AAA Origines, Lucha x el Barrio, CMLL Best of Week 1

The (end of) 2023 Tapatia Awards are open to vote in from now until the end of the month.

CMLL

CMLL (SAT) 01/06/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Leono & Robin b Enfermero Jr. & Inquisidor
2) Diamond b Valiente Jr. [lightning]
3) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido b Brillante Jr., El Audaz, Fuego
4) Metálica, Reyna Isis, Tessa Blanchard b Andrómeda, Marcela, Skadi
5) Star Jr. & Titán b Hechicero & Sagrado
Hechicero & Sagrado argued the third count and attacked referee Olimpico over it
6) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Místico b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario

CMLL (TUE) 01/09/2024 Arena México
1) Bengala, Leono, Retro vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Andrómeda, Maligna, Skadi vs Hera, Olympia, Persephone
3) Akuma vs Magnus [lightning]
4) Blue Panther Jr. & Dark Panther vs Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II and Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa and Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. [CMLL TAG, #1 Contenders]
5) Místico © vs Volador Jr. [NWA MIDDLE]
8th defense

CMLL announcing a title match just before the FantasticaMania lineups are to be announced usually means a title switch. A four and half year Mistico title reign ending in hastily set up title match simply to change which match will be for a belt on a FantasticaMania show that will sell out either way is quite lame. There’s a little bit more logic if NJPW requested Soberano Jr. be a champion for whatever’s coming next with him, but it’d still be lame (and they could’ve/should’ve done it with Atlantis Jr.’s belt.) I rooting hard for Mistico, knowing I’m probably wrong.

There are three good options to root for in the tag title four way. The Gemelo Diablos have looked better when they’re actually on a stream, but they’re still the least appealing option.

CMLL (FRI) 01/12/2024 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Valiente Jr. vs Brillante Jr., Max Star, Neón
3) Esfinge vs Misterioso Jr.
4) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Akuma & Dark Magic
5) Tessa Blanchard vs Zeuxis
6) Soberano Jr. vs Templario

My guess is CMLL assumes Soberano will be cleared and might not actually know for sure yet; that decision is typically made early in the week. Poor Templario is going to keep having cool main events and losing them. Blanchard is probably getting a win back over Zeuxis (and should if she’s sticking around.) The Espiritu/Cometa vs Akuma/Dark Magic match was pushed back a week. Match three is the crazy Esfinge fans punishing us all. First two matches should be good.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara is already hyping festivities for its 65th Anniversary show in June.

Voices of Wrestling has reviews of December CMLL matches.

AAA

There’s a lot of AAA news, for the first time in a while.

Saturday led off with the Lucha x el Barrio final, a few hours before the taping

AAA , INJUVE (SAT) 01/06/2024 Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal [La Tijera, thecubsfan]
1) Rey Espartano, Skyler, Vengador (Querétaro) b Andy Panda Jr., Epidemus Jr., Kenji 
8:42
2) Mary Caporal & Satania b Lady Wind & Princesa Azul 
7:10
3) Estrellato b Piraña 
4:19
4) Alfa Jr., Dragón Suicida, Steven Manson b Black Shadow II, Shere Khan, Thunder Storm 
5:15
5) Dick Angelo 3G, Forneo, Legendario b Éxtasis, Osiris, Radioactivo 
7:54
6) Rey Espartano, Shere Khan, Vengador (Querétaro) b Alfa Jr., Epidemus Jr., Steven Manson 
5:59
7) Dick Angelo 3G, Estrellato, Legendario, Radioactivo b Andy Panda Jr., Dragón Suicida, Éxtasis, Lady Wind 
5:24

Judges were Faby Apache, Arez, Myzteziz Jr., Chessman, Negro Casas, Abismo Negro and Dalys. Dick Angelo 3G won 1st place, with Legendario 2nd and Lady Wind 3rd. Andy Panda Jr., Estrellato, Radioactivo, Vengador, Dragon Suicida, Steven Manson, and Extasis were honorable mentions, and will get chances to work AAA shows sometime this year.

Dick Angelo 3G (3G means third generation) and Legendario are well known Mexico City indie wrestlers. They were working IWRG regularly until last June, walking out for the same reasons everyone else ends up walking out of IWRG. Abismo Negro Jr. was their trainer and was one of the judges for this AAA competition, though those two were fair choices based on the performances on this show. Lady Wind, a 17 year old luchadora from Xalapa, was a more surprising pick. She looked impressive in the final match, but a lot of that was visibly the bigger male wrestlers basing to make her look more spectacular. She and Princesa Azul looked about the same quality in the previous match, and Azul didn’t make it past that round. It could be that they wanted the visual of having a woman in the top 3; everyone AAA wants to book will be booked in the end. AAA said the three winners would sign contracts with AAA next week.

