Month: January 2024

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 01/29/2024 Arena Puebla [Grada, Porra Fresa]
1) Asturiano & Rayo Metálico b Blue Shark & Millenium
2) La Jarochita & Lluvia DQ Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis 
excessive violence (wouldn’t stop doing mounted punches)
3) Okumura b Pegasso [lightning]
4) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa 
5) Bárbaro Cavernario & Último Guerrero b Atlantis Jr. & Flip Gordon [seeding battle royal]
6) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. b Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Valiente Jr. [semifinal]
7) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible [semifinal]
8) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible b Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. [final] 
sets up a trios title match next week

Barbaros/Tecnicos looks like the title match for 02/04. CMLL clearly wanted to get the titles to that rudo team before Dragon Rojo Jr. got hurt. The only reason they don’t it this time is because it’s Puebla – but it is a special Puebla holiday show.

CMLL (TUE) 01/30/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Galaxy & Pequeño Magía b Full Metal & Minos
2) Diamond b Halcón Suriano Jr. [lightning]
8:32
3) Andrómeda, Marcela, Skadi b Amapola, Olympia, Persephone
11:08
4) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. DQ Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
11:06 or thereabouts. Akuma faked a foul from Virus to get the DQ. Virus angrily demanded a rematch, Akuma accepted, then Los Cancerberos still beat up Ola Negra.
5) Flip Gordon b Ángel de Oro
16:40
6) Atlantis, Star Jr., Titán b Euforia, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
12:45

The matches were not much. That we got to see of them, anyway. It’s been a long time since a CMLL stream died as many times as the show did tonight. Long buffering periods started even as CMLL introduced the show and took place in almost every match. It was just an annoying mess.

Any other subscriber service would immediately acknowledge the issue with the stream, promising to put up a clean version and then putting up that clean version. CMLL has said nothing as of press time.

Nothing CMLL announced with the YouTube tiers should’ve affected how CMLL streamed on Tuesday. Those new tiers don’t even matter until Friday (and so there’s no point in moving onto them yet.) It was some other issue. That issue could actually be on YouTube’s side, but I didn’t see any widespread outage noted when searching around. Streaming issues will happen, it’s all about how you handle them. Wrestling streaming sites that cost a 1/3rd of what CMLL is asking for would normally acknowledge the issue as it’s happening, promise to fix in, and then upload a clean copy. CMLL, as ever, has done none of these things. They may eventually upload something, but they won’t say a word about anything that happened until they have something up there. That’s unacceptable for how much they’re charging for this service.

CMLL (TUE) 01/30/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Mas Lucha]
1) Eclipse Jr., Gran Kenut, Relámpago Azul b Quka, Sangre Azul, Último Ángel
2) Estrellita Mágica, Lady Amazona, Lady Metal b Náutica, Sexy Sol, Valkiria
3) Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel b Fúnebre, Johnny Dinamo, Minotauro
win via foul
4) Okumura, Elemental, Yutani b Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
5) Crixus, Difunto, Star Black b Ángel Rebelde, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr.
6) Barboza & Zandokan Jr. b Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II
straight falls
7) Averno, Soberano Jr., Templario b Atlantis Jr., Explosivo, Vaquero Jr.
Vaquero and Soberano, Gran Alternativa partners, refused to fight and Vaquero helped Soberano’s team win

The Guadalajara programming branch doesn’t seem to pay close attention to Mexico City. It means you get some different ideas, but also you get matches that the wrestlers decide don’t make much sense. The main event was essentially a 4v2 match because Soberano and Vaquero decided fighting didn’t make that much sense.

Guadalajara announced they’re running a Sunday show on 02/25 with Mascara Dorada and asked the fans if they’d rather a noon or 5 pm start. The sponsored shows they run occasionally on Sundays usually start at noon, the pre-COVID regular Sunday shows started at 5 pm. The bigger issue here is Mascara Dorada is scheduled to be in Los Angeles for Prestige Wrestling on 02/25, wrestling Rey Horus. As far as I know, right now, that Prestige match is still happening.

CMLL Informa has a lot to cover today. They said this week will cover the last six people for Reyes del Aire. They’re also set to announce the full list of participants and the format of this year’s Torneo de Escuelas. I’d expect we’ll hear more about the AEW/CMLL relationship and get a hard sell for the upgraded YouTube tiers.

Announced guests

• Titan, Templario, Soberano Jr., Star Jr. (Rey del Aire? the weekly Arena Coliseo interview)
• Tessa Blanchard (she’s back)
• Lluvia, La Jarochita, Katara (Katara introduction)
• Neon & Brillante Jr. (Gran Alternativa)
• Torneo de Escuelas

Mascara Dorada, Mistico, Volador Jr., and Hechicero are in New Orleans for the AEW Dynamite/Rampage tapings. Their Rampage match (or matches) will likely be announced during Dynamite. I still think it’s notable AEW hasn’t just announced the default tag match.

CMLL (MON) 02/05/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Millenium & Rayo Metálico vs Hijo del Perverso & Perverso
2) Fuego vs Prayer [lightning]
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Reyna Isis & Tessa Blanchard
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. & Stigma vs Brillante Jr. & Espanto Jr.
5) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
6) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible [CMLL TRIOS]
first defense

This is a 5 pm holiday start. There’s no mention on the poster of this being a streaming event. We did keep thinking Los Indestructibles would lose their trios titles and they haven’t left, so there’s at least some hope for this random trios champ.

Brillante Jr. & Espanto Jr. are teaming up again as Andrade family. I’m unsure if there’s any interest in them without La Sombra, but they’re probably there to lose to the locals.

On Saturday, Hechicero talked with Estrellas del Ring and mentioned how excited he is to go over the place. He says he’s doing to three continents and five countries. Mexico, the United States, and Japan are well known. Hechicero brings up Costa Rica’s CWE, which regularly works with CMLL and foreign wrestlers; he’s there on March 17th. That leaves a country and continent; Hechicero just mentions surprises. The safe guess is he’s booked for RevPro again; they’ve talked about CMLL news to come.

(It looks like Hechicero pops up on a NJPW FanasticaMania preview too, if I’m guessing right about the person behind the ? bubble)

Rodrigo Barba, of Saltillo’s Barba Producciones, posted a photo of himself with Salvador Lutteroth to promote CMLL and BARBA working together on the Vive Latino shows. He pushed the two groups will continue to work together. BARBA had previously worked with AAA, who seem to be using other local promoters for their upcoming Saltillo taping.

A luchador named Rey Diablo debuted Sunday in Arena Coliseo. In a post-match interview, Rey Diablo revealed he’s the son of Rey Bucanero and La Diabolica (del Caribe.) Rey Bucanero confirmed the story and says he hopes to pass on the Rey Bucanero name to him, and that he makes it to the CMLL roster.

Box y Lucha 3588 has the Gran Alternativa final.

AAA

AAA held a press conference on Monday in Monterrey. It mostly repeated a lot of info given in Mexico City last week for the local press while pushing that tickets are on sale for both the upcoming events in the area. It was a rare AAA press conference not attended by Dorian Roldan, which signaled its importance. Alejandro Montes was the AAA representative instead.

There were a few news bits. The plan is for four Showcenter events in 2023. AAA hasn’t kept strictly to those numbers in the past year. The plan is for those four to be TV tapings, which the Showcenter means will be a big percentage of AAA’s TV this year. It also means less of AAA’s roster appearing on these shows; they seem to send fewer people and fill out TV matches with locals for those shows. It will be hard for a fringe AAA roster member to be on TV much in 2024 between those shows and the Origenes concept.

The “Taurus” appearing on the 02/18 Showcenter event was said to be a debut, acknowledging the previous one has left.

Vampiro and Alberto were brought on to talk about appearing on TripleMania Monterrey. There is a Big Idea that Alberto’s opponent (or maybe opponents) would be a singles match against (probably) a foreign wrestler. It wasn’t clear to me how this was supposed to work, but an Alberto interview suggests AAA already has three outside names, and fans will pick from one. Asking fans on social media something involving Alberto is asking for mayhem. There will be a follow-up press conference in late February, after the Showcenter event, and they’ll announce some of the matches then. There was a mention that the deal between Multimedios (which owns the baseball stadium) and AAA for TripleManias at this venue had originally been for five years and now was extended. They didn’t mention how long it was extended and hadn’t mentioned it was a five-year deal prior, as far as I can find.

That press conference did not mention a Laredo Kid/Antifaz del Norte mask match. It wasn’t hinted at.

AAA had an additional press conference on Saltillo on Tuesday and mentioned the top four matches for that show. Tickets for that show go on sale today.

AAA TV (SAT) 03/09/2024 Lienzo Charro Prof. Enrique Gonzalez, Saltillo, Coahuila [Saltillo Al Raz De Lona]
4) Aerostar, Myzteziz, Negro Casas vs Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria
5) Dulce Kanela, Jessy Queen, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla
6) Pagano & Psycho Clown vs Forastero & Sansón [AAA TAG]
4th defense (2nd on TV)
7) Hijo Del Vikingo, Octagón Jr., Vampiro Canadiense vs Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown

That’s the first Forastero TV appearance since La Hiedra’s WhatsApp messages were released. Pagano & Psycho Clown could certainly be tag champs, but AAA also usually takes no action unless there are criminal charges. I do no know what they will do, though that outcome looks more interesting on paper than the quality of any matches. Jessy Queen is the newest name for Jessy Ventura.

SuperLuchas notes Konnan was asked if AAA would bring in former NXT wrestler Patrick Clark (Velveteen Dream), who’s been on a recent image rehab tour. He was bounced from the WWE system following allegations of an improper relationship with a minor, among other misdeeds. (He was never formally charged for those incidents, though he’s had other brushes with the law.)  Konnan said no, AAA wasn’t running the Red Cross and fixing everyone. He was then asked the difference between Clark and Alberto el Patron and Marty Scurll. Konnan said he knows those two guys “personally and professionally” enough to trust them, and they both know they’re gone if anything happens. Konnan allowed that he may give Clark that same allowance if he got to know him, and just doesn’t know him. That bit matches a recent Wrestling Observer Newsletter bit where AAA was said to be bringing in Alberto and another unnamed controversial person to TripleManias this year under a zero-tolerance policy. Most assumed Marty Scurll was that unnamed person, and Konnan confirmed it. I will get screamed at on Twitter during some TripleMania card announcement when AAA mentions him in a match; it’ll be quite a time. He might be one of Alberto’s opponents, which would just multiply it.

IWRG

Big news: La Pandemia got IWRG trios title belts on Tuesday’s Revolucionando news show. The short version, again: Navarros walked out of the promotion as champion half a decade ago, the belts passed through various hands before Poder del Norte got them, Poder del Norte was supposed to lose them to La Pandemia, Poder del Norte no-showed and claimed it was a pay issue. IWRG had threatened legal action if Poder del Norte didn’t return the belts. IWRG showed off belts, and La Pandemia now has gotten what they won by forfeit. There is the very small matter that the belts La Pandemia have are very clearly different title belts – meaning Poder del Norte likely didn’t give back those trios belts after all and IWRG just had some new ones made, something they could’ve just done years ago to cut off all this madness – but perhaps we’re not supposed to notice that.

Hijo de Canis Lupus is out two weeks selling a martinete DMT Azul gave him this past Sunday. DMT Azul and Blue Demon headline this Sunday’s RGR show in Naucalpan.

Other

Saltillo luchador Aguila Mixteca was hospitalized with a serious head injury; he was riding on his motorcycle when hit by a car. (The driver tried to run, but was stopped by other drivers.)

