April 17, 2019 – luchablog

AAA on Twitch: 2019-04-05

April 17, 2019April 15, 2019 thecubsfan

Recapped: 04/11/2019

All matches aired from Auditorio de Tijuana.

Matches:

Black Destiny beat Genio del Aire, Drake, Jonathan, Rayo Star, Fantastik
(9:55, Black Destiny Spanish Fly Drake, good,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Drago © beat Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Aerostar, Argenis to retain the AAA Latin American Championship
(9:21, Drago Dragon’s Tail cradle on Argenis, good,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Keyra, Lady Maravilla, Villano III Jr. beat La Hiedra, Lady Shani, Niño Hamburguesa
(11:20, Keyra cradle Lady Shani, good,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata beat Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly
(13:50, Pimpinela cradle Super Fly, ok,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

La Máscara & Texano Jr. beat Joe Lider & Pagano
(13:45, Texano/La Mascara wheeelbarrow frontcracker Joe Lider, ok,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown beat Blue Demon Jr. & Rey Escorpión in a cage match
(15:33, ok,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

9:35 Psycho Clown escapes
11:18 Rey Escorpión escapes
15:33 Dr. Wagner Jr. escapes

What happened:

Dr. Wagner Jr. escaped the cage by unmasking Blue Demon Jr. as they were both sitting on top of the cage.

La Hiedra escorts La Mascara to the ring. She is the newest member of Los Mercenarios and gets involved with the match many times.

La Hiedra seems unhappy about being a tecnica before the match, with the rudas trying to convince her to come over to their side. She plays fair most of the match, but pushes Niño Hamburguesa off the top rope when he hesitates after a Maravilla distraction. Hiedra cuts a promo upset about being booked on a tecnica side, she’s a ruda. V3 seems thrilled with these events and escorts her to the back. Niño Hamburgesa carries Lady Maravilla to the back again, which seemed to surprise Keyra. Keep up with the show, Keyra!

Thoughts:

AAA spent 20 minutes setting up a cage and then all these guys in the main event just to decide to brawl outside off the ring. It didn’t last too long but it was still dumb. Otherwise, it was like most lucha cage matches, with lots of brawling and the rudos destroying the técnicos for an exhaustingly long time until they made a mistake with a whip. The cage bit added little to the match and felt unnecessary after just doing the same bit on the last show. They even did a very similar powerbomb spot to set up Psycho Clown’s escape. Demon had some good punches. Psycho and Escorpión fought strongly enough that I’m looking forward to their singles match. It still felt like a long match. The only interesting thing here is how Wagner cheated and was loudly booed for it. Blue Demon was the cheered one last time out too. Maybe they’re heading to TripleMania with both men cheered or Demon being the face.

Los Mercenarios had a trademark average match, keeping up with Pagano’s messy brawling while not really creating much to remember themselves. La Hiedra seemed alright as a second, probably will get better with more time, shouldn’t have been laid on in her first match in the role but it doesn’t matter. This was a CMLL midcard match that I will never remember.

The exoticos worked hard in their match. It just didn’t connect much with me. The crowd seemed to enjoy it and there was a lot of life to it, it just seemed like the same standard match we’ve seen before with a few more dives. It is good to have (seemingly) escaped the La Mascara/Maximo feud but these only really work as buffer matches. It would’ve been much better placed as the second match on the card.

The tercera could’ve been a little bit shorter; it was a long way to go for a partner betraying her team finish. The action still seemed good enough. Lady Shani showed a little more personality than usual and Hiedra adapted fine to the tecnica side. Most of the rest was the usual Lady Maravilla/Nino Hamburguesa story but it developed better than some of the recent matches.

The biggest problem for the second match is it followed the first match. This was the better of two multi-man matches, but having them back to back dulled the impact. There’s only so long you can see two people do moves and a third person rush in to do their move next. I thought the luchadors in this looked better, with Hijo del Vikingo & Myzteziz working as opponents better than I would’ve expected and they peaked the match towards the end a lot better. It still all sort of blended together.

The opener was the usual collection of non-stop moves. It suffered a bit because the action never rose or fell, it just kept going at the same level for ten minutes. Keeping it going seemed more important than what was going on, with the key being to roll out of the way so the next two guys could do their moves more than the moves. That’s not to bury the match but it was a limitation of it. This had a lot of GIF-able moments but wasn’t much deeper than that. Drake fit in fine despite probably never working with these other five before. The only spot of his that went wrong was his dive, and that was more Genio del Aire not being in the spot. Despite that, I still thought Genio del Aire looked the best in this match and should be a regular on non-Tijuana shows. Black Destiny seems to have gained weight, though it didn’t affect his offense.

