CMLL is back on Ticketmaster Saturday afternoon, at 5:30 pm Central.
CMLL , Ticketmaster (SAT) 04/24/2021 Arena México
1) Microman & Perico Zakarías vs Chamuel & Gallito [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Amapola & Marcela vs Dalys & La Jarochita [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Star Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus [MEX TRIOS, final]
4) Carístico & Místico © vs Ángel de Oro & Terrible [CMLL TAG]
4th defense
5) Atlantis, Euforia, Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
If this was a free Friday show, I think I’d be interested. There are two title matches with interesting outcomes, the main event might move along a story. As a monthly pay event, it lacks a bit: the trios tournament is the closest to the end of a story told, it’s a lot of middle chapters (or matches without reasons to exist entirely.) It’s lacking an outstanding match; the guys in the third match may be motivated to do something special but nothing else looks that level of promising. If CMLL titles had been treated meaningfully, two title matches might be important to get someone to buy for history’s sake, but they have not.
And yet, I feel fairly certain that more people will end up buying this PPV than the last one. I don’t think there’s any interest in the show outside of CMLL diehards, yet there’s enough interest in that group about Atlantis returning to get people to tune out. CMLL’s treated it as a special thing. They haven’t done a great job of promoting the show on their own TV outside of the Televisa broadcast. They have done a lot of CMLL media appearances, with Atlantis doing TV to get the word out about his return. A legend coming back after a long time away usually does very well the first time out (and then not as much in subsequent appearances.) There’s a non-joking-matter that many of the people who were fans of Atlantis in Mexico are not used to buying internet PPVs and may not understand how to do so – CMLL would be wise to spend the next day persistently walking people through it on social media – but I expect this will be the most-watched CMLL PPV since the Aniversario.
That’s in Mexico, though. I don’t expect anyone who didn’t grow up with Atlantis as their lucha libre hero to care much about this show. There was no point in writing a longer preview for Voice of Wrestling; this is a show squarely at the fans who are already following CMLL so intently they could write their own preview.
The main event will likely just be another chapter in Euforia/Ultimo Guerrero, though I’m uncertain where it fits in the big picture. It’d normally feel like something being targeted for the Aniversario show, but it’s still too early to know what that will be like and CMLL still has Felino/Cavernario to do at some point. Angel de Oro & Terrible winning the tag titles and Caristico & Mistico getting the rematch later in front of fans seems like the best business decision (and maybe making sure Mistico isn’t champion will save on complications later), though this is more a litmus test on how seriously we’re supposed to be taking Los Nuevos Ingobernables. It’d be fitting for them if they just got themselves DQed, though it’d be such an annoying outcome for a paid event. CMLL’s generally had more faith in Stuka & Guerrero Maya than anyone else in the trios title match, though I think the Cancerberos as champions might set up better matches. The mixed matches opening the shows will have effort but maybe not a success; the micros especially lose a lot in a no fans environment.
Reminder: this is a PPV, so I will not be posting it on my Google Drive anytime soon. People are paying for it, it doesn’t seem fair for others to get it for free.
CMLL Informa announced Daniel Aceves will award four people the Copa Bobby Bonales award on the PPV. This was an award started in 2009 and given out about every other year, somewhat of a lifetime achievement recognition. His son, Daniel Aceves, is a former wrestling Olympic medalist turned governmental official in their sports ministry. Copa Bobby Bonales started as a single wrestler, expanded to one male and one female wrestler in 2017, expanded again to include a trainer in 2018. It wasn’t immediately clear what the category would be for the fourth award. CMLL always plays this up as a very important deal in the week prior to the event, then stops mentioning it a couple of weeks later.
The timing is curious; CMLL believes limited fans will be allowed back within weeks and this award ceremony would work better with people around to cheer (or clap) for the winners. My guess is KeMonito is getting a Copa Bobby Bonales award and they just wanted to do that on their Kid’s Day show.
CMLL Informa also had Ultimo Guerrero and Atlantis on and talking about becoming partners once again, though Atlantis said Ultimo Guerrero would have to join the tecnico side. It came off as luchadors on Informa floating their own angle like usual, though maybe something to keep in mind Saturday.
