CMLL Line - 12/18/01 (TCF #6)

Before We Start: Galavision aired this episode out of order. This one should've been between the 10/16/01 episode (main event: Memphisto/Averno/Satanico vs Blue Demon/Atlantis/Negro Casas) and the 10/23 one (Black Tiger/Black Warrior.) The "TCF #" up there is an attempt to keep track of the order the episodes were taped/shown in Mexico so I can list the shows in the continuity order - it's not official or anything. 

Anyway, this episode is about two months behind last week's. Now you know.

Competitors Key:

Finish: () indicated a pin/submission/elimination by the LOSING team.

Rating: Bases on the quality of the finish, ring work, internal/external storyline, consistency and my whims. Also, various other (random) factors that I can't think of right now. 0-100 for matches. I'm rethinking how I do total show ratings so they may not match up with previous ones.

Momentum Key: A number indicate that side is in control, E is for even, M is for Mixed, * for Interference

Match By Match: 

First Match: Ex-Infernals are wearing all different outfits, while the Villanos have a nice metallic purple/red thing going. III pulled out the worst looking jabs ever at the end of the first fall. Ex-Infernals had words in the early part of the second fall when things weren't going their way, but used it to set up the Villanos. Rudo beatdown in between falls two and three. Buccanero and Ultimo were stuck in abdominal stretches and Tarzan Boy was forced into a corner, so Magica had no choice but to run in to prevent loss. Magica and Tarzan Boy had words after the match about Tarzan Boy leaving Magica to lose his mask in the cage match, I'd guess. It seemed like Tarzan Boy was positioning it that the group should be him, Ultimo and Buccanero (how it was before Tarzan Boy suffered a neck injury) and maybe not Magica.

Second Match: The Battle Royale is just to set teams for the following elimination match. The first eight people out are on one team, the eight that remain are on the second team. Mascara Magica and Memphiso and Averno almost got into before the match. Atlantis fakes Warrior out with a punch. The Rudo/Tecinco listings up their mean nothing in particular, that's just the way they came out (alone, but all the rudos first to Wagner's music, and then all the tecincos to Santo's.) Weird to see Black Tiger with the tecinicos, but he wasn't anything but just disagreeable at this point. It took Juventued to go out of his way to make sure his team lost before he officially switched over. I think Juvie was the first one to pull out the "I'm over I'm over I'm over oh I landed back on the apron and in." I believe Memphisto eliminated himself to take help his partner beat up Magica on the outside. Black Tiger tried to hold on to the top rope and pull himself back in the ring, but I guess his feet hit the floor. He didn't seem convinced at first. Marvin did the armbar top rope walk and tried to jump it into a 'rana on Dr. Wagner, but got powerbombed hard. Juvie gave Wagner a fist tap for that. The eliminated team kinda fell apart after the match - Averno and Memphisto after Magica again, Warrior and Tiger fighting.

Third Match: Only one person stands up on the apron at a time, the other remaining team members stand on the floor, though you're corner man can switch off with whoever. Once you're eliminated, you must leave. Last two move on the semi-finals. This is a Great Match, so I'll do the PBP.

After all those eliminations, it ends up only two people changing from their normal sides - Virus joins the tecincos, and Black Tiger joins the rudos. So why not have those two start, I guess. Except Tiger tags out to Warrior (without Warrior being ready for it?) so Virus tags in Felino, and after a crowd shot, they're going at it. Maybe a clip. Open hand slaps by Felino, corner whip, reversed, Felino sits on the top turnbuckle, Warrior charges into the corner and does the Ultimo Dragon corner headstand (maybe trying to hook the head for a 'rana?) but his momentum takes him too far and Felino hooks him in a crucifix to go for a second rope powerbomb, but Warrior quickly reverses to a 'rana. One two no. Quickly to the top, somersault senton but Felino rolls forward and out of the way. Felino off the ropes and hiptossed. Warrior charges, goes past, second rope springboard 'rana is turned into a powerbomb. One two no. Off opposite ropes, they collide with clotheslines, no one going down. Again with shoulderblocks. Both tag out.

