Month: August 2010

Espanto II, 78, passed away Saturday. He had heart problems and had been in the hospital on and off over the last three months.

Jose wrote a great bio for Espanto II years ago, worth reading if you haven’t already. The Espantos (I, II and III) were stars of 60s EMLL, and I & II sound like the greatest tag team of their time. The Espantos were not actually brothers, but did give the same last name after they were unmasked to pretend as if they were, and they were surely as close as brothers. I & II debuted with a 34 week winning streak, they were partners then enemies of El Santo and held the national tag team titles of that time. Espanto II lost his mask Ruben Juarez on September 6, 1963 in what may have been the anniversary main event for that year; much like what appears to be happening this year, EMLL also ran a major hair match later in September, with Espanto I avenging his ‘brother’ by taking Juarez’s hair.

The Espanto’s run was a short one by lucha standards – Espanto I was murdered in 1968, and the others scaled back their participation after, so it might have only been a 7 year peak run – but they were top stars during their time. Espanto III is still alive, and had talked to his old partner just this past week.

CMLL had a moment of applause for Espanto II during today’s Arena Coliseo show. I wouldn’t be surprised if they also mentioned him on the Anniversary show.

CMLL (SUN) 08/29 Arena Coliseo [@cmllmagazine]
1) Artillero & Súper Comando b Bengala & Robin
2) Ángel Azteca Jr., Brazo de Oro, Fabián el Gitano, Metálico b Arkángel de la Muerte, Dr. X, Hooligan, Nitro
3) Delta, Fuego, Metro b Euforia, Nosferatu, Pólvora
4) Blue Panther, Brazo de Plata, Toscano DQ Felino, Jushin Liger, Ray Mendoza Jr.
5) Charly Manson, Olímpico, Psicosis b Averno, Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero
6) Atlantis b Rayo de Jalisco Jr.

Atlantis got Rayo with a small package for the win. He must’ve gotten the mask or cheated somehow. Edit: CMLL.com confirms it was a legal win. I still don’t believe it.

Averno had Charly set up for the Devil’s Wings and the win, but Tirantes broke it up and the Invasores pulled his mask before rolling him up.

Rey Mendoza is still in the business of fouling Blue Panther whenever he gets the chance.

I have no idea why Brazo de Oro and Arkangel were added to the segunda. Oro got Nitro with a STF – maybe it was for Nitro complaining! They didn’t forget him tonight.

Bengala and Robin sounds like a Bangladesh Batman/Robin knockoff. They still lost. Is CMLL Militia vs AAA Militia a new dream match?

Volador hypes up the big cage match by promising to be the first one out. Fantastic action! He also accuses Sombra of not earing his spot by fighting on the undercard for long enough.

Dos de Tres has photos of Cibernetico & Sexi Star in the Un Romeo Muy Juliet play.

Kcidis draws AAA’s new military. Kind of.

This is very slightly to do with lucha libre, but Black Terry Jr. posted a series of videos from the Villano gym of students of various different martial arts fighting in mixed battles – they really should think of a short name for that. Anyway, what I’ve learned is that I can’t possibly learn Capoeria. It’s not because I don’t have the discipline or ability, but because I couldn’t do the wacky arm movements with a straight face.

Luchas 2000 #536 hypes the CMLL cage match. Same idea for SuperLuchas #379.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update with more on Espanto II.

Lineups

IWRG (THU) 09/02 Arena Naucalpan
1) Tonatiuh vs King Dragon
2) Dinamic Black & Jack vs Imposible & Nemesis
3) Eragon, Freelance, Hijo del Pantera vs Carta Brava Jr., Comando Negro, Magia Negra
4) Fabi Apache, Mascarita Sagrada, Pasion Kristal vs Mini Abismo Negro, Sexy Star, Yuriko
5) Bombero Infernal, Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan vs Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, La Parka Jr., Máscara Año 2000 Jr.

Not so much AAA vs IWRG if Parka is teaming with the Dinamitas. Maybe everyone will turn on him?

