Los Infernales new champions at Noche de Campeones, AAA in GDL, Rayman unmasked

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 09/30/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (videos), thecubsfan, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Mercurio © b Pierrothito [CMLL MINI]  
3rd defense. 17:00
2) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado © [CMLL TRIOS]   
16:38. Malditos fall in their 2nd defense. Infernales are the 33rd champions.
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia © b Amapola & Silueta [MEX WOMEN TAG]  
12:08. 10th defense (8th on CMLL shows)
4) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja © b Dulce Gardenia & Espíritu Negro [CMLL TAG]  
12:59. 5th defense. Gardenia went into a convulsions selling Angel de Oro’s super Canadian Destroyer
5) Titán © b Suicida [CMLL WELTER]   
15:41. 5th defense
6) Místico © b Rugido [NWA MIDDLE]   
15:03. 5th defense

Dulce Gardenia is fine; he’s said so himself in a (private) Facebook post and CMLL sent out a proof of life photo to the media while noting he’s in perfect health. Dulce Gardenia was probably always fine. Gardenia went into spasms after taking a super Canadian Destroyer to end the tag title match, medical personnel rushed in to put him on a stretcher and take him to the back, and the fan shot video of the incident went viral. It was almost universally reported on as real.

My impression from the moment I saw it was a weird angle to sell the Destroyer as a big move. CMLL does injury off angles Destroyers every few months, including as recently as putting Angel de Oro & Volador in neck braces when they did them a month ago. There are people in CMLL who see it as an easy way to get a pop off a hot move and others who believe it should be treated with the gravity and seriousness of a martinete. There’s also one who’s been able to get every on the same page about it so it’s been handled inconsistently. Dulce going into convulsions came one day after an NFL quarterback went into convulsions after a head injury. Maybe that prompted the idea to do it on this show, maybe that promoted the media reaction to plaster the video everywhere after it happened. Gardenia was also not listed on shows this week, which means he can sell the injury longer than others. CMLL itself didn’t seem to expect it would be beyond a wrestling angle and seemed to have no plans to talk about until social media people started to speculate/make up stories about Gardenia being in serious condition. CMLL sent out information saying Gardenia was doing fine without exposing the angle.

(There’s no shame in getting fooled sometimes, I think. Or maybe I just feel that way today because I’ve gone from believing the “Andrade wants out of AEW” story was probably true last week to probably a work this week.)

The show itself was good. Titan/Suicida was the best match, a tightly competitive match. Suicida’s looked good in spurts in trios matches and put it together with Titan in a really long singles match. It helped that Titan is very good, but Suicida played his part and did better than we’ve seen with Fugaz in a similar spot. Rugido looked fine in the main event but it wasn’t a main event to make him look like a special guy. It was the touring Mistico singles match with Rugido plugged in as the villain of the month. He got to do enough offense so Mistico could set up his comeback and fed for Mistico fine, but never came off as a threat to win the match. If Rugido proved anything, it’s that he can be plugged in match four and do fine, similarly to how Coyote’s been used since winning the Gran Alternativa.

The other title matches were fine. Los Infernales were the one title change everyone seemed to guess and the fans would’ve been unhappy if they didn’t win; Los Inferanles and Hechicero in particular are a definite favorite among the fans who show up weekly. CMLL’s cooled off a little bit on Los Gemelos Diablos and they may need to show improvement to get another title run. Both the men’s and women’s tag title defenses fit into the “good, just not as good as their best stuff” category. Mercurio seemed a bit off in his title match but Pierrothito worked very hard and it got good by the end.

CMLL commentary mentioned the passing of Antonio Inoki on commentary, which was nice of them. It also struck it odder how Starman wasn’t mentioned last week. Mephisto wore a Starman tribute mask this week and the announcers didn’t note it.

The Dr. Karontes seconded Mistico for his title match to counter Los Depredadores with Rugido. It didn’t play into the match. It’s clear Mistico would like to do more with his Karonte brothers if given the chance.

