AAA-US: last week before TripleMania. Even bigger is the exciting return of Chris Stone. LA Park and La Parka in matches but not the same match.
52MX: Diamante Angels vs Cancerbero Skandalos + Lyger vs Maximo.
LATV: if it’s not a rerun, we’re still waiting for a women’s trios and a grab bag group of tecnicos vs Euforia + 67% of Poder Mexica
IWRG: a rerun!
Masked Warriors: the Behind the Mask special premier at 1 on Saturday, repeats many many times.
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CMLL: Televisa’s website says lucha is back the 2pm/4pm start times on Sunday. Other sites say it’s 1:30pm/3:30pm. Watch CMLL’s Twitter, I guess.
Even though the pattern of late has been to skip one of the top three matches, I can’t believe they’re airing Astral vs Electico. Even in a week where no one but the hardest core will be watching.
AAA-MEX: Part 2 of TripleMania. Parka/Park is the headliner, but the cruiserweight four way might be good too. Regardless of when this actually starts and what’s going on opposite of it, you may want to skip the women’s match and the Abyss/Ciber vs Zorro/Vamp first hour.
CMLL-FOX: Mr. Aguila vs Mistico.
C3: TZUKI. Either you’re in for Tzuki or you don’t care about this show anyway.
Puebla: Back on the schedule, as far I’ve seen. Figure the Yoshiashi match is the one that gets dropped.
ACM: Back on the schedule, as far as I’ve sen. They’ve got a lot of back loaded shows here, so my usual bad guess is even worse here.
Perros: Back on the schedule, as far as I’ve seen. (TVC Deportes doesn’t have listings for Sunday & Monday on their site, so I’m working off that listings site linked earlier.) Should continue to work thru the DF taping. Will be slightly amazed if this airs.
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CMLL-TFN: Triad vs Maximo/Mascara/Sagrado, plus Pesta Negra vs Garza/Mistico/Volador
CMLL (MON) 06/21 Arena Puebla [Fuego en el Ring]
1) Ares & Karisma b Centella de Oro & Crazy Black
2) Loco Max, Nosferatu, Skándalo b Pegasso, Rey Cometa, Sensei
3) Fuego, Metro, Valiente b Euforia, Misterioso II, Pólvora
4) Blue Panther, La Máscara, Siki Osama b Atlantis, Shigeo Okumura, Yoshihashi
5) Jushin Lyger, Negro Casas, Universo 2000 b La Sombra, Máscara Dorada, Rayo de Jalisco Jr.
Universo got in a foul on Rayo for the pin. Rayo demanded a mask vs hair match for Puebla’s anniversary show and a title match. Since he has a title, that one’s a little easier to pull off.
Siki replaced a missing Toscano. Mascara finished Atlantis with an Atlantida.
CMLL (TUE) 06/22 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring]
1) Silueta b Princesa Maya
2) Drago & Ebola b Angelo & Virgo
3) Gallo, Metal Blanco, Palacio Negro b Ángel del Mal, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
4) Hijo del Fantasma, La Máscara, Máximo b Ephesto, Terrible, Texano
5) Héctor Garza DQ Shocker
Hector not only had to deal with Shocker in this match, but also Shocker’s mom. She was seated at ringside, but chased Garza around the outside at one point. Garza still won – he tried to foul Shocker, Shocker blocked it and fouled him, and the ref saw it. Shocker challenged Garza to a hair match, but Garza just said no.
CMLL (TUE) 06/22 Arena Mexico [@cmllmagazine]
1) Disturbio & Semental b Camaleón & Robin
2) Dark Angel, Goya Kong, Marcela b Amapola, La Comandante, Mima Shimoda
3) Demus 3:16, Pequeño Warrior, Pierrothito b Bam Bam, Mascarita Dorada, Tzuki
4) Delta, Toscano, Valiente b Pólvora, Shigeo Okumura, Yoshihashi
5) Máscara Dorada, Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Super Porky b Atlantis, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
Tzuki actually showed up! Demus got his team the win with a foul on Bam Bam, and wants either a rematch or a title match.
Rayo’s team won, and he and Atlantis are still teasing the mask match.
Sombra talks to R de Rudo about his Best of Super Juniors experience. As expected, Sombra highlights how he beat “the two top figures in Japan” (in Tiger Mask and Jushin Lyger.)
Dos Caras Jr. debuted in a vignette at last night’s SmackDown taping as the unmasked Alberto del Rio. Since it’s a vignette, it could still be edited off the show before it airs this week, but it’s most likely his debut.
CMLL (MON) 06/28 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano, Silver, Tigre Rojo vs Espiritu Maligno, Mr. Rafaga, Siki Osama
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Leono, Trueno vs Bronco, Durango Kid, Inquisidor
3) Ángel de Oro, Rush, Stuka Jr. vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
4) La Sombra, Shocker, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero
5) Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Universo 2000 [WWA HEAVY]
Rayo has been champion for five years. Probably will be champion for another five years.
