02/26-27 Lucha Times

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AAA-US: Sugi’s return to TV (though he only gets in a few spots), the first four way for Rey de Reyes, and Mesias/Espiritu/Ozz vs Decnnis/Park/Zorro

52MX: two random trios include Maximo and Sangre Azteca teaming.

LATV: Astro Boy in opening tag action, and minis trios.

CMLL-GDL: Okumura/Virus/Yoshihashi vs Delta/Blanco/Stuka and Garza/Volador vs Rush/Porky are the scheduled matches. The Truenos vs Tiger/Puma match is the one that’s normally bumped this week, but I’m sure Felino will get them on some way.

———–

CMLL: first half of the tag team tournament, and Panther/Rush/Porky vs Terrible/Texano/UG

AAA-MEX: Wagner/Psycho Circus vs Perro, another Rey de Reyes block, more Sugi.

CMLL-FOX: Generacion Dorada vs Triad.

C3: Rush vs Ephesto.

CMLL-GDL: bonus mach here is Black Metal/Palacio Negro vs Hooligan/Skandalo

Puebla: Escorpion/Loco Max, Dorada/Averno

ACM: Maybe the mixed tag match, since the women are in from CMLL.

Perros: ????

IWRG: 187/Gladiador (who should hate each other) vs Brazo/911/Fierro, Piratas vs Navarros.

—-

CMLL-TFN: the debut of Taichi! And he’s opposite Maximo in a trios match! I wonder how that will go.

WWE announces signing of Sin Cara

@TerceraCaida

Mistico is now Sin Cara. WWE announced the signing of the biggest star in Mexico of the last decade with unusual fanfare for them: today’s press conference, a few introductory articles on their website and a photogallery of him in CMLL. He’s got an official facebook page, and hopefully a twitter account coming soon.

Sin Cara says he did not know which brand he would end up, and they were not specific on when he would debut. Everything we’ve heard is that he will be on WWE TV soon (clips from this press conference may air soon, certainly on the Mexican edits of WWE TV) and we’d expect him to end up with Alberto del Rio and Rey Misterio.

Sin Cara’s mask is very familiar to Mistico fans – it’s basically the mask he wore last year when teaming with Averno in different colors, and with cloth covering the eye lids. The intention is to be similar; they want the Mexican fans to know this is Mistico and he’s going to the WWE, and they should watch WWE even more to see him now.

I’m not sure if any of you use TweetDeck – it’s really good if you’re using multiple accounts or want to get an update every time someone’s tweet includes a word or phrase. I usually track CMLL and have been tracking Mistico the last month. Every time there’s a match or a new tweet, it gives you a little ding and pops up the message. The soundtrack to my afternoon has been “ding (pause) ding (pause) ding (pause) ding (pause) ding”. Very few of those dings were about Texano/Terrible vs Porky/Maximo. The word is out in Mexico about this change and we all hope he does very well.

CMLL press conference: Mistico, Dos Leyendas main event, minis

What we know so far. @dr_landru, of the Gladiatores, was really good at getting this info out. CMLL.com will have the official version soon and I’ll update with more details as they turn up.

Mistico was addressed. Panico said Mistico would not be appearing with CMLL, but maintained that they owned the rights to the name and likeness. They did acknowledge the actual luchador is heading to WWE and were not complimentary towards him, but also declared plans to eventually put a new kid from their school under the mask as a new Mistico (modeling it after Tiger Mask.) That’s going to be a very tough role to fill. My guess it’s still going to be Magnus, but not right away.

CMLL says they have been trying to get Mistico to a sign a new deal for two weeks, and Mistico saw the deal but never got back to them. They consider him gone because of that, but would be willing to talk a new deal under different terms. The timeline makes no sense – two weeks ago would’ve been 02/10. The SuperLuchas cover story about Mistico signing was on 01/30, and Mistico is believed to have signed 01/25. If we are to believe CMLL, they offered him a deal 10 days after it was announced he had signed elsewhere. That actually does sound like CMLL’s usual efficiency. CMLL phrases this as an attempt to re-sign Mistico, but it’s not clear if Mistico was without a contract or just in one that allowed him to freely leave to WWE. There’s no sense they could try to stop Mistico from leaving, only that they made an offer and he wouldn’t take it.

