CMLL TV January - April 2005:

Mistico/Alan Stone/Virus vs Sangre Azteca/Hooligan/Loco Max - Sin Limite 5/14/05: OK, I lied... this was from 2004 but whatever. Remember the Rivera/Tigre/Texano Jr. vs Arkangel/Hooligan/Nitro match I called the second best Sin Limite match ever? Well, that has now been changed to third best match ever. *THIS WAS SO FUCKING GREAT*! And I already know what you are all thinking, especially Phil, "they must have done about 10 dives". NOPE! ONLY 9!:p Actually, they did *ZERO* dives. Unless you count a spot on the ramp. So basically, this was a **** lucha match involving *NO DIVES*! Fuck the theory most people ignorant to lucha have where it's all about dives. First fall has a long feeling out process with Virus/Azteca, Mistico/Loco Max and then Alan/Hooligan get going! Hooligan ends up outside on the ramp. He turns to celebrate for the crowd... AND ALAN NAILS HIM WITH A SPRINGBOARD HEADSCISSORS TAKEDOWN! Awesome visual but when you stop to think about it, Alan absolutely killed himself on the landing which made Hooligan's bump look rather weak by comparison. Virus and Azteca did some nice work together as well. Loco Max was awesome playing to the crowd and picking on Mistico. Virus shoulderblock Loco Max and ran up the ropes for a double springboard moonsault I assume but as he stood up top, he found himself in the wrong corner as both rudos clipped his legs so he took the old Psicosis bump in the corner RIGHT ONTO HIS HEAD! OUCH! Alan saw he was in trouble and dove in for the save only to be destroyed by the rudos. Mistico decided to help out as well.... he charged with a flying body attack but Loco Max caught him, handed him to Sangre Azteca who was up top and Mistico got SPIKED with the swinging soviet suplex(rock bottom). Just an awesome finish to the fall! They may have clipped out the start of the second fall as the action picked up with Alan/Hooligan in the ring. Some more nice back and forth action which included Loco Max taking a backdrop and getting so much rotation that he landed badly on the heels of his feet and looked to be a bit shaken up. Mistico and Azteca finally entered together which I had been waiting for and did they did some neat stuff including a blind Misteriorana by Mistico and then... ~LA MISTICA! which won the fall for the tecnicos as Azteca was the captain of the rudos. Third fall had more awesome Mistico in-ring moves. The guy doesn't just fly, he FLOATS. I was so happy when he got to work an exchange with Hooligan b/c it's like little Ultimo Guerrero vs Mistico. Lots of neat stuff in the fall which I won't spoil. LOTS and LOTS of nearfalls as well including a sweet swinging magistral variation from Mistico. Just when you think they are building to a finish, they did a great fakeout with two rudos sent to the floor and Mistico/Virus in the ring. They high fived and ran into the ropes for double dives... only to get clotheslined by Loco Max! I loved that spot. Virus and Loco went at it, then Mistico entered only to get dropkicked outside. Loco ran into the ropes and went for a dive... but Virus was waiting and pretty much caught him as he jumped over the ropes holding him UPSIDE DOWN as Mistico swung around the ropes from the outside to nail a 6-1-9! Alan then did a springboard frog splash on Loco, Virus entered the ring to put Hooligan away and Mistico did a springboard dropkick sending Azteca outside and he posed while the final 3 was counted on Loco. AWESOME VISUAL! Seriously, my comments don't justify this match at all, you have to see it. Easy **** affair. You can clearly see how much Mistico has improved in the short time as he looked a bit shaky at certain points in this match, shakiness that is of course long gone by now. It got a ton of time as well... 17 minutes by my count and well deserved. These guys KICKED ASS!

1/22/05 CMLL TV:

Felino/Safari/La Mascara vs Shigeo Okumura/Pierroth Jr./El Hijo Del Pierroth: Blah... I could have lived without seeing this. Would have been the perfect time to air a lower match with guys we never see as this match really served no purpose. First fall had okay action but nothing that would blow you away. Lucha by the numbers really. Second fall was more of the same. You can tell how much Safari holds back when he's stuck in a pointless match. I know, that's a bad thing too as all the great workers go all out no matter what the match. Third fall had a double tope suicida with La Mascara and Hijo Del Pierroth(or Pierroth Jr. if you're redriverjack). Shigeo then pinned Felino to give the rudos a surprise victory. I should also mention that La Mascara got to do some work in the second fall and granted he nailed all his spots... he really comes off as a weak version of Mistico. He uses a bunch of spots Mistico uses(spinning armdrags + 6-1-9) but he does them way slower and doesn't add the little extra flare that Mistico does. If Mistico wasn't around, I'm sure La Mascara would be treated differently but Mistico is around and La Mascara needs to do something to differentiate himself... and fast.

Mistico/Sagrado/Black Warrior vs Ultimo Guerrero/El Mephisto/Tarzan Boy: WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO! You want proof Ultimo Guerrero is a machine? This is your match. Not only does he make Black Warrior look like a solid and inspired tecnico... HE CARRIES SAGRADO! THE UNIMAGINABLE!!! First fall here was pretty long and really fun. Won't spoil the cool spots, only the finish as Mistico gets assisted into a huge corkscrew plancha overshooting Mephisto by a fair distance. Doctor even ran over to check on him. Best part followed soon after as for the first time ever... SAGRADO DIDN'T BLOW THE FINISH TO A FALL!!! I'm shitting on him big time here but I'm really a huge fan of his so this all made me very happy. Second fall had some more cool Mistico in-ring spots until the rudos took over. With those three rudos I thought it was pretty lame that they used Generico Rudo Triple Team Finish #1 to end the fall. That would be the double hiptoss into a power bomb spot that everyone uses. Oh well. Third fall was done in a weird way with Mistico challenging Ultimo Guerrero to get in the ring in the middle of the rudo beatdown and they worked a bit together including Mistico getting TOSSED INTO THE RAFTERS for a flapjack and then countering it with a moonsault off Ultimo and a crazy headscissors. I got the shock of my life a bit later when SAGRADO PINNED TARZAN BOY CLEAN! So...yeah...this was the best match ever at this point. Mephisto then eliminated Sagrado. Warrior planted Mephisto onto the floor with a running dropkick and then did a weird dive where he basically takes the Zumbido knee-bump into the corner and falls to the floor with a somersault. I liked it. But I'd prefer the tope of death obviously. Mistico/Ultimo finish the match with an amazing sequence where Mistico goes for ~LA MISTICA! but Ultimo kinda stops him in mid-move and says "no you don't", then flips him backwards and low blows him. WAY TOO COOL!

Momentos aired... Explosivo did a springboard plancha on Vaquero while Sombra De Plata made Polvora submit. The only other new highlight was Safari doing a tope suicida, Tigre Blanco doing a flip plancha on a laying down Hooligan and Tigre Metalico rolling up Arkangel with a neat small package which is his finisher I'd guess as he used it in the Torneo as well. Ryan won't like that. Rest of the clisp were stuff we saw on TV the week before.(Note to self: Need to watch that still.)

Copa Jr. tourney time! It's been sooooooooooooo long since they did a singles tournament on TV so this was a blast. But for newer lucha fans, you should know that tourneys like this usually consist of lots of fast matches(we're talking under 5 minutes) so don't look for anything 15-20 minute classics or anything. Just fun sprints all around.

Alan Stone vs Apolo Dantes: I felt so bad for these guys. Remember Apolo was a last second sub as Garza was put in jail. They must have done the substitution really late as these guys were totally not on the same page and blowing EVERYTHING. Apolo ended up outside and things got really scary as Alan did a springboard...almost lost his balance...managed to stay up top and then lept back with a moonsault but Apolo must have had no idea what was coming b/c he was standing way too far back and he pretty much just got kicked in the face while Alan crashed to the floor. The best part was the slow motion replay as you can see Alan's face turn to horror when he realizes Apolo isn't there to catch him. After blowing more stuff in the ring, Alan goes for his double springboard moonsault... and slips... oh man I felt so bad for him as the crowd started booing him VERY LOUDLY. He got his balance back and did his moonsault but got two feet to the stomach and Apolo pinned him with the Nudo. Loved the finish but not fair to judge this match as good or bad considering the circumstances.

Negro Casas vs El Averno: Very solid match. I expected Averno to get most of the offence since I knew he was losing but Negro was dominating for the most part, even hitting his silla dive. Averno got in a few shots though and actually countered the Casita into a nearfall and then did one of his own for another nearfall. Averno ended up running into Baby Richard by accident, then he power bombed Negro and thought he won when Richard signaled it was over but instead raised Negro's hand for a DQ victory. Negro played the good guy and refused to be happy about the win. Both guys win here. Negro gets to move on and Averno gets the respect of the fans for having Negro beat.

