Month: March 2023

Programming notes

I’m off to Los Angeles for the next few days. I may have news updates Friday and Monday, but things may be abnormal here for the next week. I’ll still be recording and putting matches up on Google Drive, it just may be later than usual.

My schedule is currently the Mark Hitchcock and the NJPW/Impact shows on Thursday, ROH on Friday and WRLD on Lucha on Saturday. That’s all I have tickets for right now; I’m half talking myself into going into other shows because four shows doesn’t seem like enough.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 03/27/2023 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Brave Star, Hijo de Centella Roja, Rayo Metálico b Hijo del Perverso, King Jaguar, Rencor
Debut of Brave Star.
2) Chamuel, Micro Ángel, Periquito Sacaryas b Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado 
3) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. b El Novato, Halcón Suriano Jr., Millenium 
Halcon Suriano Jr. replaced Pegasso, crowd was unhappy, Suriano left the match quickly after an elbow to the head. Ola Negra took 1/3.
4) Audaz, Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus 
5) Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr. DQ Bárbaro Cavernario & Templario 
Barbaro Cavernario replaced Angel de Oro (COVID) on Thursday. Templario unmasked Soberano for the DQ.

The funny bit of the week is Arena Puebla filming the main event like usual, but with vertical video and while never moving his phone. You get to see the middle third of the ring and absolutely nothing else.

Halcon Suriano Jr. said he suffered a fractured cheekbone in an Instagram Story. He may be out six weeks if he needs surgery.

Pegasso said he’s healthy and there are reasons for him not appearing on this show but he didn’t explain why.

Grada has an interview with Puebla luchador Asturiano,

CMLL (TUE) 03/28/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores]
1) Fantasy b Pequeño Violencia [lightning]  
2) Disturbio, Grako, Nitro b Oro Jr., Robin, Sangre Imperial  
Rudos took 2/3.
3) Crixus, Difunto, Zandokan Jr. b Flyer, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr.  
Rudos took 1/3. Flyer left hurt (again) taking Crixus’s finish
4) Pólvora b Felino Jr. [lightning]  
5) Mephisto, Niebla Roja, Yota b Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volcano   
Rudos took 2/3. Niebla Roja replaced Kraneo on Monday.
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Titán b Euforia, Hechicero, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]   
Team Titan took 2/3.

I had this on while working on my taxes. This show was better than my taxes. After running a lot of angles earlier in the year, CMLL’s slowed down quite a bit.

Flyer may actually be hurt this time, but he’s also acted as if he’s suffered a serious injury in his last two losses on streaming. (He may be doing it more often, that’s just the two I’ve seen.) There’s an issue there that isn’t just physical.

CMLL (TUE) 03/28/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Fuego en el Ring]
1) Johnny Dinamo, Luminoso, Quka b Infierno, Ponzoña Jr., Yaky Boy
2) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Último Ángel b Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Minotauro 
3) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Barboza, Draego, Persa 
4) Arlequín, Dulce Gardenia, Fashion (Chihuahua) DQ Bestia Negra, Cris Skin, Ráfaga 
Bestia Negra and Cris Skin threw the masks to Dulce and Fashion to draw the DQ. Challengers followed
5) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Dark Magic, Okumura, Principe Daniel 
Principe Daniel replaced Zandokan (double booked)
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Averno, Satánico, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles] 

Fashion/Dulce vs Bestia/Skin is meant to be a tag feud, though not sure if it’ll go anywhere.

CMLL (SUN) 04/02/2023 Arena México
1) Retro vs Cholo [lightning]
2) Astral, Cachorro, Diamond vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) El Coyote, Pegasso, Stigma vs Luciferno, Magia Blanca, Rugido [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Valiente & Valiente Jr. vs El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr.
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring vs Euforia, Mephisto, Niebla Roja
6) Atlantis Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero, Rocky Romero

Rocky Romero is back, prior to his part in the Universal tournament next Friday. Hijo del Stuka makes his ‘official’ debut after appearing in the schools tournament, against another father son combination. That tercera sure is weird.

Hechicero popped up on CNN en Espanol talking about CMLL. The promotion has a booth at the Tianguis Turístico tourist expo, as they’ve done in past years. This year’s expo is in Mexico City, which makes it easy for wrestlers to drop by; Hechicero was part of the presentation on Monday. He talked to CNN about CMLL drawing international fans and the upcoming 90th Aniversario. Lluvia and Los Micro Malditos were at the booth on Tuesday.

Atlantis Jr., in an interview with Box y Lucha, says he’d like to have a title match against his father. He’d also like to wrestle in England to learn more styles; he got a lot out of his FantasticaMania trip. He’s also looking for a rematch against Terrible when Terrible returns from injury.

CMLL has a press release talking about the history of Arena Coliseo.

CMLL Informa today has Atlantis & Octagon (talking about their team and Fuerza Gurrera), Star Black, Esfinge, Fugaz (something with Fuerza Tapatia?), Stuka Jr. & HIjo de Stuka Jr. (teaming on Sunday) and Crixus, Max Star and Rey Samuray (new stars ciberentico on Saturday.)

AAA

AAA held a press conference Tuesday to announce the full card for the 04/16 TripleMania Monterrey show. It turned out not to be the full card.

AAA TV (SUN) 04/16/2023 Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
***TripleMania XXXI Monterrey***
1) Laredo Kid vs Antifaz del Norte, Octagón Jr., Villano III Jr., Argenis, Myzteziz Jr., Aerostar, Parka Negra, Abismo Negro Jr., Taurus [cage, losers advance]
Dralistico originally announced, then replaced by Abismo Negro Jr. on 03/28.
2) ?, Baby Extreme, Flammer, Toscano, Zorro vs Arez, Dave The Clown, Lady Shani, Látigo, Negro Casas [Copa TripleMania]
3) Alberto el Patrón & Pentagón Jr. vs Psycho Clown & Sam Adonis [Guerra de Rivalidades, quarterfinal]
4) Chessman vs Adrian Marcelo
5) ? vs ?? [mask]
mask match set by earlier cage match
6) ? © vs ?? [AAA MEGA]
7) Blue Demon Jr. & DMT Azul vs LA Park & Rush [Guerra de Rivalidades, quarterfinal]
Rush was originally teaming with Pagano, then Pagano was “injured” on 02/18 and eventually replaced by LA Park on 03/28.

I’m not sure if that’s the final card order. AAA hasn’t sent out the official poster yet and probably won’t until that last match gets settled, we’ll know then.

The story AAA’s going with here is they held a poll to decide Pagano’s replacement, 80% of the fans picked LA Park as Rush’s partner, and AAA is a promotion that listens to their fans so they got LA Park. The poll itself looks so very suspect, but Rush’s mythical rival was obviously going to be the pick to have a mask match with him. This outcome was probably the plan from the start – Pagano/Rush likely was announced as a misdirect, knowing Pagano would be taking time off and AAA could give the fans the team they knew they’d ask for. I still think Demon/Azul is the eventual mask match.

There was no Megachampionship match announcement. Dorian Roldan brought up the Komander/Vikingo match on Ring of Honor on Friday, and said the winner of that match would defend it at TripleMania Monterrey. Technically Taurus could win it the night before, but this particular match discussion was also about pushing the strength of the AAA (newly) very positive relationship with AEW/ROH. Dorian said the challenger would be from AEW, and there would be AEW presence on the other TripleManias this year as well. The match-up will be announced on social media.

(The dream scenario for AAA is the TripleMania title match is actually set up on the Ring of Honor show. A bit as simple as someone coming out after the title match to make title motions at Vikingo would be fantastic as far as getting those fans aware of TripleMania. No idea if that’s going to happen.)

Chessman tried to explain the Tiktok video of himself and Marcelo training by admitting it was an authentic video but everyone had misunderstood what had happened. Chessman’s story is Toscano invited both to his gym without telling each other about it, theoretically, to work out their issues. Those were not worked out. Marcelo ended up slapping Chessman at this press conference, which moves the story on. Chessman got dragged away before he could retaliate. It’s hard to keep it feeling real while actually doing a match, but they’re trying hard. Roldan even notes the match wasn’t official yet, because they had to wait to see if the commission would license Marcelo for the match.

This seems to have worked at getting the desired attention. The media outlets who’ve covered the show so far covered this revenge slap and the (potential) match. The social media reaction has been more people patting themselves on the back for figuring out a wrestling angle was indeed a wrestling angle, but it still shows a lot of interest.

(Marcelo will get licensed, but it’s funny timing. Wrestling in the city of Monterrey is now on about an 18 month hiatus because the commission won’t honor the licenses of indie wrestlers from other commissions, but they are going to end up licensing someone who’s trained for a couple of months. The purpose of these stricter Monterrey commission rules is to keep unqualified people out of the ring, and they’re going to let someone with few qualifications wrestle. This Monterrey licensing story hasn’t gotten any attention locally, so it’ll probably just something talked about within wrestling.)

