Month: August 2023

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/11/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Raider & Sangre Imperial b Futuro & Neón  
9:38
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma b El Coyote, Kráneo, Okumura   
10:25.
3) Esfinge b Zandokan Jr. [lightning]   
9:01
4) Adrian Quest, Baliyan Akki, Francesco Akira, Samuray del Sol b Ángel de Oro, Euforia, Mephisto, Niebla Roja  
15:07. Arena Mexico debuts for the foreign wrestlers.
5) Virus & Volador Jr. b Rocky Romero & TJP   
20:53. Rocky Romero faked a foul
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Soberano Jr. DQ Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero   
9:59 Stuka Jr. unmasked Soberano, and later beat up Soberano with his (Stuka’s) boot. In between, Soberano challenge Stuka to a match next week and suggested a mask/hair match for the Aniversario.

Virus & Volador vs Rocky Romero vs TJP was the match of the night, a Great match that worked even if you didn’t know they had faced twenty years ago. I was really worried it wouldn’t early on; the crowd was quiet with a few whistles early on, but they got progressively more into it as it went on. The match layout put the Mexicans over huge: Virus took out both TJP and Romero by himself in the first fall, Volador outsmarted Romero in the third fall. Romero & TJP worked together like they never stopped. I was really happy with this.

The top half of the card was the part worth watching. Match 4 was odd, laid out as if the normal CMLL rudos would still be the rudos. The fans obviously reacted differently. Akki leaned into being booed by the crowd; he and Samuray stood out the most on that team. The main event was quick but high level. I think Soberano was just running his own angles by suggesting a mask/hair match for an Aniversario card, but it’s rare to make those sort of challenges without a destination in CMLL nowadays.

Esfinge was Esfinge against Zandokan. Match 2 wasn’t much. Futuro and Neon were all over the place in the opener. Corwd seemed a bit down from recent weeks, though it’ll probably be back up next week.

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

TJP and Rocky Romero should’ve bullied Samuray del Sol into just doing Ricky Reyes spots all match.

CMLL (SUN) 08/13/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Minos & Pequeño Olímpico b Shockercito & Último Dragóncito
2) Enfermero Jr. b Leono [lightning]
3) Omar Brunetti & Vaquero Jr. b Astral & Oro Jr.
4) Fugaz, Star Black, Valiente b Felino, Felino Jr., Misterioso Jr.
5) Adrian Quest, Baliyan Akki, Samuray del Sol b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
KUSHIDA said hello to the crowd before the match.
6) Francesco Akira, Rocky Romero, TJP b Soberano Jr., Templario, Titán
Rocky Romero insulted the Mexican people after the match, and Soberano attacked him.

Outside the Volador trickery on Friday, the World Team is winning all their matches.

CMLL (TUE) 08/15/2023 Arena México
1) Galaxy & Shockercito vs Full Metal & Mercurio
2) Hera, La Magnifica, Sanely vs Amapola, La Guerrera, Metálica [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Blue Panther Jr., Fuego, Volcano vs Kráneo, Misterioso Jr., Sangre Imperial
4) Blue Panther vs Panterita del Ring [lightning]
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Terrible

Blue Panther versus Panterita could be fun. The main event is an effort match. Not much else notable here.

CMLL (FRI) 08/18/2023 Arena México
1) El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. vs Difunto, Felino Jr., Sangre Imperial
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi vs La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
3) Magnus & Rugido © vs Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]
4) Soberano Jr. vs Stuka Jr.
5) Ángel de Oro, Averno, Dragón Rojo Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. vs Adrian Quest, Baliyan Akki, Francesco Akira, Hiromu Takahashi, Kushida, Rocky Romero, Samuray del Sol, TJP [Gran Prix]

I keep thing about how the main event is more or less one full year of Rocky Romero in CMLL and what’s that meant. It’s pretty close to one full year of unmasked Stuka Jr. and it’s good to see him get a high profile match on this show. The tag title match is a surprise. A title change is unlikely in the first defense but maybe Akuma can keep his good tag match streak running. Skadi is an unusual inclusion in the usual Friday women’s trios match; that match is normally good and it’s a big chance for her to prove she can keep up. Five matches is more than a usual Gran Prix show, which might mean a short undercard match. (The title match being one fall will help a bit.)

CMLL added a 09/22 Dia de Luchador show to their September schedule. A special match or show is announced every Friday (or Saturday) from until the end of September. 08/25 is the sole exception so far; that’s likely a Hiromu Takahashi main event. CMLL’s brought back old-timers on past Dia de Luchador shows.

The NJPW All Star Junior Festival is Saturday in Philadelphia. They’re still rolling out people, one person at a time, and matches once they announce all the people in it. The only people now left without a match are the CMLL people (Soberano Jr. & Fugaz) and Dragongate’s Dragon Kid. I presume the final person will be announced tonight.

