Month: March 2018

Lucha Memes (SUN) 03/11/2018 Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México [+LuchaTV, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), R de Rudo]
1) Alfa b Máscara Aerea
2) Keyra b Kaho Kobayashi
hard hitting match, where Kaho was bleeding from the mouth early on
3) Corsario Negro Jr. & Drako b Fresero Jr. & Mr. Iguana
4) Zumbi b Toxin
Cara Lucha showed up to support Toxin, and to announce a joint show with Memes on 04/22.
5) Ricky Marvin b Kawato
good match
6) Virus b Arez
good match. mat wrestling match.
7) Soberano Jr. b Sky Man
Sky Man was hurt on his own move during the match
8) Negro Casas b Aramis
Casas praised Aramis.

Might not have the match order right but it’s pretty close. Viruz/Arez & Casas/Aramis sounded like they were the best matches on the night.  CaraLucha’s Virus was there to set up a co-promoted Memes/Cara show on April 22nd. That’s in addition to the Memes/LLB feud.

IWRG (SUN) 03/11/2018 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), The Gladiatores]
1) Atomic Star b Soma
2) Dragón Bane & Gallo Frances b Máscara Magica Jr. & Shadow Boy
3) Chico Che, Hijo del Alebrije, Veneno DQ El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Eterno, Ovett
Medico fouled Veneno
4) Ricky Marvin b Dr. Cerebro [super libre]
Marvin wants an IWRG IC MIDDLE title match.
5) Liderk, Spartan, Spector b Aramis, Hijo del Pantera, Internacional Pantera and Capo Del Norte, Capo Del Sur, Máscara Año 2000 Jr. and Black Dragón, Dinamic Black, Dragón Fly
Eliminations: Dinamic Dragon, Panteras & Araims, then Capos after a Spector chair shot to Mascara 2000. Tortugas got involved after, challenging the Comando Elite.
6) Rokambole Jr. & Villano V Jr. DQ Black Warrior & Black Warrior Jr. © [IWRG IC TAG]
Warriors fall on 3rd defense after Warrior Jr. fouled both Villanos. Villanos are 32nd champions. Villano and Black Warrior (Sr) agreed to a singles math.

All sorts of gang warfare in the semimain. Not much of a way to change the titles in the main event.

Arena Puebla today has Volador Jr. vs Cavernario. This feud hasn’t been going well

• 02/19: Cavernario/Volador vs Ultimo Guerrero/Valiente has Volador fracturing his nose and the match ending with UG fouling Volador for no reason
• 02/26: Cavernario/UG vs Volador/Valiente ends with a faked foul DQ
• 03/05: Cavernario vs Volador goes two quick falls, ends with a faked ref attack DQ

This should be better. It might not be better. It just should be better.

The semimain continues Kraneo’s strange feud with the foreigners, with Sam Adonis in instead of Johnny Idol this time. Kraneo teams with Euforia & Mr. Niebla and Adonis with La Bestia del Ring & Rush. Cuatrero, Sanson and Polvora take on Stuka, Titan & Valiente in the fourth match, which will be the last time you see Cuatrero before his mask match unless you live in Guadalajara. Audaz & Virus are matched up in the tercera with Templario along. Kaho & Sugehit face Amapola & Comadnante. Asturiano is back in the opener.

This show will be in Arena Puebla. This is the first show of spring daylight savings time. If your clocks changed on Sunday, then this show starts an hour later. In the US, it starts at 10pm CT with that main event airing around midnight.

Hijo del Octagon appears to have confirmed the story that the was kicked off his Azteca reality show (Exatlon) due to Azteca being concerned about a legal threat from AAA over the name. On the show, the story was Hijo del Octagon suffered an injury which left him unable to continue.

Dr. Wagner thinks Dorian Roldan should bring in LA Park and Wagner will fight him for Dorian. LA Park just wants to face Dorian. No one’s really talking about Psycho, Fantasma or the four way match.

Penta takes on Nick Gage on 04/06 in New Orleans.

