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

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. 
12:26. One fall. Cachorro replaced Oro Jr. on March 7th.
2) Negro Casas b Templario 
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]  
6:48
4) Reyna Isis b La Vaquerita [hair]  
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]   
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]   
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]   
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 
Hell Boy replaced Relampago (moved up)
3) Freelance © DQ Puma de Oro [IWRG REY DEL AIRE] 
1st defense
4) Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro, Hijo del Alebrije, Noisy Boy b Accion Jackson, Brad Alexis, Lil Blay, Travis Banks  
Dr. Cerbero, Cerebro Negro and Relampago replaced Alpha Wolf, Dragon Bane and Noisy Boy
5) Toxin © b Aster Boy [IWRG MEXICO]  
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] 
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

• LA Park vs Jacob Fatu
• Mini Abismo Negro Jr,. Arez, TBA vs El Dragon, Microman, Aerostar
• Aramis vs Gino Medina in a lumberjack strap match
• Octagon Jr. vs Matt Cross
• Chik Tormenta vs Holiedad
• Flamita vs Bandido – new

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.