Santo and Fuerza now in. Fuerza isn't happy and Juvie slides in to fan (with his hands) his dad. Quick kiss on the cheek and Juvie's out of the ring. Dropkick to the midsection by Fuerza, whip, flapjack. Signal to the crowd. Whip, flapjack but Santo reverses to an armdrag. Fuerza up first, under a leapfrog and armdragged again. Santo with a flip up 'rana, no cradle. Off the ropes, Santo with a spinning headscissors. Fuerza's had enough and he wants out - tag to Tiger. Tag to Antifaz.

Tiger charges and gets a drop toe hold into the second rope for his trouble. Open hand slaps. Off the ropes, Tiger goes for the tilt-a-whirl but Antifaz lands on his feet, ducks a clothesline, and hits a standing enzuiguri. Chop. Corner whip, reversed, Antifaz sits on the top rope, kick for Tiger and then a 'rana. Tiger rolls out (to the wrong side of the ring) and gets flattened by a corkscrew plancha.

Atlantis and Dr. Wagner now. Atlantis is pumped, and then dropkicked in the knee. Whip, clothesline misses, cross body by Atlantis for one two no. Corner whip, reversed, Atlantis kips up and out, Wagner with a slap to the chest and Flatliner, almost. Didn't have the upper body as hooked, but swept the leg and pushed the front down. Signal to the crowd and now he's ripping the mask! He got it good! Atlantis quickly rebounds with a snap mare and rips Wagner's mask to pieces - you can clearly see his face. Off the ropes, clotheslines and neither men go down. Again and both rip each other's masks as they tussel on the mat. Wagner's is completely gone and he stops to cover himself up instead of fighting back. The ref tries to break it up but neither man will let go of each other, so he counts both of them down. And they still won't let go of each other (maybe because their masks are too ripped up?) so the ref tries rolling them out of the ring, but they won't go. Finnaly, they let go of each other long enough to get to the ramp before going after each other again. Must be the ripped masks - locking up like that is the only way their faces can't be seen.

Mascara and Safari in. Mascara with a dropkick and some stomping. Open hand slaps. Corner whip, charge into a boot. Safari charges out with a clothesline. Off the ropes, splash one two no. Atlantis and Wagner are now fighting their way to the back. Back in the ring, Safari seems to have taken a bodyscissors roll up into something - they're still fighting on the ramp. in the ring, Magica hits a powerslam for one two no. Spinebuster, but Safari twists his legs around Magica's head, then rolls into a cradle for one two NO. Still fighting on the ramp. Safari sets up in a Pedigree position, but falls backwards and scissors Magica's head - there's yet another submission I haven't seen before. He can't hold on, though. Still fighting. Magica with a takedown that we don't see, and now THE RINGS OF SATURN. The original one. Holy crap. That's not only a weird coincidence, but it gets the fall.  

Averno and Virus in. Virus misses a dropkick and Averno takes advantage with chops. They've finnaly got Wagner and Atlantis separated and in the back. Averno slides under a leapfrog, gets hit but a shoulderblock - powerslam Virus! Elbow drop misses. Averno with a forearm to the back, Corner whip, charge, Virus woth a second rope 'rana. Averno out - Virus follows, sliding under the second rope to hit a spinning headscissors on the outside! 

Santo and Fuerza, take two. This time, Santo opens with a dropkick and Fuerza moves out of the way. Fureza hits his own dropkick, slap, double underhook slam. Senton, cover one two no. Right, corner whip, follow in elbow drop. Corner whip, reversed, Santo charges, Fuerza backdrops him to the apron, Santo quickly to the top rope - tope! El Caballo! (That's the name for the Camel Clutch.) That's the end of Fuerza.

Ricky Marvin and Juvi in - Marvin nails Juvie with a dropkick before he can do much. Open hand slap, reversed, clothesline by Juvie. Kick, whip, under, tilt-a-whirl back breaker by Marvin. Another, no Juvi lands on his feet, kick to the midsection, powerbomb. Hand raise celebration. Whip, reversed, Marvin with a kick to the back of the leg. SUPERKICK. Both roll out.

