Month: February 2020

CMLL (MON) 02/24/2020 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Lucha Central]
1) Astro & Hijo de Centella Roja b Espíritu Maligno & Policeman 
tecnicos took 1/3
2) Fuego, Joker, Stigma DQ Dark Magic, Diamond, Okumura [Relevos Increíbles] 
Joker replaced Virus. Team Stigma took 2/3, the last when Okumura fouled Stigma.
3) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. b Shocker, Templario, Virus 
Atlantis Jr. replaced Valiente. Virus replaced Cavernario. Rudos took 1/3, Templario pinning Volador to set up a match.
4) Ephesto & Soberano Jr. b Último Guerrero, Cuatrero, Niebla Roja, Universo 2000 Jr., Felino, Drone [torneo de parejas familiares, battle royal] 
5) Felino & Negro Casas b Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja [torneo de parejas familiares, quarterfinal] 
6) Cuatrero & Sansón b Drone & Rey Bucanero [torneo de parejas familiares, quarterfinal] 
7) Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero b Máscara Año 2000 & Universo 2000 Jr. [torneo de parejas familiares, quarterfinal] 
8) Euforia & Soberano Jr. b Ephesto & Luciferno [torneo de parejas familiares, quarterfinal] 
9) Cuatrero & Sansón b Felino & Negro Casas [torneo de parejas familiares, semifinal] 
10) Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero b Euforia & Soberano Jr. [torneo de parejas familiares, semifinal] 
11) Cuatrero & Sansón DQ Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero [torneo de parejas familiares, final] 
Cuatrero & Sanson fouled Gran Guerrero, then UG was caught unmasking the NGD members.

So they did this tournament and then they didn’t have a good finish. The good thing is they also hurried the last few matches because the show was going long, so it’s not like they were messing up an enjoyable thing. That’s a safe bet with Arena Puebla.

I’m a bit suspicious the Volador feud was meant to be with Cavernario and that it still may end up that way if he’s available next Monday. On the other hand, that counting I just did showed Cavernario doesn’t work many Mondays so maybe they won’t get him there for that. I’m unsure if CMLL is doing a special card for the Puebla (and Guadalajara) H2L shows, but the Stigma/Okumura match could end up there.

Los Guerreros face Atlantis Jr., Stuka Jr. and Valiente in tonight’s Arena Mexico main event. There’s no feud being followed up from last week. Rey Cometa and Tiger meet in a lightning match, the only really interesting thing on the undercard. The show streams at 7:30 pm.

Guadalajara has Caristico, Volador and Diamante Azul scheduled against NGD. Which NGD member will get DQed?

Hechicero says fans come up to him constantly to tell him he should be a main eventer in CMLL. He says he doesn’t complain, just does his work in the ring.

Arena Rey Bucanero is running Blue Panther vs Virus on Saturday. Those shows have been covered by +Lucha and Hector Godfrey in the past.

03/08 Lucha Memes @ Coliseo Coacalco

• Multy & Prayer vs Robin Maravilla & Avisman
• Ricky Marvin vs Perro de Guerra
• Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito vs Garrobo & Gremlin vs Alas de Acero & Iron Kid
• Virus vs Judas el Traidor
• Black Terry & Negro Navarro vs Impulso & Belial
• Arez vs Titan – new

Arez vs Titan alone is enough to check out the show, though it seems politically near impossible to do.

03/14 MexaWrestling at Arena San Juan

• Fly Warrior, Puma de Oro, Principe Aereo vs Fly Star, Lunatik Extreme, Sobredosis
• Trauma I & Trauma II vs Metaleon & Centvurion – new

Taurus versus Speedball Mike Bailey was announced for OTT (Ireland) on 03/15.

Vampiro’s Nail In The Coffin documentary will be airing as part of Toronto’s Canadian Film Fest on Friday, March 27th at 7 pm. Vampiro’s mentioned recently that the movie will eventually be available digitally.

AAA held a press conference to talk about their 04/05 (non-televised) show in Texcoco. There was no news on there beyond the lineup; the minis in the opener changed but that’s about it. I’m guessing the press conference was just part of the promotional deal.

Ultimo Guerrero debuts in Pro Wrestling Revolucion on 04/18.

On the +Lucha podcast, Jose Manuel Guillen had some notes of the AAA show in Tonala

• It was 80-85% full despite the late change
• The Fenix/Penta match was a tag title defense, though there was no belt presentation or anything else indicating it was one after the match. (The Spanish announcers did say it was defense after, though the English announcers did not, which suggests that was a late change.)
• Puma & Taurus were not seriously hurt after their table spot.
• Guillen mentioned he’s not going to WrestleMania because AAA has TV that weekend. That’d seem to make it three straight weeks with TV – Merida, then (I think) Torreon on 03/28 and another on 04/04.
• AAA is headed to Monterrey in June

Guillen also mentioned they’ll be covering the Arena DTU inauguration show.

