Month: February 2023

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 02/24/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (videos), thecubsfan]
1) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. b Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr.  
8:59.
2) Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit   
10:52. Zeuxis got beat in fall 3, but snuck back behind the referee’s back to hit Sugehit, giving Vaquer the win.
3) Virus b Blue Panther [Torneo de Escuelas, lightning]   
9:04
4) Futuro, Max Star, Neón, Príncipe, Tonalli, Vegas b Brillante Jr., Gran Jefe, Hijo de Stuka Jr., Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Rey Insólito [Torneo de Escuelas, semifinal]   
35:28. Teams determined by Tuesday foruway match. Order of elimination: Rey Insolito (Vegas), Principe (Brillante), Gran Jefe (Tonalli), Vegas (Hijo del Stuka), Mistero Negro (Futuro), Max Star (Misterio Blanco), Hijo del Stuka (Neon), Futuro (Misterio Blanco), Misterio Blanco (Tonalli), Neon (Brillante Jr.), Brillante Jr. (Tonalli), leaving Tonalli as the sole survivor and moving team Mexico City into the finals.
5) Averno, Euforia, Mephisto b Ángel de Oro, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja  
13:05

I presume that CMLL has the Torneo de Novatos guys working through their matches in the week leading up to it, because this was a really well-laid-out match that tried to give a moment for everyone. That meant we saw the best of everyone or the best of what they are at the stage. It wasn’t perfect (there was a couple of crash and burns on dives) but it was very exciting and a lot better than anyone could’ve reasonably hoped for. A side effect of a tourist base is having a whole bunch of new people does spectacular spots get over quickly because they’re all new people if you don’t follow lucha libre. The crowd never got into the Mexico City versus Comarca Lagunera aspect, but they did care about the last few minutes intensely. Brillante Jr. and Tonalli got a bunch of time as the final two and really shined, with guys like Vegas and the Misterio brothers doing well earlier. Brillante Jr. notably did some old (his uncle) La Sombra spots, and the announcer shouted out Manny Andrade both here and on Informa earlier in the week. This was good out of your way to see good, and it bodes well for the rest of this tournament.

It was an overall good night. The main event was better than it seemed like it was going to be, the women’s match was fun, the opener was a decent for an Ola Negra match. Virus/Blue Panther felt like the pacing was off but it was still enjoyable. Virus gets another singles match against either Satanico or Black Tiger.

CMLL (SAT) 02/25/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, El Unvierasl]
1) Full Metal & Mercurio b Acero & Aéreo  
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Skadi b Hera, Metálica, Olympia  
3) Rugido b Espíritu Negro [lightning]  
8 minutes. Espiritu Negro appeared to sprain his left ankle after a late dive.
4) Arlequín, Furia Roja (Jalisco), Guerrero de la Muerte b El Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin 
Occidente Tag Team champions Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte, defeated Mexico City tag champs Robin and Hombre Bala Jr., unmasked them, and challenged them to a tag title match
5) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Guerrero Maya Jr., Hijo de Octagón, Panterita del Ring Jr. 
Hijo de Octagon suffered an injury early on.
6) Blue Panther, Octagón, Valiente b Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Stuka Jr.  

This show got extra attention because Octagon was returning to this arena for the first time since 1992. He did the usual “Leaving [for AAA] was the worst decision of my life, this place is my home” speech to the press after the match.

Hijo de Octagon was stretchered out, and said he suffered a knee injury the next day. I’m not sure the severity. Valiente also may have been hurt; he was pulled from all lineups on Monday afternoon.

The Jalisco/Mexico City booking is logical if still a bit surprising.

CMLL (SUN) 02/26/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia b Angelito & Kaligua
2) Amapola, Stephanie Vaquer, Tiffany b La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi
3) Arlequín (Jalisco), Furia Roja (Jalisco), Guerrero de la Muerte (Jalisco) b Astral, Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial
4) Magnus b Dark Panther [lightning]
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black b Felino, Felino Jr., Misterioso Jr.
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón b Dragón Rojo Jr., Mephisto, Stuka Jr.
Blue Panther replaced Hijo de Octagon (injured the night before)

Magnus beating Dark Panther is a bit of a surprise.

Coming up this week:

Today’s Puebla show may be building up something with Gran Guerrero and Atlantis or Sagrado and Rey Bucanero.

Tuesday’s Arena Mexico show has the Guadalajara/Puebla Torneo de Escuelas semifinal.

CMLL (TUE) 02/28/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Ponzoña Jr. vs Carlo Roggi, Destello, Destructor
2) Demonio Maya, Gallero, Nitro vs Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
3) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
4) Brillante Jr., Cachorro, Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Barboza, Draego, Persa
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Leo, Omar Brunetti, Principe Daniel
6) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis

That’s a non-title main event. It may not even be the main event; the similar match was listed as semi-main last week and ended up much earlier. Still, it’s CMLL trying different things during Fantastica Mania season.

And beyond. The 03/21 show here will be their Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show honoring Irma Gonzalez, and it will also include a 12 team tournament to decide Occidente women’s tag team championship. The description says it’s the road to titles, so probably not the whole tournament on that show. It’s probably the first-ever champions, but our knowledge of those Occidente championship is far from complete.

CMLL (FRI) 03/03/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio, Minos, Pierrothito
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
CMLL debut of La Catalina
3) Virus vs ? [lightning]
winner of Tuesday’s match
4) Futuro, Max Star, Neón, Príncipe, Tonalli, Vegas vs T2-1, T2-2, T2-3, T2-4, T2-5, T2-6 [Torneo de Escuelas, final]
CDMX vs winner of Tuesday’s match
5) Soberano Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario [lightning]
6) Ángel de Oro, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles]

Fantastica Mania ends and the big names are back to work. The four guys on Wednesday’s All Star Festival show all right at it (and that’ll be Soberano’s third singles match in five days.) Satanico previously said he’d like a singles match with Virus and he’ll probably get it.

Note that La Catalina says she will wrestle unmasked, though she’s appeared only masked so far in CMLL presss. Catalina, on Informa, mentioned she thought she was done with wrestling post-WWE and it was her father who encouraged her to keep at it, going as far as to buy her plane ticket to Mexico.

Zocalo has an interview with Zacarias. He talks about coming to Mexico City as a luchador, starting out poor, gaining a lot of fame when introduced as a character, and both the new money and the fame going to his head. He credits Mr. Niebla, who was dealing with his own alcoholism, as mentoring him to get his life under better control.

Ex-CMLL luchadora Mystique is on a list of the six Mexicans who make the most on OnlyFans. She has 6,000 subscribers to her $20/month page.

Fantastica Mania

CMLL , NJPW (SUN) 02/26/2023 Mahuhari Messe International Confernece Hall, Chiba, Japan [CMLL, NJPW]
1) Hijo del Villano III & SHO b Ryohei Oiwa & Tiger Mask
6:40. Sho hit Oiwa with a wrench to set up his finish. Villano III again went after Tiger Mask’s mask
2) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi b Master Wato, Okumura, YOH
8:09. Cavernaria on Okumura
3) Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito b Capitán Suicida & Kosei Fujita
5:55. Takahashi submitted Fujita.
4) Douki, Hechicero, Templario b El Desperado, Místico, Soberano Jr.
15:30. DOUKI beat Soberano with a Skayde Special to everyone’s shock.
5) Magia Blanca & Volador Jr. b Dulce Gardenia & Rey Cometa [3rd place]
14:23. Magia Blanca defated Rey Cometa with a Magia Driver (middle rope fireman’s carry bomb)
6) Atlantis Jr. & Último Guerrero b Bushi & Titán [final]
16:16. Atlantis Jr. pinned Bushi after a frog splash, after having trouble with an Atlantida a moment prior.

DOUKI beating Soberano Jr. was played up as a big deal. Felt like something that may come up later; maybe we’ll see it again in the BOSJ.

This was the best show of the non-Korakuen Hall portion of the tour, easily. The fourth match was Great, just everyone hitting on all cylinders. (The slightest bit of Templario/Soberano madness made me wish this tour had much more.) The two tournament matches had good effort, even if the results were slightly more shaky. Atlantis Jr. and BUSHI losing it on the Atlatnida finish cooled off the match well, though Atlantis Jr. is better than most by just doing a couple more spots for a different finish.

Roberto López Olvera and Hechicero (for the last two matches) were good. I had no problem with the Japanese commentary but this soundtrack felt more at home. They did well on Monday too.

CMLL , NJPW (MON) 02/27/2023 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan [NJPW] Attendance: 1384
1) Douki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru b Kosei Fujita & Rey Cometa
5:18. Kanemaru beat Fujita.
2) Master Wato & Tiger Mask b Gedo & Hijo del Villano III
4:32. Wato beat Gedo.
3) Último Guerrero b Capitán Suicida
10:17.
4) Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito b Bárbaro Cavernario, El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi
9:57. Naito defeated Barbaro Cavernario and stole Taguchi’s foam keyboard. Naito returned Taguchi’s mask and foam keyboard in the interview area.
5) Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Okumura b Dulce Gardenia, Magia Blanca, Místico
13:43. Hechicero defeated Magia Blanca. Okumura attacked Dulce Gardenia post match to build up their match, and Mistico and Atlantis Jr. briefly got physical as well.
6) Volador Jr. b Templario
14:24.
7) Titán b Soberano Jr. [CMLL WELTER]
12:04. 7th defense

I had sky-high expectations for the main event so I was a little unfairly disappointed when Titan got the Mutalock (which he seems to be calling “Llave Inmortal”) for the win; it felt like they could’ve gone three or four more minutes. It was still great, and the idea was they both destroyed themselves taking big risks (including Titan missing a top rope double stomp to the floor) that they really couldn’t do more, or even stand after it was done. Volador & Templario was the big move exhibition you’re used to seeing from Volador on these shows. Capitan Suicida/Ultimo Guerrero had some good back and forth and Suicida looking spectacular before he started to fail prey to UG’s corner moves of doom. Suicida got enough that he looked like he could be someone, which was the hope. The LIJ match had a lot of comedy, the fifth match was going along very well until Magia Blanca slipped and spiraled a bit in the last 30 seconds, and the first two matches weren’t much. It’s definitely worth your time to watch this show from the third match on, and it’s still available on NJPW World for free.

Korakuen Hall seems to be seating less than it did for these tours three years ago. It looked like all the seats were occupied but also that there were fewer of them out there than 2020; the attendance total being about 200 down from similar shows on that tour makes sense. I’m not sure if that’s a permanent change or a lingering COVID restriction.

