TripleMania Regia 5 way mega championship match, TJP/Volador & Leyenda de Azul tonight

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 11/26/2021 Arena México
1) Flyer, Magnus, Robin vs Dark Magic, Disturbio, El Coyote
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Marcela vs Dalys, Dark Silueta, Stephanie Vaquer
3) Volador Jr. © vs TJP [NWA WELTER]
eight defense, first since March (Bandido)
4) Ángel de Oro vs Último Guerrero, Soberano Jr., Bárbaro Cavernario, Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Stuka Jr., Terrible, Blue Panther, Sagrado, Gran Guerrero, Gemelo Diablo I, Dark Panther, Dragón Rojo Jr., Esfinge, Gemelo Diablo II [Leyenda de Azul]

This remains a Ticketmaster show. I expect the amount of viewers will be up from the last show (which seemed to do poorly) and the combination of the tournament and the singles match may do well. It matters not at all who wins this tournament unless it’s going somewhere, and there’s enough danging angles that it could set up something. I think TJP is finishing up this run here, but may be back later.

Someone made the CMLL webmaster – I presume still Alexis Salazar – go back into the WordPress page to change “Gemelo Diablo I” and “Gemelo Diablo II” to “Los Gemelos Diablos”. Seems harash. Dark Panther in this match reminds me Blue Panther Jr. has vanished; he’s not been seen in a match since September 14th. Blue Sr. and Dark are working a show back in Torreon in late December and Blue Jr. isn’t on that either, so he’s going to be gone for a while. Not sure why.

CMLL (SUN) 11/28/2021 Arena México
1) Retro vs Apocalipsis
2) Eléctrico & Sonic vs Grako & Inquisidor
3) Enfermero Jr., Nitro, Sangre Imperial vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Kráneo, Panterita del Ring, Volcano vs Felino, Hijo del Villano III, Luciferno
5) Ángel de Oro, Terrible, Titán vs Euforia, Mephisto, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Soberano and Euforia back teaming.

CMLL (MON) 11/29/2021 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & Dreyko vs Black Tiger & Dark Soul
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Siky Ozama vs Nitro, Sangre Imperial, Toro Bill Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Princesa Sugehit © vs Stephanie Vaquer [CMLL WOMEN]
2nd defense (both against Vaquer)
4) Stigma & Titán vs Felino Jr. & Pólvora
5) Místico & Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr. & Averno [Relevos Increíbles]
Averno’s first match here since 2014

Averno’s return is about as quiet as possible; showing up in Puebla means he’s on the main roster, though it’s a strange way to re-introduce him. It somewhat reminds me of Los Invasors being introduced in Puebla, though they at least got the big appearance the week before. (I supposed if Averno ran in last week, it may have just not been written about.) We should see Averno in Arena Mexico soon enough, though he’s in Guadalajara on Tuesday.

CMLL is unusually set on keeping Felino Jr. & Polvora together for a duo that wasn’t one before winning the tag titles. That’s a good thing. Dreyko is a new name here; he’s showing up on Puebla indie shows at least as far back as 2016 (and there was a Guadalajara wrestler using the same name earlier.)

CMLL (TUE) 11/30/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Divino, Mágico, Mr. Samurai vs Gran Kenut, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
2) Bestia Negra, Carlo Roggi, Difunto, Fúnebre vs Cris Skin, Joker, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr.
3) Lluvia vs Dark Silueta
4) Rey Bucanero, Satánico, Último Guerrero vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
5) Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr. vs Averno & Mephisto

A lot of rudos on this show. Satanico’s been busy; he was named head fo the

CMLL luchadora La Maligna appears every week in the in-between match segments on CMLL’s (MVS) Guerreros del Ring show, but hasn’t wrestled a match for the promotion since November 19, 2019. I’m not sure she’s ever stated why, though my understanding is she left to have a child. She returns to the ring tonight in her hometown of Saltillo, so maybe we’ll see her back in CMLL sometime down the road.

AAA

The final AAA Mega Championship match lineup is Hijo del Vikingo vs Samuray del Sol vs Jay Lethal vs Bobby Fish vs Bandido. I expect it’s going to end up first pinfall gets the winner, though it is unlikely AAA will make that clear before hand. Bandido or Vikingo will likely end up with the title; Vikingo still has the best bet at winning it because none one else seems committed for more than a match and that appeared to be a hold up for Andrade winning the title back at TripleMania Regia. (Maybe the right call because, when AAA really needed people, they didn’t end up with Andrade again. Or maybe Andrade just didn’t want to come back and lose again.)

Bandido’s not a perfect Omega replacement – ROH has a small footprint in Mexico, he’s not been as booked strongly in his home country as he has been abroad, and even then he’s the champion of a dying promotion – but it’s probably as good as could be hoped for in the absence Omega and the unwillingness/inability to get similar top AEW names. I don’t think the other three add much value to the show from a Monterrey ticket selling point – maybe a little from being able to slap “AEW” on the poster, maybe some people who remember when Kalisto was at his best in WWE, but they’re just bodies to fill out the match. They should be good in the match, AAA already had plenty of people who would be good in a multiman match.

Daga randomly took a shot at the match on Facebook, though not on Twitter where we could all enjoy it. Daga would’ve been a better fit for this match than half the people in it.

