A couple of reminders

Mexico doesn’t use DST anymore, but you may still use it. Various European countries turned their clocks back this past weekend, and the US and various North American countries will switch this coming weekend. Whenever your clock switches, the start time for streams coming from Mexico will be one hour earlier.

CMLL has indicated they’ll stream all the Dia del Muertos shows for Fan Leyendas this week. Since it’s Mexican wrestling, we don’t know for sure if they’ll do it live, but keep an eye on CMLL’s YouTube for Puebla tonight if you’re intereste.

CMLL

This was a tough weekend for CMLL injuries.

• Willow Nightingale suffered a concussion on Friday
• Both Lluvia (left eye) and Pequeno Magia (unspecified) left matches on Sunday with injuries
• Sayaki Unagi finished her match, but later revealed she also suffered a broken rib on Sunday

Willow missed the rest of the weekend’s shows. Unagi and Lluvia were scheduled for a title match on Tuesday and are both out. The biggest one is the AAA injury, which I’ll get to later.

CMLL (FRI) 10/25/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Estudio Deportes, Excelsior, Kaiser Sports, Reforma, Telediario, The Gladiadores, thecubsfan]
1) Dulce Gardenia b Difunto [lightning] 
8:43
2) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja DQ Magnus & Rugido 
12:22. non-title match between two champion tag teams. Straight falls; Magnus was eliminated but came back in to save Rugido in the second.
3) Averno © b Zandokan Jr. [CMLL LH] 
2nd defense. Zandokan toped into the barricade when Averno dodged. Doctor and ref tried to stop the match, Averno brought in Zandokan anyway, Averno covered, Zandokan kicked out. Averno covered a second time and got the pin, though the cameras missed it showing a replay. Averno attacked Zandokan as he was loaded onto the stretcher. F1 driver Kimi Antonelli posed with Averno and Mephsito before the match.
4) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario b Cavernario, Euforia, Soberano Jr. 
14:27
5) Amapola, Dark Silueta, Hera, Kira, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit, Reyna Isis, Sanely, Skadi, Zeuxis b Alex Windsor, La Catalina, Persephone, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Tessa Blanchard, Viva Van, Willow Nightingale [Grand Prix de Amazonas] 
Order of elimination: Kira (via Sumika, 20:50), Hera (Catalina, 24:31), Black (Amapola, 29:15), Sumika (Silueta, 32:50), Sanely (Windsor, 35:33), Amapola (Unagi, 38:13), Silueta (Tessa, 40:29), Van (Zeuxis, 41:53), Windsor (Lluvia, 42:49), Isis (Unagi, 44:42), Persephone (Zeuxis , 45:50), Sugeith (Catalina, 47:32), Catalina (Lluvia, 48:34), Tessa (Zeuxis, 50:15), Zeuxis (Nightingale, 51:36), Nightingale (Lluiva, 52:30), Lluvia (Red Velvet, 53:29), Red Velvet (Reyna Isis, 58:25), leaving Reyna Isis as the winner. AEW’s Aubrey Edwards debuted as referee for the match.

This Grand Prix is a hard match to rate.  The crowd was into it, especially to start and and when it got down to the final two. It was also a match with some inescapable flaws, like the mistimed guillotine spot in the final two. Reyna Isis can rise to the occasion in big matches, but I don’t think she really did it here. There was still plenty to like in an hour match, but that length was an issue. Those who did stick around were into it, but it was visibly apparent some decided an hour match was not for them and left early. I think there has to be a real consideration of cutting the fields back to 8 a side or cutting down the pre-elimination portions of the match after this year’s effort to get close to a 40-minute match. This Grand Prix will be interesting to fans of these women but I think they had potential for a better match and didn’t execute to the best of their abilities.

The Zandokan concussion spot appears to have been a bit. Avenro’s done this same bit before, most memorably with Titan early in his career. That time build to a moment where Titan survived another missed dive and came back to beat Averno later for the title, and that may be the long term plan with Zandokan.

Match 4 was the best match of the show, in exactly the ways you’d think it’d be great. Match 2 had good work, but a weird layout. Difunto did very well in the opener, but I’m still not sure he’s a rudo.

CMLL’s hype about the crowd on Friday seemed overinflated.  They teased they were close to a sell-out to move some tickets, but it didn’t seem truly close to a sell-out. There were visible upper level sections completely empty, never having been opened. It still seemed like a pretty good turnout, just not what they were pretending it’d be.

It was a busy weekend for F1/CMLL crossovers. CMLL had an F1 driver in the ring, Mistico met with the Mexican F1 driver, and the race day broadcast kicked off with a scene from Arena Coliseo. AAA was running matches at the venue – the same venue that hosted the AutoLucha shows a few years ago – but didn’t get the same attention. Other CMLL wrestlers (and Salvador Lutteroth) attended a 5/10 KM race at the military camp that AAA’s run tapings from lately.

CMLL (SAT) 10/26/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Leono & Retro b Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Crixus, El Coyote, Pólvora b El Audaz, Principe Daniel, Valiente Jr.
3) India Sioux, Samantha Black, Tabata b Hera, La Maligna, Olympia
4) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider b Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black
5) Zeuxis b Skadi [lightning]
6) Flip Gordon, Templario, Volador Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Terrible

Sounded like it continued the run of not very good Saturday shows.

CMLL (SUN) 10/27/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) KeMalito & Periquito Sacaryas b Mije & Tengu
2) Sayaka Unagi b Dark Silueta [lightning]
3) Shockercito b Último Dragóncito, Pierrothito, Pequeño Olímpico, Fantasy, Mercurio, Angelito, Pequeño Violencia, Kaligua, Full Metal, Pequeño Magía, Pequeño Polvora, Acero, Aéreo, Galaxy, Rostro De Acero [cibernetico]
elimination order: Aereo (via Galaxy), Acero (Full Metal) Fantasy (Pequeno Olimpico), Pequeno Violencia (Kaligua), Rostro de Acero (Mercurio), Full Metal (Pierrothito), Ultimo Dragoncito (Galaxy), Pequeno Magia (injury), Pierrothito, Angelito (Ultimo Dragonicto), Ultimo Dragoncito (Mercurio), Mercurio (Shockercito), leaving Shockercito as the winner.
4) Lluvia, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis b Persephone, Samantha Black, Sumika Yanagawa
Persephone replaced Willow Nightingale (concussion), Lluvia suffered a left eye injury and left early, but her team still won.
5) Místico, Neón, Volador Jr. b Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.

Neon is back to normal after his dive mishap.

Sanely’s been added to the Arena Puebla show to replace Unagi, though it’s Catalina who takes her place on the team so CMLL can do a Mexico/World trios match.

CMLL (TUE) 10/29/2024 Arena México
1) Eléctrico, Robin, Valiente Jr. vs Cholo, Grako, Sangre Imperial
2) Hera & Olympia vs Samantha Black & Sumiaka Yanagawa
3) Sayaki Unagi © vs Lluvia [CMLL JAPAN WOMEN]
3) Zeuxis © vs Reina Isis [CMLL WOMEN]
4) Zandokan Jr. vs Magnus, Villano III Jr., Difunto, Crixus, Espanto Jr., El Coyote, Vegas [Rey del Inframundo, semifinal]
5) Atlantis Jr., Neón, Templario vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

CMLL officially announced Lluvia and Unagi off the shows on Monday morning, about 18 hours after it happened. It doesn’t take long to get a medical update out to the public, if that’s what you’re interested in doing. CMLL also could’ve replaced that match with any sort of women’s match, and decided to run the current world champion against the person who just won the Grand Prix; definitely a match of equal value or greater.

CMLL (TUE) 10/29/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Adira, Hatanna, Zorah vs Candela, Emperatriz, Magia Azul
2) Nexy & Valkiria vs Lady Shadow & Miss Guerrera
3) Dulce Gardenia, Fantástico, Pelon Encapuchado vs Cris Skin, Optimus, Trono
4) Futuro, Gallo Jr., Rafaga Jr. vs Lince Del Bajio, Prince Drago, Rayo Metálico
5) Furia Roja vs Gallero, Arlequín, Barboza, Maléfico, Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Bestia Negra [Rey del Inframundo, semifinal]
6) Brillante Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Averno, Euforia, Soberano Jr.

I guess Barboza is winning that cibernetico but I really don’t know. Futuro and Rayo Metalico being on opposite sides of match 4 may be setting up something.

I haven’t watched much CMLL this weekend (only the three hour show), but you can watch more CMLL

AMX 10/13 CMLL

• Arkalis & Stigma vs Disturbio & Pólvora
• India Sioux, Náutica, Skadi vs Amapola, La Maligna, Olympia
• Flip Gordon, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

Puebla 10/21 CMLL

• India Sioux vs Samantha Black
• Maligna, Metálica, Olympia, Tabata, Zeuxis vs Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van
• Místico, Stigma, Xelhua vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

Capitan Suicida and Tiger Mask are 0-3 so far in the Supr Junior Tag League so far. They’ve got two more chances to pick up a win.

Fantastica Mania

NJPW announced the roster and schedule for Fantastica Mania 2025

Wrestlers appearing:

• Mistico
• Volador Jr.
• Atlantis Jr.
• Titan
• Mascara Dorada
• Templario
• Stigma
• Ultimo Guerrero
• Hechicero
• Soberano Jr.
• Averno
• Barbaro Cavernario
• Okumura
• Magnus
• Zandokan Jr.
• Neon
• Max Star
• Xelhua
• Rugido
• Raider

Shows

• 02/19 Osaka
• 02/20 Kagawa
• 02/21 Osaka
• 02/22 Nagoya
• 02/23 off
• 02/24 Kyoto
• 02/25 off
• 02/26 Chiba
• 02/27 Korakuen Hall
• 02/28 Korakuen Hall

Eight shows in ten days are going to keep these guys busy. Twenty people are booked, so they’ve got to run a lot to make it work.

