Saturday, November 13, 2010

CMLL vs Invasores - What Went Wrong?

The entire storyline of Invasores vs CMLL wasn't a total failure. It actually begun really strong even though it looks to be ending in failure as we approach the year-end show in December or late November. The storyline in itself was quite the leap for CMLL, a company that is typically VERY anti-outsider angles or doing anything outside of their status quo. So while I commend CMLL for taking a risk and doing something out of the ordinary to increase interest in their product, the booking of the angle clearly shows the men currently in charge of booking CMLL are quite out of their league when it comes to booking contemporary angles... or any angles beyond what worked in 1985.

The actual invasion that took place on April 12th in Puebla was good. Nobody knew it was coming. In fact when I read about it after the show in results I thought for sure someone was trying to pull one over b/c the mere thought of CMLL allowing Cuije to attack QueMonito seemed way too AAA. But the following day it was confirmed as being true and the rumors already begun swirling that new members would be showing up for this invasion. The follow-up to this was another run-in at a Puebla show and two weeks later a CMLL vs Invasores match. Everything was actually going fine here. You had the Invasores being put over (they won the match), buzz being built in DF which had yet to see them but had certainly heard about what was going on and finally... the group was established. Histeria, Psicosis, Maniaco, Alebrije and Cuije. When you said "Invasores" you knew who you were talking about. A week after their second Puebla match they had their first match at Arena Mexico on a Sunday show (a week before they had finally appeared with new members Monster & Chucky). They lost... but it was via DQ and they still looked strong. Not to mention the matches with the CMLL team vs the Invasores had been GOOD! This was key to note because had the Invasores shown up and proven they couldn't keep up with the CMLL wrestlers - this angle would have been dead from the start. So you have to give the original Invasores lots of credit for stepping up their game and in some cases (Alebrije/Psicosis) showing they were better than the CMLL crew.

Sadly this is where the positivity ends. In the following weeks and months CMLL completely blew this storyline and it wasn't due to one mistake or two mistakes... there were MULTIPLE mistakes that just kept burying the Invasores more and more. Let's take a look at them:

1. Too many members and too soon. The group became as bloated as the nWo ended up being except the nWo was at least given a few months before they began expanding. This group was given barely a month before suddenly they had multiple new members. Not to mention the quality of the members that got added... The Monster, Maniaco and Olimpico. Really? The first two were pretty much nobodies and Olimpico had completely fallen off the face of the earth since leaving CMLL.

2. Hector Garza. Garza ended up helping the Invasores and proclaiming himself to be their leader. This made no sense at all because while this was going on Garza continued to team with CMLL wrestlers like Terrible, Texano, Rey Bucanero, Felino, etc. One Sunday he'd be anti-CMLL and come Friday he'd be teaming with Polvora to win the Gran Alternativa and explain why winning a CMLL tournament was so important to him because that is how he got his start. How could the fans believe in the Invasores if their leader was clearly a top guy in CMLL?

3. Latin Lover. This may not have been CMLL's decision as Latin Lover was in Arena Mexico only to promote a TV show of his but it was certainly CMLL's decision on whether to include him in an angle or not. So they chose yes... and we had Garza/Latin Lover going at it. What came of this? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Latin Lover either wanted too much money to wrestle or CMLL didn't want him wrestling just one show and leaving which would make them look bad. So why include him in the angle at all? In the end CMLL did look bad because the crowd was red hot for the Garza vs Lover angle and instead they got no follow-up and continued to see CMLL parade out 'C' level Invasores week after week.

4. Who were the Invasores alligned with? It was hinted the Japanese wrestlers were on their side which is why they weren't attacked during the original Puebla invasion. But at no point did CMLL ever make this clear. It was also hinted that Gigante Bernard was one of the Invasores but once again CMLL never made that clear and he still teamed with CMLL guys regularly. In the very first CMLL vs Invasores match on CMLL TV (taped 6/1 for Cadena Tres) both Olimpico and Alebrije were teaming with Ray Mendoza Jr.? Why? Mendoza had been a regular CMLL wrestler for years. Jushin Lyger was even teamed with the Invasores which lead one to think that all the foreigners in CMLL were part of the Invasores. Once again... you would have to actually THINK THIS because CMLL never bothered to actually explain it. And yet we still had foriegners like Dark Angel, Strongman, Zeuxis, Durango Kid and La Comandante around who were acting like nothing had changed with them.

