The Crash (THU) 10/05/2017 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [@JorgeGCRR , 126f, The Crash]
1) Dave Crist & Jack Crist © b Black Boy & Black Danger [IMPACT TAG]
Black Boy and Black Danger had problems by the end of the match. After the match, they announced Hugo Savinovich would be at the next Crash show in TJ.
2) Christi Jaynes & Keyra b Baronessa & Diosa Quetzal
Keyra beat Baronessa.
3) Arkángel Divino, Laredo Kid, Máscarita Dorada b Demus 3:16, Steve Pain, Último Maldito
Steve Pain replaced Mr. 450 (moved up.) Demus and Dorada feuded after the match. Dorada wants a mask vs hair match, Demus wants a lot of money.
4) Trevor Lee © b Último Ninja [IMPACT X]
The three way was split into two singles match (because Daga can’t appear on Impact, though the reason here was Trevor Lee demanded it that way.) This match appeared taped for Impact.
5) Trevor Lee © DQ Daga [IMPACT X]
This match was not taped for Impact (though they taped Lee’s post match celebration.) Lee retained after the commission ruled Daga fouled Lee, though Lee might have caused it. Daga teased the idea of going to Impact to challenge Lee, and Konnan said he’d try to get a no-DQ rematch.
6) Bestia 666, Black Taurus (Indie), Mr. 450 b Jack Evans, M-ximo, Willie Mack
Bestia pinned Jack. Mr. 450 replaced Garza (injured, appeared in a video to say he’d be back.) Pierroth attacked Jack and Damian ran him off.
7) The King b Flamita [The Crash CRUISER]
Flamita worked slightly rudo. Boos during this match.
8) Brian Cage, Penta 0M, Rey Mysterio 619 b La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush
Rey beat Pierroth.
The show was taped as a TV pilot, probably for the Azteca Mexico network. There were extra cameras set up to shoot the show that hadn’t been there past shows. Hugo might fit into that, since he’d be an obvious pick to be an announcer. There’s no info on when/if it would air.
Also during the show, they announced an upcoming retirement match but people on social media were confused as to who it was retiring. The Crash’s Facebook recap doesn’t mention it all, Jorge CRR thought it was a Nicho retirement, and 126F thought it was a Konnan retirement match. That last choice would make the most sense, and would be a decent idea to get attention for a TV show early on. No date was announced, but they did say it would be Konnan, Nicho and Damian against Pierroth and others (maybe the other Ingobernables.)
126f suggested the boos in Fenix/Flamita match was because the match was good but not as great as hope (lacking some intensity) and the fans were tired by that point and wanted to see the main event. The usual late Tijuana start time is a bigger obstacle on a Thursday than a Saturday.
The Universo 2000 benefit show scheduled for yesterday in Coliseo didn’t happen, and Mascara 2000 says it’s will be rescheduled. (via @therealfredo).
CMLL resumes to Friday night shows tonight. Judging from the last couple of shows, you should not expect something special unless two young guys decide they want to go 30 minutes and the referee doesn’t stop them. Tonight’s main event is Carstico, Diamante Azul, and Marco Corleone versus Gran Guerrero, Ultimo Guerrero and Shocker, a matchup with no particular rivalry or reason to exist. CMLL has an exciting trio of tecnicos in the semimain (Mistico, Dragon Lee and Soberano) and a middling group of rudos to oppose them (Mephisto, Lucifierno and Rey Bucanero.)
The fourth match has the only ongoing story here, with Negro Casas and Sam Adonis on opposite sides of a rudo/rudo trios match. Casas is with the only two currently available Peste Negro members, Cavernario & Felino, while Adonis is teaming with Rush & Pierroth. Rush seemed disappointed he wasn’t the one feuding with Negro Casas last time around.
Valiente & Hechicero are in the lightning match. The Panther Brothers team with Fuego against known bullies Sagrado, Misterioso and Vangellys. The show is scheduled to have Mercurio & Pequeno Nitro versus Shockercito & Stukita, though I’m not sure if Stukita is back in Mexico at this point.
