Month: August 2014

CMLL (TUE) 08/05/2014 Arena México [Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Bengala & Molotov b Akuma & Cholo
Tecnicos took 1/3
2) Arkángel de la Muerte, Hijo del Signo, Nitro b Magnus, Sensei, Star Jr.
Arkangel replaced Herodes (who has left CMLL). Rudos took 2/3.
3) Okumura, Sangre Azteca, Skándalo b Hombre Bala Jr., Starman, Súper Halcón Jr.
Okumura beat Starman via unseen foul. Sangre Azteca was taken to the hospital taking after Hombre Bala landed on his knees on a moonsault.
4) Stuka Jr. b Pólvora [lightning]
Match was originally Titan/Cavernario. Titan was pulled on Monday (foot), while Polvora replaced Cavernario unannounced.
5) Fuego, Rey Cometa, Tritón b Boby Zavala, Kamaitachi, Misterioso Jr.
Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Mr. Niebla, Shocker, Vangellys b Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Super Porky
Atlantis replaced Maximo. Rudos took 1/3.

Four subs, only one announced a head of time. Another doesn’t seemed to be out of CMLL’s hands. Herodes, in the friends only section of his Facebook, said he decided to leave CMLL yesterday. Box Y Lucha reposted his statement here, where Herodes said he was leaving because of his own personal issues and not anything to do with CMLL.

Raul Jimenez from (soccer team) America and the Mexico national team was with Shocker.

CMLL (TUE) 08/05/2014 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [@acogdl]
1) El Brillante b El Acertijo
2) Marcela & Princesa Sugehit b Amapola & La Seductora
Amapola replaced retiree Princesa Blanca. Tecnicos took falls 1/3.
3) Disturbio, Olímpico, Virus b Gallo, Omar Brunetti, Smaker
Rudos took 1/3, only losing the middle by excessive violence. Gallo needed medical help. Disturbio challenged Omar to a hair match for next week.
4) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Cachorro b Felino, Puma, Tiger
Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Volador Jr. DQ Euforia, Rey Bucanero, Terrible
Tecnicos took 2/3, Terrible fouled Marco in the third.
6) Último Guerrero b Rush
UG took 1/3.

Not sure the best follow up to spending the last few months trying to get Rush & Sombra over is to have them lose to Ultimo Guerrero for no reason. At least it’s happening in Guadalajara (and Puebla, probably Monday.)

AAA tapes tonight in Tezitulan. This show will be the last which airs prior to TripleMania, though it’s oddly short on star power. Psycho Clown and Texano Jr. do face off in the main event and Myzteziz is there, but no one else from the Copa TripleMania is scheduled. Averno is the only person from the cage match on the card. The underdcard is more well represented – Taya/Faby face off, and many of the cruiserweight participants are around – but that seems more chance than a plan. It’s not a big stretch to imagine one of those missing top guys to make an appearance on the card, but this seems like a low key end to a low key build to TripleMania. The biggest news out of this show might be finding out what next for Anarquia; AAA hasn’t announced a replacement for Steve Pain.

After the TripleMania conference, Myzteziz again declared CMLL needs to change the programming people to restore the company, because a bad Arena Mexico is bad for anyone. Myzteziz, who quit CMLL with so little notice that the people in charge did not know he had quit, said he left CMLL thru the front door on great terms and only wants the best for them. Myzteziz says he’s happy with people chanting Sin Cara and Mistico, because it shows he’s made multiple names famous while guys like Wagner and Aguayo are living off their father’s names. Myzteziz also believes they fans are chanting “Sin Cara” and “Mistico” because “Myzteziz” is too hard to pronounce. (YES.)

Psycho says the match with him and Texano will just be them alone. Not sure why he’d say that since they’ve never addressed the referee issue. Texano noted he’s beaten Psycho’s father, he’s beaten Psycho’s brother and now he’s going to be a rare man who beats a masked man with only putting his hair on the line.

+LuchaTV has video of Dr. Wagner Jr.’s appearance at the TripleMania press conference. Tercera Caida is bumped to Friday again this week, but the show was posted to YouTube a day or so early today.

