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I still have the stigma with Shibata that he can get lost in many of these spot show matches. Honma's formula does play to working on any environment but damn if he isn't entertaining in almost every match no matter how throw away going for the Koheski. Shibata has around 5-10 tremendous performances a year and then hangs out for the rest of the time.

Lethal's character work always makes me wonder if the hate on him in some corners has gone too far, and then I watch him wrestle and I back off that ledge. The problem I have with him as a wrestler is that throughout his entire career, I have only seen him be really high-end in one area and that is as an underdog getting his ass kicked. I thought his comedy stuff was rehashed and meh, his high flying doesn't stack up with ACH or even AJ still, and his wrestling still leaves a lot to be desired and doesn't have much focus. Panther on the other hand is a fabulous flyer and a breath of fresh air on the CMLL landscape along with Cavernario. Easy choice here for me.

Weird that most of the comments are pro Ishii and yet Cesaro is winning as of me making this post. I think Ishii has this fairly easily. Is Cesaro more versatile? Sure, but we are judging output for a given year and Ishii's output was pretty incredible and even against guys that provided a genuinely horrible performance (Makabe at WK), Ishii still made the match good to very good in most critics eyes.

Kushida has done a good job in the past year being good in any environment that he was presented in. He could work spotfest oriented tags, long singles matches, and even do some body part selling on those rare occurences. A really solid worker that is probably in my top 7-8 for New Japan. Negro Casas last year probably had my least favorite year of his since 2011 yet I still don't know if there were 15 better workers worldwide. Casas wins.

In the camp that this was a clear step up for the previous two matches and one of the better overall trio so far. I think the difference here was in the tecnicos as they complimented each other really well as Rayo could do his funny Rayo spots, Atlantis had some beautiful dives but also some great punches, and Dantes was the bruiser. Also, the Pirates were relentless in the first fall making the comeback that much sweeter. I thought they along with Los Infernales are the best Rudo grouping we have seen to date. Looking forward to Pirata as he has been pretty aces on everything weve seen so far and the best for him is yet to come. (****1/4)

Still waiting for that amazing Dandy performance, don't get me wrong he has been good in the stuff we have seen overall but the matches just haven't developed into the great level that I know will come for him. I had high hopes for this one when Stuka and Panther busted it on the mat in the first fall but the rest of the pairings were pretty pedestrian to me. Second fall ran into miscommunication spots which were cute but again, I have leaned more towards the hate and beautiful disparity of wrestling in ranking this set. THird fall had some clipping and felt really disjointed overall. Bottom 20 match. (***1/4)

Agree with the consensus here as this is a low level match on this set. Mendoza and Rocca havent exactly been my faves and they turned in another decent but not extraordinary performance in this match. Salazar couldn't convey the hate in this match like he did in the Herodes stuff so that was disappointing. Third fall was pretty generic stuff and overall I hoped for honestly a lot more from Missonares apuestas match. (***)

Not the most structured match but one I can see getting high praise for the violence of it. Fiera's arm is ripped apart and he does a fantastic job selling it as people have mentioned with the hand raising. Rayo bleeds for our entertainment and him vs. Ano has become quite the feud since the singles match that was good but more gentlemanly. I don't remember the finishers here very much of the match overall but this was all about advancing feuds and succeeded in spades in that regard. (****)

This was a ton of fun but honestly is in my bottom fifteen currently which really shows the depth of this set. Anyway, this was a good way to end the disc. Kung Fu is never a gimmick that gets me all that excited so the nunchuk demonstration didn't do as much for me as others. Rocca was impressive here looking better than he has besides maybe the first Cota match. The action resulted in fun sequences but not a ton of consequence, leaving this fun but ultimately forgettable to me. (***1/2)

Weird to think of a trios where Pirata takes a back seat but that happened here. Instead we got mayhem with the other pairings. I loved Jalisco's sombrero flying into the air at the onset. Babyface goes for revenge (although I may be questioning the date or his hair grew back really fast) and him and Fiera have awesome sequence after awesome sequence with Fiera bleeding a gusher. Lizmark and Pirata chip in when needed and have a good sequence at the end themselves. This was quick compared to other trios but a complete war and a blast to watch. (****)

I feel like people are sleeping on this one based on the comments. Satanico was great as always and MS-1 was impressive here too. The big surprises for me was Atlantis hitting everything cleanly (not always a guarentee), Ultraman being mixed in with these guys, and especially Ringo showing more fire here than I have seen from him on the set so far. I really liked him and Satanico going after each other and the punch MS-1 gives him in the final caida on a submission hold was glorious. The mask ripping and then chase spots of Atlantis were also really clever and memorable. Finish wasn't great but the post match with Pirata being pissed off and having a go at Satanico and MS-1 made up for it. (****)

Really great match that resolved from vicious back work and snap mares from Espanto in the first fall into biting, blood, and diving in the final caida. I thought some of the visuals here was stunning even with the grainy video quality such as the kids consoling Santo, Espanto father (?) crying after the unmasking and the sheer amount of blood Espanto was losing. Tremendous stuff and this disc is relentless. (****1/2)

Really great match and not a straight brawl like some of the other matches. Hate was conveyed in applying holds and trying to out dick each other here. I think the official knew the Babyface blow was low and therefore saw the Fiera rope holding as an "eye for an eye" type concept. Fieras splat on the outside was sickening. I see this as a really strong top 10 contender. (****1/2)

This is a different type of title match we have seen so far in this set in that it is pretty limited on the mat and seemed more along the lines of modern CMLL action. Rayo mixed in some of his personality to keep things interesting. Third fall ratcheted things up a good bit as both Rayo and Ano had time on top. Rayo hits a tombstone which Ano sells like death and we get some hefty challenges thrown out at the end. Real good match but middle to low on a set like this. ***1/2

Did anyone catch The Knick on Cinemax? Loved the score and I am a sucker for the time-period.