The Copa TripleMania has some weird teams. It’s less weird than the graphic makes it look. Babo from Cartel Santa looks like he’s on the Monterrey team, but the rapper is only supposed to be accompanying Toscano, not (officially) participating. A fifth Monterrey participant is to be announced. (I was confused by this, and many outlets are reporting Babo is in the match.) It’s nice Negro Casas is making his TripleMania debut but it’s not an impactful way. Zorro wrestled a lot in Monterrey early in his career but was born in Guadalajara. Toscano will be honored on the show; that seems like keeping a tradition of honoring someone on each TripleMania, but maybe there’s an angle coming.

The reaction to this card was a tale of two markets. There’s some US excitement about the possibility of LA Park and Rush as a team (and much later as a match), but otherwise a show with no Vikingo-caliber match has no strong interest outside of Mexico. It’ll get better whenever that Mega title match is up and it may work out very well for match quality depending on which two names are in the mask match. (Antifaz/Laredo still seems most likely.) Those aren’t set yet, so there’s not much here for people who want to see good matches. The Chessman/Marcelo stuff has gotten minimal attention outside of Mexico and a lot of attention inside, and I think that’s still drawing a lot of interest in this lineup for the local fans. A general issue is it’s tough to heat up the Guerra de Rivalidades matches; the focus is on the rivalries between the partners and the results, but the matches themselves haven’t been built up.

Seven matches seems short for a TripleMania, but they did the same seven in Tijuana last year and eight for Mexico City. More time is better than more matches. The show is listed as a 4:30 pm local start. April 16th also has NJPW US and Impact shows, with all three airing on FITE. AAA kicks off first, if they’re actually starting at 4:30 local. AAA’s show is the only one of the three not yet listed on FITE yet. Part of TripleMania will likely air on Space live as well.

Dralistico and Hijo del Vikingo posted on Instagram that they’re headed to the AEW show in St. Louis today. ROH will tape before Dynamite tonight (in place of the usual Dark Elevation tapings) and I expect both will appear.

Toxin announced he’d suffered a torn retina. He’s undergoing laser surgery to fix it this week and, if it goes well, he’ll be out 3-4 weeks. Toxin had a couple of high profile bookings on WrestleMania weekend and was supposed to be back on AAA TV for the first time in months in San Luis Potosi, so this is unfortunate timing.

Cibernetico also hasn’t appeared on AAA TV this year and is scheduled to make his first appearance in San Luis Potosi. That also might be changing but for a different reason; Cibernetico is now part of the cast of MasterChef Celebrity Mexico. I’m not sure what the taping schedule is like for that; he’s working on a kitchen island, not a tropical one, so he may still be fine to make the AAA taping. Masterchef appears on Azteca so that might be an AAA tie-in.

Luchatitlan’s social media is counting down to April 1st, so that is indeed the opening day. They’re running a show a day from Tuesday to Saturday at 6 pm. 19 performers (wrestlers and actors) will be on each show. There likely will be a bigger announcement on April 1st, which is unfortunately not the best day to get attention as an international wrestling travel destination.

AAA announced a new taping for May 20th in Morelia. They haven’t been back to Morelia for a taping since 2019; a September 2020 announced date was canceled due to COVID.

AAA’s Orizaba promoter says they have a AAA TV taping on July 8th, but the information coming out of Orizaba hasn’t been reliable. This promoter previously said they had a taping in May. July 8th would be a week before TripleMania Tijuana and it doesn’t make sense for AAA to tape that week; TripleMania will be there TV for the next several weeks after, this wouldn’t air until August.

Luchadors on non-WrestleMania WrestleMania Weekend

I’m skipping the shows that aren’t streaming and I’m probably missing something. I’m working off the VOW list. Also assume that I’ve messed up a time change somewhere.

Wednesday

• VXS (via their website on April 4th, no price listed)
  • Jordan Olvier vs Laredo Kid
  • Komander vs Hijo de Dos Caras vs Kevin Knight vs Mecha Wolf vs Super Georgie

Thursday

• Highspots Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow (Highspots.TV, $15/month) – 6pm CDT
  • Negro Casas vs Utlimo Dragon
  • Hijo del Vikingo vs Taurus vs Komander [AAA MEGA]
  • Rey Horus, Aramis, Galeno del Mal vs Toxin Laredo Kid, Latigo, Arez
• Circle 6: Vinnie Massaro’s Pro Wrestling Combine (free on YouTube) – 6pm CDT
  • Torito Negro scheduled to appear

Friday

• Circle 6: Jake Crist’s Fire Starters (free on YouTube) – 2pm CDT
  • Sonico vs Mr. Iguana
• DDT vs GCW (Fite+) – 5pm CDT
  • Ciclope, Miedo Xtremo, Gringo Loco, Alec Price vs. Sanshiro Takagi, Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, Takeshi Masada
• ROH Supercard of Honor – 6pm CDT (Bleacher Report in US, FITE outside of US)
  • Lucha Brothers vs The Kingdom vs Aussie Open vs LFI (Dralistico & Rush) vs Top Flight for the ROH World Tag Team Championships in a Reach for the Sky Ladder match
  • Hijo del Vikingo vs Komander [AAA MEGA]
  • AR Fox, Metalik, Blake Christian vs Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, Toa Liona for the ROH Six Man Champiosnhips
• GCW Spring Break – 10pm CDT (FITE+)
  • Hijo del Vikingo vs Mike Bailey

(Dragon Lee also makes his NXT debut Friday morning.)

Saturday

• GCW Gringo Loco’s the Wrld on Lucha 2 – 11:59 pm (FITE+)

GCW (SAT) 04/01/2023 Ukrananian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California
1) Sexy Star vs Dulce Tormenta
2) Negro Casas vs Tony Deppen
3) Cíclope (Indie) & Miedo Extremo vs Bestia 666 & Damián 666
4) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Laredo Kid
5) Black Taurus (Indie), Látigo, Toxin vs Aramis, Arez, Komander (Indie)
6) Gringo Loco (Indie) vs Psycho Clown
(Maybe another match?)

(Rey Mysterio vs Dominic Mysterio probably also happens Saturday night.)

There was supposed to be an AAA show this WrestleMania weekend. It wasn’t coming together and so it didn’t happen. I would’ve liked to see an AAA show in Los Angeles but I’m wondering if it didn’t work out better for everyone involved. If AAA is running, are Vikingo & Komander still working on Ring Of Honor’s show this week – does AAA run Friday or want exclusivity? If Ring of Honor isn’t using Vikingo & Komander for their show, do either of them debut in AEW in the last few weeks? Does it impact Konnan’s ability to show up at WWE’s Hall of Fame if AAA’s running in the market? The way it worked out seems to have been gone for AAA.

Bandido is also missing from these shows, after being a big part of them in recent years. He’s wrestling around Torreon this week instead.

Rocky Romero was announced for the Mark Hitchcock WrestleCon show, and quietly disappeared for the lineup. He’s not hurt; he’s working the same venue a few hours later for NJPW/Impact. My impression is CMLL told Romero not to work a show with AAA wrestlers and he was unable to change their minds. There is no CMLL presence in Los Angeles this weekend, at least that I’m aware of.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/30/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Roja & Golden Power vs Rey Aztaroth & Rey Eclipse
2) Avisman vs Jhon Tito
3) Satania vs Lolita, Dehyna, Hades (AAA), Sagitarius, Therius
4) Tonalli vs Brazo De Oro Jr.
5) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko vs Asterboy, Gannicus, Hell Boy [EdM Trios]
2nd defense

Tonalli/Brazo de Oro Jr. could be pretty good.

Other News

I think I get the Mas Lucha Ruleta Supremo idea. They explained it on their show Monday night and I listened to it many times. This is what I’ve got:

• There will be 4 singles matches on 04/09. They were set by random draw.
  • Belial vs Saruman
  • Mr. Leo vs Ultimo Legendario
  • Dinastia vs Camaleon
  • Dinamic Black vs Dante
• Fans can vote who they want to advance between each match on Facebook. Voting will be open for a week.
• They’ll bring back the winners of the four polls for a second round in April. The final will take place in May.
  • The May show will be for members only.

The Arena Neza results I saw this weekend had a weird typo, where Yutani was listed in regular Mexica’s spot. It didn’t make sense to me that Yutani would be back since he’s wrestling in GLEAT in a few weeks; but the video has started to turn up and Yutani is indeed back in Mexico.