The five debuts are all on the younger side of the roster; no Pegasso or Felino Jr. is getting a gold watch tour this time. Xelhua’s started getting some attention out of the CMLL bubble, but Raider’s inclusion strikes me as someone watching the full CMLL shows closely to figure it’s good. Fantastica Mania historically hasn’t done much with the debuting wrestlers; they’re often there just to fill out tag matches. I would caution you not to expect Xelhua to be wrestling Zack Sabre Jr. on these shows. Still, there’s no obvious family tournament this year so maybe they’ll run something else that includes them. (I could guess at a trios tournament: Dorada/Neon/Max, Depradores, Titan/Zandokan/Yota, and then pick three rudos.)

The top half of the card is a lot of familiar faces, which means probably a lot of familiar matches. These shows were originally exciting for CMLL fans because they provided a lot of matches that CMLL itself wasn’t booking. CMLL’s gotten better about that, which means more repeats here. It also doesn’t matter as much to the live fans, who won’t care if NJPW runs Mistico/Averno again in Koruraken after it happened in Mexico already – it’s their chance to see it live.

No luchadoras were announced for this tour, as normal. La Jarochita and Lluvia did end up working a match last year because the separate schedule they were working (for whomever books the CMLL women in Japan) happened to overlap FantasticaMania. If any CMLL women end up going to Japan again during FantasticaMania, they’ll probably be added to a show later on.

Averno versus Mistico is a lock for the final day. That was the final CMLL match on the first version of this tour and the final match Mistico had before surprising CMLL by leaving for WWE. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself. Averno/Mistico doesn’t feel like the tour ending match in 2024. Maybe it’s Volador/Dorada?

CMLL will likely run another Torneo de Escuelas back in Mexico during this tour to fill some of the empty space.

AAA

Hijo del Vikingo left Sunday’s TNA match with an apparent leg injury. The severity has not been reported at the moment. Laredo Kid posted an Instagram reel of the injury and Vikingo being taken to the hospital; his comments suggest Vikingo will be out for a bit. Vikingo did a twisting moonsault to the floor; one of his legs got caught underneath him at a bad angle, and he could not go on. Vikingo himself seemed to be at peace in his Instagram stories.

Hijo del Vikingo is scheduled to headline AAA’s Guerra de Titanes in a title challenge against Alberto. AAA fills that Juarez building every year, usually with weaker main events, so it would be little harm for them to announce Vikingo off this show (if he can’t go.) AAA’s practice is they’ll say zero words about this situation until the show starts and then reveal the main event won’t happen. Maybe they’ll even do it in a way to get heat on the evil ownership. AAA is using Octagon Jr. as the Vikingo understudy so he’d be the logical replacement, but he’s already facing Mesias on the show. Maybe AAA would move up Pagano instead. AAA’s also teased Vampiro challenging for the title a couple of times this year and could just do it, even though the match would likely be awful.

Prior to the injury, Mike Bailey defeated Hijo del Vikingo to keep the X-Division title. My theory for picking Vikingo to win is Bailey is impending free agent who seems likely to go elsewhere and that Vikingo ought to be winning in TNA if AAA’s going to make a big deal out of him going there instead of AEW. What happened is it is TNA and that’s where luchadors go to lose, though Vikingo had a chance to have a better match than Laredo usually does.

(random fact that I don’t think people realize: since Unimas is in so many more homes than AXS TV, AAA probably has more viewers than TNA in the US every week. No one talks about AAA, though.)

I’ll catch up on AAA TV later this week, but there are two common themes to AAA. One is that they’re doing a bunch of skits where the El Ojo group is trying to recruit various people to join their team. They keep asking the good guys, it turns out the good guys don’t want to join the evil faciton, and the evil faction is surprised by this turn of events every time. Riveting stuff. The other bit is AAA trying to put out vignettes on social media to create a buss – like a clip of Konnan and Alberto trashing Latin Lover for continually asking podcast guests to join his team and mocking Fresero Jr. for being a nothing in their eyes. If you want to get social media attention, Fresero Jr. will get his fans to give it to you, but I don’t know if there’s a plan beyond that. There is about a weekly JBL clips saying racist things, seemingly to get people angry enough to respond them. The reaction I see more often is WWE fans of JBL just being happy he’s around without really knowing or caring much about what’s going on. The goal in all of this is attention, not matches, but it’s not really clear to what end attention is going to go – AAA seems to be at least five months away from the next thing they can sell to people who get mad at them on internet.

The funny bit is aggregators have jumped up on the latest promo where JBL talked taking AAA global as part of his heel promo. Back here in the real world, AAA stopped promoting the Spain tour the day after the story came out that the shows would likely be canceled. AAA hasn’t said the shows are canceled, they’re just doing their usual bit of avoiding bad news by pretending it never happened. Ticketmaster Spain still has the tickets on sale at this point.

UK’s Progress Wrestling announced Hijo del Vikingo versus Cara Noir for 11/24. That obviously depends on his health status, and AAA may not want them to say anything until they get around to it. I haven’t seen Cara Noir since pre-pandemic, but it strikes me as a strange match.

Parka Negra announced he would no longer be using that gimmick. His statement is intentionally unclear on any other aspects of that decision; there’s no indication of the reasons why he’s leaving the gimmick or if this means he’s leaving AAA. Parka Negra originally wrestled as Angel Mortal Jr. and came into AAA in the same talent search that brought them Hijo del Vikingo – Vikingo’s called him the best base he’s worked with. Parka Negra seems talented as a rudo and a comedy figure – he’s someone AAA could’ve moved up to Taurus’ old spot, rather than just dropping a Taurus mask on a less experienced wrestler and hoping it would’ve worked out. Instead, AAA’s gone the other way, and Parka Negra has appeared on AAA TV just once in the last year despite a depleted roster. The default here is chalking up the Parka Negra disappearance act to AAA not evaluating their talent optimally, but this Parka Negra situation has been so weird that I’m willing to allow for the chance there’s more to his story that just hasn’t gotten out.

My first guess upon hearing this story was AAA was revamping all the Parka stuff at once. They’re going to introduce a new La Parka, perhaps they want a new (fifth!) La Parka Negra to go with him, and the old guy is getting the boot. Thinking about it more, the best person on the AAA roster to be the new La Parka is actually probably the old evil La Parka. He knows the gimmick, he does some of the bits, he’s a good wrestler. It’s just hard to know what AAA’s thinking here – where they keeping him off TV because they had some problem with him, or where they keeping him off TV so people would forget about the character when they brought him back under a new gimmick? I guess we’ll know if Angel Mortal Jr. shows up in IWRG again soon.

Cibernetico announced on Facebook that he’s retiring from lucha libre immediately. Cibernetico posts a lot of stuff on social media to amuse himself, and there’s been an increase in luchadors posting things on their social media to trick (?) news sites into posting false stories. This may be a joke about Bengalee’s “retirement,” but I don’t think that post should be taken seriously.

During the Monterrey taping, Dorian Roldan sarcastically referred to KAOZ promoter Alonso Botello as “Mr. McMahon de Monterrey.” Because Mexico and AAA is behind the times, this was supposed to be a joke about how Botello’s this big shot successfully wrestling promoter in Monterrey when he actually promotes two or three shows a year (and must not be that successful if he’s doing it that rarely.) In the reality of the United States in 2024, Roldan referring to Botello as a Mr. McMahon de Monterrey implies he’s a promoter who uses his position of power to take advantage of his underlings, especially women. And that’s where we’ll leave this paragraph.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 10/27/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Águila Oriental b Fauno
Aguila Roja seemed to form a team with Aguila Oriental post match.
2) Demonia, Príncipe Centauro, Rey Halcón b Multifacetico Jr., Shamila, Tornado
3) Luka vs Abigor
4) Diva Salvaje, Mamba, Spider Fly b Arez, Látigo, Toxin
5) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Máscara Sagrada b Águila Roja, Hijo del Fishman, Vengador
6) Vangellys © b Jessy Ventura [IWRG Rey del Ring]
Vengador helped Vangellys

IWRG is running a telenovela-ish story with Tornado and Multifacetico trying to win Shamila’s heart. This week’s chapter featured poisoned ice cream.

AEW 

I drove three plus hours to Cedar Rapids on Saturday to watch AEW Collision. Seemed like the thing to do. There’s stuff I’d normally have in this post that I won’t get to until later this week because I spent a lot of time driving through the farmlands of Iowa, so I might as well make up for it by posting some thoughts on that show. It’s a better idea than putting it on Twitter.