Caristico says he’s recovered from his injury and will be back in CMLL rings soon.

Reporte Indigo writes about the history of Blue Demon.

Lineup

CMLL (SAT) 03/17/2018 Arena Coliseo
1) Retro & Sangre Imperial vs El Coyote & Yago
2) Shockercito, Stukita, Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Universo 2000
3) Sangre Azteca vs Arkángel de la Muerte [lightning]
4) Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Disturbio, Kawato San, Universo 2000 Jr.
5) Niebla Roja, Rey Cometa, Soberano Jr. vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
6) Ángel de Oro, Matt Taven, Mistico vs Cuatrero, Gran Guerrero, Mr. Niebla

Matt Taven is around for the weekend, and in the first match with Angel de Oro or Cuatrero masked.

CMLL (SAT) 03/10/2018 Arena Coliseo [+LuchaTV, CMLL]
1) Bengala & Sensei b Cholo & Grako
tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Acero, Fantasy, Shockercito b Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Universo 2000, Pequeño Violencia
tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr. b Flyer, Pegasso, Star Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
4) Blue Panther Jr., Rey Cometa, The Panther b Okumura, Olímpico, Pólvora
tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Esfinge & Tritón b Disturbio & Virus [Arena Coliseo TAG, final]   
Tecnicos took 2/3. Money thrown in.
6) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Niebla Roja b Cavernario, Felino, Negro Casas
Angel de Oro replaced Dragon Lee on Friday.

Triton & Esfinge had fused masks, the key to victory. They had a post match celebratory promo., and you can see the match on Princesa Dorada’s channel.

CMLL (SUN) 03/11/2018 Arena México
1) Magnus & Robin b El Coyote & Yago
tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Fuego, Pegasso, Star Jr. b Hijo del Signo, Inquisidor, Nitro
tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Blue Panther, Drone, Stuka Jr. b Johnny Idol, Okumura, Sam Adonis
tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Sansón TLDRAW Hechicero [lightning]
went the full ten minutes
5) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Valiente b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Shocker
tecnicos took 1/3.
6) La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible b Diamante Azul, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
straight falls, Rush sneaking in a foul on Volador in the second.

A couple weekends ago, CMLL had Volador wrestle on Friday night in Arena Mexico, go to New York for a day on Saturday, and wrestle again in Arena Mexico on Sunday. This upcoming weekend, it looks like CMLL will have Volador wrestle on Friday night, go to New York for a day on Saturday, and wrestle again in Arena Mexico on Sunday. Lot of sense there.

CMLL (SUN) 03/11/2018 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Destello b Mr. Ángel
Destello took 2/3.
2) Capitán Cobra, Cosmos, Yaqui b Demonio Rojo, Linterna, Relámpago Azul
tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Carlo Roggi, Gran Kenut, Mr. Apolo b El Alteño, Neutrón, Star Black
Rudos took 1/3, the last when Roggi used the ropes to b Alteno. Hair match set up.
4) Explosivo b Mr. Trueno
Explosivo took 1/3.
5) Guerrero de la Muerte, Maléfico, Ráfaga DQ El Rielero, Magnum, Vaquero Jr.
excessive violence DQ, setting up a Rielero/Muerte mask vs hair match.

Two different apuestas match being set up is strange.

As of this evening, internet.tv still does not list the CMLL iPPV on their site.

The Crash announced Caristico will be coming to their promotion soon. No date has been announced. Caristico hasn’t appeared in Arena Mexico since being pulled from the tag team tournament on 03/01. CMLL said Caristico suffered an injury. Caristico said he’d suffered an injury. No one’s said what injury he’s suffered. Caristico isn’t listed on any upcoming CMLL cards. Caristico was removed from the the WUW show next weekend, with Volador replacing him. That could be because of the injury. It could be for whatever else is going on.

The Crash could use Caristico this upcoming weekend. The Wrestling Observer says Rey Mysterio told people, while appearing at the Kentucky Comic Clown, that Rey’s injury would sideline him for a month and he was unsure if he would be able to wrestle on the NJPW show on March 25th. That would make his main event match with Bestia 666 doubtful.

