CMLL Line - 03/26/04 (#121)

Televisa has a new open. Good for them.

Vignette: Our amigo, Tarzan Boy, invites us to watch the greatest lucha libre in the world. He's hanging out in the Arena Coliseo entrance way, which is interesting in a few seconds.

Vignette: Averno catches up to Tarzan Boy in the Arena Coliseo entryway. Continuity! I'm thrilled over so little. Anyway, the gist is that Averno tells Tarzan Boy that he and Mephisto are looking for a third partner and Tarzan Boy would be perfect for that spot. Tarzan understandably points out that he's already part of GdI, and doesn't take well to Averno's comments about the monocolored ones being an upgrade over Ultimo and Rey. Tarzan calls Averno a traitor! Wow, when even (experienced traitor himself) Tarzan Boy is appalled at your actions, you've struck a nerve in the lucha community. Luckily for Team Unity, Mephisto shows up and calms everything down, since they're due to be partners.

Notes: You know, I'm never turning on Satanico, because Satanico is awesome and everyone will hate me if I do. In case you're wondering. Tarzan Boy bought Alex Wright's jacket off ebay. Mephisto is awful watered down. Atlantis shoves Mephisto so he can pose! Luckily, no punk out. Oh my lord, Super Porky is dressed as a rastafarian with the fake dreads and the beanie hat and sunglasses and a midget. What a vest too. So many questions, so many answers I don't really want. Rudos are kind enough to wait till captains have been announced to punk out the tecnicos.

Beatdown. Porky does take of the gear to wrestle, a mild disappointment. Tarzan Boy has a nice elbow drop, even if you think he's going to do a legdrop. Porky cries? Yes. Long crowd shot where Porky beating should be, yep. Atlantis gets the ringpost crotching which is becoming a far too common spot on TV. Volador gets the most active beating, with the paint by numbers (but only one number) giving him the double hiptoss bounced into a faceslam spot again. Tarzan hits his missile dropkick and leaves the other two to make the pin, one two three. (1:32) Porky in to take his punishment. Double spinebuster takes effort, and Tarzan hits the legdrop to finish him. (1:52) Rudos celebrate Tarzan's sudden surge of legal finishing level maneuvers. Replay replay replay. Break.

Beatdown takes us through fall two, as Atlantis is getting a triple team stomp job to start things. Whip, triple boot. Volador is knocked away so they can deal with Super Porky instead. Fall's twenty seconds in, and the card girl is just now out. I guess it's better than not seeing her at all, or seeing the corner clotheslines on Porky. Volador in, and he and Tarzan actually lock up. We're too busy watching the ring girl to SEE THE START OF THE COMEBACK. She's good but she's not that good. The comeback is a lot of brawling, a lot of appealing to the crowd, and a little begging off. Volador's been hanging around Niebla a bunch because he's got the face slap down. Is everyone going to get counted out? Atlantis hits Tarzan Boy with a sharp forearm on the outside. Porky and Mephisto make it in the ring to avoid a countout, but we don't see that. Instead, Atlantis scares away Tarzan and Averno. Okay, back to Mephisto and Porky in the ring, as they yell and root for the crowd, depending on who is who. Mephisto gives us the double bicep pose, and Super Porky checks the biceps before slapping him the face. Averno in to defend the honor of his partner, but a hiptoss is blocked so he can get slapped in the face. Mephisto comes over to help, Porky gets flipped, corner whipped, Averno misses the corner splash and Porky deflects Mephisto's charge with his mighty fist. Averno's running kick works, but he's probably making  mistake by yelling to the crowd. Averno holds Porky at bay till Mephisto comes back over to help, double whip, double drop down, Porky gets the ropes, and then gets the splash. Atlas pose! He's holding the match up. Volador in and going shockingly quicker than porky - rolling up Averno's body into a sunset flip one two three. (3:22) Mephisto made the mistake of trying a sunset flip on Porky, and paid for it in the predicable way. One two three. (3:24) Mephisto may be dead. Volador, upset about something or other, goes after him. We check on Tarzan Boy, who is ducking away from the ring to the floor to get away from Atlantis, only to turn from a pose and get decked by an Atlantis forearm. That was awful mean for the hero of the kids. Averno pulls Atlantis off and holds him for Tarzan, but that goes the only way it can. Atlantis slams Tarzan on the floor! Back in the ring, Volador holds Mephisto for  the midget to get his shots in. There must've been midget related mayhem earlier that I missed. Tarzan gets posted on the outside, and I don't know if the rudos are going to make it to third fall at this rate. Replays of the finishes. Another break? Wow.

