Month: February 2010

CMLL (MON) 02/15 Arena Puebla [Fuego en el Ring]
1) Espiritu Maligno & Fuerza Chicana b Black Tiger & Lestat
2) Pequeño Damian 666, Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Violencia b Bam Bam, Pequeño Olímpico, Shockercito
3) Fuego, Rush, Stuka Jr. b Cancerbero, Pólvora, Raziel
4) Blue Panther, Hijo del Fantasma, Valiente b Ephesto, Misterioso II, Vangelis
5) Atlantis, Mr. Niebla, Último Guerrero DQ Brazo de Plata, Místico, Strong Man

Mistico is saying he’s only a rudo against Volador and got along with his partners. Still, the rudo fans were rooting for Mistico to be a rudo – and the tecnico fans wanted Ultimo Guerrero to be a tecnico. I don’t know about that one. After Porky and Mistico dove, Strong Man accidentally hit the ref, and UG took off his mask and threw it to Strong Man. Referee called the DQ.

Mini Violencia got away with a foul on Bam Bam for the second match win.

AULL (SAT) 02/13 Arena Lopez Mateos [Al Filo del Ring]
3) Chucho El Roto, Iron Love, Mr. Potro b Angel o Demonio, León Rojo, Ovett
4) Brazo de Plata Jr., Brazo Jr., Brazo Metalico, Cerebro Maligno, Epitafo, Herejía b Rey Krimen, Robin Maravilla, Ultimo Vampiro, Sepulturero I, Terry 2000, Yakuza [losers advance]
5) Rey Krimen, Sepulturero I, Terry 2000 b Robin Maravilla, Último Vampiro, Yakuza [AULL TRIOS]
6) Black Terry, Negro Navarro, Sangre Chicana b Olímpico, Rocky Santana, Solar I

In a match where hair and mask were on the line if anyone but the champions lost, the champions lost (and Sadico didn’t show.) Sangre Chicana was telling people he’s retiring, at a date yet to be determined. Me too!

IWRG (SUN) 02/14 Arena Naucalpan [Al Filo del Ring]
1) Dinamic Black b Comando Negro
2) Eragon & Héros b Alan Extreme & Hijo del Signo
3) el Ángel, Suicida, Zatura b Avisman, El Hijo del Diablo, Gringo Loco
4) Histeria II, Psicosis II, Veneno b Bobby Lee Jr., Chico Che, Jack
5) Máscara Año 2000 & Máscara Año 2000 Jr. b Hijo de Pirata Morgan & Pirata Morgan

Mascaras easily defeated the Piratas, so there’s a tag team title match coming up.

Hijo del Diablo is so much a Gringo now, he can no longer speak Spanish!

Video links:

• Primera: 1st 2nd 3rd
• Segunda: 1st 2nd 3rd
• Tercera: 1st 2nd 3rd

IWRG’s entrance set looks so much better on Black Terry’s camera than on TV.

Mistico may yet be suspended. Ovaciones has interviews with Jose Luis Feliciano and Fantasma, who both say Mistico must give the Mexican National Light Heavyweight belt to Volador or face suspension. Fantasma says Mistico’s behavior in and after the title match will be brought up at today’s weekly commission meeting. Fantasma also points out Hijo del Fantasma (his son) willingly gave up his belt on Sunday, unlike Mistico. (They did make a point of that on Sunday’s show.) Fantasma says lucha libre is win and losses, and Mistico must handle losses better.

A couple follow up points on the TNA/AAA situation, noting that we still don’t really know anything but a headline on a magazine:
– Where would that leave CMLL and Dark Angel? She’s has been working in TNA far more than CMLL in recent months; she’s only had one match in Mexico this year. On the other hand, the new TNA regime seems to have lessen it’s focus on women’s wrestling. TNA’s taping TV yesterday and today, and Sarita did not appear, which could be for either reasons
– Apparently, Sean Morley’s Facebook says he’s coming to CMLL in March. If someone who’s on Facebook could verify this, that’d be helpful. Again, same problem.

My guess is this is there’s only going to be problems if TNA has CMLL and AAA wrestlers in the ring at the same time. So far, there’s been no talk about AAA sending wrestlers to TNA (just maybe the other way), it’s probably not going to be an issue.

Hijo de Tirantes was robbed at knife point this past weekend.

Milenio has an interview with Joaquin Roldan. This Thursday is said to be the first show in two years, which doesn’t seem right. There have been shows in the meantime, but CMLL says they’ve been issues with the promoters.

