CMLL
CMLL (FRI) 04/15/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del Ring, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Átomo & Chamuel 
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido 
3) Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Templario b Fugaz, Star Jr., Titán 
4) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero DQ Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Euforia demanded Ultimo Guerrero use his booking power to program a match between the Guerreros and Euforia & Soberano. Gran Guerrero accepted the match.
5) Místico b Volador Jr. [CMLL Universal, quarterfinal]
6) Místico b Stuka Jr. [CMLL Universal, semifinal]
Stuka received a bye via pre-match ball draw. Stuka seemed to have the match won but got distracted by Atlantis Jr. and lost.
I try not to encourage Ticketmaster Live too much purchases; I’ve stopped talking about them on Twitter. It’s not something for anyone but the most diehard CMLL fan who has to see every show, and is willing to tolerate the issues. Friday wasn’t the first time where the stream failed with no acknowledgment from CMLL or Ticketmaster, nor will it be the last. Streaming issues are never going away and it’s understandable they’ll happen, but only the people who are most set on CMLL are going to put with the indifference of both companies at addressing the issue.
Friday’s issue appeared to be an issue on Ticketmaster’s side – the error implied a computer lost the record of those who bought the show. Neither Ticketmaster or CMLL acknowledged the issue and purchasers were forced to get ahold of (slow) Ticketmaster support themselves to fix the issue endemic to every user. Ticketmaster was also very slow to react to requests for help; I never got a reply on my Twitter post, and it took over an hour for the Whatsapp help to send an email with a working link to my email address. (It’s unclear why they couldn’t just send it to the Whatsapp.) With streaming issues like this, it’s fair to expect to see either the full show or a refund. NJPW and FITE appeared to offer both options with their streaming issues on Saturday. CMLL and Ticketmaster provided neither. It’s bad service and it’s not going to get better. The only ‘positive’ for CMLL is so few people seem to buy these shows that they only had 20 or aggrieved people on Twitter, a negligible amount. It’ll likely be less next time.
CMLL drew a big crowd, as they have many recent Fridays. It’s a lot less common on other days of the week, where shows can be barren. That was the pattern back in 2019, though CMLL may be doing a bit better on the good Fridays than they were doing then. It’s lasted long enough that it can’t just be pandemic-related. CMLL doesn’t officially announce attendance but they’re transparently putting up giant crowd shot photos on good nights and ignoring it on the other shows.
It doesn’t feel like the promotion itself is hot, because the fans aren’t reacting to the angles. (The Stuka/Atlantis but wasn’t a big deal.) They are reacting to Mistico as a huge deal, Mistico’s promoted heavily near the physical arena between his food truck and his gift shop, so it comes off as if the casual tourist fans have returned. Their ticket money is as a good as any diehard and those are the audiences CMLL seems to be appealing towards anyway. (That may be another reason CMLL isn’t too bothered when stream fans; the people buying them are legacy fans, not ones they’re working hard to attract.) It’s a different feeling CMLL, one that feels much like La Parka Jr.-era AAA, where they ran big angles all the time but the fans were just mostly there to see a random wrestling show and didn’t care/know what was what.
If you are a diehard CMLL fan, I think you ended up liking the format. CMLL essentially ran two normal 1 fall singles matches. The tourists seemed tired of the concept after the first match, but it was a better presentation than the usual weird three-way match (or the quick tournaments from last week or next.) Even the format to choose the match order came off as more interesting than usual. Stuka Jr. picked first, got the red ball, and everyone seemed reasonably thrown off by the undramatic way it played out – it was so messy that it felt real. I presume they’ll do the same format for the final in two weeks and it’ll be pretty good.
The end of the main event was flat though. Giving up your winning pin because someone is slowly walking to the ring usually comes off as lame and this was no different. Atlantis Jr. says he’ll keep confronting Stuka Jr. until he gets the mask vs mask match. It’s impossible to rule out CMLL playing a shell game, but that remains the obvious Aniversario match.
Mistico seems like the most likely to win the CMLL Universal tournament. There’s no specific story attached to it now, so it tends towards the biggest name who hasn’t won the tournament getting the win, and that’s Mistico.
