Month: August 2016

DTU LLB (SAT) 08/13/2016 Arena Lopez Mateos [+LuchaTV, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), Estrellas del Ring]
1) Hijo Del Mosco, Niño Cobre, X-Zafiro ?? Fly Danger, Hijo De Dr. Pólux Jr., Toto
2) Shadow & Yoruba b El Gio & El Jr. and Fly Star & Toxin Boy and Kastigador & Vengador
3) Aeroboy & Chik Tormenta b Freelance & La Magnifica and Corsario Negro Jr. & Felina Metálica
Aeroboy (off NY show) replaced Fly Warrior (worked Crash instead) and got the win.
4) Drastik Boy & Ronnie Mendoza b Arez & Belial and Mike Segura & Sádico
good match, money thrown in. Arez & Belial want a rematch in Pachuca.
5) Carta Brava Jr. (IWL) & Fantasma de la Ópera b Misterioso Jr. (CMLL) & Pierroth and Ángel o Demonio & Ovett
6) Pesadilla & Rocky Lobo © b Dragón Rojo Jr. & Stuka Jr. and Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro [DTU NEXO]
Dragon Rojo Jr. replaced Titan
7) Masada (Texas) b Sharlie Rockstar, Cíclope, Psicosis II, Paranoiko

Looked like they had a pretty good turnout. Fourth match is the one which got the best reviews. No idea the deal with Titan and DTU is, but it was always strange he was advertised for this one after missing the last one.

The Crash (SAT) 08/13/2016 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [+LuchaTV, The Crash]
1) Danny Lime Light ?? Douglas James
2) Arkángel Divino, Jonathan, Mirage ?? Black Danger, Sargón, Último Maldito
3) Keira b La Jarochita, Lady Maravilla, Candy White
Jarochita & Keira continue to feud.
4) Garza Jr. & Último Ninja b Tony Casanova & Zarco © [The Crash]
Garza Jr. put Tony thru a plastic table (or at least tried) to set up the winning pinfall. Challenges followed.
5) Flamita b Séptimo Dragón, Willie Mack, Lince Dorado, Torito, Laredo Kid, Fly Warrior [The Crash CRUISER]
Vacant title. Fly Warrior was added to the match. Order of elimination went Fly Warrior, Septimo Dragon, Torito (who entered in his Torito gear but wrestled in a silver Mascarita Dorada outfit), Lince Dorado, Willie Mack and Flamita defeated Laredo Kid to win. Great match. Laredo Kid asked for the first title shot.
6) El Hijo Del Santo & Santo Jr. b Ángel Blanco & Rayman
Santo Jr.’s first Mexico based match after appearing on the Lucha Libre London shows in recent years. Tecnicos took 1/3, the last when Rayman fouled Santo. Mask ripping and a little bit of blood. Challenges followed, with the rudos trying to take the tecnicos masks and the tecnicos not letting that occur.

This was streamed on their new website as a surprise (or to make sure no one just stayed home and watched the stream.) I caught up with it during the fourth match, but was unable to record it. It may show up later, and Hijo del Santo has been RT-ing clips from his match tonight. Attendance seemed good if not great, and they obviously saw the Santos as a huge deal. Santo Jr. looked tentative and slower than everyone else, though not nearly as green as you’d expect a guy for his third match. They did a lot stuff to make him look good during the match. I wasn’t sold on him, but he doesn’t seem like a disaster either.

So Cal Uncensored has a positive review of the Viva el Lucha show the same night in San Diego. Rey Mysterio & Fenix (as a surprise) beat Johnny Mundo & Nicho in the main event.

CMLL (SAT) 08/13/2016 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Bengala & Leono b Camorra & Cholo
2) Canelo Casas, Hijo del Signo, Nitro b Magnus, Oro Jr., Star Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi b La Comandante, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
4) Fuego, Rey Cometa, Valiente b Disturbio, Hechicero, Olímpico
Tecnicos took 1/3. Disturbio replaced Bobby Z.
5) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Mistico b Euforia, Mephisto, Último Guerrero
Caristico submitted Mephisto.

