AAA schedule announcements, Rey de Reyes, early week CMLL results

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 01/22/2024 Arena Puebla [Grada, Porra Fresa]
1) Black Tiger & Millenium b Hijo del Perverso & Sombra Diabólika
2) Dark Silueta, Diablita Roja, Lady Amazona b Enigmática, La Vaquerita, Lady Metal 
3) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray 
Okumura snuck in a foul on Pegasso
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio 
Disturbio fouled Dulce Gardenia
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible b Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr.
Cavernario snuck in a foul on Volador
6) Máscara Dorada b Templario 

Grada is very high on the main event. All three of those odd finishes seem to be setting up something for next week.

CMLL (TUE) 01/23/2024 Arena México
1) Sangre Imperial b Enfermero Jr. [lightning] 
8:24
2) Angelito, Pequeño Magía, Último Dragóncito b Full Metal, Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico 
3) Felino, Misterioso Jr., Rey Bucanero b Fuego, Panterita del Ring, Volcano 
4) Reyna Isis © b Skadi [MEX WOMEN] 
16:14. Second defense. Marcela and Angel de Oro as seconds.
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Hijo de Blue Panther b Difunto, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II 
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario b Flip Gordon, Místico, Titán 
straight falls for the rudos, setting up a Angel de Oro/Flip Gordon

The only thing I caught of this was the women’s match. Skadi was better than I expect but Reyna Isis’ stuff looked no good at all. The finish is rough, Isis going for sentons three times in a row and just whiffing on them. That was finish though, so they couldn’t just try something else.

CMLL (TUE) 01/23/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Mas Lucha]
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Cosmos b Demonio Rojo, Ponzoña Jr., Rumbero
2) Atilus, Maximus, Rey Urano b Obek, Rav, Temerario
3) Ángel Negro, Halcón Suriano Jr., Tonkawa b Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
Tonkawa is the former Gran Jefe VI
4) La Fashion b Furia Roja
5) Dark Magic, El Elemental, Yutani b Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
CMLL debuts of Elemental and Yutani
6) Hatanna & Katara b Adira & La Pantera [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG, final]
Hatanna & Katara are the new champions
7) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b El Malayo, Rey Apocalipsis, Siki Osama Jr.
8) Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis b Hera, Olympia, Persephone

A moderate surprise in the tournament final. Hatanna was the woman who suffered an arm injury in training and was selling masks to help pay some bills, so it’s a nice turnaround story for her. The match itself was not so good, neither was the turnout for this show.

Yutani and Elemental were mentioned as training with Ultimo Guerrero, so they’re firmly in the CMLL system. It’s a big system, so who knows when/if they’ll turn up again. It might be Torneo de Escualas, it might be another Guadalara show.

CMLL Informa has

• Misico & Brillante Jr. (last week’s Gran Alterntavia)
• Averno (this week’s Gran Alternativa)
• Angel de Oro & Angel de Oro (Tuesday match)
• Zandokan Jr., Villano III Jr. (Friday matches?)
• Esfinge, Espanto Jr.: ???

CMLL (SAT) 01/27/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono & Retro vs Príncipe Odín Jr. & Sangre Imperial
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
3) Dark Panther vs Felino Jr. [lightning]
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
6) Místico vs Soberano Jr.

The top matches on this show look fun.

CMLL (MON) 01/29/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano & Rayo Metálico vs Blue Shark & Millenium
2) Pegasso vs Okumura [lightning]
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
5) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible and Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Valiente and Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero [torneo]
6) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [semifinal]
7) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [semifinal]
8) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [final]

Barbaros and world trios champs seem likely to meet in that tournament. Match four has the former national champions and the current ones. Match three is even the national tag champs. One of these has to set up a title match next week, because people are leaving for Japan the week after. Pegasso is probably getting a singles win before he heads out of town.

Titan appeared at the kickoff press conference for Mexico City’s Vive Latino music festival on 03/16 and 17. AAA wrestlers had matches on those shows for a couple of years. They left to join Billy Corgan’s festival last year (which doesn’t appear to be coming back) and indie wrestlers wrestled instead on the shows intead. Vive Latino billed it as CMLL wrestlers in 2024, but it’s more of a mix.

Wrestlers announced:

• CMLL: Andromeda, Atlantis Jr., Euforia, Lluvia, Nitro, Raider, Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Stephanie Vaquer, Titan, Ultimo Guerrero, Zeuxis
• Other: Action Jackson, Bendito, Century, Chico Calavera, Diablito, el Bravo, el Conquistador, el Vaquero, King Rex, Kratoz, Lobus, Potro, Prometeo, Relampago, Ryoshi, The Mummy, Tiger Lee, Toki Matsuda, Turbo

That’s a odd collection of indie names; a couple of Big Lucha, some from Monterrey, some I have no idea who are. It’s more a BARBA show (Saltillo) using CMLL wrestlers on top.

