Month: May 2022

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 05/13/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del Ring, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Inquisidor & Raider b Astral & Panterita del Ring Jr. 
14:46
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Skadi b Amapola, Metálica, Tiffany 
17:01
3) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.  
14:46
4) Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado  
16:49. Non-title, no trios challenges followed.
5) Euforia, Místico, Soberano Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]  
21:53, 3rd fall in 11:51

A skippable show in terms of advancement, though it was enjoyable as a one-off main event. Los Ingobernables are not the old Los Ingobernables and don’t even seem to be getting heat for being “fake Ingobernables”, but they’re very suited to to be the opposition in these type of matches.

Los Malditos are the trios titles holders but they’re obviously not meant to be seen as the best trio in the promotion.

CMLL (SAT) 05/14/2022 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha, CMLL, RB]
1) Angelito, Pequeño Magía, Shockercito b Full Metal, Minos, Pierrothito 
2) Diamond, Leono, Oro Jr. b Cholo, Grako, Príncipe Odín Jr. 
Oro return from injury. Diamond beat Cholo with la de caballo, though he wasn’t wearing silver this time.
3) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma
Rrudos took 1/3
4) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Negro Casas b Cavernario, El Coyote, Hechicero 
5) Ángel de Oro b Soberano Jr. 
Angel de Oro took 1/3. Angel de Oro won via Destroyer, and Soberano left on a stretcher.

CMLL occasionally does injury teases off the Canadian Destroyer and the clip there doesn’t make this one look any out of the ordinary. Soberano Jr. was reposting Instagram stories this weekend, including one of him in a soft neckbrace. Can’t be totally sure but he’s probably fine and CMLL’s continued to advertise him for Tuesday.

CMLL (SUN) 05/15/2022 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Bengala & Retro b Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Panterita del Ring Jr., Sangre Imperial, Suicida b Disturbio, Grako, Inquisidor
tecnicos took 1/3
3) Dalys, Dark Silueta, Reyna Isis b La Jarochita, Lluvia, Maligna
Return of Maligna (new daughter). Rudas took 2/3.
4) El Hijo del Villano III, Felino, Pólvora b Dark Panther, El Audaz, Flyer
Rudos took 2/3.
5) Cavernario, Templario, Terrible b Panterita del Ring, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr.
rudos took 1/3

I’m now obsessed with CMLL never running angles on Sunday shows. If the Soberano/Angel de Oro bit was an angle, which I presume it was, it was the only one CMLL ran the entire weekend. AEW is the only US wrestling promotion I’m bothering to watch week in and week out, and the goal there seems to do multiple angles in every segment; they’ll include interviews where nothing happens but only just to make sure you understand they haven’t forgotten about an angle and will get back to it just as soon as they have space. All the other US promotions are generally the same. CMLL is just so different than everything else.

Nothing too big on today’s Puebla show. CMLL made a late sub to replace Gran Guerrero with Atlantis, but Soberano is still listed as wrestling. They could be setting up the next Stigma title match in the semi-main, or they might do nothing at all.

CMLL (TUE) 05/17/2022 Arena México
1) Acero, Aéreo, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) Cachorro, Oro Jr., Robin vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) Amapola, La Seductora, Metálica vs Dalys, Hera, Olympia
4) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Panterita del Ring vs Felino, Hechicero, Terrible
5) Templario © vs Soberano Jr. [MEX MIDDLE]
second defense

Templario/Soberano is usually really good and should be again if Soberano has a working neck. Soberano winning the title seems a slight favorite.

I’ve got trouble getting a stable feed of YouTube with my VPN. I may try a workaround if I have time Tuesday night and will stream it somewhere if possible, but don’t count on it.

CMLL (TUE) 05/17/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Divino, Johnny Dinamo, Mágico vs Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Relámpago Azul
2) Joker, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. vs Bestia Negra, Difunto, Fúnebre
3) Huitzal, Sangre Imperial, Suicida, Valiente Jr. vs Obelisk, Persa, Raven, Temerario
CDMX vs GDL
4) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Rugido vs Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico
5) Atlantis & Último Guerrero vs Averno & Satánico

Last week’s show teased an Atlantis/Satanico match, which is still a week off. Diamond is still a Depredador.

School tournament standings:
2-0 Laguna
1-0 Mexico City
1-2 Queretaro
0-2 Guadalajara

Mexico City will face the Laguna team next week. The winner of that will be the overall champion no matter what happens in this week’s match (assuming this is just single round robin.)

Ultimo Dragoncito talks about teaching wrestling, counts Hijo del Villano III & Atlantis Jr. as among his students.

A pair of Guadalajara Gemelos Diablos say they own the rights to the name and are trying to stop CMLL from using it. They say they registered the names in 2007 and says they tried to negotiate over the name, then tried to get Fantasma to stop them from using them. They claim Fantasma said he’d get involved, and then he just didn’t. They’re making threats of resolving this legally now.

There are Gemelo Diablos who appeared in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara in 1992 (a period we have incomplete records in that time.) They’ve appeared sparingly in recent years. The paperwork included with the article to prove their right looks legal. It also looks to have a date of September 6, 2021, about four months after the former Gemelo Panteras started using the names in CMLL. They’re obviously looking for a payoff, and we’re unlikely to hear anything about this unless it gets serious enough for the CMLL guys to change their names.

CMLL put up the Televisa version of it’s Friday show (from two weeks ago), instead of the live/in-house production they’ve always used to this point. I don’t recall an issue with the stream that day that might require a change.

Titan’s first BOSJ match, versus el Desperado, takes place Tuesday at 4:30 AM.

AAA

AAA’s YouTube is now available worldwide again. You could get to the videos individuals for the last six months, but the channel page itself was inaccessible outside of Mexico. This had been explained to me as a tech issue.

AAA TV aired the expected opening matches, and actually put that episode up on YouTube first. Like with other TripleMania episodes, they aired a few new vignettes.

• Cibernetico was upset with Arez for putting up the mixed tag titles without getting his approval first. (Chik Tormenta seemed to get off scot-free.)
• Arez, in the middle of a promo asking for a rematch, was interrupted by Penta, Fenix and Taya. They teased a Fenix/Arez match, but more so brought up that Arez goes back with the Lucha Brothers a long time and they’re like family.
• Sammy & Tay (who still doesn’t know Arez’s name) revealed they paid off Parka Negra and generally boasted.
• Dragon Lee told Laredo Kid he was going to win the Cruiserweight championship soon.

Dragon Lee (& Dralistico) showed back up in AAA in October 2021. He asked for a cruiserweight title shot then. It is now eight months later. It will be at least nine months by the time it happens since they’re both booked at TripleMania Tijuana and not for that match. AAA repeats the same bit of Dragon Lee telling Laredo Kid he wants a title match every third show, but it never goes anywhere. And that’s the same for these AAA angles outside of the tournament.

There’s not a chance AAA has any idea what they’re doing with the mixed tag team title belts next. Getting them on AEW TV is the end goal and they’ll be in no hurry in getting them onto someone else.

AAA has it’s second Showcenter event this Saturday. Also Saturday is local Monterrey team Tigres second leg of their LigaMX semifinal, a home game. The AAA show should end before the soccer game, but it’s still going to draw a lot of people away. I believe other things may be going on (or no longer going on) with that show, but I haven’t gotten confirmation yet.

