May 6 in Lucha History

CMLL @ Arena Mexico 5/6/05:

So in this time period for CMLL we were doing the 3 (sometimes MAYBE 4 matches) from Arena Mexico + 1 random from Arena Coliseo on Tuesday format for TV. This was a week we got a completely random 3ra from Tuesday which actually got La Flecha on TV (as a sub) but was a meaningless match. I menton this because we ended up missing out on the Arena Mexico 2da which was a trios involving Ricky Marvin & Hooligan. That was the norm... except this match also had La Mascara & Dr. X involved who were in a big feud at the time that would lead to a singles title match the following Friday which did air. This was around the time pirated copies of *full* Arena Mexico shows were being sold outside the arenas due to Mistico's growing popularity so it wouldn't shock me if some random person has this laying around somewhere.

Atlantis/Black Warrior/Satanico vs Black Tiger/Okumura/Taguchi: A painful match to sit through knowing the great looking 2da that was skipped over. Also a painful match to sit through because it was boring as shit. Okumura was in his usual role of accompanying any visiting Japanese wrestler so we were stuck with him often and this would become the norm. Satanico was washed up by the end of 2003 & had no business still being around here, especially as a tecnico. Nothing to note here otherwise.

Dos Caras Jr./Heavy Metal/Ultimo Dragon vs Averno/Mephisto/Ultimo Guerrero: So this was around the time Ultimo Dragon & Ultimo Guerrero were big time feuding and there was lots of speculation they would do a mask match. It had all the makings of one coming up as they both tore masks & cut promos like you would to lead to a match like that. It never happened but this went on many weeks including this one. Everyone else was largely a bystander for what they were doing which is funny since Dos Caras Jr. would eventually step into the feud & end up doing a back-to-back series of matches with Guerrero for the CMLL Heavyweight Title not too long after this. Decent match, got over the feud it was supposed to get over.

Mistico/Dr. Wagner Jr./LA Park vs Perro Aguayo Jr./Hector Garza/Tarzan Boy: This set up Mistico vs Perro Aguayo Jr. the following week in their first ever singles match so you can imagine the heat for this one! But it also had Wagner/Park who weren't gonna be overshadowed so they got their shit in and actually looked great as a team! Park did his DOTYC in the 2nd fall - a dive I've never seen him do before or after! First fall ended with Perrito yanking off Mistico's mask (very violently). This was a usual spot where Mistico would have to go run to the back to get a new mask and his return would lead to the crazy heated comeback including him tope'ing Perrito into the first row. Lots of nearfalls as Wagner/Park wanted to do their moves before the finish where Perrito low blowed Mistico and then yanked his new mask off again post-match to setup next week.

Below average CMLL TV show for the time. Only redeeming thing was the main event but it's a main event well worth seeing and is on YouTube!

(New Found Glory - "I Don't Wanna Fall Asleep")

Music Video


AAA in Tlaxcala - 5/6/06:

Jessy/JJ/Kevin vs Los Espantapajaros I/II/III: The scarecrows!!! My favorites!!! Legit love the gimmick and was always thrilled to see them pop on TV in this era. Not entirely sure who was under the gimmick. May have been the Cirios. Wasn't the Diabolicos for sure. Jessy & Kevin were the only leftovers from the wonderful Kumbia Kids stable that Antonio Pena would never let die off. Jessy was related to Tiffany. Kevin was from the Andrade family. JJ was not a Kumbia Kid although he dressed like one here. I'm struggling to remember what his deal with but I think he was a legit singer who they tried to train to wrestle. He was pretty awful. The rudos worked super light with him. Fun enough opener that went haywire during the dive sequence at the end where Kevin torched his ankle on an asai moonsault when he hit the guardrail and he was done. They did a quick improvised DQ after that.

Oriental/Rey Cometa/Super Fly/Nemesis vs Cuervo/Escoria/Ozz/Espiritu: Oriental was dubbed as the 'padrino' for the new Fuerza Aerea group but outside of teaming with them here never really played the part. He just happened to be booked instead of Laredo Kid. These teams had been regular opponents and having great little undercard matches. This was no exception although not one of the standouts. Chessman ended up running in to help his teammates and spewed people with mist, threw others over the top & beat up others. A great night for Chessman!

