News and Views from South of the Border 2.27.11: Dos Caras, Cien Caras, Sin Cara!

Las Noticias/The News

It’s Official!

That’s right, Superluchas broke the news and the Lucha world went wild with the “did he, didn’t he” debate. After almost a month of speculation the WWE held a press conference on the 25th of February, which introduced the newest acquisition to the WWE roster, Mistico. While many questions were up in the air when the news broke it appears that some of these questions were answered. First off, he will not be using the Mistico name, that much was a given since CMLL owns the Mistico name. He will be wrestling under a Spanish name, from this moment on Mistico will be known as Sin Cara. For those who don’t speak Spanish, Sin Cara translates to Without Face, or more appropriately, Faceless. He will be donning a mask, which is basically the Mistico mask with some alterations. According to the Observer as well, Mistico would be heading to the main roster, skipping FCW. If that is the case it’s going to be interesting seeing as how he is not an English speaker, yet.

In a funny side note, WWE now has both Mistico and Mystico working for them. The alleged original being Mystico who started out in the Juarez area and had to change his name because CMLL beat him to the trademark. He’s been around the Mexican indies and even had a couple of ROH appearances with the moniker of Incognito. WWE signed him a while back and he’s been in FCW as Hunico. Will we eventually see the battle of the 2 Misticos? Only time will tell!

CMLL Press Conference

Not to be outdone by the WWE, CMLL also held a press conference on the 25th of February. The main focus of the press conference was not Mistico, but the upcoming Homenaje A Dos Leyendas event. So far what is confirmed is that there will be a Hair VS. Hair match consisting of Terrible and Texano Jr. taking on Maximo and Brazo de Plata aka Super Porky. Not exactly the most groundbreaking of announcements! Another match that will be featured on the show will be Demus going up against Virus, with both putting their hair on the line as well. Oh, but wait, there is more, an added bonus to the Demus and Virus match is that the loser will not only lose his hair, but he will also have to go back to the Minis division. They also happened to comment on the Elephant in the room, while their conference was around noon and the WWE’s conference was scheduled for about 3 in the afternoon, CMLL did mention that an offer was made to Mistico and he decided to leave. They mentioned that for now the Mistico gimmick would not be used, but the plan was to eventually hand in down to someone, similar to how the Tiger Mask character is handled? Does that mean that we will eventually see a Black Mistico that would be played by a non-Mexican person? One can only wish!

AAA Happenings

So far the Rey de Reyes 2011 tournament is still on the way with Block I being won by Extreme Tiger and the Block II victory going to El Mesias. Two more Blocks are left before we see who the final four will be that will go on Rey de Reyes 2011.

Zorro has been preaching many of his prophecies, and one that seems to be on the verge of coming true. Zorro has gone on to prophesize that someone will betray Konan and La Sociedad. For now the biggest candidate seems to be L.A. ParK. L.A. ParK was promised a title shot if he defeated El Mesias, which he did in Guerra de Titanes. Konan later went on to say that the agreement was that L.A. ParK had to DESTROY el Mesias. So for now it seems that L.A. ParK’s AAA Mega Championship match against El Zorro might be on hold, or maybe not. Apparently Cibernetico has a mole inside La Milicia, which has been sending L.A. ParK messages, by the looks of it, Ciber is trying to get himself a new Bizarro. The question now is how far is L.A. ParK willing to go for a shot at the title, since on this past week’s show someone left El Mesias lying in a pool of his own blood! Who assaulted El Mesias has yet to be answered, but by the looks of it L.A. ParK is going to get his shot at the title, one way or another.

While Rey de Reyes is still a ways away, I have to admit that I’ve enjoyed the slow and steady build. All signs point to Zorro and L.A. ParK going head to head in the main event. The Rey de Reyes final looks to be Extreme Tiger, el Mesias and the two heavy favorites for the final two blocks are Dr. Wagner Jr. and Carlito. There is still time for a good buildup with the Tag titles and the Cruiserweight title as well. By the looks of it a Heavy Metal and Electroshock Hair Vs. Hair match is also a big possibility, especially seeing as how they are in the midst of a “Best of 5” series.

Rush, double champion

Along with the CMLL National Trios Titles, Rush can now add the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship as well. On the 22nd of February, Rush took on the defending Ephesto, Rush coming out with the win.

