CDMX wins Torneo de Escuelas, Depredadores/AEW, Tiger Mask

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 02/23/2024 Arena México [AS, CMLL, Excelsior, Fugeo en el Ring, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (videos), thecubsfan]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Micro Dito & Mije   
10:45. Micro Dito replaced Periquito Sacaryas on Friday.
2) Marcela & Skadi b Hera & Olympia    
10:25
3) Averno, Euforia, Mephisto b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible   
9:45. Averno demanded a trios title match
4) Alom, Astro Boy Jr., Dragón de Fuego, Forneo, Hunter (CDMX), Legendario b El Hijo De Centella Roja, El Malayo, El Novato (Puebla), Rayo Metálico (Guanajuato), Rey Apocalipsis, Xelhua [Torneo de Escuelas, final]    
31:27. CDMX vs Puebla final. Order of elimination: El Hijo del Centella Roja (Alom, 14:43), Hunter (Rey Apocalipsis, 16:18), Malayo (Dragon de Fuego, 20:14), Rey Apocalipsis (21:44, Astro Boy Jr.), Alom (23:31, Xelhua), Rayo Metalico (26:20, Legendario), Dragon de Fuego (28:17, Novato), Astro Boy Jr. (29:13, Xelhua), Novato (30:27, Forneo), Legendario (31:27, Xelhua), Xelhua (37:59, Forneo), leaving Mexico City and Foreno as the winners.
5) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis Jr., Brillante Jr. b Máscara Dorada, Neón, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]    
14:22. Soberano didn’t get along with his partners and was hurt in the closing moments.

The Torneo de Esceulas match had a lot of energy early, and seemed to die a bit in the middle when some of the bigger names weren’t involved. The crowd seemed disappointed when Legendario got eliminated. Xelhua, Foreno and Legendario were the three standouts in the whole tournament, and the ones I’d expect to stick around.

Soberano needed medical attention after Atlantis Jr.’s match closing dive, but he seemed to be struggling with something even a couple of minutes earlier. (Atlantis Jr. paused and stood over him near the ropes to give Soberano a moment, it seemed to me.) Soberano’s listed on Tuesday’s Guadalajara, so hopefully it was something minor.

Big Lucha’s Micro Dito made his debut as a late sub for Zacarias. He took the Micro Gemelo Diablos moves well and that’s really all they need out of that role.

CMLL (SAT) 02/24/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Grako & Inquisidor b Bengala & Retro
Bengala left the match early with an injury.
2) Amapola & Olympia b Metálica & Tiffany
3) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma b Difunto, Raider, Vegas
Raider pinned Maya after a mask pull. Maya wanted a rematch.
4) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus DQ Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
Disturbio fouled Virus challenges followed.
5) Magia Blanca © b Fugaz [MEX WELTER]
sixth defense (third versus Fugaz)
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario

I’m not dying to see Blanca and Fugaz, but that’s going to be the first test to see if CMLL is going to relevant matches on the 35 USD tier.

A CMLL x Lady’s Ring show, the most notable event for the women on this tour, took place Sunday. Relevant matches: (results via here)

• Cohaku beat Tabata by referee stop
  • Tabata suffered an injury – believed to an elbow injury – on a springboard moonsault to the floor. She was in noticeable pain and the match was stopped at that point. Tabata’s arm was in a sling on a photo marking the group’s return back to Mexico
• Sumika Yanagawa won a five way match to earn a trip to Mexico. There’s no mention of when the trip is happening.
• La Jarochita & Lluvia defeats Mei Suruga & Sayaka Unagi
• Salvador Lutteroth appeared at the show to talk about the partnership with this group, in a similar bit as FantasticaMania.

This Lucha Festival show will go up on WrestleUniverse in the near future.

