July 2019 – Page 9

2019 indie catch up, part 10 of ∞

July 8, 2019July 8, 2019 thecubsfan 1 Comment

Romano García vs Dr. Cerebro
(Memes/LLB/MDA @ 04/20, 5:52, good, mluchatv)

This was catch and release llaving-ing early and I was immediately regretting having put this match on my list to watch. And then Dr. Cerebro grabbed Romano Garcia in the setup for la Cerebrina and I decided this was an automatic Good if he just hits the Cerebro Driver out of it and wins. He did! Automatic. The holds they were doing before were creative enough but also sometimes these maestro matches should absolutely go this way. If they’re trading all sorts of potentially fatal holds, they ought to be as fatal in minute five as they are in minute twenty. Dr. Cerebro was good enough to get to it in minute five, won, great story.

Arez vs Aramis
(Memes/LLB/MDA @ 04/20, 11:12, great, mluchatv)

If you could take, say, around the first half of this match, then splice in an Arena San Juan big move section as the second half of this match and put in a place that gets a lot of spotlight, people would be talking about this match and these guys as the future of wrestling. It was that impressive. They were super creative in the sequences they were doing and just as smooth in executing them. They were so clean at doing such complicated that I could see some people being turned off for it feeling as a choreographed fight. For me, a person who enjoys cool reversals, it came off more like people thinking and moving faster than I could imagine. The second half is still pretty good, though the parts where they’re doing llaves because that’s the bit instead of doing what would normally make sense in that situation stick out. Aramis & Arez were very loyal to what the promotion was looking out of this show. It should be commended on some level, though it also felt like this was headed to a match of the year level fight if they just decided to throw out the concept. Worth checking out for something different than you’d expect.

Negro Casas vs Trauma II
(Memes/LLB/MDA @ 04/20, 8:17, good, mluchatv)

Casas & Trauma are Casas & Trauma and so they’re not at all bothered to stick to the concept of this show. It’s basically Trauma II getting to have a vaguely CMLL style lightning match, with a little nod towards the idea of using holds. There’s some stuff that doesn’t come off well (that dragon screw leg whip) but it is an increasingly rare chance to see Casas in a rudo/rudo battle with someone willing to be nasty towards him. He’s catching forearms instead of dives, something the Arena Mexico tecnicos aren’t going to give him. There’d be a great feud here if Casas was a bit younger. The finish is bad but that’s just what you’re getting with the Traumas at this point.

so he’s decided to do this in every singles match, but the fall might have hurt more

Atomic Star, Auzter, Puma de Oro vs Fly Warrior, Fulgor I, Fulgor II
(IWRG @ 05/12, 11:30, good, Internetv Deportes)

A really good undercard action match with about the usual Arena Naucalpan craziness. The return of the Fulgors as a team I can see regularly and enjoy has a been a pleasant 2019 surprise. The lunacy of a double clothesline doomsday device is exactly what I want out of IWRG undercard matches. The injury in the middle of the match seemed to throw people off but they were back and hitting the barricade in painful fashion before long.

Star Boy, Viento, Zarco vs Animal, Demencia, Silver Star
(The Crash @ 05/24, 16:15, great, Arena Clandestina)

A crazy brawl, over the top violence with fans at ringside in the danger zone. Just a great Tijuana rudo brawl with fun teamwork and destruction. The weakest stretch of the match when they were actually having a normal match. The best is when they were throwing the referee out of the ring. (This was actually great, a wronged party actually going after the evil referee instead of just teasing it like always.) Most of the matches in this list don’t have announcing or the announcing is forgettable. I wish they had it here just to keep track of who is who and to explain the angle at the end.

Penta 0M & The King © vs Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf for The Crash Tag Team Championship
(The Crash @ 05/24, 11:32, good, Arena Clandestina)

A good action match and something that felt worthy of a title change. They go to the Dramatic Near Falls pretty early, but are able to keep them feeling intense and meaningful all the way until the end. I’m sure this would be one that was better in the building just because they did make this feel like this was important. It felt like Bestia & Mecha Wolf accomplished something when they finally got the win after a few tries. I could’ve used a bit more Fenix, especially down the stretch. His armdrags early were cool at least. Everything in this match felt sharp, even if it also felt like the Lucha Brothers were saving their top effort for the next night.

Paco Alonso passes away, other news

July 7, 2019July 7, 2019 thecubsfan 7 Comments

This is twice in a week where the big news is so big that it feels dumb to have anything else up there in the headline. Perro Aguayo is a death that resonated in the entire country of Mexico. He was also a name that had slipped into the past; it meant something in that someone people enjoyed was forever gone and we’d get no more new memories of him, but Aguayo’s impact on the lucha libre world had already been made. Paco Alonso’s death may not be a mainstream story but it’s as big a deal inside the world of wrestling. What happens in his absence will have a major impact on what the world looks like in the future.

Paco Alonso

Francisco “Paco” Alonso Lutteroth passed away Saturday. Alonso was 64 years old. He is listed as the President of CMLL, and was effectively the person in charge of the family-owned promotion. CMLL announced his passing in a press release Sunday evening. The show stopped at Arena Mexico to honor him. No cause of death was mentioned.

There had been no word or any indication Paco Alonso was in ill health. That is consistent with how he led his life; he did not like public attention or fame. His daughter Sofia Alonso has been the public face of CMLL’s management since 2016, though that was thought to be more because she was willing to do those public duties Paco was not interested in and not because of any imminent plans for succession. Though I guess we can’t be sure of that. Paco Alonso’s quest desire privacy survived his passing – someone had to be told to have that press release ready, but no one seemed to know until it was put out – so maybe there was a larger plan in place that was also kept quiet.

