CMLL
CMLL (MON) 11/06/2023 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Mano a Mano, Porra Fresa]
1) Fénix SO, Rey Apocalipsis, Siki Osama b Amnesia, Astro, Asturiano 
2) Lady Metal, Persephone, Skadi b Astoreth, Enigmática, Lady Amazona
Posters differed if Persephone or Marcela were in this match; it turned out to be Persephone. (Marcela still not cleared?)
3) Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray b Diamond, Meyer, Robin
4) Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
Villanos/Zanodkans asked for a title match next week
5) Averno, Magnus, Volador Jr. b Místico, Stigma, Templario [Relevos Increíbles]
Mistico had the match won with La Mistica on Volador, but Averno distracted the ref and Magnus puleld Mistico’s mask to set up the win.
Unclear if that main event is setting up Volador or Magnus versus Mistico. Magnus getting that spot would be wild.
CMLL has called the Villanos and Zandokan “El Triangulo”; Loco Zandokan was part of “El Triangulo de la Muerte” and CMLL likes the old references. Zandokan and the Villanos want to be called La Esucadra instead. CMLL hasn’t acknowledged that name yet, but maybe they will if they’re actually getting a title shot.
CMLL (TUE) 11/07/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores]
1) Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. b Astral, Leono, Retro 
2) Minos, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia b Acero, Aéreo, Galaxy
Violencia won with a foul on Aereo. Violencia, Aereo and Galaxy all made challenges post match; Minos said he wasn’t interested, he wanted bigger names.
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi b La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
Lluvia pinned Vaquer, setting up a title match next week
4) Star Jr. b Guerrero Maya Jr. [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Valiente b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Máscara Dorada b Ángel de Oro
Dorada/Angel de Oro was pretty good, worth checking out. Angel de Oro made one mistake and lost the first fall in seconds, dominated the second fall, then showcased Dorada a lot in the third fall. The Tuesday crowd was way into Blue Panther as usual, and Star/Maya was good.
There are a lot signs the winter holidays are coming: trees changing colors, retailers having big sales, and CMLL kicking off a feud between prelim wrestlers. Pencil in a minis cage match for the usual January 1st big show, judging from the challenges in match two. Those matches usually suck in a lot of people and there’s a lot of minis who could easily lose a mask or hair. It does often happen to come down to the two people who started it, which is Aereo and Pequeno Violencia here.
CMLL (TUE) 11/07/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Mas Lucha]
1) Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico b Black Boy, Thunder Boy, Yaky Boy 
2) Chamuel, Mije, Periquito Sacaryas b Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado
3) Halcón Negro Jr., Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Crixus, Draego, Futuro, Neón
3) Bestia Negra & Ráfaga b Arlequín & Bello Antuan
Demasiado was announced then replaced by Arlequin
4) Candela, Quimera, Valkiria b Hera, La Vaquerita, Olympia
6) Dulce Gardenia & La Fashion b Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte
This was the show done in association with the Gay Games. Quimera got a big reaction when she came out with her Pride flag. Announcers pointed out referee Super Estrella was also wearing a Pride-colored bandana. The crowd seemed into the main event as well.
CMLL (FRI) 11/10/2023 Arena México
1) Futuro, Neón, Robin vs Crixus, Raider, Vegas
2) Pequeño Magía, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
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., Esfinge, Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Templario, Terrible
5) Averno & Euforia vs Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr.
6) Volador Jr. vs Soberano Jr.
It seems weird to preview the Friday lineup in two straight posts so I’ll hurry through. 3 and 6 are as set up last week. Match five is an interesting mix of groups. Titan returns in match 4 in a good match, as should be the opening two matches.
CMLL (SAT) 11/11/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Eléctrico & Oro Jr. vs Grako & Inquisidor
2) Angelito, Fantasy, Kaligua vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
3) El Audaz vs Cancerbero [lightning]
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
6) Atlantis, Octagón, Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Terrible
A lot of set trios wrestling on this show.
RevPro posted a video of Trent Seven issuing an open challenge to any luchador in the world for their 12/16 Uprising show. It’s implied to be a CMLL wrestler, and that sounds like an Informa announcement.
- Atlantis – NJPW US?
- Volador Jr. vs Soberano Jr. – Friday match
- Barbaro Cavernario – King of Hell
- Ultimo Guerrero, Hechicero, Terrible, Star Black, Hombre Bala Jr (maybe) – Leyenda de Azul?
- Olympia, Crixus, Fugaz – bodybuilding contest?
Tijuana’s Lucka Libre announced Tessa Blancard for their 12/02 CMLL show, so she might be back around Arena Mexico around then.
AAA
Arez and Aramis are free from their MLW contracts. That is the good and least weird part of the story; MLW can’t use AAA wrestlers while they have this CMLL agreement, and they hadn’t used those two guys anyway in a year and a half. I don’t know if they’re going to get other TV opportunities elsewhere but at least they now can.
The whole situation around it is very weird though. A few MLW wrestlers, most prominently former central MLW figure Hammerstone, have asked for their releases in recent weeks. Some, like Tijuana regular Juicy Finau, have even gotten that release. Arez, hasn’t been on an MLW show since June 2022 and has been asking for his release for about half that length, decided to ask again. He posted in both Spanish and English asking for the release while pointing out certain irregularities. Arez says AAA presented him with MLW contract all in English, even though he didn’t speak English and didn’t have a US work visa at that time. (Arez does have one currently, though not through MLW.) Arez said he was excited to work for MLW, and signed the contract even though it was paying him considerably less than his usual indie rate. Arez said MLW has not offered him work in 18 months, he asked for his release 6 months ago, and Court Bauer said no. Arez believes his contract isn’t valid because it was in a language he doesn’t speak and given to him when he couldn’t actually legally work in the US. Arez asks again for his release and the support of the fans in this.