CMLL , NJPW (TUE) 02/28/2023 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1) Kosei Fujita & Magia Blanca vs Capitán Suicida & Yotu Nakashima
2) Tiger Mask vs Hijo del Villano III
3) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Rey Cometa, Ryohei Oiwa, Satoshi Kojima vs Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán
4) Dulce Gardenia vs Okumura
5) Soberano Jr. vs Hechicero
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Master Wato, Último Guerrero vs El Desperado, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
7) Místico vs Atlantis Jr.

The tour closes with Tuesday morning with the biggest match of the tour. Soberano/Hechicero should be fun. The opener is interesting: someone has to get the win but it’s not at all clear who it will be.

(Remember, if you’re a NJPW World subscriber, you probably need to watch this live if you’re going to get it watched prior to the month ticking over and paying an extra month for the service.)

The 03/01 All Star Festival also announced names for it’s all junior wrestler show. This will air on NJPW World as a bonus PPV (27 USD) and does not come as part of the the monthly subscription. Three matches involve CMLL luchadors:

• Taiji Ishimori (NJPW) vs Soberano Jr (CMLL) vs Shun Skywalker (Dragon Gate) vs Ninja Mack (NOAH) vs YO-HEY (NOAH)
• Mistico (CMLL), Billy Ken Kid (Osaka Pro), Alejandro (NOAH) & Gurukun Mask (Ryukyu Dragon) vs Dragon Kid (Dragon Gate), BUSHI (NJPW), Atlantis Jr. (CMLL) & Black Mensore (AJPW)
• El Desperado (NJPW) & Volador Jr. (CMLL) vs El Lindaman (GLEAT) & Yuuki Ueno (DDT) vs Los Japones Del Mal (DOUKI (NJPW) & HANAOKA (SECRET BASE))

Card order will be determined the date of the show. The lineup is interesting enough where I’m at least considering watching it. Unlikely but better than the no chance it had before. It is surprising Titan didn’t end up on this show.

AAA

AAA aired Rey de Reyes part 1 this week. I don’t really have any intelligent thoughts on the quality of the matches; on a pain scale of 1-10, this episode was a 7 or 8 dealing with finding a working AAA stream and getting usable video to upload on the Google Drive. I did end up with the complete video of the matches and I think I’m in a better shape for next week, but it didn’t leave much time actually to pay attention to the wrestling.

The one bit of news was Puma King starting a feud with Negro Casas on commentary and then costing him his Rey de Reyes match. An earlier video established Sam Adonis & Puma King were still a team, even if we haven’t seen them as one in quite a while. It left me wondering if the Adonis/Psycho Clown feud will be Adonis/Puma vs Casas/Psycho feud and double apuesta down the road.

(It may be the plan and never end up there, because plans change a lot. Using a weapon was against the rules last taping, this taping Pagano hit Aramis in the head with the chair and the announcers didn’t even cover for it by saying it was no-DQ. Ideas come and go)

The other lesser thing is Sam Adonis mentioned he didn’t make it to Merida until partway through the first match. The opening in-ring we saw was Psycho Clown getting interrupted by Mecha Wolf, and maybe he was a fill in for Adonis. La Rebellion would’ve made sense for that segment anyway and so AAA could’ve have just picked someone who was already going to be out there, but it’s notable they trusted MechaWolf in that spot.

AAA says they have announcements about the 04/16 TripleMania Monterrey show today at 5 pm. It seems a little too soon for a full card, but maybe a match or two. AAA also may need to address how they’re handling Pagano in the TripleMania tournament if his surgery will keep him out longer six weeks. (There were fans definitely hoping for LA Park to replace him as Rush’s partner.) I’ll have an additional post if it’s big enough news.

The Cancun-based Luchatitlan project, with AAA involvement, is on target for an opening the end of March.

AEW announced Komander will debut for the promotion this upcoming Wednesday as part of their Face of the Revolution ladder match. The winner will get an AEW World Title shot. Komander is almost certainly not winning, but has a real chance to impress in this match.

Komander showing up in AEW sure seemed like maybe there had been some fence-mending going on between AAA & AEW after things seemed to break down last year. Those hopes may be premature. AEW never referenced Komander as from AAA in their announcements. AAA didn’t mention Komander’s appearance in AEW until the next day, bringing up on social media as his match was airing for their promotion. There’s something more there.

I don’t believe Komander is actually signed to AEW; it’s likely a per night deal (and like Bandido, it can quickly turn into a full time deal if Komander wows AEW.) For what it’s worth, I don’t think Komander is signed to AAA either. I believe Komander is still under the KAOZ Lucha Libre contract he signed back in December 2020, and AAA couldn’t sign him even if they wanted until whenever that one ends. I have questioned the relevance of those KAOZ deals but I’ve been told they are real and last some substantial amount of time.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 02/26/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Zona Ruda]
1) Legado & Rey Eclipse b Águila Oriental & Ajolotl 
2) Baby Star & Hades (Indie) b Kenji & Satania 
3) Jhon Tito, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly b Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Rey Halcón 
4) Luka & Super Mario AK47 b Corsario Negro & Enfermero Del Mal 
5) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko, Wesley Pipes b Eli Isom, Hell Boy, Hijo del Alebrije, Puma de Oro 
Eli Isom debut. Team Hip Hop Man demanded a EDM trios title match and will get it, facing Las Shotas.
6) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Paymon b Imposible, Maniacop 360, Rey Espectro 

I didn’t have time to catch much of this. I saw some clips. The clips were not good.

I think they debuted the “Super Mario AK47” name a week early; the idea was he quit being an official last week, his new friend (giant stuffed animal?) Luka gave him mystery new gear as a replacement, and this week he showed up dressed as Super Mario.

IWRG (THU) 03/02/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fussion vs Nubilus [IWRG TRYOUT, 8F]
2) Espartano vs Samuray Azteca [IWRG TRYOUT, 8F]
3) Riesgo vs Centurion [IWRG TRYOUT, 8F]
4) Eddie Rodríguez vs Mandibula Jr. [IWRG TRYOUT, 8F]
5) Rey Minos vs Dariux, Ángel De Plata [IWRG TRYOUT, 8F]
6) Gannicus vs Vendaval [IWRG TRYOUT, 8F]
7) Amnesia vs Golden Power [IWRG TRYOUT, 8F]
8) Haziel vs Kariel, Garrobo Punk Jr. [IWRG TRYOUT, 8F]
9) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Paymon vs Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko [EdM Trios]
1st defense

I like the idea of pairing up the tryout matches (largely going to draw friends and family) with cult favorites Las Shotas.

I’m assuming the top eight from this tryout go onto the finals, but I haven’t seen that actually said. Centvrion is obviously good enough to be on IWRG shows, Eddie Rodriguz from San Luis Potosi is the best of the guys I didn’t know before (but I still haven’t gone back and seen show #1.) Everyone who advanced actually made it to this show.

Other News

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Fresero Jr. lost his hair to Cuatrero in the finals of the NGD/Negocio Tramuado cage match on Saturday. He and Demonio Infernal were the two only two putting hair on the line, and Fresero Jr. was maybe a bit too obvious in talking about how all his family and friends would be there. They did a finish where Fresero grabbed the ref’s hand to stop the count before three, and the ref simply used his other arm to count the pin. This appeared to draw a close to sell out of Arena Lopez Mateos (in the 2,000 range) and the Mas Lucha subscriber stream seemed decently active when I was in there. (The “kickoff” free portion actually has more matches than the free show.)

Pimpinela Escarlata took Zumbido’s hair in Saltillo, as part of the KAOZ/Crash show on Saturday.

The Crash show main event changed before the show, then changed again during the show. Rey Escorpion working the main event of a rival to EMW (AAA’s affiliate) looked surprising on paper and didn’t happen. The Crash instead ran an angle where Mesias and DMT Azul teamed up, with LA Park pairing with local Arandu instead. It ended in a DQ and DMT Azul/LA Park challenges. No explanation seemed to be given about Escorpion. The Crash had announced Dralistico was missing the show (and he did end up on the ROH tapings.)

In Guadalajara on Sunday, Yemaya unmasked Lady Frenic. The unmasked Lady Frenic is Miriam Jazmín González Virruet, 18, 4 years a wrestler.

Near Mexico City on Sunday, Princesa Nocturna took Guerrero Nocturno’s hair in a four-way also including Diosa Nix and Uzumaki. Princesa Nocturna is Guerrero Nocturno’s daughter.

Chihuahua area luchador Ave Salvaje (Armando Flores Salazar) reportedly passed away over the weekend. I have him active between as recently 2022 and as far back as 2015, though he probably goes back farther. I haven’t seen a cause of death or an age.

Dralistico, Rush and Metalik (Mascara Dorada) all appeared on the ROH tapings this Saturday and Sunday. And maybe Monday for as long as they were going. It seemed like Metalik may have a match set up for the 03/31 Supercard of Honor show. It’s possible the other two have a match too, it’s just less clear from what I’ve read.

A Blue Demon exhibit opened in Monterrey Sunday at the Metropolitan Museum and will be free to the public until May.

Big Lucha says they’ll be working with Christian Cymet and appear at La Mole Comiccon between March 17th and the 19th. It reads like signing/merch and not matches.

Former ROH star Cheeseburger is coming to Mexico in March. He’s already announced for the 03/17 LuchandoLibre show in Tulancingo.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 02/24/2023 Arena México
1) Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Brillante Jr., Gran Jefe, Hijo de Stuka Jr., Insólito (Laguna), Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro vs Futuro, Max Star, Neón, Príncipe, Tonalli, Vegas [Torneo de Escuelas, semifinal]
participating teams determined on Tuesday
4) Virus vs Blue Panther [Torneo de Escuelas, lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto

The Torneo de Escuelas starts off with the two least experienced teams at this level. Some of them have turned up in Guadalajara in recent weeks, but this will be their first match in Arena Mexico. Cross your fingers. Virus/Blue Panther should be reliably great.

Elsewhere, the main event seems like just a solid match to kill some time. The women’s matches are building towards Copa Irma Gonzalez; they’ll be back with another trios match. Opener should a solid match. It’s a usual TicketMaster live show.

CMLL (SUN) 02/26/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito & Kaligua vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi vs Amapola, Stephanie Vaquer, Tiffany
3) Astral, Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial vs Arlequín (Jalisco), Furia Roja (Jalisco), Guerrero de la Muerte (Jalisco)
4) Dark Panther vs Magnus [lightning]
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Felino, Felino Jr., Misterioso Jr.
6) Atlantis, El Hijo de Octagón, Octagón vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Mephisto, Stuka Jr.

Normal Atlantis with the Octagons main event. Guadalajara guys seem to be finishing up for now here.

