CMLL
CMLL (FRI) 04/01/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del Ring, Kaiser Sports]
1) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Amapola, Dalys, Stephanie Vaquer b La Magnifica, Marcela, Skadi 
rudas took 2/3. Marcela seemed hurt in the third fall.
3) Blue Panther, Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring b Akuma, Felino, Virus 
Akuma replaced Polvora on Thursday. Tecnicos took 1/3
4) Negro Casas, Stuka Jr., Titán b Atlantis Jr., Mephisto, Templario
tecnicos took 2/3
5) Terrible b Euforia © [MEX HEAVY]
Euforia falls on his first defense. Terrible is the 68th champion.
Terrible seemed like the favorite to win this title when they did the recent tournament, so it’s not a huge surprise he’s got the belt now. It’s just strange for Euforia to win it and then immediately lose it in between; zero defense singles champions in CMLL are rarely, especially so over a short time change. I guess it’s possible Euforia wasn’t supposed to beat Gran Guerrero and that match stopped early due to Euforia’s powerbomb going wrong, but it didn’t feel like an early stoppage and it wouldn’t explain why Terrible ended with the belt instead of Gran Guerrero. Maybe CMLL just want to have a lot happening?
My attempt at recording this show didn’t go well, just got the last hour, haven’t seen it as of today. I’ve got a lot to catch up on.
CMLL (SAT) 04/02/2022 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, ESTO, Mas Lucha]
Arena Coliseo 79th Anniversary
1) Cachorro, Panterita del Ring Jr., Suicida b Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr., Valiente Jr.
Team Panterita took 2/3
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit b Dalys, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
tecnicas took 1/3.
3) Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin b Akuma & Espanto Jr. [Arena Coliseo TAG, final]
4) Místico, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero b Cavernario, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Mistico took 2 (DQ)/3
5) Dragón Rojo Jr. b Soberano Jr. © [CMLL MIDDLE]
first defense
Hombre Bala, Robin, Dragon Rojo also just feel like champions to have some surprise champions, because it didn’t feel like any of those were coming. This was a big show and so maybe they wanted to do something memorable, yet there wasn’t any special build to these matches. Dragon Rojo was just the random challenger of the moment and Hombre Bala & Robin hadn’t especially teamed before this tournament. Even in the promotion where it feels like everyone is champion, Hombre Bala and Robin seemed like guys who might never win a title due to their lack of push and Dragon Rojo seemed unlikely to be champion given his injury history. Rojo regained the title he held longer than anyone else, though that was greatly lengthened due to injury absences. He’s managed to keep a generally regular schedule after returning last year from knee injuries that appeared to be career-ending, and I just didn’t think he’d be trusted to stay in one piece this long.
Soberano and Euforia losing their titles in back-to-back days is eyebrow raising. There’s no indication anything that’s happened with them otherwise though.
This Arena Coliseo show had a huge turnout. This anniversary celebration has become the only big show Arena Coliseo gets every year, and this year seemed better attended than the recent ones of those. ESTO said 7,000 attendance; we have 5,200 capacity for this building so that seems high. 5,000 might be right based on the photos.
CMLL (SUN) 04/03/2022 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Retro b Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. b Grako, Inquisidor, Raider
team medics took 2/3
3) Disturbio, Nitro, Okumura b El Audaz, Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr.
rudos took 1/3
4) Dulce Gardenia, Star Black, Volcano b El Coyote, Hijo del Villano III, Rey Bucanero
tecnicos took 1/3
5) Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Star Jr., Titán b Atlantis, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
team Dragon Rojo took 1/3
Not sure if the Karontes are meant to be tecnicos or rudos.
CMLL (TUE) 04/05/2022 Arena México
1) Acero, Aéreo, Kaligua vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Cachorro, Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. vs Grako, Inquisidor, Raider
3) Dark Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring vs El Hijo del Villano III, Okumura, Rey Bucanero
4) Stigma © vs Magia Blanca [CMLL SL]
first defense
5) Atlantis, Negro Casas Star Jr., Titán vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Negro Casas was originally announced, then replaced on Monday. If CMLL is going to do lots of title changes, there’s no reason they can’t do this one on Tuesday, or Magia Blanca/Rugido beating Esfinge/Fugaz Monady in Puebla. Probably not both, since that’d make Magia Blanca double champion and empty out one more space in the field.
