Month: March 2023

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/17/2023 Arena México [AS Mexico, CMLL, ESTO, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Quadratin, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
***Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, 2023***
1) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido 
9:53 (seemed to end early when Rugido failed to break up a pin.) Rey Cometa pinned Magia Blanca, and challenged him to a MEX WELTER title match next week.
2) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
14:30. Guerreros challenged for a CMLL TRIOS match next week.
3) Titán b Virus [lightning] 
6:40.
4) Princesa Sugehit b Hera, Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, Amapola, Marcela, La Jarochita, Lluvia, La Catalina, Sumie Sakai, Sanely, Valkiria [Copa Irma Gonzalez]  
38:50. Battle royal split sides as Reyna Isis, Amapola, Princesa Sugehit, Lluvia, Sumie Sakai, Sanely, Valkiria vs Marcela, La Jarochita, Metálica, Zeuxis, La Catalina, Hera, Stephanie Vaquer. Order of elimination: Metalica (via Sanely), Valkiria (Hera), Amapola (Marcela), Sanely (Reyna Isis), Hera (Sumie Sakai), Marcela (Lluvia), Sakai (Catalina), Catalina (Isis), Lluvia (Jarochita), Jarochita (Sugehit), Vaquer (Isis), Zeuxis (Sugehit), Isis (Sugehit) leaving Sugehit as the winner. Irma Gonzalez was honored before the match, had a moment with each participant as they entered, and presented the trophy to Sugehit. CMLL gave Gonzalez her own trophy and plaque. Planned to be an annual match.
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Místico b Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja, Templario
11:42. Atlantis replaced Soberano on Thursday. Everyone got along, then Dragon Rojo unmasked Templario after Templario took the pin.
6) Rocky Romero L Ángel de Oro, Oráculo, Volador Jr. [hair]   
21:24. Angel de Oro & Orcaulo were eliminated in the first ten minutes, then Romero and Volador fought for about 10 minute before the winning Canadian Destroyer. Rocky got his head shaved in the ring.

The fans were very into the Volador/Rocky Romero near falls at the end, they gave the fans the Romero/Volador ending fans deserved, and those are the most positive things you can say about Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. It was a mildly disappointing show, and maybe mildly only because the lineup didn’t look impressive on paper. It didn’t live up to those expectations. The first half of the card has issues, the fourth and fifth match were good but not standouts. The four guys in the main event were clearly trying to make something big out of it, but the show was missing the atmosphere of a big show; the recent Copa Escuelas tournament felt more intense than most of this show. CMLL did give us the ‘good’ ending and the Irma Gonzalez segment was done very well. That was enough not to dismiss this show, but it was still a so-so affair.

Rocky Romero came to CMLL, appeared to invent a top-level program out of thin air, had a dozen good ideas to keep it going and get it even hotter, and then put over Volador cleanly at the end. There aren’t enough Rocky Romero’s in wrestling. He’s still Historic Welterweight Champion and so this is probably not the end of the story. Hope we get more.

It was strange to include Oraculo and Angel de Oro in this feud if they were going to the singles match in the end. Maybe it’ll make sense later, maybe it’s CMLL trying to improve their image by giving people the big endings when they haven’t before in these situations. Maybe they just think Oraculo is really cool. I don’t know.

The opener absolutely seemed to end early, but this show still went very long for a CMLL show (nearly 3 hours.) Maybe they made up the time in the women’s match, because that got the most time out of anything.

Stephanie Vaquer’s elimination got loud boos from the crowd. She’s the most famous woman in CMLL at the moment. I’m not sure if they absolutely have to turn her face but she’s going to get cheered either way. Catalina had her best night so far in the match; some of the WWE-style character stuff makes her standout a bit among this group.

Ticket sales looked good prior to the show. CMLL never did the big camera shots of the arena, so they must’ve not thought it turned out noteworthy. The crowd noise seemed quiet for most of the show. (I found myself turning down the sound early because the announcers were loud; maybe it was a mixing issues?)

CMLL (SAT) 03/18/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Full Metal, Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia
Pequeno Sky Team took 2/3
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
Team Disturbio took 2/3.
3) Raider b Cachorro [lightning]
Just over 9 minutes.
4) Difunto, Kráneo, Zandokan Jr. b Capitán Suicida, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin
Rudos took 1/3.
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black DQ El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
Tecnicos took 1/3. Okumura fouled Esfinge.
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr. b Euforia, Templario, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
Euforia replaced Atlantis a few hours after it posted it up. Titan replaced Soberano on Thursday. Team Dragon Rojo took 2/3.

A KeMonito short documentary premiered at San Diego Latino Film Festival earlier this week. You can see the trailer here. I did not know this existed, but this seems well produced. It’s focused on his retirement struggles; he’s like to retire, but he may not be able to afford to do so.

Team Mexico (and Tampa Bay) baseball player Randy Arozarena wore a Mistico mask in the dugout before one of the World Baseball Classic games. This got some attention, Mistico noticed and invited Arozarena to Arena Mexico. Arozarena said he’d love to go when he has time and joked that he’s ready to fight Mistico too.

CMLL (TUE) 03/21/2023 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral, Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Brillante Jr., Neón, Valiente Jr. vs Raider, Tonalli, Vaquero Jr.
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Dark Panther [lightning]
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Felino, Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III
6) Atlantis, Místico, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Averno, Gran Guerrero, Templario

Should be good. Main event Panterita del Ring Jr. is cool. Maya and Panther is a fun lightning match. Brillante, Tonalli and Vaquero Jr. filtering onto the normal shows (and Noen getting a bump up.)

CMLL (FRI) 03/24/2023 Arena México
1) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. vs Difunto & Inquisidor
2) Audaz, Capitán Suicida, Fuego vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
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 Ángel de Oro [lightning]
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto © vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero [CMLL TRIOS]
2nd defense

Ultimo Guerrero usually has a big role in Universal tournaments, but his team has to win the main event to be part of it. Cometa defeating Blanca would reduce the number of champions by 1, which might be helpful if Angel de Oro isn’t actually doing both the national and CMLL blocks.

AAA

AAA on Space was slightly better than last week. The two notable stories of the show were Aerostar and Parka Negra trying really hard to make their rivalry something in a match also with Aramis & Antifaz, and Anitfaz del Norte beating up Laredo Kid again. Negro Casas also did a promo talking about wanting to go for the Mixed Tag Titles, though just seemed like they had Casas at the show and sent him out to make up a title match to justify having him there. Same thing led to this long Taya/Flammer holding pattern.

The Aerostar/Parka Negra match is interesting, the other two matches didn’t seem as much. (The main event I’ve only seen parts of it due to stream issues.) The story with Centinela seem to be that she trained to wrestle previously back in Tuxtla Guiterrez, joined the military, and was having her first match in five years. Chessman led her through most of her spots. That “Chessman leads unfamiliar wrestler through highspots” part is so close to the endgame with influencer Adrian Marcelo that I wonder if one idea led to the other. It appeared like a good portion of the crowd knew who Centinela was and were cheering loudly for her.

WrestlingInc has an interview with Christopher Daniels on the Lucha Libre World Cup. It’s uncommon to see English language promotion of today’s show. Daniels is asked, in multiple ways, how the relationship between AAA and AEW is going. Daniels says the relationship is in a good position every time. No one’s going to say “eh, our relationship is shaky” in a media interview but Daniels is consistently positive; he wants to focus on the future, not whatever may have happened in the past. Daniels is involved on the talent side for AEW and mentions that his role isn’t to scour wrestling to find AEW talent. It’s more along the lines of Tony Khan bringing up a name, and Daniels looking more into that specific name.

Taya was listed as a “former women’s champion” in her AEW debut on Rampage Friday. That comes off like maybe she’s no longer meant to be AAA Reina de Reinas champion. I think it was meant to come off as “everyone complains AEW has too many belts so we’re going to avoid mentioning the AAA one for now.” I guess it’ll come up today if it’s anything more than that.

I guess I haven’t posted since Hijo del Vikingo versus Keny Omega was announced for Dynamite. I think that will be a good match.

Mas Lucha had a brief interview with Hijo del Vikingo on Saturday, about half on the World Cup and half on AEW. Vikingo said he has never wrestled anyone on first-round opponent Team Latin America (Hip Hop Man, Carlito, Zumbi.) It feels like he must’ve run into Zumbi or Hip Hop Man like on a random Arena Neza show or something, but my records match his memories. Vikingo is rooting for a Mexico/Mexico final, not just so Mexico wins, but because he thinks it’d be a great match. On AEW, Vikingo found out he was facing Kenny Omega when his phone started dinging like crazy from notification noises. He checked it, didn’t believe the Omega match was actually happening and had to check with other people to make sure it was real. It’s a dream match for him, something he’s wanted for a long time. Vikingo is also aware of the comments about the match, both positive and negative, and it’s motivated him to have the best match possible – he promises it’ll be five stars. The Vikingo/Omega match on Wednesday is a non-title match, and Vikingo makes a point of saying he still wants to defend the AAA Megachampionship against Omega at some point.

My hunch is Omega wins in AEW and AAA hopes to get the win back on a TripleMania later. We still don’t have a Vikingo match for Monterrey, that was the place where Omega/Vikingo was supposed to happen the first time and it’d take take advantage of the buzz from the AEW appearance the best.

Other News

El Justiciero (Marcos Sergio Contreras, 68) passed away Friday. He’s been remembers with moments of applause on indie shows around the weekend.

