Mistico advances in Copa Independencia, AAA in Torreon

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 09/02/2022 Arena México [ASCMLLEl GraficoExcelsiorKaiser SportsR de RudoThe GladiatoresThe Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito Ú. Dragoncito, Angelito y Shockercito derrotan a  P. Pierroth, P. Olimpico y Full Metal (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
13:25. Tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Fugaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Star Jr. b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus CMLL - GUERRERO MAYA JR. - FUGAZ - STAR JR. VS LUCIFERNO - CANCERBERO - VIRUS / ARENA MEXICO 2-09-22 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Con el Sacrificio Maya de Guerrero Maya Jr, Star Jr y Fugaz vencen a Cancerbero, Luciferno y Virus (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
16:01
3) Averno, El Mesías, Soberano Jr. DQ Dragón Rojo Jr., Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. [Relevos IncreíblesCMLL - DRAGÓN ROJO JR - ULTIMO GUERRERO-VOLADOR JR VS MESÍAS-AVERNO-SOBERANO JR/ARENA MEXICO 2-09-22 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Dragón Rojo Jr  le quita la máscara a Soberano Jr  de cara al 89 Aniversario (posted by mluchatv) Primera Fase Copa Independencia 2021 (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
11:03. Straight falls, Dragon Rojo unmasked Soberano for the DQ to build up their part of the Anivesario match
4) Místico b Panterita del RingMagia BlancaStar BlackTerribleGemelo Diablo IIDark PantherNiebla Roja [Copa Independencia, semifinal, ciberneticoCMLL - PRIMERA FASE COPA INDEPENDENCIA  / ARENA MEXICO 2-09-22 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Místico vence a Niebla Roja y estará en el 89 Aniversario para disputar la Copa Independencia (posted by mluchatv) Primera Fase Copa Independencia 2021 (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
45:40. Teams set as Místico, Magia Blanca, Star Black, Gemelo Diablo II vs Panterita del Ring, Dark Panther, Niebla Roja, Terrible. Elimination order: Gemelo II (by Terrible & Niebla Roja, 5:14), Pantera del Ring (Mistico, 6:50), Dark Panther (Magia Blanca, 16:25), Magia Blanca (Niebla Roja, 18:47), Terrible (Star Black, 22:27), Star Black (Niebla Roja, 23:00), Niebla Roja (Mistico, 34:15)

The cibernetico played out a little differnetly than usual – more team/team focused once they got to the the last three. Black Panther rememebred Mistico unmasked his uncle Black Warrior a decade and a half with him and went after him a bunch, something not normally possible when they’re on the same side. It was good if not great action. I liked the minis match too. The rest wasn’t much. The semimain especially felt like they had no plan and decided to call in the ring, and then couldn’t put it together in any cohernet way. Virus looked back to normal even if he didn’t get much interesting to do.

Mistico hopes Volador advances from the other block. Volador is probably advancing from the other block.

CMLL (SAT) 09/03/2022 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Micro Ángel, Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas Facebook video (posted by )
Gemelos (listed as the tecnicos) took 2/3.
2) Minos, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia b Acero, Aéreo, Fantasy Facebook video (posted by )
Rudos took 2/3
3) Cholo, Disturbio, Raider beat Hombre Bala Jr., Robin, Volcano  Facebook video (posted by )
Rudos took 1/3, with Cholo & Disturbio asking for a Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship match against Robin & Hombre Bala.
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Cavernario, Felino, Rey Bucanero
Gemelos took 2/3, the last with a switch in the third fall.
5) Terrible b Panterita del Ring [MEX HEAVYFacebook video (posted by )
2nd defense

Disturbio & Raider Cholo vs Bala & Robin sounds like a decent match we don’t see. It’s a mystery why CMLL runs angles and title matches on Saturdays but not Tuesday or Sundays.

