Various Matches (procured via Jeff Lynch):
Los Powers Raiders I-V vs Maremoto/Rabana/Halloween/El Duende/Manicomio - AAA TV 8/18/95: Yes, somehow, someway, there was a Power Rangers match that I didn't have! Back in late '97 I put together a list of all the Power Rangers/Space Cadets stuff that was available on tape and vowed I'd eventually get it all. Somehow this got lost in the shuffle as I assumed I had it but turns out didn't. This is Relevos Japnoneses so all you need to know is Power Rojo and Maremoto are the captains and will end up the final two in the ring no matter what. White Ranger(Skayde) and Halloween start off with some fun matwork giving way to Blue Ranger(Discovery) who does some neat acrobatics. Black Ranger(Ludxor) then comes in and works some neat spots ending with an awkward frankensteiner off the apron onto Manicomio. Green Ranger(Venum) and Duende then kick it into high gear with an awesome exchange including Venum STANDING ON DUENDE'S SHOULDERS and then falling backwards into a frankensteiner on the rudo, then running and moonsaulting off his back and dropkicking him to the floor. While Duende poses for the crowd, Venum climbs up top and tries a diving armdrag to the outside... or at least that's what I assume they were going for but Venum overshot and went SPLAT. More nice acrobatics follow with Skayde and Halloween. A very poorly timed commercial somehow interrupts the action. Halloween was in the middle of being backdropped onto the apron as they went to commercial and when they came back, he was coming down off the backdrop to land on the apron. So we're supposed to believe he was hanging in the air for the entire two minutes. AWESOME SPOT!
Rudos begin to take over. Halloween looks the best out of all of them but almost slips trying the Doomsday Device clothesline. Discovery is the victim of a nasty release german suplex and that's it for his night. One of the rudos goes out shortly after but I forget who it was. The Power Rangers then do their usual spot where everyone does flips and confuses the rudos ending with everyone on the floor. The Rangers hit the ropes...fake quadrople dives...then hit QUADROPLE SLINGSHOT SUNSET FLIPS TO THE FLOOR ON ALL THE RUDOS!!! UNREAL! If anyone recalls When Worlds Collide, it was the spot Santo and Eddy did, kinda like the Sabu sunset flip to the floor spot but Eddy forgot to stand on the apron so Santo improvised. Such a chaotic scene with eight bodies scattered on the floor. Action resumes and eliminations begin to occur. Red Ranger(Lasser) looks amazing every time he gets into the ring, hitting every spot PERFECTLY. Maremoto actually never enters the ring the entire match until it's time for him to eliminate one of the Rangers. It ends up with Skayde/Lasser vs Maremoto/Halloween. While Lasser holds Maremoto in a submission, Skayde dropkicks Halloween outside, slingshots himself onto the aprin and nails a GIGANTIC ASAI MOONSAULT with full force knees bashing into the guardrail impact! Cut back to the ring and Lasser has turned the standing submission into a rolling version of the hold to get the win for the Power Rangers. Awesome showing and a great way to start the tapes.
Next was one of those old video packages that used to air on CMLL TV where they'd show clips of all the unaired stuff from TV tapings. Oh how I wish it would return.
The standout footage was:
- La Sombra/Olimpico doing nice dives onto two rudos.
- Aguila India accidentally causing Reyes Veloz to low blow himself. Of note, the crowd was RED HOT the likes of which can rarely be seen these days and this was for a tercera. To compare, it'd be like Chris Stone and Mogur getting huge heat for a segunda on a Sunday show which would never happen.
- El Brazo turns on his brothers. He was sporting an evil rudo beard just incase the fans couldn't tell he was going to turn.
- Cool clips from a match I never even knew took place at Arena Mexico: Emilio Charles Jr./Bestia Salvaje/Satanico vs Ultimo Dragon/Hayabusa/Masao Orihara. Salvaje gets assisted by Emilio into a somersault on Orihara who blows the catch and Bestia gets injured as a result. Emilio tope suicida onto Hayabusa. Ultimo misses a moonsault and Satanico makes him submit to a big pop.
Los Fantasticos vs Los Brazos - UWA 1984: Joined in progress and clipped but I expected that since it was from the World Pro Wrestling TV show in Japan. What building was this taped in? Anyone know? Looks like Arena Neza but can't be sure. Porky was looking soooooooooooo thin, it was scary. He was easily the best Brazo in the match while Blackman was the best Fantastico. It's really a shame that Kato and Kendo ended up getting the huge pushes b/c it was so obvious Blackman was the better worker, he just didn't do the over the top fake karate that the other two did for pops. Funny looking back on the days where everyone was copying the Kato type gimmick and these days all hat's left is Octagon and Kung Fu Jr. pretty much. We need more trios teams that do the confuse your opponents spot by running all over the place and making them look dumb. The entire match was filled with that sort of stuff. Couple of nice comedy spots too. Tim was right - Blackman KILLED HIMSELF and a fan with a flip plancha through the ropes where he totally overshot Porky. Kung Fu does a tope suicida and Kato as usual gets the pinfall. Good stuff.
Los Arqueros(Robin Hood, Lasser, Danny Boy) vs Tigro/Leono/Panthro - CMLL Dec. '89: I had such high hopes for this one but it didn't end up being so hot. It was worked tecnico style but usually tecnico style involves a lot of armdrags, headscissors and flying. This only had a lot of armdrags but even worse, no creative armdrags. Each Arquero just entered the ring and pretty much did the exact same spot over and over. They did a couple of nice flips but always went back to the same armdrag spot. I swear I saw the same exchange four times. Another problem was in tecnico vs tecnico stuff, you have to let both teams shine. Tigro/Leono/Panthro did NOTHING the entire bout. They sort of picked it up near the end as everyone missed flying moves trying to nail their opponents. Danny Boy did a pescado onto Leono. Lasser did one onto Panthro. Then Robin Hood went for a big tope suicida but Tigro ran over and pulled Panthro away causing the Arqueros to crash and burn and lose by countout. Not worth going out of your way to see unless you are a big Arqueros mark since footage of them is hard to come by.
Orito vs Damiancito El Guerrero - W*ING 1992: I told you it'd be a weird comp.! Damiancito didn't play the mini version of Damian El Guerrero in Japan, he played the mini version of Damian 666 since he was more well known to the Japanese fans. Pre-match promos from both where they both sounded really nervous, especially Damiancito. As usual with W*ING stuff this is just shown in short highlights which sucks b/c I wanted to see the tricked out CMLL mini's matwork and crazy innovation. Damiancito does some comedy which the fans love... he screws up a spot, goes to the floor and Orito(Mike Segura) does a HUGE RUNNING SOMERSAULT PLANCHA onto him! Clip forward to more comedy by Damiancito who messes up the Jinsei rope-walk spot, falls outside and Orito nails him with a GIGANTIC MOONSAULT PLANCHA! Clip forward to Orito nailing Damiancito with a huracanrana and there's your match. Official time said 12:05 so sucks there's no full version available.
Oriental vs Air W*inger - W*ING 1992: This match took place right after the above one. Pre-match promo from Oriental and then Jason The Terrible speaks for W*inger. Absolutely hilarious! Once again this clipped to hell and mostly showing spots by Air W*inger. Who was he anyways? He hit his spots so well. Can't be the same Winger from CZW/BJPW or is it? He did a very nice running somersault dive onto Oriental during the clips. Finish ended up being a really lame double pin and the crowd boo'ed it so they asked for 5 more minutes. It only went 2:30(only have that shown) with W*inger getting the win after a top-rope frankensteiner that looked to crush poor Oriental's head.
Cicloncito Ramirez vs Damiancito El Guerrero - W*ING 1995: Damiancito's pre-match promo is hilarious! Another really clipped short match, the highlight being Cicloncito doing a crazy flip plancha through the ropes taking out the first three rows of seats! Thankfully(or not) nobody attended W*ING shows so nobody was sitting in them. Couple of nice moves with Cicloncito winning with a fast huracanrana.
Mr. Niebla vs Air W*inger - W*ING 1995: Follows the above match. W*inger does a BACKFLIP instead of a promo which is too cool. Ruckus should start doing that. Niebla used to be soooooooo thin. I'd love to get a 1995 photo of him and compare it to the 2005 bloated version. Being thin allows him to hit this awesome over the top rope tope that was caught with the pefect camera angle. W*inger counters with a nice running somersault plancha. Aside from a gorgeous Niebla moonsault, the in-ring stuff wasn't anything special but the two matches lead to a tag match with Niebla/Damiancito vs Air W*inger/Cicloncito(why aren't the teams the other way around?) which is up later.
Remo Banda vs Javier Llanes - Hair vs Hair - Arena Pista Revolucion, Dec. '90: Banda eventually came Volador/Super Parka so I picked this one up even though it was just highlights. What a mistake that was. They ended up just showing a short clip of the finish of each fall. It was over before I could figure out who the seconds were.
Atlantis/Angel Azteca/Javier Cruz vs Satanico/Emilio Charles Jr./El Dandy - CMLL March 1990: Woohoo! The rematch of an awesome match the week before which I put on my newest comp. tape set(cheap $hill). This one wasn't as good as that but had some really awesome moments. Once again they worked it tecnico style with just a minute or two of brawling in the third fall. Dandy was the champ here as he came in with a shoulder injury and he sold it beautifully including an awesome spot where Atlantis went for a dropkick, Dandy tried to move out of the way but in the process the dropkick ended up hitting his shoulder and Dandy was rolling around in pain. Tecnicos took the first fall by smartly isolating Satanico and then all jumping on him for the pinfall. Second fall was awesome and ended with Satanico doing a dive off the apron onto Atlantis and the other tecnicos being made to submit. Third fall setup the feuds that would continue in the upcoming weeks with Cruz vs Emilio and Atlantis/Azteca vs Dandy/Satanico. Cool back and forth action here until Cruz/Emilio start brawling uncontrolably while Dandy/Satanico made Atlantis/Azteca submit clean. Big pop for the really simple finish. I love Lucha.
Mascarita Sagrada/Aguilita Solitaria/Pequeno Cobarde vs Espectrito/Piratita Morgan/MS 1/2 - Arena Mexico 9/21/90: From the big Anniversary show w/ Rayo vs Cien in a mask match. This was just clips of the finish of each fall. I really just wanted to see cool dives by the tecnicos which of course didn't happen b/c the camera ended joining the third fall with all the tecnicos laying on the ground after diving onto the rudos, then rolling into the ring to win by countout. How stupid!
Volador/Angel Azteca/Super Astro vs Los Brazos - Arena Mexico 9/21/90: Same deal as above. Really wish this would have aired in full b/c it looked like an awesome match with a hot crowd(obviously). They split the first two falls and the third fall was joined as they did a trainwreck dive sequence. Unfortunately they didn't let Volador do a dive. Highlights were Super Astro doing a no look backwards headbutt plancha and then Porky jumping onto everyone with a nice tope suicida. Everyone got counted out.