Justicerio broke in with the Pavillon Azteca promotion in the mid-70s, a sort of third promotional competition to then EMLL & LLI/UWA on a similar level to IWRG is now. He started his career wrestling as Magnifico, then changed his name to Justiciero after a tie-up with a magazine. (His son would latter wrestle under the Magnifico name.) He wrestled for both CMLL and the UWA in the 80s, then was one of the founding members of AAA. Justiicero left AAA in less than a year, returned to CMLL for a couple of years, and ended up as an indie wrestler. It’s not a super remarkable career in the record book, and Justiciero’s a guy whose biggest contributions didn’t come on big shows.

Justiciero, in a Mas Lucha interview last year about AAA reaching 30 years of existence, felt he had been incorrectly written out of the promotion’s history. Justiciero said it was him who Televisa reached out to first. A TV executive knew Jusiticero back from his days at Pavillon Azteca – which briefly had Mexico City TV in the 80s before the union shut it down. Luchadors in CMLL and LLI/UWA were all part of a single national wrester’s union through the 80s and to 1992. Justiciero says he was responsible for setting up AAA’s competition unions to all the promotion to employ their own wrestlers legally. Justiciero ran that union until quitting AAA. He felt the AAA paid wrestlers very little while Antonio Pena kept the money for himself. Justicierio talks about a show where no one in AAA got paid, then going to the office and seeing stacks of money sitting behind Antonio Pena when arguing about it. He quit AAA over it. Justiciero seemed to feel founding AAA would make conditions better for wrestlers, regretted it, and was unhappy about the unserious elements AAA brought to wrestling. The popular historic version of AAA’s founding is it just being an Antonio Pena, Konnan and Octagon project (with those wrestlers played up or down depending on how good terms they are with AAA at the moment) and Justiciero mentions that version, but also says it’s not full story.

For the last 25 years, Justiciero was the owner and primary promoter of Arena Coliseo Coacalco, in the Mexico State town. It’s really just a ring in an empty lot, surrounded by gravel and underneath a canvas roof. It wasn’t originally supposed to be a Justicero project. In a different Mas Lucha interview, Justiciero told Hip Hop Man that the Coliseo Coaclaco was originally a project of ten wrestlers. They ran two shows and everyone lost a lot of money; Justicero had to sell a watch to keep it going. Justiciero happened to run into Los Hermanos Dinamita when he took his brother to the airport, they were having an issue with CMLL and offered to work a show for Justiciero instead, and it was a main event of the Dinamtias versus Tarzan Boy, El Dandy and Justiciero himself that got the building going.

The arena improved over those 25 years, but it was the sort of outdoor low budget wrestling set up that exists in a lot of towns around Mexico. Coliseo Coacalco became the most famous of these. Justiciero trained wrestlers and found some gems. Daga, Aramis, and Abismo Negro Jr. got their starts in that ring, and all wrote the last few days about how much Justiciero meant to their lives. The promotion did OK with family shows in front of small crowds. They gained fame off proto-super indie put together by people like current Lucha Memes promoter Danny Ledesma, with video shared to the internet by people like photographer Black Terry Jr.. It was the setting, the wrestlers, and the film style that made it feel like the most authentic lucha libre there was. Justiciero provided the platform for it to happen. Ledesma has said his show on Monday will take place, and that Justicerio’s family is planning on keeping Coliseo Coacalco going in the future.

Mas Lucha (FRI) 03/17/2023 Arena Azteca Budokan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México [Mas Lucha, Record, Zona Ruda]
1) Dark Mayem & Rey Eclipse b Escapulario & Séptimo Elemento
2) Alas de Oro & Alas De Plata b Kauris & Leo Cristiani
3) Camaleón b Belial, Dante, Dinastía, Dinamic Black, Mr. Leo, Saruman, Último Legendario [Copa Perros del Mal 2023]
Camaleon beat Mr. Leo
4) Kundra b Halloween Jr.
Justicero was honored with a moment of remembrance before the match. Jeque helped his son Kundra win. Mask/hair challenge followed.
5) Sakura (Chihuahua) b Ludark Shaitan, Ayako Hamada, Cinthia Moreno [PDM WOMEN]
First women’s champion.
6) Groon XXX b Elemental
7) Bestia 666, Damián 666, Joe Lider, Lizmark Jr. b Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool
Fan cheered for the Pigs over the Perros. Perros won via mask pull.

I don’t see a lot of shows at this arena so context isn’t perfect, but it looked like they drew pretty well with this lineup. I don’t know that it was the Perros del Mal theme that did it though – both reports I saw about the main event mentioned the crowd was much more behind the Pigs and the Perros del Mal concept felt like old news. (It kinda is.)

Mas Lucha mentioned during the show that Belial, Dante, Saruman, Dinastía, Último Legendario and Dinamic Black would be in their upcoming Ruleta de la Muerte tournament. Camaleon was announced previously, so they’re one short. That’s an interesting group of people who felt close to breaking through at one point but never got there. I am intrigued by this idea, we’ll see how it goes.

Big Lucha (SAT) 03/18/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, Mas Lucha]
1) Brujo De Iztapalapa b Reiyel, Andy Panda 
2) Cometa Maya, Radioactivo, Sussy Love b El Machote, Kendy, Máscara Año 2000 Jr. 
3) Black Skyde, Forneo, Skayde, Vórtize b Elipse, Iku, Orbita, Vengador 
Hell Flyers helped Team Skayde won, then betrayed them after the match.
4) Carito & Tirano b Joey Marx & Mason Conrad 
5) Jack Evans & Killer Destro b Gravity & Potro and Mr. Win & Viajero 
Killer Destro is a new unmovable monster. Brujo De Iztapalapa attacked Gravity during the match.
6) El Bandido & Rey Horus b Bestia 666 & Damián 666 
talk about a cage match
7) Emperador Azteca & Flamita b Trauma I & Trauma II 
Flamita beat won via fast count, Traumas beat up the referee, the rest of Negocio Traumado ran in. Bendito (and only Bendito) ran in for the save, then Golden Guns ran in for the save. Flamita & Bandido agreed to work together to get rid of Negocio Traumado.

I didn’t watch this show completely. It seemed fine when I was playing attention to it; nothing to go out of your way to see but also nothing terrible. The Traumas had a Traumas match in the main event. They had fans loudly chanting for them but the turnout didn’t seem to be any bigger than usual (maybe even a little less.) I’m unsure if the angles in the main and semi are meant to set up one big cage match or two separate shows. Carito & Tirano making surprise returns got good reactions. Hell Flyers/Skaydes seems like a new feud, as does Brujo/Gravity. Potro still has the Golden Ticket, but that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere at the moment.

Only Bendito making the run-in at the end for Black Generation is notable. Action Jackson announced he left Big Lucha, and I think Elemental’s left with him. He was off working the Lucha Capital show Saturday instead. They’re all still part of Black Generation (especially since they’re all going together to GLEAT next month), but they seem done here for the moment. There may have been other departures.

Programming Note

I’m busy most of Monday until late, so I will try to sneak in updates this weekend. Maybe it’ll happen.

A final reminder that DST means CMLL and AAA are an hour later than you’re used to if you switch your clock.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/17/2023 Arena México
1) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
non-title
2) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
non-title
3) Titán vs Virus [lightning]
4) Hera vs Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, Amapola, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, La Jarochita, Lluvia, La Catalina, Sumie Sakai, Sanely, Valkiria [Copa Irma Gonzalez]
participants to be announced on 02/15. Expected to be a yearly match.
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Místico vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja, Templario
Atlantis replaced Soberano on Thursday
6) Ángel de Oro vs Oráculo, Volador Jr., Rocky Romero [hair]

This will air on TicketmasterLive, and will go up on YouTube on April 2nd.

I wrote a longer preview over on Voices of Wrestling. My guess is most matches will be good and maybe great, but they’re not going to reach the highest possible levels for this show unless Rocky and Volador close the show. I don’t think they’re closing the show. I think CMLL (and Rocky) believe they have more in the feud. They may even be right and it may be worth stretching out in a differently-paced promotion. In the CMLL we’ve known for 90 or so years, a feud like Rocky and Volador has to end either in March or September, and it’s more likely to get lost than resolved in the next five months. Hope I’m wrong one way or another. Angel de Oro looks primed for a surprise hair cut – maybe by Volador or Rocky – by CMLL’s recent policy of the second lowest guy on the totem pole losing.

The rest of the matches seem fine but lack stakes. The tecnicos will probably win the semi-main. I’d guess Princesa Sugehit to take the Copa Irma Gonzalez. Titan seems a safe bet over Virus. The first two matches are both trios champions in non-title matches, and at least one of those should set up a title match next week. I’m guessing Guerreros over Los Infenrales.

CMLL made changes to Homenaje a Dos Leyendas on Wednesday and Thursday. Sanely and Valkyria were added to Copa Irma Gonzalez on Wednesday. Also, Atlantis Sr. will take Soberano Jr,’s spot in the semi-main, teaming with his son and Mistico against Dragon Rojo, Niebla Roja and Templario.

Sanely is wrestling for the first time in 22 months. She talked about going on maternity leave and then also needing ACL surgery. Either one of those alone is a lot to handle, both in success must not have been great. Valkyria was surprised to be included – like everyone else, she thought CMLL announced the full field. CMLL did not release the official poster until Wednesday, so they were aware some changes were possible – maybe they were holding open spots for Sanely and Dark Silueta and one got cleared in time. It is surprising Valkyria got the spot instead of one of the Mexico City-based women not booked.

