Estrella Blanca (1938-2021), Atlantis Jr. joins Guerreros, CMLL weekend results

CMLL (FRI) 11/12/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Diario Basta, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores]
1) Kaligua, Mercurio, Shockercito b Acero, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia [Relevos Increíbles]   
Peq. Violencia replaced Pierrothito on Thursday
2) Dark Magic, Disturbio, El Coyote b Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma   
Tecnicos are La Fuerza Poblana. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Felino Jr., Okumura, Pólvora b Dark Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring   
Rudos took 2/3
4) Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Euforia, Mephisto, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]   
Guerreros took 2/3, asked Atlantis Jr. to join with them to reform Los Guerreros de la Atlantida and Atlantis Jr. accepted.
5) Hechicero © b Bárbaro Cavernario [CMLL HEAVY]     
One fall match. First defense for Hechicero.

Barbaro Cavernario looked like he went all out in this match.

Atlantis Jr. accepting the offer to join Los Guerreros in a post-match interview would seem to resolve that story, except this is a promotion where tecnico Angel de Oro is still teaming with the rudos and maybe rudo Magnus is teaming with tecnicos. I think I just may be slow in accepting the tecnico/rudo thing is getting faded out. I still feel like it’s much better for luchadors to have a static personality and identity, not to shift radically depending on who they happen to be teaming with that day.

CMLL (SAT) 11/13/2021 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, CMLL]
1) Apocalipsis & Cholo b Leono & Retro
2) Angelito, Fantasy, Último Dragóncito b Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia
tecnicos took 2/3
3) Akuma, Enfermero Jr., Espanto Jr. b Cachorro, Panterita del Ring Jr., Sangre Imperial
rudos took 1/3
4) Hombre Bala Jr., Stuka Jr., Titán DQ Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Hombre Bala’s reward ends with him getting beat up so badly that the ref called an excessive violence DQ
5) Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero
Volador took 2/3

Bala getting humiliated in his reward match would be something, but it’s probably the first week of a longer program. No video of this show this week. Arena Coliseo might be going like Arena Puebla, where it got a lot of coverage the week they came back and the not much after.

CMLL (SUN) 11/14/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Grako b Retro
2) La Vaquerita, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi b Amapola, Metálica, Tiffany
3) El Audaz, Esfinge, Magnus b El Coyote, Espanto Jr., Misterioso Jr.
4) Hijo del Villano III, Luciferno, Rey Bucanero b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
5) Fugaz, Místico, Titán b Ángel de Oro, Felino, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]

No angle of not this week. Magnus is now teaming with non-Depredaror tecnicos so maybe he’s back to being a tecnico? Maybe Depredadores are meant to be side-less.

Puebla tonight has a rematch of Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr., Felino, Templario. I’m not sure which singles match it’ll be, but Volador always seems like a safe bet.

CMLL (TUE) 11/16/2021 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia
2) Arkalis, Retro, Sangre Imperial vs Cholo, Disturbio, El Coyote
3) Diamond, Flyer, Panterita del Ring vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Okumura
4) Reyna Isis © vs Dark Silueta [MEX WOMEN]
3rd defense
5) Fugaz, Místico, Star Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Templario

The women’s title match could be good. I think Euforia & Templario are supposed to be rivals. Euforia should actually be pointing out to Templario how he got bumped out of his unit.

AAA

I uploaded this week’s AAA show on Twitch. (Twitch makes it hard to find uploads but it’s there.) AAA TV seems to be built on the idea that everyone who cares about AAA is following their social media and will get all their AAA info that way, because the TV show has nothing to say about what’s going on. It seems like they knew the TripleMania Regia lineup going into this show – there’s a Viper/Poder del Norte brawl that happens for no reason outside they wrestle in Monterrey – but the announcers and the production feel no need to explain where this is all going. Maybe it’s too hard to squeeze in a video of the LA Park/Cain Velasquez bit so quickly and it’ll be there later, but there’s no reason I can grasp for AAA never mentioning the Hijo del Vikingo/Kenny Omega match. Instead, they spent two matches getting over the very well-established Hijo del Tirantes/Faby Apache beef, and they don’t have a match scheduled anywhere at any time. Maybe the metrics really are all up and this is working for them, but I do not understand the thought process behind these TV shows.

If you are going to watch, the best use of time is just to watch the mixed tag title match in the main event. There are some overambitious moments – they clearly have a lot of faith in Sexy Star 2 to do things – but the action is pretty fun and the random thrown together teams fell less random in practice.

FTR indeed didn’t make this set of AAA tapings – there were weather issues flying in – so they won’t be seen in AAA until TripleMania Regia. Aerostar was also unable to make it to those tapings, so we may have seen the last of him in AAA this year. He’s not currently on TripleMania Regia. Nothing’s been announced past that, though it stands to reason AAA’s got to tape again this year.