The rest of the show that I saw seemed fine. The crowd seemed very much into the Atlantis/Atlantis Jr. dual spots and the tag match they set out should be good. Whatever issues there were between Soberano & Ultimo Guerrero seemed settled to the point they’re wrestling together occasionally and able to use it as part of a feud.
CMLL (SAT) 04/16/2022 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha, CMLL]
1) Cholo & Inquisidor b Bengala & Retro
Bengala suffered an injury and left the match.
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita b Hera, Olympia, Tiffany
CDMX debut of Hera & Olympia.
3) Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr. b Hombre Bala Jr., Robin, Sangre Imperial
4) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Arkalis, El Audaz, Stigma
Virus cheated to beat Audaz, who wants a 1v1
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Titán, Volador Jr. b Dragón Rojo Jr., Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Tecnicos took 1/3
Virus vs Audaz would be an interesting match if we could see it.
CMLL (SUN) 04/17/2022 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia b Acero, Aéreo, Angelito
2) Panterita del Ring Jr. & Robin b El Valiente Jr. & Suicida
Team Robin took 2/3
3) Diamond, Hombre Bala Jr., Volcano b Kráneo, Nitro, Okumura
tecnicos took 2/3
4) El Coyote, Hijo del Villano III, Luciferno b Dark Panther, Esfinge, Star Black
Rudos took 1/3. Star Black starting as a CDMX regular.
5) Stuka Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. b Felino, Gran Guerrero, Rey Bucanero
tecnicos took 2/3
Another normal Sunday show. Photos show Kraneo did a splash off the apron on Volcano, which must’ve been something
Puebla tonight as Hechicero vs Gran Guerrero for the CMLL Heavyweight Championship. A title change seems unlikely but not impossible.
CMLL (TUE) 04/19/2022 Arena México
1) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Ángel vs Átomo, Chamuel, Perico Zakarías
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita vs Amapola, La Seductora, Tiffany
3) Espíritu Negro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Atlantis Jr., Mephisto, Terrible
5) Místico vs Ángel de Oro
The Claro feed cut out the semi-main and aired a black screen for 20 minutes instead of the main event last week. CMLL didn’t notice. The Angel de Oro/Mistico match seems fun if fans can see it.
Alberto/TripleMania
Friday, Fanbyte reported Alberto el Patron is AAA’s pick for Laredo Kid’s mystery partner at TripleMania Monterrey, citing an industry source. AAA has not responded to the story.
Alberto did post a video Friday afternoon (prior to the Fanbyte story) talking about a deal being completed to return somewhere. Saturday, Alberto posted (and later deleted) a video referring to rumors he didn’t explain, told people not to believe everything on the internet, and pointed out reputable brands like ESPN and UFC employing him. The reaction to the possible return of Alberto was heavily negative and Alberto’s comments came off as a defense as why AAA should be comfortable using him. I’m not a follower of Alberto’s social media, but he does appear to do a lot of spontaneous live videos on which are long and unfocused in their content, so it’s possible he’s talked more about this situation and I just haven’t seen it.
Lucha Libre Online, which has a business relationship with Alberto and mostly post translations of wrestling news similar to the Fanbyte article, has avoided the story. The site has defended Alberto against stories deemed falste in the past, so even just saying nothing means something. Alberto’s done interviews with Lucha Libre Online’s Hugo Savinovich during and after his legal issues to magnify his version of events. Hugo appears to be on vacation this past weekend, but the best is those two meet up on Facebook once again this week to officially announce Alberto’s TripleMania appearance.
Alberto hasn’t worked for AAA since late 2015, when he jumped to WWE while mega champion. (That time, AAA believed they’d get him to come back to drop the title despite being employed by WWE, one of many Alberto-related delusions.) No major promotion has used Alberto since he vanished during 2018 WrestleMania weekend while holding their belt; his legal troubles followed soon after. Alberto has worked in Mexico since then, with the 2019 failed run of Nacion Lucha Libre and the short-lived “Robles Patron Promociones” being some of the “highlights.” Alberto is a recognizable former WWE champion from Mexico and so it was inevitable AAA was going to give him a new chance once his legal problems faded away. (It’s worth remembering those disappeared only because the victim decided they no longer wanted to testify, nothing was proven either way.) Alberto’s value as a professional wrestler has diminished steadily over the last decade and nothing he has done lately (the failed KAOZ show comes to mind) has changed that story. Fanbyte reports Konnan wanted to bring in Alberto for star power. It’s hard to believe Alberto’s star power will be a meaningful net positive, especially on a show already heavily built around bringing in outside stars – they’re bringing in Blue Demon and Canek and Fenix and John Morrison and Andrade and so many others, it’s hard to imagine someone who’s on the fence about based on stars at this point.