CMLL (SUN) 02/25/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Acero, Aéreo, Kaligua b Full Metal, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia
2) Leono & Retro b Nitro & Príncipe Odín Jr.
3) Zeuxis b Skadi [lightning]
4) Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo, Sagrado b Fuego, Panterita del Ring, Volcano
5) Crixus, Magnus, Rugido b Esfinge, Hombre Bala Jr., Star Jr.
6) Atlantis Jr., Flip Gordon, Místico b Gran Guerrero, Hechicero, Soberano Jr.

Magnus and Rugido were back in Mexico, one night after appearing on AEW’s taping Saturday in Missouri. The two appeared in matches taped for this upcoming week’s Rampage. (AEW’s taping schedule is a bit out of order this week, but these matches were definitely taped for Friday.) Claudio Castagnoli wrestled Rugido, while Matt Sydal wrestled Magnus in the TV main event. The second match was said to have gone significantly better than the first one.

The last four people who’ve gone to AEW are Star Jr., Esfinge, Magnus and Rugido. All those guys are fine and can have good matches in the right situations but they’re also not exactly the best or the brightest stars; I don’t think any of them would make the top 25 people I’d send. There’s always some politics to these sorts of decisions but there may be more going on.

Nothing worth pointing out in the results of the Saturday or the Sunday Arena Coliseo Guadalajara show. Only the Sunday show was streamed. The Saturday free show looks like it drew a big crowd, Sunday’s show was lower than a usual Tuesday show.

CMLL (TUE) 02/27/2024 Arena México
1) Kaligua, Pequeño Magía, Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Leono vs Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi vs Hera, Metálica, Olympia
4) Dark Panther vs Villano III Jr. [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Star Jr. vs Difunto, Hechicero, Zandokan Jr.
6) Máscara Dorada, Tiger Mask, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario

Tiger Mask worked Prestige Wrestling late Sunday night and is in Mexico for the rest of the week. Dark Panther/Villano III Jr. could be pretty good.

CMLL (TUE) 02/27/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Gallo Jr., Rafaga Jr. vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Temerario
2) Dulce Kitty & Natucia vs Sexy Sol & Valkiria
3) Dark Magic, Elemental, Yutani vs Arlequín, Bestia Negra, Furia Roja
4) Adria, La Catalina, Mystique vs Dark Silueta, Maligna, Persephone
5) Brillante Jr., Dulce Gardenia, La Fashion vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
6) Atlantis Jr., Flip Gordon, Místico vs Averno, Euforia, Soberano Jr.

Brillante, Dulce, Fashion, Dark Magic, Elemental and Yutani all ended up staying Saturday to Tuesday. That used to happen a bit when Sunday shows were a regular thing.

CMLL (FRI) 03/01/2024 Arena México
1) Diamond vs Fuego [lightning]
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) La Catalina, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
4) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible © vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto [CMLL TRIOS]
2nd defense
5) Tiger Mask vs Último Guerrero
Liger and Gran Guerrero will be seconds.
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Gran Guerrero, Soberano Jr., Templario

Gran Guerrero makes an rare Friday appearance in the main event, though his bigger role may be seconding his brother. Ultimo Guerrero versus Tiger Mask should be a very professional wrestling match. It seems too soon for Los Barbaros to lose the trios titles but it would be odd for Cavernario to defeat Averno before their title match. Catalina makes her Arena Mexico debut as a tecnica. Match two continues the four way feud.

AAA

They did air the remaining matches from Mexico City on Space this week. The Money Machine/Lady Wind versus Dick Angelo/Legendario/Reina Dorada was the best match of the three, though it was much more than OK. It was also the only match where the attempt was really to have a good match. The Relevos AAA match was just there to do that match type. Charly Manson, Super Calo and Zorro were not embarrassing in their match but that match wasn’t much better. AAA ran a random angle with Cien Caras and NGD attacking Negro Casas after they won, and Cien Caras and Negro Casas brawling was not a pretty sight. It was an also an AAA angle, so there’s no reason to think it’s going anywhere.

Still no word on Vikingo. Unless him posting photos of crutches in Instagram stories counts as an update.