CMLL Tuesday, Generacion XXI, Battle of Naucalpan

April 17, 2019April 17, 2019 thecubsfan

CMLL (TUE) 04/16/2019 Arena México [CMLL, Lucha Central]
1) Príncipe Diamante & Robin b Apocalipsis & Inquisidor
tecnicos took 2/3
2) Pegasso, Star Jr., Stigma b Akuma, Espanto Jr., Espíritu Negro
tecnicos took 2/3
3) Dark Magic, Kawato San, Pólvora b Blue Panther, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr.
rudos took 2/3
4) Templario b Flyer [lightning]
7:01
5) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Hechicero b Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr., Valiente
Straight falls. Clean win, though Hechicero unmasked Stuka after.
6) Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero b Carístico, Místico, Titán
Rudos took 1/3, UG snuck in a mask pull on Caristico.

Akuma, Espanto and Espiritu Negro were so thrilled by their, uh, loss that they cut a promo asking to be a trio. Between this and the Stuka/Hechicero stuff, there’s a fair amount of people publicly pitching storylines while CMLL is not really interested in doing them. Things are happening are Templario picking up another win and Ultimo Guerrero brags about his win. Caristico versus Ultimo Guerrero seems an ideal 04/30 main event.

CMLL (TUE) 04/16/2019 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Magnum, Metatrón, Mr. Samurai b Gran Kenut, León Blanco, Paymon
rudos took 1/3
2) Angelito, Micro, Shockercito b Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico, Relámpago Azul
tecnicos took 2/3
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Drone b Tiger, Universo 2000 Jr., Virus
tecnicos took 1/3
4) Cavernario, Ephesto, Mephisto b Esfinge, Kráneo, Volcano
rudos took 1/3.
5) La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible b Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Valiente
Valiente replaced Diamante Azul (injury). Los Ingobernables took falls 1/3.

No sign of anything being set up here.

G21 (TUE) 04/16/2019 Arena Querétaro [+LuchaTV]
1) Ciclón Negro Jr. & Galáctico Dragón b Iracundo & Lucifer
2) Gremlin, Negro García Jr., Speed Demon b Alas de Acero, Eterno (IWRG), Lunatik Xtreme
3) Dragón de Oriente I, Lady Flammer, Princesa Guerrera b Diosa Quetzal, Halcón Negro Jr., Medussa
Quetzal & Flammer fought after the match
4) Kastigador, Metaleón, Murciélago Plateado Jr. b Arez, Belial, Impulso
very good match
5) Bandido (Indie) b Vengador, Homicida
Homicida added himself to the match a couple of minutes in, to the great displeasure of the crowd. Bandido won via 21-Plex on both men, pinning Vengador. Good match.
6) Hijo de LA Park & La Park Jr. b Galeno Del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
money thrown in
7) LA Park b Dr. Wagner Jr., Blue Demon
so many mask pulls and ref bumps before Wagner pinned an unmasked LA Park

+LuchaTV did this as a surprise stream. I saw the 4th/5th matches before turning out for the night. The fourth match was good if a few things looked off. Bandido’s match was good too but also hilarious. The crowd was so upset when Homicida added himself to the match that it seemed to disturb him a bit. I don’t know if the idea was to get two people in to redo the 21 Plex spot from Ring of Honor this weekend or if the promoter just thought they needed a third person, but more is not always better.

Seemed like a good crowd in Queretaro. Their show Monday night in Leon drew a reported 2,500. Angeluz Fly needed 28 stitches after a badly designed spot. +LuchaTV went over the G21 card for Naucalpan this weekend, listing Diamante Azul as if he’s still wrestling. I doubt he is so that probably means G21 haven’t worked out a sub yet.

The new Lucha Azteca AAA announcer is El Tirantes. He was announced as the new third man on Azteca’s Los Protagonistas last night. Tirantes told MedioTiempo he planned to take a year off only to later decide he couldn’t pass up this chance. Tirantes was presented as an Azteca employee and announcer only, though he did say he was open to returning to the ring as an AAA referee if a deal is made. It would be odd for Tirantes to be commentating on a match he’s officiating. Still, he’s an evil referee in close proximity to AAA, it is likely they’ll have an idea to use him at some point.