LA Park vs La Parka Jr. is ruled a no contest, as planned. Related: AAA an interview with a whiny Parka Jr. complaining about people being mean to him in this match
Los Perros united with the Legion, forming the Corporate Ministry. Konnan is revealed to be the Higher Power! I knew it all along. Damian & Halloween are already wrestling on house shows.
Heroes en el Ring has a big presence @ E3 (and is the first most hear about it). First impression of the game will trickle out for the next two months, but the reaction is mixed. Everyone seems to agree it’s got a unique identity and disagrees if it’s better/worse than
TripleMania starts to air on free TV. (No word when CMLL’s shows will ever air.)
Mr. Aguila pinned Mistico in a singles match with a lot of help from Tirantes. Seems like they’re headed somewhere there
first Viva La Lucha PPV airs
others
CMLL got a 1.9 this past Saturday, an amazingly low number
Verano de Escandalo is 08/06 in Arena Monterrey.
Mr. Niebla and Tzuki return
Princesa Sujei picked up the PWR Women’s Championship
CMLL’s Anniversary show is about 3 months and 2 days away. That sounds like a long time, but there’s usually a pretty clear indication of what CMLL expects to main event the show.
last 4 years
2009: Mistico and Negro Casas already had their big title matches
2008: Mistico/Perro was the clear main event and didn’t happen due to injuries, but they also already had Panther/V5 feuding
2007: Panther face Hijo de Lizmark in the main event of the 06/29 show, amid to “they can’t possibly be doing THIS for the Anniversary main event” cries. CMLL did throw a lot of people in the cage, but it did come down to Hijo de Lizmark & Blue Panther.
2006: Black Warrior vs Mistico was clear in January
2005 doesn’t fit, since they had a major show in August and were focusing on it first. Unless there’s an AAA TV taping in Mexico City in the next couple months, CMLL’s probably coasting until the Anniversary.
This year, there’s a feud to obviously big enough to main event the Anniversary show. The problem is there’s many of them, and it’s tough to figure out which is the real one and which are the fake outs. Mistico is feuding with no less than Mr. Aguila, Oriental, Volador Jr., Averno and they’ve done promos to tease a match with Lyger as well. On the other side, new rudo Hector Garza has been challenged to matches by both his former partners Hijo del Fantasma and La Mascara, but also Shocker. Those same tecnicos are also feuding with the Invasors (with both Fantasma/Psicosis and Olimpico/Psicosis being hyped at different times.) Rayo de Jalisco’s return and seeming success means the Rayo vs Universo direct match they never got around to doing the first time might come around this time, plus they seem to suddenly pushing Atlantis/Rayo hard. There’s more people to throw in feuds if you wanted to (and the whole Negro/Lyger idea, which has been talked about), but none of the current ones are particularly rising above the others.
The story isn’t any feud, it’s the volume of feuds. Which usually means a cage match. CMLL’s done two cage matches previously for the anniversary show: the Infernales vs Infernales name battle in 2001 (where Satanico got Mascara Magica’s mask), and the previously mentioned 2007 one. The latter was similar to this; instead of doing the one match everyone wanted to see (Perro/Mistico), they got to extend it longer while giving a different payoff. This year, the match the fans want to see more than most is Volador vs Mistico in a mask match, but it’s hard to believe CMLL would take Volador from rudo to unmasked in 3 months. Maybe they ought to, but they have a pattern of operating differently.
It’s not hard to come up with 12 names for the cage match. Again, the problem is actually cutting back to 12 names after you’ve come up with about 18 obvious ones. I’d go with this lineup:
Mistico
Shocker
La Mascara
Hijo del Fantasma
Rayo de Jalisco
Sombra
Mr. Aguila
Psicosis II
Volador
Averno
Hector Garza
Atlantis
Oriental is not included because I believe he’ll be, uh, unavailable to be used in this capacity in September. (It’d be too soon.) I may be wishcasting the Dinamitas not being involved and being done by this point. Sombra’s the biggest stretch as an inclusion, but I figure something will have to happen with him and Volador and Mistico by this point. If not, this would be a good time for that happen.
CMLL fans have seemed willing to accept cage matches for masks and hairs, turning out as if it was a big match even when the loser seems pretty obvious. Psicosis II losing his mask to Hijo del Fantasma probably would not work on it’s own, but it’d be an acceptable finish in this context.
Plan can still change; it would not be a big surprise if they had some other idea and were waiting until after the World Cup to unveil it. However, based on the cards they’ve played so far, this seems the most likely outcome.
IWRG (SUN) 06/20 Arena Naucalpan [The Gladiatores, Al Filo del Ring]
1) Mixteco Jr. b Máscara Magnífica
2) Daga & Dinamic Black b Comando Negro & Imposible
3) Eragon, Freelance, Suicida b Eterno, Nemesis, Trauma II
4) Hijo del Cien Caras & Máscara Año 2000 Jr. b Hijo de Pirata Morgan & Pirata Morgan [IWRG IC TAG]
5) Monster Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown DQ Scorpio Jr., Tinieblas Jr., Veneno
In the third, Psycho Clown bumped the ref and then tried to foul Tinieblas. Tinieblas blocked it, pulled off Psycho Clown’s mask, and covered him. One ref started counted, but the other noticed Psycho unmasked and called for the DQ. Al Filo del Ring has video of the match.
