Dorada/Romero in the Leyenda de Final, Verano de Escandalo part 1, TripleMania main event strangess

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 07/21/2023 Arena México [CMLL, El Universal, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Quardratin, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Angelito & Pequeño Magía b Full Metal & Minos   
10:37
2) Capitán Suicida, Halcón Suriano Jr., Valiente Jr. b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora   
14:16.
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sanely b La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer   
8:43. Lluvia pined Reyna to even the score from last week.
4) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero DQ Averno, Euforia, Mephisto   
11:19. Averno fouled Guerrero and beat him up after the match.
5) Máscara Dorada 2.0 & Rocky Romero b Místico, Metalik, Volador Jr., Templario, Titán, Dragón Rojo Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, semifinal]   
22:56. Order of elimination: Templario (DQ for fouling Dragon Rojo), Mistico (by Titan), Dragon Rojo (Volador), Volador (Rocky, his own partner), Titan (Metalik), Dorada (Rocky after a mask pull) leaving Dorada and Rocky as the final 2.

This was a shorter show than usual for Friday, coming in close two hours. My head was in two places at once during this but it didn’t seem like standout matchs. The cibernetico had moments but also was weird. Rocky was allowed to eliminate his own partner, which made sense for the Volador/Rocky issue but didn’t make any sense in terms of “rules of a wrestling match.” This was also Metalik’s big moment to shine and he did not. He is not blowing moves, he’s just a guy who’s trademark was being spectacular and he’s not spectacular anymore. He’s not transitioned to being something else, he just is a guy who does a springboard elbow drop. Metalik is stuck on 205 Live and appears like he’ll never escape.

Dorada 2.0 versus Rocky is a huge decision. Rocky Romero has been so good and so good for CMLL that I’m not going to argue against him winning. Mascara Dorada 2.0 winning the Leyenda de Plata in his first try under this gimmick is putting him in a rocket. He’d no longer be “a guy who’s going to be a star in 2-3 years”, or “a prospect who’s graduated to the main events” – he’d be a top guy, someone you’d have to mention it alongside Mistico and Titan and Volador as the most important tecnicos in CMLL. And it might even be only half of it. Dorada gave up the lightweight title by saying he was going after the welterweight ones, Rocky is (still!) welterweight champion, and Dorada beating him would guarantee a big deal title match. Maybe on the All Star Junior Festival, maybe on the Aniverasrio, but it’d be putting a spotlight on him in a big way. I still have that fear the Arena Mexico diehards may turn against a young guy for getting pushed to top with ‘earning’ it, but Dorada winning the Leyenda de Plata and then the title is a way to make a guy if you really want to make them.

Dorada beating Rocky and winning the Leyenda de Plata is really strapping a rocket to him and it feels like CMLL might actually do that. I’m concerned the Arena Mexico diehards will turn on a young wrestler pushed too hard too soon but it doesn’t seem to be happening so far. For his part, Mascara Dorada 2.0 said he felt it would be almost impossible mission to beat Rocky Romero but he’s going to try his best. He did also call Rocky an elderly grandfather a few times. (If Rocky is Volador’s dad, and Volador is Dorada’s pardino then Rocky is Dorada’s abuelo.) Rocky said Mascara Dorada must be a comedian if he’s calling him old, and said he considered Mascara Dorada 2.0 a little boy even if he got a new mask. Mistico, Volador, Angel de Oro, Virus are true challenges, not Dorado. Rocky vowed to change the name of the tournament to Leyenda de Azucar after he wins next week, believed the main event would go eight minutes max, and declared he would be in the Gran Prix.

The Averno/Guerrero angle was well done. CMLL aired a video before the show pushing all three contract signings while giving no new info. That’s about it for meaningful parts of this show. Nothing was bad.

Arena Mexico had another strong turnout.

Tijuana’s Lucka Libre debut shot took place Saturday. It looks like it drew well for a CMLL focused show in Tijuana – not as well as EMW/AAA or the Crash but not too far behind, and better than some past CMLL shows in Tijuana. The Volador/Rugido vs Mascara Dorada 2.0/Mistico main event was said to be good.

