Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday in parts of the US and Canada. It does not take place in most of Mexico; their clocks will not change until April 4th. That means every show streaming from Mexico – be it CMLL’s PPV, Mas Lucha shows, or whatever else – will start one hour later for the next four weeks if you change your clock on Sunday. Everyone will be confused for a week and then get it later. We didn’t have to deal with this last year because lucha libre shut down; it’s better to have an annoying month of it.
COVID/Reopenings
Mexico City and Mexico State will remain in Orange health condition, though individual restrictions are gradually being reduced. The full Mexico map will be released tonight; articles suggest other states move from Orange to Yellow. CMLL will likely be able to seat people in Mexico City when they reach that Yellow code. Jalisco already is in Yellow, which is why Arena Coliseo Guadalajara is allowed to have fans.
Arena Coliseo Guadalajara will repoen to fans this Tuesday. They’ve run four empty arena shows to this point. No lineup has been announced; the presence of Caristico on the poster suggests the Mexico City main roster will be included, as was traditional on Tuesdays. The show is presumed to have limited capacity, but no-limit is mentioned on the poster. Facemasks will be required for fans. Tickets will all be 300 pesos, which is the high end for their Sunday locals-only shows and mid-level for the Tuesday shows. There’s some complaining in the Facebook comments about those prices being too high for people who’ve suffered economically in the last year.
CMLL acknowledged the Guadalajara show on Twitter; they had not mentioned the previous empty arena shows. Guadalajara’s Twitter hasn’t been used since the shut down (which is why I don’t have results for those shows.) This could be a product of a change in CMLL’s social media management, but the Guadalajara & Puebla locations feel more like disconnected outposts than usual at the moment.
Blue Demon Jr. domestic violence accusations
Blue Demon’s only public comment on his wife’s accusations of domestic abuse and death threats was to call the accusations “low” to El Planchitas. He has gone silent on social media. This story did get picked up by many general news sources, though the Mexican wrestling media has noticeably stayed clear of it. MicromanFever has some translation notes on the video, which seems even worse than the summary article had.
The usual wrestling strategy is to never talk about accusations again and get angry with anyone else for bringing it up, and that seems like the plan here. That really shouldn’t fly with wrestling. I’d say being accused of violence towards women is enough to cause someone to drop out of a campaign, but I’ve heard just enough Mexican political news to know that’s an incorrect belief.
Andrade Reportedly Asks For His WWE Release
WrestlingsInc reports Andrade asked for his release from the promotion on Monday. Andrade changed his Twitter handle to remove WWE and vaguely posted about moving on Instagram. Andrade’s level of happiness (and how it affects other people) has been a frequent status since his time in WWE. It’s likely been at a low ebb the past year; Andrade hasn’t been on WWE TV since last fall, and he’s not been used significantly since Paul Heyman was removed from leading WWE Raw. Andrade figured to be staying in WWE since his significant other Charolette Flair is one of the biggest stars in WWE, but evidently, that’s not the case.
It’s important to take a breath and keep in mind the most likely outcome is Andrade continues to be with WWE until his contract expires. (I do not know when that is; Fightful has a handy list of contract end dates, but Andrade’s is not known.) Everyone wants to imagine what Andrade will do next because there are many fun ideas, but it’s important to keep in mind that WWE doesn’t have to give Andrade his release. Some get quick releases. Others have to serve out the time they previously agreed upon.
(Andrade’s time in WWE was not what it seemed like it could be – but he had great periods of personal success, formed a popular act with free agent Zelina Vega, made a fair bit of money, and met his wife. It would be wrong to consider it all bad.)
CMLL made it clear they’d welcome La Sombra back if he ever were available again. CMLL also doesn’t pay luchadors competitively, so La Sombra is likely only returning to Arena Mexico if it’s a personal goal. It may not be one while good friends Rush & Dragon Lee are exiled from the promotion. AAA would obviously want to bring in Andrade. He still has deep connections to NJPW. Non-WWE-US promotions would be interested in him, likely reuniting the Thea Trinidad/Zelina Vega act, though AEW might have too many people to make it useful. Dragon Lee’s spent the last few years following a bit in Andrade’s footsteps, but my best way too early guess is this is a time where it’ll be Andrade following Dragon Lee’s path. The NJPW deal will be the most important one. Any place additional will be what fits with that commitment.
