Month: August 2008

NWA MEXICO (SAT) 08/30 Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera [Black Terry Jr., SoloLuchas: 6, 7, 8]
1) Skayde & Turbo ?? Black Thunder & Dr. Cerebro
2) Piratita Morgan b Octagoncito
3) Black Terry b Coco Rojo
4) Incógnito b Magno
5) Veneno b Máscara Sagrada
6) Negro Navarro b Solar I [SALVADOR AMERICA]
7) Brent Albright b Adam Pearce [NWA HEAVY]
8) Blue Demon Jr., El Hijo Del Santo, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. b El Dandy, El Hijo del Solitario, Fuerza Guerrera

Rayo pinned Solitario for the win and the aimless mask challenges.

Sololuchas calls the NWA Champion “Brental Bright”. But no Shirt. The match had Pearce doing the faked injury bit, and Albright may have pulled the tights for the win. After the match, Blue Demon came out and arguing with Adam Pearce a bit, surely to set up something later.

Negro Navarro won the title here, in case you’re keeping track. Don’t keep track of that title, I’m warning you.

Ovaciones writes the “there’s a lot of injuries in CMLL!” article. Also, Arturo Rivera has his first column in weeks (due to Olympics). You’d think he’d have a backlog of axes to grind, but it’s actually just AAA notes: mentioning Pirata and Octagon to Spain for appearances (from the 11th to the 15th) and AAA back to the US in October and November.

Friday Roundup

– La Wagnermania has video of
* TNA vs CMLL
* Lady Apache vs Amapola
* Dragon Rojo Jr. vs Mictlan
and pictures of Dr. Wagner in the main event

– Dragon Rojo Jr. hopes to next join one of the rudo factions – any of them, he’s not particular – or even go tecnico if the fans want him to and it moves him up the cards.

– Mictlan says sometimes you win, something you lose. He hopes this is just the beginning and not the end, though he doesn’t know what CMLL’s plans are for him now. If he had his choice, Mictlan told Univision that he’d like to go to change his name back to “Randy” (which he used in Guadalajara), or back to “Vaquero” and team up with his cousin Texano Jr. You’d think he’d know they have a Vaquero already.

RFC says Headhunter I has left AAA. Surely a departure that will rock AAA to it’s core. It’s more a problem if people believe AAA won’t pay what they promised, but it’s an easy spot to fill. Elsewhere on LMdLL, Caifan is said to be returning in 3 to 4 weeks.

Accion is back on.
CMLL: Dragon Rojo Jr. vs Mictlan: just the setups to the dives, the dives (which didn’t look too hot) and the finish (which was good).
AAA: Hidalgo main event, including Super Fly getting killed by Electro with a chair shot, thrown into the crowd and then reversing a powerbomb into a ‘rana for the win.

LuchaWorld has Robert on ’05 AAA TV (and another) and IWRG and KrisZ’s news update.

This article says CMLL wrestlers did work the Guadalajara music festival after all. But it also implies Garza, Shocker, Perro Jr. and Mistico all worked the show, so it seems a bit iffy.

A box y lucha commission was formed in Oaxaca. There are four training centers in the area, and they wanted one formed to support the sport.

SuperLuchas #279 has an interview with Scorpio’s doctor and a long obit for El Monarca. Box Y Lucha #2868 has Mistico’s injury on the cover – note they’re saying 8 weeks out, which seems to be the new estimate. The contents mentions an article about Toxico leaving AAA, surely a departure that will rock AAA to it’s core.

I’m going to guess a Friday Arena Mexico lineup is up tomorrow.

Lineups, from a variety of sources

CMLL (MON) 09/01 Arena Puebla
1) King Jaguar, Lestat, the Tiger vs Furia Chicana, Sauron, Toro Bill
2) Centella de Oro, Leono, Tony Rivera vs Hooligan, Loco Max, Siki Osama Jr.
3) La Sombra, Mictlán, Valiente vs Dragon Rojo Jr., Ephesto, Sangre Azteca
4) Marco Corelone vs Lizmark Jr.
5) Heavy Metal, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas vs Mr. Águila, Terrible, Texano Jr.

