CMLL TV October - December 2006

CMLL TV 10/21/06:

Apocalipsis, Dr. X, Hooligan vs. Leono, Tigre Blanco, Valiente: Obviously I was THRILLED when I found out this match would be airing. It didn't live up to my expectations but it was definitely a fresh match to open up the show. Valiente looked good in some spots and bad in some others. Good = 360ing into the ring onto his feet and having a nice mat exchange afterwards. Bad = slipping on the ropes in the third fall which blew the finish and busted Tigre Blanco's nose. Hooligan was the star in the match as he was playing the ultimate asshole rudo and elbowing guys all over the place. He also acted like a pinball for Leono late in the third fall which was neat. Great way to start off a show.

Dos Caras Jr., Hijo de Lizmark, Rey Bucanero vs. Kenzo Suzuki, Marco Corelone, Universo 2000: These guys surprised me as I was expecting the matches to suck but they turned out really good. I guess Lizmark Jr. was teasing turning here although I wish he wouldn't be a tecnico or a rudo... just a guy who disapears forever since he fucking sucks.:) Corleone is freakin' amazing in Mexico and was a great pick-up by CMLL. He's gonna be huge over as a tecnico some day soon.

Blue Panther, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs. Averno, Black Warrior, Mephisto: I really enjoyed this. The third fall in particular got plenty of time and had lots of back and forth action, especially between the Panther/Volador vs Averno/Mephisto pairings. Lots of really cool dives. Match only loses points for the shitty finish they refuse to stop running where Mistico has his mask yanked off by Warrior.

Really good episode.

CMLL TV 10/28/06:

Amapola, Hiroka, La Nazi vs. India Sioux, Marcela, Sahori: The show really gets dragged down when you see a match like the previous week that starts things out hot and then you get this average Coliseo match with a dead crowd and the same style of match with the same ladies that we've been seeing forever now. Can't remember the finish of this one. I could look it up but I also don't care.:)

Felino, Heavy Metal, Negro Casas vs. Averno, Hirooki Goto, Mephisto: AWFUL. Why couldn't this have been a tercera and never aired? I'm not biased towards Japanese wrestlers but I would at least like them to send talented guys instead of guys for Negro to have fun with backstage. Totally forgettable, much like Heavy Metal's career post-1996.

Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Universo 2000 vs. Hijo de Lizmark, Kenzo Suzuki, Marco Corelone - Relevos Increibles: I enjoyed this a bit. Lizmark Jr. being a rudo meant he could just stay out of the way pretty much. Shocker and Bucanero make a fun team. I still hope one day we get Shocker/Bucanero vs Parka/Guerrero in an awesome tag feud.

Main event is the only thing worth seeing on this episode unfortunately.

CMLL TV 11/4/06:

Fabian el Gitano, Leono, Stuka Jr. vs. Arkangel, Hooligan, Loco Max: These matches all look the same since they are weekly occurances on GdR or FSE so I'm not quite sure if this was match #56 or match #57... thus I can't give an accurate review. I'm sure it was the standard Coliseo action though with a neat highspot or two combined with Fabian dancing for no reason.

Middle portion of the show was the Torneo Leyenda Azul which was AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWFUL! No first round shown and every match was 1-3 minutes in length. Somehow in that short amount of time, in every match someone decided to stall and pose for the crowd. This was seriously one of the worst tournaments I have ever seen.

Shocker and Universo 2000 vs. Marco Corleone and Kenzo Suzuki: Don't remember too much since the tournament bummed me out. Shocker and Corleone always work good together so I'm sure that was alright. Isn't this the match where Universo piledrove Kenzo? Maybe.

SKIP THIS SHOW. I would have encouraged Televisa to do the same before it aired.

CMLL TV 11/11/06:

Amapola, Hiroka, Rosa Negra vs. India Sioux, Marcela, Sahori: OH C'MON! Can we make a rule and just have one women's match per month to start shows? PLEASE?

Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Universo 2000 vs. Hirooki Goto, Kenzo Suzuki, Marco Corleone: Don't remember much about this although I think Goto got injured here and ended up leaving Mexico so can I automatically call this a great match?:)

Dos Caras Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., Volador Jr. vs. Atlantis, Tarzan Boy, Ultimo Guerrero: BOO TO THE PERSON THAT TAPED THIS! It cuts out during the second fall and resumes during the third fall. That's really shitty b/c I saw this in full and it was a nice little MOTYC as each fall got plenty of time and the guys were working their asses off. Tarzan debuted his new assisted tornillo dive which is a thing of beauty! Volador Jr. fit right in and cemented his position on top of the cards which made me very happy.:D Great effort from everyone.

Worth getting to see what is shown of the awesome main event!

CMLL TV 11/18/06:

Starman, Tony Rivera, Virus vs. Hooligan, Mr. Mexico, Ramstein: I remember thinking this was alright. But maybe I was just happy to see no women?:) Can't remember specifics but I do remember this being a strong TV episode so I would assume this was good.

Dos Caras Jr., Rey Bucanero, Shocker vs. Kenzo Suzuki, LA Park, Marco Corleone: The triple dive match!!! First time I've seen that spot in CMLL rings in... a long time! Dos Jr. did an over the top tope, Shocker did a tope suicida and Bucanero did a running somersault plancha! It was AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWESOME! Entire match was pretty damn great as a matter of fact, not just for that spot. Post-match had the disgusting chairshot on Corleone by Universo. The amount of blood he lost was unreal.

Mistico, Negro Casas vs. Averno, Mephisto [CMLL Tag Team Titles]: I thought the first match they had was better as this was obviously just a way to debut Mistico's music video and have him win in real life just like in the video. I mean... there was NO DOUBT his team would be winning this so the drama was completely non-existent. They did one really nice nearfall spot that the crowd popped for and then the finish was a thing of beauty with both rudos going for their finishers but the tecnicos flipping out and nailing their own finishers for the win. Solid match even though it was predictable.

Get this show to fill your quota of CMLL for the month.:)

CMLL TV 11/25/06:

Tigre Metalico, Tony Rivera, Virus vs. Apocalipsis, Hooligan, Ramstein: I'm afraid to even try and go into specifics b/c I'll probably mix it up with the previous week's match.:/ All I know is I now despise the spot where Hooligan goes for a clothesline, Metalico ducks, Hooligan slides outside and Metalico nails him with a tope suicida. That used to be my favorite spot of all-time(read: for 2 or 3 weeks when I first saw it) but it used to be a Skayde/Pantera Del Ring or Ultimo Guerrero spot where they'd have a really long exchange beforehand and as they were running the ropes they'd pull off the spot flawlessly and it looked so brutal and innovative. Now Metalico and Hooligan don't even try to do it creatively. They just stand there and get right to it which makes you wonder why Hooligan is just ducking outside the ring to get hit with a dive for no reason. Very lame. Also of note, Ramstein isn't as good as he used to be.

Dos Caras Jr., Heavy Metal, Blue Panther vs. El Terrible, Damian 666, Halloween: Horrific. These guys didn't mix well at all and seemingly had no motivation to be wrestling in front of thousands of fans. We should not be missing awesome terceras in exchange for seeing these shitty semi-main events.

Shocker, Rey Bucanero, Universo 2000 vs. L.A. Park, Kenzo Suzuki, Marco Corleone: This was the big rematch where everyone though Corleone would get his revenge on Universo legit but turns out nothing happened and Universo even trusted him enough to catch his dives. Universo did end up getting hurt but it was via a Parka spin kick gone wrong. Oh the irony! Another entertaining match with these teams.

Mixed bad. I'd skip it unless you NEED all the average CMLL shows.

CMLL TV 12/2/06:

Damain 666/Halloween/Hector Garza vs. Atlantis/Tarzan Boy/Ultimo Guerrero: Really short quick setup for the trios titles match they'd do a couple weeks later. Some nice dives and moves but no flow to the match at all. Just a bunch of random dives, moves and finishes. Typical "we don't want to be bothered about THINKING tonight" type match.

Dr. Wagner Jr./Universo 2000/Volador Jr. vs. Averno/Kenzo Suzuki/Mephisto: VOLADOR! *clap clap clap* VOLADOR! *clap clap clap* VOLADOR! *clap clap clap* Might as well cheer for the only guy who was entertaining in this match.:)

Dos Caras Jr./Rey Bucanero/Shocker vs. Hijo del Perro Aguayo/Marco Corleone/Mr. Aguila: I expected way more out of this. Perrito, as usual, brought only the comedy. I admire that he can turn the switch on between serious wrestler and comedy wrestler whenever he wants but why do 99% of his matches have to be in comedy mode? Third fall was particularly awful and had a horrible dive sequence that was completely messed up and weak looking. Low blows all around for the finish.