Jornada BC has a really great interview with Irma Gonzalez and Irma Agiuilar.

12 wrestlers earned wrestling licenses in Puebla: Astoreth, Princesa Star, King Flamer, Rey Espartano, Dragon Cristh, Mini Súper Fly, Inedito, Mr. Corsario, Búfalo Negro, Titanium, Blue Shark and Red Power. They tried out last November and just got the license this past weekend.

TJ Sports writes about Tijuana’s Arandu, as part of their recap of the recent The Crash show.

Box y Lucha #3544 has the Infernales, Damian 666 and Art Barr on the cover.

A visit to the Blue Demon exhibit to Mexico City.

Trauma II says he’s nervous to wrestle his brother this weekend and Robles Promotions has a chance to scare AAA and CMLL. Sure.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/24/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del Ring, Estrellas del Ring, Fuego en el Ring, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. b Difunto & Inquisidor  
11:12.
2) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Capitán Suicida, Flyer, Fuego  
18:01. Flyer replaced Audaz earlier in the week.
3) Magia Blanca © b Rey Cometa [MEX WELTER]  
16:24. 2nd defense
4) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Titán b Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja, Yota   
16:11.
5) Volador Jr. b Templario [lightning] 
7:40. Templario replaced Angel de Oro (COVID) on Thursday
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto © b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero [CMLL TRIOS]   
17:11. 2nd defense. Hechicero submitted UG, who got strechered out.

A fun show. The two title matches were strong, match four went a ways longer than you’d expect, everything else was about as you’d expect. You should watch this one when it turns up on YouTube. Ultimo Guerrero getting stretchered out seemed just to be an intentional distraction from him losing again, but he also he did lose again. We keep waiting for him to get that big win again and it’s not happening so far. Rey Cometa did well in a singles match, as he alaywas does. Volador/Templario was a shorter version of their FantasticaMania match; I’m still a bit curious at what Angel de Oro/Volador would’ve been.

There are no title matches announced for next week, so it appears there won’t be any last-minute title changes before the Universal tournament.

CMLL (SAT) 03/25/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Galaxy & Shockercito b Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito 
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Cachorro, Eléctrico, Leono 
Team Disturbio is Los Dementes and is calling their triple submission finish La Indestructible.
3) Halcón Suriano Jr. b Astral [lightning] 
4) Magnus, Rugido, Zandokan Jr. b Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma 
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora 
6) Soberano Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Yota 

Disturbio’s team got a name before the Polvora trio. (Also, CMLL’s focused on getting as many teams as possible when that is a team.) In other team news, Rey Samuray is officially meant to be part of Fuerza Poblana. Zandokan is more a freelancing pirate not part of Los Depredadores.

CMLL (SUN) 03/26/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Bengala, Leono, Retro b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Halcón Suriano Jr., Neón, Robin b Grako, Nitro, Raider
tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Espíritu Negro, Panterita del Ring, Volcano b Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Kráneo
Tecnicos took 2/3. Pantera del Ring replaced Dulce Gardenia.
4) Akuma TLDRAW Furia Roja (Jalisco) [lightning]
10 minute draw
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Infernales took 2/3.
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Octagón b Fuerza Guerrera, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
Tecnicos took 2/3. Gran Guerrero replaced Angel de Oro (COVID) on Thursday

Akuma and Furia Roja going to a draw is a bit random. Not much else going on here.

Puebla tonight has Volador & Soberano vs Barbaro Caverario & Templario.

CMLL (TUE) 03/28/2023 Arena México
1) Fantasy vs Pequeño Violencia [lightning]
2) Oro Jr., Robin, Sangre Imperial vs Disturbio, Grako, Nitro
3) Flyer, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Crixus, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
4) Pólvora vs Felino Jr. [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volcano vs Kráneo Niebla Roja, Mephisto, Yota
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Soberano Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Titán

It would be fun to see another Soberano/Titan match, but that’s probably more a “we booked Euforia and Soberano for this show, guess they have to team” situation. Polvora and Felino Jr. used to be tag team champions not so long ago. Crixus turns up on the main show.

CMLL (FRI) 03/31/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Fuego vs Raider [lightning]
3) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Panterita del Ring Jr.
4) Niebla Roja vs Magnus [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Valiente vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Stuka Jr.

The main event continues whatever didn’t happen with Volador/Angel de Oro last week (plus Soberano/Dragon Rojo.) Los Malditos make a rare Friday appearance. Magnus and Niebla Roja wrestled last year in a trios match but those are two guys who otherwise haven’t been on the same matches since the 2011 Forjaido un Idolo tournament (when Niebla Roja was still Angel de Plata.) Magnus did win that time. The first half of the card could be a lot of action. I have no idea when/how I’m watching this but I don’t want to miss it.

CMLL (SAT) 04/01/2023 Arena Coliseo
***Arena Coliseo 80th Aniversario***
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Minos
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Rey Samuray vs Crixus, Ángel Rebelde, Max Star, Tonalli, Brillante Jr., Hijo de Stuka Jr., Vaquero Jr., Multy, Neón [Torneo Nueva Generacion]
4) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón vs Felino, Satánico, Virus
5) Ángel de Oro, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Averno, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

This lineup was announced on Informa a few weeks back. CMLL’s made no changes so far (but there’s no official poster yet so changes are possible.) This annual show usually makes YouTube, though not usually live – you’ll probably have to find some other wrestler to watch on Saturday.

AAA

AAA on Space was another skippable episode. This was the first half of the AAA/NWA show. People there said those matches weren’t good and they didn’t come across better on TV. Nothing tragic, just pieces that didn’t fit together (and not much of a match in the Murdoch/Psycho main event.) AAA has a lot of good wrestlers and some of those wrestlers have been having great matches elsewhere, but AAA’s TV itself hasn’t had much in the way of great matches for this first quarter of the year. Hopefully the second half of the AAA/NWA show will be better.

Universidad Anahuac Mexico is hosting a series of presentations this week for it’s entertainment business management school. AAA VP of Marketing and Commerical Alejandro Montes appeared today. You can watch it on YouTube; the audio streaming has some issues throughout. Montes does these presentations once or twice a year for different audiences. It’s a lot of the same presentation each time; there are social media metrics, talk about their international work, about how many shows they run a year, and various partners they’ve worked with. There wasn’t much new there; maybe Disney being presented as still ongoing was the most interesting part. A slide in a video highlighting the agreement mentioned there’d be at least one Marvel Lucha Libre match a month, and that hasn’t happened since 2021. There was a funny story about AAA giving Marvel a big presentation way back at the beginning of the relationship and the Marvel official cutting it of 15 minutes in, because he already realized they were a good match – they both do super heroes.

Octagon Jr. made a surprise appearance at the end, which the students seemed to like. The Q&A portion included someone asking about the Adrian Marcelo/Chessman situation; Montes said Marcelo wanted to wrestle and it was leading to a match, but a 1v1 wouldn’t be a fair scenario. He didn’t acknowledge the TikTok video as best as I could tell.

The other news bit also came up in a story from Revista Central; the Luchatitlan project is opening very soon. It was originally scheduled for March 2023 and March 2023 is about over. Montes said it would open in “the next week”, while Revista Central specifically says it’s opening Saturday. This is the AAA staffed lucha libre arena in a Cancun mall, which will run six days a week. (No shows on Monday.) It’s a big project both for AAA and others, so there’s probably a press conference coming soon.

You may have noticed the most recent AAA TV YouTube upload seems shorter than usual. This week’s upload is just two matches, as they’ve cut out the NGD/LFI main event. AAA’s uploads have missed matches in the past by accident; this one seems more about not posting Cuatrero content at the moment. The match is no great loss. (AAA’s also slipped an extra week behind, as usually happens when there’s a PPV on a Sunday.)

Komander is working the VS show in California on Wednesday, so he’s not scheduled to be part of the (not yet announced) ROH taping as part of the AEW show on Wednesday.

Add a June 18th Puebla stop to the AAA TV schedule. That’s got to be a relatively recent addition to the schedule, since TripleMania Tijuana was originally June 17th. This’ll now probably be the last TV to air before the rescheduled July 15th show.

IWRG

IWRG , FILL (SAT) 03/25/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Latino Boy & Último Caballero b Cosmic & Steel Dragón
2) Dehyna & Zebra Maciel b Candela & Danessa
3) Balak, Memphis, Nativo b Milagro, Seminarista, Skanda
4) Arceus, Garrobo Punk, Príncipe Nahual b Águila Enmascarada, Rey Eclipse, Thunder Storm
5) Gannicus b Rey Halcón, Fussion [IWRG REY DEL AIRE, #1 Contenders]
6) Águila Oriental, Águila Roja, Ajolotl, Baby Star, Jhon Tito, Kenji, Legado, Súper Boy b Abismo Raider, Bestia Azteca, Billytronik Jr., Crazy Star, Lobo Azteca, Psycotic Boy, Rey Azteca, Rey Kingstone [Copa Higher Power]
coaches Black Terry and Billy Tronik (ALLP). John Tito beat Lobo Azteca to win. Rest of names not confirmed.