A show! Caristico being on the show (and CMLL hyping that fact) seemed to lead to better attendance than usual. I’m not sure how much it’ll actually matter when these become Tuesday-like (see the card below), but even a Tuesday audiece would look better in the smaller Coliseo.

CMLL (SUN) 08/14/2016 Arena México
1) Apocalipsis & Artillero b Metatrón & Sensei
Metatron was hurt in the first fall. Rudos took 2/3.
2) Cancerbero, El Coyote, Raziel b Ciclón Ramírez Jr., El Bandido, Flyer
Coyote won his debut.
3) Felino, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado b Ángel de Oro, Blue Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr.
4) Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto b Atlantis, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr.
Soberano was Super Porky’s replacement today. Rudos took 2/3.
5) Marco Corleone, Valiente, Vangellys b Pierroth, Rey Escorpión, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Vangellys snuck in a foul on Rey Escorpion.

I’ve last track of how many cowboy hat wearing rancheros which are in this promotion now. Coyote can mean many things, but new guy would’ve had a better shot looking like the animal. (Since we might not see him ever again, I’m not sure it matters.)  I have no idea when or where the Vangellys/Rey Escorpion match might be taking place because…

CMLL’s website says Elite will be running shows on Sunday. They did this before, they decided it didn’t work, they moved to Wednesdays, then Thursdays, then messed with some Saturdays, and we’re right back where it started on Sunday. I’m guessing this might explain why only 1 of the 2 weeks of new Elite TV aired this week (the other is going to be shown this week, because they won’t be running Thursday), but I’m guessing because no one’s explained what’s going beyond a note where the CMLL Sunday card should be. There was no mention of this on either of the TV shows this week, and it’s not even especially clear if this is a one week or full time thing (though the plural “domingos” is a clue.)

Sunday seemed to be Elite’s best day; it never did as well as it should’ve on the lineups, and it’s going to be tougher on schedules since most of the outside booking dates seem to be Sundays, but it’s still probably going to work better than Wednesday or Thursday. Doing it like this, with no warning or promotion, with “todos los Jueves” emblazoned on the ring apron, is not an effective way to do it. That’s Elite.

I did make it to the GALLI show tonight, but I don’t have time to write about the wrestling I actually saw. That’s less irony and more poor time management. Maybe tomorrow.

This week’s AAA TV episode is up. They announced the usual Hard Rock show on September 16th. They could always (and likely will) squeeze in another taping. Still, there’s 2-3 weeks of AAA TV between TripleMania and Heroes Inmortales, and 1-2 of them are going to be the vacation show at the resort. I really hope Heroes Inmortales goes well, but the deck seems stacked against it. AAA could always start setting up stuff for Heroes Inmortales at TripleMania or even the taping this week in Veracruz, but they seem like they’re struggling to keep up at this point. (To that end: TripleMania is two weeks away from today, and there’s been no public mention of iPPV or Mexico PPV details. I’m sure they’ll get done, and it might even be that they’re holding off as to not hurt ticket sales, but recent history makes me concerned they’re scrambling.)

Pentagon says no gringo will be able to stop him at TripleMania. Drago talks about the four way tag title match at TripleMania as possibly being one of the biggest wins of his and Aerostar’s career.

The Santo Jr. match in Torreon on Thursday is changing location due to forecasts of bad weather. It turns out Atlantis, Angel de Oro and Niebla Roja just happen to be working across the city/state. border in Gomez Palacio on the same day.

Gran Metalik counts beating Tajiri was one of the biggest wins of his career.

SuperLuchas interviews Hijo del Medico Asesino.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 08/20/2016 Arena Coliseo
1) Shockercito & Stukita vs Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Magnus, Robin, Templario vs Akuma, Arkángel de la Muerte, Metálico
3) Lluvia, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, La Comandante, Tiffany
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Johnny Idol, Rey Cometa vs Felino, Morphosis, Pólvora
5) Blue Panther, Mistico, Stuka Jr. vs Mephisto, Mr. Niebla, Rey Bucanero

Morphosis in the second match: this is a Tuesday card on a Saturday, minus the lightning match. Which isn’t really much different than the Sabado Retros shows were, except for the formatting. These are slightly better, but I’m not sure what difference it’ll make in the long term.