Air W*inger/Cicloncito Ramirez vs Mr. Niebla/Damiancito El Guerrero - W*ING 1995: Prematch promo from the tecnicos is interrupted by the rudos. Hilarity ensues. Cicloncito was almost as big as Mr. Niebla in this one and these days Mr. Niebla eats things as big as Cicloncito for lunch! OK, no more Mr. Niebla is fat jokes, I promise. This is joined in progress but the match isn't clipped too much. Lots of neat in-ring spots. Air W*inger was really impressing me with some cool spots. Cicloncito was doing stuff here that Rey Jr. was doing at the same time and getting worldwide recognition for but when you're working in front of 20 fans I guess it's easy to not have word spread about you. Nice dive sequence with Cicloncito tope suicidaing Niebla, Damiancito with a somersault off the top onto both of them and finally W*inger with a running springboard somersault onto everyone. A little later Niebla nails a weak second rope springboard backwards bodypress onto W*inger. Might have been trying his no look reverse tope but didn't trust W*inger to catch. Mini's finished the match off with some nice nearfalls and then Damiancito did a wicked roll into a submission I haven't seen before. Crowd gave them a nice ovation.
Volador/Misterioso/Super Muneco vs El Hijo Del Gladiador/Jaque Mate/Javier Llanes - CMLL Oct. '90: THIS is what I love about Lucha Libre! Just an AWESOME exhibition here. Volador and Misterioso had just gotten their gimmicks a month or two before this match so they were relative newcomers. Misterioso even had a weird mask I've never seen before which looked like he was doing a chicken gimmick.:/ This was the Volador/Misterioso show completely. Long 21 minute match with about 14 of it being them doing great matwork and awesome flying spots with the rudos who bumped like mad, especially Gladiador. I saw about two spots I've never seen before which always makes me happy and they were so simple which makes me even happier! The first was a spot where Volador leapfrogged over Gladiador, then he rolled backwards as Gladiador did the Tajiri headstand into the ropes and as Gladiador bounced off, Volador rolled up and they locked hands to do the usual wheelbarrow into an armdrag spot! YOU GOTTA LOVE IT! A little later Jaque Mate was in there with Volador and it looked like they were going for the same type of spot out of the hands locked position but instead they just used the momentum to flip Volador onto his feet. Hard to describe but looked really cool. Only screwed up spot was in the first fall when Volador went for a dive by climbing the ropes(I've only ever seen Mascarita Magica(Fire) and Sangre Azteca pull this spot off) but he lost his balance up top, jumped onto the floor and just gave Gladiador a headbutt which the crowd laughed at. Fantastic match and way worth going out of your way to see.
Los Matematicos II y IV vs Los Mochianos I y II - UWA May '92: First thing I heard in commentary was that this was the first match on the live show which meant my dreams of seeing crazy dives weren't gonna happen. But it's OK b/c the Matematicos are/were all awesome in the ring. After watching the first fall I discovered Matematico IV = Tiger Man of AAA '93 - '95 fame. Dunno what happened to him afterwards unfortunately b/c he was one of my favorite unknown workers. This was your typical match with the Matematicos doing all kinds of fancy moves in the first fall, the Mohicanos brawling in the second fall and then they just went home quickly in the third fall with no real build. A lot like the IWRG undercarders these days. One thing that could have been improved on is the offence by the rudos. This is one way where Lucah has evolved, at least to me. In the past the rudos only did kicks/punches/slaps and the occasional suplex. These days you can still do a rudo beatdown only many of the rudos use actual moves they are known for and it adds a lot to the matches.
Oro/Plata/Kendo vs Rocky Santana/El Bronco/El Bucanero - Hamada's UWF March '93: Joined in progress during the first fall. Oro looked great in his early exchange with Bronco and the fans loved him. Kendo did his usual funny stuff. Oro did a GIGANTIC moonsault plancha onto Rocky Santana while Kendo pinned Bucanero(not Rey Bucanero for those wondering) to win the first fall for the tecnicos. Second fall had more solid work and a bit of brawling by the rudos. They did a cool spot where Bucanero and Santana held Oro on the mat in a double submission and then Bronco came running over with a painful looking double foot stomp. Someone should steal that. Santana and Bronco both did dives off the apron(silla/somersault respectively) and then Bucanero pinned Plata. Third fall was joined near the end. Kendo and Plata ducked two rudos and then went for dives but crashed into each other! They managed to rebound and send the rudos to the floor again. Kendo did his running tope over the top on one side while Plata did a running somersault plancha before him on the other side. Oro and Bronco exchanged some ugly nearfalls before Oro put him away with a quebradora turned into the Gory Special and maneuvered into a pinning hold. Awesome finishing move!
Americo Rocca/Chamaco Valaguez/Hombre Bala vs Talisman/Fuerza Guerrera/El Dandy - CMLL March 1985: The listing for this match said "Galactica" but the announcers kept calling him Hombre Bala so I'll go with them. This was joined at the end of the first fall with Rocca/Talisman already feuding. The rudos used a fucking insane triple team submission I've never seen before. Basically Dandy and Talisman locked legs with Rocca and then rolled onto their backs so he was suspended in mid-air... Fuerza then jumped on Rocca as if going for a Code Red but just fell forward onto his chest and then reached back to stretch Rocca's arms out. I'm sorry if you can't picture it.
Second fall had the tecnicos fighting back but the focus of the match was on Rocca/Talisman. The finish was cool as it looked like the rudos were going for the same submission move but as they locked legs with Rocca, Valaguez and Bala came in with sunset flips to get the three while Rocca chased Talisman into the crowd. I should note the crowd was DEAD SILENT up until the start of the third fall when Rocca/Talisman finally got to square off one-on-one! That is how you book a match! Talisman got busted open and was covered in blood. The finish had Rocca/Talisman brawling in one corner. They fell to the floor and then Dandy/Bala ended up on the floor as well. Valaguez did a tope suicida on Dandy on one side of the ring while Fuerza went to jump on Bala who was laying on the floor but Bala moved and Fuerza crashed with a huge thud on the wood floor. Hilarious and awesome at the same time! Rocca got a few nearfalls on Talisman before finally putting him away with a huracanrana to a huge pop. And just to show Lucha has always been the same, they spent 5 entire minutes show about 3 long replays of the finish.
Atlantis vs Ultimo Dragon - WAR Nov. '93: Ultimo fucked up here. He should never have brought Atlantis over and would have been better off bringing in a rudo who could bump and make him look good. Atlantis looked pretty bad here, not to mention slow. He screwed up a bunch of Ultimo's traditional spots and kicked out when he wasn't supposed to it seemed. He did a really weak plancha off the top rope during the match and the crowd didn't react at all so Atlantis did a pathetic somersault senton off the apron which got the same non-reaction and you could tell Atlantis was pissed since in Mexico anything he does gets a pop. Big disapointment but at least they clipped a chunk out of the start so I didn't have to watch the entire match.
Oro/Plata/Bronce vs Bestia Salvaje/Emilio Charles Jr./Sangre Chicana - CMLL June '92: Well this was pretty much how Sims described it in the Lucha Libre Weekly covering this episode. First fall had the usual exchanges to start, then the usual Metalicos finish to a fall which was Plata holding one of the rudos on the floor and Oro doing a HUGE springboard somersault plancha but totally overshooting them both and crashing ONTO(not INTO, but ONTO) the first row at Arena Mexico. Brutal bump! Rudos won the fall by teaming up on Bronce in the ring and then they easily took the second fall in a squash as Oro never got up. That was Oro for you.
Oro/Plata vs Felino/El Fiero - CMLL Sept. '92: Oh man... the exchanges with Oro and Felino were just AWESOME and way ahead of their time. I'm still not sold on Plata as being anything but Oro's sidekick. He has yet to impress me in any footage of him I have and always seems to take the lazy way out when doing spots. Or it could just be that Oro outshines him so much. I really don't know. This was a pretty standard match... nothing special at all. They blew the finish HORRIBLY as Plata/Fiero were supposed to be double pinned but OOPS the referee started to count before Oro and Felino rolled on top of them so it came off really bad and the crowd let them know. Oro quickly put Felino away with the quebradora -> gory special -> pin hold.
Ultimo Dragon/Ultimo Dragoncito vs Pirata Morgan/Piratita Morgan - WAR 11/29/94: This is not the same match from a commercial tape WAR released, this is from a handheld shot in the stands. Dragoncito and Piratita are just KILLER in this one! They do a bunch of really cool spots and got all the pops from the crowd. Dragon and Pirata did okay but were totally outshined. The end of the match is just brutal with a dive sequence followed by Dragoncito doing his usual insane running flip dive into the second row, Ultimo doing an asai moonsault into the second row as well and finally Dragoncito does a moonsault over the ringpost but SMACKS his knee on the guardrail and he seemed pretty banged up. Ultimo slams Pirata in the ring, hits a moonsault, then gets up... AND HOLY SHIT - TRIES A RUNNING SHOOTING STAR PRESS! But he failed. He landed upside down with his head at a pretty ouch looking angle on Pirata but he just covered anyways and got the win. Meanwhile Dragoncito was being checked on by a bunch of people including Masao Orihara. Really fun stuff here.
Oro/Ultimo Dragon/Kato Kung Lee vs Negro Casas/Felino/Javier Cruz - CMLL Nov. 92: HUGE HEAT! Everyone was feuding here but I was still surprised at how much heat they were getting right from the sound of the whistle. Rudos took the first fall, tecnicos took the second fall, Felino looked to be injured but ended up coming back for the end of the third fall but all he had to do was catch a gorgeous moonsault plancha from Oro. Ultimo/Negro tumble outside together and Cruz makes KKL submit clean with the VOLANTIN!
Hector Garza vs Ultimate Dragon - WAR 2/8/95: Handheld footage of some small show and the camera was far away, not to mention it must have not had an auto-focus button b/c every time the guy had to move the camera from side to side you really couldn't see anything. These guys didn't have much communication from what I can tell and they both ended up standing in the wrong place during the dives. First Como almost nose dived doing a plancha off the second rope in the ring(Silver King dive) and then Garza did his corkscrew plancha as Dragon ran forward at the last second trying to catch him. Dragon won the SSP which shockingly didn't get much of a pop. Wasn't that the big move in '95?