Rey de Reyes Lineup Today? Maybe??
Konnan, on his podcast, mentioned this lineup was due out Friday. It hasn’t happened yet if you’re reading this piece of text. Konnan also said some matches from Rey de Reyes will air live on Azteca. That’d be much earlier than AAA usually airs on Azteca if that’s correct. AAA hasn’t promoted that and Space is billed Rey de Reyes as exclusively theirs.
The WON mentions AAA is following their pattern for 2021 of two tapings each weekend. The second taping will take place Monday, near wherever it is Rey de Reyes is happening. That’ll probably take care of TV until June; maybe it’ll be the last no-fans shows for now.
The Weekly Mexico City COVID Check-In
Mexico City remains at Orange, with items like new hospitalizations are their lowest since the pandemic started to be monitored. An Easter-spurred wave would’ve turned up by now and doesn’t seem to have occurred. Lucha libre came up in a list of sports and entertainment activities that have to wait a little bit longer to run.
The belief is Mexico City could switch to the less restrictive Yellow health code around May 10th (which would allow CMLL to run shows with fans at Arena Mexico), though it could be a week off either way and nothing is for certain until it happens.
TV Notes
CMLL has abandoned updating their website listings after a couple of months, as normal, so we’re stuck with waiting to see which of these shows get mentioned on social media. It seems like they’ve either given up on sending out the match graphics to the wrestlers too, or the wrestlers have lost enthusiasm on posting them. I may update these later on today if CMLL gets around to putting them up.
- Robin vs Hijo del Signo
- Soberano Jr., Flyer vs Dark Magic, Vangellys
- Mistico, Caristico, Volador Jr. vs Angel de Oro, Terrible, Niebla Roja
04/24 CMLL on MVS
- Leono vs Nitro
- Volcano & Drone vs Ephesto & Luciferno
04/24 CMLL on Televisa
- not announced yet
04/24 CMLL on Ticketmaster
- see above. Remember, this has a strange 5:30 pm start time and there is no VOD.
04/24 CMLL HT
- not announced yet
04/24 AAA on Space
- Poder del Norte vs Aramis, Myzteziz, Octagoncito
- Abismo Negro Jr. & Taurus vs Hijo del Vikingo & Laredo Kid
- Pagano & Lady Shani vs Chessman & La Hiedra
Space’s listings have this at 3:30 pm. AAA says it’ll air at 5:45 pm. SSpace’s press release has the usual 6:30 pm. If you ever wonder why I am the way I am, these are the reasons why.
I slowed down the trailer to watch it frame by frame and I was still not entirely sure if it was Octagoncito or Octagon Jr. in the match. The preview Space sends out to random TV sites says it’s Octagoncito. AAA’s done too good of a job of making those outfits similar and I hope they give Octagoncito a red mask one day.
ROH’s TV episode this week has Rush, Kenny King and Bestia del Ring versus Brody King, Homicide and Chris Dickinson. Next week’s episode will have Bandido versus Flamita following their recent issues.
Other News
CMLL’s Arena Coliseo Guadalajara announced an Atlantis Jr. & Atlantis vs Felino Jr. & Felino match for Tuesday. It probably would’ve been a better idea to wait until after the PPV to tell the Guadalajara fans they don’t need to buy it to see Atlantis, but waiting until Sunday to promote a Tuesday show is a bit late and the different branches of CMLL seem to operate semi-autonomously. Mystique versus Silueta was also announced for that show, though the new ruda seems to prefer to be called Dark Silueta now.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter confirms Averno is gone but the “AAA source” believes he (and Puma King) will be back in AAA “soon”. I think I figured out what happened here. There was a story about AAA laying off their office months ago and Averno – working backstage and not really wrestling – probably counts as office and may have not been getting paid, which naturally would lead to him picking up work elsewhere. The wrestlers themselves were getting a regular stipend; it’s also possible Averno was getting one but made the same call as Villano III Jr. in deciding he could make more on his own. The WON also mentions Konnan is in need of a second kidney transplant and looking to get it done in Mexico since the waiting time in the US is quite long.
