CMLL
Ticketmaster says CMLL Aniversario’s show has sold out. CMLL hasn’t made an announcement yet. This is the second straight year CMLL’s sold out the show prior to the day of the event. Ticket sales seemed ahead of pace early but seemed a little slower to finish out. They got there nearly a week ahead of time. You can still buy it on PPV, and I’m certain there will be a busy reseller market around Arena Mexico on the day of the show.
The Aniversario is on Saturday. There is no Friday Arena Mexico show, and no Saturday Arena Coliseo show as a result. We’ll all forget sometime this week but I may run this explanation into this ground.
CMLL (FRI) 09/08/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del RIng, Excelsior, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores (video), thecubsfan]
1) Kaligua & Pequeño Magía b Mercurio & Pierrothito 
8:23
2) La Jarochita & Zeuxis b Lluvia & Stephanie Vaquer [Relevos Increíbles] 
9:35. Both teams had issues in the third fall, and fell back to teaming with their usual partner by the end of the match.
3) Rugido b Capitán Suicida, Star Black, Stigma, Dark Panther, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star, Zandokan Jr., Akuma, Hijo del Villano III, El Coyote, Crixus [Copa Independencia, semifinal]
40:18. Capitan Suicida replaced Dulce Gardenia. Order of elimination: Max Star (by Hombre Bala), Coyote (Crixus), Hombre Bala (Zandokan), Suicida (Villano III), Stigma (Akuma), Villano III (Rugido), Akuma (Zandokan), Zandokan (Dark Panther), Crixus (Star Black), Dark Panther (Rugido), Star Black (Rugido)
4) Volador Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario [lightning]
9:20.
5) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico b Guerrero Maya Jr., Templario, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
14:33. Each CMLL player dressed in the colors and were seconded by an NFL mascot, as part of a promotion with NFL Mexico. Teams: Atlanits Jr. (Dallas Cowboys), Mascara Dorada (Los Angeles Rams), Mistico (Denver Broncos, lead group), Guerrero Maya Jr. (Kansas City Cheifs), Templario (Las Vegas Raiders), Titan (Arizona Cardinals.) Mistico submitted Templario, though Templario’s team would win the Week 1 match up.
In retrospect, Guerrero Maya’s big main event spot was because NFL Mexico requested an all-mask man main event, Maya had Cheifs colored gear, and Maya was available for both this show and the watch party on Sunday. (Maybe it helped that both Maya and the Chiefs are native gimmicks; probably that’s more thought they gave.) Maya did well; this was really more about the NFL. This wasn’t literally a NFL Mexico sold show, but it was fairly close with all the promotional work they were doing before and after the show. Again, it was weird more than it was annoying, and the big matches all had good energy (which isn’t always the case with sponsored stuff.) It’s not a great placement for CMLL to have their final show to build up the Aniversario, but it was also the final show to build up Week 1 of the NFL season, and that took priority. CMLL had a lot of Denver Bronco fans in attendance so they made money that way, and there was likely some other sponsorship payment.
CMLL and the NFL mascots did promotional work on Thursday and Friday, then Templario and Guerrero Maya Jr. appeared at a watch party for Sunday’s Denver Broncos/Las Vegas Raiders game. (Templario’s Raiders won.) Friday’s Arena Mexico show included the mascots doing a pre-show workout. It was basically the same tumbling and basic wrestling drills students do before the weightlifting contest each year (or before the IWRG FILL shows.) Seeing people in mascot costumes doing lockups and jumping jacks was obviously bizarre, but it was fun enough.
The main event was fun, as said previously. Volador and Cavernario worked hard for the time they had. The cibernetico was stretched too long for me, and CMLL does the “one guy beats two at the end to shockingly win” bit too often as an ending, but there were good stretches to be found in there. Zeuxis & Vaquer were great in their tag match and they had a logical build to next week’s bigger one. The minis had a lot of effort, if not the best execution. It was a good Friday night show, even as an advertisement for something non-wrestling.
The best thing about Rugido versus Esfinge is they can cut the time drastically if need be and no one will be unhappy.
CMLL (SAT) 09/09/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Mije & Periquito Sacaryas
2) La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Metálica b Amapola, La Guerrera, La Maligna [Relevos Increíbles]
3) El Coyote, Okumura, Raider b Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray
Raider replaced Polvora
4) Valiente b Felino [lightning]
5) Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Volcano b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Ángel de Oro, Hechicero, Niebla Roja b Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Star Jr.
