Month: May 2023

My posting schedule will be irregular for the rest of the week. Or even more than it already has been.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 05/12/2023 Arena México [AS, CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas   
11:31.
2) Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b Amapola, La Jarochita, Skadi   
11:06. Amapola replaced Princesa Sugehit (and late, Sugehit indicated she’d still be on this show a couple of hours prior.) Zeuxis beat Jarochita.
3) Magia Blanca b Fugaz [lightning]   
10:00. time limit draw (though there was a clock malfunction.) Fugaz was closer to winning at the end and asked for a MEX WELTER title match next week. Magia Blanca accepted.
4) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto    
11:44.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr. © b Templario [CMLL MIDDLE]    
10:45. Dragon Rojo falls on his second defense. Templario is the 22nd champion, first person to hold both this title and the MEX MIDDLE at the same time. (Normally, this means he’d have to vacate the MEX MIDDLE title.) Dragon Rojo went for a foul, Templario avoided it, unmasked him and cradles him for the win. Mask match challenges for the Aniversario followed.
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero    
11:59

Dragon Rojo/Templario was the best version of the match they’ve had so far, except for Templario hitting the ropes on his Sasuke Splash finish. It’s still missing the spark to feel like an Anniversary main event. They’re going through the motions of a big feud, it just doesn’t feel that way.

Templario is the first person to hold both the CMLL and Mexican National Middleweight championship because (in part) that national title had been an AAA title for most of the last thirty years. It left CMLL with Octagon, and came back when Octagon left AAA. In theory, there’s a tournament for the title coming up now.

The rest of the show was easy good stuff. A pleasant if unmemorable watch. Soberano and Ultimo Guerrero are still not allowed to make contact. Fugaz had an OK night but a lot of crowd support; the crowd didn’t seem especially numerous but it was especially loud through the show.

CMLL (SAT) 05/13/2023 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha, CMLL, Mas Lucha]
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora  
2) La Vaquerita, Sanely, Skadi b Amapola, Hera, Olympia  
3) Ángel Rebelde b Difunto [lightning]  
4) Espíritu Negro, Hombre Bala Jr., Rey Cometa b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora 
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma  
Diablos pulled a switch to win
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero b Místico, Panterita del Ring Jr., Soberano Jr.  
Angel de Oro unmasked Soberano and pinned him for the win, setting up a singles match between the two.

Angel de Oro/Soberano sounds like a fun match we won’t see.

CMLL (SUN) 05/14/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Astral b Oro Jr. [lightning]
3) Futuro, Max Star, Vegas b Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma
4) Kráneo, Rugido, Zandokan Jr. b Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Volcano
5) Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Averno, Hechicero, Templario
6) Gran Guerrero © b Yota [CMLL HEAVY]
2nd defense

I watched all of the third day of NJPW’s BOSJ tournament. Yota came up during Titan’s match – but only as wondering if Titan knew if Yota was actually joining LIJ. This heavyweight title match never came up and was never promoted by NJPW, which seemed like a clear indicator it wasn’t part of the story NJPW is telling. It would’ve been a cool story to go the other way. Oh well.

CMLL (TUE) 05/16/2023 Arena México
1) Pequeño Magía vs Minos [lightning]
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Maligna vs Metálica, Olympia, Tiffany
3) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) El Audaz vs Virus [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Star Black, Volcano vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Esfinge, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota

Audaz/Virus was set up last week. I guess Audaz is a warm-up for ZSJ and Bad Dude Titto.

CMLL (FRI) 05/19/2023 Arena México
1) Robin, Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. vs Difunto, Dr. Karonte I, Zandokan Jr.
2) Magia Blanca © vs Fugaz [MEX WELTER]
third defense
3) Dark Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr., Star Jr. vs Espanto Jr., Felino Jr., Misterioso Jr.
4) Stuka Jr. vs Euforia [lightning]
5) Místico vs Volador Jr., Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Soberano Jr., Averno, Panterita del Ring Jr., Hijo del Villano III [Copa Jr. VIP, semifinal]
final two advance

The theme here seems to be an all second (or great) generation show. Some of the “second-generation” wrestlers are actually worked relations (Guerrero Maya Jr., Misterioso Jr., Dragon Rojo Jr..) but are close enough. It’s a final two advance to next week so everyone is going to be annoyed at the end of the night as always. This does not seem like an important tournament and pretty much any two wrestlers could avance. Well, maybe not Hijo del Villano III.

Stuka/Euforia sounds fun but a different match than it would’ve been two years ago. Star Jr. has been out six months after getting hurt in the Rey del Inframundo tournament; it’s good to get him back. Magia Blanca has a grandfather who wrestled but we don’t know his father’s wrestling name (if he did wrestle?) He’ll probably keep his title.

On Saturday, the Benito Juarez’s mayor celebrated Atlantis for his upcoming 40th anniversary. They held it at a swimming pool, with divers doing dives in Atlantis masks. Atlantis’ offcial fan club was part of the presentation, as was Daniel Aceves. A pickleball court will be named in his honor this upcoming Friday, and the mayor is holding an Atlantis drawing contest for children. The mayor’s office announced that CMLL will celebrate Atlantis in June and July at their arenas. Atlantis says he doesn’t have a retirement date and thinks he might wrestle for twenty or twenty-five more years. (He was not being serious.)

Titan is 2-1 in the Best of Super Juniors, losing to Taiji Ishimori and defeating KUSHIDA since I last checked in. (Somehow, he’s the only 2-1 wrestler in his block.) He faces Taguchi Tuesday morning, then Mike Bailey and Lio Rush the following two days. Those matches will likely decide if he’s a real contender this situation.

Difunto has talked about being trained by his father (Monje Cavernario) in the past, but the situation is a little more complicated than that. In a Mother’s day interview, Difunto says his parents (wrestlers Monje Cavernario and La Mestiza) separated when they were five, and he had no contact with his father. His mother would work during the week and still wrestle on the weekends, which meant young Difunto was left alone for days and just wandered the streets. That is a tough life. Difunto talked to his father when he decided to become a wrestler and that’s when their relationship (re)started.

AAA

AAA turned 31 today. They posted a graphic with various wrestlers, current and present. Some current people are not pictured and so there will be drama over a random graphic.

AAA TV returned this week. The opening four way had lots of spots. The idea was to build the show around the Vipers: destroying the opener people, defeating Psycho Circus, and defeating Perros del Mal. This would be good if anything more would happen with the Vipers soon. AAA TV is very far behind reality so I can already see nothing is happening with the Vipers. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.

Latigo and Jack Cartwheel now are feuding as part of AAA’s apparent goal to link up everyone with a rival.

AAA had a spot show in Martinez de la Torres, Veracruz on Saturday. It rained so much that the outdoor arena was flooded. The show went on anyway. Vikingo, Myzteziz and Komander had a lot of fun in the water. Yes, they probably shouldn’t have done what they did but it seemed like they have a memory and the fans got to see something special.

