Month: August 2021

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/27/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Tiatnes (main event), Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, Reforma, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan, W Deportes]
1) Akuma, Espanto Jr., Magnus b Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma   
11:55. Rudos won the one fall match. Magnus replaced Coyote on Thursday.
2) Ángel de Oro, Luciferno, Terrible b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Stuka Jr.   
16:53. Rudos took 2/3.
3) Dalys, Metálica, Tiffany b La Guerrera, Lluvia, Marcela   
17:14. Rudas took 1/3. Tiffany replaced Amapola and Lluvia replaced Magnifica on Wednesday.
4) Hechicero, Místico, Valiente b Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]      
12:45. Return to the Mistico gimmick for Caristico, which was very positively received. His team took 2/3.
5) La Jarochita b Dark Silueta [CMLL Universal de Amazonas]     
13:05. One fall match. Jarochita won with the running corner boot to become the second champion (and got booed a bit for it.)

It turns out there’s nothing CMLL could do in 2021 to get their existing fanbase more excited for their shows than to turn back the clock and put Caristico back into the Mistico gimmick. It’s probably something they wouldn’t have done unless Mistico Munoz had quit and it’s obviously a move both the fans and the front-facing parts of the promotion are super excited about it. Mistico’s return to the character got the loudest reaction of anything during this pandemic period, with the announcers noting it was the highest turnout they’ve had in a long time. The match itself was standard Mistico fare, which was exactly what the fans wanted on Friday night. Caristico/Mistico was overjoyed in his post-match interview and the crowd was with him. I was at the CM Punk return to wrestling the previous Friday; that felt like a bigger deal because AEW was allowed to have a 10x bigger crowd, but the people who made it into Arena Mexico on Friday night were similarly enthused, even though this same guy had been around for years as Caristico.

I’m not sure where this goes from here. CMLL people’s excitement for the return reaction led to them vocalizing a hope this will start a new boom. My concern is this will be something hard to keep hot and may fade quickly. (Sunday’s show with Mistico on top didn’t draw well.) Still, they might as well go hard with and find out. Pandemic CMLL seems like a lot of nothing but busy work to keep everyone occupied until something comes along to spark them again. That “something” might have been “tourists returning”, but something else dropped in their laps and they might as well see it through for a while just in case.

Mistico’s return is on the cover for this week’s Box y Lucha 3487.

La Jarochita & Dark Silueta tried very hard yet were stuck in the ultimate death spot following Mistico’s return. The fans who were very into Mistico haven’t been given a lot of reason to care about these ladies prior. They got the crowd into the end of the match, but it took a lot of work to get there. I thought it was a good match, one you should check out when it turns up on YouTube in a couple of weeks, though another one was hampered by needing to end as close to 10:30 pm as possible. The crowd seemed to be pro-Silueta and a bit upset with Jarochita winning, probably just because Sillueta has a bigger fanbase.

Nothing much notable. Akuma & Espanto don’t feel like two guys are about to headline an Aniversario show. They’re fine, it just is going to be a big adjustment.

Sunday results

CMLL (SUN) 08/29/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito DQ Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito
Pierrothito unmasked Dragoncito for the DQ.
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Inquisidor b Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial
Rudos took 1/3, leading Inquisidor to challenge Electrico
3) Dark Magic, Magnus, Okumura b Diamond, Hombre Bala Jr., Magia Blanca
Rudos took 1/3. Magia Blanca got hurt early and left the match, but wrestled later in the night elsewhere.
4) Raziel, Terrible, Virus b Mephisto, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
5) Místico b Cavernario
Mistico took falls 2/3 to win.

Cavernario was probably winning the main event by cheating last week. Caristico returning to Mistico wasn’t going to lose his first singles match and definitely shouldn’t.

The Inquisidor/Electrico title program may possibly have been birthed out of some goofball noting the lightweight title was one of many national championships not defended in over a year when the commission used DMT Azul not defending a title in 90 days as a reason to strip him. That post really didn’t get much traction but the numbers got picked up elsewhere that did and suddenly Electrico has a title defense.

CMLL has 22 world and national titles, not all of which are filled. If CMLL were to truly defend every title every 90 days, they’d need to have two title defenses almost every week, or about seven a month. They will have held one title defense in August. Seven title defenses a month is not impossible – there are North American promotions that seem to do that often – but would require CMLL to completely how they program cards. It’s tougher to do the more titles they add.

The semi-main seems like it should’ve had Cancerbero’s spot. He, unlike Magia Blanca, also missed his booking on the Valiente Gym show. The main event was originally a Cavernario/Felino program; Felino hasn’t appeared since the August 16th show in Puebla. Templario hasn’t been around since the weekend before. Not sure if these are minor injuries or something else, but those last couple of guys have some big matches coming up.

CMLL (MON) 08/30/2021 Arena Puebla
1) Meyer vs Black Tiger
2) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Espíritu Maligno & Joker
3) Pegasso & Stigma vs Dark Magic & Okumura
4) Stuka Jr. & Valiente vs Ángel de Oro & Terrible
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Místico vs Atlantis Jr., Cavernario, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

Relevos Increibles will never stop. They didn’t list the semi-main as one, but they’re inconsistent on that with Angel de Oro.

CMLL (TUE) 08/31/2021 Arena México
1) Átomo & El Gallito vs Chamuel & Mije
2) Arkalis, Oro Jr., Robin vs Apocalipsis, Disturbio, Hijo del Signo
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs Dark Silueta, Metálica, Tiffany
4) Dark Panther, Fugaz, Panterita del Ring vs Hechicero, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero
5) Místico, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Terrible

The main event forces us to consider if this is still the Sky Team with a different Mistico.

Mije has barely worked in CMLL since the pandemic – just a couple of matches last year – but he’s been active lately on spot shows. The micros entirely haven’t been around much since the fans came back, which is a bit surprising.

CMLL (TUE) 08/31/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Bello Antuan, Cosmos, Temerario vs Destello, Destructor, Rumbero
2) Bobby Black, Carlo Roggi, Fúnebre vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
3) Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Minotauro vs Bestia Negra, Demonio Maya, Difunto
4) Bulkano, Jaivo IV, Pantera Blanca Jr. vs Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
5) Gallo & Joker vs Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa
6) Explosivo, Fantástico, Star Black vs Hijo del Villano III, Principe Daniel, Zandokan

Only three CDMX wrestlers here, which is less than usual. Atrapasuenos may be on this card to build up a tag title defense (or the next Queretaro show.) The Fourth match features a lot of Matamoros talent for the second straight week.

Stephanie Vaquer & Dalys have moved into first place for the Mexican National Women Tag’s title shot, ahead of Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis by 30 votes when I checked around noon. That’s gone back and forth twice and may again before the CMLL poll closes. I’m just not sure when that poll closure is. It originally was this week, when the national heavyweight title qualifier was scheduled on September 4th. That match is no longer needed, so it may stay open through next week. The Women’s Tag match is also catching up on the National Middleweight poll; if the poll stays open another week, there’s a good shot of the women’s tag match main eventing the Aniversario.

CMLL announced they reactivated their relationship with Ice Ribbon and Ladys Ring, who will soon be sending Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi, and Nao Ishikawa to Mexico. Tsukushi previously came to Mexico in February 2020 for a week, which will probably be the same here – they need to get to Mexico long enough to make a photo book out of it.

Costa Rica Wrestling Embassy, who’ve sent wrestlers to CMLL in the back, announced they’re bringing in Star Jr. & Rocky Romero for their 12/18 show. CWE is running a bunch of normal shows prior to it. I don’t believe Star Jr. & Rocky Romero are making a photobook but you never know.

La Jarochita, last week in promoting the Universal tournament final, said independent luchadoras are scared of CMLL women and not at their level.

Mephisto pitched himself, Euforia and Hechicero as Satanico’s new Infernales on Facebook, as mentioned on the De Futbol y Otros Demonios blog.

Mexico’s Monica Rodriguez set a world record in 1500m at the Paralympics, then she and her guide runner put on lucha libre masks. CMLL honored the Paralympics athletes before they went to Tokyo and I’d guess they’ll bring her and others to celebrate their medals in September.

NGD

Mas Lucha had a 90 minute interview with Sanson, Cuatrero and Forastero on Friday. They said it was an acclimation of reasons to leave CMLL, not one breaking point. They had no issue with Ultimo Guerrero. CMLL actually helped Cuatrero & Sanson trademark their names, giving them the option to own them. CMLL seems to have helped out some of the top-tier veterans to do that when they were getting names trademarked, but it’s surprising they’d give that option to guys just starting. It also is confusing that CMLL would help them get those names, and then attempt to file for their own trademarks on those names later on.

NGD signed with AAA in Mexico and have the freedom to work where they want in the US. They’ve taped two AAA matches already: versus Hijo del Vikingo, Psycho Clown, Laredo Kid and versus Monster Clown, Murder Clown, and Pagano. That means the Poder del Norte/NGD match hasn’t been taped; maybe it’s happening at Heroes Inmortales.

BIG LUCHA

Big Lucha (SAT) 08/28/2021 Bandido Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Mas Lucha]
1) Usumaki Otai & Yutani b Destello & Limbo 
2) Tirano b Foreno, Éxtasis 
3) El Bendito b Cometa Maya 
4) Ciclón Ramírez Jr. b Elemental 
originally a DCOR, match was restarted with Ciclon winning.
5) Demonic Flamita b Gravity [falls count anywhere] 
Bandido tried to help Gravity but was restrained by security (in his own gym!)
6) Skayde b Mil Almas [bull terrier] 
7) Emperador Azteca b Komander 
Komander suffered a leg injury, ending the match early. Emperador & Flamita faced off with Bandido, Bendito and others when they were all attacked by masked men said to be from ROH, setting up a show for September.

I watched this show Sunday (didn’t realize it was streaming live on Saturday) and it was a worthwhile watch. It ends sadly with the Komander injury but the other matches were all watchable. Bendita/Cometa Maya was the best match, with the opener and Flamita/Gravity sticking out as well. Like pretty much every show, I wish the matches were a little shorter – a six-match show shouldn’t be three hours long – but at least they didn’t waste too much time between the matches.

