This is so late the AAA’s already put up their preview: Pentagon vs Mundo will air this week. Also, I did such an inaccurate job last week that I didn’t have to change the Elite show (back in Naucalpan tonight) and Retro (though I may have to spend time editing myself out.)
Beyond the title match already set up, the Lucha Underground preview mentions the Rabbit Tribe debuting and something with Crane & Catrina (which probably means we find out Ivelisse’s status.)
The Elite show that airs in the US is probably my least favorite Elite show of the season. The matches are both disappointing and not any good, and the Liga Elite is essentially meaningless once they start handing out vanity titles. It’s really the moment where they should’ve pivoted to being a normal wrestling promotion. Sticking to the concept for a few more months gave us LA Park vs Rush, and I’m glad we got that, but the concept comes off as meaningless and soon descends into nonsense. The titles themselves have no value and have never been used.
The CMLL streams have two title matches this week: Polvora & Dragon Lee on Monday, Mephisto & Volador on Tuesday.
CMLL (TUE) 11/15/2016Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Martes de Glamour]
1) Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno b Mágico & Magnum Truenos took 2/3
2) Arkángel de la Muerte, Furia Roja, Hijo del Signo b Magnus, Star Black, Templario Templario’s first match in this building (and now a tecnico?) Hijo del Signo replaced Canelo Casas. Rudos took 2/3.
3) El Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Esfinge, Oro Jr., The Panther Rudos took 1/3.
4) Dragón Rojo Jr., Hechicero, Pólvora b Blue Panther, Drone, Valiente Rudos took 2/3.
5) Cavernario, Felino, Negro Casas b Carístico, Diamante Azul, Máximo Sexy Rudos took 1/3. Negro snuck in a foul on Caristico in the third.
Next week has Caristico & Negro in trios, so they’re setting up a single match, probably on 11/29. Really wish Guadalajara lucha wasn’t blacked out on the internet.
Even in Guadalajara, they’re making sure never to pin Drone. Universal champion Valiente took the pins instead. I think Grey Shadow got protected this way; it worked better with Mistico before him. We started 2016 hoping CMLL would do something with Hombre Bala and it appears they’re doing something in a big way.
(Templario is not the Templario who used to wrestle here if he’s debuting, I think.)
Tonight is the Leyenda de Azul. I don’t think it’s a coincidence this tournament is back the same time as the Blue Demon series is debuting on Blim. CMLL press release advertises it as “the return of Blue Demon“; the article mentions the show and says they mean the essence of Blue Demon. That headline make it sounds like Demon Jr. is showing up, which is probably not happening, and I wonder if we’ll see the actor who’s playing Demon make the presentation at the end.
The tournament itself is as random and pointless as most CMLL tournaments, without the history of starting plotlines or great matches that the Leyenda de Azul. It’s a cibernetico, ciberneticos can be good, but it could be one without a trophy at the end to mean the same. There’s no real plot going into the cibernetico either. It’s just an assemblage of 16 people: Atlantis, Stuka, Marco Corleone, La Mascara, Maximo, Diamante Azul, Valiente, Blue Panther, Ultimo Guerrero, Terrible, Mascara 2000 for some reason, Rey Bucanero, Gran Guerrero, Euforia, Hechicero and Kraneo. Valiente won the more important Universal tournament, literally anyone in this match could win the Leyenda de Azul.
Attendance should be up this week, probably not just because of this tournament. This weekend is “Buen Fin” in Mexico, an attempt to replicate the Black Friday shopping weekend from the US. There’s discounts on shows and merchandise across the country; CMLL is contributing with 10MXP tickets for kids. Hopefully it produces a hot crowd, because the undercard looks very good and could be great if the crowd is into it.
The semimain is Angel de Oro, Dragon Lee, Volador Jr. versus Cavernario, Felino, Negro Casas. That’s good. The Panther versus Okumura in a lightning match could be good. The unbeatable Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., and Rey Cometa take on Bobby Z, Dragon Rojo and Polvora, and that could be great. Fuego & Pegasso take on Tiger & Virus, a match I would die for on a Monday or a Tuesday that’s just being thrown out as a Friday opener. This could end up being one of the best CMLL shows of the year – it will be if everything delivers.
The show airs on ClaroSports at 8:30pm. This week is not a NJPW World week.
CMLL made a change to Sunday’s lineup: they try to avoid Pierroth facing his sons, so he and Ephesto will swap places. Ephesto’s now in the main event, Pierroth in the semimain.
The Nuevo Dinamtias promoted the bodybuilding contest in an interview with ESTO.
