Sofia Alonso argues for better conditions for wrestlers, Metalik wants to leave WWE, sticker albums

Lucha Libre Day Press Conferences

Tuesday was Dia de Lucha Libre y Luchadors, a day to celerbate lucha libre. This concept has been tried on many different days over the years, was re-introduced in the Mexican Senate in 2016, celebrated in 2017, and finally officially passed into law in 2019. Brazo de Oro and CMLL pushed for this idea but, like those other times the idea has been introduced, it faded from attention quickly. For whatever reason, it got treated like a big deal this year, with more news outlets running “the history of lucha libre” type pieces. It also was a leaping-off point for three press conferences, unrelated except for all being tied to this holiday day.

The most notable of the three press conferences was “Juntos por la Lucha Libre“, a movement to create better-living conditions and a safety net for luchadors. This is a noble cause that gets brought up all the time by various groups of people – the resurrection of the old wrestler’s union was the most recent example; this is separate from that effort. Lady Apache was among those wrestlers present for the press conference, reminding me of the many other times I’ve seen her at similar events that haven’t gone anywhere (and it turns out Apache pointed out the same pattern in Yahoo’s report on the press conference.) These keep on happening because there is a need but rarely any action. Juntos por la Lucha Libre is specifically looking for better social security for luchadors, access to credit for buying homes, medical services for all luchadors, and unified regulations for lucha libre across the country. They went as far as to say the labor contract wrestlers sign is invalid and breaks labor law. They are solid goals. I have no idea how they get there.

This press conference was notable because the person leading it was Sofia Alonso Perches, who was the director of CMLL for a short period of time following the death of her father until she was pushed out of power by relatives. She’s rarely appeared in public since that time and has become a sort of heroic figure among disaffected CMLL fans as the promotion’s struggle has deepened, a messiah who would have fixed all the problems if she’s been allowed. (No one knows for sure how it would’ve gone, though her actions before and during her time in charge suggest there would’ve been changes.) Alonso said believed she knew the daily struggles of luchadors from being a part of CMLL, feels like people in power (as she was) should’ve taken action sooner to help out luchadors, and the pandemic exposing the full scope of the problems. The others who’ve tried to get conditions fixed have generally been wrestlers, occasionally promoters, working from the bottom to reach people at the top. Alonso is presumed to be still a wealthy person from her family’s fortune, and maybe she’ll have access to make changes from the top that aren’t available to most luchadors. She said more information about the campaign would be announced in future months.

Sofia Alonso appearing in public was a rare opportunity for the media to ask her why exactly she’s not in CMLL any more. ESPN.com.mx has a thorough interview, in both text and video, where most of the questions are about CMLL and Alonso. Her official explain is she expected to be in charge of CMLL following her father’s death, but there were discrepancies in the decisions that had to be made within [CMLL] with the “current administration” and she was “presented from moving forward with my responsibility and position. Sofia Alonso is now not working for CMLL and unaware of the day-to-day decisions, though she retains some knowledge about how things are run based on her own time there. An amusing theme in the interview is the reporter wants Alonso to agree CMLL is in crisis and to blame the people in charge, and she’s too classy to do both. Alonso agrees CMLL is in crisis but put all of the blame on COVID – COVID for shutting down the shows and for reducing the turnout, causing wrestlers not to get paid enough and look for work elsewhere. She passes up many chances to blame the Salvador Lutteroths in charge of CMLL now, though she coldly refers to them as the “current administration.” Alonso also shoots down the idea of starting her own promotion, a dream idea teased by ex-CMLL wrestler, saying her focus is on the Juntos por Lucha Libre campaign and feels it’s more important than any wrestling promotion.

CMLL is a sensitive promotion. Sofia Alonso went out of her way to be kind to them in this interview, but even the slightest hint at criticism might be enough to cause a reaction.

CMLL had their own press event on Tuesday. Mexico’s Secretaria de Relations Exteriores debuted the first in a campaign of videos focusing on lucha libre and its place in Mexican culture called “Desenmascarado la lucha libre.” They started with lucha libre. Various officials and diplomats from other countries appeared in the ring before Tuesday’s show to talk, and Amapola spoke about the importance of lucha libre and luchadors to Mexico. That speech was streamed and the idea was the opening match would also air. CMLL even reorganized their card order so they could have a ‘good’ midcard match to open the show instead of the minis who would normally be in that spot. Except, either the Foreign Relations department accidentally cut off the stream or the stream just automatically turned off after an hour, and the match didn’t air. CMLL hastily ended up airing the minis match as a make-good.

