CMLL
CMLL (MON) 02/26/2024 Arena Puebla [Porra Fresa]
1) Espíritu Maligno & Rencor b Astro & Rayo Metálico
2) Hijo del Perverso & Multy b El Novato & Xelhua 
Multy’s first match in eight months.
3) Reina Isis b Astoreth, Andrómeda, Lady Metal, Skadi, Dark Silueta, Diablita Roja, Lady Amazona, Mania, Zeuxis
Elimination order: Mania, Diablita Roja, Skadi, Astoreth, Andromeda, Dark Silueta, Lady Metal, Amazona, Zeuxis, leaving Isis (sub for Catalina) as the winner.
4) El Perverso & Prayer b Fugaz & Hombre Bala Jr.
5) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja © b Fugaz & Star Black
14th defense
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. b Averno, Euforia, Zandokan Jr.
Chavez continue their march towards the defense record.
CMLL (TUE) 02/27/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring, Lo Mejor de Lucha]
1) Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Temerario b Astro Oriental, Gallo Jr., Rafaga Jr. 
2) Dulce Kitty & Nautcia b Sexy Sol & Valkiria
3) Dark Magic, Elemental, Yutani DQ Arlequín, Bestia Negra, Furia Roja
Furia Roja tried to foul Dark Magic and pin him, but got caught after the foul.
4) Adria, La Catalina, Mystique b Dark Silueta, Maligna, Persephone
5) Brillante Jr., Dulce Gardenia, La Fashion b Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
6) Atlantis Jr., Flip Gordon, Místico b Averno, Euforia, Soberano Jr.
Soberano was back wrestling. I suspect we’re going to keep seeing periodic serious seeming injuries from him that he he bounces back from in a day or two; he doesn’t seem healthy but also isn’t completely broken down. He’ll either need a vacation at some point or be forced into one. Attendance seemed normal, unaffected by running the weekend shows.
CMLL (TUE) 02/27/2024 Arena México
1) Full Metal, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia b Kaligua, Pequeño Magía, Último Dragóncito
2) Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor b Astral, Eléctrico, Leono
13:41.
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi b Hera, Metálica, Olympia
13:59
4) Villano III Jr. b Dark Panther [lightning]
9:46, via submission.
5) Difunto, Hechicero, Zandokan Jr. b Atlantis, Blue Panther, Star Jr.
15:14
6) Máscara Dorada, Tiger Mask, Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario
11:11
The lightning match was the best of the show, though Villano III seemed far more amped for it than Dark Panther, who was working more towards a twenty minute pace. Panther has also come back from Japan as a lariat guy, which is weird and unexpected. Star Jr. hurt himself on a dive but walked away from it. Tiger Mask did not look great.
CMLL (MON) 03/04/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Astro, Black Tiger, Millenium vs Dreyko, Espíritu Maligno, Sombra Diabólika
2) Astoreth & Lady Metal vs Diablita Roja & Lady Amazona
3) Arkalis, Meyer, Pegasso vs El Perverso, Multy, Prayer
4) Ángel de Oro, El Hijo de Stuka Jr., Niebla Roja vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Místico, Stigma, Tiger Mask vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
Tiger Mask is at least staying thru early next week. Stigma in a main event feels weird but they’re not really sending any tecnicos to Puebla this week besides Tiger and Mistico.
On CMLL Informa, the second block of the incredible pairs was announced
- Disturbio & Virus
- Hechicero & Stuka Jr.
- Dragon Rojo Jr & Templario
- Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr.
The most likely final is Mascara Dorada & Rocky Romero versus Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr.
CMLL will celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th with an all women’s show in Arena Mexico.
CMLL (FRI) 03/08/2024 Arena México
1) Lady Amazona & Lady Metal vs Náutica & Sexy Sol
2) Marcela vs Amapola, La Vaquerita, Tiffany, La Maligna, Metálica, La Guerrera, Valkiria, Hera, Olympia, Persephone, Diablita Roja [Copa Irma Gonzalez]
3) Reyna Isis © vs Zeuxis [MEX WOMEN]
4) Dark Silueta © vs La Catalina [CMLL JAPAN WOMEN]
5) La Jarochita & Lluvia © vs Andrómeda & Skadi [MEX WOMEN TAG]
I kept thinking this type of show was coming but somehow never thought about it it happening on International Women’s Day. Seems so obvious in retrospect. What’s less obvious is where Stephanie Vaquer is on this day; I kept waiting for CMLL to do a “one more match” reveal with her, but that didn’t happen if you’re reading this sentence.
