AAA in SLP, Mesias out of AAA, Garza/Ninja checked by WWE

CMLL (SAT) 03/17/2018 Arena Pavilion del Norte, Saltillo, Coahuila [Estrellas del Ring, Zocalo]
1) Cronic & Jupiter b Devil Boy & Guerrero Negro II
Cronic broke his arm on a 450 splash
2) Lince de Oro b Tormento Negro 
3) Espartaco, Nitro, Zorro Plateado Jr. DQ Potro, Trauma I, Trauma II 
4) Negro Casas, Último Guerrero, Valiente b Green Demon, Negro Navarro, Solar I 
Green Demon replaced Black Terry, who was there but did not wrestle. Valiente replaced Atlantis. Ultimo Guerrero got the win, then got a mask vs hair challenge of Espartaco
5) Tritón b Titán, Laredo Kid, Dragón Lee 
Triton replaced Flamita and got he upset win over Titan.

This was said to be a really good show by those who were there.

AAA TV (WED) 03/21/2018 Domo de San Luis, San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí [AAA, MT, thecubsfan]
1) Lanzelot, Mamba, Pimpinela Escarlata b Ashley, Dinastía, Estrella Divina 
8:36. Dinastia & Lanzelot were added to the match. Ashley lost to Pimpinela Escarlata’s reinera then was yelled at for losing by Divina.
2) Dark Cuervo, Dark Scoria, La Parka b Joe Lider, Mr. Águila, Parka Negra 
8:40. La Parka beat Parka Negra.
3) Rey Escorpión & Texano Jr. b Angelikal & Drago and Monsther Clown & Murder Clown [AAA TAG, #1 Contenders] 
10:24. Changed from Drago/Aerostar/Fantasma vs Escorpion/Texano/Mesias, changed to a three way tag match. Rey Escorpion beat Monster Clown with a top rope legdrop. He and Texano will get a shot at Cuervo & Scoria at some point.
4) La Máscara, Máximo, Psycho Clown b Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly 
9:56. Mascara beat Averno with a campana, a call back to their mask feud.
5) Blue Demon Jr., Dave The Clown, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. b Dr. Wagner Jr., Pagano, Vampiro 
15:00. Blue Demon’s first match in AAA since making a surprise appearance as a rudo in Aguascalientes on 02/09 (and his first Mexico rudo stint since 2007 in CMLL.) Hijo del Wagner pinned Vampiro after a F5, then made title match motions towards his father.
6) Parka Negra b Mr. Águila, Joe Lider, Averno, Texano, Rey Escorpión, La Máscara, La Parka [Copa Perros del Mal] 
14:10. The match was preceded by a ceremony remembering Perro Aguayo Junior. All participants were surprise inclusions. Match was battle royal rules with the final two going to a pinfall finish. Elimination order: Texano, Rey Escorpion, Joe Lider, La Mascara, Mr. Aguila, and Averno , leaving the two Parkas as the final two. La Parka was going to win, but Dave the Clown ran in. Parka beat up Dave, and Parka Negra got in a foul via the distraction. Parka Negra celebrated with Mr. Aguila & Joe Lider.

Show wasn’t much more than the Cuernavaca show. The third match being changed took away the best looking match (though adding Dinastia & Lanzelot to the opener also helped it.)

I really didn’t want to see a show being billed as honoring Hijo del Perro Aguayo turn in to an extended way to get over the moribund La Parka/Dave the Clown feud over, or get over La Parka at all. Parka got as strong reaction as any one on the show, but it was absolutely the wrong night for him to beat the Perros del Mal and he didn’t need to be involved in the Copa Perros del Mal finish at all. This felt like yet another AAA taping where placating egos took priority over what would’ve been best for the show.

Possibly related: Mesias was supposed to be on this show. Mesias instead announced during the show that he had quit AAA. There will be a press conference later to explain what he will do next. Mesias returned from double knee surgery in time film the fourth season of Lucha Underground, and he’s quit AAA the moment taping finished on that season. Mesias’ only made one appearance for AAA since returning, the Rey de Reyes show where he was visibly unhappy about his match with La Parka and waved goodbye to the crowd after the finish. On +LuchaTV’s podcast, Dorian Roldan was asked about that wave and said he had no idea what that was about. Mesias clearly was waving good bye to this promotion, even if he decided not to tell people publicly.