The CMLL Anniversary show is not the most expensive ticket for a combat sports even in Mexico City the next few months. UFC 180, taking place November 15, announced they’ll be charging from 7000 for closest ($527 USD), 350 ($26) cheapest. (That doesn’t appear to count handling charges.) WWE’s stop in Arena Ciudad de Mexico will charge 7668 for a VIP ticket ($576 USD), 5112 ($385) for a normal front row, 256 ($19) cheapest. Both those top prices outdistance the crazy CMLL prices.

Segunda Caida reviews Satanico, Rey Bucanero, Ultimo Guerrero vs Villano IV, Villano  V, and IWRG Mr. Niebla. Also, the best summary of what it feels to watch IWRG at any point in time.

I have no context, no idea what the story was here or really what role either team played in IWRG at the time, or the nature of the TV show, or anything at all.

Today’s CMLL Informa will include words from retiree Princesa Blanca, as well as Ultimo Guerrero, Atlantis, and Oro Jr.

SuperLuchas points out Dr. Wagner Jr. has never lost at TripleMania.

Juarez’s Astro Boy II has passed away.

Negro Navarro & Black Terry face Zoom Driver & Karisma on the Lucha Memes show. Impulso will face Fuego Latino on the 09/16 Queretaro match.

Los Nerds’ Kevin writes a column about what it takes to be a DTU luchador. He suggests every DTU wrestler is licensed, though I’m sure I’ve seen of them mentioned in licensing exams after they’ve appeared on DTU shows.

Fuego en el Ring visits the Talavision shirt store.

A column on La Matraca says CMLL’s anniversary show will sell out if they convince the people Ultimo Guerrero and Atlantis will actually happen this time.

Lineups

DTU (SAT) 08/09/2014 Arena Aficion
1) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, Angel Suicida, Corazon Latino
2) Ángel del Misterio vs Príncipe Halcón, Black Fire, Lanzeloth, Artikus
3) Paranoiko vs Jhonky, Miedo Extremo, Dement Extrem
4) Crazy Boy, Joe Lider, Niño Hamburguesa vs Jimmy, Kevin, Tony and Calibus Frescura, Chica Ye-Ye, Estrella Divina
5) B-boy vs Cíclope, Septimo Dragon, Slayer Pack, Hacker
6) Willie Mack vs Drastik Boy, Violento Jack, Aero Boy
7) Ángel o Demonio © vs Ovett [DTU CONSGRADO]
fourth? defense for Angel o Demonio

DTU starts it’s next run of shows this weekend so it’s nice they’re announcing cards. They’re going to do a title match on each show, starting here with the Porros facing each other. It’s supposed to be a different title on each show, except there are more show than DTU titles.

CMLL (TUE) 08/12/2014 Arena México
1) Bengala & Flyer vs Camorra & Ramstein
2) Leono, Robin, Sensei vs Canelo Casas, Hijo del Signo, Nitro
3) Black Panther, Starman, Súper Halcón Jr. vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Kamaitachi, Okumura
4) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Sangre Azteca [lightning]
5) Delta, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Kráneo, Puma, Ripper
6) La Máscara, Máximo, Valiente vs Mr. Niebla, Shocker, Tiger

Lightning match isn’t happening as listed. Sangre Azteca posted on Facebook that he’s getting knee surgery today at 4pm.

The Starman/Okumura feud may be ongoing? Lower midcard feuds are the new market inefficiency?

CMLL (TUE) 08/12/2014 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Divino & Sky Kid vs Évola & Sádico
2) Esfinge & Leo vs Artillero & Súper Comando
3) Magnus, Soberano Jr., Stigma vs Demonio Maya, Demonio Rojo, Ráfaga
4) Omar Brunetti vs Disturbio [hair]
5) Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Mephisto, Último Guerrero
6) Marco Corleone vs Terrible

Marco gets a singles match! Marco still can’t get a title match.

Disturbio is the new Loco Max.

