The big news at the Guerra de Titanes press conference did not have anything directly to do with any of the matches on this show, but the main event of the Perros del Mal show. Toscano appeared, announcing he was the mystery man at this weekend’s show, and would also be appearing in AAA. LA Park complained about Octagon being his second at Guerra de Titanes at the press conference, so perhaps Toscano or Texano could end up taking the spot. (There are bigger issues here, but the only other notes AAA posted from the press conference was Konnan and Casandro will be the seconds in the Sexi Star vs Pimpinela match.)
Toscano, like Texano, is officially a Perros del Mal wrestler. Signing with Perros del Mal means you’re going to work for AAA when they want you, but you’ll also be working the Perros del Mal shows regularly and taking outside bookings. It’s a distinction that means something to the luchadors, though not a very important to what fans will see as long as Perros del Mal and AAA continue to work together. Toscano leaving CMLL had been talked about for a long time. There was a very solid rumor he was the intended surprise luchador on the AAA tapings @ Naucalpan in June, but had backed out at the last second. Toscano was intended to do something with Elegido then (either team or feud) and it’s possible AAA go that direction again if AAA can find where they put Elegido.
Toscano’s departure is the least significant to CMLL of the recent run. He was a name who’d been built up enough to still matter a bit when he lost his hair (like with Naito in 2009), but not a person the promotion had any interest in years. A slow decline is easier to handle when business is good. It’s not, and it makes sense for Toscano to try something different. Toscano had been one of the names bandied about as the surprise Perros del Mal wrestler this weekend, brought on by those past rumors and not being around CMLL much the last month. Toscano was scheduled to be back in action this upcoming week, going Guadalajara-Puebla-Guadalajara from Sunday on. It’s very possible he still will be going to those shows, just like Garza did, though whatever insta-feud they were doing with him in Puebla is surely done.
Toscano joining the Perros del Mal fills out the Perros del Mal card this weekend, but it should not be taken as the end of the jumping. LA Park isn’t alone in comparing CMLL to a sinking ships, and there’s a lot more rats looking to get off in time. CMLL is a company full of disillusioned luchadors and management who doesn’t feel they need any of them to survive. It’s not clear to me if they believe this is some natural cycle of the business which will resolve on it’s own, or if they simply do not care about the state of things, but it is clear the people in charge are unconcerned with the departures and the fan turnout.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter adds to this, as they had a ton of lucha libre news this week. Of special note to this story was a meeting CMLL management had with the luchadors prior to last Friday’s show, laying down the law. The luchadors were told that anyone who wanted out right now were free to leave, even if they were under contract, because CMLL didn’t want unhappy people. There was also a new directive to be more serious in matches, trying to be more ‘real’ to distance themselves from the other promotions. The newsletter also mentions Averno & Babe Richard both asking why the company doesn’t do more long term storylines instead of quick feuds, and were told CMLL is a promotion that does quick feuds and long storylines are too fake-showy. (These kind of CMLL meetings appear to be a staple, though Mistico isn’t around to rant about it this year.)
Most of the younger wrestlers did not agree with CMLL’s new directive. I do not believe it it a good idea. More importantly, I’m not sure the people in charge totally buy that it’s a good idea, because they’ve been doing the opposite with the storylines most important to them. Blue Panther vs the Casas brothers is a long term storyline. Ultimo Guerrero vs Atlantis is a long term storyline. Felino vs Rey Bucanero is a long term storyline based on a show that’s just setting up long term storylines (and a show that’s far less than serious.) Ultimo Guerrero & Dragon Rojo Jr. chasing the all time record for most title defenses is definitely a long term storyline that’s near and dear the hears to whoever’s booking it. And just hours after talking about how serious and real everything needed to be, the finish of the fourth match of Friday’s show was Tirantes refusing to count for the tecnicos and helping the Invasors win. It seems like these directives and limitations don’t quite apply to the people who work with the programming committee or are allied with those who do, but maybe I’m missing something. It’s much harder to find the same pattern with people more on their own; those long term storylines seem to fade away.
When Mistico left and CMLL was initially talking about getting a new Mistico, Panico made a point of saying CMLL would go thru the various affiliated training centers, and pick out a new Mistico from the trainees. That hasn’t exactly happened, but CMLL has never had more confidence in their ability to create new stars out of fresh clay then they do in 2011. There’s ample amount of evidence this may not actually be the case (“Generacion 2011”), but CMLL is arrogantly sticking to that belief that just putting the stamp of CMLL on someone makes them important to the fans. They don’t need anything except the name and the building, and no one can take it away from them. That belief is what is motivating all of their decisions – anyone can go because anyone can be replaced by the next kid out of the school, and anyone who leaves is immediately diminished by not being CMLL anymore. The downturn in business has only hardened this view, as evident by their statements this past week. The big shakeups (or returns) people ask about are even less likely to come as long as this management crew stays in power. That means people who are going to keep looking for other places to work and taking those jumps, and hurrying to make those jumps while there are still spots. It may be AAA/Perros, it may be WWE, but people will be going and it will be important people.
Back to Toscano. In an ideal world – or at least an ideal Mexico – the economy and general situation improves in 2012, there can be more shows run around the country, AAA can run more places and bigger shows farther away from Mexico City. Maybe the same for Perros del Mal, or maybe they’ll be able to run the Toluca’s and Ecatpec’s more if AAA doesn’t. There must be more AAA/Perros shows next year to keep everyone employed happy, but there can be if the situation improves. That’s the hope behind these moves, there’s more reason for hope there than in Arena Mexico. There’s reasons to believe this might be a too optimistic outcome – the WON reports the recent last minute cancellation of AAA’s San Luis Potosi taping was due to fear of cartel-related violence – but the people involved and definitely the people making this jump feels this is a much better gamble than CMLL turning around. That’s where the luchadors believe CMLL is at the moment.
(But maybe they’ll still get good matches? That would be good. You know, title matches that go 2 minutes, 2 minutes, and 12 minutes don’t seem that serious…)