5. Parejas Incriebles Matches. Otherwise known as the staple of lazy booking. Just throw people who are feuding into a match and put them on the same team to cause chaos. CMLL did this multiple times with the Invasores (6/6, 6/13 & 8/20) and each time it made no sense at all because the CMLL wrestlers NEVER had ANY issues with the Invasores they were teaming with. In fact they actually teamed up during those matches to work well together and there were no post-match incidents where the team broke apart since you know... they're enemies!

6. Rayo De Jalisco Jr.. This was a huge mistake early in the storyline. You had non-stop attacks by the Invasores against CMLL tecnicos. Eventually both Mascara Ano 2000 and Universo 2000 showed up to attack La Sombra and who should come out after them? Rayo De Jalisco Jr.! Except what does he do? He breaks a guitar over Universo 2000's head! So now not only do we have 10+ Invasores, we also have one lonely Invasor who was obviously not informed the plan was to destroy CMLL and he's actually here to defend CMLL and the tecnico side! This type of confusion was beyond needless at this point in the storyline.

7. The first CMLL vs Invasores show. It took place 6/6 at Arena Mexico and the hype was the show was built entirely around CMLL vs Invasores... naturally. Except two problems... first - the opening match was a mini's tag involving only CMLL wrestlers. They couldn't spring a little extra cash or forget their own hard feelings to bring in Pequeno Halloween and Mr. Aguilita. Of course the opening match is rarely a big deal so I'll let this one slide. However... the main event was Maximo vs Taichi in a hair match. Taichi was not an Invasor. He was around for at least a month before the Invasores had even shown up and had never teamed with them leading into this show. This was a CMLL feud headlining the first CMLL vs Invasores show. THE INVASORES COULDN'T EVEN HEADLINE THEIR OWN FIRST MAJOR SHOW! That's the definition of a storyline mistake right there. The actual CMLL vs Invasores matches did no help to the feud as in the first one you had a bad match where Rush and Maniaco didn't get co-operate. The second was the best of the night but ended with a Garza run-in so the Invasores weren't even allowed to win a match. The third was a Parejas Incriebles match where the CMLL wrestlers and Invasores got along like they'd been buddies for years and to make matters even worse - ONLY ONE TEAM HAD AN INVASOR! How does that make sense? Mr. Aguila was the Invasor and he showed up in awful shape and blew many spots. The final CMLL vs Invasores match was just atrocious and featured Rayo De Jalisco Jr. on the CMLL side which also made zero sense. The entire show set the CMLL vs Invasores storyline back big time.

And finally...

8. Tirantes. I honestly don't even know where to begin here so I should be named an honorary CMLL booker because they obviously didn't either. Tirantes first showed up (masked as a panda) at the CMLL vs Invasores press conference. It was announced that Hector Garza had asked him to the special referee for the matches involving the Invasores to make sure everything was called down the middle. Nothing wrong with this at all. A clear tease that Tirantes was going to screw the CMLL guys. Except what happened on 6/6? In his first match Tirantes had no problem counting down the shoulders of Maniaco, Histeria and The Monster during their loss. In the second match he actually DISQUALIFIED THE INVASORES for Hector Garza's run-in! And in the fourth match he once again was involved in calling a DQ during Mistico and Volador Jr.'s finishing spot. The idea was seemingly to show even though the Invasores brought in Tirantes - he was going to try and call it straight... obviously leading to a major time when he would show his true colors and help them. Except there was no build. The following week Tirantes was back and just begun helping the Invasores out as if the previous week had never even happened. In the weeks after that it made even less sense as Tirantes was refereeing matches that didn't even involve the Invasores. He turned into a regular CMLL referee! Did the commision approve this? Why would CMLL wrestlers be okay with having a match refereed by a man who was originally brought in by the arch enemies - the Invasores?

