Month: June 2017

CMLL (SAT) 06/17/2017 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Canelo Casas, Nitro, Templario b Bengala, Magnus, Robin
3) Blue Panther Jr., Stigma, The Panther b Cancerbero, Puma, Tiger
tecnicos took 2/3
4) Hechicero, Terrible, Vangellys b Blue Panther, Johnny Idol, Rey Cometa
rudos took 1/3
5) Marco Corleone, Niebla Roja, Valiente DQ Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
tecnicos took 1/3, the last when Mephisto fouled Maximo Valiente

CMLL (SUN) 06/18/2017 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Astral & Sensei
2) Dalys, Metálica, Zeuxis b La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Princesa Sugehit
Zeuxis was eliminated, but pulled off Sugehit’s mask from the outside to set up Dalys’ win.
3) El Gallito & Microman b Mije & Perico Zakarías
Gallito & Microman remain undefeated
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. DQ Felino, Hechicero, Pierroth
tecnicos took 2/3, the last when Pierroth fouled Angel de Oro
5) Marco Corleone © b Terrible [CMLL HEAVY]
Marco took falls 2/3 to retain. First defense
6) Dragón Lee, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. b Ephesto, Mephisto, Shocker
Tecnicos took 1/3. Stuka replaced Diamante Azul a few hours after the lineup was posted.

CMLL announced they’d be doing a live stream of this show at 4:53pm, seven minutes before the show. They are surely the masters of promotion. I watched most of the show and am not sure if I’ll do a proper recap. Terrible/Marco is the only match worth watching.

Zeuxis vs Princesa Sugehit continues on unchanged by other events. CMLL didn’t acknowledge Sugehit’s WWE participation but she did mention in her post match back stage interviewer.

A second video of the Alvarados destroying Ultimo Guerrero’s car has surfaced. To be clear, this is more video of the same incident. This one appears to be taken by Maximo himself, who taunts Ultimo Guerrero while it’s going. Brazo de Platino also appears to be shooting video at the same time, so it’s possible more may be out there. It’s a surprise the video still exists at all: it’s a people involved admitting to the crime they’re committing while it’s happening and deleting would normally be the first thing to do, but it’s obviously got passed around instead. The Box Y Lucha version of the video says Ultimo Guerrero has said he’s in the process of legal action, and that’s the about all we know since it happened.

+LuchaTV has an interview with Brazo de Plata & Brazo de Platino. Super Porky said he’s still not cleared to return after being told he had to lose 40kg (90lbs) and hopes to return in 3 months. (I feel like he’s been saying about the same things the whole time he’s been gone.) Brazo de Platino didn’t seem to have any remorse for what he did, but couldn’t speak in detail about it.

Defy Wrestling announced it will host a The Crash show on August 3rd in Tacoma, Washington, as part of the tie up between the two groups. That’s a Thursday night, so it’ll probably be easier to get most of the usual names.

AAA’s TV show is up. They began the Father’s Day weekend show with Faby and her two non-wrestling sisters talking about El Apache, and it was very well done.

Mascara de Bronce talks about his quest for his title shot against Johnny Mundo, mentions his family’s business is selling churros and fries.

Soberano & Caristico want a tag title shot. I’m not sure who has a better shot here.

Hijo del Fantasma, Super Fly, Mini Histeria and Raptor trained Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola as part of a NFL visiting Mexico promotion.

On today’s Dragon Gate show, it was officially announced Flamita would be back in Japan next week. Draztick Boy is heading over too, for June and July.

Silueta beat Reina Isis on the REINA show today. Silueta said she’s headed back to Mexico.

Metaleon joined Indy Nation at the Rudos de Neza show on Saturday. His partner Mr. Leo was already in the group.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 06/24/2017 Arena Coliseo
1) Fiero & Sonic vs Grako & Yago
2) Bengala, Leono, Príncipe Diamante vs Espanto Jr., Metálico, Nitro
3) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Hechicero, Pólvora
5) Diamante Azul, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto

Maybe hope the Monday revisions take Diamante Azul off all these lineups again. Valiente & Mephisto match up again, so that’s probably the title match coming up here.