This should turn up IWRG’s YouTube channel in a week or so.

IWRG (SUN) 03/26/2023 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Dariux b Milagro 
2) Caballero de Plata, Jhon Tito, Spider Fly b Centvrión, Eddie Rodríguez, Fussion 
3) Luka & Super Mario AK47 b Apolo Estrada Jr. & Maniacop 360 
4) Imposible & Yorvak b León Dorado & Mr. Leo 
Imposible unmasked Leon Dorado to beat him.
5) Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Hijo de Canis Lupus 
Pirata won via foul. The two fought at the interview area post match
6) Cheese Burger, Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Diva Salvaje, Gannicus, Hellboy, Jessy Ventura 
Hip Hop Man invited Cheese Burger to join his group, and he accepted.

The attendance at the end looked bad, but it was still a lot better than the first match.

ESTO has an interview with Gannicus, who was a big fan of ancient Rome and wrestling when he was growing up. He actually wanted to use the name Crixus first but the Guadalajara wrestler got it first.

Other News

LuchaWorld has the Lucha Report for the week of 03/06.

Laredo Kid was back at Impact taping this weekend. Black Taurus hasn’t been around there of late but was back as well; you will not be surprised to find out they wrestled.

Actor/mexican cultural icon Chabelo (Xavier Lopez, 88) passed away on Saturday. He hosted children’s show on Televisa every Sunday for 47 years. Luchadors would appear on the show from time to time. Chabelo himself actually had a wrestling background. ESPN says he was a grecoreoman wrestler who won a spot on the Olympic team at the age of 17 for the Helsinki (1952) games. Chabelo said he later found out that the Mexico Olympic organization expected him to pay the expenses, he and his family didn’t have the 40,000 pesos it would’ve cost, and the wrestler Chabelo beat was sent instead. Alberto el Patron tells a similar story, that he qualified for an Olympic team but didn’t go when he found out he’d half to pay his own way.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/24/2023 Arena México
1) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. vs Difunto & Inquisidor
2) Capitán Suicida, Flyer, Fuego vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
Flyer replaced Audaz earlier in the week.
3) Magia Blanca © vs Rey Cometa [MEX WELTER]
2nd defense
4) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja, Yota
5) Volador Jr. vs Templario [lightning]
Templario replaced Angel de Oro (COVID) on Thursday
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto © vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero [CMLL TRIOS]
2nd defense

This could be top to bottom better than Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. Nothing is going to mean as much as Volador/Romero, but it’s got a lot more matches of quality. The trios title match should be better than the setup last year, Blanca/Cometa will likely be better than their trios, Volador/Templario just had a really good match, the fourth match has a lot of potential too.

The one big change is Angel de Oro off all shows this weekend following a COVID positive test.  CMLL’s back to announcing these again this week.

This show will air on PPV, back to the usual 100 pesos price.

CMLL (MON) 03/27/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Brave Star, Hijo de Centella Roja, Rayo Metálico vs Hijo del Perverso, King Jaguar, Rencor
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Chamuel, Micro Ángel, Periquito Sacaryas
3) El Novato, Millenium, Pegasso vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Audaz, Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Templario
Barbaro Cavernario replaced Angel de Oro (COVID) on Thursday

That main event sounds great. Kid Panterita & Titan need to intervene on Audaz and tell him to be more like them. Still don’t who El Novato is. Brave Star is a Puebla wrestler at least from 2013, who has turned up elsewhere occasionally. (He’s also in a relationship with La Magnifica.)

CMLL (TUE) 03/28/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Johnny Dinamo, Luminoso, Quka vs Infierno, Ponzoña Jr., Yaky Boy
2) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Último Ángel vs Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Minotauro
3) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. vs Barboza, Draego, Persa
4) Arlequín, Dulce Gardenia, Fashion (Chihuahua) vs Bestia Negra, Cris Skin, Ráfaga
5) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Zandokan Jr.
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Averno, Satánico, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

No women after the all women show. Satanico’s really more of a rudo, so is this a relevos increible because Atlantis Jr. is still a rudo in Guadalajara? Maybe not.

Marcela posted she underwent surgery on Thursday. It was apparently knee surgery, so she’ll be out for some time.

AAA

AAA on Space this week back at 6:30 pm.

• Homicide & Cyon vs Komander & Octaogn Jr.
• Aaron Stevens & Natalia Marakova vs Arez & La Hiedra
• Kerry Morton (c) vs Jack Carthweel vs Sal the Pal for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
• Trevor Murdoch vs Psycho Clown

AAA’s preview says it’s the first of two parts, so the rest will air next week.

Kenny Omega beat Hijo del Vikingo on AEW Dynamite. Vikingo’s performance was a 10 of 10; he tried a dozen incredibly difficult spots and nailed all of them. (He came really close to not nailing the last big one; the back of head came close to hitting the apron on the 630 through the table, or it may have even actually hit.) Vikingo came off as other-worldly and as a star in one match. The only thing missing was the win, and I think they might have given it to him if AEW was certain Vikingo would be there every week.

Vikingo will be around for a bit. ROH’s website announced he’ll defend the AAA Megachampionship against Komander on the 03/31 Supercard of Honor show. That show will also include the Lucha Brothers, LFI (Dralistico & Rush), Top Flight, the Kingdom, and Aussie Open in a ladder match for the vacant ROH Tag Team Championships. ROH PPVs are standalone purchases on Bleacher Report for 40 USD; they go up on Honor Club about a month and a half later.

I think I wrote a while back that Dralistico & Rush were missing a show in Saltillo for ROH TV. Obviously, I had the dates confused, that was a SuperCard of Honor issue. ROH still is short a week of TV before their PPV though. AEW is taping Dark in Orlando tonight, but they’re not taping ROH there. That leaves the only time AEW can tape ROH TV as Wednesday’s Dynamite taping in St. Louis. My information is Vikingo will be in St. Louis this week and I presume Komander will be as well.

AAA’s kind of a bind. Not because of Vikingo and AEW – this was really good exposure, it was a loss that didn’t hurt Vikingo at all, and I am not concerned about Vikingo leaving AAA for AEW at this point. (The AAA/AEW relationship is good enough for Konnan to do a AEW social promo taking credit for discovering Vikingo; AAA found Vikingo when Konnan wasn’t working with AAA.) AAA’s bind is they’ve got to take advantage of this somehow, but no clear path how. AAA was building towards Gringo Loco/Hijo del Vikingo for a while, though not of late. Fans want a Vikingo/Omega rematch. Omega’s post-match comments suggested sounded like he’s moving on. The WON wrote Omega “should” face Vikingo later this year; I couldn’t figure out if that was reporting or speculation. Later this year sounds like “not in Monterrey in a few weeks” either way. There’s been no one in AAA teed up for a title shot; the wrestlers with the best kayfabe cases are Sam Adonis (Rey de Reyes) and Pentagon (World Cup) and both of them are already in matches for TripleMania Monterrey. The Laredo Kid rematch would fit, yet he’s in the cage match. A Vikingo opponent is a spot for a big outside appearance and you can make some guesses of people who would fit – one guy has an idea – but I’m not 100% sure of who it has to be. That decision is now the most important one left on the card for an international audience. (Whatever they do with Chessman/Marcelo is still more important in Mexico.) There’s an opportunity here that needs to be taken advantage of, but there is no clear answer on how to best do it.

(Also someone should’ve had Vikingo t-shirts for sale the moment that match hit the ring but that’s how it goes sometimes.)

Dralistico is probably off of TripleMania Monterrey; he’s booked in NOAH the same night, and that’s the priority.

El Sol de Toluca published an article to clarify that even though Cuatrero is listed on a poster for a show today, he is currently in jail and will not be allowed to participate. I thought that was dumb in my head but, writing it out, AAA did get Cain Velasquez on a wrestling show similarly. In this case, it sounds like the Mexico State commission would not want Cuatrero appearing even if he got a judge to OK it. No substitute has been announced, which is why this is still a story.

