Month: September 2019

Mexa Wrestling , BELLO (SAT) 09/14/2019 Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México [+LuchaTV, The Gladiatores]
1) Sobredosis & Torito Negro b Kalibus & Zika and Baby Star Jr. & Shere Khan 
2) Astrolux & Freelance b Príncipe Aéreo & Puma de Oro 
3) Cinthia Moreno, Hahastary, Hija De La Gatubela b Black Fury, Guerrera Isis, Morgana 
4) Black Terry, Centvrión, Fly Warrior b Hijo Del Rey Pantera (Veracruz), Rey Pantera (Veracruz), Slayer (Veracruz) 
5) Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Súper Nova, Último Legendario DQ Herodes Jr., Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Sangre Chicana Jr. 
DQ for Herodes Jr. foul
6) Hijo del Fishman, Rocky Santana, Romano García b Fly Star, Toxin, Wotan 
Romano got ina foul on Toxin.
7) El Bandido b Emperador Azteca, Mr. Iguana 

Sounds like this was a pretty good show. The semi-main might have gotten biggest reaction, with the main event struggling a bit with the ring.

Dragon Lee defeated Bandido & Hijo del Espectro Jr. in the main event of the Lucha Time show. Bandido was feared to have picked up a neck injury in the match but reports are he’s ok.

Fugaz posted an update on his Facebook. He was knocked out for a couple of minutes after the top rope snapped on him in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. (Video here.) He says his neck was checked and is ok. He’s listed on Tuesday’s lineup, though that would’ve been done before the injury.

Juventud Guerrera beat Imposible & Audaz in the main event of his Super X show. Diosa Quetzal defeating Iron Kid to set up a match with Lolita is a peculiar result.

AAA Invading NY will air on AXS TV this Friday at 7 pm. The press release mentions the four advertised matches. Not sure if that means just those four, or if they just didn’t know the other matches when they wrote the press release. I would assume this is the Hugo/Striker version of the show. AAA’s relationship with Impact, whose parent company also owns AXS, is probably the reason this is happening. AXS currently airs NJPW, Women of Wrestling and will be adding Impact in October. They seem to be dropping a lot of their original programming, especially on the MMA side, so there may be an opening for affordable programming. AAA’s got English language programming from every taping that currently isn’t really being used. This could be just one show (or two shows with the LA one), but it could turn into more.

It’s hard to have paid for a $30 PPV air on a Sunday, then see it air on TV on a Sunday. It’s possible AAA/AXS didn’t reach the TV deal when they had the PPV on sale, given how recent the AXS deal is. I probably would end up buying the LA show anyway, but others who aren’t in a hurry would probably wait to see if it’ll air next time. I’m actually not sure if the AAA Invading LA show is on PPV; I think only the NY show was announced for that deal. Obviously, it’d be a really nice deal if the LA show was live on AXS for free as it was on Space in Mexico this time (and made available internationally somehow as well.)

This might be pilling on, but just to have it in print somewhere: the AAA people listed in a May press for the AAA show who didn’t appear: Averno, Dinastia, Golden Magic, Hijo del Tirantes, Hijo del Vikingo, La Hiedra, La Parkita, Lady Maravilla, Lady Shani, Mamba, Maximo, Myzteziz Jr., Nino Hamburguesa, Pagano, Piero, Pimpinela Escarlata, and Villano III Junior. La Parka was also pictured in the advertisement used for months for this show (and even wrote a column about how he was getting his visa.) Everything is not in AAA’s control or even their fault. It is still useful to remember that when they announce people, that doesn’t mean they’re sure they’ll be there. That’s a reality of AAA.

Lucha Central has live thoughts from the show.

Puebla is three hours earlier today, starting at 6 pm due to the holiday. It’s not a super interesting card. Caristico, Mistico, and Terrible take on Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, and Soberano Jr., following on Terrible and Casas having issues last week. Things don’t always get followed up on here, so it’s just as likely to be any other combination feuding.

