Thursday, October 26, 2006

IWRG/CMLL Guadalajara/CMLL/AAA all in one!

IWRG TV 8/13/06:

Kid Tiger and Platino vs Bacteria and Belcebu: I think Platino might be the ex-Ultimo Tigre. They have the same build and awkward flying spots. Pretty standard opener with some okay moves from the tecnicos but nothing that could be used on any sort of highlight tape. Third fall was really good and had multiple eliminations which left Platino to finish off Bacteria with Mascara Magica's old torture rack submission variation.

Ave Fenix/Fantasma Jr./Halcon Salvaje vs Black Jaguar/Fantasma De La Opera/Shigeo Okumura: Fenix looked better than he has before as he hit some nice flying spots. The rudos worked well with the tecnicos and somehow made the horrible Fantasma Jr. look passable. The rudos taking over spot in the second fall was nicely done as Fantasma De La Opera did a running dropkick as Fenix did a handspring off the ropes. Fenix nailed a split-legged moonsault during the tecnico comeback in the third fall. Fenix and Fantasma did dual dives with Fenix's being awesome as he did a running tope over the top rope and looked like he broke his neck crashing into Fantasma De La Opera! Okumura cheated to win.

Felino/Pantera/Panterita vs Bestia Salvaje/El Veneno/Nitro: Funny bit before the match as the rudos told Pantera he had to unmask so he took off his mask. Then they told Panterita he had to unmasked since he lost his as well and he unmasked. Then they told Felino he had to unmask and he started unlacing his mask before his partners stopped him.:) Pantera did a nice tope suicida from the apron through the turnbuckles in the first fall. Panterita looks like he'll be able to survive just fine without his mask. He still hit all his awesome spots and now he can bleed to get sympathy. He's kinda like a mini Mike Segura which is weird since Mike Segura is a mini himself.:P Felino got assisted into a plancha at one point and then Panterita nailed Bestia with a huge running somersault plancha. I think the rudos cheated to win but I watched this a few days ago so I can't really recall.

Mistico/Dr. Wagner Jr./Mike Segura vs Olimpico/Mr. Aguila/Misterioso II: A Perro and a Guerrero teaming? I guess that kinda thing doesn't matter in Arena Naucalpan. The entrances were awesome and a ton of fans rushed the ring to just touch Mistico as he got to ringside. It even delayed the start of the match! I really liked this match although it made me sad that Misterioso II never got an official push after winning the Gran Alternativa. He seems like a natural opponent for Mistico as they had some great chemistry going here. Mistico even seemed to step up his game and hit a couple of spots he doesn't normally try since he seemed to trust Misterioso II as a good base. Segura also looked awesome and was working a lot with Aguila. In 1997, Oro Jr. vs Mr. Aguila would have been my dream match! Third fall was insane with tons of cool spots. Segura ended up doing a bullet tope suicida but Olimpico moved and Aguila was supposed to get hit but Segura came up a bit short and nose-dived the floor. Then Wagner nailed Olimpico with a somersault off the apron. This left Mistico and Misterioso which led to... duh... LA MISTICA! Really good stuff here.

This is an episode you all want! Great show top to bottom!

CMLL Guadalajara 8/23/2006:

This show had tons of satellite interference so it was hard to watch...

Satanico/Tony Rivera/Volador Jr. vs Sangre Azteca/Toxico/I forget: The early stuff with Volador Jr./Azteca was great as you would expect. The rest of the match was hard to watch but I did notice two tecnico dives in the third fall and Satanico getting robbed of a win.

Idolo vs Destroyer II - Mask vs Mask: Satellite problems calmed down a bit after highlights of the first and second fall were shown. Idolo nailed a huge springboard plancha. They did a bunch of nearfalls that the crowd seemed hot for and finally Idolo used a small package to win the match. Destroyer II barely showed his face when he unmasked but then ran back to ringside to attack Idolo so the crowd wouldn't be all pissed off.