Taking a step back, it sure looks like Tirantes had this job in hand when he left CMLL. The timing lines up well. It fits alongside Konnan talking positively about Tirantes on his podcast last week; he would’ve known Tirantes was coming on Azteca to replace him. It does mean it was Tirantes choice to leave a referee job for a few days a week plus a management role in Arena Puebla for doing announcing once a week, which might say something about how CMLL pay is for those roles. I know there was unhappiness within CMLL for Tirantes recent issues and Tirantes may have been looking for an escape path when this job offer came up.

The full Battle of Naucalpan card was announced last night.

Lucha Memes, Mexa (WED) 05/01/2019 Arena Naucalpan
1) Silueta vs Lady Flammer
2) Audaz (CMLL) & Último Maldito vs Templario & The Tiger and Black Dragón & Torito Negro and Alas de Acero & Iron Kid
3) Aeroboy vs Negro Casas, El Diablo Fly Star, Komander, Metaleón, Séptimo Dragón, Murciélago Plateado
4) Jonathan Gresham vs Virus
5) El Bandido vs Último Guerrero
6) Aramis vs Flamita [Battle of Naucalpan, quarterfinal]
7) Laredo Kid vs Arkángel Divino [Battle of Naucalpan, quarterfinal]
8) Arez vs Puma King [Battle of Naucalpan, quarterfinal]
9) Steve Pain vs Rey Horus [Battle of Naucalpan, quarterfinal]
10) ? vs ?? [Battle of Naucalpan, semifinal]
11) ? vs ?? [Battle of Naucalpan, semifinal]
12) ? vs ?? [Battle of Naucalpan, final]

They did end up doing a tournament, as part of the homage to PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles. The tournament could be fantastic. They could split this card in two, the tournament on one show and the rest of the matches on another, and it would be two of the stronger indie cards this year. The tickets are more expensive than usual but – assuming everything delivers as it should – they might be underpriced for the level of the show they’re doing.

A few days ago, MexaWrestling mentioned in a Facebook post that this show will not be taped by anyone, including themselves. LuchaMemes also shot down an idea this would broadcast on Twitch. They are 100% doing it as a hard sell for the tickets – you have to be there, you can’t assume you’ll be able to find it on Face or YouTube. It is a hard concept to sell; anyone who is able but unwilling to pay for a show is still going to assume there will be a video of it until the first show where it doesn’t turn up. At best, they’ll educate people for next time, but it won’t sell any tickets for this time. They’re probably going to sell out and it is going to have nothing to do with the recording ban.

MexaWrestling cited the Voices of Wrestling top matches of the year list as a promotional bit today. They noted they and Lucha Memes had two matches on the 2018 list and said they expect three matches to make it on the list this year. That probably won’t happen if they’re serious about this show not being recorded. The voting panel changes every year, but I’m thinking maybe two people from last year’s group will be in Arena Naucalpan for this show. It took two really high votes for a match to crack the top 100 this past year, so either those two people have to love the show more than anything else they watch or MexaWrestling & Memes will be out of luck.

The VOW top 100 list isn’t the be all, but take a look at that top 10. There were six matches from NJPW, which almost none of the panel saw live and instead paid a subscription fee to watch. There were two matches from NXT, which most of the panel didn’t see live and instead paid a subscription fee to watch. There were one match each from Big Japan Pro Wrestling and Ireland’s Over The Top, both of which have about the same crowds as Lucha Memes & MexaWrestling will have for 05/01, and both have subscriptions services. The industry standard is everything is available behind a paywall, everywhere but Mexico. As a fan, I want to see these matches and most of some janky phone from the third row. As a person who follows the business, it seems insane that people in Mexico are passing up a revenue stream that is working in every other country that has wrestling out what seems like pure stubbornness.

This is the same thing as with The Crash the other day when I was literally offering them real money for putting up their show and the closest I got was Bestia 666 saying it was a good idea. I’m not flying to Tijuana for this one but I’d rather give the airline money to The Crash directly if they gave me a choice, and they don’t even give me that choice. This is maddening.

