Month: September 2021

CMLL (FRI) 09/17/2021 Arena México
Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, 2020 (makeup date)
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Disturbio, El Coyote, Sangre Imperial [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Dalys, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Dark Silueta, Princesa Sugehit, Reyna Isis [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Euforia, Hechicero, Místico vs Atlantis Jr., Negro Casas, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero [Copa Independencia]
5) Bárbaro Cavernario vs Felino [hair]

After a 546 day delay, Barbaro Cavernario and Felino finally have their hair match. It’ll probably be fine. It may be good; we’ve seen people Felino’s age pull out a hidden reserve in a big match like this. It’s also not a match anyone’s excited for or interested in the outcome. Cavernario is winning and won’t mean much. (If CMLL stunned the world and had Felino win, it’d be much more a story about what was up with Cavernario & CMLL than Felino.) Cavernario complained about people calling this a bad rivalry in a lead up interview, but it does seem like one. No one remembers this feud started as Angel de Oro/Felino, which got dropped after two weeks – they were looking for an excuse to give Felino a good payday all along. The reduced capacity means even that good payday won’t happen.

Volador/Gran Guerrero should also be fine, maybe good, and there’s no enthusiasm for it. There’s no meaning in this tournament, it doesn’t matter who wins. None of the undercard matches look all that better. The only thing that interests me is if Euforia/Ultimo Guerrero feud still exists, not to look for another match between them but because of what it may say about the current state of politics in CMLL. La Hiedra getting to just show up and stand in the ring with her father is the only bit of intrigue on this show.

Rugido and Magnus were introduced as the newest member of Volador’s Depreadores on Wednesday’s Informa. Magnus is the first wrestler introduced who’s wasn’t known as a Volador trainee yet, but that makes the opener a full Depredador team. It’s still not clear what this means outside of the patterned masks. Two more names will be revealed next week.

I’m not sure if I’m watching this show live; plans keep changing. This show doesn’t feel like one where I need to drop my plans to watch it like so many others in the past.

CMLL’s said nothing about if this show will turn up on YouTube later. They’ve really barely promoted the TicketmasterLive stream; all the promotional links are for the (more profitable) actual seats. Those seats seem to be moving well; they were about 75% sold out this mid-morning. There is also a listing for balcony tickets, but the tickets were listed as not going on sale until today and then were immediately unavailable. It comes off like a Ticketmaster error. CMLL has not opened the upper levels of Arena Mexico since the start of the pandemic. That appeared to be part of the capacity restriction imposed on them. If we see it open this week or next, then it’s obviously no longer one.

CMLL goes on after Friday:

CMLL (SUN) 09/19/2021 Arena México
1) Angelito & Kaligua vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Robin vs Grako, Hijo del Signo, Nitro
3) Cachorro, Flyer, Panterita del Ring vs Dark Panther, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. vs Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora
5) Místico, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Euforia, Templario

Euforia sure teams with Templario and Gran Guerrero a lot for someone no longer in their group. Tercera has brothers Cachorro & Dark Panther on opposite sides.

CMLL (MON) 09/20/2021 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & Meyer vs Espíritu Maligno & Pierrothito
2) Arkalis & Sonic vs Akuma & Espanto Jr.
3) Lluvia vs Dark Silueta [lightning]
4) El Audaz, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Felino, Pólvora, Templario
5) Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. vs Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero

Lluvia pinned Silueta this past week, so maybe something happened to set up that match. Atlantis Jr. revenge cheating to beat Ultimo Guerrero last Monday usually is the end of a CMLL feud, but they’re coming back with the tag match.

Caras has an interview with Soberano Jr., who explains his injury is a “torn cruciate ligament and meniscus.” He has surgery four months ago and is still three months away from returning, which means we may not see him in the ring again this year. That’s a lot more extensive than had previously been hinted. There was some definite hints of Soberano turning up in AAA or elsewhere with Dragon Lee after his anti-Ultimo Guerrero comments, but he obviously won’t be appearing anywhere soon and he seems on firm terms with CMLL in this interview.

Chilango has an interview with meme icon KeMonito.

Big Lucha & Travis Banks

Travis Banks appeared in the opening royal rumble with pinfalls match, where no wrestlers were announced in advance. Banks was the 13th and final person to enter in a match the announcers had said was an 11 person match. Everyone else in the match regular work Big Lucha shows. Banks was not around long; he did a hot tag-like run, got knocked out of the ring, and may have only made it back in to be pinned a couple of minutes later. The match segment ended with all the wrestlers posing with the winner; Banks wasn’t present for that.

Travis Banks is a New Zealand-born wrestler who achieved his biggest fame in Europe from 2015 to 2020, working as a wrestler and as a trainer. Banks was credibly accused of using his position as a trainer to coerce female students to have sex with him, including a minor. Banks did not deny his actions and instead tried to argue a 16-year-old girl, half his age, was an adult like him. Banks was not charged with a crime, due to a perceived loophole in the law, but he’s been he was kicked out of every promotion he worked with. Travis Banks’ appearance on this Big Lucha show is his first known wrestling match since those accusations came to public light.

It was a terrible idea for Big Lucha, Bandido and anyone else involved to use him. Travis Banks appears to be trash and there’s no reason to have him around a wrestling show. I’m trying to wrap my head around why it may have happened and that’s hard. I don’t think they thought Banks was going to help the show. His role in the match meant nothing. Bandido would’ve known Banks from working Progress shows, both in the UK and when Progress did their North America tour, and the spot he had in the match is one you’d give to a friend who’s begging for some work. Mexican wrestling was largely oblivious to the Speaking Out movement; had multiple conversations with Mexican wrestling people who knew “Speaking Out” only as a thing people on social media were using as a hashtag but has zero idea what it was about, much less everyone who was involved. I don’t want to claim I had any special knowledge either; I remembered Travis Banks with a European wrestling guy that I should know something about, but it was only when I hit upon his Twitter profile – listing himself as an NXT UK wrestler but locked – when I realized the things I actually needed to be searching for. If you’re not in that scene, it’s easy for that stuff to fall back off the mind and the same blind spots often happen when Mexican wrestling goes elsewhere. I’m sure Bandido knows about Banks now if he didn’t know before.

Still, an ex-Progress guy showing up in Mexico City and he’s OK with working a trainee match to just get on the card would be very weird in normal situations and should’ve set off some red flags. There were also five Ring of Honor wrestlers on that show, including the current ROH booker, and all stand a better chance of being aware of who Travis Banks is and why he’s a guy they might not want to associate themselves with. It wasn’t a ROH show and it wasn’t their responsibility, but Bandido’s their coworker and their champion, it would’ve been worth their time to help Bandido not come across like a dummy if they knew better.

Bandido and Big Lucha haven’t mentioned Banks; they really mention him in the match and they haven’t apologized for using him. Apologies are rare things in Mexican lucha libre, though one here some good. More good would be done by never using him again. This is exactly the kind of story that’s usually ignored by those who cover Mexican wrestling in Mexico, where who can be a fake mini Mr. Niebla takes priority, so I’m not sure we’ll hear more about this if nothing is said Friday.

Big Lucha (THU) 09/16/2021 Bandido Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Mas Lucha, thecubsfan]
1) Éxtasis vs Cometa Maya, ???, Radioatcivo, Limbo, Yutani, Tirano, Sussy Love, Travis Banks, Elemental, Bendito, Gravity, Mil Almas [Torneo Alas de Independencia] 
Pinfall eliminations with rumble entries. No wrestlers were announced ahead of time. Announcers said 11 people would be in the match; Mil Almas turned out to be a surprise 12 and Travis Banks was 13. Elemental got a trophy and replaced Komander in the triangle match as a price for winning.
2) Delirious b Skayde 
Delirious, in a rare bit of coherence, repeatedly called Skayde a living legend in a post-match interview.
3) Ciclón Ramírez Jr. b Elemental, PJ Black 
Ciclon Ramirez submitted PJ Black as he was pinning Elemental.
4) Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe b Demonic Flamita & Emperador Azteca and Bestia 666 & Rey Horus 
A video from Damian 666 introduced La Rebelion as a surprise third time. Briscoes beat Flamita. Dralistico and Dragon Lee made a surprise appearance to challenge the Briscoes and tease a match with Emperador Azteca & Demonic Flamita. Azteca congratulated Dralistico on quitting CMLL.
5) El Bandido b Matt Taven [ROH WORLD]
Bandido defeated Taven clean and Taven praised Bandido after all. Demonic Flamita & Emperador Azteca attacked Bandido after the match, setting up a Bandido & Gravity vs Flamita & ? match for the next show.

The Travis Banks stuff took me out of this show for a while. The other parts of the opener had some highlights, some mistakes you’d expect for wrestlers at their level, and was very long. I didn’t time it up but it appeared around forty minutes. Delirious/Skayde was fine from what I saw. The three-way match was a mess, with Ciclon Ramirez Jr. not looking good and the absurd confusing finish.

The tag match was good, the three teams worked hard and the Briscoes always seem to do well in Mexico. Bandido/Taven got off to a rough start – Taven noted the altitude in a post-match interview so maybe that was an issue – but got really strong as it went along and ended great. It was the sort of singles match Bandido had in PWG and other places to get over, but he really hasn’t had as much in Mexico. The crowd seemed to really get into it by the end, though the audio mix wasn’t the best at picking up. Taven put over Bandido and Mexican wrestling strong in the post-match interview. It’s also nice to get the Bandido/Taven title match at all, since it doesn’t seem like it’s something planned in Ring of Honor itself in the near future. ROH says they’ll put this show up with English commentary, though the Travis Banks opener will not be included,

I’m not sure the Hermanos Lee/Briscoes match set up here is actually happen or is meant to happen. The family is just trying to raise the image of Dralistico by positioning him as a top guy, and a top guy would show up to challenge the foreign brother tag team.

