CMLL
CMLL (MON) 01/16/2023 Arena Puebla [Arena Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) King Jaguar & Sombra Diabólika b Astro & Meyer
2) Disturbio, Hijo del Perverso, Multy b Astral, Robin, Sangre Imperial 
Disturbio got the pin over Sangre Imperial, though it appeared referee Bestia Negra counted Disturbio down for 3 earlier
3) Flyer, Fuego, Oro Jr. b Felino Jr., Okumura, Pólvora
4) El Hijo del Villano III, Felino, Rey Bucanero b Arkalis, Dark Panther, Pegasso
5) Gran Guerrero & Rocky Romero b Atlantis Jr. & Volador Jr.
Romero won via foul on Volador
The attendance looks like it’s dipped back to more normal levels after being up so much in the last few weeks.
Arena Puebla is moving the 02/06 Monday show to 02/05 Sunday (5 pm start); that Monday is a Mexican public holiday (Constitution Day.)
CMLL (TUE) 01/17/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Átomo, Chamuel, Mije 
stream joined the match in progress
2) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Olímpico
Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Amapola, Dalys, Stephanie Vaquer b La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Princesa Sugehit
Rudas took 2/3. Dalys pinned Sugehit. (No title challenge indicated.)
4) Negro Casas, Panterita del Ring Jr., Soberano Jr. b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Atlantis Jr., Místico, Titán
Rudos took 1/3. Stuka, now a rudo, snuck in a mask pull on Mistico. Mistico wanted one more fall but only got in a dive before Stuka left. Seemed to set up a singles match for next week.
I had this one but I can’t say I was paying a lot of attention to it. Mistico/Stuka is an interesting singles match because Stuka shouldn’t lose so quickly after becoming a rudo but Mistico is Mistico.
CMLL (TUE) 01/17/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara]
1) Náutica & Princesa Tiger b Nexy & Valkiria 
2) Exterminador, Maléfico, Volcano b Kráneo, León Blanco, Rey Trueno
3) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Pierrothito
4) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black b Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr.
6) Rocky Romero & Templario DQ Ángel de Oro & Volador Jr.
Rocky faked a foul from Volador for the DQ.
Romero just taking a foul bump as the referee got back to his feet was a sight to see.
CMLL (SAT) 01/21/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Bengala, Cachorro, Retro vs Cholo, Inquisidor, Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) La Guerrera, Marcela, Skadi vs La Seductora, Metálica, Reyna Isis
3) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Oráculo, Rocky Romero
5) Soberano Jr. vs Templario
One more Soberano/Templario. The best information I have is these shows air on Mexico over the air station Heraldo TV (Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm), but their live stream is down when CMLL airs and I have never seen any one mention actually watching it. If you can get Heraldo TV, I’d love to know if Coliseo is actually airing.
Skadi in the second match would be her first match since suffering an injury back in August.
CMLL (SUN) 01/22/2023 Arena México
1) Acero, Aéreo, Fantasy vs Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Diamond, El Suicida, Eléctrico vs Dr. Karonte I, Okumura, Raider
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
4) Sagrado © vs Valiente [MEX HEAVY]
2nd defense
5) Ángel de Oro, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis, Oráculo, Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles]
January 2023 doesn’t seem in fighting shape to be a heavyweight champion but neither does Sagrado. Maybe more of a problem this is the title that’s being defended when there are so many better options. (Remember when the women’s tag titles were a thing?)
CMLL (TUE) 01/24/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Gran Kenut, Luminoso, Quka vs Black Boy, Destructor, Javier Cruz Jr.
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Náutica, Sexy Sol vs Dalys, Maligna, Nexy, Valkiria
4) Adrenalina, El Divino, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Cris Skin, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Negro Casas vs Rey Bucanero, Satánico, Último Guerrero
6) Arlequín, Oráculo, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Averno, Soberano Jr.
7) Dark Panther & Rocky Romero vs Atlantis Jr. & Volador Jr.
This is a quick turn around for Tuesday cards. Romero seems to be staying in for longer thant he weekend, a surprise. Oraculo is always opposite Angel de Oro on these shows.
There is a Jalisco Arlequin that the luchadb is identifying here, but the person most recently using that name in Guadalajara appears to be a kid or a mini. That surely isn’t the person in the semi-main here. Not idea who it is.
CMLL Informa today has Rocky Romero, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr., and Sagrado listed. I presume there is some surprise coming (maybe this Arlequin?) because that’s a small number for an Informa.
Hiroshi Tanahashi is doing a career retrospective via NJPW that gets posted monthly. He’s up to winning the CMLL Tag Team championship with Lyger in 2013, a situation he notes was very weird. They beat Tama Tonga and Terrible for the belts. Tanahashi always praises his opponents in these pieces and he praises Terrible particularly heavily.
