TripleMania changes (Penta/QT now 1v1, Rush still booked), CMLL early week results, Big Lucha

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 06/19/2023 Arena Puebla [Porra Fresa]
1) Amnesia, Brave Star, Meyer b Dreyco, Fénix SO, Rencor
2) King Jaguar, Rey Apocalipsis, Siki Osama b Asturiano, El Novato, Millenium 
3) Sanely b Hera [lightning]
4) Flyer, Rey Samuray, Volcano b Difunto, Kráneo, Zandokan Jr. 
5) Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma, Titán DQ Dragón Rojo Jr., Fuerza Guerrera, Hechicero 
Fuerza Guerrera unmasked Titan.
6) Místico b Stuka Jr.  
Stuka tried faking a foul but it didn’t work. A mask pull also failed to get three, and Mistico won with a Destroyer and a top rope senton soon after.

Mistico gets two singles matches and a tournament win in four days.

CMLL (TUE) 06/20/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Zona Ruda]
1) Full Metal & Pierrothito b Fantasy & Galaxy 
2) La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Skadi b Hera, Metálica, Olympia 
Hera hurt her right shoulder either on a Vaquerita dropkick or on the elbow drop to the floor that followed. It didn’t look serious.
3) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora 
4) Panterita del Ring b Rey Bucanero [lightning] 
5) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black 
straight falls, Virus pinning Fugaz. Fugaz demanded a singles match next week. Virus slapped him and unmasked him (which may be a yes.)
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible b Atlantis Jr., Blue Panther, Valiente 

Terrible seemed fine in his return (and Valiente appeared normal.) Terrible was clearly happy to be back in his post match interview. He said his doctor told him that if he didn’t get the knee surgery that year (2022), he’d need a prothesis next year. That motivated him to get it done, though rehabbing a new knee was a lot of pain.

There were some out-of-control fans on camera for this one.

CMLL (TUE) 06/20/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Mas Lucha, thecubsfan]
1) Black Boy, Thunder Boy, Yaky Boy b Luminoso, Mortis, Quka 
2) Astro Oriental, Gallo Jr., Ráfaga Jr. b Johnny Dinamo, Minotauro, Temerario 
3) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Átomo, Chamuel, Mije 
4) Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. b Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte 
5) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. 
6) Místico & Panterita del Ring Jr. b Stuka Jr. & Último Guerrero 

No challenges or anything built up, just matches. Looks like a good crowd though.

CMLL (SAT) 06/24/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Átomo & Mije
Chamuel & Micro Sagrado announced, then pulled a few hours later.
2) La Guerrera & La Magnifica vs Amapola & Tiffany
3) Flyer, Magia Blanca, Oro Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Okumura
4) Rugido vs Hijo del Villano III [lightning]
5) Dark Panther, Star Jr., Valiente vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Euforia, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

That quick sub was weird.

CMLL (SUN) 06/25/2023 Arena México
1) Cachorro vs Bengala [lightning]
2) Diamond, Leono, Sangre Imperial vs Enfermero Jr., Grako, Nitro
3) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
4) Volcano vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Valiente vs Kráneo, Magnus, Rugido
6) Atlantis, Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Mephisto, Niebla Roja, Terrible

Los Magnificos back in town.

CMLL Aniversario tickets officially go on sale July 1st at 11 AM Mexico City time. Ticketmaster Mexico does not list prices ahead of time, or at least it doesn’t for CMLL shows. There’s also no pre-sales, as common in the US. The 2022 Aniverasrio ticket prices ran from 360 to 2160 pesos.

Liga MX announced its fall schedule earlier this week. Of note, the two most famous teams in Mexican club soccer, America and Chivas, will play in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca on September 16th. As best I understand Mexican soccer, that’s the biggest regular season game possible. No time is announced, but big Liga MX games tend to start late in the evening. It probably takes place after the Aniversario wraps.

CMLL’s Lucha Tour will have Naito, BUSHI, and Titan as wrestler guests for their 06/30 show. This is an occasional Friday deal, where people get a mask, a ticket for a beer, a seat around the 8th row. The ticket costs 1,100 pesos, which is actually cheaper than the 06/16 show that had Templario and edecanes Gaby Bau and Sandy as guests (1,300 pesos).

NJPW World has a deal with AEW to post redubbed versions of AEW TV on their service; only people with a Japanese IP address can see those matches. They put up Dynamite and Rampage, including the June 2nd all-championship edition of Rampage. That means there’s an AAA Mega Championship with Hijo del Vikingo, Komander and Dralistico on NJPW World. At least for now.

