Tonight’s lineup
CMLL (FRI) 07/30/2021 Arena México
1) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Dark Magic, El Coyote, Okumura
2) La Jarochita & Lluvia © vs Amapola & Dark Silueta [MEX WOMEN TAG]
third defense
3) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Negro Casas vs Blue Panther, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Vangellys & Volador Jr. vs Euforia & Forastero [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Templario vs Titán [Leyenda de Plata, final]
Today’s show will air for live and free on game streaming service booyah.live, a competitor to Twitch. They’ll be specifically streaming on Booyah’s LATAM channel, https://booyah.live/booyahlatam. The show starts at the normal 8:30 pm CT time and can be viewed on PC and mobile; there’s an app too. You don’t need a login to watch, though you will need one if you want to chat. (A Google login works fine.) They haven’t said anything about VOD; the channel normally offers that, but it’s not confirmed.
Booyah is owned by mobile company Garena. Garena launched Contra Returns this past week and this show is airing for free as an advertisement for that show. I’m guessing we’ll get ads in between the matches, not sure about anything else. This is probably a one-off, and CMLL’s will only be on Booyah as part of this tie up.
If you bought the Ticketmaster Live package for July, you now get the August 28th show instead of this show. That’s not a fair deal for a variety of reasons. It’s also a lucha libre PPV and anyone still buying CMLL shows must know it’s going to go wrong at some point. (This is also a reason why few people buy the things.) Ticketmaster sent out an email Thursday about the change. I think most people who bought the July show would’ve bought the August one so it won’t matter, but there’s a decent chance of a refund if you pester Ticketmaster about it. Don’t ask CMLL about it, CMLL doesn’t care.
(Weird side note: one of the many fears I have about streaming TripleMania is the Twitch stream getting shut down for one reason or another mid-show. I could switch to YouTube but that seems even less safe. Finding about another random gaming site that I can broadcast to is helpful. If have to make an emergency switch to air TripleMania on Booyah, we’ll all have CMLL to thank.)
It doesn’t really matter who wins these tournaments. The Panther Brothers winning Copa Dinastia and going back to doing nothing, in particular, was the latest example of it. Titan is the bigger star, Templario might be getting more main events in Euforia’s spot, either would be fine selections. It’s really about the quality of the match more than the outcome if this is going to be remembered. These two guys are capable of having as a good match as anyone in the promotion, they just need to make it happen.
It is funny that Templario and Titan both bring up Hijo del Perro Aguayo’s Leyenda de Plata win as a past tournament memory. That was one where Perrito won the plaque then broke it because he felt his father was the bigger star than El Santo. It’s not the most positive moment for the concept of the tournament, though it was very memorable in a a really hot period in CMLL.
La Jarochita & Lluvia defend the national women’s tag team titles against Amapola & Dark Silueta. A title change is unlikely, last week’s match was fine but long. Atlantis, Atlantis Jr. and Negro Casas face Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero and Blue Pather in something that feels like a setup for a story, though it just might be getting bigger names on an important show. Vangellys & Volador versus Forastero & Euforia still feels like something fell apart. Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso and Stigma against Dark Magic, Okumura and Coyote is an argument for tuning in late.
The Sunday lineup didn’t come out until Thursday night, which is late even by current CMLL standards
CMLL (SUN) 08/01/2021 Arena México
1) Oro Jr. & Sangre Imperial vs Cholo & Inquisidor
2) Robin & Starman vs Sagrado & Universo 2000 Jr.
3) Flyer, Kráneo, Volcano vs Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora
4) Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Virus
5) Felino, Negro Casas, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Cuatrero, Sansón [Relevos Increíbles]
CMLL seemed to return to empty arena tapings Thursday. Both things are concerning.CMLL announced the August tournament will be return of the CMLL Universal de Amazonas tournament. This tournament was created in August 2019 (Dalys defeating La Metalica) and was meant to be held every year; the pandemic put a stop to that in 2020. CMLL’s will have ciberneticos on August 6 and August 13th, the winners face off on August 20th and Dalys defends against that winner on August 27th.
That final will be the main event on the show, the first women’s main event in Arena Mexico since a cage match in 2012. They also did a singles Marcela/Tiffany hair match main event earlier that year, straight up against TripleMania. I’m uncertain if there’s ever been a women’s title match as a main event in Arena Mexico. The lack of women’s main events in CMLL is more about CMLL (wrestlers/staff) not accepting it than the fans having an issue with it. The best CMLL men’s wrestlers currently get a better reaction and tend to produce better matches than the best women’s wrestlers, but the men aren’t particularly selling a lot of tickets at the moment. The women who get to main event that show should get to feel proud of doing it, it also doesn’t seem like a meaningful bit is if it’s a one off thing.