CMLL (TUE) 09/02 Arena Queretaro
1) Estrella Dorado Jr. & Sindrom vs Luminoso & Stigma
2) Eragon & Sama vs Bull Terry & Rey Aztlan
3) Fuego Latino, Silver Dragon, Ursus vs Principe Valiente, Rey, Star Tron
4) Hijo del Fantasma & Último Dragón vs Ephesto & Zumbido
5) Intocable & Marco Corelone vs a replacement for Scorpio Jr. & Terrible [hair]

This is part of the building’s 26th Anniversary, so they’re bringing in some indy guys to mix with the CMLL ones. No idea who’s replacing Scorpio Jr., though Zumbido seems as good a guess as any (presuming he didn’t lose it on Sunday.) I can’t believe Terrible is going to lose his hair for the first time off TV, so I wonder if this might turn into an elimination match.

IWRG (THU) 09/04 Arena Naucalpan
1) Epidemia & Heavy Boy vs Jack & Miss Gaviota
2) Fenix, Freelance, Turbo vs Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro, Fantasma de la Ópera
3) Aeroman, el Hijo Del Anibal, Ultramán Jr. vs Emilio Charles Jr., Septiembre el Terrorista, Veneno
4) Intocable, Mano Negra, Multifacético vs El Dandy, Fuerza Guerrera, Hijo del Cien Caras

IWRG (SUN) 09/07 Arena Naucalpan
1) Capitán Muerte, Cyborg, Xibalva vs Emilio Charles Jr., Septiembre el Terrorista, Veneno
2) Multifacético, Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Ultramán Jr. vs Fuerza Guerrera, Mascara Ano 2000 Jr., Zumbido

ENESMA (FRI) 09/05 Arena Neza
1) Galactico, Skoolman, Super Insectoa vs Luis Cirio, Sobredosis, Tony Cirio
2) Mascarita Sagrada & Voladorcito vs Bracito de Plata & Coquito Negro
3) Fantastik, Principe Azteca, Turbo vs Black Thunder, King Haku, Suicida
4) Lady Apache & Marclea vs Hiroka & Mima Shimoda
5) Canek Jr., Huracan Ramirez, Ultraman vs Cazador, Lasserman, Toxico
6) Blue Demon Jr., Intocable, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Enfermo Jr., Gran Markus, Hijo de Gran Markus

I’m not going to retype it to use in the database, but the most inexplicable inclusion in Box Y Lucha’s lineups this week:

WEST COAST SPORT ARENA
10080 GREEN LEAF AV
SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA
90760
TEL. (909) 576 7444
ESTADOS UNIDOS
Jueves 11/septiembre de 2008/a las 8:00 PM
CHICARA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI VS. ROB FUEGO
TAG TEAM
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
PAYASOS DE SOLEIL: QUIDAM Y WINTUK VS. DELIRIOUS Y HALLOWIKED
THIRD MATCH
TAG TEAM MATCH
ICE CREAM JR. E HIJO DE ICE CREAM VS. PLAYER I Y PLAYER II
TWO MORE MATCHS

Has Shocker left CMLL again? Well, yea, that seemed pretty likely when CMLL couldn’t come up with a specific injury to explain his ‘injury’ absence for this week of shows. Cesar comparing Shocker and CMLL to Nicho and AAA is pretty dead on.

Articles on last night’s show
– SuperLuchas has match times. I’d think it’d be harder to work a singles match that was two short falls and one really long fall. Obviously they disagree, because the mask match is sure not the first time CMLL’s done that.

– La Aficion writes dramatically about the mask match.

– ESTO states the CMLL crew will put up it’s Trios titles vs the TNA crew in a month, which I’m not sure is that guaranteed. The latest Wrestling Observer says there’s been negotiations for the UG/Shelley mask vs hair match instead but the two sides haven’t decided on the cost. (The same Observer says Mistico’s injury might not be as feared, and he might be back in 9 weeks (early November?)