I didn’t mention it a few days ago, but Rush teasing Faccion Ingobernable announcements at the opening of his new fast-food restaurant seems more important now. He’s Rush. He teases a lot of things. He may have even backed into this one. The real takeaway should be LA Park mocking Rush.
AAA taping on Thursday
AAA taped the first of two shows this weekend Thursday night in Valle de Bravo, Estado de Mexico. Furia de Titanes identified the location as the La Cuerva de Leon hotel. The visuals look cool. Google says it’s a pricey resort-like area. Three shows were scheduled to be taped, three more are expected to be taped in a second location Saturday. The math works out where they won’t need to do another one of these tapings until late April, and maybe longer if the AutoLuchas shows are taped.
I don’t have full results. I did hear the AAA Cruiserweight Championship was defended on one of the tapings and not by Lio Rush. My theories of AAA waiting until after Tlaxco to acknowledge the MLW title change seems wrong again; they’re just going to pretend it hasn’t happened.
AAA publicized photos of their COVID-19 testing. There seems to be an unstated but intentional response to last month’s controversy, where Whatsapp messages attributed to Hijo del Vikingo (which he denied were his) alleged AAA did no COVID testing done in Tlaxcala. AAA definitely appears to have done that testing this time.
Psycho Clown has used his pandemic down to open a house remodeling company. “We sell wood, wallpaper, bathroom furniture, porcelain, ceramics, and many other things.” Psycho Clown, the biggest draw in Mexico, noted it’s important to maintain your house so your property value does not decrease. Psycho Clown was also on these AAA tapings.
TV/Streaming Notes for this weekend
03/12 CMLL on AMX
- Estrellita & Lluvia vs Tiffany & Metalica
- Audaz vs. Tiger (possible repeat)
- Rey Cometa & Espiritu Negro vs Felino & Rey Bucanero (likely repeat)
03/13 CMLL on Televisa
- Super Astro Jr. vs Inquisidor
- Princesa Sugehit & Mystique vs Amapola & Dalys
- Mistico & Audaz vs Negro Casas & Tiger
- same match as last week, Tiger indicated it’s a rematch and not a repeat
- Volador Jr., Diamante Azul, Star Jr. vs Angel de Oro, Terrible, Niebla Roja
03/13 CMLL on MVS
- Soberano vs Virus (likely repeat)
- Atlantis Jr. Flyer vs. Cancerbero & Raizel (likely setup match to title match that already aired)
- Dulce Gardenia vs Misterioso (likely repeat)
03/13 CMLL YouTube
- Sonic vs. Yago (possible repeat)
- Guerrero Maya, Stigma vs. Sagrado, Misterioso Jr.
- Diamante Azul, Black Panther, Blue Panther vs Sanson, Forastero, Templario
- Mistico & Audaz vs Negro Casas, Felino
Mas Lucha will air KAOZ’s Rey de la Frontera (a 15 woman rumble) on Saturday. IWRG returns to their Sunday afternoon spot:
IWRG (SUN) 03/14/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Chicanito vs Guerrero Olímpico
2) Mexica & Rey Halcón vs Atomic Star & Kenji
3) Legendario & Lunatik Fly vs Especie Maligna & Halcón Mágico
4) Caballero de Plata, Gravity, Puma de Oro vs Dick Angelo 3G, Fulgor, Sobredosis
5) Black Terry & Karaoui vs Toxin & Veneno
6) Aster Boy, Jessy Ventura, Pasion Kristal vs Demonio Infernal, Fresero Jr., Tonalli
Aster Boy starts his five-year contract with IWRG, facing off runner-up Tonalli. There were the typical arguments about who should’ve won, so they’re teaming with their coaches in the main event.
Gravity made it to the semifinals. Mas Lucha revealed a semi-well-kept secret on Monday: Gravity is Bandido’s younger brother.
Other Notes
03/20 RIOT “COVIDIOTAS” (streaming live for free)
- Latigo vs Erik Ortiz (winner gets a title shot)
- Hijo del Vikingo vs Arez
- Aramis vs. Jimmy – new
- Willy Banderas & Brian Villa vs Kamikaze & Prometo – new
RIOT opened a donator campaign for this show. Offers run between 12 and 24 dollars, though the $24 item already sold out.
The impending indie lucha libre drama is Aramis versus Jimmy is also booked for the 03/14 Lucha Memes show. That show will show up on IWTV later, though likely not until after the RIOT show takes place.
IAW (???) ??/??/?? Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Valiente Jr. vs Ovett Jr. vs Rencor Negro Jr.