CMLL (SAT) 07/22/2023 Arena Coliseo [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, CMLL, Mas Lucha]
1) Hera, Olympia, Skadi b Dulce Kitty (Jalisco), Nexy (Jalisco), Sexy Sol  
2) Barboza (Jalisco), Draego (Jalisco), Persa (Jalisco) b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio 
3) Bestia Negra, Cris Skin (Jalisco), Ráfaga (Jalisco) b Fuego, Halcón Suriano Jr., Volcano  
4) Halcón Negro Jr. b Misterioso Jr. [lightning]  
5) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Leo (Jalisco), Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr.  
6) Metalik, Soberano Jr., Titán b Gran Guerrero, Hechicero, Terrible 
billed as Metalik, Soberano, Terrible vs Gran Guerrero, Hechicero, Terrible, switched around for no given reason

Not only did CMLL CDMX bring in a bunch of GDL people, they put them over on the Mexico City guys. I hope it make the GDL guys into bigger stars, and it’s impressive to get the Mexico City guys to go along with it.  Not sure why the main event changed; the new one is the better match, the old one would’ve fed into Metalik/Titan better.

I was expecting at least one of the veterans to make it to the final from the Mexico City group and it is instead two of the Torneo de Escuelas kids. It’s a big feather in both Max Star and Futuro’s cap to make it this far this fast.

CMLL (TUE) 07/25/2023 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito
2) Capitán Suicida, Diamond, Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Sangre Imperial
4) El Perverso, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Atlantis, Bárbaro Cavernario, Valiente vs Esfinge, Fugaz, Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr.

Volador Jr. and Angel de Oro should be the focus of the main event, though I wonder about seeing Atlantis Jr. and Stuka back against each other. Perverso gets a Tuesday booking following winning the Puebla title. Bala/Imperial is listed as a full match, not a lightning one.

CMLL (FRI) 07/28/2023 Arena México
1) Astral, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
2) Blue Panther Jr., Cachorro, Dark Panther vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
3) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
4) Averno, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Titán vs Metalik
6) Máscara Dorada 2.0 vs Rocky Romero [Leyenda de Plata, final]

Metalik has been protected in every match so far, which hopefully means they’re saving the big win for Titan. Villano III Jr. makes his Friday debut in a fun trio. (There’s some history there; Villano IV took the original Zandokan’s mask.) Cachorro is the big winner from Blue Panther Jr.’s return, rescued from undercard obscurity to round out the family team.

El Universal talks to the people behind the KeMonito documentary, currently touring film festivals. It recently aired in Leon and is said to be heading to India soon. The article says the film is expected to be fully released on a platform in early 2024. They also bring up KeMonito saying earlier this year that he’d probably retire in 2023. There hasn’t been anything about that recently. The theory back then was KeMonito’s retirement would be part of the Aniversario. I kind of think we’d know by now if that was happening, because there’d be a string of retirement countdown events.

AAA

AAA TV (FRI) 07/21/2023 Arena San Marcos, Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes [Lucha Central, Me gusta Box y Lucha, Record, thecubsfan]
***Verano de Escandalo, 2023***
1) Bestia Infernal, Príncipe Seir, Sauron ?? Águila De Guerrera, Drakus, Pigman
2) Dinámico, Kamik-C, Skalibur b Diva Salvaje, Dulce Kanela, Jessy Ventura 
Dinamico snuck in a foul on Diva Salvaje
3) Jack Cartwheel, Laredo Kid, Willie Mack b Antifaz del Norte, Látigo, Tosscano 
4) Dalys, Drago (2023), Negro Casas b La Hiedra, Nicho el Millionario, Puma King 
the new Drago was the surprise wrestler
5) Abismo Negro, Psicosis, Toxin b Forastero, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Sansón [AAA TRIOS] 
8th defense, 5th on TV. Hijo de Mascara 2000 replacing Cuatrero (jail). Latigo hit Mascara 2000 with a chair and Psicosis (II) landed a top rope senton with the same chair to win.
6) Octagón Jr., Pagano, Vampiro Canadiense DDQ Daga, Taurus, Texano Jr. 
Texano Jr. was the surprise wrestler. Rudos handcuffed Vampiro, then later handcuffed Pagano and beat up the the other two. Match didn’t seem to have an ending, the rudos just were done beating up the tecnicos and left without trying to win the match. Piero ruled it a no decision, Marisela Pena demanded he change it to a DQ, he explained it was a no DQ match, Pena said she didn’t care and Piero agreed to call a DQ (but it was reported a double DQ?)
7) El Patrón Alberto, Hijo Del Vikingo, Psycho Clown b Cibernético, Gringo Loco, Sam Adonis 
Adonis destroyed Psycho’s mask. Gringo Loco superpowerbombed Vikingo through a table for the win. Vikingo was stretchered away.