Meanwhile, Amapola is blaming her loss on a hip injury, and Mictlan saying he’s might be better off without a mask. Way to sell the defeat.

Here, as everywhere else, Micltan’s listed as a 9 year vet. CMLL.com says 10. Rounding error?

– Medio Tiempo says AJ Styles missed the show after having an infection in the mouth after being operated on. What?

– Steve Sims says Arena Mexico was half full. Notimex notes the show did not have “the expected attendance.” No party.

– Kcids has a visual reenactment of Dragon Rojo Jr., Triumphant. Even if it’s just a head swap, you’ve got to give him credit for having the Micltan version ready too.

Tickers are on sale for 09/16’s Anniversary Show (“Blue Panther vs Villano V”). They go from 200 ($19.5) to 1400 ($136.5). Panther vs Villano alone isn’t filling that building at the price, for sure.

IWRG (THU) 08/28 Arena Naucalpan [Alvin @ el Martinete
1) Halcon 2000 b Dinamita Kid
2) Cyborg & Miss Gavitoa b Epidemia & Heavy Boy
3) Black Terry, Capitán Muerte, Xibalva b Aeroman, Fenix, Freelance
4) Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro b Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro, Fantasma de la Ópera [EdM TRIOS]
5) El Dandy, Hijo del Cien Caras, Mascara Ano 2000 Jr., Monsther DQ Mano Negra, Mano Negra Jr., Pantera, Ultramán Jr.

Mano Negra got caught fouling in the main event.

Black Terry replaces Hijo de Anibal on today’s NWA Mexico card. ESTO does spell Albright and Pearce’s name correct, yay for them. The Reforma story, not so much. I have no doubt there will be results around tomorrow for the show because the magazines are covering it at the same level as one of Dragon’s Toryumon show.

Jazzo posted a bunch of other Reforma stories, including
– the most detailed description of Scorpio Jr.’s health problems I’ve seen so far. Everyone’s still saying he’s not out of danger yet but things are getting better.
– Zumbido is aiming for a January 2009 return to CMLL. He says he’s talking to people in the booking office but not yet to Paco Alonso, and he’s all “I never should’ve left CMLL.” I think he was totally better of leaving to go to AAA when he did but that’s not the thing you want to say right now
– Solar sure hopes he doesn’t lose his mask this Sunday in the big 10 man mask/hair match. I am so glad for this interview, if only for reminding me to go lock Super Calo’s wiki profile.

Wrestling elsewhere: Argentina’s 100% Lucha has a big show today, following up on it’s movie release. UK’s Guardian writes about the Cholitas in Boliva.

Luchaworld has 2006 52MX, ’06 GDL, Lucha Libre Azteca, and ’05 AAA (1) (2) recaps from Rob as well as KrisZ’s news from Friday.

Random indy wrestler “Horus” gets a Notimex article. There’s something I’m missing there.

A show in Nuevo Laredo may be canceled tomorrow because someone stole the ring.

CMLL (TUE) 09/02 Arena Mexico
1) Molotov & Trueno vs Apocalipsis & Inquisidor
2) Ángel Azteca Jr., Angel de Oro, Hijo del Faraon vs Halcon Negro, Loco Max, Nitro
3) Axel, Felino, Máscara Púrpura vs Euforia, Nosferatu, Satánico
4) Lizmark Jr., Olímpico, Rey Bucanero vs Damián 666, Mr. Águila, Texano Jr. and Heavy Metal, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas and Blue Panther, La Sombra, Marco Corelone [torneo]

Yes, Felino is just randomly back on the tecnico side after randomly being on the rudo side. Best guess is they wanted to get him an extra payday on Friday. This is the monthly fan appreciation show and I guess the tournament is part of that.

No Friday lineup when I checked, which sure is odd.

I’ll check back in later and update this with results, but if you want some place to talk about the show in progress (or share PPV feeds), use the comments. I don’t think you can crash the site this time, but feel free to hammer on it to see.