Soberano is out of action for some reason. Might be an injury, might be a COVID positive, dunno. He’s additionally of the Saturday Arena Coliseo show, with Titan replacing him there. The Soberano Jr. to Atlantis change wasn’t mentioned by CMLL. They just put out a different poster with Atlantis’ name in Soberano’s place. That’s how CMLL handles 99% of changes, but they’ve got to do better than that when they’re changing the semi-main of a major show.

The Guerrero stop on Mexico City’s metro has had a lucha libre exhibit since 2017. I believe there hasn’t been much activity in with it for a numbers of years, predating the pandemic. CMLL and the Mexico City Metro Collective System had a re-inauguration of the exhibit on Wednesday, as part of CMLL’s 90th anniversary celebration. La Jarochita, Oraculo, and Angel de Oro were part of the presentation. Jarochita showed talked about Copa Irma Gonzlez. The trophy looks good, they did a good job on it. Oraculo & Angel de Oro hyped their matches. In turn, CMLL wrestlers are filming PSAs passing riders to respect women on the metro system.

CMLL (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena Puebla
1) El Asturiano & Rayo Metálico vs Dark Soul & Rencor
2) El Novato, Rey Samuray, Zaeta Roja vs Multy, Perverso, Prayer
3) Marcela, Skadi, Sumie Sakai vs La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
4) Capitán Suicida, Panterita del Ring, Titán vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Soberano Jr., Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles]

This is a Sunday show due to the holiday. Soberano is still on the lineup at this point but that’ll probably change. Zaeta Roja was a regular here from 2015 to 2017; you would’ve seen him on YouTube at that point. He hasn’t wrestled much the last few years. El Novato is a new name and probably a literal novice. Match 3 is probably setting up a Zeuxis/Marcela match.

Irma Gonzalez will be in attendance. I have here last wrestling in this building in 1992 and first wrestling here in 1966 (but I could be missing appearances either way.)

CMLL (TUE) 03/21/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis and La Catalina & Maligna and Princesa Sugehit & Reyna Isis and Marcela & Metálica and Amapola & Tiffany and Hera & Olympia and La Magnifica & Náutica and Gema Andrade & Sexy Sol and Misteriosa & Valkiria and Atenea & Nexy and Dulce Kitty & Kimy [Occidente WOMEN TAG, battle royal]

It’s really just the tournament to decide the first (as far as anyone knows) Occidente Women’s Tag Team Championship. No other matches. No men are working the show; this is the second all-women’s show on October 25th. Part of this is progressive, part of this is running the same building 52 Tuesdays a year with a pretty stable attendance; you probably should be doing things like this to mix it up.

12 teams means four first-round byes and eleven matches in total if they’re doing it in conventional fashion. Who knows. La Jarochita & Lluvia should go to the final since they’re the long-running national team, but them winning these belts too would seem to defeat the purpose of having them.

CMLL announce the April Arena Mexico show will focus on the men’s Universal Championship. This is the annual champion of champions tournament. They’re following last year’s format, with blocks by types of champions and a three-way final. The champion could still change between now and the start of the tournament.

Irma Gonzalez will be here as well. Forget the holiday, maybe the reason Puebla got moves is to Irma didn’t have to go from a late night Puebla show to Guadalajara in one day. The earliest Irma Gonzalez match I have in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara is 1959. The most recent match is in the early 80s, but that’s mostly because we don’t have great records of the 80s or early 90s for that arena.

April 7th is the Historic champions:

• Rocky Romero (welterweight)
• Mistico (middleweight)
• Atlantis Jr. (light heavyweight)

Last year, they drew balls to determine a preliminary singles match, and the winner faced the left over wrestler.

April 14 is the National champions:

• Sagrado (heavyweight)
• Angel de Oro (light heavyweight)
• Dragon Rojo Jr. (middleweight)
• Magia Blanca (welterweight)
• Panterita del Ring Jr. (lightweight)
• Esfinge (tag)
• Fugaz (tag)
• Rey Cometa (trios)
• Dulce Gardenia (trios)
• Espiritu Negro (trios)

This should be a 10 vs 10 cibernetico

April 21 is the CMLL champions:

• Gran Guerrero (heavyweight)
• Barbaro Cavernario (light heavyweight)
• Templario (middleweight)
• Titan (welterweight)
• Stigma (super lightweight)
• Angel de Oro (tag)*
• Niebla Roja (tag)
• Hechicero (trios)
• Euforia (trios)
• Mephisto (trios)

This also could be a 5v5 cibernetico, but Angel de Oro is an exception. CMLL usually only allows multiple title holders a single birth in this tournament. Angel de Oro argued on Informa he should be allowed in both the national and the CMLL since he holds a title in each. Others have argued in the past to no avail, but the math works in Angel de Oro’s favor.

The micros and the minis do not participate in this tournament. The 04/28 show will also likely double as the Arena Mexico (building) Anniversary show. My guess is we’ll get a Templario/Dragon Rojo final.

CMLL will be collecting keys for a special 90th Anniversary plaque. Fans can donate their unused keys to be part of it in boxes outside Arena Mexico, Coliseo, Puebla, and Guadalajara (you don’t have to go in to drop a key.) This reminds me that the best thing that can happen on tonight’s Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show is CMLL officially announcing a date for the Aniversario. (It’s probably September 22nd but it’s not official until it’s official.)

Volador and Rocky Romero are not just part of a 10 man tag for NJPW US in Washington DC on 04/15, they’re being pushed as the most important part of it. That seems to me like the feud will still be unresolved by that point.

NJPW announced their annual Best of Super Juniors tournament will take place from May 12th to May 28th. Titan is expected to be in the tournament. Soberano seems likely to be in but no knowing for sure.

AAA

AAA TV (SUN) 03/19/2023 Estadio Panamericano, Guadalajara, Jalisco
***Lucha World Cup, 2023***
1) Alberto el Patrón, Hijo Del Vikingo, Psycho Clown vs Carlito, Hip Hop Man, Zumbi [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
2) Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Taurus vs Bhupinder Gujjar, Classy Ali, Rage [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
3) Christopher Daniels, Johnny Caballero, Sam Adonis vs Kuukai, La Estrella, Nishikawa [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
4) Josh Alexander, Pco, Vampiro vs Heddi Karaoui, Joe Hendry, Thomas Latimer [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
5) La Hiedra, Lady Flammer, Sexy Star vs Akino, Emi Sakura, Mayumi Ozaki [Lucha Libre World Cup Women, semifinal]
6) Deonna Purrazzo, Jordynne Grace, Kamille vs Dalys, Natalia Markova, Taya [Lucha Libre World Cup Women, semifinal]
Dalys replaced Christi Jaynes (visa issues) on March 9th.

This is airing on FITE at 6 pm CDT. I wrote a lot on Voices of Wrestling. Don’t know the match order. Kind of don’t know the rules – I’m assuming the same one was last year but how would I know. (I could ask I guess.) I’m not sure if I would bother with this one if I didn’t just get everything but I also think it’ll be fine enough. I hope I catch some enthusiasm for this once the show starts. I guess I’ve got Team USA Women and Team Mexico 1 Men winning the blocks.

I don’t think anyone’s processed how long this show will be. Part of that is because AAA is running a World Cup and they will not explain how a World Cup works until the moment it starts (if even.) This is the only the second time AAA’s run both women and men’s tournament, and they split those over multiple days the first time. If they’re going back to the usual rules, it’s a twelve-match show including third-place matches. They’ll also have long presentations to start and end the show. FITE may have a hard cap of four hours based on past shows, and AAA may need every minute of them.

Alberto looks to have gotten Dr. Wagner Jr’s spot as wrestling columnist in El Milenio. Alberto’s first column is on how great Alberto is, as if he was telling his life story to the kid version of himself. In this version he gets to a peak no one thought any Mexican would get to, only to find out how lonely it was at the top, people betrayed him and brought him down and he found out who were his true friends. The World Cup is the next step in trying to reshape Alberto’s as the greatest wrestling champion of all time.

AAA on Space this week on Saturday:

• Centinela (Military), Drago Kid, Fulgor vs Chessman, Emperador Azteca, Reina Dorada
• Aerostar & Aramis vs Antifaz del Norte & Parka Negra
• Vampiro & Willie Mack vs Puma King & Toscano

At the taping, they explained Centinela is a soldier recently trained to wrestle.

If you’re a person following along AAA on YouTube, a) this is a week to skip and b) this is a week they might skip, as they often do when there’s a live broadcast on Sundays.

Space lists the AAA/NWA show as airing next week. It doesn’t have the “Part 1” designation, so they might just compress it to one week. If so, the World Cup would begin airing on April 1st. (And then I don’t have to be nearly as worried about screwing up the recording while distracted during WrestleMania weekend.)

AEW announced they signed Taya Valkyrie. This probably won’t affect her presence in AAA much; she appeared about as often as Fenix and Penta previously. Sarah Stock (Dark Angel) also started with AEW as a producer. It’s been a long time since she was around Mexican wrestling a lot, but it probably couldn’t hurt current and future luchadors to have two more people with a lucha libre background in AEW.

Tony Khan said AEW would be announcing a dream match tonight during Rampage. Rampage is airing very late tonight. It’s listed as 10:30 pm CDT, but it’ll likely be later than that: it’s after whenever the last college basketball game ends and maybe even after a short post-game show too. (If you are a person who likes to DVR Rampage to watch it Saturday morning, make sure you add at least an hour overrun to be safe.) Everyone assumes the “dream match” is a Vikingo thing. I don’t know for sure, and it would not surprise me if it was something else. I don’t know if Khan’s announcement is that. The way it’s gone with Vikingo and the journey to this point so far, I wouldn’t feel safe announcing him on my show until his plane touched down in the Kansas City airport. Vikingo feels much more like it fits the ‘one extra match’ bit announced Wednesday bit, but that’s how I’m wired and Khan often thinks differently.

