August 2002

This was a stock Arena Mexico handicap match, but I actually enjoy these matches. The problem is that there was an Infernales vs. Villanos feud going on at the time that they clipped to shreds, and I am dismayed that we didn't get to see more of Satanico's 2002 run.

Probably the most technical match Nakanishi has ever done. Him and Nishimura spend about 10 or so minutes just doing typical Nishimura routines, only adjusted for Nakanishi's beef so he's typically the stronger pushing here, so it's more of a strength/skill situation. On a side-note, I'm always a fan of how Nishimura can control a crowd with simple catch-routines; he's a master at adding tension to fairly simplistic stuff, it works because it's so unique by comparison to the more popular big epics at the time or the big stiff striking battles, seeing a struggle of a headlock or a surfboard is wacky enough that you respect it. He also does a really good job at selling the …

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Plenty brutal match that was characterized by Hashimoto looking great and and Ogasawara having an absolute meltdown, resulting in some gritty highly uncooperative exchanges. Ogasawara seemed too concerned with protecting himself so Takaiwa at one point just starts decking him for real. To make up for the chaos surrounding the karateka, there were some damn good exchanges between Takaiwa and Hashimoto. Hashimoto looked peak level sharp, including busting out some awesome submission counters dropping his full weight on Takaiwas shoulder, and Takaiwa looked great as a gutsy underdog trying to cut through him with lariats. There were some choice Fujiwara/Hash exchanges too al…

Suzuki is still a up and coming "star" for the promotion; despite the fact he's only been wrestling for two years he already is the prime Young Lion as per management, having beaten Tanahashi and consistently having a slot in the G1 since debuting; rather unheard of these days. He's got everything they'd really want; he's tall, has a good look and a sports background, crowds seem to take to him well for the level of experience he has. He's not much in the actual wrestling department, but that can change, right? The promotion certainly had big plans for him, of course we know how that ends. Nishimura is of course having to hold his hand here and carry: a relatively easy ta…

Arena Coliseo handicap match. These matches are well done and it's always fun to see the heels pinballing for Silva. I'll take a stock match like this over Vampiro any day of the week.

X Division Champion AJ Styles vs Low Ki vs Jerry Lynn - NWA TNA 8/7/02 "The fans really showing their respect for these competitors" "Again we point out the fans are still on their feet" - Mike Tenay I am not saying this is the first match, but this was definitely a harbinger of the matches we are stuck with now. Ones that not only emphasize the moves over the victory and the motivation of the characters, but that sense of self-congratulatory respect from the crowd. This crowd was mixed. They definitely wanted Low-Ki to win, but were also as interested in chanting TNA at every highspot and cheering the exhibition rather than competition. The announcing has been ab…

Unsurprisingly really good action from two guys in one of their best years of activity collectively. The main factor here is the tension; Nishimura and Nagata are tied points-wise, but because Nagata lost to Nakanishi and Nishimura drew with him he would win in a tie-breaker, so Nagata HAS to win, he can't afford to do anything less than that. Nagata is actually able to take the initiative early and break out of Nishimura's usual old-school Catch sequences, using his more modernised mat-work to counter any approaches while pushing for his own; namely conventional holds like the side mount and some early arm work. Nagata starts hurling out committed strikes by the 10 minut…

This was disappointing. First of all, it would have made more sense for Black Tiger to have defeated Felino so that he could continue his beef with Black Warrior. And secondly, it was a weak match and a precursor to the poor singles matches that would follow in later years. Every now and again, they throw Felino a bone. This was one of those moments, but it didn't do anything to elevate Felino, Black Warrior or Black Tiger, so it has to be considered a failure in that sense.

Decent little match with Casas stepping down into the midcard to have some fun exchanges with Virus(!) and Zumbido. Juventud continues to be pretty much dead weight. Could have used another fall.