CMLL (MON) 02/27/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Dark Soul & Rencor vs Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika
2) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal, Mercurio, Pierrothito
3) Black Tiger, Millenium, Rey Samuray vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Raider
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
5) Atlantis, Averno, Stigma vs Gran Guerrero, Panterita del Ring, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]

Gran Guerrero unmasked Atlantis last week so that may be setting up a singles match. Same thing with Bucanero/Sagrado in the semimain. Raider may be in fill in Ola Negra duty.

CMLL (TUE) 02/28/2023 Arena México
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Satánico vs Black Tiger [lightning]
4) Adrenalina (Jalisco), Ángel Rebelde, Crixus, Explosivo (Jalisco), Fantástico, Vaquero Jr. (Jalisco) vs Hijo de Centella Roja, Millenium, Multy, Perverso, Prayer, Rey Samuray [Torneo de Escuelas, semifinal]
Guadalajara vs Puebla
5) Atlantis, Esfinge, Valiente vs Euforia, Mephisto, Niebla Roja

The second semifinal of the Torneo de Escuelas, plus some usual Tuesday matches. Prior to the building up to this tournament, Satanico and Black Tiger last wrestled in 2001.

La Seductora, in an interview with Box y Lucha, announced she has left CMLL and was retiring from lucha libre.  She last wrestled on February 5th. Seductora, who will turn 50 in October, had a bad case of COVID in 2022 and says she’s diabetic. The combination of both have left her unable to train and she did not feel comfortable continuing. There were a couple of matches in late 2022 where it looked like she was about to pass out near the end. I haven’t had a chance to do more than skim through the interview, but it sounded like it was her call to retire, rather than CMLL declaring her medically unable to continue.

Seductora had been with CMLL regularly since 2006, usually as a ruda who didn’t challenge for many titles. Her best match was the 2014 2v2 mask/hair match, with her and Princesa Blanca losing to Marcela & Princesa Sugehit. Even then, Seductora wasn’t the star – it was really more about long time team Blanca & Sugehit splitting up (and Blanca quitting the promotion), and they needed another masked woman to balance the sides. La Seductora was always around as a depth piece, rarely focused, and rarely had the performances to deserve more of a focus. Seductora had just five singles matches in her sixteen year run with CMLL and did not win one, including another singles hair match to Sugehit in 2018. (She went to a double countout with Sanelly in 2019, which reads now like someone lost track of the count.) Seductora lasted 16 years, so there were probably qualities she brought to lucha libre or behind the scenes that we didn’t see just watching the shows.

CMLL announced Sumie Sakai and La Catalina as the final two participants for Copa Irma Gonzalez. Catalina, an Chilean who wrestled for WWE, was recently seen in Big Lucha. Sakai is a Japanese-born wrestler who moved to the US in the 2000s. She was a regular part of Ring of Honor in the last few years of their previous ownership, and helped with the foreign wrestlers behind the scenes during that period. Catalina will debut on the 03/03 Arena Mexico show, while it sounded like Sakai may be in closer to Homenaje a Dos Leyendas.

Those two names being added suggest Dark Silueta has not recovered yet to return. It also means the El Planchitas story from a few weeks ago claiming Faby Apache and CMLL had a falling out appears to be accurate. The timing of Zeuxis’ return felt like a replacement for Dalys, but it fits more that she’s being used to take Faby Apache’s spot against Marcela. Faby Apache and Marcela having just one match, going to a double countout where Apache looked like the best ruda in Arena Mexico, is a disappointment.  Faby’s correct to leave if CMLL was trying to control who she could work with on non-CMLL shows, and hopefully CMLL will work with her again down the road.

El Planchitas has two stories this week. One is a minor and unsurprising one: CMLL was paid “more than 400,000 pesos” for the Netflix/Karate Kid/KeMonito commercial last year and little of that made it to the wrestlers. His other story is a claim TV Azteca reached out to CMLL about jumping to their station, with the added bonus of running some of Azteca’s boxing events in CMLL arenas. CMLL rejected the offer. That makes sense to me. El Planchitas’ story is Azteca isn’t happy with AAA and is looking for other options, but Azteca’s also airing AAA past midnight most weeks – there’s no sense putting your TV where no one is going to see it unless it comes with a big increase in a rights fee.

Irma Gonzalez and her daughter Irma Aguilar did press to promote the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas shows.

Fantastica Mania

CMLL , NJPW (THU) 02/23/2023 KBS Hall, Kyoto, japan [CMLL, NJPW] Attendance: 765
1) Douki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru b Rey Cometa & Yuto Nakashima
4:47. Kanemaru beat Cometa
2) Gedo & Taiji Ishimori b Capitán Suicida & Ryohei Oiwa
6:11. Ishimori submitted Oiwa.
3) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hijo del Villano III, Okumura b Dulce Gardenia, Master Wato, Tiger Mask
7:53. Villano pulled Tiger Mask’s mask and cradled him for the win.
4) Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán b Kosei Fujita, Ryusuke Taguchi, Soberano Jr., YOH
14:24. Titan defeated Fujita.
5) El Desperado, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Último Guerrero b Hechicero, Magia Blanca, SHO [Relevos Increíbles]
13:11. Tanahashi beat Hechicero.
6) Atlantis Jr. & Templario b Místico & Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
11:16. Templario beat Volador Jr.

The main event was the best match of the first two nights of the tournament. You get a lot of “Young Lions who are there to try hard and lose miserably” and “Taguchi goofing around for a while” in these preliminary tag matches. The main event was the first pure CMLL match and it was the best total effort of these shows.

Atlantis Jr. is booked on the rudo side for these matches but he’s working 100% tecnico and acting like it before and after the match. He and Ultimo Guerrero are playing up tensions too; even though this tour is booked as if they’re still allies, they’re going with the current CMLL status quo. Atlantis Jr. spoke English after the Wednesday main event like someone’s who spent some time living in the United States and speaking it regularly.

Rey Cometa and DOUKI ran in to each other in the interview area and ended up challenging each other to a singles match. That’d be a fun addition to one of the last two days, though it’s unlikely to happen. Tanahashi and Templario did some teasing of a singles match on the next day and that’s surely not happening on this tour.

CMLL , NJPW (FRI) 02/24/2023 Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium, Osaka, Japan [NJPW]
1) Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask b Gedo, Hijo del Villano III, Taiji Ishimori
4:39. Wato beat Gedo.
2) Capitán Suicida & YOH b Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito
7:07. Takahashi beat Suicida
3) Bárbaro Cavernario, SHO, Templario b Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kosei Fujita, Okumura
8:33. Sho beat Fujita
4) El Desperado, Místico, Soberano Jr. b Douki, Hechicero, Yoshinobu Kanemaru
14:32. Soberano defeated DOUKI.
5) Bushi & Titán b Dulce Gardenia & Rey Cometa [semifinal]
12:41. Titan pinned Dulce.
6) Atlantis Jr. & Último Guerrero b Magia Blanca & Volador Jr. [semifinal]
13:57. Ultimo Guerrero defeated Magia Blanca.

Only saw the first half of this show so far. You don’t need to see the first half of this show. In the opener. Villano III unmasked Tiger Mask after the match, as he did to win the night prior. Hirmou won with a strange pumphandle cradle that may be important to NJPW fans later.

The tournament’s gone to form so far. I think I need to turn Desperado green; he was explaining to Ultimo Guerrero that he’s a good guy now after Thursday’s match. Cavernario also declared he was back in shape, so he knows what people have been saying about him.

CMLL , NJPW (SUN) 02/26/2023 Mahuhari Messe International Confernece Hall, Chiba, Japan
1) Ryohei Oiwa & Tiger Mask vs Hijo del Villano III & SHO
2) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi vs Master Wato, Okumura, YOH
3) Capitán Suicida & Kosei Fujita vs Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito
4) El Desperado, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Douki, Hechicero, Templario
5) Dulce Gardenia & Rey Cometa vs Magia Blanca & Volador Jr. [3rd place]
6) Atlantis Jr. & Último Guerrero vs Bushi & Titán [final]

I really had thought about the third place match until now, that could be pretty good. Match 4 looks promising as well. My plan is to watch this one live so you’ll have a lot of tweets to scroll past in the morning. It starts at 3:30 AM CT. Spanish commentary starts with this show.

CMLL , NJPW (MON) 02/27/2023 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1) Kosei Fujita & Rey Cometa vs Douki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
2) Master Wato & Tiger Mask vs Gedo & Hijo del Villano III
3) Capitán Suicida vs Último Guerrero
4) Bárbaro Cavernario, El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi vs Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito
5) Dulce Gardenia, Magia Blanca, Místico vs Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Okumura
6) Volador Jr. vs Templario
7) Titán vs Soberano Jr. [CMLL WELTER]
7th defense

This is the free show, also starting at 3:30 AM CT. Soberano may have picked up a minor arm injury but both he and Titan seem really focused on making that main event something big.

Mistico joined Soberano Jr., Atlantis Jr., Volador Jr. as announced for the 03/01 All Star Junior Festival. The card is scheduled to be announced on Saturday.

AAA

AAA TripleMania Tijuana will now take place July 15th in Estadio Chevron, the local baseball stadium. Tickets are on sale. Ticket prices are the same exact range as TripleMania Monterrey, from 250 to 3000. They’re both baseball stadium shows, and it looks like the same set up. There’s about 17,000 tickets on sale.

This show was originally scheduled as June 17th in the soccer stadium, and tickets never went on sale. No reason has been given for the change. This change would be a massive source of confusion and discussion for any other major wrestling company; for AAA it is simply Friday.

AAA this Saturday will have the first half of Rey de Reyes on Space this Saturday. This week is the four men’s semifinals, with the rest of the show next week. AAA did not air a new episode last weekend. That’s happened before and Space has doubled up on episodes the following week. No such luck this time.

FITE officially added the Lucha Libre World Cup to their schedule. It’s a 23 USD show, same as Night of Champions.  It’ll be in English and Spanish; I believe the English commentary is remote. I’m assuming that’s just going to be the same price for all AAA PPVs this year. It seems a touch expensive but I don’t think the price is going to be any big deterrent. It’s only the people who are getting every AAA PPV minus those who just absolutely don’t want to deal with Alberto who is going to buy this. Maybe AAA will pick up a few more buys based off fans of some of the outside talent, but they can also charge about what they want and get about the same amount of people. I don’t sense a large number of casual fans for this one, even with all the outside names; maybe it’ll pick up later but there’s little talk about these shows at the moment.

(CMLL and AAA both having major PPVs on the same weekend is a weird bit of timing, something I’m not sure either company realized when they booked those dates.)

