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luchablog · 7 years

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Elisa Tudon interviews Cuatrero y Sanson (January 2017)

Elisa Tudon interviews Cuatrero y Sanson January 2017

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Elisa: You may have noticed these guys. They have been causing a raucous among the female audience. They are the sons of the great Cien Caras. Sanson and Cuatrero. How are you guys?

Cuatrero: We are doing fine. Thank you for inviting us. We are happy visit you here on your show.

Elisa: Tell me, it has to have not been so easy to dedicate yourself to a career where your father is world renown as an important figurehead in the same.

Cuatrero: Well..no. It’s not easy. The name of Carmelo Reyes bares a lot of weight. The Dinamita dynasty holds a lot of weight.

Elisa: How was it for you to come to Mexico City, where the fans thought you were rookies but, in reality you have been training for years in Lagos.

Sanson: It is exactly how you were explaining. People thought we were rookies and turned up overnight. But no. We have a proper preparation and we are not in Arena Mexico only because we are sons of Carmelo Reyes. We have about 5 years as professional wrestlers. I think the fans have realized the quality of wrestlers that we are. They have taken to us. They are satisfied and are following us, so I think we are doing a good job.

Elisa: Social media can be a double edged sword. At times it’s great that fans can support you. But other times, there are wrestling fans that are super passionate and are very demanding of the wrestlers. You two have had something happen to you right? an experience with the social media..

Cuatrero: Yes. Social media can be a double edged sword. It’s where everyone can voice their opinion and express themselves. You can say that there are more talkers than needed in the world. There have been fans that have put it out there that we are only getting so far in our careers because we are sons of Carmelo Reyes.

The fans know the work we have put in at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. We had over a year there. From there we jumped over to Arena Mexico to accomplish new goals. We are getting there little by little.

Elisa: It’s tough. You have to leave your home life behind and dedicate yourself to your career. The transition to the life in Mexico City can be difficult. How did it go for you?

Sanson: It’s not easy. I think you have to chase your dream like my bro over here says, “the capital dream”. You leave that home life behind. Your mom and dad are around. You come home from school and there is a meal made. You have clean clothes. All those comforts are left behind.

You come here and you start from the bottom. No car. You have to get around on the metro. We live alone now, so we cook and wash our clothes. You do it all. It’s part of those changes. We adapt to the different Arena. You don’t know anyone. We worked our way from the bottom. Sometimes when you are a son of someone they will treat you with a heavier hand. To see if you really have what it takes.

We found our way to handle it and have adapted to life here in DF.

Elisa: Since you were very little, it must not have been a surprise of who your dad was in this world. What did you think about that when you were younger?

Cuatrero: It was no secret that he was a wrestler. We knew about that. We didn’t talk about it with him. He would want to keep that life separate. When people would ask him if we were going to be wrestlers, he would quickly reply no. That we wouldn’t be. But we both had the idea that we were going to become wrestlers.

Elisa: At what age did you decide that you were going to become wrestlers?

Sanson: Like my brother was saying. Since we were little, we knew we wanted to become wrestlers. But it’s like, you never think about how big it’s going to get for you…the magnitude. For example my experiance. I was in middle school.

That’s when I saw my cousin Mascara Ano 2000 Jr. come to Mexico DF and do well in his career. I would see him in magazines. That’s when I thought that I wanted to be in the ring. After that, I went to a show in Lagos, Moreno where he was wrestling. I saw him in his mask, his outfit, in the ring. I felt the magic and that moment made me want to be in the ring one day.

Elisa: Going back to your father not wanting you to become wrestlers. The person that helped you was Andres (Universo 2000).

Cuatrero: Uh-huh. He was the one that helped us become who we are. I will mention it in every interview. Sanson, Forastero, and I all owe it to him. He was our mentor and teacher.

Elisa: How did you approach him about it? Were you asking like a little kid for candy?

Sanson: Well, he had set up his own gym. With a ring and everything. I asked my dad about it. Dad said, “OK, but only as a hobby”. That’s when we went ahead and had our first class with him. We are super grateful of him. He was the one that taught us from our first roll to what we know now.

Elisa: So Universo 2000 was training you guys. Your mother actually was very supportive of you. She saw that you would make great wrestlers.

Sanson: That’s right. My dad didn’t want us to become wrestlers. He said he would support us but he didn’t want us to be wrestlers. Even though he was guiding us. He still implied the importance of our education and wanted us to finish that. It wasn’t until a year and a half ago when he gave us permission to come here (Mexico DF) and we are here giving it all.

That’s how it was. Mom always supported us. Of course she was afraid. But now she is really into it. You’ll find her at the arenas watching the matches. She is really into it. She scopes out social media to see what people are saying about us. She is on top of it. She tells us who we are wrestling.

Elisa: I think your dad is like most when they know the sacrifices that you have to make. He lived through another era. Do you think that’s why he didn’t want you to have that life?

Cuatrero: I think that it was more of him leaving the family and going away from home. He would always tell us how much he would suffer by being away from us.

Sanson: I think it was the separation from his family and coming to live his life over here in the city, when he came from a ranch. That had to be a tough change. So many things probably happened. Like dealing with the airport for instance. So many things nobody at the ranch would even know about.

