The March 6th Super Viernes event from Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) at Arena Mexico in Mexico City exemplified the traditional ‘Perfect Show Theory’ model promotions like CMLL, and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) use to pace their cards. When effective, every match builds until the marquee (main event), which is the best and most dramatic match of the night.
The opening on Friday saw Fantasy/Shockercito lose two falls to one to Mercurio/Pierrothito in what was a below-average match that didn’t draw much from the live crowd. CMLL opening matches, unfortunately, follow this pattern, differing from the often highly competitive and extremely crisp NJPW opening affairs.
However, the second match of the evening was a vast improvement. Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr. (Team Captain), Dulce Gardenia defeated Misterioso, Sagrado, Virus (Team Captain) two falls to one in what was an exciting match. Dulce Gardenia, who immediately became a fan favorite in NJPW during the Fantastica Mania 2020 tour in January, drew loud reactions from the CMLL crowd. Along with his impressive show skills, his slick in-ring style allows him to offer a unique blend to wrestling to the IWGP Conception around the world.
His team with Black Panther and Blue Panther Jr. worked effectively against Misterioso (who also makes appearances for New Japan of America), Sagrado, and Virus. The chemistry between the teams offered a quality story and match that was welcomed after a lackluster opener.
While Dulce Gardenia has only been active for 11 months, he has the makings of a quality draw for CMLL, and perhaps in NJPW as well. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Dulce show up in RevPro, the United Kingdom member of the IWGP Conception shortly. He is someone to watch over the next several years to see if he is able to fulfill his potential, which many Ultimo Dragon trainees have been able to do.
