RIP CMLL
CMLL is not going to shut down any time soon. The CMLL name will live on forever, the titles will still be around and the Arena Mexico will likely run wrestling events until the day it's demolished. However, the CMLL we have known for years and years is dead. A giant nail was driven into it's heart yesterday.
CMLL still exists in the sense the UWA still existed in 1993. The company name was used, the title belts were defended and the buildings they always ran kept putting on shows. But the stars were all gone. The excitement was non-existent. There was no money. There were no fans under 40 left. It was a glorified indy used by Canek to make himself feel like a star and push his untalented friends and family.
To some people the UWA still exists to this very day. Every year a promoter puts on a series of UWA reunion shows and really senile wrestlers like Fuerza Guerrera & Mascara Sagrada will say wrestling would still be hot in Mexico if a UWA type promotion was still around. This is obviously false. Anyone with half a brain knows this.
The CMLL we know is "the serious & stable". Slowly over the past couple of years that slogan has become laughable. CMLL now features strip shows, multiple midgets intefereing in matches, Estrellita as the face of the women's division, gimmicks like Kraneo/Peste Negra/Maximo and more focus on the entertainment/television production aspect of live shows rather than action in the ring. The matches have gotten ridiculously short and are all formatted for television. CMLL has basically become what Antonio Pena's AAA was. This is not arguable at all. If I could go back 3 years and tell the most hardcore fan that the next CMLL show would be headlined by Estrellita and feature a clone of Mistico they would laugh at me and call me anti-CMLL.
The result of all this is CMLL has driven away their hardcore fans. The promotion operates like a touring promotion except they don't tour. They have burned out all their buildings and with the creation of a Mistico II they are alienating any fans that remain. Forget the fact Dragon Lee isn't talented or charasmatic - who is this gimmick aimed at? Kids? CMLL doesn't draw lots of kids as it is b/c it's an unfriendly kid atmosphere. Teens? The same teens that grew up with Mistico are now going to return to watch a phony? Really? I'd love to see that. If anything those teens will make fun of any younger siblings who dare watch a fake Mistico. Adults? The only adults at CMLL shows these days are drunk young men/women or older couples out with their kid for a once a week show. They have no vested interest in the promotion itself. If IWRG ran a show at Arena Mexico those same people would come. CMLL has disassociated themselves from any sort of fanbase. The VERY few hardcore loyalists that remain are out numbered by edecanes on major shows.
Now you have the ongoing rumors that CMLL is trying to sell off Arena Coliseo and Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. Combine that with the well known fact Paco Alonso has no interest in CMLL itself and has implented a group of bafoons to run the company in his absence. They push their friends and family because they can. Also because they are not bright. They are all ex-wrestlers and let's be honest - very few become wrestlers by choice. It's a last resort to destroy your body for little pay. CMLL is run by incompetent old stupid men. This is fact and once again not arguable. They have tried to insert new blood into the office. Edgar Noriugea is no help as he's learned everything from the current staff of morons. Ultimo Guerrero is only interested in pushing in buddies and his booking is as dull as his singles matches.
I am now actively rooting for CMLL to die. I've been accused of being anti-CMLL by all the usual nutcases out there but that was never true until yesterday. I respect most of the wrestlers and want them to make money and be successful. This is impossible under the current regime. My new hope is CMLL as we know it dies so that all the fools who run CMLL now can be known as the people responsible for it's death. Much like Canek will always be treated as a Mexican hero he will also always be known as the guy who played a major part in killing the UWA. As an added bonus when Dragon Lee fails as a clone I want to be the one to laugh at any fool who suggested it might be successful. It won't. It's not only a bad business decision, it's an insult to what's left of a loyal fanbase.
I'll keep watching CMLL because I enjoy some wrestlers and there is nothing better than Mexican wrestling but I couldn't give a fuck about anything outside of the in-ring action.