Atlantis teams with his son & Flyer against Hijo del Villano III, Templario and Vangellys in the semi-main. Rey Cometa, Stigma and someone (it’s listed as Triton; he says he’s in Jalisco) face Okumura, Olimpico, and Perverso. Tiffany, Metalica and Amapola meet Lluvia, Sanely, Skadi is a rare Arena Puebla trios women’s match; maybe a result of a lot of people being booked elsewhere. Policeman is in the opener. This show will be up on YouTube, whenever you choose to watch it. Or choose not to watch it.

IWRG is also running today in Arena Naucalpan., as are a lot of places celebrating the 09/16 holiday. It’s a 3:45 CT pm start time, and there’s always a chance it’ll stream on InternetTV. +LuchaTV is probably covering that and two other shows (Arena Neza & Arena Lopez Mateos), so something may stream from them as well.

Shoko Nakajima, of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, is coming to CMLL for a couple of weeks in November. Everyone seems to say positive things about her in response to this news. Everyone always says positive things about Japanese women when they’re heading to Mexico. I’m not sure what that means or why that occurred to me in this case.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 09/17/2019 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Fugaz, Johnny Dinamo, Principe Daniel vs Frezzer, Furia Roja, Gran Kenut
2) Explosivo, Oro Jr., Príncipe Diamante vs Cholo, Difunto, El Coyote
3) Metálica vs La Jarochita [MEX WOMEN]
1st defense
4) Kráneo, Titán, Volcano vs Hechicero, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
5) Atlantis, Carístico, Diamante Azul vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
6) Último Guerrero vs Dragón Lee

Both singles matches were clear after last Tuesday’s show, though the full lineup hadn’t been out. Metalica/Jarochita being in fourth from the top means it is unlikely to air.

CMLL (SAT) 09/21/2019 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Universo 2000
2) Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr., Robin vs Espanto Jr., Hijo del Signo, Inquisidor
3) Fuego, Magia Blanca, Pegasso vs Dark Magic, Disturbio, Nitro
4) Marcela vs Reyna Isis [lightning]
5) Diamante Azul, Kráneo, Volcano vs La Bestia Del Ring, Rey Bucanero, Terrible
6) Carístico, Místico, Titán vs Mephisto, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas

A Saturday card.

DTU (THU) 09/26/2019 Arena Aficion
1) Mandala vs Samuray Jr., Gran Cobra, Vengador Radioactivo, Dragón Suicida, Jitsu
2) ? vs ??
Torneo Alto Impacto de Jos Jovenes
3) Sobredosis vs Lunatik Fly, Mc Hardboy, Hijo De Dr. Pólux Jr., Hard Boy
4) Exótico & Pesadilla vs Hijo Del Picudo & Nigma and Brazo Celestial & Brazo Cibernetico Jr.
5) Aero Panther, Dragón Bane, Drolux vs Fight Panther, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Moria
6) Blue Panther Jr. vs Calibus, Brazo De Oro Jr.
7) Camuflaje & Penta Zero M vs Crazy Boy & Crazy King

Announced last week but I’m behind on lineups. Seems like a long time since Penta’s made an appearance in DTU, but it helps that they run Thursday shows. No names are listed in the second match. It looks like an all rookies match. The fourth match is maybe setting up a tag title match.

AAA TV (SUN) 09/15/2019 Hulu Theatre, New York City, New York [AAA, thecubsfan, Voices of Wrestling]
1) Chris Dickinson & Máscarita Sagrada 2007 b Dave The Clown & Demus
8:35. Mascarita Dorada was called Mascarita Sagrada (the 2013 version had been advertised). He beat Demus with a quadruple headscissors into a cradle
2) Josh Alexander, Michael Elgin, Sami Callihan b Drago, Faby Apache, Murder Clown
13:54. Billed as AAA vs Impact. Elgin beat Murder Clown with a foul and a powerbomb, then the rudos destroyed the tecnicos after.
3) Daga b Puma King, Flamita, Aerostar [#1 Contenders, AAA CRUISER]
10:23. Daga pinned Puma King and earned a title shot at Laredo Kid (which might take a while.)
4) Taya b Tessa Blanchard © [AAA REINA DE REINAS]
10:10. Taya pinned Tessa clean with a double underhook facebuster. 3rd title reign for Taya, Tessa loses the title after zero defenses. Tessa attacked Taya after.
5) Fénix & Pentagón Jr. b Ortiz (LAX) & Santana (LAX) [AAA TAG]
14:04. 2nd defense.
6) Brian Cage, Cain Velasquez, Psycho Clown b Rey Escorpión, Taurus, Texano Jr.
12:58. Velasquez beat Taurus with a handspring cutter.
7) Dr. Wagner Jr. b Blue Demon Jr.
10:29. Wagner pinned Demon by rolling thru a crossbody. He wrestled most of the match in his mask (as pictured on the advertisements.) Team Impact (including Daga) ran out to attack Wagner after, with Psycho Clown leading team AAA (including Cage) to make the save to close out the show.

