CMLL Line - 12/20/03 (#106)

This is the (August) 70th Anniversary Show. 2 of the top 4 matches air this week. GdI vs Perro/Casas only aired on the Mexico version, because they got an 1:30 to air the show there. Tarzan/Shocker will air next week.

Vindictive black and white footage takes us back to the beginnings of EMLL, Salvador Lutteroth Gonzalez and some of his top stars. Wait, they have TV footage from 9/21/33? Whoa. This seems like a montage of footage from a longer piece, but I don't know. Moving into the original Santo  and Blue Demon period. And then suddenly into today (and by today, they really mean Today - this show.) This was still neat to see even if most of what was said flew over my head.

Notes: Wow! Entrances! You know it's an anniversary show when they break out the camera on a swing (which isn't the right word but I'm at a lost - I want to say "boom" but I know that's not right.) Havana Brothers enter to Tazz's music just to amuse me, I think. Thanks! FIREWORKS. Rocky has a boxing type robe and he refuses to look up till he gets to the ring to take it off. They also have hot valets, which works out well for them. Does he have the belt? Nope. Eh. Los Tecnicos have a rock tune I don't ID, but since this is an anniversary show, they're dressed all Mexican like - sombrero, white vest, white pants, big belt buckle. Fireworks, but they didn't wait for it to pose. Ring announcer is jacked up for this. Last week's opponents are captains. Havana Brothers didn't wear matching tights - Puma's wearing the Pinoy Boi tights again - but they all have the half/half color thing going. Rocky is blue/black, Quance is red/black and Puma is red/blue, so there is a unity there if you look for it. Tecnicos take out the ring gear and end up with matching white pants (with some green and red.) Ricky Marvin is apparently a Saiyan. Did someone get a new whistle? They're breaking out everything here.

Volador and Puma to start. Circle, lockup, Puma with a headlock and spin into a hammerlock, but Volador pulls him over into a headlock. Puma out into the top wristlock. Volador blocks it, so Puma tries to go the other way with an armdrag - except only he goes, and Volador just stands there. Blown? At any rate, Volador wastes little time (but enough for me to notice up there) to pull Puma up into an armdrag, take him down with an armdrag and put on an armbar on the mat. Puma looking quickly for away out, and finds it via waistlock on the mat, but Volador spins out of that back into an armbar. Back to their feet. Puma forward rolls out of the armbar, and dropkicks Volador down. Lookat the crowd. They're packed. Tag? Tag. Ricky and Rocky, and they're going right at each other with open hand slaps. No one's budging physically, but Rocky is the first one to break ethically, smacking Ricky in the jaw with a forearm. Ricky is momentarily stunned but comes back with his own. Now they're trading them, both getting a little disoriented on each shot. Rocky decides to bounce off the ropes for more impact, but Rickysses it coming, catches the arm, bars it and kicks Rocky in the chest. Marvin off the ropes, but Puma kicks him in the back (barely able to see it on screen). Rocky off the ropes, but someone kicks him in the back (can't see it, only tell by his selling.) Ricky off the ropes again, over, under, now ROcky running, Ricky tries a slam but Rocky lands behind, Rocky tries a 'ana on the next pass but Marvin powerbombs him down. Is Marvin on the patch? Or he's got cuts on both biceps? Or that's a fashion thing? Puma tries to ambush Marvin while I'm trying to figure this out - Marvin clothesline misses, Quance clothesline caught and turned into a floataround DDT. Superkick to Rocky! Rocky goes through the ropes and out, and Marvin has only the corkscrew plancha on his mind. Problem for him is, while he's running to the ropes, Puma's up and running with him. They both jump to the top rope and Puma shoves Marvin off and to the floor! That looked cool. Puma (having landed in the ring) wastes no time bringing Ricky back in, and slams him in place as Quance goes up - nice Shooting Star Press. One two three! (1:56) Volador back in, but Quance catches him with a clothesline for one. Clothesline misses, Volador superkick! Quance goes out under the bottom rope. Volador thinks dive as well, but Puma's anti-dive tonight and catches him with a backdrop as Volador charges. Volador lands on the apron okay, Puma's forearm blocked and Volador hits his own, back kick for Quance to keep him in place, and Volador springboards for the Asai Moonsault - but Rocky kicks Volador's legs out from under him as Volador lands on the ropes, tumbling him off the apron to the floor! Virus in for his side (all that's left standing right now) - clothesline on Puma misses, Puma with a chop, kick to the chest, whip, reversed, Puma over with a sunset flip, Virus rolls through and dropkicks Puma in the head. Virus with open hand slaps, corner whip, reversed, Virus jumps to the second rope, Rocky on him with more open hand slaps, climbing to the top rope for the 'rana, but Virus with right hands of his own. Virus picks Rocky into a fireman's carry - what's he going to do? Not sure, because Rocky slips back out to the mat, with more open hand slaps. Off the second rope arm scissors takedown into a cross armbreaker! That's it! (2:53) That really need a name. Rocky's pumped. Crowd's digging it. Look at that crowd. Tecnicos regroup on the outside, as Virus holds his arm.. Quance is hilariously cocky. Replays: SSP, Virus hitting the dropkick out of the sunset flip, which got a loud reaction, and a second angle of that.

