Verano De Escandalo

I don't want to analyze this card too much because I really don't give a shit about anything going on. But I want to make 3 guarantees to try and show how much I know about AAA (and WCW circa it's dying days)...

1. Vampiro is walking out with the title.

- Guaranteed. I actually think the result of Rush/Loco Max is less predictable than Vampiro walking out with the belt. My reasoning: AAA wants the belt off Wagner. This is their chance to do it. Wagner doesn't have to get pinned for it to happen. Not that Wagner would agree to get pinned by Vampiro anyways. He'd be happy to lay down for Silver King. But I don't think AAA wants Silver King as their champion. Vampiro will play it cool backstage and say he doesn't need the title since he's already considered a star but in the pre-match booking meeting he'll come up with some idea where he can get the belt and lose it to someone down the road to make them a star (which won't end up happening).

This is how WCW worked. Thus this is how AAA works these days. Trust me. Vampiro is leaving with the belt.

2. Nobody is getting pinned in the main event. It'll either end in a DQ or if they have to do a pinfall it will be Parka Jr. pinning Damian 666 after some sort of low blow spot.

- Yes, even Damian 666 won't do a clean job. This match will be a total mess and the WON will be full of Konnan's post-show stories about who wouldn't do what, who forgot what finish and how none of it was his fault as booker. These five idiots will never agree to lose to each other much less make the other look good. Whoever booked this match is a fucking idiot.

3. Alan Stone and Elegido will start a feud that will lead nowhere.

- Konnan was pretty smart when booking this feud. He hates Elegido. He's not huge on Alan Stone. So how do you take care of them both? You book them in a feud with each other that can be buried in openers and segundas. So they can't complain you aren't doing anything with them and yet you really don't have to do anything with them much like Aero Star vs random chick's boyfriend that has been going on for almost 2 years now.

And if you think THIS is negative just wait till we're getting live results and hopefully doing a chat.

Rambling about CMLL this week

First the big news... CMLL announced today that the mini's Torneo Cibernetico booked for tomorrow is actually phase one of a three phase tournament where the ultimate winner is allowed to wrestle with the regular-sized wrestlers! This is something that seemingly only occurs every 12 years so it's a pretty big deal! Unless your name is Atomic Boy... then AAA just announces it on their website and randomly puts you in a match or two where you look fantastic and then you are never heard from again. The first group of wrestlers now makes more sense b/c originally it was a weird mix for such an important Torneo (celebrating the bicentennial).

Group A:

Electrico
Saturno
Fantasy
Demus 3:16
Pequeno Olímpico
Pequeno Nitro
Pequeno Violencia
Cisne

These are all taller mini's which makes sense. Originally I promised to eat my hat if the finals weren't Electrico vs Demus 3:16. I stand by that predicition. But let's rule out the following names:

Saturno: Clearly brought in from GDL as an extra body for this tournament and nothing else.

Pequeno Olimpico: Couldn't make the jump as Cicloncito Ramirez, won't make it as Pequeno Olimpico. Mask/gimmick actually have value for future stip matches.

Pequeno Nitro: Regular sized division already has a Nitro. I know, I know... they had a Damian and Damiancito El Guerrero for a while in 1998. But Peq Nitro is too new and they've clearly been grooming him for a large role with the mini's. He isn't going anywhere.

Cisne: Who? Exactly.

This leaves four names as potential candidates: Fantasy, Pequeno Violencia, Demus 3:16, Electrico.

Fantasy: Has a gimmick that would work if moved up. Is the tallest mini besides Bam Bam and Pequeno Warrior. However he's a nobody in the mini's division and would be a bigger nobody in the regular sized division. He won't win.

Pequeno Violencia: Has the size and charisma to move up. A definite darkhorse. Don't be surprised if he sneaks out of this bracket. Still not picking him though.

Electrico: Fits the same criterias (criterium?) Fantasy does but he's actually a somebody. Fits in much better with the rest of the mini's and still needs to accomplish something in that division before being taken seriously as a regular sized guy. Not going to win.

Demus 3:16: Has shown he can work with regular sized wrestlers and has a gimmick that would have no problem crossing over. Clearly my pick to come out of this block after pinning Electrico and setting up a final vs Bam Bam.

