AAA finishes up the Mexico City taping. The minis title match should air this week, but I have a suspicion the La Llave de La Gloria match will air instead. (Hope the missing match makes YouTube either way.)
IWRG is as iffy as ever; I don’t think they’ve aired this Sunday’s taping, and they might instead of the Wednesday show. (The best shot at seeing the Copa Higher Power is +Lucha, as always.)
For people who don’t want to deal with YouTube, this week’s Lucha Azteca should be really good.
The text preview and matches for this week’s Lucha Underground suggests this may be a Crane/Catrina/Muertes/Ivelisse??? focused episode. The police are there too though, and they shouldn’t go so long without addressing their status quo after Delgado’s death.
CMLL aired the Father’s Day Sunday show without advertising it ahead of time. The Father’s Day show was built around seeing the edecanes; the edecanes dance numbers were removed from the show.
Marco Corleone made his first defense of the CMLL heavyweight title, defeating Terrible.
Princesa Sugehit and Zeuxis continued their feud with no obvious change brought on by Sugehit’s newly announced upcoming WWE appearance. This time, Zeuxis was eliminated, but unmasked Sugehit from the outside to set up the win for Dalys. There’s still no post-match microphone challenges; it seems like the mask match is happening, but they’re not close enough to put a date t it yet.
Gallito & Microman remain undefeated over Zacarias & Mije.
Thoughts:
Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja still getting their teamwork back up to speed
Yes, I am annoyed they aired this show and not the one with Dragon Lee/Cavernario.
The heavyweight title match was the only thing you should spend any real time on here. We may not take the CMLL titles all that seriously, but the people holding them seem to consider them worth upping their games. Maximo had some of the best singles matches of his career when he was heavyweight champion and Marco and Terrible had a strong match in Marco’s first defense. Marco mixed up his offense a bit for the championship match, and Terrible always seems game if he’s in a singles match with someone who wants to do something. They had a few good near falls that got the crowd believing a title change could happen – the neck scissors submission looked good, the roll thru Aero Italia was a smart spot since it’s often a finish – and the fans reacted well despite Marco’s not being a usual favorite of these crowd. (Putting female favorite Marco against tough guys Terrible on Father’s Day probably should’ve backfired loudly.) Some of the punch spots didn’t go as well as usual and I think they can expand on this, but this was fine for a title match.
The micros seemed to have taken the some unfortunate lessons from their previous success. They went for more spots, more time, and ended up with more things not going well and less of the feeling of an actual match. This match seemed like it proved they’d be best showing up once every few months. The remainder of the show was the usual disposal b-show matches, with the distress of Pierroth feeling he could do Rush’s invisible football spot on his own.
AAA has spent it’s entire year building to Psycho Clown versus Dr. Wagner in a mask versus mask match on August 26th in Arena Ciudad de Mexico. That day might be changing. Last night, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter stated “it appears they’ve already made the call to move it to August 27th.” This would be be because of Mayweather/McGregor fight taking place on August 26, and perhaps with the idea of airing on TV in Mexico. At the same time, Leo Riano’s column in Record says AAA had a plan of airing the show (or at least Wagner/Psycho) live on a Televisa network that day, and would still do against the fight. AAA has said nothing about moving the date, and would be expected to say nothing until they’re ready to make announcement.
It’s not totally clear if Riano is saying this was a done deal, just that’s a possibility, or somewhere in between, and he’s not been a reliable news source. That mask match would probably be highly rated, especially if it came on before the boxing match, but they’d be forfeiting some decent PPV revenue by airing it on TV. (It’s possible Televisa could be paying AAA some money for the rights; it’s been reported in the past that Televisa pays nothing for the weekly AAA TV show.) Airing it over the air in Mexico means AAA might as well air it free on the internet, because pirated feeds would be pretty easy to come by.