This streamed on Capital 21, presented as live but on an hour or so delay. They ran one first round with all the matches (and some time in between the matches), and then a more hurried second round with the finalists. Satania seemed to be an alternate; a post-show credit sequence listed Hija del Vikingo as one of the finalists. Estrellato/Pirana also may have been a late addition; the announcers had identification sheets for all the matches except for that one. La Jornada has a good story about the winners, even if they forget Dick Angelo’s name. Both INJUVE and AAA talked positively about the tournament and doing another one down the road.

AAA held a press conference between the Llave x el Barrio tournament and their own TV taping that night. The big news they wanted to get out is the 2024 theme is “Origenes.” Dorian Roldan’s story was AAA was planning only to do a one-off Retro show to start the year, but the social media reaction to the idea was so positive that they decided to make it the style for the whole year. This is the 32nd year of AAA; the 30th year of AAA was also a celebration of the past and many of those names were around last year too. This Retro concept did draw – it was a huge improvement over the previous Juan de la Barrera taping in September – but I’m not sure twelve months of this is a great idea.

There are other reasons AAA may be dipping into a more popular past; Record headlines their piece on the announcement as “AAA seeks in 2024 to once again be the best Mexican wrestling company“, and the subhead has Roldan acknowledging 2023 was not a good year. He tries to explain it the same as a sports team having a bad year, but it got them thinking about new concepts that they could do that would work better. It is not immediately clear what those new concepts are in the article, except borrowing from the past.

AAA TV (SAT) 01/06/2024 Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal [AS, Heraldo Deportes, Mas Lucha] Attendance: 5000
1) Látigo & Toxin b ? & Alfa Jr.
dark match, other unidentified person is probably another Lucha x el Barrio finalist
1) Látigo & Toxin b Epydemius Jr. & Extreme Monster
Dark Match. Extreme Monster appeared to be a (young) teenager.
2) Colmillo De Plata, Garra De Oro, Lady Wind b Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Reina Dorada
Dick Angelo (1st), Legendario (2nd) and Lady Wind (3rd) were the Lucha x el Barrio winners. Colmillo de Plata is the former Mr. Leo, Garra de Oro is Leon Dorado Jr., keeping “The Money Machine” team name and gimmick.
3) Arez, Jessy Ventura, La Parkita, Lady Shani b El Elegido, Estrellita, Mini Charly Manson, Pimpinela Escarlata
Arez replaced Aramis on 12/21. Prior to the match, Abismo, Latigo, Toxin and Arez (back in Los Vipers) questioned Cibernetico for teaming with La Secta instead of them. Los Vipers attacked Pimpinela after the match. Between matches, Konnan came to the ring and introduced Cien Caras. They hugged. Vampiro interrupted to offer a handshake of peace to Konnan. Cibernetico made the second interruption, then Los Vipers made the third interruption to attack him. Vampiro and Konnan cleaned house on Los Vipera and hugged to a big reaction.
4) Abismo Negro & Flammer © b Aerostar & Faby Apache and Drago & Sexy Star [AAA MIXED TAG]
5) Mr. Iguana, Myzteziz, Niño Hamburguesa b El Ángel, Electroshock, Heavy Metal
El Angel was the mystery person on the Retro team.
6) Forastero, Negro Casas, Sansón b Charly Manson, Súper Caló, Zorro
7) Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria b Hijo Del Vikingo, Octagón Jr., Pagano, Psycho Clown
Cibernetico pinned Psycho after a mask pull

The power of properly placed nostalgia. La Secta were always midcarders, guys who’d wrestle in the main events simply to be the sort of henchman beat up so Cibernetico or Mesias escaped clean. The role Los Vipers are now, more or less. Their recent appearances in Big Lucha didn’t seem to mean anything to attendance. (If anything, the turnout seemed down, though that may be due to other factors with Big Lucha.) They’re on plenty of other indie shows, too, and those guys have never seem to mean a whole lot. La Secta teaming with Cibernetico on this Retro show sold out the 5000-ish seat building, which is a victory for the Retro branding.

Vampiro left AAA forever back in August and returned in January. What happened in between was Vampiro doing that podcast with Latin Lover, where both shoveled some dirt on Konnan and the whole thing went viral. AAA brought back Vampiro to play off it, teasing issues and then swerving people by going the other way. The entire segment seemed laid out to get a loud reaction for Vampiro and Konnan in front of a big crowd and did exactly that. Vipers just happened to be the expendable heels for the night, it may not mean more than that. AAA surely wants Latin Lover in to play off the podcast, and maybe they’re just waiting to get to Monterrey for that part.

Mr. Leo and Leon Dorado Jr. were actually in the INJUVE contest and shown in the look back at the tryouts as part of the broadcast. They also had a tryout with AAA in 2023 (maybe multiple ones), and were probably going to get brought in even if there wasn’t a Lucha x el Barrio. It did look like a weird go-around on the tryout if you’re paying close attention, but no one’s paying close attention to AAA.

