Month: August 2020

Famed ring announcer Mucha Crema, Armando Gaitan, passed away Wednesday at the age of 71. His family announced his passing on his Facebook page. The tradition among lucha libre ring announcers, especially on the CMLL style, is to continue to talk about the wrestler from the moment he steps out in front of the fans and to wait until they get in the ring. That requires a ring announcer to fill the walk to the ring, and Mucha Crema was well known for inventive phrases and elegant word choices to personalize each luchador’s introductions. Even if you don’t understand Spanish, his booming but smooth voice sticks in your mind. Mucha Crema often announced in a white suit with a giant medallion, an over the top look to match his announcing style.

Mucha Crema is most associated with his time with CMLL, appearing there from 1996 to 2009. He may have been actually most seen essentially playing himself in the Nacho Libre movie. Mucha Crema left CMLL with the start-up of the Perros del Mal promotion. That group didn’t work out and CMLL never brought him back; he worked Arena Mexico at least once more for a political rally but never wrestling there. He instead ended up as Todo x el Todo’s ring announcer during their run and would do occasional indie shows. I’d totally forgotten this, but SuperLuchas usual strong obituary mentions AAA brought him in as the personal ring announcer of the Consejo (fake CMLL invasion) group. He had work outside of wrestling: not just boxing, but his YouTube channel shows clips of him being brought in by bands for their introductions. He was that sort of iconic ring announcer that just having him around made the show feel bigger.

CMLL announced a lot of additional details to their streaming plans. Many of these details were not particularly fan-friendly.

• The prices of the shows go up as they get closer.
  • You have until this Sunday to get the Aniversario and the bundle at the current prices. They’ll go up about $1 USD & $5 USD after that.
  • The prices for those individual shows will go up again on the day of the first streaming show, September 4th. The bundle is also going away on September 4th.
  • The shorter version is you’re going to pay an upcharge for waiting the last minute to decide or waiting for CMLL to give out a full lineup for these shows.
• The broadcasts are live only. There is no VOD or ability to watch later.
• The broadcast is available worldwide.
• You are limited to one device per ticket
  • This is about simultaneous streams. You can start watching on your phone, close it, and switch to your computer without a problem. You just can’t watch it on your device and send the link to a friend.
• These shows are credit/debit cards only at the moment, but they’ll be adding pay via Oxxo options on Monday.
  • I feel dumb for not noticing this as an issue earlier. It is great they’re fixing it, not great they’re fixing it the day after prices go up.
  • You can’t buy access at via Ticketmaster location or at the CMLL box office, only online.
• You’ll get a link for the broadcast about 24 hours before it starts. It’ll be the same link for all the shows.
• They’ll have a chat room for tech support during the show.

The prices already seemed on the high side, so saying they’re going to raise it more feels like it may run off people. On the other hand, AEW’s run PPVs at high prices for their market and it doesn’t seem like it’s hurt them at all. If CMLL has a fanbase of people who are willing to pay to watch their biggest show, the slight price change isn’t probably isn’t going to matter much.

VOD for at least 24 hours is the standard. Not having it is going to cause some people in different time zones or different situations to pass on paying for this. It also presumes the stream is going to work perfectly every time, which certainly has not been the case in the past. (The secret good news here is, unlike every other time someone’s tried this, they’re not trying this for the first time on the big show. If CMLL and Ticketmaster have problems with the first three shows and figure out for the Aniversario, they’re better than usual.)

The big lingering question is if it’ll be necessary to pay to see these shows legally. CMLL Friday night TV usually airs over the air for free on Televisa. It could air on a delay and not complete, but that would probably be enough for many casual fans. CMLL didn’t say (and didn’t seem to be asked) if the show will air on TV or if they’ll be on their official YouTube channel later. Their advertisements mention it the Ticketmaster airing as “exclusive.”

