Blue Panther anniversary show, Dia del Muertos lineups, AEW/CMLL, AAA in SLP

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 10/20/2023 Arena México
***Blue Panther 45th Anniversary***
1) Brillante Jr. & Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Misterio Blanco & Misterio Negro
2) Johnnie Robbie, Mei Suruga, Sumie Sakai vs Dark Silueta, Reina Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
TBD after the Universal prelim rounds
3) Espanto Jr., Luciferno, Misterioso Jr. vs Dulce Gardenia, Magia Blanca, Panterita del Ring
4) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther vs Gran Guerrero, Hijo de Stuka Jr., Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
Hijo de Stuka replaced Dragon Rojo (shoulder) on 10/14.
5) La Catalina vs Zeuxis [CMLL Universal de Amazonas, final]
6) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Euforia & Soberano Jr. [CMLL TAG]
12th defense

This is a lineup CMLL announced in advance, and didn’t really do anything to build up besides the Universal tournament. It sneaks up on you, but it should still be pretty fun. That main event tag match should be great. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja had a bunch of strong defenses back when this title was getting a little more action, Soberano had a strong year and he and his father seem to like teaming a bunch. There’s suspense in the finish; Soberano’s been a rudo enough that it’s totally possible the father and son team could win the titles and keep teaming up. This is a safe bet to be worth watching.

The Universal final had much more variance in everything but the finish. Zeuxis is winning unless something bizarre has gone on (and it’s a great story of her leaving CMLL, struggling on her own, and then finding herself again upon returning to her original promotion.) I don’t know if we’re going to get a well-rehearshed action packed match like CMLL’s done with other big women’s matches, or if it’ll be two people who seem to be on not great terms struggling to keep it on track in a match. I assume some part of Zeuxis trashing Catalina is to build up this match, but she was doing it long before those two were close to being opponents. Maybe this ends with Catalina proving something to Zeuxis and the fans, but I’m not sure Zeuxis is going that way.

The Panthers versus Stuka/Guerreros will be a reliable crowd-pleasing match; that all Blue Panther has done for the last decade. They may have to talk him into winning (or talk him into winning himself instead of having his sons get the win.) It’s a big night for ex-Cachorro/Hijo del Blue Panther and Hijo del Stuka Jr., who haven’t been getting anything much to do.

This is crazy talk, but it’s been a crazy week. This is Blue Panther 45th anniversary show. Bryan Danielson has repeatedly said he wants to face Blue Panther. That has a much better chance of happening now than about 10 days ago. The best bit would be Danielson sending in a video to CMLL congratulating Panther on 45 years and stating again he wants the match. Don’t care where it happens, don’t care when it happens, just putting that video out there will be good buzz. Things that I believe should be happening aren’t actually happening much this week, so this doesn’t seem too likely, but everything lines up really well for it.

The first half of the card looks just OK. I watched some NJPW trainee shows on their YouTube to get a sense of Johnny Robbie. She’s young – like under three years in wrestling – but seemed solid for that experience. Her match with Trish Adora from this spring was really good, though I kinda walked away wanting to see Trish Adora in CMLL. Maybe that’ll come some other day. Robbie should keep up with the CMLL women fine. The idea of this card is to get as many Laguneros (Torreon/Gomez Palacio and the surrounding area) on the show as possible so there are names showing up who haven’t made the Friday cut much.

It’s on PPV as usual and will go up on YouTube late October 29th.

CMLL (MON) 10/23/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Enigmática & Lady Metal vs Astoreth & Diablita Roja
2) Black Tiger, Rey Samuray, Siki Osama vs Asturiano, Millenium, Rey Apocalipsis
3) Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Disturbio [lightning]
4) Hera, Olympia, Reyna Isis, Sanely, Skadi vs Johnny Robbie, Makoto, Mei Suruga, Sumie Sakai, Tessa Blanchard [cibernetico]
5) Euforia, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr., Stigma vs Esfinge, Hechicero, Star Jr., Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Bárbaro Cavernario © vs Ángel de Oro [CMLL LH]
3rd defense

Cavernario is on a hot streak of late, and so that main event sounds pretty good. The atomicos is a great assortment of people who are left over. (When is Stigma going to defend his title again?) Blanchard joins the crew here.

CMLL (TUE) 10/24/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Adira, Centinela, Katara, Magia Azul vs La Pantera, Quimera, Sexy Sol, Universys
2) Star Black vs El Gallero [super libre]
3) Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Hijo del Calavera vs Carlo Roggi, Destello, Destructor
4) Star Black vs El Gallero [super libre]
5) Brillante Jr. & Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Gallo Jr. & Rafaga Jr.
6) Dulce Gardenia & La Fashion vs Bestia Negra & Ráfaga
7) Johnny Robbie, Makoto, Mei Suruga, Stephanie Vaquer, Sumie Sakai, Tessa Blanchard vs Andrómeda, Dark Silueta, La Maligna, Persephone, Reyna Isis, Valkiria
8) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Averno, Blue Panther Jr., Soberano Jr.