IWRG 

IWRG (THU) 03/23/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Águila Roja & Cheff Benito b Golden Power & Rey Aztaroth 
2) Avisman b Súper Boy
Super Boy replaced Cerebro Negro Jr.
3) Imposible b John Tito
4) Gannicus, Hell Boy, Tonalli b Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo De Oro Jr.
Tonalli did appear!
5) Hijo de Canis Lupus b Noisy Boy
ref stop due to Noisy Boy knee injury after just a couple of minutes.
6) Hijo del Fishman b Hijo del Alebrije [IWRG JUNIORS]
first defense

Tonalli did still work IWRG! I’m very surprised, good for IWRG. Noisy Boy did a flip off the barricade, landed awkwardly, and could not continue just moments into the match. Small crowd for this one.

IWRG , FILL (SAT) 03/25/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Cosmic & Steel Dragón vs Latin Boy & Último Caballero
2) Dehyna & Krissta vs Heiddi Dark & Sairely
3) Balak, Cheff Benito, Nativo vs Memphis, Milagro, Skanda
4) Arceus, Golden Power, Príncipe Nahual vs Águila Enmascarada, Garrobo Punk, Rey Eclipse
5) Gannicus vs Noisy Boy, Rey Halcón, Fussion [IWRG REY DEL AIRE, #1 Contenders]
6) Águila Oriental, Águila Roja, Ajolotl, Baby Star, Jhon Tito, Kenji, Legado, Súper Boy vs Abismo Raider, Bestia Azteca, Billytronik Jr., Crazy Star, Lobo Azteca, Psycotic Boy, Rey Azteca, Rey Kingstone [Copa Higher Power]
coaches Black Terry and Billy Tronik (ALLP)

FILL trainee shows return now that Tryout is done. It appears this will air on IWRG’s YouTube channel on a delay. The main event is FILL versus ALLP, a promotion in Orizaba, Veracruz that hasn’t run much in recent years.

IWRG (SUN) 03/26/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Dariux vs Águila Oriental
2) Caballero de Plata, Jhon Tito, Spider Fly vs Centvrión, Eddie Rodríguez, Fussion
3) Luka & Super Mario AK47 vs Apolo Estrada Jr. & Maniacop 360
4) León Dorado & Mr. Leo vs Imposible & Yorvak
5) Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Hijo del Pirata Morgan
6) Diva Salvaje, Gannicus, Hellboy, Jessy Ventura vs Cheese Burger, Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko

IWRG is insistent that Cheese Burger is a two-word name. Important knowledge. That’s a Foreigners versus Mexico main event

RGR says they’re running another show here on 04/20. Their poster seems to have been done a while ago since it still have Cuartero on it.

Other News

LuchaWorld has this week’s Lucha Report.

04/01 GCW Wrld on Lucha final card

GCW (SAT) 04/01/2023 Ukrananian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California
1) Sexy Star vs Dulce Tormenta
2) Negro Casas vs Tony Deppen
3) Cíclope (Indie) & Miedo Extremo vs Bestia 666 & Damián 666
4) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Laredo Kid
5) Black Taurus (Indie), Látigo, Toxin vs Aramis, Arez, Komander (Indie)
6) Gringo Loco (Indie) vs Psycho Clown

This show is now officially starting at 10 pm PST (11 pm Mexico City time). They moved it an hour back, they may have started late waiting for everyone to filter in from WrestleMania. I don’t think I’m going to WrestleMania so I think I’m going to have a very open Saturday. I actually tried to look around at the local libraries to see if they had a Mexico newspaper collection I could look through for the results; can’t think of anything more exciting to do on a Saturday in Los Angeles. Anyway, the part you card about: the card looks really good and it’s airing on FITE+. I am a little worried about a few of thse guys wrestling so much in one weekend and what state they’re going to be in by the end, but also they’re crazy people who may just go all out while half dead.

Mas Lucha’s Ruleta Suicida de Mascaras will take place 04/09 from Arena CM. Full participants:

• Belial
• Camaleon
• Dante
• Dinamic Black
• Dinastia
• Mr. Leo
• Saruman
• Ultimo Legendario

It reads like the first round is fan’s choice on who advanced, but maybe not the next two.

03/26 NOAH has Lanzelot challenging Amakusa for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championshp. It sticks out that NOAH put Lanzelot in a singles title match when Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf have been there for longer and aren’t trusted outside of wrestling each other. Maybe different roads for different people – Lanezlot is probably done after this match and those two may be longer projects. Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. defends the GHC Global Championship against Jack Morris on April 16th, and Wagner will be fortunate to keep the title after that point.

An interview with Hidalgo’s Mini Makra, who is the brother of Gasparin Jr. & Rayito Mexicano Jr.

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 03/21/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora  
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Astral, Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial  
Apocalipsis, Cholo, and Disturbio seem to be a regular trio
3) Raider, Tonalli, Vaquero Jr. b Brillante Jr., Neón, Valiente Jr.  
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. TLDRAW Dark Panther [lightning]  
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black b Felino, Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III  
6) Atlantis, Místico, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Averno, Gran Guerrero, Templario  
Mistico wore a Perro Aguayo Jr. tribute mask (he passed away eight years ago the same day)

I tried to watch this show, but I also tried to get some support on why certain things with luchadb aren’t working (related: luchadb it hasn’t updated for most of the day), and neither quite worked out. Match 3 sounded promising if not perfect, the lightning match was pretty good, minis were their usual level. Hopefully I’ll catch it later

There have been other Perro Aguayo Jr. tributes the last few days, but it just feel like SEO stuff – the same stories that have been told before and no new info – so I haven’t been bothering to link them here. It’s good he’s still being remembered.

Cholo, Apocalipsis, and Disturbio did another group promo, just waiting for a name.

CMLL (TUE) 03/21/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, thecubsfan]
1) Quimera & Valkiria b Dulce Kity, Náutica, Sexy Sol, La Misteriosa, Nexy, Gema Andrade, La Magnifica, Atenea [cibernetico] 
10 women cibernetico where the final two wrestlers would form the eight team in the OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG tournament. Seeding battle royal set sides as Dulce Kitty, Nautica, Sexy Sol, Quimera, La Misteriosa vs Nexy, Valkyria, Gema Andrade, La Magnifica, Atenea.
2) Quimera & Valkiria NF Hera & Olympia [Occidente WOMEN TAG, quarterfinal] 
All eight teams came to the ring as a presentation before the official start of the tournament. The match ran about a minute before Sugehit, Isis, Marcela, Metalica all ran in on the match, telling the women involved to lead. It appears this wasn’t a scheduled first round match and the match stoppage was a way of figuring it. (There wasn’t a seeding battle royal or a bracket.)
3) Princesa Sugehit & Reyna Isis b Marcela & Metálica [Occidente WOMEN TAG, quarterfinal] 
4) Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis b Hera & Olympia [Occidente WOMEN TAG, quarterfinal] 
5) La Catalina & La Maligna b Amapola & Tiffany [Occidente WOMEN TAG, quarterfinal] 
6) La Jarochita & Lluvia b Quimera & Valkiria [Occidente WOMEN TAG, quarterfinal] 
7) Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis b La Catalina & Maligna [Occidente WOMEN TAG, semifinal] 
8) La Jarochita & Lluvia b Princesa Sugehit & Reyna Isis [Occidente WOMEN TAG, semifinal] 
9) Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis b La Jarochita & Lluvia [Occidente WOMEN TAG, final] 
Vaquer & Zeuxis become the first champions.

I could’ve used a whiteboard to explain this one.

• CMLL Guadalajara advertised 12 for this tournament
• Five of them didn’t end up being teams; they all just got put in a cibernetico
• The last two and the seven remaining teams had a normal single elimination tournament
• except CMLL tournaments usually have battle royals to set the bracket and this just had a never explained bracket
• never explained even to the people in the bracket, so two teams started wrestling and then were told to stop wrestling because that wasn’t the first round match

I zoom through this but Vaquer & Zeuxis looked like they were hitting people hard in their matches so that might be fun. Vaquer & Zeuxis are a fun team but I’m not sure the point of having two tag titles when it’s generally the same people who will be competing for both; this title would have more of a purpose if this was a women’s tag title just for the likes of people competing in the cibernetico. But CMLL is just not good at title belts.

I wrote something along the lines of “they run 52 shows here a year so why not run a women’s show ever so often, it’s not like the attendance ever changes.” Well, attendance changed; it was noticeably lower than usual, like what it looks like for the Sunday sold show that happen here occasionally. It also seemed like people left earlier, just weren’t interested in hanging around to see who won. I still think it’s worth mixing in a women’s show ever so often for variety’s sake and to keep the men’s headliners a little fresher, but this concept on it’s own didn’t work.

CMLL (SAT) 03/25/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Galaxy & Shockercito vs Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito
2) Cachorro, Eléctrico, Leono vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Astral vs Halcón Suriano Jr. [lightning]
4) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Magnus, Rugido, Zandokan Jr.
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
6) Soberano Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Yota

Main event Yota. The Unnamed Polvora Project (UPP, not a real name) is back together in the semi-main. Rey Samuray and Zandokan fill in on trios. Apolo, Cholo and Disturbio continue their group in the second match.