Lucha Poster of the Week

Results

CMLL

CMLL 02/22/2011 Arena Mexico

1) Freesbe, Höruz WIN OVER Apocalipsis, Mortiz
2) La Comandante, Mima Shimoda, Zeuxis WIN OVER Estrella Mágica, Lluvia, Luna Mágica
3) Arkángel de la Muerte, Demus 3:16, Hijo del Signo WIN OVER Euforia, Raziel, Virus
4) CMLL World Light heavyweight Title: Rush WIN OVER Ephesto
5) Averno, Mephisto, Último Guerrero WIN OVER La Máscara, Super Porky, Toscano

AAA

AAA 02/19/2011

1) Fenix, Daredevil WIN OVER Dark Dragon, El Gallego
2) Jennifer Blake WIN OVER Lolita
3) Elegido, Laredo Kid WIN OVER Alan Stone, Chris Stone
4) Jack Evans, Extreme Tiger WIN OVER Silver King, Ultimo Gladiador
5) BLOCK II for Rey de Reyes: El Mesias WIN OVER Electroshock, Super Fly, Aerostar
6) Los Perros del Mal: Damián 666, Halloween, Super Crazy, X-Fly WIN OVER a Dr. Wagner Jr., Los Psycho Circus: Psycho Clown, Murder Clown, Monster Clown

Lucha Video Break

CMLL

I think it’s only appropriate that we have ourselves one last look at Mistico before he hits a WWE ring. This video consists of a Trios match that see’s Dr. Wagner Jr., Mistico and Dos Caras Jr. taking on Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero and Hector Garza. This video uploaded by Retro80s90s, sorry people, no date for it.

Part 1

Part 2

AAA

In this video we see a AAA match that consists of Nicho el Millonario taking Psicosis II and Psicohysteria in a 3-way. This video is from 2005.

La Voz/The Voice

I’m surprised the Gringos don’t rank higher. I’ve never been a lucha fan, but I’d always heard of them being THE stable in the history of Mexican wrestling. Great to see the Villanos, though.

I like the weekly posters, they’re a great feature.

Keep up the good work.

Posted By: Guest#1844 (Guest)

Here is the thing with the Gringos Locos, the stable in itself was ok, Antonio Peña added too many people that just would not fit in, think of it like the NOW when it was Scott Norton, Stevie Ray and so on. The originals, consisting of Guerrero, Barr, Konan and Spiccolli, that is where the greatness was. A lot of people also confuse the team of Guerrero and Barr for the stable, no argument, the team is legendary, the stable had a good run, but with time became stale.

Ive been trying to ask for a list in spainish but that hasn’t worked so lets see if english works. Can you please make a list of top 10 luha libre matches.

Posted By: laparkinator (Guest)

No te desesperes! I’m working on it and such a thing takes a lot of research! So know that it is a work in progress and you will see it hopefully sooner than later. In the meanwhile if you want to send me your picks for the top 10 my email is down below.

First time reader.
I love that you’re pretty much the only writer covering lucha in depth on a major wrestling website.

Cool column but there are a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes.

I assume English is your second language?

Posted By: Dylan (Guest

I’m not the only one covering in depth, as there are others that do a lot better and more in depth, check out some of my sources.

Spelling and grammar mistakes huh? I didn’t know my English teacher is a 411mania reader. So if you are actually coming here for correct grammar and spelling, then you are in the wrong place! No, English is not my second language, it actually is my third.

Mistico will just get another better gimmick in WWE.

Posted By: Guest#7885 (Guest)

Yeah, do you still feel that way?

Once again great article, before I started reading this one, I was thinking that you should have a top trios list but the stable was good enough. And I knew Los Destructores had to be on here. Although I preferred the 2nd version of Tony Arce, Rocco Valante, and Volcano. I also think you should’ve rated them higher for the fact that just about every rudo team uses the move they made famous, La Destructora. Also I think you might have left one group off, where’s the Brazos at?

Posted By: B (Guest)

That’s the argument right there, Los Destructores did go on to be bigger the second time around, but like many I feel the first version was way better. It’s one of those arguments that Lucha fans will be for one or the other. Just like the La Parka feud.

Ah yes, I so was expecting some sort of comment or backlash. While I do agree that I should at least give them an honorable mention, it comes down to this, I’m not a Brazos fan! I enjoy the third generation Brazos, but with an exception of Brazo de Oro and the feud he had with El Hijo del Santo, I’ve never really been a fan of the Trio, and as you can see by the titles, it’s MY top picks on the list! Once again, anyone who wants to shoot their picks, comments and email are down below.

Hello Francisco!
I much appreciate your column, especially since it’s the only Lucha column on this site, and I enjoy reading about different parts of the wrestling world.