The loneliness, the travel, the injuries. So I get why he would tell us to study. He really was strict about us studying and getting our education. To have our life not be like his. Live life in another profession or at the ranch.

Elisa: How was it for you to live with him being gone all the time?

Cuatrero: Well..you get used to it. You live it. You get used to it. When dad got home, you would get excited to see him. Hug and kiss him. He had a intimidating look to him. When you are a kid and see him around the house, you kind of are intimidated.

Elisa: Apart from your dad being a big star, he will always give you an interview if you ask for it. He is very humble. As are your uncles.

Cuatrero: I think he was the example for them. We owe ourselves to the public and the media are the ones that provide that bridge to them. To let them know who you are.

Sanson: Like my brother was saying. You owe yourself to the public and the media play their part in it. You have to remain respectful and humble. My father instilled that quality in us. He is like my idol.

Elisa: Tell us about you finishing your school before coming here. What would you do outside from school? Hobbies? Girls?

Sanson: You don’t need to ask.

Cuatrero: Well, it was routine life. School, training, home. If there was time, we would go out to the mall or market. You have to keep a balance. You must be disciplined. You can’t be working hard all the time. You have to keep that balance.

Elisa: Cuatrero, you started out with a different name. It was Mascara Universal. It was a half Universo 2000 and Mascara Ano 2000 character.

Cuatrero: Yes, that’s it. It lasted very short. Only about 5-6 months. The name did not convince my father. He would tell me that it was too long and had a complicated look to the mask. So he thought up a name.

One day, after training. He told me that he had the name. So I’m using.

Elisa: You Sanson, have always had that name. The name your father had used when he started out.

Sanson: That is correct. I had always used this name. Because I am very similar to my father. The way I stand and walk. Without the mask, I look just like him. To hold my father’s name is a great honor. Now that I couldn’t be named Cien Caras Jr. for whatever reason. I was thrilled to have the name.

I took it upon myself to give the name shine and make it my own.

Elisa: Now that everyone knows Los Dinamitas. The style of your wrestling is very similar.

Sanson: That’s right. we are the new generation of Dinamitas. It’s the style of the Dinamitas. It’s a very barbaric and harsh style. (tricksters!)that too. We all gang up on you. That aggressive style that we inherit. How we are trained, we took to that style. We have that essence in our style. We aren’t copies. We are more dynamic and athletic.

The way wrestling has evolved, you have to adjust to the present. That means adding high-flying and top rope maneuvers, because that’s what the fans want. From that evolution we have put together that new Dinamita style. A little more aerial and different techniques.

Elisa: You guys were wrestling at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara for a time. You were already in the main events. What is it going from there to starting from the bottom in Arena Mexico?

Cuatrero: It was a challenge. Ultimo Guerrero welcomed us. Along with Columbo. It was a challenge. Even the air is different. (the smog! everyone lol) But it was something different and exciting because you were earning what you received from your training. You get your opportunity to wrestle and give your not 100% but double. You have to leave it all in the ring to leave great first impression.

Elisa: Something you mentioned off air was that some of the trainers you train with rotate and you trained with Shocker. How are his classes?

Sanson: You really enjoy those tough challenging training sessions. They are military style sessions. Because he was a Marine for some time. His sessions are very tough and Ultimo Guerrero’s sessions are really tough too. But Shocker makes you do a lot of exercises and in the sun. Shocker is really good at teaching. As is Ultimo Guerrero and Professor Virus. They are all great.

Elisa: That type of training is very good for you because sometimes you travel and end up working outdoors. It prepares you for all conditions.

Cuatrero: Yes. They are different conditions that you always have to prepare for through training. You end up wrestling all kinds of wrestlers and in different styles.

Elisa: How did the wrestlers welcome you at Arena Mexico?

Sanson: Well, it wasn’t jealousy. It was professional ego. We all want to triumph in Arena Mexico. We all want to suceed. Many people thought that we would arrive and be directly inserted into main events. Because as you were saying, we were main eventing in Guadalajara.

When we got there we started at the bottom. So you get there and have to start from zero. You have to earn your spot. Through your performance and trainings. It’s always going to be part of the way things are there. It’s a tough transition.

Elisa: So you debuted on a Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. How did things go for you on that day?

Sanson: That’s right. It was magical. The first time I walked down that aisle masked. I had already been there as a fan before. This was emotional, nervous. I knew this would be the start of something big. My father had already sensed that we were on to something. When he allowed us to be publicly recognized as his sons, it was like the green light. We were on our way to becoming full-on professional wrestlers.

Elisa: How did the fans take to you at the arena?

Cuatrero: When we show up. I don’t think anyone knew who we came from. Our family had come to watch us. When we walked out on that 29th of December, the people recognized that we were ready to be there. At first the fans didn’t think that we were his sons.

They noticed differences in us and him. (Elisa: Your bodies!) Yeah. They were comparing me with our uncles and the fans just kept on critiquing and that was the more negative critiquing at first.

Elisa: You guys are much more athletic and you have very nicely worked bodies.

Cuatrero: That is part of our job. We were preparing for a bodybuilding contest and we cut carbohydrates completely out. We were training hard in preparation for that and that makes us have a better look. It’s an important part and you have to work at it daily.