Konnan Big & Fresero Jr. got into in a Multimedios show. Also, Konnan Big talks about how he fills up buildings where ever he goes but he also promised his mom he wouldn’t wrestle again.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Lineups

It’s really weird to have a Lineups section when I’m also putting lineups up there. Not sure if there’s a better idea to do that.

CMLL (SUN) 03/01/2020 Arena México
1) Retro & Robin vs Cholo & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Arkalis, Magnus, Starman vs Disturbio, El Coyote, Grako
3) Audaz, Dulce Gardenia, Flyer vs Dark Magic, Espíritu Negro, Vangellys
4) Valiente vs Rey Bucanero [lightning]
5) Kráneo, Stuka Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Hechicero, Mephisto, Terrible
6) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

Starman hasn’t been seen here since last July 2018. He’s not shown up on indies often either. Maybe he’s a late call to replace Magia Blanca?

AAA , EMW (FRI) 03/13/2020 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Black Destiny, Fantastik, Rayo Star vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
2) Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. © vs Jordan Oliver, Kotto Brazil, Myron Reed [AAA TRIOS]
2nd defense
3) Puma King & Xtreme Tiger vs Filthy Tom Lawlor & Garrini
4) Laredo Kid vs Alex Hammerstone © [MLW OPENWEIGHT]
5) Mortiz & Pagano vs Mance Warner & Savio Vega
6) Averno & Chessman vs Gino Medina & Richard Holiday
7) Rey Escorpión & Texano Jr. vs Brian Pillman Jr. & Davey Boy Smith Jr.
8) Nicho el Millionario, Niño Hamburguesa, Psycho Clown vs Hijo de LA Park, LA Park, LA Park Jr.

This is an MLW TV taping, which means there will usually be more than just these eight matches. Expect some people working twice in short squash matches for angle purposes. Laredo Kid is possibly the only person in title matches with Alex Hammerstone and Kenny Omega in back to back weekends but I’m not going to check. The trios title match could be very good.

IWRG (SUN) 02/23/2020 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, The Gladiatores]
1) Canival King & Voltrex b Águila Oriental Jr. & Chicanito  
2) Lolita & Miss Delicious b Hahastary & Star Fire  
Hahastary & Star Fire replaced Lilith Dark & Ludark Shaitan
3) Alas de Oro, Alas De Plata, Puma de Oro b Hip Hop Man, Mosca, Rey Halcón Jr.  
4) Black Dragón, Eragón, Hijo del Alebrije DQ Canival King, Death Metal, Toxin  
Canival King replaced Cerebro Negro. Win via DQ when Death Metal gave Black Dragon a martinete setting up a hair match.
5) Big Chico Che, Big Mike, Big Ovett b Capo del Norte, Capo del Sur, Lunatik Xtreme  
Lunatik Extreme replaced X-Fly
6) Puma King, Relámpago, Shun Skywalker b Demonio Infernal, Fuerza Guerrera NG, Súper Nova  

Black Dragon took Death Metal’s mask back on New Year’s Day, and they’ve been feuding on the (few) times Death Metal has been booked here since. They’re headed to a hair versus hair match on March 5th, which will is is to be the start of a run of mid-week shows.

KAOZ (SUN) 02/23/2020 Arena Coliseo Monterrey [@thekoko666, Lo Mejor de Lucha, TeleDiario]
1) Komander, Mr. Iguana, Perla Lagunera b Baby Love, Charro Negro, Dulce Kanela 
2) Dulce Sexy © b Zeuxis, Miranda Alize, Alex García, Diosa Quetzal [KAOZ WOMEN] 
3) Rico Rodríguez & Vazco Jr. b Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria © and Epydemius & Silver Tiger and Black Raider & Hell Raider [KAOZ TAG]
Rico & Vazco won the titles via Rico foul on Escoria. Epydemius appeared to present them the belts. La Secta asked for a rematch, as did Delta (with a partner to be revealed)
4) Emperador Azteca (Indie) © b Trittón, Mr. 450 [KAOZ CRUISER]
5) Hijo de LA Park, La Bestia Del Ring, LA Park Jr. b Galeno del Mal, Hijo De Wagner, Silver Jr. [KAOZ TRIOS]
Bestia del Ring replaced Hijo del Volador and won the trios championship.
6) Ayako Hamada & El Divo DQ Daga & Tessa Blanchard [KAOZ MIXED TAG, #1 Contenders]
Daga hit the refere for the DQ.
7) Rey Wagner b Rush ©, Rey Escorpión (AAA), Fresero Jr. [KAOZ HEAVY]
Rush & Escorpion brawled to the back and Wagner beat Fresero to win the title. Konnan Big came out and challenged for a title match on 03/29.

