CMLL
The news sites that were briefly covering Arena Puebla appear to have given up. Shockercito apparently kept the CMLL Minis championship over Asturiano, based on Asturiano’s social media posting.
CMLL (TUE) 11/09/2021 Arena México [Box y Lucha, ESTO, Estrellas del Ring, KaiserSports, Marca, Mas Lucha, thecubsfan]
1) Átomo & Chamuel b El Gallito & Zacarias el Perico [Relevos Increíbles] 
2) Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr., Sonic b Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro
tecnicos took 1/3
3) Dark Silueta & La Jarochita Lluvia b Marcela & Reyna Isis [Relevos Increíbles] 
Team Silueta/Jarochita took 2/3. Silueta beat Isis to set up a MEX WOMEN title match next week.
4) Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus © b Diamond, Magia Blanca, Rugido [MEX TRIOS]
fourth defense.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Templario DQ Fugaz, Místico, Star Jr.
Fugaz replaced Valiente (injury) earlier in the day. Templario lost his mask while taking La Mistica, causing the DQ and setting up a rematch for next week.
I had part of this show on while working on other stuff. Fugaz seems like he has new gear and has added a couple of new spots, it was nice to see him. The idea of the finish was Templario took his mask off while in the hold to draw the DQ (and with the ref looking the wrong way), but it came off more like a freak thing and a bad referee call. The Templario/Mistico match should be fun if they get to it.
MarcaClaro streamed this show on their YouTube channel, though only Mexican IP addresses were able to watch, which is probably a Claro issue. This was announced only on the day of the show and there was no indication if this would be a weekly deal. It was not a good stream: whatever device they were using to stream the show couldn’t keep up and the video and sound were three seconds out of sync. I tried to fix it in the videos on Google Drive, but it drifted even farther out of place as the show went on. The stream issues – both how it played and being Mexico only – are probably a Marca issue, but it’s still two CMLL streams out of the last four with serious issues.
(I do not plan to stream the Tuesday shows live. I used to be able to air the Marca geo-blocked streams on YouTube, but CMLL will copyright strike anyone posting their video to YouTube now. I’m not going to risk the Twitch channel with CMLL, and the numbers I got from trying other places were minimal. I don’t know that there’s all that much interest in Tuesday CMLL shows live at this point. I plan on putting them on the Google Drive after the fact, though probably not until at least the next day.)
CMLL (FRI) 11/12/2021 Arena México
1) Kaligua, Mercurio, Shockercito vs Acero, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma vs Dark Magic, Disturbio, El Coyote
3) Dark Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring vs Felino Jr., Okumura, Pólvora
4) Euforia, Mephisto, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Hechicero © vs Bárbaro Cavernario [CMLL HEAVY]
first defense
Hechicero/Cavernario could be great. Atlantis Jr. is a bad guy only when the Guerreros are around; perhaps they’re a bad influence. I have no idea why the opener has mixed sides and I’m not convinced there’s a reason. This show does not appear to be streaming, so the matches will first time up on the 11/20 Televsia show.
Barbaro Cavernario and his brothers, Principe Daniel & Demonio Maya, won the Occidente Trios Championships on Tuesday in Guadalajara. The two brothers hadn’t been pushed strongly local until they teamed up with Cavernario.
Microman announced he left CMLL Monday on Mas Lucha’s En+Carados show. Microman hasn’t worked a CMLL show since the Arena Puebla August show, and might have only stayed that long because that date was pushed back a month. He hasn’t wrestled in Arena Mexico since June 25th. Even prior to that, more of Microman’s work was coming outside of CMLL than inside it, which seems like the issue: he wasn’t making enough working for CMLL and they weren’t willing to give the micros more, so he felt he had to go elsewhere. Microman says he talked to heads of CMLL about this, and also believes he’ll be able to keep the Microman name on his own. (I don’t see a trademark on Microman/Micro Man in Mexico by anyone, which is so surprising I had to check in three times.) The CMLL Micros getting about two matches a month, which isn’t really going to be much money for anyone, and Microman mentioned needing more to support his family. Microman mentioned dates for Big Lucha and Robles in Mexico, as well as working with mini-groups in the US. There’s likely an opportunity with AAA – Dorian Roldan once told Mas Lucha that the one person he’d like to have from CMLL is KeMonito, and his son is the next best thing – but AAA didn’t come up in the interview.