AAA celebrated the 30th anniversary of their first show with posts on social media.

AAA posted a video of meeting with Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins while on tour of Mexico City. Corgan also runs the NWA.

Psycho Clown beat Sam Adonis to win the GALLI Championships on Sunday.

Other Notes

IWRG (SUN) 05/15/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Bengalee & Therius b Casandra & Gamboa
debut of Gamboa
2) Garra Mortal, Limbo, Shocko b Arandu (Baja California), Leyenda Negra, Spider Fly
3) Aster Boy © b Aramis [IWRG IC Light]
4th defense
4) Laredo Kid © b Travis Banks [AAA CRUISER]
13th defense
5) Hijo del Pirata won Rey del Ring

This was a Mas Lucha Premium show and I don’t have a full list of who was in Rey del Ring. The big story was Hijo del Alebrije returning as #30, after quitting the promotion a month ago. Like Banks, he was working with the Negocio Traumado group, so it appears IWRG has generally softened on using wrestlers associated with that group.

IWRG (TUE) 05/17/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Cheff Benito & Rossel vs Milagro & Rey Fuego
2) Águila Oriental & Súper Cometa vs Carnicero & Steven Manson
3) Ajolotl, Jhon Tito, Spider Fly vs Garra Mortal Jr., Skanda, Torito Negro
4) Asterboy, Limbo, Tonalli vs Abc, Thunder Storm, Troyano
5) Toxin © vs Noisy Boy [IWRG MEXICO]
8th defense

Tuesday shows are back. That main event could have a bunch of forced creativity that only looks good if you clip it down to 50 frames, or it could be the time where it all clicks and it’s better than Templario/Soberano.

The Latin Dragons (Cinta de Oro & Samuray del Sol) defeated Erick Redbeard and JONAH in the Crash main event on Friday. This is the show with Matty Scurll and Travis Banks teaming; they lose to the team of Destiny & Septimo Dragon. Attendance was notably down from usual the lack of wrestlers the fans saw as big stars is much more likely a reason than Banks or Scurll. (It’s not a promising sign for Cinta de Oro & Samuray del Sol’s drawing power.)

Trauma I won Super Brazos hair in Arena San Juan on Saturday, the result of an atomicos with Gallego, Mr. Cóndor, Trauma I, and Trauma II beat Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo De Oro Jr., and Súper Brazo

Nygma took Black Blaze’s mask in a cage match on Mi Sagrada Lucha Libre’s show in Tultitlán on Saturday. Black Blaze was the evil version of indie luchador Blaze, who mostly wrestled only in this promotion. He turned out to be Kevin of the Nerds, who announced himself as wrestling for 16 and from Neza.

Apolo Chino (Anastacio Rodríguez Baños) passed away Friday. He was mostly an Acapulco based wrestler who appeared in CMLL from 1996 to 1998, including losing his mask to pre-Averno Rencor Latino. That was an infamously bad match, and Chino would lose his mask again a few years later in Monterrey.

Laredo Kid & Black Taurus matches on this past weekend’s Imapct tapings appeared to be entirely matches taped for their YouTube pre-show. Easier to watch if you don’t have Impact.

VXS announced Jimmy Lloyd vs Psycho Clown for their 05/26 show in Las Vegas.

Aramis will be part of Progress Wrestling’s Super Strong Style 16 tournament from June 3 to the 5th. Progress is one of a few European promotions who’s shows turn up on Peacock/WWE Network, which should include this tournament.

AIW announced Bandido and Jack Evans for their 06/17 show.

Box y Lucha 3505D has many things on the cover.

CMLL

Today’s CMLL show could be good but it doesn’t seem notable on paper. Euforia &  Soberano team up with Mistico against Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja and Terrible. Los Malditos face Los Guerreros in the semi-main. Either could normally set up a title match next week, though it seems less likely with people in both matches part of Copa Junior next week. The undercard is more miscellaneous matches. It’s the usual 99 peso TicketmasterLive show.

CMLL (SUN) 05/15/2022 Arena México
1) Bengala & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Panterita del Ring Jr., Sangre Imperial, Suicida vs Disturbio, Grako, Inquisidor
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Maligna vs Dalys, Dark Silueta, Reyna Isis
4) Dark Panther, El Audaz, Flyer vs El Hijo del Villano III, Felino, Pólvora
5) Panterita del Ring, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Templario, Terrible

There’s not as much care about keeping the teams together on this show; maybe some show has to be the “make up the required bookings” card.

Fuerza Guerrera will return to CMLL next Friday, as part of his extended retirement tour. He’s thinking of retiring in either September or December 2023.

NJPW’s BOSJ starts on Sunday. Titan’s first league match is on Tuesday against Desperado. It’s been a while since this has been a concern, but I’ll try to have results here so maybe don’t read this blog right away if you’re trying to avoid spoilers. The introductory press conference took place Friday morning; Titan was as polite and respectful as always. Mascara Dorada appeared – as a mask TJP held up while claiming Dorada was too scared to show up.

AAA

No preview for AAA on Space yet, but it figures to be the TripleMania FITE matches which didn’t air on Space:

• Ultimo Dragon vs Pentagon Jr.
• Sammy Guevera & Tay Conti vs Lady Maravilla & Latigo vs Komander & Sexy Star vs Arez & Chik Tormetna
• LA Park vs Villano IV

The top matches from TripleMania should start to appear on YouTube Sunday.

Konnan, last week in Tijuana promoting TripleMania, was asked if AAA was interested in using Rush. He gave a pretty logical answer: he enjoys working with Rush, likes him, just doesn’t like the idea of also having to bring in Rush’s wife, his father and his Vangellys just to bring him in. Konnan says the doors are open to bringing in (just) Rush. There’s obviously some wiggle room as LA Park’s sons are part of the package for booking him.

It feels to me like AAA’s pushing the 05/21 Showcenter card harder than usual, though it’s that’s just a feeling, and I haven’t researched it. AAA posted a Natalia Markova video to promote her appearance. The Superboletos listing for that event lists few tickets sold so far and the artwork talks about a 2×1 deal. That card has big names and I’m sure it’ll be a good time for the people who go, but it’s expensive prices for an AAA show that’s just matches to have matches. That’s also the sort of show that’s going to do better with ticket sales as it gets close to go the show, as it just becomes something to when people are looking for options that weekend. FITE is scheduled to air the show; they didn’t list the show to order until a few days prior last time and I’m presuming this is the same deal.

Other Notes

IWRG (THU) 05/12/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Jhon Tito & Nativo DRAW Rey Eclipse & Wagner Kid 
2) Bengalee & Therius DQ Black Fury & Satania 
Bengalee tricked the referee into believing Satania had hit him for the DQ
3) Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka, Tortuga Leo b Alas De Plata, Freelance, Noisy Boy 
Leo challenged Freelance for the IWRG Rey del Aire title and his hair.
4) Toxin b Dinamic Black 
Noisy Boy cashed in his “El Cofre del Pirata” (Money in the Bank version IWRG) to ask for a title match with Toxin on Tuesday (also there’s a show on Tuesday)
5) Fly Warrior, Fulgor, Yorvak b Aster Boy, La Momia, Relámpago and Accion Jackson, Shaun Moore, Shocko 

When WWE started the Money in the Bank concept, the excitement wasn’t just the title match cash in, but the frequent teases of the cash-in. The briefcase was seen all the time and often the holder teased for a title shot. In the predictable style of WWE and US wrestling, those teases were usually just that and the cash-ins generally happened only when the possibility hadn’t been mentioned for a while. IWRG’s first attempt at this concept had Noisy Boy talking about chasing in the week he won, and then not mentioning it again until he actually did. Noisy/Toxin sounds like a match with a lot of wild ideas, some of which may work.

