Jarochita & Atlantis Jr. big winners on Aniversario, Omega not on TripleMania, Vikingo coming to the US?

An earthquake measured at 7.6 magnitude took place in Colima, Michoacán, Mexico this afternoon. Colima is near the pacific coast and the center of the earthquake was in a less populated area. The earthquake was felt in Mexico City. It doesn’t appear to have done major damage there, but it also just happened. Earthquakes on this date in 1985 and 2017 did disrupt Mexico City for days, but this epicenter seemed farther away.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 09/16/2022 Arena México [CMLL, El Grafico, El Universal, En El Ring, ESTO, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, La Jornada, La Presna, La Razon, Marca, Marca, Mundo Deportivo, Post Wrestling, R de Rudo, Record, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa © b Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma [MEX TRIOS]   
third defense. All of Dulce Atrapsuenos beat all of Fuerza Poblana for the win.
2) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto b Negro Casas, Star Jr., Titán   
19:19. Rudos took 1/3 in the only three fall match.
3) Ángel de Oro b Místico, Volador Jr. [COPA INDEPENDENCIA]     
19:20. winner of 09/02 block (Mistico) vs winner of 09/09 (Angel de Oro & Volador tied)
4) Averno & Fuerza Guerrera b Atlantis Jr. & Dragón Rojo Jr. [seeding battle royal]
3:03. Dragon Rojo replaced Templario on 08/30 (shoulder injury).
5) Averno & Último Guerrero b Atlantis & Fuerza Guerrera [relevos suicidas, semifinal] 
8:21.
6) Atlantis Jr. & Stuka Jr. b Dragón Rojo Jr. & Soberano Jr. [relevos suicidas, semifinal] 
9:49. Stuka rallied back to beat both opponents after Atlantis had been beat.
7) Atlantis Jr. & Stuka Jr. b Averno & Último Guerrero [relevos suicidas, final] 
2:36. Atlantis Jr. this time rallied back to beat both opponents after Stuka had been eliminated.
8) La Jarochita b Reyna Isis [mask]    
18:23. Jarochita won cleanly off her running big boot, surviving a martinete early. Reyna Isis is Yakisry Palacios, 29, 10 years a wrestler.
9) Atlantis Jr. b Stuka Jr. [mask]    
16:17. Atlantis Jr. submitted Stuka Jr. to La Atlantida to win. Stuka Jr. was announced as Omar Alvarado Garcia, 48, 30 years a wrestler.

It was a great show. Stuka Jr./Atlantis Jr. went as well as should’ve been expected. They laid out the tournament for maximum drama and to make that match look like as attractive as an option as possible. The crowd still cheered Stuka Jr. over Atlantis Jr., as also to be expected. The match played off the idea of Stuka coming oh so close to the impossible task of unmasking an Atlantis in Arena Mexico, with Atlantis Jr. doing enough to earn his respect along the way. It felt like a big win when Atlantis Jr. win. And it was still eclipsed by the women’s match, something which exceeded any reasonable every expection. The emotion was off the charts, making up for any faults in execution or a slightly funky finish. It just felt like a huge deal in the moment, something the wrestlers involved will be pointing back towards for years, a match that people who get into wrestling will cite as their inspiration. There were moments in the undercard that were uncreative or a bit frustrating. No one was really thinking about the undercard after the show.

I wrote a full review of the show over on Post Wrestling.

The most controversial moment of the night was Reyna Isis giving La Jarochita a martinete (tombstone piledriver). Jarochita kicked out, with the announcers explaining the long-banned martinete was now legal or at least up to the referee. There are a couple of theories on this:

1. CMLL really did unban the martinete as part of the other modernizations we’ve seen this year and it only came up as a near fall on the Aniversario
2. CMLL didn’t unban the martinete – Isis was going for a shoulderbreaker or something like that – referee Edgar didn’t call the DQ because he knew that wasn’t the finish, and the announcers just did a good job of covering up

This seems like minuta perfect for a conversation on CMLL Informa.