Konnan was a guest on Wrestling Observer Radio today. The one news item here is Konnan talks about AAA working with “billionaires”, who are love AAA’s vision, are going to upgrade AAA’s production and bring in big name celebrities for big money. On his own podcast, Konnan previously talked about AAA working with “the people who own F1” for a reality show. The people who own F1 are billionaires, Liberty Media, but I’m not sure if those are the people involved. (It’s been those to me elsewhere that it’s not those billionaires, but I can’t confirm who it actually is.) Knowing the name of people investing money into a major wrestling promotion would be great. No follow-up question was asked. It was just something Konnan said. Everyone moved on to the next topic.

This is consistent with most Konnan outside interviews. No one’s much interested in talking to “AAA head of creative” Konnan, because they don’t care about AAA outside of maybe one TripleMania a year. They’re bringing on “podcast host” Konnan on and wanted to ask that person questions about the same AEW/WWE topics he talks about for most of his podcast. The AAA questions were for people who don’t have much interest in watching AAA for people who do not watch AAA. Can the Taya, Penta, Fenix crew still work AAA? (Yes, but dates are more limited. No one seemed aware Penta works AAA regularly.) How is the AAA and AEW relationship? (Back on good terms after they worked through the FTR/Dragon Lee situation?) When will there be more AAA English commentary? (Konnan wants Joe & Larry to be there every single show, believes it hasn’t happened due to budget cuts, and believes the policy is changing soon.) Who are the big stars who may be going big stars in the US [instead of this show the hosts are not watching]? (Jack Carthweel, an unnamed wrestler who’s getting an old AAA gimmick soon, and an unnamed woman who can do flying moves debuting soon.) Did you want to do Omega/Vikingo first? (Yes, and he told us he might be a free agent on the day of TripleMania Monterrey so he wouldn’t be available, but we don’t think any of our fans watched it in AEW and it’ll still be new to them.)

The lack of product knowledge shines through on non-AAA questions, like when Konnan is critical of AEW for putting on Japanese wrestlers without video packages to introductions. No one knows to push back about AAA putting on a deluge of foreign wrestlers – Strickland/Swann at TripleMania Monterrey, everyone at the World is a Vampire show, everyone at Lucha Libre World Cup – without a TV video package for any of them. Is that an issue of AAA resources? Is that just a market difference? Did it end up mattering for AAA? Never asked. Again, it’s Konnan the podcast host on so boxing talk and discussing AEW booking strategies is more interesting to everyone participating. AAA just doesn’t really stack up in importance. The show ends with plugs for Konnan’s podcast and Konnan’s Twitter account, and no mention of where and how you might see TripleMania.

TripleMania Tijuana is going to sell itself on Kenny Omega versus Hijo del Vikingo. TripleMania Mexico City is going to sell itself by being the Mexico City TripleMania and thus the one AAA show a year that matters. The rest, I dunno. I want Larry (who may be reading this) and Joe (no idea) to get to go to every AAA show and get paid for it and I don’t really care if it’s a good idea for AAA or not. It’s not my money and it would make my life better. (I am a rare person to be asking for more Larry Dallas in my life.) At the same time, if AAA can’t be bothered to promote themselves to the Wrestling Observer audience – the primarly English-speaking wrestling audience that’ll get behind a foreign promotion – than I’m not really sure there’s a lot of point in investing in that English-speaking internet audience.

Aeroqueen is my guess on the mystery flying woman, for what it’s worth.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 05/14/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Kenji b Golden Power 
2) Lolita & Satania b Candy Swing & Sagitarius 
3) Aster Boy & Éxtasis b Axel Carter & Saime Shan 
4) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. b Karaoui, Nosaki, Shocko 
5) Elemental, Heavy Metal, Rocky Casas b Hell Boy, Tonalli, Travis Banks 
more Casas/Hell Boy challenges.
6) Hijo de Canis Lupus b Hijo del Pirata Morgan [IWRG Rey del Ring] 
Pirata falls on his 5th defense.

I had this on as video wallpaper while working on other things Sunday. The crowd seemed up and the guys in the main event were working hard (maybe too hard.)

I still don’t know what the Tonalli deal but CMLL pulling Ultimo Guerrero (the implied reason for the match between the two not happening) doesn’t sound promising.

Satania says she and her sister Amazonika are headed to Ivory Coast for shows from June 1st to the 4th. She says they got the spot from Heddi Karaoui, and wrestlers from France, Brazil, the US, Canada, and Lebanon will be attending the show. There is a poster for it on Karoui’s Facebook page.

Other Notes

Andrade is among many names advertised as appearing on a June 15th card in Arena Olimpico Laguna. He’s listed as a “special invitee”; it’s believed he’s probably not wrestling. I’m not sure of a return date from his shoulder injury; his social media posts suggest it’s still months down the line.

Box y Lucha reports Guatemala luchador Corsario I/Ivan Babalu passed away earlier this month. He appears to have been active in the 80s.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 05/12/2023 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas
2) La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi vs Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Magia Blanca vs Fugaz [lightning]
4) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
5) Dragón Rojo Jr. © vs Templario [CMLL MIDDLE]
second defense
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

The main event should be fun. It also should be interesting, as Soberano and Ultimo Guerrero are back in the same match for the first time since January. Ultimo Guerrero and Soberano seemed to be under a secret prohibition from interacting during the match in that last match and previous ones in 2022 – when one came in the ring, the other one seemed to be on orders to stay out. (CMLL’s never acknowledged it; most people covering the shows ignored it – which means it’s probably a situation that everyone’s heard about but are dissuaded from acknowledging.) UG & Soberano are booked together in this main event and also the one on Saturday, so maybe things are back to normal. Can’t even be sure with lucha libre.

I lean towards Dragon Rojo retaining his title to make it seem like Templario is even in more danger. (Templario is also already national middleweight champions, and double singles champions of the same division are rare.) This sort of defense is what CMLL often does as part of selling people on a mask match, though I don’t think this feud is hot enough to make it work. What we’ve seen hasn’t been good enough. This is a difference between the presumed big CMLL and AAA matches. I don’t think there’s a thing AAA can do to convince fans Sam Adonis has a chance to unmask Psycho Clown, but I do believe the wrestlers can do enough to make the match feel like it’s going to be special anyway. I’m not confident Dragon Rojo and Templario can do the same, though I guess this is the chance to prove otherwise.

The bigger curiosity about the title match isn’t who has the belt at the end of the night, but why the match is happening now. This feels like something CMLL would do to put the final touches on the Aniversario main event in August, or maybe July. It’s May 12. I know things about May 12th. One thing I know about May 12th is it doesn’t happen in August. Maybe it’s CMLL just getting their work done early because they’ve got months of tournaments to take up time. (Copa Junior starts next week.) Maybe CMLL, in a round number year, wants to announce the date much earlier than usual and it would help to have a set match go with it. The dream – and something that has “hole card on the river” low odds – is CMLL is making this Dragon Rojo/Templario match way before the Aniversario show because it’s also happening way before the Aniverasrio show and another (better) match will be happening then.