CMLL (SUN) 09/04/2022 Arena México
1) Bengala & Leono b Apocalipsis & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro b Oro Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Suicida
Rudos took 1/3.
3) La Vaquerita, Lluvia, Marcela b La Seductora, Reyna Isis, Tiffany
Tecnicas took 1/3.
4) Blue Panther, Negro Casas, Stuka Jr. b Hijo del Villano III, Kráneo, Rey Bucanero
Tecnicos took 1/3
5) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero DQ Místico, Soberano Jr., Titán
Rudos took 1/3, the last when Soberano unmasked Dragon Rojo

Normal Aniversario build up and not more. Dragon Rojo’s involvement does seem to have a lot of fans believing he’s the guy who’s going to lose, much more than with Templario in that spot.

CMLL (TUE) 09/06/2022 Arena México
1) Aéreo & Angelito vs Minos & Pequeño Olímpico
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Marcela vs Hera, La Seductora, Metálica
3) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs Hijo del Villano III, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Blue Panther, Star Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Cavernario, Niebla Roja, Terrible

A normal Tuesday show, with some teams broken up a bit because of names being needed for the Friday Copa Independencia.

CMLL (TUE) 09/06/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Autilius, Logan, Rey Urano vs Aurelius, Maximus, Minotauro
2) Flash, Mágico, Metatrón, Ráfaga vs León Blanco, Maléfico, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
3) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Cris Skin, Crixus, Demonio Maya
4) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sexy Sol vs Náutica, Reyna Isis, Valkiria
5) Bestia Negra, Difunto, Zandokan Jr. vs Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Diamond, Dulce Gardenia, Panterita del Ring Jr., Volador Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Joker, Misterioso Jr., Principe Daniel

The semimain is a relevos incredibles despite it being a rudos vs tecnicos match. Maybe they’ll work opposite sides this week? It’s about time to make a big match for an independence day show if one is happening.

CMLL (FRI) 09/09/2022 Arena México
1) Astral, Panterita del Ring Jr., Suicida vs Dark Magic, Inquisidor, Raider
2) La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Lluvia vs Amapola, Reyna Isis, Tiffany
3) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Último Guerrero vs Averno, Fuerza Guerrera, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Volador Jr. vs CavernarioÁngel de OroGran GuerreroFugazEsfingeGemelo Diablo ISagrado [Copa Independencia, semifinal]

The Aniversario show is already almost here. Volador Jr. will advance to the final unless something shocking happens, the semi-main is the last build to the main event, Jarochita and Isis meet one more time in the second match. Panterita/Raider is already a matchup to watch.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara announced their wrestlers will head to Arena Puebla on 09/12 in a return match. Tonight’s Puebla show has the Averno/Cavernario title match.

Octagon told Milenio that Fuerza Guerrera is a 100% liar and will back out of the Aniversario match. You’d think Octagon is savvy enough to know Fuerza Guerrera isn’t losing his mask on the Aniversario show but maybe not.

In interviews, Soberano Jr. promised Templario that he’ll keep his mask so they can do their mask match next year.

Rocky Romero would like to face Virus.

AAA

It’s been a long weekend so this week’s AAA TV is already sort of a blur. Aerostar, Baby Xtreme, Komander versus Argenis, La Parka Negra and Villano III Jr. was the best of the bunch. The young guys did big moves and the rudos kept up with them. Aerostar teaming with younger flying partners does his no favors, making him look a little older and a little more behind the times. Aerostar still wants to be the guy he was 7-8 years ago but his body isn’t listening to him the same way, and his best success now is taking risks that are exactly that. He’s also a guy unlikely to adjust his style. Baby Xtreme was exciting in this match, though you can also see the difference between him and Komander; one guy is wrestling the same guys he always does outside of AAA TV, and the other guy moved to Mexico City and seemed to get better for the experience. Not everyone has the ability to make that move but it seems really tough to level up without it.

Latigo & Toxin versus Antifaz del Norte & Pierroth Jr. seemed a favor to KAOZ to put Pierroth Jr. on AAA TV for credibility reasons. He didn’t actually look good but now KAOZ can say he appeared on AAA (and sell that as a carrot to other wrestlers to stick with them.) I hope AAA is actually doing the theorized cage match at the end of the year and Antifaz gets his payoff because then there’s some reason for him hanging out here. Abismo Negro Jr., Cibernetico and Rey Escorpion against Pagano, Charly Manson and Zorro wasn’t good. Zorro did look better than his last time out. Manson was barely in. Pagano had to carry most of the match for his side. The finish looked awful Cibernetico vs Pagano is going to have some terrible moments. They’re probably fine with that.