Shocker vs Brazo De Plata: Weird to see these guys facing each other. Shortest match of the first round. Porky did a plancha off the apron and then not even in my craziest dream would I ever have imagined what happened next... they were showing a replay of his dive... AND CUT BACK TO LIVE ACTION AS SHOCKER DID A TOPE SUICIDA!!! Since when does Galavision care about cutting back to live action instead of showing a replay?!?!?!?! Are pigs flying? Porky never re-entered the ring so Shocker moved on. They shook hands afterwards and Que Monito showed the cameraman who his father was... KING KONG! *LMAO*

Blue Demon Jr. vs Misterioso II: Ouch is all I can say. How bad does a match have to be, to get edited from 5 minutes to 2 minutes? They must have screwed up big time as TV cut away from their opening stuff right into a Demon Jr. tope suicida. A bit later he did a baseball slide and then while battling for a suplex from the apron, Misterioso got behind Demon who then quickly reversed it and hit a german suplex for the win. Nothing offensive though what got clipped probably was.

Negro Casas vs Apolo Dantes: Way too short even by these one fall match standards. They wrestled for like a minute and a half before Apolo countered the Casita and made Negro submit to a half crab.

Shocker vs Blue Demon Jr.: Nice little match with Demon Jr. playing a cocky rudo. He did another tope suicida onto Shocker knocking him into the first row. Shocker kicked out of the german suplex and did his cradle move on Demon for the win. They shook hands afterwards.

Apolo Dantes ran out as Shocker celebrated...

Shocker vs Apolo Dantes: Either they did something as bad as Demon Jr./Misterioso or TV time was running thin so they cut big time right to the finishing sequence as Apolo did a power bomb on Shocker and only got a two after Que Monito came in to knock his feet off the ropes so he couldn't get a cheap win. Shocker got a two count with an inside cradle and then won with his cradle move.

I should also mention the entire first round was shown with no breaks so it was a solid 20 minutes(no intros or post-match activities) of uninterrupted lucha goodness!

Atlantis/Blue Panther vs Rey Bucanero/Olimpico: Not much of a match. First two falls were unbelievably short and Olimpico's injury happened about 1 minute into the final fall. It was really sickening to see. He tried a running tope over the ropes near the ringpost but when he stuck his hands out to use the ropes for assistance, one of his hands missed the ropes which totally messed him up and he took a straight fall right onto the top of his head causing his neck to bend a horrible angle. The ringside doctor and Babe Richard ran over right away which was good and they immediatly made sure he wouldn't move. Of course Galavision Mexico replayed the spot 5 times from different angles. If I hadn't already known he'd be wrestling again 5 months later, I'd have been convinced he was paralyzed. From then on, nobody was really into the actual match. Fans and wrestlers included. Bucanero got some nearfalls but nobody cared. He pinned Panther and then Atlantis made him submit quickly. The celebration was toned down big time. Show ended with many more clips of the blown dive. I give Atlantis full credit for still trying to make the catch as best he could. He may have saved Olimpico from further injury. The thing about the dive is, had Olimpico been running at full speed, he would have just over-rotated and crashed on the apron. But he was running at medium speed so he just went UP and DOWN instead of spinning out of control which may have just ended up embarassing instead of a trip to the hospital. Scary stuff...

CMLL 1/1/05...

Mistico/Volador Jr./Felino vs Olimpico/El Averno/El Mephisto: Awesome way to debut Mistico. The Sin Limite version of this match shows Fray Tormenta coming out with him and giving him a blessing in the ring. He was a star right then and there. I thought this match was fantastic with everyone looking great, Mistico obviously standing out but that was the point of the match - to give him the most spots so people would remember him. Even Volador Jr. seemed to be holding back at points as to not upstage the new guy. Having Mistico do a space flying tiger drop was genius b/c nobody has done that dive in Mexico in AGES so it was mind blowing for everyone in attendance.

La Parka/Shocker/Brazo De Plata vs Pierroth Jr.(well at the time he was Pierroth Jr.!)/Shigeo Okumura/Rey Bucanero: Don't see why everyone seemed to be so negative about this. It wasn't a blow away match or anything but it was a fun little match. I can see the complaints coming from the fact out of all the matches they could have aired(Atlantis/Panther vs Bucanero/Guerrero for the tag belts comes to mind), there was really no reason to air this but what can you do? PIERROTH LEFT HIS FEET! HE DID A SOMERSAULT WITH SHIGEO'S ASSIST! MARK OUT MOMENT!!! Parka had a really bad match when it comes to dives. First he overshot La Nazi on a tope suicida and then Okumura didn't even try to catch him on a running corkscrew dive. What a shitty thing to do as Parka looked legit hurt.

La Parka vs Ultimo Guerrero: Already discussed this elsewhere in depth. Far too short... awful choice of where to clip... awesome finish. Don't get this show just to see this match or you'll be disapointed. Find their 4/30/04 Guadalajara MOTY.

Canek vs Rayo De Jalisco Jr. vs Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Universo 2000: Well... if you are looking for a great match, this isn't it. But if you want to see emotion and hatred at its' finest, pick this up. Crowd was really into it which in turn got me into it. I didn't even feel ripped off by the DQ ending b/c Universo finally got what was coming to him.

CMLL TV 1/15/05(aired 7/2/05 in the States)...

Felino vs El Mephisto - CMLL Welterweight Title Bout: Awesome to see Kahoz(w/ mask!) seconding his kid. First fall was way too short and likewise for the second fall. They also both ended in a similar fashion that I hate and both these guys are guilty of it even in trios matches. They don't even think before doing finishes. They rush rush rush to end it as quick as possible. Felino didn't even go for one pinfall in the first fall except when it was time to go home. Where's the build? In the second fall it was all Felino until Mephisto grabbed him, rolled him up and that's it. Felino wasn't even TOUCHED all fall, how could he stay down for 3 seconds off a lame roll-up? Third fall was edited. Crowd seemed into it but the edit was so awkward that I just couldn't bring myself to get into the few nearfalls they showed. Mephisto won with a brutal version of his finisher. These guys can do better... way better.

Misterioso II/La Mascara/Maximo vs Mascara Magica/Dr. X/Loco Max: Magica just doesn't fit in ANYWHERE. It's sad. He's a good wrestler... I mean, he held this match together at certain points but he just has no charisma and has the look of someone who just doesn't belong as a rudo and as a tecnico is too dorky to be taken as a star. I dunno, maybe I'm the only one who sees it. This match was alright. Crowd loves Maximo to death. La Mascara did a nice spot where it looked like he was going for an assisted headscissors but turned it into a swinging DDT on Magica. Haven't seen that one before. Misterioso II was easily the best tecnico hitting a bunch of neat armdrags and a nice running somersault plancha in the third fall. Loco Max had a nicer version of that dive in the second fall though. That dude is soooooooooo entertaining. So in conclusion... good mid-card match that served its purpose but can't touch the Sagrado's team vs Sangre Azteca's team match from the week before.

Bloopers of the year aired... funny funny funny shit. Way better than the stuff they showed the year before. Seeing Averno practice his lines, then fuck them up right away was priceless. Shockercito was all drugged out and had no idea what to say. Zumbido was acting crazy. La Mascara blew the same five words *SIX TIMES IN A ROW*! I loved this segment.

Momentos only had two new spots. Shockercito with a nice springboard plancha on Pequeno Violencia followed by a neat flip plancha through the ropes by Tzuki onto Espectrito I. Then Los Rayos Tapatios used their respective finishers on Polvora and La Flecha. WHY DID THEY BREAK UP MY POLVORA/VAQUERO TEAM? DOES ANYONE EVEN CARE BESIDES ME???

Satanico/Brazo De Plata/Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero/El Averno/El Mephisto: Oh wow... that is the anti-Rob Bihari tecnico team. I can't get into any of those guys for an entire match. Porky at most for a few sequences but the other two are lost causes(as tecnicos) for me. They just don't do anything tecnico style.:/ So I spent this match just pondering how amazing Ultimo Guerrero is. Everyone works harder when they are in the ring with him. Porky even did a new spot I've never seen him do and he rarely changes his formula up. In the third fall he did a corkscrew off the apron which was really cool. I enjoyed the finish with Wagner and Ultimo trying to see who was tougher, Ultimo going down, then Wagner running into the ropes... SPEAR BY ULTIMO! SUBMISSION HOLD! RUDOS WIN! Great stuff there. Ultimo is the best wrestler in Mexico right now and maybe even the world. I wouldn't know though, I rarely watch anything other than Lucha.

Atlantis/Blue Panther/Mistico vs Olimpico/Rey Bucanero/Tarzan Boy: Perfect setup for the tag title match the following week. The challenges destroyed the champs all match long. The first fall beatdown went on forever and had the usual cool GDI triple teams. Second fall was more of the same until the tencicos started a comeback which included Mistico doing his corkscrew plancha into an armdrag! Things calmed down for a few seconds and Mistico did a fast in-ring exchange with Tarzan sending him outside and then he nailed his running corkscrew plancha with HUGE HEIGHT! This left the champs vs the challengers and you know it... rudos win in two falls. Fantastic booking here and a really hot crowd added to the match.

Very good episode, well worth going out of your way to see.

CMLL TV 1/29/05...

Universo 2000 vs Pierroth: Uhm... great? Awesome? Fantastic? Super? I really don't give a fuck. I watched it but I was doing other stuff at the same time. They didn't seem to do anything you wouldn't expect. Belt shots, La Nazi interference, referee distractions... whatever. Waste of precious TV time that could have been used on Yidra or Zayco.

