Month: March 2022

Stuka KOed in CMLL, Hardys/Hermanos Lee in Tijuana, Hijo del Alebrije out of IWRG

thecubsfan 4 Comments

Schedule Note

I’m getting on a plane to Dallas in a few hours. I’ll be around there until Sunday. How this may affect you:

  • maybe no news update on Friday?
  • probably a lot of Tweets from shows
  • I’ll try to Saturday’s AAA Space on Twitch. It may not work out, maybe have another option Saturday
  • perhaps a podcast but don’t count on this either, this sentence is literally going to be the first time Rob hears about the idea

Also, Mexico catches up to the US on DST on Sunday. This doesn’t affect me, but maybe you if you’re trying to find the IWRG stream on Sunday.

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 03/29/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha]
1) Micro Ángel, Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Chamuel, Mije, Perico Zakarías Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II y Micro Ángel vs Chamuel, Perico Zacarías y Mije (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
one of the Gemelos was hurt on a dive that didn’t reach it’s intended target
2) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido b Arkalis, Leono, Stigma Los Depredadores: Magia Blanca, Rugido y Magnus Vs Stigma, Arkalis y Leono en Arena México del CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
Leono replaced Pegasso. Depredadores took 2/3. Magia Blanca challenged Stigma to a CMLL SL title match for next week.
3) Dalys & Dark Silueta b La Jarochita & Lluvia © [MEX WOMEN TAG]  (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive)) Lluvia y Jarochita Vs Dalys y Dark Silueta campeonato nacional de parejas en la Arena México (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia © b Dalys & Dark Silueta [MEX WOMEN TAG]
7th defense (5th in CMLL). One fall.
4) Gran Guerrero COR Stuka Jr.
Stuka hit the back of his head against the barricade in the second fall, knocking himself out. Referee counted Stuka out twice to give Gran Guerrero the win instead of just stopping the match.
5) Hechicero, Místico, Volador Jr. b Fugaz, Niebla Roja, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles] Lucha estelar: Místico, Hechicero y Volador Jr Vs Terrible, Fugaz y Niebla Roja del CMLL (posted by )
Terrible replaced Angel de Oro earlier Tuesday

La Tijera has a video of Stuka’s injury from the crowd. A ringside person obscures the impact. The streamed version shows it, though you may prefer not to watch it. He’s clearly knocked out on impact and doesn’t appear to fully regain consciousness at any point. CMLL hasn’t said anything. No update has trickled out during CMLL’s usual Wednesday media interviews, hopefully something gets said on Informa. I’m mildly concerned.

The Gemelo Diablo injury didn’t look as bad, more shook up by landing much harder than he was expecting than injured. He was checking his arm though so I’m not completely sure he’s fine.

The Tuesday stream was back to buffering badly. The sound got way away from the audio, making for a poor experience to watch even for free (plus a VPN.) It wasn’t worth uploading, though I did put the women’s tag match on the Drive for posterity. Matches from the show may air in about a month on MVS.

CMLL (TUE) 03/29/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Fuego en el RIng]
1) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Obelisk b Persa, Raven, Temerario
2) Sexy Sol b Valkiria
Announced as a lightning match ended up 2/3 falls.
3) Crixus, Estrella Oriental, Explosivo b Bestia Negra, Difunto, Javier Cruz Jr.
Tecnicos dedicated their win to Warrior Jr.’s memory. Crixus brought a Warrior Jr. mask to the ring; the two had been feuding right before Warrior Jr.’s injury.
4) Adrenalina, Fantástico, Star Black b Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
5) Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno b Flash & Gallo
sets up an OCCIDENTE TAG match
6) Atlantis, Negro Casas, Titán DQ Averno, Maléfico, Satánico
Satanico fouled Atlantis and kicked the referee down for good measure.

Atlantis looked his age in this bits I saw of the main event.

CMLL (FRI) 04/01/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) La Magnifica, Marcela, Skadi vs Amapola, Dalys, Stephanie Vaquer
3) Blue Panther, Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring vs Felino, Pólvora, Virus
4) Negro Casas, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Atlantis Jr., Mephisto, Templario
5) Euforia © vs Terrible [MEX HEAVY]
first defense

Atlantis Jr.’s return is the most newsworthy bit; maybe he just had a minor injury? That semi-main is not listed as an incredible match, so he may have officially become a rudo. It doesn’t seem like they’re setting up a trios title rematch before the Universal match, at least not on a Friday. Stuka should obviously not wrestle on Firday.

It’d be really weird if Euforia lost the heavyweight title in his first defense but it doesn’t seem all that important at the moment. This is another show that should be fine but is really easy to miss on a busy day. It’ll air on TicketmasterLive for 99 pesos.

Reading tea leaves: the TicketMasterLive links for the 04/01, 04/08, 04/15 and 04/29 are up and all 99 pesos. The 04/22 show isn’t working yet, which meant that was the expensive show of the month. That’s probably the Universal final, with brackets on 04/08 and 04/15.

CMLL (SAT) 04/02/2022 Arena Coliseo
Arena Coliseo 79th Anniversary
1) Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Cachorro, Panterita del Ring Jr., Suicida
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
3) Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin vs Akuma & Espanto Jr. [Arena Coliseo TAG, final]
4) Místico, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero vs Cavernario, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Soberano Jr. © vs Dragón Rojo Jr. [CMLL MIDDLE]
first defense

This is obviously a better show than the Friday one, but Friday is the TickemasterLive one so that’s how it goes. Soberano’s likely retaining. I still favor Akuma & Espanto but can’t rule out Bala & Robin.

No Sunday lineup yet.

CMLL Informa has people in title matches as well as KeMonito and the Dr. Karontes. The Karontes were announced as part of CMLL prior. You may remember Dr. Karonte I and II better as Argos & Mini Murder Clown. They’re Mistico’s brothers, and he’s pushed for them to be brought into CMLL in interviews. Argos being part of AAA’s El Consejo seemed to be an obstacle to him returning for a while, but maybe they’ve moved on. (He’s also not good, but that’s a lesser obstacle.)

World Famous CB talked to a podcast about how he was planned to go to CMLL in 2017, but didn’t end up there. This has come in the past. He mentioned this time that he had a visa and everything lined up, but figuring out where to house him seemed to be an issue.

IWRG

IWRG (TUE) 03/29/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Rosel & Steven Manson b Rey Fuego & Último Caballero IWRG | Rosel y Steve Manson VS Rey del Fuego y Último Caballero | Lucha completa (posted by mluchatv)
2) Especie Maligna & Guerrero Olímpico b Carnicero & Súper Boy IWRG | Guerrero Olímpico y Especie Maligna VS Carnicero y Súper Boy | Lucha completa (posted by mluchatv)
3) Águila Oriental, Ajolotl, Súper Cometa b Águila Roja, Jhon Tito, Leyenda Negra IWRG | Águila Oriental Jr, Ajolotl y Súper Cometa VS Águila Roja, John Tito y Leyenda Negra (posted by mluchatv)
4) Fly Warrior, Fulgor, Mike b Genex, Nativo, Prince Turbo IWRG | La Old School (Mike, Fulgor I y Fly Warrior) VS Nativo, Genex y Prince Turbo | Lucha completa (posted by mluchatv)
5) Garra Mortal, Limbo, Noicy Boy, Rey Aztaroht, Rey Halcón, Rey Minos, Spider Fly b Aster Boy, Caballero de Plata, Chris Stone Jr., Hell Boy, Kenji, Sagitarius, Tonalli [Copa Higher Power] LIVE: High Power Cup, NGT vs TryOut in IWRG Arena Naucalpan (posted by mluchatv)
NGT vs Tryout 2021. Order of elimination: Rey Minos, Kenji, Sagitarius, Garra Mortal, Rey Azaroth, Chris Stone Jr., Aster Boy, Sider Fly, Tonalli, Rey Halcon, Limbo, Caballero de Plata, Hell Boy leaving Noisy Boy as the winner. Calibus, Carnicero, Guerrero Olímpico, Billy Jones, Sol all did not appear. Rey Aztaroht, Rey Minos, and Sagitarius replaced them (and I’m not certain I put them on the correct sides.)

That main event is using the names listed in IWRG’s recap, but I’m confident it’s incorrect. I’ve got this match playing (on mute) just so I’d have something to say here, and Sol and Calibus are definitely in the match. They just did back to back dives as I type this. Maybe I’ll go back and figure it out later. The match definitely has it’s up and downs. Noisy went through both Caballero de Plata & Hell Boy to win and that section got some time; Hell Boy looked impressive.

I think it would help IWRG to announce a schedule they’re running well in advance even if they’re not announcing lineups, because then maybe people would know more than two days in advance and consider going. This was another friends and family turnout.

The new IWRG show is Thursday’s Perro del Mal tribute show, which is a Mas Lucha Premium show. Murder Clown, Joe Lider, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, and Black Warrior main event in a four-way.

No Sunday lineup yet, but there is one for a show down the line

IWRG , LLB (THU) 04/21/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Caramelo, Gravedad Cero, Pinochito vs Especie Maligna, Juan Diego, Sparta
2) El Divino vs Demencia
3) Artemiz & Princesa Azul vs Reina Obscura & Sagitarius
4) Chicanito & Tonalli vs Aster Boy & Freelance
5) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 [royal rumble]
6) Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura vs Cíclope & Miedo Extremo
7) Konnan Big & Zumbido vs Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. & Galeno del Mal

Lucha Libre Boom isn’t mentioned on the poster, but there are a couple of the usual tell tale names. I presume Fantasma de la Opera and the others will be in the fifth match, a ten man retro royal rumble.

Konnan Big & Zumbido versus the two Wagner kids is the touring Konnan Big match. They’re running it in Tijuana, Mexicali, and Chihuahua this weekend.

Hijo del Alebrije out of IWRG

Hijo del Alebrije lost the IWRG Juniors title on Sunday, then did a strange post-match interview where he insisted he didn’t want a rematch and wasn’t sure what was next. It turns out he probably was sure what was next; IWRG announced he was out of the promotion on Monday. (Note that the letter is actually dated Sunday.)

Los Traumas, Demonio Infernal, and Fresero Jr. all loudly quit IWRG last year, which seemed to inspire IWRG to do a bunch of public contract signings. Hijo del Alebrije was one of the first signed back in July; no length was announced, but it seems to have lasted just over 9 months. Hijo del Alebrije won the IWRG Juniors title the week after signing, then IWRG announced he and Hijo del Espectro Jr. were going to NOAH in the near future. Other Mexican wrestlers are announced for upcoming shows but those two have not been. Mas Lucha had Hijo del Alebrije on to talk about the situation on En+Carados (also recapped on LuchaWorld.). Jose Manuel Guillen asks if not going to NOAH when others did was a factor and Alebrije said it was one. He also had an opportunity in the US that conflicted with his IWRG deal that he may now be able to take.

The other person announced by IWRG as going to NOAH, Hijo del Espectro Jr., has not worked in IWRG since January 2nd, though he was out injured for a chunk of January and February. It kinda seems like IWRG announcing those tours to win the news of the day inevitably pushed people away when didn’t deliver on them, but also IWRG’s always turned over talent at a high rate and perhaps they would’ve left anyway by the point. Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane seem to have disappeared from IWRG again, so no one actually going to NOAH is regularly working IWRG shows.

a List of WrestleMania Weekend lucha libre related matches

I’m going to miss a lot, but hopefully this is somehow helpful. If you’re looking or a full updated list, check the VOW one.

Thursday (5 pm)

AAA TV (THU) 03/31/2022 Fairmont Hotel, Dallas, Texas
1) Microman, Niño Hamburguesa, Taya vs La Hiedra, Mini Abismo Negro Jr., Rey Escorpión
2) Aramis, Mr. Iguana, Octagón Jr. vs Abismo Negro Jr., Arez, Faby Apache
3) Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf vs Aerostar & Drago [NWA TAG]
4) Drago Kid, Jack Cartwheel, Pagano vs Gringo Loco (Indie), Puma King, Sam Adonis
5) Laredo Kid vs Bandido, Flamita [AAA CRUISER]
12th defense
6) Psycho Clown vs Taurus

This will air live on FITE in English and Spanish for 15 USD. The link says Espanol but, as best I can tell, the same link will give you English. This will likely turn up on AAA’s YouTube at some indeterminate time but it looks worth getting. It’s early in the weekend so guys shouldn’t be worn down by multiple matches and the top matches look great.

I believe AAA is bringing in Hijo del Tirantes as referee, if that increases or decreases the likelihood of you watching. One of the early matches may end up being a lumberjack strap match.

MLW Thursday (7 pm)

  • LA Park & LA Park Jr. vs Gangrel & Pagano
  • Aramis, Arez, and Hijo del LA Park are scheduled to appear

This is a taping for MLW’s YouTube show, not sure exactly when it’ll start to air.

“Dark Arts Entertainment and Full Blown Pro Wrestling Ghouls” has a show at 8 pm with lots of luchadors announced, but no matches mentioned. This looks like it might be slightly close to a performance show similar to Lucha Va Voom where wrestling is involved but not necessarily focused.

Mark Hitchcock Memorial (9 pm)

  • Bandido vs Mike Bailey
  • Ace Austin, Black Taurus, Josh Alexander vs Michael Oku, Rey Horus, Laredo Kid

This airs on FITE for $15. It’s usually a pretty good show.

Zicky Dice’s Trouble in Paradise 2 (1 pm)

  • Lince Dorado vs Black Taurus

Twitch is sponsoring this show, airing it for free on Zicky Dice’s channel.

MLW Friday (2 pm)

  • LA Park vs Jacob Fatu
  • Hammerstone, Von Erichs vs Mads Krugger, Richard Holliday, King Muertes
  • Flamita vs Bandido
  • Mini Abismo, Arez, ? vs El Dragon, Microman, Aerostar
  • Aramis vs Gino Medina
  • Octagon Jr. vs Matt Cross
  • Holidead vs Chik Tormenta
  • Aramis, Puma King, Hijo de LA Park to appear

MLW’s info is a bit all over the place so I may be missing some advertised matches. This will also air on YouTube at some point.

