News and Views from South of the Border 03.06.11 A Call to Arms

Las Noticias/The News

A Call to Arms!

The WWE came to fame in the 80’s by going into different territories, taking talent and putting on shows without care of what territory belonged to whom. It was guerrilla warfare and damn it, it worked. Televisa has picked up Raw and Smackdown, the ratings have been astounding. CMLL and AAA’s main programming is also done through Televisa. Think of it this way, If back in the Monday Night Wars, Raw would air on TBS, and Nitro on TNT, obviously the company with the higher ratings would be favored right? In essence, what happened in the states in the 80’s, might be happening in Mexico right now. With the recent signing of Mistico and ratings declining, WWE has gotten the attention of both AAA and CMLL.

Dorian Roldan, Vice President of AAA, has gone on to Twitter, of all things, and has drawn the attention of everyone! On February 25, 2011, Dorian Tweeted the following

“I think that it is time that Lucha Libre from Mexico puts its egos to the side and we create something never before seen. I think it is time that the two Mexican wrestling companies create synergy, I invite my competition to a sit-down so we can rescue Mexican Lucha Libre.! Now for the competition to respond, do you accept my offer? The ball is in your court!”

Wow, Roldan has my attention. Will this happen, I think Dorian hit a major point when he mentioned egos! AAA was formed when Antonio Peña splintered off and took a huge amount of CMLL’s roster, I doubt the Lutteroth family has forgotten, let alone forgiven. Whether Francisco “Paco” Alonso Lutteroth meets with the Roldan family is doubtful. What is certain is the WWE is expanding more and more in Mexico, ratings are on a decline, even though they do better than Raw and Smackdown in the states. AAA and CMLL need to make changes, they need to bring their A game, and they need to take WWE’s presence seriously.

AAA Happenings

The road to Rey de Reyes gets better and better with each passing week! First off as far as the Rey de Reyes final is concerned, Extreme Tiger, and El Mesias have won their respective blocks advancing to the final at the show. Block III consisted of Nicho el Millonario, Halloween, L.A. ParK and Dr. Wagner Jr. The favorite had to be Dr. Wagner Jr. seeing as how a L.A. ParK and Zorro title match was strongly hinted at. Well unfortunately that will be a main event for another day, seeing as how L.A. ParK took the victory on the 28th of February and he is advancing to the final. Hopefully the feud with Zorro isn’t forgotten, seeing L.A. ParK with the main championship of the company he had issues with for many years would be a sight to see!

On that same date, Heavy Metal tied the best of 5 series against Electroshock, when he defeated him in a Street Fight. The series is currently set 1-to-1.

Since L.A. ParK facing Zorro for the title appears to be out of the question, who will face Zorro for the title then? All signs are pointing to Charly Manson. Now Charly and Zorro do have quite a backstory, since it was Charly Manson that defeated Zorro in 2006, and forced him into the mask that Zorro wore for about a year. Now with Charly Manson in the Bizarros and Zorro in La Socieda, the rivalry renews itself. Also on the 28th of February, Dark Ozz and Dark Scoria had a match against Damian 666 and Zorro. The Bizarros ran in and caused the match to be declared a no contest when they attacked the members of the Black Family. All signs pointed to the Bizarros joining up with La Sociedad, when they turned their sights on Zorro, leaving him a bloody mess. After the brutal beating, Charly grabbed a mic and proclaimed “Zorro, I invite you to face your past, to revive your fears, your worst nightmare speaks to you, he’s back.” Strong words indeed.

Homenaje A Dos Leyendas Card

The card is set for CMLL’s upcoming big show Homenaje A Dos Leyendas. Aside from the yearly tribute to CMLL creator Salvador Lutteroth, Angel Blanco will also be honored on the show. The full card of the show has been set as well.

On the opening card will feature minis, which Minis will participate has not been specified. From there we jump into Diamante, Stuka and Metro taking on Raziel, Euforia and Cancerbero. Of course it wouldn’t be a CMLL show without a Blue Panther match. He will be teaming with Valiente and Angel de Oro to take on Atlantis, Ultimo Guerrero, and Rey Bucanero. This should be a solid match, anytime Blue Panther and Atlantis are together it usually has good results. La Sombra, Rush and Toscano will take on the stable La Pesta Negra, which consists of the returning Mr. Niebla, Felino, and El Negro Casas. What should be the main event of the card but isn’t consists of Averno defending the NWA Historic Middleweight Championship against the odds on favorite Mascara Dorada. I predict this to be match of the night and hopefully these two won’t disappoint. Finally the main event of the show will see the father/son team of Brazo de Plata and Maximo taking on Hijos de Averno members Terrible and Texano, the losers of the match will lose their hair. According to the CMLL website, Terrible and Texano have never lost their hair in a Lucha de Apuestas, and I don’t expect them to now.

