Templario/Dorada (not Soberano) tonight, AAA returns to TV tapings, Gran Alternativa

CMLL

Tonight’s show

CMLL (FRI) 01/05/2024 Arena México
1) Astral vs Capitán Suicida
rematch from February 14. One fall match
2) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Futuro, Max Star, Vegas
rematch from May 7. 2/3 fall match.
3) Reyna Isis & Tessa Blanchard vs Dark Silueta & Zeuxis
Replaces Espiritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Akuma & Dark Magic. 2/3 fall match.
4) Esfinge vs Cavernario
rematch from September 29. One fall match.
5) Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer
Rematch of November 14? 1 fall
6) Máscara Dorada vs Templario
Originally a Soberano/Templario rematch from January 6. Mascara Dorada replaced Soberano on Wednesday (back injury), now as a rematch from April 21st. 2/3 match.

The new main event was announced on Wednesday’s Informa. Mascara Dorada was still Panterita del Ring Jr. when he and Templario went to a memorable time limit draw in April. They went to another draw in September. The Soberano/Templario match will happen on one of the next two Fridays, assuming Soberano is cleared to wrestle. It’s an unusual amount of singles matches, but that’s what a Best of show tends to be. The show will air on PPV as always. All the links for the month are up, and it looks like the price has been pushed up 50 US cents.

Neon, on Informa, was told he would be appearing on the next two Fridays as part of Best Of matches

• 01/12: Neon, Max Star, Brillante Jr. vs Valiente Jr., Fuego, Capitan Suicida
• 01/19: Neon & Futuro vs Magnus & Rugido

It’ll be at least three straight weeks of Neon on Fridays. Neon and Mascara Dorada were also revealed as the first team for the Gran Alternativa, which starts on 01/19. (They’ll be in the 01/26 block, obviously.) The other 15 teams will be revealed next Wednesday. Julio Cesar Rivera said the tournament will feature wrestlers from all over Mexico. I’m guessing that might mean a couple of rookies who haven’t been in Arena Mexico prior, similar to the Torneo de Escuelas.

Tessa Blanchard on Informa said she’s only coming from the US to CMLL for tours, but would be open to moving to Mexico and coming in fulltime. It’s conceivable, it’s what Flip Gordon has done. On the other side of the coin, Oraculo did a speech similar to Tessa’s right before Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, and he’s never appeared again. Blanchard talked about loving the people of Mexico and the culture, and being best friends with Reina Isis.

Tessa Blanhard’s discussion came up in a story about how Tessa was told by “someone close to her” that she was only successful in Mexico due to him, and would never get booked in Mexico without him. The point was to put over CMLL – they got her back into wrestling and loving wrestling when she was just about to quit – but the other part was picked up on. The “someone close to her” was clearly to be ex-husband Daga; they announced a divorce in 2023 after a brief public spit. Daga posting a photo of himself with his new significant other after the Blanchard interview circulated may have been a coincidence. (Daga posted it from Japan, where he’s successfully defended the GHC Junior Heavyweight championship over EITA back on 01/02.)

CMLL (SUN) 01/07/2024 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Mije, Periquito Sacaryas
2) Oro Jr. vs Nitro [lightning]
3) Hombre Bala Jr., Neón, Volcano vs Kráneo, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Dark Silueta, La Catalina, Tessa Blanchard vs Persephone, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
5) Averno, Euforia, Mephisto vs Felino, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
6) Máscara Dorada, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

A promising main event and then who knows.

CMLL (TUE) 01/09/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Lady Amazona & Lady Metal vs Centinela & Magia Azul [OCCIDENTE WOMEN, torneo]
2) Hatanna & Katara vs Alondra & Lady Shadow [OCCIDENTE WOMEN, torneo]
3) Gallo Jr. & Rafaga Jr. vs Calavera Jr. I & Calavera Jr. II
4) Okumura & Panterita del Ring vs Exterminador & Satánico
5) Dark Silueta vs Tessa Blanchard
6) Adrenalina & Fantástico vs Magia Blanca & Rugido
7) Atlantis Jr., Explosivo, Máscara Dorada vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible

Los Barbaros make their way to Guadalajara. That team is probably bad news for Cavernario’s brothers. Silueta/Blanchard might be something.

NJPW announced two of their Young Lion rookies, Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima, will be heading out for excursions. I have no idea if they’re heading to CMLL. Just something to keep in mind if CMLL suddenly introduces a new masked demon.

