Month: June 2021

CMLL (TUE) 06/29/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, SuperLuchas, The Gladiatores]
1) Último Dragóncito b Angelito
4:16
2) Hijo del Signo & Nitro b Oro Jr. & Retro
3) Dalys, La Comandante, Tiffany b La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Marcela
Rudas took 2/3. Lluvia originally announced on Saturday and replaced on Sunday.
4) Blue Panther, Cachorro, Hijo del Villano III b Luciferno, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. [Relevos Increíbles] 
5) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Místico b Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón 
6) Felino b Bárbaro Cavernario © [MEX LH] 
Felino took 1/3 to win, using a Negro Casas distraction to sneak in a foul. Cavernario falls on the 3rd defense. Felino is the 73rd known champion.

This is the first CMLL singles title Felino has won since the Occidente Light Heavyweight championship in 2011. That’s really just a regional title and it’s possible Felino might have won a similar level singles title since then. If we just count real national titles, Felino’s last singles championship win appears to be the CMLL Welterweight Championship in 2003.

It’s been a while. Felino hasn’t been thought of as a championship singles wrestler in close two decades. The two people in an upcoming apuesta match doing a title change goes back at least as far as Black Shadow & El Santo, it’s a standard bit of CMLL booking. The idea here is to convince fans Felino might be able to craft a way to beat Cavernario when they finally have the hair match.. I don’t know that a single person is convinced or more interested in the match because of the title change, or that CMLL truly believes they’ve done important work. They’re just doing what they’ve always done because that’s what they do and at one point it worked. It does not appear to be working – this previous match of the most important stip match they have to offer at the moment drew poorly. I can admire CMLL’s loyalty of sticking with the hair match payoff they seemingly promised Felino over a year and a half ago, but this feud wasn’t over even when the tourists were around and it certainly isn’t now. It’s not great that Felino is beating Cavernario at all; Cavernario should be running through Felino without difficulty to make him a bigger star, this shouldn’t be Felino’s moment but it will continue to be. The bigger problem is CMLL’s unwillingness or inability to realize they’re not in a good place.

The title change does usually happen a month or two before the apuesta match, so there’s a chance the Felino/Cavernario hair match could be happening earlier than September. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense with reduced capacity but a lot doesn’t make sense.

A lightning match going four minutes suggests something went wrong, though there doesn’t seem anything obvious.

No idea if/when Tuesday shows are filming, but they did film intros for the show. That could also just be to prep the live crowd. We may get a better idea of CMLL Informa.

This Friday’s show lineup came out.

CMLL (FRI) 07/02/2021 Arena México
1) Shockercito vs Pierrothito [lightning]
2) Drone & Magia Blanca vs Disturbio & Okumura
3) Princesa Sugehit © vs Stephanie Vaquer [CMLL WOMEN]
1st defense
4) Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Flyer vs Espíritu Negro, Pólvora, Rey Cometa [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible vs Euforia, Hechicero, Negro Casas [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Carístico, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero

Nothing special. Not sure why the fourth match exists in that form – why have Dragon Rojo & Polvora fight? Maybe they’re setting up another tag title match with AtrapaSuenos – Atlantis Jr. & Flyer defenses are one of the rare things CMLL seems focused on – but it’s a strange way to go about it. It’d be a shock if Sugehit lost, though maybe Vaquer could cement her new elevated spot with a good performance. The main event could be good but also might just be going through the motions. CMLL seems to have done the Euforia/UG split with no idea how they were going to follow up on it.

This is a 100 pesos/5 US PPV, as will be the next three weeks. 07/30 Leyenda de Plata is the on the more expensive 230 pesos/11.60 US ticket. They’ve also brought back the package deal, all five Fridays for 499 pesos/25.11 USD – you essentially get one of the cheap shows for free. $25 is expensive for a show not interested in doing all that much and for a system where you have to be at your device live on Friday nights to watch it.

CMLL aired a Dulce Gardenia & Esfinge versus Ephesto & Luciferno tag match Monday night on Twitch as an International Day of Pride special. Dulce Gardenia is a good performer but if the person you’re featuring as a celebration of LBGT+ people is not in one of those categories, you’re probably going to get yelled at for being stupid in many situations. Luckily, it’s CMLL and no one cares. Unfortunately for CMLL, it was a match aired with no notice and got almost no viewers; my bandit AAA streams get more people than they did. The match itself was nothing special – a leftover empty arena long 20-minute match where Gardenia lost. CMLL didn’t archive it, so it’s lost forever but it’s not a big loss.

CMLL tagged the Twitch Latin America account, which makes me wonder if these CMLL shows are spurred on by an outreach by the Twitch side, trying to bring back some of the Latin American viewers they lost when AAA stopped streaming there. The important difference is the AAA people understood how Twitch worked before starting and CMLL is just using it exactly as they do YouTube. Maybe they’ll get it eventually – announce your streams in advance is the first step – but the Twitch people seem like they’d be better off asking Mas Lucha for some content. AAA hasn’t streamed on Twitch in a year plus, and I still get people asking me when Adrian and Bernardo are going to be back there; Mas Lucha has the actual Adrian and Bernardo.

PUBG put out their third KeMonito & Microman video. These are the best things happening in CMLL right now and that’s not even a slight to anything else happening, they’re just very good.

CMLL Informa has Atlantis, Altantis Jr., Stephanie Vaquer, Titan, Mephisto, and Felino.

Guadalajara

CMLL (TUE) 06/29/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring, SuperLuchas]
1) Cosmos, Estrella De Jalisco Jr., Temerario b Conde, Persa, Relámpago Azul
debut of Estrella de Jalisco Jr., who looked nervous
2) Bobby Black, Carlo Roggi, Mr. Apolo vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
3) Lluvia & Silueta vs Sexy Sol & Stephanie Vaquer [OCCIDENTE WOMEN, semifinal]
Worked as Silueta & Vaquer vs Lluvia & Sexy Sol but worked as an elimination match, leaving Silueta & Lluvia in next week’s final.
4) Crixus, Flash, Gallo, Vaquero Jr. DQ Black Warrior Jr., Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
Tecnicos took 1/3. Flash & Gallo tossed their mass to the tecnicos for the DQ.
5) Mephisto, Satánico, Último Guerrero, Zandokan Jr. b Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Carístico, Joker
Mephisto & UG used a foul and a mask pull on Atlantis Jr. & Caristico, setting up a rematch for next week.

Lluvia and Ultimo Guerrero both having a reason to come back next week is a helpful concidence for them.

Salvador Lutteroth Jr. (the older one) and Ultimo Guerrero met with a famous boxer on Monday while in Guadalajara. There’s a similar photo with Silueta. That’s a rare sighting of the older Salvador Lutteroth. I’m pretty sure Paco Alonso would not have been talked into doing a mock lockup, for better or worse.

Puebla

The Arena Puebla situation is so weird. When we last left it, there were conflicting stories over Arena Puebla being closed because of capacity issues or safety issues. The promotion’s Facebook continued to tease a return date at some point, then surprisingly suddenly told El Sol de Puebla they’d return this upcoming Monday. They’re limited to 30% capacity, so building administrator Benjamin Mar said they’d have space for 192 in the numbered seats, 180 in the general seating (behind the fences), and 300 in the balcony for a total of 672 fans. That fit with the capacity issue story; the idea was running with 500 people would mean a loss and they needed close to 700 people to make a profit. CMLL officially announced a lineup later that night.

CMLL (MON) 07/05/2021 Arena Puebla
1) Átomo & Microman vs Chamuel & Perico Zakarías
2) Pegasso & Stigma vs Rey Apocalipsis & Toro Bill Jr.
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Reyna Isis & Stephanie Vaquer
4) Atlantis Jr., Flyer, Star Jr. vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Hechicero
5) Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Templario

Everything seems fine. Well, the card isn’t great but fine for 2021 CMLL. Except today, someone asked about the Arena Puebla re-opening procedures at a government meeting, and the Puebla government official stated Arena Puebla is not cleared to open. They haven’t gotten signed off on the COVID procedures yet and so they don’t have a return date. I’m not sure how long it takes to get that inspection, if that’s something they can just get revolved before Monday. Arena Puebla not getting an inspection does fit with the other story that they’re afraid to get inspected because there are other issues with the building, so I’m still not sure which story is true. It is lucha libre so I would figure on them trying to run Monday.

