Dragon Lee was pulled off the Saturday and Sunday CMLL shows. Caristico takes his place. This seems to be a date conflict and not an injury and didn’t come up CMLL’s Informa. He’s still on Friday’s show and listed for New Year’s Day so it does not appear to be an injury.
TV Azteca Puebla posted only highlights of Tuesday’s Arena Puebla show and have since removed them. The main event ending was Volador being close to finishing Sanson off when Sanson tossed his mask to draw the DQ. They’re likely having a singles match next week.
Corsario Negro Jr.’s knee injury seems bad. There’s a raffle being held to raise money, and the post on it mentions Corsario Negro Jr. is expected out 6-12 months.
Halloween says he has “one shoulder broken, one shoulder torn, and three vertebraes hurt” but he doesn’t want to stop wrestling because he doesn’t know what he’d do without it in his life.
Ovaciones has a long interview with Jaque Mate Jr. for some reason. He says he’s debating between joining CMLL or saying in the independent (which means for a guy like him is he’s going to be an independent.)
Segunda Caida reviews Hijo del Santo versus Bandido from 2017. Again, it seems increasingly likely Santo Jr.’s biggest contribution to lucha libre might be streaming that match on Facebook.
Lineups
CMLL (TUE) 01/01/2019Arena México
1) Arkalis & Robin vs El Coyote & Grako
2) Avispa Dorada, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Amapola, Dalys, La Seductora
3) Akuma & Camorra vs Hijo del Signo & Yago [mask, hair]
4) Hijo de LA Park, Kráneo, Volcano vs Felino, Hijo del Villano III, Villano IV
5) Dragón Lee, King Phoenix, Penta 0M vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Templario
6) Carístico vs Último Guerrero
I think I know every spot that will happen in Carisitco/UG and probably the order they’ll be in but it’ll be fine. The fifth match should be the show stealer. Will every other match be better than the apuesta match? I think they can get there in the fourth match, we can bet on some solid Kraneo comedy at least. The opener would be easily good if they didn’t have the opener handcuff on and I think they can do it. It’s that women’s match that is a deal breaker, but I believe in the CMLL women to come thru (and for someone in the apuesta match to have a Ramstein level performance.)
Sammy Guevara vs Jack Evans (RIOT @ Arena LLF on 07/28, 14:36, great, no publicly available link)
What Happened: This match isn’t publicly available at this point in time. I got to see the match by annoying one of the promoters into sharing, then losing the link to where he posted it, then asking someone else if they could ask them where the match was at. I do not recommend this strategy. RIOT may put up matches on some service at some time?
Review: [great] A tremendously fun match with a memorable moment or three. Sammy & Jack are goofy before the bell, and at times during the match, but they also show genuine dislike and anger. Some of the shots occasionally come off sloppy, but they work as just angry people who are a bit too emotional to always hit right. The crowd helps raise this up too, being into the match and hilariously taunting Guevera by singing happy birthday when the match is going poorly for him. This resembles a lot more of a wild brawling match at times – they end up outside and dunking each other in a tank of water – than both guys just doing highspots and is better for it. If this ever available, it’s worth checking out.
this is not the ice bucket challengelook how messy his back looks
Mr. Iguana vs Taurus vs Vasco Jr.in a tournament final ladder match (KAOZ @ Arena Coliseo Monterrey on 10/28, 12:34, great, mluchatv)
A lucha libre ladder match where the ladders held up, the people in the match knew the rules, and they did cool stuff using the ladders, what a great thing. I think we’re in a period where ladder matches in Mexico are no longer catastrophes and that’s a pleasant things. Taurus is at his best in this match, not doing stuff just to do it and instead of coming off as a monster destroying things while still being able to base for the crazy things. Mr. Iguana has some crazy ideas, most of which work out and make the feel wild. I liked the Terry Funk homage, and the corner dive was insane. I wish Mr. Iguana wouldn’t take crucifix bombs out of the ring because I’d like to see him in wrestling a lot longer. Vasco Jr. is a guy. This was borderline good/great but there were a few spots that’ll stick in my memory more than most good matches.