Alberto had the head of Nacion Lucha Libre in the Saturday videos, with hype towards the different TV networks they were talking about for the promotion. It did not appear that the promotion is close to re-launching; the picture of the new title may have existed just to generate interest that they could take back to those TV networks.
CM Punk sends out a single troll post on Easter Sunday, everyone loses their mind
Pentagon challenged CM Punk to a rematch in Mexico. Punk responded “CMLL? Pentagon tried to re-engage. Punk didn’t respond. Dorian Roldan, who amplified Pentagon’s challenge, acknowledged on Monday that Punk wouldn’t be appearing on TripleMania in Monterrey, though left open the possibility of big AEW names appearing down the road.
I don’t know what’s in the mind of CM Punk, but it came off to me that he very much didn’t want to do that match and probably didn’t enjoy Penta (and Dorian) trying to make it happen via Twitter, so he came back with a light sarcastic remark and moved on with his Easter Sunday. AAA and CMLL diehards looking for proof of their brands seized on the comment as their own inarguable proof about which group was better, while Punk likely didn’t spend two more seconds thinking about it.
CM Punk could still come to Mexico for AAA someday, but it’ll be because AAA offered to pay whatever it is Punk is asking, not because someone threw off a challenge on Twitter. This was not a start in that direction, it was a fishing exhibition to see if Punk would mark out for the concept. Maybe others would’ve in the same situation, but that stuff doesn’t seem to work for CM Punk; wrestling in Mexico has never seemed like an important goal for him. That price may have gone up: Penta & Dorian tried this bit with a guy unlikely to say no and likely to be actually offended they tried in the first place.
(CMLL noticeably didn’t react to the Punk Tweet at all. Which was probably for the best. CMLL will also never pay whatever Punk is offering)
In other “AAA wrestler tries to shoot an angle for a match with a AEW wrestler” news, Laredo Kid would like to fight Sammy Guevara for the TNT belt.
AAA
This week’s AAA TV was largely pointless. One of the issues with this Tijuana taping is the goal seemed to build up local programs and compete with The Crash over names, yet it exists as the go-home episode for TripleMania Monterrey. The opener was all about a Tijuana/Mexicali feud featuring eight people who’ve mostly not been on AAA since the pandemic and will likely not be on again until AAA returns to the area. The second match was a Shani/Tirantes feud, that Shani is not on TripleMania Monterrey. The only regular AAA wrestler in the TV main event was Pagano, whose TripleMania Monterrey built was limited to a 30-second promo after the match. I’m not even sure they’ve mentioned the exact match he’s in, it was just reminding the viewer of his issue with Cibernetico. AAA seemingly made the decision that building up their TripleMania shows on TV is either useless or ineffective. I hope whatever other way they’re going to make people care about this show works for them, but these are also the situations that lead them to reaching for Alberto. TripleMania Monterrey seems cold at the moment; there’s still time to fix it, but little has happened to make people more excited for the show since the moment the card was announced.
(I’m going to buy the show no matter whatever and AAA’s going to keep being weird regardless, so I’m not sure how invested I should be in TripleMania Monterrey being successful. It would be nice if their TV show was interesting with good matches and this week’s TV was neither.)
The only portion of the AAA on Space show dedicated to anything happening in Monterrey were mid-show interviews with Blue Demon, Rayo de Jalisco, Canek and Psycho Clown talking up their matchups. There was quite a bit of extraneous talk towards Demon & Psycho, which could happen in Tijuana. That would leave Penta vs Villano IV as the other semifinal match if the outcomes go in Monterrey as most assume.