CMLL has an article talking the international traveling of it’s luchadors. They write about Reina Isis (who’s still in REINA in case you forgot) and Pierrothito (who’s resuming his work as Mascarita Dorada’s favorite opponent this weekend; Dorada is name checked.) One other fellow of some importance who is working internationally is Rush. As reported, he was Naito’s mystery partner last night in the World Tag League. Los Ingobernables won their opening league match over Tanahashi & Juice Robinson. Naito & Rush figure to do pretty well in this tournament, but, because the winners usually get the tag title shot at the Tokyo Dome and Naito already has a match, it’s unlikely they’ll win the whole thing. Rush will be in Japan for the next three weeks.
Elite Season Final
Today’s the “season final” of Elite. The Liga Elite was always meant to have a final, but this season finale concept seems like something to cover up a long gap before their next show and an uncertain future.
The main event is Rey Escorpion versus Caristico in the Liga Elite final. The tournament fell into nonsense months ago, so much so that they avoid directly referring to it on TV, and it’ll be interesting if they try to explain this at when it airs or if they just gloss over it. (Glossing over it is more the lucha libre way.) Rey Escorpion just beat Caristico in a singles match three weeks ago, and Caristico getting his win back makes the most sense if they’re not going to be able to follow up it for a while anyway. There still seems like there should be an apuesta match between the two of them, but it does not seem like it’s happening here any time soon.
None of the other people in the Liga Elite – not the people who are with CMLL, not the people who replaced them, not even guys like Ciberentico or Extreme Tiger who were with Elite the entire time – are on the show with the final.
Elite will also have a ten man cibernetico for the new Elite Welterweight championship. There’s no sure way to kill a title’s momentum than to hand it and do nothing with it, and that appears to be the plan here. (If Elite was so sure they were coming back, they would’ve been better off waiting to do this early next season.) Flamita is in this match, so Flamita is the best guy in the match, but Golden Magic, Argos and Bandido are more regulars for this group and figure to be in the title.
The rest of the show are random tag matches. Mr. 450 & Mr. Aguila (Team Mr.) take on Black Tauro & Team Willie Mack (Team wait a second); Mack’s confirmed he’s coming in for this show. Metaleon & Hijo del Pantera vs Fresero Jr. & Samoano are in the third spot, so they might sneak onto TV in some form depending on how long the other three matches go. Baronessa & Diosa Quetzal vs Muneca de Plata & Rossy Moreno, and Shadow Boy, Solaris, Sonic take on Atomo, Pequeno Warrior and Shaolin in likely dark matches.
The show starts tonight at 8:30pm. It’ll air next Saturday at 9pm on Azteca 7, and sometime in May in the US.
DTU in Arena Aficion
DTU had a show on Wednesday in Celaya, and Thursday in Arena Aficion. The bigger news was on the Thursday show
DTU (THU) 11/17/2016Arena Aficion [+LuchaTV]
1) Erwing & Irving b Masizito & Porrito money thrown in
2) Camuflaje b Lokillo, El Exótico, Moria, Niño De Cobre good match
3) Ángel o Demonio & Ovett b Rey Celesital & Tony Iron Rey Celestial replaced Rey Infierno. Gio & Junior were scheduled but were moved up.
4) Gallego & Mr. Cóndor b Jimmy & Kevin Kevin fould Mr. Condor but the referee was out of the ring. Mr. Condor did the same to Kevin, and the referee recovered in time. Nerds challenged the Diabolicos to a hair match for DTU 9.
5) Dalys & Zeuxis b La Magnifica & Lady Maravilla Lady Maravilla replaced Zuzu Divine.
6) Drastik Boy, El Gio, El Junior b Dragón Rojo Jr. & Pólvora Ronnie Mendoza wasn’t there, so Drastick Boy tried to fight 2 v 1. Gio & Junior arrived to help him out, and they won the 3 v 2 handicap match. Gio & Junior challenges for a tag title shot at DTU9.
7) Diva Salvaje & Yuriko b Cíclope & Crazy King Paranoiko & Toxico attacked Ciclope & Crazy King, setting up a match for DTU9. The Masizos accepted, and made up a barbed wire match.
8) Aeroboy, Black Fire, Negro Casas b Flamita, Hormiga, Mistico II Negro Casas cheated to beat Flamita for the second straight night. Flamita demanded a singles match. Black Fire & La Hormiga also confirmed their match.
DTU9, on 12/15 (Thursday) was announced as being the promotion’s first iPPV. There’s no details yet, no price or system. It’s a safe guess +LuchaTV is filming it, but that’s about all we know. The matches are
Negro Casas vs Flamita
Black Fire vs La Hormiga for the DTU Alto Impacto championship
El Gio & El Junior vs Dragon Rojo Jr. & Polvora for the DTU Nexo (Tag Team) championship
Paranoiko & Toxico vs Ciclope & Crazy King in a barbed wire match
Los Nerds (Jimmy & Kevin) versus Gallego & Mr. Condor in a hair match – not official yet, but clearly the plan
They’ll be more matches added and this card is already changing. It was probably Ronnie Mendoza & Drastick Boy challenging for the tag titles until Ronnie didn’t show last night, and DTU seemed like they were setting up a Zuzu Divine/Zeuxis match until Zuzu wasn’t there. Beyond the obvious technical issues, that’s the big obstacle for DTU to overcome – every show seems to have a few people missing, and that’s not going to do well for the promotion on iPPV.