IWRG held a contract signing Thursday for the Fresero Jr./Eterno hair match taking place Sunday. The contract signing de-evolved into a brawl. That’s normal. Less normal was Eterno & Fresero getting into a fight again on the street, leading to both being taken away by police. They appeared to be freed later in the day; Fresero returned to posting memes on social media later that day. The brawl made local news, which means it was a great success. Fresero & Eterno is going to be a bloody brawl; it has a chance to be the annual IWRG match that catches the attention of people who don’t watch IWRG or much Mexican wrestling at all.
IWRG announced Rey del Ring for next Sunday. That seems like a sign for IWRG’s tickets are selling well for Sunday. (It’s hard to believe they’ll be limited to 30% or 40% or any number; they’ve stopped even pretending on the posters.) Rey del Ring is IWRG’s annual 30 man royal rumble, where the winner gets a match with the current champion – that’s Demonio Infernal at the moment. Rey del Ring ran this as two 15 person rumbles last year billed as a COVID precaution, which never made much sense and is consistent with the way they’ve handled everything since.
Federacion Wrestling, the Ingobernbales-adjacent PPV announced with no details for June, also announced Fenix, Penta, and Bandido for that show. (There are also silhouettes that aren’t as immediately obvious as the last set; the running belief is the middle one is Diamante Azul, who is a Munoz family friend but would be fired by CMLL if he actually worked this show.) There’s nothing known publicly except a bunch of names. A bunch of names along probably won’t draw as much as people will expect, though there are obvious big matches they could make out of those people announced. If this turns into a lot of random trios, they might as well burn the money for warmth, but we really have no idea what this at this point. It’s also not clear how many people are actually paying attention to the group; they’ve got less than 300 Twitter followers and less than a 1000 Facebook followers. Federacion Wrestling announced a virtual press conference for next Friday, where some of these questions might be answered.
Cinta de Oro talked to ITR Wrestling about his release from WWE. His appearance at AAA’s 2019 Guerra de Titanes came up. Cinta de Oro reached out to the WWE beforehand to make sure it was fine to use the “Sin Cara” name. They were fine with it, until AAA used WWE footage as part of the presentation. Cinta de Oro says had no idea AAA would do that and decided he needed to change his name going forward to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. Cinta de Oro also mentions his social media information changed to “Cinta de Oro” before he asked the family if he could use it – he says WWE needed him to change to something else, but he didn’t realize it would change right away – but he says the family was very enthusiastic about the idea when he presented it to them.
The WON explained Kalisto/Samuray del Sol’s release from WWE as sort of being of his own making. Lince Dorado is credited with coming up with the Lucha House Party idea, with the idea that it would appear to Vince McMahon (because it fits his vision of Mexican wrestling) and sell some merchandise, even if it also meant they’d also never get pushed. For a guy like Lince Dorado, who was on the fringes of the roster and in danger of being cut, that’s a great deal. For a guy like Kalisto, who was at times pushed and billed as the next Rey Mysterio Jr., Lucha House Party felt like it was holding him back and he eventually and repeatedly pushed to go his own way. Kalisto’s wish was eventually granted, he was moved to SmackDown, and WWE cut him a few months later without giving him a chance. This reads like a parable about Kalisto’s pride, but perhaps it’s more about WWE’s very narrow view of Mexican wrestlers. (Santos Escobar and his guys have done great on NXT and will be destroyed if they get on the main roster as it currently is managed for the same reasons, but I think Escobar is savvy enough to realize that.) Anyway, Kalisto
New Guadalajara promotion is offering their first show (Preshow) as part of a $4/month plan. It’s a three-match empty arena VOD show with commentary.
Monterrey extreme wrestling promotion NGX is running their first show in over a year on Friday night at 8 pm with Pagano versus Joe Lider versus Psicotico as the main event; they say they’ll be streaming on YouTube. Their YouTube channel is NGX MTY. They’re also asking for donations though it’s not clear how you’d get them the money. I’ve learned not to trust Monterrey internet signals, you may want to set your expectations accordingly.