MLW responded on Twitter, saying they notified AAA back in May that they released both Arez and Aramis from their contracts, “as AAA is a co-signee on both contracts.” MLW says AAA said they’d let Arez and Aramis know, and apparently didn’t. Arez and Aramis are free agents as far as MLW are concerned. Arez obviously didn’t know this, and Aramis says he didn’t know either.
MLW could not directly get a hold of Arez & Aramis in the last 12 months but, within an hour of its story breaking, they did seemingly find time to talk to Fightful Select for their side of the story. There, the blame for the confusion is specifically put on Konnan; MLW told Konnan and Konnan blames Konnan for not telling Arez and Aramis. MLW says they took those two luchadors off their internal roster six months ago.
AAA has said nothing. Konnan will likely end up talking about it on his podcast. It looks from the outside that something fell apart between AAA and MLW (and maybe personally between Bauer and Konnan) earlier this year; Bauer’s earlier comments about switching to CMLL, because they needed a more reliable partner in Mexico, hinted at some strife.
There are a lot of unanswered questions. Why didn’t MLW contact Arez or Aramis directly to let them know of their release when both had publicly and privately asked for their releases prior? Why did MLW feel they had to go through Konnan instead? Why did AAA not tell them in May, if MLW’s timeline is accurate? If AAA is a co-signee to the contract, do they still hold some rights over Arez and Aramis they haven’t yet released and are those two wrestlers still stuck waiting for AAA to let them out of their MLW contract? Why AAA involve themselves in this MLW contract in the first place, and if they did, why did they allow (at least) Arez to sign a contract he couldn’t understand? Is it normal for AAA to have wrestlers sign contracts they can’t actually read or understand? How is MLW claiming AAA didn’t tell them something very important going to affect Arez & Aramis’ relationship with AAA going forward? I have a lot of guesses at the answers, none of them are all that positive. On a recent podcast talking about the Hammerstone’s issues with MLW, Konnan says that if they’re a wrestling promotion like MLW is keeping someone under contract without using them for a long time is usually about sending them a message or punishing them for some reason. That reasoning seems like it could apply to this situation too. This seems like a very AAA mess, where it’s unclear if it’s just lack of organization to get something done or people putting their own interests first.
(Hammerstone posted his own update on the situation, saying he’s tried to call Court Bauer and hasn’t been able to get a hold of him. Maybe he should try Konnan?)
Psycho Clown was in Cancun to promote the upcoming AAA spot show there. Local students at a private school with good grades got to participate in a meet and greet with him.
Fun AAA matches that aren’t happening on AAA TV:
- Taurus vs Hijo del Vikingo vs Arez on 11/30 in Maztlan.
- Taurus, Toxin and Latigo versus Aramis, Iron Kid and Wicked Wicket on 12/03 for West Coast Pro Wrestling.
- Hijo del Vikingo vs Laredo Kid on 12/10 for Martinez Entertanment in Fort Worth.
IWRG
There is no IWRG show this Thursday. Or for many Thursdays. IWRG announced on Tuesdays that “Thursday Night Wrestling” ended its season with Castillo del Terror. The next “Thursday Night Wrestling” show will be in March 2024. (That’s a specifically branded show name; it’s likely other promotions will run Naucalpan mid-week during the winter.) Arena Naucalpan is not a great area after dark and it gets dark early this time of year. IWRG also seems to film their Tryout reality show midweek early in the year, so running regular Thursday shows is on hiatus until the end of the 2024 version of that competition.
Lucha Libre Boom is running next Sunday
IWRG , LLB (SUN) 11/19/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Sparta vs Príncipe Centauro, Hijo De Sparta, Gravedad Caero, Arashi, Oro Blanco, Eurus, Argus, Súper Boy
2) Macho I, Macho II, Macho III vs Demencia, Octacio Gaona, Reptil
3) Bengalee, Chris Stone Jr., Princesa Azul vs Mary Caporal, Medieval I, Reina Oscura
4) ? & ?? vs ??? & ????
5) Hell Boy, Puma de Oro, Tonalli vs Carta Brava Jr. (LLB), Cíclope, Miedo Extremo and Fandango, Lunatik Extreme, Toto
6) Mocho Cota, Súper Comando, Tito Santana © vs Hijo de Canis Lupus, León Dorado, Mr. Leo [IWRG IC TRIOS]
first defense
7) Hijo de LA Park, LA Park, LA Park Jr. vs Charly Manson, Dr. Wagner Jr., Mr. Elektro
Will the IWRG trios title finally come up home? Or will the Lion Brothers win them and somehow quit the next day?
Other News
TJ Sports interviewed Metalik after The Crash show; he says his goal still is to return to Japan. Oddly, and it could be that I’m reading too much into verb tenses, but he talked about his time in AEW in the past tense. Andrade was evasive about joining LFI and open to working in CMLL one day again.
Yahoo! Sports covers Lola Gonzalez talking about her life as a luchadora, and some bad relationships with wrestlers. She mentions Fishman’s spousal abuse, and even worse experience with another relationship partner.
Box y Luchas 3576 has a great cover of a trimpuhant Barbaro Cavernario. Covers with one big photo are good.
Zeta Tijuana talks to The Crash’s Ignacio de la O about The Crash reaching 12 years.