Month: July 2019

CMLL (TUE) 07/30/2019 Arena México [CMLL, Ovaciones, The Gladiatores]
1) Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico b Acero & Aéreo 
Rudos took 2/3.
2) Dalys, La Comandante, Reyna Isis b La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi 
Rudas took 2/3.
3) Blue Panther Jr. b Misterioso Jr. [lightning] 
7:46
4) Okumura, Universo 2000 Jr., Vangellys b Dulce Gardenia, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. 
Rudos took 2/3.
5) Atlantis, Audaz, Flyer b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto 
tecnicos took 2/3
6) Euforia & Gran Guerrero © b Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja [CMLL TAG] 
Euforia & Gran Guerrero won in their first defense.

Blue Panther Jr. talks about his win. Gran Guerrero & Euforia are happy to remain champs.

CMLL (TUE) 07/30/2019 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Amperaje, Mágico, Micro b El Jabalí, Mr. Apolo, Thunder Boy
2) Cancerbero, Guerrero de la Muerte, Raziel b Fire Man, Magnum, Star Jr.
CMLL debut of Fire Man, who is Audaz’s younger brother. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Disturbio, Pólvora, Virus b Drone, Pegasso, Tritón
Disturbio replaced Kawato. Rudos took 2/3.
4) Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Terrible b Blue Panther, Kráneo, Volcano
Rudos took 1/3.
5) Dragón Lee, Místico, Rush DQ Cavernario, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
Munoz took 2/3, Cavernario unmasking Mistico in the third.

Maybe a Mistico singles match coming up here as well.

Kawato’s now not actually appeared in a match since July 9th, though he continues to be advertised. It could be a minor injury, it could be some visa issue, it could just be random. Kawato hasn’t indicated any issue on Twitter, mostly wishing people happy birthday.

CMLL will reveal the other women in the CMLL Universal Femenil tournament today on Informa. If there’s any chance Zeuxis is coming back to CMLL soon, I’d guess she’ll be seen today. CMLL has just enough women to fill out the other eight spots, but that counts Estrellita (wrestling rarely) and Princesa Sugehit (still out after a concussion?). Even if it’s not Zeuxis, there’s a good chance someone different is showing up.

ROH & CMLL announced Global Wars Espectacular, CMLL participation on an early September ROH tour. ROH does similar tours with NJPW participation (or maybe that needs to be past tense?) Carstico, Volador, Stuka Jr., Triton, Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, and Okumura are announced for the shows. The shows are 09/06 in Dearborn, Michigan, 09/07 outside Chicago and 09/08 in Milwaukee. Caristico is not working the Dearborn show.

This is an interesting idea and fits with Sofia Alonso’s stated international expansion ideas. It is also going to be a challenge. ROH’s going thru their own struggles and the scheduled does them no favors. This tour takes place the week after AEW rolls thru town with their All Out event. That’s already sold out and I’d expect the other promotions who are running the same weekend to do well. It’s going to be hard to convince people in the region to come out a second weekend in a row when they may have traveled to a show the previous week. I know I’m probably going to 3-4 shows during All Out weekend and planning on going to New York the week after for AAA, so it was going to be an easy call to skip this ROH and take a weekend off. Now I think I’m going for the CMLL guys, though I’m not sure that works for everyone. Warrior Wrestling is also bringing in CMLL luchadors the week before and their names are better than the ROH names (Caristivo, Atlantis, Ultimo Guerrero, Volador, Dragon Lee, Soberano, and Templario), though I also always leave Warrior thinking the matches should be better than they turn out to be.  ROH had to try something with these shows to make them stand out and this seems like the start of a promising idea, but we’ll have to see how the matches are set up.

