Friday, October 13, 2006

CMLL on FSE Sept. 24 + Oct. 1/06:

September 24:

Luna Magica/Princesa Blanca/Sahori vs La Amapola/La Medusa/La Nazi: Joined in progress - THANK THE LORD! Amapola nailed Princesa with a neat top-rope double underhook sitout faceslam. Tecnicas made a comeback soon after. Medusa used a silla... sorta... more like she just fell off the apron while trying to run. Princesa used her usual dive. Amapola used her version of the Zumbido Clutch to pin Sahori.

Negro Casas vs El Averno - CMLL Middleweight Title Bout: First fall is edited out. Second fall is joined as Averno is in control. He soon loses it of course and Negro pins him with the Casita. Third fall is edited right at the start. You know... it's really hard to get into a match when you miss 70% of it. Averno used a pescado. Negro used his silla. They had one or two nice nearfalls and then Averno seemed to get the win out of nowhere with the Averno Driver. Crowd seemed stunned at the result. Can't say I wasn't stunned when I read it either.

Half a show, entirely missable. Sorry cubs.

October 1:

Stuka Jr./Tony Rivera/Virus vs Apocalipsis/Mr. Mexico/Ramstein: Now we're talking! Awesome matwork to start with Virus and Ramstein. Virus turned a simple leglock into a bridging submission that was fucking amazing and then they used a cool spot where Virus pulled Ramstein up as they were facing away from each other. So it was a good start but then it quickly turned into your average rushed match. Apocalipsis looks AWFUL. No offense and can't sell for shit. How is he related to Tony Salazar? Second nephew or something? Tecs took the first fall. Second fall had an okay exchange with Rivera and Mr. Mexico and Virus and Ramstein. Rudos took the fall out of nowhere. Combined time for these falls was like 5 minutes tops.:/ Third fall was also really short. Rivera did a plancha onto Apocalipsis and Stuka Jr. pinned Mr. Mexico while Virus made Ramstein submit to a cool nudo variation. I timed the match at about 8 minutes and there didn't appear to be any editing. That's rough.

Blue Panther/La Mascara/Sagrado vs El Averno/El Mephisto/Eclipse: There's an edit right at the start as we join a Panther/Averno exchange in process. At least it's a really awesome spot they start with. I hear they are working together a lot these days and getting standing ovations for their early matwork. Shame we didn't get to see all of it here.:( They do a spot where Mephisto/Eclipse break up submissions twice and on the second attempt they get dropkicked outside by Mascara/Sagrado. Things speed up a bit after that with Panther doing an awesome spot where he uses a sunset flip on Averno, then rolls back causing Averno to pop right up into a springboard cross body press from Sagrado. More nice back and forth stuff from everyone until Mascara uses a cool(!!!) armdrag on Eclipse and then a ringpost plancha. Tecs win the fall and... FSE edits the rest of the match out.:( WHAT A SHAME!:( The opening for the show showed a bunch of highlights from what we will never get to see including a Mephisto assisted springboard somersault plancha, a Sagrado running somersault plancha and a Panther tope suicida.

In full this would have probably been the best episode yet on FSE.
CMLL TV 7/29/06:

Blue Panther/Satanico/Volador Jr. vs Black Warrior/Misterioso II/Olimpico: This would be the official match where Volador kicked it into high gear and began his rise to main event status! It's also the match where he first used bodypaint which caught on so well that everyone is using it now. Nice slow start to ease into the flying spots. Rudos took over the first fall and won easily. Second fall was more rudos on offense until Volador cued the comeback/finish with a running somersault plancha on Warrior. Panther used an INCREDIBLE submission on Olimpico that up until that point I had never seen before. Now I've seen Negro Navarro use it on multiple occasions.:) Third fall had a great Panther/Olimpico exchange and Volador/Misterioso exchange as well. Panther and Volador both did dives at the end of their exchanges. Olimpico ended up nailing Panther with an assisted plancha. Warrior caught Volador with a dropkick as he tried a springboard and Misterioso used a Rosa on Satanico. CMLL really struck gold with these tercera matches for a while.

Momentos had a plancha by Super Comando and a slingshot tornillo plancha by Sicodelico Jr. as the only new spots.

Dos Caras Jr./Heavy Metal/Lizmark Jr. vs Atlantis/Eclipse/Ultimo Guerrero: Decent enough match even though two of the tecnicos are talentally handicapped... if that made any sense. Dos Jr. carried the load for his team and looked great opposite Eclipse and Guerrero. Atlantis stayed out of the way and only managed to look like an idiot twice which is good for his standards. One time he entered the ring at the wrong time b/c he wasn't used to the Lizmark/Ultimo exchange we've been seeing for 7 years now and the other time he knee'd Eclipse in the head during a tag team move. The second fall finish with Eclipse doing a moonsault on Dos Jr. as he was suspended on Guerrero's knees got a HUGE POP and looked incredible. Third fall was fun. Dos Jr. did a running tope over the top and then the lazy tecnicos were put away in seconds.

