Tag: preview

A little busy, site down a little, so this is a little shorter than usual.

1) Rouge, Rey Cometa, Pegasso vs Loco Max, Skandalo, Hooligan

Just your normal segunda as an opener. Rey Cometa will try his dive and hopefully not die. Rouge will probably get to pin Loco Max. Everyone else will move on.

2) Mascarita Dorada vs Mini Damian 666

This should be superb. One of the disappointments of 2009 is CMLL hasn’t done nearly the amount of big minis matches as it was doing last year, but this still should be a nice treat. I’d guess Dorada wins because it’s shaping up to be that kind of show, but it could go either way

3) Brazo de Plata, Maximo, La Mascara vs Misterioso II, Negro Casas, Felino

La Mascara and Misterioso somehow got pulled into what will be an comedy match otherwise. Either it works and it’s amusing or it doesn’t work and it’s the worst match on the show, but I suspect this is not the last time CMLL does a Brazos/Peste Negra match any time soon. Might as well take the rudos in that case.

4) Strong Man, Mistico, Hector Garza vs Ultimo Guerrero, Atlantis, Mr. Niebla

This was being billed as the Last Time The Guerreros del Atlantida Would Team, which was never actually going to be true to begin with and seems even less so now. Strong Man took the personal loss last week, so he’s got to get the win back here unless they’ve already decide to part ways with him (and it is that time of year – may not be worth it to bring Strong Man in for the next couple months if they’re not going to be doing much), but there’s still no idea where they’re ultimately going with him. Doesn’t seem like CMLL has confidence enough in him to do the singles title match with UG, but there’s no other way out of this feud.

Mistico’s not losing on this big show anyway.

5) Volador Jr. & Sombra vs Mephisto & Ephesto [CMLL TAG]

This feels like a status quo match to showcase the tecnicos and keep them as champions. Mephisto & Ephesto aren’t a normal team, not that means CMLL won’t put the titles on them just to be random. I really just think this just fits in line with the other high profile defenses Volador & Sombra have had this year (Metal/Negro, Atlantis/Bucanero, plus Felino/Negro and Terrible/Texano in Puebla), where the tecnicos triumphs over names to try and establish themselves as top guys. Not sure this will get them there still, but it won’t hurt.

This also seems added just to add a really good match to the show. Even though it’s a new pair matchup on the rudo side, these sides have faced off roughly a thousand times in slightly better matches. This should be great, as lon as they’re not bored with it.

[poll id=”50″]

6) Texano Jr. & Terrible vs Naito & Yujiro [hair]

Reasons No Limit could actually win

– This isn’t the end of Mexico vs Japan
– CMLL makes weird decisions

That’s all I got. CMLL once had Terrible beat Cien Caras in a hair match, years before they actually decided to do anything with Terrible (though mostly because Mascara Ano 2000 and Perro Aguayo Jr. were also involved), and Terrible’s not even the high ranking member of his team. It would be amazing to see Texano and Terrible to take the loss here, but only amazing in how dumb that would be.

No idea on how this will turn out as a match.

[poll id=”51″]

Other previews: ESTO, Notimex

I plan to have some sort of live coverage tonight, though I’m not exactly sure what.

No point in doing a person by person why/why not preview. There’s zero story reason why one person should be the winner or one person should be the loser. It’s not even especially clear why these 12 men were picked for the cage match – why Flash and not Stuka? why Puma King and not Tiger Kid? why Tigre Blanco and not Metalico? why every masked Tuareg member but not Nitro? That last would’ve actually been an interesting idea – after months and months of Tuareg trios taking on tecnico trios, a cage match as the big blow off would’ve made a lot of sense. Unfortunately, this match isn’t about making sense – it’s about running competition against a show that had already almost sold out by the time they announced this match – so you really can’t expect much sense in the finish either. We can only base it on the reasons outside the ring, and we know very little of that.

Tiger Blanco is the obvious loser. Since his head injury (in 2004? – if only I remembered to write things on the wiki), he’s had long stretches of being out of the ring, and has openly talked about not being able to continue. Most of the wrestlers from his ‘generation’ have either made it to a significant level by now or are being phased out, and he’s definitely in the later group. In a year or two, Tigre Blanco might not be a big enough name to be in these sort of cage matches (he’s arguable the lowest ranked guy in the match) – this isn’t the best way to end a stage of your career, but it might be the best spot Tigre Blanco gets.

