CMLL Line - 12/22/02 (#65)

Thanks to: Robert Ortega for the original format, Krisz for the results archive, and Joe Gagne for the place to talk about it.

This'll be even briefer than normal, where possible. 

Notes: the mascot accompanies the Brazos. If the mascot is Alushe, isn't it a little odd he's coming out with Tinieblas? Watched this match in fast forward for the most part. - Brazo and Mexica had a 1:30+ mat wrestling bit. One shot of the crowd later, it's a rudo beatdown. Beatdown continues to the second fall. Capos show decent double teaming, as usual. Tinieblas turn sit around by somehow catching a double boot. Universo tries to take on all three tecnicos, which doesn't work as well. Platino hits a somersault senton to set up the finish. After, the tecnicos set up Universo and the mascot is put on the second rope for a butt splash. Everyone takes turn putting on submission and getting them broken up into a third fall. Tinieblas hits a top rope plancha on the capos, but they quickly turn it around with a powerbomb on Oro and a rings of Caras to take the win. Cien makes like he's going after the midget but fails to deliver.

Notes: Zumbido has purple hair all of the sudden. No entrances.

Genetico wants a handshake, we look at crowd and come back to see Genetico down on the mat, so one can guess how that went. Zumbido poses but Genetico kips up and dropkicks him. Zumbido is not so happy. Circle. Lockup, break. Lockup, Zumbido waistlock, takedown, front facelock, Genetico with the hammerlock to an armbar reversal, Zumbido flips into an armdrag reversal. Single leg takedown, but Genetico legscissors him from the mat. Standoff. Fans get on Zumbido. Back elbow by Zumbido take back control. Off the ropes, over, into a hiptoss but it's blocked and Zumbido hits a slap. Whip, no Genetico with a quick reverse to a headscissors. Zumbido's clothesline is blocked, Genetico goes for  tilt-a-whirl but Zumbido keeps spinning and lands on his feet, pausing to crotch chop. Genetico is still moving though, and hits a quick springboard overhead scissors. Zumbido manages to get up quick and land another open hand slap. Zumbido charges Genetico in the corner, so of course Genetico moves and Zumbido takes his knee bump to the floor. Genetico wastes no time running, handspring over the ropes (very awkward looking - he gets stuck at a point and it kills the flow of the move) springboard Asai moonsault. Both men are down and being checked on. Maybe he was going for Niebla's handspring over the ropes plancha and had to change it when things went bad? Best I can figure. Required class uniform is a black Guapos U T-Shirt, blue jeans and a dark brown belt, apparently. Both men are up - Zumbido is in first, off the ropes, over, rolling under, shoulderblock, corner double springboard (pause) 'rana. Genetico's pushed into the ropes and slide out of the ring chest first. Genetico is in pain on the outside - slingshot suicide senton! Zumbido grabs his head upon impact, perhaps checking to see if it's still there. Replay - oh, he caught Genetico's knee right on his head. Zumbido makes it in the ring pretty well, all considering. Genetico is a couple beats behind him -  Genetico waved by but comes back with a 'rana holding it for one two NO. Bodyscissors roll up one two NO. Genetico with a chop, right, kick, whip, Zumbido managed to hits a springboard turning dropkick one two NO.  Slap battle with no one getting an advantage till Zumbido kicks - yell to the crowd, and he turns right into a dropkick to the knee! Genetico is slow to cover - one two no. Fireman's carry- and drop. Genetico going all the way up - twisting moonsault splash finds no one! Zumbido nails him with dropkick to the chest - Fisherman's Buster! One two three. (5:01) Let's take note that there's only six people there this week - Loco Max, (Damien el) Terrible and one of the blond guys I can't immediately pick side with Zumbido, while another blond guy checks on Genetico. 

Notes: No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no I can't take it any more. It's not even horrid singularly, it's the endless repetition of the horridness that makes you want to DIE. We have Pierrothio, Violencito, Nitro, Violencia and Commando Girl Dos here. No Veneno (who, I forget that I read till now, will be out about 3 months from a shoulder injury, presumably the shoulder he had in a sling when we last saw him.) He does have a bat, which probably won't end up losing to Markus. Oh he's gonna talk - he hopes Omar gets some good people for Colon, I gather. Markus is 100% Mexican according to the introduction. CG2 and Markus have a shoving battle, which doesn't go well for her, but Pierroth gets a shot to post Markus so it's all good in the end. Pierroth is beating him on the outside but I don't know if this match has officially started - we'll chart time from first fight between the two, I guess. They haven't made it into the ring yet. Markus is finally pushed and and they're in. No official start to the match. Pierroth controls with basic brawling. Oh wow a suplex! He's a man of at least 7 holds! Commando Girl is having some sort of seizure outside the ring - ah, it's supposed to be acting. Pierroth wants to use the belt but it looks like the Commissioner is over to  ban the belt. Markus steals the belts and all of the sudden, they're not banning the belt. How about that. Markus hits a spinebuster (another wrestling move, wow!) and gets 2. Oh good lord a sunset flip I thought for sure someone was gonna land on their head there. Clothesline gets another 2. Small package gets 2. There's bunches of time between these near falls. There's a new announcer and it's weird getting used to his voice. Back elbow gets 2. This has all been Markus since the belt stuff - Pierroth had a 3 minute run and Markus almost losses it back after three minutes, missing a running sit while Pierroth was on the middle rope, but managing a sliding dropkick on CG2 in the process. He stays in control because Pierroth is slow up. Top rope splash is Kane-like (feet obviously landing first) and Markus covers while putting his feet on the ropes for no good reason - it gets three. Actually we know the reason is so they can do another 20 weeks of these but c'mon. Markus shows his ability to count by noting he's now one two straight - how about the hair vs hair already? I think Pierroth actually agrees to do this on 2/3 but that'd give me credit for understanding more than usual. That sounds like the next time they're back in Arena Mexico after this show, so it could be right. They could've been talking about New Year's Eve plans for all I know, probably.