The 02/25 Lucha Fiesta show in Tokyo will have Lluvia & La Jarochita versus Sayaki Unagi & Mei Suruga. This is the Lady’s Ring show, the sponsor of Lluvia & Jarochita’s trip to Japan.

AAA

That AAA TripleMania press conference I was wondering about Monday? It happened on Tuesday. AAA did not stream it live and told the media not to stream it live. They put it up later that afternoon and all the media put up their versions right after, if you want to see the same video from five feet apart. This led to the usual mismatch of some things being reported live and others slipping through until later. It’s not ideal. AAA could’ve also said they would publicize the video later in the day, but did not. I think the AAA theory is people are going to be upset with them anyway so why bother.

The big news was the official announcements of this year’s TripleMania dates. (They had started to leak on Monday.)

• 04/27 TripleMania Monterrey 
• 06/15 TripleMania Tijuana
• 08/17 TripleMania Arena Ciudad de Mexico

Last year’s Tijuana show was originally June 17th, then got bumped back a month. They’re still tightly packed; all three shows will happen within 16 weeks. There was no mention of a Lucha Libre World Cup this year. This schedule means AAA will exist internationally for only about three months this year, since only those events are marketed outside of Mexico.

The other major events on AAA’s calendar

• Rey de Reyes will be at a military base on 02/03.
• Verano de Escandalo will take place in Aguascalientes
  • No date was given, but Aguascalientes is typically late July/early August.
• Heroes Inmortales will take place in Guadalajara
  • No date was given, but they’ve run an event as part of the lengthy Fiesta de Octubre fair (technically in Zapopoan) the last year two years. The date may be September 29th or October 6th.
• Guerra de Titanes will take place in Ciudad Juarez
  • No date was given, but AAA perenially goes to Juarez on the third Sunday of November. That means November 17th this year.

These are all easy picks for AAA to run big shows. Rey de Reyes and Heroes Inmoratles are sold events with free/cheap admission. The Juarez show sells out every year, and Aguascalientes might AAA’s strongest local promotion. Juarez is a relatively smaller building, but the other three shows and the three TripleMannis will likely be AAA’s six biggest attendances of the year.

AAA also announced the lineup for Rey de Reyes. They may have mentioned the location during the press conference, but they don’t list the location or the time on the poster. I guess they don’t want non-military people to show up. I am assuming it’s the same military base as last year; that’s what it sounded like at the press conference.

AAA TV (SAT) 02/03/2024 Campo Militar 1, Miguel Hidalgo, Distrito Federal
1) Faby Apache vs La Hiedra, Pimpinela Escarlata [Torneo Reina de Reinas, semifinal]
2) Sexy Star vs Flammer, Lady Shani [Torneo Reina de Reinas, semifinal]
3) Laredo Kid vs Argenis, Aerostar [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
4) Cibernético vs Texano Jr., Electroshock [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
5) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Sam Adonis, Psycho Clown [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
6) ? vs ?? [Torneo Reina de Reinas, final]
7) Colmillo de Plata, Garra de Oro, Mr. Iguana vs ?, Kento, Takuma
8) ? vs ??, ??? [Rey de Reyes, final]

AAA said Space will be airing this show starting at 8 pm. I presume the live event is starting prior to 8 pm – again, AAA lists no time on the poster – which would mean week 1 of TV with the finals of the tournament and week 2 of TV with the prelim matches. No one else would do it that way, but AAA did that multiple times last year, so it seems possible. I don’t know this for sure.

The mystery person in match eight did not come off like it was meant to be a big name. That was treated more like an opener that was positioned later in the card to give a break between tournament matches.

There were a lot of other minor announcements, but one big thing missing from the announcement was any sort of tournament connecting the two TripleManias. It’s January, there will be at least two more press conferences before the Monterrey show, AAA could still announce something along those lines. The tournament announcements did come on this kickoff press conference the last two years now.

AAA instead focused on different people who would appear on the Origines tour. The backstory is now that Faby Apache suggested a one-off Retro idea, and it got so much attention that they decided to make it the year’s theme. Faby, Cibernetico, and Charly Manson appeared to represent past wrestlers who would be returning to AAA as part of this year’s events. (All appeared in 2022 events.)