Oh wow, one of the songs on this CD they're advertising is "Capos de Mexico". I too thought Universo deserved a ballad.

The third fall ring card girl is out as the whistle starts. Eh. Averno and Volador to start, and Volador is excited to start. Off the ropes, over, tossed up and dropped by Averno. High from from Mephisto is not a tag. Chest slap, whip, Averno tosses him up again, Volador flips off Averno's chest and lands on his feet. Volador waved by, off the ropes, spinning headscissors and out goes Averno. Volador off the ropes, ducking Mephisto coming in with a clothesline, handspring flip nothing to impress, Mephisto waits for him to get his footing and slaps him on the chest. Mephisto: "HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Totally. Mep charges Volador, Volador backdrops him, Mep land son the apron, Volador rushes to the far ropes and comes back, Mep is ready for him, Volador slides out through Mep's leg, Mep goes for a springboard but Volador trips him off the apron. Volador back in, hand raise for the crowd, and turn right into a Tarzan chest slap. Tarzan picks him up to slap him again. Tarzan takes a moment to pose, clothesline misses and Volador his the climbing up enziguri. Volador wants more, but Tarzan wants to hold his head and roll out. Volador goes to his corner, seemingly to tag out - crowd shot - Volador and Averno back in. Volador off the ropes, ducking a clothesline and using a tilt-a-whirl armdrag on Averno. Averno goes out, Volador follows to the apron, Asai Moonsault! Mephisto leans over the top rope yelling at Averno, and then hears the crowd yelling. He tells them to shut up, only to turn around and find Porky there. Charge, waved by, and Porky backdrops him on the next pass. Porky stomachblocks Mephisto out of the ring, then head to the apron. Averno and Mephisto are stomping down Volador on the outside and totally oblivious to the upcoming eclipse, so Porky encourages the fans to be quiet and not warn them. Averno and Mephisto pick up Volador and turn around - Porky apron dive plancha! All three guys got quite the pancake. That leaves the captains alive in the ring, and they slug it out with chest slaps. Atlantis again goes to the forearms to the head, getting the better of the exchange. Tarzan stuns him with a shoulderblock, off the ropes, under the leapfrog, Atlantis drops down for a monkey flip, but Tarzan quick turns and drops down to cradle him - one two three (2:41) Holy crap, Tarzan won without cheating! TWICE! Tarzan points at Atlantis and laughs for being caught by surprise. Atlantis can't quite believe it happened so easily. Replays of the dives and the surprise pin. 

Tarzan lays down the challenge post match, and the producers are so shocked by Tarzan winning clean, they actually let us hear it: Tarzan wants a shot at the Tohoku Jr. Title, since he just beat the champion. Let's take a look at the replay again - no tight pull, no feet on the ropes, what the the heck. 

Stellar Moments (with new graphics!)
El Lance: Tzuki and Ultimo Dragoncito have a crazy thru the ropes dive contest. I think Dragoncito won. 
La Llave: Super Comando pulls out a crazy lucha submission
Lo Admirable: Sangre Azteca and Dr. X hit stereo top rope splashes to finish their tecnico opponents
El Rudo: Black Warrior's low blow on Volador Jr. last week.
Lo Incredible: Perro trying to tombstone Universo, only for it to get interrupted by Mascara Año. And then Perro Sr. made the save.

Notes: Capos are back to the black. Cien has grown a mustache! Apolo Dantes didn't get the memo and is wearing a brown-ish color. What a maroon. Guapos are doing the Matrix overcoat thing. I like how Apolo can't stand the Guapos music. Perro has more cheers this week. He also has the capos rushing out to attack him. As introductions finish, the other Capos block the Guapos from getting involved in the Perro/Universo fight, then everyone agrees to stand around and let those two settle their personal stuff.

