Monday, February 04, 2013

Various Thoughts to start 2013

- Clearly the highlight of the weekend was Volador Jr. vs Rey Escorpion for the CMLL Light Heavyweight Title. An absolutely magnificent match with two guys at the top of their game. Escorpion is like Jerry Estrada re-invented with his willingness to take mind-boggling insane bumps, natural charisma and the ability to put his opponent over like a million bucks even if it makes him look bad (which by the way IS THE JOB OF A RUDO - Attention: Under 30 year old rudos in Mexico). If you really wanted to nitpick the match I would guess the issue would be with the finish where Escorpion just no-sells Volador's finisher. I'm gonna chalk it up to the recent Japan influence and it wasn't enough to ruin the match for me. Right up there with Titan vs Polvora as the best match so far this year. Maybe better... I'll have to re-watch.

- The Volador headscissors taking Escorpion off the apron was INSANE! Got me thinking what is the best ever version of that spot. Gotta be Rey/Juventud from their Sumo Hall match in WAR or Rey/Psicosis at Bash at the Beach '96. Juventud/Kidman had a great version at World War 3 '98 too.

- Do you know what the dirty little secret of most hardcore CMLL fans is? Rey Escorpion is an AAA guy. All the CMLL fans on twitter who went crazy for the match with Volador didn't once mention he's not a CMLL trained guy and as of only a few years ago was part of the "circus" as they call AAA. Another example of why those who say "CMLL rules, AAA sucks" can't be taken seriously. If you can't open your mind and just want to make blanket statements about each company don't be surprised when your opinions aren't taken seriously. Each company has negatives and positives.

- The CMLL Galavision main event was excellent! If you didn't see it you are about five years behind on where high flying is heading in the world of professional wrestling. Actually if you don't watch Mascara Dorada regularly you are about ten years behind. The man is doing stuff that US indy guys might finally figure out to do in 2023.

- AAA had a really solid TV show. I still think with only 43 minutes of TV the entrances need to either be cut or shown in edited form because these matches are getting edited to shreds. But this week wasn't as bad as last week was.

- Great to see Mini Abismo Negro back in action! Looks as great as he always did. Awesome to see him and Octagoncito doing their thing again and Dinastia vs Mini Abismo = a world of possibility! Their brief 30 second exchange had me craving more.

- Escoria is JACKED! I'm sure he wouldn't pass a wellness test but that's not issue. He looks awesome and was in top form against the Inferno Rockers. I would be 100% in favor of splitting him from the group. Espiritu is kinda useless to me & Cuervo is really not doing anything for me since he started teaming with Fabi Apache. I'd love to see an Ozz/Escoria team seperate from anything involving the Secta. The finish of the match was really good. The ultimate fakeout! Play Uro Rocker's music but nail your finisher when the guy is distracted!

- Main event was DRAGO BACK ON MY TV! NO COMPLAINTS! Your loss Octagon Jr.! Pentagon Jr. had a funny entrance where he forced the Octagon kid to take his mask off. Should have made the Dragon Rojo masked kid take his off too! This role is perfect for Pent Jr. He has the mannerisms down and is so talented. Really hope they stick with it. Drago/Fenix looked great in the match although holy fuck... Fenix is going to DIE if he keeps doing dives like that. It's clear he thinks his body is unbreakable and who am I to argue? It clearly is if you saw both his TV matches this weekend. The finish was really cool! Springboard double jump Spanish Fly! No comment on Octagon's performance. He has his issues and they were clearly evident. I'm not even sure if he knew what planet he was on by the end of the match. But the other five guys are so great Octagon wasn't even needed.

- I haven't seen it yet but I heard the AAA TDN show will air the Billy Boy/Gran Apache hair match from 2008 along with both men doing present day commentary about it. That sounds like a fantastic idea. Kudos to whoever came up with that!

- Drago/Fenix vs Daga/Dark Dragon from Monterrey was short but fun. You can't go wrong with those four.

- Rey Cometa busted out the Brillo Cometa on Fox Sports! Maybe his best version since it's debut?

