March 2018 – luchablog

Matt Taven wins the NWA Welterweight Championship, Seductora/Sugehit feud

March 31, 2018March 31, 2018 thecubsfan

CMLL (FRI) 03/30/2018 Arena México [Notimex, Solowrestling, SuperLuchas]
1) Flyer & Robin b Akuma & Templario
10:34. Tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Dalys, La Seductora, Zeuxis b Kaho Kobayashi, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit
11:41. Rudas won in straight falls, Seductora using the ropes to beat Sugehit. They feuded.
3) Dragón Rojo Jr., Felino, Kawato San b Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther
13:42. Rudos too 2/3.
4) Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas b Johnny Idol, Okumura, Sam Adonis
11:10. Peste Negra took 2/3.
5) Atlantis, Carístico, Valiente b Kráneo, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush
10:44. Kraneo and Los Ingobernables had problems leading to the finish.
6) Matt Taven b Volador Jr. © [NWA WELTER]
15:34. Taven took 2/3, cleanly winning in the third (though after a Tirantes slow count on a Volador Canadian Destroyer.) Volador falls on his 20th defense. Taven is the 8th (or 65th) champion.

This was another big turnout for a show. CMLL didn’t give much of a look at the upper deck during the broadcast, but the lower portion seemed pretty full. It was a loud crowd (except for the semimain), and a good one to run a really big title switch. I have no idea if Taven beating Volador sets up an even bigger match later on, but it was the right night to do that outcome if they want to leave that possibility.

ROH hasn’t mentioned the title switch yet. To me, that suggests ROH wasn’t told of the title change ahead of time to have something ready to say, and that this is a CMLL-only storyline right now, a result of how high CMLL in on Taven rather than being specifically a ROH/CMLL crossover angle. Taven’s running bit in ROH is the promotion has a conspiracy against him and his Kingdom team, so I guess not mentioning it could some how work with that, though that’s a strange way to tell that story.

Taven joins Rocky Romero as men who’ve won ROH, CMLL and NJPW championships. Romero won the CMLL super lightweight championship twice. The second time, they had similar the idea he’d take it back to the US for the moment and CMLL would eventually bring him back to lose it to someone, only that never actually happened. (CMLL did want to bring him back at one point to lose to a NJPW wrestler they were high on, Black Tiger, not realizing Black Tiger was actually Rocky Romero.) Hopefully they’ve got this worked out better with Taven. Taven is taking the belt back to the US, but mentions “coming back to Mexico” in his post match promos as if it was a think that had already been agreed upon.

CMLL announced the championship as the “National Wrestling Alliance World Welterweight Championship”. They’ve done the historic name. I don’t know why they’ve made that change. It seems like something’s happened, CMLL typically remembers what their titles are, but no one’s talking about a reason for it.

Matt Taven was thrilled to be champion. (Sam Adonis helpfully is around to be translator.) Kraneo says he’ll become a tecnico if the people want it. The Taven bit may take a longer to play out since he’s going home today, but CMLL started showing it’s cards on other plans. Kraneo’s going to be a tecnico. It may take a few weeks to get there, but seems likely he’ll be on the side of good by the Kids’ Day shows. Seductora and Sugehit seem headed to a hair match, not a title one, not that Seductora has a good chance of winning either. The Arena Mexico Anniversary is coming up at the end of the month, and that women’s match seems like a fit for it. Both of those storylines tarted with regular matches the first week, then bringing the people involved back another time to actually start the story. Peste Negra & Axis of Evil met in a regular match on this show, and they’re being brought back next week.

In the Arena Azteca Budokan main event trios last night, Oriental removed Mistico’s mask for the DQ, then challenged him to a hair versus mask match. Mistico accepted. No date announced, but this one sounds as if it might actually be happening. Oriental lost his mask to the original Mistico years ago.