On the 01/28 Big Lucha show in Merida, Potro de Oro kept their title over local Eterno Alcander. You may remember Alcander for popping up on AAA TV last year as a fill in on Rey de Reyes, seemed to fit in fine. Potro retaining the title is no surprise. The surprise was Eterno Alcander announcing he was retiring immediately, unmasking himself and revealing his real name is Jesus Antonio Patron Romero, 37 years old. He handed his mask down to his young son. 37 is oddly early to retire as a luchador, but his area of Mexico doesn’t have many shows.

Bestia 666 announced he’s leaving the NWA on Instagram Tuesday. He seems to have left AAA with him working The Crash. There’s probably another announcement coming.

RIOT says they’ll run 03/02 in Monterrey’s “867 Venue”. It’s a small concert hall with overhangs, so plenty of room for someone to do something crazy.

KAOZ says they’ll introduce a Blue Demon III on 03/24. Demon Jr. had recently talked about introducing a successor this spring. It reads like he’s appearing but not necessarily wrestling. Blue Demon III feels like it should be a big deal, but it’s KAOZ – they’ve got a history of announcing stuff and it not going anywhere. They’ve also put a lot of people in gimmicks (old and new) that get placed in main events but don’t really mean anything, like the new Pierroth. Blue Demon Jr. surely has completely control over who’s Blue Demon III, but that doesn’t inspire confidence eithher.

El Sol de Hidalgo has a history of Arena Aficion, which turns 72 years old this week. A column elsehwere notes it’s a building that is showing it’s age and could use a lot of fixing up. When Arena Coliseo Monterrey finally started getting torn down and I thought about other buildings that are in similar stages of decline which may not survive, Arena Aficion was first to come to mind.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 01/26/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, La Presna, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Capitán Suicida & Halcón Suriano Jr. b Diamond & Oro Jr.   
10:13
2) Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. b Guerrero Maya Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr.   
12:14. Villano III Jr. accidentally smashed a knee into Maya’s head on the finish
3) Zandokan Jr. b Akuma [lightning]   
8:59.
4) Futuro & Guerrero de la Muerte b Draego, Furia Roja, Max Star, Neón, Valiente Jr., Vaquero Jr. [Gran Alternativa, semifinal, battle royal]
5) Furia Roja & Último Guerrero b Valiente & Valiente Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8F]  
6:03
6) Max Star & Volador Jr. b Soberano Jr. & Vaquero Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8F]  
8:05
7) Máscara Dorada & Neón vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Draego [Gran Alternativa, 8F]  
8) Atlantis Jr. & Futuro b Averno & Guerrero de la Muerte [Gran Alternativa, 8F]  
6:18
9) Max Star & Volador Jr. b Furia Roja & Último Guerrero [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]  
7:34
10) Máscara Dorada & Neón b Atlantis Jr. & Futuro [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]  
5:23
11) Máscara Dorada & Neón b Max Star & Volador Jr. [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]   
10:05

I liked matches 2/3 as good weekly matches, nothing extraordinary. The tournament was better than last week and finished better, though there were still some bumpy moments in a few matches. It’s a tournament of rookies, that’s sort of to be expected. Neon & Mascara Dorada had great gear; the colors and outfits made them look otherworldly. Max Star so blew his teased Phoenix Splash before the main event finish that it was actually a sort of relief he didn’t win. I’ve come to the conclusion that Furia Roja is better than Guerrero de la Muerte in that team.

Tampa Bay Ray Randy Arozarena visited Friday’s show. Arozarena was born in Cuba and defected to Mexico.  Last year, during the World Baseball Cup, he wore a Mistico mask in the clubhouse for fun. He got to meet the actual Mistico on Friday.

CMLL (SAT) 01/27/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Leono & Retro b Príncipe Odín Jr. & Sangre Imperial
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr. b Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
3) Dark Panther b Felino Jr. [lightning]
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Averno, Euforia, Mephisto DQ Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
Averno unmasked Hechicero for the DQ.
6) Místico b Soberano Jr.

Averno/Hechicero sounds like the next singles match here.

Mistico and Soberano worked Arena Lopez Mateos early in the night. (Hechicero & Solar defeated Virus & Negro Navarro in the semimain, which has gotten good reviews.) The building looked about 75% full, which is better than the last show that featured CMLL wrestlers but still not a big number. That building will be full next weekend when the Trauma I/Wotan mask match is scheduled. There’s always been some separation between the fans who attend CMLL shows (even the diehards, not just the tourists) and those fans who attend indie shows. There seems to be more cross over between AAA & indies.

CMLL (SUN) 01/28/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Mije & Periquito Sacaryas
2) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Robin b Grako & Nitro
3) El Audaz, Pegasso, Stigma b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido b Kráneo, Raider, Sagrado
5) Atlantis, Star Jr., Titán b Crixus, Euforia, Zandokan Jr.
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Místico b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Nothing jumps out as important here.

CMLL’s AMX show aired matches from the 01/14 show. (As always, they’re on the drive.) Live results noted Bengala left early with an injury. The video explains it: Dr. Karonte I tried to suplex Bengala on the apron, failed to put own Bengala down flatly, and Bengala ended up with a knee injury because of the bad landing. Dr. Karonte I seems to have far more of these incidents than anyone else in CMLL.

CMLL (TUE) 01/30/2024 Arena México
1) Galaxy & Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal & Minos
2) Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Diamond [lightning]
3) Andrómeda, Marcela, Skadi vs Amapola, Olympia, Persephone
4) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Flip Gordon vs Ángel de Oro
6) Atlantis, Star Jr., Titán vs Euforia, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.

The Villanos have caught back up with Atlantis Junior! That feud seemed long gone a year ago, but Villano III Jr. coming over sure has changed the arc of things.

CMLL (FRI) 02/02/2024 Arena México
1) Acero & Pierrothito vs Angelito & Pequeño Olímpico [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Crixus, Raider, Vegas vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
3) Katara, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Hera, La Catalina, Reyna Isis
4) Tessa Blanchard vs Dark Silueta [lightning]
5) Atlantis Jr., Flip Gordon, Volador Jr. vs Soberano Jr., Templario, Último Guerrero
6) Brillante Jr. & Místico vs Máscara Dorada & Neón [Gran Alternativa, final]

The Gran Alternativa is always interesting for which rookie is going to get the big spotlight. It seems more interesting this year to see which veteran is going to win. Neither Mascara Dorada nor Mistico lose big matches in Arena Mexico right now. It’s a tag match and not a singles match, so the rules are a little different, but it’s a fascinating match up.

The semimain is the first time Soberano and Ultimo Guerrero have been in the same match since Soberano became a rudo. Will they both be tagging Templario?

Tessa Blanchard has to be winning this time, right? It doesn’t seem worth flying her in to lose all of there singles matches.

Katara, who just won the Occidente Tag Titles with Hatanna, is a third generation wrestler making her Arena Mexico. A lot of people know who her second generation is and I suspect CMLL will make it clear on Informa.

The opener is a bit strange. The mins feuding has largely been dropped after the cage match (which always happens.)

CMLL’s digital video strategy is changing again

This is the third change in about eight months. CMLL jumped onto Ticketmaster Live during the pandemic. They switched to a combination of a YouTube subscription and Boletia/Neerme in July 2023. It’ll be only the YouTube subscription tier beginning in February 2024.

Everything in one place on YouTube is the good news. The bad news is, instead of adding the content to the current plan, CMLL is adding new and very expensive tiers.

• 199 MXN/9 USD per month: Tuesdays live, Fridays on 9 day delay
  • this is the pre-existing plan
• 499 MXN/25 USD per month: Tuesdays & Fridays live – EXCEPT for the special shows
• 699 MXN/35 USD per month: Tuesdays & Fridays live, the specials (listed as Aniversario, Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, both Gran Prixs, and Dia de Muertes) live, and “two matches a week from Arena Coliseo”

It’s a lot. The difference between the two plans is 16 USD just to watch the live Friday shows, and that doesn’t cover all the Friday shows. 25 USD is more expensive than any wrestling streaming service than I can think of, more than most general streaming services. That’s 25 USD for about 4.5 hours of live TV a week (and not all weeks.)

It’s technically cheaper with these plans than it was under the old system, if you were buying every single PPV. The YouTube subscription cost 9 USD, and each of the 4* January PPVs cost 6.31 USD with fees and tax. That’s 34.23 USD under the old system, and 25 USD under the new system. The difference is going to be less for Special Show months – they’re charging 10 extra for those when it was more like 6 on PPV – but there’s still some savings in there. There’s also the removal of the bizarre “show is only available for 48 hours” VOD rule – it’ll be up forever – and whatever value you put on the Saturday Coliseo shows.

(* CMLL actually did 5 PPVs in January, but one was free to anyone who bought the previous week and one was a non-Friday holiday show.)

The biggest plan is a plan, but only if you buy every single PPV. Very few people do that. CMLL was getting their money before and may still get that money now. They will no longer be getting the person dipping in for a show once a month. A 5-6 USD price is an impulse buy. $25 is not. You’ll get more content for 25 USD, but that’s not the calculus when you’re just interested in one show. Those people and their money are just going to be gone. Even for people who were buying most or all the PPVs, they were paying in bits and pieces. I can explain how it’s actually cheaper for those people, but “$25” or “$35” is a big sticker shock.

I’m uncomfortable writing about this part, but it is too big of an elephant not to mention in this discussion. The big turnaround in CMLL international perception in 2023 had much to do with the wrestlers’ great matches. It also took the programmers putting them in situations to have those great matches. It also had to do with international fans having an easy-to-access, low-cost way to watch those matches. “2023 CMLL” would’ve been thought of a lot differently if there was nothing like my Google Drive and if the two people who consistently post on Twitter about CMLL vanished. Dave Meltzer, when he’s giving some star rating to a CMLL match that causes hundreds of people to seek it out, didn’t watch that match through a PPV he purchased on Boletia. Voices of Wrestling Joseph Montecillo, or whomever your favorite review person who wrote talked a lot about CMLL this past year, aren’t hustling to watch every Friday PPV within 48 hours on VOD. And none of those people are about to start paying for a 25/month plan to keep up. I want to say AEW, RevPro, MLW, and whoever else would’ve figured out CMLL was doing good on their own with those sorts of people creating buzz for the promotion, but that’s the reality is that doesn’t happen. Most people outside of Mexico ignore Mexican wrestling unless those who watch it are super loud about it and make it easy to watch. I can be as loud as I want, but no one’s watching it if it only exists behind a 25 USD paywall. CMLL loves the international attention they’ve got, the fact they’ve got people like AEW asking to use their wrestlers, and that’s not a result of a bunch of people paying CMLL directly to see it. CMLL has the numbers; they know how many people are watching compared to how many people are paying, and they should know what is working to get people to watch their shows and what isn’t.

Put me and that morally complex Google Drive to the side for the moment. The match that woke people up to CMLL in 2023 was the January 20th Rocky Romero versus Volador Jr. match. It alerted people because those two wrestlers had a great match and because CMLL made it a free YouTube stream that anyone could watch after word got around about it. Both parts had to happen for it to hit like it did. That doesn’t happen with shows locked behind a 25 USD plan without someone finding a way to make those matches more accessible.