For months – maybe longer?- Juventud Guerrera has been doing a bit on his YouTube show and on other social media about how he wants to wrestle Vikingo for the AAA Megachampionship, how the fans want it, and how mean AAA is for blocking that from happening. It’s Juventud Guerrera, he is another old wrestler who says stuff to keep himself in the news and is half crazy, it’s not really news. It has seemed like AAA has wanted nothing to do with him. Today, Guerrera posted a new edition of his YouTube show revealing Konnan contacted him about appearing on TripleMania Monterrey as a surprise name in the Copa TripleMania. (Guerrera showed off a Whatsapp message that he has labeled as “K-Dog”; it’s impossible to verify if this is really from Konnan.) Guerrera buries AAA and Konnan for half the podcast while institing that he wants and only wants to be in the megachampionship match like he deserves.

It’s Mexican wrestling so Juventud Guerrera pushing back on the idea of working in Copa TripleMania means it’s 50/50 he’ll end up working it anyway. The most disturbing news is AAA is going to ruin another lousy Copa TripleMania that’ll eat up 1/4th of their PPV time and eat up a full episode of TV.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (FRI) 02/23/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [thecubsfan]
1) Diosa Nix & La Brava b Sairely & Satania 
10:23
2) Piraña & Rey Espectrito b Cósmico & Helios 
8:38
3) Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo b Shere Khan, Sol, X-Devil 
9:17.
4) Brujo, Limbo, Torito Negro DDQ Atómico Jr., Auzter, Black Skayde 
13:25. Stream went on the finish, but it sounded like foul & mask pull
5) Caballero de Plata, Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan b El Potro de Oro, Jack Evans, Súper Nova 
17:56. Pirata fouled Potro de Oro to set up the victory.

They pushed the Big Lucha/INJUVE feud hard. That final was really an AAA Retro style main event; a brawl that went both ways for a while, and then the moment where suddenly none of that matters and they reset back to even. It was long for the finish they were doing, something to set up rematches but no specific direction. The flimsy guardrails got a workout on the show, being banged around in the semimain too. The stream paused right as that one finished, and they weren’t able to show a replay of what happened. Match 3 had a lot of good spots, and a lot of stuff that look sloppy. They sold it as a great match that had to be rematched, and maybe it’ll be smoother that time.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 02/25/2024 Arena Naucalpan [La Tijera, Zona Ruda]
1) Ajolotl & Fussion b Fireman & Rey Aztaroth 
2) Lolita b Keyra 
Lolita won via mask pull
3) Auzter, Spider Fly, Tornado b Águila Roja, Cerebro Negro Jr., Rey Halcón 
Vipers attacked Spider Fly again after the match
4) Cerebro Negro b Tonalli 
sets up a RGR title match
5) Ivan Rokov & Vangellys b Hell Boy & Hijo de Canis Lupus 
Vangellys snuck in a foul on Hell Boy for the win
6) Arez, Látigo, Toxin b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. 
Vipers win to set up a title match

Not a big turnout here. Or in Arena Azteca Budokan for the May Flowers 37th Anniversary show. I watched the main event here and it was solid but not at the level of the Vipers (or D-sperados) trios matches in the US by far. It was just an IWRG match.

Other News

WWE announced their annual Mexico City and Monterrey dates for July 13th and 14th. These are normal house shows; still no TV tapings of PPVs.

Konnan Big will have a farewell show on March 15th, which is not to be confused with other three ‘last Konnan Big match ever’ matches he’s already had. The main event of Heddi Karaoui, Travis Banks and Ivan Rokov versus Simbolo, Konnan Big and 9-10 MMA fighter El Loco Ricardo Arreola looks especially wretched. Though it’s not like anyone’s going to the latest Konnan Big retirement show to see a good match, they’re going see something dumb and it can’t get much dumber than that match.

The El Halcon movie is due out this week, and it’s getting a lot of write ups on

Segunda Caida reviews Pierroth/La Parka from 2000.

An interview with Oaxaca’s Incognito Jr., who debuts on 01/06.

A profile of Tepic luchador Marakame I