04/15 news: Arena Mexico results, gala notes, the 04/28 match is


(http://alexiscmll.blogspot.com/)

CMLL (FRI) 04/14 Arena Mexico Results
1) Crazy Boy Valiente, Tony Rivera b Artillero, Super Comando
2) Mascara Purpura, Satánico, Volador Jr. b Hombre Sin Nombre, Misterioso II, Nitro
3) Dr. Wagner Jr., Heavy Metal, LA Park b Olímpico, Pierroth, Universo 2000
Arena Mexican fans were anti-LA Park again.
4) Rey Bucanero, Tarzan Boy, Último Guerrero vs Damián 666, Héctor Garza, Mr. Águila
5) Dark Angel b Amapola [hair, mask]
Amapola was revealed to be Guadalupe Olvera, 8 years professional, from Mexico City
6) Mistico, Negro Casas b Averno, Mephisto [CMLL TAG]
Negro and Mistico are the 21st champions. This is Negro’s fourth reign, but first without Santo.

CMLL (WED) 04/12 Auditoro Municpal de Tampico Results
1) King Boy, Valiente, Astro Boy b Dr. Karonte, Corsario, Silver Fox
2) Amapola & Princesa Sujei b Dark Angel & India Sioux
3) Texano Jr., Sagrado, Volador Jr. b Damian 666, Mr. Aguila, Hijo de Pierroth
4) Black Warrior, Averno, Mephisto b Mistico, Silver King, Mr. Niebla
well, there he is. Silver King worked as Dr. Wagner II, but got that mask pulled off in the third fall.

Gala is airing the episode I thought we’d get last week.

Arena Mexico 11/11/05
Universo 2000, Ultimo Guerrero, Pierroth vs Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Damian, Halloween
Dr. Wagner Jr., Mistico, La Mascara vs Rey Bucanero, Averno, Mephisto
Santo vs Atlantis [LdP Final]

the main event for the 04/28 Arena Mexico show is: Rey & Tarzan vs Mr. Aguila & Damian 666 in a double hair match, according to CMLL.com. (Warrior/Mistico is off, obviously.) Silver King will return on the show as well.

On this week’s GdR

Arena Coliseo 04/09: Emilio Charles Jr., Loco Max, Nitro vs Mascara Purpura, Máximo, Pantera
Arena Coliseo 04/09: Dos Caras Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., Mistico vs Damián 666, el Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Héctor Garza

You know the Mistico stats, but Pantera’s been this show 5 of the last 9 weeks and 4 of the last 6.

Luchawiki has moved

We’ve spun the wiki off into it’s own site – luchawiki.com. Update your bookmarks nad your RSS feeds, because the old one is permantenly frozen and will eventually vanish.

Everything should work as it before (and some stuff is better – I like the 1.6.3 login) – but if it doesn’t, send me a message.

04/14 news: Arena Mexico preview, Nacho Libre sneak preview

CMLL (FRI) 04/14 Arena Mexico
1) Crazy Boy, Tony Rivera vs Artillero, Super Comando
2) Mascara Purpura, Satánico, Volador Jr. vs Hombre Sin Nombre, Misterioso II, Nitro
3) Dr. Wagner Jr., Heavy Metal, LA Park vs Olímpico, Pierroth, Universo 2000
4) Rey Bucanero, Tarzan Boy, Último Guerrero vs Damián 666, Héctor Garza, Mr. Águila
5) Dark Angel vs Amapola [hair, mask]
6) Averno, Mephisto vs Mistico, Negro Casas [CMLL TAG]

While they might set something up with the four match (and they’ll probably heat up a feud in the third; see Acapulco note later), all the focus is on the top two matches.

Dark Angel vs Amapola [mask, hair]: Hair does grow back, but I don’t believe that’s a concern here. Amapola’s done quite well for herself – from being used as a side filler to the top ruda based on her work. She won’t lose that spot, but she will be losing her mask. The drama here isn’t the outcome, but the response; do they have a good match? does the crowd accept them at this position and get into the match? does this match draw?

Mistico & Negro Casas vs Averno & Mephisto [CMLL TAG]: This seems to be the spot for Black Warrior to cost Mistico the chance at the tag team titles to set up the mask match. There’s some mitigating factors:
– Negro Casas has been chasing the tag team titles for about six months by now, and they’ve been pushing him and Mistico as the pair that’ll finally do it. It’s certainly possible there will be a title change.
– there’s been no talk about the Mask match since Mistico/Warrior’s single match two weeks ago
– there’s been no talk about Warrior since the Mistico/Warrior’s singles match. Normally, Warrior would be working with Mistico all around Mexico to work off the rivalry before and after the mask match; Warrior hasn’t been working at all since 04/03, compared to the 3-4 times he’d show up on my lineups per week. There’s plenty of reasons someone could stop working for two weeks (vacation, out of the country, injury are the first that come to mind), but I haven’t heard anything about this.