A bunch of questions I have about these CMLL plans:

• Is that list of special shows the full list? Will other shows be added? Is there a guaranteed amount? Will the schedule remain the same? CMLL currently has one major show in March, then shows in August, September and October. Is there going to be anything extra (beyond the two Coliseo matches) for the highest tier people during those long stretches without the shows?
• What happens to the “bonus” shows that occasionally show up, like the Arena Coliseo and Arena Puebla anniversary shows? Will they continue? Will they be on all three tiers? Just a higher one?
• Which plans will have the New Year’s Day PPV? Will the Christmas Day show remain free? Are all the “Dia del Muertos” shows on the higher tier, or just the Friday one?
• Which two Saturday matches will be posted? Will it always be the top two? Why is it two and not the entire show? When do those Saturday matches go up? Does this start this week or include this past Saturday?
• What happened to the ‘new’ historical content, promised in the July 2023 launch and never delivered?
• Why aren’t the Sunday shows, which are broadcast on TV, included? Why aren’t the Puebla shows included?
• When will those two Saturday matches go up? Will there be a regular schedule? Will CMLL keep to a regular schedule, which they’ve struggled with on Friday->Sunday uploads?
• Is CMLL aware that people on Apple devices (phones, etc) aren’t allowed to pay for a YouTube subscription on their device? Are they going to have to make other people aware of this?
• Does this affect the Guadalajara streams at all?
• How can we get answers to any questions? CMLL’s communication is one-sided messages on CMLL Informa if there’s any information. “No more PPVs” was stated on one of Alexis Salazar’s personal Instagram pages in a quickly disappearing story. It is great to know, but not a place where most people will see it, nor is it a useful communication strategy. Are they prepared to get by people asking why the show isn’t available on PPV this Friday?
• How much of this pan solely relies on Alexis Salazar doing everything? If he goes to FanasticaMania – I think he is – does this content stop going up for a week or two?

This is a lot of thinking by me on something CMLL probably didn’t do much thinking. It may have been a short talk – “How much did these PPVs cost? We’ll just make a new tier about that much and make it higher for big shows.”

I will probably get the 35 plan*, because archiving all the content is part of what we do. It’s hard to imagine almost anyone else paying the 35 USD monthly fee. 25 USD is more the “normal” person plan, but I don’t think there are many people – normal or otherwise – who will pay 25 or 35 USD a month for CMLL. It’s just not realistic; it’s only going to be a few people who do so, and then it will be a question if CMLL feels like keeping their promises when they’re not making much money on it. There’s also no compelling reason to pay for that highest plan most months of the year; eight extra matches isn’t worth 10 USD.

(* Even I’m not technically paying the 35 USD myself. Though I don’t solicit it and make it clear it’s unnecessary, some people send me money to defray that cost and ensure the videos remain accessible.)

CMLL’s PPV data should reveal how many people are paying for every single PPV, and are likely to sign up for these expensive plans. I don’t have that data, so my guess that very few people will can only be a guess. I’m sure CMLL would make more money if they offered a single plan that was in line with what (most) every other streaming service does: a single price between 8-15 USD that covers every show; the increase they’d get in people would more than offset the cost drop. CMLL is instead going to keep trying a much less proven road.

CMLL/AEW

AEW introduced CMLL’s Hechicero, Mascara Dorada, Volador, and Mistico on Saturday’s TV show and announced they would debut in New Orleans this Wednesday. Their match will air Friday on Rampage, opposite the usual CMLL Friday night show. This is big news for the relationship, which had simply been “Mistico shows up as one off” previously. My understanding is this CMLL appearance is not a one off.

Notably, AEW didn’t announce a specific match. Volador/Hechicero versus Mistico/Mascara Dorada is the most likely combination on paper, but saying nothing suggests something else may be planned. Rampage matches are usually announced during Dynamite.

I have written this two dozen times and I’m not sure it’s getting through but I’ll write it one more time here: if AAA/AEW split it apart, it’s going to be due to issues between those two promotions, not because CMLL forces AEW to do anything. Another way of putting it is how the Black Taurus situation was handled is a bigger indicator of their relationship than any CMLL announcement. AEW is going to want to keep working with everyone, AAA is going to want to make sure there’s no obstacles to using people like Penta and Taya, they’re motivated to keep the connection alive. If it goes away, it’s about those two companies.

AAA

AAA will have a TripleMania Monterrey press conference today around 5 pm CT. It’s too early to get a whole card; maybe a main event and an Alberto appearance. They should once tease Laredo Kid versus Antifaz del Norte if that’s again the plan.

AAA aired a Rey de Reyes special instead of new matches on Saturday. This episode was a studio show, where the studio was the Luchatitlan ring, and the hosts were Luchatitlan in-house announcers Jesus Zuniga and his daughter Jessibeth. They repeated some basic Wikipedia Rey de Reyes stats, showed the last three Rey de Reyes finals, and set up shorter clips of the previous years. They pushed that Rey de Reyes would air live next week at 8 pm, but didn’t mention any matches or participants. The goal was to sell the event itself as an idea deal instead of anything that might be happening on it.

The upside of an episode of TV like that is it’s one more week AAA doesn’t need to tape. AAA appears to be trying to tape as few television events as possible in the last six months. That’s a concerning sign. AAA makes money by selling their TV tapings to local promoters, and either those local promoters can’t be found or there’s not strong/interested enough to pay for AAA right now.

From a viewing perspective, this means the second half of Mexico City taping won’t air until at least February 17th. Both it and the Queretaro taping will 5-6 weeks after the show has been taped.

AAA’s TV announced they’ll tape in Saltillo on March 9th. They’ve previously said Vampiro’s retirement tour will start there, which I presume means Vampiro will wrestle. Happy to be wrong.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reports Sam Adonis is working without AAA a contract, though he’d sign one. As I’ve written here many times previously, most everyone wrestling in AAA has been working without an AAA contract since COVID. AAA changed tactics in the last few months of 2023 and is now trying to get everyone under a written deal. Adonis fits as someone who probably was on a verbal deal prior, so this report is unsurprising for those in the know. Over the last few weeks, Fightful has reported various foreign wrestlers (most Bullet Club ones) for NJPW are under contacts that expire soon. That too was also unsurprising – NJPW contracts are traditionally are one-year deals that expire at the end of January. The ‘news’ instead came off like the NJPW wrestlers leaking their contract status to see if the added publicity would get open any door for them elsewhere and to manufacture some leverage in their negotiations with NJPW. Sean Ross Sapp does not report on AAA, contracts or otherwise, so it’s seems pretty clear where this news is coming from and why the “but he’s still happy with AAA” message was included. It’s a smart thing to do; most people don’t know what the contract status is for AAA wrestlers and it gets Adonis more attention.

Reina Dorada registered as a pre-candidate representing the “Citizens Movement” party for deputy of District 30 in Naucalpan. I don’t know Mexican elections, consult your local library instead, but I believe this means she’s putting her name in the hat to run for this office, and the party itself will decide which of the interested people they’ll put forward for the general election in June. (That’s done by primary election in the US, and seems to be more the local party leaders decide in Mexico.) The big wrestling questions when a masked wrestler runs for office is always “What name will they use? Will they run masked?” and there don’t appear to be answers to that yet.

The “big” AAA social media of the weekend was WWE wrestler Bayley appearing on screen at the Royal Rumble with a La Parka mask tied to her waist. There was a definite feel of “the cool kids at school acknowledged us!” in the reactions.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha World (FRI) 01/26/2024 Zocalo, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, Estrellas del Ring, La Tijera, R de Rudo, thecubsfan]
1) Krissta, Nix, Sussy Love b Ariana Mami, Lolita, Satania
6:00
2) Dragón Solar, Obelyus, Rey Espectrito DRAW Piraña, Reiyel, Zenky
A time limit draw of a different kind; match was stopped due to daily ceremonial lowering of the Mexican flag, and didn’t resume.
3) Éxtasis & Ricky Marvin b Alfa Jr. & Platino
7:31
4) Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Cody 1-8, Mr. Win, Viajero b Auzter, Black Skayde, Brujo, Maniacop
6:31
5) Limbo & Torito Negro b Cometa Maya & Morfosis and Sol & X-Devil [BIG LUCHA MIXA, #1 Contenders]
4:41.
6) Súper Nova & Texano Jr. b Trauma I & Trauma II [BIG LUCHA MIXA]
13:09. Trauma I got the Lo Negro de Lo Negro on Texano, Super Nova pulled out the ref, Trauma I argued and then walked into Tornado Texano for the pin.
7) Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Estrella de Oro, Conquistador, Rey Cósmico Jr., Helios, Red Dragón, Krissta, Ruso, Fulgor, M2R, Nordico, Blue Danger [Torneo de la Juventud]
22:39

This went up on Sunday’s Big Lucha show. It was a show of two halves: an undercard where everyone was super concerned about getting everything done in a short time span and a top two where matches had no particular plan or time cue. (Match 2 isn’t on the video.) I liked the first half better. The tag title match was veterans just trying to get through a match with no plan. I could either write 300 words about how bad the rumble was, or I gave up and fast-forwarded through by ten minutes in. My repeated criticism of Big Lucha World shows are the matches are too long for the wrestler’s experience. That wasn’t an issue here: they just had enough time to get their stuff in and no more. Match 5 was probably a lot better than it would’ve been as the 20 minute match in the gym; they had no time to fool around and do a million near falls, they just got to the big spots and first pinfall wins. I liked it a lot and would take more of it.

Match 3 showed that Ricky Marvin is going to be a really useful addition here if he does end up sticking. His style of matches bring some structure to a promotion that could use it. There are going to be clear tecnicos, there are going to be tags, and people are going to stand in their corners when they’re not the legal man (and definitely not blankly in the ring waiting for their next spot, like both teams did in the tag title match.) Marvin is still good at making young wrestlers look much more complete than they actually are; this was a better night for Alfa Jr. then his Lucha x el Barrio performance.

INJUVE and Big Lucha reported “over 10,000 people” attending this shows. It’s an unticketed public gathering, and there’s no normal way to measure those things; it’s just a crowd estimate. It doesn’t look like 10,000 to me in the photos but, if you figure in all the people who may have wandered past and hung out for a while before moving on, it’s certainly possible they had that number in the general area over the course of a couple of hours.

I didn’t see many photos of Big Lucha’s tour in the southeast of Mexico. What I didn’t suggests it wasn’t any sort of draw.

Forneo hasn’t appeared here since October and is teaming with Limbo on indie show as “Los Rebeldes”, so I assume he left here and it just got lost in everyone else moving on.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 01/28/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Fussion b Osiris
2) Sagitarius & Tornado b Kali & Rey Aztaroth
3) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly b Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. [super libre]
sets up a (previously announced) tag title match for next week
4) Carnicero, Granjero, Leñador, Minero b Auzter, Caballero de Plata, Dr. Cerebro Jr., Freelance
5) Tonalli b Hip Hop Man [Cofre del Pirata Moreno]
A battle royal. Results don’t list full participants.
6) Ivan Rokov b Hell Boy, Hijo del Pirata Morgan
sets up an Rokov/Hell Boy
7) Hijo del Fishman b Hijo de Canis Lupus [IWRG JUNIORS]
4th defense. DMT Azul helped Fishman win. Crowd chanted FRAUDE.

A promotion noting the crowd chanted Fraude at the main event is something. IWRG also talks about Tonalli returning to IWRG; he was on the show on the 14th. I feel like I’m not understanding a lot. Neither Mas Lucha or IWRG lists the names of the participants.

I’ve really become a strong battle royal hater in general. It’s another thing Mexican wrestling promotions have taken from US wrestling that they don’t understand how or why it works, and so you get nonsense like the Big Lucha one and the IWRG ones usually aren’t any better. It’s also a nuisance from a database standpoint; no one ever mention who’s in battle royals, so it’s just a slow process of watching a match, I don’t like and trying to see if I can figure out all the people involved.

Tijuana

The Crash (FRI) 02/23/2024 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Bamboo & El Rey vs Khavall & Psycodelia
2) Anubis, Gallo Extreme, Rey Furia vs Ángel Metálico, Mirage, Mr. Maldito
3) Alan Stone, Máximo, Toto vs Arandú, Tony Casanova, Zarco
4) Destiny, Noisy Boy, Rey Horus vs Action Jackson, Emperador Azteca (Indie), Flamita
5) Dralistico & Rush vs Black Taurus & Rey Escorpión (Indie)
6) Bestia 666, Blue Demon Jr., Mamba vs D Luxe, DMT Azul, Pierroth

That card doesn’t look so great. The main event is supposed to be built around the DMT Azul/Blue Demon Jr. feud, which is in the same place it was a year ago (except maybe in a slightly different promotion) and will have teh same outcome.

Rey Escorpion showing up looks like he’s another one out of AAA. He barely appeared in AAA last year – he hasn’t been on a TV show since April Tijuana taping, and only appeared on one other show. He hasn’t been wrestling much anywhere and it’s unclear if he was hurt or doing something else. I believe “Black Taurus” is no longer supposed to use the world “Taurus” and promoters have been told, but that’s something US promotions would take seriously and Mexican promotions would be too inattentive to notice. Rush says he’s out with a hamstring injury so we can assume it won’t be an issue by this point.

Michael Jackson impersonator/wrestler Santana Jackson was listed as wrestling on the last The Crash show, didn’t appear, and now listed as appearing on the next AAA EMW show in Tijuana. I don’t want to believe there’s a promotional war over Santana Jackson but I also can’t rule it out.

Other News

02/04 NOAH has

• El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. challenging KENOH for the GHC World Heavyweight Championship
• Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf challenging Jack Morris & Anthony Green for the GHC World Tag Team Championship
• Hajime Ohara challenging Daga for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship

This airs on Wrestle Universe. NOAH seems to be marketing this heavily toward Mexican fans. I’m not sure if they will pay 900 JPN ($6 USD/month) to sign up for something (and that’s much cheaper than CMLL.)

The luchador formerly known as Black Taurus is listed as working the 02/23 The Crash show. The Crash does use “Black Taurus” on the Facebook post and in their lineup, but not on the photo. I believe he’s no longer supposed to use the “Taurus” name anywhere, but Mexican promotions don’t always care about things like that.

An article about (a) Vampiro Metalico, who now works as a stuntman.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 01/26/2024 Arena México
1) Capitán Suicida & Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Diamond & Oro Jr.
2) Guerrero Maya Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. vs Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr.
3) Akuma vs Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
4) Max Star & Volador Jr. vs Furia Roja & Último Guerrero and Atlantis Jr. & Futuro and Bárbaro Cavernario & Draego and Máscara Dorada & Neón and Soberano Jr. & Vaquero Jr. and Valiente & Valiente Jr. and Averno & Guerrero de la Muerte [Gran Alternativa, semifinal, battle royal]

Mistico & Brillante winning the first block really knocks down the possibilities from this half of the Gran Alternativa. Max Star & Volador could work as rudos against them in the finals, and it’s hard to come up with alternativs. Furia Roja & Ultimo Guerrero and Draego & Barbaro Cavernario make sense on paper, but both of those “rookies” haven’t been featured in Arena Mexico when they’ve made visits from Guadalajara. They’re fine, but they’re also not standouts in their home building either, and not obvious fits for Mistico & Brillante opponents. Everyone else would be a big surprise, though thee should be good matches getting there. Even if Mascara Dorada & Neon ‘can’t’ win, they should go to the block final and that should create some fun action.

I have high hopes for Akuma/Zandokan, and the tag match prior could be really good as well.

This is on PPV as always. It’ll be up on YouTube on 02/04.

CMLL (SUN) 01/28/2024 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Mije & Periquito Sacaryas
2) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Robin vs Grako & Nitro
3) El Audaz, Pegasso, Stigma vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs Kráneo, Raider, Sagrado
5) Atlantis, Star Jr., Titán vs Crixus, Euforia, Zandokan Jr.
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Could be a good main event. Maybe match 5 would be good if they can work around people.

CMLL (TUE) 01/30/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Quka, Sangre Azul, Último Ángel vs Eclipse Jr., Gran Kenut, Relámpago Azul
2) Náutica, Sexy Sol, Valkiria vs Estrellita Mágica, Lady Amazona, Lady Metal
3) Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel vs Fúnebre, Johnny Dinamo, Minotauro
4) Dark Magic, Elemental, Yutani vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
5) Crixus, Difunto, Star Black vs Ángel Rebelde, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr.
6) Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II vs Barboza & Zandokan Jr.
7) Atlantis Jr., Explosivo, Vaquero Jr. vs Averno, Soberano Jr., Templario

An odd mix of people in the main event, and lots of the Guadalajara guys from the main roster coming back in matches 5/6.

CMLL Informa announced half the field for the 02/06 Rey del Aire show

• Zandokan Jr.
• Villano III Jr.
• Flip Gordon
• Esfinge
• Angel de Oro
• Mistico

The other half will be revealed next Wednesday. They’re going for bigger names than usual for a Rey del Aire. That’s normally a useful thing to do, except this year’s crop of midcarders (Neon, Futuro, Brillante, Max Star) would’ve been fun all by themselves. It’s unclear if anyone of them will be included.

The other bit is both the advertisement and Julio Cesar Rivera are careful to say “the Rey del Aire starts on 02/06″, with no clarification on what “starts” is meant to imply. It could mean the final two meet in a singles match on 02/13, but CMLL will usually just outright say that it if it’s the plan. A two week tournament would also eliminate Mistico from winning since he’ll be off to FantasticaMania by the 13th, unless the plan is to hold the final some other time or place. There’s some game being played here but I’m lost at what it is.

Informa also announced the 02/05 Arena Puebla show would be a holiday (Constituion Day) 5 pm start. Stigma & Pegasso versus Brillante Jr. & Espanto Jr. and Villanos & Zandokan Jr. (this week going by El Tringulo Imperial) versus Los Guerreros Laguneros are already announced. I expect at least one title match will come out of this Monday’s show. A holiday show means CMLL is more likely to record and air the show up as a YouTube subscriber bonus, though far from a guarantee. The 12/25 Puebla show was advertised as going on the subscriber channel, appeared to be taped, and never was posted to the YouTube channel.

CMLL will additionally announce the Torneo Escualas field and format next Wednesday.

Master Wato is off all upcoming NJPW shows due to an ACL injury. He was booked on most of the FantasticaMania shows, and NJPW announced replacements Thursday. Dragon Gate wrestler Strong Machine J will take the spot in Osaka, while MUSASHI fills in the rest of the shows. MUSASHI wrestled in Mexico in 2018 and 2019, even trained in the CMLL school. He never made it onto a regular CMLL show but did wrestle on CMLL spot shows (including teaming with Kawato/Master Wato.) MUSASHI teamed with old friend YOH in last year’s Super Junior Tag League and recently announced he’d leave his home promotion of Michinoku Pro at the end of February. Those two things in combination have caused people to guess he’s ending up in New Japan, and wrestling more New Japan shows will fuel that speculation. Strong Machine J is a second-generation wrestler, so of course, he belongs on a CMLL tour. His father was a long-time NJPW wrestler; his son ended up in Dragon Gate instead and wrestled in NJPW as part of an occasional series of matches where NJPW guys wrestle outsiders in prelim matches. Dragon Gate included Strong Machine J – who started off wrestling as if he was a robot and now is a breakdancing robot – as one of their six young guys who will lead the promotion, though J seems like he’s in the lower half of that six. They’re all just doing trios and atomicos matches, so it may have taken longer to read this paragraph than you’ll see either of them in the ring on any show.

AAA 

AAA this Saturday looks to be starting around 4:29, two hours early. They’ll have the second half of the Mexico City taping:

• Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Reina Dorada vs Colmillo de Plata, Garra de Oro, Lady Wing
• Arez, Jessy Ventura, La Parkita, Lady Shani vs El Elegido, Estrellita, Mini Charly Manson, Pimpienla Escarlata
• Forastero, Sanson and Negro Casas vs Charly Manson, Super Calo, Zorro

Sanson appeared seconding his cousin Forastero at last week’s Guerra de Campeonatos, and that turned out to be the most newsworthy part of that show. Jorge Livan of Mas Lucha asked him a general question about a lot of news about him and NGD the last few days. It’s something Sanson could’ve quickly answered with a non-answer. You ask those questions because sometimes people will do what Sanson did here and just give you way more information than you would’ve expected. Sanson said the WhatsApp conversations between Vaquer & Hiedra should’ve only stayed in the prosecutor’s office, and he questions how the journalist got ahold of it. That fits his theory of a conspiracy against the Dinamitas, but also confirms those are real messages. His defense is that it’s the bits and pieces of the story manipulated to paint them in a bad light but isn’t telling the full story. Sanson says he and La Hiedra will film a video soon to explain their truth of the matter. Sanson vaguely but repeatedly mentions these allegations affecting his work. Sanson has not appeared on any AAA TV lineups this year. That doesn’t definitely mean anything because the Retro/Origenes gimmick means a lot of spots that would’ve gone to regulars are instead filled with names from the past. Sanson’s comments make it worth watching AAA to see if there’s anything more to his status.

Today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentions Alberto el Patron has a zero-tolerance agreement with AAA; he’s gone if there’s another incident. The WON mentions that “another controversial wrestler looking to rehab their career” is also coming to AAA this year. There’s no more information on the name. AAA’s Tijuana affiliate EMW has been using Marty Scurll regularly and Konnan’s involved in the booking of those shows, so he’d be the logical name. However, there are plenty of other “controversial” wrestlers in Mexico and elsewhere, so it’s no certainty. AAA would get a strong negative reaction from foreign fans on social media if they brought Scurll onto TV events, but AAA has largely forsaken that audience anyway and are unlikely to be moved by a negative reaction. These people are likely to be in top matches; “rehab” here isn’t really changing their US image (impossible to do while working in AAA or Mexico in general) but rehabbing their value as wrestlers in hopes a promotion elsewhere will want to bring them in and sell them as changed people.

Other News

Big Lucha has their Zocalo show today at 5 pm. Again, they’ve said they will stream it, but I wouldn’t hold them to it. They had trouble streaming in their own gym last week, an outdoor show in a busy area is asking a lot. A press release on the show mentions it as an INJUVE/Big Lucha combo show. For what it’s worth, Los Traumas and Ciclon Ramirez Jr. are listed as Big Lucha wrestlers, and Extasis as an INJUVE one. Ciclon Ramirez was originally part of the Big Lucha roster but left in 2022. Some of that may just be trying to source up the numbers on the Big Lucha side, since they’ve got another group (Potro, Lokos Evans, Tirano, Big Tao Tato) heading to southeast Mexico for the weekend, and all of Black Generation still in Japan for GLEAT. The Zocalo show is going to be most of impressive but I wonder if the southeast shows are actually the most important; it’d help the promotions and the wrestlers a lot if those were successful and led to more regular work. The Zocalo show is going to do well because it’s part of a free festival, the GLEAT shows are more a GLEAT deal, those shows in Campeche, Merida and Cancun are more a test to see what the Big Lucha brand name means far away from home.

A bunch (10) of Luchamania Costa Rica wrestlers are headed to Big Lucha for a couple of weeks of training.

ESTO interviews Los Serial Killers (Sable King and Necro Mastema), who say they were influenced by lucha libre and documentaries about Ted Bundy.

Penta will wrestle in GALLI on 05/19. He’s back doing US indie matches after only doing meet and greets for a while.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 01/22/2024 Arena Puebla [Grada, Porra Fresa]
1) Black Tiger & Millenium b Hijo del Perverso & Sombra Diabólika
2) Dark Silueta, Diablita Roja, Lady Amazona b Enigmática, La Vaquerita, Lady Metal 
3) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray 
Okumura snuck in a foul on Pegasso
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio 
Disturbio fouled Dulce Gardenia
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible b Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr.
Cavernario snuck in a foul on Volador
6) Máscara Dorada b Templario 

Grada is very high on the main event. All three of those odd finishes seem to be setting up something for next week.

