Month: February 2019

advisory: I’m heading out to the west coast for the weekend. I’ll be flying to Los Angeles tomorrow to go to PWG (where tickets are still available), going to The Crash on Saturday night and then back home Sunday morning.

This is going to affect the blog, but mostly this is going to mean the YouTube stream of CMLL on Friday will be probably late and maybe won’t happen at all. My current itinerary has me driving thru Los Angeles when the show starts. I usually can figure out something and might eventually here, but make alternative plans. The Marca link is here and Facebook is open to all.

I’m probably writing an update tomorrow, I’m thinking I’ll write one instead of an AAA recap on Sunday and there may not be anything Saturday.

The most talked about item after yesterday’s press conference was Blue Demon versus Dr. Wagner. A close second was La Parka & Psycho Clown challenging Cain Velazquez, with news outlets writing as if it is setting up a real match. AAA isn’t pushing this idea much themselves, but they’re also not ignoring it. Cain Velazquez is ignoring it so far.

CMLL is not returning to Televisa this weekend. CMLL and Televisa announced that “due to production issues”, the shows will not start until next Saturday. The timeslot is now 4 pm (two hours later) and it will be a one hour show. It will also be showing the matches from the day prior, instead of the week prior as originally announced. These changes feel almost an echo of the CMLL/ELITE show being announced last year and being canceled before the first episode. Hopefully, this has a better ending. 4 pm is a better time slot if it sticks.

There did not seem to be any mention of Penta & Fenix being pulled from Homenaje a Dos Leyendas on CMLL Informa. That tends to mean we won’t be seeing them again in CMLL any time soon. A theory, mentioned here in the comments and elsewhere, is this is a Televisa vs Azteca issue – CMLL got TV but lost access to anyone also appearing on AAA – which is definitely possible. It is worth nothing though, Penta & Fenix aren’t on AAA TV and won’t be appearing on any AAA TV tapings until Rey de Reyes airs (probably mid-late April, far after they would’ve appeared on Televisa.)

The Penta & Fenix vs DJZ & Sam Adonis headlined show in Pittsburgh tonight is going to be a $10 iPPV.

A film crew is at Arena Mexico today.

There’s another version of the “Sexy Star tells her side of what happened at TripleMania with Rosemary” here. What’s new, at least to me, is she says she was told to get her things and leave the building right after the match ended. The context to all of this is Dulce Garcia feels her career was destroyed by what she’s calling false statements, and she thinks that going to Combates Americas is going to rebuild her image. I don’t think it has any better shot to do that than her boxing career.

Taya happened to mention she’s still under Lucha Underground contract. The first reply under that is Sonny Kiss, who apparently was not? The more I know, the less I understand.

Lucha Libre London returns on May 11th. This is the show in Hijo del has been mentioning. Casandro, Laredo Kid and Ramses (Silver King) are also advertised. It appears they’re running two shows (2 pm & 7 pm), with tickets going from 18 to 45 pounds ($24 to $60).

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 03/05/2019 Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja, Halcón Suriano Jr., Millenium vs Black Tiger, Joker, Sombra Diabólika
2) King Jaguar, Oro Jr., Súper Astro Jr. vs Disturbio, Perverso, Virus
3) Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola [lightning]
4) Audaz, Flyer, Titán vs Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Shocker
5) Carístico, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
6) Último Guerrero © vs Vangellys [CMLL HEAVY]
second defense

Ultimo Guerrero & Vangellys probably won’t be better the second time.

I think Perverso might be the only rudo in his 20s on this card. Might be more in their 50s than their 30s.

CMLL (TUE) 03/05/2019 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Alteño, Magnum, Rielero vs Gemelo Pantera I, Gemelo Pantera II, Rey Trueno
2) Pantera Blanca Jr., Pegasso, Rey Cometa vs Guerrero de la Muerte, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado
3) Ángel de Oro, Esfinge, Niebla Roja vs Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Vangellys
4) Carístico, Kráneo, Valiente vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
5) Volador Jr. © vs Bárbaro Cavernario [NWA WELTER]
second defense

Volador & Cavernario have done that match a few times. It might quite as good in Guadalajara but also Cavernario is a crazy person.

