Templario defeats Soberano (but not on the stream), TNA/AAA, Big Lucha

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 01/12/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Excelsior, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (video), thecubsfan]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora   
10:33. one fall. rematch from March 7th
2) Brillante Jr., Max Star, Neón b Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Valiente Jr.   
9:51. two of three falls. rematch from 06/23
3) Esfinge b Misterioso Jr. [lightning]   
9:15. Announced as one fall, switched to a lightning match. rematch from 10/06 (and a result of lots of Esfinge fans voting in the monthly polls)
4) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa b Akuma & Dark Magic   
15:14. two of three falls. rematch from 07/14, pushed back a week.
5) Zeuxis b Tessa Blanchard   
17:15. Two of three falls.
6) Templario b Soberano Jr.  
16:54, straight falls, Templario won with a package piledrivers after some KeMaltio assisted happenstances. two of three falls. rematch from 01/06

The parts we saw of this show were generally good. The lightning match didn’t really work – crowd was only happy to see Esfinge win at the end – but the other matches were good fun. Espiritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Akuma & Dark Magic came the closest to surpassing the previous match up, with Akuma again having a great performance. There’s got to be more for him in 2023 2024. Match two was steadier than match one. Templario/Soberano continued the trend of rudo Soberano being more character heavy – I like it, but it’s not going to be everyone’s taste.

Zeuxis/Blanchard was pretty good. It was also Tessa losing a feud clean for a second time. This is not the Tessa Blanchard I thought was coming to CMLL, and it’s been a pleasant surprise. She works hard, and she’s willing to put people over. I have no information about how well she’s getting along with her peers – and that seemed like the bigger problem in her previous life. As far as the stuff we can see, she’s been a plus. (If anyone who disliked Tessa Blanchard was paying attention to CMLL, the last few months would’ve been moderately effective image rehab. But they – and the people who generally want to support all women’s wrestling – don’t seem to be watching any CMLL.) I was not in favor of CMLL bringing in Tessa Blanchard, and I think I was wrong – it’s working out well for both sides. This appeared to be end of Blanchard’s run for now, but she’ll surely be back again.

This was the third straight week with an issue on the CMLL stream. This time, it appears not to be a Boletia/Neerme problem hosting the broadcast. The video feed stopped late in the main event, though the audio could still be heard. The video did not return until a few minutes after the show ended, and even the audio seemed to end abruptly. There wasn’t the usual sign off with plugs for upcoming events for streaming viewers. (You can actually see the finish here.) CMLL also hasn’t posted the usual main event highlights as typical. It all suggests CMLL’s in-house production had some sort of internal failure with their stream. I’m deeply curious to find out if CMLL had some sort of failsafe to record the match and if it’ll turn up in full this coming weekend on TV.

If I’m correct, that would mean CMLL had a different issue than usual, something that would’ve affected them the same if they were streaming on YouTube or elsewhere. It’s still three straight weeks of a stream issue. CMLL again is trying to make it right: you should have a coupon code that’ll give you this upcoming Friday’s show for free. That’s about the right price for these streams right now. I suggest extreme caution about buying a CMLL PPV live at the moment; you might as well let suckers like me try it and check back in Saturday morning to see if it worked.

(Ultimately, I don’t think CMLL has the manpower, resources or interest to do this streaming by themselves and would be better off partnering with FITE/Triller or NJPW or ROH to use their platform and technical ability. It’s not just the streaming; this week’s member upload hasn’t gone up on time again. CMLL probably makes less money in the short term choosing one of those routes, but they’re making less money when they have to send out refunds every week or lose people because they can’t deliver on their promises. CMLL should focus on what they do well.)

CMLL (SAT) 01/13/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Fantasy, Galaxy, Último Dragóncito b Full Metal, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Lady Amazona, Olympia, Tiffany b La Guerrera, Lady Metal, Magia Azul
Arena Coliseo debut of Lady Amazona
3) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Diamond, Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr.
4) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black
Magnus and Star Black tore each other’s masks. Magnus beat Star Black to set up a title match.
5) Star Jr. b Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
6) Flip Gordon, Místico, Titán b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible

Magnus as a heavyweight seems like a stretch and it’s sure a random match with Star Black, but also: why not?