Oro/Plata/Bronce vs Popitekus/Troglodita/Cro-Magnon - CMLL 12/20/92: Oro was AWESOME in this one and I'd definitely pick this match to show someone to demonstrate why he would have been a top star for years to come if not for his tragic early death. First fall is all rudos but they do a couple neat spots including one where Popitekus is press slamming one of the Metalicos and then Troglodita lifts up Cro-Magnon in a back suplex position allowing him to dropkick the hanging tecnico while Popitekus does the press slam. Tecnicos fight back in fall two and hit a bunch of impressive spots before they all pin the rudos with various flying reverse tope's. Third fall has more great stuff from the tecnicos... of course I'm not overlooking the fact that these rudos were awesome and bumping all over the place really fast. All three Metalicos hit nice tope suicidas to tease the countout win but the match goes on as Troglodita makes Bronce submit. Oro knocks Popitekus outside, fakes a running dive... THEN NAILS A FUCKING GORGEOUS SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT!!! In 1992!!! I remember Rey Jr. doing that on an AAA show around the same period but Oro got way more height and distance! In the ring Cro-Magnon accidentally low blows his own partner, then as the refs aren't looking Bronce trips Magnon as he comes off the ropes allowing Plata to lock on a camel clutch for the win. Great match!
Brillante/Diamante/Zafiro vs Hecatombe/Maremoto/Terremoto - AAA Aug. '93: Damnit I expected better! Usually the Gemas Del Ring are good for at least five dives per match and a couple of hilarious blown spots. Oh well. First two falls are just standard lucha with nothing really sticking out although I was entertained as they kept losing power in the building and the kids would get scared. Third fall has a wicked dive sequence. Zafiro with a wicked tope suicida, Hecatombe leaps backwards off the second rope, Brillante gets assisted into a NICE somersault plancha, Terremoto with an ugly tope suicida and finally Diamante with a somersault off the top onto everyone. One nearfall for the tecnicos before Hecatombe power bombs the shit out of one of the Gemas to get the win. Finish looked painful.
Lasser/Gran Apache II(boo!) vs Mr. Condor/El Mohicano II - UWA June '92: BOO! FALSE ADVERTISING! I was led to believe this would be Gran Apache I, the Apache we all know and love. Instead I got this putz. AWFUL MATCH. I mean, Lasser/Condor weren't even using their 'B' game, it was more of their 'D' game. First fall had some of the worst brawling ever and the rest of the match was totally uninspired. I guess it didn't help that for some reason the fans were allowed to sit right up beside the ring apron so you couldn't leave the ring without knocking them all over and thus everything was kept inside and bumps were moved away from the sides of the ring. I would love to go back in time and replace this match with something else.
El Gitano/Black Jaugar vs Ultimo Guerrero/Ultimo Rebelde - PROMELL Aug. '96: This match will be remembered for one thing and one thing only... THE SPOT OF THE YEAR FOR 1996! Not a crazy flip, not a psycho dive... just an amazingly timed spot done by El Gitano who is none other than MR. FUCKING MEXICO! Check this out: He gets whipped into the ropes by the rudos... he jumps over Guerrero, leaps onto Rebelde with a reverse bodyscissors(like the Code Red)... then gets flipped up and over Rebelde like the Shocker/Ultimo Guerrero spot and while he's flipping Guerrero comes walking over and walks right into a beautiful armdrag takedown!!! HOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY FUCK! I have never seen such a beautiful spot done before. It's like the La Parka/Ultimo reverse bodyscissors into an armdrag spot but done with two opponents and it just looked SO BEAUTIFUL! I rewound about 10 times just to see it over and over and over and FUCK THAT WAS AWESOME! The match itself wasn't too bad either except for Black Jaguar ruining things whenever he got inside. He was out of his league, whoever he was. Guerrero/Rebelde(aka Hooligan, coincidentally(not really) their team name was Los Hooligans) were just fantastic and it was like watching Sangre Azteca and Rencor Latino back in 1999/2000. Two young rudos who you just knew were so ahead of their position on the card that one day they would be stars. Guerrero used this crazy cross-armed rollup that would have made Skayde proud. Finish saw Rebelde do a tope suicida on Black Jaguar who totally blew the catch. Rudos ended up winning when Guerrero went over Gitano I believe. MUST SEE JUST FOR THE INSANE SPOT!
Orito vs Damiancito El Guerrero - W*ING 1995: What a waste. Joined in progress and only 3 minutes ended up being shown. Of course it was the final 3 minutes when both guys were already totally blown up, presumably from doing a bunch of flying already. Mercifully Damiancito ends it at the 11 minute mark meaning we missed 8 minutes of flying to see 3 minutes of weak slams and Orito sucking air like there was no tomorrow. Disapointing.
Orito vs Felinito - Tokyo Pro July '96: Yikes. I felt really bad for Orito(Segura) here as he blew his first spot of the match by accidentally doing a handspring moonsault and landing on the bottom rope.:/ The next four spots were all horribly blown with the crowd laughing at everything. They seemed to take it home quickly from there with Orito doing two crazy dives and Felinito doing one before rapping it up with a huracanrana finish and an Orito win. On the bright side Felinito looked crisp as hell.
Rey Sr./Rey Jr./Winners vs Los Destructores - AAA Aug. '94: Total brawl. Misterio Jr. had his mask ripped open to the point his entire face was visible the entire match. Winners was bleeding pretty bad through his mask. The story here was that Rey Jr. was the weak link on the tecnico team as he got pinned in the first two falls leaving his team at a three-on-two disadvantage. In the first fall Rey Sr. and Winners couldn't come back but in the second fall they managed to survive and get pinfalls on two of the Destructores. In the third fall Rey Jr. finally went nuts and started pounding on Rocco Valente. The end saw him go for a running plancha but he missed both Destructores and hurt his knee. It didn't matter as in the ring Rey Sr. and Winners won the match for their team. Post-match Rey Jr. gets more of a beatdown from the rudos. The Rey Jr./Mistico comparisons start right here.
Latin Lover/Heavy Metal/Frisbee vs Jerry Estrada/Juventud Guerrera/Vegas - AAA Oct. '95: This Frisbee incarnation = Lasser and Vegas = Black Warrior. I think Lasser had a hand in training Warrior as they were always paired together on his AAA TV appearences. I expected this to be good and I wasn't let down at all! First fall has some nice work from Frisbee and Vegas including a spot where Frisbee is laying on the floor outside the ring, Vegas charges him but Frisbee monkey flips towards Juventud only Vegas doesn't get enough distance and almost takes a header on the ground! Tecnicos win the fall with some nice moves. Second fall has some more fun stuff until the rudos take over. Boring brawling? Not a chance! FUN BRAWLING! The crowd was red hot and the people in the front row kept pulling Latin Lover away from the rudos trying to keep him safe! *L* Juventud even had the nerve to try and grab a chair from them to hit Lover with and a battle ensued between Juventud and the fans for the rights to the chair! hehehe Juventud rules! Vegas came over to help his fellow rudo and they won the chair battle. The reward was a weak chairshot to Lover's head. Tecnicos eventually fight back much to my surprise and THE DIVES BEGIN! Frisbee sends Juventud outside and nails a slingshot into a sunset flip! Metal and Estrada go at it... I assume Metal is gonna send Jerry to the floor but NO, Jerry sends Metal outside and hits him with a tope suicida! Lover and Vegas enter, I assume this is the finish... NOPE! Lover gets clotheslined over the ropes to the floor and then... BULLET TOPE OF DEATH!!!!!!!!!! WOO-HOO! Vegas FLEW deep into the aisleway, what an awesome dive! Frisbee/Juventud entered and after three straight spinning backbreakers, Frisbee used a weird submission to get the win for his team. I loved this match!
Shocker/Hector Garza vs Black Warrior/Felino - CMLL Dec. '96: I loved this but it's not as if it were a match of the year candidate or anything like that, it was just a really short sprint with a shitty ending. This was part of a round robin tournament for some trophy so all matches had a 10 minute time limit. There's some nice matwork followed by some REALLY NICE back and forth action including Shocker/Felino doing the worlds best exchange... EVER! Then the rudos take over and as they are beating on the tecnicos while stalling big time by playing the crowd, the referee gets a signal from ringside saying the match is over b/c the time limit expired. WTF? No build to the finish or anything. Maybe they forgot the rules?
Kato Kung Lee/Salsero/Skayde vs El Mariachi/Ultimo Guerrero/Ultimo Rebelde - Promo Azteca March '97: The last Skayde match on Lynch's lists that I didn't have... TILL NOW!:p It was worth picking up too b/c Skayde ruled it here hitting all his fun in-ring spots and two really neat dives. A bullet tope suicida onto Rebelde and a huge asai moonsault onto Mariachi in the third fall. I wish there was more early Promo Azteca, or even just PROMELL, footage available. Guerrero wins it for his team by making Kato submit CLEAN which is absolutely shocking since I can't remember Kato doing a clean job since 1992.
Also saw some rare clips from the first CMLL tour of Japan in February 1997. The highlight for me was clips of a battle royale where they did a 16, 17 or 18 person dive sequence. I lost count. The match was listed as going 6:40 after Arkangel pinned Felino to win which of course makes me wonder, if the dives took about 4 minutes on their own, how did they do 15+ eliminations within the other 2 minutes?
Antar/Ultraman Jr./Mr. Aguila vs Mogur/Espectro Jr./Cadaver De Ultratumba(in a sweet mask) - CMLL June '97: Oh man, this was when I started to like Mr. Aguila. Young agile kid, flew all over the place without knowing how to do a proper armdrag yet. IT WAS AWESOME! He wasn't as smooth as most great flyers but the guy was nuts. He entered the ring with a springboard 450 twisted to land on his feet for example! He was on fire in this one hitting a bunch of awesome moves including a really neat slingshot into the ring, turning in mid-air to land on Espectro Jr.'s back and then moonsaulting off of him! WHOA! He pinned Cadaver with a moonsault bodyblock to win the first fall while Ultraman Jr. did a really awesome tope suicida on Mogur. More great work from the tecnicos in the second fall, especially Antar who was underrated(I think he's Alebrije in AAA now... no, he's a Sagrada... I dunno). Third fall was going great until they did a goofy finish where all the tecnicos pinned all the rudos with a pile-up. Weak!
Only other thing of note that I watched was the PROMELL rematch with El Brazo/Brazo De Plata/Super Elektra vs Blue Panther/Fuerza Guerrera/El Signo. WEEEEEEEEEEEEAK STUFF! Panther would probably like to forget he was ever involved in this series of bad matches. The first fall was fun and it looked like they were going somewhere, then it turned into a bunch of brawling, submissions holds that meant nothing, no drama and get this... Super Elektra(the tecnico!) low blowed El Signo to lose the match for his team. This was a TITLE match. The two were not feuding AT ALL during the match. It just came from out of NOWHERE and everyone was confused as fuck. The fans were actually booing the tecnicos. So embarassing.
