October 16, 2019 – luchablog

Lucha Capital: 2019-10-16 (2×1)

October 16, 2019November 4, 2019 thecubsfan 2 Comments

Recapped: 10/16/2019

All matches this season emanate from the Pinche Gringo BBQ in Mexico City.

Matches:

Ayako Hamada beat Big Mami and Hades
(7:53, Ayako AP Cross, good, 00:05:37)

Flamita beat Willie Mack and Máximo
(12:19, Flamita crucifix cradle Willie Mack, ok, 00:21:05)

Rich Swann beat Nino Hamburguesa and Argenis
(8:28, Rich Swann middle rope 450 splash Argenis, ok, 00:42:10)

Drago beat Villano III Jr. and Aerostar
(11:49, Drago Dragon’s Trail Cradle Villano III, good, 00:59:28)

What happened:

Ayako, Flamita, Rich Swann, and Drago picked up the wins for their teams in the first week of matches. Everyone seemed to know who their teammates were, which was fairly amazing.

Hades was hurt after taking the finish of her match.

La Griega has been replaced by La Regia.

Thoughts:

The overall presentation is improved. They’ve got fancy graphics to help ease the understanding of the team system this year. Vampiro and his co-host of the year aren’t good but they are kept to a minimum. There’s little dead time between the matches, and I’d happily trade the sometimes enjoyable weirdness for the show being done 45 minutes quicker. JMG & Adrian are more focused on the matches than the Konnan/Vampiro announce teams had been.

I’m not really thrilled at the match format though. I don’t like three-way matches because they usually seem worse than any 1v1 match that could’ve happened instead. They tend to repeat the spin short term partnership/pin break-up spots in all of the matches. That’s what happened here; if there’s even a way to make four different triangle matches, AAA hasn’t figured out yet. I think they’re and we’re stuck, unless they rethink this tournament on the fly. That puts a cap on how good this is going to be during the group rounds.

Aerostar & Drago & Villano III Jr. was the match of the night, a bunch of typical highspots and occasional Villano power moves. It wasn’t without flaws (or people standing around waiting to get hit); Villano looked more noticeably green here than he does in normal AAA TV matches. Aerostar did make it through the match unscathed for once.

Rich Swann calling Nino Hamburguesa & Argenis two of the best wrestlers in Mexico after they all had a very average match was more fun than the match. It was alright, Swann looked the best, Argenis has fully bought into evil, Hamburguesa did some of his usual stuff, it just really wasn’t much.

The Willie Mack/Maximo/Flamita match tried to make the three-way format work by just disappearing Maximo for the last few minutes of the match. It felt like they had lost the crowd then, with a stilted early pace and comedy that didn’t get. The communication barrier here was more with the DJ not understanding what music Willie Mack needed to dance, but Mack and Flamita didn’t feel as smooth as they should’ve been early. This felt like an off night for Flamita. Maximo kiss spots were the most over thing but also kind of felt they didn’t fit.

Hades wrestled as if she really wanted to make a positive impression on her return. She did, and then she ended up on a backboard. That wasn’t a happy ending. The three-way overdelivered, with Mami’s spots getting over and Hades showing a lot more than expected. Ayako did relatively little, which seemed like too much a tell she was going to get the win in the end. It was still a surprising match, enough to make it worth checking out.

CMLL Martes: 2019-10-08

October 16, 2019October 16, 2019 thecubsfan

kind of giving away the game by doing UG moves

Recapped: 10/09/2019

Matches:

Acero & Aéreo beat Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
(12:45 [5:37, 3:03, 4:05], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

La Comandante, Metálica, Reyna Isis beat La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Skadi
(16:23 [8:02, 4:35, 3:46], 2/3, n/r, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Disturbio, Pólvora, Universo 2000 Jr. beat Drone, Oro Jr., Pegasso
(15:22 [4:27, 3:29, 7:26], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. beat Dark Magic, Misterioso, Sagrado
(13:23 [6:34, 1:39, 5:10], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Atlantis, Místico, Soberano Jr. beat Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
(9:18 [3:23, 5:55], 1/2, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Carístico beat Forastero
(12:27, 1/3, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Caristico casita (1:20)
Forastero armbar (1:27)
La Mistica (9:40)

What happened:

The opener is joined a minute or so in progress. It’s usually streaming issues when that happens.

Thoughts:

I’d like to see more progression that we’re getting out of Forastero. He was there to take Caristico’s move (except for the springboard plancha in the opening fall), he does play up being a rudo a bit, but his offense still isn’t there. Forastero feels like he has his trios moves and no more on his own, though he’s had the opportunity to do more. A lot of Forastero moves play off his cousins dropping someone on the mat or in a corner for Forastero to add his move, and they don’t feel like they work on his own with what he’s doing so far. So much of it is flying moves that he actually comes off as a miscast tecnico than a rudo at times. Ultimo Guerrero & Místico was more predictable because Guerrero was better at putting Místico in a level of danger not see here. This main event was a fine enough Caristico exhibition and more fun than anything else on the show but it also exposed the need for more.