Opener would be a debut for Sonic. He wrestled in the opener in the DragonMania show, and actually was on the last ever Elite show in an untelevised opener. He’s wrestled in other indies and is a small guy.

CMLL (FRI) 06/16/2017 Arena México [CMLL, Culticon, thecubsfan]
1) Raziel & Virus b Magia Blanca & Sangre Imperial
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Dragón Rojo Jr., Misterioso Jr., Pólvora b Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr.
13:40. Rudos took 2/3
3) Shocker, Terrible, Vangellys b Kráneo, Pierroth, Rush [Relevos Increíbles]
16:18. Vanegllys’ team took 2/3, the last via foul.
4) Dragón Lee b Cavernario [lightning]
9:42
5) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Valiente DQ Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas
5:09. Straight falls, Gran Guerrero unmasking Niebla Roja for the DQ as part of their campaign to make him stop wearing the mask. Valiente replaced Diamante Azul on Monday
6) Carístico & Soberano Jr. b Sansón & Último Guerrero [Gran Alternativa, final]
19:39. Tecnicos took 2/3 to win the tournament. Caristico joins Ultimo Guerrero as a three time winner.

You should go out of your way to see the main event and Dragon Lee/Cavernario had a lot of what you’d want from that match. The Vangellys/Pierroth trios was nearly as bad as the main event was good.

Super Astro (FRI) 06/16/2017 Arena Azteca Budokan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México [Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), Estrellas del Ring]
1) Alas de Acero, Demasiado, Diva Salvaje b Astrolux, Centvrión, Pegazus
2) Rossy Moreno b Keira, Lady Apache
3) Fresero Jr. b Boby Zavala
Zavala was welcomed to the indies by losing via foul to Fresero Jr. Zavala wants a hair match.
4) El Bandido, Emperador Azteca, Mr. Leo vs Imposible, Látigo, Metaleón
5) Máximo, Mr. Águila, Silver King b Black Taurus (Elite), Oriental, Septiembre Negro Jr.
6) Daga, Garza Jr., Golden Magic b Hijo De Dos Caras, Hijo de LA Park, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
7) Penta 0M & Rey Fénix b Jack Evans & Rey Horus and Flamita & Laredo Kid [PWG TAG]
Penta & Rey Fenix retained the tag titles.
8) La Máscara & Zorro b LA Park & Rey Escorpión
Before the match, La Mascara showed a Rush promo saying he was coming on June 29th. Referee Teddy was knocked down during the match, with Maximo, Hijo de LA Park and Penta 0M all running in. Rey Escorpion betrayed LA Park to give La Mascara the win and to rejoin Los Ingobernables.

Black Terry Jr. has video of La Mascara & LA Park fighting, Rey Escorpion betraying LA Park, and Rey Escorpion talking about being an Ingobernable (again.) The promo tease was Rush vs LA Park, and Rush hanging out with his indie buddies. Rush seems to have a free reign to do things CMLL might not allow others, but it’d be something different if he’s allowed to work many shows with the guys who were fired from CMLL and The Crash guys. That’s definitely the tease, but a show where he simply wrestles LA PArk without some of the usual names is possible. (On the other hand, with how much money “Super Astro” seems to be spending on talent, maybe everything is possible.)

Zavala talked about starting on the indies. Losing to Fresero in his debut suggests he’s not going to be booked in a strong place to start on the indies. Rey Escorpion seems to have gotten the trios spot with Mascara & Maximo instead.

AAA today will have

• Aerostar & Drago vs Australian Suicide & Bengala for a tag title shot
• Máscara de Bronce vs Venum vs Lanzeloth vs Raptor in a Golden Opportunity match
• Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria vs El Mesías & Pagano for the AAA tag team titles

The 06/09 KBW show in Madero with Rey Mysterio and lots of The Crash guys was said to be 60% full (about 4,500 people.) They had a rope break in the first match and used just a top and bottom rope for the rest of the show.

