CMLL
CMLL (FRI) 08/04/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores (text), The Gladiatores (videos), thecubsfan]
1) Brillante Jr., Futuro, Max Star b Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Vegas 
12:15.
2) La Magnifica, Lluvia, Skadi b Amapola, Hera, Zeuxis
11:14
3) Magnus b Difunto [lightning]
7:49.
4) Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
14:20. No immediate trios challenge.
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible, Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Star Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
13:57. Volador and Angel de Oro feuded a bit but didn’t figure into the finish.
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Atlantis Jr., Místico, Soberano Jr.
11:14. Straight falls, Stuka & Gran Guerrero sneaking in a foul on Soberano. Tecnicos demanded a rematch next week.
Not a strong show but generally watchable. Villanos and Zandokan remained really fun and had good opposition; that was easily the match of the night. CMLL usually runs something special as a semi-main for the Gran Prix, and the main event pointed towards that being Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr. versus Gran Guerrero & Stuka. That requires two straight weeks of Soberano and Ultimo Guerrero not touching in the main event, but they’ve gotten good about hiding it.
CMLL (SAT) 08/05/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Mije & Perico
2) Cachorro, Diamond, Eléctrico b Dr. Karonte I, Futuro, Raider
Futuro replaced Dr. Karonte II
3) Amapola & La Vaquerita b Maligna & Tiffany [Relevos Increíbles]
4) El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
Ola Negra fouled Maya in the first fall, Audaz DQed in the second for touching referee Olimpico, Maya won the third clean.
5) Esfinge © b Misterioso Jr. [MEX LH]
first defense
6) Stuka Jr., Templario, Volador Jr. DQ Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja
Angel de Oro foul to Volador, Dragon Rojo unmasked Templario.
Misterioso doesn’t win but losing enough weight to challenge is the victory.
CMLL (SUN) 08/06/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito b Galaxy & Kaligua
2) Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. b Apocalipsis, Disturbio, Sangre Imperial
Bala/Imperial continue to feud
3) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Crixus, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Fugaz b Rugido [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Máscara Dorada b Euforia, Mephisto, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
Nothing much notable here.
NJPW announced Fugaz for the 08/19 All Star Junior Festival. If he’s on, he’ll turn heads. That show is 12 days away, and I’m slightly concerned they’ll still be announcing people after the show takes place.
Blue Panther is off Tuesday’s Arena Coliseo Guadalajara show. He was previously announced as wrestling in Piedras Negras as part of a northern tour with other names. (Satanico is on those shows, you think the Guadalajara people would’ve known.) Canalla was removed from the Cavernario side to make it a trios.
CMLL (TUE) 08/08/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Eléctrico, Max Star, Valiente Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Inquisidor
3) Skadi vs Zeuxis [lightning]
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Atlantis, Star Jr., Valiente vs Hijo del Villano III, Niebla Roja, Villano III Jr.
6) Hechicero, Máscara Dorada, Titán vs Averno, Soberano Jr., Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
Again, no idea why the main event teams are split up this way. Maybe Hechicero and Averno can’t team? Max Star versus the Karontes could be dangerous.
CMLL (FRI) 08/11/2023 Arena México
1) Futuro & Neón vs Raider & Sangre Imperial
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs El Coyote, Kráneo, Okumura
3) Esfinge vs Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
4) Adrian Quest, Baliyan Akki, Francesco Akira, Samuray del Sol vs Ángel de Oro, Euforia, Mephisto, Niebla Roja
5) Virus & Volador Jr. vs Rocky Romero & TJP
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
The semi-main will be the first time those four will be in the same ring since the 70th Anniversary show. Virus, Volador and Ricky Marvin versus Rocky Romero, Pinoy Boy (TJP) and Bobby Quance or Ricky Reyes was the hot midcard feud of 2003, something fondly remembered by fans of that time twenty years later. I’ve been hoping we’d get that match since Rocky Romero started showing back up here, and it’s actually happening.
