July 2018 – Page 4

AAA (vs Elite) on Twitch: 2018-07-21

July 22, 2018July 22, 2018 thecubsfan

Recapped: 07/21/18

Matches:

Faby Apache, La Hiedra, Vanilla beat Keyra, Lady Maravilla, Zeuxis
(9:46, Faby pin Zeuxis, good, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Trauma I & Trauma II beat La Máscara & Máximo
(5:07, lo negro de negro on both Mascara & Máximo, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Hijo de LA Park & Taurus beat Argenis & Aerostar
(11:05, Taurus spinning Michinoku Driver Argenis, good, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Jack Evans & Teddy Hart beat Joe Lider & Pagano
(12:38, Jack Evans 630 senton Joe Lider, ok, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Rey Escorpión & Texano Jr. beat Golden Magic & Laredo Kid
(9:40, Texano chairshot Golden Magic, good, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Puma King, Electroshock, LA Park beat Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Fantasma, Psycho Clown
(20:31, LA Park pin Psycho Clown, great, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

What happened:

LA Park made his return to AAA. Dr. Wagner Jr. made his regularly scheduled booking, which was also his return to AAA. Puma King made his debut as a member of Elite. (Hugo Savonivich inadvertently gave this away a match earlier, read Puma King off a list one of the debuts they’d already seen.) Park & Psycho Clown matched up in most of the main event, though it was Fantasma fouling Psycho which directly led to Park’s win. Fantasma unmasked Psycho after the fact and joined the Elite team in stomping Psycho Clown.

Elite defeated AAA 4-2 in matches. The score wasn’t really played up much. The promotional rivalry wasn’t really played up either. The main event finish was an AAA wrestler betraying a fellow AAA wrestler. A few fans wore red to support, and no more wore blue than normal. The luchadors themselves didn’t seem invested in the concept either, with many Elite luchadors wearing Red (especially Electroshock in the main event.) Many did wear red or blue armbands to signify their team. There was no Elite presence outside of the wrestlers. The referees and announcers were all the same as usual, and the differences in presentation had more to do with the sponsor than Elite.

Brian Cage & Kevin Kross ran in three separate matches to destroy everyone. They never wrestled on the show, though they oddly wore the blue armbands of Elite as if they needed to declare which side they belonged with. (It’s possible all of MAD is meant to be part of Elite since Jack & Teddy were grouped that way. It’s less clear with Konnan and Jarrett.) They attacked AAA & ELITE wrestlers regardless during their interference and seemed to have no particular goal with it.

Their first run in, after the second match, set up a MAD promo segment. Konnan and Vampiro argued, Vampiro was ready to fight Konnan right there, and MAD attacked him much the same way they did La Parka on the last show. Just like that show, OGT ran MAD off. Vampiro declared himself the biggest and best OGT of all and suggested they all team up to fight MAD. Pencil that won in for TripleMania.

Argenis was the surprise wrestler in the tercera. Parka Negra attacked Hijo de LA Park after his side won. There was no obvious reason for his attack except for the whole Parka/Park thing. It didn’t last long before Cage & Kross destroyed both of them and everyone else.

Pagano intended to take a Canadian Destroyer on the apron at the end of the fourth match, but missed and fell head and neck first towards the ground. His knees might have ended up taken the brunt of the blow, but he and the doctors seemed very concerned and Pagano was rushed to the back on a stretcher. Joe Lider also needed medical attention after a 630 senton, though it’s possible Lider was selling and trying to distract from the Pagano situation.

The third Cage/Kross run-in was in the semimain, where they attacked everyone while the match was still going. (The others had been after the match.) No disqualification was called for that, or for La Parka and random unbooked members of AAA running Cage & Kross to the entrance. Dave and Murder Clown grabbed Cage & Kross from behind, only for Taurus to save them. Taurus had earlier been attacked by those two but got over it pretty quick. La Parka, wearing a half white/half black mask, briefly argued with Rey Escorpión & Texano Jr. before seemingly being on the same page with them because they were defending AAA. That match was declared as being for the World of Warcraft championship, so AAA may be able to declare themselves winners after all.

Vignettes showed La Mascara airing his frustrations to Máximo – he’s upset about Psycho Clown not teaming with them as originally promised on their arrival – and picking Hijo del Fantasma over Psycho Clown to drive to a show. Máximo was again responsible for he and La Mascara losing. Mamba appeared to console Máximo, and everyone was destroyed by Cage and Kross.

