Month: August 2021

CMLL announced around 3 pm Tuesday that the promotion and the members of Nueva Generacion Dinamita have decided to part ways. Sanson, Cuatrero and Forastero were the current CMLL World Trios Champions, Cuatrero the CMLL World Middleweight Champion. Both titles are vacant and will be decided in a tournament. All are under 30 years old and figured to be the backbone of CMLL for decades to come. The NGD members have not said anything about their departure as of yet; the most we’ve got is a Cuatrero RT of a meme comparing them to Leo Messi’s recent team change.

NGD’s last match in CMLL was last Friday night, when they defeated the Los Guerreros Laguneros trios of Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, and Templario. (That trios are now most likely to win the vacant world trios titles if other parts of this story do not come into play.) NGD was scheduled to headline again this Friday, and CMLL immediately replaced them with Titan, Templario, and Volador Jr.

There’s no real replacing them full-time on the roster. CMLL’s roster is full of 40+ wrestlers who are struggling to get around, and there’s not a group of 20s just waiting to get the spot. NGD should’ve been around to main event CMLL’s biggest show for years to come and that’s not a spot they can pull three guys out of the gym to take it. Sanson, Cuatrero, and Forastero had not lived up to their potential as in-ring wrestlers (though there were signs of life lately) and it’s tough to call anyone a draw in the current CMLL client, but they were one of the more popular acts CMLL has and they are still young enough that they’ve could improve. CMLL can put guys in their spots and they will, but it’ll take a lot of work to get fans to follow them as much as they had the NGD trio. CMLL hasn’t shown they’re capable of doing that work much lately.

Times are tough, the pandemic has crippled the Mexican lucha libre business, and the most likely answer to all of the questions here remains “money.” Maybe NGD wanted more, maybe CMLL wanted to cut it, I don’t know. I do know that those guys are exactly the guys you make the exceptions for, pay a little more to keep around, because you’re going to make more money off them in the long run. NGD only leave CMLL if CMLL doesn’t want them or someone just totally outbids them. It looks like the first option.

Responding to a discussion about the announcement, Soberano Jr. pointed the finger at Ultimo Guerrero for ruining CMLL , saying he could say so because he was inside and has seen it happen. Soberano Jr. also defended the Lutteorth family, saying they’d always supported him, and he felt the real cancer of the promotion was elsewhere. Ultimo Guerrero is not known to have any official role in the company beyond wrestler and lead trainer, but he’s believed to be a major center of power in how things are run, having an influence in the booking and hiring of talent. The stories are many and varied; this past week on Mas Lucha’s broadcast of IWRG, Miguel Reducindo talked about Demasiado’s very short stint in CMLL. Demasiado was targeted for the full-time role of CMLL exotico, only ‘a certain unnamed wrestler’ put a stop to it because he wanted the spot for their own connection. Torreon’s Dulce Gardenia got the spot instead. NGD leaving CMLL because of an Ultimo Guerrero-related issue seems odd because Forastero was dating Ultimo Guerrero’s daughter last we knew and they were considered one of his guys. Maybe they broke up, maybe Guerrero saw NGD surpassing him as the top rudo act as a threat to his own position. Whatever the case, they’re gone and a lot of people aren’t happy about it.

Soberano’s post lead to a back and forth with Dragon Lee, who hinted Soberano was on his way to Ring of Honor soon. That would likely mean Soberano is on his way out of CMLL. Euforia, Soberano’s father, is believed to have had real-life issues with Ultimo Guerrero that mirror their own screen breakup. Euforia has been kept away from Ultimo Guerrero since June and Their feud was quietly dropped. Soberano hasn’t wrestled in CMLL since an injury in May, though he has appeared at press events. There’s no word when he’ll return and it’s now a question of if he will. Euforia is scheduled to the main event tonight’s Arena Mexico show.

Rush and LA Park have also dunked on CMLL and endorsed NGD’s move.

The names Sanson, Cuatrero, and Forastero are trademarked by CMLL. If they show up at TripleMania Saturday, which certainly seems a possibility now, they’d need new names. (They do seem to own the “NGD” monicker, though.) I wouldn’t put it past AAA to bring them in for a big show – maybe Copa TripleMania in La Empresa shirts this weekend – but the stripped down 2021 TV tapings suggests NGD go in the Rush/LA Park pile of outside names AAA would like to use and maybe can’t make the numbers work for the no fan shows.

NGD are obvious Konnan’s picks. There’s an existing connection there – Sanson worked the (we’re pretending we’re not) KAOZ show earlier this year, and that’s a part of the Konnan cinematic universe. They’ve worked The Crash as well and would be a natural fit for those Azteca Underground tapings in Tijuana next month. They’ll also be in high demand for whatever indies can run during the current pandemic. Sanson & Cuatrero also probably have the size to at least get consideration from WWE, whenever they next feel like making a play for Mexican wrestlers. Most top wrestlers who’ve left CMLL have seemed to be happy with the move, and it’s not likely to be different for NGD.

For CMLL, it’s yet another black eye. They’re also a promotion seemingly uncaring with how disheveled they look to the outside world, and with total faith in their training system to replace anyone who’s left. They’ve lost quite a few and those replacements haven’t look good lately. Maybe they’ll come up with the next great star but the promotion appears to be trapped in a rough spiral downward and there’s no telling where it may end.

When is TripleMania?

TripleMania is this Saturday, August 14th

• New York: 9 pm
• Mexico City/Central Time: 8 pm
• Los Angeles: 6 pm
• London: 2 am Sunday
• Tokyo: 10 am Sunday
• here’s a bigger list if you live in another wonderful location

Caveat: AAA’s run pre-shows matches before that have been really good. They may be running one again. Maybe check in early if you want to see everything.

How can I watch TripleMania?

this should be an easy one but it’s so annoying and has been all year

If you live in Mexico, your best bet is Space (cable TV) or AAA’s Facebook. There are other options, but those two will air the show completely and live. (You also could go to a Cineapolis movie theatre to watch it if you’re OK with going out. Wear a mask!)

