Day: January 12, 2024

Arena Coliseo Monterrey done for real, CMLL Best of Week 2, Gran Alternativa

thecubsfan 2 Comments

The Schedule This Weekend

It’s a bit much.

  • Friday
    • 7:00 pm WWE Joaquin Wild & Curz del Toro vs Angel & Humberto
    • 8:00 pm GCW – Triller
      • Latigo, Oni el Bendito, Arez vs Aramis, Demonic Flamita, Jack Carthweel
      • Ciclope & Miedo Xtremo vs Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd
      • Microman TBD
      • Mustafa Ali vs Gringo Loco spiritually belongs on this list
    • 8:30 pm CMLL (Soberano/Templario) – Boletia
    • 8:30 pm Big Lucha World – YouTube? Maybe on purpose this time?
  • Saturday
    • 7:00 pm TNA (Vikingo vs Sabin vs KUSHIDA) – Triller
    • 8:00 pm GCW
      • Joey Janela vs Microman
      • Oni el Benito vs Jack Cartwheel
    • 8:30 pm NJPW Countdown (Stephanie Vaquer vs Viva Van) – Triller (but free)
    • 9:00 pm NJPW (Dorada/Volador vs Soberano/Romero) – Triller
    • AEW has three hours of TV so maybe a luchador will turn up?
    • F1rst has Latigo vs Arez vs Gringo Loco vs Aramis but that isn’t streaming
  • Sunday

Arena Coliseo Monterrey no more

The long-rumored demolition of Arena Coliseo Monterrey started on Thursday. The long time Monterrey hub was expected to be torn down and replaced with a new (non-lucha libre) building for years, so much so that it was hard to believe it would happen; a “final” show happened in 2022, and then a few more shows happened after that same year. The photos of bulldozer tearing up the floor sure seems like’s it is final; the demolition is expected to take 3-4 months.

Arena Coliseo Monterrey was opened on October 23, 1955. It was originally built by EMLL (CMLL) as their hub in the city. It held many huge events even as ownership changed hands over the years and was the center of lucha libre in one of the biggest cities for it.

The building was believed to be owned by the TV company Multimedios most recently. Wresting in Monterrey and Arena Coliseo Monterrey still seemed reasonably sustainable until the 2010s. Fans in the area will forever point to stars of (non-wrestling) Multimedios TV shows being used as celebrity attractions, leading to the downfall of the local scene. I think it was more that the average fan didn’t see the weekly wrestlers as big stars worth buying tickets for then. Those fans might show up at one or two shows yearly, but most shows drew in the hundreds instead of the thousands. There are plenty of other places in the area to run smaller shows; some of them are nicer places to visit. Arena Coliseo Monterrey was an older building and poorly maintained; it very much showed its age. (That’s an epidemic issue with the lucha libre arenas from the 50s/60s; the buildings need to be modernized, but the owners either have no interest or lack the funds to maintain them well.) Arena Coliseo Monterrey also sat on a downtown plot of land that seemingly could make much more money being used differently. It didn’t make economic sense to keep the building, but much history goes with it.

CMLL

Tonight’s show

CMLL (FRI) 01/12/2024 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
one fall. rematch from 11/03?
2) Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Valiente Jr. vs Brillante Jr., Max Star, Neón
two of three falls. rematch from 06/23
3) Esfinge vs Misterioso Jr.
one fall. rematch from 10/06 (and a result of lots of Esfinge fans voting in the monthly polls)
4) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Akuma & Dark Magic
two of three falls. rematch from 07/14, pushed back a week.
5) Tessa Blanchard vs Zeuxis
two of three falls
6) Soberano Jr. vs Templario
two of three falls. rematch from 01/06

Soberano appeared on Informa and confirmed he’ll wrestle on this show. He says he’s about 80%, which is a big improvement over not being able to get out of bed last Wednesday. Soberano says he dealt with a back/spine issue all 2023, thought he was getting better, and then it got much worse last week. He was able to get it checked out after a couple of days and was released to know he wouldn’t need surgery, but he’s going to be doing physical therapy on the injury for the next 8-10 weeks. He believes he can wrestle through it, and hopes the power of the Arena Mexico crowd can carry him through. This Soberano/Templario match is in Best Of shows as a rematch of Soberano/Templario happening on last year’s Best Of shows. Both men seem to really want to keep that chain going and have the best match of this month too. I don’t know how they’re going to pull it off, but I felt more persuaded they would try after hearing Soberano on Informa.

