Reminder: The Tapatia awards for the best in lucha libre are open thru January 28th.
IWRG (SUN) 01/14/2018 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, The Gladiatores]
1) Leroy b Dragón Orus
2) Odín & Shadow Boy b Demonio Infernal & Lunatic Xtreme
straight falls. Lunatic and Demonio never got along and agreed to a hair match.
3) Bombero Infernal b Danny Casas
Bombero cheated to beat Danny
4) Dragón Yuki, Fly Warrior, Séptimo Rayo b Emperador Azteca, Hijo del Alebrije, Veneno
Yuki’s first match here since July.
5) Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro, Eterno b Ovett, Trauma I, Trauma II
Ovett replaced Imposible (injury, he and Cerebro continued their feud in pre match promos.) Team Cerebro took falls 1/3.
6) Pantera I © b Aramis [IWRG IC Light]
Pantera took 1/3 to retain. Fourth defense.
Black Terry Jr. streamed the top two matches, which was fun. Main event was good. Turnout was not, but the fans who came seemed disappointed Aramis didn’t win.
CMLL NJPW (MON) 01/15/2018 Takamatsu City General Gymnasium #2, Kagawa, Japan [CMLL, NJPW]
Attendance: 1021
1) Drone b Puma
7:17. Drone won with a hurancanrana
2) Cuatrero & Disturbio b Ángel de Oro & Stuka Jr.
10:45. Disturbio beat Star Jr. with his front backbreaker (called a Golden Breaker.)
3) Fuego, Jushin Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask b Okumura, Rocky Romero, SHO, YOH
10:12. Fuego beat Okumura with a casita.
4) Bárbaro Cavernario, Sansón, Último Guerrero b Mistico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr.
13:01. Sanson beat Soberano Jr. with a powerbomb.
5) Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Rush, Tetsuya Naito b Dragón Lee, Hirai Kawato, Kushida, Satoshi Kojima
12:41. BUSHI submitted Kawato to a crab again.
6) Atlantis, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Niebla Roja b Gedo, Gran Guerrero, Kazuchika Okada
12:36. Niebla Roja beat Gran Guerrero with the Furia Roja full nelson faceslam. Niebla Roja did the post match thank you promo.
NJPW’s given a name to Sanson’s finish. CMLL doesn’t use names for finishes (except for the word Special), so we may never know what that name is. FantasticaMania last visited Kagawa in 2015. NJPW reported an even 1000 attendance for that show. They’re in Osaka tomorrow.
Marco defends the CMLL heavyweight championship tonight against Diamante Azul in Arena Puebla. Azul seems certain to be world heavyweight champion if he sticks in CMLL long enough, but CMLL also putting him in a feud with the national heavyweight champion suggest they don’t expect him to win this one. Marco’s title defenses have generally been good, though this one might be a challenge.
Of note on the card, there’s a Guerrero Maya/Hechicero lightning match. That sound good on it’s own, and might lead to a title match next week. Kraneo also makes an unusual appearance on the tecnico side in the semimain. Audaz makes an appearance in the tercera. The show will air at 9pm on CMLL’s YouTube channe.
CMLL announced Kaho Kobayashi would start with the promotion on 01/30 in Guadalajara for an indefinite stay. Kobayashi won the the CMLL-REINA International Junior Heavyweight Championship back in September and announced then she was planning on coming to Mexico in 2018. It’s a return trip to Mexico. She was around in February/March of 2017.
Pushing Upwards writes about Hechicero versus Satanico.
Lineups
CMLL (SAT) 01/20/2018 Arena Coliseo
1) Bengala & Sangre Imperial vs El Coyote & Grako
2) Ángel Del Amor, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Espanto Jr., Hijo del Signo, Metálico
3) Flyer, Stigma, Tritón vs Cancerbero, Nitro, Virus
4) El Gallito & Microman vs Mije & Perico Zacarías
5) Blue Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr., Titán vs Johnny Idol, Sam Adonis, Vangellys
6) Diamante Azul, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Máscara Año 2000
Micros are back in Coliseo. They’re getting a couple matches a month, but have not been on streaming since September.
Angel del Amor turns up again in the second match. I wonder when CMLL will announce him as being part of the roster.
CMLL (SUN) 01/21/2018 Arena México
1) Camorra, Inquisidor, Yago vs Apocalipsis, Artillero, Cholo
2) Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Starman vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Sangre Azteca
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Rey Cometa vs Forastero, Pólvora, Vangellys
4) Pierroth, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Johnny Idol, Sam Adonis, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Diamante Azul vs Euforia
Another singles match for Diamante Azul. It looks like he’ll have three in 12 days. Semimain is weird, but probably so Titan can work with Stuka or Valiente instead of those rudos.
AAA TV (FRI) 02/09/2018 Palenque de la Feria Nacional De San Marcos, Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes
1) Estrella Divina & Lady Shani vs Ashley & Faby Apache
2) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Cruiserweight Champion [AAA CRUISER]
Lanzelot is scheduled to defend title against Australian Suicide on 01/26.
3) Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria vs Joe Lider & Mr. Águila
4) Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
5) Angelikal, Bengala, Hijo del Fantasma vs Ángel Mortal Jr., Dave The Clown, Texano Jr.
6) Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown vs Hernandez & Johnny Mundo
THAT is an interesting main event. It definitely suggests AAA expected Johnny Mundo to still be around, and possibly still be champion, after Guerra de Titanes. If Johnny Mundo has changed his mind and is coming to Mexico City next weekend, he’s kept it very quiet and so have AAA (which seems a poor way to sell tickets.) And maybe, given the way that main event sets up, the plan is for Psycho Clown to finally challenge for the heavyweight championship? Probably shouldn’t think too much about this until Mundo does show, but someone’s in AAA is thinking about.
The semimain is quite the random collection of people. Lider & Aguila face the Vipers back in Toluca before this, so it’s sort of a tag team round robing going on. Vikingo, one of the winners of Llave a la Gloria, actually gets a prize for winning it. And the opener suggests there’s more Shani/Apache matches to come.
Unless AAA is streaming events on Twitch, you won’t see this for a long time; this appears to air likely the weekend of March 3rd.
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I think Angel Del Amor will have a gimmick change soon…glad for Hijo Del Vikingo for him having something to work, but it looks that AAA has a very big problem with the roster they have now and it looks weak, because they have not done that much in making people care about the young wrestlers…and just wait about Diamante Azul…and to finish my observations…is Titan pissing someone on the office?