CMLL (TUE) 01/23/2024 Arena México
1) Sangre Imperial b Enfermero Jr. [lightning] 
8:24
2) Angelito, Pequeño Magía, Último Dragóncito b Full Metal, Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico 
3) Felino, Misterioso Jr., Rey Bucanero b Fuego, Panterita del Ring, Volcano 
4) Reyna Isis © b Skadi [MEX WOMEN] 
16:14. Second defense. Marcela and Angel de Oro as seconds.
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Hijo de Blue Panther b Difunto, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II 
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario b Flip Gordon, Místico, Titán 
straight falls for the rudos, setting up a Angel de Oro/Flip Gordon

The only thing I caught of this was the women’s match. Skadi was better than I expect but Reyna Isis’ stuff looked no good at all. The finish is rough, Isis going for sentons three times in a row and just whiffing on them. That was finish though, so they couldn’t just try something else.

CMLL (TUE) 01/23/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Mas Lucha]
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Cosmos b Demonio Rojo, Ponzoña Jr., Rumbero
2) Atilus, Maximus, Rey Urano b Obek, Rav, Temerario
3) Ángel Negro, Halcón Suriano Jr., Tonkawa b Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
Tonkawa is the former Gran Jefe VI
4) La Fashion b Furia Roja
5) Dark Magic, El Elemental, Yutani b Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
CMLL debuts of Elemental and Yutani
6) Hatanna & Katara b Adira & La Pantera [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG, final]
Hatanna & Katara are the new champions
7) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b El Malayo, Rey Apocalipsis, Siki Osama Jr.
8) Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis b Hera, Olympia, Persephone

A moderate surprise in the tournament final. Hatanna was the woman who suffered an arm injury in training and was selling masks to help pay some bills, so it’s a nice turnaround story for her. The match itself was not so good, neither was the turnout for this show.

Yutani and Elemental were mentioned as training with Ultimo Guerrero, so they’re firmly in the CMLL system. It’s a big system, so who knows when/if they’ll turn up again. It might be Torneo de Escualas, it might be another Guadalara show.

CMLL Informa has

• Misico & Brillante Jr. (last week’s Gran Alterntavia)
• Averno (this week’s Gran Alternativa)
• Angel de Oro & Angel de Oro (Tuesday match)
• Zandokan Jr., Villano III Jr. (Friday matches?)
• Esfinge, Espanto Jr.: ???

CMLL (SAT) 01/27/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono & Retro vs Príncipe Odín Jr. & Sangre Imperial
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
3) Dark Panther vs Felino Jr. [lightning]
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
6) Místico vs Soberano Jr.

The top matches on this show look fun.

CMLL (MON) 01/29/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano & Rayo Metálico vs Blue Shark & Millenium
2) Pegasso vs Okumura [lightning]
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
5) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible and Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Valiente and Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero [torneo]
6) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [semifinal]
7) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [semifinal]
8) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [final]

Barbaros and world trios champs seem likely to meet in that tournament. Match four has the former national champions and the current ones. Match three is even the national tag champs. One of these has to set up a title match next week, because people are leaving for Japan the week after. Pegasso is probably getting a singles win before he heads out of town.

Titan appeared at the kickoff press conference for Mexico City’s Vive Latino music festival on 03/16 and 17. AAA wrestlers had matches on those shows for a couple of years. They left to join Billy Corgan’s festival last year (which doesn’t appear to be coming back) and indie wrestlers wrestled instead on the shows intead. Vive Latino billed it as CMLL wrestlers in 2024, but it’s more of a mix.

Wrestlers announced:

• CMLL: Andromeda, Atlantis Jr., Euforia, Lluvia, Nitro, Raider, Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Stephanie Vaquer, Titan, Ultimo Guerrero, Zeuxis
• Other: Action Jackson, Bendito, Century, Chico Calavera, Diablito, el Bravo, el Conquistador, el Vaquero, King Rex, Kratoz, Lobus, Potro, Prometeo, Relampago, Ryoshi, The Mummy, Tiger Lee, Toki Matsuda, Turbo

That’s a odd collection of indie names; a couple of Big Lucha, some from Monterrey, some I have no idea who are. It’s more a BARBA show (Saltillo) using CMLL wrestlers on top.

The 02/25 Lucha Fiesta show in Tokyo will have Lluvia & La Jarochita versus Sayaki Unagi & Mei Suruga. This is the Lady’s Ring show, the sponsor of Lluvia & Jarochita’s trip to Japan.

AAA

That AAA TripleMania press conference I was wondering about Monday? It happened on Tuesday. AAA did not stream it live and told the media not to stream it live. They put it up later that afternoon and all the media put up their versions right after, if you want to see the same video from five feet apart. This led to the usual mismatch of some things being reported live and others slipping through until later. It’s not ideal. AAA could’ve also said they would publicize the video later in the day, but did not. I think the AAA theory is people are going to be upset with them anyway so why bother.

The big news was the official announcements of this year’s TripleMania dates. (They had started to leak on Monday.)

• 04/27 TripleMania Monterrey 
• 06/15 TripleMania Tijuana
• 08/17 TripleMania Arena Ciudad de Mexico

Last year’s Tijuana show was originally June 17th, then got bumped back a month. They’re still tightly packed; all three shows will happen within 16 weeks. There was no mention of a Lucha Libre World Cup this year. This schedule means AAA will exist internationally for only about three months this year, since only those events are marketed outside of Mexico.

The other major events on AAA’s calendar

• Rey de Reyes will be at a military base on 02/03.
• Verano de Escandalo will take place in Aguascalientes
  • No date was given, but Aguascalientes is typically late July/early August.
• Heroes Inmortales will take place in Guadalajara
  • No date was given, but they’ve run an event as part of the lengthy Fiesta de Octubre fair (technically in Zapopoan) the last year two years. The date may be September 29th or October 6th.
• Guerra de Titanes will take place in Ciudad Juarez
  • No date was given, but AAA perenially goes to Juarez on the third Sunday of November. That means November 17th this year.

These are all easy picks for AAA to run big shows. Rey de Reyes and Heroes Inmoratles are sold events with free/cheap admission. The Juarez show sells out every year, and Aguascalientes might AAA’s strongest local promotion. Juarez is a relatively smaller building, but the other three shows and the three TripleMannis will likely be AAA’s six biggest attendances of the year.

AAA also announced the lineup for Rey de Reyes. They may have mentioned the location during the press conference, but they don’t list the location or the time on the poster. I guess they don’t want non-military people to show up. I am assuming it’s the same military base as last year; that’s what it sounded like at the press conference.

AAA TV (SAT) 02/03/2024 Campo Militar 1, Miguel Hidalgo, Distrito Federal
1) Faby Apache vs La Hiedra, Pimpinela Escarlata [Torneo Reina de Reinas, semifinal]
2) Sexy Star vs Flammer, Lady Shani [Torneo Reina de Reinas, semifinal]
3) Laredo Kid vs Argenis, Aerostar [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
4) Cibernético vs Texano Jr., Electroshock [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
5) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Sam Adonis, Psycho Clown [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
6) ? vs ?? [Torneo Reina de Reinas, final]
7) Colmillo de Plata, Garra de Oro, Mr. Iguana vs ?, Kento, Takuma
8) ? vs ??, ??? [Rey de Reyes, final]

AAA said Space will be airing this show starting at 8 pm. I presume the live event is starting prior to 8 pm – again, AAA lists no time on the poster – which would mean week 1 of TV with the finals of the tournament and week 2 of TV with the prelim matches. No one else would do it that way, but AAA did that multiple times last year, so it seems possible. I don’t know this for sure.

The mystery person in match eight did not come off like it was meant to be a big name. That was treated more like an opener that was positioned later in the card to give a break between tournament matches.

There were a lot of other minor announcements, but one big thing missing from the announcement was any sort of tournament connecting the two TripleManias. It’s January, there will be at least two more press conferences before the Monterrey show, AAA could still announce something along those lines. The tournament announcements did come on this kickoff press conference the last two years now.

AAA instead focused on different people who would appear on the Origines tour. The backstory is now that Faby Apache suggested a one-off Retro idea, and it got so much attention that they decided to make it the year’s theme. Faby, Cibernetico, and Charly Manson appeared to represent past wrestlers who would be returning to AAA as part of this year’s events. (All appeared in 2022 events.)

Vampiro was also introduced at the press conference. Vampiro sadly announced his farewell to AAA on August’ Monterrey taping, leaving his boots in his ring. It got a big reaction, so AAA’s pretending it didn’t happen and doing it all over again. If you count his Facebook post after his disastrous TripleMania Monterrey match, this was his third retirement announcement in nine months. Vampiro will have a retirement tour starting on March in Saltillo and continuing through the rest of the year.

Dorian Roldan also hyped AAA’s great alliance with TNA, saying it would lead to more Mexicans on the US. Wrestlers from TNA would participate in big shows this year, as well as wrestlers from AEW and “US wrestlers who are free agents and not associated with any company.” Penat’s name came up in other interviews, so it’s probably him “wrestlers from AEW” –  maybe other people who’ve got a past in AAA additional. Matt Cardona was teased as coming into AAA-affiliated EMW promotions in Tijuana, and I believe he’s one of the “free agents’ who will be coming to AAA big shows. A Konnan interview in Queretaro hinted that Nic Nemeth (ex-Dolph Ziggler) would also be coming in. The biggest outside name was saved for last: Alberto el Patron is returning to AAA as a regular in 2024. Alberto said he’d be exclusive to AAA in 2024. This probably means Alberto works some, but not all, TV tapings and the big shows. The reason for all of this was stated again near the end of Dorian Roldan’s interview with Mas Lucha; AAA feels they need to have those outside names to sell those three annual PPVs.

I disagree with the thought that it has to be outsiders to sell PPVs – I think people buy shows because they’re billed as Big Events and are interested in the wrestlers, and AAA’s problem is more about not building interest in their in-house wrestlers. Putting that aside – AAA has buyrate numbers, and I just have arguments – you can see how that viewpoint informs other decisions. The second-tier Rey de Reyes-level shows aren’t on PPV and aren’t getting English commentary because AAA sees them as events that won’t sell outside of Mexico since they’re not bringing in outside names for those shows. Same thing with why the weekly TV isn’t on FITE or wherever; AAA is convinced it’s not worth their time and also – based on this press conference – seems to have an aversion to steaming live. The flipside of this is that if AAA doesn’t believe their wrestlers are marketable to people in the US on their produce, why would TNA (or anyone else) believe AAA stars are worth investing time on their US TV shows?

(Roldan also mentioned possibilities of AAA running in the US, but the plans were less expansive than usual – they were talking to people but he didn’t commit.)

Roldan called attention to social media interest in seeing Dark Ozz or Alberto challenging Hijo del Vikingo for the AAA Megachampionship. Alberto has been lobbying for the match in every interview he’s done in the last week. That match seems certain to happen, probably at a TripleMania. The Ozz one comes from the social media post seeing Vikingo as a kid posing with Ozz and Ozz’s previous role as a tall, promising guy whom AAA teased doing big things with at times but never really followed through. There’s nothing Ozz himself has done to get himself popular and he wrestled the least often of all the La Secta/Dark Family wrestlers since leaving AAA, so I have least confidence about him holding up in 2024. It’s fans who saw Dark Ozz never getting his due hoping he gets the chance now (and fans bored of the Vikingo reign and thinking that something else will be more exciting.) I think the Ozz/Vikingo this is something that got momentum among a small group of fans and would not do well as an actual match, though it’s not like there are an overwhelming amount of great ideas for Vikingo. Maybe there’s some hope that all the current AAA wrestlers who aren’t getting their due now will get some fan support ten or fifteen years from now.

