AAA YouTube will air part 1 of Verano de Escandalo this Sunday. Young Bucks/Lucha Brothers won’t go up until after TripleMania. It’ll air on Azteca TV well in advance and Wagner/Demon is more important but it feels like that could’ve been handled better.
Nacion Lucha Libre week 2 is a much iffy show unless you want to see Solar & Navarro do it one more time. Maybe the three-way tag was good?
CMLL Marca is a bit of a comedown from last week.
Recapped: 07/16/2019
Matches:
Fuerza Chicana & Toro Bill Jr. beat Rey Samuray & Tigre Rojo Jr.
(9:04 [4:22, 2:33, 2:09] , 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Marcela & Skadi beat Reina Isis & Dalys
(10:55 [5:27, 2:30, 2:58], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Kráneo, Stigma, Titán beat Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
(16:54 [6:12, 5:09, 5:33], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL
Perverso beat King Jaguar, hair vs hair
(7:20, 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero beat Ángel de Oro, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr.
(6:23 [3:25, 2:58], 1/2, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © beat La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible to retain the Mexican National Trios Championship
(16:05 [5:03, 3:26, 7:36], 1/3, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)
What happened:
As in every big Ingobernables match they lose, they lost a fall by DQ. This time it was the second fall, attacking referee Edgar and unmasking Sanson.
Negro Casas beat Soberano clean in the second fall and asked for a title match.
Perverso took King Jaguar’s hair.
Thoughts:
The main event was wrestled harder than usual and harder than most Ingobernables matches. They took it seriously, Rush had some moments, Bestia didn’t get in the way. This wasn’t an overcomplicated match and it wasn’t the best NGD match you’ll see. They still came out of it looking strong, ending the match at the exact right moment. This is still not a great mix of teams, but they leaned into the aggression and teamwork to make it feel like a big team battle.
The semi-main was a two fall match and a quick one even by those standards, but they worked hard for the short time they were out there. Volador seemed more into this match than most Friday night matches. Soberano and Casas strongly built up next week’s title match with some fun interactions. Nothing wrong with this.
At least the apuesta match was quick? I was surprised by how little weight it seemed to have. The crowd cheered Perverso as much as they cheered anyone, and didn’t get into this match as much as they’ve thrown themselves into anything. The cheering for Perverso didn’t seem to be based on anything he did in this actual match; he didn’t do much that looked impressive. There was a lot of basic stuff, there was a lot of badly telegraphed spot. Could’ve gone without Perverso running with his shoulder down to signal a backdrop spot. Seemed like there was some really obvious spot calling; if these guys are training, they didn’t seem to train by going thru this match. King Jaguar seemed to like taking backdrops, though it’s probably not a great sign to the skill that he was taking multiple ones. This was not bad in a messing up moves way but it was not performed particularly well or was at all memorable.
The tercera was very long. I have nothing to say about it.
Marcela and Skadi doing stereo moves isn’t really going to help Skadi’s moves look any better. Reina Isis, a sub for Amapola, actually struggled more than Marcela’s daughter, looking particularly lost at the end of the first fall. I rated that tag match an OK just to stop thinking about.
The opener moved fast. There’s a case to be made that Fuerza Chicana is the worst Puebla rudo. He seems to show up in bad wrestling moments the most. I’m unsure if Rey Samuray knows we can tell the 450 splash isn’t landing right or if he thinks he’s getting away with landing on his feet. I’d think he’d fix it by now if that was the plan. Samuray’s moonsault armdrag looks much better.
