Month: October 2023

CMLL

Dragon Rojo Jr. is out four to six weeks after suffering an incomplete scapular fracture. There was no obvious moment in his match on Tuesday where he got hurt, and he didn’t indicate what happened on social media. Dragon Rojo has a long injury history, and it was my concern something might happen prior to the Aniverasrio. Dragon Rojo made it through that. It’s disappointing he’s out now but it could’ve been much worse.

CMLL seems to have really wanted to put the trios title on Dragon Rojo, Cavernario, and Terrible to establish them as a new unit. They may have done it already last Tuesday if Volador had been healthy for the first match in the program. They probably were going to do it next Tuesday if Dragon Rojo had stayed healthy. Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., and Volador Jr. are trios champs of necessity more than purpose; they just happened to be the right tecnicos around when CMLL wanted to re-configure Los Infernales. CMLL just happened into Los Indestructibles as national trios champions too, so both their six-man titles are a bit unplanned at the moment. A month or a month and a half is not a long time but sometimes CMLL just moves onto the next idea and doesn’t get back to the old ones.

CMLL (FRI) 10/06/2023 Arena México
1) Capitán Suicida & El Audaz vs Difunto & Grako
2) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Neón vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
3) Esfinge vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
4) La Jarochita vs Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, La Catalina, Persephone, Lady Shadow, Miss Guerrera, Metálica, La Vaquerita, La Guerrera, Valkiria, Olympia [CMLL UNIVERSAL DE AMAZONAS, semifinal]
5) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario

CMLL goes to pink ropes and breast cancer awareness armbands for the month of October. They also start featuring the women a lot more, starting with this block of the Universal tournament. Persephone will make her CMLL debut roughly six months after making her AAA debut. She showed a lot of personality in her Informa appearance. CMLL tends to list these matches in internal depth chart order, so it’s very notable that they’re at least starting out the new women over a bunch of the established ones. I’d be surprised if it played out that way in the match. Vaquer shouldn’t win this tournament, but Vaquer winning this block to lose to the eventual winner would make a lot of sense.

That main event could be very good. The first two matches have chances. The lightning match is something from a Saturday/Sunday show that we haven’t gotten a lot of on Fridays this year.

It’s the usual 6 USD fee. I’ve got something else going on Friday and may not watch this one completely live.

La Guerrera, La Jarochita, and La Metalica all talked up their participation in the match to Record. Olympia, in doing press with Mundo Deportivo, mentioned her father Valiente forbid her from training in lucha libre until she got a career. Valiente didn’t say anything about bodybuilding, so she got into that instead. She tries to balance wrestling and bodybuilding; she wants to win the Universal tournament but also hopes to win the CMLL bodybuilding competition – not just the women’s category but the overall category.

CMLL (SUN) 10/08/2023 Arena México
1) Andrómeda & Lady Shadow vs Miss Guerrera & Persephone
2) Histórico & Pelon Encapuchado vs El Gallero & Raider
3) Lluvia vs Reyna Isis [lightning]
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Volador Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr. Averno, Euforia, Mephisto

Andromeda makes her CMLL debut in an opener (so, she’s probably in the Universal block next week.) The opening matches are the most interesting: Historico gets another appearance and Gallero turns up from Guadalajara again.

CMLL (MON) 10/09/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Mayahuel & Shitara vs Astaroth & Lady Amazona
2) Blue Shark & Rayo Metálico vs Espíritu Maligno & Fénix SO
3) Meyer, Retro, Valiente Jr. vs Perverso, Prayer, Siki Osama
4) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis
5) Felino, Felino Jr., Hechicero vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

The main event is a near rematch. Volador is instead of Soberano, and maybe that was the original plan before Volador got held out one more week. Grada’s recap of last week’s show suggests they’re headed to a Mascara Dorada versus Ultimo Guerrero singles match. The women in the opener are all Puebla locals making their debuts.

CMLL (TUE) 10/10/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Adira & Xenna vs Atenea & La Pantera
2) Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Eclipse Jr. vs Destello, Pesadilla, Shezmu
3) Obek, Rav, Último Ángel vs Halcón Suriano Jr., Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro
4) Demonio Maya, Kráneo, Nitro vs Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno, Volcano
5) Crixus, Max Star, Neón, Vegas vs Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono
6) Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. vs Barboza & Zandokan Jr. and Felino Jr. & Vaquero Jr. and Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte
7) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario vs Arlequín, Averno, Sagrado

Match 6 is listed a four way tag on the Facebook page and just an eight man match with no teams on Instagram. I wonder if there’s a plan to for Templario to take Terrible’s spot with the Chavez brothers or if it’s just a coincidence they’re booked together in the next week.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara announced they’ll hold a tournament to decide new Occidente Women’s Tag Team Champions starting this month. Stephanie Vaquer and Zeuxis gave up these titles when they won the new world tag titles. Guadalajara is also announcing names for their 10/31 show. It already had their version of the Gran Prix announced but the names suggest it’ll also be an all-women’s show.

CMLL is holding their monthly polls for the match of the month. As I write this, the current leader for the best match of August 2023 is Esfinge versus Misterioso. The current leader for the best match of September 2023 is Esfinge versus Rugido. This sounds like a serious problem, but it’s more a problem that no one votes in this polls. My vote for Dorada/Titan was the 37th vote cast. Not for that match, overall only 37 people had gone to CMLL’s page and voted for anyone in this poll. The problem is no one votes on these things.

The match of the month polls get little attention outside of a mention on Informa; I only looked at them because they stood out as weird to me. All eight nominated matches over the two months are singles matches, none include foreigners and the Aniversario main event (Dragon Rojo/Templario) wasn’t included. That seems like CMLL carefully choosing which matches they can run next January and a bit of which ones they want to run. (Also, I realized I probably can get learn how to automate my night of the champion numbers by testing it on these polls, maybe that’s a weekend project.)

Mistico, Mascara Dorada, Robin and Dr. Karonte II are in the Chicago area for GALLI this Sunday.

There was the usual amount of press for a CMLL announcement in Mexico about Tessa Blanchard on Team World for the Gran Prix. Most mention her successes in the US, winning the male Impact title and previously wrestling in AAA. Almost none of it mentions why she’s not wrestling much in the US. Again, I think there’s a (small) batch of irregularly watching international fans who dip into CMLL for the women’s month of big matches. Many of those will watch less or none of CMLL this year. It probably won’t hurt CMLL in any other way they care about; the KeMonito situation is the real big bad publicity situation hanging over CMLL. I’m also not sure Tessa Blanchard helps in any way either.

