Month: September 2019

CMLL (FRI) 09/06/2019 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Lucha Central, Marca, Notimex, Ovaciones, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito 
Tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Cancerbero, Raziel, Tiger b Magia Blanca, Príncipe Diamante, Star Jr. 
15:58. Rudos took 1/3.
3) El Audaz, Soberano Jr., Titán b El Hijo del Villano III, Mecha Wolf 450, Virus 
19:09. Tecnicos took 1/3. Mecha Wolf replaced Templario on Wednesday
4) Diamante Azul b Euforia [Copa 78 Aniversario del Diario ESTO] 
8:10. Diamante Azul submitted Euforia in a one fall match.
5) Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero b Big Daddy, Ciber the Main Man, Gilbert el Boricua 
8:09. Straight falls. Ciber rolled up UG clean after a foul on Negro Casas.
6) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Místico b Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón 
12:56. Tecnicos took 1/3.

CMLL promos include

• Diamante Azul
• Gilbert el Boricua
• Big Daddy & Ciber the Main Man
• “Nero Casas“
• NGD

Media interviews with

• Mecha Wolf, who’d like to return to CMLL (Box Y Lucha)
• Big Daddy & Ciber, who say they’ll work together in the cage match (Box Y Lucha, +LuchaTV)
• NGD (Box Y Lucha, +LuchaTV)
• Dragon Lee & Mistico (Box Y Lucha,+LuchaTV)
  • You can tell Dragon Lee & Mistico would really like to be teaming in the title match and do not understand why they’re not. That’s fair, no one else does either.

Tercera and main event were good and two good Friday night matches is better than usual. The cage match build is more of a boring mess than actively bad, an improvement. I still didn’t feel like I liked the show all that much.

Dragon Rojo was back commentating for the Televisa broadcast. He remains on a very long road to returning to the ring.

some results from ROH in Dearborn last night

• Rush beat Triton
• Villian Enterprise (Marty Scurll, Flip Gordon, PCO, Brody King) beat Okumura, Rey Bucanero, Hechicero, Barbaro Cavernario
• Volador Jr. & Stuka Jr. beat Matt Taven & Vincent Marseglia
• Bandido beat Jay Briscoe

Bandido/Jay Briscoe was really good. Somehow the post match led to Matt Taven & Rush facing off, which also doesn’t say much for Volador’s chances today. The Atomicos wasn’t a great fit but it did get over in the end. I think Stuka & Triton getting switched around happened for the obvious “Triton is finishing up” reasons.

tonight at ROH in Chicago (Villa Park), 7 pm CT start on Honor Club

• Matt Taven (c) vs Volador Jr. for the Ring of Honor championship
• Barbaro Cavernario vs Rush
• Jeff Cobb, Jay Lethal, Jonathan Greshman vs Caristico, Stuka Jr. and Triton
• Silas Young & Josh Woods vs PJ Black & Okumura
• Lifeblood (Mark Haskins, Bandido, Tracy Williams) vs Villano Enterprises (Flip Gordon, PCO, Brody King)
• The Briscoes vs The Bouncers vs Rey Bucanero & Hechicero

Everyone would be shocked if Volador actually won but that still should be a good match. Cavernario should get in more than Triton did.

tomorrow at ROH in Milwaukee, 5 pm start on Honor Club

• Lifeblood (Mark Haskins, Bandido, Tracy Williams) vs The Briscoes & Barbaro Cavernario
• Triton vs PJ Black vs Flip Gordon
• Caristico, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. vs Okumura, Hechicero and Rey Bucanero
• Rush & Jeff Cobb vs the Kingdom

I was thinking about going to this one before I remembered AAA had it’s only TV taping of the month on the same day.

