Month: July 2018

CMLL (SAT) 07/07/2018 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) El Coyote & Grako b Bengala & Retro
rudos took 1/3.
2) Estrellita, La Vaquerita, Lluvia b Amapola, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
tecnicas took 1/3.
3) Gallito, MicroÁngel, Microman DQ Chamuel, Mije, Perico Zakarías
Rudos took 1/3. Guapito was referee, and fooled by Chamuel into calling a DQ on Microman.
4) Felino, Hechicero, Shocker b Blue Panther, Stuka Jr., Titán
rudos took 1/3.
5) Carístico, Mistico, Rush b Ephesto, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero
tecnicos took 2/3, managing to get along to win.

Microman & Gallito want revenge on Chamuel & Mije. The CMLL recap confirms they’re off from this venue next week (Televisa boxing instead.)

CMLL (SUN) 07/08/2018 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Leono & Sangre Imperial DQ Camorra & Grako
2) Cancerbero, Espanto Jr., Yago b Magnus, Oro Jr., Star Jr.
rudos took 1/3.
3) Hechicero, Okumura, Templario b Audaz, Blue Panther, Rey Cometa
Rudos took 1/3. Audaz was hurt when trying his ringpost headscissors and falling badly on the floor.
4) Pólvora b Sagrado [lightning]
5) Dragón Lee, Stuka Jr., Titán b Felino, Rey Bucanero, Shocker
tecnicos took 2/3.
6) La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible b Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Ingobernabels took 2/3, beating Volador & Valiente before the tag title match

Dragon Lee’s post-match promo mentions winning King of Indies and facing Hiromu Takahashi briefly, mostly as an explanation of why he wasn’t around for Penta on Friday and building up a Lucha Brothers/Munoz brothers match.

Dragon Lee lost that title match to Takahashi on Saturday in San Francisco. During the match, Dragon Lee attempted to give Takahashi a Phoenix Plex as his last shot of winning. Dragon Lee was not able to hold his grip around Takahashi’s neck and Takahashi went flying head and neck first into the mat. It looked brutal in the moment. The referee immediately checked on Takahashi, who appeared to tell him he was OK while also looking stunned. Takahashi executed a finishing series of moves without issue, and without taking another bump, to end the match within a minute. The Wrestling Observer reported Saturday night Takahashi collapsed backstage, was taken to the hospital, and is feared to have a broken neck. Around 11pm CT, NJPW released a statement confirming Takahashi was rushed to the hospital, is undergoing a full examination but can sit up and is conscious.

I have thoughts about all of this, but I’m not ready to talk about them yet.

In CMLL injuries, they posted a video of Audaz saying he was being examined for a concussion but did not think he suffered a major injury. The only other promo from the show was Polvora celebrating his win.

Luchador mini Piratita Morgan passed away Saturday, according to his brother Espantito on Facebook. He was 49. A few luchadors used the name, but Raymundo Rodriguez was the most famous person to do so. He started the character in EMLL as part of the start of the minis division, jumped to AAA along with the most of the original minis, and also worked as Payasito Rojo later on. He was a regular part of the minis division despite never being one of the bigger stars.

This is very much a Dr. Wagner Jr. Says Thing, Thing May Or May Not Be Accurate story, but Dr. Wagner Jr. says he has finished all of his dates with AAA and is totally independent. This comes from a +LuchaTV interview that was posted this weekend but appears to have actually taken place back on June 28 following a Wagner/Wagner singles match in Arena Aficion. The tangible bit is the older Dr. Wagner is listed on both a July 29th MDA show in Monterrey and July 29th AAA TV taping in Ecatepec. He wants it clear he’ll be in Monterrey. The Ecatepec card was announced by the local promoter though not yet AAA (though they definitely got the graphic from AAA), so it’s possible AAA will have someone else in Wagner’s spot when they get around to announcing it. The part left in question is Wagner is also billed as main eventing the important 07/21 AAA vs ELITE show in Mexico City. If Wagner is to be taken literally, he’s off that show. It’s not a great idea to take Wagner literally. Wagner also used the interview, as he’s done on other occasions since leaving AAA, to campaign for an offer from CMLL.

