AAA Mini Line - 03/22/08 (#825)
Recapped: 05/01/08

Recap: though it may have been tough to tell at the time, the Guapos actually were the winners of the cage match last week. So this week, we've got more people trying to qualify. Captains of the winning teams get in, and they all do promos during the show.

Promos: Argenis and Pirata Morgan. Pirata joins the rest of us by making fun of Argenis' promo.

Match 1: Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan (c), Pirata Morgan Jr. vs Argenis (c), Chiva Rayada I, Gato Eveready in a Rey de Reyes qualifying match
Centro de Convenciones Minatitlan, 02/23/08

Winner: Pirates (Pirata Morgan Sr. advances)
Match Time: 14:10 (6:00+8:10)
Notes: This is Gato Eveready's TV debut, I think. He a guy who's going to be dancing for no real reason a lot. I'm assuming this is Chiva Rayada I, but who knows. It could be Hijo de Tirantes in the suit for all I know - it's that body type. Pirata Morgan replaces the originally announced Barba Roja. Crowd is way fired up for this match.  

Announcers can't tell Hijo and Jr. apart, even though it's now easier than ever (you've got the old one, you've got the fat young one, and you've got the young one.) Gato Eveready, who they call "gato volador" so much that I begin to wonder if it IS Gato Volador, gets a showcase before the Pirates take control. Announcers explain the captains advance stip during this match. Gato reverses a whip to send two Pirates into each other, and Chiva evades the other one into dropkicking his partners. Tecnico comeback is weird (goat headbutts!) but effective. Very much opening match effective. Gato Eveready tries to crotched Pirata on the outside barricade, but it goes wrong somehow. OTOH, Argenis throws bad clotheslines, which should be a little easier. Break after the comeback, and then back for the tecnicos to show. Crowd into chanting for Gato, even despite his dumb cat pawing move. Tecnicos end up getting a triple on the Pirates. Pirates end up dominated from there for a bit. Jr. got a near fall on Argenis after an Asai moonsault, and then tecnicos stopped them long enough to get in more dives. (Big edit before Gato went for his plancha - did he trip climbing the ropes?) Captains were left in, Argenis got a near fall on an up and over sunset flip, but missed on queberada. Pirata trapped him in a sleeper, and then a grounded abdominal stretch (or a really bad a crossface, I'm not sure) for the win. Pirates beat up the tecnicos after the match, as if beating up the goof troop will make them look strong. Much longer than the opener really need to be.

Vignette: Polvo de Estrellas and Aerostar both tell us why they're going to be Rey de Reyes. This isn't a hard pick. Polvo appears to have stolen Vangelis' hat and painted it gold.

Match 2: Jesse, Nygma, Polvo de Esterllas (c), Yuriko vs Aerostar (c), el Ángel, Pegasso, Rey Cometa 
Centro de Convenciones Minatitlan, 02/23/08

Winner: Tecnicos (Aerostar advances)
Match Time: 8:19
Notes: Jessy has a shovel. I don't know quite why, but there's the finish, fifteen minutes ahead of time. 

Aerostar/Jessy is first and pretty good. Aero gets in his reverse cannonball tope. Rey Cometa is less so. Rudos end up taking control on Pegasso, including Pegasso being held up for a jumping shovel shot to the back. Beatdown starts about 3 minutes in and makes a lot use of the shovel. Piero is okay with it.  Comeback comes about three minutes when a shovel shot goes wrong, but there's some good double teams before then. Tecnicos get some shovel revenge, but Piero steps in and takes away the shovel. Fans not pleased with him deciding to get involved only there. Is Jessy bleeding or is that face paint? I think it's blood and he bladed off a plastic shovel spot - actually, I kinda hope it actually busted him open because the alternative is too dumb. Angel and Pegasso get a bit of a run to lead to double dives. They only get the end of Pegasso's wacky handspring over the top rope dive because they're looking for Angel's plancha. Maybe not the best choice. Aero Star and Jessy work together again, work well, and need to find an excuse to have a singles match. Maybe the young stars comes back? Rey Cometa's springboard tornillo looks great. Aero back in, avoiding a Nygma dropkick but getting blown up by a Polvo one. Nygma gives him a falcon arrow, Polvo tries the top rope senton, Aero moves and Polvo gets the mat. Nygma fails at breaking it up, Aero stomps them, then heads up - moonsault shooting star press is badly botched into painful knees to the chest on Polvo. It's enough for the win, and the crowd goes crazy for the pinfall. Not the move, really, just the three count. 

Noti AAA
- international starts are coming to AAA! They may eventually get names or pictures or something but there you go
- Hey, Scott Steiner, there you go. They hype Rey de Reyes with him, something to honor Eddie Guerrero, and a ladder match
- speaking of climbing, here's Porky trying to climb a jungle gym and failing miserable. It's very difficult and maybe impossible he explains! How will he ever escape Domo de la Muerte? Impossible ain't climbing the cage for Porky, impossible would be slipping thru the bars. You'd be amazed to find out this is causing Porky to cry. Jesus encourages to run some more to cut off some weight.
- keys keys keys. I'd believe this was going better if the box wasn't 90% empty every time they showed it.