Sofia Alonso is most likely the person who will be in charge of CMLL going forward, though it is not certain. Sofia has been working in the business and marketing aspects of the promotion since 2014, but does not have experience on the wrestling side. A 28-year-old woman in charge of a lucha libre promotion in an often male chauvinistic country and industry is going to have a lot of challenges to deal with. We also have no idea how the rest of the family will react to this death and change. The story has always been that the Lutteroth family derives their true real wealth from the real estate business and CMLL is a sort of the black sheep that the rest of the family is not that interested in. It could very well end up that Sofia ends up with all the power, but there’s a lot with that family we don’t really know and shouldn’t presume to have all the answers.

SuperLuchas obit writes that Paco Alonso and Chavo Lutteroth were put in charge of the company by founder Salvador Lurretoth in 1975, with Paco increasingly more in charge of the wrestling side of the business as time went on. He was solidly in charge by the 80s and is credited with modernizing the promotion during that period, one of the most successful in the history of the promotion. (ESTO’s obit has him being in full control by 1987, would mean 32 years in charge.) Some of that modernization led to the creation of the longest running rival to the CMLL, when Arena Mexico matchmaker Antonio Pena ended up AAA founder Antonio Pena. Alonso’s promotion once exchanged talent with then rival promotion LLI (UWA), but the issues with AAA must’ve cut deeper. Alonso was famous for blacklisting wrestlers and promoters who he felt had crossed him, refusing to use them even if it would later seem to make business sense. The goal with CMLL was to make money but, maybe because the family wasn’t dependent on the promotion for their income, it was not a business strictly focused on making the decisions based on what would make the most money.

Paco Alonso was also in charge of the promotion during the Mistico boom, though he had increasingly delegated responsibilities for the promotion by the turn of the century. Paco Alonso had a reputation of being hands-off, letting departments run themselves and perhaps not getting involved in times he should. There are stories of luchadors being kept outside his office for hours hoping for a meeting and a secret back door he had to escape from having to hold meetings. There are also stories that don’t really square with that image, of Paco Alonso coming up with ideas for his promotion or socially being friends with some of his luchadors. MLW claimed they were negotiating directly with Alonso over signing Rush contract. Avispa Dorada mentioned Paco Alonso being in a meeting where they were coming up with her name last October, and being involved in the gimmick idea for a fringe person on the roster is hard to fit with this concept of a person who was checked out on wrestling. One after another luchador, including some long gone from the promotion, are praising Paco Alonso on twitter, calling him the best boss they worked for. I’m not sure if we’ll ever really figure out what Paco Alonso really felt about CMLL because he never wanted the public to know; he doesn’t even seem to get a page in the 85th Anniversary book that he commissioned.

The one thing that is certain is there will be change with CMLL. It may not happen right away and it may not happen in front of our eyes, but it’ll happen no matter if Sofia Alonso is truly in charge or just the face of the company. There’s just always going to be adjustments when ownership changes. AAA’s seen it a bit subtly after Joaquin Roldan passed away. It was more dramatic when Antonio Pena passed away. Nothing changed at first, just like nothing should be expected to happen right away with CMLL. But after about a year, people who had been there for a long time saw changes they didn’t like and left, or getting them to leave were actually those changes. I’d assume that whatever is in place for September is still in place for September, but new directions will have to be made and not everyone will be wanting to follow them.

CMLL is a promotion that’s been frozen even harder in place for a long time, with plenty of people whose principal qualification for their jobs was mutual loyalty with Paco Alonso, just like there were people who had roles in AAA primarily because Antonio Pena liked them. That’s going to change now. All wrestling promotions change slightly over time, but there’s going to be substantial changes in CMLL going forward. I have no idea if that’s a good thing.

the rest of CMLL news

LuchaWorld has a great bio of Perro Aguayo. You should stop reading anything else I’m writing here and go read that instead.

CMLL (SAT) 07/06/2019 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Apocalipsis & Inquisidor b Bengala & Leono
rudos took 1/3
2) Eléctrico, Magnus, Príncipe Diamante b Cholo, El Coyote, Grako
tecnicos took 2/3
3) Skadi b Tiffany [lightning]
Skadi wins in 8:07
4) Drone, Fuego, Stigma b Okumura, Sangre Azteca, Universo 2000 Jr.
tecnicos took 1/3
5) Kráneo, Stuka Jr., Volcano b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
tecnicos took 2/3
6) Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Niebla Roja b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Templario
tecnicos took 2/3

Skadi defeating Tiffany seems like a bit of an upset.

CMLL (SUN) 07/07/2019 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
tecnicos took 2/3
2) Cancerbero, Príncipe Odín Jr., Raziel b Halcón Suriano Jr., Magia Blanca, Magnus
rudos took 1/3
3) Avispa Dorada, Lluvia, Mystique DQ Amapola, La Seductora, Tiffany
Mystique’s return from Japan.
4) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Niebla Roja b Dark Magic, Ephesto, Luciferno
tecnicos took 2/3
5) Terrible © b Valiente [MEX HEAVY]
Terrible took 1/3. 5th defense. Paco Alonso’s death was announced after this match.
6) Dragón Lee, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas
Soberano pinned Negro Casas with a casita.

Not many details on this show. There’s no detail on the DQ. There are not many photos either, which suggests to me that (about 6 pm) is when the people covering the show were told about Paco Alonso’s death and had to drop everything to prepare the press release and the video they showed. There’s a promo from Mystique talking about her return and the lottery and no more – it seems like they stopped filming these after the announcement.

