Month: July 2015

CMLL (SUN) 07/26/2015 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Rey Halcón b Micro
2) Black Sugar & Demonio Rojo b Javier Cruz Jr. & Star Black
3) Metatrón & Neutrón b Gran Kenut & Relampago
4) El Yaqui, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno DQ Frezzer, Magnum, Virgo
Frezzer and Yaqui are feuding. Yaqui faked a foul for the DQ.
5) Gallo, Omar Brunetti, Pepe Aguayo b Joker, Ráfaga, Sádico
Pepe Aguayo replaced Esfinge. Gallo beat Rafaga for the win.

Frezzer & Yaqui face off again in the trios this week.

CMLL (TUE) 07/28/2015 Arena México [CMLL, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Mercurio b Último Dragoncito
Angelito replaced Stukita and Nitro replaced Olimpico on Monday, then Angelico and/or Nitro didn’t show so they just did a singles match. Pompin may have screwed up the three count.
2) Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis b La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi
3) Leono, Pegasso, The Panther DQ Cancerbero, Metálico, Raziel
Straight falls, Metalico fouling Leono.
4) Dragón Rojo Jr., Hechicero, Rey Escorpión b Delta, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr.
Good match.
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas b Atlantis, La Máscara, Titán
Titan replaced Sombra (suspension) on Monday. Mr. Niebla did wrestle.
6) Ángel de Oro © b Pólvora [MEX LH]
Angel de Oro took falls 1/3, the last with his mecedora. Angel de Oro’s 4th defense

CMLL coverage raved about the main event. That’ll air on Saturday. This might be the first show in a while where C3 won’t be airing all the episodes (the stretch of second match entrances is over.)

Angel de Oro said he’d challenge Polvora to a mask match if he lost the title, so maybe Polvora won by losing.

Lucha Underground

Episode 38 tonight, named Ultima Lucha, Part 1. I wonder what will be next week’s episode! (I really do, the guide doesn’t list a show name or description, but does list it as two hours.)

• Cage versus The Mack in falls count anywhere match
• Drago versus Hernandez in the Believer’s Backlash match
• Angelico, Ivelisse, Son of Havoc (c) versus the Disciples of Death for the Lucha Underground Trios Championship

Cage versus the Mack will lead off the show. I have a very strong suspicion they’ll have some progress on the Black Lotus plot. I know I’ve been thinking this for weeks, but I feel very confident this week.

People you may know from Twitter will be lumberjacks in the Believer’s Backlash. I hope they talk about the experience after the show.

There’s no teaser clip this week – you don’t need a teaser clip for Ultima Lucha – but there is the 37 episodes in 37 minutes video if you haven’t seen it. There’s also Ivelisse talking about her road to Ultima Lucha.

Chris DeJoseph was on the Like Father, Like Son podcast talking about this show. Ultima Lucha will have Mil Muertes versus Prince Puma for the championship, but DeJoseph mentioned that early plans had Muertes & Puma being friends. Mil would’ve been Puma’s sidekick! I can not imagine that version of Lucha Underground. DeJoseph said those characters were designed first and then casted. DeJoseph was among those pushing hard for Ricochet to be Puma, feeling he’d be a mega star. (Cage is also brought up as a guy who DeJoseph had been impressed with previously and wanting to bring him into this.)

There was talk about the style of the show. Lucha Underground wanted to wait to create a title, focusing on the style and feel of the show before throwing a belt in a mix.. They had Aztec Warfare in mind as the means to determine a champion all along, just not sure when they were going to do it. DeJoseph says Ultima Lucha will tie up all the loose ends, specifically mentioning the Dario/Black Lotus/Dragon Azteca storyline. The podcast also has DeJoseph talking about the electrified Disciples of Death and Famous B’s run of moves in the battle royal, it’s worth checking out.

Voices of Wrestling talked to Son of Havoc. Havoc praised how the Lucha Underground people have treated him and everyone else thru the run of the series. Havoc kept waiting for some promise not to be delivered or some catch, because professional wrestling is like that, and it’s still never happened. “This group has come thru above and beyond every time.” He credits the LU team for listening and putting together a great lockerroom. Everyone hangs out together, there’s no stars separating from everyone else but instead a guy like Johnny Mundo is the first people on the other side of the curtain to congratulate people on a good match. He also liked how it wasn’t just the usual ‘old boys network’ of people in charge doing things just the way they’ve done, but new people trying new ideas.