• a common refrain of the pontificating class is “AEW needs to run smaller buildings (until they get hotter)”, so that their crowd don’t feel swallowed up by the big buildings. This Cedar Rapids building was in fact a smaller building, and those takes were partially proven right. This was one of the least attended AEW shows (outside of COVID times) but it didn’t feel as empty or depressing as the better-attended show in Dynamite in Champaign I also went to.  The sound bounced around better in the smaller building, and this was a group of fans who were excited to be at the show. The fans were into Johnny TV ROH squash matches before the show even started, that’s what we’re dealing with. Many people left before the ROH tapings concluded, but those who were left had enough enthusiasm to chant for Komander and chant for Abadon/Athena to fight forever. (They did not fight forever, thankfully.)
  • A regular bit at these AEW shows is Tony Khan polling the crowd about how many are returning fans and how many are new fans. The new fans have been a smaller and smaller percentage on the shows I’ve gone to in Illinois and Wisconsin, but it was close to 50/50 in this show. AEW has run Iowa before, but it did seem like there were a lot of people who hadn’t gotten out to one previously.
• The turnout still wasn’t good. The promotion is cold, this wasn’t a strong lineup, and it was happening around the same time as the biggest sporting team in the state, the University of Iowa, was playing a home football game about 30 minutes away. Perhaps AEW should consult college football schedules when planning their fall tour. (If only to help booking hotels.)
  • They should also plan the event posters better. The Cedar Rapids show had 9 people pictured: Willow, Darby, Jericho, Mark Briscoe, Hologram, Orange Cassidy, Daniel Garcia, Thunder Rosa and Kris Statlander. None of those people appeared before the crowd. Thunder Rosa appeared in a pre-tape, which may have been taped that day or may have been taped two weeks ago for all I could tell. I think most people have long figured out the images on those posters are just random people thrown on by a social media person (plus anyone who has ties to the area) and don’t reflect at all who’s going to be on the show, but 0 of 9 in the ring is pretty terrible and shouldn’t be considered acceptable. Either take the photos off the posters or make sure those people are on those shows.
• AEW’s recently found religion about promoting matches for upcoming shows and running video packages to build those matches. Those are good things. This Collision seemed to be a leftover from the before times, with no much built beyond the main event. We spent a fair bit of this episode watching videos for matches that were happening some other time. There were a lot of little things that made it clear we were attending the secondary show. This was a show that really could’ve used a special off camera appearance by top level AEW stars after the live show ended. As much as I enjoyed Athena/Abadon and Komander/Ari Davari, that wasn’t really it.
• Dralistico can do a cool crucifix bomb. I can also show you about four dozen other Mexican wrestlers who can do that spot. He is not great at the other parts of US TV wrestling (like remembering which side of the corner to stand in so your back isn’t facing the hard cam), but he’s Rush’s brother so he’ll be around for a while longer.
• I didn’t like the idea of The Beast Mortos joining LFI because it inherently makes him the second or third most important guy in a group and I think he’s got more potential than that. Sure enough, he was just used as a heater on this show. The other, less safe for Twitter, reason I didn’t like the idea of The Beast Mortos is AEW is unlikely to push LFI besides the middle “beats up on the scrubs, loses to the people who are actually on PPV” level. I am generally leery of groups on US wrestling TV that are all latino or latino-centric, because the history of major US wrestling promotions has to keep them in that exact middle spot no matter the potential. You can see in WWE, where the LWO and Legado factions had a moment and now are stuck being in the middle or lower middle. Those who’ve had the most success in WWE are Dominic Mysterio and Damian Priest, who still have their Latino heritage in the work they do but got in a group where that’s not the sole identity. (And also are tall and/or get a big reaction.) We can come up with our theories as to why this happens, but it’s inescapable that it does happen. The program with FTR & the Outrunners against LFI looks to be ongoing, but it’s hard to believe the LFI is coming out the winners; they’ll be where they are. It may be a waste of Rush, but Rush seems to believe he’ll make it work, and it’s hard to convince Rush of anything else. It’s definitely a waste of Mortos to be on a team that may not make many PPVs.
  • But also, it may be a non-issue since AEW is hammering that Mortos may is not fully committed to LFI – it’s taking them a while to get to wherever they’re going, but they seem to have a destination in mind.
  • What is the high water mark for Mortos in AEW? I feel like he can get close to the Lucha Brothers level – off-month singles title challenger, occasional tag/trios champion, and designated “good match opponent” two weeks before a PPV maybe.
  • The whole Rush beats up Preston Vance to show he’s left LFI makes no sense now, it’s a fairly obvious clue plans were changed along the way. But, more importantly, seeing Preston Vance work ROH matches made me wanted desperately to see him confront Rush during Collision to ask “what the hell, dude?” If they’re running an LFI vs Outrunners/FTR 4v4 match they seemed to be building, LFI needs a fourth guy, and so maybe he’ll be patched back in eventually.
• The Grand Prix win over Red Velvet and the ROH appearances suggest Reyna Isis might be getting a TV title shot soon. I’m not entirely sure that’s the case. Diamante, after a squash win on Saturday, made belt motions and I don’t see her facing Athena.
• There were two other ROH matches building title programs. I thought at least one of them made sense for Final Battle and then I realized – it’s late October and nothing has been said about Final Battle. It’s been a mid December show of late, to space it out from the AEW PPVs, so that’s six weeks away. There’d normally be an announcement of a date and a location by now. It’s kind of strange that there’s nothing, but the interest in the day-to-day of Ring of Honor in 2024 is sadly so small that this doesn’t appear to be a story. Most people who watch Final Battle aren’t going to think about it existing until the week prior to the show anyway, because it’s so off the radar even to AEW fans. I think there is a Final Battle, and I think I could work out about half the matches on the card based on what I saw in Cedar Rapids – it had the feel of one of those tapings where it clicked that a PPV was coming soon and they had to start building to it – but I also think interest is so low that it wouldn’t hurt almost anyone’s feelings if I just spoiled the results on Twitter.
  • I have an affinity towards Ring of Honor and the people who work on it, but the status quo isn’t great. This year’s Final Battle ought to be the end of this iteration of Ring of Honor; either there’s a TV deal and a show formatted with more purpose, or the idea goes on the shelf until they’re in position to do this better than post-Collision matches with half the crowd gone. But, I could’ve said the same thing last time Jericho was ROH champion, nothing much changed then. People seem to expect some news is happening because Jericho is champion again, but it could just be Jericho needed something to do and they’ll have the ROH year end with him losing the title again, nothing more than that.
  • I mean, I’ll still sure buy Final Battle and the show will be good but it feels like Ring of Honor is something that should meaningful exist more than three PPVs a year and it simply does not mean much between them.
• If you do watch ROH, you’ll probably like Abadon/Athena this weekend. Also, if you do watch, you should put a list of like five good ROH matches to watch since the last PPV whenever one happens, because that’s time some people are going to pay up to watch. Others will be grateful. Abadon/Athena might make that list.
• I’m glad I went. I wish I left a little earlier so I could’ve seen more of Cedar Rapids. I spent a lot of Saturday and Sunday driving through the corn fields and backroads of Iowa. I was struck by the thought that presidential candidates travel around these same backroads every four years to build support among a lot of small communities because that’s how our political system works and how utterly bizarre that is in practice.

In other (sorta) AEW news, the first show Arena del Valle – Penta’s news building – took place Sunday. LA Park won the trios main event, then challenged Penta to a super libre match. Penta’s worked a little bit in the last few months, though it seemed like finishing agreed-on bookings rather than taking on new work. Penta used to work a lot, but any match he has now feels like news. Anyway, Penta was there at the start of the show but didn’t come out to face LA Park at the end, and it was probably LA Park shooting an angle to try to get another booking, not something that was planned.

Arena del Valle said this show sold out. Whoever’s actually in charge of the shows (I suspect it’s not actually Penta) is ahead of most Mexican wrestling promoters; they had the next lineup out as soon as this show ended. Not sure I would call Komander versus Blue Wind an All Star match though.

Other News

Bengalee posted (and then either deleted or hid) a post with her unmasked face and real name. The post claims she’s retiring because she was intimate with Willy Banderas despite being married to someone else. It’s meant to be sort of an apology, but it certainly can be read as though someone else has control of her social media and is using it to defame her. It’s very messy either way. You can find the picture; given that context, I’m not going to link to it.

Segunda Caida watches some Gigante Silva in CMLL.

CMLL

Tonight’s show

CMLL (FRI) 10/25/2024 Arena México
1) Dulce Gardenia vs Difunto [lightning]
2) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Magnus & Rugido
non-title match
3) Averno © vs Zandokan Jr. [CMLL LH]
2nd defense
4) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario vs Cavernario, Euforia, Soberano Jr.
5) Amapola, Dark Silueta, Hera, Kira, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit, Reyna Isis, Sanely, Skadi, Zeuxis vs Alex Windsor, La Catalina, Persephone, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Tessa Blanchard, Viva Van, Willow Nightingale [Grand Prix de Amazonas]

I typically have a strong take about the person who will win these Grand Prixs, or at least the people in the mix. I’m not always correct, but there’s usually an obvious direction. I had no strong idea who would win when this field was announced and I still have no strong idea on the day of the show. I still presume it’ll be someone on Team Mexico, but the rise of Persephone is a reminder CMLL is more unpredictable than ever. There are a lot of people who could win and match itself should be pretty good, but I can’t tell you how it’s going to turn out.

CMLL revealed AEW’s Aubrey Edwards would be a special referee for this match. I presume, perhaps incorrectly, that La Vaquerita will still be the main referee. These Grand Prixs both do and do not need extra referees. There are typically three of them: one in the ring doing typical referee things, and two outside of the ring who are supposed to be keeping the teams in order (and then utterly fail to do so as the match turns into a riot once or twice.) I presume the real job of those outside referees is to pass messages back and forth should something go wrong and the elimination need to be reworked, and having an extra English speaker may help with that.

CMLL probably won’t have too many big angles the rest of the way. Next Friday will be the Dia del Muertos shows, so there’s no place to follow up. The rest of this show is just good matches to have good matches. Dorada & Templario have been an outstanding team in the past and have good opponents in match 4. I really liked Averno/Zandokan last time though I think this one is liable to be less cheating and more moves. Match 2 is the reliable world tag team champs against the reliable national tag team champions. Difunto’s been really good of late and the opener with Dulce should get over well. This should be a pleasant show.

CMLL pushed out a lot of ads for the Grand Prix meet and greet in the last day or so, including offering YouTube subscribers 50% off on the day of the show. That seems to indicate they didn’t come close to selling out all 50 tickets (and video footage seemed to confirm that.) Tickets for tonight’s show seem to be moving better; there were just scattered single tickets left on the floor when I checked Friday morning. CMLL was pushing the idea that the floor was pretty much sold out, the balcon was sold out, and gradas were mostly sold. CMLL seemed to think they’d sell this one out. It’s not a lock but it’s definitely plasuisble, and it’ll be a big number either way. I don’t really feel the buzz for this show, but it is still working strong as a ticket-selling concept.

