Month: June 2016

CMLL (SUN) 06/12/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara (4), Arena Coliseo Guadalajara (5), Dominogs Familiares]
1) Destello b Black Sugar
Destello took 2/3
2) Mr. Brisa & Thunder Boy b Explosivo & Star Black
Rudos took 1/3. Mr. Brisa pulled Star Black’s mask and pinned him for the win.
3) Joker b Nautilius
Joker had his feet on the ropes to win. Super libre rematch challenge followed.
4) Capitán Cobra, Cosmos, Reycko DQ El Gitano, Linterna, Relámpago
Tecnicos took 2/3. Reycko had Linterna beat, when Mr. Brisa & Thunder Boy ran in for the DQ. Star Black & Explosivo made the save to set up a cage match on June 26th.
5) Furia Roja b Mágico, Frezzer, Flash II, Vaquero Jr., Magnum, Maléfico, El Chakal, Rey Trueno, Espectrúm [Trofeo 57 Anniversario]
Vaquera replaced Metatron. Furia Roja got the win over Freezer.a

The cage match had been coming for a while, and it’s part of their usual June big shows.

CMLL (MON) 06/13/2016 Arena Puebla [thecubsfan]
1) Espíritu Maligno & Mini Joker b Astro & Meyer
18:07. Rudos took 2/3.
2) Arkángel de la Muerte, Inquisidor, Metálico b Arkalis, París, Zaeta Roja
18:09. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. b Kráneo, Morphosis, Ripper
15:35. Tecnicos 1/3.
4) Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Terrible b Ángel de Oro, Máximo Sexy, Valiente
11:18. Shocker and Maximo feuded, with Shocker beating Maximo and getting a title shot next week.
5) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Rush b Cibernético, Euforia, Último Guerrero
9:39. Tecnicos took 2/3. Rush and Cibernetico feuded. Rush blatantly fouled kicked Cibernetico, but only after sending Ciber into the ref for the distraction.

Skippable show, with no real surprises outside of the opener being fun. Rush, at least on his own, has reset all the way to the time before the Ingobernables as the tecnico everyone hates.

Tonight’s big Arena Mexico match is Guerrero Maya Jr. aiming to end Dragon Rojo’s four year CMLL Middleweight reign. Dragon Rojo is doing a lot of talking: he said he wanted to be a top guy again and wanted to face Caristico after he won his own Middleweight championship a month ago, and he was campaigning (way too late and perhaps unwisely) to be in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic after the field was announced yesterday. Dragon Rojo has had some very good big matches, and he’s had not some good big matches. It’d probably help to have a really good big match with Guerrero Maya Jr. (who simply has only really good big matches.) At the very least, this is a chance to do more than talking.

Mascara Dorada is still listed in the main event. CMLL’s said nothing about him going to WWE. It could be because they’re not happy about it, but they’re (apparently) not so happy that they haven’t pulled him from their shows. It could be because CMLL is very bad at communicating what is supposed to be going on or what they feel about things – that seems to happen quite a bit. It could be, like with Mistico’s departure, they had no idea it was happening, are still figuring out what to do and it’ll also take a few days for them to figure it out. Dorada himself has given no indication that he expects to be leaving CMLL, and CMLL and Mascara Dorada are going on like nothing out of the ordinary is happening.

Tonight’s main event might be a reason to root for him to Dorada get chances elsewhere; he and Titan team with Super Porky, which means the match is likely to be a lot of comedy. They take on Ripper, Rey Escorpion and Kraneo. The first two matches tonight are rough, but it picks up after there. The Japanese trio and the Panthers are on the same card once again, but split up into different matches this time: Okumura, Fujin, Raijin take on Fuego, Pegasso, and Stigma, while the Panthers face Bobby Z, Euforia and Vangelys. Both matches have chances to be good.

The show will air on CMLL.com & YouTube at the usual Tuesday night time of 7:30pm Central Time. I like Hombre Bala, I like Magnus, but maybe you should wait until 8:30pm.

It’s a busy Tuesday night of shows. Atlantis, Maximo and Mistico take on Ephesto, Luciferno and Terrible in Guadalajara. That’s a rematch and probably setting up something for next week, but it wasn’t really clear which title match. (Ephesto’s always listed as main eventing a small show in Mexico City, which is going to be tough.) A Volador, Rush, and Caristico triangle match headline a show in Arena Aficion for Lucha Libre Boom. There’s a great sounding Casas Family (Felino, Negro, Tiger and Puma) vs Dinastia Crazy (Lanzeloth, Pesadilla, Rocky Lobo and Super Crazy) atomicos as a semimain. AAA luchadors are in Queretaro, with Texano joining the Pagano, Psycho Clown, Pentagon match that’s main eventing everywhere.