That’s what the poster says. The facebook entry right next to the poster says the women’s match is a singles match between the women, and the DTU team is actually a mystery. There will be lucha libre, I’m fairly certain of that. Even in the Canek/Gran Alebrije match.

If I was IWL booker (I don’t want to be IWL booker), I would have Canek vs Adam Pearce and Alebrije vs Colt Cabana. Cuije + Colt = $$$$. No word on Adam Pearce Shirt.

CMLL (SUN) 09/05 Arena Coliseo
1) Rayo Tapatío I & Rayo Tapatío II vs Mortiz & Semental
2) Molotov, Tigre Blanco, Tony Rivera vs Artillero, Puma King, Súper Comando
3) Fabián el Gitano, Pegasso, Rey Cometa vs Raziel, Virus, Yoshihashi
4) Sagrado, Toscano, Valiente vs Atlantis, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero
5) Averno, Ephesto, Mephisto vs Charly Manson, Mr. Águila, Olímpico

Tony Rivera’s back? I’m suspicious. Main event is a semi-rematch of this week’s semimain.

Ways you can tell the GDL show is the big show of the day: they’re having Yoshihashi wrestle in Mexico City instead.

IWRG (SUN) 09/05 Arena Naucalpan
1) Imperial vs Guerrero 2000
2) Dinamic Black & Super Halcon Jr. vs Carta Brava Jr. & Epidemia
3) Eragon, Freelance, Jack vs Magia Negra, Mr. Power, Nemesis
4) Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro vs Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro, Oficial Marshal
5) Chico Che, El Hijo de Aníbal, Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Oficial 911, Veneno vs Billy Boy, El Elegido, Escoria, Extreme Tiger, Último Gladiador

Hijo de Anibal? Main event looks like another cibernetico.

CMLL (FRI) 08/27 Arena Mexico [@cmllmagazine, Cesar]
1) Diamante & Sensei b Inquisidor & Mortiz
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Último Dragoncito b Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Violencia, Pequeño Warrior
3) Ephesto b Máximo [lightning]
4) Héctor Garza, Mr. Águila, Texano Jr. b Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
5) Atlantis, Strong Man, Último Guerrero b El Alebrije, Histeria, Olímpico
6) La Sombra, Místico, Shocker DQ Jushin Lyger, Psicosis, Terrible

Tecnicos took the main event in straight falls. Lyger and Psicosis pulled for Mistico & Sombra’s masks (switching recent feuding partners.)

Monito speared Cuije in the semimain, and nothing else matters. Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero ripped up Olimpico’s mask after the match.

Mr. Aguila got Negro Casas with a casita and a fast coutn from Tirantes. More hair/hair challenges there.

Ephesto beating Maximo is a little bit of a surprise, but the guy in the cage match probably should be winning over the guy who’s not. Patented Ephesto surprise cradle for the win.

Over 20 CMLL guys are headed to or already in Guatemala for the show there. This was the show pushed back due to volcanos.

The other big item of discussion yesterday was Alex Koslov wrestling as Carlos Sanchez on WWE SmackDown! and losing to Alberto Del Rio (ex-Dos Caras Jr.) The show was taped ten days ago, so it’s surprising it was kept quiet all this time. Over on Twitter, Dorian Roldan said this was Alex’s tryout for WWE, he’ll be in AAA for the rest of the year, and then Alex is heading to FCW. This is all a great opportunity for Alex, but if AAA is trying to compete with WWE, I can’t imagine they’d want one of their most visible guys (the guy leading the attack on the Smashing Pumpkins a couple days ago) looking like a jobber on their competition’s show. Maybe AAA’s given up trying to compete with WWE? That’d be a lot less stress for everyone.

AAA didn’t touch that, but did mention that Dorian’s umbrella group, covering the Legion, the Militia, Los Perros and every other rudo, is called La Sociedad.

I’m half watching Masked Warriors while writing this, and they started the show with a casual mention of this episode being the season finale. They did not mention it again until the last minute of the show, and only said to check their website to find out when Season 2 premieres. And there’s no mention of anything on the website. That makes it sound like the end but, if it was over, why bother taping today in Charlotte? They were still plugging that show and the following taping during the show. The way it was mentioned, they probably added ‘season final’ late on, and no one knows when/if more will air at this point.