A skit at the end of the show – one that’s also up on YouTube – played on the idea that Iguana & Hamburguesa told Microman to relax and go to bed and instead Microman had a wild (mostly unseen) party in his hotel room. One of the comedy bits was a Juventud Guerrera stand in coming out of a closet and pushing his campaign to challenge Vikingo at TripleMania. It was meant to be a joke at Guerrera’s expense but it also kinda of backfired. Guerrera would surely like to have that match with Vikingo, but he wants to have that match to get attention and AAA putting a fake Guerrera on screen gets the attention. I wish AAA, which has justified it’s lackluster performance on the lack of resources this year but somehow had the resoruces to film that bit, would put in the same effort to give attention to people who work for the promotion but what are you going to do. The bigger point is this is why more people should’ve been doing what Juventud Guerrera was doing (as scary as that sounds) and running their own campaigns to get the title shot, because it absolutely worked out for Juventud Guerrera.

AAA made a lot of changes to their intro on this show, including a big group shot at the end. Faby Apache is gone as expected. DMT Azul is also gone; he confirmed this weekend he’s a free agent. Azul taking the pin in the trios title match was meant to be his write-off for now. I think there was some disagreement between Azul and AAA about some of his indie bookings and Azul picked the indie bookings. Like Apache, that seems like the best decision for all involved. Monster Clown was wrestling on an AAA indie show as recently as Friday night, so I don’t think he’s out of the company. Maybe he’s not going to be used on TV much, or maybe they though it was weird he was still showing wearing a mask.. Dave the Clown, in a Facebook post, says they’re expanding Psycho Circus with Panic Clown but Monster Clown is still part of the group. The minis are still in the open though they’re almost never on TV. There’s a bunch of people (Cibernetico, NGD, Sexy Star, Jessy, Diva Salvaje, most anyone who’s come back this year) who’ve just not ever been put in.

AAA taped in Torreon on Saturday

AAA TV (SAT) 09/03/2022 Auditorio Municipal, Torreón, Coahuila [A Ras de Lona, Luchapolis, Milenio]
1) Arelking, Dark Raven, Dragón Verde ?? Aristo, Darkus, Dominio Arleking, Dragon Verde y Dark Raven vs Aristo, Domino y Darkus (posted by Ángel El Elegante del Ring)
2) Emperador Azteca b Brazo De Oro Jr.Sb KentoDinámico Kento vs Brazo de Oro Jr vs Emperador Azteca vs Dinámico (posted by Ángel El Elegante del Ring)
originally a 2v2, switched to a fourway with SB Kento (debut) replacing Komander (moved up)
3) Charro Negro, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa b Carta Brava Jr., La Hiedra, Takuma Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburgesa y Charro Negro Vs La Hiedra, Carta Brava Jr y Takuma con Mexican Powers (posted by Ángel El Elegante del Ring)
Takuma is Takuma Fujiwara, replacing Crazy Boy (who was there and did attack Iguana & Hamburguesa post match.) Charro negro replaced Sexy Star.
4) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown b Rey Escorpión, Taurus, Villano III Jr. Villano III Jr, Taurus y Rey Escorpión vs Panic Clown, Murder Clown y Dave The Clown (posted by Ángel El Elegante del Ring)
Debut of new Psycho Circus member Panic Clown.
5) Dragón Lee & Dralistico b Abismo Negro Jr. & Flamita Flamita y Abismo Negro Jr vs Dragon Lee y Dralistico (posted by Ángel El Elegante del Ring)
Flamita and Bandido got into a fight earlier in the show, building up their Big Lucha title match
6) Chik Tormenta & Cibernético b Lady Shani & Pagano Cibernético y Chik Tormenta Vs Lady Shani y Pagano (posted by Ángel El Elegante del Ring)
Pagano & Cibernetico got stretched out. Hijo del Tirantes tried to attack Lady Shani, Tirantes Sr. fought Hijo del Tirantes, Tormenta threw power in Shani’s face, followed with a clothesline and a win.
7) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Bandido, Komander, Laredo Kid Bandido, Komander y Laredo Kid vs Sansón, Cuatrero y Forastero (posted by Ángel El Elegante del Ring)
Komander replaced Hijo del Vikingo. Flamita interfered to cost Bandido the match.

