CMLL Line - 05/11/02 (33)

Thanks to: Robert Ortega for the original format.

Vignette: Cien Caras and Scoprio Jr. meet to discuss a joint action between their units - they're joined by Dr. wanger, and it sounds like their main targets are Shocker and Rayo.

Notes: Yes, you get your pre match attack. Somehow, they play Shocker's music but it's Rayo who ends up being the captian. Shocker doesn't get a chance to rip off his tearaway pants for quite a while. Not an exactly exciting beatdown, but it's early. El Dandy's name gets dropped in the second fall, but very briefly. Rayo starts the comeback with the typical missed corner charge. Crowd is hot for it. Scorpio gets the bulldog on the ramp. Rayo goes for Wagner's mask, then beats on him, then goes fro the mask again while Lizmark and Shocker hold they other two at bay. Rayo unties it but doesn't pull it - a punch take care of that (but Wagner's looking away from the camera - and also, he's shaved his head since the last time we saw him like this) for a moment. He manages to get it back on, though Shocker almost slaps it off, and Rayo knocks it off with another punch - Shocker eventually gets out to get himself back in shape (and yell at the fans.) The tecnicos celebrate while we get a slow motion replay - and a reverse shot to show his face. Match restars - Lizmark hits a double faceslam on the non-captains leading to the finish. Tecincos continue the beatdown between falls - Rayo's gets his mask pulled at one point, and Cien gets a lot of payback for his low blow. Shocker landed more on his side than his back with the senton, but I think that's what he was going there. Shocker beats up the rudos to the start the third fall while the announcer discuss exactly what color Shocker's outfit is (purple?). Than it's Lizmark's turn - he hits a nice superkick on Cien. Rayo wants Wagner - have I mentioned how awesome it'd be for Wagner to win the CMLL Heavyweight Title? It would be very awesome. Wagner eventually agrees, dropkicks Rayo in the knees a couple times, then starts a "Rayo! Rayo!" Wagner gets leveled by a slap. Wagner makes Rayo look wonderful before the comedy kicks in. It all breaks down from there - Shocker hits a suicide plancha on Scorpio, Lizmark and Cien try to do a sequence in the ring but Cien bumps when Lizmark isn't expecting - Rayo hits the plancha on Wagner but Wagner hits the low blow front kick on him. Wagner take a moment to help Cien turn it around on Lizmark, then celebrates, and then - well, I'm waiting for him to pin Rayo to get the cheap win, but he takes so long Rayo's recovered enough to hit a low blow of his own and the cheap pin goes the other way. Crowd dug it.

Match was like last week's opener - totally by the numbers, but was a bit more memberable. And I like these guys more!

Vignette: In the evil basement, Apolo Dantes shows Gran Markus in - ah, this is why they were talking about Veneno and Gran Markus last week. The guy with the black shiny masket I don't know is there with Universo. They come to some sort of agreement and walk outside. Oh, now I get it - if the non-Apolo capos are all brothers, that's probably their dad. And now I see what the deal is - they'll be his partner, but only if he washes their cars. Apolo helpfully tells him not to forget the wheels. I count cinco cars! Universo makes the "wax on, wax off" hand motion, which is hilarious for reasons I can't even comprehend. Markus isn't so pleased with this situation or their evil laugh. He kicks the (water) bucket.

Notes: Pierroth wanders back to the stage after his groups entrance, and whacks the other team with a bat as they try to go down the ramp. Mascara Y2K is not hit - Pierroth just lures him back to the ring so his troops can do that work. Veneno has a Zumbido-like shoulder brace on. The rest of the troops (except for Pierroth and the bodyguard, of course) slowly head to the back as the match starts - getting a few cheap shots on the guy still down on the stage. Mascara gets mugged as his partners take forever to get to the ring - is Markus going to the back? Poder is finnaly standing on the aisle near the ring after the first pinfall. He's beat up as Mascara is thrown out - Markus is still mugging and holding his injured parts on the top of the stage. He's finnaly moving to the ring as the second fall starts and in soon after, though he quickly goes down. Lots of choking. Boricuas control the ring for a long time, not doing anything particularly interesting. Hey look, the comeback starts the same exact way! That sure is business exposing. Markus will play Rayo here. Mascara beats the heck out of Veneno on the stage as everyone else has a group discussion around the announce table. Third fall is a beatdown the other way.  Poder hurts his leg with a missed pescado - one ref is out to look at that. The other is soon checking on Violencia and Mascara on the floor after Mascara hits his pescado. They miss Pierroth coming in - and accidentally hitting Killer when he was going for Markus. Oh wow a low blow here too this is very annoying. 

Post match, Markus challenges for a hair/hair match with Pierroth - Pierroth says he's not loco.  

Vignette: Blue Panther trains with the Japanese kids. There's a language barrier - but he wants them to help beat Negro Casas and Atlantis. Some guy who's with them asks about if they know English - tomorrow, match, Partner (Panther), Arena Mexico. They'll be there. The guy, whoever he is, leaves and gets paper - I guess they're working on translating what Arena Mexico is with written words. Hey, they know Amigos. They know enough - or they suddenly learned Spanish at the end there. I'm so confused. 