Shows of note this weekend

Saturday

Lucha Libre Boom & Lucha Memes run their first combo show in Arena Lopez Mateos, with Caristico, Dragon Lee & Volador taking on Xtreme Tiger, Bandido and Hechicero in the main event.
There’s an AAA show in Arena Neza. Psycho Clown is supposed to headline that one, and one in Hidalgo, so good luck to him. Lady Shani’s indicated she’ll be back in the ring on the Neza show, which works out with the luchadora surprise spot listed.
Salon Citlali has Ricky Marvin vs Fuerza Guerrera.

Sunday

Hijo de Canis Lupus’ debut was the biggest selling for Sunday’s IWRG show, but they actually had him debut as a surprise on Friday’s AAA show in the building.
MDA has Cibernetico & LA Park vs Blue Demon Jr. & Zorro. Multimedios is billing the main event as Blue Demon’s first appearance in Arena Coliseo in two years. That is accurate. It is also accurate that he just wrestled across town last weekend (and wasn’t very good.)
Sunday CMLL has a Hechicero singles match with Forastero.

DoradaFan has a new music video of Komander.

Lucha Sorpresa reviews some recent CMLL.

Segunda Caida watches Negro Casas & Aramis and a build up match to Cuatrero/Angel de Oro.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 04/03/2018 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Yaqui & Mágico vs Ráfaga & Sádico
2) Magnum, Príncipe Diamante, Star Jr. vs Cancerbero, Frezzer, Raziel
3) Blue Panther Jr., Pegasso, The Panther vs Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Virus
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Esfinge, Titán, Tritón
5) Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Felino, Negro Casas

I missed this lineup somewhere along the way. Valiente is going to have a long night with those two partners. Semimain is a rematch, and seems to be setting up a national trios title match on 04/10. Crossing my fingers the stream will work for that one.

CMLL (FRI) 04/06/2018 Arena México
1) Astral & Eléctrico vs Cancerbero & Raziel
2) Drone, Fuego, Tritón vs Disturbio, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado
3) Cavernario, Felino, Negro Casas vs Kawato San, Okumura, Sam Adonis
4) Valiente vs Stuka Jr. [lightning]
5) Dragón Lee, Mistico, Titán vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
6) Atlantis, Carístico, Volador Jr. vs Kráneo, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush [Relevos Increíbles]

The main event has the usual bit of taking a few weeks for a CMLL turn. Semimain could be very good, and the second match should be good as well. Not the most vital show for a busy weekend.

DTU LLA (SAT) 04/14/2018 Gym Kali, Acapulco, Guerrero
1) Luigi & Mini Flash vs Ángel Negro & Hermes
2) Devitt Rodríguez & Kevin vs Águila Azteca & Guerrero Azteca
3) Fly Danger vs Billy Gamer, Máscara Del Ring, Agraofobia
4) Camufaljke & Pesadilla vs Uranio & Yoke and Adrenalina & Tiburón
5) Hijo de Black Silver, Isias Velazquez, Moria vs Cobre, Draztick Boy, Jimmy
6) Lokillo © vs Ace Austin [DTU AI]

Second card announced for DTU’s April tour, with Lokillo defending his title against a wrestler from Ohio’s Rockstar Pro promotion.

CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-03-30

March 31, 2018April 1, 2018 thecubsfan 1 Comment

Recapped: 03/30/2018

Matches:

Flyer & Robin beat Akuma & Templario
(10:34 [3:50, 2:55, 3:49], 2/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Dalys, La Seductora, Zeuxis beat Kaho Kobayashi, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit
(11:41 [5:45, 5:56], 1/2, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL )

Dragón Rojo Jr., Felino, Kawato San beat Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther
(13:42 [4:00, 3:12, 6:30], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL )

Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas beat Johnny Idol, Okumura, Sam Adonis
(11:10 [3:31, 2:03, 5:36], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL )

Atlantis, Carístico, Valiente beat Kráneo, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush
(10:44 [2:15, 2:02, 6:27], 1 DQ /3, below average, VideosOficialesCMLL )