Match 4 could be fun. The lightning match has a chance to setup a title match either way. (It’s the Claudio/Fenix match from AEW, except not quite that.) The show is on PPV as always. It’ll go up on YouTube on 05/18 05/28 as always.

CMLL (SUN) 05/14/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Astral vs Oro Jr. [lightning]
3) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Futuro, Max Star, Vegas
4) Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Volcano vs Kráneo, Rugido, Zandokan Jr.
5) Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Hechicero, Templario
6) Gran Guerrero © vs Yota [CMLL HEAVY]
2nd defense

Half of this show will air on May 26th. Other matches may air the next day, or on a TV show I can’t get, or not at all entirely. Guerrero/Yota will probably be among those airing on May 26th but there’s no certainty to it. Yota said on Informa that he wants to be active in both CMLL and NJPW at the same time. I don’t think that’s happening and I’d be surprised if he won the title on Sunday.

CMLL (MON) 05/15/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Angelito & Rayo Metálico vs Dreyco & Mercurio
2) Fuego, Neón, Valiente Jr. vs Hijo del Perverso, Perverso, Prayer
3) Princesa Sugehit, Sanely, Skadi vs La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Averno, Mephisto, Templario
5) Místico vs Bárbaro Cavernario

Caveranrio has been causing problems for Mistico for the last few weeks.

CMLL (TUE) 05/16/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Luminoso, Mortis, Quca vs Black Boy, Thunder Boy, Yaky Boy
2) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Último Ángel vs Obelisk, Raven, Temerario
3) Gallero, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin vs Barboza, Draego, Persa
4) Brillante Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Pólvora vs Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr.
5) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. vs Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico
6) Místico & Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Averno & Soberano Jr.

More Soberano big-brothering Panterita in the main event.

On Informa, Virus, Cavernario and Stephanie Vaquer talked about their appearance on the 05/21 NJPW Strong show. The Informa segments seem quicker in the past so there’s not a lot to say. Cavernario noted this was his 8th show or tour with NJPW, and felt like he really learned a lot in his first few. Virus wants to prove to Zack Sabre Jr. and everyone that there are good mat wrestlers in Mexico too. (That’s the general theme; it’s more about proving CMLL has good wrestlers too more than the outcomes.) Stephanie Vaquer says she always trains hard in case an opportunity comes and has worked even harder after hearing about the tournament. She’s looking forward to wrestling Mercedes Moné and then doesn’t know who she’d face in the final (she named Momo Kohgo but blanked on “the one from AEW”.)

Averno still wants Mistico’s mask. This is such an easy match, something that seems obviously profitable. It is impossible CMLL hasn’t just done it. If I manage to last forty more years, I’ll still be confused CMLL just hasn’t booked that match.

Hijo del Villano III still doesn’t like Atlantis Jr.

Titan won his opening match against TJP in NJPW’s BOSJ this morning. This was a free show; their match starts at about 1h38m. Titan wrestlers Taiji Ishmori early tomorrow morning.

Marcela and Skadi did interviews around Mother’s day. Marcela hasn’t wrestled since mid-March; she mentions here she had a right knee operation.

Sexy Sol (Rocio Elizabeth) talks about being a luchadora and a mom to a 9 year old.

Nitro is returning to France’s APC promotion to teach lucha libre from July 3 to 10th. This was an annual thing until the pandemic.

AAA

AAA has a new TV episode Saturday! It’s a taping that’s been in the can (in the external hard drive?) for 35 days but new content is still new content. They’ve announced the matches

• Mini Vikingo vs Fulgor vs Baby Extreme vs Jack Cartwheel
• Dave the Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown vs Chik Tormetna, Latigo, Psicosis
• Damian 666, Pentagon Jr., Nicho el Millonario vs Abismo Negro Jr., Cibernetico, Taurus

This show takes place before TripleMania Monterrey. Not sure how they’ll handle it.

MedioTiempo has an interview with La Infernal and Villano III Jr. for mother’s day; that’s the AAA son, when she had previously been doing interviews with the CMLL son. They noted it was the first time they did an interview together. La Infernal was 23 years younger than Villano III when they got married and says she gave up her wrestling career because she just liked being a mother more. She said she told her sons she’d come back for just two years (and she did end up doing just about two years, though it never seemed like a plan.)

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 05/11/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Kenji b Águila Oriental 
2) Aero Queen & Sagitarius b Estrellita Lagunera & Kali 
Estrellita Lagunera & Kaly replaced Dehyna and Satania.
3) Éxtasis, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly b Águila Roja, Mr. Mike, Rey Aztaroth 
4) León Dorado & Mr. Leo DQ Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. 
Cerbero Negro unmaked Leon Dorado for the DQ.
5) Tonalli b Elemental 
Tonalli will face Ultimo Guerrero on Sunday.
6) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Travis Banks b Axel Carter, Saime Shan, Shocko 

Match 3 was said to be good, match 5 good but maybe not as good as expected.

IWRG (SUN) 05/14/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Kenji vs Golden Power
2) Jhon Tito & Mr. Leo vs Axel Carter & Saime Shan
3) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. vs Karaoui, Nosaki, Shocko
4) Hell Boy & Puma de Oro vs Heavy Metal & Rocky Casas
5) Tonalli vs Último Guerrero
6) Hijo del Pirata Morgan vs Hijo de Canis Lupus [IWRG Rey del Ring]
5th defense

This is a free Mas Lucha show. Tonalli/Ultimo Guerrero is the big news. I’m still confused as to what the deal is with Tonalli. It sticks out that Tonalli hasn’t wrestled in three weeks (since the start of the Aramis feud) and hasn’t wrestled in Arnea Mexico since March 21st. Maybe something happened and he’s not in with CMLL at the moment? That’s just a guess.

Whenever “Axel” is listed on the IWRG card, I must remember to adjust the name so it doesn’t go in the luchadb as a match for “Axxel, El Nieto del Santo.” (He’s still wrestling sparingly.) I wonder if this UK Axel knows of the Mexico Axel. UK Axel probably has no control of how he’s being listed on IWRG cards.

Other News

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

On Thursday, Mas Lucha announced they’d soon be posting GLEAT shows. They deleted the tweet a few hours later. I have no idea what happened. Mas Lucha

 

There’s really not much going on right now.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 05/08/2023 Arena Puebla [El Sol del Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia b Astro & Rayo Metálico
Astro replaced Fantasy
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Hijo del Perverso, King Jaguar, Rey Apocalipsis
3) La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer b La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Sanely 
4) Pegasso b Rey Samuray, Millenium, Hijo de Centella Roja, Asturiano, Prayer, Perverso, Espíritu Maligno, Multy, Dark Soul [Torneo Cinco de Mayo] 
first version of what’s meant to be an annual tournament. Pegasso beat Multy and Prayer to win. Pegasso celebrated with the fans after the show.
5) Atlantis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Místico, Stigma DQ Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr. 
straight falls, the last when Cavernario fouled Mistico

I assume they’re setting up Cavernario/Mistico next week but it’s not specifically promised.

