CMLL schedule
CMLL (FRI) 07/09/2021 Arena México
1) Angelito & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Marcela vs Dalys [lightning]
3) Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Niebla Roja vs Felino, Felino Jr., Templario
4) Atlantis Jr. & Flyer vs Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa [MEX TAG]
5) Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
Only five matches. Either the last couple of matches go longer than usual, or this might be done in 90 minutes. The length of the show isn’t important as long as the matches are good. I’m not confident of that. Flyer and big matches had been a bad mix. The guys in the main event is a rematch of a disappointing Father’s Day title match. There’s no obvious reason to believe either of those situations should be better this time around.
The tercera is not listed as a relevos increibles, so perhaps Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja are finally meant to be rudos. Marcela/Dalys seems meant to set up another title match. The minis open again.
This is the weekly $5 Ticketmater PPV. The stream failed last week if you signed in early (which Ticketmaster advises people to do.) You had to wait, clear out your cookies, and come back to have a chance of it working, and it may have just been luck it worked for me. CMLL’s Twitter got complaints about all Friday night, which is maybe why they’re RT-ing the Ticketmaster help account today. Of course, there’s nothing the help account can do to help you at 11 that’s going to fix your stream at 8:30 pm.
Maches from this show should go up on YouTube on July 25th.
CMLL (SUN) 07/11/2021 Arena México
1) Retro & Sangre Imperial vs El Coyote & Grako
2) La Comandante, Princesa Sugehit, Tiffany vs Amapola, Reyna Isis, Skadi [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Kráneo, Stigma, Volcano vs Rey Bucanero, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus vs El Audaz, Esfinge, Star Jr.
5) Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. vs Felino & Negro Casas
The semimain may continue the Raziel/Audaz feud; CMLL needs to get Audaz going and Raziel is a good choice for that. The main event continues the month of Atlantis. The lineup page has an extra women’s match, which was last week’s match. No one reported a feud coming out of that, so it may just be relevos incredible because who got picked to work that night.
CMLL made a few different upcoming match announcements on CMLL Informa
- this year’s Leyenda de Plata format appears to be two eight-man ciberneticos leading to a final
- 07/16: Volador Jr., Mistico, Star Jr., Espiritu Negro, Templario, Mephisto, Dragon Rojo Jr., and Raziel
- 07/23: no participants announced yet (look at next week’s Informa list)
- 07/30: a singles match final
- The Pequeno Estrellas division will have a celebration on Sunday, July 25. There were no specifics; this is usually a cibernetico.
- The women’s division will also have a celebration soon.
As with all CMLL tournaments, the assumption is Volador Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero advancing until they don’t. They’ve done it so many times that it’d actually a big deal if someone really beat them, though they did “lose by mask pull DQ” last time around.
In media interviews, Pierrothito hoped the Pequenos Estrellas division would get a bit of nudge from the programming department; new gimmicks or new people in from outside, something to shake it up. (Ultimo Dragoncito, Pierrothito, and Pequeno Olimpico pitched doing their mask match for the umpteenth time.)
A Negro Casas versus Titan title match should air on CMLL’s AMX show tonight at 7 pm CT. I’ll have it on the Google Drive later.
Super Astro Jr. hasn’t been seen in CMLL TV since April, in empty arena tapings that may have been done much earlier. The 2A3Caidas channel posted an interview with Super Astro Jr. on Thursday, where Astro confirmed he has left CMLL. He cited frustration with the programming department. He felt he got reactions in his matches and never got a chance to move up, while some wrestlers who have never been good or over received better work. Astro was also upset his pitch for a new Cadetes del Aire team never went anywhere. Astro will continue wrestling, though it’s only been in Tijuana at the moment.
Super Astro Jr. did get over in the prelim role but it appeared CMLL saw him as too small to move up higher and he didn’t have some wrestler in power pushing for him. It also seems like the worst thing for a wrestler to do is to pitch an idea on CMLL Informa or in a media interview themselves without having the CMLL Programming Department agreeing upon it first. It seems almost impossible to get that department to approve a new idea, but they appear to resent people coming up with their own and will book around those ideas to make sure they don’t happen. Volador pitching a Predator del Aire group on recent CMLL Informa seems like it’s going nowhere, so a guy on Super Astro’s level has no chance of getting his idea heard. (See also the minis mask match.)
IWRG
IWRG (THU) 07/08/2021 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha, Zona Ruda]
1) Caballero de Plata & Epidemia b Black Shadow II & Shalom 
2) Diosa Atenea & Satania b Bengalee & Diosa Quetzal 
Quetzal took a kick to the face from Atenea in the closing section and ended up with a busted nose
3) Gravity, Lunatik Fly, Tonalli b Black Dragón, Legendario, Puma de Oro and Hernan, Hijo De Payaso Purasanta, Payaso Purasanta Jr.