It would be very funny if AAA tried for years to put together Vikingo/Omega as the main event of a major (10K+) show, and then AEW just announced it first about a quarter to midnight on a Friday night. I think Omega/Vikingo is not happening Wednesday but I’m just speculating on that part.

Komander is listed as wrestling on the 04/22 AAA TV taping in Tijuana.
Komander is listed as wrestling on the 04/22 GCW show in Orlando.

Cuatrero and Stephanie Vaquer

Both El Planchitas and Antonio Nieto reported Cuatrero will be required to remain in jail while the investigation into his domestic violence and femicide charges continues. The judge set a two-month deadline to conclude the investigation. ESPN added Thursday’s meeting lasted five hours, after a three-hour meeting last weekend. Stephanie Vaquer was present for both, in support of her previous statements.

I’m unfamiliar with the Mexican legal system enough to know how strict they are about those deadlines, but that timeline means this story (and Cuatrero) are going away until mid-May. Planchitas also mentions Cuatrero’s head was shaved while in jail.

“Do you strip the trios titles if one of the champions is currently in jail” is a real question AAA has to have in the next week. It’s so low on the priority list but it’s also a question AAA will be asked next time they’re in front of the press. They ought to figure out their answer first. (It really doesn’t matter for booking purposes, AAA can go two months without a title defense easy, but this isn’t a booking issue.)

Other Shows Of Note That Aren’t The Big 2 Shows But Are Also Happening This Weekend For Reasons

Mas Lucha has a Perros del Mal homage show on Friday night. This is for subscribers only.

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

It’s a Perros del Mal homage show, though it feels more like a celebration of the period where they were running their own TV show and had their own promotion, which was a bit more ragged. The strength of this lineup is these are different combinations than anyone else is running in the crowded Mexico City arena. No one else is running Groon XXX versus Elemental for sure, though there may be reasons why no one else is running singles matches with 2023 Groon XXX. Maybe the Copa will be the best match on the show? Maybe that’s a sneaky preview to the Relevos Suicidas show Mas Lucha is running next since there seems to be some duplication there.

Record has an interview with Groon XXX to promote this show. He surprisingly sees his brief time in CMLL as a success story. For him, going from talking his way onto early shows when he (admittedly!) wasn’t actually fully trained to getting onto a highly attended Arena Mexico card was a big achievement.

Big Lucha returns on Saturday

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

This is the least interesed I’ve been in a Big Lucha show since they became a thing. The semi-main looks like the best match. The poster has no Mas Lucha logo, but I assume they’re streaming this as usual.

GCW on Friday in New York has Gringo Loco versus Bandido. That’ll air on FITE+.

IWRG has a Rebelion de Los Juniors show on Sunday

IWRG (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Roja vs Ángel De Plata
2) Sagitarius vs Black Fury, Lady Lee
3) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly vs Caballero de Plata & Jhon Tito and León Dorado & Mr. Leo
4) Puma de Oro vs Shocko [IWRG MEXICO]
5) Aster Boy, Hell Boy, Tonalli vs Cheese Burger, Joey Marx, Mason Conrad
6) Galeno del Mal vs Hijo de L.A. Park, Hijo del Alebrije, Príncipe Arkano, Villano V Jr., Apolo Estrada Jr., Brazo De Oro Jr., Cerebro Negro Jr. [La Rebelion de Los Juniors]

That’ll also be a Mas Lucha subscriber-only show. The winner of the 12-person match will face Hijo del Fishman on the 04/02 show, according to IWRG’s news program. Cheese Burger (two word in Mexico) makes his debut.

Cheeseburger, Joey Marx, and Mason Conrad are among those wrestling for Tulancingo’s Luchando Libre on Friday. That usually turns up on Mas Lucha.

Lucha Time, which is theoretically a TV promotion based in Monterrey, has it’s first TV taping in about 14 months in Monterrey on Friday.

Aerostar versus the very suspended Chessman is supposed to headline the debut Capital Lucha Libre show in Arena San Juan on Saturday. That’s likely a fan cam situation.

Fuerza Guerrera returns to CMLL for the first time in three months on Sunday.

The Parks and the Wagners headline Arena Lopez Mateos on Sunday. That’ll be a fancam show on Monday and Mas Lucha some time down the road.

AAA wrestlers used to participate in the Vive Latino festival before switching to Billy Corgan’s group this year. Vive Latino will have independent wrestlers instead. It’ll technically be among the biggest crowds to see a wrestling show in Mexico this year, though most won’t be there to see the wrestling.

Lucha Memes has a usual mix of people on Monday.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

IWRG (THU) 03/16/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Águila Roja & Baby Star b Kenji & Leo 
2) Arcángel Divino, Destiny, Lady Lee b Lolita, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly 
3) Hijo del Fishman & Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Joey Marx & Mason Conrad 
no Medico Brujo & Sick Boy
4) Hijo de Canis Lupus b Coronel Vip 
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Larry Miranda, Mamba DQ Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool 
challenges followed
6) Jessy Ventura b Pimpinela Escarlata 
challenges followed

This show started late and went long, but it looks like it was the best drawing IWRG show in a few weeks.

The Mexico City Secretary of Culture held a press conference to talk about Contra Las Cuerdas, the Netflix series that was taped in Iztapalapa and debuted on the service about a month ago. This was mostly about pushing the idea of filming in Mexico City – you can do well and locals (both wrestlers and non in this case) can get work. They claimed Contras Las Cuerdas was among the top 10 most watched Netflix programs; there’s no context to that, don’t know if they mean just over one week or one month or what, but it sounds good.

Galeno del Mal talks about how hard life is being 198 cm.

Here’s a story about Alberto saying he was paid only 800 pesos in his first match.

There’s not much today. It’s quiet before it gets much bigger this weekend, with both Homenaje a Dos Leyendas and the Lucha Libre World Cup on the same weekend, which is busy with other shows. There is no update about the Cuatrero/Vaquer situation so far, but I expect something Thursday – every hearing has become public on that so far.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 03/13/2023 Arena Puebla [Arena Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Centella Roja & Rayo Metálico b Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika
2) El Asturiano, Millenium, Rey Samuray b Diamond, Eléctrico, Valiente Jr. 
3) La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis b Marcela, Skadi, Sumie Sakai 
Zeuxis used the ropes to beat Marcela. Marcela wants a rematch next week.
4) Atlantis, Stigma, Titán b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Niebla Roja
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Místico, Rocky Romero b Ángel de Oro, Averno, Templario [Relevos Increíbles] 

Rocky was again working as a tecnico here. Next Monday is the Homenaje a Dos Leyenda show, so it’s more possible they’ll skip ahead to the Marcela/Zeuxis singles match.

The next Puebla show is Sunday, not Monday. The national day off for Benito Juarez’s birth is on Monday. I think that’s the reason behind trying to run a Sunday show. (That lineup should be out in a moment.) It may also be why both AAA and CMLL ended up running major shows on the same weekend.

CMLL (TUE) 03/14/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Átomo, Chamuel, Micro Ángel b Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado 
2) Galaxy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito 
3) Amapola, Olympia, Tiffany b La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita 
4) Luciferno b Fuego [lightning] 
5) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma 
6) Oráculo, Rocky Romero, Sagrado b Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring 

Coyote, Okumura and Polvora continue to be an unnamed but official trio. Romero & Oraculo won cleanly going into Friday. Micros did not have a good night.

CMLL (TUE) 03/14/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Hijo del Calavera b Celeste, Eclipse Jr., Mágico 
2) Atilius, Optimus, Trono vs Carlo Roggi, Destello, Destructor 
3) Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., La Fashion (Chihuahua) b Cris Skin, Crixus, Principe Daniel 
4) La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b Reyna Isis, Sumie Sakai, Valkiria 
5) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Bestia Negra, Ráfaga, Zandokan Jr. 
Dulce & Bestia Negra feuding.
6) Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte © b Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin © [Arena Coliseo TAG, OCCIDENTE TAG] 
Hombre Bala & Robin fall on their fifth defense. Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte second defense. Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte are the 11th modern champ.

The main event indeed was title versus title. I’m not sure if they’ll be permanently unified, but one less title in CMLL is a victory for everyone. Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte exist as old angry unmasked rudos who will lose their hair at some point; challenges were made after the match. Guadalajara’s big show is in June.

La Fashion is from Chihuahua but mostly wrestles around Torreon of late, continuing the cross over of wrestlers from that area. This stream included a lot of promotion for the Guadalajara guys heading to Arena Coliseo Tony Arellano in Torreon tonight.

CMLL (SAT) 03/18/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia
2) Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Cachorro vs Raider [lightning]
4) Capitán Suicida, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin vs Difunto, Kráneo, Zandokan Jr.
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
6) Atlantis Jr. Euforia, Soberano Jr., Templario vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Possibly notable that Volador Jr. is on the cards this weekend. Romero, Oraculo and Angel de Oro are all missing. So is Atlantis Jr.; he was on that lineup for about eight hours on Tuesday.

Zandokan is back in Mexico City in the fourth match. Cachor

CMLL (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena México
1) Bengala & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Leono, Neón, Valiente Jr. vs Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro
3) Oro Jr. vs Sangre Imperial [lightning]
4) Astral, Flyer, Volcano vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Dark Panther, El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Felino, Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III
6) Atlantis, Octagón, Valiente vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Fuerza Guerrera, Último Guerrero

Fuerza Guerrera is back from surgery. Back to tying Octagon’s mask to the ropes, surely.

