CMLL
Tonight’s show
CMLL (FRI) 12/09/2022 Arena México
1) Fuego, Okumura, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Dark Magic, Disturbio, Guerrero Maya Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Dalys & Lady Frost vs Ivelisse & La Jarochita and Alex Gracia & Lluvia and Avispa Dorada & Reyna Isis [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, seeding battle royal]
3) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, semifinal]
4) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, semifinal]
5) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, final]
6) Atlantis Jr. vs Gran Guerrero
7) Místico & Rocky Romero vs Lince Dorado & Volador Jr. and Kenny King & Último Guerrero and Hechicero & Matt Taven [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, seeding battle royal]
8) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, semifinal]
9) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, semifinal]
10) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, final]
I have this listed as a single elimination tournament. Who knows. It’ll probably be good fun as weird as it turns out. None of the foreigners seem locked in appearing again before the next Gran Prix, so it doesn’t seem to matter which one of them actually win. Atlantis Jr. and Gran Guerrero has more immediate meaning. Panterita del Ring Jr. always has a chance to do something. This is on Ticketmaster as usual.
The Mexico government has been part of promoting this show. I’d expect some sort of official presence; I’m sure if that means the US ambassador to Mexico or some lesser official, but something along those lines seems likely.
CMLL still hasn’t put tickets on sale for Christmas. They’re definitely running. If they’re doing something beyond a normal holiday show, they figure to announce it soon.
CMLL Informa included interviews with most of the tournament participants. Matt Taven missed it to go work a match on AEW Dark. The message CMLL wanted to get across was ‘CMLL is a great place for foreigners to work. All the foreigners who’ve worked here would love to come back for longer.’ Some of that took the forms of jokes suggesting they’d come back for a long time, like Rocky Romero saying he’d sign a one-year contract if he and Mistico win tonight. Fantasy booking Ivelisse as a third member of Chica Indomable or Kenny King finding a Mexican girlfriend was more typical.
In Lady Frost’s case, Julio Cesar Rivera mentioned CMLL had specifically extended an offer for her to return for a longer stretch. Frost played it off like she was surprised at this news and didn’t expect it to be mentioned during the broadcast. (A Fightful Select article released seconds indicated AAA has an interest is bringing in Lady Frost as well as the CMLL mentions seconds prior. Fightful doesn’t report on Informa typically.) I would be surprised if Lady Frost signed a deal with anyone after just coming out of an unhappy contract situation with Impact Wrestling.
CMLL (SUN) 12/11/2022 Arena México
1) Kaligua & Shockercito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Bengala, Neón, Oro Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
3) Alex Gracia, La Jarochita, La Maligna vs Amapola, Olympia, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Negro Casas, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Atlantis, Lince Dorado, Stuka Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Kenny King, Último Guerrero
Probably the last night for the visitors. Maligna, here in the second match, hasn’t wrestled on the Mexico City shows since August. The second match is all cage match guys, and we’ll be seeing a lot of them grouped together for the next three weeks.
CMLL (MON) 12/12/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Millenium & Retro vs Nitro & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Princesa Sugehit vs Reyna Isis [lightning]
3) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Volcano vs Kráneo, Okumura, Yota
4) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Místico, Stigma, Último Guerrero vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
CMLL very specifically set up Vaquer/Sugehit for this show and that’s not happening. Not sure why, seemed like it was still happening on Wednesday when they brought it up on Informa.
CMLL (TUE) 12/13/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sexy Sol vs Nexy, Sexy Sol, Valkiria
2) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Bestia Negra, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
3) Flyer & Volador Jr. vs Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. and Euforia & Soberano Jr. and Blue Panther & Dark Panther and Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. and Felino & Felino Jr. and Misterioso Jr. & Misterioso Negro and Valiente & Valiente Jr. [Torneo Heredero]
I still don’t know what the other family tournament matches were about or if this is a single-elimination tournament or what. I do know Flyer hasn’t been booked in CMLL outside this tournament since his incident in Arena Coliseo.
CMLL Informa announced the participants for the 01/01 Sin Salida cage match
- Oro Jr.
- Neon
- Bengala
- Retro
- Nitro
- Inquisidor
- Principe Odin Jr.
- Apocalipsis
- Difunto
- Zandokan Jr.
- Valiente Jr.