Reto 4 Elementos will start airing on March 19th on both Televisa MiCanal 5 and Unimas in the US. It’s not listed on Unimas’ listings yet, but they don’t seem to go more than a week out.

CultIcon picks the 60-41 and 40-21 Lucha Underground matches of all time.

AAA in Tjuana on 04/20 AAA TV taping

• OGT vs Los Alvarados.
• Dr. Wagner Jr. & Vampiro vs Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Hernandez – new

Dinastia will be playing games on AAA’s Twitch stream on Thursday as part of their Lucha Gamer feature.

LA Park says the person he wants to wrestle in AAA is Dorian Roldan. Meanwhile, on the WMC show, they did a post match angle teasing Mamba versus Keyra. Mamba then went on Twitter saying she couldn’t do the match due to an AAA contract, and Roldan invited Keyra to come to AAA to do it. Keyra’s been in AAA twice for one match each time so I guess she might as well do a third. More likely, Mamba will do the Black Mamba deal again to do the match.

Taiji Ishimori, one of the few wrestlers to be in all three years of the Lucha World Cup, is leaving NOAH. It appeared Ishimori was in the favorite to win (not even announced) the Lucha World Cup this year, which I guess might still be possible depending on where he ends up.

CMLL (FRI) 03/09/2018 Arena México [2018 is lucha libre, CMLL, Notimex, Ovaciones, Record]
1) Cancerbero & Raziel b Astral & Eléctrico 
16:52. Rudos took 1/3.
2) Dalys, La Seductora, Tiffany b Lady Maravilla, Princesa Sugehit, Sanely 
16:09. Rudas took 2/3.
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, The Panther b Johnny Idol, Kawato San, Puma 
13:03. Tecnicos took 1/3.
4) Cavernario & Niebla Roja b Stuka Jr., Okumura, Tritón, Rey Bucanero, Blue Panther Jr., Ephesto [CMLL TAG, battle royal] 
2:57
5) Ephesto & Mephisto b Titán & Tritón [CMLL TAG, 8F] 
3:55.
6) Diamante Azul & Stuka Jr. b Blue Panther & Blue Panther Jr. [CMLL TAG, 8F] 
4:51.
7) Rey Bucanero & Terrible b Okumura & Sam Adonis [CMLL TAG, 8F] 
4:17.
8) Marco Corleone & Niebla Roja b Cavernario & Mr. Niebla [CMLL TAG, 8F] 
4:36.
9) Diamante Azul & Stuka Jr. b Ephesto & Mephisto [CMLL TAG, quarterfinal] 
3:38.
10) Rey Bucanero & Terrible b Marco Corleone & Niebla Roja [CMLL TAG, quarterfinal] 
2:37.
11) Rey Bucanero & Terrible b Diamante Azul & Stuka Jr. [CMLL TAG, semifinal] 
4:26. Bucanero & Terrible face Volador & Valiente next week for the vacant titles.
12) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Volador Jr. b El Cuatrero, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero 
7:04. Straight falls. Cuatrero unmasked Angel de Oro in the first fall for a DQ, and kept the mask. Angel de Oro unmasked himself in the second fall, throwing the mask at Cuatrero while jumping at him. The referee saw Cuatrero with the mask and disqualified him.

Tercera is fine, but this was not an interesting show.

CMLL has post match words from Angel de Oro, Cuatrero, Sam Adonis, Rey Cometa, and Electrico. There doesn’t seem to be any explanation about why Terrible & Rey are still friends after Terrible split from Rey two weeks ago. No one has less interest in CMLL’s storylines than CMLL.

CMLL looks back at the 2010 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas

Next Saturday’s AAA TV taping in Cuernavaca appears to be a free show sponsored by the local government.

EMW says their 04/20 AAA TV taping will have OGT vs Los Alvarados.

This is an busy weekend for shows.

