Month: February 2016

No full IWRG results yet, but I put picture up there as if there would be so let’s just go with it.

SuperLuchas writes Rey Mysterio was signed to Lucha Underground for a single season, and is now a free agent. I’ve heard the same thing but couldn’t confirm it. There’s been also other hints his deal was just one season for Rey for a while, despite the deal originally being announced as a two year deal. Everyone expects him to go back to WWE if they give him the part time deal he wants. He may just not be able to do it until after his Lucha Underground episodes air. The Super Luchas post mentions Dr. Lucha speculating Rey would be back in WWE around SummerSlam, and I think that’s based on Season 2 being done airing by that point.

(It’s theoretically possible for Rey to end up resigning with Lucha Underground, but the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has repeatedly mentioned there’s cash & creative differences between LU & Rey and those would have to get solved.)

This is another unseen consequence of taping so much in advance: Rey appears to be gone from Lucha Underground before he’s even set foot in the Temple. It’s what will make Season 3 tough, because the episodes will be sitting around while the people on those shows will be off to do other things.

Volador Jr. faces Negro Casas tonight in Arena Puebla for Volador’s NWA Welterweight Championship. It’s the eighth time they’ve met since about Christmas 2013, with Casas narrowly leading 4 wins to 3. All three Volador wins have been for this same NWA Welterweight championship. Volador’s held this title since November 2013, outside of a two month stretch of Sombra beating him for the belt and losing it back on his first defense. Maybe the same thing could begin tonight: Casas could win the title as a way to build up the hair match and to prove Casas stands a chance against Volador in a hair match at Dos Leyednas. If Volador keeps the title, it’s more a status quo title defense not indicating anything either way.

The problem with this title match is CMLL Puebla main events have been disappointing. It’s a long drive from Mexico City, and the emphasis of main event luchador seems to have been more on getting out of there as quick as possible so they can grab a late dinner and get back on the road home. I don’t blame them for that, but it does make this a lot less interesting match than if it was happening in Arena Mexico.

last 10 Puebla main event match times
02/08: 10:23
02/01: 09:41
01/25: 10:15
01/18: 08:44
01/11: 08:41
01/04: 08:19 - trios title match
12/28: 16:15 - cage match
12/21: 14:27 - Atlantis vs UG title match
12/14: 07:03
12/07: 10:05
Average is 10:23, 9:44 if you drop out the cage match.

There’s some decent stuff on the undercard but nothing exceptional – which is actually good news if you’re hopping for a good main event, because maybe they’ll go short and the main event will go longer. Best match might be Asturiano, Robin, Sobernao Jr. versus Artillero, Rey Apocalipsis, Toro Bill Junio. Opener is Arkalis & Paris versus el Malayo & King Jaguar. Show starts at 9pm CT on YouTube, with a link on CMLL.com.

Maximo won the War City Exotico championship on the WMC show on Saturday. Diva Salvaje took Sexy Canela’s hair in the main event.

Segunda Caida watches Black Terry vs Hechicero.

Rey Horus talks about joining Lucha Underground and facing Dragon Lee.

A new lucha facility has been set up in Sonora – inside the Hermosillo prison.

Lineup

CMLL ELITE (SUN) 02/21/2016 Arena México
1) Astral & Eléctrico vs Demus 3:16 & Príncipe Diamante
2) Estrellita, Lluvia, Marcela vs Cinthia Moreno, Esther Moreno, Rossy Moreno
3) Jinzo, Metaleón, Rocky Lobo vs Fujin, Heddi Karaoui, Okumura
4) Dragón Lee vs Extreme Tiger
5) Ángel de Oro, Golden Magic, Máscara Dorada vs Euforia, Hijo de Lizmark, Mephisto
6) Súper Crazy & Volador Jr. vs Felino & Negro Casas

No Caristico or Cibernetico because they’re booked in Monterrey, but it’s a fun card. Any Dragon Lee singles match is going to be fun. Third match is going to be weird; Karaoui seems to be on Raijin fill in duty on these shows. Second match is the teased Moreno reunion.

Cibernetico invited Hijo del Lizmark to join the Hell Brothers, which is the explanation for him being back another week.

CMLL Elite (SUN) 02/14/2016 Arena México
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Príncipe Diamante b Astral & Eléctrico
Diamante & Olimpico took 2/3, with Electrico suffering an arm injury.
2) Lluvia & Marcela b La Comandante & Muñeca De Plata
Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Argos & Karonte Jr. b Rocky Lobo & Zumbi
Karontes took 2/3.
4) Felino, Puma, Tiger b Ángel de Oro, Golden Magic, Súper Crazy
Rudos took 1/3. Felino beat Super Crazy, then accepted Crazy’s hair match challenge (which seemed to be for Negro Casas previously.)
5) Black Warrior, Marco Corleone, Rush DQ Cibernético, Hijo de Lizmark, Mephisto
Tecnicos took 2/3. Excessive violence DQ ion the third for an attack on Rush. Team Cibernetico beat up the ref (Edgar) too.
6) Carístico b La Máscara
Carisitico was given a giant heart for Valentine’s Day, and Mascara grabbed it and hit Caristico to be DQed in the first. Mascara won the second, and both were DQed in the third when their masks flew off on a top rope Spanish fly. Carisitco asked for and was given a fourth fall. They wrestled the fall where each other’s mask. Rush tried to interfere, but it backfired and Caristico beat Mascara with a La Mistica. Caristico challenged Mascara to a mask match. Mascara accepted the challenge backstage.

