Volador and Vikingo unclear injury, Noche de Campeones, Yutaini out of Big Lucha

CMLL

Volador is hopeful of returning to action as quickly as Tuesday. I had to listen to the CMLL Informa segment about this three times before I was sure I heard correctly. Volador suffered a third-degree separation of his AC joint; had it been any worse, he’d need surgery and the doctor probably would’ve stopped the match on Saturday. Quick googling tells me people usually need more than a week of recovery time for a third degree separation; I’m sure he’ll be wearing a brace but he wouldn’t be right for a while.

CMLL (MON) 09/18/2023 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) El Novato & Xelhua b Espíritu Maligno & King Jaguar
2) El Perverso & Prayer b Rey Apocalipsis & Siky Ozama
3) Hera, Olympia, Reyna Isis b La Maligna, Lady Metal, Skadi
Lady Metal replaced La Magnifica, making her CMLL Arena Puebla debut. This is not the Lady Metal of the 90s/00s, but a Puebla luchadora and the first local luchadora to wrestle on a CMLL show here in modern times.
4) Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. b Lince Dorado & Samuray del Sol 
Villanos won with pulls of the trunks
5) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma DQ Kevin Knight, Rocky Romero, TJP 
Romero unmasked Maya.
6) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Templario DQ Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja
Originally a CMLL Trios title match, changed due to Volador injury on 09/16 with Templario stepping in earlier on 09/18. Angel de Oro unmasked Templario, seemingly setting up a singles match

CMLL usually has extra women available on short notice to fill in for an absence in Guadalajara. The same for the Mexico City shows. Puebla was the one stop on the current circuit where one woman missing a show meant someone else had to sit out to keep even numbers. (Other promotions would just book a five way or a three way match, but that’s not how CMLL works.) That seems to have changed now. I don’t know if Lady Metal or the other Puebla luchadoras will have memorable CMLL careers, but just filling in that gap helps the rest of the women. It’s a small thing and it shouldn’t have taken long to figure out, but it’s still good they got there. Lady Metal debuting was a (small) story locally; El Sol de Puebla played up the significance of one of their own luchadoras making to the city’s biggest regular arena.

The Villanos truly did beat the Lucha House Party, you can check the video. I didn’t screw that result up. I think it was Villano III Jr. who pulled the trunks so hard that Lince wasn’t actually pinned but close enough. Samuray & Lince defeating Titan and Soberano and losing to the Villanos is not something I would’ve guessed.

CMLL (TUE) 09/19/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Átomo & Chamuel b Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II
2) Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia b Aéreo, Galaxy, Shockercito
3) Futuro & Neón b El Coyote & Pólvora
Polovra ended up with a bloody nose
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Volcano b Akuma, Kráneo, Okumura
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Terrible b Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Titán
Terrible was cut underneath the eye in the ending dive sequence.
6) Máscara Dorada b Soberano Jr.
Dorada took 2/3

Because I’m dumb, I kinda got distracted by a search for a super obscure Chicago indie luchador when I should’ve been watching this main event. It’s a mystery why I did that like it’s a mystery why TKG always tweets me at my non-lucha account. Soberano & Dorada seemed to be doing a lot of stuff, and it almost all worked – they slipped trying while both rope walking to set up a Spanish Fly, a spot made famous by Ricochet/Flamita. It was a GIF that was everywhere for a moment, and now I can’t find it at all. I’ll give this a better watch later, but it sounded like people who are better at focusing liked it quite a bit.

CMLL (TUE) 09/19/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, thecubsfan]
1) Obek, Rav, Temerario b Fúnebre, Infierno, Mortis
2) Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono b Cris Skin, Demonio Maya, Omega, Principe Daniel
3) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio, Virus b Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga, Satánico
4) Reyna Isis & Sanely b La Catalina & La Maligna
Sanely beat Catalina with a mask pull
5) Dulce Gardenia & La Fashion b Bestia Negra & Vaquero Jr.
Gardenia & Fashion pushed to become the first exotico team in CMLL history
6) Dark Magic, Lince Dorado, Samuray del Sol b Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico
7) Arlequín, Averno, Místico b Kevin Knight, Rocky Romero, TJP
Mistica on Rocky

Seemed like a standard Guadalajara show.