CMLL (SAT) 10/01/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Micro Ángel, Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas
Team Diablos took 1/3.
2) Astral, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
tecnicos took 2/3
3) Flyer, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin b Disturbio, Okumura, Raider
tecnicos took 2/3
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
tecnicos took 2/3
5) Fugaz, Místico, Soberano Jr. b Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja, Terrible
tecnicos took 2/3

Four straight matches with the same sequence, unless I misunderstood something. They announced a tie-up with Mexica

CMLL (SUN) 10/02/2022 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Minos & Pequeño Violencia
Kemomito and Sacarays worked the opener and a minis match, both unusual for them.
2) Cachorro, Leono, Sangre Imperial b Cholo, Inquisidor, Nitro
tecnicos took 2/3
3) Arkalis, Panterita del Ring Jr., Suicida b Kráneo, Okumura, Raider
4) El Coyote, Pólvora, Virus b Diamond, Magia Blanca, Volcano
5) Atlantis, Dragón Rojo Jr., Titán DQ Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
Angel de Oro fouled Atlantis

That reads as a little bit of strange main event finish, maybe something went wrong, maybe it’s nothing.

Today’s Arena Puebla show has Euforia, Sobreano and Stigma against Magia Blanca, Rugido and Stuka Jr., which seemed to be setting up a Stigma/Blanca match last week. There’s also a women’s cibernetico that might be setting up something.

CMLL (TUE) 10/04/2022 Arena México
1) Kaligua & Shockercito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Diamond, Robin, Valiente Jr. vs Cholo, Inquisidor, Raider
3) Flyer, Hombre Bala Jr., Magia Blanca vs Disturbio, Kráneo, Okumura
4) Blue Panther, Dark Panther, El Audaz vs Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible

Felino Jr. returns after six months away. He definitely was injured when he disappeared after the Mexican national title match back in March. I’m not sure if it was a six-month recovery or if there were other things going on. He’s back in the same spot as always, teaming with his father against the Panthers.

CMLL’s month of women’s tournaments is timed with breast cancer awareness month. They announced a partnership with cancer charity FUCAM and posted a PSA.

An interview with Puebla’s Asturiano, who also teaches at the local university.

AAA

AAA taped in Guadalajara (Zapopan) on Sunday afternoon. I don’t have full results if you’re reading this; I’ve seen a bunch of clips on Instagram but haven’t been able to put complete info together. There was an angle where Los Vipers and La Empresa beat up Pagano and Psycho, Heavy Metal missed the taping (and Aramis worked twice) and the matches that looked like they’d be good on paper worked out as expected. The first week of the taping should air this Saturday.

The attendance was outstanding for the Guadalajara show. It’s a 13,000 seat building and it looked like AAA filled the building except for a slice cut off behind the entrance. WrestleTix reported 9,000 attendance, which must be coming from AAA; I’m not sure who else would have that number. It’s also a slight mirage. Jalisco is running a month of events in around the building as part of a fair, and general admission is free for all events with admission to the fair. The fair admission was 40 pesos for adults, 20 for kids. At least 6,000 of the 9,000 seats were given away for free. Floor seats ran between 150 and 350 pesos, which is only a little cheaper than usual. AAA probably was getting a flat fee no matter how many people turned up and obviously looks a lot better full.

TripleMania is available on Pro Wrestling TV for $20, $3 cheaper than FITE. This may be a mistake – the other shows have been $20, the price just went up on this one – but you could save a few dollars if you buy it now. FITE and ProWrestlingTV are using the same feeds and it should be the same broadcast either way, though I’ve never heard from someone who’s actually bought the Pro Wrestling TV instead of FITE. (That may be a good thing; people tend to be louder if the service doesn’t work.)

