Month: February 2022

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.

Arturo Rivera

Arturo “Rudo” Rivera (67) passed away Wednesday night. Arturo Rivera had been ill for a while – a notice asking for blood donations went viral last week – but the exact specifics of his illness had been kept private. Wrestlers memorializing his death hinted it being COVID-19, though far from definitive (and doesn’t seem to explain the need for blood donations.) Arturo Rivera Jr. didn’t mention what happened, but talked about his father being taken to the hospital by ambulance, then showing signs of recovery the last few days before it turned much worse.

Arturo Rivera was famous for being the first and most well-known heel announcer in Mexican wrestling. There are others who’ve done the heel bit since, but no one as well known and well-identified with it. Rivera had an unplanned entry into wrestling. Televisa treated their coverage of (then) EMLL wrestling as just another sport and would pull in announcers from other sports the network covered when they needed a fill-in. Rivera, who mostly worked on soccer, and his long-time partner Dr. Alfonso Morales were two such people who ended sticking in lucha libre. Morales grew popular because deeply studied lucha liber to catch up. Rivera also learned, but it was his big personality and idiosyncratic sayings that caught on. Antonio Pena selected Rivera to call AAA’s matches when the promotion started and encouraged him to take more of a Jessy Ventura rooting for the heels personality. The idea hadn’t been done in Mexico prior, but it worked for AAA & Rivera, and he became a signature part of AAA through its 26 year run on Televisa.

Arturo Rivera remained technically a Televisa employee though he was only covering AAA after the promotion got started. He also worked as a commentator for morning TV shows (talking politics as much of sports), had a popular radio show, and wrote columns for the lucha libre magazines at times. AAA left Televisa in 2019 to go to TV Azteca, and Rivera stayed behind with Televisa. Rivera’s performance had diminished greatly by the final few Televisa years, seeming disinterested in the wrestling and more prone to digress into other topics. He also battled alcoholism and talked later in life about friends convincing him to go to rehab. Azteca supplied their own announce crew for the AAA show after the move, and AAA went with other people for their own in-house broadcast on Space. Televisa used Rivera as a personality on other TV shows for a year before letting him go in a wave of cuts, after 37 years total with the TV company. AAA brought Arturo Rivera back as a guest host on their Lucha Capital Facebook series and other content but seemed to quietly part ways again. Rivera had done interviews talking about his life over the last month and seemed upset about how his time with AAA ended, accusing them of blocking him for working with AAA wrestlers. He seemed like a guy who believed he would be with Televisa and AAA for his entire life and was bitter it wasn’t the case. Rivera ended up with many other ex-AAA wrestlers in Robles Promotions over the last year, working in a sort of master of ceremony role. He remained well-known, though the same issues seen in his last few AAA years were visible there as well.

A journalist who becomes more of a wrestling character could engender disdain from his fellow (or former) media friends, but Arturo Rivera seemed very well liked by other journalists. There were nearly as many media people talking about how much they liked Rivera as wrestlers.

One of Arturo Rivera’s most famous sayings was “Arriba los rudos, los rudos, los rudos y el Atlante”, the latter in tribute to his favorite soccer team. Atlante paid tribute to him on Twitter. Rivera noted in one of those interviews that he actually got the idea for the saying from an Arena Coliseo fan, who turned out to be the father of a famous bullfighter.

Another of Arturo Rivera’s bits was yelling “It’s not going to happen like it did in (the town of) Caborca”, while never explaining what terrible thing happened in Caborca. Knowing Rivera’s style, it was probably just a phrase he made up with no meaning, but one news article went over the many guesses at what Rivera was referncing.

Infobae relates a story about Arturo Rivera confronting then Mexico City Lucha Libre commission head Luis Spota in 1985 to interview/interrogate him about why lucha libre wasn’t permitted on TV locally. The version of the story told by Rivera is Spota said they were worried children would begin to emulate the luchadors, which Rivera counted by pointing out none of the children who watched Superman were trying to fly. (The “kids might try to do wrestling moves” concern was used when lucha libre was originally banned from Mexico City TV in 1950s.) Spota died soon after and the article tries to imply this discussion and Spota’s passing led to the policy changing with the next leadership, though in reality there was still a few years before lucha libre would be back on TV.

Marisela Pena announced Arturo Rivera would be added to AAA’s Hall of Fame.

ESTO points out Arturo Rivera called the 1997 Royal Rumble as part of AAA/WWF partnership at the time.

Mas Lucha did a special late night show on Wednesday talking about both Super Muneco and Arturo Rivera.

CMLL choose not to acknowledge Arturo Rivera’s passing, something that was noted on social media. CMLL nowadays gets few responses on Twitter in general so the negative ones stick out more, and there were people who were angrily asking CMLL to say something. Arturo Rivera worked on EMLL shows as a Televisa employee from about 1983 to 1992, then returned in 2006-2007 when Televisa reunited him and Dr. Morales as hosts as a ratings stunt, one CMLL wasn’t thrilled with. Rivera was critical of CMLL and may have tried to recruit people to AAA upon its founding, something CMLL always has held against people from that era. (It’s why Octagon returning to CMLL was so unexpected; suing AAA certainly helped absolve him.) Rivera wasn’t a perfect soul, there’s gossip about negative choices he made that I don’t have the proof or the inclination to write about upon his passing, but it’s enough to say others might feel the same disdain towards him as the people in charge of CMLL. The difference is CMLL is a public-facing entertainment company, and almost all of those would normally would put out a memorial statement even through gritted teeth for a famous person they didn’t like, if only to avoid the negative reaction for doing so. It’s a reaction people take for granted in a culture where protecting the brand matters more than anything else. For better or worse, CMLL is different, and negative fan reaction to a decision is a very low, perhaps non-existent concern.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 02/11/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Minos
2) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi vs Dalys, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
3) Dulce Gardenia, El Audaz, Esfinge vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
4) Volador Jr. © vs Fugaz [NWA WELTER]
9th defense
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible

This is a TicketMaster Live show for 99 pesos. Fugaz gets a really big chance and has had inconsistent results. I’m not sure if CMLL has enough attention to even make a new big star at this point, but this would be the match to do it if they could. CMLL again is calling this “Historic Welterweight” without mentioning the NWA, but the media hasn’t picked up on it. Fugaz didn’t seem to know last week.

The main event is Infernales versus Ingobernables, a big match on paper that doesn’t feel like one. The new Ingobernables barely team, are inconsistently aligned, and haven’t been accepted in that identity. The Reyna Isis & Vaquerita feud may move to Friday or might be ignored.

Minos makes his return. There’s a minis match just about every show right now. Minis generally get the worst pay on the CMLL roster, so frequent minis matches may be a way for CMLL to run less expensive shows while still booking the same number of bodies. In CMLL’s defense (kinda), this could also be the result of not enough people passing COVID tests to put on more main division matches.

CMLL (SAT) 02/12/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero, Aéreo, Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio, Pequeño Pólvora, Pequeño Violencia
2) Eléctrico, Leono, Retro vs Disturbio, Grako, Inquisidor
3) Diamond, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. vs Dark Magic, Nitro, Okumura
4) Dulce Gardenia vs Virus
5) Místico & Templario vs Atlantis Jr. & Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

Templario & Ultimo Guerrero keeps going. CMLL Informa had no highlights of Templario/UG, so it may have not been taped.

CMLL (SUN) 02/13/2022 Arena México
1) Kaligua, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal, Mercurio, Minos
2) Eléctrico, Robin, Sangre Imperial vs Inquisidor, Nitro, Raider
3) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Lluvia vs Amapola, Dark Silueta, Tiffany
4) Ángel de Oro, Dulce Gardenia, Niebla Roja vs El Felino Jr., Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
5) Cavernario, Místico, Star Jr. vs Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

Star Jr., La Guerrera, La Magnific and Dark Silueta pop up as names who haven’t been around here for a while. angel de Oro & Niebla Roja back to being a tecnico.

CMLL (MON) 02/14/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Espíritu Maligno & Siky Ozama vs El Malayo & King Jaguar
2) Pegasso & Sangre Imperial vs Enfermero Jr. & Grako
3) Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Rugido
4) El Audaz, Fugaz, Stigma vs Felino, Hijo del Villano III, Luciferno
5) Místico, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Cavernario, Templario

Panterita Jr. & Rugido is weird enough to be interesting. Averno returns after being missing for a month; maybe CMLL is reaching on the other side of this.

CMLL (TUE) 02/15/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Cosmos, Micro, Último Ángel vs Destello, Ponzoña Jr., Relámpago Azul
2) Náutica vs Valkiria
3) El Divino, Luminoso, Mágico vs Gran Kenut, Javier Cruz Jr., Quka
4) Crixus, Flash, Gallo vs Joker, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr.
5) Principe Daniel vs Zandokan Jr.
6) Exterminador & Maléfico vs Bestia Negra & Difunto [super libre]

Like I mentioned Wednesday, the main event feels like it’s going to a hair vs mask match. It’s also tough to imagine doing one with crowds low due to current pandemic situation. Mexico seems like they’ve just reached the other side of the most recent COVID-19 wave, and it may take a while for more people to feel comfortable attending shows again.