Results:

CMLL (FRI) 08/29 Arena Mexico
1) Pequeño Damian 666, Pequeño Warrior, Pierrothito b Fantasy, Mascarita Dorada, Pequeño Olímpico
2) Hijo del Fantasma, La Máscara, La Sombra DQ Felino, Heavy Metal, Misterioso II
3) Marcela & Princesa Sujei b Amapola & Lady Apache [Relevos Increíbles, losers advance]
4) Lady Apache b Amapola [hair]
5) Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt b Atlantis, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
6) Dragon Rojo Jr. b Mictlán [mask]
7) Blue Panther, Dos Caras Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr. b Black Warrior, Mr. Niebla, Rey Bucanero

SoloLuchas, which bounces from match to match in a fashion where I’m not sure if I have order right, confirms Mictlan is Jonathan de Jesús Navarro Jiménez. He’s 26, 9 years a wrestler (think about that for a sec) and from Guadalajara.

Quick details for those joining late, with more tomorrow

– Main event was just A Match. No angle, no feud, nothing different than what you might get on a Tuesday or Sunday.

– Similarly, Felino was just A Rudo. And lost in two falls due to DQ. It worked for Santo! I’m thinking not so much here.

– No explanation of Dutt for Styles. Doesn’t really make a difference, they’re all TNA Invader I, II, III to the public. MCMG won clean on Negro and Atlantis and want a title shot. Ultimo still wants the hair/mask match, but I suspect we’ll see some sort of rematch in September for the belts.

– People really really care about the luchawiki. I appreciate that.

As president of the Amapola Fan Club, either I go twelve pargraphs on that booking choice or I step away from the computer a few hours. I’ll see you tommorow.

(again, another post will show up before the show for discussion and I should be back later tonight. There’s one more post between this and the PPV thread.)

CMLL (FRI) 08/29 Arena Mexico
1) Fantasy, Mascarita Dorada, Pequeño Olímpico vs Pequeño Damian 666, Pequeño Warrior, Pierrothito
2) Hijo del Fantasma, La Máscara, La Sombra vs Felino, Heavy Metal, Misterioso II
3) Amapola & Lady Apache vs Marcela & Princesa Sujei [Relevos Increíbles, hair, mask]
4) Atlantis, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero vs AJ Styles, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin
5) Mictlán vs Dragon Rojo Jr. [mask]
6) Blue Panther, Dos Caras Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Black Warrior, Mr. Niebla, Rey Bucanero

Notimex preview. In ESTO, Ampola & Lady Apache wonder outloud why they’re not having a direct match instead of this tag, and Mictlan proclaims he’s won four straight and will learn from the experience (not exactly true). Luchando Libre has it’s preview of the show, echoing those issues with the women’s match.

I actually had a whole post about that written, but it didn’t get finished. The short version is: CMLL doesn’t believe the women are a draw, or they would not have put them so low and skipped them on the Sin Piedad ad. (They may be, they may not be, but the point is CMLL visibly doesn’t think so here.) Neither is this big blowoff for a long angle (Marcela & Sujei were feuding for about 2 days before this was announced, Amapola and Apache are about the title, not the hair.) If this was four men, we’d assume someone needs the money. That may be the case here, but I think this is just a misguided at including the women on a big card, done in a way which actually hurts them for being here.

Again, CMLL’s ad has swapped the CMLL/TNA match and the women’s match in it’s add. Don’t know if that’s a change or just randomness. They also don’t have “Crhis” Sabin spelled right, though it seems most other sources are getting it ready.

I don’t think the main event means anything; they’re coasting on the popularity of Wagner.

I don’t think the semimain means anything. Back and forth feuds with mask ripping doesn’t hype a feud when plenty of people who aren’t feuding (or who don’t get around to finishing their feud) do it every week. Mictlan has done absolutely nothing to this point but have below average matches and Dragon Rojo has been treated as The Great Rudo Find Of 2008, so there’s no drama and there’s absolutely no reason to believe anything but Dragon Rojo Jr. winning. Doing a shock tecnico win here would be a tremendous waste of time and effort.