I have no idea if this show will be streamed or even taped. That might be answered on Informa, but explaining those things have never been a priority for CMLL. If CMLL is serious about not putting shows on YouTube and trying to get Twitch going, airing the weekly Arena Puebla shows makes some sense.

ROH

Bandido won ROH’s Survival of Fittest Tournament on this past week’s TV show. He advances to a heavyweight championship match against Rush on their next PPV, the July 11th Best in the World show. Rush and Bandido previously met on ROH PPV back in March 2019. Both were undefeated, Rush won and kept on his escalating path to the ROH title, Bandido’s been stuck on a lower level.

Rush (& Dragon Lee) versus Bandido (& Rey Horus) had already been announced for ROH’s 08/21 show in Philadelphia, one of the first live events the promotion is doing. It points to this issue continuing past this PPV, no matter what the outcome is in the title match. There are other bits that suggest ROH may be setting up a title change – the next announced title match with Flip Gordon works better with Bandido than Rush, Rush seems to be out of challengers (and not around for this set of tapings), he would’ve likely lost the title by now if ROH didn’t lose half a year – but the title match could also just as easily end with Demonic Flamita costing Bandido the title. I think Bandido winning the Ring of Honor title and going on to have a series of great matches might energize their fan base, and I’m sure there are people who believe Rush’s charisma and personality is still more important to reaching a new group of fans. Normally I’d think Bandido was being used to give Rush a good defense to build him up more for the eventual person to dethrone him, but there is no obvious person right now in Ring of Honor. (Which may be a bigger problem for Ring of Honor.)

Bandido’s hometown paper, El Siglo de Torreon, has an interview with him.

ROH announced VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King & Tony Deppen) versus LFI (Kenny King & Dragon Lee) versus The Foundation (Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham) on their TV the weekend of July 10th.

Verano de Escandalo

This show is Saturday. There are three matches announced. Only one match has names. They’re taking this not at all seriously but again, it’s a TV special, I guess it doesn’t really matter. They’ll probably just drop a card suddenly on Thursday or Friday.

• Lady Shani versus Deonna Purrazzo in a non-title match
• an Alas de Oro match (no names)
• a Mixed Tag Title match which may include Mr. Iguana & La Hiedra

The Alas de Oro tournament is a flyers elimination match – it’s the AAA Reyes del Aire. They ran it in 2007 with Extreme Tiger winning, 2008 with Aerostar, and 2015 with Drago winning. Four tournaments in fifteen years aren’t much. It’s more just a cool name to throw the many flyers AAA has in one good match; I’d rather have seen this on TripleMania than the always terrible Copa TripleMania.

Sam Adonis is pretty sure he’s in the TripleMania La Empresa match. Maybe we’ll get more clarification at Verano de Escandalo.

This is one of those days where I’m racing to get this post done when I have the time and I’m sure I’m going to remember something I should’ve added about a half-hour ago. I haven’t really had a chance to think too deeply about the TripleMania lineup but I wanted to write something before it got too old

• There are a lot of good matches and I will enjoy the TripleMania card. It also has little connection with the AAA I’ve watched in 2021. To no one’s surprise, various bits like the Argenis/Myzteziz feud, the recently started Villano III/Octagon one, the new factions and most everything else rolled out have nothing to do with TripleMania. Psycho/Escorpion exists, though only really so after the match was already announced. Everything else exists in a completely separate promotion – the AAA the full time guys work in has no big show of the year, because that’s for the guys the promotion believes are the actual stars. And booking that way makes them correct. I’m not dying to see Argenis versus Myzteziz, that feud can disappear tomorrow and I’d be fine, I just wish AAA TV would focus on more self-contained stories instead teases of important matches and mysteries they have no intention of paying off.
  • The general concept of doing outsider-heavy matches like Omega/Andrade and Purrazzo/Apache is they need big names to bring in casual fans. AAA doesn’t really need those fans this year, if they’re really going at 25% – I’d guess they could get that with Psycho/Escorpion and a whole bunch of other guys. Maybe they figured there’d been more capacity by TripleMania (and maybe there still will be), but they could’ve also probably just gone back to Omega/Vikingo with Escorpion/Psycho and done OK
• the Marvel Lucha Libre thing should be fine and it could be a good opener depending on who’s in there. I think we’re not getting names yet because they’ll be debuting more gimmicks soon, maybe this weekend soon. AAA needs to make money, the Marvel stuff seems to be making them money, this is fine.
• Copa TripleMania has always been bad and there’s no hope of it ever getting better. They do these all the time and they never work. It sucks the life out of the show as forty minutes are spent on characters AAA doesn’t see as stars or they’d be in real matches. It’s for the wrestlers to feel good about getting an entrance on TripleMania and it makes life easier to tell people they’re on TripleMania, but someday those wrestlers might realize this isn’t really anything to be happy about and we’ll be free of it.
• Fenix & Penta vs Laredo & Vikingo vs Taurus vs ? should be great, but second straight year where Fenix & Penta are coming in just to do a three-way match with no build. Taurus has many tag partners and is apparently teaming with none of them. Laredo & Vikingo aren’t a regular team. The match will be great but there’s been no work done in making the match mean anything. Maybe that comes later, like Psycho/Escorpion, but it hasn’t been done yet. The guy who books AAA has been critical of how AEW uses the Lucha Brothers, fairly so, but it feels like he uses Laredo Kid, Vikingo, Taurus as throw-ins to have a good match in similar fashion.
• I kind of get why Faby Apache has to be the one facing Deonna Purazzo on this show. The Empresa trios is going to be a crazy hardcore match with a billion things happening, and it’s going to be a death spot following it. I don’t know that Faby versus a person that’s appeared twice by then is going to get the crowd to care, but AAA crowd do always care about Faby and it’s got a better chance than Hiedra or Shani in that spot. It’s still going to be a tough spot.

Andrade/Federacion Wrestling

Andrade was on Lucha Libre Online with Hugo Savinovich on Monday night. It wasn’t nearly as interesting as his post-WWE interview; not much has happened since then and this existed mostly to talk about Andrade’s upcoming matches, like that Payne Arena show. I didn’t make it to the end because Facebook was giving me problems playing; it’s also up on YouTube now. Andrade was higher on working with Zelina Vega/Thea Trinidad than he had in the past interview, that’s about the extent of the news. He was asked about the Federacion Wrestling show not happening and said he and Rush had to back out because they weren’t paid deposits and given flights by an agreed-upon date. Andrade claims he never got paid by the Federacion. He felt bad because they had recruited many of the wrestlers to come, but he had nothing bad to say about Federacion.

The deal is, as best I understand it, is Federacion was the never-named money person handling the money and Rush handing the wrestling. The money guy is gone, but Rush and his people still have control of the brand name and figured they’d find someone new to pay for it. That’s why they’re always positive about Federacion itself, Rush hopes to use it again and so doesn’t want to bury it. It seems obvious from the outside that the name is damaged and wasn’t good to begin with, but he may feel differently if he came up with it. Rush’s press conference to explain all of this still hasn’t happened and there’s no timeline of when it might happen. People on social media are still bringing it up to him.

The idea that a Federacion show is still happening is exists; Paypal revoked my and other’s refunds for the show being canceled in the last few days. There’s no other sign of anyone actively working on the show.

Speaking of that Payne Arena show, plenty of tickets still seem to be available. Alberto is not a draw in the US at this point, but I’m not seeing evidence Andrade is one either. Or these sorts of shows with big names and no promotion just simply don’t work.

The 07/11 Mucha Lucha Atlanta Laredo Kid/Andrade match is still on, but the iPPV has been canceled. I can understand if it didn’t sell well – it was hardly advertised anywhere, it was on a PPV platform no one uses, and it involved lucha libre – but it’s disappointing that a match with names like Laredo Kid and Andrade doesn’t have an interest. I’m not sure what we actually we’ve gotten out from them, but it’s a guy on AEW TV and a high profile guy from Mexico and there didn’t seem to be any interest out of the local people who go to Mucha Lucha Atlanta. That’s not great.

IWRG

Thursday’s lineup

IWRG (THU) 07/01/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Black Shadow II vs Kenji
2) Baby Star & Caballero de Plata vs Cyber & Kempo Jr.
3) Apolo Estrada Jr., Atomic Star, Chris Stone vs Guerrero Astral, Pandemónium, Pandemónium
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Epidemia, Legendario, Lunatik Xtreme, Mexica, Puma de Oro, Shalom, Tonalli vs Carrillo, Doverman, Hernan, Jorge El Salvaje, Pistolero, Purasanta Jr., Radical, Reptilium
5) Estrella Divina, Galeno del Mal, King Charro vs Baby Xtreme, Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura

The fourth match is a Copa High Power with WTMB match.

