I added 1940s lucha libre lineups, mostly from the cities Torreon and Gomez Palacio to the luchadb database last month. This covers every year from 1940 to 1949. They’re integrated in the different pages of this site, and they’re also just available here. This is a slow continuing project to mine the El Siglo de Torreon archive for lucha lineups and results, which is finally nearing completion.
I had been hoping to finish this in August. It is now October. It didn’t go quickly. There was a lot of lucha.
1970s: 323
1960s: 258
1950s: 909
1940s: 415
Not as bad as 1950s. It still turned out to be a lot, though it varied quite a bit per year.
I think the pattern is no one pays much attention if there’s only one promotion, but pay a lot more attention if there are two or more groups. (Until today, where shrinking newspapers mean no one pays attention.) There also weren’t as many sports to cover in 40s, so wrestling was covered as a way to fill up one of those eight pages they were putting out a day.
Another reason the shows might have gone up starting with 1945 is that was the year Palacio de los Depotes was opened. That building, or others with the same name, have been in use since that year.
My favorite find is buried in Casos Deportivos column, which occasionally mentioned lucha libre at this point. In 1949, there’s a mention that Salvador Lutteroth was looking to put together enough money to build a Madision Square Garden level arena in Mexico City to host boxing, lucha libre and basketball. This is the plan for Arena Mexico, which is still 7 years away from coming into existance. The story has always been the Black Shadow/El Santo mask match selling out while turning lots of people away spurred Lutteroth into building Arena Mexico. That was in 1952. It might have pushed him to finally do it, but the idea had been in his head for a few years by that point.
PALL , Lucha Memes (SUN) 09/30/2018Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México [R de Rudo]
1) Maravilla Plateado & Maremoto Jr. b Perro Callejero Jr. & Perro Negro
2) Iron Kid b Dragón Bane
3) Avisman & Black Terry b Eragón & Robin Maravilla Robin Maravilla was the surprise partner
4) Mike Segura b Freelance replaced a Fantasma de la Opera/Jessy Ventura match?
5) Corsario Negro Jr. & Drako DQ Cíclope & Miedo Extremo
6) Zeuxis b Belial Belial was coming in with a knee injury, which Zeuxis took advantage of to win.
7) Templario b Ricky Marvin Marvin had control most of the match but Templario still won in the end.
Templario/Marvin sounds like it was good. I have no big problem with these two top matches instead of the original (Zeuxis/Marvin didn’t seem interesting, Templario/Belial did) and Segura/Freelance is an upgrade, but I still don’t understand why these changes aren’t advertised. I’m fine being the one person complaining about it.
CMLL (MON) 10/01/2018Arena Puebla [CMLL, Estrellas del Lucha Libre, Lucha Central]
1) Black Tiger & Meyer b Ares & Fuerza Chicana Tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Arkalis, Astral, Magnus b El Perverso, Espanto Jr., Policeman Magnus replaced Electrico. Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Princesa Sugehit b Reyna Isis [lightning]
4) Dragón Rojo Jr., Okumura, Pólvora b Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Stigma Rudos took 2/3 and unmasked the tecnicos after.
5) Diamante Azul, Kráneo, Michael Elgin b Cuatrero, Dark Magic, Sansón CMLL debut of Dark Magic. Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Cavernario, La Bestia Del Ring, Terrible b Hijo de LA Park, LA Park, Volador Jr. Rudos took 1/3. Set up a Cavernario/Volador title match.
I’ve only have seen the semimain as part of the Dark Magic scouting project. It will not surprise you to learn he looked like a US indie guy dropped into CMLL. He did a lot of stuff you’d see in US and not much in Mexico – he did a Stunner late, and his finish appears to be a spinebuster called “the Magic Touch.” He didn’t do much of anything that felt Mexican style – which might be for the best, because he’s supposed to be different and doing it just to do it never looks good. He mostly worked with Diamante Azul for the first two falls and they were adequate, maybe a little smoother than when he faces Elgin more in the third fall. He didn’t show a strong personality, but the idea is obviously for him to look physically impressive and so he did. It’s only one match, and I think he looked like he’d be fine in the Gran Prix, but he also didn’t jump out as a great new star. Dark Magic seemed in the Johnny Idol range of just being a guy.
There’s two title matches and a non-title singles match tonight in CMLL buildings. Arena Mexico has Caristico defending the NWA Middleweight Championship against Gran Guerrero, the brother of who he took it away from a couple months ago. Caristico hasn’t been in a lot of three fall singles matches since coming back to CMLL, and Gran Guerrero hasn’t had many at all. There’s a classic formula for Caristico title matches they could use here, and it may be about how well they can do it for a Tuesday crowd.
This looks better than a usual Tuesday Arena Mexico card, in that there’s more than one promising match. Mistico, Volador and Stuka team up to face Ephesto, Mephisto, and Negro Casas, which should at least be good on the Tuesday sliding scale. Audaz makes an appearance, teaming with the Chavez brothers against Los Revolucionarios and Luciferno.
The undercard is less exciting. The Panther family takes on Felino, Tiger and Puma stand-in Misterioso. The second match has the usual dead-enders and Super Astro. The opener is a low-level minis match.
The show will air at 7:30pm on CMLL’s YouTube channel.
The Arena Coliseo Guadalajara show is usually the better of the Tuesday shows, and still is even with Arena Mexico getting at title match. Guadalajara gets the Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero match, the first time they’ve had it in Atlantis’ home arena since 2014. They’re 3-3 in this building all time. Nueva Generacion Dinamita defend the national trios titles against the makeshift team of Esfinge, Triton, and Soberano, who might be in a spot intended for Titan. A title change in either championship match would be a surprise, but they should least be entertaining getting to the expected finish. These two matches should air on TV Thursday and Saturday night locally; the Saturday airing normally airs on YouTube as well.