Pagano, in the latest part of his injury story, claims he has “spinal cord trauma” and “spinal column compression” from the martinete, and had spinal decompression surgery. His photos indicate the surgery was on his lower back. Someone decided to realize he needs to take photos in a neck brace if he’s going to sell this, though not for all the photos. He left the hospital on Thursday. I think Pagano and AAA have gone so far that there is a real injury he’s got addressed, but a pre-existing one and not from the two mystery people.

The World is a Vampire Festival next weekend is expecting 50,000 people. Depending on how you want to count it, that’ll be the most attended wrestling show this year.

04/01 The Wrld on Lucha will have Hijo de Vikingo vs Laredo Kid. That match has been among the best matches of the year in Mexico the last two times it happens.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (SAT) 03/18/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Reiyel vs Andy Panda, Brujo De Iztapalapa
2) Cometa Maya, Radioactivo, Sussy Love vs El Machote, Kendy, Máscara Año 2000 Jr.
3) Black Skyde, Forneo, Skayde, Vórtize vs Elipse, Iku, Orbita, Vengador
4) Gravity & Potro vs Jack Evans & Killer Destro and Mr. Win & Viajero
5) El Bandido & Rey Horus vs Bestia 666 & Damián 666
6) Trauma I & Trauma II vs Emperador Azteca & Flamita

A show. I’m not interested in the Traumas here, though at least they didn’t end up doing the Flamita/Bandido tag team again. I forgot the previous show included Damian 666 attacking Bandido and that’s followed up here. No idea who Killer Destro is.

Action Jackson announcing he left the promotion and then Bendito and Elemental disappearing is suspicious.

IWRG

I watched the Tryout again. I’m going to have to go back to watch the first week matches to be a Tryout completist some time this weekend. Thursday’s show had only three matches, with about half the wrestlers on both teams dropping out before they got to the matches. Team Hijo de Canis Lupus members Rey Minos and Rey Espartano (on a tiebreaker) advanced, as did Team Imposible members Centvrión and Ángel De Plata (Puebla). They’ll run a live semifinal show next Thursday with the 18 or so people left, and then a final the week after.

Mas Lucha

AVE (SAT) 02/25/2023 Arena Lopez Mateos
1) Drago Kid (AAA) vs Íkaro, Calibus, Lunatik Extreme, Cometa, Blue Win, Manny Hernández, Gasparín Jr., Águila Guerrera Jr., Lunatik Fly, Chicanito [Copa Rey del Aire]
2) Ovett Jr. & Venganza vs Huitzil & Tonatiuh and Epitafio & Leviatham and Belial & Impulso [Copa AVE]
3) Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Capo del Norte, Capo del Sur, Pistolero Negro and Dr. Karonte Jr., Enfermero Del Mal, Gran Markus Ng
4) Alpha Wolf & Dragón Bane vs Aramis & Toxin
5) The Monsther & Tóxico vs Gallego & Mr. Cóndor
6) Rey Espectro vs Dralistico (???) vs Mr. Águila
7) Sansón vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Fresero Jr., Demonio Infernal, Trauma I, Trauma II [mask, hair]

This is the subscriber show this weekend. I might not have any interest in the main event, but they’ve built that up into a big deal that this should be an easy sell out. They probably don’t need as many people in the undercard with it, that’s just how indie shows are booked anyway.

Mas Lucha (FRI) 03/17/2023 Arena Azteca Budokan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México
1) Escapulario & Séptimo Elemento vs Dark Mayem & Rey Eclipse
2) Alas de Oro & Alas De Plata vs Kauris & Leo Cristiani
3) Belial vs Camaleón, Dante, Dinastía, Dinamic Black, Mr. Leo, Saruman, Último Legendario
4) Kundra vs Halloween Jr.
5) Ludark Shaitan vs Ayako Hamada, Sakura (Chihuahua), Cinthia Moreno [PDM WOMEN]
6) Groon XXX vs Elemental
7) Bestia 666, Damián 666, Joe Lider, Lizmark Jr. vs Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Poool

This is the next premium show, a tribute to Perros del Mal. I’m not sure I ever expected Gronda vs Elemental.

Other Notes

Dralistico is off tonight’s The Crash show, with DMT Azul replacing him. He’s still listed as working in AVE on Saturday. Dralistico earlier hinted he was working the ROH tapings this weekend, so he’s probably off both shows. As people pointed out to me on Twitter, this big news here was The Crash announcing a change before the show.

Internacional Pantera (Pantera II) is very upset at a wrestler who’s been billing himself as ‘Pantera Jr.’ that’s not one of his two sons. Like there may be a fight if Pantera II finds him. What happens a lot in Mexico is someone else starts using the same name without knowing it, but this Pantera Jr. seems to be dressing like Pantera II and passing himself off as related.

The Wrestling Observer posted its readership awards for 2022 this morning. There’s not a lot notable in there, with Mexican wrestling being ignored in most of the categories. Hijo del Vikingo won best flying wrestler and Mexico MVP. As great as Hijo del Vikingo is, he headlined one major AAA show without the mask tournament and the show drew terribly. But, again, no one pays attention to the business of lucha libre outside of a handful of diehard lucha libre fans, and certainly not the vast majority of people who are voting for these awards. It’s problematic only in that the English speaking history of professional wrestling gets derived from these publications, and so Mexican wrestling is cut out of that history, but the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is also the only place of it’s sort that covers lucha libre beyond simple results or cribbing off whatever I wrote on Twitter that day. It’s not a new problem.

KJZZ visits the lucha libre art exhibit at Arizona State University.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 02/20/2023 Arena Puebla [Arena Puebla, El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) King Jaguar & Rey Apocalipsis b Centella Roja & Meyer
2) Black Tiger, Perverso, Prayer b Arlequín (Jalisco), Furia Roja (Jalisco), Guerrero de la Muerte (Jalisco) 
Prayer and Perverso replaced Asturiano and Siki Osama. Said to be the best match of the night.
3) Princesa Sugehit b Amapola [CMLL WOMEN]
7th defense. El Sol del Puebla says some fans were unhappy with the quality of the match
4) Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Bucanero pinned Sagrado after an unmasking. Malditos attacked Bucanero after the match, which bled into the main event.
5) Atlantis, Rey Bucanero, Stigma DQ Gran Guerrero, Panterita del Ring Jr., Valiente [Relevos Increíbles] 
Panterita del Ring Jr. replaced his father, Rey Bucanero worked twice to replace Euforia (with the opposition beating him on the way out to explain why he was there.) Gran Guerrero unmasked Atlantis.

Porra Fresa said this was about a 94 minute show, which is quick even for CMLL. Not sure if Puebla is setting up a Bucanero/Sagrado title match or if they just needed a scenario to keep Bucanero out there for two matches. It seemed like a late change; even the Arena Puebla facebook video had the wrong people in the match.

CMLL (TUE) 02/21/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Apocalipsis & Cholo b Leono & Retro  
2) Acero, Fantasy, Último Dragóncito b Minos, Pequeño Polvora, Pierrothito  
Acero replaced Shockercito
3) Flyer b Luciferno [lightning]  
7:37.
4) Difunto, El Coyote, Pólvora b Pegasso, Robin, Stigma  
Panterita del Ring Jr. was booked here and in Guadalajara, CMLL updated the poster to list Astral, Robin ended up in the spot.
5) Blue Panther & Virus b Black Tiger & Satánico [Torneo de ESCUELAS, seeding]   
Worked as a fourway, stopping with two people left. Outcome determined matches for 02/24 and 02/28
6) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado   

This was the weakest Tuesday show of the year; not a great lineup but not a great effort either. The maestros match was the only one really worth watching.

The results set up the Torneo de Escuelas. Remember, this means a match between the students and a separate match between the maestros

• 02/24: Comarca Lagunera vs Ciudad de Mexico
• 02/28: Guadalajara vs Puebla
• 03/03: the winners face off in the final

Laguneras versus Guadalajara looks the most likely for the final. CMLL keeps making a point of saying Ultimo Guerrero is the coach of the Laguneros, and Blue Panther is only filling in for him while he’s in Japan. The only way Ultimo Guerrero can participate in this tournament is if his team makes the final, so that seems very likely. Guadalajara always does well in these.

Virus, Black Tiger and Satanico did interviews after the match. There’s been a repetitive/intensive interest from the lucha libre media about a female version of Los Infernales the last few years. I’m not really sure why; there are no women’s trios titles, it’s an idea without a purpose, but it keeps getting brought up. It of course, got brought up with Satanico here again. This time he said the version he’d like to see is Dark Silueta, Zeuxis and Guadalajara’s Valkiria, so it would be all his students. CMLL’s shown no interest in bringing in Valkiria from Guadalajara, not even using here when they’ve brought in other Guadalajara women for tournaments.

CMLL (TUE) 02/21/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Johnny Dinamo, Luminoso, Quka b Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Minotauro 
2) Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sexy Sol b Atenea, Gema Andrade, Misteriosa 
3) La Maligna, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b La Jarochita, Lluvia, Valkiria 
Zeuxis & Vaquer used the ropes to pin Lluvia & Jarochita, challenges followed
4) Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte b Asturiano, El Hijo Del Perverso, Siky Ozama 
5) Barboza, Draego, Persa b Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono 
6) Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr. b Ángel Rebelde, Averno, Bestia Negra [Relevos Increíbles] 

I only saw this when running through it for finishes (and I’m still not sure I got any changes correct.)  Crowd seemed into the main event. The tag title match is indeed coming and should be pretty good.

CMLL has a recap of Volador appearing on NJPW’s US show last Saturday. It’s only notable in that they list Voladors’s partners (Kushida, Kevin Knight, and the DKC) and not Rocky Romero’s partners (which included Mascara Dorada and upcoming World Cup participant Josh Alexander.) Dorada at least makes the photos.

CMLL (SAT) 02/25/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Full Metal & Mercurio
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Skadi vs Hera, Metálica, Olympia
3) Rugido vs Espíritu Negro [lightning]
4) El Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin vs Arlequín, Furia Roja (Jalisco), Guerrero de la Muerte
5) Guerrero Maya Jr., Hijo de Octagón, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
6) Blue Panther, Octagón, Valiente vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Stuka Jr.

This is Octagon’s first appearance in Arena Coliseo since March 23, 1992. (And there’s video of that.) He’s appeared in the other CMLL arenas but not this one since his occasional returns started. CMLL is making a bigger effort to dress up these Fantastica Mania opposite cards than in years past.

Arkalis is out of action after tearing an ACL in a match on 02/10. He says he’ll be undergoing surgery this week. That’s a long recovery.

Mexico City team member El Principe (ex-Emperador Brillante) did press earlier this week, revealing he’s the nephew of cult favorite Popitekus. He’s trained under Mr. Condor, Ultimo Guerrero and most recently Volador Jr.