Konnan Big hasn’t been around for a while so maybe he needs a re-explaining for newer people. Konnan Big was a big star locally early last decade, largely based on a number of peculiar matches. Arena Coliseo Monterrey was owned by the TV Multimedios station and Konnan Big began feuding with hosts of other (non-wrestling) TV shows on the network, leading to them having matches in the arena. (Here’s one against TV presenter Ernetsto Chavana.) The concept drew well, at least at first, and the matches would have many run-ins to disguise the limited abilities of both the TV show host and Konnan Big. Traditional wrestling fans hated this, feeling it made a mockery of what they liked and blamed the declining interest of wrestling locally on the concept. Arena Coliseo Monterrey used to have twice weekly shows before the era of Konnan Big and now is closer to twice monthly. That may have happened anyway.

Konnan Big has never had much of a name outside of Monterrey. He hasn’t connected outside of the freakshow fighting celebrities concept, no one else has done that with him, and he’s at best an entertainingly bad wrestler. Konnan Big did a lot of jumping (or falling) from high places as part of his bit and got hurt badly after one went aware; he’s been mostly retired for the last few years. Bringing him back is a bit of nostalgia, but they’re also setting up Wagner as representing traditional wrestling values and Konnan Big as the guy who ruined it. And also Fresero Jr. is apparently in the match too, because they need someone who is actually willing to lose.

This seemed to be a sell out. All of the old wooden chairs in Arena Coliseo Monterrey’s flow have been ripped out and replaced by metal chairs. The floor has been flattened out as well. It would seem like that would open up more room at ringside, but the guardrails seem as close as ever. It does mean there’s less seats on the floor. The ticket website for the 03/29 show lists 4,210 tickets as on sale for that show, so that may be the new capacity.

The Arena Lopez Mateos show was canceled yesterday. No reason started, but those locals-only shows have been drawing poorly for a long time and SuperLuchas believes another bad turnout led to the cancelation. Next weekend’s show is a Lucha Libre Boom show with Hijo del Santo, so that should do better.

CMLL continues it’s stretch of tag team tournaments tonight with a CMLL family tournament in Arena Puebla. The Friday night Arena Mexico tournaments are heavily considered by CMLL match makers. The Puebla versions seem far less so. An incredible pairs tournament last year in Puebla was won by Diamante Azul & Tiger, two men who rarely win much. This tournament has bigger names than that – Los Guerreros, the Chavez Brother sand NGD are involved – but CMLL seems to have more freedom to go in unexpected directions since it’s unlikely to be mentioned again.

There are also three non-tournament matches on this show. Cavernario teams with Shocker & Templario against Star Jr., Valiente, and Volador in one, which puts two finalists in the incredible partners tournament against each other a few days before their final. The second match is a relevos incredible featuring Fuego, Stigma, and Virus against Dark Magic, Diamond and Okumura. These have been used to set up Stigma feuds lately. Astro & Hijo del Centella Roja open against Espiritu Maligno & Policeman.

The show starts at 9 pm on CMLL’s YouTube channel. Daylight savings time is coming.

SuperLuchas has an Atlantis update. The Campal column says Atlantis underwent surgery in December, is expecting to be medically cleared in May and will return in June.

Tickets are on sale for a 03/28 AAA Torreon show which may be a TV taping. That one is listed a 4,547 capacity.

Mystique, Microman, and Chamuel are headed to Japan for a 07/02 show in Tokyo and 07/04 in Osaka under the Lady’s Ring banner. This would be the Micros debut in Japan.

One more Dragon Bane vs Canis Lupus match from NOAH.

Hidalgo luchador Guardian de Acero passed away. He had wrestled in Pachuca’s Deportivo 11 de Julio, though it appeared he had not been active since 2017.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 02/29/2020 Arena Coliseo
1) Bengala & Leono vs Apocalipsis & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Universo 2000, Pierrothito
3) Diamond, Eléctrico, Magia Blanca vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Tiger
4) Audaz vs Okumura [lightning]
5) Atlantis Jr., Titán, Valiente vs Mephisto, Templario, Terrible
6) Ángel de Oro, Flyer, Niebla Roja vs Euforia, Forastero, Último Guerrero

Forastero/Niebla Roja seems the feud here.