Three people are chanting "HAVANA" as we return. But they're a loud three people. Volador and Quance to start the second fall - actually, looks like they're already staring as we come back from looking at the fans. Quance with a trip, but pauses to taunt a little bit and gets tripped up himself. Volador off the ropes, handspring flip nothing is avoided by Quance, Quance's jumping spin kick to the chest is ducked under by Volador, we're even. Volador off the ropes, Quance tosses him up, and Volador springboards flips off the top rope back to his feet. Quance with a kick, caught, enziguri, ducked, and Volador makes him back flip out. Volador manages an armdrag, Quance manages an armdrag, both headstand up and we have a face off. Crowd loud for that sequence. Tags to Virus and Puma. Lockup, Virus, Virus with a waistlock, Puma kicks out of it, Puma with a headlock, Volador tries back suplex, Puma lands on his feet, Virus gets that headlock back on, shot off, back with a shoulderblock. Off the ropes, over, under, Puma tries a leapfrog again, but Virus catches him - side powerslam! one two NO. Wow, a near fall! Virus with an armbar, but Puma kicks and eye pokes his way into a reversal to a wristlock. Mexican Armdrag on a Mexican! No reaction. Virus up, clothesline is ducked, tilt-a-whirl is escaped, legsweep is jumped over, Puma tries a spinning back kick but Virus ducks under, Virus punch to the gut works, powerbomb! Marvin springboard corkscrew splash! One two THREE! (1:42) I didn't even see Marvin set up for that till he was in mid-air, that was nice. Quance in to take his partner's place, Marvin's clothesline is blocked, Quance with a kick, kick, clothesline blocked again, armbar, kick to the midsection, and yell to Rocky to go up. Rocky's not as fast as Volador, though - missile dropkick to Quance's back knocks Marvin free, and Quance (eventually - he falls down too soon and stumbles back up to correct the mistake) in to the ropes to crotch Rocky. Ricky and Volador going up to grab Rocky - SPANISH FLY! One two three! (2:08) Yea, that'll get a reaction. Virus had a sharp baseball slide dropkick to keep the Puma from breaking up the pin. Replays. Multiple finishes of top rope double flipping side slam thingy, we'll say.

