Wednesday, March 02, 2011

CMLL Japan - August 1997

This tour was interesting because unlike the first tour which was trying to replicate an authentic CMLL show in Japan, the promoters clearly saw the reaction of the fans to the younger flying wrestlers and thus only decided to fly over exactly that - younger guys who could fly. Shocker, Mr. Niebla, Felino, Super Astro, Mr. Aguila, Arkangel, Mano Negra Jr., Ultraman Jr. were among the crew who came over for the one week tour and in front of large crowds (had to turn away fans for the Korakuen Hall show) dazzled with their innovation and death-defying dives. The star of the tour was Mr. Aguila who had begun to make a name for himself in CMLL right before leaving for the tour and had already set up a mask match with Halcon Negro. However after the tour he decided to jump to Promo Azteca and left along with Black Warrior and Super Astro. (A decision all three would regret) Aguila blew everyone away on the first night with his psychotic dives to the point the crowd chanted 'Aguila, Aguila, Aguila' throughout his matches. The other (not so) memorable thing from this tour was that it was the last appearence for Arkangel's brother Torbellino as he got seriously injured on the opening night of the tour. Some reports suggested he was paralyzed catching a dive but that was never verified and seems untrue considering he did eventually come back to get a payoff for dropping his mask but that was 8 years later and he was clearly in a lot of pain.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/1jw1w5 - Music video covering the two shows from the tour that aired on Samurai TV

Enjoy!

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Monday, February 28, 2011

CMLL Japan - February 1997 Music Videos

(Yes, I do remember I have a blog for those of you who asked. I'm just lazy!)

Continuing with the exclusive music videos that I can't put up on youtube, here are two videos covering the first CMLL tour of Japan. Cacao Planning sponsored the tour and CMLL sent over pretty much all their top talent who knew how to work (and Rayo De Jalisco Jr.). Needless to say what was left in Mexico wasn't too hot but at least the tour only lasted a week. Everyone went all out to impress and the crowd was definitely into the young guys which is why most were brought back for the following tour in August even though by then some had left the promotion (i.e. Black Warrior). The Hijo Del Santo vs Negro Casas feud was the top draw but their singles match was really disappointing. Crowd very much prefered the Niebla/Warrior singles match from the same show.

Anyone have any memories of this tour?

Music Videos:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/na84pr (2/2/97 show - aired in full on Samurai TV)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/d2iz06 (rest of the tour pieced together from various sources)

Enjoy!

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