AAA returns to Twitch Sunday night from Puebla. The stream start time is 6:30, so figure on matches a little bit after. The lineup is here, the lineup is always subject to change. Dr. Wagner Jr. has been added to the show, Hijo del Vikingo is off the show, LAX are in for the show, Latigo is off in China for OWE by now but is still listed. It’s a good group of wrestlers no matter where they end up using them.

There are three surprise luchadors listed. One is planned to be Abismo Negro Jr. The others are also expected to be old gimmicks coming back with new people underneath them, with AAA working under the idea that they’re not going to push the wrestlers who’ve been in prelim roles until they have a gimmick AAA owns. Anyone you see doing a new version of an old gimmick is someone you’ve seen on AAA shows recently. Octagon and Hijo del Octagon seem to believe one of those characters to return will be a new Octagon and have already put up a video statement against it. Sunday’s going to be interesting to see the reactions both live and on social media.

Lucha Central has a preview of the show.

AAA announced two new matches for the 09/15 New York show

• Cain Velasquez, Brian Cage, Psycho Clown vs Rey Escorpion, Texano Jr., Terrible, Taurus
• Lucha Brothers vs LAX for the AAA Tag Team Championship

The matches were announced timed with Velasquez in New York doing some work to promote the show. A press release, which referred to someone called Scorpion King, mentioned there are seven matches on the card. It’s AAA and this show so everything is subject to change, but that means we’re missing three more matches to go with these and the Demon/Wagner & Taya/Tessa matches previously announced. I am hesitant to guess on anything related to this show but it would make sense if they were announced during Sunday’s Twitch show.

The Velasquez match is his match from TripleMania with Cage dropped into Cody’s spot and Escorpion in for Killer Kross, who may be blocked off the show. Lucha Brothers vs LAX was a long Impact feud from earlier this year. I think they’re good matches for the ticket sales but this is now a card all of rematches. It remains a hard sell as a $30 PPV. (I suspect though that PPV may only exist to help cover the costs for recording this for Azteca.)

AAA posted their new video ad roughly two dozen times on social media yesterday. It’s a big deal to them. I’m not sure it’s actually a big deal.

Other notable shows this weekend.

Saturday

• The Crash returns from a bit of a hiatus. Tonight’s show is billed as guests from Fight Club Pro, though the bigger names are more recognizable now as from NXT UK. Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and Travis Banks take on Reblion Amarilla’s Bestia 666, Mecha Wolf and Rey Horus. Semi-main has Cuatrero & Sanson vs Los Traumas.
• MDA runs in Saltillo with a Lucha Brothers vs Jack Evans/Laredo Kid main event and Dragon Bane vs Aramis. Bigger shows from here tend to turn up on the Estrellas del Ring channel.
• The AAA NY show is not the only high profile lucha libre show in New York this weekend. There’s a show featuring CMLL talent tonight in Brooklyn, though the exact people involved has changed around a bit with some of those names pulled to ROH instead.
• CMLL has a regular Arena Coliseo show.

Sunday

• MDA comes to Naucalpan, this time with Jack Evans & Pagano vs Penta & Fenix and Argenis vs Aeroboy vs Dragon Bane. Star time is at 6 pm and there’s always a chance this could turn up on the InternetTV/AYM Sports YouTube page airing live.
• CMLL has a regular Arena Mexico show.

Puma King lost the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship in his last DDT match today. Then he won it back after the match because it’s defended under 24/7 rules. Puma says he’s taking it to Mexico and the US so a lot of other people are likely to win.

Referee El Popo passed away Friday.

The Nuestra Lucha series that focused on the life of Mexican luchadors is getting a second season and planning to go the US and Japan to show wrestling there.

LuchaWorld has a new podcast up.

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.

CMLL announced the full card for the 86th Aniversario show on Informa.