Other Independence Day Results

IWRG (THU) 09/16/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Bengalee & Kariel b Mary Caporal & Satania 
2) Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. b Legendario, Noicy Boy, Rey Halcón 
3) Dick Angelo, Puma de Oro, Tonalli b Halloween Jr., Mafioso, Medico Brujo 
4) Hijo del Espectro b Gianni Valetta © [IWRG IC HEAVY]  
Espectro bled a lot, and won the title. Valetta falls on his second defense.
5) Hijo del Pirata Morgan & Sick Boy b Súper Nova & Texano Jr. 
6) Dr. Wagner Jr., Galeno del Mal, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. b Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura 
Texano & Nova attacked the Wagners post match. Texano repeatedly unmasked Wagner, who covered up his face as if we hadn’t seen it for the last few years.

I was half paying attention to this during IWRG. Espectro seemed to bleed a lot and get beat bad before making the big heroic comeback while wearing Mexican flag colors to win the championship from the villainous guy from Malta. Valetta didn’t seem great but this was a better idea than just giving Espectro the vacant title right away. Main event angle doesn’t seem like something that’ll be followed up here, or at least won’t be with the older Wagner.

The surprise main event on yesterday’s Lucha Memes show turned out to be Ultimo Guerrero versus Arez. Ultimo Guerrero defeated Arez in a match described as a very much usual Arez match. Ultimo Guerrero wrestling AAA’s Arez would get Ultimo Guerrero in major trouble with CMLL today if he wasn’t Ultimo Guerrero. If it was Polvora who wrestled Arez, I’m not sure Polvora would be booked in Arena Mexico any time soon. It probably also helps that this match was not announced in advance – it was the replacement for the never completely announced Davey Richards match – and it does seem like CMLL wrestlers can get away with working places they’re not approved to work as long as they’re not advertised ahead of time. (That’s obviously also going on with RIOT’s upcoming secret show.) It’s a tremendous double standard and also one that makes no sense – the world didn’t come to an end because a CMLL and an AAA wrestler were in the same match.

None of that is Lucha Memes problem; they made good on their promise to give their fans a memorable replacement match for Davey Richards. (It didn’t seem the fans trusted the promotion though; turnout was said to be low.) It may hurt them working with CMLL going forward but that relationship has never been good. Yesterday’s show will turn up on IWTV soon, and their 10/03 lineup is one of the better ones they’ve had in a while:

Lucha Memes (SUN) 10/03/2021 Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México
1) Oni El Bendito vs Thunder Storm
2) Judas el Traidor vs Tonalli
3) Perro de Guerra Jr. vs Calibus
4) Freelance vs Avisman
5) Iron Kid vs Mike
6) Negro Navarro vs Jonathan Gresham

Gresham/Navarro is going to get attention. I really like the Mike/Iron Kid and Benito/Thunder Storm matches. I would go to this show if I was in Mexico (and if I wasn’t banned from attending Lucha Memes shows, which I think I may be.)

Arena Lopez Mateos included Angel del Amor (Luis Roberto Fernandez Lopez) losing his mask in a cage match to the current version of Brazo Cibernetico. The show, which included Psycho Clown winning a fourway over Blue Demon, DMT Azul, and Mesias, seemed to be a full house. This show seems like it’s the most media-covered show of the ones that happened yesterday, though that may be mostly because everyone was rushing to be the first person to have the unmasked guy on YouTube.

More News

09/18 AAA on Space

• Dinasita, Sexy Star II vs Villano III Jr., Flammer
• Hijo del Tirantes, Dave the Clown, Argenis vs Monster Clown, Faby Apache, Myzteziz
• La Hiedra, Rey Escorpion, Taurus vs Chessman, Murder Clown, Pagano

This is the first show from Temixco; they recorded enough matches to cover three weeks instead of airing a repeat. Hijo del Tirantes wrestles for the first time here since 2019, though he’s been active in Xalapa. He is 2-6 on AAA TV all time.

Mas Lucha’s Torneo Supremo, 10/09 in Arena Naucalpan

1. Laredo Kid
2. Jessy Ventura
3. Bandido
4. Rayman
5. Emperador Azteca
6. Villano III Jr.
7. Cuatrero
8. one more

It would take a very disappointing last person to prevent this from being an interesting tournament.

MLW’s 10/02 show will include Arez vs Aramis vs Tajiri vs Myron Reed for the MLW Middleweight Championship.

Laredo Kid lost to John Skyler on yesterday’s Impact show. The match was just about four minutes, so they didn’t have the chance to have as good a match as the previous week, but set up the two continuing to have issues. Laredo Kid is back in Nashville today for the next set of their tapings, which should start airing in a few weeks. Black Taurus also picked up a win on this past week’s Impact, though in the background of other stories; he’s not been involved in much.

Chile’s La Clinic has an interview with Venezuelan-born obstetrician Ruben Marquez, who delivers babies while wearing a mask as Dr. Lucha. He has a popular Instagram.

Dr. Wagner Jr. claims to be the luchador who came up with the idea of wearing Mexican flag colors, or even changing to different colors on different occasions. I believe Dr. Wagner Jr. believes this. I’m also guessing someone could probably find Mil Mascarasin green, white and red years prior.

As Charro NG announced that he’ll be using the name Mictlan MX going forward. I can’t think of anything memorable he’s done As Charro NG and this is probably a way to get out of paying a fee to the As Charro family.

Yahoo! Deportes has a story on the Septiembre Negro mask, a yellow and black mask that remains popular for its design despite the wrestler long being inactive – not just in Mexico, but you’ll see the design at US sporting events as well. The story claims that most Mexicans believe Septiembre Negro is a reference to the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, but people who know better realize it’s an actual reference to the 1972 massacre at the Olympics. The article has the since deceased Vic Amezcua, the man under the mask, claiming he meant the mask as a tribute to who had died and it was only the fault of the press that he ended up a rudo. “Black September” wasn’t a nickname of the event, it was the name of the terrorist group, so his story is impossible to take seriously.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Old familiar name Roshfrans is profiled in El Economista for increasing their sponsorship money into Mexican football. The article mentions Roshfrans sponsorship in CMLL & AAA as active, though it appears they stopped spending money there during the pandemic – I wonder if that’s part of the money now going into football.

An exhibition of Mexican movie art is open in Boyle Heights this weekend.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 09/13/2021 Arena Puebla [CMLL]
1) Fénix So & Rey Samuray b Cholo & Inquisidor
2) Amapola & Lluvia b Dark Silueta & Stephanie Vaquer
Amapola replaced Marcela. Her team took 1/3.
3) Stigma b Okumura [lightning]
4) Felino Jr., Pólvora, Templario b Audaz, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
Rudos took 2/3, the last when Felino fouled Cometa and Templario finished him off. Audaz replaced Titan.
5) Atlantis Jr. b Último Guerrero
Atlantis Jr. took 2/3. UG used the ropes to beat Atlantis in the second, Atlantis did the same to UG in the third.

CMLL actually posted live results from Puebla. Not sure what happened that promoted it; maybe they wanted to make sure we knew Ultimo Guerrero lost. Titan continues to be advertised and isn’t appearing.

Atlantis Jr. hasn’t lost a singles match since starting in CMLL. He hasn’t had a lot of them:

• 2019-01-21 Atlantis Jr. beat Okumura (FantasticaMania)
• 2019-07-05 Atlantis Jr. draw (Countout of the Ring) Hijo del Villano III
• 2019-10-25 Atlantis Jr. draw (Time Limit) Templario
• 2021-09-13 Atlantis Jr. beat Ultimo Guerrero

CMLL (TUE) 09/14/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha]
1) Apocalipsis & Cholo b Bengala & Leono 
2) Hombre Bala Jr., Pegasso, Stigma b Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor 
3) Dark Silueta, La Comandante, Tiffany b La Guerrera, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit 
Rudas took 1/3. Silueta was told she (and Reyna Isis) won the fan poll for a tag title shot after this match.
4) Luciferno, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Dulce Gardenia 
Rudos took 2/3.
5) Gran Guerrero, Terrible, Último Guerrero b Atlantis, Fugaz, Valiente 
Rudos took 2/3.

Finding out about a match on another show appears to be the biggest news on this show.

CMLL (TUE) 09/14/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara (live), Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha]
1) Estrella De Jalisco I, Estrella De Jalisco II, Obelisk b Conde, Persa, Ponzoña Jr.
2) Ángel Rebelde (Querétaro) & Optimus (Querétaro) b Leo & Príncipe
3) Akuma, Espanto Jr., Rugido b Bestia Negra, Cris Skin, Demonio Maya
Cris Skin replaced Difunto
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Pantera Blanca Jr. b Crixus, Halcón Negro Jr. (Queretaro), Trono (Queretaro)
moved up to the semifinal
5) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa b Gallo & Joker
listed as a tag title match but doesn’t appear to one; they didn’t bring the belts and started fighting before the bell, maybe to disguise it. Espiritu pulled Gallo’s mask to set up a Cometa pinfall.

Maybe they can come back with that tag title match when the champions didn’t have another high profile match announced.

CMLL officially closed the polls for the Aniversario show Friday night. The final card, in increasing order of votes:

CMLL (FRI) 09/24/2021 Arena México
CMLL 88th Aniversario
1) Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr. [MEX MIDDLE]
vacant title, last held by Octagon
2) Titán & Volador Jr. © vs Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II [CMLL TAG]
Originally a Misico/Caristico defense, vacant after Mistico II left CMLL.
3) Hechicero vs Último Guerrero © [CMLL HEAVY]
Originally for MEX HEAVY, 11th defense.
4) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa © vs Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]
5) La Jarochita & Lluvia © vs Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis [MEX WOMEN TAG]

The women’s tag match was the only one in doubt; Dalys & Stephanie Vaquer ended up about 200 votes short. It ended up in first because was it was so tight; it was getting twice as many votes as any other title for the last week.

Everyone following these polls understands the rules as the title that gets the most votes goes on last, but CMLL hasn’t confirmed the women’s tag match will get the main event spot just yet. It would be the first women’s match to headline a major CMLL show in the promotion’s history; they’ve scarcely main evented normal shows, as pointed out by CMLL making a big deal about doing that just a few weeks ago. I don’t feel completely sure this is happening until CMLL confirms it on Informa and the rest of the card order might change; Ultimo Guerrero working third and Volador working second is not their desired outcome. If CMLL goes “we meant the person who got the most votes, not the title” instead, then it’s Ultimo Guerrero/Hechicero last, preceded by the World Tag match, the Women’s Tag, the Mex Tag and the Mex Middleweight to open. That fits CMLL’s sensibilities much closer, though there’d be a revolt if the women don’t headline at this point.