CMLL Informa has the four main people from H2L (Rocky Romero, Volador, Oraculo, Angel de Oro), Sumie Sakai, Okumura, Furia Roja and Guerrero de la Muerte. I assume Okumura is there to talk about his new trio but it would be funny if CMLL thought they needed him to translate Japanese for Sakai. CMLL has all their April Arena Mexico & Coliseo shows on sale this weekend, which might mean some lineup announcements on Informa.

AAA

The Chessman visit to Monterrey didn’t advance the story as much as I thought this week. He did appear on Multimedios to offer the apology Adrian Marcelo but Marcelo wasn’t there so the angle didn’t progress past that. Chessman declared he was sorry he caused trouble for AAA and Multimedios but noted many fans had congratulated him for slapping Marcelo and Marcelo owed some people apologies himself. This is now so obviously setting up a match that Multimedios hosts asked Chessman about it, and he said he wouldn’t wrestle anyone who wasn’t licensed to wrestle. (Marcelo did previously mention training to wrestle.) Given all the issues in Monterrey around licensing wrestlers over the last couple of years, a non-wrestler getting approved to wrestle is going to be a bit amusing.

This step in the angle again got a lot of media attention I think they need to announce the match now to keep people’s attention, but they’ve strung people along well so far without getting that point. Sunday’s World Cup would normally be a great place to do the next angle, though AAA has treated the World Cup as a place with no angles and as a totally serious wrestling competition in the past.

EMW is announcing various people in addition for the 04/22 taping, so the lineup should be coming out soon.

AAA will have the English version of the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup on their YouTube channel Saturday night. I think it probably needs to be out a little earlier in the week if they hope people check it out before the 2023 one, but it’s a good idea. My unsolicited digital media advice of the day is AAA needs to open an English language channel and start putting up the matches they’ve put up on the Spanish side. I don’t think anyone going back to through the archives to watch that first Showcenter event, so why not create a channel and put it up the English version there to catch some more eyeballs?

I previously wrote in this space that I believed Vikingo would appear in AEW whenever AAA, AEW, and Vikingo could figure out a date. My understanding is Vikingo isn’t wrestling in Mexico during the middle of the week for the rest of the month. He’s not in Winnipeg tonight for Dynamite, but expect to hear news about him turning up on future shows AEW soon. Maybe even name-checked tonight.

Taya seems likely to debut in AEW tonight. All the signs point to her being Jade’s opponent. Taya’s also unafraid to shoot down false stories about her career, hasn’t said a word about this one and is keep her location quiet today.

Other Notes

Big Mami talked to La Aficion about being bullied and mistreated about her size. Among other stories, she says promoters used to call her not to book her, but to try and get hold of her sister (Super Nina), who was much thinner. Martha Villalobos gave her the Big Mami idea and gave her the confidence to continue.

The Bandido La Mole autograph signing has been moved to Saturday, so he looks to be OK for GCW on Friday.

04/15 GCW (St. Louis) has Nick Wayne, Jordan Oliver, Myron Reed vs Gringo Loco, Arez, and Komander.

A history of Mexicali lucha libre arenas.

A collection of Barbie-like dolls in Bolivia include some cholitas.

Box y Lucha put up a sample of a 1969 magazine. I can promise you that if you actually buy the magazines, it’s not horribly watermarked and you can actually read it.

Daylight Savings Time

You should’ve moved your clocks forward on Sunday. Mexico did not and will not. Mexico generally is no longer doing DST; they got rid of the law last year, and only towns that border the US will change their clocks. Mexico City will not change, and that’s where most of the TV and streams come from. That means all streams from Mexico from until November 5th is one hour later in the US and anywhere else that changes their clocks.

Going over the frequently seen streams

• CMLL Friday
  • 8:30 pm Mexico City Central Standard Time
  • 9:30 pm US Central Daylight Time
• CMLL Tuesday
  • 7:30 pm Mexico City Central Standard Time
  • 8:30 pm US Central Daylight Time
• AAA on Space
  • 6:30 pm Mexico City Central Standard Time
  • 7:30 pm US Central Daylight Time

March to November is most of the year, so these are now essentially the time you’ll get used to seeing these shows. The people who are jumping in for a show every once in a while will struggle more. AAA would help themselves out if they made it clear when the Lucha Libre World Cup is airing in various time zones, because it’s just a confusing period. The good part is you’ll just be early if you get confused on the times, you’re not going to miss anything.

(If you’re a Mexican fan who watches WWE or AEW and lives away from the border, those programs now air 1 hour earlier for most of the year.)

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/10/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Cachorro, Leono, Sangre Imperial b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. 
11:05.
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. b Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider 
11:15. Diamond wrestled only sparingly in the match and had an obvious finger injury
3) Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, Hijo del Villano III b Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma [Relevos Increíbles] 
14:13.
4) Stephanie Vaquer b Lluvia [lightning] 
9:05. Vaquer cleanly submitted Lluvia.
5) Oráculo, Templario, Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles] 
17:55. Angel de Oro was eliminated by Oráculo, came back in and attacked Volador Jr. (as he was about to beat Romero) for the win. Everyone fought after the match, and Templario and Dragon Rojo ripped masks during it.
6) Místico b Atlantis Jr. [lightning] 
9:45. Teased the timelimit draw with Mistico getting La Mistico just before the ending. No angle after.

This show was fine for a random Friday night show. Mistico and Atlantis tried to squeeze in a much bigger match in 10 minutes and it went well. Lluvia and Vaquer did well with the opportunity. I don’t think the outside-the-ring story has changed Vaquer’s in-ring story – the foreigners have consistently won leading into Copa Irma Gonzalez – though perhaps it changed how it was accomplished. Vaquer was still the rudas but less overtly so. She won cleanly. Suicida getting the win in the third match was a good sign for him, though it’s bad to read too much into a single CMLL match booking.

The semimain was strange for Romero team ending up as the tecnicos at night. Oraculo seems most likely to lose his hair, the usual setup is him winning the week before, and he indeed beat Angel de Oro. At the same time, they teased Volador finally getting that win over Rocky Romero before getting it taken away. Oraculo’s losing is the least exciting finish next week, Volador beating Romero the most exciting, and they booked towards both directions.

CMLL (SAT) 03/11/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito b Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito
2) Apocalipsis, Disturbio, Nitro b Astral, Eléctrico, Robin
Rudos took 1/3. Grako was scheduled to have his first match since September but was replaced by Disturbio.
3) La Catalina, Metálica, Zeuxis b La Jarochita, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita
Rudas took 2/3.
4) Fugaz b Dark Magic [lightning]
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Infernales took 1/3.
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. b Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero
tecnicos took 2/3

A show that occurred. Fugaz reversed something Dark Magic did for the win and we will never see what it was. Or maybe you went to Arena Coliseo or gets the mysterious Heraldo TV show and know, I shouldn’t assume.

CMLL (SUN) 03/12/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Átomo, Chamuel, Micro Ángel
2) Misterio Blanco & Misterio Negro b Eléctrico & Leono
Misterios take 1/3 in the first match officially on the roster.
3) Espanto Jr. b Difunto [lightning]
4) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
Team Coyote took 1/3.
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b Felino, Kráneo, Niebla Roja
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero

Sumie Sakai made it into Mexico early enough to wave to the crowd on this show. She starts tonight in Puebla.

Polvora, Coyote, and Okumura had matching gear and did a promo talking about wanting to be a group. They need a name.

CMLL (TUE) 03/14/2023 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Micro Ángel
2) Galaxy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
3) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita vs Amapola, Olympia, Tiffany
4) Fuego vs Luciferno [lightning]
5) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring vs Oráculo, Rocky Romero, Sagrado

Weird to see half of the H2L protagonists and not the other half. Coyote, Okumura and Polvora appear to be an unofficial unit, as pointed out to me. CMLL may not be explicitly pushing them as one, but this is the sixth time that combination has teamed up this year already. My hunch is it’s more a booking quirk than a plan though they might as well give them a name if they’re going to keep it up.

CMLL (TUE) 03/14/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Celeste, Eclipse Jr., Mágico vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Hijo del Calavera
2) Cris Skin, Optimus, Trono vs Carlo Roggi, Destello, Destructor
3) Ángel Rebelde & Halcón Negro Jr. vs Crixus & Principe Daniel
4) Reyna Isis, Sumie Sakai, Valkiria vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
5) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Bestia Negra, Ráfaga, Zandokan Jr.
6) Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin © vs Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte © [Arena Coliseo TAG, OCCIDENTE TAG]

The description of the main event makes it sound like both titles are on the line, though I’m not completely certain. The Calaveras are part of the Oro family and have shown up ni parts of Jalisco where I don’t get many lineups. There was a Celeste wrestling in this arena in the 80s, so there’s a chance they’re elated.

Milenio has an interview with Virus. He first tried out for CMLL in 1992, passed the test, and then was told he’d be in the Pequeno Estrellas division. (The original CMLL minis had ceased to exist when most of the people involved jumped to AAA; Virus came along as they were looking to restock.) Virus wasn’t thrilled about that as he’d been working as regular-sized wrestler on the indies but it was a way to get into “the best company in the world” so he endured it. He started as Piratita Morgan, Pirata Morgan jumped to AAA in 1993 and told him to come with, but the future Virus declined and got renamed as Damiancito el Guerrero. Virus won the famous cibernetico in 1997 to move to the regular division and says it was meant to be only for three matches. CMLL booking him back as a mini in early 1998 and he fought the idea. He eventually convinced the programming committee to let Virus stay, though Paco Alonso required them to come up with a new name – he couldn’t be a ‘-cito’ as part of the regular division – and that’s where the Virus name came in.