Virus/Misterioso II/La Mascara vs Dr. X/Hooligan/Sangre Azteca... WAS SUPPOSED TO AIR!!! The TV graphic said so and it looked like it was about to start but I think Fredo's source taped over it by accident b/c they went straight to Momentos instead. That's a shame. A kitten dies every time Hooligan doesn't make TV.

Momentos was really fun. First spot blew me away... ~VALIENTE DRIVER '05! Polvora ran at Valiente who picked him up for a back suplex, bounced him off the ropes, then spun and slammed him chest first while sitting out. Such a simple spot yet so effective. It could be a total WWE style finisher except there's something so cooler about seeing a small guy in a mask do it rather than a roided up idiot who would break something sitting out with the move. Sangre Azteca did a nice plancha onto JIMMY JIMMY JIMMY NEUTRON! Virus did a somersault plancha off the top rope onto Sangre Azteca at a different point in that match. Why didn't it air on TV again? Oh right... the Mistico match. They made the right decision. Olimpico's dive was replayed about eight more times. Finally Ultimo dropping Mistico onto the apron was shown.

Copa Jr. Block B...

Felino vs Mascara Magica: Joined in progress I think. Cool spot with Felino going for his usual dive...Magica runs away...Felino counters by jumping on the apron...Magica runs forward quickly and takes his legs out, then jumps into the ring and does a good tope suicida. They wrestled for a bit more but nothing too special. Felino moves on.

Dos Caras Jr. vs El Mephisto: Clipped unfortunately. Dos Jr. was getting huge reactions for everything he did and I thought he looked super. The guy is gonna be a star. Him, Sagrado, Terrible, Messala, Canek Jr. and whichever Cien Caras Jr. is Sheriff are gonna be the future of the CMLL heavyweight division. NASTY press slam into a german suplex wins it for Dos Caras' son.

Volador Jr. vs Dr. Wagner Jr.: Easily the best match of the first round. Wagner had his working boots on which was great b/c otherwise Volador would have been wasted on this night. Nice asai moonsault from Volador and later he did the Jericho SUPER FRANKENSTEINER! WOOHOO! He got some VERY believable nearfalls before Wagner spiked him with the Wagner Driver. Great work by both.

Rayo De Jalisco Jr. vs Brazo De Oro: Clipped...thankfully. Brazo De Oro did a tope suicida. Finish was embarassing as Rayo just slapped Brazo De Oro on the head, then legdropped him. Uhm... yeah... okay then. Even dumber was the doctor checking on Brazo De Oro afterwards as if he was crippled from the slap.

Dos Caras Jr. vs Felino: Clipped again... poor Dos Jr.. Felino looked very uninspired here but then again there was a huge height difference. Felino used to be the guy that when he was a rudo he would make any tecnico look great... kinda like Ultimo Guerrero these days. But Felino is TINY and always worked with sort of small tecnicos. He couldn't do anything with Dos Jr. and fell victim to a NASTY press slam into a german suplex.

Rayo De Jalisco Jr. vs Dr. Wagner Jr.: Clipped... YAY! Nothing of note. Wagner wins, thank Caligula.

Dos Caras Jr. vs Dr. Wagner Jr.: Aw, they clipped the finals too! When it was rejoined the crowd was really into it so they must have been doing great. Lots of nearfalls shown so I can't even imagine how many they did live. Back and forth action... Wagner kicked out of the press slam/german combo. Dos Jr. was not able to kick out of the Wagner Driver with extra added spike. Wagner moves on to face Shocker on my next DVD.

Atlantis/Negro Casas/Black Warrior/~MISTICO! vs Hector Garza/El Averno/Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero: WAY TOO FUCKING SHORT! This had the makings of the greatest matchup in the history of the world but it was just WAY TOO FUCKING SHORT!!! Rudos beatdown took place right away but instead of making it go long they just did a triple/quadrople team move on each tecnico and then pinned them. Mistico got the worst of it... he took an Ultimo Guerreroplex and landed HARD! Ultimo is so strong(combined with Mistico being so light) that he actually stood up top holding Mistico upside down for a few seconds before bringing him down to the mat. I love how the crowd screams every time a rudo picks up Mistico. Total Rey Jr. in '92! Second fall had the tecnico comeback right away and before you knew it... Warrior pins Ultimo and La Mistica gets rid of Averno. BOOOOOOOOO! Actually, Atlantis then put Bucanero in the Atlantida... while on the ramp. That was pretty neat. Third fall started promising but they just went straight to a finish. I didn't even notice any edits. Oh wait... Mistico and Ultimo got to do one exchange which was awesome. Mistico ran at Ultimo and moonsaulted off him! Not off his shoulders, he basically did the run-up-the-wall moonsault that Doc Chan/Jody Fleisch used to do except he used Ultimo as his wall! He then went for the Mistica but Ultimo stopped him mid-move and reversed Mistico back to where he came from! *LMAO* That's such an awesome spot. Negro tried a silla off the apron but Ultimo caught him and power bombed him into the ringpost. In the ring Averno pinned Mistico with his finisher. YEP, JUST LIKE THAT! FUCKING BOOOOOOOO!!! Bucanero ended up outside the ring with his leg trapped in a seat and Warrior murdered him with the tope of death. Atlantis put Ultimo in the Atlantida right away but Garza entered and low blowed the tecnico, then did a hilarious pin to win the match. Garza is awesome. This match wasn't so awesome and I felt very disapointed afterwards.

Average episode. 1/22 blew it away. I wonder if they had a shorter time slot this week, hence all the editing for the tournament matches.

CMLL TV 2/5/05(7/9/05 on U.S. Galavision)...

Atlantis/Blue Panther/Negro Casas vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/El Averno: Holy short! Less than 10 minutes in total as Anth pointed out. There was nothing wrong with the match, don't get me wrong, just in 10 minutes you really can't build to anything. It was more like three finishes in a row rather than an actual match.

Volador Jr./Safari/Felino vs Sangre Azteca/Arkangel/Pierroth Jr.: Holy short again! Well, at least the first two falls. They seemed to be over before I could even blink. Thankfully they made up for in in the third fall. To answer your question Anth, the reason Felino doesn't get pushed is b/c he is big time over, is an awesome worker, has a history of success working against El Hijo Del Santo which leads directly into... AND HIS BROTHER IS NEGRO CASAS. It's the same reason Heavy Metal will go nowhere in CMLL, not that he deserves it. He could have jumped a long time ago but he knows there is only room for one Casas in CMLL. Anyways... as I said the first two falls were really short but one highlight was Arkangel's insane first fall finisher on Felino! I wish I could capture it so everyone could see. Oh shit, I can. I'll try and post a clip later. He basically went for the Code Red but just fell backwards while on Felino's back and had the tecnico suspended in mid-air with a no hands submission. FREAKY! Third fall was really fun with lots of back and forth action and a couple nearfalls. Volador Jr. didn't look as sharp as we know he is. Finish had Safari do a wicked fast tope suicida onto Azteca, Volador Jr. did his reverse headscissors driver on Pierroth Jr. and Felino made Arkangel submit. These guys are all capable of better but this was very good due to the third fall.

Momentos was pretty shitty. I got real pissed b/c in the first clip they showed Tzuki doing a tornillo dive and Shockercito was just about to hit something of his own but they cut to a replay of what Tzuki did! Normally I'd expect it but in one of the next clips they showed the Stones doing tope suicidas at the same time but since the camera missed Chris' dive, they found a different angle to show it! ARGH!!! Other clips were Brazo De Plata Jr. doing a tope suicida onto Arkangel, Sangre Azteca hitting a BRUTAL double foot stomp on La Mascara as Hooligan held him so he hung off the apron and finally Ultimo Guerrero power bombing Negro Casas into the ringpost after catching his silla dive from the week before.

Los Hermanos Dinamita vs Perro Aguayo Jr./Pierroth/El Hijo Del Pierroth: Wow... maybe it's the lack of sleep talking but I actually enjoyed this! Right from the start it was a wild brawl. La Nazi stayed out of the way and the belt didn't get introduced till the third fall and that's usually the best you can ask from these guys. In the third fall Universo 2000 did a tope suicida onto Hijo Del Pierroth and as Perro Jr. was getting destroyed by Cien and MA2K, his dad ran out to a chorus of boos(yay!) and made the save for the DQ. Apolo Dantes and Vampiro then ran out to join the huge brawl. About 5 minutes worth of mic work afterwards. This is pretty much the best you'll get out of these guys working together so I enjoyed it a lot.

Shocker vs Dr. Wagner Jr. - Copa Junior Final: Speaking of enjoying matches you thought would suck... HELLO! This was AWESOME! I'm normally a big Wagner hater but he had all the right stuff in this one and Shocker brought his A game too. First fall was short(the pattern of the show), but the second and third fall was full of some great lucha work. I assumed they would go all out NJPW junior style here but there was very little to none of that garbage. Wagner took a sick bump in the third fall getting suplexed from the ring onto the hard ramp. YOUCH! Third fall had a ton of nearfalls I thought for sure would be the end and the crowd was big time into it. Finally Shocker grabs hold of Wagner and uses his fancy rollup to get the pinfall and win the trophy(which was beautiful).

