This, That & The Other Thing

- I absolutely loved loved loved LOVED IWRG's 9/16 show. Top-to-bottom just great stuff with the good looking matches delivering and the terrible looking matches turning into better than average bouts. The opener was exactly what all IWRG openers should be. They worked the mat... they had simple little exchanges... Mixteco beat up on Super Halcon... and they did a fun finish. This is how you develop good workers. Let a veteran just guide them through a simple match. I want more of this! Segunda was my man Brazo Metalico back teaming with Dynamic Black against Nemesis and Imposible. I expected this to be good and it was! Brazo Metalico is great and I cannot wait till he starts getting elevated on IWRG cards so he can work with the veterans. Dynamic Black was pretty toned down but he had some moments where he was carrying Imposible which is always great to see from a young tecnico. Imposible used this undescribeable submission in the second fall that is right up there fighting for #1 new creative submission with Comando Negro's finisher. Great finish. Great match! Next up was the previously mentioned Comando Negro and Freelance continuing their feud. Lots of brawling early on but good brawling. Tecnico comeback had the usual insane dive from Freelance where he could have easily broken his back on the guardrail. Third fall never kicked into high gear but did have an amazing double dive from the rudos which was totally unexpected. Magia Negra did an asai moonsault into the crowd! WHO IS THIS MAN?!?!?!!? Freelance vs Comando Negro will be epic when it takes place. Hopefully on a Thursday rather than a Sunday. Semi-main was Dr. Cerebro vs Decnis. Right away I was amused by Nemesis coming out to second Decnis. This match was fantastic. Seriously. In order to hate this match you have to be the most anti-AAA guy in the world b/c Decnis turned in an incredible performance and completely hung in with Cerebro on the mat. How about that first fall finish? HOW ABOUT IT??? Loved the way they played off last week's finish in the third fall and that finish... oh that finish... DEATH TO DECNIS!!! Highly reccomended match. Best IWRG match in a while and I can say that b/c I've seen a lot of recent IWRG.:D Main event was where I expected to fall asleep (was watching this at like 2am). It was the AAA vs IWRG Torneo Cibernetico with such names like CIBERNETICO, ESPIRITU, MASCARA ANO 2000 JR. & SILVER KING. But whoever put this together was a genius. We didn't even see Cibernetico for the first 10+ minutes and they skipped the usual annoying BS of having the teams pretend to work the mat/get annoyed with each other early on and just went straight to the exchanges and dives. I was impressed with how everyone worked so good together. Gato Eveready and Hijo De Pirata in particular although they have worked with each other in the past. Even Ciber got in on the action finally and took a bump! That's much more than I expected from him in this match. The eliminations weren't fast and furious so you had time to breathe and they saved the nonsense until only three guys were left and that's when Cibernetico/Silver King chose not to get along. If all the Torneos keep being worked like this one I'm all for non-stop weekly AAA vs IWRG Torneos! Highly reccomended show but if you don't have the time (which makes you an IDIOT! STOP IGNORING IWRG!!!) go for the segunda and top two. I see the newest week of IWRG TV is on youtube but it's only top 3. Holding out for my privatized megaupload version hopefully with the bonus two matches to start.

- CMLL Puebla 9/13/10 was a two match show. But from looking at the listings you wouldn't guess which two matches would be the good ones. It ended up being the opener with the locals and semi-main. The locals were on fire. It wasn't on the level of their 3/22 match but it was pretty damn good. They skipped the segunda with Bronco. BOO! Tercera was Cancerberos or Infernales (can we just officially add Nosferatu already?) vs Stuka/Fuego/Angel De Oro. Boring. Semi-main was really heated and built up Sombra to challenge Lyger for his title. Third fall in particular was excellent with some nice twists at the end. Main event was the tag title match that I was looking forward to until I read the results. Match was 100% angle with Tirantes as the main attraction. None of the wrestlers did ANYTHING and they didn't even try to work a serious match. It was a night off for all four. Was hoping there would be a rematch based on the result but clearly that's not the direction they're heading in. Skippable show for the most part.