AAA has tickets on sale for a show in Phoenix (Tempe) on 12/03. Vampiro is advertised for the show. Vampiro is advertised for a meet & greet in Wisconsin on 12/03. People close to Vampiro say he’s expecting to be at the Wisconsin show. Tijuana EMW announced their next show on 12/03 with Hijo del Vikingo, who’s also advertised for that Phoenix show. EMW is booked by Konnan and he’d seem to know when and if AAA is running elsewhere that day. AAA made have told their wrestlers they’re working both Tijuana and Phoenix that day, but that seems impossible outside a charter plane or one very delayed start time.

My belief is tickets are on sale for a 12/03 show in Phoenix but AAA hasn’t committed to running a show in Phoenix on this day. AAA’s totally willing to ghost their US audience, as fans in Los Angeles know. I recommend waiting on buying tickets (or any related expenses) for Phoenix until AAA shows more about it. The tickets aren’t going anywhere anyway, you can safely wait.

NGD also appear to be getting US work visas based on RGR teasing them coming in.

AEW announced they and Space (except for Brasil) were done as of 10/01. Space moved AEW off their channel and onto their YouTube channel many months ago, which seemed a bad sign for their relationship. AEW’s side is they had an offer to stay on Space but they felt they could make more money selling AEW+ subscriptions to Latin American fans. That implies Space was paying a small or non-existent rights fee to AEW for carrying the show. Wrestling Observer Radio went over this in more detail this morning: Meltzer noted that AEW believes they’ll eventually be back on TV a new/better TV deal in Latin America. He also said he doesn’t believe AEW will run a show in Mexico or Latin America any time in the next few years so being on a widely viewed network isn’t a top priority.

This AEW/Space is in the AAA section because it’s would be a problem for AAA if Space is cutting back what they’re spending on content. AAA/Space’s relationship does seem stronger than the AEW. AEW got bumped to YouTube for reruns of old movies, while AAA is on the actual channel even if it gets moved around. Space also seems very excited whenever TripleMania or major event is coming up; those get more promotion than anything else on that channel, so they’ve got some investment there. AEW not getting the money they want does suggest that AAA might not be getting a raise in rights fee if they were hoping for one next time they’re up, but it also says AAA will only be leaving Space if they also find a better deal elsewhere.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 10/02/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) John Tito b Feroz 
2) Lolita & Satania b Sagitarius & Therius
3) Noisy Boy, Paymon, Spider Fly b Crazy King, Garra Mortal, Limbo 
4) Aster Boy, Hijo del Alebrije, Tonalli b Dick Angelo 3G, Mc-360, Puma de Oro 
Tonalli changed Puma de Oro to a title match
5) Hijo De Canis Lupus & Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Rey León & VIP  
Lupus did a dive off the upper level.
6) Caballero de Plata, Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura DQ Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.  
sets up a trios title

IWRG giving a big intro to the new Hijo de Canis Lupus (again, believed to be a current IWRG veteran getting a new gimmick) is the only thing that comes through as notable in the results.

They’re off on Thursday for the Mas Lucha show, so maybe another IWRG Retro episode that day.

Mas Lucha (THU) 10/06/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) John Tito & Spider Fly vs Rey Halcón & Súper Boy
2) Radioactivo vs Hannya [mask]
3) Caballero de Plata, Cerebro Negro, Cerebro Negro Jr. vs Hell Boy, Oficial 911, Oficial Fierro
4) Aero Boy, Charly Manson, Dragón Lee, Jack Evans, Komander, Puma King, Shun Skywalker, Tonalli [Mas Lucha Supremo]

I’m happy there is only 3 other matches on this show. The tournament is plenty enough. Dragon Lee rarely loses matches and is the strong favorite here. Last time around show they’re willing to book strange finishes to accommodate people’s unwillingness to lose, so it not a foregone conclusion. I hope Puma King has a good night because the last couple of years seem to have done a number on his buzz.

There’s no build to the mask match (and also little drama to the outcome) but it should be good.