Skip it!

CMLL TV 12/9/06:

Damian 666/Halloween/Mr. Aguila vs. Blue Panther/Sagrado/Volador Jr.: On paper a good looking match but it really didn't come off that way.:( Sagrado was in 2003 form as he blew every spot he tried and the crowd let him know it. Panther doesn't seem to give a shit any more unless he is working against a guy willing to let him do everything(Olimpico) and none of these rudos qualify so he mailed it in. Volador Jr. was looking great as usual but then in the third fall he must have slipped off camera b/c he suddenly disapeared onto the floor holding his leg and they rushed to a weak finish where Los Perros Del Mal B Team went over. I wanted better...

Heavy Metal/Shocker/Universo 2000 vs. Alex Koslov/Kenzo Suzuki/LA Park: Whoa... hello motivation! They must have felt like the previous match was so bad that they had to make up for it. This ended up being one of my favorite matches from the recent batch of CMLL TV! Not by the numbers at all with interesting finishes to each fall and guys killing themselves with dives including Metal launching himself into the first row with a running somersault plancha! Poor Parka got hurt trying to make sure he made the catch. I'd have just let Metal suffer.;) Tons of little things made the match stand-out to me such as when they were heading for your typical tecnicos hit both their finishers at the same time finish but then the rudos escaped only to stumble into the same moves a few seconds later. It's really small but helps make the match seem like an actual competition instead of an exhibition. IMPRESSIVE!

Atlantis/Tarzan Boy/Ultimo Guerrero vs. Dos Caras Jr./Dr. Wagner Jr./Rey Bucanero: I thought they'd go the route of the same match only with Volador Jr. instead of Bucanero from a few weeks beforehand but they really just worked it by the numbers and tossed in some crazy dives. Tarzan got abso-fucking-lutely LAUNCHED into a somersault plancha by Guerrero and Bucanero had to save Tarzan's life by taking the brunt of the fall. The tecnicos ended up doing a triple dive as well which included a Dos Jr. tope over the top, Bucanero running somersault plancha and Wagner slingshot somersault plancha! WHERE'D THAT COME FROM WAGNER?!?!?!?!?! Third fall could have made this into a MOTYC but sadly... it didn't.:(

Good show which gets made by the last two matches. If you could take the work ethic of the last two matches and combine it with a great Coliseo opener on a weekly basis, you'd have one awesome TV show!

CMLL TV 12/16/06:

This was the special Telethon show at Arena Mexico where they brought back a bunch of washed up awful wrestlers along with Super Parka and Negro Navarro.

Blue Panther/Super Parka/Canek vs. Negro Navarro/El Signo/Texano Jr.: Super Parka was an absolutely joy to watch! The Panther/Navarro stuff was also pretty great as you'd expect. Definitely better than the Solar/Navarro similarly worked style. But the Canek/Signo/Texano Jr. portions of the match dragged this down into the gutter. It's just awful watching guys who have trouble walking up and down stairs try to work an actual wrestling match. Canek needs to go away and FAST! Weird match where you see something great, then have to sit through tons of shit to get to the next great moment.

Villano III, IV & V vs. Damian 666/Halloween/Mr. Aguila: Fucking awful. Los Villanos are all embarassing to watch these days... III in particular. Los Perros B Team are only entertaining if they have tecnicos willing to take their moves properly or in Aguila's case, his dives. Los Villanos are long past the days of taking any bump that isn't a backdrop or suplex. HORRIFYING.

Dos Caras Jr./Shocker/Mascara Sagrada vs. Blue Demon Jr./L.A. Park/Hector Garza: They put on your average Arena Mexico semi-main event without much thought and getting by on the fact the crowd was reacting to everything they did anyhow. Sagrada is so fat that at this point it's pure comedy to see him try and fit through the ropes when he enters the ring. Cheap finish didn't help things.

I'd rather have seen a compilation of terceras we missed throughout the previous weeks instead of this awful show.