CMLL (TUE) 05/09/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Mercurio b Galaxy [lightning]  
2) Cachorro, Eléctrico, Robin b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Raider  
Cachorro replaced Diamond on Monday, then Raider replaced Enfermero Jr. later in the day.
3) Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr. b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.  
4) Misterioso Jr. b Magnus [lightning] 
5) Dark Panther, El Audaz, Star Black b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus 
straight falls, Virus beating Audaz with a maybe foul to set up a singles match between the two.
6) Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja b Atlantis, Blue Panther, Valiente 
Najee Harris of the Pitsburgh Steelers appeared with Atlantis before the match.

A skippable show; maybe the opener was the best match. The Tuesday shows effort has dipped.

Najee Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers came to the ring with Atlantis, and visited CMLL wrestlers earlier. He was in town promoting the NFL. Milenio has an article on his day at Arena Mexico.

CMLL (TUE) 05/09/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol b Atenea, Nexy, Valkiria 
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas 
3) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel, Xelhua 
Guadalajara debut of Xelhua
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Ángel Negro (Laguna), Arlequín, La Fashion 
5) Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte b Felino & Felino Jr. 
6) Euforia & Soberano Jr. b Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. 
Soberano Jr. shoved Panterita into the referee, fouled Panterita and unmasked him.

A Soberano/Panterita singles match sounds great but Soberano does not give his max effort on these Guadalajara shows. He has a lot of fun and is entertaining, he’s just not working full speed.

The 06/27 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara anniversary show will include a tribute to Satanico for his 50th anniversary.

CMLL (SAT) 05/13/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) La Vaquerita, Sanely, Skadi vs Amapola, Hera, Olympia
3) Ángel Rebelde vs Difunto [lightning]
4) Espíritu Negro, Hombre Bala Jr., Rey Cometa vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Místico, Panterita del Ring Jr., Soberano Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero

Panterita del Ring Jr. and Soberano are enemies on Tuesdays, friends on Saturday.

CMLL Informa has Barbaro Cavernario, Templario, Stephanie Vaquer, Virus, Yota, Panterita del Ring Jr., Pegasso, and the Cholo, Apocalipsis, Disturbio trio. There’s going to be a discussion of (ex) Sasha Banks on a CMLL program and that’s otherwordly. Yota will probably be there to talk about the Sunday title match – no lineup out yet, oddly. NJPW hasn’t hyped that CMLL title match, which leds me to believe it’s more likely not part of some master NJPW plan at this point.

Averno hyped Copa Junior VIP, said he started his career as Rencor Latino hoping that it would hide his family identity and he’d be able to prove himself good or bad on his own. These days, he wants to raise the name of his father Renato Ruiz.

Box y Lucha 3550 has Templario and Dark Silueta on the cover. The Silueta interview is useful: she was told her recovery from knee surgery would take 8 or 9 months, so that’s a June or July return. She’s hoping to beat that. Silueta was originally hurt in August; she believed (and still seems to believe) that it wasn’t a major injury and she just needed a couple of weeks off to recover. She also really wanted to be part of all CMLL had plan for women that October, but knee went out again on October 7th and that was that. Silueta says she’s talked to the commission about the Mexican National Women’s championship and they’ve said they won’t take the title away from her due to injury.

Titan talked about the BOSJ; he said it’s more important to learn and make the crowd happy than results. That’s what someone who expects to get 6 points would say, but I think Titan honestly means it. He’s already in Japan. The tournament kicks off early Friday morning. Titan wrestles TJP in the opener, one of his bigger matches of the run. It’ll be 9 matches in 12 days (plus playoffs, if by some chance he makes it that far.)

AAA

Octagon Jr., Myzteziz Jr,. and Kahn-Del-Mal did press in Morelia to promote the May 20th taping. They teased a Villano III Jr. vs Octagon Jr. mask match; Octagon Jr. truly has adopted the gimmick because he’s in a mask feud that doesn’t seem like it’ll ever end.

The NWA has a 24 team Crocket Cup tournament scheduled for June 3rd and 4th. AAA will have two teams in the tournament: Octagon Jr. & Myzteziz Jr. and Toxin & Arez. (La Rebelion, who are pretty much AAA regulars, will also participte.) I believe there was a point where Arez was asked to stop teaming with the Vipers in the US to stay consistent with the AAA storylines. It appears that has been dropped – I mean, the request looks dropped, who knows about the angle. These shows air on FITE for $25 each (Saturday, Sunday) or $45 for both.

The taping after Morelia is June 18th in Puebla. That’s about a month later; it’s going to be a quiet few months for AAA and then a really busy few weeks. AAA usually announces lineups about a month ahead of time, so we might see that lineup next week.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 05/11/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Oriental vs Kenji
2) Aero Queen & Sagitarius vs Dehyna & Satania
3) Éxtasis, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Águila Roja, Mr. Mike, Rey Aztaroth
4) León Dorado & Mr. Leo vs Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr.
5) Tonalli vs Elemental
6) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Travis Banks vs Axel Carter, Saime Shan, Shocko

Axel Carter & Saime Shan are UK wrestlers – given the history on the other side, I hope they’re not here to escape some issue.

Elemental gets a real test – both in terms of being in a spot to have a good match and finding out how much people care about him. I’m fairly certain there’s some bitterness about how Elemental and the others left Big Lucha, but those Big Lucha people probably should be rooting for them to do well as proof their concept works.

Other News

Emperador Azteca, Flamtia, Bendito and Galeno del Mal are headed back to GLEAT on June 7th.

Laredo Kid is headed to Belgium on 05/27.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 05/05/2023 Arena México [Adrenalina, CMLL, Contrareplica, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (videos), thecubsfan]
1) Astral, Neón, Valiente Jr. b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio 
7:55.
2) Hombre Bala Jr. b Zandokan Jr. [lightning] 
7:29.
3) Espíritu Negro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. 
13:43. Guerrero Maya replaced Dulce Gardenia on Thursday.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black b Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Yota   
12:52. Yota returned to Japan and challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, then returned to Mexico as if nothing had happened. (CMLL referred to him going to Japan but didn’t dwell on it; he lost to Fugaz in the thrid pin.)
5) Soberano Jr. b Averno   
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Templario b Dragón Rojo Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán [Relevos Increíbles]   
9:27. Straight falls, Templario beating Dragon Rojo (eventually) to set up a title match next week

Soberano/Averno is worth going out of your way to see. The main event wasn’t much. Dragon Rojo/Templario had less chemistry than usual, struggling at the finish. I guess next week is one more chance to make it feel special but I wouldn’t bet on it. (Soberano being pulled back into the issue on Saturday is a more promising sign.) Not a lot here else of note, outside of Yota just being back in CMLL doing usual excursion things.