Cavernario noted he and Felino haven’t wrestled for about a month and spins it as they’ve got a lot of pent-up hatred to get out. He also promises to shut the mouth of everyone who’s been calling this a bad rivalry on their cell phones.

Volador, talking about Los Depredadores, says they’re a group of wrestlers who’ve been training together for years. That seems to confirm the other members are his other students.

CMLL Informa today has the reveal of the other Depredadores, as well as people on the next two big shows: Felino, Hechicero, Templario, Gemelos Diablos and Ola Negra.

Heroes Inmortales

AAA released the full card for Heroes Inmortales

AAA TV (SAT) 10/09/2021 Coliseo La Concordia, Orizaba, Veracruz
1) Faby Apache, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa vs Hijo del Tirantes, Parka Negra, Súper Fly
2) Aramis, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. vs La Hiedra, Rey Escorpión, Taurus 
3) Chessman, Lady Shani, Pagano vs Abismo Negro Jr., Chik Tormenta, Látigo
4) Fénix & Pentagón Jr. © vs Hijo Del Vikingo & Laredo Kid [AAA TAG]
5) Pimpinela Escarlata vs Mamba, Keyra, Sexy Star II, Aerostar, Argenis, Dave The Clown, Villano III Jr., Arez [Copa Antonio Pena]
6) Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
7) DMT Azul, Puma King, Sam Adonis vs Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown [cage]

• The main event cage match does not have hair or masks on the line, it’s just a cage match for the sake of being a cage match. La Empresa probably shouldn’t lose yet, though maybe Psycho Clown ought to end the show winning if he’s going to get the Kenny Omega match in December.
• Semi-main is the first AAA TV NGD/Poder del Norte match, where NGD probably should get the win.
• The Copa Antonio Pena field is low on star power, to the point of making it confusing why it’s even on the card. Maybe this is a lifetime achievement award for Pimpinela, maybe AAA is hoping to add a big name. All of the other midcard TV feuds (Myzteziz/Argenis, Octagon Jr./Villano III, Aerostar/Drago vs Super Fly/Parka Negra) are broken up half the people being in this match. It comes off as people booked for this show before AAA had any idea what they were doing for this show
• Lucha Brothers versus Laredo Kid & Hijo del Vikingo being the best match of the show in the middle of the card looks weird but I guess the Lucha Brothers just did that and it went fine.  (The local poster has it as the semi-main.) There’s no reason to do this tag title match again so soon unless they’re doing a title change.
• It makes no sense for Chessman & Pagano to continue to team outside of fighting La Empresa and yet they continue the team. AAA says there are things yet to air on TV that will explain this.
• Rey Escorpion goes from headlining to the second match and maybe losing his title. It doesn’t quite make sense for La Hiedra to be in Los Mercenarios and Las Toxicas at the same time but it’s AAA so she can keep the title if they prefer.
• Hijo del Tirantes shows up on TV wrestling soon and will wrestle Faby Apache here as well. I don’t expect it’s going anywhere. Mr. Iguana winning Copa TripleMania was a nice moment and now he’s back in the opener.

No Marvel Lucha Libre match. They seem to go stretches without appearing at all.

The show is listed as starting at 6:30 pm. AAA didn’t say anything about it streaming, but all their major shows have streamed on Space this year and this is likely the same. I’ll stream it on Twtich if that’s the case. It’ll probably be a long one with seven matches.

The Crash runs the day before Heroes Inmortales. There’s no direct way from Tijuana to Orizaba, so it looks like it’s going to be a very long travel day for anyone working both. Pagano has been announced for The Crash show.

There hasn’t been many AAA spot shows in recent months, but they seem to be starting up again. A spot show in San Luis Potosi next Wednesday includes rare appearances by Karis la Momia Jr. and Mini Gronda, There’s a full show (with a title match) in Merida the day after Orizaba.

Other Notes

Mexican Independence Day is tomorrow, which means it’s a much busier Thursday than normal. IWRG has its usual Thursday show but with a lot bigger names than usual. There are shows in Arena Lopez Mateos, Coliseo Coacalco, and CAR the Crash tonight, while places like Arena Neza are holding off until the weekend. I think there might be shows on both Thursday and Sunday most years.

The show with the most international interest Thursday is the Big Lucha show at Bandido’s Gym, due to the ROH wrestlers on the show.  Bandido defends the ROH title against Matt Taven, Skayde faces Delirious, and the Briscoes wrestler Flamita & Emperador Azteca among other matches. I’m still not sure if this is streaming live but it will definitely turn up eventually. It’s a big test for the Big Lucha concept; if they can draw well with ROH wrestlers in, then maybe that’ll become a regular thing. Those Ring of Honor guys probably would’ve been a big help to the CMLL Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show on Friday – Matt Taven was even on the original lineup for that show back in March 2020 – but CMLL’s broken off relationships with both Bandido and ROH.

Gravity says his dream is to make it to PWG. That’s a rare dream for a Mexican wrestler to state publically, though it makes sense when he says seeing his brother wrestle there re-ignited his passion for wrestling. Emperador Azteca says he hopes to make it to ROH or NJPW.

Laredo Kid faces John Skyler in a rematch Thursday night on Impact. The next set of Impact tapings start on Friday, which will probably take them up to their next major show.

Villano III Jr. was added to Mas Lucha’s Torneo Supremo 10/09. They should have a full field by next Monday.

IWRG says their annual Castillo del Terror cage match show will be on 10/31. That’s probably a Mas Lucha Premium show. Anyone who subs in time to get their Mas Lucha Supremo tournament would get both in the one-month subscription.

Warrior Wrestling announced Rey Horus vs Aramis vs Gringo Loco for the Warrior Warrior Lucha Libre championship on their 10/16 show.

Cleveland’s AIW announced Psycho Clown for their 11/26 show. Psycho Clown was scheduled to work there in 2020 before the pandemic canceled plans.

The deal with the Mr. Niebla-related wrestlers appears to be his widow renting out his old nicknames to make some extra money, and other family members not being happy about it. Mr. Niebla’s widow and Fantasma spoke about it Tuesday. CMLL owns “Mr. Niebla” but doesn’t own the nicknames, so the family registered those years ago. The wrestlers intended to use those names were not introduced.

Daga, on Facebook, said people for years have asked him why he hasn’t gone to CMLL and he has talked to CMLL about coming in the past. Daga declared that today, he’d only go to CMLL to face Mistico, because Daga watched him wrestle when just starting to wrestle. I presume this means Daga is scared of getting defeated by Hechicero again (and also this seems like a random Facebook bit, not a set up to him coming in.)

70s/80s start Black Man is hospitalized and intubated in Guadalajara, according to social media posts. He’s said to have pneumonia; it’s unclear if it’s COVID-related.

Ciudad Victoria luchador Silver Fly announced he’s hospitalized with COVID.

Box y Lucha 3489 has Sangre Chicana, Dralisitco and Vangellys on the cover.

LuchaWorld has the Lucha Report on Monday and a new Poster-Mania.

Mas Lucha has this En+carados 239.

CMLL (FRI) 09/10/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores]
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Dark Magic, Okumura, Pólvora  
Tecnicos (including the new Depredadores) took 1/3.
2) Amapola, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer b La Guerrera, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit      
Rudas took 2/3. Guerrera was hurt in the second fall and left the match.
3) Dragón Rojo Jr. & Templario b Enfermero Jr., El Coyote [MEX MIDDLE, #1 Contenders]    
Temprlario beat Enfermero, Dragon Rojo defeated Coyote. Templario & Dragon Rojo advance to the final next week
4) Gran Guerrero b Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Fugaz, Atlantis Jr., Rey Cometa, Dark Panther, Negro Casas, Euforia, Terrible, Virus, Gemelo Diablo II [Copa Independencia, semifinal]      
Stuka Jr. replaced Titan on Friday. Elimination order: Fugaz (by Negro Casas), Rey Cometa (Euforia), Gemelo Diablo (Angel de Oro), Dark Panther (Atlantis Jr.), Virus (Negro Casas), Stuka Jr. (Terrible), Negro Casas (Angel de Oro), Atlantis Jr. (Euforia), Euforia (Gran Guerrero foul, Terrible pin), Angel de Oro (Gran Guerrero), Terrible (Gran Guerrero)

Gran Guerrrero winning is logical and well done – he beat the last three guys, he’s a younger guy when they desperately need younger rudos – and also entirely boring.

CMLL (SUN) 09/12/2021 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Átomo & El Gallito b Chamuel & Perico Zakarías
2) Grako & Nitro b Oro Jr. & Sangre Imperial
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Amapola, Dalys, Dark Silueta b La Jarochita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit
Rudas took 2/3. Sugehit & Jarochita replaced Guerrera (injured on Friday) & Vaquerita, Amapola replaced Seductora
4) El Audaz, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Cancerbero, Raziel, Rey Bucanero
Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Volador Jr. b Felino, Último Guerrero, Virus
Tecnicos took 2/3. Atlantis replaced Atlantis Jr. on Friday

Felino did return. CMLL’s recap mentioned he looked totally ready for Friday’s match. Nothing else here.

CMLL (TUE) 09/14/2021 Arena México
1) Bengala & Leono vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Hombre Bala Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
3) La Guerrera, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Dark Silueta, La Comandante, Tiffany
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Dulce Gardenia vs Luciferno, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero
5) Atlantis, Fugaz, Valiente vs Gran Guerrero, Terrible, Último Guerrero

Dulce Gardenia hasn’t been around since July. Gran Guerrero is only rudo in the top matches who isn’t 45 or older.

We can also sort of figure out with the Anniversary shows will be

CMLL (FRI) 09/17/2021 Arena México
Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, 2020 (makeup date)
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Disturbio, El Coyote, Sangre Imperial [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Dalys, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Dark Silueta, Princesa Sugehit, Reyna Isis
3) Euforia, Hechicero, Místico vs Atlantis Jr., Negro Casas, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero [Copa Independencia]
5) Bárbaro Cavernario vs Felino [hair]

That’s the card order as CMLL’s listed now, but they’ll probably break up the two singles matches later.