Templario makes another appearance here. He’s not booked on CaraLucha that night – not sure if that’s luck or if he knew that far in advance.

CMLL (SUN) 08/21/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro & Micro vs Destello & Quca
2) Black Sugar & Fugaz vs Guerrero de la Muerte & Linterna
3) El Divino & Explosivo vs El Chakal & Espectrúm
4) Esfinge, Kempo Dragón, Magnum vs Mr. Trueno, Príncipe Kisho, Rey Trueno
5) El Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © vs Flash II, Star Black, Vaquero Jr. [OCCIDENTE TRIOS]
first defense

Trios title match was set up last week. The Sinaloa guys weren’t quite getting along in their previous run, and seem to have split up this past week.

CMLL (FRI) 08/12/2016 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Demus 3:16 & Mercurio b Shockercito & Stukita
14:16. Rudos.
2) Disturbio, Skándalo, Virus b Hombre Bala Jr., Pegasso, Soberano Jr.
10:12. Rudos took 1/2, Virus using the ropes to beat Soberano Jr.
3) Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Rey Escorpión b Ángel de Oro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Titán
18:29. rudos took 2/3. Dragon Rojo cleanly defeated Guerrero Maya as part of the third fall.
4) Súper Crazy DQ Rey Bucanero [lightning]
6:34. Super Crazy, more a rudo than past weeks, fouled Rey Bucanero.
5) Atlantis, Stuka Jr., Valiente b Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Mr. Niebla
11:59. Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Dragón Lee, Mistico, Volador Jr. b Euforia, La Máscara, Último Guerrero
7:10. Tecnicos took 2/3, Dragon Lee pinning La Mascara cleanly.

A good show of matches, though not a lot of activity happened. Dragon Lee is now beating La Mascara, which has me a little concerned. Super Crazy is now the heel in his feud with Rey Bucanero, which should work better for that crowd. Soberano/Virus is going nowhere based on them not being booked next week. No other new feud that might ended on 09/16 yet.

Elite aired last night, but aired a repeat instead of the new episode that was promoted. Their Twitter account ignored all people asking about that change, which is Bad Social Media. I’d guess this means tonight’s episode will either combine two weeks into 90 minutes (just Liga Elite matches?) or they’ll skip the rained out week entirely.

Carsitico ‘returns’ to Arena Coliseo tonight. He was there back in March when Elite was bumped out of Arena Mexico due to repair work, but this is the first CMLL show appearance for the original Mistico in this building since he quit the promotion in 2011. He’ll team with the new Mistico and Dragon Lee versus Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia and Mephisto. Besides the change in formatting, there’s a lot more star power now being thrown at the Saturday shows than under the Retro Sabado shows. The semimain has Rey Comea, Fuego and Valiente versus Bobby Z, Hechicero and Olimpico.

Lucha Libre Boom & DTU have a big show tonight in Arena Lopez Mateos. Sharlie Rockstar, Ciclope, Ripper, Paranokio and Mascara from the US meet in a main event hardcore match. The semimain is scheduled to be a tag title match between the teams of Pesadilla and Rocky Lobo & Pesadilla and Stuka & Titan. There’s also another equally exciting three way tag match with Ronnie Mendoza & Drastic Boy facing both Belial & Arez and Suicida & Sadico.

Aeroboy has been added to the show, which might mean he’s replacing someone. Aeroboy was supposed to be on the Amaro show in New York today. Blue Demon Jr. was also supposed to be on that show, and posted on Twitter last night that he had still not received information for that show, and then deleted it sometime overnight without explaining if it was resolved or not. (That’s also Bad Social Media.) I hope anyone who goes to that Amaro show has a great time, but they should be aware the card is very subject to change.

