indy (FRI) 04/27 Prisco Community Center, Aurora, IL
3) Lancer 2000, SWAT Kat, Mini Charly Manson (Chicago) b Gringo Loco, Guerrerito del Futuro, Malefico I
4) La Parkita, Tzuki b Espectrito, Pequeno Violencia
5) Blue Demon Jr., Mascara Sagrada b Aguila del America, Cassandro
I think this was the OMLL crew, but no one really made a big deal of naming the group so I’m not totally sure. Same park district building where past Aurora events have been run, though I might have called it something differently before.
This was crosspromotion with the Blue Demon energy drink – he’s signing some autographs to promote it more tomorrow, as well as doing another show. They were selling the drinks among the normal concessions, and they had a life sized cutout of Demon promoting the drink for people to snap pictures. A big screen was set up, but didn’t seem used for more than rotating ads and, later, a video for Blue Demon’s entrance. They also had fancy stage strobe lighting set up in one side of the gym, facing the main bleachers. It didn’t seem to make sense to me – why would you want all the lighting on one side of the ring? – and when they tride to use the lighting rig as the only lights pointed at the ring, that meant the lights were also pointed directly at the main bleachers. They smartened up and cut that. They also had a DJ, who seemed to be hip enough to lucha to play familiar songs – We Will Rock You, Shocker’s theme, Porky’s theme, etc – or maybe he was just lucky. None (or lesser equivalents) was at previous shows, and I’m sure it’s part of the drink deal.
The promoter was video taping early in the show from ringside with a handheld camera, but he seemed to disappear later in the show. He kept having to turn and/or shout to various people to get ring announcements when he wanted, lights to be fixed, etc., so he might just have realized he was too busy to do videotaping. Or he just wanted certain people’s matches taped. Don’t be holding your breath for a DVD of this one.
The referee wore a CMLL referee shirt. A vast improvement!
There was an opener, but they decided to start the show while there was still tons of people in line, waiting and wanting to get in. Match was over, I was still in line. (I still had to pay full price for the ticket, even though I wasn’t getting full price. I didn’t expect them to start discounting the tickets, but starting the show when you know you have a ton of people waiting outside was just dumb, because it made an annoyed impatient line even less so. Poor ticket takers.) Building was full or very very close to it, which surely contributed to the line problems. They’ve never had this near this many people at previous shows at this venue, and my guess is someone did a great job of promotion the show (again, the drink people? I dunno.) Crowd was hot (so was the room) and easy all night. Whoever got the audience for this in the house should do it for every show ever.
I did see the second match – a pairs match – but I couldn’t make out the names and I wasn’t paying close attention. I believe one was Aguila Tapatia Jr., and his tecnico partner was Guerrero something or other. No chance on the rudos. This was lucha style, but with the usual Chicago lucha undercard idea of trying to do every single lucha spot they can think to do. They did the Star – everyone always does the Star just to show off that they, in fact, can do the Star, and not because they’re building to that spot or something crazy like that. Tecnicos won this match, and every match on the show I saw.
In between second and third matches, there was a unannounced 30minute-ish intermission. Which made starting the show early even dumber. I think I figured out why it happened later on, but still, that’s dumb. It’s indy lucha in Chicago, I guess.
I got up from my seat on a bleacher far away from the ring (that’s what $30 for ringside will get you if you’re stuck at the end of a line) near the start of the third match just to stretch my legs, and within 20 seconds, someone grabbed my seat. And that was the end of me being able to get a seat the rest of the night. I could have squeezed myself in somewhere, but I didn’t want to, and was in a fidgety mood anyway. My legs wish I sat down, though.
Gringo Loco and Mini Charly weren’t on the announced card, and I was very happy to see them. This is the same match they’ve been doing at these shows, but I hadn’t seen it in a while, and it’s still good. Mini Charly was HUGELY over – I don’t know if they thought he was the guy from TV (either one) or if they thought he just had a good gimmick or if there was something here I had no cluse about, but he they were loudly behind him before he did a single thing – they did a little with this, but they probably could’ve done more. Crowd was so hot, when Gringo Loco started mockingly chanting for Mini Charly, the crowd loudly started the chant for real. He got in a great tornillo to the floor and looks improved. SWAT Kat looked sharper than the last time I saw him. Gringo Loco was a heat magnet and great as usual. Malefico and Guerrerito del Futuro were good. Lancer 2000, who had a new mask, was cringeworthy bad and off on everything.
Tzuki must’ve lost his luggage, and maybe the break was in hopes to turn it up. Instead of his gear, Tzuki wore a leather jacket to the ring, jeans, no shirt, and a Rey Misterio mask. I’m 99% sure it was him, because no one else is Tzuki’s size and moves like him, but he really didn’t do much in this match. Largerly La Parkita comedy – groin-related, partners confused into hitting each other, that sort of stuff. I did enjoy how La Parkita would convulse in laughter everytime he pulled off a trick on the rudas. Most guys act like they’re doing pranks just to make the rudos look bad, but La Parkita was acting like it was the funniest thing every, anytime one worked. Security was working hard to protect the name talent as they went to and from the ring, despite no barriers. In Tzuki’s case, to prevent him from being mobbed from kids, they had him sit on a security’s guy shoulders as he cut through the crowd and quickly got to the back. That was pretty great.
Aguila del America came out with a Mini Aguila del America (son? young kid, defintely). After the tecnico won the first fall, they kidnapped the child, took the Aguila del America mask off him, and put on a Mascara Sagrada on him. Aguila was sad – but later, Mini Aguila got his normal mask back on, and got in cheap kicks from the apron on Sagrada while Dad held him now. The kid’s work done, he went directly to the front row to sit with his family, and got mobbed by other kids looking for autographs. Security had to bail him out.
Main event was otherwise as you expect, Cassandro doing her bits, Sagrada looking fat (seeing him live, I think he’s lost about 5-10 pounds – but he could stand to lose more), Aguila just bumping for the bigger names. Demon was more fired up in the third fall than I’m used to seeing him, and he got the Devil’s Wings on Aguila for the pin. I left right after the match ended, but it sounded like Sagrada was setting up the One Fall, For The Masks bit with Aguila America.
Tercera was probably the best match in an empty room, but the guys in the top two matches were really good pros about getting the crowd into simpler stuff. The minis match was not a good match – Espectrito and La Parkita aren’t much good at this point – but the crowd still very much enjoyed that match and the main event.
Mini Charly Manson and Gringo Loco were selling posters outside the gym (at the same table! how did they ever manage to get along?!?), and doing some pretty good business. I was going to give congratulate them on their match, but there was a line and I had skipped dinner and was kinda dying, so I bolted. So, you, congratulation on a good match Mini Charly Manson and Gringo Loco, if you happen to read this.
Babbling, so I’m cutting this off.
