Month: January 2016

CMLL (SAT) 01/30/2016 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Leono b Inquisidor
Leono won with a motocicleta
2) Espanto Jr. b Sensei
Sensei was stretchered out.
3) Hijo del Signo b Robin
Signo used a Cerrajera variant to win.
4) Raziel b Soberano Jr.
Raziel won with a nudo.
5) Dalys & Zeuxis b La Vaquerita & Skadi
Dalys & Zeuxis won with a code red and a La Roca.
6) Boby Z, Rey Bucanero, Terrible b Máximo Sexy, The Panther, Titán
The Panther replaced Super Porky, who’s still not back. Rudos powerbombed all the tecnicos for the win.
7) Valiente b Niebla Roja
Valiente used the ropes to defeat Niebla Roja.

This has nothing to do with Valiente cheating to win, but I wonder if the return of Mascara Dorada will lead to another reconfiguration of the top tecnico trio. It’s a shame CMLL only feels like doing one of tecnico unit of any merit at a time, because there’s a bunch of guys who could use a group, but it like a waste not to have Dorada in something big.

CMLL ELITE (SUN) 01/31/2016 Arena México [+LuchaTV, KronoSport]
1) Astral & Último Dragoncito b Pierrothito & Principe Diamante
Tecnicos took 1/3. Principe Diamante is a rudo this week for whatever reason.
2) Arkángel de la Muerte & Heddi Karaoui b Bengala & Robin
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Argos, Karonte Jr., Magnus b Fuego, Pegasso, Tritón
Karontes worked as rudos, took falls 2/3.
4) Cavernario & Negro Casas DQ Juventud Guerrera & Super Crazy
Peste Negra took 1/3. Crazy got beat, came back in to attack Negro Casas. Usual hair match challenged followed
5) Euforia & Último Guerrero b Mephisto & Sharlie Rockstar
Guerreros took 1/3.
6) Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Titán DQ Cibernético, La Máscara, Rush
Titan replaced Mistico. Ingobernables were DQed for excessive violence, then attacked referee Edgar.

Everyone wants a piece of Negro Casas. The good thing for him is the next apuesta challenge that goes anywhere on an Elite show will be the first one.

I’m starting to think that, unless there’s actual hard plans to do Rush/Cibernetico, they probably should just be allies. The three way feud has too many matches which don’t tell make sense (like this one.)

Argos had negative things about Konnan, claiming he favors his group of guys. There’s surely no favoritism in Elite, not at all!

Pro Wrestling Sheet reported Lucha Underground Season 3 was announced as greenlit at a talent meeting Sunday morning. The idea of a third season being secure had been floating around for a few months – Dr. Lucha had been saying so consistently, and Eric Van Wagenen had all but said it was already done way back in October – but official is better than assumed. No return date seemed to be announced. Dave Meltzer mentioned on his podcast and on Twitter that he had heard it’d be July (which would be around the end of Season airing.) People around the show had be talking a return for S3 as soon as April. There’s also no

The Pro Wrestling Sheet report also mentioned the talent was also told the show will be sold on iTunes “in a few months.” Hope that’s before the end of Season 2.

There was a problem with the Temple apparently being overbooked tonight for Ultima Lucha 2. People who understood they had seats for the show were bumped at the last second, seemingly for celebrity VIPs. It was also raining and those who are going to the shows are getting there early to make sure they’re on the list – it’s a tough long day to go home empty handed, especially on Ultima Lucha 2 day. The tickets are free, but the time isn’t. The situation could’ve been handled much better.

The impression is LU will be coming back to the Temple for Season 3. Their problem is the demand is many times the amount of seats they have. It looked packed inside the temple from the photos I saw Saturday and I suspect it’s the same thing Sunday; there’s not much they can do to get more people without moving or some sort of massive reconfigure.

The build to Ultima Lucha 2 had posters for the matches part of the event, so there are photos floating around with the lineup. You may want to be careful at looking things.

There was one other disappointment: TLN did start airing Lucha Underground tonight, but started with Season 1. It makes a certain sense, but people had been led to believe they’d be getting the same episodes as in the US on a few day delay (and even people with Lucha Underground had thought that was the plan.) Maybe it’s something that’ll be fixed next week, but probably you’ll have to go thru the first set before seeing the second.