2) Candy Swing vs Mil Delicious
3) Mr. Leo vs Yoruba
4) Cíclope vs Calibus vs Willy Banderas vs Jitsu
5) Dinastía & Lanzeloth vs Ciclón Infernal & Iron Kid
6) Látigo © vs Miedo Extremo [IAW CHAMP]
They’re still not giving a date, but it’ll show up on Mas Lucha at some point.
Vanguardia announced a co-promotion show with Vanguardia 664 (a Tijuana promotion) and IAW for 03/28. The last 664 show ended with Ciclope forming an army of wrestlers to take on the main Vanguardia group, so that may be playing out on this show.
Juventud Guerrera announced his Super Juventud Cup in an event Wednesday. The tournament begins on March 29th. Participants announced
- Torito Negro
- Iron Kid
- Shere Khan
- Hijo del Angel
- Cobre
- Thunder Storm
- Sol
- X-Devil
- Skayler
- Arexus
- Iluxionista
- Negro Negrete
- Demon Boy
- Adrenalina
- Fight Panther
- Aero Panther
Like the (never-finished) Kriminal Lucha Libre tournament and the IWRG Tryout reality show, the idea here are rookies wrestles on Mas Lucha’s YouTube channel. There’s a lot of the same names from those and other recent Mas Lucha daily shows like Lucha Madre. Matches will air Monday through Thursday, with a recap show on Friday. Mas Lucha’s description of the tournament says the eight wrestlers will be divided into blocks of eight luchadors and everyone will face everyone else, Best of Super Junior style. The top two in each block will advance to a single-elimination tournament. That would be a 59 match tournament, much larger than any tournament prior.
(If Mas Lucha were to air one match a day in that format, this tournament would last to July 7th. Two matches a day means just May 8th, still a long time. NJPW style of a full block each day could wrap it up by April 21st. This is a lot of math for a format I’m not totally convinced will happen or happen correctly in a Mexico Indie promotion until it does.)
LA Park lost surprisingly cleanly to Alex Hammerstone in their match for the MLW National Openweight championship. I can’t come up with the last time LA Park lost clean in a singles match; it’s astounding.
Ultimo Guerrero says he can’t wait to watch Volador versus Bandido.
CMLL’s Sandra Granados made a rare podcast appearance. I really want to listen to this – she’s a long-time CMLL office member that people have very strong feelings about and doesn’t get interviews often – but haven’t gotten to it yet.
The Gladiatores has one two part interview with Laredo Kid.
Dr. Wagner Jr. now has a weekly column in Milenio. These luchador columns are usually not too revealing, though they’ll say something important once in a while. Wagner is planning a big show for his 35th Anniversary on April 26th.
In Vampiro says things, “Vampiro says he’s going to get his Mexican citizenship in June and move back to the country.”
Tijuana’s Boxing, Lucha Libre, and MMA commission will add female commissions for each sport to improve representation. The head of the commission explained that women deserve to be part of the commission. He believes women athletes will also be better helped by having women in management. Tijuana luchadora Lady Lee will be a new lucha libre commissioner. Saturday, Lady Lee is scheduled to wrestle on a show in Tijuana. Tijuana requires COVID testing for all wrestling shows, which has been a hold-up – it’d be a surprise if that level of indie show is doing COVID testing, but perhaps that’s been dropped after reaching the Yellow health code. (There appears to be no further news on the threatening funeral wreaths from last week.)
Milenio has an interview with 80s/90s EMLL luchador Sombra Poblana. He disappeared from Arena Mexico cards around 1992 after losing his mask to Halcon Negor. He was only 32 at the time. The ex-Sombra Poblana explains he got married, decided that lucha libre was not going to be enough to support them for his entire life, and resumed his other professional job of being a plumber. He’s been a plumber only for the last thirty years, looking at it like lucha libre – there were no small matches, there are no small plumbing jobs. (There are a lot of jobs where he has to repair what the head of the household tried to fix, though.)
Veracruz promoter/ex-luchador Joaquin Sanchez passed away Friday, according to DTU. They mentioned he has battled a long illness; Sanchez’s Facebook indicates a brain ailment. His sons Samuray Jr. & Crazy Star wrestled for DTU. I remember Joaquin Sanchez as the promoter JOSAGA shows in Fortin de la Flores, Veracruz, just one of those small groups I knew little about but saw their poster every week for years and years. He’d been promoting since at least 2012.
Bandido and friends participated in a government video to get people to wear facemasks.