This is not news but I’m putting it here so I can be found later for history’s sake. Stephanie Vaquer always talks about wrestling Mercedes Mone in CMLL. It’s not just her bringing it up, interviews push the idea. That match happening in Arena Mexico is completely up to Mone; it will absolutely happen if it’s a dream of hers and probably won’t happen if she’s expecting CMLL to pay her what she’s worth. CMLL themselves have never even hinted Mone is coming in, but they know that bit, everyone knows the story of Vaquer wanting the rematch with Mone in Arena Mexico. CMLL was absolutely playing off that expectation when they teased a mystery international wrestler coming in while talking to Vaquer, and there was about a five-minute window where Mone in CMLL seemed like an actual possibility. I sat there watching the Mexico team announcement thinking about how crazy Twitter could end up being in a moment. CMLL made a very different announcement, and Twitter went crazy in a very different way.

AAA

AAA has the rest of Heroes Inmortales at its regular time on Space

• Mini Vikingo, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa vs Dinámico, Kamik-C, Skalibur
• Copa Antonio Pena (first round)
• Dalys & Negro Casas vs Abismo Negro Jr. & Flammer for the AAA Mixed Tag Titles
• Forastero & Sansón vs Dave The Clown & Murder Clown and Chessman & Parka Negra for a tag title shot

Mas Lucha posted a lot of interviews from this show.

• Triton and Reycko apparently had a tryout match after the show. It seems weird to interview people having a tryout match but also these are name people to Mas Lucha.
• Faby Apache says AAA invited her to participate in this Copa Antonio Pena match and she happily accepted. She makes a funny face when Hijo del Tirantes comes up and then he busts in their usual argument.
  • Faby Apache did interviews during the week with the Gladiatores and Estrellas del Ring, saying her return to AAA was a one-off. They’re still talking about other appearances but nothing’s been agreed upon as of yet. She would like to start training wrestlers.
• Octagon Jr. says he’s going to bring the Latin American title back to AAA.
• Los Cachanillas do their usual promo
• Absmo Negro & Flammer crow about their victory, and Flammer says Dalys was unprofessional for her actions getting DQed in the match
• Sanson & Forastero say Arez & Komander should say goodbye to those titles
• Dralistico does not want to feud with his father, says maybe they should go separate ways on their career for now. He’s a rudo in the US but he feels like his roots are tecnico and he’s 100% tecnico in Mexico.  (He’s saying this while wearing a black outfit and black facepaint.) Dralistico mentions going back to AEW and that he’s heading to Japan in December – presumably more NOAH.
• La Bestia del Ring is going for the top names in AAA. He’s out for the best for his career.
• Myzteziz thinks Dralistico is a tecnico and the fans want him to be a tecnico.
• Chik Tormenta is really happy to win the first women’s Copa Antonio Pena in her homestate of Jalisco.
• Alberto reels off a list of big names he’s “destroyed” (Cena, Orton, Big Show, the Hardys, Kane) and thinks QT and Adonis are no problem.  “I beat John Cena in 3 minutes in Hell in the Cell!” Alberto, unprompted, talks about all the different things he has gone on and promises a big surprise in 2024.

AAA’s annual mass in honor of Antonio Pena took place Thursday. Maricela Pena saying one of Antonio’s last ideas was “lucha libre acuatia” – I guess a ring in a pool like others have tried – and they actually secured a location at the Olympic pool. They still didn’t run it because the wrestlers did not know how to swim.

Hijo del Vikingo is scheduled to come to the Chicago area for GALLI on 10/15. Toxin, Aramis, Rey Horus, Aeroboy, Mechawolf are also listed. Flamita is too but I presume he’s off now.

Psycho Clown, back in Mexico, lost a singles match to Reynosa wrestler Estrellato this past Sunday. That seemed pretty random. It makes more sense now that the arena will run a Psycho Clown vs. Estrellato mask vs. mask match on 11/26. The show will air on Mas Lucha’s channel for members.

Lady Shani and bodybuilder Diego Cruz will be a team in the first Copa Alpha Nutrition, a bodybuilding contest on 10/28 to be held in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera. The pair revealed they’ve been secretly engaged for some time and will be getting married sometime next year. Dalys will also be participating in the bodybuilding contest.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 10/05/2023 Arena Naucalpan [La Tijera, Zona Ruda]
1) Águila Oriental & Tornado b Súper Boy & Thunder Storm 
2) Caballero de Plata, Glamurosa, Último Legendario b Águila Roja, Rey Astaroth, Satania 
debut of Glamurosa
3) Hell Boy, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly b Cerebro Negro, Cerebro Negro Jr., Rey Halcón 
Hell Boy and Cerebro Negro set up a match for Sunday.
4) Sádika b Sagitarius 
Sagitarius challenged Sadika to enter the Castillo del Terror
5) Mocho Cota Jr., Súper Comando, Tito Santana b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. 
Poder del Norte out cheated La Pandemia. Teams talked up a double title match.

Lights were turned very low but it didn’t look like there were a lot of people out in the dark.

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 & 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]

This is a better show at giving Big Lucha regulars something to do than the last one, though it’s missing some star power with no Flamita. Andromeda (the exotico, not the woman) hasn’t been built up a lot to be a meaningful challenger, so it’s mostly about if Sangre Texano and La Pandemia draw some extra fans.

Recent Big Lucha shows usually went up by the Thursday after. Not so much this time. Maybe we’re waiting for the GLEAT channel to put it up now?

Big Lucha will also run matches at 11/05 “Speedfest” Nascar Mexico event at Mexico City’s race track. There’s typically lucha libre matches as a side show at that venue whenever they have a race, but the promotion they work with seems to change often and no video ever turns up.

Other News

Polvo de Estrellas got an operation for a “right humeral head fracture” on Thursday after suffering the injury a couple of weeks ago on a Robles show. I read “head fracture” and was very confused at why it why it took so long to get surgery on it. In this case, a “humeral head” is the bone connecting the arm to the shoulder. A different kind of head, still bad.

The former Diamante, now wrestling as Luis Mante, returns to the Dragongate ring this Saturday. He’d been out since losing his mask (and recovering from an injury.)

Tirantes Sr., in promoting his upcoming show, was asked about gender equality in wrestling. He said he believes that in “three to four years”, Mexican wrestling will have more women wrestling than men. It does seem like the number of women in wrestling has increased, but I don’t see it increasing that much that fast and it sort of seems like something you say to put lucha libre in a good light. He has a lot closer view of it than me, though.