I’m skeptical the show will air on Televisa. It does fit AAA’s overall strategy of trying to increase the awareness. Nothing would make AAA seem like a bigger deal than if they were all over today that day. AAA’s also a company that seems be counting it’s pennies carefully and it should be hard for them to give up any revenue. I’m less sure about the date, but that seems like something they’ll want to decide as soon as possible just to make it clear. It’d be a good idea to announce they’re NOT changing if that’s decision too, and it’s noticeable that AAA hasn’t said that either.
Super X runs tonight in Mexico City. Matches include Juventud Guerrera against Dragon Lee, Sam Adonis versus Super Crazy, and Mini Rey Mysterio (the recently ex-AAA Octagoncito) against a debuting Mini Juvnentud Guerrera. It’s a good bet for turning up on the usual fan cam YouTube channels. MedioTiempo has an interview with Juventud Guerrera about his career.
MOBIL (SAT) 06/24/2017Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Javier Cruz Jr., Johnny Dinamo, Magnum vs Évola, Gran Kenut, Thunder Boy
2) Ángel Negro, Flash I, Flash II vs León Blanco, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
3) Marcela, Silueta, Súper Estrella vs Chik Tormenta, La Comandante, La Pantera
4) Explosivo, Sky Kid, Smaker vs Exterminador, Furia Roja, Maléfico
5) Motor Machine, Power Diesel, Star Black, Vaquero Jr. vs Joker, Ráfaga, Sádico, Satánico
A show sponsored by a gas station company is a thing that happens when your government starts privatize the gas station industry.
All matches were taped at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara on 06/13/2017
La Comandante, La Seductora, Tiffany beat La Jarochita, Sanely, Skadi (12:26 [5:33, 2:53, 4:00], 2/3, via thecubsfan, below average)
Ángel de Oro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Niebla Rojabeat Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto (12:07 [5:03, 3:01, 4:03], 1/3, via thecubsfan, ok)
Carístico, Marco Corleone, Misticobeat Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero (8:57 [3:24, 1:48, 3:45], 2/3, via thecubsfan, good)
What happened:
it stuns me Mistico does this outside of the streaming shows
Nothing really.
Whatever piece of software Televisa Guadalajara uses to block all non-news shows from airing on their internet feed failed and this full show aired for the first time in a long time. The promotion’s Facebook site neglected to post results for this show for about a week, so I decided this would be a good opportunity to get those results and see if they were doing anything noteworthy on this show. Those results turned up before I watched this, but it still felt easier than starting on another 2 hour plus CMLL stream.
This show was announced by the same crew who handle the Fuego en el Ring podcast (which might be a recent change; previous shows were done by the Super Libre radio group.) There’s in fall breaks for the tequila sponsors but not many adds in between the matches. The matches themselves seemed edit down, with time cut out from the beginning of each fall rather than condensing the matches, but they still find time to air the Ecos de Lucha Libre segments CMLL used to be airing on their Mexico City streams.
Thoughts:
Jarochita is OK relatively when she’s not reliant on someone catching her
The matches themselves were not that interesting. The main event was the classic version of that match. They did just enough that it just barely crossed the threshold of a good match for me, though it totally felt like a nine minute and there’s plenty of longer/better versions of that sort of match. There’s not as many where the técnicos get cheered and the rudos get booed, and it made me wish we’d get a big match to slip thru under this structure, even with it being edited down.
The other matches were also exactly to form but to lesser results. The second match felt super generic, and their B- match isn’t at the level of the main event. Mephisto and Niebla Roja also had some iffy moments, as the Niebla Roja tecnico experiment is still obviously searching for the right formula.
The women’s match was full of rudas taking bad looking bumps (or being incapable of bumping at all) and the técnicos showing awkward offense, but just generally no good and not something that’d make for good GIFs – up until Skadi didn’t do much to catch Jarochita on a dive. That match was full with luchadoras who wouldn’t be in CMLL if the barrier to wrestling was based on performance, but Skadi still stands out as the least qualified. She’s more dangerous than any first match dive.
