Month: May 2024

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 05/31/2024 Arena México
1) Capitán Suicida & Valiente Jr. vs Alom & Infarto
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I © vs Chamuel [CMLL MICRO]
1st defense
3) Persephone, Tessa Blanchard, Valkiria vs Reina Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
4) Euforia, Soberano Jr., Templario vs Akuma, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
5) Star Jr. vs Ángel de Oro [Copa Junior VIP, final]
6) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Neón vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Volador Jr.

The main event looks centered around the Mistico/Magnus feud. That might be a singles match in upcoming weeks; it’s hard to imagine. Star Jr./Angel de Oro could go either way, though I suspect it’ll be Angel getting a win before his title match. Micro Gemelo Diablo I seems likely to keep his title, since he’s around more than Chamuel. I think Chamuel winning would probably mean they’re setting up KeMalito to challenge next, getting around Diablo/KeMalito being a bad match up. Tessa Blancahrd always is feuding with Stephanie Vaquer, but they haven’t done a tag team title match in a while and that’s something easy to set up there.

Informa Notes

CMLL (SAT) 06/01/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Astro Boy Jr., Leono, Retro vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Grako
2) Kemalito & Micro Sagrado vs Periquito Sacaryas & Tengu
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
4) La Catalina vs Tessa Blanchard [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Fugaz vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
6) Atlantis Jr. & Máscara Dorada vs Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr.

A rare 2v2 main event, could be good. Los Atrapasuena back together for the first time in a while. Show up late for that opener.

CMLL (SUN) 06/02/2024 Arena México
1) Astral & Diamond vs Enfermero Jr. & Inquisidor
2) El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. vs Dark Magic, El Coyote, Espanto Jr.
3) Max Star vs Difunto [lightning]
4) Kira, Sanely, Tessa Blanchard vs Lluvia, Olympia, Stephanie Vaquer [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Flip Gordon, Star Black, Valiente vs Hechicero, Sagrado, Zandokan Jr.
6) Esfinge, Místico, Star Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto

Max Star/Difunto could be something. Sagrado seems out of place on that level, but CMLL seems to have split up Los Malditos.

CMLL (MON) 06/03/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Amnesia & Blue Shark vs Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika
2) Galaxy & Shockercito vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
3) Lluvia & Sanely vs Persephone & Zeuxis
4) Crixus, Difunto, Raider © vs Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray [OCCIDENTE TRIOS]
first defense
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
6) Gran Guerrero, Místico, Último Guerrero vs Ángel de Oro, Hechicero, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Raider seems to be in the doghouse based on his lack of bookings, so a title change there isn’t out of the question. Soberano and Ultimo Guerrero get to avoid each other in the main event.

CMLL announced Puebla shows will start airing on Televisa Puebla in June. The shows will air on Sundays at 8 pm, then repeat on Tuesdays at 5 pm. It’s unclear when it starts, how long each episode will run, if it’ll be the previous Monday’s Puebla show, or if the shows will continue to stream. Televisa Puebla has an internet stream, though it’s usually just repeats of their news shows.

CMLL announced the Monday & Tuesday lineups for the Mistico 20th Anniversary celebrations. He’s going to have a singles match at each stop.

CMLL (MON) 06/17/2024 Arena Puebla
***Mistico 20th Anniversary***
1) Amnesia, Blue Shark, Millenium vs Rencor, Rey Apocalipsis, Sombra Diabólica
2) Rayo Metálico vs Dragón de Fuego [lightning]
3) Astral, Diamond, Eléctrico vs Multy, Perverso, Prayer
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma, Xelhua vs Brillante Jr., Max Star, Neón
5) Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr. vs Bad Dude Tito, Che Cabrera, Michael Oku
debut of the foreigners in Mexico
6) Místico vs Averno

Tito, Cabrera and Oku start in CMLL there. (It’s looking like Takahashi and Sabre are Friday only and then probably off to AEW land.) Nice to see Xelhua get a higher than usual spot in a good match.

CMLL (TUE) 06/18/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
***Mistico 20th Anniversary Celebration***
1) Ángel Rebelde, Gallo Jr., Rafaga Jr. vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Príncipe Drago
2) Adira & Náutica © vs Hatana & Valkiria [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG]
3) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring vs Felino, Rey Bucanero, Satánico
4) Brillante Jr., Máscara Dorada, Valiente vs Hechicero, Soberano Jr., Templario
5) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
6) Místico vs Volador Jr.

