AAA TV (THU) 05/31/2018 Arena Aficion [AAA, Lucha Central, thecubsfan]
1) Dragón Bane, Freelance, Iron Kid (Estado de México) b Draztick Boy, Impulso, Low Rider
7:54. Dragon Bane beat Draztick Boy with a 630 splash.
2) Big Mami & Niño Hamburguesa © b La Hiedra & Villano III Jr. [AAA MIXED TAG]
8:20. Hamburguer splash Villano III Jr. Originally listed as Hiedra/Hamburgeusa vs Mami/V3. Second defense, first on TV (other was in same building against same opponents)
3) Faby Apache © b Ashley [Reina De Reinas]
6:35. 1st defense. Faby won via German suplex. Lady Shani ran in to attack Faby post match. Taurus made his return to AAA to attack Shani, seemingly allied with Faby in this moment.
4) Australian Suicide b Lanzelot [AAA CRUISER]
5:57. 2nd defense. Suicide won with a twisting shooting sta press.
5) Dark Cuervo, Dark Scoria, La Parka b Dave The Clown, Joe Lider, Parka Negra
6:27. Parka submitted Dave with an armscissors.
6) La Máscara & Máximo b Histeria & Psicosis
9:29. Maximo beat Psicosis.
7) Murder Clown b Pagano
17:33. Murder pinned Pagano after Taurus attacked Pagano.
8) Rey Escorpión & Texano Jr. © NF Hijo del Fantasma & Pagano [AAA TAG]
9:54. 3rd defense, 2nd on TV. Samoano was with the rudos and interfered freely. Earlier, Psycho Clown & a doctor announced Psycho couldn’t wrestle due to knee injury. Fantamsa revealed he’d gotten this changed to a title match and would have a surprise partner. Taurus appeared and attacked Psycho for a second time. Pagano, wrestling two matches in a row, was Fantamsa’s pick as partner – but Fantasma walked out on Pagano at the end of the match. (Fantasma teased a rudo turn all night.) Referee Piero stopped the match after Fantasma left with no clear ending. The camera cut backstage, where OGT & Poder del Norte got in a fight (PdN had beaten up OGT earlier), Fantasma & Psycho brawled, Pagano came back to fight Murder Clown, and the rest of the AAA roster tried to break up the fights. A masked MAD person (possibly Konnan) stood unnoticed backstage with a guitar.
The opener is worth tracking down. The rest of the show was either not good, stuff being set up for Verano de Escandalo, or stuff that’ll be repeated on Verano de Escandalo when more people are paying attention. If you have time for only one AAA show this weekend, it’s definitely they Sunday one.
The building didn’t appear completely full for an AAA taping in small-ish Arena Aficion. It wasn’t far off from being full, but this seemed like it should be an easy sell out as it has been in the past.
It’s tough to get a read on the Psycho Clown injury bit. He didn’t seem all that hurt (and it wasn’t helped by Super Fly selling a knee injury much bigger a couple segments before.) Still, the angle they ran in the main event would’ve made a lot more sense with Psycho instead of Pagano, and Pagano wrestling twice felt like something they were stuck doing (though they still made a poor choice there.) I’d assume he’ll be fine on Sunday. He’s also doesn’t seem to be in a key position yet, so he probably should sit out if it’s actually serious.
Taurus wearing an ELITE shirt for all his run-ins is probably going somewhere. Teddy Hart wore one in Tijuana, which came off like it was a fake out to hide him joining MAD later on in the night. Taurus too may end up in MAD, but it can’t be a coincidence he’s also reminding us of ELITE. Zona Ruda passes along a fun rumor: AAA may have bought the name right to ELITE and will be producing a show under that name for Azteca. There’s definite red flags with that rumor (is Televisa going to be happy with AAA producing a show for their rival network?) On the flip side, AAA’s roster has suddenly gotten a lot larger – all the kids working openers, all the people debuting at Verano de Escandalo, some more names that are said to be debuting soon but haven’t even been hinted at ye. Maybe they have more people to fill out two different promotions, setting up a WWE-like brand split. (AAA tried this idea once before, and it was quickly dropped.) It’s not the easiest logistical deal with a company who has very obvious problems with logistics, but it’s also a promotion who aspires for big plans without being all that concerned about how they might work.