Matt Taven beat Volador Jr. © to win the NWA World Welterweight Championship
(15:34, 2/3, great, VideosOficialesCMLL )

Volador backcracker (2:13)
Matt Taven frogsplash (2:18)
Matt Taven Climax (11:03)

What happened:

Seconds for the main event were Sam Adonis and Flyer. Taven won the title cleanly, though Tirantes slow counted Volador before the finish. The championship belt was referred to as belong to the National Wrestling Alliance, and the “Historic” concept appeared to be dropped. None of the announcers remarked on the change.

The rudos were disqualified in the first fall of the semimain for a totally unnecessary shove of Edgar. Rush & Kraneo had problems in the third fall, leading to Rush & Bestia attacking Kraneo and Kraneo splashing them both to set up the técnico win. Kraneo had enough of Los Ingobernables, yet didn’t shake hands with the técnicos or do anything else to definitely establish him being a técnico. Mije walked out after Kraneo splashed his teammates.

Princesa Sugehit & La Seductora are now feuding, after Seductora used the ropes to beat Sugehit in the second fall of their match for the straight fall victory. They kept brawling after the match with no title belt motions, so this appears to be leaning towards a hair match feud at the moment.

Thoughts:

Taven is too far way and looking the wrong, Volador smartly holds up and waits on his dive

The main event did the shocking ending in a perfect way in CMLL/Volador match psychology: Taven had already used the Climax (and it didn’t work), and they were going thru the usual sequence of Volador cutting Taven off for the one man Spanish Fly or the super headscissors. The only different was Volador cutting Taven off a little bit lower than normal. It still seemed normal until the moment Taven pulled Volador off the ropes, and the match flipped from Volador cruising to another win to the unexpected outcome. The only real tell, and only really noticeable for what it was in retrospect, was Tirantes extreme slow counting against Volador moments before the finish. Even there, it just seemed like Tirantes being Tirantes, not CMLL doing a little something to protect their top guy. (Maybe there was one more tell: Magadan suddenly doing wikipedia research on a guy who’s been to CMLL multiple times seems like a clue.)

That finish was executed really well. The rest of the match wasn’t that smooth. It didn’t rise to be detrimental to the match, but there were obvious moments where Taven wasn’t where Volador expected him to be (and maybe once the other way) and Volador had to adjust quickly. As patterned as Volador can be, he also was able to make those adjustments and keep on going. It still lacked the smoothness of Volador’s other big matches. The third fall usually is blown out a bit bigger when the first two falls are so blown off like they were here, and there seemed to be less going on overall in this match. Had Volador actually gotten that Spanish Fly and won the match, this goes down a good match which is barely remembered by the end of the year, and people argue the opener was actually the best match of the show. The finish came off as so well done to me that it bumps up the match a lot. Whatever it’s rated, this match is going to be more memorable for the outcome than the quality as long as this story goes some place.

The semimain was the quietest match on the show, with the crowd not really caring much about Los Ingobernables and only coming back partially alive when the técnicos finally got back in control in the third fall. It’s great the Kraneo turn seems to be finally happening. It just took a lot of a not greatly interesting match to get there.

The Peste Negra/Axis of Evil was exactly what you’d expect. A bunch of comedy, a lot of Okumura getting into chop fights, and maybe the only surprise being a clean finish with nothing coming out of it. Seeing Cavernario work as a técnico one show after trying to beat the life out of Soberano was strange. This crowd didn’t have much of a problem with it. The stereo casita spot with Casas to end the second fall looked great. Adonis was definitely the best of the rudos.

The tercera was helped by the crowd. They were way into the Pantheras thru the match, but most especially in the first fall run. Blue panther & Fellino did a lot more near fall spots than you’d get on a near fall, and Dragon Rojo diving to the floor is not an every show thing, but otherwise the crowd really carried the action. Blue Panther Jr.’s multiple quebradora spot is really popular. Dragon Rojo might have gotten shaken up on a The Panther splash but otherwise seemed fine.

