Month: July 2013

CMLL (SUN) 07/21/2013 Arena Coliseo [@therealfredo, CMLL]
1) Espanto Jr. & Herodes Jr. b Bengala & Fresbee
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Pegasso, Sensei, Tritón b Artillero, Nitro, Súper Comando
Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Bushiroad, Diamante, Sagrado b Misterioso Jr., Sangre Azteca, Virus
Rudos took 1/3, Misterioso giving Sagrado the Rosa Driver while the other rudos dropkicked Sagrado. Bushiroad’s last match before heading back to Japan.
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. b Boby Zavala [lightning]
Guerrero Maya won with a Boston crab in 6:01.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Felino, Mr. Niebla b Blue Panther, Titán, Valiente
Rudos took 2/3. Dragon Rojo top rope double stomped Titan, while Niebla splashed Valinete. Rojo was limping and his left knee buckeled on the top rope stomp.
6) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Mistico b Averno, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
Tecnicos took 2/3, Atlantida on UG and Azul german suplex on GG.

Had to check out on the show during the segunda, doesn’t sound like I missed a lot. Maya/Zavala sounds like it might have been the best match on the show, and it was a 6 minute lightning match. No sign of any new ongoing program, maybe that starts next week.

In retrospect – why was Dragon Rojo, a guy with a leg injury that apparently will never heal, doing a top rope double stomp as a finisher? That doesn’t seem like the greatest of ideas.

Nakamura just was in random non-essential trios matches the first time he came in, and then came back a couple years later to be involved in more important matches. I hope they also decided to save Bushiroad’s big matches for a second tour where fans might have been more familiar with him (though the Naucalpan fans know him well), because he was too good for CMLL to only use him as Japanese Delta. And hopefully the second tour isn’t a few years away.

CMLL (SUN) 07/21/2013 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [@acogdl]
1) El Divino & Javier Cruz b El Yaki & Samael (Guadalajara)
Tecnicos took 2/3.
2) León Blanco, Smaker, Virgo b Espectrum, Exterminador, Magnum
Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Bárbaro Cavernario b Black Metal [OCCIDENTE MIDDLE]
Barbaro took falls 1/3, the last with a cavernaria, to win his title back. Metal falls in his first defense.
4) El Hippie & Tony Escobedo b Acertijo & Jocker [hair]
Acertijo & Jocker took the first fall, Tony & Hippie took the second fall. In the third, Acertijo fouled Tony and beat him, Hippie submitted Acertijo, and Hippie submitted Jocker to save his and his partner’s hair. Hippie’s third apuesta win, all since April. Acertijo’s second loss in that time (first was mask to another Hippie tag team.)
5) Kráneo & Psicosis b Stuka Jr. & Super Porky
Rudos took falls 2/3, Kraneo sneaking in a foul on Porky.

Hippie is unbeatable! No wonder LA Park wants to be a hippie.

Fuerza Imperial (SAT) 07/20/2013 Sala de Armas Magdalena Mixhuca [Estrellas del Ring, KrisZ]
1) Espantapajaros, Kaving, Rayo Tapatío I b ?, ??, ???
Match not listed results but shown in pictures.
2) Dalis la Caribeña & Yuka la Potranquita b Goya Kong & Princesa Blanca
Yuka la Potranquita, making a rough debut, replaced Estrellita. Goya and Princesa turned on each other.
3) Puma (CMLL) & Tiger b Marabunta Jr. & Marabunta Sr. [semifinal]
Marabuntas replaced Solar and Super Astro.
4) Hijo de Pirata Morgan & Pirata Morgan Jr. b Kortiz & Rayo Tapatío II [semifinal]
Opening match did not happen, with some wrestlers thrown into this tournament.
5) Hijo de Pirata Morgan & Pirata Morgan Jr. b Puma (CMLL) & Tiger [final]
Pirata Jr. pulled Puma’s mask to beat him.
6) Felino, Fuerza Guerrera, Mr. Niebla, X-Fly DQ Pirata Morgan, Solar I, Villano III, Villano IV
Solar replaced Kortiz, X-Fly replaced Rey Bucanero. Pirata blatantly fouled Nibela for the DQ. Piratas (including the sons) and Villanos (w/Kortiz) brawled to set up a match on the next show.
7) Hijo del Fantasma, Mil Mascaras, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. b Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Máscara Año 2000, Universo 2000
Yuka la Potranquita was with the rudos. Mil planched Universo and Fantasma submitted Hijo de Mascara.

Smaller building, smaller crowd. Bringing in Mil Mascaras doesn’t guarantee a good gate.

Handheld video of Infierno en el Ring is up here. Things need to be said about Mr. Aguila, but it’s going to have to wait until tomorrow. It looks like matches from the Fuerza Imperial show are headed up there as well.

