CMLL held a mini press conference yesterday. In true CMLL fashion, the big news was another press conference next Wednesday. That one will officially introduce Generacion 2012. They’re listed as Herodes Jr., Taurus, Genesis, Oro Jr., Guerrero Negro Jr., Espanto Jr. and Akuma. All but the last two have already turned up on lineups already, though those two are the ones we know a little bit more about.
Akuma, often seen with his brother Demus in CMLL minis outings the last year, was there to represent the group. He’s previously been listed with the same 3:16 surname, but not this time. He will be competing as a full sized wrestler.
Espanto Jr. was hyped last August as coming soon in Box Y Lucha and Luchas 2000 (in what were obviously CMLL penned stories), so that one has been in the works for a while. He’s the son of the original Espanto Jr., also known as the original Pentagon, and Sombra’s cousin. He may have previously been Moro Jr. There’s a different, older, Espanto Jr. working in Monterrey.
One name missing from the list is Acapulco’s Black Silver Junior. He debuted in Arena Coliseo in June, then hasn’t been seen yet. It’s possible he may have taken one of the other names. Also, Stukita & Pequeno Valiente, just introduced last week at the minis party, are not mentioned. Last year’s Generacion 2011 group was exclusively Arkangel trainees, and it may be that these guys are all from one trainer as well.
Looking back at last year’s class:
- Bobby Zavala: benefited the most when the opening card guys vs Gen11 feud was dropped, because it allowed him to work on the rudo side regularly and look good there. Has recently started to escape the opening matches and move in to his first real feud (Puebla’s Stigma.) Looks like a success.
- Dragon Lee: things have turned out alright for him! Despite two different leg injuries and spotty performances, CMLL’s been exceptional high on Dragon Lee and he’s been fine as the new Mistico so far. He could’ve used at least another year of preparation before being exposed and this could all still blow up, but CMLL is obviously satisfied with his progress.
- Enrique Vera Jr.: never really established himself as a strong tecnico or looked particularly good, though also not given the chance of some of the others. Last seen in March, and appears to have completely disappeared. Not sure, but I don’t think he’s hurt, just gone. This one is a failure.
- Hombre Bala Jr.: has worked as hard as any in this group to add new moves and change up his look, but is capable of some wretched performances (including the match in Guadalajara where he was so bad people a message board poster thought he was drunk; he was just that bad.) A guy who is capable of highlight spots, but needs to work against good rudos for a long time before he’s really ready. Starting to move up to the middle of the card, probably too soon, but it is putting him against the guys he needs to work with. A mixed bag.
- Magnus: tough to evaluate, because his career has essentially been hijacked by the El Luchador series. It may make him a bigger star in the long term and it’s actually greatly to his benefit if he’s spent the time away working smaller shows out of the public eye. Really only had a few months of matches in CMLL before being ‘fired’ and has been more visible on Twitter than in rings since, but still left a bad taste. Sabotaged by CMLL trying (or allowing him) to turn him into the new Mistico; they needed to send him away if he was ever going to get a real shot with the fans again. Demonstrated maturity issues previously, and either hasn’t overcome them yet or is a crazy genius building up a return feud with the New Mistico. Incomplete.
- Hijo del Signo: another one who was much better off when they allowed him to be a rudo. Quickly moved up to the second/third level and look like he’ll stick there for many years. A very solid wrestler, but missing charisma or any spark to connect to the fans, and isn’t a great enough wrestler to make up for it at this point. Really needs to be a unit with more personable luchadors, both to hide his weakness and in hopes it might wear off him. Has sort of drifted, but a success for where is so far.
- Super Halcon Jr.: the last of the group to debut. Despite wrestling in IWRG prior, definitely the least ready to debut and the most unsteady of the group. Needed at least a year and maybe longer before becoming a regular. Fell in to becoming Hombre Bala’s partner and winning Rayo Tapatio’s partner when CMLL had bigger plans for other guys, and looks like he’ll get an extended run based on that win, but still struggles to be okay in matches. Not a success so far.
Other news from the press conference include Tiffany’s trip to REINA, and Titan altering the design of his mask. Good thing they don’t make Volador Jr. and current space alien Guerrero Maya Jr. hold press conferences every time they change the look of their mask.
The Nuevo Mistico tour reaches Arena Aficion tonight. AAA shows do really well there, and Perros del Mal and DTU regularly fill the place. It’s only about 2,000 people. If CMLL can’t fill that, there are problems.