NJPW Lonestar Shoutout (5 pm)

  • Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Kevin Knight & Daniel Garcia vs Máscara Dorada, Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks & Yuya Uemura

Mascara Dorada is just a regular NJPW USA guy now. This will air live on FITE for $15, and at some later point on NJPW World.

Texas Style Wrestling (7 pm)

  • La Rebelion vs Los Msfts for the NWA World Tag Team Championship
  • Alex Arsenal vs Damian 666

Not sure where this is airing; they have a subscription product, so maybe on that?

ROH (7 pm)

  • Bandido vs Jonathan Gresham for the ROH Championship

You should not bet on fixed wrestling matches but if you do it anyway, please do not be money on Bandido. Gresham was rumored to get picked up by AEW even before the ROH sale became public and may have signed by now. There’s no hint Bandido is getting signed and I don’t expect it to happen any time soon. I still want to see this match, but I think I’ll be watching it on my phone while elsewhere.

I’m sure this will be a good show but it’s also one of the weirdest show of all time: Bandido/Gresham is left over from the 2021 version of ROH, new matches were added by the 2022 vision of ROH, and now it’s being finished off by the new owner of ROH. You don’t often get three different booking footprints on one card where only one promotion is involved.

If you’re going to get this, go buy it via ROH’s Honor Club as part of their $10/month subscription, instead of $30 on FITE. I suspect it’s only available on Honor Club because it was one of those things announced before Tony Khan bought the promotion and it’ll likely be the last thing ever on Honor Club in this current form. There’s even a decent chance they’ll just shut the whole Honor Club thing down before long and you’ll get out of forgetting to unsubscribe.

GCW: Gringo Loco’s The WRLD on Lucha (7:30)

This streams on FITE for $14. The trios match should be great and other matches will be good, but I did take a peak to see if I could leave this one early to make it to ROH for their main event. (They’re about an hour way, so it’s unlikely.)

Martinez Entertainment (7:30 and also 9:45?)

Martinez (FRI) 04/01/2022 Upper 90 Soccer Center, Arlington, Texas
1) Mecha Wolf vs Silver Tiger [MARTINEZ HEAVY]
2) Diego De La Cruz & Jonathan Vega vs Aéreo de Juarez & Black Danger [MARTINEZ TAG]
3) Crazy Boy & Xtreme Tiger vs Aerostar & Drago (AAA)
4) El Hijo Del Santo & Último Dragón vs Fishman Jr. & Shocker
5) Michael Elign & Psycho Clown vs Black Taurus & Laredo Kid

These are technically two shows (AAA at the earlier time, Leyendas later), there are a lot more matches to be announced and probably a bunch of guys hurrying over from other shows. I’m not sure if we’ll get a full poster before this show (check promotion and promoter’s Facebook) but that seems more indication tickets are selling so well that they don’t need to announce more.

This will eventually turn up on Mas Lucha, though it may be a few months.

Impact 9 pm:

  • Deonna Purrazzo vs TBD for the AAA Reina de Reinas or ROH Women’s Championship

This will air on FITE. I think a title change is possible for either title any time it’s defended.

Saturday

WrestleCon: USA vs the World (11 AM)

  • Sam Adonis vs La Hiedra vs Mr. Iguana vs Golden Dragon vs Fight Panther Jr. for the Warrior Wrestling Lucha Championship
  • Gringo Loco, Flip Gordon, Caleb Konley vs Arez, Aramis, Aeroboy

USA vs the World seems like it can vary a lot in quality, depending on what condition these guys are left from the night before, but it’s usually decent fun. It’s on Fite for $15.

Effy’s Big Gay Brunch (11 AM)

  • Effy vs Pimpinela Escarlata

This looks like Pimpinela’s only booking of the weekend but he may end up on Martinez show. This is another FITE show for $14.

TexasMania III: Gulf Coast Wrestling Alliance (3 pm)

  • Bandido vs ASF
  • La Rebellion vs Moonshine Mantell & Ryan Davidson for the NWA Tag Team championship

I don’t think this one is streaming?

Lucha Maniaks (8 pm)

1) Arez, Black Danger (Baja California), Chik Tormenta, Mini Abismo Negro Jr. vs Aragon, Brillante Rb, Dyl Dempsey, Jonathan Lopez
2) Rey León vs Mr. Leo [IWC LEGACY]
3) Tony Deppen vs Cuervo
3) Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf 450 © vs Epyidemius & Epyidemius Jr. [NWA TAG]
4) Aeroboy vs Myron Reed, Tristen Thai, Black Destiny
5) Decimus, Gringo Loco (Indie), Juventud Aérea vs Aramis, Asf, Lince Dorado
6) Black Taurus (Indie) vs ACH

A fun looking show, and a pretty cheap ticket ($10 standing room, $15 GA). Title Match Network is streaming this live as part of their $10/month subscription. Mas Lucha will have this sometime down the road.

TexasMania Inspire Pro (9 pm)

  • Aeroboy vs Prince Adam

Aeroboy is in the running for most matches this weekend.

Black Label Pro (11:59 pm)

  • Blake Christian vs Black Taurus

On Fite. That match sounds great but I may have hit my limit by then.

TripleMania Tijuana

AAA held a press conference Tuesday in Tijuana to kick off 06/18 TripleMania ticket sales. Those tickets are on sale at Xtixs, running from 300 to 2000. That’s about the same as Monterrey (and cheaper than Mexico City.) There’s also a discount for those are part of the Xolo (soccer) season ticket plan. They’ll also hold a pre-show party outside the stadium as they do for the soccer team. The stadium seats 23,000 and they’re hoping to fill it.

TripleMania Tijuana will begin 7 pm local for a pre-show, and a 8 pm local for the main show. (Tijuana is in the pacific time zone, so that’ll be 9/10 in Central. Maybe schedule yourself a nap that afternoon.) The show will air live on FITE. It’ll be a ten match show, with five matches announced Tuesday.

  1. one semifinal in the ruleta de la muerte mask match tournament
  2. and the second semifinal
  3. an eight women’s cage match (Lady Shani, La Hiedra, Sexy Star, Flammer, Chik Tormenta)
  4. a mask match between the last two in the cage match
  5. Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy vs Dragon Lee & Dralistico

That tag match will be wild. Not sure if it’ll work, but it’ll be something to see.

Maravilla seems an obvious inclusion for the cage match, so it’s a little suspicious she wasn’t included. It gets hard to figure from there. Maybe Hades will be back by then? Tijuana’s Lady Lee worked the local taping, perhaps she’ll be included? That’s the best guess for the eight, though I’m not sure why AAA would hold back those three without a notable name to come. There’s not really a foreign masked star like there was for Ultimo Dragon in the men’s tournament. (Don’t think Starlight Kid fits, thanks for bringing her up.) There’s not a masked luchadora legend who I’d throw in; they’d probably fit better in CMLL. It’s specifically masked women at this point, so Taya, Deonna, Faby, and Mami will not be included.

The four wrestlers who win their way out of the mask tournament in Monterrey are expected to be on this show. Rey Xolo (Extreme Tiger in a different mask) will also be participating. Roldan specified that the rest of the card will be announced on May 1st, following the results of TripleMania Monterrey. Again, this is a separate promotion that goes TripleMania to TripleMania, so that fits the logic.

guesses at the other five matches

  1. A Marvel Lucha Libre match
  2. A Copa TripleMania
  3. a tag match with the eliminated legends (and maybe someone like NGD)
  4. a mega championship defense
  5. maybe another all-star trios? Or a mixed tag?

Like with Monterrey, there’s not much else to fit in here.

Other News

Not sure what to do with this one. Funeraria Rudiño frequently hosts wakes for luchadors, including Warrior Jr. and Super Muneco recently. Monday, they made the news under suspicion of selling drugs and bones. Bones! When news channels needed to find some file footage of this funereal home, they of course used the shots they had of luchadors attending services when lucha libre had little to do with the story.

Mas Lucha’s En+Carados on Monday focused on their Perros del Mal reunion/tribute show on Thursday night, a subscriber-only show. They also mentioned that it may be the last episode of En+Carados; no reason was given and it wasn’t definite.

Box y Lucha 3503D has Negro Casas and the big Arena Mexico crowd on the cover.

LuchaWorld has the latest edition of the podcast and this week’s Poster-Mania.

AAA in Tijuana, CMLL weekend shows, RIOT, IWRG, KAOZ

thecubsfan

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/25/2022 Arena México [AS, CMLL, Cronistas del Ring, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, Record, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Angelito & Shockercito DQ Mercurio & Pierrothito Pequeño Pierroth y Mercurio Vs Angelito y Shockercito, duelo de Pequeñas Estrellas, viernes de CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
13:02. Pierrothito unmasked Angelito
2) Magnus, Pólvora, Sangre Imperial b Nitro, Okumura, Panterita del Ring Jr. [Relevos Increíbles] CMLL PANTERITA DEL RING JR -NITRO-OKUMURA VS SANGRE IMPERIAL-MAGNUS-PÓLVORA/ARENA MEXICO 25-03-2022 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Sangre Imperial, Magnus y Pólvora Vs Nitro, Okumura y Panterita del Ring Jr. viernes de CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
15:51. Magnus replaced Felino Jr.
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi b Dalys, La Metálica, Reyna Isis CMLL - SKADI - VAQUERITA - MARCELA VS METÁLICA - REYNA ISIS - DALYS / ARENA MEXICO 25-03-2022 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Marcela, La Vaquerita y Skadi vs Dalys, Metálica y Reyna I. (posted by mluchatv) Vaquerita, Marcela y Skadi Vs Dalys, Reyna Isis y Metalica, duelo de amazonas viernes de CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
11:24.
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible b Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto CMLL - INFERNALES VS INGOBERNABLES / ARENA MEXICO 25 DE MARZO DE 2022 (posted by mluchatv) CMLL | El Terrible, Ángel de Oro y Niebla Roja vs Hechicero, Mephisto y Euforia (posted by mluchatv) Los Infernales Vs Los Ingobernables Viernes espectaculares de Arena México CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
16:14. Terrible pinned Euforia and challenged him to a MEX HEAVY match (which will happen) and then a 2v3 apuesta match (which will not)
5) Místico, Negro Casas, Titán b Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Templario CMLL | Místico, Titán y Ngero Casas vs Templario, Bárbaro Cavernario y Dragón Rojo Jr (posted by mluchatv) Místico, Negro Casas y Titán Vs Dragon Rojo Jr. Bárbaro Cavernario y Templario Viernes CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
18:33. Casas’ return to the tecnico side.

None of the matches on this show were especially good, but they were generally professional and worked hard. The women’s match was the weakest one; Vaquerita just struggled as a protogantst. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja were getting more female cheers than they had in a while. Their team worked as tecnicos. Mistico was very popular in the main event.

This Friday night show drew surprisingly well. I’m bad at guessing, but maybe 7,500? There’s been a few CMLL shows that have drawn well lately; CMLL’s Saturday Arena Coliseo also did well. I’m not sure how much credit I’d give to the current product. Homenaje a Dos Leyendas last week didn’t seem to do anything special. Mexico giving the green light to resume activities probably has encouraged people to go out more in general and that’s surely played a role.

CMLL (SAT) 03/26/2022 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, Mas Lucha]
1) Fantasy & Pequeño Magía b Minos & Pequeño Polvora
tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Volcano DQ Kráneo CMLL | Mano a Mano en la Arena Coliseo: Kraneo vs Volcano (posted by mluchatv)
Kraneo fouled Volcano
3) Diamond, Espíritu Negro, Magia Blanca, Rey Cometa b Akuma, Cachorro, Dark Panther, Esfinge, Espanto Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr., Magnus, Pegasso, Robin, Rugido, Stigma [Arena Coliseo TAG, battle royal]
4) Pegasso & Stigma b Magnus & Rugido [Arena Coliseo TAG, quarterfinal]
5) Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin b Cachorro & Dark Panther [Arena Coliseo TAG, quarterfinal]
6) Esfinge & Guerrero Maya Jr. b Akuma & Espanto Jr. [Arena Coliseo TAG, quarterfinal]
7) Diamond & Magia Blanca b Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa [Arena Coliseo TAG, quarterfinal]
8) Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin b Pegasso & Stigma [Arena Coliseo TAG, semifinal]
9) Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa [Arena Coliseo TAG, semifinal]
10) Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., El Coyote b Fugaz, Soberano Jr., Star Jr. CMLL | Dragón Rojo Jr , Bárbaro Cavernario y El Coyote vs Soberano Jr , Star Jr , y Fugaz (posted by )
Rudos took 1/3. Dragon Rojo beat Soberano to set up a CMLL MIDDLE match next week

Akuma & Espanto Jr. were one of the favorites for the final, but Hombre Bala & Robin are a surprising pick over either of Los Depredadores. Volcano/Kraneo seems to go on to a separate match.

CMLL (SUN) 03/27/2022 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Full Metal & Pierrothito b Acero & Aéreo
2) Cholo, Grako, Inquisidor b El Valiente Jr., Eléctrico, Leono
Rudos took 1/3
3) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Princesa Sugehit b Amapola, La Seductora, Tiffany
tecnicos took 1/3
4) Dulce Gardenia, El Audaz, Flyer DQ Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
Tecnicos took 1/3. Cancerbero unmasked Flyer’s for the DQ.
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volador Jr.
Malditos took 2/3

Nothing much here.

Puebla today has Los Depreadores vs Soberano, Esfinge and Fugaz.