Texano & Terrible vs Maximo & Super Porky in a hair match is signed for Dos Leyendas. In the last 11 years, the only person Super Porky has beat in a hair match is Asesino Negro. Neither of those men are Asesino Negro.  Dos Leyendas will take place on March 18th.

Based on their recent feud, Demus challenged Virus to a hair match. Virus accepted and raised the ante: the loser of their match must return to the minis division. Demus just joined the “major league” last year as winner of the Torneo Cibernetico, and has spent a lot of time fighting the likes of Fabian el Gitano & Angel de Plata instead of Bam Bam & Ultimo Dragoncito. Virus going to the minis would allow for more fan faction about the Cancerberos (who will lead? Polvora? Euforia? Cancerbero & Raziel in a power share agreement?)

Averno will finally defend the NWA Historic Championship against Mascara Dorada. This is the same championship Mistico won from Averno when he took off. Averno won it back from him in 2007. The title’s not the biggest thing: if Mascara Dorada wins, he gets a mask match with Averno. We have no date for the title match or when the mask match would be, but it may have been mentioned at the press conference.

Mr. Niebla returned. Peste Negra took the opportunity to rename Perico as”Sacarias

That’s it. WWE’s press conference will take place around 3:30-4 pm Central Time. Word is already out about Mistico’s debut – Tercera Caida says he’ll be called “Sin Cara”, which translates to “Faceless.” It’s not a very catchy name, but it does fit the style of mask Mistico’s worn – closed mouth, no sense of a face outside of the eyes.

The Wrestling Observer reported yesterday that Mistico would skip FCW, skip working on his language skills and go straight to the main roster. I’d imagine that means he goes to SmackDown (so they can edit out problems) and doesn’t talk for a long time, but that’s going to be a tough culture shift.

Update

Tuesday’s lineup

CMLL (TUE) 03/01/2011 Arena Mexico
1) Höruz & Trueno vs Disturbio & Semental
2) Ángel Azteca Jr., Magnus, Rey Cometa vs Dr. X, Hooligan, Nitro
3) Demus 3:16 vs Virus
4) Metro, Stuka Jr., Toscano vs Averno, Ephesto, Mephisto
5) Blue Panther, La Máscara, Máscara Dorada vs Atlantis, Dragón Rojo Jr., Último Guerrero

The poster lists no stips for Demus vs Virus. Unclear if this is the match, or if they’re being a big tease.

Tecnico side is the same as Magnus’s debut, with Dr. X and Nitro replacing Skandalo and Bobby Zavala.


CMLL Guerreros del Ring on 52MX #273 (02/12/2011)

taped in Arena Coliseo, 02/06/2011

Electrico

recap: here
file: http://www.multiupload.com/T0CLGUJ7NV

Minis Cibernetico (part 1, part 2): there were some iffy moments here (even Dorada had a bad moment, and that never happens), but it got better as it went along and there was plenty of action. Mercurio has hope, Fantasy is the same as ever, and Electrico is improving nicely.

This match made me want to see Bam Bam vs Olimpico (who I’m not normally excited about.) I’m happy WarriorX2000 put Fox Sports up this week, though I haven’t seen that show before I wrote this.

Would’ve taken one fall of a match instead of so much filler, but they didn’t clip this match and that’s satisfactory.

Guadalajara, press conferences, Puebla

CMLL (TUE) 02/22/2011 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring]
1) MetatrónEvola
2) Astro Boy & LeonoDrago & Exterminador
3) Black Metal & Palacio Negro DQ Hooligan & Skándalo
Hooligan & Skandalo were strong in this match, but earned the DQ by tossing Metal out of the ring onto Negro. That’s a super rare DQ, and rarer still outside of Mexico City.
4) Sangre Azteca, Stuka Jr., Valiente DQ Rey Bucanero, Shigeo Okumura, Yoshihashi
Rey Bucanero fouled Sangre Azteca right in front of the refs for a DQ.
5) Terrible, Texano, Volador Jr.Hijo del Fantasma, La Sombra, Máscara Dorada
Volador crushed Sombra with a Canadian Destroyer to take the win.

