Month: January 2022

CMLL

CMLL started to roll out their restart lineups on Thursday. Most are adjustments of the prior announcements lineups, which happens to highlight those people who are no longer booked:

• Apocalipsis
• Disturbio
• Dulce Gardenia
• Felino
• Gallito
• Hechicero
• Hombre Bala Jr.
• La Jarochita
• Panterita del Ring
• Perico Zacarias
• Retro
• Stephanie Vaquer
• Suicida

These are unlikely to be all COVID absences – Dulce Gardenia is wrestling in Torreon this weekend and did so last week, for example. Gallito may be staying in Guadalajara for the moment and CMLL could’ve pulled Zacarias to even the sides. There also are probably other people dealing with COVID who weren’t booked to start. No sign of Polovra, who is the only person CMLL’s confirmed as positive themselves. Vaquer is healthy enough that she was doing remote media interviews. I haven’t heard off a serious COVID case in CMLL, even just in gossip. I’m crossing my fingers that none happens.

It’s worth taking a moment to remember this was a CMLL pause and restart. What happened with AAA in Merida and other shows have been government-declared postponements/cancelations, and CMLL hasn’t escaped those yet. Mexico City tried to avoid giving a direct answer on their current COVID traffic light status at a midday press conference, while Mexico State announced they’d be switching to yellow starting Monday. Mexico City will probably also be yellow starting Monday when the country-wide map is released this evening, which could mean anything between smaller attendance caps to no fans shows. CMLL wants to run these shows listed but we’re not sure if they’ll be allowed to run them as they’d like. Any show in Mexico between now and March should be considered tentative. I’m going to try not to say that when mentioning every show to avoid being repetitive, but you should keep “if it happens” in mind next to any date.

CMLL (FRI) 01/21/2022 Arena México
1) Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Eléctrico
Halcon Suriano replaced Panterita del Ring on 01/20
2) Dalys, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs Dark Silueta, Marcela, Reyna Isis [Relevos Increíbles]
Princesa Sugehit replaced Jarochita, Reyna Isis replaced Stephanie Vaquer on 01/20
3) Soberano Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario
Barbaro Cavernario replaced Hechicero on 01/20
4) Atlantis Jr. vs Terrible
5) Místico, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero

This is what’s left of the Best of 2021 show; I can’t imagine they’ll do that still, since it’s still close enough to count. Soberano/Cavernario should be interesting. Halcon Suriano will be as energetic as always.

This is a Ticketmaster Live show for $5 as originally scheduled. CMLL also had a big show + PPV planned for 01/28 and it’s unclear if that’s still on.

CMLL (SAT) 01/22/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono vs Cholo
Retro & Apocalipsis removed on 01/20
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Chamuel & Micro Ángel [Relevos Increíbles]
Gallito & Zacarais removed on 01/20
3) Diamond, Magnus, Stigma vs Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr., Oro Jr.
Magnus & Oro Jr. added to the match to replace Panterita del Ring & Suicida on 01/20 (and names shifted around)
4) El Coyote & Sangre Imperial vs Robin & Rugido [Relevos Increíbles]
Rugido replaced Hombre Bala Jr.
5) Místico, Templario, Titán vs Atlantis, Cavernario, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
Templario replaced Felino on 01/20.

The semi-main was supposed to be the Gran Alternativa finalists versus the Gran Oportunidad finalists. Rugido wasn’t in the tournament, not that it matters now.

CMLL (SUN) 01/23/2022 Arena México
1) Fantasy vs Pequeño Violencia
2) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Pegasso vs Grako & Inquisidor
3) El Audaz, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Rey Bucanero
4) Cavernario, Euforia, Mephisto vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Titán & Volador Jr. © vs Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja [CMLL TAG]
1st defense (won titles in September)

This was the lineup not announced before the pause, so we don’t know if the tag team title match was planned in advance. Titan & Volador’s tag title reign seemed like something CMLL backed into after Mistico left and the fans didn’t vote for the Guerreros, and Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja are equally as sensible tag champions if Niebla Roja is going to be around much.

This is a rare CMLL card without tecnicos and rudos teaming.

CMLL (MON) 01/24/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Dreyko & Meyer vs Black Tiger & Siki Ozama
2) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Rugido vs Perverso, Prayer, Toro Bill Jr.
3) Pegasso vs Halcón Suriano Jr.
originally Dulce Gardenia/Disturbio
4) Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Templario vs Cavernario, Euforia, Mephisto
Templario replaced Hechicero (and sides changed) on 01/20
5) Volador Jr. vs Soberano Jr.

This main event was originally Mistico/Soberano, but Mistico’s working the other shows so maybe it’s a date conflict or a workload issue. It’d be a big match if aired elsewhere. Soberano has been working rudo leading into the singles match.

The Arena Coliseo Guadalajara Facebook page hasn’t explained why they’re not running, just wrote a statement urging people to stay safe if they want shows soon. I wonder if they’re still getting too many positive COVID tests to run at this point.

