June 10 in Lucha Libre History

AAA 6/10/95 'Triplemania III-A' in Orizaba:

Not the most fondly remembered Triplemania by any stretch of the imagination. Of the three in '95 this is definitely the weakest on paper. Drew a big crowd because AAA was hot but the main event was just a hotshot special attraction match with barely used charachters (at least on TV) & lots of star power was missing from the show.

Never seen matches included a women's trios (keep it hidden forever!) & Dragon De Oro/Mexicano/Toreo vs Signo/Negro Navarro/El Misionero (Black Power?). Those rudos were around because we were in the midst of the AAA/UWA Double Power agreement. The UWA barely existed so this was just playing nice to have Canek headline some shows. A nice reminder that AAA was always about total randomness on Triplemania shows & this isn't just a new age thing.

Los Villanos vs Los Payasos: These teams feuded on TV around this time so this was a logical match for a big show even with no stip or titles on the line. Lots of mask ripping & cheating with both being rudo teams. Got a little sloppy at various points & the finish was ludicrious as all hell with one of the Payasos losing his mask only to have the previously unmasked Villano put his mask on the Payaso who then got DQ'ed because the ref thought he was a Villano (the clown outfit didn't give anything away?). Just a way for the feud to continue. These teams had better matches.

Latin Lover/Lizmark/Tinieblas Jr. vs Killer/Scorpio Jr./Shu El Guerrero: More Double Power nonsense here with the entire rudo team being UWA representatives. Really needed Tinieblas Sr. here with Alushe to make this watchable because the Jr. never brought anything except being taller than the average luchador. Killer/Andy Barrow did their trademark miscommunication bumps which is always fun to watch. The rudos went over in a very dull match otherwise. This is where you could have had a killer midcard Rey Jr. & friends match.

Angel Mortal & Super Calo vs Winners & Marabunta: These guys had signed for an ultimate loser match at the Triplemania events. Basically one guy would be left standing at the end still masked. So the losers of this match would immediatly have a mask match & the winners would have theirs on the next Triplemania. Then the two winners would face each other at the final Triplemania. Very cool concept & the match had been building for a while but for whatever the reason the heat just wasn't there as you'd expect. I don't know what it was... could just be a random crowd that night hadn't seen a good show thus far and was waiting for the real stars thing or could even be the TV didn't catch the real energy of the people there live. But the tag portion was really disappointing and lacked any sort of who would move on drama.

Angel Mortal vs Super Calo (Mask vs Mask): This had the mask ripping & blood which perked the crowd up a bit but still it didn't have big mask match energy. For the biggest match of his career Calo wasn't really going crazy or doing any of the trademark stuff one would expect. It really came off like an uninterested performance. Okay nearfalls but again a lack of crowd reaction took away from everything. Calo got the win which got a pop since he was the tecnico and Angel Mortal reluctantly unmasked (actually Calo snatched it off him after much stalling). I walked away very let down.

Konnan/Perro Aguayo/Octagon/La Parka vs Cien Caras/Mascara Ano 2000/Universo 2000/Jerry Estrada: Special attraction one fall relevos atomicos match. Multiple storylines here with the main one being Perro Aguayo Jr. showing up for the first time to accompany his dad to the ring. Naturally Fuerza Guerrera just happened to be at ringside supporting the rudos (maybe he was supposed to be in this match but someone no-showed?) and the two got into it with Fuerza largely pushing around the kid and treating him like a nobody. The other storyline was Mascara Ano 2000 hiding a Pepsi bottle all match and waiting to hit Perro with it again but when he went to do it Perro moved & he hit his own brother (the bottle did not break). This led to the tecnico victory. Easily the match the crowd was most into on the night but hardly anything that would be deserving of semi-main event Triplemania status.