DTU iPPV is a great unknown. I want it to work, not just because I want to see the show, but being able to say “even DTU figured out iPPV, I can’t believe [X] couldn’t get it to work” for the rest of time. But the history of iPPV – we don’t even especially know if it’ll be live at this point. It’d be less fun if it went up on delay like the CMLL Anniversary show, but it’d certainly work – this is going to be a first time iPPV for the promotion and the building, and Arena Aficion didn’t strike me as a great place for technology when I was there. This is going to be walking a tight rope. There’s no simple way to make sure it’ll work on show day, but I hope they’re doing a lot of testing beforehand.
There’s also a Reuters story (Spanish, English) story about DTU and extreme wrestling today too. It doesn’t tell you anything besides noting it exists, but that’s a help. The article mentions they’ve pulled an ESPN – “DTU” used to stand for Desastre Total Ultraviolento, but now just stands for DTU. They’re trying to be promote more diverse styles of wrestling.
Steel Dragon, the Yucatan luchador who impressed enough in last week’s DTU seminar to be part of a match with Flamita & Nino de Cobre, was written up in his local paper. He’s only 20 years old, has been wrestling since 2013, and was invited to the seminar by Crazy Boy when he worked in the area.
The DTU main title won’t be defended on this iPPV, because Violento Jack & Miedo Extremo are still trying to win it back in Japan. In the meantime, Miedo Extremo won the UWA Junior Heavyweight championship on the FREEDOM 11/17 show. He’s the first Mexican champion of the title from the defunct Mexican championship since 2001. I am fan of anyone who may take the UWA titles back from Japan. I hope they will all be buried right next to where El Toreo used to stand (possibly with Canek.)
Other Indies (we really need a better category for these promotions)
In the time since I’ve had time to write a post, CaraLuchas changed it’s 11/19 main event twice: first to Volador Jr. & Templario vs Flamita & Latigo, then they pulled Templario & Latigo back out to a singles match as originally planned, and the main event seems to be Volador Jr. vs Flamita vs TBD. Rey Fenix’s return date is maybe December, maybe 2016. CaraLuchas also announced Jack Evans would be on their 12/03 show.
Lucha Memes (SUN) 11/27/2016Arena Naucalpan
1) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, Alberto Dos Rios [Memes Rumble]
2) Arez, Astral, Belial, Impulso vs Alas de Acero, Aramis, Iron Kid, Shockercito and Freelance, Pantera I, Sádico, Último Dragóncito
3) Cavernario vs Negro Navarro lucha clasica
4) Star Jr. vs Soberano Jr. vsDragón Lee
5) Rey Cometa vs Laredo Kid [falls count anywhere]
6) Valiente vs Black Terry [super libre]
7) Felino vs Dr. Cerebro [el privilegio]
8) Hechicero vs Caifan three fall match
Final card for the show next week. Cavernario/Navarro and Star/Soberano/Lee were both announced in the last few days and both sound interesting. The three way match probably doesn’t last longer than 10 minutes because no one will survive that long, but it’ll be a great 10 minutes.
Lucha Memes has hinted at working on more with CMLL, including possibly a Hechicero title defense. A big difference between CMLL and the other similar promotions is Lucha Memes goes thru CMLL to get the CMLL guys (so CMLL gets a cut in exchange for keeping the day open), while other promotions go to the luchadors themselves (and CMLL may end up pulling those luchadors from the shows.) It also leads to ‘bigger’ matches, like the idea of having Mephisto defend his title on a previous Chairo show, and maybe that’s how they’d secure a Hechicero title defense too.
RIOT has a show this weekend, with Impulso vs Kratoz and Drastick Boy & Ronie Mendoza vs Arez & Belial among their matches. This is a show that should eventually show up on Powerbomb.TV, though I don’t think we know how fast the turnaround will be even when the service is up and running. Just already edited video out of Mexico and to people in the US can be a slow/frustrating process, so I’d advise people to keep expectations in check about how fast you may see some of these shows.
The week prior to the DTU show, Lucha Libre Boom on 12/08 has Volador vs Caristico vs Barbaro Cavernario vs Rey Fenix (if healthy) in the same building. Pantera, Freelance, Suicida vs Belial, Arez, Sadico is the semimain.
AAA has an interview with Pimpinela to hype the bull terrier match with Mamba in Ciudad Juarez. Even the usual AAA bit can’t find a reason for them to be having a match; Pimpinela just promises to have a good match. Those two aren’t even facing off in trios matches; the only time they’ve been in the ring in the last four months is Copa Antonio Pena, but they’re both exoticos so they’re supposed to feud forever.