Vignette: Mr. Niebla thinks the leader of the Vipers should be Rey de Reyes. I bet Abismo agrees! Alan Stone thinks having the sword will prove he's the best in lucha libre. 

Match 3: Histeria, Mr. Niebla (c), Psicosis vs Alan Stone (c), Chris Stone, Super Calo in a Rey de Reyes qualifying match
Centro de Convenciones Minatitlan, 02/23/08

Winner: Vipers (Mr. Niebla advances)
Match Time: 12:06
Other Match Notes: Bello Greco is out with his sons. Between Niebla and Alan, they should just cancel the match and go straight to the dance off. Copetes does the Guerreros huddle dance with the Vipers - wait, huh? He also forgets to signal for the whistle.

Beatdown almost immediately. Beatdown of course lasted just about four minutes, but ended really strange. Niebla whipped Alan, Alan reversed, and Niebla's partners tripped him up and yanked him out of the ring. Niebla's partners weren't there a moment previous, so I'm thinking there was an edit - maybe they took out the miscommunication spots, because Niebla's supposed to be an effective leader? It made no sense as aired, and the non-Alan Stones wiped out the Vipers with topes. Like the previous matches, commercial just after the comeback. Alan gets a showcase sequence, beating up everyone, including pounding Copetes. DQ is teased, but Calo talks the ref down while continuing the match. Super Calo ends up in the third row after a tope con giro on Psicosis - Calo hit him and kept on flying. Lots of concerned people around him after. Alan and Niebla were left in for the end game, but Copetes slow counted Alan on a crucifix rollup, and a up and over sunset flip. Alan goes for that again, gets powerbombed and put in the Nielbina. That's the match.

Vignette: Head Hunter's promo starts as random yelling and doesn't improve much from there. And then Juvi does the same thing! He does make sure to take off his shirt.

Match 4: Abismo Negro, Electro Shock, Head Hunter I (c) vs Joe Lider, Juventud Guerrera (c), Ultimo Gladiador  in a Rey de Reyes qualifying match
Centro de Convenciones Minatitlan, 02/23/08

Winner: Rudos (Head Hunter advances)
Match Time: 10:14
Other Match Notes: Alicia is out with Abismo, but I guess she's just accompanying the whole Legion. Piero is ref. Legion jumps the tecnicos after introductions. 

Alicia get to slap around Juvi quite a bit during the beatdown. Otherwise it's brawling by the numbers. Okay, the part where Electro and Abismo decide to do somersault sentons for no reason is not by the numbers. That's just wacky. UG gets in a slingshot splash on a couple of guys, gets caught, and Lider knocks the pile down. MPs are able to trick Head Hunter into splashing his partners, then team up to clothesline him out. During the showcase, Juvi and Head Hunter do spots leading to a Juvi springboard plancha to wipe the big man out. Abismo Negro ends up spearing to the post take himself out against UG, and eats a plancha. Lider sets up for his dive, and eventually gets cut off by Electroshock's bad superkick. Electro is quickly head on the apron and Lider tries to German suplex him off there. Electro is no fool and he blocks it and fouls Lider to get free, before giving him a back suplex on the apron. Back to Juvi and Head Hunter. Juvi knocks Head Hunter down with dropkicks to the knees, Juvi off the ropes, Alicia grabs Juvi, Juvi kisses her, Head Hunter knocks Juvi down with a clothesline. Juvi's dragged over towards the corner, Head Hunter heads up, crowd gets frightened, and Head Hunter splashes him. (Lots of shaking camera on that one.) One two three and Head Hunter is improbably advancing. Alicia sure looks better than a shovel.

As doctors check on Lider (who seemed to bust himself open early), the Vipers head out to get at Abismo. Electroshock and Head Hunter protect them, and Zorro takes out the Vipers with a cane. Crowd tries to get a Zorra chant starting. Zorro gets the microphone and asks Abismo for his answer - will he join the Legion? Abismo reaches out for the handshake, then looks at the crowd. Repeat until he leaves. Crowd is okay with that. Zorro gives him a "if you're not with us, you're against us" speech, and Abismo readies the Zorro chant. Play Abismo's music so he can reminds us who he is.   

Vignette: Mascara Divina is happy for the opportunity to win the Rey de Reyes. Halloween already sees his name as winner.

Match 5: Extreme Tiger, Halloween (c), TJ Xtreme vs El Alebrije, Laredo Kid, Mascara Divina (c) in a Rey de Reyes qualifying match
Centro de Convenciones Minatitlan, 02/23/08

Winner: Tecnicos (Mascara Divina advances)
Match Time: 12:31
Other Match Notes: Halloween has to do the introductions for his team. 