CMLL (TUE) 03/29/2022 Arena México
1) Micro Ángel, Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Chamuel, Mije, Perico Zakarías
2) Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia © vs Dalys & Dark Silueta [MEX WOMEN TAG]
7th defense (5th in CMLL)
4) Stuka Jr. vs Gran Guerrero
5) Hechicero, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Fugaz, Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles]

Just a random use of Hechicero but it could be a good match. Stuka/Gran Guerrero might give us some info on Atlantis Jr, perhaps more in the post-match promos than the match. A title change in the women’s match would be a surprise but CMLL’s shown a willingness to do surprise title changes lately. The second match is a rematch, and there’s a lot happening here for a Tuesday show.

CMLL (TUE) 03/29/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Obelisk vs Persa, Raven, Temerario
2) Sexy Sol vs Valkiria [lightning]
3) Crixus, Estrella Oriental, Explosivo vs Bestia Negra, Difunto, Javier Cruz Jr.
4) Adrenalina, Fantástico, Star Black vs Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
5) Flash & Gallo vs Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno
6) Atlantis, Negro Casas, Titán vs Averno, Maléfico, Satánico

Semimain resumes the tag feud derailed by Flash’s injury.

AAA

AAA TV (SAT) 03/26/2022 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [TJ Sports, Zona Ruda]
1) Venenoide b Araña Voladora
Terror Purpura helped Venonide, El Furioso helped Voladora
2) Kamikaze, Ryan Kidd, Skalibur b Arkángel Divino, Rayo Star, Último Maldito
Rayo Star replaced Destiny (sticking with The Crash?) Genio del Aire & Dinamico helped Kamikaze and Skalibur attack the TJ crew after the match, with Fantastik making the save. Ryan Kidd got left behind and beat up by the TJ guys.
3) Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla b Faby Apache, Lady Lee, Lady Shani
4) Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti b Dinámico & Sexy Star and Black Danger & Viva Van
5) El Dragón (Chihuahua), Jack Cartwheel, Pagano b Bestia 666, Genio del Aire, Mecha Wolf
Vikingo appeared but did not wrestle due to injury. Dragon replaced him.
6) Danny Rivera, Flip Gordon, Willie Mack b Rey Escorpión, Taurus, Villano III Jr.
Danny Rivera (Limelight) replaced Rich Swann.
7) DMT Azul, Puma King, Sam Adonis b Laredo Kid, Psycho Clown, Rey Xolo
Microman and Estrellita were with La Empresa, with Microman not happy about it. Adonis beat Psycho Clown with a Tirantes fast count involved. Best guess at Rey Xolo is Extreme Tiger based on the photos, but not confirmed.

This taping in Tijuana appeared to be a sell out. All the outsider acts defeated the AAA teams, which is to be expected. Not much in the way of storylines, which was the expectation with this guest heavy roster. The fourth match was said to be the best.

Vikingo wrestled last weekend in Saltillo. He’s listed on shows Monday in Leon, then headlining Saturday and Sunday in Jalisco and in Mexico State the weekend after. He’d miss all of those if he’s resting for three weeks. The irony of wondering if Vikingo would/could wrestle on AAA’s show WrestleCon weekend is it may have not have been a good idea for health reasons. A very similar thing happened with AAA’s show in New York three years ago, where Vikingo didn’t receive a visa but was out injured around the same time anyway.

AAA’s show on Space on Saturday was a repeat. It seemed like an oversight that AAA never promoted which matches were airing, but instead it was AAA trying to keep it quiet they weren’t airing a new episode. No reason was given. Content didn’t seem like an issue – they’ve got both the Merida show and the Showcenter event taped to air. The episode was literally the same episode that aired two weeks ago, not something repackaged, so maybe there was some production issue.

AAA’s next taping is Thursday in Dallas as part of WrestleCon weekend.

The first Showcenter event will go up on YouTube Friday night. This is a good example of AAA being in a bubble from the rest of the world, seemingly unaware of about a half dozen other shows streaming live that night, including a show headlined by Psycho Clown himself. any Mexican fans won’t care – maybe they’ll even just flip over from Space’s YouTube airing of Rampage to AAA if they start close enough together – but it seems like a better thing to air Wednesday when you’re trying to hardsell people on buying the Thursday PPV.  Edit: The date of the Showcenter upload has been changed to Wednesday. Oh well. That makes more sense. Flamita/Vikingo was Excellent, and there’s good stuff to be found on the rest of the show. It’s three weeks old, you don’t have to watch it right away.

IWRG

IWRG (SAT) 03/26/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Rosel & X-Boy b Milagro & Rey Del Fuego
2) Águila Oriental, Perseo, Rey Minos b Carnicero, Súper Boy, Último Caballero
Caballero left injured
3) Ajolotl, Mini Vikingo, Steve Manson b Jhon Tito, Rey Astaroth, Súper Cometa
4) Fly Warrior & Fulgor b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly
Mike invited Fly Warrior & Fulgor to join the Old School faction he’s creating for guys of their generation
5) Gravedad Cero, Güero De Tijuana, Keiser Drago, Marduk, Omega Jr., Rey Gato, Taurino, Ultra Mega Jr. b Estrella de Oro, Heredero Maya, Nativo, Prince Turbo, Príncipe Bengala, Rey Eclipse, Vudu Max, Yorvak [Copa Higher Power] FILL 94 | TryOut 22 vs GYM Escuela Zeuz (posted by IWRG tv)
Tryout (Black Terry) vs Gym Zeus (Oficial 911.) Yorvack pinned Güero de Tijuana to win. 911 interfered a lot and Terry challenged him to a match with both schools.

IWRG streams every one of their shows live as a matter of habit – they’re the only promotion in Mexico of any size to be doing so –  but this one didn’t stream live and may not have been recorded. IWRG announced the Saturday show just a couple of days ahead of time, and IWRG doesn’t run many Saturdays, so people who might have covered this show had seemingly chosen over options. Mas Lucha, who handles IWRG’s normal streaming, was at the Mole comic convention, Big Lucha, Will Wrestling in Texas, and probably the Cholo de Tijuana show in Arena San Juan. AYM/InterneTV doesn’t usually cover shows on unusually and didn’t send a crew. Most of the fan cams seem to have gone to Robles or Cholo, so all that exists of this one for the moment is a few clips IWRG posted themselves. It may have been years since the last time an IWRG show didn’t turn up in full.

IWRG still ran their show like normal, setting up a match in the main event and a new group in the semi-main. It’s nice a good sign for one’s mental health when a bunch of wrestlers you remember as rookies are now getting together under an “Old School” name.

IWRG (SUN) 03/27/2022 Arena Naucalpan [Cronista del Ring, IWRG, Mas Lucha, Mas Lucha]
1) Leyenda Negra & Spider Fly b Águila Oriental & X-Devil Leyenda Negra y Spider Fly Vs X Devil y Águila Oriental en IWRG Naucalpan (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) LIVE: Junior of Juniors Championship, Hijo del Alebrije vs Dick Ángelo in IWRG Arena Naucalpan (posted by mluchatv)
Leyenda Negra replaced Pantera I Jr.
2) Puma de Oro & Tonalli DQ Caballero de Plata & Hell Boy Caballero de Plata y Hell Boy Vs Puma de Oro y Tonalli, en IWRG Naucalpan (posted by ) LIVE: Junior of Juniors Championship, Hijo del Alebrije vs Dick Ángelo in IWRG Arena Naucalpan (posted by mluchatv)
Puma de Oro faked a foul from Hell Boy, setting up a super libre rematch
3) Yorvak b Asterboy LIVE: Junior of Juniors Championship, Hijo del Alebrije vs Dick Ángelo in IWRG Arena Naucalpan (posted by mluchatv) Yorvak Vs Aster Boy, Mano a mano TryOut 2021 Vs 2022 (posted by )
Yorvack won cleanly, wants an IWRG LIGHT title match with Asterboy
4) Hijo del Pantera & Internacional Pantera DQ Bobby Lee Jr. & Príncipe Arkano El Pantera e Hijo del Pantera Vs Bobby Lee Jr. y Príncipe Arkano en IWRG Arena Naucalpan (posted by ) LIVE: Junior of Juniors Championship, Hijo del Alebrije vs Dick Ángelo in IWRG Arena Naucalpan (posted by mluchatv)
Arkano (or maybe it’s Arcano?) fouled Hijo del Pantera in the father/son tag match
5) Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro, Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Accion Jackson, Brad Alexis, Travis Banks Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro e H. del Pirata Morgan Vs Travis Banks, Accion Jackson y Brad Alexis (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) LIVE: Junior of Juniors Championship, Hijo del Alebrije vs Dick Ángelo in IWRG Arena Naucalpan (posted by mluchatv)
Dr. Cerebro challenged Travis Banks to a IWRG IC MIDDLE title match
6) Dick Angelo 3G b Hijo del Alebrije © [IWRG JUNIOR] H. del Alebrije Vs Dick Angelo 3G, por el Campeonato Junior de Juniors, en IWRG Arena Naucalpan (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) LIVE: Junior of Juniors Championship, Hijo del Alebrije vs Dick Ángelo in IWRG Arena Naucalpan (posted by mluchatv)
Alebrije falls on his fourth defense

IWRG going strong with Dick Angelo is surprising for a guy who seemed stuck in the middle of the card (with Puma de Oro & Tonalli) just a few months ago.

RIOT

Riot’s two-night La Riña tournament ended with Blake Christian defeating Aramis on the Saturday final. Christian was said to get really big reactions during the tournament. Both the final and the title match – Arez retaining over Promoteo – were said to be great, as was the trios match to end the Friday show. Arez confronted Christian at the end of the show, to presumably set up a title match on the next show.

It’s RIOT though, and they’re living out their PWG emulation to the fullest. They can have really great matches but it’s the one off comedy spot that’ll go viral and shape people’s perception of the entire promotion. The La Riña tournament includes a royal rumble of those eliminated on the first day of the tournament along with other extra wrestlers, akin to the traditional 5v5 tag on the last night of PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles. That PWG match usually has a decent amount of comedy, as does the RIOT match, to break up all the seriousness of the rest of the show. The goofiness in this year’s match included Mr. Iguana’s stuffed mascot Yeksa being an official participant, fighting with Latigo on a balcony, and being knocked off in a stage dive that everyone on the ground sells. It’s already become one of those things passed around because some people think it’s amusing and other people (LA Park included) believe it’s the end of lucha libre. And then in two days people generally forget it until the next time they want to complain about the promotion or people involved. Maybe quicker if the Chris Rock/Will Smith has shifted everyone’s attention to something gelse.

No word as to when these shows will be available on video. It took two months for the last show so check back in late May.

KAOZ in Chaos

Monterrey’s KAOZ is a really good gossip group but also a time sink.

KAOZ promotion hyped a show for Sunday for months, then announced it was postponed on Saturday for “reasons not the fault of the promotion”, with a new day of May 8th. They were not offering refunds at first, saying they shouldn’t have to since they’re moving it and not canceling it. (A newspaper report This did not go over well, to say the least. The May 8th date is simply the next show date they were going to announce at the end of Sunday’s show. The last third of a KAOZ press conference about the situation was dedicated to building up matches for that show as a replacement for whatever angles they were going to run Sunday night.

Only AAA has been able to run a wrestling show in the city of Monterrey in months due to some unexplained issues with the commission. Some, like Robles & RIOT, have moved their shows to the outside of the city and outside of the commission’s power. Lucha Libre Femenil just hasn’t run at all since their show got shut down by the commission for violating the commission’s health policy, which seemed to be the start of the current run of issues. KAOZ promoter Alonso Botello suggested it was commission problems that tripped them up too, though he wasn’t specific about the issues and it’s strange they weren’t prepared given the known issues. KAOZ implied the 05/08 show would be back in Arena Coliseo Monterrey but that didn’t seem locked in.

The big uproar came Saturday when the cancelation was announced. Social media users pointed out Alberto el Patron was also booked on a DPW event in Laredo, Texas announced in the last few days, believing it to mean Alberto had taken “dollars over pesos”, and the KAOZ show had to be canceled as a result. Alberto, on Twitter, claimed he was always planing to work both shows, everyone was aware of it, and the cancellation was due to the KAOZ promotor and no fault of his own. Laredo and Monterrey are about 2.5 hours apart by car, the start times were four hours apart (longer than listed due to DST); it’s possible if very improbable. My suspicion is those people had the cause and effect swapped: Alberto may have known KAOZ wasn’t likely to happen for a while and got himself a back up booking to make sure he still got paid by someone on Sunday. Alberto (w/Carlito) did come to Monterrey to sign autographs, though earlier in the day than the KAOZ show would’ve taken place.

Alberto didn’t stick around for that KAOZ press conference, held in the same Arena Coliseo Monterrey where the show would’ve taken place. Alonso Botello, in that press conference, mentioned he had booked Alberto for two dates but not was unsure if Alberto would be working the second one. He also announced a bunch of new names and teased new matches, while also insisting the May card would be the same as the March one. (They even put out a poster which just the date change, which isn’t going to be the card that happens.) A separate video segment with Rey Escorpion and Konnan Big pitched the May main event as Escorpion, Konnan Big, Heavy Metal, and Cibernetico with no mention of Alberto, so it seemed like they’re counting him out. I suspect there’s some disagreement about how much Alberto should get paid for the show that didn’t happen.

Botello also announced Travis Banks for the May show. Banks is also booked for a Will Wrestling lucha libre show in Texas in May. Roberto Figueroa is involved in both that show and Konnan, so that’s probably the connection. Banks appear to be wrestling more in the Monterrey area coming up.

Botello also was asked about the status of Arena Coliseo Monterrey, since this was billed as the final show ever. He claimed the building might be torn down “in a day, or two, or maybe a year or two.” He insists the building is in debt and is unlikely to get out of it so it’s possible they may face consequences at any time, but it doesn’t seem they’ve been given a specific date. Arena Coliseo Monterrey is close enough to downtown that I believe someone will one day buy the property, assume the debts, and demolish Arena Coliseo Monterrey to redevelop the property unless there’s a remarkable change in business, but that doesn’t appear to have happened yet.