It will not air on AAA’s YouTube and also not AAA’s Twitch. Not even if you’re in Mexico! AAA was getting paid by Twitch to air their shows on Twitch (above and beyond the normal Twitch money), Twitch isn’t paying them anymore, AAA’s not on Twitch. I’m not sure why no YouTube but no YouTube.

If you live outside of Mexico

• there is no official way to watch the show outside of Mexico
  • for real for real
• like that Facebook link up there won’t even work for you, go try it
• maybe you can watch it on TikTok starting at 10 pm but I’m not even sure how that’s going to work or if people outside of Mexico will be able to see it
• there are unofficial ways to watch the show
  • I’m going to stream TripleMania on Twitch and then me and friend(s?) will babble about it afterwards
  • other people will likely be doing the same, you’ll have to dig but you can find it.

What is the deal, man? Why can’t I just watch this show on Fite or something?

AAA would like to air this show everywhere. They don’t have that option right now. They made a deal that went very badly, or at least that’s what’s being claimed in court. No one can agree who gets paid any time AAA airs outside of Mexico, so AAA’s sidestepping the argument by not airing AAA outside of Mexico. It’s been this way the entire year.

The overly simplified version is

• AAA made a deal with a bunch of Hollywood investors (who we’ll call Lucha Libre FMV) to fund Lucha Underground.
• AAA agreed that if FMV paid a mystery amount to get LU going, FMV would get the rights outside of Mexico forever and ever.
• FMV paid the mystery amount
• LU did not make anyone much money. Depending on who you ask, they may have lost a lot of money.
• AAA & FMV worked together once more to run shows in NY and LA
• that also failed
• FMV then noticed AAA was making all sorts of money with international companies (Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Pluto, more) and wanted that money to recoup what they lost on the other projects
• FMV’s reading of their deal with AAA is they didn’t just buy only the Lucha Underground rights, they brought the rights to every character AAA has ever created (past, present, and future) outside of Mexico and any money they will ever make using those characters outside of Mexico
• AAA tried to pay them FMV of the international money to get them to go away
• FMV felt they weren’t being heard, filed a lawsuit, and got AAA’s YouTube & Facebook taken down saying they owned the footage and the characters.
• AAA got those sites back, but only in Mexico where everyone agrees AAA owns the footage

The craziest part of this is AAA giving away all of that for Lucha Underground, instead of just licensing their property for that show and retaining ownership. The second craziest part is AAA hasn’t acknowledged any of this happened. There’s never been an explanation to international viewers about why AAA’s disappeared off of social media for them – the only reason we know this is because someone stumbled upon the lawsuit filing and pointed me towards it. (There was a sideways confirmation in a press conference too.) AAA also has avoided actually being served in the lawsuit for months. This started in 2020 and it may be 2022 before AAA even responds.

(AAA may have a good defense for all of this. We have no idea at this point because they haven’t said anything. As it currently stands, it sure seems like they’re eventually just going to have to pay FMV for what they owed them from international earnings, and then perhaps another sum to buy the AAA rights back to resolve those. Those kinds of multi-million dollar payoffs are painful at any time and may just not be possible in the midst of a business-crushing pandemic. AAA might be stalling this out just so they’re in a better position to make a deal. This can be over in days whenever the two sides agree to a number to make this go away.)

So if FMV got AAA’s social media taken down, will they come after people streaming TripleMania? How about AAA?

No idea! My best read of the situation is FMV cares about the millions of dollars they feel AAA owes them and not the scraps that people might make off streaming one show. AAA doesn’t care – they’d stream it everywhere if possible – and just don’t want to get an additional hassle from FMV. The biggest obstacle is the Twitch stream getting too popular and Twitch shutting it down just to be safe. (I’ve got a backup plan should that occur.)

Will I get in trouble for watching AAA this way?

You, the viewer, are not going to get in trouble for watching the show. It’s not piracy, AAA’s not charging for the show, AAA would happily allow you to watch the show for free if it was possible.

For me, it is work, actual expense, and potential liability on my side, so I’m going to have a donation link if you want to buy me a pizza or pay for future legal costs. I’m hoping to reach a big total of $45 USD by the end of the night.

Is there English commentary?

No, it’s Mexico only, there is no English commentary.

Will I be able to watch it later?

If you’re in Mexico, for sure, it’ll be on their Facebook, that video stays up there. It’ll eventually be on their YouTube as well.

If you’re elsewhere, sure, it’ll be around somewhere, but you may have to look. (I won’t leave it up on Twitch but I may stick it elsewhere.)

Are you actually writing a preview of the matches at some point?

Yes! But that is a different blog.

COVID & TripleMania

Mexico City is back in Red health code according to their federal government and Orange health code according to the city government. Either way, the Mexico City government has stated they will not order any businesses to re-close the doors even if they do get to red. It’s presented as a need to keep the economy going again, with some medical logic behind it. COVID cases in Mexico are near the recorded highs set back in December, but the deaths are much lower (thanks to the vaccinations so far), hospitalization is slowing down and there’s disagreement about how the health color code system should way those different variables.

I’m not a doctor, knowing what Mexico City should do here is way out of my league. I have expressed opinions about what CMLL should do around their big show, but that’s when they had known infections on the roster. AAA isn’t dealing with an outbreak, so I guess they should keep going if they can keep everyone safe.

Mexico City seems OK with TripleMania (and other lucha libre shows) happening under current guidelines. The Mexico City government gave the OK to an electric industry conference this week which will have 15,000 people on hand, so they’re not going to stand in front of big gatherings as long as they respect the current health rules. It would take someone else – the local arena government, the federal government, AAA, the building management – to stop the show at this point. Those things almost never happen, we’re just in a space where things that almost never happen are happening more often. There’s no way to be completely sure TripleMania is happening until it happens but, as it stands Monday afternoon, I expect it will happen as scheduled.

