Soberano wins middleweight title, Coyote & Euforia surprisingly advance in Gran Alternativa, IWRG, ROH

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 12/10/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Cronistas del Ring, Estrellas del Ring, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports (Averno), Kaiser Sports (tournament), Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Dulce Gardenia, El Audaz, Espíritu Negro b Disturbio, Nitro, Pólvora  
challenges followed. Disturbio & Polvora had issues.
2) Akuma & Enfermero Jr. b Magia Blanca, Cachorro, El Coyote, Sonic, Panterita del Ring Jr., Rugido [Gran Alternativa, seeding battle royal]
3) Cavernario & Rugido b Blue Panther & Cachorro [Gran Alternativa, 8f]
4:56
4) El Coyote & Euforia b Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8f]
4:36
5) Magia Blanca & Volador Jr. b Sonic & Stuka Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8f]
5:57
6) Akuma & Gran Guerrero b Enfermero Jr. & Mephisto [Gran Alternativa, 8f]
5:07
7) El Coyote & Euforia b Cavernario & Rugido [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
3:57
8) Magia Blanca & Volador Jr. b Akuma & Gran Guerrero [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
3:00
9) El Coyote & Euforia b Magia Blanca & Volador Jr. [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]   
5:29.
10) Soberano Jr. b Templario [CMLL MIDDLE, final]   
14:56. One fall. Soberano win vacant title.
11) Ángel de Oro, Averno, Terrible b Fugaz, Místico, Star Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]    
11:04. Averno wins in straight falls in his return to Arena Mexico, pulling Mistico’s mask to pin him.

Averno and Mistico picked off where they left off; a singles match on Christmas seems plausible.

The ideas for big finishes seem limited in CMLL; the finish stretcher here were an exchange of Canadian Destroyers, an attempt at being current that comes off as passe. (They’re also having trouble both protecting each other and making the Destroyer look good on the apron; I’d rather it look bad like it did here than someone get hurt, but maybe that’s a reason to drop the title.) I thought it had good action and a little bit new stuff, but most people didn’t seem as into it. Soberano winning the tournament should’ve been obvious as soon as he gave up his national welterweight title (to the point where they probably shouldn’t have done it so loudly) and CMLL obviously seems him as one of their top stars. The previous champion, Cuatrero, was treated the same way and ended up leaving, but it looks like everything is OK with Soberano for now.

Coyote & Euforia came off as a surprise though I guess it should’ve. Instead of building a winning team up, these tournaments are all about the losing team getting in all the spots before they’re eliminated from that match. Even in the final, Volador & Magica Blanca took most of the action I guess because they weren’t going to need to do their offense in two weeks. Coyote is fine, though it’s hard to see him being elevated to a major spot if he wins this tournament. The top tecnico in the next block has a great chance of winning, whomever it turns out to be.

CMLL (SAT) 12/11/2021 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Leono & Retro b Apocalipsis & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi b Amapola, La Comandante, Metálica
tecnicas took 1/3
3) Panterita del Ring Jr. b Eléctrico © [MEX LIGHT]
One fall. Panterita del Ring won the title. Electrico falls on his 8th defense, had been champion since 2013 (when he was still in the minis division.)
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Dark Panther, Hombre Bala Jr., Stuka Jr.
5) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. b Cavernario, Hechicero, Templario
tecnicos took 2/3

Panterita del Ring Jr. is believed to be around 19. The lightweight championship hasn’t been treated as meaningful but it’s still a big win for someone this new. Panterita looks good when CMLL gives him a chance – he did well in his tournament appearance on Friday – but we’ve never seen him go all out in a singles match. We won’t see this either unless CMLL taped it to air on Informa.

CMLL (SUN) 12/12/2021 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Kaligua b Pequeño Olímpico
Kaligua won vi 450 splash
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Chamuel & Micro Ángel
3) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Okumura b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Oro Jr.
Okumura challenged Dulce Gardenia after the match
4) Diamond, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
There was a moment of applause for Vicente Fernandez before the match. Tecnicos took 2/3
5) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Titán DQ Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
tecnicos took 2/3. Atlantis had Mephisto up in La Atlantida and Euforia unmasked Atlantis

An actual feud on a Sunday show. Okumura/Dulce is part of the cage match and a possible last two. This show had cheap tickets for children, though it was only announced on Friday. Attendance doesn’t seem to be helped (though CMLL’s photos only seem to be showing one side of the ring.)