Handhelds of all the matches are up on YouTube already. I haven’t watched them and might just wait until they start to air on TV this week. The big news on paper is Vikingo not appearing. It didn’t appear to be acknowledged by AAA, as always. Hijo del Vikingo did wrestle the next night in Guadalajara so it doesn’t appear he was out with an injury. Vikingo also didn’t promote the show that day, so he may have known he wasn’t going to be there ahead of time. (AAA was still promoting it the week of the show.) It also didn’t seem like a big deal to the crowd that the megachampion missed the show, which surely made AAA’s life easier on the day of the show but isn’t a great sign in the long term. This was AAA’s first stop here in about three years, there was local promotion for Bandido appearing in his hometown, and the show seemed to draw only ok; even AAA’s usual carefully framed photo couldn’t hide the empties.

Sexy Star did also miss the Guadalajara show on Sunday, so maybe she has something going on. Pagano and Cibernetico were announced as having serious injuries leading to them being stretchered out, then wrestled the next day like normal. The newest version of the Psycho Circus did clown gags to set up the finish: V3 got a party hat, a pie in the face and confetti before some superkicks. Panic is about as tall as his partners; got some guesses as to his identity but not sure yet.

It amazes me that Bandido & Flamita got to run an angle building up their Big Lucha title match on AAA show (which isn’t building up much for their own big show outside of Cibernetico/Pagano.) They are somehow the It thing in Mexico right now.

It didn’t make the video, but a photo makes it look like Crazy Boy has recruited SB Kento & Takuma as new partners against Mr. Iguana, Nino Hamburguesa and Microman. Might just be a picture for a day, can’t be sure. What a weird feud.

AAA next tapes Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel Riveria Maya. There’s no mention of a press conference this week, so it’s probably when AAA come back from that resort trip.

AAA will have a mass in memory of Antonio Pena on 10/05 and the TripleMania parade on 10/12. Those, in pre-COVID times, have usually been one day of events. It’s two days of promotions now.

Sammy Guevera & Tay Melo (ex-Conti) retained the AAA Mixed Tag Team Championship Sunday on AEW’s All Out show. It was the first match of the show; it’s up on YouTube if you need to check it out.

Mamba, out the last few months with a foot injury, says she’ll return on 09/16 with a full return on 09/25.

Yahoo Deportes has an interview with Mr. Iguana.

Big Lucha

Not much news from Big Lucha’s press conference. I think the 09/23 lineup was meant to be news but they accidentally put it out early. Bandido and Flamtia signed for their title match. Flamita set the contract on fire (slightly) afterward. Everyone ended up fighting, etc etc etc. Catalina was introduced and having an ex-WWE wrestler got some interest.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 09/04/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Águila Oriental & Jhon Tito b Rey Aztaroth & Súper Boy Águila Oriental y Jhon Tito Vs Rey Aztaroth y Súper Boy en IWRG Naucalpan (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) LIVE  (posted by IWRG tv)
2) Limbo & Vértigo b Genex & Spider Fly Vértigo y Limbo Vs Spider Fly y Genex en la IWRG Arena Naucalpan (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
3) Leo, Paymon, Puma de Oro b Brillante RB, Noisy Boy, Zumbi DMT Azul:  LIVE  (posted by IWRG tv)
4) Rey León & Therius b Maniacop 360 & Satania LIVE  (posted by IWRG tv) Rey León y Therius Vs Maniacop 360 y Satania en IWRG en la Arena Naucalpan (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
5) Laredo Kid & Rey León b Mafioso & Vértigo and Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura and Fly Warrior & Hijo del Pirata Morgan LIVE  (posted by IWRG tv) RGR Vs Lucha Time Vs IWRG Vs Las Shotas en uadrangular de parejas con IWRG en la Arena Naucalpan (posted by )
Announced as Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Laredo Kid vs Fly Warrior, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Mafioso, changed to a four way tag. Lucha Time team went out first, then Warrior/Pirata, and Laredo/Leon (“representing RGR”) defeated Las Shotas. Hijo del Alebrije attacked Las Shotas post match, making his return to IWRG.
6) Heavy Metal, Hell Boy, Rocky Casas b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. Heavy Metal, Rocky Casas y Hell Boy Vs Pandemonium Jr., Hijo de Pandemonium y Gran Pandemonium (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) LIVE  (posted by IWRG tv)
Heavy Metal’s team won, setting up a trios title match at some point.