CMLL (MON) 08/04/2014 Arena Puebla [Periodico Enfoque, Periodico Enfoque (fotos)]
1) Demus 3:16 & Espíritu Maligno b Astral & Eléctrico
Rudos took 1/3, Espiritu beating Electrico.
2) Cancerbero & Raziel b Pegasso & Soberano Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Blue Center, Kamaitachi, Okumura b Black Panther, Cachorro, Tigre Rojo Jr.
Rudos took 1/3, with newly unmasked Center getting a little bit of revenge by beating Rojo in the third.
4) Rey Escorpión b Máscara Dorada, Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Stigma, Stuka Jr., Gran Guerrero, Misterioso Jr., Puma, Ripper [Reyes del Aire]
Rey Escorpion beat Mascara Dorada to win. No other elimination order is known.
5) La Máscara, La Sombra, Rush DQ Mr. Niebla, Shocker, Último Guerrero
Ultimo Guerrero replaced Negro Casas. Ingobernables dominated the match, and UG pulled off Sombra’s mask in anger.

Negro Casas still missing shows suggests he was injured last week, worked the hair match anyway and is still hurt. Don’t know that for a fact, but it looks that way.

There’s no better King of the Air than Rey Escorpion. He should brag about this for the next 365 days, but it’ll never be mentioned again. Should be good on TV!

AAA held their TripleMania press conference today. The big news was the return of Dr. Wagner Junior, who slides into the mystery spot in the four way match. Wagner made a surprise appearance as they were talking about the match. (You can’t tell from the picture, but the design on the mask was the TV Azteca logo – the network airing the El Isla show Wagner is currently appearing on, and who owns Arena Ciudad de Mexico.) Joaquin Roldan has said the fourth man was not yet signed but would be a big star and then Wagner walked out. Cibernetico spoke out against the idea of Wagner, while Perro repeated an earlier decleration that they should just make it a four way apuesta match. Joaquin dismissed that idea and put Wagner in the match over Cibernetico’s objections. The match – Myzteziz vs Perro Aguayo Jr. vs Cibernetico vs Wagner – now includes four of the biggest stars of the last decade.

Dr. Wagner returns to AAA with a lot of baggage. He was a big asset to AAA when he first jumped there in 2009. The TripleMania that year and the one in 2012 (mask match) were largely built around Dr. Wagner matches, and he also main evented the 2011 show. Wagner’s impact lessened the last year he was there, as it seemed he and LA Park were pushed to the side a bit because of the backstage headaches they were causing. Dr. Wagner is not a team player, he’s in it for Dr. Wagner, and AAA expects everyone to be team players.

Wagner didn’t even work in AAA for the last few months of his last stint due to disputes over his contract. The strife didn’t even end when Wagner was free and clear; when Wagner was attacked and cut by an assailant near his home, Hijo del Santo loudly claimed AAA had sent men after his friend Wagner for speaking out against them. Wagner himself backed away from those statements, but the distrust and mutual animosity between AAA and Wagner head already reached that level.

Cibernetico objecting to Wagner being brought back was part of the press conference, but there’s no doubt people working for AAA have or will voice the same objections. Konnan’s specifically said on his podcast that Wagner will never be back. Wagner said he wouldn’t be back. He’s back. At least for now. It’s at slightly possible TV Azteca ‘encouraged’ this decision, but it’s not one AAA would’ve been forced to make.

We don’t know the length of Wagner’s contract. It’s possible he may be in for one show, and he’s expected to keep working indy shows regardless of what’s going on in AAA. (LA Park will be fine.) Wagner wrestling in TripleMania hurts the apparent angle Monterrey was running about Wagner being out of action of weeks – I would suspect he worked that show on Sunday without telling the promoter what he was doing on Tuesday, which is a Wagner move. Hijo del Dr. Wagner appeared with his father at the press conference and figures to be around AAA at least as long as his father lasts.