Havoc was asked about intergender wrestling – the very first episode had him facing Sexy Star – and he said he didn’t realize it would be a big deal. He’s had matches including women on indies, but it is a different thing when it airs on TV. Havoc said he felt intergender wrestling was progressive and cited the Avengers as an example. (If there was a Lucha Underground podcast/writer drinking game, it would definitely involve taking a drink when someone brought up the Avengers.)

Havoc’s strong positive feelings really inform why people involved with the promotion are less worried about no season two announcement so far. For us on the outside, this Lucha Underground is a wrestling promotion and wrestling promotions say things they’re not going to do (or may not even plan to do) all the time, so we’re trained to disbelieve the first time something breaks logic. For the people on the inside, this is not a wrestling promotion – or not like one they’re used to – and they’ve got a history of LU being honest and upfront with them many times so it makes all the sense to continue trusting them to deliver. I’m not sure everyone believes, or believes it’ll be on the original schedule, but they still seem confident it’s happening.

 

Havoc’s doing a media round leading into tonight’s show; he’ll be taking questions in Reddit’s AMA section around 5pm ET today.

Voices of Wrestling had their podcast review of last week’s episode (where I did find myself wanting to shout into the void to correct; a lot of people are confused by Ultima Lucha being two but next week still being two hours), as did the Last Real Heels. I enjoyed the breakdown of how many Miller Lites they may have had over two days.

Other Notes

Sky Mexico has put up the AAA TripleMania PPV info for Mexico, which is about the same as usual; 289 Mexican Pesos and about 19 USD.

LuchaMania Monterrey writes about the CaraLuchas versus Casanova event where the Neza Boys (Guerrero Mixtico & Danger) cheated to take the tag titles from Ultimo Ninja & Epydemius. The big news is the building must’ve gotten a new door; they were prevented from holding shows until they cleared up crowd fan safety issues.

CaraLuchas says Halloween, Damian and Bestia 666 will be coming in for their 08/08 show.

DJ Spectro looks back at Solar & Halcon 78 vs the Comandos.

CMLL notes Pierrothito winning a title in Chicago.

LV talks about this week’s CMLL 52MX &  AAA TV shows. The booking of the Myzteziz/Averno match makes no sense given where they’ve ended up with TripleMania, but the match itself was very good.

LuchaWorld reviews the En Busca de un Idolo maestro trios match.

Segunda Caida reviews the 2015 parajes increible final and Lucha Underground episode 34.

SuperLuchas looks back to Hijo del Santo unmasking Aristotoles

Lucha Libre in Japan

07/28 NOAH: Genba Hirayanagi b Bengala [GJHL}
Bengala falls to 2-2.

07/29 Freedoms: Jun Kasai & Masahi Takeda defeated Ciclope & Violento Jack

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 08/04/2015 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Último Dragoncito vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Hombre Bala Jr., Oro Jr., Súper Halcón Jr. vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Okumura, Sangre Azteca
3) Blue Panther, Soberano Jr., The Panther vs Misterioso Jr., Pierroth, Sagrado
4) Fuego vs Tiger [lightning]
5) Stuka Jr., Titán, Tritón vs Cavernario, Felino, Gran Guerrero
6) Mistico, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Ephesto, Hechicero, Mephisto

Main event is Sky Team versus some possible challengers. Titan & Triton are reunited in the semifinal. Blue Panther working in the tercera seems weird. Fuego & Tiger should end up on YouTube, if they’re still doing that.

CMLL (TUE) 08/04/2015 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Metatrón & Neutrón vs Évola & Furia Roja
2) Flyer, Magnum, Magnus vs Artillero, Joker, Súper Comando
3) Esfinge, Omar Brunetti, Stigma vs Canelo Casas, Metálico, Virus
4) Atlantis, Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Kráneo, Olímpico, Ripper
5) Marco Corleone, Máximo, Super Porky vs Mr. Niebla, Shocker, Thunder

Marco, Maximo, Super Porky and La Mascara are all going to be working to be working Guadalajara a lot the next 2.5 months to replace Sombra & Rush. Semimain is trios champions versus Invasors.

Chilanga Mask (SUN) 08/16/2015 Arena Naucalpan
1) ? & ?? vs ??? & ????
2) Astro Rey Jr., Fulgor I, Fulgor II, Psycko Kid vs Luz Clarita, Rey Apocalispis, Tony Cisneros Jr., Xtreme Fly
ChilangaMask vs Arena Pepe Cisneros (Oaxaca)
3) Keira vs Zeuxis
4) Trauma II vs Blue Panther
5) Avisman & Caifan vs Hechicero (CMLL) & Último Guerrero
6) Dr. Cerebro vs Virus
7) Guerrero Maya Sr. vs Guerrero Maya Jr.