One small request: Could you post the date of the matches and from what event the Lucha Video Break matches are in each column?

Anyway, keep up the good work and thanks for writing!

Posted By: Christopher (Guest)

Thanks for the positive comments and it’s good to see people who aren’t familiar with Lucha at least give it a shot. As far as the video requests here is the thing. Lucha is notoriously bad as far as a video library goes, most of the older videos that are uploaded seem to be transferred from someone’s old VHS recording. Unless on that show they mention the dates, or it is a well-documented high profile match, dates can be hard to come by. Now when it’s something newer, that’s easier since guys like WarriorsX2000 puts the dates on his video uploads. I’ll try and work on dates a little more, but that can be a give or take.

To expand on the Skayde/CHIKARA situation a bit…

The relationship between Skayde and CHIKARA has been rocky from the start. When he was just starting out as their teacher, American Gigolo was acting as a middle man. Mike Quackenbush paid Skayde’s fees to Gigolo, assuming that it would get passed on. That never happened, and eventually they just cut Gigolo out of the loop because of this. This would result in an incident where Gigolo tried to confront Skayde at a Mexican indy show, only to get punched out by Villano IV.

Skayde has also been really difficult to book in the past, always demanding that Quackenbush also bring in one of his students, and always demanding that he’d get booked strong. He also flaked repeatedly on providing CHIKARA students with gear.

As for the King of Trios situation, basically what happened is that Quackenbush and Skayde had reached an agreement on payment and booking. Then a few weeks before the tournament Skayde decides that he wants more money. To add some strength to his argument, he gets Valiente a booking in Mexico during the weekend that King of Trios is supposed to take place. In response, Quackenbush finally decides to cut all ties with Skayde.

Posted By: Skios (Guest

Damn, see I knew someone else would be able to answer that in more detail. What is funny though, Is Jorge Rivera would be promoted like a godlike figure in Chikara, I remember a Dragon Gate show where Quackenbush was give all sorts of praise to Rivera. Funny thing is Rivera wasn’t even at that show!

Here we go: La Familia (later added the “de Tijuana” thing) started as Damian 666, Halloween and Rey Misterio Sr, with Lady Victoria; when they went to CMLL and AAA Nicho (original and best Psicosis) took the place of Misterio.

The other members have been Inferno (Independents and CMLL, very briefly), Extreme Tiger and TJ Xtreme (in AAA) and, for some TJ shows, L.A. Park was a member as part of an angle. There was also two more valets: La Chacala and Dama de Negro.

Posted By: TJ Fan (Guest)

More in depth, now don’t forget the stable has been everywhere from CMLL, AAA and even a version of it in XPW, but they referred themselves as Mexico’s Most Wanted if I’m not mistaken.

You forgot about Los Brazos: Brazo, Brazo de Plata, Brazo de oro, Super Brazo & Brazo Cibernetico. The best time for trios was the 80´s during de UWA heyday.

Posted By: TJ Fan (Guest)

More Brazos love! I do agree the best time for Trios was the 80’s, and it’s all thanks to the success Los Misioneros de la Muerte had.

Chikara is nothing but indy wrestlers doing high flying moves in masks. Lucha Libre is a culture and lifestyle and you can see by the way they wrestle. Lucha Libre has been try to be duplicated by indy promotions in the US for years but you can tell it’s not the real deal.

I’ve been watching lucha libre for a very long time. Fans always thought WCW Cruiserweight division was lucha libre but in reality it wasn’t. The only match I can remember being similar to lucha libre was the 98 or 99 NWO/WCW Souled out mexican tag match. Now fans on the internet think Chikara is Lucha Libre? Mexican fans would run that promotion out of town.

Lucha Libre USA doing all these tv tapings and no tv date announced. What’s really going on?

I still think 100% lucha is the most successful lucha libre promotion in the world.

Posted By: USAUSA1 (Guest

I disagree, but you do have a valid point as well. I think Chikara is more of a homage to Lucha Libre, and I’m certain a lot of Chikara guys would be able to hold their own in a CMLL or AAA show. Hell Jack Evans is the AAA Cruiserweight Champion remember. I think a big reason why Lucha Libre has not thrived in the states is because, like you stated, it is a cultural issue. California, Texas and Arizona has the occasional Lucha show which can draw big money, but everywhere else it fails to live up to expectations, Wrestling in the states and in Mexico are two completely different animals, which brings us to Lucha Libre USA! I know Marco Corleone and others have been working hard to get it moving, but I honestly don’t think the audience is there. Even hardcore Indy wrestling fans will think twice before attending a Lucha Libre USA show. Lucha Libre in the 70’s and 80’s would of thrived in the states, now not so much, if you go back to the format of the 70’s and 80’s, where it was 80 % wrestling,20% entertainment, then I think Lucha Libre USA would have a good Indy following, like ROH and Dragon Gate.