Dr. Wagner Jr./Rey Bucanero vs Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero: Ruined by the constant interuptions of the feed. I did notice Bucanero do a running somersault plancha as Wagner did a somersault off the apron(re-pe-ti-tiveness SUCKS!). Otherwise what was shown was 101% completely by the numbers.

Can't reccomend this show b/c of the fact you miss more than half of it with the satellite problems.

CMLL TV 9/2/06:

Lizmark/Lizmark Jr./La Mascara vs Kenzo Suzuki/Pierroth/Universo 2000: Fucking awful. It's just embarassing to watch both Lizmark's at this point and it's not like the rudos are in any position to be carrying anyone. Mascara got a surprise pinfall on Pierroth in the first fall but it was cancelled out by the fact Pierroth pinned him in the third fall and manhandled him the rest of the match. Waste of TV time. Thank god they've started showing undercard/midcard Coliseo matches now.

Momentos had a cool asai moonsault by Tigre Metalico on Arkangel as the only new spot. In fact, now that I think about it - every other spot was from the Torneo from last week. That's silly.

Leyenda De Plata Block B: This was the highspot intensive block as the short 12 minute match had about 12 dives, mostly by Mistico and Volador Jr. of course. They actually squared off early on and their face-to-face confrontation got a HUGE POP. I wonder if at some point that will turn into a feud since right now they are milking them as a tag team. I really wish Averno/Mephisto still had the tag straps.:( The Mistico/Volador Jr. exchange started strong but then cooled off as Mistico blew a headscissors and then when they tried dual springboard corkscrew planchas, Mistico slipped.:/ Sagrado did a tope suicida, Koslov did a running somersault plancha, Aguila did the Vuelo de Aguila, Mistico and Volador did combo dives and Volador Jr. did a running somersault plancha to perfection. I'm sure I'm forgetting more stuff. The eliminations were largely well done except for the stupid Mistico/Damian/Aguila spot near the finish. No build for the final pinfall like last week's Torneo as this time Mistico/Aguila just did their usual double backflip into La Mistica spot. Luckily I enjoy that spot.:) Not good but definitely fun.

Blue Panther/Dr. Wagner Jr./Heavy Metal vs Perro Aguayo Jr./Hector Garza/Damian El Terrible: Shocker made his return before the match. This was very long. Third fall in particular seemed to never want to end which was okay at some points when things were going good(Wagner/Garza) and very not okay when things were going bad(Metal/Perrito). Third fall finish had cool spots involving dives that I won't spoil. Perros won clean.

Average episode. If you like the spotfests, you'll love the Torneo and third fall of the main event.

AAA TV 8/17/06 in Aguascalientes:

Chiva Rayada I vs Paranoico: They seemed to join this in progress. Chiva hit a couple of sloppy spots and then used a tope suicida. Paranoico got a nearfall with a spinning slam. Chiva ended up going over and advantcing in the Luchando para un Sueno tournament.

Super Fly vs Kaoma Jr.: This was also seemingly edited to late in the match which sucked b/c both guys appeared lost and were just stumbling around the ring. Super Fly even seemed to be limping a bit so perhaps he hurt his knee early in the match trying something insane which we'll never see. He ended up missing a moonsault and Kaoma Jr. used EZ Money's old Monkey in the Bank finisher to win and advance.

Laredo Kid vs Mr. Condor: This was just the Laredo Kid show and poor Mr. Condor had to suffer b/c of it. Laredo is one of those guys where when he's on... he's amazing and everything looks beautiful. But when he's off like this match... you fear for his life and his opponent's life. Laredo did a tornillo off the second rope in the ring that almsot crushed Condor's face. Then he tried an asai moonsault and his knee DID crush Condor's face. The finish had him trying a 630 but he didn't get all the way over and ended up driving his head right into Condor's sternum which seemed to shake both guys up badly. Thankfully that was the finish. Laredo advances.

Before the next match was an interview with the new aliens which is one of my new favorite lucha skits ever! I will post this on YouTube!

