Month: February 2016

CMLL (TUE) 02/09/2016 Arena México[CMLL]
1) Flyer & Leono b Apocalipsis & Artillero
12:07. Tecnicos took 2/3. though Artillero fell off the top rope when Flyer tried to give him a Spanish Fly.
2) La Comandante, Marcela, Reyna Isis b La Vaquerita, Lluvia, Skadi
16:19. Marcela replaced Seductora and fought against her daughter Skadi most of the match. (With another match in Guadalajara, CMLL might not have had anyone else for the match.) Rudas took 2/3 with Marcela having no problem being a ruda.
3) Súper Halcón Jr. b Disturbio [lightning]
6:04. Halcon won with a hanging DDT.
4) Blue Panther Jr., Soberano Jr., StigmaDQ El Cuatrero, Sansón, Skándalo
Skandalo pulled off Stigma’s mask as their never ending feud continues Blue Panther Jr.’s mask.
5) Misterioso Jr., Pierroth, Sagrado b Delta, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. Rey Cometa
6) Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys b Blue Panther, Stuka Jr., Valiente
Valiente replaced Super Porky.

I didn’t watch this live, started watching very late, got to Skandalo’s entrance and decided I’d rather get some sleep. Those last three results aren’t making me regret it.

The CMLL recaps seem to have decided the “G” in TGR now stands for (Tanque) German. I can deal with that.

Today’s Lucha Underground is episode 3 of season 2, “The Hunt is on…”. They’ve announced all the matches:
Bengala versus Kobra Moon (debut) – a clip of the entrance
Jack Evans versus Drago
King Cuerno versus Fenix

One of those matches has a yet to be announced stipulation.

The second Lucha Underground comic is up, giving the back story of Mil Muerte’s new throne. Someone who looks a lot like Big Ryck meets an untimely demise during the comic book. It looks like they’ll be posting previews one Wednesday, and then the full issue the following week.

Paul London, who’s started working behind the scenes with Lucha Underground this season, says he’s not taking indie bookings from March 11 to May 19th. Maybe those are season 3 taping dates. Maybe they just start with vignettes (but it’d be tough to tape a similar length season unless those are all tapings.) Maybe he’s finally traveling to the moon. It’s quicker turnout around than even I was hearing, and that first day happens to be the same date as Rey de Reyes.

The Tao (and sort of Elite) show in Queretaro last night with Caristico & Mistico vs Mephisto & Black Warrior seems to have sold out the arena. That’s even despite a Fuerza/Octagon main evented show this upcoming weekend in Queretaro that’s free for the first 2,6000 people. The Elite guys haven’t worked out as a major draw in Arena Mexico without TV, but seem like they can fill up the mid level arenas out in the provinces.

Court Bauer says he’s filming the first episode of the AAA US show. He doesn’t say where/when it’s airing, but it sounds like it’s happening. US Dollars are really good for Mexican promotions. (I guess AAA must have an exemption to allowing Lucha Underground contracted wrestlers on other TV shows.)

An AAA interview with Pentagon Jr. states again he’ll keep the mixed tag titles (w/Sexy Star) and win Rey de Reyes. The interview acknowledges he and Lider are out of the mix for the men’s tag titles, with Pentagon blaming Lider.

Konnan was asked about Sexy Star on MLW Radio, but declines to say much about the situation, saying it’ll come out soon enough. Konna does say Sexy Star hasn’t been treated well by AAA and had to deal with a lot of crap when she came into AAA: other luchadoras being unsafe with her in the ring and getting into locker room fights with her. Konnan doesn’t say Sexy Star is done wrestling in Mexico outside of major shows, but that’s the vibe I got from the conversation. Konnan does say he was not at this week’s TV taping, which is counter to what Pro Wrestling Insider mentioned a few days ago.

There’s some talk about Bryan Danielson – and an unnamed AAA official telling Konnan they didn’t see anything in him when he came in for TripleMania. Danielson got the booking thru Ricky Marvin. Konnan mentions he was looking to bring in Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli during that time, but the drug violence made it too unsare.

CMLL has a note on it’s return to Mexican TV, back on February 9th, 1990. It was show aired at 11pm on a Friday, rebroadcasting part of the Coliseo show of that day. EMLL’s Mexico City show had been airing in the US since the early 80s, but it had been held off Mexico TV in an attempt to protect the business (and there’d be probably in the next year after it started airing.) In true EMLL/CMLL fashion, the main event of the show – Los Brazos vs Pierroth, Ulises, Gran Markus Jr. – did not air. They deemed it too bloody. Americo Rocca, Gran Cochisse, Mascara Sagrada vs Pirata Morgan, El Egipcio and Super Halcon was the semimain and did air. Announcers were Pedro Septien, Alfonso Morales and Miguel Linares (who’s still doing the announcing.)

