CMLL Line - 09/14/05 (#95)

We've skipped a week. Again.

In Other Action: You know how we saw Sagrado being introduced last week? Here’s highlights of that match – looks like Sagrado/Felino/Negro Casas vs Black Warrior/Masada/Nosawa (Arena Mexico, 06/20/03), with the lead two having a bit of a rivalry. It’s got to be the same match because Warrior never wears that yellow gear. Nice that they kept that clip of Sagrado leaving a lot of air on his between the ropes dropkick. I’ve seen better standing heel kicks too. Is this going to be all clips of his? Ah, he tricks Nosawa into bowing and taking a dropkick to the knee. Nice corner tope. We almost get to see Casa and Felino do something, but instead clip ahead to Sagrado hitting a reverse Russian legsweep cradle into a kneeling abdominal stretch – that must be his finisher because Warrior is taping out. Casas wastes no time in raising his hands because someone here needs to get over.

This must be the next week, because all of the sudden Super Crazy is here. This would seem to be Sagrado/Atlantis/Heat vs Super Crazy/Black Tiger/Dr. Wagner (Arena Mexico, 06/27/03.) On a corner whip, Sagrado runs up the corner buckles, ending up facing out while standing on the bottom rope, and then – tries to turn and hop, but doesn’t land right and ends up landing on the apron instead. Did the editor get lost this week? I don’t want to give you the impression Sagrado’s missing every spot he tries here – he’s doing lots of normal, fine things – it’s that my eyes are drawn to the things he’s not doing but are included in this highlight reel for whatever reason. If you want a comparison, think a thinner Safari with Niebla’s tope? I guess that’ll work. I guess we do need a new tecnico around here, though; there’s an awful lot of rudos controlling things.

Notes:  Eh, clipping. Would've rather seen a highlight package of the trios tournament (Bracket A) but no one asked. Capos are beating down the tecnicos between falls as we join.

Cien still is quite bald, though it's growing back. Tiger posts Vampiro and gives the crowd a good look at his biceps. Porky stands and argues with someone in the ring while Tiger lays into Vampiro with chops. As the Capos bully Atlantis in the ring, we miss Tiger giving Vampiro a knee breaker. Boot from Tiger. In the ring, Atlantis takes a clothesline from Cien. Tiger is knocking Vampiro into the buckets of beer in the aisles of the crowd, much to the vendor's annoyance. Atlantis takes a flapjack gutbuster, rolling to the outside in pain. Porky in, double whip for him, double leg takedown. Capos elbow drop. Double armbar may end this if no one helps. They keep it on for about 20 seconds, but when no one comes to help they let go. Mascara holds for Cien to hit a running knee, and that goes bad. Comeback is on. Lots of striking and stuff. Vampiro and Black Tiger have apparently decided to have their own little brawl away from the other four. Porky is biting someone's fingers. Vampiro with a nice running boot for Tiger. Atlantis and Porky double up on Cien, then Porky hits a very unimpressive kick on him. Finally, Vampiro and Tiger make it to the ring and tagged so they can do whatever sequence this has been building to - Tiger with forearms, off the ropes, right into a Vampiro kick but Tiger apparently blocks most of it. Tiger off the ropes, right into an overhead belly to belly suplex. Cien in, Vamp sees him but still gets knocked down by a knee. Atlantis in but he's kicked. Double chop. Whip, clothesline misses, Atlantis cross body misses, Cien crossbody misses and he goes out. Atlantis teases a dive till Cien moves out of the way - and right into the path for Porky's apron dive! Mascara with a clothesline for Atlantis, whip, head down too soon, Atlantis kicks him in the leg. Mascara charging, and ends up getting rolled over the top and out. Atlantis gets in his tope, and we're back to Tiger and Vampiro to finish this up. Crowd like Vampiro. Tiger with a shoulderblock, to the ropes, no quick turn but Vamp nails him with a side kick to the chest. Vamp going for the Crossface again, but Tiger is able to get a hand on the bottom rope. Refs are briefly distracted, and Tiger sneaks in a low blow kick. I gotta believe that one referee saw it, but I guess he's a rudo. Tiger covers, feet on the middle - er, he can't get them there - bottom rope one two three. (never got an opening whistle, but I'll say – 4:57) This is to set up Vampiro meeting Black Tiger for the NWA LH Title next week, but I don't think we really needed to see this match to see that match, considering what this match was. Assuming we see that. They obliterate Tiger's post match talking with the replays anyway, so what does it matter. Watch the referee sadly turn his head a moment too late.

