CMLL announced a Torneo Increible de Parejas for it’s miniestrellas will take place August 21 in Arena Mexico. That’s a Sunday show, the usual one big Sunday show for the summer. Minis tecnicos and rudos will be teaming up, with the losing team facing off in an apuest match that night. Teams have not been announced, but the minis entered are tecnicos Pequeno Maximo, Astral, Fantasy, Shockercito, Ultimo Dragoncito, Electrico, Bam Bam and rudos Pequeno Violencia, Pequeno Nitro, Pequeno Universo, Pequeno Olimpico, Pequeno Warrior, Pequeno Pierroth and Pequeno Halcon.
That’s an odd list for a couple of reasons. It’s 7 tecnicos and 7 rudos, which does not divide into a tournament well. First team eliminated gets bumped all the way to the semifinals, perhaps, or they could recount and add Aereo and Mercurio to round out the numbers. (Or Demus 3:16 and Mascarita Dorada, the two big names conspicioually absent.) There’s also the matter of Pequeno Halcon being listed on the rudo side, since he’s been a tecnico all to this point.
Early hunch: Fantasy.
Anyway, this news is probably connected to SuperLuchas news from last night: Dr. X has left CMLL. CMLL hasn’t said anything, though they have removed from his remaining listed match (the 08/19 GDL, which now includes Vangelis on the rudo side of the tercera.) Dr. X has been a regular rudo in CMLL since 1997. He started under the “Dr. O’Borman Jr.” name before losing the rights to the name (he’s not related to Dr. O’Borman) and switching to Dr. X in late 2000. SuperLuchas was uncertain if Dr. X can continue using his own name elsewhere, and no one’s quite sure where elsewhere he’s going. Dr. X doesn’t seem to have an obvious role in AAA, and is more likely to be traversing the IWRGs and IWLs of independent lucha libre.
SuperLuchas’ post says Dr. X was unhappy about never being treated like the great wrestler he clearly was (which is a debatable.) More substantially, Dr. X surely is unhappy that CMLL decided to do a random minis apuesta match with absolutely no build as this cycle’s major show, instead of following thru on the Fuego vs Dr. X feud that’s been going on for months. It’s at least the second time that match (and the Tapatios/Gen11 feud) has been displaced by other CMLL priorities. There had been plans for a cage match back in June, but the events around Averno & Mascara overtook them and understandably so. Being thrown over the side for a minis match, with maybe another promise to do the match down the line (if at all) might have understandably been the breaking point.
Back when I heard about the cage match, neither Dr. X or Fuego were to lose their masks in the match. However, that was not very settled then, very much something that was still being debated, and it’s certainly possible that Dr. X thought he was getting the pay off for a mask loss. I’d imagine he’ll still be trying to do that, just elsewhere. Hopefully he figured that out before leaving CMLL.
Other News
Wrestling Observer says Sin Cara returns on Tuesday, which is not exactly 30 days (but probably means they’re in a hurry to get him on SummerSlam, which means they still seem as rather important.) There are a lot of WWE people being cut today, but he seems to have escaped the ax just in time. I suggest he lose the Record’s phone number and email address.
Ultimo Guerrero doesn’t want us to make too much of him and Atlantis feuding at the Lucha Libre Expo show; there was just a little friction there, things got a bit heated, he did whatever he could to get the win and Atlantis cheated first so he was totally justified in fouling him. UG hopes they can stay professional tonight and be friends, but he’s ready to fight Atlantis for the heavyweight title or the masks if need be.
That’s really the only thing of note storyline going into tonight. It’s a pretty generic card (almost as if they’re making sure the main event gets all the attention…)
SuperLuchas notes the AAA title belt has a different face plate when it’s shown in TNA, blocking out the AAA name/logo. SuperLuchas has been saying for a while that TNA is not allowed to mention the AAA name, which never seemed to make much sense given how they’ve mentioned WWE so many times, but this would sure seem to fit with that. AAA’s name being obscured on US TV would sure seem to hurt their expansion into the US, if they actually still had TV in the US.
LuchaPOP announced they were bringing in Thomas Dubios. If you search on Google for Thomas Dubios, you get photos of the lawyer character (Tom) from the Boondocks, which would be awesome. It turns it Thomas Dubios they’re bringing in is actually a Quebec based wrestler who I’ve never ever heard of. No one really knows Samurai del Sol outside of Chicago and that’s turned out okay, but I hope they’re not paying for a plane ticket.
LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update and last week’s Ras de Lona. I’m pretty sure that if anyone on the Ras de Lona staff wears a black shirt in to work, everyone else immediately asks him if he’s turning rudo.
Rob has the second part of Cruiserweight showcase and late March/early April 1999 AAA highlights.
CMLL in NJPW
08/05: 1) La Sombra b Strong Man (6:48, cradle)
With all due respect to Pirata Morgan, Sombra es el mejor del mundo! Sombra is 2-1, in a big tie for first, while Strong Man has yet to get a decision in his first two matches.
Links
- Mi Lucha Libre talks to Tabu and La Parka after their match.
- CMLL Gaceta has bios and charts of Shocker, Cancerbero, and Raziel
- R de Rudo posted the last two broadcasts of their show, plus a excerpt where Pirata Morgan tells the story about how he lost his eye and Angel O Demonio talks about the XMW title he won.
- Fuego en el Ring talks to Seuxis (going to take Silueta’s hair next) and Mr. Niebla about his Leyenda de Azul win.
- Bolivian wreslter Diablo Rojo has passed away.
- Kcidis draws Atlantis considering his options.
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You forgot the best part about the Sin Cara news. They might have Hunico under the Sin Cara hood for a week before his suspension is over. That’s got to be a one big fuck you to Cara. Although I don’t think the WWE knows about their history.
So, correct me if I’m not following this correctly, but they are thinking about replacing the original Sin Cara (Mistico) with a totally new guy under the mask?
Wow! They’re actually going to go through with having Hunico be the new Sin Cara. This is going to flop big time. It will go over as well the new Razor Ramon, Diesel and Doink the Clown did back in the way. The people will be able to figure out it’s a different person. Not to mention everything I hear about Hunico indicates that he’s a vanilla personality. What a joke this is. This is the norm for WWE, who are constantly making stupid talent decisions both when it comes to hirings and firings.
@Rob J: That is the story.
Even if it did work, WWE then seems pretty dumb for signing Mistico in the first place; Hunico’s been in their development system for a long time, could’ve been in this role from the start. There are reasons he wasn’t picked, and I find it hard to believe he got better since.
OTOH, I used to think Mistico just getting cut from WWE was worst possible outcome for him. Mistico getting cut and freaking Incognito taking over his spot beats that easily.
@thecubsfan: I really hope Mistico didn’t take your advice and lose Record’s contact info. I’m not sure “epic” would be a strong enough word to describe the interview that will happen in the next couple of weeks if they put Incognito under the mask.
OK where are you all reading that Hunico will replace Sin Cara permanently? It would make some sense if they put him under the mask for a week but I can’t find any source that Mistico is being replaced.
@Wirehead: The discussion about Hunico replacing Sin Cara permanently comes from a Wrestling Observer radio podcast. Sin Cara is not scheduled to be on SummerSlam regardless, so Meltzer pointed out there’s no reason to get the character back on television before his suspension is up unless they’re up to something like a full time switch.
Oh OK. Well this could also be an unofficial tryout for Hunico.