Friday afternoon, CMLL held a panel discussion with female wrestlers and front office staff as part of nationwide International Women’s Day activities. (Recap here if you don’t have the hour.) The wrestlers included were Amapola, Lluiva and Reyna Isis. The luchadoras stories are familar. The staff included Analletzin Diaz Alcala (commentator on ESPN in 2000; that would’ve been IWRG), Sandra Granados (in CMLL’s press department for decades) and Balbina Clasing (“Interinstitutional Relations Coordinator”; she appears to be the liaison with the Mexican government on various projects and has two more jobs on top of it according to LinkedIn.)

AAA

This week’s AAA on Space had no good matches. The main event was low effort and had no finish; AAA’s TV show ran out of time for the first occasion in the program’s history. The women’s match was messy, and the opener had two teams that didn’t gel well. Next weekend is an overloaded weekend and you make some time for yourself by cu

I think AAA might be going with ‘all multi-man matches are no DQ’. That means the weapon shots make sense coming back on the last taping, and the women’s match on this show, fits with AAA’s rules. Still, it’s incredibly challenging to get over the “we’re taking DQs seriously” when most of the matches are under no DQ stipulation.

In a bit that didn’t air on TV (or didn’t air on the version I saw), Estrellita received a phone call from Pagano asking her to join a new group he was forming. Estrellita had not made up her mind yet. An interview with Antifaz del Norte pushed his feud with Laredo Kid did air; I wonder if those two vignettes got swapped. I have no idea what a Pagano/Estrellita alliance would be.

The next Monterrey press conference is Monday in Monterrey. Not sure of a time; I guess it didn’t happen yet if you’re reading this paragraph. I think that’s still a big deal, but I’m also sure people will want to ask about the Cuatrero/Vaquer situation. It may overshadow what AAA has planned.

The Lucha Libre World Cup is Sunday. There are still plenty of tickets left, but they appears to be moving decently well for this pace of an AAA show. AAA is promoting it a lot on social media. There appears to be no chat about the show beyond that. Maybe it’ll pick up close to the weekend.

The AAA spot show in Aguascalientes on Friday drew very well. The show was headlined by DMT Azul vs Blue Demon, which hasn’t been featured on TV at all. AAA wrestlers were on the show but they weren’t building off TV programs. Sexy Star II wrestled on the undercard and appeared to hurt her ankle at the end of the match,

Rush & Dralistco were pulled from a 03/25 AAA/BARBA show in Saltillo. No replacements have been announced as of yet. I haven’t been following Ring of Honor as close this time around, but I have the impression they needed to tape TV before Superccard of Honor by some quirk, and maybe that’s why those guys got pulled.

On Konnan’s podcast, he mentions Daga will be out two months recovering from his knee injury. He’s also asked about Taya leaving Impact to go elsewhere and mentions Taya has something big coming up soon. There were already fans speculating Taya was the mystery Canadian surprise to face Jade Cargill on Wednesday’s AEW show and Konnan’s comments fit with that idea. Konnan’s belief was AAA would take no action towards Cuatrero unless he were convicted of a crime. The segment was taped before Cuatrero was arrested but I do not expect that will change at this point.

Konnan will appear on WWE TV, inducting Rey Mysterio Jr. into their Hall of Fame. This is the only note of the WWE HOF in this post; I’m happy for the people who are happy but I had also already figured out on my own that Rey Mysterio Jr. was an all-time wrestler. Mysterio didn’t become better because he’s in the WWE HOF, the WWE HOF became better because Rey Mysterio is part of it. Anyway, Wrestling Observer Radio notes that WWE wasn’t going to let Konnan participate if he was under MLW contract (due to the ongoing MLW/WWE lawsuit) and it turns out Konnan was not under MLW contract.

Stephanie Vaquer & Cuatrero

Mexico City police took Cuatrero into custody late Friday after a match in Aguascalientes. He’s been arrested on charges of femicide (an intentional murder attempt with a gender-related motivation) and domestic violence after accusations made by Stephanie Vaquer about an incident on March 2nd. A hearing was held on the weekend, and  the judge ruled Cuatrero would continue to say in jail until the next hearing on Thursday. Cuatrero’s side wants to get him out of jail as soon as possible. ESPN’s report on the situation states that it’s the additional charge of femicide that’s keeping Cuatrero locked up as a preventive measure. We probably won’t know any more until Thursday.

NGD were not listed on any upcoming TV tapings before this announcement. We don’t yet know the complete card for the 04/16 TripleMania Monterrey event, so it’s possible they would’ve been used on that show. Mascara 2000 Jr. filled in for Cuatrero on a show in Juarez and figures to be the replacement as long as Cuatrero is unavailable.

Cuatrero’s side says they have a witness who disputes Vaquer’s side of the story, and will bring audio recordings to the court proceedings to prove it. Cuatrero’s version is it was just a break-up, nothing more. The breakup might be a point of agreement. Vaquer’s version includes her questioning Cuatrero about who he was texting and an argument coming out of it, which also sounds like a breakup. It’s what happened after that’s in dispute.

The fact that the accusations follow a break-up is notable because of a La Pasala follow-up story. A woman reached out to the paper after seeing the Cuatrero/Vaquer report saying a similar incident had happened with her and Cuatrero at the end of their relationship. The woman, whose name is not mentioned, is originally from Brazil and met Cuatrero on a TuriLuchas Turibus trip. (She provided photos to La Pasala to prove they had a relationship.) Cuatrero and the unnamed woman dated from 2015 to 2017 and were close enough that Cuatrero took her to Lagos de Moreno to meet his friends and family. Her description of the relation was of one that had issues: she believed Cuatrero was constantly cheating on her and having affairs with various fans. She also mentions Cuatrero being jealous of Dragon Lee, believing he was stealing women from him, which she read as Cuatrero projecting out his own infidelity. The woman eventually wanted to end the relationship due to the issues, and he reacted badly. She says Cuatrero threw her down on a bed and choked her after hearing the news. She says she faked passing out to trick him into releasing the choke. He later cried and begged her not to report him. She believes that if she had not faked passing out, he would’ve continued suffocating her until she died. The woman did not go to the authorities because she didn’t think people would believe her as a foreigner, and she knew Cuatrero was from a big powerful family of wrestlers who could make trouble for her. She was also just scared and in shock. She and Cuatrero haven’t seen each other since the breakup, and she’s still concerned something might happen with him or his fans. The woman feels partially responsible for what happened to Vaquer; if she had reported it, she believes it wouldn’t have happened again. She pledged to help Vaquer in any way possible.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 03/12/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Baby Star & Kenji b Dariux (Hidalgo) & Súper Boy 
Super Boy replaced Rey Minos
2) Hades (Indie) & Sagitarius b Satania & Therius 
3) León Dorado & Mr. Leo b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly 
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Rey Halcón b Chicano, Eddie Rodríguez, Hazel 
Chicano’s latest return to IWRG.
5) Fussion & Jessy Ventura b Gannicus & Hijo del Alebrije 
Alebrije got his shoulder up at 2, the referee counted 3 because he was looking at the wrong shoulder. Seemed to be an angle playing off recent referee legit screwups. Alebrije threw a fit, shoved his partner, and walked out.
6) Diva Salvaje, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Mamba b Aeroboy, Aster Boy, Hell Boy 
Hell Boy replaced Wesley Pipes (done already?)

Doing angles about how bad your referees is never a good sign. The fourth match sure seemed to feature a legit brawl after a dive wasn’t caught. Things don’t appear to be going well here at the moment. They’re not drawing well (but they also probably don’t have as many expenses with this roster.)

IWRG (THU) 03/16/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Roja & Baby Star vs Kenji & Leo
2) Lolita, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Arcángel Divino, Destiny, Lady Lee
3) Joey Marx & Mason Conrad vs Medico Brujo & Sick Boy and Hijo del Fishman & Hijo del Pirata Morgan
4) Coronel Vip vs Hijo de Canis Lupus
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Larry Miranda, Mamba vs Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool
6) Pimpinela Escarlata vs Jessy Ventura

This is a show built on RGR, Lucha Time and GALLI wrestlers coming in (though I’m not sure it’s all that meaningful.) Marx & Conrad are the GALLI/Chicago wrestlers, who were briefly IWRG tag team champions last year. Marx was a Jack Evans clone a thousand years ago, Conrad is a typical midwest heel tag team guy.

Other Notes

Cachorra Flores (Dora Gabriel Vazquez, 44) passed away Sunday. She wrestled in Veracruz from at least 2000 to 2019 and was a second-generation wrestler.

Komander and Arez’s trip to wXw’s 16 Karat went about as expected results-wise: Komander beat Arez, Komander lost in the next round, they wrestled some tag matches to round out the weekend. The performance aspect sounds like it went even better than hoped. Komander was one of the most impressive wrestlers on the weekend, and both the singles match with Arez and the trios match on the final night seem to be well received. Doing well in that tournament seems like a jumping-off point for many more bookings in the general European area, and Komander particularly seemed to earn himself more work. Komander has risen quickly to a position where he can make a nice bit of money just working indies for the foreseeable future and doesn’t necessarily need to sign with AEW or WWE right now, but there’s no also guarantee AEW and WWE will still be interested in him when he’s ready to move on.

Bandido appears to be advertised as appearing both at the La Mole comic convention on Friday and for GCW on Friday. He can’t do both.

Brunoticias has an interview with La Piedad, Michoacan’s Princesa Tiger, who’s recently appeared in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara.