Oro/Mano Negra/Lasertron vs MS-1/Titan/Kahoz - CMLL Jan. '93: I had some bad luck with picking matches involving rudo turns in many of the matches I had put on the last comp. tape as you'll see. This was one of them as after some okay first fall action, Oro goes for a springboard but Mano Negra shakes the ropes by "accident" and Oro falls right on his shoulder. Rudos win the fall, Oro gets stretchered out and rudos easily win the second fall as well. Nothing of note here.
Mascarita Sagrada/Octagoncito/Angelito Azteca vs Espectrito/Piratita Morgan/Jerrito Estrada - AAA Oct. '93: Hey - MINI'S! TIME FOR FUN! RIGHT? Wrong. Some decent spots but as mentioned above... my luck sucks. Piratita and Jerrito were having problems all match long and they still managed to be good bases for the tecnicos and do some fun exchanges but it would always degenerate into a brawl with them. Mascarita hit a plancha off the top at the end of the match on Espectrito and then when Espectrito got up, Octagoncito did a crazy tope suicida onto him, almost landing Octcito upside down. Tecnicos won it easily. CAN I GO FOR THREE BREAKUPS IN A ROW???
Los Tortuguillos Karatekas I/II/III vs Elvis/Marabunta/Reptil - AAA May '94: The answer is... NO! The Ninja Turtles remained friends after this one as did Elvis and his insect friends. I do have a complaint though... the UWA ninja turtles all had distinguishing things about them so you could tell them apart but for some reason all the AAA turtles had a D for Donatello on their stomach and they all wore purple headbands. This would not be a problem if they all sucked or ruled but only two were good and the other one was pretty bad. I'm guessing it was Rocky Santana but who knows. The only reason anyone watches Ninja Turtle matches is for dives so thankfully they did a trainwreck spot at the end of the match with a bunch of neat dives capped off by Donatello 1 of 3 doing a nice running somersault plancha onto everyone. Rudos won when Elvis pinned Donatello 1 of 3.
Los Tortuguillos Karatekas I/II/III/IV vs Lobo Rubio/El Hijo Del Diablo/Zeus/Mr. Condor - UWA April '92: Well I did say above you only get Turtles matches to see dives but right when I saw the ring setup here I knew we'd get none. Stupid UWA allowing fans to sit right near the apron. Pretty crappy match except for Lobo Rubio proving he could still go in 1992. Only dives in the third fall were one Turtle(Rocky Sanana) doing his usual silla off the apron and another one horribly blowing a pescado. But... 3 FOR 4! Loco Rubio "accidentally" caused Diablo to crotch himself up top and the Turtles won. The rudos argued afterwards but they cut away b/c in the UWA only Canek mattered and that's why they are still in business today.
El Angel/Principe Unverisal/Vagabundo vs Astucia/Fobia/Pandillero I - AAA Sept. '94: WHERE'S MY BOY NAYLOR??? He loves him some Vagabundo. That's Venum Black for the uninformed. One of the other tecnicos may have been Ludxor but I don't know for sure. Really long match here as they were starting off the show and had all the time in the world to play with. Vagabundo looked fucking awesome hitting all his spots perfectly. Fobia looked the best for the rudos. In the third fall all the rudos ended up outside. Universal did a nice tope suicida near the ringpost...El Angel did a plancha off the top...and then Vagabundo lept OFF THE REF'S BACK, ONTO THE TOP ROPE AND DID A GIANT SPRINGBOARD PLANCHA ONTO ASTUCIA!!! Crowd went nuts. Tecnicos won by countout. That ending spot made the 31 minutes of comp. tape used worth it... I swear.
Anibal/Volador/Misterioso vs Pierroth Jr./Fuerza Guerrera/Nitron - CMLL Jan. '92: *MUST-SEE MATCH*! I repeat... *MUST-SEE MATCH*! This was the biggest practical joke in the history of wrestling. Anibal, 52 years old, no ability to even WALK let alone BUMP vs Nitron - 6'8 280 pounds, no ability to punch or bump. But at least he can walk! 6'8 may not sound big to you WWE fans but in Mexico a guy with that size sorta stands out. So you'd think they would do the Giant Silva thing where the big guy kicks the crap out of everyone. NOPE. They had Anibal try to work an exchange with him. Nitron didn't want to sell, Anibal didn't want to look weak by getting pulverized and it was the great 2 minutes of my life. Nitron's punches need to be seen to be believed. I'd equate it to Gronda where you look at the guy and think "holy shit, this dude could kill me with one finger" and then you see him actually try to wrestle and the myth is quickly exposed. Volador was hilarious coming in later in the match and trying to work a flying spot with Nitron who just let go in mid-air b/c he didn't want to take a bump causing Volador to crash into the mat. Of course Volador didn't want to look weak either so he got right up and dropkicked Nitron who... stood there. Somewhere in all this, Volador/Pierroth Jr. had a pretty good exchange as did Misterioso/Fuerza. But I just couldn't stop laughing to take this match seriously. To top everything off, Nitron goes for his big choke slam finisher spot which is supposed to WOW the crowd and make him fearsome. He grabs Misterioso...picks him up...and Misterioso takes the bump before Nitron can slam him down with any force. One of those "it's so bad, it's awesome" type deals here. We need a LuchaCrap tape put together with this on it pronto.
Latin Lover/Volador/Misterioso vs Los Payasos - AAA Feb. '94: This match is actually historic as this was when Misterioso started his rudo turn. It was a genius angle actually as Lover was wrestling in his hometown so the fans weren't gonna boo him no matter what he did. So in the first fall the Payasos used some fabric from their outfits to blindfold Latin Lover who then low blowed Misterioso thinking it was a clown. In the second fall Lover was hitting all the rudos with spinning backbreakers, Misterioso came in to congratulate him and Lover hit him with one too. A few seconds later he superkicked Misterioso after one of the clown moved out of the way. Reading this, it would seem Misterioso is the poor victim and Lover is an idiot. But not in Monterrey... no no. Misterioso went after Lover after the match and got BOOED LIKE CRAZY! It was genius. A great way to start an awesome turn. I liked it even more b/c Volador/Misterioso showed no friction at any point. So if I was watching at the time, I would think it was an isolated incident and Misterioso was okay with his best friend at least.
Kato Kung Lee/Mogur/Volador vs Ponzona/Espectro Jr./Espectro De Ultratumba - CMLL October '90: Decent match. Kato always did the same thing over and over but at least he hit his spots perfect and didn't take away from matches like Kung Fu began to do later in his career. Volador was new to the gimmick but still looked top notch here. Mogur was the odd tecnico out, not looking too special at all. Espectro De Ultratumba really impressed me with his bumps and the way he brought some comedy to the match. Tecnicos win a pretty standard match.
Volador/Super Astro/Kato Kung Lee vs El Hijo Del Gladiador/Ponzona/Kung Fu - CMLL Feb. '92: On paper this looked like it would be pretty good but it only ended up being another standard match. I like watching Volador/Gladiador work together though... they always do tons of neat stuff. This bodes well for the future of CMLL as Gladiador is the head trainer with Tony Salazar now. Kato/Kung Fu did their thing and stayed out of the way which is always good news. Super Astro was in another one of his unwatchable modes. All he did was his dancing and a ton of asai moonsaults. Third fall had a neat spot gone wrong where Ponzona went to the floor, Volador ran into the ropes, Gladiador entered the ring to block him from diving but Volador jumped over Gladiador who give him a little boost, landed on the top rope but he slipped a bit and just lept to the ground outside and hit Ponzona with a big right hand, hehe. Is that the first ever assisted springboard punch dive? Tenicos win. Why did Volador always get stuck teaming with Kato Kung Lee?
Hector Garza vs Satanico - CMLL Jan. '95: This was their first match for the CMLL Middleweight Title. They had one a few months later that I didn't get to see but will eventually. Big time clipped but that seemed to be for the best. CMLL 1994 - summer of 1995 was pretty bleh. Every TV episode I've seen from the winter of '95 though has been SCARY AWFUL. Both guys seemed to just want to get through the match and the (tiny) crowd wasn't into it at all. They did a double pin and the cameras cut to break right away. *yawn*
Negro Casas/El Dandy/Mascara Magica vs Arkangel/Bestia Salvaje/Mano Negra - CMLL Jan. '95: Another big ass YAWN. I thought this would be fun to see Magica and Arkangel finally getting their shots in main events but they never got paired up once. Casas/Dandy was the main focus as nobody knew if Casas was a true tecnico yet or not. He proved himself in the second fall but the match was going nowhere after that since they already did the angle they wanted to do. Both Casas and Dandy did horrible dives at the end. Magica pinned Bestia to win it but Pirata Morgan could have called that with one eye closed.
America/Ciclon Ramirez vs El Engendro/Scorpio Jr. - Hamada's UWF April '92: WOOHOO! Awesome little match. I had seen highlights but it was so much better in full. Engendro surprised me by doing some cool early stuff with Ciclon and America(Pantera) both. Finish of the first fall was one of my favorite spots where Ciclon lays on his back, Pantera runs at him and gets monkey flipped into a moonsault on a standing rudo! Second fall had a crazy assisted springboard somersault plancha by America. Third fall was just full of crazy dives from both tecnicos including near the post tope suicidas, another huge assisted somersault from America and a killer tope suicida from Ciclon. Rudos win and the crowd threw money into the ring afterwards. Oh yeah, crowd surprised me as they weren't just popping for the flying as per the norm on Hamada's UWF shows, they were big time into the early matwork.
Talisman Jr. vs Arkangel - W*ING 1992(or 1991?): This intrigued me since I had never heard of either guys working Japan so early in their careers. I thought maybe W*ING just had two Japanese guys under the masks but it was the originals - Talisman Jr.(Mascara Magica) and Arkangel. I'd like to know why W*ING chose these guys out of everyone available though. Seems so... random. Both guys were too green to be working singles matches but they tried hard and hit some simple dives. Arkangel won with a nice surfboard submission but I'd have prefered Oriental vs El Dandy. Oh wait, that's coming soon.
Torero/Kraneo/Tony Rivera vs Mastadonte/Dr. Cerebro/???(El Goleador maybe) - AAA June '96: This is from a handheld that the old Champ Forum show in Japan shot. Weird angle with the camera high in the stands and facing the ring diagonally. The Cerebro in this match is the current Dr. Cerebro and Kraneo = El Alebrije. Lots of clipping so we only get to see the end of each fall along with some extra comedy spots with Mastadonte(Dollar) who is very fat but bumps well. The rudos win when Cerebro fakes a low blow and then much to my surprise... CEREBRO NEGRO does a run-in to a huge pop and beats on his arch nemesis. WTF? I knew there used to be a feud between CEREBELO and DR. CEREBRO but there used to be a different Cerebro Negro? That's news to me.