Black Fury, appearing here, said she’d taken time away from wrestling to be a mother but now was back in wrestling 100%.

Thursday, there was a press conference to hype two Konnan Big led shows on Friday in Arena Azteca Budokan and Saturday in Arena Lopez Mateos. Both shows were canceled by Friday morning. These shows were said to be promoted by the restarted wrestler’s union, which put out a statement saying it wasn’t their fault the shows were canceled and promised more info soon. It appears to be a Konnan Big issue since he’s also not appearing for an autograph signing at Solar’s store.

The Crash returns tonight with Cinta de Oro & Samuray del Sol vs Erick Redbard & Jonah. This is also the show with the Marty Scurll & Travis Banks versus Black Destiny and a replacement for Lince Dorado. (Lince said he was asking out of the match, The Crash never said what they were doing, and Lince is booked in MLW versus nZo instead.) The international disdain to Banks working these shows seems to have lessened; they’re not warming up to him, but Banks working in Mexico has become normalized. Not as sure about Scurll, but The Crash is also far off the radar.

Big Lucha (FRI) 05/27/2022 Bandido Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Limbo & Potro vs Tirano & Viajero
2) Cody 1-8 & Skayde vs King & Kong and Elipse & Orbita
3) Lady Maravilla vs Sussy Love
4) Cometa Maya, Éxtasis, Radioactivo vs Accion Jackson, Bendito, Elemental
5) Komander & Torito Negro vs Galeno del Mal
6) Emperador Azteca, Flamita, Yutani vs Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., El Bandido

Dr. Wagner is this month’s special guest to fight Black Generation. Semi-main is a 2 vs 1 match. The Jinetes del Aire (Octagon Jr., Myzteziz Jr., Komander)  vs Sky Team (Cometa Maya, Extasis, and Radioactivo) match is now up on Mas Lucha and Big Lucha’s own channel, said to be very exciting.

MLW this week had Chik Tormenta vs Holiedad, Octagon Jr. vs King Muertes vs Hijo de LA Park vs El Dragon for the IWA Caribbean Championship and Jacob Fatu vs Bestia 666. They’re mixing the two days of taping; the Hijo de LA Park match was from the first day, and Fatu/Bestia 666 happened as a replacement main event after LA Park was fired. MLW tapes tonight in Philadelphia with Taya versus Holiedad for the new MLW Featherweight championship, Arez and KC Navarro challenging Myron Reed for MLW Middleweight Championship, and Mini Abismo Negro vs. Microman.

Impact tapes Friday and Saturday in Florida. Laredo Kid’s mentioned he’s booked and I presume Taurus is as well. Laredo Kid versus Mike Bailey from the previous TV taping will air this upcoming Thursday. The Laredo Kid, Mike Bailey and Rich Swann match from their recent PPV pre-show is still up on YouTube. Swann had been in a tag team with Willie Mack, Mack recently left the promotion, so this was Swann returning to being a singles act. I saw a Impact fan on Twitter bemoan this match as a restart for Swann: they pointed out Laredo Kid is good, but being in matches with Laredo Kid in Impact means they’re not doing anything with you. Absolutely brutal but also accurate.

Death Triangle wrestles on Rampage tonight. Or this afternoon, for most of you. Their match opens the show.

GALLI has Aero Boy vs Sam Adonis vs Psycho Clown and Arez & TBA vs Aerostar & Drago among other matches this Sunday for their anniversary show. I haven’t gone to a wrestling show since WrestleMania weekend and there’s a chance I might go to this one.

NEW announced Mascara Dorada along with a lot of AAA and AAA adjacent names for their 06/10 show in El Paso. Mascara Dorada had previously passed on taking any bookings for shows with AAA wrestlers, which is typical for CMLL wrestlers. I think he’s still intending to go to CMLL, but may have decided he can’t afford to be that picky.

Jack Evans and Bandido debut in Cleveland’s AIW on June 17th. The next night, Jack Evans will face Ninja Mack in Cleveland.

There’s an Octagon gallery exhibit at the Mexico City Garibaldi metro station. Octagon would unsurprisingly like to return to CMLL to face Fuerza Guerrera.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 05/10/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Estrellas del Ring, The Gladiatores]
1) Acero, Kaligua, Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia  
2) Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. b Diamond, Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr.  
Diamond replaced Cachorro on Tuesday morning, wore Santo colors.
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido  
4) Mephisto b Rey Bucanero  
Mephisto said he was going after Bucanero’s hair and them Mistico’s mask.
5) Hechicero, Soberano Jr., Star Jr. b Negro Casas, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]  
Soberano challenged Templario to a MEX MIDDLE match

Soberano’s tentative schedule for next week

• Saturday: vs Angel de Oro
• Tuesday: vs Templario
• Friday: one or two Copa Junior matches

He didn’t get to go to BOSJ but he’s getting the schedule anyway.

(Templario/Soberano seems like something I should try to stream.)

I’m not sure what the deal is with Diamond’s outfit, but he seems consistently left out of the Depredadores group. It’s Magia Blanca, Magnus and Rugido as a trio or teaming with Volador, with Diamond rarely included.

Guadalajara didn’t post results, I haven’t had a chance to watch it, and it didn’t seem worth holding up the update even longer.

CMLL (FRI) 05/13/2022 Arena México
1) Astral & Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Inquisidor & Raider
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Skadi vs Amapola, Metálica, Tiffany
3) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Euforia, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]

Just a dead week in between tournaments, with CMLL not doing much. The big feuds from the last few weeks (Isis/Jarochita, UG/Averno) are not present. Nothing particular to the main event, and Copa Junior is next week so it’s unlikely they’ll set up anything big. That main event might be good but nothing else. Ticketmaster Live link if interested for this totally skippable week. This feels like one where I’ll archive the show on the Google Drive, the 12 of us who make a point of watching every Friday night show will check it, and then it’ll sit there in the cloud never to be watched again.

The CMLL text lineup calls out La Ola Negra, Oneatos Team, Los Malditos, and Los Guerreros del La Atlantida as a teams, which shows how heavily team-focused CMLL’s shifted. Los Ingobernables are not listed as a unit. Probably nothing but an oversight.

CMLL (SAT) 05/14/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Angelito, Pequeño Magía, Shockercito vs Full Metal, Minos, Pierrothito
2) Diamond, Leono, Oro Jr. vs Cholo, Grako, Príncipe Odín Jr.
3) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
4) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Negro Casas vs Cavernario, El Coyote, Hechicero
5) Soberano Jr. vs Ángel de Oro

Angel de Oro cheated to beat Soberano last week, so there’s the rematch. Negro Casas actually a tecnico in the semimain. The second match is a real land of the lost situation; Oro Jr. left a match in this same building with an injury on 02/19 and this is his first appearance since.

