new CMLL sponsor, IWRG books CMLL vs AAA match, Big Lucha departures

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 04/24/2023 Arena Puebla [Porra Fresa]
1) Minos & Pierrothito b Astro & Shockercito
2) Asturiano, El Hijo De Centella Roja, Siky Ozama b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio 
3) Raider, Tonalli, Yota b Millenium, Pegasso, Volcano
Yota replaced Kraneo.
4) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
Los Depredadors asked for a MEX TRIOS title match
5) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Averno, Euforia, Hechicero 
clean win

Ultimo Guerrero won the main event too much and now they’re not even doing a feud.

CMLL (TUE) 04/25/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas  
2) Sangre Imperial b Enfermero Jr. [lightning]  
Sangre Imperial won in 8:18.
3) Grako & Nitro b Astral & Robin  
4) El Audaz, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus  
5) Felino, Hijo del Villano III, Yota b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black  
Yota beat up Esfinge after the match.
6) Panterita del Ring Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja  

The appearance of new sponsor (Sol) was the biggest news of this show. They’re a snack food company, most notably of peanuts too spicy for me to eat enjoyably. The mat is now branded where their logo, which is a bit intense. CMLL’s frequently had logo-ed mats since the 80s; the old Corona logo became so normalized that people stopped thinking of it as promotion and instead just part of Arena Mexico (like “Wrigley Field” and the Chicago Cubs.) Previous sponsors have appeared all over the mat on certain days of the week and then less so other days; I suspect there are different fees for Tuesdays and Sundays compared to Fridays. For your purposes, it may mean something else shows up on Friday.

Panterita looked great in the main event, should face the Chavez brothers constantly, but doing three shooting star presses a night makes them less special. It’s no different than the Destroyers that way. (Also, I miss the spaceman dive he was doing that seems to have been dropped since it didn’t go right in the Gran Alternativa.)

CMLL (TUE) 04/25/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol b Atenea, Nexy, Valkiria 
2) Flash, Mágico, Ráfaga DQ Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico 
excessive violence DQ
3) Dulce Gardenia & La Fashion b Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte 
4) La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b La Jarochita, La Maligna, Lluvia 
5) Atlantis & Blue Panther DQ Rey Bucanero & Satánico 
Satanico unmasked Atlantis
6) Atlantis Jr. & Dark Panther b Averno & Místico 
Atlantis snuck in a foul on Mistico to win.

Match 3 of 5 (at least) for Satanico this week. They’re keeping them short. Guadalajara has a free show on Sunday but it’s an outdoor show so maybe it won’t be streamed.

CMLL (SAT) 04/29/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) Leono & Oro Jr. vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
3) Max Star vs Diamond [lightning]
4) Dark Panther, El Audaz, Flyer vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr., Valiente vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Misterioso Jr., Rey Bucanero
6) Atlantis, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

Max Star versus Diamond is an interesting totem pole match. Not much more here.

CMLL (SUN) 04/30/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Mercurio, Pequeño Polvora
2) La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Skadi vs Hera, Metálica, Olympia
3) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Okumura vs Brillante Jr., Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro
4) Titán vs Averno [lightning]
5) Atlantis Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Soberano Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario
6) Volador Jr. vs Satánico, Volcano, Akuma, Capitán Suicida, Raider [TORNEO EMBAJADOR DE LOS NIÑOS]

This is the “Kids (fans) for vote wrestlers in six categories” main event. They’ll do a main event to decide the sides, though I think we can guess how those teams will work out.  Titan/Averno was a classic rivalry from a decade ago. Semimain looks good, and we usually get a good effort on Kid’s Day. There’s a small chance this show might be streamed; CMLL doing a surprise stream for Kid’s Day would fit.