El Alebrije/El Elegido/Triple A (new guy, not ex-T.D.) vs Los Aliengenias: Fucking awesome. I must know who Mungo(the tall green alien) is. He is HUGE and seems like a great bumper. I think all the aliens are veterans though just based on the style they were using and the chemistry they had with Alebrije who is also a veteran. Whoever the new Triple A was... I WANT HIM BACK MORE! He was amazing. Tons of highlight material spots. Elegido stayed out of the way which definitely helped the match. While the rudos were dominating the tecnicos, they used their little mascot Mandrox as a weapon by backdropping him onto Alebrije! *L* After the comeback and a ton of cool spots from Alebrije/Triple A, they went to the finish. Triple A did a slingshot corkscrew plancha(maybe he's Nautilius?) on Mungo and then Mandrox low blowed Alebrije as he had Krypter in a surfboard. I can't wait to see the rematch. Silly gimmicks? Yes. Awesome wrestling? Yes. GREAT COMBO!

La Secta vs Mexican Power - Mexican National Atomicos Titles: The storyline here was Escoria, Cuervo and Ozz didn't want Chessman's help at all but every time Chessman got in the ring he seeemd to be doing the best for his team. Escoria was once again working with one arm. Kinda interesting to see how he tries to work around it. Juventud did a slingshot into a frankensteiner on the floor on Chessman(DUH!) in the first fall which the MexPower won. Second fall had an AMAZING comeback spot as Chessman ducked a double clothesline and speared both Juventud and Crazzy Boy at the same time except they weren't side by side, they were standing one behind the other which is what made it look so cool. Secta took the fall with some sloppy moves. Third fall seemed joined in progress. Lider did a running somersault plancha as Psicosis did a tope suicida. Secta took the match as Escoria low blowed Juventud as he tried a top-rope frankensteiner and Ozz nailed Crazzy Boy with a top-rope Styles Clash as he tried the same top-rope frankensteiner. These teams could have done better, hopefully they'll get the chance the following week in the rematch. BTW, it should be mentioned La Secta got boo'ed a ton except for Chessman. The announcers were smart to point back to a match in Toluca(the awesome 5/18/06 taping) where La Fuerza Aerea got the same treatment even though they were supposed to be the tecnicos. What goes around comes around...

Brazo De Plata/El Zorro/Oriental vs Alan Stone/Scorpio Jr./Zumbido: Scorpio smashed something over Porky's head during the intros which caused him to bleed and the brawl was on. Zumbido used the Silver King dive during the rudo beatdown. The comeback by the tecnico got tons of heat and had an awesome spot where Oriental used a tope suicida on Zumbido which sent them crashing ONTO the announcers table and injuring Arturo Rivera! Porky did a plancha off the apron onto Scorpio. Oriental used a moonsault over the ringpost on Zumbido in another awesome looking spot. Zorro tried to power bomb Alan to the floor but got shoved and ended up being taken outside with a frankensteiner. Alan did not take a horrible tumble like Electro did at the last taping. Scorpio low blowed Porky to win. Very entertaining match with some crazy highspots from Oriental!

La Parka Jr./Octagon/El Intocable vs Abismo Negro/Charly Manson/Muerte Cibernetica: Before the match Manson brought a sick kid into the ring who had his face painted white. I wonder what was wrong with the kid? His head looked twice the size of his body, as did his hands. He also had a huge scar on his neck. Match was about what you'd expect from these guys. Crowd loved everything which is the sign of a good overall taping since they weren't dead by this point even though it was a long show with more matches than usual. No dives here as they just went to a finish with La Secta(minus Chessman) running out and Parka knocking them all off the apron one-by-one. When he got back into the ring he was low blowed by Banderas and pinned. They agreed to a GPCW Monster Title match on the next taping... I think. Or a lucha de revancha. Either way... it probably won't be too great.:) Chessman and Manson walked off together afterwards.

I enjoyed this taping. The early single matches were a bit disapointing but the midcard stuff more than made up for it.

Monday, October 23, 2006

IWRG TV 7/30 + 8/6/06!