IWRG (WED) 07/24/2019 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV]
1) Ángel Estrella Jr. & Biosfera b Baby Star Jr. & Shere Khan 
2) Arquero & Blue Monster Jr. b Keshin Black & Milagro Blanco
3) Diosa Haru, Flyman, Latino b Lady Cat, Quetzal, Taurino
Diosa Haru replaced Alisha la Guerrera
4) Auzter, Cheff Benito, Mexica b Canibal, Canicero, Guerrero Olímpico
5) Ángel Drago, Eligor, Flyman, Galactus, Güero Palma, Neza Kid Jr. b Black Danger (Baja California), Príncipe Aéreo, Torito Negro and Dragón Fly, Marado, Mosca and Black Dragón, Death Metal, Guerrero 2000 and Black Lancer, Máquina Inf., Shaolin and Adrenalina, Impulso, Wotman and Holocausto, Kid Jaguar, Piloto Infernal [elimination]
Capitan’s represented their teams in this seeding match (but not sure who those were)
6) Black Danger (Baja California), Príncipe Aéreo, Torito Negro b Adrenalina, Impulso, Wotan [Copa High Power, quarterfinal]
Mexa Wrestling beating Ojo de Tigre. Adrenalina and his partners fought post match, with the Argentino team making the save and bringing Adrenalina officially into their group.
7) Dragón Fly, Marado, Mosca b Holocausto, Kid Jaguar, Piloto Infernal [Copa High Power, quarterfinal]
Team Argentino over Team Pachuca
8) Black Dragón, Death Metal, Guerrero 2000 b Black Lancer, Máquina Infernal, Shaolin [Copa High Power, quarterfinal]
FILL IWRG over Villanos
9) Ángel Drago, Galactus, Güero Palma b Eligor, Flyman, Neza Kid Jr. [Copa High Power, quarterfinal]
Zeus defeating Saetas del Ring
10) Dragón Fly, Marado, Mosca b Black Danger (Baja California), Príncipe Aéreo, Torito Negro [Copa High Power, semifinal]
Argentino defeating Mexa Wrestling
11) Black Dragón, Death Metal, Guerrero 2000 b Eligor, Flyman, Neza Kid Jr. [Copa High Power, semifinal]
FILL IWRG beating Zeus
12) Black Dragón, Death Metal, Guerrero 2000 b Dragón Fly, Marado, Mosca [Copa High Power, final]
IWRG defeating Argentino, though the foreign scourge appeared to steal the trophy.
I had this one while working on posts and nothing really jumped out to me. I saw Death Metal do a Canadian Destroyer and thought he might get mocked on Instagram but that’s about it. Didn’t hear strong reviews from the people who watched it.
Yesterday’s CMLL Informa had a big announcement about the group’s luchador. They’ll be getting a (yet to be named?) new annual tournament. Everyone on the roster and some new people will be in the tournament. There will be blocks on August 2 & 9 and a final on August 16th. The winner will get a world title match with Marcela and will get to be the Mexico flag bearer for the upcoming CMLL Gran Prix.
This seems like an idea to create an equivalent of the Leyenda de Plata or Universal tournament for the women. They’ve used the Copa Natalia Vazquez in that spot previously, but a one-week tournament is less of an event in CMLL. It’s not clear if those blocks are 1v1 match (like most CMLL tournaments) or ciberneticos (like Leyenda de Plata). It also doesn’t seem like they announced a specific number of participants. The prize for the winner obviously suggests Marcela will not be winning the match. I guess Dalys or Avispa Dorada are not winning either if the winner is Mexico’s flagbearer, though they could always just have them bring out the Rest of the World instead. CMLL desperately needs someone who isn’t Dalys, Amapola or Marcela win this to elevate someone into the top mix if they’re serious about doing something with the women. I’m just not sure if they’re serious.
One reason they might not be serious is the introduction of the newest CMLL luchadors: La Infernal. La Infernal is a 44-year-old luchadora, the widow of Villano III and the mother of the two Villano III children wrestling. She has not been part of a major promotion since 1999; records indicate she wrestled a couple of months while being pregnant with Hijo del Villano III, stopped probably when she realized it and has only wrestled a handful of times since then. La Infernal did wrestle on last Saturday’s Arena Coliseo show, most people just assumed it was someone new recycling the name until she had her match. It’s nice for her to get to come back to Arena Mexico after all these years and it is probably harmless if it’s just for a match or few, but CMLL is already the oldest women’s division in the world and adding a person hasn’t been a full-time wrestler in two decades is not helping. La Infernal was presumably re-introduced because she’ll be in the August 2nd block; more people will be announced next week on CMLL Informal.
