Day: March 4, 2013

Santo & Villano IV defeat Blanco & Solitario

thecubsfan 2 Comments

TxT (SAT) 03/02/2013 Arena Lopez Mateos [Black Terry Jr. (flickr), Estrellas del Ring]
1) Esther Moreno & Rossy Moreno b Diosa Maya & Star Fire
Former CMLL fringe roster member Star Fire replaced current CMLL fringe roster member La Vaquerita.
2) Dinamic Black, Freelance, Golden Magic b Carta Brava Jr., Comando Negro, Mike Segura
3) Black Terry, Fuerza Guerrera, Pirata Morgan b Decnnis, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Oriental
4) Huracan Ramirez, Solar I, Super Astro b Negro Navarro, Scorpio Jr., Shu el Guerrero
5) El Hijo Del Santo & Villano IV DQ Angel Blanco Jr. & El Hijo del Solitario
Rudos took the first tecnicos took the second. Blanco had Santo pinned in the third when Solitario fouled V4. Ref saw the foul and called the DQ. Blanco was not happy.

Looks like a sell out or close to it. Recap says it was Santo’s first match in the building in 8 years. I have a listing of a 1995 show with Santo, Rey Misterio Jr. and Octagon over Heavy Metal, Psicosis and Mascara Ano 2000 in 1995, but not the 2005 match.

Bill has highlights of 02/10/2013 CMLL.

A long interview with Super Muneco includes a mention of then-girlfriend Maria de los Angeles coming up with the idea for his character.

AAA has a streaming video interview with Atomic Boy tonight. Tune in early, before Apache attacks him and someone has to take his place.

Coliseo Chihuahua reopens on March 16th with Shocker, Mistico, Mr. Niebla and Felino.

The Juniors promotion is running a tribute to Estrella Blanca on 03/17 in Puebla.

La Copa interviews Mexico City’s El Acertijo.

Lineups

CMLL (SUN) 03/10/2013 Arena Coliseo
1) Bengala & Metatrón vs Camorra & Cholo
2) Leono, Metálico, Pegasso vs Bobby Zavala, Hijo del Signo, Nosferatu
3) Goya Kong, Luna Mágica, Marcela vs Amapola, Princesa Blanca, Princesa Sugheit
4) Delta vs Vangelis [lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro, La Máscara, Shocker vs Olímpico, Puma, Tiger
6) La Sombra, Máximo, Rush vs Averno, Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr.

Puma and Tiger back together. A woman’s match not about Estrellita vs Amapola! (Now, if it could be a good woman’s match.)

CMLL (SUN) 03/10/2013 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Azteca de Oro & El Divino vs Demonio Rojo & El Piraña
2) El Hippie, Halcón de Plata, Sky Kid vs Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno, Sádico
3) Gallo, León Blanco, Smaker vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Espectrum, Maléfico
4) El Alteño vs Infierno [mask]
5) Diamante Azul, Sagrado, Valiente vs Misterioso Jr., Rey Escorpión, Terrible

Alteno was gone for 10 months until coming back in early February and now he’s in a mask match.

03/03 AAA TV Results (SLP) – Blue Demon challenges Texano Jr.

thecubsfan 3 Comments

AAA TV (SUN) 03/03/2013 Domo de San Luis, San Luis Potosi [Lucha Libre AAA, Sabor Del Ring (Facebook photos)]
1) Atomic Boy, Nino Hamburguesa, Zumbi b Black Mamba, Gran Apache, Último Gladiador
Nino Hamburguesa made his debut, replacing Angelico. Apache beat up Atomic Boy before the match again. Atomic Boy was taken to the back, but returned to throw a drink in Apache’s face setting up the tecnico win.
2) Jennifer Blake, LuFisto, Taya Valkyrie b Cinthia Moreno, La Jarochita, Lolita
LuFisto’s Sin Limite debut, getting the win. Rudas turned on Jennifer as soon as the match was open, tecnicas making the save.
3) Devil Rocker, Machine Rocker, Soul Rocker b Angelico, Drago, Jack Evans
Angelico replaced Octagon Jr. Pictures show Machine gave the Infernio Suplex to Drago.
4) Texano Jr. b Zumbi [AAA HEAVY]
Texano Jr. issued his open challenge, and Zumbi answered this time. Texano won quick and beat up Zumbi after the match. Blue Demon Jr. made a surprise appearance to take the open challenge himself. Texano was not so sure about this, but Joaquin Roldan signed the match for Rey de Reyes.
5) Crazy Boy, Joe Lider, Juventud Guerrera b Daga, Halloween, Psicosis
Crazy Boy’s AAA Sin Limite return, reuniting the Mexican Powers (though it’s not clear they were called that name.) Lider pinned Daga with the Lider Storm. Perros stapled the tecnicos after the match. Halloween ended up with Psicosis’ mask and stapler after the match for unclear reasons.
6) Monster Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown b Argos, Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Texano [AAA TRIOS]
Psycho Circus kept the titles (first defense), but Consejo attacked them after the bell. Demon made the save.
7) Cibernético, El Mesías, Electroshock b Chessman, el Hijo del Perro Aguayo, LA Park
Made no disqualification (or a normal Perro match.) Cibernetico chokeslammed Perro thru a table for the win. Ciber and Perro bled. LA Park and Perro had to be kept apart after the match, unsure if they had problems during the match.

