Neon defeats Rugido, Satnam Singh added to TripleMania, Dos Caras

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 04/15/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, El Sol de Puebla]
1) Centella Roja & Hijo de Centella Roja b Fénix SO & Sombra Diabólika
2) Meyer b Prayer [lightning]
3) Diamond, Fuego, Robin b El Malayo, Rey Apocalipsis, Siky Ozama 
4) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Multy b Difunto, Raider, Vegas [Relevos Increíbles] 
5) Ángel de Oro b Hechicero [lightning] 
6) Esfinge, Máscara Dorada, Místico b Stuka Jr., Templario, Último Guerrero 
Mistica on Templario – who also got attacked by Ultimo Guerrero after the match.

Porra Fresa mentioned the post-main event attack. Neither CMLL or El Sol did, but it turns out to be the important bit.

CMLL (TUE) 04/16/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores (video), thecubsfan]
1) Full Metal & Pequeño Olímpico DQ Angelito & Último Dragóncito  
6:54. Pequeno Olimpico unmasked Angelitco
2) Metálica & Valkiria b Hera & Olympia  
11:19
3) Crixus, Difunto, Pólvora b El Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star 
12:05
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Hijo De Blue Panther b El Coyote, Felino, Felino Jr. 
15:42
5) Neón b Rugido  
11:09
6) Flip Gordon, Titán, Volador Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible  
13:54

Neon/Rugido was the best match on the night. They had the pressure of doing a big match and did well. Maybe the only thing that went wrong was Neon ripping up Rugido’s mask too well; he was battling to see at times in the third fall but there weren’t difficulties. The match didn’t seem to mean anything to turnout but not much on Tuesday usually does. It got good reactions for a non-title singles match.

The main event wasn’t far behind in qualtity. Tecnicos won but there was no trios title challenge. The Panthers match was the usual formula, just without rudos giving them as much. Hera & Olympia wrestled as tecnicas in the women’s match. I haven’t had many thoughts about Valkiria, but she came off as a slow and out of sync in this match.

CMLL (TUE) 04/16/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Shezmu & Temerario b Johnny Dinamo & Minotauro 
2) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel 
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Trono 
4) Hatanna, Lluvia, Tabata b Adira, Dark Silueta, Dulce Kitty 
OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG challenges followed (despite the champions winning)
5) Brillante Jr. & Star Black b Bestia Negra & El Gallero 
Star Black and Gallero continue to feud
6) Explosivo, Máscara Dorada, Místico b Averno, Euforia, Mephisto 
Explsoivo replaced Atlantis Jr. on Tuesday morning.

Strangely, Alexis Salazar was over here taking photos instead of Arena Mexico.

CMLL Informa is still at the regular (4 pm Mexico City) time today. The time change they talked about last week starts on 05/01. CMLL hasn’t announced a guest list.

CMLL (MON) 04/22/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Black Tiger, Blue Shark, Hijo de Centella Roja vs Espíritu Maligno, Fénix SO, King Jaguar
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Mije & Periquito Sacaryas
3) Hombre Bala Jr., Panterita del Ring, Volcano vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Tessa Blanchard vs Stephanie Vaquer [lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Gran Guerrero vs Euforia, Soberano Jr., Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Máscara Dorada, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Flip Gordon, Templario [Relevos Increíbles]

Templario and Ultimo Guerrero on opposite sides here, following up on whatever that was. Two relevos increibles in a row is messy though.

Blue Panther explained to El Tiempo that the name came as a spur of the moment decision. He was wrestling as Cachorro when he was invited to Chihuahua for a match. They already had a Cachorro Valderrama so they asked him to use a different name. He came up with Blue Panther because he happened to have a blue and yellow mask. Would have have done as well if he was named Yellow Panther all this time? (Probably.)

The 05/01 Arena Coliseo Acapulco show (Mistico & Mascara Dorada vs Voaldor & Soberano) will stream for people who sign up to the Lucha Libre Acapulco page and pay 99 pesos. Other pages experimented with similar ideas during the pandemic. One twist here is the stream will not be available for people who live in Acapulco proper, those people have to watch in person or not at all.

NJPW officially announced Stephanie Vaquer’s title defense against Alex Windsor on 05/11 in Los Angeles.

05/11 MLW

• Mistico vs Barbaro Cavernario for the MLW Middleweight championship
• Ultimo Guerrero versus Atlantis Jr.

Only by putting these two back together did it click they’re on the same show.

