CMLL
CMLL (TUE) 06/06/2023 Arena México [Box y Lucha, CMLL, Fuego en el Ring, Kaiser Sports, Publimetro]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Mercurio, Minos, Pequeño Polvora 
2) Skadi & Tiffany b La Magnifica & Metálica [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Vaquero Jr. b Halcón Suriano Jr. [lightning]
8:51.
4) Blue Panther, Dark Panther, Volcano b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
5) Star Black b Sagrado © [MEX HEAVY]
Sagrado falls on his 4th defense, second versus Star Black. Star Black becomes the 70th champion.
6) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring Jr., Star Jr. b Averno, Bárbaro Cavernario, El Hijo del Villano III
Didn’t get to see this one, I was told the Star Black/Sagrado match wasn’t anything great. The Fuerza Tapatia trio now has the national heavyweight (Star Black), the national tag team (Esfinge & Fugaz), and the national light heavyweight (Esfinge) championships.
Attendance looks on the low end of what they’ve drawn on Tuesdays.
CMLL (TUE) 06/06/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan b Minotauro, Mortis, Rumbero 
2) Exterminador & Maléfico DQ Flash & Pepe Aguayo and Estrella de Jalisco I (2000s) & Estrella de Jalisco II (2000s) and Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno
Flash threw his mask to Malefico for the DQ.
3) Okumura b Arlequín [lightning]
4) Pegasso, Perverso, Rey Samuray b Bestia Negra, Black Boy, Cris Skin
5) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Leo, Omar Brunetti, Ráfaga Jr.
Rafaga Jr. replaced Principe
6) Esfinge & Fugaz b Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte
tag title challenges followed
7) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido b Difunto, Principe Daniel, Zandokan Jr.
Magnus and Daniel got into a fight post match (ignored by the announcers)
Maybe Esfinge & Fugaz will end up with even more belts. The ending of the show – Magnus jumping in the ring to attack Daniel and the two having a (worked) fight – was quite strange.
Guadalajara also posted a 25 minute interview with Dark Silueta that I have not watched.
Arena Coliseo Guadalajara started to promote Naito, Bushi and Titan for the 06/27 show. The building’s 64th Anniversary show (probably a destination for some of these feuds) figures to be 06/20, so it’ll be two shows back to back.
CMLL (SAT) 06/10/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Bengala vs Retro [lightning]
2) La Guerrera, La Vaquerita, Maligna vs Amapola, Hera, Olympia
3) Futuro vs Nitro [lightning]
4) Audaz, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Dark Panther, Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Rey Bucanero, Virus
6) Blue Panther, Octagón, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja
Octagon is back around to give the Chavez Brothers a busy Saturday night. CMLL needs to book a Retro versus Futuro match.
CMLL Informa has Mistico & Dr. Karonte I, Felino & Felino Jr., Stuka Jr. & Hijo de Stuka Jr. (Copa Dinastia), Mephisto (Infernales split), and Star Black, Star Jr., and Guerrero Maya Jr. (title changes)
Titan vs Master Wato airs on NJPW on AXS this Thursday. It’s extremely rare for a CMLL wrestler to air on that show; they air select NJPW main event and CMLL wrestlers are not in many of those.
Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. defeated Satanico & Murcy Jr. this past weekend in Chiapas. That show got some local attention because local Murcy Jr. was a late replacement for Mr. Aguila. The promoters called Aguila out on Facebook for taking their money, not getting on the flight, and then not responding to messages.
Angelito mentioned to La Raza that he’s a second-generation wrestler; his father and uncle wrestled in Veracruz as Los Guerreros Ninja.
Metalik says he’s still going over to NJPW at some point.
Brothers and long-time CMLL opener tag team Super Comando and Principe Odin (Artillero) are teaming on an indie show this weekend. Super Comando left CMLL back in 2015. Artillero last wrestled in CMLL in January. It’s possible he’s quietly left or lost his spot to some of the recent additions. Super Comando has also recently been teaming with Mocho Cota and Tito Santana as a new member of Poder del Norte.
