Villano IV, Pentagon Jr., Psycho Clown and Blue Demon advance in TripleMania, Mistico wins Copa Universal, Titan to BOSJ

AAA

AAA TV (SAT) 04/30/2022 Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon [Lucha Central, Milenio, Post Wrestling, Posta, R de Rudo, thecubsfan, TV Azteca, Voices of Wrestling]
***TripleMania XXX, Chapter 1***
Attendance: 13637
1) Leyenda Americana ?? Arcano, El Furioso, Terror Purpura
Marvel Match, totally unclear what the match was or who all was in it or who won it until it airs in a couple of weeks
2) Microman b Heavy Metal, Charly Manson, Faby Apache, 5, 6, 7, 8 [Copa TripleMania, lumberjack strap]
full list of participants uncertain until it airs on TV
3) Último Dragón b Pentagón Jr. [quarterfinal, ruleta de la muerte]
8:38. Dragon won cleanly. Pentagon advances in the tournament.
4) Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti b Lady Maravilla & Látigo and Komander & Sexy Star and Arez & Chik Tormenta © [AAA MIXED TAG]
12:36. Parka Negra replaced Sammy Guevera for most of the match, but Guevara used a crutch to hit Arez and he and Conti won the titles. Komander replaced Octagon Jr.
5) LA Park b Villano IV [quarterfinal, ruleta de la muerte]
18:44. Bloody brawl. LA Park reversed a figure four attempt into a cradle for the win. After the match, Dorian Roldan presented Latin Lover with a plaque for his years of lucha libre. Jeff Jarrett interrupted and insulted Latin Lover until they fought, with Rey Escorpion helping Jarrett. Vampiro made the save.
6) Johnny Caballero & Taurus b Dragón Lee & Dralistico and Jack Cartwheel & Laredo Kid
13:01. Cartwheel was Laredo’s surprise partner. Johnny Caballero (ex-Superstar) used a foul to beat Laredo Kid.
7) Rayo de Jalisco Jr. b Blue Demon Jr. [quarterfinal, ruleta de la muerte]
14:16. Cien Caras, Mascara 2000 and NGD all interfered in the finish but Rayo took a guitar away from them and used it on Demon to get the pin, who sold it like he was knocked out for minutes. Los Dinamitas beat up Rayo after.
8) Bandido, Pagano, Taya DQ Andrade, Cibernético, Deonna Purrazzo
18:30. Latigo brought a fire extinguisher to the ring, which Cibernetico used to cause Pagano to go through a table. Cibernetico then sprayed Tirantes with the fire extinguisher, who declared this a DQ.
9) Canek b Psycho Clown [quarterfinal, ruleta de la muerte]
13:09. Dr. Wagner Jr. (with Galeno del Mal and other unidentified people) interfered late, Wagner teasing attacking Canek before hitting Psycho Clown with a bat a couple of times. Canek made sure to get in an elbow drop before he covered. Psycho fought back against Wagner until Andrade attacked and unmasked Psycho Clown. Wagner proposed Andrade join his new Legion Lagunero faction and Andrade accepted.
10) Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson b Fénix & Hijo Del Vikingo
16:25. Young Bucks beat the Jacksons with a Meltzer Driver, though Tirantes stopped counting at two and then had to restart at three. Matt Jackson had Tirantes count twice more (so Vikingo was pinned for about 12.) Vikingo & Fenix briefly had problems during and after the match, though they were attacked by the Bucks again before it could go anywhere. Caballero, Guevara, and Conti ran down to help beat up Fenix & Vikingo for no apparent reason, except it set up Pentagon making the save and cleaning house to end the show, including a superkick on Conti.

