says a lot about Soberano that despite missing most of January, he is already up there in points with the rest of my top contenders. Most of the top acts in CMLL are incredibly consistent (you have no idea how badly I wanted to get Titan in my top 5), and this is a reason for his high placement already, but Sobernaro just oozes a personality that makes him stand out when the talent he is surrounded by is so great. He may not have as many insane dives or moves as the others, but his charisma always stands out. Don't let me discount him in the ring, he definitely isn't bad, he's pretty fantastic in fact. Probably the most entertaining CMLL wrestler and maybe in the world right now.
Match Recommendations:
W/ El Barbaro Cavernario & Volador Jr. vs El Sky Team & Templario (2/1)
W/ Los Infernales vs Atlantis Jr., Mistico & Titan (2/3)
W/ Barbaro Cavernario & Hechicero vs Dark Panther, Fuego & Sammy Guevara (2/8)
W/ Magnus & Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr., Mascara Dorada & Templario (2/11)
W/ Zandokan Jr. vs Mascara Dorada & Templario (2/14)
vs Mascara Dorada (2/28)
1. Zandokan Jr.
1. Zandokan Jr.
Pirates are cool!! My two favorite Rudos being both a pirate and a caveman really shows the diversity CMLL offers as a company. Now, if only we could get the caveman versus the pirate.
Yoho matey, let's talk about Zandokan Jr. He is the best brawler in CMLL; anytime he and Star Jr. begin to brawl, it steals the show over anything else going on in the match. Speaking of Star Jr, their feud is by far my favorite part of CMLL. Their brawls are unlike anything else in the company. I am begging CMLL to have them win the tag match and have an apuestas against each other. Zandokan undoubtedly feels like a star to me; he's the next guy to be at the top of the company.
Match Recommendations:
W/ Valiente & Volador Jr. vs Esfinge, Star Jr. &
Templario (2/7)
vs Star Jr. (2/11)
W/ Soberano Jr. vs Mascara Dorada & Templario (2/14)
vs Neon (2/27)
Top 5 Matches of the Month
Top 5 Matches of the Month
HM:
El Hijo del Fishman vs Mascara Sagrada (2/2), Carter Blaq vs Adam Priest (2/23), & Fuminori Abe & Towa Iwasaki vs Dan Tamura & Shuji Ishikawa (2/19)
5. Mad Dog Connelly vs Hunter Drake (2/22)
5. Mad Dog Connelly vs Hunter Drake (2/22)
The most satisfying match of the year so far. Hunter spends the first 10 minutes of this taking cheap shots and using everything he can to gain an advantage over Mad Dog. Mad Dog gets some shots in but it's nothing substantial. Both of them end up with some nasty cuts to add on. Mad Dog gets just enough offense in to snap the dog collar around the neck of Hunter and from that point on Hunter pays for his sins. Mad Dog's offense looks so great, it always does, but here he just rains down the most sick-looking punches onto Hunter. The finish I'm not that high on, as Jaden Newman (of Jonathan Gresham fame, to me at least) comes out and saves Mad Dog from being hit over the head by a chair straight into a quick pin by Connelly. Is it perfect? Not really, but it is an incredibly bloody and satisfying watch, so I can't really complain about it. - ****
4. Hechicero vs El Barbaro Cavernario (2/28)
4. Hechicero vs El Barbaro Cavernario (2/28)
What happens when you take two of the best wrestlers in the world and have them wrestle? You have a great match! When this was announced I was a bit skeptical, I don't think their styles are made for each other. Luckily, they proved me wrong. There's not much to dig into here at a deeper level but it's a bunch of awesome spots following each other by two of the most entertaining in the world. I could sit here and list all the incredible spots but I can't do it justice (I mean, I'm gonna do it anyway). That brainbuster on the table, the dive through the middle turnbuckle, the splash to the outside Barbaro can't help but nail every time he does, it's fantastic. These two are special. - ****
3. Hijo de Fishman vs Mascara Sagrada (2/16)
3. Hijo de Fishman vs Mascara Sagrada (2/16)
By the end of the year, I'm going to run out of words to say bloody, great brawling, and made for each other. I said this last as well but by the end of the year, these two will have an entire WOTY case built from just wrestling each other. I would vow to only watch their matches with each other but the Demus/Fishman is next month so I can't do that! I don't have much to say about the match itself. It's what you expect from them, they use broken bottles to tear into each other's skin, throw crazy punches, brawl all over the arena, throw each other into the crowd members' laps, and most importantly of all, beat up referees (I guess in this case a singular referee, poor guy)! They actually have two top 5 matches this month for me, I just wanted to diversify the list, isn't that nice of me? Anytime I hear of a match between these two I get excited, not because it's always good (they certainly can not try), but because of the level these two can perform at. - ****
2. Caballero de Plata vs Cerebro Negro (2/16)
2. Caballero de Plata vs Cerebro Negro (2/16)
It feels wrong not to have Mad Dog having the best dog collar match this year, but the stuff in this is just so great. Caballero and Cerebro both feel like they have such genuine hatred for each other. This match has a fire lit under it the entire time, never once is there a dull or uninteresting moment. Dog collar matches are probably my personal favorite match type, you don't get the feeling of such loathing for one another in any other. Cerebro laying in headbutts as Caballero is tied up in the dog collar chains is the most striking part of this match for me, his headbutts look so great. While I can see some people not enjoying the finish, I thought it was great. Cerebro manipulating the rules to his advantage while Caballero desperately crawls to stop him from hitting all four corners, the best. - ****1/4
1. Zack Sabre Jr. vs Hirooki Goto (2/11)
1. Zack Sabre Jr. vs Hirooki Goto (2/11)
Well, he finally did it. Does it hurt me a little to have a Bushiroad match as my MOTY right now? Maybe a little, but when it's Goto finally winning the belt I can make an exception. When Naito vs GOK happened I thought the New Japan Bushiroad style was firmly dead, and they would never move away from it. And, they deviated away from it! This is a good twenty minutes and it doesn't need to be anything more than that. Goto puts in the performance of a lifetime, and Zack plays an excellent heel, it's a tale as old as time. What makes this special is the genuine doubt I had going into it. Even with something like Bryan at All In, I never really doubted him winning. Goto certainly had reason to lose here, but he didn't. I can't believe Zack got me with a trying to get to the ropes submission spot. This most likely wouldn't rank as highly if it weren't for Goto, Zack still has some poor tendencies, but sometimes with wrestling, logic should be removed and replaced with pure emotion. 2025, the year Goto finally wins the belt. - ****5/8
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