Revolution Pro’s head Andy Quildan was on Wrestling Observer Radio on Friday. Most of the discussion as on their 11th Anniversary show, part of All In weekend, but there was some brief talk about FantasticaMania UK early in the show. Quildan pointed out RevPro was using CMLL wrestlers in 2019 – Barbaro Cavernario was part of the British J Cup – and felt that relationship would’ve progressed to a more formal relationship had the pandemic not shut shows and travel down. Surprisingly, Quildan credited Yota Tsuji as the conduit to get them back together. Tsuji unusually bounced between CMLL and RevPro on his trip, which apparently gave him chances to talk up RevPro to CMLL folks after working there himself.

Wrestlenomics, on their Patreon, posted a series of charts comparing the Google Trends numbers for various wrestling promotions. That measures search metrics, and has shown some good correlation with popularity. Wrestlenomics also broke Google Trends in specific wrestling countries. For Mexico, WWE is way ahead of AAA and CMLL, even at a low ebb for them. Wrestlenomics took WWE and looked again, and CMLL’s a distance ahead of AAA in traffic. AAA’s generally been ahead of CMLL, but CMLL ticked a bit up since last October and AAA’s ticked much stronger down. (AEW also pops up on this version of the chart, slightly behind AAA.)

AAA

AAA TV (SAT) 08/12/2023 Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Azcapotzalco, Distrito Federal [AAA, Criterio Hidalgo, Marca, Mas Lucha, Record]
***TripleMania XXXI Ciudad de Mexico***
1) Drago & Jack Evans b Abismo Negro Jr. & Belcegor
dark match
2) Chik Tormenta, La Hiedra, Maravilla b Dalys, Lady Shani, Sexy Star
Hijo del Tirantes attacked Shani and helped Tormenta win. Tirantes Sr. and Hijo del Tirantes fought post match.
3) Laredo Kid b Komander, Willie Mack, Dave The Clown, Pagano, Aramis, Mr. Iguana, Murder Clown, Arez, Octagón Jr., Myzteziz, Niño Hamburguesa [Copa Bardahl]
Texano attacked Pagano before he got the ring (and he never made it to the ring.) Texano pushed Pagano off a raised platform into tables (Pagano missed the landing.) Feed went out during the eliminations. Laredo Kid beat Komander to win.
4) Flammer b Taya © [Reina De Reinas]
Lady Shani, La Hiedra and Lady Maravilla interfered heavily, helping Shani win. Taya bled a lot.
5) Negro Casas b Nicho el Millionario
Azcino (Casas) and Argenis (with Nicho and masked the whole time) interfered in the match. Casas took off Nicho’s boot (a long process), smashed the foot into thumbtacks, and then won via the castia (rolling into the tacks in the process.)
6) QT Marshall b Pentagón Jr., Dralistico, Texano Jr. [AAA LA]
Texano Jr. replaced Brian Cage, said to be injured wrestling Darby Allin on Rampage. Marshall fouled and unmasked Pentagon to win the vacant title.
7) Hijo Del Vikingo © b Mike Bailey, Daga, Jack Cartwheel [AAA MEGA]
Vikingo beat Cartwheel to retain the title. 18th defense. He later collasped backstage as an angle.
8) Sam Adonis L Psycho Clown, LA Park, Rush [mask, hair]
Rush brought LFI (Dralistico, Bestia del Ring, Jose the Assistant, Preston Vance) and they all interfered near the end of the match. LA Park pinned Rush and Psycho Clown pinned Adonis at the same time, with Rush kicking out at two and Adonis not kicking out. Psycho Clown was stretchered out due to an earlier martinete. Adonis got shaved in the ring while telling off the fans.

Injury notes first: Psycho Clown and Hijo del Vikingo both ended the show on stretchers. It seems odd for AAA to have booked both their top starts to sell serious injuries at the same time, and I’m not sure they booked it – I get the sense that these guys may have just done it on their own. Psycho Clown is claiming he’s taking time off now to recover. Psycho was scheduled to wrestle in California on Sunday and had informed the promotion ahead of time that he wouldn’t be wrestling. He did go to the show, just not wrestling. (This is also why Mas Lucha was announcing Rey Fenix as appearing; he was scheduled to be the replacement.) Edit: Psycho Clown did end up wrestling anyway, Instagram video shows him working a main event tag match.

I’m not sure about Pagano’s status, after mostly missing the tables on his latest poorly designed stunt fall. I hope he’s fine but also he does so much dumb stuff to his own body. Brian Cage filmed a video to explain his absence before the show, but it didn’t go out until Sunday for whatever reason.

TripleMania Mexico City was a show like a lot of the recent AAA TV: the match with Vikingo was good, the rest of the stuff was not good, there’s a lot of talent that could be used better and the production was sloppy. Mexico City TripleManida did not feel as antagonizing as the Tijuana one. I didn’t like the Mexico City one either, but thought it was easier to get through. This is a minority opinion; the Spanish language reaction to the Mexico City TripleMania is significantly more negative than Tijuana show has turned negative on AAA generally. Maybe for me, I had no expectations this show would be good because I followed it every day, and lots of people turned into the TripleMania cold and didn’t like what they saw.

(The English language reaction was much smaller than usual during a TripleMania. A lot of the reaction came after the show, towards the Vikingo angle and QT stans celebrating a title win. QT is no more over in AAA than the Russian guy is in IWRG, but the point of QT winning the title is to bring up on AEW television. Doing that hasn’t helped AAA all, but that’s still the goal.)

The one hot take is AAA made a mistake to add LA Park and Rush in the main event at the last second. We don’t know how many tickets moved after they were announced as part of the match, but it looks like a smaller crowd than recent Mexico City Triplemanias; not enough people believed those two would settle it to sell a lot of tickets to see it. LA Park and Rush didn’t bring the intensity of their past big matches or even their Tijuana match, and instead only seemed to bring the consulted sequences and referee spots. LA Park & Rush and Psycho & Adonis mostly had separate matches; Psycho and Adonis were good went they had chances and may have been great on their own.

The Mega championship was the best match on the show, all four wrestlers performing well. It was missing a moment where the title genuinely felt in danger, but there were creative spots and lots of usage of more than two people at the time. Daga decided to be a Moves guy again and he was good at it. It, and even more so the Copa TripleMania, gave a lot of teases of singles matches that would be very fun to see. I don’t think that’s the direction, as much as there ever is one.

The Latin American championship match was the flipside of the Mega title match, a highly uncreative generic four way match. The finishing bit with the table fell apart would’ve got mocked loudly by the fans on the lowest-level indie show, but it had to be done to protect Dralistico, just like Dralistico had to get in all of his finishes and have something prevent him from winning. (That’s also something that may have been improved if AAA didn’t use Rush and LA Park on this show; I think Dralistico being in this match was a concession.) QT showing up doing the Ugly American gimmick when there is a guy in the main event doing the same thing was bemusing. He needs to either find something of his own – lean into the rich/powerful guy bit from his vignette maybe – or lean into that he’s unaware of anything else going on in AAA except his matches. (QT is an AEW wrestler though and so the reaction to his performance was really positive from people who didn’t watch the show.) I suspect Dorian Roldan will be proven correct, and we’ll be treated to a lot of QT Marshall title defenses on upcoming AAA TV; he’ll be crushed when he finds out those only show up in the US on a massive delay.

Nicho and Negro Casas was bad in the ways everyone, AAA included, knew it would be bad. The two women’s matches were the usual. The trios was an attempt at a Moves match where the moves didn’t always work, too much happened for anything to stick out and the women were really just there to get over the Tirantes/Tirantes feud. The title match had a bunch of interference to set up the title match, done in a way where the new champion (Flammer) came off much worse than the challenger. AAA has the least enjoyable women’s division because they really don’t have any faith in putting them over. The Copa TripleMania was interrupted by the streaming going out about the time eliminations really got going. The first few minutes were good because the match was stacked with good wrestlers who can all have a great one minute of offense, but it’s hard to rate.

There was a lot of sponsorship on this show. The women’s trios had the tecnicas raise their arms to set off in their entrance a “perfume” spray, a tie-in with a perfume sponsor. AAA added “Cassandro” to their Hall of Fame, strictly to promote the upcoming “Casandro” bio movie. (I don’t know why the different spellings.) Casandro wrestled about two dozen TV matches in AAA, and never had a big role on a big show. AAA’s considered non-AAA work in their Hall of Fame before, but they were obviously selling a spot in their HOF to promote a movie. The Mortal Kombat I stuff wasn’t much – the “Dia del Muertos Sub Zero” skin had been announced earlier and is limited only to Latin America for whatever reason. The Dr. Simi-sponsored spot was trying to get the whole stadium to dance at once; the cameras did not find many takers. There may have been a Solura water bit in there briefly, too; it was twenty minutes plus of commercial segments. TripleMania was worse for having them, but AAA made money and doesn’t seem concerned about putting on good shows.

AAA’s production was uncommonly bad on the show, with cameras zoomed in too far and missing moments or directors choosing the wrong shot at the wrong time. AAA’s never great but this was definitely worse than usual. AAA brought in everyone – including those guys in the dark match – to rehearse the show night prior. Those rehearsals are usually done to make sure the cameras know where to be on the big spots, and still, AAA missed the big shots. Maybe let everyone stay and have the night off year; it couldn’t be worse. The audio mixing was as bad as usual, with no ambient noise outside of the Spanish announcers echoing through the building. The crowd suddenly got audible for things like Pagano’s entrance and Penta doing the 0M and then blinking out of existence a moment later. AAA is lightyears behind CMLL right now in that area.

There was no next show announced. There was no reason given to keep watching for English-speaking fans, much less a method to do so. These are all things a promotion serious about expanding in the US would have locked down, but AAA is not a serious promotion. English commentary for them at this point is just a thing to say they have it, to be a bullet point on a Powerpoint slide for investors.

Rush was asked on Facebook about commentary over the speakers and said he hates it; it takes the emotion and connection with the public out of the match. There was a lot of complaints about that style of commentary from Mexican fans in attendance on Saturday.

Facebook page Zona Ruda, which appears based in Tijuana and watches a lot of Mexican and American wrestling, was down on this TripleMania and the whole series. What stuck out to me is they believed the run-ins and the interference and the heel referees is something done to appeal to the US fans. Konnan’s talked a lot on his podcast about how they/he does all of that because that’s what Mexican fans want, and he’s aware he’ll have to change some things when they book in the US.

AAA’s next taping is the Showcenter card next Sunday. They’ll probably air the first few matches from TripleMania on Space next week and maybe the dark match.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 08/13/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, La Tiejra, Mas Lucha]
1) Águila Roja & Rey Astaroth b Ajolotl & Ryu 
2) Centurion, Lolita, Rey Halcón b Eli Surge, Gannicus, Sagitarius 
3) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Dr. Cerebro, Dr. Cerebro Jr., Último Legendario 
Win via foul. After the match, the commission stripped the EDM TRIOS champions (HIp Hop Man, Karaoui and Shocko) of the belts and announced a tournament next week. The Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko trio broke up after, with Hip Hop Man attacking Shocko.
4) Cerebro Negro, Ivan Rokov, Tonalli b León Dorado, Mr. Leo, Spider Fly 
Hip Hop Man helped Rokov’s team to win by throwing power. Hip Hop Man and Rokov formed a post match alliance.
5) Hell Boy DQ Hijo del Fishman 
Scheduled as a tag match with Rey Espectro and Puma de Oro. Hell Boy and Fishman fouled/unmasked each other but ref only noticed the foul.
6) Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.  
Teams teased putting their masks on the line in Castillo del Terror (October)

the sequence of an IWRG angle

1. someone gets an idea for a bit and other people go along with it
2. it gets all over the shows for a few weeks, pushed as a huge thing
3. it quietly but quickly fades away for no obvious reason and with no conclusion
4. it may pop up a few weeks or months later to be firmly killed off because they need the people for another new idea
5. go back to step 1

It’s rarer for there to be a satisfying ending to any of this. This is a general Mexican wrestling problem, not just an IWRG issue. It’s why, at best, Mexican wrestling fans get invested in the individual but not the stories they’re in, because those stories aren’t usually any good. Though, even by IWRG standards, stripping the trios title to set up a tournament instead of just having one of the teams beat them is weird.

Other News

Big Lucha posted the second half their latest show earlier this week. I have not gotten to it yet, heard it shouldn’t be a priority. In an interview from last week’s Anniversary press conference, Flamita said he’d believed Bandido would be totally successful with AEW and talked about having an alliance between Big Lucha and GLEAT. (That relationship appears unaffected by Bandido’s departure.)

Segunda Caida has reviews of some of the 90s Monterrey lucha libre.

In Arena GDL on Saturday, Samuray Jr. defeated Faraon de Oro for his mask in a cage match. Faraon de Oro is Cesar Maldonado Madrigal, 33, 6 years a wrestler. Faraon de Oro came from nowhere to a peculiar part of indies coming out of the pandemic: he main evented against Mesias, he was in matches with Alberto and Dr. Wagner, he was on Nacion Lucha Libre. I assumed he was a money guy, but a money guy wouldn’t normally be losing their mask in a place like Arena GDL.

Also on Saturday, but in Arena Neza, Jaque Mate 2000 (Carlos Sanchez Rangel, 62, 38 years a wrestler) lost his mask to El Divino. Jaque Mate 2000 was not originally in the lineup for that match so something happened where they needed a fill-in to lose. He claims he started out on Pavillon Azteca/SuperLibres/AWWA as Magnum back in the 80s.

That Arena Neza was an all cage match show with people losing masks or hair. In order

• Jaque Mate 2000, not advertised for the match
• Dios Azteca, not advertised for the match
• Nikky Star, appears to have only worked one match under that identity before losing it
• Lunatik Fly; the Ovett children lose their hair often
• Atomic Star, who loses his hair every six months (this time they set up it so they got Demonio Infernal got the win)

The Wolf King may be the king of the garbage Mexico State indies.

CMLL

Tonight’s show

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

Virus & Volador Jr. face Rocky Romero & TJP for the first time since the 70th CMLL Aniversario show. The series of matches between a CMLL trio of Ricky Marvin, Virus, and Volador Jr. and NJPW’s Habana Brothers (Romero, TJP as Pinoy Boy, Ricky Reyes, and Bobby Quance) was a superb young guy feud of the 2003. It was a lot of fast-paced matches that really stood out for the time, making everyone involved feel like bigger stars by the end.

CMLL knew they needed a young star at the time. They tried (and failed) with Sagrado at around the same the CMLL/Habana feud started. It didn’t work with him, but it did work with a preliminary who wrestled a lot like the guys in this feud named Astro Boy. That wrestler became Mistico in 2004, and it was history from then on. There’s an argument, maybe not the most solid one but one that you can make if you’re inclined to do so, that CMLL doesn’t get Mistico right if they don’t have Volador and Rocky and TJP and Virus and the others as a model first. Or maybe they were just really great matches without needing the historical link.

Romero and TJP have had long and interesting careers. It never really came together the same way for Reyes, who’s now semi-retired after a long run of indie wrestling. Quance left wrestling to join the Navy not too long after his CMLL run, and turns up to do a match in California once every few years. Quance’s career was a real shooting star; he was really good over a short period of time that fans of that era can’t help but speculate what might have happened if he stuck with wrestling later or came along later when there were more and better paying places to wrestle.

Ricky Marvin still wrestles, though increasingly in fewer places. Marvin was and is still talented, but is also appears embittered by the lack of respect his career has gotten. Marvin is not without reason. It took about a decade for CMLL to fully embrace Volador as a top star, and Virus has had a similar slow climb to his current place. There was no guarantee it was ever going to happen for that CMLL trios, and Marvin wisely focused on wrestling in Japan’s NOAH promotion. He did well there, but his achievements were largely ignored in Mexico, and that version of NOAH fell apart. Marvin had a multiyear run with AAA, but it didn’t work out there. Nowadays, Marvin is the most reliable part of the Lucha Memes promotion. He has a cult following out of IWTV viewers and, unfortunately, has little impact beyond that. A video of Ricky Marvin painfully double stomping Calibus from the most recent Lucha Memes went viral, as some people talked themselves into believing there was a serious injury, and it was the most attention Marvin’s got in some time. Marvin’s still respected as a wrestler and a trainer. He’s not fit by any means, but there are plenty of out of shape Mexico luchadors wrestling often. Some wrestlers who’ve been “canceled” seem to get more bookings than he does nowadays. I think it’s possible he’s both had bad luck and has made bad luck for himself. Marvin is active on Facebook. Marvin hasn’t appeared to say anything about this reunion match (and not being part of it), though he has stated before he believes he’s banned from appearing in CMLL.

Virus, Volador, TJP and Rocky can all go at a high level. It’ll be cool just to seem the back together after so long, but it should be really good as a standalone match without that history. Rocky came back to CMLL one year ago now and has had great matches with Volador often during the last twelve months. TJP and Virus seem like they match up just as well.

We’re all dorking out about the Habana Brothers reunited against Virus & Volador, but the rest of the show is pretty solid too. The main event is a rematch from last week, it should be good and should be going somewhere. Match 4 has a lot of people making their Arena Mexico debuts against talented rudos. Zandokan keeps on appearing on Friday shows. The Puebla guys are reliable, and Futuro & Neon against Raider could be spectacular. Next week is the bigger show, but this is definitely worth checking out. It’s on Boletia as ever.

Both Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo Guadalajara had stream issues on Tuesday. These things happen, you just need a plan on how to handle them. Both are also recording those shows for TV, so it’s a solid bet a clean version of the show is available somewhere. Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, which operates a free channel, uploaded fixed versions of each match to their YouTube channel (though they’re posting them one a day.) CMLL’s channel, which offers that show as a 9 USD/month package, just left the broken show up there with no fix. Some of this is decisions on what to prioritize, but it also seems like Guadalajara has more people hours to throw at these things than Mexico City, and that makes no sense when looking at the revenue that must be coming into both places.

CMLL (MON) 08/14/2023 Arena Puebla
1) El Novato & Rayo Metálico vs Hijo del Perverso & Sombra Diabólika
2) Oro Jr., Retro, Xelhua vs El Malayo, El Perverso, Prayer
3) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Audaz vs Crixus, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
4) Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Stuka Jr., Terrible vs Adrian Quest, Francesco Akira, Okumura, Samuray del Sol, TJP [cibernetico]
5) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Titán vs Baliyan Akki, Kushida, Rocky Romero

Another fun-looking main event and a cibernetico featuring people who wouldn’t get to face the international people otherwise.

CMLL (TUE) 08/15/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Luminoso, Omega, Quka vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Hijo del Calavera
2) Barboza, Draego, Persa vs Atilus, Maximus, Rey Urano
3) Náutica, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis vs La Catalina, Maligna, Valkiria
4) Atlantis Jr., Averno, Bestia Negra, Dulce Gardenia, Furia Roja, Soberano Jr., Titán, Último Guerrero vs Adrian Quest, Baliyan Akki, Dark Magic, Francesco Akira, Kushida, Rocky Romero, Samuray del Sol, TJP [cibernetico]

On the one hand, it’s strange for a Team Mexico with access to the entire CMLL roster to include Furia Roja and Bestia Negra. On the other hand, I like that we’re getting a very different match here than the Gran Prix.

The Aniversario show is down to less than 100 numbered tickets left. CMLL did sell out last year, announcing the lower bowl portion sold out on August 23rd. They’re ahead of that pace, and that pace was the first ever complete sell out before the doors opened. (The show was on 09/16 last year, as it is this year.) Announcing the lineup appeared to move a lot of tickets; maybe not even just the lineup itself, but as a reminder the show is coming and putting some urgency into buying tickets. Announcing the lower bowl has sold out will probably do the same. It doesn’t appear other CMLL shows are getting this sort of advancing sales – there are still plenty of tickets left for next week’ Gran Prix – but the Aniversario show is a must have.

Obviously, it would to be a thing if CMLL sells those last few floor tickets and can announce a partial sell-out tomorrow, the same day as TripleMania. I don’t know if those last few will move that fast.

ESTO talked to Fugaz about the All Star Junior Festival; he’s thrilled. It’s a big deal to him to be part of an important international competition, but it’s also a big deal because it’s the first time he’s traveled outside of Mexico. He made sure to enjoy his Arena Mexico debut and treat it like it was the only time he’d ever get to wrestle there, just in case, and he’s going to handle the ASJF the same. The ESTO article accidentally lists his age as 17. He is 27.

ESTO’s interview with La Catalina talked about her struggles to be a wrestler in Chile, dealing with health issues in WWE, and being inspired to keep going in Mexico.

ESTO also interviews Brillante Jr. and Max Star, both talking about how nervous they were for their debut. With Mundo Deportivo, Brillante Jr. talked about how Andrade/La Sombra was always his idol, and they first trained together when Brillante Jr. was four years old.

Kaiser Sports has notes on an interview with Hiromu Takahashi, who did an interview via Zoom. Not much in there; he’s happy to come back. I think he’s the favorite to win the Gran Prix; he’s only getting pinned if CMLL and NJPW have a title match planned.

Revolution Pro did a Q&A on Twitter Friday and the FantasticaMania UK show came up a bit. It appears it’s actually two shows, with an afternoon and evening card. The CMLL names are not finalized but they’re expecting to bring in “at least 10 wrestlers”. (More than I would’ve guessed.) CMLL participation was also teased for RevPro’s 10/21 British J Cup.

AAA

The final TripleMania of 2023 is Saturday. The lineup

AAA TV (SAT) 08/12/2023 Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Azcapotzalco, Distrito Federal
***TripleMania XXXI Ciudad de Mexico***
1) Dalys, Lady Shani, Sexy Star vs Chik Tormenta, La Hiedra, Maravilla
2) Komander vs Laredo Kid, Willie Mack, Dave The Clown, Pagano, Aramis, Mr. Iguana, Murder Clown, Arez, Octagón Jr., Myzteziz, Niño Hamburguesa [Copa Bardahl]
3) Negro Casas vs Nicho el Millionario
4) Taya © vs Flammer [Reina De Reinas]
5) Pentagón Jr. vs Qt Marshall, Dralistico, Brian Cage [AAA LA]
6) Hijo Del Vikingo © vs Mike Bailey, Daga, Jack Cartwheel [AAA MEGA]
7) Sam Adonis vs Psycho Clown, LA Park, Rush [mask, hair]

Start Time on FITE

Los Angeles 7 pm
Mexico City 8 pm
Chicago 9 pm
New York 10 pm
London 3 am Sunday
Tokyo 11 am Sunday

AAA is sticking to a four-hour window, so expect a late night.

I have a preview of TripleMania over on Voices of Wrestling. It’s not positive. Last year, I wrote recaps for Post Wrestling. I’m not doing them this year, probably because I forgot to ask them if they wanted them again. I felt like I screwed up by forgetting before the Monterrey show, and by the time the Tijuana show ended, I was so happy I hadn’t agreed to do that. I’ll probably have way too many words here on Monday.

TripleMania should draw fans as well as usual. I sense as little online interest in this show as I can remember. The lineup is part of it, running two TripleManias so close to each other is also a part of it.

I think that if everything but the main event was instead a normal TV show, it would still be weird, but it’d be interesting. This being a TripleMania show weighs down on those matches, which all feel like they were hastily scribbled down around 2 AM after the Tijuana show ended. We’re also coming off a TripleMania where every single match was made worse by the overbooking and production. (Even the main event was strangely made worse for not being overbooked because everyone was waiting for it after the tease to start the match.) There are matches on this TripleMania that look perfectly enjoyable on paper but also probably won’t be because AAA can’t help themselves.

The main event should be really good, and even if it has no juice. I can’t believe LA Park and Rush are going to be in an apuesta match on Saturday, and so few people seem to care. Maybe they’re all quietly buying tickets instead of discussing it, because there’s no discussion. AAA chose to include them to sell tickets, but those guys haven’t done anything since TripleMania to promote the match. I know everyone believes Adonis will lose (and he should lose). Part of the attraction of Rush and LA Park is that they “break the rules” and do things they’re not supposed to; I think they could convince people they would settle it no matter what on Saturday if they want. It feels like just another weekend booking.

Psycho Clown confirmed the main event four-way is the first pin decides the winner and loser. I have no idea why Dorian Roldan made a deal out of announcing the rules for this match and then AAA never talked about the rules again. I’m not complaining about something hard to do or super niche here, I’m just asking for the most basic follow-through on their own angles. A single fall fourway is for the best; wrestlers want to build matches around breaking up pins and it makes more sense in that format.

This TripleMania is the last chance this year to retain the interest of fans AAA-curious fans. Many of those people will be back next TripleMania but will drop AAA between now and then unless AAA gives them a reason to care. I’m not talking about an angle here, I mean the very basic “this is our next worldwide streaming show, this is the next time we’ll have English commentary, this is how you can watch us on YouTube” details. It’d be great if AAA had those answers to give out on Saturday. They normally do not.

AAA has its pre-TripleMania pilgrimage on Thursday. It seemed like fewer actual wrestlers were involved than usual, though still a good amount of fans and press coverage.

AAA posted a QT Marshall promo on Friday. These promos are finally turning up just hours before the show, which I guess is better than not at all.

AAA mentioned there was a Mortal Kombat tie-in with TripleMania. Either Mortal Kombat or Warner set a press release Thursday to many Mexican video game sites to hype it, teasing it would include Mortal Kombat luchador masks. AAA posted a teaser on Friday. These are straight profit team-ups for AAA, with the added bonus of getting the product promoted to a different audience. It does eat up some time on the show; plan your snack runs.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 08/10/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, La Tijera, Mas Lucha]
1) Águila Roja & Rey Aztaroth b Blue Win & Ryu 
2) Mr. Mike, Puma de Oro, Tortuga Leo b Freelance, Ovett Jr., Súper Boy 
3) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly 
Cerebros won via foul on Spider Fly.
4) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. b Pig Decapitador, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool and Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba 
5) Hijo de Canis Lupus © b Pig Destroyer [IWRG Rey del Ring] 
2nd defense. Pig Destroyer attacked Cnis Lupus after the match, with Pandemia making the save.

I know nothing of this. Recent events did make me wonder how many opening match guys the random smoke machine that’s over the center of the ring cost. (They also seem to have adopted CMLL’s kiss cam.)

IWRG (SUN) 08/13/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Ajolotl & Ryu vs Águila Roja & Rey Astaroth
2) Ely Surge, Gannicus, Sagitarius vs Centurion, Lolita, Rey Halcón
3) Dr. Cerebro, Dr. Cerebro Jr., Último Legendario vs Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko
4) León Dorado, Mr. Leo, Spider Fly vs Cerebro Negro, Ivan Rokov, Tonalli
5) Hijo del Fishman & Rey Espectro vs Hell Boy & Puma de Oro
6) Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.

Both Spider Fly and Rey Halcon look like they were late adds to the lineup (different font than the rest of the names.) Not sure if that’s more people dropping out of IWRG or other reasons; Spider Fly makes sense in that match the following Thursday. The main event follows up on Thursday’s show. Ely Surge may be ex-ROH’s Eli Isom, who’s been seen at a Ricky Marvin training camp at Big Lucha this week. Correction: Ely Surge is pacific northwest wrestler Eli Surge.

IWRG (THU) 08/17/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Dark Shadow II, Moria, Prolux vs Dariux, Garrobo, Golden Power
2) Aéro Queen, Keyra, Lolita vs Baronessa, Satania, Zuzu Divine
3) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. vs Astrolux, León Dorado, Mr. Leo
4) Hell Boy, Huracán Ramírez, Mamba vs Ángel Mortal Jr., Relámpago, Tonina Jackson
5) Arez, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Súpernova vs Hijo del Fishman, Ivan Rokov, Joe Lider

This is a benefit show for Diosa Quetzal. She had knee surgery earlier this year, still hasn’t returning to wrestling.

Arez makes his first Naucalpan appearance since the infamous 2019 Lucha Memes Battle of Naucalpan. That feels like an entirely different Lucha Memes than the one that exists now. Arez previously appeared on the Cuervo del Puerto Rico benefit show in 2018. He hasn’t appeared on a normal IWRG show since a FILL trainee show in 2017 when he was Fulgor II’s mentor. Arez hasn’t been in Naucalpan since he became Strange Style almost. I believe he and Quetzal have been in the same training group and that might be why he’s here. Wish he had better people to work.