On Konnan’s Podcast Boom, he says Impact wants Aerostar & Drago as LAX’s opponents for Slammiversary on 07/02. Aerostar & Drago are obviously under contract to Lucha Underground. There’s obviously a piece we’re missing here, because that facts don’t make any sense with the information we have and they’re not stupid people. Impact’s not going to put themselves in a position to get a legal threat from Lucha Underground, so AAA (Dorian) must be telling them something to put them at ease. Either AAA is outright lying to Impact (seems unlikely since they’d still want them to work TripleMania) or AAA believes they have some way of getting around their Lucha Underground contracts. Maybe they cover TV but not PPV? Maybe they’ve been violated in some way? There has to be something.

Either way, as much as AAA says they’re behind Lucha Underground, doing things to undermine that show like sending two guys who are meant to be feuding as a team to another TV promotion suggest they may not be as behind it as they claim. It hasn’t happened yet – the story is Jarrett wants those guys, not that they’re the guys who are going – but it’s feels a little shady.

More on that podcast in the lineups.

Lots of shows this weekend, many with Father’s Day promotions or themes. Starting on Saturday

• The Arena Coliseo main event is Marco, Niebla Roja and Valiente against the Hijos del Infernio
• Carisitco, Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero, and Volador are off in Sinaloa.
• Zapopan (Guadalajara) has a lucha libre festival this weekend. Saturday has an AAA show with Averno, Monster Clown, Murder Clown against Joe Lider, Ricky Marvin and Gronda II as the scheduled main event.
• There’s also a lucha libre expo in Pachuca, with a DTU show today.
• FULL is back running, with it’s normal lineup, in Arena Neza.
• Rudos de Neza are running their own show (in Neza!) with Black Terry vs Latigo among the indie matches.
• There’s a Super Crazy & Dr. Wagner vs the LA Parks match in Acapulco
• Pro Wrestling Revolucion is on FloSlam tonight with Juventud Guerrera vs Heredero Rey Misterio, and Rey Bucanero appearing.

I’m heading to the AAW show outside of Chicago. Garza Jr. debuts for the promotion against ACH and Penta 0M defends the Heritage title against Trevor Lee.

Sunday

• Arena Mexico has Marco defending the heavyweight title for the first time against Terrible. It’d be a shock if he lost it so quick.
• Lucha Memes is in Coacalco with a sort of Puebla versus Mexico State lineup; a rare chance for the Arena Puebla and indie guys from that city to get exposure elsewhere.
• IWRG has a random group of people in the main event, plus many Panteras.
• MDA takes over Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, with Caristico & LA Park vs Rush & Ultimo Guerrero.
• The Pachuca lucha libre expo has Felino, Puma and Tiger teaming up against a trio of Brazos.
• The Jalisco lucha libre festival has two shows, including one with a Dr. Cerenro & Solar vs Negro Navarro & Black Terry match

LuchaWorld has the latest lucha report.

Segunda Caida reviews Lucha Underground 3×16.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 06/23/2017 Arena México
1) Flyer & Robin vs Arkángel de la Muerte & Disturbio
2) Eléctrico, Shockercito, Stukita vs Mercurio, Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Violencia
3) Estrellita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis
4) Vangellys vs Pierroth [lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Lee, Niebla Roja vs Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero
6) Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Euforia, Rush

This card does not look as good. Gran Alternativa finalists have usually come back the following week for a trios match, but not so much this year.

Diamante Azul is back this time, maybe. Perhaps CMLL was one week off like with Volador. The semimain looks like the best match on the show. Vangellys/Pierroth will be bad no matter how much they have on it. Sugehit right back on Friday night shows and against Zeuxis – that might be the first time we hear from her on the WWE spot unless media goes to the Sunday show.

