There’s an odd difference between Daga & Aerostar. I started writing this yesterday, got distracted, and am pretty sure I’ve written version fo this before. But it’s stuck in my head. They were both in that Progress Super Strong Style tournament but, up until yesterday, they’re treated differently by AAA. There appears to be about three different classes of AAA people at the moment.
Luchadors who are apparently not under contract brought in to work almost only TV where generally pushed big but remain free to make their own schedule and work whenever they want. This includes people like Fenix, Penta, Laredo Kid, Daga and Puma King who show up in the US indies. It also seems to apply to those along the lines of Blue Demon & Dr. Wagner who work a lot of indie shows in Mexico. For whatever reason, even CMLL is willing to go with the idea that they’re indie wrestlers and generally doesn’t block them from working shows or even matches with CMLL wrestlers.
Luchadors who are on contract with AAA, work the spot shows and many of the TVs, and are seen as totally AAA workers. Some are pushed but, with the possible exception of Psycho Clown, they’re always secondary to top guys in the first group. Everywhere they work has to go thru AAA and they have no freedom to work on shows with CMLL wrestlers.
Luchadors who may have been under contract to AAA or have some sort of verbal agreement with AAA, but almost never work TV and mainly appear on spot shows. They’re not pushed at all, but they seem to have the freedom to book whatever dates they can find on the indies as long as they’re not using an AAA gimmick. (Super Nova can’t be Bengala without AAA getting a cut, not that being Bengala is really going to be a difference maker.) They appear to be able to cut their own international deals without AAA, if Goya Kong’s trip to Stardom worked like how I figure. They might be able to get on shows with CMLL wrestlers, though the name value here is lower enough that it may not be an option.
Daga & Aerostar are about at the same level in AAA at the moment, but Daga was definitely in that first group of people and Aerostar was in the second group until at least yesterday. The second group, the group of people AAA really thinks about being in AAA, seems like the least free group to be part of. Maybe some of the last group of people would take getting a few more regular bookings, but being part of that core AAA group doesn’t seem to guarantee that – that’s why Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito are back working indies. There also seems to be a definite glass ceiling for the second group, like AAA is never going to see anyone they have as a true top star unless they have the leverage to work somewhere else if they’re not treated well. Aerostar hasn’t quit AAA, but there’s some game theory here that the best move for someone in his spot would be to leave for a year, try to make a name on his own, and then see if that gives him an advantage in dealing with AAA a year from now. It’s no sure thing: it obviously worked for Fenix & Penta, it hasn’t really worked for Daga – but he’s no worse off than when he left. But most people (Aerostar) aren’t going to do, because AAA is what they know and what they’re comfortable with.
Forbes Mexico has a story about AAA’s transition from Televisa to TV Azteca. El Planchitas had said this was a one year deal, but an Azteca Deportes official (Rodolfo Ramirez, Executing Director of Azteca Deportes) is quoted here as saying it is a two year deal with an option for two more. Dorian Roldan says AAA was doing around 1.1 million viewers on Televisa at the end of the run. Now they reach “almost 6 million viewers.” That number might include everything – not just Azteca, but also Space, Multimedios, Twitch and YouTube – though I’m not sure it adds up. 1.1 million is interesting because that’s about what Lucha Central has been reporting CMLL getting now. Maybe CMLL is doing as well as could be expected in that slot.
Roldan explains that one of the key points of the switch is they felt Azteca7 had a bigger reach than Televisa9, which is termed “seminational.” Alejandro Montes is listed as the VP Marketing Comerical for AAA. He and Roldan talk about the move from Saturdays to Friday afternoon and explain it was a bet that following cartoons and kid’s program will help them draw. Roldan says 30% of their audience were children. Roldan also says 30% of AAA’s revenue comes from “the sale of content” – TV/streaming deals – and they’ve focued more on that area. Specifically, the Psycho/Wagner TripleMania show did 90,000 viewers on Twitch and earned them the full-time contract going forward with the streaming platform.
The Lucha Memes/MexaWrestling “Battle of Naucalpan 1” show is officially taking place on Wednesday, May 1st at 4:30 pm. (May 1st is a Labor Day holiday in Mexico.) Lucha Memes and MexaWrestling are still picking one wrestler per night:
Round
Lucha Memes
MexaWrestling
1
Arez
Arkangel Divino
2
Komander
Septimo Dragon
3
Audaz
Templario
4
Ultimo Maldito
Lady Flammer
5
Silueta
Bandido
6
Laredo Kid
Some value picks last here. People had (fair) criticisms of the indie lucha draft I and others did a few years ago but I feel like we did a better job. I may be biased. There are 18 rounds scheduled for this.
The talk about this show has less been about the picks and more about the ticket prices that were announced. First row tickets are scaled at 480 pesos, and that may be a slight pre-sale discount. First row tickets for other indie shows in Arena Naucalpan go for 300 to 350 pesos, so that’s a significant jump. The rest of the ticket prices have not been publically announced. Rising ticket prices in the US, especially those targeted at the first few rows, have not seemed to hurt attendance. This show may discover if it’ll be the same in Mexico.
Lucha Azteca would like to know if you have seen Konnan or Vampiro. I think that show tapes a week in advance. They’re setting up someone replacing them for the episode airing this upcoming week since they were both in New York.
Dulce Garica is doing a media tour this week telling her version of her story (“super talented and popular wrestler who was wrongly blamed for injuring an American wrestler, suffered depression, and found herself in boxing/MMA”.) It tells you how much the people writing these stories are doing on them that they keep calling Rosemary American (she’s from Canada); here’s the Marca version.
