AAA on Televisa: 2017-05-13 

this makes it look like she’s just moonsaulting a table for fun

Recapped: 05/14/2017

Matches:

All matches were taped in Auditorio de Tijuana on 04/21/2017.

Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria defeated Australian Suicide & Bengala  for the AAA World Tag Team Championship (6:17, double submission, via Lucha Libre AAA, good)

Taya defeated Ayako Hamada to win the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship in a street fight (17:00, ref stop, via Lucha Libre AAA, great)

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Soul Rocker defeat Dr. Wagner Jr., Faby Apache, Psycho Clown to win the AAA World Trios Championship
(8:37, pinfall, via Lucha Libre AAA, ok)

What happened: 

a rare moment of happiness for tecnicos

This is long.

Prior to the main event, a still bloody Taya (w/Kross) sarcastically wished Faby luck and made a comment about Mary. Faby slapped Taya immediately, and Kross just as quickly started choking Faby. Psycho Clown and Dr. Wagner show up, and Taya gets Kross to back off so they can leave.

Mocho Cota demanded the trios title match no matter what Vampiro had to say about it or who Faby had to team with. He was shocked that Faby, looking sad, actually turned up. They teases she was just going to hand the belts over to Poder del Norte, and then she revealed she had actually tag partners. Cota wanted to know who these tag partners were, and Wagner’s music played. (And Psycho’s video played oops.) The rudos freaked out over these partners.

Monster & Murder run in for no particular reasonI guess Wagner had a pinfall chance off a DDT, but he wasn’t going to win on it and there’s no real reason for Murder & Monster to be involved here. No one bothers to distract Piero this time, and the interference that would’ve been a DQ on another show is all OK this week. Monster & Murder take out Poder del Norte and act like they want to be friends with Psycho, but Wagner & Psycho send them out. They try to do stereo spots where the Traidor clowns catch Carta & Soul Rocker diving, and then Psycho & Wagner knock them over with their own dive. It does much worse for Murder & Carta first, but Wagner’s dive on them looks cool. Mocho and Faby are left, Faby gets a near fall on a picture perfect German suplex, then dropkicks Piero by mistake. She gets a visual three on a huracanrana, but Taya sneaks back in, and hits her with a chair. Cota covers, and Hijo del Tirantes comes in for three count. I think he might be a heel again. Psycho consoles Faby as the champs leave. Wagner loos like hes about to say something but never gets around to it before they cut away.

a huge suplex

Taya wears a Vancouver Canuck jersey to the women’s title match. Ayako has a Perros del Mal shirt and has the scratch logo as facepaint. Both wrestle in jeans for the street fight. Taya bleeds off a chair shot to the head (with her hands up); for once, AAA keeps the cameras away while someone’s cutting themselves to not expose it.

There’s a weird spot double ko spot where Piero counts two, holds up at three because for them to get up, but neither woman seems to move. Fans notice. Late in the match, Ayako misses a moonsault to the floor – it’s her second miss, but this one’s thru a table. Taya brings her in, Ayako kicks out as a surprise, but Taya puts her in a chinlock surfboard and Ayako passes out in the hold. Piero stops the match and the title changes hands.

Vampiro interrupts the post match so he can put over the match as the best thing ever. It does work in getting them a round of applause Meanwhile, Ayako’s put on a backboard.

Scoria & Cuervo did an interview quickly mentioning Bengala & “Aerostar” as their opponents. Poor Suicide didn’t even get mentioned, and they really focused on Pagano & Mesias anyway.

this is shot terribly, but the ladder flying cross ring makes it look violent

The champs beat up Suicide & Bengala after the match for no real obvious reason. Pagano & Mesias walked in for the save, but also brawled with Suicide & Bengala. Aerostar & Drago also ran in and attacked, and security came in behind them. Cuervo & Scoria snuck away while the other teams kept fighting.

Suicide melted down backstage after the loss, freaking out about people getting involved in his matches all the time (which didn’t actually happen this time) and talking about being pushed over the edge. Seemed like a character change is coming.

The upcoming events schedule lists a 06/30 Puebla taping, which wasn’t previously on the schedule. Not sure which it replaces yet.

Noti AAA had a obituary video package for El Apache and scenes from a mass for Joaquin Roldan & Apache with Marisela talking about them both. There was also hype for the Pachuca taping.

