Month: July 2022

At some point, I hit undo and WordPress magically removed every edit I had done for the preceding hour; I’m not even sure what I’m still missing right now after trying to put it back, but I’m probably missing something.

CMLL

There’s been three or four CMLL shows that looked great on paper this year that haven’t ended up delivering. Tonight’s CMLL show looks great on paper and maybe they’ll pull it off.

• Soberano vs Templario will continue their rivalry in the Leyenda de Plata final. I’m hoping they building on their rivalry rather than repeat all the big spots they did last time out. I expect they’ll do lots of big spots (and also Destroyers) anyway. Templario seems like solid favorite to 50/50 their feud
• Pequeno Olimpico vs Ultimo Dragoncito is a mask match between two minis who’ve been part of CMLmoderne the modern division was formed. This is going to be great if the crowd cares at all, and I think there’s enough long time fans around left that they will. Ultimo Dragoncito seems the slight favorite – Pequeno Olimpico has been very emotional leading into this as if he knows what’s coming, and Dragoncito remaining masked better sets up an apuesta match later with the third pillar of the division, Pierrothito.
  • CMLL put up both the rudos and the tecnico minis ciberneticos on YouTube that set up the match. The tecnico one is the better of the two easily, though Mercurio & Pequeno Olimpico finish the rudo one well. It gave me a lot of hope for the mask match tonight being good; it’s been a while since Pequeno Olimpico had a big singles match but I think he’ll be up to it.
• the rest of the card is fine, nothing great but nothing too bad. Tercera has Averno & Mephisto and Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero on opposite sides again, with Titan and Negro Casas rounding out the trios. Dulce Atrapsuenos will face some rudos who haven’t been on many Fridays in the second; that tecnico trio always gets up. Panterita Jr. & Suicida are included in the opener.

The show will air on TicketMaster Live for 99 pesos/5 USD. It’ll air on YouTube on August 13th. This is a good time to start watching YouTube uploads, starting with this Sunady’s show. That has the first part of the tournament and a great singles match.

CMLL (SUN) 07/31/2022 Arena México
1) Bengala & Retro vs Cholo & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) La Jarochita, La Magnifica, Lluvia vs Hera, La Seductora, Olympia
3) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
4) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Atlantis, Fugaz, Titán vs Cavernario, Euforia, Terrible

A show. Those minis aren’t wrestling Saturday, so this will be the first unmasked match for someone. (And they’re not instantly retiring.)

CMLL (MON) 08/01/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Mercurio & Último Dragóncito vs Angelito & Pequeño Olímpico [Relevos Increíbles]
2) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis
3) El Audaz, Suicida, Volcano vs Kráneo, Magnus, Rugido
4) Atlantis, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Fuerza Guerrera, Hechicero
5) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja © vs Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero [CMLL TAG]
4th defense

This would be a great streaming show because a) the Chavez have been great this year and b) we’d be living in fear of Los Guerreros taking away their titles (and making it less likely they’ll have chances to have good matches.) Olimpico & Dragoncito is going around the loop.

CMLL (TUE) 08/02/2022 Arena México
1) Leono & Retro vs Cholo & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Kaligua, Pequeño Magía, Shockercito vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Violencia
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi vs Amapola, Hera, La Seductora
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs El Coyote, Felino, Rey Bucanero
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado

A normal Tuesday show after last week’s ciebrentico.

CMLL’s Guadalajara card isn’t out yet, but there are two interesting names. Sangre Azteca, who’s been out of CMLL since 2019, is listed as appearing. I’d guess that’s only a Guadalajara thing for the moment, though also a sign of how much autonomy that office has to bring in their own people. There’s also a teacher/student trios match led by Satanico and Ultimo Guerrero. UG is teaming with Troyano and current IWRG Middleweight Champion Tonalli. Tonalli also faces Templario on the upcoming Arena Puebla Lucha Memes show and it seems like he’s got a better chance of coming to the main roster sometime this year.

No sign of Mistico yet. He was supposed to be back this Friday at the last by his original timeline. CMLL may have had him wait until the down week between tournaments. He keeps getting brought up in these Gran Prix interviews.

CMLL is holding interviews with the foreign Gran Prix members in the weeks leading up to the match. Rocky Romero’s recent one was full of highlights, with lines such as “no one knows Volador Jr. outside of Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo”, and saying he had no respect for Mistico or Volador because they could never beat him. He also had no Soberano Jr. or Atlantis Jr. because they’re young and haven’t done anything. Romero likes Titan and has heard good things about Templario, but the only two people he respects in CMLL are Virus (who did beat him) and Negro Casas (who traveled the world and learned things and added it to his own.) Romero vowed to change CMLL, saying they haven’t grown and need to learn things from other promotions in the world. This was an in-character promo but it may have cut a bit to close to the bone in a promotion where people are used to hearing such negative things.

Matt Taven and Kenny King did less explosive interviews. Taven really wants to be CMLL Heavyweight Champion and won’t give up on facing Hechicero; his new plan is to win the Gran Prix and then use that to talk someone in charge of booking himself to challenge Hechicero at the Aniversario show. I’ve never rooted for Matt Taven harder.

CMLL , Big Lucha (THU) 08/18/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) King, Kong, Potro De Oro vs Elipse, Orbita, Viajero
2) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Cometa Maya, Éxtasis, Radioactivo
3) Okumura, Shocko, Tirano, Yutani vs Carito, Dulce Gardenia, Guerrero Maya Jr., Limbo
4) Action Jackson vs Lince Dorado
5) Atlantis & Negro Casas vs Blue Panther & Fuerza Guerrera
6) Averno & Mephisto vs ? & Tiger Mask IV and Robbie Eagles & Rocky Romero and Aeroboy & Skayde

It’s a bit eyebrow-raising to see CMLL work with Big Lucha, but Bandido isn’t the sole owner of Big Lucha and there are other parties involved. This is similar to the Lucha Libre Real Liger celebration in Arena Coliseo in 2019 using the same Honor y Gloria name, only Lucha Libre Real seems not to exist anymore so Big Lucha is supplying the wrestlers. Bandido, Flamita and Komander all appear on AAATV so there was no chance they’d be able to be here. The four-way tag is weird, but less weird than “everyone wrestlers Lyger for a minute.” The second match is the one big CMLL vs Big Lucha trios, and I wonder if that’ll go better than the recent IWRG vs Big Lucha match. Okumura mentions there were plans for a show like this prior to the pandemic, so this might be an annual thing if it holds up. Atlantis also declared he will die in three months if he retires so he can never retire. He should probably get that checked on.

CMLL Informa announced October will be a women’s wrestling focused month, with both that division’s Gran Prix and the Universal tournament happening that month. I wonder if they’re really going to run two women’s ciberneticos in a short period or if there’s something else going on there. I’d expect there might be some foreigners to come in for one of the tournaments just to make them different. Dalys and Stephanie Vaquer also mentioned they’re wrestling about 15 times in Japan and will be gone until October 3rd.

CMLL Guadalajara wrestlers helped with a COVID children’s vaccine campaign.

AAA

AAA TV this week should be the last half of Mazatlan

• Jack Cartwheel & Willie Mack vs Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf
• Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa, Pagano b Gringo Loco, Látigo, Toxin
• Hijo Del Vikingo & Pentagón Jr. vs Dragón Lee & Dralistico

I’m planning on streaming this at 6:30 pm on Twitch as long as the stream works.

Parka Negra and Hijo del Vikingo did promotional work in Vikingo’s home of Puebla on Wednesday. They were pushing the on-sale date for the 08/06 Puebla show, which doesn’t appear to be a scheduled TV taping but is presented in a similar fashion. The press conference gave the impression these will be monthly Puebla shows similar to the Monterrey Showcenter ones; they’re really added regular tour stops in slightly unconventional places.

Johnny Caballero was scheduled for Northeast Wrestling’s show on Sunday, then it was changed to just signing autographs due to injury, and Wednesday it was announced Johnny wasn’t healthy enough even to fly. Johnny is scheduled to wrestle Friday in Aguascalientes on Friday in the “dream match” four-way with Willie Mack, Laredo Kid, and Bandido, but it’s hard to believe he’s going to make that show if he can’t even get on plane right now. Hope he gets better but figure on that match changing. I’m sorry if this is disappointing news to all of you who’ve spent years hoping for that dream match.

The WON had two interesting news bits from the most recent Showcenter event. Natalia Marakova missed that show due to flight issues, and the WON confirmed she actually had flight issues. The previous show she missed, two months ago, she didn’t have flight issues. Marakova plays a Russian character and really is Russian. Mexico changed their entry rules for Russians following to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, it required some extra clearance to get her to an AAA show and it reads like AAA was caught unaware that first time. (Mas Lucha later mentioned they knew Sussy Love was replacing her days ahead of time, which always suggested it was something other than flight issues) They had it the second time, they just didn’t have the plane.

The more interesting bit is on the scheduled Dralistico/Latigo match. The story in the WON is it was switched to Vazco Jr./Latigo because Dralistico considers himself a tag team guy and didn’t want to be in a singles match. That seems hard to believe and goes against him asking for more singles match while in CMLL, but Dralistico is weird enough for this to be true. The bigger problem for Dralistico is he might be back a singles guy if ROH ever does sign Dragon Lee.

IWRG

Mas Lucha (THU) 07/28/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Princesa Águila (Chihuahua) & Sakura (Chihuahua) b Lady Amazona & Luna Mágica and Bengalee & Zuzu Divine and Artemiz & Princesa Azul 
sets up a LLM TAG title match
2) Yorvak b Atómico, Radioactivo, Calibus 
3) Alas de Oro & Alas De Plata © b Imposible & León Dorado [AULL TAG] 
Leon Dorado & Imposible had problems
4) Rey León © b Travis Banks, Kempo Jr., Karaoui, Sam Adonis [915-656]
5) Brazo Cibernetico Jr. & Villano V Jr. b Brazo Celestial & Rokambole Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Villano V Jr. suffered a knee injury of a (seemingly poorly applied) move from his brother Rokambole Jr., stopping the match for a bit. Brazo de Oro Jr. interfered and both teams stopped working with each other.
6) DMT Azul b Groon XXX
Groon was accompanied by new group El Culto (Yoruba, Kundra, Fly Star, there to take bumps for DMT Azul). Adonis interfered to help his La Empresa teammate and Azul beat Groon with a release German suplex.

Attendance was good for a Thursday show, though not a sell out (and I think Mas Lucha shows have done better in the past.) The first three matches are available for free on YouTube; they cut it off with the surprise of Adonis joining match 4.

IWRG (SAT) 07/30/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Rosel & Último Caballero vs Milagro & Rey Fuego
2) Rey Minos & Steven Manson vs Súper Boy & Súper Cometa
3) Ajolotl, Cheff Benito, Heredero Maya vs Balak, Rey Eclipse, Skanda
4) Sol, Spider Fly, X-Devil vs Águila Oriental, Kenji, Rey Aztaroth
5) Estrella de Oro, Genex, Jhon Tito vs Black Dragón, Vertigo, Wagner Kid
6) Cerebro Negro Jr., Dick Angelo 3G, Garra Mortal, Hell Boy, Legendario, Leo, Limbo, Rey Halcón vs Aaron Sykes, Abc, Charly Madrid, Lasser, Pasion, Tackle, Troyano, Último Rebelde [Torneo FILL 98]

GYM FILL vs Gym Ultimo Guerrero again. This will air on IWRG’s channel on August 5th.