This wasn’t the only Wagner story of the weekend. Psycho Clown & Dr. Wagner headlined a WUW promoted show in New York on Saturday night. The finish of their match was either a no-contest or a quick three count depending on how you want to look at it. You can look at it – it was streamed on Facebook – though people who were there live say the video doesn’t capture the weirdness. New York has a wrestling commission, and that wrestling commision typically does not allow brawling beyond the guardrail. It’s unclear if Psycho Clown & Dr. Wagner were told that, but both have worked the area before. Both have also had house show matches before where they brawl over all the place, and that’s what they chose to do here. They did it once, and officials got upset. They did it twice, and staff people weapons out of their hands and visibly warned them to cut it out. They went out into the crowd a third time, and someone with the commission must’ve ordered the ring bell rung before they even got back to the ring. Psycho & Wagner kept on going, thru the bell ringing again, and the match was ceased a short time later when the referee fast counted a cradle that was clearly not designed to be the finish. Those there said there was an argument between the promoters and the commission over stopping the match, and eventually, the commission won. Psycho pled for forgiveness but got one after the match.

La Hiedra, Lady Shani, and Maximo were announced as being on the show but did not appear. The man recording the show said the promoters blamed work visa issues. It’s strange how often work visas expire. Zeuxis, Trauma I, Skayde, Negro Navarro, Super Crazy, Juventud Guerrera, La Mascara, and Texano worked the show along with the main eventers. The same crew was supposed to work in Philadelphia today, only for fans to arrive at the building and find out the show had been canceled with no explanation.

Two things: First, a show headlined the by the two biggest pushed in-ring acts over the last year of AAA, Dr. Wagner versus Psycho Clown, could not fill a community center gymnasium. It’s nice crowd for an indie show, but it would have to be an amazing media partnership for AAA not to be embarrassed running a major building at this point. Two, it’s pretty terrible for AAA or for CMLL or for lucha libre in general to have this many shows get canceled or wrestlers not getting paid and not working. The luchadors seem to be willing to work for any promoter who will offer them a trip to the US and feel like they bare no responbility when it goes wrong, but the long-term effect of shows falling apart is bad news for everyone.

In response to a very obviously fake CMLL Anniversary card, LA Park wrote that he has no dates with CMLL at this time. He’s willing to work but they haven’t contacted him.

Hijo del Santo says he’s been busy writing scripts for the upcoming El Santo series. Hijo del Santo’s been reading old letters and interviews of his father and found that he was an even better and busier man than he thought. Hijo del Santos’ hoping they’ll be able to start auditioning people for the series in August.

Chicago’s Skayde Jr. was hospitalized following heart issues.

SuperLuchas interviews Stigma about his career.

Fenix is launching a YouTube channel.

Lineups

Lucha Memes (SUN) 07/22/2018 Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México
1) Aaron Sykes & Helio Guerra vs Dr. Pólux Jr. & Murciélago Plateado
2) Multifacetico (Puebla) & Prayer vs Totem I & Totem II
3) Keyra vs Lolita
4) Fly Star & Toxin vs Fresero Jr. & Mr. Iguana
5) Arez & Demus vs Corsario Negro Jr. & Drako
6) Steve Pain vs Audaz (CMLL)
7) Hechicero vs Aramis

This card got a lot more interesting with the additions. Top two should be pretty good. Fly Star & Toxin working as a tag team here about two weeks before their mask match in rival Mexa Wrestling sticks out.

