CMLL
CMLL (FRI) 02/11/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del Ring, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Angelito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Minos 
10:13
2) Dalys, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer b La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi
16:10
3) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Dulce Gardenia, El Audaz, Esfinge 
15:13
4) Volador Jr. © b Fugaz [NWA WELTER]
14:22 (one fall.) 9th defense
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible
15:31. Rudos took 1/3. Mephisto pinned Angel de Oro to set up a MEX LH title match.
Fugaz got in a couple of high spots and got in a few near falls to look competitive, though there was no moment where it seemed like he was going to win. It wasn’t a breakup performance but it helped him a little, and it was good by the standards of 2022. It was the only match worth checking out when it turns up on YouTube otherwise; just another sleeper 2020s show otherwise. We probably need a name for this era, because the sleepiness goes back before the pandemic and shows no sign of getting better.
Mephisto/Angel de Oro is a logical match but a thoroughly boring one, both guys who do very patterned matches and show little creativity. Angel de Oro and Niebla Roja are booed by any hardcores who still attend – it made this main event strange, with the Infernales working as the rudos even though they were clearly the more liked team. The idea must be that there’s a quiet fanbase who’s really into them, and next week would be a good week for them to show up.
CMLL (SAT) 02/12/2022 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring]
1) Mercurio, Pequeño Pólvora, Pequeño Violencia b Acero, Aéreo, Pequeño Magía
Magia was hurt late in the match
2) Disturbio, Grako, Inquisidor b Eléctrico, Leono, Retro
3) Diamond, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. b Dark Magic, Nitro, Okumura
4) Virus b Dulce Gardenia
money thrown in
5) Místico & Templario b Atlantis Jr. & Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
Tecnicos took 2/3. Templario beat UG this time.
No set up for another match, though that may not mean anything given how that Templario/UG feud has gone on.
CMLL (SUN) 02/13/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring]
1) Full Metal, Mercurio, Minos b Kaligua, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito
Merucrio challenged Shockercito to a CMLL MINI title match
2) Eléctrico, Robin, Sangre Imperial b Inquisidor, Nitro, Raider
tecnicos took 2/3
3) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Lluvia b Amapola, Dark Silueta, Tiffany
Tecnicas took 1/3
4) Ángel de Oro, Dulce Gardenia, Niebla Roja b El Felino Jr., Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
Tecnicos took 1/3
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Último Guerrero b Cavernario, Místico, Star Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Guerrero took 1/3.
Atlantis did an interview last week saying he had no interest in going back to rudo. This post-match included a tease of Atlantis going back rudo to team with his son and Ultimo Guerrero. It’s probably just a one-day thing.
Shockercito defended the minis title in Puebla back in November and hasn’t had a defense here since 2019. That title hasn’t changed hands in the rings since 2014. Shockercito won the vacant title in 2017 after Astral moved up to the main division, and Astral held it similarly a long time.
Nothing notable on Puebla tonight. The only news is Star Jr. subbing in for Titan at the last second.
CMLL (TUE) 02/15/2022 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Pequeño Magía vs Angelito & Kaligua
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Marcela vs La Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer, Tiffany
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring
4) El Hijo del Villano III, Niebla Roja, Terrible vs Gemelo Diablo, Rey Bucanero, Sagrado
5) Atlantis Jr., Cavernario, Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Hechicero, Templario
Still down to just one Twil Devil, still weirdly keeping it a secret which one. CMLL’s given up listing mixed teams or keeping track of who’s a rudo or a tecnico. Should make next Friday’s tournament great.
Shocker announcing he was leaving CMLL and joining Robles Promotions and Shocker’s food truck being no longer allowed to hang out near Arena Mexico seems to have happened around the same time. I suspect it was the food truck issue that led to Shocker announcing he was going elsewhere, but I’m not totally certain. Anyway, the vacant food truck spot has gone to Mistico’s new burger truck. It should be named Burgeristico but it’s actually Burgueri Luchas.
AAA
FITE officially listed Rey de Reyes as a PPV. It’s a $20 show starting at 8 pm CT, so it looks like they’re airing the full card this time around. It is available everywhere and it includes VOD. The lineup is unchanged – Fenix is still listed in the semi-main. I suggest being skeptical Fenix is actually appearing until AAA or Fenix himself makes a point of saying he’s good to go, it’s just the same poster they’ve used since the card was announced at this point.
As with TripleMania, one purchase appears to give you both the English and Spanish announcing feeds.
Saturday’s an unusually busy day for major North American wrestling promotions. All times CT
- 11 AM: WWE Elimination Chamber ($5 or $10/month)
- early start time due to being a Saudi Arabias show
- 7 PM: Impact No Surrender ($8/month)
- a B-show for Impact
- 7 PM: GCW Believe Me ($12/single show)
- Joey Janela vs Mascara Dorada
- 8 PM: Rey de Reyes ($20/single show)
Typically everyone in the US avoids WWE weekends but it’s a Saudi show (so odd start time and typically much less interest than usual), WWE has decided to run Saturdays frequently in 2022 (causing more conflicts), and WWE didn’t announce this one as early as normal. AAA won’t get the spotlight but they should still have a good show.