CMLL (SAT) 05/06/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito b Acero, Angelito, Pequeño Magía
2) Raider b Enfermero Jr. [lightning]
3) Amapola & Tiffany b Maligna & Skadi
4) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Difunto, Kráneo, Zandokan Jr.
Team Polvora is now officially Los Chacales del Ring.
5) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja b Guerrero Maya Jr., Soberano Jr., Star Black
Dragon Rojo unmasked Soberano after the win
6) Volador Jr. b Euforia

The main event was one fall, which is atypical for Arena Coliseo main event singles match. Euforia had a busy Sunday in front of him, maybe that’s part of it.

CMLL (SUN) 05/07/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Cachorro b Retro [lightning]
2) Hera & Tiffany b La Guerrera & La Magnifica
3) Diamond, Leono, Sangre Imperial b Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro
Leono replaced Flyer on Saturday.
4) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma b Futuro, Max Star, Vegas
5) Hechicero, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero b Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente
Rey Bucanero replaced Euforia on Thursday.
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Titán, Yota b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Yota beat Gran Guerrero and challenged him for the CMLL Heavyweight championship

Yota going for the title gives some reasoning for his otherwise peculiar route back to Mexico. It’s a real toss-up as to what’s going to happen there. Yota has been fun but positioned as roster filler CMLL during his trips. CMLL didn’t treat him any differently coming back from Japan on Friday. The normal bit is the NJPW excursion loses a big match to finish up, then goes back to NJPW to make a big return. That’s happened a bit out of order this time around, but you can count on CMLL doing whatever they were planning on doing no matter what else was happening. The counterpoint is CMLL had the Universal tournament a few weeks ago and won’t need to have the heavyweight champion around for a while, so they could do NJPW a big favor by giving Yota a belt before his IWGP challenge without harming themselves. CMLL could make Yota heavyweight champion if they wanted to, I just have no idea if anyone but people on social media care all that much. At least it’s an interesting Sunday match.

Yota’s Spanish promos need a bit of work; you can see Cavernario coming in to take over for him before he switches to English.

The real news is the second match forces people to consider if Leono or Flyer is the better wrestler.

CMLL , JABIL (SUN) 05/07/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [thecubsfan]
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Eclipse Jr. b Obelisk, Raven, Temerario 
2) Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol b Atenea, Nexy, Valkiria 
3) Bobby Black & Estrella de Jalisco II b Bestia Negra & Ponzoña Jr. 
4) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Átomo, Chamuel, Perico Zacarías 
5) Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga b Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. 
6) Ángel Negro, Arlequín, La Fashion b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado 
7) Euforia & Soberano Jr. b Felino & Felino Jr. 

CMLL , JABIL , 2 (SUN) 05/07/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [thecubsfan]
1) Celeste, Eclipse Jr., Mágico b Jabalí, Ponzoña Jr., Rumbero 
2) Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol vs Atenea, Nexy, Vaklyria 
3) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas 
4) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Barboza, Draego, Persa 
5) Ángel Negro (Laguna), Arlequín, La Fashion b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado 
6) Felino & Felino Jr. b Euforia & Soberano Jr. 

Another two sponsored shows in Guadalajara.

The building also announced it will hold it’s 64th Anniversary show on June 27th. I don’t have a sense of what exactly will main event that, or if there even will be a special main event.

Today’s Puebla show has their Cinco de Mayo tournament and a rematch main event from last week (where Cavernario & Gran Guerrero got DQed against Atlantis & Cavernario.) Nothing stands out on Tuesday either.

CMLL (FRI) 05/12/2023 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas
2) La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi vs Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Magia Blanca vs Fugaz [lightning]
4) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
5) Dragón Rojo Jr. © vs Templario [CMLL MIDDLE]
second defense
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Not a show worth throwing a party for, but 4 and 6 should be good. The women and micros are back on a Friday.

NJPW posted a Stephanie Vaquer interview to promote their NJPW Strong Women’s tournament on May 21st. It didn’t click until watching the video, but Vaquer is the first (“la primera”) CMLL women’s wrestler to be booked to wrestle on a NJPW show. I recall La Comandante seconded people on a FantasticaMania show when she was already in Japan for a REINA show and there’s been a couple of Japanese-based CMLL women’s champions who’ve made similar cameos, but no one’s ever wrestled on one of those shows.

Hijo del Villano III talked about being in the Copa Junior VIP for the first time.

AAA

The final week of the Lucha Libre World Cup had a few wrap-up vignettes

• Kamille & Deonna did a promo on how it was obvious they’d win all along and vaguely challenged everyone
  • this felt like AAA asked them to film a promo but didn’t give them any direction
• Sexy Star thanked Las Toxicas for not betraying her during the tournament, and La Hiedra issued challenges for a match with Dalys and Las Toxicas challenging for the trios titles
  • that’s going to be a tough one at the moment
• Laredo Kid, Pentagon Jr. and Taurus talked about their win
• Alberto and Thomas Lattimer brawled backstage
  • but AAA didn’t have anyone to break it up so they sort of had to just stop when Konnan yelled at them.

Those videos may turn up on social media later; the Alberto one went up just as I wa sgoing to post them.

They’re finally on to new footage next week.

AAA also had vignettes that don’t appear to have aired on TV but were instead posted on social media.

• In one, Nicho, Toscano and Argenis confront rapper Acznio backstage at TripleMania Monterrey. This, like the Adrain Marcelo experiment, seemed to be an attempt to bring in a different fan base to AAA. The video got good attention and Aczino seems likely to appear at one of the TripleManias later this year.
• AAA also posted a video of a mystery Pentagon Jr. stalker, following up a previous bit where Penta’s card was defaced by a mystery person.

I’m sure we’ll see this Penta stalker at some point but it’s strange how AAA constantly books singles feuds and doesn’t actually book singles matches. Maybe that’ll change with so many shows in a short period of time this summer but it’s hard to care about any of this stuff at the moment. AAA TV feels like it’s drifted to what CMLL Informa was for a lot of time, with pitches or the starts of various feuds but nothing ever progresses. AAA is trying to reach various fanbases but they’re not servicing “people who watch their TV show on a weekly basis to see stories that have a beginning, middle and end in a timely fashion” all that much.

Konnan followed up on some of the Dorian Roldan podcast comments on his own podcast. He implied the Univision deal didn’t happen because AAA felt they deserved a better deal than Univision was offering. They’re in talks with the “venture capital behind F1” (Liberty Media?) to do the reality show Dorain mentioned, which could end up on Netflix or elsewhere.