Mascara Dorada made a surprise (remote) appearance on CMLL Informa Wednesday, announcing his imminent return to the promotion. Dorada said he was waiting on some paperwork to be finished for a specific date; perhaps that’s a work visa. The show heavily teased Templario as his first opponent. Templario or Euforia would be the best possible opponents for a Mascara Dorada return match.

Julio Cesar Rivera was back on the Informa show after being off for the last two weeks. He was previously said to be on vacation. CMLL’s been shady about talent missing shows due to COVID, so it’s hard to believe someone who is on TV every week being gone for two weeks in the middle of February on a vacation. A column in this week’s Box y Lucha #3500 mentions JCR is officially part of the CMLL booking committee; he’s been contributing ideas in the past and the column credits the renewed focus on trios (like the Gemelos/Sagrado Los Malditos team) to his influence. Mascara Dorada could’ve made the same announcement last week and it’s unlikely a coincidence CMLL held it off until Julio Cesar Rivera to present it.

A different column in the same edition of Box y Lucha says the CMLL wrestlers were backed out of shows in late January/early February (Ultimo Guerrero with Vanguardia, Mistico & Mephisto with Legend) were told they would be suspended for a month if they worked those shows over COVID-19 concerns. Box y Lucha typically doesn’t have many scoops, with this one turning up mostly because the author was upset about those late changes.

Reyna Isis mentioned she’s working through a right shoulder injury, pushing the idea she needs it 100% because of the seriousness of her feud with Vaquerita.

Atlantis’ induction into the Jalisco sports hall of fame will take place on February 25th.

Stuka Jr. made the case that Atlantis Jr. could actually could possibly lose his mask (and he could be the one to win it) because an unmasked Atlantis Jr. could then go to the WWE and have a good career there. This is a good crazy Stuka bit. The problem is there’s a growing discrepancy in how Atlantis Jr. is viewed in Mexico (one of the brightest young stars in wrestling) and how Atlantis Jr. is viewed in the US (not at all.)

Volador would like an Anniversario hair versus hair match.

Japan’s ambassador visited Arena Mexico as part of a photo opportunity.

AAA

Not much. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentions Konnan is questionable for Rey de Reyes due to ongoing health problems, which will eventually require another kidney replacement.

The WON also mentions the Showcenter Monterrey shows will air on Multimedios, which I should’ve pieced together since Multimedios was part of the presentation on Tuesday. Multimedios is on some cable systems in the US and has an internet stream. I should be able to record/stream it if AAA doesn’t. Let’s hope AAA does anyway.

Saturday’s AAA show on Space should be another collection of matches from late 2021 as a “the road to Rey de Reyes” episode.

Rey de Reyes is not listed on FITE as of yet. Impact, who is running the same day, has had their show listed for weeks. This would be concerning for any other promotion and is normal for chronically chaotic AAA. Maybe start to care if it’s still not on sale on Monday, but the worst that’ll happen is I’ll just end up streaming it on Twitch if it’s not offered on by FITE for whatever reason. It’ll be a problem for AAA but at some point it becomes hard to care about promotions causing problems for themselves. (Your next question might be “is there any update on the lawsuit and could this be related to that?” and there is no update on the lawsuit.)

Black Taurus will face (and likely lose to) JONAH on Impact’s No Surrender PPV on 02/19. That’s the same day as Rey de Reyes and why he’s not on the AAA show.

AAA posted a video of Puma King berating some unseen person off-screen. This was a bit started a few weeks ago and hadn’t been followed up lately; maybe it was supposed to play out over in Merida. El Consejo has had unnamed (and unexplained) masked minions helping them in their matches, which usually seemed like either prelim wrestlers or other people just who happened to be around that week. It was often incredibly lame for unexplained people to be doing top rope moves during matches on the tecnicos, but AAA didn’t seem too bothered. This angle might be getting someone permanently in the role and gave them an identity, which would be a slight improvement.

Other News

Both LuchaWorld and SuperLuchas have good obituaries for Super Muneco. Both note it was not-yet-Super Muneco’s high school girlfriend who found out he was a luchador and suggested the idea of a clown luchador based on popular clowns Cepillin and Chuchin.

Ricky Boy mentioned he was the one who took Super Muneco to the hospital and says Muneco died of a lung issue. It’s believed to be COVID-19 but wrestlers generally are reluctant to say so.

Aguila Dorada (Juan Alcazar, 86) passed away Wednesday. He was a luchador in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, where his biggest moment in history was founding the old wrestler’s union with Adolfo Bonales and later founding a retired wrestler’s group with Pompin and Caballero Tiger. He also founded two different soccer teams.

Aguila Dorada’s death got a lot more media coverage than usual for someone who hasn’t been active in wrestling for 40 years; it came off as sites got (perhaps unexpectedly) high traffic for Super Muneco and Arturo Rivera stories and gave more attention to the next lucha libre death as a result. It’d be nice if that translated to coverage of lucha libre outside of deaths.

San Luis Potosi luchador Steel Fox (Octavio Hernandez Gonzalez) passed away on Thursday. His brothers Galaxia 79, Dimension 2000 and Cirujano were also wrestlers, with Cirujano passing away last year.

Penta teased “the return of Penta Oscura” on AEW this Wednesday. This appears a take on his Lucha Underground Pentagon Dark version without getting in trouble for the name; Oscura is close enough to Dark. Here is an incomplete list of names this man has used playing largely the same character

• Pentagón Jr.
• Pentagón Dark
• Penta El Zero M
• Penta el 0M
• Penta 0M
• Penta Zero M
• Pentagon Zero M
• Penta
• Penta Oscuro

The Pentagón Dark character was storyline born out of the idea of Vampiro becoming Penta’s manager. (In real life, it appeared to exist because LU/FMV wanted to make sure they owned part of the wildly popular character.) I would be stunned if Vampiro showed up in AEW and I wouldn’t imagine him being happy there for long if he did show up in AEW.

Pagano challenged Hammerstrone for the MLW title on yesterday’s YouTube show. It looks like Microman’s debut match airs in two weeks.

Lucha Memes (SUN) 03/06/2022 Arena Querétaro
1) Rey Apocalipsis & Toro Bill Jr. vs Alex Guajardo & Lince
2) Corsario Negro Jr. (Estado de México) & Drako (Estado de México) vs Drabek I & Trono
3) Rey Cometa vs Miike
4) Hijo del Solar & Solar I vs Dragón de Oriente I & Dragón de Oriente II
5) Aeroboy vs Kastigador
6) Ricky Marvin vs Vengador
7) Hechicero (CMLL) vs Matt Makowski

I’m still a little concerned CMLL wrestlers will be allowed to wrestle outside dates, but I supposed we won’t know for sure until day of this show. Mike/Cometa might be the match of the night if they’re motivated. This will air on IWTV at a later date.

LuchaWorld has the Lucha Report.

Super Muneco

Super Muñeco (Hebert Palafox, 59) passed away on Wednesday. He’d been said to be in bad health over the last couple of weeks, with one report saying it was due to covid, but the most recent news had him recovering and home from the hospital. It’s not immediately clear what caused his death. Super Muñeco never lost his mask, but his name is listed on his publically accessible Facebook page and was confirmed after his passing.

AAA announced the passing, with CMLL also posting condolences. This is a luchador death that’ll be mentioned in every Mexico news outlet.

Super Muñeco was an iconic luchador for children of the 80s and early 90s. Muñeco came to fame in a promotion known sometimes as Super Libres or AWWA for their championships. The promotion began in the early 80s as an attempt at serious Mexico City competition to EMLL & UWA, but the talent they had (luchadors who either aged out of top positions or prelim guys who never stuck) meant they eventually had to tried a new approach. Luchador clown Super Muñeco became that approach, the charismatic friendly face of a group attempting to appeal more to kids. The lucha libre magazines embraced the character and he quickly rose in popularity. Muñeco had short stints in EMLL and UWA off of his fame, though he was more successful as a traveling independent wrestler, with literally hundreds of mask wins in small towns around Mexico. Super Muñeco would jump to AAA during the 1992 founding year, with his unit (Trio Fantasia, including Super Raton and Super Pinocho) coming with him as a midcard comedy act. Muñeco went to Promo Azteca upon that group’s founding and then later returned to the indies as a recognizable face to put in main events, with or without the rest of his team. Muñeco’s last major promotion work was returning to CMLL a few times as part of Legends shows.

Super Muñeco is an obvious predecessor to Psycho Clown as a charismatic wrestling clown, but also more generally a forerunner to part of AAA’s styles. Muñeco became famous with light comedy matches. There are great parts of 80s lucha libre, but much of it was either serious technical wrestling or angry brawling; comedy entertainment seemed generally limited to exotico-like bits. Muñeco’s character added another color to the pallets, and it’s something AAA made sure to include thru their history. Both La Parkas had a comedy aspect to their character, with the second Parka owing as much to Muñeco as an inspiration as to the original gimmick. Gimmicks like Alebrije and Monsther fit that mold too, and it’s a role Mr. Iguana, Big Mami and Nino Hamburguesa have filled in more recent years. Super Muñeco was never a great technician and got grief from his fellow wrestlers about it when he first broke out, and he was proof that being a great in-ring worker isn’t necessary to be a successful wrestler.