Fenix, who missed the AAA taping two weeks ago due to injury, was OK enough to wrestle in Lucha Underground this past weekend.

Rey Mysterio is the current DDT Ironman Heavywemetal Champion. That looked like it was at the Lucha Underground tapings, which could have also meant some strange things to follow. Misterio did not appear to have the title with him at a trip to the NBA Finals, which is probably a good thing for his safety but I like to imagine the possibilities.

Roshfrans is holding a Father’s Day contest for tickets to TripleMania. There’s no mention of when exactly TripleMania is yet, but they do state you have to be in Mexico and have to find your own way to Mexico City (which means TripleMania isn’t moving out of CDMX.)

AAA hypes the Mesias versus Dr. Wagner Jr. match on Thursday, noting it’s one of the best matches in the history of TripleMania. Someone needs to put a list together of the best TripleMania matches ever; it can’t be me, because I’d put Faby/Mary on the top and everyone would be annoyed.

Box Y Lucha has Andrade Cien Almas & Muhammad Ali on the cover.

LuchaWorld has the latest LuchaWorld and this week’s Poster-Mania.

Segunda Caida reviews Dr. Cerbero vs Rey Hechicero.

+LuchaTV has highlights of Ronnie Mendoza versus Arez, which looks pretty good.

Lineups

CMLL (MON) 06/20/2016 Arena Puebla
1) Milenium & Vega vs Guerrero Espacial & Inquisidor
2) Robin, Starman, Zaeta Roja vs Fuerza Chicana, King Jaguar, Policeman
3) Blue Panther Jr., Rey Cometa, The Panther vs Fujin, Okumura, Raijin
4) Máximo Sexy © vs Shocker [CMLL HEAVY]
7th defense
5) Diamante Azul, Johnny Idol, Rush vs Cibernético, Sam Adonis, Último Guerrero

Debuts for Idol & Adonis, who’ve been wrestling for DTU and small indy shows. Sam Adonis has also been billed as Sweetness Adonis, American Sweetness, and Sweet Adonis. (This is the best choice of the name.) They’ve been working in the midcard on the DTU shows, but CMLL is treating the Gran Prix as a big deal so it makes sense to at least start these guys out on top.

Putting Shocker in singles matches seems unfair to Shocker. Panthers and Japanese fight once again.

Mascara Dorada, as Gran Metalik, will be participating in WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic. He was officially announced this afternoon on WWE.com. The tournament starts airing later this summer. (Most of it will be taped before airing, with the finals airing live.)

It’s unclear where this leaves Dorada beyond this tournament. The Cruiserweight Classic contracts are generally said to be short time/part time deals. However, some of the people listed in the tournament are believed to have actually signed full time deals, with this tournament simply being their introduction into WWE, and it’s assumed any strong performers from this tournament will be offered deals. We also don’t know how CMLL feels about this; they haven’t acknowledged Dorada’s entry into the tournament, though the promo picture they’re using is one shot by CMLL’s Miguel Reducino. CMLL working with WWE would seem to be in opposition to their partner NJPW.

CMLL owns the trademark Mascara Dorada name in Mexico. No one owns the name in the US. Dorada recently mentioned plans to trademark his original name of Metalik, which may be part of it.

At this point, Mascara Dorada is scheduled to work on Tuesday (CMLL) and Thursday (Elite) in Arena Mexico, and has at least one announced booking out into July. Dorada’s mentioned the CWC on Twitter and hasn’t indicated anything is up with his involvement in CMLL, so maybe he’ll just keep working as normal and these will just be extra dates.

As previous rumored, Ronnie Mendoza (as Raul Mendoza) and Zumbi were announced for the tournament. La Sombra/Andrade Cien Almas is not in the tournament, and looks to be part of regular NXT TV instead.

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At the same moment, Elite held a press conference to explain it’s upcoming plans. Elite’s holding a 16 man international tournament, in another competition that seems to be happening in response to the Lucha World Cup. The single elimination tournament will take place on 06/23 (Thursday) and 06/25 (Saturday) in a single elimination tournament.

Elite announced they’ll be selling both tickets as a package, which is a first. My guess is they may not be running on Thursday 06/30, since they could use the Saturday show as that week’s TV instead.