CMLL also announced the 7 championships which will be defended on the show

1. the NWA Historic Welterweight Championship (Volador Jr.)
2. the CMLL Trios Championship (Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Euforia)
3. the CMLL Tag Team Championship (Caristico & Mistico)
4. the CMLL Women’s Championship (Marcela)
5. the CMLL Micros Championship (Chamuel)
6. the Mexican Trios Championship (Sanson, Cuatrero, Forastero)
7. the Mexican Women’s Championship (La Metalica)

There will be no non-title matches.

Only one 1v1 men’s main division match sticks out. It’s going to mean a lot of people are shuffled into unfamiliar partnerships since they’ll need distinct sets of challengers for each of the teams. Someone winning to challenge for multiple titles would be awkward. Any full-time CMLL wrestler who doesn’t get at least a chance to be the challenger for one of the titles is going to be miffed.

Microman being Chamuel’s challenger seems certain. They surely expect Dalys to be facing Marcela. I presume Cavernario is not defending his title because CMLL hopes for him to face Volador, but that’s the point where the fan voting may start go in unpredictable directions. CMLL says the challengers for fan vote will be announced next week on Informa. They haven’t said how the vote will be conducted.

Informa also mentioned CMLL continue to hope they’ll be able to seat 30% of capacity for Aniversario. I guess that would mean some people might be paying for this show twice; anyone who would buy a ticket is probably also getting in on the streaming shows.

This is the off week for COVID-19 health status updates. They seem increasingly irrelevant – neither the CMLL reopening or the Mexico State policies correspond to changes in the status of their state. Lucha libre is still strictly prohibited in many areas of Mexico. Color changes might change that, but also states adopting policies from Mexico State might change it as well.

Box Y Lucha posted this week’s CMLL video interviews with Dalys, Vangellys, and Titan, who’s mask appears to have been possessed by an alien. Titan did his from Arena Mexico; he’s been away from Mexico City for much of this break.

Amapola, Sanely and Mystique will appear on a panel discussing women’s wrestling Wednesday on noon.

The Gladiatores posted information about IWRG’s health policies. They’ll have less than 30% of capacity and tickets will be first-come, first-serve. They will be doing ticket sales at the arena at certain times. Fans will be required to be wearing a facemask to be allowed in the building and will have it at all times. The first three rows of seats have been removed and the rest of the floor seats have been reduced to spread people out. The bleachers also will have areas marked for distancing.

Cibernetico told R de Rudo his gall bladder was close to bursting when he was operating on. The operation was already scheduled to remove gall stones, but the issue was worse than expected. He remembers nothing of being in the hospital but was told he was close to dying. His recovery will take a couple of months and he’s not expecting to wrestle the rest of this year.

Casandro says filming on his movie is planned to start on January 10th, and expects all filming will be done in Mexico City.

Pagano taught a FC Juarez soccer player some lucha.

Former Oaxaca luchador Diamante Azul (Juan Dionisio Moguel Hernandez, 77, no relation to the CMLL one) passed away Thursday.

Lineups

AULL (SAT) 08/29/2020 Arena Lopez Mateos
1) Terry 2000 vs Sepulturero, Dragón Force, Centella Oriental [semifinal]
2) Dante vs Yakuza, Sádico, Alas de Oro [semifinal]
3) Chucho el Roto vs Euro, Alas De Plata, Leviatham [semifinal]
4) Rocky Santana vs Yoruba, Filder, Último Gladiador [semifinal]
5) ? vs ??, ???, ???? [final]

Arena Lopez Mateos re-opens with a local-only card, as previously stated by the owners. All tickets for this (and other shows here) are electronic only. IWRG is doing the same. It’s not surprising to see CMLL or AAA do electronic tickets but Mexican indie promotions have largely stayed away from them until now. It’s one of many temporary adjustments that may become permanent if successful.

One thing which doesn’t seem quite likely to change is Arena Lopez Mateos attendance for AULL shows. They’re officially limiting it to 30% capacity. They probably won’t come close to that number. The pre-pandemic AULL cards have seemingly drawn more like 10% of capacity in recent times. There are some talented luchadors in this lineup, but not enough fans seem them as stars to get a strong turnout. They’ve been unable to make any news stars and have generally relied on the same core group of people for many years.