This was a good show, not a great one. Villano IV versus LA Park was the match of the night, a classic LA Park brawl with Villano IV fighting for his life and the crowd believing in the stakes of the moment. Most fans believe Villano IV is the one losing his mask and it looks like it’s going to turn all three of his matches into battles to stay alive, with every close near fall being an important deal. Throw in LA Park’s natural charisma and it was the match fans reacted biggest about. Young Bucks versus Vikingo/Fenix was more spectacular but didn’t have the intensity or the emotion, and Tirantes failure to remember the finish took it from being one of the best matches of the year to ‘only’ being a great match. A lot of what lucha libre, and maybe the all of pro-wrestling, is feeling something and Villano IV/LA Park made you feel something the way the main event did not. Those are the only two matches you need to track down from this show; the rest had good highlights and/or weirdness but don’t need to be seen in their entirety.

That finish really did no Vikingo favors. I don’t fault Matt for insisting on the multiple three counts – it shifted attention from the botched count – but even as planned, it was Vikingo taking the pin, getting shoved by his partner, and being an afterthought in the scrum after. The point of these big Vikingo matches is to make him look special. He did it himself during the match, but ended up as the minor league guy with a bunch of stars. Maybe the AAA thought process is Vikingo gets it back by beating Fenix later on, though there’s no way you’d know AAA was heading to that match unless you’d read it here already. It wasn’t the point of the match or the finish. The point of the finish seemed to get social media traction from Penta kicking Conti in the face, and AAA did achieve that.

Both Tirantes and Piero struggle in those kind of matches. AAA’s apparently decided these are the only two human beings on the planet who are qualified to referee, so we’re just going to get one of the moments that kill a match every so often. I thought the fire extinguisher finish was far worse, just complete nonsense to the point that AAA needs to leak a story that something else was supposed to happen just to save face.

(It’s notable that the Mexico media coverage of this show focused on the tournament matches and the angles set up on those, while the foreign media is almost all about the AEW wrestlers – and even then, mostly about Tay & Sammy.)

The rest of the tournament matches were not pretty, filled with so many run-ins that it’s going to be hard for everyone to remember all of them. Ultimo Dragon versus Pentagon Jr. had no interference and not much worth remembering. Penta must respect Dragon a lot, because Dragon got everything in the match and Penta seemed fine with it. Rayo/Demon was a lot of Dinamtia stuff at the end, Psycho Clown/Canek was built towards Andrade (& Wagner) versus Psycho. Even the Latin Lover segment was a setup for a tag match (Lover/Vampiro vs Escorpion/Jarrett) that may or may not happen.

If you were hoping for similar matches to be set up focusing on people who are regularly around AAA, sorry but you have not been paying enough attention to AAA this year. Maybe come back in 2023. The English announcers thought Caballero beating Laredo sets up a singles match between them for the cruiserweight title, which is way more confidence in any direction than I had from that match. Both it and the four-way had a lot of cool spots, some of which worked, and a few of which involved normal partners fighting each other for no real reason. Arez & Tormenta, as expected, got mocked on promos for a few weeks, angrily promised revenge, and then got beat in the end. There was no hint they’d be getting a rematch. That’s just the role right now for people at that level.

Jack Cartwheel fit in well in the three-way tag, but Jack Cartwheel is not such a name in AAA that he would make sense as some big surprise as originally hyped. Alberto el Patron’s ex-wife Angela Velkei passed away on Saturday, so he likely wouldn’t have appeared on TripleMania even if he remained scheduled. 

“Johnny Caballero” appears to be that person’s new default name for all promotions. The different name for each promotion gimmick appears to be done, though it may take some time for everyone to catch up.

Vampiro got a huge pop on his TripleMania appearance. Vampiro also headlined a less than half full arena in Leon Sunday. Which is the real indication of Vampiro’s drawing power? Maybe both? It’s never just the wrestler or the promotion as the draw, it’s the combination of two. 

Jeff Jarrett, in a transparent self-promotional bit for his podcast, is saying he was stopped from throwing tortillas into the audience, had fans trying to jump the rails, and had to be escorted out of the arena. I believe he was stopped from throwing things at the fans – that new Monterrey commission is strict and isn’t having much.