Thoughts: 

AAA ladder will get you

The main event was a mixed bag. Crowd was totally into it when everyone was involved, and not as much when it was Wagner in there alone – AAA is doing about as good as can with Poder del Norte in the moment, but the lack of a build up to this spot they just don’t buy these guys as threats to top guys on their own. The works was (mostly) ok and Mocho Cota is doing well for a guy who’s suddenly been given a lot of talking time, but they’re not getting past their opening match stigma and nothing done here is going to help them. AAA’s given up their ideas about rules making sense in about the usual length of time, so they could have everyone out there to set up the six way match for Verano de Escandalo, but they still didn’t explain it in a way people would know it’s coming.

Ayako/Taya was most compelling AAA match so far this year, the first one I’m recommending. This came off as an attempt to match the lunacy and violence of some of Taya’s bigger Lucha Underground matches, and Ayako is definitely up for some crazy times. I thought one moonsault to nowhere was big, she decided to do two. The blood added a lot to the feeling of the match being out of control. The solid/smoothiest of the moves wasn’t consistent – Taya tossed a chair to Ayako quite a few times and the kick or whatever that followed looked good only about half of those times – but they got the emotion right and a little bit of messiness works for a street fight. Ayako being back around has been a huge help for AAA, and great for Taya – this is her best singles match in her run, I think. The passing out finish isn’t one usually done here and I wasn’t sure how it was going to get over as it was happening, but the crowd reacted loudly to the finish. It also sets up a rematch nicely, and they’re going to have interest in doing one.

La Secta’s title defense was better than the title switch match easily, a full out sprint for the six minutes it lasted. Cuervo & Scoria didn’t do much interesting but also didn’t have time to do all that much, with the match instead being built around giving Bengala & Australian Suicide as many near falls as possible before they got finished off. They had some nice team work and Suicide’s top rope moves looked pretty. If they were only going to go a short time, they got the most they could out of it. Post match idea of Cuervo & Scoria slipping away fits with the Pagano/Mesias stuff seems to be pushing the idea that they’re the really good at manipulating other people, which is at least a character trait. Mesias & Cuervo’s punch battle was not so good.

one more brief happy moment

CMLL weekend results, Alvarados non-update, FULL

CMLL (SAT) 05/20/2017 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Acero & Stukita b Pequeño Universo 2000 & Pequeño Violencia
2) Canelo Casas, Nitro, Templario b Leono, Príncipe Diamante, Sangre Imperial
3) La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Sanely b La Comandante, La Seductora, Metálica
Jarochita replaced Estrellita.
4) Drone, Fuego, Rey Cometa b Hechicero, Luciferno, Niebla Roja
Niebla Roja betrayed his teammates
5) Pierroth, Rush, Sam Adonis b Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
Sam Adonis replaced La Mascara

Nothing was all that notable that happened on this show except for La Mascara not appearing. It was reported that Mascara’s name is no longer on the Los Ingobernables flag, but I can’t find a picture to confirm.

CMLL (SUN) 05/21/2017 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Cholo & Yago b Bengala & Fiero
2) Cancerbero, Espanto Jr., Raziel b Flyer, Magia Blanca, Robin
rudos took 1/3. Robin wrestled scheduled.
3) Oro Jr., Pegasso, Soberano Jr. b Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
tecnicos took 1/3, first by excessive violence DQ
4) Cavernario, Kráneo, Sam Adonis b Johnny Idol, Stuka Jr., Valiente
Rudos took 1/3
5) Atlantis, Carístico, Marco Corleone b Gran Guerrero, Mr. Niebla, Último Guerrero

and this was a normal show too. There’s really no movement on this story from Saturday afternoon. CMLL is thought to be addressing the situation on Monday.

The Alvarados/UG video was picked up by Reforma, Record, and by wire services. Maximo traveled to Chicago to and wrestled as scheduled; you can see his match (starts with about 20 minutes left in this video) with iffy audio. He threw out defending the heavyweight title in the usual challenges that didn’t seem to be going anyway and otherwise went on as if everything was normal. Robin did wrestle tonight in Arena Mexico, so he remains in CMLL.

Vampiro claimed the true reasons behind the vandalism haven’t been reported in a defense of the incident. It certainly seems like AAA will be open to bringing them if the guy in charge of talent sees the big problem as the reporting of the incident and not the incident itself.

Fantasma said he has not received an official complaint from Ultimo Guerrero so he can’t act on anything. Ultimo Guerrero is probably more likely to go to police and not the lucha libre commissioner. In theory, Fantasma could impede Mascara & Maximo’s ability to work in Mexico City if Ultimo Guerrero complains to him, but Fantamsa seems to have a good relationship with AAA and any investigation into the matter could easily last past Friday’s TV taping. This is just something to file for later.