animal on animal violencewhen you really wish you had a floor cam
Cuatrero, Forastero (CMLL), Sansón vs Bestia 666, Garza Jr., Mr. 450in the KAOZ TRIOS tournament (KAOZ @ Arena Coliseo Monterrey on 10/28, 15:41, good, mluchatv)
Seemed like it was going to be a fine if a bit exhibition trios match between these two teams for the half dozen or so minutes. They found another level after the careta spot, picking up the pace and coming up with some sharp looking spots. Rebelion doesn’t seem to team in trios much (or I skip it because I can’t find a full video, probably), but came across as a group on NGD’s level here. The badly timed finish took it down a bit; this isn’t much of the ladder match with a better-executed ending.
hooray team kickconfused by Garza Jr. flashy offense
Zumbido vs Ricky Marvin (LLB/HUMO in Arena Lopez Mateos on 11/03, 9:10 seen, Estrellas del Ring)
What Happened: This is three falls, but the first two falls are clipped to nothing. Also, a random Angel o Demonio appearance as a second, which feels weird at the moment.
Review: Zumbido politely asks for his second to move the barricade away from the ring before he does a dive, then cracks his head on the apron on the dive because there’s not enough room and bleeds from the back of the head for the next while. Perhaps we can heed Zumbido better next time. Zumbido completely whiffs on catching a Ricky Marvin dive later on. They’re much better when they’re inside the ring, a solid hard hitting match with a good bit of action and some calls backs to their hair match. Zumbido’s worked himself into shape where I hope he gets a nice opponent for a big hair match at some point. This showing that both guys can still go, though it doesn’t hit the highest heights.
unclear why my only GIF is the injury
Penta 0M, Puma King, Rey Fénix vs Eterno, Trauma I, Trauma II (Cuervo Benefit show @ Arena Naucalpan on 11/22, 15:09, good, +LuchaTV)
Fun exhibition style, peaking with the brawl early. Fenix’s dive near the end was nice too. It didn’t feel like they did all they could’ve done but they did go 15 minutes on a free show so not exactly complaining. Pentagon really wants a match with Eterno from the looks of this one and I hope he gets it at some point. Actually, Fenix/Eterno would be pretty good too.
no matter how many people are in Arena Naucalpan, an empty section of chairs can always be foundFenix reaching the fans
Alas de Acero, Aramis, Freelance vs Arez, Belial, Toxin (Cuervo Benefit Show @ Arena Naucalpan on 11/22, 7:43, good, +LuchaTV)
This was totally rushed but sometimes that’s really OK. This was really great in a different way than the short Negro Casas matches, they just used the time to do anything and everything they could think of. The lack of smoothnesscould be forgiven because something else exciting was happening a second later. Freelance’s backdrop dive to the floor was the biggest moment, but Arez stood out with his spots and Aramis was good as usual. This is the kind of that would get these guys over anywhere they went.
Freelance behaving normallyAlas de Acero in the wrong part of town
Guerrero Maya Jr.beat Misterioso Jr.in a lightning match (7:41, Gori Special, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Atlantis, Flyer, Stuka Jr. beat Luciferno, Máscara Año 2000, Mephisto (10:25 [4:19, 1:20, 4:46], 2/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero beat Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. (13:44 [4:47, 2:23, 6:34], 1/3, great, VideosOficialesCMLL)
What happened:
Akuma & Signo are disqualified in the first for putting on a two man tapatia on Camorra. Camorra rips Yago’s mask in the second, really making it unusable. Yago really has no choice but to take Akuma’s mask to cover up, though that also ends the match. Apuesta challenges followed.
