Ultimo Guerrero & Valiente advance, La Llave a la Gloria, LLB

CMLL (FRI) 02/17/2017 Arena México [CMLL, CultIcon, Estrellas del RIng, SuperLuchas, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Eléctrico & Stukita vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Sanely b Metálica, Reyna Isis, Tiffany
Tecnicas took 2/3.
3) Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Volador Jr. DQ Kráneo, Pierroth, Yoshitatsu
straight falls in a poor match, with Azul unmasking Pierroth for the DQ.. Azul & Pierroth agreed to a mask match at Dos Leyendas
4) Negro Casas & Ripper vs Terrible, Último Guerrero, La Máscara, Euforia, Dragón Rojo Jr., Hechicero [natl pi, seeding battle royal]
all rudos in the match
5) Atlantis & Euforia b Dragón Rojo Jr. & Guerrero Maya Jr. [natl pi, 8f]
Rojo unmasked Maya after the match
6) Rush & Terrible b Hechicero & Stuka Jr. [natl pi, 8f]
7) Último Guerrero & Valiente b Dragón Lee & La Máscara [natl pi, 8f]
8) Mistico & Negro Casas b Ripper & Titán [natl pi, 8f]
9) Atlantis & Euforia b Rush & Terrible [natl pi, quarterfinal]
10) Último Guerrero & Valiente b Mistico & Negro Casas [natl pi, quarterfinal]
11) Último Guerrero & Valiente b Atlantis & Euforia [natl pi, semifinal]
UG & Valiente face Volador & Cavernario next week

Ultimo Guerrero wins! Ultimo Guerrero winning next week seems like the most likely outcome.

The recaps are very definite on Pierroth and Diamante Azul agreeing to a mask match. The old theory was CMLL would never have Pierroth wager his mask because (as most people know), he’s already lost a mask in Arena Mexico. The old theory doesn’t appear to be correct. This would be a lackluster match for Homenaje a Dos Leyendas but that doesn’t seem to be a concern and the challenges are said to have gotten a big reaction.

There’s still a month away from the show, and time for the main event to change. The press conference locks it in – sometimes they come right after mask challenges like that, sometimes they wait until a couple weeks before the show.

LLB (FRI) 02/17/2017 Arena Lopez Mateos [+LuchaTV, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), R de Rudo]
1) Epidemia, Kid Jaguar, Osiris b Devil Terror, Macho IV, Macho V
2) Mini Pinochito b Felinito, Bracito De Plata, Súper Loco, Águila Solitaria, Caramelito, Panterita [LLB MINI]
Aguila was stretched out after hitting the barrier on a tope
3) Atomik Star, Fly Star, Heronia, Toxin Boy b Araña de Plata Jr., Crazy Star (F), Lunatik Fly, the Tiger (Tamaulipas)
Star Warrior (Black Warrior Jr.) attacked Atomic Star after the match.
4) Axxel, Fandango, Golden, Kempo Dragón b Ninja de Fuego, Sagrado, Shadow, Tony Rivera
Axxel submitted Sagrado. Challenges followed.
5) Carta Brava Jr. (IWL), Cerebro Negro, Fantasma de la Ópera b Apolo Estrada Jr., Eterno, Fresero Jr.
Fresero was stretched out.
6) Aero Boy & Violento Jack b Cíclope & Miedo Extremo and Ángel o Demonio & Ovett and Halloween & X-Fly
7) Black Warrior, Juventud Guerrera, Súper Crazy DQ Mr. Águila, Ronnie Mendoza, Volador Jr.
Volador replaced Carsitico (injury?). Warrior fouled Volador for the DQ.

Sounds like this was a good show from the people who were there. Seemed decently full in Arena Lopez Mateos. Still no update on how badly Caristico’s hurt, but obviously it’s some issue since he’s been gone all week.

Goya Kong won the women’s cage match in Arena Neza. Building looks about half full.

Saturday Arena Coliseo has Rush vs Ultimo Guerrero in the main event. AAA is in Tijuana with a three way tag match. Martinez is running a show with Violento Jack vs Penta in Texas.

Sunday Arena Mexico is a mostly normal show with a minis cibernetico. The final two face off next week for the vacant CMLL Minis championship. (That match probably should be stream this week, definitely next week, but no idea if either will be streamed.) Sunday’s match is the debut of Arena Puebla’s Astro, but he’s really more Contla, Tlaxcala’s Astro. His hometown paper notes he’ll be the first Tlaxcala luchador to wrestle in Arena Mexico in modern times. Tlaxcala is one of the smaller Mexican states, though densely populated. It just doesn’t seem to have much of a lucha libre infrastructure – most of the ‘locals’ working shows there are from nearby Puebla. (That article also mention Astro’s real name.)