ACG (THU) 09/21/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Alex Romano, Demencía, Roberto Paz Jr., Sobek vs Centauro, Dragón Kid, Olimpo, Santi Betancourt
2) Águila Guerrera, Makabre, Maravilla Azteca vs Kaiju, Rey Plata, Rey Tritón
3) Valkiria vs Sexy Sol, Dulce Kitty, Náutica, La Pantera, Atenea, Fría, Yemaya, Xenna, Adria, Estrella Maldita, Luna [cibernetico]
4) Brian Villa, Colorado, Gallo, Giro vs Delirio, Dr. Clown, Rayman, Xtreme Fly
5) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga

Seems like an unusual Guadalajara show. This is a Dia de Luchador special, with wrestlers from the other Guadalajara arenas pulled in. Everything from Guadalajara ends up streaming.

CMLL (FRI) 09/22/2023 Arena México
1) Kaligua & Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio & Pierrothito

1) Hombre Bala Jr. & Pelon Encapuchado vs Difunto & Espanto Jr.
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi vs Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Virus vs TJP [lightning]
4) Águila Solitaria, Black Terry, Felino, Octagón, Satánico, Solar I vs Atlantis, Blue Panther, Negro Navarro, Pantera, Panterita del Ring, Rocky Santana [cibernetico]
5) Ángel de Oro, Místico, Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Rocky Romero, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

This is the Dia de Luchador show; the holiday is on the 21st, the legend’s cibernetico is in their honor. There will also be a blue (red) carpet showing off in various legends. Sobreano steps in for Volador in the main event, which actually works perfectly for the Templario feud. Virus versus TJP is a real treat for the Luchadorks. Samuray, Lince and Kevin Knight appear to have finished up already.

CMLL (SAT) 09/23/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono vs Inquisidor [lightning]
2) Max Star, Oro Jr., Valiente vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sanely vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
4) Star Black, Valiente, Volcano vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
5) Negro Navarro & Solar I vs Blue Panther & Felino
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario

You have to show up early, can’t miss that Leono/Inquisidor tilt. Navarro/Solar versus Panther/Felino is a match that should show up as a subscriber bonus.

I was assuming CMLL’s Noche de Champions votes closed today. That’s the normal pattern: they have to announce on the Informa 10 days ahead of time, because the CMLL card will come out before the next Informa. That’s not the case this time: CMLL is leaving the voting open for another week. That means the 09/29 show will have no advertised matches until a couple of day prior. It’s not a first time ever- CMLL used to run cards in the 60s and earlier where the entire show was determined by a battle royal – but it is a unique bit.

The 09/29 card looks like this as the moment, in card order:

1) Mistico vs Virus for the NWA Welterweight Championship
2) Rey Cometa, Dulce Gardenia, Espiritu Negro vs Villano III Jr., Hijo del Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. for the Mexican National Trios Championship
3) Barbaro Cavernario vs Esfinge for the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship
4) Stephanie Vaquer vs La Catalina for the (vacant) CMLL World Women’s Championship
5) Mercurio vs Pierrothito for the CMLL Pequeno Estrellas Championship
6) Titan vs Mascara Dorada for the CMLL World Welterweight Championship

Most of this is set. There’s three stories that still seem to exist

• Mascara Dorada leads Fugaz by 885, a decent amount. Fugaz has picked up an average of 162 votes a day for the last week. If that stayed the same, Fugaz will pass Dorada on Tuesday. It probably won’t stay the same, but going the extra week makes that title match a 50/50 bet.
• Dragon Rojo has gotten the expected sympathy votes following losing his mask. He’s nowhere near passing Virus for the title match with Mistico (1362 lead to Virus), but those extra votes for Dragon Rojo may help Mistico’s title match to get out of the opener. They’re about a 157 votes behind.
• The 3/4/5 matches are all close enough in votes that they could change order if people got motivated.

CMLL said they’d have info on the Women’s Gran Prix and Universal tournament on next week’s Informa.

CMLL put up tickets for October Arena Mexico on Ticketmaster. That also is normally a way to figure out which of those shows are the big ones (probably the Gran Prix), but all the Fridays are the same price. The Tuesday 10/31 tickets are a little more expensive than the rest of the month on the low end, but you could’ve guessed that was a Dia del Muertos show just by the date.