ROH is now saying “two stars” from CMLL who have never competed in ROH will debut on their Toronto show. One is “the most requested star.” There’s no time to go thru all the possibilities but there are also not many people you’d consider stars who have not yet debuted in Ring of Honor. The most requested certainly sounds like Cavernario, who has not wrestled in Ring of Honor to this point.

Ring of Honor teased a Dragon Lee vs Jonathan Gresham show for 07/20 in New York.

Wrestlers from Ring of Honor’s training school are scheduled for a DTU tour in October.

Dragon Lee & Caristico were pictured on an advertisement for the NJPW Super J Cup, running 08/22 to 0825. NJPW has yet to officially announce names. Dragon Lee is an obvious choice but it’d be a little bit disappointing if they didn’t pull in anyone more creative from CMLL than Caristico. Then again, visa issues probably play a heavy role in selection.

AAA in Jalisco

AAA TV (SAT) 07/06/2019 Palcco de Zapopan, Zapopan, Jalisco[AAA, Lucha Central, thecubsfan]
1) Keyra, Low Rider, Mini Psycho Clown b Aramis, La Parkita, Vanilla
11:54. Keyra won via Devil’s Wings. Vanilla & Keyra fought post match.
2) Big Mami, Dinastía, Niño Hamburguesa b Arez, Hijo del Tirantes, Lady Maravilla
12:13. Nino Hamburgesa splashed Arez after more problems with him and Mami over Maravilla.
3) Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Myzteziz Jr. b Chik Tormenta, Eterno, La Parka Negra
14:14. Vikingo beat Parka Negra with reverse 450 splash
4) Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana b Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata
11:25. Mocha Cota frog splash on Mamba.
5) Drago © DQ Daga [AAA LA]
Drago won by DQ when Daga was caught using the knucks by replacement referee Piero (replacing Hijo del Tirantes)
6) La Parka, Murder Clown, Puma King b Dave The Clown, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr.
8:35. La Parka hit Dave the Clown with a chair.
7) Aerostar, Pagano, Psycho Clown b Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly
13:51. A Super Fly splash led to a Chessman pinfall over Pagano after they had been feuding during the match (and in an opening promo; Pagano wants a stipulation match.)

This was a good show that already feels like it happened a long time ago. Matches 1 & 3 were the best with most everything else being fine. No OGT/Jinetes on this show. With AAA, if they don’t follow up the feud immediately, there’s like a 75% chance they’ll never get around to it again. The replacement venue they had in Zapopan looked like a replacement arena, a long narrow open-air space not ideally constituted for something like a lucha libre show. The crowd seemed into the show but it didn’t seem like a huge. 2,000 people is nothing to scoff at in wrestling in 2019, but that amount of people would’ve looked terrible in the original building. Maybe more people would’ve come to the place or maybe it’ll again be a long time before AAA returns to Guadalajara.

The next taping is 11 days away in Aguascalientes.

Other news

Correction Department: I’m not totally confident who holds The Crash Tag Team championship. I think it probably is Bestia & Mecha Wolf, unlike what I had Saturday. LA Park and Hijo de LA Park beat them on Friday in what was supposed to be a tag title match. The Crash never mentioned the match on their site, and two reports I’ve seen on the show don’t mention the titles actually changing hands. Situations like this tend to occur when luchadors are brought in under the expectation they’ll be taking a loss and then decide the night of the show that they’ll not be doing that. Don’t know if that happened here, but LA Park doesn’t take many losses.

At that Crash show, Rey Mysterio was asked by el Sol de Tijuana if he had thoughts about Perro Aguayo’s death. He said he had no comment and apologized for having nothing to say. Obviously, he’s got strong an emotional connection to Aguayo family following Perro Jr.’s death, something that was once again wrongly blamed on him in some of the wire stories about his father passing away. I took his no comment as being too emotional to say anything.

Rush & Dragon Lee and Fenix & Pentagon had an absurd finish in their match on Saturday. They weren’t killing it earlier either. They added Mistico & Bestia to the match for Sunday and that’s how they got to a finish (Mistica on Bestia.) I’d recommend indie promoters either stop booking that match if they care about good finishes or add on other people. I think the Lucha Brothers/Munoz matches are going to keep getting booked as a dream match but I don’t think people are ever going to be happy with the results unless it happens in a major promotion that’s able to sway them. Fenix & Penta seem willing to do business pretty much everywhere else (assuming they get there), while it is hard to find a Munoz family member taking a real loss outside of CMLL/ROH/NJPW at this point.

Saturday’s RO Wrestling show appeared to be attended by a couple of dozen judging from the photos. And maybe they weren’t bothering to charge admission? The good news is it’ll be new to pretty much everyone when it airs on +LuchaTV, though it seemed like the card changed quite a bit.

Nitro & Dick Riviera won the APC Tag Team Championship.

A wrestling themed street outdoor theatre production called “La gran lucha del mundo” has started in Mexico CIty. Ludark Shaitan is playing on of the parts.

City workers, including police, were required to sell at least 10 tickets for a lucha libre show in Huejotzingo, Puebla. If they didn’t sell the tickets, it was to be deducted from their pay.

AAA on Twitch: 2019-07-06

July 7, 2019July 7, 2019 thecubsfan 1 Comment

Recapped: 07/06/2019

The entire show was broadcast from PALCCO in Zapopan. The arena, such as it was, seemed narrow and long with a lot of fans being far away from the action. The crowd was into the show but this would not be a good building to use again.