Vignette: Havana Brothers cut a promo - in English! I can actually transcribe this without disgracing both myself and Google's translating service! In celebration of this fact, everyone wears MMA gloves.

Rocky: Hola, we are the Havana Brothers. I am Havana Brother #1, Rocky. Tonight, we're going to do our best to win the tournament, and for all you people at home tonight-, for all you Mexicanos, we're gonna do it for you.

Puma: I'm Havana Brother #2, they call me the Puma Kid. Now, everyone wants to know...what these Havana Brothers can do? Butyouknowwhat'stheanswertothatIdunno. They say that it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the DOG, and I don't think that's everbeensoverytrueasitistonight,justtellthemRocco.

Rocco [Quance]: That's right, I'm Rocco. #3. Everyone says blood is thicker than water, and we'll prove that, because, we're brothers, and no team is stronger than brothers.

Everyone pose!

Vignette: Infernales cut a promo but it's not as fun for me. Perhaps it’s the Spanish? I’m venturing to see this one was better. Satanico takes the step of not only promising to win, but threatening champion Dr. Wagner! That's guts.

Notes: This may be the Guapos third match tonight, but they can still dance in a vaguely choreographed way for their entrance! Such men. Infernales are already in the ring, so Terrible shows of his traits of "aggressiveness" and "not planning things out too well" by running to the ring by himself to take down Satanico. That works well for three seconds. Luckily, it only takes three more for backup to arrive. Brawl to start, Guapos clearing the ring.

Everyone else on his team gone, Mephisto manages to hand in the ring long enough to take a Mascara DDT. Shocker does a little dance. Guapos seem to have adopted Red as their team color, at least for the night. Mephisto whipped into the corner, Terrible whipped into him with a clothesline, Terrible provides the boost for a Magica dropkick, Shocker adds a corner shoulder charge. Shocker loads up Mephisto on the to rope, climbs up, pause to taunt the crowd, top rope superplex? YES! Magica adds a top rope splash, cover one Averno breaks it up. Satanico and Averno with a double whip for Magica. Spinebuster by Averno, and Magica is held up for both men to put a hold on. Shocker breaks that up, leading to a Shocker and Satanico brawl. Always good, Shocker getting the better of it. Mephisto comes in to challenge Shocker, and they start brawling. Shocker starts taunting, and Mephisto knocks him out of the ring with a kick. Mephisto spends a moment looking at Shocker after he's out of the ring, and is surprised to find Terrible waiting for him as he turns around. They have a slap battle - Terrible has Mephisto stunned, but makes a mistake of going off the ropes for a clothesline - Mephisto blocks it, slaps Terrible, and dares him to do it again. Terrible off the ropes, and Mephisto takes him down via a dropkick to the knee. Mephisto charges Terrible, Terrible backdrops, Mephisto lands on the apron, Terrible tries to chop him to the floor, Mephisto grabs Terrible by the hair and tries to pull him over the top rope. They both end up tumbling to the floor, Terrible taking the worse of it. As Averno and Magica start fighting in the ring, we look outside to see that boots by each man have laid the other out. Back in the ring, Averno is whipping Magica, drop toe hold, elbow drop but no one's home. Magica stomps Averno, picking him up for a punch, whip, reversed, Averno puts his head down too soon and get it booted. Averno charges, misses a clothesline, and runs right into a powerslam, with Magica throwing Averno out of the ring. Averno lands right at Terrible’s feet, so he stomps him before Magica yells for Terrible to pick him up - off the ropes, tope gets Terrible as Mephisto gets out of the ring. Shot of the crowd, and back in the ring where Shocker and Satanico are rallying support before they meet. Charge, Shocker misses a clothesline, Satanico hits a spinebuster as they turn. Satanico tries to follow up, but he's kicked away. Both up, Satanico right, Shocker right, Satanico, Shocker, Satanico, Shocker, Satanico, Shocker off the ropes and hitting a big boot. Shocker grabs Satanico but the legs - wait, is he going for a Sharpshooter? Averno stops us from ever no by breaking that up, and there are boos as all three Infernales beat down Shocker. Double whip for Shocker, waved back and into the triple pump powerbomb. Everyone holds him down one two THREE (3:39) He's the captain, so this is over - Infernales advance to the #1 contenders match. They celebrate by stomping and kicking the heck out of Shocker and Magica. We get a little chryon to explain what's going on, and then the replays.

