Stukita will change his name to Halcon Suriano Jr. starting this Friday. He’ll appear to present the trophy for the cibernetico honoring his grandfather. Stukita’s father has been wrestling as Halcon Suriano Jr., so this promises to be confusing for me. It appears Stukita/Halcon Suirano Jr. talked about this change in media interviews on Wednesday. El Grafico is the first to post an article, with Halcon Suriano Jr. confirming he’ll be joining the main division, and his father will be switching to Hijo del Halcon Suirano. Stukita/Suirano mentions he’s been looking for this change for a while and is looking forward to taking what he’s learned against new opponents. He also mentions Stukita concept will not be going away: he’s going to help choose a new person for that character, who will replace him as a CMLL mini.
Stukita always has seemed wasted in the minis division but it’s not hard to look at the completely forgettable years Astral & Electrico have had since moving up and project about the same for him. Those two will be better off slightly, they’ll no longer be the lowest men on the totem pole, but all are going to be stuck in the second/third match abyss.
Guerrero Maya Jr. and Stuka Jr. will return to Ring of Honor on 11/04 as part of their Survival of the Fittest show. It’ll air live on ROH iPPV, and they’ll both be in the one-night tournament. It’s nice to get CMLL people in ROH. There hasn’t been anyone from CMLL in since June 2nd. Maya & Stuka are solid, but it’s still a bit disappointing not to get people who feel like bigger or more vital stars in CMLL. The timing is an issue – ROH couldn’t use Soberano or Volador since they’ll still be in Japan, and Dragon Lee may very well still be in the Dominican Republic then – but when MLW is bringing in a guy on top of CMLL like Rush and ROH is bringing in two people who are definitely not on top of CMLL, it doesn’t look great for ROH. Even if people like Rush & Mistico are not available or not in the budget, people would’ve been more excited if (theoretically easier to get) Cavernario was making his ROH debut on these shows, or if one of the Dinamitas were going.
Blue Panther will wear his mask for his 40th Anniversary match. I hope the commission knows. CMLL puts Panther’s mask wins over Black Man & Avispon Negro as #4 on his list.
CMLL put up it’s annual Dia de Muertos teaser.
AAA posted a promo of Lady Shani from immediately after the mask versus hair match. (Or it aired on SpaceTV one week ago and is on the YouTube show if I thought to look thru all of it, maybe.)
In a recent +LuchaTV promo, Murder Clown mentions he started in Arena Naucalpan. His pre-AAA identity (identities?) have never been disclosed, and you’d think a really tall guy wrestling in mid-2000s IWRG would be memorable.
El Grafico notes Caifan is making his return to the Mexico City area this weekend after his “retirement” last December, though the interview doesn’t really talk about that retirement. If the Hechicero debut goes very well on Friday, I want someone to talk PWG into running Caifan versus Hechicero again. It’ll be good, but it’ll also be amusing.
Ultimo Ninja, who joined NXT a while ago now, was officially announced as being in NXT today. So was Chelsea Green, who’s currently on Lucha Underground as Reklusa but obviously won’t be past the end of this season.
Cuernavaca luchador/referee Kaliman is retiring. He’s 74.
Lucha Talk has this week’s episode.
Lineups
IWRG (SUN) 10/21/2018 Arena Naucalpan
1) Ángel Estrella Jr. & Chef Benito vs Giro Gallo & Guerrero 2000
2) Death Metal & Power Bull vs Chicanito & Toto
3) Black Shadow II & Shaolin vs Diablo Jr. & Rasha-Ta
4) Dragón Bane vs Mike, Demonio Infernal, Shil-Kha, Lunatik Xtreme
5) Aliado de Dios, Danny Casas, Metaleón vs Capo del Norte, Capo del Sur, Pitbull
6) Hijo del Alebrije, Imposible, Relámpago vs Hijo de Canis Lupus, Rayan, Spector
7) Hechicero & Hijo De Dos Caras vs Cuervo (Puerto Rico) & Hijo de Pirata Morgan
Hechicero has a busy weekend. Cuervo has been listed a few times, mostly in June, and hasn’t quite appeared all of the times. Five match fighters is back in the fourth.
IWRG has announced Relampago, Ludark Shaitan, Shil-Kah, Hijo de Canis Lupus, and Diosa Atenea for the Castillo del Terror cage mask match. I think they’re putting 10 in there, so five more to go.
CMLL (MON) 10/22/2018 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & Black Tiger vs El Perverso & King Rocker
2) Oro Jr. & Súper Astro Jr. vs El Malayo & Toro Bill Jr.
3) Marcela vs Tiffany [lightning]
4) Audaz, Titán, Tritón vs Templario, Tiger, Virus
5) Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
6) Carístico, Mistico, Rush vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
Titan returns, take 2. Main event could be fun, and semimain continues whatever they were doing with Diamante Azul & Mephisto.
AAA TV (SUN) 11/18/2018 Gimnasio Municipal Josué Neri Santos, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua
1) ?, ??, Aéreo vs ???, ????, Villano III Jr.
2) Keyra, Lady Maravilla, Scarlett vs Lady Shani, Starfire, Vanilla
3) Angelikal, Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
4) Joe Lider & Pagano vs ? & ??
5) Mamba, Máximo, Murder Clown vs La Máscara, Monsther Clown, Rey Escorpión
6) Brian Cage, Hijo del Fantasma, Texano Jr. vs Blue Demon, La Parka, Psycho Clown
This is fourth TV tapings down the line. Rest assured, nothing important seems to be happening between now and then, because this lineup could also basically happen tomorrow. I don’t know why you fly in Brian Cage to have him wrestle a tecnico side where Psycho Clown is his best opponent. Easy payday for Cage anyway. Scarlett will probably get more out of her appearance. The women’s match and the third look like the best of this lot.
The luchadors in the openers are locals. Aereo & Villano III have been feuding on the spot shows here and there’s no guarantee it’ll air. The mystery luchadors against Lider & Pagano, since they’ve specifically made the challenges for the match and it’s the kind of showcase match you’d give Pagano in his home city. It’s less clear why they won’t just say it’s Miedo Extremo & Ciclope if it’s them.