This card is going to be a big litmus test. It’ll be easy for CMLL to make this an annual tradition, and turnout is going to decide if it becomes more than that.
Lluvia also mentioned Tabata dislocated her elbow, and will be out two weeks.
The Lucha Festival show will go up on WrestleUnivers on March 2nd.
CMLL & US work Visas
The US Department of Homeland Security is canceling visas for the following CMLL wrestlers, as of today:
- Hechicero
- Mascara Dorada
- Soberano Jr.
- Templario
- Volador Jr.
- Blue Panther
- Robin
- Dulce Gardenia
- Sagrado
- Capitan Suicida
- Espiritu Negro
- Euforia
- Fugaz
- Gemelo Diablo I
- Gemelo Diablo II
- Sangre Imperial
The source lists a referee named Sagaz and a wrestler named Magico in this group. I’m unsure who those people are; there is no one actively wrestling in CMLL as Magico nor is there a referee named Sagaz. It’s theoretically possible these are people who just haven’t debuted.
This is an immediate cancelation; any of these wrestler continuing to use their work visa now risks the same five year ban from the US that applies to any unauthorized worker. These wrestlers can restart the visa process, though it will be time (and money) consuming: the best case is two months if everything goes right and they pay to expedite it, but even that would mean missing WrestleMania weekend. It’s more likely a 6-12 month process if they started today, which would mean these wrestlers are unlikely to work MLW’s upcoming shows or NJPW’s Chicago show. They’d be unlikely to work Forbidden Door. Not all the CMLL people in this group were actively working in the US, though some of the lesser stars had popped up on smaller shows.
This visa cancelation is not AAA or WWE or any other promotion’s fault. It doesn’t seem to even be a specific US government issue, outside them doing their normal job. The fault seems to be a CMLL internal communication problem. There’s a confusing group work visa process at work here. These are not one by one applications, they’re instead a batch of 20-40 names processed at once as a group. Technically, they’re being brought in by a promotion for the US. They’re informing the government this is a bunch of people they’d like to employ for the show, and the visa they get from working that show would also allow them to work for another promotion during the visa’s timespan. The group also needs to have a promotion in Mexico vouching for them. It is the US company submitting the information, but it’s often the Mexican side driving it – saying who’s available, who’s interested in going and who has the ability to meet the requirements. The important part is the companies on both sides have to agree on details. My understanding of the breakdown here goes like:
- CMLL and Texas’ Full Blown Pro Wrestling agreed to work on a group visa
- CMLL Official #1 submitted a list of people to be included in the group.
- Full Blown’s owner signed off on the list and submitted it.
- The visas were approved and everything seemed fine.
- Homeland Security double checked the list, had a question about a name on the list.
- Homeland Security contacted CMLL Official #2, who had not talked to Official #1 about the list, wasn’t aware that name was submitted, and told Homeland Security that name shouldn’t have been included.
- Homeland Security contacted Full Blown, and threatens a fraud charge for submitting a name CMLL didn’t approve of unless they cancel the visas or provide proof the original list is correct.
- Full Blown contacted CMLL and asked them to contact Homeland Security and fix this.
- CMLL is not responsive to Full Blown, only says they’ll figure it out through the US Embassy, doesn’t actually fix the situation. Time passes.
- Full Blown decides they’ve waited long enough, don’t want to risk a fraud charge, and notifies Homeland Security the visas are canceled as of 02/28.
Technically, all the wrestlers still have visas that have a date much after February 28th on them. They will still scan until the US government updates their information. Affected wrestlers could try to get by for now, but at risk of being caught and turned or, or being found out next time they try to renew their visa.
There was a decent amount of time between when Full Blown was notified and when these visas were canceled; promoters planning to use the affected wrestlers were given a heads up it would not be possible unless the situation got fixed. It’s unclear what the wrestlers have been told by CMLL; they may have gotten the same “we can fix it through the US Embassy” line, but again it doesn’t appear anything has been fixed. Part of the reason for making this story public is to make sure CMLL’s wrestlers are aware of what’s going on; if the problem is CMLL internal communication then there’s no guarantee they’ve been informed. It’s unclear why CMLL objected to the name on the list, or didn’t just try to undo their mistake. At least one person involved in the situation on the CMLL side is no longer working for the promotion, though it’s not entirely clear if that’s related. It was atypical for CMLL to be involved in this process.
Note that affected list doesn’t include all CMLL wrestlers. Mistico was among the original CMLL in AEW names and he’s unaffected. Stephanie Vaquer, announced as working the next NJPW US show, is unaffected. CMLL hasn’t gotten directly involved with these visas in the past, and different wrestlers have gotten their visas in different groups and through different pieces. I don’t have a list of who in CMLL has a US working visa, at this point.
