Month: August 2009

This should’ve posted last night. Sorry!

Toryumon Mexico (SAT) 08/22 Arena Mexico [EdR, PY]
1) Hiroka & Mima Shimoda b Ayumi Kurihara & Marcela
2) Mascarita Dorada b Pequeno Boricua, Pequeno Nitro, Pequeño Damian 666
3) Angelico b Brazo de Oro and Máximo and Skándalo and Azteca and Durango Kid and Azteca and Trueno
4) Solar I b Negro Navarro [SALVADOR AMERICAS]
5) Místico, Shocker, Tiger Mask IV b Arkangel de la Muerte, Atlantis, Último Guerrero
6) Último Dragón b Ohara [mask, hair]

Third match surely does not have the correct lineup. That’s Solar winning the title back. Arkangel replaced Bucanero; kinda surprising Arkangel wasn’t on the card to start with, becuase he always makes these DragonMania shows. Ohara ripped up Dragon’s mask but wasn’t able to take it.

Corrections from the Verano de Escandalo recap: Luchando Libre says Esther Moreno saved Fabi Apache from the evil foreign women, instead of joining in like I had. Also, his read of the pictures is the clowns are the same. Zombie/Monster Clown’s outfit looks the same for sure.

AAA does a good history piece explaining the Gronda vs Gronda angle. I like when they do this explaining thing, though I would like to never agian read an article which starts with a dictionary defintion or a wikipedia article. Anyway, I hope they explain this angle this clearly on TV, because those who just watch AAA casually may not even be aware there are two Grondas. Meanwhile, Cesar points out Gronda I has absolutely no business in the ring, seeing as he was told to stay out of it for a year after his health issues. Gronda I’s whole career appears to have been about not caring about his health, but AAA just sees him as a way to make some money and Gronda I sees the ame.

Cesar also previews Tuesday’s show and Friday’s Arena Mexico show (high on Maya/Caligula)

LuchaWorld has Robert on AAA 07/13/08 and KrisZ’s news report.

SuperLuchas #328 has a special section on Mistico winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title.

Box Y Lucha #2936 has Dr. Wagner and results from Verano de Escandalo.

El Hijo del Santo wrestled at a retirement community. They drew over 600 people, the article proclaims.

CMLL (SUN) 08/23 Cancha de Fut-Rap [El Manana]
1) Casandro, Intocable, Sangre Chicana Jr. vs Emo, Punker, Rock Steel
2) Histeria, Maniaco, Psicosis II vs Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Hijo del Cien Caras, Máscara Año 2000 Jr. [cage]
3) Flash, Máximo, Mictlán vs Misterioso II, Shigeo Okumura, Virus
4) Naito, Último Guerrero, Yujiro vs Blue Panther, Shocker, Toscano

The only thing quicker than Usain Bolt is time the Bizarros spent in AAA. Wrestling on the undercard of a CMLL show with other Pena refugees surely means they were one and done in AAA.

IWRG (THU) 08/27 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fly Star vs Talisman Jr.
2) Carta Brava Jr. & Vampiro Metálico vs Miss Gaviota & Star Boy
3) Bushi, Chico Che, Freelance vs Avisman, Fantasma de la Ópera, Gringo Loco
4) Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro vs Barba Roja, Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr. [EdM Trios]
5) Scorpio Jr. & Villano III vs Head Hunter I & Sangre Chicana

Mascara Magica was the first Talisman Jr., over a decade ago. This is surely not him. There appears to have been an indy Talisman Jr. on the indies in ’05-’06, no idea if this is him. Talisman Sr. is better known as Hijo del Gladiator. If this is his son, it’d be odd for him not to be wrestling in CMLL, though plenty have used IWRG as a prelude to CMLL.

Champions have to be the strong favorites because they’re regulars and the Jr. Pirates seem to just have a couple month long runs here a year, but IWRG’s shown it has little problem giving titles to people who aren’t going to be back any time soon.

Main event is listed as a 25th anniversray celebration for Scorpio Jr. Luchawiki has his debut as August 30, 1985. Maybe they mean the start of the 25th year?

IWRG (SUN) 08/30 Arena Naucalpan
1) Espada de Plata vs Keshin Black
2) Gemelo Fantastico I & Gemelo Fantastico II vs Carta Brava Jr. & Vampiro Metálico
3) Freelance, Jack, Pendulo vs Avisman, Gringo Loco, Xibalba
4) Bushi, Chico Che, Suicida vs Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro
5) Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Sangre Chicana, Sangre Chicana Jr. vs Bobby Lee Jr., Mano Negra, Pantera

This is Espada de Plata’s first appearance, outside the all trainee show. Surely they’re running some program on top, but I have no idea of what it is at the moment. Meanwhile, there’s no sign of the Super X/IWRG feud. Such is the way of IWRG.