Mini's Cage Match: About as special attraction randomness as you can get. The first ever time mini's were in a cage for this type of match and since it was a cage it had to go on last. But it was weird seeing this as the main event of a Triplemania with guys like Mini Calo, Torerito & Ninjita involved who had combined MAYBE 4 or 5 AAA TV matches up until that point. The only reason big names involved were Mascarita Sagrada & Espectrito II (since Espectrito I had already lost his mask). Not to mention you had other mini gimmicks that had made TV missing in action which seemed to make no sense. But they made the best of it and had a decently entertaining cage match. Lost a little steam when Mascarita Sagrada escaped but Super Munequito had some support. The cage seemed to be on the verge of breaking at one point. It came down to Munequito and Coquito Rojo with the tecnico mangaing to escape first (Tirantito was in the ring calling things!). The little red clown unmasked confusingly as Piratita Morgan which surely had to annoy the commision and folks who recognized him as who he clearly was. But the Payasitos had been around a good 7-8 months leading up to this so it's not like they took on the gimmick just for one night. And he did do TV shots after this as unmasked Coquito Rojo so I was okay with it.

(Fenix TX - "Tearjerker")

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CMLL 6/10/05:

Our unaired matches included:

Sombra De Plata/Zeta vs Artillero/Super Comando
Maximo/Texano Jr. vs Hooligan/Loco Max

Reyes Del Aire: The first! Still holds up as one of the best! Just presented as one of CMLL's random torneos. Nobody knew it was happening until cards came out for the week and the participants just seemed to be guys who were gonna be booked for matches as it was had it been a normal 5 or 6 match show. Clearly wasn't chosen for the best flyers or you would have most certainly had to have Mistico involved or even a guy like Zeta in this over Leono for example. But you can't argue too much with the participants as they balanced it out with flyers & bases from the group of guys they were willing to include at this level on the Friday show. Breaking down each participant...

- Alan Stone: Coming off being pushed strong to end 2004 he just became another midcard guy seemingly heading nowhere. Looked good here, did some near stuff. Also had the one screw-up of the match with a double springboard moonsault gone wrong. Left for AAA by end of the year.

- Virus: Considered one of the best wrestlers in the company so had to include him in this heavy workrate match obviously. Was able to do a little flying & base. Had a great exchange with Volador Jr. but was never in serious contention to win.

- Leono: Definitely the lowest ranked guy in the match so you knew the company was high on him to let him get involved. Honestly didn't have a bad showing at all. Bases helped him out & he got some shine before exiting early. Ended up moving higher on cards after this.

- Ricky Marvin: World class. Was doing a heavy Japan schedule and only showing up in Mexico between tours. Was never gonna get anywhere in CMLL but it was steady work and he was still loyal. He was a cut above everyone else involved (even Virus) & got to work with many different guys. You can even see his touches on many other eliminations during the match and the genius Spanish Fly spot where Volador immediatly superkicked him to steal the pin. Finishing stretch with Volador was great.

- Tigre Metalico: Second lowest guy on the totem pole also made a good showing for himself. Worked a lot with Misterioso as they had good chemistry. Took a nasty fall on a flying tope to the floor early on. Crazy to think how his career went from this to a nasty un-cooperative rudo in 10 years time & now a poorly trained referee.

- Tigre Blanco: Similar to Metalico's position but he was the far better of the two. Had the best sequence of the match early on with Volador Jr. leading to a big Volador dive. Got an early elimination but then went out quickly so he was never a real factor but I remember everyone happy ot see him since he had largely been invisible on TV but everyone knew he was a great worker from his CMLL Japan stuff.

- Misterioso II: Really shined here as a base for others. Always fun to look back on how good he was and how he became the prototype of a guy who realized he was never going anywhere in CMLL and decided the best approach was just to literally make being lazy your gimmick to get through the weekly routine.

- Stuka Jr.: Another lowly ranked guy but more spectacular than the others mentioned. This was exactly the type of match for him to stick out and make a name for himself. He did okay but he had such limited time it just didn't happen. Things worked out great for him in the long run but it did take a couple of years to get going.