Sanson: The big muscles take a lot of work to develop. The small muscles are easy to develop. The competition was held at Arena Mexico.

Elisa: How did you do?

Sanson: First place in the novice category.

Elisa: What weight?

Sanson: The beginners. My cousin, Forsastero took first in the second place. Cuatrero took second in the advanced category where Valiente and Blue Panther Jr. were competing. He has a more worked physique and more weight.

Elisa: It’s not the same to train to wrestle and train for bodybuilding. With the diet and your energy levels.

Sanson: We could have never accomplished it without the guidance from our coach. A true professional. Alex from (????) It was very complicated. Once you begin to deplete your body from carbs,fat and water. Any bruise or bump can have a deeper impression on your body.

For instance I took a hit to my shoulder and the pain stayed there for weeks. It became a sprain. It was tough to get through it with your body changing. To control your food intake on the road. It’s complicated. We aren’t full-time professional bodybuilders. You think about eating and training. Controling your carb intake. After a match, after training. It’s complicated.

Elisa: Speaking of training. You Cuatrero were undecided when studying to be either a Nutritionist or a Photographer.

Cuatrero: The nutritionist thing had my attention because it was something I could utilize as an athlete. To know how to configure your diet and not need the help of a professional and the photography is in a way, related to the wrestling.

Elisa: Apart from there being so many great wrestling photographers out there. Sanson tell us about your mask design.

Sanson: I designed my gear with a designer. I was giving him ideas. Like to use the same eye hole as my father because I like the way it looks. I was giving him ideas of how I wanted it to look. I have a lion right here on my forehead because of the mythology behind “Sanson”.

Elisa: And Delila?

Sanson: That’s not on here. I don’t know where it is. Around there. And the silhouette of Sanson is here on this side. Now we have it in different colors to give variation.

Elisa: Cuatrero! You have a different mouth piece.

Cuatrero: Yes. I worked on it with my gear maker. To create a mask with the eyeholes and garnish on the mouth. I saw that in cartoons that they had this garnish on the features of the mask. So I wanted to stand out and nobody had these outlining features on their mask. I have spurs on the side of my eyeholes. This part around my mouth is something the designer came up with.

It resembles the mask of my uncle Chuy. He had something like this on his mask. So I like this part.

Elisa: Speaking of your uncle Chuy. He is wrestling in the company and you have had the opportunity to wrestle with him.

Sanson: That’s right. He is now with us. We are super excited to be able to team up. It’s a dream. It was a dream to share the ring with him, my father, my uncle Universo 2000. We wanted that but, the opportunity arose to team with Mascara Ano 2000. That has benefited us 200%. It’s some gratifying to be able to share the ring with your uncle and your family.

Now that we are teaming with him, people have commented that we look good together. It was a something great for all of us. He says we make him feel younger and we say, he gives us his experience. We are really happy about it.

Elisa: So far in your appearances you have been presented as a group or team. Is that how you want to continue? Or will you pursue more individual goals?

Cuatrero: OK, goals are always going to be personal. You can’t wear all 3 masks. The goals are always individual. We have been the trios champions of Arena Coliseo (GDL). If there are any teams looking to challenge, we would be open to defend them.

If there comes an opportunity for a singles against X wrestler or a feud then, it would be individual. But we will always be supporting each other as a team.

Sanson: Like he was saying. We all will gang up on you and stomp you out. That’s what we know what to do. If there comes opportunities for championships, so be it. I think this trio is working very well together. We all bring something different. It forms this violent machine and that’s what the people have liked.

We feel comfortable doing that. I have some more cousins on the way.

Elisa: Who are you feuding with and want to put a halt on?

Cuatrero: The ones whose turn it is are The Panthers. The Panther and Blue Panther Jr.

Sanson: I think we will take to anyone and everyone. Whoever gets in our way. Big finish, medium fish, we have enough for everybody. We do have a rivalry with The Panthers. Those are very rough confrontations. We give our everything. We also have faced the Munoz family during the dynasty tournament. That was Dragon Lee, Mistico, Pierroth. We faced The Panthers during that as well. So pretty much anyone in our way, we have enough for them.

Elisa: Something that the career can leave a wrestler is the chance to face great legends. Emblematic figures that you can learn from when you wrestle.

Sanson: Negro Casas is someone that I never got to wrestle. But now that I did, WOW. Like you were saying. It was Negro Casas, or the chance to wrestle Atlantis. There are many legends.

Elisa: Something else CMLL has going on is the relationship with New Japan. Every wrestler wants to wrestle in Arena Mexico and at least one time touch Japanese soil. Do you guys want to wrestle in Japan.

Both: Of course.

Sanson: One of the incentives since we have been here has been that. Touch Japanese soil and wrestle for New Japan, a very prestigious company. My dad went to wrestle over there.

Elisa: I think he was one of the first.

Sanson: I think he was. He toured over there for 3 months.

Cuatrero: I think it was one month or he wrestled 27 dates or something like that.

Sanson: He was one of the first ones over there. He has a souvenir at home. It’s a suitcase with the New Japan logo on it. It’s a dream of ours and this year we want it even more. To go to Japan. Or even with Ring of Honor. To do something with them. It’s another dream or incentive to be in this company.

