Saturday, August 27, 2011

From the 80's into 90's!

Continuing on with my trek through the past...

El Faraon vs Sangre Chicana (1986, unknown location): No clue where this took place since it was shot from ringside and the arena was pretty dark. It probably wasn't a big show considering these two seemed to be having a pretty sub-standard match for what they are capable of and the finish was a double low blow which is a typical cop out nobody has to job on a small show finish. I'm not too broken up since I got to see them have a great match earlier on the DVD.

Next up was supposed to be Los Hermanos Calavera (Oro's dad and uncle) teaming up from Guadalajara in 1982 but the listings were misleading! It was just a clip of challenges after their match was over. BOO!

Rayo De Jalisco Jr./El Faraon vs Asesino Negro/Indio Jeronimo (1982, Arena Coliseo De Guadalajara): After I got over the shock of seeing Asesino Negro almost 30 years younger and 150 pounds lighter I focused on Rayo. For almost any lucha veteran these days you can find at least one person who will come to their defense and say even though they're old and broken down now they used to be good. I say "almost" because Rayo seems to be the exception. I have never come across anyone who has said Rayo used to be even passable. This match pretty much confirmed that. He was only 22 years old, very skinny and the rudos were certainly treating him like the new kid who needed to earn their respect. Fascinating to see how his moveset never even changed throughout the years. Everything you saw him do throughout the 90's and 00's he was doing here except a LITTLE faster. The only blip was a neat headscissors out of the turnbuckles with Asesino Negro taking an awesome bump to the floor. Faraon was excellent as was Jeronimo. Perfectly fine match that the crowd was really into.

Olympus vs Indio Misteca (1985, Monterrey): I believe this was the re-opening of the Coliseo Monterrey after it was shut down for a while but don't quote me on that. It was some sort of big event though as before the match they had a musical performance and the main event was a special legends match. This was the first match so I guess the dude following Chicana around decided it might be cool to keep it on video. He recorded the first 4 or 5 minutes and then the last 4 or 5 minutes. Standard opener outside of some few athletic spots from Olympus and a tope suicida after Indio took a scary backdrop to the floor. After they crawled back inside Olympus did the Cavernaria for the win. THAT SPOT ACTUALLY WORKED FOR ONCE!

Sangre Chicana/Cuautemoc Torres/Dardo Aguilar vs Ruby Rubalcaba/Yuma/Barba Negra (1985, Monterrey): This was the main event of said show shot on handheld by the guy who was following Chicana around. While I appreciate his hard work and rare footage I do have to complain about this match since it was a trios match and for whatever reason he just kept the camera on Chicana the entire time. Even when the crowd was popping for stuff going on in the ring he just zoomed in on Chicana on the apron so this wasn't much of a match. The few bits he did catch were interesting though. One was Torres doing a SPRINGBOARD CROSS BODYBLOCK! IN 1985! That's the earliest I can recall seeing anyone do a springboard. The other cool spot was a ringside POV as Chicana crushed Yuma with a sick as shit tope suicida. The match degenerated into a brawl when Chicana turned on his team and then started fighting with Dardo Aguilar around ringside.

Following the match there is a quick look inside the home of Chicana at the time. In the most stunning development of all-time Chicana lived with a huge portrait of himself on his wall. That is AWESOME! Lots of cool photos with him holding titles and such.

The DVD cut off during the next match which was a handheld of Justiciero Vengador vs El Pervoso at the Plaza De Toros Monumental in Monterrey. What a pretty place to hold Lucha Libre.

Decided I needed a break from handhelds and moved into the early 90's...

Solar I/Apolo Dantes/El Monarca vs Rey Venus/Javier Cruz/Corsario Negro (1991, Arena Coliseo De Monterrey): This match is the definition of why life was so hard for me collecting results back in the day. Everyone knows Javier Cruz's nickname is El Monarca. But there was also a wrestler named El Monarca. Of course I was such a Lucha n00b I didn't know that and just assumed it was the same guy until one day I ran across a result where they were on opposite teams. FUN TIMES! They also look a like too which is really creepy. Anyways... this match was alright when Dantes/Cruz were doing their thing and Monarca even had some fun moments but for the most part I found it rather dull. Solar wasn't really motivated at all and hit the comeback way too early which confused everyone in the match. Finish was a low blow that the camera missed. Pretty lackluster stuff.