Taking it out of context for a paragraph: this was an easy to watch AAA show. It was something akin to an AAA version of the CMLL FantasticaMania shows; it was about giving a slimmed down version of the usual product that would be enjoyed by a more casual audience who wanted to see the characters. There was no weapons or blood, there were no rudo referee spots, there weren’t much of angles. The only big rudo cheating moment was the segunda, which seems designed to set up those guys coming back later to get run off. What remains were the fun sort of matches that AAA has delivered often in 2019. Nothing was bad, some stuff was great (with 3/4/5/6 all getting mentioned as best of the night), and the show got done at a decent time. If you watched it, you left happy you watched. That’s the sense I got from the iPPV, and people who were there came away even stronger, hoping AAA would return in 2020. If you’re in Los Angeles and thinking about going, this was a good sign for what you’re going to get next month.

Placing it in a bigger context is mixed. The Hulu Theatre was full or close to it; 3,000 fans wouldn’t have looked good in MSG, but it came off as a successful event in the smaller room. AAA’s idea that people would show up if they just ran and didn’t do much more was correct, though we’re all left wondering if they might have been able to draw a decent crowd in MSG if AAA had done a better job of pushing the show all along. Another way of looking it at is they could’ve just announced the Hulu Theatre at first and this would be seen as a big success (along with “maybe they should’ve run the big arena!” stories), though I’m not sure any of this happens without the initial goal of being in MSG. As enjoyable as the show was, I’m not sure it’ll happen again with the way everything went down.

An issue going forward for is AAA clearly had massive problems getting their visas for this show, and tried their best to keep it quiet at the cost of not really being upfront with the fans about what was going on. AAA is lucky/smart to employ a lot of people who work independently and have their own visas to get into the United States because it doesn’t appear that anyone AAA would’ve requested visa for was approved in time for the show. (Dave the Clown is the only possible exception, but it would make more sense that Dave also has a visa of his own rather than he was the only one approved.) Even the referees, Hijo del Tirantes and Piero, didn’t make this show. Los Angeles people should expect this same general group of AAA wrestlers and a bunch of California based people to fill out the card there because it seems unlikely to get fixed in a month if it hasn’t been fixed already. AAA deserves some sympathy here but if anyone should’ve been prepared for visa trouble, it should’ve been a company involved in multiple seasons of Lucha Underground where the same thing happened. I don’t know that AAA can continue into the US without finding a way to handle visas better.

Daga might have a very long wait to get a match with Laredo Kid. Laredo Kid has been pulled off the Black Label Pro and PWG tournaments next week. It has not been officially announced, but my understanding that Laredo Kid is now in the Dominican Republic as a new cast member of the Exatlon reality. (The season has been gone for a few weeks, so he’s probably an injury replacement.) Konnan mentioned this possibility a couple of weeks ago. The story goes that Laredo Kid had no idea when he would be added and got short notice that he was heading to the island. Exatlon greatly raised the profile of Hijo del Octagon, though I’m not really sure if it did much for Dragon Lee. As a wrestling fan, of course I’d rather see Laredo Kid take all his wrestling matches, especially the one I’ve already paid to see. (Puma King replaces Laredo Kid in BOLA.) I also wonder if he’s going to miss a big opportunity in the wrestling world while he’s gone. It is tough to blame someone for accepting an offer to be on the most-watched show in Mexico by people of the ages of 19-44, as Exatlon was last week. Laredo Kid’s had a great year in AAA – he’s still going to get consideration for best Mexican wrestler if ends right here – but people still don’t see him as a star on the level of Fenix & Penta. Maybe doing well on a reality show can change that.

