AAA 6/21/98 in Mexico City:
This was held in the Deportivo Azcopatzalco, a famous mid 90's AAA TV location. Our unaired matches included:
Bat Blue & Century 2000 vs Hercules & Sanson: Bat Blue/Century 2000 were regular AAA 'C' show regulars likely getting a nice bonus to open up this show. No clue on their rudo opponents. Not the CMLL Sanson obviously.
Frisbee II/Full Contact/Virtual vs Espantapajaros/Quinto Dan/R-15: Yeah... the AAA undercard wasn't exactly full of bright spots in this time period. Some wacky as shit gimmicks though! Quinto Dan may actually be Quinto Elemento in which case Chessman is here but otherwise it's guys who just faded away although at one point R-15 was considered one of their top future rudos.
Latin Lover/Heavy Metal/Mascara Sagrada vs Abismo Negro/Kick Boxer/Killer
The two matches that did air were both good...
La Parkita vs Mini Abismo Negro (Mexican National Mini's Title): Man it's such a shame Mini Absimo Negro got phased out of AAA. That dude was legit one of the best mini rudos of all-time. Such an awesome worker. This was weeks after his MOTYC with Octagoncito. Didn't reach that level obviously but he showed his skill working with a far less talented mini who clearly had zero experience in singles matches. They had some nonsense going on with the seconds but match was generally clean with Abismo going over strong. Watching him suplex the shit out of the smaller tecnicos was always fun.
Blue Demon Jr./La Parka Jr./Mascara Sagrada Jr./Perro Aguayo Jr. vs Psicosis/Histeria/Mosco De La Merced/Maniaco: Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan I have such awesome memories of this first fall. Mostly for the chain of spots in a row at the end obviously. Sick fucking bump where Perro Jr. BACKDROPPED Mosco II from the APRON to the FLOOR! Flat back bump! He bounced! So gnarly. Then he took a double stomp off the apron! HOLY CHRIST! Maniaco then took Perrito out with a somersault off the apron. He got up right for the perfect ending to the sequence a Blue Demon Jr. tope near the ringpost to Maniaco's back........ except........ Demon's feet clipped the ropes and he came straight down on his head. NASTY AS HELL! He was clearly KO'ed & Maniaco wasn't at fault since he wasn't even supposed to catch. He was just a target that never got hit. Match obviously went off the rails afterwards as Demon got stretchered out. Rudos won an improvised brawl with the numbers edge. These are the memories I will never get out of my head until the day I die... haha.
Only 2 matches but TV episode was combined with the 6/30 Pachuca show which was really good so if you can find the TV show definitely pick it up!
(Every Avenue - "Chasing The Night")
Music Video
AAA 6/21/00 in Tlalnepantla:
A very show 3 match (on TV) show with the women's trios edited out & no result known of the opener.
Psicosis/Histeria/Mosco De La Merced/Maniaco vs Los Porros (Angel o Demonio/Leon Rojo/Obett/Enrique El Salvaje): This was indeed the TV debut for the Porros. One of the cool things of course about the way AAA used to be was you would get the locals from the arenas they ran and with AAA running TV's on a smaller scale in 2000 they were in Arena Lopez Mateos here where the Porros were the top guys. Much thinner Porros too! Wouldn't even recognize them today. Not even sure what happened to Enrique El Salvaje to be honest. I remember Fredo Espardo was a big fan of them all though! Ask him! Vipers got the jump with a poorly filmed Psicosis dive over the ringpost onto all the Porros as they made their entrance. Porros got in a quadruple dive which was pretty cool. Match was otherwise built around brawling with weapons including baseball bats, chairs & a table eventually used for the run-in spot where Abismo Negro helped his Vipers win. Entertaining, if nothing else.