- CMLL Puebla 3/22/10 had a fantastic opener with the locals. I haven't gotten through all the 2010 Puebla obviously but I find it hard to imagine any locals match topping this one. Just non-stop action with everyone getting to shine and some very creative spots as you'd expect. Millenium is finally living up to my name as he hit some really sick stuff here and also proved to be a decent enough catcher which is rare for a smaller dude. The real star may have been El Barbaro who took it to the mat and then began moving around like it was normal for him! I'd never seen him leave the mat before this! I'm choosing to ignore the finish where Asturiano had Ares in a submission but for whatever reason Rafa El Maya decided to count to three. *ERASING THAT MOMENT FROM MY LIFE... NOW*! Next up was the women. I'd manage to avoid any match with Goya Kong up until this. Thankfully she wasn't as awful as I imagined but she was kept out of the way for the most part. What surprised me was the work between Lady Apache and La Seductora. It was... AWESOME! They took it to the mat and then had a nice exchange in the second fall. It kinda made me want to see a singles match between them which is now impossible with Apache being preggers... again. For a women's match that involved Goya Kong this was passable. Bonus points for her costing her team the match! They skipped a good looking tercera and went right to the semi-main which was Felino's first match unmasked. He did the blackface deal which isn't really as racist as it reads. I think he was just trying to look "dirty" (Peste Negra and all). Anyways... he and Sombra busted out that awesome spot where Felino is running the ropes really fast and Sombra tries to do his moonsault headscissors only to get dropkicked RIGHT IN THE FACE! ONE OF THE BEST SPOTS EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER! That alone made the match. Porky and Negro were in full comedy mode including Porky going for a PESCADO (!!!) and Negro ducking to avoid it but smashing his face on the ground. *L* Oh Negro. It's Super Porky! WHY BE AFRAID OF A PESCADO?!?!?!?!!? Main was Mistico vs Volador in another of their underwhelming singles confrontations. Just no chemistry at all. They did their moves and dives but it just wasn't clicking at all. Overall an enjoyable show for the undercard only.

- CMLL Puebla 3/29/10 had the usual strong locals opener. They don't get on TV much when they do they tear shit up! Karisma and Siki Osama form an incredible team and Millenium has improved so much. There was a great dive sequence and the finishing sequence was to die for! Good match! Segunda had an unfortunate incident where Guerrero Maya Jr. steamrolled Puma King with a flip dive. But I don't mean that in the "hahahaha he steamrolled him but it was just a great selljob and they'll be alright!", I mean that in the "he steamrolled him" way. Puma King's shoulder got crushed and he was stretchered out. This was about 4 minutes into the match so... YIKES. This left Inquisidor and Molotov on opposite sides to improvise. That's a scary thought. They got through their first exchange just fine but the rest of the match was a total waste. I'm not even sure what was going on at the finish. Tercera was the standard Fuerza Aerea/random partner vs Tuereg match. Nothing stood out. Semi-main was terrible aside from Dorada/Dragon Rojo's interactions to set up their title match the following week. Main event was teasing Garza's rudo turn as he didn't get along with Porky. Fun match nonetheless but not from a workrate perspective obviously. Sombra/Felino did that awesome moonsault dropkick spot again! A skippable show outside of the opener.

- This week's CMLL 52MX show is the definition of a show that looks much better on paper than in video form. If everyone is going to mail it in as bad as all 12 guys did - can we just get a cartoonist to draw the matches and use his own imagination for moves, dives and finishes? I could consult.

- Been catching up on some stuff from earlier in the year that I avoided watching the first time around such as the 3/5 women's match from Arena Mexico. This was actaully going along pretty good until Lluvia had to interject herself. She brought the match down big time while everyone else was trying their hardest to keep it on the right track. Sadly Lluvia was too much for them to overcome. Same show had Diamante/Raziel in an exhibition on how to almost kill yourself but not quite succeed. The week after had that crazy 3/12 Arena Mexico match with Delta/Diamante/Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Tueregs. Must-see. Simple as that.