Kato Kung Lee/Super Astro/Angel Azteca vs Kung Fu/El Hijo Del Gladiador/Masakre (1991, Arena Coliseo De Monterrey): Kung Fu was doing that annoying gimmick where he hid nunchucks under his sleeve and would constantly use them which made the crowd angry. First fall finish was pretty sweet and perfectly timed by the tecnicos. Second fall had some fun stuff but then it was all downhill with some horrible brawling and Kung Fu just choking guys non-stop. I was hoping they'd at least do a spectacular finish but it just ended up being a flat finish where the rudos won clean. Bleh. In a sorta funny moment they had Bello Kalifa on commentary at ringside and he went up to Gladiador trying to do an interview while the match was in progress and Gladiador just waved him off. Who tries to interview someone in the middle of a match?

Atlantis/Mascara Sagrada/Panterita Del Ring (current Efesto) vs Negro Casas/MS-1/Jerry Estrada (1991, Arena Coliseo De Monterrey): This was pretty fun. I was worried when the first fall seemed to come to a stop as Casas just stood on the top rope and stretched Panterita and the other guys just walked around aimlessly but I guess some folks through beer into the ring and they had to wait while it was mopped up. Estrada played along by slipping on the wet spot and chasing after the dude who was cleaning it up as if it was his fault! Things really picked up in the second fall with some great exchanges and the crowd being really hot for seeing Panterita vs Negro. Panterita even had his own cheering section and anything he did to Negro got a HUGE pop. It looked like they were building to a match between the two which must have been epic. Elsewhere in the match Estrada continued to shine taking some awesome bumps including his famous Jerry-bump and getting flung into the 5th row taking out a bunch of fans! The fans didn't seem too unhappy as one guy even gave Jerry his beer! FTW! Beer is fucking expensive at Leafs/Jays games these days so I'd gladly be flung five rows deep just to get a free one! Finish had Sagrada take MS-1 out with a plancha and Atlantis get Estrada with the Atlantida. Casas/Panterita then traded nearfalls and finally Panterita won with a picture-perfect top rope dropkick. Good stuff here.

Same DVD had parts of the 1/6/91 CMLL TV show which had footage from the 1/4/91 show @ Arena Coliseo which is newly discovered footage...

Mascarita Sagrada/Aguilita Solitaria/Pequeno Cobarde vs Espectrito/Piratita Morgan/MS 1/2: This was 50/50 an angle and an amazing showcase. The angle was Pequeno Cobarde turning on his team after a bunch of miscommunications with Aguilita. The amazing showcase was the performance of all six guys when the angle wasn't in progress. HOLY FUCK were there some insane exchanges! Sagrada and Piratita in particular were showing off some amazing chemistry and had at least 3 out of this world exchanges that the crowd was going nuts for. I'm pretty sure Sagrada did at least 2 spots in this match I've never seen him do before. It's no wonder he is considered the best mini of all-time when you see stuff like this. Aguilita and Peq Cobarde even had their time to shine until they got to the angle portions. Rudos won in two falls but two falls was more than enough for me to love this!

Aguila Solitaria/Aguila De Plata/Super Muneco vs Bestia Salvaje/Comando Ruso/Scorpio: Not much to say here... exactly what you'd expect with these guys. Bestia took a huge sallida before being nailed by a Muneco tope suicida was the only memorable spot. Only the first two falls were on the DVD.

Mogur/Misterioso/Volador vs Pirata Morgan/Masakre/Espectro Jr.: This had the occasional edit by whoever was recording which ruined the flow a bit but I got what I wanted out of this: An awesome Volador/Pirata exchange and a great triple dive spot that had the crowd scurrying for safety. Unfortunately in that triple dive spot Misterioso and Masakre crushed Vicky Aguilera (older lady who always sat front row at Arena Coliseo/Mexico until she died) so everyone was worried about her post-match although she seemed to be laughing it off as they tried to stop her nose from bleeding. WHAT A TROOPER!

