Post by anotherspammer on Dec 6, 2018 10:08:31 GMT -5
He has clearly lost a step but still has a few really good matches this year. The Makabe match was amazing and one of the best of that style. Outside of that, I was surprised at how good the Arena Mexico match vs. Solar was. I've seen them have this match 20 times (? more?) and was not expecting a lot as both of them have slowed down a lot in the past two years, but this was the best they have looked in a while. The Arena Naucalpan match, too, saw Navarro moving better than he has in some time (except for one weird moment towards the beginning). Navarro's style still works well and he can have solid matches, although maybe not the amazing stuff of the mid to late 2000s. The style works for me, though, and he is still good enough to wind up on the bottom half of my list.
PROMOTION NAME | NAME OF SHOW | DATE OF SHOW | MATCH | NOTES | MATCH STIPULATION | RATING | LINK |
Barreto | Mariano Arista 50 | 1/5/18 | Caballero Negro, Negro Navarro vs. Corsario De Fuego, Dr. Cerebro | The opening llave stuff between Navarro and Corsario is really good. Some iffy stuff here and there, but overall a fun match. Navarro and Cerebro look good. | 3 1/2 | www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YVwZid0YM | |
Bello | Arena Xalapa | 4/14/18 | Canek, Rey Infierno vs. Negro Navarro, Caballero Negro | Look, none of these guys are young and some may have not have even been very good in the first place (it is Canek in 2018) but Navarro still does so many little things that are cool as hell and then just starts throwin punches at Canek and maybe this is not that bad. | 3 1/4 | www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4nkLHFRL1E | |
FMLL | Florentine Gardens | 5/20/18 | Negro Navarro vs. Acero Dorada | Navarro is clearly a step (or 2) slower than he was just a year ago but he can still put together an interesting title match build around trading and reversing holds. | TITLE MATCH | 3 1/2 | youtu.be/U6TxQUsL9sg |
DragonMania | Arena Mexico | 5/26/18 | Solar vs. Negro Navarro | This is the best Navarro has looked this year, and Solar in a while as well. Maybe it is just nostalgia but this was fun in the same way all their great matches are fun. | 4 | youtu.be/UjAulyN6eJg | |
MDA, LLB, Lucha Memes | Arena Lopez Mateos | 6/17/18 | Negro Navarro, Satanico vs. Mesias, Solar | Kind of slow and sloppy at times but also smartly worked at other times and ends up being something okay. | 3 1/4 | www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRRbqEl6OsU | |
indy | Arena Pavilion del Norte | 7/12/18 | Negro Navarro vs. Silver Star | Fun, if slow. | 3 1/4 | www.youtube.com/watch?v=isgWQMUkkgQ | |
3-2-1 Battle! | Seattle | 8/24/18 | Daniel Makabe vs. Negro Navarro | Fantastic Navarro exhibition match with hold going to hold going to hold. When Makabe kicked out of a pin and Navarro rolled with it to a stretch I wept. How is there such beauty in this hell of a world? | 4 1/2 | www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDaWO3G1oPM | |
Monstruo | Arena Chilpancingo | 10/26/18 | Negro Navarro, Trauma I vs. Trauma II, Dark Cyborg | Fun, exhibition-y maestro style match. | 3 3/4 | www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMfHM-8WXxE&list=WL&index=2&t=0s | |
IWRG, FLUFENAX | Arena Naucalpan | 11/15/18 | Solar, Hijo del Solar vs. Negro Navarro, Hijo del Fishman | I've not yet seen Hijo del Fishman work this mat-based style, and the match starts with him vs. Hijo del Solar and it is . . . it is okay. It's kind of slow and listless but it is okay. BUT Solar and Negro Navarro are great in this, maybe even better than their match in Arena Mexico in May. And Fishman has a really good segment against Solar. Really fun match. | 4 | www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF56hwE1kdw | |
Castelazzi | Arena Lopez Mateos | 11/24/18 | Negro Navarro, Trauma I, Trauma II vs. Audaz, Hijo del Solar, Solar I | Not a lot of mat based stuff. Worked more like a standard trios match. A lot of brawling to start. Fun stuff, if slightly different from what I was hoping for. Video is in 2 parts | 3 1/2 | www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oda7rPQgqaE www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZqvh1EvE-Y |