CMLL (FRI) 09/27/2019 Arena México
1) Audaz, Rey Cometa, Stigma vs Misterioso Jr., Tiger, Virus
2) Diamante Azul, Dulce Gardenia, Titán vs Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Rey Bucanero
3) Dalys vs ? © [CMLL WOMEN]
fifth defense if Marcela still champion.
4) Ángel de Oro, Mephisto, Niebla Roja vs Dragón Lee, Euforia, Gran Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Microman vs Chamuel [mask]
6) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © vs Carístico, Místico, Valiente [MEX TRIOS]
13 defense
7) Último Guerrero vs Big Daddy, Negro Casas, Cavernario, Volador Jr., Gilbert el Boricua, Ciber the Main Man [cage, hair]

Dragon Lee is a question mark; the WON had him in Las Vegas on this date.

The CMLL hype for this card is they’re giving the fans two apuesta matches and two championships, four big matches. Maybe the additional relevos incredibles is the best example of the problem with that: it definitely has something attached to the match, but it’s hard to believe anyone cares any more about seeing the mixed-up teams rather than the usual people together. It’s still about the same match. NGD vs three random tecnicos should be good but the titles mean so little that making it a champion match makes little defense when the match comes out of nowhere. (There’s actually a better version of the same match happening this Friday anyway.) The Dalys/Marcela match seems to be a big deal only to a small amount of people and the main event didn’t even seem appealing to those inside it. Quantity does not outweigh quality.

The cage match is a compromise in storyline and probably also in reality, a way to get to a match they didn’t feel comfortable promoting as a singles Aniversario main event. There have been four cage matches in recent Aniversario history. In recent years, the cage matches end with a one fall singles match.

• 2011: Felino takes Rey Bucanero’s hair
• 2010: La Sombra takes Olimpico’s mask
• 2007: Blue Panther takes Hijo del Lizmark’s hair
• 2001: Satanico takes Mascara Magica’s mask

None of those matches would’ve worked on their own. Panther/Lizmark is the closest. Blue Panther was more a long time semi-main veteran than the legend he is now, but CMLL very clearly didn’t trust that match as big enough on its own. Sombra/Olimpico wouldn’t have worked as a singles main event at all in 2010 and never did happen in a meaningful singles match before or after. Felino/Bucanero might have worked as a Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show and surely as a lesser show but not an Aniversario show even with them being on a reality show at the time. Satanico is the biggest star of any of these guys at the time of the match but he was already being moved down by that point and Mascara Magica was an anonymous midcarder before being pulled into a feud so he could be the guy to lose his mask. CMLL did just run an Aniversario main event of Gran Guerrero vs Niebla Roja, so the bar has been lowered than it was years ago, but going back to a cage suggests the ending match is not something CMLL felt safe promoting as an Aniversario main event. It’s never about the quality of the match but instead the star power of the people involved.

That seems to rule out this cage match as a ruse to get to Ciber vs Ultimo Guerrero. The match has been and would be bad but that doesn’t seem to be a factor. Ciber, UG, and Volador losing their hair is important enough to be a singles match against just about anyone. I would put Cavernario in that group as well – once you main event a real match Aniversario you’re a made man – though I know everyone doesn’t agree on that. That would leave Big Daddy, Negro Casas and Gilbert el Boricua. Big Daddy losing his hair would be a deeply cynical move. I’m not sure if anything could run off the remaining CMLL diehard fans but Big Daddy being the loser in the Aniversario would be a stiff test. It really doesn’t even matter if Big Daddy is good or bad, he’s only been around for five minutes and he’d need to drastically catch fire in the next three weeks for a long time CMLL fan to care about him losing his hair.