Mistico/Rey Bucanero/Negro Casas vs Perro Aguayo Jr./Mr. Aguila/Damian El Terrible: AWESOME MATCH! If the 8/4 main event doesn't happen, this is a MOTYC for me. Perros dominate from the start with Perrito dragging Mistico up the ramp and trying to press slam him to the floor. Great camera shot as he has Mistico high in the air at the edge of the upper entrance ramp. Perros took the fall easily but at least took their time doing so which was a nice change. Mr. Aguila did a running somersault plancha over the ringpost to start the second fall! More brawling by the Perros until the inevitable comeback which got a HUGE REACTION(since they built it up over 10 minutes rather than 3/4 minutes). Mistico nailed Perrito with a tope suicida, Negro nailed Terrible with a silla(not shown on camera but I assume...) and Bucanero nailed Aguila with a running somersault plancha. Mistico then made Perrito submit clean to La Mistica! Third fall was all sorta of awesome early on. There was a Negro/Terrible exchange that I may just have to make a clip of b/c it was so brilliant. Anyone who wants to see why Negro is a genius needs to watch this 2 minute segment. Doing the most simple moves he and Terrible worked an exchange that had the entire arena cheering by the time it over. Bucanero was next and looked GREAT against Perrito. Mistico finished things off by working with each rudo and ending it with a plancha over the ringpost on Perrito. The tecnicos scored the win immediatly afterwards. Kind of slowed down at the end of the third fall b/c they had such a nice pace going until Perrito had to do his usual stalling for attention. Then the finish dual pinfalls got messed up somehow. But if you overlook that, this was a fantastic trios match.

Great episode. Pick this and the 8/4 show up if you can. Strong back-to-back shows and if CMLL was booked by people with half a brain they could do shows like this every week!
AAA 7/15/06 in Torreon:

Triple A/Pimpinela Escarlata/Mascarita Sagrada 2000/Mujer Demente vs Picudo/May Flowers/Jerrito Estrada/Tiffany: Weirdly put together matchup that makes me think Pena booked this show himself. This is full of guys and girls who are all extremely loyal to him. Demente hasn't been on TV in ages. Her gimmick is... well... not very nice. She carries a doll and focuses most of her attention on it rather than the match. This was 2 out of 3 falls for some reason. Sagrada and Jerrito worked great together in the first fall. Sagrada used a tope suicida and the other three tecnicos all got pinfalls soon after with Triple A's on Picudo being the most impressive. Second fall had some nice stuff by the tecnicos and then the rudos won quickly which is good since I am not interested in long brawling segments with any of those four. Third fall had a dive sequence! Triple A with a tope suicida, Tiffany with a flip plancha through the ropes, Demente with a plancha, Jerrito with a second rope springboard flying back bodypress and finally Pimpinela with a running somersault plancha overshooting everyone! Mascarita pinned Picudo to win. Turned out to be a pretty good match which is the total opposite of what I was expecting. Pena is a genius after all.:)

Octagon vs Zumbido - Mexican National Middleweight Title Bout: Not sure why this aired here but live it went on 3rd. Chessman came out to second Zumbido but left before the match began which was just plain weird. Lots of stuff got edited out so I'm assuming there was a ton of miscommunication as what was left on looked bad enough. The only highlights were a tope suicida from Octagon after a nice sallida bump by Zumbido and then a Zumbido plancha off the second rope inside the ring. They set up a ref bump nicely and then Zumbido had Octagon pinned so Electro ran out and counted to three. Zumbido thought he won... found out he didn't... then Octagon made him submit to shockingly win the title. Electro said he wanted the title and that's why he cost Zumbido the match which would have made sense but he never went up against Octagon afterwards. He also never went up against Zumbido. Zumbido congratulated Octagon and said he'd get his revenge in the future. He never did.

Electro Shock/Extreme Tiger/Histeria vs Crazzy Boy/Joe Lider/Juventud Guerrera: Another one of these awful U.S. indy style matches. Lider/Crazzy did dives early on. Juventud gave Extreme Tiger a brain buster on the floor. Don't worry, he got right up so getting dropped on your head on the floor really doesn't hurt. The rest of the match is just a huge blur of moves that either half-missed or completely missed. It's sure to go on the Best of Crazzy Boy and Joe Lider Vol. 3. The finish was a low blow by Tiger on Juventud and then he faked a low blow for the DQ. See, they did try to incorporate some Lucha Libre this time... they used the cheap AAA finish to perfection! HORRIBLE.

Brazo De Plata/El Elegido/El Zorro vs Chessman/El Medico/Muerte Cibernetica: Porky had to carry the workload in this match b/c Elegido is Elegido and Zorro was really trying to get over the mask by refusing to tag in and just sitting alone in the corner. Thankfully Porky had two good rudos and one amazing rudo to work with so this had its moments. Porky sold a lot for Chessman which must be a sign of respect b/c he didn't sell a thing for either Medico or Banderas even when it seemed scripted that he should. He took a huge double team backdrop which is a scary bump for him to be taking since he looked so out of control in the air. Finish of the match had Porky pinned after Zorro turned on him. Porky then sent Chessman/Banderas outside and nailed them with a plancha off the apron. Elegido then made Medico submit to a bearhug which only had the crowd laughing b/c of how gay it looked. This was the wrong crowd for Elegido to be working in front of...