Komander tore a ligament in his left ankle and will have surgery Monday night. That’ll put him between three and six months. As bad as that sounds, it was better than the leg/ankle fracture feared Saturday night. Komander getting hurt in the main event seemed to mess up wherever exactly they were going with the angle, but they got to the ROH introduction at the end. The full lineup for that show:

Big Lucha (THU) 09/16/2021 Bandido Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) ? vs ??, ???, ????, ????? [Torneo Alas de Independencia]
2) Delirious vs Skayde
3) ? vs PJ Black, Ciclón Ramírez
4) Emperador Azteca & Flamita vs Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
5) El Bandido vs Matt Taven [ROH HEAVY]

Federacion Wrestling promised ROH stars in May and imploded before it happened, so I suspect the reaction to this announcement is going to be muted until people believe it’s happening. Still, that’s five people coming in (including the ROH booker), so this may be the start of a regular deal if it comes off right.

This would be the third ROH title match in Mexico

• 2005-05-15 in Tulancingo for X-LAW: Austin Aries defeated Super Crazy & Ricky Marvin
• 2011-10-15 in Tulancingo for IWL: Davey Richards defeated Daga

Other News

IWRG (SUN) 08/29/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Chef Benito, Gran Felipe Jr., Spider Fly b Perro de Guerra, Tirano, X-Devil 
2) Elemental, Limbo, Skayler b Carnicero, Epidemia, Skanda 
3) Comando Negro Jr., Halloween Jr., Vudu Max b Baby Star Jr., Centella Oriental, Shocko 
4) Aster Boy, Caballero de Plata, Hellboy, Kenji, Lunatik Fly, Sol, Tonalli b Dick Angelo 3G, Halcón Mágico, Legendario, Lunatik Xtreme, Noicy Boy, Puma de Oro, Rey Halcón [Copa High Power, mask, hair] 
Caballero de Plata beat Halcon Magico, who is Héctor Omar Lorenzo Gutiérrez, 26 year old, 15 years a luchador. Order of escape: Hell Boy, Lunatik Xtreme, Sol, Noicy Boy, Lunatik Fly, Rey Halcon, Kenji, Legendario, Aster Boy, Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro, Tonalli, Caballero de Plata leaving Halcon Magico as the loser.
5) Mafioso, Medico Brujo, Sick Boy b Big Chico Che, Big Mike, Estrella Divina 

Thanks to Mas Lucha for getting the elimination order tracked, that’s not a normal or easy inclusion. IWRG seems to be doing more blood of late in the top matches.

ROH TV’s newest episode is up on their website, including a Dragon Lee versus Eli Isom match. The show also includes a change: Bestia del Ring replaces his son Rush teaming with Dragon Lee & Kenny King against Shane Taylor Enterprises for the ROH Six-Man Titles on their 09/12 show. Rush is out due to a knee injury that’s bothered him for a while. Rush may get surgery – recovery would take the rest of the year, which is the remaining portion of his ROH contract – so it’s possible Rush has wrestled his last Ring of Honor match. Dave Meltzer brought up this situation on Wrestling Observer Radio and was certain AEW and ROH would have a lot of interest in signing him Rush (and Dragon Lee, who’s also up) in 2022. I’m much more skeptical about those promotions having interest, but it’s still a lot of time until the end of the year for things to sort out.

Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf won the NWA Tag Team Championships on their PPV on Sunday. Konnan was inexplicably seconding them; the only thing that’s in more places at once in 2021 than Konnan is COVID. Actually, I’d be OK with more Konnan and less COVID if we can work on that. The La Rebelion duo of Bestia & Mecha have gotten good reviews for the NWA work and so the title win wasn’t a big surprise.

El Fresero (Demetrio Guadalupe Aguilera Arrendondo) passed away Friday. Fresero was a referee mostly for both Promociones Mora (UWA) and AAA. He had retired in 2009. His son, Fresero Jr., is an active wrestler and announced his father’s passing. SuperLuchas has an obit, mentioning Fresero being in charge of Arena San Juan Pantitlan at different points of his career.

Penta, repeating a bit from Thursday’s Robles Patron show, took to Facebook to call Alberto “a Patron of no one, a guy who pretends to represent Mexico but adopted a different nationality and doesn’t live in Mexico. I represent my people around the world with a Mexican passport, not like you who only say it to get applause.” Penta said the match between the two of them should happen in Ecatepec. This is probably just a promo to build to another match. Fenix & Penta are announced from Mexico City in AEW maybe because that’s just what everyone is used to hearing, but it’d be nice to hear Ecatepec someday.

Octagon Jr. would like to wrestle Kenny Omega, feeling he could learn a lot from it win or lose.

RIOT announced they’ll return with “the Secret Lucha Society” on September 18. No location was announced. The only show RIOT’s been able to hold this year has been the no-fans show in March.

A show in Cholo de Tijuana headlined Blue Demon Jr., Cinta de Oro, and Misterio versus Blue Demon Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., LA Park is said to have draw 7,000 fans. Another live report put that number closer to 3,000, which would still mean it’s one of the bigger shows so far this year in Mexico. There are some pictures here and here. That’s about a 21K bullring where half the building seems not to be used, so the other half would have to be 50% full to get to 7,000. I don’t think it’s that full.

Arturo Rivera will be part of Mas Lucha’s Supremo Tournament in October.

Oaxaca’s Diosa Quimera is interviewed about making it to five years of wrestling.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/27/2021 Arena México
1) Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Magnus
Magnus replaced Coyote on Thursday
2) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Stuka Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Luciferno, Terrible
3) La Guerrera, Lluvia, Marcela vs Dalys, Metálica, Tiffany
Tiffany replaced Amapola and Lluvia replaced Magnifica on Wednesday.
4) Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Hechicero, Místico, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
5) La Jarochita vs Dark Silueta [CMLL Universal de Amazonas]

This lineup came out late Tuesday and still had three different revisions if you count Carisitco switching to Mistico. I’m not sure what is going on – injuries? tests? people just taking work elsewhere – but lineup changes are more common in CMLL right now.

La Jarochita versus Dark Silueta is the first CMLL women’s single match since the Marcela/Tiffany hair match in 2012, a Sunday show that was going up against TripleMania. The 1992 Lola Gonzalez/Bull Nakano match to decide the initial CMLL Women’s champion may be the most recent women’s title match to headline Arena Mexico. This seems like the biggest match in Jarochita and Silueta’s careers, even bigger the Silueta’s mask match. Both are capable of having good matches and are probably preparing for a great match, though the pressure is going to be immense. CMLL main events tend to be predictable, in results and actions. This one’s a wild card.

Satanico (Dark Silueta) and Ultimo Guerrero (La Jarochita) will second their students today. Satanico says he wants to form one last version of Los Infernales before he retires. He probably should get on that quick. Satanico coming all the way to Mexico City seems to make it more likely Silueta is going to win, but they may just have him and Guerrero to sell the fans on this being a big match. These women haven’t really been built up as stars before now and I’m not sure how the crowd is going to react to them suddenly being put in this position.

The rest of the show is fine. The show is available on streaming through TicketMaster Live, and hopefully, they’ll remind people who already bought it that they have a working link.

CMLL’s hyped this for the last few days as “come see Mistico!” Caristico is indeed back as Mistico. He’s also been on four of the last five Arena Mexico shows, and will be on Sunday too. The ideal way of doing this would’ve been similar to how they rolled out Mistico II: take him off shows for a bit then bring him back for a big show. CMLL seems like they can’t afford to do that at the moment like they can’t escape booking very short term. I’m concerned this is going to go like Arena Puebla, where there was a lot of interest in the first show and then it taped off immediately.

Both TripleMania and Robles Patron Promociones show went well over two hours, which seems to be the CMLL limit. Robles Patron was also trying to get more than 1,500 tickets sold that been CMLL’s limit. Maybe CMLL is keeping these limits for safety reasons and I don’t really mind two hours shows. If these are rules being enforced on only CMLL because they’re run all the time and so they get noticed, it seems unfair.

Sunday’s show

CMLL (SUN) 08/29/2021 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito
2) Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Inquisidor
3) Diamond, Hombre Bala Jr., Magia Blanca vs Dark Magic, Magnus, Okumura
4) Raziel, Terrible, Virus vs Mephisto, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
5) Místico vs Cavernario

They started there as Felino/Cavernario, ended up with Caristico replacing Cavernario, and ended up as Mistico versus Cavernario. And Cavernario probably needs to lose.

Magnus is taking Vangellys spot so that may be an exception, but there’s a lot of guys here who went from openers to the 2nd and 3rd matches with no more reason for people to care about them. They didn’t get moved up as much as the shows got moved down. CMLL’s title belts are largely useless but it’d be worth at least trying to hand out some of the vacant ones to new guys to see if something comes of it. It’d be better if there was some build to winning those, but it seems too late to do that.

If you’ve got 12 minutes, this Mas Lucha interview with Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, and Nitro is well worth your time. They’re on a boat to promote appearing on an upcoming ChinampaLuchas show, but they’re stuck on the boat for a while so there’s time to talk about other things. Ultimo Guerrero’s asked about NGD and Mistico leaving and answers it by explaining people say harsh things on social media but he knows the truth – that everyone other promotion in the world looks to CMLL and CMLL is the promotion the world revolves around. I’m sure he feels that is close to reality too, despite not really appearing that was to most rational observers. Nitro talking about following CMLL since 1974 and having seen bad times before is nearly admitting they’re in a bad time now. This ends up with a pull quote of “CMLL will not die” which is never a good pull quote for a promotion to have.

