CMLL (MON) 10/18/2021 Arena Puebla [ansuzmultimedios]
3) Arkalis & Pegasso b Disturbio & Rey Apocalipsis
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
5) Místico, Titán, Valiente DQ Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
Mistica on Euforia but he pulled off Mistico’s mask for the DQ. Sets up a 1v1 next week.
The semi-main was praised in the news report but really all the matches are praised as if they were superb. It’s not the most useful info.
CMLL (TUE) 10/19/2021 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Estrellas del Ring, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha]
1) Grako, Robin, Sonic b Leono, Nitro, Sangre Imperial [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Felino, Felino Jr., Pólvora b Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr.
Rudos took 1/3
3) Dalys & Princesa Sugehit b Skadi & Tiffany [Torneo Increible de Amazonas 2021, quarterfinal]
4) Lluvia & Reyna Isis b Avispa Dorada & Stephanie Vaquer [Torneo Increible de Amazonas 2021, quarterfinal]
5) Amapola & Metálica b La Metálica & La Vaquerita [Torneo Increible de Amazonas 2021, quarterfinal]
6) Dark Silueta & La Jarochita b Náutica & Sexy Sol [Torneo Increible de Amazonas 2021, quarterfinal]
7) Dalys & Princesa Sugehit b Lluvia & Reyna Isis [Torneo Increible de Amazonas 2021, semifinal]
8) Dark Silueta & La Jarochita b Amapola & Marcela [Torneo Increible de Amazonas 2021, semifinal]
9) Dalys & Princesa Sugehit b Dark Silueta & La Jarochita [Torneo Increible de Amazonas 2021, final]
Dalys & Sugehit win the first version of this tournamnet.
10) Ángel de Oro, Negro Casas, Terrible b Atlantis, Blue Panther, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
Negro Casas replaced Templario a few hours before the show. Casas & Panther teased a hair match after.
No real surprise Dalys & Sugehit win; the women’s division is about spreading the wins around as much as possible and they had taken a back seat in the recent competitions. (The men’s division isn’t that much different.) The tournament seems to have been done with breast cancer awareness/treatment group FUCAM (Fundacion de Cancer de Mama.) October is breast cancer awareness month and this tournament or something like it would make sense as a yearly staple going forward.
Casas and Panther making apuesta challenges follows Mistico and Ultimo Guerrero doing the same on Friday night. I guess the old men have a better chance of doing that match, though it would be a change in philosophy if CMLL did any major (non-themed) show the rest of the year. CMLL went through a bit where wrestlers appeared severely injured after simple moves about a month ago (and then they’d be fine the next day.) Perhaps this is another temporary bit: capacity is going up so CMLL has the wrestlers teasing big things are coming to get more press coverage and get more people to come back for a show. It didn’t seem like UG/Mistico caught anyone’s attention and Casas/Panther was barely commented on, CMLL might have cried wolf too many times for this to work.
Friday’s lineup:
CMLL (FRI) 10/22/2021 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Dark Panther, El Audaz, Flyer vs Hijo del Villano III, Luciferno, Okumura
3) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
4) Místico vs Último Guerrero
5) Titán & Volador Jr. vs Templario & TJP
Last week CMLL didn’t know when TJP was coming. Turned out to be quick. That should be a very good main event and an easy read on how TJP is going to fit in this time (when it eventually airs, which won’t be until 10/30.)
Mistico versus Ultimo Guerrero has happened a time or two, though the first time between these specific individuals using these specifical names in Arena Mexico since 2009. That’s sort of pushing the limits of nostalgia but pushing the limits of nostalgia is what 2021 CMLL is all bout, Tercera is an immediate battle between the two new trios concepts.
CMLL Informa has TJP, Ultimo Guerrero, Negro Casas, Dalys, and Princesa Sugehit. CMLL keeps calling him “Teddy James Perkins” in a way no one in wrestling ever has, but CMLL isn’t going to take a correction on that.