Mictlan really should have won the Arena Coliseo Tag Team titles or some tournament or anything at all to prove CMLL has the slightest faith in him at all. Getting DQ wins when Dragon Rojo yanks off his mask is nothing. Even getting trios wins is nothing, because wins and loses don’t generally mean a whole lot in this promotion; you have the same match next week anyway.

As far as I can tell, they haven’t had these two work a singles match elsewhere before this one. Hopefully they’ll have been training or working small shows or something.

They’ve done nothing to build up CMLL/TNA since the Gran Prix, and the CMLL crew are rudos and acting like rudos in the press. Not seeing the TV, I don’t know if maybe they’ve don’t a good job of selling it there, but it doesn’t come off as especially meaningful. I guess you can make a case that Negro’s on the team (and the champs, which can’t be a coincidence) so it’s CMLL vs TNA, not Guerreros vs TNA. But if you really were going to do that, you should be putting a tecnico on the team to show promotion unity.

I think TNA wants a long term deal with CMLL enough that they’d lose here. I know they wouldn’t have much of a problem with sacrificing the Machine Guns to make something else work – that’s what they do in Orlando already, and Ultimo Guerrero is a slight bit more useful than the Road Dogg.

What I really hope happens is Felino doesn’t help his teammates and befriends the other team after that match, staying a tecnico. That makes more sense than anything else. This ‘turn’ has gotten zero notice.

My guess for results are Rudo Minis, tecnicos by DQ, Sujei losing her mask, CMLL over TNA, Dragon Rojo Jr. and Niebla getting the pin on Wagner to set up a
‘shocking’ mask match announcement.

tie-in: The animated voice of Dragon Rojo Jr. talked to El Universal. Sounds like he had fun.

Splitting this up today. Preview is up at 4p CT. Plans came up and I will be unable to do live coverage, but I’ll have a post for comments around 7:00 if you’d like to talk. There should also be another post before that…

CMLL (SUN) 08/24 Arena Neza [The Gladiatores]
1) Golden Bull & Iron Black b Dragon Xtream & Moto Cross
2) Furia Roja & Rey Neza b Asesino del Futuro & Dr. Trauma
3) Espectrito I & Mini Boricua b La Parkita & Mini Vagabundo
4) Okagua & Shogun b Black Hunter & Volcan Negro
5) Chac-Mol, Starman, Tony Rivera b Apocalipsis, Black Heart, Black Hunter
6) Ángel Azteca Jr., Hijo del Faraon, Mictlán b Bronco III, Dragon Rojo Jr., Semental

Wasn’t I just told CMLL was no long running in Arena Neza? You may counter that a card with Angel Azteca jr. and Semental doesn’t actually count, but it’s kinda more interesting that way.

The Gladiatoes also has interviews with Cien Caras and Dr. Wagner Jr.

AAA (WED) 08/27 Arena Miguel Canto, Cozumel [El Diario de Quintana Roo]
1) Alan Stone & El Elegido b Cuervo & Ozz
2) Jack Evans & Teddy Hart b Crazy Boy & Ultimo Gladiador
3) Gronda II & La Parka Jr. DQ Kenzo Suzuki & Mesias

Attendance is estimated as 3000 in the article.

El Hijo del Santo was on a panel discussion for the magazine Castalida, as he’s featured inside. Santo says he’s been vetoed from Mexico City (not CMLL, though that’s what he probably means) for many years, and the NWA Mexico match is his return.

CMLL’s Blog has more photos of CMLL in Spain.

SuperLuchas has a story on a Bolivia vs Peru show.

Both this week’s Wrestling Observer and Figure Four Weekly say Televisa and TV Azteca rejected WWE’s TV offer, and that’s why it ended up on TVC Deportes. I think I just buried the lead.

Ovaciones has a general preview on Arena Mexico and an artice on Scorpio Jr. “Grave, but stable and hoping for a quick recovery.”