Cuije attempts to fight Extreme Tiger, because they're almost the same height. Extreme Tiger does not take comments about his height well, and the beatdown starts there. As usual, the rudos screw around with Cuije and it allows the tecnicos to make their comeback (after about four minutes, and the break is right after. I've noticed a pattern!) Some spot with Cuije and Xtreme Tiger is completely edited out except for the reaction., which is very strange. Also strange is Alebrije repeatedly stopping Xtreme Tiger from climbing up the light standard he panned for his big dive, until Halloween was able to pull him away with a fight. Tiger didn't give himself much of a chance to get set or Alebrije, who was still sorta fighting with Halloween. Or the crowd, who should've gotten a moment to anticipate what was next. I think there's an edit after the dive, because Halloween turns up on the apron instantly. TJ Xtreme takes himself out with a pear to the post and Laredo Kid gets his ringpost tope con giro on him. Captains are left, Halloween hits yet another spear, covers, but is in the ropes. Halloween goes for the spear again, misses, gets the corner, and Divina give him a springboard dropkick. Grounded octopus hold for the win. Again, no one pops for the move but they pop for the result. 

When they finally pull Alebrije out of the crowd, he's got his right arm in a sling. So that catch didn't go so well for him. 

Vignette: Intocable does an angry promo for whatever reason. Zorro is much more confident. 

Match 6: Konnan, Kenzo Suzuki, Zorro (c) vs Charly Manson, Chessman, Intocable (c) in a bull terrier Rey de Reyes qualifying match
Centro de Convenciones Minatitlan, 02/23/08

Winner: Rudos (Zorro advances)
Match Time: 11:29 - seemed a lot longer
Other Match Notes: Konnan is out before the rest of the Legion, so show off his Eddie Guerrero shirt to a fan who happened to have a Gringos Locos poster. Alicia is back out with Zorro. Dr. Morales can't stop calling him Zorra. Intocable willingly lets Copetes put the bull terrier chain on him, which is always a mistake. I think it's just the capitals who get the chains on here. Or not - Konnan gets it on, even though he's clearly not supposed to be captain here. 

Rudos take control early, but it turns into a more random brawl. Lots of sign shots to clip something out. Chessman gets superkicked off the apron and Zorro follows with a really nice tope con giro. It feels like we're close to end game right away, and it feels like they really should've clipped out more of Konnan's stuff it hey were going to clip things out. He's basically immobile. Intocable gives him a stunner are and starts touching corners, but Konnan rolls out of the ring and yanks the chain at five. Intocable tries to pull Konnan in, but Konnan's got the chain tangled up on him. More chain yanking back and forth follows. Konnan get the chain all rapped into thru the ropes, and Copetes fixes it while Konnan is touching corners, which must make it tough to keep track. Charly Manson cuts him off, Zorro drops him, and we get another long crowd shot. This one doesn't appear to be a clip, which is pretty rare. Zorro puts a collar around Charly, and I have no idea what the rules of this match are now. They didn't appear to put it on Charly, they just found another collar and put it on. Charly makes a comeback and collars Zorro too. Why they are doing this now, I don't know. Kenzo makes the save and just pins Charly for a while. I have no idea. Chessman gives Kenzo a backbreaker and a superkick, and finds Yet Another collar to put on Kenzo. Meanwhile, everyone else is resting or fixing their collars. Zorro's collar is apparently too tight and he gets help fixing it. Just randomness past this with nothing holding together as far as a match. Lots of rudo control, with Zorro using his cane and then a chair on everyone. Kenzo takes off his collar (so much for that) to go get furniture. Konnan takes off his as well to help. What a stipulation. 

Alicia randomly sprays an aerosol can in the ring. Not at anyone, just leans in and sprays it. I guess they're using it for fire later? You know, if there's a thing to clip out, it's this two minute segment of building furniture. Much to Intocable's credit, he gets up and starts touching corners until Konnan cuts him down with a cane shot. Legion ends up with four chairs, and two wood panels on top of that. Zorro sits on the top rope and is handed Intocable. Charly wakes up to break it up, and so Zorro lets go of Intocable - DROPPING HIM ON HIS HEAD. Somehow, Intocable is not hurt but that was so not good. Charly takes the superbomb thru the tables. Chessman wakes up, takes down guys for a bit, and Zorro stops him with a chair shot. Hey, want to win the match? Nope. Konnan, with no collar on, starts touching corners, but gets cut off by Intocable rallying. Zorro gives him a chair shot. Zorro starts tagging corners, but runs out of chain and gets cut down by a cane. This really should've ended right after Charly went thru the table, but now it's four minutes later and no one cares. Zorro touches corners and taunts the crowd at each one. Of course, Intocable is standing in the sixth corner, but Zorro just calmly ducks his punch, hits him with the cane, and touches the final corner. Yay it's over.

Lots of replays of Extreme Tiger's dive and that's it.