AAA

AAA’s press conference in Monterrey on Tuesday had a couple of big topics.

AAA revealed the first round of its TripleMania Ruleta de la Muerte, the four singles matches in 04/30 at Monterrey’s baseball stadium

• Canek vs Psycho Clown
• LA Park vs Villano IV
• Pentagon Jr. vs Ultimo Dragon
• Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Blue Demon Jr.

Blue Demon Sr. unmasked Rayo De Jalisco Sr. late in both of their careers, so that’s a backstory to that match. Canek/Psycho seems to have caught the most attention from Mexican media. Pentagon/Ultimo Dragon is by far the match with the most interest to casual AAA watchers outside of Mexico and maybe the least important to those in Mexico.

The losers will move to the show in Tijuana. AAA didn’t announce a bracket, didn’t reveal which losers would face each other next. Psycho Clown, Villano IV, Pentagon Jr., and Blue Demon Jr. are the four most likely to move on in the tournament. Penta/Dragon is the least certain outcome because either guy could just win in the next round.

LA Park, being LA Park, teased the idea that he could lose his way to the final, win a mask, and then retire with that big win. That’s probably not happening.

AAA also announced a series of monthly shows in the Monterrey area. They’ll be running at the 6,000 seat Showcenter Complex in San Pedro Garza García, with the first show on March 12th. AAA will skip the April show since they’re running TripleMania Regia and then hold shows monthly in the building until the end of the year, nine shows of the year. The focus of the shows will be a Showcenter Championship tournament, with men’s and women’s competitions. AAA’s held similar things with the Lucha Fighter and Lucha Capital tournaments in recent years. This tournament will be singles matches but the format and size are otherwise unknown; the ticket site promises a “unique” format. Laredo Kid & LA Park were announced as part of the tournament, and Dorian Roldan said wrestlers from Europe, Japan, and the US would be involved without mentioning names. There was no mention if/how this show would air; my hunch is this isn’t part of the usual Space TV tapings.

Nine shows in the same venue over ten months is a lot to ask, and will probably affect all the local promotions. KAOZ has relied on AAA names in the past, and that’s going to be harder if there are proper AAA shows each month. That’s an indoor building but they don’t appear to be worried about capacity limits. I’m a little surprised AAA didn’t come out with more of a lineup since the show is not that far away. AAA running singles tournaments over multiple months sounds like a recipe for some nonsense, but they did pull off the Lucha Capital tournament in a logical fashion.

Tickets are on sale for both 03/12 Showcenter and 04/30 TripleMania Monterrey events. The front row for TripleMania is 3000 pesos (146 US), or about twice as much as the show just in December. The cheapest ticket has gone up from 200 pesos to 250 pesos. AAA didn’t sell out last time around but obviously, they think there’s more money to be had with these legend matches. I’m not particularly enthusiastic about them, but it’s a good bet the Mexican fans will have an emotional investment in seeing those names in big matches maybe for the last time.

AAA held a second press conference on Wednesday to announce their March 5th taping in Tampico. That one has a full lineup

AAA TV (SAT) 03/05/2022 Domo Madero, Tampico, Tamaulipas
1) Drago Kid, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa vs Argenis, Dinámico (Baja California), Parka Negra
2) Dulce Canela, Komander, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Crazy Boy, Joe Lider, Xtreme Tiger and Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba
3) Rey Escorpión, Taurus, Villano III Jr. © vs DMT Azul, Puma King, Sam Adonis [AAA TRIOS]
4) Aramis, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. vs Flamita, Látigo, Toxin
5) Bandido & Jack Cartwheel vs Hijo Del Vikingo & Laredo Kid and Abismo Negro Jr. & Gringo Loco (Indie)
6) Chessman, Pagano, Psycho Clown vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón

Lots of unexpected things going on here. Jack Cartwheel, Gringo Loco, and Dinamico make their AAA TV debuts. Crazy Boy, Joe Lider, and Xtreme Tiger all make their returns to AAA, and Bandido & Flamita are in as well. AAA has a lot of people they’re using at the moment. It may all fit together once the schedule picks up but right now it looks like they’re (back to) stuffing people on the show for purposes others than putting on a good show. The fourth and fifth matches should be great and there are others with a chance.

Los Mercenarios were scheduled to defend those trios titles on the canceled Merida show against NGD & Poder del Norte; perhaps they’ll get their shot later. Vipers are oddly split among two matches, though that’s about normal for AAA keeping groups together.

I wonder if the Mexican Powers were going to be a surprise for Rey de Reyes that may have been revealed a little early.

This is a Saturday show but an 8 pm start time, so it’s unlikely to air live on Space unless AAA airs much later than usual. The poster has no logo for any TV network, which has been the pattern this year. We continue to not know if AAA will stream these non-big shows tapings live on social media and may not know until this show.

Killer Kross said he was told he would become AAA Mega Champion during his originally 2017 run. Post Wrestling transcribed the comments from an autograph signing with Signed By Superstars. It sounds like Vampiro, then in charge of creative in AAA, told Kross he was going to win the title and then later told (maybe also by Vamprio) that other people in management were not on board with the idea. Kross’s onscreen role was Johnny Mundo’s bodyguard and AAA had a storyline where Mundo tasked Kross with gaining control of a Money In The Bank-like title shot briefcase so no one else could challenge Mundo, only for Kross to tease he might cash it himself. The angle, like so many others in that period and AAA in general, was dropped with no attempt to close it off. (It also wasn’t a great business loss; the Mexican fans didn’t seem to care about issues between Kross & Mundo.)

There’s no one who was a part of more half-finished concepts in AAA than Killer Kross in his time in AAA. Kross is inevitably returning to AAA some time in the next few months, and we can only hope AAA will only start an idea with him if they have a plan for it.

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 02/08/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas de Ring, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha]
1) Fantasy & Pequeño Pólvora b Full Metal & Pequeño Violencia [Relevos Increíbles] 
Full Metal debut
2) Akuma, Disturbio, Espanto Jr. b Sangre Imperial, Stigma, Suicida 
Rudos took 1/3
3) La Vaquerita DQ Reyna Isis  
Vaquerita took 1/3, won when Reyna Isis got DQed for excessive hair pulls. Everyone hated the finish.
4) Atlantis, Dark Panther, Dulce Gardenia b El Audaz, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. 
Team Atlatnis took 1/3
5) Fugaz, Místico, Volador Jr. DQ Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto  
tecnicos took 2/3, the last by DQ when Hechicero unmasked Mistico. Fugaz, scheduled to wrestle Volador on Friday, left the match due to injury in the second fall.

That main event finish reads like they just bailed out of the match when Fugaz got hurt. La Tijera Lucha Libre has video of the injury; Fugaz ran down the ramp to run up the ropes, slipped climbing and got his leg caught. It doesn’t look as bad as other , though it might be something that’d normally put him out for a few days.  Maybe CMLL had plans to tease something with Fugaz & Volador to set up Friday’s planned match, but you’d think five of the most experienced guys on the roster could’ve gotten to a finish on their own. I guess we’ll see if the DQ goes anywhere.

The Isis debut really appeared for too many hairpulls. CMLL DQs in women’s matches are often bad since they can’t do foul finishes and most of them are unmasked, but that one was quite lame. This feud continues to appear like a mask versus hair setup.

CMLL (TUE) 02/08/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara]
1) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Obelisk b Persa, Raven, Temerario
2) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Cris Skin, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
Late in the match, Explosivo tried a top rope moonsault to the floor over the corner and his head hit the post on the way down. He needed medical attention but didn’t appear seriously hurt.
3) Exterminador & Maléfico b Bestia Negra & Difunto
win via mask pull on Besita Negra. Challenged followed.
4) Joker, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel, Zandokan Jr.
Zandokan Jr. and Principe Daniel had issues, costing their team the match. Zandokan got beat up by Daniel and Maya after the match.
5) Flash, Gallo, Star Black b Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga

Exterminador hasn’t been around much during the pandemic. It definitely came off like he and Malefico are being set up for an apuesta loss. Zandokan seems like a promising guy here so it’s notable they’re changing his side.

CMLL Informa has Templario, Fugaz, Reyna Isis and Cancerbero.  Fugaz appearing is a good sign for him wrestling on Friday. Cancerbero has reached 25 years of wrestling this month (about 13 of it under this name), so that’s what he’s there to talk about. Informa would normally include some of teams in the incredible pairs tournament if blocks were starting this week, and this lineup suggests there are no blocks and this is just going to be a one-week tournament this year. That’d be fine.

Other News

The Crash (FRI) 02/18/2022 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Kamik-C & Skalibur vs Lanzer & Terror Azteca
2) Toto vs Próximo
3) Black Danger, Dinámico, Oráculo vs Black Destiny, Emperador Azteca (Indie), Komander
4) Arandú, Star Boy, Zarco vs Súper Astro Jr., Trauma I, Trauma II
5) Rey Horus vs Jack Cartwheel, Demonic Flamita
6) El Hijo Del Santo & Octagón vs Fuerza Guerrera & Hijo del Fishman

Santo & Octagon on this show meant the AAA wrestlers wouldn’t be around this show. It may have also meant a lot of money in the main event not as much for other names, though it’s good to see Komander get a chance here and for Super Astro Jr. to pop up.