The Tijuana lucha libre and collection museum is adding another floor to its exhibits as it celebrates six years of existence on Wednesday. My memory from going there is the top floor was used for a different exhibition, so they’re probably adding something new.

Daylight Savings Time begins in the US and Canada this Sunday. It doesn’t affect tonight’s show or tomorrow’s AAA. Mexico has ceased Daylight Savings Time, so the time differences coming Sunday will stay that way through November. (If you’re in Japan or somewhere else that also doesn’t change clocks, you’re fine.)

CMLL

Tonight’s show

CMLL (FRI) 03/10/2023 Arena México
1) Cachorro, Leono, Sangre Imperial vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider
3) Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, Hijo del Villano III [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer [lightning]
5) Oráculo, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Místico vs Atlantis Jr. [lightning]

On CMLL Informa, Julio Cesar Rivera noted this was the first Arena Mexico show to the main event with a lightning match. He also pushed back on criticism of it being a certain time limit draw by framing it as a situation where the time limit meant both men would have to go very hard for the start to try to get that win. That’s how every lightning match is supposed to work. It still seems likely to be a draw. I’m not sure which person winning would better set up more matches between them, but I don’t think this is the end of it; they’re teaming on Homenaje a Dos Leyendas for a reason.

The semi-main has the four guys who are main eventing next week. It also has Dragon Rojo & Templario, who may headline their own show this year. Lluvia versus Stephanie Vaquer continues the foreigners versus Mexicans women’s feud over the last month; Vaquer figures to get another win before it reverses in Copa Irma Gonzalez. It’s also Vaquer’s first match here since her accusations became public, though she obviously knew about them last Friday. The bottom half of the card is giving a lot of people their once-every-three-months Friday night appearance. The relevos increibles match exists to set up Suicida versus Stigma, if it exists for a reason at all. Raider with Diamond or Valiente Jr. could be good. The opener looks like a challenge.

The show is on TicketmasterLive as always. It’ll go up on YouTube on 03/26.

CMLL (SUN) 03/12/2023 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Micro Ángel
2) Eléctrico & Leono vs Misterio Blanco & Misterio Negro
3) Difunto vs Espanto Jr. [lightning]
4) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Felino, Kráneo, Niebla Roja
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero

Los Misterios start on the CMLL roster here. CMLL Informa also said the finalists in the ciberneticos = Brillante Jr., Tonalli, Rey Samuray, Crixus, Angel Rebelde – will also be part of the CMLL roster. Rey Samuray and maestro Black Tiger are out with unspecified health issues, so it might be a little bit longer before seeing those two. CMLL cards don’t really expand past this size, so more people being added means fewer matches for others.

CMLL (MON) 03/13/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja & Rayo Metálico vs Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika
2) Diamond, Eléctrico, Valiente Jr. vs El Asturiano, Millenium, Rey Samuray
3) Marcela, Skadi, Sumie Sakai vs La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
4) Atlantis, Stigma, Titán vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Niebla Roja
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Místico, Rocky Romero vs Ángel de Oro, Averno, Templario [Relevos Increíbles]

Sumie Sakai starts with CMLL here. Rayo Metalico is either a young Puebla wrestler (debuted in mid 2021) or a much older Leon one.

The streaming link for Homenaje a Dos Leyendas is up. It’s the usual 199 pesos (11 USD) big show price. CMLL usually puts up the whole month at once and now is only doing it two shows in advance. There’s no reason to buy these shows in advance so that’s fine; I’m always dreaming there’s some end to this coming.

Sumie Sakai did a press conference (via teleconference) with the CMLL media to introduce herself. She mentioned she saw Arena Mexico twenty years ago but never got to go inside, so being in Copa Irma Gonzalez is a big moment for her. The press emphasized her judo background.

CMLL Informa announced the Arena Coliseo Anniversary show lineup:

CMLL (SAT) 04/01/2023 Arena Coliseo
***Arena Coliseo 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 show often ends up as the one Arena Coliseo event put on YouTube; it showed up on a week delay last year. The names in the tournament certainly suggest other people who may be sticking around.

CMLL put out a statement in support of Stephanie Vaquer and against domestic violence late Wednesday night. CMLL didn’t announce any actions, so this was more notable for guessing what motivated them to release it when they did – why did it take most of a week? Why was it done in the middle of the night? It ultimately doesn’t matter much. The statement against domestic violence doesn’t mean much either; I’m not going to go over Oraculo’s background again right now (got to save it for next week), but it’s impossible to reconcile “we take violence against women very seriously” and Oraculo main eventing Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. Both those things can’t be true. The sentiment in that statement is as weightless as everyone (not just CMLL) who posted a graphic of all the women who work for them as a ‘celebration’ of International Women’s Day this past week. It’s coasting off a virtue while demonstrating no willingness to live up to it.

Cuatrero nor Vaquer are reposting supportive stories on Instagram and moderating the replies to their posts to filter out negative comments. They’re not directly addressing the stories.

AAA

No taping this week, they’re back next Sunday for the World Cup.

03/11 AAA on Space

• Dave The Clown & Murder Clown vs Kuukai & Nishikawa
• Dalys vs Flammer vs Maravilla vs Taya vs Estrellita
• Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs La Bestia Del Ring, Rey Escorpión, Rush for the AAA World Trios Championship

This is part one of two episodes taped on a military base as a special show only for the military and their family. The main event did not sound like it finished well, but there weren’t the usual video and reviews of a Mexico City adjacent shows. This taping was a parking lot converted to an arena, with big bleachers around the ring. Might look cool, might look weird.

Space’s listings are not completely reliable more than about four days out, but it doesn’t appear they’re airing the Lucha Libre World Cup live. Space would normally be advertising it on air by now and I haven’t seen anything. You’re watching this one via FITE or waiting quite a few weeks.

Social media influencer Adrian Marcelo and Chessman will be in a match on the 04/16 TripleMania Monterrey show. It’s not official yet, but it’s clear that’s the direction this angle is headed. Marcelo appeared on Multimedios on Wednesday to call Dorian Roldan live on air. Marcelo demanded Chessman either apologize in person or be suspended indefinitely. They settled with the idea Chessman would come to Monterrey next week to apologize in person. That apology obviously will not go well, and AAA will set up the match with whatever happens there. I do not believe it will be a 1 v 1 match.

(Capital Lucha Libre has Chessman booked on 03/18 in Arena San Juan and is hinting Chessman will still be there. He shouldn’t be if he’s still suspended, he will be if the angle next week in Monterrey causes the suspension to be dropped. I think Capital has been told that, and not been told enough to play along.)

Again, this Chessman/Marcelo angle seems to be a hit in Mexico; even if most people think it’s a work, they’re interested in following the story at least until they get a definite answer.  We won’t find out if that attention translates into ticket sales until the match is announced but it looks promising. It’s not something that anyone outside of Mexico is going to get – Marcelo is generally popular just in that country – but AAA looking to draw more interest in Mexico is a positive strategy. Perhaps the important part of that news is that means AAA may announce the rest of their TripleMania lineup next week before whatever incident happens. I’d thought it would wait until after the World Cup.

That press conference should also announce Rush’s replacement partner for Pagano. It’s almost definitely LA Park. AAA put out social media posts asking fans who’d they’d like to see as Rush’s partner, knowing that the response was going to be LA Park. AAA wouldn’t be teasing this unless they had LA Park locked in for the spot.

Alberto’s gone from talking about possibly 20,000 fans to 25,000 for TripleMania Monterrey. I guess AAA could sell tickets in the outfield bleachers if they wanted to, but those seats would be very far away, and they aren’t currently on sale. AAA announced an attendance of 13,637 for last year’s TripleMania Monterrey. I don’t think they’re putting in an extra 11,000 people but I’m also pretty sure no will call Alberto on just making things up.

Back at the last Lucha Libre World Cup press conference, Alberto mentioned he was planning on wrestling no more than 2-3 matches a month. He’s listed as working four shows in April so far.

Daga has a left knee injury and will rest for four to six weeks before determining the next medical step. The report reads like the ACL and MCL were damaged but not torn, which would be a much longer recovery. The injury means Daga is definitely off the 04/08 San Luis Potosi taping, where the main event was supposed to be a Perro del Mal reunion. Someone like Mr. Aguila, X-Fly or Joe Lider may end up as the replacement Perro, though AAA seemed like they were going somewhere with Pentagon vs Daga as well. AAA still is promoting the original main event.

Dalys will replace Christi Jaynes on Team Rest of the World for the Lucha Libre World Cup. Jaynes is said to be out due to a visa issue. (Jaynes has not wrestled in 2023 so there may be more to that story.) Team World is facing Team USA (Deonna Purrazzo, Kamille, Jordynne Grace) in the semifinals. That seemed like a pretty solid Team USA win before and it’s a bit closer to a toss-up with Dalys involved.

AAA had a third press conference for the Lucha Libre World Cup with Hijo del Vikingo in attendance. It wasn’t streamed and there doesn’t seem to be anything important announced from what I’ve see in tweets.

EMW released a promotional photo for the 04/22 AAA TV Tijuana taping. Beyond the regular names, the Lucha Brothers, Rush, Dralistico, and Taya are pictured. AAA still has no tag team champions and no stated plans to fill that vacancy, but LFI and Lucha Brothers fit as a possible new champion match. These posters don’t always line up with the actual matches by the way. Those are probably a couple of weeks away.

