1) Metro & Stuka Jr. b Shigeo Okumura & Yoshihashi
match about to start
tecnicos take fall 1
rudos take fall 2
tecnicos get in their dives and take fall 3.
2) Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Texano b Brazo de Plata, Hijo del Fantasma, Valiente Rudos take fall 1.
Tecnicos get fall 2, with Porky dive as part of it.
Rudos super powerbomb Porky for the win!
3) Diamante, Hijo del Signo, Negro Casas b Blue Panther, Fuego, Pólvora [Forjando un Idolo]
Entrances.
Panther’s team takes fall 1. Panther wouldn’t let go of his submission on Negro Casas. Rudo-ish
Negro’s team came back to take fall 2.
Signo & Diamante beat Panther to take the match.
Rafa el Maya is at ringside. Hooray!
4) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Atlantis DQ Ángel de Oro, Rey Escorpion, Último Guerrero [Forjando un Idolo] Winner advances to next week’s final
Atlantis in his tecnico gear.
Delta & Atlantis win the first fall, after a Maya dive into the first row.
Ultimo Guerrero and Atlantis feuded
Atlantis got UG in the Atlantida, Rey Escorpion fouled Atlantis for the DQ
Ultimo Guerrero is angry with Rey Escorpion again.
Next week’s final is Negro Casas, Diamante, Hijo del Signo vs Delta, Guerrero Maya, Atlantis.
5) La Sombra, Rush, Strong Man b Mephisto, Mr. Niebla, Shinsuke Nakamura Rudos take fall 1.
Tecnicos take fall 2.
Tecnicos take fall 3. Zacarias is sad.
Matches to come
6) La Máscara b Averno [mask]
Mascara tried to dive on Averno to start the match, but Averno bashed him with something metal and busted Averno open. Averno quickly took fall 1. Mascara came back to win fall 2 with a surprise small package.
In a third fall with dives and each guy trying each other’s moves, Mascara finally won with two Devil’s Wings and the campana. Including fall breaks, match was about 29 (corrected) minutes long.
Final attendance guess is 80%, which puts this in the 14,000 range.
The Alvarados celebrated with La Mascara while Mephisto consoled his partner.
Averno is Renato Ruiz Cortez, 34, 16 years a wrestler.
CMLL.com has the unmasked photo, but it’s being crushed right now. I’ve reposted it here.
IWRG (THU) 06/16/2011 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del Ring]
1) Alan Extreme & Keshin Black b Tritón & Volaris Dark Devil replaced Keshin Black, Volariz replaced Dragon Fly.
2) Carta Brava Jr., El Pollo Asesino, Imposible b Comando Negro, Dinamic Black, Hijo del Pantera Comando Negro replaced Eragon, which left him on the wrong side. He did not work with the tecnicos and the rudos triumphed.
3) Pantera b Último Gladiador, Bestia 666, Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Black Terry, Veneno, Multifacético, Oficial 911, Scorpio Jr., Trauma I, Oficial Fierro, Oficial AK47, Bobby Lee Jr., Cerebro Negro, Centurión, Villano IV, Pimpinela Escarlata, Drago, Dinamic Black, Fresero Jr., Dr. Cerebro, Avisman, Chico Che, El Hijo del Diablo, Golden Magic, Eterno, Bombero Infernal, Trauma II, Hijo del Brazo, Saruman [Rey del Ring] Rules this year were new people joining the match every three minutes, and going out via pinfall. Dinamic Black worked twice. Scoprio and Bobby Lee returned to IWRG here. Pantera, now wearing his mask constantly, threw out Ultimo Gladiador to get the win. Estrellas del Ring has order entry and eliminations, this is listed in reverse order of elimination.
The build to Averno vs La Mascara has been major mask feud CMLL has done since Black Warrior vs Mistico. The matches have gotten the issue over strongly. The vignettes have increased interest; the Brazos Curse one was great, but I think the second one with Averno was very strong, and I hope this sets up more of this sort of thing in the future. It doesn’t seem like Mascara was their first pick for this spot, and I’m sure CMLL didn’t want the news about Averno getting out, but they’ve done a masterful job of playing the cards they were dealt. There’s a lot of issues for CMLL, but this program hasn’t been one.
A while back, Cesar wrote a piece abouth how there’s been no standout luchador of the year in either promotion yet*. It’s a reasonable argument. There’s guys who’ve had good stretches (like Guerrero Maya of recent) but there’s not been many big wins. Extreme Tiger won Rey de Reyes, and is slightly better than where he was, but is no break out guy. Terrible & Texano won at Dos Leyendas, are doing the same thing they’ve done. If I had to pick someone today, before tonight’s match, just from a storyline perspective, I would choose Averno. He started off the year strong against his eternal rival (1-1 is a fine record), but more so has seemed more confident and stronger since Mistico left town. Maybe it just helps not to take a La Mistica every third day, but he’s been more believable as a top rudo on his own rather than just a foil for someone else. Averno cleanly and conclusively won his feud with Mascara Dorada and he’s gotten the best of La Mascara for weeks, in ways few rudos in CMLL have in recent years. Averno match tonight has a chance to be the most important match of the year, and both guys will be motivated to make it the best they can. Averno is not going to win luchador of the year, because his year has about two more weeks left in it, but this six months stacks up with the best work he’s done in the last decade.
