CMLL
CMLL (FRI) 11/19/2021 Arena México
1) Oro Jr. & Sonic vs Grako & Inquisidor
2) El Audaz, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs El Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
4) Atlantis, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Gran Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero
5) Atlantis Jr. & Volador Jr. vs Jeff Cobb & TJP (Teddy James Perkins)
one fall
Tonight’s CMLL show is a TicketMaster PPV for 230 MXN/11 USD. It’ll also (mostly) air for free on TV in a week and on YouTube the week after. There’s no great reason to see this show outside the novelty of seeing Jeff Cobb & TJP. Next week’s show is priced the same, with the Leyenda de Azul as the draw. These are silly things to buy even by the standards of wrestling shows, just terrible values, and I’ll probably end up getting them anyway. The one thing I learned here is the US Dollar seems to have gotten stronger against the Mexican pesos since Dia del Muertos so these are very slightly cheaper.
CMLL is pushing a reunion of Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero as a secondary draw of this show, as the first time they’ve teamed in many years. Rey Bucanero and Ultimo Guerrero teamed three days ago in Arena Queretaro, last month in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, and in Arena Mexico during the empty arena period this year.
Ultimo Guerrero, reminiscing his feud with Satanico, says his mask got ripped up “49 or 59 times.” He says he kept sowing the masks back together and looked like Frankenstein at points.
CMLL (SAT) 11/20/2021 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Último Dragóncito vs Fantasy & Shockercito
2) Eléctrico, Leono, Sonic vs Apocalipsis, Enfermero Jr., Nitro
3) La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Lluvia vs Amapola, Dalys, La Metálica
4) Hombre Bala Jr., Robin, Star Jr. vs Dark Magic, Luciferno, Okumura
5) Euforia & Terrible vs Jeff Cobb & TJP (Teddy James Perkins)
Hombre Bala and Robin get their reward for winning. Dark Magic & Okumura get a semimain just for being Dark Magic & Okumura.
CMLL (SUN) 11/21/2021 Arena México
1) Leono vs Apocalipsis
2) Cachorro, Panterita del Ring Jr., Robin vs Eléctrico, Retro, Sangre Imperial
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi vs Dalys, La Comandante, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Ángel de Oro, Blue Panther, Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Negro Casas, Sagrado
5) Hechicero & Terrible vs Jeff Cobb & TJP (Teddy James Perkins)
TJP versus Hechicero could be interesting.
CMLL (MON) 11/22/2021 Arena Puebla
1) El Malayo vs Rey Apocalipsis
2) La Jarochita & Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola & Stephanie Vaquer
3) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs El Perverso, Prayer, Toro Bill Jr.
4) El Audaz & Star Jr. vs Felino Jr. & Pólvora
5) Fugaz & Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr. & TJP (Teddy James Perkins)
Atlantis Jr. teaming with Volador on Friday, against him on Monday. Atlantis Jr. did an interview last Friday where was in Los Guerreros del Atlantida, then did one on Tuesday saying he wasn’t in quite yet. This is the storytelling we should expect. The semimain seems like an obvious national tag title setup.
CMLL introduced two Micro Gemelos Diablos on Informa. The story is they’re from Matamoros like the normal-sized Gemelos, and also twin micros and have been wrestling as Mini Gemelo Panteras in Matamoros. There are Mini Gemelo Panteras, but they’re absolutely not these people – those Mini Gemelos are much bigger. I suspect these are existing micros being regimmicked. The unstated message is CMLL lost Microman but they got two new people so they’re better off, but I’m skeptical they actually got two new people.
Soberano Jr. also did appear on this week’s Informa. He mentioned he hurt his knee in March, put off doing an x-ray and wrestled until he was in a lot of pain. Euforia convinced his son to get the x-ray and they discovered Soberano had a torn cruciate ligament and a torn meniscus. Coming back in 6 months from that is actually pretty impressive. Soberano also took a shot at Ultimo Guerrero, calling him a boring wrestler and saying he wanted to fight UG outside the ring but UG refused. This still appears to be a real issue and not something to build a match, though it may eventually end up that way.
CMLL’s Friday night show on AMX has moved from 7 pm to 10 pm. CMLL hasn’t announced this; the show was just missing the last two weeks until the channel updated their listings. (I left my recording go long last week and stumbled upon it.) This is the Sunday matches TV show.
AAA
Kenny Omega is off of TripleMania Regia according to a report from today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Omega is getting surgery on at least a shoulder, a knee and his abdomen and may also be getting septum surgery. That’s a numerous amount of injuries, but the report says none are considered major and Omega believes he’ll be able to return to AEW as soon as late February. AAA was reportedly told Omega was off the show on Wednesday. The WON reports AAA has an idea for a backup plan and that’ll it’ll be announced soon. There’s no indication what that plan will be and it’s AAA so “soon” may not mean what others consider soon to be.