Robles Patron in Mexico City

RPP (THU) 08/26/2021 Pepsi Center WTC, Benito Juárez, Distrito Federal [Arturo Rosas Plata, ESTO, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo]
1) Máscara De Ángel, Máscara Mágica Jr., Rey Pegasus b Antheuz, Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico
Brazo Cibernetico & Brazo Celestial were added and the match changed
2) Estrellato & Rey Astral b Brazo De Oro Jr. & Súper Nova and Bugambilia & Tonina Jackson Jr.
3) Diosa Quetzal & Dulce Sexy b Baronessa & Estrellita and Diosa Atenea & Reina Dorada [COPA ROBLES Y PATRON]
Atenea & Dorada were out first, then Quetzal & Dulce beat Estrellita & Baronessa.
4) Hijo De Dos Caras & Hijo del Fishman b Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria and Rayo de Oro (Guatemala) & Voltron (Guatemala) and Hijo de LA Park & LA Park Jr. [ROBLES TAG]
LA Parks wanted the first shot at the new champs. 
5) La Máscara, Máximo, Toscano b Averno, Joe Lider, King Charro
Toscano replaced Apolo. King Charro replaced DMT Azul but betrayed his partners. Damian 666 ran in to save them as Perros del Mal members, then Negocio Tramuado (Demonio, Fresero, Traumas, Atomic Star) ran into attack, then Toscano came back with two mystery men as La Perra Sociedad.
6) Cinta de Oro & Penta 0M b Alberto del Rio & LA Park and Carlito & Texano
Alberto had Texano in his armbar, Penta to rope splashed Alberto and covered him for the pin. Alberto challenged Penta to a match in November. Carlito & Texano had issues.

The official Twitter account put out a Tweet asking fans where they’d like to see the Alberto/Penta match, so I guess maybe it’s not necessarily happening in Mexico City. Might be for good reason; the show drew far less than a half house even considering required social distancing. The “look how many people are here” social media shot shows completely empty sections. The show was scheduled to start at 8:30 pm and didn’t wrap up after midnight. Live reports say the show was run with the same speed and urgency of a normal lucha libre show – started late, long breaks between matches, random music performances. The post-match angle seems like Alberto is going to be a heel, but who knows.

Alberto teased Rush showing up in interviews on the day of the show, then the promotion sent out a photo of the stars all doing Mistico poses to tease his brother appearing. Neither did. I think they believe it to be just fun bits to create buzz, but it’s the sort of thing that turns ticket buyers against the promotion. No sense in burning off goodwill, unless you just think of the fans as marks who are going to be easily suckered next time anyway. The lesson here is Alberto is not to be trusted, which is honestly a lesson I should’ve already learned.

Other News

Mexico City will stay at the orange COVID light for the next two weeks. These designations haven’t meant much lately, but it’s nice to read they’ve had the biggest drop in hospitalizations in three months.

The Lucha Brothers face the Jurassic Express tonight on AEW Rampage. The match was taped Wednesday night and said to be great. Worth noting this (or next week) is the last Rampage people in Mexico will legally be able to watch as it stands now. Mexican AEW fans could watch AEW Dynamite & Rampage through AEW’s international FiteTV service. Space in Mexico moved the first-run airing of Dynamite to midnight the same day, which is close enough for AEW to discontinue the ability to FiteTV service for Mexico. Space hasn’t picked up Rampage, and there’s no word when they might. I don’t sense there’s a big AEW fanbase in Mexico yet, though it seems like Mexican lucha libre sites have started covering it closer to WWE in the last few months.

DMT Azul said he’ll begin legal proceedings to get the national heavyweight title back. He might have a case but it’s more surprising he hasn’t moved on. Not sure if it’s really about the title or the commission at this point. DMT Azul did not wrestle on the Robles show – probably because he was busy with the AAA TV tapings – and is next scheduled to wrestle in Mexico City on September 17. He’s annoyed the commission so much that it’s possible they could pick a reason to suspend him.

Texano Jr. joked on Twitter about changing his name to Texanistico and entering the national heavyweight tournament. That list is supposed to come out next Friday.

IWRG (THU) 08/26/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Limbo b Skanda 
2) Bengalee & Kariel b Diosa Atenea & Satania 
3) Leo, Mexica, Relámpago b Black Dragón, Death Metal, Fly Warrior 
4) Aster Boy, Hijo del Alebrije, Veneno b Mafioso, Medico Brujo, Sick Boy 
Hijo del Pirata Morgan returned to IWRG to challenge Alberije for the IWRG JUNIORS ittle.
5) Big Boy, Big Chicoche, Big Mike b Apolo Estrada Jr., Billy Jones, Chris Stone Jr. 
Billy Jones may be Lunatik Fly
6) Toxin © b Dick Angelo 3G [IWRG MEXICO]  
Jessy Ventura asked for the next title shot.

which leads into Sunday’s show.

IWRG (SUN) 08/29/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Chef Benito, Gran Felipe Jr., Spider Fly vs Perro de Guerra, Tirano, X-Devil
2) Elemental, Limbo, Skayler vs Carnicero, Epidemia, Skanda
3) Centella Oriental, Cyber, Shocko vs Comando Negro Jr., Halloween Jr., Vudumax
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Halcón Mágico, Legendario, Lunatik Xtreme, Noicy Boy, Puma de Oro, Rey Halcón vs Aster Boy, Caballero de Plata, Hellboy, Kenji, Lunatik Fly, Sol, Tonalli [Copa High Power, mask, hair]
5) Big Chico Che, Big Mike, Estrella Divina vs Mafioso, Médico Brujo, Sick Boy

Running essentially a FILL show on Sunday after not using many names on Thursday isn’t a great sign. The main event opposition is the Lucha Time side; I’m not sure how a person in Naucalpan would follow Lucha Time at this point.

There’s a strangely loaded lucha libre show in 12/11 on Raleigh, North Carolina. Some Alberto guys, a lot of AAA guys. So many AAA guys that I think it means those AAA guys believe TripleMania Regia isn’t that weekend; it’s probably 12/04 or 12/05.

Space’s listing show one more week of AAA from Oaxtepec. No preview yet.

“Sangre, Sudor and Llaves”, a documentary on lucha libre in Coliseo Coacalco, will debut as part of Mexico City’s Macabro film festival tomorrow. You can tell they’ve been working on this for a while; the Vimeo trailer is 9 years old and Emilio Charles Jr. (passed away 20212) is in it.

This weekend’s ROH TV has Dragon Lee defending the ROH TV title against Eli Isom. Isom’s grown on me and that should be a really good match. You should go back and watch Horus/Flamita if you haven’t already. The 09/11 weekend show will have Dragon Lee & Kenny King versus Chris Dickinson & Homicide for the ROH Tag Titles.

DTU announced they’ll restart with shows in Veracruz from 09/17 to 09/19. They’ve been off since their 06/27 show was canceled due to COVID.

Former SuperLuchas photographer Raul “Speedy” Gonzalez passed away.

Morelos luchador Exagoncito passed away Wednesday due to respiratory issues. He’d been wrestling since 2007 and was active as recently as June.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Update.

Two luchadors who will forever be connected in lucha libre separated on Wednesday. Mistico II, the Munoz family member, filmed a video in Arena Mexico announcing he was leaving immediately and then informed CMLL of his decision. CMLL decided, in a matter of minutes, to keep the Mistico gimmick alive by putting the original luchador back inthe mask. Caristico, who famously wrestled as Mistico and is the wrestler most fans identified as the authentic Mistico even after the character was passed on, received the Mistico mask on CMLL’s Informa show that afternoon. CMLL host Julio Cesar Rivera strenuously pointed out that the promotion will maintain ownership of the Mistico name; Caristico received the right to use the mask and name only as long as his relationship with CMLL stays intact. Caristico’s first match back as Mistico will take place Friday night, replacing Mistico II’s scheduled booking.

CMLL’s decision to give Caristico back the Mistico decision seems to have come rashly. The idea had been floated since Caristico returned to the promotion in 2015, with various big ideas of name versus name battles. It never seemed like CMLL was interested in going in that direction. Guadalajara luchador Fugaz seemed to be in line for the spot, with talk he had been instructed to start learning the big Mistico moves. It ultimately feels like Caristico got the name back partly because of an emphasis of bringing back ideas from the past and partly to make sure the story of the day would be the original Mistico returning to his thrown and not the second Mistico joining other names in leaving CML this year.

Mistico II’s CMLL career is a handy encapsulation of CMLL’s issues in the last decade. The creative forces at the promotion believed they could get sell the fans on any idea they wanted for themselves and lacked the ability to actually do so. Mistico II, upon being offered the Mistico gimmick at a press conference in 2012, declared it both a great honor and a great burden. He was proven correct on both points. “Mistico II” was part of a shift in the marketing of wrestling based more around recognizable brands and less around what they actually did. He’s the symbol of a promotion that turned their luchadors into interchangeable action figures, with the actual people in the gimmicks meaning less and less. It’s a strategy that’s appeared to actively harm CMLL, reducing interest over time as fans become disinterested in seeing familiar match time over time. Returning the Mistico gimmick to Caristico will be very well received by the longtime Arena Mexico fans – they never stopped chanting for him as Mistico – but is a sign that nothing’s going to change. It’s not as blatant as Yago & Drone taking on old gimmicks Enfermero Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr., but it’s just another part of the nostalgia vortex CMLL’s willing trapped themselves in. CMLL is where new ideas go to die, where the only good things in wrestling happened far in the past. Current CMLL is somehow the sort of reunion promotion seen popping up after a big group dies, only they’re still the original group and have not died yet.

“Mistico II” was doomed from conception. It would have been near impossible for any wrestler to be put in that spot and not be rejected by the fans. Mistico I/Caristico was a mainstream star responsible for a wrestling boom, the biggest reason a generation of fans became interested in lucha libre. The guy who would replace him could be more spectacular – and at times Mistico II could be – and it wouldn’t matter. CMLL inadvertently asked their fans to decide between the Mistico they knew and grew up with and hated tecnico Rush’s kid brother. It wasn’t a fair battle. Mistico II got chants of “Mistico Pirata” (pirate/fake Mistico) from the moment he took over the character. CMLL’s presentation of the new character didn’t help the situation. They made noise about how the new Mistico wasn’t going to get anything handed to him, would start in the middle and earn it his way to the top, and might not even use La Mistica. CMLL then did the opposition, pushing Mistico into main events hoping to boost slumping attendance and having him wrestle as closely to the previous Mistico as possible. A few moves from his previous Dragon Lee gimmicks remained, most noticeably the Operacion Dragon ramp dive, but he was a man whose identity was taken away by forcing a new one upon him. The best comparison to the Mistico situation is the La Parka one, where the second character mimicked the first to start but had years of experience, was eventually allowed to take the character in his own direction, and got the big wins to cement him as being a star on his own. CMLL’s Mistico II was a 20-year-old rookie, didn’t have the experience or freedom to grow the character, and never got the real wins prove to turn those fans to his side. CMLL and Mistico II surely thought giving him the character would help his career, but it ended up putting a cap on his growth.

