CMLL (FRI) 04/18/2014 Arena México [@therealfredo, @TKD_117, CMLL]
1) Canelo Casas & Espanto Jr. b Flyer & Robin 
Rudos took 1/3. Espanto beat Robin with a Canadian Destroyer and CMLL spent a lot of time carefully putting Robin on a strecher after the fact (but slow motion replay reveals Robin’s head didn’t touch the mat, so he should be fine.)
2) Cancerbero, Hechicero, Raziel b Pegasso, Starman, Tritón
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Dark Angel, Marcela, Syuri b Princesa Blanca, Princesa Sugheit, Zeuxis
Zeuxis replaced Amapola, who was still around to do commentary. Tecnicos took 1/3.
4) Dragon Lee b Guerrero Negro Jr. [En Busca de un Idolo]
Volador was guest judge, while Dragon replaced the missing-in-action Shocker. Dragon Lee with a German suplex. Lee scored a 8, 9, 8, 6 for a total of 32 31. Guerrero Negro scored a 7, 8, 7, 4 for a total of 26.
5) Cachorro b Cavernario [En Busca de un Idolo]
Cachorro defeated Cavernario by surprise fujiwara armbar after Cavernario had dominated the match. Cachorro scored a 8, 9, 9, 6 for a 31. Cavernario received a perfect score of 40, the 3rd person to do so in the history of this competition. (Euforia in Week 3 of 2012, Vangelis in Week 8 of 2013)
6) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Super Porky DQ Euforia, Pierroth, Último Guerrero
Tecnicos took 2/3, Ultimo pulling Atlantis’ mask match. Ultimo Guerrero threatened to quit CMLL if CMLL doesn’t schedule the UG/Atlantis mask match at this year’s Anniversario.
7) Kráneo, Mr. Niebla, Ripper b Mistico, Valiente, Volador Jr.
Mr. Niebla replaced Shocker. Rudos took 1/3, Niebla and Kraneo beating Mistico and Valiente.
Ultimo Guerrero quitting is going to happen right after that Volador career match. Maybe the newest new strategy is grandiose (and unbelievable) challenges? Ultimo’s challenge here is basically “give me that match right now or I will make sure I can never have that match”, which seems counter productive. Maybe it’s more about the power to make the match than the match itself. Though, in story, it’s Ultimo Guerrero’s fault the match didn’t happen yet. He lost.
The new Victoria red mat made it’s debut here. It was as jarring as expected, but people have generally gotten used to the other many cosmetic changes made to Arena Mexico over the last fifteen years and will this in time. The more immediate issue it seems to be throwing off the color balance; from what I saw of the video, the luchadors seemed to be darker and tinted, probably because the lights were set to bounce off a blue mat and now it’s a red one. It’s visually off putting, but also maybe something they didn’t consider until they saw it on TV. (I didn’t notice those problems with AAA though.)
Shocker’s been around enough to respond and retweet people on Twitter, so he could explain what’s going on if it’s something he wanted to talk about. It doesn’t appear to be that.
Speaking of absences, it was very odd for Amapola to do commentary and miss her match two days in front of her title match. I didn’t come across an explanation. No major promotion anywhere has as many inexplicable card changes as CMLL.
CMLL belatedly updated the En Busca de un Idolo scoreboard
Week 2 Poll Results
40: Hechicero
18: Cachorro
18: Cavernario
18: Soberano Jr.
18: Super Halcon Jr.
17: Star Jr.
17: Guerrero Negro Jr.
11: Dragon Lee
Overall standings thru 2.5 weeks:
156 Hechicero
155 Cachorro*
149 Cavernario*
145 Dragon Lee*
118 Guerrero Negro Jr.*
106 Star Jr.
102 Soberano Jr.
91 Super Halcon Jr.
Hechicero is leading despite having one less match than then next 4 people.
CMLL has already started the third week of the En Busca de un Idolo poll. I haven’t been keeping track of the raw numbers this year – are they actually resetting the totals between rounds this year? It seems like everyone is starting in the same area every week.