The women’s match was alright. Just the idea of putting La Seductora in a feud is bizarre, but they must’ve been planning this for a while given her sudden high position. (Same as with Kraneo.) It doesn’t seem like it could possibly be good, and the looming series of not good matches definitely casts a show over this one. Otherwise, this was a bit better than the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, with a crowd who was much more into it.

The opener was really fun, especially on the opening match curve. Templario is superb. Templario and Robin had a great finish, Templario and Flyer had an amazing sequence, Templario and [X] is always a good time. Akuma is definitely not bad, he took the Robin finish great, but Templario is so obviously talented that everyone else is going to look second class. Flyer & Templario had obvious chemistry and would be a fine Copa Nuevo Valores final or a random lightning match.

CMLL Puebla: 2018-03-19

March 30, 2018March 28, 2018 thecubsfan

Recapped: 03/24/2018

Matches:

Astro & Millenium beat Joker & Saurón
(10:00 [5:13, 2:09, 2:38], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Arkalis, Astral, Eléctrico beat Hijo del Signo, Perverso, Policeman
(14:27 [7:30, 3:42, 3:15], 1/3, n/r, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Blue Panther Jr., Drone, Stigma beat Kawato San, Puma, Tiger
(12:24 [4:20, 4:17, 3:47], 1/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Kráneo beat Euforia
(9:13, Kraneo Boom, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro, Matt Taven, Niebla Roja vs Cuatrero, Mr. Niebla, Sansón
(9:02 [2:02, 2:05, 4:55], 2/3 DQ, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Carístico, Gran Guerrero, Mephisto beat La Bestia Del Ring, Mistico, Rush in a relevos increíbles match
(12:17 [3:56, 4:45, 3:36], good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

Gran Guerrero pulled Mistico’s mask and pinned him in the main event.

Cuatrero fouled Angel de Oro to end the semimain.

Euforia & Kraneo was a one fall no time limit match.

El Egipico was honored on this show, Puebla’s version of Homenaje a Dos Leyendas.

Thoughts:

The main event was fun because the crowd was so into Mistico and Caristico. They don’t have to do a mask match to get people care; a simple singles match between them would be a big deal at this point. Who knows if it’ll actually happen but the atmosphere for their trios matches are the hottest in CMLL. The real idea, at least in this match, was to set up Mistico/Gran Guerrero and they worked well together. Rush/Pierroth also had better teamwork in this match.

The semimain was pretty slight for two falls, but picked up nicely in the third fall building off the mask feud. This Puebla crowd was far more pro-Angel de Oro than the Arena Mexico fanbase, giving them the desire reaction to everyone they were doing. They really should bring Oro/Cuatrero back to Puebla as a title match, it’ll do well. Taven seemed amused by the idea of wrestling a typically strange Mr. Niebla, and it went surprisingly well.

Kawato still has the “young boy protecting fans from dives” mindset

You’d never be able to tell who won the Kraneo & Euforia match by looking them post match. Kraneo was so, so tired and Euforia wasn’t looking much better. They slowed down greatly from a hot start due to that lack of energy, but the match otherwise was the action and the silliness you’d want to from a big Kraneo/Euforia match. Euforia was at his best when he just wasn’t putting up with Mije & Kraneo’s silliness (and so, it was disappointing when he played to the crowd too before the finish), and the crowd easily went to Kraneo’s side. This wasn’t a match of big spots, it was still plenty entertaining.

The Puma/Tiger division continued to churn on good matches, only handicapped by how many of them feel about the same since they’re never given a direction. I feel like Tiger & Stigma have always been wrestling in Arena Puebla and always will be wrestling in Arena Puebla. Kawato’s stomp in this match was the worst, but he also attempted a frog splash and apologized to the fans after he got toped into them, a nice man.

