CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 4/14/12 and Jon Polito's Jacket

So I kinda fell off the wagon (got onto the wagon? Whichever one means that I haven't written one in awhile) on these. LATV is showing nothing but reruns from last year, and I had to delete some Galavision episodes to make room for old episodes of Miami Vice. As you can see from the photo of Jon Polito's jacket, I have been continually making the right choice. How is that episode not a meme yet? I mean, that jacket, those gloves. There have been preliminary talks to just change the name of "Segunda Caida" to "Jon Polito's Jacket". He played a character named El Gato. There was a really great episode with Brad Dourif playing a coke dealer, too. So, I watched some Miami Vice and skipped some CMLL. I'm sorry.


1. Lightning Match: Super Commando vs. Angel Azteca Jr.:

This was alright but kinda short, even for a lightning match. Really felt like a match I would have flipped out for if I saw it on an episode of Worldwide in 1998, but now it doesn't do as much for me. Azteca is a guy I really like, as he's similar to the other wetsuit-top-wearing youngish guys, but he's shorter and more squat, like Virus squeezed into a wetsuit top. The dives were fun (although when did Arena Mexico get a BARRIER around ringside!?!? Goddamn does that look wrong and make me sad), and this was a fine 6 minutes.


2. Blue Panther/Hijo Del Fantasma/Black Warrior vs. Psicosis/Mr. Aguila/Olimpico:

Holy shit Blue Panther. This guy is the fucking argument ender. Any argument. "What do you mean you didn't reconcile your monthly reports!?" "Yeah, well...Blue Panther." And then both parties just kind of nod. What don't you do, Panther!? Last year my favorite part of CMLL was watching BP match up against a bunch of different young guys in a bunch of different 6 mans. It was always great, always the best couple minutes of the match. Here he is still breaking out things that surprise me. In the 1st he snaps off an absolutely gorgeous rana off the 2nd rope. I mean it was just so damn beautiful, and the guy is 50. There is also subtle beauty to be found in the way he casually double legs Psicosis and then whips him over by the ankle. It's like clockwork mechanics, just something you can stare at and get lost in all the amazing moving parts.

But you know what? The other guys looked pretty damn good, too. I LOVED the mat segment between Black Warrior and Olimpico. BW is a guy who I liked a bunch when I first started watching lucha and he would do bullet topes 3 rows deep, but he's been kinda diminishing returns for me over the last decade. But damn he showed fire on the mat like I never remember seeing from him, getting into all sorts of weird predicaments that didn't end the way I expected them to end. You get so used to seeing Malenko/Guerrero roll ups and then suddenly BW rolls through a single leg and tosses a guy in a weird fallaway slam variation. BW looked more motivated in this match than I've seen in ages. Psicosis had this awesome mini second who was dressed all Day of the Dead and how can you not get stoked for this guy getting into it with Kemonito!? This whole thing turned out way more awesome than I was anticipating. I thought "Mid card throwaway that will likely have some a cool BP spot" and I got a whip fast 6 man that was short on story but had tons of killer action. And Aguila finally got some more appropriate entrance music. Rad match that is WELL worth checking out.


3. Ultimo Guererro/Negro Casas/Terrible vs. Mascara Dorada/La Mascara/Diamante Azul:

Well I personally was not expecting a 5 minute match with two straight falls by the rudos. That doesn't mean it was bad. The 1st was a whirling rudo dervish of stiff kicks and elbow drops. Casas looks especially badass with his new close-cropped 'do (forgot to mention the same about BP in the prior match) and silver gear (with trunks that aren't hiked up!). Can't say much about something this short, but it was a hot 5 with some neat spots. Dear lord does Dorada have great ranas. His running rana from the rampway, over the ropes and into the ring was spectacular. And say what you will about lucha regularly botching camera angles, but if there is ONE shot they know how to film, it's a running somersault senton off the rampway. CMLL shoots from underneath and makes it look like Diamante flew 25 off the ramp. Awesome.

