CMLL weekend results
Friday’s show streamed on Ticketmaster, and I was back to watching those.
CMLL , Ticketmaster (FRI) 06/11/2021 Arena México [Box y Lucha, CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Ksports, Marca, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Dark Magic & Okumura b Pegasso & Stigma 
8:32.
2) Princesa Sugehit b Stephanie Vaquer [lightning] 
7:03. Sugehit submitted Vaquer
3) Felino Jr. & Pólvora b Atlantis Jr. & Flyer
17:56
4) Gran Guerrero & Negro Casas b Dark Panther, Hechicero, Cancerbero, Templario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Gemelo Diablo I [Torneo Increible de Parejas, battle royal]
5) Dragón Rojo Jr. & Titán b Cancerbero & Espíritu Negro [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f]
4:28
6) Cuatrero & Dark Panther b Gemelo Diablo I & Valiente [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f]
5:19
7) Hechicero & Stuka Jr. b Templario & Volador Jr. [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f]
4:53. Hechicero & Stuka had issues.
8) Gran Guerrero & Místico b Atlantis & Negro Casas [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f]
4:36
9) Dragón Rojo Jr. & Titán b Cuatrero & Dark Panther [Torneo Increible de Parejas, quarterfinal]
4:02
10) Templario & Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero & Místico [Torneo Increible de Parejas, quarterfinal]
3:37
11) Templario & Volador Jr. b Dragón Rojo Jr. & Titán [Torneo Increible de Parejas, semifinal]
4:00
Volador’s run in this tournament is incredible, or a reflection of how static CMLL has been for years. (I screwed this up on Twitter, this should be the correct version.)
Volador in the Torneo Increibls de Parejas, Mexico City version
- 2010: Volador Jr. & Terrible lose in the second round
- 2011: Volador Jr. & Diamante lose in the semifinals
- 2012: Volador Jr. & Terrible lose in the second round
- 2013: Volador Jr. & La Sombra win the tournament
- 2014: Volador Jr. & Averno lose in the second round
- 2015: Volador Jr. & Rey Bucanero lose in the final
- 2016: Volador Jr. & Mr. Niebla lose in the semifinal
- 2017: Volador Jr. & Cavernario win the tournament
- 2018: Volador Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero lose in the final
- 2019: Volador Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero lose in the final
- 2020: Volador Jr. & Cavernario lose in the final
- 2021: Volador Jr. & Templario are in the final
(Volador & Atlantis also won the Puebla version of the tournament in 2013 with Atlantis. the only time he participated in that version. )
That’s five straight finals. Six of the last seven years has had Volador Jr. in the final. It’s because Volador is always around and has been in the same position as the top tecnico since at least 2015. That’s an incredible long time; anyone would get stale. There’s probably some way to sell this as a historic achievement in the same way AAA hyped La Parka winning the Rey de Reyes so many times; CMLL hasn’t done so and it instead just comes off as repetitive. It’s going to be a good match, it is not one anyone is going to be excited to see.
The only thing more expected certain than Volador making it far in a tournament is Ultimo Guerrero doing the same. Ultimo Guerrero & Euforia are the heavy favorites to win this Friday’s block. Caristico & Virus have a long-shot chance of wining and anyone else would be a gigantic upset.
Dragon Rojo & Titan worked so hard in their matches that it seemed like they were surely going to win. They did not. Templario & Volador were good as well, though not that that level. The times were relatively representative of match quality; nothing was terrible or completely rushed, but only a few were memorable. Flyer & Atlantis versus Polvora & Felino Jr. didn’t do much for me and set up yet another challenge for the national tag team titles which doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
An important note about the “500” attendance: there definitely weren’t 500 ticketed people in the stands. It seemed down from the last two shows I’d seen live and even more barren in photos – perhaps 200 people? At the same, there were no tickets available on Ticketmaster the day of the show. There are two theories on what’s going on, both of which might be partially true
- “500 tickets” was never meant to be “500 tickets”, it was meant to be “500 people in the building”; perhaps CMLL got away with that at first and has had to since lower the ticket sales as they’ve gone along. Counting the ticket takers, the security, the vendors, the production people, the edecanes, the people running the show, and the wrestlers can probably take a 100 person allotment out of those tickets easily.