Octagon Jr. appeared to be Leyenda Americana in the dark Marvel Lucha Libre match; he’s been doing that gimmick for most of the last two years. Octagon Jr. was definitely around town in photos, including at the building on Saturday. He wasn’t in the mixed tag match. Sunday, Octagon Jr. made a previously scheduled show in Leon but announced he was injured and would be getting surgery soon. It wasn’t said what injury he had or when it happened. There’s an obvious danger of someone getting hurt in those Marvel matches and messing up the rest of the show – Vikingo again worked the opener and the main event – but I’m not sure if that’s what happened here.

I stuck with the English announcing the whole way and didn’t regret it – we’ve come a long way. I probably didn’t need to tweet as much to explain back story, because Joe and Larry would have it right about the same time I was typing it. The biggest issue with the broadcast is the fans were inaudible. We could hear the Spanish announcing over the loudspeakers more than we could hear the fans reacting to the matches, even when they were clearly going nuts for the LA Park/Villano IV final moments. If you’re one of the few who’ve braved the CMLL shows all this time, you know how much difference it can make when there’s a reactive Arena Mexico rather than when it’s muted, and it felt far close to muted for a lot of this show.

I’m not a particular fan of live commentary for those shows. Dorian Roldan responded that they’ve found more people want to hear it to a fan who voices a complaint.

06/18 TripleMania Chapter 2 (Tijuana) definitely happening matches

• Psycho Clown vs Villano IV in a ruleta de la muerte semifinal
• Blue Demon Jr. vs Pentagon Jr. in a ruleta de la muerte semifinal
• Hermanos Lee vs The Hardys
• a women’s cage match

maybe happening matches (and maybe in Tijuana or maybe in CDMX or maybe not at all)

• Fenix vs Vikingo – Tijuana?
• NGD vs Rayo/??? – Tijuana?
• Sammy Guevera/Tay Conti vs ?? – Tijuana
• Andrade & Wagner vs Psycho/? – Mexico City?
• Latin Lover & Vampiro vs Rey Escorpion & Jeff Jarrett – Mexico City?
• FTR vs Hermanos Lee vs Lucha Brothers – Mexico City?

AAA revealed those semi-finals for the mask match tournament after the main event. It was a minute or two after the run-ins finished, and came as a surprise to everyone – the English announcers had already wrapped and I think a lot of people watching the show only realized the matches were announced much later.

Mask match final odds, please do not use these to gamble

• 60%: Blue Demon Jr. vs Villano IV
• 37%: Pentagon Jr. vs Villano IV
• 3%: Blue Demon Jr. vs Psycho Clown
• 0%: Pentagon Jr. vs Psycho Clown

Pentagon versus Villano IV seemed to be everyone’s initial assumption once the brackets were announced and Psycho/V4 was no longer an option for the final. Demon seems more likely after some thought. He’d be a bigger deal for the Mexican audience in a mask match. AAA could easily put the Lucha Brothers in a tag match in Mexico City while there’s nothing really obvious for Demon to do at this point. I can’t completely rule out Demon/Psycho for this year, but Psycho also has so many other options outside of the mask tournament and Villano IV clearly does not. (AAA trying to woo Demon into losing his mask next year by giving him a big win this year does loom as a possibility.)

Hijo del Vikingo, in a post-show interview with Mas Lucha, explained the knee situation. It’s the same injury he first had three years ago, and had gotten worse over the last six months. He feels 100% after taking the time off and is planning on wrestling all his dates going forward.

The history of AAA piece from the start of the show was nice.

Obligatory AAA big crowd photo. The only newspaper report on the attendance guessed 12K. WrestleTix has 13,637 tickets distributed, which includes paid and comps.

AAA says the next taping is May 28th, so no mystery May taping after all and we all get to find out what AAA uses to fill time for the next month.