The finish of the opener was messed up. The plan appears to have been something like Faby powerbombing Zexuis near the ropes and using them for leverage, only they weren’t close enough and things fell apart to the point of Faby pinning Zeuxis with one shoulder up. (Zeuxis still had the complaint.) Lady Shani ran in with a kendo stick to attack Faby Apache, who bled very little. Faby made a comeback to hit Shani with a chair, and one of the more obviously blading moments you’ll ever see took place, complete with the camera zooming in on the blading. We never really saw Shani bloody either. An earlier vignette showed Taurus and Faby training together, with Taurus trying to recruit Faby to the Elite side.

Thoughts:

This was what is normal for AAA right now, a crazy show with surprises, way too much stuff going on and occasionally some good matches. It didn’t have the great opener of some recent show, even though the women were pretty good. It had everything else. It had a ton of extraneous people – it seemed like Cage & Kross were doing multiple run-ins in attempt to justify the cost in flying them into a show where they weren’t going to have a match – and one extraneous promotion. The concept of Elite made for a smoother fit with what the sponsor was getting over. It doesn’t have much value otherwise; even while winning this show, no one took them seriously as some invading promotion, they were simply another group who wore some t-shirts. AAA may want to use Elite again to get their ‘revenge’ victory, but the concept of Elite on its own didn’t seem any attraction to get people to come to this show and didn’t have a strong identity going forward. It’s just another t-shirt (that’s not sold.)

If MAD come out for another promo in Ecatepec next Sunday, I hope they either mix up how it’s going to work (let someone besides Konnan talk for a while) or they just bury me and anyone else already done with this segments. Just anything different would be great.

LA Park’s chaotic style is a perfect fit for AAA’s main event style. They’re always a rudo controlled brawled, followed by a técnico brawl, followed by some near falls. No one’s going to outbrawl LA Park in 2018, and his thrashing of Psycho was well done (and well appreciated by this crowd.) The surprise is the focus of the fight; instead of being drawn to Wagner like a pair of magnets, LA Park went with Psycho Clown for most of the match. That was the right move from TripleMania, but LA Park doing the right thing for TripleMania wasn’t always a sure bet. Interestingly, Wagner worked with Puma King and not Electroshock as a backup option, and Puma came off as a top-level guy immediately for being able to knock around the former champion. Electroshock & Fantasma disappeared for stretches, though Fantasma at least got in a good dive and played a big part in the finish. LA Park’s intensity and chaos made this feel like it was on a totally different level than the rest of the show.

Vanilla finds out exactly how hard Keyra hits

The semimain was going along pretty good, with Laredo & Golden Magic really on with their moves and Escorpión & Texano being good opposition for them. The run-ins and the match continuing despite it happening right in front of him made it look silly. They still took it home well enough but that hurt the match. Magic was among the Elite people most obviously trying to make a big impression with the dive off the light tower, and this was his best performance of late. Laredo seems to just be passing thru but passing thru with a few big dives. I’d still like to get the version of this match without the interruption.

The fourth match was one totally made as a match for Jack and Teddy. They took the big bumps, they had the most more interesting office – Jack’s bridging German suplex looked really nice – and the AAA team seemed prevented from doing anything hard more than catch a chair. Pagano and Lider weren’t as bad as they were just plain and slow. It was still alright, just not impressive. Joe Lider doing a table spot where he takes 100% of the table bump is to really impressive. I’m sure they didn’t expect that spot to go that Destroyer spot to go that bad, but I’m not sure how they expected it to work.

The tercera was very much an up and down match, ending trending heavily up. Aerostar nearly broke a leg trying a crazy idea, so it was definitely an Aerostar idea, and then Taurus missed Aerostar on his dive. It felt sloppy at that moment, and the crowd didn’t seem into it. They did enough and did enough right, that they got it working at the end. Hijo de LA Park isn’t great at getting into position for other people’s moves, but he has plenty of his own. Argenis remains a perfectly O wrestler who was a good launching platform for Aerostar. Taurus has added a few impact spots to his offense since coming back and the finish looks. This might have been better if they didn’t go to the near fall run quite as soon, but maybe it’ll look better as a highlight package.

The segunda didn’t last long, just enough for the Traumas to show off some holds, the Alvarados to get in some token offense, and Máximo to screw up to continue the breakup. The Traumas didn’t look their best – one went down way too soon on a superkick, another had his hold not work exactly right – but they won pretty strongly. I’d think they were going someplace with it if they weren’t just cannon-fodder for the técnicos a moment later.