Los Powers Raiders I-V vs Maremoto/Rabana/Halloween/El Duende/Manicomio - AAA TV 8/18/95: Yes, somehow, someway, there was a Power Rangers match that I didn't have! Back in late '97 I put together a list of all the Power Rangers/Space Cadets stuff that was available on tape and vowed I'd eventually get it all. Somehow this got lost in the shuffle as I assumed I had it but turns out didn't. This is Relevos Japnoneses so all you need to know is Power Rojo and Maremoto are the captains and will end up the final two in the ring no matter what. White Ranger(Skayde) and Halloween start off with some fun matwork giving way to Blue Ranger(Discovery) who does some neat acrobatics. Black Ranger(Ludxor) then comes in and works some neat spots ending with an awkward frankensteiner off the apron onto Manicomio. Green Ranger(Venum) and Duende then kick it into high gear with an awesome exchange including Venum STANDING ON DUENDE'S SHOULDERS and then falling backwards into a frankensteiner on the rudo, then running and moonsaulting off his back and dropkicking him to the floor. While Duende poses for the crowd, Venum climbs up top and tries a diving armdrag to the outside... or at least that's what I assume they were going for but Venum overshot and went SPLAT. More nice acrobatics follow with Skayde and Halloween. A very poorly timed commercial somehow interrupts the action. Halloween was in the middle of being backdropped onto the apron as they went to commercial and when they came back, he was coming down off the backdrop to land on the apron. So we're supposed to believe he was hanging in the air for the entire two minutes. AWESOME SPOT!
Rudos begin to take over. Halloween looks the best out of all of them but almost slips trying the Doomsday Device clothesline. Discovery is the victim of a nasty release german suplex and that's it for his night. One of the rudos goes out shortly after but I forget who it was. The Power Rangers then do their usual spot where everyone does flips and confuses the rudos ending with everyone on the floor. The Rangers hit the ropes...fake quadrople dives...then hit QUADROPLE SLINGSHOT SUNSET FLIPS TO THE FLOOR ON ALL THE RUDOS!!! UNREAL! If anyone recalls When Worlds Collide, it was the spot Santo and Eddy did, kinda like the Sabu sunset flip to the floor spot but Eddy forgot to stand on the apron so Santo improvised. Such a chaotic scene with eight bodies scattered on the floor. Action resumes and eliminations begin to occur. Red Ranger(Lasser) looks amazing every time he gets into the ring, hitting every spot PERFECTLY. Maremoto actually never enters the ring the entire match until it's time for him to eliminate one of the Rangers. It ends up with Skayde/Lasser vs Maremoto/Halloween. While Lasser holds Maremoto in a submission, Skayde dropkicks Halloween outside, slingshots himself onto the aprin and nails a GIGANTIC ASAI MOONSAULT with full force knees bashing into the guardrail impact! Cut back to the ring and Lasser has turned the standing submission into a rolling version of the hold to get the win for the Power Rangers. Awesome showing and a great way to start the tapes.Next was one of those old video packages that used to air on CMLL TV where they'd show clips of all the unaired stuff from TV tapings. Oh how I wish it would return.
The standout footage was:- La Sombra/Olimpico doing nice dives onto two rudos.
- Aguila India accidentally causing Reyes Veloz to low blow himself. Of note, the crowd was RED HOT the likes of which can rarely be seen these days and this was for a tercera. To compare, it'd be like Chris Stone and Mogur getting huge heat for a segunda on a Sunday show which would never happen.
- El Brazo turns on his brothers. He was sporting an evil rudo beard just incase the fans couldn't tell he was going to turn.
- Cool clips from a match I never even knew took place at Arena Mexico: Emilio Charles Jr./Bestia Salvaje/Satanico vs Ultimo Dragon/Hayabusa/Masao Orihara. Salvaje gets assisted by Emilio into a somersault on Orihara who blows the catch and Bestia gets injured as a result. Emilio tope suicida onto Hayabusa. Ultimo misses a moonsault and Satanico makes him submit to a big pop.
Los Fantasticos vs Los Brazos - UWA 1984: Joined in progress and clipped but I expected that since it was from the World Pro Wrestling TV show in Japan. What building was this taped in? Anyone know? Looks like Arena Neza but can't be sure. Porky was looking soooooooooooo thin, it was scary. He was easily the best Brazo in the match while Blackman was the best Fantastico. It's really a shame that Kato and Kendo ended up getting the huge pushes b/c it was so obvious Blackman was the better worker, he just didn't do the over the top fake karate that the other two did for pops. Funny looking back on the days where everyone was copying the Kato type gimmick and these days all hat's left is Octagon and Kung Fu Jr. pretty much. We need more trios teams that do the confuse your opponents spot by running all over the place and making them look dumb. The entire match was filled with that sort of stuff. Couple of nice comedy spots too. Tim was right - Blackman KILLED HIMSELF and a fan with a flip plancha through the ropes where he totally overshot Porky. Kung Fu does a tope suicida and Kato as usual gets the pinfall. Good stuff.
Los Arqueros(Robin Hood, Lasser, Danny Boy) vs Tigro/Leono/Panthro - CMLL Dec. '89: I had such high hopes for this one but it didn't end up being so hot.
It was worked tecnico style but usually tecnico style involves a lot of armdrags, headscissors and flying. This only had a lot of armdrags but even worse, no creative armdrags. Each Arquero just entered the ring and pretty much did the exact same spot over and over. They did a couple of nice flips but always went back to the same armdrag spot. I swear I saw the same exchange four times. Another problem was in tecnico vs tecnico stuff, you have to let both teams shine. Tigro/Leono/Panthro did NOTHING the entire bout. They sort of picked it up near the end as everyone missed flying moves trying to nail their opponents. Danny Boy did a pescado onto Leono. Lasser did one onto Panthro. Then Robin Hood went for a big tope suicida but Tigro ran over and pulled Panthro away causing the Arqueros to crash and burn and lose by countout. Not worth going out of your way to see unless you are a big Arqueros mark since footage of them is hard to come by.Orito vs Damiancito El Guerrero - W*ING 1992: I told you it'd be a weird comp.!
Damiancito didn't play the mini version of Damian El Guerrero in Japan, he played the mini version of Damian 666 since he was more well known to the Japanese fans. Pre-match promos from both where they both sounded really nervous, especially Damiancito. As usual with W*ING stuff this is just shown in short highlights which sucks b/c I wanted to see the tricked out CMLL mini's matwork and crazy innovation. Damiancito does some comedy which the fans love... he screws up a spot, goes to the floor and Orito(Mike Segura) does a HUGE RUNNING SOMERSAULT PLANCHA onto him! Clip forward to more comedy by Damiancito who messes up the Jinsei rope-walk spot, falls outside and Orito nails him with a GIGANTIC MOONSAULT PLANCHA! Clip forward to Orito nailing Damiancito with a huracanrana and there's your match. Official time said 12:05 so sucks there's no full version available.Oriental vs Air W*inger - W*ING 1992: This match took place right after the above one. Pre-match promo from Oriental and then Jason The Terrible speaks for W*inger. Absolutely hilarious! Once again this clipped to hell and mostly showing spots by Air W*inger. Who was he anyways? He hit his spots so well. Can't be the same Winger from CZW/BJPW or is it? He did a very nice running somersault dive onto Oriental during the clips. Finish ended up being a really lame double pin and the crowd boo'ed it so they asked for 5 more minutes. It only went 2:30(only have that shown) with W*inger getting the win after a top-rope frankensteiner that looked to crush poor Oriental's head.
Cicloncito Ramirez vs Damiancito El Guerrero - W*ING 1995: Damiancito's pre-match promo is hilarious! Another really clipped short match, the highlight being Cicloncito doing a crazy flip plancha through the ropes taking out the first three rows of seats! Thankfully(or not) nobody attended W*ING shows so nobody was sitting in them. Couple of nice moves with Cicloncito winning with a fast huracanrana.
Mr. Niebla vs Air W*inger - W*ING 1995: Follows the above match. W*inger does a BACKFLIP instead of a promo which is too cool. Ruckus should start doing that.
Niebla used to be soooooooo thin. I'd love to get a 1995 photo of him and compare it to the 2005 bloated version. Being thin allows him to hit this awesome over the top rope tope that was caught with the pefect camera angle. W*inger counters with a nice running somersault plancha. Aside from a gorgeous Niebla moonsault, the in-ring stuff wasn't anything special but the two matches lead to a tag match with Niebla/Damiancito vs Air W*inger/Cicloncito(why aren't the teams the other way around?) which is up later.Remo Banda vs Javier Llanes - Hair vs Hair - Arena Pista Revolucion, Dec. '90: Banda eventually came Volador/Super Parka so I picked this one up even though it was just highlights. What a mistake that was. They ended up just showing a short clip of the finish of each fall. It was over before I could figure out who the seconds were.
Atlantis/Angel Azteca/Javier Cruz vs Satanico/Emilio Charles Jr./El Dandy - CMLL March 1990: Woohoo! The rematch of an awesome match the week before which I put on my newest comp. tape set(cheap $hill). This one wasn't as good as that but had some really awesome moments. Once again they worked it tecnico style with just a minute or two of brawling in the third fall. Dandy was the champ here as he came in with a shoulder injury and he sold it beautifully including an awesome spot where Atlantis went for a dropkick, Dandy tried to move out of the way but in the process the dropkick ended up hitting his shoulder and Dandy was rolling around in pain. Tecnicos took the first fall by smartly isolating Satanico and then all jumping on him for the pinfall. Second fall was awesome and ended with Satanico doing a dive off the apron onto Atlantis and the other tecnicos being made to submit. Third fall setup the feuds that would continue in the upcoming weeks with Cruz vs Emilio and Atlantis/Azteca vs Dandy/Satanico. Cool back and forth action here until Cruz/Emilio start brawling uncontrolably while Dandy/Satanico made Atlantis/Azteca submit clean. Big pop for the really simple finish. I love Lucha.
Mascarita Sagrada/Aguilita Solitaria/Pequeno Cobarde vs Espectrito/Piratita Morgan/MS 1/2 - Arena Mexico 9/21/90: From the big Anniversary show w/ Rayo vs Cien in a mask match. This was just clips of the finish of each fall. I really just wanted to see cool dives by the tecnicos which of course didn't happen b/c the camera ended joining the third fall with all the tecnicos laying on the ground after diving onto the rudos, then rolling into the ring to win by countout. How stupid!
Volador/Angel Azteca/Super Astro vs Los Brazos - Arena Mexico 9/21/90: Same deal as above. Really wish this would have aired in full b/c it looked like an awesome match with a hot crowd(obviously). They split the first two falls and the third fall was joined as they did a trainwreck dive sequence. Unfortunately they didn't let Volador do a dive.