If they’re still doing a major show on 04/28, they ought to be announcing (or at least heavily leaning towards) a main event tonight. If Warrior shows up, that’s it, but there seems like a chance he might not be showing up (and we all know this wouldn’t be the first mask/mask seemingly agreed to on a Friday show and never followed thru), and then I’m completely lost on what’s happening.

Ovaciones wonders if we’ll see “Dark Angel, bald as a bowling ball.” There’s a NOTIMEX preview, but nothing new there. The writer is 100% sure Dark Angel is winning.

Wagner is putting up his mask versus Pierroth’s hair, next Wednesday in Acapulco. (Wagner is not losing his mask to Pierroth in Acapulco.)

Atlantis and Sangre Azteca are off to Japan today. Sangre’s got New Japan, and I think Atlantis is working Ultimo Dragon’s El Dorado promotion.

There will be a special sneak preview/Q&A of Nacho Libre in Austin, Texas on May 27th (a month before it actually debuts) at an outdoor theatre. Tickets are $5, but anyone wearing a lucha mask gets in free. And, of course, you can buy a Nacho Libre mask already. I think I’m sticking with my Rey Bucanero mask.

Speaking of lucha libre merch, there are some lucha shirts here, but I have no idea how you’d actually buy them.

04/13 news: Guadalajara, Aficion, Xalapa, Dark Angle vs Amapola

CMLL (SUN) 04/09 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara Results
1) Milenio b Ray Romero
2) Fraile de la Muerte b Virgo
3) Golden b Antrax
4) Guero Loco, Malefico b Gallo, Neutrón
5) Angel Blanco Jr., Arkangel de la Muerte, Cien Caras Jr. b Felino, Satánico, Texano Jr.
6) Blue Panther, Lizmark Jr., Mr. Niebla b Olímpico, Tarzan Boy, Terrible

Next Tuesday’s main event is Blue Panther vs Rayman.

CMLL (TUE) 04/11 Arena Aficion Results
1) Astro Boy, Furia Extreme b Dr. Karonte, Titan
2) Exotico, Skayde b Black Thunder, Dr. Karone
3) Amapola, Princesa Sujei b Dark Angel, Lady Apache
4) LA Park, Negro Casas b Damian 666, Héctor Garza
There’s photos and a full recap on box y lucha’s forum.

indy (WED) 04/12 Arena Xalapa Results
1) Brillante, Guerrero de la Noche ?? Payaso Maligno, Relampago
2) GMC, Martix, Perro Mocho Jr. ?? Black Baby, Elgore, Samurai
3) La Mascara b Sangre Azteca [MEX WELTER]
4) Rey Bucanero, Tarzan Boy b Damian 666, Hector Garza
5) Blue Panther, Dos Caras Jr., LA Park b Atlantis, Olimpico, Ultimo Guerrero
Recap says Mascara/Azteca was quite good.

Lots of talk about Amapola vs Dark Angel. Ovaciones has an interview with Angel, and Box Y Lucha posted the latest edition with a lot of women in lucha articles.

In Ovaciones, Dark Angel vows she’ll die before she’ll lose her hair to Amapola on Friday. She warned this could turn into a bloody fight, because she’s going to put her life on the line to take Amapola’s mask.

In Box Y Lucha #2761 (Dark Angel and Amapola are on the cover, but not the poster), Dark Angel figures beating Amapola will prove how much she’s learned in Mexico, and how much better she’s gotten since losing her mask to Princesa Sujei. She hopes that Amapola will not cheat to try and steal a win.

For her part, Amapola blames this whole rivalary on Dark Angel. They were pals when they first came to CMLL, but Dark Angel kept accidently hitting her in matches (your normal rudo bumbling), and Amapola eventually decided it wasn’t really an accident! Dark Angel’s pulled off Amapola’s twice already, and Amapola was so angered, she had no choice but to accept the stakes match. It’s the first time in her eight year career she’s put her mask up. Amapola’s not even considering the possibility of losing; she’s just counting down the days until she wins. Ampola suggests Dark Angel buy a cap or hat, becuse she’s going to leave her head bald.

Outside of those involved in the hair match, Box Y Lucha also talks to Princesa Sujei and Lady Apache. Sujei notes she’s been challenged to a stakes match by Diana la Cazadora, and warns Diana to stick to traffic reporting unless she’s going to train harder, because she’s not in Sujei’s league. Sujei credits Lola “Dinamita” Gonzalez as her inspiration, and sasys she’ll have been wrestling for ten years this September. Sujei sends a shout out to her husband; with him working in Monterrey and her more in Mexico City, they don’t get to see alot of each other but they talk constantly.

