News and Views from South of the Border 03.13.11 The Black Shadow

Las Noticias/The News

4 Years Without Black Shadow

El Hombre de Goma, Black Shadow passed away on the 8th of March of 2007, marking 4 years since his passing. Since in Mexico death is celebrated as well as life, the date is one of remembrance. Black Shadow came to fame in the 50’s. In that time he teamed up with Blue Demon, together they were known as Los Hermanos Shadow aka the Shadow Brother’s, although they weren’t really brothers, this connection was first referenced when they were the last two individuals in a battle royal, they claimed they could not face each other since they were brothers! The duo went on to form an immense rivalry with La Pareja Atomica, el Santo and Gory Guerrero. El Santo and Black Shadow went on to a Mask VS Mask match, the most famous Mask VS Mask match in history! The match sold the card, and after 70 minutes, Black Shadow lost his mask! Black Shadow still continued to wrestle up until the 80’s. In the 80’s, a luchadore who wrestled as Pequeño Solin was granted permission to take on the Black Shadow mantle as Black Shadow Jr. He would eventually lose the mask to El Hijo del Santo. After that various copies have come out as Black Shadow Jr. and el Hijo de Black Shadow, using the name without permission. Black Shadow is credited as the father of high flying lucha, quite a legacy. On March 8th of 2007, Alejandro Cruz Ortiz, better known as Black Shadow passed on due to issues with pneumonia.

AAA News 3/05/2011

It’s official, the final spot on the Rey de Reyes finals has been filled and it goes to Carlito Caribbean Cool! The final four that will go on to the Rey de Reyes PPV to determine the 2011 Rey de Reyes will be Extreme Tiger, El Mesias, L.A. ParK and Carlito. On March 5, 2011, Carlito attained the win on Block IV by going through Deccnis, Dark Ozz and Jack Evans. After the match, Konnan and members of La Sociedad offered Carlito a spot. Carlito accepted and for now he is the newest member of La Sociedad.

The Heavy Metal and Electroshock Best of 5 series is now two to one, with Electroshock being ahead. The tie was broken when Electroshock and Heavy Metal faced off, los Maniacos went on to try to assist Heavy Metal by handing him a bottle, which Heavy Metal refused to use, but Electroshock didn’t! Electroshock defeated Heavy Metal and is currently ahead, both were left bloodied after the match.

Bizarro members, Charly Manson, Escoria, and Nygma faced off against La Hermandad 187: Joe Lider and Nicho el Millonario, who had Dark Espiritu as a partner. The Bizarro’s took the victory due to the aid of some powder that was thrown into Joe Lider’s face. After the match the Bizarro members went on to beat on La Hermandad 187, but not on Dark Espiritu due to Escoria assisting his former stablemate and preventing the other members of Los Bizarro’s from touching Dark Espiritu. In what looked like a repeat of the previous week, Zorro went to the ring and ran off los Bizarros, proclaiming to Charly that he would be the Bizarro member’s worst nightmare!

Mary Apache, Fenix and Lolita teamed up and defeated members of La Sociedad Sexy Star, Billy Boy and Jennifer Blake. After the match the Sociedad members and El Hijo del Tirantes ganged up on Mary Apache which led to El Apache, who happens to be Mary’s father, return to the ring, but the numbers were to great and el Apache was also beaten down. El Hijo del Tirantes accepted El Apache’s offer of a match at Rey de Reyes, el Hijo del Tirantes did mention that he would be accompanied by members of La Milicia.
The Main Event of the AAA show consisted of Extreme Tiger, El Mesias and Dark Cuervo going up against Los Maniacos: Silver King and Ultimo Gladiador, who also teamed with L.A. ParK. The match ended abruptly due to a run in by Carlito, members of La Sociedad and the Ejercito AAA arrived as well. Ending the night with the challengers for the Rey de Reyes 2011 crown facing off.

CMLL News

Mr. Niebla Returns 03/04/2011

Mr. Niebla returned to the ring on March 4, 2011 to an immense ovation from the Mexican crowd. “El Apestoso Mayor” joined forces with El Negro Casas and Averno to take on the team of Rush, La Sombra and Mascara Dorada. Mr. Niebla’s team took the victory when Niebla fouled, aka low blowed Sombra for the pin.
The fan’s were on the Rudo’s side by a large margin, and Mr. Niebla returned with a new look that seems to have everyone’s approval. The full card is as follows

Before the Misterioso Jr./Angel de Oro match, they held a minute in memory of the recently deceased Felipe Ham Lee, acccording to Superluchas, Mano Negra was in the crowd and could not hold back his tears.