Decent episode. Three good matches and a great main event. Worth picking up.

CMLL TV 2/12/05(aired 7/16/05 on Galavision)...

Alan Stone/La Mascara/Sagrado vs Arkangel/Mr. Mexico/El Veneno: This wasn't awful but it certainly wasn't anything special. Surely there had to be SOMETHING better to air in the 12 minutes or so this match got. Just looking at my results, we could have seen: Starman/Tigre Metalico/Hooligan vs Jeque/Super Comando/El Koreano OR Tarzan Boy/Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero vs Atlantis/Black Warrior/Dos Caras Jr.! I have nothing against anyone in this match and I'm glad they are showing mid-card stuff again but this was just such an unspired effort from everyone. Actually put me to sleep at one point.:/

Mistico vs El Averno: Not gonna go over this one too much again. The Guadalajra match was WAYYYYYYYYYY better so you should all see that. A couple of blown spots in this one really hurt my view on it and I like it less each time I see it again. Whereas the Guadalajara match just gets better on every viewing. Did love the finish to the second fall here though. A $100 tip post-match? Well fuck, that's more than they got paid for the match probably!

Momentos was decent. Espiritu is LUCKY that Polvora and Vaquero didn't break his neck with that ugly double Valagueza(Muscle Buster). Tigre Metalico looks like he is going to be fun when he makes TV more regularly.

Shocker/Satanico/Brazo De Plata vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/El Mephisto: The entrance by Los GDI here was classic. The awesome remix of 'We Will Rock You'(which I desperately need for my ring tone) blasting while the entire stable comes out is just way too cool for words. Very good match here as you'd expect with these guys. The interaction with Que Monito and Ultimo is great though not as good as the stuff between Monito and Garza but we'll get to that later. Satanico submitting to Mephisto clean in the third fall made me smile. I don't remember ever seeing Cien Caras cleanly submit to any young CMLL tecnico in a mid-card trios match.

Perro Jr./Pierroth/Vampiro vs Los Hermanos Dinamita: I saw this a long time ago and didn't bother rewatching to refresh my memory. I assume there was brawling?

Obviously you need to see this episode for Mistico/Averno which was great and the semi-main is also a treat.

CMLL TV 2/19/05(aired 7/23/05 on Galavision)...

Satanico/Zumbido/Safari vs Arkangel/Nitro/El Veneno: OK... so I'm assuming these guys all had another show to get to, right? I mean, this couldn't have gone more than 8 minutes in total with what seemed to be limited clipping. Not to mention just as the graphic flashed on the screen for the third fall, they went to a finish. Whatever. Another lackluster match from Arena Coliseo. What happened to my man Safari? He used to show way more effort and always standout even in crap matches.

Negro Casas/Black Warrior/~MISTICO! vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/El Averno: WOOHOO! Awesome little match. Right away the rudos attack Mistico as he does his entrance and they beat the shit out of him along with his partners. Each tecnico gets tossed outside culminating in Ultimo pressing Mistico into the air and violently throwing him outside over the top rope for the automatic DQ. Beatdown continues even after the DQ is called. I love it! Second fall has the tecnico comeback. HUGE POP for Mistico tearing at Ultimo's mask. Ultimo takes a bump outside and Mistico connects with a GIGANTIC PLANCHA OVER THE RINGPOST! Tecnicos appear to have things in control in the ring and I've resigned myself to another short match when all of a sudden Bucanero and Averno counter holds by Warrior and Negro respectively... AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE OURSELVES A THIRD FALL! Crowd is really into it. Warrior and Bucanero have a nice exchange to start the third fall. Mistico and Ultimo eventually end up in the ring with Mistico taking a HUUUUUUUGE choke slam. That was truly sick! He ends up making a short comeback and uses a 6-1-9. He applies an armbar but Guerrero just stands up, climbs up top but Mistico leans forward and they both tumble outside. Negro/Averno go at it with Averno getting tossed outside on top of a referee checking on Mistico/Ultimo. Negro goes for his silla dive but Bucanero spears him from inside the ring in a nice looking spot. Warrior and Bucanero then do this UNREAL spot where Warrior ends up outside... Bucanero runs into the ropes for a sliding dive under the ropes but Warrior gets up and slides into the ring at the same time... Bucanero rolls through the slide as Warrior stands in the ring and gears up... TOPE OF DEATH TAKING THEM BOTH INTO THE FIRST ROW!!! WOOHOO!!!!!! The only thing that would have made it better is if Warrior just started running for his dive instead of waiting to see if Bucanero rolled through his move. I'm sure next time they do it, it'll be ten times smoother. Of course we end up with Mistico and Ultimo back inside. Mistico does his somersault into a Code Red but only gets a two. He goes for La Mistica but Ultimo does his cool counter where he flips Mistico back where he came from. He then tosses Mistico into the air and low blows him for the automatic DQ. What an awesome way to setup their singles match. This was such a great match and proof of why CMLL is the best group in the world right now.

Momentos wasn't too hot. The opening spot with Ramstein/Sangre Azteca dropkicking Brazo De Plata Jr... now that was COOL! But the rest of the clips were boring. There should be a rule where you can't have a Momentos clip of something that took place on TV the week before. That way we could see a lot more undercard clips. Maybe cmll.com will start doing that with their new videos though. I can only hope.

Los Hermanos Dinamita vs Vampiro/Black Tiger/Pierroth: I didn't mind this at all. Another good match to build the feud between all these guys(minus Black Tiger) up. Universo bled which was neat and it made his hair look cool. Lots of intensity and guys actually taking good bumps. Clean finish always helps. A nice effort all around.

Shocker/Dr. Wagner Jr./Dos Caras Jr. vs Hector Garza/Damian El Terrible/Tarzan Boy: Another one of those awesome matches that makes you happy to be a CMLL fan. I'm glad they clipped right at the start. Always good to have a clip before the action begins rather than interrupt the flow of what's going on. I'll take joined in progress over a match chopped to death any time. The first fall stuff with Shocker/Garza/Wagner/Monito was FUCKING AWESOME! Garza is sooooooooooo great. I'm having the privlage of watching him as a tecnico in '96 and a rudo in '05 and I gotta say, the change is awesome to see. He's a total superstar and I hope he gets more main event time. I'm looking forward to the upcoming Perros Del Mal vs Pierroths feud. Seriously. I'd even go for Perros Del Mal vs Dinamitas. Dos Caras Jr. is a fucking GIANT. It's gotta be hard for the smaller rudos to work with him. I'm gonna be interested to see what Ultimo can do with him. DAMNIT FREDO - WHERE IS THE NEW LUCHA???:p OK, I know, I know. Anyways, the third fall has an awesome over the top rope tope by Dos Caras Jr. who does that spot better than anyone since Psicosis stopped doing it. Tecnicos win clean. I still liked the Mistico trios match better but this gave it a run for its money. This match was terrific and everyone should see it. When the new CMLL TV is put up on PWTorrents, I'm gonna clip it out and post it in the matches forum. If you don't fall in love with the stuff in the first fall, you aren't a wrestling fan. It's true.

GET THIS EPISODE! Highest reccomendation.

CMLL 2/26/05...

Virus/Tony Rivera/El Hijo Del Texano vs Hooligan/Nitro/Loco Max: Much more inspired effort that the stuff that aired in the weeks before from Arena Coliseo. Not that this was a great match or anything but they at least seemed into it and didn't appear to be in a big rush to leave and get to another show. Texano Jr. still hasn't won me over. Aside from being carried big time in two great Sin Limite trios matches, he seems to always be blowing stuff and is a step behind on most exchanges. Virus is a GOD in this match. Rivera looked pretty damn good himself hitting a bunch of neat run-up-the-ropes moves. Awesome finishing exchange between Virus and Nitro.

Negro Casas/Black Warrior/Satanico vs Rey Bucanero/El Averno/El Mephisto: Not so great. Warrior is so BLEH. I'd say he needs to be a rudo but he seems to have put on extra muscle that just doesn't fit him and it has made his bumps look bad and he is ten times slower than he used to be except when he does his tope of death. So now that's all I look forward to when I watch him. Lucha by the numbers here.

Momentos had the debut of ARTILLERO! He got nailed with a JIMMY JIMMY JIMMY Neutron moonsault plancha. Welcome to CMLL. Can't remember much else being of note.

Shocker/Atlantis/Blue Panther vs Perro Aguayo Jr./Hector Garza/Tarzan Boy: I gotta say I wasn't a fan of this. The Shocker/Garza stuff was great as usual but there was no chemistry when Atlantis/Panther worked with Tarzan/Aguayo. I don't know what the deal was but this seemed to be drag and have many awkward moments. Nothing TOO BAD but I really didn't enjoy it and with these guys you figured they'd do better.

Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero: Not gonna do another write-up of this. Major MOTYC for me, trailing only Mistico vs Averno from Guadalajara 1/30/05. Here's what I wrote back when I first saw it...