In addition to the obvious non-sensical refereeing there was also another issue this was causing - Tirantes' mere presence was burying the Invasores. At the begining they were winning matches and when they weren't winning they were at least looking good in defeat and losing because they would cross the line (ripping off a mask or low blow). When Tirantes started refereeing all their matches he would not only help them out by holding back the tecnicos, he would also not call submissions, do slow counts and/or refuse to count at times. This was fantastic to make Tirantes hated but it also destroyed any and all credibility the Invasores had left. Why should the fans take these guys seriously when they can't win any matches on their own? And what was the ultimate payoff here? Tirantes losing his hair? CMLL had yet to even hint that it is a possibility. Tirantes is the top Invasor still around and there is no way CMLL will get a payoff from it. (As an added negative to all this: The hardcore CMLL fans have clearly gotten sick of Tirantes' shtick as the rudo referee deal has never worked in Arena Mexico so attendance has been down as the hardcore fans know what to expect when he's refereeing the main event and they have no interest in paying to see it.)

Conclusion: If it was up to me I'd wrap this storyline up in December. Get Charly Manson or Mr. Aguila's hair as quick as you can and make sure to give it to someone who needs a win like Rey Bucanero or Felino (to set them both up for hair losses in 2011). At this point there is no to pretend CMLL is a 'la seria y estable' any more and just add on an extra stipulation that if Team CMLL wins - Tirantes gets his head shaved as well. It's very AAA-ish but the idea here should be to cut ties with Tirantes. Then CMLL has to make a decision on which Invasores they want to keep around. I would presume Olimpico and Mr. Aguila would retain their jobs as well as the ladies who recently got involved. I would also keep Psicosis around since his mask is still a little valuable and his mere presence in any feud leading up to the March show would be a good distracting if they were planning on someone else losing their mask/hair in a surprise. I would get rid of Alebrije, Manson and Histeria - not because they aren't good but merely because their presence alone would be a reminder of the Invasores angle and there isn't much else you can do with them unless they have their gimmicks changed. They could always still work with the CMLL guys on non-DF shows and in fact if Histeria still wanted to cash in he could lose his mask at any time... just not in DF.

What will really happen? I guess we'll find out in a few weeks. I have a strange feeling Tirantes isn't going anywhere though b/c the men in charge of CMLL are very old school and still think the Gran Davis rudo referee bit is what the fans want to see. I also think the CMLL vs Invasores feud won't die and we'll get the odd match or two per month 2011 where the CMLL wrestlers face the Invasores on Sunday shows. It'll be kept in a background role and just relied upon if a major show is coming up and the bookers have no angle planned so they'll just quickly take the mask or hair of an Invasor.

Labels: , , ,

Monday, November 08, 2010

CMLL FSE 10/16/10 & 10/23/10

CMLL FSE 10/16/10 (taped 10/10/10):

Goya Kong/Luna Magica/Dalys vs Princesa Blanca/Princesa Sujei/La Amapola

- And you wonder why it took me this long to get to this review?
- Rudas in control to start.
- Has anyone seen Goya Kong and Tiffany in the same place?
- Oops... Amapola/Sujei knock Blanca to the floor so Luna Magica can sit on her.
- Big splash from Kong gives fall one to the tecnicas.
- Rudas in control again to start second fall.
- Again the rudas screw up and Luna Magica shows off her inability to actually jump by blowing a rana on Blanca who takes the bump anyways.
- Dalys with a plancha off the apron and Kong follows her lead. I sense this is going two falls. I'm so happy about that.
- Blanca gets DQ'ed for throwing Magica around by her hair. For whatever reason the graphic on the screen shows the tecnicas as winning fall one and three but winning in straight falls. HUH?

Mascara Dorada/La Mascara/La Sombra vs Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero/Dragon Rojo Jr.

- Quick first fall to the rudos via triple submission.
- This match is so formulatic that I'm going to call the second fall in advance... the tecs will do their comeback and we'll see a La Mascara tope suicida followed by the other rudos being pinned. Third fall will have triple dives and then a triple Atlantida finish.
- TRIPLE TOPE SUICIDA FROM THE TECS! I guess I was wrong. Or just got the falls reversed.
- Dorada almost slips off the ropes but has such great balance that he recovers for a neat armdrag.
- Dorada does his reversing positions springboard rana on Rojo!
- Dorada takes Guerrero outside with his inside-out reversing positions springboard rana! THE MAN IS UNSTOPABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Sombra and Atlantis have an excellent exchange.
- Sombra/Guerrero pull off the arms-crossed headscissors spot I haven't seen in a while!
- There's the Triple Atlantida for the win! Started very slow and formulatic but really picked up in the latter half. I'm okay with this match.