The rest of the press conference was going over the main matches on the card for the press. Only the top four matches were talked about. I didn’t expect anything on the Relevos AAA, but AAA’s flying in a guy because they think he’s an awesome wrestler and didn’t even mention his name here. The Texano/Psycho match was treated as the semifinal here but had to be since they wanted the Wagner appearance to be the big story at the end of the conference.

AAA said they’d put two people in the Hall of Fame (after putting zero people in the Hall of Fame last year.) They also announced they will have both English and Spanish announcing. Leonardo Riano and Jesus Zuniga will handle the Spanish announcing and it appeared Hugo Savinovich and Vampiro (also somehow back again!) will handle the English announcing. I presume the iPPV people are only getting English but that’s not clear. Vampiro does not appear to follow wrestling or AAA much and does not seem like a guy who will bother to prepare, so that seems like it’ll be a comedic disaster. Hugo came off as professional but not totally informed on the product last year. It’s really a waste of time to do a second feed for English this year, since they’re going up against SummerSlam, but maybe it can be just a practice time for down the road.

AAA’s two best announcers are Bernardo (who’s hasn’t done announcing for them) and Andres (who’s the regular guy getting pushed aside.) Neither appear to be working this show. No Arturo Rivera either. AAA’s gone out of their way to include him on other years and it’s possible his name just got lost in the coverage of the press confernece. It’s also possible he’s simply one of the Hall of Fame inductees.

TripleMania’s PPV prices
iPPV: 198/$14.95 USD
SD: 229/$17.28 USD
HD: 298/$22.49 USD

The TV versions are only available in Mexico, of course. Haven’t been able to find the SummerSlam price, but I don’t think anyone’s picking one or the other based on price. Dragon Gate is also on iPPV for $24.95 that day.

Ephesto & Mephisto’s new partner on Sunday has been switched from Lucifer to Hombre sin Nombre (literally Man without a Name.) Ephesto used that name when he was transitioning from Safari to his current identity. Maybe there was some issue with the Lucifer name? I didn’t see a trademark for the name in the Mexico Trademark Search. Maybe the Mexico City commission objected since there was another person using Lucifer already? (This would be unusual.)

The 08/07 Lucha Memes show will have a 20 man royal rumble,

Rob has highlights of 05/13/14 CMLL.

LuchaWorld has Poster-Mania for the week and KrisZ’s news update.

Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero are #1 on CMLL’s top 10 list.

Movie trailer featuring Black Terry!

A (semi-annual?) licensing exam was held in Puebla. 43 luchadors tried out and results are to be announced in a couple of weeks.

Kcidis illustrates the Juicio Final result.

Ohtani’s Jacket writes about Negro Casas, El Satanico, Bestia Salvaje vs El Dandy, Ultimo Dragon, Apolo Dantes from August 14, 1992.

Rey Infierno took Fantasma del Espacio’s hair in Xalapa.

Cosmos Negro took Hacha Infernal’s mask in Arena Cuautepec.

Lineup

CMLL (MON) 08/11/2014 Arena Puebla
1) Molotov, Paris, Star Jr. vs Rey Apocalipsis, Siki Ozama Jr., Toro Bill Jr.
2) Eléctrico vs Espíritu Maligno [lightning]
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Cachorro vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
4) Máximo, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Pólvora, Rey Escorpión, Shocker
5) La Sombra vs Último Guerrero

Only five matches and one of them is a lightning match. This is going to be a short show unless UG and Sombra have a 20 minute third fall (following a 2 minute first fall and a 30 second second fall.)

I’m pretty sure this is not the idea, but I would totally endore Shocker being the new Revolucionario. Shocker wearing a sombrero, Shocker dancing, Shocker mock shooting muskets, these are all great ideas (and then Zavala can still get the spot next time Shocker takes time off.)

Electrico and Espiritu Maligno is an actual feud and possibly a title match on the 18th – Electrico is the still the national lightweight champion, which was a Puebla title for a brief time.

Tercera looks great.