Not really sure when they’re going to do the title match with the Hell Boy/Caballero de Plata

Hijo del Alebrije‘s return comes less than two months after his last IWRG match. He was also on the Lucha Libre Boom show Thursday and maybe that’s when things were actually patched up. Someone’s going to look through the results years from now and have no idea he ever left; if he didn’t make a statement about it, it would’ve just been a ‘normal’ weird absence between matches. The only thing permanent on the IWRG roster is nothing is premanent.

Other News

On his Facebook page, Maximo says he’s been divorced from India Sioux “for a long while” and is upset he’s being portrayed as the bad guy in the relationship. He doesn’t address the drug/alcohol allegations India Sioux made in announcing their break up. Maximo was advertised for the Robles show in Arena San Juan on Saturday but did not appear.

10/08 Riot (Nuesta Raza, Nueva Lucha)

KAOZ, who hasn’t run a show in the Monterrey area since May, announced they’ll return in November. They’re teasing it as a farewell show for someone without saying whom (Konnan Big?)

Santos Escobar wants WWE to run Estadio Azteca. WWE would only run that building with a larger show, so a comparison to the October spot show in Mexico City isn’t an equal comparison, but tickets do not appear to be moving especially well so far.

Segunda Caida writes about LA Park vs Villano IV.

CMLL Night of Champions polls, AAA in Torreon, Wagner to remask

CMLL

Today’s CMLL show starts a couple of important items. Copa Independecia begins tonight, where Mistico seems the heavy favorite. Niebla Roja, Terrible, Dark Panther, Gemelo Diablo III, Panterita del Ring, Star Black and Magia Blanca are also involved. Soberano and Dragon Rojo as Aniversario frenemies also starts tonight; they’re on opposite sides of a trios. Dragon Rojo teams with Ultimo Guerrero and Voaldor Jr. against Soberano, Mesias, Avenro. Two more trios matches round out the card.

The show is on Ticketmaster Live like usual.

CMLL (MON) 09/05/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano, Leono, Sangre Imperial vs Black Tiger, King Jaguar, Sombra Diabólika
2) La Guerrera & Marcela vs Olympia & Reyna Isis
3) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Samuray vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo I, Sagrado
4) Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Soberano Jr. vs Hechicero, Stuka Jr., Terrible
5) Cavernario © vs Averno [CMLL LH]
1st defense

Cavernario/Averno is a first time title match. Cavernario doesn’t figure into the Aniversario plans, isn’t part of the night of champions. Averno probably should win, though that seems unlikely.

Ticketmaster has a low ticket warning for the Aniversario upper level. On Informa, CMLL said they had sold 70% of the balcony and 50% of the “gradas” section. 

CMLL did announce the Noche de Campeones show plans on Informa. The important facts

  • the show is on 09/30 (two weeks after Aniversario)
  • it’ll be a six-match show (and probably all one fall matches)
  • the match with the most votes will main event once again
  • each category has just 3 options (it varied from 3 to 9 depending on the category)
  • you can vote every two hours this year, instead of just once a day
  • we don’t know when the voting closes

The titles and possible challengers: 

  • CMLL Pequeno Estrellas Championship (Mercurio): Pierrothito, Ultimo Dragoncito, Minos
  • Mexican National Women’s Tag Team Championship (Lluvia & Jarochita): Dark Silueta & Amapola, Marcela & Princesa Sugehit, Reyna Isis & Metalica
  • CMLL World Trios Championship (Los Malditos): Los Infernales, OneAtos Team, Ola Negra
  • CMLL World Tag Team Championship (Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja): Ultimo & Gran Guerrero, Dulce Gardenia & Espiritu Negro, Volador Jr. & Magia Blanca
  • CMLL World Welterweight Championship (Titan): Suicida, Rey Cometa, Negro Casas
  • Historica Middleweight Championship (Mistico): Soberano Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Rugido

Dark Silueta being included is notable; whatever knee injury she picked up must not be too serious. It’s also a positive sign about Esfinge’s hand injury recovery. I wonder if Templario was scheduled to defend his title in one of these categories; I guess we probably won’t know. This idea last year got sabotaged by people leaving CMLL and people getting hurt. It doesn’t seem like it’ll be that sort of dramatic this month, but keep in mind this could change.