Rocky Romero is scheduled to defend the (NWA) World Historic Welterweight Championship against Lince Dorado and Jake Crist on 03/04 for Wrestling Revolver in Clive, Iowa.

Lady Frost is wrestling in Pennsylvania on the day of Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, so she’s not one of the two Copa Irma Gonzalez surprises. There’s also no word when those names are coming.

No preview for CMLL Informa. I believe Alexis Salazar is the one who posts those, and he’s in Japan for those shows (as you can tell by all the videos getting posted on CMLL’s YouTube channel.) It”ll probably be on at 4 pm as usuaul.

Fantastica Mania

CMLL , NJPW (WED) 02/22/2023 Takamatsu City General Gymnasium 2, Kagawa, Japan [CMLL, NJPW World] Attendance: 768
1) Gedo & Taiji Ishimori b Capitán Suicida & Yuto Nakashima
4:43.
2) Douki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru b Magia Blanca & Ryohei Oiwa
7:03.
3) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hijo del Villano III, Okumura b Dulce Gardenia, Tiger Mask, YOH
7:57. Okumura pinned Dulce, said he wouldn’t lose to him in Tokyo
4) Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán b Kosei Fujita, Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Soberano Jr.
12:15. Titan won with a Mutalock on Fujitia.
5) Hechicero, SHO, Templario b El Desperado, Rey Cometa, Volador Jr.
10:36. Hechicero beat Cometa
6) Atlantis Jr. & Último Guerrero b Hiroshi Tanahashi & Místico [Relevos Increíbles]
11:01. Atlantida on Mistico.

What I learned today is NJPW World shows aren’t up immediately on VOD, at least on my phone, and if I get up and 6 AM to watch a show that started 4 AM, all I’m going to see is the announcers winding down without an option to rewind. The VOD takes a while to show up later. I’ve seen since the first half of the card so far, just standard warm up tag stuff. Atlantis Jr. thanked the crowd for coming out after the main event in English, which I can’t recall hearing him use before. Mistico wore a mask that had the Black Warrior design on the back as a tribute. Ring announcer Omar apparently confused YOH and SHO.

This next show is Thursday morning.

CMLL , NJPW (THU) 02/23/2023 KBS Hall, Kyoto, japan
1) Rey Cometa & Yuto Nakashima vs Douki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
2) Capitán Suicida & Ryohei Oiwa vs Gedo & Taiji Ishimori
3) Dulce Gardenia, Master Wato, Tiger Mask vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Hijo del Villano III, Okumura
4) Kosei Fujita, Ryusuke Taguchi, Soberano Jr., YOH vs Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán
5) El Desperado, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Último Guerrero vs Hechicero, Magia Blanca, SHO
6) Místico & Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr. & Templario [Relevos Increíbles]

KBS Hall might ring a bell; it’s the stained-glass wrestling arena. The show should look great.

They’ll also be in Osaka before the next news post

CMLL , NJPW (FRI) 02/24/2023 Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium, Osaka, Japan
1) Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask vs Gedo, Hijo del Villano III, Taiji Ishimori
2) Capitán Suicida & YOH vs Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito
3) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kosei Fujita, Okumura vs Bárbaro Cavernario, SHO, Templario
4) El Desperado, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Douki, Hechicero, Yoshinobu Kanemaru
5) Dulce Gardenia & Rey Cometa vs Bushi & Titán [semifinal]
6) Magia Blanca & Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr. & Último Guerrero [semifinal]

The factions tournament starts here. LIJ is the NJPW team and such are easy favorites to win. The other semifinal looks like Guerreros over Depreadores, but it’s always possible Atlantis Jr. and Ultimo Guerrero have some falling out.

FantasticaMania will be in Spanish after all. NJPW announced they’d broadcast the last three nights in Spanish. CMLL’s Roberto Lopez Olivera said he’d be part of the broadcast. Not sure if there’s more; it was just one Spanish announcer last time they did this for Fantastica Mania.

AAA

AAA announced Pagano had surgery on Monday, and was reported to be recovering Tuesday. Pagano posted a video from his hospital bed, where his neck has no brace. He definitely had surgery, but it probably was to one of his legs and the martinete was an angle just to write him out. (Why they didn’t do an injury angle to the thing he was getting operated is as mysterious as Pagano’s attackers.) AAA and Pagano haven’t given a timeline for his return; we don’t yet if this will affect his participation in the TripleMania tournament.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 02/26/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Oriental & Ajolotl vs Legado & Rey Eclipse
2) Baby Star & Hades (Indie) vs Kenji & Satania
3) Jhon Tito, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Rey Halcón
4) La Momia, Luka, Super Mario AK47 vs Corsario Negro, Drako, Enfermero Del Mal
5) Eli Isom, Hell Boy, Hijo del Alebrije, Puma de Oro vs Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko, Wesley Pipes
6) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Paymon vs Imposible, Maniacop 360, Rey Espectro

Usual bit of Sunday shows. Maniacop returned in El Protector and is back. Ex-ROH Eli Isom, who was around Big Lucha last June, is back in Mexico for a while, starting with this show. (That also means Isom isn’t on the relaunched ROH project at this point, a bit of a disappointment.) Wesley Pipes is so obscure that IWRG used a photo of ex-NXT wrestler Wesley Blake. I’m told there are worst ways a photo of the wrong Wesley Pipes could’ve gone.

Other

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

A Diosa Quetzal Go Fund Me page has been opened up to pay for her ACL surgery. The page says she he has no insurance, will not be able to wrestle until the knee is repaired, and is looking for $10,000 USD as a goal. Hugo Savinovich is listed as the person who is organizing the funding (and has the biggest donation); I was unaware of any connection between them. Quetzal often posts Instagram photos of herself on vacations, and there’s some fans questioning how she can afford those but ask others to pay for her surgery. So far, she’s gotten few donations – “Go Fund Me” style drives generally haven’t taken off in Mexico as in the US.

In an already-gone Instagram story, Action Jackson announced he’s left Big Lucha and anyone booking him should contact him directly. There was no indication on the show this past weekend that he was finishing up, and he’s still scheduled with the rest of Black Generation for GLEAT in a couple of months.

La Jornada has a series on lucha libre: the growth of the mask, a night at Arena Mexico, a profile of someone who started making masks during the pandemic, and a mask collector.

03/04 GCW (Atlantic City) has Hijo del Vikingo vs Alex Zayne.

03/09 NOAH has Alejandro, Yoshioka, and Yo-Hey vs Xtreme Tiger, Super Crazy and the debuting (ex-AAA) Lanzelot, who’s probably in on the Super Crazy recommendation. Lanzelot, then wrestling as “Eclipse” as part of a cross-promotion with TV Network Space, finished up with AAA at the end of 2019 and hasn’t wrestled much in the last few years.

Box y Lucha 3539 has the Copa Irma Gonzalez, Zeuxis, and the incredible pairs finals.

Dralistico appears booked for the ROH tapings this weekend.

SuperLuchas has a bio of Veracruz luchador El Exorcista.

Plan de Juego has a review of Lucha Memes Universal II show from last October.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 02/17/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del Ring, ESTO, Estrellas del Ring, Fuego en el Ring, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Mije b Átomo & Chamuel 
7:55
2) Diamond, Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. b Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor 
13:01. Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora 
12:07. Cancerberos took 2/3.
4) Marcela TLDRAW Zeuxis [lightning]  
neither woman was close to winning when they hit ten minutes
5) Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Titán b Gran Guerrero, Oráculo, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr.  
10:15. Straight falls. Romero beat Volador with a backcracker, then put a “Hijo de Azucar” shirt on him after teh match. Oraculo, Angel de Oro and Romero had issues after the match.
6) Averno & Místico b Soberano Jr. & Templario [Torneo Incredible de Parejas, final]  
21:03.

The tournament final was super heated. Soberano had his support but it was once again another loud (and big) Mistico crowd rooting for him to finish with the trophy. He did, cleanly. The match had a couple of moments that seemed not to go as planned but it was still very strong. The rest of the show was generally good.

On Saturday in NJPW, Rocky Romero did his best to avoid Volador Jr. in their atomicos match, and Volador brought up the hair match in a post match promo. Rocky Romero also appeared on Wrestling Observer Radio, which was primarily to hype that NJPW show and strayed into a decent amount of CMLL talk. Romero said he knew he’s been pushing the limits in CMLL (with stuff like the cake spot) and the big advantage of having a NJPW deal if he ever overstepped those limits, where a CMLL-only guy might not feel as comfortable as taking the same risks. Main eventing Homenaje a Dos Leyendas is a big honor for Romero. He’s not expecting to get those chances in NJPW at this point in his career, and so feels fortunate to earn that opportunity in Mexico. Romero talked up the main event and encouraged everyone to check out so strongly that I came away thinking there is a legitimate chance he is actually losing his hair. Win or loss, this is definitely one of the biggest matches of his life.

I’m still not definitely sure where Faby & CMLL have ended up, but Marcela getting a feud with Zeuxis suddenly is interesting in light of that murky situation. Zeuxis/Marcela going to a draw makes it feel like they’re trying to replace Faby/Marcela dynamic. We’ll find out eventually.

Still no idea when those last two names for Copa Irma Gonzalez are coming. I did notice Mercedes Mone (ex-WWE Sasha Banks) named dropped CMLL among NJPW affiliated companies in an interview with TV Insider this past week. I don’t think there’s even the slightest chance of Mone coming to Arena Mexico – CMLL is not paying the going rate for Mone and it really doesn’t make sense for them to do so, so it’d have to be a bucket list item. I feel bad even in suggesting it because Mexican media who didn’t notice it prior might notice it now and run with something that, again, has almost no chance of happening. It’s still a very entertaining event to imagine. Explaining how to order on TicketmasterLive and that there really is no VOD over and over to her legion of fans would perhaps kill me.

CMLL (SAT) 02/18/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Fantasy, Galaxy, Pequeño Magía b Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Polvora
2) Eléctrico, Leono, Neón b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Inquisidor
tecnicos took 2/3
3) Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin b Pegasso, Sangre Imperial, Stigma
Sangre Imperial replaced Arkalis on Thursday. Team Fuego took 2/3.
4) Audaz b Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
Audaz replaced Esfinge on Thursday
5) Hechicero, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero b Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Star Black
Rudos took 1/3. Rey Bucanero replaced Euforia on Thursday
6) Místico b Bárbaro Cavernario
Mistico took 1/3. Mask/hair match challenges followed.