CMLL (MON) 05/16/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja vs Fuerza Chicana
2) Retro & Sangre Imperial vs Guerrero Espacial & Sombra Diabólika
3) Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. vs El Malayo, Perverso, Prayer
4) Sagrado, Stigma, Stuka Jr. vs Audaz, Dark Panther, Templario
5) Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Místico, Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Same atomicos CMLL’s been doing a lot, which could go in a lot of directions. Semi-main has mixed up teams as well. This arena is about two months out from it’s building anniversary show; we’ve seen local feuds get started around this time in the past.

Mother’s Day is May 10th in Mexico (no matter what day of the week that falls) and there’s always a bunch of “she’s a luchador – but also she’s a mother!” articles. Those include La Jarochita (which froze my computer when I tried to read it) and another one with Lluvia. El Universal has one with Dalys. That one because they give enough information to work out Dalys is at least 54 years old (plus how many years she spent training before her first match). She normally tries really hard to conceal that number for reasons that may be obvious.

Lluvia mentions her biggest victory as winning La Magnifica’s mask in a cibernetico. It’s a match I have zero recollection upon; it’s really tough to make something lastingly meaningful when you throw a bunch of women in an elimination match with no history. That TripleMania women’s mask match will be a forever important moment for the two women involved, a big story the week it happens, and then probably a footnote after.

One more mom told her story after Mother’s Day; La Maligna and her new young daughter announced her return to CMLL as part of Wednesday’s media day and appeared on CMLL Informa. She’s been gone since December 2019 and definitely picked the right couple of years to stay away from wrestling to have a child. Maligna showed some potential in her previous run but hadn’t been pushed much.

CMLL announced on Informa that Virus & Cacnerbero were giving up the Mexican National Trios Championship as of today. This had been coming since Raziel passed away on April 4th, they just held off making it official until they could announce a tournament.

That tournament will take place on 05/27, the same as the Copa Junior final. It’ll be a one night tournament with four teams:

• Los Cancerberos del Infierno (Virus, Cancerbero, Luciferno)
• One Atos Team (Fugaz, Esfinge, Star Black)
• Los Depreadores (Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido)
• Los Astrapsuenos (Dulce Gardenia, Rey Cometa, Espiritu Negro)

Luciferno will now be teaming with Virus & Cancerbero; they had talked about making it a four man group with Raziel before he passed away. Luciferno had been teaming with Mephsito (now with Los Infernales) and Ephesto (now tecnico Panterita del Ring) and was adrift until Virus & Canerbero pulled him in.

Fuerza Guerrera is also on Informa, but I’ve got to post this now; I’ll write about his return or whichever later on.

Stigma talks about his Lightweight title win to Heraldo de Puebla.

Other news

IWRG (SUN) 05/15/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Bengalee & Therius vs Casandra & Gamboa
2) Sombra Negra & Spider Fly vs Garra Mortal & Limbo
3) Aster Boy © vs Aramis [IWRG IC Light]
4) Laredo Kid © vs Travis Banks [AAA CRUISER]
5) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 [Rey del Ring]

IWRG’s annual royal rumble match and singles matches with Aramis & Laredo Kid will make for probably a big bump to the Mas Lucha subscriber count. I don’t think it’ll get much interest outside of Mexico because of Banks, but IWRG also doesn’t get much interest outside of Mexico anyway.

Alberto el Patron ludicrously claimed he was in recent negotiations with companies like WWE. This is always false, but it’s also coming after he quietly disappeared from Robles Promotions and had a falling out with KAOZ, two places that seem pretty easy to work for if you’re a star.

GCW announced Drago Kid, Gringo Loco and ASF vs The SATs for their 06/18 New York show.

ESTO has a long interview with Fuerza Guerrera Jr. about liking Las Chivas for some reason.

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

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 05/06/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del RIng, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, Mas Lucha (video), R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Astral, Eléctrico, Suicida b Panterita del Ring Jr., Robin, Valiente Jr. 
14:36
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. 
14:46
3) Reyna Isis b La Jarochita   
12:17. Isis used a mask pull to win. Jarochita challenged her to a mask match.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black, Titán b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]  
17:42
5) Último Guerrero b Averno  
21:11

I thought the show was good, not great. The opener was steadier than those have been in the past. Jarochita & Isis had a rough end to the first fall and I didn’t think fall two was a lot better, but they got home fine. Star Black looked like he’s too nervous to remember what he was going at times in the atomicos. UG/Averno turned into every UG singles match for the last several minutes – it’s hard for me not to mentally check out the moment he does the front superplex – but Averno brought different energy at least to the start of it. UG is a rudo works for the crowd cheers an awful lot, and this time it was part of the story.

UG/Averno and Jarochita/Isis both ended with apuesta challenges. The women seemed more serious about it, though Averno actually agreed to it and then left when UG wanted to do it right now. There’s really no reason to do a hair match after UG beat Averno cleanly with his finish, but CMLL’s coverage of the show was insistent this is a real thing. Jarochita/Isis feels like it could be a second apuesta match on a big show, and it’s set up a lot like the Isis/Vaquerita mask match on a Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. It seems too soon to make something for the Aniversario, but that’s the only other time CMLL does important apuesta matches. Isis defeated Vaquerita, and a winner of an apuesta match tends to lose the next one in CMLL if they happen a short time apart.

Titan flew to Japan Sunday morning.

CMLL (SAT) 05/07/2022 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha, CMLL]
1) Chamuel & Micro Ángel b Átomo & Mije 
Team Chamuel took 1/3
2) La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Skadi b Hera, Olympia, Tiffany 
3) Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. b Enfermero Jr., Nitro, Okumura 
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Dark Panther, Esfinge, Star Jr. 
5) Ángel de Oro, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja DQ Blue Panther, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. 
Angel de Oro faked a foul from Soberano to draw the DQ.

Angel de Oro versus Soberano Jr. is likely for next week.

CMLL (SUN) 05/08/2022 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Full Metal & Mercurio b Aéreo & Shockercito
2) Cholo, Grako, Inquisidor b Arkalis, Cachorro, Sangre Imperial
Rudos took 2/3
3) Cancerbero, Kráneo, Virus b Diamond, Stigma, Volcano
Rudos took 1/3
4) Blue Panther, Dulce Gardenia, Star Black b El Coyote, Felino, Rey Bucanero
tecnicos took 2/3
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto, Soberano Jr. b Atlantis, Negro Casas, Templario, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
Infernales took 1/3

It has been eight weeks since an important match took place on a Sunday show.

Puebla tonight has the Chavez brother defending the tag team titles against Averno & Volador. A title change seems unlikely.

CMLL (TUE) 05/10/2022 Arena México
1) Acero, Kaligua, Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia
2) Cachorro, Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
4) Rey Bucanero vs Mephisto
5) Negro Casas, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Hechicero, Soberano Jr., Star Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

I wonder if the main event is meant to set up something, or is just nothing. They usually don’t build two matches at once for Tuesday.

CMLL (TUE) 05/10/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Último Ángel vs Destello, Destructor, Ponzoña
2) Optimus & Trono vs Estrella Oriental & Minotauro
3) Cachorro, Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Ángel Rebelde, Espíritu Negro, Halcón Negro Jr., Samuray Azteca
4) Cris Skin, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno vs Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Flash vs Bestia Negra, Joker, Satánico
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Principe Daniel vs Difunto, Explosivo, Zandokan Jr.