 

The TripleMania XXVII press conference went as expected: Blue Demon will defend his mask against Dr. Wagner Jr. and his hair. The show will take place on August 3 in Arena Ciudad de Mexico.

Blue Demon (with one son) and Dr. Wagner (with two sons – it’s an arms race!) appeared to cut promos and shove each other. Demon is expected to win. This match had been originally announced as LA Park versus Dr. Wagner. LA Park stopped working with AAA soon after. There was no mention of him.

Blue Demon Jr. was asked about his son, said he’s training but not ready to debut and was only there because he knew Wagner would bring his sons (Galeno del Mal and Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., who was feuding with his father last time we saw him.) He does not have an official name. Alejandro Munoz, on CMLL Informa, happened to mention that Blue Demon Jr. only owns the right to that name, so perhaps this appearance had been in someone’s mind for a while. And maybe he’s not even really Blue Demon’s son.

Dr. Wagner mentioned he’ll be in a traditional all-white look in tribute to his father, which Blue Demon requested. The idea here is you’re getting the real wrestler Dr. Wagner here, not the Instagram model. (And also he’s going to bleed a lot.)

Blue Demon versus Dr. Wagner should be good for a drawing and media attention going into AAA. It’ll probably even better than LA Park in that spot, because the Demon mask is just that much more culturally relevant. They’ll have a hard time convincing people that Demon has a chance to lose, but that would’ve been the same case with LA Park in there too. It probably won’t reach the peaks of a crazy Wagner/Park apuesta match (and that match is now unlikely to ever happen as an apuesta match), but AAA figured out how to make a Demon/Wagner match entertaining in Tepic. They can probably do it again in Mexico City. It’ll be fine.

This mask versus hair match is part of a “six main event matches”, as hyped by AAA. None of the other matches were announced today, though they did say there will be a Copa TripleMania and a Llave a la Gloria match featuring new wrestlers on the pre-show. Psycho Clown, La Parka, Lady Shani and Texano were introduced as people who will be on TripleMania. They talked a little bit of past TripleManias and what they’d like to have this year. Texano still wants the Mega Championship. Psycho Clown wants a gimmick match. Lady Shani wants a title match with Taya and later suggested a title or mask match with Keyra. Vampiro and Konnan were there but didn’t get to suggest their own loser must leave AAA forever match. In a post-show interview, Konnan said he planned on wrestling in Mexico this year.

Tickets are on sale already at Super Boletos. Tickets (with fees) run from 7,054 to 251 pesos. That’s about $367 USD on the high end; TripleMania will set the highest ticket price for a Mexican wrestling show in Mexico for a third straight year.

2016 TripleMania 240-2160 Pagano/Psycho
2017 TripleMania 264-4680 Wagner/Psycho
2018 TripleMania 305-5124 Park/Fantasma/Psycho/Pentagon
2019 TripleMania 251-7054 Wagner/Demon

They didn’t fill the arena last year, so reducing the low end makes a lot of sense. I guess the people who paying for ringside will pay anything, or at least a whole lot. Twitch is still free.

The press conference included some non-TripleMania news.

• The first broadcast of Lucha Azteca AAA on Azteca7 was said to have drawn more than 4 million viewers. They’ll start airing repeats on Azteca’s A+ on March 10th, which has already been advertised on the network for a bit.
  • That seems like a good number, but I’m lacking context to put it in. And of course, it matters a lot more how many people stick with it by week 3 or 4.
  • This was part of the discussion of all the different platforms AAA is on. Lucha Capital came up when talking about Facebook but there didn’t seem to be any definite mention of a return
• AAA will be returning to Colombia for a six-city tour. No dates or cities were mentioned. AAA had been talking about expanding to two cities next time and more down the road, so the local promoter must be pretty enthusiastic about their chances after the first show.
• A video from AEW’s Cody was shown, talking about the partnership between the promotions. AAA wrestlers will appear on Double or Nothing, and Cody himself will be at Rey de Reyes. Cody is recovering from knee surgery so it is unlike he’ll be wrestling.
  • Plenty of possibilities for AAA/AEW dream matches were suggested but nothing was mentioned as for sure happening. The AAA wrestlers going to Double or Nothing are still not being mentioned (and may not have even been decided yet.)
• In the Q&A portion, a reporter from Record brought up Cain Velazquez’ comments to the newspaper saying lucha libre is fake. This has been coming up in the press for about week. La Parka was still angry about it, challenging the former UFC champion to face him in the ring. Psycho Clown was a bit calmer but also offered to demonstrate it being real to Velazquez.
  • I’m pretty sure this started with Velazquez (and his UFC PR people) not understanding the difference between US and Mexican wrestling scenes – a UFC fighter said WWE was staged would not get nearly the same reaction – and was not meant to be build to a match. And I’m pretty sure La Parka is very angry about it. But it was also evident that AAA would bend over backwards to turn it into a match if Velasquez would be up for it.
    • He’s probably not going to wrestle.
• Lucha Underground actually came up when they broke into individual interviews, but only as far as Konnan saying Erik Van Wagnen told him they got 3x as many complaints about that show as any other one he’s worked on, as an example of how much wrestling fans complain.