There’s no telling how long Laredo Kid will be gone. Hijo del Octagon was on Exatlon five months. Dragon Lee was on the show three months. Both were still out a few weeks after they left the show, trying to get back in wrestling shape and catch up on life. Australian Suicide, Lady Shani, Hades and Bengala were out of their competition show in the first week, and they were still out of action about a month. Bengala was out much longer because of his foot injury. (Dragon Lee never seemed to get that ear issue fixed, did he?) If we get to see Laredo Kid again this year, it’ll be a bonus.

other quick thoughts

• Even with the visa issues, it does seem like AAA had a good idea on a lot of the people in the undercard and just didn’t want to mention them for whatever reason. Maybe Laredo Kid being pulled scrambled things, but they could’ve easily promoted Aerostar & Daga & Drago being there.
• The first two matches were heavy on non-AAA people, which seemed like an odd feeling for AAA’s big return to New York. It wasn’t a factor by the time they got to the fourway
• The Wagner/Demon ended on a move that never ends a match, but everyone reacted to it normally. Demon did complain about the count, and that may have just been a way to give him an out.
• Cain Velasquez did well again. It’s hard to imagine they’re going to be able to compete with other promotions will be offering him after the Los Angeles show; they’ve got to hope he ends up with AEW and is free to return to AAA again. And he should want Taurus with him wherever he goes.
• We really don’t get to see Mascarita Dorada on TV/stream much anymore. He’s still very good. Hopefully we get him and Demus again in California.
• I have no idea what the El Rey logo was doing there but that sure is interesting. Some of the partners in Lucha Underground did get brought up to speak at the Los Angeles press conference, so maybe we’ll see more then.

AAA is off the next two weekends and back on 10/05.

CMLL (SAT) 09/14/2019 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Cholo & Yago b Bengala & Sonic
2) La Infernal, La Seductora, Tiffany b La Guerrera, La Vaquerita, Sanely
rudas took 2/3.
3) Átomo, Gallito, Microman DQ Chamuel, Guapito, Perico Zakarías
tecnicos took 2/3, Chamuel unmasking Microman.
4) Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Volcano b Cancerbero, Dark Magic, Raziel
tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Carístico, Stuka Jr., Valiente b Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Diamante Azul b Negro Casas
Azul took 1/3. Mutual respect after the match.

Negro Casas takes two straight singles losses in two days with the cage match looming. Chamuel promised to be Microman’s worst nightmare. Microman vowed to take away Chmauel’s mask. Diamante Azul tried to talk about his win the crowd loudly chanted for Negro Casas.

CMLL (SUN) 09/15/2019 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Apocalipsis & Príncipe Odín Jr. b Leono & Sangre Imperial
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Angelito, Kaligua, Shockercito b Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia
tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Blue Panther Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Rey Cometa b Okumura, Sagrado, Virus
tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Stuka Jr., Titán, Valiente b Ephesto, Felino, Hechicero
tecnicos took 1/3. Hechicero needed the stretcher after taking a super german suplex.
5) Carístico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. b Mephisto, Mr. Niebla, Terrible
tecnicos took 1/3.
6) Último Guerrero b Diamante Azul
UG used a mask pull to win.

Ultimo Guerrero said the win showed why he was another level.

Marcela kept the CMLL Women’s Championship in Japan, so she’ll be defending it against Dalys on Aniversario as expected. Felino is headed to Japan on 11/27 for Fukumen Mania, one of a few promotions Dalys & Marcela have worked for on this trip.

