Nikita suggested this on Twitter
CMLL’s Anniversary show is about 3 months and 2 days away. That sounds like a long time, but there’s usually a pretty clear indication of what CMLL expects to main event the show.
last 4 years
2009: Mistico and Negro Casas already had their big title matches
2008: Mistico/Perro was the clear main event and didn’t happen due to injuries, but they also already had Panther/V5 feuding
2007: Panther face Hijo de Lizmark in the main event of the 06/29 show, amid to “they can’t possibly be doing THIS for the Anniversary main event” cries. CMLL did throw a lot of people in the cage, but it did come down to Hijo de Lizmark & Blue Panther.
2006: Black Warrior vs Mistico was clear in January
2005 doesn’t fit, since they had a major show in August and were focusing on it first. Unless there’s an AAA TV taping in Mexico City in the next couple months, CMLL’s probably coasting until the Anniversary.
This year, there’s a feud to obviously big enough to main event the Anniversary show. The problem is there’s many of them, and it’s tough to figure out which is the real one and which are the fake outs. Mistico is feuding with no less than Mr. Aguila, Oriental, Volador Jr., Averno and they’ve done promos to tease a match with Lyger as well. On the other side, new rudo Hector Garza has been challenged to matches by both his former partners Hijo del Fantasma and La Mascara, but also Shocker. Those same tecnicos are also feuding with the Invasors (with both Fantasma/Psicosis and Olimpico/Psicosis being hyped at different times.) Rayo de Jalisco’s return and seeming success means the Rayo vs Universo direct match they never got around to doing the first time might come around this time, plus they seem to suddenly pushing Atlantis/Rayo hard. There’s more people to throw in feuds if you wanted to (and the whole Negro/Lyger idea, which has been talked about), but none of the current ones are particularly rising above the others.
The story isn’t any feud, it’s the volume of feuds. Which usually means a cage match. CMLL’s done two cage matches previously for the anniversary show: the Infernales vs Infernales name battle in 2001 (where Satanico got Mascara Magica’s mask), and the previously mentioned 2007 one. The latter was similar to this; instead of doing the one match everyone wanted to see (Perro/Mistico), they got to extend it longer while giving a different payoff. This year, the match the fans want to see more than most is Volador vs Mistico in a mask match, but it’s hard to believe CMLL would take Volador from rudo to unmasked in 3 months. Maybe they ought to, but they have a pattern of operating differently.
It’s not hard to come up with 12 names for the cage match. Again, the problem is actually cutting back to 12 names after you’ve come up with about 18 obvious ones. I’d go with this lineup:
- Mistico
- Shocker
- La Mascara
- Hijo del Fantasma
- Rayo de Jalisco
- Sombra
- Mr. Aguila
- Psicosis II
- Volador
- Averno
- Hector Garza
- Atlantis
Oriental is not included because I believe he’ll be, uh, unavailable to be used in this capacity in September. (It’d be too soon.) I may be wishcasting the Dinamitas not being involved and being done by this point. Sombra’s the biggest stretch as an inclusion, but I figure something will have to happen with him and Volador and Mistico by this point. If not, this would be a good time for that happen.
CMLL fans have seemed willing to accept cage matches for masks and hairs, turning out as if it was a big match even when the loser seems pretty obvious. Psicosis II losing his mask to Hijo del Fantasma probably would not work on it’s own, but it’d be an acceptable finish in this context.
Plan can still change; it would not be a big surprise if they had some other idea and were waiting until after the World Cup to unveil it. However, based on the cards they’ve played so far, this seems the most likely outcome.