IWRG (THU) 08/11/2022 Arena Naucalpan
Hip Hop Man 20th Anniversary
1) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 [royal rumble]
2) Adrenalina, Ángel Del Amor, Caballero de Plata, Guerrero Olímpico, Historico vs Calibus, Epidemia, Gárgola Xtreme, Steel Heart, Zenick
team Sencilito (Bambuchito) vs team Coacalco (Justiciero)
3) Ajolotl, Ciclonico, Mr. Jerry vs Dragón Yuki, Vantvert Jack, Vantvert Negro and Freelance, Paymon, Yorvak
4) Dragón Fly, Hijo de Payaso Purasanta, Maradó, Payaso Pura Santa Jr. vs Canibal Jr., Capo del Norte, Hijo De Mr. Niebla, Pistolero Negro
5) Aster Boy, Diva Salvaje, Hip Hop Man, Zumbi vs Black Terry, Heddi Karaoui, Maldito Jr., Mosca

Hip Hop Man, who’s 20 years goes back to his time wrestling in Argentina, is using his anniversary show to book all his friends. There are worse ideas. Tinieblas Jr. & Alushe will also appear. Bambuchito is Mas Lucha announcer Hip Hop Man, so there’s probably a comedy bit here I haven’t grasped yet.

Orizaba

Veltorr Producciones posted a statement Wednesday night, which came off more defensive about their image being hurt than trying to address people angry about their show not happening. They are offering refunds, but only in person in Orizaba, only Monday and only between 12-5 pm that day. They shift the blame onto the wrestlers for not working even though they were mostly paid. The promoter claims everyone who asked for a guarantee ahead of time were paid (and wrestlers who did get guarantees noted they were paid) and “80%” of the wrestlers were paid by the first match. He blames the difficulties on wrestlers not accepting “movimientos en transferencias” (they wanted cash, he wasn’t paying cash), calls the wrestlers unprofessional for not wrestling and wants the commission to punish them. Mamba and the promoter are now in a war of words, including a 22 minute YouTube video retort.

Latin Lover says he was told 10 of the 30 people booked for the Veltorr Orizaba show didn’t show before the show, and he had been told it was because they weren’t paid. Latin Lover himself was paid, but saw the fans start to throw chairs after the show paused for an hour, and went to the ring to explain the reality of the situation in hopes of calming them down.

Other

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Bendito won the Big Lucha World qualifying tournament on Wednesday in a good match over Extasis. That puts him in Friday’s Big Lucha Phase 1 tournament for their new world title. The quarterfinals are

• Flamita vs Super Nova
• Cometa Maya vs Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
• Texano Jr. vs Bendito
• Rey Horus vs Emperador Azteca

The semifinals and finals of this phase will also take place on this show. The winner just gets into another tournament, not the belt. The only other match announced is a mixed tag. I wonder how well this show is going to do; those are Names and there could be good matches but it doesn’t feel like a normal Big Lucha card. This  may stream live on Mas Lucha.

GCW’s The People vs GCW in late night Friday; it starts a little before CMLL finishes. Banido vs Jordan Oliver and Black Taurus, Gringo Loco, Jack Cartwheel vs ASF, Koamnder, and Laredo Kid is on the show.

The Ric Flair’s Last Match show with Bandido vs Taurus vs Rey Fenix vs Laredo Kid is on Sunday.

IWTV put up the 07/16 Lucha Memes show. That’s a quick turnaround. Tell me who wins if you watch it, I still don’t know. Lucha Memes turning around a show in 12 days is quicker than the 175 (and counting) days since the first day of RIOT’s La Rina took place. It is still not available.

Black Taurus challenges Brian Meyers for the Impact Digital Championship on next Thursday’s Impact.

Arkangel Divno faces Ultimo Maldito on 09/23 in GCW in Los Angeles. Do not share any GIF with any GCW people, let them go in knowing nothing.

Zona 23 announced a co-promoted show with GCW on 10/16, the day after TripleMania Mexico City. Indie promotions running big shows around TripleMania or Aniversario to pull in traveling fans has made sense for years, it’s just funny to see Zona 23 be the one to jump on it. Zona 23 is also teasing something with AAA.

CMLL

Dulce Atrapasueños kept the Mexican National Trios championship over Fuerza Poblana Monday in Puebla. The Facebook page posted the last couple of minutes.

CMLL (TUE) 07/26/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Marca]
1) Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Violencia b Acero, Aéreo, Shockercito  
Rudos took 1/3
2) Marcela & Skadi b Stephanie Vaquer & Tiffany   
Tecnicas took 1/3.
3) Arkalis, El Perverso, Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma b Enfermero Jr., Hombre Bala Jr., Oro Jr., Robin, Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. [cibernetico]   
CDMX vs Puebla. Elimination order Sangre Imperial (by Arkalis), Enfermero (Stigma/Pegasso), Inquisidor (Rey Samuray), Pegasso (Hombre Bala Jr.), Valiente Jr. (Rey Samuray), Perverso (Robin), Sangre Imperial (Stigma), Rey Samuray (Hombre Bala Jr.), Stigma (Robin), Robin (Guerrero Maya Jr.), Hombre Bala Jr. (Guerrero Maya Jr.) leaving Guerrero Maya Jr. as the winner for Team Puebla
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible b Blue Panther, Negro Casas, Stuka Jr.   

This cibernetico wasn’t as good as the two Friday ones – the talent level isn’t the same – but it was still fun and you could tell the Puebla team saw it as a very big deal. It’s worth checking out.

Tuesday shows are offering 50 pesos ($2.50 USD) tickets for kids on Tuesdays for the summer.

CMLL (TUE) 07/26/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Fuego en el Ring]
1) Flash, Omar Brunetti, Ráfaga, Vaquero Jr. b Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono 
2) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus 
3) Dalys, Lluvia, Sexy Sol b Dark Silueta, Náutica, Valkiria 
Dalys challenged Silueta again (but is off to Japan next week?)
4) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. DQ Bestia Negra, Gallo, Zandokan Jr. 
Ultimo Guerrero ran in, attacking Gallo (sub for Difunto) and helping Ola Negra unmasked the tecnicos. Teased a match with Satanico and a city vs city battle.
5) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Joker 
6) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Star Black b Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel 

A run-in in CMLL is rare. A run-in by someone who isn’t even booked on the show is ultra-rare. A run-in by someone who isn’t even booked and theoretically had to take a six-hour bus ride just to do the run-in is sort of crazy. UG got his money’s worth out of the promo time (and also got soaked by a beer) but I kinda wonder if there was some other reason he was in Guadalajara and they just had him do the interference as an add-on.

The Saturday GDL/CDMX show upload was a bit of a disappointment; few of the Guadalajara wrestlers didn’t really stand out in their big shot, and I wasn’t excited about the possibility of anyone coming to Mexico City more often. Sexy Sol got over doing Big Mami spots to an audience who probably doesn’t watch AAA, Zandokan showed some personality in the opener, and the rest were sort of create-a-luchadors. The semi-main was the best match but it also featured a spot where one person went the wrong way and everyone froze for a moment, just tough to watch. It’s watchable, no worse than a random Tuesday or Sunday show, but nothing that’s going to make you want to go out of your way to catch these Tuesday Guadalajara shows.

CMLL (FRI) 07/29/2022 Arena México
1) Astral, Panterita del Ring Jr., Suicida vs Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Cancerbero, Hijo del Villano III, Luciferno
3) Averno, Mephisto, Titán vs Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico [mask]
5) Soberano Jr. vs Templario [Leyenda de Plata, final]

Two singles matches back to back is not how CMLL normally books things and is absolutely the right call for this show. Only five matches on the show means both matches should get plenty of time to be as great as they possibly can. The undercard is solid if nothing spectacular. This should be a show worth seeking out.

CMLL (SAT) 07/30/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Fantasy & Kaligua vs Pequeño Polvora & Pierrothito
2) Cachorro, Leono, Neón vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Grako
3) La Guerrera, La Vaquerita, Skadi vs Amapola, Metálica, Reyna Isis
4) El Audaz, Flyer, Volcano vs El Coyote, Kráneo, Rey Bucanero
5) Panterita del Ring, Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Felino, Mephisto

Back to regular shows here.

Lucha Memes (SAT) 08/06/2022 Arena Puebla
1) ?, ??, Alas de Acero, Astro De Plata Jr. (Estado De México), Iron Kid (Estado de México), Rencor Negro Jr., Sol, X-Devil Jr. vs ???, ????, Lince Xtreme, Rider Boy, Sobrebio, Súper Tigre, Tiger Boy, Tiger Fly
2) Multi & Prayer vs Belial & Impulso
3) Rey Apocalipsis vs Black Terry
4) ?, Kastigador (Querétaro), Vengador (Querétaro) vs Panterita del Ring Jr., Suicida (CMLL), Tony Iron and Noisy Boy, Oni El Bendito, Spider Fly (Estado De México)
5) Dulce Gardenia & Rey Cometa vs Corsario Negro Jr. (Estado de México) & Drako (Estado de México)
6) Templario (CMLL) vs Tonalli
7) Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin (CMLL) © vs Arkángel Divino & Último Maldito [Arena Coliseo TAG]
8) Atlantis Jr. vs Trauma II
9) Último Guerrero vs Aeroboy

CMLL promoted this today so it goes into the CMLL section. This is a loaded show; it’s too bad Memes exists in a void. (I saw no reporting on their Arena Lopez Mateos show.) This should turn on IWTV eventually. Match 7 is interesting for existing, since Akrangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito worked AAA TV back in April.

CMLL Informa has Templario (Leyenda de Plata), Dalys & Stephanie Vaquer (Japan), Ultimo Dragoncito (mask match), Guerrero Maya Jr. (Tuesday cibernetico), and Los Guerreros (?).

Robbie Eagles appeared the Super J Cast this week. He mentions he had been told he was coming to the Gran Prix a wild be. Eagles said he’ll be in Mexico “a little bit of time, not too long” and expects to be back in Japan for NJPW’s early September shows.

AAA

The 08/20 Saltillo show only having five announced matches makes a little more sense with a full poster. It’s being promoted by local group BRB, who are running two local title matches before the listed AAA TV matches. There’s a decent chance one or the other will sneak on TV. Vampiro is also advertised for that show, so he’ll probably make TV in some form.

I did watch the AAA Puebla part 2 show. It was a fine enough TV show, no stand out match but it didn’t feel like a waste of time. I think I would’ve been more interested if it aired in sequence;  two months later, the big Villano III Jr/Octagon Jr. angle just feels like another of those AAA big ideas that don’t go anywhere, since it hasn’t been part of the rest of the TV shows. (It also felt like a Puerto Rico angle in both concept and slowing down to sell it; Hugo’s said he’s helping with the AAA creative this year and perhaps it was his idea.) I did notice that the YouTube version of the show went 10-15 minutes longer than the TV version usually does; maybe stuff like the Komander sit down interview and the guys in the second match restarting their feud would’ve gotten cut out on Space.

AAA is running in Merida the day after Hard Rock show, with many of the same people. This seems to be the same similar to the Puebla shows (maybe same building owners?)