Tonight’s AAA taping in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera seems like a pivotal one, and not for any matches scheduled on the card. Sin Cara is generally expected to appear in AAA, and maybe even make it to the ring this time. Sin Cara was still under some level of WWE contract when he make a cameo back in February, but he figures to have more freedom this time. I still don’t feel like I have a great grasp of what Sin Cara can or can not do at this point, but my understand is AAA is attempting to sign him to a contract, which suggests he has enough freedom from WWE to agree to work elsewhere. It’s not a done deal, so it’s even still possible Sin Cara make no appearance at all, but it would realistically just mean his debut gets pushed back another major show cycle – everyone’s going to be passing up some money if it doesn’t happen Saturday, but it’s going to happen eventually so it might as well get done on Saturday.
AAA fans have already seen Sin Cara in that building, so the bigger mystery might be who else shows up. People who book AAA shows are booking Averno on those shows. People who book CMLL shows are booking Averno on that shows. That can’t actually work in lucha libre, so someone’s going to be wrong. Both sides are perfectly fine advertising people who they know won’t actually be on the show, so it’s impossible to tell who’s telling the truth. We know Averno has made more money working against Sin Cara than he has against anyone else in his career. We know, right now, he’ll definitely make more money working spot shows against Sin Cara than he will on front of mostly empty Arena Mexico shows. We can guess CMLL’s not promising Averno any big plans for the future, and his most recent (and possibly last) CMLL DF appearance had him losing to the new Mistico which sure could be read as an exit. On the other hand, we already assuming Sin Cara is unlikely to be a lifer in AAA. AAA has quickly soured on people who come in with big egos and aren’t willing to be team players, which sounds a lot like Sin Cara’s behavior in WWE and hasn’t seemed to change a lot since coming back to Mexico. Averno has to know that if he’s tying himself completely to Sin Cara, Averno may get dragged down with Sin Cara before long.
When I add it up, I think it makes more sense for Averno to make the jump. I really don’t know if he will.
There are matches! The mixed tag tercera appears to be the most important match of the night based on the long build. Drago and Faby Apache go in as champions as favorites. Mary Apache has a decent record against her sister, but betting on Dark Cuervo seems foolhardily. I’m rooting for the Pentagon Jr. & Sexy Star team, but it’s easy to imagine Australian Suicide costing Pentagon Jr. the match.
The actual main event is a Cibernetico, La Parka, Psycho Clown contra Perro Aguayo Jr., Hijo del Fantasma, Texano Jr. match, which will surely end with Psycho Clown asking for a title shot against Texano for the 20th time. They’re in Mexico City, so maybe he’ll actually get it if asks before the mass run-ins start, but we should also find out if AAA has any significant plans for the other four guys. Blue Demon and Villano IV meet in an unofficial #1 contenders match for Chessman’s Latin American championship, which will probably be a bloody victory by Demon. The show is listed as starting at 8:30pm local, though that usually means the first official match will get to the ring around 9:05pm.
AAA will be selling their official merchandise in the hours before the show. Taya, Pentagon Jr., Jennifer Blake and Aerostar will also be signing autographs at the booth. I wonder if those fellows will be allowed to sell their own merchandise at the stand, or if AAA’s created any for them yet.
DJ Spectro looks back at Blue Demon vs Espectro.
Segunda Caida reviews 04/06/14 CMLL.
Lineup
CMLL (FRI) 04/25/2014 Arena México
1) Dragon Lee & Sensei vs Espiritu Negro & Zayco
2) Estrellita, Marcela, Silueta vs La Seductora, Princesa Blanca, Princesa Sugheit
3) Súper Halcón Jr. vs Soberano Jr. [En Busca de un Idolo]
4) Hechicero vs Star Jr. [En Busca de un Idolo]
5) Atlantis, Máximo, Super Porky vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
6) Mistico, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Rey Escorpión
7) La Máscara, La Sombra, Rush vs Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Shocker
Two weeks ago (or last week on Fox), there appeared to be a set up for La Mascara & Rush versus Shocker & Negro Casas (which would be a tag title match.) Assuming Shocker is back, that could pick up here.
Maybe only top four airs, but Hechicero/Star Jr. should be a good internet main event. No Syuri in the women’s match, which probably means she’s done after Tuesday.
My hunch is Tuesday will be Guerrero Negro Jr. versus Cavernario and Cachorro versus Dragon Lee based on the pattern they’re using. It’ll definitely be those four, the match ups are just iffy.