Day: September 22, 2023

KeMonito out of CMLL, CMLL post-Aniversario show, AAA TV in CDMX

thecubsfan

CMLL

Today’s CMLL show, with the correct opener this time:

CMLL (FRI) 09/22/2023 Arena México
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]

The main event is the usual Aniversario rematch, which means Dragon Rojo is either beating Templario or unmasking him. The legends match is interesting as a concept and we’ll see how it works. Virus versus TJP should be great. The opening matches look fine. Not a PPV you must get but probably will be good.

CMLL (MON) 09/25/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja, Hijo de Centella Roja, Xelhua vs Dreyko, El Malayo, Sombra Diabólika
2) Lady Metal vs Hera [lightning]
3) Historico, Novato, Valiente Jr. vs El Perverso, Prayer, Vegas
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Volcano vs Crixus, Difunto, Kráneo
5) Máscara Dorada, Soberano Jr., Titán vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
6) Templario vs Ángel de Oro

Templario continues to stand in for Volador. Lady Metal gets a singles match. Historico gets a match at all; I probably need to add him and Novato to the database already.

CMLL (TUE) 09/26/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Atilus, Maximus, Rey Urano vs Black Boy, Thunder Boy, Yaky Boy
2) Adira, Andrómeda, Katara, Magia Azul vs Centinela, Hatana, Lady Metal (Puebla), Perse
3) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. vs Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte
4) Sanely vs La Catalina [lightning]
5) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Valkiria vs La Maligna, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada vs Gran Guerrero, Soberano Jr., Último Guerrero

Three women’s matches, Soberano as a rudo, this is definitely a Guadalajara card.

This Saturday is FantasticaMania UK, with shows at 2 pm and 8 pm local. I don’t think RevPro has specified what they’re doing here, but I still assume they’re showing up as VOD in the days after the show.

You can pretty much throw out anything I told you about the Night of Champions on Wednesday, and I’m sorry for wasting your time. I don’t think I did something wrong, but what I failed to consider is someone with a voting script using it so intensely as to push their favorite people through. The voting is off the chart. Fugaz/Dorada has been the closest race so it stands out there, but it looks like someone or someone put in between 1,500 and 2,000 votes for a chosen candidate on the ballot. There may be multiple people do it, because everyone’s getting more votes than they were before.

  • In the Mistico race, both Dragon Rojo and Virus have picked up over 1600 votes. Dragon Rojo got more and will go ahead if this keeps pace.
  • In the Cavernario race, Dark Panther got 2000 more votes than his rivals and will come from 3rd place to win if that keeps up. He almost doubled his entire vote total in single day.
  • Nearly 6,000 votes were cast for Titan’s opponents; this is where it seems likely multiple people are trying the same thing. Fugaz’s people were more successful and are ahead now.
  • The women’s race, which had been over as Catalina/Vaquer since day once, now has Zeuxis getting 1,800 votes a day. She’ll catch up tomorrow.
  • Los Indestructibles are the lucky winners in the trios title match, and they’ll catch up by the end of the weekend if the pattern holds up.
  • Angelito is the chosen mini winner, and he’ll get to first place on Saturday

CMLL never throws out script votes, they just try to use a better script the next year, so the numbers are what they are. People should vote to support their wrestlers but it’s going be decided by what the people who run scripts want to see.