Every trios match is a relevos increibles, which means none of them are really increibles. No one is really a tecnico or rudo anymore, they just change their personality based on the whim of the programming committee that day. I suspect there are a lot of individual decisions that are coming together to paint an unappealing picture. This promotion definitely wants to go back to the past but can’t even come to an agreement on which year: Sangre Imperial & Lluvia will likely end up working ruda to honor Sangre Imperial’s time in the 80s, while Atlantis Jr. is a rudo in his match because someone wants to turn the clock back the Los Guerreros del Atlantida circa 2006. No new ideas are permitted.

Felino not being around has made it near impossible to build excitement for the hair match. I’m not sure there would’ve been much anyone. It’ll be good, they’ll work hard. The same applies for Volador/Gran Guerrero. This card is really not that different from recent Homenaje a Dos Leyendas – an apuesta match, a title/tournament match, and a bunch of random stuff – but there’s no buzz to any of this.

Euforia & Ultimo Guerrero haven’t been in the ring since they broke up as a team. Seemed important at the time.

CMLL (FRI) 09/24/2021 Arena México
CMLL 88th Aniversario
1) La Jarochita & Lluvia © vs ? & ?? [MEX WOMEN TAG]
2) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa © vs Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]
3) Titán & Volador Jr. © vs Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II [CMLL TAG]
Originally a Misico/Caristico defense, vacant after Mistico II left CMLL.
4) Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr. [MEX MIDDLE]
vacant title, last held by Octagon
5) Hechicero vs Último Guerrero © [CMLL HEAVY]
Originally for MEX HEAVY, 11th defense.

These polls aren’t closed for another day or so, but luchablog’s decision desk could’ve called these over weeks ago. The women’s tag title match will go down to the last moment but every other poll has never been close. It’s slightly more exciting because I don’t know how some of these matches will go, though its novel matches that matter more than any of these title belts.

There’s an intense amount of voting going on for that women’s tag team title match, way more than I’ve seen for any 24 hour period I’ve tracked. Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis led when I checked midday, but I’ve seen screen grabs with Dalys & Stephanie Vaquer leading at other times. Both teams should get title shots and they should go on last, and I’m not sure if either will happen.

The intensity over the poll result may have skewed the other results. There are some people who are going to the CMLL voting page just to vote for the women’s tag title match. I believe there are also those who are only interested in that race but feel (or mistakenly believe) they have to vote for all the titles and are just quickly voting for the first place finisher or the first name on the list (which tends to be first-place finisher.) I think the people who won are the people who would’ve won anyway, but maybe more than they would’ve if the names were always put into a random order.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 09/12/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Perro de Guerra Jr. b Spider Fly
2) Lolita & Satania b Bengalee & Sagitarius
3) Akbal, Caballero de Plata, Mexica b Halloween Jr., Oficial AK47, Tortuga Leo
Leo turned rudo last week and now his evil turtle friends were replaced by AK-47 (moved down?) and Halloween JR.
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro, Tonalli b Halcón Mágico, Noicy Boy, Relámpago
Dick Angelo, Puma de Oro and Tonalli are now La Jauria Jaucan
5) Cíclope & Miedo Extremo DCOR Medico Brujo & Sick Boy
6) Estrella Divina & Jessy Ventura b Hijo del Alebrije & Mafioso
Alebrije replaced AK47, didn’t get along with Mafioso, gave up at the end of the match. Sick Boy & Medico Brujo helped out Mafisio after the match.
7) Gianni Valletta & Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Súpernova & Texano Jr.
Valletta stays undefeated, beating Super Nova. Texano & Pirata made hair match challenges

I had other things going on and didn’t see any of this, but it doesn’t read like I need to go back and see much of it. I did see Perro de Guerra Jr. has actual gear now; he has professional wrestling skills so it’ll help to look like one.

IWRG (THU) 09/16/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Bengalee & Kariel vs Mary Caporal & Satania
2) Legendario, Noicy Boy, Rey Halcón vs Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
3) Halloween Jr., Mafioso, Medico Brujo vs Dick Angelo, Puma de Oro, Tonalli
4) Súper Nova & Texano Jr. vs Hijo del Pirata Morgan & Sick Boy
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura vs Dr. Wagner Jr., Galeno del Mal, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
6) Hijo del Espectro vs Gianni Valetta © [IWRG IC HEAVY]
second defense

I’ve got the top three matches as listed on the poster, but they are technically a random draw for order on the day of the show. Many wrestlers are working multiple shows on Mexican Independence Day, so IWRG may be using a ‘random draw’ as cover for not knowing exactly when luchadors need to go or arrive yet. Wagner would be in the main event under normal circumstances.

ROH

Bandido retained the ROH World Championship over Demonic Flamita, EC3, and Brody King on ROH’s Death Before Dishonor show. Earlier on the show, LFI (Dragon Lee, Kenny King, La Bestia del Ring) lost to Shane Taylor Enterprises for the ROH Six-Man Championship. Bandido appeared to have Alex Zayne (who beat Bandido in ROH before Zayne signed with WWE), Vincent (won a title shot from Matt Taven), and Jonathan Gresham as upcoming challengers. The overall show was good, though not as strong as their recent previous outings.

Dragon Lee & Kenny King also surprisingly won the ROH Tag Team Championship on this week’s ROH TV, defeating Homicide & Chris Dickinson. Dragon Lee is now a double champion holding the ROH TV championship. Whatever the future is with ROH and Rush – who was only briefly mentioned on the show – it doesn’t seem to affect ROH’s feelings towards Dragon Lee at the moment. If nothing else, we’ll know what Dragon Lee’s status is with ROH going forward based on how long he holds both those titles.

(There were no hints of Dralistico showing up; this would’ve been the logical time to do it if it was going to happen. It is probably not going to happen.)

The Alex Zayne/Bandido match was specifically said as coming up on ROH TV. I’m not sure if there is anything for Ring of Honor coming up beyond TV. No next live date was announced and PW Insider reported there are no live shows currently scheduled. Even the year-ending Final Battle PPV in December may or may not have fans at this point. ROH is taping TV today and tomorrow and will again in November, expected to have no fans. The PW Insider report says the decision to run no live events is COVID-related. I enjoy a lot of Ring of Honor, but seeing a TV promotion in front of maybe 300 people with no more announced shows would be a terrible sign if there wasn’t the COVID reason. I hope they rebound whenever they can run normally again, but they’ve got to make it there first.

Bandido is bringing in some ROH wrestlers for the Big Lucha show this Thursday. Those shows have streamed live in the past, though I’m not sure if this one will – Mas Lucha has the IWRG show at an overlapping time. The show was supposed to stream on Bandido’s own channel last time, though it didn’t seem to be running live.

The Crash

The Crash (SAT) 09/11/2021 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [SoCal Uncensored]
1) Kamikaze, Skalibur, Torito Negro b Próximo, Terror Azteca, Toto
2) Black Danger & Dinámico b Baby Xtreme & El Dragón (Chihuahua)
3) Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana II b Black Destiny, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa
4) Hijo Del Vikingo b Black Taurus (Indie) 
reverse 450 splash for the win
5) Bestia 666, Mecha Wolf, Rey Horus b Cuatrero, Forastero (NGD), Sansón 
Poder del Norte & Konnan interfered.
6) Andrade el Idolo b Laredo Kid, Fénix (AAA) 

Konnan was with Bestia & Mecha Wolf on the NWA PPV and then attached himself to NGD on this show; you make sense of it. It was not exactly great to see AAA unable to give a finish to an NGD match on TV and then a few hours later it was OK for NGD to lose in The Crash. Konnan appeared to be publically only introduced as talent, though he’s clear on Twitter that he’s part of the promotion again. Konnan said in that Tweet that they’re working on getting The Crash watchable in the US. I don’t believe that can happen as long as The Crash uses AAA talent and the AAA/FMV lawsuit exists – it’s the same issues as the Aguascalientes show that aired live and then was restricted to Mexico.

Danny Limelight didn’t make it to Tijuana and The Crash changed the top two matches; live report I saw said people were generally OK with it while noticing it as part of the pattern with this group not delivering on promises. Vikingo/Taurus was as great as you’d expect from those two at this point, except for the Code Red spot on the apron not going well. Laredo & Fenix did a lot of the work in the main event but Andrade also looked good, a lot better than his last Laredo Kid match.

Monday, The Crash announced Rich Swann for a Friday 10/08 show, so that’s the next date. That means any AAA talent (Konnan included) will be flying out to Orizaba for Heroes Inmortales the next day.

Other Notes

Nothing much news from AAA TV, though the matches were generally good until the finishes. I guess the transition from doing “just matches” to “angles” is both the Poder del Norte and NGD matches ended with no finish, just the opposing team running in to brawl and the referee waving his hands indecipherably. That may have been a DQ in normal promotions but people run-in in front of the referees all the time in AAA and the match still goes on, so perhaps those matches will go on forever. AAA didn’t officially announce the Heroes Inmortales NGD/Poder del Norte match; the start of the show actually showed a clip of an NGD promo that wasn’t included on the show, so maybe they meant to announce it. Goya Kong joined Poder del Norte, with Psycho Clown more or less deciding not to go for revenge on his sister because he figured God would handle it down the line.

The Orizaba local promoter is revealing Heroes Inmrotales matches on social media; they revealed the Copa Antonio Pena with Pimpinela Escarlata, Mamba, Keyra, Sexy Star, Aerostar, Argenis, Dave the Clown, Villano III Jr., and Arez. That’s nine names, a little less than usual for an AAA match of this type. Maybe more will be added.

Robles Promotions did run in Arena Neza and Arena Lopez Mateos. I heard the idea was for these shows not to be taped, so Mas Lucha didn’t go, but the usual fancam places have video anyway. Neither building seemed to be more half full despite the loaded lineups, but the promotion seems to exist to make the promoter happy anyway. Sexy Dulce suffered a facial injury Saturday when a dive to the floor on Saturday night wasn’t well caught and she hit the floor hard. Vampiro, doing interviews at the show, is now claiming his brain issues have made it impossible for him to remember the 80s. It’s also possible Vampiro is tired of talking about that time period and would prefer people ask him about things he’s doing now.

