AAA posted a new lineup for this show today, which probably means they’ll be hyping Mysterio’s appearance on this week’s TV. AAA usually doesn’t announce card changes – with Verano de Escandalo, they surely knew Kronos was out in advance but didn’t update – but adding Rey Mysterio is a supposed to sell some tickets and all the other changes just showed up with him.
Mysterio becoming the mystery guy in the main event is the biggest news, but lots of other shuffling going on. Fenix and Myzteziz ended Verano de Escandalo hurt and are both off the show now. Not sure if that’s the same issue with Pentagon and Argenis. The latter could just be adding Aerostar to face Super Fly again.
Chessman essentially gets added to the card to replace Kronos, with the semifinal trios match turned into a trios tag match. Electro & Pirata were already booked as only a tag team on the next two shows (which also have multiteam tag matches.)
Fenix and Pentagon are now not booked on any AAA TV announced taping, and that covers the next six weeks of shows. That might not all be injury, they may be missing the 07/10 show because they’re going on the trip to London, but it suggets there won’t be big plans for them going into TripleMania. (Whenever that is.)
AAA also reposted the 07/10 lineup, but there’s no changes to that lineup. The mystery person on 07/10 show is still listed as a mystery person, but likely is Laredo Kid.
Not much! They were completely sincere about it being a one match show. There were no other matches, there were no vignettes, there were no trips to Dario. Dario wasn’t seen, but it was suggested he would get involved should this end in a tie.
It did not, though it might have if a certain San Luis Potosi native kept talking. Johnny Mundo attempted to run out the clock by running away from Puma. Alberto el Patron returned to cut off Mundo and beat him from one side of the building to the other (literally) and threw him back in to set up Puma’s tying pinfall. Alberto declared he was not done with Mundo and coming after Puma next. Alberto left the two with four minutes left. Mundo had a couple close near falls, but Puma landed his 630 senton for a pin with about 7 seconds left, and neither guy was able to move as time ran out.
Puma got the first pinfall, but Mundo built a big early lead after smacking Puma with a crowbar (pulled from under the win) and hitting big moves on Puma as Puma was unable to recover. The long gap between pinfalls was spent in the aisle, in the bleachers, and even up on the band’s stand – with Puma spearing Mundo off onto four tables which had been set up earlier. Puma fared slightly better on the fall, and was eventually able to drag Mundo back to the ring, where he got the second and third pinfall. Mundo ran, Alberto came in, and you’ve already read the rest.
Puma defends the title next at Ultima Lucha against the winner of next week’s Drago versus Mil Muertes match.
thoughts
This was a really good match, among the best in the history of the show. I didn’t find it one of the best – Aztec Warfare had more story, Grave Consequences felt more epic – but this was pretty enjoyable. The difficulty was needing to stretch it for 42 minutes mean they had a slower first ~18 minutes than you’d expect out of them (when most of the matches are 17 minutes themselves.) An Iron Man match is more often seen on PPV, and it’s tougher to stay with when there are commercials breaking up the action every few minutes. These commercials seemed weighed more heavily towards the first half of the show, which allowed the big unbroken stretch at the end but further exacerbated the slower than normal start. I think this match is going to feel stronger when seen unbroken (by which I mean DVR or uVideos and definitely not some other source.)
The big spots were really good. The crowbar spot looked brutal. The crowd fighting was as chaotic as usual. The fall thru four tables should be part of every Season 1 recap package. Alberto brought the rage (and it was interesting that even though Mundo turned, Puma and Mundo still had a level of respect – at least to start.) The high points of the match itself were laid out nicely, there was just a lot of match to lay them out over.
One positive that didn’t pop up to me until writing the recap: plenty of matches on Lucha Underground have ended by pinfall without someone hitting their finish. There are a lot of moves that can ‘work’ for 3. A WWE Iron Man feels weird when ‘other’ moves can are suddenly collecting pinfalls, but it felt completely normal for both guys to be using other spots to win.
Matt Striker has gotten criticism for his lack of intensity in critical situations. That was not a problem here, as he did well getting over the urgency of the last few minutes of the match. Even his compulsion to drop references worked out well here, putting over the near falls as past championship winners.
DTU heads towards Veracruz for a show in Xalapa on Thursday.
CMLL (TUE) 06/16/2015Arena México [CMLL, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Mercurio & Pequeño Universo 2000 b Aéreo & Angelito Rudos took 1/3.
2) Oro Jr., Pegasso, Soberano Jr. DQ Cancerbero, Raziel, Sangre Azteca straight falls. Sangre pulled of Soberano’s mask for the DQ.
3) Boby Zavala b Guerrero Maya Jr. [En Busca de un Idolo] Zavala submitted Maya. Best match of the competition so far. Volador was guest judge. Bobby got positive reviews, and a score of 9 (Volador), 8 (Gladiador), 8 (Shocker), 6 (Tirantes) for a 31. Maya got both criticism and praise for being an 80s throwback, and scores of 5, 8, 8, and 6 for 27.
4) Canelo Casas b Delta [En Busca de un Idolo] Delta controlled a lot of the match, but Canelo surprising won with a top rope splash. Canelo scored a 6, 6, 7 and 3 for 22. Delta, who seemed to come in with a knee injury, scored a 6, 6, 6, 2 for 20.