I’m not sure Mistico can shake off that career malaise just by switching to his own name. It might have worked at one time, but injuries have taken their toll despite not yet turning 30. Mistico II’s never been the same wrestler following both his 2014 serious motorcycle accident and his rushed return to the ring. He’s lacked the agility and speed he had prior to messing his leg, been surpassed by many more impressive flyers in CMLL, and there have been plenty of indications CMLL didn’t see him as a specially skilled wrestler beyond the name. CMLL’s priority of protecting the gimmick kept him in top weekly spots, but it wasn’t enough to get him in Aniversario or Homenaje a Dos Leyendas main events. Mistico II won lots of singles matches on normal shows but was generally kept to being part of a trio on the biggest shows of the years. His luchawiki page has no Lucha de Apuesta sections because CMLL never put him one. CMLL ran the much anticipated Caristico vs Mistico singles match at their b-arenas, and Caristico went over both in Puebla and Guadalajara, a seeming conclusion to where they saw him. The wrestlers didn’t seem to treat him much different. Mistico II was wished well by many of them on social media, though it was a running bit how Volador and others would treat him like a kid brother who didn’t quite have his head screwed on straight in interviews. The wrestler itself had no particular incentive to get better and mostly did the same general matches over and over. The only recent changes in years have been to adapt signature spots from brothers Rush and Dragon Lee, moving him from an imitation of one single wrestler to a few wrestlers. The situation feels similar to ex-CMLL La Mascara, who had coasted in CMLL for many years and struggled to regain form when he left on his own. Mistico II is a better wrestler than La Mascara when he left CMLL, but they were very much products of an antiquated system, one that doesn’t teach skills to live outside of it.

Mistico II’s helped a bit because his brothers already have indies connections, and he’s gotten himself in a position for more. There’s a good chance Mistico II will be showing up on the Robles Patron Promociones show tonight. He was at the press conference to announce this show. He didn’t appear in front of the press but he’s been thinking about his move for a while and the timing matches up. Mistico II also appears to be good friends with Cinta de Oro Jr., who will be headlining this show. Mistico’s brother Rush has also been teasing showing up to confront Alberto on the show. I’m skeptical this promotion is viable but it’ll give Mistico a few high-profile bookings to start with. That family connection also means Mistico’s likely been pitched to Ring of Honor – and really, anywhere Dragon Lee or Rush are working has probably gotten or will get a pitch to bring in Mistico II, similar to what’s happened with La Bestia del Ring. Some will bite, and it’ll get Mistico going, though he may have to prove he can stand on his two feet to keep getting shots.

As for CMLL, this should be a short-term boost for a promotion that could use the help A lot of kids whose first favorite wrestler was Mistico are now adults with spending money. Maybe they’ll be excited to revisit their childhood one more time and buy some tickets; CMLL should run with it for the moment. There are long-term structural issues here when top talent is repeatedly leaving the promotion, but it’s nothing that wasn’t said two weeks ago when NGD left (and at least CMLL got a positive story for people to talk about out of it this time.) Titan and Cavernario, who both are attempting to get their visas through the same process as Mistico II, will have their future status a bit more in question, especially after the Aniversario. Mistico leaving opens up a spot, and guys like Audaz, Fugaz, and Star Jr. be in higher positions, though it’ll seem like less star power unless CMLL does something to get those guys over first. CMLL probably won’t do anything, and we’ll be back talking about another departure sooner rather than later. There must eventually reach a point where the people in charge get tired of these issues and make a change but there’s no obvious indication CMLL’s any closer to the breaking point. Maybe someday, instead of a wrestler walking into Salvador Lutteroth to tell him he’s leaving, it’ll be Salvador Lutteroth walking into someone else’s office to say he’s out. There’s no sign it’s happening soon.

Various minor ripple effects

• Mistico & Caristico were scheduled to defend the CMLL World Tag Team Championships on the 09/24 CMLL Aniversario show against the winner of a fan poll. It will now be the top two finishers in the poll meeting for the vacant titles
  • Mistico & Caristico were likely going to lose the tag titles on that show because everyone figured this Mistico departure would happen soon. It just happened sooner than CMLL could get to it.
  • That original scenario would’ve had Volador & Titan winning the belts from Mistico & Volador. The match is now probably Volador & Titan versus Los Gemelos Diablos. CMLL may have expected those Diablos to do better in the poll and now they can give them the tag belts anyway if they show choose.
• Being removed as champion means Caristico/Mistico I will no longer be on the 09/24 CMLL Aniversario show in any form
  • CMLL also announced Wednesday a new tournament Copa Independencia for the 09/17 show, so figure on Caristico being involved in that instead.
• Caristico/Mistico was scheduled to wrestle in Houston on Thursday and Brownsville on Friday. Volador Jr. will replace him, in his first US appearance since the 2019 Global Wars Espectacular shows.
• Caristico/Mistico was originally understood to be a freelancer with CMLL – he took CMLL dates but was in charge of his own schedule. I’m not sure if that’s changed now with the gimmick. That also may inform what name he uses for non-CMLL bookings.
• Guadalajara has tried to use Black Warrior recently – he didn’t make it due to injury – and this is even more reason to try him back as one of Mistico’s old rivals. It seems similarly likely Averno will be back in CMLL – if this was any other promotion, he probably would’ve returned already. The nostalgia will feel good, but won’t be healthy for CMLL in the long term unless they use it to do more than revisit the past.
• The production company behind “Heroes of Lucha Libre” still owns the US trademark to “Mistico” – but since their production company website has vanished, this may be a dead issue.

CMLL

The names of the big CMLL shows in September, as listed on Ticketmaster

• 09/17: “88 Aniversario CMLL-EMLL” (Cavernario/Fellino)
• 09/24: “Noche de campeones, 88 aniversario CMLL”

This seems confusing! CMLL’s marketing the 09/17 as both Aniversario and Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. also think CMLL sees it as the true Aniversario show and they’re calling Homenaje a Dos Leyendas only to honor their promise of making up the postponed 2020 show. You can see it in the ticket prices

• 09/17: 300 to 1200 pesos
• 09/24: 240 to 600 pesos
  • this is the same price as the CMLL Universal de Feminal final

It could be CMLL doesn’t want to charge high prices to a show they have limited control over what matches will be on the show. Which might be a reason not to make that concept the Aniversario show.

We have a little better idea who might be on the 09/24 Fan Vote show. I was able to put together the vote totals for each title. This is not hacking or secretive info; the polling script CMLL’s website uses sends you the raw vote totals when you place the vote so it can draw the lines for the percentages. Anyone who knows how to look can find the info

Didn't intend on this being a daily thing but I realized I missed Euforia in the voting! Yikes. That boosts Heavyweight total ahead of the World Tag titles for 4th.

Enfermero moved up a spot, may pass Dragon Rojo for 2nd on Friday. Women's Tag is getting close again. pic.twitter.com/FaURiEWXLQ

— luchablog (@luchablog) August 25, 2021

Enfermero seems to have a fanbase on Facebook that’s supporting him, though I can’t totally identify why. He just seems to the generic inspiration posts with a photo. We aren’t talking about big numbers per day though, so it just takes a committed group.

If I understood correctly, Julio Cesar Rivera said the card order would be based on the votes for each match. Ultimo Guerrero/Hechicero is in 4th right now, with the world tag team title in last. Those are all a lot of people CMLL wants to see in main events and whom never work opening matches. I suspect what will actually happen is the match with the most votes (the middleweight title match unless the women’s tag match keeps staying hot) will be the main event and everything else will be how CMLL sees fit.

No Puebla results. It’s true for CMLL the same for any wrestling promotion in Mexico and any sporting event in general: if you don’t care enough to let people know what happened, everyone else is going to quickly stop caring. CMLL doesn’t care about the Puebla shows.

CMLL (TUE) 08/24/2021 Arena México [Box y Lucha, CMLL, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores]
1) Angelito & Kaligua b Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico 
2) Hijo del Signo & Nitro b Robin & Sangre Imperial 
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Cachorro, Halcón Suriano Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr. b Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Sagrado 
Tecnicos took 2/3.
4) El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring b Hijo del Villano III, Luciferno, Pólvora 
Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Terrible b Carístico, Fugaz, Volador Jr. 
Caristico replaced Mistico. Rudos took 1/3, Terrible sneaking in a foul on Caristico.

Every time Mistico misses a show from here on it, there’s going to be a “did he leave? is he gone?” bit. He’s on Informa today so I don’t think he’s quit the promotion. He probably shouldn’t be allowed to go out for the milk just to keep people calm. (The flipside is few people are paying attention to these Tuesday shows to know that Mistico’s missed it)

CMLL (TUE) 08/24/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara (video part 1), Arena Coliseo Guadalajara (video part 2), Mas Lucha]
1) Gran Kenut, Javier Cruz Jr., Paymon b Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Signo Azteca
Signo Azteca debut
2) Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno b Leo, Mr. Samurai, Príncipe
Leo & Principe replaed Divino & Luminioso
3) Lluvia, Miss Delicious, Sexy Sol b Náutica, Silueta, Valkiria
Miss Delicious Arena Coliseo Guadalajara debut.
4) Flash & Gallo b Kaoma Jr. & Silver (Tamaulipas)
5) Atlantis Jr. & Gran Guerrero b Bárbaro Cavernario & Furia Roja [Relevos Increíbles]
Furia Roja wore a Mr. Niebla tribute outfit.
6) Atlantis & Último Guerrero b Rey Bucanero & Satánico [Relevos Increíbles]
UG fouled Satanico.

