I met Griff and Steph at the BART station and we walked the six blocks from Powell to Roccapulco, where there was already a line forming half an hour before the doors were to open. The crowd control was "confused" at best - they eventually decided to the tix in-hand/will-call line to the other end of the building, allowing a few people to get better positions in line and most a lot worse - we were about the same. Also, the will-call list didn't seem to have any of the online BASS/tickets.com buyers on it. Griff happened to have his confirmation number handy but I didn't think to write mine down - they took our word that we'd paid our $15 (+$7 inconvenience fee) and let us in. Roccapulco is a "supper club" (according to their sign) - the ring was set up between two concrete support columns and BARELY fit, to the point that we were afraid that a strong whip into the ropes would cause the guys to conk their heads on the bounce off the ropes - they never did, but it was close. Anyway, the chairs and tables were arranged in rows outside the ring; regular size tables were lined up to form makeshift barricades in front of the "front row." We grabbed one of the booths along the edge of the ballroom - GREAT sight line and a comfy table. (I remarked that I should have brought my laptop.) Waiters actually came by for food and drink orders - the drinks were overpriced and the food was pretty lousy. Of course, we were there for the WRESTLING! ;-) Here's what I gisted, so don't take it as gospel: This show was made promoted by Chango Loco (who was apparently well known from ISW appearances?) and longtime wrestling legend and Kaufman movie star Johnny Legend - the main event was scheduled to be Hijo del Santo vs. Blue Panther but Panther wasn't here (no reason given). The other big no-show, Damian 666, was announced as "injured on Friday in Mexico." I would have been disappointed about this as I'd come mainly to see Panther, but when it was announced that MY MAN and HERO TINIEBLAS JR. was here tonight, I forgot all about being disappointed. There were two merchandise stands in the back - one with all sorts of lucha memorabilia, and one with WWF/WCW/ECW signed photos - they appeared to be unrelated sellers. Posters for the event were available for $15 (signed) or $15 (unsigned). I think somebody was confused about the prices, myself - could have been me :) but I opted for the autographed version. It's about 18" by 21" and apparently, everybody at the event signed and it's super nifty. A link to the larger scan is below. I also bought a Tinieblas Jr. mask since they happened to have one available - $20. A lot of the performers came in through the front door on their way to the locker room before the show - THE MAN Tinieblas Jr. happened to come right by my table! I failed to do anything other than drop my jaw, but I think he gave me a high sign when he saw his mask on our table. OMG BRUSH WITH GREATNESS Chango Loco came through several times on his way to providing direction to the sound guys in the DJ booth as well. They started about a half hour late due to the long line and probably scattershot security getting people in - bell time was supposed to be 6:00, but they didn't get rolling until 6:30. Our MC's for the evening were FLACO LOCO and JOHNNY LEGEND. They did a fair job - I mean, Legend's been around so long that you KNOW he knows how to work up a crowd - but they tended to try to whip up the crowd in the middle of matches, and I didn't think that was really necessary. The crowd was hot enough as it was and they became distracting to the point of being annoying. Plus, Legend seems really proud of some noise he can make just before howling. :) Also seemingly everywhere was the unmistakable profile of DR. MIKE LANO as unofficial photographer - sadly, I didn't recognise the "official" photographer. Lano was given special thanks for "helping out" - apparently he has a Sunday wrestling column in the Examiner, which makes me think I haven't been trying hard enough to promote myself if they're going to start giving out WRESTLING COLUMNS in the EXAMINER. ;) SFLL news is supposed to be a regular staple in Lano's column, so I'm going to have to try to find out about that - or if there's an online equivalent somewhere - GOTTA