Mascara Sagrada/Mascara Sagrada Jr./Oscar Sevilla/Torero vs Charly Manson/May Flowers/Nygma/Espiritu: Where was Picudo? I can't even remember. He must have had a seperate match (the unlisted one?) because he got involved doing a run-in with fire to help his Vatos Locos win. This was a pretty weak match to be semi-main so we must be missing the actual semi-main and Picudo is at that level. Torero was barely a TV charachter by this point. Neither was Sagrada Jr. to be honest. There was a real cool spot though where Sagrada Jr. was vaulted into the air and landed on Mascara Sagrada's thighs as he sat on the top rope... then he got boosted into a moonsault bodyblock! Someone should steal that but make it look prettier. This was fun for what was shown but as usual with AAA TV in 2000... edited to all hell and we were still in the 2/3 falls era so it was basically finishes only.
Canek/Latin Lover/La Parka vs Cibernetico/Abismo Negro/Electro Shock: Now this is a standard AAA 2000 main event! If you've seen one, you've seen it all. Multiple run-ins playing off the rest of the night with Psicosis & Picudo getting involved. Parka did his comedy and the rest was edited to death.
A quick and painless AAA 2000 show but not exactly one you would be going out of your watch to watch as someone digging through history. Seeing the Porros was pretty cool for us regular viewers back at the time though.
(The Fight - "Forgotten Generation)
Music Video
CMLL 6/21/02
Unaired matches here included...
Sombra De Plata & Zeta vs La Flecha & Super Comando: Couple of clips made Momentos including an awesome surfboard/flying dropkick combo by the rudos & double dives from the tecnicos. Zeta remains one of the long lost lucha mysteries. Where did he go? Where did he even come from? Just a disillusioned CMLL youngster who saw the writing on the wall? But to leave lucha forever? That's rare. He seemed good. Even went to Japan with Mistico as one of the trains for Michinoku Pro. You'd think that alone would have kept him around.
Starman/Tigre Blanco/Tony Rivera vs Dr. X/Sangre Azteca/Valentin Mayo
What TV aired...
Gran Markus Jr./Mr. Mexico/Poder Boricua vs Bulldog/El Veneno/Violencia: A truly historic moment as Poder Boricua worked his last match under that name as the following week he would switch masks & change names to Poder Mexica. Actually, they burned the old mask but that's a story for a different day. This was just another in a long of god awful Boricuas matches. I mean... I did just say Poder Boricua used to be part of their group & feuding with Gran Markus Jr.... well... that sums everything up. Hard to even differentiate this stuff all the way 18 years later to be honest.
Negro Casas/Felino/Lizmark Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/Tarzan Boy: The usual good match you would get from the Guerreros at this time. Sadly none of the tecnicos were interested in doing much so there's not much to point towards as a true highlight.
Atlantis/Black Warrior/Mr. Niebla vs Damian 666/Halloween/Juventud Guerrera: So the way the Familia de Tijuana worked... and smartly... was tours. They would show up for a few weeks, then disappear. Stay fresh, stay a draw. Nicho would follow in future weeks. Never Rey Misterio Sr. though. Lady Victoria was around though! Juvy was here with his wild dreadlocks that were half blonde. This match was to establish the FdT guys right away getting a win over the trios champs but the goal was to setup a bigger angle the following week. They looked good here. Match kinda went off the rails a bit when Juventud was trying the Hardyz spot into the corner but caught Atlantis legit with his leg knocking the tecnico a bit loopy. It was super entertaining to watch the FdT guys bumping all over for Niebla & Warrior. They were total pros & over with the Arena Mexico crowd.
Main is worth watching. Not much else here.
(Sum 41 - "Time For You To Go")
Music Video
CMLL 6/21/11:
Unaired match was Camaleon & Horuz vs Bronco & Ramstein... a very appropriate opening match.
Angel Azteca Jr./Pegasso/Rey Cometa vs Hooligan/Nitro/Skandalo: Tuereg B-Team! What a Tuesday lineup! Very standard match with the tecnicos each getting their one big exchange each & both Pegasso/Cometa getting to do big dives. All leading up to them of course losing & Skandalo getting the win with a package piledriver on Pegasso. The fun thing about these matches used to be watching the tecnico stretches & that they had a chance to win. Two key things missing from CMLL segundas these days with much less talented rudos who constantly win because it's booked by old segunda rudos.