AAA actually has enough women to have good women’s matches, and it made for a match that CMLL couldn’t do if they wanted to right now. These six were having fast-paced action match, giving enough to Vanilla and Zeuxis to showcase them in their debut. Zeuxis had some stumbles even before the finish – her corner double knee was about one knee short. They still positioned her as the most important people on their side and had her kick out a lot before she got beat. The finish was bad, though maybe it was so bad it may have given her out. Keyra continues to kick people very hard, and Vanilla got up and kept going after. The post match angle was totally a mess, with the cameras zooming in on the blading spots like this was some wrestling expose, and the psychological just getting people to cheer ruda Faby.

Kaoz outsmarts Los Guerreros, Caristico/Cavernario, AAA/ELITE tonight, lucha in Zocalo

July 21, 2018July 21, 2018 thecubsfan

CMLL (FRI) 07/20/2018 Arena México [CMLL, Lucha Central, Marca, Ovaciones, thecubsfan]
1) Espanto Jr. & Yago COR Príncipe Diamante & Súper Astro Jr.
12:53. Rudos took 2/3, with Diamante being counted out after an Espanto destroyer on the floor.
2) Amapola, Dalys, Reyna Isis b Lluvia, Marcela, Mistique
13:05. Rudos took 2/3.
3) Esfinge, Titán, Tritón b Kawato San, Okumura, Pólvora
14:16. Tecnicos took 2/3
4) Cuatrero TLDRAW Mephisto [lightning]
The 7th time limit draw of the year.
5) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Mistico DQ Cavernario, Negro Casas, Penta El Zero M
Straight fall for the tecnicos, who did not always get along. Cavernario fouled and unmasked Caristico for the DQ.
6) Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rock Star, The Chris b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
11:26. Klan Kaoz took falls 1/3. Ciber used a trip from The Chris and the ropes (at the last second) to beat Ultimo Guerrero.

CMLL interviews: Cuatrero (not happy with his match), Mephisto (wants it to be a team match), Dragon Lee (wants to face Penta at the Anniversario), Penta (adding Mistico to Dragon Lee & Caristico on his list), Los Guerreros (usually challenge for an apuesta match after a title match), Klan Kaoz (telling the Guerreros to shine the belts).

Press interviews: Klan Kaoz (Estrellas del Ring ), Los Guerreros (Estrellas del Ring), Dragon Lee (Estrellas del Ring, Box Y Lucha), Penta (Estrellas del Ring, Box Y Lucha), Negro Casas (Estrellas del Ring, Box Y Lucha), Cuatrero (Box Y Luch ), the rudas (Estrellas del Ring, Box Y Lucha), and the tecnicas (Estrellas del Ring, Box Y Lucha) Negro Casas’ interview was interrupted by Mistico arguing with him about Penta, and then Dragon Lee sticking around to praise Negro Casas. Penta announced he (and his brother) would be on the 08/03 CMLL show.

The biggest video of the night was the first Anniversario teaser, with LA Park appearing at the end to say he’d be on the card. (Park is the second person announced for the card, joining Caristico.) Park didn’t say he’d be facing Rush, though that’s clearly what everyone wants to see. CMLL is still not specifically building anything else, though possible Anniversario mask loser Fuerza Guerrera is back on August 4th, and they could still throw everyone in a cage match if they’d like.

The fans weren’t in the main event outside of the moments Los Guerreros were running around and seemed to have a negative reaction to the idea of a trios title match week. It came off as if the fans were rejecting Klan Kaoz rather than booing them for being rudos. The trios title match would normally be the end of the CMLL sequence, and maybe even the end of Klan Kaoz in CMLL. It’s definitely the match fans were left to expect after last night’s promos, and it’s strange it’s not on the 07/27 show at the moment. It’s unlikely Klan Kaoz would be on the 08/03 show since there are so many other outside people already booked. Maybe they’ll change 07/27 to a title match later this week, or perhaps it’ll be held over all the way until 08/10. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a big deal either way.

AAA streams tonight from Gimansio Juan de la Barrera in Mexico City for the AAA vs Elite show. It’s a weird one. I wrote a preview in Voices of Wrestling about how strange it is to have a ‘big’ feeling AAA show just about a month out from TripleMania. The main event has three of the four TripleMania main eventers and there’s no real emphasis on that. There’s more fan anticipation hoping Rush will be the fourth man (he was in ELITE, but he’s unlikely to be here.) The selling point of the entire show is AAA versus a promotion who doesn’t seem to exist outside of AAA shows, is probably no more real an opposing promotion than ‘El Consejo’ or ‘LLL’, but they’ve successfully got a lot of the media and some of the fans to buy into this a some big interpromotional event.