La Tijera Lucha Libre caught up with Mil Mascaras at the La Mole comic con last week. He says he’s still training and is at 90 KGs. He’s semi-retired – but because there’s not many matches to be had.

The Guapos/Intocable match on the Mas Lucha show was set up by Intocable sort of trying to dine on dash on Scorpio Jr. “Wey” was said about 100 times in this two-minute segment.

Box y Lucha has started to release 1958 issues. It’s early reviews but I don’t like the “Clinch” monthly magazine as much as the Box y Lucha weekly ones. Fewer results and news, more profiles that feel like they just didn’t have room on the weekly issue.

A new (free) lucha libre school has opened in Leon.

Villahermosa announced a new lucha libre commission.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 10/02/2023 Arena Puebla [Porra Fresa]
1) Centella Roja & Hijo de Centella Roja b El Malayo & Rencor
2) Amapola, Metálica, Zeuxis b La Vaquerita, Lady Metal, Skadi
3) El Coyote, Kráneo, Pólvora b Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Volcano 
4) Star Black, Star Jr., Titán b Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. 
5) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Soberano Jr. DQ Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero 
excessive violence DQ beating up Dorada.

Not sure where exactly they’re going with that main event. It seemed as if Gran Guerrero was more the instigator but it was really all three rudos stomping down Dorada by the end.

CMLL (TUE) 10/03/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Pierrothito COR Shockercito [lightning]   
2) La Vaquerita & Lady Shadow b Miss Guerrera & Tiffany   
Arena Mexico debut for Guerrera & Shadow
3) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Astral, Robin, Valiente Jr.   
4) Hera, Lluvia, Zeuxis b Amapola, Sanely, Skadi [Relevos Increíbles]   
Lluvia & Zeuxis wrestled as Las Infernales
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther b Felino, Felino Jr., Hechicero   
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible b Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr.   
straight falls, setting up a title match next week. Volador wrestled in a shoulder sling in his return from injury.

The main event rudos are going with a “we’re ugly but we’re a force” idea and are looking for a team name; they’re pretty likely winning the trios titles next week.

Lady Shadow and Miss Guerrera looked like people without a lot of experience but a willingness to do things. The dives looked good, the in-ring portion needed work (and maybe better partners/opponents.) They seemed like they would’ve been better with a year or two more experience before coming to Mexico City, but they’re probably going to be working with higher-level experienced people so maybe it’ll work out.

The opener was a planned count out finish, a rare one for CMLL.

CMLL (TUE) 10/03/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Mas Lucha]
1) Estrella Maldita & Yemaya b Frida & Luna
2) Ponzoña Jr., Relámpago Azul, Rumbero b Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Samurai
3) Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico b Flash, Metatrón, Pepe Aguayo
4) El Gallero, Johnny Dinamo, Minotauro b Astro Oriental, Persa, Temerario
5) Draego, Gallo Jr., Rafaga Jr. b Futuro, Leo, Omar Brunetti
Leo & Omar Brunetti replaced El Elemental & Yutani (who did appear but only did commentary)
6) Bestia Negra, Cris Skin, Ráfaga b Barboza, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
7) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black

Yutani & Elemental did commentary but did not wrestle. Elemental described it as “small paperwork issue”, was complimentary towards management, and said they’d return. The same thing happened with Persephone, so I wonder if there’s some licensing or union that in affect here.

CMLL (SAT) 10/07/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Cachorro, Diamond, Eléctrico vs Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
2) Lady Metal & Lady Shadow vs Hera & Miss Guerrera
3) Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte © vs Akuma & Espanto Jr. [Arena Coliseo TAG]
4) La Jarochita vs La Catalina [lightning]
5) Fugaz, Star Black, Valiente vs Cancerbero, Kráneo, Luciferno
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Lady Metal makes her CDMX debut; pencil here in for the Universal Block B next week.

Informa had some news, did it ever. First, the lineup for the 10/20 show:

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

Hijo de Blue Panther is the former Cachorro Lagunero, getting a new name. (Poor Dark Panther just gets skipped over.) The concept is all the men on the show are from the La Laguna metro area of Torreon & Gomez Palacio. (Dulce gets a reprieve because they need bodies.) The women spots will be figured out after the first two rounds of the Universal tournament.

CMLL then went to announce the Gran Prix teams for 10/27. Team Mexico:

• Marcela
• Lluvia
• La Jarochita
• Reyna Isis
• Dark Silueta
• Skadi
• Hera
• Sanely

Marcela will return from knee surgery back in March. Skadi, Hera and Sanely are all making their Gran Prix debuts. (Dalys, Faby Apache and Princesa Sugehit were on last year’s team.)

Team World

• Stephanie Vaquer
• Zeuxis
• La Catalina
• Johnnie Robbie
• Makoto
• Sumie Sakai
• Mei Suruga
• Tessa Blanchard

Johnny Robbie is from NJPW Strong, and was already announced to be teaming with Lluvia against Vaquer & Zeuxis in Las Vegas. (Robbie also apparently appears on the Women of Wrestling show.) Makoto last appeared in CMLL in 2014. Sakai sent along word that she was retiring soon and so these will be her final matches in Mexico. Suruga stood out in last year’s tournament.

Tessa Blanchard’s name was kept as a big surprise at the end of the broadcast. CMLL clearly believes she was a great get, and she checks their boxes: third generational star, has an impressive title history on Wikipedia, and can speak conversational Spanish.

Blanchard was indeed a big deal at one point, looking like a future WWE star at one point and reigning as Impact’s main champion in 2019. Even then, there were whispers are issues with her and she’s essentially been blackballed from respectable wrestling promotions following solid accusations of racism in 2020. Even the non-so-respectable promotions don’t have much to do with Blanchard nowadays, and she’s working in the backwaters when she’s working at all. Blanchard’s hated by most social media fans; there’s a few people who see her as an avatar against the make believe concept of ‘cancel culture’, but it’s mostly negative. Still, there are some people who get negative social media reactions and still get booked. Blanchard doesn’t. Even her fellow wrestlers and promoters don’t seem to want much to do with her. Blanchard was booked in AAA before the accusations and might still be booked there if not for the pandemic and not for an ugly seeming divorce with Daga burning her bridges there. Anyone who suggested CMLL bring in Blanchard would’ve been well aware of all of this and surely is looking at Arena Mexico as a fresh start to rebuild her name (not unlike Marty Scurll’s AAA appearances.) CMLL brought in Ivelisse in past years, who also was been ostracized to the edges of the English speaking wrestling world and checks a lot of CMLL’s boxed. The bet, as always, is that CMLL’s fans won’t carry about that and that the people covering the show aren’t going to push it.