Matches:

Keyra, Low Rider, Mini Psycho Clown beat Aramis, La Parkita, Vanilla
(11:54, Keyra Devi’s Wings Vanilla, good, 00:27:51)

Big Mami, Dinastía, Niño Hamburguesa beat Arez, Hijo del Tirantes, Lady Maravilla
(12:13, Nino Hamburguesa top rope splash Arez, ok, 00:51:09)

Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Myzteziz Jr. beat Chik Tormenta, Eterno, La Parka Negra
(14:14, Vikingo reverse 450 splash Parka Negra, great, 01:14:10)

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata
(11:25, Mocha Cota frog splash Mamba, ok, 01:38:16)

Drago © beat Daga for the AAA Latin American Championship
(18:30, DQ for weapon usage, below average, 01:57:15)

La Parka, Murder Clown, Puma King beat Dave The Clown, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr.
(8:35, La Parka chair shot Dave the Clown, ok, 02:21:31)

Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly beat Aerostar, Pagano, Psycho Clown
(13:51, Super Fly splash → Chessman pin Pagano, ok, 02:38:58)

What happened:

The TripleMania card may have forgotten the Chessman/Pagano feud but he has not. The show opened with Pagano asked for any sort of stipulation match with Chessman, who declared he was too big of a star to wrestle Pagano. That started a fight which eventually included all of the main eventers. After Aerostar accidentally took out Psycho Clown with a dive, OGT defeated Pagano cleanly.

Hijo del Tirantes started as referee for the Daga/Chessman match but was replaced by Piero in mid match for allowing Daga to use the knucks. Tirantes stuck around as Daga’s second and distracted Piero at other times. Daga finally was caught using the knucks to knock out Drago and Piero disqualified him. (The following match also had a KO finish with a weapon and was not a DQ.) An angry Daga knocked out a security person and was eventually misted by Drago.

Nino Hamburguesa again refused to hurt Lady Maravilla and stopped Big Mami from doing so. Mami still managed to middle splash Maravilla. Maravilla was urgently strechered out of the match, apparently knocked unconscious via splash and Nino Hamburguesa left with her. The tecnicos were close to winning when Hamburguesa came back for his splash. He angrily walked out on Mami after the match.

Keyra and Vanilla fought after their match in something that didn’t seem to fit in a storyline.

Thoughts:

This wasn’t as strong overall as the Wednesday show, but the peak of the matches might have been better. The AAA early match luchadors continue to be talented and have the freedom to show the talent. It goes a long way to make these cards enjoyable.

The top two matches could fit into the same category. Standard AAA trios matches which were professional if not particularly memorable. Los Mercenarios weren’t in the main event and so got an easier night for once, having a simple match before Parka got a win over Dave the Clown. The main event was a bit more in depth, with Chessman running from Pagano. It had a little more action too, with Psycho Clown probably doing the most out of anyone of his team. The payoff to Chessman/Pagano – Super Fly doing a frog splash and Chessman happening to be the one to cover – really wasn’t much for the attention put on it. That seemed like time for a finish to lead to a specific stipulation match but maybe they haven’t figured it out yet.

Daga versus Drago was a disappointment. Drago hasn’t even been a strong long singles match wrestler and this match played against his strengths. Daga was the bigger sore spot. He felt like a random foreign Impact wrestler brought into AAA from years past, with AAA doing a million things to distract from the match up not being good. Daga should be good. Daga came into AAA a long time ago as a guy who was so good at the wrestling part of wrestling that he didn’t need a gimmick in a promotion full of them. Now he’s a guy using a hidden object and a heel referee to get heat in his matches. I don’t know what happened here but it just feels like the whole Daga character is lost at this point. There is a space for a rudo character who is good at wrestling while being arrogant and entitled about it – essentially the character Tessa’s done in other promotions – but instead, Daga has the sort of stuff they’d give to Ciber the Main Man when he physically can have a good match. The knucks spots worked fine in the context of this match but not in the context of the promotion – both in what makes sense in the rules and what is actually working on these shows. This AAA stint has just been a negative for Daga; I hope the DQ is a way to the close the chapter on the knucks bit, but I fear Daga not winning a title here means matches with Fenix or Laredo Kid down the road. Not all of that is on Daga but singles title matches are so rare in AAA – this was only the third this year – that it’s extra frustrating to see them be wasted like this.

Exoticos/Poder del Norte was a little better than expected. Maximo seemed to be in a mood to do a lot and his partners weren’t a problem. Poder del Norte were as efficient as always and it was nice to see them get a win, but the match felt a few minutes long for this matchup and could’ve ended after the usual kiss spot.

There was a messy section in the middle of the match – that’s where it always seems to be – but it was more than made up by work at other points. They’ve figured out how to make Jinetes del Aire consistently look like stars in these fast moving trios matches as long as the tecnicos can hit their spots. They hit them well on this show. Eterno has been great in every shot AAA’s given him this year and they’re steadily giving him more. He’s always been good and seemingly lacked a strong gimmick or look to get him a bigger chance, so maybe his IWRG team with Demonio Infernal was the best thing to happen to him. The crazy run of moves at the end was strong and Parka Negra & Hijo del Vikingo did well in their extended sequence.

Never much new to report in the Big Mami/Nino Hamburguesa/Lady Maravilla matches. Arez did some cool stuff and matched up well with Dinastia. Hijo del Tirantes didn’t get in the way. The storyline continues to dominate these matches. The story is better than these matches. Mami isn’t listed in Aguascalientes, so this might be the last running in place trios for this storyline, or at least running in this particular place.

