Terrible keeps national heavyweight championship, CMLL weekend lineups, AAA/NFTs

CMLL

Fuerza Guerrera beat Negro Casas via foul in Puebla. That’s another one suggesting Fuerza is around for the long term. La Jarochita & Lluvia retained the tag titles over Reina Isis & Metalica. (They also alluded to the meaning of their outfits.) A clip of Metalica & Isis badly failing a double team in that match has been passed around a lot.

CMLL (TUE) 06/21/2022 Arena México [Box y Lucha, CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Bengala, Retro, Valiente Jr. b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Príncipe Odín Jr. 
Cholo suffered a head injury on a Retro german suplex and the match was stopped about one move from the finish.
2) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Full Metal, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito 
tecnicos took 2/3
3) Diamond, Magnus, Rugido DQ Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. 
Depredadores were not in matching gear for the first time in a while. Depredadores took 2/3, the last when Ola Negra got an excessive violence DQ.
4) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Star Jr. b El Coyote, Felino, Pólvora 
tecnicos took 2/3
5) Terrible © b Euforia [MEX HEAVY] 
1st defense. Terrible submitted Euforia in a one fall match.

The main event was just Terrible surviving everything Euforia had to throw at him and beating him cleanly with a hold I have not seen prior.

CMLL (TUE) 06/21/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara]
Arena Coliseo Guadalajara 63rd Anniversary
1) Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga b Cris Skin, Crixus, Flash 
2) Difunto, Fúnebre, Zandokan Jr. b Joker, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. 
3) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Chamuel & Perico Zacarías 
4) Dark Silueta, Stephanie Vaquer, Valkiria b Lluvia, Náutica, Sexy Sol 
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Negro Casas DQ Fuerza Guerrera, Rey Bucanero, Satánico 
Fuerza & Satanico fouled Negro Casas & Blue Panther
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Soberano Jr. b Averno, Hijo del Villano III, Mephisto 

Not a full house but a loud and excited house; the people there were clearly excited for the idea of an Anniversary show, even if it was just few more stars than usual. Main event was the standard match, with Mistico getting Averno in the center with La Mistica (and then celebrating for ten minutes.) The luchadors were getting swarmed by fans in between matches, especially for the semi-main.

CMLL (FRI) 06/24/2022 Arena México
1) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black
2) Magia Blanca vs Diamond, Inquisidor, Rey Cometa, Ángel Rebelde, Suicida, Astral, Rey Samuray, Principe Daniel, El Perverso [MEX WELTER, battle royal]
3) ? vs ?? [MEX WELTER, 8F]
4) ? vs ?? [MEX WELTER, 8F]
5) ? vs ?? [MEX WELTER, 8F]
6) ? vs ?? [MEX WELTER, 8F]
7) ? vs ?? [MEX WELTER, quarterfinal]
8) ? vs ?? [MEX WELTER, quarterfinal]
9) ? vs ?? [MEX WELTER, semifinal]
10) ? vs ?? [MEX WELTER, semifinal]
11) ? vs ?? [MEX WELTER, final]
12) Stuka Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr., Cavernario, Templario
13) Euforia & Soberano Jr. vs Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero [Copa Dinastia, final]

There are no good 13 match CMLL shows. Expect a lot of short matches to make sure the main event has time, or pray they switch the tournament into a cibernetico.

I got an unexpected email from TicketmasterLive with a link to this show. Maybe check your email if you bought the show that didn’t work. (The refund did eventually turn up as well.)

CMLL (SAT) 06/25/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Mercurio & Minos
2) Oro Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Sangre Imperial vs Cholo, Grako, Inquisidor
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi vs Amapola, Hera, La Seductora
4) Flyer, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Rey Bucanero
5) Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible

Hombre Bala & Robin are much higher than usual, which might be a product of who’s around or might be a tag title set up with Cancerbero & Luciferno.

I think this is the first time we’ve seen a CMLL match with only one Valiente daughter.

CMLL (SUN) 06/26/2022 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Átomo & Chamuel
2) Cachorro, Leono, Suicida vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Volcano vs Disturbio, Okumura, Raider
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Atlantis, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Rey Bucanero

CMLL trios versus National trios champs in the semimain. Raider may have moved up slightly already.