Demon and Memphisto in. Both of the ropes, and Memphisto hits a clothesline. Demon wants more, so Memphisto give shim a shouderblock. Cover for zero. Open hand slap, chop, corner whip, reversed, charge in to a boot. Memphisto charges out to a powerslam one two no. Corner whip, reversed, Memphisto charges into and is flipped to the apron, punch, shoulder to the gut. Demon backs up, so Memphisto goes to the top - flying cross body but Demon rolls through one two no. Kick, off the ropes, waved by by Demon, Memphisto tries a 'rana but Demon pushes him down and puts on a Bow and Arrow. Memphisto holds out, but not for long and he's gone. 

Antifaz and Averno in. Exhcange of slaps, Antifaz wins. Off the ropes, and Antifaz takes a somersault bump on a shoulderblock. Chop. Corner whip, reversed, Antifaz charges so Averno sits him on the top rope, slap is blocked with a foot and Antifaz hits his second rope jumping headscissors. Springboard dropkick. Antifaz jumps up to Victory Roll position, then slides down Averno's back to a sunset flip for one two no. Chop. Whip, reversed, head down too soon so ANtifaz dropkciks it. One two no. Moonlight Bomb! (Fireman's Carry into a Michinoku Driver.) One two NO! What does it take to beat this Averno? Falcon Arrow, and Averno throat slashes - Asai moonsault but Averno moves but Antifaz lands on his feet!  Dropkick to the leg, elbow drop by ANtifaz. Whip, reversed, quick back elbow by Averno, forward legsweep roll into a kneebreaker! That's impressive. Now he switches it over to an reverse figure four - Antifaz is stomach down. Will he give? YES! All it took for Averno was to get that one move on...

And now Felino's in to get it on him. Clothesline takes him down. Mascara Magica thought he was going in, but either Felino's sudden attack is making it illegal for him to enter at this time, or he's got second thought on helping his teammate, because it's Averno. The way Magica makes that tagging motion, I think it may be the latter. Whip, reversed, I think Felino wanted to armdrag out of the slam but the timing gets messed up and Averno just ends up with an awkward (in method) slam. One two no, nice sized push off. Averno charges and Felino gets picked up in a upside down Fireman's carry, then dropped on the mat. Elbow drop, one two no, Averno seems to have enough left. Corner whip, reversed, Averno charges in and finds nothing and even ends up crotched on the top rope. Felino up with forearms to the back - second rope crucifix powerbomb, jacknife cover, one two three. Magica is nice enough to stomp his now ex-partner (but always bitter rival) as he rolls out of the ring. 

In the ring itself, it's Black Tiger and Virus. For real this time - Virus with a spinning heel kick. Chop. Headlock, but Tiger pushes him off. Now they both staredown. Virus charges, and gets pushed by and up into all the way to the ring post. That can't feel good. Black Tiger plucks him off in, over the shoulder, Virus facing the lights, and tries to stretch him while putting a chinlock around the mouth. Tiger pulls him too far and Virus slips off and to his feet. Tiger with an immediate forearm, forearm, Virus pumps up. Chop, chop, off the ropes, Virus with a 'rana and cradle one two NO. Tiger with a sharp clothesline to regain control. Whip, flapjack with added push down. Kicks to the chest, kick to the head. Virus escapes to the rudo corner, which is the wrong one for him this time. Luckily, Black Warrior's getting loose and not trying to get a cheap shot, although he and Tiger seem to have a momentary issue. Corner whip, Tiger charges in with a splash but the pool is empty. Virus sets him on the second rope, open hand slaps, back up and yell, charge - springboard into a bodyscissors roll/powerbomb. Virus didn't hook it enough to have a cradle, so he has to cover, one two no. Stomp, stomp, going up again - dropkicked by Tiger on the way down. Death Valley Driver, and it's over. One two the ref points at something so Tiger fixes the cover, one two three. It didn't look like Virus actually kicked out or anything so that was odd. Maybe it was the first instance of the second cover actually working?