Rey Fenix will wrestle Dante Martin on AEW TV (likely) this week.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 04/29/2022 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
***Arena Mexico 66th Annivesary***
1) Panterita del Ring Jr. & Stigma b Halcón Suriano Jr. & Suicida 
2) Dalys, Lluvia, Marcela, Reyna Isis b Dark Silueta, La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Stephanie Vaquer [Relevos Increíbles] 
Isis submitted Jarochita, challenged her to a singles match
3) Averno & Mephisto b Rey Bucanero & Último Guerrero 
Averno snuck in a foul on Ultimo Guerrero, UG challenged him to a hair match, Averno walked out
4) Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Volador Jr. b Cavernario, Negro Casas, Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles] 
Stuka & Atlants Jr. feuded
5) Titán b Templario [CMLL Universal, semifinal]
Mistico drew the red ball and automatically advanced.
6) Místico b Titán [CMLL Universal, final] 

Mistico & Titan was an entertaining tense battle that was just a notch below Niebla Roja/Titan last week. Titan/Templario was short, felt hurt by time. The nostalgia tag match worked well at what it was supposed to, with Rey Bucanero in particular showing a lot more than usual. (The key difference between the two major promotions is AAA seems focused on the late 80s/early 90s boom while CMLL seems focused on the 00s boom. Neither are much focused on now.) Atlantis/Sutka was more a regular tag and the women’s match wasn’t as good others on past shows. The lightweights continue to be up and down in the same match, and it’d probably help Panterita del Ring Jr. if he put his own spin on things rather than copy stuff he saw elsewhere. 

The main event was fascinating in that a good percentage of the crowd was strongly rooting for Titan to win. It’s tough to know if it was most fans or just the most loudest, but the reaction for Mistico’s win was cheers followed by boos. It may be a healthy sign for CMLL if they’re back to also drawing people who don’t like Mistico, but a lot of it seemed like genuine support for Titan. It would’ve been a huge moment if Titan had pulled that upset and CMLL would be well advised to set up another moment this year where he could have a chance to get that sort of big win. The crowd seems ready for it. 

Mistico winning Copa Universal and the Bobby Bonales introductions made the cover of Box y Lucha.

Ultimo Guerrero set up a match with Euforia and Averno on back to back shows and I’m not sure which (if either) is happening.

Obligatory Arena Mexico big crowd photo. It looks about the same as the recent big shows.

CMLL (SAT) 04/30/2022 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, El Grafico, Milenio]
1) Mercurio & Minos b Angelito & Último Dragóncito 
Dragoncito left the match with an injury and the commission ordered the match to change to a singles (Angelito vs Mercurio)
2) Cachorro, Diamond, Halcón Suriano Jr. b Sangre Imperial, Suicida, Valiente Jr. 
3) Flyer, Stigma, Volcano b Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Kráneo [Relevos Increíbles] 
4) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Espanto Jr., Felino, Virus 
5) Fugaz, Místico, Titán b Magia Blanca, Rugido, Volador Jr. 

A lot of wrestlers bringing their kids to the ring for Kid’s Day.

Obligatory Arena Coliseo big crowd photo. CMLL’s figured out something with Coliseo because this is better than they seemed to be doing pre-pandemic.

Mistico rode the TuriLuchas bus on Saturday, with Milenio following along. They note he was asked by a boy if he was the original one. “I debuted in 2004 as Mistico; all the others are pirated versions” was his response.

CMLL (SUN) 05/01/2022 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Retro b Apocalipsis
2) Cholo, Grako, Inquisidor b Arkalis, Halcón Suriano Jr., Leono
rudos took 1/3
3) La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Skadi b Amapola, La Seductora, Metálica
tecnicas took 2/3. Metalica needed medical help after the match.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
OneAtos took 2/3
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Felino, Hechicero, Terrible
Los Malditos took 1/3

There was no attendance photo on Sunday.