I do believe that most of the people who are upset on social media are people who aren’t ever paying a dime for a CMLL show anyway, and are just looking for a moment to dunk on Blanchard. There are some people who do watch CMLL who going to skip because of her, and there are people who do dip in for the Women’s CMLL Gran Prix who probably will take a pass this year.

For her part, Blanchard called the champion “Stephanie Vaquero”; she’s coming into this more blind than CMLL is. Hope she invests the 8 USD to check out the YouTube channel before coming in.

CMLL also announced their Dia del Muertos schedule:

• 10/31 (Tuesday): Rey del Inframundo cibernetico
• 11/03 (Friday): Stuka Jr. vs the winner of the cibernetico
• 11/04 (Saturday): Leyendas y Cuicas in Arena Coliseo
• 11/05 (Sunday): “Tzompantli de Mascaras”, probably everyone wears the mask again

That’s the first Arena Coliseo version of this event, and the most Dia del Muertos shows CMLL’s run. I would expect Saturday and/or Sunday will be bonus YouTube shows, but they’re not consistent on those.

CMLL and winter league baseball team Naranjeros de Hermosillo seem to be doing cross-promotion. Mascara Dorada’s popped up on the baseball team’s social media.

Tirantes Sr. is a regular character on AAA TV. Tirantes is an occasional wrestling promoter in Xalapa. His next show, on 10/19, has Esfinge & Mistico vs Averno & Mephisto in the main event. A little weird.

AAA

AAA posted a list of when and where their show can be seen now. Azteca+ is on the list. Azteca 7 is no longer on the list. Might just be a omission, but a reality show is now listed in the late night Azteca time slot. I still think that’s a terrible time slot and AAA isn’t hurt much if it’s gone.

AAA TV (SUN) 11/26/2023 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) La Momia vs Epydemius, Líder
preshow match, other surprises planned
2) Chik Tormenta & Dinámico vs Chris Sabin & Trinity
3) Forastero & Sansón vs Arez & Frankie Kazarian
4) Deonna Purrazzo & Maravilla vs Jordynne Grace & Sexy Star II
5) Eddie Edwards & Látigo vs Myzteziz Jr. & Rich Swann
6) Brian Myers & Taurus vs Laredo Kid & Tommy Dreamer
7) Moose & Toxin vs Josh Alexander & Octagón Jr.
8) Abismo Negro Jr. & Trey Miguel vs Alex Shelley & Hijo Del Vikingo

This is AAA/Impact UltraClash. This was mentioned as airing in both Mexico and the US, and Laredo Kid mentioned FITE TV at the end.

The reason for this being all 2v2 matches is “it’s AAA”. It’s a better AAA card than usual, though I would’ve prefered Laredo & Taurus in a real match. Main event could be great if they want it to be.

(Wrestling Observer) Award Note

If you CMLL’s the best-booked promotion of the year and would like to vote for the person responsible, the name to write down is “Panico”

If you CMLL’s the best-promoted promotion of the year and would like to vote for the person responsible, the name to write down is “Salvador Lutteroth III”

In reality, CMLL booking seems to be more a committee with a handful of people involved. Panico, Jose Luis Felicano, Edgar Noriega and Julio Cesar Rivera have been mentioned as being part of the Programming department in articles. There are also probably other people working in that area without being mentioned. Ultimately, the owner of the promotion is going to have the final say on the biggest decision but my sense is the Lutteroth’s aren’t involved much on that side of the business. (By contrast, it’s clear the Roldans are more involved in the booking of AAA than the Lutteroths in CMLL, and Konnan’s occasionally taking bullets over decisions that weren’t his decisions.)

I personally believe separate “Best Booker”, “Best Promoter,” and “Best Promotion” awards overlap greatly, are treated as about the same by the voter base and should be combined into one award. There are differences in those categories but they’re slight, and they’re not something most people voting spend a lot of thinking about. It’s also not my awards.

I’ve gotten this question a couple of times in a couple of ways so I thought I’d make sure to clear it up here. It probably will not actually clear it up.

IWRG

IWRG , FILL (TUE) 10/03/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Hijo Del Palenque b Sumed Black, Cosmic, Último Legendario, Azatroth
2) Dehyna, Golden Girl, Kali b Danessa, Lady Wind, Mirvan
Golden Girl Naucalpan debut
3) Adrenalina, Milagro, Mr. Jerry b Arceus, Cheff Benito, Cicloncio
4) Black Shadow Jr., Rey Gato Jr., Thunder Storm b Argus, Gaius, Golden Jr.
5) Ivan Rokov & La Masa b Heddi Karaoui & Hip Hop Man
6) Atómico, El Mariachi, Hijo del Pantera, King Lobo, Nuclear, Reactor, Rey Garfio, Rey Pantera Jr. b Águila Oriental, Águila Roja, Fussion, Príncipe Arkano, Rey Astaroth, Súper Boy, Súper Cometa, Tornado [Copa Higher Power]
Yorvak appeared to help Lucha Libre Radioactivo beat the home FILL team.

Yorvak did an Instagram story angle where he’s now quitting IWRG to join Radioactivo. At least they’re having fun with the quitting angle..

IWRG (THU) 10/05/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Ryu & Tornado vs Águila Oriental & Thunder Storm
2) Caballero de Plata, Glamurosa, Último Legendario vs Águila Roja, Rey Astaroth, Satania
3) Hell Boy, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Cerebro Negro, Cerebro Negro Jr., Rey Halcón
4) Sádika vs Sagitarius
5) Mocho Cota Jr., Súper Comando, Tito Santana vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.

The short recent history of the IWRG Trios Championship

• Dinastia Navarro (Negro Navarro, Trauma I & Trauma II) defeat the Pirata Morgans in 2015 to win the belts.
• Navarros defend them about once a year through 2017.
• Negro Navarro has a health issue in summer 2017, stops wrestling, then returns in early 2018 but never returns full time to IWRG. He appears once more in late 2018 on a sponsored show and nothing past thhat.
• Los Traumas go in and out of IWRG, quitting for good in late 2020.
• IWRG is asked “so, you going to vacate those trios titles?” and basically says nah, they’re going to let it work itself out
• Dinastia Navarro pull the titles out of the closet in 2022, and drop them to Saltillo luchadors Espartaco, Latino and Tempestad. (IWRG does not acknowledge the change.)
• The Saltillo teams defends the title often in their home city; it’s more than the belts usually get defended. For a few months.
• After not defending the titles for seven months, they lose the titles to the new Poder del Norte (Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana and Super Comando) in August
• IWRG gets those guys back here, booking their own trios champions for the first time in about six years.