Those contracts IWRG is signing people to are starting to be enforced, at least in terms of exclusivity. Lucha Libre Boom complained on Facebook about Baby Extreme being pulled off their 07/03 Arena Lopez Mateos show because they’re not part of the PALL Alliance. They’re running Flamita versus Bandido instead, which seems like a better match.

Other News

Martinez Entertainment announced Ultimo Guerrero for their July 17th show, which seems to also have AAA regulars Laredo Kid and Chik Tormenta booked. Martinez seems to be n neutral ground where a lot of people who you wouldn’t expect to be booked together end up but CMLL and AAA wrestlers on the same show would be notable.

DTU rescheduled their beach party show to July 18th.

RIOT has started to announce participants for their La Rina tournament (08/20-21)

1. Erik Ortiz
2. El Mago

12 names will be announced.

Alberto announced Nacion Lucha Libre TV will return to ImagenTV on August 28th. The promotion lasted four months last time and didn’t pay some people who worked their final tapings. There’s no word when they’ll tape; I’d guess they’ll just air the ROBLES events.

Lucha Memes announced Davey Richards for their 09/16 show. Davey Richards last wrestled in Mexico in 2013. He disappeared from wrestling until recently, gone long enough that many who saw him when he was a top indie name are now nostalgic for his return. Richards has been gone for that long because he appears to be a flake who wore out his welcome previously, and it’s entirely possible he may decide to leave wrestling again before September 16th or otherwise bail on the show between now and then. This is a high degree of difficulty booking for Lucha Memes to actually get Richards to Mexico, but I think there are people who will specifically go to this show just to see him.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

AAA announced the full lineup to August’s TripleMania XXIX at a press conference today.

1. a Marvel Lucha Libre exhibition.
   • no names announced (but new names to debut)
2. Copa Bardahl (Copa TripleMania with a sponsor)
   • Drago, Mr. Iguana, and Mamba announced
3. Lucha Brothers (Penta & Fenix) vs Hijo del Vikingo & Laredo Kid vs Taurus & ? for the AAA Tag Team championship
   • Taurus’ partner was hinted as ex-CMLL, ex-tag team champ, has worked in ROH
4. Pagano, Chessman, Murder Clown vs Puma King, and two TBA
5. Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs Faby Apache (c) for both the AAA Reina de Reinas and the Impact Knockouts Championship
6. Andrade vs Kenny Omega for the AAA Mega Championship
7. Psycho Clown versus Rey Escorpion, mask versus hair

They’re hoping to have 25% capacity in Arena Ciudad de Mexico for this show, which would put attendance around 5,000. Right now, Mexico City allows 25% capacity indoors up to 1,500. It’s reasonable that they’ll be allowed at 25% by August 14 if the regulations trend as they have this past year.

Pagano & Chessman have not forgotten their feud; the tension there is if they’ll be able to get along to defend AAA. Puma King and two masked men attacked Team AAA. The masked men appeared just to be stand-ins for the angle and not the actual people who will be in the match. There must be some deal that hasn’t been agreed upon for Puma’s partners to be listed as TBA and not DMT Azul and Sam Adonis, though Adonis seemed to expect to be on the team on Twitter.

There are certain people who would fit those clues about Taurus’ partner, but I’m not sure how seriously we should take those clues. That match should be great with just about anyone.

Copa Bardahl will probably not be great and probably will be way too long. As always.

There’s a bunch of Marvel Lucha Libre characters who’ve been merchandised and not yet appeared in the ring. Putting new names in there might save some people from working twice. I presume Texano is part of this as Terror Purprua because he’d normally be in something else.

This show will air on Facebook, Space, Azteca, Multimedios, and in Cineapolis theatre. Non-Mexican fans still associate AAA with Twitch so they’re disappointed in not seeing it there. (I wonder if Twitch has geoblocking?) I’m more surprised at YouTube being left off that list. I”ll likely be streaming either Space or Facebook via Twitch that day.

There was no mention of Verano de Escandalo on Saturday – not just not a card, but no mention of the show at all. Everything was focused on TripleMania. It makes a bit of sense because that’s the one they can sell tickets for and Verano de Escandalo is a glorified TV special, but it’s also a TV special with no card. They’ll get to it later.

Other Notes

NOSAWA has started a Perros del Mal de Japon group in NOAH, including former (short-term) member EITA, NOSAWA he says is approved by Perro Aguayo Jr.’s family. That sounds like a Kahn-del-Mal call, and it’s believable he’d say yes. No one in Mexico has picked up on it.

Bandido’s run a few one-off shows at his Gym since opening it. He’s now reorganizing them as a promotion called BIG LUCHA. The first official show under the new brand is 07/17; they’ve got various videos teasing matches up on Facebook. Rush posted an invitation for himself and Faccion Ingbeornable. I would not want Rush on the debut show of my promotion after the last debut show of a promotion he was involved in went so poorly.

Box y Lucha 3478 has Volador & Templario on the cover.

CMLL (FRI) 06/25/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Marca, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, SuperLuchas, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Átomo & Microman b Chamuel & Perico Zakarías  
11:04.
2) Disturbio & Universo 2000 Jr. b Diamond & Robin  
8:11
3) Dark Silueta, Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer b La Jarochita, Mystique, Princesa Sugehit  
14:03. Rudas took 2/3, setting up a Vaquer/Sugehit title match
4) Cancerbero, Mephisto, Raziel b Atlantis Jr., Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr.  
17:52. Rudos took 2/3.
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Atlantis, Místico, Star Jr.  
18:21.
6) Templario & Volador Jr. b Carístico & Virus [TORNEO INCREÍBLE DE PAREJAS, final]  
20:21. Team Volador took 2/3 to win the tournament.

The main event was very much worked in the box that most CMLL big matches are worked in – big spots, stereo pins, kickout, rest, set up for the next big spots – but I thought it was as good as it’s going to be in that box. I had it as Great, something worth going out of your way to see, though not among the best matches in a normal year. Virus was the one who seemed to be going above and beyond; you know what you’re generally going to get with the other two and they did just about that. (Maybe the real difference is we’ve see those other guys, Templario included, in enough big matches to know what to expect from them and Virus hasn’t had those chances as often recently.)

Panterita del Ring Jr. is raw, was literally carried around at times (including on his complicated finish), didn’t totally get over with the crowd, but he moves well and CMLL desperately needs new and different people on top than they’ve had for the last half-decade. Maybe he’s not the right guy and Sonic or Audaz or someone else would be better there, but they’ve hard slotted those guys into lower positions, it’s tough rehab them, and I don’t trust CMLL that they can. (They have a bit with Star Jr., so it’s not impossible.) Panterita Jr. is new and not messed up yet, so if they’re willing to put him in the fourth match they should be willing to push him hard. He may not ready, CMLL just can’t afford to wait. They weren’t able to sell 1,000 tickets for a yearly tournament and didn’t seem to get many PPV buys, it’s time to try something.

The semimain was slightly better than usual, though nothing special. The women’s match was fine. Sugehit/Vaquer is probably happening because someone liked the lightning match they had two weeks ago, but Vaquer lost that match and it’s odd for her to be getting a title match now. CMLL expects everyone to forget what’s convenient for them to forget. Disturbio made a weak effort to catch a Robin dive in the segunda, which caused Robin to need medical help and that match to end early. The micros were helped out greatly by going back to one fall.

This show should air on Televisa next Saturday and on YouTube on July 10th.

CMLL announced the Leyenda de Plata tournament for July 30th at the close of this show, which appears part of the plan to have a big show each month (and a consequence of them having scarce ideas for big shows they can announce in advance beyond tournaments.) Tickets are on sale with what appears to be the same general 1,400ish configuration as this past Friday. I think CMLL’s hope is they’d be able to have more than 1,400 people by that date. There is no Ticketmaster Live PPV link up for that show, or any future shows as of Sunday night.

On CMLL’s MVS TV show Saturday, Dalys defeated Marcela to keep the CMLL Japan Women’s Championship (video) and Atlantis Jr. & Flyer retained the Mexican National Tag Team Championship over Felino and Felino Jr. (video).  These are both empty arena shows taped some time in the recent past. I still hope these are the last ones, but I still have no idea if that’s the case.