The opener was lots of fun, easily the second best of the show. There was a lot of energy from those who aren’t on TV a lot. Vanilla seems like she may have improved on the constant spot show loop. Low Rider was crazy. Aramis had some cool sequences, especially with Keyra. Keyra looked more like a killer than last time out; the post-match scrum made me wonder if perhaps she had been too much of a killer for Vanilla’s liking. La Parkita remains super hit or miss but didn’t knock himself out this time. This was a little out of control at times while still original.

NGD keep trios titles, AAA in Guadalajara tonight, The Crash

July 6, 2019July 6, 2019 thecubsfan

CMLL (FRI) 07/05/2019 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Lucha Central, Marca, Record, thecubsfan]
1) Espanto Jr. & Hijo del Signo b Robin & Súper Astro Jr.
12:32. Rudos took 1/3. Espanto picked up a right shoulder injury but came back to finish the match.
2) Pegasso, Rey Cometa, Star Jr. DQ Okumura, Pólvora, Virus
11:41. Tecnicos took straight falls, the last when Polvora unmasked Star Jr.
3) Atlantis Jr. DCOR Hijo del Villano III [lightning]
7:44. Both kept fighting on the outside until they were separated.
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © b Esfinge, Titán, Tritón [MEX TRIOS]
23:30. NGD took 2/3 to retain. 11th defense.
5) Ciber the Main Man, Místico, Rey Bucanero DQ Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
8:41. Guerreros took 1/3. Ciber unmasked Gran Guerrero.
6) Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Gilbert el Boricua, La Bestia Del Ring, Terrible
7:58, tecnicos took 1/3.

CMLL promos include Okumura talking about his return, Ciber sending a message to Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero asking for his own shot against Ciber, Valiente & Caristico talking about the main event, and NGD celebrating a win. Plus Atlantis Jr. and Hijo del Villano III talk about a rematch, where Villano III’s mask is so ripped that he has to hold a hand in front of his face.

Pressroom interviews: Atlantis Jr., Hijo del VIllano III, Ciber, Gilbert.

A better show then it looked on paper, with the fourth match between good and the 3/5 turning out stronger than it seemed. They gave a title match a lot of time and took it away from other matches to get done at the usual hour. That was probably for the best for the main event. UG/Cibernetico and the Liger show were hyped a bit.

CMLL is selling a special package for a Jushin Thunder Liger meet and greet, which also includes a hat, a shirt, a poster, and a ticket, in a Liger fan section for 1,500 pesos. That’s $79 US, which seems at least half the price of just the meet & greet in the US.

Last year, Dragon Lee surprisingly won the APW/PWR 2018 King of the Indies. Last night, Dragon Lee even more surprisingly won the APW/PWR 2019 King of the Indies again, defeating Jake Atlas in the final. The same wrestler never wins one of this indie tournaments back to back. It sticks out here because Dragon Lee defeated actual California indie guys to win and he is not one himself. I’d imagine fans went into that final sure believing rising local star Atlas was winning.

Audaz had been advertised for the summer Lucha Libre Voom show but doesn’t appear on the talent list as of yesterday. The show has Cavernario & Flamita among others so it should be fun. It may mean Audaz doesn’t have his visa yet.

The Crash (FRI) 07/05/2019 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [@JorgeGCRR, The Crash, Zona Ruda]
1) Dinámico & Tiago b Ryan Kidd & Xperia
2) Gallito Tapatío & Microman b Chamuel & Guapito
3) Bugambilia, Luke Hawx, Pj Hawx b Black Danger, Mortiz, Oráculo
Rey Mysterio appeared in front of the crowd before the match. Luke pinned Oraculo. Black Danger & Mortiz attacked Oraculo after the match and Danger promised new rudos.
4) Rey Horus © b El Bandido, The King, Xtreme Tiger [THE CRASH HEAVY]
1st defense. Horus pinned Bandido.
5) Animal, Demencia, Silver Star DQ Arandú, Star Boy, Zarco
Angel Garza & Lacey Lane appeared in the ring to say hi to the crowd with Rebelion Amarilla before the match. Viento has left The Crash and Arandu replaced him on the Los Haraganes team. Great match Mask/hair match challenges followed. Arandu is bald so he offered his career.
6) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja b LSG & Shaheem Ali
7) Hijo de LA Park & LA Park b Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf © [THE CRASH TAG]
Parks win the title. Rebelion Amarilla fall on their 1st defense.

Strong turnout for this one. I want to credit Mysterio for being the draw because his meet & greet looked packed but it may have been a bit of a group effort. The fifth match sounds like the best match on the show.

There were cameras there taping the show for American media. I have no idea that means. The Rey/Garza/Lane appearance on this show seems weird, but maybe there’s some tie-up with WWE to get footage of them in front of an excited Mexican crowd. Those three never wrestled or set up, which would be a definite sign of a bigger relationship.

Not sure about the next The Crash show. They were promoting a card on 07/27 called Apocalipsis. However, that appears to be the name of the Tr3s Caidas show on the same day. The Crash promoted the Baja Wrestling card on their last show so maybe this was helping out another promotion? If The Crash is not running 07/27 themselves, they’re gone for a while – their calendar had a scheduled break during August and a return on September 7th.

AAA is back tonight on Twitch before taking another week and a half off. They’re scheduled to start at 8 pm CT. The taping is still in Zapopan, though they appear to have been moved into a much smaller venue. There is a card but it probably will change some. Drago/Daga and Jinetes/OGT were set up for this show, with only one actually scheduled. The talent roster isn’t as strong as in San Luis Potosi but those two matches should be interesting enough to be worth checking out.