The reunited Los Guerreros del Atlantida won over their old tag team partners.

CMLL (FRI) 08/27/2021 Arena México
1) Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma vs Akuma, El Coyote, Espanto Jr.
2) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Stuka Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Luciferno, Terrible
3) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Marcela vs Amapola Tiffany, Dalys, Metálica
4) Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Hechicero, Místico, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
5) La Jarochita vs Dark Silueta [CMLL Universal de Amazonas]

(Amapola was announced, then replaced by Tiffany Wednesday afternoon.)

Two women’s matches on a CMLL card is rarer than a women’s main event. The semi-main seems to be acknowledging the inevitable Hechicero/Ultimo Guerrero match, though they’re copying the same reunited Los Guererros del Atlantida bit seen in Guadalajara. I wonder if we’ll also see more Espanto & Akuma as a team-leading into their likely Aniversario title match.

This show is on TicketMaster Live for the premium price of 230 pesos. Do not buy it again if you bought the July package. You may have to dig around in your email to find it, but the link for that block of shows will still work. I tried it for me and it worked fine.

Today’s CMLL Informa has:

• CMLL Universal finalists Dark Silueta & La Jarochita
• CMLL Tag Team champions Mistico & Caristico
• doomed possible national tag team challengers Magia Blanca & Halcon Suriano Jr.
• El Satanico & Ultimo Guerrero

Satanico hasn’t been in a while. It could be about their match tonight, though it’s also the two head trainers of CMLL’s schools and they could just talk about how great they feel their schools are doing.

This is Ultimo Guerrero’s first appearance on Informa since NGD quit the promotion and Soberano blamed Guerrero for problems in the promotion. I expect that’ll be all the chat wants to talk about and JCR will not ask a question about it. Guerrero is capable of bringing up on his own, even if only in subtle ways.

the Mexican National Heavyweight Title Bit Won’t Stop

I’ll save you the headache. We learned two things of value from the latest Mexico City Lucha Libre commission press conference 

• they’re not reversing their decision to vacate the national heavyweight championship, feeling their ruling was sound (and that DMT Azul’s threat of legal action can be defeated)
• they are opening up the tournament for a new champion to “any heavyweight” no matter the promotion. The tournament will still take place in Arena Mexico.

This seems to confirm CMLL pulled the title match from the Aniversario on orders of the commission, who were compelled to include non-CMLL wrestlers to avoid claims of favoritism. Note the national middleweight title will be a CMLL-only affair; this is not a consistent policy or some real rules being adhered to, this is just reacting to whatever people are yelling about that day and making it up as they go along.

Fantasma stated the commission will announce participants in the tournament will be announced next week, with the idea of a tournament happening in Arena Mexico in September. He was pressed on if AAA wrestlers would be allowed to participate and sternly replied that all wrestlers who make the heavyweight limit can participate and it doesn’t matter what promotion they’re with. DMT Azul, Sanson, or Rush showing up to ask for a shot at the heavyweight championship would be highly entertaining and seems incredibly unlikely, but this story won’t end so who knows.

The press conference focused a lot on exposing DMT Azul as a not-great guy, including bringing up an incident of hitting a fan in Arena Naucalpan back in May. People in and around CMLL have known of DMT Azul issues for years, going back to his short-lived NJPW time. Those issues apparently weren’t a problem to the commission until he left CMLL and started arguing about keeping this title. DMT Azul shouldn’t be considered the hero of the story, but the commission isn’t coming off well either.

The one positive about this situation is people actually care about the national heavyweight title for the first time in a decade and a half. This title hasn’t been meaningful since maybe when Charly Manson had it in AAA in the mid-2006. (Sorry X-Fly in Perros del Mal defenders.) Diamante Azul won the title as part of a marathon no-fans taping in a title change CMLL didn’t acknowledge until days after it aired completely unadvertised on one of their B-shows. It’s going to be a big deal when the commission announces the names in the tournament – for who’s in and who’s not – and it could be a big deal whoever wins the tournament if it’s played out well. The safe assumption is indie wrestlers will be involved, may even make the final, but CMLL’s getting their title back in the end. The better move might be for an indie wrestler to shockingly win the tournament, and for CMLL guys to chase after him to win it for the next few months. It’d give the promotion an interesting story, something they’re very short on at the moment. I’m just not sure who would work best in that role, and who would be someone CMLL would trust to stick with their plan.

Fantasma once again surrounded himself with older luchadors to endorse the commission’s decision. He increasingly comes off as an embattled politician trying to hang onto this job, though there’s no outward sign he’s in danger of being replaced. (If anything, it feels like Fantasma’s more likely to quit in frustrating before being removed.) One highlight for me is Mascara 2000 telling the Estrellas del Ring how he and his brothers gave up the national trios titles upon jumping to AAA. In reality, Los Dinamitas took the Mexican Trios TItles to AAA, defending them in 1992 and 1993 before losing them to Los Payasos in 1994. The commission at the time didn’t strip them of the titles for jumping promotions.

Those titles would later travel to Promo Azteca and then become dormant for nearly five years when the champions split between different companies; the commission refused to vacate the titles even when it wasn’t possible for the champions to team together. They eventually did in 2005 (and immediately lost them.) One of the champions at that time was Blue Panther. Panther was at this press conference and remarked that these situations were handled better when they were just meeting at the offices of the promotion or the commission. That is probably true, not a single press conference the commission has held has actually helped the commission, though it also illustrates the friends helping friends ways most issues are actually handled in Mexican wrestling.

Mas Lucha caught up to Diamante Azul to talk about the situation, but Puma King interrupted to (jokingly) give the big scoop: La Empresa is currently searching for someone to be the new president of the commission.

Other News

AAA taped Tuesday night in Temxico. This is more no fans shows. DMT Azul & Puma King were there judging from the Mas Lucha interview. Battla Campal mentioned NGD was also at the show, suggesting they might be a regular part of the roster and not just big show guys. AAA normally tapes twice in a week, so there’s probably a taping tomorrow as well. I’m guessing these tapings will start airing next week and last through Heroes Inmortales.

AAA announced Heroes Inmortales will take place 10/09, which matches what the ticket site had listed earlier this week. There is a false Heroes Inmortales card circulating, though this is one of those situations where I hadn’t heard of the fake thing before it got brought up as being fake.

Flamita talked to Universal Deportes about his two big battles in the US – wrestling and learning English, which he feels will give him more opportunities. Flamita says he feels Mexico no longer has the best wrestling in the world, because they haven’t taken good care of it, and feels there’s better elsewhere. It’s a reason why he’s tried to wrestle around the world.

Ring of Honor announced Rush suffered a knee injury during his match Saturday. The severity of the injury is unknown. Rush was visibly limping in the late stages of the matches, but there was no obvious cause. Rush’s contract expires at the end of this year, so a significant injury could mean he’s wrestled his last match in Ring of Honor.

Rush’s knee injury isn’t stopping him from taunting Alberto about at tomorrow’s Robles Patron show. He’s still not been announced for that show but at least it’s attention for the show, I guess. The lineup is here; it still seems weird a month later. Tickets are still easily available for that event at the Pepsi Center, despite a 30% markdown and lots of media work in the last week. It’s clearly a price issue; the expensive ringside tickets have barely sold. I suspect they’ll give away tickets and otherwise try to make it look as they did in Texas, and everyone reporting on the show will go right along with it.

IWRG (THU) 08/26/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Limbo vs Skanda
2) Bengalee & Kariel vs Diosa Atenea & Satania
3) Leo, Mexica, Relámpago vs Black Dragón, Death Metal, Fly Warrior
4) Aster Boy, Hijo del Alebrije, Veneno vs Mafioso, Medico Brujo, Sick Boy
5) Big Boy, Big Chicoche, Big Mike vs Apolo Estrada Jr., Billy Jones, Chris Stone Jr.
Billy Jones may be Lunatik Fly
6) Toxin © vs Dick Angelo 3G [IWRG MEXICO]

I think Billy Jones is Lunatik Fly as a cowboy. This is a low-wattage card – Dick Angelo is in the main event! – and I wonder if they were scared off by the Alberto show or by the poor attendance at recent Thursday shows. This is not going to fix that attendance situation.

09/11 The Crash has Andrade, Mecha Wolf, Besta 666, Rey Horus, Hijo del Vikingo, Taurus, Rey Fenix, NIno Hamburgesa, Laredo Kid, Mr. Iguana, NGD and Poder de Norte listed. The poster doesn’t mention Aztec Underground, though this was previously said to be the first taping for the project. It seems unlikely Fenix would be able to appear for another TV show for the US market, so maybe he’s part of a non-TV match. Similarly unsure about Horus and Andrade. It otherwise feels like an AAA roster show using the Aztec Underground name either as a way to get around the FMV lawsuit or a way for Konnan to book the promotion (even more) how he thinks it’d be succeed.

Tickets to the Crash were said to be on sale at Superboletos, though I haven’t seen them yet. Fans who bought tickets for The Crash’s March 28th, 2020 canceled show had been told they’d get tickets for the next The Crash show way back when, and haven’t heard anything from the promotion lately.

Arena Queretaro is going to try running on 09/04 at 20% capacity. August shows were canceled due to COVID restrictions, and 20% is a smaller capacity than they’ve tried running in the past.

Box y Lucha 3488 has Volador Jr. & Hechicero as the top story. I was not expecting Herb Abrams to come up as a biography.

Bandido and other members of his Big Lucha promotion challenged fans to thumb wrestling battles for free tickets.