Santo Jr. makes his Mexico debut tonight in Tijuana, teaming with his father against Angel Blanco Jr. & Rayman. Santo returned to action last night on Rosarito and looked good; his son got into a post match argument with Hijo de Medico Asesino (who’s not listed on tonight’s card.) The stated idea has to be to keep Santo Jr. in small venues while he gets beginning ring time, but Auditorio de Tijuana is not a small venue. In his Grafico column, Hijo del Santo notes this match will allow him to team with his son, which he never had the chance to do with his father. The match of the night might be a six way with Flamita, Septimo Dragon, Willie Mack, Lince Dorado, Torito and Laredo Kid for the Crash’s cruiseweight title. There’s also a tag team title match with the Garzas (Garza Jr. & Ultimo Jr.) against champions Tony Casanova & Zarco. Garza threatened to end Casanova’s career tonight after last night’s match, which seems a little severe. Garza working these Santo shows seems to mean AAA doesn’t have much control over where Garza can work (but it also might explain why there’s not much done with Garza in AAA.)

On the other side of the border, Rey Misterio Jr. makes a indie appearance in his hometown of San Diego for Viva La Lucha show. Johnny Mundo, Psicosis, TJP, Teddy Hart, Famous B and Willie Mack are listed on the card (so Willie might work two shows in two countries on the same night.) Rey’s 2016 schedule is what we thought his immediate post-WWE would be, with appearances few and far behind, and maybe not again in his hometwon.

 

I think Gallo must’ve quit Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. He was one of the most heavily featured local guys, a nephew of Apolo Dantes, and has made appearances in Arena Mexico. He hasn’t appeared in ACG since May. He’s shown up on indie shows of late, and his mascot Gallito is hanging out with other people on the CMLL shows. I’d probably know this already if I had been keeping up with Super Libre.

AAA’s also put up the Psycho Clown/Pagano Cara a Cara segment from last week’s TV, which I thought was a pretty good video package building up that feud.

GALLI says their TV taping tomorrow is for the TVS Network. A TVS Network aired thru the 80s. Wikipedia says the network stopped existing in 2012. Wikipedia can be wrong, but I can’t find a website easily.

CultIcon tries to figure out the identify of Paul London’s new friends.

Johnny Mundo promo for Lucha Underground Season 3.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 08/19/2016 Arena México
1) Flyer & Star Jr. vs Canelo Casas & Espíritu Negro
2) Esfinge, Hombre Bala Jr., Pegasso vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
3) Estrellita vs Zeuxis [lightning]
4) Bobby Z, Rey Bucanero, Vangellys vs Kráneo, Ripper, Súper Crazy
5) Atlantis, Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy vs Pierroth, Rey Escorpión, Rush [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Dragón Lee, Mistico, Valiente vs Ephesto, La Máscara, Mephisto

More Dragon Lee & La Mascara in the main event, and another really good match if they give them time.

Rush & Pierroth are back on Fridays, and so is their long dormant issue with Marco & Maximo.

Fourth match is listed as rudos/rudos, so I probably need to flip Super Crazy to red.

ELITE (THU) 08/11/2016 Arena México [+LuchaTV, Estrellas del Ring, Plantilla Deportiva]
1) Astral & Eléctrico b Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) El Cuatrero, Fresero Jr., Sansón b El Bandido, Emperador Azteca, Último Ninja
straight fall.
3) Flamita & Golden Magic b Argos & Rey Cometa
Flamita said he hoped to be in Arena Mexico more often.
4) Volador Jr. b Atlantis [Liga Elite]
Volador picked up 3 points.
5) Ephesto, Mephisto, Sharlie Rockstar b Carístico, Máscara Dorada Super Crazy, Máximo
Mephisto pulled Caristico’s mask to cradle him.
6) Último Guerrero b Rush [Liga Elite]
UG snuck in Rush’s foul.

Both +LuchaTV and Plantilla Deportiva  – and me! – mention the Liga Elite winners picked up points. No one mentions how many points people have, because no one knows. These standings don’t exist except for the last 10 seconds of the TV show, Elite doesn’t mention them or post them anyplace else. This is my guess

10 Volador (5 matches)
9 Caristico (4)
9 Teddy Hart/Bobby Lashley (4)
9 Atlantis (5)
6 Rey Escorpion (4)
6 Mascara Dorada (5)
6 Ultimo Guerrero (6)
6 Extreme Tiger (6)
4 LA Park (3)
4 Diamante Azul/Cibernetico (3)
4 La Mascara (4)
3 Rush (3)

Ultimo Guerrero & Rush went into the crowd; I hope Rush didn’t do anything that will get him vanished for a while. This show will air Saturday night. It’s got the full time slot, so there’s a good chance to see Flamita (his match was edited down last time.) Flamita’s comments about wanting to be in Arena Mexico are interesting: his tour in Dragon Gate finished open ended, just like last time. He’s probably going back, but they didn’t make it clear when and he’s booked in Mexico thru the rest of the month.