CMLL TV has a few unaired matches mixed with repeats from different channels. This Friday night show should air on Televisa next week, while it may take an additional week for new material to air on the other channels. No idea if the MarcaClaro Tuesday night streaming will return.

AAA

Dr. Landru & the Wrestling Observer reported Konnan underwent heart surgery in the past week and is now back home. It’s said his previous COVID, about a year ago, damaged his heart requiring the operation. Konnan also needs a second kidney replacement; WOR mentions he’s got a donor lined up. Konnan remains the creative lead at AAA and an important connective person in their aspirations to run internationally, a very significant role who’s proven to be hard to replace in the past.

Wrestling Observer Radio also mentioned Fenix may be back by “mid-February.” It came off as if Konnan had told Dave Meltzer that Fenix may still wrestle at Rey de Reyes (February 17) when the two were talking about Konnan’s health situation. I suggest viewing that as the best-case scenario rather than anything locked in.

AAA airs matches from December’s Mexico City TV taping starting this Saturday at 6:30 pm. They haven’t announced which matches will air this week as of post time. These matches took place, three to air each week:

• La Parkita & Octagoncito vs La Parkita Negra & Mini Gronda
• Big Mami & Faby Apache vs Keyra & Lady Maravilla vs Goya Kong & Pimpinela Escarlata
• Myzteziz Jr. vs Argenis
• Dave The Clown & Murder Clown vs DMT Azul & Puma King
• Aramis & Laredo Kid vs Arez & Látigo
• Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón

The idea was for the Merida shows to start airing after. I guess AAA will return to repeat material.

Dorian Roldan will appear on Yo Tambien Soy Mexicano Saturday night on adn40. The video makes this appear to be a response to the “is lucha libre really something Mexico should represent on airplanes and airport bathrooms?” twitter arguments a couple of weeks back. The show airs against the end of AAA.

MLW matches for next Thursday

• Aramis versus Hijo del Vikingo for the AAA Megachampionship
• Octagon Jr. versus Hammerstone for the MLW Championships

These MLW shows were taped in December so it’s hard to remember, but this would be Vikingo defending the AAA mega championship for the first time the day before he actually won the title. And you thought MLW funny business with AAA titles was over.

MLW tapes tonight in Dallas. Pagano challenges Alex Hammerstone for the MLW Heavyweight Championships in a falls count anywhere. The excitement isn’t for the outcome, Pagano is incredibly unlikely to win, but for what he’ll attempt to do in the process of the match. Also announced is Arez, Gino Medina, and Mini Abismo Negro Jr. face El Dragon, Aramis, and a mystery man believed to be the debuting Micro Man. LA Park and his family will be returning; they skipped the Tijuana tapings at the last moment. I’m under the impression another lucha libre name will also be debuting at the taping. These matches will likely start airing on 02/03.

When The Crash announced Hijo del Vikingo versus Flip Gordon for their 01/28 show, we all wondered why it wasn’t a Vikingo title defense. The Crash must’ve eventually thought the same because it’s now for The Crash Heavyweight Championship. It’s only the second time the belt has been defended in a singles match; Rey Horus beat Hammerstrong back in 2019.

Other News

GCW has The WRLD on Sunday night, airing both on FITE and regular PPV.

• Gringo Loco, Arez, Demonic Flamita vs Bandido, Laredo Kid, ASF
• Psycho Clown is announced but doesn’t have a match; he may be on the (free on YouTube) pre-show battle royal

This show is setting up to be a Very Big Deal. It’d be nice for the lucha guys to have a great match and I’m fairly sure they will, but also it’ll still be hard overshadowed on this one. GCW is likely to throw everything at the wall for this one.

Jonathan Gresham versus Bandido to determine an undisputed ROH champion will take place on ROH’s show on Friday 04/01. That seemed the likely outcome once ROH announced they were indeed going to run that weekend. Ian Riccaboni, ROH’s unofficial director of “making sure it makes sense”, explained if Gresham loses his version of the ROH title before 04/01 the new champion will replace him. Bandido is not defending his ROH title outside of ROH.

Rey Mysterio Jr. will be on the cover WWE 2K22, which I thought was announced a while back but was given a bigger run this past Thursday as part of the big rollout due to a March release. The WWE 2K series has been notoriously poorly received for bad gameplay in recent years. Rey’s not pushed much in WWE nowadays but he’s still one of the most well-liked wrestlers, so he’s being used in a high-profile way to change people’s perceptions of the game. Hopefully it’s good this time, wouldn’t bet on it.

Coliseo Morelos, which got attention for running shows approved by the local authorities but not by the lucha libre commission for health reasons, has announced they’ll go on pause due to the rise in cases.

Hijo del Espectro is raffling off a mask to make some money as he recovers from an injury on 12/25.

There’s a Puebla lucha libre bodybuilding contest on 02/19 being run by Centella de Oro.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Lucha Report.