2A3Caidas was one of a few outlets interviewing with Vangellys this past week. His general CMLL complaint is they were booking him in early matches and he feels he’s a top wrestler. He’ll be booked in top spots on indie groups just as long as he’s booked with the Munoz family.

“Mini Rey del Guaguanco” and “Apestoso Mayor Jr.” will reportedly be introduced at a press conference at the Mexican wrestling commission on Tuesday. Those are the deceased Mr. Niebla’s old nicknames and those wrestlers were first reported as using the names “Mini Mr. Niebla” and “Mr. Niebla Jr.”. They’ve changed to the nicknames but there’s still apparently Mr. Niebla family members upset about it and saying the wrestlers don’t have the permission to do use those names. I’m not really sure you can claim nicknames, but also fake Mr. Nieblas seem lame. (There’s still no word when that list of heavyweight title challengers is coming from the commission.)

Canek, in an interview with DigitalMex, says slamming Andre el Gigante caused all the knee problems he’s had later in life. Canek also says he’s one of the few wrestlers who never used or injected drugs to maintain his muscles. I’m not sure which of those two statements is less believable. Those statements are remarkably similar to Hulk Hogan, who’s claimed massive back issues after slamming Andre and was equally untrue. Canek also slammed Andre in a leadup match, something that was mentioned in magazines but has forgotten in the mist of time, so maybe it was just that additional slam that broke him for years to come.

Rayman has been added to the Torneo Supremo 2021.

NVI Noticias interviews Rey Apocalipsis, who also works as a butcher.

LuchaWorld had a Lucha Report on Friday.

CMLL has two different elimination matches tonight, on their non-streamed Friday night show:

CMLL (FRI) 09/10/2021 Arena México
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Pólvora
2) La Guerrera, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
3) Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Enfermero Jr., El Coyote [MEX MIDDLE, #1 Contenders]
4) Ángel de Oro vs Stuka Jr., Fugaz, Atlantis Jr., Rey Cometa, Dark Panther, Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Euforia, Terrible, Virus, Gemelo Diablo II [Copa Independencia, semifinal]
Stuka Jr. replaced Titan on Friday

Titan continues to miss shows. I suspect he’s fine so they keep listing him, but he can’t get cleared so he keeps getting pulled. They’ve got one more week to sort it out.

Volador faces the winner of the Copa Independencia main event. Euforia & Gran Guerrero would be logical if unexciting picks. There’s a bunch of others who could have arguments, with Virus being the most interesting pick. I kind of wonder how a Rey Cometa/Volador match would go too. I don’t want to see Angel de Oro versus Virus, though Los Nuevos Ingobernables have lost any steam as a group and probably should get a win if they’re still meant to be something.

The Mexican Middleweight eliminator match – four go in, last two go onto next week – is similar up in the air. Templario being one of the two seems close to a lock, and there’s a case for each other. Dragon Rojo Jr. is the biggest star, though he’s wrestled infrequently in this return. Enfermero Jr. is the guy CMLL just gave a new (old) gimmick to and winning is proof it’s “working.” Coyote is the prelim guy with an unlikely amount of supporters who might be worth a bigger look. I think it’s Templario/Enfremero as the final.

The opener is Diamond & Magia Blanca debuting as Depredarors, and the rest of us finding out what that means. Isis & Vaquer, close rivals in CMLL’s poll, are partners in the segunda.

Sunday’s card

CMLL (SUN) 09/12/2021 Arena México
1) Átomo & El Gallito vs Chamuel & Perico Zakarías
2) Oro Jr. & Sangre Imperial vs Grako & Nitro
3) La Guerrera, La Vaquerita, Marcela vs Dalys, Dark Silueta, La Seductora
4) El Audaz, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Rey Bucanero
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Volador Jr. vs Felino, Último Guerrero, Virus
Atlantis replaced Atlantis Jr. on Friday

Felino returns! This may be his only warmup match before the hair versus hair main event with Cavernario on 09/17. No obvious reason why Atlantis Jr. is off Sunday – he’s wrestling today, Saturday (ChinmpaLuchas) and Monday.

CMLL (MON) 09/13/2021 Arena Puebla
1) Fénix So & Rey Samuray vs Cholo & Inquisidor
2) Lluvia & Marcela vs Dark Silueta & Stephanie Vaquer
3) Stigma vs Okumura [lightning]
4) Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Titán vs Felino Jr., Pólvora, Templario
5) Último Guerrero vs Atlantis Jr.

In the past, singles matches would mean more people booked in the undercard. It’s a new world. This card has 18 people booked, down from 20 the last couple of weeks.

CMLL (TUE) 09/14/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Estrella De Jalisco I, Estrella De Jalisco II, Obelisk vs Conde, Persa, Ponzoña Jr.
2) Leo & Príncipe vs Ángel Rebelde & Optimus
3) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Pantera Blanca Jr. vs Crixus, Halcón Negro Jr. (Queretaro), Trono (Queretaro)
4) Akuma, Espanto Jr., Rugido vs Bestia Negra, Demonio Maya, Difunto
5) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Gallo & Joker [MEX TAG]

Rugido working a semimain. Rugido definetely got the Depredador spot. Maybe the first time those titles have been defended in Guadalajara since the 80s; the locals won the is past week.

Volador Jr. announced Magia Blanca and Diamond as the first members of his Los Depredadores group on Wednesday’s CMLL Informa. They’ve both been training with him for five years and wore Volador-inspired sharktooth masks.  He only revealed these two because they were appearing with Friday, with other members to be revealed later. The way Volador explained this concept – “tecnicos or rudos, we’ll let the fans decide!” and anyone who works hard can join – suggests there may not be concrete plans for where this is going, just an announcement of a group loosely associated group. Booking Magia Blanca & Diamond in teams with Volador would require a significant change in how CMLL books matches. CMLL’s been willing to do smaller cosmetic changes so far.

There were six total Depredador members on Wednesday including Volador, up from five in previous appearances. Titan was announced as returning on Wednesday, Titan’s teaming with Volador, so my guess is he’s been added to the group. CMLL said they’ll announce more members next week on Informa. Volador suggested there could be 10 in the group if people are deemed worthy.

Furia de Titanes says the CMLL voting will end on Tuesday the 14th, with the announcements of the winners on CMLL Informa the next day.

CMLL announced Nao Ishikawa broke her hand and will not be coming to Mexico, so Momo Kohgo will replace her. CMLL could’ve made the change and 99% of the people who regularly watch CMLL would not know there was a substitution, so good on them for actually announcing it. Kohgo is officially from promotion Actress girl’Z, but she’s working many Ice Ribbon shows like the other two women (Tsukasa Fujimoto & Tsukushi) who are coming to CMLL.

Sangre Chicana says AAA gave permission to La Hiedra to appear as part of his tribute segment on the 09/17 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show. That’s expected, AAA seems pretty open for those kinds of presentations as long as they don’t conflict with a TV date. The bigger issue is always CMLL allowing an AAA person to appear at their event. It does seem like CMLL has given that permission.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 09/09/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Rey Halcón b Sol 
2) Caballero de Plata & Legendario b Fly Warrior & Hijo Del Estudiante 
3) Karaoui b Avisman, Mafioso 
Karaoui & Mafioso are feuding
4) Hijo del Alebrije © DQ Hijo del Pirata Morgan [IWRG JUNIORS]  
2nd defense. Pirata unmasked Alebrije.
5) Gianna Valletta, Medico Brujo, Sick Boy b Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura   

Officially, Hijo del Pirata Morgan unmasked Hijo del Alebrije. In practice, Pirata gave Alebrije a chokeslam into a backbreaker, Alebrije unmasked (which weren’t supposed to notice), Pirata covered for the three, the referee raised Pirata’s arm, saw Alebrije unmasked, and called the DQ. It did not come off well, those are the kind of finishes that turn crowds against the tecnicos and the promotion, and don’t make people want to see a rematch.

IWRG (SUN) 09/12/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Bengalee & Sagitarius vs Lolita & Satania
2) Akbal, Caballero de Plata, Mexica vs Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka, Tortuga Leo
3) Halcón Mágico, Noicy Boy, Relámpago vs Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro, Tonalli
4) Cíclope & Miedo Extremo vs Medico Brujo & Sick Boy
5) Estrella Divina & Jessy Ventura vs Mafioso & Oficial AK47
6) Gianni Valletta & Hijo del Pirata Morgan vs Súpernova & Texano Jr.

Los Macizos hasn’t been seen much since Vanguardia went on COVID hiatus; they’re here because they’re also in to work MexaWrestling on Saturday. I’m not sure how long Valletta is around but Texano Jr. makes sense as a heavyweight challenger.

Other News

09/11 AAA on Space lineup

• Villano III Jr., Super Fly, Parka Negra vs Drago, Aerostar, Komander
• Octagon Jr., Myzteziz Jr., Aramis vs Poder del Norte (w/Goya Kong)
• NGD (AAA debut) vs Psycho Clown, Laredo Kid, Hijo del Vikingo

It’s nice we’re at least getting good trios matches if nothing is going to happen. Goya Kong and Carta Brava Jr. are a couple but Goya Kong with Poder del Norte is otherwise a weird fit, just a place to put Goya after doing the turn. Konnan (or “AAA sources”) had previously told the WON that Aramis was replacing Vikingo in Los Jinetes del Aire so that appears to be what’s happening in the segunda.

I believe AAA taped one more NGD match at this taping, though no idea if it’s airing on Space next week or disappearing into the void.

AAA also put up a vignette with La Empresa after TripleMania, when they were joined by a masked woman cosplaying as Harley Quinn. In an amazing coincidence, Estrellita has the same hair situation going on right now and would be a logical fit with a fake-CMLL group if it’s going anywhere. She didn’t appear to be around on this month’s tapings so who knows if it is going anywhere.

ROH has a lot this weekend. Their TV show includes

• Chris Dickinson & Homicide (c) vs Dragon Lee & Kenny King for the ROH Tag Team Titles
• Bandido & Rey Horus vs Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe

This TV show will be available starting Saturday at 7 pm CT (overlapping with AAA) to allow fans to watch it before their PPV on Sunday.