Other notes

The Robles show on Friday in Arena Lopez Mateos drew shockingly bad. The attendance for those shows has rarely been great but this one looked closer to what the trainee shows in that building draw. X-LAW drew slightly better but still not great in that arena last weekend, so it’s possible it’s something with the location; we’ll need more info on shows. La Mascara, who seemed to be in charge of the wrestling end here, was replaced in his match by Puma King. Pimpinela Escarlata announced he was out of AAA on the show; I think this means he’s out of contract but still working dates, as Escarlata is still listed on upcoming shows. Robles ran in Juarez on Sunday. Their next Mexico City area show is April 29th at Juan de La Barrera.

The Cholo de Tijuana show in Arena San Juan drew well. Blue Demon Jr., Elegido and Tinieblas Jr. beat Solitario, Pirata Morgan, and Elegido in the main event, where they built towards a Tinieblas/Solitario match. Those Cholo shows aren’t building to big matches but they usually did well with the names they use.

I haven’t seen results from Big Lucha on Saturday but they seem to have drawn well too. They continue to put more thought into their stories than other indie promotions. Last show had an extraneous seeming bit where Demonic Flamita’s Black Generation group laid out the Vipers. It seemed like it was just setting up a match down the road. It actually set up Vipers’ leader Cibernetico showing up as a big surprise to help Bandido’s team against Black Generation in the main event. Fans didn’t expect Cibernetico at all and he got a huge reaction.

Texano Jr. & Super Nova won the NWA (Mexico) Tag Team championships in a four fall final over Demonio Infernal & Fresero Jr on Saturday in Arena Neza. Not coincidentally, those were the two teams introduced when this tournament was announced, though there were actually other teams who got eliminated to lead to this final.

Arena Queretaro put out a request on Facebook for a private security firm. That’s probably the new local requirement following the violence at the Queretaro/Atlas LigaMX game and the reason multiple shows in the venue have been canceled.

Saltillo luchador Sarapeno I (Federico Lara Hernande, 72 or 73) passed away Sunday. He started wrestling in 1970 as Plebello. I’ve got a few mentions of him in the lineups as late as 1993.

Segunda Caida reviews Mascarita Sagrada vs Jerrito Estrada.

AAA in Tijuana (not streaming live), regular CMLL Friday, RIOT La Riña and other shows this weekend

thecubsfan

CMLL

Just a normal show for CMLL tonight with no particular stakes. Templario, Dragon Rojo and Cavernario face Negro Casas, Titan and Mistico main event, which does follow the Templario/Casas feud sending Casas to the tecnico side. The two units which lost in the first round of the trio tournament last week, Los Infernales and Los Ingobernables, meet in a psuedo third-place game. There’s a women’s trio (Vaquerita/Isis rematch), a mixed-up partners match and a minis to open it. CMLL’s run a lot more angles lately so there may be news, but it feels like a skippable night. It is available on TicketmasterLive for 99 pesos.

CMLL (SAT) 03/26/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Fantasy & Pequeño Magía vs Minos & Pequeño Polvora
2) Volcano vs Kráneo
3) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Esfinge & Guerrero Maya Jr. and Cachorro & Dark Panther and Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin and Pegasso & Stigma and Magnus & Rugido and Diamond & Magia Blanca and Akuma & Espanto Jr. [Arena Coliseo TAG, quarterfinal]
4) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Arena Coliseo TAG, quarterfinal]
5) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Arena Coliseo TAG, quarterfinal]
6) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Arena Coliseo TAG, quarterfinal]
7) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Arena Coliseo TAG, quarterfinal]
8) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Arena Coliseo TAG, semifinal]
9) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Arena Coliseo TAG, semifinal]
10) Fugaz, Soberano Jr., Star Jr. vs Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., El Coyote

The Arena Coliseo Tag Team tournament will be on Saturday, with the final taking place on the building’s anniversary show next week. The Panther family and Ola Negra team are my guesses.

Kraneo seemed to be the rudo in the break up with Volcano, but we’ll see if it holds this week. Kraneo has wrestled sparingly this year and missed time last year. It might be a big Volcano win if Kraneo isn’t going to be around.

CMLL (SUN) 03/27/2022 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Full Metal & Pierrothito
2) El Valiente Jr., Eléctrico, Leono vs Cholo, Grako, Inquisidor
3) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, La Seductora, Tiffany
4) Dulce Gardenia, El Audaz, Flyer vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volador Jr. vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado

No sign of Atlantis Jr. on these shows. Him being gone means less increibles matches. I haven’t heard one word about why Atlantis Jr. suddenly disappeared but it’s not great to be wondering about a missing young CMLL wrestler the same week as we’ve slowly learned CMLL was keeping quiet a serious injury to another young wrestler for half a year. Again, I don’t know anything, I’m hoping it’s something minor and have no reason to think otherwise, but it is the flaw in CMLL (and Mexican wrestling in general)’s strategy of saying nothing when someone gets hurt.

CMLL posted Dorrel Dixon being honored on the 03/21 show in Arena Puebla. He seems to be in great shape for 90. It’s also clear CMLL professionally filmed this show, not just the one hard cam they’ve been doing for the recent Puebla highlights. It’s lately taken two to four weeks for CMLL shows from tape to air, if this is actually airing. (Again, CMLL should just open a subscription YouTube channel, upload all of that stuff there after it airs and make a few extra dollars.)

Warrior Jr.

Sanely posted about her nephew Warrior Jr. on Instagram, continuing the process of adding more details to the story. Warrior Jr. did suffer his serious neck injury in a training session in Arena Mexico with the rest of Los Deperadores. He fractured vertebraes, spent the last seven months confined to a bed, and passed away due to a series of complications from that original injury.

In her post, Sanely is upset about a false story claiming Warrior Jr.’s death was due to drugs and alcohol. That story seemed to be started by a Twitter user who hadn’t posted much before and tagged everyone they could think of to get attention, and propagated by YouTube lucha libre videos channels looking to cash in on ‘telling the truth’ about Warrior Jr. passing. The Twitter user has since deleted some but not all of the posts making those claims.

It’s dumb to believe Twitter accounts that were inactive before it became time to post a sensational story, but people looking for answers will take whatever they can find (and often latch on to the first one they hear.) The stories filled the void of CMLL or the family talking about the story, but it may have happened anyway because the primary goal is to get the viewers first and not be correct. I’d hope over time those who get stories wrong would go away but I’m not sure it works that way.

(There obviously are problems with drugs and alcohol in Mexican wrestling, and likely most forms of wrestling, but there’s no specific evidence it played a role in Warrior Jr.’s death.)

AAA

AAA on Space Saturday has the first part of the Merida taping at 6:45 pm CT (15 minutes later than usual.) AAA hasn’t announced which matches will air yet.

AAA tapes TV on Saturday night in Tijuana. It’s a late one, starting 10:30 CT in the US. (Tijuana switches clocks with the US for DST.) It’s not streaming, so there’s no real need to stay up for it. There are plenty of fancams in Tijuana that’ll likely have it up as soon as Sunday if you don’t feel like waiting for TV.

The lineup is more reminiscent of Konnan-era The Crash shows than a normal AAA TV taping with lots of outside and local names not usually part of AAA’s band. There’s nothing individually important on this show: Laredo Kid, Psycho Clown, and Tijuana jersey mascot Rey Xolo will take on the undefeated La Empresa. Extreme Tiger was doing some publicity with the Rey Xolo character and it’s possible he’ll be under the mask for this match; I’d expect it to be someone familiar and local. EMW announced there will also be a Marvel lucha libre match; that seems like the standard opener plan this year.

Presumed upcoming AAA Space schedule

  • 03/26 & 04/02: Merida
  • 04/09 & 04/16: Tijuana
  • 04/23: Dallas (also airs live on FITE)
  • 04/30 & 05/07: Monterrey (also airs live on FITE)

I’m still a little shaky if Dallas is supposed to be a normal TV taping, but both Jose Manuel Guillen and Hugo Savonivich will be in town for it and FITE says they’re airing in Spanish and English, so it might as well be. There’s also no sign of any AAA taping in April until TripleMania Monterrey, so it may need to be. AAA did tape a lot in Merida, so it’s possible they could stretch it three weeks like Rey de Reyes and Dallas taping could be pushed off as a fill-in show for later in the year.

The Young Bucks updated their Twitter bio to say they plan on winning the AAA tag team titles before their match on 04/30 at TripleMania. FTR are the AAA tag team champions. AEW’s been building towards another match between the two since the 03/02 Dynamite tag team battle royal. There’s a good chance it’ll happen between now and TripleMania and it might as well be for the AAA tag team titles. It’s not happening next week because FTR already has a match, but there’s four more weeks to get it in and there’s a good chance of it happening.

AAA has been building, as much as they build to anything, to a three-way match between FTR, Hermanos Lee and Lucha Brothers. The Young Bucks winning the AAA tag titles would disrupt that; even a four-way wouldn’t be quite as satisfying if it’s not a Mexican team who finally stops FTR. AAA doesn’t seem to have much attachment to their own stories so it still could very well happen. Fenix/Vikingo versus The Young Bucks for the AAA Tag Team titles would also seem to have a telegraphed outcome, but it may be the same outcome regardless. It does stick in my head that the last Crash show with Konnan featured him promising they’d come back with Fenix vs Vikingo, because it’s easy to see how they could set that up for TripleMania Tijuana out of that tag match.

Lucha Underground has quietly disappeared from Tubi, as noted on Reddit. It may have been gone for a while. The series went up on the site in August 2019. Those kinds of deals usually have a contract length so it’s possible it just ran out. MGM had a relationship with Tubi when LU back in 2019 and MGM has recently been bought by Amazon, so this might be part of a larger move of MGM content towards Amazon Prime. This is a also good time to mention there’s still no update in the AAA/FMW lawsuit.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/24/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Águila Roja & Nativo b Kenji & Rey Eclipse  (posted by mluchatv)
2) Rey Halcón & X-Devil b Genex & Leyenda Negra  (posted by mluchatv)
3) Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka, Tortuga Leo b Aster Boy, Legendario, Noisy Boy  (posted by mluchatv)
Legendario picked up an injury
4) Fulgor, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Yorvak b Accion Jackson, Brad Alexis, Travis Banks  (posted by mluchatv) H. del Pirata Morgan, Fulgor y Yorvak Vs Travis Banks, Accion Jackson y Brad Alexis, en IWRG (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) TOMA Y DACA MEXICANOS Y EXTRANJEROS,H.PIRATA M./FULGOR/YORVAK VS TRAVIS B./ACCION J./BRAD ALEXIS (posted by hector godfrey)
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura b Big Boy, Big Chicoche, Big Mike  (posted by mluchatv) LAS SHOTAS: JESSY VENTURA/DIVA SALVAJE/ESTRELLA DIVINA VS BIG STRIPERS: CHICO CHE/MIKE/ BOY (posted by hector godfrey)
Chico Che and Mike had problems, leading to Mike quitting the Big Strippers.

Big Mike indicated he was planning on returning to being a rudo. This show got done in a CMLL like 2h10m, very unlike IWRG.

IWRG (SAT) 03/26/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Mlagro & Rey Del Fuego vs Rosel & X-Booy
2) Carnicero, Súper Boy, Último Caballero vs Águila Oriental, Perseo, Rey Minos
3) Jhon Tito, Rey Astaroth, Súper Cometa vs Ajolotl, Mini Vikingo, Steve Manson
4) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly vs Fly Warrior & Fulgor
5) Estrella de Oro, Heredero Maya, Nativo, Prince Turbo, Príncipe Bengala, Rey Eclipse, Vudu Max, Yorvak vs Gravedad Cero, Güero Tijuana, Keiser Drago, Marduk, Omega Jr., Rey Gato, Taurino, Ultra Mega Jr. [Copa Higher Power]
Tryout vs Gym Zeus

A bonus trainee show on Saturday. Semi-main could be good. Everyone knows Mini Vikingo is really young, but so is his partner Steve Manson.

Relampago says he’ll be out a few weeks after suffering a neck injury. He was just returning from his previous injury.

IWRG announced Konnan Big for their 04/21 show. I can’t find a previous Konnan Big match in Arena Naucalpan but they’re billing it as a return.

There are a lot of shows this weekend

RIOT has its La Riña tournament on Friday and Sunday just outside of Monterrey. This tournament was first scheduled in spring 2020 and long-postponed due to the pandemic. First-round matches:

  • Jack Evans vs Demonio del Aire
  • Black Christian vs Aero Boy
  • Aramis vs Gringo Loco
  • Jimmy vs King Rex
  • El Mago vs Troba
  • Erik Ortiz vs Mr. Iguana

The six winners advance to two three-way matches on Saturday and then to a singles final the same night. The Friday show also includes the Vipers (Arez, Latigo, Toxin) against Prometo, Kratoz, and Iron Kid, building towards Arez/Promteo RIOT title match on the Saturday show. Prometeo beating Arez would be a surprise, but I think it has a decent chance; Arez’s commitments with AAA and MLW make it harder for him to be free for RIOT, and it might be a time to do a title change while they still have him.

It’s RIOT, so the show will be taped this weekend and it may be a few months before anyone else sees it. They’re really big PWG fans.

Big Lucha held a press conference on Wednesday to announce a partnership with Alberta’s CanAm Wrestling; this is where the Canadian wrestlers who’ve been in and out over the last six months are based. Both sides will exchange wrestlers and train each other in different styles. Sweet Daddy Soul (who seems to have an arm injury) was there to represent CanAm Wrestling, with Bandido representing his group. This is Big Lucha, so it turned into an angle. Flamita and his Black Generation joined the press conference. Bandido announced Ciclon Ramirez Jr., Extasis and Gravity would be the first to go to Canada, with Skayde going to train later. Flamita objected, pointing out he still has control of the gym and the promotion from a previous match stipulation and so he was going to send allies Elemental & Oni el Bendito instead. And then they ended up beating up Bandido and ripping his pants in half. We may have a better idea of who’s actually going after Big Lucha’s show tonight, which is headlined by a Black Generation versus Bandido’s amigos street fight.