Taya’s title challenge to Thunder Rosa came up in Rosa’s interview with Digital Spy; she vaguely promises something is happening soon. The stuff that happens on TripleMania this year only seems to follow up on another TripleMania, so that Taya/Rosa match seems like it’s been set for Mexico City since it got set up. My theory is Lady Flammer’s title shot (also set up in the same segment and nothing has happened since) will get her added to the match and maybe others as well; it’s unlike AAA to book multiple many singles matches even on a TripleMania and more people involved will smooth over any political issues about who gets pinned.

Nonpayment Zone

Veltorr Promotions, the group behind the failed Orizaba show, says they’ll announce a plan to refund fans Wednesday night at 7 pm. The local Box y Lucha commission was called in front of the Orizaba city council and explained the promoter will be required to refund all tickets and pay back all wrestlers. That seems unlikely to happen. The commission would also like to add a rule requiring a security deposit by promoters and say they’ll have stricter controls.

One of the wrestlers affected by that show falling apart and no one getting paid was luchadora La Heronia. She took to social media to complain about the situation. This was not a smart move, because it reminded that Heronia was the promoter of a group called REX who also did not pay many people on their last show in August 2021. One of those unpaid was Ricky Marvin, who showed up in Heronia’s comments to ask how the shoe felt on the other foot. She’s been clowned about the situation for the last couple of days; Mas Lucha cheekily reuploaded Marvin’s match with Ultimo Guerrero from that show.

Alberto el Patron posted a teaser for Nacion Lucha Libre a couple of days ago, and the promotion itself told Apolo Valdes that they’ll have news next week. Nacion Lucha Libre and Alberto have talked about coming back “soon” multiple times, so this is not much until a show date is actually announced. Nacion Lucha Libre is also a group who didn’t pay many of their wrestlers on the last taping of their first run, which should be an obstacle in running again. Alberto seems to be teflon in Mexico so I don’t expect that to get brought up.

IWRG

There’s another Torneo FILL on 07/30 with Ultimo Guerrero students.

IWRG (SUN) 07/31/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star, Sol, Spider Fly vs Garra Mortal, Limbo, Rey Halcón
2) Caballero de Plata, Freelance, Vértigo vs Cerebro Negro Jr., Hell Boy, Yorvak
3) Diva Salvaje, Heddi Karaoui, Noisy Boy vs Fly Warrior, Fulgor, Travis Banks
4) Jessy Ventura © vs Paymon [IWRG IC WELTER]
2nd defense
5) Aster Boy & Rey Horus vs Puma de Oro & Tonalli
6) Rey Espectro vs Galeno del Mal

The actual order of the top three matches will be determined at show time (which sounds like someone’s working a double shot.) Random Rey Horus appearance on this show. Diva Salvaje, Heddi Karaoui and Noisy Boy is an eclectic team even for IWRG.

Other

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

Denverite has a good behind the scenes article of local lucha promotion Hugo’s Lucha Libre and their most recent show.

Rush faces Jon Moxley for AEW Interim Championship tonight. Rush has little chance of winning, but it’s among the most important matches of his career.

Laredo Kid & Trey Miguel face Johnny Swinger & Zicky Dice tomorrow on Impact.

Circle 6 announced Ricky Marvin vs Vinnie Massaro on 08/05 in Houston.

Garden State Pro Wrestling has Elemental & Bendito vs Latigo & Arez on 08/27.

The Crash announced Dr. Wagner Jr. for their 09/09 show. (A reminder they have a show on 09/09.)

Masked Republic is involved has a new line of luchador spotlighted slot machines. Solar, Super Astro, Matematico, Psychosis, Ultimo Dragon, Mascrarita Dorada, Dragon Lee, Felino Jr. and Laredo Kid are all involved.

An incredible trivia bit mentioned the very end of the Monday Open the Dragon Gate podcast: Nosawa apparently owns the trademark to Perros del Mal in Japan. I can’t recall hearing that before.

An interview with Hidalgo mask maker Daniel Hernandez. One of his favorite moments is when he tried to get Dr. Wagner Jr. to sign a mask he made and Wagner refused because he doesn’t sign professional quality masks. Instead of being annoyed he couldn’t get the autograph, Hernandez was appreciative of the compliment for his work.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 07/22/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiaotres]
1) Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor b Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. 
13:02.
2) Dalys, Dark Silueta, Stephanie Vaquer b La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi 
12:10. Rudas took 1/3.
3) Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto   
14:29. Team UG took 2/3.
4) Templario b Volador Jr., Star Jr., El Coyote, Fugaz, El Audaz, Stigma, Dulce Gardenia [Leyenda de Plata, semifinal]    
Elimination order: Audaz (by Star Jr., 7:43), Stigma (Coyote, 12:16), Dulce Gardenia (Fugaz, 15:04), Coyote (Volador Jr., 18:48), Fugaz (Star Jr., 22:39), Star Jr. (Templario, 23:33), Volador Jr. (Templario, 28:47)

Another good show, with another good cibernetico. That format made a night where it was fairly obvious which two would be the final two a bit more entertaining; we got much more out of the first 23 minutes of this match than a single elimination tournament. Fugaz had a really good night, Dulce got over well as always. Audaz finally got a match with old rival Templario and was doing rudo bumbling spots as partners instead of high spots as opponents.

The bigger picture is CMLL’s now in their highest quality stretch of the year, covering at least the next couple of months. These Leyenda de Plata ciberneticos will start to turn up on CMLL’s YouTube this Sunday, the Gran Prix is coming soon, and Aniversario will be a big deal as always. This is as a good.

Templario/Soberano is the least prestige of the four Aniversario feuds. Atlantis/Fuerza have lots of history. Atlantis Jr./Stuka Jr. has been going for long and more intense. Averno/UG is not clicking as a big deal for me but they’ve got a lot more history. Putting that Soberano/Templario feud in the final of this tournament helps boost it up, makes it look like a more legitimate option. I tend to think fans would still reject that match if it was the mask match over the other possibilities, but CMLL’s at least making a case for it.

I feel like I’ve written about Hechicero’s struggles too much lately, but I still have to point out Hechicero’s depressing post-match interview from Friday. You can have a good debate on the saddest part. My pick was someone asking about Matt Taven challenging for the Heavyweight championship in his Gran Prix video, and Hechicero responding that Taven must’ve assumed the Heavyweight champion would be in the Gran Prix and so did he.

CMLL (SAT) 07/23/2022 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha, CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Mas Lucha, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (videos)]
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus b Bestia Negra, Difunto, Zandokan Jr. 
referee Bestia Negra officiated GDL wrestler Bestia Negra’s match
2) Dark Silueta, Náutica, Sexy Sol, Valkiria (Jalisco) b Hera, La Jarochita, Lluvia, Olympia 
3) Adrenalina, Explosivo (Jalisco), Fantástico b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. 
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Furia Roja (Jalisco), Guerrero de la Muerte (Jalisco), Joker (Jalisco) 
5) Soberano Jr., Star Black, Star Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel 

The Guadalajara (2 wins ) vs Mexico City (3 wins) idea definitely got more attention this show than usual – it appeared just behind the April Arena Coliseo Anniversary show in attendence and there were more media there than normal. Matches weren’t that impressive but the concept seems like something to repeat periodically.

CMLL (SUN) 07/24/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del Ring, Kasier Sports, The Gladiatores (Videos)]
1) La Guerrera & La Magnifica b La Seductora & Olympia
2) Kráneo, Nitro, Raider b Astral, Robin, Volcano
3) El Coyote, Okumura, Rey Bucanero b Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso
4) Último Dragóncito L Shockercito, Aéreo, Acero, Angelito, Fantasy, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía [cibernetico, cibernetico suicida]
Groups: Ultimo Dragonicto, Aereo, Acero, Angelito and Pequeno Magia, Kaligua, Fantasy, Shockercito. Escapes: Pequeno Magia (beat Angelito), Aereo (Fantasy), Angelito (Shockercito), Kaligua (Acero), Fantasy (Dragoncito), Acero (Shockercito), Shockercito (Dragoncito) leaving Dragoncito. Dragoncito faces Pequeno Olimpico on 07/29.
5) Atlantis, Negro Casas, Titán b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado

Ultimo Dragoncito, Pequeno Olimpico and Pierrothito have been talking about mask matches with each other for at least a decade – it came up on the long forgotten Ras de Lona CMLL TV show. They’re the longest tenured minis and among the longest tenured wrestlers overall in CMLL, having stuck with the promotion when the rest of the minis left to join Antonio Pena in AAA. (This tournament is part of the 30th anniversary of the Pequeno Estrellas division and they’ve had to slightly dance around the fact that these guys date back to the Minis division that existed prior and is now written out of CMLL’s history.) Like a lot of CMLL challenges, it seemed like Pierrothito, Ultimo Dragoncito and Pequeno Olimpico would be making them forever with nothing happening. It’s finally happening with Pequeno Olimpico vs Ultimo Dragoncito. (And it’s hard not to wonder if this would’ve been Pierrothito vs Ultimo Dragoncito had Pierrothito tested positive for COVID.)

Pequeno Olimpico seems the slight favorite to lose his mask, but it’s a close to a toss up. It could be the final match for whomever loses; both men are well into their 50s. It’s going to be a highly emotional and intense match for them, and it’ll just be a matter of if the crowd sees these guys as the same big deal the promotion sees them at. This also could be read as a hopeful sign for the CMLL Aniversario; there were cheap ways out of doing a match like this (or they could’ve just not booked an apuesta match), and CMLL went for the biggest possible CMLL Pequeno Estrellas match they had to offer. They might do it again in September.

CMLL hasn’t announced a full card yet for Friday, but the Leyenda de Plata final and this mask match make it one of the bigger nights of their year so far. I wonder if they’ll sneak in the other three Aniversario hopefuls in a trios match to bring those threads together.

Negro Casas’ recent appearance in NJPW aired on the most recent edition of NJPW Strong.

AAA

AAA TV (SUN) 07/24/2022 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon [@thekoko666, AAA]
1) Dulce Canela b Baby Love
Announced as La Hiedra vs Natalia Marakova; Marakova had flight issues for a 2nd show.
2) Arez & Baby Xtreme b Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura
Announced as Baby Extreme, Komander, Lady Shani vs Diva Salvaje, Dulce Canela, Jessy Ventura. Good match.
3) Aramis & Jack Cartwheel b Flamita & Parka Negra
good match
4) Látigo b Vasco Jr. [Showcenter Tournament, torneo]
Announced as Dralistico vs Latigo. Still part of the tournament.
5) Dralistico & Laredo Kid DQ Abismo Negro Jr. & Antifaz
Antifaz fouled/unmasked Laredo
6) Hijo Del Vikingo, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa b Chessman, Puma King, Toscano
very good match

Half the card changed, including Natalia Markova having flight issues for a second straight show. I have no idea why they changed the men’s tournament match with Latigo and Dralistico both being there; it didn’t make sense for the tournament for them to be wrestlng but this tournament isn’t intended to make any sense.

Vasco Jr. is a Monterrey indie wrestler, the brother of CMLL luchadora Tiffany. He was also, a very long time ago, “Kumbia Kid Jesse” in 2004, then “Jesse of the Night Queens” in 2007-2008.  It’s another name from the AAA past returning, though probably just as a weird fill in. This would be Vasco Jr.’s first televised match in 14 years, if any of this is actually airing. AAA’s social media put up clips of matches from the show, but not of that match.

As always, there’s an photo of a full looking arena. Shots of the building looking not so full if shot the other way.