ELisa: In other countries the wrestling styles are different and that will help you grow professionally and personally.

Cuatrero: Yes, they are new experiences. To wrestle an American, Japanese, or Canadian. You learn a lot. You pick up more knowledge.

Elisa: After all that work, it’s like a prize!

Sanson: Yup. Go over there and learn. Experience new horizons. I think that’s why he liked photography. To observe a new way of life and different cultures. We always want more. Us, Mascara 2000 Jr. and Forastero. We are always looking for more. We want to discover more out there.

Elisa: Well, you guys are still very young. You have a lot to offer the Mexican wrestling. But how have things gone for you two, injury wise?

Sanson: I think all things considered, it has gone well for me. I only have a ankle sprain. Minor knee injuries and strained triceps but nothing serious.

Cuatrero: The same. Your knees take a toll. My left knee especially. Because in wrestling you learn from all the bumps. You can’t debut untouched. From the moment you begin to train, you are opening the path for injuries. That has to be the only bad part about it. You are going to get injured. That first time hitting the ropes is going to hurt you to your soul.

Elisa: Social media?

Cuatrero: I’m on Facebook, Instagram as El Cuatrero on Twitter as ElCuatreroD

Sanson: Sanson Dinamita on Facebook I will answer all the fans and offer all the official merchandise as soon as possible.

Elisa: We have a lot of viewers in America and American promoters. Everyone knows that it’s our talent that gives that wrestling flavor.

Sanson: Now that you touch on it. It’s the luchadores that add that extra bit of magic. The mask and cape. All that adds to the magic. With the typical American wrestler, they put on their trunks and without a mask. So part of the magic is in not knowing.

(They close out by stating the importance of practicing sport)

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luchablog · 7 years

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Rick Fuller has wrestled both Goldberg and Nakamura.

Are KO and Brock the only two to wrestle Goldberg and Nakamura?

No. There’s also Satoshi Kojima, Scott Norton, Chris Jericho, at least.

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luchablog · 7 years

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AAA Lllave de la Gloria finalists quick thoughts

Just rushing thru these and look at my lineup database

Ancla Jr. - works a lot of WMC matches, usually early in the card, and some of other Mexico State indies. Seems young, haven’t seen him in action.

Astrolux - is awesome

Solaris - worked dark matches for Elite last year, shows up on EDM indies, never in a big role.

Aeron Kid - MAYBE Iron Kid, who's definitely did try out and is one of the great Kamikazes del Aire. He's the one of the group who doesn't seem to train in Naucalpan, since he's never used on IWRG, but looks good on the super indie shows.

Brole Xtream - Puebla indie guy, part of a trio with Prayer & Mini Multifacetico as a strong style team, gets good reviews

Kronoz - one of two sons of Villano V (the other out of action with a leg injury), so we've got the son of one the people making the decisions. Appeared on PROESA TV and other places, is OK.

Kronoz was actually in AAA just two years ago - he was the mystery man with Electroshock and Hijo del Pirata Morgan in the Holocausto stable that was dropped suddenly in the dying days of the Konnan creative regime. Kronoz suffered a leg injury before his first big show, and was never brought back. AAA’s discovering someone they let go is weird but is AAA.

Jessy - presumably not the Jessy who was in AAA very long ago (and is Tiffany's brother), but no idea who else it could be

Papillon - there may be two different people, or one person who's doing a lot of commuting from Mexico State to Michoacan. Both guys are unknown and recently seen, though the most recent known match happens to be with Hijo del Angel & Villano III Jr.

Canibal Jr. - Arena Aficion regular, may be the son of the deceased former AAA luchador who used that name.

Hijo del Angel - possibly the son of ex-AAA wrestler Angel/Oscar Sevilla, was definitely presented as his son a few times. Has worked the DF indies but usually low on the card without a break up match. Looked good if not outstanding, and works a fair amount. Weird situation of someone doing a varition of a character AAA invented seemingly without AAA permission winning an AAA contest.

Tronic - no one exactly by the name. Tronx would be a Mexicali luchador who's looked good, but not sure if that's it.

Villano III Jr. - son of Villano III, you might have figured that out. Showed up on Leyendas Inmortales TV looking promising but very young. Might have been the Villano III son training in IWRG. Wrestles on indies, but rarely the bigger ones. Actually appeared on TripleMania already two years ago as part of honoring his father and they'd have a great story if he wrestled on this one.

Hanaoka - Daisuke Hanaoka, one of the Japones del Mal, a group loosely affiliated with the Perros del Mal (and who take in any Japanese wrestlers who happen to come to Mexico.) He and his partner seem to wrestling less on a team over the last year. Seen on the DragonMania show ever year. Believed to be the former Mini Kenzo Suzuki, so this would be an ex-AAA wrestler getting back into AAA.

Douki - The other half of Japones del Mal, usually wrestles with a mask but didn't in the tryout. A little bit more active of the team, wrestling a lot on his own and occasoinally passing thru IWRG for a few months, as well as traveling around Mexico (and into Texas.) Both Japanese guys are good, but I prefer Douki of the two. Has a Twitter account that I read and occasionally reference, much to Douki's confusion.