That bit would’ve been a good place for CMLL to promote their the TDN show. There’s no mention of it. There hasn’t been a mention of it since that one Twitter message.

Criterio Hidalgo writes about Rocky Lobo, before his Arena Mexico debut. He just turned 21 yesterday, which seems amazing given how long he’s been around.

Segunda Caida reviews Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro  vs Negro Navarro, Trauma I, Trauma II from April 16, 2009

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 02/14/2016 Arena Naucalpan
1) Alas de Acero & Shadow Boy vs Adrenalina & Matrix Jr.
2) Astro, Dragón Fly, Súper Astro Jr. vs Atomic Star, Hip Hop Man, Power Bull
3) Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro vs Diablo Jr. I, El Hijo del Diablo, El Imposible
4) Argos, Emperador Azteca, Veneno vs Heddi Karaoui, Negro Navarro, Trauma II
5) Trauma I vs Hijo De Dos Caras ©, Herodes Jr. [IWRG IC HEAVY, hair, mask]
second defense. Herodes puts up his hair, Trauma I his mask.

That stipulation almost always leads to a title change, with Herodes Jr. more likely to win of the two. Tercera looks like it’s setting up a title rematch.

CMLL (MON) 02/15/2016 Arena Puebla
1) Arkalis & París vs El Malayo & King Jaguar
2) Asturiano, Robin, Soberano Jr. vs Artillero, Rey Apocalipsis, Toro Bill Jr.
3) Estrellita, La Vaquerita, Silueta vs Amapola, Tiffany, Zeuxis
4) Esfinge, Stigma, Stuka Jr. vs El Cuatrero, Okumura, Sansón
5) La Máscara, Marco Corleone, Rush vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys
6) Volador Jr. © vs Negro Casas [NWA WELTER]
eighth defense

Hope they take some time in the main event, but I’ve got my doubts it’ll last any longer than the woman’s match. Not sure about the Battlon teaming with Artillero, they seem like an anti-military force.

DTU (FRI) 02/19/2016 Autolavado VM, Tulancingo, Hidalgo
1) Luigui vs Masizito
DTU Kids
2) Gran Cobra & Perro Negro Jr. vs Meteoro & Niño Cobra
3) Hormiga & Paranoiko vs El Chato & El Nene and Corsario Negro Jr. & Drako (Distrito Federal)
4) Exotico vs Adrenalina, Kastigador, Lokillo, Johnny Idol
5) Lanzeloth & Rocky Lobo © vs Jimmy & Kevin [DTU NEXO]
first defense
6) Ayako Hamada vs Drastik Boy, ?, Pesadilla, Tony
7) Miedo Extremo & Sharlie Rockstar vs Cíclope & Super Mega

Sixth match will be weird but also probably great. I like the tag title match too.

DTU Cara Lucha (SUN) 02/21/2016 Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México
1) Erwin & Irving vs Mazisito & Porrito [lightning]
DTU Kids, 10 man time limit
2) Wasson vs Lokillo
3) Kilvan & Yoruba vs Jimmy & Kevin
4) Fly Star, Fly Warrior, Toxin vs Cíclope, Crazy King, Miedo Extremo
5) Guerrero Mixtico vs Drastik Boy, Adrenalina Fly, Johnny Idol, Dragón Celta, Látigo, Tony
6) Magnífico II, Rayo Star, Sky Man vs Jinzo, Lanzeloth, Rocky Lobo
7) Danger & Toro Negro vs Crazy Boy & Super Crazy and Joe Lider & Ricky Marvin

The combination show between the two promotions, with a lot of CaraLucha vs DTU matches. Sixth match looks th best, but there’s chances for everything to be interesting.

CMLL (SUN) 02/07/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring]
1) Black Sugar & Quca b Linterna & Micro
Micro replaced Avispon Negro Jr. Rudos took 2/3.
2) Explosivo & Star Black b Mr. Apolo & Mr. Brisa
Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Cosmos, Frezzer, Magnum b Espectrum, Gran Kenut, Thunder Boy
Tecnicos took 2/3. Espectrum’s first match since last June (disappearing after he lost his mask), and he was immediately in a mask/hair feud with Frezzer.
4) Mágico, Rey Cometa, Valiente b Furia Roja, Joker, Maléfico
Tecnicos took 1/3.
5) Esfinge & Gallo © b Cancerbero & Raziel [OCCIDENTE TAG]
Tecnicos took 2/3, the match ending with a Nudo Egipico on Raziel. 2nd defense.

This is probably how these rudos and these titles should be used. Hooray. The Espectrum thing looks transparent.