FULL (SUN) 05/21/2017 Carpa Astros, Tlalpan, Distrito Federal [+LuchaTV, MedioTiempo]
1) Ángel Del Amor, Saru, Shadow Boy b Luzbel Jr., Pequeño Warrior, Rider
2) Reina Dorada b Ludark Shaitan, Lady Apache
Ludark was eliminated first, but interfered to cost Apache the match.
3) Pibe Alfajor & Zumbi b Hip Hop Man & La Mosca (Argentina)
4) Garza Jr., Hijo De Dos Caras, Intocable, Zorro b Alan Stone, Pirata Morgan, Rey Escorpión, Silver King
Pirata & Rey Escorpion attacked Latin Lover before the match. Escorpion fouled Zorro at the end of the main, only for Latin to foul Escorpion.
5) Blue Demon Jr., Cibernético, Tinieblas Jr. b Mr. Águila, Roy Knight, Zak Knight
6) Alberto el Patrón b Jack Swagger

FULL ran basically a variation of the same show in Puebla on Friday and Toluca on Saturday. Escorpion and Latin Lover have a run-in early on the show to built to Latin tripping him up later. Latin teases a return to lucha libre too, so maybe they’d have him return with Escorpion.

That fourth match also has a person on AAA TV (Pirata Morgan) versus a person who quit AAA (Garza). I would assume Pirata’s got the freedom to work wherever he wants at this point, because that seems like that he’s doing.

The turnout seems to be disappointing; half house if not lower. These are not tiny venues, they’d be fine by normal indie standards, but these are more expensive shows than normal indie shows. The way FULL (and media) seems to be avoiding showing the crowd seems to indicate they’re embarrassed or disappointed. Fan shots shows a lot of empty seats. It’s better when FULL tried Carpa Astro for their own TV show, but – between this and The Crash – just putting Alberto on a card in Mexico City does not guarantee a big turnout. In lead up press, Tinieblas talked up the idea of doing more Alberto versus ex-WWE guy tours, but I’m not sure if that’s a viable concept.

It looked like FULL taped this, though there’s no telling if/when we’ll see it and it doesn’t exactly seem the way

AAA posted this week’s episode.

Black Terry Jr. has photos of the Gimnasio Hercules show.

Liger Fever has a recap of the latest Podcast BOOM.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 05/27/2017 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono & Sensei vs Rocky Casas & Templario
2) Astral, Bengala, Magnus vs Artillero, Canelo Casas, Nitro
3) Esfinge, Fuego, Pegasso vs Disturbio, Metálico, Virus
4) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther vs Cuatrero, Máscara Año 2000, Sansón
5) Kráneo, Ripper, Stuka Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Rey Bucanero, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]

Box Y Lucha posted these upcoming weekend lineups, which are usually listed in the magazine and so set by CMLL 10 days or so in advance; they sometimes change before they’re official. This weekend, nothing major appears to have changed, so Maximo and Mascara weren’t booked to start with.

I have no idea what the deal is going on with the main event, only they seem to have lesser people involved besides the odd sides. Maybe a Ripper/Angle de Oro match comes out of it?

CMLL (SUN) 05/28/2017 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Violencia
2) Magnus, Príncipe Diamante, Starman vs Akuma, Inquisidor, Sangre Azteca
3) Estrellita, La Jarochita, Silueta vs La Comandante, La Seductora, Metálica
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Soberano Jr., Titán vs Hechicero, Terrible, Vangellys
5) Atlantis, Carístico, Mistico vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas

This is a more normal show.

CMLL (SUN) 05/28/2017 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr. vs El Destructor
2) El Patriarca & Mr. Ángel vs Carlo Roggi & Mr. Apolo
3) Black Sugar, Fantástico, Tigre Blanco vs Demonio Rojo, Gran Kenut, Guerrero de la Muerte
4) Cosmos, El Divino, El Rielero vs Difunto, Relámpago Azul, Thunder Boy
5) Omar Brunetti, Star Black, Vaquero Jr. vs Exterminador, Maléfico, Nautilius

Lots of new names; none appear to be Guadalajara indie guys coming in under established indentities, but either old gimmicks being given a new person (like Tigre Blanco) or people from far away traveling in.

Maximo & La Mascara fired by CMLL for smashing Ultimo Guerrero’s car

La Mascara & Maximo have been fired from CMLL for their roles in destroying Ultimo Guerrero’s car on Friday morning in incident captured by video, according to SuperLuchas. (I was told the same this morning, but was unable to confirm it.) Maximo is currently the CMLL heavyweight champion. La Mascara is CMLL’s current CMLL Light Heavyweight champion. Neither of those belts mean all that much. Both are free agents and would be obvious signings by AAA, but pending civil and criminal lawsuits may stand in the way. CMLL has made no public statement on this situation as of Saturday afternoon (and may not until Monday).