Today is Press Conferencemania!

The CMLL one takes places at noon (all times central.) The big item is the Dos Leyendas date and main event. They’ve set up a  number of feuds as possible main events. In order of most hyped:

  1. Texano & Terrible vs Maximo & Super Porky
  2. Averno vs Mascara Dorada
  3. Mephisto vs Hijo del Fantamsa
  4. Sangre Azteca vs Polvora or Misterioso or Dragon Rojo

Virus/Demus seems to be contained to Tuesdays. Rush/Texano and Volador/Panther or Porky seem to have gone to the side for now. I’m not sure if any one of those is strong enough headline a show with increased ticket prices alone – Averno/Dorada or Mephisto/Fantasma for a title does not work, and I’m not sure if the fans care enough about the tecnicos to accept a mask match. Texano/Terrible vs Maximo/Porky as a main event with no strong semimain would be cynical and depressing.

CMLL has other items to discuss. There will be hype for the National Tournament finals. Maybe talk about some of pending notable matches this upcoming week (Demus/Virus, Cancerberos/MexTriosChamps, Inquisidor/Metal Blanco!) Mr. Niebla’s return will be announced, and it’s likely he won’t be the only one. Black Warrior may return at any time. Hijo del Lizmark was suppose to be on AAA’s taping Saturday, and it’s possible he may have used that to get a deal here. CMLL still hasn’t announced the winners of their 2010 awards, maybe that’ll start to happen.

WWE is holding a press conference at 2:30 pm in Mexico City. They’ve got four shows in May to promote, and they’ll probably just focus on hyping the names. They may announce a TV taping, though I feel doubtful about that.

And very little of any of this will be focused on by the end of the day, because Mistico will dominate the conversation once more. It’s been over four weeks since he signed with WWE (ESTO just caught on), and he should make that deal public at their press conference. WWE wants to make it clear that they’ve signed THE Mistico, so expect them to do everything legally possible to let you know it’s the same guy who beat Black Warrior in Arena Mexico. I keep thinking back to a skit very early in LA Park’s CMLL run, where he transformed from his old outfit and name to his new duds, and I expect the same here. Will they have a new name and mask for him? Will CMLL criticize him, or even mention him at all? We’ll find out in a few hours.

Perro Aguayo Jr. tells Mi Lucha Libre that he wants a hair vs mask match with Dr. Wagner, and that they had actually agreed to one in CMLL before they both left.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Links

Lineups

CMLL (MON) 02/28/2011 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano, Milenium, Stigma vs Fuerza Chicana, King Jaguar, Siki Osama
2) Dalys la Caribeña, Dark Angel, Luna Mágica vs Princesa Blanca, Princesa Sujei, Zeuxis
3) Arkángel de la Muerte, Loco Max, Skándalo vs Cancerbero, Escorpion, Raziel
4) Ángel de Oro, Diamante, Rush vs Euforia, Pólvora, Virus [MEX TRIOS]
5) Máscara Dorada vs Averno

Hey, it’s that match again.

I know Rush just picked up another title, but I can’t see that group of tecnicos losing to that group of rudos. Angel de Oro & Rush are being programming very strongly. CMLL can’t remember they broke up Euforia and Nosferatu months ago. This is just a first defense.

Loco Max vs Escorpion up to a tercera! Because there’s a women’s match, but hey.

Arena Puebla has run big shows for it’s second March show the last few years

2008/03/10 – Garza/Mistico vs Averno/Mephisto [CMLL TAG]
2009/03/06 – minis cage match (friday)
2010/03/15 – Bam Bam/Violencia [hair]
2011/03/14 – Loco Max vs Escorpion?