Notes: Vampiro's hair is red tipped this week - Rey charges him on the apron, misses on the first try but connects on the second. You can tell Vampiro is gonna reverse it because (well first he tells Rey to hit him at one point and) he doesn't leave his feet, so Rey can charge and be thrown (overhead BtoB toss) into the ring. Vampiro backs up on the ramp and hits a nice no hands running jumping shoulderblock over the top rope into the ring. Niebla and Shocker show up after that, but rudos take the early advantage beatdown. Vampiro gets held for a dropkick from Rey. Rey and Ultimo have new tights - they're okay, but I'm lacking a good description. Niebla gets beat up some. Shocker's turn. Vampiro back to the apron - Ultimo lets him in, but misses a clothesline - Vampiro gets a short run on Mascara and Ultimo as a consequence, but gets a 'rana reversed into a (dropped) powerbomb by Rey. Double spinebuster lift so Rey can hit a missile dropkick. Mascara and Ultimo load Vampiro into the Tree Of Woe - triple dropkick to the head! Slam, Mascara top rope splash, Ultimo top rope splash, and Rey will - just sit on him and punch. Ultimo eventually gets him to just cover and that'll do it. (2:28) Break.

Ad for the Vampiro/Rey hair vs hair match for next week. Hey, this is actually footage we just saw. I bet some of this other stuff is footage we're gonna see in a fall or two.

Rey is attacking Vampiro on the ramp as the fall is supposed to start. Shocker tries to go after the two left in the ring but gets stopped quickly. Rey and Ultimo do one of those whole long set up to trip Shocker up - Mascara gets to hit the missile dropkick. Off the shoulders spinebuster for Niebla. Mascara follows his own move by dropkicking Niebla off the apron to the floor. Vampiro in again - Rey tells them to let go so he can do this himself. Vampiro slammed into the Tree Of Wow, ah they're gonna go for that dropkick again. Forget what I said about Rey doing this by himself. Hey, if it's the second time you do the same team maneuver in a match, what happens? Yep, Vampiro pulls himself up and everyone missed, turning the match around. The four non-captains brawl outside the ring while Vampiro beats Rey in the ring. Nice bulldog. High knee takes them out - Shocker and Niebla run Ultimo into the post, crotch first, then it's Mascara's turn. Vampiro's tired himself out beating Rey on the ramp. Shocker and Ultimo are now in the ring, with Shocker managing a big boot but Ultimo comes back with a headscissors. Shocker ducks a clothesline, and manages a bouncing off the ropes armdrag. Ultimo gets up and charges into a Rock Bottom with a half turn (I know I'm not supposed to call it that but whatever right now.) Shocker GOES FOR THE MASK! That's not very Guapo of him. Ultimo rallies back but Shocker beats him in the slap battle and boots him into the ropes, before clotheslining them both out. Mascara and Niebla - don't think this will be quite as good. Nieba wins the slap battle. Off the ropes, over, under, into a clothesline but it just makes him dance. Repeat the clothesline, dance part. Dropkick actually takes him down, but a charge lands Mascara on the apron, where the weakest looking Slap Of Death knocks Mascara to the floor. Niebla starts running for a dive, Mascara sees it coming and does a "look at me, I'm smart!" move by moving out of the way, but he blows it all away by stopping his moving to allow Niebla to change what he's doing and go for the dive anyway. I don't know if Niebla was supposed to mostly miss like he did, though, as he only breezes Mascara with a handspring back elbow. Ultimo and Shocker back in. They both check the crowd - and Ultimo checks Shocker with a clothesline. Next clothesline is blocked - hey, it's the Circuit Breaker! Rey saves his partner with a dropkick to Shocker's chest. Vampiro is in and booting Rey, while Ultimo loads Shocker up on the top rope. Rey with a single leg takedown from behind on Vampiro, now a waistlock, Vampiro tries a swinging back elbow, Rey ducks while Vampiro turns himself around, I think Rey gives him an armbar takedown but no one particularly sells a move there. Vampiro tries to go for his step over spin kick but Rey catches the leg, puts on a spinning toe hold into an STF! Oh yeah, while that was going on, Ultimo managed to break out his finisher too - off the tope rope inverted superplex for one two three. (5:51) Vampiro taps out not so shorly after (5:52) and Ultimo and Rey celebrate with the front row Rudo fans. 

