This is late and probably not complete but time moves quick.
RIOT (FRI) 08/23/2019 Arena Femenil, Monterrey, Nuevo León[thecubsfan]
1) Iron Kid (Estado de México) b Madness [RIOT CHAMP, quarterfinal]
2) Douki b Belial [RIOT CHAMP, quarterfinal]
3) Arez b Demonio del Aire [RIOT CHAMP, quarterfinal]
Arez & Demonio del Aire wore each other’s facepaint
4) Prometo b Chik Tormenta, Kratoz
Prometo reverse 450 splash on Kratoz. Tormenta left early with an ankle injury
6) Low Rider b Willy Banderas [RIOT CHAMP, quarterfinal]
Low Rider replaced Dralion (injury), Willy Banderas replaced Tony Rodriguez. Low Rider showed off his Pakistan Championship post match and declared it would now be defended under 24/7 rules. He was immediately beaten by Arez, which led to the title changing hands many times during the weekend.
7) Erick Ortiz b Fuego Del Sol [RIOT CHAMP, quarterfinal]
Kneebar win. Erick Ortiz wore a Kurt Angle-like singlet.
8) Aramis (Estado de México) b Látigo [RIOT CHAMP, quarterfinal]
Aramis won via La Estocada
9) Kaientai & Lord Byron b Fresero Jr. & Mr. Iguana
Los Un-Mexicans had the help of Dash and remain undefeated.
This was a hot weekend in Monterrey and I don’t mean the wrestling. Temperatures were in the 90s during the day and didn’t cool off a lot at night. It was also humid as well, making for tough conditions. (It’d been that way for a while; a wrestler passed out due to the heat on the show the previous week.) It was also very humid, making for slippery situations. I could feel it watching the shows so I’m sure it affected the matches, though they were mostly good.
Aramis & Latigo was the match of the night. Aramis is going to do great in PWG but Latigo is also so good and deserves to be talked about in the top tier of indie guys. I didn’t do ratings as I went along but I think I’d have that Great and at least Douki/Belial (battle of guys I think I like more than most) and Arez/Demoino del Aire at least as Good. I can’t as clearly remember what I thought of Low Rider/Willy but I think it was good. Erik Ortiz/Fuego de Sol was technically good but it took the crowd until the end of the match to get into Fuego and Ortiz is technically proficient but doesn’t connect as much as some of the other guys. The three-way was the least of the matches on night one, but that happened with Chik Tormenta getting hurt early. Tormenta was in town a night early and just offering to work the show when Bryan Villa didn’t make it (again), then got put in a three-way when Tony Rodriguez also didn’t make it It’s never great to get hurt but it’s really can’t be great when you’re a fill-in. (Not a great night for the Guadalajara crew.)
I’d have the main event as Good too but that’s a polarizing opinion. It was a lot of hardcore spots and a lot of comedy and maybe a little bit too much of both. A Jackass themed spot was brilliant though, the kind of thing you can’t do more than once but will definitely work the one time you do it. Watching it live, the silliest spot (that didn’t involve a mascot) involved Mr. Iguana throwing records at Kaientai and Kaientai taking a bump for them. That silly spot also caused Kaientai to need stitches because one of those records actually cut him open. He didn’t get the stitches because he wanted to wrestle the next night.
RIOT (SAT) 08/24/2019 Arena Femenil, Monterrey, Nuevo León[LuchaMania Monterrey, thecubsfan]
1) Erick Ortiz b Low Rider, Douki [RIOT CHAMP, semifinal]
Erik Ortiz defeated Low Rider with a crucifix driver after Douki had taken Low Rider’s jumping cutter finish.
2) Arez b Aramis (Estado de México), Iron Kid (Estado de México)[RIOT CHAMP, semifinal]
Arez defeated Iron Kid hanging spinning reverse DDT. Iron Kid got toped backwards into a post and needed medical attention. One referee got taken out with a Destroyer during the match
3) Demonio del Aire b Sairus
Sairus landed badly on a Spanish Fly on the floor and the match ended soon after.
4) Ayako Hamada b Chik Tormenta
Chik Tormenta was limping during the match. Ayako with a cradle driver. The two agreed to do this again when Tormenta was healthy.