7/30/06:

IWRG continues to take their TV show on the road as this episode takes place in San Pedro ?Tlauhuac?, Puebla! I gotta say, I honestly never thought I'd see a show from that city.:P Looks like your standard show in an oversized gymnasium with tons of fans sitting really far back against the walls and a bunch of other fans who got ringside tickets and get to sit on the crappy folding chairs but are lucky enough to touch the wrestlers. By the main event all the fans had moved to ringside and were standing.

Kid Tiger and Panterita vs LA HORMIGA and LA MOSCA: HOLY BLAST FROM THE PAST! These are not the original Hormiga and Mosca but two guys who are doing the same gimmick in the same outfits! So we have a tiger, a panther, an ant and a fly. It's times like these I love Lucha Libre!:D Nice start on the mat with all four guys looking good. Turns into a rather by the numbers match with the tecnicos getting to show off their offense and winning the first fall, then of course the rudos fight back and win the second fall with some decent double team moves. In the third fall Panterita used a REALLY HIGH asai moonsault almost landing in the first row!!! Then Kid Tiger pinned Mosca inside the ring. Fun match!

Los Payasos Tricolor vs Dr. Markus/Dr. Muerte/Enfermero Jr.: UGH. The one drawback to IWRG debuting TV in a new arena is they always bring the fucking clowns with them to draw the kids. It always leads to a throwaway match and this was no exception whatsoever. It took me halfway through the match to realize there was no Coco Verde and instead they were using a Coco Rojo Jr.! That still didn't stop me from fast forwarding through the rest of the match.;) Finish was creative but you really have to just laugh and fast forward without thinking about it. I didn't do that so I have to point out how stupid it was... Coco Blanco did a dive on one of the doctors and then unmasked himself so he could put the mask on Dr. Markus. Then he rolled Markus into the ring and Muerte/Enfermero started to pound on their own partner thinking it was Blanco... but why? Aside from the mask, he was still wearing all white trunks, elobwpads and kneepads! The Payasos then piled on top for the win. The kids loved it so smart booking.

Pantera/Felino/Max Steel vs Pierroth/Pierroth Jr./Pierroth II: Holy indyrific! This was a pretty shitty match although I did stop fast forwarding at times to see what this Max Steel guy was all about. Big white dude who spoke in broken Spanish. An American perhaps? I guess it doesn't matter since he disapeared off cards within 2 weeks of being first booked. Or he got re-gimmicked in typical IWRG style. Nobody came here to work, they just wanted to goof around. The big tease was Steel turning on his partners as he got dropkicked once by accident and then Pantera nailed him with a pescado late in the match. Pierroth's won clean after triple teaming Felino.

Olimpico and Ultimo Guerrero vs Perro Aguayo Jr. and Damian El Terrible: Guerreros vs Perros explode in the middle of Nowheresville, Puebla! Mostly a brawl all around the building as the fans followed them around. The only times they stopped brawling were to execute the first and second fall finishes, then again in the third fall to setup the finish. Guerrero took a nice bump to setup a silla dive by Perrito. Olimpico used a somersault off the apron onto Terrible. Guerrero got his mask yanked by Perrito which led to a DQ. Crowd seemed to enjoy it but I think you had to be there since a brawl around the arena doesn't translate as well on tape.

Rare to see Lucha take place in small cities like this so I'd reccomend the episode based on that alone. Opener is alright and I'm sure some people would enjoy the main event more than I did.

8/6/06:

Star Boy/Panterita/Fantasma Jr. vs Black Terry/El Hijo Del Diablo/Loco Max: Panterita came out with his newly won IWRG IC Welterweight Title and soon to be lost mask.:( The main feud pushed here was him vs Black Terry as they cut promos on each other beforehand. By the numbers IWRG midcard match without anything too spectacular, even from Panterita. Black Terry had a funny look on his face after the beatdown began in the second fall and Loco Max immediatly made Fantasma Jr. submit. I wonder if the CMLL regulars are thought of less by the independant guys for their rushed style of work? Third fall came down to Panterita vs Terry and Panterita got the clean win with a huracanrana! Crowd popped for the finish.