Universo has the best of it early, having punked out Perro to start with, but misses a clothesline to take Perro out and sends himself out. Perro kicks Universo around the ring, and now the Capos want to get involved, but the Guapos hold them off. And now everyone's getting counted out. Universo and Perro seperate themselves. Universo is not looking especially tight today. Okay, the seconds from last week's match are in the ring to try to get this going. Chest slap battle between Mascara and Mascara. Año heads to the ropes foist, over, under, Magica off the ropes but Año clubs him with a clothesline. Año is thrilled with his clotheslining power. Chop. Whip, reversed, Magica takes Año down with a backdrop. Magica heads to the ropes, springboards off and gives Año an armdrag. Año rolls to the other side of the ring, so Magica springboards off those ropes for a dropkick, knocking Año out of the ring. Magica ramps up for a dive, so Año wisely uses a ringside photog as a human shield. Clip here? The crowd gets loud at any rate, because it's Universo and Perro in again. Universo seems wary. Aguayo throws a dropkick, but Universo throws himself out of the way. Mascara with a open hand slap, whip, reversed by Perro, Perro puts his head down too soon and Universo uses the hair to thrown him down on the back of his head. Universo is pleased. Perro's picked back up to receive a chest slap. Whip, Perro runs the ropes fast and hard, under a clothesline and connecting on a dropkick when Universo puts his head down. Perro teases a dive, Universo wanders away, and Aguayo nails him anyway with the apron dive Thesz Press. Back in the ring, it's Shocker! and Año, Año doing a muscle pose. Shocker does not seem impressed. Año impresses his hand upon Shocker's chest, which has a lot more of an effect. Another chest slap, and Shocker is down to one knee with Año crowing over him. The crowd rallies to Shocker, and their chanting raises him back up to his feet, only for him to get flipped out by an Año shoulderblock. Año decides two would be better, but this time, Shocker will not go down for the shoulderblock. He's too pumped for that, too pumped for a clothesline, and too smart to let Año try to throw a second clothesline without catching it - into the reinera? No, hammerlock/headscissors cradle! Año listens to the mat being slapped thrice (2:27) while Magica and Terrible take care of the other Capos - Terrible flapjacks Apolo into the Rings of Magica (2:29) and apparently KOs Cien Caras with a mighty right hand, since there's no count or submission there (we'll say 2:31). Fans love it. Universo retreats into the crowd rather than meet Perro on the outside, with the Guapos keeping the rest of the Capos from helping out their brother/amigo. Replay of Perro's dive - he's getting more chants this week, so I guess I wasn't the only one to mark out for the interference wacky match last week. Here's the replay of the triple pins. We don't get a really good angle of the right hand, but I can only assume it was Chuck Palumbo-ish.

Perro wants to start this fall for his side - will he get Universo? We're looking at the ring girl, but the crowd reaction says yep. Yea, and Universo is excited. He's also looking at the crowd, and Perro has no issues with attacking him from behind. Kicks and chops and camera angels from far away. Whip, reversed, Universo looks for a hiptoss and receives an armdrag. Another armdrag, a third stopped by a knee from Universo that knocks Perro into the corner Universo charges, Perro moves and pops Universo with a dropkick as he rebounds out. Universo rolls out, Perro starts to give chase only to be cut off by the rest of the Capos. Perro, being insane, decides to take them on 3 on 1. Luckily, the Guapos have his back. Unluckily, lucha rules maintain that all matches must have a beatdown segment, so even with uneven sides, the Capos are going to take ti now. Guapos are kicked and punched out of the ring as Universo returns, sp Perro can be isolated and beat down. Guapos are kept at bay while Perro is worked over - double whip, Universo chest slap. Perro's thrown around by his hair, and Shocker received a hard kick for daring to step in the ring. Perro's held at bay by Año for Universo to kick and slap down to size. Magica gets in the ring only to be slammed out of the ring by Apolo, taking a hard fall. Perro's picked up, whipped, and backdropped by Apolo to the floor. Magica in to try and get some revenge, but just takes a fireman's carry. UniversoBomb! Cien with a slam, Año with a top rope splash. Terrible and Shocker try to break up the cover, but they're ignored by the ref and run off by the other Capos. One two three (2:31) Shocker and Terrible are whipped into each other, no match for the 4 on two numbers. Cien runs Terrible down with a clothesline, and Shocker gets a kick and shoved down by Año. Oh no, split screen technology - this is actually a spot where the normal camera angles would've worked better. Anyway, stereo top rope splashes by Universo and Apolo connect, one two three (3:07) This is going three.  Shots of the crowd feature a kid sneaking into the picture to make hand gestures at the camera. Replays of top rope splash, top rope splash, and top rope splash. Capos showing a wealth of finish maneuvers tonight. Lots of angles. They show the normal angle of the two splashes and it totally was better than the split screen trick they used. I should totally produce these things. Or not.