5) Ephesto, Mephisto, Virus b Blue Panther, Fuego, The Panther Money thrown in. Mephisto Rosa on Blue Panther for the win.
6) Dragon Lee, Mistico, Titán b Hechicero, Pólvora, Ripper Hechicero replaced Kamaitachi on Monday.
Maya/Zavala is first match worth going on of your way to watch, though it wouldn’t be memorable in last year’s tournament. Everyone seems to be working normal Tuesday lightning matches instead of doing something extra for the tournament.
Tirantes mentioned he was in the match where Delta was hurt, which could’ve been Sunday in Arena Mexico or Monday in Arena Puebla. Delta is really struggling in this tournament…
After W2 En Busca matches, before fan poll:
Boby 124 Maya 113 Esfinge 111 Disturbo 99 BP Jr. 87 Canelo 71 Delta 71 Flyer 54
…he’s in 7th, and will likely fall to 8th because he’s not getting fan poll support. It’s still early, but it looks like Maya & Zavala are good bets to advance, Esfinge may end up with the third spot Delta’s not taking, and Panther, Disturbio and Flyer are battling for the fourth spot. Plenty of time for someone to improve.
The entire segunda was built around Sobreano and Sangre Azteca, and neither man is on next week’s show. It came off as a lot of stalling to stretch out the show for C3. I’d advise you to skip that half hour.
Tonight’s Lucha Underground is episode 32, All Night Long. Here is the complete list of matches on this week’s show.
Prince Puma (c) versus Johnny Mundo in an iron man match for the Lucha Underground Championship
Thus ends the entire list of matches on this week’s show.
Winner will defend the title at Ultima Lucha. The first couple minutes are on line. I wonder if they’ll sneak in a vignette before or after the match, or if it’ll truly be the only thing on the show.
Lucha Underground is listed on the Emmy ballot under “Outstanding Structured Reality Program.” A show where a man turned into a dragon listed under reality program really makes you wonder what I’m missing out on those other programs and about the entire nature of reality itself. Am I real? Is any of this real? Have been people turning into dragons all around me and I’ve just not opened my eyes to see? Does this paragraph read like it was written at 3AM? Emmy categories can really cause an extensional crisis.
Arena Naucalpan hosts a Lucah Libre Boom show tonight, with Canek, Myzteziz, and Pantera I versus Averno, Dr. Wagner Jr. and Fuerza Guerrera in the main event.
Mr. Niebla talked about his situation with CMLL, acknowledges he wasn’t following the rules. Niebla’s kept a lower profile this break from CMLL (though that may just be everyone not wanting to ask him the same questions again.)
+LuchaTV has video of the weird finish of the Lady Apache vs Rossy Moreno match. Sure looks like Lady Apache pinned Rossy Moreno cleanly in the first place, and then they couldn’t actually get the back bend double pin to work at the end (Apache’s shoulder was on Moreno’s face.) Also, they didn’t really need an bad finish excuse to keep having matches, they’re going to keep having matches anyway.
CMLL (TUE) 06/23/2015Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Violencia
2) Hombre Bala Jr., Magnus, Súper Halcón Jr. vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Metálico, Nitro
3) Flyer vs Canelo Casas [En Busca de un Idolo]
4) Blue Panther Jr. vs Boby Zavala [En Busca de un Idolo]
5) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Valiente vs Misterioso Jr., Pierroth, Sagrado
6) Atlantis, Dragon Lee, La Máscara vs Felino, Terrible, Vangellys
7) Ángel de Oro, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
Up to 7 matches, which will give C3 enough TV content without stretches out matches. Both En Busca de un Idolo matches could be hit and miss. Delta & Maya are above this tournament, literally. The Kamaitiachi/Dragon Lee feud has been dropped – Kamaitachi appears not be expected back yet.
Puma won the cibernetico to get a title shot. He’s a light heavyweight, so good to the point. The problem is Malefico appears to be the most recent champion – he beat Rey Cometa last year in the last known defense, and hasn’t had a singles match in Arean Coliseo Guadalajara since that time. It’s possible, but very unlikely, he lost the title Exterminador at some other show in Guadalajara and no one’s mentioned it until now.
This is either a phantom change or someone forgot who’s the champion and things will be switched between now and Friday. I think everyone needs to publish a list of champions just to get them over to the fans, but maybe CMLL neds to make a list so they know who actually holds the titles.
At any rate, we get a free Puma title match (will air on 52MX) and maybe Puma will be champion and there’s no problem with all of that.
So the big names aren’t ones once they get past Carlito. (Though Douki/Epydemius should be fun if it airs.) Hayden’s worked LLF.
Lucha Mutante (SAT) 07/18/2015 Deportivo 18 de Marzo, Gustavo a Madero, Distrito Federal
1) Ekuz vs Payaso Loco
2) Dragosth & Juana La Loca vs Fly Star & Toxin Boy and Mike & Teelo and Metaleón & Mr. Leo
3) Pólvora vs Hijo del Pantera
4) Ludark Shaitan vs Wotam
5) Titán & Tritón (CMLL) vs Aeroboy & Violento Jack
6) Último Guerrero vs Black Terry
Debut show for this promotion name. Guess Hijo del Pantera is back in Mexico in July! Terry/UG is a first time ever match.
