Fujin & Rey Escorpion advance in Gran Alternativa, Cage out of Elite, Mini Charly out of AAA, Aztec Warfare

CMLL (TUE) 03/22/2016 Arena México
1) Magnus & Robin b Camorra & Inquisidor
13:58. Tecnicos took 1/4
2) Disturbio, Sangre Azteca, Skándalo b Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr., Star Jr.
12:44. Rudos took 1/3. Hombre Bala replaced Delta.
3) Bobby Z, Euforia, Gran Guerrero b Máscara Dorada, Stuka Jr., Titán
10:00. Rudos took 1/3.
4) Magia Blanca & Oro Jr. b Tritón, Flyer, Rocky Casas, Súper Halcón Jr., El Cuatrero, Fujin [Gran Alternativa, seeding battle royal]
5:27. Elimination order went Flyer, Rocky Casas, Super Halcon, Fujin, Cuatrero, Triton leaving Magia Blanca and Oro Jr.
5) Atlantis & Flyer b Negro Casas & Rocky Casas [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
3:53. Rocky made his debut, looked green.
6) Fujin & Rey Escorpión b Máximo Sexy & Súper Halcón Jr. [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
5:09
7) El Cuatrero & Rey Bucanero b Mistico & Tritón [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
6:43.
8) Magia Blanca & Último Guerrero b Oro Jr. & Valiente [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
6:16.
9) Fujin & Rey Escorpión b Atlantis & Flyer [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]
4:13. Fujin pinned Atlantis and Rey Escorpion beat Flyer.
10) Mistico & Tritón b Magia Blanca & Último Guerrero [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]
6:59.
11) Fujin & Rey Escorpión b Mistico & Tritón [Gran Alternativa, final]
4:54. Fujin & Rey Escorpion advance to the final on 04/05

CMLL gave away the end of it’s tournament earlier in the day. Mistico & Ultimo Guerrero were announced as being in Guadalajara on the day of the Gran Alternativa final, which meant Rey Escorpion & Fujin had to be winning when they were the only other team left. A rudo team winning this week means a tecnico team is likely to win next week.

Fujin & Raijin were announced for the 04/09 DTU show.

Today is AAA Rey de Reyes. I have a preview – kinda – going up on Voices of Wrestling this afternoon. The shorter version is some of the matches may be good though none stellar, the on-screen storylines aren’t really compelling, but the behind the scenes intrigue is highly compelling (if you’re a dork who’s into behind the scenes intrigue.) The show will start around 11 pm ET and, at this point, it’ll be a nice surprise if there’s actually an iPPV. I’m going to be around looking for Periscopes even if there isn’t iPPV and ElSaborDelRing is a good SLP lucha Twitter account to check for unofficial live results to go with the official ones.

The scheduled opener tonight is Mamba, Mini Charly Manson, Taurus & Taya vs Pimpinela, Mascarita Sagrada, Faby Apache and a mystery person. The mystery person hasn’t been revealed. The mini rudo is also now a mystery – Mini Charly Manson says he quit AAA on Monday. This is so out of left field that his brother (Mini Drago) seemed surprised by it. It’s strange Charly wouldn’t just wait until after working Rey de Reyes to quit and there’s something missing here. I guess he could fit into Elite – he could be Mini Sharly Rockstar! – but it doesn’t seem like any better position over there. He has looked talented in AAA and maybe new people looking at him will give him more chances.

As far as the rest of the card, I’m picking Pentagon Jr. to win Rey de Reyes not because I believe it’s actually going to happen, but because I can’t bring myself to be cynical enough to pick La Parka. I figure Mesias ends up with the Mega championship, the Xinetez keep the trios titles, and Averno & Chessman hold onto the tag titles, though I’m not at all sure about that last one. I am sure the Wagner/Psycho match will have many shenanigans going into the finish and I don’t like Psycho’s chances of winning in the end.