Third fall girl has to avoid fallen Mascara Magica's on her way to the ring. It's a tough job. In the ring, Terrible is also having a tough job, being beat by the Dynamite bothers. Double whip, double backdrop. Where did Apolo go? Oh, he's back to get in a backdrop of his own. Universo adds an elbow drop. Terrible is forced to his feet so he can take a hard double boot out. Crowd shot? THEY CUT OUT THE TRANSITION TO THE COMEBACK! Okay, I should edit these things. At any rate, Perro pulls Universo out of the ring and goes to town on him, throwing him headfirst into some seats before going to the post. Lots of things going on, and who knows if we're seeing the interesting parts. Shocker helps Perro crotch Universo into the post, which is interesting. Hey, they're showing the countout gain. Shocker and Magica crotch Año on the post too. Universo manages to roll in to break the count for his side, but isn't as happy when he realizes that he's hurting and Perro is in there. Magica offers to hold Universo for Perro, but Perro seems to want this one on one. Kicks to the chest, Universo still hurting form the crotching and not getting up. Now punches to the head to weaken him for the mask ripping - but Cien is in to break it up with a kick (and fall over and sit on Universo in the process). Terrible knocks down Cien with a running in-ring tope, but Cien sidesteps a second. Cien charges Terrible, but Terrible moves and out goes Cien. Apolo and Mascara stop Terrible from trying a dive with a double boot, and then give Shocker a double drop toe hold when he charges them. Magica is topped before he can get going. Double whip, double clothesline is ducked, Apolo tosses Magica up and he dropkicks Año on the way down! Apolo charges Magica and takes a backdrop to the floor. Shocker springboard plancha on Año! Magica tope on Apolo! It's all breaking down. Cien and Terrible back in, Terrible with a corner whip, reversed, Terrible kips up and out and rolls backwards roll for no reason. Cien waits for his spot and kicks Terrible down, but then charges into a drop toe hold. Terrible holds onto the leg, putting on a half crab. Looks like Cien has the ropes, and one referee sorts that out while Perro stops Universo from interfering with a top rope Thesz Press! Perro charges Universo again - low blow kick! Universo covers Perro, one two three (3:39) Terrible, who let go of his hold to try and point out what happened, gets pulled into a Cien abdominal stretch cradle one two three (3:45) Capos celebrate - I guess we assume countout for the rest, but Universo just seems rather pleased that he pinned Perro win it mattered, again. Universo kicks down Perro and trash talks on the mic. And we get to hear this too! Universo took out his dad, and even with this trio of [bleep], he can't beat his brothers and Apolo. Capos are the best men, don'tcha know. Apolo gets a turn to talk, so that's when we're going to cut out. Break?

Wait, no - after the usual bumper, we get next week

Next Week: Ultimo Guerrero, La Park, Rey Bucanero, Atlantis, Mephisto, Tarzan Boy, Hijo De Lizmark, Averno, Negro Casas, Super Casas, Satanico and much much more.

Replays - Shocker hit a good dive and Magica hit a nice tope that got lost in all the ending madness. Finishing sequence is repeated if you missed it the first time, perhaps if you were a referee. Here's Another angle - it's a pretty blatant low blow no mater how you look at it. But they won, which is all that matters. Looks like the fight has rebroken out on the floor, with the Capos trying to choke on Perro with a microphone cord and Magica coming to his aid till he got hit by the RUDOS 1000% noisemaker! Capos are laying waste to Perro in the ring and holding off the rest of the Guapos as we finish 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. I like how they're doing the Universo/Perro feud - Universo needs to keep getting wins until Perro gets the Big Win, because the big win will over power all.
2. Tarzan Boy vs Atlantis should be entertaining.
3. Interesting how they're working harder to build from week to week when they're running the smaller arena during the off season.
4. Rudos clean sweep. Which isn't as hard when it's only two matches.