Tanahashi, Averno, really not that much, lineups

7 thoughts to “Tanahashi, Averno, really not that much, lineups”

1. Tonight I will continue in my quest to see more lucha libre during my last two weeks in Mexico than my wife should allow. I’ll be making my first (only) trip to Arena Naucalpan to see some IWRG with a little AAA thrown in.

   My goals for the night:
   1. Gringo Loco declaring me a member of the Gringos VIP. I’m pretty sure I qualify just by being a gringo in Arena Naucalpan.
   2. Black Terry Jr. immortalizing this moment on youtube.
   3. Someone deciding that this means that I deserve to have a page on the luchawiki.

   I noticed that on the card for tonight’s show they say that it is being taped for TVC Deportes. Have they started airing again and noone has noticed or have they just kept saying this all along?

2. Tonight wound up being a success even if I wasn’t inducted into the Gringos VIP. Arena Naucalpan is a lot of fun, and much closer to my apartment than I thought or I would have gone much sooner and more often. I haven’t watched much IWRG since it disappeared from TVC Deportes, but the crowd to night was much better than I expected. The ringside area was pretty much full and the bleachers looked to be over 3/4s full by the end of the night. The Arena was much smaller than I would have guessed from TV, but it had a nice feel to it with that many people in attendance. I was expecting to get front row easily based on what I had seen on TV, but wound up in the second row directly behind the tecnico’s corner. Still a good seat, and I really enjoyed the show overall. I would have loved to have seen Navarro/Traumas and/or Jack on the card, and I feel a little bad that the one IWRG show I went to didn’t have a random stip match, but you can’t have everything. I almost bought a Trauma mask TShirt outside, but they only had smalls and mediums, so I came home empty handed. Now for the match results.

   1) Alan Extreme beat Dark Devil-I’d like to think that if I were a luchador in AAA, cease and desist orders would be being sent to IWRG and Alan Extreme. My namesake wins in an opener that was somewhere between fine and good. Anyone know where I can get my hands on an Alan Extreme mask?
   2) Daga & Dinamic Black beat Comando Negro & Eterno-This was a lot of fun, and if I correctly identified Black Terry Jr, it should be showing up on youtube soon. I wasn’t familiar with either of these teams, but I’m definitely a fan of the rudos and think the tecnicos were quite good after seeing this. The third fall, saw a nice dive sequence, and brutal finishes (Daga on Eterno, Comando Negro on Daga, and Dinamic Black on Comando Negro). Comando Negro got helped to the back, but hopefully it wasn’t anything serious. This is definitely worth checking out if/when it shows up online.
   3) Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro beat Avisman, El Hijo del Diablo, Gringo Loco-Another fun match, but this one was mostly a brawl (not surprisingly). After some mic work (and tortilla throwing) once both teams were in the ring, Gringo breaks out the US National Anthem. If this were 15-20 years ago when people took these things more seriously, this would have both been much more entertaining and a lot more frightening for me. When close to half the crowd will cheer for any rudo, and some of the crowd will even chant USA, USA for irony’s sake, it is still pretty damn entertaining. The Gringos are developing into a nice team, pulling of some good double and triple team moves. There was brawling all over the ringside area (yay for the beer coolers getting involved for the first time of the night!), and the crowd was pretty hot throughout the match. The Gringos took the first fall and Gringo Loco awesomely broke out some Nopal cactus leaves to use as a foreign object in between falls. Terry, the Cerebro, and Hijo de Diablo all bled a bit before it was over. Post match, we get title challenges as would be expected. These teams put on a good show, so hopefully they deliver on the title match as well.
   4) Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro beat Cuervo, Escoria, Ozz-Cuervo got on the mic before the match and talked about how it had been three years since he had been in IWRG, but that the Family is in the big leagues touring the world while the IWRG crew is stuck in Arena Naucalpan. This still didn’t work, and I’d say the crowd was probably 2/3s in favor of the AAA invaders. The Oficials certainly had their fans though, and showed that they could more than hold their own here. Cuervo hit the guardrail hard on a dive during the third fall, but seemed to be OK. The finish came via DQ when Ozz fouled 911 (I think it was 911 at least). Challenges were made and accepted for a rematch. Another good match.
   5) Electroshock, Silver King, Último Gladiador beat Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Máscara Año 2000, Máscara Año 2000 Jr.-I’m not a fan of the Mascaras, but they are at least over enough that the fan reaction to this match was interesting. This match wasn’t as good as the three before it, but the crowd was into it, and they kept things interesting. I did find it entertaining when Elector and MA2KJr were comparing belts before the match. I know its an invasion angle and that IWRG has to treat their belts as important, but it seems tough to argue that the two belts are even on remotely the same level. Gladiator may be out for a while after a dive in the third fall. In what I presume was a planned spot, HdMA2K moved out of the way as Gladiator did his dive. I didn’t have a good view, but it looked like Gladatior went over the guard rail and landed poorly. A fan waved the doctor over immediately and one of the refs jumped out of the ring. MA2K kicked the other ref out of the ring, Electro hit a tombstone on HdMA2K taking him out of the match. MA2K and Electro trade fouls while the refs are out of the ring. Silver pulls MA2KJr’s mask off and pins him. Electro throws one of the refs back into the ring for the three count. Gladiator was helped to the back at some point during this. Lots of post match mic work. If I understood correctly, the most interesting part, was Silver referring to the Maniacos as being professionals and seeming to indicate that what had happened on the dive between Hijo and Gladiator was not professional. Sr then said something about being professional and seemed to take a shot at Silver for wearing his mask after having lost it. Pretty sure Silver flashed his mask up at that point to the crowd, but they were facing the other side of the ring, so I’m not sure. Silver than issued a challence for Jr’s title. Electo talked about how Jr was champion of this little area, but he was a world champion. Not sure why Silver wants a shot at the belt if it isn’t even that important in their minds.

3. @Alan: I think they have been saying “TVC” all along. Did you see a camera crew?

   AAA should work with Naucalpan. I think it’s smart. Last time they worked together was around 1996. AAA did one or two tapings in Naucalpan, and a few more in Neza.

4. Psycho Circus vs. Oficiales might be a good feud.

5. @LLL: It was definitely not taped for TV last night. I saw Bernardo and one camera wandering around briefly late in the show, but they weren’t inside the ring barrier even.

6. @Alan: I figured they would tape the big AAA invasion.

   Don’t you think Naucalpan would make a nice home for AAA in the Mexico City market? Seats about 1,500-2,000. It’s a cool venue. I first went there in 1999 and saw Super Parka vs. Pirata Morgan, plus a young Volador Jr., in a prelim.

7. @Alan: btw- I attened the 7/9/99 Arena Mexico and 7/11/99 Arena Naucalpan shows. Arena Mexico show was incredible. IWRG and CMLL were working together at the time, and gates were huge.

   The ArMex show I attended had a big crowd, and the Naucalpan crowd was bigger than what I see in photo and video today.

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