CMLL Informa today has the Zeuxis & Vaquer (new tag champs), Volador & Princesa Sugehit (H2L), Yota (returning) and the Okumura, Coyote, Polvora trio. Maybe they’ll get a name? That Vaquer interview will be her first sitdown one since the Cuatrero situation became public, though I’d be stunned if was discussed.

AAA

Hijo del Vikingo is wrestling Kenny Omega tonight on AEW Dynamite. Not sure if you heard.

On some level, there’s pressure on Vikingo (and Omega) to deliver an incredible match people are going to be disappointed if it’s only “great.” (There are also a loud but few voices who already will be performatively disappointed.) I think it’s going to go fine; Vikingo doing normal Vikingo things will win over the crowd who hasn’t seen him much or at all. There have been some Mexican wrestling matches on the US indies over the last few years where I’ve thought the wrestlers did good with some obvious problems, then checked the internet reaction to see people raving about it. The mistakes become more important to people who see it a lot, the people who haven’t seen it are just blown away by the successes they didn’t see coming. I think Vikingo is going to try to be as close to perfect as possible, but he’ll be fine even if he doesn’t reach that mark.

I noted here previously when AAA was slow to promote Komander and other AAA appearances in AEW. That is much different this time; they are all in on pushing this Omega/Vikingo match, hyping that up as much as if it was happening on one of their own shows. I don’t know they have ulterior motives (AAA’s a bit overdue on the full card for the 04/16 TripleMania Monterrey show) but it’s good to see the promotions working together.

Other

Komander faces Joey Janela on 04/22 in New Jersey for the GCW Extreme Championship. Truly, the man from the heavens versus the man from New Jersey.

Mas Lucha posted a tease for their upcoming Ruleta Suicida tournament, mentioning that the fans will decide who advances. I guess we’re voting for who we’d like to see unmasked, which could be weird – are people going to vote for the most famous wrestler to get unmasked? The worst? It also changes how the tournament works behind the scenes: normal ruleta suicida tournaments have one person who’s losing their mask and seven people who not, and this is eight people who all have to agree they’re willing to unmask if the fans vote a certain way.

Extasis posted his social media information and wrote about “the start of a new story”, which is another way of saying he’s joined Action Jackson and Elemental in leaving Big Lucha. There’s one other name that’s been mentioned who said they’re leaving privately but not publically yet (and it’s indie wrestling so everyone may be back working with each other in three months.)

A story on the Arizona State University lucha libre exhibit.

(This is not intended to be a complete list of matches or things. It’s a list of important things, and probably too many more recent ones.)

2017-08-16

Hijo del Vikingo wrestlers on TripleMania as part of the La Llave de la Gloria competition, marking his official entry into the promotion. Vikingo had wrestled a couple of Llave tryout matches, and a small number of TV matches in between the tryouts. He’d wrestle on indie shows in his hometown of Puebla for the prior few years; none of them turned up on video. He makes a one off Lucha Memes appearance, just part of a carload of Puebla guys on the show, and that doesn’t turned up on video.

Vikingo, Angelikal and Ashley are named the three winners of the La Llave de la Gloria competition – but surprise, everyone in the finals is getting a deal, because AAA is opening a school and they’re all going to be part of it.

(AAA never opens a school.)

rest of 2017

Hijo del Vikingo is around AAA TV, going as far as getting a Cruiserweight title shot against Australian Suicide (and losing.) There’s no real plan for the Llave de la Gloria guys, they’re all just hanging around in the prelim matches. Vikingo seems to be the highest ranked of that group at least.

2018-02-23

Lucha Underground begins taping a fourth season after a lengthy delay. Part of the plan is to bring in a new batch of AAA wrestlers for the season. It doesn’t work out, like a lot of the season 4 plans – those work visa approvals don’t come until after taping is wrapped. I’m fairly certain Vikingo would’ve been on the visa list – LU writer Chris DeJoseph was helping book AAA during this time and Vikingo would’ve fit what he was looking for season 4. No one’s ever officially said it but I’m counting this as Vikingo US Near Miss #1

2018-04-20

Vampiro is out and Konnan is back in as AAA head of creative. Konnan has a crew that was loyal to him while he was out of AAA he’d like to bring in, has no particular allegiance to the La Llave la Gloria crew and others who came in while he was gone, and is ready to do some house cleaning. Before a match in Tijuana, Konnan tells Vikingo, Mascara de Bronce, Dinastia and Lanzeloth that this is their one chance to impress him or they’re gone. Vikingo wins Konnan over. (Dinasita and Lanzeloth hang around but never go far. Bronce, who had the ‘young rising high flyer’ spot during Vampiro’s run, quickly fades out of the promotion and lucha libre entirely.)

rest of 2018

Vikingo sticks around, continues to impress in prelim roles, and is well thought enough to get a TripleMania spot in a mixed tag title match. He is just only filling out early matches without a role.

2018-12-02

Vikingo’s starts to get a direction in fall of 2018, and it solidifies in December. The trio of Angelikal, Laredo Kid, and Hijo del Vikingo get non-title wins over Poder del Norte. Prior to this match, La Parka hands Angelikal the Myzteziz (Jr.) gimmick as a sort of endorsement, and Myzteziz Jr.’s debut comes in taking the trios titles. Vikingo wins his first title, though he’s definitely the low man on the team – a post-match angle has Averno take out Vikingo with a martinete to explain, leaving Laredo and Myzetziz to wrestle the next match without him.

first half of 2019

The trios title reign doesn’t go anywhere right away – AAA is otherwise busy – so Vikingo just hangs out in scrambles and midcard trios matches, often against Poder del Norte and similar rudos. He wins a cruiserweight title shot in one of those midcard trios matches in April, though it’s not played up as a big deal. When it finally comes, it’s not even a one on one match.

2019-06-09

The match is scheduled as Laredo Kid vs Jack Evans vs Hijo del Vikingo. Jack Evans doesn’t appear. This is Vikingo’s first ever singles match on AAA TV. Some guys get a little exposed when they have to go a lot longer individually than in a scramble format. Vikingo goes the other way – it turns out he’s got so much insane stuff that he just hadn’t had a chance to try yet. Laredo Kid is also pretty good! Laredo and Vikingo have an absurdly and unexpectedly great match, the best match of it’s style in Mexico all year. Vikingo immediately rises from “a really promising flyer” to “absolutely one of the best guys in Mexico and maybe beyond”; this is when most people outside of the lucha scene first became aware of Vikingo.

2019-06-29

Laredo Kid versus Hijo del Vikingo is so good and gets so much buzz that when AEW is out one PAC for the Fyter Fest show, they reach out and grab one of those two guys as a replacement – though t turns out to be Laredo Kid. It kinda had to be Laredo Kid, Vikingo didn’t have a US visa at this point. If he did, maybe it’s a coin flip if his debut would’ve shown up four years earlier. (Or maybe they would’ve picked Laredo anyway because he’s very good and they knew him better.)

2019-09-15

No worries, Hijo del Vikingo will just debut in the US on AAA’s show in Madison Square Garden. They even got him a single entry visa. Oh no, the show sold few tickets so it’s now in the MSG Theatre. Oh no, Vikingo hurt his knee weeks before the show, he’s not wrestling. At least he’ll get to wrestle on the AAA show in Los Angeles. (The AAA show in Los Angeles is canceled.)

2019-12-04

Hijo del Vikingo wins the men’s bracket of the Lucha Capital tournament. This tournament doesn’t mean a whole lot in isolation. In the big picture, it’s AAA signaling Vikingo is more than just one of a bunch really good wrestlers, but something special.