Cesar says Super Porky has dropped 25kg (55 lb!) since returning to CMLL.

What happened to Escorpion? He hasn’t been in CMLL since he lost the lighting match to Diamante on 12/11. I don’t believe he was part of the Sangre Nueva highlights this week on Ras de Lona. Injury?

Okumura still hopes to win a championship this year. Maybe he and Taichi can challenge Stuka & Fuego! Speaking of Taichi, one of NJPW’s Twitter accounts says Taichi is scheduled to be in CMLL (or at least out of Japan) for two years. Might as well start with the comedy if he’s going to be around that long.

Al Filo del Ring reviews Polvo de Angel, which includes LA Park, and says LA Park was the only good thing about it.

Cesar notes Mistico’s turn has changed the feelings of CMLL from the start of the year.

SuperLuchas talks about the lucha libre festival in Monterrey.

El Pancracio has interviews with Black Tiger, Xtreme Mask, and Sombra Poblana.

El Manana has a story on marathon runner/luchador Zeus.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Hi!

This week, we’ll begin voting for the sixth annual Tapatia awards. The votes will based on the 2009 calendar year. The voting has NOT started yet. This post is only for discussion of the setup of the awards.

I’m looking at opening the voting between 02/17 and 03/02, though I may have problems totaling them up that week. (By the same token, I’m open to suggestions about easier way to do the voting.)

Awards on the ballot in past years

1) Best Wrestler – top wrestler over the last year.
2) Best Match – please include dates, location where possible
3) Best Tecnico – greatest good guy
4) Best Rudo – for the entertaining evil-doers
5) Best Female – women only. Sorry, no exoticos.
6) Best Unit – tags, trios, atomicos, other groups – must’ve been a team in 2009
7) Best Promotion/Territory – CMLL, AAA, Perros del Mal, IWRG, DTU, – specific enough so we can identify a group
8) Best Rivalry – most interesting/exciting/entertaining feud. Can be person vs person, or people vs people.
9) Most Improved – wrestler who stepped up their game the highest from 2009
10) Most Underutilized – wrestler who’s deserving of more attention from both the promotion and the fans

Best Mini will be added to the ballot; it must be someone who regularly competes as a mini. Anything else?

Best Wrestler and Best Match will be top 6, everything else will be top 3. Is that too much?

Do you want some candidates to choose thru, or would that bias things too much? Either way, you’d be able to vote for whoever you wanted.

CMLL (SUN) 02/14 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring]
1) Cerveruz & Templario b Flyer & Metalik II
2) Hooligan & Nitro b Diamante & Starman
3) Eléctrico, Mascarita Dorada, Último Dragoncito b Pequeño Damian 666, Pequeño Warrior, Pierrothito
4) Atlantis, Shigeo Okumura, Último Guerrero b La Máscara, Rouge, Valiente
5) Felino, Mr. Niebla, Rey Bucanero b Brazo de Plata, La Sombra, Máximo
6) Místico b Volador Jr.

CMLL was running against the WWE (Rey Misterio/Batista on top) here, but this was billed as the anniversary show for this building and apparently drew well, though no number. The WWE show drew 11,000.

Mistico brought the belt, but refused to give it to Volador. Guadalajara seems to be behind Mistico. Sombra does not – he seconded Voldor and went face to face with Mistico at one point before the referee got involved. Mistico took the first fall, Volador won the second with La Mistica. Mistico used a food tray during the match. It sounds like Sombra got it, swung it at Mistico, and ended up hitting Volador. Hmmm. Mistico fouled Volador, covered for the win, and walked off with the belt again.

Maximo fell at the feet of Mr. Niebla to give him the fall. Super Porky was angry with his son.

NJPW announced Strong Man will be participating on their March tour (03/14 – 03/22), including facing Tanahashi in a first round match up of their New Japan Cup. Winner of that Cup usually gets a IWGP Heavyweight title shot, though I don’t think that’s much of a concern here. Strong Man is teaming up with Manabu Nakanishi for the other matches (including one against No Limit.) Strong Man was previously working in Japan for the IGF, so I’m not sure if this is a CMLL deal or just a jump between groups. Strong Man has been best as a caricture for comedy matches, I’m not sure how well he’ll do here. Hopefully it’ll be great and someone can get into the junior tournament later this year.