The Arena Coliseo Guadalajara results from Sunday fit the general sense of a big undo from the last few years; I don’t know who’s replaced Magnum, but they definitely feel a lot different about some people. Rayman was the latest wrestler to make his return to the arena. The local version of Joker was strangely flipped to the tecnico side last year, and seemed to be moving right back to the rudo side today. The biggest event doesn’t seem mentioned in the results, just slightly evident in the photos shown. The top rope disappears for a while, then the bottom rope disappears instead, then they have three ropes again. According to fan in attendance, the top rope broke when Fugaz hit it near the second match, causing him to hit the ramp and appear to suffer a serious head injury. There’s no mention of his injury in the results

La Maxima unmasked Coco Azul in Guadalajara. Coco Azul is Marcos Valdez, 45, 30 years a wrestler. Ivan Drago took Tino Cortez’s hair on the same show.

Maravilla Strong took Dark Crazy’s hair in Guanajuato.

A relative of Shocker called up a wrestling YouTube channel and explained Shocker is not really in rehab, he’s just so concerned about how his face looks because of the jaw injury that he’s avoiding the public until he gets surgery, he’s just too concerned about being seen as anything less than 1000% Guapo. This story strains credibility – it wouldn’t be hard for Shocker to tweet “hey, I’m at home for a while, but everything’s ok” without showing his face for one – but what gain is there in attempting to prove a man is in rehab? We’ll see him when we see him, hopefully better than we last saw him.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

Lineup

CMLL (FRI) 09/20/2019 Arena México
1) Sonic & Súper Astro Jr. vs Espíritu Negro & Grako
2) Átomo, Gallito, Microman vs Chamuel, Mije, Perico Zacarías
3) Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Flyer vs Felino, Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III
4) Soberano Jr. vs Templario [lightning]
5) Cavernario, Ciber the Main Man, Volador Jr. vs Big Daddy, Gilbert el Boricua, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Carístico, Místico, Valiente vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas

Soberano & Templario have gotten to do that singles match twice since they last did it in Mexico. They’ve been the best match on the show both times.

Six of the seven guys in the cage match are in the semi-final. The other is in the main event, where Caristico, Mistico & Valiente get a warm-up match before their national trios title challenge by, uh, facing two-thirds of the world trios champions.

Mije’s been listed a few times but hasn’t wrestled on a CMLL show we’ve seen since June.

CMLL (FRI) 09/13/2019 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Lucha Central, Marca, Ovaciones, R de Rudo, thecubsfan]
1) Robin & Súper Astro Jr. b Espanto Jr. & Grako 
14:43. Tecnicos took 2/3. Grako replaced Akuma
2) Dulce Gardenia, Esfinge, Fuego b Disturbio, Misterioso, Tiger 
13:38. Tecnicos took 1/3. Misterioso replaced Sagrado
3) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis Jr., Niebla Roja b Dark Magic, Ephesto, Luciferno 
12:49. Tecnicos took 1/3. La Besita del Ring was added to the card on Monday and moved into this match on Tuesday to replace Mephisto, but Dark Magic ended up in the spot.
4) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Titán b Cuatrero, Forastero, Mephisto 
16:50. Tecicos took 1/3. Mephisto was moved up to replace Sanson on Tuesday.
5) Volador Jr. b Negro Casas [lightning] 
9:05. Volador wrestled as the rudo and snuck in a foul to beat Negro Casas.
6) Cavernario, Ciber the Main Man, Diamante Azul b Gilbert el Boricua, Sansón, Último Guerrero 
10:53. UG & Gilbert cost each other the first two falls, which turned out to be the only two falls. Challenges all around. Sanson replaced Big Daddy on Monday.

CMLL Promos: Volador Jr., Ciber, and Gilbert.

Pressroom interviews: Cibernetico (Box Y Lucha), Atlantis & Chavez Brothers (Box Y Lucha), Volador Jr. (Box Y Lucha)

Casas/Volador is the only thing worth your time on this show. I think, ultimately, this upcoming main event is a cage match because CMLL thought they had to pay off Ciber & UG in some fashion and that putting Negro Casas in an Aniversario match was not strong enough. The reaction to Negro Casas tonight was immensely stronger than to anything else on the card. The UG/Ciber/Gilbert feuding made sense but got a quiet reaction. I don’t know if that means fans would really spend Aniversario level prices to another Volador/Casas hair match – it was a low turnout for a Friday night – but the reaction felt like CMLL would’ve been better with that way.