The Crash (SUN) 07/02/2017 Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos, Oaxaca, Oaxaca
1) ? & ?? vs ??? & ????
2) ? & ?? vs ??? & ????
3) Séptimo Dragón vs Astrolux
4) Diamante (Elite), Mr. 450, Rey Horus vs Bestia 666, Black Taurus (Elite), Hijo de Pirata Morgan
5) Daga & Zorro vs Damián 666 & Nicho el Millionario
6) Penta 0M, Rey Fénix (US), Rey Misterio Jr. vs La Máscara, Máximo, Rey Escorpión (Elite)

Konnan gave this lineup on his latest podcast. I’m guessing there’d be a couple locals matches to get to the usual length, but I’m just guessing that. The upcoming schedule was said to be Mexicali & Puebla in August, Mexico City (Naucalpan) maybe in August, Guadalajara in November and WrestleCon next year. Konnan’s been trying to get a show on WrestleCon back to his last few years in AAA, but the lucha shows have a way of not coming thru every year on that show. Hope this changes it; it’d be easier to do because a lot of The Crash guys figure to be working other shows but more challenging because a lot of what makes The Crash different in Mexico (using those guys for a super indie style) makes them similar to many of the groups running that weekend. Konnan also mentioned he and Roberto Figueroa filmed a TV pilot for The Crash.

Klandestino (THU) 06/15/2017 Arena Lopez Mateos [@PlantillaDepor1, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), Estrellas del Ring, R de Rudo]
1) Dragón Force, Hijo de Zumbido, Vampiro Metálico b Pegazus, Shibata, Spider Boy
2) Chucho el Roto, Súper Terry, Yakuza DQ Factor, Rayan, Spector
3) Dante, Euro, Filder b Arez, Belial, Impulso
Los Incontenibles took 2/3, though they apparently cheated to win the second fall. Los Indystrongtibles wanted a title shot despite losing.
4) Kilvan, Sádico, Yoruba b Emperador Azteca, Imposible, Terry 2000
Imposible & Emperador Azteca could not get along and made challenges after the match.
5) Black Taurus, Daga, Penta 0M, Samoano DQ La Máscara, Máximo, Rey Escorpión
Samoano was helping the Rebelion team for unclear reasons, making this a 4v3 match. La Mascara fouled & unmasked Penta, covered for the pin, then got DQed anyway.

Mascara walked off with Pentagon’s mask, and Pentagon & Daga attacked Mascara & Maximo in the back. LuchaTV already has the full match up, which is remarkably fast turnaround. (The Virus/Prayer match that popped up yesterday is said to be MOTYC caliber and I’m maybe watching it tonight, but that’s a match that got posted after 3 months instead of 12 hours.)  Attendance looked about the same as Lucha y Pasion, which I think is probably a better results – this was on a Thursday and following that loaded show with less fly-ins.

Today’s the final of the Gran Alternativa tournament, where Ultimo Guerrero & rookie Sanson taking on Caristico & rookie-ish Soberano to determine the 22th winner of this sometimes annual tournament. Ultimo Guerrero is already a three time winner, having won as a novato with Blue Panther in 1999, then as the veteran half of the team with Dragon Rojo in 2008 and Rey Escorpion in 2011. Caristico is a two time winner, winning as a novato in 2004 with Hijo del Santo (which rocketed him to top) and as a veteran with La Sombra in 2007 (which started his big push.)

Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson are the favorites. Soberano & Caristico have to overcome CMLL bookings patterns, which tend to spread the wins out. They’d also have to overcome the booking pattern of Caristico always losing the big match in this CMLL run, losing in the final of the incredible partners tournament last year and losing his title challenges in the last year. Their seems to be a definite ceiling on how far CMLL is willing to push Caristico this time around, and he may be bumping his head off it again today. The best hope is CMLL decides the story they’re telling with Niebla Roja & Ultimo Guerrero is more important and has Roja somehow coast UG the victory. The match has the makings of being a great match whatever way it ends; Ultimo Guerrero & Mistico are classic opponents, Sanson & Soberano just had that very strong match, and both teams compliment each other well. This is a situation where they’re going to be given a full opportunity to have an outstanding match.