KAOZ runs Arena Coliseo Monterrey on Sunday. It’s the first show in the historic lucha libre venue since KAOZ’s ran there in February 2020. The building was opened in 1955 and held two lucha libre shows a week (and boxing additionally) for many years, though that’s dipped down greatly in the last decade. Fans in Monterrey tend to blame Konnan Big and other gimmick characters for the decline of Arena Coliseo Monterrey, though I tend to believe it’s the other way around; promoters tried strange things like TV characters in lucha libre matches because interest in more traditional lucha libre had greatly declined (and the freak shows matches worked for a time.) There is a story that this show will be the final event in the history of Arena Coliseo Monterrey, but the only person who is telling this story is the promoter of this KAOZ wrestling show. It’d be sad but fairly understandable if this story came out in any other way or other time, and it’s not too different from CAR The Crash’s sudden closure announcement, but at the moment it seems like a way to sell some tickets.

The KAOZ show is technically headlined by Alberto el Patron vs Konnan Big vs El Divo vs Rey Escorpion vs Carlito, but it’s been pushed locally as just Alberto versus Konnan. Patron is the latest wrestling hero who is going to beat Konnan Big for the disgrace he’s been to lucha libre, and Konnan Big’s got in a few shots questioning Alberto’s wrestling hero status. Chris Master is also randomly booked on the show. It’ll air on Mas Lucha eventually.

Robles has a weekend of shows, where the one in Arena Lopez Mateos is most likely to to air. The original poster focuses on one of Shocker’s weaker photos. He teams with DMT Azul against Black Taurus & Pagano. Someone named The Beast (probably Bestia del Ring) is teaming with La Mascara & Ricky Marvin against Bestia 666, Damian 666 and Mecha Wolf.  Invasion Indy has the tournament final for the NWA (whisper) Mexico Tag Team championship and DTU has their seminar ending show.

Other News

I caught the Republic of Lucha PPV on Wednesday. It’s fine for a $10 show, nothing you have to go out of your way but nothing you have to go out of your way to see. Top Flight vs Arez/Horus or Lince Dorado/Jacob Fatu were the best matches. Fenix and Chavo Guerrero did the announcing. Chavo has been around enough to know what announcing is supposed to be, but he also didn’t seem to know half the people on the show. Fenix knew most of the people but was so into the show as a fan that he would stop calling the action and just react to the moves. It was occasionally entertaining and occasionally distracting; both would’ve been better with a knowledgable announcer alongside them.

The show ended with an angle setting up Penta, Fenix, and Taya against Johnny, Daga, and Tessa Blanchard for some date three months from now. (The week of TripleMania Tijuana seems most likely.) They didn’t use Tessa’s name in the in-ring angle (“[Daga]’s wife”), but that seemed just them getting caught up in the moment. I expected more people to be upset about Tessa being booked and only saw a couple of messages. Maybe it’ll be different when there’s a date and the match is formally announced, or maybe the Republic of Lucha will just not announce matches again and avoid the issue.

04/01 GCW: the WRLD on Lucha

I wish the dial was turned more towards a lucha libre and less towards a GCW show featuring some luchadors, but it is a GCW show. It can’t be easy to put together a lucha libre show with the Martinez show going at the same time and Bandido over in ROH, and there’s probably some pressure to put on names to draw in an audience who’s not familiar with the Mexican names, but it’s still slightly disappointing there’s only three luchador(s) vs luchador(s) matches on a seven match card.

The Monday Arena Coliseo Monclova show has the cops called on them for exceeding the COVID capacity limits. The police didn’t respond until after the show was over, so they couldn’t prove there were too many people there and just warned the building not to do it again. That show was “headlined” by an appearance by professional attractive person Karley Ruiz.

LA Park is involved with a new group called Luchas de Barrio, a concept for running shows focusing on younger wrestlers. (This was the press conference a month back that included Arturo Beristan confirming he’d left CMLL.) There’s a plan here for tryouts and a show on May 14th in Mexico City, but details are scrace. LA Park talked to Record about wanting to be involved in something like this because after experiencing poverty and hardship and closed doors from promoters when he first came to Mexico City, something he never forgot even as he became successful. LA Park also told ESTO he’d like to lose in the TripleMania tournament in Monterrey and Tijuana so he could be in the final in Mexico City (and then win), but he doesn’t want to let his fans in Monterrey down by losing. LA Park is expected to defeat Villano IV in Monterrey; this becomes an entirely different tournament with much higher stakes if he loses.

Add Extreme Tiger to the list of Mexican wrestlers suddenly heading to NOAH. Extreme Tiger (& Jack Evans) wrestled there back in 2010. NOAH needs to share its one cool trick to get foreigners into Japan with NJPW for everyone’s sake, assuming it’s on the up and up.

Segunda Caida writes about the 2021 LA Park vs Rush match.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

An exhibition of lucha libre movie posters will open in Toluca.

TripleMania XXX Chapter 1 (Young Bucks/Vikingo/Fenix), CMLL midweek results,

thecubsfan

AAA

AAA TV (SAT) 04/30/2022 Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
TripleMania XXX, Chapter 1
1) ? vs ??
Marvel Match
2) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 [Copa TripleMania, lumberjack strap]
3) Pentagón Jr. vs Último Dragón [quarterfinal, ruleta de la muerte]
4) Lady Maravilla & Látigo vs Octagón Jr. & Sexy Star and Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti
5) LA Park vs Villano IV [quarterfinal, ruleta de la muerte]
6) Dragón Lee & Dralistico vs Johnny Superstar & Taurus and ? & Laredo Kid
7) Blue Demon Jr. vs Rayo de Jalisco Jr. [quarterfinal, ruleta de la muerte]
8) Bandido, Pagano, Taya vs Andrade, Cibernético, Deonna Purrazzo
9) Canek vs Psycho Clown [quarterfinal, ruleta de la muerte]
10) Fénix & Hijo Del Vikingo vs Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson

The main show will start at 8, with the first two matches airing on a pre-show scheduled at 7. Latin Lover is scheduled to appear and Vampiro is “99% confirmed.” Lots of options for the guy challenging Konnan to a match that probably won’t happen but will make sure he has a role on the big show for the foreigners.

There are 27 people announced for this show. One way to break it down:

  • 9 are those who will only work for AAA on TripleManias (and maybe just this TripleMania)
  • 8 are those who generally only work the big AAA shows, maybe an odd TV
  • 4 are those who appear on AAA TV regularly but do not appear to be bound to an AAA contract (Ciber, Laredo, Taurus, Pagano)
  • 6 are those who appear to be under contract; four of those are in the mixed tag, with just Psycho Clown and Vikingo in the top half of the card.

“TripleMania” is a different promotion than “AAA” and this is not new. Maybe one or two things – usually involving Psycho Clown – will carry over from AAA TV to TripleMania but it’s almost Lucha Underground in the differences. This is the insight you get from someone who forces himself to write long big show previews: there’s been almost no connective tissue between AAA’s weekly product and their big show product for quite a while. These TripleMania shows are for the casual Mexican audiences (Canek, Rayo, Andrade) and the casual US audience (the Young Bucks, Johnny Superstar, also Andrade) with the assumption that the diehard AAA fan is going to turn in any way because it says AAA and TripleMania on the marque. And even if they don’t, they’re hoping the casual fan interest will overwhelm any diehard disinterest; judging from twitter reaction last night, there’s a good chance that’ll be right. If people were buying shows with Flamita/Vikingo as the headliner in great numbers, maybe this story would be different (and maybe it says something for AAA’s own promotional efforts that they lean so heavily on names built up elsewhere when they really need to draw), but this is the situation we’re in. Some of those AAA TV feuds will sneak through on the Verano de Escandalo tier of shows, but it’s not something important to AAA for these shows. I understand why people are disappointed about that, but it’s probably time not to be surprised about it. Just go into this card announcements hoping for a few good matches to sneak through.

Fenix & Hijo del Vikingo versus the Young Bucks, if it happens, will be really really good for people looking into this thing. The three-way tag match could be very good. (Konnan thanked AEW, Impact and MLW before the card announcement and there’s no MLW person on this show yet, so perhaps one in that mystery spot.) The earlier tournament matches seem to have a better chance of turning on OK than the later ones, but that’s probably trying to cater to some old men’s egos by not asking Canek, Demon or Rayo to wrestle earlier. The eight-match is an all-time weirdo trios match which will be compelling even if it doesn’t work. The mixed tag will be good. The Copa TripleMania is supposed to be a lumberjack strap match too, so it’ll be an all time mess; I’m just happy they’re starting at 7 so this has a chance of getting done before midnight.

FITE hasn’t officially announced the show as airing but it’s a safe expectation after the recent shows.

Dorian Roldan said he believed Fenix & Hijo del Vikingo would be healthy for this show. There’s no real reason to trust AAA is telling the truth on these things after they (and Fenix himself) have been consistently dishonest about them. If you’re looking for a reason to believe Fenix will be healthy, he is walking around with a sling and a month longer might be a reasonable time for a return from that point. I’d need to see him in a match before I’d believe he’s wrestling at this point. Vikingo is the opposite, he would seem to have to stop wrestling to get much better and there’s no sign of that. It’d be nice if we got to see the scheduled match and I’m sure everyone hopes it’ll happen, we just have no idea how realistic those hopes are. Laredo Kid would figure to move up to one of those spots if someone’s missing.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 03/21/2022 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla]
Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, 2022 (Puebla)
3) Atlantis b Stuka Jr. Atlantis VS Stuka Jr. | Arena Puebla (21 de Marzo del 2022) (posted by )
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Soberano Jr. DQ Magia Blanca, Rugido, Volador Jr.
Depredadores tried to cheat, but Soberano counted by tossing his mask to Volador to draw the DQ.
5) Místico b Gran Guerrero

CMLL did a good enough job selling this show as important that it got newspaper coverage. It sounds like it was a good one and it looks like a draw; there are people in the upper deck section above the entrance that’s used to be empty. Dory Dixon looked to be in good shape in photos.

CMLL did have a film crew in Arena Puebla, you can see them walking around after the one video that turned up. I think I spot announcers way in the back. Maybe this’ll turn somewhere.

CMLL (TUE) 03/22/2022 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Kaiser Sports]
1) Kaligua & Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia 20220322cmll_match1Kaligua & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
2) Robin, Suicida, Valiente Jr. b Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Raider 20220322cmll_match2Robin, Suicida, Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Raider.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido DQ Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma 20220322cmll_match3Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
Depreadores took 1/3. Magia Blanca faked a foul from Stigma, setting up a rematch next week.
4) Amapola, Dalys, Dark Silueta b La Guerrera, La Jarochita, Lluvia 20220322cmll_match4La Guerrera, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Amapola, Dalys, Dark Silueta.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
Rudas took 1/3, Dalys & Dark Silueta defeating Jarochita & Lluvia to set up a tag title match next week
5) Fugaz, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero 20220322cmll_match5Fugaz, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
Rudos took 1/3, Gran Guerrero (foul on Fugaz) and Rey Bucanero (mask pull on Soberano) cheating to beat the tecnicos.

The top three matches all had angles, which is unusual for a Tuesday. Los Depreadores started at tweeners but seem to be rudo much more often. The main event reads like Bucanero was a sub for the still missing Atlantis Jr.

Dalys brought a Warrior Jr. mask to the ring for her match. In the post match interview, Dalys talked about paying tribute to her recently deceased son-in-law and confirmed he suffered his ultimately fatal injuries in Arena Mexico. (She literally said Warrior Jr. died in Arena Mexico, but I understand that to mean the neck injury in training which later led to his death happened in the building.) Omii Casas also posted a photo of Warrior Jr. (Ramses) in a neck harness of some kind. The last seven months must’ve been extremely hard for that family dealing with all of this quiely.

It’s not going to happen this way because it happened behind closed doors and it’s not being written with the same revernce, but Warrior Jr. should be forever remembered and brought up like Sangre India and Oro Jr., who both died on shows in Arena Coliseo.

CMLL (TUE) 03/22/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara (video), Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha, Mural]
Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, 2022 (Guadalajara)
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Capitán Cobra, Cosmos b Destello, Destructor, Thunder Boy
2) El Divino, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Bobby Black, Carlo Roggi, Fúnebre
3) Explosivo, Flash, Gallo, Joker DQ Cris Skin, Maléfico, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
Turned into an atomico was Flash & Malefico added. Truenos unmasked Flash & Gallo.
4) Stephanie Vaquer b La Magnifica
5) Micro Ángel, Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Átomo, Chamuel, Perico Zacarías
6) Atlantis & Blue Panther DQ Negro Casas & Satánico
Satanico unmasked Altantis for the DQ
7) Averno & Black Warrior b Místico & Titán
Black Warrior Jr. was remembered with a moment of applause before the match with his father in attendance. Averno pulled Mistico’s mask and pinned him for the win.

Mas Lucha posted the video of the Warrior Jr. and Gran Cochisse moments.

CMLL (FRI) 03/25/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito & Shockercito vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Felino Jr., Pólvora, Sangre Imperial vs Nitro, Okumura, Panterita del Ring Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi vs Dalys, La Metálica, Reyna Isis
4) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible
5) Místico, Negro Casas, Titán vs Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Templario

Very much a minor Friday night show after last week’s card. Negro Casas is indeed a tecnco. Vaquerita and Isis match up once again. That’s about it. Maybe the segunda is headed to a Panterita/Imperial title match, though Imperial has vanished since getting to the Gran Alternativa final.

