CMLL
CMLL (MON) 08/14/2023 Arena Puebla [El Sol del Puebla, Grada]
1) El Novato & Rayo Metálico b Hijo del Perverso & Sombra Diabólika
2) El Malayo, El Perverso, Prayer b Oro Jr., Retro, Xelhua
3) Crixus, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr. b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Audaz
4) Adrian Quest, Francesco Akira, Okumura, Samuray del Sol, TJP b Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Stuka Jr., Terrible [cibernetico]
Samuray del Sol got the win for this team, beating CAvernario for the win.
5) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Titán DQ Baliyan Akki, Kushida, Rocky Romero
Akki unmasked Titan for the DQ.
Xelhua, the recent debut here, turns out to be the son of former Arena Puebla luchador SWAT. Grada has a Xelhua interview with that detail, saying his father, Ciclon Ramirez and Ultimo Guerrero as his trainers. He’s only 19 years old and talks about the myth from where he pulled his name. I still don’t quite follow how he debuted in Guadalajara first.
CMLL (TUE) 08/15/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Mas Lucha]
1) Galaxy & Shockercito b Full Metal & Mercurio
2) Amapola, La Guerrera, Metálica b Hera, La Magnifica, Sanely [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Blue Panther Jr., Fuego, Volcano b Kráneo, Misterioso Jr., Sangre Imperial
4) Blue Panther b Panterita del Ring [lightning]
submission at 9:52
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black
6) Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Terrible
The Panther/Panterita match was ok/good, but nothing you have to watch if you’ve missed it this long.
CMLL (TUE) 08/15/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [De Golpes de Caidas]
1) Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Hijo del Calavera b Luminoso, Omega, Quka
2) Gallo Jr. & Rafaga Jr. b Rav & Temrario
3) Barboza, Draego, Persa b Atilus, Maximus, Rey Urano
4) Náutica, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis vs La Catalina, Maligna, Valkiria
5) Atlantis Jr., Averno, Bestia Negra, Dulce Gardenia, Furia Roja, Soberano Jr., Titán, Último Guerrero b Adrian Quest, Baliyan Akki, Dark Magic, Francesco Akira, Kushida, Rocky Romero, Samuray del Sol, TJP [cibernetico]
Rocky beat Averno to win (after sneaking in a foul)
I heard reviews all over the place about this Gran Prix.
CMLL (FRI) 08/18/2023 Arena México [AS, CMLL, Excelsior, Kaiser Sports, Publimetro, thecubsfan]
1) El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. b Difunto, Felino Jr., Sangre Imperial
6:24.
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi b La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
8:42.
3) Magnus & Rugido © b Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]
11:34. first defense
4) Soberano Jr. b Stuka Jr.
14:28.
5) Ángel de Oro, Averno, Dragón Rojo Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. b Adrian Quest, Baliyan Akki, Francesco Akira, Hiromu Takahashi, Kushida, Rocky Romero, Samuray del Sol, TJP [Gran Prix]
45:47. Order of elimination: Adrian Quest (via Angel de Oro), Samuray del Sol (Dragon Rojo), Francesco Akira (Templario), Angel de Oro (Hiromu), TJP (Averno), Templario (Kushida), Baliyan Akki (Ultimo Guerrero), Averno (Rocky Romero), Samuray del Sol (Mascara Dorada), Ultimo Guerrero (Kushida), Rocky Romero (Volador Jr.), Volador Jr. (Kushida), Mascara Dorada (Kushida), Kushida (Mistico), Hiromu Takahashi (Mistico) leaving Mistico as the winner. It is his first Gran Prix win. Rocky Romero kicked and dented the trophy post match, leading to a fight with Mistico.
The Gran Prix worked out to its usual high level. There was a little bit more messiness than usual, but a bit more emotion too. The CMLL fans really wanted to see Mistico make it to the end and they got that. The match was not done in service to the Aniversario card – Dragon Rojo was the first out for his team, Templario not far behind him, and none of the Mexicans had issues. (Samuray del Sol and Rocky Romero did a disagreement bit early on, playing off an angle they ran on Informa where Romero accused Samuray was a spy for the Mexicans, but then they played it straight the rest of the way.) It was the clean, pseudo-sport competition CMLL likes to do and their crowd ate it up. CMLL put over KUSHIDA big for not having him in the final two and constantly talked about Takahashi as a mega star (thanks to his CMLL training.) I don’t think this Gran Prix would make the top 10 matches of the year if you watched in on mute, but the crowd reaction adds so much to it.
The post-match was pure Rocky Romero – it’s not immediately clear if it was a planned angle or something he came up with at the moment in hopes of turning into an angle. It came off as spontaneous and heated.
Soberano/Stuka is very much worth watching. They had great chemistry and the Arena Mexico crowd is so into Soberano. The theatrical bits of Soberano fighting while still in his cape to start the match came off great. The first two falls going short hurt a little bit, but it worked out for the longer-than-expected third fall.
The first two matches were kept pretty short; the show still ended up long. The tag title match was fine, but both those teams really need a tecnico team to play off to be at their best. (Also, CMLL knows Dark Magic isn’t good so they’re prepared to work around him, and they’re less prepared to handle Espanto Jr.)
Samuray del Sol posted a photo of himself in a Mexico City hospital on Saturday night. It wasn’t clear exactly what happened. He did come up short on an attempted springboard dragon rana to the floor during the match, and may have gotten hurt then or at another point, but he appeared fine post-match.
NFL Mexico gave Salvador Lutteroth a plaque in honor of CMLL’s 90th Anniversary.
CMLL (SAT) 08/19/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia b Fantasy & Último Dragóncito
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Eléctrico, Neón, Valiente Jr.
3) Magia Blanca b Diamond [lightning]
Magia Blanca wins in about 8 minutes.
4) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma
Arkalis’ first match since February (knee injury)
5) Dark Panther, Star Black, Valiente b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Euforia, Terrible b Star Jr., Titán, Volador Jr.
Diamond/Magia Blanca was former Deperdador versus current Depredador.
CMLL announced Hechicero, Atlantis Jr., Magia Blanca, and Okumura as the first names for the 09/23 Fantastica Mania UK show. Atlantis Jr. will also appear on the 09/24 RevPro show in St. Neots, a town I definitely didn’t know of until writing this news bit. RevPro has a big show next Saturday and there will probably be more on this CMLL event after that.
The CMLL world women’s championship is vacant. Princesa Sugehit appeared on Informa on Wednesday, revealing she’d undergone neck surgery on July 1st. It didn’t sound like there was a specific incident that caused the neck injury, just that she had felt in her title match with Zeuxis on April 28th and got it checked out after her last match, back on May 8th. She said it was a serious surgery, and thanked both her doctors and CMLL for the support. She was told the average recovery is six months, but emphasized that it can vary from person to person and she does definitely know when she’ll be able to return at this point. Host Julio Cesar Rivera said Sugehit was not required to give up the belt, and Sugehit explained she really didn’t want to it, but she felt the women’s division would be harmed by not having a world title matches for so long so she needed to give up the belt. Sugehit hoped she’d be the #1 contender when she was able to return (and sounded relatively certain she would return.)
There was no word when or how the new champion would be decided. The simplest solution is to award the title to the winner of the Women’s Gran Prix or the Women’s Universal tournament, both of which are likely to take place in October. It’s also possible CMLL could make it a fan poll-driven thing for Noche of Campeones at the end of September. Fans (or rather, the subset of fans dedicated to voting in polls) deciding who would compete for the vacant champion would be endlessly fascinating for the same reasons it’s probably a terrible idea.
Remember that story from July about how CMLL made Torreon’s Coliseo Tony Arellano an official partner of theirs? It seemed like a thing just around the lightweight tournament, and because they were bringing in CMLL talent anyway, maybe just a one off thing. It’s not a one off thing: Oaxaca’s Alemark Business Group announced a similar partnership with CMLL. Referee/programmer Edgar Noriega appeared with Alemark’s president Carlos Alberto Morales on Wednesday to announce the deal. CMLL wrestlers will appear at Oaxaca’s Arena Coliseo Hades every two weeks going forward. Noriega said there would be possibilities of Oaxacan wrestlers coming to Arena Mexico, and Alemark will also open a training center in Oaxaca. The shows will start on 09/30 with Octagon and Fuerza Guerrera appearing. Alemark has other shows before then, which meant this same CMLL partnership conference also hyped this weekend’s AAA staffed show.
These deals may just be CMLL reviving its relationships with local promoters across Mexico. That’s an area where AAA seems like they do well and CMLL seemed to lose ground in the 2010s. It’d take more than two deals to get there do, just worth watching as a trend.
Speaking of that agreement in Torreon, Arena Coliseo Tony Arellano announced Futuro will defend the Mexican Lightweight title against Platino on their 09/07 show. That looks to be Futuro’s first defense.
In other intriguing but unexplained random CMLL news, Pegasso is apparently training a group of luchadoras in Puebla under the direction of Arena Puebla. An El Sol del Puebla article says Benjamin Mar scouted luchadoras at independent shows in Puebla, offering the best among them a chance to train under at that city’s CMLL school. Arena Puebla has never had Puebla luchadors as a regular part of their shows, and this seems like an attempt to address that. The article points it in a “Puebla luchadora joining the main roster” way, but this could also be adding women’s matches to the Monday shows in the same way they’ve been seen more often in Guadalajara. The CMLL Puebla luchadora project started with twenty women, and eight remain in the program. Those who didn’t show up for training regularly were asked to leave. Enigmatic, Lady Amazona, Mayahuel are profiled in the article, and Lady Metal is mentioned as being in the group. They feel like the training has helped them improve and it’s also pushed them to improve the scene; if one of the CMLL women can’t make a show, they’re now directing promoters to others in the training group to make sure they’re putting their best foot forward.
There isn’t any definite target date for the Puebla women to debut, and it seems like they haven’t been guaranteed anything. Debuting one or more of them in October makes sense with CMLL’s focus. I also think it’s a genuine possibility CMLL might run an all women’s show in Arena Mexico in October. They’ve definitely got the numbers if they’ve got women training in Puebla in addition to Guadalajara and Mexico City, it’s a matter of belief that their fans will be OK with the star power enough to buy tickets (or if the positive attention they’ll get will be worth whatever lost revenue.) I don’t think a CMLL women’s show is a lock, but it’s gone from no chance to some chance.
Leon’s Gallero (seen in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara) talked to his hometown paper about wrestling in the United States. He’s working a lucha show in Houston.
CMLL announced Elsa Lutteroth Camou passed away on August 15th. There’s no more information beyond the name, but the “Lutterotth Camou” suggests she’s the daughter of EMLL founder Salvador Lutteroth. That would make her the second second-generation member of that family to pass away recent, following Enrique Lutteroth Camou passing away back on May 31st. Enrique was 96, so Elsa was likely around the same age. The older second Salvador (Chavo) Lutteroth, the brother of Elsa and Enrique, may still be part of the team running CMLL right now but it’s been over a year since he’s made an appearance.
CMLL announced during the Friday PPV that all numbered tickets (lower bowl) were sold out. That wasn’t quite true when I checked after. It may be less than 10 now, enough they could probably get that partial sell out if they just pushed it on social media (instead of just on the PPV.)
CMLL (SUN) 08/20/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral, Cachorro, Robin vs Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Volcano vs Akuma, Crixus, Raider
4) Sagrado vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
5) Dark Panther, Star Black, Star Jr. vs Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
6) Místico, Octagón, Valiente vs Euforia, Fuerza Guerrera, Mephisto
Octagon and Fuerza are back to help fill out the card. A bunch of CMLL names are on a tour of northern Mexico this weekend and early next week, so they could use the extra people.
CMLL (MON) 08/21/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Amnesia, Black Tiger, Blue Shark vs Espíritu Maligno, King Jaguar, Rencor
2) La Magnifica & Sanely vs Reyna Isis & Zeuxis
3) Fuego, Pegasso, Rey Samuray vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Fugaz, Stigma, Valiente vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hiromu Takahashi, Soberano Jr., Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
Takahashi is in the US on the weekend but is back in Mexico for a few days after.
Blue Shark is a new name. There was a Blue Shark in Hidalgo in the 2010s, but his name hasn’t turned up since 2019.
CMLL (TUE) 08/22/2023 Arena México
1) Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Amapola & Tiffany vs Hera & Olympia
3) Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Felino vs Virus [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja © vs Star Jr. & Volador Jr. [CMLL TAG]
11th defense
That title match seems to come out of nowhere but it could be pretty good. Virus has leaped past Felino in the “getting booked in legend’s matches” category, but I’m less sure about the results.
CMLL (TUE) 08/22/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Eclipse Jr., Obek, Último Ángel vs Fúnebre, Infierno, Mortis
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas
3) Ángel Rebelde, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono vs Crixus, Futuro, Max Star, Neón, Vegas [cibernetico]
4) Magia Blanca & Rugido vs Barboza & Zandokan Jr.
5) Reyna Isis, Sanely, Zeuxis vs La Catalina, Maligna, Valkiria
6) Dulce Gardenia, Místico, Titán vs Averno, Hiromu Takahashi, Soberano Jr.
It’s weird Titan and Hirmou aren’t teaming here, but I guess the idea is Soberano is still a rudo here.
AAA
AAA aired part two of TripleMania, which turned out be just the Copa Bardahl. The women’s trios match and the Drago/Jack Evans vs Belcegor/Abismo Negro pre-show match haven’t aired on Space. I assume they’re just being skipped but maybe we need to check the listings next week to see if AAA is instead airing a third week of TripleMania.
AAA never put up the missing 3m30s of footage from the Copa Bardahl; the feed went out on both the Spanish and English feeds, and that’s still the way it is on FITE. I put up the missing footage on streamable, and a quick summary:
- Octagon Jr. beats Myzteziz with a 450 splash
- (feed goes out)
- Octagon Jr. shoves Willie Mack off the top rope to the floor
- Arez pins Octagon Jr.
- Komander tricks Arez and bodyscissors him over the top rope to the floor
- Komander & Laredo sequence goes about 45 seconds while they cut to Octagon Jr., Willie Mack, Arez
- (feed comes back)
AAA missed about half of Arez’s finish cutting to a dive too late, and then were cutting away from pinfalls to show people drinking the sponsor’s drink. AAA probably could’ve cleaned that up in editing. I didn’t spend much time comparing shots, but AAA did change the angle on the Pagano bump to hide the impact (and make it look more dramatic.) The rest of the show was the usual backstage generic promos to the camera that don’t seem to go anywhere and a bunch of post-match interviews originally meant to be for social media exclusives.
AAA announced an attendance of 15,583 for TripleMania. That’s up from the 14,100 they announced last year. It did not appear more full on TV, though that may be because AAA’s production drew attention to the ringside empty seats early in the show. (The photos from inside the building also showed more empties than expected for 15,853, though it’s possible those were sold and just empty.) WWE reportedly had 15,500 people at their Mexico City show just a few weeks earlier, at much higher ticket prices and without the 2 for 1 discounts AAA was using in the last few days.
Pagano did end up wrestling Sunday following TripleMania in Juarez, so he’s fine. Or as fine as he ever is.
AAA has its next TV taping today at the Showcenter. This card has gone through at least three public versions, and here’s where they’re at now:
AAA TV (SUN) 08/20/2023 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) Reyna Sahori vs Baby Love
2) Dulce Kanela vs Ultra, Gemelo Tapia
3) Delta, La Momia, Niño Hamburguesa vs El Líder, Medico Brujo, Toscano
4) Mr. Iguana vs Epydemius, Belcegor
Belcegor replaced Octagon Jr. about a week before the show.
5) Sexy Star vs Centella, Lady Maravilla
Added in late July when this was made a TV taping.
6) Pagano & Vampiro vs Antifaz & Chessman
Vampiro replaced Dave the Clown about a week before the show
Alberto el Patron is also scheduled to appear. Vampiro added late suggest tickets weren’t moving much here, but it looks fine in the Superboletos ticket app; about 75-80 sold. This card still feels like a Lucha Time show. This seems like a cheap way of making some TV and nothing more, but maybe match four will be good. Vampiro spoke to children in Monterrey early in the week. The thing to watch this show is not the matches but if AAA backs off the commentary over the sound system at all; the negativity on it reached a tipping point with TripleMania and dropping it would be a sign AAA’s willing to listen.
Hijo del Vikingo pulled off this weekend’s GCW shows. I’m still under the belief that Vikingo passing out at the TripleMania post show press conference was a staged bit. Vikingo is working a hard schedule between Mexico and the US and a hard style to keep up with; it’s totally believable Vikingo is really beat up and needs some post-TripleMania time off (and even that the passing out was a way to explain that.) AAA and AEW seem like they should be plenty of work for Vikingo without taking additional bookings and I’m surprised he’s still doing as much, but it’s also hard to say no if people are offering you money that wasn’t available to you two years ago.
EMW announced Marty Scurll will appear on their 09/30 AAA spot show. The funniest part of this was Scurll filming a video to promote his big return to wrestling and then revealing it was this show, an untelevised event that will cease to exist in most people’s memories three days after the show exists. Anyone on social media who is upset about this booking doesn’t understand how Mexican wrestling non-televised shows work, just see an AAA name on it and believe they’re personally booking Scurll. That’s not even necessarily wrong here – Konnan’s booking EMW – but if AAA in general is going to get complaints for booking him either way, why just book him for the Tijuana shows. Maybe AAA should have a corporate policy about being involved with people who have been blackballed from the rest of the wrestling industry but aren’t under any charges rather than make seemingly random decisions depending on the town.
IWRG
IWRG (THU) 08/17/2023 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Dariux b Cross, Golden Power
Match was listed as Dark Shadow II, Moria, Prolux vs Dariux, Garrobo, Golden Power. Match began with no referee in the ring; Puma de Oro ran in with a referee shirt to take over the role (and the regular referees didn’t seem to be around for this show.)
2) Aéro Queen, Bengalee, Keyra b Princesa Azul, Satania, Zuzu Divine
Princesa Azul replaced Baronessa, Bengalee replaced Lolita
3) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. b Astrolux, León Dorado, Mr. Leo
4) Hell Boy & Mamba DQ Ángel Mortal Jr. & Hijo del Fishman
seemed to be a new Angel Mortal Jr.? Scheduled as a 3v3 with Huracan Ramriez and Tonina Jackson scheduled. Fishman moved down to take Relampago’s place.
5) Arez, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Súpernova b Imposible, Ivan Rokov, Relámpago
Imposible and Relampago replaced Hijo del Fishman (moved down) and Joe Lider
This was the Diosa Quetzal benefit show, with a fair amount of people not appearing, a low turnout and no referees.
IWRG (SUN) 08/20/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Amazonika & Eli Surge vs Bengalee & Leo Cristiani
2) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. vs Caballero de Plata, Imposible, Relámpago [EdM Trios, quarterfinal]
3) Hell Boy, Puma de Oro, Shocko vs Centurion, Gannicus, Rey Espartano [EdM Trios, quarterfinal]
4) Cerebro Negro, Hip Hop Man, Ivan Rokov vs Noisy Boy, Spider Fly, Último Legendrio [EdM Trios, quarterfinal]
5) Águila Roja, Rey Astaroth, Rey Halcón vs Lolita, Ludark Shaitan, Satania [EdM Trios, quarterfinal]
6) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [EdM Trios, semifinal]
7) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [EdM Trios, semifinal]
8) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [EdM Trios, final]
9) Tonalli vs Toxin, Hijo de Canis Lupus
IWRG did make the effort of posting a bunch of videos to explain the teams in the tournament: one with Hell Boy and Shocko, another with Cerebro Negro, Ludark pitching her team, Imposible and Relampago thinking about a parnter and Caballero de Plata offering to be that third member, and Centvrion, Gannicus and Rey Espartano forming a similar gimmick trio. This would work better if it happened on the shows instead of social media videos but so it goes in 2023.
IWRG is going with “the title was vacated for no defenses in 120 days.” La Pandemia previously went six months without defending those same belts (due to injury) and those belts weren’t stripped. The Navarros have gone years without defending the IWRG trios belts. It’s an IWRG title, no one really cares.
Other news
Tabasco luchador Mellizo II (Juan Antonio Reyes Alcudia, 74) passed away Monday. He was a local wrestler in the 60s, 70, and 80s.
Veracruz luchador Aguila Imperial Jr. (Simon Antonio, 30) passed away around August 7th. He was a victim of a hit-and-run the day prior.
Cuernavaca referee Pirry (Cosme Lara) passed away on August 8th.
El Heraldo del Saltillo talks to Arena Pavillon del Norte owner Jacinto Escalante de Leon. He bought the arena 17 years ago when it had been shut down for wrestling and used for other business. They celebrated his 17th Anniversary on Saturday with CMLL talent coming in. They also honored luchadora Lady Star and (deceased) referee Francisco Nino. Lady Star is said to be the first luchadora honored in such a way in that arena, for also being the first luchadora from Saltillo to wrestle in CMLL back in 1991.
Engendro Infernal II and Engendro Infernal III lost their masks to Arquitecto del Mal II and Arquitecto del Mal III in Arena Aficion on Tuesday. The Engendros are Enrique Vazquez Chavez, 44, 24 years a wrestler, and Jose Enrique Rodriguez Sanchez, 38, 20 years a wrestler. Both are from Neza. They probably also have worked under different names; I don’t have any results from them outside of this feud.
There’s a new lucha libre photo exhibition on the streets of Puebla.
Box y Lucha 3564 has too much on the cover. Box y Lucha also released a third set of magazines from 1956, now into 1957. I’m about nine behind now from just reading them, much less writing about them.
RIOT’s next show is 10/21, a (unserious) benefit show for the promotional mascot Tablon (a block of wood.)
Segunda Caida watches some Monterrey and Panamian lucha.