September 2006

At the beginning of the match, a masked man accompanied Los Perros del Mal to the ring. He leapt onto the turnbuckle ropes and revealed himself as Shocker before putting on a Los Perros del Mal t-shirt and leaving the ring. I always thought it was anticlimactic how CMLL would introduce wrestlers to the crowd then have them leaving ringside. You'd think they were so Americanized at this point that they'd have them involved in the finish. He did have an altercation with Rey Bucanero on the ramp, so it wasn't a total waste, but still it's like hey, Shocker's back, here's a match. It was actually a pretty long match by CMLL standards, though if you tallied the amount of …

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Typical Los Perros del Mal match. It helped that Casas was there as he tends to bring out the best in Perro. When Perro's not busy mugging for the camera or gawking at the ring girls. I'm not sure about sticking Shocker with Los Perros. The faction is bloated enough as it is and that's two alpha males in the same unit. I guess they didn't want to bring him back as a tecnico or give him room to shine with a new Guapos faction. The thought that it was punishment crossed my mind, or forcing him to pay his dues again, but it looks like turns We'll have to see how it plays out. I have zero faith that they plan these things out.

Akiyama vs. Marufuji - September 9, 2006 Akiyama dominated early, but Marufuji got the advantage when he hit a dropkick on Akiyama's left knee. That became the story of this match, as Akiyama was never able to make a full comeback against the smaller, less experienced Marufuji. Sure, he got in a nice submission sequence of putting the challenger in the Scorpion Deathlock followed by a Bow-and-Arrow Stretch, as well as backdropping Marufuji on the entrance apron, but the damage was done. And Marufuji was quite vicious on Akiyama's left knee, slamming it on the ring post and locking in numerous submissions including the figure four leg lock. With that said, none o…

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WWE Intercontinental Champion Johnny Nitro vs Jeff Hardy - Unforgiven 2006 I get it, he does look like Jim Morrison, but John Morrison was such a lame name. The crowd loves chanting "Nitro sucks" they really should have stuck with that. I remember Nitro/Morrison as a person with a great look but just never materialized in the ring. Soft Kofi Kingston offense is what I remember along with no standout charisma. This match I thought the offense was a bit better than I remember but yeah no charisma to speak of. The entrance is brash, but where is that cocky attitude in the ring. He is just so mechanical. Jeff Hardy is so insanely charismatic. He had the crowd rocking just…

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This was the match where Holly sliced his back open going through a table. Absolute nasty gash. I don't wanna say it added to the match, but it definitely wouldn't have been as memorable without it. I like Holly's no nonsense style, but when you're selling for real it adds another layer to work. Van Dam did a bunch of dumb shit in the bout, but the chair spots made me wince. Holly was lucking he didn't get a staph infection from this bout. He stayed in character even when the trainer and doctor were tending to him. Should have put a rocket on him in this ECW offshoot, but they weren't interested in capitalizing on the guts Bob showed.

This has to be one of the most "giffable" matches that I've seen. So many amazing moves - and the best part is that the execution of those crazy ass moves they busted out was 100% perfect. They also told a good story of Claudio dominating Quack because of his size & power advantage, while Quack busted out those sick comebacks. A very memorable match, that's for sure. ****