That leaves Negro Casas & Gilbert. If you’ve watched Ricky Banderas in Lucha Underground or AAA or WWC, he’s likely as big a star as Ciber and Ultimo and the rest. The people in charge of CMLL clearly do not seem him the same way, having never gone strong with Gilbert since he’s been there. (Gilbert isn’t close to what he was as Mil Muertes, but neither is Ciber.) Maybe CMLL doesn’t seem him as big enough star to main event an Aniversario show with, but would they give him a hair payoff then? Negro Casas is a star, though one clearly near the end. He’s so close to the end that he may not feel comfortable doing a long main event, as most of his singles matches go under ten minutes now. He’s also lost his hair so many times and it hardly ever matters, but he’s a big enough name that CMLL can point to it as an important win both now and later. (Selfishly, I’ve always wanted to see the Cavernario/Casas torch passing match. CMLL’s unlikely to do the feud, but this may be a way to get to that match.) I think Casas fits the best as the person most likely to lose, though it’s not a cinch.

The idea is this Aniversario best card CMLL has to offer. It’s hard to make a case that Stigma & Rey Bucanero are either among the best CMLL has to offer or the most deserving. (It’s impossible to make that case for Big Daddy.) There’s a lot of unhappiness. Blue Panther Jr. and Zeuxis made negative comments on Twitter Wednesday night which were later deleted. There are stories of other issues beyond programming behind the scenes that are angering luchadors. The transition to a post-Paco Alonso era has not gone smoothly and there are rumors of others who maybe be following Sangre Azteca & Triton out of the promotion. If this sounds troubling, it is because it is troubling.

One of the reasons given for Cavernario pulling off of PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament was CMLL needed him for the Aniversario show. That didn’t quite make sense at the time because no one believed the Aniversario show was on the 20th. It’s still not, it’s the week after, and maybe the idea actually was CMLL needed him for the build-up that match. That would suggest CMLL knew they were going end up with this cage match a few weeks ago, even though the entire build for it came just in the last few days. It was CMLL’s choice to wait until the last minute to set up anything but they might have decided it was their end point for a while.

Diario Basta has a column by Salvador Trejo, saying himself and the paper’s sports editor Rodrijo Mojica, were blocked from attending the CMLL Aniversario pres conference by Julio Cesar Rivera. The paper decided they weren’t going to let CMLL dictate their coverage and did not cover the press conference. People in CMLL generally claim to not read or pay attention to outside coverage, though someone there must be finding the negative stuff and passing it around. Other media people have been called into CMLL for questioning about something they’ve written or banned entirely in the past, going back to SuperLuchas being banned over a decade ago. JCR and Ultimo Guerrero obliquely referenced and complained about negative reaction to the Aniversario card on CMLL Informa yesterday. For Diario Basta in particular, a recent lucha libre article was critical of not following up on the Rush vs LA Park rivalry, so maybe that’s what got them banned.

An “Abismo Negro Jr.” is listed on the 10/11 AAA non-televised show in Aguascalientes. My understanding is Abismo Negro Jr. is slated to be one of the surprise luchadors on Sunday’s taping. The name I’ve heard for the role is a familiar person, but I feel safer waiting for Sunday to see if AAA actually goes with it.

Abismo Negro was a top rudo for AAA from 1997 to 2009, one of the iconic characters of the promotion during the period between the initial boom and Antonio Pena passing away. He’d earlier been tecnico Winners, one of the original few who jumped from CMLL to start the promotion. He was a charismatic evil-doer, maybe best compared to Pentagon Jr. in terms of personality if not as a wrestler, who crossed over into the mainstream and had some memorable moments with people outside of wrestling coming into AAA. Abismo Negro dealt with drugs issues and passed away in a strange and sad situation back in 2009.

AAA shot a pilot for a secondary TV show in 2011 at Arena Lopez Mateos called “El Regreso del Abismo”, where the winner of a tournament would become the new Abismo Negro. That pilot never made air. The reaction to AAA bringing back the original Abismo Negro was harshly negative, though I suspect the show didn’t happen more just because AAA couldn’t line up a sponsor for it. I don’t remember this at all, but my post at the time mentions AAA had even said there would never be a new Abismo Negro after the original one had died. Among the 12 luchadors who qualified for the tournament were Argos, Kronos (now Kill Korton), Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Black Mamba (current exotico Mamba who was a ninja), and Dark Dragon/Pentagon Jr. himself. I wonder how the last seven years would’ve gone if he ended up with the Abismo Negro Jr. character instead.

