Friday, February 16, 2007

CMLL TV October - December 2006

CMLL TV 10/21/06:

Apocalipsis, Dr. X, Hooligan vs. Leono, Tigre Blanco, Valiente: Obviously I was THRILLED when I found out this match would be airing. It didn't live up to my expectations but it was definitely a fresh match to open up the show. Valiente looked good in some spots and bad in some others. Good = 360ing into the ring onto his feet and having a nice mat exchange afterwards. Bad = slipping on the ropes in the third fall which blew the finish and busted Tigre Blanco's nose. Hooligan was the star in the match as he was playing the ultimate asshole rudo and elbowing guys all over the place. He also acted like a pinball for Leono late in the third fall which was neat. Great way to start off a show.

Dos Caras Jr., Hijo de Lizmark, Rey Bucanero vs. Kenzo Suzuki, Marco Corelone, Universo 2000: These guys surprised me as I was expecting the matches to suck but they turned out really good. I guess Lizmark Jr. was teasing turning here although I wish he wouldn't be a tecnico or a rudo... just a guy who disapears forever since he fucking sucks.:) Corleone is freakin' amazing in Mexico and was a great pick-up by CMLL. He's gonna be huge over as a tecnico some day soon.

Blue Panther, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs. Averno, Black Warrior, Mephisto: I really enjoyed this. The third fall in particular got plenty of time and had lots of back and forth action, especially between the Panther/Volador vs Averno/Mephisto pairings. Lots of really cool dives. Match only loses points for the shitty finish they refuse to stop running where Mistico has his mask yanked off by Warrior.

Really good episode.

CMLL TV 10/28/06:

Amapola, Hiroka, La Nazi vs. India Sioux, Marcela, Sahori: The show really gets dragged down when you see a match like the previous week that starts things out hot and then you get this average Coliseo match with a dead crowd and the same style of match with the same ladies that we've been seeing forever now. Can't remember the finish of this one. I could look it up but I also don't care.:)

Felino, Heavy Metal, Negro Casas vs. Averno, Hirooki Goto, Mephisto: AWFUL. Why couldn't this have been a tercera and never aired? I'm not biased towards Japanese wrestlers but I would at least like them to send talented guys instead of guys for Negro to have fun with backstage. Totally forgettable, much like Heavy Metal's career post-1996.

Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Universo 2000 vs. Hijo de Lizmark, Kenzo Suzuki, Marco Corelone - Relevos Increibles: I enjoyed this a bit. Lizmark Jr. being a rudo meant he could just stay out of the way pretty much. Shocker and Bucanero make a fun team. I still hope one day we get Shocker/Bucanero vs Parka/Guerrero in an awesome tag feud.

Main event is the only thing worth seeing on this episode unfortunately.

CMLL TV 11/4/06:

Fabian el Gitano, Leono, Stuka Jr. vs. Arkangel, Hooligan, Loco Max: These matches all look the same since they are weekly occurances on GdR or FSE so I'm not quite sure if this was match #56 or match #57... thus I can't give an accurate review. I'm sure it was the standard Coliseo action though with a neat highspot or two combined with Fabian dancing for no reason.

Middle portion of the show was the Torneo Leyenda Azul which was AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWFUL! No first round shown and every match was 1-3 minutes in length. Somehow in that short amount of time, in every match someone decided to stall and pose for the crowd. This was seriously one of the worst tournaments I have ever seen.

Shocker and Universo 2000 vs. Marco Corleone and Kenzo Suzuki: Don't remember too much since the tournament bummed me out. Shocker and Corleone always work good together so I'm sure that was alright. Isn't this the match where Universo piledrove Kenzo? Maybe.

SKIP THIS SHOW. I would have encouraged Televisa to do the same before it aired.

CMLL TV 11/11/06:

Amapola, Hiroka, Rosa Negra vs. India Sioux, Marcela, Sahori: OH C'MON! Can we make a rule and just have one women's match per month to start shows? PLEASE?

Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Universo 2000 vs. Hirooki Goto, Kenzo Suzuki, Marco Corleone: Don't remember much about this although I think Goto got injured here and ended up leaving Mexico so can I automatically call this a great match?:)

Dos Caras Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., Volador Jr. vs. Atlantis, Tarzan Boy, Ultimo Guerrero: BOO TO THE PERSON THAT TAPED THIS! It cuts out during the second fall and resumes during the third fall. That's really shitty b/c I saw this in full and it was a nice little MOTYC as each fall got plenty of time and the guys were working their asses off. Tarzan debuted his new assisted tornillo dive which is a thing of beauty! Volador Jr. fit right in and cemented his position on top of the cards which made me very happy.:D Great effort from everyone.

Worth getting to see what is shown of the awesome main event!

CMLL TV 11/18/06:

Starman, Tony Rivera, Virus vs. Hooligan, Mr. Mexico, Ramstein: I remember thinking this was alright. But maybe I was just happy to see no women?:) Can't remember specifics but I do remember this being a strong TV episode so I would assume this was good.

Dos Caras Jr., Rey Bucanero, Shocker vs. Kenzo Suzuki, LA Park, Marco Corleone: The triple dive match!!! First time I've seen that spot in CMLL rings in... a long time! Dos Jr. did an over the top tope, Shocker did a tope suicida and Bucanero did a running somersault plancha! It was AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWESOME! Entire match was pretty damn great as a matter of fact, not just for that spot. Post-match had the disgusting chairshot on Corleone by Universo. The amount of blood he lost was unreal.

Mistico, Negro Casas vs. Averno, Mephisto [CMLL Tag Team Titles]: I thought the first match they had was better as this was obviously just a way to debut Mistico's music video and have him win in real life just like in the video. I mean... there was NO DOUBT his team would be winning this so the drama was completely non-existent. They did one really nice nearfall spot that the crowd popped for and then the finish was a thing of beauty with both rudos going for their finishers but the tecnicos flipping out and nailing their own finishers for the win. Solid match even though it was predictable.

Get this show to fill your quota of CMLL for the month.:)

CMLL TV 11/25/06:

Tigre Metalico, Tony Rivera, Virus vs. Apocalipsis, Hooligan, Ramstein: I'm afraid to even try and go into specifics b/c I'll probably mix it up with the previous week's match.:/ All I know is I now despise the spot where Hooligan goes for a clothesline, Metalico ducks, Hooligan slides outside and Metalico nails him with a tope suicida. That used to be my favorite spot of all-time(read: for 2 or 3 weeks when I first saw it) but it used to be a Skayde/Pantera Del Ring or Ultimo Guerrero spot where they'd have a really long exchange beforehand and as they were running the ropes they'd pull off the spot flawlessly and it looked so brutal and innovative. Now Metalico and Hooligan don't even try to do it creatively. They just stand there and get right to it which makes you wonder why Hooligan is just ducking outside the ring to get hit with a dive for no reason. Very lame. Also of note, Ramstein isn't as good as he used to be.

Dos Caras Jr., Heavy Metal, Blue Panther vs. El Terrible, Damian 666, Halloween: Horrific. These guys didn't mix well at all and seemingly had no motivation to be wrestling in front of thousands of fans. We should not be missing awesome terceras in exchange for seeing these shitty semi-main events.

Shocker, Rey Bucanero, Universo 2000 vs. L.A. Park, Kenzo Suzuki, Marco Corleone: This was the big rematch where everyone though Corleone would get his revenge on Universo legit but turns out nothing happened and Universo even trusted him enough to catch his dives. Universo did end up getting hurt but it was via a Parka spin kick gone wrong. Oh the irony! Another entertaining match with these teams.

Mixed bad. I'd skip it unless you NEED all the average CMLL shows.

CMLL TV 12/2/06:

Damain 666/Halloween/Hector Garza vs. Atlantis/Tarzan Boy/Ultimo Guerrero: Really short quick setup for the trios titles match they'd do a couple weeks later. Some nice dives and moves but no flow to the match at all. Just a bunch of random dives, moves and finishes. Typical "we don't want to be bothered about THINKING tonight" type match.