Rey gets the mic post match - one week from now, that ugly red hair is coming off. Rey tries to kick it off now but he's prevented from doing some damage. Ultimo talks too - Shocker tried to take his mask but Ultimo took the fall and now he'd like to take Shocker's CMLL Light Heavyweight Title, how about one week from now? Shocker seems to content to the title match. Replays of the finishes. 

Spectacular Moments: Shockercito gets the best of Pierrothio - victory roll into a bodyscissors into an armdrag. Ramestien with a second rope powerbomb on Hombre Sin Nombre, I think, but I thought he was gone already. Well maybe now? Nice 450 splash by someone I don't know. Sangre Azteca gets the best dropkick yet in that "guy does a plancha only to be dropkicked by the other guy" spot. Here's the tope from Santo on Demon that actually somehow led to his team's downfall - hey, is this the last time we see Casas too? 

Vignette: a

Notes: Demon comes out to the Mission Impossible music, which is about right for his chances here. Santo has a great red/silver cape. Demon charges Santo after introductions but before Santo takes off his cape - clothesline misses, and Santo gives him a backdrop. Cape dropkick. CAPE TOPE! That look neat. Santo's back in the ring but Demon is struggling early. We see a replay of the tope, then the two are battling with punches on the apron - Demon getting the better of it. Demon back in, rights to the neck. There's a clip here because you can hear the crowd volume suddenly shift. Demon puts on an abdominal stretch and takes a moment to untie Santo's mask. Santo tries to get away and slides into being covered. Demon, with the mask untied, puts on a surfboard and tries to pull off the mask completely at the same time, with Santo trying to keep it on. Demon gives up on the hold and Santo tries to sneak out of the ring to recover but Demon stomps him and pulls him back up. Into the corner for open hand slaps. Corner whip, Demon charges but Santo moves, Demon going into the post shoulder first and to the floor. Santo top rope plancha! Replay, and we come back to see Santo working over Demon on the floor but only a little bit of activity out of him. Here's another replay. Santo has opted to go back in the right rather than fight outside of it. Demon is taking his time, making sure he's got a clean entry back in. Santo charges him - rolling headscissors to put Demon on the ground and cut off the air by tightening the leg grip. Demon escapes and tries to go for Santo's leg, but Santo leg pushes him away. Hard kick to Demon's back and now he's untying Demon's mask in revenge. The referee (Richard) tries to pull Santo off (he was only verbally warning Demon) but Santo will not stop. Now both are totally untied, but still on. Santo with open hand slaps, whip, reversed, Demon hits a dropkick. Demon gets a running start - TOPE! Probably just impressive that both masks stayed on impact as the move itself - I wonder if there's a trick to the mask that helps that. Demon has a pony tail, or at least he does when he's wearing a mask and needs to keep his long hair under it. Both slowly recover and get in the ring, Demon first. Santo has to battle from the apron, knocking Demon away enough to quickly hit a top rope tope. EL CABALLO! Demon slips through the legs - EL CABALLO OF HIS OWN!& Santo's too close to the ropes - he leverages Demon out of the ring - running start, TOPE! This is breaking new ground for most topes in one match. After a replay, we see both of the grabbing at each while still being down on the floor - trying to go for a leg submission and fight off the other. Demon gives up first and goes in the ring, Santo coming in the other side. "rana no Demon pushes him over head. Demon makes a move like he's going to pull Santo's mask, but Santo blocks it and PULLS OFF DEMON'S MASK. Well this match is over (DQ 6:09). The fans exploded on that one - now it's Santo who's walking around with the mask like a trophy. He also refuses to give it back - this what started it, when Demon did the same thing to him. Richard tries to give Demon a back up mask but Santo rips that one away too. Demon gets it after we watch replays. Announcers talk about this being historic but I'm not sure exactly if it's just "these are two important guys fighting with a lot of family history, so every time is historic!" or if Demon getting his mask pulled is actually a history making thing.

Santo talks after the match - this is Santo land, he wants a mask vs mask match. Demon wants - I don't know what Demon wants, but it's not the same thing. He also tries to start a Demon chant - and it works! Not as loud as the Santo chant

Next Week: Vamp vs Rey, Atlantis, Shocker, Ultimo, Pierroth, Satanico, Silva, Takemura, Nosawa, Masada, Porky and more. 

Rating: Bases on the quality of the finish, ring work, internal/external storyline, consistency and my whims. Also, various other (random) factors that I can't think of right now. 0-100 for matches.

Closing Notes: 

1. Checking, they're actually coming back to Arena Mexico on 1/28 - perhaps a reminder of the hair match a week before and then the hair/hair?
2. Or, well, we haven't had a PPV in quite a while so it could be that.
3. They need to take another step with the Nuevos Guapos: cut some people, show the updating rankings, some new way to match them up (trios?) - whatever, but it needs some forward momentum at this point
4. I miss goofy vignettes. There's really got to be some way to find room for the extra 30-45 minutes each week
5. Ultimo/Shocker and Rey/Vampiro as main events is like they're booking for me, odd