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Friday, August 26, 2011

Why Hunico Will Fail As Sin Cara

(c&p from WON.com post I couldn't help but write)

Simply put this is why the Sin Cara gimmick will fail with Hunico...

1. Mistico brought a certain style to the gimmick. He has a certain way of moving, a certain way of doing all his big spots and most importantly a special charisma that only real stars have. He wasn't trained in WWE style and barely spent even a month down in Florida. This worked to his advantage b/c he was DIFFERENT. Even though they tried hard to get him to do certain WWE charachteristics when it comes to selling, pacing and all that jazz... he was still DIFFERENT and it was noticeable even to the most average fan. No matter what youtube videos you link to showing off all Hunico's most impressive spots the fact remains he has been a WWE style wrestler for a long time now and neither before or after he joined the WWE did he have any style that particular stood out. He was always a solid worker void of charisma. He still is. The WWE fans may not catch on right away but over time even the most naive of fans will realize there is something different about this version of Sin Cara. I guarantee it. Also, let's not forget the entire rationale of bringing in Mistico to do this role was that the WWE wanted something different and someone who was a proven star. Hunico fills neither of those roles. In typical WWE fashion they've changed their mind and will ruin a concept that was working fine.

2. Hunico has never been a star. Mistico knows how to come off like a star. He has that "it factor". How else do you explain how he got the gimmick over by only showing up on TV a few times and doing a few moves? Yes he had the spectacular entrance and all the hype videos but so did many WWE creations who clearly didn't have star quality. WWE can only do so much for you then it's up to you to do the rest. Hunico is just like those other WWE failures. He has never been a star outside of Juarez even though he's been positioned pretty well on many shows in Mexico and Europe. He just doesn't have "it" and thus will not be able to come off as anything more than an FCW guy playing a role he took from a real star. WWE may be happy they now have a guy who can speak English in the role but I'll bet you any amount you want the people who made this decision have never heard Hunico speak. He's a robot. In fact he's downright shy.

3. With Mistico the WWE made a significant investment and thus felt obliged to put him over and not treat him like a typical FCW dork who is called up. It's an unfair advantage but listen... stars are supposed to get unfair advantages. Hunico will not get these advantages and it'll be VERY interesting to see how he gets booked compared to how Mistico was booked under the Sin Cara gimmick. Now that the folks in charge are able to distance themselves from any obligation due to the extra cash they had to pay they will view the Sin Cara gimmick as just another WWE gimmick created given to an FCW guy. Hunico will have to go through the usual stuff FCW guys have to like doing jobs on house shows just to see how he'll react, being put in uncomfortable situations on TV just so Vince can get a kick out of it and be booked with parity since he hasn't proven himself yet either with this gimmick or without it. These changes will have a dramatic effect on the Sin Cara charachter.

Needless to say I think this is a huge mistake if it's 100% true. Anti-Mistico folks have long claimed that Mistico isn't anything special and anyone under the Mistico mask could have had the run he had in Mexico or WWE. Well now we'll find out. I'm pretty confident they'll be proven quite wrong. The WWE may be killing a cash cow with this miscalculation. Let's not forget Mistico's appeal was to very young children. Let's also not forget one very important thing about said little children which anyone who has kids or has younger siblings should already know: For as fast as they fall in love with new things they fall out of love just as fast... if not faster. It's all on the WWE handling of the gimmick now b/c Mistico isn't there to bring that certain "it factor" to the role to overcome any mistakes the writers, HHH or Vince make.

On the bright side I'm gonna watch Cubsfan go crazy covering all the Mistico rumors for the next 90 days! Combine that with basbeall season winding down and he's gonna be an angry young man!:D

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Thursday, August 25, 2011

We're Going Back In Time!