I guess they were right to let it play out. La Pandemia are the Mexico State trios titles, which have been the effective top trios titles in the promotion since the actual ones went on walkabout. Maybe they’re going to combine them next week.

Mas Lucha has their Torneo Supremo show on October 15th

Mas Lucha (SUN) 10/15/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Bengalee vs Zuzu Divine, Keyra, Sádika, Lilith Dark, Shamila, Quimera, Dulce Luna
2) Princesa Azul & Reina Dorada vs Jessy Jackson & Mary Caporal
3) Chris Stone Jr., Scorpió Jr., Shocker vs Diva Salvaje, Intocable, Jessy Ventura
4) Súper Crazy vs Zorro, Hell Boy, Mr. Leo, El Elemental, Súper Caló, Súper Fly, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. [Torneo Supremo, torneo]
5) ? vs ?? [Torneo Supremo, quarterfinal]
6) ? vs ?? [Torneo Supremo, quarterfinal]
7) ? vs ?? [Torneo Supremo, quarterfinal]
8) ? vs ?? [Torneo Supremo, quarterfinal]
9) ? vs ?? [Torneo Supremo, semifinal]
10) ? vs ?? [Torneo Supremo, semifinal]
11) ? vs ?? [Torneo Supremo, final]

I’ve talked myself into signing up for this before and then written unhappily about the tournament. I’m safely not going to do this time. The tournament seems OK but the rest of that card is not good – Los Guapos in 2023? – that I know it’s a waste of both our time for me to watch. It’s not for me. Good luck to them all the same.

luchadb Note

Box y Lucha seems to have ceased offering new 1956/1957 magazines on sale for now, I’ve actually caught up reading them and I added them all to the luchadb. If you’re running a match database and want to add to your database, I’ve put a list of every even added or changed here. Credit to me is nice, crediting Box y Lucha is better. I’ll still be doing a little catch up on my side (and I have to make some luchawiki edits) but that list should be final. This also is a good time to update the Github archive; it’s running in another tab right now.

I hope to post month-by-month recaps on those magazines soon. I should get to updating the big

Other News

Ciclon Orizabeno (Jorge Oropeza Carreon, 89) passed away on Tuesday. He had a hair match victory over Cavernario Galindo in 1968 and was a Veracruz local star in the 60s and 70s.

The Crash has their 12th Anniversary show on November 3rd.

The Crash (FRI) 11/03/2023 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
***The Crash 12th Anniversary***
1) Anubis © vs Rey Furia, Gallo Extreme, Noisy Boy, El Rey [The Crash JUNIOR, Ladder]
2) Dulce Tormenta © vs Zamaya, Keyra, Trish Adroa [The Crash WOMEN]
3) Microman & Toto vs Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura and Black Danger & Tony Casanova
4) Aeroboy vs Flamita, Lance Anaoi, Canis Lupus NG [TLC]
5) Bestia 666 & Rey Horus vs Bryan Keith & El Gran León Chavi
6) Destiny © vs Tonalli [The Crash CRUISER]
7) Rey Fénix (Indie) vs Galeno del Mal, Metalik, El Bandido
8) Mamba vs D Luxe [hair]

Not officially taped, bootlegs on YouTube as usual. Bestia 666 is the notable name here; he, Fenix and Las Shotas are done with AAA by their current rules against people working The Crash. The other ones were known previously, Bestia is new and more a part of AAA’s weekly plans.

Flamita might not be working his match. Flamita fractured his nose on Sunday’s Big Lucha, as feared. He’ll be out a  month. I assume this was announced because Flamita has to miss a GLEAT match over it.

RIOT has quietly added the 2022 La Rina tournament to their Patreon. These shows hadn’t been released prior. It’s a $5/month deal.

Chico Che wants to face Nino Hamburgesa in a hair match.

Box y Lucha 3571 has the Night of Champions and the CMLL/MLW news.

An interview with Puebla luchadora Amber.

A luchadora photography exhibit is opening in Spain.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 09/29/2023 Arena México [Black Terry Jr., CMLL, CMLL (web), Contrareplica, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
1) Bárbaro Cavernario © b Esfinge [CMLL LH] 
14:34. 2nd defense, first this year
2) Stephanie Vaquer b La Catalina [CMLL WOMEN] 
13:41. Vacant championship (Stephanie Vaquer neck injury). Vaquer becomes 21st champion and first CMLL champion from Chile.
3) Mercurio © b Pierrothito [CMLL MINI]  
14:59. 6th defense
4) Místico © b Virus [NWA MIDDLE]  
14:46. 7th defense
5) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa © [MEX TRIOS]  
14:16. Atrapasuenos fells on their fifth defense (1st this year). Los Indestrucitbles are the 43rd champions.
6) Titán © b Máscara Dorada [CMLL WELTER] 
20:01. 8th defense

Another strong Friday show in a year full of them. You can look at the times and figure out what they did here: everyone gets 15 minutes, the main event gets 20 minutes, go have fun. One fall matches and generally 1v1s saved some time, and the show went a little longer than usual.

Mascara Dorada/Titan completely lived up to potential. Dorada had a great night, and Titan was the perfect vet to keep up and keep pushing him. They had some spectacular sequence and a lot of drama. Just like his biggest BOSJ matches, Titan built towards the El Inmortal and fought to keep his opponents from reaching the ropes. Dorada felt like he was milli-seconds from winning most of the match, and ended up just millimeters short of reaching the ropes. He looked better for coming so close; this was another night where it seems certain Mascara Dorada is going to be a giant star.

