CMLL (FRI) 08/14 Arena Mexico [Ovaciones, Cesar]
1) Bengala & Horus b Apocalipsis & Ramstein
2) Arkangel de la Muerte b Flash [lightning]
3) Metro, Pegasso, Rey Cometa b Loco Max, Nitro, Skandalo
4) Mascara Dorada, Stuka Jr., Valiente b Ephesto, Misterioso II, Virus
5) Black Warrior, Dragon Rojo Jr., Sangre Azteca b Naito, Ray Mendoza Jr., Yujiro
6) Atlantis, Mr. Niebla, Último Guerrero b Héctor Garza, Shocker, Toscano
In the main, Atlantis got Garza with an Atlantida and Ultimo Guerrero got Shocker with a reinera.
No Limit got DQed in the first fall for excessive violence, Poder Mexica took the second.
Nitro returns and loses. Oh well. I think they might have switched around the lineup so they could do the Nitro return after Arkangel’s lightning match, but it’s still a bit odd. Horus looked bad in the opener.
Ovaciones says Mr. Rafaga lost the Puebla cage match to Pierrothito. Mr. Rafaga is Arturo Santillan. DJ Spectro says he’s 50 years old. I had no idea he was that old.
Earlier today, Mistico won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship from Tiger Mask IV. Mistico is the second Mexican to have won that championship (Juvi’s sometimes discounted reign is technically first.) There’s video of the match here. Okumura took the direct loss in the opener.
indy (THU) 08/13 Arena Olimpico Laguna de Gomez Palacio [El Siglo de Torreon]
4) Último Guerrero b Ephesto [CMLL HEAVY]
UG won the first fall, Ephesto the second, UG the third.
The Escorpion debuting next week in Puebla is Escorpion Negro, who was hadn’t been on TV since earlier January, but was scheduled to be working AAA shows as late as this Monday.
PY has an interview with Crazy Star, who explains she’s out due to a bacteria that’s attacking her liver and kidneys. That’s quite rough.
AAA’s note on the Lucha Libre Premier show says the shows will not air until September, so maybe we’ve got more weeks of CMLL before things settle out. The article also says they’ll be taping in Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla and elsewhere.
An interview with Joaquin Roldan says AAA will be rolling out a mobile messaging service, though if they have trouble getting the latest information on their website (still no listing for a TV taping in two days), adding on to it doesn’t seem like a greatest idea. There’s a mention at the end mentioning AAA redoing their logo in the upcoming weeks.
Veneno’s blog has pictures of him at the lucha libre expo, under the purple mask as the official luchador of the expo.
Ohtani’s Jacket checks out Sergio el Hermoso & Bello Greco vs Fujiwara & Kimura in NJ + Chicana, Fiera, Cota vs Los Infernales from 1983 + Karadagain & Mummy, and also Dr. Wagner & Espanto Jr. vs Celestial & Coloso, and Espanco IV & Espanto V vs Estrella Blancas from UWA 1992.
No lineups up, of course.
Congratulations Mistico!
Mistico’s photo from Sportsnavi.
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/photo/2009/2009081501/7/index.html
And congratulations Ultimo Guerrero too.
As for the next, UG please come to Japan.
http://ca.c.yimg.jp/sports/1250349622/img.sports.yahoo.co.jp/spnavi/photo/fight/200908/15/20090815123.jpg
!!!
~rl
MISTICO!
*clap clap clap*
MISTICO!
*clap clap clap*
MISTICO!
Hope it was a good match!:D
Lineups are UP. Shocking.
I just saw the title match. It was somewhat disappointing but solid given the online complaints Tiger Mask IV gets.
Although what is it about Mistico and Japan that he seems to get hurt real early in his matches? His match with Averno a while back he looked like he tweaked his ankle. In this match with Tiger Mask, he seemed to be favoring his lower back a lot. It could just be his selling is really good, or he just isn’t used to Japanese rings.
So now that Mistico is IWGP Champ, it’s time to fantasy book Liger in, I think.
Yeah it was mildly disapointing but not a disaster like some predicted. I still think the quiet crowd throws Mistico off since he’s never wrestling in front of a totally silent crowd in Mexico. He also seemed to not want to fly as much which is odd since it’s what the crowd wanted since they ‘ooohed’ and ‘ahhhed’ every time he left his feet. You gotta give Mistico credit though – he seems to be super over in Japan. I’m happy for him.
The lineup for next Friday looks ok,some good some bad. The Especial & Main looks good. The Semifinal however,the only thing I can say is YUCK !! On a brighter note, next weeks Cadena 3 looks entertaining w/ Minis, Los Romanos, Mascara Dorada & Virus all making TV. The show could good though.