The Omega title reign was never about the mega title, it was about portraying Omega as the best wrestler in the world who came into AAA and beat everyone until someone finally stopped him. AAA could strip Omega of the mega title and have someone else win it, but it won’t transfer or resolve that story. If AAA believes Omega’s return timeline – and it seems fair to be a bit skeptical about February with that list of injuries – and Omega’s willing to come to Mexico next year to lose then, then there’s no urgency or reason to wrap this up now. There are AAA fans anxious to have the mega championship back in AAA, but AAA’s not really doing all that much with the titles they do have currently. Stripping Omega of the Mega championship would be a symbolic move but not a meaningful business one and likely not a creative plus. It has taken a long time to get to the point where an AAA wrestler could beat Omega, they might as well wait a little bit longer. This might still go wrong – it’s AAA, so it almost surely will in a way no one can predict – but it’s a worthwhile gamble.
Long term, this might be a benefit to AAA to postpone the match if AAA believes they’ll be resolving the global rights lawsuit any time soon. There’s no sign it’s going to happen, and no sign it’s going to happen before TripleMania Regia, but I think AAA believes it’s going to happen and it’s just a matter of when. If AAA can get that settled by the time Omega comes back, it’s obviously a really big benefit for them to do the big Omega title change on a show they can promote worldwide and not one just streaming on my rinky-dink Twitch channel. Half the point of using Omega is to expose AAA for international fans and they might as well hold onto that if they have sincere belief the lawsuit is going to be resolved.
There will definitely be people disappointed Omega isn’t wrestling at TripleMania Regia, but I think the show has enough other stars that they can reconfigure and still do well. There’s also the possibility AEW could send someone else; I don’t know that Bryan Danielson coming in on short notice makes sense or is even something he’d want to do, but that’s the most popular choice on Twitter. AAA could bring in a native Wagner/Rush level guy as a replacement. Cibernetico’s been heavily hinted as coming back in soon, though probably not in a top position. AAA could also move some money around and see if anyone in the Empresa/Psycho Circus match might be willing to lose their hair or a mask to make that match a bigger deal. There’s no obvious answer, there’s a lot of choices that would be fine. I would be cool just getting that overdue Vikingo/Laredo rematch in Monterrey but I don’t think that’s what I’m getting.
11/19 AAA on Space should be Taxco episode 2. The previews seem to have moved to Saturdays.
Space’s online programming grid lists the 12/04 episode of AAA as TripleMania Regia. Space’s timeslot for that episode is wrong, the grid has been very wrong in the past, and I don’t really trust it more than a few days out. It’ll take an onscreen ad or a AAA announcement for it to be 100% locked in but the signs are promising to see the entire show live.
Chik Tormenta mentioned she’s not signed to AAA and still independent in an interview with La Tijera Lucha Libre.
Other News
IWRG (THU) 11/18/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Shalom b Calibus 
2) Limbo & Satania b Legendario & Sagitarius 
3) Cerebro Negro, Lil Blay, Sweet Dady Soul b Asterboy, Noicy Boy, Rey Halcón
4) Mafioso b Sick Boy
Mafioso used a foul to win
5) Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
Abismo Negro Jr. got into with the Oficials to hype Sunday’s match
There was a lot of promotion for Sunday’s show on this one, so might as well go on with that lineup:
Mas Lucha (SUN) 11/21/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Dehyna, Sagittarius, Satania vs Diosa Nix, Dulce Luna, Sakura
3) Sexy Star 2 vs Artemiz (Laguna) [Torneo Suprema Mas Lucha, quarterfinal]
4) Sussy Love vs Estrellita [Torneo Suprema Mas Lucha, quarterfinal]
5) Keyra vs Chik Tormenta [Torneo Suprema Mas Lucha, quarterfinal]
6) Cinthia Moreno vs Black Widow [Torneo Suprema Mas Lucha, quarterfinal]
7) Abismo Negro Jr., Psicosis II, Toxin vs Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro
8) ? vs ?? [Torneo Suprema Mas Lucha, semifinal]
9) ? vs ?? [Torneo Suprema Mas Lucha, semifinal]
10) Cerebro Negro © vs Jessy Ventura [IWRG IC WELTER]
11) ? vs ?? [Torneo Suprema Mas Lucha, final]
This is a Mas Lucha Members-only show, as part of the $8/month subscription. The men’s tournament didn’t do much for me and I don’t expect I’ll spend my time on this show. Still, if you’re interested in getting a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of the current independent Mexican scene, this seems like a good primer. And Keyra/Chik Tormenta could be pretty good.