ESPN has a long story about Cain Velasquez preparing for his AAA debut this Saturday. (In Spanish too.) Velasquez says he’s been training 3-4 times a week, up to five hours a session, for this TripleMania debut. He probably could get away with doing a lot less, but his comments read like he plans on doing wrestling a lot more going forward and would like to split his time between it and MMA. Making a good impression in his first match seems to be important. Velasquez says he wants to be ready to have a match on both AAA’s shows in both MSG & The Forum. The last I heard, there was no official agreement for Velasquez to work those shows, though that’s probably something to be worked out while Velasquez is in Mexico this week – it could’ve changed by the time you read this. If the reaction to Velasquez wrestling in the US is anything like it’s been in Mexico, he’d obviously move tickets for a couple of shows that are struggling to do so. Velasquez has trained with WWE at NXT before and they might consider signing him as well.

Cain Velasquez & Psycho Clown did a public training session for the press today, with plenty of videos on Twitter. AAA streamed the whole session on YouTube.

Eclipse Vengador Jr. (Lanzelot) was at the training session and announced he’s in Copa TripleMania. We have no idea how many people are in Copa TripleMania, who is it in beside the eight people originally announced, or how it works. I assume it’ll be the royal rumble with pinfall/submission eliminations format they did at Rey de Reyes but Copa TripleMania is always unpredictable.

Blue Demon wrestled in San Luis Potosi on Sunday, which appears to be his final match before TripleMania. El Sabor del Ring notes Blue Demon did a promo after the match framing it as one of his last matches ever, saying this would be the last time in front of the fans in San Luis Potosi ever if he loses at TripleMania. Demon was serious enough that the fans there believed he could be losing his mask and retiring. (He’s not losing.)

Vampiro posted a video promoting his new training school. He says classes start on Thursday, which is odd if he’s planning on being in Mexico for TripleMania this weekend. AAA has not said anything about Vampiro doing commentary and Vampiro really hasn’t himself said anything more since the original announcement. My impression is the situation is in flux.

A documentary on Vampiro will be part of Austin’s Fantastic Fest.

AAA wrestlers who are in Mexico are doing a lot of press leading into the show. Here’s Myzteziz & Vikingo on Multimedios. Vikingo was on a different morning show the day before that I forgot to link. They’re also launching a new commercial campaign to showcase their luchadors living their everyday life.

Black Taurus was added to the field for PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles yesterday. This was no big surprise after his performance at the PWG show this past week. Seven spots remain for the biggest US indie tournament. Fenix is so I’d expect Penta (and his new tattoos) one of those seven.

Segunda Caida reviews some recent Demus.

The Stranger writes about Casandro’s documentary.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

CMLL (MON) 07/29/2019 Arena Puebla [CMLL]
1) King Jaguar & Meyer b Policeman & Sombra Diabólika 
tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Metálica b Marcela [lightning] 
Metalica won via double underhook piledriver. No challenges followed.
3) El Malayo, El Perverso, Virus b Eléctrico, Millennium, Rey Samuray 
Virus won in straight falls, then challenged Electrico to a match for the Mexican Lightweight Championship.
4) Felino, Hijo del Villano III, Tiger b Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Stigma 
Rudos took 1/3.
5) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Stuka Jr. b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto 
Lucifierno replaced Mr. Niebla. Tecnicos took 1/3.
6) Dragón Lee, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush b Carístico, Euforia, Volador Jr.[Relevos Increíbles] 
Munoz took 1/3. Dragon Lee challenged Volador to an NWA Welterweight Championship match.

Everything that was set up last week didn’t go anywhere and everything that was set up for next week came out of nowhere. Metalica just seems to win her feud with a title shot coming out of it, Angel de Oro just won over Mephisto. It is CMLL, so maybe those matches they could happen anyway.

Dragon Lee versus Volador Jr. would be a first-time every match. It would also be between the CMLL and NWA Welterweight champions. That seems like something that should be headlining a Friday night show and not just randomly happening in Arena Puebla, but good for the people of Puebla. The match happening on a Monday night and Volador’s current run of form are reasons maybe not to get too excited for it, but Volador will probably get to be the rudo in the match. That’s where he’s looked better of late.