La Parka Jr./El Intocable/Gronda II vs Shocker/Scorpio Jr./Alan Stone: Gronda kept shedding his bodypaint so the rudos were covered in red. Largely just a brawl and when it finally settled down into singles exchanges, nothing really stood out. They tried to do a creative spot with Gronda catching Alan when he tried a springboard but of course Gronda only looks strong, he really isn't so he dropped Alan and fell backwards in the process. ~MONSTER! Intocable did a pescado on Alan, Parka got pulled outside by Scorpio and then Gronda used a deadlift german suplex on Shocker for the clean pinfall.

Boring episode. No standout matches which I guess happens when you don't have mini's, Fuerza Aerea, Barrios or La Secta. It's a shame too b/c I was looking forward to the Torreon taping hoping everyone would bring their working boots.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

AAA 7/7/06 in Zacatecas:

Octagoncito and La Parkita vs Mini Abismo Negro and Mini Chessman: I was hoping for a random blowaway mini's tag but it wasn't meant to be.:( 2/3 falls match and went really long(30+ mins. of TV) but there wasn't much in the way of focus and lots of times it appeared they were just dragging out the match for no reason. The matwork early on was quite good... especially with Parkita and Mini Abismo. Tecnicos took the fall by DQ when Mini Abismo used a chair on both of them. Second fall was more rudo domination until Octagoncito grabbed the chair and used it on the mini rudos but didn't get DQ'ed.:) He ended up nailing Mini Chessman with an awesome flip plancha through the ropes! Mini Abismo made Parkita submit clean to a short arm scissors for the win. Third fall had some okay back and forth stuff. Parkita tried a tope suicida but Mini Abismo nailed him with a chairshot! Octagoncito had Mini Chessman ready to give up but Chessman ran out and spewed mist at the mini tecnico. Octagon then ran out and sent Chessman to the floor with a neat sallida bump. He low blowed Mini Chessman, put Octagoncito on top, then nailed Chessman with a tope suicida and the mini tecnicos won! Crowd was really into the finish.

El Elegido/Pimpinela Escarlata/Cynthia Moreno vs El Medico/Sexy Francis/Rossy Moreno: Weird random match featuring guys and girls who haven't been around in a while. Not much to say though as once again whoever taped the show edited out the entire first half of the match.:( It got joined with like 3 minutes left as the tecnicos made their comeback. Pimpinela did a running somersault plancha and then we had a screwy finish take place. Hard to tell how good or bad this really was b/c of the edit.

La Fuerza Aerea vs La Secta - Mexican National Atomicos Titles Bout: I've already reviewed this. It was *AMAZING*. I'm tempted to call it one of my top 10 favorite matches ever but it was really really really short. I'll stick with my 11th favorite match ever for now.:P Everything they did hit perfect and Chessman was just in super-top form. Must-see match! -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLxWCIOAUtc

Alan Stone/Electro Shock/Extreme Tiger vs Crazzy Boy/Joe Lider/Juventud Guerrera: WOW. WHAT A FUCKING MESS! Moves, moves, moves, moves... break so everyone can rest... moves, moves, moves, moves and more moves! Did I mention you need to add a 'missed' in front of every mention of 'moves'? The best was early in the match when Extreme Tiger went for a legdrop to the floor on Juventud and came up about 5 feet short injuring his leg. *LMAO* Next Rey Misterio Jr.! *LMAO* Oh man did we ever get worked on that one. There was so much stupidity, I can barely remember most of it. I know at one point Extreme Tiger and Juventud just stopped wrestling and lay on the mat as the other four guys brawled all over the building, eventually getting into position for a Crazzy Boy moonsault off the entranceway. Then Juventud tried to guide Tiger through this exchange he used to do with Rey Jr. and Tiger was in the wrong spot at EVERY POINT. Oh my god... it was so brutal. I'm gonna make a video clip of everything Tiger blew in this match if I get a chance and post it on the Tijuana Lucha forum just for laughs. Tiger ended up pinning Juventud clean. As bad as he is, Juventud is gonna be all over him(literally?) for the next few years until his knees get blown out hoping he can land a gig due to the insane flyer who has a 2 month shelf-life in a major promotion. Tiger also has Konnan who is desperate to create another Rey Jr. and even though he works with at least 10 other amazing candidates on the AAA roster, he will go with Extreme Tiger for obvious reasons.

Octagon/La Parka Jr./Brazo De Plata vs Muerte Cibernetica/Shocker/Zumbido: Pretty good match. Everyone seemed to be working extra hard though I can't figure out why. Shocker was actually in old form and took some good bumps plus played the chickenshit rudo role very well. Zumbido was also really good and seemed to enjoy working with Porky. Nice dive by Zumbido near the end of the match. Above average match which was surprising.