CMLL (MON) 04/08/2019Arena Puebla [CMLL, Lucha Central, Notimex]
1) El Perverso, Policeman, Tyson La Bestia b Centella Roja, King Jaguar, Tigre Rojo Jr. Rudos took 2/3, Policeman sneaking in a foul on King Jaguar
2) Avispa Dorada, Marcela, Sanely b Amapola, La Comandante, Metálica tecnicos took 1/3
3) Ephesto, Luciferno, Misterioso Jr. b Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr., Kráneo Rudos took 1/3.
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. b Hechicero, Templario, Terrible Terrible replaced Cavernario. Tecnicos took 1/3 going into tomorrow’s title match
5) Carístico, La Bestia Del Ring, Último Guerrero b Diamante Azul, Mephisto, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles] Straight falls. Mephsito was hurt on a messed up Mistica from Caristico in the first fall. Team UG win set up a UG/Bestia vs Valiente/Azul tag title match.
Semifinal was said to be pretty good, a nice warm up for tonight. CMLL’s Twitter brought up Diamante Azul & Valiente being tag team champions before the main event, which was a tell something was happening. I looked at the trio and thought Ultimo Guerrero & Caristico challenging would be a unique match. How wrong I was.
NGD have faced Soberano, Angel de Oro, and Niebla Roja twice in title matches. They’ve been matches worth watching both times, though that first one never actually aired. They meet again tonight in Arena Mexico’s main event again for the Trios Championship of Mexico. It’s an actual Nuevo Valores focused main event on the Nuevo Valores show. A title change would be unlikely, but not impossible in this stretch of time where CMLL seems more likely to move the belts around.
The rest of the show is not as exciting. The micros are making a rare Tuesday appearance in the segunda, which should be fun. Hijo del Infierno faces Atlantis, Titan and Diamante Azul in the semi-main. Felino tries to win another lightning match, this time against Flyer. Audaz makes an appearance in the tercera. Tigre should be a good opponent. Astral & Electrcio are back in the opener.
Today’s show starts at the normal time of 7:30 pm and streams on CMLL’s YouTube channel.
It appears Aerostar has quit AAA. An instagram post last night talk about being out of the promotion, being unhappy about being blocked from shows, and telling promoters he’s open for bookings. It not clear where Aerostar got blocked from working; his most high profile matches coming up are in Progress Wrestling’s Super Strong Style 16. They’ve not made any announcement over Aerostar being pulled. AAA hasn’t addressed this at all. Aerostar is not listed on the upcoming May TV tapings, though it probably wasn’t as if Aerostar’s social media prompted a change (the local promoter had quietly put up the posters a few days ago.)
Aerostar just won Rey de Reyes and appeared on both the MSG press conference and the Impact show this weekend. Aerostar teased leaving the promotion last year and ended up sticking around, so this may not be a done deal. AAA does own the Aerostar trademark (expediente 1988745), so he’d need a new name and probably a slightly different look. It’s still hard to believe he’d actually leave and I could see him walking this back somehow. He teased leaving last year and ended up staying.
The process and freedom to workoutside shows for AAA wrestlers must be vastly confusing at the moment to those who work there. It is confusing to the outside. Daga & Aerostar are both in that Progress tournament, butEdit: so I got distracted here but I’ll try again tomorrow.
NJPW’s Line site posted and then deleted a poster with most of the Best of Super Juniors lineup. You can see it here. There are 19 people pictured, including Dragon Lee, Bandido and surprisingly Titan. The 20th person is probably RevPro wrestler El Phantasmo, who NJPW recently teased as coming in as part of Bullet Club. Hiromu Takahashi is not pictured; returning from a year off by going directly in a long demanding tournament would’ve been asking a lot.
CMLL (SAT) 04/13/2019Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi vs Amapola, La Seductora, Metálica
3) Magia Blanca, Pegasso, Stigma vs Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Audaz vs Tiger [lightning]
5) Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Volcano vs La Bestia Del Ring, Luciferno, Shocker
6) Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Cuatrero, Euforia, Último Guerrero
A couple of returns scheduled, though everything is subject to change. Magia Blanca suffered his leg injury last May and would be making his return. Shocker has been listed a lot but hasn’t actually appeared in three weeks. Skadi seems like a return but has just been relegated to rare Sunday shows this year.
Pauline Lanut usually spells her name Princesa Laout. She’s got abandoned Twitter and Facebook pages, on which she mentions training with Nitro a couple of years ago at France’s APC. Other French wrestlers have come over for a match or two; maybe she’s doing the Sunday-Monday-Tuesday circuit? She’s also booked for the Saturday Arena Rey Bucanero show, who’ve spelled her name an entirely different way. That show has a better chance of turning up.
AAA TV (FRI) 05/03/2019 Centro de Usos Multiples, Los Mochis, Sinaloa[AAA]
1) Big Mami & Niño Hamburguesa vs Arez & Lady Maravilla
2) Keyra, Mamba, Máximo vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
3) Drago, Faby Apache, Golden Magic vs ?, Chik Tormenta, Monsther Clown
4) Flamita, Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz vs Chessman, La Máscara, Taurus
5) Psycho Clown vs Rey Escorpión [lumberjack]
6) Dr. Wagner Jr. & Pagano vs Blue Demon Jr. & Texano Jr.
Psycho Clown and Rey Escorpion finally have their match, though the lumberjacks will make it a little bit sillier than usual. No Laredo Kid on this swing but Flamita is not a bad replacement for the trios champs. Faby Apache may be meant to be a tecnica now but Keyra probably is not. Arez gets to play the role of Villano III Jr. for the weekend.
AAA TV (SUN) 05/05/2019 CUM Hermosillo, Hermosillo, Sonora
1) Arez vs Keyra vs Aramis
2) Big Mami & Niño Hamburguesa vs ? & ??