Principe Daniel teams up with Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja a bunch, but this may be follow up to Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja and Explosivo failing to win the trios titles as a team. Schools match of the week is CDMX vs Queretaro.

It’s tough to pick up on things that aren’t happening, but I noticed this past week that Gallo & Flash haven’t been back here in a month when they lost the Occidente Tag Championships to Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno and acted so unprofessionally that the announcers called them out on it.

Okumura met with the Japanese ambassador to Mexico.

AAA

AAA TV this week aired the two dark matches from TripleMania Regia. The Marvel Lucha Libre match turned out to be Marvel Hulk & Marvel Capitan America (who was not Octagon Jr.) against Marvel Thanos and wasn’t much. An angle took place with Marvel Spider-Man (who definitely was Vikingo), Marvel Thor, Marvel Loki and a person that I believe was Marvel Female Dr. Ock (La Hiedra) got involved and it picked up after that, but none of this matters.

Copa TripleMania had eleven people in what was announced as an eight-person match. It was more comedy than action since they were doing the lumberjack bit as well. (Tio Korton made it to Monterrey for some reason; maybe he had been one of the masked La Empresa guys?) Toscano and Charly Manson were the big returns, Willie Mack was a surprise, and Microman won with a bunch of help. You don’t really need to go out of your way to see it.

There were a few vignettes on the episode. A Jeff & Karen Jarrett video bit aired that added nothing to the in-ring bit you already saw. Jarrett challenged Latin Lover and Vampiro & Rey Escorpion weren’t mentioned; it felt like that was taped before the show and maybe before they were sure who’d be involved. A Konnan/Hugo bit aired to establish Konnan is still a heel, explaining his assistance on FTR wrestling was because they were defrauding the fans (who Konnan also hates.) It is comedic that the AAA angle on that show was Konnan preventing the fans from being ripped off, while the AAA reality was AAA promising Fenix would wrestle and not delivering. Anyway, Konnan’s definitely a heel who hates Cibernetico, and it turns out Cibernetico is also definitely a heel. Faby Apache & Heavy Metal welcomed Charly Manson back to AAA while Cibernetico blew him off in a way where we’re supposed to get that Cibernetico was a jerk for doing so and Manson is definitely not a part of this version of Los Vipers.

The results are now complete if you’re a person who needs them. Next week’s Space show should be the matches that aired on FITE but not Space (Dragon/Penta, Mixed Tag, Park/Villano IV.) I may not bother streaming for the rest of the month, because that’s been seen and the next two weeks appear to repeat at the moment.

I didn’t like the live in-arena commentary during the PPV broadcast, but it was much better than the pre-show. That building was 25% full that early, and their voices banging around the vacant seats made it feel even emptier. I don’t think AAA’s going to change that for Tijuana so we’ll just have to get used to it.

Taya retained the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship on Saturday’s Impact PPV over Deonna Purrazzo, as expected. The post match moved Purrazzo onto a new feud, and I’m not sure what’s next for Taya or that title in Impact. I assume she’s sticking around.

WrestleMania weekend included two Martinez Entertainment shows that were really one show. The promotion went through the pretense of a card with Hijo del Santo and a card with AAA wrestlers, because Santo and AAA can’t stand each other. This was a work totally intended only for the AAA & Santo themselves, no one else has a reason to care. California-based RGR Promotions is going for the same thing on May 27th, with even less of a pretense. There’s a poster with Hijo del Santo, and there’s a poster with AAA talent, but it’s the same show happening at the same venue at the same time. It’s ridiculous; AAA and Santo are working on the same show, one or both are just too proud to admit they’ve given up their grudge because they value the money they could make more.

Other

IWRG (SUN) 05/08/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) John Tito & Kenji b Águila Oriental & Rey Aztaroth 
Aguila Oriental replaced Super Cometa
2) Bengalee b Satania 
Bengalee pinned Satania, but Satania had a foot on the ropes
3) Garra Mortal, Limbo, Rey Halcón b Estrella de Oro, Genex, Spider Fly 
4) Big Boy, Big Chicoche, Tackle b Leo, Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka 
Tackle was the Big Strippers partner. Chico Che pulled Ra-Zhata’s mask and pinned him.
5) Fly Warrior, Fulgor, Mr. Mike b Asterboy, Freelance, Noisy Boy 
Old School pointed out they were undefeated and were confronted by La Pandemia, who are still EDM TRIOS champs and returning from an injury break soon. La Jaucan also showed up to ask for a title shot.
6) Accion Jackson, Gregori Sharpe, La Mosca, Shaun Moore, Shocko b Caballero de Plata, La Momia, Puma de Oro, Relámpago, Tonalli 
Eliminations: Caballero de Plata (by Mosca), Mosca (Puma de Oro), Gregory Sharpe (Tonalli), Tonalli (Shaun Moore), Accion Jackson (La Momia), Puma de Oro (Shocko), Shaun Moore (Relampago), La Momia (Shocko with help from Accion Jackson), Relampago (Shocko, with help from Shaun Moore) leaving Shocko as the winner.

La Pandemia returning seems like the big news; they came out of nowhere to have a fun run last year in IWRG. (Pandemonium Jr. hurt his back, and they were originally expected back March/April.) The matches they set up here sound promising. It didn’t occur to me until they returned that IWRG had two trios champions and neither of them were appearing in the promotion; Dinastia Navarro remain the trios champions despite not working as a trio for IWRG in years.

KAOZ held their delayed show in Arena Coliseo Monterrey on Sunday, originally scheduled for March 27th. When that show was pushed back, promoter Alonso Botello said all the originally scheduled matches would happen (didn’t happen, matches were changed in normal Mexican wrestling fashion) and that 70% of the tickets were already sold. The building looked around 70% sold, suggesting they didn’t sell many tickets in six weeks or he was maybe making up a total in the first place. Running after TripleMania surely didn’t help.

This attempt at “the final ever show in Arena Coliseo Monterrey” got a lot less attention than it did back in March; I’ve seen one farewell story this time around, when there was plenty of similar coverage prior. Local sentiment is this show was still unlikely to be Arena Coliseo Monterrey’s final card. It’s more likely to be Alberto el Patron’s final show with KAOZ. The gist of it is the promoter Alonso Botello said he told Alberto he had to show up on time or he’d be off the show (and not paid), and Alberto showed up two hours late after the show had already started. There’s video of Dos Caras and Hijo de Dos Caras arguing with Botello, claiming they weren’t told the time, until Alberto literally shoves the door open and forces his way in. Alberto showing up late isn’t great, though there are suggestions Botello just wanted to get out of paying him. Neither side seems like a winner here, though it’s not even in the top ten of weird Alberto stories. Botello had previously said this was the last agreed-upon date and that seems unlikely to change. KAOZ is probably running a next show but didn’t appear to announce a date.