CMLL news

CMLL removed the Lucha Brothers from the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas lineup yesterday. No seemed to notice until another update his morning. CMLL acknowledged the change in a Tweet with the top two matches, though they didn’t explain any change.

The card has been shuffled to accommodate.

CMLL (FRI) 03/15/2019 Arena México
1) Audaz, Esfinge, Tritón vs Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora, Vangellys
Audaz replaced Titan (moved up) on 02/27.
2) Átomo, El Gallito, Microman vs Chamuel, Mije, Zacarias el Perico
3) Diamante Azul, Soberano Jr., Titán vs Ephesto, Mephisto, Templario
Diamante Azul & Titan replaced Caristico & Dragon Lee (moved up) on 2/27
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Gilbert el Boricua, Negro Casas
5) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero © vs Carístico, Dragón Lee, Volador Jr. [CMLL TRIOS]
2nd defense. King Phoenix & Penta were pulled from the show on 02/27, replaced by Dragon Lee & Caristico.
6) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs La Bestia Del Ring & Terrible [hair]

Dragon Lee & Caristico are good, but I suspect a lot of people who might have taking a risk on a shaky CMLL internet PPV of this show are now going to take a pass. It is also strange Mistico isn’t in the trios title match given CMLL hyping Mistico, Caristico and Volador as the Dream Team just past Friday, not that I mind seeing Dragon Lee.

It is fair to wonder if this is the end of the Lucha Brothers in CMLL. They already have a busy schedule beyond whatever feelings there are about this change. CMLL adressing this or not talking at all on Informa today will be telling.

CMLL (TUE) 02/26/2019 Arena México [CMLL, Lucha Central, Ovaciones, The Gladiatores]
1) Akuma & Inquisidor b Retro & Sangre Imperial 
11:20. Rudos took 1/3.
2) Disturbio, Nitro, Sangre Azteca b Oro Jr., Star Jr., Súper Astro Jr. 
10:00. Straight falls, ending early when Super Astro was hurt on a slip.
3) Fuego b Universo 2000 Jr. [lightning] 
5:49. Fuego won with a huracanrana.
4) Esfinge, Titán, Tritón b Kawato San, Misterioso Jr., Pólvora 
Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto b Kráneo, Stuka Jr., Volcano 
Rudos took 1/3.
6) Atlantis, Místico, Valiente DQ Hijo del Villano III, Último Guerrero, Villano IV 
Tecnicos took 2/3. Villano IV unmasked Atlantis.

CMLL’s medical report says Super Astro Jr. reported mild head and neck pain as well as a chipped tooth. The tooth might have not happened on the fall, but when Disturbio made the unfortunate choice to throw a man with a head injury out of the ring, and Super Astro ended up going face first into the middle rope instead. The veteran rudos seemed shaken by the injury. Super Astro is scheduled to get an MRI to check for other damage. He posted a positive message on Instagram.

There’s also interviews with Fuego, “Guanatos” (not even a style) and the main event rudos.

CMLL’s also started a video series with Blue Demon, which will probably start appearing on the streams (and replacing a dance number.)