Although this is a solid card, it doesn’t scream “huge event” like AAA’s Rey de Reyes event. Especially seeing big names like Hector Garza and Volador Jr. not even being part of the show!

RIP Felipe Ham Lee

The Lucha star of the 50’s and 60’s passed away on March 2, 2011. He was reported to have woken up feeling ill, and later on the day he passed on. Felipe Ham Lee was known for partnering up with El Santo, and more notoriously for allegedly wrestling as El Santo one day in Japan. Apparently he and some other guys were booked in Japan, but things fell apart and they needed to raise money to get airline tickets. A promoter offered to pay, but one of them would have to wrestle as El Santo, allegedly Felipe Ham Lee worked as El Santo that day, mind you the real Santo wrestled in Mexico as well. So word got out that Santo had wrestled in Japan and Mexico on the same day! It was a controversial story and chaos ensued. Once retired Felipe Ham Lee opened up a gym and trained the likes of Los Villanos, Los Brazos and Canek, that alone is a huge legacy for Felipe Ham Lee.

Lucha Poster of the Week

Results

CMLL 03/01/2011 Arena Mexico
1) Höruz, Robin, Trueno WIN OVER Cholo, Disturbio, Semental
2) Magnus, Molotov, Rey Cometa WIN OVER Dr. X, Hooligan, Nitro
3) Virus WIN OVER Demus 3:16
4) Ephesto, Mephisto, Volador Jr. WIN OVER Hijo del Fantasma, Stuka Jr., Toscano
5) Atlantis, Dragón Rojo Jr., Último Guerrero WIN OVER Blue Panther, La Máscara, Máscara Dorada

AAA 02/28/2011 Irapuato, Guanajuato
1) Mascarita Divina, Mini Charly Manson, Octagoncito WIN OVER Mini Chessman, Mini Histeria, Mini Psicosis
2) Heavy Metal WIN OVER Electroshock
3) Cuervo, Ozz NO CONTEST Damián 666, Zorro
4) Rey de Reyes Block III: L.A ParK WIN OVER Dr. Wagner Jr., Nicho el Millionario, Halloween
5) Extreme Tiger, Jack Evans, La Parka WIN OVER Charly Manson, Cibernético, Escoria

Lucha Video Break

A request was made for some Mistico videos, and this week the video consists of the Averno and Mistico match from the NJPW Fantastica-Mania show that took place in January of this year, enjoy.

La Voz/The Voice

Can you recommend some great Mistico matches? I’ve heard a whole a lot about him for almost 5 years but never seen a great match of his, just a lot of clips of some incredible moves.

Posted By: Guest#3073 (Guest)

Mistico matches? Well that shouldn’t be too hard, well first off what you want to look for is definitely his early run. His feuds with Los Hijos de Averno have been really solid. His Mask VS Mask match with Black Warrior is pretty good, also anytime Mistico and Ultimo Guerrero were put in a match together, the results were always spectacular, his Hair VS.Mask Match against El Negro Casas is really good as well, his heel turn early last year was enjoyable as well, although brief. Now for a real treat you might want to look up his angle with Dr. Wagner Jr. were they went from feuding together to a mentor/pupil relationship. I uploaded the Mistico match from Fantastica-Mania, the NJPW show that took place in January of this year.

Mistico/sin cara is a legend in Mexico and all over the world.

Posted By: Guest#7744 (Guest)

Yeah, I disagree with that! He’s a HUGE name, without a doubt, but let’s just put it this way, he’s the Mexican John Cena, and you wouldn’t call Cena a legend would you?

I hope they still use “Ameno” for Sin Cara/Mistico.

Posted By: Guest#4519 (Guest)

I’m in favor of that, anything as long as they don’t go back to using this

Extreme Tiger? Seriously? He’s terrible-I thought 6 or 7 years ago that he looked really rough, but had potential. Problem is, 6 or 7 years later, he hasn’t improved at all.

Posted By: Guest#7040 (Guest

Yes Extreme Tiger! Although he still is a little rough, not Relampago rough mind you, I have watched him for the past years and I have to say, I disagree with you! If you watch a match featuring Extreme Tiger from last year and one from this year, you could tell right away that he has grown and gotten better. His work is way cleaner, he doesn’t take as many dumb high risks, and his ground game has gotten better. His AAA Cruiserweight run was highly enjoyable. Also favorites change with each passing day, who knows next year Relampago might take his place.

Where can I find some good lucha matches? It’s a lot harder to find lucha matches than I thought it would be.

Posted By: Devil Child (Guest)

Oh boy is it ever hard to find lucha. If you are looking to buy Highspots has a decent selection, I’ve purchased a few compilation dvd’s from there and I haven’t been disappointed yet. If you’re looking for something free WarriorsX2000, Retro80’s90’s and thecatchchannel on Youtube always feature solid finds. Thecubsfan also has uploads frequently. If any readers also know of a good place post it in the comments, I’m always looking for videos as well.