AAA posted a tweet implying Toxin had been let out of an IWRG contract to sign a AAA one without actually saying that. Toxin posted something similar on Facebook. I can’t remember the last time AAA announced someone signed a contract with them, so this is probably more about some favor to IWRG than it is about Toxin.

Adictos al Ring says Rey de Reyes 2022 is taking place in Veracruz on 02/20, which I’m not sure is correct. They previously had the incorrect report that TripleMania Regia was moving out of Monterrey, and there’s no obvious reason Rey de Reyes would move to February next year from its normal March slot. It’s possible there’s a TV taping on that date that’s on the road to Rey de Reyes and it got confused along the way.

Other News

60s/70s/80s star Estrella Blanca (83) passed away Monday morning according to his son on Facebook. Both SuperLuchas and Furia de Titanes have obituaries. You can catch a late career match on YouTube. Maybe the quickest way to sum him up is to direct you to his luchawiki page, and the very long lucha de apuesta section. There are over 200 matches there; he’s given numbers as high as 700. Estrella Blanca was nicknamed “Santo Poblano”, Puebla’s Santo, their local hero. He’s reported to have won hundreds of mask matches; it’s probably either him or Super Munceo who actually won the most. Estrella Blanca was a star outside of Puebla too – his national lightweight championship runs raised the profile of a title that had mostly been left to the small arenas – and reads like he was a pretty good worker. Blanca wasn’t in the top spots in the main arenas, because EMLL just didn’t use lightweights outside the early matches, but his fame made him a great value to bring to all the smaller shows around Mexico. Santo can’t work every date, every show can’t afford Santo, so a guy like Estrella Blanca did a good job of taking up those spots. It’s an intentional connection; his mask design is very similar to Santo, with the namesake white star separating it. Estrella Blanca introduced a whole lot of billed sons – a Junior, a II, a III – in the 80s, and it reads like he took a step back in his own career to try to get them over. None really had the success he did. Estrella Blanca is still well remembered in Puebla. He was honored at Arena Puebla Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show in 2019 and I’m sure he’ll be remembered again tonight. The SuperLuchas article notes Estrella Blanca promised his wife he’d never get unmasked and have his real name and identity revealed, and he apparently held true to the death. His name will eventually come out, but the early articles and condolences on it don’t include it because apparently, it’s not public knowledge.

IWRG , FILL (SAT) 11/13/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Odiseo & Perseo b Desastre & Último Caballero 
2) Rey Aztaroth, Súper Boy, Súper Cometa b Blue Win, Rey Minos, X-Boy Jr. 
X-Boy Jr. ended up hurt
3) Garra Mortal Jr., Guerrero Olímpico, Huitzil b Gran Felipe Jr., Perro de Guerra, Tito Mortan Jr. 
4) Black Dragón II, Hell Boy, Spider Fly b Kenji, Limbo, Skanda 
Black Dragon II replaced Carnicero
5) Black Dragón, Caballero de Plata, Cheff Benito, Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Rey Halcón DQ Eurus, Full Contact, Karma II, Kunay, Minos, Villareal [Copa Higher Power] 
IWRG vs Mi Sagrada Lucha Libre. Dick Angelo 3G defeated Villareal via DQ.

The IWRG team winning by cheating is not usually how these things go.

IWRG (SUN) 11/14/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Kenji b Spider Fly
2) Legendario & Noicy Boy b Limbo & Mosca 
3) Bazooka, Granada, Mafioso b Asterboy, Hijo del Alebrije, Toxin 
Mafioso snuck in a foul on Aster Boy
4) Jessy Ventura b Cerebro Negro 
sets up an IWRG IC WELTER title match on next week’s show
5) Espectro Jr., King Charro, Sick Boy, Símbolo (Monterrey) b Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Hijo del Fishman, Villano V Jr. 
Mafioso attack Sick Boy; they’re actually brothers
6) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr. DCOR Gran Pandemónium, Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. 
Morgans are now Pirata Infenrales in an attempt to talk someone into a feud with the CMLL Infernales. Both teams fought outside for the draw.

The Pirata Morgan Jr. who lost his hair two weeks ago wore a mask for most of this match. So it goes with lucha indies. The Ventura/Cerebro title match is happening on Mas Lucha’s Torneo Mas Suprema women’s tournament next Sunday. No brackets are announced yet; that might be something happening Monday.