- La Mascara: Everyone knew he was in line for moving up on the cards so it wouldn't have been a shock to see him win this one (he did win the 2006 version) even if it would have left a sour taste in our mouths since he isn't really a flyer at all. Most of what he did here was him being carried by better bases.

- Volador Jr.: The deserving winner. Ricky had the natural talent but Volador Jr. was the star of the match (clearly what they had planned putting it together). He got tons of big spots, two big dives & the big counter at the end to setup his roll-up finish on Ricky. He also based great for Virus mid-match. A big deserving win for a guy moving up on cards.

- Atlantis/Blue Panther/Gronda XXX vs Olimpico/Rey Bucanero/Pierroth Jr.: You know how this goes. Gronda was in his 2nd week of working Friday nights for a short run so this was just him no-selling the rudos and beating them down. Poor Pierroth's body was so broken at this point and he still had to take bumps for the useless roided up dude. The other four carried the work portion of the match obviously & Monito was around to add in some humor. At one point Bucanero picked up Monito and flung him onto fans in the first row. Back in the days when the front row regulars were known to the wrestlers so they had full trust these guys wouldn't drop Monito or hurt him in any way unlike now where you don't dare try anything with that and drunk tourists.

- Heavy Metal/Negro Casas/Mascara Magica/Universo 2000 vs Damian 666/Halloween/Hector Garza/Perro Aguayo Jr.: A rare atomicos main event! This was to keep building to the cage match the following week. Yes, the super weird 9 person cage match. Why couldn't you find someone extra to make it an even 5 on 5? I apologize but only CMLL can explain that one to you. Decent match but missing something (Hint: Mistico) to have the crowd as fully invested as you'd expect one week before a major show. I wonder if Mistico was supposed to be in the Reyes Del Aire but then someone realized he couldn't work midcard and that match was certainly not going to main event so they scrapped him? It's a notable missing guy for one week leading into a major show he is co-headlining. Match was fine.

Overall a must-see match but not show. If you've ever seen the Reyes Del Aire you definitely gotta go out of your way to watch it. I have it up there with the 2008 version as the best Reyes Del Aire matches ever.

(Fall Out Boy - "I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy..." & "Fame > Infamy")

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AAA 6/10/07 in Merida:

Part of the usual double shot weekend with a show two days earlier in Cozumel. But these were not vacation shows at all as everyone was working hard and Triplemania was fast approaching!

Cynthia Moreno/Estrellita vs Ayako Hamada/Angel Williams: Angel is who we know these days as the awful Angelina Love. She was no better back here. Totally the wrong type of person to have come to do shots in AAA and yet... she was. I could rant but why bother. This same mistake would only be made for the next 10+ years. Pretty bad match with the only saving grace being a couple of Cynthia/Ayako sequences. At least nobody almost paralyzed themselves like the match two days earlier...

Laredo Kid & Sexy Star vs Gran Apache & Fabi Apache: Pre-match had a skit with Sexy Star/Fabi Apache brawling in a pool for the generic wet t-shirt imagery. This was peak Fabi being super hot so I approved. Sexy Star's body has changed! A lot! Total credit to her for even working this show though... it was two days earlier when she did a plancha and thanks to Estrellita/Angel Williams being brain dead usless sacks of shit Sexy came down face first & bent her back at a disgustingly sick angle. To this day I watch it and still can't believe she didn't break her back on the spot. Not only did she still work here but the match was really good and she did a lot! Gran Apache had a spot at this time where he groped all his female opponents and it got a tecnico pop! LOL Ah 2020, you have no humor. But with some of the stories you hear about Apache maybe that's not a joke to make. Either way... he based well for the tecnicos as did Fabi who was not only at her peak hotness but also her peak in-ring in my mind. Super Fly ended up doing a run-in to help the tecnicos win with the Triplemania mask match looming involving this crew.