Full results

CMLL (TUE) 09/21/2021 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores]
1) Dark Magic, Okumura, Virus b Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus
moved to the opener as part of a co-promotion with the foreign relations department. Rudos took 1/3, with Virus taunting the Depredadores after beating them.
2) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito 
3) Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Nitro b Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Robin
Rudos took 1/3.
4) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Marcela b Amapola, Dalys, Stephanie Vaquer
Tag champs (& Marcela) pick up a win before their title defense on Friday.
5) Atlantis Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Terrible
Tecnicos took 1/3.

That first Foreign Relations video to promote lucha libre and Mexican culture is very well done. I’m totally unsure where future videos will be posted, I only caught this one because they played it on the stream.

Mexico City’s INJUVE (Youth Institue) government organization also held a press conference to celebrate lucha libre. They announced a lucha libre sticker album to promote healthy activities for children. It looks as though most the stickers are older wrestlers, but Diosa Quetzal and Bandido spoke at the press conference and they’re part of it too. They were part of the COVID prevention and vaccination this past year, and they’re being used as spokespeople here in a similar fashion. The presentation included a moment of applause for Principe Aereo, who passed away after a match last year. The album was dedicated in his memory. Gravity, Komander, and others appeared on a panel discussion talking about lucha libre and the album; it had to be taped a while ago given Komander seemed fine. The albums and sticker packets will be given out free at various wrestling spots over the next couple of months, including Bandido’s Gym today, to people between the ages of 12 and 29. The first person between 12 and 22 to get all 56 stickers will win an iPad mini. Everyone else will get tickets to the next Big Lucha show on 10/10. Those stickers should got to the kids but I suspect there’s going to be some aftermarket value on them for obscure wrestling merch collectors.

Metalik asks for his WWE release

Mas Lucha’s Miguel Reducindo reports WWE’s Gran Metalik asked WWE for his release The ex-Mascara Dorada has posted Twitter messages through the years expressing his unhappiness with WWE and teasing leaving but has always ended up staying. This report says Metalik has asked WWE for his release this time. It also notes Metalik is under contract thru 2023. My uneducated guess is Metalik will probably have to sit at home for a while without getting that release; WWE’s pattern has generally been against early releases, with those asking for them instead of getting swept out in the following wave of cuts. Metalik seemed a decent bet to be in that next wave of cuts based on his position anyway but now it’ll be him asking him to quit instead of WWE getting ridding of him first.

Gran Metalik was never a great fit for WWE’s style of pro wrestling. Being able to execute the scripted dialogue is as important as the scripted moves. Metalik wasn’t training in dialogue before coming to WWE, wasn’t ever a great talker even in Spanish, and didn’t become a fluent English speaker during his time in WWE. There was always going to be a wrestling style mismatch, but Metalik at least had a chance of adapting to the in-ring stuff. There was no chance he’d fit in the out-of-ring material and there was no chance WWE would be willing to adjust their presentation to his skills.

Maybe Gran Metalik didn’t understand fully what WWE would be looking for from him when he came to WWE. He surely found out over time. WWE paid better than what he was making in Mexico, even as an in-demand top wrestler when he left. WWE more so afforded Metalik a chance to move his family to the US, which was an important part of his deal. There weren’t many “full time, live in the US” deals to be had for a Mexican luchador in 2016 outside of WWE. There still aren’t; maybe just the Lucha Brothers AEW. ROH is paying luchadors well, but I think most of those wrestlers are still living where they did when they started slow. Whenever there was talk about Metalik’s status in WWE, like when he’d tease leaving on Twitter, people who knew him said he’d stay in WWE as long as they’d have him just to stay in the US. Metalik was really another person who was working a job they weren’t especially fond of because he felt it was the best for his family, and he put his professional aspirations aside for it. It looks like he finally reached a breaking point where he couldn’t do the job any longer.

I’m not entirely sure what’s next for Metalik. It was his connection with Karl Anderson from NJPW which seemed to get him noticed for the Cruiserweight Classic, so perhaps Andreson will help him get to one of three (AEW, Impact, NJPW) groups he’s working with now. Metalik appeared to leave CMLL on the best possible terms – they gave him a sendoff few other got – and perhaps could return, though they’re unlikely to spend big money to bring him in. AAA seems to make a run at every big name post-WWE and might try the same with Metalik for their first show after he becomes available. There are probably opportunities for Metalik and other Lucha House Party members to reunite that tag team on indie shows. Kalisto’s been previously released. Lince Dorado hasn’t said anything yet, but he and Metalik are close and likely made the same decision at the same time.