There’s other promising matches on this show. Dragon Lee and Cavernario might steal their show in their lightning match. Both seem to have bigger singles matches coming up – Cavernario/Volador on Tuesday, possibly Dragon Lee/Negro Casas a week from Monday – but they’ve produced great matches against each other in the past. The semimain would be the best match on most shows: Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja & Valiente taking on Euforia, Gran Guerrero and Negro Casas.

The Vangellys/Pierroth feud, a real thing, continues in the third match. Kraneo & Rush team with Pierroth while Shocker & Terrible team with Vangellys. The second match has a bunch of people used to working a little higher, as Drone, Guerrero Maya & Stuka face Dragon Rojo, Misterioso and Polvora. The show opens with Virus & Raziel against Magia Blanca & Sangre Imperial, which at least might produce some GIFs. Raziel is currently 10-3 in regular Arena Mexico matches their year, an incredible record for an early match rudo (who traditionally lose about 2/3rds of their matches.) It’s probably not an accident, but it’s also something they’re not hyping.

This show should air on ClaroSports at 8:30pm. Hopefully it’ll go smoother this time. It’s also supposed to be on Facebook Live, but that got cut when the feed has issues last week. We do not know if CMLL will be posting it on YouTube.

ESTO talked to Sanson & Ultimo Guerrero about this final. Ultimo Guerrero states that he’s not going to take it easy on Soberano even though he’s Euforia’s son, because UG’s a professional and the goal is to win. UG feels his team is the favorite but doesn’t want to be over confident, and believed Volador & Flyer were going to be their opponents in the final. UG throws a hair vs mask challenge to Niebla Roja for the Anniversario. Sanson just says he wants revenge on Soberano for beating him in Copa Junior.

Tonight also has another Super Astro show in Arena Azteca Budokan with a cornucopia of indie guys. LA Park & Rey Escorpion versus La Mascara & Zorro is the main event. Flamita, Laredo Kid, Rey Fenix vs Jack Evans, Penta 0M, and Rey Horuz is probably the best match. Bobby Zavala has his first post-CMLL match in the undercard.

WWE announced the first four participants in it’s Mae Young Touranment. There was a CMLL name on the list, and it was surprising pick: Princesa Sugehit. Sugehit has been a solid luchadora in CMLL, as a both a ruda and a tecnica, for many years and would be a fine representative but she’s never been the most exciting luchadora and is older than any woman WWE would normally bring in. She also just won the Mexican National Women’s championship from Zeuxis a couple months ago from Zeuxis, which seemed like a sign Zexuis was the one losing since CMLL took their title off Mascara Dorada before he went into this tournament. Perhaps Sugehit’s assured CMLL she’s staying somehow.

The connection I missed and look obvious now is Princesa Sugehit is Dark Angel’s most famous opponent. Dark Angel lost her mask to Sugehit when she was starting out in Monterrey and the two were opponents for a number of years. Dark Angel’s farewell match was against Sugehit in Arena Mexico. Dark Angel now works as a producer for WWE and probably has a voice in these selections.

It’s hard to tell if CMLL knew. CMLL took the welterweight championship off Mascara Dorada when he was going to WWE for the Cruiserweight Tournament last year, but put the national women’s title on Sugehit about the same distance in advance. CMLL’s also been heating up the Zeuxis/Sugehit feud and it seems likely they’ll have a mask match sometime in the next three months, but WWE might throw a wrench in that. Sugehit figures to have a much harder path to getting signed full time by WWE than Dorada or Raul Mendoza for a variety of reasons, so maybe it’s not as much a concern to CMLL.