CMLL (TUE) 05/03/2022 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Pequeño Magía vs Minos & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Leono & Sangre Imperial vs Apocalipsis & Raider
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi vs Amapola, Dalys, Metálica
4) Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring vs El Coyote, Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora
5) Místico, Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero vs Averno, Mephisto, Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Negro Casas went through the hassle of turning tecnico just to be in relevos incredible matches all the time. I think he’s a tecnico here.

Team CMLL won 6-5 against a team of musicians in their baseball game Saturday. then went onto win again on 8-4 on Sunday to take the four-team Beisbol Rocks tournament. That game was streamed on Facebook, though the frame rate is really bad for the first few innings. Soberano Jr., Dulce Gardenia and Euforia looked like the best hitters in game 2.

CMLL Informa is celebrating their 8th Anniversary this Wednesday and is inviting fans. That’ll be the first time that show has had fans since the start of the pandemic.

Dark Panther opened a cake shop.

BOSJ/Titan/Dorada

NJPW announced Titan for their Best of the Super Juniors tournament, spanning May 15th to June 3rd. Titan is the only Mexican wrestler included. In theory, he’d stick around to June 12th’s Dominion event if he won the tournament. That always seems unlikely for CMLL wrestlers; this is more a just reward for Titan’s hard work and impressive form. NJPW returned to a two block, twenty person field for this tournament; it’s their first heavy involvement of foreigners since the onset of the pandemic.

Mascara Dorada is notably not included. Dorada, when talking about the return to CMLL, alluded to visa paperwork that he was waiting on it. I don’t know Mascara Dorada’s specific situation but, based on similar situations, it’s possible his WWE departure (and end of that work visa) has left him unable to return to the US if he leaves the country. It’s a slow process and uneven process to get that resolved. Dorada has feuded with TJP on NJPW Strong shows and I suspect he was supposed to be in that B block opposite of him. It’s possible Titan was the backup option when Dorada’s papers didn’t come through in time – NJPW typically does not put two CMLL wrestlers in the same block – though I don’t know if that’s the case and the names could’ve been shifted around in other ways. 

The B Block also includes familiar faces Master Wato (Kawato-San), BUSHI, Desperado. and DOUKI, as well as Robbie Eagles, El Phantasmo, Lindaman and AEW’s Wheeler Yato. The Titan/Yuta match will be the first high profile match between CMLL and AEW wrestlers. CMLL is probably not thrilled to be working with a friend of AAA, but NJPW has the power in that relationship and CMLL’s not going to fight them over it. It also heavily implies CMLL’s not going to be able to shut down the Lucha Brothers working the AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door show; they’ll just quietly ignore it. The good news for CMLL’s goals is NJPW seems in a solid position to run FantasticaMania next January if they can now bring in all of these names; assume it’s back on for 2023 unless something happens.

Robles

Not putting results here because none of them matter. Marty Scurll replaced Bandido in the semi-main on Friday in Mexico City, which might have been known in advance since Scurll was there earlier than he’d be needed for his other shows. Juan de la Barrera appeared no more than half full, same as always.

There were streams of the Friday and Sunday shows. The Friday stream is utterly unwatchable, with terrible sound and the stream going out at various places – it ends completely ends before the main event does. The Sunday show from Cancun was far more professional though just the last hour of the show.

Estrellas del Ring has a recap of the Saturday show. The crowd looks terrible, maybe 25% at best. 

Rush ran a social media angle to get a feud with DMT Azul started. He accused DMT Azul of being a fake friend on Instagram, then “leaked” a video of them getting into a locker room fight on Sunday. It’s clearly a staged bit even as Mas Lucha writes about a local luchador posted it. No offense to Mas Lucha but it doesn’t seem like they’d burn bridges by posting that sort of video if it was actually full. Rush needs opponents and DMT Azul is an old friend, so it makes sense to try something there. 