This show will stream on Mas Lucha. It’d be great to have a calender of Mas Lucha upcoming events as shows start back up again. (I guess what I’m saying is it would be great for Mas Lucha to have a calendar of upcoming streaming events so I don’t feel an unnecessary need to do it.)

Legend (SAT) 09/12/2020 Arena Lopez Mateos
1) ? vs Militar De La Muerte
2) Dayami vs Zuzu Divine
3) Epitafio & Leviatham vs Manchas & Rugido
4) Raptor (AAA) vs Aeroboy, Camuflaje
5) Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero (probably not) vs Dr. Wagner Jr. & Joe Lider

Legend had a 03/27 AAA spot show canceled, so this is a make-up date with many different people.

That main event may have already changed. I don’t see an update on Legend’s Facebook, but Dr. Landru says CMLL pulled Gran Guerrero and Ultimo Guerrero from the show. Joe Lider, Dr. Wagner, and even Raptor were working occasional AAA dates pre-pandemic but all do not appear to still be under AAA contract. Still, Wagner was appearing on AAA TV and that’s usually enough for CMLL to block their wrestlers from being on the same card. Maybe Ultimo Guerrero thought those rules didn’t apply to him.

I suspect there’s someone who has Arena Lopez Mateos 09/05 booked and we’ll be hearing about it soon.

Chinampalucha (SAT) 09/05/2020 Chinampa, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal
1) Dick Angelo 3G, Farsante, Yoruba vs Estruendo, Legendario, Rey Optimus
2) Dragón Fly © vs Gran Felipe Jr., Rey Halcón Jr., Demonio del Caribe [ARGENTINO CHAMP]
3) Yoshioka vs Thunder Storm, Baby Star Jr.
4) Ciclonico, Mr. Jerry, Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Hip Hop Man, Zumbido

Ultimo Guerrero working with Euforia here. No Shun Skywalker advertised this time. The Argentino championship is Hip Hop Man’s belt, which ended up with Dragon Fly in IWRG. This show is 40 pesos directly, and will likely end up on Mas Lucha’s service. I wonder if it’ll be the last one of this run, and if this style of show will survive arenas being opened back up (presuming they stay opened up.)

Solo Buenas Luchas (TUE) 09/08/2020 Monterrey, Nuevo León
1) ? vs ??
2) Radar vs Rey Destroyer Jr.
3) Epydemius vs Fulgor I
4) Black Taurus (Indie) & Hijo Del Espectro Jr. vs Medico Brujo & Muerte Extrema
5) Laredo Kid vs The Tiger vs Baby Xtreme

Roberto Figueroa has to be up to double digits in promotional brands at this point. It’s unreal. This is a 100 pesos iPPV, where you pay directly through Facebook and presumably watch it. Is it only good matches? I’m kinda iffy on running a three way match and tag match between unusual partners as the big matches on a show of that type.

A new regulation appears to allow lucha libre shows at 30% capacity in Mexico State. Mexico City announced a plan to allow museums and theatres to open at 30% capacity last week. Mexico City and the surrounding Mexico State have attempted to keep their health regulations consistent. It was no surprise when Mexico State announced similar rules in place. Their rules seem to go beyond those Mexico City regulations to allow “gyms, auditoriums, and places where sports or cultural activity are practiced” to also be opened at 30% capacity. The regulation limits activity to taking place between 6 am and 10 pm. All participants are required to follow health procedures determined by the local authorities; they’re not specified in the document.

“Gyms, auditoriums, and places where sports or cultural activity are practiced” appears to include “lucha libre arenas.” It may not have meant to do that, but that’s what is on the page. It’s enough that promotions are going with the belief they can start running immediately. The Mexico State Boxing and Lucha Libre commission has previously ruled no lucha libre event – with or without fans – could take place in the state. The Mexico State regulation was published Monday and the commission has made no statement on the issue Wednesday. They may still shut the idea of fans at shows down, but the plans for those shows are already in progress.