3) Mamba & Máximo vs Chik Tormenta & Lady Maravilla
4) Faby Apache, Flamita, Hijo Del Vikingo vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
5) Brian Cage, Drago, Golden Magic vs La Máscara, Monsther Clown, Taurus
6) Dr. Wagner Jr., Pagano, Psycho Clown vs Chessman, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr.
Faby Apache versus Poder del Norte: why not! Keyra has some weird bookings this weekend but the opener should be fun.
Brian Cage is back, to wrestle La Mascara, I guess. Like to point out here that this past week’s Keepin It 100 had Konnan talking about a need to rehab Killer Kross in AAA – sort of an acknowledgment that he’s had about a dozen storylines that never paid off – and yet Kross isn’t on any of the TV tapings.
Back on Thursday, AAA held a press conference in Madison Square Garden to announce they will be running a show in the New York City arena on Sunday September 15th. The show is timed with Mexican Independence Day, and tickets will go on sale on Cinco de Mayo. No ticket prices were announced. AAA posted video of the press conference on YouTube and sent out a press release. No matches or full lineup was announced. Blue Demon Jr., Penta, Fenix, Puma, Drago, Aerostar, Taya, Daga, Johnny Mundo, and Tessa Blanchard were wrestlers promoted for the show, with Konnan and Dorian Roldan also representing AAA. Konnan talked about how AAA ran the adjacent smaller theatre and Antonio Pena talking about someday running the arena. Psycho Clown and Lady Shani also did interviews for it in Mexico. AAA stated they’d have more announcements to come, including a show in the Los Angeles area to be announced in the next few weeks.
I was skeptical of this idea when it was obvious it was coming. There’s not much they announced that changed my mind about it working as a draw, but I’m trying to figure out what they’re thinking. Perhaps it’ll be OK financially. I get the sense that someone else this might be promoters paying to bring AAA to the states for a tour similar to the Colombia show or the 2009 AAA tour. That would mean AAA’s getting paid a set fee and they’re not hurt if the shows tanks. It’s just yet not 100% clear that’s the case and it was presented here like this is an AAA run show.
The show concept seems to be presenting AAA as a traditional form of Mexican entertainment – similar to what CMLL does in Mexico – that’ll be a cultural part of the Mexican Independence Day celebrations. It’s tough to get more traditional Mexico than Blue Demon, so he’s front and center on the poster. AAA would like to draw in diehard wrestling fans, the type that went to ROH/NJPW show because they knew it would be a big show, but the main thrust of their effort is drawing in the Mexican and Latin American communities. That means stuff like bringing in AEW (at last report, not happening) or a World Cup might be helpful but not essential to what they’re doing. They’ll win or lose this by the type of inroads they make in the local Hispanic community. That is not impossible – many of us who’ve gone to lucha libre events that have gotten no attention outside of that community, and still have drawn hundred or thousands of people because they still reached the right people. It’s just going to be a tougher task given all the people they need for a Madison Square Garden level show.
That set up means it is going to be really tough to tell from outside of the community if this is going to work. Social media buzz may not be a great indicator. It’s going to be ticket sales and not much else. What they scale those tickets at is going to be a big factor: it’s easier to sell a lucha libre show as a way to celebrate a holiday the cheaper those tickets are, but running MSG and flying all that talent isn’t cheap. It would tremendously help if people in New York could actually watch AAA on a TV network at this point. The Twitch numbers are tiny compared to TV. The YouTube numbers are better but still only reaching people looking around for Mexican wrestling content already.
Schramm Marketing was listed on the press release as a contact. They call themselves a “multicultural marketing group in New York City.” They mention promoting Gold Cub soccer games and Mexico versus Ivory Coast in New York in 2013, so they’ll probably be the key to reaching the intended audience. If they can convince New York an AAA show is akin to the Mexico men’s soccer team coming to the US, then this will be an easy success. People from Oak Venue Group spoke at the presentation. They’re an alliance of different arenas around the US. That includes the Forum in Los Angeles, so that’s the likely location for an AAA show.
I think I’m going to AAA in MSG just to see it happen.
I’ve seen parts of this show but hardly remember them. I remember struggling to stay awake thru the main event, falling asleep after, and having forgotten everything about it the next day. Perhaps I didn’t make the right sleep choice there. My impression is this was an inessential show as far as storylines with some good matches but nothing you can’t wait to watch. If you missed this live and aren’t on a Twitch subscriber anyway, this is not a show you need to pay for and it’s a bad time to subscribe anyway; the next AAA show isn’t for three weeks. This show still should be on the VOD at that point; it may not be on YouTube for months.
La Hiedra joining Los Mercenarios is the most meaningful bit of the show. It is hard to know if it’ll stick. The last show had Daga ending the Perros del Mal and this show had Joe Lider wearing Perros del Mal gear. Maybe the idea is Lider has decided the group hasn’t ended after all but I didn’t see an explanation. They got rid of the local EMW stuff, which makes it easier to follow. The TV opener was said to be usual Tijuana craziness, with the guy from Las Vegas fitting in well. Black Danger being off here means he’s probably not coming to Mexicali but AAA will still advertise him for the next three weeks. Jonathan is a guy that people in Tijuana have been high on and I believe is under AAA contract, but this is the first time he’s actually been used. I assume Rayo Star moved to Tijuana at some point because he’s only on those shows (and not the Mexico State ones he used to be on.) Latin American title match was said to be good as well.
