CMLL
Tonight’s CMLL card has the Gran Prix. Hechicero/Euforia should be a solid title match, there’s a good group of women (and two feuding ladies) in the women’s match, and the opener should be fine.
It’s the 8v8 main event that’s going to make or break it. And it looks positive there. The world side seems deeper than past years. I’m not sure who the least impressive person is this year, but they’re better than Big Daddy (2019), Dark Magic & Okumura (2018), Johnny Idol (2017), and also Johnny Idol (2016). It’s a lot of wrestlers who’ve had experience working with Mexican wrestlers before, either past visits to CMLL or elsewhere. The finish might play into the CMLL Aniversario plans, but whatever they do is going to be better than the 2019 stuff around Big Daddy and a cage match. (It’s a real interesting question about who’s the last guy for the World Team – Mesias because he’s going to be around more? Tiger Mask because they see him as a legend? Matt Taven because he’s Matt Taven?)
Team Mexico is also almost entirely new from 2019, only Soberano & Volador coming back. Rush, Dragon Lee, Diamante Azul and Forastero are all gone, Negro Casas and & Cavernario weren’t chosen. (Casas was only on that team to set up his hair loss, in retrospect.) Mistico’s returning from injury and always enjoys large crowds. Titan and Templario have never gotten to do a match like this in Arena Mexico. Ultimo Guerrero has, and usually does well with the foreigners. Atlantis Jr. and Stuka Jr. might get spotlighted for what’s to come next. It’s a strong lineup
I always think CMLL is building to the next thing, trying to hook big crowds into coming back in a month for the even bigger show. CMLL doesn’t really work that way all the time; like we saw last week, sometimes they just do what they need to get done that day and let the promos during the week build to the next show. It’d be logical if some of the Anniversario teammates/enemies have issues during the match, but it’d also be CMLL if they just had a straight match with no issues. I still suspect Team World will win – if anything because having the invading group lose the Friday night main event in back-to-back weeks would be strange – but I’m not convinced of it.
The show will be on Ticketmaster live for 198 pesos ($10 USD).
CMLL reported Thursday that Robbie Eagles tested negative for COVID, so he’s back for the tournament. There’s never been any update on Euforia since getting his back cut up on Sunday show, but he’s presumably going to work through it.
Both Team Mexico and Team Rest of the World traveled around on the Mexico City tourist buses and talked at the World Trade Center to promote the match. There are clips on YouTube of them actually yelling at each other as the buses passed each other. The WTC promos seemed in line with those on CMLL Informa this week, though the CMLL wrestlers got to be confrontational when the foreigners were trashing them in their faces.
All of this promotion seems to have worked. It’s possible this Gran Prix will be the third highest attended Mexico City show of the year. TripleMania and Aniversario will be 1 and 2 outside of anything truly unexpected. There were no attendance restrictions on Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, but people are more comfortable going to shows now and that show didn’t have a strong lineup. The Gran Prix has some familiar names and a concept that’s worked well in past years. There were scattered tickets available on the lower level when I checked around noon. They should cross 10K with the walk-up tonight. CMLL’s strategy this year to focus on Friday shows even more (to the exclusion of doing much on the other three Mexico City shows) has worked out. It’s made CMLL a bit of a one-show-a-week promotion, but if the one show everyone watches is pretty good, then maybe they’ll watch the other ones once there’s something interesting on them.
Those Anniversario tickets go on sale Saturday morning. CMLL has not announced prices; it’s likely they won’t be public until the tickets go on sale.
CMLL (SUN) 08/21/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Minos, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Astral, Leono, Oro Jr. vs Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor, Nitro
3) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs El Coyote, Felino, Kráneo
4) Bárbaro Cavernario & Euforia vs Kenny King & Oráculo
5) Gran Guerrero, Tiger Mask, Titán vs Lince Dorado, Matt Taven, Volador Jr.
Sunday appears to final day for the foreginers. And not all the foreigners; Eagles is at the NJPW Strong taping. (That show also may explain why Rocky Romero is not sticking around long.) CMLL never books just a normal 2v2 match as a semi-main match, but I guess that’s how the numbers work.
CMLL (MON) 08/22/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Oro Jr. & Valiente Jr. vs Espíritu Maligno & King Jaguar
2) Perverso & Prayer vs Rey Apocalipsis & Siki Osama
3) Audaz, Dulce Gardenia, Star Jr. vs Felino, Okumura, Rey Bucanero
4) Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Templario vs Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Averno, Negro Casas, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
So many relevos increibles. It’s strange the locals are ahead of the match with CMLL wrestlers.