SuperBoletos ticket map shows a lot of the upper-level sections still with tickets available. I haven’t gone through trying to purchase them, but those are usually among the first to fill up and a lot of the sections look almost entirely unsold. Maybe they’re not actually on sale due to capacity restrictions.

A Twitter user posted a chat with a Superboletos customer support agent via Facebook, who said TripleMania will likely be postponed. I would not take that as fact; Superboletos are going to be the last people informed if something happens and the customer service agent is likely guessing off news reports and don’t have any actual information from AAA. They’ll know like an hour after everyone else knows.

The big TripleMania news is TikTok has been added to the ways to watch TripleMania. Can you regionblock TikTok?

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/06/2021 Arena México [CMLL, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores]
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito 
2) Akuma, Enfermero Jr., Espanto Jr. b Audaz, Pegasso, Stigma 
Rudos took 2/3. Debut of the newest Enfermero Jr. (ex-Yago)
3) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Felino Jr., Pólvora, Rey Bucanero 
Tecnicos took 1/3
4) La Guerrera, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi DQ Dalys, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer 
Skadi replaced Marcela earlier in the day, but suffered an elbow injury in the first fall. The match seems to have fallen apart at that point, with a DQ in the third fall to get out of it.
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero 
NGD took 1/3

The first showcase match for the CMLL women ended with a hurried DQ because of an injury. Could’ve been better. Nothing here feels worth $5 so it was probably good none of us could pay for it.

CMLL (SUN) 08/08/2021 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Angelito & Fantasy b Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Disturbio, Inquisidor, Magnus b Eléctrico, Hombre Bala Jr., Oro Jr.
rudos took 1/3
3) Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Vangellys b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Luciferno [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Amapola, La Seductora, Reyna Isis b La Jarochita, La Magnifica, Princesa Sugehit
Princesa Sugehit replaced Skadi (injured on Friday). Rudas took 2/3.
5) Carístico, Panterita del Ring, Titán DQ Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Mephisto
tecnicos took 1/3, the last when Mephisto unmasked Panterita again

Just a show. CMLL’s show tonight in Arena Puebla is not much different,

CMLL (MON) 08/09/2021 Arena Puebla [Diario Cambio]
1) MicroÁtomo & Microman vs Chamuel & Perico Zacarías
2) Pegasso & Stigma vs Rey Apocalipsis & Toro Bill Jr.
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Reyna Isis & Stephanie Vaquer
4) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Titán vs Euforia, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
5) Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero

It is a bit more notable because it’s the first show there since March 2020. CMLL hasn’t announced plans to stream these shows. I’m guessing we might get results the first night with people covering the return but these might disappear into a void after that. Puebla’s never had the coverage as Guadalajara, or at least they haven’t in many years.

Tuesday’s lineup:

CMLL (TUE) 08/10/2021 Arena México
1) Bengala & Leono vs Cholo & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Robin vs Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Nitro
3) Espíritu Negro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Pólvora, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus © vs Fugaz, Star Jr., Stuka Jr. [MEX TRIOS]
2nd defense
5) Carístico, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Felino, Negro Casas

The Trios title match was set up last week and might be pretty good with that combination of tecnicos. (Tuesday matches still aren’t airing anywhere we have access to.)

CMLL (TUE) 08/10/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Estrella De Jalisco Jr. I & Estrella De Jalisco Jr. II vs Ponzoña Jr. & Relámpago Azul
2) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Tigre Blanco vs Gran Kenut, Javier Cruz Jr., Thunder Boy
3) Crixus & Flash vs Black Warrior Jr. & Zandokan
4) Sexy Sol & Valkiria vs Náutica & Silueta [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Atlantis Jr., Gallo, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Dark Magic, Hijo del Villano III, Okumura
6) Explosivo, Fantástico, Star Black vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel

Cavernario is back for a second week teaming up with his brothers, this time against the local trios champs. That sounds like he’ll be back for a third week.

NJPW’s Yota Tsuji will be debuting for UK’s RevPro promotion on 09/04 and will be there for the foreseeable future. Tsuji talked frequently about how he’d like to spend his excursion in Mexico. Perhaps he’ll end up there eventually – NJPW trainees frequently make multiple stops – but NJPW directing him away from CMLL to start says more about their current relationship than a press release.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 08/08/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Baby Star Jr. & Black Shadow II b Sol & Spider Fly 
2) Bengalee & Kariel b Amazonika & Satania 
3) Fulgor, Peligro, Rey Halcón b Black Shadow II, Eragón, Noicy Boy, Legendario 
Black Shadow II, working twice, replaced Dinamic Black.
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Hijo del Fishman, Hijo Del Picudo b Estrella Divina, King Charro, Mexica  
5) Tonalli b Asterboy, Puma de Oro, Arvak  
6) Hijo del Espectro & Toxin b Aramis & Myzteziz Jr.  

Not a good show. A lot of the post match interviews centered on how tough it is to perform with few fans. The lineup didn’t connect and it is a week prior to a big show might have hurt, but it also seems like the increasingly poor COVID conditions are making drawing fans to these shows harder. It’s not that people won’t go out but it’s going to take a lot to get them to go.

IWRG teased the debut of an unknown person, who turns out to be Malta’s Gianni Valletta. He wrestled for AJPW in 2019 and the reviews were unkind.

The announced Bandido/Vikingo match Friday night in Arena Neza ended up being Dave the Clown/Vikingo. Bandido appeared and explained he was banged up following his match with Taurus. He was going to get further checking done on Saturday but the preliminary indication is he just needs to rest a bit. He’s expected to be fine for the Ring of Honor shows on 08/20 and 08/21. IWRG explained this is why he ended up off their show.

Vikingo seems to be battling an ankle injury, which could also explain why he ended up not being in IWRG either. Bandido at least has a well-paying ROH job if he misses indie bookings. Vikingo has an AAA deal and Vikingo keeps working. (The Vikingo/Laredo/Psycho vs Escorpion/Taurus/Abismo match from this past week’s AAA TV is well worth watching.)