I thought this division that was getting a big match announced on CMLL Informa was the minis. They were there (except Pierrothito & Shockercito.) They all got to talk. It seemed like the set up to a cibernetico. No cibernetico was announced.
Other notes on Informa include a mention that Kairos is 19 and had been training for five years. Hijo de Mano Negra, who debuted Tuesday, is actually the son of former CMLL mini Panterita (not this one, this one instead) and the godson of Mano Negra. He’s 23. He’s been training with Mano Negro since he was 7, and had been training for 6 years with Virus. Hijo de Mano Negra had been wrestling the Mexico City indies as Arceus for the last couple of years. More new wrestlers were teased.
No mention of Kenny King yet on Informa, by the way.
Vampiro announced on Facebook that he and & Matt Striker will be back doing commentary for TripleMania. He and Striker have been wildly panned in their past performances. I think the consensus was Striker wasn’t as bad this year, or just looked a lot better while attempting to reign in a wild Vampiro. Neither are great at being left alone and neither seem to actually watch AAA. Vampiro very clearly does not watch any wrestling show he’s not at, and Striker’s relied on Vampiro and AAA provided notes on previous shows. Vamprio was so clueless in his video that he didn’t know if TripleMania was airing on Fite or Twitch; the important thing is he was involved.
I’d presume Vampiro & Striker will also be the team for the AAA US PPV shows, and that Bernado Guzman & Adrian Mendoza will continue to do English off a monitor for the regular AAA TV tapings. I haven’t thought Guzman & Mendoza have been good either – they’re just not comfortable enough speaking English to project the energy they need – but some combination of Striker and Mendoza would probably be the best of available parts, combining someone who’s used to broadcasting in English with someone who knows the AAA stories. But it’s also very possible to just pick someone new instead of throwing the same failed people in the same spots over and over again.
There are people liked Vampiro & Matt Striker because it had so many bloopers and mistakes. It should be entertaining for those reasons again. It does make AAA come off like a trash promotion that’s only enjoyable as something to make fun of once a year, but that’s the decision AAA has gone with. Putting aside personal preference here, AAA desperately needs to sell some tickets for the US shows, and TripleMania is going to be a big shot to convince people on the idea that they should buy tickets. They’ve given that job to two people who will surely plug those shows, but help AAA come off as some silly thing that’s fun for a night without being something you need to see.
It may be too late to change this AAA image because there were so many people happy when I posted about Vamprio announcing who just want to see the car wreck. The reaction to “this makes AAA look like a trash promotion” is a fair bit of “yea, AAA is a trash promotion.” I don’t see it like that and I don’t think that’s what AAA should aspire to be, but maybe I’m just too close and should stop thinking of them of being capable of more. This comes off to me like an unforced error, but maybe it’s just not something AAA is capable of doing any better.
On today’s Keepin’ It 100, Konnan talked about last week’s Aguascalientes show. A lot of his comments on the show mirror what is reported about the show in the Wrestling Observer this week. (Konnan says almost literally the same positive things about Villano III Jr.) He thought the bit of MJF being a heel behind Cody’s back was a bit confusing to fans who didn’t know them but feels like they got Cody over at the end of the show. He also mentioned AAA will be putting AEW storylines on their TV to help get the characters over. Disco presses Konnan to talk about changes he’s made back and Konnan talks about the new underneath luchadors he’s brought in that he’s happy with. He also gives credit to Lady Shani and La Hiedra as two people who were going to be dropped because he felt they were mailing in their matches, but they stepped up their game when the other women came in. Konnan says he actually weighs people and tells people they have a certain amount of time to lose weight, feeling it’ll be better for their image and health. “I don’t need you to look like Brian Cage, just get in shape.”
