(originally posted by Joe on

(originally posted by Joe on 12/16/02)

12/15/2002 Workrate Reports

Lots going on here

What Worked

Hey, Super Crazy’s coming. In between tours with New Japan, anyway.

Mr. Power and Ricky Marvin had one of those Guapo tryouts. Ricky runs up the ropes and almost loses his balance but jumps off and hits an armdrag. Mr. Power looked pretty dumb staring at Ricky as he was on the top rope. Ricky hits a nice dive and Power hits one of his own. Ricky hits a boss enziguiri but misses the springboard dropkick. Power goes on offense but Stone Cold Ricky Marvin comes back with a Stunner and misses a nice frog splash. A few nearfalls and Ricky locks in a cross armbreaker for the win. Fun little Nitro match. Mr. Power looked fine. Ricky’s definitely on the next 25.

Let’s discuss: Black Tiger, Rey Bucanero, & Tarzan Boy vs Vampiro, Shocker, & Mr. Niebla. Rey jumps Vamp on the stage and they brawl. Sadly, this means no Shocker entrance. Rudo beatdown. Tiger attacks Shocker as he’s trying to take his pants off which RULES. Rey and Tiger hit a sorta Total Elimination on Niebla. Vamp eats a superbomb and gets pinned while Rey punches him. Can you do that? More beating in the Segunda caida until Vamp kicks Rey off the top as they go for the superbomb again in a creative spot. Niebla and Shocker crotch Tiger and Tarzan in retaliation for an earlier Niebla crotching. Then we settle down and get Shocker/Tarzan and Tiger/Niebla segments and life is good. We’ll cut to the chase as Vamp gets Rey in an armbar but won’t let go and gets DQ’d. Lame ending but it furthers the feud so it’s forgivable. Vamp challenges Rey afterwards to a hair vs. hair match. Match was quite fine, as you’d expect given these six.

Momentos Estelares: Rammstein mainly misses a senton. However, he and Super Commando hit a Buggy Bang, but we only see the replay of that. Ricky Marvin gets Volador Jr. with a cross armbreaker. Silva hits a SCARY top rope splash on Bestia and Tarzan Boy. Santo hits a tope on Blue Demon Jr. Brazo De Plata does a scary plancha on Villano 4.

Rematch of the Parejas Increibles match from last week. Big ol’ rudo beatdown to start. Wagner gets Casas with a Splash Mountain. Satanico nearly drops Santo on his head with a gourdbuster. Wagner powerbombs Santo, but they pick him up and toss him over the top to the floor for the DQ. More of the same in the segunda caida until the tecnicos finally make their comeback. Then it gets weird as Ultimo and Casas are going to ram Satanico and Wagner’s heads together, but Santo sorta cuts them off running to do a tope, and the next time we see them Satanico pins Casas and Wagner makes Ultimo submit. Tercera caida starts off with Santo getting beaten up on the ramp. Demon manages to unlace Santo’s mask, then Santo then starts a ripping on Demon. We finally settle down to a regular match and get quick Wagner/Casas and Ultimo/Satanico sequences. We’re left with Santo and Demon and soon enough Demon unmasks the legend and pins him with a small package. Not a great match but the angle is fun and the heat is super. I dig Demon’s rudo schtick but his wedgie disturbs me.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK

Opening match sees Bestia Salvaje, Scorpio Jr., Emilio Charles Jr., & Apollo Dantes vs. Gigante Silva, Rayo De Jalisco Jr., Villano 4. Apollo’s pants are AWESOME. Better than cow pants. Rudos beat up V4 and we get the always ludicrous “ref physically detains Silva on the apron spot. Rayo and Silva come in and clean house in slow motion. Rayo (AKA History’s Greatest Monster) does all his comedy spots to the Taliban. Thankfully, Apolo gets to work with V4 and it’s pretty fun. Apolo tries so very hard but gets a splash from the mascot for his troubles. Stuff happens and a Silva top rope splash seals the deal. This was as good (or not good) as you’d expect. Apolo needs to pal around with Wagner and Tiger some more.

The cavalcade of hell continues as we see Pierroth Jr., Violencia, & Zumbido vs. Gran Markus Jr., Poder Mexica, & Mascara Ano 2000. Hey, guess who was the only good thing in this match? Hint: he wears yellow pants. Zumbido’s spinning elbow in the @#%$. Markus gets whipped and gives up. Huh? Segunda caida sees Zumbido take that horribly fake looking Jerry bump. That ain’t gonna help in the next 25 voting, kid. Wow, the non-Zumbido parts are pretty peppy. Things do fall apart in the tercera caida as it’s a punch and kick fest before Violencia takes an INSANE backdrop to the floor. Everybody dives to the floor and we’re left with Markus and Pierroth again, which Gran wins in short order with a splash. Much Yelling Into The Mic™ afterwards, no doubt in regards to a hair vs. hair match. This was a lot better then you’d expect, although I can’t really label it “good.”

THERE YOU HAVE IT

Joe