The fourth match might be good, but it’s really just that and the main event. The foreigners seem to be working Arena Mexico on Tuesday, which isn’t how it usually goes for visitors.

CMLL announced a bunch of dates for other upcoming special shows:

• 07/02 (Tuesday): Felino 40th Anniversary show
• 07/20 (Saturday): Arena Coliseo Guadalajara vs Arena Coliseo Mexico City
• 08/23 (Friday): Men’s Gran Prix

The Gran Prix is the probably the date where you want to plan to get on the 35 USD Leyenda tier, if you’re someone willing to even consider that. You’ll get that show and probably Aniversario (though there’s still no known date for it; that’s the next big show to announce.) FantasticaMania will also be a Leyenda show, but there’s nothing else major between now and the Gran Prix.

Right now, Mistico is in the midst of at least nine matches in nine days. He wrestled in Merida last Saturday to start, and is booked at least through upcoming Monday in Arena Puebla. It would be even longer if the Lucka Libre show in Tijuana on 05/25 still happened. That stretch includes appearing in MLW’s Battle Riot on Saturday, which will stream on their YouTube channel for free.

Michael Oku did a virtual media day with the CMLL press on Thursday. ESTO and Kaiser Sports have recaps; Oku positioned himself as a fighting (tecnico) champion who would like to fight clean but is ready for Angel de Oro if he cheats. He mentions Mistico as someone he’d like to fight and Black Magic as an inspiration. Che Cabrera and Bad Dude Tito did one as well, and went with the ugly American personality.

TJP defeated Titan in their final block match of this Best of Super Juniors, knocking Titan out of the tournament. I am now share the same hatred for TJP as the rest of wrestling fandom. Titan is booked on the 06/15 All Together card so we won’t see him back in Mexico for a while regardless.

RevPro officially announced they’ll be running the FantasticaMania UK shows again in 2025 in a Twitter Q&A Friday morning. They’d previously talked, both on screen in and previous chats, about wanting to do it again but hadn’t committed to it yet. That’s positive news for that relationship.

07/13 FantasicaMania USA has Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero, Hechicero, Stephanie Vaquer, El Desperado, Zack Sabre Jr., and Yota Tsuji announced. Their announcements keep cycling through those seven names and no more.

AEW

As teased by CMLL, Stephanie Vaquer, Mistico and Hechicero appeared on AEW Dyanmite. AEW aired a Vaquer introduction video and she later confronted Mercedes Mone after a title defense. That seems likely to be a match at the June 30th Forbidden Door show. Hechicero and Mistico appeared in the Casino Gauntlet match for a shot at the AEW Championship at Forbidden Door. Neither one, but both are likely to turn up again in AEW between now and that PPV.

The idea of the Casino Gauntlet was that everyone was an international star and everyone was a surprise. Announcing Mistico would’ve hurt the surprise. Announcing Mistico would’ve sold some tickets, and I think that would’ve been an easy decision to me make. You can’t let your fun ideas get in the way of the thing you set out to do, assuming that thing is to run a successful business.

Reina Dorada wrestled Thunder Rosa on the AEW Collision taping Thursday. It’ll air Saturday. I don’t think it’s widely understood that the AEW taped shows have regularly clean up matches with editing, because the AEW editors do a good job of hiding their work. That editing staff will have a lot of work to do on the Dorada/Rosa match; those who saw the match said it had a lot of issues. Editing may be able to salvage the match as it has for other matches, but I expect this will be one match and no more for Dorada in AEW. In grand Mexican wrestling tradition, she’ll be listed on posters as “AEW wrestler Reina Dorada” for the rest of time regardless.

Reina Dorada is one of the least impressive luchadoras in AAA; I would put just about every other woman regularly working in that promotion ahead of her, and it’s not even a good women’s division right now. AAA would be hesitant to put Reina Dorada in a singles match on their TV against people she normally works with, and she doesn’t work many singles away from AAA either. There’s no CMLL people on Collision so there’s no AAA/CMLL conflict there, but it’s strange to put someone new from AAA given CMLL is a focus going into their next PPV. AEW does do some scouting of other promotions, and they could also easily test someone out for ability before the show. Either would’ve told them Reina Dorada might be a lovely person but not really someone ready for a US TV show. So how did Reina Dorada get on AEW TV? That’s a red flag.