Mascara is still being advertised for tonight’s show in Arena Coliseo, but will not work that or any other shows for CMLL. Maximo is additionally advertised as being on the annual DragonMania show next Saturday, a tag match with Marco opposite Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero of all people, but probably will not work that show either. AAA has a previously scheduled TV taping on Friday in Mexico City, and they theoretically would be free to work that show.

This all stems from the death of Brazo de Oro and the future of the CMLL in house union. While the organization is usually quickly referred to as a wrestler’s union, it’s kind of not either: SuperLuchas points out it technically represents a different group of people and the head of the union is led by someone appointed by CMLL head Paco Alonso (instead of actually controlled by the people who work there, like a normal union.) Brazo de Oro had run the union for the last couple decades, and there had always been quiet rumors of corruption and favoritism, but no one wanting to speak publicly about it for fear of reprisal. Those who disagreed with the union felt it supported management more than the wrestlers, took bribes to get around drug tests, and generally stole from the wrestlers, but there was nothing they could really do about it.

Nitro is currently technically head of the union – he had a role with the group and was next in succession when Brazo de Oro passed. La Mascara wanted to take over his father’s role in the union, fitting the dissenter’s sense that the union was more a Alvarado family business than something representing them. There was a meeting on Thursday where the future of the union was talked about, and Ultimo Guerrero said negative things about Brazo de Oro, maybe voicing some of those complaints, and possibly said some negative things about La Mascara replacing him. La Mascara and Maximo were there. The Alvarados were angry, and smashed up Ultimo Guerrero’s car.

It’s not clear Ultimo Guerrero even wanted to be head of the union himself, but saying negative things about the union and paying a price was the reason everyone had stayed quiet about it until now. In the end, it’s still Paco Alonso who gets to decide who’s head of this union and it’s not clear who he’ll pick. It’s also Paco Alonso who gets to pick who’s working for CMLL, and he’s decided La Mascara and Maximo will no longer work there.

Ultimo Guerrero indicated on Facebook he’s going to press charges. That’s a fair response to what happened, but also complicates the next step for La Mascara & Maximo. AAA is absolutely going to want to sign them. They desperately want names. Latin Lover revealed he was contacted by Vampiro about coming back a few weeks ago, and it’s been clear they’ve been looking to bring in starts this year to offset the losses with not a lot of success. It would be perfect timing for Maximo & Mascara to debut this coming Friday on their Mexico City taping, but would risk very bad press given this situation. It’s unclear if AAA is really worried about bad press at this point. (There were also rumors of WWE being interested in La Mascara last year. That might be something he’ll be looking into again.) Psycho Clown may also be facing legal charges since he was part of the incident.

CMLL owns the trademarks to La Mascara, Maximo Sexy and Los Ingobernables. They were in a protracted fight for simply “Maximo” with a non wrestling business, did not get it, and that’s why Maximo Sexy had the awkward name change. He could make another change, and La Mascara had already suggested changing his name to something Brazo de Oro related.

This situation may end up sucking in a lot more than these three people. He’s not been identified because he’s not as big a name as his cousins, but I’ve been told Robin was part of this as well. He may be fired, or he may just quit to go along with his family (that sort of jump worked out a lot for Argenis & a little bit for Argos.) Brazo de Plata is unlikely to return to CMLL, as had been his plan – he’s going to stay loyal to his family. You can keep spiraling it from there – how does this affect La Mascara’s great friend Rush? The rest of Rush’s family? Negro Casas with his son in law involved? Two main event CMLL luchadors being fired would be big in itself, but this has the potential to really change the landscape of lucha libre.

That video out there changes everything. It’s no surprised it got passed around and leaked after it was taken, but it was taken in the first place. I made a mistake yesterday – CMLL’s parking garage is public, but there are private restricted areas in there, and that’s where the incident looks to be taking place. Whoever took that video probably had a good idea it was going to happen, and wanted it on film for their own reasons. This is just a story, maybe even an urban legend without that video.

