IWRG/NOAH, The Crash/Azteca Underground, Demon off Demon TV show

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 08/03/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha]
1) Apocalipsis & Cholo b Retro & Sangre Imperial 
2) Diamond, Robin, Sonic b El Coyote, Grako, Hijo del Signo 
Tecnicos took 1/3. Robin wore a Brazo de Plata outfit to honor his uncle.
3) Hijo del Villano III, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr. b Flyer, Magia Blanca, Panterita del Ring Jr. 
Rudos took 2/3
4) Fugaz, Star Jr., Stuka Jr. b Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus 
Tecnicos took 2/3, then asked for a trios title shot.
5) Místico, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Euforia, Felino, Terrible 
Tecnicos took 2/3

The main event tecnicos are the Sky Team. I forgot about the Sky Team. So did CMLL so it’s fine.

CMLL (FRI) 08/06/2021 Arena México
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito
2) Audaz, Pegasso, Stigma vs Akuma, Enfermero Jr., Espanto Jr.
3) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Felino Jr., Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
4) La Guerrera, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
5) Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón

Most of the matches are technically new, because they’re run them with five of the people involved but not a six. There’s nothing fresh about them and this seems like an easily skippable card. Maybe they’ll run a NGD/Guerreros trios match later this month.

The women working much higher than usual, as a preview for the CMLL Universal de Amazonas tournament. I didn’t understand the CMLL announcement last week: the bit is the women are getting semifinals on the 6th and the 13th, but the tournament itself doesn’t begin until the 20th. Not two blocks like last time around.

Enfermero Jr. is a new name here. There have been many wrestlers who’ve used “Enfemero Jr.” and “Hijo del Enfermero” after the famous Enfermero of the 50s and 60s (who was the junior partner of a Medico Asesino, who also has a lot of real/fake sons.) CMLL may explain more on Informa, but for now it’s unclear if this is a new wrestler talking the name or one of the recent people; one popped up in Naucalpan and MexaWrestling back in May.

CMLL Informa has Titan, Lluvia, La Jarochita, Yago and Drone on the show. There’s no obvious reason for the last two to be on the show, except for the hilarity of CMLL referring to a guy who’s been in the promotion since 2010 as a “future star.” Yago hasn’t been on shows in a month, so I guess there’s a chance he could be Enfermero Jr. CMLL’s tended not to reveal gimmick changes like that though. Julio Cesar Rivera bringing out Enfemero Jr. as a surprise seems likely.

Ticketmaster does shows any PPVs for this month. Maybe they’ll explain they’re coming on Informa. If they say nothing, assume they’ve dropped the weekly PPVs after no one bought them again. I would not assume they’ll go up on YouTube; we may just be waiting two weeks to see them outside of one big show a month. The shows aren’t good, they’re overpriced, they’re not user friendly and people had all sorts of tech issues in July, they probably should stop doing them.

CMLL’s Guadalajara branch essentially ran two shows on Tuesday given how many people got sent to Queretaro as well.

CMLL (TUE) 08/03/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha]
1) Demoledor, Micro, Relámpago Azul b Mr. Ángel, Temerario, Último Ángel
2) El Divino, Mágico, Reycko b Paymon, Persa, Quka
3) Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Minotauro b Bobby Black, Carlo Roggi, Fúnebre
4) Black Warrior Jr., Difunto, Joker, Vaquero Jr. b Crixus, Leo, Luminoso, Príncipe
5) Dark Magic, Okumura, Zandokan Jr. b Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
Okumura snuck in a foul on Rafaga to win
6) Carístico, Magnus, Titán b Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel

Nothing too notable here. Maybe they’re doing a Rafaga/Okumura feud.