Tiger celebrates and probably doesn't really realize he's tagging out to Warrior, but lets it go. Demon in for the other side. Let's see, it's Warrior, Tiger, Juvi and Magica for the mostlyRudos, and Santo, Demon, Marvin and Felino for the Tecincos. Warrior gets in the first move, and it's a clothesline. 15 minutes. Whip, reversed, Warrior slides under, but gets nailed (and does a somersault) with a clothesline. Off the ropes, knee drop by Demon. Whip, Demon with the kick to the leg, but Warrior does a great job of recovering from the hamstring bump into the ropes (using one head to land back on his feet) then hits a float over DDT. Off the ropes, dropkick to the head. One two three and Demon is gone.

Juvi and Santo - they have issues over Juvi's turn to the darkside. Circle, Juvie off the ropes, over, right into a dropkick. Juvi quickly gets to his feet and sidesteps another dropkick try. Off the ropes, spin kick. Off the ropes, Juvie tries to slide under Santo but Santo grabs him by the hair and hook on the Caballo! Juvi gives! Santo beats father and son by the same move, in the same match!

Magica and Marvin in as Juvi can't believe he just got beat. Juvi pitches a fit on the ramp. In the ring, Marvin's hit Magica with something and has a cradle - one two NO. Marvin was counting along so he thought he won, but he didn't. Juvi still unhappy and jawing with fans. Marvin with a open hand slap, whip, reversed, handspring spin kick (kinda) by Marvin. Deep leg hook, one two no. Marvin charges at Magica, and Magica puts him on his shoulder - charge into the corner but Marvin pushes off. Someone's tassel is distractingly hanging on the top rope right near the camera. Marvin jumps to the top rope (the rope itself, not the turnbuckle), pauses and jumps for a 'rana - powerbomb by Magica. One two three. 

Santo is in - only he and Felino left, to Magica (staying in), Warrior and Tiger left on the other. Santo gets the crowd pumped, circle. Mascara with slaps, armdrag takedown, stomp. Pick up, corner whip, charge in and hits a back elbow. Mascara with a slap, corner whip, charge in but this time no one's home. Santo pushes the maskless Magica down by the face, then starts to hook on the Mexican Surfboard. Magica blocks his arms being locked, so Santo keep his legs hooked in the back of Magica's knee and rolls forward, ending up on his back and with Magica in the air! Too impressive to describe. Santo hooks on a chinlock for added presure and Magica can't do anything but give. We're down to the final four, and Santo's made half the eliminations for his side.

Felino and Santo hug - let's take a look at that replay. When we get in the ring, Felino has Warrior down for a one two kickout. Whip by Felino, reversed, Warrior with a flapjack. Warrior tries the dropkick to the head again but Felino catches the leg and flips him, then gets an inside cradle that only gets a zero. Felino off the ropes and he hits the dropkick to the had. Felino off the ropes and into a powerslam, but no cover. Warrior want to make a tag and goes for his corner but Felino takes him down and puts on a figure four. Still, it's not that good and Warrior's almost in reaching distance of the corner - but Tiger walks away! Tiger argues with the fans, with the ref, with Santo, with Felino, anything but get make that tag with Warrior! Warrior's yelling for the tag but Tiger keeps walking off. Warrior alternating pounding the mat for attention and reaching. Now yelling it pain. He won't give though, he'll be good if get that tag, but Tiger won't make it - now he gets the ropes but Tiger quietly tries to kick him off it. Now that the hold is broken but Warrior's still immobile recovering on the ground, Felino goes to Tiger and questions his practices. Whatever Tiger says in response must tick of Felino, because before you know it, they're slapping each other. They settle down enough for Tiger to lie that he was pounding the turnbuckle, trying to get Warrior to his corner. Now Warrior's up and not really happy with Tiger - they shove. And then punch. Now Tiger wants in to get ant Warrior - now he's having better thoughts. Santo and Felino watch from a close distance, and Warrior and Tiger seem to reach a truce with Tiger still making his case.

Felino finnaly gets us back on track by nailing Tiger with a dropkick to the leg. La Majistral one two NO. Felino to the second rope - dropkick. Pick up, slam. Going up? No, the fans don't want him too. So instead, he walks around, and set up - charging Tiger, but Tiger knocks him over and by, Felino landing face first on the turnbuckle. Tiger sneaks in a low kick too, while faking injury. The ref doesn't catch it, and Tiger gets a hammerlock/headscissors cradle for the one two three. Replay of the clear low blow. 

