CMLL (FRI) 09/24/2021 Arena México [CMLL, El Universal, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
CMLL 88th Aniversario
1) Templario b Dragón Rojo Jr. [MEX MIDDLE] 
15:41. vacant title, last held by Octagon. Templario is 61st champion.
2) Titán & Volador Jr. b Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II [CMLL TAG]
17:13. Originally a Misico/Caristico defense, vacant after Mistico II left CMLL. Volador & Titan are 43rd champions.
3) Hechicero b Último Guerrero © [CMLL HEAVY] 
14:06. Originally for MEX HEAVY. Guerrero falls on 11th defense. Hechicero is 21st champion. Satanico seconed Hechicero and asked him to reform Los Infernales with Euforia & Mephsito post-victory. Hechicero accepted.
4) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa © b Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]
14:29. 1st defense.
5) La Jarochita & Lluvia © b Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis [MEX WOMEN TAG] 
14:19. 4th defense.
This was better than last week’s show. Hechicero defeating Ultimo Guerrero was a good/great match and was a happy moment; it was the one result on this show the fans were very investing in seeing happen and CMLL gave it to them. Everything else was fine, with big show effort if not always the results. I think I’m the low person on Templario/Dragon Rojo; Rojo did make it through the match in one piece and it was a good showcase for Templario. Time management was better than recent shows, though it did seem people were still hurrying to finish their matches at all.
The downside includes the fans weren’t really into the matches that got voted into the top spots. They didn’t reject either national tag match, they were just quiet for most of it. This is always part of the deal with fan voted matches on the internet: most of the votes come from a small group of people very invested in seeing their favorite person won, and the wider group of who barely vote or don’t vote at all aren’t invested it. The men’s tag match wasn’t much good – Espanto Jr. kicking Rey Cometa’s teeth out by accident is the most memorable moment, and I missed that live. The main event women’s tag match seemed like they weren’t doing much early, tried to pack a lot in the last third, and then weren’t able to perform their complicated finish. The double women’s dive off the stage bit probably is more impressive if you haven’t seen it every month by someone. The Gemelos were unsurprisingly not ready for this level of this match (and I’m not sure if they ever will be) and Volador took the night off, which would’ve been unthinkable on an Aniversario at one point.
Satanico announced Hechicero, Mephisto, and Euforia as the newest version of Los Infernales after his title win. This is a good idea, because it’s a concept the remaining CMLL fans have strongly positive feelings and it gives more value to wrestlers like Hechicero & Euforia. It’s also good because, like Los Depredadores, it’s another idea mentioned by luchadors in their interviews that actually produced a result on screen, a welcome change from previous patterns. It’s not great the new idea is for wrestlers who are early 40s or early 50s when CMLL desperately needs young stars. Mephisto has long history with this group name, but they needed someone CMLL can build for the future more than him. It also fits the recent pattern of nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake – CMLL’s creative has no interest in making an interesting promotion for 2021 and is instead bringing back all the things they personally enjoyed in the early 80s with no idea of what to do with them beyond that. A way to approach this is CMLL’s not going to get better so it’s nice they doing something with Hechicero.
Ultimo Guerrero is leaning way into the “cancer of CMLL” bit. It’s good to have an over heel, though he still tries to get the crowd to cheer him at times.
I think Titan is in Los Depredadores but they didn’t spell it out.
Tuesday, CMLL and the Mexico government released a video advertising Mexico and lucha libre to people outside of Mexico. If you were an international person who was interested in CMLL’s lucha libre on Friday, you were out of luck. The TicketmasterLive PPV was not available to people with addresses outside of Mexico. I thought it was a mistake – no previous CMLL PPV was limited to Mexico and surely CMLL or TicketMaster would explain that change if it happened. I was very wrong on both accounts. The Aniversario was only available for those who had a Mexican IP address with no prior warning. Both Ticketmaster and CMLL ignored all requests about the situation prior to the show. I have no information on if this is a permanent change or a one-time thing. Obviously, I recommend against spending any more money on CMLL shows until they explain the situation. I’d be shocked if CMLL did at this point, they do not care and appear as if they’d be happier if everyone just left them alone.
I felt at my lowest ebb as a lucha libre fan after Friday night. Both CMLL and AAA have made at least part of the product unwatchable outside of Mexico. Neither of the shows are all that good right now. AAA’s major shows generally are fun at this point and there’s a handful of regular TV episodes that’ll click, but 10 good TV shows in 52 weeks is not a great use of time. CMLL’s not doing even that good. And it’s not like there’s even a lot of indie stuff that’s exciting me or the ones I want I can even see. I don’t know. I did think, after the fiasco on Friday, that I probably would’ve given up watching CMLL at that point if I was just a person who watched CMLL and didn’t have a whole blogging/database/wiki thing attached. It’s not healthy or productive to watch something you don’t enjoy (and may actively dislike you), not when there are so many options of other things to do in this world.
