full CMLL Aniversario card includes a mask and a hair match, Copa Independencia, AAA Showcenter TV

Aniversario

CMLL announced the full lineup on (one of the longest ever episodes of) Informa

CMLL (SAT) 09/16/2023 Arena México
1) ? vs ?? [Copa Independencia]
2) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis [CMLL WOMEN TAG]
new championships
3) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón vs Fuerza Guerrera, Satánico, Virus
4) Soberano Jr. & Titán vs Lince Dorado & Samuray del Sol
5) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Kevin Knight, Rocky Romero, TJP
6) Ángel de Oro & Volador Jr. vs Averno & Último Guerrero [winners advance]
7) ? vs ?? [hair]
8) Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr. [mask]

It’s not bad. I thought there was no way CMLL was doing all three apuesta matches. Getting two of them and getting them in straight forward fashion is a lot better than one. The outcomes are not in much doubt – Dragon Rojo’s seems certain to lose his mask, and Averno’s likely to lose his hair – but the matches should be great in that atmosphere.

Metalik quitting right as the rest of the Lucha House Party is coming in for an Aniversario match can not be a coincidence. In the place of whatever that was going to be, there are now two matches and Kevin Knight making his CMLL debut. Both should be good, I’d rather one of them got pushed off to get more regular rudos onto the card. Lince Dorado and Samuray del Sol will be fine, I’d rather have gotten to see Barbaro Cavernario and Hechicero and I think the card would’ve done just as well with either team.

Legend’s match is a legend’s match; maybe we’ll get another Octagon/Fuerza challenge once again.

The new women’s tag titles debuting here explains why CMLL was holding off on running that tag match for so long. I believe CMLL should’ve just made world women’s tag titles when they came up with this idea, glad they’re getting to it eventually. The winner of this match will vacate the other tag titles: Lluvia & Jarochita would give up the Mexican National Trios Titles, Zeuxis & Stephanie Vaquer will relinquish the Occidente Tag Team championships if they win.

The Copa Independencia returns as the opener, with blocks on 09/01 and 09/08 and a final on 09/16. Making it the opener is unexpected and might mean it’s a younger wrestler.

The legend’s match will probably not be good. Everything else should be good, and some should be much better than that. It doesn’t seem like it’ll challenge the best CMLL shows of years in terms of match quality, but it feels like an Aniversario show with the important stuff. It’s solid.

Other CMLL News

CMLL (MON) 08/07/2023 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Grada, Porra Fresa]
1) Astro, Asturiano, El Novato b Dreyko, Espíritu Maligno, Fénix SO
2) Hijo del Perverso, Inquisidor, Nitro b Amnesia, Diamond, Millenium
3) Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Audaz 
Hijo del Villano III snuck in a foul on Blue Panther Jr.
4) Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Máscara Dorada b Ángel de Oro, Baliyan Akki, Templario [Relevos Increíbles] 
5) Místico DQ Soberano Jr. 
Soberano fouled Mistico, wants a title match despite the loss

CMLL will get it’s own version of the Gran Prix next Monday, and that main event seemed to be setting up a title match.

CMLL (TUE) 08/08/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito b Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía 
2) Eléctrico, Max Star, Valiente Jr. b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Inquisidor 
3) Zeuxis b Skadi [lightning] 
8:10
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. 
5) Atlantis, Star Jr., Valiente b Hijo del Villano III, Niebla Roja, Villano III Jr. 
6) Hechicero, Máscara Dorada, Titán b Averno, Soberano Jr., Terrible [Relevos Increíbles] 

There were streaming issues on this show. Guadalajara had issues too, so it might have been a bigger YouTube issuer. The sound and video gets out of sync and doesn’t get fixed until the main event. The show itself was alright for a Tuesday show but I didn’t get much out of it.

CMLL (TUE) 08/08/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Cosmos, Lince Del Bajio b Destello, Destructor, Relámpago Azul
2) Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol b Atenea, Nexy, Valkiria
3) Halcón Suriano Jr. b Johnny Dinamo [super libre]
4) Crixus, Difunto, Zandokan Jr. b Ángel Rebelde, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr.
Crixus and Halcon Negro still feuding.
5) Blue Panther Jr., Cachorro, Dark Panther b Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel
Canalla and Blue Panther dropped from the lineup on Sunday.
6) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Místico b Baliyan Akki, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Also just a normal show. The YouTube version is in eight pieces and incomplete, and the Facebook is not a lot better. I give them credit, I would have quit a lot quicker than on the eighth try streaming a show.