IWRG (SUN) 08/03/2014 Arena Naucalpan [Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), The Gladiatores]
1) Avisman & Hip Hop Man b Alfa & Omega
Avisman replaced Hijo de la Bestia (which meant he was working twice.) This one went two falls.
2) Apolo Estrada Jr., Avisman, El Hijo del Diablo © b Emperador Azteca, Imposible, Metaleon [EdM Trios]
Imposible and Avisman had a very good exchange to start the match. Later, Imposible and Azteca went back to having problems again, and the rudos took advantage to ultimately win. Fourth defense for the Gringos.
3) Alan Extreme b Guerrero Mixtico [hair]
Mixitco surprised Alan to win fall one, but then got his foot caught in the ropes on a dive and Alan attacked the leg to submit him for fall 2. Third fall got bloody. Mixtico had a pin with his hand on the ropes, Alan reversed it to his own pin with his hand on the ropes, and he held on for three. Mixtico argued the finish but eventually got his hair cut.
4) Demon Clown, Eterno, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 b Hijo De Dos Caras, Relámpago, Veneno
Rudos took 2/3. Demon Clown challenged Hijo de Dos Caras to a title match. Hijo de Mascara did as well, setting up a remarkable triangle title match.
5) Oficial 911 & Oficial AK47 © b Trauma I & Trauma II [IWRG IC TAG]
Fierro came out as second for his friends, which upset the Traumas. Commissioner allowed it which proved to a bad decision because Fierro just interfered the whole way. Oficials won fall 1. Fierro smacked Trauma I in the knee with a broomstick between falls, leaving I hurt the rest of the way. Traumas rallied and Trauma II eliminated 911, but the Traumas were so angry they got DQed for excessive violence on AK-47 and for shoving the refs down. Straight falls. First defense for the Oficials.

Thinking of resubbing to AYM online for a month just to have a better shot of getting this show. No idea if it’ll help (except last week’s Trauma/Oficials match definitely aired on AYM and not LAS) or if I have the means to actually record the show.

Hijo de Dos Caras versus Demon Clown versus Hijo de Mascara Ano 2000 has a chance to be a MOTYC, though probably with another let added to that acronym. I noticed at least one person in the comments of Tercera Caida’s Facebook believes Demon Clown is actually Head Hunter I. We all know Demon Clown is truly a proud Canadian, right up there with Wayne Gretzky and Celine Dion (but we’ll probably find out his identity soon enough – maybe in a month!)

Developments in the second and third match suggest that Imposible and Alan Xtreme may be headed back to more rudo ways.

Tickets quietly went on sale for the CMLL Anniversary show today. They’re crazy expensive. Cheapest ticket is 587 pesos ($45 USD), with the closest tickets on sale right now at 3274 pesos ($248 USD!) Weird prices are mostly the effect of the Ticketmaster handling charges, but they’d still be incredibly expensive prices for a Mexico wrestling event with them. TripleMania’s tickets run 144 to 1920. Last year’s Anniversary price went from 2995 to 301, so it’s about a 280 peso ($21 USD) hike on every ticket. Most lucha libre shows we went to last year cost less than that increase alone (and if you’re running one of those shows, you may not be thrilled about CMLL eating up so much of the money.)

CMLL’s not going to sell the building out at those prices unless there’s a lot of stuff underneath – Volador versus Sombra, hair versus mask, does not seem so impossible now – but they could still make a ton of money with a 3/4ths full building. CMLL’s business model is increasingly dependent on scraping by most of the year and making their money on the rest of the show. They’re really trying to make their money here!

Unlikely there’s not going to be a last minute reprieve to put this show on the internet for free at those prices (though last year’s was at nearly the same.) Wish CMLL and Terra would iPPV it, but that seems unlikely too – and may make sense, since you may not want people paying $25 at home if you’re trying to sell them on coming for $45 each. Still, there has to be a way to black it out in Mexico City on the day of the show and allow people who can’t travel to Mexico City a chance to pay to see the show.

And now this.

