Month: June 2004

arena mexico thoughts, TV changes?, lineup

thecubsfan

I wrote about this here and over on the main page, so I’ll skip the third recitation. The net effect of Garza’s jump and Santo coming is there’s at lesat gotta be a Aguayo/Garza vs Casas/Santo match coming up. Sorta AAA vs CMLL, though Perro has been in for a while now and they haven’t presented that way.

I always like to see Ultimo and Rey keep the titles, because they’re fun to watch, but if the cost of getting a big title match is losing the belts, I can take it. At this point in their career, Blue Panther and Atlantis seem to save their A-games for big matches, so I’m looking forward to seeing this on TV. I don’t neccesarly know that they’re going for a rematch here, and I’m not sure it’d be too horrible to give some other rudos a chance. As long as they don’t kill the belts via non-defense after the build they’ve given to them over the last few years, it’ll work out.

Problem is, whatever match is next, we may not see it. Last couple weeks, CMLL’s only aired a 30 minute show in Mexico, which means we’ll get the same 30 minutes up here. It doesn’t appear to be something on Televisa’s side – they’re doing the normal two hour slot, and they inserted repeat AAA footage.

At an hour a week, with this roster, we’re already into territory where you might not see your favorite people for months just because there’s not enough time. At a half hour, the show’s almost becoming a waste of time. Though it’d be a snap to recap, it’s almost sounding like not worth the bother.

This week’s Arena Mexico card is one a triple main event deal, with the top 3 matches not in any particular order.

1 Rayo Tapatios vs Caligula & Mesala
2 Misitco/Volador/Misterioso vs Azteca/Nitro/Arkangel
– Revenge: Canek/Rayo/Warrior vs Wagner/Tiger/Universo 2K
– Perro/Negro/Shocker vs Pierroth/Tarzan/Garza
– Atlants/Panther/Felino vs Okumura/Averno/Mephisto

Yes, they booked Aguayo with Casas event though he turned on him last week. It’s really tough get out of the tecnico army, I guess.

Sounds like they might be building to a trios title match in the near future, since they’re doing back and forth matches with the champions. Might be able to say the same of the tag titles of ex-Infernales get a win.

Card’s not horrible, but the two Arena Coliseo main events (Guapos/Satanico vs GdI/Terrible and Perro/Shocker/Atlantis vs Wagner/Tarzan/Rey) look better, even if Perro’s gonna be turning on people all week.

Alan Stone is back to teaming with Chris Stone. They really accomplished a lot there.

Lucha Times is updated. Saturday could be good. Sunday wasn’t much.

Trios Trios Trios Part IV

joegagne

Hey, I’m alive! And we’re back with match #4.

Silver King/Villano III/Villano IV vs. Felino/Negro Casas/El Hijo Del Santo (12/11/98)

Breakdown:
Silver King (pre-Black Tiger, other than that, the same)
Villano III (still has his mask)
Villano IV (same)

And we already covered the tecnicos.

This is the first round of a one-night, four team tournament that also included Atlantis & Emilio Charles & Lizmark Jr. and Dr. Wagner Jr. & Blue Panther & Black Warrior. All twelve men come down to the ring to decide who fights who first. As you can expect, there are tensions with twelve wrestlers in the ring. Warrior and Felino get into a shoving match on the floor while Wagner and Charles exchange some punches. Finally everyone is separated and we get a coin toss, leading to the above listed match.

As are most tournament matches, this is one fall only.

Interesting story: King and the Villanos were in WCW at the time (King even wears an lWo short for the early portion of the match), while Santo, Casas, and Felino were set to work the WWF’s Super Astros program, so this is actually an interpromotional match years before the Invasion.

I’m sure I mixed up the Villanos about a thousand times in this match. You’ve been warned.

