Month: June 2018

CMLL (MON) 06/11/2018 Arena Puebla [Lucha Central]
1) Disturbio, El Malayo, Hijo del Signo b Arkalis, Rey Samuray, Star Jr. 
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr., Tritón b Kawato San, Okumura, Universo 2000 Jr. 
Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto [MEX TRIOS] 
NGD took 1/3. 5th defense. Pushed back a week.
4) Atlantis, Kráneo, Niebla Roja DQ La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible 
Straight falls. Rush unmasked Kraneo for a DQ and they talked about a singles match.
5) Gran Guerrero, Titán, Último Guerrero b Flyer, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles] 
Team Guerrero took 1/3. Titan pinned Soberano, who asked for a rematch.

The show sounds like it was slightly better than usual. There’s usually a local apuesta match around the last Monday of June or first Monday of July. There’s no sign of one right now. Maybe they’re just running singles matches instead: Rush/Kraneo next Monday, and Soberano/Titan in a title match the week after perhaps.

CMLL Tuesday shows are heading towards a not great Atlantis/Rey Bucanero singles match in a week or two. They feuded last week and main event again with Atlantis & Rush against Euforia & Gran Guerrero. It’s strange to see Rush on that team, but he’s still a tecnico in CMLL’s books.

Audaz has his first ever televised CMLL singles match tonight against Drone. Audaz lost to Virus a couple weeks ago in a singles match that didn’t air. He’s looked spectacular in trios, and both these seem like tests to see what he can do on his own before CMLL goes even farther with him.

The semimain is Blue Panther, Rey Cometa and Stuka against Templario, Hechicero and Shocker, which seems like one person away from a good match but seems unlikely to have the effort level on a Tuesday. The tercera is Fuego, Oro and Stigma versus Misterioso, Sagrado and Virus. Magnus makes an appearance in the segunda, but the first two matches don’t appear to be promising.

Lucha Central has a preview of this show. It’ll air on YouTube at 7:30pm.

Guadalajara has both a Caristico/Mistico match and Niebla Roja/Furia Roja in a hair match. Caristico won the previous match and probably will defeat his replacement once again. Niebla Roja is a near lock to win the hair match.

The Crash & Revolucha announced a show in Gimnasio Nuevo Leon Independiente on 07/22. Alberto, Caristico, Rush, Garza Jr., Bestia, Mr. 450, and Dragon Lee are shown on the poster, which means Garza is still in Mexico thru July.

In my continuing and exclusive coverage of the “what is the deal with Teddy Hart In AAA?” story, they edited out his non-entrance from the Tijuana on AAA’s YouTube this week. Everything else is left in. TV also has a Fantasma/Psycho Clown backstage pull apart that never aired live but was shown in video packages later.

Red Carpet Report writes about visiting the set of Lucha Underground season 4. I still can’t get myself too excited about the season, but the people doing these interviews seem to come away pretty excited. That feels like a good sign. The real takeaway from the piece is a hidden video on the El Rey Network YouTube page, which appears to be a vignette from the start of tomorrow’s episode. (MMM Show mentioned this scene on the podcast, so I think it must be airing on El Rey and I haven’t seen it.) If you don’t want to know anything about what’s going to happen, skip the next paragraph.

The scene appears to be taken place Dario Cueto’s funeral, which is unattended except by Agent Winter and Antonio Cueto, Dario’s father. Winter lies and says gang members killed Dario, and that’s why they have to leave that building. Antonio explains that the only truly important part of the temple was the ring canvas with the logo, so just moving it elsewhere makes it the temple. Antonio claims the new building was an old ice house that they used to store lots of beer that they can use instead. I’m not a fan of the Antonio character look and sound.

Speaking of shady promoters: there was a not good situation with the promoter of lucha shows in New York and Maryland this weekend. I guess the promotion was expecting the shows to pay for themselves and didn’t have money to cover expenses if that didn’t happen, and that didn’t help. Luchadors weren’t paid what they were told they were getting, and the promotion didn’t have flights for them to return back home. That was all out of their own pocket. The Maryland show had a bunch of main eventers not working – Atlantis, Villano IV, Okumura among them – in what was explained to the fans as an issue of the show running to long and seemed like it was money issue. It turns out to be neither: the promotion had put those guys up in a (very cheap) hotel in New York for the night, and picked them up for the show so many hours late that the luchadors figured they’d had been abandoned. When they finally got to Maryland, the people in the local wrestling commission in charge of licensing people had left, and those guys were not legally allowed to wrestle on the show. There was an attempt to get those commissioners to come back, with the promotion stalling out the show as much as possible to buy time, and they eventually went with the “ran out of time” excuse as a way to get out of it.