El Planchitas has Hijo del Fantamsa’s start date with NXT as next month. I believe the gossip is the next NXT start date is September, but it’s also possible Fantasma could be moving to Orlando in August to get settled. Planchitas says also hints at there being a reason Fantasma joined La Rebelion Amarilla even though he wasn’t going to be in The Crash for long. There’s some connection here to Lacey Lane and Angel Garza being allowed to go back to Tijuana and go in the ring to celebrate with the rest of the Rebelion Amarillo on the 07/05 Crash show. (I don’t think The Crash becoming NXT Mexico.) Planchitas also thinks CMLL is debating if to do Rush/LA Park on the Aniversario show or not following them throwing around the seats last week. I don’t really believe that.
Diamante Azul is listed on a Galactar benefit show in Monterrey this Saturday. This would be Azul’s first wrestling appearance since having unspecified surgery in early June (though he was also visible at the Paco Alonso mass.) He’s also scheduled to wrestle on Sunday in Arena Coliseo Monterrey.
Fenix is one of the big draws of the 08/10 AAA TV tapings in Saltillo. Fenix & Pentagon are also now announced for a show on 09/07 in the same town.
There’s a Kickstarter for a Tinieblas video game. The text hyping it does not inspire confidence.
Microman Fever has a recap of a +LuchaTV Nino Hamburguesa interview.
LuchaTalk has a new episode of their podcast.
RetroWrasslin’ writes about the Santo farewell show.
Yo Ciudadadno visits with some Ciudad Juarez luchadors.
Lady Sensacion says she’s wrestled in the US & Spain recently and is close to going to Japan.
A profile of Zacatecas luchadora Dark Lluvia.
Lineups
CMLL (TUE) 07/30/2019 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi vs Dalys, La Comandante, Reyna Isis
3) Blue Panther vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
4) Dulce Gardenia, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Okumura, Universo 2000 Jr., Vangellys
5) Atlantis, Audaz, Flyer vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
6) Euforia & Gran Guerrero © vs Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja [CMLL TAG]
first defense
Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja probably should win, though I can’t work out who they’d defend the titles against. Dulce Gardenia is back.
NLL (SUN) 08/04/2019 Gimnasio Nuevo Leon Independiente, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
1) Reina Oscura vs Baby Love
2) Azrael, Baby Extreme, The Tiger vs Emperador Azteca (Indie), Séptimo Dragón, Súper Nova
3) Dulce Sexy & Lady Flammer vs Christi Jaynes & Stephanie Vaquer
4) Bestia 666 & Damián 666 vs Fresero Jr. & Mr. Iguana and Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria
5) Mechawolf 450 vs Hijo De Espectro, Rey Horus
6) Hijo De Dos Caras vs Bram
7) Hijo del Fantasma & La Máscara vs Carlito & Chavo Guerrero
Alberto is scheduled to appear but not wrestle, which he did indicate would be the case for some shows. Still, that leaves Fantasma & Mascara vs Carlito & Chavo as the main event, a tough sell in a saturated city. This would be Fantasma’s final match in Mexico. Weirdly, both Ultimo Ninja and Sombra have had their final matches in Monterrey.
AAA , ELITE (SUN) 08/11/2019 Arena Jose Sulaiman, Monterrey, Nuevo León
1) Lancelot & Villano III Jr. vs Astral & Demus
2) Silver Star & Tigre Universitario vs Negro Navarro & Solar I
3) Parka Negra & Súper Fly vs Karonte & Zumbi
4) Dave The Clown & Murder Clown vs ? & Galeno Del Mal
5) Hijo Del Vikingo & Myzteziz Jr. vs Ciclón Ramírez Jr. & Golden Magic
6) Averno & Chessman vs Villano IV & Villano V Jr.
7) ?, Psycho Clown, Texano Jr. vs Canek, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Rayo de Jalisco Jr.