The Sunday Death before Dishonor show has a 6 pm CT start for the free hour, 7 pm for the paid portion, including these matches

• Rey Horus among 15 people in the Honor Rumble, winner gets a title shot
  • this is on the free hour
• LFI (Dragon Lee, Kenny King, La Bestia del Ring) vs Shane Taylor Promotions (c) for the ROH Six-Man Championship
• Bandido (c) vs Brody King vs Demonic Flamita vs EC3 for the ROH World Championship

ROH hasn’t announced its next show following this one.

Even more shows of note

• The Andrade/PAC match will air on AEW’s Rampage show tonight at 9 pm CT. This turns out to be the first Rampage show not available in Mexico. The AEW FITE service has been disabled for Mexico this week and Space has not picked up Rampage yet. I suspect that’s only a matter of time.
• The Crash returns from 1.5 year COVID hiatus on Saturday, with Vikingo vs Taurus vs Andrade vs Fenix as the main event, and Laredo Kid vs Danny Limelight underneath it. There is no official stream but fan video will likely turn up after and maybe even late that night (show starts at 10:30 pm CT)
  • city rival EMW updated their Facebook this past week so I guess they’re returning soon too
• Robles Promotions has shows on Saturday in Arena Neza and Sunday in Arena Lopez Mateos. As usual, just a lot of random trios matches of no particular purpose. Penta & Vampiro are listed for both shows, with Blue Demon on Saturday and Pagano in on Sunday.
  • these are not Robles Patron Promotions, no Alberto this weekend
  • these are the first Mexico City bookings for Blue Demon since he got removed from his own Disney show; maybe we’ll get an explanation this weekend
• MexaWrestling has Super Nova & Texano Jr. vs Corsario Negro Jr. & Drako in Arena San Juan on Saturday.
• In the Chicago area, GALLI has Psycho Clown vs Mesias on Saturday.

Emperador Azteca has been added to Mas Lucha’s 10/07 Torneo Supremo.

DTU wrestler Blaze was part of a Disney taping in Arena Mexico on Thursday. Mas Lucha’s Vic Martz indicated he was there too. Hip Hop Man, who often recruits wrestlers for movie/TV extra work, was said to be involved. I wonder if this and the recent Arena Coliseo taping is footage for the not-Blue Demon “Black Scorpion & Ultra Violet” Disney TV show since that’s the only Disney lucha libre show I know of. They hadn’t previously mentioned plans to tape in Mexico City, only New Orleans. TV production in New Orleans is rough at the moment but moving production to Mexico City at the last second would seem even harder.

Andrew Thompson interviewed Matt Taven recently. Taven was very strong in praising his time in CMLL and talked about his hair match.

Laredo Kid’s return match to Impact Wrestling is available for free on their YouTube channel. He appeared to be on the proper Impact show

IWTV put up the 08/22 Lucha Memes show.

Nike is introducing a line of lucha libre inspired shoes and clothing tomorrow. They appear to be having an exhibition in Arena Mexico on Wednesday, the same time as CMLL Informa.

Heraldo Deportes has a story about Chinampa Luchas. The story is Gran Felipe Jr., Mr. Jerry, and Ciclonico are brothers who already were working/farming on a chinampa island in Mexico City, had been running shows inside in Xochimilco, and decided they might as well try running shows outside on the island when the pandemic started.

AAW announced Gringo Loco & Arez vs Aramis & Laredo Kid for their 10/01 show. That should be worth the price of admission.

Rush is picking NFL football games on ESPN Mexico’s website this season.

Nuevo Leon luchador Loco Corona (Martín Corona Ocañas, 66) passed away on Wednesday according to Box y Lucha.

Milenio has a video story on Arena Naucalpan.

CMLL (MON) 09/06/2021 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla]
4) Stuka Jr. © b Ángel de Oro [NWA LH]
5th defense
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Místico b Atlantis Jr., Cavernario, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero had issues leading to UG betraying Atlantis.

Just partial results, but even that’s a treat . The main event reads like we should expect Atlantis Jr./Ultimo Guerrero next week. CMLL so rarely does title changes in Arena Puebla that I didn’t expect one here, but it wouldn’t have been a total shock. There may be a day (again) where someone becomes champion in Puebla and we don’t know about it for a while.

CMLL (TUE) 09/07/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito b Kaligua & Último Dragóncito
2) Eléctrico & Robin b Hijo del Signo & Inquisidor
Tecnicos took 2/3
3) Cachorro, Pegasso, Stigma b Akuma, Espanto Jr., Felino Jr.
Tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Hechicero, Luciferno, Mephisto b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Stuka Jr.
An earthquake struck Acapulco just as this match started, which was felt in Mexico City and caused the show to be stopped temporarily. Mephisto & Luciferno snuck in fouls on the Panthers.
5) Star Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. b Cavernario, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
Tecnicos took 2/3. Volador was accompanied by his four mystery people again.

It was a 7.0 earthquake, strong enough to be felt 200 miles away, sounds pretty bad. The damage is apparently relatively slight, though parts of Mexico City were out of power through today. There’s a history of bad earthquakes in Mexico City proper – in 2017 and 1985 most notably – but this doesn’t seem to have done the damage those did. Mas Lucha’s footage of the earthquake in Arena Mexico went viral. The show paused for around five minutes before resuming, judging from social media posts. Volador Jr., Star Jr. & Valiente thanked the fans for sticking around after the main event.

CMLL says the Volador friends will be revealed on CMLL Informa today. Those men are officially named Los Depredadores on the Informa preview. It seems liked it’d be more dramatic if they did it on an actual show, but Informa is the bigger priority for whatever reason.

CMLL (TUE) 09/07/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara (video), Mas Lucha]
4) Explosivo, Fantástico, Star Black DRAW Halcón Negro Jr., Principe Daniel, Trono
double pin draw
5) Gallo & Joker b Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa
money thrown in, challenges followed

Friday’s lineup

CMLL (FRI) 09/10/2021 Arena México
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Pólvora
2) La Guerrera, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
3) Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Enfermero Jr., El Coyote [MEX MIDDLE, #1 Contenders]
4) Ángel de Oro vs Titán, Fugaz, Atlantis Jr., Rey Cometa, Dark Panther, Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Euforia, Terrible, Virus, Gemelo Diablo II [Copa Independencia, semifinal]

Not a streaming show. It should air on TV on 09/18 and on YouTube on 09/25, after the matches they’re setting up have already taken place.

Templario and Titan appear to be cleared of whatever unsaid reasons were keeping them from appearing in these shows. Titan/Volador in a 1v1 match before they wrestle for the tag team titles would be interesting, though I think Gran Guerrero or Euforia is far more likely. CMLL did give a surprise in the Universal de Amazones tournament so maybe they’ll do it again.

CMLL announced those final four names for the middleweight title late Tuesday night, cutting off the poll that hadn’t been close in a while. Two of the four wrestlers will advance to the 09/17 show. Templario is most likely one of them, and take your pick of the other three. Enfermero Jr. has had the most fan support in the poll.

CMLL’s never been clear when the 09/24 Aniversario polls are going to end. I assumed they’d just close them all at the same time, as they’ve done in past years. That appears to be wrong: the other four polls remain open. Maybe they’re just closing the polls as they need to this time around, and so the other polls will remain open until the Tuesday before, 09/21? This is something CMLL could easily explain but struggles to do so historically.

Felino has not been seen on a CMLL show since August 16th. (He may have appeared on the August 23rd show, we have no results.) I have no information about Felino’s status but a healthy Felino almost certainly wrestles in one of the Copa Independencia blocks. Barbaro Cavernario is listed on today’s CMLL Informa show; Cavernario doesn’t have any upcoming matches so maybe they’re talking about him in the heavyweight poll, but it’s probably about their hair match. This is about time where both guys should be around to talk about a match next week and I hope that’s all they have to do talk about. CMLL’s preview maintains that the match is on.

The other Informa participants are the four people in the middleweight contenders match (Dragon Rojo, Enfermero Jr., El Coyote, Templario), heavyweight contenders Euforia & Terrible, and Volador and his new group.

Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis continue to lead Dalys & Stephanie Vaquer by just a few votes. Dalys & Vaquer did lead last night; my guess is we’d see it go back and forth through the day if there was an easier way to keep track of it. The women’s tag team championship has the most votes, which I believe CMLL previously explained would get the main event spot on the Aniversario. (I wonder if I’ve misunderstood that though, and it’ll actually be the candidate with the most votes, which would put Volador/Titan vs Gemelo Diablos match last.) CMLL cutting off the middleweight poll while allowing the others to continue will mean it’ll have the least votes and open the show, which is another reason it’s weird to keep the other polls open.

Vangellys quit CMLL on Tuesday, as first reported by Mas Lucha. It might have not been noticed had Vangellys not told Mas Lucha. He picked up an injury back on August 17th and indicated he’s still a couple of weeks from returning. Vangellys hadn’t been booked in a meaningful spot for years; he could’ve just quietly vanished like Estrellita; I’m for sure not spending these many words on Vangellys in any other circumstance. Vangellys is close with the Munoz family and leaving after Mistico Dralistico left is probably not a coincidence, but it seems like there was an additional push – Vangellys was still tagging CMLL on Instagram posts on Monday like he expected to still be around. He’ll likely be working shows with the Munoz family in the near future.

Vangellys came into CMLL full time in 2007, seemingly part of a deal to lose the Mexican National Light Heavyweight championship to Mistico Caristico. He was never a star, but got grouped in with the heavyweights and so worked decently high on the card. Vangellys was fine enough in stretches in CMLL, and injuries (and the general malaise of CMLL) caught up to him in recent years. His CMLL peak was winning the 2013 En Busca de un Idolo, a competition of guys stuck in the upper midcard who largely stayed stuck in the upper midcard. He also got to lose his hair to Pierroth (La Bestia del Ring) in a July 14th match, a match which no one but the Munoz family was all that excited to see. Vangellys was most recently was grouped in with Okumura & Dark Magic as part of the Ambasadors del Mal, a trio of foreign heels given a big presentation as if they were going to be a big deal. They have not been a big deal, just a midcard act that hasn’t been around much. Vangellys also recently appeared in a match promoting the Contra mobile game, seemingly because he looked most like one of the characters; that’s his final match of real note in CMLL. Vangellys is Mexican but portrayed himself as German and used Nazi imagery as part of his gimmick. Vangellys stated he himself wasn’t a Nazi, but also showed off a collection of World War II memorabilia in one of CMLL’s outside the ring profiles, including items that appeared to be from the Nazis. I will not miss seeing him in CMLL and there’s little chance he’ll ever return.