(Aside: I can’t help but point out that AAA’s stream without Vampiro did better than every stream with Vamprio since they’ve started the English broadcasts. It is probably some momentum – there’s virtually no advertising of it existing so it takes for people to find it – and some attention from the AAA press conference and wrestling, in general, this week but I like confirming my preconceived notions. I don’t think people were so turned off by Vampiro and jumped at a chance to watch English with him gone, I’m just pretty sure that Vampiro is not at all a draw as a broadcaster and a professional broadcaster would be immensely more valuable in the role. I’ve written this a thousand times now, sorry.)
The next taping is in Mexicali, April 26th, 18 days from now. In usual AAA schedule madness, they’ll have that long break without a taping, and then have four tapings scheduled in ten days. I’m not sure if all of those are still on. There should be lineups out for Los Mochis and Hermosillo soon if they’re happening.
MEXA WRESTLING (SAT) 04/06/2019Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México [Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), Lucha Central, The Gladiatores]
1) Leo, Mike, Teelo b Lunatik Fly, Lunatik Xtreme, Toto
2) Black Danger b Low Rider, Metaleón, Torito Negro, Baby Xtreme
3) Lady Flammer b Sanely, La Magnifica [MEXA WRESTLING WOMEN, torneo] Sanely & La Magnifica replaced Lady Flammer & Christi Jaynes around 03/30. Flammer faces Quetzal in the final.
4) Virus b Toro Negro money thrown in
5) Aramis & Látigo b Arkángel Divino & Último Maldito and Dragón Bane & Séptimo Dragón Aramis replaced Alan Extreme. Money thrown in.
6) Flamita b Sansón an exchange of fouls for the finish
7) El Diablo Fly Star b Bestia 666 Bestia asked for a rematch in Tijuana
Bestia & Flamita made both WrestleCon and MextaCon. The fifth match sounds like it was the best on the show. The main event looks violent. It seems like they drew well.
I’ll catch up on the Battle of Naucalpan tomorrow because I’m not sure if MexaWrestling forgot to pick yesterday or if I’m missing a pick. If a person who spends a lot of time on keeping track of lucha libre things is finding it hard to keep track of your concept, it probably isn’t working for 99% of people who care a whole lot less.
Estrellas del Ring has the video of Mike being unmasked. Not sure if IWRG or the wrestlers under the masks, but it seems like someone’s thought the age of the Ninja Turtles has come and gone for a while. It would’ve been more memorable if they just did a big group mask versus mask show instead of slowly having one lose after another. Mike & Teelo are unmasked. Leo & Rafy aren’t around much. This way does create designed losers for the big IWRG gimmick shows.
Tonight’s Puebla show has the usual but of randomness. Old rivals La Bestia del Ring & Diamante Azul are on opposite sides of the main event, which makes it sound a bit worse than it actually is. Caristico & Ultimo Guerrero team with Bestia and Mephisto & Valiente team with Diamante Azul. Last week’s relevos incriebles match set up nothing in particular, but perhaps this will be different.
The two matches underneath look better. Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja & Soberano are going for the national trios title on Tuesday. They warm up on Monday against Templario, Hechicero and Cavernario, a pretty great sounding rudo trio. It could be a better match than the championship one depending on how hard they go. Ephesto, Luciferno, and Misterioso face Fuego, Guerrero Maya and Kraneo should be a fun match. There’s a women’s match and a locals match to open it. Tyson La Besita is back to create more GIFs.
Daylight savings time has hit Mexico! Arena Puebla is back to starting at 9 pm CT. If you don’t know what this is for you, maybe click here. (It’s 11 AM for the rest of the summer for the fine people in Tokyo.) The stream link is already up on CMLL’s YouTube.
One familiar face who will not be seen tonight in Puebla will be Tirantes. He announced on Facebook that he left CMLL on March 29th. He talks about a cycle coming to an end and praised everyone who worked there. He had been with CMLL nine years, debuting as part of the Invasors bit. Tirantes had a role in running the Arena Puebla shows and had also been used as the mean judge for the En Busca de un Idolo contest.
CMLL doesn’t typically get rid of referees. It’s a tenured position where CMLL won’t replace anyone as long as they’re physically able to make three counts. (And even then, they let Tigre Hispano keep going until he got injured during a match and it seemed unsafe.) Tirantes had no obvious physical limitations. He had some behavioral limitations. This would make a lot more sense as a dismissal (or changing his job conditions to the point to get him to quit) rather than both sides walking away from each other. I don’t know that’s what happened but I’d bet on it.
The reaction to this news on Twitter has been amazingly split. Some people hated Tirantes messing with matches and wrestlers for the last few years. Some people seemed to have loved Tirantes being a force of chaos. Whichever way you felt about Tirantes, it was impossible to ignore him. Tirantes had become known for ending matches earlier than planned. Occasionally, it had been because a wrestler just didn’t kick out quite fast enough and Tirantes treated it like it was real instead of holding up. Of late, it had seemed Tirantes was often quick counting people to end the matches early so he could go do anything else. Tirantes had already frequently started doing heel slow/fast counts in singles matches, especially in Puebla where there was no one overseeing him, just to get a reaction from the crowd. It rarely seemed like something planned in advance or meant to help the match. Countless post match challenges on Monday nights included a tecnico asking for a rematch next week “with another referee!” They’d always still get Tirantes, who would then do the same bits. Tirantes was known to enjoy drinking after matches, and there were a few times where he performed in a manner where it appeared he may have started early.
All of these issues had been going on for years and were obvious to all. CMLL could’ve justified moving on from Tirantes years ago; never doing so seemed to indicate Tirantes was just bulletproof or CMLL didn’t care. CMLL did care enough to start keeping him out of the bigger singles matches, especially on Friday nights, but any sanctions or punishments for his behavior were not obvious or known. That makes it hard to figure out what the breaking point finally was to cause him to lose. Tirantes had messed up a match with a quick count the week prior, but that seemed no different than usual.