I hit 20 years of writing about lucha libre this month (congrats to me) and there have been other times when I’ve hit or nearly hit a breaking point. It’s usually been about the “luchablog” stuff preventing me from enjoying the rest of my life, and then I make some changes or feel a little differently about things and I keep going. It’s rarely been about the lucha libre itself, but the lucha libre and the people who put the shows are intensely frustrating at the moment. Maybe it’ll get better, maybe I’ll get over it, but I thought it was worth spelling out until I figure out how to handle. It shouldn’t be hard to read I’m unhappy with things at the moment, and maybe if you’re a person just looking to find out if a match is any good should keep that in mind when trying to decipher my reviews.
CMLL (SUN) 09/26/2021 Arena México [CMLL, De Luchas TV, ESTO, Kaiser Sports]
1) Leono, Robin, Sangre Imperial b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Nitro
Robin replaced Sonic, Nitro replaced Grako a few hours after the card was posted
2) Amapola & La Metálica b La Comandante & Reyna Isis
Reina Isis replaced Tiffany on Saturday. Team Amapola took 1/3.
3) Okumura, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr. b Flyer, Pegasso, Stigma
Rudos took 2/3.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Panterita del Ring b Cancerbero, Felino Jr., Raziel
Tecnicos took 2/3. Felino Jr. replaced Luciferno a few hours after the card was posted on Thursday.
5) Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Negro Casas b Blue Panther, Místico, Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Rudos took 1/3. Angel de Oro used the ropes to beat Mistico this week.
That’s two weeks in around for Mistico/Angel de Oro, so they’ll likely have a singles match on 10/03. Four subs on this show ahead of time; they all might not be COVID, but this is now a regular thing.
CMLL (TUE) 09/28/2021 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Cachorro, Retro, Sonic vs Enfermero Jr., Grako, Nitro
3) Amapola & Marcela vs La Comandante & Reyna Isis [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Panterita del Ring vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
5) Atlantis, Felino, Negro Casas vs Cavernario, Stuka Jr., Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
Felino and Cavenario matched up in the main event. The concept of Amapola & Marcela seemed thoroughly rejected in the Aniversario poll, but it’s an idea CMLL hasn’t tried yet so they’re going to run with it anyway.
CMLL (MON) 09/27/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Cosmo, Raven, Último Ángel vs Infierno, Ponzoña Jr., Relámpago Azul
2) Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Persa vs Bestia Negra, Demonio Maya, Difunto
3) Náutica & Sexy Sol vs Miss Delicious & Valkiria
4) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Dark Silueta & Stephanie Vaquer
5) Gallo, Místico, Zandokan Jr. vs Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
Main event is the 2006 tribute act. Miss Delicious, mostly seen in IWRG, seems to have gotten swooped up by the Guadalajara booking office. She’s here and on the Queretaro shows they’re booking. Two women’s matches on a show are rarer than women’s main events in CMLL right now; the semimain is probably leading to a tag title rematch for next week.
Puebla has Espiritu Negro & Rey Cometa versus Polvora & Felino Jr., which likely sets up a title match on 10/04.
CMLL Televisa aired the first four matches from 09/17 show, which means no Felino/Cavernario hair match. The same matches always show up on YouTube the following week. That hair match wasn’t much good but I understand why people will be disappointed not to see it. There’s probably a Drive where you can find all the matches from that show.
CMLL announced Tsukasa Fujimoto, Momo Kohgo, Tsukushi will be coming in from Japan starting next Friday. They’d been previously announced as coming in Japan. There’s no great explanation for why it’s possible for Japanese women to come to CMLL and not Japanese (or even American) men to come to CMLL, except the obvious bit that the women are probably more inexpensive to book.
CMLL also announced the first even Gran Prix Femenil on 10/08. The past Gran Prixs have been Mexico versus the World, though there doesn’t seem to be enough foreign women in CMLL as is to do that style. The three Japanese women coming, Panama’s Dalys, and Chile’s Stephanie Vaquer gets CMLL to five. The US’s Avispa Dorada would be a welcome return but there’s no indication that’s happening. Maybe they’ll go back to pretending La Comandante is from Argentina. I see people on Twitter hoping that Puerto Rico’s Zeuxis will return to CMLL for this. She did get mentioned by Satanico in the same press interview that suggested this Los Infernales group, so it’s at least a possibility. CMLL could tone down the Mexico/World aspect.
The winners from the Aniversario show attended a party on Mexico’s World Trade Center on Saturday.
An article about Mistico retaking the gimmick and hoping to restart a boom got picked up in a lot of international papers for whatever reason. Didn’t seem like there was anything new to it.