The lineup is good. It’s not great. Laredo/Golden vs Texano/Escorpion should be pretty good. Hijo de LA Park & Taurus vs Aerostar and whoever should be good assuming a normal partner. It is possible AAA may add a non AAA/Elite opener; there’s a lot of extra people around Mexico City today. The main event may be crazy in good or bad ways. It’s a lot more of an intriguing show than a match quality one. Will Wagner show up in the main event? (He’s still very much being advertised.) Where does La Parka fit in? Who will be the mystery people? Will they ever explain what TV network this is supposed to be airing on? What happens to Elite once this show is over? Will anyone actually wear Red (AAA) or Blue (Elite)? to support those sides? AAA’s goal with all these shows is a couple good matches and something for people to be talking about later. It’s a safe bet they’ll hit both of those goals tonight.

The stream is listed as starting at 8:45 CT, which meant about 10 minutes of gabbing and a start time of just before 9pm last time. It’ll stream on AAA’s Twitch channel as well as Blizzard’s Latin American Twitch channel. All I know for sure for VOD is it’ll be on AAA’s Twitch ($5/month) channel later. It’s possible it’ll be on Blizarrd’s channel too. AAA has said nothing about where this will be televised, so there’s no telling when/if it’ll make it’s way to AAA’s YouTube channel. The upside is it’s Mexico City, so every video bootlegger will probably be at the show (and half will have press access), so there will be free video of some quality of the show even if you don’t want to pay for it..

Lucha Central also previews the show.

AAA will tape TV for the first time in Merida in six years on September 9th. It’s a 1pm outdoor show, so they’ll be taping right into the afternoon sun. (That seemed to be the pattern for AAA Merida shows.) LA Park is listed on the show, just days before the CMLL Anniversario. Park seemed like he was brought in AAA just to increase interest in TripleMania, so it’s very surprising to see him booked after the show. Hijo de LA Park is also on the show, of course. So is Brian Cage, who hasn’t been seen since Verano de Escandalo and isn’t on any of the shows leading up to TripleMania so far. This show is listed as a generic TV taping, not a Televisa one.

In his Record column (which had disappeared for about a month), Leo Riano frames AAA’s show in Madison Square Garden “postponed” so Hijo del Tirantes can run a show in Xalapa on the same day.

There’s a day-long lucha libre event taking place today in Mexico City’s Zocalo, celebrating it as part of the countries culture. Matches and music performances will go on from noon to ten pm using two rings. El Fantasma is the lucha libre face of this show, and told Record he’s been working on it for four years. It doesn’t seem like many other people were aware it was actually happening or they were invited to participate, with wrestling promotions mentioning just over the last few days that they’ll be involved without even being sure what matches they’ll be running. AAA mentioned they’d send some people yesterday, and CMLL went unmentioned until some of their wrestlers appeared at the kick-off press conference this morning. It looks from the outside like the event got approved at the last scramble, and a mad scramble to find people to actually work the show. The reports I’m hearing are there are just random matches going on with no one in charge.

Fantasma’s lucha libre head commissioner job is a government office controlled by politicians, albeit one usually ignored and left alone. That’s helped Fantasma stay in the position for nearly two decades. There’s been talk since the election that Fantasma may not be safe with the incoming government. It’s tough to tell how true that is, and how much of is it people wanting to see changes for their own reasons. Either way, Fantasma getting out in front of a big lucha libre event in the heart of Mexico City would seem to help prove he’s still working hard at the job. Getting a free show at the Zocalo looks impressive, and the quality of the show is probably not as important. I don’t know that was a nakedly political move, but it sure comes off as one.

Neither CMLL’s Saturday show at Arena Coliseo nor the Sunday show at Arena Mexico has much of note. It feels like it’s been a quiet build to the Lucha Memes show this Sunday. Hechicero/Aramiz and Steve Pain/Audaz sound pretty great. IWRG has a team event Zona de Ejecution on Sunday, and it’s possible that’ll be streamed all over the place. Revolucha has Caristico, Alberto, and Rush against Bestia, Garza and Mr. 450 in some madness. Dragon Lee faces Ultimo Ninja in a first time match. I’m intended to make it to GALLI on Sunday, primarily to see DJZ & Isai Rivera versus Gringo Loco & Pat Monix.

RIOT announced Ricky Starks will replace Ultimo Ninja on their 07/28 card. They also wished Ninja best of luck in his future endeavors. An announcement on Garza Jr. & Ultimo Ninja’s (WWE) future is expected to be made Sunday at the Revolucha show.