This is bad news for everyone affected. Hechicero really stands out; someone who got a much bigger name instantly coming out of the Bryan Danielson match, was going to have plenty of offers to work indies in the US (and likely more AEW TV), but now looks to be shut out of the country for months.
It’s worth nothing this is a US only issue. Canada passed an exemption to their work rules which allows wrestlers to work shows there without a work visa. AEW, if they so choose, could resume using these Mexican wrestlers on their upcoming Canada shows. There are a lot bigger issues with US immigration policy than lucha libre bookings but this is one of those small things that could’ve been fixed if the rest was worked on.
This situation has been going on for so long that it made the previous story about “AEW original Mexican wrestlers” (just Penta, Fenix is still hurt) upset about not being on AEW TV because of a CMLL block a bit strange – there was a reasonable chance AEW was going to just pause using CMLL talent if they couldn’t get the people they wanted the most. For the moment, AEW instead seems to be shifting in who they’re using to keep it going. (MLW obviously has well.) I think AEW was really excited for that first group and maybe some other names, and it’s going to take the remainders stepping up for this idea to keep going. One is getting his chance tonight.
CMLL/AEW
AEW Dynamite tonight will have Atlantis Jr. (w/Atlantis) versus Chris Jericho. The match plays off Jericho’s 1993-1995 stint in CMLL, when he and Atlantis occasionally teams. CMLL fans mostly seem excited to see Chris Jericho back in their universe, while vocal AEW fans feel much differently about Jericho. I think Atlantis Jr. will do well.
Getting Chris Jericho back to Mexico has been a dream for CMLL fans, and for AAA fans too when that company started bringing in AEW talent. The popular narrative, encouraged by CMLL, is that the best wrestlers in the world have to first come to Mexico to learn true lucha libre before becoming stars elsewhere. Jericho’s post-CMLL success plays into story well, and he’d be welcomed back in Mexico as a conquering hero. All the reasons why Jericho is not in favor in the US would be non-factors in Mexico. Jericho is close with Konnan, who’s clearly wanted to bring Jericho to AAA in recent years and it just hasn’t happened. (Jericho instead has brought Konnan into AEW a couple of times.) Jericho seems to still have some affinity to CMLL, though he worked there under a boss who’s passed away years ago now. This Atlantis Jr./Chris Jericho made is going to put the idea of Jericho returning to Mexico back in the front of the mind for a lot of fans. There’s no big indication this is anything more than this than a one off, but there was no hints to the BCC/AEW idea before it got going.
AEW also officially announced Rugido/Claudio Castagnoli and Magnus/Matt Sydal for Friday’s AEW Rampage. AEW’s taping this Saturday’s Collision tonight, but I have no idea if CMLL wrestlers will figure on that.
AAA
At the last TripleMania press conference, they said they’d have the next press conference with match announcements at the end of February. Tomorrow is the end of February. They may just not have announced it, or it may be delayed.
La Secta were in Puebla on Monday, to promote the AAA spot show there on Sunday. Heraldo de Puebla asked Dark Ozz his thought on Vikingo and the Mega Championship. If you recall, there was a social media push for AAA to book Dark Ozz versus Vikingo for the title, as fans of a certain age felt Ozz didn’t get his due when he was an AAA regular. Additionally, a photo of Vikingo as kid meeting Ozz got a lot of attention. Dorian Roldan brought up the possibility of the match in the pre-Rey de Reyes press conference. The paper suggested to Ozz he might be part of a tournament to decide a new champion, but Ozz said he wasn’t interested in participating – he hopes Vikingo’s injury isn’t serious and would rather wait for a one on one match, because he feels that’s what the fans had been asking for. Ozz had said similar things on Facebook.
TJ Sports has an interview with Black Taurus, who doesn’t seem to have any problem with the new AAA Taurus but says he’ll have big shoes to fill to replace him. Black Taurus teases news and big plans coming soon, while also saying he’d be open to working with CMLL again.
Other News
Mexicali luchador Pequeno Dragon passed away on Saturday, according to Box y Lucha.
GCW’s The Wrld on Lucha will take place on May 5th this year, in Jersey City.
DoradaFan has a highlight video of Forneo.
Box y Lucha 3592 has Ultimo Guerrero and Tiger Mask on the cover.
An interview with Aeroqueen, who turns out to be a daughter of long time indy wrestler/promoter Genaro Contreras.
An interview with the director and star of El Halcon, the movie which is premiering this week. A bunch of luchadors were at the Puebla premiere.