Got any more matches from that NJPW show?
Dying to see Okumura in the opener, huh?;D
I wonder if it’s just totally random or CMLL is really building La Mascara, Mascara Dorada and Hijo Del Fantasma up as challengers for the Poder Mexica. Third straight week they’ve been teamed on a Tuesday show.
Just watched it. Indeed, quite disappointing, but he WAS in there with masked rubbish so I’ll cut him some slack.
Still, I’d really like to see a good Mistico Japan match.
`RL
Fox Sports gets women from Coliseo and Shocker vs Yujiro. Might be the first time I’ve ever taped the show and not felt the need to watch either match.
CMLL TV starting and hyping…
– Flash/Arkangel
– Semi-Main
– Main
Sagrado?
Sagrado vs Mephisto from 2 weeks ago.
@Alan: Forgot to mention this earlier, but how long has it been since Fox Sports aired the Arena Mexico Segunda? Did these get moved to 52mx?
Things I haven’t seen at Arena Mexico in any of my trips there: Chick with a live snake around her neck.
@Alan: They haven’t been airing it regularly at all in the summer but the most recent one would have been 3 weeks ago according to… you.:P
2) Euforia, Loco Max, Skandalo b Angel Azteca Jr., Horus, Starman
I remember you mentioning that aired.
It’s shitty that the Valiente/Sangre feud is on 52MX b/c nobody gets that and if CatchChannel doesn’t update (like this past week) then for sure there is no hope of it ever being seen.
Really wish they would show those segundas though. *sigh*
Sagrado/Mephisto was pretty good. Sagrado did really well and deserved that #1 ranking Cesar gave him. Brutal finish. Now nobody can ever say they’ve never seen the Splash Mountain off the top actually work! It wasn’t countered for the first time ever!:D
Hey – it’s Pegasso and Rey Cometa coming out to Elegido’s music! Please don’t strip.
YES! I thought for sure it’d be a repeat of last week but NO! It’s the match from last night!
A 3 hour show with possible 5 matches from the same show and a bonus Lightning Match from last week airing? This is too good to be true.
O’Campo lists the Arena Mexico especial last night (w/ Valiente and others) going 23:50. That cannot be right.
@Rob: You expect me to remember what I said three weeks ago? Apparently you don’t know how many brain cells I lose each week while taking care of a six month old.
Segunda!!!
You can tell CMLL didn’t plan for a 3 hour show and is just throwing random things on TV b/c thus far there haven’t been any of the stupid shit they usually do between matches. Just wait till the second half of the show when the announced 3 matches air and see how different it will look.
PEGA-PEGA-PEGASSO Y REY COMETA! Awesome double dive!
OK, I’m dropping the AAA Fox Sports taping notes from tonight here since it is the last posting where it was mentioned.
A few general notes first. I was hoping they would give point standings so that we could reverse engineer what happened last night. No such luck, but I do believe they announced that Marco was the points leader at the beginning of night two (always possible I didn’t understand Arturo Rivera). I believe they said he had seven points which would mean his team won, he got the pin, and he had the move of the show on Friday.
Sadly, the show did not seem to be sold out. In a good sign for AAA, the taping did seem to be run by people who understand TV, as they had us move up within the ringside area to fill in empty seats up front. This resulted in the ringside area being about 2/3s full in my estimation. I couldn’t see enough of the VIP and other seating areas to make much of an estimate. The higher up areas seemed to be a little over half full maybe, but there were only a couple of rows of seating on either side of the ring in these areas. The VIP areas looked like they could be fun if you had a group and got a table mostly to yourselves. The ringside area was flat, but few enough rows so that seeing wasn’t a problem.
The crowd was pretty into the shows, but definitely more of a club feel than a lucha show feel. Still fun, just different than going to Arena Mexico or somewhere. Generally, the crowd was in favor of the tecnicos, but cheered Chessman and Cibernetico pretty hard.
1. Octigoncito pins Mini Abismo Negro (pretty sure on the loser) so El Elegido, Octigoncito & Pimpinela Escarlata beat Decnnis, Mini Abismo Negro, and Polvo de Estrellas. Mostly comedy as would be expected, but still an OK match. Pimpi and el Elegido both entered through the crowd. No indication of why they switched this match around (maybe the American women didn’t want to work against men) or if they did the same match on Friday.