CMLL Informa will have Volador, Raider, Volcano, Akuma and Capitan Suicida to promote that Sunday show. Zeuxis will be there to talk about her title match on Friday. Dragon Rojo will talk about the CMLL Universal final. Atlantis and Daniel Aceves are also scheduled. The Copa Bobby Bonales, a sort of lifetime achievement award named after Aceves’ father, will be handed out Friday. Mistico, Dalys, Panterita del Ring, and Ultimo Dragoncito were awarded last year. Atlantis was given the prize back in 2011. They’ll probably announce this year’s winners today

The Universal final is the cover of Box y Lucha 3548. The Atlantis Jr. photo looks odd

NJPW will announce the Best of Super Juniors field Thursday night, which means those of you in North America will probably see it when you wake up Thursday morning. I expect it’ll be Titan and Soberano Jr. but I don’t know it for sure.

The KeMonito documentary continues to tour around film festivals; it’ll be aired as part of New Zealand’s DocEdge online presentation.

AAA

Talking to Mas Lucha, Dorian Roldan said there are still big names to be announced for TripleMania Tijuana. He expects to announce the rest of the card in June.

Nicho told Mas Luchas he doesn’t want a hair match with Negro Casas, he’s not interested in that, he wants a career versus career match.

Post Wrestling transcribed part of a Konnan virtual signing with Capitan’s Corner. Konnan brought up that there would be a new version of an existing character, “it’s a wrestler in AAA that’s very popular who’s been there for about 20 years that we’re going to giving his name to someone new.” There are not really a lot of people left in AAA who’ve been there 20 years, especially under the same gimmick. This show is 20 years ago this weekend, and the only people who would fit are Zorro and Cibernetico. Karis La Momia Jr. fits, but hasn’t wrestled since January.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 04/27/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) X-Devil vs Súper Boy
2) Jhon Tito & Spider Fly vs Águila Roja & Rey Aztaroth
3) Aster Boy & Puma de Oro vs León Dorado & Mr. Leo
4) Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo De Oro Jr., Brazo de Plata Jr. vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
5) Tonalli vs Aramis

Everyone’s going to party until CMLL comes home. As long as they don’t find out, Aramis and Tonalli should be great. I like this IWRG card, the other matches look promising.

Other news

Extasis, Elemental and Action Jackson appeared on Mas Lucha’s Llaves y Contrallave to talk about leaving Big Lucha (and to promote Mas Lucha’s show this weekend.) Elemental said the February show was his last Big Lucha show, though he says his contract with his promotion didn’t end until after the GLEAT tour and that’s why nothing was announced. Elemental was appreciative of Big Lucha and what he learned there but felt they could do bigger things on their own now. Action Jackson and Extasis expressed similar sentiments. In a separate interview, Emperador Azteca & Bendito praised their ex-partners and said they’d continue on with the Black Generation group. Bendito said the door would be open for those two to return if they ever wanted.

I think it will be hard for these guys because it’s very tough to be in the favor of indie bookers unless you’re an ex-AAA/CMLL guy or a Pig right now; these guys may be booked often but in non-prominent places. It’s up to them to figure out a way to get beyond that.

Bandido returns to AEW tonight on Dynamite to challenge Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Championship. There’s a chance Bandido might win but I wouldn’t call it a big chance.

Microman’s on a media tour to promote the 04/28 Robles @ Arena San Juan shows. Microman says he is not bothered by being short, since it’s led to a lot of great things in his life. He only wishes he was taller because he would’ve loved to wrestle some of the bigger lucha libre names.

On the latest Open the Voice Gate podcast, Dragon Gate’s Jae Church mentions he believes Ultimo Dragon is planning on having a Dragomania sometime this year, with an Ultimo Dragon versus Diamante mask match. Those shows typically happened in May and he notes we would’ve heard about it already if it was happening in them. (Those shows usually also include a Japan/Mexico travel package and those obviously need to be announced some time in advance.) The shows may need a new venue, as Ultimo Dragon showing up in AAA last year suggests he’s not close enough to CMLL to get to rent out Arena Mexico as before.

There’s a brief interview about Arena Queretaro handling the pandemic in Quadratin. They’re still limited to only 2,000 fans per show; the capacity is said to be 3,000.

The San Francisco Standard has an article on Pro Wrestling Revolution, and it’s positive role as a fundraiser.