CMLL
CMLL (FRI) 09/01/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores]
1) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Astral, Leono, Robin 
9:40
2) Capitán Suicida, Halcón Suriano Jr., Pelon Enacpuchado b Crixus, Raider, Vegas
11:09. Pelon Enacpuchado is Fuego as a sponsored character for Pelon Pelo Rico.
3) Esfinge b Blue Panther Jr., Magia Blanca, Fugaz, Magnus, Pólvora, El Audaz, Difunto, Futuro, Espanto Jr., Rey Cometa, Furia Roja [Copa Independencia, semifinal]
About 32:00. Polvora replaced Villano III Jr. on Sunday
4) Máscara Dorada & Templario b Dragón Rojo Jr. & Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
14:40. Dorada & Templario had matching outfits as if a regular team.
5) Místico b Soberano Jr.
16:44. Mistico won clean on a third La Mistica attempt.
The stream had frame rate issues during the Copa Independencia, then the sound was two seconds off from the video for the rest of the night. I’m not sure if it’s me being old, or latent trauma from trying to get the AAA streams to work, but I just have a very hard time staying interested in a show when the audio and video go out of sync. If you can get past that – or just wait until it’s fixed on YouTube – the top three matches all were worth watching. I’d rank Mistico/Soberano as below the Titan match but above the Takahashi match, but also why do we have to always rank things, it serves little purpose. Dorada & Templario were a cool looking team but I can’t tell what CMLL is doing with Templario past the Aniversario show, if there’s even a plan past that. (Like the Sugehit/Zeuxis mask match and others, this seems much more about the loser losing than the winner winning.)
I didn’t write down the elimination order because those were happening when the feed was breaking, but the final two of Copa Independencia were Esfinge and Rey Cometa. I know in my head Esfinge was winning because he hadn’t used Nudo Egipica to that point, and my heart hoped for a miracle which didn’t arrive. Esfinge feels like the successor to La Mascara, a guy who gets is fine at best but gets more attention than a fine at best guy should get. La Mascara at least had the obvious family connections, while Esfinge’s family (former Guadalajara booker Magnum) was exiled from the promotion after some accusations. There is some real Esfinge popularity – he’s winning his Night of Champions poll at last check – but I don’t get why he’s picked over so many others.
“Pelon Encapuchado” (no accent in Pelon) was the biggest talk after the match, with lots of Takes about CMLL having a sponsored character being out of character for a serious promotion. Snack company Pelon Pelo Rico was the sponsor this time, but CMLL’s done similar things in the past. The current Diamante Azul Diamante Azul was ‘Metro’ for years to promote that newspaper. Pelon Encapuchado returns on Tuesday.
CMLL (SAT) 09/02/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) Crixus, Futuro, Halcón Suriano Jr. b Cachorro, Diamond, Inquisidor
Crixus replaced Grako
3) La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b La Jarochita, La Magnifica, Skadi
4) Felino & Felino Jr. b Blue Panther Jr. & Dark Panther
5) Cavernario, Euforia, Stuka Jr. b Star Jr., Titán, Valiente
6) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja b Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr.
Nothing much to say about this one.
CMLL (SUN) 09/03/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Minos b Angelito [lightning]
2) Brillante Jr. & Max Star b Halcón Suriano Jr. & Neón
3) Akuma, Dark Magic, Misterioso Jr. b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Hombre Bala Jr. b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volcano DQ Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Rey Bucanero
Rey Bucanero was eliminated but came back in to attack Blue Panther anyway.
6) Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
The Rey Bucanero/Blue Panther bit is weird enough to be an angle but not definitely one. CMLL recap noted it was unusual to see past Aniversario opponents Gran Guerrero and Niebla Roja back on the same team.
CMLL (MON) 09/04/2023 Arena Puebla [Porra Fresa]
1) Dreyko, Fénix SO, Rey Apocalipsis b Astro, Black Tiger, Millenium
2) Halcón Suriano Jr., Meyer, Neón DQ Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
Disturbio fouled Meyer
3) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. b Amnesia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa 
Amnesia replaced Dulce Gardenia.
4) Magnus & Rugido © b Fugaz & Stigma [MEX TAG]
second defense
5) Averno, Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr. DQ Ángel de Oro, Templario, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
Dragon Rojo unmasked Templario
The Aniversario guys aren’t matching up Tuesday or Friday; maybe they’ll have one more swing it at next weekend? Dulce not showing up is another sign whomever wins the Night of Champions voting is going to win the belts.
CMLL (TUE) 09/05/2023 Arena México
1) Brillante Jr., Futuro, Histórico vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
2) Sanely & Skadi vs Hera & Olympia
3) El Audaz, Pelon Enacpuchado, Volcano vs Kráneo, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Máscara Dorada vs Templario [lightning]
6) Atlantis, Octagón, Titán vs Hechicero, Terrible, Último Guerrero
Mascara Dorada and Tempalrio were good partners and probably good opponents on Tuesday. Emergency Torneo de Escualo Historico gets a third booking!
CMLL (FRI) 09/08/2023 Arena México
1) Kaligua & Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Lluvia & Stephanie Vaquer vs La Jarochita & Zeuxis
3) Dulce Gardenia vs Star Black, Stigma, Dark Panther, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star, Zandokan Jr., Akuma, Rugido, Hijo del Villano III, El Coyote, Crixus [Copa Independencia, semifinal]
4) Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario
5) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Guerrero Maya Jr., Templario, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
No real Aniversario preview match on the final Friday is highly irregular. This is a good lineup and Aniversario looks like it’s going to sell out anyway, but it’s a pattern break.
The Copa Independencia winner from this block is probably a rudo. CMLL’s listed them in depth chart order, so you can read that as Zandokan as the favorite.
The Aniversario show is up to purchase on Boletia. It’s 13USD before fees.
The two competitive Night of Champions categories are the CMLL Pequeno Estrellas championship and the CMLL Light Heavyweight champioship. Minos currently leads Pierrothito to face Mercurio, though the lead there has changed multiple times during the weekend. Averno’s supporters are cutting into Esfinge’s lead for the Light Heavyweight Championship, and would get Averno in to first place in a couple of days if it stays it is. (It almost never does.) That minis battle is getting the most votes of any category, but right behind it is actually the CMLL Welterweight Championship. Fugaz gets a lot of votes, but Mascara Dorada is getting even more a day. Fugaz isn’t catching up, but it’s giving it a chance to be the main event.
Heraldo Deportes interviewed Dragon Rojo Jr., who mentioned he was so skinny when he started that others made fun of him. The article notes that six Torreon/Gomez Palacios luchadors have lost their mask on the Aniversario in the last fifteen years (Black Warrior, Blue Panther, Ultimo Guerrero, La Sombra, Niebla Roja, and Stuka Jr.) They throw in Volador Jr. but I think Monclova counts as a different region. Anyway, Dragon Rojo wants not to disappoint his hometown fans.
Angelito credits Negro Casas for getting him to CMLL. He was a kid accompanying his luchador dad to the ring and doing a couple spots for fun on a show with CMLL wrestlers, and Casas asked if he actually was trained. Angelito admitted no, and Casas demanded he demonstrate his skills if he’s going in the ring. Angelito tried some holds with Casas, who was impressed Angelito knew to work the left side. (Angelito’s uncle and father had taught him that much.) Casas introduced Angelito to Ultimo Guerrero and Atlantis, and encouraged him to train and come to CMLL.
AAA
I’m behind on watching everything; haven’t seen AAA TV (it’s on the Drive),, haven’t seen the big DTU tag match, and haven’t seen much. Maybe tonight.
AAA posted a normal hype bit for their Mexico City taping, talking about the Octagon Jr. versus Mecha Wolf versus Bestia 666 versus Drago match #1 contenders match for the Latin American championship. They hyped it as “QT Marshall is waiting to make his first defense!” AAA had previously hyped QT’s defense versus Gravity on Rampage as the first defense. What’s happening here is that AAA normally only counts defenses that air on TV, so the CDMX defense would be QT’s . I don’t know that’s a sensible policy in 2024, but fine, whatever. The problem is QT Marshall’s deal is he’s going to be defending the title everywhere, be in AEW or Progress or whatever random group Marshall is going to wrestle with in Montreal. It ultimately is just another thing to laugh about with AAA.
Las Shotas did work The Crash on Friday so I presume they’re out of AAA but I don’t really know. The only place these things are discussed are on Konnan’s podcast and I haven’t listened to that in three weeks. Maybe I’ll catch up this week.
Villano IV told La Tijera says he hopes to recover from a recent operation and still have the retirement match he and Pentagon talked about after last year’s mask match. The story going around after that operation was Villano IV was totally done and wouldn’t be returning, so I’m choosing to take this as a sign that the situation wasn’t as bad as originally thought (though he should probably still not wrestle.)
Psycho Clown is not on the next two TV AAA TV tapings. It turns out there’s a reason for skipping at least one of them. Psycho Clown showed up on NOAH’s event on Sunday in Osaka, attacking El Hijo del Dr. Wagner. Wagner had been receiving mystery messages for a while, and they’re playing off the Dr. Wagner Jr./Psycho Clown mask match. Psycho will challenge Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. for the GHC National Championship on September 24th in Nagoya and will be working the tour leading up to it.
I’m intrigued how Psycho is going to do in another environment; I don’t expect NOAH to do the same interference-heavy matches we see in AA, but I’m less certain if it’ll still be a weapons heavy match or something else. It might get to subscribe. Obviously, the idea is to get some lucha libre fans interested in checking that out; another big title match is Los Golpeadores (Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf) wrestling Ninja Mack & Alejandro for the junior tag titles. (They were scheduled to challenge Chris Ridgeway and Daga, but Ridgeway is out with an injury.) Wrestle Universe, NOAH’s streaming site, has done some crossover with Mas Lucha in the past and this might be a good time to use a couple of their announcers to make it more palatable for Spanish language viewers.
I do not believe there is currently an AAA/NOAH agreement and instead guys like Daga and Psycho Clown are working directly and individually with NOAH (and booker NOSAWA.) Psycho Clown disappearing from Mexico for a month does say something about the relative disparity between the two companies. AAA’s big shows outdraw NOAH’s big shows (outside Muto retirement events), but the only way Psycho Clown is going to Japan for a month is if he’s getting paid well. He’s never seemed like the guy who grew up on Japanese wrestling and really wanted to be there, like Daga – it’s a money move.
Dorian Roldan appeared on the EntreFirmas podcast, which mostly focus on how copyrights and intellectual rights work in business (and lucha libre in this case.) There are not many wrestling scoops in there; there is a show ending discussion about how AI could change production and music generation for wrestling someday if that’s more what you’re looking for. Roldan’s asked about enforcing AAA’s trademarks and says it depends on the promoter and the event, and it’s even tricky if they want to do it. It’s hard to track down an ‘underground’ promoter, and the cost of suing is high compared to the reward. There’s a discussion about the differences in the US. Roldan puts over the power of a Cease and Desist as super strong, like a person who’s been on both sides of those.
IWRG
IWRG (SUN) 09/03/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Hatana & Sagitarius b Amazonika & Satania 
2) Arkano, Dr. Cerebro Jr., Último Legendario b Águila Roja, Cerebro Negro Jr., Mr. Mike
3) Centvrión, Gannicus, Rey Espartano b Fly Star, Mosca, Rey Astaroth
4) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. b Cerebro Negro, Hip Hop Man, Ivan Rokov [EdM Trios, final]
Hip Hop Man was busted open and left the match. Pandemia won the vacant titles, then were attacked by the Pigs.
5) Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool b Hell Boy, León Dorado, Mr. Leo, Shocko
6) Dr. Cerebro & Dr. Wagner Jr. b Cibernético & Toxin
Wagner won via foul
Hip Hop Man implied La Pandemia wasn’t professional with him in the match. I believe the incident starts 17m35s into this video. Pandemia were going for a triple powerbomb spot, Hip Hop Man doesn’t go up right, and then they’re definitely kicking him in the head as Cerebro Negro tries to move it on. There may have been something that preceded it because it escalated quickly. Another day in IWRG.
ManiaCop 360 has quit IWRG. Again, this is someone who IWRG had stopped booking taking the stance they’ve left IWRG. (This seems more a IWRG HR problem of not telling people when they’ve been let go.) Maniacop560 hasn’t wrestled in Naucalpan since April. I believe ManiaCop 360 is also Garra Mortal Jr., though IWRG did something with both guys appearing at once to throw people off.
IWRG will have a technical wrestling “no ropes” tournament on 09/14. I can’t wait to see what that actually turns into.
Other News
El Mago announced he’ll be wrestling Ultimo Dragon on the 10/28 Pro Wrestling Revolucion show. In a Instagram post, Mago mentions his goal when he started wrestling was to wrestle Ultimo Dragon, Shawn Michaels, and Rey Misterio Jr., so he’s getting one of them. (The former Draztick Boy didn’t cross paths with Ultimo Dragon in his Japanese trips.) Mago hasn’t wrestled in Mexico this year. He mentions he’s left home (Hidalgo) to work elsewhere for the last seven months, trying to get better and find opportunities he wasn’t getting before. It’s off my radar, but Cagematch has him in wrestling in California over the last few months.
Mas Lucha posted highlights from the recent Big Lucha show. A Viajero promo confirms he and Brujo de Iztapalpa will have their mask match in December. Big Lucha posts one match from this show on their channel daily. I know Japan’s Stardom has done that, but I’m unsure if anyone else does. I presume it’s about trying to make the content last as long as possible. They did post a video where Black Generation were responsible for the video crew for posting the show late.
Rey Fenix was back wrestling on Sunday.
Milenio has a long article on visiting Zona 23.
A profile on Titan’s del Ring’s La Masa.
Segunda Caida reviews more Monterrey lucha libre.
Box y Lucha 3667 has a Damian 666 and Esfinge on the cover.