Other News
AAA , ROSALES (SUN) 09/26/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Majestic, Niño Águila, Radiante b Beebop, Kingu, Silver Boy
2) Faby Apache b Lady Shani, Lady Maravilla 
Lady Maravilla replaced La Hiedra
3) Daimoo & Toxin b Cobre & Golden Jacket and Galio & Látigo and Astuto & Radiante [Copa Rosales]
4) Astor & Raptor b Joe Lider & Rey León (California) and Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura
Astor is the new name for the ex-Mascara de Bronce.
5) Murder Clown, Niño Hamburguesa, Psycho Clown b Abismo Negro Jr., King Balam, La Parka Negra
This did not air live but will slowly start to turn on YouTube anyway. I had to convince my database that “Astor” was not a typo. I’m still not totally convinced. Maybe the most notable thing that happened on this show is edecan Bere accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in the middle of the ring.
Saltillo luchador El Chompiras (Alberto Ramirez Dominguez, 73) passed away Thursday according to El Diario de Coahuila. He worked as a trainer and was in charge of local wrestling licenses in recent years. There’s a great group of photos in the article.
Fans attending shows in Quintana Roo are now required to show proof of vaccination. This report mentions it happening at 150 fan indie show, so they’re asking it for all events. I haven’t heard of proof of vaccination for events in Mexico prior, though it’s only been recently where vaccinations were open to everyone.
The city of Leon has banned lucha libre, among other public events, for the time being.
Head Hunter was prohibited from wrestling in Arena Neza this weekend because he’s a very large man at an advanced age and he has some of the obvious health problems you might expect given those priors even if you’re not a doctor. (High blood pressure was announced.) The surprise was there was actually a doctor at the show to check these things.
Bandido retained the PWG World Championship on their show Sunday night over Davey Richards. Black Taurus & Flamita lost to Brody King & Tommy End in a match for the vacant PWG World Tag Team Titles. Dragon Lee defeated Aramis earlier on the card. Laredo Kid didn’t show up, not only costing himself future bookings but taking Rey Horus off the card when the match was changed to a 1v1 instead of the planned 2v2. Lee/Aramis was said to be one of the better matches of the show. Alex Shelley won a title shot against Bandido for a later show over Jonathan Gresham; it sure looks like the Gresham/Bandido match is being saved for ROH’s December show instead.
(Alex Zayne is on ROH’s podcast today but they don’t reveal when the likely already taped Zayne/Bandido title match is airing.)
DMT Azul’s latest press conference included a claim the Mexico City lucha libre commission isn’t officially recognized by Mexico City. That would be very weird after all these years but can’t rule it out when it comes to lucha libre. I guess the idea is to say they would have no legal standing to strip DMT Azul for the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship, but it would seem like they’d have no legal standing to create or manage championships in the first place. The titles can’t be meaningful without the commission having some standing, so I don’t understand how this helps DMT Azul outside of keeping the story in the news.
Hijo del Vikingo vs Rey Horus vs Flamita vs Rich Swann has been added to the 10/08 The Crash show, as is Sexy Star 2 & Faby Apache vs Deonna Purrazzo & Christi Jaynes. It’s weird to me that The Crash is bringing in the AAA champion but AAA is not on the same weekend but I suppose it doesn’t matter.
CM Punk told a random Twitter user his dream matches included himself and Bryan Danielson versus the Lucha Brothers in a double hair versus mask match, which caused Mexican media (and AAA) to embarrassing fall over themselves for the slightest acknowledgment in a thrown off tweet. Mexican wrestling insists it’s the best wrestling in the world but acts as if it’s a small-time outpost anytime a US star acknowledges them. Maybe it is.
The LA Parks face 5150 (Danny Rivera/Limelight, Slice Boogie, Dr. Julius Smokes) on MLW’s show this Saturday in Philadelphia. 5150 debuted as “LAX” on the previous taping, a lot of people were surprised MLW had the rights to use the Impact-owned LAX name, and I guess changing to 5150 indicates they didn’t have the rights to that name after all. That bit up I linked there doesn’t name anyone in 5150 so I guess it could be another combination; Smokes doesn’t wrestle much.
A bust of Salvador Lutteroth was unveiled in Colotlan, Jalisco, where he was born. They also named the street after him. Salvador Lutteroth’s son sent a thank you video. The article notes Lutteroth built a primary school, employed people from the city at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, and started building a nursing home before he passed away.
Netnoticas has an interview with Juarez luchadora La Sirenita, which goes into personal stuff. She started training as a luchadora young and ended up having two kids by the age of sixteen, thanks to a luchador that wasn’t supposed to watch over her.
Peridocio La Voz looks back at Chicano Power, who passed away three years ago.