Volador faked a foul to win in straight falls, building up the hair match.
Thoughts:
The Volador/Cavernario match didn’t start exciting, had a designed unsatisfying finish, and Volador was never so motivated as to remove off his t-shirt. They did do a good B-version of their match in between, giving about the effort expected on this show, just not the effort possible between these two guys. A forgettable but not offensive main event, by Tuesday standards.
The tercera was a brief but entertaining midcard match. Los Cancerberos are better up in the spot because they have offense. I’m used to rudos standing around and doing little. This match was also one of those where Drone angers me by being very good while having messed up his entire career. He seems more like someone you’d do something significant with than Fuego at this point (though Fuego should be higher as well.)
The minis match had some effort, but the speed seemed off. It didn’t come off strong as a result
Yago’s new look is an improvement. I would like him to remodel his finishing move as well, but I guess there are more significant problems here I don’t understand; Yago’s fallen off the map this year. The rest of this match was boring lucha performed as boring. It is tough to tell if Retro is limited or if CMLL limits him.
Many of the top AAA wrestlers – Blue Demon, Dr. Wagner, Fenix, Penta among them – appear to be freelance wrestlers not signed to the promotion. AAA has seemed surprisingly comfortable with that arrangement. I’d suspect they would be satisfied with bringing in Rush as a non-contracted wrestler as well. He may not often work in AAA, but I think a few dates are possible, even while still with Ring of Honor.
Dragon Lee’s desire to keep his mask and name seem to rule out WWE. Nothing should be completely ruled out in the current environment though, WWE is more willing to make those sorts of compromises because of the competitive market. Signing with AEW or ROH would seem to leave Dragon Lee still with plenty of time to wrestle in Mexico. The clues suggest Dragon Lee will be going to NJPW full time, maybe even announced as soon as the 10/14 King of Pro Wrestling show, but it’s open enough for other possibilities.
La Mascara appeared at the press conference to talk about teaming with Rush & Bestia going forward. It’ll be the latest version of Los Ingobernables, though it’s unclear if they’ll use that name. La Mascara is engaging in another fashion: CMLL filed for a trademark on La Mascara way back in 2010 but it remains not approved. He’s been able to keep using it, even while on AAA TV. The same is true of the Dragon Lee name; CMLL filed for it, but the trademark office has never listed as approved. Some wrestlers used those names much before the current versions, which may play a part. I’m not a copyright lawyer, so I don’t know how significant the difference is, but I do know La Mascara seemed to be able to use the name in AAA, and perhaps that means Dragon Lee will be allowed wherever he wants to use it. (Rush’s trademark does look like it was approved.)
A rumor going around on Facebook – here’s a link on Zona Ruda, but I saw it other places and I don’t see a source for it – has CMLL deciding to shut their doors to outsiders, and no longer booking the CL4N (Ciber, Scharly, Chris) and Gilbert el Boricua as a result. They’d also limit their luchadors ability to work outside shows. I’m not sure if this is true – Gilbert is booked on Sunday – but there is no point in the CL4N in CMLL with Ciber/UG not happening any time soon. They also haven’t done almost anything with Gilbert. The fear is CMLL is instead pulling up the drawbridge and closing off the outside world in response to losing Dragon Lee & Rush as if the reason they left was the bad influence outside and not the problems on the outside. If CMLL does restrict the outside work the top stars can take without making up for it, they will end up having fewer top stars.
Both Dragon Lee and the promotion were under the impression he was wrestling tonight in Aguascalientes. That is no longer the case; Dragon Lee says CMLL has vetoed him from working the show. The show was likely booked through CMLL, giving them the option of pulling their own wrestlers if the local promoter doesn’t go along. It does make Saturday’s The Crash show confusing. Soberano, Cavernario, Angel de Oro, and Niebla Roja are scheduled on the show in addition to Dragon Lee. The Crash has also added Rush & La Bestia del Ring after Rush quit CMLL. CMLL may allow them all to work, CMLL may pull their guys. I’d have a back-up plan ready if I was The Crash.
Reporte Indigo asked Roberto Figueroa, Miguel Reducindo, and Leo Riano, who might take the place of Dragon Lee & Rush in CMLL. They suggested NGD, Cavernario, and Titan, while noting it more depends on who the company decides to support. Riano makes the point that a guy like Atlantis Jr. might have been better off coming in under a different name, as a section of the fans will always believe he’s in a high position because he’s an Atlantis and not because of his ability.
AAA’s InvadingLA show is officially postponed. It may be canceled. Ticketmaster informed ticket holders last night that the AAA InvadingLA 10/13 show of the postponement. The email, first posted by John Pollock, says an announcement about the rescheduled date will come later. Earlier in the week, I had heard the conventional PPV was postponed until 2020. AAA has said nothing about the postponement. They’ve posted nothing about this show in over a week. There have been rumors about the show not happening that date for at least that long. AAA’s quietness is unsurprising but still not great.
If the AAA LA show is postponed, your tickets are still good later. You will get a refund if the show is moved from being postponed to canceled. I’d ask for a refund anyway; the issue here was not enough tickets sold, so there’s no danger in missing out if you need to rebuy later. There had been little to no promotion of the show from the moment it was announced.
The big focus for these AAA US shows has been Cain Velasquez. The UFC fighter committed to working both the New York & Los Angeles shows. The difference between the show being canceled and postponed might mean a lot to him, the deal over versus the deal in limbo. It’s always possible AAA could just let Velasquez out of the deal to preserve the relationship. Cain Velasquez is as demand a free agent as Dragon Lee. Velasquez would be expected to sign a wrestling deal soon – assuming his UFC deal allows it.