the current champions, going into the first block of the Universal tournament on Friday:
- Angel de Oro (CMLL Tag, National Lightheavyweight)
- Cancerbero (National Trios)
- Dragon Rojo Jr. (CMLL Middleweight)
- Esfinge (National Tag) could be Magia Balnca
- Fugaz (National Tag) could be Rugido
- Gemelo Diablo I (CMLL Trios)
- Gemelo Diablo II (CMLL Trios)
- Hechicero (CMLL Heavyweight)
- Hombre Bala Jr. (Arena Coliseo Tag Team)
- Mistico (CMLL Middleweight)
- Niebla Roja (CMLL Light Heavyweight, CMLL Tag)
- Panterita del Ring Jr. (Mexican Lightweight)
- Raziel (National Trios) but also injured?
- Robin (Arena Coliseo Tag Team)
- Sagrado (CMLL Trios)
- Stuka Jr. (NWA Light Heavyweight)
- Stigma (CMLL Super Lightweight) could be Magia Blanca
- Templario (Mexican Middleweight)
- Terrible (National Heavyweight)
- Titan (CMLL Weltwerweight)
- Volador Jr. (NWA Welterweight)
- Virus (National Trios)
- (Mercurio CMLL Minis?)
- (Chamuel CMLL Micro?)
AAA
AAA did air two episodes from Merida on Saturday. My stream died before the last match; you can see Penta/Arez on the drive. I may upload better versions of the file after I get a chance to watch it and know what to clean up. You could also just wait until Sunday when AAA will probably put up at least the first episode. I suspect this upcoming weekend’s of AAA will be a third part from Merida, but it’s too soon to know.
Again, haven’t had time to watch AAA TV in any great detail, but it seemed liked Flamita was supposed to be a permanent part of Los Mercenarios. Konnan also may have turned face, or he’s just whatever the angle needs that day.
Myzteziz Jr. replaced Hijo del Vikingo in his matches in Jalisco this weekend. I’ve lost the link, but Vikingo did an interview in recent days mentioning Dorian Roldan told him to take it easier and not kill himself, and having him take a break from wrestling can help. His TripleMania partner Fenix was at WrestleCon this weekend and seemed to be in good shape – no sling, like at Republic of Lucha. I’d feel like it was a pretty safe bet Fenix would be ready for Monterrey if there hadn’t been weeks of false starts already.
WrestleMania Weekend
The WRLD on Lucha was a pretty good show. The Gringo Loco/Flamita/Abismo Negro Jr. vs ASF/Laredo Kid/Rey Horus match was as great as expected; ASF’s big moment from that show went viral. Wagner & Psycho worked hard in the main event (and still appear to be working hard to try to get GCW to do the mask/hair match.) The six-way scramble came across well too.
I haven’t seen Bandido/Jonathan Gresham from Ring of Honor, though reviews are generally positive. AEW added a weird angle where Chavo Guerrero offered to manage Bandido, defied Bandido by cheating, and got kicked out of the match by Bandido. It reads like the start of a feud between the two, which sounds not at all interesting and I’m still skeptical Bandido will be back in ROH any time soon. There appears to be no ROH soon; there was no mention of a next show, and it’s unclear if the previous announced TV tapings are still happening. There is more ROH at some point, and that’s better than nothing.
I went to the MLW “Azteca Underground” show on Friday. Turnout wasn’t great, but the venue was nice and there were a surprisingly large percentage of people specifically into MLW. Flamita/Bandido was the best match of the taping; it’s basically just the touring match and they’ve got it worked out. Bandido also came off like a bigger star than most regular MLW people, though they’re not really using him in storylines. Microman in trios action was the most over guy on the show. (TJP worked as the mystery man in the match, which might have been not wanting to get CMLL’s attention for working AAA guys.) Octagon Jr. is somehow Caribbean champion, so either I missed something in MLW or they just randomly gave him a belt. I fully expected him to lose to Matt Cross but instead he remained champion and amusingly took the belt with him to the GCW show later that night. Octagon is one of a few AAA guys who aren’t quite US TV ready (I’m hoping they leave in the bit where they stopped and spun a submission around 180 degrees so it would face the hard camera) but he stands out as someone to go with if he can put it together, and maybe there’s a plan here in MLW with that belt. The plan for Aramis seems like a mask/hair match with Gino Medina in the near future based on how their match ended up.