The lack of Rey Escorpion on this article bugs me not even me or Magno what a shame

Posted By: hurricane hector (Guest)

Are you freaking kidding me! Ok this has got to be someone that knows me. Rey Escorpion, Magno and Hurricane Hector are some Indy Luchadores from the El Paso Texas and Juarez Mexico area. I’ve seen them in quite a bit of shows. Magno has had a spot in Lucha Libre USA, and Hurricane Hector can be seen in the WWE Cheating Death, Stealing Life Eddie Guerrero DVD. He was Eddie’s childhood friend and I believe he now owns the ring that Eddie Guerrero was trained in. Ok here is a quick story, when I first started writing for 411mania, one of the things that I wanted to have was a section where I could possibly get some Indy Luchadores interviewed, and promote some Indy Lucha feds in the states. Hell I’m starting out and everyone likes exclusives, and 411mania, while not the Observer might get your name out a little. So I reached out to Magno via Myspace and asked what it would take to get an interview. I figure some of these guys would at least like to send out the number where they can be booked! To this day I have not received anything from Magno! I also let him know if he had any fellow Luchadores that might want to do this to send them my way, to this day nobody has accepted! I guess the road to being the Mexican Dave Meltzer is far away!

My Top 10 Favorite Luchadors

HM. Mascara Dorada
The man is a freak of nature, this will be the 3rd time I post this video here, watch it and try to not like the guy!

HM. Psicosis / Nicho

While in the early WCW Cruiserweight days people were fans of Rey Mysterio Jr. or Juventud Guerrera, I was into Psicosis, the Guillotine Legdrop, while not the flashiest of moves, was still a sight to see. His turn from Psicosis to Nicho el Millonario was effective and he has maintained his popularity even while losing his mask AND his name.

HM. Mistico

While Sin Cara’s last couple of years weren’t much of a big deal, with the exception of the brief heel turn, his early years and feud then team-up with Dr. Wagner Jr. led to some great moments and matches.

10. Extreme Tiger

At first I wasn’t too impressed with Extreme Tiger, then little by little he grew on me! El Tigre de TJ has grown, and just gotten better and better with each day that passes.

09. Dr. Wagner Jr.

This guy is the man! His catchphrase is gold, his matches can be even better!

08. El Santo

Let the backlash begin! As a child I used to watch movies starring the legend and he became my favorite luchadore. With time I stopped caring as much about the character and focused more on matches themselves. El Santo will always be one of my favorites, but little by little he was knocked from the number one spot.

07. Blue Panther

El Maestro Lagunero, his match with Atlantis in the early 90’s is still one of my favorite matches. I was shocked to see him loose his mask!

06. Dos Caras

The original, do yourself a favor and find the second Super J Cup and look at Dos Caras outstanding performance.

05. L.A. ParK

Brutal, charismatic, and a hell of a luchadore!

04. El Negro Casas

The Ric Flair of Mexico according to damn near everybody! El 4:40 while past his prime can still tear up a Lucha ring! Not the flashiest, but one of the best Luchadores ever!

03. Fishman

El Veneno Verde was one of the top Rudos in the 70’s 80’s and early 90’s! Unmasked the original Rey Misterio as well as Sangre Chicana.

02. Ultimo Guerrero

A legend in the making, a tremendous luchadore, and as I witnessed in El Paso, Texas, one humble guy! His rivalry with Mistico was incredible, his teaming with Rey Bucanero was just as good as well. The current CMLL Heavyweight Champion takes the silver in my top 10.

01. Blue Demon

While el Santo is the star, Blue Demon is the LUCHADORE!

Ke Monito Signing Off!

FR: So Ke Monito, what do you think of Mistico’s new name?
Ke Monito: Shit, the way he left, I’m going to start calling him Sin Madre!
FR: Damn, strong words Ke Monito!

SOURCES:
http://www.cmll.com
http://www.luchalibreaaa.com
www.superluchas.net
www.thecubsfan.com/cmll
http://www.revistaluchas2000.com.mx
www.luchawiki.com
www.estrellasdelring.blogspot.com
www.lawagnermania.com
www.fuegoenelring.com