Air Date:  03/16 (day before Rey de Reyes) and 03/23.

Attendance looked good.

There was a video promo for Rey de Reyes on the entrance screen for during show, which is good. Though, looking at those dates, half the show will be airing after that Rey de Reyes date (and all of the UTDN broadcasts are late.) AAA aired a news update/teaser for the firing angle prior to the taping airing, maybe they’ll be doing the same thing with Demon’s appearance.

The Rey de Reyes card so far

  • Texano Jr. (c) vs Blue Demon Jr. [AAA HEAVY]
  • Crazy Boy vs Juventued Guerrera vs Daga vs Fenix [AAA FUSION]
  • LuFisto vs Mari Apache vs Fabi Apache vs Taya Valkyrie [AAA REINA]

That leaves room for at least 3 more matches. Something with Perro/Cibernetico – no singles match announced, so probably another trios. Another trios match with the main guys not in the main event (this might be where Octagon Jr. fits in.) And probably either a minis match or a maybe even something like Psicosis/Mini Psicosis vs Drago/Dinastia. Guess now, find out soon.

great match roundup, 2013-02-09

thecubsfan

Great/Excellent Matches

CMLL on Fox Sports (Mexico): 2013-02-09
taped 2013-02-01 @ Arena Mexico
Reyes del Aires, Block A – GREAT

Shows Watched But Nothing Made The List

CMLL Guerreros del Ring on 52MX: 2013-02-09 – Valiente/Polvora just shrot
CMLL on CadenaTres: 2013-02-09
CMLL on Televisa: 2013-02-09
AAA on Televisa (Regional): 2013-02-10
AAA Fusion: 2013-02-14

Matches I Missed That Are Probably Worth Checking Out

CMLL Guadalajara: 2013-02-09
– Dragón Rojo Jr. vs Titán for the CMLL World Middleweight Championship

Noches de Coliseo: 2013-02-10
taped 2013-02-03 @ Arena Coliseo Monterrey
– Trauma I & Trauma II vs Diluvio Negro I & Silver Star

CMLL Puebla: 2013-02-11
taped 2013-02-04 @ Arena Puebla
– Negro Casas vs Valiente for the NWA World Welterweight Championship

Angel unmasked, Namajague & Okumura dethrone eternal champs, Demon vs Texano Jr. at RdR

thecubsfan 12 Comments
new champs/photo by CMLL

CMLL (SUN) 03/03/2013 Arena Coliseo [@therealfredo, CMLL, ProWresBlog]
1) Apocalipsis & Inquisidor b Freesbe & Oro Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Acero, Pequeño Halcón, Shockercito b Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pequeño Warrior
Pequeno Halcon made his return, replacing Bam Bam. Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Diamante, Rey Cometa, Sagrado b Puma, Sangre Azteca, Vangelis
Tecnicos took 2/3, Cometa Sagrado submitting Sangre Azteca.
4) Misterioso Jr. b Tritón [lightning]
Misterioso avoided the face breaking tornillo and beat Triton with a Gori Driver in 7:55.
5) Namajague & Shigeo Okumura b Fuego & Stuka Jr. [Arena Coliseo TAG]
Namajague & Okumura took the first. Stuka & Fuego rallied to take the second. Okumura pinned Fuego with a German suplex and Stuka pinned Okumura to bring it to Stuka & Namajague for the titles. Stuka had Namajague beat with the torpedo splash, but the ref stopped counting to tell Okumura to get off the apron, then stopped counting again when Fuego protested the first stoppage. Okumura snuck in that time and kicked Stuka in the head. Stuka picked up Namajague again for fireman’s drop, but Namajague reversed it to a crucifix for the win. New champions! Fiebre Amarilla are the 3rd modern champions (and 1st to actually beat the past champions.) Stuka and Fuego fall in their 9th defense, after five years of holding the belts. Stuka yelled at referee Bestia Negra after the match, telling him he was bad at his job and his shoulders weren’t down (which was the case.)
6) Averno, Dragón Rojo Jr., Mr. Niebla b Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Mistico
Rudos took 1/3, cleanly beating Mistico in the third. Crowd booed Mistico again.