CMLL FSE 10/23/10 (taped 10/17/10):

Shocker/Hijo Del Fantasma/Stuka Jr. vs Negro Casas/Mr. Niebla/Volador Jr.

- Match starts with rudos in control and I notice Quemonito and Periquito are both around ringside.
- Shocker may have found all the weight Porky is losing.
- Niebla/Volador beat up Monito.:(
- Tecnico comeback already in fall one? I know what that means! Tecnicos in two falls!
- And there's the first fall with no build to a finish.
- Stuka gets to work with both Volador and Niebla... ends up taking Niebla down with a headscissors on the outside.
- Tope suicida by Fantasma! Over the ringpost dive by Stuka!
- Shocker gets low blowed and there's the match. What a waste of my life.

Luna Magica vs Princesa Blanca - Hair vs Hair

- Speaking of waste of my life...
- There's something wrong with Luna Magica's face.
- Luna Magica has trouble putting on a Boston Crab to win the first fall. She has all the enthusiasm as a goldfish after winning the first fall in a FUCKING HAIR MATCH.
- Second fall joined with Magica giving Blanca a headscissors on the floor. I'm shocked she could pull it off.
- Magica deadweights herself so Blanca drops her trying a power bomb. I may have to youtube the highlights from this clusterfuck.
- Blanca resorts to lying down on top of Magica and banging her head into the mat as the ref counts three. WHAT A FINISH! Fucking awful shitty women wrestlers.
- Doctor comes out to check on Magica who somehow got hurt there. What about me? I'm in pain here.
- Luna Magica tries a silla off the top rope and of course is too fucking fat to jump so she barely connects with Blanca. But she covers anyways b/c we're professional here. Blanca kicks out but Magica was getting off her anyways. Why cover your opponent only to get off in mid-count?
- Magica jumps off the second rope with a plancha to the floor. Thank god she didn't try to do it off the top rope.
- They try the counter a wheelbarrow suplex spot into a bulldog but Magica is too out of shape to pull it off so she just gets back onto her feet and slams Blanca's face into the mat. You think I'm being too hard on this match, right? Yeah... I'm not.
- The look on Princesa Sujei's face says it all.
- Blanca does her signature dive onto Magica which takes guts b/c I wouldn't trust her to catch me.
- Magica barely clears the ropes trying to armdrag Blanca. WHY ARE THEY STILL TRYING SPOTS THAT INVOLVE ATHLETICISM? LUNA MAGICA IS A FAT COW WHO HAS NO PLACE IN A WRESTLING RING!
- Blanca's submission attempt is not the finish b/c clearly they need to blow more spots.
- Oh my god they're setting up a top rope frankensteiner... this will not end well... okay that was about as good as you can expect.
- Magica hits a frankensteiner off the second rope and Rafa El Maya counts to three. Blanca kicks out before the four count. For whatever reason Luna Magica is not declared the winner. Let me say this again...

RAFA EL MAYA COUNTED TO THREE AND LUNA MAGICA IS STILL NOT THE WINNER.

- Is this some sort of joke on me? The crowd could clearly care less about anything going on in the ring.
- PLEASE STOP WRESTLING NOW YOU FUCKING AWFUL SHITTY WOMEN WRESTLERS!
- On the bright side that botched count now has the crowd more into the match.
- Magica blows a rana and ends up just cradling Blanca but Rafa El Maya refuses to count b/c Blanca is squirming. Magica refuses to stop her cover though. Rafa El Maya refuses to count some more.

RAFA EL MAYA IS REFUSING TO COUNT TO THREE AFTER ALREADY COUNTING TO THREE AND NOT AWARDING THE MATCH TO MAGICA.

THIS MATCH IS NEVER GOING TO END.

- For whatever reason Magica managed to talk Maya into finally counting and she gets a 2 count. Does that win this match? I guess not. Maybe you need a 7 count.
- Princesa Blanca may be more annoyed than I am right now.
- That was the worst fucking counter to a splash ever. This match is going to make me hate womens wrestling more than I already do which I didn't think was possible.
- Blanca tries a power bomb but Magica deadweights her again...
- Let's try that one more time... okay same result...
- Let's try a third time just to make this super hilarious... FAIL!!! THREE FAILS IN A ROW!!! I AM LOSING MY SHIT RIGHT NOW!
- Ah there we go, Blanca just slams Magica down like a sack of bricks.
- Rafa El Maya counts to three. The match is over. Why? It was only a three count.