CMLL’s NFT products go up for bid on Friday, and CMLL usually introduces new concepts by having someone involved on the other side sit down with Julio Cesar Rivera to explain it. CMLL tends to be an anti-tech and cheap promotion – this is the group who kept getting interviews interrupted earlier in the pandemic because they were sticking to a free Zoom account – and NFTs are on the bleeding edge of tech. There’s no possible bigger culture clash. There’s still no price publically announced for these NFTs; I’m led to believe they’ll be in the hundreds of dollars, which also leads me to believe they’re entirely marketed at NFT collectors and people who actually watch CMLL will have no interest.
CMLL has opened a Discord. Do I need to explain what Discord is? It’s the 2021 version of IRC. (Now I need to explain what IRC is.) This is CMLL forming another official place for people to chat about their show, ask to be heard, and then get annoyed at not being heard. CMLL is an important Latino brand, so I suspect that – like with Twitch – someone pitched them on signing up for an official account on the service and there’s no particular plan on how to use it. The weekly bonus matches airing on Twitch have quietly shifted to Facebook, where exponentially more CMLL fans already exist. It’s theoretically possible CMLL could build out a Discord community that adds onto what they’re already doing, but that requires time and resources to build out. What CMLL actually has is maybe one or two people handling “internet stuff” among other jobs; it’s not realistic this is going to turn out useful because it’s never going to be any focus.
La Presna has an article that says there’s a rumor CMLL could sell Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo but offers no reporting on the story. They even go “no one’s confirmed it but CMLL hasn’t come out and denied it either” before laying out all the stuff any reader of this blog already knows: a bunch of people left CMLL this year and attendance haven’t been great (at least in part due to COVID restrictions) so it would make sense things aren’t going well. Presna points out there’s not much new sponsorship either, which is true, though likely connected to the low attendance. Rumors of CMLL selling will continue to exist until the business gets better or a sale actually happens, but this article doesn’t really present any evidence it actually happen, just that the situation is right for a sale. (It also seems outdated already, unaware CMLL announced a Arena Coliseo return date.) Maybe the real useful purpose of this paragraph is CMLL may take a swipe at an unnamed article on Informa today and now you know which one they’re talking about.
These lists of CMLL departures never seem to include Estrellita, even though she seemed to more willingly leave CMLL than Bandido. She also did it quietly so I’m still not sure people who cover CMLL and CMLL only have noticed. Estrellita meant more to CMLL than Vangellys but Vangellys did it in a big way after people started making those lists, so he’s always on them.
CMLL (TUE) 10/19/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara (video), Fuego en el Ring]
1) Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Relámpago Azul b Bello Antuan, Rumbero, Último Ángel
Rudos win after Antuan accidentally kissed Rumbero
2) Avispón Negro Jr., El Divino, Luminoso b Bobby Black, Fúnebre, Infierno
3) Joker, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Minotauro
4) Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel b Bestia Negra, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
Cavernario and his brothers were all dressed in caveman gear.
5) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Rugido b Explosivo, Fantástico, Star Black
sets up a title match5) Explosivo, Fantástico, Star Black b Diamond, Magia Blanca, Rugido
Depredadores asked for a title shot despite losing
Guadalajara is bringing in Averno for their 10/26 show. The new Infernales are on that show, but the focus is going to be on Averno wrestling in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara for the first time since 2014. He’s constantly wrestling Mistico on indie shows, obviously still on good terms with the top wrestlers, and he fits CMLL’s interest in turning the clock back to 2006. CMLL hasn’t brought Averno back in to Arena Mexico, but it should be no surprise if he pops up on Informa at any point.
Anyway, the Guadalajara results feel like they should be a separate section; the difference between this and CMLL-related spot shows like the ones in (Gemelo promoted) Auditorio Matamoros is hard to demonstrate. We know CMLL owns Arena Coliseo Guadalajara and people of back and forth, but CMLL’s generally treated it as a distant cousin in a way they don’t for Arena Puebla. It would be news if CMLL’s social media advertised Averno coming back to Guadalajara because they haven’t promoted shows there since the restart. (This is the arena that someone should check-in to see if CMLL’s interested in holding onto it.)