AAA TV (SAT) 08/20/2022 Lienzo Charro Professor Enrique Gonzalez, Saltillo, Coahuila
1) Komander & Sussy Love vs Chik Tormenta & Látigo and Maravilla & Toxin
2) Aerostar, Drago, Myzteziz Jr. vs Argenis, La Parka Negra, Villano III Jr.
3) Crazy Boy, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa vs Bestia 666, Gringo Loco, Mecha Wolf
4) Charly Manson, Pagano, Zorro vs Abismo Negro Jr., Cibernético, Rey Escorpión
5) Dragón Lee & Fénix vs Aramis & Hijo Del Vikingo

A newly announced TV taping, sliding in between Verano de Escandalo and the Hard Rock show. (This means there’s even less of a chance of the Showcenter evnets airing.) The main had MOTYC potenial. Everything else is just marking time. Five matches for an AAA TV taping doesn’t make sense for a promotion that airs three matches a week, but it doesn’t have to make sense.

AAA TV (SUN) 08/21/2022 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) Dulce Canela vs Artemiz [Showcenter Tournament, torneo]
2) Aramis, Komander, Niño Hamburguesa vs Argenis, Látigo, Parka Negra
3) Chik Tormenta vs Maravilla [Showcenter Tournament, torneo]
4) Aerostar & Drago vs Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf
5) Dinámico vs Puma King [Showcenter Tournament, torneo]
6) Octagón Jr. & Pagano vs Rey Escorpión & Villano III Jr.

AAA immediately put up the next lineup after the last one happened. It’s rare for them to run two tapings on back to back days, but they’re more tapings in my mind than reality at this point The tournament matches don’t make sense but that’s to be expected; I look forward to retroactively constructing the tournament brackets they actually did when this over. Artemiz is originally a Torreon based luchdora who’s been showing up on indie shows all over Mexico this year, and fits the wide net AAA is using to bring different people in.

AAA TV on Space aired the first three matches from Mazatlan taping. I only saw the opener; the streams I used to record failed miserable. (Even the Twitch stream that used to be going didn’t seem to be running on Saturday.) The show will repeat again next week and I’ll try again. It may turn up on AAA’s YouTube in four weeks.

Space announced Verano de Escandalo will air live on August 5th, at 9:30 pm. Same deal as usual for Space airings: they’re intending to air just half the card live and half the card next week, only AAA runs too slow to make that work perfectly. I’m going to try to stream it as always, but obviously streaming Space is a problem right now. The secondary issue is this is a Friday night show overlapping with CMLL, and I kinda need to record both of them. I have some ideas how I’m going to do this but it’s going to not be a good day for me.

There is still new unseen AAA to watch even if I didn’t capture most of the TV show. AAA put up the missing half of the Puebla taping:

• Baby Extreme, Drago Kid, Komander vs Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba
• A bit with Octagon Jr. & Villano III Jr.
• Aerostar, Drago, Myzteziz Jr. vs Argenis, Parka Negra, Toxin
• Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Pagano vs Flamita, Rey Escorpión, Villano III Jr.

This was the show originally scheduled to air on Space prior to TripleMania Tijuana, then Space just decided not to air it and AAA decided not to put it up on YouTube until after they put up all of TripleMania. It’s great that we get to see it, it’s not as great that AAA TV on YouTube slips even later; this is a show taped in May that’s going up in July. This show went up too late for me to watch it, but I’ll try to check it out this week.

Taya kept the Reina de Reinas championship on Saturday on Garden State Pro Wrestlng’s show. Taya defended the title a few times in a tour of Canada too apparently. AAA hasn’t mentioned any of these and they’re probably not meant to be canon, but they eventually sort of referred to them as a bulk amount of when Deonna Purrazzo was doing the same thing (though that may just be the announcers doing their own research and no cohernt plan.)

fiasco in Orizaba

Veltorr (SAT) 07/23/2022 Plaza de Toros La Concordia, Orizaba, Veracruz [La Tijera Lucha Libre]
1) Gato Extremo, Génesis Star, Súper Grillo Jr. b Black Star, Halcón Maligno, Rey Felino
2) Ringo Acosta Jr. & Samuray Jr. b Hermes & Lasserman
3) Anarquía & La Heroína b Mini Psycho Clown & Morgana

The most talked about Mexican wrestling show of the weekend lasted three matches. Latin Lover appeared after the third match to announce the wrestlers had decided they would not perform, because many of them weren’t going to get paid. The local commission followed with a statement saying they’d try to work something out between the wrestlers and the promotion, but nothing more happened. Fans weren’t given refunds, the promotion claiming they had no money. A few fans instead took the plastic chairs or tables with them instead, and some threw those chairs around. The local police eventually got involved – not really to help the fans, but to get the chairs back. Everyone was left unhappy.

The show was built around the LA Park family versus LFI. Rush had earlier in the day said he wouldn’t be there – not because he was actually wrestling on the ROH PPV instead, but because of issues with the promotion. Bestia 666 posted a video on Facebook, saying he and MechaWolf would not be coming because their flights were canceled and said he’d heard 11 other people were off the show as well. Some wrestlers still made it to the show; many weren’t paid when they got there and were left to find their own way home. (La Tijera’s YouTube channel has a bunch of interviews with disappointed/angry wrestlers, because they were all stuck on the same bus road home.) The show seemed to exist on the idea that just putting LA Park (with a bunch of his family) and Rush (with a bunch of his family) would guarantee a big turnout and that did not happen; it was a small crowd in a big building which left angirily. El Sol de Orizaba has it as 40% full; it looked closer than 20% than that. The promoter, a local radio host, didn’t appear to have enough money to cover the show if he didn’t sell tickets, and they didn’t sell tickets. In a private Facebook page, he blamed the wrestlers for not attending, implying the show tanked becase people (Rush) didn’t show up, but he seemed to be canceling flights earlier than that.

Orizaba is a AAA TV stop and there are wrestlers who work AAA shows on the card, but this doesn’t appear to be anything to do with their local promoter. That promoter is running the same venue on 08/27, and will probably have to face new regulations due to this failure. Various actions are always proposed to keep underfunded and unprepared promoters like this out of the Mexican wrestling business, but so much of the wrestling business (especially on an indie level) are wrestlers taking bookings from promtoers who are way in over their heads, just hoping they last long enough to pay everyone out. This one could not.

ROH

Rush defeated Dragon Lee on ROH’s Death Before Dishonor match. The match was announced Friday night on AEW’s Rampage show, and it appeared it was a match that was only officially made earlier on Friday. It was the first singles match between the brothers and the story they were trying to tell (to mixed results) was that Rush would pull one over even on his own brother to win a match.

Rush moves onto a AEW interim title match with Jon Moxley on Wednesday’s Dynamite broadcast. Dragon Lee generally wrestled like a mad man trying to earn a contract but appears unsigned for the moment. Tony Khan talked positively about Dragon Lee. I had about 500 words here breaking down  the deeper meaning of that but even I have to edit myself sometimes. Shorter version is I think Dragon Lee is well thought enough of to get hired by ROH, but they’re trying to hire as few as ROH exclusive people as possible until they have TV and Dragon Lee isn’t as important to the project as the Briscoes. There’s a strong chance of Dragon Lee’s getting offered a ROH deal once ROH itself has a good weekly deal, but Dragon Lee is probably limited to per-night appearances until then. And, as Lucha Underground Season 4 might have taught us, sometimes those deals go quick, sometimes it’s a very long wait to get the deal you want, and sometimes you just give up and take whatever’s on the table. Who knows how it’ll go.

This is a Nerd stuff paragraph but what else do you come here for. AEW is pushing the idea that Rush has won 10 straight matches as justification for Rush getting a title shot on Wednesday. I believe someone used Cagematch, where the administators work hard at including every match they can but not every show from Mexico make into their listings. One show that did not was the May 29th, 2022 Robles Promotion show in Monterrey. Box y Lucha 3508 does have results from that show, reporting that Rush and his family lost to LA Park and his family on that show. (It seemed to me that Rush also lost his April 29th Mexico City match, but the finishes of Rush/LA Park matches are open to interruption similiar to ancient texts.) There’s maybe 12 people who are going to watch Dynamite on Wednesday and know the Rush win streak is not accuate and now you are one of them.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 07/24/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Sol & X-Devil b Kenji & Limbo 
2) Baby Star & Garra Mortal Jr. b Pantera Jr. & Vértigo 
3) Tonalli b Imposible 
Tonalli beat Imposible cleanly, Imposible argued for a title match anyway
4) Caballero de Plata, Internacional Pantera, Noisy Boy b Fly Warrior, Paymon, Yorvak 
5) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Travis Banks b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. 
sets up an EDM TRIOS title match
6) Galeno del Mal & Puma de Oro b Asterboy & Rey Espectro 
Rey Escpectro (ex-Hijo del Espectro Jr.) first match here since January. Galeno beat Espectro set up a IWRG HEAVY title match.

Losing to a champion and getting a title match is an IWRG staple, but they set up two other title matches here so maybe that’ll happen first.

Other News

Vince McMahon retired from the WWE, in an announcement strategically planned for Friday afternoon and under the cloud of NDAs over sexual harassment. This is a story you can find covered in much more depth in many other places but seems impossible to not at least nod at here. I have no idea what net effect it’ll have on WWE’s strategy in Latin America and Mexican wrestlers, only that everything they do will probably be status quo at first to make sure investors don’t get nervous with new people in charge, and we’ll only see real changes a year down the line if McMahon’s influence truly does disappear from the promotion.

Hijo del Abismo Negro, the son of the famous Abismo Negro, was scheduled to debut on that Orizaba show. He instead debuted on a show in Puebla on Sunday. He talked publicly about wanting to become a luchador after AAA introduced their Abismo Negro Jr.; the family has made clear their annoyance about anyone else carrying the name. His outfit actually looks a lot more like Winners to me.

The Tepic Box y Lucha commission mentions a recent show expecting to draw 500 people with Los Gemelos Diablos on top instead drew about 40. It was an outdoor show and it rained. They figure the promoter may have lost 20,000 pesos ($~1000 USD), and say that’s why they advise promoters to study carefully before even hiring a wrestler.

Ultimo Dragon faces Hijo del Santo on 07/30 in Dragon Gate. That’ll air live and remain on VOD for a week. Dragon Gate charges for their VOD on the first of the month, so you may want to either watch it live or wait until 08/01 to subscribe.

Reynosa is restarting its local boxing and lucha libre commission.

There was an exhibition of wrestling merchandise and artifacts in Hidalgo, hoping to stir up interest in a local museum.

Box y Lucha #3511 has a lot of CMLL stories on the oger, as usual. Box y Lucha said they’re publishing digitally only, no paper magazines, for the time being.

El Heredero (Tirantes’ grandson) says he’s training to be a wrestler and was invited to train with CMLL.

Septimo Dragon’s hometown paper talked to him about his trip to GLEAT.

CMLL

Kind of a quiet tournament show tonight for CMLL. The B Block of Leyenda de Plata is Volador Jr., Templario and six guys who don’t appear to have a shot. Soberano’s interviews this week have focused on wanting Templario to come out of this block so they can fight in the final. It’s a coin flip. The rest of the show are just three matches with no reason to exist going into them, though maybe they’ll set up something going out. The show will air on TicketmasterLive as always.