Arena Mexico did appear sold out, with a full upper level. There were scattered seats visible, which seemed more bad luck for scalpers rather than unsold inventory. The usual YouTube media videos are all from different spots than usual, so CMLL might have even sold the usual press section. It was also an event where most people probably left wanting to come back for another big show someday soon. Just a total success.

The reception to this show was strongly positive. The two mask matches got 95% of the talk, and lots of people were happy that CMLL felt like the CMLL of old. The clip of Altantis missing his dive was the most passed-around clip. There were the usual people upset that Atlantis Jr. got the win instead of someone more tenured or less-Atlantis, but there was more push back from others that in the past. The people who shout “he’s not a guy we want” to whomever wins in CMLL have usually be the loudest on social media but they weren’t the only voice this time.

The Aniversario wasn’t seen as widespread as it could’ve been because CMLL’s no VOD policy. Japanese wrestling fans this week were abuzz about a El Desperado/Jun Kasai match that took place on an NJPW-adjacent show. That event didn’t have tremendous interest internationally originally, but the match and the subsequent discussion/hype for the match got people to buy the show later. The top two matches on the CMLL had a reasonable amount of talk after the fact, but there’s no way for CMLL to take advantage of that or to keep the story going. (NJPW stuff is also more often pirated; don’t want to pretend all those people seeing that match paid for it.) This is not new news, this is something I write in some form or fashion after every CMLL iPPV, and it’s probably not changing until Ticketmaster makes a change.

Box y Lucha 3519 has the Aniversario on the cover.

Andrade wrote an encouraging post to Stuka Jr. on Twitter, and thanked Stuka for helping him get into Satanico’s class in CMLL. Both Andrade and Stuka use a peculiar hammerlock DDT and I’ve wondered if one borrowed it from the other or if has a common history in Torreon.

CMLL (SAT) 09/17/2022 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha, CMLL, Estrellas del Ring]
1) Mercurio, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia b Acero, Aéreo, Kaligua 
Rudos took 1/3
2) Grako, Inquisidor, Raider b Astral, Cachorro, Leono 
Rudos took 2/3.
3) La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Lluvia DQ Hera, Reyna Isis, Tiffany 
Excessive violence DQ by Isis.
4) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Esfinge DQ Felino, Fuerza Guerrera, Virus 
Fuerza fouled Atlantis
5) Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero DQ Fugaz, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr.  
Dragon Rojo unmasked Fugaz

Reyna Isis did wrestle with a brace or an elbow pad on her right elbow. Both she and Stuka wrestled in their traditional gear on this show but both also said they’d like to come up with new looks as unmasked wrestlers.

CMLL (SUN) 09/18/2022 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Apocalipsis & Cholo b Bengala & Retro
2) Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas b Micro Ángel, Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo I
Team Chamuel took 1/3. (CMLL recap says ‘the rudos won’, but it’s impossible to know who are the rudos from show to show in this division.)
3) Flyer, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
Tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Dark Panther, Star Black, Volcano b El Coyote, Okumura, Rey Bucanero
Tecnicos took 2/3
5) Negro Casas, Panterita del Ring, Volador Jr. b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Terrible
Tecnicos took 1/3.

Good for Cancerbero & Luciferno getting a main event but it’s striking to see those guys in the last match. The Aniversario was great, it just didn’t fix all of CMLL’s issues.

Today’s Puebla show has Mistico, Soberano, and Stuka vs Atlantis, Dragon Rojo, and Ultimo Guerrero. Tuesday’s Arena Mexico is the special Dia de Luchadors show. I spent about a half hour trying to figure out how to stream it and had no luck. If you have a VPN that’ll work with YouTube in Mexico, let me know.