Guadalajara gets the Gran Prix preview Cibernetico. (Zeuxis & Catalina are the missing foreigners.) The 10/31 show looks to be all women here, so they might run it back again the week after or maybe some match is coming out this. Gardenia/Fashion continues to be a tag team here. It was Gallero that Star Black had issues with this past week.

Hatana, who’s part of the group of new woman wrestlers in Guadalajara, is out of action due to an undisclosed injury. She’s raffling off some masks to raise money.

Mistico, Volador Jr., Templario and Atlantis Jr. are doing a meet and greet in Denver on Saturday, then wrestling in the parking lot before the Broncos/Packers game on Sunday afternoon.

Mascara Dorada’s first-round opponent in the British J Cup is Robbie X. Robbie looked good on the FantasticaMania UK show and won last year’s British J Cup, so it’s at best a toss-up for the CMLL wrestler. This is a two-stage tournament, the winners of the four prelim matches meet in the final later that night. It will stream on RevPro’s RevPro On Demand service.

Titan and BUSHI kick off the Super Junior Tag League on Saturday against SHO and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. That’s a new team, Kanemaru joining House of Torture, which probably means this league won’t’ start well for the LIJ team. I have no feel for this tournament and how Titan/BUSHI will do. They could be in the top mix, but I don’t really know. All NJPW shows, as ever, will air on NJPW World.

Sanely is officially out of the Gran Prix. It seemed like she suffered a severe knee injury last week and it was confirmed on Thursday. She tore her right MCL and damaged her ACL. Surgery will put her out 6 to 8 months. This is the second time Sanely’s needed knee surgery, previously suffering an injury during training to return in 2022. Sanely is a great spokesperson for CMLL but I don’t know what her wrestling career is going to be like at this point.

Andromeda will take Sanely’s spot in the Gran Prix. This was an unplanned move, but it’s another moment where moving from AAA to CMLL seems to have benefited her. For what it’s worth, the promoter of KAOZ (Alfonso Botello) had a long video interview with Info Lucha, claiming Andromeda is still under a contract to him and exclusive to KAOZ. She’s clearly not exclusive to KAOZ, she’s wrestling in CMLL. She may have a contract with KAOZ, as they were signing up a bunch of wrestlers a couple of years, but no one in Mexico seems to be taking those contracts seriously. That Botello interview is entertaining to watch if you don’t take it seriously at all. He wants to be taken seriously and believes he’s cleverly evading answers to questions, but sort of just makes himself look silly. KAOZ has been promoting ex-NXT Yulissa Leon on their social media and the interviewer asks if KAOZ signed Leon. Bottelo tries to imply he of course has signed without stating it right out, which of course means he has not actually signed Leon. (A source says Leon has absolutely not signed with KAOZ.) Botello is asked about when his next show is, won’t give a date, and won’t even commit to answering if it’s this year or next year. In general, you should probably not agree to do an interview if you can’t answer the questions you know are going to be asked.

CMLL’s Wednesday Informa was a lot of Dia del Muertos promotion. All four cards were announced:

CMLL (TUE) 10/31/2023 Arena México
1) Astral & Robin vs Inquisidor & Sangre Imperial
2) La Vaquerita & Skadi vs Metálica & Tiffany
3) Panterita del Ring, Star Black, Valiente vs Felino, Hechicero, Misterioso Jr.
4) Gran Guerrero vs Disturbio, Zandokan, Esfinge, El Coyote, Guerrero Maya Jr., Magnus, Akuma, Averno, Bárbaro Cavernario, Virus [Rey del Inframundo, semifinal]
5) Blue Panther, Máscara Dorada, Octagón vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario

The gimmick of the Rey del Inframundo is one member per team. CMLL said Barbaro Cavernario, Dragon Rojo, and Terrible are an official team now, though not one with a name. We’ll see if CMLL keeps with it by the time Dragon Rojo returns. CMLL in past years would’ve forgotten it, this year’s CMLL is better at that. It also suggests Los Ingobernables are either done or Templario got added to the group as Terrible’s replacement. Normal CMLL booking is a tecnico/rudo final, but last year was rudo/rudo and that fits for a Dia del Muertos show.

CMLL (FRI) 11/03/2023 Arena México
***Dia del Muertos, 2023***
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Crixus, Magia Blanca, Rugido
3) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther vs Hijo de Stuka Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
4) Atlantis Jr., Fugaz, Star Jr. vs Euforia, Mephisto, Terrible
5) Máscara Dorada & Místico vs Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr.
6) Stuka Jr. vs ? [Rey del Inframundo, final]

Mascara Dorada & Mistico vs Soberano and Voaldor could be great. (These are not really great cards otherwise.) Hijo del Stuka did end up as a rudo with his father but he also hasn’t been booked enough for it to stick.