The third AAA/ELITE show in this newest run. The third time it’s been listed as airing on TV. None of them have aired on TV. It is probably OK if Canek & Rayo de Jalisco matches don’t air.
recaps in this group
I stalled to do another roundup post and then just didn’t do one. It always doesn’t take much to derail these.
Another thing derailing this is the Monday/Tuesday shows are really boring and the Friday shows aren’t much better. I’m never too far behind in watching them, but spending time editing the recaps for a boring show is a struggle. The AAA stuff has popped out even more because the CMLL stuff has been so flat.
I remember watching Kawato/Audaz and having a take on it but I’m not sure I wrote that take. Maybe I’ll watch it again later.
Recommended Matches
| rating | matches | TV Show | taped |
| great | Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Myzteziz Jr. vs Chik Tormenta, Eterno, La Parka Negra  |
AAA on Twitch: 2019-07-06 | 2019-07-06 |
| good | Aramis, La Parkita, Vanilla vs Keyra, Low Rider, Mini Psycho Clown |
AAA on Twitch: 2019-07-06 | 2019-07-06 |
| good | Dragón Lee vs Cavernario  |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-09 | 2019-07-09 |
Other Matches
| rating | matches | TV Show | taped |
| ok | Big Mami, Dinastía, Niño Hamburguesa vs Arez, Hijo del Tirantes, Lady Maravilla |
AAA on Twitch: 2019-07-06 | 2019-07-06 |
| ok | Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana |
AAA on Twitch: 2019-07-06 | 2019-07-06 |
| ok | La Parka, Murder Clown, Puma King vs Dave The Clown, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. |
AAA on Twitch: 2019-07-06 | 2019-07-06 |
| ok | Aerostar, Pagano, Psycho Clown vs Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly |
AAA on Twitch: 2019-07-06 | 2019-07-06 |
| ok | Halcón Suriano Jr. & Sonic vs Espíritu Maligno & Rey Apocalipsis |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-08 | 2019-07-08 |
| ok | King Jaguar vs El Perverso in a lightning match |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-08 | 2019-07-08 |
| ok | Dragón Lee, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-08 | 2019-07-08 |
| ok | La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón in a relevos increíbles match |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-08 | 2019-07-08 |
| ok | Pegasso, Stigma, Súper Astro Jr. vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Espíritu Negro |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-09 | 2019-07-09 |
| ok | Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Rey Cometa vs Dark Magic, Kawato San, Pólvora |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-09 | 2019-07-09 |
| ok | Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. vs Felino, Negro Casas, Tiger |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-09 | 2019-07-09 |
| ok | Carístico, Flyer, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Templario |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-09 | 2019-07-09 |
| ok | Halcón Suriano Jr. & Príncipe Diamante vs El Coyote & Grako  |
CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2019-07-12 | 2019-07-12 |
| ok | Chamuel, Guapito, Zacarias el Perico vs Átomo, Gallito Tapatío, Microman |
CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2019-07-12 | 2019-07-12 |
| ok | Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Ephesto, Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III |
CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2019-07-12 | 2019-07-12 |
| ok | Titán, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón |
CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2019-07-12 | 2019-07-12 |
| ok | Dragón Lee, Místico, Rush vs Gilbert el Boricua, Mr. Niebla, The Chris |
CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2019-07-12 | 2019-07-12 |
| below average | Drago © vs Daga for the AAA Latin American Championship |
AAA on Twitch: 2019-07-06 | 2019-07-06 |
| below average | Último Guerrero vs Ciber the Main Man |
CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2019-07-12 | 2019-07-12 |
| not rated | Astro & Meyer vs Black Tiger & Sombra Diabólika |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-08 | 2019-07-08 |
| not rated | Eléctrico, Millenium, Pegasso vs Cancerbero, Policeman, Raziel |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-08 | 2019-07-08 |
| not rated | Robin & Sonic vs Cholo & Yago |
CMLL YouTube: 2019-07-09 | 2019-07-09 |
| watch later | El Audaz vs Kawato San for the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship  |
CMLL on TV Mexiquense: 2019-07-07 | 2019-06-30 |