IWRG (SUN) 03/01/2020 Arena Naucalpan
1) Atomic Star & Legendario vs Rey Halcón Jr. & Tromba
2) Ayako Hamada, Lolita, Miss Delicious vs Diosa Quetzal, Ludark Shaitan, Miku
3) Eragón, Hijo del Alebrije, Puma de Oro vs Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro
4) El Hijo del Medico Asesino © vs Fresero Jr. [IWRG JUNIORS]
first defense (won in back in September)
5) Capo del Norte, Capo del Sur, X-Fly vs Big Chico Che, Big Mike, Big Ovett [hair, mask, captains hair]
capitans will be chosen by random draw.
6) Chicano, Estrella Divina, Tiago vs Fuerza Guerrera NG, Puma King, Shun Skywalker

That’s the non-Mamba version of El Imperio in the main event.

The semi-main is the bit where only the captain loses their hair or mask, but no one knows who is the captain ahead of time. Except it seems another obvious X-Fly hair loss. I guess there could be Strippers Big Bald but seems unlikely.

Ayako Hamada being a big new debut and working second on the card is less than ideal.

AAA TV (SAT) 02/22/2020 Domo del Parque Solidaridad, Tonalá, Jalisco [AAA, Lucha Central, thecubsfan]
1) Aramis, Máscarita Sagrada, Niño Hamburguesa b Arez, Demus, Draztick Boy 
10:31. Hamburguesa splash Draztick Boy. Los Ingobernables beat up Sagrada & Hamburguesa after the match, with LA Park sarcastically claiming he was jealous of Hamburguesa’s relationship with Big Mami. They promised to beat up the Clowns in the main event. Konnan was with Los Ingobernables.
2) Lady Shani L La Hiedra, Lady Maravilla 
8:02. Hiedra & Maravilla both pinned Shani in a confusing, Rey Escorpion aided finish.
3) Parka Negra & Súper Fly b Hijo de LA Park & LA Park and Arez & Argenis 
11:20. Parka Negra fouled and unmasked Hijo de LA Park
4) Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. b Averno, Chessman, Rey Escorpión 
15:01. Los Mercenarios (Escorpion/Taurus/Hiedra) attacked Jinetes and asked for an immediate title match. Vikingo accepted.
5) Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. © b La Hiedra, Rey Escorpión, Taurus [AAA TRIOS] 
1:50. Not totally clear if this was a post-match attack or an official match, but Tirantes did count three after Vikingo landed Cuerno de Vikingo on Hiedra. 1st defense since winning the titles way back at TripleMania.
6) Fénix & Pentagón Jr. b Australian Suicide & Taurus and Laredo Kid & Puma King 
13:16. Daga was listed in this match but was working Impact instead, causing a cascading set of changes (and Suicide taking his place.) Fenix beat Suicide, then he and Penta were attacked by the OGTs.
7) La Bestia Del Ring, LA Park, Rush Toro Blanco b Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Pagano 
21:48. LA Park speared Monster Clown for the win after Chessman attacked Pagano.

This is a disappointing show in that the other shows have been so high so far this year. It’s hasn’t just been the match quality; there’s a level of organization and coherency present on the other shows that just wasn’t here for whatever reason. Matches 4 & 6 are worth your time but now that we know that AAA can do better, it’s hard to give them a break just for reverting to old AAA.

AAA likely knew they weren’t going to run the original Guadalajara building and weren’t going to have Daga on this show for a while. (Daga/Jack Crist was announced for that show a month ago, before AAA even announced this card, and it says something about the different bubbles AAA and Impact are in that no one really seemed to catch the double booking.) AAA made the choice to update the poster to change the location but not to remove Daga. It’s tough to give them a break on this one. Daga may have given AAA a break here; Konnan frequently drags Daga on Twitter for previous complaints about AAA not promoting him in media. Daga probably could’ve taken a shot back for AAA getting around to promoting him when they knew he wasn’t going to be there and said nothing instead.