CMLL (SUN) 06/27/2021 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Sangre Imperial & Sonic b Cholo & Yago
2) Hijo del Signo & Nitro b Eléctrico & Oro Jr.
3) La Jarochita, La Magnifica, Marcela vs Dalys, La Metálica, Tiffany
Tecnicas took 1/3. La Metalica replaced La Infernal. La Jarochita replaced Sanely.
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Kráneo, Volcano b Dark Magic, Okumura, Sagrado
Tecnicos took 2/3. Sagrado replaced Vangellys.
5) Euforia, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible
Terrible got away with a foul on Euforia in fall 1, Euforia’s team took 2/3.
6) Titán © b Negro Casas [CMLL WELTER]
Titan took 2/3 to rain. Second defense, first this year.

The AMX show switched from Tuesday matches to Sunday matches, which would mean matches from this show will air on July 9th. The reality is it’s going to take weeks before we really have any idea what they’re doing with the AMX/MVS TV shows going forward.

CMLL’s posted the Tuesday lineup only so far.

CMLL (TUE) 06/29/2021 Arena México
1) Último Dragóncito vs Angelito
2) Oro Jr. & Retro vs Hijo del Signo & Nitro
3) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Marcela vs Dalys, La Comandante, Tiffany
Lluvia originally announced on Saturday and replaced on Sunday
4) Blue Panther, Cachorro, Hijo del Villano III vs Luciferno, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Místico vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
6) Bárbaro Cavernario © vs Felino [MEX LH]
3rd defense, first in 18 months.

In normal times, this sort of title match would be the last build-up before the apuesta match finally happens. In these times, I don’t think anyone’s quite sure when that match is happening – September is still the best guess, but it’s only a guess.

Friday’s post-match promo had Mephisto calling Panterita a traitor for joining the tecnicos. Tuesday, he’s just back to teaming with Luciferno.

There was a weird back and forth on the status of Arena Puebla this past weekend. Friday, El Sol de Puebla reported the hold up to reopening the traditional Monday stop for CMLL was the capacity; they quoted unnamed people with the facility who said they needed 600-700 to break even and were waiting for the current restrictions of only 500 people to be relaxed. That same day, DiarioCambio had an article alleging Arena Puebla management had not even tried to get the building cleared to open because an inspection would reveal serious damage from the 2017 earthquake and the building could be condemned. On one hand, I have been to enough lucha libre buildings to wonder how they passed an inspection, or if there’s any actually inspecting them. (If you go to a lucha libre show, just presume the bathroom isn’t in working condition or will be so horrific that you’re best not going in there.) On the other hand, the DiarioCambio people quoted merchants who work near the building (and are fearful of what the closure of Arena Puebla would mean to their business) and not anyone who was actually inside it. It’s also not clear what the end goal would be to avoiding an inspection; would the Arena Puebla management be betting the government would just forget about checking their building if they waited long enough? That’s hard to believe. CMLL and the Arena Puebla Facebook page that kicked this off didn’t go on the record about either of these articles, but they did pointedly post photos of a prepared for fans Arena Puebla in a message teasing a return. Arena Puebla’s anniversary is July 18, so they’d obviously like to have a show on Monday, July 19th if not sooner.

Arena Rey Bucanero advertised a Stuka Jr. versus Ultimo Guerrero heavyweight title match for Saturday. Fans were instead given a Blue Panther Jr. versus Hijo del Villano III main event. Stuka and Guerrero did not appear. No real explanation was given. Other CMLL wrestlers appeared, though not everyone who was shown on the poster. Ultimo Guerrero was scheduled to headline a DTU pool party show on Sunday, but it was rained out and rescheduled to July 4th.

AAA

AAA’s TripleMania press conference is 11 AM on Monday. They’re streaming it on Facebook & YouTube, which is not much help with those blocked outside the US. I’ll have a separate post with the details from that later.

Space announced they’d be airing Verano de Escandalo live, as they did with Rey de Reyes. The show begins Saturday at 8 pm and probably will go about three hours. I will be streaming like normal with Space shows.

This week’s AAA TV show was a wash – literally, the rain was too much to do anything interesting. They did air the latest Psycho Clown/Rey Escorpion bit, where Texano & Escorpion attacked Psycho & Goya Kong on a jog. Goya is appearing in too many of these not to end up back. Toxin joined the still-unnamed Arez, Latigo and Chik Tormenta indie alliance. (There was a continuity issue: those three helped Toxin after his match, Toxin showed up for the other three in their match, and the announcers talked about Toxin joining the group “last week.”) Those four also appeared in a vignette where they all thought each other had summoned to meet up, but none of them had sent the message. So they have a mystery Whatsapp-er.

LA Park posted a photo of his family meeting with “a great friend”, Dorian Roldan. LA Park likes to stir things up, though LA Park and his family returning to AAA when they can start selling tickets would make some sense. They’re short on top of the card names, which is a bit disguised by only airing three matches a week and being able to repeat people.

Other Notes

IWRG (SUN) 06/27/2021 Arena Naucalpan [Cronicas del Ring, Mas Lucha]
1) Baby Star & Black Shadow II b Águila Oriental Jr. & Noicy Boy 
2) Ra-Shata & Shil-Ka b Cyber & Hellboy 
3) Diosa Quetzal, Relámpago, Relampaguito b Diosa Athena, Fly Warrior, Mini Canis Lupus 
many accidents in this one.
4) Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro, Eragón DQ Gallego, Rocky Santana, Romano García 
Diabolicos gave Eragon a martinete (setting up Cerebro Negro replacing him next week.)
5) Aero Boy & Baby Xtreme b Hijo Del Vikingo & Octagón Jr. 
Baby Xtreme beat Octagon Jr. (sub for Myzteziz Jr.) though Octagon Jr. clearly got kicked out before 3.
6) Hijo del Alebrije b Abismo Negro Jr. 
Alebrije got Abismo with his own fireball and pinned him after a springboard moonsault.

I watched the whole show, a bit spurred on by the Vikingo appearance. It was good, though he and Aeroboy didn’t really mesh well. It was also a weird bit where they were setting up a match for next week, but only Baby Extreme was going to be back for it. The Diabolicos match gave you what you’d expect from that match up, with Eragon being taken out. Alebrije got a win in his first feud back from COVID. The opener had some cool spots and some that didn’t work as well.

IWRG’s annual Festival de Mascaras show, where wrestlers are allowed to wear their old masks, takes place Sunday. It’s a Mas Lucha subscriber-only show; they have the lineup early.

IWRG (SUN) 07/04/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Gravity & Puma de Oro vs Dick Angelo 3G & Sobredosis
2) Bengalee & Diosa Quetzal vs Mary Caporal & Satania
3) Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro vs Gallego, Rocky Santana, Romano García
4) Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro vs El Hijo del Diablo, Hijo De Dos Caras, Internacional Pantera
5) El Bandido & Hijo del Alebrije vs Baby Xtreme & Toxin and Aramis & Myzteziz Jr.
6) Canek, Canek Jr., El Fantasma vs Fishman Jr., Fuerza Guerrera, Máscara Año 2000

Canek will be honored. His match will not be good. Semimian might be good and third seems likely to be bloody. International Pantera wears the mask he lost all the time so he must be confused why this is a special show. I may make that joke every year. This is the same afternoon as Lucha Memes’ tribute to Black Terry, who will likely have to leave that show early to make it to this one.

Thursday IWRG show will have a Copa High Power with Welcome to Mi Barrio.

Fresero Jr. seems done in IWRG for the time being. There’s no straightforward explanation of what happened that I’ve seen, just a few related incidents. IWRG attempted to trademark “Fresero Jr.” or Fresero just thought they did. It didn’t work, because Fresero Jr. had trademarked his own name many years ago, which he made sure to publicize. Fresero Jr. also announced he was giving up the IWRG Heavyweight Championship because IWRG couldn’t decide on a date for the next defense and didn’t pay him what he was owed. I’m not even sure I have the order right on these, but the situation has fallen apart enough for these issues to become public. Fresero Jr. hasn’t appeared in IWRG since June 6th, which he gives as the originally planned defense. Los Traumas, Fresero & Demonio Infenral spent part of a post-match interview complaining about Mas Lucha not giving the correct information; Mas Lucha posted then deleted video of the Traumas return on that IWRG June 6th show. That group also talked about wanting to keep their independence. Maybe this has something to with the contracts IWRG is signing people up to lately.

IWRG says they’re restarting training sessions in July for aspiring wrestlers who want to join. These appear to be the kids/young adult classes.

