CMLL (TUE) 01/24/2017 Arena México [CMLL, CultIcon]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Pequeño Universo 2000 & Pequeño Violencia 
tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Arkángel de la Muerte, Canelo Casas, Hijo del Signo b Flyer, Metatrón, Star Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Fuego b Skándalo [lightning]
4) Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Virus b Pegasso, Stigma, Tritón
5) Ángel de Oro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa b Ripper, Sam Adonis, Vangellys
Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Atlantis, Stuka Jr., Valiente DQ Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Terrible
Bucanero fouled Stuka.
Sounds like a just OK show. CMLL’s depth is not that great right now. Tuesday Arena Mexico is getting the people who aren’t big enough names to work the weekly Guadalara show, and the end of CMLL’s roster is iffy at best.
Penta, Daga and Garza Jr. all posted messages on Facebook resigning from the Perros del Mal yesterday. Daga & Pentagon both thank Perro for helping their career, recall that Perro told them they’d have to travel their own path someday, and said they’re doing that today. Garza’s is slightly different, praising Hector Garza as well and talking about how he wanted to represent the same group as Perro and Hector, but were told they couldn’t use the name and so will create a new one. The statements were well written and seemed coordinated.
At the AAA press conference, Dorian Roldan noted the Perros del Mal name is trademark of the family. Those statements suggest the Perros told the ex-AAA guys they couldn’t use it. We don’t know if Joe Lider will still use it. It would look silly for Lider and/or new people to be Perros del Mal and hopefully this is the end of it. We’ll find out on Friday.
TripleMania tickets went on sale yesterday, and the first four rows are already sold out. I figured they would go fast. AAA has super fans like any other promotion, who are going to find a way to pay to be there for the biggest show of the year. Maybe the rest of the building will be slower, but maybe not. They filled the place with Pagano/Psycho last year, Wagner/Psycho is already a bigger deal. Even with nothing else on the card, AAA will do fine on that show. The rest of the year is trickier, but this show seem should fine.
After the press conference, Dorian Roldan told R de Rudo “there is great possibility” the Lucha World Cup is run in a different country this year. This came up last year, with Dorian saying he’d prefer to run it in the US while Victoria was leaning towards Japan. Victoria foots the bill for this event, so it’s ultimately their call. I got a question about this on Twitter if California was a possibility, and it got me thinking about the MMM conversation with Eric Van Wagenen. Van Wagenen hinted at live shows late spring/early summer out in California where the hosts live. I presumed he meant Lucha Underground branded shows, and maybe that’s just what they are. But, that description also would fit a May date for a Lucha World Cup. I dunno; there’s not enough to here to be even slightly confident, but just a thing to consider.
AAA also handed out their current taping schedule for the year at the press conference. You can see the pre-TripleMania press shows here. The post TripleMania has a few more tentative dates (though probably everything is subject to changes) and I’m adding it to the big AAA chart. This stuff really interests me, and the stuff that I found the most interesting.
- Rey de Reyes, AAA’s next big show, appears to be on 03/19 in Monterrey. That show is at the bull ring and a later show at Arena Solidaridad. They’re not running Arena Coliseo Monterrey (Multimedio’s venue.)
- AAA is coming to Tijuana on 04/21. It’s their first show there since 2005, and interesting since that’s the The Crash’s hometown. (It’s probably with local promoter EMW, since they’ve been bringing in AAA talent regularly.)
- There’s a big break between tapings in late April/first half of May. That’s where the Lucha World Cup has gone in previous years, and that sort of break fits with AAA traveling elsewhere for a week.
- There’s no obvious Verano de Escandalo date. It really doesn’t fit the calendar to have one – TripleMania’s going to be the biggest thing in mind after the World Cup – but there’s a bunch of tapings who could use the name.
- AAA’s taping quickly after TripleMania, four days later in San Luis Potosi. That might allow them to keep most or all of TripleMania off free TV.
- The Hard Rock show is September 16, the same time as usual.
- Heroes Inmortales is either in Pachuca or Queretaro as listed now
- They don’t list the December locations, but it does appear they plan on returning to traditional year ending Guerra de Titanes instead of starting the year with it (as has happened the last two years.)
- I haven’t counted it up yet, but there seems like more tapings this year. That means more tapings which only last one week, which is probably a good thing with their current roster depth.
- AAA is in Mexico State the next couple of tapings and runs Neza in July, but that’s it for Mexico City area adjacent shows outside of TripleMania. They could always add Naucalpan or Juan de la Barrera later on, but it’s not there now.
There’s a couple of other unusual places, and the weirdness of going to the relatively small state of Tlaxcala three times in about six weeks, but it looks like a normal AAA year. Most of the shows listed are sold shows – the local promoter is paying AAA a fee to bring them in, with the idea they’ll sell enough ticket to profit. These deals were surely made before the departures, but do indicate the local promoters still feel like AAA’s a solid investment.
Texano replaces Pentagon Jr. in Arena Aficion on Tuesday.
Alberto dos Rios defeated Negro Navarro in Monterrey on Sunday – and then announced he was retiring for personal reasons. He’s not even 20, so maybe we’ll see him again someday.
CultIcon writes about downfall of AAA.
The latest En+Carados podcast has Daga, Keira, and Hijo del Tirantes as guests.
LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.
Segunda Caida reviews the MS-1 vs Sangre Chicana hair match from 1983, the best match of the year.
The Crash announced Blue Demon Jr. for 02/25. Hope he’s getting the match with Ricochet.
Lineup
CMLL (TUE) 01/31/2017 Arena México
1) Magia Blanca & Sangre Imperial vs El Coyote & Grako
2) Flyer, Robin, Sensei vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Metálico, Sangre Azteca
3) Tritón vs Raziel [lightning]
4) La Jarochita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs La Metálica, Reyna Isis, Tiffany
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther vs Negro Casas, Puma, Tiger
6) Carístico, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Euforia, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero
Panthers versus Casas again! And maybe the main event will be good. I have no idea what why the women’s match is fourth; there’s not big names in the early matches, I guess. CMLL’s not exactly doing more with Triton this time than they did last time.