5) Mr. Iguana b Látigo, Willy Banderas, Fuego Del Sol, Catrin, Belial, Byron, Prometo, Kaientai, Yezka El Iguana, Demonio del Aire, Dash, Tablon, Kratoz, Madness [RIOT RUMBLE]
Order of elimination: Latigo (referee Catrin), Catrin (Catrin first betrayed by his fellow referee Kike then pinned by Banderas), Byron (Prometo), Demonio del Aire (pinned by Syrus, not in match), Yezka (Tablon), Tablon left without being beat, Fuego de Sol (Banderas), Banderas (Kaientai), Belial gets beat somewhere around here, Kaientai (Prometo), Prometo (Dash), Dash (Mr. Iguana), Kratoz (Madness), Iguana* (Madness). * indicates new Pakistan champion. Madness pinned Iguana to win the title after the match.
6) Arez b Erick Ortiz [RIOT CHAMP, final]
Arez won with a middle rope Sahrawi Suplex to become RIOT’s first champion. The rest of the roster congratulated both men (and Fuego del Sol won the Pakistan title from Madness as they were clearing the ring.)
Arez/Aramis/Iron Kid was the best match of the weekend. It was a well worked exciting match that probably would’ve been the best had everything gone right. One spot near the end didn’t go right but it was made up for by the accidental drama of Iron Kid seemingly getting the back of his head smashed into a support pillar on a dive. It was a fluke thing – Iron Kid later explained he was thinking off staying clear of the fans when getting hit by the dive and didn’t realize the reason he was clear was that there was a big post – but Iron Kid rising from the dead to perfectly hit huge spots was amazing.
Arez was the correct pick as champion. He was the most over guy of the weekend, both for his entrance theme and for his matches. He had the best of those matches and the fans saw him as a big star. Aramis or Douki might have more buzz elsewhere, but Arez felt like a bigger deal to this crowd. Ortiz seemed like a good pick as an opponent, both in the crowd seems to believe he’s good even if they don’t get into his matches and he could deliver a big match with Arez in the final. It was short – around eight minutes – and relied a lot on fans knowing each guy’s big moves. I’m not sure it would work as well as a standalone match for people who don’t watch a lot of these guys, there are better picks to be found for that here, but it worked as a tournament final.
I don’t know if the tournament worked as a format. These were good shows with a group that’s been selling out regularly and RIOT didn’t appear to sell out either night. Worse, the second night did less than the first. It wasn’t so bad that I worry they lost money, but it seemed to be disappointing This seemed a bit like of damage of the current Monterrey wrestling war (and it is a war, with promotions actively undermining each other) and maybe a bit from the weather (lots of rain on Saturday night), but something just didn’t connect. I know there were fans hoping the tournament would expand to a three-night deal in 2020. That’d be fun for me but it doesn’t seem like an idea enough people would support right now.
Ortiz/Rider/Douki was good. I wasn’t clear if they were doing single falls or elimination three ways until that one ended, and that one ended to make sure the guy with NJPW connections wouldn’t have to be asked to lose. Ayako/Tormenta far overachieved given Tormenta looked to be wrestling on one leg by turning into a brawl. Arez was the most over guy but Tormenta might have been the most over person entirely, and that was even before she impressed everyone once again by gutting out a match. Demonio del Aire & Sairus was not good, actively falling apart. You can see the talent in Demonio del Aire – and guys like Sairus and Madness – there’s obviously something there. They just haven’t put it together yet. It feels impossible to know how they’ll be in two or three years; either they’ll figure out how to patch the holes in their games so there talent isn’t overshadowed by their mistakes or there will be another great promising flyer or base ready to take their spot.
There were being taped for RIOT’s Pivotshare. I’ll link them when they go up, but I don’t know when they’ll go up. Turnaround time has been around three months.
Other weekend results & notes
NLL (SAT) 08/24/2019 Centro Cultural Las Americas, Ecatepec, Estado de México [+LuchaTV]
1) Hijo De Dos Caras b La Máscara, Brazo De Oro Jr.
Cien Caras Jr. distracted Dos Caras. No Bram and Apolo was moved into a different match.
2) Karma I, Máscara Oriental, Relámpago b Hantar, Heddi Karaoui, Kill Korton
3) Súper Nova b Sangre Azteca
Sangre Azteca debuted (replacing Bandido (ROH)) and lost. This was Azteca’s first post-CMLL match.
4) Cuervo, Dark Scoria, Galeno Del Mal b Hijo de LA Park, Jack Evans, LA Park Jr.
Jack Evans debuted, replacing Chavo Guerrero
5) Cien Caras Jr. b Hijo De Dos Caras
Cien Caras replacing Relampago? Both men swapped masks during the match
6) Reina Oscura & Rossy Moreno b Dulce Sexy & Lady Flammer
The two sides continued to fight post-match
7) Hijo De Dos Caras & La Máscara b Apolo & Chavo Guerrero
No Alberto. Chavo broke up with Apolo and turned face.