CMLL Anniverary Prices

Tickets for the CMLL 80th Anniversary’s show will not go on sale until August 12th, but Ticketmaster already has the prices up and they’re notable. Cheapest ticket is 301 MXP (24 USD) and ringside goes all the way up to 2995 MXP (239 USD). Those appear to be the highest prices CMLL has ever charged for a show, which means this will likely be the biggest gate in the history of the promotion. It looks like those prices include the Ticketmaster charges; they maybe slightly cheaper at the box office.

Those numbers aren’t even in the same universe of regular shows: the most expensive ticket for Tuesday’s show is 171 MXP ($13 USD). That means a ringside ticket on Tuesday costs just more than half as much as the worst ticket on the Anniversary show. Major shows are already more expensive, but last year’s Anniversary show high ticket was only 630 MXP ($50 USD) – this is more than 4 times that price. This is going to be major sticker shock to people going to the show. CMLL should sell out this show, but it’s not something that should be assumed at those prices.

CMLL still hasn’t officially said Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero is happening on the Anniversary show for whatever reason (press conference excitement?) It absolutely must be that match; they’re aren’t going to get those tickets sold if something lesser is delivered.

This means a CMLL Anniversary PPV is more unlikely. A $25 PPV, which would be more than AAA charged for TripleMania, would be in direct competition with the cheapest tickets. (Plus, they’d be in competition for those dollars with Canelo/Mayweather the next night.) We selfishly would like to see this, but it’s in best interest for CMLL to declare this show will not be on PPV and not even on TV for a great while. They need to use every inducement to force people to buy those tickets. For that same reason, it shouldn’t be a one match card.

Black Terry Jr. has photos of an outdoor show for a market’s anniversary.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Rob has highlights of 06/18/13 CMLL, 05/30/13 (Toluca) AAA and a Fenix/Steve Pain spot from their TV match.

Lucha Libre in Japan

07/20 NJPW: Shinsuke Nakamura b La Sombra [IWGP IC]
Expected title change. Match was said to be pretty good, which was the important thing. It’s on YouTube – I felt iffy about watching because it’s something they’re still trying to sell, but La Sombra linked to the pirate video himself so I guess he’s okay with it.

NJPW obviously has plans for more La Sombra or they do now after he proved he’s as capable of being good there as he is in CMLL. All accounts say Terrible did well, but he also took the pinfall loss in the first match of the tour and took the pinfall loss in the last match of his tour. Not a lot of plans there.

07/21 Dragon Gate: Eita, Tomahawk and Yuta appeared in a video promo, announcing they’d be back soon (so leaving Mexico soon.) They’re forming a group of wrestlers born in 90s; Tomahawk is now T-Hawk and Yuta is U-T at least in Dragon Gate.

07/20 NOAH: Super Crazy [O] & Ricky Marvin b Pesadilla & Dual Force [X] – GHC Junior Tag League
Dual Force (who may be Sugi) appeared to suffer a knee injury during the match. Pesadilla and Force are eliminated, but have a match left. The group is probably going to come down to a 07/28 between the Mexitosos and Ishimori/Kotoge, but the South American team has barely wrestled and could still make a run.

Mexitosos lost a non-tournament match to the current GHC (NOAH) heavyweight tag team champions on Sunday, which is weird and probably not a great sign for them advancing.

REINA announced Zeuxis and Vaquerita are headed to Japan. Which means REINA is actually running shows! If I understand this right, Vaquerita is headed to Japan for three months and Zeuxis may not be going for that long, but I’m not sure about that part. Either way, this probably explains the Zeuxis REINA International Junior title win. They start on 08/24, and I guess Vaquerita or both would be back after the 11/02 REINA show.

I know LEON was supposed to have a CMLL-REINA International championship title defense today, but I don’t see the report quickly and it’s probably not that important.

Links

• Arkangel vs Magnifico has been added to the ChilangaMask show.
• Superluchas looks back at Ray Mendoza vs Ape Man.
• Cronicas y Leyendas has posts on a Canek moving to heavyweight,  Brazo de Oro unmasking Frankenstein and a partially unmasked Solitario from an old magazine, commenters complain how unprofessional the magazine was for publishing the photo.
• There’s a new lucha libre bar in Zacatecas.
• Ohtani’s Jacket returns to write about Rush vs Negro Casas. He’s a fan!
• La Catedral says bloody (and adult language) does not automatically make a match good and CMLL is right not allowing intentional bleeding.
• Konnan Big says he wants to face five more opponents and then he’ll retire: Hijo del Ninja, LA Park, Monster Pain, Hijo del Santo and Konnan. So he’s never retiring (though I thought he did last year.)