Soberano also mentions he wasn’t very mature before he had his injury break. He’s since learned both to take care of his money and that he’s not going to be around forever so he’s got to make as much as he can while he can and be as big star as possible.

CMLL (SAT) 07/23/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Bestia Negra, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
2) Hera, La Jarochita, Lluvia, Olympia vs Dark Silueta, Nautica, Sexy Sol, Valkiria (Jalisco)
3) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. vs Adrenalina, Explosivo (Jalisco), Fantástico
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Furia Roja (Jalisco), Guerrero de la Muerte (Jalisco), Joker (Jalisco)
5) Soberano Jr., Star Black, Star Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel

This is the previously announced CMLL Mexico City vs Guadalajara show; team Guadalajara is on the right side of all these matches. This Coliseo card might get a little more media coverage than usual because of it.

Star Black was asked why he’s on Team Mexico City and basically explained “that’s the job CMLL asked me to do on that day.” He’d rather be on Team Guadalajara.

I’ve got a database trigger that alerts me to add a new wrestler to the database when they reach 10 matches in CMLL’s main arenas. It’s best used to identify people from older results, but I was using Olympia as a modren test case. Until now – when she got to 9 matches and I gave it up. She’s been here for four months already, CMLL is just very slowly booking her. (Hera was already in the database because there are multiple Hera’s to separate.)

CMLL (SUN) 07/24/2022 Arena México
1) La Guerrera & La Magnifica vs La Seductora & Olympia
2) Astral, Robin, Volcano vs Kráneo, Nitro, Raider
3) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso vs El Coyote, Okumura, Rey Bucanero
4) Último Dragóncito vs Shockercito, Aéreo, Acero, Angelito, Fantasy, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía [cibernetico, cibernetico suicida]
loser faces Pequeno Olimpico on 07/29
5) Atlantis, Negro Casas, Titán vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado

Ultimo Dragoncito is the big opponent, Aereo is the cheap way to get to a hair match.

CMLL (MON) 07/25/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano & Centella Roja vs Espíritu Maligno & Fuerza Chicana
2) Mercurio & Último Dragóncito vs Angelito & Pequeño Olímpico [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa © vs Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso [MEX TRIOS]
first defense
5) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Niebla Roja vs Fuerza Guerrera, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

That title defense should be fine. Minis match could be a mask match preview, but they wouldn’t need to do a relevos increibles to set it up since it has to be tecnico/rudo anyway.

CMLL (TUE) 07/26/2022 Arena México
1) Acero, Aéreo, Shockercito vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Violencia
2) Marcela & Skadi vs Stephanie Vaquer & Tiffany
3) Enfermero Jr., Hombre Bala Jr., Oro Jr., Robin, Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. vs Arkalis, El Perverso, Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma [cibernetico]
CDMX vs Puebla
4) Blue Panther, Negro Casas, Stuka Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible

That Ciebrnetico is a good way to make a random Tuesday show a bit more interesting. There’s at least a temporary pattern of pulling in the non-Mexico City arenas for these ideas a bit more. It’s also possible a way to set up a Stigma title match (or maybe even a Bala/Robin title defense?)

CMLL (TUE) 07/26/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono vs Flash, Omar Brunetti, Ráfaga, Vaquero Jr.
2) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus
3) Dalys, Lluvia, Sexy Sol vs Dark Silueta, Náutica, Valkiria
4) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. vs Bestia Negra, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
5) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Joker
6) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Star Black vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel

The second half of the GDL/CDMX challenge. Dalys is going to have a long travel day – back to Mexico City then to Japan (with maybe another stop over in between?) to get to Japan by the 29th. Or maybe someone just replaces her.

TUDN has an interview with Valiente about his injury. When he got hurt and taken from the match last November, it looked like it might have been maybe a bit of covering for the spot went wrong and not a significant injury, and then it turned out he was gone for most of a year. It turns out Valiente thought the same thing: he felt hurt a little bit but didn’t think it was a big deal. The CMLL medical staff checked his knee the next day and told him he tore ligaments. Valiente did not believe them at all, wanted to keep working and wrestling, and it took some convincing for him to believe he was actually seriously hurt. The rehab sounds like it’s been tough as well and there didn’t seem to be a mention of a return date.

That Valiente injury in November would’ve been a couple of months after CMLL announced changes to the medical team (and after the Warrior Jr. training injury which may have led to those changes.) Maybe the previous medical setup would’ve caught Valiente’s injury and urged surgery as well, but the new medics have been much more present and involved and I can only wonder if that changed how Valiente’s injury has been handled.

Los Micros Gemelos Diablos were among many local combat sports atheltes honored in Aguascalientes. AAA’s local promoter was also honored.

the Gran Prix is getting it’s own section

CMLL announced the participants in the 08/19 Gran Prix on Wednesday

Team Mexico

• Ultimo Guerrero
• Volador Jr.
• Titan
• Stuka Jr.
• Atlantis Jr.
• Soberano Jr.
• Templario

Team World

• Tiger Mask IV
• Matt Taven
• Lince Dorado
• Robbie Eagles
• Rocky Romero
• Kenny King
• Oráculo

This is a 7 v 7 field, when past years have been 8 v 8. There’s no obvious reason to make that change, it would’ve been just as easy to add one more for each side.

The Team Mexico focus is on heavy on the Aniversario feuds. Stuka Jr. & Atlantis Jr. and Soberano & Templario continue their issues. Ultimo Guerrero is in though not Averno; maybe they couldn’t justify leaving Volador or Titan out. Averno in general is not booked much by CMLL. Atlantis and Fuerza Guerrera would be exposed in a match like this.

Mistico, Barbaro Cavernario, the Chavez Brothers and Hechicero are the big missing names. It’s possible Mistico is an injury wait-and-see; I saw a theory that the 7v7 is because CMLL’s waiting to see if Mistico’s healthy and will add him and Okumura if is possible. Mistico should be back next week on the original timeline, so I’m not convinced they’d hold off announcing him for a show three weeks later. Caveranrio got his title win last week and so that may be the justification to leave him off (instead of following the momentum.) CMLL seems to like the Chavez Brothers but thinks of them just below the top level. And maybe Hechicero is even lower than that; he’s taken the Blue Panther/Virus spot of a guy CMLL agrees has great technical ability but doesn’t see him as a star as much as his fans do. Like those guys, there’s really no where better for him to go. Hechicero is doing commentary for the Televisa show, seems like a guy who’ll get a training gig if he wants it one day, and probably can stay in CMLL forever even if it’s not as good as it could be for him.

As for Team World

Tiger Mask IV is a NJPW wrestler who’s currently the AJPW Junior Heavyweight champion. The gulf between those two companies is such that a person who rarely does much in NJPW can reasonably be a top guy in AJPW. (There are mitigating factors; Tiger Mask IV did win half of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag titles last year, AJPW is said not to have much of a junior division anyway.) Tiger Mask is truly booked here because Satoru Sayama was such a big deal in Mexico. The “Tiger Mask” gimmick lives forever in the mind of the Mexican people who grew up following wrestling in the late 70s and early 80s, and those are the people who are making the decisions in CMLL. This Tiger Mask IV is not that Tiger Mask I and everyone should be aware of that difference – the original Tiger Mask return to Arena Mexico in 2006, this one has a big IV in the center of the mask, they are clearly different people – but knowledge about Japanese wrestling in Mexico is about the same as knowledge of Mexican wrestling in the US. There’s a lot of people who assume the Tiger Mask in NJPW is still Sayama (only off by 40 years), including some people who work for CMLL. I guess what’s to watch here is if CMLL is interested in correcting that perception or if they’ll just let it go.

It sure seemed like Matt Taven being announced for Federacion Wrestling was one of the primary reasons ROH and CMLL had its falling out – CMLL demanded ROH pull Taven (and, to a lesser extent, the other ROH contracted wrestlers), ROH explained they didn’t have the rights to so, and so CMLL pulled the deal with ROH. I’m now not sure it made a lot of difference: ROH may have not be able to bring in CMLL wrestlers for the rest of Sinclair ownership, the Federacion show didn’t happen, Taven and CMLL are back together. I’m out about $20 USD but that’s nothing new. Taven had tours of Mexico in 2016, 2017, 2018 (losing a very confusing Aniversario main event) and 2019, being part of Gran Prix three of those times. He seemed to like working in Mexico – no one cared how hard ROH did or did not push him in Mexico City for one – and he clearly had big fans of CMLL management. I didn’t expect to be so big fans to bring him back, but it’s apparent through this list that CMLL was going to stick with people they knew well and they know Matt Taven. Taven has been in Impact this year as part of ROH invasion stable Honor No More as well as working in NWA. I read this as a direct Taven/CMLL relationship and not something that implies a relationship with another promotion.

Lince Dorado was the long time tag partner of Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada) as the Lucha House Party in WWE. The two seemed close, especially after Kalisto (Samuray del Sol) was split off from the group and it became just a unit; they mutually made the decision to leave WWE. It’s surely the connection to get Lince to Arena Mexico. Lince talked Thursday about wanting to come to CMLL more than just one show, including teaming with Dorada. Lince has been doing a “Lucha Lit” character since leaving WWE, and I can’t think of anyone who’s done a drug referencing gimmick that strongly in CMLL (though there are references I catch and probably more I do not.)

Robbie Eagles (from Australia, not New Zealand) is a NJPW regular junior, well regarded by those who watch the promotion. He had a match with Will Ospreay that ended with Ospreay endorsing him; he came into NJPW as part of hell Bullet Club and was so well-liked that a switch to being a face made a lot of sense. He’s won both the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and the Junior Tag Championship (w/Tiger Mask.) I saw him in person in PWG, and he came across to me as a guy who did an awful lot of Volador Jr. spots. Taven would probably be a bigger deal if they spun a 1v1 match out of this, but Eagles would probably have a better match. Titan defeating Eagles on the final group stage day of the BOSJ cost Eagles his chance to advance farther, and that’s an obvious setup for a singles match or even just an elimination if CMLL follows up on it.

Rocky Romero has a lot of history with CMLL and Mexican wrestling in general: he had a fondly remembered 2003/2004 as part of the Havana Brothers, then a 2008 stint as Grey Shadow that didn’t work out for anyone. (Among other issues, CMLL wanted to get him over as this new masked star, when it was already obvious that the new masked star was going to be this kid named La Sombra.) Romero jumped from CMLL to AAA, unmasking in the process, but didn’t seem to enjoy the couple of years he hung around there. He found his way back to NJPW, where his career really took off in and out of the ring. Romero is the NJPW foreign promotion liaison; he’s shown up in ROH and Impact as NJPW’s worked with them, and he and Tony Khan have talked about working together a lot to put together the NJPW/AEW Forbidden Door show. It’s a bit surprising Romero hasn’t been back to CMLL already for that reason – he knows the players in Mexico as well as anyone after working for both companies – though maybe NJPW’s so far just been content with Okumura being their voice to the Arena Mexico office. Romero is going to do well in a match like the Gran Prix, it just might not be his only or most important work in Mexico. If there’s anyone who can sit in an office with CMLL people and convince them it’s OK to let NJPW people be in the same ring with Andrade or Fenix or Pentagon, maybe it’s Rocky. (I’d also like to bet on AAA trying to set up a clandestine meeting with Romero while he’s in the country.)