Saturday

• Arena Coliseo wraps up their tag tournament, with Esfinge & Triton facing Disturbio & Virus in the final. I’d put the tecnicos as a slight favorite. It’s a Disturbio match, so there’s a good chance it’ll show up on YouTube. The main event now has Angel de Oro replacing Dragon Lee, teaming with his brother Niebla Roja & Atlantis versus Cavernario, Felino and Negro Casas.
• Pro Wrestling Revolution is airing on Twitch. The show starts at 9pm CT and will have Jushin Lyger & Misterioso (California version) taking on Rocky Romero & Puma King. The main event last month aired after 11pm CT, and they had free VOD if you want to watch it later.
• Lucha Undergrounds tapes Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Open tickets have been popping up on their eventbrite site; I was concerned about wrestler/staff fatigue running these many shows in a short time, but fan fatigue might start to be an issue. It’s probably for the best they’re wrapping up next week.

Sunday

• Monterrey is the busiest place. MDA has LA Park vs Dr. Wagner vs Zorro, where the MAD vs MAD probably will play second fiddle to LA Park and Wagner doing their bit. Their two sons face each other on the same show. MDA shows usually only turn up in highlights.
• Revolucha also runs in Monterrey, with Rebilion Amarilla (Garza Jr., Bestia 666, Black Taurus) vs Damian, Masada and Ultimo Ninja.
• Lucha Memes is in Coacalco with Negro Casas/Aramis, Virus/Arez, and Ricky Marvin/Kawato among other people.
• Pleu Sports runs Arena Azteca Budokan with a Hechicero vs Diamante Azul main event. Puma & Tiger face the Panthers in the semimain.
• Drone wrestles his first post suspension indie show for WMC. Indie crowd are often hard on CMLL luchadors, I can’t imagine what this is going to be like.
• IWRG has the Warriors vs Villanos for their tag titles.
• CMLL has a Los Ingobernables vs Diamante Azul/Ultimo Guerrero/Volador rematch. It’s not clear what singles match they’re heading towards.

I don’t know if this is accurate, but there’s a story that AAA sent Azteca TV a legal threat over using Hijo del Octagon on their TV programs after his reality show appearance over their issues with the name. That’d be consistent with AAA’s tactics. It also shouldn’t be a surprise to Azteca. They changed Hijo del Octagon’s name on

Lucha Memes says they’ll be running in Pachuca in April.

Black Terry Jr. is the latest guest on the Los Reyes del Biutiful podcast.

Segunda Caida watches some IWRG.

The new episode of Zona Ruda is up.

+Lucha has a new edition of Aqui esta la Lucha.

CultIcon counts down the top 80 to 60 Lucha Underground matches of all time.

A photo gallery of a New York City man’s 2000 piece lucha libre collection.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 03/16/2018 Arena México
Homenaje a Dos Leyendas 2018 (Lutteroth & Mil Mascaras)
1) Audaz, Flyer, Star Jr. vs Disturbio, Templario, Virus
2) Kaho Kobayashi, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys, La Seductora, Zeuxis
3) Dragón Lee, Mistico, Rush vs Forastero, Máscara Año 2000, Sansón
4) Atlantis, Matt Taven, Niebla Roja vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
5) Valiente & Volador Jr. vs Rey Bucanero & Terrible [CMLL TAG, final]
6) Ángel de Oro vs El Cuatrero [mask]

Angel de Oro/Cuatrero should be pretty good.

Even beside the storyline issue, I’m very skeptical about putting Rey Bucanero in a big match on a big show. He did not look good in the tournament matches, and he generally hasn’t looked good when they’ve given him singles matches. The ones that have worked, versus Hechicero and longer ago against Super Crazy, mostly involve one or both guys destroying themselves to make it work. Neither he or Terrible are ideal opponents for Volador.

Given Valiente & Volador are already trios champions, the partners who are no longer partners are more likely to win the tag team title, sending CMLL into same problems they had before.