Other News

WWE released another baker’s dozen of wrestlers on Friday night, the latest in eighteen months of cuts. No Mexico-based wrestlers or lucha libre wrestlers were included. Jake Atlas, who is Mexican, is the name of the bunch that’s come up a few times in this blog. Atlas also seems like the most to get a call from Konnan about working on one of his many projects; he’d be coming to AAA for sure if conditions were normal and still might show up. There’s no reason to believe these monthly cuts will end any time soon; WWE seems to want a much-reduced head count.

These latest WWE cuts reportedly are part of a philosophical change in their NXT development center, with a refocus on younger and taller wrestlers. That does seem like something that’ll affect lucha libre going forward; it’s bad news for most Mexican wrestlers who’d like to pursue a WWE career. Luchadors on WWE’s radar prior like Dragon Bane don’t fit the height requirement. Ricky Marvin was always more likely to go as a trainer, but WWE’s new outlook may not be interested in the style he teaches. There will always be exceptions for special talent but the road to get there is much harder. And the road to get anywhere else big in the US also became difficult: if WWE is sending out a dozen wrestlers every month with some name value, it’s increasingly more difficult for a Mexican wrestler unknown outside of lucha libre circles to get a spot in non-WWE promotions as well.

Mexico animation studio Anima Estudios says they’re developing a show based on the “El Santos” comic book. No outlet or release date is mentioned. This is El Santos with an ‘s’ – the lead character is described as “a brash, uncouth, over-the-top luchador who is in love with a sex addict and fearless female luchador.” That lead character is an obvious El Santo parody and this seems like the thing Hijo del Santo likes to file lawsuits about. The studio previously produced a film version of the character in 2012 and the comic book has been around longer, which also could mean this was legally settled a while ago.

The Lucha Brothers face the Sydal Brothers tonight on AEW Elevation. ROH’s TV show with Bandido & Rey Horus vs Brody King & Chris Dickinson is up on their website now. Rey Horus versus Silas Young has been added to their 08/20 live event.

Gimnasio Benito Juarez in Cuautitlan is shut down after a July 31st Lucha Libre Boom show was held in violation of local COVID protocols. The city had banned public events on July 23rd, the show went on as scheduled with no distancing, so the building is closed by city order and the owners will be fined. The rules for these events vary greatly from city to city.

Kriminal Lucha Libre announce their 08/21 Prohibido Feminil tournament will have some adjusted rules learning from the men’s tournament earlier this year: all matches will last ten minutes, judges (not the finish) will determine who goes to the next round, and the judges will also have the option to advance both or eliminate both.

Retired luchadora Irma Aguilar announced both herself and her mother (Irma Gonzalez) were battling COVID-19. Lola Gonzalez is raising money on their behalf.

Cibernetico was critical about Jose Contreras naming himself head of the reborn national wrestler’s union; he doesn’t have an issue with the person, but the idea someone could just declare themselves leader of the luchadors without getting a vote of other luchadors.

The lucha libre commission in Tijuana has officially been split off from the boxing & MMA one.

Nacion Lucha Libre continues to promise/threaten a return soon.

Lucha Libre Vanguardia says they’re not yet running their standalone shows but will participate in the 10/03 Lucha Indy Fest show in Ecatepec.

Barbaro Cavernario & Felino are among those on the cover of Box y Lucha 3484.

CMLL September Plans

CMLL announced their plans for September on a busy CMLL Informa this past Wednesday. There will be two big shows:

September 17th with be the make-up show for Homenaje a Dos Leyendas 2020. That had the misfortune of being the first Friday night show canceled by the pandemic. Felino versus Barbaro Cavernario was scheduled to be the main event and they’ve tried to keep the feud warm since Cavernario returned from his foot injury. Sangre Chicana will still be honored. The rest of the show may be redrawn up; the original card included a trios title match with a team that’s no longer champion and a women’s title match that’s happened in the 18 months wait. Felino/Cavernario was delayed in hopes of being able to open Arena Mexico to a larger amount of fans. It doesn’t seem likely that’s happening any time soon, so they likely just got tired of waiting. It’s a running joke that current CMLL’s only plan for big shows is to have Negro Casas lose his hair; his brother losing his hair is likely to be greatly mocked.

September 24th will be CMLL’s 88th Aniversario show. The show last year was a no-fans show with title matches selected by the fans. This year’s show should have fans, fingers crossed, and will also be a “fans pick the title match” concept. No championships were specified, though CMLL indicated polling would open soon on CMLL’s website.

Last year’s show had four of the seven matches changed because of COVID or injury. CMLL made up most of the missing matches, though they never quite got around to the Hechicero/Templario/Terrible trios title challenge.

The other stories from the show were the really obvious winner and unexpected ones. Bandido was brought back and put in the poll with the clear idea of making Aniversario special with an outside name. The Atrapsuenos & Los Cancerberos appeared the opposite, names included just because CMLL had to use someone who ended up riding a wave of fan support into title matches. I’m not sure if those stories can repeat in 2021. CMLL seems more shut off than before, so a notable outside name would be a big surprise. I can’t identify a non-pushed act who would get a lot of fan support. Hechicero comes closest, I wouldn’t call him non-pushed but I’m certain he’ll do very well if included. Maybe we’ll all get a surprise.

More CMLL News

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

CMLL told the press this show won’t be streamed, and neither will next week’s show. The 08/27 show is scheduled to stream; CMLL and TicketMaster previously said those who bought the July 30th show will be getting that show instead. I’m not sure about the 08/20 show, but I’d guess it’ll be offered someway since it’s the first part of the Universal tournament. It is a bit counter productive to promote the idea of giving women a bigger spot the same moment you’ve decided to not stream those shows, but streaming is such a small part of CMLL’s plans.