The five men in this match were set Sunday; I had two sources give me those names (while knowing it’s AAA so it can always change.) That only matters in that if the story about when AAA decided to make a deal with Fite (“in the last couple of days”) is correct, that means those names were picked before there was going to be a worldwide audience. I don’t think those names appeal strong enough to a worldwide audience that’ll get them to pay $20 for a four match show but that also doesn’t appear to be the idea. I think it’s as simple as “the best in the world coming to AAA to get that title” and either hoping to convince the fans or themselves into being able to pass these guys off at the best.

If AAA is sure Kenny Omega is coming back and soon, then I think the best move is having Vikingo win so you could go right to it. I’d also have Vikingo refuse to accept the title until he beats Omega. If AAA is not sure, then Bandido is probably the best pick. AAA’s got to hope Bandido will still be available later, but Vikingo coming close while losing in his first chance to get the fans behind him on his next chance is the best long term way to go. This is not a promotion thinking long term outside of whatever major apuesta match is coming – and be sure we’ll get some apuesta teased as the TripleMania 30 main event on this show – so they could just go to Vikingo for the sake of doing it.

I’m going to buy this show but I buy CMLL shows so I’m not making great choices. I think these will do better than those CMLL shows at the least. FITE is a much better and known platform than TicketMaster Live, FITE allows VOD, AAA has a more favorable brand to casual lucha libre fans and a English commentary option will always get some people to check it out who would be scared off by only having a native language option. Don’t get me wrong, most of the people saying things like “wow that five way looks great, can’t wait to see Jay Lethal in AAA” are not actually going to buy this show and are going to pirate what they watch of it instead. AAA’s told people the value of watching an AAA big show is $0 for the last few years and adjusting them to a new reality is going to take a lot of time and a better card than this. Maybe changing the expectations now will pay off in 9 months when people are used to buying by the time TripleMania Mexico City comes around again, but I still believe there’s an audience that needs to be re-sold on why AAA is worth paying attention to before they’re willing to pay money, and there’s no free content available to get them on board. This would’ve been the good free content; try to get them to pay when Omega comes back.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter lists Matt Striker &  “Carlos Oacho” as the English annoucners. AAA has said nothing. I think Oacho may be a typo, because I can’t find a person by that name. In theory, it’s much harder for those guys to get ready because AAA’s very hard to watch outside of Mexico. In reality, even when you could watch AAA any time, Striker’s preparation has been along the lines of talking over the show at dinner the night before and reading over AAA prepared notes an hour before the show. There was no sign he was watching before so the current situation won’t change it much. I don’t know who the other person in the booth is; they may be great. I heop they’re as good as imagine Mas Lucha’s Adrian Mendoza would’ve been in that spot – bilingual, know the product and knows how it fits in within the greater wrestling landscape. If they’re going to use Striker because Striker sounds like a wrestling announcer to them, they have to pair him with someone who actually knows AAA. The English broadcast has to exist or some people will never buy a show but if you follow AAA enough to be reading this very niche blog, you will probably be fine with Huge and Jose Manuel in Spanish.

FITE now lists TripleMania Regia as a four match show; there seems to confusion on this point between AAA & FITE and it wouldn’t totally shock me if it’s an adjustment. I think it’s fair to expect to see a whole show if you’re paying $20 for it, but I’m not sure AAA is going to be fair. One change already is the Psycho Circus/La Empresa match appears to be bumped off the live broadcast for the Dragon Lee & Dralistico vs Laredo Kid & TBA match. That’s a better match for the PPV audience, I’m not as sure if it’s as good for the TV audience. AAA sure has put a lot of TV time into La Empresa to not include them on PPV, but that’s the same for most anything that’s featured on TV. The actual live show is listed as starting at 6:00 pm, both FITE and Space list their shows at starting at 8, so that makes sense for half the crowd. They’ll probably start late due to timing issues as normal.

I don’t know what it means, probably nothing, but AAA hasn’t plugged the FITE broadcast on their own Twitter as of yet. AAA did promise even more surprises, including the siloutte that’s meant to invoke Cibernetico. They’re also advertising 2×1 for ticket deals in cheapest areas, which suggest tickets aren’t moving as well as they hoped.

upcoming twitch plans

• Saturday’s AAA show is the final episode from Taxco, the final AAA empty venue show in theory. I’ll stream it on Twitch as normal.
• The following week (12/04) is one half of TripleMania Regia, that’s being sold as PPV, so I will not stream it.
• The second half of TripleMania Regia airs on 12/11; my plan is to stream it, but I also plan to be in Baltimore at the ROH PPV while the show airs. I have made that situation work in the past but just be aware it may have a hitch.
• I’m guessing AAA is just in Best of Mode from 12/18 on until they tape again in January, so I will probably not bother to stream past that. And maybe they’re back to normal in 2022 where shows air airing live routinely worldwide?

Other News

IWRG (SUN) 11/28/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Sol & Spider Fly vs Shalom & X-Devil
2) Artemiz (Laguna) & Bengalee vs Lolita & Satania
3) Hell Boy & Noicy Boy vs Mosca & Tonalli
4) Asterboy, Toxin, Veneno vs Arvack, Lil Blay, Sweet Dady Soul
5) Hijo del Alebrije, Hijo del Espectro Jr., Sick Boy vs Cerebro Negro, Gigante Orión, Mafioso
6) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr. vs Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro

No show on Thursday – they waited until Wednesday night to say it was off – and this is an ordinary but busy show. It is around time to start announcing matches for their big December shows.

RIOT announced their 11/27 show is moving from Arena Femenil to LLUE Showcenter outside of Monterrey due to logistics issues.

AIW has Psycho Clown versus Matthew Justice tonight as part of their show at 6:30 pm CT on IWTV.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.