X-LAW (SAT) 03/05/2022 Centro Deportivo Roma, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas
1) Atenea vs Kisha
2) Silverman vs Príncipe Zoque, Imperio, Arejan
3) Capitán Furia, Destroyer, Granda Man, Vértigo vs Charly Galan, Dr. Electro, Epidemia, Zoom Driver
4) Dariux & Zuzu Divine vs Aero Panther & Fight Panther [DTU NEXO]
5) Ricky Marvin vs Zumbi
6) ? & Crazy Boy vs Hijo de LA Park & LA Park Jr.
7) LA Park vs Blue Demon Jr., Juventud Guerrera

X-LAW was an innovative indie promotion of the early 2000s. They’ve returned with the same 2000s names, a lot less innovative. The mystery man is teased to be a US person; given everything else here, they must’ve asked Sabu. I presume there’s going to be a way for people not in Tuxtla Guiterrez to see this.

DTU will have a three-day training camp in Tulancingo from March 11 to March 13.

Martinez Entertainment has announced Pimpinela Escarlata, Shocker, Hijo de Fishman, Ultimo Dragon, Matematico, Rayo de Jalisco Jr., and Hijo del Santo for their 04/01 (WM Weekend) show. I think people are rightfully hoping Santo turns up on other indie shows, but he’s expensive and particular about which shows he’ll work – It wouldn’t be a big surprise if he was effectively Martinez exclusive.

04/02 Lucha Maniaks in Arlington, Texas

• Gringo Loco, Juventud Aerea, Decimus vs ASF, Aramis, Lince Dorada
• Aero Boy vs Myron Reed vs Tristen Tahai

This is a Saturday show going up against the first night of WrestleMania.

Guadalajara’s ASPW has put up compilations on IWTV focusing on local wrestlers: Magno, Demencia, and Willy Banderas.

El Diario de Malvinas has a story on Argentina’s Tito Moran Jr. (Franco Benites), who’s part of the IWRG Tryout competition. He’s part of Jessy Ventura’s group.

Televisa interviewed Miss Gaviota as the first transexual wrestler in Mexico. I think that’s true but I’m not sure.

LuchaWorld has the latest Poster-Mania.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 02/04/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Cronistas del Ring, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Suicida DCOR Inquisidor
9:10. Inquisidor took a header out on his own apron headscissors dive about eight minutes in. Sonic was fine but sold outside the ring while doctors checked on Inquisidor and Edgar counted both out.
2) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi b Dalys, La Comandante, Reyna Isis 
21:02. Tecnicas took 1/3. Reyna Isis replaced Tiffany.
3) Gemelo Diablo I, Hijo del Villano III, Sagrado b Dark Panther, Esfinge, Espíritu Negro   
13:15. Rudos took 2/3. Hijo del Villano III replaced a Diablo, never acknowledged which
4) Fugaz, Negro Casas, Niebla Roja b Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]  
20:47. Team Fugaz took 2/3, the last when Fugaz pinned Volador to set up a NWA WELTER title match next week.
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto b Atlantis Jr., Místico, Titán   
20:05. Infernales took 2/3

It looked like an ordinary CMLL show and it turned out to be one. The top two matches were the best; Fugaz had good sections of the semi-main to set up their match, and the main event was the most complete match. It’s nothing you need to spend $4 to watch live, though that seems like the pattern going forward: TicketMaster Live has the 02/11, 02/18, and 02/25 shows each already up for 100 pesos. Next Friday’s show should be the first part of the incredible pairs tournament if CMLL is doing blocks.

Volador worked total rudo in his match. It is probably the best way to get a good match out of Fugaz and it often seems like Volador would prefer being back on the rudo side. Isis and Vaquerita are feuding on Tuesdays but barely interacted on Friday. Inquisidor was clearly booked to win the opener and Sonic appeared concerned he’d get in trouble if he won the match, so he just stayed dizzy on the outside. Inquisidor was back posting on Instagram so he must be doing OK.

CMLL (SAT) 02/05/2022 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Angelito & Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Polvora & Pequeño Violencia
Pequeno Polvora replaced Pequeno Olimpico. Tecnicos took 2/3
2) Robin, Sangre Imperial, Volcano b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
Tecnicos took 2/3
3) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Hombre Bala Jr.
Rudos took 1/3
4) Hechicero, Titán, Volador Jr. b Cavernario, Negro Casas, Sagrado [Relevos Increíbles]
Tecnicos (& Hechicero took 2/3)
5) Templario DQ Último Guerrero
Templario took 2/3. Templario faked a foul to win, which UG appreciated and congratulated Templario for it.

On video, referee Edgar kept moving out of the way of what appeared to be ref bump set up spots, then turned his head for no reason when Templario faked the foul. Templario faking the foul fits the story of the last two weeks so maybe that’s where they were going eventually. Templario and Ultimo Guerrero appeared to be friends after the match, so the breakup tease is just a tease.

CMLL (SUN) 02/06/2022 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Kaligua b Acero & Aéreo
2) Akuma, Espanto Jr., Raider b Enfermero Jr., Grako, Nitro
Raider’s return to CMLL (after a one match run back in 2019). Ola Negra took 1/3.
3) Dark Magic, Disturbio, Magnus b Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Stigma
Rudos took 1/3
4) Atlantis, Esfinge, Panterita del Ring b Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Místico, Niebla Roja, Templario DQ Cavernario, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Originally Místico, Niebla Roja, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr., Cavernario, Último Guerrero, changed with Templario replacing Atlantis Jr. on Thursday afternoon. Tecnicos took 1/3. UG faked a foul in the second, Mistico in the third. The mask/hair challenges followed.

They will continue doing the challenges forever.

Monday’s Arena Puebla show has a Cavernario/Atlantis Jr. main event. We probably won’t know the outcome but it’d be interesting to find out how CMLL books those right now.

CMLL (TUE) 02/08/2022 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Pequeño Pólvora vs Full Metal & Pequeño Violencia [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Sangre Imperial, Stigma, Suicida vs Akuma, Disturbio, Espanto Jr.
3) La Vaquerita vs Reyna Isis
4) Atlantis, Dark Panther, Dulce Gardenia vs El Audaz, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr.
5) Fugaz, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

Fugaz and Volador team three days before they have a title match. Should be a good match at least.

Full Metal is the latest mini to show up, following Pequeno Polvora, Pequeno Magia and Minos this year. The later two have disappeared since the pandemic shut down. Pequeno Olimpico hasn’t appeared this year; he was scheduled for Saturday’s Coliseo show but got replaced by the omnipresent Pequeno Polvora. Pierrothito is also missing from shows though he’s believed to be in the US. Full Metal has worked Mexico City area shows since 2016, including a Mr. Niebla tribute show in 2020. CMLL desperately needs new faces but this, along with the Raider return, feels like CMLL calling in anyone who can fill-in the short term.

CMLL (TUE) 02/08/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Obelisk vs Persa, Raven, Temerario
2) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Crixus, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
3) Exterminador & Maléfico vs Bestia Negra & Difunto
4) Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel, Zandokan vs Joker, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr.
5) Flash, Gallo, Star Black vs Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga

It took a while before CMLL CDMX began sending people after the first restart, so that may be the wait again.

Stuka Jr. apparently had COVID, based on a reply on Twitter. He hasn’t been seen since the Rey del Aire final. CMLL’s not going to announce COVID failures unless forced but that’s one where it would’ve been helpful to explain why the Stuka/Atlantis Jr. stuff was dropped (even if they don’t plan on going anywhere with it.)

Something may be up with Zacarias’ status in CMLL, but I’ll get to it in a different section.

AAA

It’s been really quiet for AAA, but it’ll start to get busy in a couple of weeks. AAA’s upcoming TV taping schedule is now:

• 02/19 Veracruz (Rey de Reyes)
• 03/05 Ciudad Madero
• 03/26 Tijuana – new (EMW local promoter)
• 03/31 Dallas – probably live on PPV, airing on TV at some point

The weeks don’t line up quite right for TV purposes; AAA needs to get three weeks out of Rey de Reyes or add another taping in late February. The Merida promoters talked about that show tentatively being booked in March, there are a couple of open weekends left but nothing’s been officially announced. AAA’s only acknowledged Rey de Reyes show as airing live. The other shows will probably not air live on Space, though Veracruz & Dallas will likely be PPVs on FITE. (Rey de Reyes show is not listed on FITE at the moment, though it’s AAA so we’ve got to give them another week before caring about it.)

For Twitch streaming purposes, I think I’ll resume on 02/26, and then it’ll be every weekend until the first TripleMania. (Streaming Saturday of WrestleMania will be a challenge but I think I’ll be OK; it’ll be more remembering to do it than anything.) This week’s AAA Space was a collection of matches from Heroes Inmortales and the TV taping directly after, and that’s what I expect for next week.

The 03/26 Tijuana date is one of the scheduled make-up days for RIOT’s weekend of shows, which may cause more changes on RIOT’s side. That’ll probably be the biggest AAA show in Tijuana until the second TripleMania show, maybe they’ll set up something for the return.

