TripleMania Monterrey announcements (Chessman/Influencer), WM weekend, CMLL early week results

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.