LuchaWorld has the latest LuchaWorld Podcast, this week’s Poster-Mania, and the latest Lucha Report.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/20/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores]
1) Guerrero Maya Jr. & Volcano b Sagrado & Universo 2000 Jr.   
2) Audaz, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Mephisto, Raziel, Virus   
3) Hechicero b Volador Jr.   
Hechicero submitted Volador, who left on a stretcher, then taunted the fans while declaring himself the best luchador in CMLL.
4) Dark Silueta & La Jarochita b Dalys, Princesa Sugehit, Reyna Isis, Lluvia, Amapola, Marcela, La Vaquerita, La Magnifica, Metálica, La Guerrera, La Seductora [CMLL Universal de Amazonas]    
Stephanie Vaquer announced, removed from the match on Tuesday due injury in Puebla

The main event was better than as expected and maybe about as good as it could be with those involved. It felt as though they had ran through the match a few times leading up to it and it had better highlights and flow than a normal CMLL’s women match. I spent last week wondering why CMLL didn’t find someone to replace Vaquer, and they may have decided it’d was easier to just remove her parts rather than work someone new in the last few seconds. There were a couple of things of that didn’t go well, but there was also more basic ideas like “make sure the tag team champions do some tag team moves” that you just don’t get from CMLL matches.

It was also a match where some of the usual favorites (Marcela, Dalys) were gone before the final. I don’t think anyone had Silueta & Jarochita as a possible final and still didn’t look it was going to be it until Sugehit was the last one eliminated. Silueta seems revitalized by her ruda turn and Jarochita has been one of the better CMLL luchadors in regular TV matches. She’ll get a big match to show if she can do more than that. It’s tough to call this cibernetico a great match when it ends without a winner by design, but it’s very good. It’s also an example of why doing the cibernetico format works so much better than the rushed single elimination tournaments.

Hechicero and Volador was good, not great. Hechicero put Volador in a lot of holds, Volador didn’t really do a lot with them, and the big match Volador comeback didn’t happen. It’s possible the idea was for Hechicero just to look very strong, but it came off more that Volador wasn’t all the way into this one. CMLL moved the post-match interviewers to ringside, which gave them all a little bit more energy. Hechicero did the best job of it, getting the crowd very upset with him. The results and the promos in the the top two matches felt like a different CMLL promotion than usual, but it’s too soon to know if it’s just a one-week blip.

Second match had its moments. This was an easy-to-watch show, worth checking out when it turns up on YouTube in a couple of weeks.

CMLL (SUN) 08/22/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Titanes]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Fantasy & Kaligua
2) El Coyote, Hijo del Signo, Nitro b Arkalis, Eléctrico, Sangre Imperial
rudos took 1/3
3) El Audaz, Halcón Suriano Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. b Cachorro, Magia Blanca, Panterita del Ring Jr.
Team Audaz, who were working as the rudos by the end of the match, took 1/3
4) Hijo del Villano III, Rey Bucanero, Virus b Atlantis Jr., Fugaz, Panterita del Ring
Rudos took 1/3.
5) Carístico, Raziel, Volador Jr. DQ Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Gran Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
Caristico replaced Felino, all the way through to beating Cavernario by DQ. Tecnicos took 1/3.

The recap reads like the plan is for a Caristico/Cavernario singles match next week. Note Volador was stretchered out on Friday and back wrestling less than 48 hours later.

Some of these matches should air in two weeks, but I’m not entirely sure. CMLL’s all over the place on the B-Shows, with the MVS show airing matches from four different July shows this past week and the AMX being a bit strange too. Some of it has to be avoiding showing NGD matches but there are other strange choices being made. It may be as simple as whichever three matches add up easiest to the 48 minute run time are the ones that get aired.

Puebla has returned to a red health code but today’s Arena Puebla show remains on at the moment. Volador/Gran Guerrero is the main event.

CMLL (TUE) 08/24/2021 Arena México
1) Angelito & Kaligua vs Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Robin & Sangre Imperial vs Hijo del Signo & Nitro
3) Cachorro, Halcón Suriano Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Sagrado
4) El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring vs Hijo del Villano III, Luciferno, Pólvora
5) Fugaz, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Terrible

Looks, Mistico still exists. Last week’s show included Stuka challenging Cachorro for a rematch, Stuka doesn’t appear this week.

On an Ice Ribbon show in Japan, Nao Ishikawa won a match to get a trip to CMLL. Ice Ribbon has sent wrestlers to CMLL in the past. There’s no mention of exactly when or how long this tour is going to be – they’ve been as short as two weeks in the past – and CMLL hasn’t said anything.

Dark Silueta, among others, got into a back and forth with people complaining about CMLL being repetitive. She took the “if you don’t like it, stop watching us” stance, which is always unfortunate but especially so when it appears a large chunk of fans has already taken that advice. (A better stance might have been pointing out Silueta/Jarochita is happening next week, which is for sure a new match.) I will defend Silueta in this instance because Silueta only got involved because she was tagged in a CMLL photo and Twitter’s badly designed reply system means she was automatically mentioned in any reply unless the person complaining about CMLL booking at midnight was careful enough to take her name out of it. That’s so annoying – so annoying Twitter works like that, so annoying to get a notification telling you your promotion is bad. Everyone in CMLL must get that a lot, they can’t do anything about it, they’d probably not like to be reminded about it, so I emphasize with her essentially asking for the guy to go away. It’d be really cool if we were all just a few strongly worded tweets away from fixing CMLL but I don’t think we’re so lucky.

ROH results from the weekend

08/20:

• Silas Young defeated Rey Horus
• Demonic Flamita beat Danhausen, PJ Black, Dak Draper, Eli Isom, and Mike Bennett
• Violence Unlimted defeated LFI
• Bandido defeated Flip Gordon to retain the ROH World Championship

08/21:

• Brian Johnson & Marke Briscoe beat Demonic Flamita & Flip Gordon
  • Flamita & Gordon couldn’t co-exist
• Rush & Dragon Lee defeated Bandido & Rey Horus
  • Silas Young joined commentary and badmouthed Horus all match, suggesting they’ve got another match coming.
  • Dragon Lee & Bandido continue to tease a partnership

Rush also started limping late in the Saturday match. There was no obvious moment where he got hurt, though Dragon Lee mentioned a pre-existing knee injury in an Instagram post earlier that day. He needed help to the back, which wasn’t shown on the stream. There isn’t any official word of his injury. Rush vs LA Park is advertised for a 09/18 show in Arena Neza, but pencil him in as questionable for matches in the near future including the ROH match listed below.

matches announced for the 09/21 09/12 ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV, their next live event

• LFI (Dragon Lee, Rush, and Kenny King) vs Shane Taylor Promotions (c) for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship
• Bandido (c) vs Brody King vs Demonic Flamita vs EC3 for the ROH World Championship

Other News

Heroes Inmortales appears to be 10/09 in Orizaba, Veracruz, according to local advertising pointed out by Pasion Luchistica. That’ll likely be AAA’s next show in front of fans. It may give AAA a little more ability to bring in outside names, though Kenny Omega is still not expected to be on this show. It’s a Saturday show and similar shows have aired live on Space. AAA probably will follow with TripleMania Regia the first week of December, where the AAA Mega title is more likely to be defended. I’m not sure if AAA will run a Guerra de Titanes later in December – probably AAA doesn’t know for sure and hasn’t announced TripleMania Regia because they’re waiting around to what will be possible with COVID the same as everyone else.

I only made it through one match of this week’s AAA TV show far, but it appears to be filler TV as expected; the first two matches are all people who didn’t wrestle (at least under their normal AAA names) at TripleMania. There was no effort to continue any momentum for TripleMania; these matches were taped prior to the show, but it’s not like they aired video packages or promos or anything else to remind you the show existed. I expect the same for the next week or two as they complete these tapings. There is only so much AAA can do in a pandemic, but the presentation definitely reinforced the idea that “TripleMania” and “AAA TV” are two different promotions who occasionally share the same championship belts.

IWRG (SUN) 08/22/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Centella Oriental & Lunatik Fly b Kenji & Vudu Max 
Apolo Estrada Jr. & Chris Stone asked Lunatik Fly to join their Los Rey del Norte group. He accepted. (Atomic Star was in the team prior.)
2) Rey Halcón & Sobredosis b Limbo & Sol 
3) Apolo Estrada Jr. & Chris Stone Jr. DQ Hijo Del Pandemónium & Pandemónium Jr. 
Pandemónium and Lunatik Fly got involved
4) El Mafioso, Medico Brujo, Sick Boy b Big Chico Che, Big Mike, Estrella Divina 
Big Boy is the newest Big Stripper
5) Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura DQ Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.  
Estrella Divina made the save post match
6) Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro, Tonalli b Aster Boy, Legendario, Toxin [TLC]  

The main event was less insane than expected for an IWRG TLC match. It was also one where many of the big spots were preceded by long set up periods, kind of giving them all away. It was fine and it was safe but it was wrestling for the highlight video rather than putting together a match. Angelo is challenging Toxin out of it.

Lunatik Fly replaced Atomik Star probably because Atomik Star showed up as a new member of Negocio Traumado on Saturday night. Though Hijo del Alebrije did the same and that was quickly ignored.

Arena Jalisco reopened Sunday after being shut down for four weeks for violating COVID protocols.

Lucha Memes’s Battle of Coacalco was won by Lee Moriarty defeating Ricky Marvin, which is how I think figured the tournament would go. Everyone advertised for the show made it, which is cause for celebration for Memes (and most lucha libre promotions.)

Mas Lucha announced their Torneo Supremo competition will return in October. They mentioned on IWRG broadcast that the plan is to have fans; last year’s tournament was an early no fans show. Last year’s show was also a Mas Lucha Premium Exclusive show, so maybe they’re running this again to have some non-IWRG content.

Chik Tormenta will wrestle on the 08/28 NWA Empowerr PPV, representing AAA.

GALLI announced GALLIMania on 10/03 in Cicero Stadium. That’s the biggest venue they’ve run in a few years and so they’re bringing in all their regular outside names: LA Park & his sons, Mil Muertes, Aerostar, Drago, Arez, Aramis, Aeroboy, and Mecha Wolf.

 

Former DTU wrestler Pesadilla noted on Facebook that it had been one year since his last match and he believes he’s finished in lucha libre. He didn’t completely close the door but it reads like he’s moving onto other things in his life. Pesadilla had a high profile career for a while, including runs in AAA in the late 2000s and some tours of NOAH in 2013 & 2014. He seemed to lose his sport there in one of NOAH many regime changes and hasn’t wrestled much outside of DTU since that time.