The show is back to airing on ClaroSports at 8:30. It’ll be on CMLL’s YouTube as a VOD sometime after 11.
There’s also the debut show of promotion XXX at Arena Naucalpan. Groon XXX headlines in a eight man ruleta de la muerte, with Jack Evans, Villano III Jr., Tiago, Black Taurus, Decnnis, Sharly Rockstar, and Hiijo de Lizmark. Tiago losing his hair seems like the most likely outcome, though Sharly, Decnnis or even Lizmark wouldn’t be stretches. The show also includes a Oriental vs Guerrero Siam match billed as lucha libre versus MMA. It’s not a TV taping at Naucalpan, but this is a show likely to be on many YouTube channels this weekend.
This week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter has more details on the mystery casting call happening in California later this month. It’s said to be Aroluxe, who briefly owned part of TNA/Impact, they’re planning on taping the show in Nashville in 2018, and they’re hoping to get Vince Russo to write the show. The Harris Brothers, who work for Aroluxe, have a long relationship with Russo and the theory is Lucha Underground did fine with an ex-WWE writers (Chris DeJospeh & Chris Roach) so they can do the same. The whole project is explained that way in the WON: they think Lucha Underground did some things right and they can just do the same things and fix what they saw as the mistakes. They story frames it as the new group hoping to do it with the same people; they expected LU to be out of business by now and they would be able to convince those people to join their show. The idea would be to sell it to Spanish language networks in the US.
Russo, who’s two years of success in wrestling is more than outweighed by the following near two decades of failures, would not be a natural fit for a show attempting to reach a lucha libre audience. (In a long forgotten bit, there was a point early on where Vince Russo visited a Lucha Underground taping in hopes of hooking on as a writer, and they thought he was too way out there to be useful.) It’s notable that only ex-WWE writers are ever talked about for these gig. The wrestling industry has done a much better job of developmenting talent in front of the camera than behind it, where spots are even fewer and held onto tighter.
This concept is almost too absurd to take seriously, down to the idea of getting on a lucha show on Spanish TV. (Years of CMLL selling their shows for ‘not much’ means it’s going to be very hard to get anyone to pay more than for anything else.) I do think it’s going to represent the start of a pattern. LU got enough buzz early that people are going to spend the next few years trying to clone it, but they’re going to miss the things they got right and the things they got lucky on. Just speaking of talent alone, the wrestling world itself is a lot different place than it was in 2014. Ricochet became Prince Puma because, in part, NXT didn’t seem open to guys like him at that point. They are now. The 2018 version of Prince Puma would be a guy like Lio Rush, but he’s already signed to NXT, or a guy like Dezmond Xavier, but he’s appears already signed to Impact. The 2018 Cage might have been Donovoan Dijak, but he’s already signed to NXT. A guy like Keith Lee would be a great pickup to a startup TV show, but the indies are more much more viable now and they’re going to be less interested in giving up their freedom to be on a TV show. The actual LU guys, if LU ceases to exist, may not be all that interested in jumping into something else where they might be left hanging for a long time at the end. The next Pentagon, the next Fenix, the next Cuerno are probably out there in Mexico, but a LU starting in 2018 wouldn’t have Konnan or AAA to find them for LU, they’ve got their own other deals going and don’t need this one. The 2018 version of Johnny Mundo (Dolph Ziggler?) is unlikely to be as singularly devoted to getting this over as the original one was. And so on. There’s other aspects besides talent to overcome, but – as much as the indies themselves have boomed – try to convince enough of them that it’s worth their time to work for you is going to be much harder when there are so many more options, and the golden apple on the stick is closer than ever. LU has (present tense, don’t yell at me) an incredible amount of talent in front of and behind the scenes, some they got by great selection, some they got by just dumb luck. That part alone is going to be tough to repeat.