Leo Riano’s weekly column includes a defense of the CMLL programming department and praise of AAA running on the Holu (sic) Theatre, so you can tell he’s really put the work in once again. The idea is the programming department isn’t to blame for the cage match because Ultimo Guerrero and Ciber couldn’t agree on a satisfactory result. (In other ones, neither one wanted to lose for what CMLL was offering.) It seems to me that’s probably something the programming department could figure out before they started building that and then built a different or better match. It also seems to me that no one really wanted to see Ciber and UG in the first place so they shouldn’t have needed to ask.

Ciber and Sharlie Rockstar are apparently booked for the 09/29 Sunday CMLL card. They were scheduled to headline a DTU show on that day. DTU announced they had a CMLL conflict and their show would now take place on 09/22. (Refunds were offered.) The wrestler better known as Charly Manson hasn’t appeared in CMLL since June, his only appearance this year.

Ring of Honor mentioned Ultimo Guerrero will be back in the promotion “on a couple shows late in the year.” That may mean he’s on the Final Battle PPV (12/13) and the TV taping which follows in December.

AAA’s Invading NY is on Sunday. It’s listed as a 5 pm CT start. They do have to hit a time mark because they’re on conventional PPV, but Hugo indicated in an interview that they may actually get going around 5:15. If you are in Mexico, you can see it free on Space live and on Azteca later this week. If you are elsewhere, you can purchase it on conventional PPV and FITE for $30 in Spanish and English. (The FITE page seems to indicate you’ll be able to switch between languages no matter which one you buy. They’ll have VOD as well.) I guess if you’re in parts of South America you can both watch the show on Space and buy it on FITE if you feel like being silly.

I wrote a preview for Voices of Wrestling that should be going up later. The shorter version is AAA needed either strong promotion or a strong card to get people to pay $30 for shows when they’re used to paying $0. They’ve had bad promotion, and they have an ok-good card. There’s a lot of rematches and there’s nothing that hasn’t been seen before in bigger moments. I’m skeptical these shows would still exist if not for Cain Velasquez doing well on TripleMania, agreeing to work this show and Los Angeles, and the hope that UFC fans might cross over to AAA for one evening to check them out. The only reason AAA fans can’t miss it is to see an AAA show outside of Mexico, and the people who would be most compelled to buy for that reason are probably the Mexican fans who are getting it for free anyway. AAA will get to count this show as happening and hope that people forget as many details about it later as they have going in.

We still do not know the opening matches on this card. I think we probably won’t find them out until Sunday. The luchadors themselves seem to have no idea and would like people to stop asking them, judging from an Aerostar Instagram post. He, Drago, Lady Shani and Daga seem to be in New York or headed there, so they’ll be involved somehow. The inescapable conclusion is AAA hasn’t announced the rest of the card because they aren’t sure what the rest of the card will be. It could be they haven’t reached an agreement with Impact on them or are uncharacteristically cautious about advertising matches that’ll be changed (due to factors they can’t totally control, like people making it in to the US.) It’s not great, but so much of this is not great.

Lucha Central has a preview of the show.

Blue Demon & Dr. Wagner visited the United Nations. They’re surely doing promotional work for the show today.

Impact announced Dr. Wagner and two partners to be named would take on the Rascalz on their 10/20 Bound for Glory show in Chicago. When the WON originally mentioned AAA involvement on this show, it was Wagner in a singles match and a separate trio match. Not sure if that just means one AAA match now or if someone else got the singles match.

B-Boy says he’s debuting for AAA next month. You may remember his brief stint in Lucha Underground as Bael, and he’s been a well respected southern California based indie guy for a while. Debuting for AAA could mean anything from working a TV taping, or wrestling on the EMW Tijuana shows, or being part of the AAA Invading LA show. Or all of those things.

AAA is sponsoring an eSports team. It looks like they’re just sponsoring a couple of people playing Street Fighter V at a tournament this weekend, but it’s an interesting way to get their name out with a different audience. AAA’s current style, especially in the undercard, seems much more like a fighting game and there’s the natural crossover on Twitch.