CMLL (MON) 02/08/2016 Arena Puebla
1) Guerrero Espacial & Saurón b París & Zaeta Roja
2) Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Arkalis & Meyer
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Black Tiger, Pegasso, Starman b Fuerza Chicana, Metálico, Policeman
Match fell apart late, with Black Tiger accidentally missing on a senton con giro intended to pin Fuerza Chicana (Fuerza pinned him instead) and Pegasso’s coming up a little short on a tope con giro dive and needing medical attention.
4) Ángel de Oro, Titán, Tritón b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
Tecnicos took 1/3, Ephesto & Luciferno pinning Titan & Triton (appearing Mephisto/Angel de Oro feud was a one week thing being dropped.)
5) Negro Casas b Volador Jr. [lightning]
Negro got Volador with a casita, setting up a NWA Welterweight Championship match next week.
6) Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Último Guerrero b Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Mistico
Rudos won clean.

Times maybe later; my notes are on the wrong computer. The fourth and fifth matches seemed good, but I was distracted. The main event was the usual short Puebla main event special. Volador/Casas should be good, but that pattern of disappointing main events makes me wonder if this week’s match might be the better one.

Today’s Arena Mexico show is going to be streamed, but it doesn’t have anything that looks interesting on paper. CMLL’s preview still lists Super Porky in the main event, but their lineup page has Valiente in the main event. The rest of the main event has Blue Panther & Stuka versus Rey Bucanero, Terrible and Vangellys. Delta, Esfinge and Maya team up against the Boricuas in the semimain. There’s no ongoing builds to a match.

Guadalajara has Marco, Dorada, and Maximo against Euforia, Kraneo and Ultimo Guerrero. They seem to be building a Euforia/Maximo match.

The main event of a show in Cicero, Illinois – Pirata Morgan, Ultimo Guerrero, Ricky Cruz vs Discovery, Mascara Sagrada, Octagon – ended as a draw because usual dumb lucha libre booking (and they did a bit with Pirata and Octagon and two women where Octagon got a visual pinfall anyway.) Atlantis was supposed to be in that match, and the promoter said Atlantis didn’t have a visa and didn’t tell any one until after he brought three plane tickets. Atlantis works in the US (and just worked in Japan) so that seems a little strange. Ultimo Guerrero was scheduled and replaced him, so maybe it was some other conflict. The same promotion announced Blue Demon Jr., La Parka (AAA), Villano IV, Pentagon Jr. for the 04/03 show. That’s probably going to be a waste of Pentagon Jr. AAA luchadors being booked to shows in the US is interesting for reason we talked about on the podcast last night.

This also does help try to figure out Lucha Underground taping weekends, assuming those have even been decided yet. The first weekend of April is out if Pentagon’s booked elsewhere. The third weekend is out because Ricochet is in the UK. That leaves the April 9/10th, April 23/24th and April 30th/May 1st – or people being pulled from shows after the fact.

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
Hijo del Solar vs Solar
Rey Horuz vs Dragon Lee – new, going to be amazing

ChilangaMask (03/20, Coliseo Coacalco) 3rd Anniversary card so far
Los Caifanes vs Los Traumas
Tigre Universitario vs Jeque
Makabre, Shiryu Dragon vs Wotan, Impulso
El Sagrado & Sangre Fri & Dorado Jr. vs Aero Boy & Fulgor I & Fulgor II
Hijo del Angel, Fly Warrior, Emperador Azteca, Metaleon, Psycho Kid, Astro, Fly Star, Freelance, Mike Segura in Aerial Assualt
Raymond Rowe, Matt Cross and ACH will appear – ACH’s the new addition, via video promo

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

Mascara Dorada is on the cover of Box Y Lucha 3220.

Plantilla Deportiva had an interview with Fujin, Raijin and Kamaitachi.

The BBC has a documentary on Cassandro.

UWE (SAT) 02/06/2016 Arena Lopez Mateos [Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), Estrellas del Ring, Kronosport]
1) Gato Montes & Rey Infierno b Bravo I & Bravo II
2) Esther Moreno & India Sioux b Chica Tormenta & Reina del Sur
Esther Moreno was the surprise luchadora, got the win.
3) Ironía b Freelance, Pegazus, Alastor
4) Alas de Oro, Golden Magic, Terry 2000 b Arez, Sádico, Yoruba
5) Máximo & Rey Hechicero b Caifan & Dr. Cerebro
Hechicero beat Cafian for the win. said to be a very good match
6) Carístico & Cibernético b La Máscara & Rush
Ciber/Caristico took 2/3. Mascara escaped La Mistica, but Caristico pulled his cradle for the win.

Caristico actually gets pinfalls away from Arena Mexico! Cheating ones but still.