KeMonito out of CMLL

The original KeMonito has indeed left CMLL, and it’s a bad breakup. An article in InfoPolitano on Thursday (which appears to actually be a KeMonito press release) explains his side of the story. KeMonito worked as Tinieblas’ mascot Alushe prior to 2002, they had a falling out, and Paco Alonso brought him to CMLL under the mascot character. Alfonso Morales named him on commentary, and it was working with Shocker that first really got him over. KeMonito claims he’s wanted to retire for many years, but was convinced by Salvador Lutteroth and his daughter Gala to continue. Then, the pandemic happened, and KeMonito says he was paid nothing – he had to make all his money off KeMonito items he sold on social media. CMLL brought KeMonito back when they resumed shows, though his salary was cut and he was newly restricted from working certain events and functions. CMLL also asked KeMonito to sign a contract. He refused, citing CMLL not paying money for a Grupo Bimbo commercial campaign he appeared in. KeMonito also mentioned in interviews that he’d like to retire, which upset CMLL – they wanted the character to be timeless and didn’t want to acknowledge any change in the person portraying it. CMLL was OK with KeMonito retiring, but wanted him to do so confidentially and without telling people. The issue stood still for a while when KeMonito took time off due to health issues, and he came back with his own proposal about payment when he returned. CMLL lawyers rejected his proposal, and KeMonito felt he was pressured by various people to just retire with no money. (He names Ultimo Dragoncito and “Terror”, probably referee Terror Chino, as part of this pressure.) KeMonito left the negotiations without signing what he believed was a fraudulent and abusive contract. KeMonito believes CMLL will introduce his replacement this Sunday and wanted his story out in advance. There will also be a KeMonito press conference about the situation on Monday.

The last time I can find KeMonito’s appearing on a CMLL card is the July 21st show. He’s hanging out with the tecnicos in the segunda that week. KeMonito is on the poster the following week,but he’s not around. He’s been on the poster for the Sunday shows every week, including when he was still around, though he hasn’t appeared on them since July as far as I could determine. KeMonito may have heard there’s a replacement coming, or he may be seeing his face on that poster and believe that means it’s happening. It’s unclear where the red devil KeMonito fits in this; it could be meant as a rival to the new character, or it’s possible it’s the replacement. The original KeMonito seems to be using “QueMoniito” on Instagram as his new name.

CMLL hasn’t said anything about this. I thought we might get a trademark “Comunicado Oficial” talking about a separation, but maybe the idea is they still believe they can change out the character without most people noticing, and so they want to keep it as quiet as possible. It’s going to be tough to do that as the media attention for this story picks up, especially after that press conference on Monday.

The idea of replacing KeMonito has precedent; Tinieblas Sr. & Jr. found someone else to wear that Alushe suit, and may have changed that role again over the years with no one noticing. Multiple people using the same character or being changed from one to another happens a bit with the minis and smaller wrestlers. Still, this all seems a delusional plan as stated: any change would’ve gotten out quickly in the gossipy world of professional wrestling (if it wasn’t already physically obvious), and it would’ve been on CMLL how to manage the fallout. I think I would’ve gotten a big crowd out of a show around the original KeMonito retiring, paid him to endorse the replacement (either in a new costume or same), and moved on that way. It’s not my money, though.

Lawsuits over who owns a lucha libre character also have precedent, though they’ve almost always been luchadors suing AAA about it. Mascara Sagrada did get control of his name, and Octagon certainly claims to have won many lawsuits. Wrestlers like LA Park, Kraneo, and Ripper (now back in CMLL as Psicosis) haven’t been as lucky. The people portraying sports mascots are replaced without much fanfare, though there have been some high-profile cases where fans figured out the change, and it became a story for some time.

In a Mas Lucha interview two years or so ago, Dorian Roldan said the one thing he’d like to take from CMLL is KeMonito. He could actually do that now. Roldan did get Microman, though he seems to have finished up last year. Microman was still in CMLL when KeMonito told the promotion he wanted to retire pre-pandemic, and I wonder how much that played into his retirement decision then or how much it played into Microman deciding to take (likely better paying US) bookings.

AAA

AAA tapes Saturday night in Mexico City.

AAA TV (SAT) 09/23/2023 Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal
1) Drago Kid, Dulce Kanela, Mini Vikingo vs Dinámico, Kamik-C, Skalibur
2) Centella vs Chik Tormenta
3) Mr. Iguana & Niño Hamburguesa vs Kento & Takuma [lumberjack]
4) Octagón Jr. vs Mechawolf, Drago, Bestia 666 [AAA LA, #1 Contenders]
5) Dralistico & Negro Casas vs Argenis & Nicho el Millionario
6) Pagano vs Texano Jr. [ambulance]
7) Hijo Del Vikingo © vs Komander [AAA MEGA]

Vikingo is going to wrestle as best I can tell, though he obviously won’t be 100% and I wouldn’t count on him working a full schedule for a while. The last ambulance match had someone help the heel win and this seems likely to be the same finish. (This is the same arena where the Pagano injury angle started.) Nicho looked so done on TripleMania but AAA doesn’t seem it or they just believe they have to have old wrestlers. Octagon Jr. seems likely to get the title shot based on future booking. The last time Kento and Takuma were on TV six months ago, they were facing the same guys in the same lumberjack match; nothing changes on these TV tapings. Centella/Tormenta is a match to showcase Centella. Opener is a lot spots and hopefully most of them will work.

This is not airing, as best I can tell, until 10/15. This week finishes off the Showcenter, next week starts Heroes Inmortales, then this one airs. Maybe.

To finish off Showcenter, AAA is airing:

  • Dulce Kanela vs Ultra vs Gemelo Tapia
  • Mr. Iguana vs Epydemius vs Blecegor
  • Sexy Star vs Centella vs Lady Maravilla

The Space press release mentioning this lineup seems to mention the regular AAA shows are going up on HBO Max. That’s new to me, it’s only been the live TripleManias mentioned prior.

AAA and governmental group INJUVE announced a strategic alliance on Thursday. INJUVE had been working with luchadors dating back to the pandemic, when Ciclon Ramirez Jr., Bandido and other worked on campaigns to promote wearing face masks and entertained people getting vaccines. There’s been at least an informal Big Lucha/INJUVE alliance, and it looks like that’s being extended to AAA. More details are to come later, but it reads like there’s a plan for another talent search.

Dorian Roldan sat down with Mas Lucha for about a half hour after the show, and also pointed in the direction of this being a talent search. I feel like the Big Lucha version of this showed that Mexico City has been picked pretty clean – it’s hard to find an undiscovered CDMX talent at ths point – but AAA’s history with talent searches is fantastic and it makes sense to try again in case someone from elsewhere shows up. There’s also talk of working with the people who’ve been working in campaigns with INJUVE already.

Roldan also mentions AAA will have 23 TV events this year, and last year they had 22. My count is AAA’s announced 20 TV tapings so far; are there three more coming after 11/19 Juarez? He believes the number will be about the same in 2024. Roldan pushed the idea of a new concept for a TV show, which is likely the “Drive to Survive” style reality show they’ve been shopping. There’s also talk about Luchatitlan here – it’s still being mentioned, and comes up later as a place where some AAA wrestlers are working, but there’s nothing new to discuss at the moment.

Jose Manuel Guillen asked him about people leaving AAA, and specifically Fenix working on The Crash. Roldan gives a very long and winding answer involving Lucha Underground and the differences in media rights between Mexico and US which he acknowledges is a very long and winding answer. The specific part about Fenix is everyone in AAA was told in January 2022 that The Crash is off limits, Fenix feels he owes a personal debt to that promoter, but AAA’s policy on not working for them is very clear. That made it sound like Fenix wouldn’t be back soon. On Villano III Jr., the AAA door is very large to come or to go, and he seemed alright with Villano II Jr. deciding to go. Roldan feels most wrestlers are happy working with AAA, bringing up The Crash trying to get Vikingo to jump over to them during the pandemic (!) but Vikingo opting to stay in AAA.

Roldan says the focus for year 32 of AAA is “to grow new talent, new characters for new audiences.” Roldan praises Vikingo for being high on the PWI list again and for the effort he puts in each day. (Vikingo’s status for Saturday never comes up.)

Roldan says he rated the TripleManias in order they happened – Monterrey most, then Tijuana, and Mexico City least. At this point, Jose Manuel Guillen tells Dorian Roldan that he thought TripleMania Mexico City was one of the worst TripleManias in many years. Roldan seems a little taken back, and answers that different fans and spectators see shows in different ways. He brought up friends he brought to a show going crazy for the Vampiro/Konnan confrontation at the end of a Copa TripleMania many years ago as something that hit differently for different people. He thought big moments from this year’s shows were QT Marshall becoming a giant star, Omega/Vikingo proving Vikingo’s top place in wrestling and seeing Alberto, LA Park, and Rush all in the same ring.