I'd reccomend this episode solely based on the Atomicos Titles match but if you need more than that - the opener and main event have their moments while the semi-main is just hilarious to watch.
CMLL TV 7/22/06:

Satanico/La Mascara/Volador Jr. vs El Mephisto/Misterioso II/Sangre Azteca: I got a little worried at first when the first fall got cut off out of nowhere and the rest of the match had huge technical difficulties but thankfully it is replayed in perfect quality after the main event.:) This is just a typical example of a match that is given no time and the guys put little thought into what they are doing. Volador did a Super Quebrada onto Misterioso in the first fall. Second fall had a Mascara/Azteca exchange which went something like this... Mascara with a running headscissors... Mascara with a tope suicida. Shocking, huh? It just goes to show you how important family is when it comes to El Consejo b/c Sagrado had the huge inital push taken away due to him blowing chunks in the ring. Mascara is just as awful and yet he gets to keep his spot up top b/c of his blood. Eh, it's nothing new, I'm just complaining. Rudos take the second fall and the third fall in under 4 minutes. The third fall was worthless. No big spots, just the rudos continuing their beatdown and winning. Lackluster match.

Momentos was shitty. Leono doing a weak springboard elbowdrop and something with the women were the only new spots.

Dos Caras Jr./Heavy Metal/Lizmark Jr. vs Johnny Stamboli/Marco Corleone/Kenzo Suzuki: The only good moments in this match were with Caras and Jindark of course. You gotta feel bad(or do you?) for Lizmark Jr. when Kenzo Suzuki is outworking you. The crowd really seems to love this foreign trio so it's a shame they couldn't stick together for a while. It'll be a sad day when Jindark has to leave Mexico for good. On the other hand it'll be the happiest day in the world when Heavy Metal and Lizmark Jr. leave the company. Think of a match like this with Volador Jr. and Sagrado in their place... ah... sweet sweet dreams...

Dr. Wagner Jr./Negro Casas/Rey Bucanero vs Perro Aguayo Jr./Hector Garza/Mr. Aguila: Perros brawled to start the match. Aguila used a rarely seen Vuelo de Aguila! After that though, the match degenerated fast into a 100% shtick match. I love shtick but I'd love to see some wrestling as well and these guys were just not in the mood to do that on this night. Second fall was barely a fall... just a plancha by Bucanero and a double finisher spot. Third fall had Perrito being very annoying and just when it looked like things might pick up a bit... Garza suffered an apparent serious injury and got stretchered so they went home right away with Wagner nailing Aguila with a somersault plancha off the ramp and your typical overbooked CMLL finish with Perrito cheating to win.

Definitely a candidate for worst episode of the year...

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

AAA TV 6/30/06 in Puebla

Mascarita Sagrada 2000/La Parkita/Mini Path Finder/Mini Nova vs Mini Psicosis/Jerrito Estrada/Rocky Marvin/Mini Sky Black: Well this is quite the mix of 'A' list minis and 'B' list minis. Mascarita, Parkita, Mini Psic and Jerrito are obviously all regulars. Rocky Marvin is Ricky's brother and he is quite awful. Mini Path Finder used to be all over AAA TV in 2001 but who knows if this is the same kid? Mini Nova and Mini Sky Black are brothers who got over so well, Pena decided to re-gimmick them as Mascarita Divina and Mini Charly Manson respectively. Mini Psicosis is wearing the most AMAZING PANTS EVER. I must have! Match barely gets going before the rudos take over. The only guy using any sort of interesting offense is Mini Psic so the beatdown is quite boring. The comeback gets a huge pop and then the mini tecnicos each get a chance to show their stuff off. Mini Nova looked amazing and did some neat headscissor spots with his brother but of course Mascarita and Mini Psic tagged in next and STOLE THE SHOW! The world needs more Mascarita/Mini Psicosis exchanges. Then it was dive time. Both Parkita and Mini Path Finder hit tope suicidas one after the other. Mini Nova used a run-up-the-ropes plancha on his brother. Mascarita then sent Mini Psic outside and nailed a... a... a... you ready for this?... RUNNING SOMERSAULT PLANCHA THROUGH THE ROPES INTO A SPINNING FRANKENSTEINER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLO! Awesome fucking dive! Everyone somehow made it back in the ring and all the tecnicos pinned all the rudos at the same time with Mascarita using a neat satellite Blackman special into a crucifix driver that is beyond comprehension. Really fun opener and a nice change of pace instead of using the usual two suspects - Octcito and Mini Abismo.

La Fiera/Mocho Cota/Sangre Chicana vs El Brazo/Espectro Jr./Pirata Morgan: Weird match. Pirata brought his three "kids" out with him and then had them get initiated by taking a beating from his partners AND opponents. Then El Brazo came out but refused to wrestle and just sat outside the ring watching the match. Total brawl with nothing memorable. Eventually a DQ was called for something? I can't remember. The point was Brazo eventually got beat up by everyone and bled badly. Thank god this feud ended here. Mocho Cota is an amazing conman.