Dr. Wagner Jr./Universo 2000/Volador Jr. vs. Averno/Kenzo Suzuki/Mephisto: VOLADOR! *clap clap clap* VOLADOR! *clap clap clap* VOLADOR! *clap clap clap* Might as well cheer for the only guy who was entertaining in this match.:)

Dos Caras Jr./Rey Bucanero/Shocker vs. Hijo del Perro Aguayo/Marco Corleone/Mr. Aguila: I expected way more out of this. Perrito, as usual, brought only the comedy. I admire that he can turn the switch on between serious wrestler and comedy wrestler whenever he wants but why do 99% of his matches have to be in comedy mode? Third fall was particularly awful and had a horrible dive sequence that was completely messed up and weak looking. Low blows all around for the finish.

Skip it!

CMLL TV 12/9/06:

Damian 666/Halloween/Mr. Aguila vs. Blue Panther/Sagrado/Volador Jr.: On paper a good looking match but it really didn't come off that way.:( Sagrado was in 2003 form as he blew every spot he tried and the crowd let him know it. Panther doesn't seem to give a shit any more unless he is working against a guy willing to let him do everything(Olimpico) and none of these rudos qualify so he mailed it in. Volador Jr. was looking great as usual but then in the third fall he must have slipped off camera b/c he suddenly disapeared onto the floor holding his leg and they rushed to a weak finish where Los Perros Del Mal B Team went over. I wanted better...

Heavy Metal/Shocker/Universo 2000 vs. Alex Koslov/Kenzo Suzuki/LA Park: Whoa... hello motivation! They must have felt like the previous match was so bad that they had to make up for it. This ended up being one of my favorite matches from the recent batch of CMLL TV! Not by the numbers at all with interesting finishes to each fall and guys killing themselves with dives including Metal launching himself into the first row with a running somersault plancha! Poor Parka got hurt trying to make sure he made the catch. I'd have just let Metal suffer.;) Tons of little things made the match stand-out to me such as when they were heading for your typical tecnicos hit both their finishers at the same time finish but then the rudos escaped only to stumble into the same moves a few seconds later. It's really small but helps make the match seem like an actual competition instead of an exhibition. IMPRESSIVE!

Atlantis/Tarzan Boy/Ultimo Guerrero vs. Dos Caras Jr./Dr. Wagner Jr./Rey Bucanero: I thought they'd go the route of the same match only with Volador Jr. instead of Bucanero from a few weeks beforehand but they really just worked it by the numbers and tossed in some crazy dives. Tarzan got abso-fucking-lutely LAUNCHED into a somersault plancha by Guerrero and Bucanero had to save Tarzan's life by taking the brunt of the fall. The tecnicos ended up doing a triple dive as well which included a Dos Jr. tope over the top, Bucanero running somersault plancha and Wagner slingshot somersault plancha! WHERE'D THAT COME FROM WAGNER?!?!?!?!?! Third fall could have made this into a MOTYC but sadly... it didn't.:(

Good show which gets made by the last two matches. If you could take the work ethic of the last two matches and combine it with a great Coliseo opener on a weekly basis, you'd have one awesome TV show!

CMLL TV 12/16/06:

This was the special Telethon show at Arena Mexico where they brought back a bunch of washed up awful wrestlers along with Super Parka and Negro Navarro.

Blue Panther/Super Parka/Canek vs. Negro Navarro/El Signo/Texano Jr.: Super Parka was an absolutely joy to watch! The Panther/Navarro stuff was also pretty great as you'd expect. Definitely better than the Solar/Navarro similarly worked style. But the Canek/Signo/Texano Jr. portions of the match dragged this down into the gutter. It's just awful watching guys who have trouble walking up and down stairs try to work an actual wrestling match. Canek needs to go away and FAST! Weird match where you see something great, then have to sit through tons of shit to get to the next great moment.

Villano III, IV & V vs. Damian 666/Halloween/Mr. Aguila: Fucking awful. Los Villanos are all embarassing to watch these days... III in particular. Los Perros B Team are only entertaining if they have tecnicos willing to take their moves properly or in Aguila's case, his dives. Los Villanos are long past the days of taking any bump that isn't a backdrop or suplex. HORRIFYING.

Dos Caras Jr./Shocker/Mascara Sagrada vs. Blue Demon Jr./L.A. Park/Hector Garza: They put on your average Arena Mexico semi-main event without much thought and getting by on the fact the crowd was reacting to everything they did anyhow. Sagrada is so fat that at this point it's pure comedy to see him try and fit through the ropes when he enters the ring. Cheap finish didn't help things.