LuchaWorld has a really great obituary for Rayo de Jalisco.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 07/27/2018 Arena México
1) Kaligua & Stukita vs Pequeño Nitro & Pierrothito
2) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Okumura, Templario, Tiger
3) Soberano Jr., Titán, Valiente vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
4) Carístico vs Cavernario [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Volador Jr. vs La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rockstar, The Chris vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero

The main event is listed as non-title, at least for the time being.

Diamante Azul has been around since Tuesday. This’ll be his first streaming appearance, against his old friend Bestia del Ring.

The project for the week is to count up exactly how many feuds Cavernario has lost.

Second and third matches should be good, though there’s way too much Okumura in my life right now.

There is a Kaligua who’s been wrestling in Coacalco and Tulititlan the last few years. It’d be a surprise for someone to make a debut on a Friday, so this could also be someone (Angelito?) being given a new name.

CMLL (SAT) 07/28/2018 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Shockercito, Stukita, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Lluvia, Maligna, Mystique vs Amapola, Dalys, Tiffany
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Esfinge vs Hechicero, Mr. Niebla, Terrible
4) Mistico, Soberano Jr., Titán vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Mephisto

CMLL Viernes: 2018-07-20

July 20, 2018July 21, 2018 thecubsfan

tribute to Super Astro is also a little bit of a tribute to Rayo

Recapped: 07/20/2018

Matches:

Espanto Jr. & Yago beat Príncipe Diamante & Súper Astro Jr.
(12:53 [6:15, 3:12, 3:26], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Amapola, Dalys, Reyna Isis beat Lluvia, Marcela, Mistique
(13:05 [6:40, 3:31, 2:54], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Esfinge, Titán, Tritón beat Kawato San, Okumura, Pólvora
(14:16 [4:00, 5:23, 4:53], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Cuatrero went to a time limit draw against Mephisto in a lightning match
(10:00, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Carístico, Dragón Lee, Mistico beat Cavernario, Negro Casas, Penta El Zero M
(12:17 [5:26, 6:51], 1/2 DQ, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rock Star, The Chris beat Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
(11:26 [4:02, 4:35, 2:49], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

A promo aired, with LA Park saying he’d be at the 85^th Anniversario. The match with Rush was implied but definitely not said.

Cibernético used the ropes (barely) to beat Último Guerrero in the main event.

Barbaro Cavernario fouled Carístico and unmasked him to end the semimain in two falls.

Rayo de Jalisco was remembered before the third match.

Thoughts:

Klan Kaoz versus Los Guerreros didn’t have the Guerreros flying all over the place out of the gate and suffered for it. It had a lot of the Klan Kaoz working together on team moves instead. They are trying – they don’t do the dives and take the big bumps in the third fall if they’re not trying. This was much better than the debut. It’s just also visibly not working and that’s making it a tough watch. Kaoz is not good enough to come off as a threat to the Guerreros, the fans already want to write them off for just being ex-AAA wrestlers, and they’re missing the presence and charisma they had to overcome the work. They’re just coming off as guys who do some moves, nothing special. The Guerreros comeback was fun, UG teasing there might be another match before Ciber made it clear it was the title match was not fun. That feels like it will be it for Kaoz, but maybe CMLL will see the crowd booing afterward as a great rudo reaction and not them rejecting the match.

The semimain didn’t totally fulfill the potential of the people involved, but still was easily the best and most heated match of the night. Fans were excited for Penta versus Dragon Lee and Carístico, and the técnico in-fighting was done well soon. The brawl at the start was superheated, even if CMLL’s cameras didn’t seem to follow Penta into the crowd. The disappointment is CMLL didn’t really take as much advantage of it. They telegraphed it only going two falls from early on and downplayed Penta despite him being the most over character in the match. Maybe Penta’s not coming back for a while, but this should’ve had more than a taste of the Dragon Lee/Penta stuff teased over the last couple months, and Penta instead losing to Mistico was weird. (Perhaps we’ll have to see that match elsewhere.) Negro Casas took some big bumps for any age and Cavernario looked good as always, it was a good match, just not really the match everything leading in suggested. Don’t run your own feuds in CMLL, I guess.

Kawato’s job was to stand in place blankly and that’s his best move.

The Cuatrero/Mephisto match followed the Rayo de Jalisco tribute and had an uphill battle to get the crowd back up. It wasn’t really the right combination for that, and the match they had wasn’t much good. It was generally a professional lightning match, with one cringe moment in the middle where Cuatrero stayed still until Mephisto walked over to whip him. Neither man played técnico and the usual pro-NGD crowd didn’t care much about the generic action they were treated towards. They worked slower to make sure they could go long enough, and that didn’t help either, but neither guy seems like a great singles wrestler on their own in 2018. This was cold and disappointing. Giving it an OK grade is probably a little bit generous.