Not that I’ve gone over everything with a fine toothed comb, but your English seems on par with the other writers here, and for a third language, that’s impressive. There’s no way I could write this well in Spanish. Good work this week as usual, your column is always an enjoyable read.

Posted By: JustAnotherVictim (Guest

Thanks for the positive comments! Nobody wants to read something that is grammatically incorrect or with constant misspelled words, but really does anybody come here for the grammar? Good to know there is people out there that enjoy reading this column.

Your coolness points were at infinity in my eyes. But not having La ParK number 1 and Nicho/Psicosis number 2 on your list got you out of infinety points. If La Pareja del Terror vs Hijo del Santo y Octagon is not ur favorite lucha match you will be down to 1 billion coolness points

Posted By: laparkinator (Guest)

Sorry to disappoint you! Yeah, I like L.A. ParK and Nicho, but come on, the original Blue Demon is the man! As far as my favorite match, you will have to wait and see! So I’m curious, how many points do I have left?

Wow, I live about an hour or so from El Paso. I didn’t realize lucha shows were getting promoted around there. I know there’s a small American-style wrestling company out of Las Cruces, NM, but I’ve never seen any promotion for any lucha shows. Suggestions on where to look and/or where the shows are run?

Posted By: Guest#4871 (Guest)

Well, first off I have to admit, I’ve heard of the shows in Las Cruces but I’ve never actually been to one. As far as El Paso is concerned, first off the Mission Valley Ballroom, which technically is in Socorro, Texas had some pretty big cards. I’ve seen Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero, el Hijo del Phantasma as well as Texano Jr. there. I know they had scheduled some additional big names to go out like Hector Garza and El Negro Casas, I haven’t been to the area in a while so I don’t know if they are still doing shows. In the Canutillo section, this is also on the El Paso outskirts, Hurricane Hector used to have a small promotion that was called MWA. It mainly featured young guys, but that is where guys like Mystico aka Incognito aka Hunico in FCW started out, as well as Magno, Rey Escorpion and El Hijo de Fishman who now goes by Black Fish. I’ve heard of an ALLWA promotion, but I’ve never found any info. Now for the really brave, Cassandro has a promotion in Juarez that usually pulls some big names, although I don’t recommend anybody go to Juarez at this time. The El Paso County Coliseum occasionally has a big show, I’ve seen Rey Misterio, Blue Demon Jr., Nicho and El Hijo del Santo there. The thing about the El Paso shows is they are not heavily promoted, and sometimes you’ll find the occasional flyer, so you really have to search these shows out. Internet won’t help much either unfortunately.

Mexico´s Most Wanted was just the tag team of Damian 666 & Halloween, that named was used during XPW, X-LAW and once in TNA.

Posted By: TJ Fan (Guest)

True, but those two are usually the driving force of La Familia de Tijuana, meaning it doesn’t matter where they are or what they are calling themselves, they will still reference the Familia de Tijuana name. Although the last iteration in AAA featuring TJ Extreme might of killed it for me!

Thanks a lot for answering my question!

Posted By: Christopher (Guest)

You are welcome, and feel free to shoot anymore questions, it gives the column some extra “Meat”.

Love the column. I’ve been intrigued by Lucha for ages but never found a good English site that reports much on it. Now my favourite wrestling site does just that.

Also I’d love to know the best places to look for good AAA and CMLL stuff. I remember La Parka, Psicosis and others from old WCW and would love to see more of what they have done since aswell as Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero and more.

Posted By: Col (Guest)

Looking for videos, WarriorsX2000, can’t repeat enough, his channel is like an archive of AAA, CMLL, DTU, and IWRG. As far as English sites, they are out there, you just have to dig deep to find them! My sources are a good starting of point.

Ok, now for the lists, I’m going to be changing it up a bit, I’ve gotten requests for feuds and matches. It’s impossible to come up with a definitive list for each, so what I’m going to do is my top ten matches/feuds, if I can find the match I’ll list it, if not whatever pics I can find. Oh, and I’ll feature one new one every week until we reach number 1. So for now, enjoy number 10.

My Top 10 Lucha Matches and Feuds

10. El Dandy VS. L.A. ParK Box y Lucha Magazines 2004 Match of the Year.

While this is a highly enjoyable match, the only downside is it didn’t occur seven years earlier, seeing as these two are way past their prime. Even so they put on a really good match. I have mixed feelings about the finish to the last fall. Without giving away the finish, it goes well with the winners character, but at the same time, I think not having any shenanigans in this match would of added more. Still, it’s my number 10 so I can’t complain too much!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Ke Monito Signing Off!

FR: Ke Monito, Winter is nearing its end and spring is headed this way, what are you most looking forward to?
Ke Monito: I would have to say shedding some of this damn fur! My winter coat has gotten too thick!
FR: Are you serious? I’m….um……yeah see you next week.

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