12/25/16 - Lucha Memes - The Panther/Guerrero Maya Jr vs Black Terry/Negro Navarro
Date: 12/25/16 (Feliz Navidad)
Promotion: Lucha Memes
Match: The Panther/Guerrero Maya Jr vs Black Terry/Negro Navarro
What a Christmas present this was. A defense of the CMLL Arena Coliseo tag team titles NOT in Arena Coliseo but in Arena Naucalpan on Lucha Memes' Chairo 7 show. The Panther and Guerrero Maya Jr had won the belts a little over a year ago and this match was their sixth title defense. Of course, it's a little odd to be defending a CMLL title belt on an indy lucha show, but, as we have seen of late, CMLL and Lucha Memes have a good working relationship.
The main backstory for this match is the long-standing feud between Guerrero Maya Jr and Black Terry, who once wrestled as Guerrero Maya (Sr). The two are not father and son, although Jr. has in the past referred to Black Terry as a mentor. At some point in the past, the two had a falling out and have engaged in brutal matches that might shock fans that have only seen the old-fashioned tecnico GM Jr on CMLL telecasts. The two had a bloody battle last year on a Chilanga Mask show that Matt (from the magazine and podcast) wrote up both in Odessa Steps issue 5 and on the Segunda Caida website. You can read it here.
The match here began with Negro Navarro vs Maya. From the opening moments of the match, the crowd was generally for the veterans, although there were sporadic chants for the youngsters. There were three or four minutes of matwork before more kinetic action. When Navarro tagged in Terry, Maya wanted no part of him and quickly tagged in The Panther. The two had more of a stand-up physical showdown, complete with slaps and such.
It took about 10 minutes into the match before we got our first showdown between Maya and Terry. And the mostly clean contest quickly degenerated into a brawl between the two. Soon, we had all four men in the ring, exchanging holds and moves, sometimes with all four tied together in a giant lucha puzzle.
The first "highspot" did not come into around 15 minutes into the match, which was a Panther dropkick of Terry. The action continued until Terry submitted Maya. Following the only dive of the match by Panther onto Terry, Navarro got Panther back in the ring and quickly pinned him.
Not surprisingly, there was money thrown in after the match. A few days later, Navarro and Terry were on CMLL Informa discussing their win and plans for future title defenses. You can see the video below from the CMLL YouTube channel. You can read a translation of their interview done by (podcast guest) Alfredo Esparza on the Luchaworld website here.
You can see highlights from the match on a couple Youtube site, but if you want the full match, you can order it from Black Terry Jr. You can contact him on Twitter @BLACKTERRY.