Tirantes was an original member of AAA, Antonio Pena’s new rudo referee to Pepe Casas’ tecnico referee. He was an integral part of the promotion for the first decade and a half, as well as the local promoter for his hometown of Xalapa. Tirantes left a couple of years after Antonio Pena’s death, among many people leaving over disagreements about changes the Roldans & Konnan were making to the promotion. Hijo del Tirantes, Tirantes son, stayed in AAA. Hijo del Tirantes was a tecnico referee opposite of his father at the time but has switched over into the role his father played for many years. His father would be duplication as an on-screen character now, though that might not matter if AAA believes it’ll he help to bring him back. AAA has also toned down the heel referee character of late, but they switch back from not wanting it all to doing it all the time every six months. Tirantes worked for the Perros del Mal promotion in between AAA & CMLL stints and would figure to at least be used a special attraction for the MDA/KAOZ type mid-level promotions if he’s interested in working independents.
Edgar Noriega has been on the CMLL Puebla shows for the last couple of weeks, so he might be the person in charge there now. It is possible CMLL might hire another person under the age of 70 to replace Tirantes.
Dragon Lee made it from New York to Oaxaca in about 24 hours, to win a tag match with local wrestler Arcanos against Ultimo Guerrero & La Bestia. In the semi-main, Rey Aguila went into convulsions after a top rope move, was stabilized and taken to the hospital.
Dragon Lee is not getting his wish to make his first defense against Hiromu Takahashi. He’ll instead face Taiji Ishimori in a rematch on May 3rd in Fukuoka as part of NJPW’s Wrestling Donatku back to back shows. Dragon Lee will be on the NJPW tour from April 15 to May 4th. The Best of Super Junior tour starts on May 13th, so it’s possible Dragon Lee might just stay over and not be back in Mexico until early June. Dragon Lee’s wrestling on Tuesday in Guadalajara, Friday in Arena Mexico and then we’ll see.
I think Saturday and that last paragraph is the answer to why Dragon Lee never ended up signing with Ring of Honor after the rumors it was happening this year. It doesn’t appear NJPW has given him a contract but he’s obviously a big part of their plans and he’s a big fan of working there.
CMLL’s recap of the NJPW/ROH show mentions Rush, Dragon Lee, Naito, and Matt Taven and no other matches. This is probably the only recap of that show in the world which will mention Taven winning a title and not Okada.
The Best of Super Juniors field will be announced on April 23rd. Dragon Lee will be in it. I expect Bandido will be in it as well. I don’t know if any other Mexicans will make the count. I’d like to see Soberano or Cavernario or Titan or a host of others, but there’s usually not many spots.
Some scattered thoughts about other luchadors around WrestleMania weekend
Fenix & Penta were literally everywhere. They did end up making all of their bookings, as far as I can tell. They did a speed rush of their singles match on Thursday on the WrestleCon show and it got over well. They wrestled second, were supposed to have wrestled first, and were actually supposed to be in a tag match until about 15 or so minutes beforehand. Flight issued caused lots of headaches on the show, though the big matches still delivered.
Daga had a great weekend. His match with David Starr on the US vs the World show was strong. I thought he might have gotten knocked out right before the finish but he seemed fine the next day. People were raving about his match with Minoru Tanaka on the first day of the MLW
Puma did well in the 4v4 on the WrestleCon show. I liked he and Sammy Guevera’s match on US versus the World, but the crowd was sleepy during it and not enough seemed to be aware of their YouTube feud. Puma also made it back to MLW after all, though my impression is that was likely a one time thing. It is ever changing with MLW so maybe it’ll change again.
Arez did some crazy stuff in WrestleCon three-way with Robbie Eagles and Flamita that made him stand out. I feel like I saw him on another show, but I can only recall a couple of shows where it looked like he might get on and then it got changed. He did learn the important lesson all Mexican wrestlers get taught when they’re brought in for US indie shows; bring lots of Large and Xtra Large t-shirts, not Mediums.
Flamita seemed to benefit from the Dragon Gate guys getting canceled most of all, weirdly enough and seemed to do well with it. Besides the three-way, I heard the Swann match in Impact was good if not great and his performance in the RevPro four-way was impressive.
LA Park won MLW’s Battle Riot. I was most concerned with how his match with Masato Tanaka on the Joey Janela show would go, since it was going to start after the ROH/NJPW show and that might be very late, but it sounds like it went well.
I never saw Bestia & Damian wrestle this weekend – they went on the AIW show before I got there and I wasn’t at any of the other right shows – but I heard they did well.
Same thing with Mr. Iguana. I think the match on the Joey Ryan show went well and he made it back on to the CZW show, but I really only saw him in passing. I didn’t even remember Rey Horus was there I looked at results. That’s not a shot at them, this thing was just vast this year.
I was stunned and amused to read that Lucha Underground won the match over Team Impact. This looks like the final weekend ever of Lucha Underground representation but I guess we’ll see.
The indie gossip of this weekend was Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito canceling off an upcoming KAOZ show, saying they’re with PALL and so can only really work for MDA in Monterrey. I guess there’s an idea that PALL said they don’t block promotions from using people, but the entire concept seems to be to help give the promoters involve stars that other promotions won’t have, so blocking people is part of it. There are no heroes here. I believe KAOZ has blocked luchadors from working for other promotions as well – Mexico indie wrestling is nothing but arguing over small turf wars for the sake of doing it. The interesting thing is it would be surprising if Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito were allowed to sign with PALL while under contract to AAA, so perhaps they’re not in AAA any more? Or maybe they’re just making (sort of legal??) side deals since they’re barely being used by AAA?
