What's the story, witnesses of worked wristlocks?!
I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween this past weekend. And for those that don't celebrate, I hope you had a wonderful weekend! maybe you enjoyed some wrestling, or maybe you avoided the sport of kings. Regardless of what you did, I hope you enjoyed it.
My wife and I went to a small costume party with some friends of mine, with her and I dressing up as Carmela and Tony Soprano after we finished the series earlier this year. I'm glad I didn't watch any of the CMLL matches from before Halloween because goddamn, I'd have wanted to dress up as one of those luchadores instead. Maybe next year!
But, until then! Why don't we talk about the match that I've picked for the week, yeah?
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| CMLL |
📖 -7 minutes
Here's what I watched for the week;
| Match | Show | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Hechicero vs. Darby Allin | CMLL Rey Del Inframundo 2026 | 10/30/2026 |
• • • • •
 |
| Sizing each other up. CMLL |
Basic Breakdown
With Day of the Dead being a national holiday around the time of Halloween in Mexico, CMLL continued their yearly tradition of celebrating the holiday inside the ring of CMLL. It needs to be said right off the top, the look of this show is gorgeous. The decor inside of Arena Mexico is beautiful, with orange marigolds along the glass ramp divider and everyone from the ringside attendants to the referee's dressed up in some form or fashion. You really can tell how important of a holiday Día de Muertos is for the people of Mexico on this show. Admittedly, the wrestling on this card isn't great from top to bottom, but if you are looking for something easy to watch and are still in the Halloween/Day of the Dead frame of mind, this show is a fun watch.
Bell To Bell
Before the bell even rings, Hechicero removes a beautiful yellow mask to reveal his signature mask. His yellow mask can be seen on his Instagram, his signature mask has a half-skull design to it, with his entire ring gear themed around that look. Half in the land of the living, half in the underworld. It's a cool look that I really dig, which is a common theme throughout this entire show. Honestly, half the time I was more focused on their gear than anything happening in the ring. Darby looks his usual self here, coming to the ring with a skateboard that said "The Bastard" on the deck, in memoriam of PAC.
Prior to this match beginning, I was interested to see how these two would lean as far as match style. If my research is correct, this is Darby's first CMLL match, with his Arena Mexico debut happening during AEW's Grand Slam Mexico show from back in August. Hechicero has spent more time in America and AEW in the past few years and has been able to adapt for the most part to the American style of TV wrestling, one which Darby is very familiar and comfortable with. I did not expect to see Darby going hold for hold in a battle of submissions and catch techniques with Big Hech, but I also did not expect to see Hechicero doing a lot of punishing offence to the living crash test dummy. I'm happy to report they found a comfortable spot somewhere in the middle.
Hechicero looks to start the match off with a knuckle lock, but Darby is trying to get around his attempts, shuffling around the ring to look for an opening. He's backed into the corner quickly, with referee Aubrey Edwards forcing a break, with Hechicero getting in Darby's face before being pushed away. Darby proves that he's no slouch, at least at holding onto a hammerlock, by holding Hechicero's arm behind his back and twisting him around after each attempt Big Hech makes to snatch Darby by the head. He gains control of the right wrist this time, further twisting around Hechicero until he snatches a side headlock, with Hech shoving Darby off with the ropes, but Darby maintains the hold, his duels with MJF helping give him the advantage with this basic hold.
Not to be outdone, Hechicero breaks Darby's hold apart piece by piece, eventually getting behind him for a backslide attempt, but Darbs slips out easily after one. A move done less to try and finish the match and more to gain a positional advantage, Hechicero snatches Darby with a headscissors and pulls him down to the canvas, rolling around in the hold before finding a limb, wrenching back on Darby's arm for a cross armbreaker. Darbs makes a pin attempt, but Hechicero shifts his position back to the armbreaker. Even when Darby starts to stand out of the hold, Hechicero has his foot held behind Darby's head in such a way that he is able to pop off the canvas and twist around, rolling Darby with a sunset flip before standing on his hips to then flip him back into an attempted sleeper hold. God, Hechicero is slick.
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| Flipped inside out. CMLL |
Darby is able to shift his position for a pin attempt, but it doesn't score. Back on their feet, Darby staggers Hechicero with forearm shots before rebounding off the ropes for a heavy shot, only for Hechicero to back body drop Darby and send him spinning. I mean it, too. Darby does a full rotation in the air before landing, guy is made to fly. Stepping on the legs of Darby, Hechicero pulls him back into a surfboard stretch, rolling Darby onto his stomach and then back in the air, putting him through the ringer before stomping his knees into the canvas. With Darby crawling over to the corner, Hech gets him into the surfboard again, but Darby pulls his arms free and tries to get himself out, only for Hechicero to kick his legs out and send Darby chest and head first into the corner. A cover is made, but Darby survives.