Tonalli won, then was offered a IWRG MEXICO title match on next Thursday’s show by Toxin.
4) Guerrero Azteca, Hijo De Pandemónium, Pandemónium b Apolo Estrada Jr., Atomic Star, Chris Stone Jr. [super libre]
5) Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro b Hijo del Alebrije & Villano III Jr. and Dinamic Black & Toxin
Villano III Jr. & Hijo del Alebrije were late subs (two minutes before bell time) for Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura, said to be removed due for health reasons at first then clarified to be COVID. About eight minutes, quick for an IWRG main event.
There were matches set up for future Thursdays, a rarity, but the big news was who didn’t appear. Jessy Ventura & Diva Salvaje were announced as replaced on the show minutes before bell time. Friday, IWRG announced both had tested positive to COVID and would be quarantining for 15 to 20 days. I hope the infection turns out to be so mild as to not affect them and they’re just bored out of their minds for three weeks.
IWRG, similar to active Mexico State wrestling promotions, were supposed to be doing COVID testing since they re-opened to fans. No one ever was reported as testing positive that I can’t recall, which was hard to take seriously. I can’t think of another Mexico State promotion who did; it seems like a rule that might have been enforced at first and quickly ignored due to cost. That might be wrong if IWRG performed the test; the press release doesn’t specific.
IWRG says Diosa Quetzal got emergency surgery, which seems maybe a lot for a busted nose. Maybe it’s a broad definition of surgery. Maybe if it makes sense if you’re trying to emphasize how you’re taking care of talent; there’s also a post about the commission doctor quickly checking on her.
IWRG (SUN) 07/11/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Shalom vs Black Shadow II
2) Iron Kid & Noicy Boy vs Alas de Oro & Alas De Plata and Lunatik Xtreme & Sobredosis
3) Corsario Negro Jr. & Drako vs Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro
4) Hijo del Pantera, Internacional Pantera, Pantera Jr. vs Black Terry, Tonalli, Zumbi
5) Hijo del Alebrije & Puma de Oro vs Toxin & Villano III Jr.
6) ?, ??, Hijo De Dos Caras vs Canek Jr., Dinamic Black, King Charro
Las Shotas originally announced
IWRG’s said this card will be updated once they work out the replacements. Assuming they just plug two more names in the main event and don’t move around people, the middle of this card looks pretty good.
ROH (and some other US places)
Ring of Honor has its Best in the World PPV on Sunday night, starting at 6 pm. The first hour is free and will stream on social media. The rest of the show is $30 on FITE, or $10 if you sign up to reoccurring ROH’s Honor Club. Best in the World will also have fans at a show for the first time since February 2021. I believe they’re still taping empty arena material for TV this week as well.
Lucha related matches
- Rey Horus vs Demonic Flamita (first hour/free)
- Tony Deppen (c) vs Dragon Lee for the ROH TV Championship
- Rush (c) vs Bandido for the Ring of Honor World Championship
The two top title matches could go any way. There are more interesting possibilities with Bandido coming out of this match but they may have a different ending to Rush’s title reign in mind. I’m even less certain about the TV title match. Both should be pretty good matches. The entire card is 11 matches long, which is too long for my tastes, but the matches generally look good.
There’s no knowing for sure how the crowd is going to react to any of this. It’s been so long and ROH’s made some creative and presentation changes during this period. ROH can’t be too confident in knowing how the crowd will respond and even the fans can’t be too sure what ROH is going to do on a show like this.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Rush acknowledges he missed the most recent set of ROH TV tapings and says it was due to a knee injury. The timing of that surgery isn’t clear; I’m curious how that would’ve worked with the Federacion Wrestling debut.
On ROH TV this weekend, Dragon Lee teams with Kenny King in a three-way tag match against Brody King & Tony Deppen and Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham.
ROH’s COO Joe Koff was on The Pro Wrestling Boom podcast (recapped by Post Wrestling) and was asked about their relationship to both CMLL and NJPW. Koff stated that he believes both relationships will continue, but they’re inactive because doing large scale international talent sharing is impossible at the moment. CMLL hasn’t said anything about ROH publically since announcing the end of the relationship over the Federacion Wrestling show.
It’s a busy stretch for what can be generously called the second tier of US wrestling promotions. MLW runs its first show with fans on Saturday in Philadelphia, said to be sold out. Cesar Duran (ex-Dario Cueto) will make his first appearance at a wrestling show since the end of Lucha Underground, and maybe we’ll get more information about MLW’s Aztec Underground plans. King (ex-Mil) Muertes faces Richard Holliday on the show. Nothing particular has been announced for Arez & Aramis but they can be assumed to be in MLW’s Battle Riot; it’s a 40 man match so pretty much everyone they have has to be in it, plus a few one-offs. Those luchadors are not named in the press release hyping up the various people appearing, so maybe keep your expectations in check. The Battle Riot itself will air on beINSPORTS on July 24th. I presume the regular episodes will resume on VICE and beINSPORTS in August, though it’s not said.