"This isn't a classic like the Mistico/Averno stuff, it's more of an angle driven match as Ultimo just wants to MURDER Mistico in the worst way possible. After Guerrero's awesome entrance, Mistico runs out to the ring and the brawl is ON. Guerrero press slams Mistico into the ring and just unloads on the little guy, beating the holy crap out of him. After twice throwing him up into the air and slamming him down face first, he tries it a third time but Mistico counters by MOONSAULTING OFF OF ULTIMO'S SHOULDERS and then hitting a move I've never seen anyone do aside for Rey Jr. where Guerrero looks like he's going for a spinning backbreaker but Mistico does a little spin and turns it into a frankensteiner takedown! Guerrero goes out...Mistico into the ropes... RUNNING CORKSCREW PLANCHA!!! ... TO *NOWHERE*!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! One of the sickest bumps I've ever seen. All you hear is a loud *THUD* as Mistico crashes to the floor on his face and a bunch of fans just start shaking their head at Ultimo as if to say "that was so wrong" while Ultimo just laughs.

I'll stop play-by-play there since I've already ruined too much. But the match just gets better from there with tons of heat as per the norm for a Mistico match. Guerrero plays the rudo soooooooooo well in this match, especially as relates to the finish where if Ultimo hadn't been playing such an awesome rudo, the finish might have turned the crowd against Mistico.

As usual Mistico hits some dazzling spots including two more that I've ever seen done before by anyone including my hero Rey. Also, in some thread I remember Kevin mentioned Ultimo hitting a moonsault fallaway slam and some replied saying Fast Eddie does that move all the time. Well from what I remember and assuming nothing has changed - Fast Eddie does his off the second turnbuckle and it's sloppy. Ultimo did his with BOTH GUYS STANDING ON THE TOP ROPE and it looked about as fluid as it gets. Unreal.

You want to see this if you're a Mistico fan, an Ultimo fan, a fan of Lucha in general or a fan of awesome wrestling. You want to avoid it if you prefer to live in ignorance pretending anyone but Mistico is wrestler of the year."

So there you have it. This show is a must-get for the main event and the opener was really fun.

CMLL TV 3/5/05:

If you pay attention during when the announcers are talking, you can watch some mini's action in the background with Bam Bam working against Pequeno Violencia and eventually Tzuki hitting a couple of armdrags on Espectrito sending him outside and doing a beautiful flip plancha through the first and second rope. I miss seing Tzuki on TV. I wonder if this was the week with the mini's revenge match. Always thought that would end up airing on TV somehow.

Safari/Sagrado/Virus vs Dr. X/Nitro/El Veneno: Same deal as the above Coliseo match. Everyone came to work and put forth a good effort. Not a match you'll always remember but a match that will definitely entertain you and be worth the 15 minutes or so it got on TV. Not a lot of flying at all though... that kinda sucked. Safari once again failed to blow me away as I've been waiting for him to do but he still has three chances as I creep closer and closer to watching the Mexican National Trios Titles feud and the CMLL vs Guerreros Torneo. Finish was rather flat which is my only complaint here.

Satanico/Alan Stone/Misterioso II vs El Mephisto/Shigeo Okumura/Ryusuke Taguchi: Joined in progress after the tecnicos took the first fall. Why this aired I don't know. Actually now that I wrote that I guess I do know... it was Taguchi's first TV appearence. Rudos take over in the second fall and win with a triple submission. The third fall is one of those falls that just begs the questions - WHAT IS THE FUCKING RUSH? 3rd fall logo flashes... Satanico slaps Mephisto a few times before dumping him outside, he hits a senton off the apron and right away the Japanese guys hit suplexes to pin the tecnicos. About 1 minute long. UGH!!!

Before the next match, Vampiro and Apolo Dantes appear and if I may say... they are dressed to KILL! Awesome outfits. They explain the rules fo some new shoot fighting deal that I'm glad never got picked up by CMLL as I don't watch Lucha for worked shoots.

Black Warrior vs Vampiro - Lightning Match: Whoa, dead crowd was the first thing I noticed. Not a great match... not a bad match... it was just... there. Warrior did a his tope of death about three minutes in so he was out of tricks. Vampiro hit a brutal fisherman buster to win. I guess everyone else will judge eventually when it airs on Galavision but is it just me or did the following week's Sombra vs Comando Lighting Match have more heat than this did? Nobody gives a crap about Warrior it seems.

Momentos was another disapointment. Ultimo Dragoncito did his usual awesome flip plancha through the ropes onto Sombrita but the rest of the clips were not even worth rewinding to see again. Two of them were dropkicks to the face. Whatever. WHERE ARE MY UNDERCARDERS?!?!?!?!

Negro Casas/Brazo De Plata/Mascara Magica vs Cien Caras/Mascara Ano 2000/Apolo Dantes: I honestly only made it through the first fall of this one before needing to hit fast forward. Such a pointless match. Magica looked awful and embarassingly blew a spot in the first fall. Is he injured or extremely banged up? He did do a tope suicida afterwards but nobody cared. Dead silent crowd for this match as well. I caught the end of the third fall as Dantes did a pescado onto Porky and the rudos pinned the tecnicos to head towrads the hair match vs the Aguayos on a victorious note.

Pretty bad episode so far until the main event that saved it all...

Mistico/Dr. Wagner Jr./Dos Caras Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/Hector Garza: Once again, you CANNOT call yourself a lucha fan if you don't end up enjoying this match. Perfect example of mixing awesome workrate with the most amazing story telling in the world. Two weeks before this, Mistico was in the middle of his entrance before the GDI attacked him. This time he looks behind him and sees them coming so he runs into the ring to avoid them. Ultimo is absolutely DESPERATE to get his hands on Mistico after the embarassing loss the previous week but he just can't seem to grab the guy as Wagner or Dos Jr. are always in his way. When Mistico gets the opportunity, he jumps into the ring to take advantage of Ultimo using his speed and after an awesome series of moves, Guerrero ends up outside and nailed with a plancha over the ringpost! Tecnicos take fall one. Second fall is more of the same with Mistico using his speed to work circles around Ultimo including a crazy 6-1-9 into a headscissors on the floor!!! W-O-W!!! Tecnicos appear to be large and in charge until Bucanero counters a Wagner bodyscissors with a sick Storm Cradle Driver type move and Garza puts Dos Jr. in a pedulum submission. No rudos beatdown in the third fall as Mistico keeps avoiding Ultimo! The crowd is loving this and Ultimo is playing it perfect. Mistico once again uses his speed to hit a crazy moonsault off Ultimo's body(not his shoulders) and then hits a 6-1-9 before exiting. Dos Jr. and Garza end up going at it with Garza doing a moonsault off the second turnbuckle to the floor. NICE! Wagner and Bucanero then go at it and Wagner does his usual somersault off the ring apron which leaves... MISTICO AND ULTIMO GUERRERO!!! HUGE POP!!! Mistico is pissed b/c this is the first time he's been in the ring with Ultimo all match long where Ultimo was fresh and they were face to face. He runs at Ultimo and tries to take out his leg but Ultimo catches him, sits down and locks on a submission while at the same time he manages to elbow and knee Mistico in the head. Mistico gives up but Ultimo refuses to stop and he absoltely beats the living shit out of Mistico before Wagner and Dos Jr. make the save. Mistico is quickly stretchered out while Wagner gets on the microphone to make a challenge for a tag team match the following week. FUCKING GREAT BOOKING! This was such a beautifully put together match.

Get this episode for the awesome main event. Another one match show but well worth it for just that match.

CMLL TV 3/12/05...

Mr. Niebla/Black Warrior/Blue Panther vs Damian El Terrible/Pierroth/El Hijo Del Pierroth: Let's see how I can sum this one up... *ahem*... WASTE - OF - MY - LIFE! Am I the only one that wants to punch Mr. Niebla every time he does the stupid little dance he does? Go away. Oh right, he did. YAY!

Shocker/La Parka/Brazo De Plata vs Black Tiger/Shigeo Okumura/Ryusuke Taguchi: I really enjoyed this match a lot. Tiger was extremely motivated and had a couple of awesome sequences with both Shocker and La Parka who were also in the ring the most so Porky only had to come in while in a while to do his comedy and keep things moving. Tecnicos take the first fall. Rudos took control in the second but couldn't hang onto it for very long as the tecnicos fought back. Porky ended up doing his plancha off the apron onto both Okumura and Taguchi leaving Tiger to fend for himself. He managed to take Parka down but turned right around into the Reinera from Shocker! Shocker let go and a wobbly Tiger was hit with a NASTY Code Red from La Parka. It looked like Tiger jumped back way too far and spiked himself pretty badly. Tecnicos in two straight and clean. Oh yeah, there was also some funny comedy with Que Monito.