Lanzelot, who is Eclipse on AAA TV now, appeared as Lanzelot in a promotional interview on TV Azteca’s Facebook. The Eclipse gimmick comes from a Space TV show, so perhaps he’s not doing on Azteca.

Saturday’s Arena Coliseo show has nothing special. There is an RO show at Arena San Juan where Negro Casas vs Metaleon is scheduled but I’m not sure if Metaleon is back yet. He was promoting appearing at a show earlier this week. Sunday shows include the Madriza promoted show at CAR The Crash with Fenix/Freelance and Arez/Pentagon. I think it would be a bad idea for Pentagon to murder Arez before he got his AEW deal, just putting that out there. Terrible defends the national heavyweight championship against Valiente in Arena Mexico. That title hasn’t meant much so a title change is possible but not certain. IWRG has a women and exoticos cage match where someone’s losing their hair. I will guess Oscar el Hermoso.

Anarkia Punk, a San Luis Potosi luchador, was shot to death while resisting a mugging attack on Thursday.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 07/12/2019 Arena México
1) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Príncipe Diamante vs El Coyote & Grako
2) Chamuel, Guapito, Zacarias el Perico vs Átomo, Gallito Tapatío, Microman
3) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Ephesto, Hijo del Villano III, Mephisto
4) Titán, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
5) Dragón Lee, Místico, Rush vs Gilbert el Boricua, Mr. Niebla, The Chris
6) Último Guerrero vs Ciber the Main Man

Ultimo Guerrero and Ciber has happened prior. It wasn’t really good. Oh well.

A rare Friday Munoz family team up has them working with less than ideal opponents. The fourth match looks like the best match on the lineup.

Mexa Wrestling (SUN) 07/14/2019 Arena Naucalpan
1) Toro Negro vs Bombero Infernal
2) Mega & Ultra Mega vs Oficial 911 & Oficial AK47 and Comando Alfa & Comando Gama
3) Jessy Ventura, Zorayita, Zoy Raymunda vs Apolo Estrada, Avisman, El Hijo del Diablo
4) Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro vs Freelance, Mike Segura, Pantera I
5) Demonio Infernal & Lunatik Extreme vs El Diablo & Lady Flammer [table, chair]
6) Arkángel Divino & Dragón Bane vs Hijo de Canis Lupus & Último Maldito [Relevos Increíbles]
7) The Tiger vs Aramis, Toxin, Rey Horus, Puma de Oro
8) Imposible vs Fresero Jr., Dinamic Black, Black Dragón, Atomic Star, Eterno, Black Danger (Baja California), Aero Boy, Centurion, Hausser, Baby Star, Fly Warrior [cage, mask, hair]

Seems like a mix of a MexaWrestling show and an IWRG retro show. Maybe less a mix than a combination, with so many people booked. Puma de Oro seems to be getting a big opportunity to be mixed in with bigger name guys than usual.

CMLL on Marca: 2019-07-05

July 5, 2019July 5, 2019 thecubsfan

Recapped: 07/05/2019

Matches:

Espanto Jr. & Hijo del Signo beat Robin & Súper Astro Jr.
(12:32 [4:40, 2:19, 5:33], 1/3, below average, 00:00:00)

Pegasso, Rey Cometa, Star Jr. beat Okumura, Pólvora, Virus
(11:14 [6:21, 4:53], 1/2 DQ, ok, 00:19:25)

Atlantis Jr. went to a draw against Hijo del Villano III in a lightning match
(7:44, countout of the ring, good, 00:39:13)

Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © beat Esfinge, Titán, Tritón to keep the Mexican National Trios Championship
(23:30 [7:20, 4:23, 11:47], 2/3, good, 00:57:20)

Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Soberano Jr. beat Ciber the Main Man, Místico, Rey Bucanero in a relevos increíbles match
(8:41 [1:34, 2:22, 4:45], 1/3 DQ, ok, 01:31:27)

Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. beat Gilbert el Boricua, La Bestia Del Ring, Terrible
(7:58 [2:00, 3:15, 2:43], 1/3, below average, 01:50:17)

What happened:

Ciber unmasked Gran Guerrero to end the semi-main and to build towards next week’s singles match with Ultimo Guerrero

NGD retained the national trios titles over OneAtos Style.

Perro Aguayo was honored after the third match. It was the same video package and clapping as every other death, which seemed a bit underwhelming for someone who was as important to the fans as Perro.

Atlantis Jr. and Hijo del Villano III were brawling outside when the count reached twenty. They continued to fight after the match was stopped.

Polvora unmasked Star Jr. to end the second match.

Espanto Jr. appeared to suffer a right shoulder injury on a Super Astro Jr. dive in the second fall of the opener. His countout felt a bit unplanned. He refused to tag in during the third fall, was eventually checked on, and then finished the match to get the win for his team. He was back out in street clothes without a sling or any visible sign of injury for the Perro tribute.

Thoughts:

This show was better than it looked on paper. The main event was about nothing and the opener really had the Super Astro dive in it’s favor. The rest was around as good or better than expected.

The semi-main was a totally weird alignment, with one team working much better than the other. Soberano had cool teamwork ideas with the Guerreros, playing off the hundred of times they’ve thrown him around. Mistico and Soberano showed good chemistry as rivals and Mistico against these tecnicos is always going to have a few eye-catching moments. Rey Bucanero and Ciber were out of place, though the entire reason the match was happening was to get to Ciber unmasking Gran Guerrero to tease the match next week.