- The CMLL Fox Sports opener had some really nice moments but overall left me wanting more. Is CMLL not letting Triton do dives any more in hopes he will become a more well-rounded luchador? I'm not sure that's the way to go with a 10+ year guy. Without his dives he doesn't really stand out and if you saw his match on C3... he's not very good at the non-dives part of Lucha Libre. I thought Black Warrior was going to murder him.

- You know who is good at Lucha Libre? This Guerrero Maya Jr. fella. I need to see him vs Black Warrior sometime soon.

- I think CubsFan (@luchablog) may be onto something with his predictions of a double apuesta match at H2L. I hope he's right because Stuka Jr. vs Namajague is quite the unappealing match to me. I could see them doing Estrellita vs Amapola on the same card too and having the main event be a random six man tag teasing matches that won't happen this year. Maybe a Relevos Incriebles match with Sombra/Ultimo Guerrero/Terrible vs Escorpion/Atlantis/Rush? Some mix of those guys will work.

- We can't lose with the Reyes Del Aire finals. Sombra is already through. Either we get our first ever Friday night Sombra/Volador match or CMLL balances out the rudo vs rudo match from last Tuesday and does Sombra vs Mascara Dorada or Angel De Oro. Either way I think we're in for a treat...

- ... but it wouldn't be ME without complaining and I really do have to say this: I'm all for extended the Reyes Del Aire to a 3 week tournament but what is the purpose of having the tournament if you are just going to use the same guys you use for every other tournament? Why do a Reyes Del Aire if you aren't going to include Pegasso, Soberano Jr., Horuz, Hombre Bala Jr., Super Halcon Jr., Stigma or Oro Jr.? It defeats the purpose of the tournament if guys like Maximo, Polvora, Felino & Namajague are involved. Might as well have just called it the Copa Junior or Leyenda Azul. I would rather it go back to a one night match next year or if CMLL insists on having it spread over 3 weeks than at least make it two weeks of 12 guys each week and ONLY high flyers. Leave the other guys out.

- Speaking of Stigma... he hasn't really impressed me so far in his DF matches. It's not entirely his fault since he usually gets booked with the Tuereg who are absolutely dull and horrible bases for flying tecnicos (Hooligan excluded). I can't help but think his spot would have been better used on Asturiano or Millenium. Of course neither of them are related to CMLL officials.

- Do I need to pay AAA to get Aero Star back on TV? It's getting a little ridiculous now with Super Fly & Argenis being on TV tapings but Aero Star is nowhere to be found. Either there is a story here nobody is telling involving Aero Star's personal life or someone in charge of AAA is holding a personal grudge against Aero Star for something. AAA is usually good at capitalizing on the talent they have so let's hope starting with the 2/18 taping Aero Star is back in action where he belongs - teaming with Fenix/Drago against Pentagon Jr. & friends!

- I already gushed about this match on twitter but if you haven't seen the Ricky Marvin/Super Crazy vs Fenix/Pesadilla match from Tercera Caida you really need to!

- In a perfect world I'd like to see Ricky Marvin return to CMLL. I don't think it can happen politically and I know he has more ties to AAA than CMLL but tell me you wouldn't want to see Ricky Marvin vs Negro Casas or Ricky Marvin vs La Sombra?

- I don't know what the deal is with those clowns in IWRG but they are awful. Can we move on and stop wasting one match per week on their garbage? The less them and the more Alan Xtreme the better!

- I'm hoping the rumors of Relampago showing up in CMLL soon are untrue. He's not very good and isn't even that well known that people will be interested. He'll be just another guy teaming with Pegasso against the Tuereg. That helps nobody and is a waste of a roster space better used on Flamita.

- When is FUSION coming back? It seems unfair that CMLL has 8 TV shows and AAA just has 1.

- Terrible news about Astro De Plata's injury. He's super talented and hopefully will come back just as good as he was. Injury couldn't have come at a worse time too.

- Speaking of that XMW show: Is someone going to tell Impulso to calm down? That same dive off the balcony on every show is just going to make the crowd react to it less each time. And then he'll have to jump from higher and higher onto more objects. That's the problem with the hardcore style. Impulso is too talented to kill himself this early in his career. Leave the garbage nonsense for Aero Boy & Violento Jack. They're need to do that stuff because if they aren't destroying their bodies in silly matches with foreign
objects they have nothing else to offer.