No big news in either of the CMLL matches on Saturday’s NJPW Battle of the Valley show. Stephanie Vaquer defeated Viva Van on the pre-show. The announcers talked her up as next challenger for either of the two NJPW women’s titles, but she didn’t directly challenge Guilia in the ring or backstage. Volador Jr. & Mascara Dorada defeated Soberano Jr. & Rocky Romero in a really good match but with no specific story coming out of it.  (The entire NJPW show is pretty good, but I would not advise you to buy the show just to see the tag match.) Both Volador and Dorada said they wanted another singles match with Romero. Maybe they’ll get them on FantasticaMania.

(No FantasticaMania lineups yet. Maybe they’ll turn up tonight, but it could be a bit of a wait if they don’t.)

It made sense to keep those CMLL matches light on story, because there was a lot of it on the rest of the show. The shorter version NJPW really wants to load up that 04/12 Chicago show, and varied from the typical policies to announce some big matches early. It is the next NJPW US show, I expect that there will continue to be CMLL involvement in Chicago, I just don’t know exactly what it’ll be.

CMLL (TUE) 01/16/2024 Arena México
1) Eléctrico & Oro Jr. vs Grako & Inquisidor
2) Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Max Star vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Andrómeda, Marcela, Skadi vs Amapola, Persephone, Reyna Isis
4) Volcano vs Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja © vs Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. [CMLL TAG]
13th defense (nearly exactly two years in)
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

I didn’t really hit me how many defenses the Chavez brothers have racked up until looking it up. This is also the second time they’re going to defend the belts against the brother winners of #1 contenders tournament. (It’s CMLL, they have lots of brothers.) A title change is possible at any time and the Villanos are pretty popular, but I’m still leaning towards the Chavez brothers retaining.

CMLL (TUE) 01/16/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Black Boy, Thunder Boy, Yaky Boy vs Destello, Destructor, Jabalí
2) Emperatriz & Miss Guerrera vs Hatanna & Katara [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG, semifinal]
3) Lady Amazona & Lady Metal vs Adira & La Pantera [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG, semifinal]
4) Barboza, Draego, Persa vs Bestia Negra, Cris Skin, Ráfaga
5) Futuro, Max Star, Neón vs Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte
6) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther vs Euforia, Hijo del Soberano, Soberano Jr.

That main event will be good if they’re excited for it. A final of Hatanna & Katara versus Amazona & Metal is my guess for that tag title.

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]

Matches 2/3 finish out the Best Of 2023 series. (Dorada/Cavernario happened in Coliseo, aired on HeraldoTV, and so few people have seen it.) Brillante Jr. & Mistico and Raider & Templario seem like the two teams with a chance to win the tournament.

Costa Rica’s Einar el Salvaje hasn’t appeared in CMLL since his November 26 debut. Appearing a CWE show this weekend, Einar told the crowd he had suffered a “serious” knee injury and is back in Costa Rica getting treatment.

Pegasso talks about being a second-generation wrestler and a police officer in his other life.

AAA

Dorian Roldan appeared on TNA’s Hard to Kill show in a segment with Impact’s Scott D’Amore, where they signed an agreement stating both companies to work together. Some places reported it as a new agreement. These companies have worked together as recently as Ultraclash in November, and have frequently worked together over the years. AAA just called it a signing while TNA talked about continuing their history with AAA. There was no actionable item, there was no new event announcement coming out of it, it was just “look at this big deal, and here’s Vikingo wrestling next” on a night when TNA was trying to make as much noise as possible. Wrestling is about pretending things are happening that aren’t actually happening so TNA and AAA did nothing wrong here, but a lot of people seemed to get worked.