(To make this plainer for people who are drifting but follow other stuff: If someone in the bottom 10 of wrestlers in TNA showed up in NJPW and were called a WWE representative by people reporting on the show. People would fairly have a lot of questions.)

The lesser important story is PW Insider posted a report on the taping, incorrectly listed Reina Dorada as a CMLL wrestler because she was masked Mexican and they had seen a CMLL person the day before. Every other site copying from PW Insider repeated it without checking it or having the basic knowledge of lucha libre to question it. Reina Dorada isn’t an important luchadora in AAA, she’s not a Toxica, but these same sites should know her based on what they write. The only AAA shows they cover are TripleManias, and she was in the first match in Monterrey that they all wrote about last month. Mike Johnson of PW Insider actually writes a preview for of each AAA TripleMania, so he would seem to know who’s in AAA, but he wasn’t the writer for that particular post.

(Reina Dorada has wrestled one match for CMLL, in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara in 2019. That makes her about as much a CMLL wrestler as Matt Sydal. Also, if you’re a person who cares about this, go look at the main event and get confronted with where CMLL was five years ago.)

Writing “CMLL” when it should’ve been “AAA” is not important to the 99% of people reading those AEW Collision spoilers. They’re just passing through on their way to read a hot take from a retired 90s personality about today’s wrestling. The issue is that if you don’t even know who’s who and where they’re from, you’re going to miss stories. And there’s a definitely a story behind Reina Dorada showing up in AEW, but one almost no one is going to track down if they assume she’s just there as a random CMLL wrestler.

AAA

This week’s AAA TV show should continue the 05/11 Mexico City taping. Matches left to air:

• Adelicious, Centella, Faby Apache vs Dalys, Flammer, Tiffany
• Octagon Jr defending the Latin America championship against Dinamico, Taurus, Belcegor and Australian Suicide.
• Los Vipers (Abismo Negro, Psicosis, el Fiscal) versus La Secta (Cuervo, Ozz and Scoria) for the vacant AAAA Trios championship
• Charly Manson & Mecha Wolf vs Electroshock & Zorro

AAA isn’t taping again until June 11th. They may split these four matches into two shows, or they may just air them all now and another TripleMania preview show next week.

Argenis announced Wednesday that he was leaving AAA. He was positive towards AAA in his exit. Argenis had been full time with AAA since 2008, usually in minor roles but occasionally filling bigger spots. Being in AAA at the right time got him some work in Lucha Underground, both under his real name and using the Barrio Negro gimmick.  it didn’t really lead to the US bookings others got. When Vampiro took over AAA creative in 2016 (and Lucha Underground’s Chris DeJoseph did a lot of writing for AAA), Argenis got a decent push and was the surprising 2017 Rey de Reyes winner. Argenis recent years were focused on a long never much advancing rivalry with Myzteziz Jr.. The original Myzteziz was Mistico’s short lived AAA character, Argenis felt it should stay with the family and not be given to someone else, and Argenis ripped off Myzteziz’s mask a dozen times. They eventually had their mask match as the final of a cage match in TripleMania Monterrey in 2023 (where everyone expected it to be Laredo Kid and Antifaz, but Antifaz had an injury.) Myzteziz unmasked Argenis, though nothing much changed in the rivalry in the way AAA feuds never change. Argenis was squeezed out of TV appearances this year – only appearing on the Rey de Reyes show – an effect of all the Retro guys coming in. It appeared to me that Argenis may have already out of contract. He appeared on the ELITE show, with a lot of people who were already done with AAA. There was also the weird bit on a Big Lucha show where the promotion announced mid-show that AAA would not let Argenis wrestle, and then Argenis showed up later to declare he would do what he wanted and wrestled anyway. Argenis was not included on the AAA roster photo from a couple of weeks ago, for what it’s worth.

Argenis wrestled in CMLL in 2005 and 2006. His brothers (Mistico and the Dr. Karontes) wrestle there, and so it would seem like there’s an opening for Argenis to show up. CMLL’s roster is crowded already so it’s not a given. Argenis is better than either Dr. Karonte but not so good that he needs to be on CMLL shows. Argenis also has a son who wrestles under the name Night Fury, though less so this year, and that might factor into his next move.