Highlights were Super Astro doing a no look backwards headbutt plancha and then Porky jumping onto everyone with a nice tope suicida. Everyone got counted out.Air W*inger/Cicloncito Ramirez vs Mr. Niebla/Damiancito El Guerrero - W*ING 1995: Prematch promo from the tecnicos is interrupted by the rudos. Hilarity ensues.
Cicloncito was almost as big as Mr. Niebla in this one and these days Mr. Niebla eats things as big as Cicloncito for lunch! OK, no more Mr. Niebla is fat jokes, I promise. This is joined in progress but the match isn't clipped too much. Lots of neat in-ring spots. Air W*inger was really impressing me with some cool spots. Cicloncito was doing stuff here that Rey Jr. was doing at the same time and getting worldwide recognition for but when you're working in front of 20 fans I guess it's easy to not have word spread about you. Nice dive sequence with Cicloncito tope suicidaing Niebla, Damiancito with a somersault off the top onto both of them and finally W*inger with a running springboard somersault onto everyone. A little later Niebla nails a weak second rope springboard backwards bodypress onto W*inger. Might have been trying his no look reverse tope but didn't trust W*inger to catch. Mini's finished the match off with some nice nearfalls and then Damiancito did a wicked roll into a submission I haven't seen before. Crowd gave them a nice ovation.Volador/Misterioso/Super Muneco vs El Hijo Del Gladiador/Jaque Mate/Javier Llanes - CMLL Oct. '90: THIS is what I love about Lucha Libre! Just an AWESOME exhibition here. Volador and Misterioso had just gotten their gimmicks a month or two before this match so they were relative newcomers. Misterioso even had a weird mask I've never seen before which looked like he was doing a chicken gimmick.:/ This was the Volador/Misterioso show completely. Long 21 minute match with about 14 of it being them doing great matwork and awesome flying spots with the rudos who bumped like mad, especially Gladiador. I saw about two spots I've never seen before which always makes me happy and they were so simple which makes me even happier! The first was a spot where Volador leapfrogged over Gladiador, then he rolled backwards as Gladiador did the Tajiri headstand into the ropes and as Gladiador bounced off, Volador rolled up and they locked hands to do the usual wheelbarrow into an armdrag spot! YOU GOTTA LOVE IT! A little later Jaque Mate was in there with Volador and it looked like they were going for the same type of spot out of the hands locked position but instead they just used the momentum to flip Volador onto his feet. Hard to describe but looked really cool. Only screwed up spot was in the first fall when Volador went for a dive by climbing the ropes(I've only ever seen Mascarita Magica(Fire) and Sangre Azteca pull this spot off) but he lost his balance up top, jumped onto the floor and just gave Gladiador a headbutt which the crowd laughed at. Fantastic match and way worth going out of your way to see.
Los Matematicos II y IV vs Los Mochianos I y II - UWA May '92: First thing I heard in commentary was that this was the first match on the live show which meant my dreams of seeing crazy dives weren't gonna happen.
But it's OK b/c the Matematicos are/were all awesome in the ring. After watching the first fall I discovered Matematico IV = Tiger Man of AAA '93 - '95 fame. Dunno what happened to him afterwards unfortunately b/c he was one of my favorite unknown workers. This was your typical match with the Matematicos doing all kinds of fancy moves in the first fall, the Mohicanos brawling in the second fall and then they just went home quickly in the third fall with no real build. A lot like the IWRG undercarders these days. One thing that could have been improved on is the offence by the rudos. This is one way where Lucah has evolved, at least to me. In the past the rudos only did kicks/punches/slaps and the occasional suplex. These days you can still do a rudo beatdown only many of the rudos use actual moves they are known for and it adds a lot to the matches.Oro/Plata/Kendo vs Rocky Santana/El Bronco/El Bucanero - Hamada's UWF March '93: Joined in progress during the first fall. Oro looked great in his early exchange with Bronco and the fans loved him. Kendo did his usual funny stuff. Oro did a GIGANTIC moonsault plancha onto Rocky Santana while Kendo pinned Bucanero(not Rey Bucanero for those wondering) to win the first fall for the tecnicos. Second fall had more solid work and a bit of brawling by the rudos. They did a cool spot where Bucanero and Santana held Oro on the mat in a double submission and then Bronco came running over with a painful looking double foot stomp. Someone should steal that. Santana and Bronco both did dives off the apron(silla/somersault respectively) and then Bucanero pinned Plata. Third fall was joined near the end. Kendo and Plata ducked two rudos and then went for dives but crashed into each other! They managed to rebound and send the rudos to the floor again. Kendo did his running tope over the top on one side while Plata did a running somersault plancha before him on the other side. Oro and Bronco exchanged some ugly nearfalls before Oro put him away with a quebradora turned into the Gory Special and maneuvered into a pinning hold. Awesome finishing move!
Americo Rocca/Chamaco Valaguez/Hombre Bala vs Talisman/Fuerza Guerrera/El Dandy - CMLL March 1985: The listing for this match said "Galactica" but the announcers kept calling him Hombre Bala so I'll go with them. This was joined at the end of the first fall with Rocca/Talisman already feuding. The rudos used a fucking insane triple team submission I've never seen before. Basically Dandy and Talisman locked legs with Rocca and then rolled onto their backs so he was suspended in mid-air... Fuerza then jumped on Rocca as if going for a Code Red but just fell forward onto his chest and then reached back to stretch Rocca's arms out. I'm sorry if you can't picture it.
Second fall had the tecnicos fighting back but the focus of the match was on Rocca/Talisman. The finish was cool as it looked like the rudos were going for the same submission move but as they locked legs with Rocca, Valaguez and Bala came in with sunset flips to get the three while Rocca chased Talisman into the crowd. I should note the crowd was DEAD SILENT up until the start of the third fall when Rocca/Talisman finally got to square off one-on-one! That is how you book a match! Talisman got busted open and was covered in blood. The finish had Rocca/Talisman brawling in one corner. They fell to the floor and then Dandy/Bala ended up on the floor as well. Valaguez did a tope suicida on Dandy on one side of the ring while Fuerza went to jump on Bala who was laying on the floor but Bala moved and Fuerza crashed with a huge thud on the wood floor. Hilarious and awesome at the same time! Rocca got a few nearfalls on Talisman before finally putting him away with a huracanrana to a huge pop. And just to show Lucha has always been the same, they spent 5 entire minutes show about 3 long replays of the finish.Atlantis vs Ultimo Dragon - WAR Nov. '93: Ultimo fucked up here. He should never have brought Atlantis over and would have been better off bringing in a rudo who could bump and make him look good. Atlantis looked pretty bad here, not to mention slow. He screwed up a bunch of Ultimo's traditional spots and kicked out when he wasn't supposed to it seemed. He did a really weak plancha off the top rope during the match and the crowd didn't react at all so Atlantis did a pathetic somersault senton off the apron which got the same non-reaction and you could tell Atlantis was pissed since in Mexico anything he does gets a pop. Big disapointment but at least they clipped a chunk out of the start so I didn't have to watch the entire match.
Oro/Plata/Bronce vs Bestia Salvaje/Emilio Charles Jr./Sangre Chicana - CMLL June '92: Well this was pretty much how Sims described it in the Lucha Libre Weekly covering this episode. First fall had the usual exchanges to start, then the usual Metalicos finish to a fall which was Plata holding one of the rudos on the floor and Oro doing a HUGE springboard somersault plancha but totally overshooting them both and crashing ONTO(not INTO, but ONTO) the first row at Arena Mexico. Brutal bump! Rudos won the fall by teaming up on Bronce in the ring and then they easily took the second fall in a squash as Oro never got up. That was Oro for you.
Oro/Plata vs Felino/El Fiero - CMLL Sept. '92: Oh man... the exchanges with Oro and Felino were just AWESOME and way ahead of their time. I'm still not sold on Plata as being anything but Oro's sidekick. He has yet to impress me in any footage of him I have and always seems to take the lazy way out when doing spots. Or it could just be that Oro outshines him so much. I really don't know. This was a pretty standard match... nothing special at all. They blew the finish HORRIBLY as Plata/Fiero were supposed to be double pinned but OOPS the referee started to count before Oro and Felino rolled on top of them so it came off really bad and the crowd let them know. Oro quickly put Felino away with the quebradora -> gory special -> pin hold.
Ultimo Dragon/Ultimo Dragoncito vs Pirata Morgan/Piratita Morgan - WAR 11/29/94: This is not the same match from a commercial tape WAR released, this is from a handheld shot in the stands. Dragoncito and Piratita are just KILLER in this one! They do a bunch of really cool spots and got all the pops from the crowd. Dragon and Pirata did okay but were totally outshined. The end of the match is just brutal with a dive sequence followed by Dragoncito doing his usual insane running flip dive into the second row, Ultimo doing an asai moonsault into the second row as well and finally Dragoncito does a moonsault over the ringpost but SMACKS his knee on the guardrail and he seemed pretty banged up. Ultimo slams Pirata in the ring, hits a moonsault, then gets up... AND HOLY SHIT - TRIES A RUNNING SHOOTING STAR PRESS! But he failed.
He landed upside down with his head at a pretty ouch looking angle on Pirata but he just covered anyways and got the win. Meanwhile Dragoncito was being checked on by a bunch of people including Masao Orihara. Really fun stuff here.Oro/Ultimo Dragon/Kato Kung Lee vs Negro Casas/Felino/Javier Cruz - CMLL Nov. 92: HUGE HEAT! Everyone was feuding here but I was still surprised at how much heat they were getting right from the sound of the whistle. Rudos took the first fall, tecnicos took the second fall, Felino looked to be injured but ended up coming back for the end of the third fall but all he had to do was catch a gorgeous moonsault plancha from Oro. Ultimo/Negro tumble outside together and Cruz makes KKL submit clean with the VOLANTIN!
Hector Garza vs Ultimate Dragon - WAR 2/8/95: Handheld footage of some small show and the camera was far away, not to mention it must have not had an auto-focus button b/c every time the guy had to move the camera from side to side you really couldn't see anything. These guys didn't have much communication from what I can tell and they both ended up standing in the wrong place during the dives. First Como almost nose dived doing a plancha off the second rope in the ring(Silver King dive) and then Garza did his corkscrew plancha as Dragon ran forward at the last second trying to catch him. Dragon won the SSP which shockingly didn't get much of a pop. Wasn't that the big move in '95?