Oh no, the announcers are randomly using english again. He's reminded they're in Mexico, so Spanish. Anyway, third fall starts with Volador (three for three!) and Quance. Volador's ready to go - off the ropes, over, clothesline caught, Quance short clothesline ducked under and lifted into a fireman's carry, Volador F5! Rolling Quance over one two NO. Volador off the ropes, kicks is caught, Quance spins him around and catches him for a back suplex - but instead of going back, he spins around to drop Volador on his back. I guess that's a side back suplex? and also we're going to pull out everything in the playbook for this fall. One two no. Cameraman is two for two on not showing the referee correctly on two counts. Kicks by Quance, corner whip, reversed, Quance to the middle ropes, Volador kicked back, headlock and signal to the crowd, seated Tornado DDT is pushed off by Volador. He's tired though, so no quick follow up. Look at the crowd - from far away, wee see that Volador tried a slingshot, but it only succeeded in sending Quance back to the second rope - second rope moonsault DDT! Crawling over - one two NO. Puma's disappointed on that one. Quance off the ropes, handspring up 'rana is blocked and powerbombed. Quance really gets folded off - this time, they're gonna show us the polar bear instead of the cover -one two no.  Quance is in better shape, even if Volador's the one pulling him up. KIck to the leg, kick to the other leg, kick to the chest is caught, Quance with open hand slaps but they're blocked, Volador with a shot the the chest, Volador grabs him - three handled moss covered family credenza! That's what Quance's spinny move earlier remind me off. AGAIN we cut away from the pin and can only hear it - one two no. CLIP argh - looks like we lose a Puma/Marvin sequence and are halfway into Rocky/Virus. Rocky with a kick to the chest, full nelson lift to something is blocked, Rocky tries Victory rolls but he's pushed off, Rocky tries superkick but he's caught, spun and clotheslined. Virus covers one two NO. Virus pulls Rocky back up, into an armbar, Rocky is behind his back, lifting him up, hey, reverse Gory Special! Virus is stretching Rocky out, but Rocky won't give yet. Rocky able to sit up from up it, and in another inspired move, Marvin immediately tries a springboard plancha to knock Rocky off Virus' shoulders. This time, the rudo is ready for Marvin, ducks the move, and victory rolls into an anklelock on Virus. Meanwhile, Quance dropkicks Marvin in the face to keep him form helping and Puma pushes Volador off the the top rope to the floor! (That's Puma's new trademark!) Will Virus give? He's in trouble, but he's spinning it - and he's hooked the bottom rope. Rocky pulls Virus up for the Havanas to take apart with big kicks - one for everyone. Now Rocky holds Virus in place for both his teammates to work over. Kicks don't seem as strong as they've been, for sure. Puma and Quance off the ropes, and Ricky and Volador are supposed to come in to catch their boots before they hit Virus, but Volador, after all the wacky agile moves he's done here, actually trips over the bottom rope on the way in, and Puma has to just pause with his boot in the air. Funny. Ricky dragon screw leg whips Quance out of the picture and Volador clotheslines Puma down. Rocky, distracted by this, gets surprised by a Virus back elbow - armbar takedown, fujiwara armbar! Rocky in a lot of pain and a long way to go, crawling, crawling - he makes the ropes! Rocky's still in this, but he's in a lot of pain. Ah, everyone's wearing green and white arm bands, I didn't notice that before. Virus scoops up Rocky in a fireman's carry - forward slam. Volador tope rope Quebrada! Rocky springboard legdrop, Virus covers one two Quance vaults Volador to break up the pin. Puma kicks Ricky and slams him while he sends off Quance to to do the same to Volador. Both going up - pointing at each other - stereo top rope firebird splashes! One two NO! They can't believe it! Rocky back up and forearming Virus. Beating him down in the corner. He's got some help now - double whip, Quance and Puma slide out past Virus and crotch him into the post. Rocky fights Marvin and Volador off the apron and gets ready to charge, but the tecnicos are still standing- - Rocky's tripped up and crotched! Marvin and Volador back in - STEREO CORNER TOPES! Virus and Rocky pull themselves back up - Rocky off the ropes, over, under, armscissors takedown is blocked - as Virus pulls Rocky back up with a one hand from the mat, and then drops him into a powerbombs! Virus with a Scorpion deathlock, turning it half way and pulling back on both Rocky's arm - lifting him off the mat. Rocky can't go anywhere - he gives! VIRUS WINS! (5:24) Fans go wild! this was really good. Tecnicos are ecstatic, while the rudos recover. Virus just beat the champion right there, which may come up later. Replay of the topes, but still not a good angle. Virus fighting out of the arm scissors and getting on the finishing move.

Stellar Moments
La Llave: Mini Olimpico spinebusters Fira and puts on a wacky upside down front facelock submission
Lo Impresionante: Alan Stone missile dropkicks Dr. X off Starman's shoulders, but Starman trips over Dr. X's body and lands on his head.
Lo Admirable: Mini Shocker gets thrown up in the air by Mini Pierroth - so he comes down out of the ring with a wild corkscrew plancha
La Plancha: Espectrito about kills Mini Shocker with a top rope splash.
Lo Doloroso: Sagrado kills Veneno with a tope, then goes into wild spasms. Oh, he hurt his back on the chairs, that's no good
El Lance: Niebla looks flattens Mascara Magica with a slingshot somersault plancha.

Notes: Pierroth coming out by himself? Well, with dancing girls. Ah, the rest are hanging out below to hold up Puerto Rico flags. "VIVA PUERTO RICO" Violencia has fireworks. And Road Warrior like should pads. And a nice looking mask. And horns on the side of his trunks. And a wrap on his left knee. Hmm, Universo 2000 is his backup? Violencia and Pierroth are yelling at each other from the ramp, and waste no time in going at it.

Violencia ducks a Pierroth clothesline as he comes in, open hand slap, open hand slap, clothesline scares Pierroth to leaving the ring, but we're starting the match anyway. Pierroth wanders over to protest something or other to the commissioner. Look at the crowd. Look at Pierroth attempt a dropkick. I rather see the crowd. Violencia hits his dropkick. Off the ropes, no tripped up (takes two tries to get it right!) by La Nazi and Pierroth clubs Violencia the back with a clothesline. Back suplex one two three. (:35) Consider me awed! Well, not quite. He didn't even pull the tights. Replays. Time in between falls is longer than the first fall.