Blue Panther/Fuego/Sangre Azteca vs Dr. X/Efesto/Felino: Fuego & Dr. X belong more in that previous segunda but a combo of them feuding & a singles title match meant they got mixed in with the bigger names. They were the focus here and of course it went straight falls with Dr. X yanking Fuego's mask for the DQ. I think it's not too long after this the feud comes to a screeching halt. Match is also worth watching to see Sangre Azteca try to be a tecnico. What a total fucking disaster. When Efesto has more spectacular offense than you...
Hijo Del Fantasma vs Rey Bucanero (NWA Light Heavyweight Title): Finals of a 3 week tournment with each guy winning a torneo. This is the type of match Bucanero can still have to this very day. He can come through with that one big match against a tecnico who can do the majority of the hard work and all Bucanero has to do is chime in once in a while with a big bump or two along with catching dives. He was great here. Always in the right spot and made Fantasma look super. This match also has the historic moment of the FIRST TIME (that I remember at least) where Fantasma busts out the tope to each side of the ring which was a cool spot until it started to be copied in every match. I think something like that would get over HUGE in the U.S. if done properly at the right moment. These were real topes by the way, not Seth Rollins pinky in the air topes. I guess the only difference between this and a 2020 Bucanero match is Bucanero actually won here! I know! WTF? Well, Fantasma sadly was not a priority at this point as the dropped feud with Mephisto earlier in the year suggested. He had already got his big win for a title back in 2009 vs Averno so the ofifce was done with him. Bucanero hit the Buca Storm and took the title. Very good match.
Angel De Oro/La Sombra/Strong Man vs Mr. Niebla/Rey Escorpion/Shinsuke Nakamura: TUESDAY NIGHT NAKAMURA! 100% more effort than current Friday Night Nakamura! He worked with all 3 tecnicos and was having a blast. Sombra did not hold back on his tope suicida! Escorpion looked great carrying Angel De Oro & basing for Sombra. Strong Man did his thing. He wasn't great technically but he was a one of a kind act which was entertaining to watch when he wasn't busy ruining actually good looking matches. Tecnicos went over clean in a fun one.
A show worth checking out in someone's mystery archive one day. Title match especially but you know the main event is worth a watch to see Nakamura when he gave a shit.
(Sparks The Rescue - "High & Hazy")
Music Video
CMLL 6/21/13:
Sensei & Soberano Jr. vs Apocalipsis & Akuma: The perfect mix of past & present at the time! Soberano Jr. & Akuma were two very exciting youngsters we didn't get to see much of & were clearly very motivated and happy to be working a Friday opener. The other two... not so much. They had their routines down and knew their spots in the pecking order so this was just another day. Soberano showed off some real cool stuff. He was sooooooooooooooo skinny. I'm not one for judging anyone for being skinny but he was definitely someone who needed a little more weight if he was ever gonna get a shot in the company. Tecnicos went over in a fun little match.
Dark Angel/Marcela/Dalys vs La Amapola/La Seductora/Princesa Blanca: To be honest not a bad little match. They had standards still here with the women's division. Blanca was working really hard with her (in-law) Dalys. They had one especially funny exchange where Blanca was clearly leading Dalys through the motions as Dalys froze at least twice but Blanca just moved her into the next right position and was doing roll-ups FOR HER. LOL Dark Angel/Amapola did some cool stuff & Sarah went over with a Reinera at the end.