Laredo Kid vs Kenny Omega is going to mean something solely on people appealing to people on match quality or on residual fame from Exatlon. I’m not sure AAA could get people to believe Laredo had a real chance to win by just getting some tag wins along the way and it again may not matter. But STILL:

• Laredo Kid gone for five months on a reality show
• Laredo Kid returns to TV, immediately beaten up by Los Ingobernables
• Laredo Kid technically wins the main event but really gets beaten up again and unmasked to end the show
• Laredo Kid doesn’t factor into the decision on this show
• Laredo Kid faces Los Ingobernables on the next show so he’s pretty definitely not getting a pinfall then
• and then he gets a mega title match

It’s AAA, it’s normal, but it’s still so weird if you look at things outside of a Mexican wrestling context. Again, people are going to be into the Laredo Kid & Kenny Omega match for reasons outside of recent AAA TV (half the people seeking it out won’t have watched an AAA TV show in months), but it also feels like if AAA is going to book the Lucha Brothers as the bigger deal at the moment, their tag match needs to be treated like the bigger deal come Rey de Reyes.

Los Traumas won the tag team titles on Saturday night in the Crash, defeating Bestia & Mecha Wolf and Mesias & Oraculo in a cage match. The Puerto Rico team were moved up in a card that was changed a bit and ran late with the cage construction. The Bandido/Dragon Lee vs Gresham/Lethal match was said to be the best match on the show. Jonathan & Tony Casanova, who’ve been working the EMW shows of late, made a surprise appearance here. Ultimo Guerrero, Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Rayo de Jalisco, and Canek were announced for the next show in March.

CMLL (SAT) 02/22/2020 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Angelito & Kaligua b Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Amapola, La Comandante, Tiffany b Avispa Dorada, La Guerrera, Princesa Sugehit
rudas took 2/3
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Drone b Misterioso, Sagrado, Tiger
tecnicos took 1/3
4) Fuego b Okumura [lightning]
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Ángel de Oro, Flyer, Niebla Roja
NGD took 1/3, the last when Forastero cheated Niebla Roja.
6) Carístico, Titán, Volador Jr. DQ Euforia, Grako, Último Guerrero
Grako replaced Shocker, getting a pin on Caristico in the first fall. Tecnicos took 2/3, the last by UG foul to Volador.

Fuego wants a mask versus hair match with Okumura.

CMLL (SUN) 02/23/2020 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Eléctrico & Sangre Imperial b Apocalipsis & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) La Infernal, Metálica, Tiffany b La Jarochita, Skadi, Stephanie Vaquer
rudos took 2/3
3) Cancerbero, Disturbio, Raziel b Fuego, Magia Blanca, Star Jr.
Rudos took 2/3. Magia Blanca suffered an injury.
4) Hechicero, Rey Bucanero, Templario b Dulce Gardenia, El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr.
rudos took 1/3
5) Diamante Azul, Kráneo, Niebla Roja b Hijo del Villano III, Luciferno, Mephisto
tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Volador Jr. b Negro Casas
Volador took 2/3, with Negro Casas once again losing a singles match via casita.

Volador talked about it beings honor to defeat Negro Casas. He’s got that honor a lot. Magia Blanca’s bad history with injuries makes every time he leaves a match concerning.

IWRG announced Ayako Hamada would begin training luchadoras for them, in a role similar to what Black Terry has been doing. IWRG has had occasionally women’s matches but rarely constant members of the roster (and usually indie women coming through rather than trainees.) Hamada’s also posted a teaser for her own gym on Twitter.

03/14 MexaWrestling at Arena San Juan

• Fly Warrior, Puma de Oro, Principe Aereo vs Fly Star, Lunatik Extreme, Sobredosis (first match)

AAW announced The Lucha Alliance (Gringo Loco & Black Taurus) vs Arez & Aramis for their 03/20 show in Chicago. It’s not the only time to see those guys around Chicago soon – Aramis, Gringo and Taurus are on the GALLI show that Sunday night as well – but I really want to see that particular match. The issue is March 20th is CMLL Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. I couldn’t imagine missing one of the two biggest CMLL cards of the year, except CMLL seems determined not to let anyone watch it without being in Mexico City. There’s again no mention of it being streamed or not, which should be taken for granted as it’s not going to stream and it’ll go up on VOD the next day. If I’m just going to be looking at Twitter all night for results, I might as well do it at a wrestling show, or at least that’s my thought right now.

The 01/01 Lucha Memes Toxin vs Dr. Cerebro match will go up tomorrow. Aramis vs Latigo is being held up by the video being delivered back to the person uploading it.

El Hijo de Canis Lupus & Hao vs Dragon Bane & Junta Miyawaki from the NOAH 02/19 show is on YouTube. It’s the only match where they get to wrestle someone besides each other.

Terrorista & Zoe lost their masks to Angel Negro & Arcangel Suicida in an eight-team cage match in Tula, Hidalgo on Sunday. Terrorsita is Oscar Romero Diaz, Zoe is Andrea Vaquez.

LuchaWorld has the Lucha Report.