WWE only released the first four names. There’s scheduled to be 32, just like the Cruiserweight Classic. There were two Mexicans in the CWC, so it’s very possible someone else from Mexico could be invited. (There was also one Puerto Rician and one alternate from Puerto Rico, and Zeuxis specifically has a couple ways of being invited.)

Sugehit’s next CMLL match is scheduled to be Sunday in Arena Mexico. It’s unknown when WWE will announce the rest of the tournament.

PWInsider reported Impact is looking for an AAA team to face LAX for the tag team championship on their Slammiversary PPV on 07/02. Figuring out who it could be is tough, and not just because there’s less interesting options in AAA than there was a year ago: as discussed endlessly on this site, trying to figure out which AAA people can legally work an Impact show (who Lucha Underground does not have rights on) is really thorny.

The other issue here is the Wrestling Observer Newsletter previously reported Konnan (who manages LAX) was promised he and his team would never have to interact with the AAA wrestlers due to his bad relationship with the company. AAA probably isn’t all that thrilled with interacting with Konnan, and this is a big political mess for a match that will be getting only a small bit of attention going into that PPV. There’s other goals here – Impact might be looking to introduce AAA luchadors to it’s audience before including them on house shows later this year – but it’s a challenging way to accomplish them.

It may be unrelated, but t feels like this is heading to end of the formal The Crash/Impact relationship. The Crash hasn’t brought in any Impact wrestlers since March, after Bobby Lashley was pulled off the show late and The Crash ran an angle teasing the alliance would be over until/if Lashley came to Tijuana to defend against Garza. (Jeremy Borasch has been at the shows, but the TNA involvement has definitely been downplayed.) The Crash has been bringing in US indie names since that point and done just as well with them; you could argue that most of the people TNA could offer themselves would be a downgrade to that audience, or at least not really be worth any additional hassle or cost. What Impact’s parent company really wants is video content, so maybe this all changes whenever The Crash starts recording their own shows (or maybe even Impact/Anthem eventually produces them), but the relationship doesn’t seem to have grown the way it was expected when it was first announced.

In Acapulco, Volador betrayed Caristico in the main event to set up a title match between them on the next Cholo de Tijuana show.

Yahoo! writes about Sam Adonis in CMLL.

CMLL has an article trying to get you hyped about the return of King Haku. It didn’t work.

Rey Escorpion still wants a hair match with Latin Lover, coming off them doing tease on all the FULL/Alberto shows.

Psycho Clown visited the Diablo Rojo baseball team. And their new Zona Ruda episode.

Porra Tepito, the loud group of fans in Arena Mexico, are now 14 years old. This article does include someone who watches CMLL every week complaining that wrestling is not as good as it used to be.

LuchaWorld has a new episode of the Lucha Clasica podcast.

Segunda Caida reviews Lucha Underground episode 3×15.

Fuego en el Ring has their latest podcast.

ROH posted the Ultimo Guerrero, Hechicero, Okumura vs Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Kamaitachi  match from last year’s trios tournament. They actually list him as Hiromu Takahashi which is maybe a reminder how much more he’s known now in the US than he was under his CMLL name.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 06/18/2017 Arena Naucalpan
1) Shadow Boy & Voltar vs Atomic Star & Lunatic Xtreme
2) Climax Jr. & Shaolin vs Power Bull & Vórtize
3) Leo vs Aramis, Black Dragón, Demonio Infernal, Freelance
4) Centvrión, Dinamic Black, Dragón Fly vs Hip Hop Man, Pibe Alfajor, Villano III Jr.
5) La Mosca © vs Emperador Azteca [IWRG IC WELTER]
second defense
6) Internacional Pantera, Pantera Del Japon, Pantera I vs Diablo Jr., El Hijo del Diablo, Eterno
7) Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan, Súper Mega vs Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro

How many Panteras can there be? Too many Panteras, that’s what I say. I assume this the Wrestle-1 kid who was heading to Mexico and talking about getting a masked gimmick.

That five way in the third match should be fun, hope it makes TV.