Friday night CMLL shows air the following Saturday on Televisa and the Sunday after that on YouTube; this show will be available on YouTube 08/22. The era of regular free live CMLL shows seems to be over unless a company like Marca steps up to pay for them on their network. The weekly Ticketmaster Live shows have not appeared to be a success. There are reasons for that under CMLL & Ticketmaster’s control, they’ve made little attempts to fix them, and have apparently decided it’s not worth the effort to do so. My guess is the big shows will generally be on TicketmasterLive if they can’t get a sponsored deal.

Not sure what I’m going to do with myself tonight. This show doesn’t look important and I’m fine missing it. I’ve missed others when I had other things going on and I was pretty close to giving up watching them late last year. Still, these not being available is a rarity since about the summer of 2015. CMLL didn’t air a few of their major shows and didn’t tell anyone, so I guess knowing this advance give me some awareness to go out and see Suicide Squad or something.

Informa also announced two gimmick changes. Drone will be returning to the Hombre Bala Jr. name. He’d wrestled under that name through October 2016. Hombre Bala Sr. passed away in 2018 and the son will be returning to the name to honor his father. Infrequently seen but highly regarded opening match rudo Yago will wrestle as Enfermero Jr. starting tonight. CMLL brought back Jaque Mate, who wrestled as Enfermero Jr. in the late 70s and early 80s before switching to his more famous persona, to endorse the gimmick change.

Yago and Drone – or now Enfermero Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. – are two guys at different points of their careers. They share that this is a good time for a new look if CMLL is going for them, and meaningless if they’re going to be in the same spot. Enfermero Jr.’s seemed like he has the talent to be a reliable young (-ish; he’s older than you think) midcard rudo in a promotion who could definitely use one, but he’s just not booked much. It’s clear he does have some CMLL backing – he wouldn’t have won that mask match in 2019 without it – but he also disappears for long stretches and can’t escape the midcard. The best example of his plight is that CMLL appeared to tape something along the lines of a Gran Alternativa in 2020 – not sure if it was an actual one or just something with that opening guy/main event guy themes – and Yago apparently won, but then CMLL just never aired it for reasons unknown. It’s a little bit mysterious. Maybe having the oft-used evil doctor gimmick will get him booked more often.

The Enfermero Jr. and Hijo del Enfermero names have been used by a few wrestlers over time. There’s another active Hijo del Enfermero based in Torreon who’s appeared in Monterrey for Lucha Time and came to Mexico City back in May. This wrestler posted a video to Facebook (pointed out by The Gladaitores) where he seems to say he also got permission to use the name from Jaque Mate/Hijo del Enfermero, permission that’s now being revoked, but he feels he has the right to continue using it and plans on doing so. Hijo del Enfermero is booked in Arena Lopez Mateoz next Friday, where this may come to a head.

Drone/Hombre Bala’s issues are not a mystery. He was a tecnico on the rise, working his way into title pictures and international tours, when he showed up for a 2018 FantasticaMania match appearing to be drunk. Drone claimed it was a bad reaction to medicine among other reasons, fans generally didn’t believe him, and CMLL taking him off cards for six weeks after they returned to Mexico was a sign they didn’t believe Drone either. He’s done nothing of significance for the last two and half years when he should’ve been having been moving into his biggest matches. His in-ring performance suffered, though he’s looked closer to his old form in the last six months or so. Drone screwed up pretty badly but, if you’re going to keep employing him, he’s served his time and CMLL needs fresh faces, so you might as well see if he can handle a push again. I’m less certain it’ll happen for Hombre Bala Jr. than Enfermero Jr. – this change was framed as Hombre Bala Jr.’s idea, not something the promotion had to get him going – but I’d give him a shot at this point.

Sunday’s lineup is also out. I think CMLL has taken the position that none of these lineups really matter when they’re now only being released about two ahead of time.

CMLL (SUN) 08/08/2021 Arena México
1) Angelito & Fantasy vs Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Eléctrico, Hombre Bala Jr., Oro Jr. vs Disturbio, Inquisidor, Magnus
3) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Luciferno vs Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Vangellys [Relevos Increíbles]
4) La Jarochita, La Magnifica, Skadi vs Amapola, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
5) Carístico, Panterita del Ring, Titán vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Mephisto

The women get a semi-main spot here. Tercera looks like a setup for a Mexican tag title match.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 08/05/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Black Shadow II & Sobredosis b Halcón Magic & Spider Fly  
2) Legendario & Rey Halcón Jr. b Baby Star & Noicy Boy  
3) Ambu, Carrillo, Pistolero, Reptilium, Secreto Negro, Shango b Caballero de Plata, Hellboy, Kenji, Lunaitk Fly, Sol, Tonalli  
4) Alas De Plata, Aster Boy, Diosa Quetzal DQ Dick Angelo 3G, Diosa Atenea, Puma de Oro  
Tonalli ran in for the DQ (to fight with Puma)?
5) Hijo del Espectro & Hijo del Fishman DQ Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura  
Espectro & Fishman are “El Veneno Lagunero”. Abismo Negro Jr. turned up and attacked Las Shotas for the DQ, with Hijo del Alebrije making the save and confronting Abismo again.

Very much a “here is some matches” outing for IWRG, with the big matches a week from Sunday at the Guerra de Golfo show or otherwise down the road.

IWRG (SUN) 08/08/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Sol vs Black Shadow II & Legendario
2) Bengalee & Kariel vs Amazonika & Satania
3) Dinamic Black, Eragón, Noicy Boy vs Fulgor, Peligro, Rey Halcón
4) Estrella Divina, King Charro, Mexica vs Dick Angelo 3G, Hijo del Fishman, Hijo Del Picudo
5) Asterboy vs Tonalli, Puma de Oro, Arvak
6) Aramis & Myzteziz Jr. vs Hijo del Espectro & Toxin

The main event should be good but it’s disappointing when Vikingo & Bandido were advertised for this show and didn’t appear. Maybe I misunderstood and it’s next week? Maybe something changed? Not the most confusing IWRG thing of the week at least.

