FantasticaMania Arena Mexico tonight, CMLL new subscription plan, AAA/Azteca

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 06/30/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
1) Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis vs La Catalina, La Jarochita, Stephanie Vaquer
2) Audaz & Capitán Suicida vs Douki & Okumura
Originally Audaz, Capitán Suicida, Hombre Bala Jr. vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Okumura, changed on 06/14.
3) Satánico vs Tiger Mask IV [lightning]
Satanico 50th Anniversary match.
4) El Desperado vs Máscara Dorada 2.0
5) Bushi, Naito, Titán vs Atlantis Jr., Místico, Soberano Jr.
6) Rocky Romero © vs Volador Jr. [NWA WELTER]

I wrote a longer preview over on VOW. This is a really good show. Romero/Volador feels like they missed their peak but they’re still great against each other. Mascara Dorada/Desperado could be a huge deal. The semi-main will probably be the best we see out of the LIJ trio. If those go as planned and anything else delivers, this will be among the best Arena Mexico shows this year.

In addition to the matches, expect a big ceremony for Satanico during the show.

The Ticketmaster ticketmap showed the floor almost completely sold out as of 11 AM US Central Time. This is going to be a huge crowd.

It’s 199 pesos (about 12 USD) on Ticketmaster. It’ll go up on CMLL’s YouTube on July 16th.

CMLL (SUN) 07/02/2023 Arena México
1) Bengala, Cachorro, Retro vs Enfermero Jr., Grako, Raider
2) La Magnifica vs Metálica [lightning]
3) Diamond, Flyer, Stigma vs Ángel Rebelde, El Novato (Puebla), Neón
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Valiente vs Kráneo, Magnus, Rugido
5) El Desperado & Hechicero vs Douki & Templario [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Bushi, Naito, Titán vs Star Jr., Tiger Mask, Volador Jr.

More NJPW (though Rocky seems to be leaving early to make it to Japan for thhe NJPW Strong shows.) El Novato has barely wrestled in Puebla so far so it’s very strange to see him in Arena Mexico.

CMLL (MON) 07/03/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Amnesia, Astro, Xelhua vs El Malayo, Fénix SO, Rey Apocalipsis
2) Black Tiger, Perverso, Prayer vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Capitán Suicida, Rey Samuray, Volcano vs Difunto, Furia Roja, Zandokan Jr.
4) Atlantis vs Satánico
5) Hechicero, Magia Blanca, Rugido, Volador Jr. vs Pegasso, Stigma, Templario, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

CMLL is pushing this as the start of a month of Arena Puebla Anniversary celebrations. Perhaps the main event is setting up a title match.

Xelhua showed up once in Guadalajara two months ago, wonder what’s going on there.

CMLL added a paid subscription tier to their YouTube channel. CMLL says it costs 199 pesos, though it appears to 9 USD for me. The Tuesday Arena Mexico shows will switch from free streaming to subscriber-only. CMLL will also offer this Saturday’s Arena Coliseo show as a free bonus. CMLL talked about the switch at the end of Informa, mentioning plans to add historical content similar to what was posted during the pandemic. No timeline was mentioned. There was also a tease of news coming soon about the Friday Arena Mexico broadcasts, which are currently airing on Ticketmaster Live.

This announcement was CMLL declaring they were going to start charging for something that had been for free. It was received as poorly as you’d expect. There is a great case for a CMLL subscription service: they’re taping two or three events a week that they don’t currently stream and could easily offer them as an added bonus. 199 pesos a month for four shows, usually of lesser quality, is a hard ask when CMLL is also asking their fans to pay 396 pesos a month for four Friday shows. That’s about 35 USD each month to keep up with CMLL, though not even all of CMLL. It’s way out of line with other wrestling promotions; almost all of them are much more popular with people willing to pay for wrestling.

I’m going to subscribe to this CMLL plan because of this blog; I’m not entirely sure I’d regularly bother otherwise. If you just want to watch some CMLL on a Tuesday night, the Guadalajara stream will still exist for free. There are plenty of Tuesdays when that’s the better show. Maybe the news on the Friday shows is CMLL will add them as well, because that’s the one thing that could make this deal worthwhile.