We watch the math from far away, which is the best possible viewpoint. Looked like Pierroth got the advantage to start the fall, but Violencia turns it around - corner whip, corner clothesline, corner whip, corner clothesline, corner whip, corner clotheslines, corner whip, corner clothesline. Pierroth collapses more due to the running than the clotheslines, I think. Violencia slides Pierroth out of the ring. Off the ropes, slingshot somersault plancha gets no one, but his boot cracks La Nazi on the shoulder on the way down. Quick TiVo replay shows that Nazi was "attempting" to catch him but nowhere close enough to the ring (and made no attempt to move up, just standing in place as if she expected Violencia to some how start flying an extra foot to get to her). She took a bad looking shot, but it's tough to fell sorry for her when Violencia just landed hard on his back. Pierroth goes in and stalls while Universo fans Violencia. Replay. I think that was supposed to take La Nazi out of the match, for now, but it didn't seem something she was prepared to handle. Referee letting this twenty count extra long - Pierroth does his part by breaking it, and coming out to stomp Violencia. I'm sure Pierroth asked how he was doing. Violencia is posted. Limping a bit. Shot in to the apron. Yea, he's not putting weight on his right leg. Violencia manages to get in the ring, Pierroth follows, Pierroth slaps and tries a suplex, Violencia reverses to a small package one two three. (2:05) I'm thinking this might be an extra long break. Referee Baby Richard and Universo are both checking on Violencia. The ringside doctor can't, because they're stretching out La Nazi as planned previously, except the devastating plancha that was supposed to take her out never actually hit her. She's selling her shoulder like it's separated, but it's not really stretcher worthy. This match is not stretcher worthy. Pierroth's got a "how do we get out of this?" look going right now. Replays of the small package.

Pierroth takes his belt off and starts whipping Violencia to start the match. Showing how much that really bugs people, Violencia completely no sells it as he starts to stand up, then rolls out to try and see if he can walk. Um, nope. If this was a normal trios match, I think he'd be either going to the back now or just sitting this fall out. But it's his mask, so he's not going give up. Pierroth swings with the belt as Violencia gets back in, Violencia ducks under and strikes him in the back many times. Kicks to the ribs. Now Violencia's got the back. Belt shot to Pierroth. Now this is every Pierroth match ever. Belt to the back, kick to the chest, repeat. Cover one two NO. It's a sever limp. Whip, powerbomb drop. One two No. Pierroth whipped again, reverse, sunset flip by Violencia one two NO. Slap exchange. Violencia with a whip (another?), Pierroth with the sunset flip this time, Violencia rolls through and dropkicks Pierroth. One two no. Pierroth very obviously pushed Violencia into the roll through there. WHIP! powerslam one two NO. C'mon, not another whip. Violencia adjusts the wrap on his (now relatively good!) left knee. Corner WHIP!, reversed, corner clothesline. Pierroth with more open hand slaps. Walk to to the other corner. Corner whip, reversed, Violencia with a corner clothesline, open hands slaps. Violencia is looking better - so of course, he turns around and just happens to run into Baby Richard. That's the worst ref bump set up ever, but luckily it's only mild and it's only Universo can get in a punch of his own. Violencia with a thumbs up for Universo! Cover one two NO. Man, if this ended on a punch, 'd be thrilled. Universo getting yelled at by the commissioner now. Violencia with a slam. Is he going up? This won't end well. Top rope splash HITS! One two NO. Crowd trying to get loud for Violencia. Slam. Going up again. Guess it's time to miss his move. Especially if he's going to take his time like this. Somersault senton misses, yep. Pierroth picks him up. Powerbomb nearly goes horribly bad, Pierroth holds on to press the legs in one two three. (4:35) There are times you wouldn't mind a screwy finish, you know? I guess this keeps him stronger - if he didn't have to cheat to win 90% of the time. Pierroth claims awesomeness to the camera, but it's debatable.

Play the music. Looks like the rest of the Boricuas are here. Violencia's son? A kid in a Violencia mask - yea, they say El Hijo de Violencia. I think an actual doctor is out to check on him while Pierroth rants to himself. He might have messed up his hip or something. Pierroth's going on about how awesome his Year TO Date has been. The mask is off, but Violencia is covering up on the floor - we never saw it taken off, just a shot of him covering up and Pierroth has the mask. Violencia is hugging his son -they're both in tears, I think. Pierroth, insane with success, is now challenging Universo. Universo shoves him for being really dumb. Pierroth makes the mask/hair challenge? That's a strategy. Violencia gets to his feet - er, foot - and Blas Columba, 33 years old. We don't get a good look at him, as he limps up the stage and away from the camera. Now Pierroth is challenging Morales? And Morales is getting up - and running away? Oh, Pierroth got out of the ring to chase him. I think there must've been some clipping here.

No next week hype, just a sign off and they're gone.

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. Of everyone, Quance was the breakout guy of his match. It wasn't close the first two falls.
2. Everyone looked super (except - off all they did, they blow an armdrag in the first minute? Ha!) and the Virus/Rocky match they're building to should be fun.
3. Violencia looked a lot bigger than usual. Maybe it was just the outfit, but he seemed a bit bloated. Wasn't a good day for him.
4. I guess I wait till Alfredo does Best of GdI III to see that Aguayo/Casas match? It is Aguayo and Casas.