Using our collective brains Fredo and I managed to track down some rare as shit Lucha Libre that will thrill anyone who a) loves Lucha Libre & b) thought the well had run dry on undiscovered 80's Lucha. (BTW that's my 10% finding all the footage needed and Fredo's 90% resources hehehehe) The best part is it's not only one area specific - it covers Arena Mexico (~80'S HANDHELDS! Who the hell had the foresight to take a handheld camera into Arena Mexico and film stuff? Who even had the resources to do that? I want to thank someone but I don't know who to thank unfortunately), Guadalajara and Northern Mexico - mostly Monterrey but ALL the famous Monterrey arenas like Solidaridad, Coliseo and Monumental. Slowly but surely I'm going to review everything I watch. Don't bother asking how to get the footage - I've already explained on my twitter (@robviper) that Fredo will be putting it all up on his website (www.slambamjam.com) soon enough once he organizes everything b/c the actual DVD's are a jumbled assortment of matches that really don't fit together. I'm sure when Fredo gets through with it he'll have it all nice and tidy.:) In the meantime you can read my teasers and build up anticipation!

I was so excited to get these DVD's that in the meantime I went back to watch a bunch of 80's footage (just like @kortej is doing over at luchalayercake.blogspot.com). I meant to do a long post on it but I'm a lazy bum. Some points I wanted to make though:

1. Alfonso Dantes was awesome. I remember initially not liking him when I originally watched the DVD's a few years back but that may have been moreso due to his rep of not letting young guys do anything and always trying to avoid selling during beatdowns. Watching now with an open mind I just found him to be awesome. His big spot was basically just a shoulder tackle but it was an AWESOME shoulder tackle (hence his name "The Tank"). He would hit 3 in a row and the crowd would eat it up as his opponents would get frustrated. He was the perfect no-nonsense vet who just wanted to get down to business and kick ass.

2. There's this myth that matches have gotten shorter as time has passed but I don't see it that way. I see it as the style has changed. No matter what kind of match you watch from the 80's and 90's the Lucha Libre style is generally 'get up and go'. The exception is of course the great brawlers but for the most part it's all about doing as much as you can as fast as you can do it. Tag out. Let the other guys go at it. Tag out. Let the other guys do their thing. Some of these trios matches from the 80's only go 16-17 minutes which is the same as a lot of current stuff but the problem with a lot of current stuff is the wrestlers are more focused on the show part and are constantly posing for the crowd or looking for approval before they do anything. It can get annoying... trust me. That's where the myth comes in. The matches seem shorter these days b/c the wrestlers are generally doing 50% of what the guys in the 80's were doing. I saw a trios match where Atlantis had two exchanges where he did more with all three rudos he faced each time than any CMLL wrestler has done in one match in years! But he was in the ring for less time than Palacio Negro usually gets per match. There's also the myth that current Lucha Libre has incorporated the entire concept of a rudo beatdown and pinfall/submission within a minute to end a fall. But I saw that happen plenty of times in the 80's stuff I watched. The difference is all in the execution. Wrestlers today... sadly... are just not as good when it comes to match structure and rely too much on the "less is more" philosophy which is a philosophy I absolutely despise. The one thing that is true... and nobody will argue with this... is singles matches used to be FAR more epic. Those were the matches that went longer and rightfully so. They were important. A title, hair or mask was usually at risk. Or even when nothing was on the line it was about pride and showing up your opponent. These days you really can't find many singles matches that don't follow the silly formula of either two short falls and one long fall or a long first fall, a surprise roll-up in the second fall and then an epic third fall. Once again... current wrestlers have not learned match structure. (Ultimo Guerrero being a prime example of failure in this regard.)

3. Was there ever a better trio than Jerry Estrada, Hombre Bala and Pirata Morgan? I say no. I know there are lots of Infernales fans out there but on an individual basis I can't see anyone arguing Masakre was better than any three of the Bucaneros.

Anyways... onto the reviews of the newly discovered footage...

Cien Caras/Sangre Chicana/Tony Benetto vs Tony Salazar/El Faraon/Tinieblas (1986, Arena Mexico): Shot by a handheld camera which may have been for some sort of Sangre Chicana documentary since the focus is mainly on him. The only negative to having it filmed on handheld is once in a while the action will skip forward b/c the person recording was either trying to save tape or was hiding it from any security walking by. Of course the positive is you can hear the epic crowd heat! Start of the match is just epic as the rudos attack the tecnicos (no Alushe!!!) as the fans are still at ringside and it's chaos with fans running for their lives to avoid the wrestlers. The focus of the match is the Chicana/Faraon feud as they just trade shots non-stop. Cien Caras also plays a great chickenshit heel who takes shots at Tinieblas all match long but then runs away as soon as he's at a disadvantage. Finish isn't caught on film but this was a really fun intro match.