Spectacular Moments

El Tope: El Rayo Tapito Uno hits a nice tope in Arena Coliseo

Lo Admirable: Zumbido tries a sunset flip on Porky and ends up being the one person who can't move away in time before the sit down.

Lo Espectacular: Ricky Marvin with a beautiful springboard corkscrew plancha on Black Warrior

El Triunfo: Shocker goes for a moonsault of some time, but Ultimo crotches him, and pulls him off to hit the Guerrero Special. Game set title defense. Wait, was he the tecnico here? Fans are treating him like one - that sure would be a change.

El Novato: Super Comando yells, then hits a top rope somersault senton. Almost frogsplash action before he turns over.

La Llave: When you're going for a corner walk up cross body, make sure there's someone there to catch you, Sombre De Plata. XXX puts on a rolling Romero Surfboard, which is worth the highlight alone.

Vignette: Hey, Doctor Wagner's back in the Doctor's office again. He argues with the janitor, as is his want. Wagner is sick of hearing about Heat. It's making him sick. Perhaps a fever. He's going to take this opportunity to destroy Heat and show that he is the true warrior of evil. Hey, it's a goal.

3	Heat  vs Dr. Wagner Jr. 07/04/03, Arena Mexico					86
	1	trios	3:28	Heat cross knee scissors hold	Good, but the crowd really didn't know Heat and he had to adjust to his rudo role. A little bit slow at times.
	2		3:51	Wagner Crucfix powerbomb
	3		5:30	Wagner Driver
	T		12:49	Wagner (2-1)

Notes: As usual with puroresu guys, I got some help (and an Icon) from Stuart's Strong Style Spirit. Thanks.

Wagner is wearing the Mexican Flag Outfit for the occasion, although I think technically Heat is the tecnico. Heat uses "Hell Song" by Sum 41 as entrance music - thanks Feely. We get entrance while in the ring, that's always welcome. Lizmark (dressed to wrestle) and Black Tiger (in street clothes) talk trash during their entrance. Heat is emotionless during his introduction, but Wagner goes to the corner ropes to draw from the crowd - the crowd is strong behind him. Did they do a handshake? We didn't get a good look. They're leaving plenty of time for this match so I think we're getting it unclipped.

