The wrestling area was an indoor soccer field, attached to a flea market. The ring and the seats were on the artificial turf, and they had cut the field in half to set up entrances. They had seats and standing room, and it felt pretty packed considering the area. Maybe 150? There was no obvious place to videotape a show from, but I figure they must’ve been doing it from the table near the front. By about match 3, they had a person ringside with a camera as well. No idea how it looked on the internet – if you ordered it, can you let me know?
1) Furia Roja b Henry Maxwell
Missed this by being lost, then not being lost, then not actually being able to find my way to the wrestling ring part of the building. Thanks to Kevin for filling it in for me.
2) La Corporacion (Funebre w/Funebrito, Destructor Alfa & Emperador Azteca) b Flash Metal, Atomico, Pentagono
Pentagono’s brother or son or whichever was also at ringside. Indy lucha trios match all the way. Some stuff that went well, some stuff that did not look so good. Flash Metal had great looking gold pants but was the most inconsistent guy here. Rudos had great aspirations, did not always achieve those hopes. With everyone else out of action (dives), I think it was Azteca who beat Pentagono. Rudos beat up Pentagono after the match too, taking his mask and hitting the others with chairs. Other Pentagono belatedly tried to make the save, and Funebrito chopped him a bit.
3) Noriega & Lince Dorado b Rob Michaels & GPA
The match which could most easily fit on any other type of show. A well worked, fun, professional tag team bout. Lince Dorado still looks like Lince Dorado of CHIKARA, maybe better because nothing went wrorng for him here. He got worked over for a long time, Noriega cleaned house, and Dorado landed the top rope SSP on GPA for the win. Everyone did well. Noriega was in the process of thanking the fans when a bald rudo hit the ring, clipped him with a chair, threw Dorado out, and went to town on Noriega’s leg. Dorado ran him off, and Noriega limped away.
4) Ovirload & Joshua Christian (c) b Jake Shining & Acid Jazz [GALLI TAG]
Tough place to be in, because this match was alright, but the previous match was a bit better (prior to the finish.) Oviload & Christian have gold chains in their belts so they can wear them hanging from their necks. It’s like the world’s largest pieces of bling. It’s fantastic. There was some good stuff with Christian & Jazz in here. I don’t remember having a problem with anyone, it just wasn’t a strong a build to the finish as the last match. Jazz took out Christian and manager James Russo with a dive, and Jaked seemed right about to beat Ovirload when Mason Conard ran in. Belt shot to Jake for the DQ. Mason complaining about being champion yet not booked on the debut iPPV show, which does seem a fair complaint. Finishes keep building towards Jake vs Mason for the title sometime soon, so this made sense if that’s the plan, but it was a long way to go tonight to get no real finish.
5) Bandolero b Ripper (c) [Lucha Chicago]
New champion. Bandolero had new gear and proved the old CRZ axiom: “new gear = win.” These two tried to break each other last time out and went at it with the same intensity. It almost ended really early. A lot of killer dive problems on the night, the worst here when Ripper tried a slingshot tope con giro and went nowhere, landing back first on the apron. Bandolero walked over to him, grabbed his legs, and Ripper turned it into a headscissors of the apron. It worked so much better than it should’ve. There were a couple of other spots with the ropes betraying them or just slipping that didn’t go great in the first half, but it seemed like things were more smooth in the later stages of the match. Dives and big moves and really hard chops, as expected. Finish was both guys ending up on the top rope and Bandolero getting a top rope ‘rana for the pin. They did well to end it right there, it was the biggest move of the night. Bandolero was very slow getting up after the finish, looking like he might have taken the worst of it.
Ripper, who seems a influenced by guys like Averno despite being heavier, went to do the Averno move of putting the belt around the waist of the (new) champion. Except, here, Ripper kicked Bandolero and belt shot him to leave him laying. I guess they’re not done! I was a bit disappointed Bandolero didn’t get a big celebration, but maybe down the line. They were saving that for a different match here.
Intermission! Lince came out by the merchandise booth and took pictures with fans. He was hanging out there the rest of the night.
6) Discovery b Skayde [NWA MEX WELTER]
This fued, from what I’ve seen of it, had been mostly angry brawling. This was different, they worked the old title match technical style the whole way thru. I’m not sure the entire crowd got into it, maybe because Skayde didn’t do a lot overtly rudo, but it’s the type of match I’d been hoping to see between these two the whole time Skayde’s been in so I was happy with it. They did a really good job of it, even huffing and puffing their way thru, with a sort of general idea of Skayde being a little bit better but Discovery fighting back to make it even.
Every match on the show used the same ref, except for this one, which used a guy in a bow tie. They needed him for the finish. Skayde accidentally dropkicked Bow Tie Ref right out of the ring. American Gigolo and members of the Corporacion ran out. Gigolo handed a Discovery mask to one of the Corporacion members – maybe Alfa? He’s was much larger than Discovery, but he put on the mask and attacked the ref while he was on the floor. Meanwhile, Fuenbre attacked Discovery’s second (Atomico) to take him out. Skayde & Discovery just watched this for a bit, then the Normal Ref ran out and they continued the match. Skayde got a near fall off the Virus Cradle, Skayde argued the count, Discovery trapped him in a cradle, covered, ref counted 1, ref stopped to complain Skayde’s shoulder wasn’t down, ref counted 1, ref counted 2, ref stopped to complain Skayde’s shoulder wasn’t down AGAIN, Discovery moved Skayde slightly, ref counted 1, ref counted 2, ref counted 3. Discovery got a 6 count and had Skayde pinned for about 15 seconds. Discovery gave the referee such a look after the three, and that ref earned it.