Andrade is making another appearance on Lucha Libre Online on Monday.

LA Park wrestled at Arena Lopez Mateos on Saturday for the since getting COVID, and said his battle with the illness was so bad that he feared he could die. The worst of it was only four days but it sounds like it was a bad four days. LA Park explained there were two terrible things right now, COVID and promoters in the world for trying to cut their offers during a pandemic due to reduced capacity. The sold promoter exception was Dr. Cantu in Nuevo Laredo (who also checked in on LA Park’s health.) It appears that Cantu’s are not promoting wrestling in Nuevo Laredo at the moment – AAA seems to be working with other in that town – which also gives LA Park one less reason to be upset about them.

Robles Promotion, the group Alberto is working with, had a show Sunday in Guatemala. Psycho Clown headlined with local legend Voltron. Sexy Dulce was scheduled on the show, but instead needed emergency surgery due to a case of appendicitis during the flight there. That can be a very serious situation, but it sounds like she’s going to be fine. She’s also probably going to be stuck in Guatemala for a few days longer and likely will be out of wrestling recovering for a while.

A luchador named Estrella del Ring, named after the YouTube channel/media outlet, debuted on Saturday. This seems goofy to me but I’m not sure I’m in a position to call what anyone else does goofy.

Pro Wrestling Revolucion is teasing a return on 09/25 in San Jose with LA Park.

Record talked to Pimpinela Escarlata as part of pride month, mentioning suffering sexual abuse as a child and the time Pimpi’s mother beat up the mother of kids who were bullying Pimpinela.

San Luis Potosi luchador Asesino Negro was honored by the local government. He worked a lot in Monterrey when we don’t have a lot from Monterrey; he had (and lost) big matches to Anibal and Solitario.

Saltillo luchador Baby Rap fractured his arm on flying move Thursday. There was no medical personal on hand, so they called an ambulance. A fan came to the ring, saying they were a medic, and put Rap’s arm in a sling to fix it. The ambulance came, realized the sling was actually making the injury worse, tried to fix it, and got yelled at by the onlookers for undoing the “medic’s” work. They ended up taking him to the hospital and fixed it there.

Baja California Sur luchador Hijo del Super Porky (Juan Manuel Briceño Quijada, 60) passed away early Saturday due to a heart attack. He is not related to the Alvarados, but appears to be a local wrestler who took the name in tribute to Brazo de Plata (and it’s unclear if they approved.) He was also known as “El Cali” around La Paz, and seems to be a locally famous person.

Sopitas has a profile of Jessy Ventura.

CMLL (FRI) 06/25/2021 Arena México
1) Átomo & Microman vs Chamuel & Perico Zakarías
2) Diamond & Robin vs Disturbio & Universo 2000 Jr.
3) La Jarochita, Mystique, Princesa Sugehit vs Dark Silueta, Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Atlantis Jr., Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Mephisto, Raziel
5) Atlantis, Místico, Star Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
6) Templario & Volador Jr. vs Carístico & Virus [TORNEO INCREÍBLE DE PAREJAS, final]

It’s a one match show of any note, though the one match could make it worth it. Virus has done well in this gap period, winning the national trios titles and otherwise moved up the card. This is his biggest match since the Metalico retirement match, and that one worked out pretty well. This is a big match for Templario too. Volador hasn’t shown a lot, but does better when he’s motivated by a big match. Caristico is pretty much going to do the same thing in every match but that may be enough here. This should be good, but the black cloud over this promotion makes me feel uncertain about it actually delivering.

In media interviews, Virus talked about being friends with Caristico’s father and seeing his young son wrestle as Astroboy at a show, then being surprised how he took off.  Virus has been around for a long time.

It’s unclear if Panterita del Ring Jr. is a Fugaz guy – a guy who can do about three cool things and probably no more – or a more well-rounded prospect. He’s only been really asked to do about three things a match so far and has done them great, but maybe this match tonight will give everyone a deeper look at him.

This show streams on Ticketmaster for about 12 USD.

Reforma reports CMLL will be able to have 1,400 fans starting tonight. That’s up from 500, though not 25%; the article says CMLL expects they’ll be able get at least there in a few weeks. The article has that 25% as 3,500, which would put the full capacity at 14,000. That’s significantly lower than the “16,500ish” number that’s been used as a guideline for the last decade or so and would require a lot of rework of attendance guesses if accurate. It’s not clear that 3,500 number comes from CMLL; Reforma could be guessing along with the rest of us. Tonight’s ticket map seems to so more than 500 tickets sold tonight, though far from a sellout.

(TripleMania obsessive attendance watch: if CMLL is right in a real 25% being approved in a few weeks, and then we’ll guess 50% a few weeks after that, that’s a half house also in time for TriipleMania. That may be enough for them to run. Not much wiggle room on those “few” weeks though. TripleMania is seven weeks and one day away.)

Beer sales will also resume tonight,

Sunday’s non-streaming lineup

CMLL (SUN) 06/27/2021 Arena México
1) Sangre Imperial & Sonic vs Cholo & Yago
2) Eléctrico & Oro Jr. vs Hijo del Signo & Nitro
3) La Magnifica, Marcela, Sanely vs Dalys, La Infernal, Tiffany
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Kráneo, Volcano vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Vangellys
5) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible vs Euforia, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
6) Titán © vs Negro Casas [CMLL WELTER]
second defense, first this year

Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja are back. Roja seems like he was gone for oly three or four months, which suggests it wasn’t a residency issue.

I do not know when or if this will air. MVS is airing more empty arena matches, according to Informa. CMLL didn’t advertise a Heraldo TV lineup, so no idea if they’re getting Sunday matches either. It’s possible these matches from these shows could air on NJPW World, though those aren’t usually advertised ahead of time. I’m not sure there’s anything I really want to see outside that title match though.

that MVS match lineup

• Flyer/Atlantis Jr. vs Felino/Felino Jr. for the Mexican National Tag Team Championship
• Dalys versus Marcela for the CMLL Japan Women’s Championship

Maybe the optimistic way of looking at this is CMLL airing all leftover “important” matches from the empty arena era before closing it down this week; these TV shows rarely get any title matches, so two of them means something is up. I don’t understand why they’re still airing these otherwise. It would be comedic if Felino Jr. has been challenging for the tag titles in every match for weeks but already had secretly won the belts in a match yet to air. I don’t think we’re that lucky to get that gag.

An ideal CMLL solution would be a subscription service for all these non-Friday shows. They could still do the main one on Ticketmasters and free later, but the crazy diehards probably would willingly pay for eight more shows a month at a reasonable price without having to track down the TV episodes. It may hurt the TV viewership but that’s never seen to be a prime CMLL concern. It doesn’t seem like a subscription service would be hard for CMLL to get going – it’s probably a half hour effort on YouTube. All CMLL would have to do is stream the same shows they were doing before but just check the puts it behind a paywall. I’m not loving the current CMLL product and I’d still pay $8 a month to see these (and not to have to jump through weird hoops to watch them.) I don’t think this is going to happen, but it seems like free money they’re not taking. It also seems like time I would save if I didn’t have to find weird ways to watch wrestling shows so I’m definitely biased here.

Back on June 14, Arena Puebla teased an imminent return. No word beyond that. Arena Puebla can’t open without local government approval, and there’s been no word when that might happen. El Sol de Puebla followed up on that tease and believes the issue is the capacity limit; they’re told the building needs to draw 600 to 700 fans to make money, and they’re capped at under 500. The next COVID health update is next Friday.

Rey Bucanero, in an interview with MetroWorldNews, claims CMLL’s had discussions about reuniting him with Ultimo Guerrero and he’s had talks about bringing in Toscano for his shows to reunite the popular early 2000s Guerreros del Infierno trio.

Heraldo de Mexico profiles Robin as a wrestler and a painter.

Cinta de Oro teased a match with Mistico II. The match people probably want to see if Cinta de Oro versus Caristico (Mistico I) but this will still get some attention.

IWRG (THU) 06/24/2021 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Caballero de Plata & Epidemia b Kenji & Tirano 
2) Miss Delicious & Satania b Princesa Azul & Therius 
3) Legendario, Puma de Oro, Shocko b Guerrero Astral, Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. 
4) Baby Extreme, Mexica, Rey León b Dick Angelo 3G, Tonally, VIP 
5) Karaoui b Veneno, Dr. Cerebro, Cerebro Negro, Black Terry, Avisman, Eragón, Solar I 
Karaoui submitted Solar to win. Cerbero Negro returned to IWRG as the surprise wrestler.