Dr. Wagner Jr. suffered a deep cut on his shoulder after LA Park hit him with a light tube in Monterrey. The story is it didn’t seem that severe at the time, but he ended up going to the hospital after finding out it cut a vein and will now be out three weeks. The lower deck was jam packed for the show. This gives me a great horrible idea: ACM should do a gimmick where they announce a LA Park versus Dr. Wagner street fight and then announce there will be no tickets sold on the lower level for the safety of the fans because the match is going to be so out of control. It would look bizarre on TV but you’d sell every upper level ticket. (Also, LA Park and Dr. Wagner would definitely end up brawling to the upper level.)

Stuka will replace Titan on Tuesday in his lightning match versus Cavernario. Titan is still out due to injury.

Flamita did keep his Brave Gate championship over Tony Rodriguez and Makabre in Arena Roberto Paz on Saturday. There are scurrilous rumors that Dragon Gate in fact did not sanction a title match to take place in Arena Roberto Paz but I choose not to believe such things. Demon Clown is from Canada!

Interesting section from a Fortune interview with El Rey’s Robert Rodriguez

The pace that we’re able to go at, when we have an idea we can turn it around and put it on air. It’s really addictive and fun. I shot Sin City 2 last January and now it’s just coming out. That would never happen on my network. When we shoot something it goes on the air next week.

(Not sure if that applies to shows he’s authoring or the network entirely.)

Domingo Universal has a bio of Casandro.

LuchaWorld has 80 thru 71 in their top 2013 countdown and a Vandal Drummond column on Rush/Sombra vs Casas/Shocker and Black Gordman.

Segunda Caida reviews El Hijo Del Santo, Octagón, Rey Misterio Jr. vs Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera, Psicosis from 1995.

Negro Casas’ skull makes an appearance on all three lucha magazines this week.

Lucha Libre In Japan

Silueta will now defend the REINA Interntional Junior Championship against Maki Narumiya on the 08/08 REINA show.

La Comandante (still in Japan) & Yumiko Hotta defend the REINA tag team titles on 08/20. The only card not announced yet is the 08/30, so that’s probably the not yet announced Marcela title defense.

CMLL (FRI) 08/01/2014 Arena México [CMLL, MT (5), MT (6), MT (rest), R de Rudo] 
***Juicio Final, 2014*** 
1) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa b Puma, Skándalo, Tiger
Cometa hurt a foot, took the boot off the foot, and still beat Puma with a torito. 
2) Ephesto, Euforia, Mephisto b Blue Panther, La Máscara, Máximo
Rudos took 2/3. Mephisto’s return from injury. Maximo was hurt by the end of the match. 
3) Marcela & Princesa Sugehit b La Seductora & Princesa Blanca [mask, hair]
Rudas took the first, tecnicas the second. Third saw Seductora beat Marcela, but Sugehit beat Seductora and Blanca herself to win. Blanca blamed referee Bestia Negra for the loss and knocked him out with a kick. (Can’t suspend a retired woman!) Blanca and Seductora tried escaping without taking their punishments, but were forced to return. La Seductora is Irene Laguna, a 23 year vet from Guerrero. CMLL notes Blanca’s retirement was an official stipulation, but she declared she was really done. 
4) Volador Jr. b La Sombra © [NWA WELTER]
Volador took falls 1/3 to win the title. Usual absurdly short starting falls, then a 20+ minute one to end it. Sombra’s falls on first defense. Volador holds this belt for the 2nd time, and is the 7th/63rd champion (and gains entry into the Universal tournament, at least for the moment.) Volador repeated his challenge for a hair versus mask match to Sombra, who was non-comittal. 
5) Rey Escorpión, Shocker, Último Guerrero DQ Atlantis, Dragón Rojo Jr., Máscara Dorada
Mascara Dorada replaced Titan (injury.) Straight falls. Ultimo Guerrero got away with a mask pull in the first, then Atlantis was caught pulling UG’s mask in the second. Atlatnis declared the Atlantis/UG mask match will happen on the CMLL 81st Anniversary show. UG demanded this made official, and Panico did – the match will take place on 09/19. 
6) Rush b Negro Casas [hair]
Rush won the first with the corner dropkick. Sombra tried to help out with a chair shot, but Casas still took the second with a casita. Rush used a ref distraction to foul Casas in the third. Rush’s 5th hair win, 2nd this year. Negro’s 9th known hair match defeat. Ingobernables celebrated with champagne and humiliated Casas after the match.