Box Y Lucha #2961 has a headline indicating a TNA/AAA alliance, which has been the rumor for the last few weeks. Even longer than that has been the idea of TNA sending Hernandez to AAA for a while to get footage of him as a Mexican star and I suspect we’ll see that soon. There’s also a headline of Juvi forgiving Konnan, so Juvi really must need a job.

Black Terry Jr. has photos of 02/14 IWRG.

Lineup

indy (TUE) 02/16 Arena Coliseo Monterrey
1) Desafio vs Twister
2) Gemelo Muerte I & Gemelo Muerte II vs Dranser & Scravos
3) Angel del Silencio & Virtual X vs Azteca Warrior & Sangre Negra
4) Angel Dorado Jr. & Sky vs Lover Boy & Simbolo
5) Gato Fantasma, Hijo del Ninja, Misterioso Jr. vs Furor, Galactar, Sergio Romo Jr.

I guess we find out if Rob’s right about 2 Misterioso.

CMLL (SUN) 02/14 Arena Mexico [Cesar]
1) Camorra & Semental b Camaleón & Trueno
2) Dalis la Caribeña, Estrella Mágica, Marcela b Hiroka, Yezca, Zeuxis
3) Dragon Rojo Jr., Misterioso II, Sangre Azteca b Máscara Dorada, Metro, Sagrado
4) Blue Panther, Strong Man, Toscano b Averno, Ephesto, Mephisto
5) Negro Casas b Hijo del Fantasma [CMLL MIDDLE]

Fantasma won the first, Negro Casas won the second, Negro escaped Fantasma’s German suplex to pin him clean with a casita and win the championship. This was much more of a technical battle than Friday’s title match.

Negro Casas is the 15th champion and this is his second reign. He lost it back in 2006 to Averno, who was the man Fantasma beat for the title. Negro Casas is also now a two crown champion, holding both the CMLL welter and middleweight titles. (Volador and Mascara Dorada are also two belt champions, as far as belts CMLL counts.) After this weekend’s title changes, there are 15 recognized normal male champions.

As expected, No Limit defeated Terrible & Texano to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles. Naito got the pin on Texano in about ten and half minutes. Not much was said about the match quality.

Mistico/Volador links of the day

• Volador accuses Mistico of being a paper champ who never had to work the first match.
• Over on Luchando Libre, Kiss says the Mistico rudo turn has been a failure, and the general public is not interested.
• Cesar is critical of the editing of the Mistico/Volador match that aired yesterday, and notes neither man had seconds.

donnanews has a long and interesting story about lucha libre & media (magazines & TV), including stuff like the original name of Box Y Lucha. There’s a few interesting nuggets out of here, like Leobrado Magadan explaining Ras de Lona not covering WWE by saying there’s no cross over between fans of CMLL & WWE. I find that belief less than true.

Latin Lover says, if he wins the championship, he plans on wrestling more often.

In celebration of Valentines Day, AAA looks back at couples in AAA. No mention of Gato & Pimpi!

Estrellas del Ring has interviews with DTU champ Aero Boy and Hijo del Dr. Wagner

WagnerMania looks back at Dr. Wagner Jr. in Japan.

Cesar has a bunch of posts: looking at CMLLs cards, says Santos Perros del Mal match will NOT air (because Perro didn’t sign him to a deal for TV rights), suggest Black Warrior is listed as a surprise because you never know if he’ll show (he is listed with his name, more often than not),

Cronicas Y Leyendas looks back at Mil Mascaras almost winning the AWA World Title.

DJ Spectro looks back at El Hijo del Santos debut in Arena Naucalpan, the introductions of Los Marqueses and El Vagbundo

Ohtani’s Jacket looks back at Panther vs Atlantis, 1991 for his 200th post.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Lineups

IWRG (THU) 02/18 Arena Naucalpan
1) Dinamic Black vs Keshin Black
2) Guizmo & Héros vs Alan Extreme & Carta Brava Jr.
3) Brazo Metalico, Chico Che, Fishman Jr. vs Avisman, Trauma I, Trauma II
4) Angelico, el Ángel, Freelance vs Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro
5) Hijo del Pantera, Pantera, Zatura vs Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro, Hijo del Signo

Hijo del Signo has made it to the main event quick. Freelance back! Has Angel been good here? (In the one match that’s happened so far, I guess.)