Vampiro was also introduced at the press conference. Vampiro sadly announced his farewell to AAA on August’ Monterrey taping, leaving his boots in his ring. It got a big reaction, so AAA’s pretending it didn’t happen and doing it all over again. If you count his Facebook post after his disastrous TripleMania Monterrey match, this was his third retirement announcement in nine months. Vampiro will have a retirement tour starting on March in Saltillo and continuing through the rest of the year.

Dorian Roldan also hyped AAA’s great alliance with TNA, saying it would lead to more Mexicans on the US. Wrestlers from TNA would participate in big shows this year, as well as wrestlers from AEW and “US wrestlers who are free agents and not associated with any company.” Penat’s name came up in other interviews, so it’s probably him “wrestlers from AEW” –  maybe other people who’ve got a past in AAA additional. Matt Cardona was teased as coming into AAA-affiliated EMW promotions in Tijuana, and I believe he’s one of the “free agents’ who will be coming to AAA big shows. A Konnan interview in Queretaro hinted that Nic Nemeth (ex-Dolph Ziggler) would also be coming in. The biggest outside name was saved for last: Alberto el Patron is returning to AAA as a regular in 2024. Alberto said he’d be exclusive to AAA in 2024. This probably means Alberto works some, but not all, TV tapings and the big shows. The reason for all of this was stated again near the end of Dorian Roldan’s interview with Mas Lucha; AAA feels they need to have those outside names to sell those three annual PPVs.

I disagree with the thought that it has to be outsiders to sell PPVs – I think people buy shows because they’re billed as Big Events and are interested in the wrestlers, and AAA’s problem is more about not building interest in their in-house wrestlers. Putting that aside – AAA has buyrate numbers, and I just have arguments – you can see how that viewpoint informs other decisions. The second-tier Rey de Reyes-level shows aren’t on PPV and aren’t getting English commentary because AAA sees them as events that won’t sell outside of Mexico since they’re not bringing in outside names for those shows. Same thing with why the weekly TV isn’t on FITE or wherever; AAA is convinced it’s not worth their time and also – based on this press conference – seems to have an aversion to steaming live. The flipside of this is that if AAA doesn’t believe their wrestlers are marketable to people in the US on their produce, why would TNA (or anyone else) believe AAA stars are worth investing time on their US TV shows?

(Roldan also mentioned possibilities of AAA running in the US, but the plans were less expansive than usual – they were talking to people but he didn’t commit.)

Roldan called attention to social media interest in seeing Dark Ozz or Alberto challenging Hijo del Vikingo for the AAA Megachampionship. Alberto has been lobbying for the match in every interview he’s done in the last week. That match seems certain to happen, probably at a TripleMania. The Ozz one comes from the social media post seeing Vikingo as a kid posing with Ozz and Ozz’s previous role as a tall, promising guy whom AAA teased doing big things with at times but never really followed through. There’s nothing Ozz himself has done to get himself popular and he wrestled the least often of all the La Secta/Dark Family wrestlers since leaving AAA, so I have least confidence about him holding up in 2024. It’s fans who saw Dark Ozz never getting his due hoping he gets the chance now (and fans bored of the Vikingo reign and thinking that something else will be more exciting.) I think the Ozz/Vikingo this is something that got momentum among a small group of fans and would not do well as an actual match, though it’s not like there are an overwhelming amount of great ideas for Vikingo. Maybe there’s some hope that all the current AAA wrestlers who aren’t getting their due now will get some fan support ten or fifteen years from now.

Almost nothing announced makes me more excited for AAA. The one thing I skipped over is the Lucha x el Barrio concept is coming back later in 2024 with the idea of expanding it to allow more people to enter from all over Mexico, and those things can be fun. The rest of it doesn’t so anything for it. Roldan is to the point where he’ll admit 2023 was not a good year, but he’ll also talk about changes for 2024. Those changes aren’t visible if they exist. The nostalgia stuff is a good way to buy time to implement changes, but the novelty of seeing Dark Scoria in an AAA ring will not be long-lived. I would’ve liked to see something exciting tossed out like a life preserver to people who like the AAA stars of today and instead were left to drown.

A highlight of the post-press conference interviews was Cibernetico admitting he had no idea who he was facing at Rey de Reyes, and the interview admitting he had also forgotten. Dorian Roldan termed 2023 as a reconstruction of AAA: it’s unclear what was constructed. Reina Dorada mentioned she had signed an AAA contract for 2024. Alberto seems to talk about fans not having seen him on TV in three or four years; again, he was on AAA TV multiple times last year. Maybe he means US TV, but that’s now much longer than 3-4 years.

The 2/18 lineup has changed.