La Parka/Octagon/Intocable/El Angel vs Abismo Negro/Psicosis/Histeria/Kaoma Jr.: The rare match with two Histerias! Yes, after doing a run-in on a previous show dressed as Histeria to join the group - Kaoma Jr. actually works his one TV match under the half Kaoma/half Histeria look here. He actually looked really good and stuck around for a bit (but ditching the copycat look) before getting hurt via Crazy Boy/Joe Lider sloppiness in late June. Traditional AAA style match with the rudo brawling followed by tecnicos all getting turns to show off and do comedy stuff for the most part with each rudo one-by-one. Parka was pretty funny fucking around with Abismo. Angel looked like a world class wrestler compared to his partners. You'll be stunned to know this was third straight match in a row ending with a DQ! Antonio Pena was still alive and booking - don't question things!

Konnan/Ron Killings/X-Pac vs Cibernetico/Chessman/Muerte Cibernetica: A rare rudos vs rudos match with more foreigners than natives! I think this was a special request because X-Pac was clearly enjoying working with Ricky Banderas, much moreso than against the Mexican tecnicos he got paired with at the time. Konnan wasn't moving well so he matched up great with Cibernetico. I actually can't remember how this one ended but luchablog has it as a NC which seems about right.

El Zorro vs Charly Manson (Cage - Mexican National Heavyweight Title): These two were in a never ending feud dating back to something like early 2004 if you can believe it. The end goal was a hair match at Triplemania but along the way they killed time doing matches for Zorro's title which was very important at the time. I believe Charly had already failed once (maybe twice?). He would fail again here although not to any fault of his as he was fantastic in this! Worked very hard, took crazy bumps & bled a ton. These guys always loved working with each other. Another match with interference, even with the cage, as all of La Secta ran in only for Zorro to cane them on by one before dodging them all to escape first. But he would drop that title to Manson soon enough...

Overall a really good AAA show for this time period. You get the wacky in the opener, the flying guys in the 2da, a tradition match in the 3ra & a very good main event. Reccomended viewing!

(Sum 41 - "We're All To Blame")

Music Video


AAA 5/6/07 in Oaxaca:

"La Invasion"

The first to note obviously is this venue is GORGEOUS! Outdoors. Clear view. Sun shining for opening two matches & then lovely night sky for the rest. If you have the weather an outdoor show can be fantastic for a viewing experience on TV!

Mascarita Sagrada 2000 & Mascarita Divina vs Mini Abismo Negro & Mini Histeria: The best of the best with the AAA mini's here! Great stuff as you'd expect. Divina has a slip-up early on a rope spot and Abismo kicks him in the face telling him to get his shit together. 20 seconds later we have the amazing headscissors into the armdrag spot people forget these two invented! It wasn't Flamita! Mini tecnicos win but get laid out post-match because it's AAA booked by Konnan!

Cynthia Moreno/Estrellita/Sexy Star vs Fabi Apache/Rossy Moreno/Tiffany: This was during Fabi's awesome heel run as she had caused Billy Boy to end up in a crazy house (skit later!) & was in top form trolling her opponents - especially Sexy Star who was the newbie on the scene getting her ass kicked weekly by the veterans. That used to be Estrellita's job but she had now advanced to sexy eye candy although she was still at least trying. Had a nice asai moonsault dive in this one. Cynthia & Rossy were reaching their expiration date and would end up leaving for a while before returning for a short stay many years later. Konnan was phasing these women down & I wanna think they knew it. So-so match all thanks to Fabi.