A skippable show. The main event was on the lines of the Team Baja/Team Mexico City match – a relief at something closer to OK after some annoying booking and lackluster undercard before it, but it’s nothing you have to go track down.

I’m not sure what happened with the semi-main. The post-match stuff came off like a chance to spotlight Marisela, but it also came off as absurd to have her call for a DQ in a no-DQ match. The match itself felt like something went wrong (a missing handcuff key?) and AAA couldn’t get to the finish they wanted. AAA is also fully capable of just not doing finish. The trios match had no particular energy or memorable moments. The Latigo bit seemed more like giving NGD some relief losing the titles rather than setting up something for the future.

Japanese site Me Gusta Box y Lucha was very helpful in confirming the undercard results and tracking down additional video. I don’t know when the undercard matches are airing; AAA hasn’t said and their taping schedule is a mess. Maybe next week, maybe the week after, maybe who knows. The results do not account for a Daga promo to talk about the title match. I think they could’ve given feature Daga more in his title match, but there’s not really anything they were going to do in one match to make him suddenly a strong challenger. You’re in or out on Daga already.

I’m not sure what the future is for NGD in AAA. There was a story going around amongst AAA people that this was NGD’s final match in the promotion for now. Something like that often gets followed up quickly with a announcement on Instagram, and those guys haven’t appeared to say anything. NGD were believed to have signed a two year contract in August of 2021 and they’re not booked on TripleMania, so it would make sense if they were done. Being done on an AAA contract doesn’t means the same thing as it would for a WWE or AEW deal – AAA uses a people on handshake or informal deals – but looking how they were used here and have been used over the last year, it’s easy to believe a story about NGD being done for now.

NGD was just used as a trio in AAA, they’re not as good a trio without Cuatrero, and they’re an act that AAA never seemed to have plans for after their initial push. Or, they had plans for them and they weren’t ever a big enough priority to execute those plans. They had a brief friend with Poder del Norte, those guys left, and NGD just floated around for the remainder of the two years. They didn’t show much better performances than in their last CMLL days and they were in a promotion that’s overload with heel outsider groups. The title change did not feel like a start of a program with the Vipers. It felt a lot like when NGD won the belts from La Empresa, where the belts were moved because AAA was done with one heel team and gave them to another until they came up with time to do something with them. It didn’t happen with NGD, hopefully it’ll go better for the Vipers.

It seemed reasonable to believe NGD leaving CMLL and going to AAA would revitalize their careers. That has not happened; they’re colder, less special, and probably headed to a lot of Arena Lopez Mateos shows. It’s a shocking fall for guys who seemed like they’d be perennial top stars for CMLL and potential international breakout stars. Cuatrero’s arrest and charges of femicide make it impossible to have any sympathy for his career right now, but NGD rarely looked special even before the arrest. AAA could’ve done more with NGD but they also weren’t forcing the issue. NGD have a big name and gimmick and will get along in Mexican wrestling fine if that’s what they continue to do, but they feel like they’re at a career crossroads. Forastero seemed to start an indie feud with DMT Azul on Saturday and will face him on 08/26; the team going their separate ways for a while is probably a good refresh.

Carlos Cabrera filled in for Hugo Savanovich for the show. The announcers felt less loud on this show, to the point where I was wondering if they had stopped pipping them over the in-arena audio. Live video revealed AAA did not make that change, it was just switching from Savanovich being loud all the time to the more mellow Cabrera made it a better experience.