CMLL (TUE) 08/03/2021 Arena Querétaro [Fuego en el Ring]
1) Kimura & Phobos b Anarquista & Star Fight
2) Fuego Latino & Samuray Azteca b Drabek I & Hades
3) Explosivo, Fantástico, Kaoma Jr., Star Black b Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono
Cometa & Espiritu helped the locals win, setting up a OCCIDENTE TRIOS title match.
4) Dalys, Náutica, Silueta b Lluvia, Miss Delicious, Sexy Sol
5) Gran Guerrero, Nitro, Último Guerrero b Ángel de Oro, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
Guerreros asked Atrapasuenos for a tag title shot

The Trios title match has been set up for the last couple of weeks so that’s one happening. The recap sounds like the MEX TAG title match is happening, but I’m less confident. Rey Cometa & Espiritu Negro facing and beating the Guerreros in their hometown would be a big deal, just not sure the Guerreros would be happy in that role. Attendance doesn’t seem great here, though some of that may be due to COVID spacing and they seem to be doing the right things. If they can somehow resuscitate Queretaro as a regular CMLL stop, whoever’s booking this should get a medal (and also control of the Mexico City branch.)

The lineup for their 08/13 Friday return show is up

CMLL (FRI) 08/13/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Estrella De Jalisco I & Estrella De Jalisco II vs Conde & Persa
2) Explosivo & Fantástico vs Adrenalina & Estrella Oriental
3) Gallo & Ráfaga vs Flash & Zandokan Jr.
4) Atlantis Jr. & Hijo del Villano III vs Black Warrior Jr. & Crixus
5) La Magnifica & Princesa Sugehit vs Dark Silueta & Stephanie Vaquer
6) Carístico & Místico vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Mephisto

I have no idea why they’re all 2v2 matches.

Arena Puebla held a press conference to publicize next Monday’s re-opening and discuss the COVID safety rules. There will be no vendors walking the rows; fans will have to go to the concession stands themselves. Only bagged or closed items will be sold, which excludes the famous local cemitas sandwiches. The first two matches will be one fall with an eye on getting the show doing under a certain (unspecified) time limit. Most noticeable, luchadors will not be allowed to leave the rings and fans will be told not approach the ring. That includes dives; Benjamin Mar is quoted as saying dives are not allowed and the wrestlers have been informed of the rule. Arena Puebla’s front row is close to the ring with no barrier, though this is a story more about the difference in local rules. Arena Coliseo Guadalajara’s front row is only a short distance farther back and there are no dive restrictions in that city.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 08/05/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Halcón Magic & Spider Fly vs Black Shadow II & Sobredosis
2) Baby Star & Noicy Boy vs Legendario & Rey Halcón Jr.
3) Caballero de Plata, Hellboy, Kenji, Lunaitk Fly, Sol, Tonalli vs Ambu, Carrillo, Pistolero, Reptilium, Secreto Negro, Shango
4) Alas De Plata, Aster Boy, Diosa Quetzal vs Dick Angelo 3G, Diosa Atenea, Puma de Oro
5) Hijo del Espectro & Hijo del Fishman vs Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura

Another Thursday, another cibernetico. The outside the ring stuff is more exciting with IWRG than anything they’re doing on these Thursday shows.

Mas Lucha’s En+carados announced Sunday’s IWRG main event is Bandido, Aramis, and Aster Boy versus Hijo del Vikingo, Toxin, and Tonalli, which sounds great. Bandido & Vikingo have a singles match on Friday night in Arena Neza. I don’t know of it airing live anywhere, but I’m sure it’ll turn up on a half dozen YouTube channels.

Hijo del Espectro & Hijo del Alebrije do not appear to be headed to NOAH after all. A source close to the situation says NOAH currently has no plans to bring them in, had no idea who these guys were, and couldn’t get the paperwork to bring them in if they wanted anyway due to COVID travel regulations in Japan.  As far as I can tell, the Mexico promotions announced these deals knowing they weren’t real. Maybe there was some hope of them happening down the road, but more likely they were hoping people would forget or would make up some excuse they didn’t happen down the road.

Baby Extreme also posted on Facebook saying Lucha Time promoter Cristian Martinez is now accusing him of robbery, which appears to be stemmed out of a contractual dispute between the two. Fresero Jr. posted both the GAW & Baby Extreme messages on Twitter, leading to Konnan posting strongly negatively about Roberto Figueroa. My best guess is IWRG and Lucha Time announcing the NOAH stuff was an attempt to get their issues with Baby Xtreme and the others out of the news.