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luchablog · 7 years

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Lucha Libre 97

I remembered I can use this to post random bits from old lucha magazines I’m badly attempting to translate instead of just overloading my Twitter feed.

Something you’d never see now: a magazine reporting how much someone was paid for their match. Although this may still be fictitious: the story is Karloff Lagarde was paid 13000 (or 1300 - I always get “mil” wrong) pesos after losing his hair to Rey Mendoza on July 30, 1965, but he could’ve got 20000 with a win.

Yes, there was a luchador named El Nazi. He won the pesos wrestling around South America and is back in Mexico City, not quite as exciting as the headline makes it sound

There’s a bunch of international results this issue for whatever reason. Kanji Inoki getting a random mention pops out.

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luchablog · 8 years

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a brief GIF intro of Hechicero (HECH-eee-sear-oh), who debuts tonight for Ring Of Honor.

Hechicero is a 15 year vet, a rudo from Monterrey. He joined CMLL in 2014, and finished 2nd in their new star tournament that same year.

Hechicero's a techinical wizard ("Hechicero" even means "sorcerer"), one of the best mat wrestlers in Mexico.

He's also a powerful luchador, showing his strength in his trademark Conjuro spinning backbreaker. (Hey, it’s Jay White.)

Lately, Hechicero's added a corner jumping knee strike to knock people silly. It's kind of awesome, except if you're poor Rey Cometa.

Hechicero is truly a Man of a 1000 Moves wrestler; he can pull out a rarely seen move or submission at any time.

There's no luchador better equipped for ROH than Hechicero. Hopefully tonight's the start of a long run for him!

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luchablog · 8 years

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Lucha Underground En Vivo Phoenix main events

Lucha Underground put posters up for both shows on the Facebook events page. I barely use Facebook, so I didn’t notice until they were placed on Twitter. Maybe you didn’t see it either:

If you can’t see it, that’s a Mundo/Cage main event at noon, and a Pentagon/Muertes main event (w/Vampiro as ref) at 3pm. Drago, Jack Evans, Ivelisse, Taya, Mariposa, Aerostar and Son of Havoc are listed as appearing, and maybe the people in the main events will be wrestling on the other shows. Seems like 3-4 matches. Both shows are free with admission to the fair ($10).

Keep an eye on the discussion tabs for the 10/30 Houston and 11/05 San Diego/Escondido for info on who will be on those shows. I believe it’ll be slightly different on each show.

Lucha Underground also announced a fan contest to send in videos about five favorite LU episodes. El Rey does short fan video segments like this with some of the movies, usually as part of a marathon. (Which means a LU marathon is coming - the rules says “on or around November 29th”) I don’t do video, but maybe you do - send one in.

#Lucha Underground

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luchablog · 8 years

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what happened with Alberto, according to Court Bauer on MLW

podcast about 25 minutes in

https://audioboom.com/boos/5128225-episode-247-exclusive-update-on-adr-more.mp3?source=rss&stitched=1

(Court is working from notes. I’ve reordered some things to make it flow better.)

- The incident happened Sunday afternoon. Alberto's car was hit by another driver. Alberto got out of the car and immediately tried to work out another way to make it to the airport. As he turned around, the other driver slashed him with a knife. Alberto turned to face him, the guy slashed again, Alberto's boxing head movement skills allowed him to dodge most of the blow though he still got hit right above his ear. Alberto took the assailant down, and the assailant continued to stab at him in the arm/shoulder to the point where the muscle came out of the arm. Alberto eventually got the knife away, the assailant got back in his car and went away, but there were witnesses and they got the license plate.

- Alberto went to the hospital, had lost some blood and got several stitches.

- They haven't found this guy. Hopefully they find him soon.

- Alberto lost his phone in the fight and wasn't able to get a hold of AAA until the next morning.

- Alberto still wanted to make the show and considered chartering a plane.

- Both MSL & Court discuss how similar this is to the Jamie Noble story before moving on.

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luchablog · 8 years

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Speaking of Latin females in WWE. WWE is looking at a girl from Mexico for the tournament.

https://twitter.com/badboicasey/status/783307532345438213

Zeuxis is the obvious choice; she’s been the obvious choice for ROH too (but they probably don’t know she exists.) She's gotten really good in the last year and probably would benefit from some new challenges anyway. CMLL's been fair to Mascara Dorada during this whole process. The worst that could happen is she gets bounced in the first round and frozen out from getting big matches in CMLL, but she's in a woman in CMLL so it's not like she's getting many big matches anyway.

It'd be funny to see her as proud Mexican after doing the diabolic Boricua character (who's also sort of a Roman solider?) bit. And the great thing is CMLL's completely ineptitude to settle on a spelling of Zeuxis/Seuxis - for years! - means WWE could always just go with the name CMLL didn't trademark. (They don’t appear to have gotten either.) She's also worked a few shows in the US, so it's possible she may have her visa already worked out. I think she's have a chance to win a match or two.