AAA
Alberto’s return to AAA was the big item of attention for the media from the AAA press conference. Twitter and English media outlets were largely negative, other social media and Spanish language media outlets were generally neutral and positive. There are exceptions both ways, of course, but there’s no real blowback or image penalty AAA’s taking in Mexico itself for using Alberto. I still believe he means little to the bottom line, that many other ‘star’ names could’ve been put in that spot without changing the ticket sales. It’s fairly possible that Alberto’s AAA run could be just two shows anyway. He’ll be in the world cup, but he’s also probably done with the TripleMania tournament after Monterrey. Penta & Alberto seem certain to win their first match and escape the tournament immediately. Maybe AAA has plans for Alberto beyond wrestling a few tag matches because it doesn’t seem worth the hassle to deal with him just for that. (There’s an obvious “I sure don’t want to see it but I’m also sure they’d do it if they could convince him and the courts to approve it” match with Alberto and Cain possible.)
There’s also a bit of push back on the “War of Rivalries”, because half of them aren’t rivalries. Penta & Alberto isn’t a feud, unless they somehow bring up the long ago gossip that Alberto balked at losing to Penta back in Lucha Underground Season 1. Pagano and Rush would probably be a wonderfully out-of-control match but the two characters don’t have much of an issue in AAA. Both of those matchups just feel like they exist to make up the numbers for a four-team tournament.
Mas Lucha has a brief interview with Dorian Roldan. Not a lot of info, though Roldan does say we’ll see more from those rivalries early this year and this is just the tip of the iceberg for AAA’s 2023. He does definitely state AAA will be bringing back the usual non-TripleMania shows: Rey de Reyes, Verano de Escandalo, Heroes Inmortales and Guerra de Titanes. (So, that’s 8 ‘major’ shows, plus or minus Noche de Campeones.) Roldan said we’ll find out more about how the now vacant tag team titles will be filled on upcoming shows.
In “the maybe something, maybe nothing” department, Vikingo was asked about his 2023 goals and mentioned winning a mask or a hair. That’s usually where the Omega challenge goes. There was a notable lack of AEW mentions; I don’t think it even came up when Penta was introduced for the tournament. Sam Adonis did promos talking about not wanting to team with Psycho Clown. Pagano says he was surprised he was teaming up with Rush. DMT Azul sees this as a big chance to unmask Blue Demon and says he simply took a ‘break’ from AAA. Blue Demon says he wants the 1v1 mask match. NGD was asked if Hijo de Mascara 2000 was meant to be a regular part of the group after Acapulco and mostly talked around the answer.
AAA ran through a list of corporate welcomes at the beginning of the press conference. I jotted them down. and probably got some names wrong. What I got was
- event/show partners: the military, Disney, Sultans de Monterrey, Charros de Jalisco, the governor of Jalisco, Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Ventura, Naska (?), Hardo Rock, Fibre Uno, Light Show
- the ones you might not recognize are Cancun/Luchatitlan partners
- brand partners: Bardahl, USO
- USO is the drywall advertiser from last year, feel like I got that name wrong.
- future partners?: Tostitos, PepsiCo, Jack (?), Electrolee (?), Newmex, Semex, Autopen, Ciberworld
- promoters from Tampico, San Luis Potosi, Tijuana, Morelia, and Orizaba
AAA also ran through a list of cities they plan on visiting: Merida, Queretaro, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Tijuana, Orizaba, Chihuahua, San Luis Potosi, Tampico, Morelia, Rivera Maya (Hard Rock), Aguascalientes, Madero, and Mexicali. This usually means TV tapings events, including the named events. They’ll run more cities beyond those listed there. AAA did not run TV in Orizaba, Chihuahua, San Luis Potosi, Morelia, and Mexicali in 2022 so those are fresher stops. Chihuahua may mean Ciudad Juarez and not city; AAA hasn’t run a TV taping in Chihuahua itself since 2007. Tampico and Madero are neighboring cities so it’s odd to list both; maybe I misheard one?
The local promoters for Rey de Reyes say the card will be announced today at 6 pm. They’ve previously announced Vampiro, Bandido, Bestia 666, Mr. Iguana, and Nino Hamburgesa for the show.
Marvel Lucha Libre: El Origen de la Mascara debuted on Disney+ this morning. I haven’t seen much about it. Produ has an interview with Disney’s Luis Lomeli (VP and director of Consumer Products) about the plans for Marvel Lucha Libre going forward. He pushed the idea that they have 20 luchadors created; I don’t believe we’ve seen that many in the flesh (or the mask), but there are some characters that appeared in merchandise and not yet in the ring. The ring is still the important part; Lomeli wants the Marvel characters to continue to appear on AAA shows and wants them to be seen in Mexican homes. There’s no mention of future Disney+ seasons or the stand-alone Marvel Lucha Libre shows that were originally planned, but it’s not a long interview.
Drago has been teasing some career news on social media. He’s teased this a lot in the last year. I think whatever’s happening actually started near the end of 2021; he didn’t appear on AAA TV at all in 2022. He still works on AAA untelevised events but seems to be looking for work in the US a lot. He’d need to at least slightly change his look and name if he broke ties with AAA and maybe that’s why they’re still slightly connected. Drago Kid was in attendance of the AAA press conference but Drago adult was not. (The full roster wasn’t there, though.)