- Next Tuesday is the Gym Apache (AAA) vs Gym Navarro (IWRG) show at Arena Naucalpan. Are you excited? I know I am! Hopefully our man BTJr comes through with footage and they run a Torneo Cibernetico main event. I can't even fathom which guys will be on the AAA side but I'm sure they'll be great and we'll never see them on AAA TV until they get allowed to work an opener in April 2012. Remember when CMLL used to be the promotion that refused to put any of their fun new guys on TV? Ah... those were the days.

- Speaking of Navarro... I was not a fan of the Apaches/Navarros mess from the recent DTU show. The changing of the teams made zero sense. Then Navarro basically treated the match like a joke for the first half. He and his son were basically laughing while slapping submissions on each other. It wasn't even an exhibition... it was like they were spoofing the usual Solar vs Navarro borefests. Match only picked up about halfway through and it was 100% due to the ladies. Let's be smart next time and book Negro Navarro/Black Terry vs Skayde/Gran Apache. We can call it Segunda Caida vs LuchaReviews! Oh on another note... I never ever want to hear another "esto es lucha" chant in my lifetime. AND THEY CHANTED IT 2 MINUTES INTO THE MATCH BEFORE NAVARRO AND TRAUMA HAD EVEN TOUCHED!!!

- Honestly I wanted to throw up when I read Cubsfan's updates on the Mistico/AAA situation. Then for like 0.00000005 seconds I thought about starting a Lucha Libre podcast b/c I knew I wouldn't be able to sum up my thoughts in writing. Thankfully that feeling passed. So this will be the only time I address this nonsense and I will do it very simply...

Mistico is not stupid enough to jump to AAA. Mistico is stupid enough to leave CMLL for the WWE. If CMLL and Mistico ever split, it will be because Mistico has decided he can do better than Dos Caras Jr. is doing in the WWE. Nothing else will get Mistico to leave CMLL. He knows how bad the work as an independent is and he knows how bad the situation would be in AAA since he'd have no power or friends in high places. Not to mention every endorsement deal and promotional appearence he's ever done has been worked out through CMLL. He's not about to throw all that away just b/c he's unhappy that Sombra got elevated and he isn't working Arena Mexico on Friday. *If* the stories by Record are true... and I want to emphasis the *IF* part... then my guess would be Mistico is just trying to leverage more money out of Paco although there are much more professional ways of doing things. The world doesn't need another Wagner. Perhaps AAA planted the story about Mistico showing up on Friday to garner more interest in a show that doesn't have quite the amount of interest last year's show had. Either way I'm treating it as a non-story. It's amusing to see what comes out every day and how it gets covered but at the end of the day it will lead nowhere. So you're wasting time if you take any of this seriously and start planning feuds for Mistico in AAA.

Also, we live in the year 2010. Doing fake interviews and providing fake quotes is very 1990-ish. Next time Record talks to Mistico, I'd really like to see them capture it on camera to verify that it's authentic.

- Alfredo will be happy to know that hotmail now has a feature where any time someone e-mails me about Tiffany or matches involving women getting spanked/low blowed - they are now forwarded straight to the owner of slambamjam! Hotmail rules!

- Let's end things with my predictions for Group A for the Arena Coliseo Tag Title shot...

Round 1:

Euforia/Nosferatu over Angel Azteca Jr./Guerrero Maya Jr.
Rey Cometa/Pegasso over Artillero/Super Comando
Angel De Oro/Angel De Plata over Sensei/Molotov
Skandalo/Nitro over Escorpion/Durango Kid

Semi-Finals:

Euforia/Nosferatu over Rey Cometa/Pegasso
Angel De Oro/Angel De Plata over Skandalo/Nitro

Final:

Angel De Oro/Angel De Plata over Euforia/Nosferatu

Doing this partly b/c I think Felino's kids are winning Block B and partly b/c I don't think CMLL would have any problems running Los Angeles Celestiales vs Stuka/Fuego for the belts in an all-tecnico match. Although deep deep deep down I still want Euforia/Nosferatu to win just for shits and giggles.