I'd rather have seen a compilation of terceras we missed throughout the previous weeks instead of this awful show.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

CMLL TV September/October 2006

CMLL TV 9/9/06:

India Sioux, Lady Apache, Princesa Blanca vs. Amapola, La Nazi, Rosa Negra: This would fit the definition of me having a bad memory but also the criteria of me not caring about the women.:) I'm sure it was technically solid and better than most men's stuff b/c the one fall format really makes the girls look like stars since the matches flow better and don't seem rushed.

Felino, Sagrado, Satanico vs. Alex Koslov, Eclipse, Olimpico: I'd give myself an award if I could remember specifics about this match. I know the third fall disapointed me b/c the ending came out of nowhere and nobody had done anything up until that point.

Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Mr. Aguila, Shocker vs. Heavy Metal, Lizmark Jr., Negro Casas: For some reason only the third fall was on the DVD I got. Don't remember much (the theme of future updates) except Shocker looking alright.

Mistico vs. Black Warrior: Typical Mistico/Warrior match. In fact it's probably the same match they just had a few days ago at Arena Coliseo so it should be airing on one of the CMLL upcoming weekend shows. Move-for-move exactly what happened in the mask match except a few of the dives changed. I love Mistico but matches like this are fast-forward city.

Bad show.

CMLL TV 9/16/06:

Hijo del Pierroth, Hombre Sin Nombre, Sangre Azteca vs. Felino, Mascara Purprua, Maximo: Standard Coliseo by the numbers match. Purpura is fun to watch but he only got like 20 seconds of ring time and a big dive at the end which isn't enough. The rudos were alright. Barely acceptable overall.

Hector Garza, Perro Aguayo Jr., Shocker vs. Olimpico, Tarzan Boy, Ultimo Guerrero: Far too short. Crowd seemed hot and the action was alright but this was a rush-job to setup a trios titles match for the PPV in two weeks. It was fun seeing Shocker and Guerrero work together again as they used to be my favorite pairing. This may have been the start of Tarzan's rejuvination as he has been on fire since.

Mistico vs. Atlantis: The other style Mistico match... this would be where he gets a hot start but is destroyed soon after and sells the entire match until a big comeback including consecutive dives and then a rush to the finish. At least he was sporting an awesome tricolor outfit for the occasion.:) They blew the finish pretty badly which didn't help things. Match might have been better if anyone thought Atlantis had even a 1% chance of winning. Chui is right when he says they need to elevate someone and have Mistico get beat already. Even Santo Jr. did jobs for his arch rivals, even if they were via low blows or cheapness involving ripping off his mask. That's what rudos are supposed to do and that's how they can beat the top tecnicos! If CMLL wants to keep Mistico undefeated cleanly, they can still do that and also have him jobbing at the same time which won't hurt him. The idea of fans just coming b/c they want Mistico to win is all good and fine for a few more years but once that fades, people will only come back if they fear there's a little chance he might drop his mask or be in any sort of danger.

Average episode. One day CMLL needs to explain why some matches are randomly one fall.

CMLL TV 9/23/06:

Metro II, Satanico, Virus vs. Mr. Mexico, Ohara, Okumura: Pretty good match. One of the better Coliseo matches in a while up until this point. They didn't do anything spectacular but the action flowed nicely and it didn't seem rushed since most of these guys are pros. Ohara got busted open late in the match and the finish was a bit blown b/c of the referee but it was nothing major. Boy does Neutron look like an old fat guy in his new gimmick...

Hiroka vs. Lady Apache (CMLL Women's Title match): So many booking problems with this match that I won't even go into. Not to mention they went through all this(the title and hair match) just to have Apache win the title anyways about two months later. HUH?

Dr. Wagner Jr., Mistico, Rey Bucanero vs. Atlantis, Black Warrior, Ultimo Guerrero: Just a quick two fall match to setup the mask match the following week. Bucanero was clearly positioned as the guy only in this match to take a beating. They didn't even tease him having a secondary or third-string issue with Guerrero or Atlantis. Those two rudos were more concerned with destroying Mistico. Poor Bucanero.:( He must be getting taken care of nicely to stay in his position.