The CMLL Micros division will have trouble surviving for the long haul without its biggest star. Chamuel is the name to watch; he’s the best worker, and he’s Microman’s best opponent. I’m not sure if Chamuel can work the US, but he figures to get plenty of work if Microman is wrestling in the US, it’s mostly a question if it’s important to him to be in CMLL or not. The CMLL micro matches always include Chamuel because he’s the guy keeping the matches together; the division might be done without him.
CMLL announced Esfinge as the first name in the 11/26 Leyenda de Plata. The American style of announcing names or matches for a card is announcing a big name first to get people buzzing and a big name at the end, and then everyone else in the middle. I don’t think this has caught on in Mexico, between announcing Esfinge and the matches Lucha Memes has announced for their card so far.
Soberano Jr. will appear on CMLL Informa today. He hasn’t wrestled since May due to a leg injury, though he did find time to blame Ultimo Guerrero for everything that’s gone wrong with CMLL of late. Soberano’s training at Arena Mexico according to his photos, so that situation seems likely to have been diffused by this point and Julio Cesar Rivera never asks about negative things, but that’ll be the tension over the interview. Soberano Jr. already teased a return in time for that 11/26 Leyenda de Plata show on Instagram so that’s probably the intended focus of the interview. Hechicero, Sagrado, Hombre Bala, Robin and Dark Panther will also appear.
Calavera II (Esteban Hernández Meza, 80) passed away Monday, according to SuperLuchas. Calavera II was a Guadalajara-based wrestler in the late 70s and early 80s, who had a couple of month run in CMLL’s Mexico building in 1983. He’s best known as the father of Oro and Plata, who passed away recently. Current CMLL luchador Oro Jr. is his grandson, and lost both his father and grandfather in a short time. Posts on his Facebook say Calavera passed away from prostate cancer.
CMLL promoted their Discord for the first time in a couple of weeks. I’m still not on there; I get the sense not many people are. CMLL made a point of tagging NFT partner SportsIcon for no obvious, which suggests part of the partnership requirements is to have a Discord. Maybe even a Twitch. SportsIcon hid the stats that show how many of their NFTs have actually been sold, which probably gives you an idea of how well that’s worked out.
AAA
AAA says they’re revealing more details on TripleMania Regia on social media. Lucha Azteca added that it’s a 5 pm CT press conference which they’ll be streaming. They’ve only announced Vikingo/Omega and the Velasquez match so far, with the Hermanos Lee versus Lucha Brothers versus maybe FTR partially announced. AAA should be able to announce the full card, but the TV/streaming details are probably the most important to the people reading this. Definitely to the person writing this, who is still considering two sets of plans which are entirely dependent on what AAA is doing.
Monster Clown talked to Lucha Azteca about his health status. It’s partially kayfabed: he blames the injuries on La Empresa’s attack when that attack was probably a way to write him out after he was already hurt. It does leave open the question of how/when he was hurt. Monster Clown says it’s a low back injury that caused his body to become numb and then in terrible pain. He also contracted COVID-19 while getting treatment, which caused him to lose weight. Monster Clown is thankful for all the support, including and beyond the benefit show on 11/27, and says AAA has helped him with medical and financial support. Monster Clown says he plans on returning to the ring and doesn’t think he’ll be gone for long.
A press conference in Sonora on Tuesday mentioned AAA shows at tourists sites in passing. That sounds like more empty arena taping, which was supposed to have been done with last week. I hope it’s just not-televised shows, but not sure why they’d be running tourist sites without cameras.
Other News
IWRG (THU) 11/11/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Limbo vs Sol
2) Kenji & Shalom vs Baby Star & Spider Fly
3) Rey Halcón vs Tonalli
4) Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike vs Apolo Estrada Jr., Billy Jones, Chris Stone Jr.