8) El Patrón Alberto & LA Park b Carlito & El Mesías
Apolo attacked the tecnicos and Hijo de Dos Caras made the save.
9) Solar I & Súper Astro b Black Terry & Negro Navarro
money thrown in
A whole lot of Hijo de Dos Caras on this show. Perhaps they’re taping more in mind for how these episodes are going to air, or perhaps it was just random. There’s a lot of strange things going on with this. Chavo Guerrero was positioned as lead rudo on the press conference and is a tecnico now. Kamile was the lead rudo when the shows started and missed this taping. Bram has been all over recent TVs, and missed this taping. Bram & Kamille (who are a couple at last check) don’t appear to have mentioned this show on social media at any point. The next paragraph seems to suggest one reason.
Pulpomo Renteria, who was an announcer for the first Nacion Lucha Libre taping, posted a video on Twitter saying he hadn’t been paid by the promotion. Adrian Mendoza of +LuchaTV and AAA mentioned other people have also not been paid owed money from Nacion Lucha Libre. There have been rumors of the promoting having issues with money even prior to the first taping, though no one’s publicly said it until now. It’s terrible that people did work and didn’t get paid for the work. Nacion has also looked shaky from the moment it was announced; this always looked like a possible outcome.
Sangre Azteca debuting on the indies and losing his first match seems to say a lot how this is going to go for him.
No next TV taping has been announced yet. This one should start airing this weekend. They’re airing about three new matches a week now, so they might have bought themselves an extra week by added matches. The building seemed maybe half full, and seated like a US TV taping where everyone was grouped together to make it seem more occupied for TV.
IWRG (SUN) 08/25/2019 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, The Gladiatores]
1) Dragón Fly, Marado, Mosca b Auzter, Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro 
2) Atomic Star, Dinamic Black, Eragón b Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka, Toshiharu
Toshiharu (or maybe Yoshitaru, reports varied) is another evil ninja turtle.
3) Black Dragón, Demasiado, Relámpago b Apolo Estrada Jr., Fulgor I, Fulgor II
4) Goya Kong & Lady Maravilla b Faby Apache & Vanilla Vargas
5) Ave Rex, Demonio Infernal, Eterno b Freelance, Hijo del Alebrije, The Tiger
Ave Rex remains undefeated.
6) Máximo, Myzteziz Jr., Niño Hamburguesa, Polvo de Estrellas b Dragón Bane, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Ovett, Súper Nova [Copa High Power]
Hijo del Vikingo appeared to apologize for not wrestling. Polvo de Estrellas (who currently works behind the scenes on AAA spot shows) replaced him. Hamburguesa & Myzteziz replaced Nova & Ovett.
7) Trauma I & Trauma II b Monsther Clown & Murder Clown and Apolo & Fresero Jr.
Fresero replaced Bram and took the pin.
Hijo del Vikingo came to Naucalpan to announce he would be out six weeks from a ruptured MCL on this show. That’s good news in general. It’s disappointing that he got hurt, but knee injuries can be much worse than that and it looked like it might be much worse. It also comes at a time where AAA isn’t really running TV tapings. Vikingo will miss the Puebla show, but that might be the only one in Mexico. The Culiacan date we have would be about 5 weeks 6 days from his injury so he might be able to get thru. The problem is the one other special date, the AAA show in New York, which Vikingo will not be ready for and should not wrestle on. AAA did get Vikingo a visa to work that show – a single entry one, so it wouldn’t apply to any other date – but it looks like he’s not going to be able to use it.
There may be one person who worked this show who is actually reading this and I recommend that person (or any person) to get a picture with the three evil ninja turtles immediately. You never know how long anyone is staying in IWRG, we may never see the third turtle again, and you really shouldn’t pass up a chance to get a photo with three evil ninja turtles.
Dr. Wagner has been added to the 09/07 AAA Twitch show in Puebla show. That’s probably connected to Wagner being advertised and then quickly unadvertised for the MDA show in Naucalpan the same day.
Mexa Wrestling (SAT) 08/24/2019 Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México [+LuchaTV]
1) Hahastary, Sobredosis, Zika b Lilith Dark, Príncipe Aéreo, Torito Negro and Cobre, Lady Cat, Puma de Oro
Sobredosis replaced Aerotiger. Lilith Dark’s team won but she was injuried.
2) Toro Negro b Apolo Estrada Jr.
3) Decnnis, Hijo de Zumbido, Scorpió Jr. DQ Dante, Drako, Fly Warrior
Drako (replacing Zumbido) fouled Scorpio
4) Mamba b Diva Salvaje ©, Demasiado, Chica Ye-Ye [EXOTICO CHAMP]
Mamba was the surprise wrestler. Dulce Kanela advertised but did not appear. Not exactly sure what belt this was but there was a belt.