CMLL (FRI) 05/19/2017 Arena México [CMLL, CultIcon, thecubsfan]
1) Magnus & Sensei b Akuma & Espíritu Negro CMLL 2017-05-19 (posted by thecubsfan)
11:05. Tecnicos took 1/3.
2) La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Silueta DQ Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis CMLL 2017-05-19 (posted by thecubsfan)
14:47. Tecnicas took 2/3, the last by DQ when Zeuxis unmasked Princesa Sugehit
3) Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. DQ Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Sagrado CMLL 2017-05-19 (posted by thecubsfan)
15:52. Tecnicos took 2/3, the last by DQ when Polvora fouled and unmasked Stuka. Sagrado replaced Bobby Villa.
4) Cavernario b Titán [lightning] CMLL 2017-05-19 (posted by thecubsfan)
9:17. Cavernario submitted Titan to a cavernaria.
5) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Valiente b Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero CMLL 2017-05-19 (posted by thecubsfan)
7:22. Tecnicos took the match in straight falls. Niebla Roja tripped up UG to cost him the first fall, then superkicked UG in the second fall. The Guerreros were rolled up while beating up Niebla Roja. Angel de Oro helped his brother. UG kicked out Roja out of the group and demanded the mask back. Roja dared UG to take it, and UG attacked and took the mask. Roja ended up wearing an Angel de Oro mask.
6) Carístico, Marco Corleone, Mistico b Ephesto, Mephisto, Negro Casas CMLL 2017-05-19 (posted by thecubsfan)
11:16. Tecnicos took 2/3. Marco Corleone replaced Maximo.

This show was good. I’m so not going to remember this show from this weekend.

FULL’s tour started in Puebla, though it started more than an hour and half late. They posted some results and some videos from the show, but seemed cautious to avoid crowd shows. The floor seats seemed reasonable full as Alberto and Jack Swagger (wrestling in something like basketball shorts and looking in less than great shape) brawled thru them. A photo about an hour after it was supposed to start (and 40 minutes before it did) showed the building around 10-15% full. It must’ve gotten better, but I suspect it didn’t get a lot better the way they were showing it. FULL tries their luck in Toluca tonight, and has the biggest show of the tour in Mexico City on Sunday.

Diosa Quetzal lost her mask to Keira in their mask match last night.

Vampiro, in a since deleted Facebook post, mentioned he was really unhappy and loud with unnamed wrestlers at the TV taping in Pachuca.

Besides the Coliseo show, RIOT has a show in Arena LLF in Monterrey with Ultimo Ninja vs Flamita.

Silver King & Santo Jr. are in Guatemala, and teased a fight at the press conference to build up the match.

Mr. Niebla still wants Atlantis’ mask on the Anniversary show.

Kcidis draws luchadors’s wants for the Anniversary show.

RobViper has a music video of 10/28/16 ELITE.

+LuchaTV put up the Rush/Masada cage match from MDA complete.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 05/26/2017 Arena México
1) Flyer & Oro Jr. vs Cancerbero & Raziel
2) Fuego, Star Jr., Stigma vs Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Virus
3) Blue Panther Jr., Rey Cometa, The Panther vs Puma, Sam Adonis, Tiger
4) Stuka Jr. vs Pólvora [lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro, Mistico, Niebla Roja vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
6) Carístico, Marco Corleone, Valiente vs Mr. Niebla, Pierroth, Rush

Niebla Roja is still listed on the rudo side the rest of the week, but starts as a tecnico here. Mr. Niebla being the fill in for someone missing the show is weird.

CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-05-19 

FINALLY

Recapped: 05/19/2017

Matches: 

All matches aired live from Arena Mexico and can be seen on YouTube. My feed was iffy for the start of third match, and I had to restart the stream.

Magnus & Sensei defeat Akuma & Espíritu Negro (11:05 [4:12, 3:06, 3:47], winning falls 1/3, good)

La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Silueta defeat Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis (14:47 [6:54, 3:09, 4:44], 2/3 DQ, good)

Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. defeat Sagrado, Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora
(15:52 [4:02, 2:44, 9:06], 2/3, good)

Cavernario defeated Titán in a lightning match (9:17, cavernaria, good)

Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Valiente defeat Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero
(7:22 [4:55, 2:27], 1/2, ok)

Carístico, Marco Corlone, Mistico defeated Ephesto, Mephisto, Negro Casas
(11:16 [4:51, 2:06, 4:19], 2/3, good)

What Happened:

timing

Niebla Roja and Los Guerreros finally split. Niebla Roja had been refusing to participate in rudo tactics and wanting to wrestle only cleanly since March 28th. On this show, Niebla Roja would not fight his brother Angel de Oro, and tripped up Último Guerrero to cost him the first fall. The Guerreros confronted Niebla Roja, who still refused to work with his partners and cut off Último Guerrero with a superkick as he was going for his over the barricade elbow smash. Gran Guerrero immediately attacked Niebla Roja. The Guerreros brought Roja back to the ring to rip his mask off, but were cradled for the straight fall win.