Tercera really dragged with rudo control in the first two falls and never got solidly beyond that. Titan & Triton had some moments, but not enough to make this worthwhile. Matching up Kawato and Esfinge to end a fall was some special magic, delivering the botched spot we were all expecting. They went back to in the third fall, it didn’t look good, and Esfinge was at least selling an injury after. Maybe don’t do that.

Dalys and Marcela had a good opening exchange, Lluvia looked the best she has since this return (and better than some time before), and the rest was a totally forgettable women’s match. Mystique is shaky and slow. Her blowing her entrance to the match turned the crowd against the tecnicas and it was odd they had her go last in the opening exchanges. The last two falls weren’t much.

Principe Diamante/Super Astros openers are better than Electrico/Astral ones, though this kind of cooled off after the good first fall. Yago’s willing to go along with their offense, which comes off as fresher than the muscle minis. Super Astro Jr.’s reverse tope looked nice. At least Espanto Jr.’s over the top Canadian Destroyer on the floor was a countout this time.

CMLL Martes de Nuevo Valores: 2018-07-17

July 20, 2018July 19, 2018 thecubsfan

Recapped: 07/18/2018

Matches:

Angelito & Fantasy beat Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
(15:30 [8:10, 3:18, 4:02], 2/3, n/r, viaVideosOficialesCMLL)

Cancerbero, Metálico, Sangre Azteca beat Astral, Eléctrico, Robin
(12:52 [5:54, 2:24, 4:34], 1/3, n/r, viaVideosOficialesCMLL)

El Audaz, Fuego, Pegasso beat Disturbio, Tiger, Universo 2000 Jr.
(14:35 [5:38, 2:36, 6:21], 2/3, ok, viaVideosOficialesCMLL)

Ephesto, Luciferno, Templario beat Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr.
(16:17 [7:12, 2:54, 6:11], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Niebla Roja © vs Sansón for the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship
(19:33, 1/3, great, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Niebla Roja reverse campana (4:43)
Sansón backbreaker (2:02)
Niebla Roja super Furia Roja (12:48)

Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Soberano Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Rey Bucanero
(8:04 [1:38, 2:55, 3:31], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

Niebla Roja retained his title, the second streaming title defense in two days.

The rudos were awful in the segunda, with Metalico blowing an Eléctrico spot on the floor, and Sangre Azteca just deciding not go for a Robin armdrag. These matches are unpleasant to watch, sand I’m watching as little of it as I can.

Angelito nearly dies in the opener because Pequeño Violencia doesn’t bother to get both his arms up to catch him and cannot catch a man tossed to him with one arm. He limped thru the third fall, eliminated without really getting in offense.

Thoughts:

The main event was the usual rushed post-title match Tuesday main event trios. Though, of now, I’m thinking they prefer to be in this spot than have the title match last so they can get out with a quick match. A lot of this match was Rey Bucanero taking bumps scared of Atlantis, who was not taking bumps but did pull off a huracanrana in the end. Soberano meshed well with the Dinamitas as always, and they did get in some spectacular moves in the short time this match lasted.

Niebla Roja & Sansón had a much superior match to their two brothers on Monday. They seem like they’re much more adept at singles matches. They have deeper reservoirs of offense to pull from, instead of just the same stuff we see in trios matches without their partners. They also can make those moves feel like they’re more important; Sansón freaking out as he was about to be finished was a nice touch a lot of people in CMLL don’t do in general. These two guys got the crowd by building to bigger and bigger moments and keeping the crowd guessing. There’s are parts where they could improve – chop exchanges are probably overdone, but these guys could’ve used some other than an impact move or a dive to mix it up some – but this was a lot of fun and worth going back to watch.

I thought Black Panther did some reversal until Luciferno got the pin

I thought the Panther match had moments but was overall sloppier than usual. Luciferno seemed to mess up his own finishing move among other moments where people had to take sudden left turns to get in position. Blue Panther & Ephesto had a basic mat wrestling over six minutes that didn’t go anywhere interesting, but it was better than Blue anther Jr. looking backward before deciding to bump. It’s not as bad as this is making it sound but it was definitely off a bit.