Crowd clearly behind Wagner. I think the camera frame omits a pre-match handshake between Heat and Wagner. They both go to their corners at the whistle. Wagner steps out first, Heat charges, Wagner powerslams him Wagner off the ropes, right into a kick to the midsection. Heat with a whip (nearly tripping Wagner in the process), Heat throws a clothesline but Wagner rolls under, both try dropkicks but neither hits. Both up, Wagner with a leg trip, cover for zero, Heat with a leg trip, cover for zero, Wagner stands up, Heat headstand kips up. Standoff. Wagner listens to his name being chanted and points to the crowd section. Kneeling to pose. Heat gives a shrug, as if to say “what’s the deal with them cheering him?” Lockup, Wagner with an armbar, twist, Heat with a forward roll, forward headstand to escape, dropkick which apparently barely hit from Wagner’s reaction. He’s acting like he just was slightly budged, anyway. Heat kicks Wagner in the chest, but Wagner yells for more. Again a kick, again a yell. Again a kick, again a yell. On the third kick, Wagner catches the leg – dragon screw leg whip! Heat lands in the middle of the ring, so Wagner bounces off both sets of ropes before hitting the dropkick to the head. Wagner pauses to soak in the crowd reaction – there’s a loud group up front. Crowd shot means we may have clipped out something here, but we don’t seem to lose the momentum – Wagner picks up Heat for something probably not far form a German suplex, but Heat reverses it into the Minoru Special. Crowd is quiet. The Wagner chants stop, but nothing replaces them. Wagner struggles to spin around on the mat to find a way out – he eventually gets the sole of his right leg on the bottom rope. Some catcall whistles have filled the void, as Wagner is asked if he wants to go on, obviously feeling the pain from the leg hold. Heat takes his time, waiting for Wagner to get o one knee before kicking Wagner’s right shoulder twice. Boos start, and Heat reacts by doing his impression of the kneeling Dr. Wagner pose. This does not quite win the approval of the fans. Heat goes back to trying to drill a hole in Wagner’s right shoulder, but the crowd chants seem to be rallying Wagner back up. That, and if you kick someone so many times in the same place and the same way, they’re bound to catch one. Which Wagner does, leading to a takedown. Wagner picks Heat up, and drops him down with a slam. Wagner goes to the apron, with ideas of going up. He pauses on the apron to get the crowd’s opinion, and elects to go up anyway – top rope splash ends up dry! Heat rolled away in time. Dropkick to the left knee by Heat, and he waits for Wagner to get back up – Wagner manages to catch another kick, but Heat flips into a cross knee scissors hold! The announcers pronounce the move “fatal”, so they know how much trouble Wagner’s in now – seems like Wagner knows the same, the way he’s desperately yelling no and reaching for the ropes. He’s got a long way to pull both men, but Wagner’s making an effort and is getting there – but Heat pulls him back into the center and relocks on the hold. Wagner holds out for another ten seconds, but realizes they’re no way he can get to the ropes and gives up. (3:28) Fans give more catcalls. Replay of the finish.

Heat wastes no time in starting the fall, working on that injured left knee. Kicks to the knee, and resting the knee on the bottom rope for a knee drop. Heat drags Wagner back towards the middle of the ring and kicks the back of the knee. Wagner attempt to stand, but he’s just limping along at a slow speed. Heat notices that Wagner is an easy target, taking a second to bounce off the ropes before delivering a dropkick to the knee. Crowd is quiet here again, with a few derisive whistles. Heat goes back to kicking the back of the left leg – working on the hamstring now. Wagner attempts to use the ropes to pull himself fup as we look at the crowd.  We look back, and Wagner’s standing, but not for long, as Heat trips him up. Heat makes a “I’m gonna break him in half” motion to the crowd, then goes back to Wagner. Wagner is standing again, so Heat kicks the knee, and again, but again makes the mistake of trying the same thing too often, and Wagner drops him once again with a dragon screw leg whip. Crowd loud as Wagner has his chance, Heat down and checking his knee. Wagner with a kick to Heat’s right leg, and another. Wagner is hurting too much to follow up at a high speed. Heat is stood up, chop, whip, reversed, Heat with a dropkick that taps Wagner out of the ring. Wagner is stunned outside the ring, and Heat drops on him with a pescado before he has a chance to react. Lizmark waves some cool air to Heat, which causes an argument with Black Tiger. While they’re discussing legal corner man techniques, Heat is back to his feet. Headbutt for Wagner! Wow, I didn’t know if his mask would let him do that. Wagner tries to walk away, but Heat follows him, taps him on his shoulder, and kicks Wagner in the knee when he turns around. Wagner is thrown into the post, making this an official lucha brawl. Heat pushes Wagner in the ring and joins him. Chop, headbutt, boos from the crowd. Corner whip, reversed, Wagner rushes into a kick. Heat to the second rope quickly, missile dropkick but no one’s home; Dr. Wagner has sidestepped him. Wagner with a waistlock on Heat, Heat elbows out, off the ropes, and right into a Wagner dropkick to the knee. Wagner takes a look at the crowd, and then Heat. Grabbing Heat, and lifting him up – crucifix powerbomb! One two three! (3:51) It’s all tied up. Replays.