Angel de Oro saved his brother after the match, and the two sets of brothers faced off. Último Guerrero kicked Niebla Roja out of the group, and demanded Roja return the mask and make his own name if he truly believed he was good enough to go on his own. Roja dared UG to take the mask and UG did, storming in the ring and ripping it off Niebla Roja in a scrum. Roja ended up wearing an extra Angel de Oro mask.

The big outside the ring storyline saw Marco Corleone replaced Máximo, following the incident between the Alvardos and Último Guerrero’s car earlier in the day. CMLL made no statements about the incident and Último Guerrero passed on the usual post match interview.

Sagrado also replaced Bobby Villa.

The second and third matches both ended in mask pulls. Zeuxis unmasked Princesa Sugehit in their continuing rivalry, while Pólvora fouled and unmasked Stuka for no particular reason.

Review:

the dropkick!

The crowd was well into the main event, but it felt like it pushed the guys into it to do more than just coasting on. Carístico was moving really well and had a smooth match. Casas had fun playing opposite of Marco Corleone. Mistico looked super. It was just a better version of the usual show closing match, but it came off as definitely a better verison.

It really didn’t matter how good the semimain was, it was just great to finally have Niebla Roja (apparently, hopefully) broken up with the Guerreros. What they did here was good, and would’ve been more appreciated if it didn’t take so long to get there. They had a good brothers versus brother direction to come out of it, they know what they’re doing, it’s just been a little bit slower

many Misticos, many dives

The lightning match was a fun match with the old rivals breaking out a lot of the usual tricks but doing it well. It was the best of the group of good matches to me. They pushed the time limit pretty far while keeping in a pace, and it felt more creative than the usual lightning match. Titan’s timing on his moonsault was incredible and needed Cavernario to be ready for him. Cavernario is really good and I hope he gets moved onto Soberano sometime this year.

The tercera was pretty fun until the finish, which didn’t make any real sense in the context of the match or with it having just happened about the same way in the last match. Sagrado was at his best being a jerk to everyone and the getting kicked in his head. All the big dive spots got over, and the técnicos generally had a lot of good offense. Dragon Rojo seemed to almost take himself out with a double stomp but everything else went ok. I like all the first three matches about the same and can’t decide if that means they’re all good or all OK.

The segunda one of the better women’s matches in a while, with the six women working well together. Silueta had a really good match, asked to cary a lot of action and doing it smoother than usual. Zeuxis was very good as always, the dropkick was as awesome as always and her partners did well. Jarochita wasn’t a big presence but her dive went well and she’s willing to get killed by big moves. Sugehit had some odd moments but was overall positive.

The opener was a bit better than usual. Espíritu & Magnus aren’t around much and were fresh. Espíritu does enough weird things – the flip bump especially – that he sticks out in these. Maybe I wouldn’t feel that way if he didn’t disappear for six months a time. Magnus was sharp. He’s also much thicker than he used to be – not out of shape, but he’s put on weight without it hurting his flying, bigger than most of the técnicos (especially at this level.) Third key to this match was it was under 12 minutes; I’d much prefer time limits than move limits on these, just to force them to go at a good pace. They don’t all need to go 15.

and we’re out

 

video captures Alvardo family members destroying Último Guerrero’s car

Ultimo Guerrero’s car was torn apart by members of the Alvarado (Brazo) family. About a minute and a half of the incident was captured on video. The video is from this morning and took place in the Arena Mexico parking garage.

The video includes Maximo, La Mascara, Brazo de Platino and what appears to be an unmasked Psycho Clown among others, though some of them appear to be only watching during the incident. Maximo is watching the incident for the video, and then reaching inside Guerrero’s car as the video ends. Ultimo Guerrero is never seen. Whoever shot the video appeared to be hiding while recording it, at least not giving the impression that they’re part of the attackers. The parking garage is a public area, and it’s at least plausible someone might have happened and saw what was happening. The video started to be passed around privately by midday and leaked out onto Facebook soon after.

No one directly involved in the attack has talked about what or why it happened. The story going around, unconfirmed, is the issue stems from the thorny issue of who will take over CMLL’s wrestler’s union after the passing of Brazo de Oro. His family members felt someone from their family should inherent the position. SuperLuchas said the position was instead given to Ultimo Guerrero and the Alvarado’s attack on the car was in response to it not being handed over to one of them. The scattered reports on this have some differences: Ultimo Guerrero’s daughter on Facebook bemoaned the attack on Facebook and claimed her father didn’t even want to be head of the union, which would make it confusing why the Alvarados would attack his property. We really don’t know even if know for sure if Guerrero is head of the union or just potentially in line for that position and being warned to back off – we don’t know a whole lot here.