Dragon Lee will appear again on PCW Ultra (California) on Friday 07/27. He’s already announced for the NJPW/CEO show in Daytona (which I keep writing as Orlando, an entirely different city) on 06/29, so he may not be around on every Friday.

LuchaWorld has the latest Poster-Mania.

Puma & Barby reveal 50 facts about themselves on their latest video, including where Puma got his name from.

Black Terry Jr. has video highlights and photos of the Zona 23 show.

There was a benefit show for Demonio Rojo in Cordoba on Sunday. Demonio Rojo is the local luchador in jail for murder – I think he’s still awaiting trial and convicted – and they were raising money to get him out. His story was that he was wrestling under a mask at the time the murder is believed to have happened.

+LuchaTV has the latest edition of their podcast. On the show, they mentioned Skandalo is now working in the programming department. I believe CMLL has more people working in the programming department than the total number of feuds they have going on at any time.

Mexa Wrestling (SAT) 06/09/2018 Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México [Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), Lucha Central, The Gladiatores]
1) Kempo (Chihuahua), Sirius (Chihuahua), Tiago, Venus (Chihuahua) b Baby Star, Pequeño Aéreo, Príncipe Azul, Torito Negro  
2) Guerrero Mixtico, Loquillo, Sádico, Yoruba b Leo, Mike, Rafy, Teelo 
3) Arez b Látigo   
4) Centvrión & Fly Star b Metaleón & Toxin 
5) Keyra b Zeuxis, Lady Flammer   
Lacey Lane made a surprise appearance to attack Keyra after the winner.
6) Steve Pain b El Bandido 
7) Golden Boy & Símbolo (Monterrey) b Corsario Negro Jr. & Drako  

Arez/Latigo, Pain/Bandido and Centvrion/Fly Star vs Metaleon/Toxin were said to be pretty good. The last one included an announcement of Toxin & Fly Star’s mask match on 08/04. That seemed like an even battle when the feud started on the last show and maybe not now with Toxin making an AAA TV appearance. That date also leaves open the possibility the Centvrion/Metaleon mask will take place Mexico Independence weekend, which seemed to be suggested earlier this year. Keyra/Zeuxis/Flammer was said to be disappointing.

I’ve got some video links now but I suspect there will be even more if you want a few days. Having a dozen people standing around filming their show for their own YouTube channels seems to be annoying to media actually covering the show and probably is costing the promotion money from selling the shows on their own, but I think it might have helped created a buzz for the good matches this group has been putting on this year: attendance seems to be going up.

IWRG (SUN) 06/10/2018 Arena Naucalpan [The Gladiatores]
1) Power Bull b Arquero
2) Demonio Infernal & Psycho Kid b Mexica & Shadow Boy
3) Hijo del Olímpico & The Tiger b Apolo Estrada Jr. & Dragón Bane
Lunatic Xtreme and Relampago were listed in this match and other matches on the card and appeared on other matches.
4) Leo, Mike, Rafy DQ Dr. Karonte, Lunatic Xtreme, Tortuga Teelo
two mystery men ran in to help Teelo for the DQ, who now has a group to take on his former friends.
5) Eterno, Ovett, Pit Bull, X-Fly b Danny Casas, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Relámpago, Veneno
Pepe Casas was in the crowd watching Danny. X-Fly and Ovett got into a fight despite winning the match.
6) Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro b Emperador Azteca & Imposible and Trauma I & Trauma II
Match came down to Emperador Azteca vs Trauma I vs Cerebro Negro, with Cerebro coming up top. Cerebro wants a hair vs mask match with Trauma I. Emperador Azteca wanted in and put a title on the line (so he’s about to lose his title.)

Ovett versus X-Fly is a big feud. I hope Teelo has recruited Bebop and Rocksteady.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara again quietly streamed Sunday’s (evening) show on it’s Facebook page.

CMLL’s Arena Puebla has a strange Flyer, Soberano, Volador versus Gran Guerrero, Titan and Ultimo Guerrero main event. Last week had Soberano & Titan wrestling each other in that week’s relevos increibles, but then Soberano pinned Titan for the win and it didn’t seem like it was going anywhere. Perhaps they’ll have a plan this week.