Hijo del Vikingo will appear on the June 9th Northeast Wrestling show in Waterbury, Connecticut. That booking sticks out to me because most of the US indie work Vikingo has had caters to people who are very online, and Northeast Wrestling seems more into booking who are US TV stars. Maybe Vikingo is one now.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 05/07/2023 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha Premium]
1) Rey Aztaroth & Rey Halcón b Baby Star & Fussion 
2) Spider Fly b Águila Roja [IWRG IC Light] 
3rd defense
3) Tonalli © b Aramis [IWRG IC WELTER]
3rd defense
4) Hijo del Pirata Morgan won the Rey del Ring
Hijo de Canis Lupus defeated Hell Boy to win, challenges Hijo del Pirata Morgan out.

Aramis vs Tonalli got good reviews. The first two matches are up for free on Mas Lucha’s channel.

I didn’t watch this show so I don’t have all 30 names; neither IWRG or Mas Lucha reported them. I did skip through last year’s Rey del Ring (posted for free this weekend) to add a few missing names to results. It waas good for remembering people and things in IWRG that totally don’t exist a year later. I forgot Old School was a thing.

The 04/30 IWRG show didn’t go up on IWRG or Mas Lucha’s website, but it is on the InterneTV Deportes YouTube channel.

Other News

Comedian Lalo Elizarrarás ran another show built around him returning to the ring under his Tlaloc name. He wrestled Mr. Iguana back in 2020. He wrestled Fresero Jr. this time around. Fresero Jr. had been critical of Adrian Marcelo’s participation with AAA, so there was a ready story for him facing another celebrity. The Iguana match was a fun thing, the Fresero Jr. match ended with Tlaloc loaded into an ambulance and stretchered away as part of an angle. There’s probably another match coming.

DMT Azul won the vacant The Crash Heavyweight championship. He did not get a belt. The previous champion is LA Park and so he may still have it. The Crash always vacates their championships – working with and then not with AAA tends to do that. The last time thus belt was vacant, Hijo del Vikingo met Cinta de Oro at an airport parking garage to hand the belt over. I do not believe LA Park will be doing that.

Gary Will’s Wrestling Title History book, the foundation of most every wrestling title history listing on the internet, is now available for free on the internet archive.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 05/05/2023 Arena México
1) Astral, Neón, Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
2) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
3) Espíritu Negro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
Guerrero Maya replaced Dulce Gardenia on Thursday.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Yota
5) Soberano Jr. vs Averno
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán [Relevos Increíbles]

This is a non-tournament show but normal CMLL Friday shows generally seem good. The main event has a good mix, and this is the last Friday for Titan for a while. Averno gets a rare singles match with Soberano. Yota is still listed on the show, and it will be amazing if he comes back to beat up Esfinge again. Hombre Bala/Zandokan could be interesting. It’s on PPV for the usual price.

Espiritu Negro seems to be having a bad travel day.

(Copa Junior VIP starts May 19th, not next week like I previously wrote.)

All the PPVs are up for this month. All of them 99 pesos.

CMLL (MON) 05/08/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Fantasy & Rayo Metálico vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Hijo del Perverso, King Jaguar, Rey Apocalipsis vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Sanely vs La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Rey Samuray vs Pegasso, Millenium, Hijo de Centella Roja, Asturiano, Prayer, Perverso, Espíritu Maligno, Multy, Dark Soul [Torneo Cinco de Mayo]
5) Atlantis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Místico, Stigma vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr.

Some of the Puebla luchadors were on CMLL Informa this week to talk about match 4. CMLL’s trying to establish a Torneo Cinco de Mayo as an annual Puebla tradition. Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Battle of Puebla, and that’s the one part of Mexico that celebrates the holiday.

CMLL (TUE) 05/09/2023 Arena México
1) Galaxy vs Mercurio [lightning]
2) Diamond, Eléctrico, Robin vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Magnus vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
5) Dark Panther, El Audaz, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Valiente vs Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja

Just a random group of names. Two lightning matches instead of a 2v2 match. Good luck to the tecnicos in a match two.

CMLL (TUE) 05/09/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol vs Atenea, Nexy, Valkiria
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas
3) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. vs Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel, Xelhua
4) Felino & Felino Jr. vs Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Ángel Negro, Arlequín, La Fashion
6) Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Euforia & Soberano Jr.

Father/son main event. Xelhua is a figure in Azteca mythology, but he might be a new name for Cavernario brother Canalla.

On Informa, Polvora, Coyote, and Okumura announced their new trio is Los Chacales (Los Jackals), a name that’s been used by others in CMLL previously (Bestia Salvaje, Emilio Charles Jr and Sangre Chicana.) This time, the name was said to be picked by a fan, who will be getting a mask or facemask from each wrestler.

CMLL mentions their Televisa TV show (“CMLL Pura Lucha”) will air at 1:15 pm this Saturday. The show normally airs around 4:30 pm Mexico City time and airs matches from the previous Friday; this Saturday will have the CMLL Universal final. I’m not sure exactly why it’s moving – online programming listings still have it at the normal slot, and Mexican TV companies are really bad at updating those – but I suspect it has something to do with coverage of Canelo Alvarez’s boxing match on Saturday.

05/21 NJPW US (Los Angeles)

• Stephanie Vaquer vs Mercedes Mone in a NJPW Strong Women’s championship semifinal
• Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito vs Virus & Barbaro Cavernario

I was guessing that Vaquer counted as the usual one CMLL rep on the show. Not so fast. Virus and ZSJ on opposite sides of a tag match will be a cool thing. Team CMLL is probably losing both matches but it’s possible they can beat Bad Dude Tito.

Panteirta del Ring Jr. says he used to think about Raider or Gran Guerrero as his biggest rivals after facing them in the Gran Alternativa final, but now believe it’s Templario after the match two weeks ago. Panterita’s current goal is to win all the national championships, with him noting it’ll take a long time to achieve.

Difunto feels his career in Guadalajara was stunted a bit because of grudges people had against his father (Monje Cavernario) and was happy to break through into Arena Coliseo Guadalajara finally. Before that, he was wrestling on the indies and did not like it – he feels there are a lot of people who are barely trained and doing unsafe things on those shows. Difunto’s father was his first trainer and hard on him, but Difunto believes he’s a better wrestler for it.

AAA

AAA on Space finishes off the Lucha Libre World Cup this Saturday.

Vampiro now says he was hospitalized after TripleMania Monterrey, he has more than 26 bruises on his head, and one more bad blow could kill him. (Vampiro wrestled a few days later.) He also says he’s in talks with AAA about a retirement show. I suspect Vampiro will be honored at TripleMania Mexico City.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 05/04/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Baby Star Jr. b Ei Bi Ci 
2) Gannicus & John Tito b Mr. Mike & Rey Halcón 
3) León Dorado & Mr. Leo b Asterboy & Puma de Oro and Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. 
Leon Dorado & Mr. Leo challenged Puma de Oro to title matches.
4) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Lolita, Super Mario AK47 b Kuukai, Miss Kath, Nosaki 
Kuukai replaced Nishikawa
5) Hell Boy © b Gianna Valetta [IWRG MEXICO] 
2nd defense. Hell Boy retained despite Nozaki interfering.