Mike Segura/Mascara Purpura/Stuka Jr. vs Cerebro Negro/Nitro/Shigeo Okumura: Pretty good match worked more CMLL style with rushed falls. I don't mind that since I wanted to see that from these guys anyways, otherwise it would have turned into a typical IWRG midcard brawl. Stuka Jr. looked really good in the opening mat exchange. Purpura on the other hand... well... if I said he was lost, it would be a horrible understatement. He just had no clue and lots of times was just laying there looking at his corner waiting for them to break up whatever hold he was in. Tecnicos took the first fall after a Segura somersault dive off the apron, a Purpura running SSP and a Stuka Jr. asai moonsault bodyblock. Second fall had each tecnico flying around the ring against each rudo which was fun. Rudos won quickly after the beatdown began. Third fall had the comeback and a teased dive or two but this isn't the old days of IWRG TV so I knew we weren't gonna see any insanity from Stuka Jr. or Purpura. Rudos cheated to win. Fun match.

Heavy Metal/Felino/Pantera vs Pierroth and Los Head Hunters I y II: This was during the Pantera/Felino vs Head Hunters feud so they were the center of attention. To their credit, the Head Hunters are still willing to bump for smaller guys and can make their offense look credible. Metal and Pierroth stayed out of the way till the finish when Metal used a pescado on Pierroth. Then both Felino and Pantera got squashed so the tecnicos lost. Match had it's moments.

Pretty good show. Semi-main is worth seeing for sure and parts of the opener and main are quite enjoyable.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

AAA 8/15/06 in Huamantla & CMLL Guadalajara Returns!

AAA 8/15/06 in Huamantla:

I haven't seen full results including dark matches buf if what aired was all they taped live and you paid to attend this show... you got ripped off! Most AAA TV Tapings have 5 or 6 matches and at least 3 of them have the "stars" involved. This taping had *FOUR* matches and two of them were just undercard filler pretty much.

Show began by showing a longer version of the Tulancingo opening match with the Crazzy Boy trainees. I'd complain but this version included a hilarious spot I will YouTube where Fuego Extremo messes up a spot soooooooooooooo badly. That's what happens when your idol is Crazzy Boy.:)

Actual opener from Huamantla...

Path Finder/Pimpinela Escarlata/Mascarita Divina/Estrellita vs El Gallego/Sexy Francis/Mini Charly Manson/Tiffany: The least they could have done was taken out Path Finder/Gallego and insert a couple of stars into the match for the live crowd. Ozz was definitely not under the Path Finder mask. Whoever was... SUCKED. The best workers in the match were Divina nad Manson but I'm still not sold on them b/c I want to see them at least have a decent exchange with someone besides each other. The Estrellita/Tiffany feud was really pushed once again. Divina nailed a running plancha off the top rope into an armdrag, Estrellita did a plancha, Path Finder did the same, Pimpinela did a running somersault plancha and Estrellita pinned Tiffany with a backslide. The most average match in the world!

Luchando por un Sueno Battle Royale: All 12 guys did promos beforehand which took up roughly 20-25 minutes of the show. The idea here was to setup first round matches. Whoever got pinned first faced the next guy pinned and so forth. I think it was supposed to be a Torneo with tecnicos vs rudos but the rudos jumped the tecnicos right away so it was a huge beatdown. That's the story I'm sticking with.:) Tecnicos eventually fought back and there were a ton of spots before the elimination began. Cometa did some nice moves and a double corkscrew plancha. Pesadilla gave Laredo Kid a Spanisn Fly off the apron to the floor. Laredo Kid did a running somersault plancha while Nemesis did a tope suicida. Pegasso did a running somersault plancha. Eventually the eliminations kicked in and they were done surprisingly well. Cometa/Policeman were the only two guys left at the end so I guess we can call them co-winners.

