EL CONSEJO INVADES AAA (WELL…SORTA!):

The big news coming out of AAA’s Guerra de Titanes PPV show was that there is yet another invasion angle going on in AAA. For the past year, Dorian Roldan has been mentioning how he’d like to see CMLL and AAA work together. CMLL never even responded to his comments. So instead with the recent departures of Toscano and El Texano Jr. from CMLL, AAA is now going to go with their own storyline version of “CMLL vs. AAA” without the assistance of the actual CMLL promotion. They’ve made sure not to call it “CMLL” and instead in the storyline, the faction is going to be referred to as “El Consejo”. They made T-shirts, so there is no going back on the name!

The group debuted in AAA before and after the main event between L.A. Park and Dr.Wagner Jr. Prior to the match, Toscano showed up and did his best Scott Hall impersonation to get the angle going. In fact a lot of the wording and Toscano’s mannerisms would seem to be that he actually watched Hall’s WCW performances (hope he doesn’t watch anything post 1998!) and he alluded to “El Consejo” being the better promotion. Toscano mentioned that “El Consejo” was going to start a war with AAA. He yelled at Dr. Wagner Jr. asking if he wanted “a war” (Similar to the Scott Hall and Sting confrontation on Nitro) and got a yes answer and a slap to the face to go with it. Toscano then got carried out by security to the back. Match went on and at the conclusion, Toscano came back with Texano Jr. and Mascara Ano 2000 Jr. (who never wrestled in CMLL, so that already is a strange addition to the faction). They beat up both Dr. Wagner Jr. and his son and cut more promos. Texano Jr. showed he can cut a great promo and while CMLL just announced their upcoming match to crown a new CMLL World Heavyweight Champion, you really wonder why they didn’t make a better effort in keeping Texano Jr.

So as of right now, looking at the “El Consejo” faction, you have Toscano as Scott Hall, Texano Jr. as Kevin Nash and Mascara Ano 2000 Jr. as I guess X-Pac. I believe L.A. Park is going to be the next to join that group as based on storyline he’s been at odds with La Sociedad (he’s still with them though) and he’s begun feuding with Los Perros Del Mal AND he’s still against AAA.

The angle at the very least keeps fans interested in AAA. There are some fans who believe the angle to be true and don’t realize that its a work, so AAA right now has the advantage on that end. They planted enough seeds especially with Dorian having spoken so often about how AAA and CMLL should work together over the last year that some fans bought into the angle.

There are however some negatives to this angle. AAA has done the invasion angle for the last 5-6 years a lot. You can even go back even further when they worked with WWE (then WWF) and had Fake Diesel, Fake Razor Ramon, Jake “The Snake” Roberts work shows. That wasn’t necessarily booked as an invasion angle and was more of a talent exchange. The first ‘invasion angle’ probably goes back to the LLL vs. AAA feud from late 1999. That featured Cibernetico, the late Abismo Negro and Electroshock feuding with Antonio Pena and AAA. LLL stood for Lucha Libre Latina. Cibernetico would bring in foreign talent like The Headhunters and later when AAA and WWE restarted a new working agreement due to the WWE’s SuperAstros TV show, brought in guys like Mr. Aguila and TAKA Michinoku. Hector Garza also showed up as part of the LLL group, but was a tecnico. The reality behind the LLL group was that it was part of Antonio Pena’s plan to expand the promotion for other ventures not involving Televisa since Televisa owns the AAA name. They even had a brief TV show that aired on Univision. That angle was ongoing for several years.

When Konnan made his way back to AAA, the next “invasion angle” was started up with Konnan leading a group called “La Legion Extranjera” (Foreign Legion). This group started around 2006 and was were foreign heels would end up. Group has had several wrestlers over the years. In mid-2010, that group would join up with Los Perros Del Mal and form an even larger heel union known as La Sociedad. La Sociedad has been feuding with AAA for awhile now and in the past year with more TNA involvement has also done more of an invasion or takeover angle. There was also the short-lived AAA vs. IWRG feud which actually included Mascara Ano 2000 Jr. and included Dorian and Konnan wanting to take over Arena Naucalpan.

So there you have the numerous, without a brief pause in between, invasion angles over the past 10-12 years in AAA. This one probably would have a little more substance behind it if the La Sociedad (Perros Del Mal/Foreign Legion/TNA) vs. AAA angle wasn’t going on, but you work with the hand you are dealt.