Oro/Plata/Bronce vs Popitekus/Troglodita/Cro-Magnon - CMLL 12/20/92: Oro was AWESOME in this one and I'd definitely pick this match to show someone to demonstrate why he would have been a top star for years to come if not for his tragic early death. First fall is all rudos but they do a couple neat spots including one where Popitekus is press slamming one of the Metalicos and then Troglodita lifts up Cro-Magnon in a back suplex position allowing him to dropkick the hanging tecnico while Popitekus does the press slam. Tecnicos fight back in fall two and hit a bunch of impressive spots before they all pin the rudos with various flying reverse tope's. Third fall has more great stuff from the tecnicos... of course I'm not overlooking the fact that these rudos were awesome and bumping all over the place really fast. All three Metalicos hit nice tope suicidas to tease the countout win but the match goes on as Troglodita makes Bronce submit. Oro knocks Popitekus outside, fakes a running dive... THEN NAILS A FUCKING GORGEOUS SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT!!! In 1992!!! I remember Rey Jr. doing that on an AAA show around the same period but Oro got way more height and distance! In the ring Cro-Magnon accidentally low blows his own partner, then as the refs aren't looking Bronce trips Magnon as he comes off the ropes allowing Plata to lock on a camel clutch for the win. Great match!
Brillante/Diamante/Zafiro vs Hecatombe/Maremoto/Terremoto - AAA Aug. '93: Damnit I expected better! Usually the Gemas Del Ring are good for at least five dives per match and a couple of hilarious blown spots. Oh well. First two falls are just standard lucha with nothing really sticking out although I was entertained as they kept losing power in the building and the kids would get scared. Third fall has a wicked dive sequence. Zafiro with a wicked tope suicida, Hecatombe leaps backwards off the second rope, Brillante gets assisted into a NICE somersault plancha, Terremoto with an ugly tope suicida and finally Diamante with a somersault off the top onto everyone. One nearfall for the tecnicos before Hecatombe power bombs the shit out of one of the Gemas to get the win. Finish looked painful.
Lasser/Gran Apache II(boo!) vs Mr. Condor/El Mohicano II - UWA June '92: BOO! FALSE ADVERTISING! I was led to believe this would be Gran Apache I, the Apache we all know and love. Instead I got this putz. AWFUL MATCH. I mean, Lasser/Condor weren't even using their 'B' game, it was more of their 'D' game. First fall had some of the worst brawling ever and the rest of the match was totally uninspired. I guess it didn't help that for some reason the fans were allowed to sit right up beside the ring apron so you couldn't leave the ring without knocking them all over and thus everything was kept inside and bumps were moved away from the sides of the ring. I would love to go back in time and replace this match with something else.
El Gitano/Black Jaugar vs Ultimo Guerrero/Ultimo Rebelde - PROMELL Aug. '96: This match will be remembered for one thing and one thing only... THE SPOT OF THE YEAR FOR 1996! Not a crazy flip, not a psycho dive... just an amazingly timed spot done by El Gitano who is none other than MR. FUCKING MEXICO! Check this out: He gets whipped into the ropes by the rudos... he jumps over Guerrero, leaps onto Rebelde with a reverse bodyscissors(like the Code Red)... then gets flipped up and over Rebelde like the Shocker/Ultimo Guerrero spot and while he's flipping Guerrero comes walking over and walks right into a beautiful armdrag takedown!!! HOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY FUCK! I have never seen such a beautiful spot done before. It's like the La Parka/Ultimo reverse bodyscissors into an armdrag spot but done with two opponents and it just looked SO BEAUTIFUL! I rewound about 10 times just to see it over and over and over and FUCK THAT WAS AWESOME! The match itself wasn't too bad either except for Black Jaguar ruining things whenever he got inside. He was out of his league, whoever he was. Guerrero/Rebelde(aka Hooligan, coincidentally(not really) their team name was Los Hooligans) were just fantastic and it was like watching Sangre Azteca and Rencor Latino back in 1999/2000. Two young rudos who you just knew were so ahead of their position on the card that one day they would be stars. Guerrero used this crazy cross-armed rollup that would have made Skayde proud. Finish saw Rebelde do a tope suicida on Black Jaguar who totally blew the catch. Rudos ended up winning when Guerrero went over Gitano I believe. MUST SEE JUST FOR THE INSANE SPOT!
Orito vs Damiancito El Guerrero - W*ING 1995: What a waste. Joined in progress and only 3 minutes ended up being shown. Of course it was the final 3 minutes when both guys were already totally blown up, presumably from doing a bunch of flying already. Mercifully Damiancito ends it at the 11 minute mark meaning we missed 8 minutes of flying to see 3 minutes of weak slams and Orito sucking air like there was no tomorrow. Disapointing.
Orito vs Felinito - Tokyo Pro July '96: Yikes. I felt really bad for Orito(Segura) here as he blew his first spot of the match by accidentally doing a handspring moonsault and landing on the bottom rope.:/ The next four spots were all horribly blown with the crowd laughing at everything. They seemed to take it home quickly from there with Orito doing two crazy dives and Felinito doing one before rapping it up with a huracanrana finish and an Orito win. On the bright side Felinito looked crisp as hell.
Rey Sr./Rey Jr./Winners vs Los Destructores - AAA Aug. '94: Total brawl. Misterio Jr. had his mask ripped open to the point his entire face was visible the entire match. Winners was bleeding pretty bad through his mask. The story here was that Rey Jr. was the weak link on the tecnico team as he got pinned in the first two falls leaving his team at a three-on-two disadvantage. In the first fall Rey Sr. and Winners couldn't come back but in the second fall they managed to survive and get pinfalls on two of the Destructores. In the third fall Rey Jr. finally went nuts and started pounding on Rocco Valente. The end saw him go for a running plancha but he missed both Destructores and hurt his knee. It didn't matter as in the ring Rey Sr. and Winners won the match for their team. Post-match Rey Jr. gets more of a beatdown from the rudos. The Rey Jr./Mistico comparisons start right here.
Latin Lover/Heavy Metal/Frisbee vs Jerry Estrada/Juventud Guerrera/Vegas - AAA Oct. '95: This Frisbee incarnation = Lasser and Vegas = Black Warrior. I think Lasser had a hand in training Warrior as they were always paired together on his AAA TV appearences. I expected this to be good and I wasn't let down at all! First fall has some nice work from Frisbee and Vegas including a spot where Frisbee is laying on the floor outside the ring, Vegas charges him but Frisbee monkey flips towards Juventud only Vegas doesn't get enough distance and almost takes a header on the ground! Tecnicos win the fall with some nice moves. Second fall has some more fun stuff until the rudos take over. Boring brawling? Not a chance! FUN BRAWLING! The crowd was red hot and the people in the front row kept pulling Latin Lover away from the rudos trying to keep him safe! *L* Juventud even had the nerve to try and grab a chair from them to hit Lover with and a battle ensued between Juventud and the fans for the rights to the chair! hehehe Juventud rules! Vegas came over to help his fellow rudo and they won the chair battle. The reward was a weak chairshot to Lover's head.
Tecnicos eventually fight back much to my surprise and THE DIVES BEGIN! Frisbee sends Juventud outside and nails a slingshot into a sunset flip! Metal and Estrada go at it... I assume Metal is gonna send Jerry to the floor but NO, Jerry sends Metal outside and hits him with a tope suicida! Lover and Vegas enter, I assume this is the finish... NOPE! Lover gets clotheslined over the ropes to the floor and then... BULLET TOPE OF DEATH!!!!!!!!!! WOO-HOO! Vegas FLEW deep into the aisleway, what an awesome dive! Frisbee/Juventud entered and after three straight spinning backbreakers, Frisbee used a weird submission to get the win for his team. I loved this match!Shocker/Hector Garza vs Black Warrior/Felino - CMLL Dec. '96: I loved this but it's not as if it were a match of the year candidate or anything like that, it was just a really short sprint with a shitty ending. This was part of a round robin tournament for some trophy so all matches had a 10 minute time limit. There's some nice matwork followed by some REALLY NICE back and forth action including Shocker/Felino doing the worlds best exchange... EVER! Then the rudos take over and as they are beating on the tecnicos while stalling big time by playing the crowd, the referee gets a signal from ringside saying the match is over b/c the time limit expired. WTF? No build to the finish or anything. Maybe they forgot the rules?
Kato Kung Lee/Salsero/Skayde vs El Mariachi/Ultimo Guerrero/Ultimo Rebelde - Promo Azteca March '97: The last Skayde match on Lynch's lists that I didn't have... TILL NOW!:p It was worth picking up too b/c Skayde ruled it here hitting all his fun in-ring spots and two really neat dives. A bullet tope suicida onto Rebelde and a huge asai moonsault onto Mariachi in the third fall. I wish there was more early Promo Azteca, or even just PROMELL, footage available. Guerrero wins it for his team by making Kato submit CLEAN which is absolutely shocking since I can't remember Kato doing a clean job since 1992.
Also saw some rare clips from the first CMLL tour of Japan in February 1997. The highlight for me was clips of a battle royale where they did a 16, 17 or 18 person dive sequence. I lost count. The match was listed as going 6:40 after Arkangel pinned Felino to win which of course makes me wonder, if the dives took about 4 minutes on their own, how did they do 15+ eliminations within the other 2 minutes?
Antar/Ultraman Jr./Mr. Aguila vs Mogur/Espectro Jr./Cadaver De Ultratumba(in a sweet mask) - CMLL June '97: Oh man, this was when I started to like Mr. Aguila. Young agile kid, flew all over the place without knowing how to do a proper armdrag yet. IT WAS AWESOME! He wasn't as smooth as most great flyers but the guy was nuts. He entered the ring with a springboard 450 twisted to land on his feet for example! He was on fire in this one hitting a bunch of awesome moves including a really neat slingshot into the ring, turning in mid-air to land on Espectro Jr.'s back and then moonsaulting off of him! WHOA! He pinned Cadaver with a moonsault bodyblock to win the first fall while Ultraman Jr. did a really awesome tope suicida on Mogur. More great work from the tecnicos in the second fall, especially Antar who was underrated(I think he's Alebrije in AAA now... no, he's a Sagrada... I dunno). Third fall was going great until they did a goofy finish where all the tecnicos pinned all the rudos with a pile-up. Weak!
Only other thing of note that I watched was the PROMELL rematch with El Brazo/Brazo De Plata/Super Elektra vs Blue Panther/Fuerza Guerrera/El Signo. WEEEEEEEEEEEEAK STUFF! Panther would probably like to forget he was ever involved in this series of bad matches. The first fall was fun and it looked like they were going somewhere, then it turned into a bunch of brawling, submissions holds that meant nothing, no drama and get this... Super Elektra(the tecnico!) low blowed El Signo to lose the match for his team. This was a TITLE match. The two were not feuding AT ALL during the match. It just came from out of NOWHERE and everyone was confused as fuck. The fans were actually booing the tecnicos. So embarassing.