The show also aired commercials for Heroes del Ring. Also, Carlitos’ theme music is the current opening music from RAW; someone’s a genius. Possible a soon to be sued genius, but I’ll miss the hilarity of this show.

Update: via wrestlingobserver

The plan is to do all the taping from a single location, similar to TNA, but also tour the country with house shows.  However, we don’t know the location, but they do have tapings scheduled in a few weeks in Texas.  That group doing house show tours doesn’t sound like the wisest of ideas.

Wasn’t doing everything in one location Rumble Queen’s idea? It was a good idea! Whether it’s one location or touring, they really need to be in a small building they can fill up rather than 1,000 people in huge arena, so that would be a big improvement. Doing house shows is probably not going to do much, unless it’s just to give people something to do in between tapinsg.

The  Texas location is definitely not the permanent spot, because that’s a minor league baseball stadium.

Definitely canceled is today’s Perros del Mal show in Cancun. They say the promoter didn’t pay the money they needed ot before the show, so they called off the show yesterday.

Espaldas Planas has a lot of big IWRG announcements in video interviews. They’ll be back on TVC Deportes in September, Dr. Cerebro will be going to Japan (Dragon Gate) to win the IWRG title back from that dastardly CIMA, and they’ll be doing a IWRG vs AAA trainee show on 10/05. All of those are interesting, but I’m fascinated to see AAA trainees.

SuperLuchas posted a  longer version of the interview posted on Fuego en el Ring the anti-cage interview from Mistico. In parts not previously included, Mistico says CMLL is a show, not a show like WWE where they hand out scripts, but that they knew the cage match was going to happen a few hours before it announced. I’d be surprised if they only knew it a few hours before, but maybe all lucha promotions keep a tighter lip on plans.

Dos de Tres has video of Laredo Kid challenging the Oficials, and the Oficials celebrating their win.

R de Rudo has video of Traumas vs Iron Love & Chucho el Roto from the IWL show.

Ras de Lona was heavy build to the cage match. Not the much in the way of news.

More Heroes del Ring game info: Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Electroshock, Abismo Negro bio, and Cibernetico bio.

ESTO has a random interview with Fresero Jr. He’s hoping to get into CMLL.

Estrellas del Ring talks to Dick Angelo about his career.

The Gladiatores interviews Tamaulipas luchador Gallo Dorado.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 08/29 Arena Naucalpan
1) Guizmo vs Guerrero 2000
2) Brazo Metalico & Miss Gaviota vs Magia Negra & Mr. Power
3) Jack & Super Halcon Jr. vs Comando Negro & Epidemia
4) Black Terry & Cerebro Negro vs Avisman & El Hijo del Diablo and Oficial AK47 & Oficial Fierro and Chico Che & Suicida
5) Dr. Cerebro, Freelance, Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Oficial 911, Veneno vs Chris Stone, Decnnis, El Brazo, Ozz, Último Gladiador

Updated lineup; the IWRG side is a lot different than what we had last week. The original IWRG lineup had Veneno, Scorpio, Terry, Los Cerebros and Chico Che as the Nueva Corporacion – the name used by an past rudo mega group, without Chico Che but with Pantera and (most importantly) Silver King – which would’ve been fun to see. Still, that’s a great motley crew of IWRG defenders.

IWL (THU) 08/26 Arena Lopez Mateos [Black Terry Jr. (flickr), Estrellas del Ring, The Gladiatores]
1) Tormento b Ronnie Ventura
2) Fantasma de la Ópera b Naruto
3) Sadico b Eterno, Daga, Low Rider, Angel o Demonio, Perico [IWL IC, tournament]
4) Sara del Rey b Annie Social [IWL WOMEN, tournament]
5) Chucho el Roto & Iron Love b Trauma I & Trauma II [IWL TAG, eightfinal]
6) Villano III b Scorpio Jr. [IWL CHAMP, eightfinal]
7) Blue Demon Jr. b Generico [IWL CHAMP, eightfinal]

Usual attendance. Demon beat Generico clean, fans were not very familiar with Generico. The Villano III vs Scorpio Jr. (replacement for Scorpio Sky, hilarious) match had a bit more shenanigans involving a ref bump, Scorpio fouling Villano, but V3 rolling him up anyway.