In other Monterrey news, a comedic lucha libre Facebook page Menos Lucha was broadcasting a different show when they were suddenly repeatedly punched. (It’s a little weird someone was filming the people filming the show right before the fight.) The comments on the video have identified the attacker as local luchador Rey Sultan, who is no one I know outside of seeing his name in prelim matches on Nuevo Leon shows. Menos Lucha is run by semi-retired luchador Saizo and the humor was described to me as “sarcastic”, “black” and more negative/business exposing than most Mexican wrestling coverage. The people inside wrestling see Saizo as a guy who wasn’t good enough to make it. Punching a guy in the face is not an ideal way to settle it, but it’s also weird they’d let him stream shows with that sort of hostility present. Mexican wrestling is different.

Thunder Rosa visited the Tijuana Lucha Libre museum. Didn’t really think about it at the time, but I’m a little surprised she didn’t end up on the AAA Tijuana TripleMania show. Maybe they didn’t want to do another women’s match, but even just putting her hair on the line in the cage match would’ve meant more locally than many of the women included. Rosa has rarely gotten a chance to wrestle in Tijuana.

CaraLucha announced they’re returning on June 4th in Neza’s Arena 2 de Junio. (The show is on June 4th, the arena is named June 2nd.) It’s more notable they’re coming back than what they’re doing, a show with an unremarkable mix of usual indie names (Texano, Trauma II and Corsario Negro Jr. in the main event) and Neza names who worked previous shows. CaraLucha was a hot indie from about 2013 to 2017 in Arena San Juan – Bandido’s recently mentioned in a Chris Hero interview that his match there in 2015 while still a Magnifico was key to him making it in Mexico City – then promoted one show away from Arena San Juan in 2018 and nothing since. This card looks more like a reunion of all friends rather than any big project from the future.

XPW announced Ludark Shaitan & Taya among the participants for their 06/25 women’s title tournament.

Texano Jr. was already back in Mexico and wrestling this weekend. Recent changes in NOAH (Nosawa reportedly out as booker) may have reduced the future involvement of Mexican wrestlers in that promotion.

Rush took to Twitter to challenge Kenny Omega, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk to matches. This was a social media bit intended to get attention. It did in Mexico, but it didn’t seem to get noticed in the US as designed. Rush just isn’t relevant among those circles at the moment.

Warrior Wrestling announced Dragon Bane vs. Alpha Wolf for their 05/28 St. Louis show.

Box y Lucha 3506 has the Copa Junior and Titan to the BOSJ field. As the magazine notes, Titan starts off with El Desperado. Titan’s a pretty strong favorite to pull that “upset” given normal NJPW tournament booking.

CMLL

Tonight’s CMLL show has Averno versus Ultimo Guerrero, a Guadalajara/Depredadores atomicos and Jarochita & Isis in a singles match. It’ll be back on Ticketmaster Live. CMLL seems like they’re loading up the Friday night shows to put as many good wrestlers on them. It’s left the Tuesday and Sunday Arena Mexico shows a bit adrift, but no one’s watching them so that seems fine.

La Jarochita claimed she and Reyna Isis have had a rivalry for 10 years. Their first match appeared to be in 2017 but, sure, go with it. Her actual message is she’d genuinely like to do the mask match.

This is Titan’s last match before heading to Japan on Monday.

On Ticketmaster Live: I believe anyone who bought the failed stream from a few weeks ago was supposed to get it automatically refunded. They also did try to give everyone who contacted the next week’s stream for free, with CMLL paying the bill. Ticketmaster reached out to me, but it just wasn’t at a place I was looking. Refunds and a free show was a fair way to handle that situation.

CMLL (SUN) 05/08/2022 Arena México
1) Aéreo & Shockercito vs Full Metal & Mercurio
2) Arkalis, Cachorro, Sangre Imperial vs Cholo, Grako, Inquisidor
3) Diamond, Stigma, Volcano vs Cancerbero, Kráneo, Virus
4) Blue Panther, Dulce Gardenia, Star Black vs El Coyote, Felino, Rey Bucanero
5) Atlantis, Negro Casas, Templario, Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Templario and Ultimo Guerrero are friends again (or Soberano needed an opponent and Gran Guerrero is otherwise busy.)

CMLL (MON) 05/09/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Hijo de Centella Roja vs Black Tiger
2) Acero & Aéreo vs Mercurio & Minos
3) Hombre Bala Jr., Rey Samuray, Robin vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, El Perverso
4) El Audaz, Star Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja © vs Averno & Volador Jr. [CMLL TAG]
first defense

Averno & Volador would be a truly random team to win the tag titles.

CMLL also announced the Gran Prix field

• Mephisto
• Stuka Jr.
• Mistico
• Volador Jr.
• Angel de Oro
• Atlantis Jr.
• Niebla Roja
• Soberano Jr.

First round on 05/20, final on 05/27. It’s a normal eight-person tournament. Atlantis Jr. and Mephisto weren’t in the Universal tournament, the other six are a repeat. They’ve done Mistico and Stuka & Atlantis as the last two tournament winners, maybe this will be something else? It does not seem to matter and anyone might as well win in an eight person field.

CMLL put up its Match of the Month poll, which Titan and Niebla Roja should win.

AAA

AAA revealed the Tijuana card at a press conference on Thursday

AAA TV (SAT) 06/18/2022 Estadio Caliente, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Lady Shani vs La Hiedra, Sexy Star II, Flammer, Chik Tormenta, Maravilla, Reina Dorada [cage, losers advance]
2) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 [Copa TripleMania]
presumably including Canek, Rayo de Jalisco and LA Park (as all ruleta de la muerte wrestlers were scheduled for this show)
3) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Fénix, Laredo Kid, Bandido, Taurus
4) Blue Demon Jr. vs Pentagón Jr. [ruleta de la muerte, semifinal]
5) ? vs ?? [mask]
6) Villano IV vs Psycho Clown [ruleta de la muerte, semifinal]
7) Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy vs Dragón Lee & Dralistico

This will air on FITE. Dorian Roldan mentioned the Monterrey show set the record for most PPVs purchases for any AAA show. Konnan will also be honored on the show, which might be a setup for the confrontation with Cibernetico.

The third match was said to be for both the Latin American Championship and the Cruiserweight Championship at the press conference. Laredo Kid also said Thursday the match would be for both titles. The poster doesn’t mention either title. A unification match would be for the best: the AAA Latin American championship is the gym membership of championships, something AAA continually says they’re really going to start using and taking seriously before forgetting about it for six months. It’ll be deflating if Laredo Kid three year title match reign ends in a five way where he might not even get pinned, but also it’s reminder never to care much about AAA’s stories.

Likewise, the press conference said eight women would be involved. and only seven are listed. Keyra is working AAA spot shows this week in Sinaloa and presumably was meant to be the eighth woman at some point, so maybe she’ll be added day of the show. (Both Dorian Roldan and the other hosts of the press conference blanked on Lady Shani’s name, so it could be a similar oversight.) The cage match is also part of the pre-show, which means people watching the PPV presumably won’t get to see the setup to the mask match happening that same night. Or even know who’s going to be in the match unless AAA announces the result ahead of time.

This seems a light slight for a soccer stadium. The women’s mask match will be played up as a big moment for women’s wrestling but is being built like an inconsequential match, existing just to say they had someone lose their mask on the show. (There’s no reason to speculate on who’s going to lose, because there’s no story being told.) The Hardys and the tournament matches are good for nostalgia, though they’re missing anything in the moment to build up the issues. The five-way should be great, though again there’s no central issue there. None of the big angles on TripleMania Monterrey are being followed up here; there’s nothing connecting the two shows outside of the tournament. Hopefully the ruleta de la muerte brings the emotion, though this feels like it’s missing that big match of this moment for a venue this size – as someone trying to figure out if I should make this trip, there’s no moment I feel like I have to be in Tijuana to see.