La Generacion Dorada retains 03/06/2011

La Sombra, Mascara Dorada and La Mascara, also known as La Generacion Dorada aka The Golden Generation, continue to be successfull in defending the CMLL World Trios Championship. This time they defended against Los Hijos de Averno. Averno, Mephisto and Ephesto are said to have put on a good fight, but in the end lost via a hurracanrana from La Sombra to Mephisto.

With Mistico gone, I think it’s pretty obvious that within this Trio lies the new face of CMLL, hopefull Paco Alonso get’s the message.

Ultimo Guerrero comes up short 03/08/2011

La Generacion Dorada keeps on coming strong! La Mascara successfully defended the CMLL Mexican National Championship against Ultimo Guerrero, no small feat by any means. The match had it’s beginnings in the last couple of weeks when Ultimo Guerrero would defeat La Mascara using his own submission, La Campana. The second time Ultimo Guerrero defeated La Mascara, Guerrero challenged him for the CMLL Mexican National Championship, La Mascara agreed on one condition, Guerrero would have to defend his CMLL World Heavyweight Championship against La Mascara if La Mascara won. Guerrero agreed and on March 8, La Mascara defeated Ultimo Guerrero using La Campana. It looks like we have a world title match on the way as well.

Lucha Poster of the Week

La Voz/The Voice

Doing a long slow build for this list makes your coolness points go up to like a Trillion. Lets go Pareja Del Terror vs Hijo del Santo/Octagon

Posted By: laparkinator (Guest)

Well it’s good to know someone approves of the slow build, at first I figured I would just let the whole list out, but then it wouldn’t give any of the matches any flavor, this way at least each match has a heavy focus. Awww yes, that match is definitely on the list, what number though is the question!

I think Dorian and people is overreacting. WWE is not taking over. How many shows WWE does in Mexico per year? AAA and CMLL attendance hasn’t suffer because of WWE, in matter of fact AAA is doing better at the gate than ever since they raise ticket prices over the years.

The reason why Paco not going to do it because it’s doesn’t affect him. CMLL owns their own “ARENA” and do shows every Friday. They make 100% off every show there. He has the biggest roster in wrestling, his company works more shows than any company in the world, he pays his talent wayyyyyyyyy cheaper than any other major company. He has no reason to do it. CMLL been around longer than the WWE and survive many worse things. CMLL fans got tired of Mistico two years ago. They were booing him out the building.

WWE tv ratings is better because the shows are easier to watch. If you watch CMLL and AAA tv in Mexico, the commercial breaks are like 15 minutes long. Plus,WWE production is more slicker.

Cubsfan pointed out that WWE,AAA and CMLL average tv rating drop 3 points last year.

I think AAA and CMLL needs to take their main shows to cable in Mexico. CMLL other shows in Mexico don’t have 15 minutes breaks between commercials. Televisa is a terrible network for wrestling.

This is far different from the territory days. Paco is a smarter promoter than Jim Crockett,Mike Graham,Gagne and Watts. Those guys did not own arenas and did not have a rich history like EMLL/CMLL. They did not spend too much money.

Posted By: USAUSA1 (Guest)

I don’t know about overreacting! I think it is good that the Roldan’s view the WWE as a great threat, and aren’t going to wait until it is too late to react. As far as AAA’s gate, I’m not very well versed on the actual numbers, but I do remember AAA’s last big show Guerra de Titanes had an abysmal gate, If memory serves correct it was only about half of the building that was full!

As far as Paco is concerned, I’m sorry, but when you take his posterboy, that alone is damage enough, sure Mistico wasn’t as beloved as once was, but he still did draw! His Rudo turn alone drew a lot of fans, not to mention he was big to casual crowds as well.

Sure, AAA and CMLL do better in Mexico than WWE does in the states, but WWE TV do more than both companies in Mexico. Not to mention, all three are aired on Televisa channel’s, which obviously likes to play favorites! Production indeed does play a huge factor, but come on, when are you going to compare the monetary expenses from all three companies, AAA and CMLL do not have the capital that WWE has, and let is not forget, WWE is based in the U.S., AAA and CMLL are based in Mexico, a country that is still considered a 3rd World Country by many!