Ultimo Guerrero defeated Pagano in Arena Neza Saturday night. The match was supposed to be a three way with Rush. On Facebook, Rush explained he did come to the arena, but there was an issue with the promoter and so he did not go to the ring.

The HUMO show today was supposed to have a Zeuxis, Dalys and Lluvia vs Keira, Lady Maravilla, and Mystique. Keira was said to be pulling out after making her AAA appearance last week. She was replaced by – uh, herself. CMLL team beat the sort of AAA team. The undercard was also very changed; when you’re listing Flamita and Super Crazy and end up with Pantera and Villano III, some chaos is happening.

Post match Friday, Volador Jr. claimed he’d have a big surprise from his family to counter the Casas family. Super Parka would not be a big surprise. LA Park would be a big surprise, so big I can’t imagine it actually happening. Maybe it’s Bruni?

Also, Euforia is not in a good mood after his match. No one was!

Tornado Negro II had his retirement match against Tijuana. He’d been feuding with Venum Black, so no surprise they ended up losing their relevos suicidas match and having a final hair match. During that match, Venum Black set up Tornado Negro in a chair for a tope. Negro moved, Black hit the chair and the floor. (This was a really dumb idea.) The match ended there, Tornado Negro coming back in to win by twenty count, but the story was Venom Black going into convulsions. Venom Black is standing a minute or so later (and more quickly recovered than you’d expect for a major head injury.) There’s video here of the whole thing.

Chairo 3 (03/06, Arena Naucalpan, Chairo Kingdom) card so far
Mascara Dorada vs Extreme Tiger, falls count anywhere
Super Muneco vs Maximo
Atlantis vs Caifan

ChilangaMask 03/20 3rd Anniversary card so far
los Caifanes vs Los Traumas
Tigre Universitario vs Jeque
Makabre, Shiryu Dragon vs Wotan, Impulso
Raymond Rowe will appear
El Sagrado & Sangre Fri & Dorado Jr. vs Aero Boy & Fulgor I & Fulgor II – new

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

FantasticaMania makes the cover of this week’s Box Y Lucha.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 02/02/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Akuma & Bengala vs Demonio Rojo & Mr. Trueno
2) Cosmos, Shockercito, Stukita vs Mercurio, Pierrothito, Relampago
3) Esfinge, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. vs Fujin, Okumura, Raijin
4) Rush vs Kráneo
5) Máscara Dorada, Máximo Sexy, Volador Jr. vs Ephesto, Euforia, Mephisto

This didn’t appear on CMLL’s website, which I meant to ask about Saturday but never got around to. It was on the CMLL Magazine handout, which @LuchaFans helpfully shared.

IWRG (WED) 02/03/2016 Arena Naucalpan
1) Ángel De La Muerte I & Ángel De La Muerte II vs Alas de Acero & Aramis
2) Dragón Fly, Fireman, Omega vs Adrenalina, Atomic Star, Vampiro Metálico
3) Leo, Mike, Rafy vs Avisman, Hip Hop Man, Vórtize
4) Hijo de Mascara Sagrada, Hijo del Alebrije, Pantera I vs Diablo Jr. I, El Hijo del Diablo, Imposible
5) Argos, Danny Casas, Emperador Azteca vs Apolo Estrada, Canis Lupus, Eterno

A regular IWRG show on a Wednesday is odd.

AAA (THU) 01/28/2016 Arena Aficion [Funcion Estelar]
Arena Aficion 64th Anniversary
1) Diosa Atenea © b Tania [WWA WORLD]
Fourth defense for Diosa Atenea
2) Niño Hamburguesa & Súper Nova b Mamba & Polvo de Estrellas
3) Aerostar, Drago, Flamita b Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Súper Fly, Taurus
Flamita replaced Fenix, Taurus & Super Fly replaced Daga & Pentagon Jr.
4) Aeroboy & Violento Jack b Hanaoka & Susumu Yuuya [XLAW TAG]
??th defense for Aeroboy & Violento Jack.
5) El Mesías b Averno, Electroshock, La Parka [Copa Aficion 2015]

They drew a pretty good crowd for this show – based on getting AAA names and being the Anniversary.