The semimain brings back the Kraneo/Ingobernables feud with Atlantis and Niebla Roja. Last week’s trios title match with NGD and Hijos del Infierno is now this week’s title match. The matches haven’t been strong. A title change is unlikely, though it has to be seen as a possibility – if they were just going to have NGD win, they could’ve done it last week with Hechicero.

Maya, Stuka & Triton take on Kawato, Okumura and Universo in the second match. Arkalis, Rey Samuray and Star Jr. are a good group of tecnicos going against Mayalyo, Disturbio and Hijo del Signo in the opener. The show will air on CMLL’s YouTube at 9pm.

Lucha Underground’s head writer Chris DeJoseph’s latest interview to promote Season 4 is with Bleacher Report. It’s good DeJoseph is doing these interviews, because it doesn’t seem like anyone else is this week but these really haven’t had much interesting into them. DeJoseph has walked up to the line of acknowledging the season starts with an important match, but otherwise understandably doesn’t want to give away too much about what happening, and can’t answer the big questions about the future of the production. LU really could use wrestlers on the show getting people excited, or someone in charge of Lucha Underground (not Eric Van Wagnen either, someone higher up) to convince fans there’s something to invest their interest here.

These interviews are still plenty useful for reminding people the still show exists and will be coming back on Wednesday. LU could use all the help they could there. If El Rey is still investing in the show, I’d suspect they’ll try to insert an ad on WWE RAW tonight too.

Lucha Underground Season 4, at least at the moment, does not appear to be airing on TLN in Canada. Telelatino was interesting for accidentally (?) airing some late season 3 episodes before they aired in the US. They’re still showing repeats of the series.

On his Facebook, Vampiro wrote the back suplex he took at Verano de Escandalo has left him unable to use his legs properly and left his hands without full functionality. He says he’s currently moving out of his place in Canada to live in Guadalajara full time.

Impact Wrestling has been announced as returning on 52MX starting on July 7th. Impact has aired on that channel in the past (and I’m honestly unsure when they stopped airing.) It does sort of give AAA another TV outlet with their wrestlers showing up on Impact, but that particular outlet has never seemed to mean anything for CMLL.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 06/16/2018 Arena Coliseo
1) Arkalis, Bengala, Leono vs Apocalipsis, Grako, Inquisidor
2) Príncipe Diamante, Retro, Sangre Imperial vs Espanto Jr., Metálico, Yago
3) El Audaz, Stigma, Súper Astro vs Disturbio, Sangre Azteca, Virus
4) Ephesto, Luciferno, Máscara Año 2000 vs Hechicero, Kawato San, Okumura
5) Cuatrero, Sansón, Soberano Jr. vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]

Look, CMLL is going to keep booking random relevos increibles until someone holds an intervention. Maybe this fits under trying to do different matchups

Arkalis is back here, so the Sunday show wasn’t a one off (like Principe Daniel & the other Guadalajara guys seems to have been at the moment.)

CMLL (SUN) 06/17/2018 Arena México
1) Astral & Eléctrico vs Akuma & El Coyote
2) Gallito, Micro Ángel, Microman vs Chamuel, Mije, Perico Zakarías
3) Estrellita vs Mistique, Princesa Sugehit, Marcela, Maligna, Dalys, Reyna Isis, Metálica, La Seductora, Amapola [cibernetico]
Amapola replaced La Guerrera this Monday.
4) Blue Panther vs Felino [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
Atlantis replaced Diamante Azul on Friday after it was announced.
6) Mistico & Rush vs Cuatrero & Sansón
La Bestia del Ring & Cien Caras will be seconds

This was announced weeks ago, except for the one Guerrera/Amapola change. The match name was changed from Torneo Cibernetico Femenil to Torneo Cibernetico de Amazonas for surely critical reasons.