The tercera was borderline good on the Tuesday sliding scale, with good if unfocused action. Didn’t like one of the finish I like Disturbio. I enjoyed his Neymar comedy spot. I did not like him going to a double pin with Audaz. CMLL has decided Disturbio is not special and I do not want them to do the same to Audaz. This wasn’t Audaz’ most show match, but he still springboarding from angles not many are trying.

Dragon Lee (& Caristico) versus Penta tonight, Klan Kaoz/Guerreros, Rayo de Jalisco

July 20, 2018July 20, 2018 thecubsfan

Tonight’s CMLL show a bit of prelude to other events. Penta is back, and finally will be across the ring from both Caristico & Dragon Lee, but whatever singles match they’re setting up is still some weeks off due to scheduling. The main event is an obvious build-up match for a title match to come. And CMLL’s spent the last couple of days highlighting matches from two weeks from today, which makes this show a bit less important.

Klan Kaoz return to face Los Guerreros in the main event. Ciber the Main Man’s crew defeated the CMLL rudos via cane shot two weeks ago, and both sides hinted towards a trios title match. Another win here would set that up on July 27th. Klan Kaoz had a better match the second time out, though that was more Los Guerreros figuring out how to work around them. I’d expect the same here.

After a month or so of social media teases,, Dragon Lee and Penta finally set foot in the same ring for the first time. The semi-main also has the wildcard of Caristico being involved, who isn’t getting along with either man. Mistico, Cavernario, and Negro Casas all being there should make for a fascinating match.

The rest are just matches to fill out a Friday, some better than others. Cuatrero and Mephisto will have their own first ever singles match. The NGD have supplanted Los Hijo del Infierno as a rudo trio, but Mephisto as an individual is still pretty high up in the rudo ranks and a Cuatrero win would be meaningful. The OneAtos trios of Esfinge, Titan, and Triton take on Kawato, Okumura, and Polvora. Dalys is part of a Friday night women’s match, as always, teaming with Amapola & Reina Isis against Marcela, and Lluvia and Mystique. Super Astro Jr. & Principe Diamante are also back on Friday nights, this time facing Yago & Espanto Jr.

The CMLL show starts at 8:30pm. It will stream on Marca (currently regionblocked, but also currently showing women’s soccer) and Facebook. It’ll be available on CMLL’s YouTube channel later on tonight.

Ovaciones and SuperLuchas have Rayo de Jalisco obits. CMLL, Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, AAA, and Hijo del Santo have posted acknowledgments of his death. I’m sure there will be a moment honoring him at every show this weekend, as there was last night in Arena Aficion.

In CMLL’s weekly Facebook video, Caristico announced he will be on this year’s 09/14 CMLL Anniversario show. So that’s only about 31 more people to be announced, and maybe some matches. In an interview with Marca, Caristico claimed he was going to retire young so he wouldn’t retire injured.

Tiffany has reached 25 years of wrestling. She’s still hoping for an apuesta match with Estrellita before she retires, which could be “one day or three years away.”

Atlantis was part of an aquarium inaguaration.

The WON mentioned Fenix/King Phoenix is expected back to Arena Mexico on 08/03, which means it’s possible he’ll be in the match with the Briscoes.

AAA’s posted a video introducing Vanilla (Vargas). They’ve also put up a cleaner version of the Jeff Jarrett promo video from last Friday’s taping; they had some technical difficulties with it live.

La Mascara is frustrated with the losing he’s done since coming to AAA, and wants to form an IngoberAAA to turn it around.

Los Traumas say they’ve never seen since La Parka use a good wrestling hold. They think La Parka was trying to be intimidating when he interrupted the press conference but thought he should better use the go to the gym and train so he’ll have a little chance again them. They also can’t remember an AAA match that started with at least five minutes of mat wrestling and think it would be great.

Meanwhile, the Traidor Clowns posted a video of them cutting up La Parka’s gear before yesterday’s show in Arena Aficion. Allowing Dave the Clown to use scissors was a mistake.

Drago did make it to MLW. Fenix & Pena beat Drago & Horuz to keep the MLW tag titles. Konnan did wrestle in the Battle Riot, did do a Tequila Sunrise. MLW announced LA Park will be on their October show in New York. LA Park was part of the prior version of MLW in the early 2000s; an at the time DVDVR review of the show with him and Shocker is stuck in my head forever because of line along the lines of “hopefully this ticket helps Court Bauer buy a nice tie for the inevitable bankruptcy hearing.” This version of MLW seems better timed and doing better judging from the crowd last night.

Arez & Mr. Iguana will debut in CZW next Saturday, facing Trey Miguel & Myron Reed. That’s part of two matches in the New Jersey area that weekend, as the two face off for NeoFight Pro the day before.