Since “AAA isn’t drawing fans” is now stuck as a Facebook lucha libre discussion point following the bad turnout in Orizaba, every AAA TV taping is now a contest of finding photos to prove what they already believe. People who already don’t like AAA circulated photos of this building being fairly empty, omitting the part about those photos being taken during the pre-show dark match. AAA people fired back with their own photos from later in the evening. The things we can learn from this is AAA is frustrated with their poor image, but also AAA doesn’t seem to have drawn as well for this show as they did last year. Both were held in Aguascalientes in about the same size building*, the 2022 show (with the Tirantes/Shani hair match) was a sell out, the 2023 show is still a strong crowd but there are visible empty sections even in AAA’s careful chosen photos.

(* – I’m honestly confused if this was the same building as last year and they changed the name or if it’s a different building, google isn’t helping much.)

AAA could combat disinformation about their attendance by simply releasing the actual attendance number. They choose to post photos instead and should be taken as seriously as people who choose to post photos instead. (AAA is never going to release attendance routinely; they’d have to acknowledge bad news alongside of good news and it is taboo to acknowledge bad news.) AAA don’t even release results anymore – that was a big thing they were going to get back to doing earlier this year, and it became another AAA idea that faded away. Even a TV live broadcast didn’t get results mentions: AAA posted about the finish of the trios title match and then just stopped. Maybe they had as hard time figuring out the semi-main result as I did.

AAA is off for two weekends, returning next on TripleMania. AAA hasn’t officially announced anything beyond TripleMania. It’s a bold take but I feel certain AAA will continue to run TV tapings after TripleMania. AAA drew a full house Thursday in San Luis Potosi, and the local promoter announced they’d tape TV there in October. Roberto Figueroa was also teasing a TV taping in Monterrey soon but who knows with that guy.

Konnan’s podcast includes a discussion of TripleMania. The headline is definitely finding out AAA didn’t decide the finish to Adonis/Psycho vs Park/Rush until during show (“two matches before”), which Konnan tells in explaining why the finish and the match they were setting up didn’t get communicated until then. It’s unclear if that meant the finish changed or if they just didn’t have one until then. I can only guess why something so important was set so late. I’m sure it must happen in other places – like recent-era WWE – but hearing it said out loud in relation to AAA. Konnan also wasn’t clear how the TripleMania Mexico City final would work. It sounded like he was told the plan was for two singles match and a final, and knows that’s not happening only because he doesn’t seen it on the card. He hoped to get the scenario from Dorian Roldan by next week’s podcast. It has seemed like the whole tournament has been a Roldan-driven project.

Konnan’s generally very positive on TripleMania Tijuana. He believes the dark match opener wasn’t as good as those guys usually do, and wanted Vampiro and Pagano to show more aggression at each other given the angle going into it, but otherwise thought the negative internet criticism for the show was overblown and invalid. He says he talked to “25 people” right after TripleMania who are always honest with him and all 25 said they loved the show. He feels he’s booking towards the Mexican audience, knows the Tijuana fanbase better than anyone, and is giving them exactly what they want. He pushed back about criticism of too many run-ins, saying “how many run-ins are too many?” He also said that not every feud belongs on a TripleMania, they’ve got to put on people that are going to draw, and they will get to those other matches on other shows.

I feel like AEW has too many run-ins too. A big difference between AAA and AEW is that viewers tend to know where those run-ins are going in AEW; a graphic will pop up later announcing a match that follows up on the run-in. CMLL doesn’t promote that way, but it’s safe to assume that any angle is going to be followed up on an upcoming show if only because they have so many shows. If AAA followed the Komander/Arez versus La Rebelion bit with an announcement that the match would be happening in September in San Luis Potosi (or wherever), people might be disappointed with the wait but they’d be at least content there was a real endpoint. AAA’s instead asking fans to trust that they’ll get to those matches, when they’re broken the trust by not delivering on those matches (and then not bothering to write a way out of them, like never having Puma King address not getting his title match.) Every run-in is like asking to borrow $20 from a friend with the promise of paying it back later, and AAA’s deeply in the hole.