- There’s still ticket scalping going on – either through buying on Ticketmaster or the same backroom deals with the promotion that were going on before the pandemic – and those scalpers couldn’t move the tickets. Perhaps CMLL’s messaging that “the only way you can buy tickets is via Ticketmaster” has worked well enough that few people come to Arena Mexico to look for tickets right now, or maybe CMLL is so cold that scalpers can’t find takers for tickets even when there are few available.
People around Arena Mexico saw scalpers on Friday, so that is part of that issue. And Mexico City enforcing capacity limits is probably another part. I’m not sure how much is each. I do know the PPV chat room was relatively quiet like they were during the October shows that ended the weekly PPV experiment last time. Having actual numbers would be a lot better than guessing about what things look like, but what things look like is a promotion barely hanging on.
CMLL did put up Copa Dinastia on YouTube on Sunday, a week after it aired on TV. You can now experience the excitement of two different second-chance matches and Powerpoint slides as explainer graphics for free. It suggests all the Friday PPVs will end up on YouTube two weeks later, though with matches cut for TV time reasons.
CMLL (SUN) 06/13/2021 Arena México [Box y Lucha, CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports]
1) Sonic b Yago
2) El Coyote & Nitro b Eléctrico & Sangre Imperial
3) La Jarochita & Marcela DQ Dalys & La Infernal
Marcela did work here (so she no-showed her prior announced Monterrey booking)
4) Pólvora & Vangellys b Guerrero Maya Jr. & Magia Blanca
rudos took 1/3
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Hechicero, Negro Casas b Star Jr., Stuka Jr., Valiente
Rudos took 2/3. Star Jr. replaced Atlantis on Thursday. Hechicero & Stuka feuded.
6) Euforia, Místico, Titán b Dark Panther, Gran Guerrero, Templario [Relevos Increíbles]
Mistico replaced Caristico on Thursday. Team Euforia took 2/3
Stephanie Vaquer replaced Marcela in Monterrey. No angles outside of the continuing Hechicero/Stuka feud. Pictures suggest the wrestlers worked unusually hard; NJPW World tended to air matches from Sunday shows, so perhaps that’s a reason. AMX was also airing Sunday shows, so perhaps we’ll start seeing these on Friday.
Tomorrow’s CMLL card:
CMLL (TUE) 06/15/2021 Arena México
1) Pequeño Olímpico vs Acero [lightning]
2) Cachorro & Robin vs Disturbio & Hijo del Signo
3) La Guerrera & Sanely vs La Comandante & La Seductora
4) Esfinge, Kráneo, Volcano vs Dark Magic, Mephisto, Vangellys
5) Dark Panther, Terrible, Valiente vs Espíritu Negro, Hechicero, Rey Cometa [Relevos Increíbles]
Again, not streamed – the only regularly streaming show is Friday. The main event could be pretty good. The rest of the card looks very week. CMLL post-pandemic cards seem more lacking than they did in January 2020, and they’re not even using as many wrestlers at this point.
CMLL also released the full lineup for their Saturday and Sunday Father’s day shows. (Friday still only has the tournament pairs and no undercard.)
CMLL (SAT) 06/19/2021 Arena México
1) Pegasso & Stigma vs Sagrado & Universo 2000 Jr.
2) Marcela & Mystique vs Amapola & La Infernal
3) El Audaz & Flyer vs Felino Jr. & Luciferno
4) Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Hechicero
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © vs Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. [CMLL TRIOS]
This is the bonus free show on YouTube, obviously intended to be counter-programming for the Federacion Wrestling show. The semi-main may be good but there’s nothing really special about this show outside the main event; they’re not throwing everything at the wall, but just booking this show at all is an effort. It’s shallower in star power than expected for a counter-programming effort. Perhaps that’s because some of the names were already booked over in San Luis Potosi on this day. Felino Jr. is booked on both shows, which makes no sense – shouldn’t they have the poster with his name on it if they knew not to book anyone else?
That main event keeps Mistico at Arena Mexico, though he seems a bit more curious about other things going on that day.
That Saturday is going to be the new craziest Mexican wrestling day of the year
- this CMLL free show
- the Federacion Wrestling show debut
- AAA’s normal TV show that’ll be airing at the same time as those two shows
- the ChilangaMask annual show with Matt Cross versus Titan at Arena San Juan
- Arena Neza with Caristico & Cibernetico versus Averno & Volador Jr. (who should be able to make both shows)
I streamed the AAA show this past week. I likely will not since I’ll be watching the Federacion show, but I’m working on recording it and streaming it later that night or the next day.