Samuray del Sol’s thing in the US was he was out of most people’s price range, so I’m surprised to see him working here more than just the Gran Prix. It might be a bucket list thing for him.
The main event is the rematch from last week. Raider against those tecnicos could be really good in the opener.
Metalik announced Saturday that he would not be returning to CMLL. He said he and CMLL could not come an agreement on a deal. Metalik announced this shortly after appearing on AEW TV, which suggests they may have come to their terms. Metalik coming back to CMLL once after his WWE run was useful for closure and for helping to get fans to accept the new Mascara Dorada. (It may be related that CMLL’s dropped the “2.0” from the new Mascara Dorada’s name after the original has gone.) A return visit didn’t seem necessary; 2023 Metalik just does not do enough in the ring to make himself valuable. It’s not even that CMLL has a new group of high flyers; Metalik also just isn’t going ever be the same guy who left CMLL, due to age and a belief in a more-WWE way of doing things. Metalik will be missed because he was an important part of a lot of great matches, but CMLL will also be fine without him.
Metalik’s wise to look for other options if he has them. I believe the Lucha House Party may be taking dates together belatedly; they’re hinting at it on Twitter. Officially breaking his ties with CMLL will free him of restrictions of working with AAA people, and that may be necessary going forward and particularly for signing an AAA/ROH deal.
A reminder: the CMLL Aniversario card will be out Wednesday evening (and I’ll post sometime after.)
AAA
Not a lot to say about the rest of Verano de Escandalo. Dalys had a bad night and Negro Casas and Nicho messed up something before the finish, but the other two matches were fine. Maybe even the Laredo Kid/Latigo match was good and just didn’t get into it. The show was full of promos of guys talking about how they really want to settle things with their rivals, which would make sense but doesn’t amount to much. No one said when they’d actually get that match because no one knows.
The show was full of AAA weirdness too. The sound and video was off in the opener. The second match listed Belecgor on one of the teams in Latigo’s place. A Konnan/Antifaz segment cut from one version of the promo to another every time someone spoke bizarrely as if they couldn’t get the audio working for both guys at one time. That segment seemingly advanced nothing, and I’m not sure why something that looked that terrible was included on the final cut. Again, it’s clear no one in AAA who the power to make changes actually watches their television show.
On his podcast, Konnan says the rules to the TripleMania main event are simply the normal rules to every other AAA four-way: no DQ, first pin decides the winner and loser. It’s better than a cage. No idea when AAA will announce this.
IWRG
IWRG (SUN) 08/06/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Spider Fly © b Gannicus [IWRG IC Light] 
4th defense
2) Puma de Oro © b Shocko [IWRG IC MIDDLE]
3rd defense
3) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. © b Dr. Cerebro & Dr. Cerebro Jr. [IWRG IC TAG]
2nd defense
4) Tonalli b Rey León © [RGR MIDDLE]
Rey Leon falls on his 2nd defense. Tonalli is now a double champ.
5) Hell Boy © b Rey Espectro [IWRG MEXICO]
3rd defense
6) Hijo del Fishman b Hijo De Dos Caras [IWRG JUNIORS]
2nd defense
7) Hijo de Canis Lupus b Ivan Rokov © [RGR HEAVY]
1st defense
It sounds like the Cerebros tag match was worth watching (and is on the free part of the show.)
IWRG , LLB (THU) 08/24/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Gravedad Cero vs Hijo De Sparta, Príncipe Centauro, Ryu, Sparta, Latino, Águila Oriental, Rey Espartano
2) Macho I, Macho II, Macho III vs Arturo Gaona, Demencia, Reptil
3) Belial, Fandango, Hijo De Carta Brava vs Fly Star, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly
4) Lunatik Extreme vs Ovett Jr., Súper Boy Jr.
5) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba vs Alas De Plata, Ángel Del Amor, Carta Brava Jr. (LLB)
6) Hell Boy, Puma de Oro, Tonalli vs Judas el Traidor, Sádico, Terry 2000
7) Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Fantasma de la Ópera, Joe Lider, Sádika
8) Cibernético & Dr. Wagner Jr. vs DMT Azul & Pirata Morgan
The usual Lucha Libre Boom style show in Arena Naucalpan.
Big Lucha
A day late, Big Lucha posted the first part of their latest show. This included the title match, the faction must split match, and two undercard matches.
The four-way team match had some good action but was too chaotic to really get into. Teams would disappear for so long that I thought they were eliminated. The wrestlers and the announcers sold the Guns/BG as this big end of the feud but I think the fans thought it was just a big twist that’ll be undone later.
Emperador Azteca/Negro Casas was better than I thought it would be. It was a lot of just standing and hitting, and that was enough to get emotion and work around any limitations. Casas looked better here than on AAA TV.
The post-match seemed to establish Black Generation as the home army; they’re the bad guys but they’re Big Lucha’s bad guys. Big Lucha fans reacted very positively to the idea of CMLL wrestlers coming in. The video itself teased people like Mascara Dorada and Volador but I’m sure if that’s who is actually coming – Dr. Landru heard Big Lucha would have Black Generation versus Los Infernales and the full card will be announced Thursday.
If I had not been told Bandido was gone, I’m not sure I would’ve put it together. There were clues if you were looking there – he was almost totally removed from the opening video, the announcers avoided mentioning him at all in association with the Golden Guns – but they kept the breakup quiet. It’s not been a story at all in Mexico. Bandido hasn’t said anything, and it won’t be something people notice until he starts wrestling again.
Big Lucha appeared to be filming a documentary.
ADN Radio’s “Ring a Tu Madre” had Eduardo Gonzalez, billed as the CEO of Big Lucha, as a guest on a recent show. Poli Carrillo, one of the Big Lucha announcers, was also on the show. Gonzalez been an on-screen authority figure and I believe is the person who actually owns the promotion. He talked about a few different subjects, including working out the deal to get CMLL wrestlers on to the upcoming show. ADN is an Azteca owned station, so the hosts remarked that even they can’t have CMLL wrestlers on the show and were impressed Big Lucha found a way. Gonzalez sounds like he dealt directly with the Lutteroth’s, he feared CMLL might have a problem with sending their wrestlers to another show in Mexico City on a Saturday night, but CMLL had no problem with that. He was later asked if this meant Big Lucha wrestlers would go to CMLL; Big Lucha is open to that but there’s no agreement that way.
Gonzalez’s (heavily storyline) explanation for the end of the Golden Guns is they just weren’t around much to be a group and they were in the shadow of Black Generation anyway. Bandido and Gravity are busy in the US, Galeno del Mal in Japan, and it was asking too much for Potro to lead a unit himself. Please ignore that Black Generacion is also in Japan a lot.
I’ve not gotten a good explanation of the creative differences between Gonzalez and Bandido that led to the split. There is a point in the podcast where the hosts bring up ROH wrestlers come to Big Lucha early on. Gonzalez is down on the idea, saying they didn’t understand how to work for Mexican fans and those fans didn’t see them as an attraction. He’d rather book Fresero Jr., and then points to the camera and says he is booking Fresero Jr. coming up. It likely is the smarter economic move to book Fresero Jr., but that also seems like a pretty different Big Lucha than the idea was at the start.
Other News
The 08/04 debut show of Aztec Wrestling in Auditorio de Tijuana was canceled hours beforehand. That’s usually a money issue.
Segunda Caida reviews some of the new 1992 Monterrey lucha libre.
Site Note
I started moving this site to a new hosting company on Sunday. There’s apparently no good way to do it outside of FTP-ing everything down from here and up to the new site, and that’s taken more than a day. This site will stop working for a while at some point this week. The luchawiki and luchadb will also go down, as their database will move. I’m not really sure the best time to do it; I’m not sure how long they’ll be down. I’ll try to let you know when I know.