[poll id=”47″]However, CMLL has been pretty consistent in NOT having the most likely guy losing these cage matches. The last 4 cage match losers in Arena Mexico were Shockercito, Toscano, Heavy Metal, and Hijo del Lizmark, and none of those guys stuck out as the most likely going in. If they continue on with that booking, who else is possible?

The Tuareg: For what their roles are (experienced rudos helping younger tecnicos thru early matches), they really don’t have to be masked. If you take the long view, and there’s no reason you actually should here, it’d be better for them to be unmasked, so they could lose their hair every so often to a guy on the way up. Better than just having Loco Max do it.

Individually, it doesn’t work out as well. Hard to believe Dr. X was going to lose his mask in a match he didn’t even know was going to happen. Arkangel does enough stuff with Ultimo Dragon where being a masked rudo luchador probably means more than average for him. Skandalo is too young and probably on his way to more important things. Of the four in the match, Hooligan seems most likely to lose – he’s not around as much as the others – but there’s the unfortunate business of this not being his first mask.

Flash, Angel de Oro, Pesgaso, and Rey Cometa all make much more sense as masked. With Astro Boy, you could make the same case of being passed by as with Tigre Blanco – enough to make him the second most likely tecnico, but doesn’t seem like a strong bet with who he’s related to. Likewise, Tiger Kid losing his mask wouldn’t make any sense, unless we immediately found out he was actually Negro Casas Jr. or something like that.

Which leaves, unless I’ve skipped someone here, Polvora. He would actually make some sense. Polvora’s lost his old tag partner and could use an image overhaul. Unlike Tigre Blanco, Polvora losing could be the start of something new. I’m picking him, but I wouldn’t actually wager on it.

Picking a winner is even more random. If they were consistent from show day to show day, Angel de Oro would be the strong pick, but they’ve been doing the opposite; Volador’s feud with Ultimo Guerrero on Sundays is completely forgotten for Volador’s feud with Averno on Friday’s. This is pick a name out of the hat reasoning, so I’ll pick…Astro Boy. Hey, he’s got a movie out, it’s a good time.

or, “Verano de Escandalo, take 2”

Argenis, Atomic Boy, Laredo Kid vs Rió Bravo, Tigre Cota, Tito Santana II [glow in the dark]

If you have to get everyone on the card, might as well get everyone on the card to have a good match. A high spot match where it’s tough to see the participants is not the best of ideas, but it’s not the worst possible stip (lumberjack strap). While this match means nothing to most of the audience going to the show (though hardcore local fans may want to root for the hometown guys), it’s the most likely favorite match among people who post comments on this site.

Prediction: Poder del Norte should win in the Norte!

Decnnis, El Elegido, Gronda II vs Gronda, Joe Lider, Nicho el Millionario [cage, hardcore]

I wonder if the new booking idea is someone is inexplicable listed as teaming with people on a major show, and then they run an angle to introduce that person as a surprise member of that team. That’s what they did with Ultimo Gladiador and that’s what appears to be happening here. Elegido & Gronda are teaming based on, uh, having lots of muscle, so maybe Decnnis fits the theme. This is really just a workaround of doing Gronda vs Gronda with enough distractions from revealing how bad that would be. This’ll be a stunt/prop show for sure.

Prediction: Decnnis remains a rudo, and Elegido and Gronda II get destroyed.

Extreme Tiger vs Sugi San, Jack Evans, Teddy Hart, Rocky Romero [AAA CRUISER, Ladder]

The same matches they’ve done for two months, now with ladders. Tecnicos out number the rudos, not that it matters so much. Spots spots spots. I should be excited for this but these are just empty calories of spots. I’d love to see these guys serve up a good meal, but that’s not what AAA wants.

Prediction: Alex Koslov runs in and takes the belt. It doesn’t make sense and I might have just ruined it by typing it out, but it sure seems like they’re setting that up.

Sexy Star vs Fabi Apache [Reina De Reinas, bull terrier] – Billy Boy and Aerostar in the corners.

All the other matches, they’ve done variations on TV. They did this exact match, only not for the title, on TV. You’d know this if I ever got around to posting recaps, but I loved the first match more than I should. Sexi is still not a good wrestler, but she’s still entertaining. I feel confident this will be pretty good.

Prediction: if they’re not unmasking Sexi Star, this kinda has to be the end of it, right? Konnan’s foreign woman should be around by this show, and Fabi feuding with them over the title makes more sense than going in circles here some more. I hope Billy & Sexi don’t vanish into a black hole after this.