There is a good chance that this angle does work well, but there is also the risk of it falling by the wayside much like De-Generation MEX. Some might recall that group was started when Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero left CMLL and joined X-Pac (Sean Waltman) in AAA. The group was supposed to be this renegade trio, but it never quite worked out as X-Pac was going through his personal problems and Rocky Romero was booked for New Japan tours. Koslov was the lone member most of the time and the group just died out. Its very possible that could happen with this group given Toscano’s history of no-showing events (which he did already) and rather than this group featured at the top of the card against top AAA wrestlers, they end up taking Los Perros Del Mal’s spot against the Psycho Circus which seems very possible. El Consejo is also going to be going against Los Perros Del Mal on their shows and are now they replace Psycho Circus on their shows and that particular feud probably ends now. I say “probably” because with wrestling you never know what the heck promoters/bookers are thinking. You can’t really use logic to explain stuff nowadays anyway. Its best to just go with a “gut feeling”.

This new group probably benefits Los Perros Del Mal shows more than anything given that they get a new top group to feud with and at least these guys have their own t-shirts and that after all is how we all differentiate between each faction.

Hopefully, they go through with this group just being “El Consejo” and not being put into the umbrella group of La Sociedad, which is probably what ends up happening.

TORNEO CIBERNETICO TO CROWN NEW CMLL WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION:

After a little over a month, CMLL finally has decided to come up with a solution to their World Heavyweight Championship. I don’t think they’ve mentioned that Hector Garza left the promotion. They’ve simply announced that they will be holding a torneo cibernetico on Christmas Day at Arena Mexico with the winner becoming the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion.

Its a solution to a problem they had with Garza’s departure, but given that Garza was willing to work more shows after notifying CMLL that he was leaving, seems there was an even better solution (you know, Garza losing the belt to someone else on his way out) and at the very least there would be some continuity to the title lineage. I ‘pity the fool’ (stolen from Mr. T!) who has or wants to keep track of title histories.

Anyway, CMLL decided they’d crown a new champion on Christmas Day. While some might question the choice of day, just need to remind folks that Mexicans tend to celebrate the days leading to Christmas with posadas going on the 9 days before then and Christmas Eve is usually the day/evening to spend with family. Christmas is spent with family as well, but by late evening people want to go do something else, so lucha in the evening works. Not to mention this year, Christmas is on a Sunday.

The ten announced participants in the torneo cibernetico are the recently returning Marco Corleone, Mr. Niebla, Mr. Aguila, Metro, El Terrible, Rey Bucanero, Super Porky, RUSH, Hijo del Fantasma, and El Olimpico. There’s some notable omissions to the list as Ultimo Guerrero and La Sombra are not in this match. Both are listed as wrestling a show out of town.

Looking at the 10 participants in the match, you can probably scratch out Metro, Hijo del Fantasma, Mr. Aguila, Olimpico and Super Porky from winning the world title. It would be a big leap of faith for Metro to win. He’s been a midcard wrestler that has definitely shown some promise, but there really hasn’t been any indication of him moving up the card, unless CMLL ever gets seriously behind that new Shocker faction, with or without Shocker. Hijo del Fantasma is more of a middleweight and even though he’s had some good moments and in the past worked higher on the card, he still is the first name mentioned as likely going to WWE. Lack of size and the possibility of him leaving lower his odds of winning. Every time Los Perros Del Mal promote a show with a “Perro Sorpresa” or mention someone leaving CMLL, Mr. Aguila’s name always seems to be near the top of the list. Not so much because he’s given any indication of leaving and its possible he’s happy in CMLL, but just his history with that group and Mr. Aguila being a name luchador, his name tends to come up more often. I also don’t think he quite fits as World Heavyweight Champion. He’s far better in trios or in shorter singles matches (probably not a problem with the way CMLL does 2/3 falls matches!). I just don’t see Olimpico as a singles champion. He’s great as part of Los Invasores faction, but he’s better suited as the third guy in a trio. Super Porky is old and more of a comedy wrestler. If this were Super Porky from 1995, then I could see him as a possibility for one reason, its Christmas and maybe they want fans to go home happy. Right now though, Super Porky’s in his late 50s. Just don’t see it happening.