AAA
I caught up on the last two weeks of AAA TV yesterday. They covered the Tijuana taping. In match order:
- Arkángel Divino, Fantastik, Rayo Star, Último Maldito vs Dinámico, Genio del Aire, Kamik-C, Skalibur: the principles from the outstanding 2019 match seem like they’ve regressed. This was sloppier than usual and with less of an understanding of how to build a match than in the past. Arkangel Divino and Ultimo Maldito are getting a third run at being AAA regulars coming off this and it is unclear why.
- Aramis & Willie Mack vs Látigo & Parka Negra: this suffered a little because all AAA Willie Mack matches have to include the same few spots (understandably so, he gets over doing them in Tijuana) but the action surrounding it was pretty good. It was nice to see Parka Negra get to do stuff on TV again. [GOOD]
- Dalys, Octagón Jr., Persephone vs Chik Tormenta, Flammer, Villano III Jr.: the women were off more than usual. Persephone and Villano had a few spots they clearly worked hard on, which was good because the match didn’t a lot more to introduce here.
- Hijo Del Vikingo, Jack Cartwheel, Komander vs Emperador Azteca, Puma King, Taurus: it’s random that the best matches on AAA TV have both involved Cartwheel and Komander but it’s a fact. Puma King had his best match night in a while, Emperador Azteca fit in well and the tecnicos hit everything they needed to hit and more. Komander/Emperador Azteca got the insta-feud treatment (maybe we’re importing Big Lucha feuds now.) [GREAT]
- Juicy Finau, Negro Casas, Rey Horus vs Forastero, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Sansón: totally a showcase for Juicy Finau, and who knows if/when we’ll see a guest wrestler again. Crazy Frank was also all over this taping, with the announcers quickly trying to explain him in the midst of declaring matches no disqualification. This was 100% a live/TV difference; the Auditorio crowd went nuts for Finau and he came across on Space as another random guy in a run of a lot of them on since the World Cup.
- Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Psycho Clown vs Nicho el Millionario, Rey Escorpión, Sam Adonis: crowd was very into chanting along with Penta and cheering for Psycho. One where you could see the crowd reacting but couldn’t hear them the rest of the time. Penta & Nicho were partners on the last taping and enemies here, that’s just AAA.
AAA aired more from the Pentagon mystery stalker. It appears the person sent in a two-minute promo and AAA’s been cutting it into 30-second pieces to make it last for many weeks, though it’s left the promo barely coherent at times. They also showed mystery people attacking Penta at his gym, with Panic Clown running him out. (Why Panic Clown was there was not explained, but he’s Penta’s longtime friend under many different names.) There was a Sam Adonis promo demanding a singles match with Psycho Clown, which sets up their flag match in Chihuahua. There was also one with Chik Tormenta challenging Dalys, which seems to be going nowhere any time soon.
Mas Lucha posted a bunch of post-show interviews from this taping after it aired.
- NGD talked about Hijo de Mascara 2000 always being the fourth member of the unit and someone they would’ve wanted to team with regardless of other situations. (He’s also Forastero’s brother, something I forget about.) They’re asked Cuatrero’s situation and say they’re leaving up to the lawyers and believe the truth of the situation will come to light in time. (In real time, it’s six weeks later and nothing much more is known about the case.)
- Rey Escorpion made it clear he’s still part of AAA on good terms. (He had been listed on The Crash’s show back in February and but didn’t end up wrestling.)
That AAA taping was taped back on April 22nd. The most recent show in Auditorio de Tijuana was Friday’s The Crash show, which also seems like it has some affect on AAA plans:
The Crash (FRI) 06/02/2023 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [TJ Sports]
1) Charro Negro (Indie) b Noisy Boy, Rey Furia, Pod
2) Anubis © b Gallo Extreme [The CRASH JUNIOR]
first defense
3) Destiny, Ninja Mack, Toto b Bendito (Indie), Black Danger, Elemental
Destiny dived off the entrance tunnel
4) Deluxe b Mamba
hair match challenges followed
5) Alpha Wolf & Dragón Bane b Trauma I & Trauma II and Dinámico & Emperador Azteca (Indie) [The Crash TAG]
Emperador Azteca & Dinamico were added to the match.