CMLL announced Wednesday afternoon that they’ll return to running shows starting this Friday. The promotion announced plans to resume a regular schedule for the Mexico City circuit: Friday in Arena Mexico, Saturday in Arena Coliseo, Sunday in Arena Mexico, Monday in Arena Puebla, and Tuesday in Arena Mexico. Those who purchased tickets for the January 7th show will now be able to use them this Friday, January 21st. Those who purchased tickets for the original January 21st and 28th shows can get refunds at their point of purchase.

There’s no mention of when Arena Coliseo Guadalajara shows will return. There’s also no mention of what the cards will look like for these shows. CMLL’s Julio Cesar Rivera, on Informa, stated that the cards would be released on Thursday. It appears CMLL has the lineups ready enough to tell Negro Casas he’s booked. They’re likely waiting for another round of COVID tests to come back to avoid publically removing anyone who tests positive. The results must be good so far for them to be comfortable advertising these shows.

The January 7th show was originally advertised as a TicketmasterLive show. It’s unclear if that’ll still happen on the 21st; it was a higher-priced show for the Best of 2021 concept. Hopefully, they can run that show Friday, or at least wait to run the PPV portion until they can give the PPV buyers what the show they bought. The CMLL track record with those shows hasn’t been great.

There’s no mention of any additional COVID restrictions for fans or wrestlers. COVID cases continue to spike in Mexico. Mexico City has not issued any new restrictions in response and it doesn’t appear like they’re close to shutting things down similar to what happened in Merida/Yucatan with the AAA taping. CMLL is back in business unless something else comes up.

AAA’s TV taping in Merida on January 30th is now postponed. Originally, sports were given an out on a local ban of public events through February 15. The local sports authority told PorEsto! they were changing their position on Tuesday, canceling all sports events. An outdoor 5/10 km race was allowed to go on, but a nationally televised boxing show, a bullfighting event, and AAA’s event would no longer be permitted to take place due to an “exponential” rise in COVID cases. The local promoter said they’re hoping to reschedule the show for March but don’t have a date locked in. This is the show with FTR versus Lucha Brothers scheduled; AAA never had to announce a replacement match because it didn’t come close to happening. Fan reaction the postponement seems disappointed but understanding.

The next scheduled AAA TV taping is Rey de Reyes on 02/19 in Veracruz for Rey de Reyes. Yucatan is in yellow health code, Veracruz is in green, though the rules under those codes seem to vary from state to state. The next Mexico COVID traffic light map update is this Friday and there will be a second update before the show takes place. Those probably will have less green, but it’s hard to know if it’ll mean anything.

(Speaking of cursed events, the AAA Guadalajara spot show has been re-advertised for February 13th.)

AAA will start to air the December Mexico City taping this Saturday. It’ll be back on Space at 6:30 pm. I do plan on resuming streams on Twitch until AAA goes live themselves or tells me to knock it off. If you don’t want to deal with me, and who does, these shows should continue to go up eight days later on AAA’s YouTube channel. The channel itself remains behind a geoblock wall for the moment, but all the new links to video work fine. The Mexico City show should air this week and next and I have no idea what they’ll do with this taping postponed. Maybe back to Best Ofs, maybe moving this Merida somewhere else just to get it in.

Mexico City-based Stamina Sports Licensing announced a deal with Lucha Libre AAA for “consumer products, licensing and retail” on LinkedIn Monday night. As the name so clearly states that I’m silly for including the part after this comma, Stamina Sports Licensing mostly focuses on licensing sports properties. Their website show shows some famous brands. This appears to be part of AAA trying to improve their merchandising area, with SSL in the area of making connections to get the merchandise into stores – an article on their partnership with FC Bayern Munich talks about making increasing the team’s merchandise in stores.

ESPN has a feature on the Charly/Lucha Libre AAA Liga MX jerseys. So does Urban Pitch, which means part of the AAA involvement in the process was to let them know if their team specific masks designs were too close to existing wrestlers.

CMLL posted no update on their status, which means they’re probably back not this week. CMLL has missed eight shows so far. The promotion typically posts the CMLL Informa lineup mid-day. None has been posted today. Informa didn’t miss a week during the pandemic so far, but it’s possible COVID got it as well.

Mascara Dorada will wrestle in GCW on 02/04 in Houston, 02/19 in Atlantic City, and 02/25 in Los Angeles. Those are his first announced post-WWE bookings. No one currently has the trademark on Mascara Dorada in the US so he’s free to wrestle using that name there. Dorada’s 90 day no-compete clause appears to expire on 02/02, so the Houston show will likely be the first show he’ll work. It’s a good sign to see him working as soon as possible, though the big test will be to see how much he can shake off his WWE stint and return closer to what he was before he left.

Dorada is one of the first few names to be announced for those shows and we don’t know who he’ll be working with. Gringo Loco seems likely. It sticks out to be that Dorada is working the 02/04 show in Houston but not the next day in Dallas for GCW; maybe he’s got something else to be announced for that day.