The AAA Aguascalientes also has a Raptor listed. I’m unsure if the old Raptor has quickly returned to AAA or they’ve just put someone new under the mask.  This show also has the LA Parks vs Blue Demon/Rey Escorpion and the Lucha Brothers vs Laredo Kid/Golden Magic, so someone’s paying a lot for these shows.

Arena Coliseo Monclova on Monday has a team of Angel o Demonio & Blue Demon, two people famous for using blocks in their matches. Angel O Demonio has been loud about Demon stealing the bit from him, though Angel o Demonio is loud and doing a bit about most things.

Violento Jack will be on the 10/03 Lucha Libre Vanguardia show. He says it’s his only date in Mexico for the time being.

Lucha Talk has a new edition of the podcast.

Lineups

CMLL (MON) 09/09/2019 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano, Meyer, Millenium vs Ares el Poblano, Black Tiger, Guerrero Espacial
2) Drone, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Ares (Costa Rica), Escualo (Costa Rica), Kaiser (Costa Rica)
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Kráneo vs Hijo del Villano III, Máscara Año 2000, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Atlantis, Flyer, Titán vs Hechicero, Templario, Vangellys
5) Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Volador Jr. vs Dragón Lee, Terrible, Valiente

Puebla’s Ares is back for the first time since May, the same show as the Costa Rica Ares and his crew are back. They won’t be in for long; they’re headed to Japan on the 15th for Mr. Cacao. Drone faces them here and then heads to Costa Rica on the 28th.

The main event certainly suggests they’ll be running Dragon Lee/Volador II on 09/16. Except, Dragon Lee is already booked in Arena Lopez Mateos that day. He might be able to make both at the normal Arena Puebla start time but they’re planning on starting early for the holiday. Not sure how that’s going to work. I do think that 09/16 Puebla show is now airing since CMLL doesn’t appear to be running Arena Mexico that day after all.

Lucha Libre Real (SAT) 09/21/2019 Domo del Deportivo Plan Sexenal, Distrito Federal
1) Lunatik Fly & Lunatik Xtreme vs Moria & Sobredosis
2) Vazco Jr. vs Demasiado, Chris Stone Jr., Juventud Aerea, Leviatham, Warrior Jr., Dragón Fly, Troyano, Rey Sicario, Yoruba [Copa Independencia]
3) Baronessa & Rossy Moreno vs Lady Flammer & Sexy Dulce
4) The Tiger vs Xtreme Tiger vs Tiger Casas
5) Trauma I & Trauma II vs Demus & Hijo Del Espectro
6) Aeroboy & Low Rider vs Drako & Fresero Jr. and Emperador Azteca & Hijo del Volador and Legendario & Supernova
7) Cuatrero, Forastero (NGD), Sansón, Universo 2000 Jr. vs Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria, Dark Spíritu
8) Último Guerrero vs Cibernético vs Michael Elgin

Flying in Michael Elgin to have a match where Ciberentico is not going to want to do Michael Elgin stuff is an interesting way to set money on fire. I can’t complain about having all the Tigers face off though.

Super Nova (or the people who make the posters) appears to be stylizing his name as “Supernova” in this indie run. I’m trying to keep up.

CMLL held a press conference to talk about their plans for the 09/27 CMLL Aniversario show:

• Microman & Chamuel will meet in the first-ever Micros mask match.
• the previously announced Dalys title challenge
• Ciber the Main Main vs Ultimo Guerrero vs Gilbert el Boricua vs Volador Jr. vs Barbaro Cavernario vs Big Daddy vs Negro Casas in a cage match, the loser losing their hair.

The bit with the main event is Panico was ready to sign just Ciber vs UG, had the contracts and everything, but everyone else wanted their singles matches. The only way to handle it was a cage match. (There are other ways to handle it.) UG teased walking out over not getting his match but came back anyway.