A show.
CMLL (SUN) 09/10/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Minos & Pequeño Violencia b Galaxy & Shockercito
2) Astral, Diamond, Valiente Jr. b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Raider
Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Blue Panther Jr., Flyer, Magia Blanca b Difunto, El Coyote, Felino Jr.
Coyote replaced Misterioso
4) Reyna Isis b La Catalina [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b Magnus, Rey Bucanero, Villano III Jr.
Magnus & Villano III had issues
6) Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible, Volador Jr. b Euforia, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.
Villano III Jr. and Magnus seems like a lightning match set up, though it also seems like two guys who might genuinely not get along. Villano III Jr. jumping to CMLL and getting big spots right away probably is a hard pill for guys who’ve been grinding away there for a long time.
CMLL (TUE) 09/12/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Acero, Aéreo, Galaxy
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Skadi vs Hera, Olympia, Reyna Isis
3) Pelon Encapuchado vs El Coyote [lightning]
4) Fugaz, Star Jr., Valiente vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Star Black & Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Terrible
6) Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Máscara Dorada vs Euforia, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Some very random matches on this show. The main event is a result of Euforia & Soberano having to team, but the semi-main is some people who don’t interact much. I suspect Pelon will not be losing the next couple of months.
The Titan title match moved into the main event spot for the Night of Champions show. It had 27 more votes than than the minis match when I checked this afternoon. (Nothing else is within a thousand votes.) The Titan match moved into the top spot because of Fugaz fans rallying behind their guy. He’s still over 2,300 votes behind Mascara Dorada. I guess the matches will be revealed on the 09/20 edition of CMLL Informa, meaning Fugaz has to pick up at least 230 votes on Dorada every day to catch up. He’s only done that one day so far. Fugaz fans are going to have to stuff the ballot and the Dorada fans are going to have stop for it to have a chance.
Pierrothito has blown past Minos. Less people are voting in that minis category overall, which is why it’s slipped to second. The closest battle for a spot is now Averno and Esfinge, separated by just over 500 votes.
Lady Frost posted that she “won’t be able to compete in CMLL his year“, which presumably means good fortune to her on getting AEW/ROH bookings.
Heraldo Deportes has an interview with Satanico about various topics. He says he’s maybe retiring from the ring a year. He’s not committed to that timeline, just letting how his body and his desire to keep wrestling drive the decision. If he got to pick his retirement match, it’d be him, Averno and Mephisto against Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, and another. Satanico claims he was the first person to tie Octagon’s mask to the ropes, a spot that’s been done hundreds of times since (including last Friday on AEW Rampage with Penta.) A lot of rudo bits people credit to Eddie Guerrero and others was stuff Satanico seemed to be doing first, but I don’t know if he was also borrowing it from others before him.
Yahoo! has a wire article on CMLL turning 90. There’s probably more of these coming this week.
CMLL left the 09/01 show free to all on their YouTube channel. That’s supposed to be subscriber only, and one of the primary benefits of being a subscriber. CMLL tends to leave it open to the public when it goes live (around 9 pm on Sunday nights) until someone points out their mistake. No one hand, at least of Monday morning.
AAA
AAA finished off the Orizaba taping this weekend. It wasn’t much. Argenis & Puma King versus Octagon & Myzteziz had a couple of spots go awry but the guys were trying hard and it was the best action of the night. The other matches had effort to, they’re just not enjoyable to watch in the dead atmosphere of this show. It was jarring to hear the announcers voices echo around a very quiet arena, especially in the opener. You don’t need to watch this set of TV unless you’re making a point of watching every AAA show possible, and that’ll probably be the case for the next two tapings. The next TV that ‘counts’ is the October 1st live broadcast of Heroes Inmortales.
The “Dinamico wants Sexy Star to join the Mexicali group” might have been less than it seemed. It played out here with Dinamico attempting to help out Sexy Star in the women’s match, only to get destroyed by Las Toxicas repeatedly. Dinamico complained to Konnan about the Toxicas, and Konnan tricked Dinamico into taking a Fiesta Sorpresa from the Psycho Circus. Dinamico yelled about fighting the Toxicas or the Psycho Circus. Dinamico doesn’t face Las Toxicas or Psycho Circus on any of them in any of the three TV tapings. That’s about normal for 2023 AAA, though it seems worth mentioning Dinamico got humiliated multiple times on TV right after he worked The Crash show that AAA wrestlers are not supposed to be working. There were almost no other angles on the entire taping; the only other notable one was La Hiedra attacking Dalys, which seems like AAA intends to do at some point but don’t have it scheduled.
