CMLL return to fans lineup
They put out the lineup this past Monday for next Friday
CMLL (FRI) 05/21/2021 Arena México
1) Atlantis Jr. & Flyer vs Felino Jr. & Hijo del Villano III
2) Princesa Sugehit & Reina Isis vs La Jarochita & Lluvia [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Titán vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Hechicero
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Carístico, Euforia, Místico vs Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Tickets went on sale Monday and sold out all 500 tickets by Tuesday night. It might have gone faster if there wasn’t some strange error with the Ticketmaster website on Monday night not allowing purchases. Ticket prices ran from 250 to 450 MXP (12.44 to 22.40 USD) prior to fees for that show, on the high side for a normal Friday show. They were only selling tickets on the floor in limited sections, so these were closer than usual.
CMLL has now the May 28th show on sale for in-person fans. Same 500 ticket limit Tickets there run from 420 to 600 for Copa Dinastia. That show is 196 to stream. CMLL should be able to “fill” their building every Friday at 500 tickets, even if they go to higher than usual prices like they are with Copa Dinastia. It might be a tougher task when they’re running multiple times a week without tourists, but it seems worth restarting Sundays soon if the second date goes quickly. CMLL is actually already running two shows a week, these Friday shows and the empty arena tapings that see to happen on Thursdays. CMLL might no longer need to those Thursday shows if they run a second day of live events, that should cover all the TV needs.
As far as the lineup, CMLL can’t escape running those relevos increibles. Three here, and only not one more because they seem to have settled on Espiritu Negro being a tecnico. Are they really increibles if they’re the majority of the matches?
The main event picks back up the Euforia/Ultimo Guerrero issue. Cavernario is the fill-in Los Ingobernable in the main event. Is it possible Niebla Roja is also establishing residency in the US and CMLL was in such a hurry to launch a new version of the group that they did it even with one of the members not being around for months? CMLL had been promoting Copa Dinastia as the big debut of Gemelo Diablos so they’re here a week early and firmly established as midcarders. Hechicero appears in the ring for the time in eight months, though I believe he’s been in the ring in matches that haven’t aired. The second match is the current women’s national tag champs against the two singles champions, the opener is the men’s national champs against the guys who challenged last November.
The matches for 05/21 don’t look exciting but they’re generally good. It’s as good or better as the following week’s Ticketmaster show, depending on how much you care about tournaments. CMLL hasn’t announced anything as far as streaming for this show; it’ll probably be available, but not sure if that means YouTube or Marca. CMLL’s likely to use these matches for their Televisa show as well.
Flyer, Voldaor and Hechicero are advertised for CMLL Informa. That’s less than usual.
Other Notes
CMLL (TUE) 05/11/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring]
1) Conde, Destructor, Persa b Avispón Negro Jr., El Divino, Raven
2) Explosivo, Fantástico, Star Black b Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno, Thunder Boy [OCCIDENTE TRIOS, semifinal]
Explosivo went for a one-man Spanish Fly on Mr. Trueno, but both fell out of the ring and Epxlosivo was injuried. Tecnicos still won.
3) Joker, Omega, Vaquero Jr. b Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga [OCCIDENTE TRIOS, semifinal]
La Mafia advance to the final
4) Cris Skin, Javier Cruz Jr., Zandokan Jr. b Leo, Omar Brunetti, Príncipe
new rudo Javier Cruz Jr. snuck in a foul on Omar Brunetti to win
5) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa b Demonio Maya & Difunto
Difunto returned to replace Bestia Negra, then was hurt at the end of the match. He said he was fine on Facebook the following day.
6) Ángel de Oro & Terrible b Euforia & Templario
Angel de Oro snuck in a foul on Euforia
A Star Black led team in the final seems normal. Joker & Vaquero have been important here, though Omega was not even a notable name prior to the restart.
IWRG is back on Thursday, which should stream for free.
IWRG (THU) 05/13/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Halcón Mágico vs Black Shadow II & Comando Negro Jr.
2) Caballero de Plata & Hellboy vs Black Dragón & Death Metal
3) Freelance, Gravity, Noicy Boy vs Dick Angelo 3G, Rey Halcón, Tonalli
4) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Pasion Kristal vs Guadalajara, Monterrey, Sinaloa
5) Baby Extreme & Hijo del Espectro Jr. vs Aster Boy & Demonio Infernal
The main event is Lucha Time champions versus likely challengers. The third match might be good. The fake cities/states guys don’t seem particularly good, though those aren’t easy outfits to wrestle in.
AAA will skip the two weeks of TV taped in Tonatico and share the first part of Rey de Reyes on YouTube this Sunday. (If you’re outside of Mexico, I will put up the matches on YouTube either later that night or the next day.) Space gets the first post-Rey de Reyes taping Saturday.
Monterrey luchador Quinto Elemento started wrestling as Hijo del Volador in 2018. As far as I know, this man is actually a son of the original Volador, Remo Banda. He’s on an upcoming poster as Hijo de Remo Banda. He told 2A3Caidas that CMLL warned him they own “Volador” and all variations, and so he had to change to names. The Mexico trademark office lists “Volador Jr.” as trademarked by Sofia Alonso and no trademark for Hijo del Volador, though I wouldn’t be surprised if CMLL threatened him anyway.
AAW has Gringo Loco & Black Taurus versus Dragon Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus on their 05/22. That’s a “TV” (Twitch) taping, so not sure which week it’ll air. Hijo de Canis Lupus could use a good outing. US promoters seem excited to use Dragon Bane and Lupus is perceived as just the other guy they have to book to get Bane. There’s a gap in how they’re perceived in Mexico too, but it’s much wider in the US.
Samuray del Sol is still posting boxing videos. He added Showtime to Triller as a hashtag, which suggests these videos are more of a lure than a done deal.
Arena Aficion has returned to having shows no one attends, nature is healing. Arena Queretaro is talking about reopening as well.
Mas Lucha has a new episode of En+carados. Hijo del Alebrije is on talking about his battle with COVID-19. It sounds like his whole family got it.
LuchaWorld has the latest podcast episode.
Discover more from luchablog
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Friday’s CMLL looks stronger than the tournament show in my opinion. It would be interesting which does more iPPV buys…. although the Copa Dinastia has been pushed for close to a month.
When do you think they will stop airing the closed door shows TV, they’ve probably got a good month or two’s taped already….
I think the CMLL empty arena tapings are more about providing busy work for the wrestlers than needing TV content – they’ve always been taping more than they could use – so it’ll stop as soon as they feel the wrestlers are getting enough work on normal shows.
They taped a new round on Thursday. Maybe enough to cover until early June & by then we’ll be on a regular cycle of Sunday/Friday shows post-these two Ticketmaster shows.