CMLL (FRI) 09/19/2014 Arena México [thecubsfan]
***CMLL 81st Anniversary show***
1) Blue Panther, Cachorro, Dragon Lee b Felino, Puma, Tiger
Pompin was referee. Tecnicos took 1/3, with Cachorro and Dragon Lee defeating Puma and Tiger with their finishers (fujiwara, power-plex) in fall 3.
2) Zeuxis b Goya Kong, Estrellita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Amapola, Tiffany, Dallys la Caribeña [Copa 81 Aniversario]
Edgar was ref. Order of elimination was Tiffany (via Sugehit), Estrellita (Amapola), Dallys (Goya Kong), Princesa Sugehit (Zeuxis), Goya Kong (Amapola cradle after a Zeuxis pin), Amapola (Marcela), Marcela (Zeuxis, her second package piledriver of the match) leaving Zeuxis as the surprise winner.
3) Máscara Dorada, Valiente, Volador Jr. DQ Euforia, Mr. Niebla, Thunder
Tecnicos won in straight falls, taking the first clean and the second by DQ when Thunder press slamed Volador over the top rope. The rudos beat up the tecnicos (and QueMonito) after the match.
4) Cavernario b Rey Cometa [hair]
Cavernario took the first fall (despite a Cometa stage moonsault) with his pump splash. Cometa evened it with a 450 splash. After a long third fall with many big spots, Cavernario submitted Cometa to the cavernaria. The crowd was strongly in the match at the end despite being cold at the beginning.
5) Negro Casas & Shocker © b La Máscara & Rush [CMLL TAG]
Negro & Casas took falls 2/3 to retain their titles in the first defense. Rush & Mascara lost clean to the casita and the campana. No Sombra and no seconds on this show.
6) Atlantis b Último Guerrero [mask]
Ultimo Guerrero won the first fall after a series of reversals ended with a cradle. Atlantis took the second with UG’s own Pulpo Guerrero. The third fall had a lot of dramatic two counts (on the usual Guerrero spots.) Atlantis teased a moonsault, UG stopped him and pulled him off for the Guerrero Special, Atlantis kicked out at two, UG ran into the Atlantida and dropped to his knees to submit Guerrero. Ultimo Guerrero was revealed as Jose Gutierrez Hernandez, 42 years old, 26 years a wrestler.
Results post in case you’ve spend the last 24 hours in a cave. Or so people can find this post later for whatever reason. I was there, it was a lot of fun and very loud – in ways 180 degrees different from last year – and would recommend you purchasing a time machine to buy a ticket and attend yourself. Barring that, there’s video links for all the matches (which will find their way to download links and safe for YouTube versions later on.)
I feel really good about the preview post I wrote: main event turned on the Guerrero Special kickout (and the insane crowd carried what was really close to a normal Ultimo Guerrero match into something far more unique) and the results of the undecard were all about putting over new people: Cavernario, Thunder, the kids in opener, and even Zeuxis. I had that one wrong; I would’ve rooted for her if I thought she had any sort of a chance, and she ended up being responsible for beating all the tecnicas except for Estrellita (who’s the person she’s actually feuding with now, how strange.) There was no angle at all in the tag team title match, just the old guys getting one over on Ingobernables.
My impression, from being there last year and this year in just about the same seats, was the building was definitely more full this year. This year had few open seats; the only areas which weren’t being used were those where the stage or a light blocked the view (and even then, there were people sitting where it seemed to me that they had to be partially obstructed.) There also seemed to be about a 100 people just standing behind the highest level of seats. CMLL wasn’t selling standing room, but the balcony sections were so packed that people rather leaned on the rail. I don’t have a ticket/gate number, but it seemed to me like they sold 100% of the tickets they could sell.
Terra broadcast seemed to have gone off with a hitch – except for cutting away after the musical perfocmance, but that whole thing (putting Sonora Dinamita on with little notice so early before the show time AND cutting away to tape the intros afterwards) did not seem thought on well. At least the part we cared about worked fine.
Next week’s lineup:
CMLL (FRI) 09/26/2014 Arena México
1) Esfinge & Oro Jr. vs Canelo Casas & Nitro
2) Dragon Lee, Fuego, Tritón vs Boby Zavala, Okumura, Virus
3) La Sombra, Marco Corleone, Stuka Jr. vs Kráneo, Mr. Águila, Vangellys
4) Volador Jr. vs Shocker, Mephisto, Felino, Misterioso Jr., Tiger, La Máscara,Guerrero Maya Jr. [Copa Jr., Copa Jr. VIP, semifinal]
5) Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Valiente vs Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
CMLL’s burned thru their annual tournaments already: Leyenda de Plata, Leyenda de Oro, Reyes del Aires, Universal were already run. Super Halcon Jr. already won a very Tuesday-ish Copa Junior early this year, but they’ve decided to slap VIP on it and run it again for whatever reason. On paper, Volador, Shocker and Mascara seem to have chances at winning, but Shocker and Mascara really shouldn’t get a tournament invented just so they can win one and Volador has issues with Thunder (don’t we all) so maybe the winner is coming from another block.
No one knows what the deal is with Sombra, or at least no one’s telling.