CMLL (MON) 03/28/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Meyer vs Prayer
2) Angelito & Fantasy vs Mercurio & Pequeño Polvora
3) Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma vs Disturbio, Felino Jr., Pólvora
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Magia Blanca, Rugido, Volador Jr. vs Esfinge, Fugaz, Soberano Jr.

That main event is a rematch.

Promotions teasing imminent returns:

Nacion Lucha Libre announced they were returning to ImagenTV “soon”. They had previously said they’d be running shows by this point, but there’s been no sign outside of old matches posted to Facebook. The announcement came through Alberto el Patron’s Facebook page, so he’s still tied up with them, whenever they do run. Maybe we’ll hear more about this after Alberto’s match in KAOZ this weekend, since he’s been doing a lot of promotional work for that.

Kriminal Lucha Libre posted a countdown. They haven’t run since last August when they started a women’s tournament which never ended.

Other News

The Republic of Lucha show airs tonight on FITE at 9 pm CT (or directly after Dynamite). It’s a $10 show. They did get a full lineup on the show page. I’m mildly fearful of what a show announced by just Chavo Guerero and Fenix will sound like. The Republic of Lucha hasn’t promoted this show much on Twitter since the original announcement, but they’re more Instagram people and have done so there. I find that to be true with a lot of lucha libre people: it’s Facebook 1 (though falling), Instagram 2 and Twitter a distant third.

IWRG (THU) 03/24/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Roja & Nativo vs Kenji & Rey Eclipse
2) Genex & Pantera I Jr. vs Rey Halcón & X-Devil
3) Aster Boy, Legendario, Noisy Boy vs Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka, Tortuga Leo
4) Fulgor, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Yorvak vs Accion Jackson, Brad Alexis, Travis Banks
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura vs Big Boy, Big Chicoche, Big Mike

Las Shotas and Stripper Bigs back at it. Yorvak winning the Tryout seems to have paid off for his coach, Fulgor.

Nuevo Leon luchador Ulises Gutierrrez passed away on Tuesday. He wrestled as Energy Boy, Antrax Jr., and last Draxuz. His final public Facebook post from last month was an announcement that he was retiring from wrestling because his battle with cancer over the last seven months left him unable to come back to ring. I don’t have an age; he looked to be in his early 20s.

KAOZ’s Director Alonso Botello was at the TripleMania Monterrey press conference to promote his own show this weekend; MedioTiempo got confused and publicized his lineup as people coming to TripleMania at one point. Botello also is pushing the idea that this is the last show at Arena Coliseo Monterrey and they’re totally tearing it down afterward unless a miracle happens, so everyone needs to buy tickets to go the building one last time. I’m skeptical that’ll actually be the last show.

04/01 MLW Azteca Underground (afternoon)

04/01 the WRLD on Lucha

There are some matches on these shows I wouldn’t expect on a lucha libre show, but maybe that’s me.

The 04/01 Legend show in Queretaro has been postponed due to government permission issues. This follows the 03/19 show there also getting postponed. The March 6th Arena Queretaro show may have just sneaked in under the radar; the violence at the March 5th Queretaro/Atlas Liga MX game seems to make it tougher to get events approved in the city for the moment. Legend also canceled their 04/02 show so there may be additional issues.

Abismo Negro Jr. is off the 04/02 US vs the World show, with Fight Panther & Golden Dragon added in his place.

In NOAH, NOSAWA announced Texano Jr. would be coming in as a new member of Perros del Mal Japon. No date was mentioned. Texano leaving AAA to go on his own appeared a strange move last year but it seems to have worked out for him. NOAH also announced Dragon Bane vs Alpha Wolf vs Ninja Mack for their 04/29 show; those three and Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. will also be on their 04/30 show.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report and this week’s Poster-Mania.

Vaqeurita loses his hair and Los Malditos Trios champs at H2L, Warrior Jr.

thecubsfan 3 Comments

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/18/2022 Arena México [AS, CMLL, Cronista del Ring, Estrellas del Ring, Excelsior, Furia del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, Publimetro, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
CMLL Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, 2022
1) Eléctrico, Halcón Suoriano Jr., Robin b Cachorro, El Suicida, Panterita del Ring Jr. Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr y Robin Vs Panterita del Ring Jr, Suicida y Cachorro Lagunero en H2L (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
12:26. One fall. Cachorro replaced Oro Jr. on March 7th.
2) Negro Casas b Templario Mano a Mano Negro Casas Vs Templario en H2L Arena México (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
8:22. Three falls. Apparently blown finish where Templario was late on kicking out and referee counted him down at three. Templario physically blocked the referee from awarding the win to Casas until Casas could roll him up again for another pinfall, only the cradle was botched. Casas wrapped Templario up with a casita to end it. Casas declared he wanted to be a tecnico going forward.
3) Marcela & Metálica b La Vaquerita & Reyna Isis [final, relevos suicidas] Marcela y Metálica se salvan de la quema en H2L derrotando a Reyna Isis y Vaquerita (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Reyna I gana la cabellera de La Vaquerita en Homenaje a Dos Leyendas (posted by mluchatv)
6:48
4) Reyna Isis b La Vaquerita [hair] CMLL - REYNA ISIS - VAQUERITA VS METÁLICA - MARCELA / ARENA MEXICO 18 DE MARZO DE 2022 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Vaquerita Vs Reyna Isis cabellera contra máscara en Homenaje a 2 Leyendas, Arena México (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
7:44. Isis won with Arkangel’s old submission finisher. Ringo Mendoza was honored after the match.
5) Gran Guerrero & Mephisto b Sagrado, Niebla Roja [CMLL TRIOS, battle royal]
a pinfall/submission elimination match instead of over the top but similar quality
6) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible [CMLL TRIOS, semifinal]
8:39.
7) Atlantis, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Hechicero, Mephisto, Mephisto [CMLL TRIOS, semifinal]
5:35. Atlantis replaced Atlantis Jr. for unclear reasons.
8) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Atlantis, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [CMLL TRIOS, final] CMLL - CUADRANGULAR POR EL CAMPEONATO MUNDIAL DE TERCIAS / ARENA MEXICO 18 DE MARZO DE 2022 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Los Malditos nuevos campeones mundiales de tríos del CMLL derrotan a Los Guerreros de la Atlántida (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Místico y Averno vencen a TJP y Volador Jr en Homenaje a Dos Leyendas (posted by mluchatv)
5:18. Los Gemelos Diablos pulled a switch to roll up Ultimo Guerrero, who complained loudly about it to the referee
9) Averno & Místico b TJP (Teddy James Perkins) & Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles] CMLL - TJP - VOLADOR JR. VS AVERNO - MÍSTICO / ARENA MEXICO 18 DE MARZO DE 2022 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Místico y Averno vencen a TJP y Volador Jr en Homenaje a Dos Leyendas (posted by mluchatv) Místico y Averno Vs TJP y Volador Jr en lucha estrella de Homenaje a Dos Leyendas del CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
19:29. Team Mistico took 2/3, the last when Volador had Mistico beat was La Mistica but Averno snuck in a foul and Mistico got the pin. Mistico was aware of the foul and didn’t seem to have an issue with it. All four hung around post-match as if challenges were coming but no microphone appeared.

This was not one of those disappointing lineups on paper which turned out better in reality. Volador worked very hard in the main event, there were some fun highlights in the opener, but this was nothing special as a show overall. None of the trios tournament matches were particularly good, the main event ended strangely (even more for the milling around than the ‘wait, is Mistico a rudo?’ bit), and the Casas/Templario match was hurt by going three falls. Vaquerita was visibly exhausted for most of her hair match; a Spanish Fly spot near the end was ill-considered and almost went badly wrong. The moment honoring Ringo Mendoza was fantastic, but there’s nothing here you need to go out of your way to see when it turns up on YouTube in two weeks.

CMLL gave no explanation as to why Atlantis Jr. did not appear, and the Los Guerreros team did not do post-match interviews. Atlantis Jr. did interviews promoting the match on Wednesday, so this wasn’t a change long in the planning. He’s not listed on any upcoming cards, though CMLL hasn’t announced anything past Tuesday. I believed Los Guerreros were meant to win the trios titles, so Los Malditos winning instead makes some sense if Atlantis Jr. was temporary unavailable. Atlantis Sr. winning the belts instead would’ve messed up plans, and Los Malditos would stand to gain the most from even a short reign. It could be Sagrado and Los Gemelo Diablos were meant for the titles all along. The post-match teased an immediate rematch, we’ll see if it happens.

CMLL (SAT) 03/19/2022 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha, CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Mas Lucha, The Gladiatores]
1) Bengala & Leono b Apocalipsis & Cholo
tecnicos took 2/3
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Skadi b Amapola, La Seductora, Tiffany
tecnicos took 1/3
3) Dulce Gardenia, Pólvora, Volcano DQ Disturbio, Hombre Bala Jr., Kráneo [Relevos Increíbles] Disturbio Cmll Arena Coliseo CDMX. 19.03.2022 (posted by Princesa Dorada) Disturbio Cmll Arena Coliseo CDMX. 19.03.2022 (posted by Princesa Dorada) Disturbio Cmll Arena Coliseo CDMX. 19.03.2022-2 (posted by Princesa Dorada)
Kraneo and Volcano started off refusing to fight but then had issues, leading to Kraneo unmasking Volcano and Volcano demanding a singles match with his usual partner
4) Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., El Coyote b Fugaz, Soberano Jr., Star Jr.
Rudos took 2/3. Cavernario pulled Soberano’s mask to win, then the rudos unmasked all the tecnicos. Rematch challenges followed.
5) Hechicero b Gran Guerrero [CMLL HEAVY]
2nd defense.

Hechicero versus Gran Guerrero was said to be great. CMLL probably single cam taped it and we’ll get to see a couple of minutes from it.

CMLL (SUN) 03/20/2022 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Full Metal, Pequeño Polvora, Pierrothito b Fantasy, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía
2) Micro Ángel, Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Átomo, Chamuel, Mije
Team Diablo took 1/3.
3) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus
Rudos took 1/3.
4) Esfinge & Fugaz b Felino Jr. & Pólvora © [MEX TAG]
Felino & Polvora fall on their second defense (and first title match outside of Arena Puebla). Esfinge and Fugaz are the 33rd modern champions.
5) Místico, Soberano Jr., Titán b Dragón Rojo Jr., Felino, Terrible
tecnicos took 2/3

I didn’t see that title change coming; three titles changes in eight months is a lot for CMLL. (Three title matches in eight months would be a lot; they had five.) The title change should air on 04/01.

CMLL said the Universal tournament and the Arena Mexico Anniversary show would take place next month. Neither event has happened in two years due to the pandemic; there’s a good chance the final of the tournament will be on that Anniversary show, probably April 29th with blocks on April 15 and 22nd. The current men’s main division champions:

  1. Angel de Oro (CMLL Tag, National Lightheavyweight)
  2. Cancerbero (National Trios)
  3. Esfinge (National Tag)
  4. Euforia (National Heavyweight)
  5. Fugaz (National Tag)
  6. Gemelo Diablo I (CMLL Trios)
  7. Gemelo Diablo II (CMLL Trios)
  8. Hechicero (CMLL Heaavyweight)
  9. Mistico (CMLL Middleweight)
  10. Niebla Roja (CMLL Light Heavyweight, CMLL Tag)
  11. Panterita del Ring Jr. (Mexican Lightweight)
  12. Raziel (National Trios) but also injuried
  13. Sagrado (CMLL Trios)
  14. Soberano Jr. (CMLL Middleweight)
  15. Stuka Jr. (NWA Light Heavyweight)
  16. Stigma (CMLL Super Lightweight)
  17. Templario (Mexican Middleweight)
  18. Titan (CMLL Weltwerweight)
  19. Volador Jr. (NWA Welterweight)
  20. Virus (National Trios)

The Mexican national middleweight & Arena Coliseo Tag Team championships are vacant, though the Coliseo title has only been used for this as an injury sub. This has always generally been a 16 person tournament but CMLL could put in as many people as they want, there are no rules. Atlantis Jr. versus Stuka (NWA LH champ) would’ve made sense if Atlantis had won the trios titles, and it’s possible that could still happen if they hurry.

The Arena Coliseo Anniversary show should be coming up on April 2nd (79 years to the day it was opened), but there’s been no mention of it yet.

Puebla tonight has Atantis Sr. vs Stuka and Mistico vs Gran Guerrero today.

CMLL (TUE) 03/22/2022 Arena México
1) Kaligua & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Robin, Suicida, Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Raider
3) Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
4) La Guerrera, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Amapola, Dalys, Dark Silueta
5) Fugaz, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero

A less active Tuesday show this week.

Raider is questionable at best. He worked the AAA spot show in Saltillo on Saturday and is listed on a show there locally on Monday, so he may have gone home already.

Atlantis told Milenio he’d die if he stopped wrestling. He means it figuratively – Atlantis claims he’s going to vanish one day and delete his social media presence, and do it without announcing it ahead of time – but he doesn’t know if it’ll be six months or five years from now.

AAA

This week’s AAA TV, the last half from Merida, was a good episode. The three way tag was very and did a lot to highlight Gringo Loco & Jack Cartwheel, helpful if they’re going to be around a lot. The opening trios was good as well; Octagon Jr.’s finish got a lot of attention. The main event got good in the last few minutes, though NGD are better off in a short matches if they’re not going to go with a strong effort until the end.

Sanson beat Dave the Clown to win the Vive Latino championship, the final match of their two days of shows at the venue. This title is defended once a year at this festival, so you’ll forget it exists unless Sanson shows up on TV.

I haven’t seen full results from the AAA BRB show on Saturday in Saltillo, but the Laredo Kid/Bandido/Vikingo three way match ended up as the first ever Bandido versus Vikingo with Laredo Kid at Impact. That show was taped for Mas Lucha and will likely turn up in a few months time. Estrellas del Ring also has a Saltillo fan cam person, so it could show up on their YouTube much sooner. This Facebook page has six minutes of the match.

