CMLL Line - 02/19/02 (22)

Plea for help: If there's a Spanish speaker who reads these reports and watches the show, would you be interested in sending me quick capsules (around a sentence long) of what's been discussed in the vignettes (by Wednesday afternoons)? I think I get it right most of the time, but to have some way to confirm I'm getting the write story would be great. Drop me a line if you can be of help.

Note on this week's particular goofyness: AAA was first and got nearly 2 hours. So this show isn't as long as usual, but, then again, no Boricuas.  

Competitors Key:

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.

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: Wow, not only do we have the ongoing (never ending) Wagner/Atlantis issue here and the always simmering Tiger/Warrior inssue, but Warrior grabbed his CMLL Trios Belt out of the closet and brings it out to taunt Panther and Wagner. I think Warrior wants Wagner and Panther to give their belts to him, and vice versa. Whatever Warrior says, it ticks off the rudos and the beatdown is on. Black Tiger with a questionable thigh shot. There's a double team assisted vertical splash. Running clothesline, running clothesline, assisted high dropkick on Atlantis in the corner. Now they're ripping at Warrior's mask - really stretching out the eye hole. Warrior's got a sturdy mask and it takes a while. Panther hits a tope on Niebla to take him out. The crucifix powerbomb is a favorite move of mine. Tiger hits Atlantis with a moonsault body block for the heck of it, and then they go back to mask ripping. 

The second fall ring girl is really jiggly. We watch a replay of that moonsault from another angle to see that Atlantis might have headbutted Tiger in the groin (not on purpose, just the angle it was hit from), jamming Atlantis' head and neck in the process.. There's some concern about Atlantis' neck (watching again, he grabs it right after he got hit) and the ringside doctor takes a look. Atlantis spends quite a bit of time on the outside recovering - Wagner (unaware) is told to go away by a ref when he tries to attack, so he talks into the camera. And then Atlantis is pulled back in the ring and starts the comeback. Wagner does the "dizzy falling headbutt to the (partner's) groin" spot, but I guess you can't DQ him for that. Niebla does some fancy armdrags, but then does the dance. Warrior in and dropkicking Panther and Wagner in the knees, but Tiger takes off for the aisle. Warrior chases, reverse's a tilt-a-whirl slam attempt into a floatover DDT, then goes to hit his big assisted elevated double clothesline dive into the ring, but Tiger's laying in the way. Warrior kicks him out of the way, then instead hits an (Atlantis assisted) 'rana on Wagner for the pin. Tecincos beat up rudos in between falls.

Don't strike Niebla, because that just makes him dance. Atlantis hit two tilt-a-whirl backbreakers on Wagner, and then Warrior ripped the top of Wagner's mask open. Then they wrestled. There was a missed spot there, but they did a great job of covering while getting to the place they wanted to be. Niebla teased a dive, dropkicked Panther through the ropes, then hit an awesome somersault pescado. Tiger and Atlantis had a fun rolling monkey spot before Atlantis hit his own pescado. Warrior was eventually left fighting both his ex-teammates, which left him crotched on the ring post. Niebla then broke up a Niebla pin attempt of Panther, then both double teamed on him, culminating in a double Mexican surfboard. Warrior smartly broke up the wristlocks and then jumped on top of both men - they couldn't get free with Niebla and Warrior's weight on both of them.

Wagner's Michinoku Driver makes Spectacular Moments - there was an announcer debate last week about the whether it's a piledriver (and such, an instant DQ) or a body slam (legal) that I missed, so I thought I'd mention it now. 

Second Match: Thank god, Shocker's got first entrance. One of Galavision's tag lines is "con esta latina", so that's why you get this match. Tarzan Boy's hair had looked better. Shocker's got sparkly silver and green pants. Shocker's "One Million Percent Handsome", while Tarzan is "the Sexy Boy." This is a landmark battle in the history of pretty boy wrestlers! (Actually, while Tarzan Boy can stand on his own two feet in the land of good looking, I think Shocker benefits from being around lots of ugly wrestlers.) Our ref is rudo Baby Richards, so you know that'll come up. Tarzan Boy (who's wearing pajama bottoms or something) punks out Shocker before the match and it's on. The lucha name for Shocker's move is reinera, but I'm not sure if I'll remember that.