Sombra De Plata vs Super Comando - Lighting Match: Why did this make TV? I don't know. Am I mad it did? FUCK NO!:p I even picked this show up a while back just b/c I saw this listed. Slow start on the mat with the brothers(for those who didn't know). Fun stuff in between the mat exchanges as when one would get control of the other, he would deliver wicked knee strikes. Rarely get to see that type of thing in Mexico so I wonder what tapes they've been watching. The only blown spot of the match comes a bit early in when Sombra tried to do the old Pantera backflip onto his feet using Comando's feet to assist him but Plata under-rotates and lands on his chest. No problem though as Comando just gets up and is in control of the match so if you didn't know what they had planned, you woulda figured nothing went wrong. Comando ends up outside eventually and Plata does his wicked running corkscrew plancha to a nice pop. As Plata tries to re-enter, Comando meets him with a wicked running Yakuza kick! Some more nice-in ring stuff eventually ends up with Plata outside and Comando takes to the air with a bullet tope suicida. A few nearfalls when they re-enter including a cool spot where Sombra goes for his wicked springboard roll-up finisher but Comando knows what's coming, runs under Plata and then nails him with a second rope springboard back elbow. Very smart. Comando charges Plata in the corner but Plata uses the turnbuckles to assist himself into a 360 flip over the rudo who hits the ringpost with his shoulder. Plata then waits before running into the ropes, leaping onto Comando's shoulders and then gets spun into a satellite octopus submission to win the match! Great work by both. The thing with these guys is they aren't the biggest and they aren't the most spectacular amongst the undercarders but they are just so solid with everything they do and they are simply innovative. That is, they take the simplest spots and turn them into complex exchanges or sequences. I hope TV stars airing some segundas or terceras as these guys move up and we can see more of them, especially working together.

I'm having a hard time remembering what aired on Momentos so I'm gonna assume it wasn't too special. OH WAIT! There was a wicked double dive from Valiente and making his Momentos debut... ~METEORIX! Nice outfit and nice dive. I'm already a fan.

Cien Caras/Mascara Ano 2000/Apolo Dantes vs Perro Aguayo Jr./Hector Garza/Tarzan Boy: Not bad... in fact, pretty good. The latter rudo team is just so awesome. They managed to motivate Cien Caras enough to actually break a sweat and work hard. Just a hate-filled brawl and a good way to position the Capos as tecnicos going into the match with the Perros. Near the end, Garza does a corkscrew plancha but Apolo Dantes moves and Tarzan gets hit. With both of them down on the ground, Apolo jumps off the apron with a senton squashing both, hehehe. I liked that spot. In the ring, Perro Jr. is getting double teamed by the Dinamitas till his dad runs out to some BOO'S(!!!) and a long brawl breaks out with the two teams who would meet in a hair match the following week. Great final angle.

Dr. Wagner Jr./Mistico vs Rey Bucanero/Ultimo Guerrero: Awesome start with Mistico knowing he is about to get attacked during his entrance as had been happening for weeks building up this so as Bucanero charges him, he ducks and leaps into the ring but gets clotheslined by Ultimo. Never fear though - IT'S DR. WAGNER JR.! The brawl is on! Great way to begin but sadly... I didn't end up enjoying this as much as I wanted to. All these guys are great, there's no doubt... it's just this was: a) too short and b) lucha by the numbers. Match only goes a total of 9 minutes and if you have been watching lucha for any short amount of time, you can figure out everything that is coming. Wagner does his somersault plancha off the apron to Guerrero and in the ring Mistico does La Mistica right away to make Bucanero submit. No build or anything for the first fall win. Second fall has a short uneventful Mistico/Guerrero exchange, then an even shorter Wagner/Guerrero exchange, followed by Mistico entering the ring, going for a bodyscissors on Bucanero only to get spiked on his head and pinned while Guerrero spears Wagner and makes him submit. Yucky. Guerreros dominate for about a minute in the third fall. Wagner starts the comeback by giving Bucanero a belly-to-belly on the apron and then backdrops Guerrero inside the ring. He then ABSOLUTELY LAUNCHES Mistico into a double dropkick sending both rudos outside. Mistico hits Ultimo with a plancha over the ringpost to a gigantic pop(crowd was really into the match). Bucanero re-enters and before you know it Wagner is setting him up for the Wagner Driver. Mistico and Guerrero enter and go right into their finishing somersault into a Code Red spot which is botched a little. Wagner hits the Wagner Driver and the tecnicos get a double pinfall win. Post-match, lots of mask ripping and challenges with Wagner/Guerrero. The match was technically solid but just looking at who was involved, I had to expect they would do more than what they did. This is the type of match I'd expect to see if these teams met in Guadalajara. Short and sweet to entertain the fans. Not main event for the major show of the week.

I'd reccomend getting this episode. You get a mix of everything CMLL has to offer.

CMLL TV 3/19/05...

Tigre Blanco/Tigre Metalico/Chris Stone vs Arkangel/~HOOLIGAN!/El Veneno: HEY NOW! It's the lower midcarders(tm Cubsfan)! I was very happy to see this listed as I love my Safari, Dr. X, Virus, Nitro as much as anyone but a little change never hurt anyone. Wonder if these guys knew in advance they would be making TV b/c they put forth a really good effort in my opinion. Couple of nice exchanges early between Metalico and Arkangel, then Chris and Hooligan. Veneno eventually gets dumped to the floor by Tigre Blanco who follows with his running somersault splash through the ropes! Tecnicos appear to have things in control until Arkangel stops Chris in his tracks and uses his amazing new submission move as Tigre Metalico goes for a huracanrana on Hooligan but is caught upside down and hit... WITH THE STYLES CLASH! Great ending. Rudos keep dominating in the second fall until a miscue leads to Arkangel falling outside. Tigre Metalico leaps off the apron, catches Arkangel in a bodyscissors and armdrags him on the floor! I've always wanted to see someone do that! Inside the ring, Tigre Blanco makes Veneno submit as Chris pins Hooligan with the old Super Calo top-rope headscissors. Third fall has some nice stuff by Tigre Metalico except for one weird moment when he jumps on the second rope and flies backwards at Arkangel with SOMETHING. They just kept spinning and spinning till finally Arkangel dropped Metalico. No biggie as they kept working hard including Tigre Blanco sending Hooligan outside and nailing him with a slingshot into a huracanrana! Do you notice the similarities between the way Hooligan and Ultimo Guerrero bump? That's the sign of a great luchador, just ask Blue Panther. Rudos take over from this point and hit each tecnico with a combo wheelbarrow suplex by Veneno and double dropkicks from Arkangel/Hooligan. As they try it on Tigre Blanco, Metalico and Chris on opposite sides of the ring pull down Hooligan and Arkangel, then yank them outside and Tigre Blanco goes to work on Veneno inside. Before you know it - Chris and Metalico hit dual asai moonsault dives on opposite sides of the ring! WOOHOO! Inside, Veneno quickly slams Tigre Blanco down and locks on a scorpion deathlock for the win. Exactly what an opener should be, fast paced, exciting with lots of action and leaves you wanting more(which the rest of the show should deliver).

Before the next match airs, Dr. Wagner Jr. is shown in the ring promoting a comic book he is in. Fun segment with a good promo by the evil Doc himself.

Volador Jr./Safari/Felino vs Sangre Azteca/Nitro/Dr. X: Ladies and gentleman... welcome to HISTORY!!! This would be the first INICIAL on a CMLL show to air in many many many years. I can't even be bothered to look up the last time it happened but I'm gonna guess 1997 if you aren't counting Fox Sports' CMLL broadcasts in 1999/2000. For those not in the know so to speak - INICIAL = opener at the arena. It's usually reserved for the youngsters who can practice working in front of a large crowd without worrying too much about blowing something and getting heckled as most fans aren't drunk yet and are just getting comfortable. In fact, most aren't even in the arena yet. As the crowd shots show here, lots of empty seats still and the lights are darkened so it doesn't look too bad on TV. Why this aired instead of the higher up matches, I dunno... but like last week with Plata/Comando, I AIN'T COMPLAININ'! The rudos are decked out in matching outfits which is way too cool. Slow start on the mat but very fast rudo beatdown which actually got started by Volador Jr. being flung high into the ringpost on the floor courtesy of Sangre Azteca. Rudos used triple team moves to put away the tecnicos in short order. Second fall is more rudos. Azteca gets to use his awesome run-up-the-ropes headscissors on Volador. Safari leads the tecnico comeback but Volador is the star as he gets left alone in the ring with Sangre Azteca, sends him outside with a running huracanrana and then nails him with a GORGEOUS SUPER QUEBRADA REVERSING POSITIONS IN MID-AIR!!! That got the first big pop of the night and from this point on the crowd took notice of the match. Safari and Felino make Dr. X and Nitro submit respectively to tie things up. Third fall gets some decent time(no clipping thankfully!). Volador Jr. and Azteca kick things off and holy shit do they ever go crazy. Volador Jr. goes for a moneky flip but Azteca says "fuck you" and just throws him off except Volador manages to moonsault out of it! MOTHER FU... Before you can react to that, Volador somersaults over the ropes onto the apron, ducks an Azteca punch and hits an enzuigiri to take him down. Volador then slingshots himself into the ring but Azteca moves... Volador rolls through and takes Azteca down with a crucifix into a spinning headscissors and the rudo rolls outside to take a break! HOLY SH... Before you can react and Azteca can catch his breath, Volador goes flying outside with a bullet tope suicida taking both men into the second row!!! THAT WAS THE BEST FUCKING EXCHANGE IN THE WORLD! Okay, maybe a little exaggeration but aside from the Mistico/Ultimo Guerrero exchanges this year, that is the best work I have seen two guys pull off and that includes Mascarita 2000/Mini Abismo. Safari and Nitro enter and Safari does a cool spinning backbreaker where he actually releases Nitro at the peak and lets him fall hard onto his knee. Felino and Dr. X have a short uneventful exchange. Some more good action eventually leads to Safari getting dumped outside by his own partner I believe and in one motion Sangre Azteca leaps up top and to the floor with a beautiful plancha! Inside the ring Volador Jr. puts Dr. X up top and goes up... meanwhile Nitro catches Felino with a power bomb and covers as Volador Jr. tries a top-rope frankensteiner but Dr. X kinda blocks it...kinda doesn't...and in an embarassing moment, Volador Jr. decides to hit the frankensteiner anyways since it's either that or blow the spot but Dr. X's inexperience shows as instead of selling the move, he just covers Volador Jr. and there's your match. The ending really bummed me out b/c everyone knew they blew the move(whistling crowds in Mexico are not good) and they had such a nice finish going there. Oh well. Still a great effort by everyone and the Volador Jr./Sangre Azteca stuff is must-see. I CAN'T WAIT TO FINISH WORK TOMORROW AND WATCH THE TRIOS TITLES MATCH!!!