Psycho Clown has been added to the GCW show this Saturday, which you can watch on FITE. That’ll be other thing to watch: Dorada’s not booked for that show and can’t wrestle on any shows with AAA people or Bandido if he plans to go back to CMLL. Neither CMLL nor Dorada have said anything about a CMLL return, but they did send him off in a big way.

IWRG (SUN) 01/23/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Spider Fly & Villarreal vs Kenji & Limbo
2) Jessy Jackson & Sagitarius vs Baronessa & Satania
3) Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike vs Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka, Tortuga Leo
4) Asterboy, Freelance, Noisy Boy vs Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro, Tonalli
5) Accion Jackson & Travis Banks vs Alpha Wolf & Dragón Bane
6) Hijo del Alebrije vs Hijo del Fishman, Hijo del Pirata Morgan

Travis Banks is back and with a friend. I think Los Golepadors think Banks is their ticket to international success; maybe Banks thinks the same. I don’t think it’s going to work out for them.

Deep in this Box y Lucha interview of RLLI (Revelacion Lucha Libre Izatapalpa) promoter Diego Armando de Anda, there’s a mention of an agreement to work with WLS (World League Society) and their new trainer, Travis Banks. His issues elsewhere stemmed out of abusing his role as a trainer, but there are enough people in Mexico who see him as a good wrestler who has the international experience they want, and they’re willing to forgive the rest.

The third part of Mexico’s embassy feature on lucha libre is up now on a variety of channels, focusing on rudos versus tecnicos.

Monster Clown will be appearing at a show in Mexicali this weekend. Doesn’t seem like he’s back wrestling yet.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Box y Lucha 3498D has lots of obits and interview recaps.

COVID notes

Two years ago, this weekend would’ve had FantasticaMania, a CMLL show and AAA’s first taping of the year. We’re instead deep into pandemic lucha libre again, with many venues not running and no real sign of when things

Mas Lucha’s radio show on Saturday reported CMLL had “around 20” positive COVID test results among wrestlers and staff, which led to the shut down on January 6. It’s described as a “big wave.” It’s not clear how many are positive are now – you’d hope it would be less with people getting better and CMLL wrestlers being isolated, but it may be up with Mexico entirely going through the big wave.

Hopefully, everyone is fine and CMLL can resume before long, but that “around 20” total explains why they’ve gone on pause. CMLL hasn’t given an indication when we might hear from them again. They’ll probably have to say something by Wednesday if they’re running this weekend, but it’d be surprising if they’re running since they’re on “indefinite” hiatus. Maybe next Friday is the earliest we can expect.

The first segment of Mas Lucha Radio also included talk about vaccination cards/recent COVID test likely becoming a requirement for attending CMLL shows, as they now are in Guadalajara, and the lack of testing being done on most indie shows. Hip Hop Man made a good point that if CMLL is this bad, the indie shows are probably far worse. Arena Naucalpan and Arena Lopez Mateos were cited as two places doing testing, but most indie shows are not.

The AAA show Wednesday in San Luis Potosi has been posted to 03/16 due to COVID.

Other Notes

IWRG (SUN) 01/16/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Carnicero & Kenji b Kunay & Villarreal   
2) Billy Jones, Hell Boy, Legendario b Black Dragón, Cerebro Negro Jr., Rey Halcón  
Billy Jones replaced Sol
3) Puma de Oro & Tonalli b Big Boy & Big Mike and Aster Boy & Noisy Boy  
4) Cerebro Negro, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Karaoui b Freelance, Hijo del Alebrije, Toxin  
sets up a Pirata/Alebrije title match
5) Súpernova & Texano Jr. DQ Alpha Wolf & Dragón Bane and Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura   

IWRG continues on with a regular crowd. Mas Lucha had an outage during the show but the InternTV version fills that gap. No Travis Banks this week – Mas Lucha noticeably did not upload his match – but otherwise the usual programs. Hip Hop Man mentioned Las Shotas were sick last week, tested negative for COVID, but were set home to be safe. The main event this week built towards a Texanos/Golepadors match.

I believe AAA should start airing new episodes this Saturday, showing the matches from December’s Mexico City taping over the next two Saturdays. Not confirmed yet and it wouldn’t be out of the question if they held them back in case of a postponement (now or later.)

The return to Arena Coliseo Acapulco show on Saturday seems to have drawn well, maybe 80% full. Konnan Big returning to wrestle in Torreon also looks to have drawn strong, with Lucha Noticias guessing 2,000 people in attendance.

Global Press Journal has an interesting if a bit of a reach of an article on luchadoras. It made me think, which is good enough for me. The idea is the coronavirus shutdowns have led to more and bigger opportunities for Mexican women’s wrestlers. CMLL is brought up as the big example, and they did hold more women’s main events than ever and a women’s Gran Prix for the first time ever. The Gran Prix wasn’t truly related to the pandemic – it happened primarily because there was a group of Japanese women interested in coming over and CMLL decided to build a big match around then. CMLL may have felt safer running that match because of an earlier interest in women’s matches, but that came through fan voting not a decision CMLL made themselves. They did succeed in making the women’s wrestlers more identifiable – La Jarochita, Lluvia and Dark Silueta are among the (few) CMLL 2021 successes – but give a lot of the credit to the women themselves.