This outcome was telegraphed on Friday though not particularly before then, which suggests a late change in plans. CMLL’s been committed to Ultimo Guerrero vs Ciber but hasn’t been able to get a finish to it. This cage match is less about camouflaging that quality of those matches and seems more about hiding the fact they can’t get a result out of it. They didn’t do a good job of it: this press conference was all about building up 1v1 matches which probably aren’t happening later.

Not sure if anyone’s ever main evented the Aniversario show after one Friday night before Big Daddy. He was entertaining promo in the press conference but not a soul in Mexico knows who he is, something Negro Casas pointed out. Big Daddy is there to be a tall American and also so CMLL can say they didn’t give the worst outcome. The guy who’s been in the promotion a month is not losing his hair (more because why would they give him the payoff instead of someone else). CMLL can hold up Casas or Gilbert losing as giving the fans a big moment by setting up the possibility of a much worse moment.

Volador being in this match sort of flies in the face of Volador challenging for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship on Saturday. The winner is supposed to defend against Rush, only that show is the same day as the Aniversario. Rush can’t be in both places and neither can Volador. Few believed Volador was winning the ROH title anyway – ROH doing a CMLL vs CMLL match for their title would be strange. It’s also something CMLL could’ve addressed with a single line and didn’t do the detail work. Maybe it’ll come up on Informa now.

The Micros match got a more favorable reaction. It should be a good match, Microman is a rare tecnico that the Arena Mexico crowd uniformly supports. (Note the only true tecnico in the cage match is Volador, who was booed last week.) It still does feel too soon for the mask match – what exactly do you do with the Micros next if you blow off the Chamuel/Microman feud? – but at least they’re going to get to do it on the biggest possible stage.

The rest of the Aniversario show will be announced on today’s CMLL Informa card.

CMLL also announced a special Sunday show on 09/15. Mexico’s Independence Day on 09/16. Most places are typically closed on Independence Day Eve 09/15 and CMLL’s moved their shows in recent years. Nothing was announced.

CMLL (TUE) 09/03/2019 Arena México [CMLL, Lucha Central, Ovaciones, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Olímpico 
Tecnicos took 2/3. The third fall fell apart after referee Pompin counted down Nitro on an obvious kicked out.
2) Espanto Jr., Hijo del Signo, Nitro b Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr., Oro Jr. 
rudos took 1/3.
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. b Dark Magic, Misterioso, Vangellys 
tecnicos took 1/3
4) Pólvora b Guerrero Maya Jr. [lightning] 
Polvora won in 6:30 via Polvora Driver
5) Atlantis, Audaz, Flyer b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto 
Audaz replaced Atlantis Jr. Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Volador Jr. b Cavernario, Cuatrero, Terrible 
Volador won via foul on Cavernario to tease a hair match.

Not a good show. Atlantis is falling apart. CMLL’s going to keep booking him until he can no longer walk but that seems disturbingly close to happening. It’s hard to believe a doctor has looked at Atlantis’ knee and honestly believed he’s good to wrestle.

Polvora talks being undefeated streak in lightning matches. Polvora’s won all his lightning matches except for the one he lost to Flyer in February that he keeps forgetting. It was a Flyer match so that doesn’t seem impossible.

CMLL (TUE) 09/03/2019 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Maléfico, Paymon, Sádico b Fugaz, Johnny Dinamo, Rielero
rudos took 2/3
2) Sonic, Star Black, Súper Astro Jr. b Cholo, El Coyote, Guerrero de la Muerte
Star Black replaced Magnum. Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) La Jarochita, Marcela, Silueta b Amapola, La Infernal, La Metálica
Silueta’s first match here since May. La Infernal replaced Tiffany. Tecnicas took 2/3, with Jarochita challenging Metalica to a title match.
4) Diamante Azul, Kráneo, Volcano b Forastero, Negro Casas, Sansón
tecnicos took 1/3.
5) Dragón Lee, Místico, Rush DQ Gran Guerrero, Mecha Wolf 450, Último Guerrero
Munoz took 2/3, the last when UG fouled Dragon Lee.