Impact also has a PPV next Saturday (Slamiversary 2021), which be their first show back with fans too. Black Taurus doesn’t currently have a match on the show and might not; he’s been relegated to a prelim role.
Laredo Kid is scheduled on AAW’s show tonight; it’s airing for $13 on FITE. AAW hasn’t announced a match for Laredo Kid, which is a bit unusual for them.
Aramis and Daga wrestle on Warrior Wrestling’s show on July 17th ($20 on FITE.) They’ve been airing a series of videos about their shared Coacalco backstory; part 1, part 2, and part 3. Daga increasingly looks like a villain from the Yakuza video game series but his promo is good.
AAA
This week’s AAA on Space matches listed as 6:30 pm but all AAA start times are fuzzy.
- Pimpinela Escarlata, Big Mami, Sexy Star 2 vs Hiedra, Flammer, Maravilla
- Octagon Jr., Myzteziz Jr. vs Villano III Jr., Toxin
- Pagano, Aerostar, Drago vs Chessman, Parka Negra, Super Fly
These were taped at the same session as Verano de Escandalo. I’m trying to refer to the new Sexy Star as “Sexy Star 2” on social media and TV listings just to avoid a worse version of the “the WWF Tito Santana?” question. AAA will never refer to her that way and her actual name remains Sexy Star. I plan on streaming this show on Twitch as always.
AAA also announced they’re going to put up Verano de Escandalo this Sunday, skipping the second rain-drenched taping from Zempoala. If I’m counting right, that’ll be the third taping aired on TV but skipped on YouTube. The Tonatico taping was also skipped to get Rey de Reyes up quicker. It’s no big loss in this case. AAA TV episodes showing up YouTube a week after they go on Space is a huge and welcome improvement from the month delay at the start of the year. If the Twitch stuff ever fails, the show is just around a week later now so it’s even less of an issue.
Pentagon Jr. talked briefly was Mas Lucha at the AAA TV tapings, and mentioned Fenix is ready to return. He talked bout facing four great wrestlers at TripleMania, so maybe he knows who the mystery man teaming with Taurus. (Penta did not any names.)
On YouTube, AAA’s Hades revealed she and Hijo del Vikingo are a couple and she hasn’t been wrestling because she’s pregnant. This had been a source of much Instagram drama a few months ago but they hadn’t formally announced the relationship or the pregnancy until now. Hades last wrestled in March and it’s unlikely we’ll see her in the ring again until 2022.
AAA’s roster is full of new and recent mothers. Keyra is on maternity leave but expected back at any point, Chik Tormenta returned a few months, and Flammer’s debut in AAA was her first lucha libre work after having a child. It is a cultural difference in Mexican wrestling compared to other countries; there are always exceptions, but it generally doesn’t seem like as many women in the US and Japan are allowed to have both children and a wrestling career – if a woman leaves to have a kid, they’re more likely to return in Mexico.
Other Notes
Rossy Moreno will be honored on 07/25 at her family’s Arena Azteca Budokan. The poster has both AAA & CMLL luchadoras listed. I’m guessing that’s already changed because Lady Apache and Rossy Moreno complained in an interview with Record that certain people aren’t being allowed to work this show and how Arena Mexico management doesn’t respect women’s wrestling. I can understand them being upset but I can’t believe they’re surprised.
Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. appeared on last Saturday’s MexaWrestling show and got some attention because of his current physique. The third generation Wagner started off wrestling with a normal frame, and now has a similar body to both his father and uncle Silver King, while wearing a similar singlet. He got criticism for looking too much like a clone, which his father Dr. Wagner Jr. partially agreed with in his column, encouraging his son to create an original look for himself.
Monterrey’s Arena Jose Sulaiman has Hijo del Santo & LA Park versus Dr. Wagner Jr. & Fuerza Guerrera on Sunday. Vampiro is listed as making a special appearance. He indicated he’d be being back in the ring soon in an interview with La Tijera Lucha Libre. Hope is alive for the return of the Vampiro/Konnan tease at TripleMania that goes absolutely nowhere.
Aeropuerto Internacional Felipe Ángeles is a new international airport being constructed in Mexico State, expected to open next year. SuperLuchas found a video showcasing the plans for the bathrooms. They’ve all got Mexican cultural themes, which means there’s a lucha libre themed bathroom. The brief look starts at 2:18; there’s a lot of CMLL photos including their logo on the floor.
Matt Makowski is off the next Lucha Memes show due to visa issues.
LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.