The semi-main was more notable for the protection of Místico – turning the match around in the second fall to lead to the sweep – than much that happened. I didn’t really need a long Hijo del Infierno match and what we saw was fine, there just was no reason for it to go two falls except to keep Místico from losing. Atlantis couldn’t move but he couldn’t move for a shorter amount of time this week, so that was nice.

Blue Panther celebrates his 41^st anniversary by wrestling the midcard rudos in a match that unusually struggles to get a reaction. The crowd dies in the third fall around the star spot. They do get them back, but that’s a bit that nearly always seems to work. Nothing works quite as well as it should be here despite Panther pulling out all of his tricks. Even the surprise finish comes off flat.

Acero & Aereo have evolved into a good prelim tag team who would absolutely not be missed if they disappeared tomorrow. They’ve actually moved down the card as they’ve gotten better, with CMLL giving up on this division but still booking them in openers. The first fall was the best fall in the opener.

Lucha Capital kicks off, FantasticaMania talent roster, Tuesday results

October 16, 2019October 16, 2019 thecubsfan 2 Comments

CMLL (TUE) 10/15/2019 Arena México [CMLL, Lucha Central]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia b Acero & Aéreo
2) Espanto Jr., Grako, Hijo del Signo b Metatrón, Príncipe Diamante, Súper Astro Jr.
rudos took 1/3
3) Dark Magic, Pólvora, Universo 2000 Jr. b Drone, Esfinge, Magia Blanca
rudos took 1/3
4) Fuego b Disturbio [lightning]
Fuego pinned Disturbio after a splash (which seemed like it wasn’t meant to be the finish.)
5) Ephesto, Luciferno, Templario b Blue Panther, Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr.
rudos took 2/3
6) Mephisto, Negro Casas, Terrible b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Stuka Jr.
straight falls for the rudos

The only tecnico win on the night was on a botched finished. I think Fuego was meant to win anyway – he does the victory promo – but not an interesting show. I’ve watched about half of it so far and regret it.

I did catch the surprise announcement before the lightning match. Enrique Gil, the oldest of the three CMLL ring announcers, announced his own retirement from the promotion prior to the lightning match. There was no sign it was coming and the CMLL announcers did not talk about it much during the match. Box Y Lucha posted an interview with him I had time to watch. Gil is typically only seen doing the announcing on the Tuesday shows; he may have been working Saturday or Sunday as well. His Facebook mentions he’s doing a boxing show this weekend (and seems to only mention boxing), so this may just be retirement from CMLL. The other two CMLL ring announcers are Omar Garcia and Ivan Salguero. It’s possible they’ll just continue with two, though they’ll be down to one in Mexico during the FantasticaMania tour.

CMLL (TUE) 10/15/2019 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Frenético, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno b Explosivo, Fantástico, Luminoso
rudos took 2/3.
2) Amapola, Dalys, Reina Isis b La Jarochita, La Maligna, Silueta
rudas took 2/3
3) El Audaz, Rey Cometa, Star Jr. b Olímpico, Tiger, Virus
tecnicos took 2/3
4) Diamante Azul, Kráneo, Volcano DQ Felino, Hechicero, Vangellys
tecnicos took 2/3, the last when Hechicero unmasked Diamante Azul to set up a singles match
5) Carístico, Soberano Jr., Valiente b Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Rey Bucanero
Tecnicos took 2/3. Cavernario replaced Terrible (double booked).

I’m definitely going to screw up recording Volador Jr. & Cavernario but have no problem getting Hechicero & Diamante Azul.

NJPW announced the lineup for the 2020 FantasticaMania tour: Carístico, Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Titán, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr., Flyer, El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Fuego, Dulce Gardenia, Último Guerrero, Euforia, Negro Casas, Sansón, Cuatrero, Forastero, Bárbaro Cavernario, Luciferno, Okumura, and Tiger.

This is the FantasticaMania debut for Tiger, Lucifierno and Dulce Gardenia. CMLL’s newest exotico debuted in June and these decisions are usually made well in advance, so he got onto the tour about as fast as possible. It took Luciferno 17 years to do the same.

Those who are left off are the bigger news, with a lot of familiar faces missing. Volador & Mistico are off the tour after six years in a row, typically main eventing one of the Tokyo shows. (It’s technically seven years for Mistico; he was hurt but appeared at the 2013 version.) Dragon Lee has been a key part of this tournament for the last four years and is no longer around. Atlantis has been on the tour the last five years. Even Gran Guerrero has been on four of the last five years. The shows needed match-ups after last years, though they’re going to be doing relying on those who haven’t been stars previously. This is a betting a bit on how much the Chavez brothers and NGD mean in Tokyo, as they will likely be main eventing at least one of the four Korakuen Hall shows. Cavernario may get to be a protagonist rather than just a guy to lose to Mistico/Volador/Caristico, because those guys aren’t as around.