CMLL’s press release on Matt Taven snuck in some important news: CMLL’s running a second major show on September 16. That’s two Fridays after the Anniversary show, and probably the September 7th announcement.

September 16 also happens to be Mexican Independence day. If CMLL hadn’t just done USA vs Rest of World, it would’ve made sense to do it on that day. CMLL’s run tournaments to end on Independence day before. They don’t have much time to start a normal length tournament between the shows, but they could always run a short Copa Junior or Leyenda de Azul if they simply want to run a trophy competition. That day should be an easy way to draw, and they may want to aim for something they can charge a lot more for.

Which brings up the possibility of other apuesta matches. I think there’s a good chance of another one happening in September, though every specific matchup has a low chance. It’s now a bit more interesting that Guerrero Maya & Dragon Rojo are matched up tonight, that Caristico and Mephisto did a dirty finish last night, that Zeuxis & Sugehit have made challenges, even that Atlantis & Mr. Niebla just happen to be on opposite sides tonight. The individual chance of any one of those apuesta matches happening is low (don’t get your hopes up), but collectively there’s enough possibilities out there that one might actually happen on 09/16. That show is now five weeks away, and that’s about the time where CMLL starts building things, so it’s something to watch for tonight.

The elephant in the room is the possibility two La Mascara matches: La Mascara defeating Dragon Lee for his mask on 09/02, then Rush avenging his brother by unmasking La Mascara on 09/16. I’m very doubtful that’s the plan. Reasons why:

• CMLL’s been very high on Dragon Lee since the moment he debuted. That sort of pattern might work for other families with bigger difference in family member statuses (Argos losing his mask to Mephisto to build up a Caristico win), but CMLL sees Dragon Lee as a future top guy. Pierroth would’ve been in this spot if it was simply a family build up win.
• And yet, Dragon Lee’s still relatively new, so La Mascara getting his mask is not going to help boost his career much.
• Normal lucha booking is one guy keeps outsmarting the other guy until the other guy wins the big match. (AAA’s doing the most extreme version of this right now.) Right now, La Mascara’s done almost all of the winning, which means Dragon Lee’s probably going to win at the end.
• WWE definitely had interest in Dragon Lee, but WWE interest apparently no longer means losing your mask soon after. Sombra did, but Mascara Dorada has not and has zero shown signs of doing so soon. (Lince Dorado also doesn’t seem to be getting unmasked at the moment.) WWE wanted Dragon Lee for the same competition as Mascara Dorada, so they probably want to keep him intact if they still have plans of bringing him in. Also, no one would count unmasking Sombra as a positive move right now, so they may be cautious at repeating it.
• ROH is bringing in Dragon Lee to recreate the feud with Kamaitachi, and it doesn’t work as well if Dragon Lee doesn’t look like the Dragon Lee in their previous matches (which are probably the only Dragon Lee matches most ROH fans have seen, if they’ve seen any.) It’d be a bad way to treat a new relationship by sending a ‘damaged’ guy over to ROH as the second guy over.

I feel like it’s at least a 90/10 bet Dragon Lee is winning. The caveat is I felt nearly as strong about La Sombra beating Atlantis last year, and I was absolutely totally wrong. I made mistakes that I’m fixing this time – not ignoring how the feud is playing out – but I’ve been fooled before. I’m biased by thinking it would be a tremendously poor decision for Dragon Lee (or by Dragon Lee) for him to lose his mask at this point in his career, but poor decisions are made sometimes. I wouldn’t be my house on it, I feel pretty safe that Lee’s winning and the 09/16 main event is going to be something not involving La Mascara, but I would lean towards playing up that possibility in the build to make the result more unclear if I was promoting the show.