AAA

Jeff Jarrett (and later AAA) announced Satnam Singh was added to the TripleMania card. He’ll team with QT Marshall, Sam Adonis and Parker Boudreaux against Pentagon Jr. Psycho Clown, Laredo Kid, Octagon Jr. and a partner to be announced. Singh, like Boudreaux, is someone who looks impressive in the sort of media tour AAA had him no Monday in Monterrey. He’s, also like Boudreaux, someone AEW rarely trusts to be in actual wrestling matches. That match looked like the best match on paper for TripleMania, and adding Singh makes that goal more difficult.

Jarrett seems to be re-launching Global Force Entertainment as a wrestling news (copy and paste) site. It’s an odd choice; that market seems oversaturated. It may have influenced why Jarrett was the one to announce this match change. Sending Singh, Parker and Jarrett did that press circuit, likely to sell the oddity of a big muscle guy and a tall giant wrestling in Mexico.

Matt Cardona will need surgery on a torn pec, according to Fightful. Cardona was expected to be part of a TripleMania this year, probably the one in Tijuana. I’m not a doctor, but the ones I find on google suggest that’s typically a six month recovery, meaning Cardona wouldn’t be available for any TripleMania show this year.

Diana Patricia Mondragon has filed an criminal complaint of domestic violence, perpetuated by her ex-partner Dos Caras. Telediario aired a four minute segment on the story. That video includes photos and videos of her wounds, if that’s going to distress you. It also feels like Mexico covers these situations notably different than it would be handled in the US, which may be off putting. Patricia says Dos Caras hit her, leaving bruises on her arms and legs, forced her to kiss his feet and burned her with acid. Patricia says he was also threatened by Hijo de Dos Caras, who said he’d harm one of Patricia’s relatives if she broke off the relationship and also tried to throw acid at her.

In a friends-only post, Dos Caras said he’d have a press conference to refute these charges Tuesday night. I haven’t seen anything from that as of yet. Dos Caras typically only posts wrestling related photos, so posting a photo of with his wife a few days before this story broke sticks out. That appears to be a different woman than the one making the accusation.

This news goes into the AAA section, as Dos Caras is scheduled to appear Lucha Libre Expo before next week’s TripleMania. Dos Caras has also been involved in many of Alberto el Patron’s big matches, so he’ll likely be on TripleMania as well. AAA’s policy on domestic violence is well known at this point: they will no act on accusations, and only take action if the accused has been convicted of a crime. (AAA continued to use Cuatrero until a judge ruled he was a danger and put him behind bars, where he remains one year later – still no trial.) The Dos Caras charges are an accusation and possibly an investigation, so AAA will mostly likely continue to use him as planned.

IWRG

Thursday’s lineup:

IWRG (THU) 04/18/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Ajolotl & Golden Power vs Príncipe Centauro & Rey Espartano
2) Shamila & Tornado vs Diosa Quetzal & Puma de Oro
3) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
Random match
4) Arez, Látigo, Toxin vs Águila Roja, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly
5) Hell Boy vs Vangellys [super libre]

Match four looks interesting.

(No Big Lucha card yet, so they probably are off until 05/04.)

Other News

Latin Lover says he helped get Shocker in rehab – by telling him there was a businessman in Culiacan who wanted Shocker for an autograph signing, 15K pesos for one hour a week. There was no autograph signing, there were just five people to convince Shocker to go to a local rehab facility. Latin says Shocker went without issue.

The San Luis Potosi Congress wanted to honor Mil Mascaras with the Plan de San Luis medal for those who’ve influenced the social and cultural growth of that state. Mil Mascaras declined the invitation; he lives in the United States now and apparently did not want to return to Mexico. The San Luis Potosi Congress will instead give the medal to Enrique Auces Maciel, a businessman who passed away in 2019. Among his achievements was creating awards for outstanding students.

There’s ongoing investigation into the shoots before a Tijuana lucha libre show. All victims are said to have been shot in the legs and now are in stable condition. There’s still no motive. All three were standing near the entrance. There’s some talk locally about requiring metal detectors at show (and push back at that expense.)

The 04/21 Lucha Memes Hechicero/Aeroboy match I was excited for is no longer happening. It’s now Hechicero/Heddi Karoaui. Aeroboy is said to be off due to personal issues.

Arez and Gringo Loco are headed back to Germany’s WXW in October.

Box y Lucha 3599 has Titan, Galeno del Mal and Shocker on the cover.