AAA TV this weekend will have matches from TripleMania Monterrey. The Copa TripleMania and Marvel match should air this week or next, no knowing which until AAA puts up the open. I plan on streaming this on Twitch.

TripleMania aired on Meta Oculus’s VR headsets on Thursday. I don’t know enough about this to know if it’s still on there to watch now, but maybe. It seemed to be a US-only experience.

The WON mentions that “part of the reason” the Young Bucks versus Fenix & Vikingo happened is Konnan asked the Bucks if they’d work the show and the Bucks agreed if they could wrestle those two guys. The newsletter also mentions Latin Lover suffered a torn quad and is insistent Alberto wasn’t scheduled in the trios tag match.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 05/05/2022 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del Ring, IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Nativo & Sol b Kenji & X-Devil    
2) Casandra & Satanica b Bengalee & Therius   
Satanico & Bengalee continue to make mask matches
3) Caballero de Plata, Dinamic Black, La Momia b Hell Boy, Mafioso, Toxin  
Dinamic Black challenged Toxin for the IWRG MEXICO championship.
4) Accion Jackson, Gregory Sharpe, Shaun Moore b Aramis, Aster Boy, Noisy Boy  
Foreigners are going as Las Panteras Negras. Aramis & Aster Boy had issues.
5) Travis Banks b Laredo Kid   
Travis Banks won via foul, setting up an AAA CRUISER title match.

The Banks/Laredo title match will happen on Rey del Ring, Mas Lucha’s new paid IWRG show. It’s a weird situation where Mas Lucha is occasionally playing down or ignoring Banks, but they’re also charging people for a show where Banks/Laredo is going to be a selling point. That match also feels like it’s designed to get some extra buys just because it’s “Laredo Kid in something planned to be a really good match”, except Travis Banks is a negative draw to the foreign fans who might dip in. The Mexican fans seem to be bothered less.

Travis Banks being theoretically winning an AAA title is not a great look for AAA. There’s little chance it’s going to happen with Laredo’s next defense already announced, but it is AAA saying they’re OK with Banks if they’re going to let it happen. On the other hand, if AAA tells IWRG or Laredo no, it’s just going to be a cosmetic difference – Banks will put his IWRG title on the line or they’ll just do it non-title or whatever, the match is still going to happen and Mexico is still going to accept everyone who’s been pushed out elsewhere. I am going to point it what AAA is doing when that match gets officially announced but I don’t think it really changes anything.

IWRG (SUN) 05/08/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Rey Aztaroth & Súper Cometa vs John Tito & Kenji
2) Satania vs Bengalee
3) Estrella de Oro, Genex, Spider Fly vs Garra Mortal, Limbo, Rey Halcón
4) ?, Big Boy, Big Chicoche vs Leo, Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka
5) Fly Warrior, Fulgor, Mr. Mike vs Asterboy, Freelance, Noisy Boy
6) Caballero de Plata, La Momia, Puma de Oro, Relámpago, Tonalli vs Accion Jackson, Gregori Sharpe, La Mosca, Shaun Moore, Shocko

Mexico versus the World in the main event. Mike is now Mr. Mike. Turtles versus Big Strippers and mystery partner of the week go on.

Other News

Diamante & Shun Skywalker won the Dragon Gate Open The Twin Gate Championship on Thursday from Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka. Dragon Gate airs streams the opener from their televised shows on YouTube for free and have been opening with bigger matches than usual in that spot for that reason, so you can see that title change for free.

Laredo Kid faces Rich Swann on Saturday’s Countdown to Under Siege, their PPV pre-show. Taya defends the Reina de Reinas championship against Deonna Purrazzo.

05/13 MLW has Arez and KC Navarro challenging Myron Reed for the MLW World Middleweight Championship

NOAH on 05/21 has

• Rene Dupree & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. (c) vs Masa Kitamiya & Michael Elgin for the GHC Tag Team Championship
• HAYATA (c) vs Xtreme Tiger  for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship

VXS is bringing Jack Evans to Las Vegas on May 26th. There was some question if Jack would still be working the US after his AEW exit and he does appear to be wrestling in the states.

RIOT says they have a new venue for their June 4th show and will announce it in a few days after they signed the contract. The previous venue canceled their contract for the building after a couple of days.

Valvel has an interviews with various wrestlers at the AAA show in Torreon. It doesn’t appear to have drawn well. I didn’t realize Prometo & King Rex were brothers.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

IWTV has the latest Zona 23 show up.

CMLL

Arena Puebla held a moment of applause for Toro Bill Jr. on Monday’s show, with his friends and family. He was also remembered at Puebla’s Arena Coliseo San Ramon on Sunday. I didn’t mention it in the recap, but Stigma brought a Toro Bill Jr. mask with him to the Arena Mexico ring on Friday.

CMLL (TUE) 05/03/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha]
1) Minos & Pequeño Olímpico b Fantasy & Pequeño Magía 
2) Apocalipsis & Raider b Leono & Metatron 
Rudos took 2/3. Metatron, replacing Sangre Imperial and in his first Arena Mexico appearance since 2019.
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi b Amapola, Dalys, Metálica  
tecnicas took 2/3
4) Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring b El Coyote, Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora 
tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Místico, Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero DQ Averno, Mephisto, Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]  
Team Mistico took 2/3, when Averno & Mephisto were DQed for excessive violence on Bucanero, who demanded a singles match with Mephisto.

The tag match from last week was good but I’m not sure about Rey Bucanero/Mephisto as a singles match. The sound is missing from the top two matches of my upload due to YouTube issues but is present on the (geoblocked) stream. I’ll give it another try tonight.

Metatron disappeared from Mexico City after November 2019, was in Guadalajara only for a few months, then vanished entirely at the onset of the pandemic. His name was listed on a Guadalajara indie show a few weeks back. Metatron, Metal Blanco and Metalik were a trio as La Fuerza M in Guadalajara around 2007. It worked out better for some of those names than others; Metatron has been an opening match wrestler and deservingly so in his Mexico City time. Metatron is also Sagrado’s brother, though it’s rarely mentioned. Metatron wasn’t wearing his old full body pajama outfit, so either he’s decided to change up his look or this was a last-minute replacement call. Metatron told the press he’d been focused on other work during the pandemic but now is focused back on CMLL. I generally feel for people who had to give change plans due to the pandemic and feel like they should get a chance to regain what they lost, but Metatron was so not good that it seems a slight on the CMLL training system for not having better people in that spot.

CMLL (TUE) 05/03/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Mas Lucha]
1) Bello Antuan, Cosmos, Último Ángel b Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Tigre Blanco
2) Omar Brunetti, Optimus, Trono b Bobby Black, Carlo Roggi, Javier Cruz Jr.
3) Ángel Rebelde, Espíritu Negro Jr., Halcón Negro Jr., Samuray Azteca b Obelisk, Persa, Raven, Temerario
4) Hera, La Magnifica, Olympia b Náutica, Sexy Sol, Valkiria
5) Cris Skin, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno b Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
6) Dr. Karonte I & Dr. Karonte II DQ Adrenalina & Fantástico
Dr. Karonte I tossed his mask to draw the DQ.