An average opener begin the show. Saurón is a better version of Pequeño Universo, slow and sometimes clumsily but with more impressive moves. Millenium wants to be good but is in the wrong matches for that to happen and could use more help. Astro’s third fall offensive run looked really good this week. I didn’t like this Joker masks, he’s got better looks.

Volador/Taven tonight, Verano de Escandalo on 06/03, Las Apaches

March 30, 2018March 30, 2018 thecubsfan

Volador Jr. goes for his 20th defense of the NWA Historic Welterweight Championship tonight in Arena Mexico. It appears to be Taven’s final match in Mexico for this tour. Taven’s previous big matches in CMLL have gone pretty well, Volador will likely want to go all out in an Arena Mexico main event, so it should be worth watching. It’ll be also worth seing if Taven brings a different flow to the match or if it follows Volador’s big move/kickout/rest/repeat rhythm.

The semimain has Rush & La Bestia teaming once again with Kraneo against Atlantis, Caristico and Valiente. The Kraneo big matches make sense if they’re going some place with him. It’s not clear they are, and it’s CMLL bizarre that he’s teamed more with Los Ingobernables on Friday nights than Terrible. It certainly seems like CMLL is not behind that storyline with how little follow up they’ve done.

The Axis of Evil is back together on a Friday night for the first time in a while, taking on the Peste Negra unit of Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas and Cavernario. Sam Adonis is threatening to put Casas out for two more months. Felino is one match lower, teaming with Drago Rojo & Kawato San against the Panther family. The women’s match is a repeat of H2L: Kobayahi, Marcela and Princesa Sugehit versus Dalys, La Seductora and Zeuxis. The rudas won the previous meeting. The show opens up with Flyer & Robin taking on Akuma & Templario in what seems like a much better than usual CMLL primera.

The show starts locally at 8:30pm. It’s still an hour later (9:30 CT/10:30 ET) if you’re in the US or Canada or anywhere else who switched their clocks. Mexico starts Daylight Savings Time early Sunday morning, which means this problem goes away for people in the US – but people in Japan have to get used to the same one hour later bit for the next six months.

The show will air on MarcaClaro’s Facebook page – link is up already, so they may remember to start on time this time. That’ll be the best way to watch; the website link is geoblocked again.

Local promoters KDNA said Verano de Escandalo on June 3rd in Monterrey’s Plaza de Toros Monumental. That’s a Sunday, so probably around 6 or 7pm CT start on Twitch. Verano de Escandalo is the last major show prior to TripleMania. KDNA says they’ll have the card next week, though announcing an AAA card two months ahead of time just seems like a way to be announcing an incorrect lineup.

MDA announced Ricky Banderas would be coming to their promotion. That’s who is in the picture, anyway – the text is careful not to use any name.

MedioTiempo interviews Los Alvarados about their futbol fandom. They’re all America fans, but Maximo is the only one in tears over the outcomes. Maximo cried when the team wins a final, and he cried when the team loses a final (and his son hugged him to tell him it would get better.) Maximo is guessing this weekend’s America game against Cruz will be a 5-0 win, while Psycho Clown and La Mascara are only saying 3-0.

Reto 4 Elementos is doing a bit where one person who lost early on the show may get to return, based on hash tags. This includes the AAA crew. AAA’s mentioned it but hasn’t pushed it hard, which might mean they’re content not have to go back on the show again. (Australian Suicide seems to be getting votes though.) Anyway, if there’s a chance they might end up back on the show, that also might be why they haven’t been around AAA except for a Zona Ruda appearance.

Mary Apache’s daughter Natsumi debuted in Stardom on March 28th. She took the loss to Io Shirai. Faby & Mary Apache appear to have been an unbeatable team in the promotion, and will team with Natsumi on Stardom’s 04/01 show.

Puma King has a video of his travels thru March.

LuchaWorld has the latest edition of their podcast.

Caristico says if Mistico keeps betraying him, he’ll have to confront him.