CMLL (SUN) 08/30 Arena Coliseo
1) Bengala & Principe vs Artillero & Súper Comando
2) Metálico, Tony Rivera, Venom vs Bronco, Durango Kid, Méssala
3) Fabián el Gitano, Leono, Rey Cometa vs Arkangel de la Muerte, Nosferatu, Skándalo
4) La Máscara, Metro, Sagrado vs Dragon Rojo Jr., Hijo de Lizmark, Sangre Azteca
5) La Sombra, Shocker, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis, Black Warrior, Mr. Niebla

Venom debuts on the second match. No info on him yet. There was a Venom wrestling the opening match on IWRG last year, so perhaps it’s him. Good to see Rey Cometa making the tercera. Doesn’t seem like there are any big fueds going on here.

CMLL (SUN) 08/30 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astaroth & Nube Roja vs Fraile de la Muerte & Titanio
2) Casanova & Hierro vs Asesino Negro & Leon Blanco
3) Flash & Stuka Jr. vs Misterioso II & Vangelis
4) Blue Panther, Héctor Garza, Toscano vs Averno, Terrible, Texano Jr.

Titanio appears to be another debut. One match to be added.

CMLL (FRI) 08/21 Arena Mexico [superluchas, Cesar, Ovaciones]
1) Principe & Sensei b Cholo & Zayco
2) Ángel Azteca, Guerrero Maya Jr., Starman b Dr. X, Pólvora, Tiger Kid
3) Lady Apache b Hiroka [lightning]
4) Máximo, Metro, Valiente b Euforia, Misterioso II, Nosferatu
5) Naito, Ray Mendoza Jr., Yujiro DQ Atlantis, Black Warrior, Último Guerrero
6) Blue Panther, La Sombra, Místico b Felino, Heavy Metal, Negro Casas

Negro escaped La Mistica and got Mistico in a casita for a win. Mistico challenged Negro to a hair match, and Negro accepted. No date is specifically mentioned, but everyone knows it’s the anniversary main. Main only went about 8 minutes.

In an reverse of last week, Team No Limit/V5 won in straight falls. Rudos took the first fall clean, and the second fall when Warrior fouled Yujiro. That match is coming.

Cesar says Maximo came to the ring wearing (his father’s) Brazo de Plata’s mask. Given that he was just using BoxY Lucha to ask for a job back there, that sure seems like a signal he’ll be back soon.

SuperLuchas and Ovaciones say fans threw money in the ring for the lightning match. Cesar says it was good, but they’ve done better, and the second match was the best on the show

TDN aired the opener and the lighting match.

Complete Verano de Escandalo results one post down.

Rotativo has an interview with Tiger Mask IV. He vows to be a professional and have no problem teaming up with Mistico today on the DragonMania show (his only match in, as far as we know), but would like a rematch for the IWGP Junior championship in Mexico.

CMLL (MON) 08/24 Arena Puebla
1) Lestat & SWAT vs Policeman & Siki Ozama Jr.
2) Sensei, Starman, Tigre Blanco vs Apocalipsis, Inquisidor, Pólvora
3) Ángel Azteca Jr., Angel de Oro, Angel de Plata vs Dr. X, Hooligan, Nitro
4) Héctor Garza, Hijo del Fantasma, La Máscara vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
5) La Sombra, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Mephisto, Terrible, Texano Jr.

Trios champs versus Pesta Negra. With the Puebla/CMLL Minis war over, the minis are out of here and the locals are reduced to make room for the novatos.

No DF lineups yet. I’m going grab some brunch and check back.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 08/25 Arena Mexico
1) Delta & Diamante vs Cholo & Zayco
2) Lady Apache, Lluvia, Marcela vs Amapola, Hiroka, Zeuxis
3) Mascara Dorada, Metro, Valiente vs Euforia, Vangelis, Virus
4) Sagrado, Shocker, Toscano vs Hijo de Lizmark, Terrible, Texano Jr.
5) Héctor Garza, Hijo del Fantasma, La Máscara vs Averno, Ephesto, Mephisto

Trios champs teaming up here as well.