THIS IS MY MATCH OF THE YEAR.

Luna Magica gets her head shaved and now looks exactly like her husband. That is fucking creepy.

Labels: , , ,

CMLL 52MX 11/6/10 (taped 10/31/10)

Bam Bam/Electrico/Ultimo Dragoncito vs Pequeno Olimpico/Pequeno Warrior/Pierrothito

- That mask Bam Bam wore in his entrance is not going to put an end to any of the rumors surrounding his orientation.
- This is an actual solid lineup of mini's but it is a Sunday show... so I'm not sure what to expect.
- Is this the first time they've come out and said Pequeno Olimpico used to be Cicloncito Ramirez?
- Interesting question of the week: Did Pequeno Warrior agree to drop his mask by the end of the year in exchange for taking Bracito's mask earlier in the year? Will Electrico be the one to take it? Will CMLL get called out for the fraude of having Peq Warrior unmask again in DF?
- Excellent finish to the first fall with a crazy dive by Electrico and the other tecnicos hitting their respective finishers.
- Second fall is clipped right away.
- Electrico getting his mask ripped by Warrior so this is a Sunday and Friday feud it seems.
- Someone got their wires crossed on the comeback b/c Pierrothito just stands there when Bam Bam superkicks him.
- Bam Bam ends up outside and takes a plancha from Pierrothito!
- Rudos wrap up the fall with Electrico basically walking into Peq Warrior's finisher.
- Third fall has the Bam Bam showcase. The guy is amazing. Reminds me so much of Ricky Marvin who was clearly miles ahead of almost everyone in CMLL when he finally chose to leave b/c he was going nowhere. Sadly there is no mini's division in Japan for Bam Bam.
- Dragoncito and Bam Bam with dual flip planchas!
- Electrico counters Peq Warrior's finisher! UNEXPECTED! Warrior then gives up too early to Electrico's submission but it's okay. They need to fix that before the mask match though.

Valiente/Maximo/Toscano vs Okumura/Taichi/... YOSHIHASHI?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!!?

- Who decided Yoshihashi could finally get back on TV?
- Japanese attack during the entrances. Is this a feud? I swear Maximo and Valiente have been paired up with the Japanese a lot lately.
- Taichi's big boot looks unpleasant to take.
- Hey look, Yoshihashi has a finisher! We may never get to see it again!
- For someone who supposedly only teamed with the Invasores so she could get a shot at Amapola, Marcela looks awfully happy to be posing with them in the Ras De Lona clips.
- Toscano and Valiente lead the tecnico comeback and Maximo hits a tope suicida on Taichi!
- Valiente hits an incredible double springboard rana and then finishes off Okumura! Awesome!
- The doctor at ringside seems strangely not into watching Maximo try to kiss Taichi. Sell it doctor!
- And now Toscano is stripping. Where's the FF button...
- Yoshihashi has TWO moves! This calls for a seperate luchablog post!
- MAKE IT THREE! HE'S DESPERATE TO GET BACK ON TV!
- Japanese team takes it as cleanly as I've seen in a while. Not as bad as I thought it'd be.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

CMLL Puebla 10/25/10 (taped 10/11/10)

Tigre Rojo/Stigma vs Ares/Espiritu Maligno

- Have not been overly impressed with what I've seen from Stigma but he's young so I assume he will improve. He's certainly way ahead of most of the GDL locals making TV.
- Stigma may be able to work as 'Electro' if he ever gets called up to the main roster seeing as though he remarkably resembles Electrico.
- Nice cutoff spot as Ares spears Stigma out of nowhere!
- Not much happening in this rudo beatdown...
- WHOA WHAT A FUCKING ARMDRAG BY STIGMA! THAT'S HOW TO WIN ME OVER! Lots of rope bounces and then a 360 armdrag off the SECOND ROPE!
- DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT BODYBLOCK BY STIGMA!
- Double neato submissions for the... no wait... down to Stigma vs Espiritu! Amazing how finishes like this never even enter the minds of the wrestlers/bookers working in DF.
- After some nice nearfalls Espiritu gets the win by throwing Stigma on his face from a Splash Mountain position and then locking on a reverse Indian Deathlock! Fun short match.