Roldan feels that new talent focus needs to be part of next year’s TripleManias, and that an issue is the fans don’t want to see the same wrestlers on all the shows. He also notes there’s been a lot of commentary on how AAA has some great wrestlers, but their rivalries are not followed up on and implies they need to work on that. Roldan says the toughest moment of the year for AAA is when TripleMania is over and they have to figure out what’s next. The results vary. Roldan feels TripleMania 25 (Psycho/Wagner) was great, 26 (four-way) was one of their worst, and 27 (Wagner/Demon) very good. Guillen asked if there would be three TripleManais next year and Roldan said AAA is still working on the plan, but there definitely would be major events in Monterrey, Tijuana, and Mexico City in 2024. They started to wrap up with a chat about Juan de la Barrera and Dorian Roldan talking about all the AAA history in that building. (It was a regular TV taping location for many years, especially in the mid-90s.) Roldan pushed that AAA was focused on championship matches and a strong narrative to finish on the year. He wants to grow new personality, says the luchadoras are part of their upcoming plans, and that they’re looking for new minis. Roldan ends by hinting at big things coming in the first quarter of 2024. Guillen asked about the story of Impact taping in Mexico City this year, which Roldan acknowledged was true but said/joked they were out of time to talk about it now. More on that later.

There are encouraging signs in those answers; a focus on new stars and continuing rivalries is positive. A promise to focus at all is great. Roldan mentioning trying to mix up the talent on the TripleManis is interesting; a reason it’s the same talent is AAA has been running a tournament that requires the same people in key roles on all those shows. Does that mean no tournament in 2024? I do think we may need to retire asking Konnan or Dorian Roldan if they think a AAA show is great. JMG got a good response here, but only after the standard “some people didn’t like it but we consider them a small portion of the fans (that we can take or leave) and here’s a personal story of someone who told me they liked a show” deflection. The only time you’re going to get them to say a show is bad is years after the fact (and I was caught off guard even by Roldan saying 26 was one of the worst.) Maybe asking them once how they decide if a show is good or bad would be a better use of time; how do they tell if they’ve achieved their goal?

Dorian Roldan also has a column in Reforma, but it’s either behind a paywall or the website isn’t working.

There’s an AAA/Mortal Kombat ad. It’s unrealistic; an AAA referee DQing someone for using a weapon seems fake.

AAA EMW’s 09/30 show in Tijuana is not a TV taping but worth putting here:

AAA , EMW (SAT) 09/30/2023 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) El Rey vs Anton Carrillo, Éxtasis
2) Centella, Kitsune, Lady Shani vs Flammer, Lady Lee, Viperss
3) Jack Cartwheel & Rey Horus vs Mr. Iguana & Niño Hamburguesa and Matt Vandagriff & Willie Mack and Myzteziz & Octagón Jr. [AAA TAG, #1 Contenders]
4) Juicy Finau, Laredo Kid, Xtreme Tiger vs Danny Rivera, Rey Misterio Heredero, Silce Boogie
5) Bestia 666, Damián 666, Mecha Wolf vs Antifaz del Norte, Charro Negro (Nuevo León), Toscano
6) Alberto el Patrón, Negro Casas, Pagano vs Daga, Marty Scurll, Texano Jr.
7) Arkángel Divino, Fantastik, Rayo Star, Último Maldito vs Dinámico, Genio del Aire, Kamikaze, Skalibur [cage]