Tonight, a few hours earlier, is Lucha Underground’s Aztec Warfare. The full hour is spent on one match, and you’ll want to tune in early because important moments happen right away. The show is Rey Mysterio Jr.’s first match on the show, and – like with the season 1 Aztec Warfare – it’s the culmination of the first set of episodes and lays the groundwork for the rest of the season. Last year’s match was one of the best matches and best episodes of the season. Live reports indicated this one was at the same level, and it kind of feels like it needs to be – whatever happens tonight is going to strongly affect people’s feelings on the season and the series entirely.

Paste Magazine visited the Lucha Underground Temple and talks about raving about the show despite having some qualms about some parts of it. In talking about the buzz the product has gotten, Eric Van Wagenen mentions WWE reached out to 7-10 LU wrestlers between seasons.

Cage is off the Elite shows. He apologized for the change on Twitter, said it wasn’t Elite’s fault, and then ended up deleting most of those Twitter messages. If it’s not Elite’s decision and it’s not Cage’s decision, that mostly leaves AAA and Lucha Underground. LU has first dibs on their luchadors if they need to tape something, but they’re probably not taping on that day (and they worked with Cage enough to let him work an indie show on Saturday.) They also prohibit their luchadors from working on US based wrestling shows without their permission. Elite may want to get on US TV, but there’s been no sign of that actually happening yet and you’d have to be following lucha libre very closely to know that was a possibility. AAA would have plenty of reason to want to block (more!) wrestlers from jumping to Elite and might still have control of Cage’s Mexico work visa.

No sign of an Elite press conference today. Maybe it’ll turn up after I hit post.

CMLL announced a lineup for Saturday, then realized there was a boxing event taking place in Arena Coliseo instead and canceled the show. It seems odd they didn’t know about the boxing; maybe it was a last minute venue change? They’ll be back next Saturday with an Arena Coliseo Anniversary show – which may not be a big deal, because they seemed to be setting up Terrible versus Valiente as the main event.

The Winter Palace has an interview with Hechicero about his trip to Japan. They also have recent podcast with Alfredo of LuchaWorld and Dr. Lucha.

04/10 Lucha Memes in Ecatepec so far
Ultimo Guerrero vs Hechicero
Black Terry vs Super Mega
Aramis vs Alas de Acero vs Iron Kid
Keira vs Toxin – new

LuchaWorld has the top 10 for the week.

Segunda Caida reviews Hijo del Fantasma, La Sombra, Máscara Dorada vs Averno, Mephisto, Negro Casas

NJPW announced the Best of Super Juniors will take place from May 21 and June 7. That’s 14 shows, one more than last year. The lineup is usually announced on or after their May PPV, which is May 3rd this year.

Arena Queretaro says they’re not changing the name of the building despite rumors otherwise.

Cuatrero says he’s very happy to team with Rey Bucanero in the Gran Alternativa. I may be a day late in posting that.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 03/29/2016 Arena México
1) Shockercito & Stukita vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Delta, Hombre Bala Jr., Súper Halcón Jr. vs Canelo Casas, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado
3) Atlantis, Mistico, Valiente vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
4) Golden Magic & Rush vs Mr. Niebla & Warrior Steel and Esfinge & Volador Jr. and Mephisto & Yago and La Máscara & Stigma and Sansón & Terrible and Máscara Dorada & Pegasso andPierroth & Raijin [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]

Yago & Warrior Steel popping up on Sunday shows somewhat is explained here, as they’re needed to fill out the tournament. (There are other places to get people, and they could’ve done better than Pegasso – he was a rookie like a decade and a half ago.) CMLL almost always does tecnico versus rudos tournament finals, so the three possibilities are Golden Magic & Rush, Esfinge & Volador Jr., and Stigma & La Mascara. Esfinge & Volador are the only pure tecnico team and probably the favorites, but I’d really like to see Golden Magic & Rush advance to the finish. Rey Escorpion said he’d like to fight Rush again, let’s give him his wish.