IWRG (SUN) 06/17/2018 Arena Naucalpan
1) Avisman vs Atomic Star
2) Black Dragón & Zatura vs Demonio Infernal & Hijo Del Mosco X-Fly
3) Hijo del Alebrije, Hijo del Olímpico, Mano Negra Jr. vs El Hijo del Diablo, Eterno, Golpeador
4) Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro vs Guardia, Oficial, Xibalba and Mega, Omega, Súper Mega
5) Internacional Pantera, Star Boy, Veneno vs Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro, Maniacop
6) El Fantasma, Mano Negra, Olímpico vs Coco Rojo, Enterrador 2000, Scorpió Jr.
7) Hijo de LA Park & LA Park vs Dragón Lee & Rush

CMLL luchadors appearing on non-Memes shows in Arena Naucalpan is very rare, so seeing the Rush/LA Park feud brought here feels meaningful. (Also feeling meaningful and maybe connected is Olimpico being booked in the semimian.) This is one IWRG’s Festival of Masks shows, where old wrestlers come back for one night in their old gimmicks. Wrestlers like the Oficials, the even older version of the Oficials and Internacional Pantera will get a chance to wear the mask they lost. Mano Negra will also be honored.

A slow weekend for CMLL stuff. Busy elsewhere, and more on that tomorrow.

CMLL (SAT) 06/09/2018 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Stukita & Último Dragóncito b Fantasy & Pequeño Olímpico
Fantasy worked rudo as a fill in for Pierrothito. Tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Arkángel de la Muerte, Kawato San, Sangre Azteca b Bengala, Eléctrico, Oro Jr.
Oro Jr. replaced Principe Diamante. Rudo stook 1/3.
3) Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. b Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Templario
Tecnicos took 2/3 when Misterioso was surprise pinned by Stuka in the third.
4) Kráneo, Niebla Roja, Valiente b Mephisto, Rey Bucanero, Shocker
Tecnicos took 1/3.
5) Volador Jr. b Rush
Volador took 2/3, the last when Rush was DQed for hitting the referee.

Post match interview: Templario (still wants to be a Guerrero), Kraneo (still wants to feud with Rush), Volador (also still wants to feud with Rush). They really didn’t have a clean finish available to get out of that main event so I’m not sure why they booked it.

CMLL (SUN) 06/10/2018 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Angelito & Fantasy b Mercurio & Pequeño Nitro
tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Disturbio, Inquisidor, Príncipe Odín Jr. b Arkalis, Magnus, Robin
Arena Puebla regular Arkalis making his Arena Mexico debut. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Universo 2000 Jr. b Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, Súper Astro Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
4) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Lee, Niebla Roja b Felino, Hechicero, Negro Casas
Dragon Lee’s return from NJPW (and injury prior). Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.

Post match interviews: Arkalis (happy debut in Arena Mexico), Super Astro Jr., Dragon Lee (looking forward to the Caristico match)

CMLL, JABIL (SUN) 06/10/2018 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara]
1) Black Sugar, El Alteño, Mágico b Gran Kenut, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
2) Lluvia & Mystique b La Comandante & Reyna Isis
indie luchadoras Chik Tormenta & La Pantera were advertised but didn’t appear.
3) Gallito Tapatío, Guapito, Microman b Átomo, Chamuel, Perico Zacarías
Guapito replaced Angel (who worked as the referee instead.
4) Blue Panther Jr., Carístico, Esfinge, The Panther b Cuatrero, Forastero, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Sansón
moved down a spot. Hijo de Mascara Ano 2000 and Esfinge were added to the match.
5) Blue Panther, Magnum, Titán, Tritón b Difunto, Frezzer, Furia Roja, Satánico
moved up a spot. Magnum replaced Esfinge.

This was a sponsored afternoon show. It looks like they filled the building, though I would guess it’s not full price tickets.

CMLL (SUN) 06/10/2018 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Gran Kenut, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno b Black Sugar, El Alteño, Mágico
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Lluvia & Mistique b La Comandante & Reyna Isis
Indie luchadoras Chik Tormenta & La Pantera were listed but did not appear. Tecnicas took 1/3.
3) Gallito, Guapito, Microman b Chamuel, Mije, Perico Zakarías
4) Blue Panther, Magnum, Titán, Tritón DQ Difunto, Furia Roja, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Satánico
Tecnicos took 2/3, Difunto fouling Titan. Hijo de Mascara debut here?
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Blue Panther Jr., Esfinge, The Panther
Rudos took 2/3.

Almost the same roster. They’re doing a lot of feuds in this building this month so it’s possible the Titan/Difunto finish is going somewhere.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Segunda Caida watches the Sugehit/Seductora feud and LA Park & Psicosis vs the Headhunters.

You Rocket has an interview with Tinieblas.