Soberano went ahead of Rugido in the NWA Middleweight Championship on Sunday following a deluge of votes. Rugido’s fans noticed and put him back ahead on Monday. That may go back and forth until the cut off on Wednesday. I may not know the winner unless CMLL advertises a specific cut off time to check.

CMLL promoted a CMLL spot show in Aguascalientes on 10/06. It doesn’t cost much to post on Twitter but it’s rare CMLL will do it for a show not happening at one of their buildings.

AAA

It was a good week of AAA TV. Both Iguana, Hamburguesa, Charro Negro vs Carta Brava, Takuma and La Hiedra was good, and there’s good potential in a Iguana/Hiedra date skit.  The new Psycho Cirucs did well against Los Mercenarios. The finish is a bit much but Panic Clown fit in fine. The main event wasn’t great but it gave AAA the bloody Pagano visuals they’re looking for. Selling the table bump Pagano does in half his matches as life-threatening was silly and didn’t seem to be believed by anyone beyond the announcers. We were also probably meant to see the “Crazy Boy introduces his new allies” before his allies started appearing in matches last week, but can’t expect AAA to air videos in order. They never did air the Panic Clown introduction video on TV, just put it up on YouTube. They’ll start on the Hard Rock Hotel show next week, which looks good on paper but could be slightly less in reality.

No mention of a TripleMania press conference yet. They did make some TripleMania news. Kenny Omega will not appear at TripleMania. The story of why varies slightly.

• On his podcast, Konnan says he checked in with Kenny Omega and Omega told him he couldn’t appear at TripleMania due to his AEW suspension. Konnan says he asked Christopher Daniels as well and was told the same.
• On his podcast and responding to those comments, Dave Meltzer said Omega was neither booked nor agreed to appear on TripleMania. AAA wanted Omega, Omega never said yes, and the suspension just finally closed that door.

AAA had that press conference where they asked people to tell them if they wanted Fenix or Kenny Omega or someone else, and Omega never mentioned it or mentioned AAA in other fashion. It certainly came off from the outside as if Omega had no interest in coming to AAA at this point in time. Maybe AAA got a different impression from Omega, though my impression matches a lot of what Meltzer reported as Omega’s impression.

Fenix/Vikingo will be outstanding. I wish that was AAA’s first choice. It does not appear it was their first choice.  It doesn’t seem to gain AAA anything by making it clear Fenix/Vikingo wasn’t their first choice. Give them the benefit of the doubt: their first choice might have been a three way, even if Dorian specifically said it would be a one vs one at the press conference.

Putting this out there in public is an attempt to regain AAA some credit – ‘we tried for Omega, it’s not our fault’ – when people get in Mexico get upset with them about Omega not coming in. It’s not their fault, Kenny was the guy who filmed the promo “I’m going to make up to you guys” last year and this year could not or would not actually make up. The Jeff Hardy situation wasn’t their fault, the Thunder Rosa situation is their fault, FTR had had a booking, literally everyone in AEW had something else going on whenever they were asked and Deonna Purrazzo had that wedding. I accept it all. I also accept no one cares about the reason, just the results. The results are what they are. Only actually bringing those people or changing strategies is going to change the narrative. Complaining about rotten luck will win over no hearts at this point, because AAA keeps putting themselves in position to have rotten luck.

That’s not the only TripleMania change. Friday, AAA posted a video of the NWA’s Kamille challenging Taya for the AAA Reina de Reinas championship, so she’ll be taking Thunder Rosa’s place. Kamille said she was responding to an open challenge from Taya, which was not something AAA put out. (AAA hadn’t addressed Thunder Rosa being off the show at all, it just was another AAA news thing that came out through Konnan’s podcast as part of a discussion about AEW.) Taya did accept the challenge on Sunday.

All this shuffling in two of the four matches that have been announced is probably why there hasn’t been an a press conference yet – AAA just didn’t have a full card yet. Maybe it’ll still come this week. The show is 26 days away.