Aero Star/Laredo Kid/Pegasso/Super Fly vs Gran Apache/Super Calo/Alan/Decnis: HELL FUCKING YES! THIS IS WHY I LIVE! This was the version of the Fuerza Aerea most are familiar with although Aero Star was still a newbie at this point. In fact, this was one of his first TV matches as their partner. The rudos were the evil Barrio Boys who had shunned Billy (pre-match skit included him looking down trapped in a crazy house as they laughed!) along with Apache & Super Calo who had returned to form a weird partnership with the old man (and drop his mask at Triplemania). This match was just fucking insane. I remember it was one of my favorites in 2008 & stands up to this day. It's on YouTube so definitely give it a watch! Just madness start to finish with clearly a lot of thought put into it as the sequences were so complex & even the rudo beatdown stuff had purpose. This had one of those one-time only spots where Aero Star goes for a tope suicida, gets caught by two rudos, then thrown back inside so Apache can slam him down as if you hit the rewind button on your VCR. Someone bring it back! Decnis takes a rana from the apron to the floor by Pegasso who looked world class in this one. Laredo Kid does a 450 off the apron to the floor which may have been the TV debut of that spot. They do a crazy ass dive sequence too including old man Apache capping it off with a somersault over the ringpost! Aero Star gets the win for his team with a shooting star press which I like to think was because pre-match they were showing highlights of the Fuerza Aerea doing flips and each one did a spot onto his feet except Aero Star who just crashed doing an SSP. Foreshadowing! This was AWESOME!

Crazy Boy/Joe Lider/Juventud Guerrera/Psicosis vs Cuervo/Escoria/Ozz/Espiritu: Mexican Powers vs Secta! A classic! Especially for this time period. All the lineups had been announced for this month alrady so we knew an Atomicos Titles match was happening 6 days later & also at this time AAA was naming shows so an event was coming up called 'La Tracion'. Basically implying someone is turning on someone. Without spoiling too much... that someone was in this match. So this was one of the last chance to see these teams in this format go at it. Pretty good match with the Crazy Boy/Joe Lider wackiness you'd expect & including Crazy Boy doing a moonsault off the bleachers in the crowd. They did the spot where the rudos do the careta & Juvy comes to break it up with a flying huracanrana. Secta takes this one.

Intocable/Super Porky/El Zorro vs Abismo Negro/Kenzo Suzuki/X-Pac: Well one match on this show has to be the traditional AAA match for the families so this was it by default. Lots of comedy with Porky involved as you'd expect. Zorro tried some stuff with X-Pac. Tried being the key word. Ryan Shamrock got involved and Zorro sexually assaulted her before X-Pac kicked him low to beat him. Entertaining enough for what it was.

Charly Manson vs Mesias: No Ciber around tonight so his #2 in command Charly Manson was here to fight the cause vs leader of the Secta - Mesias! Funny spot early on where Mesias went to sweep Manson's leg and Manson was either unaware this was coming or didn't wanna go down but Mesias is so much stronger he just yanked that fucking leg and Manson took a header. LOL Things broke down with interference as you'd expect. Zorro actually came out to help his old rival and fight off La Secta with his cane. A board was broken, fire was used & in the end Mesias came out on top. Exactly what I wanted out of my AAA main event!

Great show! This is why AAA was *the* promotion to watch in 2007! Nobody did. But that's okay with me because now I have all these great memories and none of you do!

(Linkin Park - "Beneath My Skin")

Music Video


CMLL 5/6/08 @ Arena Mexico:

Oh man it has to be pointed before even talking about the matches how different CMLL was at this time. Small Tuesday crowd but the makeup was entirely hardcore fans who knew the wrestlers, knew the feuds & were very interactive with the wrestlers. You see this during the main when Black Warrior goes to teach his dace to a blonde girl in the front row who actually stands out because she may be the only foreigner in the building! Compare that to these days when a Mexican sitting in the front row is a rarity. The other thing to note is the ringside area completely packed with photographers from the various magazines since there is a title match on this show. You can see poor Alexis running around all over trying to snap pictures while avoiding others. I can see why he eventually complained.

5 match show - 4 matches aired - the opener that didn't was all women so WE ARE ALREADY IN LUCK!