Zeuxis makes her DF debut. She’s been working as a tecnica in GDL. Diamante debuts here too.

CMLL actually lists this as 09/01, but doesn’t say anything about skipping a week. Assuming typo.

CMLL (FRI) 08/28 Arena Mexico
1) Astro Boy & Molotov vs Camorra & Tiger Kid
2) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Calígula [lightning]
3) Flash, Pegasso, Stuka Jr. vs Arkangel de la Muerte, Loco Max, Skándalo
4) Máximo, Mictlán, Rouge vs Dragon Rojo Jr., Misterioso II, Sangre Azteca
5) Black Warrior, Blue Panther, Último Guerrero vs Naito, Ray Mendoza Jr., Yujiro
6) La Sombra, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis, Felino, Mr. Niebla

They follow up the big challenge by not having Negro Casas on the card. Also, the Rouge/Micltan debut makes their debut on the fourth match. Surely they’ll show they’ve earned that spot. Guerrero Maya & Caligula could be good.

IWRG (THU) 08/20 Arena Naucalpan [Black Terry Jr. and his pictures, Al Filo del Ring]
1) Eragon b Blasfemia
2) Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro b Orito & Panterita
3) el Signo & Negro Navarro b Black Terry & Shu el Guerrero
4) Pantera, Ricky Cruz, Scorpio Jr. DQ Kraneo, Rambo, Veneno
5) Kahoz, Máscara Año 2000, Sangre Chicana b El Fantasma, Mano Negra, Villano III

Sangre Chicana fouled Villano III and picked up the pin. Ricky tossed his mask (!) to Kraneo (Alebrije!) to draw the DQ. Matematico was presnted with a trophy for 40 years of wrestling.

Previews for tonight

CMLL: Ovaciones (Negro vs Mistico), ESTO (Mistico’s return to Japan)

AAA: ESTO (hyping…Yakuza vs Psycho Clowns? Also, apparently Ultimo Guerrero is teaming with Silver King & Electroshock, which actually makes more sense than the Gladiador turn) – LuchandoLibre has a preview, but it’s not coming up at ht emoemtn.

Fuego en el Ring talks about Plata’s mask loss, and has his real name as Ismael Hernandez Solis and Lizmark Jr. about wrestling in GDL.

Ovaciones says the annual CMLL minis party will be next Thursday. Super X is next running next Saturday.

DTU has photos of their show at the Lucha Libre Expo. Veneno‘s blog has photos of him in Super X.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update from Wednesday and Thursday, plus check out last night’s edition of Slammin’ Stan Episode 9.

CMLL (TUE) 08/25 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Idolo & Nube Roja vs Ebola & In Memoria
2) Angelo & Metatron vs Angel del Mal & Rey Trueno
3) Mr. Trueno & Satánico vs Neutrón & Palacio Negro
4) Máscara Mágica & Shigeo Okumura vs Mictlán & Rogue
5) Blue Panther, Máximo, Místico vs Black Warrior, Dragon Rojo Jr., Sangre Azteca

First Mistico match here since 08/02.

Verano de Escandalo doesn’t seem near the level of TripleMania. It’s not that they’re holding matches back for the Pena show; they’re probably doing more here, because we didn’t have an apuesta match at the last show. Of course, there’s not the (seeming) culmination of a multiyear storyline here. I guess that does take it down a step. Still, the main event is a just a tweak on the last one, and much of the rest of the card doesn’t look too must-see.

As far as we know, this show is supposed to air on television like normal, over two weeks. There’s been no mention of a PPV this time around, and I doubt they’ll do much the way of live coverage.

Match by match

1) Psycho Clowns and TWO CLOWNS TO BE DETERMINED vs Kenzo Suzuki, Oriental, Sugi

I was working on this preview earlier this week, before the official lineup came out, and even then I was thinking this was a match where the Psycho Circus could finally lose. Losing in the opener in an irrelevant match is not quite a dramatic climax to 21 months of winning, but we’ve given up that on a while ago. Yakzua is at least a new team with upward potential – AAA can push them in singles feuds, so they fufill AAA’s purpose for a trio – and could get a long term benefit from this feud.

If Zombie & Killer have left, obviously the replacement team loses (maybe Psycho sticks around as a random midcard guy while everyone else fades away?) Even if they’re all there, this is probably as a good a place to pull the plug on this as ever. I’m taking Yakuza.