Antifaz Del Norte(who I thought was Elegido for half the match...)/Hator/Extreme Tiger vs Crazzy Boy/Joe Lider/Juventud Guerrera: Match actually started with Estrella Dorada Jr. instead of Extreme Tiger but he got turned on during the intros. Overbooking anyone? Crazzy Boy/Lider did running somersault planchas to start the match and then Extreme Tiger took out Juventud with a frankensteiner off the top rope and dove onto his two love interests with a springboard tornado plancha off the top rope! It wasn't nicely executed though. From then on it turned into quite the mess. Extreme Tiger is pretty awful. I'd call him one of the worst guys on the roster but... well... wait till the next match. Hell, look at this match - it's Joe Lider! Lots of stupid spots all around and even more when the MexPower made their comeback. I love how these "hardcore" wrestlers sell stuff... they are perfectly fine, then realize their opponent is gonna do a spot on them so they just drop down and pretend like something is hurting their stomach and wait to get hit with a move. Mmhmm. Lots of stupid head dropping and U.S. indy style moves that would get 2 counts in CZW which only get 1 counts in Mexico. Tiger nailed a 450 but only got a two count. Juventud did the same but missed and Tiger low blowed him for the win which made no sense to the live crowd or me. BAD.

El Zorro/El Intocable/El Elegido vs Escoria/El Cuervo/Ozz: For some reason right after the intros, the match was joined in progress. Same thing with the second match on the following AAA show. I hope that doesn't become a pattern.:/ Elegido is officially now the worst wrestler in AAA. Even below fake Gronda, Joe Lider, Extreme Tiger and El Brazo. Right away you can tell he is untrained and just another stripper Pena found in his spare time b/c he hasn't even been taught to run the ropes. He kinda stumbles into them as if he's afraid they will give him ropeburn or something. Zorro was wearing that evil mask which flashed red occasionally and he would go rudo. He was tecnico for the first half of the match though and looked alright. End of the match had Ozz do a pescado on Elegido, Zorro do a running somersault plancha on Ozz and then Escoria used a running tornillo over the top on Zorro. Every dive was setup poorly though. This left Intocable and Cuervo but Zorro's mask turned on him and he used his canes to nail Intocable in the knees. Cuervo locked on a scorpion deathlock and La Secta won clean!

Octagon/La Parka Jr./Brazo De Plata vs Chessman/Konnan/Muerte Cibernetica: I knew something was farmiliar about this match and then I realized - it's the same main event that just took place on the October 4th taping in San Luis Potosi. Shows you how AAA can be quite redundant.:) The S.L.P. main event had a great angle though. If that turns out to be the last ever AAA TV Taping - the last AAA angle ever is Chessman turning tecnico. It was well done. This match on the other hand... not so well done. Before it even began, Konnan introduced two TNA girls who I can't be bothered to remember. One of them was hot, the other looked trashy as hell and like she hadn't slept in two weeks. This brought out Rossy Moreno and Tiffany. Everyone started fighting but eventually it got broken up. Chessman was funny as he just grabbed the orange haired chick with one arm and was holding her back(and off the ground) while also shoving Octagon away with his free arm. The big payoff for all this was Porky getting to kiss one of the TNA girls. She didn't seem too happy about that but I imagine she's had worse done to her if she got a job in Jarrett's promotion. Most of the actual match was just comedy by Porky since this was his official TV debut. Some stuff was funny... some was really old and predictable. I liked one spot where Porky tried to hide from the rudos behind the ringpost and they could see his belly sticking out. *L* Pretty much just a tecnico showcase with Octagon and Parka doing seperate tope suicidas and Porky pinning Konnan clean with a splash off the top. For as bad as Porky looks, he sure outworked Konnan who was limping as he got the ring during his intro and could barely move by the end of the match. He needs to give up the wrestling and get fixed or just start working as a 4th member of his team in trios matches. After the match, Cibernetico(who came to ringside with the rudos) got into an argument with Banderas.

Not a great episode by AAA standards. Opener and certain parts of the semi-main event and main event are the only things worth seeing from this. On the bright side, now more people will be able to see Extreme Tiger and realize all the "this guy is the next Rey Jr." talk is total bullshit.:) I suggest replacing it with "this guy is the next Thunderbird".

Who?

Exactly.
CMLL TV 7/8 + 7/15/06

(Already reviewed 7/8 so just gonna re-paste the comments)

CMLL TV 7/8/06:

Blue Panther/Mr. Niebla/Satanico vs Pierroth/MA2K/U2K: First fall and second fall are your usual throwaway falls that mean nothing to the story of the match assuming these guys even cared about putting together a story. Universo was the only entertaining part of the match. Niebla is a huge waste of time and CMLL just needs to cut ties with him and ship him to AAA where he'd be tolerable. Panther continues to be horribly miscast as a tecnico much like Bucanero. It's only a matter of time before someone realizes "WTF, we've been booking Panther as a tecnico for the last 3 years?!?!?!?!?!". Panther crashes on a pescado and the Dinamitas put away the other two tecnicos. Missable.