Fuego may have finally escaped the CMLL doghouse if he’s being used on this tour. Or he may have been just an available name once they had to remove Dragon Lee from the list. (It’s really him or Flyer, and neither seems likely to get much to do on the tour.) Negro Casas was supposed to be on the 2018 FantasticaMania tour and missed it due to injury, so this is a delayed makeup. Tiger is probably here in part to team with him. The Chavez, NGD, Euforia and Soberano and the Casas give enough teams for the now annual family tag team tournament. Mistico & Dragon Lee won that last year, and won’t be back to defend.

Ovaciones report about the winner of Gran Alternativa getting on this tour seems wrong. That’s 20 people on the tour. CMLL’s never sent more than that and NJPW could’ve held the announcement off for a couple more days if there was more to announce. There is a chance that Volador & Dulce were intended to win, Volador couldn’t stick around for the final because he got on the NJPW tour, and Dulce still got the spot as originally planned.

Titan & Volador won their opening group match in the NJPW Super Junior Tag League. Titan got the win over rookie Yuyu Uemura. I don’t think it’s actually happening, but with Titan being back for FantasticaMania and Volador not, Titan probably should be getting the wins.

Today’s the kickoff of Lucha Capital. The show starts at 9 pm CT. They streamed it on the Lucha Capital Facebook last year, though I’m sure you’ll be able to find it on various Facebook sites. If the guesses at the matches are correct, then Aerostar vs Drago vs Flamita seems like the most appealing match. These shows were available after the fact last year, so you will be able to watch later if you can’t watch live.

Vampiro did a Facebook Live video to promote the premiere on Tuesday. He seemed to indicate he’ll be a host of the show, not an announcer. There will be a special stream on AAA’s Twitch (and other platforms) with their eSports team today at 7 pm to promote the Lucha Capital debut. The Lucha Capital show will only be on Facebook; they’re sponsoring the show.

On Ariel Helwani’s show Monday, Cain Velasquez mentioned WWE is allowing him to work one more AAA date. That seems like Velasquez finishing on the agreed two-match deal for the New York and Los Angeles shows. That second match just might no longer be happening in Los Angeles since there’s no word when (if) that show may be happening. There was a similar deal made when Alberto returned to WWE last time, though the show AAA was going to use him on was canceled and WWE decided that was the only chance to use Alberto. This may be different legal circumstances but I’d imagine there’s a time limit for this match to happen if it will happen at all.

Fuerza Guerrera says he will retire. Not any time soon though. Guerrera told ESTO he’s planning to have a retirement tour from April 2020 to April 2021, including matches in the US and Japan. Retirement tours tend to be good ways to get extra farewell bookings and tend not to end so I’m not sure how serious to take this.

RCH announced Sanson, Cuatrero, and Negro Casas had been pulled for their 11/17 show by CMLL. They explained it as part of CMLL’s rule against their wrestlers appearing on shows with “the other promotion”, a rule that seems haphazardly applied. The new main event will be the Lucha Brothers vs Rush & Bestia del Ring, with Rey Triton moving down to face Aramis. There are other matches that seem like they’d need to be changed as well.

Lola Gonzalez is teaching a self-defense course in Ciudad Juarez.

MexaWrestling 10/26 at Arena San Juan

RIOT 11/02 “420” lineup

Segunda Caida reviews a Santo match and crazy Neza match.

Lineups

AAA , KAOZ (SUN) 10/20/2019 Arena Coliseo Monterrey
1) La Parkita (Aaa) & Mini Psycho Clown vs Mini Difunto & Mini Hator
2) Mamba & Pimpinela Escarlata vs Casandro & Dulce Kanela
3) Emperador Azteca (IWRG) vs Séptimo Dragón, Mr. Iguana, Aerostar, Halcón Negro Jr., Súper Nova, Vazco Jr., Azrael
4) Faby Apache vs La Hiedra, Lady Shani, Vanilla [Copa Martha Villalobos]
5) Christi Jaynes vs Sexy Dulce [KAOZ WOMEN]
6) Abismo Negro Jr. & Hijo De Wagner vs El Divo & La Bestia Del Ring
7) ?, Hijo de LA Park, LA Park Jr. vs Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly
8) Rush vs LA Park, La Parka, Konnan
scheduled to appear

This main event is a bizarre deal where they’re making it very clear Rush will wrestle, but can or will not actually say the match. Rush, LA Park, La Parka and Konnan are pictured. I don’t think people really want see Rush vs AAA’s La Parka so I assume that’s what they’ll be getting and that’s why they’re not saying, but KAOZ could be stranger than that. AAA sending people to different promoters in the same city the same day (KDNA also running) is also strange.