CMLL (SAT) 08/12/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Grako & Retro vs Bengala & Príncipe Odín Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Amapola, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita vs Hera, La Maligna, Olympia [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr., Volcano vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
4) Pólvora vs Rey Bucanero [lightning]
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Terrible vs Adrian Quest, Baliyan Akki, Francesco Akira
6) Máscara Dorada, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Rocky Romero, Samuray del Sol, TJP

There are going to be a lot of shows over the next week where I’m going to look at the lineup and wish they’d stream at least part of it because of the unusual names, like the main event here. We’ll probably get at least one of them.

CMLL (SUN) 08/13/2023 Arena México
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Minos & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Leono vs Enfermero Jr. [lightning]
3) Astral & Oro Jr. vs Omar Brunetti & Vaquero Jr.
4) Fugaz, Star Black, Valiente vs Felino, Felino Jr., Misterioso Jr.
5) Adrian Quest, Baliyan Akki, Samuray del Sol vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Soberano Jr., Templario, Titán vs Francesco Akira, Rocky Romero, TJP

Again, main event looks fun. Omar Brunetti is back.

Noches de Campeones will take place 09/29. That’s been “fans pick the challengers” in previous years.

The CMLL bodybuilding contest returns on November 29th, and got a whole segment about it. This previously seemed as Paco Alonso’s favorite bit, one of the rare times he’d be seen around a CMLL show in his last years, and it seemed like maybe it would be dropped after he passed away. Salvador Lutteroth III was part of the bodybuilding segment here, so it’s probably here for good. I did not give this segment my full attention, but bodybuilding federation officials appeared to talk about how they’d be working with the luchadors in monthly sessions for the rest of the year. There will be men’s and women’s winners; JCR mentioned three or four women have indicated they’ll participate.

El Sol de Puebla has an interview with Rey Apocalipsis, mostly about his other life as a butcher. He says he came to Arena Puebla under the Apocalipsis name he used in Xalapa, but that wouldn’t work because CMLL already had one. He came up with “Rey Apocalipsis” and Benjamin Mora congratulated him for the idea. The creativity is underwhelming.

CMLL Informa had a long segment with Templario with no news at all, just talking about how much he liked being part of CMLL and how it helped him. This is where the YouTube chat was helpful: the unexplained subtext was that viral Tiktok declared that Templario was heading to WWE. There was nothing to that story, but CMLL still needed him to express his commitment to them. The funny thing is people thinking Templario was headed to CMLL would give more doubt to the Aniversario match, but it was more important for CMLL to shoot down the rumor.

AAA

AAA pointed out their 08/20 Showcenter card is now a TV taping. It looks like it was actually changed to a TV taping back on 07/24, and I missed it. AAA added a Sexy Star vs Centella vs Lady Maravilla match to the lineup, which makes six matches and probably two weeks of TV.  Everywhere else uses TV time as a precious commodity to get over talent and angles, and AAA is trying to get it as cheaply and ineffectively as possible. I’m sure Space lovers them for the TripleManias and for the other live shows they’re going to do, and the other stuff just doesn’t matter at all. Making it a TV taping should sell a few more tickets to the Showcenter, but also that seemed to be the point of booking Alberto to appear.

AAA had a media day on Tuesday. If they announced the rules for the main event, no one felt it was important enough to report yet. Sam Adonis appears to have been the only guy in the top three matches in attendance; many people are discussing how important it is to win the Copa and imagining more interesting matches they could have the rest of this year.

Negro Casas did have something to say: he felt he was disrespected by CMLL, to the point that the only way he’d be part of a Friday show is being Dalys’ ride to the arena. Casas told the CMLL programmers to use him either as a rudo or tecnico if it’d get him booked more and still could not get on to those shows. He still seems to hold bitterness to CMLL out of how his run ended, though he exempts Salvador Lutteroth III from it – Lutteroth was there for the family after Black Warrior Jr. passed away. Casas talks about his exit from LLI/UWA – crying to Carlos Maynes to ask to be let go, because EMLL was offering him so much more and LLI was going down – as an example of why it’s better to move to different places like he’s done now with AAA.

Casas left CMLL in January 17th. He worked on the December 30th and December 23rd shows, which are always impacted by holiday absences. The previous Friday he worked was November 11th, and before that the September 16th Aniversario. Part of CMLL’s turnaround has been focusing on a smaller group of people more often on Friday, and Casas was outside that group.

Mas Lucha has an interview with Dralistico, who talked up Rush’s match and Dragon Lee’s match and didn’t mention anyone he was facing (though he did acknowledge he had a match.) Octagon Jr. is going with Villano III Jr. got scared of him, and ran away.

An actual Taya promo for the title match!

AAA has its annual march and church service on Thursday.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 08/10/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Blue Win & Ryu vs Águila Roja & Rey Aztaroth
2) Ovett Jr. & Súper Boy vs Mr. Mike & Tortuga Leo
3) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly vs Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr.
4) Pig Decapitador, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. and Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba
5) Pig Destroyer vs Hijo de Canis Lupus © [IWRG Rey del Ring]
2nd defense

Maybe good? Kinda wonder what match 3 will be like.

Los Herederos Dorados (Legendario and Dick Angelo 3G) are out of here. Legendario posted a long Facebook message on Tuesday detailing their issues with IWRG: low pay (about 350 pesos a match), lack of bookings and IWRG demanding a cut of the bookings Herederos Dorados found on their own as per their contract. Legendario & Dick Angelo 3G are talented but often out of control. They were booked regularly until a March 12th match, which included an attempted mid-bout fist-fight with Tryout participant Hazel. Herodes Dorado dumped Haziel on his head to end the match, he seemed to be in real pain, and he hasn’t wrestle in Arena Naucalpan since. (He may have not wrestled at all; I’m not sure if I have the different Hazel/Haziel’s straight.) Dick Angelo and Legendario returned for three matches over May and June and haven’t been used since. They’re Abismo Negro Jr./Eterno students, and it appeared he was already getting them booked as replacements on AAA spots shows. They’ll likely end up working other Mexico State shows.

Kenji added his name to the list of people leaving IWRG on Wednesday. Kenji mostly wrestled in openers and on trainee shows since 2021, and had not appeared on a show since July 16th. His only notable match was a lightweight title challenge in February, which is half the problem. He complains about pay as well. He says he was under contract, which is amazing. It clearly is a bad idea for the wrestlers to sign these sorts of contracts, but I’m not sure what the advantage is for IWRG to sign guys that they’re not going to do much with over two years. I would not have noticed Kenji was gone if he didn’t announce it and IWRG can easily find someone like Blue Win to be in their space. I guess it’s a sign how ridiciolously one sided these IWRG contracts must be that they bother with this contracts, and how little education lucha libre wrestling trainers are giving their students about the business of wrestling that these guys are signing them.

The IWRG pattern, with both Aster Boy and this group, is they have a big announcement they’ve quit, but IWRG’s already stopped booking them for an extended point. The two sides might still be talking, but it comes off as IWRG’s cut ties with the wrestlers (or at least decided they don’t care if it falls apart) before the wrestlers figure it out. On the other side, this run of Facebook posts detailing people quitting IWRG is unusual. Luchadors usually just stop showing up places and don’t make an announcement unless someone requires them to do so (as Flamita & Emperador Azteca did last week.) Maybe doing these on the way out is a new trend, but it feels almost coordinated for the IWRG departures.

I’m unsure if this is related, but IWRG announcer Mauricio Rebollo announced he was done with the promotion as well. In this case, he was told he was done after taping the episode of IWRG’s Revolucionado that’s going up tonight, and he says he was surprised to find out. He’d be working there for two years. The same show introduced Rodrigo Soto as a new IWRG announcer last week, though it was presented as one more announcer rather than a replacement.

Other News

Impact has Samuray del Sol, Laredo Kid, Black Taurus vs Moose, Bryan Myers and Bully Ray on Thursday’s episode.

A visit to a lucha libre expo in Oaxaca include an interview with Fray Tormenta, who mentions he’s got a blocked artery. He believed he would earn one or two million dollars per year when he got in wrestling and was shocked to find out it was more like 200 pesos per match. That’s better than some people are doing.

Zeta Tijuana visits the Lucha Libe Tijuana school, now located at the Auditorio.

Box y Lucha 3563 has too many things on the cover.