The Munoz family telling promoters “to get Rush/Dragon Lee, you’ve got to book Dralistico, Bestia del Ring and Vangellys” doesn’t seem sustainable, but the Parks and Wagners did similar things for a while. The idea there was to get the kids booked as big enough stars so they’d still be stars when the fathers weren’t around, and that seems to have worked for them. The idea for the Munoz family is to make sure Dralistico is treated similarly to Rush & Dragon Lee soon enough; he’s going to be in top matches and he’s probably not losing them.

Guerrero Negro Jr., who was a participant in the 2012 En Busca de un Idolo, told ATiempoTV that he’s returning to CMLL in October or November. He’s said things like this before and they haven’t happened so take it with a grain of salt. Guerrero Negro Jr. said this at a show in Saltillo; he says he’s not working much in that home area because he’s living and working in the US now and can only return to Mexico when he gets a pass from work. I’m not sure how he’s returning to CMLL if he can only occasionally come to Mexico. Guerrero Negro Jr. also says he’s married to a sister of Volador Jr., which I don’t recall hearing before and would explain why he might be coming back to CMLL.

Rocky Romero teased coming to CMLL on Twitter. Romero seems like the guy who’s only going to tease that if there’s some plans in the work, so maybe there will be NJPW participation in CMLL this year after all. Romero has seemingly worked for every other group in North America that has a relationship with NJPW this year.

KeMonito & Soberano appeared briefly on the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Mexico awards Tuesday night. Which at least says Soberano Jr. is still around CMLL. Soberano appeared in a skit in the middle, KeMonito doesn’t show up until the end (and his bit was obviously taped at some different time.)

CMLL hasn’t said much about Arena Coliseo lately, but it seems like the building was used for a movie or TV production this past week. (That’s not the best photo, but there are other ones around.) The building has been used for movie production in the past. It suggests it’s more CMLL’s choice to not run the building rather than a health reason they can’t, though that’s not definite.

Other Notes

IWRG’s lineup for Thusday

IWRG (THU) 09/09/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Sol vs Rey Halcón
2) Caballero de Plata & Legendario vs Fly Warrior & Hijo Del Estudiante
3) Avisman vs Karaoui, Mafioso
4) Hijo del Alebrije © vs Hijo del Pirata Morgan [IWRG JUNIORS]
2nd defense
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura vs Gianna Valletta, Medico Brujo, Sick Boy

IWRG is defending frequently the titles they do have around, more so than any other Mexican promotion. It’d be fine if they just had a Mexico title, a Juniors title, a Heavyweight title, and either a tag or trios title, they don’t really need more than that. Mas Lucha indicated they’ll announce their next Mas Lucha Supremo tournament participant on this show.

That main event of next Thursday’s Lucha Memes show was supposed to include Davey Richards. No match involving him had ever been announced and promoter Daniel Ledesma announced in a (non-public) post that Richards is off the show. It’s a Mexico versus the World show but it’s not their strongest without Richards. This is where people having faith in the promoter to deliver something big as the replacement surprise main event will make or break the card. Veneno is listed as facing Mike; Veneno probably should be taking more time off

Laredo Kid’s Impact latest run starts on Behind the Impact Thursday at 6:30 pm CT. That show also goes up for free on Impact’s website.

LuchaWorld has the latest Poster-mania.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 09/03/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Sagrado & Universo 2000 Jr.  
Akuma & Espanto Jr. took 2/3.
2) Blue Panther Jr., Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Enfermero Jr., Felino Jr., Pólvora  
Blue Panther Jr. replaced Stuka (moved up) on Friday. Tecnicos took 2/3
3) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Stuka Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Hijo del Villano III, Negro Casas  
Tecnicos took 2/3. Stuka Jr. replaced Titan on Friday.
4) Volador Jr. b Místico, Valiente, Star Jr., El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Último Guerrero, Mephisto, Hechicero, Dragón Rojo Jr., Cancerbero, Gemelo Diablo I [Copa Independencia, semifinal]  
Order of elimination: Valiente (by Mephisto), Cancerbero (Hechicero), Audaz (Dragon Rojo), Mephisto (Ultimo Guerrero; Mephisto needed medical help after taking the Guerrero Special), Star Jr. (Gemelo Diablo I), Guerrero Maya Jr. (Volador Jr.), Gemelo Diablo I (Mistico), Mistico (Ultimo Guerrero foul), Hechicero (Ultimo Guerrero finish though Volador covered), and Ultimo Guerrero (Volador). Volador appeared with four mystery people that CMLL called attention towards. Mephisto replaced Templario on Thursday.

Volador appeared with four unidentified masked men on Friday. They looked like the Jabbawockeez, they were not the Jabbawockeez. It originally seemed like just a special entrance until they also joined Volador in his backstage promo and reappeared on Sunday.

CMLL tecnicos, for a decade-plus, have pitched ideas for a tecnico faction in media interviews. Those ideas never go anywhere; the most the tecnico side gets is a reoccurring trio. Volador’s pitch for the idea was a Depredadores Team, and maybe he’s actually getting it. Volador is known to be training guys like Diamond, Magia Blanca, Black Warrior Jr., and Rugido, so they could be those under the masks. It’s also at least possible this is a setup for a rudo turn; CMLL needs a NGD replacement, Volador could use the change and it’d be a return to the old Mistico feud. CMLL didn’t hint at any specific idea, just teased more to happen.

Ultimo Guerrero beating Mistico on Friday via cheating appeared at the time to be the first time Mistico lost since retaking the gimmick. That turns out to be incorrect: Ultimo Guerrero actually pinned Mistico last Monday in Arena Puebla via mask pull. Mistico got over originally for many reasons, including that he almost always won. Current CMLL doesn’t have the patience and will to do the same in 2021 for anyone, Mistico included. It’s no surprise that it was Ultimo Guerrero who got to be the person to beat Mistico; I’d guess the justification is that Ultimo Guerrero is so important that it doesn’t hurt Mistico. The flipside is that if Ultimo Guerrero was so important, maybe these shows would be drawing better. There are signs of CMLL trying to take make small changes, but the big issues remain.

CMLL (SUN) 09/05/2021 Arena México [CMLL, R de Rudo]
1) Mercurio & Pierrothito b Acero & Aéreo
Rudos took 1/3. Acero suffered an injury in the first fall and could not continue the match.
2) Disturbio & Nitro b Retro & Sangre Imperial
Rudos took 2/3.
3) Eléctrico © b Inquisidor [MEX LIGHT]
7th defense, first since December 2019.
4) Felino Jr., Luciferno, Raziel b Blue Panther Jr., Kráneo, Volcano
Tecnicos took 2/3. Felino Jr. replaced Virus (moved up)
5) Stuka Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. b Cavernario, Euforia, Virus
Tecnicos took 2/3. Valiente and Virus replaced Titan and Templario on Friday. Volador was accompanied by the four other mystery people again.

Electrico’s next defense would be in June 2023 at the current pace.

Templario hasn’t wrestled in CMLL since August 9th. No one’s said what’s going on and he’s continued to update his social media as if nothing is happening. I do not believe this is Templario leaving the promotion; I think it’s more likely in 2021 and the obvious thing has happened, but no one wants to say it. Beyond CMLL being quiet for quiet sake, CMLL’s selling Arena Mexico as a safe, healthy place to come visit, so the last thing they’d want to publically admit is a luchador being found not actually to be healthy after the fact. Templario (and Titan, similarly missing) getting listed for this card is probably a good sign – he may be close to returning, they just couldn’t get him cleared for Sunday, but he’s close.

Close is important. The top four finishers in the middleweight tournament are scheduled to have an elimination match, where two will lose and two will move onto the 09/24 national middleweight decider match. Templario, Enfermero Jr., Dragon Rojo Jr. and El Coyote are the top four. Templario has to wrestle Friday or he’s out (and maybe fifth-place finisher Angel de Oro is in.) Templario is the most interesting luchador of the four included and also the most likely winner; that match is much less attractive if Templario can not wrestle. My guess is CMLL won’t say anything about this until Informa on Wednesday, but that’s likely a situation being watched closely inside of CMLL.

CMLL’s made a lot more mid-week changes to cards lately and has announced those lineups increasingly later. The only substation that’s been explained was when Stephanie Vaquer missed the Universal tournament with an injury. The Aniversario shows are different because most of the matches – all on the 09/24 show itself – will be announced ahead of time and it’s harder to quietly change the lineups. That meant a lot of public announcements of medical issues last year.

CMLL (TUE) 09/07/2021 Arena México
1) Kaligua & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) Eléctrico & Robin vs Hijo del Signo & Inquisidor
3) Cachorro, Pegasso, Stigma vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Felino Jr.
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Stuka Jr. vs Hechicero, Luciferno, Mephisto
5) Star Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II

Nothing particularly going on here.

CMLL (TUE) 09/07/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Bello Antuan, Capitán Cobra, Micro vs Jabalí, Relámpago Azul, Rumbero
2) Adrenalina & Estrella Oriental vs Ángel Rebelde & Optimus
3) Furia Roja & Guerrero Del Muerte vs Bestia Negra & Difunto
4) Explosivo, Fantástico, Star Black vs Halcón Negro Jr., Principe Daniel, Trono
5) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Gallo & Joker

No one but the Queretaro guys for the city versus city program. The quantity of bookings appears to be an issue for CMLL CDMX wrestlers so that few of them are working in Guadalajara is probably a paint point.

CMLL did not air either part of the Universal de Amazones tournament on TV. They also skipped around a trios title match. My guess is CMLL is not airing the Aniversario shows on TV or YouTube, and they’re holding back matches like the women’s tournament to air in its place. I don’t know this for sure, CMLL hasn’t made this clear, but I wouldn’t take it for granted they’ll turn up for free in the near future.