It’s also unclear what Metalik we’d see in the ring post-WWE. He’s been working a toned down style from WWE and looked shaky whenever he’s tried to bring back a few of the tricker spots. 2016 Mascara Dorada was one of the most exciting wrestlers in the world and it would’ve been tough to stay that level even if he had been working regularly and normally for the last five years. Metalik has spent the last five years being told to change everything he does, and I’m not sure he can snap back to what he was before (or something better) after all that reprogramming. I’m also fearful of what he’ll be after the long poor experience; many of the Mexican wrestlers who went to WCW were never the same after being treated like prelim talent for years. I hope we get the Bryan Danielson match but I’m not sure what we’ll get out of Dorada – it’s really all the concerns I’ve had about post-WWE Andrade but much bigger since Dorada didn’t have the success Andrade did.

CMLL and trademarks

I was researching Mascara Dorada’s names in trademark databases. I could’ve sworn he said registered “Metalik” near the end of his CMLL run (likely knowing it would be the end of his CMLL run and he wouldn’t be able to use Mascara Dorada unless he came back), but I don’t see it there. I do see the Mascara Dorada name trademarked, one of the many originally filed by Paco Alonso and transferred to Sofia. I also noticed a new filling for Mascara Dorada under the name “PROMOCIONES MÉXICO COLISEO Y REVOLUCIÓN, S.C.” filed back in June. That’s the strange business name the younger Salvador Lutteroth has used for his CMLL title in announcements since taking charge. Digging deeper, “PROMOCIONES MÉXICO COLISEO Y REVOLUCIÓN, S.C.” filed a whole bunch of trademarks. A few are older ones, most were filed in June. Here’s the complete list, which is freely accessible to anyone who navigates Mexico’s online trademark search database.

• A Ras de Lona (the name of one of the TV shows, has art)
• El Consejo
• Match Relampago de Maestros (has art)
• Torneo Cibernetico Suicida
• CMLL
• Titan Inmortal
• Magia Blanca
• Rush
• Titanes del Ring (another TV show)
• Averno
• CMLL Informa
• Gran Guerrero
• “Angel de Oro Nominativa Clase 41” (someone filled in a form wrong)
• Campeon Universal del CMLL
• Mascara Dorada
• Angel Ingobernable
• Los Ingobernables de Japon
• Diamante Azul
• Los Gladiadores Reys del Aire (has art)
• (the small version of the CMLL logo, just the gold circle an the mask in the middle)
• Euforia
• National Wrestling Alliance NWA
• Luchamania
• (a KeMonito artwork)
• Las Diosas del Ring
• Ephesto
• El Sagrado
• KeMonito
• Guerreros del Ring (another TV show)
• Los Nuevos Ingobernables
• Mistico
• Niebla Roja
• Relevo Relampago
• Valiente
• Viernes Espectacular
• Dragon Rojo
• Blue Diamond
• Mephisto
• Museo del CMLL
• Relevos Increible
• EMLL Empresa Mexicana de Lucah LIbre
• Ultimo Guerrero
• Blue Panther
• Noches de Campeones

Only the Noches de Campeones name has moved from “pending” to “registered” (finished). The June timestamp makes me think this is related to Diamante Azul’s departure. I haven’t checked all of them, but many of them seem to be names previously registered to one of the Alonso family, and maybe this is someone now in charge of CMLL just going through the list of Alonso names to try and pull them back. It’d explain why Averno, Mephisto, and Ephesto are listed but not Lucifierno; these are an older group of names. (Averno is actually registered by both Sofia Alonso and Promociones Antonio Pena as well as this new trademark, but it hasn’t seemed to affect him wrestling as an indie at all.) Ultimo Guerrero and Blue Panther are older ones and stick out because both those wrestlers used those names before coming to CMLL and have attempted to register themselves. Blue Panther’s people put it in as “The Blue Panther” and it’s still pending. Ultimo Guerrero has his name approved, though there are other non-CMLL people also trying to register for wrestling purposes. I don’t know what that means so let’s move on to something else.

Possible Aniversario Changes

Reyna Isis’ status for Friday’s show is up in the air. She revealed on CMLL Informa that she tested positive for COVID following the 09/10 show. She says feels completely fine and has no symptoms. Isis still hasn’t gotten a negative test though and is stuck on the sideline, including missing last Friday’s show. She underwent her most recent COVID test on Wednesday and did not yet have the result. Reyna Isis will main event Friday’s Aniversario show, challenging for the women’s tag team titles with Dark Silueta, if she tested negative today. Dalys & Stephanie Vaquer will replace them against Lluvia & La Jarohcita if Isis tested positive. Isis & Silueta would then get their shot, and a main event spot, on a future Friday show.