In other “PALL/IWRG/related infighting that I barely understand” news, GAW responded to a IWRG claim that they had stolen their tag titles by posting Whatsapp screengrabs of conversations with IWRG’s Marcos Moreno indicating he was fine with the situation. GAW is supposedly a Chicago promotion but they most just appear as a logo on Lucha Libre Boom posters. Bryce Benjamin & Marshe Rockett won the IWRG tag team titles in 2019, haven’t returned to Mexico since and it sure seemed like there were multiple chances for them to lose the titles to people from Mexico to bring them back that haven’t been done. (Also, it appeared like Demonio Infernal & Fresero were meant to win the tag team titles from them in late 2020, and IWRG would’ve just had another problem with them.) GAW claims they’ll hold a title match on their next show and send the champions back to Mexico.

The Crash announces an Azteca Underground taping

The Crash announced they’ll be running the debut taping for Azteca Underground on September 11th at Auditorio de Tijuana. That’s MLW’s attempt at doing a Lucha Underground knockoff. There’s a lot of different aspects to this

• finally getting The Crash shows taped in the funniest possible way
• Azteca Underground running a TV taping suggest they’ve got a media deal – but maybe this could also just be getting footage for a test run
• no one’s been able to run lucha libre at Auditorio de Tijuana since the start of the pandemic, Baja California is in Orange right now after being worse not too long ago. I hope it gets better, that’s not the way things seem to be going and this might end up being awkward
• Lucha Underground was a small tight set wrestling show, the Crash was always a prestige show in a big space, those seem like different things and it’s hard to see how those things are going to work together
  • Azteca Underground is/was never going to be Lucha Underground so I hope they just make a show the Crash people like.
• MLW already has a TV taping on September 11th in Dallas, so are they running Aztec Underground with a second unit? Why did they pick the same day to run both? Maybe latino talent (Arez, Aramis, Mil Muertes, Dario Cueto, maybe LAX) are headed to Tijuana instead of Texas?
• Anything MLW is doing in Mexico only happens with Konnan’s approval and guidance, which means Konnan and The Crash are back to working together again. This had been rumored since The Crash teased AAA wrestlers on their upcoming show. Konnan has switched between The Crash and EMW in Tijuana at least four times in the last ten years. He and the Crash last parted ways in December 2017, when The Crash believed Konnan was secretly working to go back to AAA and fired him. Konnan said he was trying to broker a peace and ending up going back to AAA as a result. I guess he got them back on the same page four years later.
• if Konnan is in charge of Azteca Underground on his own and runs all sorts of angles after being in charge of AAA creative and doing very little at all this year, I’m going to lose what’s left of my mind. On the other hand, if Azteca Underground is booked like AAA this year then it’s not going to be watched much.
• Maybe Azteca Underground should be expected to be taped in Mexico going forward. The Mexican wrestlers MLW has brought in seem to only be those who are working in the US on their own already, every wrestling promotion is struggling to get visas for people, and perhaps the only way a lucha libre promotion can be filmed for international TV right now
• if this is MLW using more AAA wrestlers (like Vikingo) for Azteca Underground, it seems like it’s going to be rather good but also right into the crosshairs of the AAA/FMV lawsuit. Or maybe everyone gets a new gimmick?
• The Crash previously announced Andrade as appearing with them. Is that a different show? I’m guessing AEW won’t allow him to appear on Azteca Underground – or maybe they just have him for US TV and this is sort of Mexico TV?

KAOZ’s social media mentioned last night Emperador Azteca was going to work on a great project with Konnan in September, so this has been in the works for a while when it’s broken to vague social media promotion. I’m sure these guys are being told they’ll have a chance to become the next Fenix and Pentagon, the Mexican stars who break out to worldwide stars. I don’t know that’s possible; it’s going to be much more difficult this time around. The wrestling world has changed LU started, with a lot of the mindspace that might’ve been open to a different wrestling project like that taken up by AEW. It’s very hard for anyone else to break through. Lucha Underground had the advantage of a John Morrison off WWE TV and a Ricochet being a hot indie/Japan name as the major stars before the fans latched onto the Mexico-based names. That’s going to be harder for MLW – if those guys existed now, they’d be swooped up by WWE or AEW already, and what guys MLW does have probably need to be on the MLW taping. We’re on a run of Mexico or Mexican-themed promotions that seem dead from the start, and I’m out of trust for any of these working. It’s nice that guys will get at least one day of work out of this but I’m not confident about more than that.