You’ve read this long enough to know what’s written here to be on the cynical and overly concerned side. But Vince Russo or no Vince Russo, trying to enter the overcrowd US wrestling space with a new wrestling program in 2018 seemed like something almost certainly to fail. There’s enough red flags here that it seems likely to fail even if the situations were much better, but this just seems like a scheme to lose a lot of money. I hope it works and everyone goes home happy and rich, but my money wouldn’t touch this.
Record has some interviews from the Antonio Pena mass.
Olympic diver German Sanchez is promoting an AAA show in Guadalajara next Friday as an earthquake benefit show.
DTU will have an all champions show on 10/15 in Ecatepec. No matches announced yet.
The Todo x el Todo show scheduled for tomorrow in Madrid, Spain was quietly canceled.
The Gladiatores talks to Black Terry about his first trip to Japan in 26 years old, and to Mascara 2000 Jr. about his mystery friends.
Mini Rey Misterio (the most recent Octagoncito) took a photo inside Arena Mexico. (Via R de Rudo)
LuchaWorld has the latest news update.
Nogales (and Arizona) luchador Anarky says he’s had two tryouts with AAA but is working on something even better.
Puma & Stuka teach a YouTube person how to be a luchador.
MicromanFever has a review of the big matches from the 10/01 Lucha Memes show.
A brief interview with Satillo luchador Zorro Galactico.
Lineups
CMLL (TUE) 10/10/2017 Arena México
1) Bengala & Flyer vs Apocalipsis & Artillero
2) La Vaquerita, Lady Maravilla, Marcela vs La Comandante, Metálica, Tiffany
3) Fuego, Oro Jr., Pegasso vs Disturbio, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado
4) Rey Cometa vs Pólvora [lightning]
5) Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Titán vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Rey Bucanero, Vangellys
6) Cavernario, Felino, Terrible vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Valiente
Main event does look like it’s going towards Cavernario/Niebla Roja. Might Flyer actually make a stream again?
CMLL (TUE) 10/10/2017 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Alteño & El Divino vs Gran Kenut & León Blanco
2) Astral, Magnus, Vaquero Jr. vs Akuma, Espíritu Negro, Maléfico
3) Star Jr., Starman, Stigma vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Canelo Casas, Sangre Azteca
4) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
5) Dragón Lee, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
Panthers and NGD agreed to have a title match, so it’s a non-title match. Maybe on the 17th?
Lucha Memes (SUN) 10/22/2017 Arena La Loma, Puebla, Puebla
1) Baby Star Jr., Demasiado, Nuevo Ángel vs Mini Cuervo, Sexy Alexander, Siki Ozama Jr.
2) The Panther (CMLL) vs Arkalis
Panther must win with a nudo lagunero, Arkalis with La Huachicolera.
3) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Multifacético
4) Corsario Negro Jr. (Estado de México) & Drako (Estado de México) vs King Rocker & Rey Samuray
5) Virus vs Centella de Oro
6) Dragón Rojo Jr. vs Rey Apocalipsis
7) Negro Casas vs Prayer
A Negro Casas match is a pretty big thing to add as the last match. Interested in what Rey Samuray would do with the Arena Puebla handcuffs off.
The Crash (SAT) 11/04/2017 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Arkángel Divino © vs Astrolux, Último Maldito, Black Boy, Tiago, Mirage [The Crash JUNIOR]
fourth defense
2) Jonathan & Máscarita Dorada vs Black Danger & Demus 3:16
3) Keyra © vs Christi Jaynes, Diosa Quetzal, Baronessa [The Crash WOMEN]
third defense
4) Carlito, Damián 666, M-ximo vs Black Taurus, Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Pierroth
5) Hanson & Raymond Rowe vs Brian Cage & Keith Lee and Mr. 450 & Willie Mack
6) Flamita & The King vs Flip Gordon & Sammy Guevara
7) Rey Mysterio 619 vs Rush, Penta Zero M, La Máscara [The Crash HEAVY]
new championship
8) Bestia 666 vs Jack Evans [hair]
Quick turn around for the next card. This is part of the week of shows and a lineup that would make for a big TV show. It is funny that all the giant guys are together in the fifth match and it’s mostly smaller guys going for the heavyweight title.
