Day: June 22, 2012

IWRG (THU) 06/21/2012 Arena Naucalpan [The Gladiatores]
1) Imposible b Templario
Impossible replaced Guerrero Mixtico.
2) Dinamic Black & Golden Magic b Alan Extreme & Eita
Eita replaced Imppssible. Rudos took 2/3.
3) Chicano, Dr. Cerebro, Trauma II b Heddi Karaoui, Pete Powers, Shadow Phoenix
Tecnicos won 2/3. Trauma II has figured out Shadow Phoenix’s deadly shoulder submission, reversing into a pin here.
4) Danny Casas, Pantera, Veneno b Bestia 666, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Súper Nova
Rudos got along to win fall 1, tecnicos won fall two, and the rudos fell apart in fall three to give the tecnicos the wins Damian 666 ran out to help his guys after the match.
5) Cien Caras Jr. DQ Head Hunter [IWRG IC HEAVY]
Head Hunter is the champion and was accompanied by Damian, Bestia, and Super Nova while Cien had Hijo de Mascara Ano 2000. Everyone interfered a lot. Head Hunter won the first with a senton. Cien Caras evaded the senton and landed two legdrops to take the second. Inference picked up in the third fall. Head Hunter crushed referee Rubinsky on a corner charge, then pinned Cien Caras Jr. for a visual pin with Damian and Head Hunter himself counting. FdT quadruple teamed Cien Caras Jr., referee Yudi ran out, but Cien Caras Jr. kicked out at two. Damian snuck in to foul Cien Caras Jr., Yudi counted the pin, then called the DQ for Cien Caras. Title changes on DQ (at least this time), so Cien Caras Jr. is the new heavyweight champion.

Yesterday featured another CMLL related press conference: A&E (Mexico)’s presentation of their fall season, which includes the season season of El Luchador. Shocker, Felino and Rey Bucanero return from last season. The big change from last season is they’ve added a woman to the cast, a move which will give them stories from a slightly different perspective. The woman they’ve chosen to give this spotlight to is, unfortunately, Estrellita. That rounds out the main cast as luchadors who are all on the downside of their career but not totally aware of it, a strong reflection of CMLL at large.

I can not believe they didn’t, say, just keep Silueta in Mexico and film nine weeks of video building up to a match with Princesa Blanca, who will again be part of this season. It’s not as important as Dragon Lee/Mistico, especially since El Luchador Season 1 did not seem to have any affect on business, but putting Estrellita in the show is an equally dumb use of available resources and a sure sign of lack of vision. But everyone in charge like Estrellita, so that’s cool.

Dragon Lee is also mentioned as being on the show, but wasn’t actually at the press conference.  Tania Licona, a former edecan who hosted commercial wrap around segments last year, is back in that role this year. It’s only a bit of surprise since her husband is El Consejo’s Toscano. No start date for the next season is mentioned.

What’s happening to Dragon Lee’s stick? Can we get an update on that?

Today’s Arena Mexico has a two title matches, which may mean more for the future than titles themselves. The one that’s gotten more attention is Euforia vs Titan for the En Busca de un Idolo, with a truck load of prizes (no truck though). Euforia is the strong favorite, destined to continue working with Dragon Lee as they’re both moved to the main event. The biggest point in Titan’s favor is CMLL’s entirely handling of this tournament has made no sense, so perhaps they’ll continue making no sense and the popular tecnico will win.

The other title match is for an actual physical title, the Mexican Trios championship. The makeshift trio of Black Warrior, Mr. Aguila and Volador Jr. maybe am ore solid trio if they win the national trios titles in their only second match together. It seems this might just be taking advantage of the added attention on Black Warrior over the last few months to get one more big win for someone else before sliding down the card, but Warrior’s trio has a better shot of winning then Titan does.

There’s also a women’s trios setting up next week’s cage match, and the Guerreros teaming up again Mascara, Sombra, and Diamante Azul.

The NJPW version of the Terrible/Yujiro confrontation makes a bit more sense. Translated and simplified:

Yujiro: Here is a plate of tacos!
Terrible: Great! Thank you for the tacos, I am proud of the great tacos we make in Mexico.
Yujiro: Yes. Mexico is known for a simple food item, while we Japanese create high quality cars and electronics, we can make anything. This is why I am superior and will win the title Sunday!
Terrible: The illegal immigration problem in my county greatly bothers me, and I’m going to start fixing it on Sunday.

In a Kaiser Sports interview,  Terrible notes his unusual position in this feud: he’s usually the aggressor who’s sending people out on stretchers, but his first defense will be against a guy who put him on one.

NJPW covered the Dragon Lee->Mistico bit, Angel de Oro and the Titan vs Euforia final with the FantasticMania stip. Obviously, Mistico’s going on that trip too.  Luchadoras don’t exist in NJPW so no mention of the cage match.

CMLL Luchadoras do exist in REINA, and that promotion confirmed (what was already helpfully noted in the comments) that it’d be REINA tag team champions Hikaru Shida and Tsukasa Fujimoto coming to Mexico. REINA’s website says they’ll be in from July 2nd to July 9th.

News from Newsletters:

• This week’s Figure Four Weekly mentions AAA is high on the Xalapa guys, which would explain why they’re working three straight dark matches.
• This week’s Wrestling Observer surprisingly says Juvi vs Daga is NOT happening at TripleMania, and not surprisingly says Dorian’s team will be heavy on TNA guys.
• Dr. Lucha’s biweekly podcast included a mention of AAA NOT being able to come terms with Kurt Angle after all. There’s still time,  but it looks like Cibernetico is headed to the title match and not the big tag match. Also, apparently no Jeff Jarrett, because he gave the current (and subject to change) main event as Cibernetico vs Perro Jr. vs LA Park vs Mesias.

If there’s no Jarrett, that would mark the second occasion where AAA has strongly built towards a match and forced to change plans because Jarrett wasn’t around, the first being last year’s Guerra de Titanes. I can not fathom why you would bother bringing in the other TNA guys if you can’t Jarrett for TripleMania. Bring in John Morrison & Melina to flip around and/or be crazy (or whomever) if you need foreign people on TripleMania, but don’t waste your time on goofballs who don’t come thru for you.

TKD figured out Lucha Libre USA’s secret message is they’re showing up on Hulu. Lucha Libre USA matches had been popped up on YouTube for a while after the latest cancellation, but I’d guess this would be full shows. The group taped a lot of TV, about a seasons worth, that never even aired, so there may be plenty of new material included. It’s a decent thing for people interested in the promotion, and gives them something tangible to point fans towards, but the problem remains translating those eyeballs into ticket buying fans.

Ricky Marvin makes a rare wrestling appearance in Mexico, on a show honoring him in a Veracruz. Card also includes the Mexico return of Jennifer Blake, and big torneo of all the little promotions in the area.

Rob has highlights of 08/29/1993 AAA and The Death of CMLL.

LuchaWorld has Slammin’ Slam #76 and the final five people on the countdown. The #1 wrestler is…

Super Crazy and Pesadilla talk Pesadilla’s appearance at the Extreme Rising show.