CMLL (TUE) 12/14/2021 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Angelito & Kaligua
2) Magia Blanca, Pegasso, Stigma vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Enfermero Jr.
3) La Jarochita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, Dalys, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Fugaz vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Blue Panther, Niebla Roja, Stuka Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

Niebla Roja is apparently still a tecnico who gets booked as a rudo half the time.

Vicente Fernandez is a famous Mexican signer; his “El Rey” song has been used by many wrestlers, including Atlantis the last few years.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara announced they’ll resume Sunday shows on January 2nd.  The first show looks like it’ll have a Coliseo versus indies theme. This is the last weekly CMLL stop to come back since the pandemic shut down, though the Guadalajara shows still had less Mexico City talent than in previous times. The Mexico City/Puebla cards also remain a little bit smaller than before. CMLL also appears to have cut back from four to two edecanes per show for the Friday shows, and that’s more likely to be a budge cut than a health restriction at this point.

Other News

IWRG (SUN) 12/12/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Odiseo & Súper Boy b Desastre & Rey Aztaroth 
2) Cheff Benito, Skanda, Último Caballero b Blue Win, Gran Felipe, Súper Cometa 
3) Carnicero, Guerrero Olímpico, Perro de Guerra b Mini Vikingo, Perseo, Rey Minos 
4) Hell Boy b Black Dragón  
Black Dragon wanted a rematch
5) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Puma de Oro b Carrillo, King Shango, Payaso Purasanta Jr. 
6) Águila Oriental, Calibus, Limbo, Noisy Boy, Rey Halcón, Sagitarius, Spider Fly b Aster Boy, Caballero de Plata, Garra Mortal, Kenji, Satánico, Sol, X-Devil [Copa High Power] 
Tryout vs NGT. Noicy Boy & Aster Boy went to a draw, the commission authorized a restart, Noicy Boy won

The big names are coming in for Thursday’s anniversary show so this was all the kids. I presume they’re doing another Noicy/Aster title match.

A scheduled AAA spot show in Guadalajara on Sunday was canceled, with the press release saying neither AAA or the venue were to blame. Guadalajara long ago was a strong city for AAA but they’ve had chronic issues there since the disastrous 2015 Rey de Reyes show.

I’d previously wondered if Big Mami working Robles Promotions shows meant she was no longer under AAA contract, and she said that was the case at Robles Promotions show in Monday afternoon. She’s still working AAA spots shows – she’s listed for their show at the Pepsi Center next week – but said she’s not under contract to any promotion at the moment.

The “Clase Mundial” group in Xalapa, which appears to be run in Hijo del Tirantes, ran a show on Friday night in Arena Xalapa. Hijo del Vikingo won the group’s new title. Hijo del Tirantes was listed as wrestling on the show opposite Faby Apache in a trios but was replaced by “Black Jack”, who turns out to be Hijo del Tirantes’ son. That was his first match in Arena Xalapa and he’s only been wrestling since late 2020, but maybe worth keeping in mind with the Tirantes/Tirantes family drama playing out in AAA.

The final charges against Alberto el Patron left from a 2020 kidnapping case were dropped on Friday, with the court record indicating a witness did not appear for testimony. This case involved Alberto and his then significant other, who later posted a message on Instagram recanting the charges. The case still continued on for a year, with trial meetings every three months followed by a postponement. It certainly comes off as if the missing witness was the accuser and the delays were failed attempts to get her to testify, but we don’t have the facts to prove that. We also don’t really have the fact to exonerate Alberto, despite him claiming such on his Twitter feed; he wasn’t proven innocent, they just no longer had the evidence to prove him guilty. Which means almost everyone is going to keep thinking the same about Alberto as they have prior. This is a pattern and up to you to determine if Alberto has the worst luck possible with terrible people doing things that unfairly drag his name through mud or if Alberto himself is the terrible person.