2) Extreme Tiger vs Jack Evans, Rocky Romero, Teddy Hart, Alex Koslov [AAA CRUISER]

This title really doesn’t mean anything yet. Someone’s got to successfully defend it, for a start. Everyone’s on about the same level. There person who holds the belt is just the person who happened to win that day, but doesn’t seem to prove they’re the best at their size. Having a five way match doesn’t help the situation, but presumably they wanted to do only 7 matches and so these singles feuds had to be bundled here.

My guess is the long term plan here remains Sugi getting the next title shot. He did pick up that pin on Tiger, so the easy thing is to set up that match with Tiger winning here. The two sets of rivals can negate each other, and perhaps we’ll get a clue on who’s leaving at the end of the month based on who takes the loss here.

3) Joe Lider & Nicho el Millionario vs El Elegido & Gronda II [hardcore]

Really maddening for this not to be a title match. In storyline, what more do Elegido & Gronda have to do to get a chance? You’d think beating them twice in a row would be pretty good proof Hermandad Extreme might not be the best tag team in the world. In reality, this not being a title match means they’re either ending it here, or we’ve got yet another match down the road that’s actually for the title – maybe at the Pena show? Which would mean a couple more months of this?

It’s very strange to be picking Joe Lider & Nicho as a vote for sanity.

4) La Parka Jr., Marco Corleone, Octagon vs Electro Shock, Silver King, Ultimo Gladiador

I sure hope I’m pleasantly surprised when I watch the pre-Verano TV episodes, and find out they’ve explained the Gladiador turn in the background somewhere, but it just hasn’t made it to luchalibreaaa.com. It still won’t make this match much good. Someone find Marco some better partners!

Wagner’s team of Electro, Silver and UG ought to get this win, just to give them some momentum as a new faction. I’m not too sure of it, though.

5) Charly Manson vs Chessman [street]

AKA Chessman falls from a high place and everyone bleeds a bunch. I guess the tag match is hardcore stuff around the ring, this match is hardcore stuff in the crowd, and apuesta match might be hardcore stuff inside of a cage (or at least a lot of blood.) A stunt show is probably going to be more entertaining then these two having a straight match (thought Charly has looked better than when he first returned.) If Chessman’s going to fall, for the first time in a while, Charly would presumably take the win.

Remember how this feud started? When Charly stopped Chessman from winning the title (due to Chessman not actually being in the match)? Why haven’t they just been showing a video clip each week? Same really could be applied to Teddy/Jack – AAA puts a lot of effort into the bits where the heel destroys face, but then stops showing it after one week, and things become just a generic tecnico/rudo feud.

6) Aerostar vs Fabi Apache, Billy Boy, Sexy Star [mask, hair, cage]

lock of the show: Aerostar dives off the top of cage.

almost as strong lock of the show: Fabi Apache is not losing her hair. That’d be too dumb.

Which leaves

1) Aerostar comes back in the cage to save Fabi, ends up paying for it with his mask
2) Billy stays in with Fabi to finish it for all times, and Fabi surprises him for the win
3) Sexi stays in with Fabi, and Fabi kills her good

3 looks right to me. They’re selling Sexi on her looks, and her looks aren’t going to be hurt by losing the mask. If they want the feud to keep going, Fabi’s Reina de Reinas title did just make a reappearance, and Sexi could win that back somehow. Billy losing his hair only makes sense if this feud is going to end (and it never will), and Aerostar losing his mask makes no sense at all.

7) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Cibernético, El Mesías [cage, AAA HEAVY]

The big question: does AAA believe Dr. Wagner will be willing to take a pinfall loss to lose the title at some point? If you do, that’s the better way to go – have Cibernetico & Mesias cost each other the match and Wagner climbs out to fight another day. Wagner did take the pinfall loss to Cibernetico at the Lucha Libre Expo – which looks like the only TV pinfall he’s taken since coming in – so he’s not completely adverse to being beat. Mesias getting the win back at Pena Memorial is better than winning it back here without actually beating Wagner this way.

If Wagner doesn’t want to take a loss, then obviously this is the easy way to get it off of him without setting yourself up trouble down the line. The question then is which guy is better holding the title coming out of this show. Cibernetico probably sets up more things to do, since he’s the lone wolf feuding with rudos and tecnicos, but may cause more internal strife. Mesias has nothing new to do as champion, but he is the central guy they’re building the company around, so he might as well have the title.

This may be hopefully naive, but I’m thinking Wagner still comes out of this with the title, and they leave everything else in the air for the time being.