QT Marshall has AAA Latin American championship defenses on 09/24 in London again TBA, 10/02 at his school in Georgia versus Vary Morales, and 10/31 in Georgia for “Modern Age Grappling” against Rey Horus. (That last one might be a reloaded version of Jonathan Greshman’s Terminus; it’s the same Twitter account if you go far back.)
La Aficion has an interview with Murder Clown, who says he was the one who came up with the Psycho Circus concept. AAA gave him the chance to come up with an idea, he was a big KISS fan and thought off their Psycho Circus tour. Dorian Roldan actually went to a show on that tour, loved the concept, and immediately approved the idea.
Panama’s Prensa has an article on Negro Casas & Dalys, but it’s behind a paywall.
Hijo del Vikingo will make his Japanese debut on 10/12 with GCW. It seems like a huge miss that AAA couldn’t swing that deal themselves, selling VIkingo’s first match in Japan seems like a huge deal, but these are also things which don’t seem to concern AAA much.
IWRG
IWRG (SUN) 09/10/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Águila Roja & Histeriosis b Águila Oriental & Blue Win
2) Noisy Boy, Pequeño Arkano, Spider Boy b Centurion, Gannicus, Rey Espartano
3) Hellboy, Shocko, Último Legendario b Cerebro Negro, Cerebro Negro Jr., Rey Halcón
Hell Boy asked for a tag title match. Rey Halcón replaced Kiki Roberts.
4) Ivan Rokov b Sádika
Sadika wanted an extreme rematch
5) León Dorado, Mr. Leo, Tonalli b Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba
Lion Brothers challenged Mamba & Diva Salvaje for the RGR TAG
6) Hijo de Canis Lupus b Toxin [RGR HEAVY]
Sunday, Mas Lucha announced, “today, for one time, we’ll show the excitement of Arena Lopez Mateos.” This was odd, because they air events from Arena Lopez Mateos all the time. The “one time” bit seems to be more about not streaming Arena Naucalpan; neither Mas Lucha or IWRG’s YouTube channel has a broadcast of this show. They were both clearly there, taking photos as normal, so maybe it was some technical issue. I’m not sure, no one said a word. Edit: It was not on Mas Lucha’s channel, but it was on IWRG’s channel – though there were technical issues all show.
IWRG (THU) 09/28/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Sparta vs Ryu, Príncipe Centauro, Latino, Hijo De Sparta, Gravedad Cero, Rey Spartano
2) Demencia, Hijo De Brazo De Platino, Reptil vs ?, Amenesia, Gaona
3) Oro Blanco, Papelito, Voltio vs Argus, Eurus, Solido
4) Sádika vs Candela, La Brava, Marina, Princesa Azul, Jesse Jackson, Danessa, Reina Obscura, Mary Caporal
5) Fandango, Hijo De Carta Brava, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Lunatik Fly, Lunatik Xtreme, Súper Boy, Toto
6) Chico Che, Pantera, Último Vampiro vs Black Dragón, Bombero Infernal, Carta Brava (LLBL)
7) Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
8) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Puma de Oro vs Aero Boy, Cíclope, Miedo Extremo
9) Místico & Octagón vs Averno & Fuerza Guerrera
A typical Lucha Libre Boom card: a main event that will probably draw well and as many people as they can possibly book on the rest of the show.
Big Lucha
Big Lucha announced they’ll be back on 09/30, with a Mexico versus the World theme. Or Big Lucha versus GLEAT
Big Lucha (SAT) 09/30/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Nordico vs Sangre Nueva
2) Helios & Urzus Mendoza vs Black Skayde & Odisseo Mendoza
3) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 [Copa Independencia]
4) Cometa Maya & Radioactivo vs SB KENTo & Takuma
5) Emperador Azteca, Flamita, Orbita, Vengador vs ?, El Potro de Oro, Jack Evans, Watanabe
CIMA will also be there though, apparently, he’s not the mystery person in the main event. Watanabe appears to be Soma Watanabe. The big theme is Mexico versus the World, which puts Jack Evans on the opposite side of his stablemates. Yutani would fit in the main event to do the same with Flamita & Emperador Azteca, but it could be someone from GLEAT I don’t know about.