As expected, the Dinmitas get the IWRG tag titles, just like the Maniacos already have the AAA tag titles. Title match came down to Pirata Sr. & Mascara. Pirata got Mascara to give to a submission, but the referee was distracted. Mascara submitted Pirata for the win. Second time for the new champs, who lost them to Ricky Cruzz & Scorpio Jr. and IWRG hasn’t done much with these titles yet.
Eragon pinned Trauma and demanded a singles match.
Comando Negro beat up Impossible after that team lost in straight falls. Unlike most times when random people from different camps get thrown together in segundas, the tecnico stayed as a tecnico and the rudo stayed as a rudo, so they weren’t getting along.
The Gladiatores has an interview with the new champs. This Thursday’s hair/hair match is a captain’s hair match, with feuding Bombero Infernal and Dr. Cerebro as captains.
The big idea is Halloween, Damian, Super Crazy (and whomever else turns up) are taking out AAA to clear the path for Hijo del Perro Aguayo. Best bet is he doesn’t appear until Verano de Escandalo.
In an interview with Fuego en el Ring, Alebrije casually drops the identities of the replacement Alebrije/Psicosis/Histeria in AAA while talking about their low quality. People had figured those out already, but it’s a surprise to see a luchador revealing those. Alebrije talks about goals for the Invasors and suggests CMLL should innovate with the first mascot mask match – Cuije vs Que Monito! That’s an anniversary main event right there.
Espanto II is suffering from cervical cancer and is in the hospital.
Kombo.com‘s preview of Heroes en el Ring (spelling errors are their own)
Walking away from Lucah Libre, one couldn’t see a reason to go back unless they are a fan of Luchadore wrestling. Nothing of the game seemed really fresh except for the mask customization, which was fun, but didn’t contribute a lot to the overall game. The appeal doesn’t seem to be wide as many wrestling fans are set with Smackdown vs. Raw, and the game on the outside seems like a skin of a typical wrestling game. Fans of the highly dramatic and high flying Luchadore style wrestling may find the story mode fun and a good diversion, but for everyone else it will seem as another wrestling game.
(This is exactly where I think the consensus is going to end up. Including the misspellings. )
El Manana talks to Goya Kong about her Arena Mexico debut. She says Black Mamba helped her come up with the name.
Box Y Lucha #2979 has a ton of things, but Rayo & Atlantis are the biggest profiled. Need to write a post about that next!
CMLL (SUN) 06/27 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Relampago Azul vs Black Metal (GDL)
2) Astaroth & Magnum vs Drago & Infierno
3) Lady Apache & Silueta vs La Comandante & Seuxis
4) Máscara Dorada, Sagrado, Stuka Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Misterioso II, Sangre Azteca
5) Felino, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero vs El Alebrije, Histeria, Psicosis
Main is a rematch of this past week. Look at the semimain. Don’t tell me they’re setting up another title match.
AAA (SUN) 06/27 Arena Coliseo Monterrey
1) El Brazo & Hailey Hatred vs Jesse & Tiffany
2) Rió Bravo, Tigre Cota, Tito Santana vs Golden Boy, Rey Demonio Jr., Simbolo
3) Aerostar, Laredo Kid, Súper Fly vs Monster Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown
4) Antifaz del Norte, Damián 666, Halloween vs El Elegido, Jack Evans, Octagón
RFC has the lineup. After the taping, it’s pretty clear Antifaz is working the matches in what was Super Crazy’s spot. Antifaz is a local star, but also one who hasn’t been around much lately. If I was in Perros del Mal and I wasn’t Perro, Damian, Halloween or Super Crazy, I’d be very concerned AAA & Perros preferred to an unrelated outsider than anyone of the guys who are working for the company. The other guys might show up on DF shows, but look otherwise out in the cold.
DTU (SAT) 07/10 Xalapa, Veracruz
1) Low Rider vs Daga, Dratick Boy, Eterno
2) Aeroboy vs Paranoiko, Crazy Boy, Joe Lider, Violento Jack, Histeria III, Extreme Tiger, Nicho el Millionario [tournament]
Main event is a single elimination tournament in the DTU style of professional wrestling, so it’s really an eight match card.
CMLL (SUN) 06/27 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Relampago Azul vs Black Metal (GDL)
2) Astaroth & Magnum vs Drago & Infierno
3) Lady Apache & Silueta vs La Comandante & Seuxis
4) Máscara Dorada, Sagrado, Stuka Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Misterioso II, Sangre Azteca
5) Felino, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero vs El Alebrije, Histeria, Psicosis