CMLL (TUE) 02/26/2019 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Explosivo, Metatrón, Rielero b Carlo Roggi, El Chakal, Mr. Apolo
tecnicos took 2/3
2) Cancerbero, Difunto, Raziel b Arkalis, Magnus, Star Black
rudos took 2/3.
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, Vaquero Jr. b Okumura, Tiger, Virus
Vaquero Jr. replaced Drone. Tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. DQ Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Terrible
tecnicos took 2/3, Terrible fouling Angel de Oro for the DQ.
5) Cavernario, Euforia, Gran Guerrero b Carístico, Diamante Azul, Volador Jr.
Caristico replaced Dragon Lee (off because he was flying to Japan in the morning?) Rudos took 1/3, with Cavernario challenging Volador to a title match.

Cavernario is a light heavyweight champion challenging for a welterweight title, two divisions down. CMLL weight divisions are so dumb.

Alberto el Patron was at the show and introduced to the crowd. Combate Americas is running an MMA show at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara on March 8th and he was there to promote that. There’s no indication he’ll be wrestling for CMLL any time soon; CMLL didn’t even acknowledge him on social media. At the Arena Lopez Mateos show this past weekend, Alberto told R de Rudo that he’s not really keeping up with wrestling now.

Dragon Lee is headed to AAW on 03/16. Dragon Lee was scheduled to debut in the Chicago promotion last September until he got trapped on an island. I’m going to be watching Rey de Reyes while Dragon Lee is having a cool match about 75 minutes from my house.

There’s a show in New York with Rush, Dragon Lee, Cibernetico and Teddy Hart on 03/23, though I’m not sure how well it is going to with $30 prices on tickets for kids.

San Lusi Potosi wrestler/promoter Vaquero de Texas passed away suddenly from a heart attack yesterday. He had wrestled in Monterrey and on an AAA spot over the weekend and was photos of his trip on Facebook just hours before his death was reported. He ran the Dinastia de Texas shows in his hometown.

Lucha Central has its fan voted award winners.

+LuchaTV has a sit-down interview with Terrible.

Segunda Caida watches the most recent Lucha Libre Real show.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

If you want to hear Sexy Star talk about how she didn’t hurt Rosemary again, here’s an ESPN interview.

Heavy Metal talks about his lucha libre school.

Chamaco Valaguez is now the Cuernavaca Box y Lucha comissioner.

Periodico La Voz interviews Super Muneco & Super Raton.

Lineups

KAOZ , RLL (SAT) 03/09/2019 Arena Lopez Mateos
1) Torito Negro & Warrior Jr. vs Moria & Toto
2) Diva Salvaje & Sexy Star vs Miss Gaviota & Zeuxis
3) Galactar, Rico Rodríguez, Silver Tiger vs Imposible, Súper Nova, Yoruba
4) Fresero Jr., Mr. Iguana, Tequilita vs Drako, Ovett, Sobredosis
5) Emperador Azteca, Hijo del Volador, The Tiger vs Demus, Golden Magic, Ricky Marvin
6) Trauma I & Trauma II vs Galeno Del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
7) Carístico, El Mesías, Garza Jr. vs Cibernético, Sharlie Rockstar, Último Guerrero

This is an overcrowed card that’s billed as Kaos versus Revolucion Lucha Libre (who has run two whole shows.) I was thinking about the silliness of some of these promotion versus promotion shows where the wrestlers have no real attachment to either side and it occurred to me that this might be WWE influence. Did a generation of promoters grow up thinking those Raw versus Smackdown – red shirt versus blue shirt! – shows were actually good and are trying to replicate it?

CMLL (MON) 02/25/2019 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Lucha Central]
1) Arkalis, King Jaguar, Robin b El Perverso, Joker, King Rocker 
Tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Amapola & La Comandante b La Avispa Dorada & Princesa Sugehit 
Rudas took 2/3.
3) Ángel de Oro, Flyer, Niebla Roja b Felino, Rey Bucanero, Shocker 
tecnicos took 2/3
4) Carístico, Místico, Soberano Jr. DQ Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto 
tecnicos took 1/3, the last by DQ when Mephisto unmasked Mistico. A rematch was set for next week.
5) Vangellys b Último Guerrero 
Vangellys took 1/3 for the clean win (though Tirantes was doing some Tirantes slow counts.) Vangellys asked for a title match (which the fans didn’t want to see.)

Does not sound like a good show. Vangellys got no reaction for beating Ultimo Guerrero and got a negative reaction when he asked for a title match. He’s a rudo, there was Tirantes involvement, but even the rudos get some cheers here usually. That reaction would be a clear sign something is seriously broken if people in charge were paying attention, but we can rest assured no one in CMLL who matters is watching.