AAA did not air on Azteca this past Saturday night/Sunday morning; they went straight from boxing to infomercials. The Azteca Twitter usually promotes the show and said nothing, though AAA still did promote it. This is about when the AAA/Azteca deal has renewed in past years, so maybe there’s a bigger story than a random pre-emption, but there’s no other sign of something going on yet. I didn’t see anyone point out the show was missing, though I rarely see feedback about lucha libre TV on Twitter.

Nino Hamburugesa was mentioned in passing as getting hurt at the AAA/EMW show on Saturday but it didn’t sound serious. Vikingo was added as a sub for Chessman and got the win over Abismo Negro Jr. in the trios main event. There was another slight tease of a Rebelion breakup, which follows them doing something similar on The Crash show last week. Maravilla replaced Hiedra in a mixed tag; Hiedra hasn’t wrestled since the injury angle last month.

The in-game Free Fire/AAA co-promotions looks like it’ll begin on the 9th. AAA luchadors (Parka Negra, Argenis, Hijo del Vikingo and Aerostar) appeared on a stream playing the game on Friday night.

Other places

The 38th anniversary of El Santo’s death was Saturday. As he does most years, El Santo visited his father’s statue as part of a press event, an increasingly rare one. Hijo del Santo says he was feeling very good going into his booking for the Crash and other matches in February and March, though he didn’t know who was in The Crash match for sure until he was asked about it. Hijo del Santo is always asked if his son if he going to take up the name, and usually says he’s telling his son to finish university before wrestling. This year, Santo said his son had finished but was still deciding if to come (back) to the ring or work on another career. He pushed the idea of keeping the legacy of El Santo alive via things like his YouTube channel instead. Hijo del Santo played down the rivalry with Blue Demon Jr., saying the ones with Negro Casas & Fuerza Guerrera were more important and he didn’t want to associate with toxic people. He’s referred to Demon as toxic in the past, though the specific reasons aren’t clear.

Longtime CMLL parrot mascot Zacarias worked the Arena Mexico show in a forgettable position – he and Mije accompanied the teams in tercera for no reason other than get them on the card – then showed up at Arena Neza to second Hijo del Mr. Niebla and his knockoff Peste Negra group. That show included DMT Azul, so that’s normally a prohibited event for a CMLL wrestler to work. Zacarias hasn’t wrestled in Arena Mexico since November; he’s worked as a second for random groups of rudos as normal. Zacarias is also listed for a Neza show with the same group on the 02/26, so either he’s got special permission or he may be leaving CMLL. Karis La Momia Jr. is also listed on that show, with a bunch of people who aren’t on good terms with AAA.

Blue Demon won his singles match with DMT Azul on that Neza show, by a disqualification of course. Just as predictably as the DQ were the mask versus mask challenges that followed, which have about 0% chance of happening. That’s a match that needs a TripleMania level building to make it worth doing, AAA already has their TripleMania mask match, CMLL isn’t going to bring those guys back, and no one else can actually do it. It’s the only thing for them to say, the money they’re trying make is taking that feud to other buildings, so they’re just leaving the idea open.

IWRG (SUN) 02/06/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Kenji & X-Devil b Spider Fly & Villarreal
2) Baronessa & Lolita b Jessy Jackson & Sagitarius
3) Bengalee DRAW Satania
4) Big Mike L Black Dragón, Tortuga Leo, Hell Boy [hair]
Big Mike his hair to Hell Boy
5) Alpha Wolf & Travis Banks b Accion Jackson & Dragón Bane
Banks challenged Bane to an immediate title match
6) Travis Banks © b Dragón Bane [IWRG IC MIDDLE]
7) Hijo del Fishman & Tonalli b Noisy Boy & Relámpago and Hijo del Pirata Morgan & Puma de Oro and Aster Boy & Hijo del Alebrije and Black Terry & Legendario and Dick Angelo 3G & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. and Caballero de Plata & Veneno and Galeno del Mal & Limbo [El Protector]
Fishman challenged Alebrije for the IWRG JUNIOR, Tonalli to Aster Boy for the IWRG LIGHT

Banks remains well-liked by IWRG management so the only surprise was doing a title match as a surprise instead of announcing it ahead of time. English speaking people on the internet being upset about Banks being used here does not matter, because there’s only a handful of English speaking people on the internet who care about IWRG to begin with; an IWRG apuesta match goes wrestling bubble viral once every two years and that’s about it. You can’t threaten to withhold support from something you’ve never cared about. Mas Lucha, who does seem to care about its international image, did not mention the title change on their social media accounts.

The fourth match is the too cute swerve IWRG specializes in: neither of the guy who are feuding end up in the apuesta match as a surprise, except they do that so often it’s only a surprise when they actually deliver a good ending.

The IWRG Mas Lucha Premium are typically ignored by the other YouTube channels, but Estrellas del Ring looks like they were doing backstage interviews this time. It’s a weird sensation that the biggest IWRG show seem like the least covered.

GCW results from this weekend

• 02/04 Houston
  • Blake Christian beat ASF, Gringo Loco, Mascara Dorada
• 02/05 Dallas
  • Psycho Clown beat Gringo Loco
  • Blake Christian beat Laredo Kid
  • Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Joey Janela

The Dallas show was the talk of the weekend. Psycho Clown and Gringo Loco had a crazy bloody falls count anywhere brawl that was the best match of both shows. It wasn’t Psycho Clown’s only match of the day: he and Dr. Wagner Jr. got into a fight at the merchandise stands before the show. GCW sent out an apology about it. I wasn’t there and didn’t see the fight, but my guess was Wagner/Psycho was a worked brawl and the question was more about if they filled GCW in before shooting their angle. Psycho showed up to challenge Wagner to a mask versus hair match at the end of the show, so it seems like a GCW angle for their lucha libre show on WrestleMania weekend. There’s little chance the hair versus mask stipulation is going to happen; GCW would need to run a stadium to make the money back it’d cost them, and that’s the sort of challenge that those two guys make on every show they work together. (It may also be the sort of challenge they make on their own to talk the promoter in to booking the match.) Fans in Mexico know it’s a bit that’s probably not going to happen, but GCW fans seemed to take it more seriously. The Houston whole show is said to be really good and you can still watch it on FITE.

Mascara Dorada was said to look rusty and a little heavy in his match, which went about eight minutes. They did get some money thrown in, but that seems like a thing done so often as to mean not much anymore; fans are doing it for the experience of saying they were at a match where money was thrown in. It’s going to be a challenge to get back to where he was.

I went to AAW to see Laredo Kid versus Mat Fitchett. It was good, though I think they could’ve done better with some more time; they never got far enough along where Laredo Kid felt like he was going to win the title. I was expecting a Laredo Fly kickout that never came. I was also sitting in a section of fans who were having a lot of fun and making a lot of noise while also being completely and thoroughly annoying. The match might play better on video without the urge to hit someone next to you because they’ve decided Laredo’s name was either “Nacho Libre” or “una mas.” AAW always draws well with a crowd who just wants to go out to wrestling and have a good time, this was just an unusually unpleasant experience. It happens, it gave me a good excuse to bail early.

The most recent Vanguardia show went up on Mas Lucha on Saturday. The match which got the most attention is the explosion match with Damian 666 & El Mago vs Ciclope & Lobo Blanco. The explosions were loud and bright and didn’t seem to actually hurt all that much, or at least they weren’t sold as hurting that much until they did the everyone knocked out the finish. I liked the Gasparin/Perso match on second; Gasparin looked interesting before he suffered an injury last year. The Tromba/Falcon Fire match was good as well. The announcers were really excited about the Jimmy/Brazo de Oro Jr. match but it didn’t work for me. It felt like they had cut and paste moments from other big matches without earning them in the context of the match they were doing, and without doing them in a way that made much sense. A lot of Vanguardia feels like trying to emulate matches and moments seen elsewhere, which everyone does to some extent, but it got rearranged in unconvincing ways here. It also turned into a bit of bad CMLL big matches style, where each guy takes a turn doing a big spot for a very long time, and none of the moves matter until the finish.

Box y Lucha 3500 has Super Muneco and Euforia on the cover.

CMLL (FRI) 02/04/2022 Arena México
1) Suicida vs Inquisidor
2) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi vs Dalys, La Comandante, Tiffany
3) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Espíritu Negro vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
4) Fugaz, Negro Casas, Niebla Roja vs Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Titán vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

This is a 99 pesos show. I’m not sure why. There’s some sense in just putting every show on Ticketmaster Live or even just every Friday – the overhead can’t be much if the only addition is sending a stream out to Ticketmaster of the show they’re taping already – but CMLL has tried this already multiple times and then given up on it. They’ll probably give up on it again.

Atlantis Jr. being back to a face makes no sense after ending last week as a big rudo feuding with Stuka. It turns out last week’s angle may have been unplanned. I was alerted to watch the video of the match once again, and it appears the match actually derailed in the closing minutes.  Stuka Jr. did his usual suplex one guy (Atlantis Jr.) onto another guy (Gran Guerrero) bit, only they were misaligned just enough for Gran Guerrero to take a shot around the head/throat area. Gran Guerrero signals to referee Olimpico that he’s hurt and doesn’t move much until he’s pinned by Stuka’s torpedo splash moments later. There’s some clandestine communication between Stuka, Olimpico, and Atlantis leading to Atlantis quickly ripping off Stuka’s mask, CMLL normal way of getting out a match when there’s been an injury. Atlantis Jr.’s argument with Olimpico was a well-done job of distracting the fans from Gran Guerrero quickly getting taken away. Guerrero wrestled the next day in Arena Coliseo so he must be OK later, but that likely wasn’t the finish they intended – and the big conclusion I took from it (Stuka/Atlantis are having a mask match) seems very unlikely now. I think this may stick out if/when you watch the match, but I totally didn’t notice it live.