Mistico and Cavernario talked about wanting a do a hair match and took the bit to social media after. Mistico also thought that he and Avenro winning the incredible pairs tournament meant they get to main event the Aniversario, he’s a man full of ideas. It is also clear CMLL could fill Arena Mexico at reasonable prices if they just gave him an apuesta match on a random week. It doesn’t have to be an Aniversario date, and it’d draw better than whatever random tournament they’ve got planned for June. (No offense to Copa Dinastia or whatever.) There was a point where CMLL was hesitant to do much with Caristico after his return, not being sure how long he’d be around. He’s Mistico now and he’s quite over, might as well make use of it. It is not the most egregious example of a wrestling promotion ignoring clear signals this week, and, hey, at least this one can still be remedied.

CMLL (SUN) 02/19/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Minos & Pequeño Violencia
2) La Guerrera, La Jarochita, Skadi b Amapola, Hera, Olympia
Tecnicas took 1/3. Marcela replaced Magnifica on Thursday, but La Jarochita ended up in the spot.
3) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido b Apocalipsis, Dark Magic, Disturbio
Depredadores took 1/3. Apocalipsis replaced Espanto Jr.
4) Dark Panther b Fugaz [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b Bárbaro Cavernario, Kráneo, Rey Bucanero
Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Atlantis, Soberano Jr., Titán b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
tecnicos took 2/3

There have been a lot of angles on these weekend shows of late and not so much this weekend, maybe because a bunch of people was heading out of town.

Hijo del Fantasma (now WWE’s Santos Escobar) was at this show and taking photos with old friends.

CMLL (TUE) 02/21/2023 Arena México
1) Leono & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Minos, Pequeño Polvora, Pierrothito
3) Flyer vs Luciferno [lightning]
4) Panterita del Ring Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Difunto, El Coyote, Pólvora
5) Satánico vs Virus, Blue Panther, Black Tiger [Torneo de ESCUELAS, seeding]
outcome will determine matches for 02/24 and 02/28
6) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado

Fantastica Mania is on, and so the lineups are bit lower in wattage. The Torneo de Escuelas has a good chance of being a regular bit opposite FantasticaMania for that reason, it eats up a few innings when they need innings ate. Difunto, who popped up in Puebla last week, seems to be Mexico City-based for the time being.

(Random thought: remember when the Lucha Time guys were supposed to wrestle n Guadalajara and were in Guadalajara but didn’t wrestle? That was December, it sure seems like CMLL was working on this tournament around then, so there’s probably a version of it this had a Monterrey squad, and then something happened.)

CMLL (TUE) 02/21/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Johnny Dinamo, Luminoso, Quka vs Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Minotauro
2) Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sexy Sol vs Atenea, Gema Andrade, Misteriosa
3) Asturiano, El Hijo Del Perverso, Siky Ozama vs Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte
4) Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono vs Barboza, Draego, Persa
5) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Valkiria vs La Maligna, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
6) Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Ángel Rebelde, Averno, Bestia Negra [Relevos Increíbles]

Panterita del Ring is double booked on Tuesday, figures to end up here. Someone’s going to book the La Chicas Indomables versus Vaquer & Zeuxis tag title match eventually.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara posted some photos of the facility updating their gym area.

CMLL (FRI) 02/24/2023 Arena México
1) Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) E1-1, E1-2, E1-3, E1-4, E1-5, E1-6 vs E2-1, E2-2, E2-3, E2-4, E2-5, E2-6 [Torneo de Escuelas, semifinal]
participating teams to be determined on Tuesday
4) Maestro 1 vs Maestro 2 [Torneo de Escuelas, lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto

Again, a strange main event to cover for the missing people. These shows are going to be made by how good the Torneo de Escuelas turn out to be. CMLL hadn’t made it clear that the maestros are wrestling as well. Zeuxis gets three Friday night shows in a row.

Fantastica Mania

Splitting this into a different category because there’s a lot to cover. (Including that there’s a space between Fantastica and Mania).

• Fantastica Mania starts Wednesday, with shows Thursday, Friday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
  • Start times are here but basically, it’s “very early that morning the same day of the week” for all shows
• All shows are in Japanese
  • No English commentary. I heard a plan to do Spanish commentary for some shows but that doesn’t seem have to come together.
• All shows air live on NJPW World and are available on VOD. NJPW World is 999 yen, about 7.5 USD
  • HOWEVER, NJPW charges on the 1st of the month (Tokyo time) no matter when you subscribe, and the 1st of the month is about a few hours after the Tuesday show ends. You’ve got to watch quickly or you’re paying for March.
  • Monday’s show is free to all and could end up being the best show.
• Japanese wrestling has had no cheering for their shows during most of the pandemic; that policy is coming to an end but it’s city by city (and venue by venue) decision and it’s not easy to determine what the rules are
  • Wednesday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are cheering shows. I’m not sure about Thursday and Friday.
• Tickets seem to be selling well
  • Thursday, Monday and Tuesday are already sold out. Friday has few tickets left.
  • NJPW says they expect all six shows to be sellouts eventually.

My plan is to watch Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on delay, and there are chances I may watch the last three live.

CMLL wrestlers left for the tour Sunday night; there are nearly a dozen promos from the airport. Wednesday’s show will happen before the next post, with a 4 AM CT start time. That lineup:

CMLL , NJPW (WED) 02/22/2023 Takamatsu City General Gynmasium 2, Kagawa, Japan
1) Capitán Suicida & Yuto Nakashima vs Gedo & Taiji Ishimori
2) Magia Blanca & Ryohei Oiwa vs Douki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
3) Dulce Gardenia, Tiger Mask, YOH vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Hijo del Villano III, Okumura
4) Kosei Fujita, Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Soberano Jr. vs Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán
5) El Desperado, Rey Cometa, Volador Jr. vs Hechicero, SHO, Templario
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi & Místico vs Atlantis Jr. & Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

Both Wednesday and Thursday shows are warm up preview tag matches. Probably everything will go between six and twelve minutes, with people who have singles matches later on getting in pins on each other.

The 03/01 All Star Junior festival announced Atlantis Jr. on Sunday, which I guess confirms Atlantis Jr. is still meant to be a Junior. (Not just in history, but also in the Japanese weight division.) There are now 39 people announced for this show. Note that All Star Junior show is not airing live as part of the normal NJPW World subscription. It’s a separate additional PPV fee and will only be added to regular service after a few weeks.

AAA

The New Exotic show wasn’t an official TV taping but it did get some attention:

AAA , New Exotic (SAT) 02/18/2023 Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal [Mas Lucha]
1) Especie Maligna & Payacumba b Némesis, Nikki Star, Zira 
2 vs 3 match for some reason
2) Rino Black, Último Soldado, Último Soldado Jr. b Brazo de Platino Jr., Kauris, Voltio 
3) Bugambilia & Máximo b Alas de Oro & Alas De Plata  
4) La Parkita & Mini Vikingo b Mini Psycho Clown & Parkita Negra 
5) Demonio Infernal, Fresero Jr., Trauma I, Trauma II NC Pig Decapitador, Pig Desenterrador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor  
Maximo and Bugambilia appeared to stop the fight, both teams attacked hem, and various Brazos made the save. Brazos teased a match with the Pigs.
6) La Hiedra, Lizmark Jr., Monsther Clown b Flammer, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa 
7) Pagano & Psycho Clown b Chessman & Negro Casas   
Negro Casas replaced Abismo Negro Jr. (double booked). Two mystery men gave Pagano a martinete on a chair, and everyone sold it as if Pagano was legitimately injured

The building was less than half full, which is about expected. They had an entrance set and lights similar to Nacion Lucha Libre, though it didn’t seem to be a TV taping. You might as well look good if you’re going to lose a lot of money. Mas Lucha had the best angle I’ve seen of the Pagano bit. The martinete is poorly applied and looks bad, but not in a way where it’s more dangerous than usual. The usual exposure issue on an martinete injury angle is the victim is too high and it’s too obvious his head never touches the mat. They went the other way here, where Pagano is so low that he folds over and takes the move on his shoulders by the time it makes impact. There’s always a chance Pagano is hurt – I mean, he’s always got to be hurt given the way he wrestles – but it’s unlikely he suffered a severe neck injury on a move where he did not land on his neck.

They played it up with the whole US-inspired reality angle, with Psycho Clown throwing up the “he’s really hurt” X signal to try to fool the people who think they know better and Pagano going into spasms before declaring he couldn’t feel his lower body. It was an angle taken seriously, but it was also obviously an angle if you watch it with even only an internet fan’s worth of knowledge.

This was normal wrestling stuff. Very normal for Pagano: he did the same angle in Torreon in September and Zapopan in October last year to build up the Cibernetico TripleMania match. The difference this time was AAA sent out a press release as if it was a real health emergency. Media, seeing the AAA statement, took it as real news. AAA needs that sort of attention to get this angle over – again, this happened on a spot show that wasn’t taped for TV so they’ve got to attention else wise and it worked. No one (besides me, maybe) was going to write about this random Mexico City AAA spot show and doing the AAA statement got the angle over as a much bigger deal.

In theory makes AAA look bad for portraying an angle as reality, but no one’s going to think any less of AAA. (Same thing for the media going along with it.) Those two past versions of this angle didn’t amount to much because Pagano was just back on the next show and the injuries on those shows were quickly forgotten. Pagano’s not booked on anything until at least March 10th, so maybe there will be time for follow-up this time around. There’s no speculation about who the two mystery men who attacked Pagano were supposed to be; that’s not even part of the story at this point.

For what it’s worth, I’ve been told MLW told Aramis would be getting his release from the promotion but has not actually received it. Arez was told he would not be getting his MLW release. I don’t know of any plans to use him on a future MLW show.

Pentagon Jr. is advertised on the 04/08 AAA TV taping in San Luis Potosi. A lineup is probably coming in 2-3 weeks.

On Keepin it 100, Konnan was asked about the TripleMania Tijuana situation and said the show was still on and had a new date, but he didn’t want to give it out until AAA officially announced it. He did say it was going to be a month later (July) and was unsure if it was changing venues in Tijuana but it is absolutely staying in Tijuana. Konnan also strongly dismissed the story of MLW reaching out to CMLL as completely fake, something people hadn’t done their job in reporting out correctly. (The CMLL/MLW story came from the Wrestling Observer, though Konnan didn’t seem to be aware.) He talked about the idea of using Kota Ibushi as a Vikingo opponent, acknowledging that most Mexican fans wouldn’t have any idea who Kota Ibushi is, but felt AAA could get him over through video packages and wrestlers like Negro Casas endorsing Ibushi in promos. (It’s a decent plan that AAA has never executed well; to pick one example of many, AAA ran random videos of Darby Allin for weeks and no one had idea who he was when he showed up.) Cohost Disco Inferno pushed back on this idea in favor of using someone on the AAA roster, asking which AAA wrestlers would be upset they were passing over for the spot for Ibushi, and Konnan repeatedly said he didn’t care which AAA wrestlers would be upset over it. I took from that it’s still going to be Vikingo vs “outsider”, even if those first two draft picks don’t work out.

