Bryan Danielson/Blue Panther, Magnus to CMLL Universal final, Coliseo Aniversario show, the Beast Mortos

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 04/05/2024 Arena México [AS, CMLL, Esquina Caliente, ESTO, Estrellas del Ring, Fuego en el Ring, Heraldo de Mexico, Kaiser Sports, Publimetro, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan, Vanguardia]
1) Rayo Metálico b Dragón de Fuego   
8:30
2) Crixus, Okumura, Vegas b Audaz, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr.   
11:35
3) Magnus b Star Black, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr., Magia Blanca, Futuro, Rugido, Disturbio, Cholo, Apocalipsis [CMLL Universal, semifinal]  
26:45. Order of elimination: Apocalipsis (via Magia Blanca), Guerrero Maya (Rugido), Futuro (Cholo), Disturbio (medical elimination; hit head on apron on dive), Futuro (Esfinge), Star Black (Magnus), Magia Blanca (Rugido), Rugido (Esfinge), Esfinge (Magnus) leaving Magnus as the winner. He advances to the final on 04/26.
4) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Volador Jr. b Averno, Rocky Romero, Templario 
11:36. Added on Monday.
5) Bryan Danielson b Blue Panther [submission]   
25:37. One fall, must win by submission. Panther got Danielson in the fujiwara but Danielson was under the ropes. Danielson submitted Panther after. Panther asked for a rematch in the US, Danielson agreed and called Panther his idol. He also thanked the fans of Arena Mexico.

Danielson/Panther was everything it was hoped to be and more. Panther is an old man, in a way that played into the story, but Panther was able to keep up. Danielson was Danielson, as perfect for this style of wrestling as he is for pretty much any style. He was visibly enjoying every second of this while still taking the match as serious as everyone wanted it to be. The Arena Mexico crowd admired Danielson and never cheered against him, but strongly rooted for Panther to get the incredible win. The time flew by; they didn’t need to go longer than they did but no one would’ve minded much. The ending came quick, but that was a bit of the story – it just took one lapse of attention to cost it at all. The post match show of respect felt real and emotional. There will be matches people will give higher Star Ratings too, and understandably so, but no match will best Danielson/Panther in accomplishing what it set out do. This was a perfect match.

Bryan Danielson, speaking after the match, revealed he’d flown into Mexico on Thursday. He was impressed with Hechicero after wrestling him in AEW, and decided to train with him to prepare for the Blue Panther match. Danielson would love to wrestle Hechicero in Arena Mexico and Danielson also mentioned Mascara Dorada and Mistico mask versus hair – somewhat joking-  as possible matches. (Mistico liked that idea.) He hoped he would return. Danielson also was hopeful, if not definite, that the Danielson/Panther match would happen again in AEW. He wished that all the American fans would see the match and encourage AEW to book it.

There were other matches on this show too! The semimain was an easy trios match you can probably figure out in your head. Match 2 was fine enough. Match 1 was young guys doing all the same moves everyone else does but doing them reasonably well.

The Universal tournament block had the only other drama, and a puzzle to figure out. Disturbio landed head first on the apron on a dive. Star Black, standing on that apron, seemed to think it was a fake out dive and that he was supposed to kick Disturbio on the way over to send him bumping back towards the center of the ring. Disturbio seemed to think it was a real dive, and Esfinge (the target) seemed to as well. Disturbio didn’t have much on his leap and erroneously hit the top rope with his midsection before Star Black kick even connected. It’s up to interpretation if Star Black’s movement threw Disturbio off enough to mess up the dive prior to the kick. In true lucha libre fashion, the best place to see this is Disturbio’s Instagram. He also indicated he’d be wrestling as scheduled Tuesday.

That injury threw off the middle of the match. The end of the match lined up as all three Depredadores against Esfinge for a moment, then Esfinge survived two of them and seemed sure to advance. Magnus getting the big win was a surprise. I wonder if getting that AEW win and PPV appearance convinced CMLL decisions makers to do something with Magnus; other promotions have pushed people for less.