Criterio Hidalgo interviewed local wrestler El Exotico about reaching 30 years of wrestling. He says he wrestled in AAA as Venum for a time.

A lucha libre exhibit opens up in El Paso Thursday..

CMLL starts their CMLL Universal de Amazonas tournament tonight

CMLL (FRI) 08/20/2021 Arena México
1) Guerrero Maya Jr. & Volcano vs Sagrado & Universo 2000 Jr.
2) Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Star Jr. vs Mephisto, Raziel, Virus
3) Volador Jr. vs Hechicero
4) Marcela vs Dalys, Princesa Sugehit, Reyna Isis, Lluvia, La Jarochita, Amapola, Dark Silueta, La Vaquerita, La Magnifica, Metálica, La Guerrera, La Seductora [CMLL Universal de Amazonas, sf]
Stephanie Vaquer announced, removed from the match on Tuesday due to injury in Puebla

I can’t recall CMLL ever running a tournament with an odd number of people. Tiffany & La Comandante are noticeably not booked. Maybe they’re not available to come, but CMLL could come up with a 14th woman from Guadalajara or elsewhere if they so choose. I presume this is a cibernetico but that could be a bad guess after last time. This is a “final two advance to next week” situation, so the show will conclude without a real ending. That format makes it hard to guess who’s going to advance. The ultimate winner will likely be one of Marcela, Dalys, or Princesa Sugehit (with Isis & Amapola as darkhorses) but CMLL picks just about anyone to go against them and it’s mean the same. CMLL is treating it like a big honor for this match and next week’s final to be a main event, and that may push them towards featuring the big stars rather than including an unlikely name.

Volador Jr. versus Hechicero seems to have some interest in it, a first-time Volador match for a guy who has the most singles matches in the promotion. That’s the match that made it no doubt for me to buy this show, I want to see how that one goes. The rest of the card is fine by 2021 CMLL standards.

The show is streaming for at 99 pesos via Ticketmaster Live. It should turn up on YouTube on September 5th.

Sunday’s lineup

CMLL (SUN) 08/22/2021 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Fantasy & Kaligua
2) Arkalis, Eléctrico, Sangre Imperial vs El Coyote, Hijo del Signo, Nitro
3) Cachorro, Magia Blanca, Panterita del Ring vs El Audaz, Halcón Suriano Jr., Hombre Bala Jr.
4) Atlantis Jr., Fugaz, Panterita del Ring vs Hijo del Villano III, Rey Bucanero, Virus
5) Felino, Raziel, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Gran Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

Raizel is never in the main events outside of a cage match or a late sub. He was long underutilized for CMLL but he’s also 48 and hadn’t been pushed before the last year. I presume CMLL just had to replace someone and put Raziel in instead of moving up someone else up but putting a guy the fans identify as “a prelim guy who never got his break” suddenly in main events isn’t a great sign.

Tercera match would be a good lead-in for a CMLL Lightweight decision match if CMLL was aware they had a vacant lightweight match. Sunday shows are turning up, though not all match and on a significant delay.

Monday in Puebla

CMLL (MON) 08/23/2021 Arena Puebla
1) El Asturiano & Fénix So vs Guerrero Espacial & Sombra Diabólika
2) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Rey Samuray vs El Coyote & Fuerza Chicana
3) Magia Blanca, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs El Perverso, Hijo del Villano III, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Stuka Jr. vs Euforia, Felino, Hechicero
5) Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero

Volador main events Friday and Monday, which happened a bit before the panedmic and points out the lack of depth. They’ve also gone from teasing a women’s tag title match to a women’s singles title match to no women at all.

“Fenix SO” is Fenix of the local Siki Osama family of luchadors. I believe he is making his debut; there was a Fenix wrestling here in the mid 2000s but I think that was a different guy.

CMLL (TUE) 08/24/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Signo Azteca vs Gran Kenut, Javier Cruz Jr., Paymon
2) El Divino, Luminoso, Mr. Samurai vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
3) Lluvia, Miss Delicious, Sexy Sol vs Náutica, Silueta, Valkiria
4) Flash & Gallo vs Kaoma Jr. & Silver (Tamaulipas)
5) Atlantis Jr. & Gran Guerrero vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Furia Roja [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Atlantis & Último Guerrero vs Rey Bucanero & Satánico [Relevos Increíbles]

Guadalajara remains weird; the Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero team up in two generations, plus Matamoros guys coming in. This is the most interesting/weird CMLL weekly show and I wish we had a better idea of why this was happening.

CMLL is reopening their Arena Mexico ticket booth. It’ll be available on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday show days as well as Thursday. CMLL tickets had been Ticketmaster only since the start of the pandemic and will still be available via Ticketmaster. JCR used a weird mocking voice when announcing this news on Informa, so I guess they’ve been asked about it a lot (and he seemed aggravated by the repetitiveness of the questions.) CMLL has an older fanbase who probably aren’t keen on figuring out Ticketmaster’s website

Akuma seems excited for the chance he and Espanto Jr. might challenge for the Mexican National Tag Team titles at the Aniversario; they lead in the poll. It’s been a long time for them in CMLL without having a big match and they want to prove they’re capable of more. The Akuma interview also flags something I forgot: Ola Negra was Akuma, Espanto, and Espiritu Negro until Espiritu Negro left to the team to unite with his brother. It’s an obvious story that CMLL hasn’t been interested in but may back into telling.

Stephanie Vaquer suffered a chest injury Monday in Puebla. CMLL posted an x-ray to show the injury and I’m not smart enough to know how to tell she’s hurt, but she’s hurt. She’ll be sidelined for 7-10 days, so it’s not too serious. She’ll miss the Universal tournament but should be back in plenty of time for the Aniversary show, where she barely leads over Reyna Isis & Dark Silueta.

Vangellys will be out 2-3 weeks due to a biceps femoris tendon rupture. That’s also not so bad given how it sounded when it happened Tuesday. This is how I learned people have a bicep in their arm and their leg.

CMLL’s sponsoring another virtual marathon. The last one they did included a free CMLL PPV for the runners. That doesn’t seem to be mentioned this time (and I’m not sure I know of anyone who used it last time.)

CMLL & NFTs

CMLL Informa aired a video promo for Seronuo branded NFTs and Fan Tokens with no further explanation. You can find many people trying to explain what “NFTs” are on the internet in more depth. (Fan Tokens are slightly different, but close enough for this paragraph.) My over-simplifaction is NFTs are an attempt to recreate the concept of buying physical memorabilia digitally by creating an artificially scarce number of them, driving up the price in the process. Memorabilia can be fun and people have found ways to make NFTs more fan-friendly than just buying a shirt or an album. That’s the distinct minority. Most of the people buying NFTs aren’t doing it because they want the digital object themselves. Instead, people have seen a few NFTs get resold for high values and most of the money being spent on the digital items are really bets that those NFTs will be the next hot thing that’ll skyrocket in a short time. NFTs have become in practice lottery tickets with extremely long odds where anyone is allowed to print and charge for new lottery tickets, and so it’s become a massive rush to print as many lottery tickets as possible before the speculator money dries up and moves onto some other get rich quick scam.

CMLL is probably just involved in NFT as content; you need something to link to an NFT and CMLL counts as ‘something’, though not a lot more than something lately. Seronuo made a similar deal with LigaMX prior and CMLL may be doing as little as offering the same sort of profile photos that go up on their website if the trailer is indicative of the plan.  There’s almost no chance CMLL fans are going to adopt this in meaningful numbers – if CMLL fans aren’t paying for actual PPVs then why are they going to buy digital photos? – but it’s almost not even about CMLL fans. They’re just another thing for NFT investors to trade and sell. Someone with Seruno will likely be on Informa in the next couple of weeks to try to explain how Fan Tokens and NFT. That’ll be a deeply entertaining discussion given CMLL people seem to believe anything that happened after about 1985 is terrible. That discussion is also the last time it’s brought up beyond the ads airing. This is a scammy business for CMLL to be involved in but other people are doing it and the check will cash. I’m sure AAA will do the same thing if a deal comes along.

The one notable bit is those Fan Tokens – when they’ve been done elsewhere in sports, users have been able to cash in for some very minor interaction with the team. Think something along the lines of 4000 tokens allowing a fan to pick one of the songs playing as the players warm up. CMLL allowing fans to buy a minor bit of control seems unlike them, but the Aniversario show is a fan poll thing this year. Really, it’s most likely I’ve spent more time thinking about this in the last two paragraphs which anyone in CMLL who’s part of it.

I can’t believe we’re still talking about the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship

CMLL announced on Informa that the poll to decide a new National Heavyweight Championship at the Aniversario show will now be a poll for the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. It’ll be the leading vote-getter (likely Hechicero) facing Ultimo Guerrero on 09/24 for the belt, instead of the planned four-man tournament for the vacant title. Ultimo Guerrero and Gran Guerrero remain in the poll for the national tag title shot, though the Guerreros are trailing by so much that it’s not going to be an issue.

This announcement was preceded by a Julio Cesar Rivera rant about people on YouTube who know nothing and yellow media. CMLL’s always had a bunker mentality and the recent departures have made those self-righteous feelings harder to hide. JCR insisted the national heavyweight title is and would remain vacant, the decision to make it vacant was approved by Fantasma and CMLL would definitely fill the title down the line. JCR explanation on not defending the title was so the “yellow media” would not have anything more to write about. It’s unclear what CMLL expects to happen when they retry the tournament down the line.

DMT Azul appearing with his lawyer to talk about this situation implied a legal threat, though I haven’t heard anything was actually filed. Switching from the national title to the world title probably helps the show. Everyone may not be happy with Ultimo Guerrero but Ultimo Guerrero in a big singles match is one of the better draws CMLL has at the moment. CMLL seemed to be rushing to fill the national heavyweight title as a way to prove DMT Azul didn’t matter out of spite. They’re now forced into putting on a match people would want to see.

(Cavernario/Hechicero might’ve been the better match, but there’s no guarantee CMLL would’ve booked that and they had control of the final match. Also, Cavernario still seems in a ‘pandemic’ fitness condition, a concerning situation with his big match three weeks.)