Los Indestructibles worked very hard in their surprise title win, though it didn’t feel like one of the better Atrapasuenos performances. The loss probably bothered them. Dulce Gardenia, in an interview that seems to be from before Friday’s match, mentioned he suffered a serious injury on last year’s Night of Champions show and was out for several months. Gardenia took a middle rope destroyer on the finish, went into convulsions, and was stretchered out. He also wrestled eight days later, completely fine. Gardenia blames his infrequent appearances on dealing with the (non-existent) injury and also trying to spend more time with his family, who are still living in Torreon. His hope is to be more regularly in CMLL in early 2024. That seems like an admission he knew was going away from CMLL for some time after Friday night. Gardenia looked downcast coming to the ring, then briefly cried in the ring before hugging his teammates. Nothing is a sure thing in lucha libre but it sure appeared Gardenia is done in CMLL for now.

Mistico/Virus was a lot of Virus plugged into the Mistico formula and not as much the Virus mat wrestling style. (They finish did play off that, Mistico showing he knows more holds than just La Mistica.) Virus can still work a Mistico match well, and the crowd seemed to really behind him pulling the upset. Mistico defending his title on this show should continue to be a yearly tradition as long he’s champ, because it’s an easy match to plug in whomever wins that time and it’s usually a new opponent for Mistico. Virus and Mistico briefly met in a tournament recently, but hadn’t had a real singles match since 2004.

The counterpoint is CMLL really needs to either give the minis a year off from this idea, or switch around the choices so it’s only new people. Mercurio and Pierrothito was fine and the crowd rallied behind the more charismatic challenger as the match went along, but it felt like something seen a lot already. Both this minis match and the trios title match stood as the two matches this year that the votes really wanted to see but the general Arena Mexico going public didn’t have any reason to care.

Vaquera and Catalina was also not a natural match up, but it was a much easier sell – the two young Chileans deciding a new champion. They had a strong match planned out and it seemed to go as they planed the whole way. Vaquer looked great, as she has all this year, and makes a deserving double champion.

La Catalina used tried to use a reinera twice in that title match. On Twitter, Catalina mentioned the move and her outfit were tributes to Dark Angel, who helped train her in WWE and has been advising her since coming to CMLL.

Barbaro Cavernario coasts a lot in CMLL when he’s not given anything to do. When he gets something he feels is important – this title match, or that NJPW Strong match – he can still turn it a lot. Cavernario treated the opener like the climax of a long term feud, with incredible effort and willingness to break himself. (He brought back the splash to the floor to Arena Mexico for the first time in a very long time.) Esfinge may have regretted rallying people to vote for him with the way he got took the brunt of a lot of punishment. I wish we saw this side of Cavernario more often, though at least it’s nice to know it’s there.

CMLL (SAT) 09/30/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito
2) Metálica & Reyna Isis b Hera & Skadi [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Misterioso Jr. b Hombre Bala Jr. [lightning]
Misterioso dropped Bala on his head and neck with a powerbomb to win, Bala was is in a neckbrace after the match
4) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. b Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte
Akuma & Espanto Jr. won and asked for an Arena Coliseo Tag Team championship match. Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte accepted.
5) Panterita del Ring, Star Black, Valiente DQ Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
Virus fouled and unmasked Valiente
6) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja b Averno, Euforia, Mephisto

This was the fifth singles match Misterioso has been in since the start of August, and he’s got another one coming up Friday. I’m not sure why that is happening.

CMLL (SUN) 10/01/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Cachorro & Grako b Leono & Retro [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Diamond, Robin, Valiente Jr. b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Astral b Sangre Imperial [lightning]
4) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Pelon Encapuchado
5) Ángel de Oro, Hechicero, Niebla Roja b Soberano Jr., Titán, Valiente
6) Euforia, Templario, Terrible b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Just a normal show.

CMLL (TUE) 10/03/2023 Arena México
1) Shockercito vs Pierrothito [lightning]
2) La Vaquerita & Lady Shadow vs Miss Guerrera & Tiffany
3) Astral, Robin, Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
4) Hera, Lluvia, Zeuxis vs Amapola, Sanely, Skadi [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther vs Felino, Felino Jr., Hechicero
6) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible

Volador again tries to return (and CMLL again tries to set up a trios title match.)

La Laguna’s Lady Shadow and Miss Guerrera make their Arena Mexico debut. Lady Shadow is part of the Andrarde family, and is the sister of Brillante Jr. She’s wrestled in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. Miss Guerrera hasn’t appeared on a CMLL show prior. Guerrera is the daughter of long-time local rudo Mr. Guerrero. Shadow and Guerrera have wrestled each a lot, though they haven’t wrestled Vaquerita and Tiffany. It appears CMLL is expanding their women’s division, not just replacing people. Still, that’s a match of the past and the future of the division and an immediate test to see how much the past is going to be willing to go along with the changes.

CMLL (FRI) 10/06/2023 Arena México
1) Capitán Suicida & El Audaz vs Difunto & Grako
2) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Neón vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
3) Esfinge vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
4) La Jarochita vs Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, La Catalina, Persephone, Lady Shadow, Miss Guerrera, Metálica, La Vaquerita, La Guerrera, Valkiria, Olympia [CMLL UNIVERSAL DE AMAZONAS, semifinal]
5) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario

CMLL had two ten-women blocks last year, and are expanding to twelve this year in their ‘best woman in CMLL’ tournament. New entries are Catalina, Lady Shadow, Miss Guerrera and Persephone, who’s been wrestling as Perse in Guadalajara. Maybe someone checked and found AAA never registered that name? It’s a bit surprising she’s getting an Arena Mexico debut this quick, and suggests Andromeda will be around next week.

Lluvia won last year’s tournament, La Jarochita the year before that, which probably eliminates them from winning this year. It would be equally unlikely for Stephanie Vaquer to win both world titles and this competition. Maybe Dark Silueta, who should be back in time for the next block? Maybe Zeuxis?

QueMoniito, in doing press for his lawsuit, said CMLL didn’t pay for his medical treatment. He specifically cites needing an operation following the famous Ultimo Guerrero spot, was left to pay for it himself, and CMLL did not pay him in the meantime. QueMonitto was back on screen the week after that GIF and I don’t recall him disappearing for any extended amount during that period, but it’s possible injuries there needed surgery later on.

Amapola and Princesa Sugehit spoke at univerisity UNAM about being women in lucha libre.

AAA

I did catch up with last week’s TV. Three different three way matches on one TV show wasn’t ideal.

• Ultra/Gemelo Tapia/Dulce Kanela felt like a random indie match. Tapia looked better of the two non-AAA guys but no one really stood out.
• Belcegor/Iguana/Epydemius was heavily comedy in the first half with Belcegor & Epydemius working against Iguana, then they just had start fighting each other so they could have a normal match. Belcegor seemed to know right away that he got hurt on his dive and they went quickly to the finish after he came back in.
• Centella/Maravilla/Sexy Star was rough in the first few minutes. Centella was so far on a different page that I started to wonder if there was some sotry we missed here. It settled down into a normal three way match, with Centella getting a few showcase spots near the end. It probably would’ve bene the best on the show if recorded the whole show.

