Halcon wins Copa Junior, Mephisto keeps his title, IWRG, WWL

CMLL (WED) 01/01/2014 Arena Mexico [CMLL]
1) Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico b Acero & Aéreo
2) Puma, Raziel, Sangre Azteca b Pegasso, Sagrado, Sensei
Rudos took 1/3, despite being DQed in the second for excessive violence
3) Súper Halcón Jr. b Hombre Bala Jr., Dragon Lee, Oro Jr., Stigma, Robin, Guerrero Negro Jr., Canelo Casas, Black Panther, Hijo del Signo, Cachorro, Herodes Jr. [Copa Jr.]
Elimination order went Robin (Hijo del Signo), Herodes (Dragon Lee), Dragon Lee (Cachorro), Hijo del Signo (Super Halcon), Oro (Guerrero Negro), Black Panther (Stigma), Stigma (Canelo Casas), Cachorro (Super Halcon), Hombre Bala (Guerrero Negro), Guerrero Negro (Super Halcon), Canelo Casas (Super Halcon).
4) Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas b La Máscara, Máximo, Valiente
Peste Negra took 1/3.
5) Mephisto b Atlantis [MEX LH]
Mephisto came in as champion and took 2/3 to keep the title, the last with a Super Devil’s Wings. Seconds were Sangre Azteca & Valiente. Third defense.

In a world where legends routinely book/demand finishes with a dozen different outs to protect themselves, Atlantis appears to have lost completely clean, even taking a rough move to finish it.

No real idea how the tercera worked out in terms of quality. It appears Black Panther’s sons are actually tecnicos but worked on the rudo side here, though maybe they’ll clear that up eventually. They are not calling him “Dragon Lee La Nueva Era”, which is just disappointing. If Canelo Casas is the son of a non-wrestling Casas family member, how did he get into this tournament? It’s not Copa Nieto or Copa III. (It also scarcely matters. )

IWRG (WED) 01/01/2014 Arena Naucalpan [Black Terry Jr. (flickr)]
***IWRG 18th Anniverasry Show***
1) Emperador Azteca & Sky Ángel b Fulgor I & Fulgor II
2) Dragoncito De Oro & Mini Rey Cometa b Mini Dr. X & Mini Jocker
3) Bombero Infernal, Centvrión, Dr. Cerebro b Avisman, El Hijo del Diablo, Tupac Amaru Jr.
Tupac Jr.’s debut. Cerebro beat Diablo.
4) Alan Extreme, Golden Magic, Veneno vs Canis Lupus, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Oficial AK47
Canis Lupus replaced X-Fly. Tecnicos took 1/3. Veneno and Alan beat Canis and AK-47 for the win.
5) Cien Caras Jr., Súper Nova, X-Fly b Lizmark Jr., Vampiro Canadiense, Villano IV
Turned out to be Lizmark Jr., not Sr. X-Fly replaced Pirata Morgan. Rudos actually ran out and attakced the tecnicos from the last match (X-Fly & Super Nova still feuding with Alan & Veneno) and the main event tecnicos made the save. Tecnicos took the first, but the rudos took the last two, with Cien foul on Vampiro in the third.

Turnout was better than usual, though not as much as the double apuesta match next week. There was a previous Tupac Amaru, who wrestled in the 70s and 80s. The new one has very identifiable tattoos (assuming I have the right guy.)

Rey Lobo took Super Brazo‘s hair in Arena Neza yesterday. There’s no photo of Super Brazo bald, and it’s unclear if he actually got his hair shaved. Freelance and Neza Kid appeared in the same match at the same time, so someone in Neza has access to a cloning machine (or they gave the gimmick to someone new.) Attendance seemed to be good, better than non-tribute shows have done in the building of late.

Psycho Circus beat Consejo in Arena Lopez Mateos on their New Year’s Day show. Eterno is listed as wrestling in the undercard, which would be his return to action (and sooner than expected, it may just be an oversight.)

WWL indeed has dates for 2014: 03/07 in Arena Xalapa, 03/08 in Plaza de Toros el Pinal in Teziutlan, Puebla, and 03/09 in Plan Sexenal. Carlito, Chavo Guerrero, Sabu, Blue Demon Jr., Hijo de Dos Caras, Sicodelico, Monster Pain, Los Mamitos, Zumbi, Skayde and Zeuxis are listed as appearing.  Those are AAA taping venues and WWL’s worked with AAA in the past,but getting CMLL’s Zeuxis for these shows suggests they won’t be working with AAA this time.

Porra Fresa estimates Arena Puebla as being around 80% full for Stigma/Camorra, which would be around 2200 tickets.

LuchaWorld thinks about the three big lucha libre questions of 2014?

TerceraCaida was all about the top 100 highlights of 2013.

Porra Fresa starts it’s 2013 look back with a look back at NJPW & minis appearances in Arena Puebla.

CMLL’s video promo for Friday.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 01/07/2014 Arena Mexico
1) Metálico & Robin vs Ramstein & Zayco
2) Camaleón, Oro Jr., Soberano Jr. vs Artillero, Canelo Casas, Súper Comando
3) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Raziel [lightning]
4) Negro Casas, Puma, Tiger vs Black Panther, Blue Panther, Cachorro
5) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Shocker vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Euforia, Niebla Roja
6) Rush, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Virus

Still a little vacation weirdness (and some general Tuesday weirdness.) Fourth is family versus family; we don’t know what level Black Panther & Cachorro will end up, but this suggests higher than usual for novatos and throws everything else off. Barbaro returns up all the way in the semimain because there’s no usual third match for him to be in. Second match could be a lot of fun.

There are possibilities for title matches to come out of that main event – it’s rare to see Virus in that spot, and Rush, Titan and Mascara ought to be defending the trios titles at some point – but all of the tecnicos will be in Japan the next week so that doesn’t work.