Kenny King, like Matt Taven, has been spending time on Impact as part of their evil ROH invasion group. CMLL’s brought him in for the 2017 and 2019 Gran Prix, but hasn’t used him beyond those weekends and he didn’t go particularly far in the tournament. King had been part of the LFI group in ROH, closely associated with Dragon Lee, Rush and La Bestia del Ring, which seems like it’d be enough to cross him off the list most years. This again looks like CMLL pulling in someone they knew from the past rather than finding/trusting someone new.

Oráculo wrestled in the 2019 Gran Prix and, according to Cagematch, has wrestled 13 matches in the last three years. Most of those were The Crash matches, where he was both a regular and lost his mask. He hasn’t been back there since February. Almost all of the rest are small Florida shows. He appears to be someone who decided to pause wrestling during the pandemic, with no matches between February 2020 and October 2021. There may be other factors for why Oraculo isn’t booked much. As noted every time Oraculo gets reintroduced, wrestler Mia Yim has talked about (and been consistent in her details of) domestic violence suffered from her boyfriend of a certain time period. She doesn’t seem ever to say the name of that boyfriend and no one’s ever been charged with a crime to the best of my knowledge, but Yim was public about her relationship with Jay Rios during that time period, and everyone’s certain he is the person she’s talking about. Rios has repeatedly denied the accusations, and the story tends to go away because his career has gone such a low profile; most people don’t realize Oráculo is Jay Rios. It’s also at least possible his career has been so low profile because his peers have made the decision not to use him on shows – either they believe Yim’s story or they’ve decided he’s not worth the blowback from using him – but we can’t be sure of that, there may be other things going on. I know there was a suspicion CMLL might bring in a Travis Banks or Marty Scurll or even Michael Elgin in this year’s Gran Prix, and it was a relief not to see one of those guys involved in Arena Mexico for a few weeks. They’ve still brought in someone who can be lumped in the same pile, a person with accusations that have made him unbookable except in places run by friends or lucha libre promotions. I don’t think most CMLL fans know who Oráculo is, he’ll probably go out of the match early, and fans still won’t know who he is. It seems like an easy name to take a pass on, but CMLL’s limited contacts and likes others vouching for him got him on the list.

Team World is the heavy favorite. It’s just too easy for Team Mexico to self-combust. The bigger questions are if there’s a specific singles match coming out of a Team World, and if CMLL will hold off announcing the Anniversario plans until whatever happens on this show goes down.

AAA

Space’s description is “Mazatlan 1”, so it’s on to the July 2nd taping. If you’re reading this, there’s no lineup preview video yet. The highlight match is Vikingo & Penta vs Hermanos Lee.

I kinda want to move the Twitch stream so it’s not running against the same time of the ROH, but I had to move it last week too and don’t want to keep doing that and I’m not sure if anyone besides me cares about both the ROH show and the AAA TV show. It’ll probably be on the normal time.

Verano de Escandalo will not be airing live on FITE after all, according to a source. I’m pretty sure they announced it would be back at the press conference, but maybe I misunderstood or maybe it was a misspeak. It never made total sense. I expect AAA won’t be live again until TripleMania Mexico City in October.

AAA has Showcenter #4 on Sunday. The main event is Vikingo, Iguana and Hamburguesa against Puma King, Chessman and Toscano. Dralistico/Latigo is the only men’s tournament match. La Hiedra versus the debuting Natalia Marakova is probably meant to be a women’s tournament match. It’s hard to be all that involved in these shows when nothing on AAA TV matters outside of having good matches and it’s unclear if we’ll ever see the good matches. There was the usual late discount on tickets, though it doesn’t appear that’s going on. The ticket map shows a lot of empty seats. It also shows the upperdeck as being sold; it seems like they’ve closed that down and moved people closer the last couple of shows, so I’m not sure if the map is that useful.

We did get an answer is Showcenter 3 was taped; AAA is putting up highlights of Showcenter 3 on YouTube spread out through the weekend. Not sure when or if we’ll ever see the full show.

Impact Wrestling announced Bandido vs Rey Horus for their 08/12 Emergence show. This is an Impact Plus ($8/month subscription and probably like $10/15 on FITE as a standalone thing.) Emergence is taking place in Cicero Stadium outside of Chicago, where lucha libre promotions (and MLW) have run very successfully in the past, so it makes sense to bring in extra Mexican wrestlers for the show. Impact tapes TV the following day in the same location, and it’s safe to assume they’ll be on those shows as well.

Impact is billing Bandido and Rey Horus as AAA wrestlers and AAA is going along. Rey Horus hasn’t actually wrestled for AAA on TV since 2020. He was on in a Showcenter match taped for TV against Gringo Loco, but it didn’t air. I believe he was supposed to be Tijuana mascot Rey Xolo at one point, but it got switched to Extreme Tiger and then weirdly Villano III Jr. in the Copa TripleMania lost month. (Horus appeared on that show and did a run-in during that match, and I did a poor job matching up tattoos.) I don’t think either Horus or Bandido are actually under contract to AAA; this is just Impact going through AAA to find some Mexican wrestlers instead of contacting them directly out of politeness. Both Bandido & Horus would be assets to Impact if they were used past this show but it’d hard to imagine they’d be used to their full potential give Laredo Kid and Black Taurus’ roles in the promotion.

There’s a mention in today’s WON about a Channel 62 in Los Angeles airing TripleMania Tijuana as the start of regular TV. That’s the La Estrella TV deal (as previously mentioned in the WON), they aired TripleMania Monterrey, and it’s just the start of airing the TripleManias on long delays. It’s not a regular AAA TV deal, though obviously AAA hopes it would turn in to something like that. Whoever passed the info about the show to the WON probably has a vague idea of AAA – “they’re saying TripleMania, I remember they had a Tijuana show recently, it must be that” – similar to Rey Horus and Bandido being passed off AAA wrestlers because most Impact fans will have a vague idea either or both have wrestled there. Almost no one actually follows AAA, most just have a vibe of AAA they’re working off. It may be actually the more pleasurable way to follow AAA.

Former AAA wrestler Decnnis is working as a police officer in Cuautitlan Izcalli. He says started five years ago, which is about the last time he appeared in AAA.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 07/21/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Rey Astaroth & Súper Boy b Legado & Rey Minos
2) La Estrella & Takuma b Baby Star & X-Devil 
3) Hell Boy, Limbo, Yorvak b Caballero de Plata, Noisy Boy, Vértigo 
Hell Boy snuck in a foul on Caballero de Plata
4) Aster Boy, Diva Salvaje, Imposible b Paymon, Puma de Oro, Tonalli 
5) Dick Angelo 3G b Abismo Negro Jr. [IWRG JUNIORS] 
first defense. Abismo Negro Jr. seemed to be having a medical issue (overheating?) during the match.

I scanned through the main event and didn’t see a specific incident, but Absimo Negro Jr. was moving slow. They stopped the match to get him water at one point, and the ringside doctor looked like she was ready to stop the match for about the last half of it. Abismo needed help standing and staying on his feet after the match. It wasn’t especially warm in Naucalpan – it’s cooler there than it is where I’m typing this outside of Chicago – but it seemed like Abismo was trying to get air. I’ve been since told people there were very concerned about his immediate health after the match. Hope he’s OK today; he was back to posting Instgram stories this morning so that seems like a good match.

Aster Boy got a surprise birthday cake from his teammates. It did not appear to get smashed.

Mas Lucha (THU) 07/28/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Lady Amazona & Luna Mágica vs Princesa Águila (Chihuahua) & Sakura (Chihuahua) and Bengalee & Zuzu Divine and Artemiz & Princesa Azul
2) Atómico vs Yorvak vs Radioactivo vs Calibus
3) Alas de Oro & Alas De Plata vs Imposible & León Dorado
4) Rey León © vs Travis Banks, Kempo Jr., Karaoui [915-656]
5) Brazo Cibernetico Jr. & Villano V Jr. vs Brazo Celestial & Rokambole Jr.
6) DMT Azul vs Groon XXX

This is a Mas Lucha Premium show. Not every show should be for everyone. This is remarkably a prestige card of six matches I wouldn’t pay for individually. DMT Azul/Groon XXX will draw as a freak show and there’s other who have cult Mexico City popularity. I’d definitely check out Imposible & Dorada vs the Alas, even though I’m led to understand Imposible and Dorado are teasing a mask match and so that’s probably going to be a bad ending. The rest I would not watch for free. I think they’ll still draw fine and there’s obviously something going on with the Juarez/El Paso group to explain why so many of their wrestlers are on this card (and why the lineup is mostly working around them), but I can’t believe how much of a gap there is between what I think there’s a good show and what Mas Lucha thinks is a good show.

Other

LuchaWorld has this week’s Lucha Report.

El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. did a round of press in Mexico to talk about his time in NOAH. BolaVIP has some text quotes, Mas Lucha has their video version. He mentions he’s signed a one year deal with NOAH, lasting through July 2023. Wagner also notes he’s had to battle loneliness in Japan – he knows only a bit of Japanese, and the food isn’t spicy enough for him.

The main event of tonight’s Arena Neza show was scheduled as LA Park & Rush vs Blue Demon Jr. & DMT Azul. It’s Producciones Sanchez’s 25th Anniversary as a promoter. Being a promoter is hard work and it seems like it may have gotten harder tonight: Rush announced he, Vangellys and Bestia del Ring have pulled off the show earlier this afternoon.

ROH has their Death before Dishonor PPV on Saturday. No Mexican wrestler has been announced yet despite my best efforts at chaos. (My power only reaches as far as a scoreboard.) AEW did indicate more matches would be announced tonight (at least JD Drake appears to be booked) so maybe there’s news yet to come. I have no inside info.

Penta Oscuro faces Matt Taven on Sunday in Waterbury, Connecuit for North East Wrestling. That’s a bit more interesting with Taven headed back to CMLL soon.

Dalys & Stephanie Vaquer will face Hikari Shimizu and Kaho Matsushita on 07/29 in Ice Ribbon.

Big Lucha announced Cometa Maya vs Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. as the first match in their 07/29 Big Lucha world championship tournament.

GCW announced Gringo Loco, Black Taurus, and Jack Carthweel vs Komander, Laredo Kid and ASF for their 07/29 show. They previously announced Joey Janela vs Psycho Clown for that show.

Laredo Kid called his appearance on the adjacent Ric Flair show one of the most important matches of his career in his hometown paper. It’s good news for those who are planning to watch if those guys are treating it like a big deal. Komander was added to the show’s Bunkhouse Battle Royal, which sounds like a terrible match for him but probably an easy payday.

Pro Wrestling Revolution announced Aerostar vs Super Astro Jr. for the PWR Junior Title for their August 20th show in King City.

Alpha Wolf & Hijo de Canis Lupus return to NOAH on August 27th. They haven’t been seen in Mexico since the last trip to NOAH.

MLW officially announced their 09/18 taping with Mucha Lucha Atlanta and teased it as involving multiple outside of promotions. Mucha Lucha Atlanta, one step ahead, revealed AAA would be involved.

Dragon Lee will be part of the 11/29 King of Indies tournament in San Francisco. He’s won the last two of those.

(Unspecified) lucha libre YouTubers were pushing a story that the October WWE Mexico shows were being blocked from happening by AAA. WWE happened to officially announce tickets go on sale on 07/25 for those shows today.  Apolo Valdes mentioned the situation as part of a larger thread about lucha libre YouTubers frequently and unhelpfully putting out fake news stories to gather attention.