So that leaves five possible choices as the next CMLL World Heavyweight Champion…

REY BUCANERO – He’s been around a long time and he’s still a good worker. He’s part of Fuerza TRT and that group could use a big win given the departure of Texano Jr. There’s also the storyline going on between himself, Tiger and Felino. Maybe him winning the belt could be used to show Tiger that he made the right choice in mentor. He’s also part of the CMLL announce crew primarily on the CMLL show that airs on CadenaTres. Rey was also part of the El Luchador reality TV series.

EL TERRIBLE – The other member of Fuerza TRT in this match. He’s another long-time CMLL wrestler. He’s definitely improved over the last 2 years to were he use to be a funny, charismatic rudo, who was best suited as Texano Jr’s tag team partner to being able to carry his own on that tag team as well as gone from being “just another guy” in a faction to key member of a trio/faction. When Texano Jr. left, everyone assumed he’d be the next CMLL wrestler to go. He’s remained loyal to the promotion and has strong ties to the office. He’s also changed his body quite a bit. Again, like Rey Bucanero, I think Fuerza TRT could use someone in that group with a title. There’s also a lot of depth on the tecnico side as potential challengers to the World Champion. It would make some sense that given Ultimo Guerrero isn’t in this, then why not El Terrible with some of the tecnicos chasing the champ.

RUSH – It seems to me that he’s going to be “THE GUY” down the road and right now would be too soon. He’s just not a strong enough worker to be World Champion right now. There’s also the general belief that RUSH is going to end up being a superstar not as a tecnico, but as a rudo. It would make more sense to have him be someone who ‘chases’ the title as a tecnico and once he eventually wins it, he would be a rudo by that point.

MARCO CORLEONE – CMLL hasn’t had a foreign World Heavyweight Champion since 1997 when Steele (Val Venis) held the title. The thought was that CMLL decided that only Mexican talent could hold that title, but I don’t think its something that is etched in stone. Corleone is part of a trio with Rush, so maybe it would work that Corleone win and they run a jealousy angle between the two. He’s my 2nd pick as far as most likely to win. He’s happy to be back and I think he’d represent the promotion well both in and out of the ring.

MR. NIEBLA – My pick to win the World Title. He’s a former World Heavyweight Champion. I would say in the past I probably wouldn’t trust Mr. Niebla, but he’s been pretty reliable of late. There’s several factors why I think he’ll win.

1. He’s a popular rudo. That should help as far as him defending the title against tecnicos and rudos.  He’s not the same worker he was 8-9 years ago, but he’s far more popular now than he’s ever been.
2. Christmas Day.  CMLL might want the fans to go home happy.  Its been a tough year for CMLL and their fanbase feels a bit alienated.  A Mr. Niebla win satisfies far more fans than anyone else winning.
3. The Zacarias El Perico factor.  Ever since Mr. Niebla and him formed their alliance, Mr. Niebla has been a far more reliable luchador.  He doesn’t no-show as much.  Its pretty obvious Zacarias is a helluva coach, advisor and role model.  Besides, who wouldn’t want to see Zacarias and Mr. Niebla celebrating a big win?

UH-OH! IS THERE A NEW BLUE DEMON ABOUT TO DEBUT?

There’s been some rumors out there that CMLL might debut a new Blue Demon….YES! A NEW BLUE DEMON! Not a “junior”, but a new Blue Demon. There has been an ongoing disagreement between Blue Demon Jr. and Blue Demon’s son, Alfredo Muñoz over their financial agreement. Back in 2007, there was a rumor that the family was going to take away the name from Blue Demon Jr., but it never happened.

Could CMLL have made the family an offer to use the name? Very possible. If you want to rank people that CMLL hates, Blue Demon Jr. would have to be pretty high on the list. A few years ago, he had some pretty strong words for CMLL claiming that the NWA might file a lawsuit for use of the NWA name. How did CMLL respond to this legal claim? They simply renamed the NWA titles to the “NWA Historic” titles. Blue Demon Jr. continued to put down CMLL over the years. Its actually gotten at times to be a little silly. Most recently he complained about CMLL honoring Blue Demon on the day of his death via his twitter account.

The idea of having another Blue Demon is pretty pathetic. For one thing its the very same thing that CMLL accused Antonio Pena of doing when he would just re-gimmick new wrestlers under old successful characters like La Parka and Mascara Sagrada. Fans never accepted the second versions quite like the originals. CMLL’s current situation with lower attendance and in some ways their booking has alienated their hardcore fans that if they do debut a new Blue Demon, I could see that harming them far more than having a heel ref like Tirantes, or having a crappy finish on a big show or losing more talent.

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