In theory, the end of this case makes it more palatable for promoters to book Alberto. In reality, he’s been booked regularly for a while by groups like Robles as it is. He may get more, but many promoters in Mexico (and Mexican-themed US promotions) seem completely willing to overlook criminal charges when it comes to booking people. Alberto’s probably not going to get booked because he’s very expensive and isn’t a big star after being away from TV so long and hasn’t endured in a positive way. There’s little to no chance Alberto will get a job with a major US group, though he’ll probably continue to do interviews talking about how he’s really close to going back to WWE because that’s the only positive story that keeps him in the news. The question is if AAA, in its run of bringing back people for the 30th Anniversary Tour, will dabble with Alberto again. AAA seemed to had enough of Alberto in the past, but I never thought Rayo de Jalisco Jr. or Cibernetico would be back either.

Monster Jr. won Tigre de Plata’s mask in a cage match Saturday Arena Lopez Mateos. Tigre de Plata wasn’t advertised in the match and doesn’t seem to have wrestled regularly under that name since 2013. The AVE promotion show drew poorly for that arena, so I guess doing a cheap main event finish can’t hurt them any more than they’re already hurt.

Rompiendo Madres, which has appeared to be a subrand of KAOZ in the past, ran their Rey del Monterrey show in Monterrey’s Arena Femenil Monterrey. Cibernetico was the big name, and it was strange to see him get a big reaction in a baseball stadium last week and then draw maybe a couple of hundred people in the same town a week later. The story from the show was Chik Tormenta suffering a back injury on a superplex. The move looks normal to me – the really hard ring might be the issue. The bigger problem was there was no evident medical personnel and no stretcher, so Tormenta was carried out on a plank of wood. The show was likely taped for Mas Lucha, who posted an entirely embarrassing clip of the incident. If you can afford to use wrestlers like Cibernetico and Chik Tormenta, you should be able to afford a medic and a stretcher. I think that’s even part of the local regulations – I’ve been at RIOT shows in that same venue where things didn’t get started until an ambulance was on hand – so maybe there will be something to come from this.

There’s been a Blue Demon Jr. merchandise store on the same block as Arena Mexico for years; it was literally just a Demon store with nothing else. It’s now apparently not that; Blue Demon Jr. posted a video Friday saying that store was no longer official and he’d have a new store soon.

Ring of Honor had their Final Battle show on Saturday. Dragon Lee defeated Rey Horus in the opener. Demonic Flamita wrestled in a ten man match. ROH Women’s Champion Rok-C agreed to a title versus title match with AAA Reina de Renas champion Deonna Purrazzo, who appeared as a surprise (and will likely win the ROH championship if/when that match happens.) Current AAA Tag Team Champions FTR also appeared as a surprise on the show to fight with new ROH Tag Team champions the Briscoes. New ROH champion Jonathan Gresham seemed to suggest that Bandido, who missed the show due to COVID-19, would still face him for the ROH title at some point. The titles may live on for a while but it doesn’t appear ROH will. The show ended with a message that the promotion would be back in April 2021, consistent with the previously stated idea that the promotion would be rethought for the next few months (and possibly have no connection to the current version outside the name.) The ROH show instead played out like none of the wrestlers or the production staff expected there to be another Ring of Honor show and they were saying goodbye before looking for work elsewhere. Many of the wrestlers aren’t going to have a full-time offer someplace else and would be available for an April relaunch, but few seemed to have confidence one was happening.

If Sinclair does try to bring wrestling back, they should let the Ring of Honor name rest. I don’t think the name is a problem as much as the expectations. The early years of Ring of Honor are among the greatest runs of US indie wrestling, combining great work and taking advantage of market inefficiency (both WWE or TNA leaving some of the best US wrestlers unsigned because those companies had an overly narrow view of what a wrestler looked like.) That inefficiency is long gone, but the expectations of ROH being that promotion will always exist. Ring of Honor attempts at being something more “mainstream” have never been accepted or really worked, and they seemed forever caught between idea during the three years I closely watched the promotion. The ROH name has a lot of history but also a lot of baggage. Sinclair should start completely fresh if they’re going to start again, and that means starting with a new name.

PWG announced Black Taurus for the Battle of Los Angeles.

Box y Lucha has a lot of CMLL stories on the cover.