The Mexican Lightweight Championship seemed to be forgotten. This was a main division title repurposed as a secondary minis championship. Electrico won the vacant title back in 2013 and has defended it less than once a year since. It turned out CMLL really didn’t have a need for a secondary minis championship when they barely seemed to have a need for minis at all. Electrico got moved to the main division in 2018. CMLL said at the time that Electrico would remain as champion, but CMLL also has ignored the belt’s existence until now, never doing title matches or including him in the Universal tournament. It would’ve been reasonable to believe that CMLL had just killed the belt off, except CMLL can never actually get rid of title belts. They also seem dedicated to never doing anything with Electrico, so a Virus title win would put the belt back into use and give us lots more cool Virus matches.

CMLL’s Tag Team Championship is on the line tonight in Arnea Mexico. Euforia & Gran Guerrero, who won these titles a couple of months ago, defend for the first time as Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja. Most everyone gets mixed around in CMLL, but CMLL’s teamed up the two Chavez brothers almost exclusively this year. They also won the recent Copa Dinastia. They’re basically treated as the top team already in CMLL, so them winning the tag team titles would not be a big leap. A good match would also not be a big leap: Niebla Roja has faced his former Guerrero teammates in entertaining matches many times. CMLL Tuesday shows have been skippable, but this one looks like it’ll be worth watching.

The rest of the show is more the usual forgettable mix for a Tuesday show. Hijos del Infierno team against Atlantis, Audaz and Flyer. Okumura, Universo, and Vangellys face Fuego, Guerrero Maya, and Dulce Gardenia, in Gardenia’s first streamed match since his big introduction. Blue Panther Jr. and Misterioso meet in a lightning match. Dalys, Reyna Isis and La Comandante will surely defeat La Jarochita, Lluvia and Skadi. Another regular CMLL team, Acero & Aereo, open up the show against Mercurio & Pequeno Olimpico. The show streams on CMLL’s YouTube channel at 7 pm.

The press release preview of today’s show mentions the minis anniversary celebration will be around August 10th.

Guadalajara has Dinastia Munoz against Cavernario, Negro Casas and Ultimo Guerrero.

Cain Velasquez arrived in Mexico and was swarmed by press at the airport. He didn’t really have anything to say, but you can read Milenio, +LuchaTV, MedioTiempo, and Record to read the same comments. Cain says he’s watching a lot of videos to prepare and says it’s a dream to have a match. He’s suggested this is the start of a new career, not just a match.

AAA is promoting a Blue Demon training/ session for tomorrow night on YouTube.

Hijo del Fantasma is promoting that Sunday’s appearance in Monterrey as his last indie match. That Nacion Lucha Libre card has changed a bit; Fantasma & La Mascara are now facing Carlito & MVP instead of Chavo. (Chavo being pushed as having a key role and being gone for shows 2 & 3 is a bit odd.) Bandido has been added to the show.

MexaWrestling “Summer Course” on 08/10 in Arena San Juan Pantitlan

• Marcela vs Lady Flammer
• The Tiger vs Audaz vs Septimo Dragon vs Ultimo Maldito
• Toxin vs Black Terry
• Latigo vs Freelance vs Fly Warrior vs Imposible vs Principe Aereo
• Demasiado & ? vs Tiago & Dinamico vs Lady Cat & Denebola – new

Puma King is headed back to DDT on August 25.

Warrior Wrestling officially announced Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero vs Caristico on 09/01.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

+LuchaTV has a new edition of their podcast.

Milenio has a story on a lucha libre themed hotel near Arena Mexico, “el Hotel Arena.”

Lobo Syf unmasked Flama de Oro in Cuernavaca on Sunday. Flama de Oro is Luis Roberto Urióstegui.