I’m rooting the strongest for Rey Cometa to win his category of any of these. I have no doubt Suicida & Negro Casas would try, but Cometa/Titan could be one of the best match of the year for CMLL. Mistico’s group is the most interesting: they’re all tecnicos, but very different guys producing very different matches. The other four don’t produce strong emotions.

Vote totals as of midday Friday

  • 4805: NWA Middleweight
  • 4315: CMLL Welterweight
  • 3983: CMLL Men’s Tag
  • 3949: CMLL Trios
  • 3804: CMLL Minis
  • 3081: Women’s Tag

I’m surprised to see the Women’s Tag last but it’s early. Rugido has a lot of fan support, and has picked up first place in his pole after being in second on day 1. 

The 08/28 CMLL Ladies Ring streamed on Nicovideo Friday morning and will be available on the site for a week. I guess that sort of makes it the first CMLL PPV available on VOD in years (though that’s a stretch to call it CMLL.)  The show costs 2,500 points for non-members, roughly $18 USD.

AAA

AAA TV this week on Space is the remaining matches from Saltillo 

  • Latino & Toxin vs Antifaz del Norte & Pierroth
  • Aersostar, Baby Extreme, Komander vs Argenis , La Parka Negra, Villano III
  • Charly Manson, Pagano, Zorro vs Abismo Negro Jr., Cibernetico, Rey Escorpion with a special referee

The Komander match was said to be the best of these three live. I will stream at 6:30 pm though I’m beginning to wonder if I might be better off just recording it on my own, fixing the audio, and then streaming later if the stream issues keep happening. 

AAA also tapes Saturday in Torreon. Bandido, Hijo del Vikingo, Laredo Kid vs NGD is the main event, Dragon Lee & Dralistico vs Abismo Negro Jr. & Flamita is the other possible great match on the show. Pagano & Ciberentico team with Shani & Tormenta to build towards their hair match. Escorpion, Taurus and Villano III Jr. face Murder Clown, Dave the Clown and a mystery person in the tercera; a vignette on AAA’s YouTube introduces a new clown for them team with. Iguana & Hamburguesa face the newly evil Crazy Boy in the segunda, with Sexy Star, Carta Brava Jr. and La Hiedra rounding out the match. Brazo de Oro Jr. & Komander face Dinamico & Empeardor Azteca in the opener. It looks like a good taping, if one feeling mostly disconnected from TripleMania. This taping will air starting next week.

AAA also has a vignette with Mr. Iguana, Nino Hamburgesa and Microman up later tonight.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter confirms Thunder Rosa is off of TripleMania. AAA would like an AEW replacement but hasn’t got a name confirmed. It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be Flammer getting the title shot AAA announced a while back, which may frustrate some Mexican fans. It’s appears to me that it’s a spot to try to sell PPVs to non-Mexican fans and they’re going to pick whomever they can get to do that.

The WON also followed up on my recap of the Conrad Thompson/Jeff Jarrett podcast recap last week. There’s no deal with Jarrett (yet) but there are talks with Thompson about the perennial plans for AAA US expansion. The paragraph also mentions AAA has TV deal offers (not said with whom or where) but implies they’re not for much money and AAA is hoping to do better. 

I’d been told AAA may have an early October taping, AAA usually releases lineups a month in advance, so a poster should turn up in the next week if that happening. It’s also now September and AAA has another press conference for TripleMania sometime this month. 