CMLL (FRI) 07/06/2018 Arena México [Lucha Central, MarcaClaro, MedioTiempo, Notimex, Ovaciones, thecubsfan]
1) Robin & Starman b Apocalipsis & Inquisidor 
11:43. Tecnicos took 1/3
2) Dalys, Metálica, Tiffany b La Guerrera, La Jarochita, Marcela 
13:31. Rudas took 2/3.
3) Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr., Tritón b Puma, Tiger, Virus 
15:30. Tencicos took 2/3.
4) Atlantis, Flyer, Soberano Jr. b Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón 
13:11. Tencicos took 2/3.
5) Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rock Star, The Chris b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero 
10:40. Klan Kaoz took 1/3, the last by Ciber sneaking a foul in on UG. The Chris hit Gran Guerrero & Euforia with the cane post match.
6) Penta El Zero M, Rush, Terrible b Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles] 
9:52. Rudos took 1/3, setting up a Rush/Terrible vs Volador/Valiente tag title match. Carisitco & Penta feuded. Caristico and his partners didn’t get along. Penta’s partners attacked him backstage after the match.

There was an actual big development from the post-match promos: in the middle of Penta talking, Rush & Terrible ran in and attacked him. The other CMLL interviews were with La Guerrera (happy but nervous for her Friday debut), Los Guerreros (want revenge), Klan Kaoz (want the trios titles), and Caristico (not scared of losing masks to Penta).

General press interviews: Puma & Tiger (+Lucha, want a shot at the real tag titles),  Los Guerreros (Box Y Lucha, +Lucha, will learn from this defeat), Klan Kaoz (Box Y Lucha, +Lucha, compared themselves to the new Mexican president?), Los Ingobernables (Box Y Lucha, +Lucha seemed to view Penta as a threat to them being the baddest guys in Mexico), Penta (Box Y Lucha, +Lucha, not happy with Rush.)

Penta had to start off his interview explaining the attack since none of the media had seen it at that point. No one has except the people who go to CMLL’s YouTube or Facebook. CMLL wanted to keep the focus of the fans on the tag title program at the end of the match, and that’s why no Ingobernables attack on Penta happened in front of the live audience. I’m not sure why it was done at all, since doing it backstage after the fact accomplished caused the same diverted attention. Penta’s not around next week and it’s not clear he’ll face Rush & Terrible when he does come back since he’s also got Caristico & Dragon Lee to deal with.

The main event was not as hot as it seemed it should be. CMLL put themselves in an unwinnable situation by building up two feuds (Caristico/Penta, Caristico vs everyone) and delivering a finish that set up something entirely different. The match didn’t build greatly to tag title concept either, it wasn’t particularly clear that was the plan until Rush started talking about Volador in a promo. Rush & Terrible vs Volador & Valiente should actually be a pretty strong match. The same match with Ultimo Guerrero instead of Valiente was great. They just didn’t enough to make people care.

The backstage promos signaled a Klan Kaoz/Guerreros trios title match is coming. It’s possible that idea is why the trios titles were changed in the first place. Klan Kaoz are still trying, still not good, and still probably coming back – though not next week. It is strange CMLL were comfortable setting up a match with Kaoz knowing they weren’t booked next week, but went away from it with Caristico & Penta.

Attendance was said to be up. CMLL is still not shooting big shots of the arena to show it. My streaming numbers were well down, which I assume means people found the show in legal means so they were more easily available.

Atlantis will be honored today at a horse racing track.

Dragon Lee won the 2018 King of the Indies tournament last night, defeated Ryusuku Taguchi, Brody King and Flip Gordon (who beat Titan in the opening round.) I have not seen the show – it’s still up on Fite for $10 – but I heard the Taguchi match was mostly Taguchi and Dragon Lee looked good in the other two matches. Dragon Lee, who is crazy, will go from wrestling three matches last night to one really big match against Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship tonight on NJPW’s show in San Francisco. It’s really the second biggest match on that show, though it may go on earlier than that. Dragon Lee would become the third Mexican to win this championship (Caristico, Juventud Guerrera) with a win, though it’s unlikely Takahashi is losing on his first second defense. This is mostly just an opportunity to bring the Takahashi/Lee car crash to a slightly new audience.

This is probably totally me being overly cynical, but a Dragon Lee winning the King of Indies and being in a big match on a US stadium show is not long for CMLL. There’s going to be too many options for him, and some will be better than working Tuesday nights in Arena Mexico. In a literal sense, if you’re King of the Indies in 2018, you tend to be a WWE contracted guy in 2019.. He may not go that quick, or he may decide he doesn’t want to go at all, but he could not be more on WWE’s radar. We should definitely appreciate him in CMLL while he’s around.