There sure are a lot of people on this card. American Icon isn’t listed on the poster, so this is AAA or EMW bringing in Marty Scurll on their own. Since AAA booking seems entirely frozen in the mid 90s, the main event is probably intended to bring back memories of a “Tijuana star of death” cage match of weapons. Those that were there said it was an outstanding match, impressive photos turned up in a magazine, and it’s an infamous missing match. There were US fans often going to Tijuana to record shows, one who planned to go that show was told nothing special was happening and he could skip and so there’s no known recording of it. 30 years later, they’re doing the same thing – by which I mean hoping someone else records it because the promotion doesn’t seem to be doing it.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 09/21/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, thecubsfan]
1) Psycko Kid b Leo Cristiano, Príncipe Arkano, Ajolotol, Dragón Fly, Torbillno Azul, Manchas, Diablo Jr., Dr. Cerebro, Magic Girl, Hip Hop Man, Black Terry Jr., Sagitarius, Adrenalina, Ivan Rokov, Sammy Guerrero, Omega, Mariachi, Vampiro Aztaroth, La Mosca, Epidemia, La Masa, Mini Scorpió, Canibal Jr., El Canadiense, Buk Danger, Caballero dE Plata, Hell Boy [Copa Mexico Argentina]
all wrestlers a surprise
2) Avisman b El Mimo [Cero Cuerdas, quarterfinal]
3) Judas el Traidor b Aramis [Cero Cuerdas, quarterfinal]
4) Hijo de Canis Lupus & Mr. Mike b Dr. Cerebro Jr. & Spider Fly
5) Karaoui b Súper Comando [Cero Cuerdas, quarterfinal]
6) Dr. Cerebro b Cerebro Negro [Cero Cuerdas, quarterfinal]
7) Galeno del Mal © b Hijo del Pirata Morgan [IWRG IC HEAVY]
first defense

I watched the first four matches, half paying attention the last two. The battle royal was very long and that’s why I want all battle royales to go away. (Maybe the CMLL ones are the good ones?) Photographer Black Terry Jr. was the non-wrestling surprise, as they seem to do every year. He did well. The Canadian guy was awful and everyone was confused on the finish. The grappling matches (“Cueo Cuerdas”) seemed watchable and they sure did a lot of moves in match four. And then I went to bed because the IWRG show started late, I was already sleepy and I thought extra sleep might help me get this post done in a timely matter today. Clearly should’ve just stayed up.

IWRG (SUN) 09/24/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fussion & Sagitarius vs Diablo Jr. & Maggie Girl
2) Dr. Cerebro vs Karaoui [Cero Cuerdas, semifinal]
3) Hell Boy & Shocko vs Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr.
4) Judas el Traidor vs Avisman [Cero Cuerdas, semifinal]
5) Dr. Cerebro Jr., Puma de Oro, Último Legendario vs Ivan Rokov, Relámpago, Súper Comando
6) Hijo de Canis Lupus, León Dorado, Mr. Leo vs Hijo del Fishman, Tonalli, Toxin
7) ? vs ?? [Cero Cuerdas, final]

This tournament finishes up here. “Maggie Girl” is pronounced “Magic Girl”, so either the luchadora or the people putting together the post don’t know how to spell Magic. Could go either way.

Other News

Psycho Clown challenges El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. for the GHC National Champion on NOAH’s show from Nagoya (early) Sunday. You can watch it on WrestleUniverse, (900 yen/~6 USD a month, 1 week free trial for new people.) I’m always intrigued to find out how Psycho Clown can do outside the AAA style. The outcome is in little doubt – Wagner’s surely retaining – but the match itself is really interesting.

The Cassandro movie is up on Amazon Prime. It’s entertaining but still a movie; if you’re looking for something totally realistic, you’re better off with the documentary. There’s a ton of media on the movie, though not anything recent with the principals involved because of the actors and writer’s strikes. The release is probably the biggest wrestling story of the week – even the WWE/SmackDown deal isn’t getting brought up in the New York Times and the Rolling Stone – except it doesn’t seem talked about at all in the wrestling sphere.

Criterio Hidalgo interviews a La Parkita, who says he’s been the one in AAA for the last four years. AAA hasn’t really booked minis for the last couple of years, but they do show up on spot shows. (La Parkita is one gimmick I’ve given up trying to track in the luchadb, because it’s clear there is and have been multiple indistinguishable people using the gimmick at the same time.) The article is more La Parkita’s frustration of over the lack of Hidalgo lucha libre commission. There’s been talk of doing a state-wide once a few times in recent years but it’s never been made official. There are a lot of active luchadors and promotions in the state and no oversight or protections.

There were a lot of “what is lucha libre” articles for Thursday’s 90th Aniversario of CMLL.