A creature named Hannya who looked a lot like Takuma feuded with Radioactivo in 2022. They were scheduled to have a mask match on a Mas Lucha show, Hannya got hurt, the commission decided he was too hurt to do the match, everyone decided the match would happen in Big Lucha instead, and then the match just never happened. I’m still bitter! Perhaps more relevantly, the poster seems to suggest that tag match is for the Big Lucha MIXA titles, when Texano & Super Nova were the ones who won their block. No idea what’s going on.
(There is another Hannya running around low level indies; I presume Takuma sold the gimmick when he thought he was going back to Dragon Gate and never needed it again, and then that didn’t work out.)
I don’t really need another long battle royal. I would like to convince the promotions to run ciberneticos, but they want the entrance pops instead. I’m not sure why this card is so short though. If there’s a pattern to Big Lucha’s uploads, this show will start to go up on October 5th.
I caught up through the last one and one half Big Lucha shows over the weekend. I hadn’t ever gotten through the whole July 29th event, but there’s no much to write about the second half; there were heated matches without great action.
The August 26th show really wasn’t much stronger. The CMLL stuff seemed to work from a business sense – it appeared to be a bigger crowd, they were very into Mistico – but the matches themselves weren’t a success. Voaldor/Templario vs Averno/Mistico did a house show match, and there was no obvious reason to mix the teams up if they were just going to do that anyway. Los Depredadores weren’t totally into their match and still their match with Delta Force was the best of the three. Locos didn’t show anything against the Malditos, and Black Generation/Infenrales didn’t work at all. Three DQ finishes in those matches also just deflated the crowd. I was relieved not to see CMLL participate on the next show.
Potro de Oro and Emperador Azteca was an OK match between two guys who are usually just OK. I understand the importance of making sure the first Golden Ticket winner is a success and the crowd got into the lockerroom coming together to fight off Black Generation and make sure Potro won, but I was not excited for more matches. (Big Lucha leaving in Bandido congratulating Potro de Oro and then abruptly ending the show was weird.) The Viajero/Brujo vs Andromeda/Carito match was well done for that sort of mixed partner match. Forneo/Skayde worked well for the brutality if it still was that very Mexican wrestling stipulation match where the stipulation only comes in to play on the finish. (The finish did look adequetely painful to keep Forneo down for 10 seconds.) The battle royal was very long and had great moments and moments where everyone looked like the inexperienced wrestlers they are. I think ti was enough that you’d be satisfied if you watched Big Lucha every month but there’s nothing here that an occasional viewer has to see.
Other News
Segunda Caida watched more Monterrey lucha libre.
Lucha Va Voom will have a special show in Los Angeles honoring Cassandro on 09/22. Cassandro was a big part of the early days of that show, and I presume it’s tied to some premiere of the film there. Reviews of the movie are starting to turn up, generally positive. The movie is only airing downtown around me and I’m not sure I’m up for a 9 pm showing (especially when I can just watch it on Amazon in a week), but maybe I’ll figure it out.
Box y Lucha did their weekly old issue drop, this time with end of 1957 issues. (They skipped about five months.) There are only 7 issues this time, which seems to be because they’re throwing in a edition of the monthly Clinch magazine and that’s double the size of a usual Box y Lucha. I need a Box y Lucha contact so I can figure out what issues they’re going to publish and plan accordingly.
Some other match recommendations from the weekend
- Vikingo vs Arez vs Gringo vs Aramis from F1rst Wrestling was Great. It’s a four-way, so it leans heavily on everyone doing their best stuff rather than a bigger story, but everyone has spectacular stuff. It’s way more than the fans and the announcers were expecting. It’s on FITE (13 USD), and there’s an enjoyable Jah-C/Rey Horus match in the opener as well.
- West Coast Pro Wrestling has a really good Aramis vs Iron Boy vs Black Taurus match on Sunday. Taurus joined midway through due to legit travel difficulties going cross country from Impact; both he and the promotion could’ve understandably given up (and actually did announce he wouldn’t make it at one point), and deserve credit for preserving through. The show is still up on YouTube for free at the moment, though I believe the stream is supposed to go to IWTV at some point.