Psycho Clowns headlines a WUW show on the other side of the country. It’s in New York, where AAA thought they might run a 20K seat building, and I’m hoping they can just at least fill La Boom this time.

Tinieblas Jr. announced he’s going to run a 20 show retirement tour for his father across the country. Tinieblas Jr. previously announced similar retirement tours for Tinieblas Sr. in October 2011, February 2010 and October 2005. These tours never really happen outside of a scattered show or two. Tinieblas Jr.’s announcement is a call to local promoters to actually put on these shows, and they don’t seem to be answering.

La Parka’s AAA Record column is always written in character, and this week seems like a teaser to a possible character shift for Parka. Ending it by saying he’s going to do something no one sees coming in a Konnan booked promotion sure seems to telegraph either a rudo turn or joining the ELITE side to give them more names. It could be nothing because Parka doesn’t seem like he’d fit in Konnan’s plans, but Parka always ends up getting a big spotlight regardless of the booker and he’s noticeably not listed on TV right now. Maybe this will go down as a crazy theory but the column feels written to make you think something is happening, and AAA booking is not subtle.

Pura Raza on 08/04 in Rodeo Santa Fe, Tlalnepantla

• Hechicero (c) vs Christopher Daniels for the NWA Light Heavyweight Championship

That should be a fun match. I assumed this show would just one ROH wrestler so they could call it CMLL vs ROH. I am told I assumed very poorly.

Congrats to the MMM Show for reaching 100 episodes.

DTU announced Ace Romero for it’s August tour.

+Luchas has a sit-down interview with Muneca de Plata and talks to Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. about his mask.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 07/13/2018 Arena México
1) Príncipe Diamante & Súper Astro Jr. vs Metálico & Sangre Azteca
2) Audaz, Fuego, Star Jr. vs Kawato San, Okumura, Universo 2000 Jr.
3) Dalys vs La Jarochita [lightning]
4) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Mistico vs Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas
5) Atlantis, Octagón, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Fuerza Guerrera, Máscara Año 2000, Último Guerrero
6) Valiente & Volador Jr. © vs Rush & Terrible [CMLL TAG]
first defense

If Volador & Valiente lose both the trios titles and the tag titles in a matter of weeks, then something is up.

It’s a bit of a surprise that the Atlantis 35th Anniversary match is the semimain. It’s for the best, but that’s not usually how it works. Octagon, Rayo and Fuerza were announced as appearing on this show prior to most of the other indie names showing up in CMLL, but now it feels like three more outsiders coming in a big group of them. Those guys would seem to have different fanbases from Penta & Fenix at least.

Dragon Lee does make an appearance next Friday, in a match that would’ve been pretty great six months ago and now seems likely to have the tecnico team implode instead.

No one asked for Dalys/Jarochita. It’s unclear why they didn’t build to that at all in last night’s match.

CMLL might have thought more of Universo in the Audaz lightning match than I did to set up the segunda as it did. Not a great group of rudo bases. Opener is slightly better than usual.

 

After two weeks of big singles matches, tonight’s a bit more of a traditional CMLL card. Except for the skeleton ninja in the main event.

Penta el Zero M makes his Arena Mexico on this show, teaming with Los Ingobernables Rush & Terrible to take on Caristico, Valiente, and Volador. Penta versus Caristico is the rivalry, though the story seems as much about everyone versus Caristico. He can’t really trust his partners since Volador attacked him for pretty much no reason last week. It should make for a good atmosphere for the main event, though maybe not the of matches.

Also maybe not the best of matches is the semimain, where Guerreros Laguneros takes on Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rock Star, and The Chris. The Klan Kaos members had terrible names and worse wrestling performances last week. They were largely saved from a negative spotlight by Penta showing up and their match being forgotten in the aftermath. It would seem like they’d need to be much better against the Guerreros, as the ex-AAA luchadors are more capable of brawling than basing at this point in their careers, but they’d have to be a lot better just to be good. It’s not clear it matters – next week’s Atlantis tribute show is likely to also be a poor match and that’s not stopping CMLL from running it. It probably matters more if CMLL believes fans will turn out for these guys or care about their matches, and that’s harder to determine.