CMLL (MON) 06/27/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Fénix SO vs Espíritu Maligno
2) Angelito & Shockercito vs Mercurio & Minos
3) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Volcano vs El Malayo, Kráneo, Perverso
4) Místico, Stigma, Suicida vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Volador Jr.
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado © vs Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [CMLL TRIOS]
first defense

I think this trios title match might have been the original plan and maybe why Satrado returned so quick. A title change on one defense is rare but it seems possible here. Mistico’s mentioned wanting to have his own group of guys like Volador’s Depredadores in the past, and Suicida would probably be among his first choices if he got to do it.

CMLL is doing a “89 days of apeusta matches” countdown to this year’s 89 Aniversario show. 88 was el Chmpance, who lost his mask in 1943. This sets an expectation that this year’s main event will also be an apuesta match. I think everyone expects that too, but that hasn’t been the case in two years and CMLL hasn’t confirmed that’s coming back yet. No one’s lost a mask in Arena Mexico since Espiritu Negro lost his to (Principe) Diamond back on New Year’s Day 2020.

CMLL Informa includes the Guerreros (Copa Dinastia), Reyna Isis (mask challenge), Guerrero Maya Jr. (?? CMLL Pekes maybe?), Robin & Hombre Bala (Arena Coliseo), and Rey Samuray & Perverso (Mexican Welterweight Tournament).

AAA

Orange Comet and AAA announced they’re going to release NFTs and do some vague metaverse things as part of a “worldwide, multiyear deal.” The first NFTs will be released around TripleMania Mexico City in October. Dorian Roldan is quoted as saying bringing luchadors to the metaverse has never been done; I think Masked Republic is doing that already. Maybe other people, I’m not going to check.

CMLL did the did just NFTs prior, they didn’t seem to get much traction despite lots of social media push, and then they dropped mentions of it entirely (probably when the deal ran out.) I understand why both sides do this deal: this is easy money for AAA and the NFT people feel like they’re finding a new untapped market, but I don’t see the value as a consumer.

The Showcenter event this Sunday has a 2×1 deal. All AAA shows seem to have 2×1 deals.

A phone of the AAA announce booth on Saturday showed some white lines on the black table near Hugo Savonivich. Some people on Twitter semi-jokingly believed it was the residue of cocaine usage. Photos of the booth clarified it was just white paint. Still, the posts got noticed enough that there are actual news stories in Mexico about those white lines and plenty of people still wrongly believe the meme.

Fightful Select reported Matt Hardy had some swelling in one of his knees following his TripleMania match but was unsure if it was injured. In a brief post-match interview, Hardy praised AAA while also noting they don’t take it easy on an old guy. It probably won’t help Dragon Lee’s cause if Hardy is out of action for any time (though it’s unclear what he’s going to do in AEW for the moment anyway.)

Psycho Clown is partnering with a glove company for a series of Psycho Clown goalkeeper gloves.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 06/23/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Rey Aztaroth & Skanda vs Cheff Benito & Rey Minos
2) Bengalee & Quetzal vs Mary Caporal & Satania
3) Dragón Fly © vs Black Dragón, Caballero de Plata, Aviador, Demetiro El Gladiador [AIWA ARGENTINA CRUISER]
4) Asterboy, Freelance, Noisy Boy vs Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro, Tonalli
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura vs Demasiado, Miss Gaviota, Zoy Raymunda

A Pride Month main event. The title in the third is one the usually listed as the Argentina Catch title and seems to be forgotten for months at a time. Demetiro is Hip Hop Man’s father, so it’s possible a person from Argentina might win back their title.

OTHER

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

When JCW announced Volador Jr. & Negro Casas versus Gringo Loco & ASF for their July 10th show, a casual observer of lucha libre immediately probably wondered how they were possibly going to pull off CMLL people facing an AAA TV guy. In fact, they did not pull it off. The match is now Dragon Lee & Dralistico vs Gringo Loco & ASF. They’re blaming lucha libre politics, which is true, but those politics exist and are not a surprise to anyone. I wonder if people try to book, like, NJPW and DDT guys against each other, and then are shocked those promotions would prefer that not to happen and there’s just not as aware of lucha libre.

NJPW Strong announced TJP vs Mascara Dorada for their 07/24 show in North Carolina. Dorada won their previous NPJW match.

West Coast Pro announced Gravity & Komander for their 08/18 and 08/19 tournament show in San Francisco.

I’m pretty sure I’ve linked to more Black Fury profiles than matches over the length of this blog.