I’m very curious about the semi-main. The Angel Mortal Jr. we know is now AAA’s Parka Negra, a very talented rudo who seems thoroughly underutilized in AAA. Not sure if this is him or (more likely) a new Angel Mortal Jr.

Eterno has been posting supportive messages about every IWRG luchador departure over the last week on Facebook (under both the Abismo Negro Jr. & Eterno accounts.) Reading through old posts, he definitely seemed to know the Dick Angelo/Legendario bit was coming before it was announced, maybe the others. He posted a message encouraging others to leave after Aster Boy left back on the 1st. Meanwhile, IWRG launched a “#somos IWRG” campaign over on Facebook.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha announced their 2nd Anniversary Show. It’s rather soon:

CMLL , Big Lucha (SAT) 08/26/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Carito & Viajero vs Andrómeda & Brujo De Iztapalpa
2) Skayde vs Forneo [last man standing]
3) Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
4) Elipse, Iku, Orbita vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Euforia, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero vs ?, Bendito, Flamita
probably Yutani
6) Averno & Místico vs Templario & Volador Jr.
7) Emperador Azteca © vs El Potro de Oro [BIG LUCHA CHAMP]

Big Lucha spent about a half hour reviewing the lineup, with graphics and live promos from participants. It wasn’t until Potro de Oro came out to cash in his golden ticket for the title shot that someone actually told the press the date from the show. The entire point of a press conference should be to let people know what is happening, where it is happening when it is happening, and how to watch. If you can get over “why”, that’s useful, but you need to finish the four big ones, and Big Lucha struggled at that basic task.

The lineup is fine. Not exciting but fine. There are three CMLL vs Big Lucha matches, though not the greatest picks from CMLL. Rey Bucanero appeared as the CMLL representative.  Big Lucha CEO (“Mr. Big Lucha”) Eduardo Gonzalez said he talked directly to Salvador Lutteroth III to make this deal, but it comes of as Bucanero being the main conduit. Bucanero promotes shows using CMLL talent and his trainees at Arena Rey Bucanero; they get a lot of lucha media attention and seemingly small fans, so this might be a better way to use that connection. Gonzalez said this was the start of an alliance between the two promotions, not a one-off.

Eduardo Gonzalez briefly mentioned Bandido and Big Lucha had split at the start off the press conference, immediately moving into a big reveal of the current Big Lucha roster. (Except for Black Generation, who didn’t show up until mid-conference.) This was the first public acknowledgment that Big Lucha and Bandido split. Gonzalez later said that Bandido was an important part of Big Lucha, they’re not going to remove his name from everything, and the door would always be open for a return. He also pushed the idea that Big Lucha was always more than just Bandido and there was a whole team involved. He was confident in his current roster and their ability to train new wrestlers to replace those who left or had commitments elsewhere. In a post-press conference interview, Gonzalez  insisted he and Bandido were still friends, said this was more about Bandido needing to focus on AEW and implied CMLL didn’t want Bandido around as part of the agreement with Big Lucha. This situation was handled more peacefully and professionally than normal for wrestling.

Potro de Oro showed up at the end to make his title challenge and nothing was said about the status of former Black Generation members Gravity, Galeno del Mal, and Rey Horus. (Komander left the promotion back in January and wouldn’t be allowed to work here anyway now with CMLL wrestlers in. Los Locos Evans still exists but Jack Evans was quietly missing from this press conference, likely for similar reasons.)

On a similar topic, Flamita said he was never under contract to AAA, and just agreed to work some dates. Flamita said he left over political issues, every promotion has their politics, CMLL has its own politics, and he considered himself an independent wrestler. Flamita said that he was part of Big Lucha today, but “tomorrow I could go.” That came off more as his heel anti-Big Lucha character than a real thought about leaving. Flamita staying in Big Lucha and Bandido leaving separates those two for the first time since Mexablood started in 2017 2018.

Other News

DTU had a show at the Expo Tulancingo on Wednesday, bringing in AAA wrestlers in addition to their own crew. (Mas Lucha streamed this live.) Criterio Hidalgo reports that an edecan was taken by the Red Cross to the hospital after the show with multiple injuries, allegedly having been attacked by a wrestler in a dressing area. There are no more details about who was involved, and neither DTU nor the organizers of Expo Feria have said anything.

RIOT put up the SB Kento & Takuma vs Kartoz & Prometo match from their most recent show. It’s worth going out of your way to watch.

Box y Lucha posted another set of 1956 Box y Luchas. I haven’t even gotten through the old set. I’m happy with what I’ve seen so far; these are more informative than I would’ve thought.

Panama’s El Titán (Titán, 77) passed away on August 6th. He’s said to a wrestler in the 60s and 70s, retiring in 1983 after fracturing a rib.  I think that would’ve been before the era of Panama wrestling that recently turned up.) He’s said to have won an unnamed world champion.

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.

 

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.