I don’t have the confidence we have the full story, or if we’ll get the full story. The video is compelling and weird but we really don’t know exactly what happened before it or after it. It’s only 90 seconds. It does not look good for the people involved. This also has all the making of being something like the Trauma II story, where it’s a big thing for one day and then we never hear about it again.

This took place in Arena Mexico’s parking lot, a facility connected and adjacent to the building. SuperLuchas says CMLL security did not get involved to stop it. There’s no sign of security in the video and it looked like the Alvardos had been working on the car for a few minutes already. Security on a Friday morning isn’t going to be what it is when a show is running, but someone probably should’ve been in the picture unless they were choosing to not get involved. CMLL should be involved now, but there’s no telling if they will and we may not even hear about it if they are.

Maximo and Ultimo Guerrero are both scheduled for tonight’s show (as is Ultimo’s brother Gran Guerrero but not La Mascara), though in separate matches.

 

CMLL normal show tonight tonight, two match night for Caristico, FULL tour stars in Puebla

tonight

Today’s CMLL show is another collection of random matches. Last week didn’t seem to set anything in particular for this week. There are a few decent matches. The main event is Mephisto, Ephesto, Negro Casas versus Maximo, Mistico and Caristico (who has a busy night ahead of him.) That should be a good simple match. The semimain will be more complicated, as Niebla Roja once again reluctancly teams with Gran Guerrero & Utlimo Guerrero and Atlantis, Valiente and Angel de Oro. UG told ESTO that he’s just confused by Niebla Roja – Roja talks about wanting to be a tecnico, but he did unmask Angel de Oro on Monday so maybe he just has a problem with Los Guerreros Laguneros.

The best match will probably be Titan & Cavernario in a lightning match, bringing back their good feud. The third match might be good too: Los Revolucionarios versus Stuka, Guerrero Maya and Drone. The lucahdoras return to Friday shows with Silueta, Jarochita and Princesa Sugehit against Amapola, Dalys and Zeuxis, which might again be built around Sugehit & Zeuxis. Magnus & Sensei taking on Akuma & Espiritu Negro in the opener.

Caristico’s double booked in Arena Mexico and Arena Naucalpan on a Friday night again. He main events the Lucha Libre Boo show, teaming with Black Taurus against Hijo de LA Park and LA Park. That show is supposed to start a little bit earlier than Arena Mexico, but it’ll probably go longer just so Caristico can work both places. The whole show is the usual mix of indie names. It’ll probably not air on TV, but will turn up in YouTube in some form.

Volador, Dragon Lee, and Titan were announced for NJPW’s US shows in Long Beach, California on July 1st and July 2nd. They’ve announced a lot of people and they won’t have IWGP Junior championship defense, so the CMLL guys may not have a big role on the show, but it’s a nice chance for them. It’ll be Titan’s first US match.

Tonight’s also the start of the five show FULL/Alberto el Patron/Distromania tour. They kick off in Puebla with Alberto, Hijo de Dos Caras and Tinieblas Jr. versus Jack Swagger, Roy Knight and Zak Knight (Paige’s brothers.) They’ll be in Toluca on Saturday and Mexico City on Sunday. Tinieblas and others have done a lot of press, and a fair bit in the mainstream, to sell these shows. I’m skeptical about how well these are going to do, but it comes off as if they’re trying hard to get people to notice them.=

Alberto said he’s going to retire in two years. A year ago, Alberto said he was retiring in two years. He’s going to be on a soap opera soon. Like a scripted one on TV, as opposed to the unscripted one he seems to be living in.

In promoting these shows, Blue Demon Jr. says he’s actually talked to the new owners of the NWA and will meet them in July to see if they can work on something together. He had issues with the previous people running the group.

Other shows today include AAA in Tijuana with an unusual main event of Ayako Hamada & Dr. Wagner Jr. versus Kevin Kross & Kobra Moon, AAA in Neza with Parka, Psycho Clown and Texano against the Traidor Clowns & Pagano, AAA in Valle Victoria with Elegido & Fantasma vs Mesias & Parka Negra and Keira & Diosa Quetzal in a mask match in Ecatepec (where Keira is expected to win)

Dorian Roldan talked about AAA/LU business with El Economista, as he does from time to time. As an aside in the article, Roldan mentions the possibility of taping season four in Los Angeles, Austin, Mexico or Colombia. I don’t think they’ll end up taping any place except LA and would not be too concerned with that at this point if it somehow affects you. I think this – just like the LU/Impact thing – is including unlikely possibilities just to talk up the potential. The article is the usual bit of unchecked hyped: some Pentagon, Drago, Fenix, Angelico and Vampiro appearing on a single WXW show is said to be a Lucha Underground tour of Germany here.

