Virus vs Metalico in a career vs career match, Rey del Ring, AAA weekend wrap up

AAA

AAA TV (SAT) 05/18/2019 Palenque de Tuxtla, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas[AAA, Lucha Central, Record, thecubsfan]
1) Dragón Bane b Golden Magic 
5:56. Golden Magic used a flipping powerslam for the win
2) Halcón 78 Jr. & Lady Maravilla b Astrolux & Big Mami 
7:43. Maravilla pinned Big Mami after a frogsplash.
3) Myzteziz Jr. & Niño Hamburguesa b Australian Suicide & Chik Tormenta 
11:10. Nino Hamburguesa won thanks to Lady Maravilla’s help this time. Big Mami attacked Lady Maravilla but Hamburguesa left with Maravilla. Chik Tormenta took a foot to the face off a bad 450 splash attempt by Myzteziz.
4) La Hiedra & Tessa Blanchard b Faby Apache & Lady Shani 
10:40. Tessa Blanchard’s AAA debut. Hijo del Tirantes helped with the rudas.
5) Chessman, Daga, Villano III Jr. b Flamita, Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid 
16:27. Daga beat Vikingo with a double underhook frontcracker.
6) Killer Kross, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. b Pagano, Psycho Clown, Puma King 
13:23. Made a no DQ match, which mostly just meant cookie pan spots. Chessman sprayed mist in Pagano’s face to set up the win.

The fifth match was the best on the show. The Myzteziz foot to Tormenta’s face looked brutal, but she said she was OK. There’s a segment with Daga & Puma King and a dozen run-ins that I left out there, which primarily seemed to exist to write off the Perros del Mal music and secondarily to keep the Kross/Puma feud going. Chessman blowing mist set up the finish on the next day.

AAA TV (SUN) 05/19/2019 Teatro Al Aire Libre Del Parque Tabasco Dora Maria, Villahermosa, Tabasco [AAA, Lucha Central]
1) Big Mami & Dragón Bane b Halcón 78 Jr. & Lady Maravilla 
2) Chik Tormenta, Hijo del Tirantes, Tessa Blanchard b Astrolux, Faby Apache, Niño Hamburguesa 
3) Australian Suicide b Villano III Jr., Golden Magic, Flamita, Myzteziz Jr. [AAA LA, #1 Contenders] 
Australian Suicide gets a shot at Drago at some point.
4) Pagano b Chessman [TLC] 
Pagano won after Chessman fell backwards off the top rope thru a table, and then an exchange of mist spots.
5) La Hiedra, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. b Hijo Del Vikingo, Lady Shani, Laredo Kid 
6) Blue Demon, Daga, Killer Kross b La Parka, Psycho Clown, Puma King 
Demon snuck in a foul on La Parka (missed by the camera)

Both the finish to the main event and the dumb big spot in the TLC match were missed live. Replays showed they had like three different good angles of the table bump; if they just cut to a camera by random, they had a good chance of showing it. (I was not interested in enough to find out if they had a replay of the foul.)

The Mami/Hamburguesa/Maravilla storyline moved along a little bit and maybe Suicide will someday get the title shot he won here. (In a multi-person match for sure, but before or after Chik Tormenta gets hers?) And a bunch of heels questioned why Fenix hasn’t been back to defend the AAA Mega-championship, which is about the second or third time we’ve seen that bit. It makes everyone, Fenix included, look bad when he still doesn’t show up to defend that title.

The creative effort in AAA right now seems limited to re-constructing lineups based on whoever’s actually available for these cards. That can’t be easy given how much that seems to change, but there needs to be more than just matches to be interesting TV. This was the seventh TV taping since Rey de Reyes and I’m hard-pressed to think of significant things that have happened with lasting consequences. Maybe only La Hiedra & Taurus being added to Los Mercenarios, but that seemed less a creative decision and more just filling holes with La Mascara & Hijo del Fantasma gone. AAA running in place is nothing new, but running so many shows in a short time is really showing that weakness. If you’re not subscribing to the Twitch, this is definitely a good time to stay off it and pick and choose what comes up on YouTube.

The turnout wasn’t great this weekend. Sunday’s show seemed like a much too big building, looking about half full. Maybe there aren’t a lot of choices in Villahermosa. The smaller building on Saturyda had bunches of empty seats in the lower bowl. The upper bowl seemed a bit empty from the little bit we could see it. The reason AAA is running all these shows is the promotion and their local partners believing they’d be a draw in different locations based off the AztecaTV. It hasn’t been a clear success but it’s still early in AAA being on Azteca.

They’re back on Saturday in Queretaro, on a card with 6 different trios matches.