Notes: Where was Juvi in the skit? They must've had added him later. Safari has a red, white and blue outfit I've not seen him wear before. So, is Magica finnaly a tecinco? They keep messing with me on him. Negro almost starts the fight early - then it gets under way just after captains are announced anyway. Third straight rudo beatdown to start means I take a break. Juvie takes on Negro Casas, in case you're wondering. And then he starts talking to the camera. I wonder if, while he's standing on the outside watching a triple team on Atlantis, Mascara Magica is thinking about how he should be the one dropkicking Atlantis in the face and choking Safari. Then he comes in and gets beat. Funny spot comes when Blue Panther lifts Safari on his shoulders and Masada and Takemura are supposed to do a double bulldog off the second rope, but Takemura is too busy looking at the crowd to notice till Masada wakes him up. Juvi adds a slingshot legdrop, then goes back to posing. Masada and Takemura's forearms spots on Casas don't look as cool as they probably thought it might. The double headbutt and the Masada armbar hold/Takemura running armbar takedown into Wakigatame armbar spot are neat looking, though. We get quite a few camera angle changes after that, and everyone's acting like the Rudos won but I sure didn't see Magica or Atlantis lose. Replays show Panther maybe hitting a low blow, but no pin. That's really weird; maybe they thought Casas was captian? I'll have to go check the house reports.

Lucha formula continues right on as the rudos beatdown between the falls. Mascara Magica (!) starts the comeback on a missed Juvi splash and hits a sharp tilt-a-whirl after. He's actually the only one fighting back - Masada has Casas in an armbar over by the announcer desk, Blue Panther is out of it, and Safari's MIA.  We look back and it seems as though the flurry was short lived, although it did manage to slow the match down into a normal one, with people on the corners and everything. Panther/Atlantis sequence is okay, though I liked MM's tilt-a-whirl better. Magica and Masada is strike heavy to start, with Magica taking control and using a weird spinning legdrop to the inside of the leg on both Masada and Takemura. Juvi puts a stop to that, and gets Safari. Safari has the best tilt-a-whirl. Nice flying wheel kick too. Juvi doesn't really get much of note in. Blue Panther and Negro Casas - Casas gets in his big boot, Panther pulls out a press slam but that just leads to a Casas escape and dropkick to the knee. Panther goes out, Juvi in with a jumping heel kick to take Casas out. Safari tries a dropkick but Juvi moves - clothesline. Celebration. Safari pulls out a weird submission. Juvi almost doesn't get over on a sunset flip, but makes up with it later with a "crawl down the back" version of the move. He and Safari battle for leverage, Safari coming out on top while MM and Atlantis keep the rudos at bay with dropkicks. Panther soon runs into the submission and that should be that expect Casas fights on and gets a totally meaningless pinfall. Replays explain why the reversal sequence looked so odd to me - Safari couldn't kip himself up to reverse it on the first try.

Third fall. Atlantis nearly sneaks a quick pinfall on Panther by cross body but it's broken up. Bodyscissors rollup almost doesn't work and it broken up again, so Atlantis goes after the people on the apron and the people on the apron go after him. He manages to retake control on Masada and get a near win off a half Boston before that's broken up. MM works over Takemura, and tries for a Sharpshooter (!) but Panther breaks that up, and everyone's in to help - Takemura puts on a grapevine for a second, then Panther lifts up Magica for a Juvi powerbomb. Juvi tries lifting up Magica for a Panther powerbomb, but Magica manages a 'rana reversal - Juvi's standing right there to break it up, though. Juvi manages to retake control - he and panther hit Whisper in the Wind on MM. Safari tries to help out but just misses another dropkick. He's whipped into Magica, but Magica flips him to the apron, has a double boot for Juvi and Panther, and Safari hits the flying plancha on both. A missed double clothesline leads to a Safari assisted MM double dropkick and Safari hitting a suicide tope on Juvi! Magica goes for the 'rana but again it's broken up. Body scissors rollup looks better than Atlantis' did but again, broken. Panther comes back to miss a flying corkscrew splash (I think that's what he was trying) and get dropkicked out of the ring by Atlantis - Magica suicide somersault plancha! Casas and Atlantis take it to the kids, but Masada shows he's been watching his Dr. Wagner tapes by hitting a low blow kick on Atlantis - Negro lets up on his sure pin of Takemura to protest, the dummy.

Vignette: Super Porky wants YOU...to go to the Kids show. $1 tickets for Ninos! "A Peso, A Peso, A Peso!"

Spectacular Moments - Volador Jr. and Viloneca might have issues. 

Notes: They try the Rudo beatdown, but it doesn't work so well. Apolo starts to go for the legs but gets pushed down. Exciting Silva/Universo chase. Apolo leaps on Silva's back for a sleeper and manages not to get squashed. Rudos actually get control till they try a double corner whip (reversed) and then retake it because Silva hurts his shoulder. They keep him grounded for a Universo flying splash, but that gets no count. Apolo hits a flying splash, Universo helps covers, but the referee makes a long second count (you can see him hesitate) and Silva does the big kickout. More Silva is really big things. Apolo acts silly and gets knocked to the floor. Apolo seems to forget about the size difference in parts. Back to working on the legs. Double dropkick and Silva to the floor. Universo hits a pescado and is caught, Apolo hits a plancha and knocks Silva down. They beat him on the floor a little bit, throw him in (Silva goes through the bottom and middle ropes - can't roll in?) and work on him in the ring, but you know it probably doesn't matter - yep, there's your Silva Spear for Universo. Silva not really selling any particular damage as he takes out Apolo and gets Universo in position - Apolo's press slammed on to his partner, and Silva's going up to squash them both - Apolo moves out of the way but Universo takes the pin. The implications of that (Silva vs Universo for the CMLL Heavyweight Title! Apolo vs Silva still lives!) will have to wait for another time, as Apolo hits his first really effective move - a low blow. Apolo covers and wants a count, but isn't getting it. Silva recovers on the outside.

Next Week: Shocker, Black Tiger, Satanico, Takemura, Masada, Universo 2000, Killer, Gran Markus, Poder Boricua, Mascara Magica and much more.

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.

Closing Notes: 

1. This show was boring.
2. And I was late doing it. 
3. Connection?
4. Not really.
5. I like Mascara Magica.