Tonight’s Arena Mexico show has Hijo del Villano III, Villano IV and Ultimo Guerrero taking on Mistico, Valiente, and Atlantis. No Atlantis Jr. – CMLL’s slowed him down to one match a week and this isn’t it. Hijos del Infierno face Kraneo, Volcano, and Stuka in a match that seems easy to skip. OneAtos Styles (Titan, Esfinge and Triton) take on Kawato, Misterioso, and Polvora, which frighteningly seems like the best shot at a good match. Fuego takes on Universo 2000 Jr., who may be more tape than luchador. The opening two matches aren’t any better – Nitro! Inquisidor! Sangre Imperial! – but I guess Super Astro should be good. The show starts at 7:30 pm on CMLL’s YouTube, but this is one to not watch.

Guadalajara has Diamante Azul, Dragon Lee and Volador against Euforia, Gran Guerrero and Cavernario.

AAA has a press conference tomorrow. It is listed as a 10 AM start on the handout, which means probably around 11 AM on AAA’s clock. It is TripleMania themed. There’s a lot of information I’d like to get. All I expect it to be is Blue Demon versus Dr. Wagner Jr. announced as the new main event. The fun will be if AAA acknowledges LA Park being missing or ignores it. Or if LA Park just ends up showing up anyway because he is LA Park (and there’s no Rey de Reyes card yet, which would be a place for him to return.)

There was supposed to be a FULL (Tinieblas Jr.) show in Puebla on Friday night. I guess it eventually happened, though not the way it was supposed to happen. There’s a report on what all happened here, The show had an 8 pm listed start time. The show started at 10:16 pm, with Tinieblas Jr. announcing the show had been canceled because the promoter didn’t have any money to pay the wrestlers. They were expecting 5,000 people and drew 300. (Show was last listed with a main event of Hijo de Wagner & Cibernetico vs Blue Demon Jr. & Tinieblas; they weren’t ever drawing 5,000.) The wrestlers were just going to sign autographs and go but then decided to have the matches anyway fifteen minutes later. The show finished around 1 AM. Another FULL show was scheduled for Tlaxcala the next day; I assume it was canceled. A FULL show for this weekend in Huamantla, Tlaxcala was postponed for “administrative reasons.” As best I can tell, FULL/Tinieblas Jr. works as a talent coordinator to various local people who actually promote on the shows, and the people they work with don’t always work out.

A podcast is teasing an interview with Chris DeJospeh and Chris Roach on 03/13, answering all of Lucha Underground questions. I’m interested in the interworkings of LU but I think the questions most normal people who watch the show want to be answered – when will there be a decision on Season 5 and what will it be – probably can’t be answered by those two people. Still, they’ve indicated they have stuff they didn’t want to talk about until they thought the show was dead for sure and what they’re willing to talk about may say something about how convinced they are that it really is dead. We don’t have much else to go on at the moment.

+LuchaTV has a new edition of En+carados #110.

LuchaWorld has the latest Poster-Mania.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 03/03/2019 Arena Naucalpan
1) Latino & Puma de Oro vs Güero Palma & Neza Kid
2) Toto vs Tackle
3) Dinamic Black & Eragón vs Auzter & Barba Blanca
4) Diablo Jr., Hijo del Alebrije, Relámpago vs Karaoui, Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka
5) Aramis vs Hijo de Canis Lupus
6) Ángel Tormenta, Rokambole Jr., Villano V Jr. vs Demonio Infernal, Eterno, Lunatic Xtreme
7) Dragón Bane vs Death Metal vs Cerebro Negro vs Oficial AK47 [mask, hair]

The main event doesn’t feel like it has a lot of set up, and is probably one of the last two losing their hair. Tackle exists again.