It’s interesting people are accepting these challenges. They’re easier to be brushed away when it’s just one side saying it, but it makes the promotion look silly if they’re not putting the matches on. I still don’t think they’re happening.

CMLL also announced Elite would start running Wednesday night shows in Arena Mexico. That’s all we know. It seemed presented as if the Wednesday show would be an additional show, though there’s some speculation it could replace the Tuesday show or the Sunday show would resume being a ‘normal’ CMLL show. (Not to mention what this would do to Informa!) CMLL and Elite didn’t elaborate on the situation.

If it’s an addition Elite show, it seems crazy. The show today looked like it drew horribly (though later photos revealed some more people in the cheap seats.) This might have been a lower turnout than usual because of the Pope, but the Elite shows generally haven’t done well late in Arena Mexico and expanding to a second show seems to make no sense from a business perspective. Nothing with Elite makes sense from a business perspective, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

A second show would be good news for the handful of luchadors who’ve signed with Elite and will presumably be getting some more work. Even it’s just a move, it frees up the more valuable Sundays for outside work while giving them a show on a day of the week where no one (outside of Acapulco and Naucalpan) are running.

Strangely, there was a Televisa production van spotted at Arena Naucalpan. AYM did not record the IWRG show last Sunday, though it appears they did record Wednesday’s show. IWRG on Televisa’s main networks makes no sense, and even them getting on one of their sports channels seems a stretch. However, it is interesting timing with CMLL’s TDN show apparently not materializing so far – maybe something fell thru and TDN decided IWRG was close enough? Or someone else could’ve just borrowed a van for the night, that seems possible in Mexico. Edit: I’m told it was just a borrowed van signifying nothing.

Reggae B0y lost his mask to Draego on Arena Jalisco’s 42 anniversary show.  Reggae Boy is Joel Lopez Ramirez, 33 years old, 8 years a wrestler, from Guadalajara. No result from the main event as far as I’ve seen, but I assume Rayman is still masked.

Rey Mysterio is wrestling Kurt Angle on March 20th, which is weird. That’s also the first night of the Lucha Underground Season 3 taping, which suggests Rey won’t be a part of those. On the other hand, Rey wasn’t part of all of Season 2’s either.

A MasLuchaTV video labeled “Ultimo Guerrero & Cibernetico talk about Papa Francisco and Thunder” is correctly titled. UG says he doesn’t know why Thunder wasn’t there, but planned on challenging him for the Dos Leyendas main event next week. (Guess he didn’t know he had next Friday  off.) Cibernetico says he is actually Christ. Mr. Niebla is the normal guy in that trio.

CMLL hypes the Euforia/Maximo title match on Tuesday by mostly talking about how Cibernetico wants a title match.

A CMLL spot show in Tampico was canceled a couple days ago, only to be replaced by one in San Juan del Rio, Queretaro with the same CMLL names.

03/06 Chairo 3 (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
Zoom Driver vs Karisma
Los Kamikazes (Aramis, Iron Kid, Alas de Acero) & Aereo from Ciuada Juarez vs Los Saetas de Ring (Rocky Lobo, Mike Segura, Pantera I) & Rocky Lobo – new

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, ACH and Masada will appear – Masada’s the last guest, via video promo

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Super Libre had Reycko in studio and a lot of other guests.

Box Y Lucha #3221 suggests Cibernetico might be on Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. I think that would be an almost certain thing.

Proyecto Suplex writes about Guerrero Maya versus Guerrero Maya.

A CaraLucha promo for their DTU show visits the CaraLucha restaurant.

Lady Shani believes we should treat every day like it’s Valentine’s Day and is currently single.

Dos Caras believes lucha libre needs to be like when he was a star.

Okumura and Lejano Oriente talk about their CMLL plans.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 02/20/2016 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero vs Pequeño Universo 2000
2) Leono vs Apocalipsis
3) Flyer vs Inquisidor
4) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Disturbio
5) Esfinge vs Canelo Casas
6) Puma & Tiger vs Guerrero Maya Jr. & The Panther
7) Súper Porky, Titán, Valiente vs Rey Bucanero, Ripper, Terrible

Puma & Tiger vs Maya & Panther is the only repeated match from the canceled show, which seems to confirm it’s happening for a reason.