CMLL (MON) 10/28/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Amnesia & Black Tiger vs King Jaguar & Sombra Diabólika
2) Meyer & Valiente Jr. vs Enfermero Jr. & Prayer
3) India Sioux vs Persephone [lightning]
4) Kira, La Catalina, Skadi vs Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa
5) Rey Samuray vs Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma, Xelhua, Multy, Perverso, Guerrero Maya Jr. [Rey del Inframundo, semifinal]
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Star Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

This is the start of the Dia del Muertos week. CMLL is still honoring their concept of two women’s matches on every show even with other theme coming in. Match 5 is the first Guerrero Maya Jr. appearance since joining the rudo side. He seems the easy favorite in the match.

Lady Shadow was listed as a CMLL Amazona again this week on the Guadalajara broadcast, so she’s meant to be part of the CMLL roster even though she only works on Guadalajara shows and rarely even those. I wonder if the Andrade family connection has anything to do with it. That Guadalajara show aired for free even though the men’s equivalent show before the Grand Prix was definitely behind a paywall. CMLL never says what they’re actually doing half the time and I try to assume they’ll follow what they did last time, but that’s not always correct.

Bengalee, of the 2 show CMLL run, announced Friday she was quitting lucha libre immediately. I don’t know what’s going on but I assume she’s not had her last match – that perhaps the CMLL failure was a professional/emotional set back but she’ll be back around soon enough. I wonder what the knockoff effect of Bengalee and the other “independent luchadors” having that terrible Arena Coliseo match and eventually being pulled from all lineups has had on CMLL’s plans. India Sioux will have at least 13 matches this month, and probably a few of them would’ve gone to others. Maybe the original plan had Bengalee and others wrestling in Arena Mexico next Tuesday, freeing up more people to strength Guadalajara’s card.

Amapola is the guest on this week’s CMLL podcast.

Mistico also visited with the F1 drivers this week.

AAA

AAA is taping the next three Sundays, which is odd for them, so nothing this week. They do have a Vampiro retirement show in Ensenada, which seems to be promoted by the same “Lucha Libre AAA Border” group that ran that Tijuana show (and appears to be AAA itself presenting itself as a local promoter for whatever reason.)

On video this week

• Unimas will have part 1 of Heroes Inmortales
  • This show is (currently) listed as a 2 pm ET start time.
• Space will have part 2 of Monterrey
• AAA on YouTube will have part 1 of Monterrey

Latin Lover says he’s talked to AAA about bringing in Shocker for some non-wrestling appearances. Latin also mentions he’s bringing Shocker on his podcast soon.

JBL teased a return to the ring on Twitter, following stem cell therapy. It has never made sense for AAA to bring in JBL to be a third evil owner character associated with Alberto, but they keep putting him on TV anyway. (It’s hard to find an indication that’s actually helped AAA in any way, but AAA’s most important metric is how much heel heat they can get a promo, and JBL is willing to be racist in promos to get the desired heat.) Maybe AAA’s belief is they’ll get him in the ring to wrestle at one of the TripleManias next year. AAA’s main event strategy seems focused on either bringing people out of retirement or sending people to retirement.

IWRG

There was no show on Thursday. They announced it earlier in the week.

IWRG (SUN) 10/27/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fauno vs Águila Oriental
2) Multifacetico Jr., Shamla, Tornado vs Demonia, Príncipe Centauro, Rey Halcón
3) Luka vs Abigor
4) Diva Salvaje, Mamba, Spider Fly vs Arez, Látigo, Toxin
5) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Máscara Sagrada vs Águila Roja, Hijo del Fishman, Vengador
6) Jessy Ventura vs Vangellys © [IWRG Rey del Ring]

The full Mala Fama are back here after a few weeks.

IWRG (THU) 10/31/2024 Arena Naucalpan
***Castillo del Terror, 2024***
1) Príncipe Centauro, Rey Astaroth, Rey Halcón vs Caballero de Plata, Felino Boy, Sky Man
2) Gravity vs Águila Roja ©, Águila Oriental, Cerebro Negro Jr., Iron Kid [IWRG IC Light]
3rd defense
3) Keyra & Shamila vs Julissa & Valentina
4) Pig Decapitador, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. © [EdM Trios, lumberjack]
2nd defense
5) ?, Látigo, Toxin vs Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba [IWRG IC TRIOS]
2nd defense. Arez is part of the champions but maybe not part of the defense?
6) Aquiles, Galeno del Mal, Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Abismo Negro Jr., Colmillo de Plata (AAA), Garra De Oro (AAA), Octagón Jr. (AAA)
7) Pig Destroyer vs Bendito, Multifacetico Jr., Abigor, Villano V Jr., Tornado, Luka, Rock Power, Máscara Sagrada NG, Brazo De Oro Jr., Pandemónium, Spider Fly [cage, mask]

Rock Power and Spider Fly have had issues for months and seem most likely to settle the match. Abigor and Luka have feuded more recently and have a shot. Anyone else losing would be a surprise.

Match 6 features guest AAA appearances from people who were IWRG regulars in past lives. Though everyone wrestled in IWRG in a past life.

I’m unsure what Arez is up to on Thursday that he’s not making this show.

This show usually would be behind a paywall, especially if Mas Lucha were still airing it. I wonder if the IWRG channel has reached a viewership level where that’s an option.

Site News

I’ve added more than 500 new events to the luchadb from magazines Rob picked up during his trip to Mexico last month. I haven’t done a big compilation of just those ones, but today’s post doesn’t have much to it so I’ll point out the additions to more significant venues:

• Arena Mexico:
  • 06/24/1960 (Friday, only the main event)
  • 09/23/1960 (Friday, only the title matches)
  • 09/30/1960 (Friday, only the main event)
  • 11/07/1960 (Friday; only a note)
  • 11/04/1960 (Friday; only the title match)
  • 11/26/1976 (Friday)
  • 03/04/1977 (Friday)
  • 11/17/1977 (Friday)
  • 03/14/1980 (Friday)
  • 03/21/1980 (Friday)
• Arena Coliseo
  • 07/17/1960 (Sunday)
  • 03/06/1977 (Sunday)
  • 03/11/1980 (Tuesday)
  • 03/23/1980 (Sunday)
  • 01/28/1983 (Friday)
• Pista Arena Revolucion
  • 11/15/1976
  • 11/27/1976
  • 02/26/1977
  • 03/05/1977
  • 03/06/1977
  • 03/12/1977
  • 12/05/1977
  • 05/13/1978
  • 03/20/1980
  • 03/22/1980
  • 01/28/1983
  • 01/29/1983
  • 01/30/1983
• Toreo de Cuatro Caminos
  • 02/27/1977
  • 11/13/1977
  • 11/20/1977
  • 01/23/1983
  • 01/30/1983

There were no new AAA tapings, though I was able to correct a date or two and find some missing venue names. The (impossible) dream remains to one day have a full list of every Friday night EMLL/CMLL show, and we’re at least 10 more closer.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 10/21/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Fuego en el Ring, Grada, Mano a Mano]
1) Blue Shark & Rey Samuray b El Malayo & Siky Ozama
2) Pegasso, Rayo Metálico, Volcano b Kráneo, Multy, Okumura
3) India Sioux b Samantha Black [lightning]
6:50.
4) Maligna, Metálica, Olympia, Tabata, Zeuxis b Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van [cibernetico] 
Order of elimination: Maligna, Sumika Yanagawa, Olimpia, Metalica, Sayaki Unagi, Viva Van, Tabata, Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, leaving Zeuxis as the winner
5) Místico, Stigma, Xelhua DQ Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. 
rudos unmasked the tecnicos, then had a game of baseball with the masks.

The baseball bit was funny. I haven’t been linking the Puebla/MVS stuff here (and I might still be behind in posting it on DailyMotion), but the Neon/Stuka match from last Monday is worth watching. Puebla only aired two matches last week and I suspect it’ll be the same this coming week with the cibernetico. Those hoping to see India Sioux & Samantha Black may be out of luck.

CMLL (TUE) 10/22/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
1) Diamond & Eléctrico b Grako & Inquisidor  
9:50
2) Futuro, Max Star, Volcano b Hunter, Infarto, Kráneo  
11:54. Futuro messed up a springboard and hurt his shoulder on the landing, though he didn’t seek medical attention.
3) Princesa Sugehit b Amapola [lightning] 
6:38
4) Barboza & Zandokan Jr. b Magia Blanca & Vegas  
16:01. Match came down to Zandokan and Vegas, and Zandokan used the ropes to foul Vegas before the winning move.
5) La Catalina, Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard b Persephone, Reyna Isis, Sanely  
13:14
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr.  
14:29

A nothing much to show. I guess the main event was the best. Match 4 had moments but didn’t hang together. There was some fun small/big stuff in Match 2, but everyone looked lost after Futuro got hurt. Tessa always does this bit where she gives a cutter to everyone on the other team, and every single woman took the bump differently. Reyna Isis flipped around to her back somehow.

CMLL (TUE) 10/22/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha Jr.]
1) Magia Azul & Universys b Atenea & Quetzal
2) Hatanna & Zorah b Miss Panther & Queen Panther
Queen Panther replaced Lady Puma
3) Candela & Metálica b Emperatriz & Luna
Luna replaced Alondra
4) Lady Shadow & Miss Guerrera b Adira & Nexy
5) Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van b Dark Silueta, India Sioux, Maligna, Olympia, Tabata, Valkiria
Red Velvet beat Dark Silueta

Team World and Team Mexico split the two lead-up ciberneticos. Red Velvet and Zeuxis are among the bigger names on each team, though their early wins suggest it’ll be someone else holding the trophy.

This show drew worse than a typical Tuesday Guadalajara show, as apparent in videos. I’m not even sure “all women’s wrestling” was the issue as much as the specific women used. There’s Dark Silueta, who is the local star. There’s Olympia, who is halfway pushed. And then there’s India Sioux, Maligna, Tabata, and Valkiria, all of who are among the least popular CMLL women. I’m not sure the bigger main event women would’ve drawn much better, but I think men at a similar level would’ve also struggled. There’s probably some interest in the guest women, but not an overwhelming amount – the “50 people only” meet and greet still hadn’t sold out as of Wednesday. Whatever the reason, CMLL main evented a show with mostly secondary/preliminary women, and it went about as well as it should’ve been expected.

