Space TV, a Mexico cable station which has carried AAA for the last three years, seems to be making some changes in its wresting programming. Their online schedule lists AEW debuting on Sunday at 10:30 AM. AAA had been airing Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at the station. The online schedule shows the next three weeks of Space, and AAA isn’t listed a single time. Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics says he’s talked to AAA and AEW, and AAA says they will continue to air on Space. Mexico TV network online listings are not completely reliable, so this may be nothing. It’s strange none of the parties have said anything about it publicly; AEW should be promoting their debut this week.
I’ll save the long paragraphs of why and how losing Space would be bad for a time where we know that’s what happened. The short version is especially bad timing to lose Space when Azteca has bumped AAA to late-night. The Azteca deal ends in late December/early January if it hasn’t been quietly renewed already; we never heard about the last renewal until after it was done.
IWRG (SUN) 11/15/2020 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha, R de Rudo]
1) Komander b Legendario Dick Angelo 3G 
Komander replaced Rey Halcon in the 2nd version of the poster. Dick Angelo 3G replaced Legendario.
2) Black Dragón & Death Metal b Alas De Plata & Freelance
Alas de Plata replaced Charro Negro in the 2nd version of the poster
3) Redimido b Baby Xtreme, Mexica, Baby Star, Puma de Oro, Mr. Puma, Sobredosis, Atomic Star [IWRG IC Light, battle royal]
Baby Extreme was originally listed as Baby Sting
4) Hijo De Dos Caras, Hijo del Alebrije, Puma King b Emperador Azteca, Hijo Del Espectro Jr., Súper Beast
Puma King & Hijo del Alebrije replaced Dragon Bane (injury) & Hijo de Canis Lupus. Puma fouled Espectro, fake a foul, and the referee awarded Puma the win.
5) Jessy Ventura & Pasion Kristal b Oficial 911 & Oficial AK47 [hair]
Bloody match. Kristal pinned AK47 with a top rope senton, 911 fouled Kristal to set up a pin, and Ventura beat 911 after lots of interference and a Kristal chair shot.
That main event looks like a typical Naucalpan apuesta match with much drama around cheating. Dragon Bane wrestled Saturday, posted a photo of himself in a knee brace Sunday, and didn’t make it here; I guess his brother didn’t come because Bane didn’t come.
Next week’s lightweight tournament matches:
- Redimido vs. Atomic Star
- Sobredosis vs. Mexica
- Mr. Puma vs. Puma de Oro
- Baby Star vs. Baby Extreme
There’s an intentional comedy in those last two matches, making it seem just predetermined despite the effort of doing a battle royal. Don’t have seeding battle royals. They serve no purpose except antagonizing the people who are watching the match. Just run them in your brain and announce the same match-ups.
A GIF of Komander’s spectacular finish went viral. What happens in these cases is people want to follow IWRG, thinking they’ll see more Komander, but Komander was just an extra guy working an opening match because he happened to be in Mexico City for other work. No idea if he’ll be back or given anything to do.
IWRG continues to advertise its shows as way over 30% capacity. They were visibly way over that. It wasn’t a full house, but it looks closer to 75% full. Either they’ve convinced someone the actual capacity of Arena Naucalpan is an artificially inflated large number, or no one cares to check. This is not the first time I’ve pointed this out, and I don’t want to run into the ground, but it is an unsafe health situation. (It’s the same with GALLI; gatherings over 10 people are specifically forbidden in Illinois, and GALLI had their usual attendance.) Everyone who is stepping foot in Naucalpan is doing it with an increased risk of contracting COVID-19. There’s a real argument that IWRG has been the most successful Mexican wrestling promotion this year, but they’re doing it by taking risks AAA & CMLL either have not chosen to take or will not be allowed to take.
The highest-profile lucha libre match this weekend was on between Mr. Iguana and comedian. Lalo Elizarrarás faced Iguana on Saturday in a one-off 80 pesos PPV. Elizarrarás has a popular YouTube channel. In August, he revealed he wrestled briefly as the masked Tlaloc before moving into comedy, which seemed to set this all into motion. Iguana & Elizarrarás did videos and other social media work building up the match. My impression is the show did decently well, but I don’t have hard numbers. Iguana defended the honor of lucha libre by defeating Tlaloc in the match via armbar.