Crazy Boy/Joe Lider/Extreme Tiger/Juventud Guerrera vs Psicosis/Cuervo/Escoria/Espiritu: Weird atomicos match with Juventud working hurt (literally he was taped together like a mummy) & Psicosis in for Ozz who normally rounded out the Secta team. Lots of chairs involved. Extreme Tiger did his 450 to the floor and completely undershot it which seemed to hurt him. Espiritu must have been happy because usually it's the one taking it who gets hurt. Mexican Powers did their usual creative offense, some of it more absurd than usual. Finish saw the long delay as they setup chairs with lighttubes just so Crazy Boy & Joe Lider could fall through them. None of this match format is any surprise to anyone who was watching AAA at the time. Either you were okay with this or this was the most annoying this on shows because it was such an opposite from what the general AAA fans came to see.

Latin Lover/El Zorro/El Alebrije/Oriental vs Alan Stone/Scorpio Jr./Super Calo/Zumbido: Now THIS is what the general AAA fans, especially here in the tourist town, came to see. They even did the pre-match bit where Latin Lover strips for female fans in the ring and the rudos attack him mid-grinding. Super fun match with the tecnicos making fools out of the rudos who were all in rare form bumping all over the place. Oriental being involved meant some Oriental/Zumbido exchanges which were still fire stuff to watch back in 2007. Poor Zorro crashed HARD on a running somersault dive with the usual culprit Alan Stone nowhere to be found on the catch. Oriental did a wicked tornillo over the ringpost. Latin Lover went over Scorpio Jr. to make everyone (except Guapito) happy. Best match on the show.

Cibernetico/La Parka/Chessman vs Mesias/Ozz/Kenzo Suzuki: Triplemania build with these guys positioned for the Domo de la Muerte match. Konnan & all of La Secta got involved as you'd expect. Aside from a short burst of energy from Chessman it was all rudos. They went over and then beat down all the tecnicos. Show ended with the group of rudos raising their hands and Konnan standing dead center. Some things never change in AAA!

Overall a reasonably good show for the tourist town. Segunda & semi-main are both very good watches.

(My Chemical Romance - "Heaven Help Us")

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CMLL 6/10/08:

Missing match is actually the SEGUNDA! Lady Apache/Marcela/Sahori vs Mima Shimoda/La Medusa/Hiroka. Yes, they skipped a women's match in order of what usually airs to instead show a mini's opener! And you wonder why we used to love Cadena Tres???

Ultimo Dragoncito/Pequeno Ninja/Mini Maximo vs Pierrothito/Pequeno Violencia/Pequeno Warrior: A very run-of-the-mill match for this crew. I'm sure it was a million times better than what the women were offering up so no complaints it aired but just pointing out I don't think this was a case of the producers deciding this was a must-see match for TV viewers. Mini Maximo is always hilarious to watch. Dragoncito carried things on his side and even did his flip tope but to the safe side so he landed on the first row seats after everyone had moved. Rudos went over.

Fabian El Gitano/Leono/Mictlan vs Nitro/Bronco/Virus: GAH! What an ugly looking tecnico side. Naturally it led to an ugly match! Nitro was no mood for this nonsense and Virus always has a tough spot in matches like this because the way he works does not gel with the way those sloppy tecnicos do. Leono did a twisting dive that Nitro just casually watched him pass over on. That was nice. Proving there is no justice in this world the tecnicos went over. Waste of a midcard Tuesday match.

Felino/Heavy Metal/Hijo Del Fantasma vs Satanico/Black Warrior/Sangre Azteca: Another nothing happening match. Fantasma and Azteca did some fun stuff but the others were here just to pass through another dreary Tuesday night. Fantasma did bust out his crazy springboard swinging DDT on the apron with Azteca on the receiving end. Tecnicos went over.