Guessing game for Group B:

Puma King/Tiger Kid
Leono/Fabian El Gitano
Cancerbero/Raziel
Los Rayos Tapatios I y II
Dr. X/Hooligan
Astro Boy/Metalico
Diamante/Delta
Polvora/Virus

Dr. Wagner Jr./Perro Aguayo Jr. HOF Discussion

Copy & paste from the WON message board. Not sure why I posted it there since as noted by cubsfan - nobody who cared would have been able to find it. Although I'm not sure posting it here is any better. *L* Either way... I wrote this in response to seeing the HOF results and then listening to a WON radio episode where Bryan or Dave (I forget which) said they were surprised Perrito didn't finish higher and called him a "good worker". This is really just a quick off the top of my head response to both Perrito and Wagner's credentials for being in the HOF. I can certainly go more in-depth next year if need be.

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Two guys I want to quickly address are Perro Aguayo Jr. and Dr. Wagner Jr....

1. Was he ever regarded as the best draw in the world? Was he ever regarded as the best draw in his country or his promotion?
2. Was he an international draw, national draw and/or regional draw?
3. How many years did he have as a top draw?

WAGNER: He was never a top guy in the UWA. He just bounced around the cards from top to bottom but was never counted on to draw. When he left for CMLL he was immediatly put into a trio as the new White Wave to capitalize on the success his father had with the original group. They were just a midcard act and nothing more. Wagner was eventually moved out and got to main event but once again was never a draw. He began to take off only in mid-1998 after his beyond successful BOSJ tour in New Japan. The coverage of that in Mexico made him into a "defender of Mexico" so to speak and also elevated him to #1 worker status in Mexico. But still he wasn't drawing. He became a draw on his own only in 2004 and that was due to the death of his father. The crowd refused to boo him so he turned tecnico and that's when Wagnermania (egomania) kicked in. He drew everywhere he went including for the two big companies at various points. If not for Mistico coming along and getting hot right around the same time Wagner turned face, Wagner definitely would have been the top drawing card in the country.

PERRITO: I would argue he was never a top drawing card. In AAA he was one of many on top of the card and comprised the big four w/ Latin Lover, Heavy Metal and Hector Garza from 2000 - 2003. AAA always drew well for the big shows but that was due to the company, not any single wrestler. This is clearly evidenced when you run through main events like La Parka vs Gigante Drako, Vipers vs Vatos Locos and Antonio Pena vs Cibernetico. Fans didn't specifically pay to see those matches - they paid for to see an AAA megashow. When Perrito left for CMLL he still wasn't a big deal. He headlined a major show or two with his dad vs the Dinamitas which got him hot but he exploded when Mistico was exploding. He was never able to prove he was a draw on his own without Mistico (or Santo Jr.) opposing him. The recent Perros Del Mal promotion only hurts his status as a draw since they rarely played to full houses and even had tiny crowds when running tiny buildings.

4. Was he ever regarded as the best worker in the world? Was he ever regarded as the best worker in his country or in his promotion?
5. Was he ever the best worker in his class (sex or weight)? Was he ever one of the top workers in his class?

WAGNER: Pre-NJPW BOSJ tour in 1998 he was always considered a solid guy but not the top wrestler in Mexico. After almost winning the tournament everyone's opinion changed and he became what everyone strived to be as a wrestler inside the ring. To this day a large percentage of fans and workers themselves consider Wagner to be the best in all of Mexico.

PERRITO: No. He's charasmatic but his matches since mid-2005 have always been smoke and mirrors. There's a myth floating around that he's a good worker but he's never shown it. Nobody can name 5 great matches in his career and if someone does I can guarantee it's against wrestlers that carried him (two that come to mind are the Santo match from 2004 & Universo 2000 match from the same year).

6. How many years did he have as a top worker?

WAGNER: Still considered one of the best after 12 years.

PERRITO: 0.