6) Dr. Wagner Jr., El Bandido, Galeno del Mal b Bobby Fish, Flamita, Pierroth Jr.
(The Crash forever isn’t taping their shows but you can find bootlegs on YouTube at times. I haven’t gotten there yet.)
AAA wrestlers aren’t supposed to appear on The Crash shows; Konnan blunty said Bandido would be done with AAA if he worked this show. He and Flamita were advertised all along and (unlike Rey Escorpion) didn’t pull off the show, so theoretically, people on all sides knew they were done with AAA. Emperador Azteca & Dinamico being added to the card is more surprising. Dinamico’s been back and forth between the Crash & EMW so he knew the deal, and appeared here just to be on the losing side of a tag match. Flamita & Bandido will be fine with or with AAA, but Dinamico and Emperador Azteca don’t have a US deal or aren’t living off a past one. Azteca does seem to have occasional appearances in GLEAT. It’s possible both guys have one of those funny KAOZ contracts, and KAOZ and The Crash are working together. Azteca got the random Komander feud and had been positioned higher of late, though he also has gotten work in GLEAT. Dinamico probably was slated to be part of Team Baja California on the upcoming TripleMania Tijuana show, so it’s a peculiar time for him to leave AAA. Neither said any more about it on social media. AAA hasn’t said anything. Everyone gets mad when incorrect stories get reported but no one in wrestling is ever willing just to say what’s going on.
The AAA Orizaba promoter posted their TV taping lineup back on Friday. Hasn’t turned up on AAA’s social media yet but I assume it’s official.
AAA TV (SAT) 07/08/2023 Coliseo La Conordia, Orizaba, Veracruz
1) ?, ??, Brazo De Oro Jr. vs ?, Dinámico, Maravilla
2) Lady Shani, Persephone, Sexy Star vs Flammer, La Hiedra, Viva Van
3) Diva Salvaje, Dulce Kanela, Jessy Ventura vs Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown and Abismo Negro Jr., Látigo, Psicosis
4) Myzteziz & Octagón Jr. vs Argenis & Villano III Jr.
5) Dalys & Negro Casas vs Chik Tormenta & Daga
6) Aramis, Jack Evans, Pentagón Jr. vs Bestia 666, Mecha Wolf, Pagano
My best guess is the first week of this show airs August 5th, then TripleMania Mexico City airs for two weeks, and the rest airs August 26th. That doesn’t seem sensible so maybe it’ll change.
It looks like a taping with many matches that could air at any time without much additional context. The main event is Pagano’s return match; why he’s teaming with La Rebelion is unclear; I think they were non-friends last time they were together. Maybe that’ll be explained in Pagano. Daga will get a kick out of wrestling Negro Casas. Las Shotas are making their first appearance of the year (and Kanela hasn’t been around for months.) Viva Van gets a non-Tijuana appearance. She’s also noticeably in Maravilla’s spot when Maravilla is booked on the card. Dinamico is still booked, so AAA didn’t have any idea what was going on whenever they sent out this lineup. Might still not know. There’s not a killer match on here; I guess match 4 might have a chance if it didn’t guarantee a ‘heat’ finish. All the bad Rebelion/Vampiro matches have caused me to lose hope of good Rebelion matches in AAA.
Speaking of them: the NWA Crockett Cup took place over last week. The big angle to close out Saturday’s taping was Vampiro making a surprise appearance to help La Rebelion win. They promptly lost their next match because it is the NWA. I’m guessing this is meant to be separate from the AAA storyline where Vampiro and La Rebelion have been feuding for months. Taking time to think about is a waste, because it’s just bad Vampiro matches either way.
The Octagon Jr. & Myzteziz Jr. team made it to the semifinals, while the “Vipers” team of Arez & Toxin were booted in the second round. Arez & Toxin wrestled in a nine-team gauntlet match the next day. NWA owner Billy Corgan says a lots of things. A while back, he explained the NWA had no immediate plans to run a follow-up to their all-women’s show because the first one was a money loser and they’re running a business. It’s fairly possible he was correct and the show didn’t make money. I’ve got a good guess that a two-day tournament with 24 tag teams (and a bunch of non-tournament people and random Vampiro appearances) in front of a small audience never had a chance of turning a profit, and the NWA ran that one anyway. It’s his money, he should do what he wants with it, but also everyone should be clear that’s primarily what’s happening there. As far as AAA is concerned, if they can get their guys some easy paydays by working with the NWA and Corgan, they should keep on doing it.