Thoughts:
Signo regretted the dive immediately
The main event was a strange occurrence of a Friday night match on a Tuesday night main event. It looked like it was just going to be a simple but crowd pleasing match, but they found an extra gear. It never felt like a really big match, just one where everyone was really sharp at what they were doing and doing more than I’ve seen on this Monday/Tuesday shows of late. Templario figures to be facing Soberano a lot – he’s in this trio for these matches because Euforia can’t be – and is handling wrestling him and this elevation to a top spot without a problem. He and Gran Guerrero had another moment of really good teamwork here. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja looked much better than they did in Puebla the night before, and the match was fun all the way to the end. A rare treat for putting up with the shows; I might be overrating this because of the show where it is happening, but I think it’s worth people’s time.
The tercera would be recommendable if the rudos weren’t so lame. Crowd at least liked it. Nitro doing a Destroyer and making no effort to catch on a dive was right. Credit to Audaz for making something up when Sagrado completely forgot how to take his finish. I wish it was physically possible for the técnicos to do some other spot off the apron beside a headscissors but it appears it is not possible.
The rudo/rudo feud was energetic if not exactly exciting. Signo offers a willingness to hurt himself on a tope and not much more. Camorra offers less. There really wasn’t a lot of time or opportunity to do a lot in this match but Yago & Akuma didn’t look as interesting as they have had in normal matches. I have little hope for this blowoff match.
La Parkita, Mini Psycho Clown, Solaris beat La Parkita Negra, Mini Monster Clown, Mini Murder Clown (10:08, Mini Psycho Clown Canadian Destroyer Mini Monster Clown, good, 00:18:25)
Chica Tormenta, Demus, Toxin beat Chicano, Vanilla, Villano III Jr. (14:55, Demus Driver on Chicano, good, 00:39:51)
Keyra & Lady Maravilla beat Faby Apache & Lady Shani (9:29, DQ Lady Shani [Lady Maravilla fake mask removal], good, 01:05:21)
Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly beat Australian Suicide, Golden Magic, Jack Evans (10:14, OGT double three-man powerbomb Golden Magic, good, 01:45:31)
La Parka, Pagano, Psycho Clownbeat Electroshock, Rey Escorpión, Taurus (17:08, Psycho Clown casita Taurus, ok, 02:08:01)
What happened:
the only person allowed to brutalize people in a Faby Apache match is Faby Apache
Elite won the first two matches. AAA won the last three to win the series. The announcers called it the “Ultima” confrontation, though they may have just meant the last one in 2018.
Rey Escorpión stole Psycho Clown’s mask post-match for no real reason. They’d be feuding during the match.
Hades seconded Samoano & Tonga again and seems to be their permanent manager, so that wasn’t just a dark match fever dream.
Thoughts:
Yep.
The AAA main event followed the normal formula for those matches. La Parka did some comedy, Pagano blew spots, Psycho Clown looked good. It didn’t hold my interest as the 12th straight match I’d watched but seemed about average for that spot. Rey Escorpión messing with Psycho Clown after the match felt more like Rey Escorpión doing something on his own than any angle, but we’ll see.
The semi-final was about where I got overwhelmed about how many things were going on at once at lost track a bit of what I was happening in front of me. This seemed like another good action match with weird sides. The OGT worked like rudos even though they were the home team. That made for the more exciting match, with the “Elite” team breaking out a lot of flying against a good team of bases, even if it didn’t make a lot of sense in the overall show narrative. I liked some of the other matches more but this was still enjoyable.
flying Tonga
The fourth match was well over expectations. Myzteziz & Vikingo are clearly trying to make very match special. It was really the Samoanos who were much better than they’ve been in any other match, peaking with a giant Tonga dive sequence at the end. They came across strongly and Hades did well with her couple of interference spots. Samaono hasn’t done much to be taken seriously to this point, but they might be able to get something of the unit. Halcón and Emperador were fine for what they were asked for. Crowd booing Myzteziz Jr. for existing is not a good sign. He did win them back over when he did a cool move a moment later.