* – which was an obvious setup to declaring La Mascara as the leading candidate after tonight, but sometimes he’s obvious like that.
La Mascara says that if Averno is accusing him of being ugly, then Averno should take a look in the mirror. The ugly face shots are among the greatest parts of this feud. Mascara tells Fuego en el Ring about trying to end the “20 year curse” of Alvadors losing mask matches, he’s ready to take on Mephisto or Ephesto next, he figures he’ll stick with his name if he loses because that’s what the people know, but he’s doubling his training to make sure that doesn’t happen. Mascara confirms Brazo de Oro will be his second tonight, as he often is in big matches.
In a trios match last night, Averno unmasked Mascara, taking the DQ loss. Same as it has been.
El Kiss is picking Averno, with the idea that CMLL might just do it to surprise everyone (or at least 70% of them). He’s not the only one going that way (but I’m still sticking with what I wrote.)
CMLL Gaceta’s headline includes “Today is the day, there is no tomorrow”, which is funnier if they actually wrote it today. Hope they’re right!
TripleMania/AAA
According to Damian 666, Perro Aguayo Jr. will miss TripleMania due to an adverse medication to his cancer medication. The Perros say the medication can cause “a decrease in blood cell formation, inflammation of the liver, and neurological disorders.” There’s a high amount of skepticism about this story, as there been ever since Perro’s original illness. The neurological disorders line seems an explanation for Perro’s performance last Thursday in Naucalpan, where he looked like he shouldn’t be out there. And if Perro’s really on drugs that leave him in bad shape, why is he going back in the ring? That’s tremendously unsafe for him and the people he’s working with.
This is a story that I think would be a much bigger deal on another day, but it’s worth noting that the first year for Perro Aguayo Jr. back in AAA have not been close to the expectations. They had Bronco sized hopes for Perro, and have gotten Mini Universo sized returns. Perros vs Psychos has been useful for the Psychos, but it’s essentially a midcard trios feud they could’ve done with other midcard trios teams. Perro himself had a brief feud with Mesias before essentially being replaced by LA Park (with much better results) and nothing of note for months. AAA is not going to part ways with Perro unless he forces him, but his value continues to spiral downward.
LA Park says he’s restless and nervous going into Saturday’s match, but will die before giving up his mask. This is a pretty gruesome match if both guys are going to die before losing. Park wants Wagner next, and then Parka after.
LA Park and Mesias are in Tijauna tonight for a warm up match. They held a press conference yesterday, and Mesias looked non-kidnapped and non-beat (though he’s wear his sunglasses in all the photos. It does look sunny!)
Tiger Kid is sick of all these Tapatios. Not Rayos, all the people in Guadalajara causing trouble for his family. He’s going to first embarrass Metal Blanco in GDL, and then he’s going to take care of issues with Gallo (standing up to Felino), Palacio Negro (general flippiness) and Los Truenos (pre-existing issues.) Tiger plans on beating Blanco this week in a rematch of a trios match, then beating Blanco for his title, then maybe taking his mask too.
Missing Forjando un Idolo match from yesterday: Alfa vs Bravo. I wonder if today’s matches will also be on YouTube?
As previously discussed, AAA is not in the US again. Soccer has moved around weekend programming (Saturday lucha is late again), except this time it’s under 17s. Galavision’s online schedule actually says AAA will air in the overnight slot, and then will back at a normal hour next week. However, their schedule has been consistently wrong.
The on-screen schedules (which I believe come from Tribune Media) have been consistently right, and they say both episodes this week will be CMLL. Next week is a bit murky; those listings are all supposed to be the same, but I’ve noticed my onscreen listings say it’ll be three helpings of CMLL, while TV Guide’s version says it’s back to normal. The only sure thing is to head to YouTube if you want to see any AAA any time soon.
It’s not just the US where AAA is getting shifted. Last week, the show was moved to a slot following CMLL on Saturday’s. They’re listed there again. The upside is it’ll air right before TripleMania rather than right after it. Maybe it’ll get a few extra people to consider going to the show or buying it?
———-
52MX: Ultimo Guerrero vs [fill in name here]
LATV: Virus vs Guerrero Maya. I haven’t gotten that far, but Rob’s capture of the stream is really good. And it’s better than LATV clipping the show every time someone says “Cadena Tres!”
TF: Metro vs Rey Escorpion, which wasn’t so positively reviewed.
———–
Main-CMLL show: Virus/Stuka (so two Virus singles matches on US TV within an hour of each other), more build to Averno/Mascara
FOX: Forjando un Idolo trios, already up on YouTube
C3: Second NWA LH cibernetico.
Mega6: Lluvia vs Amapola
Puebla: back on TVC Deportes (which may be why TF is back to GDL.) 4-6pm on Mondays. Lacking a singles or title match I can hype, breaking the string. Valiente/Palacio/Blanco vs Ephesto/Misterioso/Virus should be good.
ACM: Has to be the Guerrero Negro vs Estrella del Oriente hair match.
PdM: they aired the cage match a few hours ago. I don’t think they’ve had a show since. Dunno.