CMLL (TUE) 10/22/2019 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Crixus, Magnus, Reycko vs Bobby Black, Carlo Roggi, Mr. Apolo
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sanely vs Amapola, Dalys, La Seductora
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Esfinge vs Misterioso, Sagrado, Vangellys
4) Diamante Azul vs Hechicero
5) Carístico, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón

Hechicero: not going to Japan and getting to lose to Diamante Azul.

IWRG (SUN) 10/27/2019 Arena Naucalpan
1) Cobre & Príncipe Aéreo vs Baby Star & Lunatik Fly
2) Atomic Star & Puma de Oro vs Neza Kid & Shalom
3) Aramis & Imposible vs Dinamic Black & Súpernova
4) Dragón Bane vs Fly Star, Lunatik Xtreme, Toxin
5) Fresero Jr. & Hijo De Dos Caras vs Trauma I & Trauma II and Oficial 911 & Oficial AK47
6) Hijo de Canis Lupus © vs Demonio Infernal [IWRG IC HEAVY]
3rd defense

Canis Lupus vs Demonio Infenral will leave a mark on someone

CMLL Puebla: 2019-10-07

October 16, 2019October 14, 2019 thecubsfan

Recapped: 10/08/2019

Matches:

King Jaguar & Rey Comodín beat Prayer & Rencor
(15:34 [6:29, 3:59, 5:06], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Príncipe Diamante & Rey Samuray beat Centella Roja & Fuerza Chicana
(9:51 [4:38, 2:32, 2:41], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Arkalis, Oro Jr., Súper Astro Jr. beat Cancerbero, Perverso, Raziel
(14:44 [6:46, 2:41, 5:17], 2/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Stigma, Stuka Jr., Titán beat Felino, Templario, Tiger
(15:09 [4:49, 4:42, 5:38], 1/3, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas beat Ángel de Oro, Diamante Azul, Niebla Roja
(12:27 [5:03, 7:24], 1/2, ok, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Místico beat Último Guerrero
(9:50, 1/3, good, VideosOficialesCMLL)

Místico torito (2:56)
Pulpo Guerrero (1:30)
La Mistica (5:25)

What happened:

Felino was caught with a small package by Stigma at the end of the first fall, though his shoulders were about down as much as Dalys. They had a much friendly camera angle though. Titan ran off to the back at the end of his match, perhaps with an arm injury

Rey Comodin is a renamed Mini Joker, though they’re playing like he’s a new guy for reasons unexplained. He’s also a tecnico now. Prayer & Rencor are debuting and Prayer has some fan support. Rencor is wearing Talisman’s color scheme, for what’s it worth.

Thoughts:

Mistico/UG didn’t re-invent the wheel, but they had an entertaining match. This felt like going back to the original Místico formula, as a super underdog fighting back against the much bigger rudo. That formula worked, as did Ultimo Guerrero doing his usual third fall sequences. Going shorter than usual made that much better, with the match getting to a finish without being handcuffed by getting in every spot. Místico didn’t pull off much fancy, but what he did here worked and he was more effective at getting sympathy than usual. The crowd responded to it, though the Puebla crowd seems much more willing to go with tecnicos than any of CMLL’s other usual TV spots.

Niebla Roja & Gran Guerrero did the usual feud build up match. Gran Guerrero played his part well, though it felt like he may have stalled too much and slowed down the second fall a bit. It’s not that he should’ve stalled less but it would’ve helped to move onto the Diamante Azul sequence quicker. Gran Guerrero saved Niebla Roja’s life here and their singles match should be as good as usual.

There were plenty of dives teases in the fourth match – that seemed to be half the second fall – and not actually that many dives. This was one of a few minutes that seemed to coast along until turning it up in the few minutes, and it wasn’t enough to save some blah action. Stuka landing his splash despite his mask being turned in the wrong direction was cool though.

The tercera finished up strong in the last couple of minutes. Not a lot happened prior to that. Super Astro Jr. moves smoothly and has more physical charisma than most people. Raziel did a lot with wrist control in the opening fall. Just watch the end.

The second match didn’t come together, though it had some decent effort Samuray seem more emboldened to try things of late, though they didn’t really work out. He did hit the 450 splash with the best landing so far. Principe Diamante is a much better version of Flyer.

Not really sure why money was thrown in the opener unless it was friends of the wrestlers trying to get them over. It was fine, but it wasn’t close to the match last week. Prayer stood out a little more by wanting to hit hard, though I’m not sure that’s going to win friends in a CMLL ring. I’m not sure why they needed to flip Mini Joker to the tecnico side, there’s not that many good rudos. I was entertained by Prayer picking up the corner dropkick as a finish; guess it’s available in CMLL now.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: