TripleMania XXIX, various heavyweight title issues, Guerra de Golfo

TripleMania

AAA TV (SAT) 08/14/2021 Arena Ciudad de México, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal [AAA, ESTO, Lucha Central, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, Voices of Wrestling]
TripleMania XXIX
1) Aracno, Estrella Cosmica, Leyenda Americana b Picadura Letal, Terror Purpura, Venonoide 
12:42. A Marvel Lucha Libre match. El Furioso (Hulk, Murder Clown) made the save. El Engañoso (Loki) taunted the heroes from the video screen.
2) Mr. Iguana b Myzteziz Jr., Carta Brava, Aramis, Tito Santana, Niño Hamburguesa, Drago, Pimpinela Escarlata, Argenis, Mamba, Mocho Cota Jr., Villano III Jr. [Copa Bardahl] 
18:26. Parka Negra, Super Fly, Octagon Jr. all got involved. Mr. Iguana won the Copa. NGD appeared after, attacking Mr. Iguana and then taking out Aramis & Octagon Jr. as they tried to make the save. Poder del Norte faced off with NGD until they were attacked by La Empresa, who gave NGD t-shirts to join their group.
3) Deonna Purrazzo © b Faby Apache © [AAA REINAS, IMPACT KNOCKOUT] 
9:46. Maravilla and Tirantes helped Purrazzo beat Faby with an armbar. Purrazzo is a doubel champion.
4) Fénix & Pentagón Jr. b Hijo Del Vikingo & Laredo Kid and Brian Cage & Taurus [AAA TAG] 
14:28. Fenix & Penta beat Vikingo with a two man Fear Factor on Vikingo. Mystery person was Cage.
5) DMT Azul, Puma King, Sam Adonis b Chessman, Murder Clown, Pagano 
8:43. Chessman and Pagano fought, costing their team the match.
6) Kenny Omega © b Andrade [AAA HEAVY] 
24:41. Konnan accompanied Omega, Ric Flair appeared with Andrade and helped Andrade during the match. Omega still won using the belt.
7) Psycho Clown b Rey Escorpión [mask, hair] 
23:53. Goya Kong turned on Psycho Clown for no reason (except AAA always does that) but Psycho won seconds later with a tapatia. Escorpion got his hair cut in the ring and both expressed respect for each other.

I survived Saturday. So did AAA. The stream was a complete success though I’m not sure everything else was. I believe there were probably around 5,000 people in the building, but I don’t believe they were able to sell 5,000 tickets. The ticket window claimed a sell out on the day of the show, but there had been plenty still available the night prior and I heard a couple of stories about free tickets being distributed. I’m not sure how much to chalk that up to people not being interested in this card and how much to justifiable fear about going out to wrestling shows during a rising pandemic.

I had Psycho Clown/Rey Escorpion, the tag title match, and Omega/Andrade as the best three matches but they were close enough that I wouldn’t argue with them. Psycho/Escorpion had the most intensity and crowd energy, though it also had the nonsensical Goya Kong turn and a finish that also made the entire build based on one sport irrelevant. (AAA did drop that reverse superplex move on the last TV taping, so maybe it was something they had in mind already.) AAA had probably been setting up the Goya turn from the moment she started appearing on TV, but there’s nowhere interesting to go and it meant no more as a near fall than anything else in that spot. AAA’ philosophy, especially on these big shows, is they need a lot of twists and heel bits to keep fans interested. I’m not sure I believe they’re right, and I know it’s a huge turnoff to the international crowd. Every casual enjoys TripleMania for what it’s for, but I don’t think I had anyone new ask me how they can start watching AAA going forward based off this.

The takes on the Omega/Andrade seem to vary based on expectations. If you saw his previous post-WWE work and were discouraged enough to be concerned Andrade might be a lemon then Andrade having a very good match is a hopeful sign. If you listened to his belief that he could be the best wrestler in the world and saw a bit of that in him before he went to WWE, then having just a very good match with Omega isn’t impressive. It’s a very weird situation for Andrade: everyone going into WWE is likely told the way they’ve done things are wrong, but no one more so than a guy who’s been wrestling CMLL style for all his life. He’s now left WWE and has others trying to tell him the WWE style doesn’t work outside of WWE, and that sort of reprogramming for a second time mas be very tough to wrap your mind around.

The bigger story coming out of it this might be the reversal with the Mega title, as mentioned on the podcast Saturday night. Andrade was scheduled to the AAA title win, AEW asked AAA to hold off on Omega losing, and AAA agreed to the change. That’s not great for AAA’s plans, but AAA plans don’t always appear to be real things. It’s also part of the bargain with putting your belt on someone who might soon be a champion elsewhere. As a fan, I’d rather see Omega as champion than Andrade and I didn’t expect to see either of these guys in AAA for months, so it’s no big deal.

There’s not a whole lot to say about the rest of the card. It was a show with a lot of good to great matches, but nothing came together for an all-timer in the way that they have in years past. The AAA/Empresa match was lighter on weaponry than you’d expect for a TirpleMania Pagano match. The women’s match was a disappointment, a situation where AAA didn’t believe the women could handle getting over themselves and overloaded it with heel spots to cover it up. It’s unclear why they booked a match for a big show they didn’t believe in and it doesn’t give me much faith in how Purrazzo’s reign is going to go forward. The tag team match was great, though most handicapped by AAA’s frantic camera switching. Surprise person Brian Cage doesn’t match the description at all, making me wonder if AAA decided just to bring back Cage to play Terror Purpura after Texano quit and thought it was better to get two bookings out of him rather than another set of plane flights for whoever was originally planned. Copa TripleManias means nothing going forward – I couldn’t remember who won the past ones without looking them up – but it was a nice acknowledgment for what Mr. Iguana has done to this point. The guy came from an outpost of Mexico with no logical path to the major leagues or even indie stardom, worked his way there, and got himself over enough where everyone was pretty happy with that feud. The Marvel Lucha Libre bit had Arcano doing a crazy entrance and worked well enough. It was also the only merchandise AAA brought to the show.

Ric Flair was among the big winners of the night. Photos circulated of Flair backstage before the show even started, but I think most people were still very surprised to see him and the Mexican crowd treated him like a big deal. The Flair chop bit with Andrade & Omega is probably the most viewed moment of the night. NGD’s debut came off as a really big deal, they immediately sold everyone on the Poder del Norte faction, and it greatly improves the La Empresa faction. (Those Empresa guys are also probably fortunate they made their move before the NGD became available.) The Marvel Lucha Libre stuff seems different and weird enough to get over – or at least the international streaming crowd really loved it. There’s a lot of stuff AAA’s doing in 2021 that I think would appeal to a US audience if they could easily see it, but that’s not one I would’ve guessed.

AAA is now booking towards a December show, believed to be TripleMania Regia. I write believed because AAA didn’t even hint that show was coming, much less announce a date in front of their largest audience of the year. There was also no date for next year’s TripleMania XXX.

Psycho Clown did post-show interviews saying he wants to challenge Kenny Omega for the Megachampionship. That’s going to be the situation to watch. Psycho Clown getting the title shot was the plan with Andrade was going to be champion and AAA probably still wants to get to that destination. Omega would prefer to face Vikingo. It’d be cool if they just did both but AAA’s probably only bringing back Omega for TripleMania named shows, so the scheduled title change would have to wait at least a year (assuming nothing else strange happens.) It’s probably a choice between Vikingo or Psycho at TripleMania Regia, and AEW seems to win the arguments. Psycho Clown and Hijo del Vikingo should probably also just have a match, that seems fun. I’m not sure where this leaves Andrade either, who was clearly supposed to work the TripleMania Regio show – maybe he won’t be used at all?

The Crash announced NGD for the 09/11 show that’s hyped as an Azteca Underground taping. I expect they’re part of the project and that project may have played a role in getting them to leave CMLL.