La Parka Jr. vs Octagón, Silver King, Electro Shock, Alan Stone, Zorro, Último Gladiador, Kenzo Suzuki, Marco Corleone, Pimpinela Escarlata, Cibernético, Ozz, ? [copa Pena]

The annual gauntlet match. Things we can be sure of:

– Cibernetico will pin a lot of people
– Electroshock will beat a cruiserweight
– the mystery guy will be a foreigner 75% of the crowd doesn’t know
– the outcome is ultimately irrelevant.

Didn’t really go anywhere when Charly won it two years ago. Didn’t really mean much when Mesias won it last year. There’s a decent amount of possible winners (Silver King, La Parka Jr., Cibernetico, Electroshock, the ? guy), more than previous years, and they’re capable of making three minute matches interesting, but the whole thing can be a bit tedious.

Prediction: Cibernetico’s probably doing something next, so he’s the safest bet to win.

Dr. Wagner Jr. vs El Mesías [AAA HEAVY]

TripleMania was really good, but the magic hasn’t been there since. Part of that magic was a crowd rabidly behind Wagner, which probably won’t be the case here, but maybe they can make up for it in other ways. Sure feels like Mesias has used all his chances up already, they really can’t do this main event again in two months, and Mesias looks like a failure if he can’t get the job done here.

Prediction: Mesias wins the title back, sets up a feud with Cibernetico. Probably lots of run-ins by Wagnermaniacs, and run-ins by AAA guys to balance them out. Maybe they do something where Parka specifically turns the tide, to set him up as Wagner’s new rival. Maybe this is where Konnan gets involved to set up one of his guys as a challenger?

Charly Manson vs Chessman [hair]

Uhhhh…

Actually, it’s really interesting that Chessman was evidently going to win this. Were they pulling the plug on Charly? Is Chessman planned for another title match? (Mesias/Chessman has been done enough, Wagner/Chessman might be interesting but doesn’t make sense.) With Mesias looking likely to win the title, would they’ve have gone with that last anyway to do the happy finish at the end?

I have no idea what they do here, but it’s probably going to make people very unhappy. I like the idea of Mini Charly Manson taking the place here, just because it might be nice to see the minis champion sometime this year. I doubt they’ve got this figured out yet.

What better way to start a preview then with a review:

previous CMLL major shows
03/20/09: Ultimo Guerrero beats Villano V
(there is no 12/08 major show)
09/19/08: Villano V beats Blue Panther
06/13/08: Heavy Metal loses to Perro Jr. in 10 man cage match
05/23/08: Toscano b Heavy Metal & Perro Jr. in a hair
03/21/08: Perro Jr. beats Hector Garza’s hair

It’s been 14 months since the last strongly build CMLL main event. It’ll be a couple more, at least, before the next one. I’ve spent enough time on why this match is boring, why this show is boring, and don’t feel like I’ve got anything new or special left to say about it. If CMLL can draw a great crowd with this match and this build, great for them, bad for the rest of us. This show should not be encouraged or endorsed.

The upside to the main event cage match is there’s no certain winner. The down side is there’s plenty of people who could lose, without it meaning much the next day. As usual, I’ll try to separate this out into groups, but the difference between the groups are slighter than ever.

Odds on the losers:

Would be really dumb to lose
– Negro Casas – strong shot to get the win as momentum
– Shocker – would be a total waste
– Hector Garza – Puebla injury sets up a nice near loss storyline
– Blue Panther – would be the most anti-climatic loss of his career, if not for the whole mask thing
– Mictlan – what point there is to having him would be gone

Long shots
– Terrible – ought to lose his hair somewhat more meaningful the first time
– Texano Jr. – why waste the really good elevation by knocking him back down in a meaningless way?

Maybe, but Maybe Later
– Toscano – would they risk him actually showing up?
– Maximo – already lost his hair once this year
– Ray Mendoza Jr. – still too soon
– Naito
– Yujiro – supposed to be around for a few more months, might as well save it

Strong chance
– Black Warrior – quite clearly has grown his hair out the last few months, much longer than usual. Maybe too obvious?
– Shigeo Okumura – however, the lowest guy on totem pole is usually one of the first few guys out
– Heavy Metal – lost this match last year, which maybe is the only reason he doesn’t lose it this year

Winners are tougher to figure. Shocker, Garza, Mictlan, Texano, Terrible and Negro all seem like guys who get credited with the win, and everyone else might be the first one out, I guess.

[poll id=”38″]

Predictions & Previews:

– Cesar
– Luchando Libre
– ESTO
– SuperLuchas – nicely detailed
– Ovaciones
– Estadio Deportes

Plan is to do have a post up for live coverage and comments tonight, probably sometime 9ish.