CMLL announced Friday’s Gran Prix will indeed be an iPPV on internet.tv. It’s not listed on internet.tv as of yet, and there’s no price announced. It’s already been announced as airing on ROH’s Honor Club. If you signed up for the Aniversario thru ROH, your month should still include the Gran Prix. I wouldn’t count on another CMLL show airing on ROH – CMLL may be doing UG/Ciber but ROH only seems to be carrying shows with ROH wrestlers – so you may want to see which option is cheaper if you’re deciding where to watch.
All children’s tickets (from the 11th row back) will be 10 pesos with an adult ticket. That’s about $0.50 in US Dollars.
FILLM (SAT) 10/06/2018Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México
1) ? vs ??
2) Davo & Rakner vs Orión & Tiger Metal
3) Lady Cat & Lilith Dark vs La Chola & Reyna Obscura
4) Chapullin Colorado & Toro Negro Jr. vs Minimo & Mixteco Jr.
5) Centurion, Fly Warrior, Látigo vs Andy Boy, Danger, Guerrero Mixtico
6) Baby Star & Toxin vs Fly Star & Thunder Storm
FILLM shows usually don’t meet the very fuzzy bar of stuff worth mentioning here, but someone’s brought back Mala Hiebra versus the Neza Boys and I approve of that. Main event is Toxin/Fly Star, a feud mostly built in one promotion but seemingly being used by many running indie shows (so maybe people should build more/better feuds?)
CMLL (SUN) 10/07/2018Arena México
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Oro Jr. vs Espíritu Negro, Grako, Metálico
3) Drone, Fuego, Rey Cometa vs Misterioso Jr., Sangre Azteca, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) El Audaz vs Kawato San [lightning]
5) Euforia, Shocker, Terrible vs David Finlay, Flip Gordon, Michael Elgin
6) Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja, Valiente vs Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, Matt Taven
Volador is in Juarez, so no rematch with Matt Taven yet. We really have no idea how long any of the foreigners beside Flip are sticking around, but at least we know Finlay & Flip are meant to be tecnicos and the Briscoes are still rudos.
Kawato being here on Sunday is interesting for other promotions. Here, being opposite Audaz at least suggests the possibility of Kawato getting into a feud – Audaz is destined for a big win at some point. This was around the point Takahashi’s trip to Mexico where he first faced Dragon Lee in a lightning match. Kawato/Audaz doesn’t seem to have that potential but that doesn’t mean CMLL wouldn’t try.
CMLL (SUN) 10/07/2018Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Amperaje & Micro vs El Jabial & Paymon
2) Black Sugar & Linterna vs Demonio Rojo & Relámpago Azul
3) El Divino, Mr. Samurai, Tigre Blanco vs Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno, Thunder Boy
4) Luminoso, Magnum, Star Black vs Furia Roja, Gran Kenut, Guerrero de la Muerte
5) Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto vs Esfinge, Explosivo, Tritón
Hijos del Infierno make their way here for unusual DF guys in Guadalajara on Sunday. Maybe they have an additional sponsor, maybe they’re finding extra places to work on the week where the outsiders are taking up some spots.
IWRG (SUN) 10/07/2018Arena Naucalpan
1) Shadow Boy & Toto vs Chef Benito & Death Metal
2) Black Shadow II vs Diablo Jr.
3) Metaleón, Multifacetico 2.0, Rokambole Jr. vs Capo del Norte, Capo del Sur, Demonio Infernal
4) Hijo del Alebrije vs Hijo de Canis Lupus
5) Imposible, Súper Nova, Toscano vs Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Pitbull, Último Gladiador
6) Leo & Rafy vs Ra-Zhata & Shil-Ka
7) Aramis vs Dragón Bane vs Freelance
Aramis, Dragon Bane and Freelance have been good against each other and they’re getting a main event. It may just be due to the heavyweights not being around, but I hope they make the most of it.
Super Nova/Bengala showing up here is another booking suggesting he may not be an AAA full timer at this point. He’ll be back as Bengala in the same building a few days later.
Lucha Memes (SUN) 10/21/2018Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México
1) Arkonte, Blackout, Demonio Baltazar, Forastero, Kaito, Karazu, Murciélago Infernal, Orión, Poder Guerrero, Rey Del Barrio vs Albatros, Cris Stone Jr., Divo Jr., Dragón Negro, Juan Diego, Manchas, Ojo de Tigre Jr., Psique, Súper Dragón
2) Jeque, Solar I, Tony Rivera vs Black Terry, Judas, Máscara Año 2000
3) Keyra vs Estrellita
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Arez, Belial, Impulso
5) Negro Casas vs Virus
6) Shu el Guerrero vs Hechicero
7) Eterno vs Aramis [mask, hair]
Memes’ Coliseo Coalcaoc show is loaded. Eterno and Aramis are two talented guys in search of a signature match (or at least a new-ish one for Eterno.) Hechicero gets to face another legend of el Toreo, one day after facing ZSJ. Negro Casas/Virus and NGD/Indystrongibles should be fun. Keyra versus Estrellita should be target practice.
CMLL Guadalajara: 2018-09-29
taped 2018-09-25 @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara – YouTube/Mega
1) Blue Panther Jr., Drone, Pegasso vs Ares (Costa Rica), Escualo (Costa Rica), Kaiser (Costa Rica)
2) Esfinge, Soberano Jr., Tritón vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
3) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
CMLL Lucha Azteca: 2018-09-30
taped 2018-09-21 @ Arena México – Mega
1) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Fuego vs Kawato San, Okumura, Virus
2) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rock Star, The Chris
3) Mistico vs Negro Casasin a lightning match