Magnum being off the show and Silueta being back lends a lot of credibility to rumors that Magnum has been removed from his role as head of programming for Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. Silueta’s brief indie run in June was followed by an El Planchitas story of Magnum telling others that Silueta would need to pay him a sexual favor to get booked back on shows (which Planchitas acknowledged may have been meant as a joke, but still not a great joke to make) and that the younger local wrestlers were being required to kick back some of their match payment to him to keep getting booked. Silueta soon reappeared in CMLL as part of the CMLL Universal de Amazonas announcement on CMLL Informa, with both herself and Julio Cesar Rivera stating Sofia Alonso had specifically reached out about including her. Magnum had booked himself on cards about once a week while in charge. He hasn’t appeared since the beginning of August. (It may be related that the building is hinting at significant changes on their locals-only Sunday shows too, though that may have to do more with new posters and Atlantis Jr & Hijo del Villano III being in..)

Back in 2010, Gran Cochisse was removed from his role as Arena Coliseo Guadalajara trainer. His son, Saturno, and his daughter, La Magnifica, were quickly no longer booked in the building. I’m not sure if the family decided to leave or CMLL deciding to no longer book them once their father lost power. The situation comes to mind because Magnum’s son is Esfinge, and that seemed to be a reason why he was featured above other Guadalajara wrestlers. Esfinge has not appeared on a CMLL Mexico City show since July 19th, though he’s still was on the Guadalajara shows as recently as last week. I’m not sure if it means anything but it’s something to watch. Triton, Esfinge’s friend and tag partner, leaving CMLL is also a bit interesting in this context but likely unrelated.

Mecha Wolf replaces Templario on Friday. Some wires got crossed for him to be in the promo for next week but then not on the card.

Ciber is getting his title match with Ultimo Guerrero – on a spot show in San Luis Potosi on September 25th.

Rush is also getting his title match, for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship against Matt Taven, on 09/27 in Las Vegas. This was heavily teased on the last Ring of Honor and the only question was if Jeff Cobb (who later won a title shot) would be added to this match or challenge sometime later. ROH’s already done Taven/Cobb and Taven’s uncertain future with ROH heavily hints at the outcome of the match. There’s been a lot of skepticism about ROH going with Matt Taven over Marty Scurll as ROH champion. My guess is ROH wanted to get to this Rush/Taven match, so it’s got some pressure to work.

Bandido is entered in ROH’s #1 contenders tournament. His first-round match-up against Jay Lethal (on 09/28) may determine the entire tournament winner, who faces the champion on ROH’s December PPV. The winner of Bandido/Lethal faces Scurll (may not be long for ROH) and Cabana (usually not headlining ROH PPVs.) There’s no overwhelming favorite in the other half either.

There was a press conference in Puebla for Sunday’s AAA TV taping. These never have much news. Dr. Wagner Jr. was again announced as being added to the show, though no idea what he’s doing. The Twitch stream of the show is now 6:30, the usual bit of AAA moving the start time back a half-hour to squeeze in a dark match before it starts.

AAA people, including Marisela Pena & Psycho Clown, visited the Fundacion Casa de Maria yesterday. AAA had donated tickets to the charity, which supports disadvantaged children, and the charity was able to sell those to raise money for bunk beds for 30 children. AAA brought gift packages for the kids.

The AAA crew attending included Keyra, so she’s at least no longer confined to a wheelchair. She still hasn’t been listed in a match since getting hurt in Tijuana in July.

