The Lucha World Cup is on Friday, starting the same time as the CMLL Claro starts. My plan is to watch AAA and record Claro, wish me luck. We still don’t know the first round matchups for the LWC.
Lucha Azteca 7 says they’re airing Lashley/Tiger tomorrow. No mention of Caristico/Dorada yet (so they could be splitting it into two again.) The LWC should be over before that one starts, I hope.
AAA‘s normal show should have lots of clowns, with Psycho Clown’s two matches and his buddies in the opener. There’s always the chance they could do something odd there; I’d spend half the show just hard selling the LWC with whatever footage of Puebla they could throw together, but they may not be able to add footage that late.
CMLL (TUE) 05/31/2016Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Martes de Glamour]
1) Mágico & Magnum b Kempo Dragón & Príncipe Kisho Tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Oro Jr., Robin, Vaquero Jr. b Akuma, Espanto Jr., Joker Tencicos took 2/3.
3) Eléctrico, Fantasy, Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Universo 2000, Pierrothito Tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Ángel de Oro, Esfinge, Valiente b Cavernario, Furia Roja, Sagrado Tecnicos took 2/3, Angel de Oro beating Cavernario.
5) La Máscara, Shocker, Terrible b Máscara Dorada, Rush, Titán Rudos took 1/3, Mascara sneaking in a foul on Rush.
The easy guess is Furia Roja is booked higher to feud with Esfinge – they’re booked against each other next week too – but it doesn’t appear they’re feuding so far. They don’t seem to be working especially against each other in the pictures.
IWRG (WED) 06/01/2016Arena Naucalpan [The Gladiatores]
1) Orión b Atomic Star New Orion? Old Orion? No idea.
2) Ángel Guerrera & Aramis b Adrenalina & Lilith Dark Debuts of luchadoras Angel Guerrera & Lilith Dark.
3) Anubis, Imposible, Peligro b Dragón Fly, Emperador Azteca, Hijo del Alebrije New Anubis and Peligro’s? They have Fuerza Guerrera looking masks and are going by Los Bravos.
4) Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro b Freelance, Hijo de Máscara Sagrada, Zatura
5) Apolo Estrada, Canis Lupus, Demon Clown, Eterno b Factor, Rayan, Spartan, Spector Demon Clown is the surprise new Insoportable. Straight falls.
Elite returns to action tonight in Arena Mexico. The two Liga Elite matches are as different as can be: Carstico versus Mascara Dorada is a battle of equally matched flyers, while Xtreme Tiger versus Bobby Lashley are two very different guys, something they’re billing along the lines of David versus Goliath. The middle tag match is another reunion of Atlantis & Octagon vs Fuerza Guerrera & Ultimo Guerrero. Octagon’s first return to Arena Mexico and team up with Atlantis seemed to be a big deal one year ago, but they’ve done quite a few times now. (It will be the first time they’ve done it on TV though.)
Angel de Oro, Golden Magic, and a new tecnico Ultimo Ninja take on Argos, Magnus and Rey Escorpion in the really good tercera which might only air in highlights. The expectation is the matches will still air this Friday night, but we won’t know for sure until it the advertising. We also don’t know if they’re going back weekly, now that I think about it.
Octagon and Hijo del Octagon were doing interviews promoting the show, which seems to confirm Hijo del Octagon is the mystery guy in the segunda tonight (teaming with Hombre Bala Jr. and Jinzo against a trio of evil doctors.) I’d think they’d promote that if they believed it was a big deal, but maybe they’re keeping it quiet as to avoid negative attention. The latest story is Hijo del Octagon retired from his criminology career because Octagon convinced him wrestling in Arena Mexico is more important. Octagon says the biggest advice he’d give to his son is to have humility and he hopes they can team together next week.
Today’s Media Day for the international people who are part of the Lucha World Cup. I haven’t seen photos of Rey yet, but pretty much everyone else. There will probably be a lot of interviews coming out before tomorrow’s show. MedioTiempo posted a Taya interview from last week, who’s proud to be representing her company.
El Economista, which seems to be frequently covering the business of AAA, says the Lucha World Cup drew 16K last year, and hopes to draw 25K between both shows. (The WON mentioned tickets for Friday night show in Puebla are going slow.) If they hit 25K, it’d be around a 18.2 million MXP gate (close to $1 million USD, a target number for AAA since CMLL beat them to that.)
There’s some talk about plans for 2017. Victoria continues to be interested in taking it to Japan, while Dorian Roldan says he’d prefer to US. (Mexico is fall back if neither works out.) My hunch is they’d be able to better make sponsorship deals in the US, but AAA and the other promotions involved have such low visibility that they’d need to do an amazing marketing campaign to draw even close to the same fans they’d get in Mexico. Japan fans seem more likely to give the shows a shot. Wherever they end up, the local country will end up with more teams (presumably the Mexico Legend team gets replaced by another home team.)
AAA’s big plan for the future is South America, starting with a return to Colombia in 2017. They say they’re about 40% along.
Apolo Valdes gives his thoughts on the Lucha World Cup lineup. It’s pointed out there – and it’s something Mary Apache emphasized in her interview – that the general fan’s belief is the Japanese women are always true fighters and the Canadian and Americans are just beautiful people who aren’t skilled.
The SuperLuchas theorizes Volador could lose his hair to Rush at the Anniversary show and head off to WWE from there. That’s still possible, but it seems CMLL’s moved far away from that match in the last five months. Rush vs La Mascara seems an unlikely write off for Rush too; maybe only be concerned if Atlantis starts feuding with someone.
The interesting part of the article, to me, was Sombra and Volador were considered for the Matadors gimmick at one point. It’s unclear how close it got, though it would explain why two Puerto Ricians were doing a Mexican matador gimmick. That was a long time ago and Sombra seems set up better for his debut.
LA Park will replace Volador Jr. on June 19th in Merida. That’s the same day as NJPW’s next PPV, where Volador would appear if he won the BOSJ (still possible!) but he’s still listed on North American other shows before that date. Those would have to start changing too.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter says Ring of Honor is trying to bring in “a major CMLL star” for their 07/16 show in Philadelphia.
IWRG (SUN) 06/05/2016Arena Naucalpan Festival de Mascaras, 2016
1) Dragón Fly & Geo vs Atomic Star & Enigma
2) Leo, Mike, Rafy, Teelo vs ?, Diablo Jr., Imposible, Panterita
3) Mega, Omega, Súper Mega vs Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro
4) Danny Casas, Hijo del Alebrije, Veneno vs Golden Magic, Negro Navarro, Trauma II
5) Trauma I vs Danny Casas, Mr. Águila, Canis Lupus [cage, semifinal]
6) Máscara Año 2000 Jr. vs Mr. Electro, Hijo De Dos Caras, Toscano [cage, semifinal]
7) ? vs ?? [cage, mask, hair, ? CHAMP]
The annual Festival of Mascaras show is usually filled with old wrestlers who come back wearing their masks for one time. (In that vein, Ultraman will appear but not is not listed as wrestling.) There’s some of that on the undercard with the 2nd/3rd matches, but the main bit is all the heavyweights who’ve been feuded in separate cage match. It’s loser loses hair, mask or title, which usually means someone’s (Mascara 2000 Jr.) is losing their title.
No idea why Danny Casas is listed twice. Maybe Demon Clown is in the cage after all.
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