CMLL (SUN) 06/20/2021 Arena México
1) Leono vs Cholo
2) Angelito & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
3) Diamond & Drone vs Akuma & Espanto Jr.
4) La Jarochita & Princesa Sugehit vs Metálica & Reyna Isis
5) El Audaz, Flyer, Stuka Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Luciferno, Templario
6) Místico, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Negro Casas
One more match than the other show though that’s not necessarily a good thing. CMLL really needs guys like the Gemelos Diablos and Audaz to suddenly be good if these cards are going to be watchable.
Tuesday’s Guadalajara show has Difunto defending the Occidente Middleweight Championship against Principe Daniel, a match scheduled for April before being postponed due to a Difunto medical issue. Hijo de Stuka Jr. makes his CMLL debut teaming with his father in a four-way match. The other teams are the Panteritas del Ring, the Felinos, and Satanico & Furia Roja. Not sure the last two are related; I didn’t know that if they were. That’s one that seems worth checking out on Saturday night (or Sunday when I get around to posting it) to see how the young Stuka and Panterita perform.
Other Notes
IWRG (SUN) 06/13/2021 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha, The Gladiatores]
1) El Bendito b Hijo Del Ángel
2) Mini Canis Lupus b Mini Relámpago, Mini Spirit
3) Fly Warrior & Fulgor b Corsario Negro & Drako and Alan Extreme & Puma de Oro
4) Dick Angelo, Hijo Del Enferermo Jr., King Charro b Eragón, Freelance, Relámpago
5) Dr. Cerebro & Karaoui b Avisman & Black Terry
6) Aeroboy & Asterboy b Dinamic Black & Látigo
Dinamic Black replaced Baby Xtreme
7) Lady Shani & Mamba b Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura
Abismo Negro Jr. appeared to help the AAA team win, then Hijo del Alebrije returned (COVID) to make the save. Challenges for a cage match followed.
I have not watched this show but I’m very entertained by Eterno declaring at the end of April that he was suspended from IWRG and then Abismo Negro Jr. showing up two months later. Semi-main sounds like it was the best match. The fifth match continues to head towards an apuesta match though I’m not clear on what since Heddi Karaoui remains a very bald man.
AAA aired a bit where Rey Escorpion invaded Psycho Clown’s home and beat him up in front of his wife and children. Rey Escorpion (with Texano) beat Psycho Clown (and Laredo Kid) in a very good main event, a rare clean victory for Escorpion and on Psycho Clown. The build to Psycho/Escorpion prior to the announcement wasn’t much, but AAA appears to be turning it up full bore now that it’s happening. In the skit, it appears Rey Escorpion may have grabbed a steak knife and held it near Psycho Clown – they edit around it if that’s what happened. That would be a bit intense.
Not sure if the Goya Kong appearance in that skit was a one-off thing or if she’s headed back to AAA; Psycho Clown’s sister did not wrestle during the pandemic and didn’t wrestle much in 2020 prior to it.
Dragon Lee & Kenny King challenge Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams for the ROH Tag Team titles on this week’s ROH TV show, currently up on their website.
There was a strange story about Kung Fu Jr. on Sunday. Intocable wrote on Facebook that Kung Fu Jr. had passed away due to a heart attack. Someone also posted a mourning black ribbon on Kung Fu Jr.’s Facebook page, seemingly confirming the passing. Late Sunday night, Kung Fu Jr,’s daughter streamed on YouTube to say Kung Fu Jr. was not dead but was instead hospitalized. She also claimed their social media had been hacked for two days and she doesn’t know who posted the black ribbon. She did not give a reason for his hospitalization.
Mas Lucha posted highlights of Andrade and Hijo del Santo’s trios match on Saturday. Andrade won by a foul on Saturday, Santo fouled Andrade on Sunday to win the same way. They made completely unbelievable mask versus hair apuesta match challenges. Mas Lucha also hyped a Laredo Kid/Dragon Lee mask match from the same California group, which has a 0% chance of happening. My theory is these dream match teases gather a little extra interest in the short term and run people off in the long term, but I have no idea how I’d check that theory.