I thought this was a big bad of fun. The rudos had a great look to them and really pounded out the first fall. Second fall with the miscommunication amping up added a nice complex level to it. The third fall had some things I really liked (Lizmark's dive, the Salazar dropkick where he flew off) but also some stuff I didn't like. The finish felt kind of cheap to with a nut shot occuring again. Probably a bottom half match in the end. (***1/2)

This whole set had felt like everything fighting for #2 with MS-1 vs. Chicana as the clear #1, that is not the case anymore. I think I liked Perro's performance here better than MS-1. Perro was a machine htiting an onslaught and doing little things like using the boards on the ring, to wrappping the towel that brought the match up another visceral level. The crowd was just salivating for a Chicana comeback and the teases at it were masterful done. Chicana didn't win, he survived. (*****)

My lucha novice still shone through in this match. I would recommend at all possible to go in spoiler free to this match. After watching the match and reading OJ's history lesson, it was a match that continued to grow and consume my thoughts for days to come. The clipping was unfortunate but I'm glad that most of it was at least perserved.

I agree that this was probably the match most affected by the clipping as it was tough to get a gauge for the transitions between the violence. There was a lot of mask ripping and chaos but something didn't sit well with me and I had not conviction with any of the action. Good to see Mascaras at least. This is a bottom three match for me so far. (**3/4)

This was certainly fun shoddy finish aside. Eskeltor is an amazing man not only because of his persona but in his innate ability in this match to switch on the fly from good looking stuff to pretty bad looking stuff. One moment he is working through a nice armdrag sequence, the next he is throwing crappy punches. Still, black Shadow Jr. had no problems making him his whipping boy whenver needed. Espanto vs. Santo really elevated their hate throughout the three falls and this made eagerly anticpate their upcoming match. This will end up low because I again have it far more fun than good and it has things against it (clipping, shit finish, Eskeltor in general) but still on the spectrum of fun vs. pretty bland ( Caras vs. Vera, I'm looking at you), I will choose fun. (***)

Tailsman is cagey but still spry for his age as he exemplifies in the opening caida with the cartwheel and spinning headscissors. Rocca quickly takes the fall after that sequence when Tailsman gets too showey for his own good and gets rolled up. Rocca gets a couple of nasty backbreakers in the second fall but Tailsman is able to show his resourcefulness and even things up with a nasty looking submission. The second fall felt pretty abrupt. Third fall heats up nicely with a big dive by Tailsman. Rocca responds with one of his own. The dives and misses built up to a good climax and when Rocca reaches the pinnacle and wins with a submission, the crowd responds in kind and it feels deserved. Good match for sure but in a set this loaded, this is probably destined to be bottom 25 when all is said and done. (***1/2)

Initially this took me a little bit to get into due to the Infernales offense and complete domination, but then I realized their game plan wasn't so much aabout crazy choatic brawling as it was about them using and isolating the tecnicos and taking full advantage. Mixing in this strategy was some nasty strikes. Things elevate in the second fall and it is the Fiera side of things that elevate the match. I wasn't impressed with Egipico in his earlier appearance but he was super here and I marked out when he slammed Morgon into the boards and they broke. The third caida with the crazy dives and escalation to Morgan vs. Egipico was well done and the powerbomb was the perfect finisher to the match. My favorite trios so far. (****1/4)

First fall started with some good armwork from both and then Atlantis moved on to the leg. Faraon's comeback was pretty fierce and I don't think you can really praise some of Satanico's selling and criticize Atlantis here. The first fall plays off as Faraon locks him in a submission and Atlantis is crying uncle. Second fall looks like easy pickings for Faraon until Atlantis makes his comeback to to a great reaction to even things up. THird fall really ratcheted things up with a ton of reversals, big moves, pinning combos, and dives tot he outside. Dandy may have a claim that the ending count was fast. My third favorite title match on the set as well so far. (****1/4)

This match had a big "fun" feel to it. It may not reflect well on my overall rankings but it was refreshing from the glut of title matches and brawls we have seen as a change of pace. I almost equate it to a lesser version of the Space Cadets trios in that regard. Climax and Zavala were both fairly interesting. Reyes didn't do a whole lot for me except when he was taking punches from Mocha Cota. Finish was a little abrupt and the beginnning portion of the second caida seemed fairly directionless. (***1/2)

1984 EMLL doesn't get talked about enough as one of the great all time promotion years. By my count, they had 14 ****+ matches and stuff like Koshinaka/Satanico and the MS1/Chicana rematch right under that clip. I can only imagine how well the year overall would place if all available footage was out for the masses to see.