Lashley defeats Rush in start of Elite tournament, CMLL incredble pairs tournament announced

CMLL Elite (WED) 03/30/2016 Arena México [CMLL, Kronosport, Notimex]
1) Dalys & Muñeca De Plata b Estrellita & Marcela
2) Emperador Azteca, Metaleón, Zumbi b Fujin, Heddi Karaoui, Raijin
Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Golden Magic & Rocky Lobo b Puma & Tiger
Tecnicos took 1/3, though the crowd cheered Puma & Tiger.
4) Máscara Dorada b Extreme Tiger [Liga Elite]
Mistico, Carístico, Rush, La Máscara, Volador, Mascara Dorada, Atlantis, Ultimo Guerrero, Bobby Lashley, Xtreme Tiger were presented as part of Liga Elite. (Juventud Guerrera and Cibernetico are also in the competition, but were elsewhere.) Dorada got the first win of the tournament, beating Tiger for 3 points.
5) La Máscara, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. b Atlantis, Carístico, Mistico
Volador inexplicably remains a rudo in Elite. Rudos took 1/3, Mascara sneaking in a foul on Caristico. Mascara unmasked Caristico and Volador unmasked Atlantis after the match, but it was Volador who challenged Caristico to a hair vs mask match. Caristico said he had no problem with doing it.
6) Lashley b Rush [Liga Elite]
Lashley won with a spear, is 1-0 (3), Rush is 0-1 (0)

This was the first Azteca7 taping, which will air tomorrow. They closed off the streets around the arena and had a red carpet entrance to make it come off as a big deal. There was also a press conference just before the show, with Daniel Padilla, Francisco González, Gerardo Melin and Shocker were introduced as announcers for the TV show. CMLL did live results for the show, but doesn’t seem to be putting up full results on their website.

The tournament format was as a 12 person round robin (everyone faces everyone once), with two singles matches a week. That means 33 weeks, and the tournament ending in November if they don’t skip weeks. It’s broadly the same idea as a soccer league, with 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. The top 3 will win awards, the first person will get the Elite heavyweight championship, and the final four will face off where the loser loses their hair or mask. I might be missing something; they handed out a sheet with rules of the tournament, but don’t seem to have posted it anywhere. Maybe Friday.

These is broadly the same setup they had for the previous iteration of this tournament, which fell apart in after about five shows. It’s hard to believe it’ll keep it together for 33 weeks, because no one in Mexico has managed to keep something like that together for that long of a time, and they’ve specifically failed at doing it at the past. There’s inveitable going to be logistical problems – Juvi going to Europe (that’s why he missed this show), Lashley busy with TNA & MMA, Dorada inevitably back to Japan, and whatever else. Scheduling Atlantis for eleven singles matches in the next seven months on top of whatever he does for CMLL doesn’t seem like a great idea. It also doesn’t seem to be a great idea to give away giant matches – like Volador versus Caristico, Caristico versus Misticio, Rush versus Mistico, and Cibernetico versus Rush – on random Wednesdays, though CMLL has certainly been willing to give those matches away other ways. It’s going to be interesting how people react when (if) the standings start to take shape and some people are in the last few places; CMLL booking is about keeping all their top guys around the same level, and that’s harder to do in this format. And it’s hard to figure who in this field would actually be willing to be at the bottom of the table and lose their hair or mask. Maybe Juvy? I don’t think Lashley is going to finish last, but a bald unmasked match being in a tournament where the loser loses his hair or mask is the clearest sign they haven’t really thought about this much. (Also a sign of poor planning: the introduction of this show was Zumbi saying he was in this tournament, and he’s not in the tournament.)

Maybe the clearest sign of this may have to change is the turnout for the show, which appeared to be less than the completely normal (though holiday weekend) Sunday show. Maybe 3,000 or 4,000 for the start of a new taping, and they’ll have to shoot it carefully for it to look good. It did not seem like the show was promoted very strongly in the days leading up the show, and perhaps it’ll do better once the show is on the air, and maybe it doesn’t even matter because Elite seems to keep running shows in Arena Mexico despite attendance issues, but it doesn’t seem like they’ve sold the public on this concept. I could tell from Twitter that people who follow lucha libre in Mexico are excited for this concept – and if they really do the matches they say they’re going to do, it’s going to be exciting – but they haven’t done much to convince the casual fan to care as of yet. Hopefully the TV show helps with that.