In no way has it suddenly gotten much safer to run a wrestling event in Mexico today than it was last week. It is probably less safe in many parts of Mexico State. It also seems unlikely most promotions will be strictly limiting capacity or adhering to health procedures. There are many lucha libre buildings without clean or functioning washrooms, so expecting they’re all going to suddenly care about health conditions is unrealistic. Lucha libre shows have continued happening in the state* for the last few months even with the commission banning them. The commission is just as unlikely to be thorough with capping attendance or verifying health procedures except for the most high profile shows. This responsibility will end up with whatever local authorities want to get involved and will be enforced differently in different towns. I don’t expect much out of the promoters; all the announcements of shows so far have been completely focused on “we’re finally going to get to run!” and almost none on “here’s how we’re going to do it safely.” I’m not sure if they care or not, but they definitely don’t believe people who will be paying to watch care.

(* – Estrellas del Ring is posting a video of a secret show at the CAR The Crash tonight. La Tijera Lucha Libre posted a video of a secret show at the CAR The Crash earlier this week – and that was a different show. No idea how many shows have actually happened, but I would expect this facility to host a public show as soon as this weekend)

IWRG/Arena Naucalpan wasted no time in announcing their delayed Rey del Ring show would take place Sunday at 3:45 pm. Marco Moreno told Azteca they plan to have 30% attendance at the show. They’re also asking for donations; I’d assume no one is going to stop asking for donations as long as they’re still working.

IWRG (SUN) 08/23/2020 Arena Naucalpan
1) Chicanito vs Neza Kid
2) Puma de Oro vs Fly Star
3) Dragón Bane vs Lunatic Xtreme
4) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 [IWRG Rey del Ring, semifinal]
winner faces Shun Skywalker in final. Names not announced until day of show.

Tickets are 95/50 for kids. They appear to just be for the upper levels; IWRG is not allowing anyone on the floor.

AULL/Arena Lopez Mateos says they can’t run profitable shows with “stars” at 30% or even 50% of attendance. They’re instead planning on running a local luchadors show on Saturday, August 29, then will allow other promoters who previously had dates on the building to run their own shows. Legend has announced a show for Saturday, September 12, though haven’t specified a location yet. They had an AAA spot show booked for this arena back on 03/27. DTU & Lucha Libre Boom also had a show announced prior to the pandemic. DTU is busy with other ideas but LLB has indicated they’ll be running again soon. Lucha Memes announced a show for Arena Lopez Mateos during the pandemic and has been lately teasing a show.

CMLL is marketing their iPPVs are “if you are a true fan of lucha libre you will buy the show from the most important month of the year.” CMLL diehard fans do believe they’re the ones who truly understand lucha libre so it plays to the base well but they need more than the true fans of lucha libre to buy this. Maybe some match announcements would help.

Arena Puebla’s Benjamin Mar floated the idea of iPPVs if those in Arena Mexico are successful. They currently don’t have permission to run empty arena shows in Puebla. There’s a decent chance the era of a massive amount of free new weekly CMLL matches may already be over; it’s going to be hard to stop charging for these shows if they’re already getting money for them.

CMLL Informa will have Villano V, Rey Bucanero and Pequeno Olimpico and Pequeno Violencia on this week.

Lucha Libre Vanguardia will retry their drive-in show on August 29th. Location still publically unknown, but probably related to the Mexico State news. The previous show got shut down by the commission. There’s a winky emoji about getting permission to run. I honestly don’t know that means they’re really getting permission or they’re joking about running an outlaw show again.

Felino still wants his hair match with Barbaro Cavernario, is leaving it up to CMLL to decide when it happens. I think the match is unlikely to happen at Aniversario unless Ticketmaster proves to be extremely successful. Even 30% capacity isn’t going to generate the ticket revenue to make that hair loss worth it; we may not see a major apuesta match until arenas are allowed to have 100% capacity.

Dalys had no idea she was listed in the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women In Central America list until her sister told her. It doesn’t sound like they ever contacted her about it. She’s proud to be included and noticed in Panama, given lucha libre isn’t a big deal in her home country.