Astral/Shockercito/Ultimo Dragoncito vs Bracito De Oro/Pequeno Nitro/Pequeno Warrior

- Bracito may be a rudo now but he still loves whoever that is on his football jersey.
- I do not expect anything out of this match except Shockercito/Bracito feuding.
- Astral enters with a double springboard moonsault and thus I do not get the privelage of seeing him smash his head into the mat like he did in Guadalajara.:(
- Astral goes for an armdrag and Nitro tries a clothesline. Ugly.
- One more blown spot before the finish as the rudos take fall one.
- Astral climbs the ropes for a plancha in the second fall! Ultimo Dragoncito follows with a safe (by his standards) flip plancha!
- Reinera gets Bracito De Oro to submit.
- Rudos remain in control to start the third fall so Bracito can toss Shockercito around.
- Astral finds another fancy way to enter the ring without smashing his head!
- Astral moonsaults off Pequeno Nitro's back and sends him out with a rana! Then he follows with a running somersault plancha!
- Bracito low blows Shockercito for the DQ! Crowd was more into this feud than I thought they'd be.

Blue Panther/Hijo Del Fantasma/Toscano vs Vangelis/El Terrible/Misterioso II

- Terrible/Panther open with some decent matwork.
- Fantasma/Misterioso up next and I expect Misterioso to lead Fantasma through the same exchange he goes through with every CMLL tecnico.
- Yep, there it is.
- Vangelis takes a bump to the floor and Toscano follows with a simple pescado. I'm thinking after breaking his leg on a running somersault plancha and then recently taking a big fall off a springboard plancha we won't be seeing anything else out of Toscano other than a tope suicida or pescado.
- Panther tries to boost Fantasma into a rana but Terrible power bombs him and then both tecnicos are forced to give up.
- Second fall is quick as Fantasma rolls up Terrible while his partners are distracted. Vangelis is in absolute shock.
- Hijo Del Fantasma with a wild tope suicida!
- Toscano with another pescado!
- Panther tries a pescado as well but Vangelis pulls him outside only to have his head meet the ringpost soon afterwards.
- Some nearfalls and near submissions...
- Terrible ends up outside and eats a Fantasma pescado! The remaining two tecnicos put the rudos away for the win. Better than I expected.

Mistico/La Mascara/Mascara Dorada vs Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero/Mr. Niebla

- Rudos attack La Mascara during his entrance.
- Triple submission gives the first fall to the rudos.
- La Mascara takes out Ultimo with a tope suicida and Dorada almost killed Niebla with a moonsault bodyblock inside the ring as Mistico hits La Mistica to even the falls up.
- Dorada gets in exchanges with Atlantis and Niebla before bailing so La Mascara can face Ultimo Guerrero who runs away.
- Mistico does the same.
- Double running somersault planchas from Dorada and Mistico!
- La Campana wins it for La Mascara and the tecnicos! Usual post-match challenges afterwards. Highlighs at the end show a Rey Cometa asai moonsault, Fuego diving over the top onto Skandalo and Pegasso doing his Ludxor dive onto an unsuspecting Nitro except this was a REAL unsuspecting Nitro who was looking at the crowd and was shocked when Pegasso landed beside him. Oops...

Labels: , , , ,

CMLL C3 TV 10/23/10 (taped 10/19/10)

Astro Boy/Trueno vs Disturbio/Tiger Kid

- It's an opener! Always nice when the C3 folks give this to us as a bonus.
- Disturbio is small and out of shape. Kinda like Skandalo. And Panico. Weird how that works - huh?
- Notice how people always accuse Astro Boy of working as Mistico but nobody ever accues Mistico of working as Astro Boy?
- And Astro Boy slips on a kip-up...
- Astro Boy's running springboard plancha off the ramp is actually pretty neat.
- Trueno badly blows his run-up-the-ropes diving tope and settles for a springboard plancha to win the fall. They actually covered nicely compared to most blown spots lately in CMLL.
- Second fall JIP during Astro Boy's generic exchange.
- Trueno manages to run up the ropes successfully this time!
- Tope suicida countered by a dropkick by Felino Jr.!
- Ugh... I hate Disturbio's finisher. One of those spots where you basically have to do the finisher on yourself. Astro Boy grabs Disturbio around the head and jumps up so Disturbio can give him a backbreaker. It's beyond silly.
- Tiger Kid's dropkicks out of nowhere are awesome.
- Astro Boy must have mistimed his comeback b/c now they're re-doing it with Trueno in the correct place.
- Astro Boy dropkicks Trueno by accident and the tecnicos are put away with a Canadian Destroyer (copyright Rey Bucanero?) and a neat over-the-shoulder backbreaker into a forward power bomb where Disturbio sticks his knee out at the last moment. We need a name for that. Fun match.