None of the mystery people rumored to be on the show were there. It’s possible people weren’t as close to coming as it seemed, and it’s possible the situations with Cage, Sexy Star and Hijo del Fantasma (confirmed by the WON as the person trying to get out of their AAA/LU contract to go to WWE and being in limbo until it gets resolved) convinced others to stay put for the time being.

Informa is this afternoon on CMLL.com. It seems like it’s a one time move because of all the extra stuff (red carpet, pre show press conference) and they’ll be just taking place right before the Elite show going forward.

 

Azteca’s Venga La Alegria has a video story on CMLL as a promotion for the new TV show.

+LuchaTV has interviews from the show with Rush and Bobby Lashley (who says he’s back on next week’s show.)

CMLL held a short press conference earlier in the day, with only two items. It seemed like they focused on a new exhibition of Lucha Libre photography there’s video of that here. The photos will be shown in Plazas Galerias Metepec starting on April 4th for the rest of the month, and then be in other Plazas Galeries in September. They talked to the different photographers, with Alexis Salazar saying he’s been taking photos since he was 12, and Gonzalo Lopez talking about the time Shocker landed on him and Lopez was hurt and a month and a half.

They also announced the (dreaded) incredible pairs tournament would be coming back in April. Copy and pasting the teams from LuchaWorld and MasLucha so I don’t have to put in the accents:

Block A (April 15th):
Místico & Mephisto
Ángel de Oro & Pólvora
Ephesto & Blue Panther
Volador Jr. & Negro Casas
Euforia & Dragon Rojo Jr.
Súper Crazy & Felino
Rush & Marco Corleone
Máscara Dorada & Bobby Z

Block B (April 22nd):
The Panther & Tiger
Terrible & Máximo
Titan & Vangelis
Carístico & Cibernético
La Máscara & Dragón Lee
Brazo de Plata & Kráneo
Atlantis & Gran Guerrero
Thunder & Último Guerrero

The finals are on April 29th, which will be the Arena Mexico 60th Anniversary show. (There will also be a separate Kid’s Day special Saturday show the following day.) The big news is Thunder is listed as being back. Ther ewas some hope the mystery surgery Thunder had was a way of writing him out for good. Even as recently as last Wednesday on Informa, JCR and UG acted as if they were unsure when he’d be coming back. Here he is, and his team is one of the favorites. Caristico & Cibernetico stick out as the other big favorite in that group. Mistico & Mephisto and Volador Jr. & Negro Casas are the big two in the first group. (Rush & Marco would seem to have a chance except, as we saw Tuesday, there’s no way Rush can keep it together thru a whole tournament.)

Adictos Al Deportes points out developments in the Irma Osorno/AAA situation. On the anniversary of Irma’s death, Konnan took to Twitter to accuse the promotion of not treating her family right and said more would come out soon. Irma’s son – who turns out to be former Kumbia Kid Pee Wee – posted a video talking about his issues with the company not supporting her family after she died in a bus accident. The website also points to a Facebook post by Irma’s daughter, who’s quit her job in AAA, saying she felt she had no other option (due to the issues between her family and AAA.)

Today is WaleMania II, which will include a podcast with various MLW Radio guests. It includes a Q&A section with the fans, so there’s a decent chance someone will get to ask Konnan what’s exactly is going on with him and AAA. It’s possible he’ll avoid an answer, as they’ve been generally doing with the podcasts, but there’s always a chance Konnan might just unleash tonight.

Blue Demon Jr. did an interview to say he might do an interview later on to talk about AAA.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

RobViper has music videos 12/06/08 CMLL and 09/11/15 CMLL.

The Carnage Culture Podcast writes about the greatness of Abismo Negro.

Eric writes about the top 10 mask matches of all time.

The Wrap has an article on Lucha Underground.

Jun Akiyama will be part of this year’s DragonMania show.

Lineup

IWRG (SUN) 04/03/2016 Arena Naucalpan
1) Black Dragón & Dragón Fly vs Matrix Jr. & Ram El Carnero
2) Leo, Mike, Rafy vs Factor, Rayan, Spector
3) Apolo Estrada Jr., Canis Lupus, Eterno vs Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro, Picudo Jr.
4) Danny Casas, Diablo Jr., Veneno vs Golden Magic, Negro Navarro, Trauma II
5) Trauma II vs Máscara Año 2000 Jr.
6) El Hijo del Diablo vs Cerebro Negro [hair]

I have no idea who’s meant to be a tecnico or rudo on this show. Trauma II is actually listed in two matches. Main event could go either way.