In other KAOZ news – a promotion I can’t see and barely can find results for – Reina Dorada has apparently joined the CL4N. The feud here is Kaoz created a replacement Klan Kaoz led by Mesias and the originals are going after them.
MicromanFever has a translation of an LA Park interview about his life story. Park claims Antonio Pena originally told him he was going to debut in EMLL in November 1991 under the La Park, but “Pena got fired.” Which is weird, because Pena’s thought to have worked for EMLL up until the moment he quick to form AAA in spring of 1992. There’s a lot of other interesting stories in there.
There’s a lot more to cover – AAA/MSG and in Tijuana, more WrestleMania week stuff – but not enough energy to get it done tonight. I’ll catch up over this week.
CMLL (FRI) 04/05/2019Arena México [CMLL, Lost in Lucha, Lucha Central, Marca, Ovaciones, The Gladiatores]
1) Metálico & Sangre Azteca b Magnus & Robin rudos took 1/3
2) La Jarochita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit b Amapola, Dalys, Tiffany tecnicas took 1/3
3) Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto b Audaz, Flyer, Stuka Jr. Rudos took 2/3
4) Felino b Hechicero [lightning] Felino won in 9:04. (Rey Bucanero replaced Hechicero commentary.) Money thrown in.
5) Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas b Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Titán Titan replaced Mistico on Tuesday. Rudos took 1/3.
6) Gilbert el Boricua, La Bestia Del Ring, Terrible DQ Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. straight falls, Gilbert faking a foul from Volador and setting up the singles match.
Show was said to be better than it looked on paper if not great. Main event wasn’t much more than angle to set the singles match next week.
Volador gave respect to Mephisto after his win. Less respect was shown between Valiente and Edgar, who got into a legit brawl after the main event. Atlantis doesn’t seem all that much interested in getting involved, though Caristico does eventually break them up. It is unclear what happened to cause it. It seems like there were no consequences for it, as they were both in the same match on Sunday.
CMLL (SUN) 04/07/2019Arena México [CMLL]
1) Leono & Retro b Apocalipsis & El Coyote tecnicos took 2/3
2) Estrellita, Kaho Kobayashi, La Maligna b Dalys, La Comandante, La Seductora Tecnicas took 2/3.
3) Black Panther, Pegasso, Rey Cometa b Disturbio, Universo 2000 Jr., Virus tecnicos took 1/3
4) El Audaz b Kawato San [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Kráneo, Titán b Ephesto, Hechicero, Luciferno tecnicos took 2/3
6) Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Terrible tecnicos took 1 (DQ)/3, the last with Valiente beating terrible to set up a title match
A rare all tecnico win show. Estrellita didn’t really leave but seems to be wrestling only as other work in his life permits.
It was a busy weekend elsewhere for CMLL wrestlers. Dragon Lee became the IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion on Saturday, defeating Bandido in a three way with now ex-champion Taiji Ishimori on the G1 Supercard in MSG. It was one of the best matches on the show despite also being one of the shortest. Dragon Lee has said he’d like to defend it first against Hiromu Takahashi. That may still take a while; Takahashi did not appear on the show. (Sumie Sakai did a tribute to him in the opener and Takahashi posted a photo from outside the arena, but that’s as close as it got.) Over the weekend, Dave Meltzer reported Takahashi is currently expected back around August. That means no Best of Super Juniors for him.
I’d assume Dragon Lee will actually defend it against other people first, and it’ll be interesting to see if he gets to defend it in Mexico. Sombra got in an IWGP IC title defense against Volador in Arena Mexico during his short reign. The best choice for Dragon Lee seems like it’d be Barbaro Cavernario, based off the two having another strong match Thursday night on the WrestleCon supershow. The live crowd seemed very impressed. The streaming crowd wasn’t as lucky, as the show cut out during most of the match. Highspots put it up as a free match as a make good. Regular CMLL viewers will not be surprised but what they did. It did make Cavernario a bigger star to those who came in not knowing him.
Bandido did well in the title match despite taking the loss, with his moonsault double bodyslam being perhaps the spot of the night. His match on Thursday night with Will Ospreay was one of the best of the weekend. I expect him to part of NJPW’s Best of Super Juniors when that field is announced. No next ROH direction was set, but they were moving towards a Bandido/Flip Gordon match before Gordon was hurt.
CMLL may be coming to Univision Deportes (US) after all. They’re listed starting Thursday night/Friday morning at midnight and Saturday at 5 AM in programming guides. Univision Deportes announced this the same time CMLL started on Televisa, then deleted all mention of it. There’s been no official announcement they’re back on, but so it goes sometimes with lucha libre TV shows. This would be the same show that airs on Televisa, so they’re airing matches on near a week delay but with a different production crew than airs them live. Univision Deportes has some reach but this probably won’t great chance CMLL’s visibility in the US. Couldn’t hurt though.
Dragon Lee was announced for the 2019 King of the Indies tonight, so he’ll have a chance to keep that title.
Flip Gordon requested a match with Soberano on the April ROH shows. Soberano liked the idea. I’m very confused about the status of Flip’s knee.
Lineups
CMLL (MON) 04/08/2019Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja, King Jaguar, Tigre Rojo Jr. vs El Perverso, Policeman, Tyson La Bestia
2) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Sanely vs Amapola, La Comandante, Metálica
3) Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr., Kráneo vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Misterioso Jr.
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. vs Cavernario, Hechicero, Templario
5) Carístico, La Bestia Del Ring, Último Guerrero vs Diamante Azul, Mephisto, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
Semi-main could be a good warm up for the title match. Tercera would be Misterioso’s first match after taking time off due to the death of his daughter.
CMLL (FRI) 04/12/2019Arena México
1) Príncipe Diamante & Robin vs Akuma & Espanto Jr.