Other News

El Gallo defeated Rayman on Saturday night (or really very early Sunday morning) in Arena GDL in Guadalajara. The show streamed on Mas Lucha for subscribers. Both are ex-CMLL wrestlers and it was a big deal locally; both guys seemed like of the type and stature of wrestlers who wouldn’t lose their mask until they were old and gray, or at least in a bigger building. Gallo may have some part in running Arena GDL and that’s why the match was run there, but Arena GDL was also visibly didn’t have the capacity for everyone who wanted to see the match. It looks like a place that can comfortable seat 400 and had about 650 crammed in. Rayman and Gallo tried to do some crowd brawling early and there was very little space to maneuver (and not enough space for the cameras to follow them.) It was a great illustration of how there are many different types of wrestling fans. That AAA taping probably drew 15x fans, and it was just a fun night out to most of the people in attendance. This much smaller show felt 15x more important to the fans who were in Arnea GDL, like one of the most important things they will see this year.

We would’ve expected a different outcome for Rayman back when he was a rising star around 2001. He was a sensation for a brief moment in time. Rayman is the grandson of legend Rayo de Jalisco. He wrestled well in undercard matches and started to get a push when they switched his name to “El Hijo de Rayo de Jalisco Jr.” He was a young high flyer at a time when CMLL had an older roster and he did well in main events for a while. The old story goes that “El Hijo de Rayo de Jalisco Jr.” got so hot that promoters started to ask for him over his father, Rayo de Jalisco Jr., and a jealous father took the name away from his son. No one much likes Rayo de Jalisco Jr. so it’s easy story to believe and Rayman’s push did disappear after his name went away, but it’s such a wrestling story with an obvious villain so there’s probably also something more to it. (Rayman has obliquely referred to having personal issues around that time.) Rayman migrated to AAA for a few unmemorable months and has bounced around the indies since then, never showing the same spark as he did for those few months. CMLL would iterate on the “masked exciting young high flyer” formula that produced Rayman a few times in the following years, first trying with Sagrado and eventually having everything click into place with Mistico, and Rayman is a historical footnote for being part of that lineage.

Rayman’s remained a big name in Guadalajara, both for his national run and that he is part of that royal Rayo de Jalisco family, and he and his father seemed to make amends at one point. He could’ve coasted on being Rayman forever and I’m still unsure why he choose to do this mask match. His sister was in tears about it, and a depressed Rayman stormed off refusing to do a post-match interview until later consenting backstage. Rayman gave his name as Cesar Linares Tapia after he unmasked, 43 years old, 28 years a wrestler and later apologized to his deceased grandfather for losing his mask. The match itself was nothing out of the ordinary – I was a little disappointed they did the usual indie version of an 00s AAA match, with chairs shots for heat and a lot built around a heel referee instead of something with more thought – but the people in the building cared an awful lot about it.

An article about a Dr. Wagner Jr. wanting to wrestle in Puerto Rico mentions that the current Nacion Lucha Libre creative team is Alberto, co-owner Daniel Leal, Eddie Colon, Carlito Colon, Cinta de Oro, and Lucha Libre Online’s Michael Morales Torres. (Torres is noted as setting up the interview with Wagner for the article.) It’s a lot of people who don’t wrestle or promote in Mexico much outside of Nacion Lucha Libre, which surely informs some of the choices they’ve made. Nacion Lucha Libre is supposed to start airing on ImagenTV this month, still haven’t heard anything about it.

10/08 Riot (Nuesta Raza, Nueva Lucha)

• La Rebelion vs Prometeo & Kratoz
• Arez vs Rey Horus for the RIOT Championship
• Aeroboy vs Willy Banderas
• Iron Kid, Aramis, Tromba vs Demonio del Aire, King Rex, Jimmy
• Spider Fly & Noisy Boy vs Kaientai & Byron
• Erik Ortiz vs Demonic Flamita – new

DTU’s show had a moment of remembrance for Antonio Inoki. I think they might have been the only Mexican promotion to do so. Inoki’s death got written up in many Mexican sports news outlets. SuperLuchas has the best piece on Inoki’s matches in Mexico.

NOAH posted Xtreme Tiger’s match against Hayata for the GHC Junior Championship from May 21st for free on YouTube.

A bio of Xalapa’s Poseidon.