(If it has to be from the outside, I would pick Impact’s Josh Alexander over Kota Ibushi and this much – he’ll draw less of the curiosity purchases, but he’s probably much easier to get in for dates – they already have him for the World Cup – and AAA is still going to get in great matches from him. But I’ve been stuck on this idea since Impact did that Mexico City TV match where Vikingo beat Alexander and maybe there are other options.)

The 03/03 AAA/TAO Queretaro show is said to be close to selling out.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 02/19/2023 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Águila Roja & Súper Boy b Rey Aztaroth & Tortuga Leo 
2) Spider Fly b Kenji [IWRG IC Light] 
2nd defense
3) Luka & Súper Mario 47 b Oficial 911 & Oficial Fierro 
Super Mario 47 is the former Oficial 47 (his name is Mario, he’s not doing a Super Mario gimmick as far as I can tell)
4) Puma de Oro b Jhon Tito [IWRG IC MIDDLE] 
1st defense
5) Hip Hop Man & Shocko b Cerebro Negro Jr. & Travis Banks and Hell Boy & Willy Pipes and Hijo del Fishman & Rey Halcón Jr. and Maniacop & Yorvak and Baby Star & La Momia and Aster Boy & Hijo del Alebrije and Imposible & Noisy Boy [El Protector] 
Wesley Pipes replaced Rey Espectro.
6) Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero b Hijo de Canis Lupus & Tonalli 
Tonalli appeared to kick out at 2.9 from the Guerrero Special, but it was 3 anyway. Playing off the old Tryout format (a 1-10 scale), Ultimo Guerrero declared Tonalli was a 10 after this match and put over Naucalpan

This was a subscriber only show and I haven’t watched much of it, but it sounds like the main event was standard Ultimo Guerrero. Show drew nothing special even with Ultimo Guerrero (though fans who wanted to see CMLL people here just saw them a few days ago.)

Keeping with IWRG’s pattern of completely obscure foreign wrestlers, Wesley Pipes is easten Canadian wrestler who either barely wrestles or wrestles for shows too small to make it on Cagematch. Announcers hyped him out as the sort of wrestler we might see in IWRG’s upcoming world tournament, which seems sadly accurate. If you are trained and can get yourself to Naucalpan on your own dime, it sure seems like there’s a good chance you can get in that tournament.

BIG LUCHA

Big Lucha (SAT) 02/18/2023 Bandidos Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, Mas Lucha, thecubsfan]
1) Andy Panda & Reiyel b Metal Shadow & Vórtize 
8:53
2) Torito b Limbo, Forneo, Sol 
no Little Star (off to CMLL) so this turned into a three way between the Hell Flyers. Limbo added himself, then was added to the group after the win.
3) Iku & Vengador b King & Kong 
8:23. Dito wanted to be friends with the Gorillas (who are now back to being friends themselves), and nearly cost his team the match. It seemed like a breakup angle but Ditto was with Locos Evans the rest of the show.
4) Black Skayde & Skayde b Elipse & Orbita 
8:09. Elipse & Orbita officially joined Locos Evans. Vengador & Iku intefered a lot early on but were eventually kicked out.
5) Cometa Maya, Éxtasis, Radioactivo b Action Jackson, Bendito, Elemental [no rules] 
18:30. Extasis reversed the Elemental Driver into a cradle for the win. The two teams fought more after.
6) Jack Evans b Gravity [bull terrier] 
14:04. Gravity had the match won until Vengador and Ditto got involved.
7) El Bandido & Flamita b El Potro de Oro & Emperador Azteca [Relevos Increíbles] 
25:59. Flamita & Emperador Azteca didn’t want to fight, fought later, then turned on their partners and Flamtia laid down on Azteca to win. Men in Black Generation masks ran into help attack post match, but revealed themselves to be Los Traumas.

This show was generally good. I thought match 2 was the best, but other matches were good as well. The fifth match was a good summation of where they are now: they had a ton of ideas because they had a month between shows to come up with ideas for this match, but only 70-80% of them because they wrestle in front of fans so rarely to practice them. They’ve got the ability but not the reps at this point.

The main event was technically good but going that long for a screwjob finish is just annoying, not in that I want to see the heels beat, but in that the promotion is wasting my time. The post-match angle makes me less interested. Decent finishes are important to me and not at all to Los Traumas (who went countout draws in shows both Friday and Saturday this weekend, as normal for them.) The bigger problem is the ending pushed the idea of Bandido & Flamita getting back together, and they just did it, and it ended up being bad. These shows are still generally good, the opener was the best those guys have done, yet it feels like there are no interesting directions at the moment.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has the latest Report.

I attended the Warrior Wrestling show on Saturday night. The show aired on ProWrestlingTV and will return as VOD sometime this week. That site is slow about the VODs, but keep checking for it. The main event of Aeroboy vs Aramis vs Taurus vs Hijo del Vikingo is worth the 10 to watch it. The rest of the show was fine – it’s a good venue with a loud crowd, very into people I barely knew. The main event was some excellent luchadors going for a lot and everything working out great. Vikingo is always out of this world but the rest of the guys were not far behind him, and it was outstanding action. I will pretend it’s a lucha show just enough to throw in my database for MOTYC time, because it’s definitely getting an Excellent. No one paid attention to this show because it happened the same day as a both WWE and NJPW US PPVs, on a relatively obscure service and even lucha libre fans had Big Lucha and other options, but it’s worth tracking down later.

There was a lot of lucha libre all over the place in the US this weekend, and I didn’t catch all of it. I really liked Aramis’s match in Black Label Pro against Marcus Mathers, a big dumb match in the best way, where they just did a bunch of crazy stuff. The AAW four-way (Aramis, Taurus, Gringo, local Brayden Lee) and the GCW trios match on Saturday were good but not super memorable. I think there’s an issue for me that I’ve been catching so many of these that it’s hard to stand out, and I’m looking for something more meaningful than the one off exhibition style, but I’m not sure if the people who are just watching these every so often are as far along. Komander/Lio Rush from GCW was pretty good, maybe Komander’s best singles match in the US so far. Komadner’s a guy who still has lots of room to improve in 1v1 and Rush deserves credit for getting a lot out of him in that match. I didn’t catch Aerostar in Black Label Pro, I completely forgot GALLI had a free stream on Sunday, and I’m sure there was something else I meant to write about.

Mascara Dorada’s countdown reached zero on Sunday. He officially announced his NJPW contract had ended, he was now a free agent, and would wrestle under the name Metalik. I believe the name change is his choice, using something he hopes will be more familiar to WWE fans. I’m not sure what’s going to actually change with his indie booking. I know NJPW had much bigger plans for him than what happened, primarily because Dorada/Metalik’s residency status still hasn’t been resolved and leaving/returning to the US is an issue. I’m not sure where this leaves Metalik and CMLL either.

Shocker, appearing ImagenTV’s El Minuto que Cambio mi Destino show, revealed once having sexual relations with Puerto Rican wrestling promoter Victor Quiñones in exchange for drugs and money. Quiñones using his position and resources to extract favors from wrestlers is a topic of many a shoot interview. Shocker says he was drunk and on drugs at the time, and feels he was taken advantage of by Quiñones. Shocker also mentioned originally being addicted to coacine since he was young. His last relationship broke up due to methamphetamine use, but he says he is clean now and has to be for the (forever impending) jaw operation. Shocker said in this interview that he was retiring, and said in others that he still plans to return.

AULL (FRI) 02/17/2023 Arena Lopez Mateos [Mas Lucha, R de Rudo]
1) Karma, Legado, Orgullo b Black Horse, Mortem, X-Devil  
2) Chicanico b Impulso ©, Sol [AULL Light]   
First defense. won title in November 2020.
3) Terry 2000 b Sádico, Cerebro Negro [AULL MIDDLE]   
vacant. Last known to exist in 2010?
4) Baronessa b Keyra, Mary Caporal, Ludark Shaitan [AULL WOMEN]   
vacant (Stephanie Vaquer vacated)
5) Hijo del Olímpico, Máscara Mágica Jr., Rey Pegasus b Lunatik Extreme, Ovett Jr., Venganza and Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. [AULL TRIOS]   
second defense
6) Emperador Azteca © b Relámpago, Imposible [AULL SW]   
first defense. Imposible suffered a neck injury.
7) Trauma I & Trauma II © b Alpha Wolf & Dragón Bane and Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura [AULL TAG]   
first defense
8) Forastero b Pistolero Negro ©, Rey Espectro [AULL HEAVY]   
third defense

The all-title match show drew less slightly less than usual because none of these titles are over. I’m just putting this here so we know who the champions are, when at least one of these titles goes nine months without another appearance. Imposible wrestled Sunday, so his injury may have been played up or less severe than it seemed.

Mas Lucha will air a press conference Monday afternoon for their next subscriber-only show, a 02/25 AVE Arena Lopez Mateos show with NGD (Sanson, Forastero, Cuatrero and Mascara 2000 Jr.) and Negocio Traumado (Trauma I, Trauma II, Fresero Jr. and Demonio Infernal) in an apuesta match that’ll be hard to get out of.

02/21 NOAH has Keiji Muto’s farewell show at the Tokyo Dome. Daga, Diamante, and Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. will all appear in undercard trios matches. It’s a PPV on Wrestle Universe.

WXW (Germany) announced Arez vs Komander for the first round of their 16 Carat Gold show on 03/10.

04/27 Demand Lucha (Toronto) has Gringo Loco vs Komander.

A story on Torreon’s Guerrerito, who is touring the US with one of the micro wrestling groups (Extreme Drafanators Wrestling).

Desde la Tercera Cuerdas has an interview with Jose Manuel Guillen.

CMLL

Tonight’s Arena Mexico show

CMLL (FRI) 02/17/2023 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Átomo & Chamuel
2) Diamond, Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
3) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Marcela vs Zeuxis [lightning]
5) Gran Guerrero, Oráculo, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Titán
6) Averno & Místico vs Soberano Jr. & Templario [Torneo Incredible de Parejas, final]

The final looks like it’s going to be really good. Soberano and Templario can play opposite of Averno and Mistico well, and both teams stand a chance of self destructing at any point. The semi-main is the last glimpse of the H2L main feud for a little while. Zeuxis has a big test in her return match. The undercard is not as special but the big stuff should be good. Obligatory PPV link; this will go up on YouTube on March 5th.