There was a point where CMLL was essentially doing the Grand Prix twice a week, with most of the same names as part of the match in Guadalajara before Arena Mexico. I think someone in CMLL figured out they were giving away the match for free to anyone who had access to YouTube since the Guadalajara shows were always broadcast for free, and so CMLL dramatically cut down on the Mexico star power on these preview matches. But they’ve also put these Guadalajara shows behind a paywall on Grand Prix weeks, so they’re not really giving it away for free. They should look at just shifting back to the original idea if they’re going to keep putting these shows behind a paywall anyway.

I never wrote about the CMLL matches in the UK from the weekend, but there wasn’t much to write. All the matches were ok/good. Mascara Dorada/Tsuji (Lio Rush had travel issues) was more a cool idea than a cool match. The LIJ vs Dorada/TMDK match on Sunday was a lot of LIJ comedy, and then it felt like it ended early, perhaps because they were run out of town. There was a lot more in that match if they went for it, but it was not a show where they were going for it.

Capitan Suicida’s Super Junior Tag League adventure begins tomorrow morning. He and Tiger Mask face BUSHI & Hirmou. Suicida might not win a match on this tour and that is OK.

No CMLL Informa lineup as of yet. CMLL previously said they’d have both Grand Prix teams on this week.

CMLL (SAT) 10/26/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) El Audaz, Principe Daniel, Valiente Jr. vs Crixus, El Coyote, Pólvora
3) India Sioux, Samantha Black, Tabata vs Hera, La Maligna, Olympia
4) Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider
5) Willow Nightingale vs Skadi [lightning]
6) Flip Gordon, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Terrible

No Dragon Rojo/Barbaro Cavernario match after all. Skadi/Willow is exactly the weird match I like to see in these Grand Prixs. Principe Daniel, one of Cavernario’s brothers, makes his first appearance in Mexico City since 2022. He’s barely appeared in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara the last few months so that he may have relocated to Mexico City.

Viva Van, Alex Windsor, and Red Velvet appear to finish up on Friday based on this lineup (so some or all might be on Collision that Saturday.) Unagi & Yanagawa are headed to Monterrey instead, which seems to be an annual bit for the Japanese contingent to the women’s Grand Prix. That show has a bunch of CMLL people on it, which may account for this show being a little weak on star power.

CMLL (SUN) 10/27/2024 Arena México
1) KeMalito & Periquito Sacaryas vs Mije & Tengu
2) Dark Silueta vs Sayaka Unagi [lightning]
3) Último Dragóncito vs Pierrothito, Shockercito, Pequeño Olímpico, Fantasy, Mercurio, Angelito, Pequeño Violencia, Kaligua, Full Metal, Pequeño Magía, Pequeño Polvora, Acero, Aéreo, Galaxy, Rostro De Acero [cibernetico]
4) Lluvia, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis vs Samantha Black, Sumika Yanagawa, Willow Nightingale
5) Místico, Neón, Volador Jr. vs Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.

Rostro de Acero is indeed the last person in the minis cibernetico. CMLL’s promoted that tournament for a month and it is in the same match 3 position as ever. Outside of Mistico & Hechicero, it’s not like there’s a super compelling reason they’re in match 3 either. Silueta/Unagi is a rematch of the CMLL Japan title match.

Reyna Isis faces Viva Van on Thursday’s Ring of Honor show. I guess that’s sort of a Grand Prix preview match. The Brian Cage/Komander ROH TV title match also airs this week. Reyna Isis also taped a match with Lady Frost, which will probably air next week.

MLW 11/04

• Titan vs Averno vs Mistico for the MLW Middleweight Championship
• Esfinge & Kevin Knight & Ultimo Guerrero & Hechicero
• Atlantis, Altantis Jr., Star Jr. vs Barbaro Cavernario, Felino, Magnus
• Lluvia vs Persephone vs Jania Kai for the MLW Featherweight Championship – new

They’re still missing an Okumura match but everyone else is accounted for. At the prior show, MLW taped another full episode of their YouTube show without any luchadors, then sent out the CMLL guys for the live broadcast. I presume this will be the same.

A story on Angelito mentions the CMLL bodybuilding contest will be on 11/27. There’s also a Mr. Mexico bodybuilding contest on 12/01, which sounds like it may include some CMLL wrestlers. Angelito is aiming for top three.

I knew Fernando Valenzuela was a big deal to Mexican fans. I did not expect CMLL to put out a message marking his passing.

AAA

AAA did release that lineup for Saltillo

AAA TV (SUN) 11/17/2024 Lienzo Charro Prof. Enrique Gonzalez, Saltillo, Coahuila
1) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
2) Mr. Iguana & Niño Hamburguesa vs Andrómeda & Belcegor
3) Flammer & La Hiedra vs Chik Tormenta & Dalys and Julissa & Valentynna Reis
4) Dinámico, Drago, Laredo Kid vs Kento, Nobu San, Takuma
5) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown vs Abismo Negro Jr., Psicosis, Taurus [AAA TRIOS]
6) Hijo Del Vikingo & Octagón Jr. vs Alberto el Patrón & El Mesías

Mesias and Octagon are meant to have a title match at some point, but AAA hasn’t made it clear when it’s happening.

The Psycho Circus have vaguely been feuding with the Vipers since before TripleMania Mexico City, but that trios title match is mostly about the Viper falling apart. It was actually Abismo Negro, Psicosis and Toxin won the trios titles. Toxin quit, so Fiscal became a trios champion. Fiscal got hurt, so the new Taurus became a trios champion. (Fiscal is strangely still booked in Juarez the week prior.) The Vipers won the belts because Sanson Cuatrero is currently in jail and AAA needed new champs. NGD won the belts because DMT Azul quit AAA. What I’m saying is these titles are bad luck and Psycho Circus should think twice about winning them.

Match 4 is a repeat from Juarez the week prior. Vikingo/Alberto in the tag match plays off the title match. Match 3 is the Hiedra/Julissa stuff, which is definitely a storyline and also probably more than a storyline issue. Andromeda got a write-up in the WON following Heroes Inmortales where he didn’t actually do as much as normal, so he appears to be the new Konnan favorite of the moment.

Fuerza Guerrera was Latin Lover’s podcast guest this week and asked Latin Lover if he’s going to wrestle. Latin Lover said he has an offer from Dorian Roldan to return for one match against Alberto on a PPV. Latin made it sound as if he hadn’t made a decision yet. Everything on AAA TV is building towards that match, so either he’s actually said yes or AAA believes they’ll get him to say yes when the time comes. AAA could theoretically run Latin Lover and Alberto without the title, Vikingo winning in Juarez and defending it against someone else, but it’s hard to imagine Alberto losing in AAA any time soon.

(AAA did a TV angle where Latin Lover revealed he could strip Alberto of the Mega title if he’s unprofessional, a play on Alberto’s many outside-the-ring incidents over the last decade. I think that’s more AAA wanting to prove they’ve thought this angle through rather than a setup for a direction; he did beat up and bloody Latin Lover after winning that title and I guess that wasn’t unprofessional enough to lose the belt)

INJUVE officially announced the rules for this year’s Lucha Por El Barrio contest. Participants must be Mexicans between 18 and 29 years old. The first session is November 4th. The winner will get 10,000 pesos and a one-year contract with AAA for 2025. 2nd and 3rd get the same contract and less money. This year’s winners were Dick Angelo 3G -> Taurus, Legendario -> Bengala and Lady Wind, who never wrestled for AAA past the tryout (and local Xalapa bookings.)

El Planchitas column this week speculates on a possible AAA return to Televisa. Nothing he mentions seems different from when this was brought up this past summer around the Unimas start date: there is a synergy to AAA’s US and Mexico programming being with the same broadcaster, and AAA’s pretty much forgotten on Azteca. (They’re on secondary channel A+, a channel so low profile that even just confirming AAA’s still on that channel is tough – the show is listed as Lucha Azteca with no mention of AAA.) AAA’s not going anywhere new over the air until they’ve finished their Azteca contract, and no one’s saying exactly when that contract ends. The news we’ve gotten about the AAA/Azteca deal in the past an end-of-year/early next-year renewal date in the past, so perhaps there’s movement in the last few months. At this point, I would be surprised if AAA stuck with Azteca even if they don’t immediately have a Teleivisa deal in hand; the AAA/Azteca relationship seems poor at this point. Televisa seems to be treating CMLL pretty well and my guess is they wouldn’t boot them to take AAA, it would more likely be a return to the original status quo of the network airing both promotions.

Octagon Jr. gave a mask to F1 Driver Sergio Perez, which will be useful next time he sneaks into an AAA show. Perez was at Heroes Inmortales and AAA didn’t mention on the broadcast; I don’t think even AAA knew he was there until photos came out after the fact. F1 drivers are among the most famous people in the world, Perez is an especially popular Mexican driver, and he was just chilling in the front row under a mask without anyone figuring it out. Perez has a lucha libre themed helmet design this week. (CMLL is also getting on this promotion.)

Quetzalli had (new) Taurus on her show this week.

Other News

Silver King passed away on May 11, 2019 in London, due to a heart attack in a match with Juventud Guerrera on a Todo x el Todo show. The current Hijo de Silver King and Juventud Guerrera were both in the Todo x el Todo tag tournament in Monterrey, which Mas Lucha aired this past week. Mas Lucha is now posting post-match interviews from that show including Hijo de Silver King saying he would avenge his father against Hijo del Santo and Juventud Guerrera. Santo unmasked Silver King, and the idea is Juventud Guerrera killed Silver King in their match. It’s doesn’t have any basis in reality – Juventud Guerrera did nothing to Silver King in that match, and just happened to be the opposition that night – and it’s obviously in terrible taste. Hijo de Silver King is a guy trying to get noticed and not really booked much outside his association with the rest of the Wagner family. (I’m not entirely sure he’s a real son of Silver King, as there have been fake Silver King children, but poking around his social media suggests that’s the case.) For his part, Juventud Guerrera’s post-match interview is shooting an angle for a match with his father against Santo and Santo Jr., and doesn’t bring up Silver King at all. (Most of the TxT post-match interviews are wrestlers pitching their matches, either for the rest of the TxT tour or for other indie promoters who might be interested.) There’s no sense anyone’s interested in booking a Hijo del Silver King/Juventud Guerrera match.