Possible Block B:

Bam Bam
Pequeno Warrior
Pierrothito
Pequeno Halcon
Astral
Ultimo Dragoncito
Meteoro
Aereo

I tossed in Aereo only b/c I ran out of tallish mini's and I don't think Mascarita Dorada will be involved. If Dorada is in though you can scratch out Aereo or Meteoro. I only realized they were seperate guys as I wrote this post anyhow.

I've been saying this for the longest time now and have fantasy booked this on many occasions so it should come as no surprise that I think Bam Bam has to win this. He's accomplished everything he can in the mini's division, he's way taller than everyone else including all the rudos and he could easily be turned into the good looking small tecnico ala everything CMLL had in Ricky Marvin before he decided he had no future in the company and left the country. This is Bam Bam's tournament to win! And what better way than to finally beat his arch rival Pequeno Damian in his final match!

I am super stoked for this tournament even if Tzuki isn't allowed to participate.

Let's look at the rest of the week... (via www.thecubsfan.com/cmll)

CMLL (TUE) 08/10 Arena Mexico
1) Metálico & Trueno vs Mortiz & Semental

- Two tecnicos who will take Mortiz' Spanish Fly to the floor!

2) Ángel Azteca, Ángel de Plata, Diamante vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Nitro, Skándalo

- These teams have fought so many times it all starts to blend together. Wish they'd do something with the Azteca/Arkangel feud.

3) Eléctrico vs Saturno, Fantasy, Demus 3:16, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Violencia, Cisne [cibernetico]

- See above.

4) Máximo, Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Rotoporky vs Terrible, Texano, Último Guerrero

- I don't think you could come up with a worse tecnico team in CMLL these days. I would honestly rather see Rush, Fabian El Gitano and Leono on the same team.

5) Hijo del Fantasma vs Charly Manson

- This could be good since Manson will be looking to impress in his first Arena Mexico singles match. Big test for him coming off the match with Mistico tonight. I figure Tirantes is the ref here and helps Manson win.

CMLL (FRI) 08/13 Arena Mexico
1) Molotov & Sensei vs Disturbio & Durango Kid

- Standard pairings.

2) Astral, Mascarita Dorada, Último Dragoncito vs Demus 3:16, Pequeño Warrior, Pierrothito

- On another night this would be a certain match of the night. Really hoping LATV sticks to airing the right weeks now and this comes up in a month or so. Astral is really the only question mark but these three rudos can reign him in. BTW on a related note... in Cesar's preview he says:

"Los seis son excelentes pequeños estrellas"

What Astral match did I miss where he proved he belongs in a category with the other five? His match vs Electrico was beyond abysmal and he's been in the background of every trios match I've seen.

3) Felino, Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero vs Charly Manson, Héctor Garza, Mr. Águila

- Seems like a wasted middle of the card match but I wouldn't be shocked if the early October CMLL supershow involved some sort of hair match coming out of this. Manson/Aguila w/ Tirantes' hair vs Bucanero/someone w/ Parrot's mask on the line?

4) La Máscara, Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Averno, Mephisto, Efesto and Dragón Rojo Jr., Mr. Niebla, Volador Jr. and Atlantis, Olímpico, Último Guerrero

- WOW. Where would you even begin fantasy booking this? You've got:

Mistico: Feuding with the entire world.
La Mascara: Looking for revenge on Volador Jr. after last week.
Averno/Mephisto/Efesto: Always looking to get their hands on Mistico, La Mascara or Mascara Dorada.
Dragon Rojo Jr.: Returning from an injury and originally was booked on a different team in this match. Something's up.
Mr. Niebla: Also returning from an "injury". Cesar speculates he may me back to drop his mask as punishment.
Volador Jr.: Turned rudo last week. Who will he go after? Who will he allign with?
Atlantis: Feuding with Rayo De Jalisco Jr. who isn't in this match...
Olimpico: Had his mask ripped by Mistico last week, would be a perfect mask to give to La Mascara.
Ultimo Guerrero: Surprisingly without a program heading into the biggest show of the year. HMMM.