AAA TV (SUN) 02/18/2024 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
2) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
3) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
4) Drago vs Taurus, Mr. Iguana, Epydemius
5) Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla vs Dulce Kanela, Lady Shani, Sexy Star
6) Laredo Kid © vs Antifaz del Norte [Showcenter Championship]
7) El Patrón Alberto & Hijo Del Vikingo vs Chessman & Mecha Wolf

Mecha Wolf was in the spot that Texano Jr. had previously. Matches 4/5 are new. I do not believe Black Taurus is working any more dates for AAA, so that’s either a false listing or a new Taurus. There’s no picture of the old Taurus on the poster, so I guess they’re already throwing someone new under the mask. Matches 1-3 are probably Lucha Time people and other locals you’ll be confused about seeing on TV for two weeks.

It’s not that I expect Laredo Kid and Anitfaz to end with mask match challenges, it is that I pray and hope it does so there’s not another year of them feuding once every three months.

Other News

The Big Lucha World card for the Zocalo is out. It’s weird.

Big Lucha World (FRI) 01/26/2024 Zocalo, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal
1) Ariadna Mami, Lolita, Satania vs La Brava, Sangre Nueva, Sussy Love
2) Dragón Solar, Obelyus, Rey Espectrito vs Piraña, Reiyel, Zenky
3) ? vs ??, ???, ????, ?????, ?????? [Torneo de la Juventud]
4) Alfa Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Platino vs Blue Monsther, Éxtasis, Ricky Marvin
5) Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Cody 1-8, Mr. Win, Viajero vs Auzter, Black Skayde, Brujo, Maniacop
6) Limbo & Torito Negro vs Cometa Maya & Morfosis and Sol & X-Devil
7) Súper Nova & Texano Jr. vs Trauma I & Trauma II [BIG LUCHA MIXA]

This looks like as much a INJUVE/Bridage Dos de Tres show with Big Lucha wrestlers as much as anything. Plus the Traumas for some reason. It would take something weird like this for guys like Extasis and Ciclon Ramirez Jr. to pop back up here. Match 6 could be good. The winner of match 3 (no participants announced) will get a title shot against Potro on another date.

IWRG’s lineup for Sunday:

IWRG (SUN) 01/28/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fussion vs Osiris
2) Bengalee & Tornado vs Kali & Rey Aztaroth
3) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. vs Noisy Boy & Spider Fly [super libre]
4) Auzter, Caballero de Plata, Dr. Cerebro Jr., Freelance vs Carnicero, Granjero, Leñador, Minero
5) Ivan Rokov vs Hell Boy, Hijo del Pirata Morgan
6) Hijo del Fishman vs Hijo de Canis Lupus [IWRG JUNIORS]
4th defense

The previous Fishman/Canis Lupus match got good reviews.

Ntr Zacatecas has a story on local wrestler Latigo 2000 Jr., who’s part of this season’s IWRG tryout. That is supposed to start airing the first week of February.

WWE and Netflix announced a broadcast deal starting in January 2025. For Latin America, it means all WWE programming will air on Netflix. WWE programming currently airs on Fox Sports. Probably very currently no matter when you’re reading this; those shows are wallpapered on to their family of networks (and so changes are probably coming there.) That was one of the big advantages of the current WWE/Mexico deal; any restaurant with TVs had them on the sports channels, and so WWE programming felt ubiquitous. Netflix is popular in Mexico, but it’s not going to be ever-present in the same way. (My info is few years out of date now; people in Mexico say those TVs don’t sit on Fox Sports between games as much as they used to.) Existing WWE fans in Mexico seem really happy with the deal – they can ditch Fox Sports, they don’t have to deal with Fox Sports Premium to buy the PPVs, and they may be paying for Netflix already. I’m less certain if new potential fans will discover WWE now on streaming, but that’s not a Mexico specific issue.

Canada’s Jacques Rougues Wrestling Academy is holding a talent search content, where the four winners will also go a trip to Big Lucha.

Japan’s Dr. Lucha brought Fuerza Guerrera over for an interview and visit to Japan with his family. Some notes are in his column this week. Dr. Lucha is an old school lucha libre fan, so he’d love to see an Atlantis/Octagon/Fuerza mask match at the Aniversario, but Guerrera rejected the idea. Guerrera has no interest in betting on his mask; he feels the people who make the mask lose at the end of their career for the money burn through it quickly and end up poor again. He thinks it’s better to keep the brand as a masked man. Guerrera is also in no need of the money, because he’s got a successful bird feed business and is doing quite well.

Tu Plan de Juego writes about visiting Arena Coliseo for the first time.