The women’s match turned into the usual extremely hard-hitting match expected from this quartet. Keyra launching into Shani with the corner dropkick and then getting unexpectedly obliterated by Faby Apache was brutal and perfect for this match. Faby & Keyra had a brief sequence of murdering each other that was stupendous. Everyone fought hard for how long it lasted. This was good in a different way than the match the other matches prior to it on the card. Lady Maravilla shows infinitely more personality in AAA, coming across strongly on her post-match promo. AAA missing the finish was a bit hilarious but at least they showed the it in the replays.
a big day for Villano IIIs
The segunda had a lot of action and some errors, as might be figured with a match running as long as it ended up with some inexperienced people. There was one sequence with Demus, Chicano and Villano III Jr. that had some embarrassing botches, but most of the action held up. Chicano did some amazing things and had some weaker moments; he seems to be going a 100 MPH to try to make an impression and get on these shows regularly, which might not be to his benefit. Vanilla had a solid match, which seems notable when it comes to her, and got crushed by the Elite team a couple times. Villano III’s new look is cool and he had a mostly good match. Toxin made a positive impression. Demus’ finish looked killer.
The opener was interesting for the weirdness of a lot of these people finally existing. Mini Gronda moved better than either of the other two Grondas and doesn’t really fit the gimmick besides dressing up in the look, but that’s fine. The rest was a lot more comedy than in most AAA matches, and it came off well as a chance of pace. The new crew of minis can wrestle well enough that it’s not just a reliance on comedy to get thru everything. These minis worked as something different though not something I need to exactly see on every taping.
CMLL (TUE) 12/25/2018Arena México [CMLL, Ovaciones, thecubsfan]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Universo 2000 10:39. Tecnicos took 2/3
2) Átomo, Gallito, Microman b Chamuel, Guapito, Mije 14:56. Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Hijo del Signo DQ Akuma [lightning] 5:24. Camorra ran in to attack Signo, Yago ran in to attack him, and Camorra unmasked Yago. Promos to talk about next week’s apuesta match.
4) Templario, Tiger, Virus b Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso 14:14. Rudos took 1/3.
5) Hijo del Villano III, Mephisto, Villano IV b Atlantis, Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr. 11:08. Rudos took 1/3.
6) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Carístico, Dragón Lee, Valiente 10:22. Rudos won in straight falls, UG sneaking in a foul on Caristico. Caristico challenged him to a title match next week.
CMLL promos including Ultimo Guerrero pointing out he was supposed to have this singles match with Caristico weeks ago, Caristico wanting a mask versus hair match if he wins, Dragon Lee happy to be back, the Villanos and Atlantis Jr. talking about that feud, and Akuma & Camorra and Signo & Yago discussing next week’s very unanticipated match.
No apparent angle out of the women’s relevos increible (so maybe it was odd because those just happened to be the people available.) This will be the fourth straight Terrible/Diamante Azul match for the national heavyweight championship.
CMLL (TUE) 12/25/2018Arena Puebla [CMLL]
1) Hijo de Centella Roja, Meyer, Robin b Black Tiger, Espíritu Maligno, Inquisidor tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Drone, King Jaguar, Star Jr. b Cancerbero, Perverso, Raziel Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Avispa Dorada, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit b Amapola, Dalys, Tiffany tecnicas took 2/3.
4) Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Vangellys b Audaz, Kráneo, Volcano rudos took 1/3.
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón DQ Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. NGD took 1/3, Tirantes DQing Volador in a “Polemica” decision. Seemed to set up some match for next week but wasn’t clear.
CMLL didn’t post results from the holiday Puebla show last year, so it was a little surprising to see them show up last night. They weren’t very clear about the main event finish or what it set up for next week. None of the usual newspaper sources covered the show. TV Azteca Puebla covered the show and usually airs it at 10pm on Wedneday, but I’m not sure if it’ll stream on their Facebook site like some of their other live programming.
AAA TV , ELITE (TUE) 12/25/2018 Gimnasio Benito Juárez, Cuautitlán, Estado de México [AAA, thecubsfan]
1) La Parkita, Mini Gronda, Mini Psycho Clown vs La Parkita Negra, Mini Monster Clown, Mini Murder Clown 10:08. Mini Psycho Clown pinned Mini Monsther Clown with a Canadian Destroyer. Debut of Mini Gronda and debuts/returns? of Mini Murder Clown & Mini Monsther Clown.