Heat recovers in the ring as the third fall starts, grabbing his head. Meanwhile, Dr. Wagner has spent the fall talking to the front row fans – he’s actually posing for a picture with a Santo-masked fan after this fall starts. Wagner sneaks in the ring from behind Heat – dropkick one two no. Wagner picks up Heat, DDT one two no. Wagner keeps Heat on the mat with a kneeling abdominal stretch, rolling it into a cradle after a moment one two NO. Wagner picks up Heat again, puts on a hammerlock, and rolls him forward, keeping on the hammerlock and putting on a headscissors. I have no idea what the name of this is, but Heat is able to scoot his way to the ropes after a struggle. Wagner stands, and limps around the ring, thinking of his next move. Crowd shot. Whip, sit down spinebuster one two no. Wagner can’t believe he can’t finish this guy off, and thinks of his next move. Picking Heat up – Tiger Driver! One two NO! Wagner shakes his head in disgust. Up and limping again, trying to rally the crowd. Heat’s scoop up, but Heat quickly climbs down Wagner’s body and goes for the cross knee scissors hold again. Wagner tries to fight out of it, but Heat takes him down and locks it in! Crowd is worried for Wagner, the most they’ve been for this match. Wagner wants to get the ropes, but the pain may just be too much. He’s stops struggling, and Baby Richard checks if Wagner is still conscious. One arm drop, two arm drop, three – no, it stays up! The crowd rallies for Wagner, and he rallied with them. Trying to power out – and one desperate lunge to the ropes does it. Heat takes a breath before standing Wagner up. Whip is quickly reversed into a Wagner drop toe hold, La Majistral one two NO! Crowd thought Wagner had it. Chanting loud for Wagner as both men use the ropes to get up. Wagner misses a clothesline, Heat hops on his shoulders, victory roll one two NO! Both men slow up again. Heat misses a clothesline, but comes right back with a high kick to the back of Wagner’s head. Jumping spin kick to the front of Wagner’s head leaves him stunned. Heat yells, then bounces off the ropes – and Wagner scoops him into the Wagner Driver! One two three! (5:30) Tiger lifts Wagner up to celebrate. Announcers have their usual argument about the legalness of the Wagner driver, but it doesn’t matter here – he’s won. Wagner poses for the crowd with a second mask on. Heat is slow off the mat, but apparently okay. Break.

Next Week: The Second Half of the #1 Contenders Tournament. Rayo de Jalisco, Atlantis, Olimpico, Takemura, Masada, Nosawa, Pierroth, Sadam, Nitro, Cien Caras, Mascara Año 200, Apolo Dantés and lots of trios matches.

Post match, Wagner and Heat go head to head, but seem to make peace. Black Tiger shakes Heat’s hand and bows. Wagner goes back to celebrating the big win. Replays of the finish closes us out.

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. If nothing else, Shocker shares Rock's willingness to job as a top guy quite often.
2. Black Tiger/Vampiro could be fun if they show it, but who knows.
3. The hyped "next week" guys are all over the tournament bracket, so who knows what that means.
4. The completed tournament brackets can be seen here, if you're wondering.