Lucha Underground is now halfway through the first round of the Cueto Cup and the format has definitely been established:
4 matches, all from the same group
1 Rey Mysterio/Johnny Mundo video package building to their match
heavy focus on a singular storyline (one that was setup before the hiatus)
Last week was Cage’s episode. This week was all about the relationships between Marty, Mariposa, Fenix and Melissa Santos. Fenix and Melissa are flirting with each other. Marty is serial killer levels of obsessed with Melissa; she’s not aware how bad it is. Mariposa relished the idea she might get to have a match with her brother and doesn’t seem to like him, but seems to see him as a tool in whatever long term plan she’s got.
Mariposa’s plan didn’t work here; Fenix beat her in a match that was back and forth but never felt like the former champion was in danger of losing. Marty attacked Fenix afterwards, which the announcers was believed to be about them being next round opponents but was probably more about Marty’s jealousy. Marty himself defeated Saltador, then returned to his lair to reveal an altar of Melissa photos, a piece of Melissa’s hair stashed away, and an extra photo being kept in Marty’s pants.
Mascarita Sagrada diving headscissors
The other two matches were without as much incident. The Rabbit Tribe still believes Máscarita Sagrada to be their god. He doesn’t share their belief, and it didn’t help him much against Pindar of the Snake Tribe (though he got in a lot before losing. Cage also advance by defeating Vinnie Massaro. Vinnie got in a surprising amount of offense before deciding to mess with Cage’s glove and angering him. There seemed to be some definite backslide in that plot line this week: Cage was able to remove the glove (Delgado believed Cage could not last week, though perhaps that was just a bad assumption) and Cage’s post match gloved punches to Vinnie’s head bloodied him, but did not blast his head to pieces. Vinnie was battered as usual, but lives to fight another day. Just not in this cup.
Thoughts
The other pattern in this first round Cup matches is they’re giving everyone at least some time, and giving chances for the obvious first round losers to still get some attention in a loss. Vinnie got nearly 4 minutes, Sagrada got about 8, the other two were in between. There hasn’t been an upset yet, but those out of the tournament are getting to showcase their personalities in the ring in a way that’s going to help when Saltador is back teaming with the Rabbit Tribe or Mariposa is part of a group instead of an individual.
Fenix well timed dropkick
These matches also just felt more successful than last week. The Rabbit Tribe matches are good examples: Mala Suerte showed off his skills, but had trouble connecting it to his persona. Saltador did a whole bunch of weird and strange mat wrestling matches that fit better with a strange guy in checkered outfit. At this level, it’s not about establishing finishers for credibility, it’s about just making the guys more identifiable next time they come on screen.
Vinnie became identifiable as the guy who will totally kill himself in his one squash a season. He got in the snoring elbow, he got in more offense than anyone thought, but – just like in the Pentagon match – he took a few huge bumps to put over his opponent big. Getting dumped all the way to the floor looked devastating. I’d like to see him more often, but I’d also like to see him one piece.
this got violent
Pindar is the best guy on the roster to have a match with Máscarita Sagrada. No one’s going to be a better base for his moves, and do his best to make it look good. This was the best Máscarita Sagrada has looked in a match on this show, even considering the Believer’s Backlash is going to be much more remembered. It’s probably the best he’ll look unless they bring in a mini rudo to work with him.
The Mariposa character is inconsistent – she was introduced as just about the baddest woman in the world, but she’s definitely never been booked that way for long and her acting scared of superkicks played against that even harder. (If it was supposed to be a ploy to distract Fenix, it wasn’t done well enough.) It also pushed to questions of man on woman violence to the forefront of a show trying to background those concerns as much as possible. They may have done all that to make it clear Fenix isn’t a jerk for fighting a woman, but one of the larger premises of the show is everyone’s equal in the Lucha Underground ring and those two thoughts don’t mesh. The action of the match was really good, one of Mariposa’s best matches here, and the story they told around those elements was fine enough, but the context made it less enjoyable.
The Marty stuff would feel over the top if I didn’t just see Lorenzo Lamas’ eyeball on the floor last week. He’s going all in the character – which is almost not even needed, since the crowd seems to be reacting to him that way without having even seen the vignettes. But at least it’s a direction for their second round match, the only one so far that has an obvious issue.