This ended up being pretty cool. Shocker has apparently discovered Eminem and is rocking a B-Boy look. Magica looks like his mini. Vampiro is wearing some goofy Lestat shirt but doesn't really have a gimmick. He actually worked better with Black Tiger and Takemura than he did with Ultimo and Bucanero. The main reason you want to watch this, however, is the chemistry between Shocker and Wagner. I don't want to say they're CMLL's version of The Rock and Austin as they're not quite that electric, but they're definitely the most charismatic tecnico/rudo pairing in CMLL. Magica is great as Shocker's sidekick, and despite how solid the rudos are here, it's always cool to see a …

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The 90s are over, all your junior heroes are broken down and old, and instead of highspots they work gritty technical matches now. This was centered around Togos pretty great selling performance, he comes in with a bandaged mid section and Sasuke spends most of this match torturing him with kidney punches and ab stretches. Ultra simple match but with plenty of cool moments. I really liked Togo desperately preventing Sasukes dive by clutching his leg and pretty much dragging him down then just throwing a chair at him („Fuck you, here's a chair“ is always a favourite of mine), really liked his nifty pin combo and desperate crossface attempts etc. A ladder gets brought into …

This was a fun match but it was more like two pros having a solid match on a small show rather than something outstanding. I was hoping for some violence, but lazy heel Ishii was in full swing here, and Hidaka is the first to land a stiff shot when he caught Ishii with a surprise leg kick that was probably the one great moment of the match. I liked a lot of this as both guys have nice offense without being predictable and the finishing stretch was cool with Ishii making use of the WAR special and Hidaka working his leg over.

About halfway through this, I thought it lacked spark aside from the usual excitement around the tecnico comeback. Then La Familia de Tijuana turned on Satanico and it made sense. More beef. A lot of angles on this show.

This match was an excuse for Virus to start beefing with the Guerreras, but that's a good thing since it means we'll see more of Virus on TV. I've complained about Juvie a lot, but he was perfect in this. Just an absolute shit. The match wasn't much, but the post-match brawling was cool and the crowd cheered loudly for Virus to wipe the shit-eating grin off Juvie's face.

Ultimo Dragon greeted the crowd before the match and mentioned he was here to see his friend Vampiro. The rudos jumped him and gave him a working over until the tecnicos arrived. WTF is up with Shocker's entrance attire during this period. He was wearing a rastafarian hat with dreadlocks. The match had the usual exchanges between Ultimo and Shocker, Shocker and Tarzan Boy, and Casas and Bucanero. It was short compared to their other main events and ended up a crappy low blow finish instead of a payoff to the Ultimo Dragon beatdown, but the Shocker & Casas vs. GdI dynamic is the best thing going in CMLL.

Fun indy opening match. Soldier with his trainwreck style has endeared himself to me through his 90s work. He was less trainwrecky here but he was still doing stuff a little uncooperatively, a little rough around the edges, which makes him more interesting than your typical polished guy running through his stuff. For example, check out the way he reversed a resthold into a nasty stretch. Taira looked decent and the match had some submissions and reversals slicker than your average junior indy match. Full japan indy point

Sayama and his fat man flips are great, no questions about it. Solar is really fired up and carried this, even though there wasn't as much matwork here as there needed to be. This would've been really good if Diablo & Azteca weren't so mediocre. Seriously these two have been working their own vanity promotion for years and can't have an exciting exchange to save their lives.

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Virus and the Guerreras are on the same side despite last week's brawl, but of course they're not cooperating. The tecnicos keep inviting Virus over to their side, which the Guerreras openly mock. I hate these drawn out turns in lucha, but at least Virus is in the spotlight and it's fun watching him sell the angle. Fuerza gets absolutely humiliated during the match when Niebla bumps and grinds all over him. Virus wants Juvie mano a mano, but first he has to go through Pops.

This was cool. It was built around Vampiro vs. Ultimo, and Ultimo being the best heel in CMLL naturally made it awesome. There was even a flashback to last week's low blow. Holy continuity, Batman. I am actually hyped to watch the Ultimo/Vampiro singles match after this. Vampiro was DQ'ed for throwing a back elbow at Babe Richard, who sold it like a fucking champ. I can get down with this reckless Vampiro with a hard on for Ultimo. The other story was Tarzan Boy vs. Casas, which is a great match-up. Tarzan Boy bust Casas open, which was barely noticeable at first, but when Casas put a rag around his head it soaked right through. He looked like Buck Shelford playing the Fr…

This goes to a 15-minute time limit draw, and it's some really good stuff. It's all about the battle of Morgan's superior power going against Dragon's technical expertise. That's always a very fun dynamic to work with, and these two definitely create a very nice story & match out of it. Love all of Bryan's work, especially all of that targeted towards Morgan's arm, and Morgan was on his element throwing Bryan around every chance he got. ***1/2