CMLL
Tonight’s show…
CMLL (FRI) 08/04/2023 Arena México
1) Brillante Jr., Futuro, Max Star vs Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Vegas
2) La Magnifica, Lluvia, Skadi vs Amapola, Hera, Zeuxis
3) Magnus vs Difunto [lightning]
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Star Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
…is just a show. Maybe the fourth match sets up a trios title match and the Angel de Oro/Volador feud continues in the semimain, but it feels like a lower important show after the last few. That’s fine, they all and shouldn’t have the volume at ten, and matches should turn up fun anyway. It’s also one you might feel safe skipping if you’re buying this on PPV. Ticket seem to be moving well enough.
CMLL also has the PPV links to buy the Gran Prix (in pesos and dollars). It is the same elevated price strategy CMLL was using for big shows on TicketmasterLive, but it looks like they may be a dollar or so cheaper before fees.
CMLL (SAT) 08/05/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Mije & Perico
2) Cachorro, Diamond, Eléctrico vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Raider
3) Amapola & La Vaquerita vs Maligna & Tiffany [Relevos Increíbles]
4) El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Esfinge © vs Misterioso Jr. [MEX LH]
first defense
6) Stuka Jr., Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja
Usual feuds in the main event. Misterioso talked about reawakening his love of wrestling thanks to his family and losing a lot of weight, hence qualifying for a light heavyweight title match.
CMLL (SUN) 08/06/2023 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito vs Galaxy & Kaligua
2) Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Disturbio, Sangre Imperial
3) Crixus, Okumura, Pólvora vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
4) Fugaz vs Rugido [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Máscara Dorada vs Euforia, Mephisto, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
CMLL has started listing the wrestler as “Mascara Dorada” without the “2.0”. They still call him “2.0” on commentary so far. Maybe they’re going to quietly drop it now that people have seen Dorada 2.0 and Metalik in the same place at the same time enough to understand they’re different people?
CMLL (MON) 08/07/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Astro, Asturiano, El Novato vs Dreyko, Espíritu Maligno, Fénix SO
2) Amnesia, Diamond, Millenium vs Hijo del Perverso, Inquisidor, Nitro
3) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Audaz vs Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
4) Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Máscara Dorada vs Ángel de Oro, Baliyan Akki, Templario [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Místico vs Soberano Jr.
Akki appears to be starting well before the Gran Prix.
Informa had Miguel Linares doing voice over for Puebals highlights. They could probably do that with whole matches and put them up on YouTube should they care to do so.
CMLL (TUE) 08/08/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Cosmos, Lince Del Bajio vs Destello, Destructor, Relámpago Azul
2) Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol vs Atenea, Nexy, Valkiria
3) Johnny Dinamo vs Halcón Suriano Jr. [super libre]
4) Ángel Rebelde, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr. vs Crixus, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Cachorro, Dark Panther vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel
6) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Místico vs Baliyan Akki, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Semi-main is family vs family.
Guadalajara is doing a wrestler-by-wrestler rollout for the participants in their version of the Gran Prix. The notable thing so far is a confirmation it won’t be the exact same wrestlers working the Mexico City Gran Prix, because Dark Magic and local Bestia Negra were the first two announced.
CMLL Informa snuck in two important news bits. Julio Cesar Rivera mentioned “all the details” about the Aniversaro show would be revealed next week during the same show. That means all the matches and the mechanism CMLL has planned for the main event. (It also means I’ll hold off posting an update on Wednesday until after those announcements.) This announcement came during the Mascara Dorada 2.0 segment, and there was a tease of Rocky Romero/Mascara Dorada happening on the Aniversario, as well as other international names appearing. Tickets are about 80% sold out on the Ticketmaster map, and these announcements may finish those off.
The bigger surprise closed the show: CMLL and RevPro will hold FantasticaMania UK on September 23th in Manchester. You can sign up for ticket info at cmlluk.com, a real URL I’m not making up. CMLL wrestlers have appeared on RevPro shows and in Europe in general prior, but this is the first CMLL-branded show to take place in that part of the world that I know of. This show is part of the entertainment at a taco festival; lucha libre wrestling fits, but it’s still notable RevPro reached out to CMLL rather than just look for independent guys.
No wrestlers are announced yet for FantasticaMania UK, no number of wrestlers are announced. FantasticaMania Mexico was Rocky, Titan, and four wrestlers from Japan (and DOUKI ended as a bonus), so that could be a starting point. That was a week of FantasticaMania shows and this is just one, so maybe keep expectations grounded.