CMLL (SAT) 04/06/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Calavera Jr. I & Calavera Jr. II b Forneo & Novato
11:57
2) Legendario b Xelhua [lightning]
7:26.
3) Dark Silueta, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b Andrómeda, La Catalina, Skadi
12:55
4) Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. b Akuma & Espanto Jr. [Arena Coliseo TAG]
20:00. Ola Negra fall in their first defense. Villanos are the 13th modern champions.
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
12:14
6) Máscara Dorada & Místico b Soberano Jr. & Templario
18:22.

The 81st Arena Coliseo Anniversary bonus stream was an enjoyable show, if not a must see. The Villanos title win was the best and most memorable match; the Coliseo crowd wanted to see the Villanos crown and got their wish.

They did well, Akuma did well, I’m OK not seeing Espanto Jr. in a big match for a while.

The main event was a fun exhibition match, like the previous night’s semi-main. Legendario/Xelhua was a strong showcase for both guys. CMLL’s slow playing all the 2024 Torneo de Escuelas guys, basically roping them off into their own matches for the time being, but those two are clearly ready to be mixed in the main group. Los Calaveras are really good at what they’re doing too. I’m less sure if they’re going to get a real shot at their weight, but those guys are getting over doing prelim matches.

This looked like a second straight sell out for this building, which is rare. May not happen again for a year.

CMLL (SUN) 04/07/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Robin b Diamond [lightning]
9:58, just short of the limit
2) Hera, Metálica, Persephone b La Maligna, La Vaquerita, Magia Azul
3) El Coyote, Felino Jr., Pólvora b Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma
4) Difunto, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo b Brillante Jr., Max Star, Neón
Difunto replaced Gemelo Diablo I
5) Euforia & Mephisto b Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr.
Guerreros took fall 1, got DQed in the second and Infernales took the third
6) Flip Gordon, Místico, Valiente b Ángel de Oro, Hechicero, Niebla Roja

Gemelo Diablo I is actually not back. They were still advertising him up to show time.

CMLL luchadors participated in a Luz Por La Paz ceremony in Mexico City, part of an international day for peace through sports. There was a similar moment during the Saturday Arena Coliseo show.

CMLL (TUE) 04/09/2024 Arena México
1) Astro Boy Jr. & Rayo Metálico vs Emperador Jr. & Platino Kid
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Micro Dito & Periquito Sacaryas
3) Lluvia, Skadi, Tabata vs Dark Silueta, Persephone, Tessa Blanchard
4) Brillante Jr., Futuro, Max Star vs Crixus, Difunto, Vegas
5) Titán vs Stuka Jr. [lightning]
6) Esfinge, Místico, Neón vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido

Neon and the Depredadores getting a rare main event, though it may only be rare for now. Titan/Stuka is a luxury VIP match. Tessa is bac after being gone for a few days. Micros get a rare match 2 and so a three fall match,. The Torneo Escuelas division is even lower on the totem pole (and pay chart presumably) than them.

CMLL (TUE) 04/09/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Obek, Último Ángel vs Eclipse Jr., Rav, Temerario
2) Adira, Dulce Kitty, Náutica vs Estrella Maldita, Sexy Sol, Valkiria
3) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs El Malayo, Rey Apocalipsis, Siky Ozama
4) Akuma & Dulce Gardenia vs Disturbio & Virus [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. vs Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Star Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario

Puebla’s Battalion del Terror lose the Guadalajara trios titles and then return to Guadalajara a week later. I can’t figure it out. Match four is a straight preview of the four way hair match, unusual to see in another building. Match six is the team that beat Ola Negra for the Arena Coliseo tag titles versus the team that lose to Ola Negra for those same titles.

CMLL (FRI) 04/12/2024 Arena México
1) Legendario vs Forneo [lightning]
2) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Hijo De Blue Panther vs Hijo de Stuka Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
3) Flip Gordon vs Euforia [lightning]
4) Gran Guerrero vs Averno, Templario, Titán, Stigma, Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible, Dragón Rojo Jr., Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja [CMLL Universal, semifinal]
CMLL champions block.
5) Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Octagón vs Hechicero, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

There’s no chance this show is going to be viewed as much too and it has the handicap of Octagon in a main event, but the rest of it looks pretty good. It’s a pretty good group of names in Universal block with no sure winner. (Maybe Titan, Cavernario and Templario as the favorites?) Flip has matched up well with Euforia. The Panthers have definitely matched up well with the Villanos. Legendario/Forneo is among the best in the Torneo Escuelas division.

If you are on the CMLL 9/25 USD plans, you did not get to see H2L live. That was only for the 35 USD plan. The cheaper two plans were to get a VOD version of the CMLL show on Sunday night. As of Monday afternoon, it hasn’t gone up.  It should not be hard to get a video file up on YouTube by Sunday night, especially when a version of that show is already on that same channel. Thanks to the CMLL Informa credit screen, we can see CMLL has at least two Community Managers employed to do it. It just isn’t important enough to get done. They’ll put it up whenever. (I would also assume no bonus matches on Thursday this week since they already aired the Arena Coliseo show live.)

NJPW announced the field for their 2024 Best of Super Juniors tournament (May 11th to June 9th). Every year, I think “maybe this year they’ll again put at least two CMLL luchadors in the tournament.” They did not, as is the case most every year; 20 wrestlers and only one from Mexico. Titan is back and that’s it. It’s unlikely Titan will do as well as his runner up finish last year, but it was unlikely for him to do that well to begin with and that happened.

CMLL’s Lady Ring announced Dark Silueta and Amapola will wrestle on their 06/28 show in Tokyo. Silueta will start a tour in Japan in early May, and Amapola will head over in mid-June. I don’t understand the economics that have two women going to Lady’s Ring and one man going to NJPW.

AAA

NGD versus Psycho Clown/Negro Casas from this week’s TV should be added to the list of AAA matches actually worth watching. NGD seems like they’ll try if they believe the match is actually important. No shot at Pagano, but I think they saw it as bigger for having Negro Casas teaming with Psycho Clown; there was more creativity and they just generally worked harder. Maybe we’d feel differently about NGD’s AAA run if they were given more thing to do than “hold a title and go undefeated for a while against people who don’t matter” or maybe it’s on them to find this motivation more often. The tag format allowed Negro Casas to measure his minutes better; this is what he should be doing at this point in his career.

The other matches were inoffense and forgettable. The Vatos Locos (Hijo del Picudo, May Flowers, Nygma) version didn’t look good, and the teased feud with La Secta is not promising. Charly Manson helping these Vatos Locos and being part of the Pagano & Mecha Wolf group seemed like it was meant for all those people to be working together but I’m not confident I understand it.

Chessman says he’s aiming for Mesias and the Megachampionship. Those are good things to aim for, though it seems unlikely he’ll get either.

Dalys says her goal is for the luchadors to headline an AAA show. It seems unlikely that’ll happen in AAA any time soon. The luchadoras aren’t forgotten (that’s the minis) but they’re almost always in the first half of the card. AAA seems to view Las Toxicas as attractions but none of them as top level stars. There’s also fewer AAA TV shows, so fewer chances for anyone to main event. On the other hand, it’s a wrestling promotion, they could put the women as a main event for a TV taping if they decided they wanted to do that day. Anyway, Dalys says she’s encouraging the women to work as a team and she came to AAA to help them learn that.

Reina Dorada said she’d be willing to put her mask on the line.

Hijo del Vikingo will appear on the 04/13 AAA EMW show. I believe that’s his first post-surgery appearance. That EMW show has a lot of people announced but only one match advertised a few days out.

SI has a story about WWE’s Nick Khan, talking up what he’s done for their business.  It’s a very complimentary article There’s a paragraph in there discussing Khan opening the door to working with other promotions, bringing up the the TNA women’s champion showing up in Royal Rumble this year. I don’t have any news and I’m not meant to be hinting at things, but I think that’s worth keeping that story in mind when it comes to AAA this year. It sure seemed like there was AAA interest in working with WWE around the time of Dragon Lee’s departure, where AAA risked their AEW relationship in hopes of getting a WWE. It both ended in the worse possible outcome but that wouldn’t stop them from trying again, in the usual fashion. Things have also obviously changed with WWE since that time. Any sort of WWE connection would be a boon to AAA (extra star power for TripleManias, AAA marketing itself to young wrestlers as a place that can get them on a path to WWE) that I’d guess they’d jump at it if offered. I’m not sure that would be a great long term idea for AAA but it AAA so you can’t rule it out. Again, there’s no news here, but just something to think about.

IWRG

IWRG , LLB (SUN) 04/07/2024 Arena Naucalpan [La Tijera]
1) Macho I, Macho II, Macho III b Argus, Demencia, Rocky Bulldog 
2) Príncipe Centauro b Hijo De Sparta, Gravedad Cero, New Level, The Crow, Corazón Guerrero, Sparta, Karma I, Súper Pinochito 
3) Águila Oriental, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly b Cometa, Sol, X-Devil 
4) Águila Roja, Fandango, Hellboy, Puma de Oro b Carta Brava Jr. (LLB), Lunatik Xtreme, Súper Boy, Toto 
5) La Catalina & Mary Caporal b Reina Isis & Shamila 
6) Hell Boy © b Ivan Rokov [AIWF LA] 
Surprise match. Hell Boy won the title back.
7) Máscara Dorada & Místico b Soberano Jr. & Templario 

This appeared to be the usual sell out for bringing in big names to this arena. I watched the main event: Soberano and Templario unsurprisingly work really well as rudos in this environment. The top rope was looser than they’d wanted – you could spot the other guys grabbing it hard to keep it tight at key moments. Otherwise, it was like 80% of what you could see on the CMLL subscription shows without having to pay anything.

IWRG aired a vignette clarifying that the former Dr. Cerebro Jr. is now Multifacetico Jr. Fans had figured it out, but it’s rare they’ll acknowledge a gimmick change like that.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha World (SAT) 04/06/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [thecubsfan]
1) Argus & Gaius b Cósmico & Nordico 
12:19
2) Avisman & Golden b El Potro de Oro & Platino 
18:45. Potro replaced Skayde (double booked in Chicago.)
3) Big Tao Tao & Bogdan Klimov b M2R & Mr. Win and Alas de Acero & Iron Kid 
14:26. Tirano replaced M2R.
4) Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo b Latino, Rey Espartano, Ryu 
20:48. Other members of the Lucha Memes team attached Delta Force after the match, with Flamita & Marvin eventually making the save to lead into the main event.
5) Flamita & Ricky Marvin b Aero Boy & Golden 
15:46. Flamita buried Tonalli for not appearing (double booked in Arena San Juan) and challenged Golden to take his place. Flamita reversed a Doomsday Device into a Spanish Fly on Aeroboy for the win, though both teams fought more after.

This was a Big Lucha versus Lucha Memes show, and one that worked out well. This was a group of the Lucha Memes guys who do more of Big Lucha’s style – missing the guys more likely just to punch people in the nose – and they were all working hard like it meant something to them to make an impression here. The Big Lucha guys co-operated with them, and it made for good if sometimes overindulgent matches. The newer names came off as acceptable wrestlers at this level, which may sound like faint praise but hasn’t been a guarantee for people coming into this promotion from elsewhere. There were the usual problems of every match going longer than it need to, though it’s possible this time they were fruitlessly stalling for Tonalli to make it over from his other booking. I would’ve liked to see Tonalli in this environment, but I liked what Golden brought in both matches. Iron Kid looked good too, and I wish he was around more in promotions I make an effort to watch. (Alas de Acero did not fare as well.) The end of the show sort of teased the idea of the Big Lucha guys going to Coliseo Coacalco for the reverse fixture, which would probably be a good experience.

Production on this show was weird, as if the person usually in charge wasn’t there and no one else knew what to do. (I don’t know that happened, that’s just what it felt like.) The first two matches were just from the hard cam. The floor camera operators were there, their video just wasn’t being used. It seemed like someone tried to figure it on the third match. The video switched to logo screen for a minute during the match, later they kept fading in and out – and they eventually got it, being able to switch video feeds. Completely normal. And then they went back to just the hard camera for match four and five. So weird. The sound was also messed up in the opener, so the crowd was loud and the announcers barely audible. It was the least produced show possible – and that was actually so much better than the over produced shows most groups do. I’ll take zero camera cuts over random camera cuts every two seconds, I’d definitely be fine with a single camera and crowd noise over a flickering black screen and inaudible reactions. Might not be in the majority on all of that, though.

Other News

Black Taurus re-debuted in Ring of Honor as The Beast Mortos on Friday’s Supercard of Honor pre-show. That was the person I was expecting to show up. He’s expected to use that name everywhere going forward, US and Mexico. (I’m sure it’ll take Mexican promotions a year or so to catch up, and they’ll try lots of spellings of “Mortos”.) It’s a modified mask and name,, though familiar enough that most seemed to know who it was. The ROH announcers referenced that we had seen The Beast Mortos before but seemed very careful never to say the words “Black Taurus” – they treated it like was a WWE gimmick that might get in trouble for saying. That’s another sign of the state of relationship with AAA right now.

The Beast Mortos defeated Blake Christian in what was a good competitive match, but not something the commanding win you’d expect for someone making a (re-)debut. The post match hinted at something with Komander; the announcers thought maybe he and Mortos would team. It’s Komander and Mortos, so I assume they’ll instead end up fighting.

I watched so much stuff this weekend that I’m having trouble putting it all together. I did want to mention going back to watch Action Wrestling’s Dean.

The Demus/Mad Dog chain match every bit did it what it accomplished to do; it was just missing the dirt and floor from Coliseo Coacalco. It was hard hitting, intense, and just violent feeling. Dr. Cerebro and Gringo Loco didn’t quite hit those heights (they were very heights), but it was also really good and I think more than most would’ve thought to expect out of Dr. Cerbero in a US match. He went for it, and I’m not sure if he would’ve gone so hard with anyone besides old rival Gringo. Both matches are wroth checking out. The DQ was amusing; Dr. Cerebro is operating on Mexican wrestling indie rules (there are no rules) and hits Gringo with a chair, the US indie referee calls a DQ like he’s no doubt been trained, and there’s a mini drama going on getting the match restarted where that Dr. Cerebro just totally ignores, going on with his match like nothing happened. The other bigger thing on both these matches is the fans really cam to see those wrestlers and really were into them. It was the same a day later on the ETU/Dragon Gate show; those fans who turned up to the H20 building were really invested in the matches they were seeing. It makes a big difference; WrestleCon didn’t seem as fortunate and instead seemed to have a much more “we’re in town already so we might as well go to this show and see if we know anyone” crowd vibe. It’s been a big week or so for crowd atmosphere on wrestling and DEAN had a strong one.

NOAH announced Ninja Mack defending the GHC Hardcore Championship against Alpha Wolf on 04/15. Ninja Mack is in the NJPW BOSJ, sometimes outside promotions take titles off wrestlers before they go into a tournament elsewhere (since they’ll probably lose a bit), but I have no sense of how important the GHC Hardcore Championship is in the big scheme of things.

Segunda Caida reviews more 89/90 lucha libre and Danielson/Panther.

El Sol del Hidalgo has a bio of Aguila Solitaria.

luchadb

I’ve automated the process to upload my event database to the Github archive. It should start running on the 9th day of each month going forward, if I’ve coded correctly. The big idea is that stuff still exists in simple form (one text file per year) and would still exist even if I disappear. That was the plan all along, but doing it manually wasn’t getting it done; I’d remember it but would want to wait until I get one more thing done or I’d forget about it entirely. Figuring out how to automate the process was this weekend’s big win; it took a lot of multitasking this weekend.

The next thing on my wish list of programming ideas is to automate my primary wrestler name identification. One of the issues I run into is deciding when to switch the primary name for someone who changed a gimmick, and so it’s also a thing that never gets done. (Which means weirdness the new Mascara Dorada is still listed under Panterita del Ring Jr. if you’re using the match finder.) It’s Mexican wrestling so there’s no clear lines for these decisions – is is more useful to list Dick Angelo 3G under that name or under Taurus (or even Taurus (2024))? He’s still doing a few indie matches under the non-gimmick name. I still think I can make it a little better if I figure out algorithm and implement it. Any suggestions for other ideas I can make a little bit better are always welcome.