Rayo De Jalisco Jr./Tony Salazar/Atlantis vs Cien Caras/Sangre Chicana/El Faraon (1986, Arena Coliseo): A handheld so once again has some random cuts. More of an angle than a match as Chicana is not getting along with his partners which actually leads to some really funny moments. Crowd is super into Chicana. That's really understimating it though. They were SCREAMING his name all match long! Naturally things fall apart for the rudos and the tecnicos win. We wind up with Faraon and Chicana brawling with each other which sets up...

Sangre Chicana vs Faraon (1986, Arena Coliseo OR Arena Neza): EPIC! Shot via handheld but with less edits than the previous matches. Honestly... you wouldn't be able to tell whether this was a wrestling match or legit brawl between two guys who hate each other. So much awesome realism in this match. Faraon is the first to start bleeding due to Chicana's amazing punches and biting of his forehead. Chicana takes fall one with a half crab (his big submission move at the time) and then grabs a beer bottle from ringside and smashes it over Faraon's head! THE BOTTLE DOESN'T EVEN BREAK! WTF?!!?!?!? Crowd is super hot at this point, especially at the ref for letting this happen. The fact the crowd is reacting like this is why I'm not sure this was Arena Coliseo or Neza. There was a Neza banner and in the previous Coliseo match the crowd LOVED Chicana so it seems weird they'd switch a week later. Anyways back to the match... Chicana keeps pounding Faraon all over the ring and ringside until Faraon makes his comeback and Chicana basically does exactly what you'd do in a real street fight. He leaves the ring... he climbs back inside when Faraon comes out to get him and then tries to kick Faraon as he tries to get into the ring... he tries to outmaneuver Faraon and sneak in cheapshots... it's just awesome. Faraon finally gets his hands on Chicana and begans to beat the crap out of him including whipping him into the ringpost. Soon afterwards Faraon takes the second fall and he goes to get a beer bottle! Chicana has no part of that and runs away. Crowd is MOLTEN at this point - especially when Chicana manages to wrestle the bottle away from Faraon and tries to attack him with it again! Third fall has both guys punching the shit out of each other with the best punches in the world! Just great shit and hearing the crowd reaction is unreal. Of course then... the handheld cuts off.:( A real shame b/c this was heading towards easy top 10 of the 80's material but you take what you can get. This should probably get special mention if such a poll ever takes place.

Next up is about 10 minutes worth of random highlights of a triangle match involving Chicana, Faraon and Perro from Arena Mexico in 1986. I think the idea here was the first person to beat both their opponents (1-on-1 matches at a time) would win and the losers would have a hair match the following week. It was hard to keep track of with the constant edits but you get to see a ton of great brawling and the crowd super pissed when Faraon cheats to win. Plus there is a really great post-match brawl with Perro and Chicana chasing each other all over the place.

Next up is about 3 minutes of highlights of Rayo De Jalisco Jr. and Tony Benetto (Gran Markus Jr.) against Cien Caras and Mascara Ano 2000. Not much to this at all except noting even in 1986 Benetto was running the ropes awkwardly.

Sangre Chicana vs Perro Aguayo (Hair vs Hair - 2/28/86 @ Arena Mexico): THIS. This is the type of match that just makes finding all this footage worthwhile even if every other match is the drizzling shits! A fucking EPIC match along the lines of MS-1 vs Sangre Chicana in 1983. Maybe just as good? Maybe a notch lower? I guess that's up to each person. I fucking loved this though. The stage is set right away as Perro is being carried to the ring like a legend and Chicana is all FUCK THAT and attacks Perro which causes him to fall off the shoulders of whoever was carrying him! They end up brawling in the aisleway and things get crazy as a Chicana fan jumps on Perro! This causes a bunch of Perro fans to circle and try and drag him off which leads to a crazy hectic scene for a few seconds as security breaks through the pile of fans to drag the fans off the wrestlers. WHAT THE FUCK! And then the match begins!:p My description wouldn't do it justice. Nobody's will in fact. You just need to immediatly buy this when Fredo puts it up. Tons of blood. A Chicana tope suicida FOR THE AGES! The most amazing knockout punch I've ever seen via Chicana. And perhaps the greatest moment of all-time as both men covered in blod stand on top of the seats in the third row at Arena Mexico and JUST START SLUGGING EACH OTHER AS THE FANS STAND AROUND THEM CHEERING! Holy shit such an epic visual. If I had to pick one negative and I'd really be stretching here it would be that the finish was way too choreographed as I could see it coming a mile away. But I'm a jaded smark and the live fans ate it up so what do I know? If the match wasn't enough for you - you get the extra bonus of a post-match brawl which sends fans running for their lives. This is truly some spectacular shit here! (Note: Shot via handheld of course but only two or three very minor edits that don't take away from the match at all. THANKFULLY!)