Andrade’s bride-to-be, WWE’s Charlotte, was backstage at TripleMania. Konnan confirmed this in a photo where he amusingly tagged some fake accounts by mistake. Or maybe it was a plan that’ll play out in the weeks and months to come, gotta give it time. Charlotte being in Mexico City meant Charlotte was not in Charlotte, North Carolina, where WWE had a house show the same night. The Wrestling Observer reported she had asked for the time off in advance and WWE just decided to keep promoting her.

I reached over 18K unique viewers at the peak of my stream, and I know there were others restreaming who got over 4K. AAA’s Facebook seemed to go over 42K during points of the show. Didn’t get a TikTok report. Did see the Omega/Andrade match posted on YouTube with a 250K views already. The numbers on Space and AAA should exceed that but we may not ever see those.

I’m thinking of doing a “how I did it” article on this if I can get myself to write it and if I’m sure I won’t cause any more problems doing so. It wasn’t that hard on the day because of work I did prior to it and because AAA’s own Facebook feed worked flawlessly. If I disappear from this earth and AAA has the same situation in December, I have no doubt someone else will be able to do what I did. No one from AAA has reached out to me about streaming the show; I’m not sure if it would be a legally sound thing to do and I hold nothing against about not saying thanks. The stream really wasn’t for AAA anyway, it was for the people who wanted to watch TripleMania, and those people have been very kind with their thanks.

DMT Azul and the National Heavyweight Championship

The Mexico City Lucha Libre commission held another of one of their increasingly common press conferences to explain a thing. This week’s thing was their decision to strip DMT Azul of the National Heavyweight championship. The commission retains control of the national titles (though not the CMLL/NWA/AAA named belts) and so they have to power to vacate the titles. Their reasons:

• DMT Azul had not defended the title in 90 days
• DMT Azul had made an unauthorized title defense previously
• DMT Azul had changed his name from Diamante Azul and so no longer could be champion

Therefore the commission to the belt away from DMT Azul and gave it to CMLL to hold a tournament.

Giving it to CMLL is where this all falls apart because it’s CMLL who is ultimately responsible for all three rule violations. CMLL is the one scheduling title defenses, not DMT Azul. CMLL likely scheduled the unauthorized defense in San Luis Potosi, since his opponent was Ultimo Guerrero. And it’s CMLL who is preventing Diamante Azul from using that name. CMLL’s punishment for those rule violations is to get the thing they wanted, the title for yet another tournament. That’s even putting aside that there are current CMLL national champions who had or currently are breaking one of those three rules and there’s been no action taken on them.

The third rule, the idea that wrestlers can’t remain champion after if they’ve changed names, likely gives CMLL possession of all the national titles going forward. CMLL increasingly owns the names of their top wrestlers, those who leave will likely need to make a name change, and CMLL will be able to present the same argument to vacant the belt.  It’s Mexican wrestling, so it’s always possible that rule changes or gets forgotten and the name change won’t happen to everyone (see NGD). Still, the commission trying to declare it’s power over the belts, gave all the power to CMLL. I don’t know that they realize it.

As I noted when DMT Azul left CMLL and this title first became in doubt, an indie promoter is eventually going to give Azul their belt and he’ll go one with it fine. He may be happier because an indie promotion might schedule more title defenses than CMLL does. The only real item of interest is why the commission took action here to help CMLL and we don’t know the answer to that.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/13/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Diario Basta, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores]
1) Disturbio & Magnus b Eléctrico & Sangre Imperial  
2) El Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Magia Blanca b Dark Magic, Okumura, Vangellys  
Tecnicos took 1/3
3) Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Terrible b Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther  
Terrible replaced Templario on Tuesday. Rudos took 1/3. Blue Panther did a stage dive.
4) La Jarochita, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita b Amapola, La Seductora, Metálica  
Tecnicas took 2/3
5) Fugaz, Titán, Volador Jr. b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Hechicero  
Announced as NGD, who were replaced by Titan, Volador and Templario after leaving the promotion on Tuesday. Fugaz replaced Templario

Hechicero/Volador is a singles match that hasn’t been done in a real way – they met once in a quick tournament match. They have different philosophies on matches and might bring out something interesting in each other.

It is impressive that Blue Panther did a dive off the stage, also kind of reveals it’s not as dangerous as it might look and it probably needs to be other people getting those moments. It may not really matter at this point.