be good for a *few* good laughs at least! Our valets for the evening were SFLL's own KERRIE SHERELLE and SONIA SUAVACITA, probably to help the dimmer among us know which wrestlers were technicos and which were rudos. Both of them have skipped way too many meals. Our referee for the undercard was MIKE REVOLUTIONARY, who came out to "Good Bad & Ugly." He wore blue jeans with the zebra shirt - hopefully he can afford a pair of black slacks next time. He was a competent ref, by which I mean he stayed out of the way and I can't remember anything about him, so that was fine. He did do a couple of Tommy Young-esque dives which weren't QUITE Tommy Young-esque, but A for effort. One thing I found interesting (don't know if it was good or bad) was that all matches were one fall to a finish - not exactly "lucha" as *I* know it, but given that this was the first card, perhaps they didn't want to scare the crowd. Or maybe they knew they wouldn't have enough time to put together "realistic" three fall matches? Oh, yes - the crowd was probably 2/3 Latino and 1/3 white lucha fanboys ;-) - lots of children ($8) as well. Good crowd and they really made the atmosphere memorable. Match results: The Certified Chick Magnet DASH RIPROCK (Malibu, CA, rudo, "Hell's Bells") defeated WILD STORM (Fremont, CA, technico, "Misirlou") in 9:39 with a Franchiser and pin (feet on the ropes). Good, unspectacular opener considering it was probably two white guys - Storm had a mask on, but hey, he's from FREMONT. ;-) In a "Tijuana Street Fight," Mexico's Motor City Madmen LOS CRASH TEST REJECTS (#1, #2 and #3, technicos, "Popcorn") defeated LOS CHOLOS BLANCOS (Bulldog Ramon, Clint Negro, and Miguel Matrixxx, "Barrios of Marin County," rudos, "Jump Around") in 10:20 when a CTR hit a leg lariat to a chair held up to the face of one of the CB by another CTR, then all three CTR piled on for the pin. Aside from a STOP sign there wasn't a lot of weaponry, but we did get some comedy with a pylon over the head of one of the Cholos. We had a Van Terminator very early in the match by one of the CTR (Crash Test Dummy masks!) which led us to immediately assume Rob van Dam under the mask. :) We started to see that the topes and pescados, if we had them, would come from the non-pillar sides of the ring, where there was a bit more (but still not much) room for the action to spill outside. The CTR, who may be the Too Cool of SFLL, have a goofy dance that's even cooler than the Bushwhacker's and got the crowd moving to "Who Let the Dogs Out?" after their victory. In a "Mexican Flag Match" (one flag - grab it to win), The Red Blooded American BABY RAY (Minneapolis, MN, rudo, "Born in the USA") defeated EL CHUPACABRA (Durango Badlands, technico, "Mexican Radio") in 9:37 thanks to outside interference from LE EMPEROR, who spent about two hours walking around the ring during this match, distracting me from the action. In the previous match, Chango Loco had to come out and pull the Mexico flag off the DJ booth, because this was apparently the only one they had :) It was taped to one of the concrete columns at ringside and they didn't really go for it until the end of the match - I had to say "oh yeah, it's a flag match" because I'd almost forgotten! Anyway, Baby Ray has "Mr. GSWA" on his tights so hopefully someone can tell me where that might be. Anyway, Le Emperor went on and on about "ze contract" and how he had a right to work even though he wasn't booked on the card - somehow he ended up being named the Referee Especial for the hair vs. mask match. In a "three-way match" (triangle) for the "heavyweight title" (although it wasn't announced as such, but there WAS a belt moving around), EL RABIA (Tijuana, rudo, I didn't write it down) retained when THE CHICANO FLAME (Zacatecas, rudo, I didn't write it down) was eliminated at 7:02 by a double pin and MARIACHI LOCO (Guadalajara, technico, "something mariachi :)") was pinned at 9:43 after the ref missed some shenanigans, not the least of which was Rabia's feet on the ropes. Loco didn't take too kindly to this, but the "acting commissioner" (white guy, no name, jeans shorts?!?) said that he and Rabia would go one on one for the heavyweight title next time. YAY! Intermission time - Polaroids with El Santo and THE