Crowd looked about 80% full, with the cheapest seats accounting for most the empty spots. That’d put the attendance around 13,400, the same as Dos Leyendas.

Show sounds like it was generally good. CMLL did all the obvious outcomes – Rush won, Blanca & Seductora lost, Atlantis & Ultimo made their match – but sometimes the obvious finishes are the ones you have to do. The next step for CMLL is convincing everyone they really mean to do Ultimo Guerrero versus Atlantis without an out this year. CMLL did the contract signing in the middle of the ring to alleviate that, but there still was a lot of skepticism last night.

Atlantis emphasized the match would be one on one with no escape.  Volador said he wants the Anniversary main event against Sombra if Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero back out.

Maximo says he was knocked out and spend the night in the hospital.

Psicosis and Tabu have apparently said they’re out of AAA. (I can’t find the original Tabu Facebook post, so not as sure.) Tabu has barely been used so most may have thought he was already gone years ago. Psicosis hasn’t been used on TV since the May 24th multiman match title show match Aerostar won. Psicosis has been back in AAA for about the last seven years and seemed like a guy who would be around AAA forever given his long history with the promotion and his relationships with those in charge. Psicosis is currently teaching classes at Auditorio de Tijuana and wrestling in that arena – maybe he just wanted off the road for now.

Also, look at that match: Aerostar & Eterno were on the TripleMania card and taken off, Ricky Marvin is no longer Ricky Marvin (on a couple of levels), Steve Pain and Psicosis are both gone and Axel might be as well. Doom all around.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Rob has highlights of 05/04/14 AAA.

Segunda Caida reviews CMLL on LATV 06/15/14, which might have flipped back to the beginning of it’s run.

Psycho Clown and Texano will rematch the day after TripleMania.

Lucha Libre in Japan

08/02 NOAH:
Super Crazy & Matt Striker [O] b Yoshinari Ogawa & Zack Sabre Jr. [X] [JTL] – this match lasted 84 seconds. They finish 3rd.
Rocky Lobo [O] & Jinzo b Shiori Asahi & Hiro Tonai [X] [JTL] – Lobo & Jinzo get a win! They finish 1-3, last.

Lineups

IWRG (WED) 08/06/2014 Arena Naucalpan 
1) Muerte Infernal vs Omega 
2) Black Niko & Seiya vs Atomic Star & Matrix Jr. 
3) Cristal & Látigo vs Hip Hop Man & Sexy Girls 
4) Golden Magic, Relámpago, Veneno vs Canis Lupus, Hijo de Pirata Morgan, X-Fly 
5) Black Terry, Metaleon, Power Bull vs Ironía, Spider Boy, Yakuza

Main event continues the AULL trainees versus FILL feud.

Sexy Girls worked on the last trainee show, needs a better name, may have been the one wrestling under that name in Monterrey in 2007 and 2008 (or maybe not.)

CMLL (FRI) 08/08/2014 Arena México 
1) Shockercito & Stukita vs Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico 
2) Delta, Dragon Lee, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Cancerbero, Raziel 
3) Goya Kong, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, La Seductora, Zeuxis 
4) Máscara Dorada, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Ephesto, Hechicero, Mephisto 
5) Dragón Rojo Jr. © vs Rey Escorpión [CMLL MIDDLE]
Dragon Rojo’s 8th defense. Rey Escorpion’s title is not on the line. 
6) La Máscara, La Sombra, Rush vs Negro Casas, Shocker, Último Guerrero

Main event keeps on being the main event. Semimain should set up some more challenges. Fourth match might be good if we got to see it.