(This is a galaxy brain aside but the real AAA problem is not having enough TV. More hours of TV – be it longer telecasts or a second show – would give more room to pay off more angles or build up wrestlers. There’s room for arguments about if AAA is using their current TV effectively, but some of the issues would be fixed almost by default if AAA had more content. Flammer & Abismo Negro wouldn’t go half a year without defending the mixed tag team belts because AAA would eventually have to book that match just to fill up space. Some of the most “internet liked” AAA content prior to the pandemic was the ‘extra’ AAA tournament shows, because they were just people out there having matches, and those deals haven’t come together of late. I’m sure there a plan somewhere in AAA’s offices to bring back Fussion or whatever and I’m sure there’s a reason it hasn’t been done. AAA seems to operate in that they’re not going to make additional content unless they’ve got someone already agreed to pay for it in advance, and I hope they can find someone who will pay for some extra TV.)

Konnan argued Verano de Escandalo was booked in the style of “Mexican Wrestling”. Others would argue “Mexican wrestling” is the style CMLL provides, which is markedly different than what AAA does. My opinion is “Mexican wrestling” is not just one style, it’s whatever works and draws people in. (An AAA show with maybe three less run-ins might work as well, but we will never know.) What AAA does is Konnan’s style of wrestling, he’s just been doing it so long that it’s AAA style. The argument that they’ve got to put people in position who are going to draw falls flat when AAA’s running Vikingo/Cartwheel/Bailey/Daga and Pentagon/QT/Cage/Dralistico matches on TripleMania. There are some draws in there, and there are some people who don’t mean much in with them. To draw a line under it, last week Konnan was doing interviews saying AAA is competing with Impact, AEW, ROH, WWE, and this week he’s saying they’re doing a Mexican wrestling show only for Mexican audiences. I think he’s correct this week.

The podcast description also mentioned an AAA/Marvel question in the mailbag, but I couldn’t find it skipping around and it’s not important enough to track down any further. Sorry.

Larry Dallas is on the Fight Game podcast talking about TripleMania and his career as an announcer. I liked the interview.

El Tiempo MX has an interview with Flammer.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 07/23/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Centurion & Mr. Mike b Baby Star Jr. & Billy Jones 
2) Leo Cristiani, León Dorado, Mr. Leo b Fussion, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly 
3) Dr. Cerebro & Dr. Cerebro Jr. b Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. [super libre] 
The Doctors will finally get their title shot (and it’s been stretched out this long because IWRG has a Carvana de Campeones show coming up)
4) Hijo del Fishman & Shocko DQ Hell Boy & Puma de Oro 
5) Laredo Kid b Tonalli 
Tonalli fouled Laredo Kid to win, then proclaimed a win is a win no matter how it happened.
6) Dr. Wagner Jr. & Hijo del Pirata Morgan DQ Capo Mayor & Ivan Rokov  
Wagner cheated to beat Capo Mayor, faking a foul

The Mas Lucha chat seemed to dislike Rokov but I thought he was fine for what he was meant to be – someone who hits hard and may or may not have any idea of what he’s doing. Hijo del Pirata and Canis Lupus hit very hard and that’s what they want out of that inevitable match. I do stand with the Mas Lucha chat that Capo Mayor is terrible. He was doing the out-of-shape guy thing of wearing a vest to cover up his gut, but the vest was being stretched very far by his gut and it only made him look worse.

Laredo Kid/Tonalli was a fun enough B-show match until they blew a poison rana (at least I think that was the idea) and then got into the IWRG finish of it all. I do like the indie wrestling of it all that somehow Laredo Kid was willing to take a low blow and pinned but they couldn’t get a finish out of Tonalli and Hell Boy a few days earlier.

IWRG (TUE) 07/25/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Cosmic & Nubilus vs Sumed Black & Último Caballero
2) Danessa & Hatanna vs Amazona & Kali
3) Aqueo, Balak, Cheff Benito vs Rey Gato, Skanda, Súper Cometa
4) Águila Oriental, Ajolotol, Arceus vs Carnicero, Milagro, Thunder Storm
5) Águila Roja, Baby Star, Fussion, Kenji, Legado, Rey Astaroth, Spider Fly, Súper Boy vs Blue Win, Chaflan, Charifas, Kuukai, Nishikawa, Rey Espartano, Ryu, Shere Khan [Copa Higher Power]

This is a Gym FILL vs Gym Hercules rematch. Are Kuuaki and Nishikawa really training with the Lion Brothers or did people just get assigned to teams? We will know the real answer if Mr. Leo starts getting Dragon Gate tours in a couple of years.