GALLI has shows tonight and Sunday with Arez, Aeroboy, and Myron Reed as the guest talent. They’re streaming them on their website. I want to the Friday show and normally would have no hesitation in doing so, it’s just still not normal times. I’m vaccinated but still a bit nervous about going to an indoor venue for a wrestling show. I think the presumption is people returning en masse to public events as they become more common this summer but I wonder how many others will be cautious.
The Bandido Gym show is said to be airing on Texano’s YouTube channel Saturday, though they’re asking for a 100 pesos donation via Whatsapp number and I’m not sure if that means you’ll only be able to see it via the donation.
AAW announced Arez & Gringo Loco versus Travis Titan & Dante for their taping on Saturday’. I don’t believe that’s airing live on Saturday; AAA is dividing those shows into three weeks of Twitch shows; it reads like this match is airing one of those future Saturdays.
Skayde is off the Lucha Memes show this Sunday. It’s disappointing to not get a Skayde match but the Baby Extreme/Skayde match was at best going to be a learning experience and not a good match; the show might be better off if the promotion books Baby Extreme with someone a better fit for him.
MLW announced a “season final” on May 5th and a return to running live shows on July 10th in Philadelphia. This explains a bit what’s going on with their VICE deal: they’re starting off with repeats because they don’t have any new TV to show for months. (On Konnan’s podcast, Court Bauer did mention they’re starting on Vice for May 1st. He also explained they didn’t want to start with empty arena matches, so they must be showing older stuff. You won’t be surprised they didn’t mention the Cruiserweight championship deal.) MLW told the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, in talking about featured talent changing, that they won’t be able to use as much of the Mexican wrestlers due to difficulties in getting visas renewed. That’s curious in that the only featured Mexican talent MLW had been using was Los Parks. They had been using Laredo Kid too but I wouldn’t count him as featured, and he was probably on his own visa. LA Park has been piling up an unusual amount of MLW Ls lately, so maybe he’s finishing up, or maybe this is the explanation of why more AAA people won’t be coming in. It sits weirdly alongside the “let’s run Azteca Underground” concept. (It also doesn’t say great things about us – about the US – if MLW is really able to get in Japanese Dragon Gate wrestlers but not Mexican AAA wrestlers.)
Arena Lopez Mateos’ 54th Anniversary show on 15 will have Blue Demon Jr. vs Penta vs Dr. Wagner Jr. as the main event.
Laredo Kid will debut for Warrior Wrestling on their 06/05 show.
ChilangaMask says they’ll have a show on 06/19 in Arena San Juan. The promotion has lately run one show a year at Coliseo Coacalco and never anywhere else around Mexico State.
- Difunto & MIni Difunto vs Wotan & Impulso – billed as a revenge match (because they had matches in 2018, which is only two shows ago)
Christi Jaynes teased appearing on The Crash soon. The Crash hasn’t run since prior to the pandemic. No one’s run Auditorio de Tijuana for a lucha libre show since, but there are local promotions running smaller buildings so The Crash returning soon in some form seems plausible.
Just after I hit post, WWE announced the signing of Jennifer Michell Cantu Iglesias – she’s the Monterrey powerlifter that was around lucha libre but not in wrestling who was mentioned as trying out a few months ago and actually signed back in February.
AFP had a report on luchadors struggling and passing away during the pandemic, somehow ended up at the last Zona 23 show.
On Tik Tok, Kung Fu Jr. claimed Antonio Pena possessed a secret black book of witch spells through a pact with the devil which allowed him to instantly fill an arena with fans. Milenio, a real news site reported on this seriously and said “AAA has not commented on the statements.” Kung Fu Jr. worked in AAA in the late 90s, when Pena really could’ve used spells to instantly fill some arenas. He did come up with Gronda, though the object from which Gronda derived his powers wasn’t a black book.
Vanguardia announced Los Traumas for the 05/15 anniversary show.