CMLL Lucha Libre
Dave Fields
for the better part of the past two weeks. Since then I've acquired new
hardware (Sun 4 SPARCstation) and a piece of diagnostic advice from
Chris Bertholf, so here's hoping there are no problems with this post.
BTW, if anybody has tried to contact me in the past two weeks and not
received a reply, it's because of the comm line problem. Please resend
any email directly to me at one of the following:
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NEWS:
No popularity rankings this week.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated (December, 1991) ranks the PWI 500 in its
current issue. Among the wrestlers listed are the following CMLL stars
(their ratings in parentheses):
Konan (49) (note: he now spells it Conan, with a "C" - he used to spell
it with a "K").
"On his way to becoming a legend in Mexico...Recently competed in WCW
and WWF...High-flying, athletic style has caused many fans to call him
the 'Mil Mascaras of the '90s'" (sic)
Chris Adams (66)
"Born and raised in Stratford, England...A four-time former World Class
champion...His 'superkick' karate blow is one of the sport's most
emulated moves."
Kevin Von Erich (78)
"Scientific marvel just keeps on going...Recognized by the IWCCW as
World Class champion...The older brother of Kerry and Chris Von
Erich...Great clawhold."
Jerry Estrada (110)
"Mexican veteran is now a superstar throughout the world...Has held his
own against top Japanese stars during several recent tours...Has also
wrestled in U.S."
Octagon (207)
"Gains greater popularity with each Mexican match...Masked like the
great stars of the past, but displays agility like few before
him...Recently toured Japan and Europe."
Ken Timbs (Fabuloso Blondy) (261)
"Very successful in Mexico, where he is known as "El Fabuloso
Blondie"...Most famous in the U.S. for his tag team of The Fabulous
Blonds with Eric Embry."
Hijo del Santo (293) (erroneously identified as "El Santo")
"Son of legendary Mexican grappler El Santo...The 'original' El Santo
was so popular that a shrine was erected around his gravesite, which
Mexican fans still visit."
Nitron (440)
"Best known as a bodyguard for Woman in WCW, this giant is forging a
solo career...Currently competing in WWC (sic)...Big and tall, but
needs seasoning...Born brutal."
Of course, PWI completely screws things up, naming the following
identical individuals twice:
o Yellow Dog (175)/Brian Pillman (44) - and they even admit they're
the same person!
o Fire Cat (264)/Brady Boone (365)
o Black Blood (89)/Billy Jack Haynes (97)
o Badstreet (238)/Brad Armstrong (105)
o Kato (163)/Paul Diamond (181)
I just thought it was interesting that they actually noticed a few of
the Mexican greats (BTW, they also list some of the UWA wrestlers -
Yoshihiro Asai (291), Kokina Maximus (148), I don't recognize any
others).
NEW WRESTLERS:
Archangel de la Muerte (Archangel of Death): I mentioned this guy last
week, but didn't have a chance to comment on him. He has a nifty ring
costume (red and white) with a moderately gruesome mask and fringe on
the chest of his top. Excellent work rate and acrobatic skills. A
heel.
Talisman: Another great masked comer who I mentioned last week. The
CMLL is really pushing this guy hard. Again, a high work rate and
excellent acrobatic skills. A face.
Canelo Casas: No mask (too bad, he's really ugly), but another great
new talent. More hard work, more acrobatic excellence. A heel.
Guerrero Samuray (Samurai Warrior): Another CMLL martial artist. Great
mask (all black, and no mouth hole, so he looks pretty awesome) and,
again, terrific skills in the ring. A face.
El Hombre Bala (roughly "The Man Who Has Made A Wrong Turn" -- a better
translation would probably be "Hard Ass" or "Tough Guy"). A CMLL
veteran, he really doesn't show me too much in the way of work rate or
acrobatic skills, but he works the crowd really well.
Comando Ruso (the Russian Commando) is another CMLL veteran. Guess
what? Mexican "Russians" speak Spanish!
El Pantera (the Panther) is a masked face with another dorky outfit (he
has whiskers painted on his mask). Really good work rate and acrobatic
skills, though.
Misterioso (the Mysterious One) is another masked face who's a good
worker. Not as acrobatic as some (he's a pretty big guy), he's always
interesting to watch in action.
El Egipcio (the Egyptian) is the CMLL Mexican National Heavyweight
Champion. Although his real name is Luis Hernandez, he really does look
like an Arab. A pretty good grappler, but not much of an acrobat. A
heel.
