Tonight’s CMLL card looks a tiny bit different than usual but is really the start of a quiet period going into the Aniversario show. The semi-main focuses on the main event of the show. That’s what you’re supposed to do as a promoter but it’s hard to imagine the cage match they’ve set up catching fire in three weeks. The Aniversario is going to do well because CMLL’s trained fans that it’s a show they must go to every year, it’s just hard to imagine they’ll be convincing people on the fence in the next few weeks. It might be better not to see a lot of Big Daddy, Ciber and Gilbert at this point but here they are.
Those three – Ciber the Main Man, Big Daddy, and Gilbert el Boricua – take on CMLL rudos Ultimo Guerrero, Negro Casas, and Gran Guerrero. Volador & Cavernario are the other two people involved in the cage match at the moment, but they’re also off for the ROH tour this week, so Gran Guerrero gets drafted in.
The main event has NGD taking on Caristico, Mistico and Dragon Lee. That’s a bit of a build to Cuatrero, Sanson and Forastero defending their Mexican National Trios championships against Caristico, Mistico and Valiente. That oddness is that most people would say Dragon Lee is a bigger star than Valiente and there’s no obvious reason for the switch in the title match. This should be a good setup match regardless.
Diamante Azul takes on Euforia in a match sponsored by newspaper ESTO. Diamante Azul was previously known as Metro, after a rival paper. You hate to see someone change alliances like this. Titan, Soberano and Audaz take on Mecha Wolf, Hijo del Villano III and Virus in the tercara. It could be the best match on the show and looks like it’ll wrap up Mecha Wolf in CMLL for the time being. I think he would’ve been a slightly better fit for the cage match, but Big Daddy is big and Mecha Wolf is not and that’s probably all there is to it. Raziel & Cancerbero, who looked good getting a chance in a recent higher profile Tuesday match than usual, team with Tiger against Star Jr., Magic Blanca, and Principe Diamante. Ultimo Dragoncito & Shockercito take on Pierrothito & Pequeno Violencia in a rare minis match on a Friday.
The show streams on Marca and their YouTube tonight at 8:30 pm tonight. I’m back to streaming the show tonight and next week.
Lucha Central previews the show.
ROH CMLL Global Wars Espectacular begins tonight in Dearborn, Michigan. All shows air as part of the $10/month basic Honor Club subscription. You can also buy each individual show for $10 on FITE. Tonight’s show begins at 6:30 pm CT, two hours before CMLL begins on Marca. Lucha Libre matches on tonight’s show
- Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia vs Volador Jr. & Triton
- Rush vs Stuka Jr.
- Rey Bucanero, Okumura, Barbaro Cavernario and Hechicero vs Villian Enterprises (Flip Gordon, PCO, Brody King, Marty Scurll)
- Bandido vs Jay Briscoe
Rush/Stuka is a match CMLL wouldn’t think to book on their own, though Rush’s dominance in CMLL might lead it to be a short one-sided match. The atomicos match should be good and Bandido/Briscoe should be pretty good.
Volador’s tag match is about setting up tomorrow’s title match. Triton appears to be finished up in CMLL and yet is still working these shows. I take my hat off to him. Caristico joins the tour tomorrow.
AAA’s show in New York has been a mystery in so many ways. One mystery is why the show wasn’t available to buy on FITE in Mexico. AAA solved that one last night, revealing the AAA NY show will air on Azteca on 09/20 (five-day delay.) This seems to just the normal TV slot but with the NY show airing possibly slightly out of order. Far more people will see this show on Azteca than on FITE (or live.)
Meanwhile, WWE’s announced Rey Mysterio vs Gran Metalik for MSG on Monday. It took a few hours for me to realize this was WWE trying to convince people who might be interested in going to the AAA show on Saturday that they can see two of the bigger names from Mexico by going to WWE a few days earlier instead. I don’t trust WWE will make it good but an attempt at counter-programming AAA should’ve been expected. (You can say many things with the AAA NY show haven’t gone right but by getting Gran Metalik a singles match on RAW they truly have accomplished the impossible.) I’d assume Andrade is getting a match on Tuesday.