Anyway, Regular Ref gets the belt, indicates Discovery as the winner, but doesn’t exactly give him the belt, being obviously hestitant about it. Bow Tie Ref returns, and the two refs talk, and talk, and talk – this is making the three count to end it look snappy. Everyone’s kind of expecting Skayde to get the belt back, by losing DQ for the dropkick, by winning DQ because a man in a Discovery mask beat up Bow Tie Referee, whatever. But there’s still no clear announcement. While they continue to talk, Rey Fuego runs out for no particular reason, and attacks the rudos who are still lignering in and around the ring, including diving on one. Other tecnicos might have gotten involved, or Atomico might have done something, but there was just more fighting in here. At the tail end, Skayde seems randomly to have become a tecnico, sending a rudo into the post and signaling Discovery as the champion. Apparently, that’s all it takes, Discovery gets the belt and gets carried around in big celebration by the tecnicos.
Now, what I suspect is going to happen is they’re going to explain it was actually it was actually a DQ, because they worked hard for that finish to ignore it. Or they’re not going to actually explain, but Skayde is going home to Xalapa with that belt. But I guess Discovery could conceivably keep it – it is a joke Mexican belt that’s they pretend is two different belts and has had phantom title changes prior, this is about normal for it. It’s a title that would be nice to take seriously, but hasn’t really been treated that way ever. No one really cares about the belt, Discovery got a big happy win and that’s okay.
7) Chavo Guerrero & American Gigolo b Jorge Paez & Rey Fuego – or maybe Discovery
This was something. I may miss something here, but I’ll give it my best.
Paez, the boxer wrestling, was the main attraction on this show. Paez walked out wearing a suit, with at least two different posse members near him. It seemed like a setup for Paez to step out of the match and someone who actually looked ready to have a match to step in his place. Nope, he just took off suit coat and tie and was going to go like that. Great start.
Gigolo, Paez and Chavo all talk on microphone quite a bit before the match starts, which seems like a smart idea. Besides whatever is up with Paez, Chavo is looking every bit of 63. He shows off a nice backwards roll and talks the game, but he’s not looking like someone who should be in a wrestling match. He instead looked like he may have been drunk.
American Gigolo and Rey Fuego start! It’s two fine minutes of lucha. No problem. Gigolo tags in Chavo. Fuego tags in Paez. This may be a problem. Chavo stalls, going out to taunt a fan. Gigolo and Paez screw around to keep busy in the ring. I’m watching them when suddenly Fuego sprints out of the ring, and slaps Chavo hard on the chest. At that time, it looked like a wrestling spot, and I go back to paying attention to the guys in the ring. There’s a commotion, and Fuego and Chavo are rolling around on the ground. That’s an odd wrestling spot, I thought. Security, the promoter, and guys from backstage rush over to pull Rey Fuego and Chavo Guerrero apart. I’m still thinking this is just a weird part of an odd match, until Gigolo gives us a “I want nothing to do with any of this, I am so annoyed with what’s going on what’s going on right now.” I did not see it, so I am not sure what happened, but the crowd consesus was Chavo and a teenage fan had some sort of phsyical incident. The fan must’ve been Rey Fuego’s family, and that sparked whatever happened next.
The match is stopped at this point. Rey Fuego & Chavo are pulled apart. Gigolo yells that he’s leaving, though he does not. Paez is either confused or oblivious. (No idea what his deal is all night, but he seemed the same way at the other show.) Rey Fuego’s walked backstage. Someone chucks a gatorate bottle at Chavo (now in the ring) – people assume it’s the same fan. Bandolero walks out, and for a moment it looks like they’re going to keep the match going with him instead, but he and the referee talk and Bandolero goes backstage. Discovery comes out, and he talks to people. Eventually, they continue the match with Discovery replacing Rey Fuego, but before they can get going, Rey Fuego, Bandolero, Funebre (hastily putting his mask back on), Funebrito and maybe others come out with their bags, go over to the crowd where the fan is, talk to him for a minute, go over the barricade to join him, and he and the rest of them make a big show of walking around the seats 180 degrees to get out of the building. They’re gone. Match sort of continues; Paez gets in his couple of punches on someone (it might have even been Chavo), but Gigolo suddenly cradles Discovery for the pin. Your loser, the guy who wasn’t actually in the match.
Chavo gets a microphone. I’m not sure why this happened. Chavo praises Discovery for his professionalism, congratulates him on winning his title, then gets into a screaming match with the promoter, both using microphones. This is now starting to feel like maybe it’s supposed to be part of the show, though Gigolo previously yelling “This is not part of the show!” seems to rule against it. Chavo tries to turn himself babyface at the end of it, though the crowd is not really buying it. Chavo goes to the back. Paez get the microphone and rambles a bit. He gets the message to end it, ignores the message, and just sort of stumbles to a stop. I believe his last words were “What Happened?” I dunno. They announce people can take pictures with Paez, some do, and I get out of there.
I’ve seen things break down and people actually walk out of matches before – that one Incognito/Hunico match with Charly Manson Jr. is sitting on my hard drive, I really need to put it up so everyone can see a bit of craziness – but this was a complete disaster in terms of things just faling apart. This looked like a bad idea and actually got worse. I’m not sure it’s a great idea to book Chavo Guerrero and Jorge Paez as in-ring competitors in 2012 (they did they draw live), but one would expect a smidgen of professionalism from both of them. They really got none from either. I got more than I expected from the show and I’m glad I went, but just wish it didn’t end with a total car crash.
This is the last GALLI show for Skayde on this run, but you have one more chance to catch him later today: there’s a packed lucha show tonight at Berwyn Eagles Club with Azteca/Yakuza/Skayde vs Discovery/Fuego/Lince on top.