Things go wrong, and promotion can either take advantage of it or ignore it. CMLL has decided to ignore it. So We’ve got this. Hechicero’s return should set up a good main event. Magnus & Rugido suddenly working semi-mains on Friday is a great career achievement for them and a shocking lack of depth at the moment for CMLL.

CMLL (SAT) 02/05/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Angelito & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Robin, Sangre Imperial, Volcano vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Hombre Bala Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
4) Hechicero, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Negro Casas, Sagrado [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Templario vs Último Guerrero

Templario gets his singles match. It’s hard to believe there’s an angle coming on a Saturday show but I guess we’ll find out.

CMLL (SUN) 02/06/2022 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Fantasy & Kaligua
2) Enfermero Jr., Grako, Nitro vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Raider
3) Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Stigma vs Dark Magic, Disturbio, Magnus
4) Atlantis, Esfinge, Panterita del Ring vs Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
5) Místico, Niebla Roja, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr., Cavernario, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Místico, Niebla Roja, Templario vs Cavernario, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

The original main event was on CMLL’s website for about hours before is changed around. CMLL isn’t announcing people out but it’s hard to miss when one half of a tag team is on TV and the other is not. Niebla Roja sure is booked a lot this week.

There’s never been a shortage of 1st/2nd match wrestlers; there’s always been a Principe Odin Jr. or Apocalipsis or Nitro who could come in. Raider is no worse than most of them, but it’s unusual they have a need to bring someone in for that spot. Maybe it’s just a familiar favor to his mom Princesa Sugehit.

CMLL (MON) 02/07/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano & Fénix SO vs Black Tiger & Dark Soul
2) Arkalis & Suicida vs El Perverso & Prayer
3) Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr., Stigma vs El Coyote, Magnus, Rugido
4) Dulce Gardenia, Fugaz, Titán vs Felino Jr., Niebla Roja, Pólvora
5) Atlantis Jr. vs Cavernario

Cavernario might be the tecnico in that feud, who knows.

Monday’s CMLL Twitch upload was surprisingly important: it was the CMLL tag title match, Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Titan & Volador Jr. There’s no atmosphere at all and it’s a match that would’ve been greatly helped by a loud Friday night crowd, but it still came off as Good if you can get past the lack of creativity.

Atlantis, in the usual media interviews, says he’ll support his son no matter if he’s a tecnico or rudo but has zero desire to be a rudo himself.

The lucha libre mural in Arena Mexico will appear on a Mexico lottery card beginning this Sunday. The artist, Miguel Valverde, says that mural changed his life – instead of his work being seen by a few people, thousands see it every week. The unveiling of this ticket was part of the tourism press conference last week, with Salvador Lutteroth and Gala Lutteroth representing CMLL. Both have been seen representing CMLL a lot in the last couple of years. Seeing them together made it sink in how Gala has essentially taken over Sofia Alonso’s previous spot as the young female leader-in-waiting of the promotion. I’m not sure if that’s the actual plan or if it’d work out any better for her, yet it’s definitely the image they’re trying to project for now.

I love this enjoy this interview with Rugido, which believes a large and rabid Rugido fanbase exists currently in this universe and doesn’t question his goal of being more famous than El Santo. Mas Lucha also has a highly complementary column on Rugido as a future breakout star. I hope they’re all correct, CMLL could use some more great stars, but it has not come through to me at all so far.

CMLL and NJPW wrestlers are booked on a show in Tijuana at the end of the month. That’s happened recently in San Diego with the same Baja Stars promotion. It’s weird that a third-party promoter is using both CMLL and NJPW wrestlers but those two groups aren’t using each other’s wrestlers, even on North American shows. But no weirder than the rest of this stuff.

The postponed January 18th CMLL/Tury show in Chiapas is now scheduled for May 1st.

AAA

Space lists as AAA back at its normal start time. The show description originally was “Rumbo A Rey de Reyes I”, meant to be the canceled Merida taping, and later became “Pepsi Center 1”, which are the just aired episodes. I presume it’ll actually be Best of episodes for two weeks and you should likely find other things to do on Saturday night.

AAA’s repeatedly pushed the idea that the 02/19 Rey de Reyes show is “100% confirmed.” I think this comes out of the local promoters holding a follow up press conference the last few days to hype the show and make it clear nothing’s changed. The only news from that press conference was Taya again implied to be the mystery woman on the show, which is only news in that AAA hasn’t gotten around to announcing it themselves. AAA already hinted she’d debut on the 01/30 show, that show got canceled, and that plot point is just unresolved along with the new Mercenario.

A 03/05 taping in Ciudad Madero has tickets on sale, though AAA has not officially announced the date. That seems like the next taping after Rey de Reyes, though Space would have to air it live to have a new TV show that week. Perhaps there’s another show in between.

AAA and mobile game Free Fight are doing a co-promotion on YouTube Friday night. I don’t know what it involves.

Other News

The final episode of MLW Azteca is up on their YouTube channel. This was definitely episode five not because they were building to a big conclusion but because this was the last choice stuff they had left to air. Extreme Tiger & Mecha Wolf try in their singles match, but neither are MLW regulars so it feels disconnected from anything else going on. There’s a typically crazy Vikingo performance in the main event forced into the margins of an angle about MLW regular Alex Kane not wanting to wrestle in the match. Vikingo got over anyway because 2021 Vikingo with any time is going to look impressive, but I don’t think even MLW could believe they made the best use of him. MLW returns to regular MLW Fusion shows starting next week, which usually means one prelim lucha libre match over a three or four week stretch.

The AAW show tonight has Laredo Kid versus Mat Fitchett, which is also a FITE PPV for 15 USD.

GCW this weekend is also on FIT this weekend. Each show is an 12 USD, both are 20.

02/04 Houston

• Mascara Dorada vs Blake Christian vs Gringo Loco vs ASF
• Matt Tremont vs La Sadika

02/05 Dallas

• Psycho Clown vs Gringo Loco
• Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Joey Janela
• Blake Christian vs Laredo Kid

That Houston show is Mascara Dorada’s first match since leaving WWE and there’s going to be a lot of interest in how he does there. Lucha Central writes about Mascara Dorada’s last few years.

Robles held a press conference to talk about their 02/18 Mexico City lineup, which they’d already announced. Highlights included a random tease of El Hijo del Santo versus Blue Demon Jr. (Santo previously said he has no interest in wrestling Demon again so that’s probably not happening), a random shot at the TripleMania mask tournament, and the reunion of twenty-year-old faction Los Guapos with Scorpio Jr. and Shocker coming in. La Mascara led the press conference and still seems to be running the promotion. Erika Canseco, who was the head of CMLL’s edecans, was at the press conference so I presume she’s finished up with CMLL. There were rumors a couple of months ago that CMLL cutting back the number of edecanes they were using also included Canseco being let go, but I hadn’t seen her or anyone else confirm it.

I waited out this Robles press conference in hopes of updates about Arturo Rivera and Fenix. Rivera works as a master of ceremonies in this promotion; they only said he was stable. They actually forgot to talk about the main at the press conference until someone asked about in the Q&A, and even then La Mascara couldn’t remember who was actually in the match. It had been listed as Fénix, Penta 0M, Scott Steiner versus ?, Gran Apolo, La Máscara and it sounded like Dralistico was in Fenix’s spot and Pagano on in the mystery person spot. (I couldn’t tell if Mascara said Scott Steiner’s name or something else, but it wasn’t Fenix.) This Robles show is one day before Rey de Reyes, so Fenix still keeping this booking would’ve been a good sign for him to be back quick. It’s still possible Fenix could work only Rey de Reyes – that’s the one he’s going to pick if he can only work once – but February 17th always seemed like an optimistic timeline. AAA may wait until very late to announce a change but I expect to the Lucha Brothers versus Hermanos Lee match to be announced.

LuchaManiaks announced Laredo Kid versus ACH for WrestleMania weekend. No date announced; I think Laredo is going to be one of the busier people those days.

IWRG (SUN) 02/06/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Kunay & Spider Fly vs Kenji & X-Devil
2) Jessy Jackson & Sagitarius vs Baronessa & Lolita
3) Bengalee vs Satania
4) Alpha Wolf & Dragón Bane vs Accion Jackson & Travis Banks [super libre]
5) Big Mike vs Black Dragón, Tortuga Leo, Hell Boy [hair]
6) Hijo del Fishman & Tonalli vs Noisy Boy & Relámpago and Hijo del Pirata Morgan & Puma de Oro and Aster Boy & Hijo del Alebrije and Black Terry & Legendario and Dick Angelo 3G & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. and Caballero de Plata & Veneno and Galeno del Mal & Limbo [El Protector]

This is as Mas Lucha premium show. El Protector is their Gran Alternativa tournament and had been a normal single elimination deal in past years. This time, it’s going to be an eight-way match where you can only eliminate a team by beating the rookie.