The Business of the Business podcast had Mike Weber of FITE on their recent show. AAA briefly comes up. Weber mentions FITE will be doing four AAA shows this year, which means it’s just the World Cup and the three TripleManias on the schedule at this point. Weber also mentioned a desire to move AAA on to the FITE+ subscription service later this year. This came across much more like a FITE aspiration and maybe not something that AAA has officially signed on as yet, but it makes some sense. The AAA Twitch shows streamed live because AAA was getting an upfront payment from Twitch, and AAA would probably do the same if FITE was offering enough to make it worth their time. Again, AAA on FITE+ is just a FITE idea at this point and it does not sound like anything has been firmly agreed upon.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/09/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Zona Ruda]
1) Súper Boy b Rey Espartano 
2) Águila Roja & Spider Fly b Samuray Azteca (Queretaro) & Tortuga Leo 
3) Jhon Tito & Noisy Boy DQ Avisman & Cerebro Negro Jr. 
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Maniacop 360 b La Momia, Luka, Super Mario AK47 
5) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Hell Boy, Puma de Oro, Travis Banks 

Tryout is over and I’m back to not paying attention. This one didn’t draw well. They’re full into the “foreigners stealing the IWRG name” angle, now with Adrian Mendoza as the special ring announcer for that team.

IWRG (SUN) 03/12/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Dariux (Hidalgo) & Rey Minos vs Baby Star & Kenji
2) Hades (Indie) & Sagitarius vs Satania & Therius
3) León Dorado & Mr. Leo vs Noisy Boy & Spider Fly
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Rey Halcón vs Chicano, Eddie Rodríguez, Hazel
5) Gannicus & Hijo del Alebrije vs Fussion & Jessy Ventura
6) Diva Salvaje, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Mamba vs Aeroboy, Aster Boy, Wesley

Lots of tryout wrestlers on the undercard. It would’ve made sense to tell the four finalists all to keep a Sundays open in case any of them won, especially if it was actually a legit competition, and then IWRG has to find spots for them for a moment. Still, it’s probably also a relatively inexpensive way to run these shows.

There’s an AAA spot show in Arena Nuaclapan on April 7th, with Alberto, Hijo del Vikingo, Taurus, Nino Hamburgesa, Octagon Jr., Abismo Negro Jr., Parka Negra and Dizzy (the promoter.) That should be an easy sell out.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Komander and Arez are just about to wrestle in WXW’s 24 16 Karat tournament as I write this. WXW doesn’t air live but they’ve been really fast about putting up VOD in the past.

The Crash’s 03/24 card included an Octagon & Super Asro vs Fuerza Guerrera & Pirata Morgan match. Wednesday, they announced CMLL was blocking Octagon and Fuerza Guerrera from coming in. CMLL works with another promoter in Tijuana, and I guess that confirms they have some control over Octagon & Fuerza’s bookings. The replacement match will be Super Astro, Super Astro Jr., Tinieblas Jr. versus Pirata Morgan, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, and Pirata Morgan Jr.

04/01 The Wrld on Lucha

• Los Macizos vs Familia de Tijuana
• Laredo Kid vs Hijo del Vikingo
• Tony Deppen vs Negro Casas
• Sexy Star II vs Dulce Tormenta
• Psycho Clown vs Gringo Loco – new

04/21 GCW in Atlanta has Komander vs Hijo del Vikingo.

Xalapa luchador Samuray Jr. posted that he’s retiring. He’s appeared in DTU from time to time and is young for a retiring luchador.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 03/06/2023 Arena Puebla [Grada, Porra Fresa]
1) Espíritu Maligno, Hijo del Perverso, Multy b Dark Soul, Dreyko, Rencor
2) Fuego, Rey Samuray, Volcano b El Perverso, Kráneo, Prayer 
Perverso left the match early, bleeding from the face after Samuray’s 450
3) Mercurio © b Angelito [CMLL MINI] 
5th defense
4) Sagrado © b Rey Bucanero [MEX HEAVY]
3rd defense
5) Gran Guerrero b Averno 
Averno tried to win via mask pull, failed and got pinned
6) Oráculo & Volador Jr. DQ Ángel de Oro & Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles]
Angel de Oro fouled Orauclo

All these DQs are the most Ingobernable thing Angel de Oro has done in quite some time.

CMLL (TUE) 03/07/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Apocalipsis & Cholo b Bengala & Retro 
2) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora 
3) Amapola, Reyna Isis, Tiffany b Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi 
4) Star Black b Akuma [lightning] 
5) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus 
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Oráculo, Rocky Romero b Esfinge, Panterita del Ring Jr., Soberano Jr. 
Oraculo and Rocky had minor issues, still won.

Not much here. Minis match was the best one. The lightning match was OK too, but you can skip all of this and be fine.

CMLL (TUE) 03/07/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara]
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Eclipse Jr. b Black Boy, Mortis, Thunder Boy
2) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Último Ángel b Obelisk, Raven, Temerario
3) La Catalina, Quimera, Valkiria b Hera, Nexy, Olympia 
4) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. 
5) Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte b El Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin 
Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte challenged for the Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship
6) Ángel Rebelde, Atlantis Jr., Último Guerrero b Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, Principe Daniel [Relevos Increíbles] 

The poster had “Kimy”, which is maybe short for Quimera? I don’t know. This show was not a memorable show as well

CMLL (SAT) 03/11/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Robin vs Apocalipsis, Grako, Nitro
3) La Jarochita, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita vs La Catalina, Metálica, Zeuxis
4) Fugaz vs Dark Magic [lightning]
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero

Fugaz versus Dark Magic are two pieces that don’t seem to work together at all.

CMLL Informa has Pequeno Sky Team (talking about being a full unit), Atlantis Jr. (Fantastica Mania & Mistico?), Oraculo (H2L), and Satanico, Blue Panther, Virus, Angel Rebelde, Crixus, Brillante Jr., Tonalli (Torneo de Escuelas). That’s one wrestler from each team except from Puebla, no Black Tiger either. That Puebla match seemed set up to make Rey Samuray the big star, except it did not go well for Rey Samuray. The Guadalajara team has two wrestlers, and overall winner Angel Rebelde brings a lot of the same flying as Rey Samuray.

Rocky Romero is scheduled to defend the CMLL World Historic Welterweight Championship against Dan the Dad on March 18th. That’s the day after Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. The loser of that match is likely sticking around Mexico long enough for everyone to see his bald head; Romero taking off to St. Louis the next day makes it less likely he’s the one taking the loss.

AAA

AAA addressed the domestic violence allegations towards Cuatrero in a statement on Monday night. AAA wrote they supported equality for women, rejected gender violence, and so were concerned about the accusations. (You can read those in the previous news post.) AAA said they would watch and respect the legal process. It did not appear they were taking any actions against Cuatrero at this point. AAA’s announcement led to many media outlets mentioning the story for the first time; few wanted to touch it strictly on La Pasala’s report.

Tuesday morning, AAA issued another press release saying Chessman was suspended two weeks for slapping social media influencer Adrian Marcelo. Chessman is listed on a 03/18 San Juan show and over the next two weeks; he’s not on a TV taping or in the Lucha Libre World Cup. (It’s possible he’s got other dates, those are just the only posters I could find.) On the other hand, Chessman also claimed he wasn’t wrestling on AAA/NWA that show due to an injury in Marcelo’s vlog of the confrontation posted Tuesday. Despite not wrestling, Chessman was in full face paint. Marcelo also mentioned he’d been training to wrestle for a long time. The slap and the argument leading up to it came off even more as a setup to an eventual match in the context of Marcelo’s own video. Marcelo has gone quiet since posting the video (he was very active prior) and hasn’t commented on the suspension. Chessman’s suspension gave this story another round of press.

AAA used the same press release format to write the real Cuatrero/Vaquero situation and the presumed Chessman angle. (There were already some who believed both must be a storyline, as they believe everything in wrestling is a storyline.) This led to a day of smaller Mexican promotions sending out ‘press releases’ of their own, parodying AAA. AAA’s actions to treat real and (presumed) fake the same was in poor taste, but also parodying a press release about a (alleged) domestic violence incident seemed lame. It was just a miserable day.

SI has an interview with Komander.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/09/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Súper Boy vs Rey Espartano
2) Águila Roja & Spider Fly vs Samuray Azteca (Queretaro) & Tortuga Leo
3) Jhon Tito & Noisy Boy vs Avisman & Cerebro Negro Jr.
4) La Momia, Luka, Super Mario AK47 vs Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Maniacop 360
5) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko vs Hell Boy, Puma de Oro, Travis Banks

A few of the Tryout names showing up in the undercard here.

Other Notes

Mas Lucha will be running a ruleta suicida de mascaras at some point in the future. (Probably April.) Former CMLL wrestler Camaleon is the first wrestler announced.

03/24 The Crash has a match for the vacant The Crash and KAOZ tag team titles. (Dragon Lee & Dralistico were previous champs; Dragon Lee started his new job last night.) The match is Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf versus a mystery team, which they’re teasing as the Lucha Brothers. It’d be weird to book the Lucha Brothers and only tease it, I guess the Crash could be that weird.

Luchador turned referee Pensamiento Negro (Miguel Álvarez Camacho) passed away Tuesday, according to Box y Lucha. I don’t have an age, but he started wrestling in 1984 to give you an idea.

International Women’s Day profiles: Lady Metal from Puebla and Star Fire. There are these profiles every year, focusing on young luchadoras, if they feel like they get the same chances as men (they do not feel that way), if they would do it again (generally yes) and if they would let their children wrestler (generally no.) It must be a story that plays well with editors because it feels like the only story about women in lucha libre told on these days.

Box y Lucha #3541 has lots of CMLL stories.