The main event looks like a generic indie title match with lots of interference until it backfired to set up the finish.

IWRG’s added an entrance video board. They’re going to have to figure out how to handle substitutions (Nishikawa’s video played for Kuuaki, changes happen a lot here) but it’s a nice upgrade. The current Arena Naucalpan look came from remodeling as part of filming scenes for Nacho Libre there and the video board is the biggest upgrade since.

IWRG (SUN) 05/07/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Fussion vs Rey Aztaroth & Rey Halcón
2) Spider Fly vs Águila Roja [IWRG IC Light]
3rd defense
3) Tonalli © vs Aramis [IWRG IC WELTER]
3rd defense
4) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 [Rey del Ring]

This is IWRG’s annual royal rumble match, with no participants announced in advance. Tonalli versus Aramis is the third match in the series. The first was a draw, Aramis won match two, I’d expect Tonalli to win match three. My guess is Tonalli isn’t as much in CMLL as it seems on screen if they’re letting him work this feud, though even that seems inconsistent – they cut ties with Faby Apache for teh same thing.

This is a Mas Lucha premium show. I think they’ll be running last week’s IWRG show prior on Sunday.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (SAT) 05/27/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Aeroqueen & Reiya vs La Brava & Vórtice
2) Cometa Maya & Radioactivo vs El Machote & Máscara Año 2000 Jr.  [BIG LUCHA MIXA, semifinal]
3) Skayde, Tirano, Viajero vs Brujo De Iztapalapa, Cobarde Jr., Forneo
4) Bendito & Flamita vs Sol & Torito Negro [BIG LUCHA MIXA, semifinal]
5) El Potro de Oro, Gravity, Rey Horus vs Iku, Jack Evans, Vengador
6) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [BIG LUCHA MIXA, final]
7) El Bandido & Galeno del Mal vs Emperador Azteca & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. and Súper Nova & Texano Jr.

This is the next streaming show. The big news is the introduction of tag titles, called “Mixa” here. All the finals which don’t involve a member of the Los Dinamtias sound good, and it gives new people a big match which might not be Black Generation versus Golden Guns. I still am skeptical Bandido is making these shows.

Other News

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Dean Rasmussen of the Death Vallery Driver Video Review passed away on Thursday. I read his and the rest of the crew’s reviews of wrestling regularly in the 90s and 00s, and posted on their board a bunch. He was intensively creative in what he was interested in and how he wrote about it. He’ll be missed.

Dralistico beat Rey Escorpion in their match in NOAH on Thursday. It sounds like Rey Escorpion did well (and that they tried to work a rematch in post match promos.) Dralistico is headed to Orlando for ROH tapings this weekend. Daga betrayed Eita in their tag match. Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. retained the GHC National Championship on the same show. The older Dr. Wagner Jr. was not considered an impressive wrestler in his early years until he started touring Japan and everything clicked in to place for him. His son has taken after him in a lot of ways. Wagner 3 has gotten very strong reviews in his last few defenses as if everything clicked in place for him as well.

AAW has Fenix versus Gringo Loco this Saturday, and it streams live on Highspots. I have a ticket to this show but I’m not yet sure if I’ll be able to make it. (Or how to get there, it’s a new venue and there’s not much parking.)

GCW announced Hijo del Vikingo vs Metalik for their 06/23 show in Chicago. Metalik previously was avoiding indie shows with AAA wrestlers as part of staying loyal to CMLL. I think he still would prefer to go back to CMLL, but he’s got fewer options now that it’s taken so long for whatever visa/residency paperwork he’s been waiting for to get approved.

AULL announced Baronessa would not appear on their 05/21 show due to health reasons and that she’ll be out an extended period of time. Baronessa wrestled this past weekend with no obvious injury, though she was strangely forced to give up Robles Promotion’s Women’s championship.

An article about the history of wrestling in Puebla pre-Arena Puebla seems good, but ends with suggesting that there has been no other lucha libre arena in Puebla until the opening of “Arena Divina Independencia.” That is not true; arenas like Arena Coliseo San Ramon have been running for some time.

Pistolero Negro wrestled at the school he graduated from.

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 05/02/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia 
2) Oro Jr. & Sangre Imperial b Dr. Karonte I & Dr. Karonte II 
3) Amapola, Hera, Olympia b La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Sanely 
Amapola replaced Zeuxis earlier in the day.
4) Fuego b Felino Jr. [lightning] 
5) El Audaz, Panterita del Ring, Volcano b Felino, Hijo del Villano III, Rey Bucanero 
6) Titán, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Mephisto, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero 
Mephisto wore a special 35th-anniversary mask.

Nothing much here. The Dr. Karontes are the worst male wrestlers on the CMLL roster. Sangre Imperial and Oro Jr. aren’t highly rated and they were much better in that match

CMLL (TUE) 05/02/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Eclipse Jr., Mágico b Black Boy, Mortis, Ponzoña Jr. 
2) Atilus, Maximus, Minotauro b Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Mr. Trueno 
3) Barboza, Draego, Persa b Carlo Roggi, Destello, Destructor 
4) Ángel Negro (Laguna), Brillante Jr., Hijo de Stuka Jr., Stuka Jr. b Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono 
debut of Angel Negro here
5) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido b Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte 
challenges followed
6) Euforia, Hijo del Soberano, Soberano Jr. b Blue Panther, Cachorro, Dark Panther 

Also nothing much here. I couldn’t even figure out what the challenges were about (the Occidente tag titles?) because the announcers were sort of talking over them.

CMLL (SAT) 05/06/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero, Angelito, Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Enfermero Jr. vs Raider [lightning]
3) Maligna & Skadi vs Amapola & Tiffany [lightning]
4) Difunto, Kráneo, Zandokan Jr. vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Guerrero Maya Jr., Soberano Jr., Star Black vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja
6) Volador Jr. vs Euforia

The singles match was set up last week.

CMLL (SUN) 05/07/2023 Arena México
1) Retro vs Cachorro [lightning]
2) La Guerrera & La Magnifica vs Hera & Tiffany
3) Diamond, Flyer, Sangre Imperial vs Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro
4) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Futuro, Max Star, Vegas
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Titán, Yota [Relevos Increíbles]

Yota may not be making that booking. Earlier this morning, Yota Tsuji returned to NJPW, took out wrestlers, and issued a challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. He also appears to be joining LIJ. It would be very funny if he came back to Mexico to team with fellow LIJ member Titan but usually this means the wrestler is done in CMLL.

The 2v2 tag matches are becoming a regular feature.

Informa has Averno (facing Soberano), Dragon Rojo (Universal), Volcano (Kid’s Day), Hijo del Villano III (Copa Junior), Polvora/Okumura/Coyote (maybe they have a team name?), Dark Soul, Hijo de Centella Roja, Multy, Espiritu Maligno (random Puebla guys???)