Almost nothing announced makes me more excited for AAA. The one thing I skipped over is the Lucha x el Barrio concept is coming back later in 2024 with the idea of expanding it to allow more people to enter from all over Mexico, and those things can be fun. The rest of it doesn’t so anything for it. Roldan is to the point where he’ll admit 2023 was not a good year, but he’ll also talk about changes for 2024. Those changes aren’t visible if they exist. The nostalgia stuff is a good way to buy time to implement changes, but the novelty of seeing Dark Scoria in an AAA ring will not be long-lived. I would’ve liked to see something exciting tossed out like a life preserver to people who like the AAA stars of today and instead were left to drown.

A highlight of the post-press conference interviews was Cibernetico admitting he had no idea who he was facing at Rey de Reyes, and the interview admitting he had also forgotten. Dorian Roldan termed 2023 as a reconstruction of AAA: it’s unclear what was constructed. Reina Dorada mentioned she had signed an AAA contract for 2024. Alberto seems to talk about fans not having seen him on TV in three or four years; again, he was on AAA TV multiple times last year. Maybe he means US TV, but that’s now much longer than 3-4 years.

The 2/18 lineup has changed.

AAA TV (SUN) 02/18/2024 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
2) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
3) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
4) Drago vs Taurus, Mr. Iguana, Epydemius
5) Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla vs Dulce Kanela, Lady Shani, Sexy Star
6) Laredo Kid © vs Antifaz del Norte [Showcenter Championship]
7) El Patrón Alberto & Hijo Del Vikingo vs Chessman & Mecha Wolf

Mecha Wolf was in the spot that Texano Jr. had previously. Matches 4/5 are new. I do not believe Black Taurus is working any more dates for AAA, so that’s either a false listing or a new Taurus. There’s no picture of the old Taurus on the poster, so I guess they’re already throwing someone new under the mask. Matches 1-3 are probably Lucha Time people and other locals you’ll be confused about seeing on TV for two weeks.

It’s not that I expect Laredo Kid and Anitfaz to end with mask match challenges, it is that I pray and hope it does so there’s not another year of them feuding once every three months.

Other News

The Big Lucha World card for the Zocalo is out. It’s weird.

Big Lucha World (FRI) 01/26/2024 Zocalo, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal
1) Ariadna Mami, Lolita, Satania vs La Brava, Sangre Nueva, Sussy Love
2) Dragón Solar, Obelyus, Rey Espectrito vs Piraña, Reiyel, Zenky
3) ? vs ??, ???, ????, ?????, ?????? [Torneo de la Juventud]
4) Alfa Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Platino vs Blue Monsther, Éxtasis, Ricky Marvin
5) Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Cody 1-8, Mr. Win, Viajero vs Auzter, Black Skayde, Brujo, Maniacop
6) Limbo & Torito Negro vs Cometa Maya & Morfosis and Sol & X-Devil
7) Súper Nova & Texano Jr. vs Trauma I & Trauma II [BIG LUCHA MIXA]

This looks like as much a INJUVE/Bridage Dos de Tres show with Big Lucha wrestlers as much as anything. Plus the Traumas for some reason. It would take something weird like this for guys like Extasis and Ciclon Ramirez Jr. to pop back up here. Match 6 could be good. The winner of match 3 (no participants announced) will get a title shot against Potro on another date.

IWRG’s lineup for Sunday:

IWRG (SUN) 01/28/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fussion vs Osiris
2) Bengalee & Tornado vs Kali & Rey Aztaroth
3) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. vs Noisy Boy & Spider Fly [super libre]
4) Auzter, Caballero de Plata, Dr. Cerebro Jr., Freelance vs Carnicero, Granjero, Leñador, Minero
5) Ivan Rokov vs Hell Boy, Hijo del Pirata Morgan
6) Hijo del Fishman vs Hijo de Canis Lupus [IWRG JUNIORS]
4th defense

The previous Fishman/Canis Lupus match got good reviews.

Ntr Zacatecas has a story on local wrestler Latigo 2000 Jr., who’s part of this season’s IWRG tryout. That is supposed to start airing the first week of February.

WWE and Netflix announced a broadcast deal starting in January 2025. For Latin America, it means all WWE programming will air on Netflix. WWE programming currently airs on Fox Sports. Probably very currently no matter when you’re reading this; those shows are wallpapered on to their family of networks (and so changes are probably coming there.) That was one of the big advantages of the current WWE/Mexico deal; any restaurant with TVs had them on the sports channels, and so WWE programming felt ubiquitous. Netflix is popular in Mexico, but it’s not going to be ever-present in the same way. (My info is few years out of date now; people in Mexico say those TVs don’t sit on Fox Sports between games as much as they used to.) Existing WWE fans in Mexico seem really happy with the deal – they can ditch Fox Sports, they don’t have to deal with Fox Sports Premium to buy the PPVs, and they may be paying for Netflix already. I’m less certain if new potential fans will discover WWE now on streaming, but that’s not a Mexico specific issue.

Canada’s Jacques Rougues Wrestling Academy is holding a talent search content, where the four winners will also go a trip to Big Lucha.

Japan’s Dr. Lucha brought Fuerza Guerrera over for an interview and visit to Japan with his family. Some notes are in his column this week. Dr. Lucha is an old school lucha libre fan, so he’d love to see an Atlantis/Octagon/Fuerza mask match at the Aniversario, but Guerrera rejected the idea. Guerrera has no interest in betting on his mask; he feels the people who make the mask lose at the end of their career for the money burn through it quickly and end up poor again. He thinks it’s better to keep the brand as a masked man. Guerrera is also in no need of the money, because he’s got a successful bird feed business and is doing quite well.

Tu Plan de Juego writes about visiting Arena Coliseo for the first time.

The Tapatia awards are still open to vote. One thing I will change next year is to shorten the voting period. It used to take weeks in the new year for all the stuff from the previous year to finish airing naturally. There’s still stuff airing late in 2024 but it’s much less of a factor and there’s much less a chance it’ll be watched.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 01/19/2024 Arena México [AS, CMLL, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
1) Valiente Jr. b Felino Jr. [lightning]   
8:48
2) Futuro & Neón b Magnus & Rugido    
11:10. rematch from 10/13, with the non-champions winning the non-title match
3) Máscara Dorada DQ Bárbaro Cavernario    
18:44.Rrematch from 12/30. Cavernario pulled Dorada’s mask for the DQ after KeMalito interfered.
4) Ángel Rebelde & Crixus b Brillante Jr., Explosivo, Halcón Negro Jr., Hijo de Stuka Jr., Raider, Rey Samuray [Gran Alternativa, battle royal] 
5) Atlantis & Rey Samuray b Esfinge & Halcón Negro Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8F]  
6:59
6) Raider & Templario b Explosivo & Titán [Gran Alternativa, 8F]  
5:23
7) Brillante Jr. & Místico b Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8F]  
6:44
8) Crixus & Euforia b Ángel Rebelde & Star Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8F]  
3:58
9) Raider & Templario b Atlantis & Rey Samuray [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]  
5:07
10) Brillante Jr. & Místico b Crixus & Euforia [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]  
6:13
11) Brillante Jr. & Místico b Raider & Templario [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]    
9:35

This block of the tournament had decent stuff early on, but got messed up in the end in very CMLL fashion. It’s actually an isuse through lucha libre Mexicana, as they adapt stuff seen and done in US wrestling without always understanding it. Over in Big Lucha, they keep calling bonus opening matches “Darkmatch.” They know a “Darkmatch” is a thing, they just haven’t put together that a dark match is something that doesn’t air and is only seen by the live crowd – the satellites are dark, more or less. In CMLL, they’ve picked up the concept of “Go Home” – an instruction from whomever’s timing the show to the referee and the wrestlers to tell them their time is up. They know it’s a thing that’s done, they just don’t understand how it’s done. Rob explains this on Twitter better than I will here. In US wrestling, a referee telling the wrestler to Go Home means the wrestlers should go to their finishing stretch and hopefully finish in about a minute. In CMLL, telling wrestlers to Go Home means the match is completely over, and the referee will count three on the next pinfall no matter what’s happening. That situation will go poorly most of the time: it leaves the participants in the match scrambling. A one-minute warning gives the wrestlers time to change their match and still do the intended finish. What we got here was a mess: Templario being pinned when he seemed to kick out, Brillante and Raider both being confused, and Mistico calling for a Mistica just to get them out of there. Edgar seems to have the most problems with finishes, maybe because he’s usually doing the Friday main events, and those are the ones running into the end of CMLL’s internal time limit. Edgar also seems to create his own problems, though.

Mascara Dorada and Barbaro Cavernario was a great match with a bad finish. CMLL generally needs to tone down the KeMalito stuff, though here, I believe they would’ve just found some other way of getting out of the match. Mascara Dorada will win every match except against the tippy top guys in CMLL at this point, and CMLL may consider Cavernario one of those guys. Dorada/Cavernario, from a quality and a star power standpoint, would big enough apuesta match to headline a major show. There was no direction that was the plan here; the action was just so good that it would’ve fit that sort of level.

Magnus/Rugido versus Neon/Futuro didn’t quite have the excitement of the previous match but the work was really close. The tecnicos pulled off everything they needed to, and the rudos looked great working with them. The finish naturally sets up a third match, but it didn’t seem like CMLL was headed in that direction soon.

CMLL (SAT) 01/20/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Acero, Aéreo, Fantasy vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral & Diamond b Nitro & Sangre Imperial
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi b Dark Silueta, La Catalina, Zeuxis
4) Averno, Euforia, Mephisto b Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther
5) Star Black © b Magnus [MEX HEAVY]
first defense
6) Hechicero, Soberano Jr., Templario DQ Atlantis Jr., Místico, Titán
Soberano faked a foul from Mistico

No title change, as expected. Main event seems like next week’s feud.

CMLL (SUN) 01/21/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Sangre Imperial b Bengala, Leono, Retro
Sangre Imperial replaced Dr. Karonte II
2) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía DQ Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
Pequeno Olimpico unmasked Pequeno Magia
3) Okumura & Pólvora b Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa
4) El Coyote, Rey Bucanero, Sagrado b Fugaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr.
5) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Valiente b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
6) Último Guerrero b Volador Jr.

Ultimo Guerrero’s singles win is his first in Arena Mexico since 2022 over Mesias. (He only wrestled lightning matches in 2023, losing to Atlantis and Mascara Dorada and going to a draw with Averno.) He was so out of the mix in 2023 that getting a win like this early feels like a really good sign for him.

The full Soberano/Templario match from last Friday aired both on Televisa and on CMLL’s YouTube channel. As I suspect, there was some massive production issue on CMLL’s side – the stream that night died because CMLL’s production went down. CMLL edited in a couple of cameras from the crowd that they don’t normally use – or just use for crowd shots. It looked strange enough that I think an average fan paying attention would notice something was off, but the finish was still plainly visible.

(I may be a little later than usual posting the show, I still need to patch it together on my end.)

CMLL (TUE) 01/23/2024 Arena México
1) Sangre Imperial vs Enfermero Jr. [lightning]
2) Angelito, Pequeño Magía, Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal, Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico
3) Fuego, Panterita del Ring, Volcano vs Felino, Misterioso Jr., Rey Bucanero
4) Reyna Isis © vs Skadi [MEX WOMEN]
second defense
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Hijo de Blue Panther vs Difunto, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
6) Flip Gordon, Místico, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario

Not a particularly strong show. The third match is full of veterans who probably assumed they wouldn’t be working match three at this point in their careers. I’d be surprised if Skadi won the title, but it is the national women’s championship, anyone can win it. The bigger test is for Skadi to have a good singles match. Hijo de Blue Panther has been sidelined with injuries from an accident and returns here.

