Mephisto keeps his title over Mistico II (really!), first Mistico I match in Mexico announced

CMLL NJPW (SAT) 01/18/2014 Korakuen Hall [enuhito, Keeping the Spirit Alive, LuchaWorld, NJPW, Strong Style Spirit]
***CMLL NJPW FantasticaMania 2014***
Attendance: 1900
1) Máximo b Taichi, Jado
9’35” Comedy triangle match. Milano took the kiss from Maximo and had to be helped to the back again – then returned during the match. Taichi had Maximo in the testicular claw, but Maximo powered out (?!?), kissed Taichi and wrapped him up in a casita for the win.
2) Shigeo Okumura & Yujiro b Rey Cometa & Stuka Jr.
6:57. Marcela helped give flowers to the tecnicos before the match. Mima was the rudos. Cometa survived nearly getting broken by Yujiro on the outside to hit the Brillo Cometa. (Yujiro generally had problems with working with Cometa & Stuka.) Mima took a superkick from Rey Cometa. Cameras had trouble keeping up with the action. Stuka had Yujiro set up for the bomb splash, but Okumura hit him with a chair and Yujiro eventually beat Stuka with Tokyo Pimpis. Stuka challenged Okumura to a mask vs hair match, but that went nowhere.
3) Niebla Roja, Rey Escorpión, Vangellys, YOSHI-HASHI b Fuego, Kushida, Tiger Mask, Titán
8:56. Black Cat (Kuroneko)’s wife gave a speech before the match. Fuego danced even more than usual coming to the ring. Comandante accompanied Vangellys. Niebla Roja has a shoulder taped up. Comandante turned the match for the rudos, and swatted Titan with a belt a few times. Good if chaotic match. Vangellys beat Fuego with a huge german suplex.
4) El Desperado & Máscara Dorada b Bushiroad & Volador Jr.
8:13. Volador continues to wrestle in his mask. Volador & Bushiroad did the stereo dives off high places. Desperado beat Bushiroad with his El Guitarra del Angel finisher. Volador unmasked while Dorada was hyping up their match for tomorrow. In post match interviews, Desperado talked about having learned from Dorada & Volador in Mexico – and then claimed he was born in Mexico to a Japanese father, so that’s why he can speak Japanese.
5) Shinsuke Nakamura b Rush
10:18. Expected hard hitting good match. Nakamura blocked the Rush Driver three times before hitting the Boma Ye for the win.
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi, La Sombra, Naito b Ishii, Okada, Último Guerrero
19:42. Good match. Great sequence with Okada & Sombra near the start. Guerrero Special on Sombra for the win. Ishii & Naito fought after the match.
7) Mephisto b Mistico [MEX LH]
14:05. Mephisto is champion. Fourth defense. Sombra was Mistico’s second, Okumura was Mephisto’s second. Mistico landed the SSP to the outside, but Mephisto escaped the flying short armscissors and beat Mistico completely clean with a super Devil’s Wings.

Mephisto winning the main event is a genuine surprise. The tour had been shaping up as a coronation for Nueva Era Mistico, only for him to lose at the most inopportune time. Mistico II increasingly seems less like CMLL’s hope for a great new star and more just a opportunity to keep the Mistico name alive for marketing and merchandising reasons. I’m still surprised this loss happened, so CMLL’s not as far along that path as WWE got with Sin Cara, but this is not a match result that happens if they’ve got really big plans for Mistico.

(unless this is a long play setup for Mistico vs Mephisto for the masks, I guess, but it didn’t at all feel like that.)

Nakamura vs Rush was the best match to me on the show and from the iPPVs so far, though other people liked the semimain better. The tease of Sombra/Okada during the early portions of that match was a lot of fun. I think that singles matches happens sometime in ’14, in one of these two promotions, provided Sombra gets past Ultimo Guerrero later today.

Titan was more over than his position in his tag match. Fuego’s entrance seems to be getting over – even though we can’t hear on iPPV, the people in the crowd and those watching on SamuraiTV seem to enjoy it a lot. I could see him being the required CMLL mid table rep for NJPW’s Best of Super Juniors. (NJPW’s chairman mentioned they’re talking to CMLL about 1 or more luchadors for that tournament.)

Marcela and Comandante appearing were nice touches, though I’m not sure most of the people watching realized who Marcela was when she was in the ring before the second match. (I think the Japanese woman with her might have just been her challenger on Sunday, but I don’t think I’ve seen her unmasked before.) CMLL women have been in Japan at the same time of FantasticaManias before and I think they’ve sold merchandise at the show, but this is the first time anyone but Mima’s been able to participate.