7. Was he a good worker before his prime? Was he a good worker after his prime?

WAGNER: Like I said... he was just a regular guy until he broke out thanks to that BOSJ tournament. After that he kicked it into high gear and can still go these days although he saves up his best performances for the big matches. If you catch him on a house show or anything that isn't a major TV taping you'll be lucky to see him even step foot into the ring for the first 25 minutes of the match.

PERRITO: Showed lots of potential as a youngster (started really young... 16 years old) but wasn't in an environment to develop his skills feuding with Cobarde, Picudo and Sangre Chicana in AAA. His "prime" would probably have been 2004ish and he's been all downhill since.

8. Did he have a large body of excellent matches? Did he have a excellent matches against a variety of opponents?

WAGNER: Has had many excellent matches vs wrestlers like Atlantis, Lyger, Kanemoto, Ultimo Guerrero, Mistico & Emilio Charles Jr. to name a few.

PERRITO: Doesn't have even a small body of excellent matches.

9. Did he ever anchor his promotion(s)?

WAGNER: Was never a main part of the UWA. Had various main event runs from 1998 - 2004 as a rudo in CMLL but I don't think he could ever be called the anchor of the company in that time period. There were moments from 2005 - 2008 where he along with Mistico and Perrito were the top CMLL guys but the other two had more success on their own while Wagner was never able to prove if they left he could sustain the company by himself.

PERRITO: He was one of many in AAA until he left. Out of the many I'd still rank him behind Latin Lover, Cibernetico, Parka Jr. and Heavy Metal. In CMLL they always counted on him when Mistico went down due to injury but really that just covers 2005-2008 and Perrito was even injured a lot during that time period. Obviously he anchors Perros Del Mal but they've been a monumental failure.

10. Was he effective when pushed at the top of cards?

WAGNER: Yes. The fans bought him as the best native wrestler around and he played both tecnico and rudo roles to perfection while on top.

PERRITO: As a tecnico in AAA he was fine but didn't stand out over the other guys. As a rudo in CMLL he was very effective due to his charisma and great promos.

11. Was he valuable to his promotion before his prime? Was he still valuable to his promotion after his prime?

WAGNER: Before his prime... not a chance. Nobody would have blinked if he had dropped off the face of the earth. After his prime... it's sort of a split opinion. Lots of people think CMLL really needs a guy like him back while others claim his value is beyond overrated since he'll never do a stip match or allow himself to be booked in any program where he might look weak or equal to anyone.

PERRITO: I'd say he was definitely valuable both before and after his prime (2004). AAA always had him in important roles and CMLL clearly suffered a huge loss when he left b/c they had no other rudos that could fill his shoes. To this day they still don't have a top rudo that had Perrito's charisma.

12. Did he have an impact on a number of strong promotional runs?

WAGNER: Not really. Closest would be CMLL from 2004-2008 but I'd say Mistico/Perrito had more to do with that than Wagner.

PERRITO: Definitely with CMLL from 2004-2008.

13. Was he involved in a number of memorable rivalries, feuds or storylines?

WAGNER: Has had a long feud with both Atlantis and Canek. The problem is they never lead anywhere due to Wagner refusing to lose his mask (in Atlantis' case) or Canek backing out of losing his. So while the rivalries/feuds are memorable... the fans have yet to get a finish to them and probably will never be able to.

PERRITO: The Perros vs Dinamitas stuff was classic even though Perro Sr. was largely immobile by that point. Mistico vs Perrito is still looked at as THE FEUD of the 2000-2010 decade. Had they had their mask/hair match in 2007 or 2008 it would have been legendary. The feud with Santo Jr. which spanned 2004-2006 is also a favorite of many.

14. Was he effective working on the mic, working storylines or working angles?

WAGNER & PERRITO: Yes to both. Both had incredible mic skills which is a rarity in Mexico (or used to be). Fans always took everything both guys did seriously because they respected them.

15. Did he play his role(s) effectively during his career?

WAGNER: I would say yes but lots of times Wagner was being booked as a rudo and would purposely go out to get cheers and win over the fans. It didn't help his tecnico opponents much.