Back in LU Season 2, AAA warned their wrestlers that they would not be allowed to continue on Lucha Underground should they quit AAA. That did not hold up: Penta and Fenix and Taya were among those working the fourth season, and that left people wondering who else might make the same move once this latest season is over. Mesias wasn’t the first guess, because of his long history and friendship with Vampiro. Still, you can see reason for him to be frustrated by AAA: he was getting steadily moved down the card over the last few years, while being the most over he’s ever been in the US. If he’s healthy, and able to book himself as Mil Muerte outside of AAA & Lucha Libre FMV’s control, he may be in demand by US indie promotions. He’d obviously be a fit for The Crash and other Mexican indie groups as well. Ricky Banderas would also seem to pick up Puerto Rico bookings, though I’m not sure how much work he can expect there given how they’re still recovering from last year’s hurricane.

Fantasma & Aerostar also missed the show. They appeared to still be in Los Angeles or left Los Angeles too late to make this show. Lucha Underground all taping was supposed to be completed on Saturday, but they appear to still have been filming over the last few days. I haven’t seen Ultima Lucha 4 results, so I’m not sure if something went awry and required some more work, or if Johnny Mundo’s made some comments along the lines of him finishing up on Wednesday, so perhaps everyone will be back on Sunday.

CMLL’s started to handle this with NJPW-style post match interviews the last couple months or so. (They appear to be doing two sets of them, one in a CMLL office just on their Facebook page, and another one in the tiny media room.) AAA used to it with vignettes or other backstage segments, but not consistently, and that requires the announcers to handle a lot more of the load explaining why Parka Negra is suddenly with the Perros del Mal or Blue Demon & Hijo del Wagner are allies. They’re kind of working around that problem for now via +LuchaTV’s channel. Jose Manuel Guillen is there calling the show, and doing those post show interviews for his own site. The interviews from last night’s show include Blue Demon declaring he will NOT be in the TripleNania Poker de Ases match, because he still sees Fantasma & Psycho as children not on his level and he’s focused on the Wagner situation. There’s also Texano & Rey Escorpion talking about being the best rudos, and Los Perros celebrating their win. I don’t want to steal +LuchaTV’s video views, but this stuff should also be on an AAA channel somewhere. (And CMLL’s Facebook stuff should also be on the YouTube channel in some form.)

Vampiro says he’ll have a big announcement about his career in the ring today. He’s teasing it being a sad announcement. Vampiro took a clean pin to Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. in their match, which was the right outcome on a show with some notable bad outcomes.

indy (WED) 03/21/2018 Arena Querétaro [@doradafan]
1) Astro Infernal, Lucifer, Shinigami b Ángel Tiger, Chacal, Elixir
Angel Tiger replaced Electro Boy.
2) Ángel Rebelde, Fuego Latino, Galáctico, Gremlin b Apando Negro Jr., Dr. Pólux Jr., Maremoto Jr., Rapido
great match. Galactico & Rapido were added to to the match.
3) Ursus b Chilango, Lobo Lafayette
4) Kastigador © b Vengador [TAO TOTAL]
excellent match
5) ?, Homicida, Lince b Angeluz Fly, Joven Maravilla, Perro Negro Jr. and Dark Panther, Misterick, Mr. Dragón
extreme match
6) Daga b Bandido (Indie), Flamita, Hijo de LA Park
good match
7) Carístico & LA Park b Penta 0M & Rey Fénix (US)
ropes got loose, but Fenix still did stuff.

This show was said to be great. It looks like the filled up the arena, which LA Park will undoubtedly bring up on Twitter in response to Dorian Roldan saying he needed to go to AAA to fill up arenas.

In today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports Garza Jr. & Ultimo Ninja are having their WWE medical exams. (Garza has sort of confirmed by reposting the story about this on his Facebook.) Medical exams usually means WWE will offer them a developmental deal should they pass those tests. On the Crash show, Garza’s right shoulder was still in that sling/brace he’s been wearing since hurting it last fall. WWE may say it’s healing fine and have no problem, or they could tell him to get something done and then they’ll sign him, it’s not necessarily a deal breaker.