A Una Caida: The other two teams take their sweet time leaving the ring, and when the do, the rudos attack to kick off the match. King takes out Santo and Felino while the Villanos take Casas outside and ram his head into the announce table, then drop a row of stairs on him. This injury is so devastating, Santo actually goes outside the ring to cover up his partner. Then they go back in the ring and leave Casas lying on the floor (?). Felino gets in the ring with Silver King but is quickly beat down by all three rudos. Santo comes in and fares no better, getting planted by a DDT from Villano III.

Santo ends up in the rudo corner and gets a beatdown of his own. Silver King tries a move where he jumps onto the second rope and spin kicks Santo in the corner, but hits more of his partner than Santo. Villano IV tags in and hits Santo with a back elbow, which allows him to tag Felino back in, who promptly gets beat down some more.

Villano IV, apparently bored, heads outside to beat up Casas some more. He’s joined by III, and they ram Casas into the steel pole battering-ram style. Santo checks on his partner while Casas makes the questionable decision to get in the ring, where he is promptly met by the Villanos. After a slam, Silver King comes off the top with a big elbow, but only gets two.

Casas tries fighting back with chops, but King trips him with a drop toehold and tags in Villano IV. IV tries a back bodydrop, but Casas hits him with a kick and clkothesline him to the floor in a nasty bump. King comes in and takes out Casas with a dropkick, which brings in Santo to dispose of SK with a satellite headscissors. Now III is in the ring and takes out Santo with something, bringing in Felino who tries a dropkick and misses. Felino gets whipped to the ropes but counters with a jumping armdrag to clear the ring.

Rudos regroup on the ramp and tease walking out, but eventually come back. We get Santo and Villano IV, and Santo inexplicably turns his back on Villano, and the end result is another beatdown. Felino gets the tag, but Silver King gets the advantage with the Rick Steiner “catch the guy in a leapfrog and powerslam him” spot.

Santo gets tagged back in and beat down some more, until his partners grab him in the ropes during a whip, allowing him to hit both Villanos with a double facebuster. Silver King tries a corner splash but misses, allowing Felino to flatten him with a moonsault press. Now it’s the tecnicos turn for a three way stomping. Villanos IV comes in and gets the same result. III charges at Santo, only to miss and splat on the floor. King’s back in the ring, and he nails Santo with a superkick, only to get back bodydropped himself onto III on the floor. IV tries to whip Santo into the ropes, but he flattens III with a tope on the floor! Felino knocks IV to the floor with a spinkick, but when he tries a somersault dive from the apron, he flattens Santo!

Now we’ve got Casas and King in the ring. Casas quickly drops King with a drop toehold and locks in the Casita, but Villano IV makes the save. King hits a big powerbomb but only gets two. He puts Casas up top and tries a top rope Frankensteiner, but Santo grabs his partner and King does a header off the top. A second casita with Santo on top of the pile seals the deal (10:49).

Tecnicos celebrate as the rudos ask “Wha happn’d?” We get replays of the ending.

Interesting match. Usually these one fall tournament matches are compressed down to three-four minutes, but this one got some room to breathe (because it’s only a four team tournament?). Didn’t follow the usual formula—rudos control a fall, tecnicos make a comeback, go the finish. Rudos controlled a good portion of the match, but the momentum switched back and forth quite a bit. And I liked Negro coming back from his earlier beatdown. Good action overall.

I’ll continue with the rest of the tournament, uh, later.

Vampiro out, Garza in, new champions

thecubsfan 1 Comment

Quickly

– Vampiro’s out two months with a broken leg.
– Replacing him last night? AAA/TNA’s Hector Garza. Sounds like he ended up going tecnico at the end of the match, and he’s sticking around.
– Atlantis and Panther won the tag team titles
– Santo is due in at the end of July

CMLLShopping.com

thecubsfan 1 Comment

CMLL has finally gotten around to adding a merchandise site: CMLLShopping.com

Of course, being CMLL, all they’ve got are 1 Atlantis T-Shirt and 4 Shocker T-Shirts. And a really low tech looking site. But if you wanted to get a Guapos 2004 Shirt, now you don’t have to travel to Mexico City.