The Saltillo show seems to have drawn very well; it’s 6,500 seat venue and it looks close to sold out. The AAA TV tapings haven’t done especially well, but other shows have. I wonder if Mexico is in for a year where all big entertainment events, especially those away from Mexico City, due better than normal becuase there’s been so few of them over the last two years.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 03/20/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Mini Demon Rocker & Mini Spirit b Mini Raider & Relampaguito
2) Fulgor & Yorvak b Shocko & Tito Moran and Estrella de Oro & Hell Boy ¡Tenemos lucha de triangular de parejas, de Chile y Argentina, y el gandor del TryOut! (posted by mluchatv)
Hell Boy replaced Relampago (moved up)
3) Freelance © DQ Puma de Oro [IWRG REY DEL AIRE] La Rebelión de los Jrs | ¡Puma de Oro (R) VS Freelance (C) por el Campeonato Rey del Aire! (posted by mluchatv)
1st defense
4) Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro, Hijo del Alebrije, Noisy Boy b Accion Jackson, Brad Alexis, Lil Blay, Travis Banks La Rebelión de los Jrs | ¡Vuelos y acciones de México VS Resto del Mundo! (posted by mluchatv) La Rebelión de los Jrs | ¡Ya comenzó México VS Resto del Mundo! (posted by mluchatv)
Dr. Cerbero, Cerebro Negro and Relampago replaced Alpha Wolf, Dragon Bane and Noisy Boy
5) Toxin © b Aster Boy [IWRG MEXICO] La Rebelión de los Jrs | ¡Así sorprendió Toxin (C) a Aster Boy (R) en la lucha de Campeonato (posted by mluchatv) La Rebelión de los Jrs | Toxin sigue como campeón y hay retos entre Yorvak y Aster Boy (posted by mluchatv)
7th defense. Yorvack challenged Aster Boy to a IWRG LIGHT title match.
6) Dick Angelo 3G b Villano V Jr., El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Hijo De Dos Caras, Hijo del Pantera, Capo Mayor, Rey Arkano, Cerebro Negro Jr., Halloween Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan [Rebelion de los Juniors] ¡Así comenzó la REBELIÓN DE LOS JRS, evento estelar de la Arena Naucalpan! (posted by mluchatv)
Dick Angelo 3G won, beating Hijo del Pirata with some help from Puma de Oro. Rey Arkano, the son of Bobby Lee Jr., was the surprise wrestler.

Dick Angelo 3G getting the win over more known guys is a surprise; it’s rare IWRG goes that strong with their own in-house names.

Relampago suffered some head/neck injury in his match bad enough that they needed an ambulance.

No word as to why Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane didn’t appear. In an interview from Thursday, they said they’d be going to NOAH in late April. They also said they’d be heading to the US soon.

IWRG announced they’d signed 2022 Tryout Yorvack to a five year deal. That doesn’t actually sound great for Yorvack if it’s real but it may not be real. This bit did reveal a bit about the current IWRG management team

  • IWRG President: Marco Antonio Morneo Madrid
  • director of new projects: Ivannia Moreno Tolsá
  • director of marketing: Marco Moreno Tolsá
  • programming coordiandor: Alejandro Álvarez

Leonardo Peña Durante & Warrior Jr.

Leonardo Peña Durante, a 17 year old training to become a wrestler, passed away on March 10 due to an injury suffered during wrestling training in Apaxco, Mexico State. The situation was not wildly known until a family member posted about it on Facebook. Their version of events is Peña started training on March 1st under a luchador known as Pancho Pantera. (Many wrestlers have used that name, though none have been active recently in Mexico State lineups I have; he’s either very old or also using another name.) Peña took a powerbomb onto his head on two consecutive sessions. The first left him hurt enough to leave the ring, though he never lost consciousness. The second one left him faint, and he went into conclusions. There was no medical personal of first aid kit on hand; they just tried to wake him up with water. They did call an ambulance, but the ambulance had no doctor – they had to go pick one up, and Peña passed away before they made it to the hospital. “Pancho Pantera” did not accompany Peña in the ambulance and did not have any certification to show he was qualified to teach minors; he also didn’t talk to the family in the week after the accident, and it doesn’t seem like the government reached out beyond the person who runs the facility informing them that their son was hurt.

It is insane that this kid (and presumably everyone in training) was taking powerbombs within days of starting to train. I’ve never been in wrestling training, but I’ve seen enough that I know there should’ve been weeks if not months of learning to fall safely before trying something like that.

The Apaxco government issued a statement in response. They’re canceling all lucha libre classes at that venue, and asking for all sports classes to be canceled in the city where there is no certification for the teachers. They’re also looking to improve the medical situation at places where classes are held. I’m not sure how much of those changes will actually take place; lucha libre and lucha libre training tends to slip under the radar quickly after these incidents.

Omii Casas, in a Facebook post on Monday, writes about the last day of her husband Warrior Jr. He returned from a match in Guadalajara very late, got two hours of sleep, they had breafast, and he went to go train, excited about his dream coming true soon. Warrior Jr. suffered the injury that would kill him in that training session. Casas talks about the difficulties of the last seven months and the love she still has for her husband.

The injury likely took place on August 11th; August 10th was Warrior Jr.’s last match. Miguel Reducindo’s column also said “an injury occurred during training.” Miguel Fonseca’s report mentioned Warrior Jr. suffered a severe spinal issue, which fit with the description of the struggles of the last seven months. There’s a couple of photos of Warrior during the last few months which attempt to obscure the fact that Warrior Jr. is laying down in them; the spinal injury may left him with some level of paralysis. There are also unsourced reports from the last few days, and it’s likely that’s connected to the original injury.

CMLL wrestlers are expected to train reguarlly at Arena Mexico. Volador likely was holding additional training for Los Depredaores, who were just about a month away from debuting. Those sort of indivudal classes might be held elsewhere in Mexico City, and Warrior Jr. could’ve been training more elswhere on his own.  Casas’ post is non-specific on the training. It’s possible Warrior Jr.’s fatal injury happened in a CMLL ring, but we don’t really know.

CMLL did not hold a moment of applause for Warrior Jr. on Friday. Volador Jr. wore a black armband, which I presume was for Warrior Jr. but was never specifically acknowledged as much. Volador also did not participate in any post-match interviews. De-empazing Warrior Jr. got the media to move onto straight Homenaje a Dos Leyendas coverage without any further discussion into what happened.

I wonder what the October CMLL Informa interview segment with three doctors to put over CMLL’s medical care of their wrestlers was really about now.

Today is the 7th year anniversary of Perro Aguayo Jr. passing away due to his own neck injury. It’s hard to know what could’ve been done different in that case, but it often doesn’t feel like much has changed. Or there was always so much that needed to be improved and it’s not close to being done.

Other News

The Crash (FRI) 03/18/2022 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [The Crash, TJ Sports]
1) Terror Azteca b Lanzer, Kamik-C, Mirage, Ryan Kidd [Copa Juvenil The Crash 2022]
2) Destiny b Séptimo Dragón, Black Danger, Skalibur [The Crash CRUISER]
vacant title (Dinamico)
3) Próximo b Toto [hardcore]
hair match challenges followed
4) Arandú, Star Boy, Zarco b Bugambilia, Súper Astro Jr., Zumbi
5) Dragón Lee (Indie) & Dralistico b Steve Filip & Tome Filip [The Crash TAG]
scheduled for Bestia/Mecha’s The Crash tag championship, but they didn’t appear (NWA) and titles didn’t appear on the line
6) Cinta de Oro b Penta Zero M, Lince Dorado [The Crash HEAVY]
vacant title (Hijo del Vikingo champ). Cinta pinned Lince and was billed as new champion, though they didn’t appear to have the actual physical belt – Cinta’s IOWC championship was presented.

This was said to be one of the weaker Crash shows in a while, and surely looks that much on paper. They didn’t draw as well as with Santo last time out. La Rebelion were in the US for the NWA on Saturday and Sunday, it’s possible they couldn’t make a Friday The Crash show. It wasn’t explained in the building if that was the case, they were just missing from the opening video.

The Crash announced they’d be back on 05/13, which is a bit longer than usual. Outside names announced

  • JONAH
  • Travis Banks
  • Marty Scurll
  • Eric Redbeard
  • Rey Horus

Scurll worked The Crash occasionally before the pandemic and before he was exiled from most English speaking wrestling promotions. That doesn’t matter to The Crash and it was inevitable he’d be back here. Banks is no surprise either.

Robles Promotions also announced they’re bringing in Marty Scurll too. All these groups are looking for international names and unconcerned with any baggage that comes with them. Scurll and especially Banks may not be considered significant stars outside of Mexico but even the slightest bit of fame carries a lot to these promoters. It doesn’t seem to matter as much to fans – Austin Aries won the X-LAW championship on their show Saturday in Arena Lopez Mateos to a disappointing turnout for a “name” promotion – but these are promoter decisions.

The Republic of Lucha promotion had it debut show on Saturday. It was advertised as one-year anniversary special, but Penta, Fenix, and others came out at the end to talk about it becoming a regular thing with a next show in three months and hopes of becoming the new PWG. Judging from how many matches end up changing along the way and their inability to ever announce a lineup, that’s going to be a hard goal to reach. They did draw a sell-out for this outdoor show. Penta, Fenix, and friends wrestling quarterly near Los Angeles in a small venue is going to have no problem drawing. Three months from now would put the next show around TripleMania Tijuana, which would be a good weekend to draw.

Fenix appeared to apologize for not wrestling. I wonder if we’ll finally get a real estimate on his return time now that all these shows he wasn’t going to make are over, or if we’ll get a new run of events where it’s unclear if he’ll make any of them or not. Konnan also appeared, talked about his part in discovering the Lucha Brothers, and once again hinted about big plans for the US market.

I don’t have full results for the show, but we did finally have a lineup:

  • Lucas Riley vs Cameron Gates, Dom Kubrick [Santino Brothers Champ]
    • might be a dark match
  • Danny Limelight & Slice Boogie vs Steve Filip & Tome Filip
  • Jacob Fatu vs Lince Dorado
  • Dante Martin & Darius Martin vs Arez & Rey Horus
  • Chik Tormenta vs Taya
  • Penta vs Johnny Caballero

The delayed PPV will now air at 9 pm CT, after Dynamite. I’m not sure who did the announcing, Fenix and Chavo Guerrero were both seen at the booth.

Lucha Va Voom, which seems tied in with Republic of Lucha, announced their next shows will be on May 5th and 6th as soon as this one was over. DMT Azul, Rey Horus, Taya and Magno are announced.

04/01 MLW

NJPW announced their Best of the Super Junior tournament will return to it’s usual May spot. It’s theoritically possible Mexican wrestlers may participate, but there has been no outside foreginer wrestlers booked on NJPW late and it’d be a nice surprise if any luchador shows up. Maybe Mascara Dorada has the best chance of anyone, since he’s the only one NJPW is bringing in for US shows. Robles announced a show for 05/22 which includes Dragon Lee, so he doens’t appear to have been told to keep those days clear. Dragon Lee’s twitter post on it suggests he found out when the tournament was happening as soon as anyone else.

RIOT has a video building up the Arez/Promteo title match this weekend.

Segunda Caida watches some 1995 lucha.

Warrior Jr. (1997-2022), Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, AAA weekend TV

thecubsfan

Warrior Jr. 

CMLL luchador Warrior Jr. passed away on Thursday. Warrior Jr., also billed as Black Warrior Jr., was a fourth-generation CMLL/EMLL wrestler. He was the son of Black Warrior, the grandson of Mano Negra, and the great grandson of El Rebelde. His family included the Panthers and the Casas family; he was married to Negro Casas daughter Omii Casas, and they had two children together. While Warrior Jr. was an independent wrestler, he and Omii promoted shows under the “RO Wrestling” name, using their initials. He came off on the indies as a guy with big ideas and enthusiasm, and a youthful inability to follow through on them.

Warrior had most recently been part of CMLL’s training school and apparently a few times in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara in 2021. His last known match was at that building on August 10th. Warrior Jr. was announced for the August 13th show but didn’t appear. He was listed on other later indie shows but doesn’t seem to have appeared on them. Warrior Jr. was training with Volador Jr. at that time and was expected to be one of Los Depredadores, but never ended up introduced as one of them. Volador did hint early on that there was an additional member yet to be revealed, which may have been Warrior Jr.; that extra member hadn’t been mentioned in recent months.

A luchador passing away at 24 is very strange, and the fact that no one’s explaining what happening – not even attempting a cover story to move attention away from that glaring omission – suggests it’s a sad situation, a rock that no one wants to turn over to find out the mess underneath. CMLL and Warrior’s family have not mentioned a cause of death, and the media stories on Warrior Jr.’s death are just relying on those social media posts.

Miguel Fonseca, who hosts a YouTube wrestling news/opinion channel in addition to running X-LAW, posted a short obituary video for Warrior Jr. In that video, Fonseca says Warrior Jr. suffered a “serious spinal injury” and passed away as a result. No one else has reported this as far as I’ve seen. There are some social media clues that something serious happened with Warrior Jr. last August and a serious injury fits with Warrior Jr.’s abrupt disappearance from wrestling. Fonseca’s video includes no further details about the injury. I know enough of Fonseca that I believe he’d only share a cause of death like that if he believed the story to be true.

Negro Casas, Warrior Jr.’s father-in-law, is scheduled to wrestle tonight in Arena Mexico. Black Warrior is scheduled to return to Arena Coliseo Guadalajara on Tuesday. It would be understandable if either or both of those matches changed. CMLL acknowledged Warrior Jr.’s passing on social media and they likely will have a moment of applause for him tonight in Arena Mexico.