Before Momentos can air, there is an awesome vignette about a really sick little kid who can't walk on his own but loves Lucha Libre. There are clips of him attending a show in September '04 and watching Explosivo/Astro Boy vs Valentin Mayo/Ramstein + Pantera vs Arkangel during a trios match. They talk to his dad and show the kid trying to dress himself which is a hard task with the shape he is in. Fast forward to the March 18, 2005 show and they bring him out to a nice ovation by the crowd. Shocker comes out and meets him at the top of the ramp which has always been a dream of his(to meet Shocker that is). Shocker hugs him which makes the kid break into tears and then Shocker introduces him to the crowd. The crowd cheers the kid on as he tries to make his way down the ramp and towards the ring with the help of his walker and Shocker's encouragement. Finally everyone in the arena starts a chant for him as he gets close to the ring. I don't think he could make it all the way b/c he really apepared to be struggling by the halfway point. Just an awesome segment and really touching to see. Even made up for the fact Momentos sucked.

The first spot on Momentos was Sombra's running corkscrew plancha from the week before so when the first spot is a match you already saw on TV, you know it has nowhere to go but down. Actually, the next clip had a triple dropkick by Azteca, Nitro and Dr. X to Volador Jr. but everything else was repeated material.

Shocker/Dr. Wagner Jr./Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero/Hector Garza/Tarzan Boy: I LOVED THIS MATCH! I LOVED THIS MATCH! I LOVED THIS MATCH! Did I mention I loved this match? Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaan, where do you start? Shocker/Tarzan open up with a really fun exchange and then Mistico/Garza enter. After some comedy to mock the size difference, Mistico nails a gorgeous spinning armdrag and frankensteiner off the second rope taking Garza outside. Mistico then sends Garza all the way up the aisle at Arena Mexico with a diving frankensteiner off the apron!!! Huge pop! Wagner and Ultimo enter and do a nice little exchange of their own ending with a Wagner somersault plancha off the apron. The remaining four guys get in the ring and Mistico tries a bodypress on the rudos who just catch him and throw him backwards but he lands on his feet somehow. Shocker does the same thing as is caught as well but as the rudos try to throw him, he somehow nails Garza with an inverted DDT in a nice spot. Mistico quickly runs at Tarzan and executes La Mistica for the tecnico first fall victory. And then... there was... the second fall! Who should happen to be in the ring together? MISTICO AND ULTIMO GUERRERO!!! You could just FEEL something special was going to happen and DID IT FUCKING EVER? Wrestling fans in general... MY SPOT OF THE YEAR SO FAR...

Mistico does a handspring into a moonsault only to get chopped down by Ultimo. Ultimo taunts the crowd as Mistico tries to pick himself up with the ropes. Ultimo grabs Mistico's feet and pulls him forward but Mistico does a flip to land on his feet(think C.M. Punk), then he leaps onto Ultimo's shoulders while turning in mid-air and nails a huracanrana takedown sending the rudo outside! AND WHAT'S NEXT YOU ASK??? MISTICO WITH A FUCKING SPACE FLYING TIGER DROP INTO AN ARMDRAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PERFECTLY EXCUTED, PERFECTLY SOLD... AHHHHHHHH IT WAS FUCKING PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*deep breath* Holy fucking shit. I love the look Garza and Tarzan's faces as they watch in slow motion, hehehe. Quick clip forward to Wagner dropkicking Garza in the face. Somehow Wagner ends up ouside and Garza tries an asai moonsault but Wagner pulls his feet out and Garza's face hits the apron and he looks for support from an old lady at ringside who laughs at him. GARZA IS SO AWESOME! Rudos take over and hit a couple of nice double/triple team moves to win the fall. In the third fall they try to crotch Wagner on the ringpost but his partners save him and the comeback is on! More Garza awesomeness as he begs off from Mistico only to have Mistico signify doing a cross on Garza's face and then he superkicks him! Garza's reactions are brilliant! Another superkick sends Garza into the crowd! Things calm down a bit with Wagner/Guerrero ending up inside. Guerrero takes his usual knee bump into the corner and to the outside. Wagner gets sent outside as well. Now we have Mistico/Tarzan inside and Tarzan chases Mistico around but Mistico does the old Tiger Mask/Rey Jr. fakeout as Tarzan goes crashing to the floor. Mistico then heads to the apron and hits a HUUUUUUUGE SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT PLANCHA ONTO TARZAN!!! Shocker/Garza then go at it. Shocker heads up top as the crowd screams "NO!!!". Ultimo sneaks up from behind and dropkicks Shocker outside allowing Garza to go up and nail his wicked corkscrew plancha!!! This leaves the two feuding guys... Dr. Wagner Jr. and Ultimo Guerrero! Guerrero no-sells two lariats and hits Wagner with one of his own. He whips Wagner into the ropes but Wagner reverses and starts chopping away. Ultimo finally blocks one but Wagner grabs him for a Swinging DDT only to get crotched up top. Guerrero goes up and nails a superplex for the clean rudo victory! I wonder why Wagner didn't take the Ultimo Guerreroplex? Would have been a much more appropriate ending but oh well. NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT HERE B/C THIS WAS AWESOME! If you are just into Lucha b/c of Mistico, this would be the one non-singles match of his that you must see. But just in general if you are any sort of good wrestling fan - YOU WANT THIS!

Cien Caras/Mascara Ano 2000 vs Perro Aguayo/Perro Aguayo Jr. - Hairs vs Hairs: Wow, if you're expecting me to bash this you're gonna be pretty disapointed as this was FUCKING AWESOME! HATE HATE HATE!!! Perro was nowhere near in ring condition and almost fucked up his double stomp on a few occasions but aside from that, this is the best you are gonna get from a match involving him and Cien together. Just UNREAL heat for the entire 3 fall, 15/16 minute match(didn't I remember hearing it was 1 fall and 7 minutes?). I'm tempted to call this match the match of the show but since I love highspots, I'll still rank the previous match better. Still, for those of you ignorant fucks who still say you can't have a good lucha match without flying - WATCH THIS! The third fall is a pure gem with the crowd being taken on a roller coaster of emotions, first as Cien is eliminated and everyone is mad/sad at the same time. Then Perro Jr. accidentally takes out the referee with his silla dive but soon afterwards, MA2K rolls up Perro and gets a three count!!! NUCLEAR POP!!! Crowd was so happy but a few seconds later they realize they just cheered for their old hero Perro Aguayo to get pinned in his retirement match! So now the crowd is split on who to cheer for. No rushing to a finish either as Perro Jr./MA2K trade multiple nearfalls. Universo 2000 runs out but security stops him. MA2K low blows Perrito and covers but the referee is distracted by the commotion caused by Universo. When he finally turns around... ONLY A TWO COUNT! A little later Perrito tries to hit the ropes but Cien Caras pulls him down. The referee warns Cien and MA2K thinks he has the match won but Perro sneaks inside and low blows him!!! Perro Jr. crawls over and covers...1...2.........3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARENA MEXICO GOES NUTS!!! Half the crowd cheering, half booing and everyone basically arguing amongst themselves. Genius booking as the tecnicos/rudos must have changed about 7/8 times during the match. Universo once again tries to hit the ring but security grabs him once more and he cuts a promo from backstage as his brothers get shaved in the ring.

Holy shit, I'm pimping a match involving Perro Aguayo and Cien Caras in 2005!

Do I ever need to say you want this episode? You should all have it already, it has EVERYTHING!

CMLL TV 3/26/05...