When we look back in the ring, not only does Santo want to get his hands on Tiger, but Warrior's giving him leg kicks - did he see the low blow and not like it? Is he mad about the tag? Whatever the case, Tiger goes out. Warrior charges Santo and like Felino just before, gets thrown up and past and lands head first on the turnbuckle. Santo with a 'rana, ref a touch slow to make the count, one two NO. Off the ropes, Santo with a bodyscissors roll up one two NO! Whip, Santo with a leg trip, and goes for El Caballo, but Warrior escapes ahead of time. Warrior up to his feet, pushes Santo by into the ropes, where Tiger chokes him. Warrior, perhaps unaware of what Tiger was going to do, goes for the reverse cradle but since Tiger's holding on to him, Warrior can't get it. Warrior gets back up, and before he can complain, Tiger nails Santo with a forearm, rebounding Santo Warrior's way - forward roll cradle into a scissors around an arm and Santo's head. Doesn't look that convincing, but Santo taps and we have our finalists. (21:59)

While Santo recovers in the ring, Tiger is backing up the ramp - he doesn't want any part of Warrior, and is backing away from him. Warrior's still unhappy about what happen earlier and want to settle it now. Tiger asks the fans what they want, and agrees to the back in the ring. Tiger beats Warrior there, and clotheslines Warrior as he comes in. Tiger goes to the mask, ripping at the eye socket and destroying the forehead part. We cut out before he can go further. 

In spectacular moments, Alan Stone takes a German Suplex right on his head and it looks very painful. Virus sure takes a strange way to fake a tope, but he throws Marvin hard into the ring post. And then he does an impressive looking bodyscissors powerbomb from the top rope on Felino.

Fourth Match: Guapos are all about the Hawaiian shirts this week. Shocker stupidly goes it himself and tries to take out all three rudos at once. Hey, that's a tecinco thing! Apolo and Satanico have to save his life and do. Guapos looked killer early on with their beating on the induced tecincos. Shocker was dead in the first fall after a splash, but they pulled him up so they could beat on him more. Satanico and Apolo unsuccesfully tried for another save but the Guapos just beat the crap out of everyone. Finnaly the refs stopped it with the lame "you've beat the crap out of them so much we have to DQ you" DQ. Guapos didn't bother stopping. Satanico is VERY GOOD, especially at taking and giving out a brawling beating that makes it look like it's real. Shocker got beat down on the ramp and slowly crawled back to the ring while Satanico and Apolo (but mostly Satanico) were battling for their life. Shocker had some really uncharterstically unfashionable blue and yellow tights here. Shocker made it back to the ring just in time to get beat up some more. Finnaly, right before Shocker's killed by a triple dropkick to the head, Apolo and Satanico pull out two Guapos and Shocker manages to avoid the other. Cue comeback. Shocker does the Bronco Billie special, which makes me happy and makes me miss Raven.

Anyway, about twenty seconds after the second fall ends, Ultimo Guerrero, Mascara Magica, Rey Buccanero and Tarzan Boy run in to beat the crap out of Satanico. Guapos seem to care less, but Shocker tries to make the save which draws them back in and it's a 7 on 3 beatdown with the Guapos and New Infernals working together. Goes on for quite a while and Apolo and Buccanero is the only fight with any liveliness after a while (Buccanero unwisely going it alone and the fight spilling into the floor) and I keep waiting for Memphiso and Averno to come in for the save. Apolo rips Rey's shirt to the delight of the girls in the section. Ultimo beats up Shocker in a tease of what would be a pretty fun match. NO ONE makes the save and our faces are left laying and Emilio even has time for an interview. Where did Averno and Memphisto go? Some help they are.  

Closing Notes: 

1. I guess they wanted Shocker as a face for a while
2. Where was Averno and Memphisto?
3. Weird how the Infernals feud just kinda died after this show.
4. The Black Tiger/Black Warrior stuff was well done here.
5. Short night for Juvi.