Auditorio Municipal de Tijuana
Tijuana, BC, Mexico
XLUM has been running for a few months, but I had never made it down to one of their shows before. When I found out Survival Tobita was on the card I decided it was time. For those who don’t know who Survival Tobita is, he is most known for fighting monsters in his promotion, Saitama Pro Wrestling Company. When we went up to the ticket booth their was no line at all. Normally when going to Promociones de Baja California shows you have to wait in line from anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. We got inside about 8:20 and the place was virtually empty for a 8:30 start. Easily the smallest crowd I have seen for wrestling in Tijuana. I’d say attendance was about 2,000 by the end of the night.
Thunder Mask & Angel de Tijuana defeat Scream & Caballero 2000
This match, like most lucha openers was pretty terrible. When Angel de Tijuana and Scream were in the ring together it was like watching the match in slow motion. XLUM has these big screens showing the matches, and they have projectors in the seats. I found myself more entertained by some kids who kept trying to find ways to walk in front of these projectors much to the dismay of the projectionists, than I did the match. Thunder Mask however looked pretty good every time he was in the ring.
A backstage promo was shown on the screens with NOSAWA, Masada, and Tobita. During the promo Tobita just went after the camera for no reason at all. Maybe he thought it was a robot or something. Very funny stuff.
Extreme Tiger & Profeta defeated Stigma & Extassis via countout
This match started out pretty slowly. I had seen Stigma and Extassis wrestle at a Revolution Pro show before and I wasn’t really impressed by them. They didn’t really do anything to impress me this show either. The first two falls were pretty flat, but then during the third fall it seemed like everyone decided to go all out. Extreme Tiger looks to be really good. He was busting out some crazy matwork and then proved his insanity. Stigma was laying on the ground on the outside. So Extreme Tiger climbs to the top turnbuckle and does a 450 to the floor. It looked like he legit knocked himself out on the move. He got back in the ring somehow and the ref did the countout. Tiger must have hurt his chin also, because he was desperately trying to remove his mask in the ring, eventually taking the bottom part off.
Nosawa, Masada & Survival Tobita defeats Pantera, Tony Rivera & Principe Arandu (3rd fall was won by DQ due to low blow)
The Japanese wrestlers came out first, and while the crowd had been dead most of the night, they came alive when NOSAWA, Masada, and Tobita entered the ring. Their was so much heel heat. People were throwing things, and chanting “Mexico”. They came out to “Keep Em Separated” and even did a dance as they entered the ring. The technico team each came out individually, and strangely enough Pantera and Tony Rivera came out to WWF music. Pantera to Tazz’s music, and Tony Rivera to Cactus Jack’s. Principe Arandu was super over with the crowd. This was the first time I had seen Masada and he looked really good. He and Pantera matched up real well towards the beginning of the match. When Tobita first came in, he was up against Pantera, who I guess was the closest thing to a monster in the match. Tobita isn’t a very good wrestler. His forte is wrestling robots and trees, not luchadors. Pantera got Tobita on the ground into a bridge, then Pantera did a head stand where he kept kicking Tobita in the stomach, first with one foot then with both feet. The technicos one the first fall when all three Japanese guys were thrown into a pile and then pinned. The second fall was won by the Japanese team, and then the third fall was one by the Japanese when Masada was low blowed by Pantera. Overall a pretty good match. The crowd heat for it really added to the match. Tobita was the only weak link wrestling wise and he was kept to a minimum in the ring.
Mosco de la Merced defeated Negro Casas
Once again WWF music was used, this time Mosco came out to HHH’s theme. What craziness. Mosco came out with Huerta, one of the promoters, who was wearing a FMW shirt and had a kendo stick. When Negro Casas came out the crowd went crazy. This match started out with a lot of technical wrestling but quickly went to brawling. I don’t remember how Mosco won the first fall, but he did. In the 2nd fall a chair was brought into the match, and Mosco bladed. Mosco dominated most of the fall, but Negro got the upper hand and knocked Mosco down with a chair shot. Unfortunately for Negro Casas, Mosco landed right next to a guitar and got up and knocked him out with it. Mosco then pinned him for the 2nd fall. Really surprising for Mosco de la Merced to win the match in two falls.
Rey Misterio Jr. & Atlantis defeat the teams of Dr. Wagner & Blue Panther, Rey Misterio Sr. & Super Parka, and La Parka & Venom Black in the “Cuadrangular de la Muerte” for La Copa XLUM match
This was basically a four corners tag team elimination match. When one member of a team is pinned he is eliminated but the other member is still in the match. More WWF music in this match, including Rey Misterio Sr. & Super Parka coming out to “Latino Heat” and La Parka coming out to Chyna’s music hilariously enough. The match started with Blue Panther and Atlantis in the ring. They were doing some great matwork, but the ring was slippery in one part due to some beer thrown at the ring during the intros. The beer was mopped up later in the match. Very impressive stuff from both. Next was the battle of Rey Jr. vs. Rey Sr. They worked pretty good together as was to expected. They shook hands and kissed afterwards, and then each tagged someone else. Venom Black was up against Super Parka next. Then La Parka vs. Dr. Wagner. Venom Black became the first person eliminated when he was pinned by Rey Misterio Sr. Next up was what my friend called the mirror match. La Parka vs. Super Parka. Fantastic matchup. La Parka busted out some crazy arm drags, but Super Parka had the upper hand pretty much the whole time. Super Parka became the second person pinned when everyone but Rey Sr. came into the ring and pinned him. By this point all the beer was cleaned up and everyone was going full speed. Atlantis and Wagner matched up together, and Wagner eventually got the pin on Atlantis. Next Rey Misterio Jr. pinned Blue Panther, leaving one person from each team left. La Parka and Rey Misterio Sr. were at it next, when Lady Victoria came out and interfered, hitting La Parka with a kendo stick. Rey Sr. then low blowed La Parka, but the ref saw it and DQ’d Rey Sr. Wagner then came in and with La Parka worn down from Rey Sr., the kendo stick, and the low blow Wagner made short work of him. That left Rey Jr. and Dr. Wagner. At first we were kind of worried if Rey Jr. would even show because he missed the last few Tijuana shows that I went to that he was booked for. Not only did he show up he really worked hard too. Dr. Wagner kept powerbombing Rey, then with the ref would start the three count Wagner would lift Rey and stop the count. This went on about five or six times. Eventually Rey reversed a powerbomb into a huricanrana. Rey then hit the swinging through the ropes kick and got the pin. Overall a great match. Post match he and Atlantis celebrate and they were awarded some trophies. This may have been Rey Jr.’s last Tijuana match before starting with the WWF.
Overall a really good show. Better than the last Tijuana show I went to, with the main event being worth getting the tape for alone. If you want to see the show Jon Talwar was down their taping it and you can get a copy from him by emailing jontalwar@hotmail.com. Next week in Tijuana is AAA headlined by Cibernetico vs. Gronda vs. Head Hunter.