Heddi Karaoui would not have been guessed to win but makes some sense, as the older wrestlers even more so seem to appreciate his real credentials. Cerebro Negro returning as something is being teased with the older guys might be important. The women’s match was notably bad, with the participants looking untrained at various parts. The bit with the Friday night show are the lights are turned low to feel like a nightlife place. It also hides how empty the building appears to be.

IWRG (SUN) 06/27/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Oriental Jr. & Noicy Boy vs Baby Star & Black Shadow II
2) Cyber & Hellboy vs Ra-Shata & Shil-Ka
3) Diosa Quetzal, Relámpago, Relampaguito vs Diosa Athena, Fly Warrior, Mini Canis Lupus
4) Gallego, Rocky Santana, Romano García vs Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro, Eragón
5) Hijo Del Vikingo & Myzteziz Jr. vs Aero Boy & Baby Xtreme
6) Abismo Negro Jr. vs Hijo del Alebrije

This is an interesting IWRG Sunday card. The main event description promises blood. Vikingo makes a rare free live appearance on YouTube these days. Fourth is Diabolicos versus Terry and friends. MexaBoys appear in the opener.

IWRG says their Festival de la Mascaras show will be on July 4th. That’s the annual “everyone gets to wear their masks” again show. Canek will be honored.

No AAA TV preview yet. AAA’s next TripleMania press conference is Monday.

Promoter Jose Contreras says he’s been named general secretary of the national luchador’s union, as noted by Furia de Titanes. The only wrestlers mentioned as participating are near-retired wrestlers like Dos Caras, Rambo, and Mil Mascaras, though they say they’re going to have branches in 32 locations. The one media person there asked about the CMLL union and Contreras said they were separate from that group. This has all the makings of a bit that will come up once every four months but not do anything visible, like Octagon’s own attempt at a union.

Konnan appears to be making his first appearance in-ring for AEW tomorrow night, in a talking segment with Tully Blanchard. He’s appeared in a few cameo segments as surprises. Konnan and Chris Jericho have previously talked about Konnan pitching to manage Santana & Ortiz when AEW started, only for Jericho to explain he wanted those two guys in his stable instead. It appears Konnan is coming in for a similar role, at least for one night. It may not end well for him, but it also may be the way in to a promotion he’s clearly interested in working more with.

Planeta Wrestling interviewed Alberto el Patron, who made some claims about his recent wrestling career. He says the 07/31 Payne Arena show came about because he had sold out five shows previously and he thought it was time to produce shows himself. Alberto had worked with the Payne Arena before on MMA shows, so he asked the Latino fans what match they’d like to see and they said himself versus Andrade. Later, he found out WWE had not offered a fair contract to Carlito so Alberto invited him as well. He says he’s since been contacted by promoters in Dallas, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Los Angeles to produce shows, and talks about deals in Monterrey, southern Mexico, Central America, and South America. He says he’ll be running shows once a month, and then a few moments later says he’ll be running once a month in Las Vegas. Alberto elsewhere in the interview says he’s signed a TV deal for a new season of Nacion Lucha Libre.

I don’t believe much of the things he said in that interview, but that Monterrey show does exist and Robles Promotions has announcers (non-Alberto) Mexico and Guatemala shows. I don’t remember the five sold-out shows happening; he did work for the same California promoter that had Andrade & Santo a few weeks back so maybe that’s one. Alberto also makes a point in the interview to say he watches AEW now and not WWE, which is probably a sign of where he’d like to go next. I don’t see that happening.

ROH this week has the Survival of the Fittest final on TV this week. I presumed this was a PPV match, but ROH has stated instead the winner will face Rush on the next PPV. Bandido & Chris Dickinson seem the two most likely Rush opponents if that’s right. Demonic Flamita, Eli Isom, Brian Johnson, and Rhett Titus would be more surprising title opponents.

Mexicali’s La Baronessa says she wasn’t into wrestling until her brother dragged her away from homework to the show at the age of 12. She started training soon after- until her grades got so bad at 15 that her wrestling teacher told her she had quit wrestling training and focus on school. She got her grades up, returned at 17, and earned a wrestling license at 18.

Morelos luchador Murcielago Negro says he’s retiring after 42 years of wrestling.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

CMLL (TUE) 06/22/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Fantasy & Shockercito b Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
Shockercito’s first match in CMLL since the pandemic
2) El Coyote & Grako b Arkalis & Retro
3) Magia Blanca, Pegasso, Stigma b Akuma, Nitro, Sagrado
Nitro replaced Akuma
4) El Audaz, Flyer, Stuka Jr. b Luciferno, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
Tecnicos took 2/3
5) Hechicero b Valiente
Hechicero took 1/3
6) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Felino b Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Felino took 2/3. Felino challenged Cavernario to a MEX LH title match next week and Cavernario accepted.

Matches from this show should air July 2nd. It appears to be the first Tuesday show to still have tickets available on Ticketmaster at showtime. (I’m not sure if Sunday “sold out” or not.) Felino/Cavernario is the big match they’ve been waiting to do for 15 months and it’ll be worth watching if they can put in 500 people for a preview of it. Tuesday is not Friday, a weekly show is not Aniversario, but 500 is not a big number to clear if this is truly a big match. 500 people really should be doable for any CMLL show at Arena Mexico, though maybe people are still rightfully hesitant to go out at this stage of the pandemic.

CMLL (TUE) 06/22/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring, R de Rudo]
Arena Coliseo Guadalajara 62nd Anniversary show
1) Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Minotauro b Destello, Destructor, Thunder Boy
2) Bestia Negra, Demonio Maya, Zandokan Jr. b El Divino, Mr. Samuray, Reycko
3) Lluvia, Sexy Sol, Silueta, Stephanie Vaquer b La Magnifica, Reyna Isis, Sexy Sol, Valkiria [OCCIDENTE WOMEN]
vacant title (last held by Lola Gonzalez 40 years ago). Reina Isis and Lluvia replaced Mystique & Soberbia. A four way tag match with individual elimination rules, effectively making it a cibernetico with the final four advancing to next week. Eliminations: Nautica, La Magnifica, Valkiria, Reina Isis, leaving Vaquero, Silueta, Sexy Sol and Lluvia to advance to next week.
4) Crixus, Flash, Gallo, Vaquero Jr. DRAW Black Warrior Jr., Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
no word on the draw.
5) Explosivo, Fantástico, Star Black b Difunto, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
6) Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Mephisto, Satánico b Argos, Atlantis Jr., Carístico, Joker
Black Warrior scheduled but pulled off the show due to medical issues.

There’s usually a big apuesta match on Anniversary shows, that’s not happening with limited attendance, so I guess the idea was to give it a lot of names to make it up for it. Not sure it does, but maybe a reminder not to expect a big CMLL match in September either if there are still limited crowds. R de Rudo has the fourth match as ending with no finish, Fuego en el Ring says draw. The four-way tag match from last week was similar to the women’s elimination match here; it makes sense when you see it, though it’s unclear why it needs to be a four-way tag.

Satanico, who got the win in the main event, celebrated his 48th anniversary of starting in lucha libre this past week. He is 10 years older than the building.

The full lineup for Friday is up.

CMLL (FRI) 06/25/2021 Arena México
1) Átomo & Microman vs Chamuel & Perico Zakarías
2) Diamond & Robin vs Disturbio & Universo 2000 Jr.
3) La Jarochita, Mystique, Princesa Sugehit vs Dark Silueta, Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Atlantis Jr., Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Mephisto, Raziel
5) Atlantis, Místico, Star Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
6) Templario & Volador Jr. vs Carístico & Virus [TORNEO INCREÍBLE DE PAREJAS, final]

Nothing special outside the main event. There are newer names – Star Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr. – higher than usual. That may be more consequences than intent; there are fewer uppercard tecnicos available with Niebla Roja & Angel de Oro rudos (and also not around.) Cancerbero & Raziel also seem to get higher places than usual, though the women’s match being third may just be throwing things off a bit.

Silueta makes her Mexico City ruda debut and is the second person to get “Dark” as a new first name in about a month and a half.  Mystique missed Tuesday’s Guadalajara show and seemed to fall badly a couple of times on Sunday; it wouldn’t be a surprise if she picked up an injury and gets replaced here. Universo, of the perennially taped shoulder, had been missing this year until the last few weeks.

