Random Thoughts

- So it's down to Angel De Oro vs Polvora. How disappointing. I guess it's set up this way b/c they wanted to do a tecnico vs rudo final but was Polvora really the best choice? Puma King was RIGHT THERE! So was Escorpion who just won the Gran Alternativa and had an actual angle going for him! I guess the rumors are Angel De Oro will win and become the new Mistico. I'm not doubting it but ever since day one when news broke about Mistico leaving CMLL I've been under the impression from multiple folks that there were no plans to create a new Mistico. Creating clones of Mistico like with Magnus? Yes. But an actual new Mistico using the name and mask? No. Does that mean it won't happen? Obviously not. Plans change. I'm gonna listen to those more 'in the know' than me though and say Angel De Oro will stay Angel De Oro. I don't think this new push will lead anywhere. He'll get a run on top for a month and MAYBE even a big singles match where he gets an upset win but he'll just be a new Stuka or Sagrado. Someone who can wrestle in semi-main events and MAYBE occasionally fill-in doing a main event on a weak Arena Coliseo show ala Maximo but that's his limit. He brings nothing to the table that you can't get out of at least 15 other guys on the roster. Also, this will make things VERY uncomfortable for poor Angel De Plata. Maybe they can find an Angel De Bronco for him to team with?

- AAA has been amazing this year. They are on a great string of TV shows where the action is strong and the angles aren't too bad either. I haven't been as into AAA as I am now since early 2008 when someone was booking great shows including turning regular matches into Rey De Reyes qualifiers which I thought was genius. Great time to do it too as we head into Triplemania. Unfortunately the TNA wrestlers will be involved big time in Triplemania so it won't be an authentic AAA show with the wrestlers that have been working hard to make the promotion so enjoyable but what can you do? AAA seems to equate a megashow with having half the card filled with outside talent. Says a lot about how the owner feels about his own crew. The sad part is Triplemania could be great without any outside involvement. Here's how I would fantasy book it:

* El Mesias vs L.A. Park - Hair vs Mask
* Dr. Wagner Jr. vs El Zorro vs Perro Aguayo Jr. - Mega Heavyweight Title
* Psycho Circus vs Damian 666/Halloween/Lizmark Jr. or X-Fly - Finals of Trios Titles Tournament
* Cibernetico/Charly Manson/Taboo/Escoria/Billy El Malo vs La Parka/Ozz/Cuervo/Espiritu/Drago - Cage, loser gets shaved/loses mask
* Elegido/Lolita vs Alan Stone/Jennifer Blade - Mixed Tag Titles
* Jack Evans/Extreme Tiger vs Joe Lider/Nicho vs Chessman/Ultimo Gladiador vs Tito Santana/Tigre Cota - TLC, AAA Tag Team Titles
* Aero Star/Pimpinela Escarlata/Octagoncito/Fabi Apache or Cynthia Moreno vs Super Fly/Polvo De Estrellas/Mini Psicosis/Sexy Star

Only guys missing are Heavy Metal, Electro Shock, Silver King and Decnis but 2 out of those 4 guys are seemingly going to miss the actual show anyhow and you could easily have them interfere in the TLC match.

- Park vs Mesias is going to be HUGE. I'm still torn on who to pick. Most people think (and probably rightfully so) that no way Park is losing his mask to Mesias. But who knows? Maybe part of the deal Park signed with AAA was that he'd lose his mask eventually for a set price and he's cashing in right now. He'll easily survive without the mask and it would put some closure on last year's Triplemania where he lost the gimmick but never actually stopped using it. Mesias going bald seems more likely and is certainly plausible. One thing is for sure: There will be no screwy finish where a ref gets his head shaved. Thank god for that! If you made me put money down right now I'd bet on Park to win.

- What's up with Chessman lately? He's been reverting back to his 2006 form where he was the best rudo in all of Mexico. Nobody who he gets matched up with he's in full carrying mode and is back to being the best base in the world. It's great to see!

- Jack Evans is at the top of his game right now. AAA has finally established him as a main eventer and he gets huge pops from the females and kids. Hopefully post-Triplemania they go that extra step and have him in a big singles feud. How great would it be if Charly Manson dropped his hair to Jack in order to payback AAA for his bail?

- Anyone notice how IWRG Sunday shows have been returning to their old glory lately? A lot of the older regulars are now back from suspensions and/or vacations which is producing some great lineups and shows. Next week in particular has Freelance vs Avisman and Oficiales vs Terribles Cerebros! Cannot wait to see those thanks to the kindness of generous souls from Mexico who really don't get enough thanks. Anyone who provides regular new Turbo matches to me cannot ever be thanked enough!