CMLL (SUN) 02/21 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Thunder Boy vs Titanio
2) Angelo & Virgo vs Drago & In Memoria
3) Neutrón & Palacio Negro vs León Blanco & Mr. Trueno
4) Bam Bam & Último Dragoncito vs Pequeño Damian 666 & Pequeño Warrior
5) La Sombra, Máscara Dorada, Strong Man vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas

Minis in the semimain, huh. Sombra seems to be locked in against Peste Negra.

Perros del Mal (SUN) 02/21 Gimnasio Nuevo Leon
1) Charly Manson vs X-Fly
2) Groon XXX & Hijo del Lizmark vs Damián 666 & Halloween
3) Konnan Big vs el Hijo del Perro Aguayo

Unrequested advice: Perro Aguayo Jr., you’re facing Konnan Big in a singles match, you need to re-evaluate the decisions you’ve made in your life. (I have no idea why the db thinks Charly is a rudo, but I don’t care too much.) Which of these three matches will deliver on the wrestling?

IWRG (SUN) 02/21 Arena Nacualpan
1) Eragon & Héros vs Alan Extreme & Hijo del Signo
2) Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro vs Avisman, El Hijo del Diablo, Gringo Loco
3) Angelico, Chico Che, el Ángel vs Histeria II, Psicosis II, Veneno

Missing the opener and something else – maybe the Piratas and Mascara come back for a title match next week? Not only is Cerbero Negro back suddenly, but so is Avisman, to make it a trios feud.

AAA (FRI) 02/12 Arena San Juan Pantitlan [Estrellas del Ring, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr)]
1) Payasito Chicolin & Payasito Confeti b Jony Velta & Tonina Cirio
2) Caricia, Mohicano, Nino de Ebano, Super Brazo, Super Tarin b Colombino, M-1, Miserable, Ricky Ricon, Tony Cirio
3) Aerostar & Fabi Apache b Billy Boy & Sexy Star
4) Monster Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown b Histeria, Infinito, Super X
5) Dizzy, Extreme Tiger, La Parka Jr. b Psicosis III, Silver King, Último Gladiador
6) El Mesías & Electroshock b Chessman & Cibernético

Cheesman got pinned in the final fall of the main event, then tripped up Cibernetico from the outside so he’d lose too.

Silver King pulled Parka’s mask and rolled him up in the semimain, but Parka kicked out, used his long hair to cover his face, and rolled up Silver King for the win. After the match, the two seemed to agree to a loser must wear a dress match for the next show. However, the next show won’t be here; the EdR recap mentions this is the last show in this building for this promoter (Contreas). Elsewhere, Mr. Reyes says the promotion is moving to Arena Neza, and the future of this long time lucha building is uncertain.

CMLL (FRI) 02/12 Arena Mexico [SuperLuchas, Record, Cesar, Fuego en el Ring]
1) Delta & Guerrero Maya Jr. b Disturbio & Inquisidor
2) Bam Bam, Bracito de Oro, Fantasy DQ Pequeño Universo 2000, Pequeño Violencia, Pequeño Warrior
3) Stuka Jr. b Virus [lightning]
4) Hijo del Fantasma, Máximo, Valiente b Atlantis, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero
5) Brazo de Plata, La Sombra, Strong Man b Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
6) Volador Jr. b Místico [MEX LH]

Volador Jr. won the Mexican Light Heavyweight Championship, becoming the 61st champion. At the end of the night, Mistico is the one who walked home with the belt.

Volador took the first fall with either a poor La Mistica or something else that wasn’t very clear. Mistico took the second with a mask yank and cradle. Third fall (of another 20 minute match) saw Mistico kick out of Volador’s moonsault sideslam. Mistico went for a casita to finish Volador, Volador reversed it to his own cradle and GRABBED THE ROPES for the win.

Mistico lost his mind after the match, spearing Volador as the new champ was handed his belt and ripping up his gear. Mistico grabbed the belt back and hit Volador with it to lay him out. Tigre Hispano, the referee of the match, tried to break it up, but Mistico smacked him with the belt and then fouled the official as well. Mistico held onto the belt and started running up the ramp, only stopping to taunt the fans (and get pelted with beer glasses.)

My guess is Mistico will be suspended by the commission for a while. Besides the post match action, he also used the wooden steps from outside the ring during the second fall, including powerbombing Volador on them, which is usually illegal and can also be justification for a punishment. Mistico will disappear from Arena Mexico for 2-4 weeks, work thru his previous scheduled tecnico bookings elsewhere in the country, and then return to Arena Mexico in time to work the Dos Leyendas show as an official rudo. This is not confirmed, but this appears to be the direction.