One of the (many) things that bugged me about this is some sentiment that TNA would treat lucha libre in the US better than AEW. I have had some issues with how AEW/ROH uses Mexican wrestlers and have voiced them (occasionally directly) in the past, but they are miles ahead of TNA. They did so amazingly little with Black Taurus and Laredo Kid in 2023; it was both satifising and frustrating to see reactions towards Taurus in his AEW/ROH run along the lines of “wow, I had no idea he was that good.) The snow storm that prevented Trent Seven from appearing on TNA’s PPV also prevented TNA from looking completely foolish; it would’ve been hard to talk about their love of lucha libre if Laredo Kid was just sitting backstage without a match again. Vikingo and Laredo were shoved into a multiman scramble on the TV tapings, the home of people a promotion thinks are good but has no ideas for. Penta & Fenix did do well in Impact, but did well in Impact coming off a Lucha Underground wave that actually made them, and Impact was just far savvier at riding that wave than Lucha Underground ever did. I’m sure if someone else figures out how to get Laredo Kid and whoever gets brought into replace Taurus over to a US audience, TNA will ride that wave too. It just probably won’t be them figuring out. It probably won’t be TNA. It probably won’t be AAA for a US audience either.

(And, by the way, it’s OK for TNA not to be a great home for lucha libre. They’re a business, they’re just trying to make money and keep people employed. They seemed to have a really great weekend at doing both of those things. I just don’t want to pretend something’s happening here that’s not really happened.)

Vikingo wrestling in two multimans on those TNA shows – ones where he neither wins or loses, like always – also spotlights an issue here. He’s still very good, but he’s not grown much in the last year. Neither TNA here nor AEW/ROH has spent a lot of time investing him since his debut. Vikingo gets plenty of time in ROH, and gets highlights spots when he’s on AEW TV. He just doesn’t get a feud. It’s evident that AAA doesn’t want Vikingo beat in the US – maybe just while he’s champ, maybe entirely – but US booker don’t know what to do with a guy who they can’t beat. They definitely seem not to want to give him big wins without assurances he can take big losses later. NJPW US has seemed to have a simliar issue with Jon Moxley – AEW clearly doesn’t want him taking pinfalls outside of their TV, outside of the G1. NJPW’s gone the route of having Moxley beat upper level names pretty consistently, and now they’re going to have a big payoff with Moxley facing Naito at their Chicago show (probably with the world title on the line.) Maybe something like that can work for TNA or AEW for Vikingo. Maybe it’s something else . Everyone’s just got to stop settling for “Vikingo neither wins or loses”  or “Vikingo has an (entertaining) match defeating Gringo Loco/one of the Workhorsement” as the only ways to use him. If you believe Vikingo’s great, you’ve got to book him like he’s great.

AAA aired the second half of the Baradhl show. (If you are the running a results site, I put the full show here; not 100% sure on the card order.)

• Octagon Jr. versus Aramis versus Mecha Wolf was Good. It struggled from being a formless threeway match – they just did stuff until they ran out of stuff, but the stuff was generally entertaining. Could’ve been better a little shorter and tighter. Octagon Jr. kicked out of Aramis’ finish and beat him clean with a 450 splash. I don’t know if everyone knew that would be Aramis’ final TV appearance but it worked out like one.
• Vipers versus Psycho Circus ended with Dave the Clown and Latigo having a ‘shoot’ brawl to lead to a double DQ, and I have no idea why either of those things happened. Arez wants to be back in the Vipers, but Toxin, Latigo and Abismo were opposed. Psicosis, of all of them, seemed to be OK with the idea. He’s definitely not in the group at the end of this taping and he’s definitely in the group by the next taping, maybe it’ll make sense. This match was definitely setting up a Psycho Circus/Vipers trios title match but AAA setups rarely go anywhere.
• Argenis, Dalys, Maravilla beat Dulce Kanela, Jessy Ventura, Lady Shani was some typical AAA garbage. The finish of this match was a wood panel spot – one that looked bad, but that was a relatively minor issue. They brought in the panel and leaned it on a corner in the opening section of the match, which meant two thirds of it was the wrestlers awkwardly working spots around a large option leaning in one corner, while also making no attempt to use the object in anyway. Throw in Tirantes deciding to be a heel referee in the last minute and it was not a great use of anyone’s time.