Both this show and the Gran Prix on 10/27 are up for PPV purchase, and are the elevated (10.50 USD + taxes) price. If you’re a frugal person who wants to see the Dia del Muertos shows, maybe just get the YouTube subscription this month instead.

CMLL (SAT) 11/04/2023 Arena Coliseo
***Dia del Muertos, 2023***
1) Brillante Jr., Diamond, Oro Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Chamuel & Periquito Sacaryas
3) Mini Tiger Blanco vs Pierrothito
4) Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis vs Johnnie Robbie, Makoto, Mei Suruga
5) Águila Solitaria, Pantera, Solar I vs Felino, Negro Navarro, Satánico
6) Atlantis & Místico vs Rey Bucanero & Último Guerrero

This is the first Dia del Muertos show at Arena Coliseo. They’re pushing a legends theme, both with the semimain and reuniting Rey Bucanero and Ultimo Guerrero. (Or maybe Tony Khan just asked if he could see his old favorite team again.) Note that Mexican combination in match 4 is Las Infernales.

Mini Tigre Blanco is the original Mascarita Sagrada, in his first CMLL match since 2005. He’s nearly 60 years old and still going. We have no idea if CMLL will upload anything beyond the usual Tuesday/Friday show. That match definitely should be uploaded.

CMLL (SUN) 11/05/2023 Arena México
***Dia del Muertos, 2023***
1) Aéreo & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
3) Amapola & Reyna Isis vs Dark Silueta & La Catalina
4) Rey Bucanero vs Felino [lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Averno & Stuka Jr.
6) Blue Panther, Virus, Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible, Último Guerrero

The Sunday show has only wrestlers who lost their masks, and they’ll put it back on for one night. All the wrestlers did a big ceremonial unmasking at the end of the show last year. (Catalina is a sort of exception; she voluntarily unmasked.) CMLL played up Terrible, Cavernario, and Averno putting their masks back on for the ceremony and played up how much better it made them feel. Terrible and Cavernario weren’t any sort of stars until after they lost their masks.

It’s unclear how much of these show we’ll see. I think the theme is really good for one show and not really as interesting by show three, but it’s not meant to be a show people see three or four times. Not everyone can make Fridays.

AEW/CMLL

Rocky Romero versus Mistico was taped Wednesday night and will air on AEW Rampage tonight. The match was said to be good, and the crowd stuck around and was into it. I did hear people were confused by it being a best of three falls match, which AEW did to make it feel more authentic to Arena Mexico. (It actually doesn’t feel authentic to 2023 CMLL, where most singles matches are now one fall, but I get what they were going for.) Edgar Noriega worked as a referee. Salvador Lutteroth came to the show and was in the crowd during the match. CMLL put out a press release thanking AEW for their treatment and the match. There probably will be more, but we don’t know what more at this point.

Thunder Rosa was hanging around Arena Mexico on Wednesday, including doing an instagram video interview with Stephanie Vaquer. Media noticed, and thought it must be some announcement of the AEW/CMLL deal and maybe Thunder Rosa would fit in on a Dia del Muertos show. There was nothing to it, at least so far. Rosa just happened to be in Mexico. I suspect she and Vaquer wouldn’t have done the interview inside Arena Mexico a week ago, though.

While Mexican fans were speculating about Thunder Rosa coming to CMLL, US fans saw Rosa and Stephanie Vaquer as the Chilean coming to AEW as part of the CMLL/AEW deal. It’s always a possibility as long as there is a CMLL/AEW deal, and clearly she’s getting talked up by the right people if she’s making these NJPW US appearances, but I haven’t yet heard anything connecting her to AEW outside those videos with Rosa. Vaquer is good, but it is also amazing how much interest she has in the US, pretty much based on one match with Mercedes Mone. I sense most people excited about her stopped short of watching her CMLL matches. Maybe that’s the power of Mone.

AEW is now teasing a special dream match for Saturday’s Collison, to be announced tonight. Many people are jumping to conclusions Bryan Danielson is finally going to get his match with Blue Panther. I’m well behind on typing up indie posters – it’s been a busy week for some reason – but I don’t see Panther listed on any show on Saturday. I also would be really surprised if he’s there that quick. We’ll know before the end of the night.

Salvador Lutteroth III ran in to Dark Angel backstage at the AEW taping. Sarah Stock was added to the AEW staff months back, and mentioned talking to Lutteroth about the CMLL women’s division. Catalina’s mentioned talking to Dark Angel about wrestling in CMLL as well. They’re going to pull her back in for a Gran Prix one of these years if she likes it or not.