IWRG (THU) 08/26 Arena Naucalpan [La WagnerMania]
3) Chico Che, Eragon, Hijo del Pantera b Comando Negro, Imposible, Magia Negra
4) Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro b Aerostar, Gato Eveready, Laredo Kid [IWRG IC TRIOS]
5) Electroshock, Silver Cain, Último Gladiador DQ Hijo del Cien Caras, Máscara Año 2000, Máscara Año 2000 Jr.

Oficials won with help from a fast count in the third fall. After the match,

No full results from IWRG, but Dos de Tres says Laredo Kid challenged 911 to a mask match and a vale todo match.

Last night, at a taping for MTV, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was attacked by Alex Koslov, Hernandez and Decnnis. Those guys were run off by Parka, Mesias and Tiger. The concerted was being taped for “MTV World Stage”, and it’ll air on 09/17 in Mexico, then 10/08 elsewhere in the MTV world. The bit just took just before the encore. Corgan is a big wrestling fan, having done stuff or ECW, WWE, and TNA at various points, so he was probably thrilled to do this. A music review of the show was not thrilled.

Lucha Libre USA is pre-empted tonight for a marathon of the Dudesons in America. It’s their season finale, so they’re building it up with previous episodes, and lingerie football takes it’s spot. Lucha Libre USA airs on Saturday at noon and should be back in it’s normal slot next week, but moving to a random timeslot with little notice and no promotion indicates MTV2 isn’t really invested in this show.

Tonight’s is the premire of the second Viva La Lucha PPV.

Tonight’s CMLL show is mostly a lame duck show with the much larger show to come next week. Mistico/Sombra/Shocker vs Terrible/Liger/Psicosis should tease a couple possibilities for the end of the cage match. The Peste Negra vs Invasors matches should set up some possibilities for after the anniversary show. Those two teams are already scheduled for next week and, with the tecnico cibernetico on 09/10, will certainly end up fighting the week after as well.

CMLL.com replaced Tiffany with La Comandate for the 09/05 Guadalajara show. Tiffany’s probably working the Santo show instead. They also announced the ticket prices, which go from $1 peso for kids in the balconies to $140 ($11) for the first 5 rows. That undercuts the Santo/Demon show, which runs from $50 to $250.

In another interview, Sombra says he’d like to face Lyger at the end of the cage match.

Canoe has a story about Hijo del Santo appearing this Saturday in Toronto.

Puma King, Tiger Kid, Okumura and Jushin Liger visited children in Neza’s rehab hospital. Video includes more Jushin Liger dancing.

Hereos del Ring has been posting bios for the AAA guys; of course the guys I like to are Ozz (check the signature move), Scoria (him too) and Cuervo. Also, there’s a complete match on YouTube between Cibernetico & Mesias with English language commentary from Konnan and Moody Jack. It is so not good; it’s not really the announcers fault as it whoever told them to say every line as if they’re yelling but also out of breath.

WagnerMania looks back at Black Shadow vs El Santo.

DJ Spectro looks back at Dos Caras vs Mazambula.

Cronicas Y Leyendas has articles about Bengala I & II, and Electroshock‘s debut under the name.

Ras de Lona is up, as is last week’s Lucha Libre USA show.

LuchaWorld has the latest Slammin’ Stan.

Lineup

AAA Wagner (SUN) 09/12 Plaza de Toros de Torreon Coahuila
1) Pimpinela Escarlata vs Sexy Piscis, Sexy Libra, Sexy Francis, Dulce Paola, Sexy Crazy, V-57, Espanto V [hair]
2) Monster Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown vs Argenis, Laredo Kid, Súper Fly
3) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs El Mesías, Silver King [AAA HEAVY]

Wagner promoted show, on the anniversary of Dr. Wagner Sr. death.