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 12/3/11

Cholo/Rammstein vs. Horuz/Camaleon:

Damn, LATV is really crate digging this week. This reminds me of episodes a year ago before more stars got injected into LATV. I believe this is the first time that Camaleon has popped up this year, and the first time I have ever seen him. He seemed OK, hit a big dive, has a goofy fun mask. Horuz looked even better here. He's another guy I haven't seen since like March or April, and I wasn't too into him then. But CHOLO. Motherfucking CHOLO is where it's at. I want a Cholo/Bronco team, of tallish rudos who are not flashy, but always solid. Cholo also has a great mask (it looks like Super Calo's, but with a drawn on Mexi-stache). He bumps, he hits a nice splash, you might not think of him often, but you appreciate him while watching him. Rammstein is getting tubbier, but hey, I like fatsos.



Tiffany/Mima Shimoda/Amapola vs. Lady Apache/Estrellita/Silueta:

Well this was pretty sloppy. There seemed to be some spots where gals got lost, and the whole thing was pretty directionless and meandering. Some good spots (Tiffany was awesome again, I really love her head stomps), Amapola stiffing Silueta, Shimoda throwing a boss elbow drop. The crowd started making a lot of noise when Tiffany and Estrellita were in against each other (because booobz), and isn't that what it's all about, America? Just women taking armdrags and throwing 'bows and having jugz. Silueta also hit a neat Thesz press off the apron.



Loco Max/Hooligan/Euforia vs. Angel Azteca Jr./Dragon Lee/Diamante:

Another disappointment. I like most of the guys in this, but this never really got the chance to get rolling. Dragon Lee will hit some crazy stupid awesome stuff off the ropes, Hooligan was wearing a completely ridiculous and amazing get-up, with union jacks and tassles and leather vest, Loco Max makes Diamante look pretty great in taking a nasty bump on the apron, then getting just leveled by Diamante's crazy flip dive. So the match wasn't without merit, just had no cohesion.



Rey Buccanero/Terrible/Texano Jr. vs. Sangre Azteca/Stuka Jr./Sagrado:

You know, this match got a decent amount of time, and I can hardly remember anything about it. Sagrado may be the most forgettable wrestler on the entire roster. Is there anybody who likes Sagrado? Dude is blandness with a capitol B. He's been around for years now and he seems no better now than he was when his failure of a debut push happened. Sagrado: The answer to the question nobody asked. Terrible and Texano are always fun together, they're always playful and look like they're having a good time, kinda goofing around and just punching and kicking dudes. Stuka Jr. is always good for some pretty flying, and Azteca hit a giant jumping ball stomp off the top rope. Hey, it wasn't bad. You won't remember it tomorrow.



Averno/Ephesto/Mephisto vs. Angel de Oro/La Mascara/Super Porky:

Averno and Ephesto are just born to make guys like Mascara and Oro look good. I think Oro and Mascara are fine, but their value goes up insanely when they are opposite Averno/Ephesto. Like, when Phil or SLL post something write after I post something, they look way better just by association. Phil is my expert rudo base who makes all my ranas look good and bumps faster than necessary to the floor. But, hey, I *like* Oro and Mascara, and I *like* their ranas and headscissors and flippy hoo-ha. It's fun and slick and looks good. But I was a big fan of Mistico's flippy hoo-ha and we've all seen how that works out when a guy (you'd think would be capable) like Chavo gets his mitts on a Mistico special. Sin Cara still works for me because he has more physical charisma than most guys that do what he do. He takes moves well and projects well and gets great height on moves. I have a feeling that Oro would look pretty ugly in the ring with Curt Hawkins. But I enjoy Curt Hawkins. Just don't want to see him as a lucha base. And that's why Averno and Ephesto are fucking awesome. They make me want to see guys do moves to them. And Ephesto has an amazing mask that nobody ever really talks about. He looks like a stalker that Arnold would kill early on in "The Running Man". I mean that in the best possible way. Richard Dawson.