A charity in Los Angeles says they’ll have AAA wrestlers as part of a function tomorrow. There’s no other word about this, which makes me suspect there’s just some confusion somewhere. Still, as much as we’re (I’m) caught up in whatever’s going on with that New York show, AAA really should also be promoting that Los Angeles show in some way by now to build momentum. I’d expect they’re not going to until after the New York show ends but this was always going to be a difficulty in running two shows in the US within a month.
Daga’s signed with Impact. He hinted at it on Twitter and +LuchaTV says it’s official. Daga was used on last night’s Impact taping in Las Vegas where he was paired up with Tessa Blanchard in that promotion as well. Daga’s wrestled a few times for Impact this year. It was concerning when he wasn’t on the Mexico City tapings but it seems to have worked out. His Impact deal would cover US dates only, so this wouldn’t affect him in Mexico. The timing suggests that Daga’s LU deal has recently expired as well.
Konnan was also on the Las Vegas Impact tapings. It was unclear what his role was going to be with LAX leaving the promotion (and AEW apparently not bringing him in with them.) He appears affiliated with the ex-ECW guys in the Impact at the moment.
El Hijo del Santo was listed as wrestling twelve matches last year. He’s got five matches lined up next month alone. It’s obvious something has changed with his situation. It’s good for people who like to see Hijo del Santo having wrestling matches, which is most people.
Cody Rhodes issued an apologized to Outsports for joining in the “puto” chant at TripleMania. There’s a meaning to that word that’s more nuanced than I can hope to adequately explain here, but the short version is much of the world treats it as a strong homophobic slur, while fans at wrestling (and a lot of Mexican sporting events) have a more “it’s just a simple insult, don’t take it so seriously” attitude towards it. As far as I can tell, AAA & CMLL have not had problems with their wrestlers leading the fans in that chant, where soccer teams have tried to ban it. I suspect Cody and AEW had no idea of the meaning of that word when he said and definitely when they made the strange choice to include as a clip of a video recapping Cody’s TripleMania experience. I sort of expected it to come to something there, but that article mentions Penta’s usage of the word during AEW’s show on Saturday. I’ve heard it on so many lucha libre shows that it didn’t even occur to me this time that people would be offended but AEW is a different audience.
AAA’s Toluca promoter has officially announced a 10/26 TV taping in nearby Zinacantepec. This matches the date given out by +LuchaTV a while back. This follows Heroes Inmortales in Orizaba.
Mil Mascaras is featured in a series determining the best Mexican athlete ever.
LuchaWorld has the latest news update.
Lineups
CMLL (TUE) 09/10/2019 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Nitro & Pierrothito
2) Magia Blanca, Oro Jr., Príncipe Diamante vs Disturbio, Espíritu Negro, Nitro
3) Pegasso, Star Jr., Stigma vs Ares (Costa Rica), Escualo (Costa Rica), Kaiser (Costa Rica)
4) Rey Cometa vs Pólvora [lightning]
5) Flyer, Kráneo, Stuka Jr. vs Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Vangellys
6) Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Felino, Mr. Niebla
Polvora trying to keep winning in lightning matches is maybe the most interesting thing here. Espiritu Negro continues to pick up bookings that would’ve gone to Sangre Azteca. The minis open the show for the fourth straight week.
CMLL (TUE) 09/10/2019 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Mágico, Metatrón, Rielero vs Exterminador, Maléfico, Ráfaga
2) Arkalis, Joker, Retro vs El Coyote, Hijo del Signo, Sádico
3) La Jarochita, La Maligna, Sonya vs Amapola, La Metálica, Reyna Isis
4) Diamante Azul, Dulce Gardenia, Soberano Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
5) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Lee, Niebla Roja vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
Costa Rica’s Sonya gets her match of the tour here. Exterminador is back after being off since May. Not sure how the holiday will affect Guadalajara’s schedule.