QT Marshall is advertised for the 02/17 EMW Tijuana show, so he’s still around and taking AAA bookings. I’m not sure how he fits in with the Origines concept.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 01/14/2024 Arena Naucalpan [La Tijera]
1) Fussion b Histeriosis 
2) Bengalee & Danessa b Amazonika & Satania 
3) Auzter, Caballero de Plata, Dr. Cerebro Jr., Freelance DRAW Carnicero, Granejero, Leñador, Minero 
double pin between Caballero de Plata & Carincero, but then Carinero hit the referee and a second referee gave Caballero’s team the win. Challengers followed.
4) Hijo del Alebrije, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly b Águila Roja, Cerebro Negro, Cerebro Negro Jr. 
MexaBoys wants another tag title shot, will get it on 02/04
5) Hijo de Canis Lupus b Hijo del Fishman 
Sets up a IWRG JUNIORS title match
6) Hell Boy, Shocko, Tonalli b Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Ivan Rokov, Rey Espectro 
Pirata wants a match with Hell Boy, Rokov wants a match too

Mas Lucha’s recap was very positive on the Canis Lupus/Fishman match.

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

Next Sunday’s show is a CMLL headlined Lucha Libre boom show. I wish the main event was a tag match instead of a four-way and it’ll probably end up be worked as a 2v2 anyway. This should stream free; it’s the Arena Lopez Mateos show the night before that’s on Mas Lucha’s premium service.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha World (FRI) 01/12/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Alma De Fuego & Piraña b Obelys & Red Dragón 
8:47. INJUVE Bonus match
2) Big Tao Tao b Cody 1-8 
10:47. Elipse interfered to cost Cody the match.
3) Atómico Jr., Auzter, Black Skayde b Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo 
14:19. Atomico pinned Morfosis
4) Mr. Win, Tirano, Viajero b Brujo, Limbo, Torito Negro 
15:04
5) Emperador Azteca & Ricky Marvin b Elipse & Orbita 
13:11. Ricky Marvin replaced Action Jackson and was said to be a new Black Generacion member. Cody 1-8 cost Elipse the match.

Strange things going on here. The big angle on the last show was Orbita seemed to leave Lokos Evans last week and definitely had issues with Elipse. They treated it like nothing happened. Action Jackson has vanished again and was never mentioned. Ricky Marvin was introduced as the newest member of Black Generacion, but Marvin also teaches wrestling classes at the gym and so may have been a last minute addition with no plan past that. The opener was billed as an INJUVE offer match; INJUVE sponsored the previous Big Lucha talent search and the just completed AAA one, where Morfosis was Andy Panda Jr. There was no mention of that talent search here, as far as I caught. (They did spend a lot of time talking to anyone who put a comment in the YouTube chat, which was distracting.) Match 3 stood out the best but there was no must see match here. Atomico and Limbo winning their matches surprised me. Big Tao Tao continues to have something, though he’s still a work in progress. It’s nice to see someone trying to be a different archetype (or, in a less polite way of putting it, it’s nice to see someone trying to be a Samoan monster rather than seeing another person trying to be Fenix and Penta. There are more people out there to steal from.)

Big Lucha said they’ll be back on 01/19 and 01/26 with more of these shows.

Other News

02/04 NOAH in Sendai

• Daga (c) vs Hajima Ohara for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship
• Kenoh (c) vs Hijo de Dr. Wagner JR. for the GHC Heavyweight Championship

Mexico City luchadora Kamillon has taken a hiatus from wrestling to focus on a graphic design merchanding store.

ESTO interviews 12 year old luchador Ahijadito del Diablo.

Voces y Jarillas visits the lucha libre exhibit in Texcoco.