Volador defeats Caristico in Puebla, AAA in Merida lineup, Titan/Mephisto

CMLL (MON) 08/06/2018 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Lucha Central]
1) Espíritu Maligno, Joker, Mercurio b Astro, Meyer, Shockercito 
Rudos took 1/3, Joker beating Shockercito and teasing a title match.
2) Rey Samuray, Stigma, Súper Astro Jr. vs King Jaguar, Templario, Universo 2000 Jr. 
Tecnicos took 2 (excessive violence DQ) & 3
3) Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Shocker b Ángel de Oro, Kráneo, Valiente 
Angel de Oro replaced Dragon Lee. Rudos took 1/3.
4) Atlantis, Matt Taven, Octagón DQ Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón 
tecnicos took 2/3, the last when Sanson unmasked Atlantis
5) Volador Jr. b Carístico 
Volador took 2/3, the last with a Canadian Destroyer. Caristico had to be stretchered out, though Volador stole the backboard to try and stop that from happening.

No one shows more genuine dislike for each other than Volador & Caristico, though it doesn’t really translate into great matches. The passive aggressiveness in the finish was amazing, with Volador taking away the backboard so Caristico wouldn’t get the sympathy from being carried out, only for Caristico to just stay laying there until they got it back.

Dragon Lee being replaced here suggests to me he’s already done wrestling for the time being, though he’s posting on social media so can’t be on island yet. If I was a promotion who has him booked coming up, I would check to make sure he’s still available.

This was another big turnout for Puebla. I think it’s partly the season, but probably mostly that people are happy with these shows.

Tonight’s Arena Mexico show should have Hechicero vs Stuka on it. They said they wanted to do it. It does not, because CMLL has to drag out the very mild excitement for that match for another week. Instead, they meet in the semimain tonight, teaming with Ephesto, Mr. Niebla, Angel de Oro and Niebla Roja in an ordinary Tuesday show. Audaz faces Luciferno in the lightning match, which might be good because Luciferno is prone to doing the occasional crazy thing. The tercera has the Panthers against Virus, Polvora and Dragon Rojo, who was pretty much missing from CMLL for the last month. Main event is Atlantis, Azul, and Kraneo against Gran Guerrero, Bucanero and Shocker, which seems bad.

Lucha Central has a preview of the show. It’ll air at 7:30 pm on CMLL’s youtube channel.

Mephisto takes on Titan in Guadalajara, defending his CMLL Welterweight Championship for the 12th time. Titan has lost twice to Mephisto before in this reign, and will probably make it a third time here. The match will air Saturday on the internet (and Thursday if you live in Guadalajara.)

Rush says the show in Piedras Negra he was scheduled on today has been canceled. He said he has no idea why.

CMLL’s Informa guests for tomorrow include Okumura & Sangre Azteca. The preview says Okumura will announce a Japanese star coming in, while Sangre Azteca is heading out somewhere for an international trip.

Soberano faces David Star in Revolution Pro UK on 08/19. Bandido is part of their 09/08 & 09/09 for their British J Cup.

The Crash announced Princesa Sugehit, Tessa Blanchard, and Lady Flammer for their 09/08 show.

Puma King & Barby got married, without telling anyone. Which lead to some good phone calls.

ESTO has an interview with Reina Isis, who talks up her trip to Japan. It’s noted she hasn’t won a title or mask, and she notes plenty of people in the independents have won one or the other but doesn’t think those are worth as much as the CMLL ones she’s focused on.

ESPN talked to Negro Casas after his 40th Anniversary match. He seems a little frustrated about how quickly he tires in matches, while Dalys (misspelled Gladys) thinks he’s fine and is going to wrestle for many more years.

Anibal Jr. went off on Blue Demon Jr. on his Facebook, dropping his real name and accusing him of straining the name of Blue Demon. (The media reports have the real name as the bigger issue.) Anibal Jr.’s Facebook page has since disappeared.

Latin Lover was interviewed by Hoy Los Angeles, says his primary focus is the gym he owns now and the entertainment work has become the extra second income. He’s insistent he has not retired, though the upcoming AAA appearances he spoke of at last year’s TripleMania never occurred.

Lucha Underground posted a Jake Strong interview. I’m pretty sure “white guy in a black suit” is a heel move in the Temple.

+LuchaTV has a new edition of their podcast.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

In Arena Aficion, Latino Star defeated Vultran for his hair. Vultran retired after.

