NWA/EMLL Lucha Libre results
Dave Fields
News for the week...Cien Caras defeated Conan for the NWA/EMLL world's
heavyweight title last week in Monterrey, Mexico. Apparently the belt
exchanged hands via disqualification (their rules, what one can make of
them, are very different) at the hands of heel referee El Gran Davis.
Davis was interviewed about his favoring Cien Caras and denied it all
(what a surprise). He said Cien Caras won the title on his own and that
he is a deserving champion, etc., etc.
They're promoting Kevin Von Erick (sic) and Chris Adams pretty heavily.
Adams, in particular, said that although Cien Caras and Perro Aguayo
are his "good friends," he has every intention of taking the world's
title away from Cien Caras. I'd never seen Adams work as a heel before
(his most recent heel term in the mid-1980s was before my return to
wrestling in 1987), and I'm impressed. I always thought he was a total
wimp as a face (favorite memory: Terry Taylor and Eddie Gilbert beating
the crap out of Adams at a UWF "press conference." Taylor, in
particular, was great, grabbing an ashtray and juicing Adams with it).
He looks positively evil. Not only does he look evil, he *acts* evil.
An additional surprise: he's picked up some lucha libre moves. For his
part, Kevin looked like he'd rather be somewhere else, but the way they
were promoting him with videos, etc., it looks like he's going to be in
Mexico for awhile.
They've changed the way they do their popularity ratings: now there's a
face category and a separate heel category. They did the faces right at
the top of the broadcast, and I missed most of it, so here's what I
managed to get:
Face popularity for the week ending September 1, 1991:
1 - Conan
2 - Atlantis
Heel popularity for the week ending September 1, 1991:
1 - Cien Caras
2 - Mascara An~o 2000
3 - Pierroth, Jr.
4 - Javier Cruz
5 - Fuerza Guerrera
First match: Octagon, Kato Kung Lee, Anibal (faces) vs. Kung Fu, Emilio
Charles, Jr., and Satanico (heels); Roberto Rangel and El Gran Davis
(referees); faces win 2 of 3 falls.
I take back all the bad things I've had to say about Octagon: this guy
is totally hot. Either the booker has turned him loose or he's become
the booker, but he was EXCELLENT! He showed a number of martial arts
moves, didn't miss a single drop kick, and didn't take anything from
anybody.
First fall: Things begin with the referee pulling a set of nunchaku out
of Kung Fu's gi. Kung Fu, of course, plays innocent. How did that get
in there! Satanico starts against Kato Kung Lee, but a fight breaks out
on the floor between Emilio Charles and Octagon, ending with Charles
posting Octagon. Meanwhile, Satanico is crushing Anibal on the floor.
Kung Fu posts Kata Kung Lee's face HARD, then kicks Octagon, who is
being held by Satanico and Charles, right in the face, again quite
hard. Kung Fu then knocks Anibal down with a series of karate chops to
the neck and face. Kung Fu then reaches into his gi and pulls out a
rope that he uses to strangle Anibal. All three heels gang up on Anibal
in the ring for awhile. Emilio Charles then breaks away to tie Octagon
to the top rope by his mask streamers and proceeds to beat the bejesus
out of him. Satanico binds Kato Kung Lee with his gi belt and trashes
him. It's now 3 on 3, strictly to the advantage of the heels. The heels
are declared winners by referee's decis
Second fall: Anibal opens against Kung Fu, who misses both a drop kick
and a crescent kick. Anibal grabs him, throws him to the mat, and mops
up the floor with him. Kato Kung Lee comes in against Satanico and
slugs him twice. Meanwhile, Octagon comes in and super kicks Kung Fu
hard right in the face. He then cleans up the arena with Emilio
Charles, posting him several times. Anibal now is taking on all 3 heels
for awhile, but now it's Octagon vs. Satanico, who tosses him twice and
shoulder blocks him. Octagon comes back with three spectacular tosses
followed by karate kicks to the heads of all three heels. The faces win
by countout.
Third fall: Anibal opens against Satanico, but nothing happens and they
are replaced by Kato Kung Lee and Kung Fu. Nothing happens, and
Satanico tags in. Kato Kung Lee immediately begins running along the
middle ropes. He jumps off and punches first Satanico, then Kung Fu.
Emilio Charles comes in against Octagon, who does several spectacular
throws, head scissors, and head kicks against poor Emilio, who doesn't
look like he knows what hit him. Anibal comes in against Kung Fu, drop
kicking him out of the ring. Emilio Charles then comes in, misses a
shoulder tackle, and posts himself. The fall and match end with Octagon
doing a spectacular back flip head butt to Satanico off the middle
rope. Octagon then makes an easy pin on Satanico. Kato Kung Lee does a
great spinning face kick to Kung Fu from the second rope and pins
*him*.
Second match: Kendo Nagasaki, Chris Adams, and Pirata Morgan (heels)
vs. Kevin Von Erick (sic), Atlantis, and Mascara Sagrada (faces);
Roberto Rangel and El Gran Davis (referees); heels win 2 of 3 falls.
Wow! Chris Adams looks positively evil. Kevin looks bored.