There’s no card for Sunday yet but Negro Casas & Titan promos seem to confirm their title match is happening. CMLL is much slower about posting lineups since this restart.

Ultimo Guerrero defends the CMLL Heavyweight Championship on Saturday against Stuka Jr. in Arena Rey Bucanero.

PUBG Mobile sent out a press release to announce their deal with CMLL. The videos we’ve seen so far – the one to announce the in-game car and the one where they were shrunk even smaller – are the first two in a series of videos. Gala Lutteroth, as the Director of Cultural Relations, is quoted from the CMLL side, talking about the promotion of having a goal of reaching new viewers and generations. The YouTube videos with the CMLL wrestlers have done far better than anything else on the PUBG LATAM channel, though I presume most of the gameplay watching actually happens over on Twitch.

AAA will hold another TripleMania press conference on Monday. The previous press conference did not stream, not sure if this will be different. There probably will be a few more matches announced for the August show, as well as some information about how people will be able to see it. There’s been no talk about Verano de Escandalo next Saturday, and perhaps that’ll be held off until the press conference.

There was no update on the AAA/FMV lawsuit at last check. Lucha Libre FMV has a week more to serve AAA with the lawsuit or file a reason why they have not done so. I think I might know where AAA officials could be found next Monday if they’re trying to serve them. I still expect one or the other will happen in the next week, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if it took until the last day; there’s no extra credit for filling early. The most optimistic outcome here is there have been no filings in the lawsuit because both sides are working on an imminent settlement. If it’s just the time expiring, that might leave AAA open for the suit to be filled again.

IWRG (THU) 06/24/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Caballero de Plata & Epidemia vs Kenji & Tirano
2) Princesa Azul & Therius vs Miss Delicious & Satania
3) Legendario, Puma de Oro, Shocko vs Guerrero Astral, Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
4) Baby Extreme, Mexica, Rey León vs Dick Angelo 3G, Tonally, VIP
5) Veneno, Karaoui, Dr. Cerebro, ?, Black Terry, Avisman, Eragón, Solar I

The main event is “All Supremacy Master.” That mystery spot seems like one that used to go to Negro Navarro, who hasn’t wrestled for IWRG since 2018. There are many others they could choose from instead, it just still feels like he should be there. Lots of random folks who aren’t regulars in the undercard.

IWRG announced Lucha Time’s Cristian Martinez is officially PALL Associate Promoter. I still have no idea what the PALL stuff means at this stuff. Similarly, IWRG announced they’ve signed Jessy Ventura and Tonalli to contracts with no additional details. Tonalli was the runner-up in the Try Out competition earlier this year and had gotten booked regularly since.

I’m not familiar with Atlanta (?) area wrestler Tyson Maddux, but he says he’s working in IWRG on 07/29 and 08/01 with Lucha Time and MexaWrestling shows in between. The talent sharing part of the PALL alliance is the part I do understand

Lucha Memes July 4th show has Black Terry & Cerebro Negro versus Corsario Negro & Drako as a tribute to Black Terry. He’s going to celebrate by hitting people hard. There’s a rare Okumura match on an indie show without another CMLL wrestler being booked; maybe that pays off later.

El Hijo del Santo headlines a show in Charlotte on July 18th. He’s continuing to wrestle far more often this year.

RIOT officially announced its La Rina tournament for August 20 & 21st.

Someone with Robles Promotions figured out SummerSlam is August 21st and moved their Las Vegas show to Friday, August 20th. They may do pretty well with that show if people can find their way to the venue. I would’ve guessed more indie promotions trying to run around SummerSlam weekend, but perhaps being in Las Vegas on a big boxing weekend makes lodging and venues way too expensive to make it worth it.

DigitalMex talks to La Hiedra, who says she was born in a ring and hopes to die there as well. Slightly dramatic but the enthusiasm is nice.

Puebla luchador Torbellino Rojo (Silvestre Cruz Rivera, 88) passed away on Monday. He’s a 60s/70s Arena Puebla luchador; not a lot of info but he wrestled with the stars of that era when they came through.

Mas Lucha has the latest edition of En+carados.

CMLL (FRI) 06/18/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Marca, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, SuperLuchas, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) El Coyote & Grako b Arkalis & Sonic   
9:02
2) Dalys b Lluvia [lightning]   
7:08.
3) Felino Jr., Pólvora, Rey Bucanero b Guerrero Maya Jr., Magia Blanca, Star Jr.   
12:56. Rudos took 2/3.
4) Blue Panther Jr. & Euforia b Carístico, Felino, Ángel de Oro, Rey Cometa, Atlantis Jr., Panterita Del Ring [battle royal]
5) Carístico & Virus b Atlantis Jr. & Hijo del Villano III [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f] 
7:00. Villano & Atlantis fought post match.
6) Ángel de Oro & Mephisto b Bárbaro Cavernario & Felino [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f] 
4:59. Cavernario & Felino attacked each other, leading to Felino getting pinned and Cavernario giving up on the match.
7) Gemelo Diablo II & Panterita del Ring b Raziel & Rey Cometa [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f]
3:51.
8) Blue Panther Jr. & Sansón DQ Euforia & Último Guerrero [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f] 
5:19. Euforia unmasked Blue Panther for no real reason to draw the DQ.
9) Carístico & Virus b Ángel de Oro & Mephisto [Torneo Increible de Parejas, quarterfinal] 
5:09
10) Blue Panther Jr. & Sansón b Gemelo Diablo II & Panterita del Ring [Torneo Increible de Parejas, quarterfinal] 
5:03
11) Carístico & Virus b Blue Panther Jr. & Sansón [Torneo Increible de Parejas, semifinal]   
9:14

The tournament matches got a bit more time this week than last week, but none of them stood out strongly. Euforia & Guerrero going out quick mean worse matches. Rey Cometa & Raziel probably should’ve won a few matches to get a good block final, but Blue Panther Jr. & Sanson are big and much more important, so on they went. Panther appeared exhausted in his third match, tripping and falling down running at one point. Caristico using up his one La Mistica in the semifinal frighteningly teased Panther & Sanson were going over in the final and it was a relief when that didn’t happen.

Volador & Templario versus Virus & Caristico should be good, though it’s hard to feel safe about anything being good in CMLL.

Dalys/Lluvia was a standard Dalys exhibition. The men were trying in the first and third, it just didn’t come together in an exciting fashion.

An oddity about this card is only the tercera was a three-falls match on the show. Tournaments block matches and lightning matches are always one fall, and the openers (except for Saturday) are now one fall match. It’s the closest CMLL’s come to having no three fall matches on a show that I can recall. There hasn’t been any big explanation of why CMLL switched those openers to one fall that I’ve seen.x

CMLL (SAT) 06/19/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiaores]
1) Sagrado & Universo 2000 Jr. b Pegasso & Stigma 
Openers were back to being three falls for no discernible reason.
2) Marcela & Mystique b Amapola & La Infernal 
3) El Audaz & Flyer b Felino Jr. & Luciferno 
Felino Jr. continues to challenge Flyer & Atlantis for a tag title show with whatever person happens to be standing closest to him at the moment.
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Hechicero DQ Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus 
Virus unmasked Hechicero
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © b Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. [CMLL TRIOS] 
1st defense

I’m critical of CMLL trios matches for doing the same sequences over and over again – specifically, I’m critical of the dive sequence that always ends with Mistico’s ramp dive because it’s telegraphed a minute ahead of time. I can’t criticize that here, because they didn’t even do that much. This seemed like it would be a professional if a bit lifeless match, but it was less effort than that, significantly less than you’d expect for a big CMLL match. It’s tough to keep expectations low and still be disappointed, but it happened.

I didn’t see much of the rest of the show; the exchanges between Virus & Hechicero sounded like the best bit. Flyer & Mystique had rough nights.

YouTube live viewers of this show way outpaced Twitch viewers as expected; it was something like 3000 on YouTube to 150 to Twitch when I caught the numbers in the main event. It was the same broadcast on both, though those who checked both said Twitch had a slightly better picture quality and was a few seconds ahead of YouTube.

CMLL (SUN) 06/20/2021 Arena México [CMLL, The Gladiatores]
1) Cholo b Leono [lightning]
6:30.
2) Angelito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
back to being one fall
3) Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Diamond & Drone
Rudos took 1/3.
4) La Jarochita & Princesa Sugehit b Metálica & Reyna Isis
Tecnicas took 1/3.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Ephesto, Luciferno b El Audaz, Flyer, Stuka Jr.
Rudos took 1/3. Ephesto replaced Templario in what was said to be his final appearance as Ephesto.
6) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Negro Casas b Místico, Titán, Volador Jr.
Negro Casas asked Titan for a title match

No one’s going to believe Casas has a chance to win a single title at this point but he’s matched up well with Titan in the past. (And I guess it is CMLL, they could have Casas win anyway.)