DTU (FRI) 01/29/2016 Arena Querétaro [+LuchaTV]
1) El Porrito & Masizito ?? Erwin & Irving
2) Jimmy & Kevin (DTU) b Destello & Zuzu Divine
Zuzu Divine was the mystery luchador(a)
3) Black Fire b Adrenalina, Vengador, Exotico, Kastigador
good match. Black Fire beat Vengador.
4) Susumu b Pesadilla, Drastik Boy, Tony, Jinzo
No Johnny Idol. Tony has returned to his Ave Fenix look, his character before being a Nerd.
5) Espiritu Negro & Rey Cometa b Lanzeloth & Rocky Lobo
Money thrown in. The brothers Espiritu & Cometa asked for a title match after defeating the Nexo champs.
6) Ángel de Oro & Stuka Jr. b Aeroboy & Violento Jack and Ángel o Demonio & Ovett
Stuka beat Ovett with a lamp aided torpedo splash.
7) Miedo Extremo & Sharly Rockstar b Cíclope (DTU) & Super Mega
Prior to the match, Stuka challenged Ciclope to a title match. Sharlie again asked for a title (DTU Consgarado) match against Super Mega.

Stuka eventually challenging for the big DTU title is probably the payoff to the CMLL involvement here, but Ciclope’s still got to defend against Miedo Extremo at some point.

CMLL (FRI) 01/29/2016 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Arkángel de la Muerte & Cancerbero b Hombre Bala Jr. & Súper Halcón Jr.
19:04. Rudos took 2/3.
2) Puma, Tiger, Virus b Fuego, The Panther, Tritón
14:22. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Titán, Valiente b Ephesto, Luciferno, Pierroth
13:12. Tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Gran Guerrero, Mephisto, Niebla Roja b Dragón Rojo Jr., Kráneo, Pólvora
11:10. Guerreros took 2/3.
5) Thunder b Euforia
8:20. Straight falls. Euforia was DQed in the first for unmasking Thunder (and kicked Terror Chino in the head as well.) Thunder beat Euforia with the cradle suplex in the second, though it appeared Euforia kicked out and Terror Chino counted three anyway. Thunder was angry about winning.
6) Cavernario, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero b Dragón Lee, Mistico, Volador Jr.
around 12:51. Rudos took 1/3. Volador had Casas down, but Tiger ran down the ramp to distracted Tirantes and Puma snuck in to powerbomb Volador. Casas got the pin. Volador said he was still angry about the Casas family beating his father Super Parka for his hair and wanted a hair match with Negro Casas. Casas walked off without replying.

The first five matches weren’t much notable, and the feed died during the main event, so it wasn’t the greatest show. Claro’s own video of the main event has a big jump around when the feed died, so whatever happened messed up their recording too. It probably won’t air clean until it turns up on Azteca. The Tiger/Puma interference was cool but appears to have gone nowhere since neither of them are booked next. Perhaps one will interfere from the announce booth.

CMLL had backstage promos during this show, which they’ve done in the past but usually only around major shows. Thunder’s promo was so bad you wondered why they had him do it at all (or why they didn’t just pre-tape these so they’d be good.)

The big news from the show was Homenaje a Dos Leyendas being announced for March 18th. Lizmark will be honored. It’s seven weeks out, so there’s time for CMLL to pick a direction and change their mind a couple of times, but Volador/Negro Casas was the strongest pushed feud on this show. Ultimo Guerrero/Thunder was brought up during the week and Thunder did win clean, but UG had no interaction with his rival on this show.

CMLL Arena Coliseo tonight has Niebla Roja versus Valiente. That preview lists Brazo de Plata as wrestling, which would be his first match in 12 days after missing a few matches with an unspecified injury. The preview also doesn’t mention the Robin/Signo match, which is probably just a oversight and not a change. Dalys will be hosting the Turiluchas bus.

Next 2 Lucha Underground episode titles
2×2 (2/3) The Dark & The Mysterious
2×3 (2/10) The Hunt is on…

Rob has highlights of 07/24/15 CMLL.