Sensei/Pegasso/Metalico vs Dr. X/Nosferatu/Hooligan

- So this may be the last we see of Pegasso for a while as his only match after this was the one where he dislocated his leg and will probably be out a while.
- WHOA! The Metalico/Hooligan matwork section is awesome! Very creative stuff!
- Dr. X was clearly not watching the previous match b/c Sensei did the same headdrag takedown spot that Astro Boy did to get into position for Disturbio's finisher.
- ASSISTED RUNNING SOMERSAULT PLANCHA FROM PEGASSO! Surprised he didn't bust his leg there.
- Sensei makes Nosferatu submit as Metalico does a nice roll-up on Hooligan.
- PEGASSO MOONSAULT OFF THE APRON INTO AN ARMDRAG! NICELY DONE! And perhaps he should have done that instead of off the second rope 10 days later and thus saved himself a very painful injury...
- Metalico frankensteiner off the top rope! Why is he so motivated these days?
- Tope suicida by Metalico!
- Tecnicos cannot capitalize on the momentum generated by Metalico and get put away easily.
- Nosferatu whips Metalico into the ropes but has no idea what to do as Metalico runs back towards him. Professional.
- What the fuck finish with a tope suicida out of nowhere by Sensei, Pegasso leaps into two feet from Dr. X and Hooligan wraps Metaico up in an out of this world submission! Replay please! That was awesome!

Delta/Metro/Stuka Jr. vs Virus/Cancerbero/Raziel

- Stuka Jr./Raziel start on the mat which is a preview of next Friday at Arena Mexico.
- If I was booking CMLL I'd have Delta working with Virus every night and forbidding him to do any highspots until he can work standard exchanges.
- And just as I type that Delta goes running past Virus who takes a bump from an invisible shoulderblock. Embarassing. There have been many embarassing spots like that lately in CMLL.
- Virus immediatly makes Delta submit and seems unhappy.
- As a general rule in CMLL - if you are a novato and you fuck up a spot against a veteran you either get tossed out of the ring and are not given a chance to shine or you get pinned/submitted immediatly. Thus why Delta was submitted right away. Of course this leads to the problem of the match being thrown off course so to make up for it the second fall lasted about 30 seconds with the rudos DQ'ed right away for choking Metro on the ropes. Nice improvisation. Bad for the fans who are getting robbed of what could have been a good match but this is the type of lesson Delta needs or he'll never get better.
- Stuka leads the third fall comeback and it ends quick with a Delta assisted frankensteiner (almost blown) and Metro's submission. Match was what it was.

Shocker/Sagrado/Valiente vs Negro Casas/Felino/Mr. Niebla

- Is this the first time Valiente has worked with Negro Casas? Strangely I can't think of any other time.
- Another horrible botched spot with Shocker/Mr. Niebla. This has seriously got to stop. CMLL used to be the professional group (at least inside the ring), now they come off as just as bad as AAA main events.
- Well that was lame... a quick second fall low blow and the tecs win in two straight. I would be asking for my money back at this point if I was in attendance.

Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero/Dragon Rojo Jr. vs Hector Garza/Mr. Aguila/Taichi

- Invaders quickly take the first fall.
- Hector Garza's stipping distracts him and he accidentally kicks Aguila in the face. Foreshadowing!
- GdA tie it up with Garza laying down for Rojo.
- Aguila may be slower but he can still flip! Guerrero is unimpressed and dropkicks him off the apron really hard!
- Dragon Rojo steals Garza's "STOP!" deal but gets kicked in the stomach for his troubles.
- TAICHI WITH A PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR! OH MY GOD!
- Aguila tosses Rojo into a low blow from Garza for ANOTHER DQ! Why would they do that with a two-on-one advantage?

Labels: , , ,