Planeta Wrestling lists the Arena Neza women’s match as Lolita & Diosa Quetzal beating Black Widow & Miss Delicious. La Tijera Lucha Libre also posted video of the match, so it wasn’t a singles match as ESTO had listed. La Tijera also posted video of luchadors getting COVID testing, which seems to include people who didn’t wrestle on the show.

Mas Lucha upped the price of its subscription plan for its premium service. You now subscribe directly through their YouTube channel for $7.99 USD. They’re advertising it as 149 pesos, which is more like $6.50 USD. This is replacing the 99 pesos option via canal.maslucha.com, though the video explainer mentions current subscribers will not have to pay more. The higher price is likely building in Google’s cut of the price. $8/month for the service Mas Lucha provides during regular times still seems like a fair deal, and switching to YouTube may alleviate some of the streaming and capacity issues from early shows.

Luchadors from Chinampalucha, who’ve been running unauthorized lucha libre shows with no COVID testing, will be part of a local health campaign for compliance with health measures. Maybe I’m just wrong about everything. I always think that but now more than ever. Ultimo Guerrero & Euforia main event the promotion’s next show, which doesn’t seem to have a date on the poster. The price is now 40 pesos, up from 30 previously.

ESPN has photos of many football-themed Aerostar masks. Aerostar tells Record (via Critero Hidalgo) he discovered lucha libre by seeing people practice while he was actually playing a soccer game. He gave up soccer for lucha libre. If only he had gotten to do a gimmick that combined those two passions.

Bandido, Flamita and Rey Horus may not be wrestling in Ring of Honor but they have new shirts. “Penguin” is not spelled correctly on this shirt but that makes it feel more Flamita.

Oaxaca’s Arena Pepe Cisneros is planning on an anniversary show including wrestlers from other local promotions for either 08/29 or 09/05, and are hoping to be able to have some fans in the building.

Torreon’s Arena Azteca is now the El Tirabuzon Car Wash, since car washes are legal and wrestling shows are not.

Ciudad Juarez announced Polo Guerra passed away.

Huracan Ramirez was a source of viral conversation on some social media because some thought it was a name for a current hurricane.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Lineups

DTU (SUN) 08/30/2020 Pachuca, Hidalgo
1) Crazy Boy vs Blaze
2) Aero Panther, Dragón Suicida, Príncipe Aero vs Dariux, Meta Tiger, Samuray Jr.
3) Kaleth vs Yoshioka, Baby Extreme, Kevin, Hormiga, Fly Warrior
4) Black Fire, Paranoiko, Pesadilla vs Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico Jr., Brazo De Oro Jr.
5) Avorto vs Corsario Negro Jr., Chaneke, Hijo De Dr. Pólux Jr., Sick Boy
6) Shun Skywalker & Último Guerrero vs Audaz (CMLL) & Camuflaje

The full lineup for the next iPPV, 50 pesos in advance and 70 pesos day of the show. The semi-main is a no-ring match so expect weirdness in their bar set for this show. The mystery of the DTU title seems to be put off for another day. Crazy Boy in the opener seems odd. DTU’s made a point of saying this show will not be up for free later on; I’d presume all Mas Lucha produced iPPVs will be on Mas Lucha’s subscription service and not for free going forward.

ANLPL (SUN) 09/06/2020 Distrito Federal
1) Hijo de Máscara Sagrada vs Hijo del Fishman
2) Solar I vs Satánico
3) Súper Astro vs Pirata Morgan
4) Octagón vs Fuerza Guerrera
5) Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Canek

That main event will not get its due as the likely worst match of the year because it is happening on a 112 pesos iPPV and no one will see it. Everyone who still sees these guys as people worth paying to see are too old to understand how to buy a streaming show over the internet.

The real belief of wrestling expounded here is no one actually cares about the quality of wrestling matches, they just care about the brand identities the wrestlers represent. That’s why the “young” wrestlers are gimmicks from this time period too, why people are encouraged to become the third different Mascara 2000 Junior. It’s a depressing concept – that lucha libre froze in time three decades ago and no one who tries to come along since means a thing – and I’m not even sure it’s a profitable concept.