5) Dragón Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus b Lunatik Fly & Lunatik Xtreme and Fulgor I & Fulgor II
Lunatik Fly did a moonsault from the third level in this match
6) Flamita b El Diablo
Flamita worked rudo.
7) Fresero Jr. & The Tiger b Demonio Infernal & Eterno
Fresero wants an IWRG Rey del Ring match with Demonio Infernal
Haven’t seen much photos from the show but my sense was it didn’t draw well. It didn’t seem like one of their strongest lineups. Both Lucha Memes & Mexa Wrestling are back in a couple of weeks for independence day shows and Mexa just ran; this felt like they had agreed to this date previously and decided to run it but keep it affordable. Don’t do moonsaults from the third deck of Arena San Juan.
Hahastary (Hades) seems to have left AAA given all her recent bookings are indie ones. She came in thru the Llave a la Gloria contest and wasn’t used much after Konnan returned to booking power and brought back in bigger indie names. AAA always ends up bringing in women from the talent searches and it rarely works out; they’re usually much greener than the winning men, it takes a while to develop them into anything (if they do develop into anything) and by then AAA’s moved on. Hahastary is young and showed some promise but not enough for AAA to really justify using her a lot given the people they have. At the same time, I think it’s probably best for luchadoras to try to build themselves up on the indies (both in ability and star power); a woman has to already be a star before she gets into one of the major promotions to be treated as one once they get there. There’s not really a ladder to climb.
Mexico City area luchador Centvrion posted “semi-retired” on Twitter this past weekend. Semi-retired is about all you can be in lucha libre. He was part of the 2011-class of indie luchadors who were just around five years too early and didn’t get to survive until doors were open in the US and elsewhere to them, but are responsible for helping build interest in the modern indie scene. (He still may be doing it; he’s appeared in videos for MexaWrestling so I have this idea he’s working behind the scenes there. Not sure if it’s a right scene.) Last time I was in Mexico City, I left under the impression that Metaleon and Centviron were going to have a mask match probably at Arena San Juan in the near future and I’m not sure why it never happened. It still might.
Pagano took Histeria 2.0’s hair in Mazatlan on Friday. That was a three-way match with Chessman, which was originally Pagano vs Joe Lider in a hair match. Histeria 2.0 (who was the 2009/2010 AAA Histeria) was a surprise wrestler and appears to be retiring soon.
Pagano & Psycho won a three-way tag match in Arena Jalisco on Sunday. The small building looked very full.
Penta won a five-way match in Pachuca’s Deportivo 11 de Julio on Sunday. The building has been using a lot of CAR The Crash trainees of late. Penta defeated Hantar, who was given Tarasco Jr. name by the original Tarasco prior to the match. (There’s been someone wrestling off and on in this area as Tarasco Jr. prior, not sure if that’s the same person or someone else.)
Pierroth Jr. was honored in Monterrey on Sunday.
The Sunday Super X show in Coacalco saw Jack Evans beat Aramis in a three-way with Juventud Guerrera. That set up a Guerrera/Evans singles match. Those two had very real issues in AAA that they could draw on for this build if they wanted. The lineup seemed very changed around.
Montana kept the AULL Heavyweight Championship in front of roughly a dozen people. Maybe it was a little bit better on the non-photographed side of the building but its good AULL owns Arena Lopez Mateos and apparently can afford to put on these shows.
Rey Horus and Taurus had a strongly praised match in Indiana’s Black Label Pro on Saturday. Taurus may be taking off a bit in the US.
This is way late, so there’s no sense in doing much of a Puebla preview when it’ll be on by the time many of you read this. The show streams here at 9 pm. The Gran Prix preview match is going to get attention, though the Soberano/Mistico match is kind of more intriguing. They’re not a natural combination and they’re two guys who seem to do well in matches with natural (basing) opponents. They haven’t been highly regarded outside of those ideal situations; Soberano’s coming back off another weekend of mixed reviews from a NJPW show. Maybe they can find another dimension here or maybe it’ll fall apart.
Dr. Karonte passed away Monday. He wrestled in EMLL in the 60s and the 70s, but his best current claim to fame is being the father of a lot of wrestlers. Caristico, Argos, Argenis and Dr. Karonte Jr. (Mini Murder Clown) all are currently active. Another son wrestled as Astro Boy (prior to Caristico) and passed away young. Box Y Lucha had a poster of the Dr. Karonte family many years back and it was a large crew of people. I’m not sure if Caristico will work tonight’s Arena Puebla show in his memory or choose to spend the night with his family.