Crazzy Boy/Joe Lider/Psicosis vs Escoria/El Cuervo/Ozz: This was interesting to watch b/c Escoria almost tore his shoulder up two days before so he was wrestling with only one arm. How crazy do you have to be to get in the ring with one arm? Let alone against CRAZZY BOY and JOE LIDER??? Or hell... even Psicosis! He was responisble for Intocable's injury and always has the stigma of being the one who almost ended Charly Manson's career. Anyways, it was quite the sight seeing Escoria try to do spots with only one arm and especially take moves trying to land on only one side of his body. The match was your usual borefest with the MexPower doing tens of thousands of moves that are completely unneccessary. There were some dives at the end like an Ozz tornillo tope suicida and a Psicosis tope suicida. An "injured" Juventud Guerrera came out at the end to distract the refs so the MexPower could win the match with a double team Storm Cradle Driver. As I type this, these same teams -Psic/+Juventud are wrestling on AAA TV. THIS FEUD WILL NEVER DIE!!!:(

La Parka Jr./Octagon/El Intocable vs Alan Stone/Scorpio Jr./Shocker: The Guapos had cool entrances but that's about all you can say when it comes to this match. By the numbers with the rudos pounding on the tecnicos, the tecnicos fighting back with a neat comeback spot(Intocable dual Asai DDT and dropkick) and then mostly comedy with a Parka tope suicida tossed in. Tecnicos won the match clean to send the crowd home happy which was the one smart booking move of the night.

If you pick one AAA TV show to skip this year, make it this one! None of the matches are worth going out of your way to see unless you are a HUGE Fuerza Aerea mark and need everything of theirs. In which case wait for my Fuerza Aerea Comp. DVD!:)

CMLL Guadalajara 8/16/06 (taped 8/13):

CMLL Guadalajara is back! I'm not sure whether to be happy or not since when it went off the air, it was one of the worse lucha shows on television with horribly clipped matches and main eventers sleeping through their matches. Nevertheless, any new TV footage may turn up a gem or two so let's see if things have changed...

Antrax/Ebola vs Danger/Exterminador: This was only highlights. I didn't even recognize Exterminador w/o his mask and Danger looks much smaller than he used to. Nothing special here.

Leon Blanco/El Gallo/El Idolo vs Mascara Magica/Malefico/Destroyer II: Well the clipping is still around.:( First fall was just a rudo beatdown wit the Idolo vs Destroyer II feud being pushed. Second fall had the tecnico comeback. Blanco and Gallo did passable exchanges. Idolo finally got Destroyer in the ring and the tecnico looked good but both got knocked outside. Then Blanco/Gallo used dual tope suicida on Magica/Malefico and Destroyer pinned Idolo clean to win the match for the rudos in two straight falls. Idolo/Destroyer then agreed to a mask match for the following week.

El Egipcio II/El Hijo Del Texano/Sagrado vs Cesar Dantes/Cien Caras Jr./El Hijo Del Pierroth: Only the third fall was shown and it was joined in progess. What aired was pretty good though! Each tecnico got an exchange and looked good. Egipcio II ended up doing a running somersault plancha(barely got over enough) on Cien's fake son. The tecnicos thought they had the match won and went for high risk moves on opposite sides but they missed(Sagrado moonsault off the second turnbuckle, Texano with a twisting senton) and the rudos pinned them. This should have been shown in full instead of the previous match.

Negro Casas/Heavy Metal/Rayman vs Pierroth/Mascara Ano 2000/Toxico: Well the main eventers sleeping through matches is back too.:( Rayman was the only tecnico that looked good. He did some nice in-ring stuff and a wicked tope suicida. Toxico won the match for his team by pinning Negro clean with his own Casita. Finish was supposed to setup a match for the CMLL Middleweight Title the following week but Negro got hurt so the match never took place and since then Averno has won the belt so I think Toxico is shit outta luck.:)

Alright return episode. It was nice to see some fresh faces. I just hope the show doesn't turn into what it was when it left the air back earlier in the year.