It’s possible, maybe even likely, there are more women in indie promotions than there were before. Wrestler pay is nodded at near the end of the article – in that there’s not much to be had – and I wonder if that might a hidden reason for the increase in the percentage of luchadoras. Women wrestlers in Mexico are generally underpaid compared to their male counterparts if paid at all. The pandemic and the empty arena shows led to low or no pay for people of all genders, and maybe the women were more accustomed to dealing with it than the men.

That article mentions Amapola’s been dealing with a neck injury.

02/11 RIOT

• Latigo, Toxin and Arez vs Iron Kid, Kratoz & Prometo
• Erick Ortiz vs Mr. Iguana in a first-round match
• Jimmy vs King Rex in a first-round match
• Blake Christian vs Aeroboy in a first-round match
• El Mago versus Tromba in a first-round match
• Demonio del Aire vs Komander in a first-round match – new
• Alex Zayne vs Rey Horus – not announced yet, but the only people left

Warrior Wrestling announced Bandido versus Dante Martin for their 02/12 show in Cicero, a match postponed from Bandido’s most recent bout with COVID. I caught Bandido’s match with Baron Black from Sunday’s Termius show and you should not get that show just to watch that match. It was disappointing, I’ve seen better from both men. The show included teases for the Gresham/Bandido title match but it’s evident that’s going to be held for the ROH SuperCard of Honor show on WrestleMania weekend.

Saturday’s Arena Neza show was postponed due COVID issues.

Segunda Caida watches some 1994 handheld Los Angeles California lucha libre.

Estado de Mexico profiles a luchador turned photographer.

COVID

AAA’s TV taping in Merida on 01/30 is in flux. The last word is it’s still on, but in no way do I feel sure about it staying that way for two weeks. Thursday night, the state of Yucatan announced new COVID restrictions, including prohibiting any massive public events until 02/15, That would seem to zap the Merida taping, but neither AAA nor the local promoter said anything about the situation. Friday morning, Facebook media outlet Consigna Yucatan talked to the local promoters, who said they’ve been told by the government they still have to go ahead to run the show. The local promoters also vaguely alluded to good news on their Facebook page. Professional sports events are excluded from the ban, and lucha libre is being ruled a professional sport. This is probably intended to be just a carve-out for soccer, with money overruling health policy, and so this show’s existence is entirely subject to a government official changing their mind.

If the show goes on, it’ll require capacity capped at 50%, which it seemed like the local promoter was already advertising for the floor seats. It’s a little bit of a tricky situation: what I didn’t realize about Merida being the first show canceled by AAA back when the pandemic started is people who had tickets for that show in March 2020 apparently didn’t get their money back, they just were eventually given tickets to this show. It’s also why AAA may be reluctant to move this taping; everyone wants to finish off those old promised shows. Not sure if that applied to everyone, and hopefully they have room for everyone with limited capacity. The promotion was also already saying all attendees will have to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test.

A show scheduled for Sunday in Tuxtla Guiterrez with many CMLL names was announced earlier this week as still on, with the local promotions saying the CMLL shut down didn’t affect their status. That has changed; an announcement Thursday night says CMLL wrestlers have been told to no longer appear on outside shows for the time being and so the Tuxtla Guiterrez event is postponed.

We haven’t seen many public announcements of COVID positives from wrestlers, but both Demonic Flamita and Stephanie Vaquer alluded to testing positive on Wednesday on their social media account. Neither reported serious symptoms. This is the second time Flamita’s deal with COVID, first positive before 2020’s Final Battle. Box y Lucha also mentions Jessy Ventura, Diva Salvaje and Hijo de Dos Caras missed last Sunday’s IWRG show due to health issues; it’s not said if was COVID.

A KDNA show announced for Monterrey tonight was canceled due to COVID.

DTU announced they’re suspending shows for the moment due to the rise of COVID.

Rey Bucanero is still going to run his shows on Saturday. He’s now just not going to advertise any wrestlers and will only use people who arrive in time to due COVID testing. Matches will be random draws except for the title/apuesta matches. Most lucha libre promotions would be no worse if they did random draws; CMLL may be there already.

Other News

AAA has been running an angle on social media, with La Hiedra taken out by La Empresa and Rey Escorpion promising a replacement as a and new member of Los Mercenarios for Merida. There’s no overt hint who it’ll be, and it could be just about anyone with AAA. There’s no sign Texano is returning to AAA and he seems pretty solidly working with Robles, but AAA’s been willing to bring people back who dipped out during the pandemic. It could also just as easily be Samoano finding his way into AAA.