They haven’t quite released the full card, but I lose track of all the matches once we get to six. The newest edition is the second, and that is the Rey Apocalipsis of Puebla and roosters. He gets around. Any of the top four matches could easily be the best match on the show, or on most shows. There’s a video with interviews Keira versus Zeuxis, pushing the Tepito versus Arena Mexico aspect.

CMLL (MON) 07/27/2015 Arena Puebla [Periodico Enfoque]
1) Canelo Casas, Fuerza Chicana, Policeman b Asturiano, Paris, Zaeta Roja
rudos took 2/3
2) Amapola, La Comandante, La Seductora b Estrellita, Lluvia, Marcela
Rudas took 2/3, Amapola grabbing the ropes to pin Marcela in the third. Amapola wanted a title shot, Marclea countered with a lightning match next week.
3) Lestat, Stigma, Stuka Jr. b Espíritu Maligno, King Jaguar, Sangre Azteca
Espiritu Maligno replaced Hechicero. Tecnicos took 2/3 with Jaguar going after Lestat the whole match.
4) Dragón Rojo Jr., Hechicero, Pólvora b Ángel de Oro, Titán, Valiente
Hechicero replaced Negro Casas. Rudos took 1/3, only losing the second when being DQed for being in the ring too long. Polvora beat Angel de Oro for the winning pin, then took Angel’s mask too.
5) La Máscara, La Sombra, Último Guerrero DQ Negro Casas, Rey Escorpión, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Negro Casas replaced Mr. Niebla. Sombra & Volador feuded, with Sombra trying to draw the DQ by tossing the mask in the third, but getting caught and DQed. Volador challenged Sombra to a singles one fall match, but Sombra said he wouldn’t do it for Puebla. Volador asked again, and Sombra says he was only booked for one week, so Volador would have to wait until next week.
6) Máximo © b Euforia [CMLL HEAVY]
Hechicero & Mascara were seconds. Euforia won the first with the Euforica Special, but Maximo came back with a huracanrana in the second fall and a top rope headscissors in the third to remain champion. Match picked up as the third fall went along. Maximo’s 3rd defense.

Is it okay for me to admit I totally don’t understand what’s going with Sombra? I’m not sure how he’s allowed to work in Puebla but not in Guadalajara and presumably not in Mexico. (Maybe he’s allowed after today; I don’t have the card because the person who posted it turned their account private over night, but the Ingobenrables are listed in Nuevo Laredo on Sunday – they were never going to be in Arena Mexico that date, and maybe there’s no need for them on Friday.) I do know that Sombra seems clear to work in Puebla, since they moved the Volador/Sombra match there from Arena Mexico. Maybe it wasn’t a CMLL a suspension but a Mexico City lucha commission one? I dunno.

Anyway, Sombra/Volador on 08/03 (probably non-title), and then likely Amapola/Marcela on 08/10. I could’ve gone to that one…

I didn’t watch the first half of the show closely, but there was nothing worth rewatching. The fifth match was the best of the show, though the last few minutes of Maximo/Euforia were strong.

KrisZ mentioned Mr. Niebla’s Facebook account is gone. Something may have happened with him again, or it might be part of Facebook’s crack down on stage name accounts.

CMLL left the show up on YouTube for a little while after it was live, but then switched the video to private. That issue without putting up the show after is not technical, but seemingly a rights issue.

Mr. Niebla is still listed on CMLL’s preview for today’s show in Arena Mexico. Sombra is still replaced by Titan. The four guys teaming with Leono & Metalico (The Panther, Pegasso, Raziel and Cancerbero) would all have a more interesting singles match than the two guys who are feuding. The main event remains Angel de Oro versus Polvora, where Oro is the heavy favorite and the question is more about what they’ll do to try and have an entertaining fifteen minute match. Polvora has looked strong in this build up and last night in Puebla, but everyone seems to believe the match is ending with a mecedora.

Molotov will sub for Robin on Saturday’s show. Next Saturday’s show is said to be canceled due to boxing.

Naito teased a Rush appearance on his Twitter.