Virus/El Hijo Del Texano/Leono vs Loco Max/Ohara/Okumura: Weird that this aired AFTER the previous match. Would say it's weird that it aired at all but we are coming off a week where they aired the OPENER so I guess anything is possible and I hope the trend continues. Leono is sporting dreads and cool contacts which is a good look for him and maybe a good look = improved wrestling b/c he looked fantastic in the ring during this. Really good match although short(really need to use that as a disclaimer). Rudos take the first fall nicely. Tecnicos take the second fall after a springboard plancha and slingshot somersault dive from Leono and Texano respectively while Virus uses an unseen top-rope Falcon Arrow on Ohara I think. Some nice stuff in the third fall, especially from Leono and Texano. Virus never really got a full exchange which hurt the match. Leono did a CRAZY springboard moonsault dive onto Ohara near the end. Virus went for a dive but got his leg clipped and rolled outside. Texano hit his finisher on Loco Max but Okumura snuck in the ring and used a german suplex on Texano before Leono could get back in and the rudos got the clean win. About as good as you'll get in CMLL these days. Ohara continues to show nothing and I am really hoping DG/El Dorado/M-Pro/ANYWHERE BUT CMLL finds a place for him soon so he can leave Mexico.

Battle Royale to determine teams for the Torneo was pointless to air.

Torneo Cibernetico: I was into this match at the start. The mask ripping and Volador Jr./Purpura exchange were great. In fact the match was progressing just fine... until they made an edit to the final two guys. WHY??? Why not edit out the pointless battle royale instead??? Beyond idiotic. God damn monkeys, as cubs would say. Pantera/Felino stuff was also worth mentioning. Shame we'll never get to see their singles mask vs mask match which has been building since 1991.Sad

I think Momentos aired next but I'm not sure if the clips from the previous week were Momentos or if...

Dos Caras Jr./Lizmark Jr./John Ce...err...Rey Bucanero vs Ultimo Guerrero/Olimpico/Atlantis: Nice to see Olimpico back for a few weeks until one of his body parts decides to snap again. He's destined to be AAA's Nuevo Gronda at some point in 2007. Why he chose to wear pink in his return match is beyond me. Bucanero gets attacked during his entrance. About 30 seconds later both Jr.'s are hung in opposite corners and Bucanero gets splashed and senton'd by all three rudos for about 20 seconds before the refs calls a DQ. Boy that finish must have taken quite a bit of thinking.:/ Second fall has the comeback within a minute and a half. For the first time I can remember since he turned tecnico over a month beforehand, Bucanero teams with the tecnicos to do a triple team move on Guerrero. Dos Jr. and Liz Jr. try a double enzuigiri on Guerrero and miss by about 10,000 feet. It looked ABSOLUTELY AWFUL and I'm surprised Guerrero even sold it. Bucanero then nails a running somersault plancha. Five minutes of action so far has taken quite a toll on all the participants so it looks like it's time to go home. Lizmark Jr. with a tope suicida and Dos Jr. flies over the top with a running tope. Am I still watching Momentos? Bucanero and Guerrero trade punches and nearfa...*L*...wait this is CMLL 2006, what am I saying? Guerrero just runs right into the Bucanero Storm for the three count. Match time: Roughly 7 minutes and 20 seconds. W-O-W! Guerrero may be the best wrestler in the world right now but I dare anyone to find a match this year that proves it. Bucanero wants a title shot afterwards. I want a match that goes longer than 8 minutes. Naturally, Bucanero gets what he wants and I don't. HORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIBLE main event.

The Torneo was okay and so was the second match but everything else isn't worth even a $5 DVD when it comes out. I think it's time to start combining two weeks of CMLL TV per DVD to make it worth the $5 to be quite honest.

CMLL TV 7/15/06:

Brazo De Oro/Dr. Wagner Jr./Lizmark Jr. vs Pierroth/Marco Corleone/Kenzo Suzuki: Holy crap... you have someone no-show an Arena Mexico booking(I think it was Niebla) and instead of asking one of 10,000 talented undercarders on your roster - you get BRAZO DE ORO to sub in. Yes, Brazo De Oro vs Pierroth, that'll make your product look fantastic to the average fan! This entire match was pretty shitty aside from Jindrak looking good as usual. His running plancha off the ramp was extra awesome b/c he almsot flew over both his partners which would have been quite the insane bump.:P

Only new Momentos spot was a nice one... Valiente nailing Caligula with an assisted springboard somersault plancha!