CMLL

CMLL (SAT) 05/18/2019 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico b Angelito & Fantasy
rudos took 1/3.
2) La Comandante, La Seductora, Tiffany b Avispa Dorada, La Guerrera, La Jarochita
rudos took 2/3.
3) Oro Jr. b Príncipe Diamante [lightning]
money thrown in
4) Drone, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Disturbio, Pólvora, Vangellys
tecnicos took 1/3.
5) Hechicero, Luciferno, Rey Bucanero b Kráneo, Soberano Jr., Volcano
rudos took 1/3
6) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Niebla Roja
NGD took 1/3.

Oro Jr. talked about his win.

CMLL (SUN) 05/19/2019 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Bengala & Leono b Apocalipsis & Príncipe Odín Jr.
tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito b Kaligua, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito
rudos took 1/3
3) Hijo del Signo b Robin [lightning]
4) Flyer, Metálico, Pegasso b Dark Magic, Stigma, Virus [Relevos Increíbles]
Straight falls. Metalico used the bottom rope to beat Virus. Metalico challenged Virus to a hair vs hair match. Virus raised the stakes to loser must retire. Metalico accepted.
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Stuka Jr. b El Hijo del Villano III, Negro Casas, Villano IV
tecnicos took 1/3
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. b Cavernario, Rey Bucanero, Terrible
tecnicos took 2/3, the last when Cavernario unmasked Soberano (replacing Volador.)

Virus and Metalico backed up their words with promos. CMLL is selling so hard enough that they’ve said Virus is temporarily off the Juicio Final card, since his career may be over by then. “Retirement matches” in lucha libre mean nothing, this will not be the last match either person has, but CMLL is serious enough that it’ll be the last match they’ll have there (at least for a while.) I’d be shocked if it was Virus’ last match. Metalico seems closer to the end of the line, though they’re only really separated by about 11 months in age. Mostly, Virus seems a guy who’s stayed a lot closer to relevance than Metalico the decade or so, and I have trouble believing they’d end Virus’ career on a Sundays show on a two week build. They really shouldn’t be doing it with Metalico either.

I couldn’t be bothered to listen to the Hijo del Signo promo. The semi-main event tecnicos and rudos talk. CMLL won’t let up on doing Atlantis versus Villano matches. If CMLL’s really doing to do a big show every month, I think Villano V is getting a mask match this year.

Volador missed Friday’s show, missed Sunday’s show, and is off tonight’s show in Puebla. Angel de Oro is in. CMLL said Volador had an injury on Friday. No word on what is injured or how long he’ll be gone. Volador & Mephisto are scheduled to face the winner of tonight’s Arena Puebla incredible pairs tournament. Niebla Roja & Terrible seems like the favorite. There’s a bunch of teams (Caristico & Hijo del Villano III, Audaz & Sanson, Atlantis & Vangellys) with one guy who wins these tournaments and another person who does not. It is also an Arena Puebla tournament so it doesn’t really matter.

Flyer, Soberano Jr. & Angel de Oro take on Cavernario, Mr. Niebla and Negro Casas in the semi-main. Triton joins the usual group of locals and opener guys in the first two matches.

Other Notes

KAOZ (SUN) 05/19/2019 Arena Coliseo Monterrey [Estrellas del Ring, Lo Mejor de Lucha Libre]
1) Babe Fox & Baby Love b Baby Xtreme & Lady Puma
2) Epydemius & Silver Tiger b Freelance & Súper Nova and Hijo del Volador & La Park Jr.
Satillo luchadors Guerrero Negro Jr., Hijo de Kato Kung Lee and Eragon showed up to challenge Fresero Jr. & Mr. Iguana.
3) Sexy Dulce b Tiffany ©, Diosa Quetzal, Lady Flammer [KAOZ WOMEN]
Dulce & Tiffany are still setting up hair match challenges. Tiffany falls on her second (?) defense.
4) Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria b Fresero Jr. & Mr. Iguana © and Furor & Vazco Jr. and Ciclón Ramírez & Dragón Dorado [KAOZ TAG]
First defense. Silver King was honored after the match.
5) Hijo de LA Park, La Bestia Del Ring, Mr. Elektro b Cibernético, Memo Valles, Sharly Rockstar
Juventud Guerrera, Eterno, and Diosa Quetzal threatened everyone post match.
6) Emperador Azteca (Indie) b Carístico ©, The Tiger [KAOZ CRUISER]
Azteca beat Tiger. Mask vs mask challenges with Caristico followed. Caristico loses the title on his first defense.
7) Rush b LA Park, Hechicero (CMLL) [KAOZ HEAVY] 
No Diamante Azul. LA Park was DQed when Rush faked a foul. Rush beat Hechicero for the win. Hechicero loses the title on his first defense.

There’s actual results for a Kaoz show! Kaoz did not provide them. I provide them here so you might be able to better guess what random belts people are coming to the ring with. The attendance didn’t look great but not as troubling as other recent Monterrey shows.