AAA posted the moment of remembrance for El Apache from Tuesday’s TV.

Angelico’s listed on AAA shows in mid July. I’m not sure if he’s back before then.

Jvuentud Guerrera match update: he’s debuting in AAW to face Sami Callihan for their title on 05/25 and he’s facing Dragon Lee on June 22nd in Mexico City. Juvy’s been good when I’ve seen him this year.

Tickets are on sale for Hijo del Santo & Santo Jr. in Spain on June 17th. They’re running from 16 to 40 Euros ($18 to $45 USD).

LuchaWorld has the latest news report.

+Lucha posted the LA Park vs Ultimo Guerrero match from the recent MDA show, and an interview with Latin Lover.

This week’s Fuego en el Ring includes an interview with Rayo de Jalisco.

Lineups

The Crash (FRI) 06/02/2017 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
4) Flamita © vs Rey Horus [The Crash CRUISER]
5) Penta Zero M & The King vs Black Terry & Skayde
6) Daga, Garza Jr., Rey Mysterio 619 vs Damián 666, Mr. Águila, Nicho el Millionario

Top half of the card for the Nicho benefit show. The tag match is a unique and interesting match, and Flamita/Rey Horus should be really good. Wish they were selling this show.

LI (SUN) 06/04/2017 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Estrella Explosiva & Súper Estrella vs La Pantera & Princesa Tiger
2) Avispón Negro Jr., Flash I, Flash II vs Évola, Ráfaga, Ráfaga Jr.
3) Payaso Cocolores, Súper Muñeco, Súper Pinocho vs Canek Jr., Hijo del Fishman, Villano III Jr.
4) Hijo del Lizmark, Rayman, Súper Astro vs Cien Caras Jr., Máscara Año 2000, Mr. Águila
5) El Fantasma & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Canek & Máscara Sagrada

Leyendas inmortales is back with the usual names.  That second match is kind of an Antrax memorial match.

Lucha Memes MDA (SUN) 06/04/2017 Arena Puebla
1) Alas de Acero, Aramis (Estado de México), Arez, Belial, Impulso, Iron Kid (Estado de México) vs Arkalis, Millenium, Mini Multifacético, Prayer, Rey Apocalipsis, Rey Samuray
1) Felino & Fuerza Guerrera vs Bobby Jack & Toro Bill Sr.
2) Keira & Lady Maravilla vs Marcela & Zeuxis
4) Black Terry & Negro Navarro © vs Blue Panther & Octagón [Arena Coliseo TAG]
4th defense
5) Rey Horuz & Xtreme Tiger vs Ángel de Oro & Soberano Jr.
6) Satánico vs Hechicero (CMLL)
7) Último Dragón vs Último Guerrero

Ultimo Dragon versus Ultimo Guerrero is the last added match and that’ll get over great.

The one big change here is Jeff Cobb is off the card and Hechicero will face Satanico instead. Lucha Memes posted emails indicating Cobb was booked for the show, Lucha Memes booked a flight for him, and then Cobb backed out of the show because he only belatedly realized it was a CMLL thing and he didn’t want to risk losing any bookings with The Crash. In a video, Lucha Memes promoter said he tried contracting both The Crash promoters to see if they would OK it and contacting Cobb to post a video apologizing for not making the show, and didn’t hear back from either. This went on a week before they decided to book Satanico (who will have a different but still interesting match with Hechicero)

The Crash, via the WON, has said CMLL’s not allowing them to book CMLL wrestlers, but implied they’d not have the same issue going the other way. Cobb obviously thinks there’d be a problem if he took that date, it’s just unclear if he’s right or wrong since no one’s talking. I assume we’ll hear about this on a podcast sooner or later, but lucha libre politics are confusing.

I’d still like to be able to see this show complete without traveling to Puebla.

MDA (SUN) 06/18/2017 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Mystique & Súper Estrella vs Chik Tormenta & La Pantera
2) Joker & Sádico vs Brian Villa & Willy Banderas
3) Esfinge, Star Black, Vaquero Jr. vs El Divo, Galactar, Vazco Jr.
4) Mr. Águila & Rey Horus vs Hijo de LA Park & Xtreme Tiger
5) Atlantis, Máscara Sagrada, Octagón vs Fuerza Guerrera, Mr. Niebla, Satánico
6) Carístico & LA Park vs Rush & Último Guerrero

The woman’s match was the last one added to the show. This is an interesting match even being all tag matches.