- I probably should go on a huge rant about how awful CMLL has been lately but it's not even worth the time. Hopefully the news about Ultimo Guerrero being promoted to the booking team turns out to be for the positive. But then again if he was promoted a few weeks back and he is responsible for some of the latest Friday shows... oh boy... we've got trouble. Right now the Tuesday shows are clearly the best. Fun matches and simplified booking. Sundays are overbooked and are focusing on the complete failure of a feud between Gen 11 and the Rayos Tapatios. If that feud doesn't end with a double mask match or a cage match where one of the Rayos Tapatios loses his mask... well... that'll be typical CMLL.:) I can totally see a cage match ending with Apocalipsis losing his mask to Dragon Lee which will settle absolutely nothing but CMLL will still drop the feud. No matter what happens - will the Rayos Tapatios remain rudos? The Sunday shows are so self-contained I truly wonder if one day we won't wake up to see a lineup for a Friday show with Rayos Tapatios vs Artillero/Super Comando in the opener and we'll be expected to forget all the Gen 11 stuff.

- Is it worth even trying to guess what the next big CMLL match will be? They never deliver on any of their feuds so it's hard enough to guess but they barely have any interesting feuds going on right now. La Mascara vs Averno? Unless Averno gets a WWE offer next week that feud is going nowhere. TRT vs tecnicos? Who gives a shit? They just lost to a random tecnico trio on Friday so they mean less than the Tuereg who are DOMINATING the undercard but as explained to me on radiocmll: "The Rebeldes Tuereg are so dominant that they don't need titles to prove how great they are." Mmmk. The only other feud I can think of and it's barely a feud is Blue Panther vs Negro Casas. Their singles match was great and now they tease not liking each other b/c of the Forjando un Idolo tournament but it's not a feud that gets much play otherwise. So what the heck is CMLL building to? They're going to have a big show next month but is it just going to be a cage match with the Gen 11 guys? What about the Anniversary this year? Rush in a hair match vs someone? Toscano turns rudo? Sounds awesome...

- I am convinced we could divide the CMLL roster into main eventers, semi-main eventers/tercera guys, midcard guys, lower midcard guys, opening match guys and then use a random match generator to predict next Friday's CMLL lineup. I could try it off the top of my head right now... here's a random match I'm just thinking up using top card guys: Blue Panther, La Mascara, Super Porky vs Averno, Mephisto, Terrible. My timeline will be May 30 - June 5, 2011. Let's see if it main events any Puebla, GDL or DF show in that span.

- So there's a tournament later today or at least the start of a tournament to crown a new CMLL Super Lightweight Champion. I should be more excited for this considering Rey Cometa and Trueno are involved but let's be real here - this tournament is only being held to get an extra body in the Universal Title Tournament and neither of those two stand a chance. Plus... IT'S A CMLL TOURNAMENT FOR A TITLE! Two things that really don't matter at all. The only guys who stand a chance of winning today are Palacio Negro and Guerrero Maya Jr. but neither of those two will win the tournament. It's just they are the guys who rank highest so naturally one will win. I can only assume Polvora will win the next block and the title to prove winning Forjando un Idolo means nothing. Either way whoever wins it will have to be credible enough to be involved in a tournament with the 16 other champions so you are completely out of your mind to be hoping Rey Cometa finally gets shown a little respect for being so awesome. In fact just looking at the eight guys tomorrow it wouldn't shock me if Cometa is eliminated first or second depending on whether Hombre Bala Jr.'s push only exists on Sundays.

- As great as it was to see all the Forjando un Idolo matches on youtube (except those missing 2 Puebla matches we'll never get to see!) - is it just me or does anyone else feel annoyed in knowing someone out there has access to CMLL footage from every arena and with very little effort can just put it up on youtube but chooses not to. I know you can't shoot your load right away and just upload entire shows minutes after they finish for various reasons but would it hurt a month later to toss up matches that either didn't make TV anywhere or were badly edited on TV? Doesn't New Japan do that? *hint hint*

- What happened to radiocmll? All the links are broken. The live broadcast is still fine although they have never addressed the issue of the audio levels being completely off but the site only took 2 months to stop getting updated regularly and 4 months to have updates seemingly drop off completely. Is there anyone working for CMLL in an "official" capacity that ISN'T lazy?

- Not buying the rumors of Mascarita Dorada heading to AAA. The no-show of Dragonmania was really odd since that's usually a good booking to get so you don't want to burn your bridge but he was on the CMLL show the next day so things must be okay with them. I think he'd be much better suited in AAA which desperately needs something to freshen up the mini's division but I think the WON rumor is just speculation. Either way CMLL will survive even if he leaves b/c honestly when is the last good Mascarita Dorada match you saw? He's been in cruise control ever since mid-2010. Electrico and Bam Bam have far surpassed him on the depth chart and Astral is catching up really fast (watch his match vs Pierrothito!).

In closing, 5 random things you should all know:

1. T2P was the best promotion ever.
2. Blitzkrieg is the greatest high flyer everyone has forgotten.
3. Reyes Del Aire 2008 is the greatest Reyes Del Aire there ever was.
4. Alas De Oro 2007 was just as good as Reyes Del Aire 2008, if not better.
5. X-Fly deserves more respect than he gets. The dude works hard!