MAN Tinieblas Jr. for only $10! I'd be a fool NOT to take them up on it! So I stepped in the ring and had a brush with greatness - shook both their hands and got photographic evidence to boot. Also, I can show off my prototype Steve Blackman T-shirt that never made it to regular channels that I got off the web. :) The lines were pretty long for the half-hour admission, and Chango Loco held the cash - that's a smart promoter. :) Rey Misterio Sr. was originally scheduled to do Polaroids as well but he didn't - don't know if it was because he was only going to do it with Damien as scheduled or what. During the intermission, all of the luchadores we'd seen thus far came out and milled about the ring with the fans. VERY cool. Griff and I each posed with the Crash Test Rejects for photos, we'll have to see how well my camera did with that. I also experienced a bonding moment with Flaco Loco when he stepped aside for a minute so I could peer through the ropes and get one more shot of Tinieblas and Santo. "Thanks, man." "No problem, brutha." In a mascara contra caballera match, San Francisco's Premiere Luchador EL CHANGO LOCO (technico, I should know his song but I didn't recognise it) defeated THE REVEREND AXL FUTURE (Hell's Kitchen, NY [and/or Chicago], rudo, "Carmena Burina" or however you spell it) in 17:08 when LE EMPEROR (France, rudo, "March of the Bastille") couldn't stall any more and had to take his hand down for the third count. Future got some time for a pre-match promo, vowing to all of the San Francisco sinners that he'd take Loco's mask from his bloodied face - ironically, it was Future who got busted open (hardway?) at the bridge of the nose. Hot match - afterwards, Wild Storm and the CTR came out to hold down Future for his trim. Not much of a haircut (in fact, I don't think you'll notice it if you saw him today) but they DID put a lot of short clippings in the ring. Beck's "Loser" played to mark the occasion, and CTR busted out their totally cool goofy dance. Loco, post-match: "San Francisco, I dedicate this haircut...and my mask...to all of you. Thank you!" Loco is OVER. And here I thought his T-shirts said "rudo por vida" - I guess being the promoter turns you face. :) And, in the main event, EL HIJO DEL SANTO (technico, some Kate Bush song?) and TINIELBAS JR. (technico, "Bittersweet Symphony") won via DQ (unnamed Spanish-speaking referee) over REY MISTERIO SR. (rudo, "Oye Como Va") and the Heartbreaker JASON STYLES (rudo, "You're Crazy") when the ref stopped his three count, realising Misterio had committed "un foul" on Santo. Man, these guys are approximately TWO MILES above most of the rest of the people on this card - definitely a no brainer main event, an awesome match, they move around 100 miles an hour, flying here and there - INCLUDING a stunning dive onto the front row of tables, sending all of them FLYING (and scaring the shit out of the group in the front row when they ended up in their laps!) - about 16 minutes of non-stop action. Who is Jason Styles? I feel like I should know who that is. (No, he's not AJ Styles - at least, I don't THINK he is :) ) After the match, Misterio got the mic and rattled off a bunch of Spanish - I think the gist was he wanted him one on one, mask vs. hair, RIGHT NOW. It may have been later in Tijuana, but it definitely escalated to "hoy" and they started to brawl for a few minutes, but it was just "too out of control" and they had to be separated. THIS ISSUE IS NOT FINISHED! Legend thanked us for coming out, and promised Damian 666 next time as well as Blue Panther, La Parka, Super Parka, somebody whose name I missed, Scorpio Jr. and Mr. Tempest. Maybe some REAL trios matches next time if we get all this talent? One can hope! We were out around 9:30, so it was three hours including intermission. On my way out, I noted the "capacity: 499" sign - it's interesting seeing a figure of 653 in the Lano report - perhaps they could squeeze another 154 in the balcony? I *do* know that it *was* a legit sellout, and I imagine they eventually had to turn people away. From all accounts, though, the "first lucha card in SF" was a huge success. The SFLL will definitely be back - and I'll definitely be there! It was a GREAT night to be a wrestling fan! TINIEBLAS~! CRZ