Travis Banks, who had told people he joined Negocio Traumado without realizing it was an anti-IWRG group and was staying loyal the promotion, was back with Negocio Traumado on Saturday. I guess it’s possible everyone thinks Banks is so good they’re going to let him work both (and obviously Negocio Traumado will be back in IWRG for a feud at some point), but it also seems like it’s unwise to take Travis Banks at his word.

IWRG

IWRG (SAT) 04/30/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Milagro & Súper Boy b Rosel & Último Caballero
2) Rey Eclipse b Águila Oriental, Súper Cometa 
3) Jhon Tito, Kenji, Sol b Astaroth, Garra Mortal, X-Devil 
4) Jack, Luka, The Mummy b Fly Warrior, Fulgor, Mafioso 
Luka is a large fuzzy creature of some sort
5) Abc, Blue Tiger, Laser, Pasion, Rebelde, Tacle El 85, Thunder Storm, Troyano b Cerebro Negro Jr., Hell Boy, Leo, Limbo, Noisy Boy, Puma de Oro, Tonalli, Wagner Kid [Copa High Power] 
FILL vs Gym Ultimo Guerrero, though photos suggest Ultimo Guerrero did not appear. Noisy Boy tried a moonsault to the floor but only went to the side, landing on the top rope and falling badly to the floor. He appeared OK after.

Mas Lucha didn’t stream this show. IWRG put up a streaming link as if they were expecting them to do there, so something happened there. At least there was a YouTuber this time around, though this show didn’t seem that important. Ultimo Guerrero’s trainees were there but he did not appear to be in Naucalpan; he probably was working somewhere.

Former IWRG luchador Teelo appeared at the show. He lost his right leg in an accident, but was able to walk in the ring one last time.

IWRG (SUN) 05/01/2022 Arena Naucalpan [Cronista del RIng, IWRG]
1) Rey Halcón b Spider Fly  
2) Genex & Wagner Kid b Baby Daddy & Limbo  
Wagner Kid (IWRG debut) replaced Legendario
3) Hijo del Pantera & Pantera Jr. b Chris Stone Jr. & Hell Boy  
4) Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka, Tortuga Leo b Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Freelance  
Freelance was the surprise partner of the Big Strippers, but they still lost.
5) Capo Mayor, Dick Angelo 3G, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Puma de Oro b Dinamic Black, Freelance, Noisy Boy, Relámpago and Accion Jackson, Shaun Moore, Shocko, Veneno and La Momia, Mafioso, Medico Brujo, Sick Boy [Zona de Ejecuion]  
Eliminations: Shocko (by Dinamic Black), La Momia (Shaun Moore), Dinamic Black (Medico Brujo), Shaun More (Medico Brujo), Noisy Boy (Puma de Oro), Tackle (Freelance), Puma de Oro (Freelance), Medico Brujo (Dick Angelo), Freelance (Mafioso), Dick Angelo 3G (Mafioso), Mafioso (Capo Mayor), Capo Mayor (Relampago), Accion Jackson (Relampago), Relampago (Hijo del Pirata Morgan), Sick Boy (Hijo del Pirata Morgan) leaving Hijo del Pirata Morgan as the winner
6) Fly Warrior, Fulgor, Mike b Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba  
Fuglor beat Ventura to set up an IWRG IC WELTER match

It’s not immediately evident why IWRG did that whole big 16 man match.

Other

Bandido lost the PWG Championship to Daniel Garica on Sunday night. Kinda figured it was time; they needed new matches. Black Taurus beat Blake Christian and Konosuke Takeshita defeated Aramis in the undercard.

NOAH announced Rene Dupree & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. will challenge for the GHC Tag Team Championships on May 4th. 

Guadalajara’s Abadon defeated Shyru Jr. in a hair match on Friday.

Segunda Caida reviews some random lucha libre.

An interview with retired luchador turned MXW promoter El Punisher.