Tu Plan de Juego has a recap of the AAA spot show in Orizaba last week. It reads like attendance wasn’t great, with the previous disaster show turning people off from attending another show soon. There was talk of an AAA TV taping in the city coming in October, which hopefully will do better. AAA originally had two tapings scheduled for October: TripleMania and Korakuen Hall. A scheduled Orizaba date would confirm the trip to Japan is off for this year (and it was already looking unlikely.) This doesn’t appear to be the early October date mentioned above.

IWRG

LLB (THU) 09/01/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Esparta & Hijo De Esparta b Azteca & Hijo De Centauro LIVE 🔴 | El Regreso del REY: Místico VS Atlantis Jr VS Averno + 5 luchas más (posted by IWRG tv)
2) Arturo Gaona Jr., Gravedad Zero, Sparta b Federal I, Federal II, Federal III LIVE 🔴 | El Regreso del REY: Místico VS Atlantis Jr VS Averno + 5 luchas más (posted by IWRG tv)
3) Demencia, Hijo De Brazo De Platino, Milagro, Platino b Dankar, El Divino, Jhon Tito, Juan Diego LIVE 🔴 | El Regreso del REY: Místico VS Atlantis Jr VS Averno + 5 luchas más (posted by IWRG tv)
4) Puma de Oro b TonalliAster BoyCerebro Negro Jr.Hijo De Carta BravaHijo del AlebrijeEl MafiosoÁguila De Oriental LIVE 🔴 | El Regreso del REY: Místico VS Atlantis Jr VS Averno + 5 luchas más (posted by IWRG tv)
Puma de Oro defeated Tonalli
5) Carta Brava Jr. (LLB), Cerebro Negro, Fantasma de la Ópera b Chico Che, Freelance, Pinochito LIVE 🔴 | El Regreso del REY: Místico VS Atlantis Jr VS Averno + 5 luchas más (posted by IWRG tv)
Pinochito repalced Pantera I and missed a dive spectacularly
6) Lunatik Xtreme, Toto, Venganza b Chicanito, Fly Star, Sobredosis LIVE 🔴 | El Regreso del REY: Místico VS Atlantis Jr VS Averno + 5 luchas más (posted by IWRG tv)
7) Místico b Atlantis Jr.Averno LIVE 🔴 | El Regreso del REY: Místico VS Atlantis Jr VS Averno + 5 luchas más (posted by IWRG tv)
Atlantis Jr. repeatedly unmasked Mistico post match. Mistico challenged him to a singles match.

This was the delayed due to Mistico’s injury. The delay was a good call: Mistico sold out Arena Naucalpan on a Thursday night, a hard feat. He was obviously fired up about it in the main event. They did a post match bit where Atlantis Jr. would rip Mistico’s mask, a ‘fan’ would immediately throw in a new mask, and Atlantis would keep ripping them off.

Sunday’s IWRG show is the Rockers versus the Pandemonium

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (FRI) 09/23/2022 Bandidos Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Elipse & Orbita vs King & Kong and Sol & Torito Negro Jr.
2) Viajero vs ÉxtasisForneoGaleno del MalFulgorEl Potro de OroElementalYutaniCometa MayaRadioactivoTiranoMr. Win [Torneo Alas de la Independencia]
3) Catalina & Sussy Love vs La Hiedra & Sexy Star
4) Bendito, Carito, Emperador Azteca, Gravity, Komander vs Accion Jackson, Jack Evans, Mentallo, Shocko, Shun Skywalker
5) Blue Demon vs Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Skayde
6) El Bandido vs Flamita [BL WORLD]

Big Lucha’s independence day show is about a week late. Flamita is the more interesting champion but they have to do rematches if Bandido loses and I think they should move on for a bit, so maybe Bandido’s the right pick. 

I don’t like Skayde’s odds in the semi-main. The fourth match is a Mexico vs the World match, which means Jackson is against his usual teammates. Shun is visiting once again from DragonGate; I’m fairly certain his involvement here is a carry-over from when the title picture on this show was said to include international wrestlers. (Maybe everything changed after that July show tanked?) Mentallo is a Canadian wrestler who actually appeared in CMLL in 2008 and has been on some of the same shows as Elemental & Bendito. Catalina is the ex-WWE Chilean wrestler Katrina, who was briefly allied with Sin Cara on Raw. She’s been in Mexico for the last few weeks according to her Twitter and has been training at Bandido’s Gym recently. I’d guess we’re getting a Nix/Hatana vs Sussy/Catalina match on an upcoming Big Lucha World based on the angle in the mixed tag match this past week. Match 2 could be wild. 