Mesias & Pagano defeated Cuervo & Scoria to win the tag team championship. The match was originally a non-title match, but made a title match by Vampiro (off screen) before it started. Mesias looked disinterested in being there until the titles were on the line, and he and Pagano had no issues while winning the titles.
A new concept, “Opurtunidad de Oro” debuted. The match was a four way elimination match, where the wrestlers would be awarded attaché cases with special contracts in order of their elimination. Venum was out first, and was given a shot at the mixed tag team titles if he can find a partner. Lancelot was out second, receiving a spot on TripleMania in a legends battle royal. The debuting Raptor (Atomic Boy in a dino costume) got a trios title shot with two partners of his choosing. Mascara de Bronce won the match, and received a case containing a contract for a Heavyweight Championship shot whenever he wants.
new tag champs
Aerostar & Drago won a spot in the Verano de Escandalo tag title match by defeating Bengala & Australian Suicide. (The match was said to be with both Pagano/Mesias and Cuervo/Scoria, and no mention of any change to that lineup was made after the main event tag title change.) Suicide acted like a normal tecnico most of the match, but shoved referee Copetes into the ropes late to knock Bengala off the top rope. Suicide wanted to try to win the match himself, missed on his usual finish, and Drago beat Bengala shortly after. Suicide sarcastically offered Bengala a handshake after the match, but Bengala walked out on him.
The show began with Faby Apache and her two non-wrestling sisters Nancy & Jessy. It’s bookended by a Lady Shani’s parentes talking about their daughter, who thanks her father for Father’s Day.
Noti AAA talks about AAA partnering with Mexico City on a health promotion. There will also be a special Panini magazine for TripleMania.
The referees have new “MILANO” shirts. Tirantes’s suspenders would cover up part of the logo, so he’s stuck having them just hang from his pants this show.
Thoughts:
Mascara de Bronce tricky armdrag
This show had three matches about at the same level. Nothing bad, though not really came together to be great. I liked them in descending order.
The opening tag match was good as a spot fest. It never developed as more than being one dimensional, and it wasn’t crazy enough to really stand out, but it still felt different and more interesting than most things around here. The crowd was ready to boo Suicide, partly for the same reasons the Mexico City crowd always boos Angelico and maybe partly because they figured out he’s supposed to be the rudo, and maybe the match would’ve felt like it had a story if Suicide worked a rudo for the whole match instead of just one spot near the end. It really made no sense that everyone was fine with him when he attacked them all last time we saw them, and Bengala looks like a dope to continue to team with him, but so it goes in AAA. This had Drago & Aerostar doing neat things and that’s all I ask for.
a Drago dive
The four way was also just kids doing crazy stuff and it worked for being that, coming off as exciting if sloppy indie match dropped on to this show. Mascara de Bronce looked the best and deserved winner, though I wish him missing a dive to the floor meant something a bit longer. Raptor is a more identifiable character than Atomic Boy, but the mask looks too much like a rudo goon for a guy who’s supposed to be a tecnico, and he struggled with moves while trying to figure out his character. It might have helped if had more time in the outfit before this TV Match. AAA did a generally ok job presenting the concept (though it sure looked like the ‘contracts’ were just random printouts), though I was left wondering if the match would’ve been more over if they announced the prizes beforehand: the crowd treated the match like it was not that important and maybe would’ve gotten more into the finish if they knew it was for a title shot.
The tag team title match just didn’t hang together for me, even though the effort was there and they worked closer to a tecnico versus rudo story than the opener. They even bypassed the hardcore spots to just make a move match, something that should appeal to me more but I couldn’t get into for some reason. Cuervo & Scoria still aren’t clicking as characters, and this featured a lot of Pagano trying to impress with what he can do and doing it not well. (He’s also the king of standing around and watching blankly while obviously waiting for his next spot.) The crowd was into this match and into Pagano, so I don’t argue with the decision at all, it just wasn’t for me.