The Guadalajara version of this national trios championship match was a bit more dramatic. This one lacked a moment where the challengers seemed close to actually winning. They did have an on point for Triton, who pulled off a few incredible spots. Titan and Esfinge, for better and worse, are generally coming thru at the same level in these so Triton’s performances can really swing things. NGD was effective as a team though they’ve had more creative matches and didn’t feel as pushed as they were against the Oro/Roja/Soberano team. The finish was set up nicely, except for the CMLL cameras (missed it live) and Metalico) messed up the count. This is one where I had a hard time deciding on the grade.

feels like Soberano might have wanted to do more than this but had to adjust

Same thing with the lightning match. It’s Atlantis Jr.’s best and maybe most important match yet. He’s looked like a slight pale imitation of his father, with an extra headscissors thrown in, to this point. Atlantis Jr. really needed some offense to stand out on his own in a promotion built around tecnicos doing cool flippy stuff. (Just look at all the GIFs.) Gran Metalik is going to be very upset when he sees Atlantis Jr. took his ramp running headscissors, but he isn’t using it anymore and it helps Atlantis Jr. a great deal. Atlantis looked generally good during the match and Hijo del Villano III Jr. was willing to take the necessary bumps for him. They’re both progressing and not really ready roles they’re in, but CMLL doesn’t seem like they’re going to turn the heat down on this feud soon.

The second was an efficient professional CMLL midcard match. It was a lot of the usual stuff – you can put the Rey Cometa match in your head before it happens now – but it came together fine. Okumura didn’t stick out in his return and that was good news. Star Jr. was the one guy who seemed to be trying a bit more and a little differently, which was promising.

The opener was a usual opener that derailed a bit after Espanto’s injury. Super Astro Jr. is a future star if CMLL treats him like one. Leaving him in the openers hurts. Having him lose in the openers hurts more. I like Pegasso but Astro should be at least in his spot right now.

NGD vs OneAtos & Atlantis/Villano III tonight, Aguayo, Liger

July 5, 2019July 5, 2019 thecubsfan 1 Comment

AAA , ROSALES (THU) 07/04/2019 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV]
1) Bee Bop, Carlix Jr., La Parkita b Máscarita Negra, Parkita Negra, The Mummy
2) Máscara de Bronce, Mini Psycho Clown, Niño De Cobre, Raptor b Hantar, Karma I, Lunatik Fly, Máscara Oriental
3) Big Mami & Niño Hamburguesa © b King Balam & Lady Maravilla [AAA MIXED TAG]
4) Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana b Hijo Del Vikingo, Joe Lider, Myzteziz Jr.
rematch challenges followed
5) Psycho Clown b Pentagón Jr., Pagano [sin reglas]

Strong turnout for this show. Bee Bop is indeed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle character. The Mommy is a mummy.

The bigger matches on tonight’s CMLL card are the ones in the middle of it. Atlantis Jr. & Hijo del Villano III, who’ve been feuding since Villano debuts late last year, will have their first singles match tonight. CMLL has put those two guys against each other constantly but they haven’t shown any great chemistry yet. They’re both very raw and maybe not ready for such a high profile chance, though maybe they’ll get something out of the experience even in a loss.

The other middle match of importance is the NGD defending the national trios titles against the OneAtos Trios of Esfinge, Titan and Triton. This is a rematch from Guadalajara earlier this year which turned out pretty good the first time. The chances of a title change are very slim, the action should be pretty strong.

The rest is a weird grab bag. Caristico, Valiente, and Volador are scheduled to face terrible, La Bestia del Ring and Gilbert el Boricua in a bad mix. In theory, this could be Gilbert’s last CMLL match if working for Nacion Lucha Libre limits his ability to work on Televisa shows. Ciber strangely teams with Rey Bucanero and Mistico against Euforia, Gran Guerrero and Soberano. It keeps Ciber against the Guerreros in preparation for next week’s singles match with Ultimo Guerrero, though in an odd combination.

Pegasso, Rey Cometa and Star Jr. vs Okumura, Polvora, and Virus is more normal. Super Astro & Robin have to deal with Espanto Jr. & Hijo del Signo.

The show starts at 8:30 pm and will be streamed on Marca and their youtube. I’ll stream it too, which hopefully will go better this week.

Lucha Central has a preview of the show.

Fray Tormenta will be signing autographs at Arena Mexico today, which is an unusual occurrence. They’ve used him in angles over the years and I guess there’s a chance of that happening again. I’m booking in my head a bit where Fray Tormenta gives Mistico permission to no longer be Mistico, which is surely not going to actually happen.

The Crash returns tonight, with a Bestia/Mecha Wolf vs LA Parks main event. Rey Horus vs Bandido vs Fenix vs Xtreme Tiger for The Crash heavyweight title sounds promising. The CMLL micros are there as well as Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja facing Ring of Honor’s Coast 2 Coast.

The King of the Indies tournament takes place tonight in California, with that Laredo Kid vs Dragon Lee first round match-up. It also does appear as if it’s streaming anywhere.

Laredo Kid has another match on Impact tonight.

Perro Aguayo

Perro Aguayo will be cremated today. Kahn-Del-Mal told the press that Aguayo passed away from a heart attack. +LuchaTV has video from the funeral service.

Ray Mendoza talks about Perro Aguayo refusing to eat at the same table with him at restaurants when they were feuding, feeling it was important to keep the in-ring rivalry going at all times. Mendoza says Aguayo’s matches were influenced by a philosophy that the fans paid to see them fight, not rest, so they had to always keep fighting. Mascara 2000 calls Aguayo the most complete luchador he ever faced.

YouRocket looks at Aguayo’s career.