Shocker & Camorra taught self defense to children.

Local officials are working to set up a lucha libre Hall of Fame in Ciudad Juarez. The person in charge says they’re working on 15 sculptures of famous luchadors and hoping to move into a location near Gimnasio Josue Neri Santos.

Shueisha has an interview with Okumura about his time in Japan. He says he’s in the last quarter of his career.

Eric Mutter writes a history of Atlantis.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 02/05/2016 Arena México
1) Astral & Eléctrico vs Demus 3:16 & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Estrellita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis
3) Stuka Jr. vs Boby Z [lightning]
4) Blue Panther, La Máscara, Titán vs Luciferno, Rey Bucanero, Vangellys
5) Dragón Lee, Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy vs Kamaitachi, Terrible, Último Guerrero
6) Máscara Dorada, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Mephisto, Negro Casas

No Tiger or Puma. Mascara Dorada does get his first Arena Mexico match in 13 months. Kamaitachi returns in the semimain. He’s listed on a show in late February, so he’s going to be around for a while. The inevitable Dragon Lee/Kamaitachi rematch has to be occurring at some point; I’d do it at Dos Leyendas, but that’s looking a little crowded.

CMLL Friday night shows were airing on about a week delay last time they were on Mexico TV. That would make this the first TDN taping. CMLL still lists this show as airing on ClaroSports.com.

CMLL is back tonight on ClaroSports.com at 8:30pm. Their preview pushes those returning from Japan in the main event: Ultimo Guerrero, Cavernario and Negro Casas against Mistico, Volador and Dragon Lee.  There’s nothing ongoing for these guys, but it should be a good match and it’ll probably play into the semimain. Thunder faces Euforia there, with every member of the Revolucionarios and the Guerreros around to get involved (except for Rey Escorpion.) Some smoke and mirrors to disguise that match might helps, might not be enough.

This looks like a fun card. Halcon & Bala are usually good as a team, even against Arkangel and Cancerbero. Fuego, the Panther and Triton face Puma, Tiger and Virus in a match which could be the best of the night. The middle two matches – Maya, Titan and Valiente vs Ephesto, Luciferno and Pierroth + Gran Guerrero, Mephisto, Niebla Roja vs Dragon Rojo, Kraneo and Polvora – includes a weird split up of a normal trio but also should both have good action.

Euforia says Thunder doesn’t respect lucha libre. That is true.

DTU has a show tonight in Arena Queretaro. They held a press conference yesterday, and there’s promos from Sharlie Rockstar and Stuka Jr. Rey Cometa was supposed to be on that show and I didn’t catch if they announced a sub.

PWTorch reported the first episode of about 109K viewers for the season two premier of Lucha Underground. That’s the highest rating they’ve gotten from a first run episode (hitting 102K a few times last year.) The replay drew 85K viewers; the highest they had last year was in the 50s, so that’s a big increase. It’s probably attributed to running the replay right after the show originally airs rather than putting in a few repeats in between. 109K viewers is not a big number in TV, or even in the wrestling portion of TV, but coming back from a four month break with a better number seems promising. Hopefully they keep increasing from here.

There’s a lot of reviews of the first show out, but The Last Real Heels got Chris DeJoseph on to talk about it, so that’s probably pretty good.

+LuchaTV posted like the full Pagano/Sharly Manson match from the 01/01 CaraLucha show. Pagano hypes his match against Ultimo Guerrero and Rush in Neza this Saturday.

LuchaWorld has a recap of this week’s Informa, including Hechicero & Dragon Lee talking about their trip to Japan. I wonder if they’ll have Dorada on next week.

Segunda Caida reviews Volador Jr., La Sombra, Sagrado vs Sangre Azteca, Black Warrior, and Dragón Rojo

Ray, who wrestled in CMLL in 2011 and was part of REINA at that time, recently underwent an operation for a brain tumor.

03/12 RIOT card so far
Unmexicans vs Compadres Extremos
Alberto Dos Rios vs Psycko Kid
Tony Rodriguez vs Rico Rodriguez – new, loser is the lesser Rodriguez (may only be my stipulation)