Imagen has a video story on the micro luchadors (and some minis.)

Horacero has a story on brothers who were unmasked in Arena Mexico. I have no idea why they used a Fiero picture.

Atlantis says a mask vs mask match is the most important match for a luchador, can’t go to wrestling shows as a fan because too many people spot him masked or not.

Super Astro & Super Astro Jr. were interviewed on Claro.

Mr. Niebla is interviewed with Monclova.

great match roundup, week of 2018-03-10

March 30, 2018March 28, 2018 thecubsfan

shows from this week

It’s the IPPV week! The iPPV didn’t go very well but the matches were nice, so that’s good. I’m probably overrating Audaz matches at this point but he’s very fun and Templario is just as good.

The MOTYC list has been updated.

Recommended Matches

rating	matches	TV Show	taped
great	Audaz, Flyer, Star Jr. vs Disturbio, Templario, Virus	CMLL iPPV: 2018-03-16	2018-03-16
great	Ángel de Oro vs El Cuatrero for the mask	CMLL iPPV: 2018-03-16	2018-03-16
good	Audaz, Lestat, Pegasso vs King Jaguar, Templario, Virus	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-12	2018-03-12
good	Volador Jr. vs Cavernario for the NWA World Welterweight Championship	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-12	2018-03-12
good	Blue Panther Jr., Fuego, The Panther vs Kawato San, Puma, Tiger	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-13	2018-03-13
good	Dragón Lee, Mistico, Rush vs Forastero, Máscara Año 2000, Sansón	CMLL iPPV: 2018-03-16	2018-03-16
good	Valiente & Volador Jr. vs Rey Bucanero & Terrible for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship and in a tournament final match	CMLL iPPV: 2018-03-16	2018-03-16

Other matches watched

rating	matches	TV Show	taped
ok	Kaho Kobayashi & Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola & La Comandante	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-12	2018-03-12
ok	Stuka Jr., Titán, Valiente vs Cuatrero, Pólvora, Sansón	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-12	2018-03-12
ok	La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Sam Adonis vs Euforia, Kráneo, Mr. Niebla in a relevos increíbles match	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-12	2018-03-12
ok	Stuka Jr., Titán, Tritón vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-13	2018-03-13
ok	Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas vs Marco Corleone, Soberano Jr., Valiente	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-13	2018-03-13
ok	Kaho Kobayashi, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys, La Seductora, Zeuxis	CMLL iPPV: 2018-03-16	2018-03-16
ok	Atlantis, Matt Taven, Niebla Roja vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero	CMLL iPPV: 2018-03-16	2018-03-16
below average	Máscara Año 2000 vs La Bestia Del Ring	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-13	2018-03-13
not rated	Black Tiger & El Asturiano vs Ares & El Perverso	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-12	2018-03-12
not rated	Angelito & Fantasy vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-13	2018-03-13
not rated	Eléctrico, Robin, Sensei vs Cancerbero, Nitro, Raziel	CMLL YouTube: 2018-03-13	2018-03-13
watch later	Ricky Marvin vs Dr. Cerebro in a super libre match	IWRG Zona XXI: 2018-03-12	2018-03-11

lucha TV preview for weekend of March 30th, 2018

March 29, 2018March 29, 2018 thecubsfan

full size

The Daylight Savings Time gap is almost over. Tomorrow’s Friday show – the Matt Taven/Volador match the world is talking about on CMLL Claro – still has a 9:30pm US Central Time start, but everything goes back to normal on Monday. It will technically still mess with my attempts to record Guadalajara but that’s not going to well anyway.

AAA’s TV isn’t going up on YouTube now, but promos indicated the Space TV show will be getting the Rey de Reyes semifinals this week. AAA could not tape a show until mid-May and they wouldn’t be out of footage. Which is one reason there’s no AAA TV taping for a while.

Copa Nuevos Valores starts on Tuesday.

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