I stopped watching this disc (all that is only half of ONE DISC OF SIXTEEN!) at this point and next up for tomorrow is... another Chicana vs Faraon singles match! Goddamnit.

Some other random matches I skipped forward to watch...

Andre The Giant/Cien Caras vs Alfonso Dantes/Sangre Chicana/Herodes (1982, Arena Coliseo De Guadalajara): I had to see this since at my age my introduction to Andre was when he was already basically crippled in the WWF and since I'm not a New Japan or All Japan fan I've seen very limited footage of a mobile Andre. But this was it... the freakshow at his best. The crowd was absolutely in awe of Andre and the match was actually enjoyable since he was so mobile at the time. The rudos were nothing but stooges of course. Herodes was having the time of his life running from Andre though which amused me. Crowd went nuts when Andre picked both Dantes and Chicana up in wristlocks at the same time! Diablo Velasco was the ref and even got involved at various points by trying to drag Andre away and ending up on his ass.:) Kind of surreal to see Andre to his shtick and suddenly tag in Cien Caras who began doing rolling shoulderblock spots with Alfonso Dantes. Oh, another highlight was Andre trying to do a comedy spot with Cien Caras who had no clue what to do so Andre had to improvise and actually made a clever little spot out of Cien's ignorance. For whatever reason this was 2 out of 3 falls but you can guess how many falls it took for Andre to win.:) If nothing else this is just a historical piece of footage.

Tigro/Panthro/Ninja vs Lasser/Robin Hood/La Flecha (1991, Plaza De Toros Monumental De Monterrey): Cubsfan would not be happy! Neither would Dr. Lucha! This was supposed to be a match for the National Trios Titles but Leono was hurt so the commision approved Ninja to take his place and defend the titles for this night only. CAN THEY DO THAT? (Insert Dr. Lucha explaining about greasing palms!) Typical tecnicos vs tecnicos match with lots of mirror spots and great armdrag sequences. A fascinating change of pace from Perro trying to bite Sangre Chicana's nose off! La Flecha is a young Skayde so naturally I was eager to watch this but I was more impressed with Lasser here. The man is just a machine! First fall was really short ending with Lasser/Robin getting pins as Flecha did a first-rope asai moonsault dive! Second fall was really good with some fast exchanges and the champs evened things up. Third fall had a dive sequence capped off with Robin Hood doing a flip plancha into the crowd! Crowd was super into all this since this was the peak of the fame for the Thundercats. Flecha/Ninja got eliminated which left it two-on-two. Lasser missed a pescado which took him out and Panthro eventually rolled up Robin Hood for the win and huge pop from the kids. Fun match!

Lasser/Robin Hood/La Flecha vs Rocky Santana/El Gallego/El Yaqui (1991, Arena Solidaridad De Monterrey): This match I actually liked better than the previous match b/c it's always more fun watching the Arqueros work with rudos who can be better bases. Some excellent matwork early on which is what you'd expect with this crew. At one point La Flecha did a SPRINGBOARD 360 ARMDRAG! This got me thinking as to who else was doing springboards at this point in time. Skayde is so awesome. Lasser did a super creative wristlock escape into an armdrag in the second fall which had me marking out. Unfortunately we'll never know who won the match b/c it was the last match on this specific DVD and it cut off.:( Really fun while it lasted though! I'd rather have 2 and a half falls of fun than never see any of this!