AAA’s Heroes Inmortales took place Sunday:

AAA TV (SUN) 10/01/2023 Auditorio Benito Juárez, Zapopan, Jalisco [Lucha Central, Mas Lucha, thecubsfan]
***Heroes Inmortales, 2023***
1) Mini Vikingo, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa DQ Dinámico, Kamik-C, Skalibur
Dinamico faked a foul
2) Chik Tormenta & Maravilla b Dulce Kanela, Sexy Star, Faby Apache, Lady Shani, Reina Dorada, Estrellita [Copa Antonio Pena, semifinal]
Reina Dorada replaced Centella on Tuesday. Faby Apache was a surprise wrestler. The Tirantes fought again.
3) Abismo Negro Jr. & Flammer DQ Dalys & Negro Casas [AAA MIXED TAG]
Dalys hit Tirantes Sr. with a back elbow for no obvious reason (in the short clip seen) so Tirantes DQed them.
4) Forastero & Sansón b Dave The Clown & Murder Clown and Chessman & Parka Negra [#1 Contenders, AAA TAG]
5) Dralistico & La Bestia Del Ring b Hijo Del Vikingo & Myzteziz
12:09. Bestia del Ring fouled and unmasked Myzteziz in front of Hijo del Tirantes to set up the win (which was a purposeful rudo referee move rather than Tirantes being oblivious.) Dralistico was again upset with his father cheating during the match and for the win.
6) Chik Tormenta b Maravilla [Copa Antonio Pena, final]
8:00. Hijo del Tirantes attacked Tirantes Sr. before the match and took his place as referee. Straight match between rudas, no interference. Tormenta won clean with a Styles Clash. Tirantes Sr. returned immediately after the match to attack Hijo del Tirantes, but all three rudos beat him up.
7) Alberto el Patrón & Octagón Jr. b Qt Marshall & Sam Adonis
13:57 (unclear when match started.) Alberto el Patron replaced Pentagon Jr. (AEW) on Tuesday

The last three matches aired live. (They aired about a second of the post match of the tag title match.) I thought the booking of this show felt different than recent AAA shows. I mentioned that on Twitter and got a lot of good-hearted people pushing back that I should stop trying to delve deep into AAA booking, there’s nothing to be found there. They’re probably right. Still, the Konnan booked EMW Tijauan show on Saturday looks a lot more like this year’s AAA TV than what happened here in Jalisco. It was an easier show to watch, not sure if it was a better one.

The main event was theoretically about establishing the Marshall/Adonis team, tough Alberto took a bunch of the spotlight himself. Octagon Jr. may have won the next shot at QT Marshall but came across as the least important part of the match. Alberto reportedly picked up a knee injury the night before in Tijuana; he had one wrapped here. He wrestled a fair amount but didn’t actually do much, if that explanation makes sense.

Myzteziz/Hijo del Vikingo vs Dralistico/Bestia del Ring was more about Dralistico/Bestia issues. Dralistico tecnico/rudo status has inconsistent during his entire run, but he was definitely a rudo when he helped his brother at TripleMania Mexico City. Dralistico is now acting like a tecnico who has issues with Bestia del Ring cheating. Vikingo was way toned down, though he still took some painful looking slams from Bestia for a guy with a bad hip.

Vikingo’s going through things. He wrestled on Friday for LuchaManiaks in Texas, only to leave that match early due to injury.  Vikingo talked to Mas Lucha after and seemed about as depressed as I’ve ever seen him in one of those interviews; he was hurting, his hard work at rehabbing his injury weren’t helping enough, and he really was unsure if he’d be able to make all his scheduled bookings. Vikingo was most concerned about making the Guadalajara show and the GCW Japan tour; he didn’t seem to think he’d do either. (Vikingo did clarify that when he said he’d be out “two weeks”, he was counting the one week he’d already sat out – this was his planned return weekend.) Vikingo went on to wrestle Saturday in Dallas and then Sunday on this Guadalajara show. He was in a clearly limited state on Sunday.

Maravilla/Tormenta had a lot of moves but was missing some emotion. It was a ruda/ruda match where both were wrestling as tecnicas; there was no spark there. The crowd seemed to rally behind Tormenta as the hometown woman but the wrestlers didn’t take advantage of it. It was still better than the usual interference heavy women’s a singles match and the crowd stuck with them, but I would’ve thought they had better in them. AAA is doing the Tirantes fight in every women’s match and it’ll never go anywhere.

Heroes Inmortales was an overall easier-to-watch show due to improved audio (no Hugo & JMG over the PA) and none of the matches were bad. It was still more the type of episode you watch all the episodes, not some special show you need to catch if you’re looking for a special event. The size of the crowd made it feel special but the matches really were just normal TV stuff.

Mas Lucha had clips of the finishes for the undercad. They mention Faby Apache as the singular surprise in the women’s match; I haven’t found a full list of participants. Apache worked her last AAA match nearly a year to the day, leaving with plans of working for CMLL. That stint lasted two matches before CMLL tried to clamp down on Apache’s outside work and she took her leave. I presume this is a one night surprise that may lead to more occasional spot work but not a full time return.

Dalys hitting Tirantes makes no sense in the clip, but maybe there’s a better content when AAA shows the full match next week. That result seems like an “everyone thought they’d win, so we swerved them”, but even thinking that much about this is too much.

The next TV taping is 10/18.

AAA has a press conference to talk about their November Showcenter show. I may just wait to do the next update for that and for the CMLL lineup. It’s not like these are coming around midday lately, anyway.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (SAT) 09/30/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [@robviper]
1) Sangre Nueva b Nordico, Autzer
2) Helios & Urzus Mendoza ?? Black Skayde & Odisseo Mendoza
3) Andrómeda b Súper Nova, Tirano, Bendito, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Andromeda (Guatemala) defeated Super Nova to win. Flamita invited Andromeda to join Black Generacion as long Andromeda changed his name. It’s Black Andromeda now. Flamita also said Black Generation didn’t need Yutani or Elemental.
4) Cometa Maya & Radioactivo b SB KENTo & Takuma [BIG LUCHA MIXA]
tournament final scheduled as Delta Force vs Sangre Texano, but Texano Jr. had a conflicting booking in Tijuana. He and Super Nova will get a future title shot. Delta Force (Cometa Maya & Radioactivo) become first champions.
5) El Potro de Oro, Jack Evans, Watanabe, Zumbi b Emperador Azteca, Flamita, Orbita, Vengador
Zumbi was the surprise wrestler. Elimination match. Flamita left the match for a long portion due to a nose injury, then returned to set up Watanabe pinning him for the win. Flamita challenged Potro de ORo first, but Potro de Oro felt Black Andromeda should get the first title match by winning the earlier match. Mr. Big announced it’d be Potro de Oro & Black Andromeda and Loco Evans vs Black Generation on the next show (no date given?)