Thursday’s show is the Mas Lucha Anniversary

Mas Lucha (THU) 07/27/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Chaflan & Charifas vs Fussion & Rey Eclipse
2) Princesa Águila & Sakura © vs Mary Caporal & Reina Obscura and Bengalee & Zuzu Divine [LLM TAG]
3) Mariachi & Rey Pantera Jr. vs Hip Hop Man & Maradó
4) Yorvak © vs Chris Stone Jr., Kauris [GDL HEAVY]
5) Baby Camaleón, Camaleón Jr., El Camaleón vs León Dorado, Mr. Leo, Último Legendario
6) Groon XXX & Psycho Clown vs El Elemental & Sam Adonis

This is a grab bag from various friendly promotions and ideas. Elemental/Groon was a match on a previous Mas Lucha show. Semimain follows up on the Ruleta de la Muerte. Mariachi & Rey Pantera Jr. are from Xalapa’s Lucha Libre Radioactivo promotion, which helped with that tournament. I don’t know if LLM (Lucha Libre Magazine) is actually publishing magazines but they do like to help women’s matches. Chaflan and Carifas are gimmicks that got over on a past IWRG FILL show. Nothing on this show appeals to me but maybe it’s a cool jam show if you’re into everything on Mas Lucha.

Other

The WWE shows in Mexico City and Monterrey seem like a big success; WWE said they broke the gate record for any event held in that venue, and drew the most amount of fans since WWE was back on Televisa and TV Azteca. (WWE claims it was the highest attended event in Arena Ciudad de Mexico as well, and that seems dubious – WWE cuts off a 20-25% of the building for a stage, AAA has a much smaller stage and has filled that building in the past. But AAA also doesn’t publish numbers so who knows.) WWE charges – and has always charged for Mexico City events – a significantly higher top end price than AAA does in Arena Ciudad de Mexico. It’s more than CMLL charges for Aniversario tickets as well. They weren’t able to get people to pay the last couple of years, they had no problem doing so this year. (I think the low end of the tickets were a little bit cheaper this year than past, but I haven’t been tracking it.) A constant refrain from Mexican wrestling fans is that the cost of tickets is too high and it keeps fans away. That didn’t seem to be a problem for these WWE shows.

There’s a push from Mexican WWE wrestlers (Cruz del Toro, Santos Escobar) to now have a WWE PLE (PPV) in Mexico following this success. They were part of the success WWE had in Puerto Rico earlier this year and want thhe same in Mexico City. Puerto Rico’s government paid a fee to bring WWE in for that show. That is increasingly common for WWE’s big events, especially PPVs. I’m uncertain how willing Mexico City would be to pay a foreign wrestling promotion to come in to run shows on Friday and Saturday nights; there’s a chance that could become a big thing. Monterrey might work better, though I have no idea if they’d be willing to pay either.

ESTO has about eight different stories on the WWE event and stuff around it; here’s the recap of the matches. ESTO recapped some Alberto podcast interviews just to have more WWE-related stuff. (New bits include claiming he heroically beat up Gran Khali and that his WWE return was going to come on the Mexico City/Monterrey shows last year but Vince was out of power. Alberto is an unreliable narrator.)

The big WWE attendance doesn’t seem to have affected other shows; Arena Lopez Mateos looked around full for a show built around Blue Demon versus DMT Azul. Arena Neza, also on Saturday, seemed to draw in the normal range.

If you thought stories about Shocker being in rehab due to a massive drug problem would stop promoters from using him, Shocker is promoting his appearance on a September Robles show in Monterrey.

Vix, late last year, published a series called “Cenizas de la Gloria” (Ashes of Glory), profiling famous or semi-famous Mexicans who turned to the crime. It must’ve not gotten much attention at the time among wrestling people because I just noticed it being talked about today and didn’t know about it earlier. There’s an episode on serial killer “Juana Barraza” (Mataviejitas), the same story that gets retold because she was a low level wrestler. The episode before it is on a luchador who actually a Monterrey indie name, Voltaje Negro. In his other life, he was also a member of a cartel and tried to rob a casino. It did not go well; 42 people died in a fire. That’s a story that needs to be retold more.

Debate has an interview with Sinaloa wrestler/promoter Cahucy Rubio.