2) Black Panther, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. vs Hechicero, Pólvora, Vangellys
3) Dragón Lee, Niebla Roja, Valiente vs Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Terrible
4) Carístico & Mephisto vs Ángel de Oro & La Bestia Del Ring and Sansón & Soberano Jr. and Bárbaro Cavernario & Titán and Blue Panther & Máscara Año 2000 and Flyer & Forastero and Euforia & Guerrero Maya Jr. and Rey Bucanero & Tritón [Torneo Increible de Parejas, semifinal]
5) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f]
6) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f]
7) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f]
8) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f]
9) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Torneo Increible de Parejas, quarterfinal]
10) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Torneo Increible de Parejas, quarterfinal]
11) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Torneo Increible de Parejas, semifinal]
12) Volador Jr. vs Gilbert el Boricua
That’s half the teams. Caristico & Mephisto and Sanson & Soberano seem like the best chanes for finalists. Barbaro Cavernario & Titan should have a good chance but I’d have to see it happen to believe it could. Angel de Oro & La Bestia would be a suitably awful ending, but seem likely to at least move on.
Gilbert working a Volador match seems a bad idea. Volador wrestling as Fenix versus Mil Muertes would be great but seems unlikely.
CMLL Friday will be on Marca and Facebook and maybe YouTube if I remember it. You will be OK skipping this one.
Really, you’ll be okay skipping this AAA on Twitch stream too – it seems mostly notable because it’s the only one for weeks. AAA is listed as starting a half hour after CMLL starts, though it’ll usually be a little later than that. You can figure out the start time where you’re at here. The card actually seems fine but with gimmicks that only are for the Tijuana crowd and not so essential for everyone else. The opener could be really good depending on who actually ends up in it.
I’m doing this early so I have no real idea what will be on CMLL Puebla or Tuesday beside the title match. No one will be paying attention to AAA TV releases this weekend but that title match was fun.
CMLL (TUE) 04/02/2019Arena México [CMLL, Lucha Central]
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) Cancerbero, Hijo del Signo, Raziel b Metatrón, Star Jr., Súper Astro Jr. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. b Kawato San, Nitro, Sagrado Nitro replaced Misterioso. Tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Templario b Rey Cometa [lightning] 9:30. Templario used the Templario Driver for the win.
5) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Guerrero Maya Jr., Titán, Tritón straight falls
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. b Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón Tecnicos took 1/3, which set up a title match next week.
CMLL promos: Templario talking about his win, NGD & the tecnicos talking about next week’s title match and Los Guerreros Laguneros. Ultimo Guerrero and Euforia say they have no problems after Monday’s match, they were just being professional by fighting hard and ripping Euforia’s mask. The lighning match and the main event are said to be worth checking out.
CMLL (TUE) 04/02/2019Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Amperaje, Cosmos, Micro b Jabalí, Paymon, Relámpago Azul tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Akuma, Espanto Jr., Furia Roja b Oro Jr., Príncipe Diamante, Star Black Rudos took 1/3.
3) Tiger, Universo 2000 Jr., Virus b Fuego, Pegasso, Stigma Rudos took 2/3.
4) Dark Magic, Rey Bucanero, Terrible b Kráneo, Stuka Jr., Volcano Dark Magic replaced Shocker. Rudos took 1/3.
5) Cavernario, Mephisto, Negro Casas DQ Carístico, Dragón Lee, Volador Jr. Rudos took 1/3, Cavernario faking a foul from Caristico to set up a title match next week.
Caristico & Cavernario should make TV this time. Hope Shocker is OK, wherever he is.
CMLL Informa has Negro Casas & Mr. Niebla talking about reviving Peste Negra, Soberano talking about his Saturday match, Raziel & Cancerbero talking about adding Espanto Jr. to their group, and Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero speaking about the Arena Coliseo Anniversary show.
The 2016 Mexico City proposal to make September 21st the national day of Lucha Libre and Luchadors was passed into law yesterday, 341 votes in favor and 51 votes again. CMLL (and the late Brazo de Oro) pushed for this concept and has been celebrating it in the last few years. It was one of 23 “days” that were passed into law yesterday.
The WON has an update on the Fenix & Penta situation with CMLL. It appears they’re done with each other. It’s still not clear what happened with them being pulled from Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, just that they asked for a pay raise because they felt they were a draw, got a run-around, and were upset about it. The same note mentions AAA wants to sign them exclusively (where they’d still be allowed to work AEW or anyone AAA is working with) but it hasn’t happened yet. It would be amazing if Fenix & Penta ended up just working for AAA after all that has gone down between them.
The WON also mentions Cain Velasquez is expecting to have his next UFC fight on 09/21 in Arena Ciudad de Mexico, though that’s not locked in. That doesn’t give him much time to train after the TripleMania match; he may have to focus on MMA when he’d be otherwise learning wrestling. That would also explain why he wouldn’t be on any AAA MSG show since that’s probably just a few days before his fight. Elsewhere in the newsletter, it’s mentioned Alberto has at least been considered as being part of Velasquez’s TripleMania match, which will be a tag or trio.
AAA put up a short video on the Young Bucks/Lucha Brothers feud. I’m not sure if this was the video they thought about airing at Rey de Reyes. If it was, I’ve come around on thinking they were right not to bother airing it. It is not terrible, but it like a lot of AAA’s recap videos where it is only useful if you already heard the story and need a refresher. if you were an AAA fan in Puebla who does not follow other wrestling, the video gives the bare minimum idea that these two humans are called the Young Bucks and they have some sort of issue with the Lucha Brothers, but isn’t clear why, or if why they might be important, or even what their names are. (I regret greatly that I didn’t list them in the results as Young Buck I & Young Buck II.) I think the video would’ve helped a little bit but not been a huge difference maker.