A few more notes on the La Llave a la Gloria contest. The general message was the same as with the Psycho/Wagner mask match: everything’s not just fine in AAA, they’re having their biggest and best year ever. It’s not crystal clear how many winners there will be; some reports just mention one winner but second and third place awards, some said each a man/woman/mini/exotico, some said exotico was a maybe. I think it’s probably safe to assume they’re working all of this out as they go and not to expect to stick to exactly what they’ve said in February by the time TripleMania comes around. MedioTiempo’s report notes that AAA said luchadors beyond the winners may be signed, which makes sense and is the norm in any talent search. Dinastia, Mamba and Nino Hamburguesa were brought on as examples of people who’ve achieved the dream of making it to AAA. Dinasita won the Quien Pinta Por La Corona contest. Mamba & Hamburguesa did not, but did well enough that they were brought back in later on.

Vampiro emphasized they don’t need someone with great ability, but with great heart. The plan is to make this an annual thing. (Like with the previous contest, that’s probably up to the sponsors.) Vampiro hypes it as being previously impossible to join AAA, which I guess means Dave the Clown did the impossible. In truth, AAA doesn’t seem to have the time/resources to go search for talent that’s not presented to them, so this is a way to get more people to come to them. Vampiro says he’s going to have veterans like Wagner, Parka, Marvin, Averno and Chessman help him teach the new guys.

SuperLuchas is the only one I’ve seen so far who got a quote from Dorian Roldan about the logo. He says it’s tough to know who came up with what, but AAA definitely doesn’t want to offend, sometimes mistakes happen, and this is just the first teaser for La Llave a la Gloria – implying we’ll see a different logo in the future. (It’s really not tough to know; the Arizona lucha libre group had been using the logo for years, Dorian says this idea started six months ago. FWIW, I do suspect it was Record or Roshfrans who came up with this logo and Roldan is just being a good partner by not blaming them.)  Dorian also says Vampiro was one of many people AAA considered for the director of talent position, Dorian also reaffirmed the idea of closer bonds between AAA and Lucha Underground, saying that’s his goal as “head of Lucha Underground”. I know there’s some drama about the Lucha Underground organizational chart or whatever but, at least for the Mexican press, Dorian was presenting himself as the guy on the top of the pyramid.

Marco Corleone had thoughts about what AAA is actually looking for in this contest. People who win are going to be paid in mild TV exposure, and should expect not to be paid much in money beyond that. It’s very noticable AAA is promising chances but not saying how the winner is actually going to get paid for winning.

Alberto, Tinieblas Jr., Zumbi and Hip Hop Man are doing an interview on Wednesday. That could have more details on the Distriomania shows in May.

DTU announced Takashi Sasaki for their 03/24 show.

+LuchaTV has a new edition of Aqui Esta La Lucha

LuchaWorld has their latest podcast.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 02/24/2017 Arena México
1) Robin & Star Jr. vs Cancerbero & Raziel
2) Esfinge, Soberano Jr., Tritón vs Misterioso Jr., Okumura, Sagrado
3) Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys
4) Ángel de Oro vs Dragón Rojo Jr. [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone vs Pierroth, Rush, Yoshitatsu
6) Cavernario & Volador Jr. vs Último Guerrero & Valiente [natl pi, final]

Yoshitatsu seems to be with the Ingobernables on Fridays, but just a random rudo other days. Angel de Oro & Rey Bucanero did a split up on last week’s show, Dragon Rojo & Guerrero Maya did a split up last night, so obviously teh follow up is Angel de Oro vs Dragon Rojo. Should be good anyway. Main event really should be too.

CMLL TRAGEDIAS (SAT) 03/04/2017 Deportivo Pavón, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal
1) ? vs ??
2) Metálico & Skándalo vs Demasiado & Magnético
3) Marcela & Sanely vs Dalys & Zeuxis
4) Bobby Z & Dragón Rojo Jr. vs El Cuatrero & Sansón and Bengala & Rey Bucanero
5) Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Último Guerrero
6) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Máximo vs La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush

A Brazo de Plata 40th Anniversary show. He’s not wrestling on this one – though he is listed on one the next day. This is probably also a fundraiser for his medical expenses, and a 40 year veteran who’s been on top for 30 years still needing charily shows to pay for wrestling related injuries is probably a good reason not to join the wrestling business. Goya Kong & Psycho Clown can’t wrestle on the show, but will sign autographs.