I feel bad for Mascara Dorada. He really doesn't fit in anywhere.:/

I honestly have no clue what is going to happen here. Only thing I'm certain of is that Mistico's team will match up with Volador's team at some point. Whether it's in the first round or the final remains to be seen. But a match like this clearly leads us to believe the main event on September 3rd will be a cage involving many participants in this match.

5) La Sombra vs Jushin Lyger [CMLL Universal]

- Sticking with my original predicition that Lyger is going to win this and make his trip to Mexico worthwhile. It'd be a good photo op for Japanese magazines and set up an obvious September 3rd rematch for the CMLL Middleweight Title. Sombra needs a belt as backup incase Texano/Terrible/Garza come after those trios titles.

Strong show!

CMLL (SUN) 08/15 Arena Mexico
1) Astro Boy & Trueno vs Artillero & Súper Comando

- Trueno gets the dubious honor of opening up two shows this week!

2) Lady Apache, Luna Mágica, Marcela vs Amapola, Mima Shimoda, Princesa Blanca

- I thought Shimoda retired? CUBSFAN LIES!

3) Hijo del Fantasma, Metro, Sagrado vs Ephesto, Mr. Águila, Texano Jr.

- Ehhhhhhhhhh... not a huge fan of Aguila teaming with pro-CMLL guys since he's an invader and has been booked as such since returning to the company. In fact he just faced Efesto two weeks ago. Weird booking.

4) Rush vs Loco Max [hair]

- The result here is as predictable as any of the Leono hair match results were. I'm not even considering the option of a swerve.

5) Brazo de Plata, Místico, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Atlantis, Héctor Garza, Rey Bucanero

- Strange main event. I guess Mistico will take a backseat to the Rayo/Atlantis build. Just not sure what they're building to b/c they surely aren't doing a singles mask match and just by teasing it CMLL is setting themselves up for disappointment when they announce a cage match for September 3rd and neither Rayo or Atlantis involved.

Lucha Libre USA Episode #3

Alfredo said I would hate this episode and he was...

... WRONG! HA!

It was definitely the weakest of the first three but I blame that on the waste of a main event. Just a complete mess. I don't want to watch women wrestle unless:

a) They're talented
and/or
b) They're hot

Neither of the two women in the main event fit either category. Is this where all the Awesome Kong marks call me an idiot? Probably. I guess some people have this fetish seeing a butch beat the hell out of some skinny chick while she screams but that's really not up my alley at all. All the power to you if that's your thing though. There are certainly many places to see that kind of thing. I just don't need it on my Lucha Libre USA show.

And what's the deal with Mini Park? He's not really mini and what's a 'Park'? Once again... establish your own gimmicks please Marco.

As for the rest of the show which I enjoyed...

The opening brawl was chaotic and fun but the crowd noise from post-production didn't mesh well with the live crowd sitting on their hands as everyone went at it and then Marco did his big dive. (Was I the only one who thought he was going to try to leap from the stage into the ring?)

Opening trios was really fun. Octagoncito looked fantastic and I liked his new color scheme. Purpura once again looked solid. Lizmark Jr. played his role fine and pinning Octagoncito was the perfect rudo finish to the match. I'm actually looking forward to the eventual match vs Marco they are clearly building to.

Tinieblas Jr./Oriental promo was funny for some reason. Campy stuff like this will only help this show so I encourage more of it!

Charly Manson vs Rellik was short but not awful. I continue to be amazed that there aren't a ton of obviously blown spots betwee the Mexicans and non-Mexicans on these shows. You'd think they actually spent time before the show working out what they wanted to do in their matches!:o Manson wins by DQ which is good. Wonder if he'll still work these shows even with his CMLL gig? I'd guess so but I still wonder.

In between this match and the main event they let the hot as fuck announcer chick talk so that was fantastic. MORE HER PLEASE, LESS WORTHLESS FEMALE WRESTLERS, THANK YOU!

There was also a skit with Aguilera in his new gimmick being trash talked by Chi Chi and his chick. Another campy skit - another success! The music in the background made it all the better. MORE PLEASE!

Really looking forward to the show that aired yesterday b/c I was told the six man is just tremendous and the other advertised tag with Marco/Aguilera vs Oriental/Tinieblas Jr. doesn't sound bad.