I watched GALLI’s two shows this weekend on FITE. I got the sense I may have been the only person on the planet watching them, but I probably would’ve paid to go to a GALLI show or two by now in a normal year, so this is just sending the money a different way. The Sunday show is the one to get if you’re going to check it out. Aerostar & Drago has a very professional tag match against Golden Star & Rey Fuego, and Mil Muertes got a great showcase against Aramis & Bandolero. I’d like to see those last two face each other at some point, but this was more Mil Muertes looking like a monster in a way he hasn’t since Lucha Underground. He’s still limited in movement and doesn’t look like he used to, but they played to what he could do very well. Aeroboy versus Cody Jones was alright, but they were building towards a lot of booing, and the crowd didn’t give them much. The Mexico talent worked hard.
Laredo Kid still wrestled in Arena Lopez Mateos, going to a draw with Veracruz’s Ultimo Legendario. It would’ve been understandable if he skipped it following his father’s death, but he was still wrestling as usual.
The show, put on by Veracruz promotion BELLO, drew poorly. It seemed to exist only because the promotion craved running a show after being stopped from doing so for most of the year and haven’t been able to do it in their home state. That may be changing: A lucha libre show has been announced for Auditorio Benito Juarez in Veracruz on 11/28. This one seems to be a charity show, which may be why it’s permitted.
On Saturday, Bengalee took Baby Angelita’s mask in four-way with Lilith Dark and Reyna Obscura. Baby Angelita is Citlaly Yessenia Alberto Lopez, 23 years old, 8 years a wrestler, from Mexico City.
Oriental accused Veneno of hitting Oriental’s nine-year-old child with a motorcycle helmet Sunday. The child was left bleeding and with some damage to teeth. Oriental brings up some money issues, but it’s not exactly clear what happened.
La Jarochita wrestled on an indie show Friday, which is notable given Euforia publicizing CMLL’s policy against their wrestlers working outside shows during the pandemic. She did an autograph signing too. She’s likely not on the next Ticketmaster Live show but would seem to be in the pool of wrestlers still working TV tapings.
El Pais has a story on health conditions for luchadors in the wake of Principe Aereo’s death. There’s a lot of familiar ground – CMLL’s doctor shows up to talk about how there’s no money for medical personal at these shows while insisting they take care of everything. El Fantasma comes off unusually poorly, confrontational and quick to anger when the reporter asks why the Mexico City lucha libre regulations are not made public. My theory had been the Mexico City lucha libre commission doesn’t publicize information (like the rules and approved lineups) because they’re old men who are vastly behind the times and working hard to stay that way. The writer here seems to believe the actual reason the commission rules are only viewable at the commission office is so few people know the rules, and the commission can selectively enforce them. The writer lists Fantasma by his real name.
Lucha Memes Homenaje Al Negro Navarro on 11/29 at Coliseo Coacalco
- Avisman vs Energia
- Perro de Guerra Jr. vs Belial
- Ricky Marvin vs Mr. Electro
- Aramis vs Black Terry – new
That’s a first-time match.
CMLL posted the 2004 Leyenda de Azul on YouTube. They again appear to have cut out as much of Dr. Wagner Jr. & Vampiro as possible. Black Tiger (Silver King)’s entrance is cut too, but they do show him in the ring – he might have been just walking too close to Wagner.
Caristico is getting into politics. He’s the Redes Social Progresistas liaison for the mayor’s off in Cuauhtemoc, in Mexico City. They held a press conference on Friday to announce this; it’s unclear if this a meaningful role or just publicity for a brand new group; they appear to be recruiting celebrities. RSP is was founded in 2019 and recognized as a political party last month,
Box Y Lucha reports Guatemalan luchador Corsario II (Juan Lopez Velazquez, 78) passed away on Saturday.
Zeta Tijuana talks to Damian 666 about his career.
NVINoticas has a profile of Oaxacan luchador Black Killer.