La Sombra/Volador Jr./La Mascara vs Averno/Mephisto/Efesto: Mistico came out before the match (in an ugggggggggggly shirt) to show off the hand injury he had suffered which caused him to be replaced in this match (I think by La Mascara). Too bad because otherwise this could have been even better than it was. The usual very good match with the tecnicos looking great and the rudos doing their job like professionals. I will always have time for matches like this. Crowd was really into it.

Overall not a super thrilling Tuesday show. Very much something just for the CMLL hardcores to sit through.

(Fall Out Boy - "Grenade Jumper")

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CMLL 6/10/11:

Non-TV match was Astral/Electrico vs Demus/Pierrothito. A shame since at this time those two teams would have been having cool kick-ass matches.

Stuka Jr. vs Virus: Lightning match with two guys who are pros and know what to do. Good stuff as you'd expect. Virus submitted Stuka for the win. Worth checking out.

The next two matches were part of the on-going round robin Forjando un Idolo tournament where the coaches were now teaming with their participants who made the final 8 (Angel de Oro had already won the actual tournament over Polvora).

Blue Panther/Fuego/Polvora vs Atlantis/Delta/Guerrero Maya Jr.: Super match! Everyone shined. Got to see Maya work the mat with Panther, Fuego/Maya have cool exchanges, Polvora carry Delta, etc. Even Atlantis seemed to be a little extra motivated working with the youngsters and having Panther there to try and one-up. Really LOVED the finish with Atlantis getting Panther in the Atlantida but Maya had just taken Delta out with a dive by accident so both Fuego/Polvora could slide in easily to break up the submission and immediatly roll-up/pin Atlantis for the surprise win. Really smart booking which makes me think this was a Blue Panther tournament/finish.

Negro Casas/Diamante/Hijo Del Signo vs Ultimo Guerrero/Angel De Oro/Rey Escorpion: These teams seem unfair! LOL Even back here Signo stood out as a guy who just wasn't good at all and in way over his head. His partners were basically holding his hand through the double and triple team spots. Guerrero's team looked like killers. I know, you're stunned UG ended up with the best team including the guy who won the tournament itself. This wasn't as good as the previous match but held up because of the hard work from all involved as clearly it was an ego thing to present yourself the best way possible.

Maximo/Toscano/Valiente vs Mr. Niebla/Felino/Efesto: Just a totally random nothing going on match to fill out the show. Poor Valiente does his Valiente Especial picture perfectly in the first fall and then of all things he takes a nasty header on a tope suicida in the next fall. This was partially on Niebla though as he was clearly not paying attention and Valiente had to change his trajectory which through off his timing causing him to crash hard near the ringpost. Niebla was having one of his nights, what can you say? So with Valiente out of action the third fall was a steamroll for the rudos. Crowd was at least entertained by Niebla's antics.

La Mascara/La Sombra/Rush vs Averno/Mephisto/Shinsuke Nakamura: One week before their mask match so all the focus was on Mascara/Averno. Averno did the usual CMLL deal where someone who looks like him makes an entrance but it was Efesto just so Averno could jump La Mascara from behind. I can't even count how many times CMLL has resorted to this. Nakamura was having the time of his life here doing triple team moves & practicing his moonwalking. Really if you are a Nakamura fan and have not watched his CMLL work you are missing a gigantic piece of his career since this is where he put it all together. It was fun watching Sombra/Rush working with Nakamura a couple years before the matches they had that people remember more famously. This was also the 3M era so advertisements everywhere including on the wrestlers! No shirts off pops! Finish had a double dive from the future Ingobernables and as I type that I realize La Mascara was an Ingobernable too and laugh that I forgot. He put Averno in La Campana but Efesto ran in for the DQ. The point being nobody would be there to save Averno in one week. Except Tony Rivera who tried his hardest!

Overall a very fun Friday night with the Forjando trios matches carrying the work & a hot main event with special guest star around to add to the selling point of going back to watch this.

(The Maine - "Right Girl")

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