(I didn’t catch any mention of Isis’ vaccination status. As best I can tell, Mexican citizens of her age would’ve been eligible for just for the first shot in a two shot vaccine.)

I do not believe CMLL is taking COVID totally seriously. There doesn’t appear to be contact tracing going on; they only seem to pull people who test positive and are going through the extra necessary step of pulling people who might have come into conflict with infected people until they’re sure. Isis & Silueta appeared on video together late on Tuesday 09/14 to celebrate winning the fan poll and Isis’ positive test likely came just a few hours later. CMLL is treating Isis’ positive test and Silueta negative test as absolute truths, letting Silueta continue to wrestle. I hope Silueta is fine, but I don’t know that anyone should have that sort of complete trust in those results.

If Isis tested positive on Wednesday 09/15 and was subsequently confirmed to COVID positive by her doctor, it seems unlikely it’ll clear her system in nine days. CMLL’s system is adhering to what they have to do not to get in trouble, not what they should be doing to take care of the health of their staff and wrestlers.

Titan is the other notable name missing from CMLL shows later. CMLL said nothing directly about his status. They just hyped the Los Gemelos Diablos versus Volador & Titan match as if all was normal. Everything else seems to be on, though I guess we don’t know for sure on anything until everyone’s tests come back. CMLL’s changed Friday lineups at 1 AM, 10 AM, and 11 AM on Friday the last few weeks, though perhaps they’ll make more of an announcement of changes since they’re already talking about Isis’ situation.

Other News

IWRG (THU) 09/23/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fussion & Hell Boy vs Shalom & Skanda
2) Legendario, Noicy Boy, Sol vs Kenji, Rey Halcón, Vudu Max
3) Lolita & Sagitarius vs Atena & Kendy Rebel
4) Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike vs Halloween Jr., Medico Brujo, Sick Boy
5) Aster Boy, Bengalee, Galeno del Mal, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Tonalli, Toxin vs Eli Surge, Giant Orión, Liiza Hall, Lil Blay, Miles Deville, Sidney Steele, Sweet Daddy Soul

That’s a Mexico versus Canada main event. The Canadian crew has been in Mexico for a week, working random shows, and said to be the Can-Am Wrestling promotion from Calgary. That group has run two shows this year according to Cagematch; their Facebook indicates they may be running a third soon and has a biweekly schedule the rest of the year, solid for a Canadian indie but not exactly a big group or one with much recent history. I presume they’re doing a wrestling tourist thing in Mexico – IWRG treated it like a big deal when they were able to briefly bring in Tyson Maddox and Gianna Valletta on their own, so them (or even smaller groups) paying for seven people seems impossible. It’s good for the Canadians that they’re getting these main events, though I’m skeptical it’s good for the Mexican wrestling that people can just show up and end up in main events. I guess if it draws, then it’s fine, but it doesn’t seem a healthy business. (It’s not a healthy business, I know.)

Andrade and Dorian Roldan had a back and forth about Andrade working in AAA again. One of the reasons given as Andrade not winning at TripleMania was no future dates had been agreed upon at that point.

A local press release on 10/09 Heroes Inmortales says the show will be taped for Space & Azteca and air live on Twitch. I lean towards the press release basing it off old information and not what will happen. AAA still hasn’t said what they’re doing with that show and I don’t think we’ll hear from Space until the week of the show.

California’s RGR posted a long note on Facebook saying they’re not responsible for the prices wrestlers charge for merchandise and photos at their shows unless it’s something the promotion produces themselves. There’s no explanation of what actually happened; I was told this was something to do with Canek antagonizing fans over his prices on recent shows.

Bryan Danielson mentioned watching a Pentagon versus Cody Rhodes match in AEW as something that made him interested in jumping to AEW. Danielson expressed an interest in coming to Mexico, though notably it was framed as facing Psycho Clown at TripleMania, not Blue Panther in Arena Mexico.

ESTO has interviews with Villano III and Espiritu Negro.

The Crash announced Psycho Clown on 10/08.

Super Crazy & Tajiri were announced for All Japan’s tag league from November 13th to November 28.

Milenio interviews Fernando Cavazos Torres, who’s written 25 books about lucha libre.

IWRG will have a special show with the Red Cross on October 10th.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

The Duo Dinamico podcast has Arez & RIOT co-promoter Alfredo Alvarado as guests.