CMLL

Homenaje a Dos Leyendas is tonight. It’s a show; I dug more into it on Voices of Wrestling and found a show that should be fine but doesn’t feel like one of the bigger shows on paper. I’m giving CMLL a lot of benefit of the doubt by assuming they got scared by that January shut down and didn’t want to build up a big show in case another shut down came up, because it feels like a lot like the pandemic “big” events of the last two years.

The lightweight opener should be good. The main event should be fun if they’re not rushed for time. Casas/Templario should be reliably good if it still happens. It’d be a fine “big show of April” card, it’s just not one of the biggest shows of the year. What little build there was for this show was for things people aren’t that invested in; the women’s apuesta match doesn’t have much interest outside of those who are always intensely into the women, Casas/Templario came out of nowhere, there’s been no build towards the trios title match. There’s no anticipation like there should be, no matter what the situation was coming into it.

The show will air on TicketMaster Live for a little over 11 USD at 8:30 pm local. Remember, this is an hour later than usual if you switched your clocks this past week. It’ll air on TV next week and go up on YouTube the week following, where many more people will see it.

I haven’t been keeping a close eye on in-person tickets, but they don’t appear to be moving well. It’ll probably pick up closer to show time.

CMLL posted a video with various legends and wrestlers paying tribute to Ringo Mendoza. I would’ve cut out Skandalo’s video for filming his vertically, but I’m a terrible person.

This weekend includes a Hechicero vs Gran Guerrero CMLL World Heavyweight championship on Saturday and Felino Jr. & Polvora defending the national tag titles against Esfinge & Fugaz on Sunday. Champions figure to retain in both.

CMLL (MON) 03/21/2022 Arena Puebla
Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, 2022 (Puebla)
1) Asturiano, Cachorro, Robin vs Perverso, Siky Ozama, Toro Bill Jr.
2) Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
3) Atlantis vs Stuka Jr.
4) Magia Blanca, Rugido, Volador Jr. vs Esfinge, Fugaz, Soberano Jr.
5) Místico vs Gran Guerrero

Puebla gets its own Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show, with two singles matches and probably a very good semi-main. The Depredadores matches are going to be emotional with Warrior Jr.’s passing; they may pay tribute to their missing member for a while.

50/60/70s legend Dory Dixon will be honored; he still lives in Puebla at last work. Like Gran Cochisse, he’s worthy of being honored in the big Arena Mexico celebration too, but there are so many names that fit there and it’s good they’re honoring Dixon while he’s still around to feel it.

CMLL announced they’d fill the Arena Coliseo Tag Team championships next Saturday in another one night tournament. They originally announced 7 teams, then corrected to list a normal eight:

  • Rey Cometa & Espiritu Negro
  • Akuma & Espanto Jr.
  • Diamond & Magia Blanca
  • Pegasso & Stigma
  • Magnus & Rugido
  • Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin
  • Guerrero Maya Jr. & Esfinge
  • Dark Panther & Cachorro

It would be good for the Los Depreadores act for someone besides to win a title, so my guess is it’ll be one of those two teams.

When listing all the vacant CMLL titles, I forgot the Mexican National Welterweight title is still unfilled after Soberano gave it up a few months ago.

Discounted CMLL tickets are one of many benefits being offered as part of a Mexico program to keep at-risk kids in school. The Mi Beca para Empezar program will allow kids to attend CMLL shows for 10 pesos along with a paying adult, in specific sections.

AAA

AAA TV this week on Space (6:30 pm local, one hour later than usual due to DST), finishing off the 03/05 show from Madero

  • Mr. Iguana, Myzteiz Jr., Octagon Jr. vs Flamita, Latigo, Toxin
  • Heavy Metal & Laredo Kid vs Bandido & Jack Cartwheel vs Abismo Negro Jr. & Gringo Loco
  • NGD vs Chessman, Pagano, Psycho Clown

The three way tag match was said to be the best match from the taping live. I plan on streaming this show on Twitch.

Abismo Negro Jr., Laredo Kid, and Estrellita are off Saturday’s AAA spot show in Saltillo, due to AAA apparently forgetting they were booked in Impact or at the Vive Latino festival. Heavy Metal, La Maravilla, Sanson and Forastero have been added. This is the local promoter announcing changes; AAA still isn’t in the business of doing so. The semi-main was supposed to be Laredo vs Vikingo vs Bandido; I’m not sure if Heavy Metal goes in Laredo’s spot or if they’re doing Vikingo & Bandido vs Sanson & Forastero. That show is usually taped for Mas Lucha (and we got Vive Latino handhelds pre-pandemic.)

Impact tapes Friday and Saturday in Philadelphia. Taurus isn’t booked those days so he’s probably going with Laredo. They’ve missed the last two tapings due to AAA date conflicts.

Pagano appeared in a video protesting the building of a convention center in Ciudad Juarez on what is now parkland.

The WON notes Estrellita replaced Sam Adonis in Sunday’s match in Merida; Adonis had travel issues. There’s also a note that AAA wants to find a third for the Hamburgesa/Iguana trio; the idea those two have plans was teased on TV.

There’s also an update about Kenny Omega’s return timeline in the WON, in that there is no specific return timeline. He’s getting his sports hernia surgery at the end of March, he’s still recovering from knee surgery, and there may be other injuries. The implied context of the update is “don’t expect him for AEW’s Double or Nothing”, but it reads like there’s little chance Omega is returning of AAA’s TripleMania in Tijuana this June. Maybe the last TripleMania in CDMX, if an Omega return is still even in the cards at this point. My big reading from this is Omega was really messed up by the end of his AEW title reign and they were lucky to get him to gut it out as long as he did.

The AAA Aguascalientes promoter posted a message reading only “Verano de Escandalo“. It was unclear if AAA was going to run the Verano/Heroes Inmortales/Guerra de Titanes shows this year with the three TripleManais. A Verano de Escandalos show in Aguascalientes would make a lot of sense given how well past spot shows have drawn there.

Other Notes

IWRG , LLB (THU) 03/17/2022 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del Ring, IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Fantasma De La Ópera I, Fantasma De La Ópera II, Power Bull b Davo, Gravedad Cero, Ska Boy EN VIVO: ¡4 Leyendas vivientes en el mismo ring! (posted by mluchatv) Fantasmas de la Ópera I, II y Power Bull vs Ska Boy, Davo y Gravedad Cero LUCHA LIBRE BOOM (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
2) Arturo Gaona, Dark Horus, Demencia, Hijo De Brazo De Platino b Caramelo, El Divino, Juan Diego, Pinochito Divino, Juan Diego, Pinochito y Caramelo vs Arturo Gaona, Demencia, Dark Horus e H Brazo de Platino (posted by Estrellas del Ring) EN VIVO: ¡4 Leyendas vivientes en el mismo ring! (posted by mluchatv)
3) Artemiz & Princesa Azul b Big Mami & Mary Caporal and Diosa Quetzal & Sagitarius [LLM WOMEN TAG] EN VIVO: ¡4 Leyendas vivientes en el mismo ring! (posted by mluchatv) Princesa Azul y Artemiz vs Diosa Quetzal y Sagitarious vs Big Mami y Mary Caporal LUCHA LIBRE BOOM (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
Lucha Libre Magazine championship
4) Noicy Boy b Freelance, Tonalli, Chicanito, Belial, Cerebro Negro Jr. EN VIVO: ¡4 Leyendas vivientes en el mismo ring! (posted by mluchatv) Freelance/Noicy Boy/Impulso/Belial/Tonalli/Chicanito/Cerebro Negro Jr LUCHA LIBRE BOOM/IWRG (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
5) Carta Brava Jr. (LLB), Cerebro Negro, Fantasma de la Ópera b Corsario Negro, Drako, Fulgor EN VIVO: ¡4 Leyendas vivientes en el mismo ring! (posted by mluchatv) Fantasma de la Ópera, Cerebro Negro y Carta Brava vs Corsario Negro Jr, Drako y Fulgor Primero BOOM (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
match was followed by an Erika Canseco dance number
6) Cíclope & Miedo Extremo DCOR Alpha Wolf & Dragón Bane Dragon Bane y Alpha Wolf vs Miedo Extremo y Cíclope LUCHA LIBRE BOOM/IWRG (posted by Estrellas del Ring) EN VIVO: ¡4 Leyendas vivientes en el mismo ring! (posted by mluchatv)
Ciclope did a moonsault off the lower entranceway to setup the countout.
7) Canek & Octagón DQ Dr. Wagner Jr. & Fuerza Guerrera Canek y Octagon vs DR. Wagner Jr y Fuerza Guerrera LUCHA LIBRE BOOM/IWRG (posted by Estrellas del Ring) Canek y Octagon Vs Dr. Wagner Jr y Fuerza Guerrera en la Arena Naucalpan con Boom e IWRG (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) EN VIVO: ¡4 Leyendas vivientes en el mismo ring! (posted by mluchatv) Locura en Arena Naucalpan por 4 leyendas: Fuerza Guerrera, Dr. Wagner Jr, Canek y Octagon (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
Dr. Wagner replaced DMT Azul after about a week, fouled Canek for the DQ. Canek challenged him to a hair versus mask match before TripleMania XXX.

The show seemed short of a sellout, but that’s great for a Thursday night show. The old wrestlers move like old wrestlers but they still mean something if used sparingly.

In the women’s match, Quetzal & Sagitarius tried to give Big Mami a middle rope superplex and it went bad. Quetzal slipped off the ropes while delivering the move, and Mami essentially took a DDT bump. She rolled out and didn’t come back in; her partner was eliminated soon after. It was a poorly designed and executed spot.

Fuerza Guerrera announced he’s restarted his pandemic-delays retirement tour, with the idea he’ll retire in December 23, 2023 in Arena Mexico. I’m skeptical of all Mexican wrestling retirement tours in execution but I’d believe Fuerza wants to do that at this moment.

Octagon said he’d be willing to put up his mask against Fuerza Guerrera if the people want it. I may be reading too much into this, but I think Octagon is trying to walk back his “I’ll only put up my mask for 15 million pesos” comments of a few months back.  Fuerza Guerrera said his mask wouldn’t be worth as much. The eternal Guerrera/Octagon feud only works if fans (and more so promoters) believe they’re still slowly heading to their mask match, Octagon naming a ridiculous price exposed that it wasn’t actually happening, and so Octagon has to sell people on the possibility again.

Dragon Bane called Los Macizos “anti-professional” in a post-match interview. Bane & Lupus have been accused of being the same by others. They may have expected to win in their home arena and Los Macizos may have not been interested in losing; it’s a curious double countout.

IWRG (SUN) 03/20/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Mini Raider & Relampaguito vs Mini Demon Rocker & Mini Spirit
2) Fulgor & Yorvak vs Shocko & Tito Moran and Estrella de Oro & Relámpago
3) Freelance © vs Puma de Oro [IWRG REY DEL AIRE]
4) Alpha Wolf, Dragón Bane, Hijo del Alebrije, Noisy Boy vs Accion Jackson, Brad Alexis, Lil Blay, Travis Banks
5) Toxin © vs Aster Boy [IWRG MEXICO]
6) Villano V vs El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Dick Angelo 3G, Hijo De Dos Caras, Hijo del Pantera, Capo Mayor, ?, Cerebro Negro Jr., Halloween Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan [Rebelion de los Juniors]

The annual Rebelion of Los Juniors show is a Mas Lucha Premium show. The winner of the titular match will likely face current champion Hijo del Alebrije. The two title matches were set up this past Thurday.

The Republic of Lucha, the store owned in part by Penta & Fenix, will host a wrestling show Saturday night in celebration of their one year anniversary. The show is on airing on a delay on FITE; the current schedule has it at Wednesday at 6 pm, which puts it up against Dynamite for the second half. It’s a 10 USD show; I’d definitely get it live and it’ll be more about remembering to get it later. The slight issue is we don’t know the actual matches; some have changed multiple times, some have quietly disappeared.  Republic of Lucha says they’ll release the final card on Saturday morning. This is what I could piece together Friday morning

  • Dante Martin, Darius Martin vs Aramis, Rey Horus
  • Jacob Fatu vs Lince Dorado
  • Danny Limelight, Slice Boogie vs Steve Filip, Tome Filip
  • Chik Tormenta vs Taya
  • shown on the poster: Penta, Arez, Daga, Dralistico, Johnny Caballero, Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Dragon Lee versus Penta was advertised at one point and is mentioned in some of the descriptions, but the match graphic is gone and Dragon Lee’s not on the poster. Arez was in various iterations of the Top Flight match. Fenix was advertised at wrestling early on but hasn’t been in quite a while (or they removed his mentions and I haven’t noticed.) There’s enough names here to make this a good show.

Other shows of not this weekend include The Crash’s first post-AAA show tonight. Penta vs Cinta de Oro vs Lince Dorado headlines; I’m interested in finding out how much the ex-WWE guys mean in Mexico. X-LAW has their second show of their revival, but the first in a place close enough to Mexico City to show up on fan cams. Austin Aries vs Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Mesias headlines.

KAOZ held a press conference Thursday for next week’s return show at Arena Coliseo Monterrey. The press conference teased this would be the last show ever at the building. My information is there’s a chance it would be the last show, but there have been rumors of the show being closed down for years and there’s no specific reason this would be the final show.

Alberto el Patron, who seems to be on a podcast tour to promote that show, says he was paid only 800 pesos for his first match. 800 pesos is pretty good pay for most wrestlers on the first match. It should be better than that but 800 is more than a Coke and a torta.

04/01 the WRLD on Lucha

MLW added Aramis vs Gino Medina in a lumberjack strap match to their 04/01 show.

Laredo Kid is out of the 04/02 LuchaManiaks main event, with Black Taurus now facing ACH in the main event. The full card is up now.

The March 6, 2022 Zona 23 show has been added to IWTV.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.