AAA
Dorian Roldan and Psycho Clown earlier today appeared on a zoom meeting with USG (drywall) to talk about continuing their partnership. The industry reporter helpfully had the wrong Twitter handle so I spent a good ten minutes trying to figure out if AAA was partnering with a grain consortium instead. I point this out not to impress you, but in hopes someone adds it to the list of “dumbest things luchablog has done” so I can look at it and weep later. This was announced back in August and they’ve used AAA wrestlers in marketing similar to the car parts sponsors in years past.
There was some non-drywall news from the press conference. AAA pitched TripleMania Regia as the start of their 30th Anniversary year celebrations and they’ve already got more to announce. Dorian Roldan says the promotion is planning a major event on 05/15/2022, 30 years to the first AAA show ever. May 15th helpfully falls on a Sunday in 2022. AAA could end up running three different TripleMania-level shows in a calendar year depending on how big that show is (and how successful TripleMania Regia remains.) It’s going to be tough to make three super attractive shows without either suddenly making a lot of new top stars or bringing in special outside talent, and we’ve seen which way AAA will go in those choices.
Dorian Roldan, Arturo Rivera, and Jose Manuel Guillen will appear on a panel discussion today at 6 pm. It’ll stream live on Facebook and Twitter, up on YouTube later. Maybe there will be more about the 30th-anniversary plans there.
Other News
IWRG (THU) 10/21/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Sol vs Limbo & Shalom
2) Diosa Quetzal & Lolita vs Diosa Atenea & Satania
3) Apolo Estrada Jr., Billy Jones, Chris Stone Jr. vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemoniun Jr. [EdM Trios, quarterfinal]
4) Caballero de Plata, Hijo del Alebrije, Toxin vs Fulgor, Medico Brujo, Sweet Daddy Soul
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura vs Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro [EdM Trios, semifinal]
The Pandemonium guys might be a dark horse team to win that tournament, as much as anyone’s thinking about that trios tournament.
The 10/30 Castillo del Terror cage match will include Dr. Wagner Jr., Diosa Quetzal, Galeno del Mal, Satania, Toxin, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Hijo del Alebrije, Lolita, Pirata Morgan, Hijo del Dr. Wagner, Diosa Atenea, and Pirata Morgan Junior. This match is traditionally just masked people, but they’re including people who will lose their hair. It’s a bigger name match but I’m not sure anyone’s too excited over the possibility of a Pirata losing their hair once again.
The Mas Lucha Suprema tournament at Arena Naucalpan will now be on Sunday 11/21; it had been on Thursday previously. I’d think giving up a Sunday is harder than a Thursday so Mas Lucha and IWRG must have big expectations for it. The men’s version of the tournament drew well. the women’s tournament will also have an eight-person field. No names announced, but tickets go on sale Friday.
Tickets for Lucha Memes’ show on 12/18 in Arena Coliseo go on sale Friday. No prices are announced, no wrestlers yet either.
Space Latin America announced they’re re-upping their deal with AEW. There no details about length and nothing new as far as content. It’s been apparent how excited Space has been about AEW’s recent product based on their social media engagement and AEW has pretty much only aired on Turner affiliated stations (like Space) so this not a big surprise.
Relampago appeared on Mas Lucha’s show to talk about suffering an injury in Saltillo over the weekend. He’s hoping to raise money to pay for surgery.
MexaWrestling announced a Travis Banks vs Toxin vs Demonic Flamita match on Monday. People noticed Travis Banks was booked, MexaWrestling quietly removed the match, and now Demonic Flamita will face Aramis instead. Travis Banks is not off the card, I think you just won’t see him in any matches including people who have US deals or believe they’re close to them.