Taking advantage of Darby being physically compromised, Hechicero goes out to ringside and pulls the steps away from the ramp and positions them on their side at ringside. At this point, I would say this match is leaning closer to the American style of wrestling Darby is much more familiar with. This is not to say weapons or outside equipment is never used in Mexico, but they are not used on a sometimes weekly basis like it is on American television. At least, not from my viewing experience.
Out on the apron, Hechicero pulls Darby to the corner and pulls him up, looking to drill him into the steps. Darby is able to fight back, making sure he doesn't get pulled off in a firemans carry. Darby is able to fend Hechicero off, thumbing him in the eyes when he shifts to inside the ring, still standing on the second rope. With Big Hech wounded and doubled over, Darby flips over his torso and drills him with a Code Red! Darby hold him down, but Hechicero gets free at two.
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| Gravity is a bitch. CMLL |
Rolling to the floor, Hechicero tries to catch his breath, but Darby gives him no room. Rebounding off the ropes, Darby throws himself at Big Hech, colliding with him on the floor and sending Hechicero into the barricade. It could be argued that equal damage was done to Darby as well, but it wouldn't be a Darby match if he didn't hurt himself at least a bit, right? Climbing the barricade now, Darby crushes Hechicero on the floor with a Coffin Drop before tossing him inside the ring and climbing to the top rope. Sitting, waiting, Darby lines up Hechicero and takes flight, landing a big missile dropkick to the chest.
Sliding back to the corner, Darby pulls himself up with the ropes and charges for Hechicero, who finds himself standing in the opposing corner. Darby collides with a splash before rolling back to the middle of the ring to try for another, but Hechicero catches him and holds him high above his head. Walking to the middle, Hech drops him in the centre of the ring, with Darby bouncing and stumbling back to the corner. This time, it's Hechicero charging in, colliding knee first with Darby's jaw. A snapmare takes Darby down in the middle, with Hechicero trapping Darby's head between his feet before twisting quickly, jarring the neck of his foe.
Rolling out onto the ramp now, Darby tries to escape, but Hechicero follows him out, pulling him onto his shoulders for a torture rack, climbing a few steps up the ramp before suddenly dropping to his knees. With Darby writhing around on the canvas, Hechicero moves the prop casket to the side of the ramp, doing so with incredible ease. Y'know, for something that looks to be made of solid stone, it moves as if it's made of plastic and Styrofoam. Odd. Pulling Darby back onto his shoulders, Hechicero climbs the steps, looking to drop him from the firemans carry down the steps, but Darby fights off his back.
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| Darby enrolled himself in a new multi-step program. CMLL |
Darby goes for the mask of Hechicero, trying to rip open the eye hole, but Hechicero lands a shot to the gut before twisting the arm of Darby so violently, he gets spiked face first. With Darby on his hands and knees, Hechicero takes a step back before kicking Darby down the stairs, his corpse rolling and bounchignoff the steps before coming to a dead stop at the bottom. Hechicero descends, pulling Darby up by his necklace and tossing him inside the ring. Grabbing his prone body, he pulls him up and hammerlocks his arm, turning Darby around and around before cracking him with his signature move, the Mad Scientist Bomb. Covering, Darby is able to get himself free at two to survive.
Sending Darby to the apron, Hechicero pulls him up and gestures towards the upturned stairs, looking to drive the death nail through his foe. He pulls Darby up into a firemans carry and adjusts his position before popping him up to drill him, but Darby adjusts in mid-air and catches Hechicero with a head scissors, sending him spine first into the stairs! Rolling and crawling around at ringside, Hechicero finds himself in the drop zone, with Darby ascending to the top rope, falling like a body out of a building with a Coffin Drop.
With Hechicero sent back inside the ring, Darby climbs the corner again, falling back with another Coffin Drop for a cover, but Hechicero survives! Jumping off the pin attempt, Darby flies up to the top rope for another Coffin Drop, but Hechicero turns into a living Venus fly trap, lying in wait for Darby to drop into his waiting embrace. Snatching his foe, he goes for a cross armbreaker again, rolling him a full 360 around the ring before holding his shoulders down, but Darby survives at two.
With Darby barely on his feet, Hechicero rebounds off the ropes and catches Darby with a head scissors, spiking him head first into the canvas. Rolling his limp body onto it's back, Hechicero covers for the final, decisive, three.
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| Cracked him open like a pumpkin. CMLL |
Match Time: 13:25
I'll be honest, I was cautiously optimistic about this match. I enjoy the work of both men and have a great deal of confidence in their abilities as workers, but I wasn't really sure how they'd gel in CMLL. As it turns out, they were able to blend the American style of wrestling with enough CMLL lucha-libre to not feel totally out of place on this card while also giving Darby something insane to do to satiate his thirst for self-mutilation. Both men worked well with one another and put on the best match of the card, easily. Kudos.
• • • • •
Until next week. Be well, stay safe, and love one another.
cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
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