IWRG also followed AAA’s statement about signing Toxin by thanking him for his time in IWRG and saying they gave permission for him to leave. This has to be a bit about showing IWRG contracts are real, not just something they were doing for publicity and that they wouldn’t hold anyone (Los Negociantes) to a deal if they had a chance to go elsewhere. I’m not sure why else AAA and IWRG are doing it. though, I’m not sure anyone beyond me gets the bit and it’s not really convincing me.
A very weird deal: El Universal reported Thursday WWE has closed their Mexico City office quoting people who worked there, only for WWE to tell people the office had not been closed. At least one person who worked for the office posted a message on Twitter nothing had changed, though that tweet seems to have since vanished.
WWE later announced another series of “budget cut” related talent releases, which may be connected. It’s possible that the Mexico office was another considered budget cut and that got out incorrectly or it got out too early. WWE has closed up their Japanese office this year so it’s didn’t seem out of the question that the Mexico office might go away.
Those WWE releases include familiar faces John Morrison and Shane Strickland. I’d presume Morrison has an open door to come back to AAA if he’s interested (and if the money is fair.) Stickland mostly appeared in Lucha Underground, but had some The Crash appearances and turned up in TripleMania once (I’ll never forget the springboard attempt.) I wouldn’t be surprised to see him around again. The bigger obstacle is the number of people available making it hard for anyone to get through. 80 people have been cut from WWE this year alone, and it gets more crowded with every wave. Weirdly, those who got fired during the worst moments of this pandemic may have been more fortunate, there were more spots available then.
Tinieblas Jr. claims a documentary on Tinieblas will be released on Netflix sometime soon. The promise doesn’t always mention the delivery on these things. Tinieblas Jr. also says there are three members of his family who are going to carry on the Tinieblas name soon, which is the first time that’s come up.
Steve Maclin did beat Laredo kid on Impact, so they’ll both be part of the X-Division Title match with Trey Miguel on Saturday at 9 pm CT. That’s a live show from Las Vegas, hence the latter start time than you might expect. That’s an Impact Plus show for $8/month. I would be very surprised if Laredo Kid won.
IAW announce they’re stripping Baby Love of their women’s championship. They have a match to fill the championship planned for their next show and cite health as the reason Baby Love won’t be able to wrestle. She hasn’t wrestled since early this year
The Crash announced their 12/03 combo show with MLW on Facebook. MLW had previously announced it. The Crash didn’t announce matches last time around, not sure if that’ll be any different with MLW.
GCW announced Bandido versus Tony Deppen for their 12/04 show in Dallas. That’s a good reminder Bandido won’t be on TripleMania Regia. Both Deppen and Bandido have been in ROH this year but I don’t believe they’ve wrestled.
Aramis defends the Warrior Wrestling Lucha Libre championship against Flamita on their 12/12 show. That show is going to be a challenge for the luchadors, who are also scheduled to work GALLI about an hour away at a show starting an hour later.
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
- Makabre vs Templario
- Aeroboy vs Negro Casas – new
That’s the first match I’m excited for on this card.
Robles Promotions hyped a 240 cm (7′ 10″) tall man for their 12/25 show in Mexico City. A press from Puerto Rico’s OIL promotion reveals this is former NBA draft selection Peter John Ramos, who has gotten into wrestling since retiring from an itinerant wrestling career and is a friend of Robles regular Gran Apolo. The press release mentions John Ramos as actually being 7′ 3″, same as Wikipedia, which is still very tall for wrestling. The press release also lists Alberto el Patron as among the wrestlers in Robles promotion, though he’s not been mentioned since early September despite being the face of the promotion at the time. Robles will be sending wrestlers to OIL in Puerto Rico as part of the deal.
KAOZ Lucha Libre is teasing a Sexy Star 2 vs Sexy Dulce match to take place next year. They could book the match – they have an AAA relationship and brought in Dulce on other shows – but they probably don’t have a finish. KAOZ hasn’t run a show since shutting down for COVID related reasons in August.
Andrade faces Carlito on WWC’s 01/15/2022 48th Anniversary show. I think that’s the first 2022 match I’ve mentioned on blog.
Segunda Caida looks at some 2017 ChilangaMask.
Mascara 2000 posted a message on Instagram demanding Omar Reyes/Capo Mayor stop using the Mascara 2000 Jr. name. He hasn’t used that name in quite a while as far as I’ve seen and Mascara 2000 has made this same statement multiple times, so I’m not sure what going on.