PERRITO: Definitely. As a young rookie he was fantastic playing the underdog and coming back after being beat up badly. When he first got to play a tweener in AAA he was great right away. His best work was clearly as a full rudo in CMLL where he combined being a chickenshit heel/ass kicking rudo perfectly.

16. What titles and tournaments did he win? What was the importance of the reigns?

WAGNER: Holder of many titles throughout his career in many weight classes. Most important would probably be the UWA Heavyweight Title which was still treated with importance when he won it from Canek (who basically OWNED the title up until that point). Also even though he didn't win the tournament, the NJPW BOSJ '98 runner-up finish was a huge turning point for him.

PERRITO: Won various misc tag/trios titles throughout his career but was never really a title guy. Had feud with non-champs for the most part.

17. Did he win many honors and awards?

Dr. Wagner Jr.: Always won year-end honors for being the best rudo or best technical wrestler. Was voted 2002 wrestler of the year which is the highest honor for a wrestler in Mexico. Again in 2008 (ending Mistico's 3 year win streak).

Perro Aguayo Jr.: Was the 2004 wrestler of the year.

(For comparisons sake - Rey Misterio Jr. won in 1995.)

18. Did he get mainstream exposure due to his wrestling fame? Did he get a heavily featured by the wrestling media?

WAGNER: No.

PERRITO: Due to the boom from 2004-2008 was able to become a pretty big star outside of wrestling. Participated on some reality shows and became a 'celebrity' instead of just a 'wrestling celebrity'.

19. Was he a top tag team wrestler?

WAGNER: Formed an excellent trio with Hijo Del Gladiador and Gran Markus Jr. but that was before his career really took off.

PERRITO: No.

20. Was he innovative?

WAGNER: Popularized the 'Wagner Driver' (Michinoku Driver) throughout Mexico. Still treated as a deadly move to this day.

PERRITO: No.

21. Was he influential?

WAGNER: Definitely. Especially to an entire new generation of wrestlers who are just popping up. This is evidenced in any bios of new wrestlers you read in magazines where I'd say 90% of them say they idolize Wagner or Misterio.

PERRITO: Time will still tell with Perrito.

22. Did he make the people and workers around him better?

WAGNER: If he was motivated enough then definitely. But he wasn't always motivated and especially in the latter half of this decade has taken a more selfish approach in his matches where his #1 goal is to get himself over and everyone else is just used as his own personal prop.

PERRITO: No.

23. Did he do what was best for the promotion? Did he show a commitment to wrestling?

WAGNER: Up until 2006 the answer would be yes. But after that he clearly let his ego run wild. The facts are the facts... what other wrestler as big as Wagner has never had a major stip match? He's unprofessional when it comes time to do some real business.

PERRITO: Definitely not. Refused to drop his hair on many occasions. One really famous incident was back in 2005 where he promised to drop his hair to Universo 2000 (who was sent to avenge his brothers) but backed out only a week or two before the show and Universo had to be the professional and agree to lose knowing he'd never get the win back. The heat between the Aguayos and Dinamitas still exists to this day due to this incident. Also kept holding out and refusing to do the inevitable hair loss to Mistico. Got injured doing a reality show which put CMLL in a big hole. Left CMLL to form his own group. Definitely a me-first individual.

24. Is there any reason to believe that he was better or worse than he appeared?

WAGNER: Not really.

PERRITO: Many people still think he's a good worker which is one of the greatest cons in wrestling history.:) He was really exposed early on when he jumped to CMLL because he wasn't good enough to do the style they were doing. It was in 2005 when the style changed dramatically that he started to fit in. Shorter matches, more showboating than wrestling and cheap finishes... it was all right up his alley. He's taken it to an extreme these days and it isn't rare to see him do nothing for an entire match until it comes time for a low blow finish. If he ever got stuck in the ring against someone that wanted to embarass him... he'd be in trouble.

Wagner Jr. is definitely a strong candidate in my book.

Perrito is an easy no.