- Milenium
It’s the names you’d expect, given the feuds over the last couple of months. Asturiano’s timeline has him healthy well before 01/01, but being out of action for the announcement seems to have cost him what might be his only chance to main event an Arena Mexico show. Maybe they’ll run another cage match next year and he’ll get a chance, because that’s a hard break. Bengala, Inquisidor, Principe Odin Jr., and Apocalipsis all fit “prelim guys who have been around forever” who typically lose on this show and nowhere else. (Nitro might be able to get himself an actual singles program.) Apocalipsis has appeared the favorite to lose his mask since he started these feuds. The winner is harder to figure; I’m guessing Zandokan because CMLL seems highest on him, but it’s not a safe pick.
CMLL also announced the Gran Alternativa would return to close the year. It’s an eight team field over two weeks. The quarterfinals and semifinals will take place on 12/16, and the final will stand alone on 12/23. The field:
- Atlantis & Arkalis
- Volador Jr. & Panterita del Ring Jr.
- Titan & Suicida
- Soberano Jr. & Halcon Suriano Jr.
- Valiente & Valiente Jr.
- Blue Panther & Cachorro
- Stuka Jr. & Neon
- Gran Guerrero & Raider
This is clearly Panterita del Ring Jr.’s tournament. He’s the guy. The only question is if the best option for Panterita is winning himself or giving Raider a big win now to help Panterita later. Raider’s been the Panterita’s opponent so far but is usually booked about a match below him. Raider will get moved up with a win. Still, Panterita is such an obvious future top star that it’d benefit him to get this spotlight and the history of this tournament to have him as a winner. It’s going to be a surprise if the 12/23 final is anything beside Gran Guerrero & Raider versus Volador Jr. & Panterita del Ring. Maybe Titan & Suicida would be a great pick in any other year.
The story about a “new Arena Puebla” turned out to be nothing lucha libre related, just people reading too much into the name. Government officials planned a 10,000 seat auditorium and put “Arena Puebla” on the paper without thinking about the lucha libre building that also uses that name. They’ve released it as a mistake and will change the name in an updated filing.
AAA
A source close to Cain Velasquez says WrestlingInc.’s report of AAA signing him to a five-date contract is false. AAA and Velasquez could definitely work together, but it’s said nothing’s been agreed to, and definitely not a five-date agreement.
The WON lists an attendance of 3,129 for the Tempe show, with “about 1,000” comped. They also report “only a few hundred tickets” were sold before the Velasquez announcement. It seems like people turned out far more for him than AAA, though the news around Velasquez might have been the first time many people realized there was an AAA show happening. AAA wants to run in the area again but may hold a future show in Glendale instead, figuring they’ll draw more Mexican-American fans there.
The newsletter also mentions Konnan has not attended recent AAA tapings due to kidney issues, and is booking/writing/ordering finishes via group chat. He’s hoping to make the 12/28 show.
AAA on Space tomorrow will have the first part of the Ciudad Juarez taping. (Results here.) No idea which matches. Arez, Bandido, and Octagon Jr. vs Gringo Loco, Rey Horus, and Villano III may have been the best match on the show.
I’m not sure what I’m doing with the stream. I’m not going to run an AAA stream against an AEW or ROH PPV with Mexican wrestlers, rather just watch that live and the AAA later. Right now, there are no Mexican wrestlers on the ROH show, but I expect that’ll change later tonight. I also have another obligation that may make me unavailable for part of AAA is streaming. My guess is I’ll do a stream later that night, but keep an eye on Twitter for more.
No big AAA shows this weekend. The next taping is Saturday in Madero.
AAA wrestlers made a trip to visit the children of La Magia de un Deseo for a holiday party on Wednesday. It’s sort of a Mexico version of Make a Wish, and it’s something they’ve done for many years.
A spot show in Ecatepec Thursday night (with “Psycho Producciones” as one of the local promoters) seemed to draw well. Corsario Negro Jr. joined the Vipers on the undercard, which is probably just a one night bit. Karis La Momia Jr. was added to the card, teaming with Mr. Iguana. Karis has been more visible than usual this week as part of the Panam sneakers promotion; he wore his father’s mask to promote the La Parka shoes on Monday, then did autograph signings later in the week as Karis. He’s been around AAA for years now and is never used for TV matches. Teaming with Iguana on this random show clicked that putting Karis in the Iguana, Hamburgesa, Microman group would be a good way to utilize him if they did want to use him on TV.