Most of +LuchaTV interviews from after the AAA San Luis Potosi show are talking about Perro Aguayo. Konnan talks about Perro Aguayo making him as a star, Blue Demon says his first match was with Perro Aguayo, Rey Escorpion says he wrestled with Aguayo as a very young man, Dr. Wagner talks about Aguayo joining his father and brother.

In AAA news, Rey Escorpion says he’s definitely on the TripleMania card and has a surprise coming.

Other notes

Toxin says he hopes to return to the ring in August. He’s been out since January due to injury. MexaWrestling seemed to be teasing returning this month on Facebook.

There are free lucha libre classes in Tampico.

There’s a discussion of restarting a wrestling union in Aguascalientes that’s been dormant for 20 years.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Puma King talks about his travel woes in Ireland.

GCW/Black Label Pro are running a late night show in the Chicago area on Friday night of AEW’s All Out weekend. Black Label usually runs in Indiana, but this location looks about 10 minutes away from the Starcast venue. They’ve announced Black Taurus vs Rey Horus vs Steve Pain vs Arez vs Gringo Loco vs Ophidian for that show. Between that and the AAW tournament inside the city that’s already announced Laredo Kid and Warrior Wrestling hyping seemingly a half dozen guys from CMLL, there’s going to be lucha options that weekend

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 07/09/2019 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Black Sugar, Magnum, Metatrón vs Capitán Cobra, Mr. Apolo, Relámpago Azul
2) Marcela, Mystique, Skadi vs Dalys, Reyna Isis, Tiffany
3) El Audaz, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Virus
4) Místico, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
5) Atlantis, Kráneo, Valiente vs La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible

A show.

CMLL (TUE) 07/09/2019 Arena México
1) Robin & Sonic vs Cholo & Yago
2) Pegasso, Stigma, Súper Astro Jr. vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Espíritu Negro
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Rey Cometa vs Dark Magic, Kawato San, Pólvora
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. vs Felino, Negro Casas, Tiger
5) Carístico, Flyer, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Templario
6) Dragón Lee vs Cavernario

You never know on a Tuesday but Dragon Lee & Cavernario are two of the guys least likely to take a night. Negro Casas working third for the top is rather stacked for a Tuesday night show.

CMLL , Lucha Libre Real (SAT) 07/20/2019 Arena Coliseo
1) Black Panther & Blue Panther Jr. vs Cuervo & Dark Scoria and Akuma & Demus and Demasiado & Drako
2) Esfinge, Star Jr., Tritón vs Imposible, Legendario, Leviatham and Warrior Jr., Gladiador, Troyano
3) Máscara Año 2000 vs Virus, Guerrero Maya, Sangre Azteca, Súper Astro, Scorpió Jr., Black Warrior, Okumura
4) Sansón, Tiger, Trauma I vs Forastero, Niebla Roja, Trauma II[Relevos Increíbles]
5) Jushin Liger vs Negro Casas [1 minute]
6) Jushin Liger vs Blue Panther [1 minute]
7) Jushin Liger vs Atlantis [1 minute]
8) Jushin Liger vs Carístico [1 minute]
9) Jushin Liger vs Ángel de Oro [1 minute]
10) Jushin Liger vs Titán [1 minute]
11) Jushin Liger vs Felino [1 minute]
12) Jushin Liger vs Mr. Águila [1 minute]
13) Jushin Liger vs Cuatrero [1 minute]
14) Jushin Liger vs Aeroboy [1 minute]
15) Negro Casas vs Blue Panther, Atlantis, Carístico, Ángel de Oro, Titán, Felino, Mr. Águila, Cuatrero, Aeroboy [battle royal]
16) Jushin Liger vs ?

The big idea here is Liger will face ten men for one minute each, then there will be a battle royal to see who gets a real match with him. (This one-minute thing has been done in Japan for retirement matches.) The small idea is Lucha Libre Real booked too many people for this show. The final has to be Liger vs Negro Casas or Liger vs Blue Panther or everyone goes home a bit unsatisfied. I’m glad for Aeroboy to get to say he wrestled Liger but I’m not sure most of those names serve the purpose of putting on a good show.

Honestly unsure if it is Super Astro or Super Astro Jr. in the third. I’m thinking it is more likely to be the father because that’s Black Terry Guerrero Maya in the match and not the CMLL one.

I keep thinking there’s meant to be a Sunday Liger show but perhaps not since no one’s announced one.

PALL (SUN) 07/28/2019 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fight Panther, Mandala, Samurya Jr. vs Aero Panther, Dragón Suicida, Vengador Radioactivo and Lady Pink, Optimus, Radioactivo
2) Amnesia, Extreme Fly, Mr. Chivo, Súper Nono, Vaquero De Texas Jr. vs Black Dragón, Chico Che, El Divino, Golden Dragón, Shadow
3) Camuflaje, Cobre, Kalth, Moria, Pesadilla vs Aspirantito, Atomic Star, Belial, Impulso, Mike Segura
4) ?, Carta Brava, Fantasma de la Ópera vs Crazy Boy, Malkriado, Poseidón
5) Kid Silver & Marshe Rockett vs Aeroboy & Draztick Boy and ? & Eterno
6) Trauma I & Trauma II vs Dragón Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus
7) Pagano vs Demus, Crazy King, Wotan

This is the end result of the DTU/Lucha Libre Boom Faecbook feuding. Acapulco’s NOBA is involved, as well as the new Chicago’s Guerrero Azteca Wrestling. Golden Magic & Marshe Rockett (who was very briefly part of Impact) are in as part of that tie-up.

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