Long-time IWRG trainer/wrestler Bombero Infernal is on a ventilator, as revealed in a fundraising drive organized by one of his sons (Teelo) on Monday on Facebook. The assumption is this is another COVID case but the post doesn’t specify the illness.

AAA

AAA put out the official poster for TripleMania Thursday. Nothing too big but quick points

• DMT Azul & Sam Adonis are indeed listed as Puma King’s partners, which didn’t stop AAA from once again tweeting out the “Puma and two mystery partners” graphic minutes later.
• The women’s match being moved to third will be seen as disrespectful but it’s such a big better spot than going after the sure to be wild Empresa/AAA brawl. They get to have a normal match after a battle royal that probably won’t be any good, that’s probably much better.
• The Copa Baradahl TripleMania will be a 12 luchador match where we only know three of them. Drago, Mr. Iguana, and Mamba remain the only ones announced; that seems like a place for the usual Michael Nakazawa appearance.
• The Marvel match is listed as Team Leyenda Americana versus Team Terror Purpura. The (large) illustration implies the match is Leyenda America, Estrella Cosmica, and Arcano versus Terror Pupura, Picadura Letal and Venenonide. AAA advertised that match with new Marvel Lucha Libre names, so maybe more people will be added. They’d like to you use #TeamLeyenda or #TeamTerror on social media to support your favorite side; I think I’m on too many watch lists already to type #TeamTerror on Twitter.

AAA has their final TV show before TripleMania Saturday night on Space. They taped this last week, so they could’ve run some angles to heighten the interest in their upcoming matches. Nothing in AAA has seemed all that urgent so I don’t count on much.

Impact Wrestling last night set up a Deonna Purrazzo versus Melina match for the Impact Knockouts Championship on August 28th, on a NWA’s PPV. Mickie James is scheduled to defend that title against Faby Apache next Saturday at TripleMania and this is another sign everyone expects her to be champion after the show. I guess a draw is possible, but it’s seemed like Purrazzo is winning the match and the Reina de Reinas title since the match was announced and that’s now more likely.

El Heraldo de Mexico has an interview with Mr. Iguana as the TripleMania press tour begins.

One of the curiosities around the upcoming Arena Puebla limitations is there’s an AAA show in Puebla next Sunday (the day after TripleMania) which seemed to have no problems running. A press conference this past week announced that AAA show will have to run at 30% capacity among other distancing rules. No word on if dives will be allowed. Psycho Clown & Rey Escorpion are going to crazy things to each other late on Saturday night and then somehow haul themselves up the road to Puebla for an evening show the next day, AAA’s schedule is brutal.

AAA picked up a drywall sponsor.

Other News

Mohicano I (Guillermo Nicolás Merino, 60) has passed away Wednesday, according to Box y Lucha and SuperLuchas. I’ve seen the deceased mentioned as Mohicano II on Facebook, but those sources have it as the first Mohicano and the name matches what we’ve had for Mohicano I on the luchawiki. The Mohicanos and the Apaches had a long-running feud between native-themed luchadors, and the Mohicanos remained notable Mexico State indie names from the 80s to the 10s.

Arena Roberto Paz ring announcer Willy Martinez has passed away.

Robles Patron Promociones is doing an autograph signing today (Friday) at 4-6 pm to promote their upcoming 08/26 Mexico City show. I haven’t been complimentary to most things this promotion is doing, but that autograph signing seems like a smart and important way to help kickstart those tickets. A more confusing business decision is Robles Promociones (no Alberto) announcing a show for two weeks late in Arena Lopez Mateos. It’s about the same names as the Pepsi Center – Alberto and LA Park are replaced by Vampiro & Pagano – and a much cheaper ticket, though pricey for an Arena Lopez Mateos show. It’s not the exact same fanbase they’re drawing from, but it’s pretty close. I’m not sure why they would compete with themselves in this fashion.

The first Bandido/Vikingo singles match ever takes place tonight (Friday) at Arena Neza. I don’t expect full-out effort on a random Arena Neza show, though both of those people are crazy. There’s no known live stream but those shows always turn up on YouTube with a half dozen different uploaders; you’ll normally be able to watch it by Saturday.

ROH’s announced enough relevant matches for their upcoming TV shows that I need some bullet points to keep them sorted. Sorted by the weekend they start airing

• 08/07: Bandido & Rey Horus vs Chris Dickinson & Brody King
• 08/14: Bandido, Dragon Lee, Chris Dickinson, Homicide, Jonathan Gresham versus The Briscoes, EC3, Flip Gordon, Josh Woods
• 08/21: Rey Horus vs Demonic Flamita in a super libre no disqualification match
  • the next two ROH live shows are also this same weekend

Mr. Iguana challenges Aramis for the Warrior Wrestling Lucha Libre show on their 08/21 show. I’m going to a sure-to-be silly AEW show the night before but that match might get me to go to shows back-to-back nights. (Not sure they’re going to be enough for a third one on Sunday.)

CaraLucha says Dragon Lee will be on their 09/16 return show. He has not wrestled much in Mexico this year, though it looks like he’s going to be around for a couple of dates in September. (He’s on a 09/25 show too.) Dragon Lee also seems like a suspect for the still unresolved Taurus mystery partner spot.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Lucha Report.

Rey Mysterio Sr. told El Sol de Tijuana he felt Dominik Mysterio was rushed on TV too fast but hopes he’ll do well given more time.

Bandido’s Gym will hold a bodybuilding contest in December. You have to be a member at the gym for three months to join, but it’s not limited to luchadors. CMLL’s in-house bodybuilding contest was canceled last year due to the pandemic.

A newspaper article asks why lucha libre isn’t an Olympic sport. This article takes it somewhat seriously while also doesn’t appear to be too knowledgeable about what lucha libre is. It’s possible to make a case that lucha libre (or professional wrestling in general) is similar to Olympic sports judged for artistic merit, but they do point out that the real issue would be coming up with a worldwide governing body and the overall organization needed to even get consideration in the first place.