I feel dumb for not understanding these city versus city matches were points based, but also they haven’t mentioned it outside of the broadcasts until now. The current standings:

2 Laguneros (1-0)
2 Mexico City (1-0)
2 Queretaro (1-1)
0 Guadalajara (0-2)

CMLL (FRI) 05/06/2022 Arena México
1) Panterita del Ring Jr., Robin, Valiente Jr. vs Astral, Eléctrico, Suicida
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
3) La Jarochita vs Reyna Isis
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black, Titán vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Último Guerrero vs Averno

Ultimo Guerrero and Averno have traded wins in the CMLL Universal ages ago, and UG won their only full-length singles match way back in 2009 Arena Puebla (which we have video of.)

Atomicos could be fun. It’s funny it’s a relevos increibles because Magnus may still be a rudo, though he doesn’t team with any rudos. Electrico may be back from getting dumped on his head. Jarochita/isis could be good.

CMLL (SAT) 05/07/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Átomo & Mije vs Chamuel & Micro Ángel
2) La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Skadi vs Hera, Olympia, Tiffany
3) Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. vs Enfermero Jr., Nitro, Okumura
4) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Star Jr. vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Blue Panther, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja

This main event is not a relevos increibles, though it’s impossible to care. Nothing was set up here last week.

CMLL Informa today has Mistico, Titan, Ultimo Guerrero, Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Euforia, Dalys, and Dulce Gardenia, as well as some fans in attendance. I suspect a lot o baseball talk.

Titan will head to Costa Rica’s CWE promotion to defend the CMLL Welterweight Championship against Escualo on June 18th.

At the opening of Dark Panther’s cake shop, Blue Panther Jr. says he could return in a year. He wasn’t as clear on a timeline on Informa. I thought he had the eye surgery then, but it sounds like he still needs additional work done.

Dhani Ledesma, the promoter of Lucha Memes, says he was asked about CMLL for ideas for international wrestlers for the Gran Prix. CMLL has not had the best track record when it’s come for independent foreign talent on their own (Big Daddy Yum Yum) so maybe anyone else adding a voice will be a help.

AAA

AAA TV (SAT) 05/21/2022 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) Baby Extreme, Dulce Canela, Komander vs Dinámico, Emperador Azteca, Látigo
2) Natalia Marakova vs Zeuxis [Showcenter Tournament, torneo]
3) Rey Horus vs Gringo Loco [Showcenter Tournament, torneo]
4) Faby Apache vs Diosa Quetzal [Showcenter Tournament, torneo]
5) Bestia 666 & Mechawolf vs Dragón Lee & Dralistico vs Antifaz & Willie Mack
6) Aramis vs Flamita [Showcenter Tournament, torneo]
7) Fénix, Heavy Metal, Laredo Kid vs Abismo Negro Jr., Arez, Psicosis II

Aramis/Flamita and Horus/Loco sound like two good singles. I’d like to escape Hermanos Lee to have a normal match at one point in AAA but that match should be good. The main event could be wild, and the guys in the opener did well last time out. All of these events are scheduled to be on FITE; the purchase link isn’t up yet.

The previous Showcenter event included

• an angle setting up a RIOT versus AAA match on this show
• an angle setting up Laredo Kid teaming with Antifaz del Norte on this show

0 for 2. This is not “we didn’t have room for them because we need the big names to draw for a baseball stadium”, this is just deciding booking doesn’t matter. RIOT came up with their own answer for the first one, though whatever happened with RIOT’s show being moved probably plays a part into it. If AAA does run a full year of shows here, I’d guess it’ll be figured out eventualy.

The Second one is harder: Antifaz & Laredo are there, just not teaming. Likewise, the part no one remembers about Vikingo/Flamita from the last show is it was a tournament match and Flamita’s back in it on the next show. We have no idea of the tournament rules, it could be league or double elimination or whatever. It’s probably whatever. There’s a clear difference between how AAA’s presented the Ruleta de la Muerte (rules explained in detail and frequently) and how they’re running this one (never explained, no one knows what it’s supposed to be.) I think this tournament exists just to sell the concept to the venue, who just need their name mentioned but aren’t really tracking brackets or anything. It just comes off as something AAA is required to do but doesn’t care much about.

Which is weird because the women’s part of this tournament seems a massive concern, enough to cast a very wide net for participants. Markova, from Russia, has been in the NWA and made some appearances on AEW Dark. This is her Mexico debut. Markova had been tweeting about wanting to come to AAA since last November; I’m not sure if it was something in the works for a while or if she just tweeted it into existence. (That bit wouldn’t work now; most tweets that tag AAA are people reacting to Guevara and Conti and anything else is lost in their wake.) Zeuxis hasn’t been in AAA since a 2018 one-night stint in 2018 which seemed to leave both AAA and her unhappy with the experience. She’s wrestled about a match a month since. Diosa Quetzal is making her AAA debut; there’s a decent chance she would’ve shown up earlier had the last two years been a bit more normal.

Joe Dombrowski announced he had signed a contract with AAA to be the primary English play by play. Larry Dallas announced he’d signed a similar deal last week.

Latin Lover says he picked up a leg bruise in the TripleMania fight. He posted photos on Instagram. It didn’t sound serious, just needed some rest.

Other

IWRG (THU) 05/05/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Nativo vs Kenji & X-Devil
2) Bengalee & Therius vs Casandra & Satanica
3) Caballero de Plata, Dinamic Black, La Momia vs Hell Boy, Mafioso, Toxin
4) Aramis, Aster Boy, Noisy Boy vs Accion Jackson, Gregory Sharpe, Shaun Moore
5) Laredo Kid vs Travis Banks

Gregory Sharpe appears California-based but seems to work a lot of small shows around the world. I keep wrongly thinking the Banks/IWRG/Negocio Tramuado thing is a tug of war, when it looks like it’s more everyone thinks he’s so awesome that they’re giving him favors they wouldn’t allow for almost anyone else who works with IWRG. Like get a spotlight match with Laredo Kid.

IWRG has a graphic up with past Rey del Ring winners. The tournaments IWRG (and CMLL) run feel weightless in part because the results tend not to be mentioned a week after it happens, so anything that can look to the past is going to be a bit of help. IWRG also posted the next part of its Big Stripper trio search.

Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. & Rene Dupree won the GHC Tag Team championships earlier this morning.

Violento Jack successfully defended his mask in FREEDOMS.

Vanguardia interviews Coahuila’s Latino, who reveals he was wrestling as Patán on Toryumon Mexico shows.

Huracan Ramirez complained to ESTO that wrestling is too much of a circus today. This is not the person who gave any particular fame to the Huracan Ramirez, but someone who got the rights to the name many years later. The article ends by noting today’s wrestling that Ramirez says is killing wrestling is also well-liked by fans.

La Silla Rota has interviews of Pachuca luchadors Bufalo & Aspid. There’s a lot of talk about the effort to start a local commission, with hope it’ll come up for a government vote in June.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

A Titanes en el Ring 60th Anniversary show will take place on May 29th.

There’s a lucha libre exhibition in Zacatecas.