Mas Lucha has started to upload Travis Banks matches individually after not doing so earlier. I’m guessing just no one cares.

Mas Lucha posted a video from Misterioso Sr. and the California/NJPW Misterioso. It’s presented as an interview though the host is there mostly to summarize and re-enforce the points the Misterioso are making. It’s a 50-minute video but you can skip to around 30:30 to get to the meat of it: they’re (again) upset the CMLL Misterioso is using that name and says he has no legal right to do so. The story seems to be he was given permission to use “Misterioso II”, started using Mistieroso Jr., and Misterioso Sr. found that as breaking their deal. The California two are going through again because they’re upset CMLL Misterioso has given his children similar names: Misterioso Negro, Misterioso Blanco, and La Misteriosa, feeling that’s way over the line.

There are a couple of issues. The biggest is those are not actually the names the kids are using. The boys are Misterio Negro & Misterio Blanco. They’ve wrestled on shows under those names, they’re on Facebook under those names, it’s not hard to get that correct, and it’s hard to imagine Misterioso has all the rights to “Misterio” too. Or to female version “La Misteriosa”. The second issue is CMLL Misterioso clearly doesn’t care what the California guys saying – he joked on Facebook about this video giving his family more publicity. This disagreement is about money, which doesn’t up come up at all in the video. This is a situation Misterioso Sr. created by selling his name rights to many people and there are no amount of videos that are going to ever fix it. Maybe he could fix it legally, but that probably would cost much more than it’s worth, so we’ll continue to get these videos every 18 months.

A son of Super Muneco says his father is back home, still isolated because of COVID-19 but said not to be in the hospital. Super Muneco is said to have received three vaccine doses and is on oxygen. The Super Muneco Jr. Facebook account also says Super Muneco is doing fine and they’re not soliciting financial help.

Dragon Lee said he caught COVID. No more details beyond that.

Arturo Rivera is apparently looking for blood donors, which first was reported by Teleformula report and then spread everywhere. It’s one of those stories that got picked up in a ton of places with zero information outside of the original Twitter post. I’m not sure what the situation is beyond the need for blood even a day later. The Robles press conference today mentioned Arturo Rivera is stable, so I guess it’s not too serious.

Diamante is back in Dragon Gate, as part of the new rudo group Z-Brats. I mistakenly had hopes of Diamante turning up someplace interesting while he was in Mexico, but he worked a very low-level show and was gone.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report, including the missing Guadalajara results.

Hola.

These are the results for 2021 Tapatia Awards, honoring the best in lucha libre. Thanks to everyone who voted, and thanks to those who didn’t for still reading this. We had 61 ballots this year, once I took out the person who seemed to vote twice. This was slightly up from last year, despite me still not doing much of a job promoting it.

Full results from past years: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.

Best Wrestler

2004: LA Park
2005: Perro Aguayo Jr.
2006: Mistico
2007: Gran Apache
2008: Blue Panther
2009: Negro Casas
…
2017: Volador Jr.
2018: LA Park
2019: Hijo del Vikingo
2020: Laredo Kid
2021: Hijo del Vikingo

Luchador	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	Point Total
El Hijo del Vikingo	28	10	3	176
Arez	7	5	5	60
Laredo Kid	6	3	8	55
Hechicero	5	4	6	49
Bandido	2	9	5	47
Fénix	2	5	4	33
Dark Silueta	2	2	1	18
Psycho Clown	1	2	3	17
Villano III Jr.	3	0	0	15
Aramis	0	5	0	15
Titán	2	1	0	13
Pentagon Jr.	1	2	1	13
Ricky Marvin	1	2	1	13
Látigo	0	0	3	6
Volador Jr.	0	0	3	6
Black Terry	0	1	1	5
Soberano Jr.	0	1	1	5
Taurus	0	1	1	5
LA Park	0	0	2	4
Mistico	0	0	2	4
Atlantis Jr.	0	1	0	3
Faby Apache	0	1	0	3
Ineligible	0	1	0	3
Jessy Ventura	0	1	0	3
Lady Flammer	0	1	0	3
Thunder Rosa	0	1	0	3
Virus	0	1	0	3
Barbaro Cavernario	0	0	1	2
Big Mike	0	0	1	2
Hijo del Espectro Jr.	0	0	1	2
Mr. Condor	0	0	1	2
Perro de Guerra Jr.	0	0	1	2
Puma King	0	0	1	2
Rush	0	0	1	2
Sexy Star	0	0	1	2
Stephanie Vaquer	0	0	1	2
Templario	0	0	1	2

El Hijo del Vikingo wins for the second time in three years, with no one else particularly close. Arez moves up one spot from last year. Thirty-seven luchadors got at least one vote.

Best Match
2004: 09-03 Averno vs Zumbido
2005: 02-25 Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero
2006: 09-29 Black Warrior vs Mistico
2007: 07-29 Mistico vs Dr. Wagner
2008: 09-19 Blue Panther vs Villano V
2009: 06-13 Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Mesias
…
2017: 02-27 Barbaro Cavernario & Volador Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero & El Valiente
2018: 06-22 L.A. Park vs Rush
2019: 06-09 Hijo del Vikingo vs Laredo Kid
2020: 12-12 Laredo Kid vs Kenny Omega
2021: 03-21 Hijo del Vikingo vs Arez

Match	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
03-21 Hijo del Vikingo vs Arez	17	2	0	91
10-09 Fenix & Pentagon Jr. vs Hijo Del Vikingo & Laredo Kid	10	5	5	75
03-26 Bandido vs Volador Jr.	3	6	6	45
03-20 Arez vs Laredo Kid	3	2	5	31
05-03 Látigo, Villano III Jr., Abismo Negro Jr., Hijo Del Vikingo, Aramis	2	5	3	31
11-12 Hechicero vs Bárbaro Cavernario	2	2	2	20
12-05 Black Terry vs Mr. Condor	1	2	2	15
08-14 Andrade vs Kenny Omega	0	3	1	11
09-18 Erik Ortiz vs Hechicero	0	3	1	11
09-24 Hechicero vs Último Guerrero	0	3	1	11
02-06 Virus vs Soberano Jr.	2	0	0	10
05-05 Chucho el Roto vs Mr. Potro	1	1	1	10
10-18 Amapola, Dark Silueta, La Jarochita, Lluvia, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Reina Isis vs Avispa Dorada, Dalys, Momo Kohgo, Sonya, Stephanie Vaquer, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi	1	0	2	9
08-14 Fénix & Pentagón Jr. vs Hijo Del Vikingo & Laredo Kid vs Brian Cage & Taurus	0	3	0	9
01-22 Ricky Marvin vs Tony Deppen	1	1	0	8
01-30 Virus vs Pólvora	1	1	0	8
04-25 Ricky Marvin vs Black Terry	1	1	0	8
09-18 Arez vs Latigo	1	1	0	8
12-04 Hijo del Vikingo vs Bandido vs Jay Lethal vs Bobby Fish vs Samuray del Sol	1	1	0	8
07-03 Hijo Del Vikingo vs Kamikaze vs Komander vs Aramis vs Látigo vs Toxin	0	2	1	8
08-22 Black Terry vs Perro de Guerra Jr.	1	0	1	7
11-26 Volador Jr. vs TJP	1	0	1	7
05-31 Laredo Kid vs Latigo	0	0	3	6
04-17 Villano III Jr. vs Toxin	1	0	0	5
04-25 Eterno vs Fresero Jr.	1	0	0	5
06-05 Laredo Kid vs Black Taurus vs Gringo Loco vs Arez vs El Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Aramis vs Dragon Bane vs Golden Dragon	1	0	0	5
06-25 Templario & Volador vs Virus & Caristico	1	0	0	5
06-27 Titán vs Negro Casas	1	0	0	5
09-05 Fenix & Pentagon Jr. vs Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson	1	0	0	5
11-04 Rey Escorpion, Taurus, Villano III Jr. vs. El Hijo del Vikingo, Octagon Jr., Psycho Clown	1	0	0	5
11-20 Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf vs Fenix & Pentagon Jr.	1	0	0	5
11-26 Soberano Jr., Ángel de Oro, Último Guerrero, 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	1	0	0	5
12-17 Ricky Marvin vs Virus	1	0	0	5
12-25 Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo De Oro Jr. vs Estrellato, King Charro, Toscano	1	0	0	5
07-03 Hechicero vs Blue Panther	0	1	1	5
07-30 Titán vs Templario	0	1	1	5
05-01 Laredo Kid, Texano Jr., Murder Clown, Aerostar, Drago, Abismo Negro Jr., Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr. [Rey de Reyes]	0	0	2	4
08-14 Psycho Clown vs Rey Escorpion	0	0	2	4
10-09 DMT Azul, Puma King, Sam Adonis vs Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown	0	0	2	4
01-31 Cíclope, Crazy King, El Mago, Miedo Extremo, Símbolo Azteca vs Billy, Dayami, Devitt Rodríguez, Jeff Killer, Luigi	0	1	0	3
02-04 Arez vs Látigo vs Aramis	0	1	0	3
03-13 Abismo Negro Jr. & Taurus vs Hijo del Vikingo & Laredo Kid	0	1	0	3
04-17 Skayde vs Toro Negro Jr.	0	1	0	3
05-01 Látigo vs Dinastía vs Toxin vs Aramis vs Arez	0	1	0	3
05-01 Octagón Jr vs Taurus vs Villano III Jr.	0	1	0	3
07-04 Ricky Marvin vs Negro Navarro	0	1	0	3
07-10 Arez v Aramis	0	1	0	3
07-11 Tony Deppen vs Dragon Lee	0	1	0	3
10-03 Negro Navarro vs Jonathan Gresham	0	1	0	3
12-03 ASF, Drago Kid, Chris Carter vs Gringo Loco, Demonic Flamita, Low Rider	0	1	0	3
02-24 Fenix vs Lance Archer	0	0	1	2
04-08 Arez vs Aramis	0	0	1	2
04-20 Blue Panther vs Satánico	0	0	1	2
07-02 Princesa Sugehit v Stephanie Vaquer	0	0	1	2
07-09 Nick Gage vs Sadika	0	0	1	2
07-17 Rush vs LA Park	0	0	1	2
07-31 Baby Extreme vs Villano III Jr.	0	0	1	2
09-01 Bestia 666, Mecha Wolf, Rey Horus vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón	0	0	1	2
09-18 Demonio Del Aire, Kratoz, Prometeo vs Iron Kid, Jimmy, Toxin	0	0	1	2
10-01 La Amapola, La Jarochita, Marcela vs Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi	0	0	1	2
10-08 Amapola, Dark Silueta, La Jarochita, Lluvia, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Reina Isis vs Avispa Dorada, Dalys, Momo Kohgo, Sonya, Stephanie Vaquer, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi	0	0	1	2
11-04 Kenji & Limbo vs Hell Boy & Spider Fly	0	0	1	2
12-05 Sick Boy vs Mafioso	0	0	1	2
12-16 Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane vs Aster Boy & Demonic Flamita	0	0	1	2