Herodes (Herod) is a fat heel who does nothing for me at all. He DOES
look pretty biblical, but beyond that...who cares?
From Arena Coliseo, Mexico City, D.F.
FIRST MATCH:
Archangel de la Muerte and Canelo Casas (heels) vs. Talisman and
Guerrero Samuray (faces); Gato Montini and Armando Gaitan (referees);
heels win 2/3 falls.
First Fall:
Talisman and Archangel trade tosses for awhile, then Canelo Casas and
Guerrero Samuray do the same, also trading pin attempts and doing lots
of mat wrestling. Talisman and Archangel come in and do lots of razzle
dazzle stuff bouncing off the ropes, then Talisman drop kicks Archangel
out of the ring. Guerrero Samuray and Canelo Casas trade kicks, then
the Samurai executes a spectacular double throw of both rudos.
Talisman does a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Archangel, gets knocked
down, jumps, and pins the Archangel of Death. As Canelo Casas takes a
breather in a front row ringside seat, Guerrero Samuray mounts the top
turnbuckle and does a spectacular plancha into Canelo's lap.
Second Fall:
Talisman and Canelo Casas do some more razzle dazzle, then Canelo
clotheslines Talisman. When the masked man gets up, Canelo super kicks
him right on the chin. Talisman returns the favor with a tilt-a-whirl
backbreaker. The Archangel of Death enters the ring and is met with a
spectacular flying head scissors throw out of the ring courtesy of
Guerrero Samuary. Canelo comes in and super kicks Talisman, then kicks
him hard in the stomach.
Both heels work on Talisman's left arm for awhile, then, while
Archangel holds Talisman up in a modified bear hug, Canelo Casas super
kicks him hard in the head, resulting in a hard fall to the mat. The
Archangel back body drops Guerrero Samuray, then drop kicks him while
Canelo Casas holds him in the same kind of modified bear hug. The fall
ends with Archangel de la Muerte pinning Guerrero Samuray.
Third Fall:
Archangel works on Guerrero's left arm, then Canelo Casas enters and
the pair executes a double hip toss of the Samurai Warrior. Recovering
suddenly, Guerrero Samuray superkicks Archangel while Talisman beats up
on Canelo. Talisman tilt-a-whirls Canelo Casas, who in turn fouls him
(unseen by the referees). Canelo then Gotch suplexes Talisman for the
pin and victory.
SECOND MATCH:
El Hombre Bala, Comando Ruso, and Kung Fu (heels) vs. El Pantera, El
Felino, and Misterioso (faces); El Gran Davis and Gato Montini
(referees); heels win 2/3 falls.
First Fall:
Pantera head scissors throws both Hombre Bala and Comando Ruso, then
drop kicks both simultaneously. Misterioso and Kung Fu trade tackles
and throws. Felino does one of those top turnbuckle knuckle throws on
Hombre Bala. Pantera throws Comando Ruso out of the ring. Felino pins
Hombre Bala with a spectacular flying takedown.
Second Fall:
Misterioso hip tosses both Hombre Bala and Comando Ruso simultaneously,
then cleans up the arena with them. Kung Fu misses several karate kick
attempts on Pantera and is dropped by a drop kick for his troubles. A
mob scene ensues, with a 3 on 3 advantage for the heels. Kung Fu
thrashes Misterioso on the arena floor while Comando Ruso and Hombre
Bala crush Felino in the ring. As Hombre Bala holds Felino in a prone
position, Comando Ruso climbs to the top turnbuckle and does a big 747
plancha on the cat for the pin.
Third Fall:
Hombra Bala thrashes Misterioso, Kung Fu at his side, while Comando
Ruso thrashes Felino on the arena floor. Russo posts Felino while Kung
Fu and Hombre Bala continue to trash Misterioso. Next, all 3 rudos gang
up on El Pantera. Suddenly, Misterioso whips Comando Ruso into the
corner twice, then Felino comes in to pound on the big "Russian."
Pantera busts Hombre Bala's balls in one corner while Misterioso back
breaks Kung Fu, then tilt-a-whirls him.
Pantera tilt-a-whirls Hombre Bala, then Felino trashes him. Comando
Ruso comes in and does a high back body drop on Felino, following up by
throwing the little cat over the top rope. Misterioso and Pantera put
Hombre Bala and Kung Fu in a star in the middle of the ring, but the
rudos manage to escape, and the three heels dog pile onto the three
faces to gain the pin and the match.