There may have been more angles on this taping, but AAA’s decided to continue not reporting on their shows. They streamed bits of a couple of matches on social media, but there is no sign of a full return to streaming these events. I got results this time because newspapers and Mas Lucha covered the show. I’m sure it’ll be a problem to find out what is actually going on with AAA for the rest of the year. Originally, I thought this taping would start to air next week, but I’m less certain after watching TV.

I’m confused about if AAA is doing live commentary again or not. Mas Lucha posted clips of post-match angles where the announcers are audible. Those same announcers didn’t seem audible to me when I saw clips of the matches AAA posted. Maybe they’re only turning the audio on after the match; maybe I’m losing it. Jesus Zuniga was back at the announce desk with Jose Manuel Guillen and Hugo Savinovich; he’s been hosting the Luchatitlan shows for most of 2023.

AAA also fully announced the Queretaro show, which differed a bit from what I guessed.

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

Match 5 is the only one that strays from the Origines theme. Match 2 is probably the Lucha x el Barrio wrestlers, and Match 1 a dark match with the locals. It’s weird to see Vikingo working third from the top on AAA card; AAA probably sees it more about who he’s working with but it’s also their choice of who he’s working with.

AAA additionally announced they’d return to Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera on Saturday, March 16th. CMLL may run Homenaje a Dos Leyendas on that Friday, making for a big weekend. CMLL just probably won’t make it clear until mid-February.

AAA’s show on Space aired three matches from outside the Bardahl plant in Toluca. The show had lots of promotion for AAA’s main sponsor and the matches were the usual level for 2023 shows.

• Mr. Iguana, Nino Hamburguesa and La Estrella defeated Kento, Kuukai, Takuma with help from a masked Mr. Bardahl. He did a very Octagon Jr.-ish 450 splash to help the tecnicos win. It didn’t make any sense for Estrella to be teaming with Iguana & Hamburgesa since he was working with the other Japanese and also attacking those two tecnicos, but the announcers and a pre-match promo pushed the idea Estrella was a tecnico at heart and going good guy from here. Some comedy, some good wrestling.
• Abismo Negro Jr. and Flammer beat Drago and Sexy Star to keep the mixed tag titles. They worked hard, it didn’t click for me but it wasn’t a fault of effort. There was no point where I thought the challengers would win and, despite the announcers pushing that the champs were nearing a one year a reign, no point where it felt like it mattered who did hold these belts. A pre-match vignette had Maravilla talking about Sexy Star challenging her to a singles match, something I don’t remember happening but it’s always possible, I suppose. Anyway, since the point of AAA is for the rudos to always get heat on the tecnicos, that meant Sexy Star had to lose this match, then attack Flammer (for no obvious reason) so Maravilla could cut her off. Maravilla ran out so fast that Sexy Star had barely done anything before she got beat up for a second time. It was loser stuff.
• Laredo Kid, Negro Casas, Psycho Clown beat Bestia del Ring, Taurus, Texano in an aimless brawl. Taurus looked good with Laredo and Psycho but this was the least of the three matches. (Taurus has not shown up on a new AAA lineup, even house shows, since working the second AEW date, a important factoid I’m nonetheless putting in the place no one will read, a recap of AAA’s TV) The point of this match was a La Bestia del Ring/Negro Casas feud. The comedy was Bestia getting a cut above his right eye before the match officially started, a medic urgently (and seemingly unnecessarily) hastily wrapping some gauze around Bestia’s head to stop the bleeding, and Bestia wrestling the match looking like a mummy.

AAA has at least two more matches they haven’t aired from this show. One of them was a title match, which they could’ve squeezed on to this TV if AAA only wanted to do one episode from the venue. Maybe there’s another week, maybe they’ll just save it to fill in a gap down the line. Space will have an episode description sometime midweek.

If you’re thirsty for a Konnan interview where he talks about how AAA needs to go the US and get a TV deal to compete with the companies there, La Jornada has you covered. The big idea is the US money will allow them to keep the talent they lose to the US, but I’m less and less certain that’s a realistic possibility. The most likely way AAA is getting the sort of money it would take to be competitive with the US companies is if someone comes in to just buy AAA. There’d be no reason to put that much money in without getting ownership. Anyway, it’s not just the US companies AAA is in losing battles for talent. AAA’s first Showcenter show of the year is February 18th. Recent AAA stars Dralistico and Pentagon Jr. won’t be on that show, not because they’ve got a US commitment, but because they’ll be working across town for Robles promotions that night.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 01/07/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Ajolotl b Osiris   
2) Freelance & Tornado b Alan Extreme & Rey Aztaroth   
3) Látigo & Toxin b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly   
great match
4) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. b Abigor & Yorvak   
Cerbero Negro Jr. & Cerbero Negro replaced the Lion Brothers (who may be done here after starting in AAA), said they’ll be tag team champs this year
5) Dr. Cerebro Jr., Shocko, Tonalli b Águila Roja, Hip Hop Man, Ivan Rokov   
Shock replaced Aster Boy, wants a “loser goes back to their home country” match with Rokov
6) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Laredo Kid b Hijo del Fishman, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Rey Espectro  
Laredo Kid wore a La Parka tribute mask. Lupus wants a singles match with Fishman for the Juniors title.