IWRG (SUN) 05/19/2019 Arena Naucalpan [@robviper, The Gladiatores]
1) Ángel Estrella Jr. & Atomic Star b Baby Star & Shere Khan 
2) Alas de Acero, Iron Kid, Príncipe Aéreo DQ Guerrero Olímpico, Marado, Mosca 
win by DQ when Alas de Acero was framed for chair usage
3) Death Metal b Liderk 
4) Demonio Infernal b Manchas, Eragón, Shil-Kah, Leo, Fantasma de la Ópera, Apolo Estrada Jr., Dinamic Black, Capo del Norte, Relámpago, Jessy Ventura, Multifacético, Capo del Sur, Canibal Jr., Hijo del Alebrije, Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Chico Che, Congo, El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Imposible, Pasion Kristal, Lunatik Xtreme, Fly Warrior, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Zumbi, Séptimo Rayo, Metaleón, Aramis, Trauma I, Ovett, Huracán Ramírez Jr. [Rey del Ring] 
31 people in a 30 person match. Eliminations: Eragon, Fantasma de la Opera, Shil-Ka, Leo, Manchas, Dinamic Black, Capo del Norte, Multifacetico, Capo del Sur, Canibal, Apolo Estrada Jr., Medico Asesino Jr., Mascara 2000 Jr., Fly Warrior, Hijo del Alebrije, Imposible, Pasion Kristal, Zumbi, Lunztik Extreme, Septimo Rayo, Ovett, Metaleon, Huracan Ramirez Jr., Trauma I, Aramis, Hijo de Canis Lupus leaving Demonio Infernal as the winner.

Rey de Reyes was the usual bit of weirdness, right down to 31 people in a 30 person match. Your enjoyment of the end is definitely dependent on how many head drops you want to see.

On Instagram, Juventud Guerrera said Silver King was wrestling with a medical issue they didn’t know of at the time of the match. At a press conference Sunday, Silver King’s son, Ulises Gonzalez, said that was not true. He insisted his father was completely healthy, “100% clean”, and said all the paperwork backs that up. Dr. Wagner Jr. also made a point of saying Silver King had “no vices, no drugs.” You can see the full press conference here. Ulises believes his father Silver King would be alive if people acted faster, though he would’ve needed a pacemaker and would be unhappily retired from wrestling.  Silver King will be buried Monday.

Fenix & Pentagon won in the main event of Saturday’s Martinez shows near Dallas over Alberto el Patron & Juventud Guerrera. The show seems like it drew pretty well and Alberto praised the Lucha Brothers after the match. Fenix & Pentagon were also supposed to headline the AIW show near Cleveland Friday night, only Penta made it and Fenix never did. AIW’s podcast today was recorded while it was happening; from what we here, Fenix was scheduled to fly out of San Diego, instead said he had been in Guadalajara, and then just stopped returning messages when they tried to book a replacement flight. We don’t know Fenix’s side – he’s been quiet on social media for the last week – but this reflects pretty poorly on him.

France’s Dick Riviere mentioned he’ll be on the 05/28 CMLL show in addition to DragonMania. He made a similar post-DragonMania appearance last year.

Barbaro Caveranrio, Titan, Laredo Kid, Mil Muertes, Aeroboy, and Caristico are on the June 23rd GALLI show, which doesn’t have a location.

RIOT announced their next show, Riña en el Cierro de la Silla, will be a two-day event on August 16 & 17th.

AAA put up a promo with the Young Bucks explaining who they are and setting up the title matches.

LA Park wants an extreme match with Pagano. He disputes those who say he can’t do technical wrestling. Park says he did and it never got him in the first match, and his star started rising once he started dancing.

La Parka talks about how he got into wrestling: it is Atlantis and Pirata Morgan’s fault.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 05/25/2019 Arena Coliseo
1) Arkalis & Bengala vs Apocalipsis & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Kaligua, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
3) Magia Blanca vs Inquisidor [lightning]
4) Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Pólvora, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr.
5) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis Jr., Niebla Roja vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Valiente vs Cuatrero, Gran Guerrero, Sansón

This is the show opposite of DragonMania. That is the most interesting thing about this card.

MDA (SUN) 06/02/2019 Arena Naucalpan
1) Dick Angelo & Farsante vs Legendario & Tempo
2) Auster, Puma de Oro, Shadow Boy vs Diablo Jr., Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka
3) Demasiado vs Pasion Cristal
4) Dinamic Black, Fly Warrior, Iron Kid vs Murciélago Plateado Jr., Neza Kid, Tromba
5) Séptimo Dragón vs Metaleón
6) Demus vs Hijo de Canis Lupus
7) Súper Nova vs Sharlie Rockstar
8) Aero Boy vs Sádico
9) Jack Evans vs Dragón Bane
10) Argenis vs Aramis
11) Carístico, Hijo del Fantasma, Imposible vs La Máscara, Trauma I, Trauma II

Sure, an 11 match card. That seems fine. This is a 6 pm start, unlike the recent 2:45 IWRG ones.