This Dr. Karonte was one of a few people to wrestle as Dr. Karonte, which led to confusion over photos and names on social media today. SuperLuchas tries to untangle the knot of more than a half dozen Dr. Karontes.
Kenny King, Oraculo, Jay Briscoe, Matt Taven, and Mecha Wolf are already cutting promos on Facebook.
Triton is teasing leaving CMLL. He previously left CMLL in 2017. He hasn’t had any greater success in this trip – an occasional tour and about one trios title match per year – but that indie run didn’t go well either. Triton leaving CMLL that last time seemed more driven by other occupations and not really a Puma King wrestling career focus, so it might just be a similar change motivated by other life events again.
A Facebook post says Sofia Alonso has been ousted as head of CMLL and replaced by an unnamed son of Chavo Lutteroth. I’ve never heard of this Facebook page before and portions of the post don’t seem accurate to me, but I can’t specifically disprove it. If I had to guess, I’d guess it’s false but I don’t know that as a fact. This is mostly just something I feel like acknowledged just to make you aware it’s out there if this does turn into something, but don’t think much of in the moment. (It’s the CMLL/WWE story, complete with people overreacting to it.) The speed everyone’s running with a story from a random outlet is kind of terrifying. People will believe anything as long as the story is juicy enough.
On AAA’s YouTube, La Parka introduced his son Karis La Momia Jr. to AAA fans. Karis La Momia was this La Parka’s gimmick before he replaced LA Park and the connection is well known by their fans. This new Karis Jr. has wrestled at least one spot show already under this identity and is likely to show up under it on the 09/08 AAA Twitch show.
DoradaFan has a new music video of Aramis. Important scouting note: Aramis doesn’t look as skinny in person.
DTU 09/26 has Penta Zero M & Camuflaje vs Crazy King & Crazy Boy in an extreme match.
Puma King’s new video of his trip to DTU on the previous Arena Aficion show.
Segunda Caida watches some 2001 Tijuana.
A good interview with Mazatlan’s Relampago.
In an interview with Critero Hidalgo, Princesa Azul says she wants to join CMLL but needs to get better first.
LuchaWorld has news updates from Thursday and Sunday.
Lineups
CMLL (FRI) 08/30/2019 Arena México
1) La Jarochita & Marcela vs Dalys & La Metálica
2) Atlantis Jr., Audaz, Flyer vs Hijo del Villano III, Rey Bucanero, Tiger
3) Microman vs Chamuel
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Valiente vs Cuatrero, Sansón, Templario
5) Carístico, Místico, Último Guerrero vs Ciber the Main Man, Gilbert el Boricua, Titán
6) Cavernario, Diamante Azul, Dragón Lee, Forastero, Negro Casas, Rush, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Big Daddy, Delirious, Jay Briscoe, Kenny King, Luke Hawx, Matt Taven, Mecha Wolf 450, Oráculo [Gran Prix]
There sure are a lot of interesting people around who are not in that Gran Prix. On both sides. The Gran Prix is very specifically Mexico vs US (& Puerto Rico) this year.
Microman vs Chamuel is a one fall match but not a lightning match.
The women are rarely in the openers but I don’t think that’ll change much.
IWRG (WED) 08/28/2019 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Oriental Jr., Galactus, Último Caballero vs Biosfera, Canibal, Príncipe Jr.
2) Acero II, Astro Boy, Especie Maligna vs Güero Palma, Spider Fly, Voltex
3) Ángel Estrella Jr., Dragón de Fuego, Haziel vs Astro Boy, Carnicero, Tromba
4) Dick Angelo Jr., Mosca, Neza Kid vs Brazo De Oro Jr., Legendario, Ovett Jr.
5) Atomic Star, Auzter, Black Dragón, Cheff Benito, Chicanito, Death Metal, Mexica, Puma de Oro vs Adrenalina, Ambu, Black Metalic, Internacional Mara, Jorge El Salvaje, Manchas, Rugido, Versal [Torneo FILL]
IWRG (Black Terry) vs Arena Tepito (Shu el Guerrero)
Wednesdays are Tournament FILL dates, with IWRG taking on the Welcome to My Barrio guys. I have no feel if anyone is actually watching that. I don’t know if I have a great feel for what people are watching in general unless it goes wrestling bubble viral like the Zona 23 matches do, but the Welcome to My Barrio shows have an unusually high visible spot in the +LuchaTV rotation for a group that doesn’t use many big names. Maybe a Monday show when there’s not many Monday shows helps.
The Sunday lineup has Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Hechicero match, but I’ll keep catching up with that tomorrow.