Oro/Mano Negra/Lasertron vs MS-1/Titan/Kahoz - CMLL Jan. '93: I had some bad luck with picking matches involving rudo turns in many of the matches I had put on the last comp. tape as you'll see. This was one of them as after some okay first fall action, Oro goes for a springboard but Mano Negra shakes the ropes by "accident" and Oro falls right on his shoulder. Rudos win the fall, Oro gets stretchered out and rudos easily win the second fall as well. Nothing of note here.
Mascarita Sagrada/Octagoncito/Angelito Azteca vs Espectrito/Piratita Morgan/Jerrito Estrada - AAA Oct. '93: Hey - MINI'S! TIME FOR FUN! RIGHT? Wrong. Some decent spots but as mentioned above... my luck sucks. Piratita and Jerrito were having problems all match long and they still managed to be good bases for the tecnicos and do some fun exchanges but it would always degenerate into a brawl with them. Mascarita hit a plancha off the top at the end of the match on Espectrito and then when Espectrito got up, Octagoncito did a crazy tope suicida onto him, almost landing Octcito upside down. Tecnicos won it easily. CAN I GO FOR THREE BREAKUPS IN A ROW???
Los Tortuguillos Karatekas I/II/III vs Elvis/Marabunta/Reptil - AAA May '94: The answer is... NO! The Ninja Turtles remained friends after this one as did Elvis and his insect friends. I do have a complaint though... the UWA ninja turtles all had distinguishing things about them so you could tell them apart but for some reason all the AAA turtles had a D for Donatello on their stomach and they all wore purple headbands. This would not be a problem if they all sucked or ruled but only two were good and the other one was pretty bad. I'm guessing it was Rocky Santana but who knows. The only reason anyone watches Ninja Turtle matches is for dives so thankfully they did a trainwreck spot at the end of the match with a bunch of neat dives capped off by Donatello 1 of 3 doing a nice running somersault plancha onto everyone. Rudos won when Elvis pinned Donatello 1 of 3.
Los Tortuguillos Karatekas I/II/III/IV vs Lobo Rubio/El Hijo Del Diablo/Zeus/Mr. Condor - UWA April '92: Well I did say above you only get Turtles matches to see dives but right when I saw the ring setup here I knew we'd get none. Stupid UWA allowing fans to sit right near the apron. Pretty crappy match except for Lobo Rubio proving he could still go in 1992. Only dives in the third fall were one Turtle(Rocky Sanana) doing his usual silla off the apron and another one horribly blowing a pescado. But... 3 FOR 4! Loco Rubio "accidentally" caused Diablo to crotch himself up top and the Turtles won. The rudos argued afterwards but they cut away b/c in the UWA only Canek mattered and that's why they are still in business today.
El Angel/Principe Unverisal/Vagabundo vs Astucia/Fobia/Pandillero I - AAA Sept. '94: WHERE'S MY BOY NAYLOR??? He loves him some Vagabundo.
That's Venum Black for the uninformed. One of the other tecnicos may have been Ludxor but I don't know for sure. Really long match here as they were starting off the show and had all the time in the world to play with. Vagabundo looked fucking awesome hitting all his spots perfectly. Fobia looked the best for the rudos. In the third fall all the rudos ended up outside. Universal did a nice tope suicida near the ringpost...El Angel did a plancha off the top...and then Vagabundo lept OFF THE REF'S BACK, ONTO THE TOP ROPE AND DID A GIANT SPRINGBOARD PLANCHA ONTO ASTUCIA!!! Crowd went nuts. Tecnicos won by countout. That ending spot made the 31 minutes of comp. tape used worth it... I swear.Anibal/Volador/Misterioso vs Pierroth Jr./Fuerza Guerrera/Nitron - CMLL Jan. '92: *MUST-SEE MATCH*! I repeat... *MUST-SEE MATCH*! This was the biggest practical joke in the history of wrestling. Anibal, 52 years old, no ability to even WALK let alone BUMP vs Nitron - 6'8 280 pounds, no ability to punch or bump. But at least he can walk! 6'8 may not sound big to you WWE fans but in Mexico a guy with that size sorta stands out. So you'd think they would do the Giant Silva thing where the big guy kicks the crap out of everyone. NOPE. They had Anibal try to work an exchange with him. Nitron didn't want to sell, Anibal didn't want to look weak by getting pulverized and it was the great 2 minutes of my life. Nitron's punches need to be seen to be believed. I'd equate it to Gronda where you look at the guy and think "holy shit, this dude could kill me with one finger" and then you see him actually try to wrestle and the myth is quickly exposed. Volador was hilarious coming in later in the match and trying to work a flying spot with Nitron who just let go in mid-air b/c he didn't want to take a bump causing Volador to crash into the mat. Of course Volador didn't want to look weak either so he got right up and dropkicked Nitron who... stood there. Somewhere in all this, Volador/Pierroth Jr. had a pretty good exchange as did Misterioso/Fuerza. But I just couldn't stop laughing to take this match seriously. To top everything off, Nitron goes for his big choke slam finisher spot which is supposed to WOW the crowd and make him fearsome. He grabs Misterioso...picks him up...and Misterioso takes the bump before Nitron can slam him down with any force. One of those "it's so bad, it's awesome" type deals here. We need a LuchaCrap tape put together with this on it pronto.
Latin Lover/Volador/Misterioso vs Los Payasos - AAA Feb. '94: This match is actually historic as this was when Misterioso started his rudo turn. It was a genius angle actually as Lover was wrestling in his hometown so the fans weren't gonna boo him no matter what he did. So in the first fall the Payasos used some fabric from their outfits to blindfold Latin Lover who then low blowed Misterioso thinking it was a clown. In the second fall Lover was hitting all the rudos with spinning backbreakers, Misterioso came in to congratulate him and Lover hit him with one too. A few seconds later he superkicked Misterioso after one of the clown moved out of the way. Reading this, it would seem Misterioso is the poor victim and Lover is an idiot. But not in Monterrey... no no. Misterioso went after Lover after the match and got BOOED LIKE CRAZY! It was genius. A great way to start an awesome turn. I liked it even more b/c Volador/Misterioso showed no friction at any point. So if I was watching at the time, I would think it was an isolated incident and Misterioso was okay with his best friend at least.
Kato Kung Lee/Mogur/Volador vs Ponzona/Espectro Jr./Espectro De Ultratumba - CMLL October '90: Decent match. Kato always did the same thing over and over but at least he hit his spots perfect and didn't take away from matches like Kung Fu began to do later in his career. Volador was new to the gimmick but still looked top notch here. Mogur was the odd tecnico out, not looking too special at all. Espectro De Ultratumba really impressed me with his bumps and the way he brought some comedy to the match. Tecnicos win a pretty standard match.
Volador/Super Astro/Kato Kung Lee vs El Hijo Del Gladiador/Ponzona/Kung Fu - CMLL Feb. '92: On paper this looked like it would be pretty good but it only ended up being another standard match. I like watching Volador/Gladiador work together though... they always do tons of neat stuff. This bodes well for the future of CMLL as Gladiador is the head trainer with Tony Salazar now. Kato/Kung Fu did their thing and stayed out of the way which is always good news. Super Astro was in another one of his unwatchable modes. All he did was his dancing and a ton of asai moonsaults. Third fall had a neat spot gone wrong where Ponzona went to the floor, Volador ran into the ropes, Gladiador entered the ring to block him from diving but Volador jumped over Gladiador who give him a little boost, landed on the top rope but he slipped a bit and just lept to the ground outside and hit Ponzona with a big right hand, hehe. Is that the first ever assisted springboard punch dive?
Tenicos win. Why did Volador always get stuck teaming with Kato Kung Lee?Hector Garza vs Satanico - CMLL Jan. '95: This was their first match for the CMLL Middleweight Title. They had one a few months later that I didn't get to see but will eventually. Big time clipped but that seemed to be for the best. CMLL 1994 - summer of 1995 was pretty bleh. Every TV episode I've seen from the winter of '95 though has been SCARY AWFUL. Both guys seemed to just want to get through the match and the (tiny) crowd wasn't into it at all. They did a double pin and the cameras cut to break right away. *yawn*
Negro Casas/El Dandy/Mascara Magica vs Arkangel/Bestia Salvaje/Mano Negra - CMLL Jan. '95: Another big ass YAWN. I thought this would be fun to see Magica and Arkangel finally getting their shots in main events but they never got paired up once. Casas/Dandy was the main focus as nobody knew if Casas was a true tecnico yet or not. He proved himself in the second fall but the match was going nowhere after that since they already did the angle they wanted to do. Both Casas and Dandy did horrible dives at the end. Magica pinned Bestia to win it but Pirata Morgan could have called that with one eye closed.
America/Ciclon Ramirez vs El Engendro/Scorpio Jr. - Hamada's UWF April '92: WOOHOO! Awesome little match. I had seen highlights but it was so much better in full. Engendro surprised me by doing some cool early stuff with Ciclon and America(Pantera) both. Finish of the first fall was one of my favorite spots where Ciclon lays on his back, Pantera runs at him and gets monkey flipped into a moonsault on a standing rudo! Second fall had a crazy assisted springboard somersault plancha by America. Third fall was just full of crazy dives from both tecnicos including near the post tope suicidas, another huge assisted somersault from America and a killer tope suicida from Ciclon. Rudos win and the crowd threw money into the ring afterwards. Oh yeah, crowd surprised me as they weren't just popping for the flying as per the norm on Hamada's UWF shows, they were big time into the early matwork.
Talisman Jr. vs Arkangel - W*ING 1992(or 1991?): This intrigued me since I had never heard of either guys working Japan so early in their careers. I thought maybe W*ING just had two Japanese guys under the masks but it was the originals - Talisman Jr.(Mascara Magica) and Arkangel. I'd like to know why W*ING chose these guys out of everyone available though. Seems so... random. Both guys were too green to be working singles matches but they tried hard and hit some simple dives. Arkangel won with a nice surfboard submission but I'd have prefered Oriental vs El Dandy. Oh wait, that's coming soon.
Torero/Kraneo/Tony Rivera vs Mastadonte/Dr. Cerebro/???(El Goleador maybe) - AAA June '96: This is from a handheld that the old Champ Forum show in Japan shot. Weird angle with the camera high in the stands and facing the ring diagonally. The Cerebro in this match is the current Dr. Cerebro and Kraneo = El Alebrije. Lots of clipping so we only get to see the end of each fall along with some extra comedy spots with Mastadonte(Dollar) who is very fat but bumps well. The rudos win when Cerebro fakes a low blow and then much to my surprise... CEREBRO NEGRO does a run-in to a huge pop and beats on his arch nemesis. WTF? I knew there used to be a feud between CEREBELO and DR. CEREBRO but there used to be a different Cerebro Negro? That's news to me.
posted by Rob at 2:19 PM
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