Angel de Oro wins Reyes del Aire, Copa Junior begins next week

I thought Niebla Roja was saving his brother until he started to move him into positionCMLL (FRI) 04/07/2017 Arena México [CMLL, CultIcon, thecubsfan]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Mercurio & Pequeño Nitro
14:46. Rudos took 2/3.
2) Princesa Sugehit, Silueta, Skadi b Dalys, Metálica, Reyna Isis
14:42. Tecnias took 1/3.
3) Sam Adonis b Rey Cometa [lightning]
Added on Monday. 9:10, Adonis beat Cometa with a powerbomb and his feet on the ropes.
4) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Stuka Jr. b Kráneo, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
9:03. Tecnicos took 2/3. Atlantis challenged UG to a title match for this week.
5) Ángel de Oro b Carístico, Cavernario, Mistico, La Máscara, Volador Jr., Mephisto, Máximo Sexy, Euforia, Valiente, Luciferno, Niebla Roja, Dragón Lee, Hechicero, Titán, Gran Guerrero [Reyes del Aire]
29:44. Lucifierno replaced Ephesto on Monday. Tecnicos vs rudos. Eliminations: Luciferno (Volador), Titan (Cavernario), Gran Guerrero (Maximo), Dragon Lee & Mephisto at the same time (Hechicero & Volador), Valiente (La Mascara), Cavernario (Mistico), Maximo (Hechicero), Mascara (Caristico), Hechicero (Volador), Caristico (Euforia), Mistico (Niebla Roja), Niebla Roja (Volador), Volador (Euforia) and Euforia (Angel de Oro) seconds later. This is Angel de Oro’s third Reyes del Aire win. Caristico & Volador attacked each other during the match, with Mistico playing peacemaker. Niebla Roja generally got along with his partners.

Reyes del Aire was really good when a lot of people were involved. Like last year, it slowed down during an extended three way portion near the end (though at least this time we got a winner.) Angel de Oro was about the 12th or 13th most impressive guy in the match and it’s hard to grasp why CMLL is so strong behind him. He’s now ended Dragon Rojo’s title reign and won this competition in a short period of time. Perhaps they’re building to something – maybe a reunion with his brother – but Cavernario winning this last year really didn’t set up anything. Regardless of the finish, you’ll want to see this match.

Atlantis/UG came out of nowhere and seemed shoehorned in for no obvious reason. Not sure we need a second Ultimo Guerrero title match in about four weeks when there’s so many people they could choose for. It may be in service of whatever they’re doing with Niebla Roja. That breakup was not played up much last night – the Guerreros came out together, but Niebla Roja was hanging back from the other two.

The idea of a Zeuxis/Sugehit mask match as the big event on a 04/28 Arena Mexico anniversary show seems to be off. The Copa Junior Nuevo Valores final will take place on that date instead, and CMLL typically does not have two midcard singles matches on the same show. It’s not impossible CMLL could’ve moved it to the 04/30 Kid’s Day show – that’s gotten all the attention with no mention of an Arena Mexico anniversary show – but it doesn’t appear to be happening on a Friday night any time soon. (In possibly related news, WWE’s Women’s tournament was announced as “sometime in quarter two or three”, which suggests it may not take place until deep into the summer.) They’re the lightning match on Tuesday, so it hasn’t been totally dropped, but it looks like plans changed.

CMLL changed Tuesday’s title match. The Panther will now team with his father Blue Panther Sr., instead of his brother, to face Negro Navarro & Black Terry for the Arena Coliseo Tag Team championships. Not sure if it’s an injury or other reasons; Blue Jr. hasn’t been listed on any show since Tuesday.

Last week’s AAA episode is off their official YouTube channel because of a copyright violation notice from El Rey. If you own the rights to a video, you can ask YouTube to block (or monetize) any other video uploaded to the service which matches your video. In this case, the scenes from the Lucha Underground Netflix commercial matched up with El Rey’s video and an automated program took down AAA’s video. This probably can and will be cleared up (though it’s obviously not going a priority), and it’s more about the flaws in YouTube’s content blocking situation than anything AAA or LU did. It still looks bad and probably is frustrating for everyone involved.  It also may delay or prevent AAA from posting shows on that channel for the time being.

There’s a lucha libre photo exhibit open for one week only in Juarez.

Fuego en el Ring has the latest edition of their podcast.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 04/14/2017 Arena México
1) Shockercito, Stukita, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Nitro, Pierrothito
2) Soberano Jr. vs The Panther, Drone, Oro Jr., El Cuatrero, Canelo Casas, Hijo del Signo, Espanto Jr. [La Copa Jr. Nuevo Valores, semifinal]
3) Diamante Azul, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Ephesto, Mephisto, Negro Casas
4) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Mistico vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja
5) Último Guerrero © vs Atlantis [NWA MIDDLE]
11th defense

Atlantis has gotten title shots in Arena Puebla and Arena Coliseo, but not yet in Guadalajara, so this is not the magic fourth chance. (He’s also the Mexican Light Heavyweight champion, which means this title change would have to set up another.)

Semimain teams up Niebla Roja with the other Guerreros, so there’s going to be problems.

There’s a good four (Soberano, Panther, Drone, Cuatrero) and a not as good four (Oro, Canelo, Signo and Espanto) mixed in that Copa Junior. I’d bet on Soberano right now.

Five matches seems short. The eight man cibernetico is probably not going longer than a normal trios match. The main event may go longer, but the semimain may go short. Guessing another match may be added during the week.