CMLL (SUN) 08/15/2021 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Último Dragóncito b Pierrothito
2) Arkalis & Retro b Apocalipsis & Inquisidor
tecnicos took 2/3
3) Cachorro, Pegasso, Stigma DQ Akuma, Enfermero Jr., Espanto Jr.
tecnicos took 2/3, the last when Enfermero refused to release his hold on Cachorro
4) Esfinge, Rey Bucanero, Valiente b Luciferno, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Valiente took 2/3, the last when Luciferno and the Panteritas had issues.
5) Atlantis, Felino, Místico b Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]

I keep thinking the feud they’re setting up is Mephsito versus Panterita Sr., but Mephisto & Luciferno versus both Panteritas seems like the better idea. Former Ultimo Guerrero tag partner Luciferno getting a payoff would fit with the overarching CMLL story. I just don’t know when they can do it.

Puebla has Caristico, Mistico and Volador Jr. versus Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero and Templario tonight. There was a lot of media attention on the first show back and I haven’t seen much of any for show two.

CMLL Tuesday’s card is more of the same

CMLL (TUE) 08/17/2021 Arena México
1) Leono & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Robin vs Disturbio, Magnus, Nitro
3) El Audaz, Pegasso, Stigma vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Vangellys
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Luciferno vs Kráneo, Pólvora, Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Carístico, Místico, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Euforia, Terrible

That’s a show short on rudos.

Tickets are on sale for the 09/17 CMLL show. It’s billed as the Aniversario show, though it’s actually the Felino/Cavernario hair match show. The title match show is 09/24. The prices are in line with Homenaje a Dos Leyendas of years past, a little cheaper though that may be in part because of changes in Ticketmaster fees. They expect people to pay the same prices they would’ve if Felino/Cavernario happened in March 2020. There is no ticket map, which is a little interesting. It’s hard to make an argument of limiting CMLL to 1,500 fans when 25% capacity is closer to 4,000 and TripleMania was allowed 25% capacity. I don’t think it would make a difference for most shows, but even a cold CMLL should be able to sell more than 1,500 for Felino/Cavernario and for the 09/24 Aniversario.

CMLL hasn’t mentioned any streaming plans. We probably won’t know for sure what they’re doing until September, but even the big end of August show isn’t on PPV this month. Doesn’t seem like a good sign.

CMLL (FRI) 08/13/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara]
1) Estrella De Jalisco I & Estrella De Jalisco II b Conde & Persa
2) Explosivo & Fantástico b Adrenalina & Estrella Oriental
money thrown in
3) Dark Silueta & Stephanie Vaquer b Náutica & Princesa Sugehit
4) Gallo & Ráfaga b Flash & Zandokan Jr.
5) Atlantis Jr. & Hijo del Villano III b Crixus & Zandokan Jr.
Both teams had problems and Villano III used the ropes to win. Zandokan Jr. replaced Black Warrior Jr.
6) Carístico & Místico b Bárbaro Cavernario & Mephisto

I was figuring we’d never see these matches, but Guadalajara put up the video like normal. Guadalajara put up two complete shows to Mexico City’s one this week. I wouldn’t have had results without the video.

La Magnifica missed the tercera. Magnifica is booked a lot in matches she doesn’t appear, which may be the reason why her career hasn’t matched her abilities. Warrior Jr. seems dropped from the young guy’s feud for Zandokan going forward.

CMLL (TUE) 08/17/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Cosmo, Raven, Último Ángel vs Conde, Destello, Destructor
2) Capitán Cobra, El Divino, Mágico vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
3) Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Minotauro vs Joker, Omega, Vaquero
4) Flash & Gallo vs Corsario De Fuego & Guerrero De La Muetre
5) Atlantis Jr. & Crixus vs Hijo del Villano III & Zandokan Jr.
6) Explosivo, Fantástico, Star Black © vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel [OCCIDENTE TRIOS]
first defense

The Cavernarios brothers teaming up for a title show is a good story, though it’s also a little bit of the nepotism that runs through CMLL. At least this instance is something that might sell some tickets.