While I’m on NJPW news which may or may not have anything to do with CMLL, NJPW announced a (Friday) April 12th show at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena. That’s a big building with a significantly higher capacity than the (now closed) Odeum, the site of NJPW’s previous Chicago area show. They’re billing it as “the biggest NJPW US show of the decade,” and it’s lucha libre-centric Chicago, so maybe that’ll mean some CMLL participation. Then again, there’s no CMLL people announced for the San Jose show coming up on 01/13 and they would seem to fit there. (Maybe it’ll be different when that San Jose lineup is announced, probably around when CMLL finishes tonight.)

AAA

AAA has its first TV taping of the year – and first public TV taping in about 40 days – on Saturday in Mexico City.

AAA TV (SAT) 01/06/2024 Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal
1) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
Final of Lucha x El Barrio, no idea how many people or format ofo match (or matches)
2) Arez, Jessy Ventura, La Parkita, Lady Shani vs El Elegido, Estrellita, Mini Charly Manson, Pimpinela Escarlata
Arez replaced Aramis on 12/21
3) Abismo Negro & Flammer © vs Aerostar & Faby Apache and Drago & Sexy Star [AAA MIXED TAG]
4) Mr. Iguana, Myzteziz, Niño Hamburguesa vs ?, Electroshock, Heavy Metal
5) Forastero, Negro Casas, Sansón vs Charly Manson, Súper Caló, Zorro
6) Hijo Del Vikingo, Octagón Jr., Pagano, Psycho Clown vs Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria

This is the first Retro show, which means a lot of wrestlers from the (recent) past. It also means there’s no story to any of these matches, they’re just things to fill up a card. The closest the main event has come was Vikingo posting a photo of him taking a photo with Ozz when Vikingo was still a kid. It appears the older guys are sticking around, so perhaps they’ll set up some ideas. There are no hints on who the mystery person in match four is, but there’s also little speculation on much of anything in ring on AAA right now. The combination of the Retro gimmick and the holiday seems to have helped moved tickets; Boletomovil shows only the upper level with tickets remaining, which is better than the September taping.

The AAA activities actually begin at 1 pm, with the finals of the Lucha x el Barrio talent search. Those are scheduled to air on Mexico City public broadcasting channel Capital 21, which streams on their website. It may also turn up on their YouTube and AAA’s social media. The taping itself is not expected to be streaming. It’s a Mexico City show so it’ll probably be bootlegged onto YouTune, Facebook, and Instagram, AAA just won’t see any benefit from it. AAA was so ahead of people at one point on live-streaming and now they’re behind everyone. At any rate, this should air on TV on 01/13 and 01/20.

There’s still no official lineup for the 01/20 Queretaro show. There are no tickets on sale for a show two weeks away, which is more concerning. A reason AAA usually announces these lineups a month ahead of time is because tickets are going on sale, and tickets just haven’t gone on sale for that one.

AAA’s TV on Space on Saturday will be the private Bardahl sponsored show. I’ve got limited info on the results (and honestly didn’t bother to update the info when I got more info.)

Other

This is old news, but I never noted it here and other things brought it back it to mind: Chicago area lucha libre promotion GALLI no longer had their old home venue. They’ve been running in multiple locations inside the at Villa Park’s North Park Plaza Shopping Center since 2011. They ran in a closed-down wing of the mall, then in a backroom of a flea market, and occasionally on top of an indoor soccer field in another part of the center. The 12/17 GALLI show at that indoor soccer arena was said to be the last show. I’m not sure the reason why they’re leaving (GALLI does a Facebook talk show, it’s surely on there, I just haven’t spent the time to listen), so I’m not sure if something’s up with the building or if it’s “we’re never coming back (maybe we’ll see you in 18 months)” deal. GALLI had already been running other places around the greater Chicago area, so they’ll probably be fine if maybe run fewer shows. There were a few other promotions who used that GALLI – GCW had one of their deathmatch tournaments there. The venue appeared to be very available and very inexpensive. (It also looked very inexpensive, to put it politely.) That arena was also a place that had a lot of great lucha libre matches over the last decade plus and it’s a piece of history that’ll be missed if it’s truly gone.

GCW announced their lineup for the WrestleMania adjacent The Collective shows. There is no Wrld on Lucha on the schedule this year. (There’s a blurred out show, but I’m told it’s not Wrld on Lucha.) There will be lucha libre on the annual Highspots Mark Hitchcock Memorial show, but they’re not running a standalone lucha libre card. I’m not sure of everyone’s plans, but it looks like there’s probably going to be less Mexican wrestling on this year’s WrestleMania weekend adjacent shows than recent years.

Septimo Dragon looks back at his 2023.