The documentary on Casandro will be shown in Spain this Saturday.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 08/02/2019 Arena México
1) Oro Jr. & Súper Astro Jr. vs Akuma & Sangre Azteca
2) Átomo, Gallito, Microman vs Chamuel, Guapito, Periko Zacarías
3) Marcela vs Amapola, La Metálica, Tiffany, Sanely, La Infernal, Maligna, La Guerrera, La Seductora, Avispa Dorada [CMLL Universal Femenil, semifinal]
Mystique was briefly listed in La Infernal’s spot.
4) Dragón Lee vs Gran Guerrero [lightning]
5) Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Último Guerrero vs Ciber the Main Man, Rush, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón

CMLL is not publishing Friday lineups until Monday – Monday afternoon this time – but they’re still sending early versions of the lineups to Box Y Lucha. That means they’re sitting around in magazines about a day, though usually with or two things wrong. They had Gran Guerrero in two matches on this lineup. CMLL published a card with Mystique in the match and the one with La Infernal, which appears to be the correction version. This is all needless information except I’m pretty sure it’s still not the best way of doing this.

The main event is a rematch from last week, which suggests a title match on August 9th. Cavernario & Terrible have gotten thru into the Ciber & Ultimo Guerrero feud this week, which is either adding more people for a cage match or just trying to hide the 1v1. (My guess is there’s a press conference coming around 08/14 to settle this, but that’s a straight-up guess.)

Everyone’s guess is the CMLL Universal Femenil final will once again have Marcela & Dalys in the final, with Dalys winning since she’s the one who doesn’t have a belt. I’m not saying that’s wrong. I do remember back to the first men’s CMLL Universal tournament where Texano Jr. made the final in an effort to elevate him aginst Ultim Guerrero. Not sure it actually worked, but CMLL’s used these sort of ciberneticos in the past try to make new female stars in the past. (That’s how we knew they were seriously pushing Zeuxis.) The problem is there are not many women’s stars ready to make. Most of the newer women have been such non-factors that just immediately giving them a couple of big wins wouldn’t be taken as weird booking rather than elevating them; La Guerrera may have potential, but she’s not going to suddenly become a person of interest if she wins this tournament or even goes to the final. It’ll just feel random. Metalica and maybe Reina Isis (who’s at least gotten title shots) seem like the only two newer women who are taken seriously enough that building them up more might mean something. Marcela & Metalica are both in this block, so either Metalica gets that big win this week (and faces Dalys in the final?) or maybe it’s Isis’ time. Or maybe this tournament will accomplish not much, which is always possible.

Dragon Lee versus Gran Guerrero is not as hugely meaningful about the direction of CMLL in the future but it should still be a fun match. It’s the first time they’ve got to do it in Arnea Mexico. (It was listed years ago as happening in Tlaxcala.)

CMLL (SAT) 08/03/2019 Arena Coliseo
1) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Sonic vs Camorra & Yago
2) Avispa Dorada, La Guerrera, La Vaquerita vs Amapola, La Comandante, Reyna Isis
3) Magnus vs Cholo [lightning]
4) Fuego, Star Black, Stigma vs Difunto, Disturbio, Sagrado
5) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. vs Dark Magic, Máscara Año 2000, Mephisto
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Valiente vs Hijo del Villano III, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush

I would be hyped if we got to see Magnus vs Cholo. This is not a joke. The opener too, mostly. That’s Camorra’s first appearance in four months; I really thought he was gone. He’s teaming with the guy who beat him in hair/mask match back on New Year’s Day.

Star Black and Difunto just won the Guadalajara version of the incredible pairs tournament, so these bookings might be a reward. Kind of weird that their reward for being a good team is fighting each other but so it goes. Both have been in Mexico City for weekends before.

CMLL (SUN) 08/04/2019 Arena México
1) Magia Blanca & Robin vs El Coyote & Hijo del Signo
2) Príncipe Diamante, Star Black, Stigma vs El Difunto, Nitro, Okumura
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Rey Cometa vs Kawato San, Misterioso, Vangellys
4) Flyer, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Felino, Hechicero, Rey Bucanero
Hechicero replaced Universo 2000
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Valiente vs Ephesto, Euforia, Luciferno
6) Místico vs Sansón

Mistico/Sanson is also a first time match. I think Mistico wins but I’m not really sure.