Okumura talks about Los Chacales and Fantastica Mania. He hopes both are successes.

CMLL Informa has Hechicero & Euforia (Infernales split), Terrible (injury return), Volador Jr., Rugido, Magnus, Magia Blanca (some Depredador thing?), Max Star, and Brillante Jr. (Friday match)

AAA

Puma King went on Mas Lucha’s show to celebrate one year of Fenix’s one-year reign as Latin American and Cruiserweight champion with a birthday pastry. This was sarcasm; Fenix has not defended either of those title since winning them. Puma said he wants to challenge for the Latin American one any time and anywhere, but seemed certain it would take place on Verano de Escandalo on July 21st. As best I can figure out, Fenix hasn’t been back in Mexico because he’s working on his US immigration status. (This is what Metalik went through and affected Daga and Blue Demon Jr. championship reigns.) Puma doing this would normally suggest that Fenix’s situation is resolved. However, it’s AAA. Ring of Honor’s Death by Dishonor is July 21st; if Fenix is going to defend a title on that day, it will be the ROH tag team championship. Maybe AAA will just have Fenix vacate their titles and hold some other match on that day.

AAA posted a QT Marshall promo, where he demands the tag team ambulance match be changed to a singles match because he doesn’t care about Laredo Kid & Taurus and there’s no reason to having them in the match. The rudos are the ones who always make the correct points in AAA. Pentagon Jr. agreed and it’s now a singles match. Laredo Kid and Taurus have been added to Copa TripleMania, which fits with Konnan saying two roster people would be added. The new poster continues to lists Rush as wrestling.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 06/22/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Latin Boy & Rey Esprtano vs Kenji & Rey Aztarothh
2) Caballero de Plata & Jhon Tito vs Águila Roja & Johnny Santos
3) Puma de Oro © vs Rey Halcón [IWRG REY DEL AIRE]
4) Diva Salvaje & Mamba vs León Dorado & Mr. Leo [RGR TAG, torneo]
5) Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Pandemónium Jr.

Interesting to see if the Pigs can draw big on a Thursday. Halcon won the title shot on Sunday.

IWRG , RGR (SUN) 07/02/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Cerebro Negro vs Jhon Tito, Mr. Leo
2) Fussion & Princesa Azul vs Keira & Rey Halcón
3) Aster Boy, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo de Oro
4) Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Pandemónium
5) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? and ????? & ?????? [RGR TAG, final]
6) Pimpinela Escarlata vs Jessy Ventura [hair]

This is a Mas Lucha Premium show. Perhaps this match was some part of the thought behind Las Shota turning ruda last Sunday; the crowd is always going to cheer for Pimpinela.

There’s no mention on the poster of who’s in the RGR tag title final, and I can’t figure it out based on the matches they’ve run so far.

• 2023-02-26 RGR BH Event Center, Laguna Hills, California – Fulgor I & Fulgor II b Arkángel Divino & Último Maldito [RGR TAG, torneo]
• 2023-06-08 IWRG Arena Naucalpan – Hell Boy & Puma de Oro b Heavy Metal & Rocky Casas [RGR TAG, torneo]
• 2023-06-11 IWRG Arena Naucalpan – Hijo de Canis Lupus & Tonalli b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly [RGR TAG, torneo]
• 2023-06-15 IWRG Arena Naucalpan – León Dorado & Mr. Leo b Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. [RGR TAG, torneo]
• 2023-06-15 IWRG Arena Naucalpan – Diva Salvaje & Mamba b Asterboy & Travis Banks [RGR TAG, torneo]
• 2023-06-22 IWRG Arena Naucalpan – Diva Salvaje & Mamba vs León Dorado & Mr. Leo [RGR TAG, torneo]

Maybe I’m missing a match? Maybe the tournament doesn’t make a lot of sense? I put it as a three way tag just to be safe but I don’t even know.