Lady Apache is interviewed on a bus to Queretaro. She says she’s back in CMLL. Lady Apache returning from a minor wrist injury and “spending more time with her family.” Apache felt her priorities got all out of wack, and used her rehab time to take reflect on her life. The whole interview reads odd, like both Lady Apache and the author know there’s something more to this and are finding ways to step around it. (Lady Apache doesn’t send a shout out to her husband.)

Box Y Lucha has a history of women’s wrestling in Mexico. The first EMLL show show was on 08/21/1933 and two years later, they had their first women’s match. Most of the early stars were foreigners: Louis Francis, Teddy Mayers, Mae Stein, Katherine Hart and Dot Apollo. When lucha debuted on Televicentro in 1952, women were part of the program; La Enfermera accompanied Medico Asesino. Box Y Lucha says the first champion was La Dama Enmascarda (Magdalena Cabllero), and she was folloed by La Dulca Irma (Irma Gonzalez), Chabela Romero, Tona La Tapatia, Vicky Carranza and Estela Molina.

Ernesto P. Uruchurtu, the Iron Mayor of Mexico City (and not a wrestler), changed history. Under the idea of protecting the morals of the community, Ernesto P. Uruchurtu forced lucha off TV in 1955 and prohibited all women’s wrestling in 1958, a ban that lasted 30 years. They could still wrestle elsewhere in Mexico, but obviously it dramatically lowered the level of visibility and interest.

Women’s wrestling came back in the 80’s, with wrestlers like Lola “Dinamita” Gonalez, Pantera Surena, Tana La Guerrillera and Irma Aguilar. Their level of work and the goverment becoming more open to these things allowed them to become more famous. In the 90s and since, Martha Villalobos, Xochitl Hamada, Lady Apache, Zuleyma, La Diabolica, La Sirenita, Cinthia Moreno, Esther Moreno, Marcela, Estrellita, India Sioux have become stars.

There’s a few different stories about Chabela Romero (“La Perla Negra de Puebla”), who Box Y Lucha and all they’ve talked seem to feel is the best Mexican women’s wrestler ever. Romero started training at 15, taught by rudo Jose Rojas (and later by Fantasma de la Quebrada) and immediately was good. The bio says she lived in the gym for a time, and made her debut in 1955 in Torreon against Emma Garcia. When the ban against women’s wrestling in Mexico City came down, she kept wrestling elsewhere, eventually switching from tecnica to ruda and finding success there. She won the National and World championships, and defended them against Irma Gonzalez, Jarochita River and Vicky Williams. Like all the other stars of the time, she appeared in movies (including Las Luchadores vs the Mummies in 1964). She lost her hair many times. On April 10th, 1985, Chabela Romero died of cervical cancer. She’s survived by her husband, wrestler Destino Negro, and her son.

Dos Caras Sr. talks about Romero working a lot in Japan, even winning Best Foreign Sportswomen one year in the 80s over, tennis players, golfers, runners and other atheletes.

The original India Sioux talks meeting Romero when training with Villano I; they were both headed to Japan, and India had no idea what she was getting into. Romero advised her, and got her thru the tour safe. Everytime Sioux faced Romero, Sioux knew Romero was the better wrestler; she was strong, intelligent, and had always trained with men.

Rossy Moreno talks about knowing Romero at the end of her life, and helping take care of her and her son in the later stages of her cancer. Romero was her friend and taught her how to act like a woman and a wrestler.

There’s the weekly Rambo story; he talks about meeting women wrestlers for the first time; he was working ring crew and loading up wrestlers gear to travel between shows at that time. One day, Chabela Romero was the last out from the building, a male fan saw her, and ran to her to help her put her suitcase on the truck. The fan caught up to Romero, and offered to help the ruda. Before he even finished asking, she shoved him away and down, and said “I guess you won’t be helping.” The man stood up, walked towards her, said “thanks, thanks”, kissed her hand, and walked off.

In the usual “allies/enemies of Santo” article, Gory Guerrero and his bloody bout with Cavernario Galindo.

Box Y Lucha has also belatedly posted articles from it’s Solitario issue; scroll down on the article page to check them out.

accent on the accent

I think I’ve finally figured out the accent problem on the new site! I should be more elated, but I’m not convinced I got everything; if you’re a person who uses the current luchawiki often, please take a moment on luchawiki.com and see if you notice any weird characters mixed in the text. (Don’t worry about the pictures not being there; we’re looking for accented letters replaced by random characters.)

If I’m all clear there, my tentative plan is to make the move on Friday night/Saturday morning. It’s not quite the simplest operation:
– upgrade thecubsfan.com/lucha to 1.6.3
– post moving message on current site
– freeze database
– backup database
– backup files (including all the images!)
– upload files to new site
– upload database
– run install script
– run manual fix to install script (oh those wacky install programs)
– pray everything works out right.

so I’m allowing some time in case on of those goes wrong, you know?

If everything’s a go, I’ll post a message on the wiki (and probably here) with an approximate shut down time for Friday.

Thanks for your patience and all your help.