The rest of the card looks solid. The two trios matches to start the card might be the next best matches. The Nuevo Valores versus regular CMLL tecnicos rematch of Max Star, Neon, and Brillante versus Capitan Suicida, Fuego, and Valiente Jr. will be great if they hit their spots because there will be a lot of spots. The Pequeno Sky Team trio (Angelico, Kaligula, and Pequeno Magia) have good chemistry with the young mini rudos – Full Metal, Minos, and Pequeno Polvora – and so might pull out something from the opening spot. Elsewhere, Akuma & Dark Magic vs. Espiritu Negro & Rey Cometa was a magic trick last time, and it’s hard to expect it to work out as well again. Esfinge/Misterioso is the weirdest possible Best of Match. Zeuxis/Tessa is the one non-Best Of match. I want to see Zeuxis hit as hard in that one as she did with Catalina. Not because of anything against Tessa, but because she might hit back just as hard and it’d make for a good match.

It’s still on PPV. Maybe it’ll work!

Zeuxis mentioned on Informa that she had already beaten Tessa Blanchard before in a singles match in Puerto Rico. It did happen on a 2018 Champion Wrestling Association show. Zeuxis keeps pushing that she’s going to send Blanchard back to this US “where you’re very famous and really no one wants you.”

I mentioned the NJPW CMLL stuff above, but a reminder that there’s a good chance for NJPW FantasticaMania lineups to come out the next day, maybe sometime Sunday night.

Last week, Julio Cesar Rivera said he’d reveal everything about the Gran Alternativa on this week’s CMLL Informa. He lied. He revealed only the first block of the competition. I’ve never been more lied to by a wrestling personality (except for all the other times a wrestling personality has lied to me.) Anyway, that first block is 01/19, and the eight teams

  • Explosivo/Titan
  • Halcon Negro Jr./Esfinge
  • Angel Rebelde/Star Jr.
  • Rey Samuray/Atlantis
  • Crixus/Euforia
  • Hijo del Stuka/Stuka Jr.
  • Raider/Templario
  • Brillante Jr./Mistico

That final team is a purposeful call back to the 2007 winning duo of La Sombra and Mistico. Raider reached the finals last time in 2022 with Gran Guerrero (when this was an eight team field, as opposed to sixteen teams this year.) We’ve not seen much of Angel Rebelde since winning the Torneo de Escualas so, notably, he’s part of this.

Mascara Dorada & Neon are one team in the other block. Futuro mentioned Wednesday that he’ll be in this tournament as well. The rest of the names will be revealed next Wednesday.

CMLL and MLW officially announced Mistico will face Averno on their 02/03 show in Philadelphia. MLW also suddenly decided they must bring in Okumura; he’ll be forming a team with Kojima.

Formula E (car racing with all electric motors) is in Mexico City for a race this weekend. Drivers from the McLaren team trained in lucha libre with Retro, Magnus, and Atlantis Jr., the usual celebrity bit.

AAA

Let’s chat about wrestlers and their AAA deals.

Black Taurus is done with AAA. He announced Thursday that he’s an independent wrestler, thanking AAA for his time but making it clear he’s open to working anywhere, even CMLL. I don’t think Taurus is going back (*) to CMLL any time soon, but the only way he could is if he was completely done with AAA. I read that, and know a little bit, that there’s a better chance of Taurus working Impact than AAA any time soon. Taurus was not under contract to AAA, this is him distancing himself from that promotion and saying he’s done. The two sides have been done before (2016) and gotten back together (2018), but they’re done for now.

AEW and Taurus is still active. Nothing is official until Taurus shows up on AEW TV again but I believe that’s where he’ll end up. There is mutual interest, and there are just some issues that have to be ironed out first.

(* – not everyone knows or remembers the history here. Taurus was just another Torreon luchador who made him his way into CMLL, wrestling there from 2007 to 2011 as Semental. This was far before CMLL did much with the young guys and prelim wrestlers; he had skills in the same way Raider has skills but he wasn’t used even as much as Raider is right now. He was announced to wrestle in the 2009 Gran Alternativa with NJPW’s youngster Yujiro as his partner, but CMLL ran an angle where Yujiro refused to team with a Mexican and Okumura attacked Semental to replace him the tournament. The Japanese team would win. Semental’s involvement would not be mentioned again; it wasn’t an angle to set up a feud, he was just a disposable figure. Semental did wrestle in the 2010 Gran Alternativa, where he lost unremarkable in the first round with Rey Bucanero as a partner. Semental decided he wasn’t going anywhere in CMLL, secretly tried out for AAA, and jumped along with fellow prelim wrestler Mortiz. He eventually was re-gimmicked as Machine Rocker, and then later as Taurus. It’d be fun to see him back in CMLL but I’m not holding my breath on that happening soon.)