Similarly, a local match for the AAA TV was announced as Eterno Alcander, Shangai Kid, Angelito Vengador versus Panther Boy, Halcon Rojo Jr., Tormenta Negra Jr. We still don’t know if AAA will return to airing regular TV tapings live but, even then, they usually don’t show these matches.

In other stuff I wrote before the Merida taping appeared to be in danger, Pentagon Jr. said there’s a 99% chance Fenix will not wrestle on that show as part of the scheduled Lucha Brothers versus FTR tag title match. That’s kinda what everyone figured; the Rey de Reyes appearance in February at least has a chance, but we don’t know for sure until we get a timeline and it doesn’t appear Fenix & Penta have been given one yet. I spent some time trying to figure to how AAA would rebook this and the answer might be it all gets postponed anyway.

Charles Bronson Mexicano (Ismael Ramirez Cruz, 88) passed away on Tuesday. Named because he looked like the actor, Charles Bronson Mexicano wrestled in the 5os to the 70s, also as the masked Rebelde Rojo, but was most famous for working as a double for Santo in movies. Box y Lucha reposted a video interview with him from his gym.

Mexico City luchador Tom Mix passed away, according to the LEGEND promotion and Box y Lucha. He was a guy who had more local renown as a trainer, with Vulcano and Aguila Solitaria two of his students.

CMLL is now advertising the matches airing on Televisa, MVS, and AMX this weekend, as they tend to do when there are no live events. All are matches that have already aired before on different networks or on YouTube. (Heraldo Television has the only unaired match, and that show doesn’t stream most weeks.) CMLL should have all the matches from the 01/02 and 01/04 shows to air and aren’t using them yet. Very few matches matter in CMLL and much of it feels interchangeable, so maybe airing new material isn’t as important. There’s nothing new going up on the drive if that’s what you’re looking for.

Deonna Purrazzo retained the AAA Reina de Reinas championship and won the ROH Women’s championship over Rok-C on Impact Thursday night. It was pretty good match. Purrazzo is scheduled to defend the AAA title against the winner of a match on 02/19, most likely Taya, but we don’t when or where that’ll happen. The Black Taurus match on Impact’s BTI pre-show is available on YouTube for free. That’s the last week of BTI; NJPW returns to AXS to take over that hour next week.

MLW’s YouTube show included a fun 5150 vs Skalibur & Destiny match and then other stuff you don’t have to see unless you’re already into MLW. Next week’s MLW Azteca #3 episode will have 5150 versus Aerostar & Drago, Bestia 666 versus Mads Kruger and probably one more match. Hijo del Vikingo wrestled twice on these tapings and is one of the more appealing wrestlers from Mexico for non-Mexico fans, so it’s surprised me he hasn’t been hyped or even mentioned at all on these shows so far. Maybe MLW doesn’t see it. MLW has three episodes left so he’ll be appearing soon.

Albert pointed out in the comments that MLW’s Mini Abismo Negro Jr. is Mini Fussion; there are Facebook pages reporting it too. Mini Fussion was brought into Robles Promotion to work opposite Microman, so that strongly suggests he’s the mystery man in that MLW match. It’s bizarre for a “Robles” guy to get an “AAA” gimmick, those two groups are the opposition in Mexico, but MLW and AAA themselves get along.

Former CMLL building Arena Coliseo Acapulco is scheduled to reopen for a show on Saturday. The show has sporadically had shows the last few years, though it’s also been used as a basketball arena among other events. The promoters say the building has been “comprehensively remodeled”, apparently with the idea of running more.

Furia de Titanes says the IWRG Tryout show will start airing on January 27th Thursday on IWRG’s channel, while promoting their own affiliated wrestlers as participating.

The Crash (FRI) 01/28/2022 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Ryan Kid & Toto vs Próximo & Terror Azteca
2) Sexy Star vs Lady Maravilla, Lady Flammer © [THE CRASH WOMEN]
3) Black Danger, Dinámico, Oráculo vs Destiny, El Dragón (Chihuahua), El Impostor (Chihuahua)
4) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Flip Gordon
5) ACH, Rich Swann, Willie Mack vs Bestia 666, Mecha Wolf, Rey Horus
6) Penta 0M vs El Bandido, Dragón Lee (Indie), Jack Cartwheel

This show had Fenix & Microman advertised, and at least one of those has an obvious reason not to be here. Unclear why Vikingo/Gordon isn’t a title match, though The Crash has never done a singles match for their championship so maybe that’s the reason. I would not know Lady Flammer is the current The Crash women’s champion if I didn’t have a database.

02/11 RIOT

• Latigo, Toxin and Arez vs Iron Kid, Kratoz & Prometo
• Erick Ortiz vs Mr. Iguana in a first-round match
• Jimmy vs King Rex in a first-round match
• Blake Christian vs Aeroboy in a first-round match
• El Mago versus Tromba in a first-round match – new

AAA wrestlers will return to the Mexico City Vive Latino music festival on March 19th & March 20th. This was the last shows AAA wrestlers worked before the 2020 shutdown. That festival seems long enough away that maybe this current wave will have past by then.