DTU announced Kylie Rae was off their August shows after breaking her collarbone in Japan. Miranda Salinas from Texas will replace her.

Arena Guatemala Mexico has posted a list of upcoming dates with foreigners. The mask match with Atlantis mentioned yesterday is set for September 2nd. Additionally, LA Park (& Hijo de LA Park) will be in Guatemala one day after TripleMania.

An article on AAA’s 11/16 show in Bogota, Colombia says there are plans for a lot more shows in the country in 2019. Psycho Clown & Hijo del Fantasma are on the show.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

Segunda Caida reviews NGD vs Soberano, Mistico and Angel de Oro from May 18th.

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

Luchador/serial-killer La Mateviejitas was interviewed by MSN, insisting she’s innocent of the charges and talking about her lucha libre career. The most handsome luchador she ever saw was Charlie Manson. That feels a little bit too on the nose.

Lucha Libre in Japan

Hijo del Pantera & Ricky Marvin lost their opening match of the NOAH Junior tag league back on the 16th, came back with a win on the 17th, another on the 19th. before taking a loss earlier today. That leaves them 2-2, 4 points, middle of the table. This is a single block, top two teams advance. The Mexico team needs to win their final two matches to advance. The last league match is on July 31st, the tournament final is on August 5th, and the winner teaming is possibly getting a title match on NOAH’s 08/18 show.

Rey Wagner & Hijo del Dr. Wagner’s Japanese tour wrapped up with a match in Tokyo Gurentai, a Nosawa led promotion. Wagner & old partner Kendo Kashin beat Nosawa & Hijo de Wagner. Nosawa challenged Rey Wagner to a hair versus hair match in March, and that came off as if it’s actually happening.

CMLL Puebla: 2018-07-16

July 20, 2018July 19, 2018 thecubsfan

Recapped: 07/17/2018

Matches:

Espíritu Maligno, Fuerza Chicana, Rey Apocalipsis beat Millenium, Robin, Tigre Rojo Jr.
(11:32 [5:21, 3:00, 3:11], 1/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Drone, Star Jr., Stigma beat Kawato, Okumura, Policeman
(15:41 [8:18, 2:10, 5:13], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Gif: 4449

Dragón Lee, Stuka Jr., Valiente beat Forastero, Hechicero, Sansón
(15:49 [5:01, 6:07, 4:41], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

gif: 6000/610

La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible beat Atlantis, Carístico, Euforia in a relevos increíbles match
(10:39 [2:43, 7:56], 1/2, n/r, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

gif:

Cuatrero © beat Ángel de Oro for the CMLL World Middleweight Championship
(19:45, 2/3, good, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Angel de Oro Skayde Special (5:22)
Cuatrero inverted bear hug (1:39)
Cuatrero crucifix powerbomb (12:44)

What happened:

Tirantes slow counted Angel de Oro for no real reason. He seems to do this more often when the técnico is going to lose. Angel de Oro did lose, Cuatrero retained his title.

Rush challenged Atlantis for a light heavyweight title match next week and took his mask too.

Thoughts:

The main event title match was the usual solid if not dynamic performance by Angel de Oro. He hits everything clean, but he doesn’t mix it up much, just getting Dive #1 and Dive #2 out of the way in series so he wouldn’t have to check them off later. The entire show felt unstimulating intellectual and there was nothing particularly deeper about this one. It was some moves until Angel de Oro’s moves failed him once again. At least he didn’t lose to his own move this time and was able to give Cuatrero his own finish, though didn’t last much more. Good enough for a title match.

I couldn’t be bothered to watch the Ingobernables match but it seemed about normal.

The tercera wasn’t as interesting as the names involved. Hechicero is really good, but Dinamtias wasn’t the same without all three of them in there. There were plenty of dives in the third fall, but somehow CMLL wrestlers can do those and still not get out of second gear the rest of the match. Dragon Lee’s NJPW time has caused him to watch for people breaking up a pin instead of standing around celebrating at the final pin like most CMLL luchadors.

The second match was a nothing special midcard Puebla match with a bad finish and a worse stacked up superplex going on. Star Jr. & Kawato continue to work a lot together, and a lot smoother than Drone & Kawato did later on. Drone was doing a lot of movements which were probably meant to be charismatic and came off weird. This was barely ok.

I have nothing much to say about the opener. Rey Apocalipsis having a backward version of his mask was the most interesting thing of the opener. Tigre Rojo breaking up a careta with an armdrag instead of headscissors was mindblowing in CMLL.

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