Lucha Times is updated. Usual times. You’ve got the Magica/Terrible hair match and a fun sounding undercard match. I enjoyed the two matches I think (less sure than usual) will air on Vuelta, too.

Cage of Death results

thecubsfan 3 Comments

Results, via KrisZ. They actually made an eljuciofinal.com for this, but I don’t think I saw the link till I saw the results.

– Negro Casas loses his hair in Cage of Death 2. Perro was the second to last, finishing Casas with a double stomp. The rudos got out of the ring first, followed by a rudo-ish Shocker.
– Dr. Wagner Jr. beats Canek for the UWA Title with a chain handed to him by corner man Apolo Dantes
– Satanico goes to five minute draws vs Emilio and Ringo. And got a plaque
– Atlantis and Blue Panther over Ultimo Guerrero and Rey Bucanero, and they wasted little time making a return challenge.
– Mistico’s team won.
– and so did Dr. X’s

Four of six on picks, and the Satanico match really shouldn’t count because how was I supposed to know they had wacky 5 minute time limits. I was thisclose to picking Negro. Darn Vampiro’s wacky hair.

News:

– So there’s a hair match in Arena Coliseo, and it’s Tony Rivera (who you may know) vs Veneno, so of course Tony wins this because he’s won a ton of undercard hair matches in Arena Coliseo and elsewhere and Veneno is Veneno.

Except, Veneno wins! Weird. I don’t know that it means anything but it’s interesting. CMLL is saying this ends a 30 hair match streak by Tony. Probably a decent streak the other way for Veneno.

Also on the show was Ultimo retaining the LH Title over Blue Panther, so he’s 1 for 1 this week.

– Why waste time till the next big show? This week’s Arena Mexico card

* Atlantis & Blue Planther vs Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero (c) for the CMLL Titles
* Perro Jr., Negro Casas, Mr. Niebla vs Vampiro, Tarzan Boy, Okumura
* Canek, Rayo Jr., Warrior vs Wagner, Tiger, Universo 2000
* Mistico, Alan Stone, Virus vs Sangre Azteca, Holligan, Loco Max
* Mr. Power & Star Man vs Ramstein & Super Comando

I’d like the champions to retain a lot more if Ultimo hadn’t already won a title match this week. Then again, I’m thinking in terms of building a program, and you can’t assume anything goes past today in CMLL. So I’ll take the champions.

If anything’s going to come of Perro being the one to cost Negro his hair, it’ll probably start here.

That’s the CMLL Trios champions wrestling together up there, but they’re pushing it more as “Wagner gets his strongest allies to help against Canek” rather than a pending title program. What a trio that’d be.

Wednesday’s main event at Arena Coliseo is Casas vs Okumura. Sunday has a special main of Mil Mascaras, Canek and Rayo de Jalisco teaming up against Universo 2000, Mascara 2000 and Terrible. They’re paying Canek and Mascaras to come in for a Sunday show? And Terrible’s in this match? And teaming with a guy he beat for his hair a few months ago? Huh.

Guadalajara has a Perro Jr. vs Universo 2K no DQ match, in case you’re wondering whatever happened to that feud. I was thinking Apolo’s interference in the Canek/Wagner match probably leads to something in Guadlajara down the road, but there’s nothing this week.

AAA News

Cibernetico lost his mask! It was a pretty dumb mask, all things considered.

Recap #132

thecubsfan

06/05’s recap is up. This is the one with the Mexican Trios title match (which was good) and the double hair/hair match (which could’ve possibly been good if we didn’t have five cuts).

If you’re new to the show, there’s a good wrestler identification article over at http://www.lethalwrestling.com/opinions//news_content.php?fileName=683 for the CMLL guys. Tokage has some other good articles (including an actual AAA recap!) around the domain, for those who are interested.