CMLL is a corrupt promotion run by old men with no respect for their own fans. Keep that in mind next time you invest cash or emotion into anything.
CMLL still exists in the sense the UWA still existed in 1993. The company name was used, the title belts were defended and the buildings they always ran kept putting on shows. But the stars were all gone. The excitement was non-existent. There was no money. There were no fans under 40 left. It was a glorified indy used by Canek to make himself feel like a star and push his untalented friends and family.
To some people the UWA still exists to this very day. Every year a promoter puts on a series of UWA reunion shows and really senile wrestlers like Fuerza Guerrera & Mascara Sagrada will say wrestling would still be hot in Mexico if a UWA type promotion was still around. This is obviously false. Anyone with half a brain knows this.
The CMLL we know is "the serious & stable". Slowly over the past couple of years that slogan has become laughable. CMLL now features strip shows, multiple midgets intefereing in matches, Estrellita as the face of the women's division, gimmicks like Kraneo/Peste Negra/Maximo and more focus on the entertainment/television production aspect of live shows rather than action in the ring. The matches have gotten ridiculously short and are all formatted for television. CMLL has basically become what Antonio Pena's AAA was. This is not arguable at all. If I could go back 3 years and tell the most hardcore fan that the next CMLL show would be headlined by Estrellita and feature a clone of Mistico they would laugh at me and call me anti-CMLL.
The result of all this is CMLL has driven away their hardcore fans. The promotion operates like a touring promotion except they don't tour. They have burned out all their buildings and with the creation of a Mistico II they are alienating any fans that remain. Forget the fact Dragon Lee isn't talented or charasmatic - who is this gimmick aimed at? Kids? CMLL doesn't draw lots of kids as it is b/c it's an unfriendly kid atmosphere. Teens? The same teens that grew up with Mistico are now going to return to watch a phony? Really? I'd love to see that. If anything those teens will make fun of any younger siblings who dare watch a fake Mistico. Adults? The only adults at CMLL shows these days are drunk young men/women or older couples out with their kid for a once a week show. They have no vested interest in the promotion itself. If IWRG ran a show at Arena Mexico those same people would come. CMLL has disassociated themselves from any sort of fanbase. The VERY few hardcore loyalists that remain are out numbered by edecanes on major shows.
Now you have the ongoing rumors that CMLL is trying to sell off Arena Coliseo and Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. Combine that with the well known fact Paco Alonso has no interest in CMLL itself and has implented a group of bafoons to run the company in his absence. They push their friends and family because they can. Also because they are not bright. They are all ex-wrestlers and let's be honest - very few become wrestlers by choice. It's a last resort to destroy your body for little pay. CMLL is run by incompetent old stupid men. This is fact and once again not arguable. They have tried to insert new blood into the office. Edgar Noriugea is no help as he's learned everything from the current staff of morons. Ultimo Guerrero is only interested in pushing in buddies and his booking is as dull as his singles matches.
I am now actively rooting for CMLL to die. I've been accused of being anti-CMLL by all the usual nutcases out there but that was never true until yesterday. I respect most of the wrestlers and want them to make money and be successful. This is impossible under the current regime. My new hope is CMLL as we know it dies so that all the fools who run CMLL now can be known as the people responsible for it's death. Much like Canek will always be treated as a Mexican hero he will also always be known as the guy who played a major part in killing the UWA. As an added bonus when Dragon Lee fails as a clone I want to be the one to laugh at any fool who suggested it might be successful. It won't. It's not only a bad business decision, it's an insult to what's left of a loyal fanbase.
I'll keep watching CMLL because I enjoy some wrestlers and there is nothing better than Mexican wrestling but I couldn't give a fuck about anything outside of the in-ring action.
CMLL is a corrupt promotion run by old men with no respect for their own fans. Keep that in mind next time you invest cash or emotion into anything.
Labels: cmll, lucha libre, mexico, wrestling
posted by Rob at 6:00 PM
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