Sammy Guevara’s vlog this week includes a few shots of an AAA Mixed Tag Championship hanging from a wall in his and Tay Melo’s house. It doesn’t look like AAA is getting them back any time soon. The shot is so perfectly framed that it felt like something they wanted attention for; Guevara teased as much when I brought up on Twitter. Guevara’s had belts made for himself before, so those hanging could just be replicas as mementos and the originals have been returned to AAA. They did look cleaner and newer than the belts we usually see in AAA Flammer’s booked on Saturday, so we’ll know something is up if she doesn’t have the belt.
Villano III Jr. is listed for an indie show and an AAA spot show on 01/29, and says he’s working the indie show because that one was booked first.
Komander is headed back to GLEAT on 03/21 04/12.
Big Lucha
The next gym show (which I presume will also be Mas Lucha premium)
Big Lucha (SAT) 02/18/2023 Bandidos Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Andy Panda & Reiyel vs Metal Shadow & Vórtize
2) Little Star vs Forneo
3) Iku & Vengador vs King & Kong
4) Black Skayde & Skayde vs Elipse & Orbita
5) Cometa Maya, Éxtasis, Radioactivo vs Action Jackson, Bendito, Elemental [no rules]
6) Jack Evans vs Gravity [bull terrier]
7) El Bandido & Flamita vs El Potro de Oro & Emperador Azteca [Relevos Increíbles]
Too many gimmicks for me. Potro & Bandido haven’t even been a team yet and they’re already fighting each other. There’s no reason for Evans & Gravity to be in a bull terrier match and a chain seems like it’ll make that match up worse. There’s no reason for a no rules match either, and those guys aren’t doing a lot of straight matches. Perhaps there is a story coming on why King and Kong are back teaming.
Bandido faces Bryan Danielson tomorrow on AEW Dynamite. Two safe bets: it’ll be great and Danielson will winning. AEW is not available on TV in Mexico, so Bandido’s Gym is doing a live airing of the match at their restaurant.
IWRG
IWRG (SUN) 01/22/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Ajolotl & Legado vs Rey Eclipse & Súper Cometa
2) Alan Extreme vs Baby Star, Jhon Tito, Águila Oriental [IWRG IC Light, #1 Contenders]
3) Diosa Quetzal & Hades vs Black Fury & Lolita
4) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. and Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Paymon
5) Noisy Boy, Spider Fly, Tonalli vs Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Puma de Oro
6) Hell Boy, Hijo De Canis Lupus, Luka vs Abismo Negro Jr., Hijo del Fishman, Hijo del Pirata Morgan
Giant luchador/bear/stuffed animal? Luka hasn’t been around since the October cage match. This is Hades’ highest profile appearance since her return to wrestling; she hasn’t been in IWRG since pre-pandemic. I know Alan Extreme has lost a lot of weight but I don’t know about him being a lightweight.
Other Notes
US wrestlers Jay Briscoe passed away on Tuesday following a car accident. His wrestling career only briefly touched in Mexico; just about 10 matches, the last with Big Lucha in 2021. There are better places to read much more about him, but his most notable CMLL match – teaming with his brother Mark and Rush against LA Park and the Lucha Brothers – is worth checking out if you’ve never seen it. The Briscoes Brothers versus Dragon Lee & Rush in ROH is another easy recommendation.
The KAOZ/Crash/Robles show for 02/26 in Monterrey is off. KAOZ announced they were pulling out of the event Tuesday night. They blame administrative agreements, which sounds like they’re blaming one or both of the other promotions. Word locally is few tickets had been sold. The lineup looked dumb, with some big names (and some problematic ones) but no matches anyone was going to be excited to see.The lineup for a companion show in Saltillo on 02/25 had just been announced. I haven’t seen a cancelation note but I assume it is also not happening.
GCW announced their Collective lineup for the 2023 WrestleMania weekend. Gringo Loco’s The Wrld on Lucha takes place at Saturday, April 1st at 9 pm local time. (That’s 11 pm Central time, an hour or so after the first night of WrestleMania.) The show, as with all the Collective shows, will air on FITE. Gringo Loco’s was one of the best shows I saw last year and I expect it’ll be one of the best again.
The Bobby Lee Jr. attack on Hijo del Santo got written up in Bobby Lee’s hometown El Sol de Leon paper. The article heavily suggests they’re wrestling in Leon later this year, at the annual fair shows. Not sure if they’re getting to the mask match but they’re going to keep at least teasing it.
Wrestlers in Torreon talked about (but ultimately didn’t hold) a protest march over the suspension of local wrestler Bendito. He’s been suspended for more than three months. It’s unclear why in the article, but I’m told Bendito originally got suspended for double booking himself, hasn’t strictly abided by the suspension, and it kinda has spiraled from there.
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