April 2004

RAW continues its hot streak with another great television match. I don't know who was booking RAW at the time, but it's quite the shakeup given how bad RAW became after the brand split. Of course, there's still nonsense between Shawn and Hunter, but it's surprising that they haven't cut Benoit off at the knees. Ric Flair continues to defy any and all expectations I have for him in 2004. Great veteran heel and a fun foil for Benoit. Batista doesn't quite live up to the hype JR and King give him, but he has a great look and is able to follow his opponent's lead. Match ends with Michaels accidently hitting Benoit with a chair and Benoit snapping and putting Michaels in the …

Talk about it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z8x3Sw_t_A&feature=youtu.be

Excellent midcard action. This wound up being a very good show by CMLL. Easily the best show they've ran in 2004 so far. Forget about the rabid wolverine, Violencia is sporting the best Wolverine outfit possible in this bout (though I was never a big fan of the yellow outfit having growing up on the brown one), and his facial hair is phenomenal. In my ignorance, I didn't even know he'd unmasked. In my defense, they lost me with that endless Boricuas feud. But that's besides the point. This is what happens when you give six good workers a decent amount of time and you don't edit the match. Now, if I can only find the main event.

This was a big show for CMLL (possibly the Arena Mexico Anniversary Show, but cubsfan isn't sure.) That means less bullshit, more wrestling, and as a result, it's one of the better trios matches in a while. The premise is simple -- you've got three ex-partners of Satanico who hate his guts and can't wait to stomp a mudhole in his ass, and a fired up Satanico delivering one of his better performances of late. Mr. Niebla and Atlantis do Mr. Niebla and Atlantis things, and even the dreaded low blow finish is above average. Could still use another five minutes or so, but at least it was entertaining.

This was very much a US indies inspired apuesta match, but I had a lot of time for it, and I'll tell you why. I love Zumbido, and I'm happy to see him steal a piece of the spotlight. Plus, it's easily the best thing Super Crazy has done since joining CMLL. His run had been a dud up until now, but he upped his game for this show. Outside influences had been slowly creeping into lucha since the 90s, but even in 2004 it was rare to see a guy do a moonsault off the top of the set. The rest of the match was built around similarly big spots (with surprisingly good camera work on the replays, I might add.) Not everyone's idea of a classic apuesta match, but I enjoyed it. The ma…

I was at this show, but I've never actually watched it on tape until now. The crowd was dead for this match after being electric during the Crush Girls vs Nagashima & Sato match, and it's not difficult to see why. It's a better match than I expected given how shitty Hamada looked heading into the show, but the majority of the bout is close quarters stuff, which looks good on tape but doesn't really play to folks in the arena. Some great facial expressions and plenty of intensity. Probably looked good on the big screen, but pales in comparison to the pops that Chigusa and Lioness drew. Hamada botches a spot on the outside that sucks the life out of things a bit. They t…

This is in the RealHero archive if you go to the GAEA section. Great little match. Not shootstyle at all, closer to lucha/IWRG if you ask me, as both of them just try locking in nutty submissions in on eachother, in between trading unpredictable shoot headbutts and punches to the face. Amano as a quick on her bare feet maniac grappler using her hard head as a battering ram really is awesome. I also loved her counter to Yoshida's finisher which would later be made famous in a certain UFC bout. Amano's quickness and inventiveness here was great, and her style fit Yoshida's like a glove. Perfectly good bantamweight 11 minute Ishikawa/Otsuka match.