Pencil in an ambulance match for the TripleMania Tijuana show. On his 05/27 podcast, Konnan talked briefly about the flag match between Sam Adonis & Psycho Clown on the Chihuahua taping and mentioned he wanted to do a lot more gimmick matches that hadn’t been done in Mexico. He brought up the ambulance match as something he wanted to do with a Tijuana and named “parking lot street fight” and “ring with no mats” as other ideas he wanted to do. No names were mentioned.
(Psycho Clown and Pagano had an ambulance match on an AAA spot show in Sinaloa years back and a couple of other times that year as well. DTU has done the no mats matches a few times. Ambulance matches are also never good. AAA doing US stipulation matches is never good.)
MLW aired four of eight matches from the February taping with AAA & EMW. The women’s four way match and Crazy Frank vs Juicy Finau and Damian 666 aired on episode 166, La Rebelion vs Absimo Negro Jr. & Taurus and the main event trios aired on 167. They appear to be moving on to other tapings next week, which means matches seemingly specifically taped for MLW (Alex Kane vs Delirious and Hammerstone vs Danny Rivera) weren’t aired and exist only in handhelds.
Miguel Torruco Marques, Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism, suggested the next Luchatitlan building would be in Tijuana. Forbes quoted him at a conference in Tlaxcala last Tuesday and treated it as fact. The quote in context seems more like a suggestion – Torruco Marques suggested the location based on US residents crossing over – and it’s not among the cities Dorian Roldan has repeatedly brought up. Maybe just file this away for later.
Dave the Clown told Mas Lucha that his NOAH appearance was something he’d been working on for three months. He was impressed by NOAH and how the wrestlers prepared before the show. He said the fans were quiet during his match, but many of them (and his fellow wrestlers) wanted photos afterward. He thanks Nosawa and Super Crazy for the chance and says they’re in talks for him to return.
A video of a dog watching an AAA show from the front row went viral on TikTok about a week ago. This appears to be 05/25 Chihuahua taping – you can see Sam Adonis and the flag match set up – so the dog may make TV in a few weeks.
Hijo del Vikingo wrestlers Charles Mason on June 16th at House Of Glory in New York.
First Wrestling in Minneapolis on June 18th has Laredo Kid vs Gravity vs Aramis vs Gringo Loco.
DEFY has Aramis vs Gringo Loco vs Laredo Kid on June 24th.
Other News
I still haven’t gotten to Big Lucha (and putting together the results), so I’m pushing that and the IWRG catch-up to later.
I don’t know who’s doing the work behind fanaticosdedeporteespectaculo.blogspot.com but they’re doing a good job of covering lots of lucha libre – they’re even doing recaps of Tuesday Arena Mexico shows – and it’s a site worth checking out if you’re interested in more lucha libre coverage.
A Mexico City licensing tryout took place the last weekend of May. 40 wrestlers, 4 announcers, and 2 referees went through the test. I don’t believe it’s been announced how many passed.
KAOZ says they’ll take legal action if Fresero Jr. worked a 06/11 show with Robles Promotions. Robles says Fresero will be there, as does Fresero Jr. I’m not sure if this is an angle or not, neither of these promotions feel real. I’m sure it’s very serious to the people involved but no one’s going to remember if Fresero did or did not work a show a few months now; the matches on these shows are immediately forgotten.