Shocker was released from Julio Cesar Chavez’ rehab clinic and was immediately on TV talking about it on Monday. He seemed to be saying the right things. This was his fourth trip to rehab, first getting sent there by CMLL in 2002/2003 for three months after walking off a commercial shoot, but he didn’t take it seriously. (There’s no obvious 3-month gap for Shocker in that time period; maybe the years are hard to remember. 2007 looks more likely.) He sunk deeper into addiction during the pandemic and mentioned he attempted suicide. Shocker says he was more cooperative this trip through rehab. He says he didn’t know it would last six months and joked he wouldn’t have agreed if he knew it would be that long, but he knew he needed it. He says he may return to wrestling.

GALLI announced Aramis versus The Beast Mortos for their show this Sunday in Waukegan. That match won’t be happening. GALLI posted a video with Aramis announcing that he was missing the show due to injury but it was a short term thing, he hoped to be back in a couple of weeks, and he’d make up to the GALLI fans then. Aramis is Hologram in AEW. The (very brief) shot of him getting beat up by Mortos on Collision this week was meant to be an explanation for him disappearing from their programming for a little bit; the timeline I originally heard had him returning after this PPV cycle, but maybe he’s feeling better a little faster on what he said in the video. The injury came near the end of the Mortos/Hologram match and had so far been unreported.

I was going to let that one sit forever and ever until Aramis or GALLI said anything, just to see if anyone would pick it up (nope!) and because there’s no benefit for me in reporting US news. If I were smarter, I would’ve just buried it in a late paragraph, as usual. There’s not any benefit in me reporting anything ever, to be honest, but I don’t have to deal with two dozen crying emojis quote tweets and aggregates who will just summarize it in their tweet. I get internet cred out of it, but I have all the internet cred I will ever need, and it doesn’t get you much. I can not go to the Internet cred prize booth and redeem it for a Slinky or 1980s KO Magazine or something else equally valuable. The only way to take advantage is to burn it in new and amusing ways. You can occasionally win a prize that way but it’s not a great way to go about it.

Arena Jaguar is billing this Sunday’s show as the final one ever for Volador Sr./Remo Banda/Super Parka in Monterrey. The original Misterioso is scheduled to also appear on the show.

Box y Lucha 3262 has too much on the cover.

Club Lucha has the newest edition of its podcast.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 10/18/2024 Arena México [AS, CMLL, El Grafico, Excelsior, Fuego en el Ring, Kaiser Sports, PubliMetro, Telediaro, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (video), thecubsfan]
1) Futuro, Max Star, Pelon Encapuchado b Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider 
9:59.
2) Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Viva Van b Amapola, Metálica, Olympia, Sanely   
10:22
3) Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard b Sayaka Unagi & Sumika Yanagawa © [CMLL WOMEN TAG]  
14:55
4) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Neón b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero   
16:04. Neon was stretchered out after slipping on his dive
5) La Catalina b Toni Storm    
11:48. Toni Storm, upset about the loss, declared she’d return to CMLL later this year.
6) Persephone b Zeuxis [CMLL Universal de Amazonas, final]   
12:23. Catalina appeared before the match to hand over the belt. Persephone is the winner, Zeuxis fails in the final match for the second straight year.

If you’re going to go with someone, you might as well go with someone. Persephone getting to the final of the Universal tournament would’ve been a nice footnote, a small step up on the ladder, but ultimately a trivia note if that’s as far as she went. (Only total nutcases remember Texano Jr. was the runner-up in the first Universal tournament.) Persephone winning puts her firmly among the top of the division.

I’m just still surprised it was Perse who is getting that shove. I still think I would’ve gone with Kira or Olympia for that moment first, and I’d hear arguments for Skadi or Hera. Persephone is definitely in that mix, and there’s an argument she’s the better choice, but it’s not a clear-cut one. I feel like we’d learn about how CMLL thinks and evaluates their options if we ever heard the story behind this decision because it sure is an interesting one.

The match itself was good, better than Zeuxis/Willow on Aniversario. It suffered from some of the same issues as Rayo Metalico/Futuro – a lot of the crowd didn’t see them as main event players. Neither came off as the strong rooting favorite either – maybe Persephone by default of being the underdog – and this was put in a position where they had to battle uphill. The match was not booed, but it took a lot for the fans to get into it. They got a lot of time and told a unique for CMLL story of Persephone getting the win on her third try at the frog splash; your finish hardly ever works more than once in CMLL’s match style. Zeuxis was not as stiff as last year with Catlina, though she still hit pretty hard.

Catalina defeating Toni Storm wasn’t as big a surprise – Storm similarly lost the big singles match in her Stardom appearance – but it still felt like it meant something for Catalina to win. She still really could use something more impactful than her top rope splash. (She’s a Trish Stratus fan; can she just use Stratus’ Stratusfaction’s bulldog?) I still didn’t get the feeling the average CMLL fan knew or understood Toni Storm’s act, but she put forth a strong effort, and the match was good. CMLL seemed pretty aware of Storm’s character, and touches like the Instagram photos got very positive reactions.

Toni Storm announcing she’d return this year was eyebrow-raising. Storm did well enough as a one-off match, but she also lost, so there’s no obvious reason to bring her back soon for another show built around a Toni Storm match. (If/when Storm wins the AEW title back, it certainly would fit to run Catalina/Storm back as a title match, but I don’t get that sense AEW is getting to that moment before the end of year.) There isn’t much left on CMLL calendar  – the Dia del Muertos shows, the Leyenda de Azul, and the various holiday events. None of those require any international wrestlers. If we are to take Toni Storm’s comments seriously about returning this year (a danger), the only context that works is she’s coming back for an event that CMLL has yet to announce. Perhaps it’s another international tournament, or maybe it’s something specifically AEW-related. I have no idea, do not start asking me about an AEW/CMLL show, but something is up.

The trios match was good, but it could’ve been better. Neon crashing and burning did put a pale on things. (He seems to be fine.) The tag title match was just right. The women’s 4v4 was one of those matches that felt very planned out and better for it. Amapola and Metalica looked better than usual, the foreigners all fit in, and the match moved in well. The ending set up Red Velvet as the big star of those coming in. Ola Negra seemed overextended in the opener.

CMLL (SAT) 10/19/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Grako & Sangre Imperial b Astral & Astro Boy Jr.
12:14
2) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Rayo Metálico, Stigma, Xelhua
14:05.
3) Villano III Jr. TLDRAW Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
the two were brawling outside as the time ran out
4) Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van b Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis
16:37
5) Alex Windsor, La Catalina, Red Velvet b India Sioux, Princesa Sugehit, Tessa Blanchard
13:03
6) Dragón Rojo Jr., Esfinge, Místico DQ Bárbaro Cavernario, Difunto, Terrible
12:23. Straight falls, Cavernario fouled Rojo. Dragon tried to challenge for a singles match next week but kept getting beat up.

No one cares less about the Dragon Rojo versus Los Barbaros feud than Mistico did on this night. He took his time entering as Dragon Rojo got beat up by his former allies, he ignored that Rojo pinned captain Cavernario to end the first fall to get his pinfall, and he blew off the Cavernario/Dragon Rojo post-match fight to try for a third fall with him and Difunto.

Villano versus Zandokan was the one thing worth watching.

CMLL (SUN) 10/20/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Último Dragóncito b Mercurio [lightning]
2) Cancerbero & Virus b Brillante Jr. & Dark Panther
3) Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa b Amapola, Dark Silueta, Princesa Sugehit
4) Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II b Fugaz, Star Black, Star Jr.
Gemelos pulled a switch to beat Akuma
5) Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Viva Van b India Sioux, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard
6) Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Flip Gordon b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Valiente
Dragon Rojo declared he was officially a tecnico going forward

Dragon Rojo is good for a tecnico turn once a decade. He tried being a tecnico in 2014, but it didn’t work well, and he was back to being a rudo in 2015. It’s hard to believe this will go any better.

The foreign women are generally beating the Mexican women, as typical for Grand Prix week.

CMLL (TUE) 10/22/2024 Arena México
1) Diamond & Eléctrico vs Grako & Inquisidor
2) Futuro, Max Star, Volcano vs Hunter, Infarto, Kráneo
3) Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola [lightning]
4) Magia Blanca & Vegas vs Barboza & Zandokan Jr.
5) La Catalina, Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard vs Persephone, Reyna Isis, Sanely
6) Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Match 4 are the oddballs who may over-deliver on a Thursday.

CMLL (TUE) 10/22/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Magia Azul & Universys vs Atenea & Quetzal
2) Hatanna & Zorah vs Lady Puma & Miss Panther
3) Candela & Metálica vs Alondra & Emperatriz
4) Adira & Nexy vs Lady Shadow & Miss Guerrera
5) Dark Silueta, India Sioux, Maligna, Olympia, Tabata, Valkiria vs Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van

This is an all women’s show and – in an effort to run a different match here than the Grand Prix – one with almost none of the star CMLL women’s names. Dark Silueta is here because it’s Guadalajara, and she’s the big CMLL women’s Guadalajara star. Still, the choices they’ve made to keep the other Grand Prix women away will make this a more challenging draw than even past all women’s shows. It’s a great opportunity for some of the other women, though.