Jack Evans mentioned on yesterday’s Wrestling Observer Live his match for TripleMania will be himself, Angelico & Fenix versus Pentagon Jr., Texano Jr., and Hijo del Fantasma versus Averno, Chessman and Cibernetico for the AAA Trios championship. AAA confirmed the match today, noting it would pit allies Hell Brothers & La Socidedad as enemies.

That title match will be a good match, even better if Electroshock and Hijo del Pirata can lock Cibernetico in a closer or whatever they did at Guerra de Titanes, but it’s also yet another year with all the much praised young wrestlers are thrown into a midcard build with no build and nothing coming out of it. TripleMania has a little bit of of modern day WrestleMania feeling, where the guys who are regular TV presences get shuffled into less meaningful roles on their biggest show of the year to make room for special guest stars coming in for one match. (The entire run of the Angelico/Jack tag team has been represented by a multiman tag match with the awful WWL guys, a ten man elimination match where they weren’t partners, and this match where they’re trios partners with someone who’s not their normal partner because AAA needed to find a way to get Fenix booked. It’s not an inspiring setup.) The Psycho Circus/Villanos & Demon special tag are going to have to include a lot of punches to the face to make them worth the time.

Anyway, that’s six matches – Misterio/Myzteziz, Cage/Alberto, Villanos, Demon, trios titles – and three hours usually means just six matches. Some sort of Relevos AAA probably rounds out the card. Goya sort of confirmed she’s on the card in an interview with ESTO; it reads like she’s not really sure who’s she’s facing or if she’s allowed to say.

The English language announcing team for the TripleMania show will be Matt Striker and Hugo Savinovich. Striker hinted at this early in the day when he took a selfie with Hugo on the set of the countdown show they’re doing. (They’re doing a countdown show.)

Villano III says he’s happy to be on TripleMania. He says he started his career against an Alvarado (Shadito Cruz) and is glad to be going out against another member of his rivals.

AAA posted a Villano IV & Murder Clown face to face interview to build up TripleMania. I guess Psycho Clown was busy? This didn’t air on TV.

Murder Clown, referencing that interview, says he feels the Villanos are good but overconfident and his team is the better unit.

El Hijo del Santo, who said he was probably retiring in 2014, says he’s probably retiring in 2016. Santo explains he’s totally healed, only has something like a scar from his injury. His doctor is surprised, cleared him, but thought Santo shouldn’t take too many more chances. It’s magic. What he’d really like to do is run a five show Todo x el Todo tour this September and October in Aguascalientes, Guadalajara, Tijuana, Monterrey and Mexico City and then a few shows next year. It’s the end of July, so Santo’s either got those cities booked or it’s a bit too late.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update and this week’s Poster-Mania

Veracruz luchador Black Boy announced a benefit lucha libre show for local lesbian community, then complained the local government wasn’t doing enough to help the lucha libre community.

Hidalgo may pass new luchador safety regulations, but the article isn’t clear on what that would be or what it would mean.

SuperLuchas looks back at shows 31 years ago. A super libre match ended in a DQ, so some things never change.

Arena Lopez Mateos announced they’re reopening after doing some remodeling this month. They have a LA Park & Volador vs Sombra & Pagano match on 08/01 and an AULL show on 08/02

AAA lists Hijo de Dos Caras as working an Acapulco show. He may just be an extra, but it would figure for him to join AAA at some point.

Last week’s SuperLibre had Hijo del Solitario in studio.

Mil Mascaras talked about his career, had a poem for El Toreo.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 08/02/2015 Arena Naucalpan
1) Aeroman, Alas de Acero, Dragon Fly vs Araña de Plata, Hip Hop Man, Toxin Boy
2) Metaleón, Miss Gaviota, Mr. Leo vs Atomic Star, Electro Boy, Imposible
3) Golden Magic, Súper Nova, Veneno vs Canis Lupus, Negro Navarro, Príncipe Orión
4) Hijo del Solar & Solar I vs Hijo del Pantera & Pantera and Pirata Morgan & Pirata Morgan Jr. and Universo 2000 & Universo 2000 Jr. and Dragón Celestial & El Hijo del Diablo and Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 & Máscara Año 2000 [Legado Final]
sons start the match, and are replaced by their fathers when they’re eliminated

IWRG’s run this father/son elimination before, and usually all the sons get eliminated before the father does. Panters are champions, so someone should beat them to set up a title change. What IWRG does will probably not make sense. (See Negro Navarro teaming with one of the Americans after being opponents this past week.)