Many wrestling promotions in Cuernavaca were upset about changes in the local commission and held a demonstration to protest it,  going as far as blocking a street. As best I can tell, they’re upset about the new people who voted in charge of the commission, feeling they didn’t have proper knowledge of wrestling to be in those roles.

Diario de Xalapa has an interview with local mask maker Moises Calderon Mestizo, who also wrestled as Dragon Killer, Cara Meca, Pato Donald (Donaldo Duck), Dragon Azul, Draogn Fuego, Dragon Rojo, Dragon Espacial and “during 10 years” Huracan Ramriez.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 07/18/2022 Arena Puebla [Contacto Deportivo, Telediario]
Arena Puebla 69th Anniversary
1) Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. b El Malayo, Rey Apocalipsis, Siki Osama
2) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
Fuerza Poblana asked for a MEX TRIOS title match
3) Stigma © b Diamond [CMLL SL] 
3rd defense
4) Fuerza Guerrera, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero DQ Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible
5) Soberano Jr. b Volador Jr.  
Soberano won with the fire driver

I’ve stopped paying much attention to the Arena Puebla Facebook videos because it’s usually only the last few minutes of a match posted. A fan posted the complete Soberano/Volador match and it’s worth watching. It’s not a MOTYC or anything, but it’s great crowd interaction, rudo Volador feuding with two Soberano fans in the front row with other people also involved.

CMLL (TUE) 07/19/2022 Arena México [Box y Lucha, CMLL, Cronista del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Marca]
1) Átomo & Chamuel b Micro Ángel & Micro Gemelo Diablo I 
One of the Micro Gemelos was replaced by Micro Angel; The Gladiatores says it was Gemelo I who wrestled, La Tijera says it was Gemelo II.
2) Dr. Karonte I, Grako, Nitro b Cachorro, Leono, Suicida 
Dr. Karonte I replaced Cholo. Rudos took 2/3.
3) Amapola, Reyna Isis, Tiffany DQ La Guerrera, La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit 
straight falls. Jarochita unmasked Isis in the second.
4) Blue Panther, Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring b Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero 
tecnicos took 2/3
5) Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. b Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible 
tecnicos took 2/3. Stuka & Atlantis feuded but did not figure into the third fall finish.

The sound and video weren’t sycned on this show and I haven’t had a chance to fix it yet; maybe it’ll go up on the drive tonight. It doesn’t seem like it’s something that needs to be watched soon.

CMLL (TUE) 07/19/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, De Golpes y Caidas, Fuego en el RIng]
1) Huitzil, Jhonny Dinamo, Temerario b Obelisk, Persa, Raven
Team Huitzil took 1/3
2) Crixus, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Bobby Black, Destructor, Quka
Team Crxus took 2/3.
3) Demonio Maya, Omega, Principe Daniel b Cris Skin, El Divino, Joker
Team Daniel took 1/3.
4) Dalys, Metálica, Sexy Sol b Dark Silueta, Náutica, Vaklyria
Dalys beat Silueta, asked for a MEX WOMEN title match.
5) Fuerza Guerrera & Satánico b Felino & Negro Casas
challenges followed
6) Esfinge & Fugaz © b Averno & Zandokan Jr. [MEX TAG]
2nd defense

Dalys had an announced match in Japan for the last week of July so next week probably has to be it for her for now. She already has the CMLL Japan title so she doesn’t necessarily need to win the Mexican women’s championship.

CMLL (FRI) 07/22/2022 Arena México
1) Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
2) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi vs Dalys, Dark Silueta, Stephanie Vaquer
3) Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
4) Volador Jr. vs Templario, Star Jr., El Coyote, Fugaz, El Audaz, Stigma, Dulce Gardenia [Leyenda de Plata, semifinal]

Not really much going on here outside of the Leyenda de Plata, and that’s not a very deep group. Coyote won the Gran Alternativa at the right time; he wouldn’t have been considered for this tournament prior and he could make it a long way just by the lack of other rudos. Anyone beyond Templario or Volador is a big surprise.

CMLL announced Mistico will appear on NJPW Strong/USA’s 09/11 Autumn Attack show in Las Vegas. The biggest story here is NJPW has decided autumn starts two weeks early and they need to be stopped. These shows do not air live, but cycle Mistico follows Negro Casas appearing on the recent Los Angeles tapings and Mascara Dorada technically being a CMLL-affiliated wrestler appearing regularly with NJPW Strong.

NJPW’s Misterioso challenged Mistico to a match. It’d make sense for Mistico to work with someone with lucha libre experience on that show; if you’re bringing him in as a special attraction, you’d want to make him look as good as possible. This Misterioso has also previously implied CMLL’s blocked him from going to NJPW because they have their own Misterioso, so that might be a politically tough match. Or maybe not, since CMLL Misterioso doesn’t appear to be around CMLL right now.

NJPW’s evolution to their current Strong sub-promotion took place during the early pandemic, so there hasn’t been a lot of opportunity for wrestlers to travel between that group and CMLL much so far. It’d make sense if the Gran Prix was the start of some NJPW Strong wrestlers heading to Arena Mexico, but I have no idea if they’ll be announced today.

CMLL did mention Microman beating Chamuel in their daily apuesta match countdown, so not mentioning Zeuxis in Princesa Sugehit’s mask situation seems like a situation specific to Zeuxis.

Those Gran Prix names will be announced later today on CMLL Informa. I have no idea what to expect, outside of one minor NJPW name that has been talked about for weeks as coming in. The Informa preview is mostly the CMLL tecnico minis to hype up their match on Sunday. Volador Jr. & Soberano Jr. are on and probably on the CMLL team, thocouldey could also talk about Leyenda de Plata.

The CMLL names most suggested for this match in the limited replies I got on Twitter:

• Templario
• Hechicero
• Volador Jr.
• Soberano Jr.
• Barbaro Cavernario
• Angel de Oro
• Mistico
• (Titan is already announced)

It seems unlikely one Chavez brother will appear without the other, though I’m not sure who gets bumped off. I’d like to see at least one fresh name – a Panterita del Ring Jr. or a Coyote or someone unexpected – just to give each year a different feel. Still, it’s been three years since CMLL had one of these Gran Prixs, just doing it is going to feel new.

AAA

AAA (SAT) 08/06/2022 Explanada Malltertainment, Puebla, Puebla
1) La Parkita & Octagoncito vs Mini Gronda & Parkita Negra
2) Aramis, Drago Kid, Komander vs Diva Salvaje, Dulce Canela, Jessy Ventura
3) Reina Dorada & Sussy Love vs Chik Tormenta & Flammer
4) Aerostar & Drago vs Dave The Clown & La Parka Negra
5) Arez & Myzteziz Jr. vs Carta Brava Jr. & Chessman
6) Hijo Del Vikingo, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa vs Estrellita, Puma King, Sam Adonis

AAA posted this on Friday and I should’ve had this in the post on Monday. This is the same local AAA taped back in May. It appears to be something similar to the Showcenter monthly events as an periodic attraction for a venue. There’s no “TV” logo on it, and my presumption is these aren’t being taped. They are calling it Campeonato Explanada, so it’s possible another one-off belt comes out of this as they keep running shows.

Cibernetico will be honored on Verano de Escandalo as part of AAA honoring a different wrestler on each big show.

Dralistico’s “@CMLL_Mistico” account seems to be suspended, so he’s now on Twitter as @Dralistico_LFI. The former Mistico never had the blue verified check so there was nothing stopping from just changing his name earlier, he just never got around to it until something forced him. No idea what got the account suspended, though I’m sure CMLL likes that no one’s able to accidentally reference the wrong Mistico. Dralisico is more of a Instagram user.

IWRG 

IWRG (THU) 07/21/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Legado & Rey Minos vs Rey Astaroth & Súper Boy
2) Baby Star & X-Devil vs La Estrella & Takuma
3) Caballero de Plata, Noisy Boy, Vértigo vs Hell Boy, Limbo, Yorvak
4) Aster Boy, Diva Salvaje, Imposible vs Paymon, Puma de Oro, Tonalli
5) Dick Angelo 3G vs Abismo Negro Jr. [IWRG JUNIORS]
first defense

The title match was set up last week. Caballero de Plata/Hell Boy goes on.

ESTO has an interview with La Pandemia, who said they did a backyard wrestling match with lighttubes recorded by their aunt when they were younger.

Other Notes

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

Angel put together a YouTube Playlist of the best matches he’s recorded in Torreon this year.

Big Lucha World tonight has Bendito vs Elemental and Extasis vs Viajero in the semifinals on of their qualifier tournament.

Laredo Kid faces Johnny Swinger on Impact’s BTI tomorrow. The live report on that match was not positive.

Andrade & Ric Flair will wrestle Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett in the main event of the 07/31 Ric Flair final match show.

El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. will wrestle in NOAH’s N1 tournament from August 11 to September 3. He’s a long shot at winning but a good sign for him that he remains important enough to make the field.

AAW announced Laredo Kid & Gringo Loco for their 09/01 show, which is the same weekend as AEW’s All Out.

MLW will run in Norcross, Georga on 09/18 in partnership with Mucha Lucha Atlanta, according to Lucha Libre Online. That follows an August show partnering with 915-656 in El Paso. I wonder if a) is MLW going like AAA and partnering with a local promotion for their tapings? and b) MLW says hit pause until a new TV deal came through and, if that’s true, maybe it could be a Spanish language one.

Rayman & El Gallo held a contract signing for a 10/01 mask match. I still struggle to believe the long-time Guadalajara rivals are actually going through with this (and going through with it at a growing but small local area), but they treated it seriously like it was definitely happening.

Identitida Puebla visits Puebla’s Arena Coliseo San Ramon.

Zeta Tijauna interviews la Familia de Tijuana.

An interview with Orizaba’s Billytronik, who retired as an in-ring wrestler in 2021 but currently works as a masked chef.

Box y Lucha 3510D+ writes about CMLL and Lourdes Grobet. “D+” means it’s a second straight digital-only issue, which they’ve done in the past.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 07/15/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del Ring, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (videos), thecubsfan]
1) Inquisidor, Okumura, Raider b El Audaz, Flyer, Suicida 
13:36.
2) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Blue Panther b Fuerza Guerrera, Stuka Jr., Templario    
14:36. Straight falls, DQ in the second when Guerrera unmasked Atlantis. Guerrera/Atlantis and Stuka Jr.Atlantis Jr. mask challenges followed.
3) Bárbaro Cavernario b Niebla Roja © [CMLL LH]   
19:56. Title change! Cavernario cleanly submitted Niebla Roja to La Cavernaria. Niebla Roja falls on his 10th defense, first since October 31st, 2020 (air date). Cavernario is the 17th champion.
4) Soberano Jr. b Titán, Dragón Rojo Jr., Negro Casas, Rey Cometa, Magia Blanca, Hijo del Villano III, Panterita del Ring Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, cibernetico, semifinal]  
30:44. Teams were Titán, Dragón Rojo Jr., Rey Cometa, Magia Blanca vs Soberano Jr., Negro Casas, Hijo del Villano III, Panterita del Ring Jr. Eliminations: Villano 3 Jr. (by Magia Blanca, 10:17), Cometa (Soberano, 13:53), Panterita del Ring Jr. (Titan, 15:52), Magia Blanca (Negro Casas, 17:03), Dragon Negro Casas (Dragon Rojo, 18:23), Dragon Rojo (Soberano, 20:41), Titan (Soberano, 30:44); Soberano advances to the 07/29 final.