Fourth match should be good. CMLL could’ve found a better rudo than Mascara 2000 and a better ruda than La Seductora to make both those matches better. Opener should at least be good, and it’s a nice moment for Flyer & Disturbio to make it onto one of these shows.

It occurs to me that Alberto’s visit to Mexico just happens to match up with his uncle being honored on this show…

CMLL holds the second half of the it’s CMLL tag team tournament tonight. Volador & Valiente won last week, which normally means a rudo team would win to face them on Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. This block feels even more open than that.

Stuka & Diamante Azul were twice in feuds with Shocker & Negro Casas last year which seemed to be setting them up for a tag title switch. The title matches never happened, due to a Shocker injury and the September earthquake. They’re back teaming here, and it’s possible CMLL will just go with their original plans. There’s no definite rudo team that should be favored over Stuka & Diamante Azul, or any one. Cavernario & Mr. Niebla would be an attraction. CMLL may not trust Niebla in a big spot and really only used Cavernario as a guy to lose in b-show singles matches, not the semimain of a major show. Ephesto & Mephisto are the traditional choice, but both have slowed down greatly over the last few years. Okumura & Sam Adonis were getting a lot of attention late last year, haven’t yet recaptured it this year and it would be a surprise to see them there. Rey Bucanero & Terrible don’t even make sense as a team, which might make them the CMLL favorite.

The main event has Angel de Oro & Cuatrero meeting one last time before Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, with Atlantis, Volador, Negro Casas & Ullimo Guerrero on board. It sets up to be a quick mask ripping match. Guerrero Maya, Rey Cometa & the panther take on Johnny Idol, Kawato San and Polvora in the tercera, which looks to be the best match of the night. The second match has Princesa Sugehit partnered with Lady Maravilla & Sanely against Dalys, La Seductora and Tiffany. We know Sugehit & Zeuxis will be on week’s show, and perhaps they’ll set up something here. Astral & Electrico take on Cancerbero & Raziel to open the show.

This show airs at 8:30pm on Facebook and MarcaClaro. (The old clarosports.com/en-vivo02/ URL is dead, and you’ll have to go to http://www.marca.com/claro-mx to find the link when the show goes live) This is the last mainstream show that will air it’s normal time for a month due to daylight savings time.

CMLL announced Homenaje a Dos Leyendas will be an iPPV via internet.tv. That website is not yet listing the event. CMLL says it’ll cost 100 Mexican pesos. That’s a little more $6 USD, but there’s usually a big US markup and you should expect it to be $10. Internet.tv streams the show live and offers VOD, though the VOD disappeared a few days after it aired last time they tried this.

Pendulo is selling the 85 Años de Lucha Libre book is up. A lot of online sites seem to be selling it now (the ISBN, 9786074374155, is helpful to search around for it), but Pendulo offers international shipping. It’s not cheap: $50 for the book plus $35-50 to ship it to the US, but it’s much better than no option. The shipping cost barely goes up for multiple books, so maybe get multiple ones if you have a friend to split that cost. (Not me though.)

Lucha Memes announced their next Coliseo Coacalco (following the one this weekend) will be on 05/13. First match announced:

• Keyra vs Romano Garcia

+LuchaTV has an interview with Villano V Jr. & Rockambole Jr.

CultIcon starts a countdown of the top 100 Lucha Underground matches.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

The newest edition of Lucha Talk focuses on AAA.

Zeuxis was interviewed on CMLL’s Facebook.

Psycho Clown is launching his own YouTube channel.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 03/13/2018 Arena México
1) Angelito & Fantasy vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Eléctrico, Robin, Sensei vs Cancerbero, Nitro, Raziel
3) Blue Panther Jr., Fuego, The Panther vs Kawato San, Puma, Tiger
4) Stuka Jr., Titán, Tritón vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
5) Máscara Año 2000 vs La Bestia Del Ring
6) Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas vs Marco Corleone, Soberano Jr., Valiente

It’s really happening. We don’t know the exact birthday for Arturo Munoz, but it’s about 110 years in one singles match for Nuevo Valores Tuesday. It’s even three falls.