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura vs Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro and King Charro, Mafioso, Sick Boy
Terry’s first match here since July. That’s a lot of people in the main event.
Bandido posted two apology videos about Travis Banks appearing on the Big Lucha show. I didn’t actually watch them; for me, it matters more what he does than what he says at this point, because he wasn’t serious about what he said last time. Bandido probably acknowledged he screwed up, but there’s nothing he can say at this point that could fix it (and the strongly negative reaction to what he said from those people who cared shows it didn’t much change anyone’s mind or improve the situation.) If Travis Banks still shows up in group images with everyone in Big Lucha, then nothing’s changed and he would’ve been better off admitting he was going to keep using Banks in the first place. If Banks is gone, that’s great news for everyone but doesn’t repair the situation.
Ring of Honor’s Week by Week show included a surprise Matt Taven versus Dragon Lee match. That’s build to the OGK vs LFI tag title match on this Sunday’s Honor Club special. The show also hinted as a Kenny King versus Shane Taylor singles match for down the road, which may mean Dragon Lee & Kenny King won’t have a tag title match on Final Battle.
NXT last night aired an angle where Legado del Fantasma tried and failed to recruit a new member. The details are unimportant except for the part where Santos Escobar wasn’t present and wasn’t referred to in the whole bit. He hasn’t been on NXT since losing the North American Title on October 12. (I don’t follow NXT, but it also looks like that was his only match since August.) The former Hijo del Fantasma seems fine on social media, and there’s no known explanation for why he’s not around. The photos suggest he could be on vacation, but just a guess, and WWE would usually come up with an on-screen excuse. This is probably nothing but it was an absence that caught some attention.
(The other thing hanging over this is WWE clearly is in a program of cutting people on a quarterly basis until they get to some headcount, and we on the outside have no idea what that number is. The Legado guys and the Garza family escaped the ax this time, but that just means them – and everyone else who’s not a super vital wrestler – has a new three month period to prove themselves useful before the ax swings again. I don’t feel particularly safe for any of those guys in normal times, and any situation where Escobar would be split from Wilde/Mendoza/Lopez is probably bad news for everyone involved. It’s a very paranoid mindset, so let’s hope this is just nothing.)
Debuting Puerto Rico promotion has a show on 11/20 in Guaynabo including
- Mecha Wolf & Bestia 666 vs Penta & Fenix
- Cuervo de Puerto Rico vs Cinta de Oro
- Riviero vs Australian Suicide
- Black Rose & Paola Mayfield vs Vanilla Vargas & La Destructora Nancy
Suicide & Vanilla seems to have been wrestling in Vanilla’s native Puerto Rico of late. If there’s a way to see to on a stream, it’s not really clear on their Facebook.
GCW announced Blake Christian vs Bandido for their 12/17 Los Angeles show.
12/18 Lucha Memes Universal at Arena Coliseo
- Batillon de la Muerte vs Los Kamikazes vs Astrolux & Jack Carthweel vs Calibus & Mike vs La Fortaleza
- Solar vs Okumura – new
- Cancerbero & Raziel vs Black Terry & Avisman – new
Tickets for this Arena Coliseo debut range from 120 pesos to 960 pesos, which has to be the most expensive Lucha Memes ticket ever. Tickets for normal Arena Coliseo shows run from 120 to 300 pesos. I’m sure CMLL is making it pricey for anyone else to use their building but that’s still a very pricey top number for a promotion that’s had issues drawing of late in smaller/cheaper Coacalco. Maybe they have something big yet to come.
Arena Aficion regular El Exotico went for a slingshot senton to the floor on Sunday’s show, expecting to land on his opponent. His opponent, Maldicion Voraz, decided to move. Exotico landed on the wood floor hard and ended up with serious shoulder and waist injuries. There were apparently pre-existing between the two wrestlers.
Box y Lucha 3494 has an article on everyone lost during the pandemic.