It’s very unlikely anyone besides Hechicero gets the match with Ultimo Guerrero; he had over 50% of the vote last time I checked and Hechicero’s long been a guy CMLL fans have been higher on than CMLL programming.  Euforia versus Ultimo Gurrrero would be a very interesting match given the apparent out-of-the-ring issues between the two, but it would require a targeted and sustained campaign to get him into the match.

Dralistico

Rush trademarked a name/logo for a wrestler name “Dralistico.” The trademark was filed in June and started circulated as a screenshot last week. Very few people are generally looking for wrestling trademarks, so it was probably Rush or someone keeping a very close eye on him who found it. It’s not something you’re going to stumble upon accidentally.

“Dralistico” seems like a mix of “Dragon Lee” and “Mistico”, which leads people to believe to logically believe it’s Mistico II’s post-CMLL name. You can’t have a post-CMLL name without leaving CMLL, which had led to a week of people on social media wondering if Mistico is leaving soon. The trademark was filed in June, it’s August, so filling the name alone isn’t enough to get Mistico to leave. Mistico has been on the road to leaving CMLL from the moment CMLL cut ties with the rest of his family, with the lack of a visa being his biggest hold up. That’s progressing as well but it’s not done, and I don’t think he’s going elsewhere until it’s done. It’s possible CMLL could cut ties with Mistico before Mistico leaves but that idea did them no favors with NGD and CMLL may at least want to space out the departures. Volador & Titan (or whoever wins the fan poll) probably should win the CMLL World tag team titles from Mistico & Caristico to protect CMLL.

It’s not a big deal to CMLL if CMLL just lets it happen, let’s Mistico walk out as champion. It should be concerned to CMLL that they’re losing talent, but CMLL seems committed to the viewpoint that all luchadors are easily replaceable. If Mistico II leaves as champion, CMLL will hold another tournament (which they enjoy) and stick another person in the Mistico outfit (seemingly Fugaz.) It will pick up steam on the idea that something is very wrong in CMLL but I have no idea if something is close to happening.

In similar news, Drago is looking for US bookings under the name Dios Drago. It appears he’s still working AAA, but getting out of the AAA-owned name for those outside bookings.

Shows of Note This Weekend

It hit me this morning that I think I’m committed to watching six wrestling shows this weekend. That is very dumb! Somehow I’m going to watch CMLL and AAA, though probably neither live. I’m going to AEW Rampage tonight, which may have Penta & Fenix working Dark matches. And there are more lucha libre-related shows you may care about.

Ring of Honor on running Friday & Saturday night. These shows air live on HonorClub and appear as if they won’t air on their TV show. These shows have fans which is still a rarity in ROH.

Friday (6 pm CT)

• Flip Gordon vs Bandido for the ROH World Championship
• VLNCE UNLTD vs La Faccion Ingobernable (4 v 4)
  • Brody King was COVID positive last week but ROH confirms he’s recovered and will be on this show.
• Demonic Flamita vs Flip Gordon vs Dak Drapper vs Eli Isom vs Danhuasen vs Mike Bennett
• Rey Hours vs Silas Young

Saturday (6 pm CT)

• Bandido & Rey Horus vs Dragon Lee & Rush
• Flip Gordon & Demonic Flamita vs the Briscoes

ROH TV this week also has Demonic Flamita versus Rey Horus no DQ match.

Warrior Wrestling is Saturday at 7 pm CT (and on Fite) with Mr. Iguana versus Aramis in a Warrior Wrestling Lucha Libre championship match. Iguana’s going to get over strong with that crowd. The big news is the Sam Adonis versus Jay White match is still on for the main event; CMLL doesn’t seem to know about all the related shows going on in Mexico and this card hasn’t gotten brought up in Mexico much, so there’s a good chance that CMLL doesn’t know a NJPW guy is facing someone who appeared on TripleMania. I think I’m making it to this show but not totally sure. Sam Adonis, Mr. Iguana, and Aramis are working GALLI the next night in Chicago.

In actual shows in Mexico

• Kriminal’s Prohibido Femenil tournament kicks off on Saturday, though the non-tournament matches (Komander vs Tonalli, Arez & Toxin vs Bendito & Vandalo) look like the draws.
• Saturday Arena Lopez Mateos has Penta, Hijo de Wagner, Hijo del Espectro and Hijo del Fishman in a four way.
• Tijuana’s Evolucion Lucha Libre makes one of its occasional trips to Mexico City on Saturday, with Aerboy vs Tiago vs Jimmy vs X-Torm on top for their title.
• Lucha Memes is Sunday in Coliseo Caoacalco with the Battle of Coacalco, a eight-man tournament. Lee Moriarty is the big outside name and likely to face Ricky Marvin in the final. The show will turn up on IWTV eventually; they’ve made good time on them lately.
• IWRG has something on Sunday! Probably!

No lineup for AAA’s TV yet. My impression is this week’s TV and next week’s TV are shows taped prior to TripleMania. They won’t follow up much in what happened, but that’s the norm for AAA TV this year and it might still be good TV. If I do make it to Warrior Wrestling, I’ll still try stream AAA.

Other News

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentions one reason AAA didn’t put the title on Andrade is that Andrade has not agreed to a return date. That seems strange; I wonder if it was more specifically Andrade not agreeing to a return date at the price AAA wanted to pay because Andrade is commanding a big number for his indie work. The WON also says Omega didn’t arrive until 4:30 pm Saturday due to needed a COVID test and flight delays.

On his podcast, Konnan mentioned Dragon Lee was intended to be Taurus’ partner at TripleMania, but had to cancel because his wife was giving birth that weekend. Konnan plans to shift the titles to Vikingo & Laredo at one point; it’s never said why it didn’t happen, only that he thought they did good work in that match. Aerostar was also scheduled for the show but missed it due to illness, with Aramis subbing in for him.  Konnan talked about agenting the Copa Triplemenia match, which involved telling the guys that the match was usually disliked every year and coming up with ways to make it better. He feels they did a good job with it this time and was happy with the reaction for Mr. Iguana making it to the end and winning. The segment ended with a tease that another person is following NGD over from CMLL soon. Soberano’s the obvious guess, though his positive remarks about the Lutteroths may make it less likely than it sounds.

Last night’s IWRG results

IWRG (THU) 08/19/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Limbo b Fussion  
2) Hijo De Payaso Purasanta, Manchas, Payaso Purasanta Jr. b Caballero de Plata, Hellboy, Lunatik Fly  
3) Mafioso & Medico Brujo b Black Dragón & Death Metal 
Team Lucha Time got the win.
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro, Tonalli DQ Aster Boy, Legendario, Toxin [super libre] 
tease of a TLC match for an upcoming Sunday show
5) Hijo del Alebrije © b Abismo Negro Jr. [IWRG JUNIORS]  
1st defense

The main event appears to have been an attempt at a technical match in front of a small crowd mostly taking advantage of large discounts on alcohol. It didn’t go well. The semimain sounds like it went a lot better. I’m not sure if “this next Sunday” means 08/22 or 08/29.

A wire story posted in many places – here’s one copy – mentions the Mexico State Secretary of State shutting down three lucha libre shows in violation of COVID protocols. Builder owners could be fined or shut down as a result. I’ve got the three posters but I’m confused as to what actually happened. The Arena Neza show is on the list but that show did happen. One show was scheduled for this weekend. COVID shutdowns in Mexico State have taken place inconsistently through this pandemic. I don’t know what this will mean for other shows, just there’s a slightly elevated chance of random shut downs.

The 08/31 KEGEND Arena Queretaro show is now canceled due to a local ban on large events. Another show earlier this week was canceled prior.

KAOZ & Lucha Time promoters met with the Nuevo Leon secretary of health and agreed to return to no fan shows for the time being. It’s presented as the promoters voluntarily doing a great thing; new Nuevo Leon policies may have pushed them to that end anyway. Neither promotion has been active much; Lucha Time deciding to switch from Mas Lucha to only local TV has caused them to essentially vanish. TV may reach more people but they don’t exist outside of their Facebook page otherwise.

Famed 80/90/00s luchadora Martha Villalobos is hospitalized due to COVID-19, her brother told El Blog de la Lucha. She hasn’t wrestled in about a decade but was one of the more well-known women’s wrestlers in Mexico two decades, first with the restart of women’s wrestling in EMLL and then a long-time AAA roster member and local promoter.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara’s Guerrero Vikingo posted he’s in bad health (on oxygen) and is holding a raffle for a mask. It reads like COVID but he doesn’t say it’s COVID. He also made a point of saying CMLL was supporting him.

80s/90s luchador Serpiente China passed away on Tuesday according to Box y Lucha.

Alberto el Patron did an autograph signing Wednesday to promote next Thursday’s Robles Patron Promociones show, and a lot of media too. Tickets are moving better in cheaper sections but it looks like they’ve overpriced the front rows and they’re not moving.. They’ve started to discount tickets in some sections. Alberto video headline via Furia de Titanes: “fans need to support good wrestling and stop being keyboard warriors.” Via the Gladiatores: “I’m ready to return with a special flavor after the injustices of social media.” There’s not too much talk about the specific matches, perhaps because few people care about the matches they’ve booked.

A Record article with Texano is more interesting; he felt like he got too comfortable in AAA and needed a change. He didn’t feel like he had the same passion for wrestling he once did and wanted to try going elsewhere to reignite it. Texano believes AAA creative didn’t give him much to do but also he had stopped fighting for it and doesn’t hold it against AAA.

GCW/BLP on 09/03 in Hoffman Estates has Juventud Guerrera & Super Crazy versus Dragon Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Gringo Loco & Arez vs Laredo Kid & ASF. Dragon Bane & Canis Lupus are completely off my radar while apparently in the US so it’s nice to see them exist at all. The belief outside of the lucha libre bubble is all luchadors wrestle the same but there are some different philosophies in this match and it’ll be a challenge for it to go smoothly.

Andrade will wrestle for Delgado promotions on 09/19 in El Paso.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Lucha Report.