Dorada lost his belt when CMLL knew he had the WWE CWC offer, so any Zeuxis title defense in the next few months is worth some thinking man emojis.

if I had to rank people by who I'd like to represent Mexico

1) Zeuxis - decent chance of happening, 2) Keira - no chance 3) Lady Shani - no chance 4) Lady Maravilla - no chance 5) Silueta - a chance 6) La Hiedra - no chance ?) LuDark Shaitan, Chik Tormenta & Diosa Atenea and anyone else who might have been in Japan for a while - a chance (not even listing the people who are probably too old to get considered.)

The reality, though, is it's probably someone off my radar and the radar of people who follow the bigger parts of lucha libre. No one was really talking up Sexy Flor but she's got a look by WWE in part because she lives close enough to WWE shows in the US to make a drive and get in front of WWE eyeballs.

I have no strong takes on the likes of Lady Lee and Baronessa, but they've worked enough in California that it's a good chance WWE might have seen them while they probably haven’t seen Keira unless they go digging thru YouTube channels. (You should check her out if you’re dorky enough to read this.) There's almost no chance WWE’s seen the AAA & indie women and it's probably only in Japan that they've seen the rest. If I was offered Zeuxis versus "luchador living in a border city that I only know of from seeing her name on lineups", I'd take unknown border city luchadora.

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luchablog · 8 years

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1_np08WLaM&feature=youtu.be

#pentagonjr #maslucha

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luchablog · 8 years

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Ray Mendoza and family (Lucha Libre #71)

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luchablog · 8 years

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Chuponcito and Chester, 2015-02-28 CWF in Estado de Mexico

#luchalibre

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luchablog · 8 years

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Lucha Underground 2×5: The Machine

Johnny Mundo double springboard tornillo

The Matches

Jack Evans defeated PJ Black (3:50, Jack backslide PJ, OK)

King Cuerno defeated Killshot (5:28, Thrill of the Hunt, OK)

Texano defeated Mr. Cisco (0:09, superkick,)

Texano defeated Cortez Castro (2:26, powerbomb)

Chavo Guerrero defeated Texano (2:33, Cortez trip, entire segment OK)

Johnny Mundo defeated Cage (7:53, lead pipe, Good)

The Developments

There were a lot of different plots moving forward tonight. Let's see if I can get them all.

The main event saw Cage and Johnny Mundo have their rematch. It was a back and forth match and one of the longer matches of this season so far. Cage evaded the Fin de Mundo and dropped Johnny with Weapon X, which seemed to mean another win (and one step closer to Mil.) However, Cage was distracted by the debuting Taya, who argued with Cage from the apron while also slipping in some sort of pipe to Mundo. Mundo smacked Cage right in the face with the hard looking object, and Cage was knocked out. Mundo got the win, and he and Taya put the boots to Cage after the match. Taya is in her AAA persona and appears to be Mundo's new ally.

the full Jack Evans experience

The main event for next week was set up thru the night. King Cuerno got back on the winning side by beating Killshot with the Thrill of the Hunt. Announcers heaped praise on Killshot despite the loss. After the match, Cuerno went to add in his new piledriver move (called the Thrill of the Kill), but Fenix made the save. The show ended with Cuerno complaining to Catrina about being the hunted instead of the hunter because of the Gift of the Gods belts, and wanting to change things immediately – he wanted Mil Muertes next week. Catrina reminded Cuerno of their deal, but Cuerno wanted no part of that. Catrina switched tactics, revealing she'd already set up a match for Cuerno next week: he'll defend the Gift of the Gods championship against Fenix, in a ladder match.

King Cuerno wasn't the only luchador getting on Catrana's bad side. Pentagon confronted Catrina, demanding a match with Prince Puma after being beat last week. Catrina and Pentagon actually fought, with Pentagon getting Catrina in the armbreaker but Catrina using her vanishing powers to escape. (This segment was a lot of video edits/Catrina vanishing.) Catrina gave Pentagon his match, while warning him he'd pay for attacking her.

The show also caught up with the old boss of the Temple. Dario Cueto and Black Lotus were still setting up people to be thrashed by Matanza, with Dario explaining Matanza had to get ready before they could return to the Temple (and blaming Lotus for this situation.) Dario talked about how much Matanza meant to him. Their mother was an awful person who beat them both. Dario tried to stand up to her one day and would've likely been murdered by his mother if not for Matanza making the save – by beating their mother to death with the red bull Dario had on his desk all last season. Dario still has the bull with him as a reminder of that day. Not because of his mother's death, because that moment made him realize how much he loved violence. Black Lotus did not seem comfortable with this story.

Killshot tornillo

There were actually matches on this show too in between the drama. The opener saw Jack Evans continue to win and PJ Black continue to lose. Jack Evans boasted about being the Dragon Slayer once again, which drew out Drago to watch from the upper level. A distracted Jack threw a water bottle at Drago. It missed, and Jack nearly lost to PJ in the process. Drago came down to ringside, but his mist attack got PJ instead of Jack, and Jack's all powerful backslide got the three count. Jack escaped. PJ angrily stared at both Drago and the pair of nunchuks he brought to the match, but didn't attack Drago.

Texano got his hands on Chavo Guerrero, though he had to go thru the Crew to get there in a gauntlet match. Texano beat Mr. Cisco (in a shoulder sling) in seconds, when Cisco was distracted by Chavo's advice. Cortez Castro lasted longer, but taunted before running into the powerbomb. Chavo didn't seem a match for Texano either, but Cortez used the bullrope to trip up Texano and hold him down while Chavo got the pin. There was still discord among the rudos after the win, but Texano ran them off before they could act on it.

