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.