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.