(What do I do with the LA show in luchadb? Do I leave it up forever as a tombstone? Do I delete it, so people aren’t confused when doing searches? Do I move it to 12/31/2020 on the idea that it is being postponed? Never sure how to preserve these things.)
With the AAA show off 10/13, the El Rey airing of the InvadingNY show has been moved to that day. El Rey’s schedule lists it now at 8 pm CT, which would’ve been running directly against the PPV. I don’t think that’s a mistake. I believe the original air date was to promote the LA show, now it exists to replace it, but they just knew about the postponement before the ticket holders.
Penta & Fenix appeared on the debut AEW Dynamite show. They also were part of a match after the show went off the air. I’m not sure if that match will turn up anywhere. All appearances on the show were that Fenix & Penta were full AEW roster members. They continue to be on the indie shows that the fellow AEW wrestlers finished up this past week. I don’t know what it all means, but it’ll probably make sense eventually. I guess it’s also possible that whatever agreement Fenix & Penta made to work the AAA shows prevented them from signing from AEW until after the LA show was over, but that’s a total guess.
The Crash’s show on Friday is starting a half-hour early, at 8:00 pm. It’s going to be a very long show with eight matches as part of the MLW cross-promotion.
The story of the main event is Aramis was one of two people not pinned in the tournament. The semifinals were three-way single fall matches, with both Aramis & Douki not figuring in the decisions. Douki probably has something to do in November, so Aramis gets the shot. That should be a great match.
indy (SUN) 10/13/2019Arena Coliseo Monterrey
1) Dr. Monsther & Rey Sultan vs Amun & Black Tron
2) Azrael, Optimus, Sexy Piscis vs Ameprio, Orquidea, Vasco Jr.
3) Diana La Cazadora vs Princesa Maya, Lady Flammer
4) ? & Divo vs Diluvio Negro II & Sergio Romo
5) Hijo de LA Park & La Bestia Del Ring vs Caifan & Caifan II
6) Rush vs LA Park [super libre]
That main event didn’t take long.
DTU (THU) 10/24/2019Arena Aficion
1) Aero Panther, Fight Panther, Vengador Radioactivo vs Dark Power, Dragón Suicida, Samuray Jr.
2) Brazo Celestial & Brazo Cibernetico vs Blue Panther Jr. & Cachorro Lagunero
3) Arez & Pesadilla vs Calibus & Rayo (Us) and Drolux & Moria
4) Crazy Boy, Crazy King, Hardy Boy, Hijo De Dr. Pólux vs Alex Ocean, El Diablo Fly Star, Halloween, Mch Body
5) Ricky Marvin vs Jitsu, Brian Johnson, Exótico, Brazo De Oro Jr.
6) Dante Caballero vs Camuflaje vs Puma King
The next visit to DTU’s home base. The names you may recognize are from Ring of Honor’s school Future of Honor.
Felino, Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III beat Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Flyer
(14:36 [6:22, 4:33, 3:41], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Soberano Jr. and Templario went to a draw in a lightning match
(10:00, TLD, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Big Daddy, Gilbert el Boricua, Último Guerrero beat Cavernario, Ciber the Main Man, Volador Jr.in a relevos increíbles match
(6:57 [3:07, 3:50], 1/2, below average, VideosOficialesCMLL)
Neither team in the semi-main got along or even really attempted to do so. Promos followed.
Soberano & Templario collapsed after the ten minutes were up then started fighting more
Chamuel got caught unmasking Microman for the DQ
Thoughts:
The main event had all the moves, but it just was shockingly off in some parts. It seemed more the rudos, who are never this inconsistent. Maybe Euforia was working through a leg injury because he couldn’t even get the celebration with Gran Guerrero to go correctly. It was not terrible, but there was enough wrong with that you should pick something else.
The semi-main was an intentional mess. It was hard to watch outside of the attempt to have a hot last sixty seconds. Even that ended with Ciber noticeably not wanting to keep his shoulders down on the final pin. Big Daddy dove once. Not much else that looked good. Cavernario & Volador screwed around a lot. Ultimo Guerrero seemed like the only one who was into this, including those outside the ring.
Big Daddy shoots, misses
Soberano & Templario felt like a fifteen-minute match cut off at the ten-minute mark. They were killing each other with big moves; it just also never felt like they got close to the point where they focused on winning. There were a couple of spots that seemed like they were about to fall apart, but Templario is a good enough rudo to keep them together. Soberano and Templario are really at their best against each other and hopefully will get another chance later.
The tercera didn’t come entirely together for me despite having some good individual performances. Dulce Gardenia had his most complete match so far, even while relying less on the exotico spots. Atlantis Jr. continuing to show improvement is one of the best stories of the year in CMLL. There was a heroic performance by Hechicero to keep a complicated Flyer headscissors from falling apart. Hechicero carried a lot of the action for his side.
The minis match was not much, just another unmasking bit to build up to next week’s mask fight. Even Microman and Chamuel seemed to be saving their best stuff for the following week. It’s an easy skip.
Super Astro & Sonic are about as an entertaining tecnico duo as CMLL throws in the Mexico City openers. They had a lot of fun in the third fall especially, pulling off flashier moves than usually seen in this place on the card. The execution wasn’t smooth; Espiritu Negro & Grako were will if not able. It was still better than an average opening. Maybe calling it good is judging on a curve but it deserves some notice.