With the benefit of hindsight, what could’ve helped AAA was Cody introducing a simple video of the main AEW roster – maybe just something with the ELITE & Jericho, where a hint of the Bucks/Lucha Brothers stuff thrown in as a way of introducing them without giving away that they’re going to show up later that night. But it was what it was instead and everything moves on.
AAA has a press conference tomorrow morning in New York. They’re talking to media about it but they haven’t advertised it. I don’t understand why but I don’t understand a lot. I’m going to be on a plane while it happens. If you’re watching it live, maybe some things to look for
Do they have a firm date?
Do they have a firm agreement with AEW to sent talent to the show?
Do they have a firm US TV partner? (Or, alternatively, are they only promoting Twitch & YouTube?)
Do they talk about any more English language content? (Or, do they expect to almost all draw from Spanish speaking fans?)
Do they have a firm long term plan, or is this just pushed at a one-off?
They’re going to have AAA wrestlers at the press conference to talk, but I suspect the luchadors know just about as much as what is going on as we do. It’s Dorian Roldan and any other suits that are worth paying attention towards.
Lucha Memes & MexaWrestling are doing a 36 wrestler draft, 18 per side, for their Battle of Naucalpan show. It apparently will be two promotions competing in arbitrarily decided matches rather than a tournament. (You can tell this is not a concept I particularly am a fan of. I miss wrestlers having feuds instead of promotions.) They started this draft last night, with Lucha Memes taking Arez and MexaWrestling taking Arkangel Divino. I set up a Google Sheet to keep track of teams, though maybe I won’t be updating it a lot this weekend.
05/19 ChilangaMask 6th Anniversary show in Coliseo Coacalco
Facebook page Lucha Libre Mexicana – Los Reyes del Ring notes CMLL has trademarked the phrase “CMLL La Mejor Lucha Libre Del Mundo.” The trademark database says they asked for this back last October; CMLL is frequently calling themselves the best wrestling in the world on their TV show and they use it in the stream intro, but they’ve been using it for even longer.
This is the last normal news update for a few days. I’m off to New York tomorrow morning, and there until Sunday morning. I may try to squeeze in something about the AAA press conference. Otherwise, things may or may not turn up at all and I’ll catch up later. I’m currently more panicked about the fifty things that can go wrong (how exactly am I getting to WrestleCon) than thinking about enjoying a vacation, but that’s normal. I’ve never been to New York and I was thinking originally how this might be the only time, and AAA changed that. I’m going try to set up CMLL streaming on Friday but that’s not guaranteed.
I’ve got a ticket for WrestleCon Supershow & AIW on Thursday, US versus the World, RevPro, and NXT on Friday, and just the ROH/NJPW show on Saturday. I may not make it to all of them or I may go to more. One thing I learned from last year is sitting in the same building watching wrestling for 8 hours is not for me, and walking across town to go wander around a park is a good idea for a break, so maybe you’ll find me in Central Park. Or maybe you won’t find me at all.
I’ve had a reoccurring fear that LU is finally getting canceled this weekend, like right when the NJPW/ROH show is happening. This is not based in reality but mostly based on not having decided what I want to say enough to have written about it.
Lineups
The Crash (SAT) 04/13/2019Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Terror Azteca & Unicornio vs Dinámico & Tiago
2) Torito Negro, Toto, Xperia vs Animal, Demencia, Silver Star
3) Star Boy, Viento, Zarco vs Craven, Fresero Jr., Mr. Iguana
4) Trauma I & Trauma II vs Carlito & El Mesías and Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja
5) Titán vs Flamita, Adam Brooks, Rey Horus, ?
6) ?, Bestia 666, Mecha Wolf vs Cuatrero, Forastero (NGD), Sansón
The opener was the only one that hadn’t been announced yet. Top matches look good but I wonder if this is going to be a special enough card coming right after AAA taping.
Lucha Times (SUN) 05/05/2019Arena Jose Sulaiman, Monterrey, Nuevo León
1) Hell Raider vs Black Raider, Black Thunder
2) Azrael & Muerte Extrema vs Greco Baez & Ninja Jr.
3) Baby Xtrem & Lady Flammer vs Látigo & Reyna Obscura
4) Rey Horus vs Arez
5) Espectro & The Tiger vs Golden Boy & Símbolo
6) Penta 0M & Rey Fénix (LU) vs Alberto el Patrón & Hijo De Dos Caras and Galeno Del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
Alberto is turning up on lineups again. Galeno del Mal in a main event is a statement about what wrestling promoters see as stars (people related to famous people), though I’m not sure if the fans see it the same way.
Latigo wrestling Baby Xtreme is a good idea.
G21 (SUN) 04/21/2019Arena Naucalpan
1) Falcón Jr. & Latino vs Auzer & Neza Kid
2) Demasiado & Diva Salvaje vs Claibus & Tackle
3) Black Dragón, Death Metal, Diablo Jr., Dinamic Black, Hijo del Alebrije, Leo, Oficial AK47, Puma de Oro vs Iracundo, Lepra, Luciferno, Maremoto Jr., Mosco, Perro Callejero, Pólux Jr., Pólux Sr. [Torneo FILL] FILL (Black Terry) vs Gym G21 (Maremoto Sr.)
4) Angeluz Fly, Carta Brava Jr. (LLB), Fantasma de la Ópera vs Gallego, Rocky Santana, Romano García [super libre]
5) Aramis vs El Bandido, Murciélago Plateado Jr.
6) Hijo de LA Park & La Park Jr. vs Rokambole Jr. & Villano V Jr.
7) LA Park vs Diamante Azul (CMLL)
LA Park versus Diamante Azul does not seem like a good idea.