Box y Lucha 3549 has Dragon Rojo’s big win on the cover.

Titan’s BOSJ schedule:

• 05/12 (match 8 of 10) vs TJP
• 05/13 (7) vs Taiji Ishimori
• 05/14 (6) vs KUSHIDA
• 05/16 (2) vs Ryusuke Taguchi
• 05/17 (7) vs Mike Bailey
• 05/18 (7) vs Lio Rush
• 05/19 (4) vs SHO
• 05/21 (1) vs DOUKI
• 05/23 (TBD) vs Hiromu Takahashi
• 05/24 – non-tournemnt match

This year’s tournament is the top 2 from each block advancing to a semi-final. It’s unlikely Titan will be among the top 2, but his last group being against Hiromu Takahashi suggests he’ll have an important final night. (If you want to dream, dream about Titan getting a win to knock Takahashi out of the semifinals, and then Takahashi coming to Mexico to defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship sometime this summer.)

AAA

The Business of the Business podcast had Dorian Roldan as a guest this week. They covered a lot in about an hour. The really solid piece of new info is Verano de Escandalo will take place in Aguascalientes ‘one week’ after TripleMania Tijuana. That’s just a few weeks before Mexico City, so it will be a very busy stretch of AAA.

Roldan talked a lot about LuchaTitlan. He expects it to be immediately successful; they’re figuring on strong turnouts as tourism picks up. The pieces on LuchaTitlan this weekend better explained a part of the business concept to me: malls are struggling post-pandemic, the idea is to change some of the retail space over to entertainment options to motivate people to visit, and a nightly wrestling show fits that bill. Luchatitlan also fills a gap in the market. There are lot of tourist activities in Cancun, but few of them are open at night and even fewer of them are child friendly. Luchatitlan can be both. Roldan repeats the comments from other investors this weekend about wanting to open  Luchatitlan in more cities. Cozumel would be the next spot, based on the many cruise ships visiting there. Cabo San Lucas would be third. After that, the ideal scenario would be putting a franchise in the US – Roldan throws out Phoenix or Chicago as possibilities. Roldan notes this is a way for AAA to market themselves that WWE couldn’t do.

(I’ve got mixed feelings about this – it seems a reduction of the art of lucha libre to turn into a nightly Medieval Times-like show. It also seems to be employing 20 wrestlers in Cancun. Opening more of them would give steady work to a bunch of people who might not otherwise fine it.)

There’s a lot of talk about AAA and the US. Roldan, as he has in another recent interview, acknowledged AAA’s attempts in the US has not worked out as they’ve hoped so far. He said the AAA show in Phoenix last December was successful in terms of attendance and reception but not economically. Roldan confirmed there were plans with Conrad Thompson to run an AAA show in Los Angeles during WrestleMania weekend and said AAA was responsible for it not coming together. Their focus was getting Luchatitlan up and running (and it opened during that same weekend.) They were also colder on running the US after the Phoenix show didn’t work out. Roldan mentioned AAA was trying to get Hijo del Vikingo vs Will Ospreay on that Los Angeles show, also noting ‘it wasn’t possible.’ I don’t think NJPW would’ve allowed to that happen (and maybe that’s what Roldan meant) but Ospreay ended up missing all of that weekend due to injury so it was never destined to be.

Roldan believes AAA next push in the US needs to come with an event promoter who’s knowledgable and successful at promoting to the Mexican audience. He believes only a few fit, and they’re talking with them to see if they can form a partnership. Roldan would also to see AAA get a US media presence, AAA isn’t big enough to get real money, but AAA is too big to settle for a small deal just to be on TV. Yet, they can’t get a bigger deal with already having a bigger imprint in the US, and they’re stuck in a cycle. Roldan mentions AAA was in discussions for almost a year and a half with Univision, but “we were not able to close a deal with them.” He suggested pretty much any idea you can think of as a possibility: a docu-series, working with a OTT company (think Netflix), setting up a FAST network (like the one they have with Pluto), or going back to live-streaming with YouTube or Twitch. Don’t get your hopes up for any of it, they’re all just in the idea stage. Roldan says AAA’s focused on Luchatitlan the first half of the year and hopes to focus on US ideas the second half of the year.

In more general bits, Roldan mentioned a goal of TripleMania is trying to appeal to as many different segments as possible. The Omega/Vikingo specifically exists to reach out to US fans. AAA is reaching out to a couple of influencers to bring them in on a TripleMania to bring in a different audience. (Adrian Marcelo specifically didn’t work out, but they will keep trying.) Marvel Lucha Libre also is something that AAA will keep trying: Roldan says they’re talking to Disney about running Marvel Lucha Libre-specific shows at mall venues – he references the mall show AAA ran last year; so think of the TV tapings in Puebla.

In light of WWE, Roldan was asked if AAA would ever consider a sale. He said they’re a business so they would consider any deal that would be good for the business – a sale, an investment, a partnership, whatever if it made sense. He points out everyone assumed WWE was going to be sold and it ended up being part of a merger, as if to say not to put limits on what could happen.

In non-podcast news, remember the AAA/FMV lawsuit? Well, don’t. Court records show the plaintiff (other investors in the Lucha Underground projected) dismissed the case back on April 13th. That points to some sort of out-of-court settlement. AAA’s been operating as if the lawsuit didn’t affect them for quite some time, resuming airing their content in the US. It may have taken some time to get it all done on paper.

AAA is posting some of what’s normally the extra content on the TV shows as social media videos. In one, Komander and Vikingo talk about their TripleMania Monterrey match and suggest having a singles match in Mexico. In another, Antifaz del Norte vows to keep the feud with Laredo Kid going.

Laredo Kid wrestles Thursday on Impact’s Before the Impact. That streams on their YouTube channel.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 05/04/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star vs Ei Bi Ci
2) Gannicus & John Tito vs Mr. Mike & Rey Halcón
3) Asterboy & Puma de Oro vs León Dorado & Mr. Leo and Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr.
4) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Lolita, Super Mario AK47 vs Miss Kath, Nishikawa, Nosaki
5) Hell Boy © vs Gianna Valetta [IWRG MEXICO]
2nd defense

Hell Boy as Canek, protector of Mexico against all foreigners, continues. That’s a weird collection of people in the semi-main.

Other

NOAH on 05/04 (early Thursday morning) has

• Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Hideki Suzuki for the GHC National Championship
• Dralistico vs Rey Escorpion
• Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway vs Daga & EITA
• Sean Legacy, Stallion Rogers, Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf vs Jack Morris, Anthony Green, Yo-HEY, Tadasuke
• Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka vs Extreme Tiger & Lanzelot
• Mohammed Yone & Super Crazy vs Akitoshi Saito & Daishi Ozawa

This show streams on the Wrestle-Universe service.

GCW announced Hijo del Vikingo vs Ninja Mack for their 06/04 show in Atlantic City.

A story about the state of lucha libre Morelos recovering from COVID.