The main event was scheduled to be Jacob Fatu versus LA Park, but LA Park and his sons were said to be off the show due to “injury” suffered on Thursday. I can not put big enough air quotes around the word “injury”. The Parks weren’t at the building and they may be finished up with MLW for now. Bestia was in a tough spot and took a tough looking table break near the end to try to make something memorable and he had a rooting section, but it wasn’t the match people were expecting.
MLW taped on Thursday too, so those matches are probably airing first and these maches later on in late April/May.
Also on Friday, Faby Apache showed up on Impact to challenge Deonna Purrazzo for the AAA Reina de Reinas championship but lost. Purrazzo will next defend against Taya on 04/23 Rebellion, a week before TripleMania Monterrey.
I saw US vs The World show on Saturday morning. That WrestleCon slot, going back to when it was Pancakes & Piledrivers, typically has one or two good matches and a lot of people worn down by a busy weekend (or a long night) going through the motions. It was much better this time around; not everything worked, but everyone felt like they were trying to have a good match. Aeroboy, Aramis and Arez versus Flip Gordon, Gringo Loco and Caleb Konley was pretty good and Bandido & Extreme Tiger versus the Workhoresmen was fun. The Warrior Wrestling fourway didn’t land as well as the other matches. It’s a good show to go back and watch if you’re looking for something.
Lucha Maniaks took place in Arlington Saturday night and really struggled to draw. The Martinez show in the same venue is believed to have drawn into the four digits, the Maniaks show was well under three digits. Maniaks was running against WrestleMania in a place they don’t normally run, so there are reasons, but it didn’t look good. I feared the card was going to have no shows and low effort given the turnout, so I was happy when people generally tried. The pre-intermission matches weren’t great, but ACH/Taurus was fun, the Gringo Loco trios was good, and the main event went well for how long it lasted. This show streamed for free live (and is now part of Title Match Network’s subscription) and will turn up on Mas Lucha later.
IWRG
IWRG (SUN) 04/03/2022 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Leyenda Negra, Mini Canis Lupus, Sagitarius b Jessy Jackson, Mini Spiritu, Rey Halcón 
2) Puma de Oro & Tonalli b Caballero de Plata & Hell Boy [super libre]
3) Aster Boy © b Yorvak [IWRG IC Light]
3rd defense
4) Cerebro Negro, Hijo del Pantera, Internacional Pantera b Bobby Lee, Príncipe Arkano, The Mummy
Pantera snuck in a foul on Arkano. Cerebro Negro had issues with Pantera and Black Terry supposed thim
5) Dr. Cerebro b Travis Banks © [IWRG IC MIDDLE]
Banks lost in his 2nd defense.
6) Alpha Wolf, Dragón Bane, Hijo De Dos Caras b Brad Alexis, Dick Angelo 3G, El Hijo del Medico Asesino
Dragon Bane beat Dick Angelo 3G to set up an IWRG JUNIOR match. Moved to the main event.
Los Golepadors also did a promo at IWRG about going back to NOAH, which helps them say someone from IWRG is indeed going to NOAH. Attendence seems surprisingly poor for this show; not sure if that’s WrestleMania or some other reason. You can see that they recently painted the seating area, since so much of it is vacant.
IWRG announced that Canadian Shaun Moore will be coming to the promotion in April.
Other News
RGR Promotions in Los Angeles says they’ll have El Hijo del Santo and Psycho Clown both wrestle on their show Sunday. They won’t be in the same match, but it still seems unlikely; Psycho Clown would have to get special permission to work a show with Hijo del Santo, since AAA seems to tell their wrestlers to stay away from him at the moment. Martinez Entertainment had to create a fiction of two separate shows on the same night seemingly just to accommodate keeping the AAA names away from Santo. It also seemed to play a factor in the AAA/Crash break up.
From someone there live, the Martinez show advertised two different shows but it turned out to be just one show. (Maybe something got worked out with Santo/AAA, though it’s probably just the confusing logisitics of running a lucha show during WrestleMania weekend.) I heard one report of 1,000 people, and one closer to 2,000 people. Psycho Clown was there selling merchandise but ended up leaving before wrestling to make the GCW show. Santo posted his match on YouTube,