Reminder: The Tapatia awards for the best in lucha libre are open thru January 28th.
CMLL NJPW (TUE) 01/16/2018 Edion Arena Osaka, Osaka, Japan [CMLL, NJPW]
Attendance: 1150
1) Drone & Star Jr. b Disturbio & Puma
7:30. Drone beat Puma with a moonsault.
2) Jushin Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi, Soberano Jr., Tiger Mask b Rocky Romero, Sansón, SHO, YOH
10:52. Soberano beat Sanson via tornillo.
3) Cuatrero & Okumura b Ángel de Oro & Fuego
8:28. Okumura pinned Fuego via DDT, and thanked the Osaka doctor who took operated on his neck.
4) Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi b Dragón Lee & Hirai Kawato
11:13. BUSHI submitted Kawato to a crab once again.
5) Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero b Mistico & Niebla Roja
10:46. Gran Guerrero pinned Niebla Roja after a super Falcon arrow.
6) Kushida & Satoshi Kojima b Rush & Tetsuya Naito
13:58. Kojima beat Rush via lariat.
7) Bárbaro Cavernario, Gedo, Kazuchika Okada b Atlantis, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Volador Jr.
12:23. Barbaro Cavernario submitted Volador to the cavernaria. Cavernario thanked the fans in Japanese.
They drew 1025 and 1015 in Osaka the last couple years, so that’s a significant improvement. In post match interviews, Dragon Lee said Kawato would be a superstar after two years. FantasticaMania travels to Toyama for tomorrow’s show, the final one before the NJPW World shows.
NJPW announced the lucha libre piggy banks sold out, and they’re hoping to get more in June. They were so popular that they were limiting them to one per person, and that still wasn’t enough.
CMLL (MON) 01/15/2018 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Efekto10, Notimex]
1) Meyer & París b Guerrero Espacial & Sombra Diabólika 
tecnicos too 1/3
2) Flyer, Príncipe Diamante, Rey Samuray b Hijo del Signo, King Jaguar, Perverso
tecnicos took 1/3
3) Audaz, Lestat, Stigma b El Malayo, Raziel, Universo 2000 Jr.
Audaz Arena Puebla debut. Tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Hechicero b Guerrero Maya Jr. [lightning]
Hechicero submitted Maya in a great match. Went about 8:30.
5) Carístico, Kráneo, Valiente DQ Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Terrible
Tecnicos took 2/3. Terrible fouled Caristico.
6) Marco Corleone © b Diamante Azul [CMLL HEAVY]
Marco took 1/3 to retain. 6th defense
You should go out of your way to see Hechicero/Guerrero Maya Junior. They went for it. The only disappointing part was Hechicero winning so there’s not a title match. Main was alright. Audaz wasn’t eye catching as in his farewell/debut match but he’s still pretty good.
Today’s Arena Mexico has a Caristico/Euforia match, set up much the same way as the Terrible/Caristico match up there. (CMLL figuring out they can run singles matches outside the same tight group would be a vast advancement.) The semimain has Stuka, Titan and Valiente versus Hijos del Infiernos, which would’ve been a hot match a few years ago. Templario & Magia Blanca are in the tercera.
The show airs on YouTube at 7:30pm.
The Crash says they’re turning Salon Citlali into their own gym/training center. That seems random. They’ll have a gran opening and press conference on 01/26. By the way, it’s now 17 days since it was obvious Matt Riddle wasn’t going to be coming to The Crash. That show is Friday, and The Crash still hasn’t pulled him off the card. The Crash is supposed to have a public event tomorrow – that tryout for women in Gym Hercules – which I understand is still on but hasn’t been promoted much.
THR3 Media Group and El Hijo del Santo announce they’re working on “Santo, el Enmascardo de Plata”, a Santo bio movie. Hijo del Santo has been wanting to do this for ages, telling the ‘real’ story of his father. THR3 just came into existence about a week ago, and includes a former Teleivsa director. They’ll starting production this year, and there’s no release date announced.
The very end of a Variety interview with Turner Latin America mentions a wrestling themed show, “His Last Fall” (or probably Su Ultima Caida) that they’re working on with AAA. They say it should air in September. This is the project Vampiro and others were working on last month.
El Rey says Man at Arms will be back for a second season. That’s one of the two series El Rey debuted last year along side of Lucha Underground and delayed the second half of S3 Lucha Underground so they could run alongside each other. I guess El Rey was happy with how it went. This series is back sometime in the second half of 2018; I wouldn’t expect El Rey to hold the start of LU to run with it, but we don’t have a start air date for LU S4 at this point. LU’s first taping S4 taping is thought to be 38 days away, with nothing announced so far.
The Awl has a Sam Adonis article, which unexpectedly includes a Jinder Mahal defense.
Dave the Clown calls La Parka a grumpy old man.
Averno appeared on a Televisa Deportes Facebook Live stream to promote Guerra de Titanes.
El Grafico writes about Miguel Reducino’s ring creations
LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.
Segunda Caida writes about the Leyenda de Plata.
+LuchaTV has an interview with Ovett on their newest edition of the podcast.
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