That Flammer/Taya match people hoped would get the TripleMania actually happened already. They wrestled on the MLW taping this past weekend. Seems to be just for the MLW title. No idea if AAA will mention it.

Vampiro and Sexy Star appeared at the Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB) game on Saturday. AAA teased this as part of a bigger announcement. That fits with the story from last of AAA planning to run a show in Phoenix in December. I wonder if we’ll hear about that whenever AAA does hold that next press conference. It also seems to imply AAA running that stadium, but that’d be insane so maybe there’s more to it.

AAA also posted a photo of the Showcenter Championship and said we’d learn the destiny of the championship on the 10/25 show. Not sure if that means the tournament is ending a couple of months early or if there’s just a twist.

Psycho Clown’s column talks about his grandmother on his mother’s side, who passed away this past week.

Hijo del Vikingo looks to have a US Visa

You know what would be fun? If all this mess over Kenny Omega versus Hijo del Vikingo happening in AAA ended up resolving with Kenny Omega vs Hijo del Vikingo happening on an episode of AEW Rampage. OK, ok, ok, maybe we have different ideas of fun.

It appears Hijo del Vikingo has gotten or is close to getting his US visa. RGR Promotions is advertising him as coming soon on their Instagram. No date is announced. Hijo del Vikingo is scheduled for some meet and greets and press today in Puebla to promote an upcoming spot show, so there’s a chance someone may be able to confirm this one way or another. I’m sure there’s a bunch of US promoters urgently DM-ing to see if it’s accurate. I think it’s probably true; RGR has brought in a lot of Mexican wrestlers the last couple of years and I can’t think of a time where they’ve advertised someone they’ve been unable to get.

Here’s what I think I know about chain of events:

• Vikingo and others were part of a group work visa application put together by Masked Republic and a US indie promotion well over a year ago. That group was has been held up by the US government for unclear reasons. Other group work visas put together by Masked Republic have been approved before or after, and for both Mexicans and Japanese wrestlers. It’s just one specific group that’s been stuck on the slow bus. (It doesn’t even seem like it’d be one specific person that would be the hold up for everyone; the US government refused people in other groups but approved the rest.) This group was scheduled to get an update in October.
• California based RGR also worked on their own group visa, separate from what Masked Republic was doing. The Mexico-based names that showed up on their November 2021 shows are generally believed to people who go in through that approval.
• Some wrestlers believed to be in that Masked Republic group started telling US promoters they could take dates in late September. That didn’t seem to fit with the Masked Republic timeline. It did fit with a rumor of RGR preparing their own new group visa. And Vikingo being advertised as appearing on an upcoming RGR show fits that outcome as well.
  • It costs the wrestlers significant money to apply for these visas, so to do jump to a second group while waiting for a first one is a hard decision. Vikingo seems like he’ll be able to recoup that investment but who knows how this turns out, and you hope it’s the same for the rest of the people in the group.
• No matter who sponsors the group visa – Masked Republic or RGR or whomever – the visa doesn’t limit the wrestler for working with that group. Vikingo will surely work some RGR shows as a thanks but he’s free to sign a deal with whomever.

Sometime late this month or next, Hijo del Vikingo will start showing up in the US. I’d like to see him start in AEW for a short time to get the highest visibility and, if there’s nothing immediate for him to do there, then go to the Impacts of the world after he’s already had a chance to establish himself as a big deal. Maybe it goes a different way and that’ll be fine too. If this visa news is correct, and I reasonably believe it is, I’m just happy he’s going to get a chance to prove himself one or another in the US. He should’ve had this chance a long time ago. Vikingo’s probably on someone’s list for a visa since 2018. It’s finally time to see what he happens when he has one.

The story I most wanted to post on Twitter for the last few years is “Hijo del Vikingo got his US visa.” I got to do that post today – not totally confirmed but pretty close. I’m thinking of retiring completely from this news bit and just focusing on adding 1990s lineups to the luchadb from now on, it’d be so much more peaceful. I’m totally going to predictable angry Twitter posts about the AAA section and no one gets angry with me over Chicago Express lineups. That’s the life.