Flyer, Soberano, and Atlantis face NGD in the fourth match. The third match has Puma, Tiger and Virus taking on Triton, Esfinge and Guerrero Maya (since Titan is busy elsewhere.) The opening two matches are for completists only – an average women’s match and the unwelcome surprise of Apocalispis & Inquisidor making it into a Friday night opener. The middle matches may be good but this doesn’t look to have the peaks of the last few shows.

Lucha Central has a preview.

The show will air on Marca and Facebook at 8:30pm. Neither feed is geoblocked today.

Titan & Dragon Lee will be wrestling on the King of Indies show. You can buy it on FITE.TV for $10, and it starts around 10pm. I suspect Titan is going out in the first round against Flip Gordon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Dragon Lee wrestled 2-3 matches tonight before a match versus Takahashi tomorrow.

Vice has an interview with Microman, Angelito, Microangel and Chamuel about wrestling and politics.

Yesterday, Wrestling Standard reported Rey Mysterio had signed a two-year deal with WWE, and would start “As early as” the Tuesday after SummerSlam (August 1st.) Wrestling Standard is not known as a big source of information. This story was unexpectedly led credence by All In announcing Kazuchika Okada versus Marty Scurll for their show. Judging from Twitter reaction, plenty of Twitter wrestling people had been under the belief Okada/Mysterio was happening on that show, and saw Scurll in the match as a sign Rey really had signed. Later in the night, Dave Meltzer said the Wrestling Standard story was not true at this moment, but may eventually be true.

Here’s what we can be sure of with Rey Mysterio

• Mysterio is eventually going to sign a deal to return to WWE.
• WWE is reluctant to offer exactly what Mysterio wants, or this deal would be done already.
• Mysterio’s greatest leverage is the All In show, which WWE doesn’t want him to be on.

Wrestling Standard probably is going to be right eventually, if they’re not right now – if WWE wants Rey in to not work All In, they’d need him in by August. Rey’s not on the upcoming The Crash July show, and he might not be around by the August one. He’s probably not going to be available for TripleMania, where he might have been Alberto’s opponent.

Lucha Libre Expo (Las Vegas) made a couple of announcements. They had previously said their 08/31 show will be headlined by Rey Mysterio, Penta el Zero M, and Rey Mysterio against Juventud Guerrera, Nicho el Millionario and Super Crazy. They announced their 09/01 show as being LA Park & Psycho Clown vs Hijo del Fantasma & Texano Jr., with the idea that – over the two shows – you’ll see the person who lost their mask at TripleMania wrestle unmasked in the US for the first time. They’re also announcing Drago, Aerostar, Maximo, La Mascara, Pagano, Lady Maravilla, Keira, Chik Tormenta, Aeroboy, Hijo de LA Park, Demus, Black Danger and Destino Negro (Black Boy) for the show.

However, they’ve also announced that the CMLL wrestlers – Rush, Negro Casas, Polvora, Felino, Puma, and Tiger – are now off the show. They would’ve worked the Saturday show, but CMLL said they couldn’t work the entire expo because of other people who were booked, even before the AAA show was set. This is disappointing for the Expo and also a reminder of what is and is not actually going on in lucha libre. CMLL is open to using some indie wrestlers, as long as they’re not wrestling in AAA at the time. AAA is open to using indie wrestlers, and don’t seem to care all that much where else they’re working. CMLL still is not working with AAA, is not working with people who are wrestling on AAA, and is not working with other people they’re angry for a variety of random reasons.

FWIW, my hunch is WWE might still let Rey appear/wrestle at Lucha Libre Expo if they did sign him. All In is just another animal.

Kylie Rae has been added to the DTU August tour. DTU’s also listing about five different surprise dates.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

A Bolivia Cholitas story.

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