2020-01-08

Hijo del Vikingo has been part of Impact’s tapings in Mexico City the two prior years. This is his biggest moment, getting a surprise Impact TV win over Josh Alexander. It’s clear Impact thinks Vikingo is awesome; my impression is Impact wanted to sign him, and only didn’t because they didn’t want to cause problems with AAA over it. It’s fine, he can just show up when Impact tapes in Mexico City. (Impact would never again tape in Mexico City.)

~~~pandemic~~~

(And also a period where AAA and Vikingo have a weird falling that’s never explained but causes him to miss all the AutoLuchas shows.)

2020-12-12

Vikingo makes a save in the second match, with the announcers talking about his big return. (No one had acknowledged he was missing.) Vikingo also seconds Laredo Kid in his title match loss to Kenny Omega. In post-match interviews, Kenny Omega first suggests Hijo del Vikingo as his next challenger.

2021-07-03

AAA returns running empty arena shows, and kind of just doing stuff to fill out TV because no one knows when they might get fans again. Their annual big events turn into TV specials. This show is the Verano de Escandalo event, including the return of Alas de Oro high fliers. Vikingo pulls off crazy flying and a couple of signature Kenny Omega spots, though it’s a moment where Vikingo hangs from the tent covering the ring to set up a move that truly goes viral.

Kenny Omega posts both a compliment and a threat to Hijo del Vikingo. Vikingo tells Omega he’s ready. They have to stay ready for about 18 more months.

(AAA is unable to stream shows in the US for most of 2021, including this show. This stuff here goes viral because I’m running an unapproved stream for me and a few thousand of my closest friends on Twitch, and the Omega/Vikingo stuff gets turned up from there. I think they get to Omega/Vikingo eventually – it was already in the water – but I’m not sure if I’m a person writing this story or living in the smallest part of it.)

2021-10-18

A strange run of time culminates when AAA announces Omega/Vikingo for TripleMania Regia in December. Omega’s been publically asking for this match since the TripleMania Mexico in August, and obviously has wanted it before then. AAA’s meanwhile strangely cooled Vikingo off; he doesn’t win a match on TV for four months, and takes the direct pinfall loss a couple of times. He’s a background player in other people’s stories and definitely not being built up to be the top guy in the promotion. Maybe AAA is thinking no one’s going to care how Vikingo was booked after the Omega match, maybe they believe they can convince Omega to stay champion for now, and there won’t be a top guy expectation for Vikingo anyway. It doesn’t matter at the moment, they got the Vikingo/Omega match the world wants to see.

2021-11-22

AAA no longer has the Vikingo/Omega match. Omega is out injured following AEW Full Gear 2022, though it’s apparent he was hurt going into the match and just battling through to finish out the Hangman Page story. He won’t be doing that for AAA. Omega sends out an in-character video promo complaining about being stripped of the title and vowing to beat Vikingo someday. AAA now has no main event for TripleMania and no MegaChampion

2021-12-04

Backed into the corner, AAA pulls out…Bobby Fish. Plus Jay Lethal, Samuray del Sol, and Bandido to join Hijo del Vikingo in a five way for the vacant title. Quantity does not beat quality. Vikingo wins, because there’s really no other choice. No one seems all that ready for Vikingo as the top guy…

2022-04-30

…and he’s not booked as the top guy. AAA’s big idea for 2022 is a Fenix versus Hijo del Vikingo match in Mexico City. It’s a really good idea for a match, but AAA’s layout meant their unproven challenger doesn’t defend the title and doesn’t win on the biggest shows for most of the year. The plan kicks off with the Young Bucks defeating Fenix & Hijo del Vikingo, with Vikingo getting pinned for about six seconds due to typical AAA referee incompetence. The Bucks mock Vikingo on Twitter and on AAA TV, and Vikingo has no real response. (AAA floats a story that the pinfall is setting up a rematch, which never happens.)

2022-06-18

Fenix wins a five way in Tijuana with Taurus, Bandido, Laredo and Taurus. Vikingo doesn’t get pinned this time, but the point of the match is Fenix won and Vikingo did not. (Fenix also wins two belts that never appear again.)  The Young Bucks match was pretty good, this was even better. Still Vikingo is a talented guy who doesn’t win when it counts while also being the top champ, it’s weird.

2022-10-15

Vikingo defeats Fenix to retain the megachampionship, his biggest win since becoming champion. (He had a defense against Johnny Caballero earlier.) It’s a fantastic match, living up to expectations. It’s not the biggest match on the show, but that’s hardly their fault. It’s the kind of win Vikingo desperately needed.

2022-10-23

Eight days later, Vikingo and Laredo have their first TV singles match since their past epic. Like the last one, this is unscheduled – Laredo and Vikingo happen to both win their way to the final of a tournament. They have an equally great if quite a bit more violent match compared the one three years prior, with Laredo Kid again getting the win. Laredo Kid also gets a severe internal injury requiring surgery in the process. He gets better.

2022-12-03

Vikingo finally makes it to the US – on AAA spot show in Phoenix. In a tag match against Flip Gordon and Daga for some reason. Which AAA doesn’t tape for some reason. He’s finally there, turning up in places like GCW, PWG, and Defy over the next few months. Eventually, AAA lets people air those matches.

2022-12-28

Vikingo defends his title against Bandido in another great match with another spot that goes viral. (Which is helpful, because this is a Wednesday show that doesn’t seem to be seen by a lot of people, both on the stream or in real life.) Now that the Fenix build is over, Vikingo is just getting the big wins with cool moves that got him over in the first place.

2023-03-01

AEW has a Face of the Revolution Ladder match and wants Vikingo in. Vikingo is wrestling a stretch of shows in southern Mexico and is unavailable. My understanding is AEW wanted both Komander and Vikingo for that show.

AEW, AAA and Vikingo are now all aligned on working together, it’s a matter of figuring out dates that work for everyone in the near future. Vikingo is booked in Mexico on the 8th. AEW is in Canada on the 15th, which wouldn’t have worked smoothly for everyone. Which leaves…

2023-03-22

Dynamite is in Independence, Missouri. Hijo del Vikingo makes his debut on AEW against Kenny Omega. (Hopefully!)

AAA

AAA TV (SUN) 03/19/2023 Estadio Panamericano, Guadalajara, Jalisco [AAA, El Occidental, Latin US, Marca, Record, Slam Wrestling, SuperLuchas, thecubsfan]
1) Alberto el Patrón, Hijo Del Vikingo, Psycho Clown b Carlito, Hip Hop Man, Zumbi [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
Went to a time limit draw. Alberto beat Carlito after a missed apple spit and a backcracker.
2) Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Taurus b Bhupinder Gujjar, Classy Ali, Rage [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
Laredo got the pin
3) Christopher Daniels, Johnny Caballero, Sam Adonis b Kuukai, La Estrella, Nishikawa [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
Daniels got the pin
4) Heddi Karaoui, Joe Hendry, Thomas Latimer b Josh Alexander, Pco, Vampiro [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
Hendry beat PCO when it seemd PCO had it won
5) Deonna Purrazzo, Jordynne Grace, Kamille b Dalys, Natalia Markova, Taya [Lucha Libre World Cup Women, semifinal]
Dalys replaced Christi Jaynes (visa issues) on March 9th. Kamille pinned Markova.
6) La Hiedra, Lady Flammer, Sexy Star b Akino, Emi Sakura, Mayumi Ozaki [Lucha Libre World Cup Women, semifinal]
Went to a time limit draw, Hiedra beat AKINO in the first over time.
7) Christopher Daniels, Johnny Caballero, Sam Adonis b Alberto el Patrón, Hijo Del Vikingo, Psycho Clown [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, semifinal]
Rayo de jalisco was honored before the match. Went to a time limit draw (though there was time left on the clock when Tirantes just refused to count a pinfall.) Jack Fancy distracted the referee to allow Adonis to sneak in a foul to beat Psycho in the first overtime.
8) Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Taurus b Heddi Karaoui, Joe Hendy, Thomas Lattimer [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, semifinal]
Taurus beat Hendry
9) Deonna Purrazzo, Jordynne Grace, Kamille b Flammer, La Hiedra, Sexy Star [Lucha Libre World Cup Women, final]
Team USA won the women’s tournament.
10) Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Taurus b Christopher Daniels, Johnny Caballero, Sam Adonis [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, final]
Pentagon beat Caballero in third OT after earlier failed interference by Jack Fancy.

If you missed this one, it’s fine, you don’t need to go back and see it. This non-TripleMania show lacked the must-see match of Bandido/Vikingo and lacked the news of Dragon Lee’s WWE signing. It was fine, if everyone watched it on Twitch they’d generally go home content if not thrilled. It wasn’t a PPV caliber show. AAA threw all the bells and whistles into the final and it sort of proved this format is never going to produce anything better than “very good” in an era where pretty great is the standard. But, we knew going in AAA was over charging for it and it probably wasn’t going to be a great show so it’s tough being upset.