CMLL (FRI) 01/26/2024 Arena México
1) Capitán Suicida & Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Diamond & Oro Jr.
2) Guerrero Maya Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. vs Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr.
3) Akuma vs Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
4) Max Star & Volador Jr. vs Furia Roja & Último Guerrero and Atlantis Jr. & Futuro and Bárbaro Cavernario & Draego and Máscara Dorada & Neón and Soberano Jr. & Vaquero Jr. and Valiente & Valiente Jr. and Averno & Guerrero de la Muerte [Gran Alternativa, semifinal, battle royal]

Brillante and Mistico coming out of Block A makes it very unlikely Mascara Dorada & Neon (or any tecnico team) is coming out of this block. Max Star & Volador Jr. might be the exception, as they could slide over to the rudo side easier the rest. I think Furia Roja and Ultimo Guerrero have a shot as well. I don’t think that CMLL would trust Draego in a main event match with how little he’s been booked, and I’m have trouble seeing Vaquero Jr. or Guerrero de la Muerte at that level this quick too.

Akuma & Zandokan could be a lot of fun, as could be the tag match. The opener is Suicida and people who aren’t as interesting as him.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara had a full house for a free show on Sunday. Those free/sponsored shows usually do OK, some do good, and this one seemed to sell the entire 4,500 seat building up. It’s rare Coliseo Guadalajara opens the upper level, even for the bigger local shows. They filled that one up this time. There were no matches announced and it was just the local guys working the show, so it’s probably all due to the sponsor (a local union). No matches announced also means I don’t have full results, or I don’t until I have time to look through the videos.

For whatever reason, there’s a bunch of fake Homenaje a Dos Leyendas logos floating around on Facebook, with the idea they’re “revealing” which wrestler will be honored. LA Park got confused by a Pierroth one. (This had the effect of starting a small social media push to make Pierroth the pick. I assume it’s already been decided.) CMLL hasn’t announced anyone yet and that announcement will be made on a CMLL Informa when it’s for real.

Dutch reality show “Wie Is De Mol?” (which you may faintly remember as “the Mole” when it aired in the US”) happened to visit last July’s Arena Coliseo Aniversario show in their most recent episode. That was an Arena Coliseo show CMLL streamed; you could see the contestants, but it wasn’t clear they were on a reality show at the time.

AAA

AAA aired the first part of their first 2024 show on Saturday. I’m not sure if it’s an accident or one-off or a purposeful change, but some of the matches from that show are listed as going up this week on AAA’s YouTube channel. A faster turnaround is going to help AAA, though ther’e no substitute for live.

The one match to watch from the batch was the three way mixed tag team title match. Like the Aramis/Mecha Wolf/Octagon match from last week, there was no story to it and it was a lot of the usual multiperson matches bits, but they worked hard and fast and it turned out well.

The trios match is a strong avoid. Electroshock and Heavy Metal did almost nothing, Angel (wrestling in his long ago lost mask) didn’t look good either. Electroshock seemed so lazy that I would’ve thanked him for his work and not brought him in again; naturally, he’s in angle on the next taping.

The main event was nothing special either. The announcers drew attention to the fact the AAA super tecnico foursome got booed against La Secta. The crowd that attended this AAA show are not into the current product, and just wanted to see the old guys. AAA’s also booking the current guys as lesser; Los Vipers got smoked twice on this show.

The Konnan, Vampiro, Cibernetico thing is very long and doesn’t really accomplish much. What stuck out to me is the people in the ring described Vampiro and Konnan hugging as getting a big reaction, live video I saw had it as a big reaction, and yet it doesn’t sound like anything special on the TV version. It hurts that AAA decided to play music right then over the top of the reaction, but it’s not mixed well, regardless.

Last week’s TV had Arez wanting to be back in the Vipers, but no one in the group except maybe Psicosis wanting to accept him. This week’s TV had Cibernetico being confused by Arez being back in the Vipers. Cibernetico’s reaction was great, but also AAA skipped the step of the rest of the Vipers wanting him back in the group. AAA is so bad at that kind of stories.

AAA also taped TV on Saturday.

AAA TV (SAT) 01/20/2024 Auditorio General José María Arteaga, Querétaro, Querétaro [FB: Evlyn Ramírez., FB: LuchaMex, FB: Sully Cano, IG: victorpajaro26]
1) Dark Crazy, Kastigador, Vengador b Galáctico Dragón, Murciélago Plateado Jr., Ursus 
7:35
2) Éxtasis (Puebla) & Radioactivo b Colmillo de Plata & Garra de Oro 
8:01 (or thereabouts)
3) Dalys, La Hiedra, Maravilla b Estrellita, Faby Apache, Pimpinela Escarlata  
13:26. Faby Apache and Hijo del Tirantes had issues again. Dalys beat Estrellita.
4) Belcegor, Dinámico, Parka Negra b Drago, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa 
12:05
5) Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. b Aerostar, Mr. Iguana, Súper Fly 
7:00. Electroshock distracted Super Nova and Myzteziz landed the SSP for the win. Parka Negra attacked Aerostar to continue their (long, never progressing) feud, while Electro attacked Super Fly as part of their ancient issue.
6) Electroshock & Zorro b Chessman & Pagano  
10:00. Electroshock and Zorro took out Pagano earlier in the night. He and Chessman had an argument during the show backstage, and Pagano made a delayed arrival a few moments into the match. Chessman speared a table when Zorro moved, and Zorro covers him for the win.
7) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown, Psycho Clown b Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria  
11:09. Earlier, Konnan and Vampiro were talking in the ring when Alberto appeared as a surprise and made peace with both of them. Alberto also said he was going for the Megachampionship. Cibernetico was ready to Garra Cibernetica (chokeslam) Psycho but stopped because the Vipers’ music played and they slowly walked towards the ring from twenty feet away. Psycho speared Cibernetico though a table for the win. (AAA played Psycho’s music before the three count.) Vipers attacked La Secta after the match. Psycho Circus left the ring. Vampiro and Alberto made the save (no obvious reason why they’d be saving Cibernetico.) Psycho Circus came back in the ring to celebrate after the Vipers were disposed off.

The only thing AAA felt was important enough to post on social media about this taping was Alberto’s return. I was also able to piece together the show via fans posting things on social media. The full taping is available on YouTube if you’re OK with a crowd-shot version with some very loud horns. AAA may have been correct; there really wasn’t much noteworthy on this show outside of Alberto showing up. (Alberto showing up does cost a pretty penny, so it’s a bit strange they would’ve done it unadvertised. This was played up like a big return but Alberto just wrestled here in October.) The common thread between these two tapings is pushing a Vipers/Secta feud – and the old guys making the Vipers look like jobbers on each show.

Matches 1 (the dark match), 2 and 4 were Good. The main event event and the women’s match were about what you’d guess, and the Electroshock/Zorro versus Chessman/Pagano was very boring. Electroshock attacked Super Fly based of a feud from 2008; Super Fly seemed to be getting a push as a rising star, they had him feud with Electroshock, Electroshock destroyed Super Fly in their match never putting him over, and AAA apparently decided Super Fly wasn’t a rising star and dropped the feud. He was never over as a tecnico again. I assume AAA did it as a gag here with no real plan, because there is no real plan at any time. Electroshock has looked terrible and disinterested in his AAA appearance and it looks like time had passed Super Fly by as well, doing anything more with them would be a tremendous waste of time and resources.

AAA claims a sell out for the show. I could’ve sworn I saw empty upper-level sections seemingly unsold, but maybe I was seeing things that weren’t there.

Referee Suavecito worked this taping, along with regulars Hijo del Tirantes and Piero. He had previously worked a lot of the Lucha x el Barrio. Tirantes Sr. works some tapings, and AAA hasn’t had another regular referee in years.  Ex-WWE/Lucha Underground referee Marty Elias came in for big shows in 2022 because AAA seemed to lose confidence in their regular crew handling fast-moving matches with foreigners. He was not used in 2023. Neither Piero nor the two Tirantes are good referees at this point. It is part of both Tirantes’ gimmicks to be terrible referees, but they are also bad at the job when they’re not trying to be bad at it. The general state of referee work in Mexico is not great. Suavecito seemed fine on this taping and in his previous work.

Space advertised Rey de Reyes as airing live on February 3rd. AAA has said nothing; as of post-time, there’s no lineup or location. The Bardahl show had a similar lack of information because it was a sold show, and no tickets were offered to the general public. It looks like it may be the same for Rey de Reyes. It doesn’t say great things for AAA’s business if they’re running one of their marquee events without selling tickets. In a bigger picture, AAA is running a system that wants the world’s attention for the TripleMania shows and makes the same promotion oddly difficult to follow for every other show.

There is info on the taping after Rey de Reyes. A little info. Showcenter, which actually is in the business of selling tickets, has the main event matches for 02/18:

AAA TV (SUN) 02/18/2024 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
2) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
3) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
4) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
5) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
6) Laredo Kid © vs Antifaz del Norte [Showcenter Championship]
7) El Patrón Alberto & Hijo Del Vikingo vs Chessman & Texano Jr.

Alberto wrestles here, though one show later than originally advertised. Alberto pushed the idea of challenging for the AAA Megachampionship, which is probably not a great idea but also maybe the first time in years someone in AAA has shown interest in that title prior to being announced for a title match.

Roberto Figueroa had mentioned those matches previously, just as he’d mentioned an AAA press conference in “late January.” It’s hard to get much later in January than this week, so it presumably is happening in the next few days. No announcement, no attempt to build interest in it from AAA so far.

The big AAA/TNA partnership led to Laredo Kid wrestling on Xplosion on both tapings this past weekend. Xplosion has just returned to the schedule, and naturally Laredo Kid has returned back to the B-show where Impact most often booked him. He did win one of the matches, so he’s not the lowest person on the totem pole – just really close.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha World (FRI) 01/19/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, thecubsfan]
1) Rey Cósmico Jr. & Sairely b Conquistador & Tigre De Acero
5:20
2) La Brava b Diosa Nix
11:09
3) Ancestral & Blue Monsther b Dankar & Platino
11:16
4) Auzter, Black Skayde, Fulgor b Brujo, Limbo, Torito Negro
9:24
5) Cody 1-8 & Mr. Win b Elipse & Orbita
13:40.

Last week’s Big Lucha World seemed like a mostly normal show that was billed as a Big Lucha World. This was very much the opposite, a lot of guys on the fringes of the roster with Black Generation in Japan. Orbita and Elipse got a main event chance and looked completely overwhelmed; Cody 1-8 was clearly frustrated with their performance during the match and may have ended up with a leg injury. If those guys are going to be Big Lucha’s centerpiece, it will not go well.

This was a skippable show. The rudos/rudos trios match was the best of the four, messy though at least they were trying to have something to big. The maestro match was fine at best. Diosa Nix seemed just as annoyed with La Brava Rebel in their match, which was clunky. Sussy Love seems to be returning from a length injury, which may be why Big Lucha is booking women’s matches again.

The stream died multiple times in the opener. Big Lucha says they’re going to stream live next week. I hope they have a backup plan because getting a good signal outside from the Zocalo seems unlikely.

Andy Panda Jr./Morfosis and Diosa Nix were advertised for the secret rival “Mexico Wrestling” show, but ended up being replaced.

Other News

The Crash ran on Friday night.