2) Chica Tormenta, Demus, Toxin b Chicano, Vanilla, Villano III Jr. 14:55. Demus Driver on Chicano.
3) Keyra & Lady Maravilla DQ Faby Apache & Lady Shani 9:29. Lady Maravilla tossed her mask to Shani to draw a DQ. Maravilla declared that after such a clean win, she deserved a title match. Shani indicated she’d accept any challenge.
4) Halcón 78 Jr., Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr. b Emperador Azteca, Samoano, Tonga 9:32. Vikingo reverse 450 splash Emperador Azteca.
5) Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly b Australian Suicide, Golden Magic, Jack Evans 10:14. OGT powerbombed Golden Magic twice for the win.
6) La Parka, Pagano, Psycho Clown b Electroshock, Rey Escorpión, Taurus 17:08. Psycho Clown pinned Taurus with a casita to give the win to AAA (3-2). Rey Escorpion pulled off Psycho’s mask post match.
The better of the two streaming shows even with nothing must see and really of being no consequence. Everything is pretty watchable as long as you’re not on hour five straight of watching lucha libre.
The announcers closed the show by talking about it being the final AAA/Elite show. I think they meant in 2019. Still, AAA did finally win of these so it would be time to move on. The crowd was good for this show, both in numbers and reactions, but the distinction between AAA & Elite wrestlers is very thin at this point. The concept worked well for this show – giving a show that had no real purpose otherwise a narrative to exist – so I don’t expect it’ll ever go away, but I think interest in AAA itself is going to be the draw and not the “promotion rivalry”.
Next AAA tapings (believed to be airing on Twitch, though it has not yet been officially announced):
01/19 in Mexico City
01/26 in Ciudad Madero
02/08 in Mazatlan
02/10 in Tepic – announced locally late last week.
There were so many other shows on Christmas Day. A common theme is a lot of those people double/triple booked ended up just not working all of those shows. (This is similar to that overcrowded August date.) Hades/Hahastary made the 2pm CAR The Crash show and the AAA TV taping, but guys like Mr. Electro and Golden Magic were listed in multiple places at the same time and it was never going to happen. The CMLL people more often did so, but even that was far from perfect. I don’t know that i have full results from anything because they’re so scattered, but some things of note
Rush has not wrestled in Arena Mexico since December 7th and he’s not on the most recent set of lineups. Rush didn’t wrestle anywhere in CMLL on Christmas (the only other notable names to not be booked were Titan & Fuego) and he isn’t on the cards announced the last few days. There are rumors he and CMLL may be having issues, but he’s also clearly been on vacation for part of that time. This is something worth keeping an eye on but I don’t know if there’s anything to it at this point.
The LLB/Lucha Memes show had the Imposible/Stuka title match changed to Imposible/Flyer. That’a downgrade. Imposible kept the title. They teased a Multifacetico/Multifacetico mask match (shrug) and did some stuff with the MexaWrestling feud. Luchadors representing that promotion offered Los Kamikazes del Ring to join them after they won a multi-team trios match, though it didn’t seem like Aramis and crew were going to take them up on it. That reads like the best match on paper but reviews were scarce. Turnout seemed to better at least
The FILLM/Arena San Juan main event sounds as if it didn’t go well, with Corsario Negro Jr. picking up a knee injury. A Euforia/Fresero Jr. singles match led to a Mr. Iguana run-in and a challenge for a tag match with Soberano.
The Arena Lopez Mateos show seemed to get the most messed with by people not being there. The Caristico/Dragon Lee vs Cibernetico/Penta main came off (Penta fouled Caristico). The semimain had an entire trios team not be there. The Golden Magic, Flamtia, Emperador Azteca vs Sadico, Dragon Bane, Imposible match ended up as Flamtia & Sadico versus Cerebro Negro & Super Comando somehow.
The best rudo in the semi-main is Mascara 2000, maybe? If Hijo del Villano III turns out to be good (he was just fine on Tuesday), he’ll be moved up quick. It is too bad they didn’t move up Sagrado when he still cared.
