There’s a lot of shows happening this weekend, at least by the standards of pandemic lucha libre. Many will be streamed in one form or another.
- Friday at 8 pm, Mayan Wrestling Lucha Libre is running an iPPV with wrestlers from the Yucatan area. It’s a sign up through Whatsapp, pay via bank account, watch on Facebook for 50 pesos. (I’m going just call that’s a Whatsapp PPV for the rest of these.)
- Saturday has a few shows
- Vanguardia’s rescheduled drive-in show is scheduled to air at 8 pm on Mas Lucha. The main event is an inferno death match; or at least I think that’s the main event because the card was five movie posters and the order was never said. This might be a taped show.
- Arena Lopez Mateos reopens with an AULL card. It’s an all locals card where the bigger names are Ultimo Gladiador and Rocky Santana, a Rey de Reyes style 16 tournament. They’re having limited attendance and it’s a Whatsapp PPV at 45 pesos today and 75 pesos tomorrow.
- IAW’s All Play show will start to air on 08/29. This show was taped last week with fans in attendance. This is going up free probably on their YouTube channel.
- There was a big Guadalajara show announced for this day early during the pandemic (on the idea things would be fine by now) but I’ve seen no sign it’s still happening.
- Sunday also has some shows
- the taped DTU iPPV will air at 5 pm. It’s a Whataspp PPV for 50 pesos in advance and 70 pesos in the first. The previous two DTU shows are now on Mas Lucha’s premium channel and this one is likely the same.
- IWRG continues with weekly Sunday shows at 3:45 pm, this one with Shun Skywalker versus Hijo de Canis Lupus in the Rey del Ring tournament final. They’re asking for donations in addition to ticket sales, and they’re not charging for the feed. (Given how badly the feed worked the last two times, that’s really for the best.)
- GALLI’s streaming a show with Mascarita Sagrada. I don’t think a card has been announced but I assume Gringo Loco is going to try to beat up a mini.
Most of these iPPVs are probably only going to be bought by people who would’ve attended the shows but currently can not. I don’t expect large numbers or that we’ll ever hear bout them. DTU has been the one group who’ve broken through on iPPVs; it’s given them an identity they’ve lacked for the last few years. I’d guess they’ll keep going with them even as partial attendance is allowed, but I don’t know the numbers.
Mexico’s health ministry is expected to release an updated map of coronavirus health status around the country tonight. Mexico City has already announced they’ll remain in orange. While the effects of the coronavirus (schools, gatherings) still seem a Mexican news focus, the virus itself seems to have fallen far into the background. I know there’s supposed to be a map update just by keep track of the days but it doesn’t seem like people are reporting on it beforehand. States passing regulations to get around the original rules has mitigated their effects.
Pentagon Jr. was pointedly referred to as “Pento el Zero M” on AEW commentary last night. That’s the name he owns and uses on social media, while the “Pentagon Jr.” name is owned by AAA (or Lucha Libre FMV by AAA) in the US. Rey Fenix has pretty seemingly always gone by that self-owned name in AEW. Penta switching names indicated in the past issues between him and AAA, but no one’s said anything about an issue. It’s also possible that whatever agreement there is between AAA and AEW was originally supposed to wind down at TripleMania this past weekend with Omega dropping the title, and no new deal has yet been reached. I think the most likely reasoning is Rey Fenix & Penta el Zero M now have merchandize in Hot Topic under those names and would prefer to be marketed on TV under those same names to eliminate confusion. I am tired of figuring out Penta and Fenix name changes though.
Box Y Lucha posted CMLL’s virtual press interviews with Sanson, Metalica, and Retro who says his inspirations are Dos Caras and Mitsuharu Misawa. That’s a pair. This sentence was going to be pointing out the weirdness of Retro doing an interview when he’s not even a candidate to be on a show but he gave interesting info so it’s good.
CMLL has a video trailer for their September 4th show. Did they shoot new green screen footage for Felino & Barbaro Cavernario?
Sofia Alonso will apparently not be appearing as part of a panel on women in lucha libre today. Lady Shani replaces her on the discussion taking place on the Mexico Consulate of Houston’s Facebook page. AAA’s been promising Shani’s appearance heavily, while CMLL never mentioned Alonso appearing. There was no explanation of the change.
Daga & Tessa Blanchard will appear on a US wrestling show for the first time since the start of the pandemic on the Warrior Wrestling’s September shows. Tessa hasn’t wrestled since her falling out with Impact Wrestling. Daga did pop up on the KAOZ empty arena shows but his current status with Impact is a shrug emoji. Tessa and Daga got married last weekend; their Instagram photos show they had guests but I hope everyone who has that sort of function gets a chance to do it again when traveling and groups are easier.
09/16 ???? @ CAR The Crash
NWG is a Guadalajara promotion – this is the first time I know of the belt being defended outside of that city – and their logo doesn’t appear on the poster. The building logo is on the poster, the Taco & Grill sponsor logo is on the poster, maybe one of them are the promoters?
09/19 MexaWrestling @ Arena San Juan (will be part of Mas Lucha’s Premium Channel)
The match graphic is clear: this isn’t a standalone show, this is part of the existing Mas Lucha service. The text does not say it’ll be live.
A promoter in Saltillo believes local government will not permit shows until next year.
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Any idea how these reruns of big mask/hair matches are doing on TV? It’s certainly going to be a come down when they return to a more typical Friday night card.
Leo Riano’s column today says the numbers have been strong for these CMLL shows, though I don’t find him a totally reliable source. Anecdotally, there’s more talk about the TV shows for these episodes on Twitter (though it’s more going from “almost none” to “a little bit.)