IWRG (SUN) 02/07/2016 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), IWRG]
1) Adrenalina & Vampiro Metálico b Black Dragón & Kaling Black
2) Astro, Emperador Azteca, Súper Astro Jr. b Balak, Hip Hop Man, Novasonic
3) Diablo Jr. I, El Hijo del Diablo, Imposible b Diva Salvaje, Dr. Cerebro, Pantera I
straight falls.
4) Atomic Star, Heddi Karaoui, Herodes Jr., Trauma I b Danny Casas, Dragón Fly, Hijo De Dos Caras, Veneno
Trauma I stole the victory over Hijo de Dos from Herodes, and asked for his own heavyweight title shot. Herodes still wants one. Dos suggested they put their hair and mask on the line against his title.
5) Hijo del Pantera & Pantera © b Negro Navarro & Trauma II [IWRG IC TAG]
Panteras retained the titles. Second defense

AYM didn’t tape Sunady’s IWRG show, so Black Terry Jr. has highlights of the tag title match, Imposible, Dibalo, Dibalo Jr. vs Dr. Cerbero, Diva Salvaje, Pantera I and Super Astro Jr., Emperador Azteca, Astro vs Hip Hop Man, Balak, Novasonic.

There was a Super Astro Jr. wrestling in 2007; I’d assume this is a new one since he doesn’t turn up again until 2015 (and he looks quite young.)

Today’s Arena Puebla is main evented Atlantis, Mascara Dorada, Mistico versus Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Ultimo Guerrero. Volador and Negro Casas had the issue in the main event last week, and will match up in a lightning match this week. Last week’s show also saw Mephisto cheated to defeat Angel de Oro and they’re matched up again in at trios with Titan, Triton, Luciferno & Ephesto. Like always, it’ll stream on CMLL’s website and on their YouTube channel at 9pm.

Konnan’s harsh comments about AAA and others were picked up by SuperLuchas. This seems like some new comments, but I don’t see a new podcast up on their site – maybe it’s on their message board? The newer things were criticism about how AAA would waste guys like Johnny Mundo in useless matches with the likes of La Parka, and how Faby Apache lost a hair match but didn’t actually cut her hair. (The bit where Faby was wrestling a lucha libre expo a few days later with a cap on, only the cap flew off during the match and exposed she didn’t shave her head, is still hilarious.) SuperLuchas previously mentioned Konnan being out as booker, but the stuff about Jarochita & Argos was skipped before, isn’t being skipped now. Those kind of statements are usually skipped over by Mexican press.

Lucha Underground is putting up short videos following up on each week’s show on their channel. Last week had Catrina talking about her plans. This week has the Mack happy about his win.

MasLucha has a lot of new videos, including Mascara Dorada talking about his return to Arena Mexico.

Segunda Caida watches Negro Navarro, Trauma I, Trauma II vs Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro

Trauma II is not always the biggest fan of catching dives.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 02/13/2016 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero vs Pequeño Violencia
2) Sensei vs Cholo
3) Oro Jr. vs Hijo del Signo
4) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Nitro
5) Marcela vs Amapola
6) Guerrero Maya Jr. & The Panther vs Puma & Tiger
7) Blue Panther, Máscara Dorada, Stuka Jr. vs Euforia, Felino, Niebla Roja

Semimain is tag champs versus logical contenders (and probably also a really good match.)

CMLL Elite (SUN) 02/14/2016 Arena México
1) Astral & Eléctrico vs Pequeño Olímpico & Principe Diamante
2) Lluvia & Marcela vs La Comandante & Muñeca De Plata
3) Rocky Lobo & Zumbi vs Argos & Karonte Jr.
4) Ángel de Oro, Golden Magic, Super Crazy vs Felino, Puma, Tiger
5) Black Warrior, Marco Corleone, Rush vs Cibernético, Hijo de Lizmark, Mephisto
6) Carístico vs La Máscara

Caristico might actually win? Nah. Rocky Lobo makes his debut.

CMLL (SUN) 02/14/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Ángel Aéreo & Rey Halcón vs Diplomático & Guerrero de la Muerte
2) El Alteño & El Yaqui vs Carlos Rogi & Demonio Rojo
3) Vaquero Jr. vs Mágico, Nautilius, El Divino, Reycko, Sádico, El Chakal, Furia Roja, Espectrum, Relampago [cibernetico, Copa Guadalajara]
celebration of 474 years of Guadalajara.
4) Shockercito & Último Dragoncito vs Demus 3:16 & Pierrothito

That’s a unique lineup. I can’t think of another minis main event that wasn’t a multiman cage match. (I keep trying to look in my database and my database gives up and dies.) It’s more because the minis happened to be the only CMLL DF people sent for this show, but they’d often stick them in the semimain just because they’re minis.