The viral clip of the weekend was a luchador diving into a pole, apparently ending up suffering a wrist fracture and cervical sprain. Potosi Noticas (as pointed out by Furia de Titanes) found out the wrestler is named Evil Warrior. He’s an unlicensed wrestler working unlicensed shows for Super Star/Rafael Uresti in San Luis Potosi. Uresti is said to be on or working with the San Luis Potosi city council, which is maybe why he’s unconcerned with being licensed. There was no medical personal at the show, as you might expect from the other details.
Federacion Wrestling’s website allows you to pick your seat on at next Saturday’s show, a common thing on modern websites – that’s how we used to be able to tell how well CMLL was doing. It also means there are maps of sold and unsold for each section. Currently, Federacion is showing some vast seas of green. It’s important to note the ticket map doesn’t include the bleachers, the cheapest tickets and probably the sections with the most sold. The more expensive sections list about 1700 tickets available and around 350 tickets were listed as sold as of Sunday night. That’s 20% capacity; I guess the good news is they’re not close to breaking any COVID laws. Again, there are probably much more tickets sold in the bleacher, but they may have not reached 1,000 total yet. Federacion – with no obvious promotion outside of some minimal effort social media – has always seemed like it’s likely to be a bomb. Those numbers confirm it’s headed that way. Federacion had a one-day sale on some tickets on Saturday and I presume there may be more of those this week.
(I’m not even sure they’ve truly “sold” 350 numbered seats; the front row of every section is blocked off, and those may be comps. Those front rows account for half the 350 tickets.)
ROH’s Vinny Marseglia (who changed his name to Vincent over a year ago), Mecha Wolf, and Zumbi were added to Copa Federacion. There’s also a Shane Taylor promo that only lives on Mas Lucha’s channel at the moment. I hope that means they’re producing the PPV because then there’s a chance it might go again.
The 07/11 Mucha Atlanta Lucha show with Andrade versus Laredo Kid will be the promotion’s first iPPV. It’s $23 USD now and will be more expensive in July. It already seems too high for an iPPV with a single announced match – but I’m probably getting it for that one match so maybe there are enough fools out there. I’ve never heard of the PPV provider, which seems to be rule for all of these. I asked on Facebook if this would be available on VOD and they seemed to say it would only be live. No one who promotes lucha libre shows seems to understand doing PPVs. This one in particular sticks out where no VOD is a problem. Few people outside the Atlanta area are going to remember Laredo/Andrade is happening until it does. If it goes well and people are raving about it, there probably should be a way to accept money for it. It probably should be around $10-15, but lucha libre promoters seem scared they’ll lose ticket sales if PPV prices are much lower than that, even though they’re kind of different products. This is probably not going to do well and they’ll be convinced there’s no interest in PPVs going forward, though it seems like it’s designed badly instead.
(Anyway, what’s going to happen here are people are going to DM to ask me for the match the next day and I’m probably going to say no, I had to pay $23 for it, why do you get it for free?)
Samuray del Sol is pictured on the July 18th IWC Legacy (Denver) show. The graphic on their Facebook has him as a meet and greet, so he may not be wrestling. He got his WWE release on April 15th, so that’s right after the 90 days the no-compete period ends. Rey Cometa will face Dragon Bane on the show; I didn’t know Cometa could work in the US. It’s CMLL so no one would know who he is if he worked in most indies but also he’s quite good so people should book him to entertain me anyway. (Also maybe the Tonto from the Lone Ranger movie look would get him over quickly?)
Mas Lucha’s radio show interviewed Arez & Aramis about their recent US activities, including being announced as working for MLW. At the 1:02:00 mark, they’re asked about their MLW contracts. Arez says he hasn’t actually signed one (despite what MLW announced), though he expects to work it out when he goes to Philadelphia for the taping. There’s still time for ROH or someone else to save me from having to watch MLW use him as the new Laredo Kid.
No such luck for Aramis, who says he’s signed with MLW for three years. Aramis also mentioned – in reference to the GALLI/IWRG talent sharing- that his current AAA deal actually doesn’t allow him to wrestle in IWRG. I would guess that is wrestling in IWRG without AAA permission and he would wrestle there if AAA sent him (or Lady Shani & Mamba have different deals.)
Box y Lucha #3476 has Templario & Volador and Hijo del Santo & Andrade.
La Seductora says she’s like to win a mask for her 30th anniversary in wrestling, which may be around about a way of saying Seductora is going to lose her hair on an indie show soon.
BolaVIP has an interview with Demonic Flamita.
DTU’s next show is June 27th with Ultimo Guerrero.
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