Satanico/Alan Stone/La Mascara vs Pierroth/Pierroth Jr./El Hijo Del Pierroth: When did Alan jump b/c maybe this was where they wrote him out? Doesn't make sense to me but too lazy to go check. The Pierroths picked apart his knee and he got stretchered out during the second fall never to return. He was the lucky one though b/c this match was fucking horrible. Chop, punch, kick, rinse/repeat. *yawn* The best part to me was when Satanico stood on the floor watching as Pierroth and Pierroth Jr. held La Mascara down on the mat and couldn't decide what move to do so they just kinda sat there as Hijo Del Pierroth began doing somersaults all around the ring for no reason. Worst match of the year candidate right here. When it airs on TV I suggest everyone skips it b/c the risk of falling asleep is far too great. OH... almost forgot the best part. The finish was a DQ as Pierroth low blowed La Mascara. One problem... he didn't low blow him. He totally whiffed and the replays clearly showed it. Ugh.

Atlantis/Blue Panther/Negro Casas vs Rey Bucanero/El Averno/El Mephisto: Best match on the show. Lots of interesting new sequences here with guys breaking up moves and entering when you wouldn't expect to take over for their partner. I loved the finish with Atlantis going for the Atlantida and getting it on, everyone assumes the match is over but Mephisto breaks the hold up and then the future champs make the current champs submit clean. Perfect setup to the title match.

The fucking dumbass CMLL TV producers didn't use Mistico's spot of the year in Momentos!!! But then again the FUCKING DUMBASS CMLL TV PRODUCERS AIRED A REPEAT MOMENTOS FROM EIGHT WEEKS BEFORE! Shit like that pisses me off.

Felino/Safari/Volador Jr. vs Dr. X/Nitro/Sangre Azteca - Mexican National Trios Titles Bout: Wow... I don't want to be to TOO HARD on this match as maybe my expectations going in were way too high but even if I was expecting an average match I would still have been disapointed. For the second week in a row, the only two guys who looked interested for all three falls were Volador Jr. and Sangre Azteca. Felino continued his streak of working like Pantera in IWRG/Gato Volador(Lasser) as he just did his usual one sequence and added nothing else to the match. Could have programmed a robot to do his job. Major edit in the first fall. Safari ends up doing a wicked tope suicida to Sangre Azteca taking him into the first row. VERY QUICKLY, the other two rudos are disposed of - Volador Jr. using his reverse spinning headscissors driver on Dr. X(who else?) and Felino using a reverse figure four leglock submission on Nitro. Second fall starts off well enough but on the second exchange, after nailing an INCREDIBLE moonsault off the middle rope(it was the usual spot where a rudo stands near the ropes and Volador Jr. charges, gets put up top and moonsaults back except this time Dr. X stood way too far away from the ropes so Volador Jr. had to improvise and somehow managed to land on the second rope and still moonsault back perfectly), Volador Jr. went for a bullet tope suicida at an awkward angle of the ring and ended up driving both he and Dr. X's heads into a chair at ringside. They seemed to both be in pain and after a minor break in the action things got going again... or not. Rudos quickly took the fall using a fun spot where Safari grabbed Nitro's hand and ran up the ropes for an armdrag but was met by a Sangre Azteca dropkick! Still, the match was not looking good. Third fall was more rudos until Safari used an armdrag counter to a triple team move which was neat. Tecnico comeback ON! ... Or not. Another noticeable edit takes us to Azteca charging Felino who is sitting up top and you guessed it... TOP-ROPE SPLASH MOUNTAIN... COUNTERED INTO A FRANKENSTEINER! Big pop for that. Decent action after that and then the trainwreck of dives! Safari with a bullet tope suicida on Dr. X. Nitro with a running tope over the top on Safari. Felino with a really lame plancha off the top rope. Sangre Azteca with a better looking plancha onto Felino and at the same time Volador Jr. with a running corkscrew plancha onto Nitro. Azteca is the first back inside. Felino tries to re-enter but Azteca legdrops him between the ropes and then nails him with a FUGLY tope suicida. Very quiet crowd. I figured things were gonna pick up again from this point to a neat finish but nope... tecnicos run into the ropes, rudos grab them... double submission... it's over. Crowd didn't even react at first. Bucanero runs out to celebrate as do Hooligan, El Koreano and Loco Max. NEW CHAMPS! I thought the match the week before was better and surely these guys could have done better in such a high slot on the card. I'm thinking the edits didn't help and it was a good match but just butchered on TV. Had to be... I refuse to believe these six guys could have a bad match like what was shown. OF NOTE... every wrestler got his own entrance which is weird for a TRIOS title match. Sangre Azteca even had his own CUSTOMIZED theme music! Neat stuff.

Shocker/La Parka/Heavy Metal vs Perro Aguayo Jr./Damian 666/Halloween: Wow, and here I thought I had suddenly gotten an AAA DVD by accident. YOUCH! This was a 100% AAA match right down to the referees ignoring foreign objects being used, always looking the wrong way, more brawling than wrestling and blown spots when it came time to wrestle. Heavy Metal looked totally washed up and blew many spots, though it wasn't anything embarassing like with Electro slipping all over the place(or so the reports say). I can't believe with Shocker/Parka involved the crowd was so quiet. Maybe they were just sitting there wondering: "this is a main event?". I know I was. Perro Jr. was the only shining star here but that's to be expected with him these days. I won't even bother going over the finishes and such. Just a really long match(29 minute segment) that went nowhere and the finish was straight of the AAA playbook. I feel like I wasted my life watching this match...

...and this episode. Totally skippable show unless you really want to see the build-up for Atlantis/Panther vs Averno/Mephisto. I think it says something when the opener and main event have the exact same crappy finish.

CMLL TV 4/9/05...

Atlantis/Blue Panther/Brazo De Plata vs Mascara Ano 2000/El Averno/El Mephisto: Average match. Anyone who watches CMLL regularly could figure out how this went until the finish. Porky dove off the apron onto MA2K. The former champs were dominating in the ring and Atlantis got Mephisto in the Atlantida but Averno came in and "fouled" Atlantis for the DQ. I say "fouled" b/c he totally whiffed on it but Atlantis sold anyways.

Torneo Cibernetico - Safari/Misterioso II/La Mascara/Sagrado/Maximo vs Sangre Azteca/Hooligan/Dr. X/Nitro/El Koreano: SHORTEST TORNEO EVER! Barely 12 minutes in length. I wonder why Koreano even did his facepaint and hair since all he got was a 30 second matwork segment and next time in the ring he got eliminated right away by Misterioso II without an offensive move.:/ Don't get me wrong, the action was solid but it was like watching only the first fall out of a 2/3 falls match. Just leaves you with a feeling that you wasted your time in caring. Yes? No? Does to me at least. On the bright side, no editing except the a Sagrado/Sangre Azteca exchange got skipped as the cameras were busy watching Leobardo Magadan give Maximo a rose which was hilarious. Magadan dwarfed everyone which of course is how the rumors got started that he played Tinieblas. Anywho, one dive in the entire match by Mascara who was made to be the star here. Came down to him and Dr. X and they had a nice little two minute mini-match before Mascara made him submit.

MOMENTOS!!! Now THIS is what I like to see, Momentos actually showing a cool spot from a match that didn't make TV! From an Arena Coliseo match they showed Mistico doing Rey Jr.'s 1995 spot of the year(as voted by WON readers) where he runs into the ropes, does a somersault plancha and turns it right into a frankensteiner on the outside on Rey Bucanero. Think Rey Jr. vs Eddy Guerrero at Halloween Havoc '97. One day someone(probably me) will make a Mistico music video and it will RULE!

Universo 2000/Rey Bucanero/Ultimo Guerrero vs Perro Aguayo Jr./Canek/Canek Jr.(not El Hijo Del Canek as I was led to believe): Brawl... brawl... more brawling... and finally, even more brawling. It was heated but it wasn't much of a match. Right when the "tecnicos"(U2K's team) started to make their comeback, Bucanero was on the ramp ready to do something and in the WrestleCrap moment of the year for CMLL, Blue Demon Jr. makes his big return to the company by ambushing Bucanero, then going after Guerrero, ducking a clothesline... and slipping on the ramp... ahhhhhhhhh, PRICELESS! He then fucked up jumping over the ropes into the ring. Good work there Blue. It wasn't Shockermaster level obviously but that's not a good way to make a big entrance which is what he was going for.

Negro Casas/Dr. Wagner Jr./Mistico vs Pierroth/Damian 666/Halloween: Someone failed to inform Damian that we have 3 Pierroth's now as he called Pierroth - "Pierroth Jr." in the intros. So a little math question... what do you get when you take a little bad Tijuana brawling and add a gAAAy finish? The answer... a pretty awful match. Damian/Halloween have not impressed me thus far in the two matches I've seen from their 2005 stint. Hopefully it gets better but the last two CMLL main events I saw with them have resembled AAA midcard matches and that is NOT GOOD unless it's the Barrios/Black Family. Mistico looked okay here but there was no time for him to really do anything as he wasn't the focus aside from a third fall exchange with La Familia where he hit both with a 6-1-9. Later he did a tope suicida onto La Nazi. Even though he did very little, the crowd couldn't shut up with the "MISTICO" chants. That's good! Damian used his cane, hit Halloween by accident, Negro grabbed the cane to get revenge, ref saw him and DQ'ed him. The only thing missing was a Cibernetico run-in.

Disapointing ending to a solid new batch of CMLL.