IWRG
IWRG (SUN) 12/11/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) John Tito vs Kenji
2) Diosa Quetzal vs Sagitarius [IWRG IC WOMEN, semifinal]
3) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. vs Hell Boy & Sick Boy
4) Keyra vs Lolita [IWRG IC WOMEN, semifinal]
5) Galeno del Mal vs Hijo De Canis Lupus
6) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
I presume Mamba is the super partner for the Anniversary show as well, but then why is it a surprise?
IWRG has a form up to sign up for the 2023 Tryout competition. There’s no mention of requirements outside of having a wrestling license (and even that doesn’t seem mandatory.)
No new IWRG Retro. IWRG says the project is still active.
Big Lucha
I thought we were generally done with Big Lucha news for the year. I was incorrect. There’s a shot in Ecatepec on Christmas Day.
AAA , Big Lucha (SUN) 12/25/2022 Centro Civico Nueva Aragon, Ecatepec, Estado de México
1) Carito & Sussy Love vs Goya Kong & Lady Maravilla
2) Cometa Maya, Éxtasis, Radioactivo vs Black Skayde, Forneo, Hijo De Skayde
3) Argenis, Elipse, Niño Hamburguesa, Orbita vs Carta Brava Jr., Iku, Panic Clown, Vengador
4) Gravity, Pagano, Rey Horus vs Bendito, Elemental, Emperador and Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
5) Bandido © vs Hijo Del Vikingo [Big Lucha CHAMP]
Bandido versus Hijo del Vikingo is also the main event of 12/28 Acapulco show that’s airing live on FITE. It’s not great for AAA to have that same match happening three days prior. Perhaps they all agreed to this home & home deal and we’re just finding out about it, perhaps AAA is finding out with everyone else and there will be an urgent request to change the match. This is listed as a Mas Lucha airing but I can’t imagine AAA will want to stream this show free and live.
Penta has a show in the same town on the same night starting an hour earlier, with himself and Panic Clown vs Latigo & Toxin. I believe Panic Clown is the former Kill (Tio) Korton, who stopped wrestling under that name shortly after Panic Clown debuted and goes way back with Penta and Fenix. Korton has been seen around AAA shows this year prior, including working as a lumberjack back in Monterrey.
Other News
LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.
Violento Jack defeated Aeroboy in an ultraviolent match Thursday night in Tulancingo. It’s a Mas Lucha subscriber show. If you like either man’s past extreme matches, you’ll probably like this one and it’s worth paying for. There’s a clip of it here.
Insolito defeated Asombro Jr. in a mask match Thursday in Arena Olimpico Laguna. Asombro Jr. is Sergio Alberto Castro Castro, 27 years old, 15 years a wrestler. It’s the third mask Insolito has won in 2022.
It’s not officially announced as I type this, but it appears Saturday’s ROH PPV show (or maybe the pre-PPV free show) looks to have Rush, Preston Vance (ex-10), and Dralistico versus Alex Reynolds, John Silver, and Evil Uno of the Dark Order. A video posted on social teased Dralistico coming in to join his brother and his new protege on Twitter. There are plenty of spaces for extra matches on the show and pre-show and it’s something that looked to be announced tonight as part of Rampage.
MLW’s TV show last night appears to have written off Cesar Duran (ex-Dario Cueto.) Court Bauer is now both in charge of MLW in real life and on-screen, which was Duran’s role. It’s possible Duran could be a manager or other personality, but the change was done off-camera with no sign of Duran, which means he wasn’t brought in to whatever taping they made the change. Duran is still listed on January’s TV taping talent list for Philadelphia. Duran seemed to be an attempt to pull in some ex-Lucha Underground watchers, though I didn’t get a sense many LU viewers stuck with MLW after checking in early.
Bandido is the 15th person announced for PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles. That leaves one more person as a two day tournament historically means 16 people. Both Vikingo and Takeshita make sense for the 16th spot, and it’s harder to imagine PWG passing on Takeshita.
GCW announce Hijo del Vikingo for their 01/20 show in Charlotte. They still have not announced an opponent for his debut with the group next Friday in Los Angeles. I have not been following this closely but I believe Blake Christian is also missing a match for that show. GCW also announced Arez vs Cole Radrick for their 01/07 show in Chicago, which is almost enough for me to go in to Chicago.
GLEAT has Flamita & Yutani and Issei Onitsuka & Shigehiro Irie challenging tag team champions Hayato Tamura & Check Shimatani on 12/30. Familiar faces Gringo Loco and Jack Cartwheel also appear in a trioss withSeptmo Dragon. I think that show turns up on YouTube.
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