CMLL (SUN) 02/21/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr. & Micro vs Black Sugar & Quca
2) El Tapatío & Javier Cruz Jr. vs Gitano & Mr. Brisa
3) Explosivo & Star Black vs Gran Kenut & Thunder Boy
4) El Divino, León Blanco, Vaquero Jr. vs Espectrúm, Mosco X Fly, Ráfaga
5) La Vaquerita & Silueta vs Dalys & La Comandante

Last week, we couldn’t think of the last non-cage minis match to main event a show. This week, it’s a women’s match. It’s not a particularly built up match (though it does team up the two Guadalajara tecnicas), it’s just the DF stars getting the main event spot.

CMLL (FRI) 02/12/2016 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Bengala & Robin b Espiritu Negro & Inquisidor
13:01. Tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Puma, Tiger, Virus b Fuego, The Panther, Tritón
16:40. Rudos took 2/3 in a good match.
3) Dragón Lee, Guerrero Maya Jr., La Máscara b Boby Z, Hechicero, Kamaitachi
15:33. Tecnicos took 2/3, with Dragon Lee defeating Kamaitachi in another new match.
4) Euforia b Valiente [lightning]
5:31. Euforia defeated Valiente by grabbing the ropes on a reversed huracanrana pin.
5) Marco Corleone, Máximo, Rush b Cibernético, Mr. Niebla, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
10:46. Maximo replaced Thunder (no explanation offered.) Team Guerrero took 1/3, the last when Maximo attempted to kiss Niebla but got Rush instead.
6) Cavernario, Mephisto, Negro Casas b Máscara Dorada, Mistico, Volador Jr.
8:05. Rudos took 2/3. Negro Casas & Volador exchanged fouls, but it was Mephisto who won it for his team: first a Devil’s Wings on Volador, and a Super Devil’s Wings on Dorada. Mephisto issued a title challenge to Dorada, and Dorada accepted next week.

Matches 2, 3, and 6 were worth watching. Dos Leyendas was hyped during the show, including a Lizmark vignette package, but they noticeably didn’t make any challenges for that show yet. They’ve got four more Fridays.

CMLL changed it’s Tuesday’s lineup, with Cairstico replacing Titan in the main event. It’s his first Tuesday show since January 18, 2011. Super Porky is still listed; it seems like CMLL evaluates injury status on Monday, so maybe no change until then. Sangre Azteca also replaces Fujin in the tercera.

The Crash (FRI) 02/12/2016 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [126f]
1) Black Boy b Mirage, Septimo Dragon, Jinzo, Próximo [The Crash Junior]
Eliminations went Proximo, Mirage, Septimo Dragon, Jinzo, leading Black Boy as the winner. (Enigma was scheduled, didn’t appear.)
2) Hijo de Pirata Morgan b Ángel Metálico
referee sided with Pirata during the match.
3) Arez, Genio del Aire, Súper Nova b Star Boy, Tony Casanova, Zarco
Arez replaced Golden magic, but ended up on a stretcher with a minor injury. Nova beat Casanova, mask vs hair challenge followed.
4) Mr. Maldito, Taurus (AAA), Texano Jr. b Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown
Maldito snuck in a foul on Psycho Clown, and unmasked it either.
5) Blue Demon Jr., Fenix (AAA), Rey Horuz b John Morrison, Pentagón Jr., Teddy Hart
Fenix & Pentagon Jr. made mask match challenges. Teddy Hart left on a stretcher, was said not to be hurt bad.

Teddy looked like he was OK.  Arez less so.

Like Elite, these shows have a lot of challenges which don’t seem to be going anywhere (though the Psycho Clown/Mr. Maldito match has seemed plausible so much.)

EDIT: I forgot to write this, but Lucha Azteca is now off the schedule today. They’re covering the Pope in Mexico City at that time instead.

AAA’s TV episode is up already. It’s got  Suicide/Fireball vs Parka Negra/Super Fly, the mixed tag team match, and the Rey de Reyes match.

Kcidis draws Carsitico vs La Mascara

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update and a recap of the longest CMLL Informa ever. 

There’s a lucha libre art exhibit in Colima.

Jack Evans talks about being the best.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 02/19/2016 Arena México
1) Oro Jr. & Star Jr. vs Arkángel de la Muerte & Metálico
2) Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi vs Dalys, Reyna Isis, Tiffany
3) Ángel de Oro, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Olímpico, Virus
4) Dragón Lee, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Kamaitachi, Negro Casas
5) Máscara Dorada © vs Mephisto [CMLL WELTER]
first defense
6) La Máscara, Marco Corleone, Rush vs Atlantis, Máximo Sexy, Valiente

Main event follows up on the Rush/Maximo kiss of all things. No Ultimo Guerrero (or Thunder), but the Volador/Casas and Kamaitachi/Lee feuds continue in the fourth match. Olimpico has his first match in Arena Mexico since October 2nd.