Announced as participating, via Mas Luchas & Apolo Valdes:

1) the winner of the Elite Rumble this Thursday (Mexico)
2) Hernández (Puerto Rico)
3) Tama Tonga (Tonga)
4) DJZ (Philippines)
5) Jinder Mahal (India)
6) Bram (UK)
7) Lio Rush (US)
8) Zumbi (Brazil)
9) Kushida (Japan)
10) Michael Elgin (Canada)
11) Heddi Karaoui (France)
12) David Tita (Cameroon)
13) Veneno (Panama)
14) ?
15) ??
16) ???

I don’t think the last three are meant to be mysterious; they’re just omitted from the lists. Marco Corleone (Italy) & Johnny Idol (New Zealand) could be two of those spots. The other people in CMLL’s Gran Prix would be duplicate countries from those already listed.

I’m guessing Tonga/Kushida/Elgin aren’t just flying in for a night and then going back home; they’re probably working select shows all the way thru the Gran Prix (maybe thru that weekend?)

There’s an obvious conflict with Hernandez working both Elite and AAA. AAA used Lucha Underground leverage to get Cage not to work these shows, but obviously don’t have the same over Hernandez. On the other hand, Hernandez seemed like a patch for not having access to Cage or Mesias during Lucha Underground taping periods, and that may have been only a temporary issue.

DJ Z & Bram are TNA wrestlers, which seems to put them in a conflict with the AAA/TNA alliance. However, TNA guys appear to be allowed to work wherever they can find work on their off days, and there’s been no obvious issue with Bobby Lashley & Extreme Tiger working here. DJ Z was really fun when AAA brought him in long ago, but they never brought him back.

David Tita has 9 matches over four years according to wrestlingdata. Hopefully they’re missing a lot.

Those in the match Thursday to represent Mexico
– Máscara Dorada
– Atlantis
– La Máscara
– Rush
– Carístico
– Cibernético
– Xtreme Tiger
– Volador Jr.
– Diamante Azul
– Rey Escorpión

IWRG (SUN) 06/12/2016 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, The Gladiatores]
1) Demonio Infernal & Vampiro Metálico b Omega & Sombra Verde
Sombra Verde (debut) replaced Dragon Fly.
2) Sonic & Zatura b Shao Lee & Violencia Jr.
debuts for Sonic & Shao Lee
3) Freelance, Relámpago, Súper Nova b Argos, Golden Magic, Killer Jr.
Relampago didn’t get along with his partners and stole a pin from Freelance.
4) Apolo Estrada Jr., Canis Lupus, Eterno b Mr. Águila, Trauma I, Trauma II
Relampago helped his new friends. Mr. Aguila wants a singles match with Apolo.
5) Mr. Electro DQ Máscara Año 2000 Jr. © [IWRG IC HEAVY]
Mascara is DQed when his second Apolo hit Elektro with a bottle. Titles change hands by DQ, so Electro is the champion. Mascara falls on his second 2nd defense. Hair/hair challenge followed.

Mascara lost his title not because he got pinned or submitted, not even because anything he did, but because his second hit Electro with a weapon. That’s an underwhelming ending. (If you do believe Mr. Electro is awesome, is this a great way for him to become champion?) Maybe it plays better live.

Today’s Arena Puebla show is a five match show, for the first time in quite a few weeks. It’s also not a particularly promising show. The best match might be a Guerrero Maya, Rey Cometa & Stuka versus Kraneo, Morphosis, and Ripper tercera. (Morphosis seems not to appear a lot when he’s advertised, so someone may take his place.)

The actual main event is Cibernetico, Euforia, and Ultimo Guerrero vs Atlantis, Diamante Azul and Rush. TGR team up as a trio against Angel de Oro, Maximo and Valiente. There’s interesting local tecnicos in the segunda – Arakalis & Zaeta Roja – but they’re working against a rudo side that probably won’t give them too much to do. This is an easy card to skip if you’re on the fence, and I’m kind of persuaded to watch what is essentially a two hour infomerical for upcoming attractions instead of the first half of this.

The show will still start at 9pm Central Time, and will air on CMLL.com and YouTube.

Super Libre’s guests included Al Carillo, Makabre, Arkangel de la Muerte, Maximo and Nautilius.

Valiente says Ultimo Guerrero is the biggest challenge of his life. Rey Cometa still wants Cavernario’s hair. And Volador talks about the Best of Super Juniors.

Norte Digital has an interview with Juarez mask maker Eduardo Sanchez.