VPR (SAT) 08/15/2020 Arena Neza [ESTO]
1) Bizarro, Fashion Boy, Legendario b Brazo De Oro Jr., Laberinto, Survivor
Laberinto was the only one originally scheduled who appeared. Moto Cross, Rey Neza, Brayan all did not appear.
2) Geo, Rey Caballero, Valiente Jr. b Corsario De Fuego, Kanon, Tony Cirio Jr.
Rey Caballero & Corsario de Fuego both added.
3) Diosa Quetzal b Miss Delicious
Lolita & Star Fire were scheduled but didn’t appear.
4) Hijo Del Impostor & Súper Nova NF Dragón & Skayde
Skayde and Super Nova both betrayed and unmasked their partners.
5) Blue Demon Jr. & Ricky Marvin DQ Black Taurus & La Máscara
Dr. Wagner Jr. & Galeno del Mal made a surprise appearance to attack Demon for the DQ.

I had been told this show was taped in advance, but all information since is that it took place as advertised live on Saturday.

SuperLuchas reports this show got approval from the Nezahualcoyotl government, who set strict protocols. Those protocols included COVID-19 testing for all participants. They all took a PCR test a week ago, where three people came out positive. A second test, a rapid one with a lesser accuracy rate, was administered to everyone on Saturday. Two luchadors were positive. All did not participate in a show. Everyone else got an additional PCR test on Saturday, and those results will be known today.

There are five people who were advertised in matches who did not appear on this show. There are five people who were positive if I’m understanding the report correctly. That doesn’t mean those groups of people are the same people – luchadors miss shows for all sorts of reasons in normal times. It is concerning that some of the missing names were on notable no-fans shows in the recent past or are currently advertised for future ones. To the best of my knowledge, the only lucha libre events where there’s been COVID-19 so far have been the CMLL closed-door show, this Arena Neza event, and IWRG’s failed attempt to run a Rey del Ring Part 2 show. There have been quite a few more shows than that. There are people who should be looking at that list and getting tested, but everyone wrestling on an empty arena show probably needs to get tested.

These positive tests are the closest thing to a system working we’ve seen: you don’t want anyone to get this, but at least people found out they may have it and didn’t spread it to other people. I’d expect that most every lucha libre show going on has someone who is positive who doesn’t even realize it because it’s that widespread. Maybe the actual biggest lucha libre news this week is US approval for a saliva-based test for the coronavirus. Cheap, fast, and accurate testing would solve a lot of issues.

I didn’t watch the Arena Neza show. Maybe it came off on screen better than it reads. It comes off as running lots of angles to set up future shows, or someone booking on the belief that what fans want to see are controversial match outcomes. I’m not sure the financial wisdom in paying Dr. Wagner to come to your iPPV and not advertising it ahead of time.

Rico Rodriguez won the Rey del Norte rumble.

Draztick Boy retained the Black Mask Lucha Libre Cruiserweight championship over Shun Skywalker & Kid Silver on the BMLL show.

Another attempt at running a clandestine show in Gomez Palacio was shut down over the weekend.

“Nail in the Coffin: The Fall and Rise Vampiro” will be released digitally on September 8th. It’s getting a short theatre run on September 4th. The Vampiro documentary probably would’ve made its way to more film festivals first had those still been around in conventional form this year.

Dalys was named one of the 100 most powerful women in Central America by Forbes Central America. It reads like they were looking for candidates from Panama to include, and any mention is nice.

Parka Negra says he feared AAA would get rid of his character after La Parka died. The character was originally designed to be a La Parka rival, though that was three or four people in the suit ago; Zorro Parka Negra. This latest Parka Negra hasn’t gone away and feels it’s a chance to redefine himself, though it seems like he’s had an occasional feud with Hijo de LA Park anyway.