Halcon Negro challenged Crixus to a title match on Tuesday in Guadalajara. I have to admit that I had no idea what title they were talking about; I didn’t think either of them held a Guadalajara title. They did clarify it on a preview graphic; it’s the Queretaro middleweight championship. Crixus won it from Halcon Negro back on Christmas Day in Queretaro. It’s hard to imagine many fans in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, who don’t seem to pay much attention to the matches in front of them to become with, are familiar with a title change that happened 8 months ago in a different state. Those two guys have been feuding forever though, and they may under that much. They wrestle again in Queretaro this Sunday.
AAA
AAA tapes Saturday night in Saltillo. Dragon Lee & Fenix vs Aramis & Hijo del Vikingo is the main event and should be an outstanding match. Pagano and Cibernetico feud in the semi-main. Aerostar, Drago, Myzteziz vs Argenis, Parka Negra, and Villano III Jr. continues some feuds that have been hanging around for over a year now. The rest of the AAA portion seems like already booked names are just being wedged into spots, though the matches look fine. This is a co-promotion with local AAA promoter BARBA, they have two title matches as extra bonus matches, and at least one of them will likely air. Space should have these episodes on August 27 and September 3rd.
Space this weekend is a big I dunno. There’s nothing left from Verano de Escandalo except a pre-show Arkangel Divino/Ultimo Maldito match. I will at least start off streaming whatever they have on Twitch, but I’ll probably just cut it off quick if it looks like it’s no new matches so everyone can get on with their Saturdays. Space is listing the show as starting at 5:09 pm CT so it’ll probably be over before most people even realize it’s promoted hasn’t promoted the time shift.)
AAA has a Showcenter event on Sunday. These are just house shows that draw moderately well, and the routine is pretty set at this point. There will be some photos or videos posted on Sunday to show some action, a carefully framed photo to show the crowd, and the September lineup will be out instantly after this show is over.
IWRG
IWRG (THU) 08/18/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Amakuza & Baby Star b Kenji & Rey Aztaroth 
2) Feroz & Vértigo b Caballero de Plata & Jhon Tito
Hell Boy cost Plata the match, the two agreed to a super libre match
3) Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Tackle b Andy Boy, Danger King, Tony Rivera
4) Abc, Laser Jr., Troyano b Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Tonalli
Laser Jr. replaced El Rebelde. Troyano beat Tonalli, and challenged him to a title match.
5) Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro b Cerebro Negro, Cerebro Negro Jr., Dr. Cerebro
Oficials snuck in a foul on Cerebro Negro
It’s possible the Hell Boy/Caballero de Plata feud is moving forward. Maybe they’ll finally have their hair match on an Indepdence Day show. Troyano made his challenge a couple of days too late to get on the title match show, unfortunate timing from him.
IWRG (SUN) 08/21/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Mini Raider & Relampgauito vs Mini Canis Lupus & Mini Spirit
2) Noisy Boy © vs Yorvak, Sol, Spider Fly, Baby Star [IWRG REY DEL AIRE]
1st defense
3) Hijo del Pirata Morgan © vs Hijo del Fishman [IWRG Rey del Ring]
1st defense
4) Puma de Oro © vs Abismo Negro Jr. [IWRG MEXICO]
1st defense. Scheduled as Aster Boy challenging but he had an injury
5) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. © vs Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Tonalli [EdM Trios]
6th defense
6) Galeno del Mal vs Oficial AK47 [IWRG IC HEAVY]
vacant title (Rey Espectro injury)
This is a Mas Lucha premium show.
It seemed like the Puma de Oro attack on Aster Boy was a work to set up an injury, but Aster Boy is actually in an arm cast now, so he did get hurt at some point. IWRG put out the poster with his name on it and simultaneously announced he was out of the match. I guess they couldn’t get the poster changed?
It took me only like 10 episodes to notice, but the mid-week IWRG talk show on their YouTube channel has these Sunday lineups a couple of days before they’re posted.
Big Lucha
Big Lucha World (WED) 08/17/2022 Bandidos Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, Mas Lucha]
1) Mr. Win b Sparta (Zacatecas) 
first victory for Mr. Win
2) Gravity & Komander b Emperador Azteca & Yutani
3) Radioactivo b Forneo [BL CHAMP, Block B Qualifying, final]
Radioactivo wins the qualifier, faces Ricky Marvin next week
4) Galeno del Mal DQ DMT Azul [BL CHAMP, Block B, quarterfinal]
DMT Azul unmasked Galeno del Mal for the DQ. Galeno del Mal will face Arez in the next round.