There’s some irony in Stuka losing a big match in Arena Coliseo despite his shoulders not being down; that’s how he beat Jeque in their mask match back in 2007. (That time seemed like the ref counted three ‘too soon’, which this seems like the planned finish.) There seemed to be a point in the Stuka/Fuego title reign where it was bad having them as champions; they didn’t team much outside of their title feuds and seemed to be too be paradoxically too high on the card to have them and thus not right to lose them. The championship seem to grow into the champions the last couple few years; they felt like rare CMLL titles that actually meant something, not just an excuse to have a match. I’m not sure what the future of the titles are from here – if Namajague is going home soon, then there’d be two CMLL tag championships marooned in CMLL with no obvious return date if another title match is quickly scheduled. It’s possible they could be vacated for yet another tournament (though since Super Comando will be out six weeks with rib injuries, maybe wait to hold it for seven weeks.)

If you think Mistico II is a fantastic idea, then you must not believe what they’re doing to him. He’s desperately in need of a rehabilitation, not a third fall loss. There was a point where we thought he was headed to a mask match with Mephisto on the Anniversario show. Not only does that seem outlandish at the moment, but there doesn’t seem to be any particular plan for him at all. Maybe they’re just killing time until something happens are H2L, but there’s no point in bringing back Mistico to just kill time. They know enough not to do that with Thunder, which might say something about where Mistico ranks in 2013.

IWRG (SUN) 03/03/2013 Arena Naucalpan [me, people who got to see the finish of the main event]
1) Avisman & Imposible b Alan Extreme & Mr. Leo
Alan Extreme replaced Freelance. Avisman & Impossible took falls 2/3 the last when Alan Extreme decided he had enough of the tecnico thing and turned on Mr. Leo.
2) Chico Che, Dinamic Black, Saruman b Dave The Clown, Niko, Rothen Clown
Saruman replaced Hijo del Pantera (who had said he would not return in 2013.) Team Chico Che took falls 2/3 to win. Fans threw money in on a match that was not that good.
3) Apolo Estrada Jr., Eita, Tomahawk b Centvrión, Dr. Cerebro, Pantera
Rudos took 2/3.
4) Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Super Astro, Veneno b Eterno, Scorpio, X-Fly
Super Astro replaced Negro Navarro, Asrto’s first match here since November. Tecnicos took 1/3, the last one a quick one.
5) Oficial 911 b Trauma II, el Ángel [losers advance]
911 beat Trauma II with a Gori Special and Angel with a layout chestbreaker.
6) Trauma II b el Ángel [mask]
Angel worked more as a rudo thru the match. Both masks were ripped, Angel’s face mostly exposed. Single match went about 9 minutes. 911 got involved at the end, attacking Trauma II and throwing him in, but Trauma II submitted Angel to an armbar to win. Angel was unmasked as Oscar Omar Puentes, 20 years a wrestler, 35 years old, and the former Oscar Sevilla.

 

As Rob pointed out, Angel was created as an AAA answer to Mistico. He was one of many luchadors created in the same mold by various companies during Mistico’s peak and never really got going as much as AAA would’ve hoped. Still, he managed to keep the character going for a long time thru this successful run in IWRG. He’s still middleweight champion and probably isn’t disappearing, but I think everything’s that was down with Angel since he started appearing regularly last year was to get to this point (of Angel losing his mask), and it seemed to work. Crowd was way up in Arena Naucalpan, probably the best non-AAA TV taping attendance they’ve had their since the last Traumas mask match. That building and Arena Coliseo Monterrey (just to pick two we see on TV a fair amount) look near vacant some weeks, but the fans will definitely show up if they believe a match is big enough. Those two fanbases just seem to have quite different ideas of what a big match is (or IWRG has put years into guys the fans are willing to believe in, and Monterrey is far more chaotic.)

CMLL (SUN) 03/03/2013 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [@acogdl]
1) Brillante & Meteoro b Relampago Azul & Thunder Boy
Rudos took 2/3.
2) Halcón de Plata, Metatrón, Smaker b Évola, Exterminador, Gran Kenut
Tecnicos took 1/3. Kenut’s first match here since September.
3) El Alteño & León Blanco b Espectrum & Infierno
Rematch from the previous Sunday. Tecnicos took 2/3, Alteno beating Infierno. The two agreed to a mask match next week.
4) Ángel de Oro & Delta b Niebla Roja & Tiger
Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Pólvora b Máscara Dorada [CMLL WELTER]
Polovra took falls 2/3 to keep the title. Polvora’s third defense. Fans threw money in.