IWRG

IWRG (FRI) 09/16/2022 Arena Naucalpan [Cronista del Ring, IWRG, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo]
1) Limbo & Rey Halcón b Jhon Tiger & Spider Fly 
2) Keyra b Diosa Quetzal, Bengalee, Satania 
3) Coco Rojo, Coco Verde, Cocolores b Cerebro Negro, Fly Warrior, Maniacop 360 
4) Aster Boy, Noisy Boy, Tonalli b Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Puma de Oro 
Abismo Negro Jr. popped in to distract La Jacuan into a loss.
5) Hijo del Pirata Morgan © b Hijo del Fishman, Hijo del Alebrije [IWRG Rey del Ring] 
2nd defense, rematch from a draw on 08/21. Hijo del Alebrije added to the match mid week.
6) Hell Boy b Caballero de Plata [hair]  
Caballero de Plata lost his hair, announced he was donating to children battling cancer.

The main event was great, though it got over indulgent in ways big Mexican matches can get. They did such a long run of near falls off big moves that it felt they peaked and then kept repeating the beat for a few minutes longer. The CMLL women’s match varied more: there were big move near falls but there were submission spots and other ideas. It was a really strong match, especially considering where they’re at in their careers, and they never lost the crowd. I don’t know that it’s going to travel outside of indie lucha libre circles but it’s easy recommendation.

I was told the opener was worth checking out as well.

IWRG (SUN) 09/18/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Feroz b Spider Fly 
2) India Mazahua & Satania b Bengalee & Therius 
3) Asterboy, Luka, Noisy Boy b Fly Warrior, Nishikawa, Paymon 
4) Tonalli b Puma de Oro [IWRG IC MIDDLE]
2nd defense. Tonalli told Puma de Oro that he should team with himself and Aster Boy instead La Jacuan.
5) Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura b Abismo Negro Jr. & Mc-360 and Gran Pandemónium & Pandemónium Jr.
6) Cerebro Negro Jr. & Oficial Fierro b Cerebro Negro & Oficial 911 [relevos suicidas] 
AK47 was scheduled but injured, 911 took his place.
7) Cerebro Negro b Oficial 911 [ hair]
AK47 lost but 911 was originally scheduled so he was the one who got his head shaved again. 911 and Fierro broke up with AK47 after the match.

Oficial AK-47 apparently didn’t get his hair cut in the ring, as Oficial AK-47 Mas Lucha posted a backstage interview of a his hair cut in progress. AK-47 barely got his hair cut before his partners Oficial Fierro & 911 attacked him, ending their (long-running but recently dormant) trio. That left me wondering if they were getting out of AK-47’s haircut, but Mas Lucha did post a photo of him shaved.

There doesn’t appear to be any ending to to the Asterboy vs El Jacuan feud, everyone’s just randomly turning face. It seems less than satisfying.

Mas Lucha (THU) 09/22/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Cometa Maya, El Viajero, Éxtasis, Radioactivo vs Hannya, SB Kento, Shocko, Tirano
2) Artemiz & Princesa Azul vs Princesa Águila & Sakura
3) Karaoui & Zumbi vs Blaze & Camuflaje
4) Hijo de Payaso Purasanta & Payaso Purasanta Jr. vs Hip Hop Man & Mosca (Argentina)
5) Alas de Oro & Alas De Plata vs Accion Jackson & Yutani
6) Ciclón Ramírez Jr. vs Shun Skywalker vs Travis Banks [TWS CHAMP]
7) El Mesías vs Último Guerrero

This is a subscriber only show. The two Mas Lucha shows I’ve really wanted to see this stretch are the Friday IWRG show and the Friday Big Lucha show, and both of those are free. It’s the shows I’ve had no real interest in that are paid. I guess I’m just out of touch.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

DoradaFan has highlights of Torreon area luchadora Estrellita Lagunera.