Mas Lucha released the card for their Torneo Suicida final
Mas Lucha (SAT) 07/01/2023 Arena Azteca Budokan, Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, Estado de México
1) Águila Guerrera II & Águila Guerrera Jr. vs Hijo de Payaso Purasanta & Trueno
2) Chris Stone Jr., Kempo Jr., Rey Eclipse vs Hijo de Rey Pantera, King Lobo, Yorvak
3) Radioactivo vs Cometa Maya, Éxtasis
4) Princesa Azul & Reina Dorada vs India Sioux & Sakura (Ciudad Juarez)
5) Mr. Leo vs Camaleón
6) Demonio Infernal & Fresero Jr. vs Aerostar & Drago (AAA)
7) Último Legendario vs Dante [mask]
Ultimo Legendario and Dante were probably the least known going into the tournament and the two that ended up in the final. I wasn’t following it close enough to know if a big Dante fanbase was supporting him. It comes off like the fans to keep their favorites out of the mask match on the surface level. I would guess that when Mas Lucha envisioned this tournament, they expected someone like Camaleon losing his mask here. (I’m guessing it’s Ultimo Legendario, who’s already gone through so many gimmick changes that one more won’t hurt.)
Arena Azteca Budokan doesn’t get many big shows; it’s a lot of the Morenos (the Esther/Cinthia/Oriental family, not the IWRG ones), their trainees and various ex-AAA wrestlers when they run shows at all. This feels like the biggest show in that venue in quite a few years.
Komander & Bandido will appear in GLEAT on 07/01.
SB Kento & Takuma will make their RIOT debut on 07/22 against Kratoz & Prometeo. This past week’s WON reported SBK & Takuma are done with Dragon Gate. Open the Voice Gate had more background about the situation. They’re expected to be based in Mexico for the immediate future.
Maravilla posted a note on Facebook asking for help for former DTU exotico Chica Yeye. Maravilla says Chica Yeye was diagnosed with cancer two weeks ago in Salamanca, and need to be transferred to a hospital in Leon with an oncology department, but the Salamanca hospital will not let Chica Yeye leave. Maravilla is looking for someone who has contact with the hospital administration to transfer Chica Yeye. Parts of this don’t make sense to me, though Maravilla saying they’re having trouble getting complete information from the Salamanca hospital may explain it. Edit: Around the time this post went up, reports came out Facebook that Chica Yeye (July Flores) passed away.
Variety announced “a Blue Demon Jr. Lucha Lucha Libre universe is in the works.” Sure. The ‘article’ has Blue Demon working with film company Moxie 88, and Candle Media on “film, television, animation, and merchandising.” Demon licensed his gimmick to a content company who believes they can make things out of it, though often, these things don’t manifest. Movie 88 had previously bought Blue Demon’s left rights in 2018, so this is them just making a new push with the idea with a new content partner. The one firm project is a movie (“the Demon”) that’s scheduled to start filming next year. Blue Demon Jr. was last involved with a Disney film project, which ended up scrubbing Demon’s name off of it before it started filming (and lasted just one season.) The press release has a very specific lie about Blue Demon Jr. selling out Madison Square Garden multiple times – I believe they’re talking about AAA show that got moved to the Hulu Theatre, which may not have actually sold out, and AAA also likes to pretend they ran the actual Madison Square Garden. It would’ve been as easy to say “Demon’s sold out arenas around the world,” but this is a specific lie to sell Demon as a bigger US star to those who might be interested in investing in these upcoming projects.
A 17-minute documentary on Super Parka was exhibited in Monclova last week.
Diario de Xalapa has a long biography of retired local wrestler Pulgarcito, who ended up going into theology after what sounds like an in-ring serious brain injury. They’ve also got another piece on luchador/trainer Caballero Negro.
Halloween’s been on a never-ending post-retirement tour since 2021; it’s a way to pay the bills. His medical ones sound large: Halloween says he has three compressed vertebrae, a torn ligament in his left arm, and his right arm is 80 injured.
There was a benefit show for Oaxaca’s Zodicao 2000, who suffered a spinal injury in a match.
San Luis Potosi luchador Principe Leon (Francisco Martinez Castillo, 49) passed away Wednesday. He was active as recently as November 2022.
Tinieblas talked about his career with El Siglo de Torreon, tells a story about how he once trapped Solitario in a hold he could never escape.
Home town paper El Siglo de Torreon talked to Lanzeloth about his NOAH tour. It was a career dream for him, and he believes he got the spot because he was a former AAA cruiserweight champion and his uncle Super Crazy vouched for him. He now has a US visa as well.
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