To start the show, Ian/Vampiro explained his behind the scenes actions from season 1. Vampiro is a personality Ian had locked away for many years, but Vampiro used Pentagon to get out. Vampiro ordered Pentagon to make the sacrifices so Ian would feel no choice but to give in to his darkside, and Vampiro would be fully in control again. (This seemed to fit together with similar scenes in the comic book released today.)

A commercial during the show had Famous B giving out a phone number and promising to make the someone who called famous. It came off a bit like a used car commercial, but the message on the phone had Famous B explaining that he wanted to make the right deserving person famous – kind of like a manager or an agent.

I think that's everything! No sign of Sexy Star, Willie Mack or any moth. Rey, Dragon Azteca and the ex-trios champs also had the week off. Puma was mentioned on the show but not seen. Mil was on his throne the whole show but didn't react much.

Thoughts

Arrow From Hell (and to your screen)

This was a busy show! Lots of outside of the ring stuff, plus four different match segments. (I've got the gauntlet match listed as individual matches, but it was one continuous stream as televised.) It's a lot of different plots to keep straight, but it felt like they were mostly successful in getting what they needed to get over. There's so much stuff to get over that maybe some of the minor stuff might get lost, but the really important stuff – Puma/Pentagon, Fenix/Cuerno, Dario's coming back at some point – went well.

All the different directions meant less time for matches than I'd like, but all the matches were at least OK. I'd like to see what PJ Black and Jack Evans could do with more time, but maybe doing a short match isn't that bad idea when it's going to end with a mist attack anyway. Black's losing seems to have a direction, which is much better than losing for no reason.

Killshot looked better with Cuerno then he did against Mundo to start the season. Te announcers – or those feeding them their lines – are trying to do their best to protect Killshot despite the losses.

The Chavo/Texano stuff feels like a solid early 90s story and wrestling, a different time and place than the rest of the show. It's not hard to figure out where it's going - Texano finally defeats Chavo, but in a way where Chavo keeps his credibility – but I think it's supposed to be a big positive feud for Texano and feels more like killing time until something better opens up for him.

this was just impressive

Cage/Mundo was obviously the match of the night, better than I had expected it to be. It could've been these two guys doing a lot of moves, and they did do a lot, but it felt like more of a battle. The small bit of Cage taking a look at Mil before finishing his move was a nice touch. It's hard to believe Cage is actually getting his hands on Mil, with Puma, Pentagon, Fenix and Cuerno (and now Mundo!) seemingly all ahead of him in line, but Cage doesn't know that – Cage thinks he's winning and he's getting the belt that should be his, and he acted appropriately. I wasn't thrilled with a distraction finish – especially after they seemed to go out of their way to point out those finishes don't necessarily happen on their show in the opener – but Cage looked like he got destroyed by the pipe shot. I'm sure they had the good sense to protect Cage, but it looked convincingly brutal on TV. It's too quick to tell how Taya is going to with Mundo, but her first big obstacle is definitely going to be overcoming the stigma of being Replacement Melina.

No one else in wrestling could've pulled off the Dario's Red Bull story better than Dario. He had to go thru a lot of different emotions in a short period of time. The Pentagon/Catrina segment was not on that level, but the way they used Pentagon's translation captions was effectively done.

Is that everything? I think that's everything. This felt like the best show since episode 1. Next week, with both Puma/Pentagon and Cuerno/Fenix, figures to challenge for the best episode of the season.

Metal objects finally have their revenge on Cage!

#Lucha Underground

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luchablog · 8 years

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Dragón Lee, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Kamaitachi, Negro Casas from Friday night. I really liked this match; it’s 2x speed madness for three falls, or just everyone else working at Dragon Lee & Kamaitachi’s title match pace.

(This’ll be part of the videos I put up every Tuesday at https://www.youtube.com/thecubsfan )

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luchablog · 8 years

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Lucha Underground 2x4: Cero Miedo

Puma's as impressive as a strong guy as he is as a high flyer

the matches

Angelico [O], Ivelisse & Son of Havoc b Chavo Guerrero, Mr. Cisco & Cortez Castro [X] (5:55, top rope double stomp, OK) Cage b Joey Ryan (4:07, screwdriver ok) Prince Puma b Pentagon Jr. (7:53, bridging escape of a tapatia, great)

the developments

The main event was the big thing. In a back and forth match, Puma survived the package piledirver and was able to bridge out of a double pin on tapatia to get the win. Pentagon had his shoulders down and did not realize it; announcers noted during the match that Pentagon was being too confident and not trying as hard to win as he should. Pentagon attacked the referee because of the decision, but Puma knocked down Pentagon and teased breaking his arm. Puma did not, but made it clear he was coming for Mil Muertes. Of note, Vampiro stood up from the announce desk when Puma was trying to break the arm, but did not get involved.

Cortez having no luck finding Dario or Angelico on this dive

Everything else seemed to kind of place setting for things happening later on in this season.