Diamante/Rey Cometa/Triton vs Psicosis/Olimpico/Niebla Roja: Wacky teams to look back on. Not sure what Roja was doing with these Invasores! Perhaps a CMLL spy??? I'm kidding. Nobody cared about the invaders at this point. Tecnicos were Diamante running out the clock on his time in this promotion & two criminally underrated guys. This was another fun match with everyone working hard. I loved the spot where Psicosis went for his slide through the ropes spot but Diamante just grabbed him and held him for Triton's springboard legdrop as Psicosis hung there. A smart way of setting up an absurd spot! Triton did a lot of pulling up his pants in between hitting some nice springboard spots. Rey Cometa busted out a rare Brillo Cometa although it was far from his best one ever and Niebla Roja saved him by leaping forward to catch. Niebla Roja actually busted out his great move only done once or twice that someone should totally steal where he does the old Generico arms-through-the-legs spot into a suplex but instead of the suplex he just dropped Cometa back down into a knee like a crazy GTS variation. Killer looking move. Rudos got the win. 3 for 3 match quality wise so far!
The next two matches were Fuego vs Vangelis & Stuka Jr. vs Valiente in En Busca De Un Idolo round robin matches. Highlights are in the music video but......... the matches were airing on the Fox Sports TV broadcast of the reality show which wasn't recorded or uploaded to the website so we were SOL except for CMLL.com quick HD highlights. Maybe this is the kind of thing they could dig up from their archives during this coronavirus shutdown? All these guys are allowable in videos.
Rush/Super Porky/Blue Panther vs Averno/Negro Casas/Rey Escorpion: Oh my god such an amazing time period here with Rush just starting to figure it all out & Negro Casas being his perfect foil. Tons of heat for their striking exchanges where Rush would brutalize Negro & Negro would give it right back. Escorpion was also a wildcard here because he was an awesome rudo too and had just as good exchanges with Rush but he wasn't the focus. There was actually a funny moment where Escorpion tried to pick a fight with Ultimo Guerrero who was guest announcer for the TV show and Guerrero just completely blew him off which was a very Guerrero thing to do. The other thing going on here was the Panther/Averno feud kicking off which eventually led to the hair match at the Anniversary Show. One of my constant fears actually almost happened here... Panther hiptossed Averno to the floor and went for a tope. As he was gearing up, Averno slipped on the floor! Luckily he recovered super quickly & still made a perfect catch. But I constantly have fear of guys slipping before catching dives. Always flash back to the famous Safari/Mephisto moment with the camera cord from 2002. Finish was Panther submitting Averno with his awesome spinning armdrag into the leg submission around the neck. Love that spot! Lots of post-match mic challenges with the best being Rush burying Negro who just taunted him and it made Rush so angry. AWESOME CMLL TIME PERIOD HERE!
La Sombra/Maximo/Shocker vs Volador Jr./Mr. Aguila/Terrible: THE AWESOMENESS ROLLS ON! Forget the other four guys. They were just bit players. This was all about LA SOMBRA VS VOLADOR JR.! But... Sombra peaking in 2013 having just won the NJPW IC Title & Volador Jr. aka the best wrestler in the world at this point. The first thing you'll notice (besides Volador attacking Sombra during his entrance) is Volador Jr.'s awesome tongue out Venom style mask! AMAZING! He destroyed Sombra including ripping up his tights. He even managed to dislodge the door on the barricade at ringside so he could lay it down and power bomb Sombra onto it! That's a suspension in 2020 unless you are LA Park! Everything Volador did was just picture perfect crisp. It was incredible. Dude was a fucking machine. Sombra made a hot comeback in the second fall including doing the rarely seen old TAKA Michinoku reverse positions springboard moonsault plancha! But the best was obviously saved for the finish where these two went through one of the most amazing finishing sequences you will ever see! Duck down... shoulderblock... springboard off second rope onto shoulders caught into Croyt's Wrath... countered with full flip onto feet... roll-up by Sombra... roll through by Volador... double knees sends Sombra into buckles... VOLADOR SPIRAL! 1, 2, 3! FUCKING AMAZING! Volador Jr. then climbs the ropes & taunts the crowd by wanking off. LOL Just beautiful. This of course set up their IC Title match the following week.
An awesome show. CMLL was red hot around this time. Not a bad match to be had on this show and imagine if we even had the En Busca matches available in full! Everything was building in June leading to the crazy June 28 show. An awesome time period for Arena Mexico.
(Trust Company - "The War Is Over")
Music Video
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