More to come! Chicana vs Faraon Redux! Oro's father and uncle team up! Legends match from the re-opening of Arena Coliseo Monterrey featuring Dardo Aguilar and Cuautehmoc Torres! Probably the only time you will ever see those legends on film! Pre-1980's Lucha!

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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

CMLL FSE 8/20/11 & CMLL C3 8/20/11

CMLL FSE 8/20/11:

Pegasso/Rey Cometa/Dragon Lee vs Arkangel/Loco Max/Hooligan: I felt kinda ripped off by this match. Very little action with Cometa barely getting to do anything except his big dive and Pegasso must still be hurt b/c he was working at half speed and blew a bunch of simple exchanges with Loco Max. I'm generally not a fan of the Tuereg group since aside from Hooligan and Arkangel most of them are bad bases and their triple team offense is beyond generic for a group that works together so much. Dragon Lee was Dragon Lee... very green but crisp with his high flying spots. Not sure if that's the formula for a successful wrestler but I digress. He did a 360 onto the ramp and then did a crazy somersault dive which popped the crowd. Tecnicos won clean.

Stuka Jr./Sangre Azteca/Hijo Del Fantasma vs Okumura/Yoshihashi/Misterioso II: This tecnico team could be named "Lost In The Shuffle". Stuka seems to be a mid-carder for life (much the same situation his big brother ended up in), Sangre Azteca is a natural rudo being forced to play a tecnico and Fantasma would be a main event player if a third organization existed. This was better than the previous match but nothing to write home about. Azteca's dropkicks used to be so great when they'd come out of nowhere but now he overuses them and you can see the setup a mile away. Since when does Yoshihashi do moves off the top? C'mon guys, put a little thought into your finishes! Tecs won clean.

CMLL C3 8/20/11:

Metalico/Enrique Vera Jr./Hombre Bala Jr. vs Loco Max/Rayos Tapatios I y II: With Loco Max replacing Zavala at the last minute I figured there wouldn't be much to this match since you can't really work on the fly with the Gen11 guys and I was right. The rudo team kept it simple by just brawling and doing quick finishes. The third fall finish in particular was out of nowhere and nobody expected it. Match included the usual Gen11 screw-ups like Vera almost falling off the top rope trying a plancha to the floor and throwing a dropkick that missed by at least 10 feet that Rayo Tapatio I had to sell.

Lady Apache/Silueta/Goya Kong vs Zeuxis/La Seductora/Princesa Blanca: Good! Shockingly good! There may be hope for this division after all with Lady Apache back and Silueta/Zeuxis improving! Even Goya Kong was tolerable here and actually did some creative stuff with Seductora at one point. First fall finish was really put together well. Second fall as well. Third fall had fun stuff with Silueta vs Zeuxis and the finish built off what they did in the first fall. No complaints here.

Diamante/Fuego/Toscano vs Misterioso II/Okumura/Psicosis: Diamante appeared to be taking it easy in his return match so I don't blame him for not doing much here. Fuego carried the workload for his team and had some fun exchanges against Misterioso II. Match was pretty standard until the third fall where they did an excellent finishing sequence with Toscano/Psicosis doing nearfalls and Toscano even escaping from Psicosis' finisher. Diamante/Fuego did double dives and then Toscano used a rana to pin Psicosis.

La Mascara/Blue Panther/Rush vs Mr. Aguila/Olimpico/Volador Jr.: Really enjoyed this match. Volador is so good it's frightening and almost frightening is that he seems to be more over on these Tuesday shows than any rudos not named Averno on the Friday shows. Yes, that includes Ultimo Guerrero. Panther/Olimpico did their usual matwork early on and at one point Panther slipped trying to lock in the inverted Gory Special which caused Olimpico to take a header but he was alright. Mascara/Volador did a great exchange and have fantastic chemistry together. I knew Rush/Aguila were feuding but if you didn't know it specifically it would have been hard to notice in this match until the finish. Mascara ended up taking Volador out with a ringpost plancha and Panther put Olimpico in a figure-four leglock. Aguila did a standing moonsault onto Panther as Rush did his double stomp on Olimpico which led to a double elimination. Aguila then got his knees up as Rush tried a senton and pinned him with a spin kick. Good stuff.

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