Mexa Wrestling (SAT) 02/23/2019 Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México [Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), Lucha Central, The Gladiatores]
1) Jonathan & Rayo Star b Freelance & Torito Negro, Multifacetico (Puebla) & Prayer
no Mascara Magica or Tromba, so Torito & Freelance were consolidated into one team.
2) Alas de Acero, Impulso, Iron Kid b Fulgor I, Fulgor II, Mr. Leo [super libre]
unseen foul (in a super libre match?) led to the finish
3) Gato De Ecatepec b Demus [bull terrier]
Gato touched all four corners to win. Mask/hair match challenges followed and they signed on the contract after the following match.
4) Diosa Quetzal b Sexy Dulce, Lilith Dark, Reyna Obscura, Black Fury [MW WOMEN, torneo]
Eliminations: Lilith Dark (by Black Fury), Reina Obscura (Diosa Quetzal), Black Fury (Sexy Dulce), Quetzal beat Sexy Dulce (her first pinfall loss in 2.5 years.) Said to be part of the tournament and not the final.
5) Centvrión b Mecha Wolf, Alan Extreme
6) Arkángel Divino & Puma King b Aramis & Último Maldito
money thrown in
7) Dragón Bane b Flamita
Flamita dominated most of the match but lost. Flamita vowed to be more rudo in the future.
8) Garza Jr. b Metaleón
Mecha Wolf & Mr. Leo both got involved.

Reports on the show were pretty positive. The clip most people are talking is a fan throwing a beer at Garza during the main event, but the matches themselves were said to be pretty good. Turnout seemed to be pretty strong.

I’m shocked that Sexy Star lost, though I’ll need to watch the video to see what banana peel she slipped on.

MexaWrestling hasn’t announced their next show or the future plans, but people have found what appears to be a Mexa Wrestling Twitch channel as well as website.

UWE (SAT) 02/23/2019 Arena Lopez Mateos [R de Rudo]
1) Juventud Eterna, Misterik, Príncipe Guerrero b Demencia, Enjambre Jr., Hijo De Coco Amarillo 
2) Capricornio, Karma I, Karma II b Ancla, Hantar, Kronoz 
3) Demasiado, Diva Salvaje, Miss Gaviota, Nygma b Guerrero Azteca, Joker, Meteoro, Samot 
4) Ángel o Demonio, León Rojo, Ovett DQ Gallego, Rocky Santana, Romano García 
5) El Greco, Golden Magic, Sádico, Zumbido b Herodes Jr., Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Sangre Chicana Jr., Warrior Jr. 
6) Cibernético, Sharlie Rockstar, Zorro b Alberto el Patrón, Hijo De Dos Caras, Jack Evans 
Jack was the surprise wrestler.

Arena Lopez Mateos being half for full for an Alberto el Patron appearance is stunning given how popular he was a few years ago. It wasn’t the strongest promotional push for this show, but it didn’t seem to need to be for an arena this side. Alberto mentioned focusing on other things in his life outside of wrestling and it is good he has something else.

Jack Evans as the mystery person is a bit random. I wonder if it was supposed to be Dos Caras Sr. – he and Mil just are back from wrestling in Japan, Alberto was probably in Mexico City primarily to help celebrate his father’s birthday – and he decided better of it.

IWRG (SUN) 02/24/2019 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), The Gladiatores]
1) Ángel Estrella Jr. & Latino b Guerrero 2000 & Neza Kid
Neza Kid replaced Guero Palma.
2) Diablo Jr. & Manchitas b Auzter & Neza Kid
3) Black Dragón, Dinamic Black, Eragón b Apolo Estrada Jr., Avisman, Mosca
Money thrown in.
4) Cerebro Negro, Demonio Infernal, Eterno, Lunatic Xtreme b Diablo Jr., Dragón Bane, Ra-Zhata, Shil-Kah
Bloody match
5) Aramis & Black Terry b Multifacético & Polifacetico
6) Hip Hop Man, Mecha Wolf, Zumbi b Ángel Tormenta, Rokambole Jr., Villano V Jr.
Death Metal helped the Hip Hop Man team. Tormenta and the Villano kids are going by Los Indeseables.
7) Death Metal & Heddi Karaoui b Oficial AK47 & Oficial Fierro
Scheduled to be a IWRG IC title defense by 911 & AK47 but 911 didn’t show. The titles were declared vacant. Metal/Karaoui won though AK47 thought he brought the count in time.

Does IWRG still give Death Metal & Heddi Karaoui their title match? Do they have to go through a second tournament to get it? These are the questions all the IWRG fans are asking. Cool to see Avisman pop-up.