Fightful Select posted something rather anodyne about Stephanie Vaquer and her sudden departure from CMLL to AEW following Forbidden Door. Almost no one discussing it cares all that much about CMLL. It’s just a chance to relitigate her departure in an AEW/WWE scope again. I will not be doing that. The Fightful Select report was AEW people vaguely saying, “yea, we’re going to try to do something so anyone we build up on Forbidden Door sticks around for a bit,” a news bit which sure is worth reporting but also could’ve been reported by “Duh Magazine.” There’s no guarantee anything AEW, CMLL, and the others will try will have any meaningful effect, but of course they’re going to attempt to fix an obvious problem.

AAA

AAA on Unimas aired one hour early. AAA did get the word out. It turns out the baseball game did disrupt the schedule – or more, that Unimas didn’t want to disrupt its usual block of movies, so all the other shows had to move up an hour that day, and AAA just happened to be the first in line.

I tried four times recording AAA this week, and all I got was the opening match and part of the in-ring promo. On Sunday, I got two recordings of The Rundown, the 2003 film starring the Rock, so I guess that’s as good as watching AAA. It’s fine. I’ve got the Unimas version of this taping to watch if I’m in a hurry. I’m not. I need to circle to some of this later this week because I’ve realized there’s something I want to explain in more detail, and it’s better if I have a bit more time.

The one match I got was the Exoticos versus the Guapos. It was okay. About a few minutes in, they stopped shooting the match to show Mesias at the announce desk complaining about Octagon Jr. from an incident they had in June. Octagon, with excellent hearing and speed, came out and brawled with Mesias. The Exoticos were kind enough to wait to return until Mesias and Octagon were done.  They went for longer after the ‘break’; the Guapos did well in that portion, and Pimpinela lost after being tripped off to the top rope.

The part of AAA TV I did included an upcoming show video for the first time in nearly a month.  The previous one listed TV tapings in Mexico City on 10/26 and 12/07. Those are missing from the latest listings, with an 11/17 Saltillo taping added. The Saltillo promoters are the same ones promoting the canceled Torreon show, so maybe there’s a make-good there. That lineup should roll out this week through AAA’s usual efforts. It’ll take care of TV through December 14th, and AAA usually runs repeat/Best of programming through the holidays. AAA will often tape a show in December and hold it over to air in January, so maybe later, Mexico City taping will show back up, or maybe they’ll go back to Acapulco. It is strange and not exactly confidence building that AAA’s shifting tapings around so close to them taking place.

For TV-watching purposes, this schedule means another “preview” episode is coming up on Space on 11/02. Unimas will get the 11/03 Showcenter tapings before they air in Mexico. Space and Unimas will start airing the same episode on the same day, with the Saltillo taping airing on December 7th, though that may not last long. There is no telling what AAA will do with Unimas when they go into their typical Best of programming on Space during the holidays.

That 11/17 Saltillo date is notable because AAA’s old partners BARBA is running a CMLL spot show in that city two weeks later. It’s also notable because Vampiro is already retired in Saltillo. he had his last match back in March. In theory, if Vampiro is truly retiring this year, that means his last TV appearance and his probable last match is the November 10th show in Ciudad Juarez. AAA hasn’t indicated that’s his final date by any means, so it probably isn’t the end.

There’s an AAA spot show tonight in Leon. The big draw is the Vampiro retirement tour, but it’s also notable as the show Sexy Star 2 previously said would be her final date with this promotion.

Other News

Mas Lucha steamed the 10/13 Todo x el Todo show (as if it was live) for paid subscribers on Sunday night. The next Hijo del Santo retirement shows are the 11/01 and 11/02 shows in London, being done by a local promoter. The following Mexico shows are the 11/09 show in Puebla and 11/10 in Veracruz. The Puebla show has never had a lineup, never had ticket information, and has never seemed like it’s happening. The other shows may be in question as well; there’s been a persistent rumor this week that the rest of this tour has been postponed or canceled. There’s not much to back it up beyond a screen grab of an LA Park comment on another post, and who knows if LA Park is ever serious. There doesn’t seem to be recent advertising for this Veracruz show as of yet, though tickets remain on sale, and most of the Todo x el Todo work seems to be done the week of the show. I thought there might be some big promotion following Mas Lucha’s stream of the show, but it doesn’t seem to have happened or at least it didn’t make it out their socials. I wouldn’t say the rest of the tour is off at this point, but it’s a suspicious situation. I’d still buy a ticket to the shows if I wanted to see Santo one last time, but I’d be checking the language on the ticket website about refunds.

Flammer won Mas Lucha’s Torneo Surprema on Saturday. She beat Faby Apache in the final, which meant it was a replay of the TripleMania women’s match. That match memorable was in front of a fraction of the audience because AAA told people the show wouldn’t start until a half hour later (and Mexican fans tend to be a late-arriving crowd anyway.) This rematch was in front of another disappointing crowd; Arena Lopez Mateos looked less than a quarter full for this annual tournament. Mas Lucha will try again in that building with the men’s version, Torneo Supremo, on November 16th. with Aerostar, Bestia 666, Chris Stone Jr., Imposible, Ozz, Rey Escorpion, Sanson and Solar. That’s a good field, but I’d also expect it to be another tournament with lots of interference to “set up matches in other promotions” (or to make sure no one has to really lose.)

This is as good as any since Imposible just came up to mention that Imposible and Trauma I made mask versus mask challenges on the AVE/TC show last weekend, with the idea of it happening in 2025. I’m not 100% sure that a match will happen, but they took it a bit more seriously than usual. This group put together the Wotan/Trauma I match earlier this year. Imposible is a guy who had an indie name, was a prospect for a while, never got a shot in CMLL or AAA, tried to be Fuerza Guerrera NG but never really got anywhere with that gimmick and seems to be fading out of wrestling towards other pursuits – it’s fairly plausible he’d wager his mask at this point in his career. Both Trauma I and Imposible are scheduled to be part of a five team tag match on the 11/09 AVE/TC show.

I was very skeptical Sabu would make it to Cancun for an indie show. In fact, here are photos of Sabu at the wrestling show in Cancun. All credit to Sabu.

There’s a new lucha libre art exhibit in Cuernavaca.

There was a lucha libre workshop in Oaxaca.

A profile of Payaso Pura Santa Jr.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 10/18/2024 Arena México
1) Futuro, Max Star, Pelon Encapuchado vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider
2) Amapola, Metálica, Olympia, Sanely vs Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Viva Van
3) Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard vs Sayaka Unagi & Sumika Yanagawa © [CMLL WOMEN TAG]
4) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Neón vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
5) Toni Storm vs La Catalina
6) Zeuxis vs Persephone [CMLL Universal de Amazonas, final]

CMLL changed the card order on Thursday, with Persephone/Zeuxis now as the final. I don’t know if that’ll be a great match – Zeuxis didn’t quite deliver on Aniversario and Persephone is in a spot she hasn’t been in before – but they’ll have the advantage of working on their match all week.

Zeuxis is the favorite to win the tournament final. Catalina defeating Zeuxis was a big surprise last year, and Persephone isn’t featured even as much as Catalina was at that point. I can’t rule out Persephone, CMLL’s really into giving wins to new people, but it would be a shock. I don’t get the sense that Toni Storm is as big a deal to Mexican fans as past ex-WWE AEW people, and I’m not really sure what the outcome will be.

Match 4 is just a good match for the sake of a good match. Matches 2 and 3 will give some insight into how smoothly that Grand Prix is going to go. (A title change seems unlikely.) Ola Negra get another Friday night appearance in the opener, again a group of wrestlers likely to want to do a lot.

Toni Storm did the usual AEW guest star press conference on Thursday. I didn’t watch this one; I heard it had some streaming issues.

CMLL (MON) 10/21/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Blue Shark & Rey Samuray vs El Malayo & Siky Ozama
2) Pegasso, Rayo Metálico, Volcano vs Kráneo, Multy, Okumura
3) India Sioux vs Samantha Black [lightning]
4) Maligna, Metálica, Olympia, Tabata, Zeuxis vs Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van [cibernetico]
5) Místico, Stigma, Xelhua vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

Xelhua gets his first main event. It may be a product of trying to squeeze him onto the show when there are few men booked – he’s definitely ahead of the three tecnicos in match 2 – but they could’ve also just booked someone else and they trust Xelhua in the spot. The Mexican side in the women’s cibernetico are women not in the Gran Prix and Zeuxis.

No Tuesday Guadalajara lineup yet. They have announced it’ll be just women’s matches, no men wrestling.

I’m now semi-obsessed with checking the graphic for all wrestlers on CMLL shows, checking to see if CMLL (or whoever runs the graphic department) has decided they’re actually CMLL wrestlers or not. I don’t know exactly what it means – is it an administrative thing? A union thing? – but it sure means something to someone. Candela, Hijo del Pantera, and El Elemental have all appeared in Mexico City with the generic “Luchador(a) Profesional” tag, so they’re not considered on the roster. While scanning through the Guadalajara show, I noticed Adira is listed as “Amazona del CMLL”, so she is part of the CMLL roster. Everyone else in her match was “luchadora professional.” Satanico is “luchador professional”, while the other people in his match were Luchador del CMLL. Lady Shadow is listed as Amazona del CMLL, and that one seems so surprising that I’d want to see it a second time, to be sure. (Especially because they also list Olympia as Lady Shadow.)

CMLL Informa announced some of the Dia del Muertos plans. The emphasis is every show that week will have both that theme and also a special match. The Monday and Tuesday shows have the qualifiers for the Rey del Inframundo, the Friday show has the final, Saturday will focus on historic rivalries, and Sunday will be all unmasked wrestlers wearing their masks for one last show.

The qualifiers for the Rey del Inframundo are city-centric. Puebla, Guadalajara, and Mexico City will determine a winner each, and they’ll join last year’s winner, Barbaro Cavernario, in a final on Friday.

• 10/28 Puebla qualifier: Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma, Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Xelhua, Multy, Perverso
• 10/29 Guadalajara qualifier: Barboza, Malefico, Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Bestia Negra, Furia Negra, Arlequin, Gallero
• 10/29 Arena Mexico qualifier: Vegas, Crixus, Difunto, Espanto Jr., Villano III Jr., Magnus, Coyote, Zandokan Jr.