Skippable episode. I remember reading attendance was down for this show and I can see why.

CMLL TV 9/30/06:

Sagrado, Satanico, Virus vs. Loco Max, Nitro, Okumura: This was from that CRAZY 8/4/06 Arena Mexico show. Unfortunately it only ended up bringing down the overall greatness of that show in hindsight. First fall was extremely by the numbers with that usual stupid finish where the rudos just step into the ring and walk right into submissions from the tecnicos. Don't tease anything now! In the second fall, Sagrado got dumped on his head with a german suplex and was stretchered out. What did that mean? It meant they rushed home and ended the third fall within seconds. That boggles the mind b/c the best crowds to work in front of are crowds that are reacting to ANYTHING and this was definitely one of those crowds. They could have stayed out another couple of minutes and even if they had been on different pages, the crowd would still have reacted. I'm gonna assume some idiot "programador" give them the signal to go home.

Damian 666, Halloween, Mr. Aguila vs. Felino, Heavy Metal, Negro Casas: 100% lucha by numbers. Nobody even appeared to be trying to impress the crowd, it was just go home as fast as you can! I'd be shocked if I went back and this was longer than 8 minutes from whistle to whistle. I *think* this was Halloween's return match so I was surprised he didn't try and do more to get noticed.

Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Marco Corleone, Shocker vs. Blue Panther, Dos Caras Jr., Volador Jr.: This was the match where Volador Jr. almost killed himself. Shame too b/c he was having a fabulous match up until that point. The first two falls were rushed but the third fall was going alright until the injury. Probably would have been a really strong match if things had gone according to plan.

Waste of an episode since you can see the only fall that matters(third fall of the main event) on the previous episode.

CMLL TV 10/14/06:

Hooligan, Mr. Mexico, Ramstein vs. Fabian el Gitano, Starman, Texano Jr.: Anything Hooligan related is always good! Fabian has actually really improved and I know what you're thinking Cubs... "he sucks". Well, yes, he's still kinda shitty but if you watched him in IWRG during 2004/2005, you'd see what I mean by him having improved!;) Nice to see Starman back on television and of course Ramstein as well although I gotta say... there might just be a reason they stay so out of sight... they don't look like they've changed a thing about their style.:/ Both are still as bland as ever. Fun opener.

Hiroka vs. Lady Apache (Hair Match): Bleh. The dives were nice but the interference turned the match into a joke. If you're gonna do two women against each other, at least make it a match involving either Dark Angel, Marcela, Amapola or Sujei. Please!

Black Warrior, Olimpico, Ultimo Guerrero vs. Heavy Metal, Mistico, Volador Jr.: I really liked this! It wasn't a blowaway 100% workrate match but Mistico was fired up and doing some fun stuff, plus they appeared to put a little thought into the match!!!:o THOUGHT INTO A MATCH? WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO??? After Mistico did his usual slingshot frankensteiner onto Ultimo Guerrero, Warrior nailed him with a running somersault plancha as he celebrated which got a HUGE POP from the crowd! They should consider doing more spots like that to tease the rudos figuring out all of Mistico's moves and eventually have it lead to someone beating him. It was also great to see Volador Jr. and Guerrero working together. Reminds me of the old days of Volador against La Parka in that they knew each other so well and would do these out of the world simple moves that NOBODY would notice b/c Rey Jr. and Psicosis would be doing more high-risk stuff in the same match. Heavy Metal stayed out of the way... which is fine by me.:) Screwy ending but at least it was sorta new so I appreciated it.

2 for 3 episode which is the best you can ask from CMLL these days! Definitely worth checking out.
Welcome Back to ME!

Been a while but I'm back and ready to review! Since I have so much to catch up on, expect a lot of VERY SHORT reviews minus a lot of the specifics since my memory kinda sucks. I could just start from all the new stuff I am watching but I would hate to leave such a huge gap just incase at some point in the future another guy like Cubs comes along and decides to archive reviews of old shows. Plus it helps me when I look back and need to find what was good and what was bad. Anyways... I'll try to breeze through the really old stuff and be more detailed on newer stuff.