CMLL (FRI) 07/19/2013 Arena Mexico [CMLL]
***Infierno en el Ring, 2013***
1) Diamante, Sagrado, Tritón b Arkángel de la Muerte, Puma, Skándalo
Tecnicos took 2/3, Diamante pinning Puma.
2) Dalis la Caribeña, Goya Kong, Marcela b Princesa Blanca, Princesa Sugheit, Tiffany
Tecnicas took 2/3, the last with a Goya splash.
3) Ephesto, Mephisto, Niebla Roja b La Máscara, Stuka Jr., Titán
Rudos took fall 1/3
4) Felino, Mr. Niebla, Pierroth b Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Thunder
Rudos took it in straight falls, Niebla stealing Atlantis’ mask in the second.
5) Máscara Dorada, Mistico, Valiente b Euforia, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr.
Rudos took the first, tecnicos took the second in quick falls. Mistico dived off the stage onto Euforia in between falls and got the win for this time in the third.
6) Mr. Águila L Shocker, Máximo, Rush, Brazo de Plata, Blue Panther, Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Averno, Rey Escorpión [cage, hair, mask]
Luchadors were required to stay in 3 minutes. Order of escape went Rush, Rey Bucanero, Blue Panther, Negro Casas, Averno, Super Porky, Maximo, and Rey Escorpion. Shocker defeated Mr. Aguila in under a minute to win. Mr. Aguila is now 0-4 in CMLL apuesta matches. Shocker is 18-1 in all apuesta matches.

Mr. Aguila and Shocker was very short. It was so brief, it felt like something went wrong, but there’s no confirmation of that; the closest thing we can find is Shocker apparently winning with a suplex, when Shocker never wins with a suplex.  Fans were very unhappy with the quality of the cage match, but did like the semimain event.

Attendance was outstanding for this show. I am not good at guessing attendance so don’t treat this as anything more than guess, but maybe 12,000? Arena Mexico looked far more full than usual, though there were still some sections where no one was seated.

Lucha Libre in Japan

07/20 NJPW: Shinsuke Nakamura b La Sombra [IWGP IC] – sad but not surprising. Said to be a good match.

Links

• DJ Spectro says Tijuana luchador Mandingo has passed away after an an accident.
• Cuervo talks about the start of his AAA career and his new outside creation, “Danzu”, combining dance and boydbuilding.
• Porra Fresa previews Monday’s Puebla card.
• Croncias y Leyendas looks back at Santo Negro

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 07/23/2013 Arena Mexico
1) Camaleón & Höruz vs Espanto Jr. & Herodes Jr.
2) Pequeño Halcón, Shockercito, Último Dragoncito vs Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Warrior
3) Dalis la Caribeña, Dark Angel, Goya Kong vs La Seductora, Princesa Blanca, Tiffany
4) Ángel de Oro, Rey Cometa, Super Porky vs Morphosis, Olímpico, Shigeo Okumura
5) Máscara Dorada vs Niebla Roja [lightning]
6) Atlantis, La Máscara, Thunder vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Pierroth

Angel de Oro returns.

Best match is the lightning match, which won’t air. This looks like a show I need to skip watching entirely.

IWRG (THU) 07/25/2013 Arena Naucalpan
1) Seiya vs Fulgore II
2) Astro Rey Jr., Cristal, Freelance vs Alan Extreme, Diosa Maya, Saruman
3) Centvrión, Chico Che, Golden Magic vs Bugambilia, Diva Salvaje, Miss Gaviota
4) Dinamic Black, Dr. Cerebro, Veneno vs Emo Extreme, Heddi Karaoui, Oficial 911
5) Toscano, Trauma I, Trauma II vs Eterno, Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Súper Nova

They’re really doing a Veneno/Emo Extreme feud.

CMLL (FRI) 07/26/2013 Arena Mexico
1) Hombre Bala Jr. & Súper Halcón Jr. vs Artillero & Súper Comando
2) Diamante, Pegasso, Tritón vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Hooligan, Skándalo
3) Blue Panther, La Máscara, Shocker vs Averno, Ephesto, Mephisto
4) Fuego, Hijo del Fantasma, Negro Casas, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Misterioso Jr., Sangre Azteca, Tiger, Vangellys, Virus [cibernetico]
5) Máscara Dorada, Mistico, Titán vs Pólvora, Rey Bucanero, Rey Escorpión
6) La Sombra, Máximo, Rush vs Taichi, Terrible, Volador Jr.

Taichi in a main event. There are worse people in main events than Taichi lately.

Lots of possibly fun matches, including the cibernetico.

DTU (THU) 08/01/2013 Plaza de Toros de la Feria, Tulancingo, Hidalgo
1) Atomic Star vs Kalibus, Mantra, Kiuby, King Metal, Alexis X
2) Princesa Metalica & Zuzu Divine vs Jc Maclean & Keira
3) Ángel del Misterio & Jorge Kebrada vs King Metal & Peligro and Konami & Miedo Extremo
4) Artikus & Niño Hamburguesa vs Pequeno Cobra & Yuta and Lanzeloth & Rocky Lobo
5) Paranoiko vs Aeroboy, Jhonky, Cíclope, Slayer Pack
6) Drastik Boy vs Flamita, Hormiga, Black Fire, Príncipe Halcón [chairs]
7) Crazy Boy & Joe Lider vs CIMA & Tomahawk T.T. and Hacker & Kaleth

Free show. Said to be taped for TVC Deportes.