Radioactivo/Forneo was a match that justified all these nesting tournaments. It was a great match between two young guys, who wouldn’t have had a chance to have a singles match with this much meaning without all of this. Radioactivo won but both guys felt like they gained something from the match. And not just the beating Ricky Marvin is going to give Radioactivo next week. It’s really hard to break out of the pack with so many young guys in Big Lucha (and not a lot of defining personality traits between them), and matches like this help.
DMT Azul/Galeno del Mal was the opposite. There’s something I’m just not getting with Azul. He wasn’t good, he didn’t take the tournament seriously and he obviously would not take a loss here. It didn’t make sense to book him for a role he wasn’t going to do well in. Yet, that guy is in more demand than ever as an indie talent. Maybe just being really big is impressive enough, it’s hard to figure out what else is going on here.
The Mas Lucha announcers did the first match in both English and Spanish. Jose Manuel Guillen described referee/wrestler Mr. Win as a guy no one knew anything about. Only in Mexican wrestling can the guy with no mask and just plain gear be the most mysterious person around.
Next week’s show should have
- Ricky Marvin vs Radioactivo in a quarterfinal
- Bandido vs Gravity in a quarterfinal
CMLL , Big Lucha (THU) 08/18/2022 Arena Coliseo [Mas Lucha, SuperLuchas]
1) Blue Danger, Nix, Timida b Aqua, Dulce Luna, Shamila
2) Elipse, Orbita, Viajero b El Potro de Oro, King, Kong
3) Cometa Maya, Éxtasis, Radioactivo b Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus
4) Okumura, Shocko, Tirano, Yutani b Carito, Dulce Gardenia, Guerrero Maya Jr., Limbo
5) Lince Dorado b Action Jackson
match ended early due to Jackson injury
6) Atlantis & Negro Casas DDQ Blue Panther & Fuerza Guerrera
Atlantis and Fuerza Guerrera unmasked each other
7) Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask IV b Averno & Mephisto and Rocky Romero & Skayde and Aeroboy & Dr. Wagner Jr.
A decent crowd, though not a full house or anything. Wagner meant some fans but Wagner alone (even wearing his mask most of the night) wasn’t going to sell out this arena. Some of the CMLL fans there still saw Wagner as an AAA enemy, taunting him for selling out by losing that mask to Psycho Clown.
I’m also not sure if it matters; this is “CMLL” and “Big Lucha” because that’s the talent being used, but it seems to really be lucha libre collector Christian Cymet making it happen; as long as he’s enjoying putting on these shows (and as long as there’s a new outside name to spotlight), we’ll get one of these a year.
Accion Jackson’s injury looked terrible on video. He went for an Arez-style quick corner moonsault, but instead just slipped off the ropes and fell hard. Jackson was said to be relatively fine and the match was stopped more out of caution than need. He was making fun of the incident in his Instagram stories.
This show seemed to be under CMLL video rules (outside ‘media’ can only put up a minute or two of clips per video) on YouTube. CMLL doesn’t seem to police Instagram the same way and you can find a lot more there. Mas Lucha was in the building to do their coverage but I’m not sure if this is showing up complete on YouTube; the previous Lucah Real/CMLL/Cymet show in 2019 didn’t appear to go up. I didn’t hear positive reviews of the matches so it’s probably fine.
Komander won and Gravity lost in the first round of the West Coast Pro Wrestling West Coast cup. Both wrestle on today’s second show, Komander part of the tournament against Vinnie Massaro and Gravity in a match TBA. Both shows air on IWTV. Those two then head cross country to face Latigo & Arez on Saturday for Garden State Pro Wrestling (on FITE, $13 USD) and then Komander, Gravity and Bandido head to GALLI on Sunday. Their match there hasn’t been announced yet.
Also, Big Lucha and GALLI have a press conference on Monday. I assume this will be like the Can-Am deal where wrestlers might be going back and forth.
Other News
LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.
We may have Blue Demon’s birthdate wrong. Blue Demon Jr, at a movie screening to promote the 100th anniversary of his father’s death, said Blue Demon was actually born on October 12th, not April 24th as it is usually listed.
Nacion Lucha Libre has an outdoor show at the Mexico City race track on 09/03.
The original Nacion Lucha Libre press conference included Alberto explaining that IWRG’s Moreno family had generously given Nacion Lucha Libre authorization to run in their neighborhood. It turns out Alberto may have said something that wasn’t exactly true. IWRG’s Marco Moreno, speaking at that Blue Demon movie screen, said that they had talked to Nacion but didn’t give them authorization. Moreno also notes Nacion used IWRG’s logo during the press conference without permission.
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