(I also already reviewed the final two matches so I'll just paste those)

Ultimo Guerrero vs Rey Bucanero - CMLL Light Heavyweight Title: I'd be lying if I said this wasn't a personal dream match of mine since 1999. I just wish it could have taken place outside of the current CMLL environment.Sad Really had a big match feel with great entrances and the crowd 100% focused on what was going on in the ring with dueling chants(not like ROH). They did a little matwork to start and then out of nowhere Bucanero caught Guerrero in a roll-up for the first fall. Already I had a bad feeling.:/ Second fall started with Bucanero pretending he is Mistico which he REALLY NEEDS TO STOP DOING! He almost blew a Misteriorana but no way Guerrero was going to have a blown spot in one of his big matches so he covered nicely. Bucanero went up top but Guerrero crotched him(weakly) and then joined him up top to hit a super powerslam for the three count. No way that second fall was anywhere close to two minutes. Checking O'Campo's results, he has it as 1:32 which is probably a little over what it really was. EXTREMELY WEAK. I knew they would be saving everything up for the third fall so of course after the first spot... AN EDIT. Yep. This totally ruined the match for me b/c they had only been wrestling for 4 minutes on TV and after that edit, the action resumed with both men completely out of breath looking like they had been through a war. I really hate when wrestlers do that. I can understand needing to do it on a U.S. TV show when you are running through tons of spots in 5 minutes but these guys did NOTHING that we(the viewers) saw that would make them gasp for air as of yet. They did a cool spot where Guerrero went for his bronco buster move but Bucanero countered into a power bomb for a two. He then took his famous backward bumps to the outside and Guerrero nailed a running somersault plancha. More selling of exhaustion as Bucanero barely made it back inside. They did three or four nearfalls and an awesome teased spot where Guerrero had Bucanero up for the Guerrero Special but Bucanero desperately flung himself backwards before Ultimo could lift him up and they crashed to the mat. A bit later Bucanero caught Guerrero with the Bucanero Storm and the crowd went crazy b/c that finisher is more protected than La Mistica. But only a 2! Both guys sold for over 40 seconds on the mat which is quite the contrast from the AAA TV show when Lider hit the same move on Tiger except more dangerously and both got up right away. Anyways, Bucanero went up top and got crotched. Guerrero followed him up and... GUERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRERO ESPECIAL! 1...2...KICKOUT!!! Crowd went crazy as Ultimo questioned the referee's count. Before the crowd even had 2 seconds to digest what happened though, Bucanero quickly crucifixed Guerrero in a last ditch effort to win...1...2...3!!! NUEVO CAMPEON!!! And thus ends Ultimo Guerrero's 3+ year reign as CMLL Light Heavyweight champion! Crowd went nuts for the finish which was truly great. The fantastic finish doesn't make up for the lackluster match though. I can't justify even putting this on my list as a possible MOTYC. The 6 minute third fall really only had 2 minutes of wrestling as 60% of the fall was spent selling exhaustion. This would be an example of a dream match gone bad. I wish both guys would have shook hands afterwards and agreed to be friends again. Instead I'll have to suffer through Perrito vs Bucanero matches.Sad