RevPro shows go up on their on-demand service ($9.50 USD a month) after a short delay and it’s safe to assume this show will be the same. This show, or at least the relevant Mexican matches, really should go up on CMLL’s on-demand service too if they’re serious about it. I’d be happily surprised if that did happen.
There will be FantasticaManias in Japan, Mexico, and the UK this year. No US one. The obvious partner in the US is the NJPW Strong shows, but the problem there is they’re running less often, and they seem to be running bigger venues. They’re also running the All Star Junior Festival in August, so it might be a while before NJPW Strong wants to run another themed show. Maybe something gets put together for later in the year, because I guess I can’t rule out anything after the UK show got announced.
One point brought up a lot in the wake of “FantasticaManiaUK” is AAA talks quite a bit about how they have plans go to various countries, and CMLL is the one that actually is going places this year. There is more nuance to it. CMLL tends to work with established groups doing relatively smaller-scale projects. The 2019 CMLL/ROH collaboration did not appear to work out, but it was an aim for buildings with less than a thousand people. AAA always wants to go big; they seem to need to see attendances of multiple thousands, or they’re not going to bother. That also leads to AAA working with promoters who don’t have as much wrestling experience or knowledge; anyone who can draw in thousands of wrestling fans (WWE, AEW) doesn’t need to split that with AAA. It would probably better for AAA’s brand to have some of smaller wins, to build up a track record before they go for the big show, but they’re all or nothing.
(I’m not even certain where those smaller wins would come from for AAA though. It seems a natural match to have an Impact/AAA co-promoted show in the US, similar to the Impact/NJPW ones. Both Impact and AAA talk about their great relationship. We just don’t see it in practice much. That spot to bring in a big name luchador for the Cicero show has gone to guys with US history like Bandido, Rey Horus and Samuray del Sol – either they haven’t seen the value in AAA names like Psycho Clown or Pagano, or that relationship isn’t what it seems.)
Futuro says he was a “multi-medalist” amateur wrestling as a youth.
Blue Panther Jr.‘s goal now that he’s back is not to worry about being the champion or the #1 wrestler, but just be a memorable wrestler.
Mundo Deportivo has an interview with Terrible.
AAA
AAA on Space has the missing matches from Verano de Escandalo
- Las Shotas vs Dinamico, Kamik-C, Skalibur
- Jack Cartwheel, Laredo Kid, Willie Mack vs Antifaz del Norte, Latigo, Toscano
- Dalys, Drago, Negro Casas vs La Hiedra, Nicho el Millonario, and Puma King
It’s been so quiet with AAA for the last couple of weeks that it feels like there’s no buzz at all for this TripleMania. It should and will pick up next week – Konnan doing more podcasts will give something to talk about. Still, it’s very quiet. I’m not sure that’s reflected in ticket sales – they seem to be doing about normal based on the Superboletos ticket map – so AAA probably isn’t too concerned. It’s worth noting how low it is because AAA deserves some credit if they can ramp it up in one week.
It is eight days away, and we don’t know what the rules are for the TripleMania main event. AAA loves announcing these things at press conferences so it’s probably coming next week, and it might be revealed on Konnan’s podcast this weekend.
IWRG
IWRG (THU) 08/03/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Ryu b Latino 
2) Centvrión & Rey Aztaroth b Rey Espartano & Súper Boy
3) Máscara Sagrada Jr., Noisy Boy, Spider Fly b La Estrella, Nishikawa, Rey Halcón
4) Ivan Rokov & Tonalli b Hell Boy & Puma de Oro
5) Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
challenges followed, with Las Shotas getting involved.
The lights were turned low but it looked like there was actually a good sized crowd here for a Thursday. The Pigs are an indie draw.
IWRG says they’ll have their Independence show on 09/17.
Other News
Big Lucha hyped all week that their new show was going to go up on YouTube on Thursday at 8 pm. They seemed to be teasing that it’d actually just be the first half of the show, but OK that’s something at least. Thursday at 8 pm came and went, nothing got posted, no explanation was offered. A couple of hours later, Big Lucha put up the opening “dark match” from the show on Instagram and Facebook, but not YouTube. I have no idea.
Hijo del Santo made a rare wrestling appearance in Arena Olimpico Laguna last night, teaming with Bendito against usual rival Hijo de Fishman and Torneo de Escuelas alumn Rey Insolito. The video is here. The building looks to be a complete sell-out.
Box y Lucha is offering a set of 8 digital magazines from 1956. It’s the same price they’ve been charging for 12 of the 70s/80s, but you’re not going to find 1956 magazines anywhere else.
Racket MN has a profile of Minneapolis’ Rudos Promotions.