AAA

I’ve never had as much trouble finding results for an AAA taping as I have with this one in San Luis Potosi. I know Dralistico won the #1 contenders match because I saw it on an Instagram video. A fan has also put the match on YouTube. I know Octagon Jr. took the pin in his match based on social media. I spent a lot of time looking on Wednesday and Thursday for more and struck out. I’m sure there’s a Facebook page out there where some mentioned all the results but I haven’t found it yet. This is not completely an AAA story – it’s a death of local media issue too – but it’s also why it’s vital for promotions to put out their own news. They can’t count on anyone else to do it for them. AAA earlier in the year said they were bringing back live results from shows, but then it apparently slipped down the priority list. I would gladly take a press release of results the day instead, but I think AAA seems like they’re overwhelmed or understaffed at the moment.

AAA seems to have given up on Octagon Jr. about five seconds after they gave him the title match with QT Marshall. It should be utterly bizarre for him to win a title shot and then be directly pinned on his next two shows, but that’s about right for 2023 AAA. It’s also 2023 AAA for Octagon Jr. just to win the title anyway in Juarez, though that’ll create more talk about the AAA/AEW relationship than any AAA booking.

Laredo Kid either suffered a shoulder injury during the match or did a great job of selling on Taurus’ Rodeo Driver; he appeared to be getting eliminated either way and AAA seemed to be going with Dralistico/Vikingo regardless. Laredo Kid being Laredo Kid, his Instagram story this morning was him working out in the gym using one arm. Sometimes (often) I think I’m nuts for doing this blog but my insanity isn’t at the level of a good Mexican professional wrestler. Laredo Kid is scheduled on Impact’s PPV and tapings this weekend, though I don’t believe he currently has a match for the PPV.

The attendance doesn’t look pretty. They ran a 5,000 seat building, and it looks between a half and a third full in photos. The one local discussion I did see about the discussion was a fan asking if maybe it’s finally time to move the big San Luis Potosi shows from the traditional Wednesday nights to the weekend. Promociones Juniors, AAA’s affiliate here and the local promoter of this one, has done well on Wednesdays in the recent past, so it could just be something with this lineup or just this show.

Vikingo/Dralistico will be good, and will not be as close to good as Vikingo/Laredo or Vikingo/Taurus would’ve been. AAA seems like they’re making decisions for reasons based on putting together the best shows. AAA still draws well when TripleMania is in the name or if they’re attached to a fair, but the regular TVs continue to struggle. It’s not working but it’s hard to imagine it’ll be fixed.

AAA on Space should have three matches from Mexico City this week. There’s a press release (not sent to me, maybe the only person who cares about what’s on AAA TV any week) with the three matches

• Drago Kid, Dulce Kanela, Mini Vikingo vs Dinámico, Kamik-C, Skalibur
• Dralistico & Negro Casas vs Argenis & Nicho el Millionario
• Pagano vs Texano Jr. [ambulance]

The rest will air next week.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 10/19/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Tornado b Rey Astaroth
2) Dr. Cerebro Jr., Noisy Boy, Spider Fly DQ Centurion, Gannicus, Rey Espartano
Aguila Roja ran in for the DQ. Challenges followed.
3) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. b Hijo de Canis Lupus & Rey Mictlán
Lupus & Rey Mictlan announced they were new Las Bestias del Inframundo. They then lost when Cerbero Negro Jr. pulled Micltan’s mask.
4) Relámpago DQ Tonalli
Tonalli unmasked Relampago for the DQ. Challenges followed.
5) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. b Mocho Cota Jr., Súper Comando, Tito Santana [EdM Trios]
2nd defense. La Pandemia want a shot at Poder del Norte’s IWRG trios title but Poder del Norte refused.

Lots of “challenges followed” = Castillo del Terror around the corner.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (SAT) 10/21/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) M Doble R vs Steel Dragón
2) Mr. Win & Tirano vs Helios & Morfosis
3) Elipse & Vengador vs Odiseo Mendoza & Ursus Mendoza
4) Skayde vs Veneno
5) Viajero vs El Brujo [super libre]
6) Forneo, Limbo, Torito Negro vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
7) Cometa Maya & Radioactivo © vs Súper Nova & Texano Jr. [BIG LUCHA MIXA]
first defense
8) El Potro de Oro © vs Black Andrómeda [Big Lucha World]

Black Andromeda won the title shot on the previous show. Both that match and this overall is a test to see how this promotion works no longer with their biggest names as training wheels. Bandido’s long gone, Flamita is out hurt, the kids have to do it for themselves. Sangre Nueva is in, to get the tag title shot they previously earned. Hell Flyers have come close to putting it together in trios matches and will get another shot with La Pandemia. Viajero/Brujo is another preview to their mask match.

Other News

That Vanguardia return shows turns out to be an El Mago/Draztick Boy 15th Anniversary show on 11/15. That sounds like a good time.