Arkalis, Esfinge, Euforia, La Magnifica were all removed from Saturday and Sunday CMLL cards on Thursday. Sangre Imperial, Audaz, Rey Bucanero and Marcela were added. That kind of change is unusual. No reasons given.

CMLL (MON) 02/20/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja & Meyer vs King Jaguar & Rey Apocalipsis
2) Asturiano, Black Tiger, Siki Osama vs Arlequín (Jalisco), Furia Roja (Jalisco), Guerrero de la Muerte (Jalisco)
3) Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola [CMLL WOMEN]
7th defense
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
5) Atlantis, Euforia, Stigma vs Gran Guerrero, Panterita del Ring, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]

CMLL shows without the Fantastica Mania is like the first hit of a cold wind on a winter day. The Tuesday/Friday shows will be dressed up with the Toreno de Escualas, and they’re bringing back the Guadalajara/Puebla feud to make these shows a little more interesting.

CMLL pulled a fast one with the Copa Irma Gonzalez announcement. They first announced 10 women for the match: Lluvia, La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Amapola, Zeuxis, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Metalica and Hera. Just as everyone presumed that meant no Faby Apache, host Julio Cesar Rivera revealed the field had been expanded to 12 people. It certainly came off as CMLL was aware of the report they weren’t working with Faby and played off that story. CMLL gave no time lime of when the other two women would be announced, just telling people to watch for social media announcements. I guess that could mean some surprise during tonight’s show, or it could mean still weeks from now.

CMLL also hosted a Zoom press conference with NJPW’s Naoki Sugabayashi on Wednesday night. Kaiser Sports has a few quotes in an article. The idea was to promote Fantastica Mania to the Mexican media, but the big takeaway was the idea for a sort of reverse Fantastica Mania: NJPW wrestlers coming to Mexico for a tour. No date, names or number of wrestlers were specified at this time, though Sugabayashi said big names would be involved. (It’d logically be easier to do something like that around the same time as the second AEW/NJPW FantasticaMania show, but that’s just a guess.)

Sugabayashi mentioned NJPW wanted to run Fantastica Mania in 2022 but were unable, citing the lack of available venues. Those same limitations caused this year’s tour to be shorter than originally planned. He’s personally looking forward to seeing Mistico back in Japan, and says NJPW listens to fan comments and the opinions of Japanese media about which wrestlers to bring over from CMLL.

Mas Lucha also has posted parts of the interview with Sugabyashi, with Okumura doing the translating. He’s asked what caused NJPW to pick the three new wrestlers, and explains that Hijo del Villano III was picked because fans remember his father’s feud with Tiger Mask and wanted to see it again. (I half joked about this before but I guess I was accidentally correct.) Magia Blanca and Suicida impressed Japanese fans with their performances.

Rey Samuray, Peverso, Vaquero Jr. and Misterio Blanco got interview time to hype Toreno de Escuelas. So was Tonalli, which was the one I found interesting. who said his parents brought him to his first wrestling show at the age of 3. They went to Arena Coliseo often, and he once got the attention of Emilio Charles Jr. Tonalli is a second generation wrestler; his father Gallo de Plata told him to get his degree before getting into lucha libre. Tonalli didn’t actually finish university but got a technical degree in programming and hopes to get certified in professional training and nutrition in case wrestling doesn’t work out.

Atlantis, Volcano, Rugido, Amapola and Tiffany met with children fighting cancer on Wednesday in Guadalajara as part of World Day of Fighting Childhood Cancer.

AAA

AAA on Space has the Rey de Reyes Semifinals

• Arez, Puma King, Vampiro, Sam Adonis
• Abismo Negro Jr., Bandido, Komander, Psycho Clown
• Aramis, Bestia 666, Flamita, Pagano
• Hijo Del Vikingo, Mecha Wolf, Myzteziz Jr., Negro Casas

I’ll have this up on the Google Drive eventually, but later than usual – I should be at Warrior Wrestling when this is airing.

No AAA taping this weekend. They’re off from taping until at least the 03/04 NWA show.

AAA appears to have a new TV deal. “Canal 13” is a group of over-the-air about dozen channels across parts of Mexico, mostly in the southeast part of the country. Their channels (one in Chiapas and one in Yucatan) mentioned they’ll air AAA Saturdays at 8 pm, starting this week. AAA hasn’t mentioned this yet. I’m not sure if this is the same episodes as they air on Space, or some delay like Azteca or Multimedios. (AAA appears to still be on both those channels.) Canal 13 streams all their channels on their website, though I don’t know if they’ll stream AAA. I will try to record this week.

At the Lucha Libre World Cup press conference on Wednesday, Alberto said he was only wrestling with AAA (and AAA-affiliated) local promoters) for now. He didn’t plan on wrestling once or twice a month. AAA hasn’t announced Alberto for anything beyond the World Cup and the first TripleMania. Most people took this as “Alberto’s going to be in AAA a lot more.” and that’s definitely a possible outcome, but it came off to me listening to it as Alberto saying he had no interest in wrestling anywhere beyond AAA and might not even do that much. (Do not contact him for bookings, in other words.) The story will change, as it always does with Alberto.

You can tell the Lucha Libre World Cup is for real because there’s an advertisement painted on a wall.

NWA Junior Heavyweight champion Kerry Morton says he’s coming to AAA. He was not on the AAA/NWA card, but it’s an AAA lineup, it probably changed.

Mas Lucha

Either I got the schedule wrong or plans changed, because Mas Lucha is now saying only the Sunday IWRG show is members only. The other shows they’re doing this weekend are all free.

It would be very helpful if Mas Lucha had a published schedule some place easy to find updated on a regular basis. I’d like to know when, like, the most recent DTU showing is airing by looking at a webpage instead of deep investigation. But,  I’ve written this like eight times before, and it’s not happening.

IWRG

IWRG , LLB (THU) 02/16/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Eurus, Rey Azteca Jr., Súper Boy b Oro Blanco, Paymon, Voltio 
2) Barba Azul II, Barba Gris, Brazo Azul b Brazo de Platino, Demencia, Sangre Suicida 
3) Mary Caporal & Princesa Azul b Estrellita De Plata & Sagitarius 
Maddy helped Caporal & Azul win.
4) Cerebro Negro Jr. & Hijo De Carta Brava b Impulso & León Dorado 
Cerebro Negro distracted Leon Dorado.
5) Carta Brava, Cerebro Negro, Fantasma de la Ópera, Freelance b Gallego, Hell Boy, Hell Boy, Romano García 
6) Puma de Oro & Tonalli b Dr. Karonte I & Dr. Karonte II and Lunatik Xtreme & Ovett Jr. 
7) Atlantis Jr. & Místico b Hijo del Villano III & Volador Jr.  
usual challenges followed

This one started late and went late into the night. The attendance looked great. Nothing much was said towards the matches.

I watched the latest IWRG Tryout show on Thursday night instead. (You should watch on IWRG’s channel; Mas Lucha’s upload has it in 240p for some reason.) Eddie Rodriguez and Dairux moved through from Team Aramis, while Team Fishman had a four way tie of Riesgo, Amnesia, Kariel (the only women in the competition) and Nubulis. All four advanced. Really, none of the Team Fishman wrestlers stood out in a way where they have a chance at advancing to the final, they were all pretty middling. The rest of Team Aramis was awful, to the point where the judges seemed legitimately upset at the participants when evaluating their performances; just back to back worst match of the year stuff. Rodriguez & Dariux were the last match of the batch and could’ve advanced by doing nothing, so it was nice they did a lot. Dariux is a Tulancingo guy and has been on a bunch of shows you may have seen, a reliable midcard guy who had a good night here. Rodriguez is a San Luis Potosi wrestler, has some size, has some rudo personality and wrestled very well. He looked like he could be a useful piece.

Big Lucha

There is a Big Lucha show this Saturday.

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]

This will air for free on Mas Lucha. The show should be fine and probably good, but there’s a lot less talk about this promotion since they dropped Big Lucha Worl and didn’t replace it with anything. It’s also not a exciting card: Jack Evans and Gravity continue to feud after they’ve already done their hair match, the main is mixed up teams seemingly just to do it (and right when CMLL is doing the same idea with more weight.) The trios match should be very good but it’s no DQ just to add more gimmick matches.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

The New Exotic promotion debuts Saturday in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera. It’s a building where indie who hope they can be a real alternative end up running, draw a bad turnout, and then are no longer thought of a real alternative. New Exotic may do better than that because it’s essentially an AAA spot show (Psycho Clown & Pagano vs Chessmna & Abismo Negro Jr. on top.) It’s a rare Mexico City area poster without a Mas

This New Exotic promotion Maximo said he was retiring to help run. He announced he was no longer retiring on Thursday, saying he’s conquered his depression thanks to help from the people close to him. Maximo may have been dealing with depression, in addition to the domestic violence claims and other erratic behavior that got pushed out of the news by his retirement announcement.

AAW (Berwyn, Illinois) tonight has Black Taurus vs Gringo Loco vs Aramis vs Brayden Lee. It will air on highspots.tv.

VXS (Las Vegas) tonight has Arez & Komander vs the East West Express and as well as Los Macizos in singles matches. That’s a FITE+ show.

Black Label Pro (Crown Point, Indiana) this Saturday has two different shows. I’m not sure why? Both are airing on FITE+

• Aramis vs Marcus Mathers on the 4pm show
• Aerostar vs Eli Isom on the 8pm show

Warrior Wrestling (Chicago, Illinois) this Saturday has Aramis vs Black Taurus vs Hijo del Vikingo vs Aeroboy. This will air on ProWrestlingTV for 10 USD. I’m going to this show – or at least I have a ticket, but the only other time I tried to go to Thalia Hall, the show got canceled before I got there.

The NJPW US PPV with Rocky Romero, Mascara Dorada and Volador Jr. airs Saturday on FITE for 20 USD. It’ll eventually turn up on NJPW World, though not during this billing period. Saturday is the 18th; Mascara Dorada was doing a countdown until the 19th for a while and then hasn’t done it recently. I don’t know if we were meant to think his NJPW contract ends after this show or if there’s something else going on.

GCW on Saturday (Los Angeles) on FITE+ has

• Komander vs Lio Rush
• Gringo Loco, Latigo, Toxin vs Arez, Jack Cartwheel, Mago
• Ciclope & Miedo Extremo vs The Bollywood Boys

GLEAT announced the entire Black Generation Big Lucha lineup (Flamita, Bendito, Accion Jackson, Elemental and Emperador Azteca – Yutani’s already there) for their shows on 04/12 and 04/16.

Slam Wrestling has a recap of the Contra Las Cuerdras Netflix show.