Tonight is CMLL’s Juicio Final. Rush and Ngero Casas finally meet in a hair match after building towards it for more than a year. It’s lately felt like they may have waited too long to do it, but the fans did seem very into the feud during the tag team title match which aired in the past week. This might be one of the best matches of the year, and it’s definitely going to be one of the most heated. The Arena Mexico crowd should be totally behind Negro Casas, rooting him to a win they don’t believe he can actually get, and the match will work around how close Casas can come to that win.

The other apuesta match on the show is Seductora & Princesa Blanca versus Marcela & Princesa Sugehit. Both Blanca versus Marcela and Blanca and Sugehit would’ve been more attractive matches. There’s no reason for Seductora to be here except she has a mask she can lose (which is not much of a reason) and CMLL hasn’t done anything to suggest she could win. Lucha libre has a history of drawing around big matches with very obvious outcomes (every Santo/Hijo del Santo apuesta match), but a bad turnout here might suggest they did the very obvious outcomes with the wrong people.

The third big match on the show is another Volador/Sombra match. This one might work a little better because the other matches will force them to compress their usual match a little bit – there shouldn’t be as much time for unending cliched near fall spots. Volador winning would give him a birth in the Universal tournament and seems like the most likely outcome.

The most important decision on the show is not either of those two apuesta results, at least in the short term, but what they do about the Anniversary show. This is the very obvious moment to announce the date of the show and the main event, but sometimes CMLL failsy to do the very obvious.

Ticketmaster shows the most expensive seats and the cheap seats CMLL usually sells first (directly in front of and behind the entrance) generally sold out. They’re selling more on the sides than a normal show, but there’s still a lot of tickets available. I’ve never looked at the ticket sold map before for a big show, so I’m not sure if it’s bad, good or no different than normal.

Rush repeats that Negro Casas is the last hair he wants, and he’s going after masks since. He makes sure to bring up Casas has beat him for the tag and trios titles in the last few months, but it’ll be different in an apuesta match.

CMLL’s preview for tonight’s show reveals Mascara Dorada will replace Titan in the semimain tonight. Titan posted on Facebook that he has a foot injury.

Hechicero and Hijo del Signo are manning the TuriLuchas bus.

There’s a video interview with Aerostar from July 13th where it appears he knew he wasn’t in the cruiserweight title match. Which means they had about 18 days (and a TV taping) where they could’ve come up with a reason to explain it and they don’t feel like it.

LuchaWorld has Alfredo’s more positive take on the TripleMania lineup.

Rob has highlights of 05/09/14 CMLL.

Tercera Caida doesn’t air until today, but they’ve already posted the complete show on line, as well the after the show interviews with Taya and Faby.

Segunda Caida reviews Dr. Wagner Jr., Mr. Niebla, Rey Bucanero vs Atlantis, Tarzan Boy, Último Guerrero.

Latin Lover is listed on 08/22 Tijuana poster, but it’s possible he may just be appearing and not wrestling. It’s vague on who’s actually in that main event but it looks like it’s other six guys listed at the top.

The 09/20 ChilanagaMask show in Arena Roberto Paz will include local wrestlers along with the usual ChilangaMask crew.

Estrellita defends the Mexican’ Women’s championship against La Comandante in REINA on 08/10.

Lineup

indy (SAT) 08/30/2014 Sala de Armas Magdalena Mixhuca, Ciudad México, Distrito Federal
1) Dragón Oriental & Nahual vs Chacal & Príncipe Azteca
2) Huracan Ramirez Jr., Skayde, Turbo vs Histeria II, Oriental, Súper Bólido
3) Esther Moreno, Lady Apache, Yuca La Potranquita vs Lola Gonzalez, Miss Janeth, Rossy Moreno
4) Groon XXX, Hijo De Dos Caras, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Hijo De Universo 2000, Scorpio Jr., Zumbido
5) Cien Caras, Máscara Año 2000, Universo 2000, Veneno vs Cachorro Mendoza, Canek, Heavy Metal, Solar I

This is billed as a Ringo Mendoza tribute show – so is this the Arena Coliseo moved? They’ll also have 4 MMA bouts, which strikes me as totally mistaking the audience for this sort of event.