RIOT’s Hijo del Vikingo versus Arez match is the first one outside of AAA or CMLL to win overall (though perhaps one would’ve done that in the stretch I took off.) Sixty-five matches received a vote. CMLL did not seem to finish as well as in past years; they had a lot of matches receive votes but lacked the one match that everyone gathered around.

I also broke down the match votes by promotion:

Best Match by Promotion	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
AAA	17	25	24	208
CMLL	13	14	18	143
RIOT	18	6	2	112
Lucha Memes	3	4	1	29
Zona 23	1	2	2	15
IWRG	1	0	3	11
AULL	1	1	1	10
Mexa Wrestling	1	1	0	8
AEW	1	0	1	7
GCW	0	1	2	7
Warrior Wrestling	1	0	0	5
LAWE	1	0	0	5
La Cueva del Dragon	1	0	0	5
Robles	1	0	0	5
Vanguardia	0	1	0	3
MLW	0	1	0	3
ROH	0	1	0	3
Invasion Indy	0	0	1	2
Lucha Libre Boom	0	0	1	2
The Crash	0	0	1	2

RIOT somehow ended up with the most 1st place votes while running just two shows.

Best Promotion

2004: CMLL
2005: CMLL
2006: CMLL
2007: AAA
2008: CMLL
2009: CMLL
…
2017: CMLL
2018: CMLL
2019: AAA
2020: AAA
2021: AAA

Promotion	Votes
AAA	34
RIOT	6
CMLL	5
Lucha Memes	5
Big Lucha	3
AULL	1
IWRG	1
Loko Wrestling	1
MexaWrestling	1
NOAH	1
No Promotion	1
Zona 23	1

Not a lot of people watch Lucha Memes but those who do seem to really enjoy it. A lot of people watch CMLL but it doesn’t seem like a lot of people have it as their #1.

Best Unit
2004: Guerreros del Infierno (as Best Tag Team and Best Trio)
…
2006: Los Guerreros del Atlantida
2007: Real Fuerza Aerea AAA
2008: Oficiales
2009: Peste Negra
…
2017: Nueva Generación Dinamita
2018: Nueva Generación Dinamita
2019: Poder del Norte
2020: Lucha Brothers
2021: Lucha Brothers

Best Unit	Votes
Lucha Brothers	12
Poder del Norte	9
Jinetes del Aire	6
NGD	5
La Empresa	4
Los Cancerberos del Infierno	4
Negocio Traumado	4
Las Tóxicas	2
Los Mercenarios	2
Los Vipers	2
Infernales	1
La Jaucan (Dick Angelo 3G, Tonalli & Puma de Oro)	1
La Pandemia	1
La Rebelión	1
Los Atrapasueños	1
Los Infernales	1
Los Parks	1
Mexa Boys	1
Psycho Circus	1
Strippers Big	1

Best Rivalry
2004: El Hijo del Santo vs Perro Aguayo Jr.
2005: Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero
2006: Mistico vs Black Warrior
2007: Billy Boy vs Gran Apache
2008: Blue Panther vs Villano V
2009: Negro Casas vs Mistico
…
2017: Princesa Sugehit vs Zeuxis
2018: L.A. Park vs Rush
2019: Big Mami vs Lady Maravilla
2020: Chessman vs Pagano
2021: Rey Escorpión vs Psycho Clown

Best Feud	Votes
Rey Escorpión vs Psycho Clown	17
La Empresa vs Psycho Circus (or AAA in general)	7
There were none	6
AAA vs FMV	3
Arez vs Aramis	2
CMLL vs it’s Fans and/or the 21st Century	2
Hechicero vs Último Guerrero	2
Arena Coliseo GDL vs Arena Queretaro	1
Arez vs Laredo Kid	1
Bandido vs COVID & bad decisions	1
Bandido vs Flamita	1
Bandido vs Rush	1
Chucho el Roto vs Mr. Potro	1
Diosa Atenea vs Diosa Quetzal	1
Erick Ortiz vs Hechicero	1
Fresero Jr vs Eterno	1
Jessy Ventura vs Toxin	1
Konnan vs New Booking Ideas	1
La Empresa vs Psycho Circus	1
Mistico vs Averno	1
Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero	1
NGD vs PDN	1
Soberano vs Ultimo Guerero	1
Ultimo Guerrero vs Everyone	1
Vikingo vs Taurus	1
Wotan vs Difunto	1

This is the third straight year an AAA feud won Feud of the Year. I don’t want to take away from it, yet this year’s choice seemed more about those two having a clear rivalry in a year without a lot of them. This category always provokes some creative entries, though more so this year.

Most Improved
2004: Olimpico
2005: Maximo
2006: Black Warrior, Marco Corleone, Mistico (tie)
2007: Super Fly & X-Pac (tie)
2008: Sombra
2009: Mascara Dorada
…
2017: Soberano Jr.
2018: Templario
2019: Atlantis Jr.
2020: Diosa Quetzal
2021: Komander

Most Improved	Votes
Komander	7
Atlantis Jr.	6
Látigo	4
Aramis	2
Arez	2
Coyote	2
Drago Kid	2
Hechicero	2
Mr. Iguana	2
Noisy Boy	2
Sexy Star II	2
Stephanie Vaquer	2
Villano III Jr.	2
Abismo Negro Jr	1
Bad Bunny	1
Blue Win	1
Dark Silueta	1
Dayami	1
Diosa Quetzal	1
DMT Azul	1
Dragon Bane	1
Gran Guererro	1
Jessy Ventura	1
Lluvia	1
Octagon Jr	1
Panterita del Ring Jr.	1
Soberano	1
Taurus	1
Titán	1
Toxin	1

This one often is about as much increased visibility as increased ability, though Komander did seem to stand out more on AAA TV than he had prior. Atlantis Jr. came dangerously close to winning the most improved two years in a row, another effect of not having many standout candidates.

Favorite Wrestler
2017: Barbaro Cavernario & Hechicero (tie)
2018: Pentagon Jr.
2019: Hijo del Vikingo
2020: Hijo del Vikingo
2021: Hijo del Vikingo

Favorite	Total
Hijo del Vikingo	11
Hechicero	5
Místico	5
Arez	3
Titán	3
Fénix	3
Laredo Kid	3
Virus	3
Andrade El Idolo	2
Aramis	2
Bandido	2
LA Park	2
Mr. Iguana	2
Ricky Marvin	2
Taurus	2
Villano III Jr.	2
Artemis Spencer	1
Atlantis Jr.	1
Avisman	1
Black Terry	1
Flamita	1
Microman	1
Pentagon Jr	1
Templario	1

I’m not sure what it would take for Hijo del Vikingo in-ring not to win this award at this point. Maybe a multi-year stay in the US to the point of him not coming to mind as a luchador pick, like Fenix? Maybe Fenix wrestling more in Mexico? Not sure even an injury would take him out. Someone else would have to get very hot to unseat him.

I suspect these votes are going to seem unfair to CMLL fans, so this is a good one to end out. Two of the top three and five of the top nine wrestlers are from CMLL. People, at least among the voters, are still big fans of many of the CMLL luchadors – just not as much in what they’re doing.