IWRG (TUE) 11/16/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Blue Win & Rey Minos vs Carnicero & Rey Astaroth
2) Águila Oriental & Neón vs Guerrero Olímpico & Súper Cometa
3) Spider Fly vs Noicy Boy, Sol, Billy Jones, Calibus [IWRG IC Light, #1 Contenders]
4) Big Chicoche & Big Mike vs Corsario Negro Jr. & Drako
5) Asterboy, Fly Warrior, Hell Boy vs Cometa Maya, Elemental, Gravity

The Tuesday flyers shows seem to have been rebranded (after one show) to NGT (Nueva Generacion Talentos) events. This one has a IWRG versus Big Lucha show. I’m not sure if it’s recruitment or training, but whatever the Big Lucha guys are doing seems to be working, they seem more complete than the usual indie lucha wrestler. They were that way before Travis Banks got in the picture, which made it worse that people with potential were associating with him. They’re at least given the impression they’ve separated from Banks, though Banks is still around elsewhere.

Asterboy is the current IWRG Lightweight Champion.

Miguel Reducindo’s Mas Lucha column says ELITE could end up on as Wednesday or Thursday Arena Mexico shows. I think there are additional problems for ELITE outside of day of the week, but either of those days are probably going to be a problem. Miguel pointed out elsewhere that the best ELITE did was when they took over the Sunday shows, which is a better date and also means they’re not the fourth show running Arena Mexico a week.

Robles held their shows at Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera and Arena Lopez Mateos this weekend. They didn’t draw but that’s normal by now; these shows are for one person. The other normal thing is AAA seems not to want their wrestlers to appear on Robles shows, at least in Mexico City. Big Mami did wrestle on the Saturday show in Arena Lopez Mateos. She’s barely been on AAA TV this year, last in August, though she’s still on the rare spot shows AAA are running. Big Mami is a wrestler who’s going to work much better in front of fans than empty arena shows, and I wonder if maybe she’s shifted to a per night deal with AAA for now. Estrellita continued to work for Robles, so she may not be under AAA contract. Goya Kong, who has been on AAA TV a lot the last few months, was advertised and didn’t appear.

Microman did wrestle on both shows, added to the shows in mixed matches against a Mini Fussion. Negocio Traumado joked that they were going to sign Microman before WWE did.

ROH aired Honor For All on Sunday night. I thought Flamita/Bandido on the show was good, but the similar Horus/Bandido match was better. LFI versus OGK was also good and had the big news of the night; Dragon Lee & Kenny King lost the tag team titles. Final Battle, the final major ROH show, is on 12/11. Lucha related matches on that show:

• Dragon Lee seems out of the tag title picture (King already has his own Final Battle match set), so it’s probably a TV title match. He’s defending it against Dalton Castle next week. Either that match sets up a rematch or a challenger shows up.
• Commentary indicated Flamita is facing EC3, a tremendous mismatch of styles
• Bandido will probably be defending the ROH title against Jonathan Gresham on Final Battle, though they keep insisting it’s not definite yet in a way that suggests another title match or something else is happening between now and then.

That 12/11 show is ROH’s last event, but it appears they’ve already taped TV for two weeks after that. Those are going to be the lamest of lame ducks shows; I will definitely watch. The vibe I got from Honor for All is everyone in ROH is staying on message about the promotion returning in 2022, but whatever they’ve heard has them believing Final Battle is it for the group. It may be good news for the rest of you if these ROH bits disappear.

Bandido, Flamita, Rey Hours, La Empresa, Mr. Iguana, Aramis, Aeroboy, and Rok-C are all wrestling in GALLI the night after Final Battle.

Leon Dorado and Centviron had a good match on the MexaWrestling show this past Saturday. They usually have good matches. They also usually challenge each other to a mask match and they did that again. I think they’ve been talking about that match since 2017.

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
• Cancerbero & Raziel vs Black Terry & Avisman
• Perro de Guerra versus Freelance, hair versus hair – new

Both men have lost their hair many times, but I guess now they’ll do it in a new venue.

This is a week old, but maybe still worth sharing. Mary Apache wrestles sparingly these days, almost opposite her daughter Natsumi in tag matches. One of those happened in Nuevo Leon last Saturday. A clip of a post-match incident went viral last week. (I think it was probably the La Desnucadora YouTube channel who recorded it, but it’s not on their YouTube now.) Mary Apache appears to be very upset with her daughter, stalking her around the ring. Other people in the match try to get in the middle. Apache attacks one of them, teenager Reyna Zahori, smacking her, pulling her to the ground by her hair and continuing to go on the attack. The clip cuts off as Natsumi and two other people try to pull Mary Apache off. There’s obviously a lot of people angry with Mary Apache over that attack; she’s said nothing, but she’s been disappeared from another upcoming booking in Nuevo Leon for Lucha Libre Femenil.

DigitalMex has an interview with Lady Apache about her career. She believes she’s been vetoed by major promotions for trying to create a women’s lucha libre foundation in 2014. Lady Apache did worth the 2016 AAA Lucha Libre World Cup but hasn’t been with a major promotion outside of that.