NB: I watched these out of order but am posting them chronologically.

Mr. Niebla & Olimpico vs. Blue Panther & Rencor Latino (CMLL 02/01/00)

Not content with two blood feuds, CMLL decide to add a third. This is some old school booking from CMLL. It reminds me of the early 80s when they'd have an apuesta match nearly every week. This was a bit different as it was being booked toward a mano a mano and not a mask vs. mask match, but you wouldn't know from the bloodshed, Olympic bled buckets and Panther's mask was so badly ripped at the end that you could see his face years ahead of his unmasking. I'm often critical of Panther as a rudo, but I thought he was excellent here. When you think of Panther, you don't think of a worker who licks another man's blood from his fingers or parades his bloodied foe for others to see, but that was the Panther we got here and it was quite a surprise. The match was short because it was a one night tournament and lucha tournament matches are notoriously short, but it packed a fair-sized punch for such a short match.

Atlantis, Emilio Charles Jr. & Tarzan Boy vs, Fuerza Guerrera, El Satanico & Villano III (CMLL 02/01/00)

This was the first match from February that felt like it was on par with the January stuff and I don't think it's a coincidence that it takes place at Arena Coliseo. Coliseo seems tailor-made for the Satanico v. Tarzan Boy feud. You sense that it loses something in Arena Mexico kind of like playing a larger venue vs. a smaller, more intimate one. Here you've got fans holding Tarzan Boy signs whereas I'm not sure he's that over Arena Mexico. And Satanico looks king-sized this smaller setting. He looks like he's on a different plane from everyone else. No one can match the ferocity with which he attacks Tarzan Boy. Villano III looks like hes moving in slow motion by comparison and even Fuerza couldn't keep up with Satanico's intensity. The only thing that comes close is Panther licking Olimpico's blood and showing off his kill to the audience. Tarzan Boy is pretty low rent but I liked the fire on his comeback here and I thought the injury storyline off the missed plancha was a nice twist after he'd finally shown some fire. Satanico stomping the ankle was wonderful as was the finger biting. Atlantis vs. Villano can't really hold a candle to the Satanico/Tarzan Boy ring work, though I did like their punch exchange. I'm sure the mask match is still a classic, but Villano comes across as slower and less vicious than Satanico and Atlantis comes across some squeaky clean do-gooder who can't understand why the Villanos are picking on him. Acting was never his forte, but you've got to be prepared to fight fire with fire in an apuesta match and I don't really get that feeling from him. Which makes me suspect that the mask vs. mask match may be closer to a pure lucha match than a brawl, but we'll see. It's been a long time since I watched it.

Blue Panther vs. Olimpico (CMLL 02/08/00)

I liked the booking here with Olimpico's DQ victory in the tournament final setting up a mano a mano bout. And I liked the continued viciousness from Panther who has never looked better as a rudo. I also liked the idea of giving Olimpico a huge victory over Panther even if he held the ropes to do it. But you'd think they would have shown more than they did on the TV broadcast. The clipping in February is worse than January.

Black Warrior, Zumbido & Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Antifaz del Norte, Felino & Safari (CMLL 02/11/00)

This was another match butchered in the edit. This was extra frustrating as we never got a proper look at Pimpenela in CMLL. Instead they clipped the Black Warrior vs. Felino exchanges together even though it wasn't a feud. After an exciting January this company is starting to nosedive.

Negro Casas, Emilio Charles Jr., Mr. Niebla & Tarzan Boy vs. Bestia Salvaje, El Satanico, Scorpio Jr. & Shocker (CMLL 02/11/00)

I believe this is the first 2000 match from Arena Mexico and oddly it's an atomicos match. God only knows how long this lasted but it as clipped to shit on the TV broadcast. There was enough shown to demonstrate how much better Satanico was at brawling with his partner than Shocker was, for example, and a lot that you could study about his rudo performance. But ultimately it was another asskicking for Tarzan Boy, who hasn't done enough to fight back in this feud, and a disconnect with the other participants in the atomicos. Not that strong a match in my view.

Atlantis vs. Villano III (CMLL 02/11/00)

This was so badly clipped in the first two falls that it was hard to get any idea of how the match was flowing. The third caida was slightly better, but the switcheroo made the entire thing seem like an angle, which it was, really. If you ask me, the build to Atlantis vs. Villano has been less than perfect.

Negro Casas, Ringo Mendoza & Emilio Charles Jr. vs. Blue Panther, Cien Caras & Black Warrior (CMLL 02/22/00)

I don't know what lit a fire under Panther but he is officially the second best rudo in the company. I think it was April and May that Panther had his classic matches with Santo in Monterrey and it's clear now that he was enjoying a rich vein of form heading into those appearances. I loved every second of Panther vs. Ringo regardless of how decrepit Ringo may have looked. I also liked the Casas vs. Black Warrior build. CMLL has a habit of phasing guys down the card after long programs. and after feuding with Bestia and Scorpio for what seemed like an eternity, Casas didn't seem like he had much to do in January. Here they gave him something to do and it was the best he's looked so far. This was edited to shit but still enjoyable. That may be the new barometer of a good CMLL match.

Atlantis, Mr. Niebla & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs, Dr. Wagner Jr., Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr. (CMLL 02/25/00)

I'm back on the CMLL train with this match. I never thought I could be so excited about a "non-match" but this was tremendous. Wagner needs to stop spending so much time in Japan because he turned shit on its head right away by slapping Perro at ringside. I love how Perro's son, or his nephew, or whomever it with him at ringside, looked like Chris from the Sopranos. With their dye-jobs, Bestia and Scorpio look like the Fabulous Ones or some other Southern heel tag team. I'm pretty much a Bestia fan for life at this point as I thought he looked great here. For some reason, Atlantis showed more fire here than in his trios matches against Villano and seemed more affronted by Wagner attacking Perro than the Villanos stomping a mudhole in his own hide. Somebody in CMLL was watching the WWF for clues because Villano III's appearance couldn't have been more WWF unless his theme music dropped. It worked nicely, though. Perro getting involved meant the segment as a whole was longer than most of the trios matches that have aired thus far. It was also a reminder of how great Perro's match with Universo 2000 was. Crash booking lucha style, but crash booking done well.

Negro Casas vs, Black Warrior (CMLL 02/29/00)

This was a bit of a letdown after Satanico vs. Tarzan Boy and the angle with Perro Aguayo, but it was mano a mano, which carries with it a glass ceiling. Clipping or no clipping, the point was for Casas to defeat Black Warrior and earn a title shot or at least prove worthy of one. This was never going to be anything more than build.

Emilio Charles Jr., Mr. Niebla & Tinieblas Jr. vs, Fuerza Guerrera, Scorpio Jr. & Violencia (CMLL 02/28/00)

Not much to report about here. Emilio tried to breathe some life into things with a spirited comeback after being fouled in the primera caida, but aside from the old lucha trope of the tecnico fouling the rudo back there wasn't much to this.