The Rey del Inframundo stuff started with the semi-main wrestlers, and now seems to be moving down a level. Whoever comes out of the Guadalajara branch is getting their biggest Friday night appearance of the year, and it may be the same with the Puebla branch.

All shows that week will stream on Fan Leyenda. If you’re willing to give CMLL money for streaming content right now, it probably should be Fan Leyenda or don’t bother. CMLL appears to moving the next two Friday shows to Fan Leyenda, and likely the 10/29 shows. Fan Leyenda will also get two bonus shows (10/28 Arena Puebla and 11/03 Arena Mexico.) The Guadalajara show is likely also to be behind the Fan Leyenda wall – and not posted for free – the next two weeks.

CMLL also announced that the annual minis cibernetico in honor of “people of lesser height” day on 10/27 will include, uh, every healthy mini. There are normally 16 of them, Minos is out, CMLL said it’d be a 16-person match anyway. I presume Rostro de Acero wrestles again to round out the match, but CMLL listed everyone besides him. The micros will also be in action on that show. This cibernetico is a Sunday show and is not normally streamed.

Mistico was on to talk about his trip to Japan. He was announced as in the Leyenda de Azul – it’s something he hasn’t won, but that’s also because it’s been meant for the bigger weight classes in recent years. Julio Cesar Rivera did mention the hair/mask challenge with Hiromu, and Mistico quickly blew it off while focusing on other things. The idea that Hiromu and Mistico are having a hair versus mask match in 11 months is not a real thing at this point.

Sanely is this week’s guest on CMLL Informa.

AAA

I caught up with Heroes Inmortales. I guess that’s a good thing? It’s a good thing in that I can sit around and do anything else Friday before CMLL starts and I’ll probably enjoy that more than I will enjoy AAA Heroes Inmortales.

The overarching story to this episode is that the Eye team and Latin Lover are both trying to recruit people to their sides. It’s totally unclear what they hope to accomplish in doing this, just like it’s totally unclear what the Eye team is trying to accomplish. (JBL almost gets to it but he gets cut off.) Konnan and Alberto try and fail to recruit El Fiscal. Latin Lover tries and fails to recruit Flammer. Vampiro, a whole bunch of prelim wrestlers, and Negro Casas & Mecha Wolf (since they were in the next match) end up standing with Latin Lover at some point. The Eye Team just sort of wanders away. JBL was there and part of the segment to say some racist stuff for heat, most of which Jose Manuel Guillen was taking out or softening when he was translating it to Spanish. It’s still not clear what JBL is contributing in the racism department that Konnan can’t provide himself, though they did tease a Latin Lover/JBL match this time. It’s probably not happening.

A weird bit in that segment was Pagano’s music playing, then Konnan revealing he had set it up as a prank, Pagano wasn’t there to back Latin Lover up. Psycho Clown’s music played, and Konnan revealed it was the same bit done twice. The big reveal was Vampiro’s music playing and him being there, but he was the center of the show advertisement, of course he was going to do. It did draw attention to Psycho and Pagnao not being at this taping (they worked a lightly attended Arena Neza show) and not being on a lot of AAA tapings this year. The lack of star power on the AAA roster was showcased in the Copa Antonio Pena, stocked with people who are seldom on TV: Mini Vikingo, Black Andromeda, Money Machine, and Brazo de Oro Jr., among them. When Pierroth Jr. (just introduced on the last taping) and Panic Clown (the least important member of the Psycho Circus) are the bigger names, it looks like a promotion in trouble. Chik Tormenta won because AAA had an angle in mind, but there also were many other choices – maybe it would’ve been a present for Dalys otherwise. I think there’s potential in these prelim wrestlers, and I can work out how they ended up with a battle royal with just prelim people – some people in Japan, some people not brought from Japan, and the Retro guys seemingly dropped after TripleMania – but it looked like a sad state of affairs to a regular viewer.

The casual crowd who goes to those big Guadalajara shows seemed to have little awareness of the Chik Tormenta/Latin Lover social media controversy. They tried to play it up big on TV with multiple Chik Tormenta promos. It’s also a classic modern AAA angle where there’s no discernible payoff to any of it.

Laredo Kid tried as hard as you’d expect out of him in the main event, with an Alberto who is still looking for every shortcut he can to get through these matches. This time, it included Mesias coming out and seemingly interfering in half the match. It’s tough to get a good match out of either immobile Mesias or generally washed Alberto in 2024, and it’s a credit to Laredo that he was having a good one with both of them at the same time for a while there. The in-ring bit with the Eye guys and the rest got great heat for the racism and profanity, but it didn’t translate to the match. AAA’s hard camera shot right at the stage, and that stage was looking barren during that main event (even as the rest of the arena was fine.) The Vampiro match was either the last thing they needed to see, the show was too long, or they didn’t care much about who the mega-champion was. This match also played off a weird pattern for the night: apparently, fouls are legal, though everyone’s meant to be still using them to get heat. The mixed tag match (nothing special) ended with Crazy Steve fouling Abismo Negro before Havok chokslammed Steve on top of Abismo for the title switch. The trios match ended with Takuma fouling Epydemius and then doing a top rope poison rana for the win. Laredo fouled Alberto – in front of the referee, just like the other two – but he was unable to get the win. They may have meant to do more post-match, but the earlier in-ring promo went very long. So did the Copa Antonio Pena; AAA has never figured out how to time those out.

The Tokyo Bad Boys vs Dinamico, Hamburguesa, Epydemius trios match was a good match, uninterrupted every 20 seconds for a lumberjack strap bit. The lumberjacks walked to the back in the last two minutes for no reason other than pro wrestling being fake and AAA being the fakest pro wrestling possible, the lumberjacks left so the guys could do spots to the outside again. Vampiro was the usual Vampiro match and the usual retirement speech. The Riddle/Fiscal match seemed to be worked at a slow speed to accommodate Fiscal’s level, but he still gassed and blew spots near the end. It didn’t seem like these fans had any particular who Riddle was – or Havok or Steve were either. They all won their title matches, then disappeared in to the background as Fiscal and Abismo fought. AAA is all in on that feud.

AAA on TV this weekend

• Space: Monterrey part 1
• Unimas: Monterrey part 2
  • Charro Negro, Drago, Dianamico, Redimido, Toscano in a five way
  • Los Vipers versus Psycho Circus
  • Hijo del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Octagon Jr. versus Belcegor, Emperador Azteca, and Taurus
• YouTube: Guerra de Titanes part 2

I was critical of AAA and Unimas’ work at promoting their weekly show earlier this week. AAA people – Alberto, Octagon,  Dorian, Roberto – are in Miami today to appear on Unimas and Univison shows to promote their shows. That’s great. The issue is not fixed by one day of publicity. It’s fixed by promoting the show every week, and there’s no immediate sign that’s changed. AAA could’ve been pushing “Hijo del Vikingo returns to US TV this Saturday on Unimas” all week in a myriad of ways, and the most they’ll end up doing is a still photo.

TNA officially announced Hijo del Vikingo versus Mike Bailey for the TNA X Division championship on their 10/25 Bound for Glory show. There’s a very good chance Vikingo will win that title; he doesn’t lose often when AAA sends him places.

IWRG

IWRG , LLB (THU) 10/17/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, thecubsfan]
1) Ángel Kid & Titanium b Fobia & Haku 
2) Argus, Máscara De Hierro, Súper Boy b Águila Dorada, Argus Fly, Gaius 
3) Lunatik Fly b Águila Roja, Skayler, Príncipe Centauro, Diablo Fly, El Cometa, Sol, Águila Oriental 
4) Black Terry, Carta Brava Jr., Fandango b Gallego, Rocky Santana, Romano García 
5) Hell Boy DDQ Tonalli, Aquiles, Puma de Oro, Lunatik Extreme, Toto 
Hell Boy unmasked Tonalli, Tonalli fouled Hell Boy
6) Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo De Silver King, Simon Blanco b Hijo de LA Park, LA Park, LA Park Jr. 

Looks like it drew well, as typical. IWRG managed to give results of about four of these matches, though didn’t explain the changes in at least of them.

IWRG (SUN) 10/20/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Felino Boy vs Legado
2) Águila Oriental & Vudu Max vs Drakula Ng & Príncipe Centauro
3) Multifacético & Shamila vs Demonio & Puma de Oro
4) Noisy Boy & Tornado vs Águila Roja & Látigo
5) Aquiles, Luka, Veneno vs Abigor, Cerebro Negro, Vengador [super libre]
6) Hijo de Canis Lupus, Hijo De Silver King, Máscara Sagrada vs Ayden Cristiano, Toxin, Vangellys

Ayden Cristiano is Houston-based.

Other News

Open the Voice Gate had me on to talk about Gran Hamada’s career in Mexico and case for the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame. I think that his importance to the UWA, especially the early years, as well as his long run of quality wrestling, merits his inclusion. Even if you’re not interested, you should click the link for a great run of Hamada matches. The 12/16/96 5v5 was my favorite; some of the earlier matches are technically proficient, and that match was where the feud felt like it had shifted into a more heated personal fight. The tight room, the weird green walls and the loud crowd made that one specifically feel more like a very long lunch room brawl.

Rob appeared on the Flagship Patreon’s discussion of WON HOF candidates from Mexico. It’s behind a paywall but, if you pay up, you’ll be able to hear the same very detailed pro-Volador Jr. takes I’ve had to hear for the last 12 months.

(I think I’m going Gran Hamada, Sangre Chicana, Huracan Ramirez and Mascarita Sagrada but I haven’t sent it in yet and I can be moved more than in past years.)

Karis La Momia confirmed he’ll continue wrestling, just under a new name. Record had reported the opposite. There are about two days left for QueMoniito to reach a settlement with if Record is going to be correct on that story.

The viral video of the week is entrance music gone wrong.