LuchaTalk returns to talk about the CMLL Aniversario.

Box y Lucha 3569 has lots of Aniversario coverage.

AAA

Hijo del Vikingo’s status still seems up in the air. AAA’s said nothing and continued to promote Saturday’s card as if it’s still on. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer was doubtful that Vikingo would be wrestling on Komander on that show; it sounded like AAA thought it was unlikely but Vikingo is still trying to rehab his way into still wrestling.

There’s a lot more uncertainty in Vikingo’s situation. It’s understandable if they want to give Vikingo as much time to see if he can make it or not. But AAA could also announce “hey, we’re not sure if Vikingo is going to be medically cleared but, just so you know, we’ll give you a worthwhile replacement if he can go”, and they’ll never do that. The only way we’ll get an update on this before Saturday is if they rule Vikingo out, and even that isn’t a sure thing. If Vikingo can do, AAA historically won’t take advantage of the story to promote around it early – they normally just won’t talk about it until the show starts Saturday. AAA really could use some noise. This isn’t the way they’d want to make it, but it’s weird they won’t take advantage of it.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 09/21/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 [Copa Mexico Argentina]
all wrestlers a surprise
2) Avisman vs El Mimo [Cero Cuerdas, quarterfinal]
3) Judas el Traidor vs Aramis [Cero Cuerdas, quarterfinal]
4) Súper Comando vs Karaoui [Cero Cuerdas, quarterfinal]
5) Dr. Cerebro vs Cerebro Negro [Cero Cuerdas, quarterfinal]
6) Hijo del Pirata Morgan vs Galeno del Mal © [IWRG IC HEAVY]
first defense

True IWRG hours: Rey Espectro was IWRG heavyweight champion, IWRG got mad at him for whatever reason, and vacated the title after eight months with no defenses. Galeno del Mal won the title, and IWRG’s getting around to his first defense thirteen months into his reign. Galeno went five months without appearing in Naucalpan until this past week’s RGR show. I first wrote Hijo del Pirata Morgan was champion because no one keeps track or cares about any of these IWRG belts, but also IWRG has no interest in changing.

The Cero Cuerdas tournament is the no ropes “grappling” battle, or at least that’s the idea. Mexican wrestlers have a tendency to ignore the rules in these sort of matches. Mimo seems to have gotten the spot originally announced as Travis Banks. The opening battle royal is a Hip Hop 10th Anniversary match where everyone is a surprise.

Other News

Yutani announced he’d left Big Lucha on Tuesday. He frames it as “to explore new opportunities and grow my career.” Yutani was left off the 09/30 Big Lucha card, which seemed weird for a Mexico versus the World theme. I had wondered if he’d be the mystery person in the main event, but I’m told that’s planned to be someone else. I’m not sure if Yutani is returning to Japan or wrestling elsewhere in North America. Elemental and Extasis are the names that left Big Lucha earlier this year; both have definitely been booked a bit more often on their own, but in the interchangable “action” area with no obvious sign of individual growth or opportunities to move up.

Former CMLL luchador Halcon Negro will be honored in Arena Tigre Padilla on Thursday. I read this news bit praising him and going over his career and I was concerned he must have died but, no, they’re just honoring him while he’s there for it.

Record has an interview with “Alebrije AAA” and “Black Alebrije” about their feud. It doesn’t say where this feud is happening, and comes off usual “newspaper outlet writes about wrestlers as if they’re a big star, without actually checking.” This Alebrije claims he’s been given permission by Dorian Roldan and Marisela Pena to use the gimmick even though they’re not using him on TV “right now.” He appeared as Alebrije AAA TV between 2012 and 2014, so “right now” is going on about a decade. My theory is he’s involved in promoting AAA shows in Puebla somehow and letting him keep the gimmick is part of the promotional agreement (at least until AAA decides they need it again for something.) He works in Puebla a lot on indies, and that’s where the Black Alebrije feud is actually happening The Record interview seems to confirm he’s the former Mascara Divina, as we have in the wiki but not in the database (until now.)

Segunda Caida continues its deep dive into Panamanian wrestling.