IWRG announced TWE (Tijuana Wrestling Entertainment) had joined their PALL alliance. Jonathan, representing the promotion on the Mexa Wrestling show, was said to look good.

Tonight’s Arena Puebla show has the Ultimo Guerrero versus Vangellys dream match. Not-quite-Dream-Team Caristico, Mistico and Soberano take on the Hijos del Infierno. There’s a women’s tag match with the return of Avispa Dorada too. The show start at 9 pm on CMLL’s YouTube channel.

El Planchitas big scoop today: CMLL ring announcer Omar says he likes Puebla on social media but actually does not like Puebla.

Dragon Lee is headed back to NJPW from March 1st to the 6th. There’s no great explanation for what he’s doing there. He’s vaguely opposite of El Desperado on some of the matches and they’ve teased a feud, but NJPW doesn’t typically have undercard junior feuds. Hiromu Takahashi has suggested he’d be returning soon, and perhaps he could return to confront his old nemesis on one of these shows.

The Young Bucks showed up in Chicago’s AAW Saturday night to surprise attack the Lucha Brothers as set up for their match on AEW’s debut show, then hinted they’d be doing it again later on. I assume this means someplace like PWG on Friday night, but – given the AAA/AEW friendship – I guess there’s a tiny possibility of them showing up at Rey de Reyes. The scene of Matt & Nick Jackson helping Rey Escorpion and Texano keep the AAA tag team titles in front of a crowd who mostly doesn’t know who they are does seem remarkably consistent for the promotion’s history with foreign wrestlers. Though, the far funnier scenario is the Young Bucks (& I guess the Lucha Brothers) trying to convince Panico and CMLL management that they need to do a run-in spot during Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. There’s no way people in charge of CMLL are aware enough of the outside world to know them.

A promotion calling itself Pro Wrestling Resurrection announced itself over the weekend, with a first show announced for 03/30 at Arena Lopez Mateos with Super Crazy & Ricky Marvin. It is notable for the long page of rules they posted on Facebook. It can easily be distilled into “we’re doing serious rule observant wrestling – no ref bumps, rudo referees, weapon spots or other shortcuts” That’s something you will definitely see lucha libre fans on Facebook and YouTube saying they want, though if those same fans will actually pay to see those matches is another question entirely. The bigger issue with trying that style is getting the wrestlers themselves to buy into those ideas when a generation (or more) have grown up believing referee involvement is just what lucha libre is supposed to be. There either is going to be a crew of wrestlers who also believe in this ideas or a lot of unfortuante DQs in the first few shows. This is not necessarily a bad idea – you need to offer something different if you want to stand out from the other two dozen Mexico City area promotions using the same 100 wrestlers – but it is a long hard road.

Segunda Caida watches Virus vs Demus.

A lucha libre urban art exhibit opened in Leon over the weekend.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 03/02/2019 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) Halcón Suriano Jr., Príncipe Diamante, Sonic vs Espanto Jr., Espíritu Negro, Hijo del Signo
3) Kaho Kobayashi, La Guerrera, Marcela vs Amapola, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
4) Tritón vs Virus [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Dark Magic, Mephisto, Okumura
6) La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Shocker

Dark Magic returns. He suffered a foot injury in November, got surgery, and was spotted training in CMLL a month ago.

XMW (SAT) 03/02/2019 Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México
1) Devil Boy & Príncipe Deka vs Belial & Black Metal
2) Lilith Dark vs Lady Monster [WWCI WOMEN]
3) Impulso © vs Fly Star [AKE CRUISER]
4) Drako vs Fresero Jr.
5) Heddi Karaoui & Tiger vs Metaleón & Mr. Leo
6) Último Guerrero vs Caifan [hair]

This seems like a really fast build to what should be a bigger hair match. Should still be pretty good.

CMLL (SUN) 03/03/2019 Arena México
1) Bengala & Leono vs Grako & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Oro Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Cancerbero, Metálico, Raziel
3) Sanely vs Lluvia [lightning]
4) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. vs Kawato San, Misterioso Jr., Universo 2000 Jr.
5) Soberano Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Forastero, Rey Bucanero
6) Diamante Azul, Místico, Valiente vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero

Kawato seems increasingly on his own of late. Okumura did some indie shows this past weekend but with freelance Japanese wrestler Musashi rather than the NJPW trainee.