Hijo del Vikingo is staying with AAA. He’ll still be on AEW, but he’s not leaving AAA any time soon. From the moment AEW’s announced the Omega/Vikingo match, I’ve thought that AAA needed to prepare for a near future when they wouldn’t have Vikingo around. I’ve written about this a lot in 2023; the normal progression for most Mexican wrestlers who get a lot of work in the US is to stop working much in Mexico and likely leave their companies. I’ve thought the same of Vikingo, but I’ve more recently explained to me that I’m missing the mark on him. Vikingo, for personal and professional reasons, wants to and expects to wrestle regularly in Mexico for the foreseeable future. I’ve been told he likes working in the US, likes working for AEW, but not to expect him ever to become a fulltime AEW guy who works just occasional Mexico dates like a Rey Fenix. (That may mean he never gets the official All Elite graphic from AEW, though I strongly suspect there’s some sort of three-way contract deal between Vikingo, AEW, and AAA governing his appearances in the US promotion.) This was so different than I believed that I wasn’t sure about it, but Masked Republic mentioning that Vikingo had extended his contract with AAA, it seems pretty solid that Vikingo is sticking around AAA for a while to come.

The leading theory about why AAA doesn’t really have any stories around Vikingo has been because they were concerned he wasn’t sticking around. It doesn’t really fit AAA – they run stories around people who they’re not sure if they’ll be back often. (Who knows what the deal is with QT Marshall is at the moment?) It could be that AAA sees Vikingo as a “great match guy,” and so he just needs to have his matches, he doesn’t need stories. The matches themselves, though, are hurt when he’s facing a “random guy who hasn’t been in AAA in years”, and Vikingo seems less of a star when he has no goals or direction. Not that an AAA direction is necessarily better. They tried that in 2022 with the Fenix/Vikingo feud, but it was so spread out and Vikingo was a passive participant. I don’t want to end this with just “please do better with AAA” but I’m not sure what else I’ve got here. There’s a lot of simple lanes they can have Vikingo take: maybe Vikingo declares he wants to avenge old losses (like against Laredo Kid and Gringo Loco), maybe he wants use his spotlight to showcase/test the youth of the roster (Octagon Jr., Arez, Aramis), maybe he wants to prove the AAA title is the best in the world by challenging wrestlers elsewhere, or maybe there’s another idea that’s better than any of this. It just needs to be something. If Vikingo is going to be around for the long haul, he needs more help than “1-3 challengers appear out of nowhere as opponents because it’s a TripleMania show.”

Roberto Figueroa teased that AAA will have its usual January press conference late in the month. They’ve laid out the big concept for the year in those in the last couple. I hope they have a better one next year. Also, Laredo Kid and Antifaz del Norte will have a match for the Showcenter championship on the 02/18 show.

AAA on Space Saturday will have

  • Octagon Jr. vs Argenis vs Mecha Wolf for the AAA Latin America championship
  • Argenis, Dalys, Maravilla vs Lady Shani and two others
  • maybe one more match?

I should’ve put this on the list of things that are happening this weekend, but nothing from this taping feels like a happening.

IWRG

IWRG , RGR (SUN) 02/04/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Bengalee vs Satania, Dehyna, Princesa Azul, La Sádica, Amazonika [RGR WOMEN, #1 Contenders]
2) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. vs Noisy Boy & Spider Fly [IWRG IC TAG]
fifth defense
3) Tonalli vs Black Destiny [RGR MIDDLE]
first defense
4) Big Mami, Niño Hamburguesa, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Estrella Divina, Lolita, Vito Fratelli
5) Coronel VIP & Hijo del Pirata Morgan vs Hell Boy & Hijo de Canis Lupus [RGR TAG, torneo]
6) DMT Azul © vs Blue Demon Jr. [IWRG IC HEAVY]
second defense

This is RGR’s third anniversary show. Maybe Tonalli/Destiny will be good. Tag match has a shot too.

Other News

El Horizonte has an interview with Hector Aguilar Hinojosa, who says he trained to wrestle in Monterrey in the 90s, wrestled there as Saddam, then joined Promo Azteca as it started as Zorro, retiring to finish his degree and start a professional career, and returning to wrestle in small Monterrey shows as Guerrilero. Welcome to another bit of me trying fruitlessly trying to figure out the truth in a biographical article on a minor wrestler. There was someone listed as Saddam in Northern Mexico in the 90s. The earliest video of Zorro looks to be the more famous wrestler (and it’s possible he was doing that gimmick in Guadalajara, where we don’t have many ’90s lineups.) Aguilar Hinjosa’s story is he wrestled as Zorro in Tlalnepantla as Zorro and there is one other before that TV match, so I guess the story could be true if he quit the gimmick a month on. That Saddam character was wrestling when this guy said he retired so I dunno about any of that.

El Grafico has an interview with luchadora Brisa Mortal. She had a child as a teenager, then studied nursing. She got a job at a private clinic in the town of Nicolas Romero, which just happened to be next door to a local lucha venue Arena 23 de Junio. She got interested in lucha libre, started to train, and debuted four years later.