Clarin reposts a piece on Silver King’s death. They mention the show as an AAA Worldwide show and say  AAA refused to give a comment about the death. This seems fair on AAA’s part since it wasn’t an AAA show. It was a “Lucha Libre World” promoted event using Todo x el Todo luchadors. It’s a very researched via Wikipedia piece.

Cibernetico is back at home and doing better.

Negro Navarro & Freelance are leading a seminar on September 19th.

La Jarochita claims her father banned her from trying out for the women’s national soccer team because that sport was for men, so she got into a lucha libre. That seems like a backfire. CMLL also sent out Rey Cometa & Espiritu Negro, Angel de Oro, and Reina Isis.

Reforma (via Critero Hidalgo) asked LA Park to tell some stories about his life and he told some stories.

Yucatan lucha libre promotion War Lucha Libre is running a pre-taped tournament on Saturday nights. The shows will air on their Facebook page.

Diario Basta writes about luchadora Zayna. She was one of many who a contest with the same newspaper ten years to train lucha libre with Psycho Clown a decade ago, and it inspired to become a luchador many years later.

A YouTube vlogger has a useful video on visiting Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. Or at least the outside of it during a pandemic.

Box Y Lucha 3435 has Dos Caras on the cover.

Hidalgo Tarasco II talks about avoiding wrestling in closed-door shows during a pandemic, feeling it’s unsafe.

An interview with Tampico’s Disturbio.

ESTO has a long interview with Mexico State’s Minimo.

Segunda Caida watches a mystery Negro Casas & Mocho Cota versus Atlantis & Lizmark match that appears to be from Sinaloa.

CMLL announced the ticket prices for their September Friday night streaming events. There’s a couple of options

• The three non-Aniversario shows on September 4, 11 and 18 are 97 pesos (4.50 USD) each
  • These numbers include Ticketmaster fee. It’s 85+12 on this one
• The Aniversario alone is 228.75 pesos/10.36 USD
• A package for all four events totals 380 pesos/17.26 USD

$17 for a month of shows is higher than most wrestling services. WWE is 200 pesos in Mexico. NJPW works out to about 10 dollars. Mas Lucha is charging 99 pesos for a month of shows, though they’re currently doing fewer new shows a month. DTU’s shows are 70 pesos day of the event; I don’t think CMLL would appreciate a comparison to DTU but I’m not sure the regular weekly CMLL shows are consistently more entertaining as a video product. The one place CMLL comes comparatively well is against the Arena Neza iPPV Saturday, a show which costs 110 for a few random tag matches.

The service is named “Ticketmaster Live” and the information elsewhere on the website suggests these are live-only broadcasts; expect you will not be able to watch these shows on demand unless CMLL says differently. (Almost all of the video services listed above do allow that option at least for a time.) It’s specifically one access per device, so maybe be careful to start this stream on whichever device you want to watch.

$10 for a normal Aniversariso show seems like a fair deal. $10 for this year’s Aniversario show, where even the promotion will not know what matches will take place until fans polls have completed, is a harder sell. $4 for a one off CMLL show seems like a fair deal, but being asked to pay $4 for three regular CMLL shows in an empty arena seems like a lot. It is possible CMLL makes those shows more special than usual somehow. So far they’ve only presented “we’ll have some singles matches”. It is slightly concerning CMLL believes changing the number of people in a match will fix their problems,. (It is possible, maybe even likely, CMLL does dress up these ‘normal’ shows with concepts like the delays women’s tag team tournament and similar concepts. The issue with CMLL the last year is their concept of what a ‘big show’ and the general wrestling fan base differs greatly. There’s no sign that’s changed.)

If you are a diehard CMLL fan, or a weird lucha libre blogger, the bundle makes the most sense. You save about $6. If you’re someone who drifts in and out of CMLL, maybe wait to see how that first show sets up (and maybe how it streams) before putting any money down. If you’re someone who watches the Aniversario as your one CMLL show of the year, $10 still seems unreasonable, but there’s again no hurry to buy these things in advance. CMLL will likely do fine for the Aniversario show and maybe ok for the first show with people checking it out. It doesn’t seem like a sustainable price going forward, but it’s not meant to stay this way.