Cage defeated the debuting Joey Ryan (who joined PJ Black with a loss in his first match.) Ryan had bragged to his reluctant ally Cortez/Reyes that he'd win in his debut. Ryan did better than you'd figure against The Machine before taking a screwdriver for the loss. Johnny Mundo, who earlier had some awfully familiar words about being disrespected by being put in the opener of Ultima Lucha, tried attacking Cage after the match. Just like last time, it failed and Cage got the better of it. Cage versus Mundo will happen next week.

Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc earlier won a trios match over the Crew. Ivelisse had demanded an an immediate trios title rematch against the Disciples, only for Catrina to tell her she wasn't doing automatic title rematches for former champions. However, after winning, it seems like the ex-champs are the most (and only) logical contenders. Chavo blamed his partners for the loss, yelling at them and not realizing Texano Jr. was running into attack all of them until almost too late. Chavo got away with being hit, as he usually does.

In solely out of the ring action, a Rey Mysterio Jr./Dragon Azteca Jr. training session provided the cover for some back story explanation. Mysterio explained Azteca and Dario's father had met in Mexico long ago, researching the prophecy of the seven tribes. Dario's father got into the evil side of the prophecy, whatever that is, and using it for sacrificing people. That includes handing over the body of one of his son's (Matanza) to an evil god. Dragon Azteca and Dario's father split, but made an agreement that neither man may step on the other's domain, or they'd die. Dragon Azteca did so last season and did die, so Mysterio understandable is not in a hurry to running back after Dario. However, Rey thinks they get around all of this by reuniting the Seven Tribes. (That was the same thing Aerostar set off to do last episode.)

Screwdriver

The show closed with a disoriented and frightened Sexy Star escaping from something in the hallways of the Temple. Willie Mack stopped her, confused at what was going on and who was chasing her. Sexy told Willie “Moth”, but clarified that it was a her and not a him. Sexy pointed in the direction of her chaser, and the last shot of the show was Mack also being scared of whatever they saw.

thoughts

The first part of the episode kind of dragged. They're pacing out their stories to pay off later, which left of this episode as moving pieces around the board to set up the big plays later. That's not always a problem, there's been inconsequential matches on this show which have been really good. (The Crew had the best one of these last year, when they faced Argenis, Super Fly and Aerostar.) Those first two matches just weren't that good. They weren't bad, they just served their purpose and that was all.

Angelico came off the best in the trios match, both by his moves and by layout – he's the only one on his team who didn't need to make tags. Chavo's one of the least interesting characters on this show – the announcers spending a few moments in every match saying “you know the Guerreros? He's a Guerrero!” is an active determent and this point – and he's also one of the least interesting in-ring guys. RIP Bael.

Maybe the key to winning in your debut is wearing a mask? Joey lost, PJ lost, Jack Evans lost but Kobra Moon won. Considering it was Cage, Ryan did much better than I'd think. I was prepped for a one minute squash. Four minutes isn't that long, but the expectations made it feel much longer. This feels hypocritical based on what I thought of PJ Black's debut, but Ryan's vignettes made him seem much more like a fool, and Cage was laying waste to people a season ago. He did again here, though it was much more trouble than it had been before.

flipping off a backcracker is the move of 2016

The concept of Joey Ryan is more interesting than the wrestling of Joey Ryan. It's also the weird storyline issue of Joey Ryan can't be acknowledged as Joey Ryan, because this character is supposed to be an undercover cop who wasn't a wrestler before this case, not a well traveled indie wrestler. (Unless the LA Police have a full time undercover indie wrestler.) It'd make more sense from a creative standpoint if he was named other than Joey Ryan, but you don't get the attention you do when you have the actual Joey Ryan.

The Seven Tribes stuff sometimes comes off as a bit of mystical nonsense. It's tough to slow down and explain what the deal is (and it's unclear if they want to do a big explanation at this point), but it also feels like it's a big pivotal point to this season. Rey laid it as if we have to see the Seven Tribes united before we see Dragon Azteca Jr. (and probably Rey) at the Temple and in the ring, and we don't even quite know who's they're looking for, or that even if it's a mystery to be solved or just a sort of McGuffin. I feel like I could spend the next paragraph speculating on the 7 Tribes (and may have before I deleted it), but I also feel like maybe me a 2% of the audience care at this point. Which seems like a problem for a central idea on the show.

The main event made the show worth watching. Those two have a longer, better match in them, but this was a fine sub ten minute match as a warmup encounter. I'm not sure if an unfocused Pentagon Jr. was supposed to be part of the story, but the announcers helped the match by bringing it in. (This was a good performance by Vampiro, who seemed not as into the rest of the show.) The match was impressive and the finish was close enough that Pentagon didn't feel hurt by losing, it was just another amazing athletic display by Puma.

There were small touches that were nice. The Mundo vignette was great and fit with his character, even if you didn't realize he was reciting Alberto el Patron real life complaints. The Mysterio/Azteca fight was a good way of getting thru the backstory without boring people. Sexy Star & the Mack felt like a scene out of a horror movie, appropriately so for their title match. And, this one really means nothing, but when Catrina was licking the dagger in the opening vignette, it finally occurred to me that she was channeling Angelina Jolie and that idea amused me.

cero miedo, but two shoulders down

#Lucha Underground

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