Shocker hits the Bronco Billie special and then does his Shocker pose (Essa Rios' pose in WWF No Mercy.) His mistake is going for a bulldog a second time, because everything goes bad from there. Tarzan hits a set of moves, culminating with a vertical suplex, then pulls Shocker up! Then he hits the Fisherman's Suplex, Shocker legit hurts something and his shoulders aren't down but they're counted down anyway. Tarzan Boy held Shocker's leg and head in the move, and locked his hands after hitting the move, which kept Shocker's head up and his shoulders off the mat. Shocker was grabbing his right shoulder after the impact and was waving out even during the three - he seemed to be in some pain. Replay's were inconclusive of what happened - I thought at first he landed on that shoulder, but a reverse side view showed that he landed back first. Maybe it was just crafty selling.

Tarzan got the jump (dropkick) in the third fall. He took to long setting up for a "from the apron slingshot" move, though, and Shocker dropkicked him out of the air to the floor. Bulldog on the floor does work for Shocker. Shocker took too long going back in the ring, so Tarzan Boy swept his legs out from under him on the apron, and Shocker landed bad shoulder first, hmm. Tarzan Boy waited for him to get in the ring and went right after shoulder, so I guess it was a work after all. Shocker go the fighting spirit (or whatever) and fought back through the forearms shots, eventually hitting a off the ropes huge big boot. Another was blocked., and we had a nice sequence leading to a wheelbarrow suplex. Shocker tried to put Tarzan Boy away with an Asai moonsault, but Tarzan Boy rolled out of the way. Tarzan Boy struggled to the top rope - then slipped and crotched himself, much to the fans approval. I don't know if he did that on purpose or not, but Shocker kicked him out of the ring - springboard corkscrew plancha. I don't know, it's not that much better that Porky's, though a lot more air and a lot more on target. Shocker too to long in the ring, posing, and clotheslined from behind. Tarzan Boy with the STF! Shocker battled and battled and got the ropes just around the 5 minute mark for the fall. Tarzan Boy promptly picked him up and put him in a Gory Special, but Shocker would not submit, and reversed it to a sunset flip for a two count. Shocker followed up with a roll up that make me go for the rollup list and come up empty - starts with a left (same hand) hammerlock, then Shocker grabs the other hand while stepping in front, then he scissors the head and the left leg and rolls forward. Looks really tough to pull off but convincing - only a two count. Tarzan Boy took back control with a dropkick to the knee. Shocker tried to turn a charge into a reinera, but Tarzan Boy thoughtfully scissored the top rope with his legs, breaking the hold before it got going. They did the "waistlock -> bounce off the ropes -> reverse rollup" spot, with Shocker ending up on top but Tarzan Boy rolling through, then distracting the ref - "Look that way!" - before stomping on Shocker's groin. Well, actually his butt, but the idea was there. Shocker danced back into jacknife cover, but only got 2 and couldn't believe it. I bet the rudo announcer defended Tarzan Boy not getting a DQ because he didn't actually hit him in the groin. Tarzan Boy went for a powerbomb but Shocker reversed it into a 'rana, still 2. Tarzan Boy was up first, with a vertical suplex chained into a front suplex followed by a clothesline. No cover though, as Shocker was picked up for Stevie Ray's Slapjack (the move, not the weapon - did you want me to say "Sick Boy's Cure") and that got the three!

This match was on the borderline of Great - best one of this series we've had so far, but the first two falls were complete blowoffs, and I think these two are capable of doing significantly better. Not to diminish this match - this was a very good match and NO LOW BLOW ENDING (maybe the questionable piledriver ending bugs some, not me) - but it's not a peak.

Anyway, Tarzan Boy challenged Shocker for Shocker's CMLL Light Heavyweight belt for next week, I think. I read that happened so let's pretend I could tell.

Next week (maybe): Blue Panther, Antifaz, Fuerza Guerrera, Shocker, Killer, Gran Markus, Veneno, Apolo Dantes, Tarzan Boy, Mr. Niebla, Black Warrior, and much much more.

Closing Notes: 

1. No vignettes? And they call this a wrestling show.
1a. That's a joke.
2. Maybe Apolo and Shocker can be Warrior's partners to get the belts back? They did win that tournament.
3. 50 minutes of non bell to bell stuff? Galavision likes commercials.
4. I don't mind the continual Shocker/Tarzan Boy stuff if turns out like that. Not at all. Make it a best of 7!
5. Consider what we usually get from the match that was cut this week, I could really get into shorter shows.