Los Brazos were voted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in the latest edition of the newsletter of the same name. Mistico was one vote short. The full Mexico totals, listed by votes

107 Los Brazos
---
 74 Mistico
 57 Los Hermanos Dinamita
 41 Sangre Chicana
 40 Huracan Ramirez 
 36 Dorrell Dixon 
 31 La Parka AAA 
 30 Pirata Morgan 
 28 Octagon

Psycho Clown received less than 10 votes and will be dropped from the ballot, but will also likely be added back to the ballot later in his career. No new Mexico candidates are to be added next year and Mistico has the best chance of getting in.

Segunda Caida watches some 1991 Super Porky.

King Rap won the award for best luchador of Saltillo’s Arena Pavillon del Norte.

the 2021 tapatia awards remain open for your votes

CMLL/COVID

CMLL announced Tuesday night that they would remain on hiatus with no set time of return due to COVID. They had previously canceled all shows through Tuesday, and now they’re out until they’re not. We have no idea when the next CMLL show will be.

This pause seems different than an outbreak. Everyone infected might not yet be better, but they’d be getting closer to the end; going out a week more would fit, going out indefinitely suggests it’s a deeper concern about the overall environment. Mexico is starting to see the same rapid rise in his case seen in the US, though thankfully also so relatively far fewer days. Mexico City still hasn’t enacted new policies, though other places are starting to make changes.

• Arena Lopez Mateos shows scheduled for 01/16 and 01/22 are canceled due to a city ban on public events. I didn’t have lineups for either show yet, though Psycho Clown and Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. had been announced for 01/16.
• The state of Jalisco will begin requiring proof of vaccination or recent negative COVID events to attend events. This now applies to indie lucha libre shows and would apply to CMLL’s Arena Coliseo Guadalajara when they start running again. It’s the first I’ve heard of those requirements for shows in Mexico.
• Zacatecas is pausing all events for two weeks, which canceled a show in Fresnillo.

CMLL’s decision to shut down was their own call, though it’s possible Mexico City may be catching up to them in the next couple of weeks. It’s at least possible the next Big 2 show in Mexico is the 01/30 show in Merida. Ironically, Merida was the scheduled location of AAA’s next show when the pandemic first shut everything down.

Lluvia and Soberano were at a government ambassador’s dinner on Tuesday night. Lluvia was one of the wrestlers missing last week, so good to see she’s doing well. This appears to be part of the video project on lucha libre as Mexican culture, the luchadors were there for photo ops.

CMLL Informa continues on, as it must until the end of time. I would’ve bet the postponement announcement would’ve come on that show, but CMLL Informa is a place only for good news. Mistico, Hechicero, Okumura, and Lluvia will be there to talk about matches they might have one day.

El Sol de Puebla talked to Puebla’s King Jaguar, who just had his first match back in Arena Puebla, and still runs a food stand outside of the building with his family. Their business is down 70% when Arena Puebla is shut down, but they’re staying up on Sundays and Mondays to do what they can do. He believes Arena Puebla will be closed for a month. Gossiping wrestlers aren’t the most reliable source of information but we’re all just guessing.

AAA

AAA will have a show in Dallas, Texas on March 31th as part of WrestleCon’s series of shows. It will be AAA’s first show since the attempt at running MSG in August 2019, which seemed to lead into the FMV/AAA lawsuit. There’s still no public or court statement announcing the end of the AAA/FMV issue, but AAA is proceeding like it’s been settled. I’m told the idea is for it to be an authentic AAA show, though I’m not sure who/if will be there. As always, if Vikingo gets a visa, Vikingo will be booked, but we have no idea if/when Vikingo is getting a visa. Same for most people.

This appears to be the start of AAA’s fourth major push into the US. How they’ve gone so far:

• early 90s: some very memorable matches (When World’s Collide) and some people involved eventually get picked up by major US promotions, ends in a legal dispute with FMV
• 2009: sponsored by a cheese company, shows no one remembers happens, Lucha Libre USA* weirdly came out of this, not sure if there was a legal dispute but AAA is blocked from trying again in the US for five years
• mid/late 2010s: some very memorable matches (Lucha Underground) and some people involved eventually get picked up by major US promotions, ends in a legal dispute with FMV

AAA will probably have some good matches and maybe we should just focus on that part. There’s still no posted update on the existing lawsuit, but everyone’s under the impression it’ll be concluded in some fashion soon to allow this to happen.

This is scheduled to be the first of a series of AAA shows this year. AAA and plans never work together well and I have no dates or locations of when those are going to be happening, and nothing is for real with AAA until it’s print. Still, this is an important show for AAA to get some buzz on a weekend where a promotion or a wrestler can get hot, because they’ve lived in an unseen wilderness for most of the last two years. Thursday early evening is not the most ideal time but I’m not sure there’s a great time for a WrestleMania weekend show: I think Dallas will revert back to the sort of crowded landscape last seen in August with multiple shows going on at once and there is no unobstructed time. This Thursday time in particular means it’s right before MLW’s taping that night, which might mean a busy day for Arez & Aramis among others.