The next iPPV, the final show of the tour, takes place at noon Sunday in Tokyo. That’s 9pm Central. It’s another $15 uStream iPPV, with Sombra/UG, Dorada/Volador and some good tag matches – it should be the best overall show of the trip. I’ll be running a live chat here and live results in some fashion. The preshow should start around 8:30 pm, and the chat will be up around then.

CMLL (FRI) 01/17/2014 Arena Mexico [CMLL, LuchaWorld]
1) Canelo Casas & Disturbio b Molotov & Sensei
Rudos took 2/3.
2) Misterioso Jr., Puma, Virus b Pegasso, Sagrado, Tritón
Rudos took 2/3.
3) Princesa Sugheit b Estrellita [lightning]
Estrellita came to the ring in a nun disguise, and stripped to reveal a domantrix outfit. Sugehit got the win in 6:48 with her pendulum backbreaker submission.
4) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Super Porky b Ephesto, Euforia, Pierroth
Ephesto replaced Gran Guerrero on Monday. Tecnicos took 2/3. Porky worked against Euforia and Maya against Pierroth, keeping Pierroth and Porky away from much interaction.
5) Averno, Rey Bucanero, Terrible b Blue Panther, Diamante Azul, La Máscara
Tiger was originally announced, but replaced by Averno on Monday. (Tiger rode the tourist lucha bus instead.) Rudos took 2/3.
6) Atlantis, Shocker, Valiente DQ Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
Negro fouled Shocker for the DQ.

Estrellita losing to Sugehit is the most newsworthy note from the show. It wasn’t a newsy show, just killing time for a week. Edit: The big news from the show was the announcement of Dos Leyendas – it’ll take place March 21st.

There’s a poster floating around hyping Sin Cara in Auditorio de Tijuana on 03/01 for Baja Stars Wrestling. El Martiente has it there, but it’s been floating around Twitter too and I’m fairly certain it’s legit. It is the original Mistico using his WWE name (which non-TV indies in Mexico can safely get away with doing .) This would be his first announced appearance in Mexico post-WWE, only no one’s officially said he’s post WWE.

Edit: Argenis retweeted someone saying this is a fake.

That match will almost certainly not be Mistico I’s first match back in Mexico. He’s announced the first anniversary show for his gym will be on 02/01 and I expect he’ll wrestle on his own show. Mistico is expected to wrestle a lot of indy dates, even if (when) he signs with AAA; there’s lot of money in Mistico’s first appearance back in various places.

IWRG’s announced Sunday shows will now start at 5:30 pm. These changes don’t seem to stick for too long, but there earlier Sunday shows are easier for families. It might mean the Sunday tapings will air more often air on LAS/AYM.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 01/21/2014 Arena Mexico
1) Shockercito & Stukita vs Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Dragon Lee, Pegasso, Star Jr. vs Cancerbero, Hechicero, Raziel
3) Tritón vs Ephesto [lightning]
4) Black Panther, Cachorro, Valiente vs Felino, Puma, Tiger
5) La Máscara, Rush, Titán vs Mephisto, Misterioso Jr., Virus
6) Blue Panther vs Negro Casas

Card reshuffled greatly on Friday.

Out: Metatrón, Oro Jr., Robin, Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Hooligan, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, Brazo de Plata, Boby Zavala, Pierroth

In: Dragon Lee, Star Jr., Hechicero, Ephesto, Cachorro, Black Panther, Tiger, Titan

Generally more attractive card. Panther/Casas is a big match, trios champs team up now in the semimain, and Panthers/Casas feud continues. Second match looks like the TV debut for Star Jr. and Hechicero – their first GDL match did not air on 52MX.

CMLL (FRI) 01/24/2014 Arena Mexico
1) Hombre Bala Jr. & Súper Halcón Jr. vs Guerrero Negro Jr. & Herodes Jr.
2) Goya Kong, Marcela, Silueta vs Dalys, La Seductora, Princesa Blanca
3) Máximo, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Misterioso Jr., Rey Escorpión
4) Diamante Azul vs Euforia [lightning]
5) La Sombra, Rush, Shocker vs Averno, Mephisto, Negro Casas
6) Máscara Dorada, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Niebla Roja, Reaper, Último Guerrero

Everyone’s back, so things can start happening again. Volador & Sombra are on the same card and not booked together; after their match in Tokyo, I’m starting to believe that’s just going to be the status quo going forward and there’s no angle that we should be waiting for here. Plenty of Volador and Reaper, though. (Or is the trios title program hinted at two weeks ago coming back?)

Shocker and Negro Casas pick up on the main event foul this week. Tercera could be good. Opener can cause a shake up in the Arena Coliseo Tag Team rankings.

CMLL video promo for the show.