Jack Carthweel announced he was going to be on TripleMania. There are three of them. Not sure if anyone knows – it often seems like most people do not yet know and keep announcing they’ll be on TripleMania without saying which one. (There are going to be surprised/frustrated people when it turns out there’s a third one in October.) I suspect the Tijuana/Mexicali guys will be part of the Tijuana one, and Cartwheel may be as well.
Pasala Diario is doing a run of video interviews leading into TripleMania Monterrey; they have an hour discussion with Marisela Pena this morning. Still listening to it this morning.
There’s a 2×1 sale on TripleMania tickets, though it applies only to the cheapest tickets on the highest level. The ticket website has also hidden the amount of ticket left available, which was a nice tool for people to track how many tickets were less but something strange they’d give away so easily.
Other News
IWRG (SUN) 04/17/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha, SuperLucha]
Guerra del Golfo, 2022
1) Garra Mortal & X-Devil b Sol & Spider Fly 
2) Keyra & Lady Maravilla b Lolita & Sagitarius
Keyra was the surprise wrestler and teamed with maravilla.
3) Aramis b Aster Boy, Tonalli, Noisy Boy
Aramis asked Aster Boy for an IWRG LIGHT match
4) Fly Warrior, Fulgor, Mike, Shaun Moore b Abismo Negro Jr., Dinamic Black, Látigo, Toxin
Dinamic Black was the Vipers surprise partner, but betrayed them.
5) Puma de Oro L Pirata Morgan, Hell Boy, Capo Mayor, Relámpago, The Mummy, Príncipe Arkano, Accion Jackson, Cerebro Negro, Internacional Pantera [cage, losers advance]
Hell Boy was last to escape
6) Black Terry L Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Caballero de Plata, Hijo del Pantera, Bobby Lee, Dr. Cerebro, Hijo del Fishman, Dick Angelo 3G, Imposible [cage, losers advance]
Imposible was the surprise wrestler.
7) Puma de Oro b Black Terry [cage, mask, hair]
Puma de Oro took Black Terry’s hair, with allies of both men getting involved
I almost got this show, changed my mind, and then felt OK with that when the two matches I wanted to see set up other matches on show that’ll presumably air for free. The cage match also ended with a feud that hasn’t built up, which was good news for people who like to see Hell Boy and Caballero de Plata have a singles match on their won. Even the Puma de Oro/Black Terry final seemed to just be the start of a Terrible Cerebros/La Jacuan feud. It’s an unusual strategy to make the early/middle chapters the ones that cost the most.
My tastes aren’t the same as IWRG fans; the three-stage cage match appeared to sell out the building. The next show at Naucalpan is the Konnan Big appearance. I think they have a trainee show coming up, maybe next Sunday.
VXS announced Arez vs Mike Bailey for their 04/29 show in New Jersey. Maybe Arez is working the US during TripleMania Monterrey and that’s why the tag title match isn’t happening? I dunno.
Rey Triton revealed he suffered a shoulder injury on Sunday that’ll keep him out of the ring for three months.
A video of Dragon Lee interacting with a man who appears to have special needs went viral. I can’t believe Dragon Lee did a job.
A charity show in Mexicali was shut down by the local government after one match. Box y Lucha’s report doesn’t explain what happened to cause the shut down, though they note the show had all the required medical personnel and neither the building nor the wrestlers were charging money due to the nature of the show.
Public opinion research firm Gabinete released a 2022 poll on Mexico entertainment opinions back in March. One of the questions asked was if the 600 responders felt lucha libre and boxing were national sports. About the same percentage said yes for both, 71.4% for lucha libre and 74.1% for boxing. It was much different when asked if the Mexican athletes were the best in each disciple. 60% responded Yes when asked if the best boxers were in Mexico. Only 40% said yes when asked if the best wrestlers were in Mexico.
Reynosa luchador El Unico (Jorge Maya) passed away on Sunday. His biggest successes came locally in the 90s, though he appeared to still be a figure around shows.
Johnny Lloyd unmasked Welder in San Luis Rios Colorado. Welder is Francisco Joel Romero Garcia, 21 years old, 4 years a wrestler.
The Moth has a story of “El Conquistador”, who talks about his match with Sangre Azteca.