To go back to what started this, Taven’s mentioned as working both 09/16 and other shows to be announced, so he’s likely in for a few weeks like the NJPW guys were.

CMLL has a show tonight too! On paper, it’s a simple build up show to the Anniversary. The main event continues the build to the top 2 matches for the Anniversary show, with Dragon Lee & La Mascara on opposite sides of a trios main event. They teaming with four people who will be in the trios title match, Mistico, Volador Jr., Ultimo Guerrero and Euforia. The other signed apuesta match, Rey Bucanero vs Super Crazy, meet in the lightning match this week. Those two have been on opposite sides of matches since 1995 (when Rey Bucanero was briefly Pirata Morgan Jr), but this is the first singles match I have on record. Both big matches should be good, but are there to build up the bigger matches three weeks from now.

The rest of the show are the usual random tag matches, which might go somewhere but probably will not. The semimian is Atlantis, Stuka & Valiente vs Gran Guerrero Mr. Niebla, and Barbaro Cavernario, which will probably have a good bit of comedy. Angel de Oro, Titan, and Guerrero Maya face Rey Escorpion, Polvora and Dragon Rojo in what’s probably going to be the the best match of the night. The second match is Hombre Bala Jr., Soberano Jr., Pegasso against Virus, Skandalo and Disturbio. Stukita, Shockercito face Demus, Mercurio in the opener.

Cult Icon also previews the show.

The show is back on the internet this week. CMLL’s announced they’ll air both this week and next week on their YouTube channel at the normal 8:30pm CT start time.

Meanwhile, Hijo del Santo starts his tour of Baja California tonight. The Tijuana show is unusually a Saturday night show, and he’s instead in Rosarito teaming with Rayman against Angel Blanco & Hijo del Medico Asesino.

CMLL also announced ticket prices, which are markedly down from last year. Quick disclaimers: CMLL posts what it costs at their ticket window, but I try to use the Ticketmaster price (including fees) since that’s what most fans will end up paying for the big shows. MedioTiempo has the numbers without fees. Also, I’m never sure how seriously to take the “front row” tickets for either AAA or CMLL major shows; many of those seats are held off the market by the promotion, and sold/given to sponsors, regulars, or other friends of the promotion. You may have to know someone to actually buy a ticket at the highest price. (In CMLL’s case, the cheapest tickets haven’t been put on Ticketmaster at all.)

Show	Mexican Pesos	US Dollar
2016 CMLL Anniversary	1989	109
2016 TripleMania	2160	118
2015 CMLL Anniversary	3724	204
2014 CMLL Anniversary	3724	204
2013 CMLL Anniversary	3724	164

CMLL prices are nearly cut in half from last year. It’s still the most expensive CMLL show of the year, but it’s an obvious adjustment for the level of match. CMLL & AAA are pretty close to each other this year. AAA’s prices drop off quicker, but are slightly higher than CMLL on the low end. (CMLL had the advantage of looking at AAA’s prices, since they came second.)

CMLL mentioned a photo exhibition during Wednesday’s press conference. The details are here: it’ll be 20 different Liverpool stores/malls from August 30th to September 23rd. They’ll have 13 photographs, taken since 2000, and they’ll have some autograph signings at the openings.

Cross Arm Breaker reviews La Fiera vs Bestia Salvaje from 1997.

Guerrero Maya Jr. is still really pushing for the mask match with Dragon Rojo in this interview.

Fenix faces Brian Cage on 10/28 in Clive, Iowa. Clive is on the wrong side of Iowa for me, probably couldn’t make it there until half hour into the show, and I’m still kind of thinking about it. (I’ll get lazy and not go later.)

On Lucha Time #2, Roberto Figueroa explains his fix for Mexico’s championships, and the third episode talks about the possibility of Hijo del Santo coming to Arena Coliseo Monterrey.

Mariachi Locos sing a challenge.