I don’t know if the market for pay lucha libre content is nearly as big as other markets – don’t think DTU did much on their one try on iPPV, I do know RIOT cashed a payment off their Pivotshare – but I also think that’s because it took years for other places to develop their market to the point where it can be a big deal and no one’s really tried that long in Mexico. Maybe there’s a reason no one’s tried. Maybe there’s some great revenue split going with +LuchaTV that we will never understand but is making everyone happy. Otherwise, I don’t understand this.

I think this all hits me personally because part of the goal of this blog is to bridge the gap between lucha libre and the people, make it easier for people to watch and follow, and now this is a point where people really want to follow and the promotions have decided to respond by throwing a big barrier in the way. I feel like I’m pounding my head into the same wall over and over. Sometimes, it may just be better to move on.

(PS 1: They probably should announce the alternate for when Steve Pain can’t make it. No offense to Mr. Pain, it just seems like a 50/50 bet most of the time.)

(PS 2: I’m going to go with the idea that the reason the draft happened was just a way to announce people on the card before announcing matches and then think no more of it.)

05/04 The Crash

Feels like at least one title change is happening.

RIOT 05/04 (Chicles) in Arena LLF

05/19 ChilangaMask 6th Anniversary show in Coliseo Coacalco

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

Segunda Caida experienced Volador versus Low-Ki.

CMLL on Marca: 2019-04-05

April 17, 2019April 15, 2019 thecubsfan

Recapped: 04/10/2019

Matches:

Metálico & Sangre Azteca beat Magnus & Robin
(10:33 [4:39, 2:16, 3:38], 1/3, ok,VideosOficialesCMLL)

La Jarochita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit beat Amapola, Dalys, Tiffany
(14:11 [8:30, 2:58, 2:43], 1/3, ok,VideosOficialesCMLL)

Audaz, Flyer, Stuka Jr. beat Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
(10:41 [3:25, 2:41, 4:35], 1/3, ok,VideosOficialesCMLL)

Felino beat Hechicero in a lightning match
(9:04, Felino super powerbomb, good,VideosOficialesCMLL)

Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas beat Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Titán
(10:48 [3:00, 1:45, 6:03], 1/3, ok,VideosOficialesCMLL)

Gilbert el Boricua, La Bestia Del Ring, Terrible beat Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr.
(5:07 [0:53, 4:14], 1/2 DQ, below average,VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened:

Gilbert fakes a foul in the second fall DQ to end a quick main event. The post-match standing around and talking may have lasted longer than the match.

Thoughts:

The main event had a beatdown and a hot dive sequence and nothing in between because it was barely five minutes. There was no reason for it to be this short, though I guess they spared us eight additional minutes of going thru the motions. Gilbert needed an actual clean pin here but it is whatever.

The semi-main had more energy than some of the undercard trios, going more off personality than action. Cavernario & Negro Casas wrestled most of the third fall, the only one that got any time and interacted well with técnicos. Atlantis Jr. looked good wrestling Negro Casas, which confirms Atlantis Jr. is an object which exists in three-dimensional space. I wouldn’t say you need to see it but it was a good use of time if you had the show on.

The lightning match worked well, with Felino showing he could take a match seriously when given a serious opponent. It was Hechicero was wild, missing crazy stuff to the barricade and making a fatal mistake that caught him. The match played out like Hechicero was the better man but made one too many bad decisions and paid for it.

The tercera was standard solid midcard trios action. It was one of those with the stacked up superplex spot. That even worked for a pinfall, though that was more Audaz’s splash onto Ephesto non-captain the superplex itself. And then they got beat anyway. Stuka’s near handstand on his splash was impressive as was the dive train, but this was in the middle of these average of matches.

There’s a sequence in this match where Dalys dropkicks her partners by mistake, the tecnicas dropkick Dalys, the tecnicas try a double suplex on Dalys, Dalys reverses it to her own double suplex, and then she just gets dropkicks again to set up the finish. I would like to know why they did the double suplex there. It’s just stuff happening at that point, and it was also a spot intended to get a cheer for a person who is supposed to be a rudo. This match delivered a lot of Dalys doing stuff so it really didn’t have much to it if you weren’t interested in Dalys. The tecnicas made quick runs to win the first and third falls but it really wasn’t much about them.

The opener was a generic match with the técnicos not getting a chance to show a lot. Robin did find time to do Arez bridging slam. This generally seemed like a showcase for the rudos, who did a little more than usual but aren’t really guys you want to build a showcase around in 2019. Sangre Azteca won with something other than the low blow dropkick so there’s that.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: