Rey Destroller (2003-2024), Mistico keeps MLW title, ex-Vipers in IWRG

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 03/11/2024 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Black Tiger, Blue Shark, Hijo de Centella Roja b King Jaguar, Rencor, Sombra Diabólika 
2) El Malayo, Enfermero Jr., Rey Apocalipsis b Halcón Suriano Jr., Meyer, Xelhua
3) El Coyote, Kráneo, Okumura b Arkalis, Rey Samuray, Volcano 
4) Akuma, Espanto Jr., Flip Gordon b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Titán
Ola Negra won again to set up a tag title match next week.
5) Averno, Brillante Jr., Euforia b Místico, Neón, Star Jr. 
Star Jr. replaced Mascara Dorada. Mistico got La Mistica on Averno, but Euforia pulled off the mask and Averno cradled Mistico for the pin.

Weirdly, the tag title match doesn’t appear to be happening next week.

CMLL (TUE) 03/12/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Capitán Suicida, Halcón Suriano Jr., Valiente Jr. b Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Inquisidor
8:57
2) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther b Crixus, Raider, Vegas
12:08
3) Andrómeda, La Catalina, Skadi b Amapola, Dark Silueta, Zeuxis
12:41.
4) Star Jr. b Zandokan Jr.
7:09. Zandokan and Star continued to fight post match.
5) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Titán
13:23
6) Místico © b Ángel de Oro [MLW MIDDLE]
14:10. 1st defense

A medium effort Martes, with weaker crowd reactions than usual. Mistico seemed to get cut underneath his mask during the main event and it may have changed the flow of that match; both the referee and Angel de Oro were visibly talking to him afterwards, and there weren’t as many near falls even with that time. Angel de Oro came close, then just got beat quickly with La Mistica. Star Jr. and Zandokan was a lightning match length stretched out over three falls. It did allow them just to do big moves, though Star Jr. needs more creative idea than doing all of Titan’s springboard stomp spots. It looks like the feud is carrying on. Both Andromeda and Skadi slipped on the middle rope in a rough first fall, but they got back into in the last two. The Panthers are normal reliable acts and I really like that unnamed Raider/Crixus/Vegas trio, but there was some energy missing there. The opener was mostly the Calaveras being very happy to take whatever flashy moves the tencicos wanted to do, which must’ve made both the tecnicos and Inquisidor happy; he wasn’t the one falling hard off the apron.

CMLL (TUE) 03/12/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Fúnebre, Mortis, Ponzoña Jr. b Cowboy, Garabato, Halcón de Plata
Halcon de Plata picked up an injury.
2) Atilius, Maximus, Rey Urano b Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
3) Draego, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr. b Apocalipsis, Arlequín, Disturbio
4) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico
5) La Maligna, Lluvia, Marcela b Hera, Olympia, Reyna Isis
6) Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr. b Bestia Negra, Persa, Templario

The start of daylight savings time means it’s even less likely I’m going to be watching these Guadalajara shows live, and most of these will be just results. Didn’t seem like much of note happened here.

CMLL Informa has

• Atlantis (?)
• Stephanie Vaquer (NJPW Strong)
• Marcela, Skadi, Andromeda (8M show)
• Villano III Jr. & Hijo del Villano III (?)
• Legendario, Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II (new faces?)

CMLL (MON) 03/18/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Acero & Angelito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) Meyer vs Prayer
3) Futuro, Valiente, Xelhua vs El Malayo, Multy, Siki Osama
4) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso vs Gemelo Diablo II, Okumura, Sagrado
5) Hechicero, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Rocky Romero, Stigma, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Místico vs Euforia

This is another Monday holiday show (5 pm start), so there’s a chance it’ll turn up as a bonus stream. Gemelo Diablo II wrestling here; Gemelo I hasn’t been seen in a month. Valiente seems much lower than usual. He probably should be in Stigma’s spot but it’s Puebla.

Stephanie Vaquer met with the Chile embassy in Japan to show off her new title belt. The photo has picked up a lot of attention with Chileans upset with the casual way the consul is dressed.

La Catalina and the CMLL women’s show are on the cover on Box y Lucha 3594.