THIRD MATCH:
El Egipcio, Sultan Gargola, and Jerry Estrada (heels) vs. Solar II,
Volador, and Angel Azteca (faces); Roberto Rangel and Gato Montini
(referees); faces win 2/3 falls.
The Galavision graphic said this was Solar I, but the announcers called
him Solar II throughout the three falls, so I'm assuming the graphic
was wrong.
First Fall:
Gargola and the Aztec Angel trade holds and takedowns then tag out to
Solar and the Egyptian, who engage in much the same behavior. Volador
and Jerry come in and do some really fast razzle dazzle stuff off the
ropes for a long time, but to no conclusion. Angel Azteca throws
Gargola hard three times, the last time with a leaping head scissors.
The Egyptian slugs Solar to the mat, then takes a drop kick, an Irish
whip, and a catapult. Advantage: Solar.
Volador and Jerry Estrada come back in and do *more* razzle dazzle, but
this time Volador catches Jerry coming off the ropes and tilt-a-whirls
him, picks him up, and throws him out of the ring. Volador then follows
Estrada to the arena floor where he *again* tilt-a-whirls him. The
Aztec Angel and the Egyptian trade many, many throws to no advantage
and are replaced by Volador and Gargola. Volador does a spectacular
head scissors take down and pin of Gargola.
Second Fall:
Jerry Estrada kicks Solar hard in the stomach, but in return is thrown,
catapulted, and back body dropped out of the ring. Volador does a
spectacular jumping toss on Gargola, throwing him out of the ring. The
villains then all gang up on the heros, Gargola and Estrada smashing
Solar. After some 3-on-3 chaos (advantage: heels), Gargola pins
Volador.
Third Fall:
Gargola kicks and clotheslines Solar, then he and Egipcio gang up on
the sunny one. A 3-on-3 rudo gang bang follows, Egipcio unlacing
Solar's mask in the process. All 3 heels then gang up on Volador, but
Solar and Volador fight back and the tecnicos take the advantage. The
tecnicos miss a move, though, and wind up in a star in the middle of
the ring. Fortunately for them, they are able to break the hold and go
on the offensive.
El Egipcio pulls Solar's mask off and the heels are immediately
disqualified. As Volador and Angel Azteca try to hide Solar's face, the
rudos yank Volador's mask off as well. Fortunately for both, fans hand
them ski masks so they can leave the ringside area. Both look like
they're about to say "Dame su dinero!", but we all know that a face
would never hold somebody up :-)
FOURTH MATCH:
MS-1, Masakre, and Herodes (heels) vs. Vampiro Canadiense Casanova,
Ringo Mendoza, and Anibal; Gato Montini and Roberto Rangel (referees);
faces win, 2/3 falls.
El Vampiro was working as a face again. I'm wondering if last week's
match (with Javier Cruz as a face) was an old one edited into the show
to fill up some time. Anyway, the Canadian Vampire opens the
proceedings by walking over to Don~a Vicky (a *really* old lady who has
a front row ringside seat each and every week) and planting a big kiss
on her cheek. As he is doing this, he is Pearl Harbored by Herodes.
First Fall:
Anibal and MS-1 trade takedowns. MS-1 and Masakre accidentally smack
one another a couple of times and quarrel. Ringo drop kicks Masakre and
they trade blows. Vampiro body slams Herodes, then smashes his face
into the mat. Anibal throws MS-1 over the top rope onto the floor.
Herodes runs in, and Ringo pins him.
Second Fall:
Ringo throws MS-1 out of the ring. Herodes and Anibal trade throws, but
Herodes winds up on the arena floor. The Canadian Vampire comes in to
do battle with Masakre, but as the referees are distracted, MS-1 also
comes in and punches El Vampiro in the stomach. Masakre and MS-1
continue to trash El Vampiro, then they gang up on Ringo, wishboning
him. Finally they make mincemeat out of Anibal. Total chaos takes over,
with all 3 rudos beating the bejesus out of the 3 tecnicos. MS-1 and
Masakre double suplex El Vampiro, and Herodes covers him for the pin.
Third Fall:
Ringo opens by battling both MS-1 and Masakre. MS-1 Irish whips him
into a corner, but Ringo quickly reverses the advantage. Masakre enters
to break things up, but Ringo turns the tide yet again, Herodes coming
in this time to halt things. Anibal tags in and thrashes Herodes. MS-1
tags in and is immediately chin locked by Anibal. Vampiro Canadiense
and Herodes trade punches and Ringo drop kicks the Biblical villain out
of the ring, following up by tilt-a-whirl back breaking Masakre. Anibal
pins MS-1 for the victory.