MLW 01/21 in Dallas has El Dragon, Aramis, and a mystery person against Arez, Gino Medina, Mini Abismo Negro Jr.. MLW’s press release makes it clear this time this is a new Mini Abismo Negro, not the old AAA guy. I presume it’s an AAA guy getting re-gimmicked, because it’s hard to believe MLW would care/know enough about Mini Abismo Negro Jr. to give someone that gimmick and only AAA would call the new version of a guy “Jr.”. El Dragon is the Juarez/El Paso wrestler who’s been seen in KAOZ. MLW says they’ll not reveal the mystery person until the day of the show.

A video on the Empresa injuring La Hiedra is going up on AAA’s YouTube channel, so this is an AAA angle going somewhere. Maybe the Merida lineup will change again.

AAA’s shop has a few new designs.

Going back to the * up there: this past week’s AEW podcast reveals Alex Abrhanates – the guy with Pentagon and doing Spanish commentary – was the guy who wrote for Lucha Libre USA. I guess “reveals” is too strong, it’s on IMDB and everything, but my mind was blown at that connection.

Other News

Carxyus has photos of the Lucha Memes show this weekend, the first sign I’ve seen that it actually happened. I wish the excitement for Memes shows among hardcore internet fans was matched by people attending the shows in Mexico.

IWRG is back to announcing unspecific contract signings, say they’ve signed luchadora Sagitarius. This is the same Sagitarius who’d been wrestling in Veracruz.

IWRG (SUN) 01/16/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Kunay & Villarreal vs Carnicero & Garra Mortal Jr.
2) Hell Boy, Legendario, Sol vs Black Dragón, Cerebro Negro Jr., Rey Halcón
3) Big Boy & Big Mike vs Aster Boy & Noisy Boy and Puma de Oro & Tonalli
4) Freelance, Hijo del Alebrije, Toxin vs Cerebro Negro, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Karaoui
5) Alpha Wolf & Dragón Bane vs Súpernova & Texano Jr. and Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura

No Banks this week, at least not on the poster. Las Shotas are listed as back.

Vanguardia (SUN) 01/30/2022 Cancha del Deportivo 11 de Julip, Pachuca, Hidalgo
1) El Sable vs Devitt Rodríguez, Dragón Boy, Rayito Mexicano
2) Gasparín vs ?
3) Falcón Fire vs Tromba
4) Colmillo Blanco, Jitsu, Rey Dragón, Santy Hernández vs Black Terry, Sadico (Estado de México), Símbolo Azteca, Terry 2000
5) Jimmy © vs Brazo De Oro Jr. [VANGUARDIA EXTRAORDINARIO]
6) Crazy King vs Ricky Marvin
7) Damián 666 & El Mago vs Cíclope & Lobo Blanco [explosions]
8) Miedo Extremo vs Último Guerrero

Tough to explode the ring in the semi-main but I suppose Ultimo Guerrero has to be in the main event. Guerrero still being advertised for a 01/30 show seems like a good sign at this point, though it certainly can change by the time we get there.

Warrior Wrestling on 01/22 has Gringo Loco vs ASF vs Aramis vs Drago Kid vs Sam Adonis for the Warrior Wrestling Lucha Libre championship.

PWG’s BOLA night one (01/28) includes

• Aramis vs Rey Hours
• JD Drake vs Black Taurus
• Bandido vs Speedball Mike Bailey

The final three rounds will take place on the 01/29 show, which takes place Sunday.

GCW in Dallas on 02/05 has Gringo Loco versus Psycho Clown.

Lucha Va Voom appears to be returning in Los Angeles on February 11 & 12. Extreme Tiger mentioned it on his social media about a week ago. The promotion still hasn’t announced itself through social media but tickets are on sale.

Marco Corleone is listed on the 02/11 Robles show in Laredo. It’d be his first match in three years. Those Robles shows must pay well.

02/11 RIOT

• Latigo, Toxin and Arez vs Iron Kid, Kratoz & Prometo
• Erick Ortiz vs Mr. Iguana in a first round match
• Jimmy vs King Rex in a first round match
• Blake Christian vs Aeroboy in a first round match

X-LAW, a promotion that has not meaningful existed since 2010, announced it’ll run a 21st Anniversary show on March 5th in location to be revealed. LA Park, Juventud Guerrera, and Crazy Boy are announced; Guerrera hasn’t appeared in Mexico since his AEW one off appearance and it’s nice to know he’s OK, but I’m not sure what else to do with this. The press release teases a LA Park versus Super Parka match based off a long forgotten angle, which probably will do fine but reminded me how much Super Parka was struggling through matches when he was last in CMLL five years ago. Anyone announcing “we’re back!” during a pandemic and when shows aren’t drawing well is deeply confusing.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.