This probably doesn’t need to be said but I’ll put it here anyway: these are iPPVs, so I will not be streaming them. I will also not be putting them on Google Drive for a long time, if ever. It is wrestling, so I have no doubt someone will be bootlegging it somewhere, but that person will not be me.

If you are ordering, make sure to pay close attention to the number of “tickets”. You should only need one, but it seems to default to two tickets.

CMLL has not yet specified which championships will be defended on their Aniversario show. That’s great, it gives us ample room to speculate and make lists. Which CMLL titles should be defended, ordered by likelihood of having a match I would enjoy:

championships CMLL largely ignores so we shall too
Mexico Lightweight: Electrico
Mexico Women: La Metálica
CMLL Mini: Shockercito

The vacant titles CMLL might get around to filling
Mexico Women’s Tag: vacant
CMLL Super Light: vacant
Arena Coliseo Tag: vacant

Will be fine, need the right opponent for a great match
NWA Middleweight: Carístico
NWA Light Heavyweight: Stuka Jr.
CMLL Light Heavyweight: Niebla Roja
CMLL Middle: El Cuatrero
CMLL Heavy: El Terrible

The right opponents for a great match probably don’t exist in CMLL
Mex Tag: Atlantis Jr. & Flyer
CMLL Women: Marcela
CMLL-Japan Women: Dalys

presumably capable of having a great match but also mail in a lot of them (will probably be in a title match anyway)
CMLL Heavy: Ultimo Guerrero
NWA Welter: Volador Jr.

Safest Bets For Great Matches
Mexico Welter: Soberano Jr.
Mexico Light Heavy: Bárbaro Cavernario
Mexico Trios: Nueva Generacion Dinamita (Sansón, Cuatrero & Forastero)
CMLL Welter: Titán
CMLL Tag: Mistico & Caristico
CMLL Trios: Los Guerreros Laguneros (Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero & Euforia)

It doesn’t actually work if you just run those six best matches, because there aren’t enough good opponents. Templario can’t springboard dropkick every tecnico, as much as we all might like to see it. The tag team and trios titles matches are unlikely to both happen because one set of champions is likely to be challengers for the others.  Soberano and Titan’s best work was against each other. It is CMLL, so I expect “a night of champions” will include various non-title matches alongside championships ones too; six championship matches is unlikely.

Mexico City will remain in the Orange health color this week, with hospitalization continuing to increase.

AAA’s airing their virtual march, which appears to be footage of previous years with short video from the luchadors thanking fans for support. I would be surprised if AAA announced anything with Auto Luchas today. Konnan’s brief discussion of it on his podcast suggested progress had been made but it still would be some time.

Cibernetico had gall bladder surgery on Thursday. He’s reportedly doing fine. This got a lot of attention off the one Box Y Lucha photo. Cibernetico didn’t look good in the photo though few look good in a pre-surgery photo.

Zona 23’s latest show Sin Respeto debuts on IWTV on Saturday. The promotion was successful in keeping out the YouTube videographers this time. One video clip has escaped: Sadik Madien hitting a heckler with light tubes. The heckler didn’t sell, though that seems like the least of the problems.

Blues musician Lightin’ Hopkins apparently played Arena Mexico in 1980. The performance will be replayed on the radio this afternoon.

Luchador Tortuga Ninja Miguel Angel/Gran Titan III (Oscar Gonzalez Rolon) passed away Thursday. He was in the UWA Ninja Turtles from the late 80s/early 90s.

Lucha Talk returns with another podcast on the late 00s CMLL.

NOAH stripped Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Rene Dupree of the GHC Tag Team Championships. Having foreigner wrestlers win titles during a pandemic seemed weird. The announcement says Rene Dupree vacated them, which suggests Wagner may still be returning.

Children’s writer Mario Ivan Martinez has been storytelling on YouTube during the pandemic and is currently telling a new story: “Santo versus the Coronoavirus”. It’s going up in two parts: part 1 and part 2.

Lemus Jr. is selling a mezcal.