It would be a big deal for The Crash and Revolucha if they both left. Revolucha just pivoted to a Garza/Ninja feud, which might be an indication they knew something was coming down the pipe and wanted to do that match while they could. Bestia 666 could take over the lead of the Rebelion Amarilla, but they’d still miss the totally hateable personality rudo Garza has provided. WWE deals are slow to finalize, so it’ll still be months before either man would be gone should WWE complete the deal.

Dragon Lee was announced for the NJPW show in Los Angeles on Sunday for an early card 4v4 match. Rey Mysterio Jr. is off that show. We – I – thought that grade 1 bicep tear meant he’d be back quick, but he told TJ Sports at last weekend’s The Crash show that he expects to be out between 1.5 and 2 more months. Mysterio says he and WWE started talking about doing something together late last year (when his LU deal would’ve been up) and it got more serious after his Royal Rumble appearance. In the WON, Meltzer wrote Rey is going to Birmingham to get the bicep checked, which he believed to be a WWE related visit.

On CMLL Informa, the Guadalajara Nuevo Valores guys said they had to move to Mexico City to train for eight months in Arena Mexico as part of the process of getting into this tournament. Fugaz & Reycko wrestled in the CMLL Minis tournament last February, wrestled one more show in Guadalajara, and then disappeared for the rest of the year. Now we know what happened to them. Principe Daniel has been back more and off.

CMLL’s show on Teleformula, which everyone seemed to forget existed as soon as it was announced, is moving to 7pm on Sundays.

Leo Riano’s column says Julio Cesar Rivera has been elevated director to the head of the CMLL press department. He’s been the face of their press and main announcer for years.

Estrellas del Ring’ recap of the big Arena Neza legends show from this past weekend mentions Black Man (former Impulso) unmasked after his match and declared he was retired.

Revolucha is advertising Alberto, Rey Mysterio, Caristicio, Garza, Carlito and Nicho for a show on 04/15 in Monterrey. It’s a benefit show, which might be how they’re ending up with so many big names on one show that they might otherwise split up.

In the comments of the latest The Crash comments, Black Boy says he’s suspended by the Tijuana commission for two more months. He’ll still be good to wrestle in New Orleans. I have no idea what happened.

LuchaWorld has the latest edition of their podcast. And a new episode of Lucha Talk is up.

An article about Intruso Jr.’s children’s lucha libre class.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 03/27/2018 Arena México
1) Bengala & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Inquisidor
2) Acero, Aéreo, Fantasy vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Universo 2000, Pequeño Violencia
3) Astral, Eléctrico, Pegasso vs Cancerbero, Espanto Jr., Raziel
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. vs Disturbio, Misterioso Jr., Universo 2000 Jr.
5) Soberano Jr. vs Cavernario
6) Diamante Azul, Dragón Lee, Matt Taven vs Ephesto, Mephisto, Terrible

It’s a non-title match, so Cavernario might win! Or not.

Rare sighting of Acero & Aereo outside the opener. It still won’t be good.

CMLL (TUE) 03/27/2018 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Black Sugar & Tigre Blanco vs Mr. Trueno & Thunder Boy
2) Magia Blanca, Príncipe Diamante, Vaquero Jr. vs Gran Kenut, Metálico, Príncipe Odín Jr.
3) Gallito & Microman vs Mije & Perico Zakarías
4) Audaz, Blue Panther Jr., Star Black vs Difunto, Puma, Tiger
5) Esfinge, Titán, Tritón vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
6) Carístico, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero

Caristico teaming with Mistico & Volador makes the perfect amount of nonsense.

They might be setting up a title match in the semimain.

Microstars are back, though below the usual TV cut. If I can even get the TV to record.

The Crash (SAT) 04/14/2018 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Kronoz & Toruk vs Búfalo Ayala & Último Maldito
2) Black Danger, Black Taurus, Lacey Lane, Lady Flammer vs Christi Jaynes, Keyra, Luke Hawx, Rayo Star
3) Extreme Tiger & Rey Horus vs El Bandido & Flamita and ACH & Willie Mack
4) Daga vs Mr. 450 vs Arkángel Divino vs Jimmy Jacobs
5) Bestia 666 vs Penta Zero M vs Garza Jr.
6) LA Park vs The King

The wheel of random US indie luchadors to show up in The Crash landed on Jimmy Jacobs. ACH worked the Mexico City The crash show last year. I’m not sure why Penta is in a handicap match, but it seems like a way to start writing out Garza Jr. of the Rebelion Amarilla.