WWE Signs Averno

[Troy]

WWE has signed top Lucha heel Averno, who worked for CMLL for years, feuding with current WWE star Sin Cara under his old persona of Mistico. While there is no word on what the company's plans for him are, the smart money would be on a recreation of their old feud.

As I noted earlier today, there had been talk in recent weeks of signing some new talent from Mexico in advance of their October Raw and Smackdown tapings in Mexico City.

It was reported today here on PWInsider.com and by Super Luchas in Mexico that Averno has signed a deal with WWE and would be dropping his mask against La Mascara on 6/17 at Arena Mexico.


Averno's name has been linked to WWE since Sin Cara signed and was even one of the guys he was working against in his highlight video before he debuted plus he tried out with him last October.

The deal didn't get done though until recently when WWE reps asked Sin Cara who would he like to have as an opponent since most of the WWE guys haven't adapted to him yet so he suggested his natural rival and friend Averno.

Averno is being rumored to be coming in as an unmasked heel but that can change easily but this is a huge blow to EMLL as Averno has been right up there with Ultimo Guerrero as the lead rudos.

The scuttlebutt is that Averno hasn't told EMLL yet that he was leaving only that he wanted to lose his mask and if they didn't oblige him then he would lose it on an
independent show.
The political environment in the promotion right now is pretty shaky and this will only serve to make it more uneasy for everyone. With this coming out in the media in Mexico, the chance of EMLL changing their minds regarding the mask match is likely and could lead to chaos but we will see.

I like this signing and it shows how much WWE want Sin Cara to succeed that they are willing to ask him for a hand picked opponent from another company. I hope that they bring him in masked rather than unmasked because it would be nice to have more masked wrestlers in WWE. I would assume that Sin Cara's matches with Averno in WWE would be excellent and would be a good way to get him back on track. Hopefully he is brought into WWE soon.

Your thoughts on this signing?

 

[olga@wrestlingbooks]

I would be more excited if trusted WWE with long-term planning. Obviously a feud between the two would be great, for the few weeks they have the patience to run it. Bringing in more starts from Mexico isn't a solution, and although I'm not opposed to it as I like Lucha, there is plenty of younger guys on the roster who could work with Cara. I'd rather they take the time to establish some of the guys like Kidd, Baretta, Tatsu, Ryder etc.

 

[Tapout]

I like it. WCW had success with brining in Lucha Libras. I think it could create a new division in the WWE, and hopefully bring back the Crusierweight title. I had the big guys. Things I love about Japanese, and Mexican wrestling is the amount of little guys. Like Dragon Kid, for example, hes 5'2". Averno is only 5'9". If this goes off right, I might enjoy watching WWE a lot more.

 

[Chase]

I like it. WCW had success with brining in Lucha Libras. I think it could create a new division in the WWE, and hopefully bring back the Crusierweight title. I had the big guys. Things I love about Japanese, and Mexican wrestling is the amount of little guys. Like Dragon Kid, for example, hes 5'2". Averno is only 5'9". If this goes off right, I might enjoy watching WWE a lot more.

Yeah but from a market stand point is dumb. You think now it is cool, but wait until they all become americanized. You see the whole reason of Rey being brought in was he was a well known luchador, and WWE was able to catch fans who never watched WCW with this luchador, and thus people were excited to see Mysterio every time. It was rare to see a luchador, the more luchadors they sign, the more of like we don't care about them happens. Also just because they can wrestle a 60 min classic in Japan does not mean they can all wrestle like that in a American style.

 

[Keith]

Fair point, but at the moment they have only signed two, and like Troy said this seems to be partly to help Cara out, which seems a smart move to me. One thing I will give WWE credit for recently, is the way they have broaden their net, as far as signing different kinds of talent, they have suched for me indie type guys, and have not been put off by small guys, who on paper might sruggle to get over in WWE. Fact is they have seen something in them, and want to work at getting them over.

 

[Andrew]

I believe it's a good signing; if you look at the FCW Talent you've got the following people who could be on Smackdown or RAW:

Peter Orlov (Known as Alex Koslov - He was the one who appeared in Sin Cara's vignette before he debuted)
Dean Ambrose (Known as Jon Moxley - He has worked in many independent promotions and could work with them)
Epico & Hunico (Tag team on FCW who have high-flying style)
Ricardo Rodriguez (Believe it or not; he can wrestle... Have him part ways with ADR)
Evan Bourne (On RAW but could carry a match)
Richie Steamboat (No explanation needed)
Xavier Woods (Consequence Creed from TNA)

So that's 8 guys... You could literally bring back Cruiserweight Division seriously; there is enough people from FCW and such who could easily carry a great match with Sin Cara and Averno.

 

[Keith]

There is defintly room for a crusierweight Division there right now, there are just so many guys under contract who they are going to struggle to give TV time for, so having them involved in something like that, might justify them being under contract, and if done right, it might bring a different crowd in.

 

[Andrew]

Even if it's defended on Superstars I wouldn't care; merge the IC/US and bring Cruiserweight belt back and it works

 

[Deezy]

Nobody cared about the Cruiserweight division in WCW or WWE, its treated like leprosy and anyone who are relegated to it are stuck with that stigma. Leave it dead and buried.

 

[Purple PuNk]

Tatsu versus Sin Cara would be pretty cool to see. As far as this signing it would be a bit odd... hope they do not get TOO carried away with this sort of decision.

 

[Brock Lesnar]

I mean if they guy debuts wearing a mask, it might be harder than you think to distinguish him from Sin Cara, but I'm sure the WWE will make sure that's not the case. They could go the Del Rio route and demask him, turn him into something completely different. It'll take time to see where they go from here.

 

[Keith]

Nobody cared about the Cruiserweight division in WCW or WWE, its treated like leprosy and anyone who are relegated to it are stuck with that stigma. Leave it dead and buried.

Are you nuts? It didn't work in WWE because they never took it serious and because they had people in it who weren't even cruiserweight, but how can you say it never got over in WCW? The likes of Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Deam Malenko and Ultimate Dragon became stars off the back of it. The Mysterio/Malenko matches was one of the highlights of the summer of 96, and the Hair VS.Title match between Eddy and Rey in 97 was played before a super heated crowd. Add to this the sucess of the original TNA X-Division is further prove that that it can work when promoted correctly, and with the right talent.

 

[Big Red Jericho Punk]

I couldn't agree more Keith. If anyone watched the Chris Jericho DVD, he explains how big the cruiserweight division was in WCW. It was one of the best things going on and a part to their high ratings. The excitement was off them, so Keith is completely right. Malenko and Jericho had one of the best feuds in WCW. If it wasn't for the Goldberg and Kevin Nash to name a few, these guys could have gotten the push.

 

[Tapout]

I'm with Keith here too. The Crusierweight division did wonders for anyone involved in it in WCW. Granted, it did fall short in comparison while in WWE, but again, it served a purpose, and got the smaller guys over. Notice how when the Crusierweight division died, so did the career of a lot of superstars.

Funaki
Jamie Noble
Brain Kendrick
Paul London
Shannon Morre
Chavo Guerrero
Billy Kidman
Tajiri
Nunzio

Yeah, and in my opinion, all of those guys had talent. Just couldn't get over after the WWE got rid of the one thing they had going for them. With the exceptions being Chavo, and Kendrick. Even today we could have a stacked and great division. It would do wonders for the smaller wrestler. The one that should be getting more air time then they are.

 

[Keith]

The only thing I disagree with you about is the WWE Cruiserweight Divison, I don't think that really served much of a purpose at all, another problem they had was that the guys wrestling in the cruiserweight Divison seem to use the same set of moves as normal WWE wrestlers.