I wanted to see Los Vipers versus the Mexa Boys and I’m glad I did. It was an all-action match. It wasn’t truly a tag match in that there wasn’t any tags, but they went back and forth nicely. Mexa Boys looked smoother against the Vipers; Toxin and Latigo had plenty of cool double-team offense. It was exactly what you’d hope for from the best of that style, along with the better work the Vipers have done in the US. It’s worth checking out.

Big Lucha

They’re running Friday

Big Lucha World (FRI) 01/12/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Cody 1-8 vs Big Tao Tao
2) Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo vs Atómico Jr., Auzter, Black Skayde
3) Mr. Win, Tirano, Viajero vs Brujo, Limbo, Torito Negro
4) Action Jackson & Emperador Azteca vs Elipse & Orbita

They’re calling it Big Lucha World but it doesn’t look like one of their previous lineups (three matches, mostly lopsided.) It’s not quite a normal Big Lucha card either, just something in between. It may just be an attempt to run something this month when the roster is elsewhere later on: Black Generacion is headed back to Japan for GLEAT, Locos Evans and Potro de Oro are doing that tour of the Yucatan. 

I’m not really sure what the roster is going forward. A new group named “Mexico Wrestling” had a press conference Friday to talk about the lineup for their first show, and it has some effect on who’s still here:

Mexico Wrestling (SUN) 01/21/2024 Batalla de Tunas Blancas, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) ?, ??, Allan Star vs Baalzephone, Mas Alla, Último Monarca
2) Datura vs Diosa Nix
3) Radical, Uzumaki, Vudu Max vs Andy Panda Jr., Odiseo Mendoza, Ursus Mendoza
4) Carito, Chris Stone Jr., Tigre Blanco vs León Dorado, Mr. Leo, Soberbia
5) Hijo del Solar & Solar I vs El Machote, Máscara Año 2000, Máscara Año 2000 Jr.

I typically file this type of lineup into the luchadb and don’t bother mentioning here. None of the matches look particularly promising, there’s no interesting direction – the press conference teased a Solar/Mascara 2000 mask versus hair match – and it’s the most generic name possible. It’s one of hundreds of shows that will happen in the Mexico City each year and aren’t normally worth considering. This one is notable because it’s effectively a Big Lucha splinter promotion. The familiar names from here – exotico Carito, the Mendozas, the Capos, and the two mystery people – are apparently all ‘done’ with Big Lucha. It has not played up that way, but the idea is these guys are all going on their own. I’m less clear about Andy Panda Jr; he is Morfisis in Big Lucha but only in Big Lucha, and he’s still listed on that name on Big Lucha’s next card. Or maybe Big Lucha has a new Morfosis?

It’s indie wrestling, nothing is permanent, but Big Lucha seems headed to a roster crunch. I’m unsure of the availability of guys like Extasis and Radioactivo and anyone else who impressed AAA in the talent search. (A firm rule of Mexican indie wrestlers is they will absolutely sign any contract laid in front of them and they will tell their friends how unhappy they are about the same contract six months later once they really understand the deal.) Maybe the increased focus on Locos Evans was to make up for missing people, or maybe it helped lead to wrestlers checking out. I’m not sure. On a lower level, this is Big Lucha going through the same sort of talent drain that AAA is going through – people getting funneled to a big promotion with a better payday and people checking out to have more fun elsewhere.

Other Notes

A Three King’s Day show Sunday in Uruapan, Michoacan was said to draw 8,000 people (on free tickets.) Cibernetico and La Secta headlined against ELectroshock, Charly Manzon and Lizmark.

A report on lucha libre in Hermosillo mentions there 15 shows in the Sonoran city in 2023. Promoters are asking for more support from the government to help pay for this; he throws out running a show costing between 15-18,000 and he’s making between 8-10,000 pesos.

Oaxacan born, Mazatlan based luchador Super Angel talked about his career. He says he wrestled in AAA, once under the Super Angel name, later under both Maravilloso and Cadete del Espacio member Super Nova. There is a Maravilloso who pops up on 1998 and 1999 TV, which fits with Super Angel’s story.

A short article on Brisa Mortal.

Luchadors gave out gifts at a Guanajuato hospital in honor of Dia de los Reyes.

Segunda Caida writes more about 90s Monterrey.