2. Rain pinned Fabi Apache so Mari Apache and Rain over Fabi Apache and Koa-Marie Gabric. Once again, no reason was given for Sexy Star being replaced or the shifting between this and the opener. Mari worked as a rudo throughout the match. It is not clear to me if this signals that a turn is coming or if it was to fit into the taping schedule and not have Sexy show up if she is to lose her mask next week (but see below if that was the only excuse). I’m not clear if getting Sexy out of the match was the only reason for Mari being in the match, why it wasn’t booked as Apaches vs Foreigners. I guess you have to keep the new girls on the right sides and Mari isn’t viewed as important enough to worry about? I don’t want to hope for a Mari turn in the coming weeks, but that seems better than just randomly booking her as a rudo here. Koa-Marie Gabric seemed to get hurt relatively early in the match (no obvious spot that I noticed) and spent the rest of the match on the rudos side of the ring being attended to. Sexy Star comes out (with her mask on) late in the match, and Rain takes advantage of the distraction to score the win over Fabi. Sexy, Mari, and Rain celebrate their victory together while Koa-Marie Gabric is helped to the back.
3. Jack Evans pins Alex Kozlov (pretty sure on the lose again) so Jack Evans, Marco Corleone, & Zorro beat Alex Kozlov, Chessman, & Electroshock. Marco was super over as was Zorro and to a lesser extent Jack. Chessman was cheered when he was in the ring. Alex was probably booed more than any other rudo tonight. I don’t know if this is a sign of feuds to come, but Marco was generally matched up with Kozlov, Zorro with Electro, and Chessman with Jack. Alex did some mic work to start the match and Zorro responded in kind which may have helped the foreign tecnicos. Fun match all around.
4. El Mesias pinned Sugi San so Dr. Wagner, El Mesias & Rocky Romero beat Cibernetico, Kenzo Suzuki & Sugi San. This was probably the most evenly split the crowd got during the night. They cheered Ciber some and even Kenzo and Sugi got a few cheers (not just from me). Ciber came out in a mask to start the match (I don’t think it was his original maks, but see pictures link below). Wagner’s mask was ripped early, but he got a replacement. Crowd was pretty into the match which was mostly a brawl of course. I think this may be the first time Sugi San has been pinned in AAA though.
I don’t hide the fact that I am not a fan of Wagner, but I have to give him credit for sticking around longer than any of the other main event guys after the match for pictures with fans. He was only topped by Marco who came out after the show was over and went aroud the ringside area and eventually came out into the crowd for a bit afterwards. I didn’t get a chance to go up to him and ask if he still read the luchablog or if AAA’s booking office was good enough that he didn’t need to come here to find out where he was booked next. Kenzo left through the crowd while we were all still standing around. Teddy Hart was out in the crowd at a few points early in the show, so I was expecting him to do a run in or be a replacement, but it looks like he was just hanging out.
Not a bad show overall. I wish they were just doing the shows here instead of trying to turn it into a touring show. It seems like this type of venue is ideal for the second tier show.
My pictures from tonight’s show can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/alanjulson/LuchaLibrePremier?authkey=Gv1sRgCPvJhpuRgqfRjAE&feat=directlink
@Alan: Good photos. Did you see a Fox Sports or TVC truck outside?
I noticed that Zorro is being cheered again. Time to turn him face.
Looks like the same old lighting grid over the ring. So what was the point of running this venue, instead of a venue where they could’ve charged much less for tickets?
Also, notice the mic in Ciber’s hand says “Fox Sports”.
@LLL: I didn’t notice which truck was outside. All the mics were Fox Sports, but I’m not sure who the crew wa with. The announcing must be being taped later since Konnan and Rivera came out at the beginning and then went backstage. There was a roaming female announcer doing interviews in the crowd. She recorded several in and out of commercial spots before the show started.
Zorro was performing as a tecnico here. Not sure if that is a sign of things to come or just random booking last night.
My thought is that they wanted to run the show in a smaller location and be able to charge more for tickets so that they could try to get a slightly different audience than they get for their larger shows. I liked the location, and hope they return. But, having a location that holds less than 2000 and not selling out a TV taping can’t be seen as a good thing. If Perro or any of the other indy shows did this everyone would be talking about what a failure the show had been. AAA with all of the avenues they have to promote their shows should have found a way to make sure this didn’t happen.
@Alan: The venue must be expensive. I assumed they used it b/c they wanted to upgrade production values.
Even more interesting is that this may not air until September. I knew AAA couldn’t tape the show and turn it around in a week for broadcast.
I’ll bet this “Copa” tournament airs, and that will be the end of AAA on Fox.