Fabian El Gitano/Mictlan/Super Nova vs Diamante Negro/Nitro/Skandalo: Ahhhhhhh! Mictlan! DON'T SAY HIS NAME! Well, that used to be the rule since he disappeared randomly out of nowhere you just knew he would be back some day to cause trouble. But then word came out he was having kidney trouble (steroids anyone?) so a return was unlikely. In this match he was playing background to Fabian El Gitano who was in the middle of a feud with Diamante Negro that got dropped a month later when Diamante disappeared and a random guy named Dragon Rojo showed up! And the icing on the cake is Dragon Rojo would be in a mask match come the end of August against... Mictlan! Fabian got screwed. Their partner was Super Nova who at this time was an exciting young guy who didn't make TV enough. Decent match here. Crowd was into it as they had been watching this feud develop every Tuesday & the Nitro/Skandalo/Loco Max/Arkangel group was over with the rudo section. DQ finish with Diamante yanking Fabian's mask.

Bam Bam vs Pequeno Damian 666 (CMLL Mini's Title): YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a treat to get a match like this! This came as a result of a torneo cibernetico on Kids Day the week before where Pequeno Damian cheated to eliminate Mascarita Dorada & then Bam Bam cheated to beat him in revenge and earn #1 contendership. Think about that. We were THIS CLOSE to Bam Bam vs Mascarita Dorada instead! They even did a tease during that same torneo! But you can't complain too much since these guys together are GOLD! Great match that almost got derailed when Bam Bam hit his head on the floor trying a rana to the outside. You can see Damian is immediatly concerned but Bam Bam shrugs it off like a madman. All the great stuff you'd expect from these two who actually feuded all summer which would have been great if it hadn't been shifted to Sunday mostly non-TV shows. Bam Bam went in to regain his belt... but left without it. A Valagueza gave Damian the win in front of a very happy rudo crowd!

Felino/Heavy Metal/Negro Casas vs Averno/Mephisto/Misterioso: Run-of-the-mill trios with the Casas brothers doing their thing against the usual rudos who worked their asses off to make Heavy Metal in particular look good. On the bright side for them they got to go over in the end!

Alex Koslov/Blue Panther/Dos Caras Jr. vs Black Warrior/Sangre Azteca/Ultimo Guerrero: Holy batman it's Sangre Azteca in a main event! Don't adjust your screens! I actually checked good old luchablog to make sure he wasn't a sub! I did come across a news note where Ultimo Guerrero asks that the Anniversary main event be a 4 way mask match with him, Atlantis, Blue Panther & Villano V. It's almost like this guy had inside information & was pushing to be added to the planned match! Fun match. Koslov/Warrior had their antics going & actually ended the match with Warrior getting DQ'ed for a low blow. Sangre Azteca fit in fine and as a smaller guy actually made all of Dos Caras Jr.'s offense look so much better (monkey flip in particular). But being a smaller guy is probably why he got taken out of these matches and eventually moved further down the card.

Good show. Definitely check out the mini's title match & main event too if you've got time.

(Beat Crusaders - "Hit In The U.S.A.")

Music Video


CMLL 5/6/11 @ Arena Mexico:

A full Friday night show making the various TV networks!

Dalys/Luna Magica/Goya Kong vs Estrellita/Princesa Blanca/La Comandante: I had totally forgotten Estrellita was still around as a ruda by this point. I don't think it lasts much longer since she definitely turns by the fall. Usual women's stuff... they tried... they failed at a lot... Luna was espcially terrible around this time and almost reaching the round size of Goya. Dalys was clearly trying as she was the newbie who got the spot for obvious reasons but she had to put the effort in to justify it. She looked scared to death doing her plancha. Rudas got the win. I'd have been pretty unhappy attending an Arena Mexico show live and seeing this as the opener instead of a cool match... haha.

Angel De Plata/Delta/Stuka Jr. vs Okumura/Polvora/Yoshihashi: Plata & Delta were two of the guys who didn't advance from Forjando's group stage. Yoshihashi was this year's random Japanese guy who worked exclusively with Okumura. He was actually okay here even though overall I think we can all agree his Mexico run was not good. He based well for Delta & was always in the right spot. This had a lot of action and I enjoyed it!

Now we move onto Forjando un Idolo matches. We entered the elimination stage at this point so there was no math for CMLL to screw up or voting from fans to compliate what CMLL wanted done.