This is all based on a flimsy rumor that I wouldn’t put a lot of weight in normally and am still a little skeptical about now. This is suddenly a very weird time in lucha libre and It’s increasingly hard to rule out crazy theories. I do recall Konnan on Twitter pushing back hard on the idea that LA Park showing up in CMLL would outdo anything AAA could do. It seemed like hype, but something like this would be a LA Park level move for AAA too.
LA Park himself main events Arena Mexico tonight once again. He teams tonight with his son, Hijo de LA Park, and Volador Jr. against Los Ingobernables. LA Park & Rush have teased having their mask versus hair match but have not yet formerly agreed to it. They may get that closer to it tonight; a press conference to announce it would make sense for next Wednesday, but CMLL hasn’t said they’d have one yet.
Flyer appears to a better chance to show what he can do tonight the last week, teaming with Mistico & Caristico against Forastero, Sanson and Ultimo Guerrero. The rudos and the structure of the match fit more for a flying exhibition – unless Caristico & Mistico’s issues in Guadalajara carry over here.
Cuatrero and Angel de Oro have their first singles match since their Homenaje a Dos Leyendas main event. Cuatrero has won the three singles matches they’ve had so far and would seem to be the favorite to stay the CMLL Middleweight champion. Angel de Oro told Reporte Indingo that, since Cuatrero seems to be breaking La Campana, he’s worked on a new strategy for tonight’s match. The singles matches between these two have beat expectations in the past, so this should be pretty good.
The tercera has Hechicero, Rey Bucanero and Shocker against Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. and maybe Diamante Azul. More on that in a few paragraphs. Puma & Tiger’s weekly segunda fiesta includes Okumura, Drone, Guerrero Maya and Rey Cometa this time. Astral, Electrico and Principe Diamante, a trio of ex-minis looking for a team name, face Disturbio, Metalico and Sangre Azteca in the opener.
Lucha Central has a preview of the show. The show should air at 8:30pm on Facebook and Marca. It’s possible Marca may geoblock their show again. I’m probably skipping most of this show live, but I’m working on having a YouTube feed ready to go if needed.
CMLL posted lineup updates this morning which remove Diamante Azul from all cards beyond today. He already missed Tuesday’s show in Guadalajara, so I’m skeptical he’ll even work this show. Soberano is now in the Saturday main event. Niebla Roja is on Tuesday in Guadalajara (so the feud with Furia Roja continues.) Atlantis replaces Diamante Azul on Father’s Day. This usually happens without explanation when Azul returns to France.
CMLL announced Puebla’s Arkalis will get an Arena Mexico appearance on June 10th. That’s a Sunday show, so almost all of the people reading this will not be able to see it, but it’s a rare opportunity for a Puebla local. Arkalis fits in the “promising but rarely gets to show it” category.
CMLL/ROH says the Atlantis/Maya/Delta trio will face So Cal Uncensored on 06/15 in San Antonio, and the Kingdom for the ROH Trios titles on 06/16 in Dallas. That means they couldn’t do a one day title switch.
Flamita & Bandido were announced as heading to Dragon Gate this month. No date is mentioned. Flamita & Bandido are working in Mexico thru the 06/16 The Crash show, and disappear from lineups after them. (They were listed on a 06/30 show, but an updated card no longer includes them.) There was some question if Flamita & Bandido would be sticking with Dragon Gate itself or go to China’s OWE with CIMA, and this clears it up.
El Hijo del Santo writes about “cuaz” matches; Arena Mexico used to have post main event singles matches with preliminary wrestlers, to get some people to stick around and make sure everyone didn’t flood out of the building at once.
Lost in Lucha watches LA Park vs Fenix.
+LuchaTV has the latest edition of Aqui esta la Lucha.
Lineups
DTU (WED) 06/13/2018 Tropidisco la Revuleta, Cuernavaca, Morelos
1) Hermes vs Jitsu
2) Corsel Del Diablo & Fuego Dorado vs Falkho & Perseo
3) Elektro, Fénix, Fusion vs Drako, Eufóriko, Nahual
4) Draztick Boy vs Jimmy, Tiburón
5) Brilly Gamer & G-Raver vs Aero Boy & Pesadilla
6) Crazy King vs Cuervo vs Miedo Extremo vs Shlak
7) Joey Janela vs Cíclope
DTU’s stop in ANLL’s home building – those are their luchadors in the 2nd and 3rd matches. No idea what will and won’t be taped for Powerbomb.