I throw the prices not to be critical about the amount – they’re all low enough that people are going buy the shows more based on what they want to see – but just about how all over the map they are. There is no one price point strategy everyone’s doing in 2022.
AAA notes that the Space airing of Rey de Reyes will be through Latin America. 2021 AAA shows were Mexico only due to the FMV lawsuit, which certainly appears to be settled even if the court records don’t indicate as such. I wish they would simply so I didn’t have to keep tying that disclaimer every time.
AAA was back on TV Azteca this week, so whatever happened with last week’s show not airing was a random quirk. It’s still a terrible time slot.
Villano IV knows the criticisms against him in the TripleMania Ruleta de la Muerte are that he’s old and he can barely move, but told Record he still has the skills to beat LA Park.
El Sol de Tulancingo has a brief interview with Crazy Boy, happy to reunite the Mexican Powers in AAA. Crazy Boy was scheduled to wrestle for X-LAW on the same day and will be replaced by X-Fly. (In a remarkable coincidence, Hijo del Mosco has also been added to the Ricky Marvin vs Zumbi match.)
Other
IWRG (SUN) 02/13/2022 Arena Naucalpan [Cronistas del Ring, Estrellas del Ring, IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Kenji b Águila Oriental Jr. 
Aguila Oriental Jr. replaced Baby Star
2) Limbo & Rey Halcón b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly
Noisy Boy replaced Sol. Money thrown in.
3) Sagitarius b Artemiz, Jessy Jackson
Match scheduled as Quetzal & Jackson vs Baronessa & Satania
4) Cerebro Negro, Cerebro Negro Jr., Fulgor b Apolo Estrada Jr., Billy Jones, Chris Stone Jr.
Fulgor replaced Dick Angelo 3G
5) Hijo del Fishman, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Tonalli b Aster Boy, Relámpago, Toxin
Hijo del Pirata Morgan replaced Toxin, who moved to the other side to replace Alebrije (injury but did appear)
6) Accion Jackson & Travis Banks b Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura
The IWRG (Red Cross benefit show) was announced on week earlier than usual, which might be why there was subs in five of the six matches.
It was noticeably a quiet week for indie lucha libre shows. It feels like a lot of lucha libre promotions took the weekend off, likely because the COVID cases were rising when they would’ve started planning on running. A couple of shows were advertised late and there are a few more shows running next weekend.
Coolt has a long article on the plight of retired luchadors. They focus on the plight of Babe Richard, who came from a relatively well-off family and didn’t need wrestling to support him, but has worked to take care of those who didn’t have much once they were out of lucha libre. He had a plan for an old wrestler’s home but couldn’t get support. A group of older wrestlers did raise enough money to buy some land, but not enough to build anything out of it, and then the old wrestlers started dying off themselves. They ended up selling off the land for money to buy three funeral services for wrestlers in the group. Sangre Fria and El Impala used the first two in 2020, and the third remains to wait.
Septimo Dragon, who had not wrestled since a nearly fatal December 2020 motorcycle accident, won in his return match on Saturday. He’s talking about wrestling more often in the upcoming months.
Impact announced Ace Austin vs Black Christian vs Laredo Kid for Thursday’s Impact broadcast. This is the final show of this set of tapings; Impact has a PPV on Saturday (with Taurus versus JONAH) and then tapings on Sunday.
Mini Abismo Negro & Puma King have been announced for the 02/26 MLW show in Charlotte.
House of Glory announced the Lucha Brothers versus Briscoe Brothers for their 03/11 show in New York. It’s billed as a first-time match and definitely is so as a 2v2. The two brother teams met with LA Park & Rush as their trio partners back in a 2018 CMLL match.
X-LAW announced California wrestler Ju Dizz will appear on shows on March 19th and 20th. X-LAW had not announced shows for March 19th and the 20th when they made that talent announcement, though the 19th now has a name if not a location. I had not heard of Ju Dizz prior to him being announced for these shows. X-LAW’s 03/06 poster now includes a Mas Lucha logo so I presume the show will turn up on that YouTube channel at some point.
Lucha Libre Vanguarida and Lucha Madre will have a show on 02/27 in Arena 11 de Julio.
Monterrey’s KAOZ promotion, quiet since August, says they’ll return in March.
80s/90s Chiapas luchador La Garra (Rafael Miranda Farias) passed away on Friday.
Box y Lucha 3501 includes Super Muneco’s open casket on the cover. This is usually a digital-only week, Muneco’s death caused them to do a print edition.
LuchaWorld has an obituary for Arturo Rivera.
Segunda Caida reviews some 1988 Panamanain lucha libre.
A profile of Sonora’s Nova.