Friday night had a hot crowd that was willing to go with most everything, until the last couple minutes of the last month. Cavernario and more so Titan was doing a lot of slow dramatic posing and signaling their moves before going for them. It seemed to lose the crowd near the end of the otherwise strong cibernetico, which turned into a 10-minute Soberano/Titan match. The crowd stuck with Cavernario more, and the crowd doing his shout as he signaled for his springboard plancha was a cool moment. I thought this was a strong show overall.

It seems crazy that Cavernario has been around for quite a while now, CMLL has a billion titles, and yet this was the first time he’s won a ‘world’ title. He’s had the nationals before and still has the Occidente Trios championship with his brother. Meanwhile, Niebla Roja was still masked when he won CMLL Light Heavyweight title, and he won it after CMLL fired then champ La Mascara. It was one of those classic CMLL super long reigns that you forget is even happening all the time.

Panterita del Ring Jr. looked very promising in the cibernetico. It wasn’t just his work, he visually fit in. Panterita Jr.’s seemed small teaming with his father and that could be a reason for CMLL to hold back on doing something with him. Here, he didn’t look much shorter than Titan and some of the others; it didn’t feel like his size should be an issue in pushing him. Villano III Jr. got a big section of the match before he was eliminated and didn’t do nearly as well.

Standard CMLL booking has a preview singles match before the Aniversario in a tournament final or a title match, and the winner of that match ends up the loser at the Aniversario. Templario winning next week’s Leyendas de Plata block, beating Soberano in the final, and then losing his mask in whatever Aniversaro match ends up happening fits that pattern, but it’d be very strange in every other way.

The announcers didn’t say there’s a cage match coming at the Aniversario and the wrestlers themselves reject the idea every time it’s brought up in postmatch interviews, yet there’s still obviously some multiperson match coming. That show is now two months away.

Niebla Roja made a quick request for a hair/hair match with Cavernario after the title change. It was so slight that I didn’t even notice it until it was pointed out by others. I don’t think it’s meant to be part of the Aniversario stuff, just the rote rematch challenge after losing a title match.

It stuck out in the opener that tecnicos were trying more advanced moves with Raider than the other two rudos. Raider has work to do to get better, but you can tell he’s trusted more than most of the guys in that spot.

CMLL (SAT) 07/16/2022 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Acero, Aéreo, Último Dragóncito b Angelito, Fantasy, Kaligua 
Team Dragoncito took 2/3
2) Cachorro, Leono, Valiente Jr. b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Príncipe Odín Jr.
Principe Odin Jr. replaced Inquisidor (moved up.) Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Inquisidor b Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma
Inquisidor replaced Akuma. Rudos took 1/3.
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring, Volcano b Cancerbero, Kráneo, Luciferno
tecnicos took 2/3
5) Soberano Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible 
tecnicos took 2/3

A show.

CMLL (SUN) 07/17/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Chamuel & Periquito Sacaryas b Micro Ángel & Micro Gemelo Diablo II
Micro Angel replaced a Micro Gemelo Diablo; Kaiser Sports says it was Gemelo 2 who wrestled.
2) Diamond, Magnus, Rugido b Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Inquisidor
Inquisidor replaced Akuma for the second straight day. Depredadores took 2/3.
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black
Atrapsuenos took 2/3.
4) Pequeño Olímpico L Mercurio, Full Metal, Pequeño Violencia, Minos, Pequeño Polvora [cibernetico]
Pierroth was scheduled but could not appear after testing positive for COVID. 3 vs 3 reverse cibernetico, Mercurio, Minos & Olimpico against Violencia, Polvora and Full Metal, escape by defeating someone. Escape order Full Metal (by defeating Minos), Minos (Pequeno Polvora), Pequeno Violenca (Peq. Olimpico), Pequeno Polvora (Pequeno Olimpico), Mercurio (Pequeno Olimpico) leaving Pequeno Olimpico as the loser. He will face the loser of next week’s cibernetico in an apuesta match on 07/29.
5) Negro Casas, Star Jr., Titán b Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
Tecnicos took 2/3.

CMLL had that whole overly complicated idea of how to handle an odd number of participants and didn’t get to use it. There are six mini tecnicos so they won’t get to use it next week either.

There’s a real chance Pequeno Olimpico is losing his mask on July 29th. He’s 56 and has been talking about doing a mask match with Pierrothito or Ultimo Dragoncito for about a decade. Dragoncito could still come out of the tecnico block next week.

It’s rare for CMLL to reveal COVID positives at this point, but I guess maybe they thought they had to do since Pierrothito was scheduled for the match. It’s tougher to get COVID tests in Mexico on your own than elsewhere – either this means CMLL is still doing regular testing or Pierrothito is dealing with some significant symptoms.

CMLL Puebla tonight has Stigma vs Diamond for the CMLL Super Lightweight Championship and Volador vs Soberano Jr., which might be the Leyenda de Plata a couple of Fridays from now. In a better world, instead of CMLL streaming a random two-month-old match late Monday nights as Twitch content, they just stream live Arena Puebla shows instead. Or even just the once-a-month interesting one, like this.

Hechicero would like to be in the G1 one of these years. No Mexican wrestler has been in the G1 since La Sombra in 2011.

Unspecified wrestlers – maybe CMLL ones, maybe Tijuana people – will be appearing this Saturday and Sunday as part of the “MexicoGotMe”‘s San Diego Comic Con presentation. Whoever it is will be signing autographs at Seaport Village, (not the main convention center.) No names are listed, but they CMLL is a sponsor of the presentation and so maybe we’ll hear more about this later this week.. The younder Salvador Lutteroth appeared on virtual panels in the past for the convention; there doesn’t appear to be a lucha libre panel this year.

The Mystique/OnlyFans story got a lot of press attention; there was nothing new to the story, it was the same story being reprinted on a lot of websites with nothing from Mystique at all and written as if Mystique was an active CMLL wrestler (which she hasn’t been for about a year.) It must’ve done some good traffic because there was a follow-up article talking about an ex-AAA wrestler also doing an OnlyFans and linking to Scarlett Bordeaux’s page.

The Gran Prix announcements are expected Wednesday. I think that’s still happening on Informa.

AAA

The end of AAA TV this week was an interview with Antifaz del Norte, who noted that he couldn’t understand why the promotion had booked him on the opposite of Laredo Kid but now he’d take Laredo’s mask. This was a very 2022 AAA deal; they started an angle on the first Showcenter event that was going to end with Antifaz betraying Laredo to set up a mask match, AAA dropped the angle after one show, and Antifaz was left to try to make sense of his reason for existing. I have no idea if the mask match is still happening – it’s entirely dependent on if the Showcenter people were promised a mask match – but Antifaz did the promo for it in hopes of talking AAA into following up on it. I wish him luck and hope that he’d do the same for the rest of the show if it works. It’s not ideal for a TV show to end with one of the characters explaining how the show makes no sense, but those were the choices AAA made this week.

It’s obvious AAA had no idea what they were actually booking for Verano de Escandalo at this Madero taping or no interest in booking towards it:

• the big angle at the end of the main event is Taurus destroying Vikingo; they’re partners at Verano de Escandalo
• Lady Shani appears, but there’s no hint of an upcoming apuesta match with Tirantes
  • Piero is the only referee for the taping and in street clothes, so there’s some story there we haven’t gotten.
• The Vipers challenge La Empresa for the trios titles and actually fight NGD later. Verano has La Empresa vs NGD, without the Vipers being involved.

The Vipers are part of the Pagano/Ciberentico match, which was set up, but also has been an ongoing thing since February; they might have done it out of habit rather than planning. It’s not like there are a lot of events in between this taping and Verano de Escandalo – just one taping in Mazatlan, which also doesn’t build up anything. Maybe that Vipers title match is another one of the storylines that only exist for a TripleMania match but it’s hard to believe any title challenge is going anywhere. in I’m not sure if that Verano de Escandalo card changed greatly or AAA is just making things up as they go. The reasons don’t really matter. It’s just terrible from a week-to-week perspective.

The main event from this week’s AAA TV was good. The other two matches were fine.

The La Estrella airing of TripleMania Monterrey was just that, the Spanish presentation from FITE of the tournament matches, the trios match, and the main event tag match. There were some added graphics to introduce the people, but elements like the videos for each of the ruleta de la muerte participants were removed. There was no promotion for future AAA events or future AAA on La Estrellas TV airings; it was just a weird thing that existed. (Sure, someone could’ve googled around to find that information, but if the typical viewer was inclined to google for AAA stuff, they could’ve seen this show two months ago.) It may have been just putting a toe in the water for future agreements, but AAA could’ve made more of it.

Fenix looked hurt on AEW Rampage, taped on Wednesday. He did wrestle Friday in Tijuana and was said to look fine.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 07/17/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Rey Halcón b Baby Star 
2) Noisy Boy, Sol, Spider Fly b Cerebro Negro Jr., Gallero, Tom Fulton 
3) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. © b Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro [EdM Trios]
5th defense
4) Puma de Oro b Toxin © [IWRG MEXICO] 
Title change; first time this title has changed hands in the ring. Toxin falls on his 9th defense. Puma de Oro is the 3rd champion
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. b Dick Angelo 3G & Legendario and Fly Warrior & Fulgor
6) Mary Caporal L Jessy Ventura, Diva Salvaje, Paymon, Soy Raymunda, Satania, Bengalee, Keyra, Óscar El Hermoso, Yuriko, Sexy Star [cage, hair, mask] 
Sexy Star was the surprise wrestler. Bengalee took Mary Caporal’s mask. Mary Caporal is Miriam Maldonado (21 years old, 6 years a wrestler)

As always, a cage means two random people are involved in an apuesta match; a Mexican cage match is always built on many distinct rivalries, and none of them get settled. They draw, and this did as well, but they’re never satisfying. It still did draw well; it looked like a full house for what turned out to be a minor mask loss, so it was a great day for IWRG business.

Other Notes

Robles ran in Arena San Juan on Saturday. Attendance looked good for an Arena San Juan show, which doesn’t seem to be nearly enough to pay for a show of the talent scale they’re using. That doesn’t seem to matter to Robles Promotions much. The main event was for a Campeon de Campeones belt held by Cibernetico. He also happens to be the last AAA Campeon de Campeones champion, a title they used briefly in the late 90s and early 00s. It would’ve been very funny for Ciber to be defending an old AAA belt on a Robles show, but it appears to be a new belt.

The DMT Azul/Cibernetico ‘closing stretch’ to finish out that main event went about how you’d expect, though I’d argue the worst worker was definitely the referee. He took a chair shot to the head and went completely limp, Ciber fouled DMT, the referee rose to his feet and was completely fine because the referee needed to get in his own ‘leaping over the pin’ highspot before counting three, DMT Azul kicked out at 2.5 even though it was the finish, and the referee went back to being dead. Just the most indie garbage possible.

Cholo de Tijuana ran in Arena Azteca Budokan. That’s a packed house, though they also had about 40 people booked on the show. It’s probably not good for the lucha libre business where there are so many Mexican City promotions that the business doesn’t seem to make any sense.

Segunda Caida writes about LA Park & Shocker vs Super Boy & Capitan de Oro from 2002, probably the best Shocker year.