Mascara Dorada’s match with Serpentico airs on AEW Elevation tonight on YouTube.

Former AAA wrestler Payaso Soleil (Roberto Hernandez) passed away Thursday after a battle with cancel. SuperLuchas points out his 2002-2004 AAA gimmick was name after Cirque du Soliel, and he teamed with Barnus & Ringling after the Barnum & Bailey and Ringling Brothers circuses. (AAA’s magazine seemed to spell it “Soley” instead.) Those wrestlers didn’t appear on the TV lineups I have, but those aren’t complete. He also wrestled under the name Comando Marino was a big fan of MMA and MMA styled wrestlers, running an MMA group called Radical Hybrid Combat and participating on it as recently as this year.

PWI has an interview with Diamante. I think Diamante’s probably challenging for Dragon Gate’s championship at some point in the next half year or so and I wonder if that’ll get people in Mexico to pay more attention to him; his successful run in Dragon Gate hasn’t gotten much attention until now.

Lunatik Extreme beat Amnesia in a mask vs hair match in Smash Wrestling (Ecatepec) on Friday. Amnesia is Angel Sandrate, 25, 10 years a wrestler. Lunatik Extreme is a young guy who loses these matches often, surprised to see him win one.

Atomic Star is also a guy who loses apuesta matches often. He lost his hair again on Friday in Arena Neza, part of a cage match. Mexica got the win. Atomic Star at least did get his hair cut.

Endeavor defeated Fantasma Blanco Jr. in their hair match in Oaxaca. Fantasma Blanco Jr. is Neftali Orlando Martinez Palacios. This was the show billed as an iPPV, which was weird. That didn’t happen, though it did appear Estrellas del Ring was there to tape the show.

CaraLucha’s show on Saturday went 0 for 6 on advertised matches. The advertised main event was Canek Jr. & Hijo de Fishman vs Dave the Clown & Hijo del Pirata Morgan and ended up being Pirata Morgan & Psicosis vs Coco Rojo & Estrella de Oro. This weekend was tough to get everyone where they needed to be but sometimes I believe everyone wastes time making these poster with lineups.

Masha Slamovich won Lucha Memes’ 4th Battle of Coacalco tournament on Sunday. She defeated Keyra, Astro de Plata Jr,. and Leon Dorado in the eight person tournament. That show should appear on IWTV in upcoming weeks.

(International) Pantera won the main Welcome to Mi Barrio title on Saturday’s show, while his sons lost the tag titles to Payasos Purasantas.

Tijauna luchadora Perla Negra is now going by Kitsune.

We don’t know what name Dark Zorro is going by. KAOZ lucha libre, which doesn’t runs shows, announced that the current Dark Zorro no longer part of their wrestling promotion and is no longer allowed to use that name. They implied they may give Dark Zorro to someone else. Dark Zorro, as a character, lasted just over four months. KAOZ ran 3 shows in that time. (He was the former Dragon Dorado, Ultimo Legendario and Vengador Radioactivo and should consider using a name he owns someday.) KAOZ calls it “a lack of respect and a breach of trust.” My impression is KAOZ has all their guys under contracts to control their booking and to get a piece of the booking fee, Dark Zorro got his own booking and didn’t immediately pay KAOZ and KAOZ decided he must go. His most recent show was The Crash show that Pierroth randomly missed, so maybe something is going on with those two groups; Kaoz doesn’t make it clear what booking caused this. This is all very important to the few people it affects.

Nacion Lucha Libre exists, plans on running a TV taping this weekend. Alberto was supposed to be on Mas Lucha talking about it, but it appears it got cut off due to earthquake – the video cuts off after. Maybe it’ll turn up later. Alberto done a lot of press but it doesn’t feel like anyone’s talking about this return. They still have a few days.