Diamante vs Fuego: Really good match! They were clearly both out to impress. There was a cool armdrag off the top rope spot where Fuego lept up in one motion. Fuego went over via submission in a somewhat upset. It's hard to remember who was ranked higher at the time but I wanna say Fuego since he was doing the Dr. X feud while Diamante drifted aimlessly outside of a random trios titles run with Rush & Angel De Oro. The seconds (Blue Panther/Negro Casas) got into it afterwards to tease what was to come.

Angel De Oro vs Guerrero Maya Jr.: This could have been you Triton if not for some wacky math & annoying fans! Instead Maya gets his second singles match in days and actually looked much better than Oro here but Maya was never advancing. Oro was the golden child... get it? He didn't look bad, actually did some cool stuff & the finish got a very nice reaction as he used the Mecedora to submit Maya and move on. I think Ultimo Guerrero being his second was a clue!

Rush/Strongman/Blue Panther vs Terrible/Texano/Rey Bucanero: TRT! Strongman breaking a bat during his entrance! Young Rush! What more could you want??? This was actually okay as the rudos were still relatively interested and had some nice trio spots. Panther was involved so each finish was done smartly, especially in the third fall as each tecnico was taken out one by one before a triple super bomb beat Strongman. You could see Rush/Terrible starting to form the chemistry here that would stick with them up until the day Rush left the company.

La Mascara/Mascara Dorada/La Sombra vs Averno/Negro Casas/Ultimo Guerrero: It was La Mascara vs Averno season so everyone else was just background noise. Dorada at least made the most of his quick ring time doing cool things with Ultimo Guerrero. Sombra must have been resting up for a Japan tour or something because he didn't even take off his 3M shirt. I loved Dorada's fakeout right into a plancha over the top. Caught me off guard. Averno cheated to beat La Mascara as we headed to the inevitable (though not as soon as everyone forecasted).

A strong show thanks for the Forjando matches which both delivered big time! Good mix of wrestling and storyline progression overall. A better opener would have put this in must watch territory. Should I rank the Friday night Arena Mexico shows each year at some point? Seems like a decent project but I should try to stick with this one first, right?

(Every Avenue - "Think Of You Later (Empty Room)"

Music Video


AAA 5/6/12 in Merida:

A weird taping with only 5 matches including a weird tag that never even made the National version of the show which was also edited down big time.

Fabi Apache/Mascarita Dorada/Octagoncito vs Sexy Star/Mini Histeria/Mini Psicosis: Fine opener with the minis carrying the work. Dorada was on another level from everyone else here and actually was soon in WWE after this if I remember correctly. Sexy Star may have been fresh off her WWE tryout failure or my timeline is off. Either way she already had her cosmetic upgrade done. Dorada pinned Mini Psicosis and challenged for a title shot. Now I remember. He gets it, loses & leaves soon after.

Fenix & Daga vs Cuervo & Ozz: RANDOMNESS! I think maybe this was around the time Cuervo & Ozz were not only inexplicably working AJPW but also held their tag titles for a bit? Best explanation I have. Fenix & Daga teaming makes no real sense although Daga hadn't officially turned yet but he was a non-entity who had never been paired with Fenix beforehand. They did some cool stuff but the match was very awkward and disjointed. Plus it had a shit double countout finish. Pass.

Psycho Circus vs Halloween/Hector Garza/Psicosis: Now this was a sad watch as it was one of Garza's final TV appearences. He looked in great shape & even did his corkscrew plancha (edited off TV but shown in highlights). This was a big brawl for the most part. Psicosis took a nutty chairshot to the head while trying a tope and in landing smacked his head on the ground to compound things. Clowns went over obviously as this was still a Perros B-team without Perrito around.

Juventud Guerrera & Joe Lider vs Abyss & Chessman (AAA Tag Team Titles): What in the fuck. Why did you do this Konnan??? Abyss was awful here. Juventud must have known Abyss wasn't even going to do shit so he mostly worked with Chessman and in typical Juvy fashion made sure he got all his shit in. Chessman was more than obliging and even took two of the same frontcracker spots to keep Juvy happy. Psicosis interfered (apparently that bump didn't kill him) to cost Lider the match as they were in their yearly feud. This was bad.