A man believed to be Mistico’s brother is also accused of killing a man in Mexico City. This is all social media posts for right now, though that seems to be the way violent crime gets reported in Mexico City right now. Carlos Jimenez had the initial report that mentioned Mistico. Antonio Nieto, who you may remember from the La Hiedra leaked Whatsapp messages sory, seems to have reported on the killing without mentioning any lucha libre connection. (Be warned, his photos include the body.) The full story, as put together here, is that Lenin Molina, 29 years old, was walking home with his brother Odin this past weekend. He stopped to urinate in a flower planter in front of a residence. Molina did it in full view of a woman who lives in that residence, Lesly Huitron, which upset her. She called her husband, Mauricio Uribe, out of the house to take care of it. Uribe is accused of shooting Lenin Molina several times, leading to his death. Odin Molina was also shot, but survived. Uribe was said to have fled the scene. Huitron was taken into the custody, where she asked the police to call her “famous brother-in-law” to help – that’s the connection to Mistico. Mistico has some non-wrestling brothers and it’s possible this is one of them. Jimenez found social media photos of a Mauricio Uribe with Mistico and one of the Dr. Karontes, referring to them as family, so it’s probably more than just having the same last name. There is a police investigation, no charges have been filed yet and none of the wrestling family members have commented on the situation. Neither Mistico nor any other Karonte wrestling member is believed connected to the incident. The social media posts came out on Monday night and there’s been no advancement of the story in the two days since. It feels like there’s a missing part between “public urination” and “gunshots” that’s missing in this story.

Rey Destroller

Monterrey’s Rey Destroller (Jose Orlando Regalado Alonso, 22) passed away Tuesday, following his collapse during a March 2nd match for RIOT. Destroller suffered an aneurysm in his brain, thought by doctors to be a pre-existing condition. There was no signs of trauma, it was simply the adrenaline and increased blood pressure from a wrestling match which caused the fatal injury. This matches the causes of death of 2020 Principe Aereo, who also collapsed during a match and was declared dead at the hospital. Rey Destroller made it to hospital, but medical studies over the weekend found he had no brain activity; I believe he never regained consciousness after he passed out in the ring. Everyone seems to have done their best for Rey Destroller but it was just a matter of time before his body gave out.

I keep seeing Rey Destroller’s death reflexively referred to as an “accident”, and that inaccurately implies a specific cause or mishap. The frustrating part of Rey Destroller’s is there is no mishap or oversight to correct. It wasn’t risky moves or a poor ring or bad lucha libre teachers at fault. A headscissors spot definitely failed in the match, but those who trained Destroller did well to teach him to rotate his body and land on his shoulder and back instead of his head. Neither Destroller or his opponents took unusual risks during the match. He didn’t lack immediate medical care: RIOT had a stretcher, a medic and an ambulance waiting in case of a situation like this but none of it mattered – he could’ve collapsed in an operating room and they likely wouldn’t have been able to reverse the brain damage. Rey Destroller was a seemingly healthy 22 year old who any commission would’ve licensed, without knowing he had a impending serious medical condition. There’s no way to find out who else might be at risk of something similar unless someone comes up with every aspiring luchador (or athlete) gets a brain scan, and that doesn’t seem economically feasible. Rey Destroller could’ve never been a luchador and the same thing could’ve happened while he was at a party or driving a car. He was a luchador and there’s a lot of emotion that has to go somewhere. It’ll probably be directed towards RIOT and the local commission for lack of any better answer, but there are no good solutions to be found. There’s nothing deep I can say here; this just sucks.

AAA put up a message acknowledging Rey Destroller’s passing, a classy gesture toward. Latin Lover mentioned he had delivered the money AAA helped him raise for the family on Monday.

(The wire stories on Rey Destroller has many details wrong. He was teaming with Black Spider Jr., not wrestling against him. He his head did not suffer an impact with the ring, as far as I’ve seen. His ring name was not spelled “Destroyer”, but that name and those details were all in the original TV story with his family and no one’s done any more reporting on it since. Some versions list Destroller as an AAA wrestler because AAA acknowledged the passing, but he never worked for them.)

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/14/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Shamila vs Príncipe Centauro [IWRG Tryout, semifinal]
2) Sky Man vs Sacro [IWRG Tryout, semifinal]
3) Águila Roja vs Kagura
4) ? vs ??? [IWRG Tryout, final]
5) Hijo de Canis Lupus & Pig Destroyer vs Jessy Queen & Mamba
6) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. vs Arez, Látigo, Toxin [IWRG IC TRIOS]

The main event is the first appearance of the ex-AAA trio since leaving that promotion. Match 3 is a rematch from Thursday (and setting up a title match, presumably.) Pig Destroyer was suspended on Sunday but unsuspended by Thursday. Principe Centauro stood out the most to me of the four people left in the tryout, though Shamila becoming the first ever women’s champion might create more interest.

Mistico, Mascara Dorada, Soberano Jr., Templario, Reina Isis and La Catalina will appear on a 04/07 Lucha Libre Boom show in Arena Naucalpan.

Other

Puebla luchadora Mirvan says she got approved for a wrestling license. Her goal is to make it to CMLL, though she notes she’s only 17 and has time to improve and get more experience. Mirvan is getting experience; I’ve seen her listed on 39 matches in the last six months. (It is hard to know what the license actual means when unlicensed people are wrestling that much.) Heraldo de Puebla says 17 men and 3 women got licenses, with the full list to be announced later this week.

A University of Arizona grad student got a scholarship to do a audio/visual lucha libre project.