I got mentioned some on AEW Colission on Saturday and then got complimented in a quote tweet by Tony Khan on Twitter on a goof tweet. That was weird! So weird that I know I need to write something about but I’ve been struggling to figure out exactly what to write here for about two days. I’m still not sure. I go back and forth on so many things, and you’re going to be stuck with a stream of thought that ought to have been edited or deleted but there’s just no time.
It’s nice to have your note used on cable TV, it’s stressful when the notes you prepared don’t go exactly as you want because something is changed or something just doesn’t come out how you thought you put it down, and you’re stuck replaying how you could’ve put it better. (The “Marvel and DC” thing was a leftover bit from trying to explain the significance of Metalik being on the same team with Aerostar & Drago to people who have no idea what ‘CMLL’ is, only it never made sense when Metalik was no longer on the team.) It’s also nice to be mentioned on the TV show you’re actually watching or be put over on Twitter, but also it’s just internet cred. I think I have enough internet cred to last a lifetime by now, and it doesn’t get me any closer to the things I really want. I’ve also said this before in this space, but while most everyone I know would be thrilled to be put over on TV or a stream or whatever, I’d be cool if I was never even acknowledged or mentioned. I understand this is an insane position to take even as I write it, but I’m OK with my current level of US fame most days. The only kind of fame I would like is the one where I could post things like “it’s crazy Joe and Larry aren’t calling the Vikingo/Komander title match, AAA should fix that“, and it would actually get done. But no amount of internet fame among English-speaking fans is going get AAA (or CMLL or most anyone else in the promotions I actually cover) will allow me to really affect things the way I’d like.
The other, thorny issue is that…I’m kinda of not a big fan of how lucha libre is presented in AEW a lot of the time. it’s great that it gets part of the party and that they’re not forced to change styles. It’s also a lot of guys in masks losing a lot of the time. That trios match I got mentioned in – Dios del Inframundo, Aerostar and Gravity versus Bullet Club Gold – is kind of a classic example of a bunch of luchadors being trucked in to be used as enhancement talent. Maybe it’s the start of longer story with Andrade (who was shown watching the match for no obvious reason.) It still fits the greater pattern, of Komander and Griavty being thrown out on TV a lot to take losses, of Fenix and Penta getting one win before they also take a loss. I’ve mentioned this pattern before, in ways subtle and not so much. Maybe we’ll all be shocked in a few weeks when the teased Rey Fenix versus Jon Moxley match ends with Fenix holding the International Championship over his head in triumph. I don’t think there’s a single person who believes that’s hoping though.
The other thing is – it was an all time solid for AEW to put Dios del Inframundo on US national TV a few months after he changed his gimmick. It wasn’t much of a match, but it was enough to get his name out there. Luchadors are extremely fearful of changing their gimmicks and losing all their bookings, Ex-Drago’s seemed like one where he wasn’t finding a lot of work, and now he’s at least got one big high-profile booking to get the word out there that Dios del Inframundo is the same Drago everyone knew, he’s still in wrestling and he’s very open for work. No guarantee it is going work, but at least he’s got a better shot now. It also feels like he was only there because the team making the decisions isn’t aware of anything lucha libre post-Lucha Underground, to their own deteriment. I like Dios del Inframundo. I like Aerostar. I know those would also struggle to work a US TV style in 2023. I like Gravity, it is great for Gravity to be getting all this experience, but he was also among the least ready of all the regular Big Lucha guys when he got swooped up. AEW seems to make very informed decisions about who they pull in from US indies and they seem pretty knowledgable when they pull in from Japan as well. Pulling in Aerostar and Dios seemed more along the lines of finding the first couple of guys with valid US visas they thought their fans might know because that’s all they knew. (I’m sure AAA was/is upset about it, but it’s more a sign of how little AEW knows about AAA – they wouldn’t have known how to ask for.)
One of things about my Twitter account is a guy a fair amount of DMs that go along the lines of “big fan, being following you for years, you’re the person I go to when I need to know about lucha libre, now I’ve got a question:” and the question is something I feel like I’ve written the answer to about twenty different times. Something they definitely would’ve have said if they were reading as much as they said they were. It’s more a frustration for me than towards the other people – what am I failing to do to get my message across? What different ways can I try to do it if the current way isn’t being heard? – but it’s a frustration nevertheless. It’s great to be acknowledged, it’s more powerful to be heard, and it’s frustrated not to figure out how to broach that gap.