Tama Tonga adavnces to Copa Junior final on non-British Night, Sin Piedad lineup

CMLL (FRI) 12/07/2012 Arena Mexico [CMLL, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Artillero & Súper Comando b Metálico & Sensei
Rudos took 2/3. Artillero snuck in a foul on Metalico after he’d been eliminated.
2) Arkángel de la Muerte, Hooligan, Skándalo b Pegasso, Starman, Super Halcón Jr.
Pegasso replaced Angel Azteca Jr. (announced on Friday.) Hooligan was wearing a normal outfit and nothing British themed. Isis was sent to the back after walking her team out. Rudos took 2/3, Skandalo beating Pegasso.
3) Hijo del Fantasma, Rey Cometa, Tritón b Namajague, Sangre Azteca, Shigeo Okumura
Tecnicos took 2/3, Fantasma beating Okumura.
4) Tama Tonga b Shocker, Máximo, Super Porky, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Felino, Misterioso Jr., Puma [Copa Jr., semifinal]
Misterioso went out first (4:20), Puma & Felino beat Porky (8:47), Dragon Rojo beat Stuka (12:42), Shocker beat Puma, Tama beat Maya, Felino beat Maximo, Dragon Rojo & Maximo got DQed at the same time (20:20), Tonga beat Shocker to win (26:50) and advance to face La Sombra next week.
5) La Sombra b Último Guerrero
Originally announced as a lightning match for the JLD Trofeo, then changed to a one fall no time limit match, and finally the name of the match was dropped when British Night was pulled out. Sombra won with a double moonsault and was given the trophy anyway.
6) Diamante Azul, Máscara Dorada, Rush b Averno, Ephesto, Mephisto
Dorada beat Averno with a Dragon ‘Rana

CMLL removed all references to British Night from their website, and made no mention of the heavily promoted themed night at any time during their show. There has been no explanation from their side as to what happened and it does not seem like one is coming. The only halfway acknowledgement something different was supposed to happen on this show as Sombra still getting the trophy after beating Ultimo Guerrero while avoiding all explanation of why he would be getting a trophy after what was now billed as a singles match. I guess they couldn’t return it.

Los Colisenos pointed out CMLL had been selling VIP packages where you could  meet and greet the luchadors. That part of the ticket was also not honored and is appears no refunds were offered. CMLL made some amount of extra money on this show, because of extra high tickets like those and a stronger promotion for a show than usual. That money, at least in part, was intended to go to a charity organization and instead it appears CMLL will be keeping it.

Maybe they’ll be donating it elsewhere, maybe CMLL is actually totally in the right here, but they’ve acted in such a way to suggest they’re completely at fault. It’s just a dumb way to go about thing. This one is so bad that it’s tough to brush off as just an upper management problem. When a charity accuses you of trying to rip them off, everyone – management,  luchadors, announcers, security, anyone who works for the promotion – is stained by the accusation.

To be fair, no one else is mentioning this situation either; I haven’t seen a single news article mentioning the JLD management & UK Embassy pulling out of the show, even from outlets which aren’t on good terms with CMLL. I’m uncertain if that’s pressure CMLL is putting out not to report on this (that does seem to be a few of the cases), or an indication of how low the level of interest is in CMLL.

Links

• Bill has highlights of 10/14/2012 IWRG
• DJ Spectro looks back at Dr. Oborman vs Solar.
• R de Rudo looks back at past December mask matches.
• Third part of the Octagon interview.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 12/14/2012 Arena Mexico
***Sin Piedad, 2012***
1) Astral, Bam Bam, Fantasy vs Demus 3:16, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Dark Angel, Estrellita, Silueta vs Amapola, Princesa Blanca, Princesa Sugheit
3) Titán, Tritón, Valiente vs Felino, Negro Casas, Puma
4) Máscara Dorada vs Averno [lightning]
5) Diamante Azul, Rush, Shocker vs Terrible, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr.
6) La Sombra vs Tama Tonga [Copa Jr., final]