IWRG (WED) 08/10/2016 Arena Naucalpan [The Gladiatores]
1) Keiser Drago & Shadow Boy b Adrenalina & Fly Tiger
2) Dowki, Hanaoka, Yakuza b Black Dragón, Fireman, Omega
3) Alas de Acero, Aramis, Araña de Plata, Galaxy, Guerrero 2000 b Eddy Santos, Rosario Negro, Vengador, Viajero Extremo, Viajero Jr.
4) Bombero Infernal, Demonio Infernal, Hip Hop Man b Dragón Fly, Emperador Azteca, Hijo del Alebrije
Infernales & Hip Hop Man didn’t get along – the Infernales wanted to beat Dragon Fly themselves to avenge Demonio’s mask loss, but it was Hip Hop Man who stole the pine by unmasking Dragon Fly.
5) Black Terry DRAW Judas el Traidor [super libre]
bloody match, ending in a double pin draw. Hair match challenges were made, but no date was set.

Today’s Elite show has Ultimo Guerrero vs Rush and Atlantis vs Volador Jr., both which should be strong matches. The rest of the show is not bad. This show will air, but the Elite schedule is weird. They are airing both last week and next week’s episode, but it appears the last week’s episode is airing at the old 11pm Friday slot, and the new episode is at the new Saturday slot.

That also means we’ll be back to Elite and CMLL airing at the same time, since CMLL will be back on YouTube this Friday.

TripleMania tickets are on sale at Superboletos. The prices this year down run from 2160 to 240 Mexican pesos (118 to 13 USD). The high end seems lower than last year, but I can’t find that number to confirm. They also drop off quickly: the second most expensive section is 960 MXP. That makes some sense; the people who want are going to pay ringside are probably going to pay the same, and the bigger struggle is going to get the casual fans this year. AAA still hasn’t mentioned any iPPV/PPV plans

Tickets for the CMLL Anniversary show do not appear to be up yet.

Gran Metalik won his match last night on WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic. He will face the winner of Akira Tozawa and Jack Gallagher in the quarterfinals. (The match airs next week, and you can find out the result in usual places.) That quarterfinal match will be taped on August 26 and will air August 31 or September 7th.

Silueta, who hasn’t been seen since June, says she’s a month away from returning from injury.

Son of Havoc’s packed upcoming schedule suggests he’s not expected LU Season 4 taping to start any time soon, at least thru October.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

On Voices of Wrestling, JR Goldberg writes about Rush vs LA Park as a match to understand wrestling without needing context.

LA Park versus Rush as a match which doesn’t require context to understand.

Cross Arm Breaker reviews Atlantis vs La Fiera from 1992

Cult Icon and Ryan Plant write about the Lucha Underground 3 trailer. Cult Icon also writes about Sharlie Rockstar.

Dragon Lee doesn’t want Tirantes as referee for his match and is scared of losing his mask. La Mascara says Rush was scared to face him.

Funcion Estelar has a bio on the current As Charro, who debuted in 2012.

Pesadilla & Rocky Lobo talk about their DTU tag title defense on Saturday.

An article on a Lince Dorado wrestling seminar in Puerto Rico estimates there are 150 active luchadors on the island. “How many wrestlers are there?” is a random topic I find myself very interested in.

Mini Flash talks about his dream of making to AAA. Mini Flash is 12. He started at 7, but broke his arm and didn’t return until he was 11.

Reporter tries lucha training in Arena Mexico.

Lucha Libre in Japan

08/11 Freedoms: Miedo Extremo kept the DTU championship over Jun Kasai and Violento Jack beat Minoru Fujita.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 08/14/2016 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fireman vs Adrenalina
2) Astro & Black Dragón vs Picudo Jr. & Skanda
3) Dragón Fly, Emperador Azteca, Freelance vs Dowki, Hanaoka, Yakuza
4) Diablo Jr., El Hijo del Diablo, Imposible vs Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro [super libre]
5) Chicano, Pantera I, Súper Nova vs Killer Jr., Negro Navarro, Relámpago
6) Canis Lupus & Hijo De Dos Caras vs Máscara Año 2000 Jr. & X-Fly

X-Fly is back in Mexico, which is trouble for Mexico. Fourth match seems like they’re setting up a title match. Team Japan continues in the tercera.

Freelance is double booked; he’s supposed to face Arez in Xalapa on the same day. (Black Dragon & Killer Jr. are also double booked, but in the same state.)