RIOT, more Ciber/UG, Super J Cup, ROH/CMLL

I should be asleep right now but I’m instead typing up something that’ll show up while I’m on a flight and may be out of date. I did make a deal with myself that I’d finish this update now and then not bring my laptop on about 48 hour trip. You may not see any news in this space until Sunday, though there’s still a roundup post coming later.

I’m attending the RIOT show tonight in Monterrey. This is day 1 of a 2 night tournament to crown their first champion. First-round match ups are:

• Arez vs Demonio del Aire
• Aramis vs Latigo
• Douki vs Belial
• Low Rider (replacing injured Dralion) vs Tony Rodriguez
• Erik Ortiz vs Fuego del Sol
• Madness vs Iron Kid

My gut picks Arez, Aramis, Douki, Tony Rodriguez, Erik Ortiz, and Madness but I could go 0-6. I’m not really worried about being right as the matches; the sky is the limit for Aramis vs Latigo and there are others not far behind. I’m a little bit obsessive on trying to figure out what and who’s next, and there’s a lot of people who could be next on this show. Aramis made it to PWG a year before even I thought, and guys like Arez, Latigo, and Iron Kid could’ve easily been in that place. They may be in that place next year. Douki is a legend for making it in the Best of Super Junior and hopefully will get saluted like one. There are also guys like Ortiz, who I didn’t really think of a huge amount when I first started watching this promotion and then won me over with his style. Also Low Rider’s a crazy person and I don’t even understand half the things he does. This show is going to deliver, the RIOT shows have had a great track record so far, it’s just a matter of how good it’s going to be. And there are also two good tag matches on the show.

It’d be cool if this was something streamed live or even on VOD quickly, but that doesn’t seem in the cards. I didn’t want to wait until it surfaced – and also wanted to hang out with friends (or sit in the corner and saying little, let’s be real here) – so I’m going to see it live. I’ll probably write or speak a lot of words about it later.

Lucha Central has a preview of tonight’s CMLL show, which I will not be streaming. (You can still watch it here.) The key points:

• do Ciber & Ultimo Guerrero finally agree to the match or is that saved for the Gran Prix?
• do Microman & Chamuel agree to a match? (With the women’s match happening at Aniversario, the micros fit in either next week with a non-stip match or maybe something special for Independence Day?)
• is Volador/Sanson just a random match coming off the Forastero feud or a hint of a title match to come?

Thursday night was a great night for the CMLL luchadors in NJPW’s Super J Cup

• Dragon Lee defeated YOH
• Caristico defeated BUSHI
• Soberano Jr. defeated Rocky Romero

I thought those should be the finishes but CMLL’s track record in NJPW tournaments hasn’t been great, so I wasn’t pleasantly surprised at the outcomes. Caristico meets Soberano in round two on Saturday, which should put Caristico all the way to the semi-finals. Dragon Lee faces Ryusuke Taguchi, and would be a heavy favorite in there. There’s likely going to be a CMLL luchador in the final of this tournament on Sunday night. (All of this is airing on VOD sometime in September.)

Monday’s Puebla lineup:

CMLL (MON) 08/26/2019 Arena Puebla
1) Rey Apocalipsis & Toro Bill Jr. vs El Perverso & Tyson La Bestia
2) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Amapola & Tiffany
3) Ángel de Oro, Flyer, Niebla Roja vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Templario
4) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Stuka Jr., Terrible, Último Guerrero, Valiente vs Big Daddy, Dark Magic, Jay Briscoe, Kenny King, Mark Briscoe, Matt Taven, Mecha Wolf 450, Oráculo
5) Místico vs Soberano Jr.

It runs out the Gran Prix crew is starting on Friday (minus Luke Hawx.) The CMLL team facing them isn’t exactly the CMLL team they’ll face, but it’s a good enough preview and a loaded show with Mistico/Soberano as well. Mexico summer vacations are finishing up but this seems like it’d be a strong card for a turnout.

(I hope the CMLL announcers have finally figured out which one is Jay and which one is Mark.)

Updated CMLL/ROH matches for the September tour.

09/06 Detroit

• Volador Jr., Triton vs Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia
• Marty Scurll, Flip Gordon, PCO, Brody King vs Rey Bucanero, Okumura, Hechicero, Barbaro Cavernario – new

09/07 Chicago

• Volador vs Matt Taven for the ROH Championship
• Rush vs Barbaro Cavernario
• Triton, Caristico, Stuka Jr. vs Jeff Cobb, Jonathan Gresham, Jay Lethal

09/08 Milwaukee

• Briscoes & Barbaro Cavernario vs Bandido, Tracy Williams, Mark Haskins
• Flip Gordon vs PJ Black vs Triton – new