VAR Deportes has a profile of recent IWRG guest wrestler Hijo del Engima. He’s born from Puerto Rico, was a big fan of Mecha Wolf, and Mecha Wolf told him he should go train at Bandido’s Gym.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (SAT) 06/17/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [thecubsfan]
1) El Machote & Máscara Año 2000 Jr. ?? Reiyel & Steel Dragón 
finish didn’t air on stream.
2) Mr. Win & Viajero b SBK & Takuma [BIG LUCHA MIXA, quarterfinal] 
3) Súper Nova & Texano Jr. b Elipse & Orbita [BIG LUCHA MIXA, quarterfinal] 
4) Abismo Negro Jr., Andrómeda, Lady Maravilla b Carito, Dalys, Potro 
5) Forneo, Sol, Torito Negro b Black Skayde, Skayde, Vórtice 
setting up a Forneo/Skayde match
6) Súper Nova & Texano Jr. b Mr. Win & Viajero [BIG LUCHA MIXA, semifinal] 
Brujo attacked Viajero to set up the Sangre Texano win. Delta Force made the save.
7) Cibernético & Látigo b Ciclón Ramírez Jr. & Gravity 
Card was changed around a bunch, but this match had Ciclon Ramirez returning to the promotion to replace Bandido (wrist injury.) Gravity accidentally dropkicked Ciclon leading to Ciber speaking Gravity for the win. Ciclon attacked Gravity after.

The show wasn’t as much bad as boring. You don’t need to see any of the matches. The depth here isn’t strong enough to support Bandido being out hurt, Black Generation being in Japan, and Delta Force only doing a run-in. (They could’ve used Komander still being here.) That ends up with Ciclon Ramirez Jr. coming back and turning rudo, to align with his character in other indies. I don’t give Sangre Texana enough credit; I’m not excited to see them but the difference in their professional level and pretty much everyone else here is noticeable.

I think Dragon Gate fans assume SBK and Takuma are going to do interesting things while hanging out in Mexico, but that result is about where they stand. (SBK doing a butt version of the Joey Ryan spot didn’t make me want to see him more.) Mexican promotions do not believe anyone in any serious numbers outside of Mexico will watch their promotions, so the thought of ‘let’s do something with the guys who were stars in Japan’ just doesn’t even seem to occur to them. Takuma & SBK are also like 45th on an AAA depth chart where about 30 people are booked per show. They may be good enough to work their way into relevancy but it’s going to be tough for a while.

The Big Lucha stream started late and cut out during the opener, then returned for about six minutes of bad sound in the second match. It was generally fine once they got that worked out, except somehow a Black Generation promo to close the show was played upside down. I don’t know how that it even possible, it was sort of impressive. Big Lucha is back on Sunday for one of their monthly spot show, and they’re teasing an announcement on that event.

Other News

I’m headed to AEW Dynamite tonight, as long as I can keep it in my head that it’s at Wintrust (downtown Chicago) and not the NOW Arena (definitely not downtown Chicago.) Chicago people get a lot of AEW shows but remembering where they are each time is challenging. This is the last Dynamite before Forbidden Door and I’ve been led to believe I may see some familiar people around.

Mesias is currently hospitalized in Miami. He explained that he went into the hospital in late May for surgery on his hand, but an infection got in. He’s had to undergo a second surgery to deal with that. He was scheduled to appear at Puerto Rico’s WWC 50th Anniversary show this Saturday and will obviously not be there.

New Exotic is promoting their 7/15 Gimansio Juan de la Barrera show with “the last time we’ll see Cien Caras and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. face to face.” Rayo is wrestling the NGD. Cien is seconding the NGD. I guess they idea is Cien Caras is tired of doing these sort of appearances so this might be the last one.

There’s a teaser for an Aeroboy documentary that looks very good. There’s no sign when it will be released (and the video link looks it’s been up for over a year.)

The Spider-Man spin off “El Muerto” movie is officially on hiatus. Bad Bunny was supposed to star as a luchador character, Bad Bunny mentioned he had no idea about the film in an interview a few months ago, and the movie was supposed to be released in seven months but hadn’t started filming yet. Not a surprise it’s on indefinite hiatus, maybe a surprise if he ever turns up. Bad Bunny is also in the Cassandro movie, and that movie was actually flilmed, so we may hear about him again and lucha libre around then.

Box y Lucha 3556 has Panterita & the 90th Aniversario on the cover.

Juventud Guerrera says he’s teaching a lucha libre course for 10 beginners and 5 trained wrestlers starting August 23rd in Mexico City. The wrestlers will participate in a show he’s running on 10/28 and which will air on FITE. The trainees will all live in a house supplied by Guerrera, and will be filmed for reality TV. The post has all the info but it and Juventud Guerrera does not inspire great confidence. The press release announcing the project is among the least proofread things you’ll ever see; there’d be memes for years if it popped up in front of the right people at the right time. Juventud Guerrera’s 2021 attempt at running a promotion/training school/reality show lasted four events and then faded away without explanation. I think Guerrera wants to do all of the things he’s bringing up in the post but I’m less confident they’ll actually get done as promised.