Tonight appears to be the final new episode of Nacion Lucha Libre; they air three matches a week, and there’s only three matches left to air from their most recent taping. Their next taping was scheduled to happen tonight in Puebla; they never got as far as advertising it. There’s no public word about any future show or the future of the promotion. There’s been a lot of private chatter that the promotion was done after the last Ecatepec taping, but nothing official. Promotions rarely announce they’re closing their doors these days. Nacion’s going to end up in the same bucket as Lucha Libre Elite, AroLucha, Lucha Underground and others, where the name is occasionally still kept alive in case they find a new money source, but they’re not going to run additional shows without them.

Monday is Mexico’s Independence Day. A lot of promotions are running this long holiday weekend, though a lot are running Monday instead of Saturday/Sunday. Notable shows.

Saturday

• Mexa Wrestling is back in Arena San Juan with a Bandido vs Emperador Azteca vs Mr. Iguana vs Arez main event.
• Diamante Azul vs Negro Casas headlines Arena Coliseo.

Sunday

• There’s the AAA show, of course.
• Lucha Time in Monterrey has Bandido vs Dragon Lee vs Hijo del Espectro. This should eventually turn up on the La Esquina YouTube channel.
• MDA has Hijo de Octagon & Xtreme Tiger vs Bestia 666 & Rey Horus running opposite in Monterrey.
• Diamante Azul vs Ultimo Guerrero headlines Arena Mexico.
• Super X runs the first show in Mexico City’s Merkado Hamburgo, with Imposible vs Audaz vs Juventud Guerrera.

Monday

• Arena Naucalpan features Dragon Bane vs Toxin in the main event, along with Aramis, Imposible, and Relampago against Cerebro Negro, Fly Warrior and Hijo de Canis Lupus in the semimain. An odd 3:45 start time for this.
• Arena Puebla also has an unusual, 6 pm, start time. Caristico, Mistico and Terrible take on Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, and Soberano Jr.
• The AAA wrestlers make it back Arena Neza Monday night, with Fenix, Penta and Psycho Clown take on the LA Park family.
• Arena Lopez Mateos is headlined by a Penta vs LA Park vs Rush match. This show has the earlier start time than Neza, so luchadors will be traveling from one to another.
• Guadalajara’s Muchas Luchas promotion has a four year Anniversary show with Hijo del Bucanero Jr. vs Super Brazo Jr. in a mask vs mask match. Bandido teams with Draego against Aero Xtreme & Rey Horus. It’s rare to get more than clips from Guadalajara indie shows but maybe this one will turn up.

ESTO has a follow up on Shocker, disputing the original story. People close to him say he’s not in rehab, just waiting to get surgery. The story says Shocker will be posting a YouTube video on Sunday to explain the situation. Planchitas has been shaky. It does stand to reason that if Shocker was completely fine, he probably wouldn’t have disappeared from all of his social media at once.

10/05 The Crash in Auditorio de Tijuana

• LA Park, Bestia 666, Mecha Wolf vs Fatu, Josef Samael, Simon Gotch
• Rey Horus (c) vs Hammerstone [The Crash HEAVY]
• Dragon Lee, Barbaro Cavernario, Soberano vs Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Brian Pillman Jr.
  • not to air on MLW
• Oraculo vs Minoru Tanaka
• Damian 666 & Jimmy Havoc vs Mance Warner & Savio Vega – new
• Triple Amenaza (Star Boy, Arandu, Zarco) vs Los Haraganes (Animal, Demencia, Silver Star) – new

The Crash is known for having some eclectic lineups. A show with the team of Mance Wagner & Savio Vega is way up there.

MJF’s been advertised for this show so there might be at least one more match. This does feel a lot more like a The Crash formatted card than an MLW one (no squashes, mostly tag matches), so it should get over well with the Tijuana crowd. I’m interested in seeing in how it ends up on TV, and how much of it ends up on TV. It’d be neat if the Triple Amenaza and Los Haraganes match made MLW TV. They’ve been killing it (and killing each other) here this year, but it’s also six guys few know outside of this area. I myself need to look up the names in each group to make sure I have them right every time they come up, so I’d imagine it’d be a challenge to call a match with them if you haven’t seen them before.