Not a good show. The top two matches both were affected greatly by injuries (Flamita in main, Cometa Maya apparently shook up in his.) The battle royal didn’t go well, and the opener matches were inexperienced guys who looked inexperienced. Attendance was done, which may have been the lineup or the Canelo fight happening the same night.

There was a lot of talk at the start of the show about GLEAT and Big Lucha working together. It sounded like GLEAT announced they’d have the Big Lucha shows on their streaming service. GLEAT’s streaming service is YouTube, same as Big Lucha, though GLEAT has about 30K subscribers and Big Lucha has about 4K. The idea of the main event may have been to make Watanabe look good as part of the partnership, but it didn’t happen as planned with Flamita out of a large chunk of the match.

There was some talk about Big Lucha World returning, but the promotion doesn’t seem to have anything definite. A low key part of losing Golden Guns is Big Lucha lost a lot of experience, and they could really use more work to start building that up again.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 10/01/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Kurama & Superboy b Águila Oriental & Tornado
Aguila Oriental replaced Dinastia (not working an opener!)
2) Príncipe Arkano b Fussion, Águila Roja, Rey Aztaroth
No Low Rider or Lanzelot, Fussion filled in
3) León Dorado & Mr. Leo b Elemental & Tornado
4) Cerebro Negro Jr., Noisy Boy, Spider Fly b Mr. Mike, Relámpago, Tonalli
Tonalli and Relampago had issues.
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. b Hijo de Canis Lupus & Ivan Rokov
6) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. b Hell Boy & Shocko [seconds hair]
referee Reyes Rosas (Cerebros) and Sonrisas (Hell Boy) hair on the line. The referees fought during the match.

Usually when guys like Low Rider and Dinastia work an IWRG show, it’s because they’re also working a Saturday show somewhere and are picking up an extra booking on the way home. I never saw a second booking for those guys so something may have happened.

Other News

Nayarit luchador Micro Boy (José Antonio Mendiola Arteaga, 26) passed away on Friday when he was shot to death in Tepic. Another brief mention of his death noted Micro Boy had just gotten out of jail a couple of days ago, and a third says the shooting happened when a “couple of people went over to his house to ‘talk'”, and then shot him when the talking ended. No one’s been arrested. Micro Boy also wrestled as Mini Elegido, and I believe there were multiple of those over the years. That news report has him as a former AAA wrestler but it looks like it was just something he put on his Facebook without being true. This is a luchador I might not know existed if I didn’t stumble on posters for local Arena La Cantera earlier this year.

Impact Wrestling is coming to Cicero Stadium in Illinois on 10/21 for Bound for Glory and Sunday 10/22 for the Bound for Glory Fallout TV taping. Bound for Glory is a PPV and will include a guest appearance by Will Ospreay among other matches; they should have no problem putting people in the building for that. The TV taping needed a draw too, so Impact’s billing it as “Lucha Libre Legacy” night. Konnan, Juventud Guerrera and Samuray del Sol will join regulars Laredo Kid and Black Taurus for the events. They’ll have a $100 ticket fan fest to meet the wrestlers, eat some tacos, and participate in other activities.

I can see this as a good business move: it’s Cicero, fans might be more into luchadors, Samuray’s around Chicago a bunch but Juventud and Konnan are not so there may be some interest there. 100 USD is pretty pricey but you don’t need a lot of people to make that worth. From an irrational emotional point of view, Impact shouldn’t be allowed to celebrate lucha libre. The only time luchadors appear on Impact is to lose. Impact should push and focus on the wrestlers they think are going to be the most help for Impact. They just can’t bury the Mexican wrestlers and also run a Mexican wrestler appreciation day. It’s insincere, even by the standards of professional wrestling.

(There’s a lot of drama over how luchadors are used in AEW and WWE. I participate in it, sometimes I even cause it. So does one of the people appearing on this Impact show. Impact’s much worse treatment somehow escapes the same criticism.)

There’s is a business case here that if you’ve made the luchadors look like jobbers, the fans of the luchadors are going to stop coming out to see them – but, like, the fans Impact are trying to draw here aren’t probably watching Impact shows so it might not matter. The people who run Impact also seem to believe, by their choices here, that the people who are going to draw to this audience are strictly people who’ve appeared on US TV (no matter how long ago that TV is.) I don’t think that’s true.

The main event (match 31) of Juarez’s lucha libre marathon was Cinta de Oro versus Andrade. The problem there is AEW doesn’t usually want their wrestlers losing outside of AEW and Cinta de Oro isn’t going to want to lose in his hometown area (if at all). They had a bunch of people run in for a no-contest. A weird way to end a very long show. The shows did draw really well and the government agencies that put them on had glowing press releases.

The garbage indie finish of the weekend is Halcon Lucha Libre’s main event, where Ice Killer Jr. lost his hair to Ciclon Ramirez Jr. in a 17 person main event. Ice Killer wasn’t announced for the match. Ice Killer is also a masked wrestler and instead just got his hair cut.

Thunder Rosa gave a motivational speech at a Tijuana university. She did some press with the local newspaper as well, said she still considers himself AEW champion because she never was beat, but she still seems to have no idea when she’s going to return.

Heraldo Public visits new-ish Puebla wrestling venue Arena Solis. They opened in January, and the owner/promoter is Joaquin Solis Melendez. They have capacity for 250 people. Policeman, Pequeno Joker, Charly Zargoza and Hechiceor Maldito are teaching classes at the building. They’ve hosted DTU and Lucha Memes shows, and their events have shown up on Mas Lucha. Their long-term goal is to expand into a bigger building in another part of Puebla.

There was a wrestler’s licensing exam in Tijuana. They plan on running them every six months. No word on how many people participated.

Segunda Caida reviews some more 90s Monterrey.