CMLL posted a video from Okada congratulating CMLL on their Aniversario and saying he’d see them soon. He probably won’t actually be seeing them soon but the thought is nice.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara wrestlers helped out a children’s vaccination drive.

AAA

AAA’s TV continues to be largely irrelevant, though those involved in the ring seem to be working harder on the set of tapings which started this past week. The actual news from this past week’s TV was the announcement of a couple of matches for the 10/09 Heroes Inmortales show. AAA hasn’t typically been building matches up for their big shows this year, so that was a nice change. The matches announced

• Laredo Kid & Hijo del Vikingo versus Fenix & Pentagon Jr. for the AAA Tag Team Championships
• Psycho Circus vs La Empresa in a cage match

On the AAA show from Aguascalientes on Friday night, NGD said they’d also be fighting Poder del Norte on Heroes Inmoratles. I’m not sure if Deonna Purrazzo will be back in for that show, but those otherwise seem like the most important matches. This show hasn’t officially been announced as airing live on Space but that is what everyone is expecting to happen.

The Vikingo situation is just weird. He’s booked like a promising up-and-comer on TV, but also the guy put in the big matches because they have no problem beating him. Vikingo got beat at TripleMania when Cage (who won’t be back for a while), Laredo and Taurus were other options. Vikingo got beat on TV this week when Pagano, who has no match for Heroes Inmortales at this point, was teaming with him. We know there was another match taped with NGD versus Vikingo, Psycho, and Laredo and I’ve got one guess who’s taking the pinfall in that one too. I’d like to see Vikingo win everything, but I can sort of understand it – Vikingo’s going to make the finishes look good, his time will come later, blah blah blah. Except, they’ve got Kenny Omega doing promos talking about how Vikingo is actually one of the five most amazing wrestlers he’s ever seen and how he wants to face him for the Mega championship. And, crucially, whoever’s facing Omega stands a really good chance of becoming champion since we already know AAA has the go ahead for Omega to take a loss. If you follow AAA via social media posts, Vikingo is the guy and you’re excited to see him face and maybe beat Kenny Omega. If you follow AAA on TV, then Vikingo is definitely the best of the young crop but he’s nowhere near the Omega level and it’s going to be very strange to see him in a title match. I worry a bit about the internet fans being completely excited for that Omega/Vikingo match while the TV audience is baffled, and how they react to Vikingo after. Maybe it’ll be so good that none of this matters, or maybe AAA’s decided that match isn’t happening and is just letting Omega do the promos to keep him happy.

It is possible AAA’s planning to start building Vikingo to that Mega title match by having him win the tag titles. I do wonder a bit if that’s now possible, at least in a straight 2v2 match, after the Lucha Brothers won the AEW Tag Team championships this past weekend. (That was an outstanding match with the Young Bucks, you should go out of your way to see if you like the Lucha Brothers.)

Komander told Mas Lucha he’ll be out five months after injuring his ankle. He looked so good on AAA TV this week. He’ll be on TV a while longer since AAA just completed a month of taping before he got hurt.

That AAA Aguascalientes show aired live on Mas Lucha, but now the show is Mexico-only. I think there’s a clip or two that slipped through on their channel. Even as it was airing, people were asking me “why is that AAA allowed to air worldwide and not other AAA?” and I tried to rationalize it as technically being a local promoter show. In reality, it seems like even people as plugged in as Mas Lucha don’t understand the very confusing AAA/FMV situation.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 09/05/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Luch, R de Rudo, Zona Ruda]
1) Rey Halcón Jr. b Noicy Boy
2) Ra-Zhata & Shil-Kha b Aster Boy & Tortuga Leo
Leo betrayed his partners and decided to be an evil Ninja Turtle.
3) Diosa Atenea, Lolita, Satania b Baronessa, Bengalee, Diosa Quetzal
Atenea & Quetzal are still feuding; Atenea was eliminated but interfered to cause Quetzal to lose.
4) As Charro NG, Fuerza Guerrera NG, Súper Nova b Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro, Tonalli
5) Fly Warrior, Medico Brujo, Sick Boy DQ Big Boy, Big Chicoche, Big Mike
6) Toxin © b Jessy Ventura [IWRG MEXICO]
Fifth defense.
7) Gianni Valletta b Hijo del Espectro, Diva Salvaje, Karaoui, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Galeno del Mal, Estrella Divina, Veneno, Mafioso, Villano V Jr., Black Taurus (Indie) [IWRG IC HEAVY, battle royal]
vacant title (Fresero Jr. quit). Veneno was knocked out during the match. Worked as an elimination until the final four (Valletta, Espectro, Taurus and Divina) when it became a ladder match

Veneno needed serious medical attention after being knocked out during the match. He thanked Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Villano V Jr., and the IWRG doctor for their help without giving details. Mas Lucha was streaming the show as a subscriber-only show, and later put up the clip of the injury. Veneno was doing a top rope senton bomb when his head connected with Valletta’s knees. Valletta put up his knees to counter the move, but Veneno didn’t seem like he was expecting that and ending up going headfirst into the knee.

It appeared like a freak thing, not that either man did anything obviously wrong. He was knocked out cold. It took a few seconds for everyone to realize it wasn’t just selling, with Wagner & Villano being alert. Veneno received CPR from the doctor and came back to consciousness, with the entire episode lasting around two minutes. He was taken away on a stretcher but good enough the next morning to post on Facebook. IWRG having a medical person who knew CPR may have saved Veneno’s life.

Other News

The Friday deadline for a list of participants in the Mexican National Heavyweight tournament came and went with no news from the Mexico City commission. Meanwhile, Cibernetico joked about creating a “national independent heavyweight championship”. Mexico probably doesn’t need another belt that no one but the champion will take seriously.

NOAH & DDT’s WrestleUniverse video service announced a new show called “NOAH the Universal”, a show debuting today which appears to be airing matches from Japan and Mexico. The Mexico matches appear to be from Mas Lucha’s free YouTube channel:

• Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. & Galeno del Mal vs DMT Azul & Puma King (a July match from Monterrey)
• Dick Angelo 3G, Fulgor I, Toxin vs Aster Boy, Freelance and Puma de Oro (a March match from IWRG)

These are just the Mas Lucha matches; they’re using the same commentary. I’m sure it’s good for Japanese fans, who probably aren’t going to find these easily on Mas Lucha’s channel. (It’s tough to find anything on Mas Lucha’s channel that’s more than two days old.) If you’re a lucha libre fan, you don’t really need to subscribe to anyone to see these matches.

Hijo del Dr. Wagner has been in NOAH before so it makes sense he’d be featured. The IWRG match is more of a random pick. Note that even though Hijo del Alebrije and Hijo del Espectro were announced as going to NOAH, neither of them are being highlighted or shown. The latest version of that story is they’re going over in January, which remains highly dubious.

On August 18th, Lucha Time posted a message with KAOZ Lucha Libre announced they were both pausing all wrestling shows on the recommendation of the Monterrey secretary of health due to COVID cases flaring up. On September 4th, Lucha Time ran their next show. They held out about two and half weeks. I know lucha libre can be last minute but they had to be actually planning the September 4th show when they announced they were not running shows; they surely knew Valletta was coming in.

Bryan Danielson debuted for AEW this Friday. Danielson’s fascination with lucha libre is well documented, to the point of becoming a meme. One of the reoccurring plot points is Bryan Danielson’s desire to wrestle Blue Panther in Arena Mexico. That remains tricky – it’s unclear if CMLL would use Bryan Danielson because of AAA & AEW’s relationship – but Danielson did say he’s not actively pursuing the idea this year because he’s concerned about the amount of COVID in Mexico.

In non-AEW matches I saw this past weekend

• Arez versus Laredo Kid at AAW was the best of the lucha libre matches I saw on these indies. Arez did less of the mat work he’s done elsewhere but what he did came off pretty well. Laredo Kid’s steady schedule in AAW and strong matches seems to have gotten him over. AAW has a tournament coming up in October and I wonder if he’s going to have a run there.
• Laredo Kid versus Lee Moriarty in Black Label Pro was pretty good, though more of the exhibition feel from a busy indie weekend. It felt more professional the some of the matches around it.
  • Drago also had a match on the Black Label Pro show that I forgot happened. It was a weird fourway where anyone else could’ve been in his spot.
• The four-way on GCW was good, though there were moments where it felt apart. Not sure what happened with Juventud Guerrera’s dive – he seemed to check out of the weekend as soon as he wasn’t caught. Super Crazy was also strangely missing. Not sure why.
• The GALLI show didn’t end up streaming but definitely happened.

Laredo Kid’s latest trip to Impact starts airing this Thursday, facing John Skyler on the Behind the Impact show. Impact is no longer airing on Twitch – there’s a paid but inexpensive YouTube live stream – but the Behind the Impact show does appear to go up on Impact’s website for free.

MLW’s “Fusion Alpha” starts airing on YouTube on Wednesday, September 22nd. They’re airing at 6 pm CT, the hour before Dynamite on Wednesday. It’ll also air on beINSports later in the week. I presume this is where the Arez/Aramis match is airing, but it’s hard to tell what’s really going on with MLW. This show isn’t airing on Vice, though MLW promises more news on that at some undefined point in the future. MLW teasing “big news soon” that’s never soon and often not big is the defining feature of the promotion.

Mucha Lucha Supremo tournament, officially now on 10/07 from Arena Naucalpan

• Laredo Kid
• Jessy Ventura
• Bandido
• five more to be announced.

That’s on the premium channel for $8/month. Putting Laredo Kid & Bandido makes it an easy buy for me. Like with the Lucha Brothers, I’m not sure if Bandido can actually lose while being ROH champ, so viewers are either getting three Bandido matches or one really screwy finish.

Mas Lucha has a new episode of their podcast.

Latin Lover announced this past weekend that he tested positive for COVID-19. He says he and his family are doing well.

Oaxaca’s El Monarca (Enrique Díaz Moreno, 79) passed away on Friday. He’s not the Monarca who was active in EMLL in the 80s. This one started wrestling in the 1960s and says he won the 1970 Mr. Mexico bodybuilding contest.

Volador & Daffney are on the cover of this week’s Box y Lucha.