This taping is a day before the Nacion “season 2 premiere” and I wonder which show will actually draw better. Nacion is a TV taping and has ex-WWE names and Alberto is doing interviews with every TV outlet, it shouldn’t be close. And yet, it could be close.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Rpeort.

Dr. Wagner Jr. says he plans on putting his mask back on. He says the commission rules allow for a wrestler to put a mask back on five years after they’ve lost theirs, it’s about five years after he lost his mask, and he’s going to put his back on. Lucha libre commission rules do state something like that. The length you have to wait seems to vary from commission to commission. More importantly, they usually state the wrestler can put on a new mask, not the one they lost. The intention seemed to let promoters off the hook for remasking young wrestlers who lost early in their career. Like most lucha libre commission rules, enforcement is on a case by case basis. Wagner’s brother Silver King lost his mask and infamously found ways to just put it back on with slight name variations or just working in places where no one cared about those rules all that much. Silver King seemed to do it because he felt he was more marketable as a masked wrestler and I’m guessing that’s Wagner’s belief as well. Lots of people are going to heckle him about doing it, though plenty were heckling him about losing his mask to Psycho Clown anyway. Wagner has been wearing his mask to start most of his matches lately, sometimes taking it off during the match. I think remasking is lame and it damages the importance of mask matches when things like this happen, but I don’t think Wagner is all that concerned about that. 

There’s actually two “why I’m wearing the mask I took off” stories today. El Manada asked International Pantera why he still wears the mask he lost to Misterioso in 2004. His story here was IWRG asked him to wear it for a show in 2007 with the idea he’d take it off after the match, but the fans demanded he keep it on. He’s previously said he’s stayed masked because he wasn’t paid what he believed he was owed for the mask loss and so didn’t feel he had to honor his side of the deal. In many cases, wrestlers put their mask on because they believe they pick up more work as a masked character.

Mascara Dorada won his debut Impact match in Impact over Alex Zayne yesterday. He will challenge Mike Bailey for the X-Division championship on a future date. Dorada appearing in Impact has no relevance to his CMLL status (or AAA’s relationship to Impact); he’s there as a NJPW wrestler.

Mas Lucha announced they’d have their Torneo Supremo on 10/06 from Arena Naucalpan. This has been a one-night eight person tournament. They’ve made a point of choosing a completely different group of people when they’ve done this in recent years.

Alberto, still on the Nacion Lucha Libre media tour, told Universal Deportes that their tapings will be on September 24, November 5 and December 3. Though he gets the September date wrong, so don’t hold him to those. The plan he explains here is to sell these shows to other networks in Latin America and he believes going to these short season concepts makes the shows more attractive. They plan to break for “only one week” before coming back for a Season 3. (The linked to interview says Alberto is answering a question about ex-WWE Paige, but his comments appear to actually be about the girlfriend after who accused him of other crimes.)

HHH said something about a NXT Mexico in the far future. We get this every six months and nothing is moving on it. I’m skeptical WWE’s new proposed “NXT Europe” is anything other than a way to tell a positive story on the week of the big WWE UK show and suspect it may be quietly shelved once everyone moves on. NXT Mexico is a plan for post NXT Europe, so we can worry about NXT Mexico only if/when an NXT Europe actually exists.

India Sioux, on a public Facebook post under her real name, announced she was separating from husband of 18 years Maximo. The post does not paint a pretty picture of their relationship – she calls him a drug addict and an alcoholic in particular, which fits alongside Maximo collapsing at a couple of recent shows. His life looks to be going in a bad direction from the outside.

Wrestlers and promoters in Leon will meet to discuss increased security at lucha libre shows following the death of three luchadors in Irapuato (same state, about an hour away.) It’s mostly to make fans feel and wrestlers safe in coming to shows, though it doesn’t actually address the incidents. Two of the wrestlers were killed or kidnapped away from events, the third was kidnapped well after a show had ended.