In the end I do agree with some of your points, I think the main issue here is “Renovar O Morir”, CMLL is too stuck in the past, AAA needs to go back to their roots again. CMLL is way too traditionalist, AAA tends to go way out there sometimes, although for the past couple of years, Konnan has really fixed a lot of my main complaints with AAA, titles are a huge focus, and we don’t see the overabundance of titles or titles from dead promotions. They have put a huge focus on match quality, years back the match quality was horrendous, and they have also toned down and grounded the show a bit more, not to mention acquisition of huge talent, also there feuds do have a focus and eventually end. The production needs to be boosted though! My complaints with CMLL are the same! The Trios matches are a classic, a classic that needs to be retired, if you’re new to lucha, how can you focus on who is who when there are 6 luchadores in the ring? There is an overabundance of titles, CMLL World, CMLL Mexican National, NWA Historic, CMLL Occidente, etc! Pairings that don’t make sense need to go, Los Villanos, Los Brazos, Los Hijos de Averno, obviously these are stables and Trios, good ones too! Rush, Diamante, and Angel de Oro look like names were chosen from a hat to determine the new CMLL National Trios Champions. The booking! My god the booking has got to change, when you go to a big show with no leadup whatsoever, no rivalry built up, pick 6 guys and put them in a cage, the last two face off and the loser must unmask, then we have a problem! Not to mention, you start a feud or story, then for no reason, a month later it stops for no reason, that just doesn’t make sense! CMLL has some of the best wrestling in the world, but a good steak does need a little sizzle to sell!

I got into a discussion with a Mexican co-worker who honestly believes luche libre is a real, legitimate sport. The interesting thing is, he acknowledges that WWE and such are pre-determined. I think it demonstrates how luche libre has a cultural grip American wrestling could only dream of.

This same co-worker also told me Blue Demon used to bang girls with his mask on to hide his identity…kayfabe rules! Number one on my list!

Ps-this whole conversation began when he told me he didn’t know who Andre the Giant was…boggled my mind that a 32 year old man who grew up as any kind of wrestling fan wouldn’t know Andre! I joked that Andre wore a mask he would know…ha!

Posted By: Gypsy (Guest)

Sounds like a hell of a conversation! Yeah, it’s amazing that Kayfabe is still thriving in Mexico, and many do still believe it is real! Lucha is the 2nd biggest sport in Mexico, let us not forget!

Awww yes, I’ve heard rumors like this and believe me when I say Blue Demon allegedly isn’t the only one!
Wow, really? Hell Andre is famous in Mexico as well, he was always billed as Andres el Gigante, and had a famous feud with Canek that saw Canek bodyslam and defeat Andre, might I mention this was years before Hogan did the same thing! Maybe you’re coworker will recognize Andre with the Giant Machine mask on!

My Top 10 Lucha Feuds/Matches

The List so far:
10. L.A. ParK VS. El Dandy: Box Y Lucha 2004 Match of the Year

09. Blue Panther VS. Villano V, The Ola Lagunera and Villano Saga

On September 19, 2008, CMLL held a big event, the main attraction to the show consisted of a Mask VS Mask match featuring El Maestro Lagunero, Blue Panther and Villano V. The rivalry had heated up and these were out for blood. The heavy favorite for this match was Blue Panther, a true ring technician and a master of holds and counters. The match finally happened at CMLL’s 75th Anniversary show. Blood did pour, making one question why Villano V would even wear yellow gear. The first two falls were wasted away due to one another’s hate for each other, the third fall was decisive, to the surprise of many. Although it became quite clear later on, there is an urban legend, or unwritten rule if you will, that no luchadore can win more than one mask on a given year. On the 74th Anniversary show there was an elimination cage match featuring 6 Luchadores, the last two remaining in the cage would have to face each other, with the loser unmasking. In the end Blue Panther unmasked Lizmark Jr. The heavy favorite to lose that match was Villano V! It was not a full year later when the 75th Anniversary show took place.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

With Panther unmasked Villano V along with some of his Villano brethren still took to beating on Panther. Blue Panther found allies in Ultimo Guerrero and Black Warrior, forming La Ola Lagunera. In Homenaje a Dos Leyendas 2009, Blue Panther was avenged when Ultimo Guerrero took the mask of Villano V.

Ke Monito Signing Off!
FR: Hey Ke Monito, what do you have to say before we go?
Ke Monito: I’m so damn tired of Paco Alonso doing…..
FR: Wait, Ke Monito is this your wallet, WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THIS?

Ke Monito: Give that back, say anything and I will knife you!
FR:Ok, um…….see you all next week…..I think!

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