(I’m not sure if I’m posting these on the Drive. I definitely will not be posting them before the matches air on TV, so that’s at least a two week delay. I do it for Friday in part because most of the show is going to be made available for free anyway and the other matches disappear entirely. That’s not the same situation here.)

CMLL will officially reopen its training school on Saturday. It’s been closed since the start of COVID, and CMLL loosening their COVID rules fits with the timing.

There was a benefit show for La Comandante in Arena Aficion a few weeks back. Talking with Criterio Hidalgo, La Comandante says she has cervical injuries and has lost feeling in one hand. She says she looks normal, so no one understands she’s actually hurt, but she’s been told she may end up a wheelchair if the condition worsens. She’ll have another MRI this July and get more information on her condition then. She’s been told the operation they believe she will need now costs 250,000 pesos (around $15,000 USD) and says CMLL is not helping her despite this being the result of years of wrestling.

AAA

This week’s AAA on Space finishes of the Chihuahua taping

• Arkángel Divino, Fantastik, Último Maldito vs Genio del Aire, Kamik-C, Skalibur (Baja California)
• Aerostar, Arez, Octagón Jr. vs Parka Negra, Psicosis, Villano III Jr.
• Aramis, Mr. Iguana, Willie Mack vs Emperador Azteca, Látigo, Toscano

TV Azteca, AAA’s over-the-air home, had a bunch of announcements this past Wednesday. They’re pushing out the “TV Azteca Internacional” as the new export brand. Part of their plan included the launch of a new cable channel “Azteca Deportes Network” on Wednesday. Lucha Libre AAA is included in the list of programming on the new channel. It’s not a huge deal in Mexico – if you’ve got cable, you might already be watching AAA on Space or Multimedios or Claro. Azteca’s plan here is to sell that channel internationally, though, which would mean the US first and foremost. That would quietly put AAA back on TV in the US, if they can get cable systems to pick it up. I wonder if Azteca has US (or international) transmission rights for AAA? No idea, but maybe a question someone’s asked this week.

TV Azteca had a big announcelaunched Azteca Sports Network this week. It’s a cable channel that’ll carry programming, including showing AAA. I think it’s the same situation as CMLL/Televisa, where the show airs on an over-the-air network and then gets repeated later in the week on the sports channel. Given AAA’s post-midnight timeslot, more people might see it on the cable channel. I haven’t seen a schedule for the network yet.

Hijo del Vikingo is advertised tonight for Warrior Wrestling in the Chicago area and TAO Lucha in Queretaro. He’s probably working Warrior Wrestling.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 06/29/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Centvrión b Lunatik Fly 
Lunatik Fly replaced Baby Star
2) Puma de Oro b Águila Roja 
3) Asterboy b Rey Astaroth 
4) Tonalli b Fussion 
good match
5) Dr. Cerebro DQ Cerebro Negro Jr. 
Cerebro Negro (Sr.) ran in for the DQ. Dr. Cerebro Jr. also got involved, setting up a tag title match
6) Hijo de Canis Lupus b Jhon Tito 
7) Noisy Boy DQ Hijo del Pirata Morgan 

This was an IWRG show I was interested in watching and I was in no condition to watch it. I am feeling better today so maybe I’ll find time to catch up this weekend.

Sunday’s show is the RGR show with Pimpinela and Jessy Ventura in a hair match. That’s a Mas Lucha subscriber-only show.

Other News

Mas Lucha announced Hijo del Tirantes as a referee for their Ruleta Suicida final. That show (full card) takes place on Saturday and airs on their streaming network. They’ve had Ultimo Legendario and Dante doing a lot of press to promote their mask match.

Dragon Gate’s Kobe World show is early Sunday morning. Diamante puts up his mask in the main event five-way mask match, and is the one most seem to expect to lose. That’ll air on Dragon Gate’s Network, which recently changed its policy to allow shows to stay on the service for a full year (in Japanese, the English ones are there forever.)

DEFY posted their “Heathens” show with Aramis vs Laredo Kid vs Gringo Loco and Vikingo vs Komander on WreMix. You can watch it for free on demand.

Komander is off the GLEAT show this weekend.