CMLL (SUN) 12/30/2018Arena México
1) Leono & Robin vs Inquisidor & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Maligna vs La Comandante, La Seductora, Metálica
3) Black Panther, Drone, Magnus vs Sagrado, Sangre Azteca, Virus
4) Titán vs Felino [lightning]
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Valiente
6) Dragón Lee, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero
That seems like a fun main event which we’ll never see. Maligna makes her return from Japan.
CMLL (SUN) 12/30/2018Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Amperaje, Cosmos, Micro vs Frenético, Paymon, Relámpago Azul
2) El Divino, El Yaqui, Tigre Blanco vs Demonio Maya, Exterminador, Thunder Boy
3) Mágico, Principe Daniel, Sky Kid vs Mr. Apolo, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
4) Joker, Metatrón, Star Black, Vaquero Jr. vs Difunto, Furia Roja, León Blanco, Maléfico
5) Gran Kenut vs Smaker [mask]
That’s not the tag title feud. I guess Smaker is the favorite to lose because he just came back for this feud but it seems strange he be losing to a 35 year old instead of someone younger. This feud is too quick for anyone really to care but it is an actual intriguing match in terms of outcome
Hijo del Villano III, Mephisto, Villano IVbeat Atlantis, Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr. (11:08 [3:23, 2:29, 5:16], 1/3, good, 01:21:30)
Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero beat Carístico, Dragón Lee, Valiente (10:22 [6:05, 4:17], 1/2, ok, 01:42:17)
What happened:
unsafe at any age
Caristico and UG feuded in the main event, with UG sneaking in his heel kick foul for the win.
Atlantis brought out Atlantis Jr. as an introduction. The Villanos were upset about Atlantis upstaging Hijo del Villano III’s own introduction and attacked. Atlantis Jr. was dragged away from security from fighting the Villanos. Villano IV got the clean pin on Atlantis.
Flyer picked up a lower leg injury on his code red to finish Templario. It might have affected his poor performance in the third fall.
Thoughts:
The main event was a simple build-up to next week’s singles match. Hopefully everyone won’t be so focused on their others matches next week and obviously be taking it easy. It was nice to see Dragon Lee in Arena Mexico again but this wasn’t much of a match for him. It wasn’t a lot for anyone.
The semifinal was more energetic than most Atlantis matches, with the angle before the match getting both the crowd and the wrestlers into it. Atlantis Jr. looked like he wanted to fight, which is a good first moment for him. Hijo de Villano III was alright, though he didn’t do much that would’ve caused him to stand out on his own. Villano IV looked great, fighting strong and taking big bumps. I don’t know if CMLL has already decided on a heavy Atlantis/V4 direction or if Villano was simply auditioning for it. It was a good first step either way.
before it went bad for Flyer
Expectations for the fourth match weren’t high – it may be Christmas, but it also still is Tuesday – yet it was still a bit of a letdown. Flyer just went off the rails in his big third fall moment, negating a nice code red earlier. Virus at least did cut him off when he hesitatedon his dive. Templario had some good moments but struggled to put his finishing submission on. No one else really stood out positively.
Signo & Akuma messed up a clothesline spot off the bat and it didn’t get better from there. As an ordinary match, it wasn’t much good. As something to make people care about their mask/hair match next week, it was even worse. CMLL should be embarrassed about this feud.
welcome back
This Micros match was one of the better-executed ones in a while. Everything built up to Microman’s run of offense, and he and Chamuel pulled it off well. Everyone else did fine, and they didn’t overextend themselves. Mije seemed get hurt or be a little off in the third fall and the dive sequence was a little weird, but otherwise this was good fun.
It is possible Acero & Aereo have gotten better wrestling a thousand opening matches. It is possible we will never know as long as they keep wrestling the likes of Pequeño Universo. Aereo’s the better of the two, at least. This wouldn’t have been the opener I would’ve picked for a special Tuesday show but they probably didn’t have a lot to pick from.