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the debuts of Karis La Momia Jr. & Hijo de Silver King. Karis La Momia Jr. is La Parka (AAA)’s son but the identity of Hijo de Silver King wasn’t as clear. The identity of Hijo de Silver King still isn’t clear, but it is now clear he isn’t Silver King’s sons. One of them wrote a post on Facebook calling this Silver King a fraud and threatening a lawsuit. (Via SuperLuchas) The son also has questions for Dr. Wagner Jr. about being involved with this, though he carefully stops short of accusing him of something.

Hijo del Pantera won the Wrestle-1 Cruiserweight Championship on Sunday, defeating Andy Wu (who trained with the Panteras in Mexico long ago.) Pantera is the forgotten Mexican abroad, wrestling near full time in Japan but doing it for a promotion that doesn’t get much attention even in its own country. He’s been a frequent participant there since 2014, in other promotions to 2012, and this is his first championship win.

Nacion Lucha Libre has a match scheduled as part of activities as a Mexico City this Saturday race track this weekend. Nacion Lucha Libre hasn’t announced a next TV taping yet; they need to tape by next weekend to avoid going into repeats. There are persistent rumors of money issues, something Alberto referenced in a +LuchaTV interview following their last taping.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Lineups

AAA TV (SAT) 10/05/2019 Palacio del Arte, Morelia, Michoacán
1) Eclipse vs Iron Kid vs Mr. Iguana
2) Aramis & Toxin vs Cíclope & Miedo Extremo [TLC]
3) Lady Shani & Myzteziz Jr. vs La Hiedra & Látigo
4) ???, Faby Apache, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
5) Aerostar, Murder Clown, Niño Hamburguesa vs ??????, Monsther Clown, Texano Jr.
6) Dr. Wagner Jr., Pagano, Psycho Clown vs Blue Demon Jr., Chessman, Rey Escorpión

This was mentioned as a Culiacan taping, so it did get moved. The main has names but it drops off a bit more quickly after that. I think it’s cool Latigo is working a tercera but I’m not sure AAA fans know him at that level yet. (It’s also possible Latigo won’t even be here since he’s in China until at least the 4th.) This is the same weekend as AAA is in Colombia, so perhaps that’s a reason why.

Doing a TLC match is strange. None of those four guys are around much or known to the casual AAA audience, there’s no reason to have a TLC match, and they’re just burning out their bodies for the second match on a card that’s probably not going to sell many extra tickets. I don’t get it. Hopefully, it gets saved for a day where it might mean something.

Note the AAA card is announced more than a month ahead of time while the US card isn’t announced even 10 days before.

Lucha Time (SUN) 09/15/2019 Gimnasio Nuevo León Independiente, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
1) Hell Raider vs Black Rider, Príncipe de Oro
2) Batab, Mummy, Última Sombra vs Medico Brujo, Muerte Extrema, Sick Boy
3) Azrael vs Draego
4) Lady Flammer & Reina Obscura vs Perla Lagunera & Sucii Love
5) Demonio del Aire & Fly Star vs El Divo & Star
6) Emperador Azteca (IWRG) vs The Tiger [KAOZ CRUISER]
7) Bandido (Indie) vs Hijo Del Espectro Jr. vs Dragón Lee (CMLL)

This was the show set up by Espectro calling out Bandido & Dragon Lee for not working hard in Mexico.

Klandestino (MON) 09/16/2019 Arena Lopez Mateos
1) Fandango & Multifacetico vs Chilango & Mr. Pachuco
2) Alas de Oro, Alas De Plata, Centella Oriental, Mexica vs Impulso, Leviatham, Sádico, Yoruba
3) Emperador Azteca, Imposible, Último Legendario vs Aeroboy, Trauma I, Trauma II
4) Hijo de LA Park, LA Park, Rey Fénix vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Lee (CMLL), La Bestia Del Ring
5) Rush vs LA Park vs Penta 0M

The Independence Day week shows are starting to roll out. This has a lot of big names and also La Besita del Ring.