The Crash (FRI) 01/19/2024 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [The Crash, TJ Sports, Zona Ruda]
1) Noisy Boy b Bamboo, El Rey, Spider Fly (Estado De México), Khavall, Próximo [Copa Juvenil 2024]
Mexa Boys won as a team, then had a singles match between themselves to determine the winner. Bamboo & El Rey are brothers.
2) Anubis, Gallo Extreme, Rey Furia vs Ángel Metálico, Mirage, Mr. Maldito
3) Baby Extreme & Julissa b Dark Zorro & Keyra
Dark Zorro replaced Emperador Azteca
4) Trauma I & Trauma II b Arandú & Zarco
post match, Trauma I talked about his upcoming mask match with Wotan (02/03) and said this might be the last time he’d be here with his mask
5) Alan Stone, Mamba, Microman, Toto b D Luxe, J2 Matiolli, Tony Casanova
Alan Stone replaced Santana Jackson
6) Destiny, Extreme Tiger, Rey Horus b Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria
7) Matthew Riddle b Bestia 666, Dralistico, Brian Cage
Bestia and Mamba argued earlier over who was the face of the promotion. Bestia suffered (or sold) a knee injury on the finish.

This appears to have been a sell out. The building in Tijuana is slightly bigger than the building in Queretaro, which means this was the biggest crowd La Secta happened to wrestle this weekend. It’s more notable they wrestled in both; wrestlers have gotten kicked out of AAA for wrestling in The Crash previously. Maybe they took the booking before AAA got them, but maybe those hard rules about wrestling in both places aren’t as hard as they’re played. The Crash is back on 02/23 with Rush, Blue Demon Jr., DMT Azul, Maximo, Flamita, and Taurus (or whatever he’s called by then.)

While there, Dralistico told TJ Sports that he had signed a four-year contract with AEW. Promoter Ignacio de la O. was happy with the turnout.

LLB (SUN) 01/21/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Demencia, Gaona, Reptil b Bitter, Juan Ma Sanchez, Mr. Maicool
2) Hijo De Sparta & Príncipe Centauro b Argus & Oro Blanco and Eurus & Voltio and Gravedad Cero & Minos II and Rey Azteca Jr. & Sparta [Copa Boom]
3) Águila Oriental, Belial, Fandango, Sol, Steve Manson, X-Devil b
4) Fly Star, Noisy Boy, Osiris, Spider Boy, Tornado b Amnesia, Lunatik Extreme, Lunatik Fly, Súper Boy, Toto
5) Canis Lupus Jr., Dr. Cerebro Jr., Hell Boy, Puma de Oro b Calibus, Cíclope, El Mago, Miedo Extremo
6) Místico b Ángel de Oro, Averno, Máscara Dorada

Mistico’s return to Arena Naucalpan seemed to draw very well, though the match itself wasn’t notable.

The original Mascara Sagrada held a press conference to talk about his current health issues (he needs a hip replacement) and to introduce a Mascara Sagrada Jr. There’s been at least two other wrestlers working for years as Mascara Sagrada’s sons (or “sons”) and I’m sure if this meant to be one of those are a new one. None of them have gone onto much of note.

Segunda Caida watches more Monterrey lucha.

sorry aggregators, no hot signings news signings to mention today

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 01/19/2024 Arena México
1) Valiente Jr. vs Felino Jr. [lightning]
2) Futuro & Neón vs Magnus & Rugido
rematch from 10/13
3) Máscara Dorada vs Bárbaro Cavernario
rematch from 12/30
4) Brillante Jr. & Místico vs Crixus & Euforia and Explosivo & Titán and Raider & Templario and Atlantis & Rey Samuray and Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr. and Ángel Rebelde & Star Jr. and Esfinge & Halcón Negro Jr. [Gran Alternativa, battle royal]

If we presume Mascara Dorada & Neon are the favorites in the other block, then it’s probably a rudo team coming out of this block. Crixus has been pushed hard (but they also seem to know he’s not good.) Raider & Templario would be the best, but it would also make the final feel like a repeat. I wouldn’t have given the Stukas much of a chance before, but it seems more likely now that we know Stuka is facing Dorada on FantasticaMania. It’d fit as a FantasticaMania main event now.

Matches 2 and 3 could be great. Valiente Jr./Felino Jr. could be good, but it’s hard to remember the last standout Felino Jr. match. This show depends on how that tournament works out, could be really enjoyable depending on who gets the block final. It’s on PPV, and it’s free if you have the coupon code from last week. Hopefully it works.

Mistico says he’s going to retire – at some point. Like every other wrestler, he wants to retire young. He gives no dates to this, which saves me the time of not believing them.

CMLL (SAT) 01/20/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero, Aéreo, Fantasy vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral & Diamond vs Nitro & Sangre Imperial
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi vs Dark Silueta, La Catalina, Zeuxis
4) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
5) Star Black © vs Magnus [MEX HEAVY]
first defense
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Titán vs Hechicero, Soberano Jr., Templario

I’d be oddly intrigued in the title match if it aired. A title change seems unlikely.

CMLL (SUN) 01/21/2024 Arena México
1) Bengala, Leono, Retro vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
3) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Okumura & Pólvora
4) Fugaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. vs El Coyote, Rey Bucanero, Sagrado
5) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Valiente vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
6) Volador Jr. vs Último Guerrero

The promised Volador/UG match, on a Sunday, not a Tuesday.

CMLL (MON) 01/22/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Black Tiger & Millenium vs Hijo del Perverso & Sombra Diabólika
2) Enigmática, La Vaquerita, Lady Metal vs Dark Silueta, Diablita Roja, Lady Amazona
3) Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
5) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
6) Máscara Dorada vs Templario

The main event is the expected Dorada/Templario title match.

CMLL (TUE) 01/23/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Cosmos vs Demonio Rojo, Ponzoña Jr., Rumbero
2) Atilus, Maximus, Rey Urano vs Obek, Rav, Temerario
3) Ángel Negro, Halcón Suriano Jr., Tonkawa vs Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
4) Dark Magic, El Elemental, Yutani vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
5) Adira & La Pantera vs Hatanna & Katara [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG, final]
6) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. vs El Malayo, Rey Apocalipsis, Siki Osama Jr.
7) Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis vs Hera, Olympia, Persephone

An unusual women’s main event here, though it is Las Infernales teaming up. The Guadalajara duo of Adira & Pantera are favorites to win the vacant tag titles. Elemental and Yutani resurface. No idea who Tonkawa is.

AAA

AAA tapes in Queretaro this week

AAA TV (SAT) 01/20/2024 Auditorio General José María Arteaga, Querétaro, Querétaro
1) Dark Crazy & Kastigador vs Hijo del Picudo & Ursus and Galáctico Dragón & Murciélago Plateado Jr.
2) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
3) Estrellita, Faby Apache, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Dalys, La Hiedra, Maravilla
4) Drago, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa vs Belcegor, Dinámico, Parka Negra
5) Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. vs Aerostar, Mr. Iguana, Súper Fly
6) Chessman & Pagano vs Electroshock & Zorro
7) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown, Psycho Clown vs Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria

Matches four and five could be good. Match 1 is the dark match, match 2 is probably the Lucha x el Barrio show. The Mexico City taping starts airing this week, so this looks like it’s airing on 02/03 and 02/10. AAA probably has a new taping to announce around those dates.

Elegido told ESTO the heartwarming story of how his fellow AAA wrestlers beat him up for years because they thought he wasn’t any good. He feels strong to have gone through it all. It is weird to tell this story before an AAA TV taping.

LuchaTitlan’s next periodic big show is on 02/10.

The great AAA/TNA alliance led to Vikingo and Laredo winning none of their matches this past weekend, with Laredo Kid taking a pinfall on last night’s Impact TV show. That’s nothing new, just sticks out a bit more after the ‘news’ of this past week.

I am certain there will be more/new AAA people in TNA. AAA wants to prove to their wrestlers they’ll get them to the US, and TNA always could use a few new faces. They may even run something like Ultraclash in reverse, just to say they’ve done it. I just both AAA and TNA do it a lot better than they’ve handled this relationship in the past. It is striking that two sides couldn’t figure out a way to give an AAA wrestler a win right after the announcement of their great deal; it shows the lack of seriousness about all of this.

a brief summary of recent events in the Vaquer/Cuatrero case

• a reporter: from the investigation, here are Whatsapp messages where Vaquer reveals she’s been attacked by Cuatrero, Hiedra consoles and mentions Sanson did the same to her, and advises Vaquer to conceal the incident
• La Hiedra: that’s fake news
• the same reporter: from the investigation, here’s La Hiedra’s sworn testimony confirming she had a text conversation with Vaquer after the alleged incident

That doesn’t look good for La Hiedra. The testimony is from July, after well after Cuatrero has been arrested. Hiedra then says Vaquer believed Cuatrero was cheating on him and that’s where the argument started between them. She also plays down the wounds, saying they looked like a couple of scratches.

I am a little curious about how and why a reporter who mostly seems to cover some serious stuff – not that isn’t serious, but you can scroll down his timeline and find reports on cartels, extortion, and murders – end up with all this information and decided to put it out. It could be as simple as Cuatrero’s family asking for more attention on the case earned them the sort of attention they didn’t want. They clearly don’t believe that’s the situation: Cuatrero’s family and friends held a protest in the streets near Arena Mexico on Wednesday, blocking traffic in the area to get noticed.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (FRI) 01/19/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) La Brava vs Diosa Nix
2) Ancestral & Blue Monsther vs Dankar & Platino
3) Brujo, Limbo, Torito Negro vs Auzter, Black Skayde, Fulgor
4) Cody 1-8 & Mr. Win vs Elipse & Orbita

Lokos Evans and Cody 1-8 cost each other matches last week, setting up the main event. Match 2 is maestros (Monster, Platino) and their trainees. Big Lucha hasn’t booked many women’s matches of late but they do like booking La Brava.

Big Lucha mentioned they were running on the 19th and the 26th. What they didn’t mention is the 26th is a show in the Zocalo. That always seems like a cool scene for a wrestling show, though I’m not sure about the streaming out there. This is part of Big Lucha’s partnership with INJUVE, who is hosting a lot of youth-focused events in the historical heart of Mexico City. That show, in terms of people hanging out in the general vicinity of the ring, will probably be the biggest attended Big Lucha show yet.

Bandido posted a note on Instagram officially leaving Big Lucha. You may recall Bandido leaving Big Lucha month, but that puts you ahead of some people. The story as I understand it is some people – especially non-Mexican people who don’t really follow lucha libre but want to come to wrestle in Mexico anyway – still didn’t understand Bandido left Big Lucha months ago and were still contacting him for info about the promotion and the gym. This was an attempt to remedy that. Please understand the country and promotion you’re trying to work.

Other News

Former Coliseo Coacalco regular Kazuchika Okada has announced his intentions to wrestle in the US in 2024. I hope it works out for him. There’s some decent similarity between Okada going to AEW or WWE and Mistico going to WWE. Both guys taking off led to their whole scene going through a boom. Both are leaving their home when that boom seems on the downside, though there still was a lot left to it. I know I had the fear that when Mistico left – and when Andrade and Mascara Dorada and others left – that Mexico wouldn’t be able to keep their top stars anymore. To some extent that’s worked true – Penta and Fenix and Rush and Bandido have all followed to the US instead of main eventing promotions in Mexico, and guys like Komander were swooped up before it even got that far. It hasn’t been everyone, and it also hasn’t been devastating. Having those talent around would patch over some holes, but CMLL’s instead use those holes to keep their push different people, and has done well when those new talent have done well. The contract imbalance does loom over a lot of decisions; for example, Andromeda’s a far from finished product, but CMLL’s probably got to start pushing her before she ready, because she’ll be plucked off the tree by someone else by then. Everyone’s just got to adjust to the reality they’re living in, instead of idly complaining about the changes and hoping it’ll snap back to the way it used to be.