If you’re a Dalys fan, you get a big Dalys match at the end of August. If you’re not a Dalys fan, you probably don’t see her the other three weeks since CMLL is unlikely to book two women’s matches on a show, so maybe that’s a win too. I’m curious as to who we will see in the tournament. Mystique (retired), Avispa Dorada (back in the US), and La Maligna (believed to have left to have a child but never confirmed) participated in 2019 are not currently around. (Estrellita wasn’t in that tournament.) CMLL hasn’t really added women to take their spots. It may just be smaller ciberneticos but there’s the possibility of some new names to Mexico City.
CMLL said the minis cibernetico will air on MVS TV on August 7th. Those Sunday matches have been airing on AMX Fridays to this point while MVS is still airing empty arena matches. CMLL also seemed to return to empty arena tapings Thursday, which is odd when they’ve got plenty of unaired matches from the three shows they’re already taping. And they’ll soon have a fourth.
Arena Puebla will resume running shows on August 9th. The local government confirmed CMLL has permission this time. No lineup was announced as of this post. On Informa, JCR talked about the types of talent they’d have, making it sound like it’ll be more or less the lineup they announced for July 5th. I can’t say this enough times: CMLL hasn’t said anything about streaming this show and we’re no longer in a world where people should expect CMLL to stream free shows. There’s no guarantee we’ll see this.
AAA
Contrary to what I thought was going to happen, AAA taped another show Thursday in Oaxtepec, Morelos; that covers the week before TripleMania and one or two weeks after. Azteca tends to run one week behind Space (and Lucha Azteca isn’t on Azteca7 this week), but AAA could still run a big angle on Space and put it all over social media if they’d like.
The images linked above show a Rey Escorpion, Taurus, Abismo Negro Jr. versus Psycho Clown, Laredo Kid, and Hijo del Vikingo match taped. That seems like it has to be airing next week, because one of them is going to be bald (or I guess unmasked) by the week after. There’s a second match with what looks like Parkita Negra and Dinastia among other.
Space’s program guide lists Saturday’s show as “Amealco III”, so AAA taped a third week of TV as part of the previous taping. That’s unlike previous tapings but good planning. There’s no preview out yet. It’ll air at the normal 6:30 pm time andI’l try streaming it.
AAA honored Brazo de Plata at the tapings. Psycho Clown wore a special split Brazo de Plata mask for the show.
La Hiedra was back to being in Los Mercenarios and trios champion for at least one taping. AAA’s had her with Las Toxicas recently but her ongoing association with Los Mercenarios was left hazy in normal AAA fashion. It’s possible AAA did a trios change to get it on a set team at the tapings but her Instagram message suggests she’s still champion.
WhatCulture reports Jeff Jarrett was quietly let go from WWE in April. Lucha Libre Online refuted that story, saying Jarrett still works with WWE but has the ability to take some outside work. Jarrett had recently referred to the WWE in the past tense in a recent episode of his podcast, which is why people started digging in to see if he was still a WWE producer. I joked about it on Twitter and do also believe Jarrett will eventually be back working with AAA if he’s free and interested. There’s no natural spot for him, he just has such a strong relationship with all the people in charge of the promotion that they’ll just find create one.
Impact brought Deonna Purrazzo defending the Impact title against Faby Apache at TripleMania on this week’s TV show. it was more acknowledgment than a point of emphasis and the AAA title didn’t come up. Impact seems to have plans Purrazzo and their title past TripleMania, AAA doesn’t seem to have any plans for the Reina de Reinas title, and AAA seems happy with how the Omega bit has gone as far as a champion ho’s not around much, so my guess all along has been Purrazzo leaving Mexico with both belts. Impact bringing up the match at least gives their viewers a chance something might happen. (AEW hasn’t mentioned the Andrade/Omega match, consistent with a policy of not promoting other promotions’ matches.)
Taurus challenges Josh Alexander for the Impact X Division Championship on their Impact+ show this Saturday. That match should be pretty good. They’re playing up Taurus as an AAA wrestler more than they have recently, which may factor in to the AAA logo for the next show.
Other Notes
IWRG (THU) 07/29/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Black Shadow II b Spider Fly 
2) Amazonika & Satania b Bengalee & Kariel 
Kariel replaced Sussy Love
3) Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. b Aster Boy, Legendario, Noicy Boy
4) Aster Boy, Chef Benito, Dick Angelo 3G, Lunatik Xtreme, Puma de Oro, Rey Halcón b Caballero de Plata, Hellboy, Kenji, Lunatik Fly, Sol [Copa Higher Power]
FILL (Black Terry) vs Try Out (Karaoui). Lunatik Xtreme got hurt on a dive early on, so Aster Boy was allowed to replace him. Final was Aster & Puma, Aster winning with a 450 splash to setup a IWRG LIGHT title match.