 

The big news from today’s AAA taping is a third announced match for Rey de Reyes. Texano’s open challenge offer led to a quick defense over Zumbi, but he was soon interrupted by another challenger – Blue Demon Jr. It’s been 8 years since Blue Demon’s been in AAA (and since it was the gap the current creative team wasn’t around for, it’s never happened!), and Demon’s been off winning NWA and US heavyweight titles in the mean time. The title match was immediately made for Rey de Reyes. This is a pretty good deal; Demon as challenger will get the show some special press and maybe a few more tickets than any regular AAA challenger at this point, Texano beating Demon would mean something, and Texano’s more likely to get a clean (or cleaner) win over Demon than the regular AAA guys. Demon probably gets a nice payday and definitely gets to look like an important star on a national TV program, so this is a win for him. Rest of the card should be announced Monday.

Blue Demon was listed on 04/14 Lucha Libre USA lineup. My guess is Demon’s in for Rey de Reyes and not a long term spot – Demon’s part of a tour for the dancing show he was on, he’s got enough to do where he doesn’t need to be tied to AAA – and he’d still be available to LLUSA. Given the acrimonious history between AAA & LLUSA, anything could be possible.

The other news from the show is the continued lack of Octagon Jr. Angelico took his spot (and Nino Hamburguesa took his in the opener.) Samuray had posted on Twitter he would not be making the show this afternoon, so some slight progress on that front. His upcoming show calender lists him in for Rey de Reyes, though comments by Dorian on Twitter did not seem positive. Octagon Jr. seems on it’s way to becoming a “El Animal” like inside joke for the luchadorks, so here’s a good place to point out he might have only made 1 TV appearance so far, but he did make two other appearances: in Tijuana and Ensenada the middle of last month.

Maybe the Octagon Jr. bit will making a surprising recovery and we’ll all be laughing about this rough start later, but it kind of feels like something that ought to be wrote off for now. In the short term, Octagon Jr. not being there matters a lot less than Blue Demon actually being there. There’s a bigger picture problem question here; the mythical AAA US project appears to include a plan where part of the roster is AAA Mexico guys brought in, and part of the roster are US indy guys. If AAA can’t get one indy guy given a big spot to show up to their shows when promised, how is going to work when they have a roster of ’em? The quality names they’ve been talking about bringing in are going to have the same busy schedules/other opportunities as Samurai, and they’re less likely to have grown up watching lucha or having as strong an affinity for it.

(The counter point is they’ve done alright with Jack – the world just needs more Jack Evans.)

Psycho Clowns kept the trios titles over Consejo. Cibernetico chokeslammed and pinned Perro Aguayo Jr. clean in the main event, so whatever’s happening there seems to be still happening. Full post when AAA posts their recap and probably a lineup post soon after.

Judging from the pictures, the scheduled Villano IV & Hijo del Santo vs Hijo del Solitario & Angel Blanco Jr match went off without a hitch, or at least without any problems arising from the real life issues between the Villanos and Santo. Black Terry Jr. has video of a fight between the main event teams after the match. Another channel  has an interview with Hijo del Santo that I’ve got no time to watch.

DTU has announced shows for 03/26 (Arena Aficion), 03/29 (Queretaro), 03/30 (Tulancingo) and 03/31 (TBA).

A polling service says lucha libre is the fifth most popular sport in Mexico. The order goes soccer, boxing, basketball, baseball, lucha libre (last 3 within 5% of each other), american football, auto racing, chess (?!?) and tennis.

A TV station in Saltillo and Arena Pavillon del Norte announced a new reality show where 15 local luchadors will compete for 50,000 pesos and ‘a spot in either CMLL or AAA’. (The first reference only says CMLL, the second says both, and I’d guess it’d more likely a spot in a training class if it’s anything at all. The show is called “1 2 3…Estas Fuera” and premieres Thursday. The network actually has an online feed, but I can’t find an air time.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update and a remembrance of the start of Titanes el Ring.

Rob has highlights of mid August 2002 CMLL and early March 2012 Puebla.

Lucha Libre in Germany

WXW 03/01

Super Crazy b Masada (CZW) [24 Karat Tournament, eigthfinal]
Jonathan Gresham b Ricky Marvin [24 Karat Tournament, eigthfinal]

WXW 03/02

Ricky Marvin b Jay Skillet
Karsen Beck b Super Crazy [24 Karat Tournament, quarterfinal]

WXW 03/03

Ricky Marvin & Super Crazy b Chuck Taylor & Ricochet

Super Crazy’s listed on Tuesday’s Arena Aficion show – a super indy thing.

Links