CMLL has told wrestlers they don’t expect to have shows with fans in Mexico City at least until September, according to an internal memo mentioned by this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter. I heard this story too but didn’t get it confirmed. The story I heard about the note proceeded Mexico City laying out their return plans on Wednesday, so it’s possible that timeline may change. (All times are changing, I guess that’s beside the point.) CMLL teased a pending announcement of their plans on CMLL Informa this week for at least the second time. They haven’t said anything public yet about their plans to return.
On his podcast, Konnan said he believes AAA will travel to states that are open and run there, but nothing’s been set. They also might do it “Lucha Underground” style, which seemed to mean to tape a bunch of episodes on a set (as with Lucha Fighter.)
Liga MX, the governing body of soccer in Mexico, has officially canceled the remainder of its first half-season for men’s and women’s teams. Mexican soccer has two seasons per year (January-May and late July-December); this announcement is essentially saying they don’t believe they’ll be able to resume any time soon and are capitulating in hopes of not messing up the next season. There was some back and forth about this happening all week – 8 Santos Lagunas players have tested positive for COVID-19 probably cemented things. The hope is LigaMx will be able to start training again in June and start season two in July. Even in that best-case scenario, they don’t expect to have fans in the stands at the start of their season.
LigaMX is not a complete parallel to wrestling. They’re expecting to keep playing in home markets, while AAA and other promotions could closer follow the track of sports in the US, running only in locations where the health conditions have improved (or the restrictions have otherwise lessened.) Lucah libre, like wrestling in the US, might be able to continue under the radar in some locales for a while. It does suggest we’re a long way back to from anything approaching normal in Mexico.
Lucha libre promoters in Torreon believe they won’t be able to restart until September, though they’re seeking a meeting with the head of government about their situation.
Mexico will announce updated COVID-19 projections later today.
IWRG says they’ll run their Rey del Ring show on their first show back, whenever that might be. It’s notable in that it’s royal rumble style match, while other promoters have been saying they’re only going to book singles or 2v2 matches for safety reasons. (I believe that’s why Lucha Fighter was all singles matches.) I don’t know if there’s a right answer, though I believe running singles matches in the ring only to prevent the spread of disease doesn’t amount to much if everyone’s still hanging around together backstage.
SuperLuchas has obits for Discovery, Mohawk (who was the short lived Bandido in AAA) and Sangre Fria.
Dr. Juan Ramirez and his son Jonathan Ramirez, who ran Ciudad Juarez’s Metropolitian Promotions, both passed away this week. No cause of death is mentioned.
Tapachula, Chiapas box y lucha commission member Ricardo Brofft also passed away.
For the lack of anything else to talk about in sports, Rey Misterio Jr.’s storyline eye injury on WWE Raw turned into a real news story in Mexico for a couple of days. A WWE tweet playing it up as severe is what seemed to really get it going, though the story migrating to sports writers who aren’t familiar with WWE and lacked the product fluency to understand it was a storyline amplified. Misterio did not appear on WWE TV this week but is not in danger of losing an eye.
Arez has launched a new YouTube channel with a street fight of a sort against Latigo.
Kaoz is indeed planning on running an empty arena show. DTU teasing is an empty arena show for June.
Add Leon’s Centella Verde Jr. to those making face masks.
SuperLuchas looks back to Lou Thesz vs Gori Guerrero.
Box Y Lucha oddly reposted a 2006 interview where Dos Caras praises his son Dos Caras Jr., as well as some 2005 Konnan interviews.
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Dr. Juan Ramírez & His Son Unfortunately Passed Away From The Corona Virus