Tomorrow’s CMLL-heavy Arena Queretaro show is canceled, due to health restrictions reducing the tickets sold.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 08/15/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
Guerra del Golfo, 2021
1) Amazonika & Legendario b Halcón Mágico & Lady Lee
2) Hijo De Pandemónium & Pandemónium Jr. b Apolo Estrada & Chris Stone Jr.
Pandemoniums made a switch to win
3) Bengalee, Hijo De Dos Caras, Hijo De Picudo, Hijo del Alebrije, Puma de Oro, Tonalli, Toxin, Veneno b Diosa Quetzal, Hijo del Fishman, Jessy Ventura [cage, semifinal]
new rules are wrestlers have to escape in a five minute window or they all advance to the final. Diosa Quetzal, Hijo de Fishman, Jessy Ventura (added to the match) lost.
4) Abismo Negro Jr., Big Chico Che, Canek Jr., Diva Salvaje, Hijo del Espectro, Kariel, Satania b Alex Black, Aster Boy, Diosa Atenea [cage, semifinal]
Alex Black, Aster Boy, and Diosa Atenea all advanced to the next cage match. Diva Salvaje was added to the match.
5) Alex Black L Jessy Ventura, Hijo del Fishman, Diosa Quetzal, Aster Boy, Diosa Atenea [mask, hair]
Jessy Ventura beat Alex Black, who hadn’t wrestled here in 10 months. Black got his head shaved.

Most lucha libre cage matches include someone going to the top of the cage and doing a plancaha into the ring on everyone. This IWRG cage match had Aster Boy do the plancha to the floor.

Las Shotas got added to the show after a pre-show attack by Fishman, so the cage match was decided by someone who wasn’t announced in the match and someone who no one knew who they were when they were announced. It now seems obvious IWRG changed the rules of these cage matches to prevent the crowd from turning on the match. The old rules would’ve meant the final would’ve been only Jessy Ventura versus Alex Black and everyone would’ve immediately known the guy who is never in IWRG was going to lose. This format at least teased something else could happen, though I’m guessing most people figured it out. I just feel dumb for not seeing that from the start. At least I don’t feel dumb for paying for this. I don’t expect to be a big uproar about such a cheap finish to a cage match because no one really expects better from IWRG.

Other News

An amusing story meaning nothing: an Uber driver was taking a passenger into the pedestrian bridge that crosses over from Laredo, USA to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The passenger was having a conversation about lucha libre on his phone, and the driver had a “pleasant chat” with the passenger after he hung up. They got to the bridge and the driver asked the passenger what his name was. It was Alberto del Rio. Alberto then asked the driver if he could loan him the dollar bill he needed for the bridge toll; he only had cards on him and people were waiting on the other side to take him to Mexico City. The driver gave him the bill and got a selfie with Alberto. As a person who hasn’t gone to an ATM since the start of the pandemic and has only had a crinkled five-dollar bill in my wallet for the last month, I think I can actually relate to Alberto here.

Maximo teased he and other members of Robles Patron Promociones were showing up at TripleMania. Since there had been other reports of this happening, it seemed like something that was actually happening and not a comedy bit, and I’m glad for everyone that it didn’t happen.

Ring of Honor’s TV episode with Bandido & Dragon Lee in a ten man main event is now up. Ring of Honor’s podcast has Rey Horus as a guest this week.

Black Label Pro announced Lee Moriarty versus Laredo Kid for their 09/04 (All Out weekend) show in Hoffman Estates.

lucha libre-related matches announced for PWG’s Threemendous VI show on September 26

• Bandido (c) vs Davey Richard for the PWG World Title
• Malakai Black & Brody King vs Demonic Flamita & Black Taurus
• Aramis & Rey Horus vs Dragon Lee & Laredo Kid

Box y Lucha 3485’s top story is the biggest match of the week: Volador Jr. vs Hechicero. NGD jumping is right below, but it does flag up they don’t really cover AAA that much.

Leon based luchador Ultratumba Jr. passed away on Friday, according to his brother Cadaver de Ultratumba.

Segunda Caida watches some Virus.