Lineups

CMLL (SUN) 08/12/2018 Arena México
1) Príncipe Diamante & Sonic vs Cholo & El Coyote
2) Pegasso, Retro, Stigma vs Hijo del Signo, Metálico, Sangre Azteca
3) Drone, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Disturbio, Universo 2000 Jr., Virus
4) Blue Panther, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. vs Kawato San, Okumura, Tiger
5) Niebla Roja vs Cavernario
6) Atlantis, Kráneo, Matt Taven vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero

The sudden shift from Dragon Lee/Cavernario to Niebla Roja/Cavernario makes a whole lot more sense now that we know Dragon Lee won’t be available on Sunday. It also suggests Dragon Lee and/or CMLL didn’t know for sure he would be on Exatlon until sometime last week.

Terrible also keeps getting pulled from cards, though sadly more due to the injury he picked up Friday night in The Crash. He’s now off from Friday’s show, with Cavernario moving up to replace him and Okumura added to the tercera. Okumura versus Black Panther in a lightning has been added to the Saturday card.

FILLM (SAT) 08/18/2018 Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México
1) Príncipe Maravilla & Rakner vs Orión & Rey Fuego
2) Baby Star Jr. & Príncipe Aéreo vs Thunder Storm & Torito
3) Alas de Oro, Emperador Azteca, Príncipe Cóndor vs Alas De Plata, Fariseo, Imposible
4) Sádico & Yoruba vs Arez & Látigo
5) Bárbaro Cavernario & Hechicero vs Chacho Herodes Jr. & Dr. Cerebro
6) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Corsario Negro Jr., Drako, Fresero Jr.

FILLM is a once a month indie, usually with a few names on top and less known indie guys underneath. This is a more loaded show for a visit to Arena San Juan.

Lucha Memes , LLB , NOBA (SUN) 08/19/2018 Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México
1) Aaron Sykes, Helio Guerrera, Juan Diego vs Divino, Hijo De Brazo De Platino, Ninja de Fuego
2) Atomic Star, Demonio Infernal, Lunatic Xtreme, Toto vs Aspirantito Jr., Baxter, Kid Silver, Sauron
3) Terremoto Negro vs Dragón Negro, Demonio Chino
4) Lolita vs ?
5) Corsario Negro Jr., Drako, Fresero Jr. vs Carta Brava Jr. (IWL), Demente Extreme, Fantasma de la Ópera
6) Belial & Impulso vs Ángel o Demonio & Ovett
7) Alas de Acero, Aramis, Iron Kid vs Freelance, Mike Segura, Pantera
8) Fuerza Guerrera vs Ricky Marvin vs Eterno

I know i saw this lineup before but I guess I had not posted it? This one feels a lot more Lucha Libre Boom than Lucha Memes. 6 & 7 could be good.

AAA TV (SUN) 09/09/2018 Coliseo Yucatan, Mérida, Yucatán
1) Angelikal, Lady Maravilla, Vanilla vs Kiera Hogan, Scarlett Bordeaux, Tito Santana
2) Australian Suicide, Hijo Del Vikingo, Lady Shani vs Carta Brava Jr., Keyra, Mocho Cota Jr.
3) Jack Evans vs Golden Magic, Hijo de LA Park
4) Aerostar, Laredo Kid, Máximo vs La Máscara, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr.
5) Fénix vs Brian Cage vs Sammy Guevara
6) Pagano & Psycho Clown vs Hijo del Fantasma & LA Park

This is the second TV lineup after TripleMania. At least I think it is; AAA hasn’t officially announced the Monterrey show, even though that’s an official poster. Both of there are listed as generic TV tapings, not Televisa. I have no idea what’s going on and I follow this obsessively, good luck to everyone else.

Main event is a TripleMania rematch. Pentagon Jr. isn’t around in all of these TripleMania rematches, not that he really was going to lose his mask. In theory, the semimain could become a title match if Fenix beats Jarrett at TripleMania. The other way of looking it this is it might not make sense to have Fenix win the AAA title if he’s not going to be around much. It’s arguable because no one who holds that title is ever around much. At any rate, we know Fenix will be around at least until a couple tapings down the road.

La Mascara and Maximo are finally on opposite sides of a match. Australian Suicide is apparently a tecnico this week. Kiera Hogan & Scarlett Bordeaux are in from Impact, probably just for these shows.

There’s no word when TripleMania will be announced. It’s 18 days out. They’ve announced it as late as 10 days out recently.