Edit: WRONG! At least so far.

Not a lot of other news here, but what did you need? Semimain was said to be a good comedy match, while the cuatro was the best match on the show. There may be a new minis feud starting up, but it appears to involve Bracito de Oro and Mini Violencia Mini Warrior (Violencia Warrior took the mask for the DQ) so I’m okay with passing on the whole thing.

Show as a whole was said to be good, and attendance was again noticeable up.

Fuego en el Ring interviewed Semental, who hasn’t been in Arena Mexico for two months but will return this Sunday. The laguerno rudo says he sunk into a depression after being robbed of his spot in the Gran Alternativa. Darn that Yellow Wave! Semental says he’s back after dropping a little weight and feel like his time will eventually come if he keeps on working. Semental also has a lot of nice words for Satanico as a trainer.

Cesar makes the point that CMLL doesn’t really need Zumbido – Zumbido is not a draw, they’ve got other people who can work as well, they’ve got other people who can be Guapos, they even have other people who used to be Guapos (if you even want to restart the group, which is iffy.)

Ohtani’s Jacket enjoyed lots of last week’s IWRG, and some earlier CMLL.

Tomorrow is the last day to vote in CMLL’s awards. There’s a couple close ones Dragon Rojo/Mascara Dorada is the tightest. There’s also some with some fairly surprisingly outcomes: it looks like Angeles Rebeldes are going to win trio of the year and La Mascara is going to win tecnico of the year.

No lineups yet. Will update when I see them.

Addition: Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 02/16 Arena Mexico
1) Camaleón & Robin vs Disturbio & Semental
2) Horus, Metatrón, Trueno vs Bronco, Durango Kid, Inquisidor
3) Fuego, Molotov, Sensei vs Nosferatu, Pólvora, Raziel
4) Blue Panther, Toscano, Valiente vs Ephesto, Terrible, Texano Jr.
5) Brazo de Plata, La Sombra, Shocker vs Atlantis, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero

Doesn’t seem like they’re following up with anything from last week. Again, Nosferatu not being in the Cancerbros is awkward. If he stays in his spot, he’s going to continue to be teaming with the Tuareg or Cancerbros quite often.

Horus & Metatron are very much on the fringes of this roster, and Robin (Maravilla?) would be a debut. Last time Horus was listed, it turned out to be a fakeout to set up a singles match and lineup change, but there doesn’t seem to be any singles match set up for this show.

CMLL (FRI) 02/19 Arena Mexico
1) Delta & Diamante vs Puma King & Tiger Kid
2) Bracito de Oro, Eléctrico, Mascarita Dorada vs Pequeño Universo 2000, Pequeño Warrior, Pierrothito
3) Ángel de Oro, Ángel de Plata, Sagrado vs Dragon Rojo Jr., Misterioso II, Shigeo Okumura
4) La Sombra vs Felino [lightning]
5) Máximo, Mr. Niebla, Strong Man vs Naito, Ray Mendoza Jr., Taichi
6) La Máscara, Místico, Negro Casas vs Héctor Garza, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr.

I have no idea. It appears the idea behind the main even is the runners up from DF in the national tournament with fellow DF rep Mistico take on the best of the rest. (The winners apparently have won a chance not to appear at all.) The main is not officially listed as relevos increidble but appears that way.

There definitely have been changes in plans in this lineup during this week. Okumura is on the card, but no longer taking with Naito & Taichi. No one would be too surprised if Mr. Niebla joined the tecnicos, but he just seems like a random inclusion here.

Correcting the results: it was Mini Warrior who pulled Bracito’s mask last night, so the segunda continues that issue.

CMLL (SUN) 02/21 Arena Mexico
1) Bengala & Principe vs Cholo & Zayco
2) Fabián el Gitano, Guerrero Maya Jr., Leono vs Dr. X, Hooligan, Nitro
3) Ángel Azteca, Pegasso, Rey Cometa vs Arkangel de la Muerte, Loco Max, Skándalo
4) Blue Panther, Toscano, Valiente vs Euforia, Nosferatu, Vangelis
5) Hijo del Fantasma, Místico, Shocker vs Atlantis, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero

And now Mistico is here as just a normal tecnico. CMLL is always slow moving guys over, but this seems a bit absurd.