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.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 07/30/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, Refering, The Gladiatores]
1) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma b Dark Magic, El Coyote, Okumura  
18:16, no obvious reason for the length.
2) La Jarochita & Lluvia © b Amapola & Dark Silueta [MEX WOMEN TAG]   
13:08. One fall, third defense
3) Blue Panther, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Negro Casas [Relevos Increíbles]  
13:11. Guerreros team took 1/3.
4) Vangellys & Volador Jr. b Euforia & Forastero [Relevos Increíbles]  
10:54, tecnicos took 2/3. match (and show) was sponsored by mobile game Contra Returns, with Vangellys & Volador dressing up as the characters (and Vangellys working as a tecnico).
5) Titán b Templario [Leyenda de Plata, final]   
22:39, Titan taking 1/3 to win the tournament.

Titan & Templario looked like it was going off the rails when Templario’s Sasuke Special ended with him colliding hard into the barricade. He received medical attention for a moment, returned to the ring to beat a 20 count, and Titan visibility communicated with Templario a lot between moves for the next minute or so. It got better as they got going and the action was strong through-out. Titan’s double stomp to the floor would be a forever memorable spot in a hotter promotion. It was a really good closing moment in this one. It was a great match, and easily the best match on the show. The tercera was a professional trios match, the women tried in the second match, but you can just watch the one match and not miss much.

Vangellys ended up in the main event because he and his blond flattop most resembled one of the protagonists in the Contra Returns video game. Volador Jr. had some hideous-looking hair to somewhat resemble the other character, and they both were costumed like the video game characters. They wrestled a normal match – well, Vangellys as a tecnico isn’t normal, but they weren’t doing spots out of the video game or anything. Ads for the Contra Returns video game played during the show and appeared on the video boards during matches. This project, including the Booyah stream, was likely a one-off to help launch the game. CMLL’s done these sort of in-match sponsorships before and will do it again.

The Booyah presentation was great in that it was free and otherwise not great. The show aired in a frame so they could also show the announcers, two video game casters, and Hechicero. (It was also in a frame so the Contra ad would stay on screen all show.) Hechicero was the only one on the broadcast who was seemed familiar with lucha libre or knew any of the wrestlers besides meme star KeMonito. The broadcast worked fine when Hechicero explained things in detail and otherwise just talked non-stop, while the other two hosts yelled loudly to react to the big spots. This was the usual bit of trying to appeal to non-wrestling fans by having non-wrestling stuff on a wrestling show, and it never seems to work. CMLL quickly put their own version of the show on Friday “due to fan request”, which seemed like a shot at the Booyah presentation but probably was the plan all along.

The Booyah stream seemed to hang around the 1,300 viewer count for most of the show, not getting much higher than that for the main event. A normal CMLL show in the before-times on YouTube would get 2000-4000 range and probably higher for a Leyenda de Plata final. Still, CMLL probably made much more off the sponsorship deal than they would’ve on their own for YouTube.

CMLL (SUN) 08/01/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kasier Sports]
1) Oro Jr. & Sangre Imperial b Cholo & Inquisidor
2) Sagrado & Universo 2000 Jr. b Robin & Starman
Starman returned and got hurt during the match.
3) Flyer, Kráneo, Volcano b Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Virus b Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr.
5) Felino, Negro Casas, Volador Jr. DQ Cavernario, Cuatrero, Sansón [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Casas took 2/3. Cavernario fouled Felino.

In a normal year, CMLL’s probably announced the Aniversario date by now. Maybe the main event, maybe that’s still a few weeks off. Felino/Cavernario still looks like the main event, though that still may be dependent on how many tickets they can sell.

Lineups for Tuesday:

CMLL (TUE) 08/03/2021 Arena México
1) Retro & Sangre Imperial vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Diamond, Robin, Sonic vs El Coyote, Grako, Hijo del Signo
3) Flyer, Magia Blanca, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Hijo del Villano III, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Fugaz, Star Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
5) Místico, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Felino, Terrible

Nothing too notable here. Note that Panterita del Ring Jr. is a little bit lower when not teaming with his father, though a normal rookie his size would probably be in match two or even one,

CMLL (TUE) 08/03/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Mr. Ángel, Temerario, Último Ángel vs Destructor, Micro, Relámpago Azul
2) El Divino, Mágico, Reycko vs Paymon, Persa, Quka
3) Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Minotauro vs Bobby Black, Carlo Roggi, Fúnebre
4) Crixus, Leo, Luminoso, Príncipe vs Black Warrior Jr., Difunto, Joker, Vaquero Jr.
5) Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Zandokan Jr.
6) Carístico, Magnus, Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel

The original plan for the main event was Barbaro Cavernario and his two brothers (Maya & Daniel) against the three Misticios. One, two and Magnus, who was pushed as a Mistico-like character for a few weeks after Caristico left town. It didn’t work, there was no chance it was ever going to work, and it was the most unfair assignment anyone could’ve been given. Mistico II got replaced by Titan on Sunday.

Black Warrior Jr. is back here again. Miguel Reduindo’s column mentions Warrior Jr. (like recent Guadalajara luchador Rugido) is currently training under Volador Jr. Warrior Jr. didn’t have a great rep prior to the pandemic, maybe he’s gotten better.

Arena Puebla will return next week. CMLL hasn’t announced the lineup, but multiple media outlets noticed the poster was already up on the building over the weekend and the building held a press conference on Monday.

CMLL (MON) 08/09/2021 Arena Puebla [Diario Cambio]
1) MicroÁtomo & Microman vs Chamuel & Perico Zacarías
2) Pegasso & Stigma vs Rey Apocalipsis & Toro Bill Jr.
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Reyna Isis & Stephanie Vaquer
4) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Titán vs Euforia, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
5) Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero

This is about the same as the July 5th lineup with some subs, most notably Ultimo Guerrero in for Negro Casas. This is CMLL believing they’re re-opening with a big show, though there’s nothing here I’d be sad about missing.