Other News

The upcoming “Blue Demon and Ultra Violet” Disney TV show is now the “Black Scorpion and Ultra Violet” Disney TV show. PWInsider noticed a Disney press release announcing an actor being cast for the previously non-existent Black Scorpion role; it’s exactly what Blue Demon Jr. was going to be on the show. The press release doesn’t mention Blue Demon Jr. and Blue Demon Jr. hasn’t said anything about the situation. This move seems to be in the works for a while; there are casting notices for extras using the Black Scorpion name posted on June 28th (which still mentions Blue Demon on the cast) and July 13th (which does not.)

The easiest assumption is this has something to do with Blue Demon’s wife accusing him of domestic violence back in March, which Demon denied and nothing much more has been said. There’s nothing specifically stating that is the reason though. It could be something relatively minor like Disney deciding Demon wasn’t suitable for the acting requirements of a show like this. Still, there are graceful ways to get out of Blue Demon’s participation, and nudging him away quietly suggests a bad ending.

Robles Patron Promociones announced their next major show for September 4th in San Antonio. The promotion had been previously complaining about how hard it was to run their Hidalgo show against a WWE show in San Antonio on 08/16. It didn’t make complete sense at the time with San Antonio being many hours away, and perhaps they were thinking ahead about this show. This is a much smaller place than the Payne Arena.

Andrade is not listed on this 08/04 show, which may have to do with AEW having shows on the 3rd and the 5th in Chicago, though Andrade’s new manager Chavo Guerrero is listed. on the RPP show. So maybe it’s possible Andrade is one and done.

Psycho Clown is listed on the RPP September 4th show. He continues to work the international shows for the promotion, not yet those in Mexico, but it’s a surprise to see any AAA name on here after RPP set themselves up as a competition. It’s a situation keeping in mind. Psycho would appear to have tremendous leverage with AAA because there’s no obvious replacement for him on the roster, nor anyone being built up to take the face of the company spot he inherited from La parka. Psycho would also seem to be one most affected by the pandemic decrease in wrestling shows (and wrestling revenue.) He’s been working a lot in the US in recent months.

The 08/26 Robles Alberto Promociones Mexico City show will now have a 2×1 ticket deal in some sections, though only on Thursdays. That should tell you how tickets are going.

Alberto had a court date Monday in Bexar County about his pre-existing Aggravated Kidnapping case. This is the situation where the accuser posted an apology on Instagram and seemed to indicate she’d no longer participate in the case. There were four charges, three were dropped after, the hearing on this charge was pushed back a couple of times before being scheduled Monday. I presumed the final charge would end up being dropped as well and that’s the last we’d hear about this. Instead, the court records (2020CR9835) indicate the trial is still ongoing and new documents have been filed. I’m still not sure this will go anywhere but it appears to still be active.

Juventud Guerrera appears on AEW Dynamite to wrestle Chris Jericho in his highest-profile match in many years, playing off their 1998 mask match. I think people hope to see a little bit of the 1998 Juventud Guerrera and I’m not sure if that’s still in him. The vast majority of the viewing audience probably hasn’t thought about Guerrera since his WCW run or perhaps his WWE Mexicools bit; the “CEO of Lucha Libre” is a different but still very unique character nowadays. No one would be surprised if some bizarre story came out of this – I think people are likely expecting and hoping for one.

Lucha Indy Fest, a convention/marathon lucha libre show, says they’ll be running on October 3th in Tultepec. Zona 23, Mexa Wrestling, Lucha Memes, Promo Lucha Femenil will send matches for the 12 match show and they’re teasing a Penta appearance.

LuchaWorld has the best and most complete Brazo de Plata obit, as well as this week’s Poster-Mania and this week’s Lucha Report.

Drago and Mascarita Divina are working in Holland, Michigan in October. I have no thought of Mascrita Divina in quite a while.

Chiapas luchador Guerrero Zulu was arrested Thursday for an aggravated robbery that took place back in 2016. His family disputed the charges.

Miguel Reducindo has a video up about the history of Olympic wrestlers in lucha libre.