Let me try some positives first. Caballero and Penta wrestling three straight overtimes did give the feeling of a sports overtime, both with guys leaving everything they had by the end. (It didn’t make any sense that they would do that and AAA has failed to explain what was happening to the announcers as usual, but the wrestler’s performance made up for most of it.) The Laredo Kid, Pentagon Jr., and Taurus team being the winning Team Mexico unit was a welcome twist on the usual format for these. AAA reducing the time limits to 10 minutes and dropping the third-place matches kept the show moving. The men’s matches all seemed planned out to feature a different wrestler each round for variety. Team USA matches went Daniels, Adonis and Caballero, Team Mexico Laredo, Taurus, and Penta. (Vikingo didn’t get a standout match but he didn’t get hurt and that’s all that mattered before Wednesday.) PCO being PCO made a big impression. The Rayo de Jalisco Jr. tribute was well done, as was the medal ceremony at the end. Putting over Team USA Women was definitely the smartest move to get people to check out the show later. Some of their fans might even pay for it. The announcing seemed solid on both the Spanish and English sides. The wrestlers seemed to enjoy it

On the downside, The matches themselves werne’t as good as the past Mexico version of these shows; there were too many people who didn’t belong. The Qatar Pro Wrestling guys were way out of their depth. The Japanese women and the Mexican women didn’t mesh at all. The hats off winner was Carlito, who clearly wanted to be anywhere but in a wrestling match, wrestled in his warm-up shirt, and spent a half minute trying to find his apple in jacket to set up a very lame finish. The Team USA finishes were built around Jack Fancy – the RGR manager who has never appeared in AAA and was never introduced or explained before just appearing on this show. (There’s a lot of bad discourse this week about people appearing on TV shows with little to no introduction. Vikingo at least is going to get himself over in 15 seconds. Jack Fancy is no Hijo del Vikingo.) It was strange. Not as strange was both Tirantes and Hijo del Tirantes blowing finishes in only-in-AAA fashion. AAA ‘fixed’ the crowd audio issue by turning that sound up on the English side, which did allow us to hear reactions but also meant that audio track heard the Spanish announcers all night.

Maybe the final match is worth a look when it turns up on YouTube. Maybe it was more fun live. It was not terrible but I can’t promise I’ll remember much of it come December.

Slam had a more positive review of the show.

AAA did not release an official attendance number. The QPW promoter said (he was told) it was nearly 10,000 spectators. The turnout looked bad early on, filled in a bit as the night went along, and the size of the baseball stadium makes it harder to figure. 10,000 seems high to me based on how it looked, but I’m bad at guessing. The most emptiest sections seemed to be in the close/expensive seats; there wasn’t more than two rows filled on one side of the ring when the show started. It got better after the start of the show, but it also seemed like a lot of seats were filled by the military band, who probably aren’t paying.

Hugo, at the start of the show and during the main event, pushed “a rumor” that there would be a really big World Cup in two years. I’m not sure what we were supposed to do with that knowledge – was he telling us there’s no World Cup next year? Were we supposed to be excited about this tournament because a bigger show was coming in 2025? Who has the time to make up rumors about the Lucha Libre World Cup??? – but he mentioned it repeatedly so I will dutifully note it here.

The main event of the debut Capital Lucha Libre show was scheduled as Chessman vs Aerostar. It ended up as Parka Negra vs Aerostar instead. The idea is Chessman is still suspended. The reality seems that Chessman is in Monterrey training social media influencer Adrian Marcelo for the upcoming match. A TikTok user posted a video early Sunday morning, from a roof and peering into a building across the street, of what appears to be Marcelo and Chessman practicing in a Monterrey ring. The TikTok user yelled “arriba Chessman” to get his attention, Chessman immediately realizes he’s been made and turns around to hide his identity. (It was too late.) WWE will sometimes curtain off an area of their own training center when they have a celebrity practicing a match to avoid something like this happening. AAA did not go that far, though I don’t think they could’ve expected someone to shoot a video from a neighboring roof. It is a thing that would only happen to and with AAA. The video went viral on TikTok on Sunday; it had over 1.5 million views. It started to get picked up by mainstream media outlets by Monday.

This video exposes the Chessman/Marcelo bit as a work. I think most people knew that, but the video is still very exciting for people who are into that angle and got their proof that it was staged. I still think there’s going to interest in finding out what’s the next step of the story, even if it’s clearly just a story. Those views indicate people care about all of this, still. There’s a decent chance AAA will do something silly to hype it back up.

CMLL

CMLL (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Bengala & Retro b Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Leono, Neón, Valiente Jr. b Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro
Tecnicos took 1/3
3) Oro Jr. b Sangre Imperial [lightning]
4) Astral, Flyer, Volcano b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
Tecnicos took 1/3.
5) Dark Panther, El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Felino, Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III
tecnicos took 2/3
6) Atlantis, Octagón, Valiente DQ Bárbaro Cavernario, Fuerza Guerrera, Último Guerrero
Fuerza unmasked Octagon. Octagon asked for a Octagon/Atlantis vs Fuerza Guerrera/Atlantis Ultimo Guerrero double apuesta match. Ultimo Guerrero responded that he promised that match will happen.

You should never believe a luchador saying they’re going to do a mask match, especially on a Sunday Arena Mexico show, but that’s a bit more definite ‘promise’ than usual. Ultimo Guerrero is really the big boss if he pulls that one off.

CMLL (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena Puebla [Arena Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) El Asturiano & Rayo Metálico b Dark Soul & Rencor
2) Asturiano, Rey Metálico, Rey Samuray b Multy, Perverso, Prayer
Zaeta Roja was scheduled to have his first match here in nearly six years, but hurt his knee jumping in the ring. Asturiano replaced him. Porra Fresa also lists Rayo Meatlico in this match instead of El Novato, may be a typo.
3) La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis b Marcela, Skadi, Sumie Sakai
Irma Gonzalez appeared before the match. 
4) Capitán Suicida, Panterita del Ring, Titán b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Stigma, Templario, Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles] 
Stigma replaced Soberano Jr.

The last Arena Puebla show moved to Sunday drew well. This did not; it looks worse than usual. Zaeta Roja getting hurt was either amazingly poor luck or the most suspicious injury in some time

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha, R de RUdo]
1) Águila Roja b Ángel De Plata, Súper Boy 
2) Lady Lee b Sagitarius, Satania 
3) León Dorado & Mr. Leo b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly and Caballero de Plata & Jhon Tito 
4) Cheese Burger, Joey Marx, Mason Conrad b Aster Boy, Hell Boy, Maniacop 360
Maniacop replaced Tonalli (who may be done here)
5) Hell Boy b Shocko © [IWRG MEXICO]
Puma de Oro was champion, didn’t appear (and wasn’t mentioned). Shocko was declared champion by forfeit. Hell Boy challenged him and won the title in about 9 minutes.
6) Hijo del Alebrije b Galeno del Mal, Hijo de L.A. Park, Príncipe Arkano, Villano V Jr., Apolo Estrada Jr., Brazo De Oro Jr., Cerebro Negro Jr. [La Rebelion de Los Juniors]
Alebrije tossed Galeno del Mal over the top rope to win.

This felt like an odd Sunday to run a subscriber-only show. The recaps have a real feel that Puma de Oro no-showed and isn’t coming back soon.

IWRG (THU) 03/23/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Golden Power & Rey Aztaroth vs Águila Roja & Cheff Benito
2) Avisman vs Cerebro Negro Jr.
3) Imposible vs John Tito
4) Gannicus, Hell Boy, Tonalli vs Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo De Oro Jr.
5) Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Noisy Boy
6) Hijo del Fishman vs Hijo del Alebrije [IWRG JUNIORS]
first defense

That title match is quicker than I thought. I find it hard to believe Tonalli is going to go back between CMLL and IWRG; I wonder if IWRG has a piece of paper that makes them think that’ll happen.

Other News

LuchaWorld is catching up on news.

Leon based luchador Prisonero 13 passed away on Sunday. I don’t have any info on him beyond a local obit mentioning he wrestled for 30 years. He was still wrestling as recently as last June.

Luchadora La Aripa passed away this past weekend. Again, I don’t know much about her; she appear to have wrestled in the late 80s and early 90s briefly.

The Vive Latino is said to have drawn 80,000 fans, so you can squint and stretch and say that was the highest-attended wrestling show of the year. The wrestling was a side show and not all of the 80,000 fans were there while it was going on.

You may remember a note here a few months back about a Hugo Savonivich show in Chile; the novelty to me was it was going to air on the local version of TNT, which meant it’d be a third (AAA, AEW) promotion to air on a WBD/TNT property around the world. Those shows were scheduled for March 25th in Valapariso and March 26th in Santiago. Past tense may be important. The original card included Will Ospreay, Santino Marella, and Natalia Marakova. In late February, those last two names switched to Marty Scurll and Bandido. Ospreay has since picked up an injury and wasn’t going to make it anyway, but Hugo picking Scurll as a replacement may have backfired. Chilean wrestling Instagram account PowerbombCL says local officials have canceled the March 25th show in Valapariso after learning about Scurll’s history. TNT Chile has also removed references to airing the shows. Tickets are still on sale for both shows. Typically Hugo would respond back to this via Lucha Libre Online and I don’t see anything there.

Irma Gonzalez is on the cover of Box y Lucha 3543.