AAA

Cain Velasquez, on In This Corner with Cyrus Fees, mentioned he’d be returning to AAA in December. The video currently has 86 views; I’m surprised the word got out! WrestlingNews was the first place I saw who had it. Velasquez has not wrestled since getting cut from WWE (and only wrestled once there.)

December sounds like TripleMania Regia, the baseball stadium show in Monterrey will be coming back. They ran it in 2019 and didn’t in 2020 due to the pandemic. AAA hasn’t talked about it happening in 2021; maybe that’s an announcement saved for the TripleMania broadcast itself.

Velasquez appearing might count as another reason Kenny Omega is unlikely to keep the Mega title at TripleMania.  AAA’s already set up a Psycho Clown/Andrade match that’d make sense for that show, and they probably don’t need all three of Andrade, Omega and Velasquez on the same show. (It also may not be something they can take the risk on in the current economic/health climate.) The Psycho Clown/Andrade match was also already teased as a title match. It’s not a definite Omega is losing at TripleMania – AAA could hold another Mega title match in between to move the title, AAA could just use champion Omega in December, maybe business will be so good it’s no issue to bring in all those guys – but it’s another reason to suspect that’s the outcome.

Super Fly posted a goodbye message on Twitter Saturday night. There’s no context to his comment. I don’t know if it’s AAA-related; he didn’t make a surprise appearance elsewhere, but he’s been on the fringes of AAA and that can’t be paying great right now. Super Fly was on AAA TV this past week (in a match taped about a month ago), unusually wearing his father’s Seminarista’s mask. I hope the goodbye isn’t connected to his father.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 08/01/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Baby Star & Rey Halcón b Kenji & Sol 
2) Black Dragón & Death Metal b Ra-Zhata & Shil-Ka  
3) Dick Angelo 3G, Fly Warrior, Legendario b Alas de Oro, Alas De Plata, Eragón  
4) Diosa Quetzal DCOR Diosa Atenea   
5) Aster Boy, Estrella Divina, Hijo del Alebrije b Galeno del Mal, Tonalli, Toxin  
Alebrije wants a title shot from Toxin
6) El Mesías & Hijo del Espectro b Hijo De Wagner & Tyson Maddux  

Prior to the show, IWRG announced next Sunday’s event will decide the vacant IWRG Heavyweight Championship. Fresero Jr. was the champion until he was no longer in IWRG. It’ll be Absimo Negro Jr., Hijo de Fishman, Hijo de Dos Caras, Hijo del Picudo, Hijo del Espectro Jr., Murder Clown, Heddi Karaoui, and Estrella Divina in a one-night tournament. That doesn’t sound like a tournament of good matches. The week after that is the Guerra del Golfo three stage cage match show.

Friday, in Monterrey’s Lucha Time promotion, Hijo del Espectro announced he was going to NOAH through IWRG. This is the same deal as Hijo del Alebrije, with no time line announced. It was a couple of months from when Dragon Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus were announced as going and when they actually did, and that wasn’t during a pandemic.

Other Notes

Andrade won the main event of Saturday’s Robles Patron Promotions show in Hidalgo, Texas over Alberto & Carlito. At least I think he did, the participants were arguing over who actually won in Twitter comments the next day. Alberto and Andrade were arguing, at least, Carlito seemed to care as much as I do. In the undercard, Averno won Gran Apolo’s hair in a five-way with Toscano, Blue Demon, and Hijo del Espectro. (It’s no surprise Apolo lost his hair, a mild one that Averno was the one who won it.) Estrellita also beat Wendy in a hair match, which either hadn’t been advertised as one or hadn’t been advertised well. Psycho Clown did a tribute to Brazo de Plata on the show.

I’d guess under 2000 people in the building for this show based on photos; they did a “buy an adult ticket, get a kid’s ticket free” promotion to get that much. The promotion avoided showing photos of the crowd on the social media, so they were under no delusion it went well. Tickets aren’t moving much better in Mexico City for 08/26. It’s still weird they’re running on a Thursday night.

PWG’s Mystery Vortex show ended with Bandido defeated Black Taurus to retain the PWG World Championship, a new group of Demonic Flamita, Bandido, and the returning Super Dragon being revealed in the aftermath, and finally Malakai Black (Tommy End/Aleister Black) appeared to make the save. It appears Bandido will defend against Super Dragon in the main event of their September show, while Flamita & Taurus are likely to face Black & Brody King. Rey Horus & Aramis won again as a team in the undercard; they appear the favorites to be the next PWG tag team champions once that’s sorted out. Arez debuted on the card losing to Demonic Flamita; reviews were mixed. Arez wasn’t wildly known by the PWG audience, considered one of the most knowledgable US fanbases. (I don’t consider that a flaw with PWG as much as a statement where AAA and lucha libre are in the English-speaking wrestling mindspace at the moment.) Similarly, Black Taurus has been a regular in PWG the last year and those at the show recognized he would have a great match with Bandido, but I got the sense that non-PWG fans following the results online were surprised a guy who they primarily know as a bit player in Impact in such a big role. Even the fans at PWG probably would’ve been disappointed with the surprises on the show if the Dragon/Black angle didn’t happen at the end – fans had talked themselves into believing PWG would be bringing in top AEW guys and had gotten something that was similar to the shows they had been running in 2019. They really needed that angle and that angle did very well.

There’s no word when this show would be available; it’s usually a long time after the shows happen. SoCal Uncensored hinted that time may soon be reduced but the shows will still not air live.

I followed along with PWG Twitter replies last night on Twitter. It quickly got annoying. Don’t do that. I usually have a Tweetdeck Twitter column with some AAA search terms to see if anything interesting pops up. Last night’s experience was a good reminder to turn that one off on TripleMania day.

Black Taurus’ match against Josh Alexander in Impact Saturday was said to be great.

Box y Lucha 3483 has Brazo de Plata and Titan on the cover.

FanByte has a remembrance of Brazo de Plata.

There’s a new Cassandro mural in El Paso.