5) Estrella Divina, Hijo del Fishman, Tyson Maddux b Diva Salvaje, Hijo del Espectro, Jessy Ventura 
Hijo del Alebrije made the save when Espectro betrayed his team. Alebrije announced he was headed to NOAH after the match.
The biggest news from the show was Hijo del Alebrije announcing he was going to Japan for NOAH. No time line was mentioned. IWRG and NOAH are meant to have a connection, through NOAH booker Nosawa, but no IWRG wrestler has gone over to Japan since a February 2020 tour with Dragon Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus. It’s been a pandemic/quarantine issue, which doesn’t seem close to being over and makes it surprising Alebrije is going over. He seems to be a good guy to add some color to matches and take a lot of losses.
The Neogocio Traumados group brought up those past tours in their press conference a couple of weeks ago and seemed to cast doubt on if they were still happening, which could be a reason this is happening. It’ll probably also be a thorn to CMLL wrestlers, who haven’t appeared to be invited to Japan individually or even NJPW, to see someone from a lower level promotion getting a tour to another promotion. (It’s also nearly August and, while January is a long way away, it’s not exactly looking great for FantasticaMania 2023 right now given the rising virus issues.)
IWRG (SUN) 08/01/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Rey Halcón vs Kenji & Sol
2) Black Dragón & Death Metal vs Ra-Zhata & Shil-Ka
3) Alas de Oro, Alas De Plata, Eragón vs Dick Angelo 3G, Karaoui, Legendario
4) Diosa Quetzal vs Diosa Atenea
5) Aster Boy, Estrella Divina, Hijo del Alebrije vs Galeno del Mal, Tonalli, Toxin
6) El Mesías & Hijo del Espectro vs Hijo De Wagner & Tyson Maddux
Quetzal/Atenea have been feuding the last few weeks. Main event is the battle of the heavyweights under the idea that people pay to see heavyweights.
Robles Patron Promotion has their first Hecho en Mexico show Saturday night in the Payne Arena, Hidalgo, Texas. You may know this sho was the Alberto/Andrade/Carlito main event, or you may know this from the ticket map with all the blue dots. Cinta de Oro and Alberto did a lot of local press on Thursday, from doing radio interviews to an autograph signing at a supermarket. They have to be hoping for a good walkup and they’re putting in work to make it happen. There’s no mention of a streaming component and I’m not sure if it’ll be taped.
Aeroboy will be IWA-MS’s King of the Deathmatches today and tomorrow. Please don’t die Aeroboy.
PWG returns Saturday night in Los Angeles, the promotion’s first show since 2019. It’s a Mystery Vortex show where no matches or names are announced in advance, Bandido is PWG champion and so he seems a safe bet. (PWG tag champions are now NXT’s MSK, so they won’t be there.) PWG seemed to have a half dozen Mexican wrestlers on each show prior to the pandemic and I suspect that’ll continue the same. The Impact show is taped, so it’s possible (and likely) Taurus could be in two places at once. PWG infamously does not stream their shows and it may be a long time before people who are not there see this show. PWG’s has already announced their next show on September 26th.
Bandido & Rey Horus face Brody King & Tony Deppen on next weekend’s ROH TV. That sounds really good. Bandido, Dragon Lee, Jonathan Gresham, Chris Dickinson, Homicide versus the Briscoes, EC3, Flip Gordon, and Josh Woods on their TV August 14th, the champions of the promotion teaming up against an all star group. That’ll be the last TV before the Gordon/Bandido title match. The Bandido/Dragon Lee partnership will be worth watching.
CaraLucha, who have basically been inactive as a promotion since 2017, will return on Mexican Independence Day (September 16th) with Flamita at Arena San Juan. They were a relatively hot indie from 2014 to 2017. MexaWrestling has taken their spot – both in Arena San Juan and in the mindspace – though two groups are said to be unrelated.
In perhaps the least useful update possible, The Crash announced their show with no date will have surprise luchadors.
Vampiro held a press conference to publicize his role in a diabetes awareness campaign. He says he’ll work 12 show that’ll be fundraisers to pay for this campaign. He mentioned Arena Neza & Arena Lopez Mateos with plans for Queretaro and Guadalajara later. I presume there are just normal bookings he’s already taken that he’s going to present as part of this campaign; Vampiro’s been in Mexico looking for opportunities of late.
La Opinion wrote about the art exhibition at Fenix & Penta’s Republic of Lucha store.
The Lucha Memes/Global Syndicate Wrestling combined show in New Jersey will take place on February 19th, 2022. In Mexican wrestling, where shows are rarely announced more than a month ahead and sometimes as late as a day before, announcing a show six months ahead of time seems unearthly. Maybe it’s necessary for coordinating things.
Segunda Caida looks back at some Brazo de Plata matches.