Jaula De La Muerte: Really big-time feel on TV as every guy did a promo and then each guy got his own entrance. La Mascara appeared to get locked out of the cage as the brawling began but must have snuck in somehow when I wasn't looking. Volador Jr. however was left behind which set the stage for the spot that seemingly happens in every CMLL cage match... he climbs up top and does a plancha onto everyone... but this time he got caught and slammed down! Awesome spot! The rudos try to cheat and escape early(you have to wait 7 minutes officially) but fireworks go off when they reach the top, causing them to fall back inside. This happens twice to seperate groups of rudos. Problem is later in the 7 minutes, more guys try to escape and there are no fireworks which ruins the illusion. Usual brawling as with 12 guys in a small ring there isn't much space to do anything special and this isn't a stunt-show match ala CZW. Purpura manages to squeeze in a standing SSP though and Sangre Azteca does his top-rope headscissors. The 7 minutes expire and it's a free-for-all as everyone is trying to escape! Crowd is really hot and then the shocking moment... Neutron... up... up... AND OVER! SE FUERA NEUTRON!!!!!!!!!!! Crowd goes apeshit as I'm sure 90% of them thought Neutron was losing for sure. You can hear a buzz going through the crowd immediatly as all eyes fall on Nitro, one of two SEVERE's on cubs' list. But WTF... NITRO IS UP... AND OVER! NITRO ESCAPES!!! Once again you can hear a buzz going through the crowd as two out of three guys who had the best odds of losing are the first two out! Azteca/ and Sagrado rip at each others' masks. Same for Volador Jr. and Mephisto so you have your final four being teased already. Either bad camerawork or a little clip and all of a sudden Mascara Purpura gets tossed into the air, lands on the top rope and pulls himself over the top of the cage! PURPURA SAVES HIS MASK! (I told you all!Razz) Crowd is getting louder with every escape now. Really awesome atmosphere. Lots of guys keep trying to escape. Pantera has had numerous chances but keeps slipping or getting stopped near the top. Averno/Mephisto refuse to fight each other and insist on double teaming La Mascara. Sagrado gets whipped by someone towards Sangre Azteca who launches him into the cage. Sagrado catches the cage, kicks Azteca away, pulls himself up to the top... AND PLUMMETS TO THE FLOOR RIGHT ONTO HIS FACE!!! That had to hurt.:/ But an awesome spot to show the importance of saving his mask. So now Neutron, Nitro, Mascara Purpura and Sagrado are out and cubs' list is causing the Vegas odds-makers to go nuts. Mephisto tries to set Volador Jr. up for something but Azteca signals he is out of position and waits up top for it to be corrected. Mephisto picks up Volador Jr. and whips him into Averno who tosses him up top where Azteca is waiting... SPANISH FLY TIME! BUT AZTECA HOLDS ONTO THE CAGE! He turns around... CLIMBS UP AND ESCAPES! Awesome spot and Azteca keeps his mask! Once again Pantera is close to escaping but gets stopped. Another tease? Averno/Mephisto began double teaming La Mascara including a huge power bomb spot. They grab Volador Jr. for the same move. Volador Jr. gets whipped into Mephisto and he somersaults up right into power bomb position... BUT HE GRABS THE CAGE AND PULLS HIMSELF OVER!!! VOLADOR JR. KEEPS HIS MASK! Half the field is officially gone and we have Averno, Mephisto, Felino, Pantera, Misterioso II(awfully quiet thus far) and La Mascara left. There appears to be a moment of rest as everyone is spent until... Misterioso II goes to leave! But Pantera stops him! Interesting, eh? Roles reversed and Pantera is stopped from escaping. At this point it definitely is everyone for themselves as Misterioso II is forced to stop his friend Mephisto from escaping. Averno/Mephisto talk over Misterioso II being a traitor and decide to stick to just helping themselves as they attack La Mascara. Mascara is whipped into the corner and Averno helps Mephisto with a giant whip into a clothesline. Mephisto gets down and tells Averno to jump off his back. Averno runs at Mephisto, jumps off his back... OVER LA MASCARA, ONTO THE CAGE... AND OUT!!! AVERNO KEEPS HIS MASK AND MEPHISTO IS PISSED! Crowd popped huge for that! La Mascara nails Mephisto with a flying huracanrana as he's stunned. Mascara... CLIMBS THE CAGE UP AND... HE'S STOPPED BY PANTERA! BUT HE KICKS PANTERA AWAY AND... MEPHISTO CLIMBS UP WITH HIM! Both standing on the top rope trading slaps... Mascara ducks one and kicks the rope causing Mephisto to crotch himself! MASCARA UP... FELINO DIVES... BUT IS TOO LATE! MASCARA IS OUT! And we're down to our final four of Pantera, Felino, Mephisto and Misterioso II! Pantera realizes everyone is distracted and tries to climb out but here comes a turning point... Felino convinces him to climb back down so it can be an even two-on-two match with tecnicos and rudos! Mephisto and Misterioso II seem to make up from earlier on and form a friendship once again. Meanwhile Mascara and Averno brawl on the ramp all the way to the back. Lots of attemps to escape are stopped. Both tecnicos manage to take control and slam the rudos. Then... BOTH GET THE IDEA TO ESCAPE BUT ARE STOPPED! Rudos take control and dispose of Felino. They whip Pantera into the turnbuckles. Mephisto with a clothesline. Misterioso follows it up. AND THEN MEPHISTO CLOTHESLINES MISTERIOSO! SENTON SPLASH! UP... AND OUT!!! MEPHISTO KEEPS HIS MASK! Amazing drama! Misterioso II is majorly fucked now as Felino/Pantera team up against him. Felino holds him for a Pantera spin kick... BUT IT GETS FELINO INSTEAD! Pantera doesn't care, he heads up... over... AND OUT! PANTERA KEEPS HIS MASK! But... what? Misterioso slams Felino and decides to escape as well. From the mat Felino points to Pantera and begs him to go stop Misterioso instead of escaping down the cage!!! So Pantera walks across the top rope to dive and stop Misterioso from escaping! Anyone can tell that was a huge mistake. Why? B/c just as soon as both tumble to the mat and get up, Felino hits a clothesline on both, a senton and both... AND FELINO ESCAPES WITHOUT LOOKING BACK!!! Pantera and Misterioso both realize they've been fucked over by their respective partners and begin climbing... both up top... OVER AND OUT!!! But wait... they're the final two! The ref enters the cage and the announcer announces it's one-on-one in a mask match! Lots of nearfalls as they went a good 4-5 minutes just trading moves and building to a finish. Not as much heat as the cage portion though as everyone knew the result by this point, they were just waiting for the big move. Finally Pantera puts Misterioso up top and goes for a frankensteiner but gets crotched and nails with a top-rope La Rosa Driver! 1... 2... 3!!! PANTERA IS THE ULTIMATE LOSER! Fireworks go off as the announcer takes Pantera's info and his son comes into the cage crying his head off. Pantera forces him to shake Misterioso's hand and then takes his mask off and puts it on his son as his name is announced. He congratulates Misterioso and that's that.

Main event made the show as it should have.