First fall: Chris throws Kevin out of the ring before the announcements
are completed and Kendo does the same to Atlantis as does Pirata to
Mascara Sagrada. El Pirata posts Sacred Mask hard. Kevin comes in
against Kendo briefly, then Pirata comes in against Atlantis. Finally,
Chris comes in against Kevin and, with help from El Pirata, absolutely
trashes him. Chris tags Kendo, and he continues to mangle Kevin. Kendo
is joined by Pirata, and both hold Kevin in the middle of the ring so
Chris can come off the top rope and slug him in the stomach. Three on
three chaos at this point. Kevin misses a knee on Kendo badly and winds
up upside down hanging from the top rope. Chris Adams pins Atlantis
with a perfect plex and Kendo pins Kevin.
Second fall: Sacred Mask starts against Morgan the Pirate and they
trade a few shots, mostly to Pirata's advantage. On the arena floor,
Chris Adams picks up a camera cable and strangles Sacred Mask with it.
Kendo comes in against Atlantis, who throws him all over the ring and
throws him out to the floor. Atlantis follows Kendo out of the ring and
trashes him on the floor as well. Pirata faces Mascara in the ring.
Mascara drop kicks El Pirata in the face from the top turnbuckle. Kevin
comes in against Chris, slugging and kicking him out of the ring, then
following him to the floor for some fighting out there. While Atlantis
and Kendo are going at it in the ring, Chris super kicks Kevin on the
arena floor. Atlantis comes out to help and Chris super kicks him as
well. Back in the ring, Kevin is tied up in the ring ropes, but as
Chris moves to shoulder block him, Kevin escapes and throws Chris over
the top rope to the floor, then follows him out for more brawling. Back
in the ring, Kevin continues to maul Chris
Third fall: Pirata opens against Mascara Sagrada, who immediately puts
him into a submission hold. Kendo comes in to break it up, but Atlantis
comes in and first drop kicks, then kicks him in the head. Atlantis
then catapults Kendo out of the ring. Chris Adams comes in and super
kicks Atlantis, punches him in the stomach, karate punches him, and
then super kicks him out of the ring. Then, in a real surprise, Chris
runs full speed across the ring and throws himself head first, plancha
style, between the middle and top ropes onto Atlantis on the arena
floor (he's definitely been studying the lucha style). Kendo posts
Kevin, Pirata suplexes Mascara, then 747s him off the top rope and pins
him for the victory.
After the match, Mascara Sagrada challenges Pirata Morgan to a mask vs.
hair match in the coming week. El Pirata Pearl Harbors him and mops up
the arena with him, ripping his mask off in the center of the ring,
then kicking it into the crowd. Atlantis runs in, covers Mascara
Sagrada's face (thus preserving his secret identity), and they both
make their way back to the dressing room.
Third match: Cien Caras (heel) and Conan (face) vs. Perro Aguayo (heel)
and El Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. (face); Roberto Rangel and El Gran Davis
(referees); I have no idea who won this match, if anyone did.
The angle here was a strange one. Recall that Cien Caras and Conan have
both been beating the crap out of Perro Aguayo in recent weeks, with El
Rayo de Jalisco defending him against both. Nothing much was resolved
by this match, perhaps because El Rayo injured himself at the end of
the first fall and pretty much took himself out of the picture, thus
ruining whatever surprises the plot had in store. My guess is that
Perro Aguayo was supposed to make a face turn, but the way it all
ended, who knows?
First fall: Conan opens against El Rayo, shaking his hand. Cien Caras
Pearl Harbors El Rayo, and Perro Aguayo comes to El Rayo's rescue, both
attacking Cien Caras while Conan stands and watches. El Rayo puts Conan
into a half crab, but Cien Caras kicks him off. Once again, Cien Caras
jumps El Rayo from behind, Perro comes to his rescue, and Conan
watches. Now Conan and Perro trade punches and drop kicks in the middle
of the ring. Perro body slams Conan, who in turn posts and slams Perro
on the floor. Conan kicks Perro in the head -- hard -- and continues to
pummel him. Meanwhile, Cien Caras and El Rayo are mixing it up in the
ring, mostly to Cien Caras' advantage. In the process of all this, Cien
Caras manages to rip the top of El Rayo's mask open, completely
exposing his hair (at this point he looks like a brunette carrot).
Conan comes in against Perro, kicking him in the head, then slamming it
into the corner turnbuckle. Conan and El Rayo trade clotheslines, but
Conan recovers first and takes El Rayo down
Second fall: El Rayo can hobble around a little bit, but he's
definitely history for the rest of this match. Conan accidentally kicks
the injured El Rayo to the arena floor as Perro Aguayo tries to help El
Rayo to his feet. Perro and Cien Caras trade punches, kicks, and
clotheslines in the ring. El Rayo catches Cien Caras on a rope rebound,
grabs his foot, and flattens him face first in the ring. Perro Aguayo
pins Cien Caras. Conan then DDTs Perro Aguayo, but can't get the pin.
Now a suplex. No pin. Perro Aguayo gets a near pin on Conan, but Conan
kicks out. Now Conan gains an advantage. Cien Caras comes into the ring
and soundly thrashes Perro Aguayo. At this point, referee Roberto
Rangel calls a DQ. Cien Caras and Perro Aguayo continue to fight. Conan
and Cien Caras fight one another all over the arena. Perro Aguayo slugs
Cien Caras, smashing him into the ringside seats. Conan also jumps Cien
Caras, and the three of them trade punches in the aisles. Conan grabs
the house mic and challenges both Cien Caras
Perro Aguayo tries to turn the crowd against Conan by shouting Viva
Mexico! into the house mic as Conan asks him for a yes-or-no answer to
his challenge -- the challenge goes unanswered.