Weird to put Ephesto over when he’s dumping the gimmick, but he did get to do his trademark surprise cradle one more time under that identity.

Tuesday’s lineup

CMLL (TUE) 06/22/2021 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Shockercito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Arkalis & Retro vs El Coyote & Grako
3) Magia Blanca, Pegasso, Stigma vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Sagrado
4) El Audaz, Flyer, Stuka Jr. vs Luciferno, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
5) Valiente vs Hechicero
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Felino [Relevos Increíbles]

Valiente/Hechicero follows up on the mask pull from last week. The main event is more Felino/Cavernario.

The opener is the first match for Shockercito since the start of the pandemic. He did not appear in any empty arena shows, though he has turned on spot shows of late.

About half the Tuesday show aired on AMX this week, though on about a week and a half delay. This show would air on July 2nd. MVS got yet another empty arena show. Maybe it takes 10 days to produce everything and they’ll start on Sunday this upcoming week, though it’s hard to figure out why it would take that long. They’re not doing much editing or post-production on these.

No Friday card yet beyond the tournament final, though the PPV pass is already up. That show is back up to 230 in Mexican Pesos, about $11.20 USD.

The COVID status of Mexico City is confusing. Mexico City announced on Friday afternoon that they’d stay in Green health condition for the next two weeks. The country of Mexico announced the full country map later Friday night and said Mexico City’s health stats suggested they needed to return to Yellow health condition, starting today (Monday.) It seems like it’s the states/cities who are in charge of making and enforcing the specific rules under each health code; Mexico City could just decide not to roll back anything if feel they should still be in Green. This policy matters in the short term for CMLL. They’re expecting to be able to increase Arena Mexico attendance to at least 1,500 people starting Friday, and have already put tickets on sale with that configuration for that show. CMLL may still be allowed to do it, it’s totally unclear to me. (The following Tuesday & Sunday shows seem to be in the 500 ticket setup; those may have gone up after the Yellow announcement.)

In the longer term, the Green/Yellow bit matters more to AAA. They need capacity limits to continue to be less limited between now and TripleMania on August 14th. Those have been slow to increase so far. Going backwards is a big problem. AAA hasn’t indicated exactly what they need to be allowed for that show to happen – it’s unclear if they’ll run no matter what, or if they’ll look at pushing it back if they can’t hit a certain number – but it still looms as a major issue that everyone has to wait and see about.

(TripleMania won’t be the only major international show on Augsut 14th; NJPW announced they’ll be running a show in Los Angeles on that date with Jon Moxley and Jay White among others. That show will air in Japanese on NJPW World and in English on FITE. There remains no legal way to watch TripleMania or any AAA content outside of Mexico.)

Shocker appeared in CMLL early on during the empty arena shows but hasn’t been seen this year. He wrestled a few indie shows and he posted a video on Instagram about opening up a bank account for fans to donate to fund his needed jaw operation.

CMLL referees Terror Chino and Bestia Negra have quietly returned to matches since fans have been allowed back in to Arena Mexico, joining referees Edgar Noriega, Tigre Infante, and Olimpico. I have not seen the oldest CMLL referee pre-pandemic, Pompin. Not sure if CMLL’s decided it’s not safe to bring Pompin back yet or if he’s done. He’s around 80 years old so either answer would make sense, though I’d hope a referee for 60+ years would get some send-off one that becomes possible again. Olimpico was added as an emergency replacement for those three older referees and he’s still there.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara announced Argos among those on Tuesday’s show. That’s in addition to the Black Warrior tease. CMLL announced the lineup already without either man on it, so maybe they’re being added to the main event to make it Caristico, Atlantis Jr. and Argos against Mephisto, Joker and Black Warrior. Caristico has publicly stumped many times for his brother Argos to be brought back to CMLL. He was allowed to wrestle in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara once before in 2019 and it didn’t develop in anything more than that.

Other Notes

IWRG (SUN) 06/20/2021 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Lunatik Fly b Halcón Mágico 
2) Black Dragón & Death Metal b Black Maravilla & Ringo Acosta 
3) Dick Angelo 3G, El Bendito, Tonalli b Gravity, Legendario, Puma de Oro 
Bendito remains undefeated since switching gimmicks.
4) Rocky Santana & Romano García b Black Terry & Eragón 
5) Dr. Cerebro, Freelance, Puma de Oro b Dinamic Black, Fly Warrior, Súpernova 
Puma de Oro replaced Aster Boy
6) Abismo Negro Jr., Mamba, Máximo b Aeroboy, Hijo del Alebrije, Jessy Ventura 
win via foul

They seem to be setting up an Abismo Negro/Alebrije mask out of the main event.

AAA , KAOZ (SUN) 06/20/2021 Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon [@thekoko666, Lo Mejor de Lucha]
1) Komander b Charro Negro ©, Villano III Jr., Toxin, Dinámico (Indie) [KAOZ JC]
Vasco Jr. attacked Komander after the match, while Charro Negro asked for a rematch
2) Kaientai & Lord Byron b Cíclope & Miedo Extremo and Galactar & Rico Rodríguez
3) Black Widow & Sexy Star b Lady Flammer & Reina Dorada [KAOZ WOMEN TAG]
4) Faby Apache, Larry Miranda, Toscano b Dulce Kanela, Lady Shani, Mr. Iguana
5) Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. b El Divo, Emperador Azteca, Hijo Del Impostor
El Divo replaced El Dragon
6) Rey Escorpión b Fresero Jr., Konnan Big, Demonio Infernal (IWRG), DMT Azul [KAOZ HEAVY]
Escorpion pinned Demonio Infernal

The bit that’s getting talked about from this show was Vikingo running down the ramp and hitting a Brillo 630 senton. Few people can do a 630 standing still on the top rope, to do it running and springboarding is amazing. Mas Lucha did a live pre-show from the venue so they’ll likely be airing this show at some point.

Photos show a lot of people about this show. Few tickets were sold in the front rows and the VIP areas just a couple of days ago, and those are all full. They seem to have jumped from 500 to 1000, with most of that coming in the expensive areas. I’m not sure if they just let people in GA move up, sold a bunch in the last few days or if the ticket map was just wrong, but it seems to have worked out for them pretty well.

Faby Apache showed up on the Arena Neza show Saturday as a surprise run-in, joining the Dark Cuervo/Sangre Azteca led “Freak Family” indy unit. Cuervo & Apache were a couple last we knew, so this is probably just doing a bit with him and doesn’t affect her AAA work. It is notable because that was an AAA person appearing on a show headlined by Caristico & Hijo de Lizmark versus Volador & Averno.

Chilanga Mask normally annual show took place Saturday in Arena San Juan. I heard disappointing things on Titan/Matt Cross. The show didn’t draw great, but the promoter indicated they’ll be back on in Arena San Juan on July 31st. It reads like the concept is to make up for 2020’s missing Anniversary show.

It’s only been a few days, but no sign of that press conference Rush talked about to explain the Federacion Wrestling situation. Federacion has removed their website; it redirects to their Facebook page now. Not sure why they’d remove the website if they were truly planning on running soon.

BARBA Promotions in Satillo will have Black Taurus vs Laredo Kid vs Dragon Lee on 09/25. Their most recent show (04/24) aired this weekend on Mas Lucha. That one has a Hijo del VIkingo vs Epydemius versus Laredo Kid.

Hidalgo’s Gasparin Jr. is out “six or seven months” after breaking his arm. That’s a pretty bad break.

Periodico Central interviews Pegasso & local wrestler Silver Sun about being wrestlers and policemen.

Box y Lucha announced Coliman (Adrian Reyes, 60) passed away on Thursday. I don’t have much info on him; he appears to be a Tijuana/southern California luchador who made AAA TV once in 2001 when they were in the area.

Box y Lucha 3477 gives the biggest spot to DMT Azul vs Blue Demon.

The most recent Lucha Madre show (listed as May 4th) is now up on IWTV.

Monterrey’s RIOT announced they’ll return to running live shows on August 20 & 21st, with their two-night La Rina tournament.

Segunda Caida watches some pandemic lucha libre.