Porra Fresa says Bobby Zavala & Stigma feuded in the segunda of Monday’s Puebla show. Stigma pinned Bobby in the third after trading pinfalls earlier, then challenged him to a mask vs hair match. Zavala declined to respond.
Lucha fans around the world! Catch @Lucha_Libre_AAA TripleMania in 3 Parts the next 3 Sundays at 2pmPT/5pmET at http://t.co/pDyQPgXL
— Masked Republic (@maskedrepublic) August 16, 2012
Masked Republic says AAA will air TripleMania on their website starting this Sunday at 2pm (the same time it airs on Televisa) over the next three weeks. I’m not sure if this is just the Juarez stream we all watch or something better. It’d be great if it was something better, like AAA streaming (or putting on demand!) their own TV show instead of us pirates having to track it down. That would be fantastic. AAA’s Twitter was posting from uStream today, so that may be a clue.
This weekend’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentions Octagon underwent shoulder surgery last Monday, the day after TripleMania, and he will be out for a while. It also says the long term plan is for Octagon to introduce a successor, and that Samurai del Sol is one of the names in consideration for that role. I would assume that’s just at the idea stage and you should not put a lot of though into it at this point.
LuchaWorld has the winner of 1978 awards.
Links
- Kcidis gets to the bottom of the Volador/Niebla issue.
- Zumbi will teach Samba on Saturday at the expo. Also, a random MMA guy will debut.
- Luchas 2000 #633 has TripleMania coverage.
- Estrellas del Ring interviews Paloma Rouse, debuting at the DTU Expo shows.
- DJ Spectro lists Villano III’s big wins and shows full El Toreo.
- R de Rudo goes over the first day of events of the Lucha Libre Expo.
Lineups
CMLL (TUE) 08/21/2012 Arena Mexico
1) Bengala & Höruz vs Guerrero Negro Jr. & Herodes Jr.
2) Aereo, Astral, Shockercito vs Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Warrior
3) Dalis la Caribeña vs Princesa Blanca [lightning]
4) Pegasso, Rey Cometa, Triton vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Nosferatu, Puma King
5) Blue Panther, Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Black Warrior, Namajague, Shigeo Okumura
6) Atlantis, Diamante, Titán vs Mr. Niebla, Niebla Roja, Pólvora
A lot of the same names as last week, especially among the younger guys. Maybe there’s a plan?
Puma King & Rey Cometa again. Okay with missing the lightning match.
CMLL (TUE) 08/21/2012 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Javier Cruz & Virgo vs Èvola & Thunder Boy
2) Demonio Maya & Ráfaga vs Exterminador & Malefico
3) Stuka Jr. vs Fuego, Halcon de Plata, Leo, Virus, Raziel, Barbaro Cavernario, Sádico [OCCIDENTE MIDDLE, sf, cibernetico]
4) Hijo del Fantasma vs Psicosis
5) La Sombra, Super Porky, Valiente vs Euforia, Terrible, Tiger
Psicosis stands at 0-13 in CMLL singles matches. His first loss was to Hijo del Fantasma. Fantasma has had his own bad string of losses, but won his last four singles matches, all lightning matches.
They’re not thinking this way, I know, but it is weird that the World Champion of All Lightweights is competing for a regional middleweight title. That cibernetico could be really good.
CMLL (TUE) 08/21/2012 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Javier Cruz & Virgo vs Èvola & Thunder Boy
2) Demonio Maya & Ráfaga vs Exterminador & Malefico
3) Stuka Jr. vs Fuego, Halcon de Plata, Leo, Virus, Raziel, Barbaro Cavernario, Sádico [OCCIDENTE MIDDLE]
4) Hijo del Fantasma vs Psicosis
5) La Sombra, Super Porky, Valiente vs Euforia, Terrible, Tiger
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Everyone here is legit nuts if they are on twitter and DON’T follow Magnus. Between his random all caps nonsense and pretending to be friends with WWE divas it’s just non-stop awesome. I love when he tweets someone saying “SOY INDEPENDIENTE!” and follows it up immediatly with a tweet about how he just finished practicing at the CMLL gym.
On the other hand you have Virus on twitter who contributes absolutely nothing but generic plugs for CMLL shows. There has to be a fine line between Magnus and Virus. Asturiano is pretty good. Everyone should follow his lead. He plugs shows and responds to individual questions.
How have you not done a post listing which luchadors are on twitter?