LA Park & Perro Aguayo Jr. vs Cibernetico & Dr. Wagner Jr.: Very edited down. Not sure for TV reasons or Perrito in no condition to perform reasons. Total clusterfuck with everyone fighting everyone and interference galore. Not even sure who would have lost this if they neeed to do a finish so maybe it was for the best they didn't even try.

Overall a pretty bad show in a time period when Konnan was bringing in more bad than good with his TNA connections.

(For All Those Sleeping - "I'm Not Dead Yet")

Music Video


CMLL 5/6/14:

Molotov & Robin vs Akuma & Espiritu Negro.: Not much to say here. Funny to see all these guys stuck in the same position 6 years later except the dude who sold his mask & retired. The era of no opener dives or excitement in general, not to mention the drop in quality of the performers, really made these openers unwatchable. Forget about a second time around.

Metalico/Oro Jr./Sensei vs Arkangel/Hooligan/Inquisidor: They had been teasing problems between Metalico & Oro Jr. since the En Busca qualifying torneo cibernetico so they had problems in this one leading to the rudos winning. But since this is a formulaic CMLL show they still had to do 3 falls for some reason. Gotta love #CMLLogic! Oro Jr. got in his springboard corkscrew armdrag on the ramp which was the lone highlight here.

Astral/Electrico/Ultimo Dragoncito vs Demus/Mercurio/Pequeno Olimpico: Maybe it was the elevated spot on the show or something in the water but in a time period when CMLL was gradully phasing down the minis, these guys decided to step up and have a nice little match! They even did a triple dive & Dragoncito busted out a very rare somersault into the crowd like he used to be known for and good for on a semi-weekly basis. In fact, this may be the last good CMLL trios match for all I know. I'd have to double check but it's hard to come up with one off the top of my head.

Round 1 of En Busca De Un Idolo was begining to wrap up with the following matches...

Star Jr. vs Cavernario: Star Jr. wore a shirt, likely covering up his taped up shoulder after Hechicero had almost killed him on a corner power bomb a few days earlier. He was clearly not 100% but did his best and even took the crucifix bomb into the corner like a true luchador! Cavernario worked hard to carry the load here and got the win. I think the idea for the finish was the same move off the top rope but instead Cavernario did it off the second just to make sure we didn't have a second Star Jr. death bump in this tournament. Good stuff.

Super Halcon Jr. vs Hechicero: The weakest performer of the best CMLL tournament ever vs one of the standouts. Hechicero carried Halcon well here but we were long past the point of Halcon trying here. He knew he was outclassed by everyone else and was running out the time until his elimination. Couple of nice spots by Hechicero who wrapped it up with a submission victory. Halcon would redeem himself only in his final match vs Dragon Lee.

Sagrado/Stuka Jr./Super Porky vs Terrible/Vangelis/Herodes Jr.: HERODES JR.??? I barely remember him being this high at any point outside of the Peste Negra short run. I went back to double check and see if he was a sub but apparently he wasn't. Although Sagrado was in for Mistico. Generic trios match with Comandante getting involved and even taking a headscissors from Stuka. Funny to think now how all these En Busca guys were fighting for a spot in main events meanwhile Herodes Jr. (who lost in the qualifying torneo) is here in the semi-main like it's no big deal. Should have taken the shortcut Cavernario!

Atlantis/Delta/Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero/Euforia/Rey Bucanero: Now I'm questioning luchablog and wondering if Bucanero was scheduled in the semi-main instead of Herodes but got switched to replace Niebla Roja in this so Herodes subbed in the semi-main. Either way this was a substitue match basically as the idea was a trios titles program being set up but they were short 1/3 the challenger. So instead they just had a good match. No complaints! Tecnicos went over and the feud resumed as planned the following week before the title match occured on the 20th.

I'd call it a good show alone based on the En Busca matches & minis performance. Toss in a decent main event and I guess you'd bump it up to a borderline very good show. Tuesday shows were starting to dip in quality around this time but as long as En Busca was around you were never gonna get a stinker.

(Fall Out Boy - "Death Valley")

Music Video