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CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 11/19/11

1. Mercurio/Pequeno Universo 2000 vs. Aereo/Pequeno Halcon:

Boy, these guys don't make TV that often. I think the only one of these guys I've seen in more than one match this year is Universo. And this was a pretty decent showcase for Universo. He was the rudo who actually worked like a rudo here (and he's also super short and fat), yelling at the crowd a bunch and bumping big. Mercurio was fine, but basically worked like Halcon. Aereo was able to do a bunch of elaborate armdrags with Universo's help. First 2 falls aren't much but 3rd gets more time. The dive train is fun in a sloppy way, as none of these guys are really big enough to be bases for the other, so each landing looks a lot more painful than the move itself.



2. Bronco/Hooligan/Inquisidor vs.Molotov/Starman/Tigre Blanco:

Another match that just kinda happened. That Molotov guy? Not that good. But Starman is a guy I dig. Is he actually the real Starman, just back wearing his mask again? Blanco hasn't been on TV in awhile (after being on practically every week in the first half of the year) and he's always welcome on my TV. Always does some neat stuff on the mat, will do a cool dive (this week he did a somersault dive off the apron that the cameras cut away from). But the COOLEST spot was Starman monkey flipping Blanco into Blanco doing a super fast sunset flip on Inquisidor. Blanco just got launched at Inquisidor and whipped right over him for the pin. Such an awesome spot, and not only do I not remember seeing the spot, it's a spot that seems like something that has been attempted by somebody before, but never this successfully. The rudos are all good hands and Bronco is a guy who I just wasn't enamored by earlier in the year, but now really look forward to him. There are probably 2-3 guys just like him in every town in Mexico, and it's a style I really like that seemed to be sorta dying once Cien Caras and Universo 2000 retired. I'm glad it's still being showcased semi-weekly.



3. Arkangel de la Muerte/Loco Max/Skandalo vs. Mr. Cacao/Angel Azteca/Pegasso:

Mr. Cacao? Is this the same Mr. Cacao from earlier this decade? Are we gonna get Arkangel matching up opposite Asian Cougar or Tortuga soon? For some reason they were really trying the whole match to put over Cacao, and the crowd seemed very not into him, booing when he would go on offense against Arkangel. I was hoping Arkangel would get to drag him to the mat and twist him a bit, but it was more Arkangel bumping for his so-so offense. The Angel Azteca here also confuses me. I assume this is the one who occasionally pops up as Angel Azteca Jr., except now he's wearing a shirt? He also kinda looked like Robin at times...but I think it was Azteca Jr. Either way, he was the bright spot on the tecnico side. Pegasso just doesn't do much for me. Not the tecnico team I wanted to see go over in straight falls. Needed two straight falls of the awesome rudo side destroying these wimps.



4. Alebrije/Olimpico/Psicosis II vs. Delta/Hijo Del Fantasma/Toscano:

Alebrije is back and he somehow looks fatter! I love this man. I love how he bumps for Delta and accidentally kicks Cuije and then accidentally splashes Cuije and love how he takes a bump sliding to the floor but crotches himself on the bottom rope. As much as I love Alebrije, I am completely bored with Toscano. My face looks like this when he wrestles *__* My mouth is neither frowning nor smiling, and I start thinking of mistakes I've made and people I've wronged. Then I snap out of it and the 3rd fall is over.



5. Averno/Terrible/Texano Jr. vs. Hector Garza/La Mascara/Rush:

As with many CMLL matches lately, not much to the first couple falls, and the 3rd gets all the action. Kind of a nothing match on a nothing episode, really. Each guy got their own moments, but nothing really gelled to make it a good or great match. Garza got a great run in the 3rd, and Terrible has kind of stepped up to be kind of a rudo Garza. In fact Terrible in the 2nd worked almost exactly like rudo Garza, with a bunch of fast rope running and fun thigh slappy kicks to Mascara. Mascara hits a great dive, Garza takes his clothes off, Rush has shitty hair, Averno and Terrible worked like Averno and Terrible. This match happened, parts were enjoyable, nothing was bad. Except Rush's hair. And his tassle boots. Tassles are one of my favorite things in wrestling, and Rush can't even get those right. Misterioso, now there's a guy who knows how to tassle the fuck out. Him doing an elbow drop is like watching waves crash into a beach. Rush's tassles are all fat and short. What's the point. Huh? What's the fucking point, Rush!?

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