El Hijo de Dr. Wagner is pictured on the poster of the 06/16 NOAH show. He is not on the published lineup. It would be near impossible for him to do both that show and participate in TripleMania Tijuana. (That’s why it didn’t seem like Wagner 3 would be in AAA to begin with, and presumably something must’ve changed.)

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 05/30/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Príncipe Centauro & Súper Boy b Águila Oriental & Sky Man
Mala Fama attacked everyone until Hell Boy and Canis Lupus made the save.
2) Rey Halcón & Sol b Águila Roja & Tornado
Worked under elimination tag rules which IWRG doesn’t usually do, but did allow Rey Halcon to get eliminated and cheat to help Sol beat Aguila Roja. Sol & Aguila Roja want a singles match.
3) Spider Fly b Noisy Boy
“Random” match where partners Spider Fly and Noisy Boy “randomly” to fight each other. Spider Fly beat Noisy Boy to set up a title match.
4) Látigo & Toxin b Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr.
Arez helped Mala Fama win. Cerebros wanted a rematch in superllibre.
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo Del Silver King b Hell Boy & Hijo de Canis Lupus
Toxin, Latigo, Arez, and Spider Fly all got involved, setting up a trios match for Sunday.

I don’t know who’s in charge of putting these shows together but it sure feels like it was constructed by people who were recently in Lucha Libre AAA. The prelim guys getting beat up by the main event rudos is the signature AAA beat; it’s just the guys doing the beating used to be the guys getting beat up.

IWRG (SUN) 06/02/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Príncipe Centauro vs Sacro
2) Rey Aztaroth & Rey Halcón vs Auzter & Sky Man
3) Bengalee, Estrella Divina, Shamila vs Bizhota, Diosa Quetzal, Mary Caporal
4) Imposible, Misterioso Jr., Sangre Azteca vs Bugambilia, Caballero de Plata, Shocko
5) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Noisy Boy vs Arez, Látigo, Toxin
6) Galeno del Mal, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo Del Silver King vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.

El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.’s ability to draw to Naucalpan will be interesting when he’s headlining Gimansio Juan de la Barrera in a couple of weeks.

Misterioso Jr., Sangre Azteca and Dragon Rojo were part of a CMLL trio Poder Mexica in 2009 and 2010. Dragon Rojo and Misterioso betrayed Sangre Azteca in 2011, sending Azteca to an stint as a tecnico. (Azteca later called that tecnico run as the worst time of his career.) Sangre Azteca hasn’t wrestled much in the last few years, about a match every two weeks, but the press asked both he and Misterioso about putting the Poder Mexicano team back together now that Misterioso is on the indies. They seemed open to it. Impossible can be a patroitic Mexican character when he wants, so that could be a new Poder Mexica trio. It also could be old friends restarting a feud again each other.

The Crash

They’re back on 06/28, after TripleMania Tijuana

The Crash (FRI) 06/28/2024 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Gallo Extreme © vs X-Devil [The Crash Junior]
first defense
2) Anubis & El Rey vs Mirage & Mr. Maldito
3) Mamba, Tigre Blanco, Toto vs Hellboy (Estado de México), Herodes Jr., Tony Casanova
4) Destiny © vs Carta Brava Jr. [The Crash CRUISER]
fourth defense
5) Alpha Wolf & Dragón Bane © vs Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. [The Crash TAG]
fourth defense
6) Mecha Wolf & Rey Horus vs Bestia 666 & D Luxe
7) Matt Riddle vs Penta 0M, The Beast Mortos

Any show that close after TripleMania is going to have trouble to draw, so that’s probably factor while Penta and Riddle. Carta Brava used to be pretty good but it’s been a while where hasn’t had chances to show it; that title match could be something but may just be a lot of shortcuts.

Other News

Veracruz luchador Ferrarito (Jose Alejandro Tellez Rosales) passed away Tuesday. The obit mentioned he started as a wrestler in the 90s as Richard Moreno, then changed to the mini gimmick because that was the hot thing in AAA.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 05/27/2024 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Grada, thecubsfan]
1) Meyer & Millenium b Black Tiger & Centella Roja
13:26
2) Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray b Crixus, Difunto, Raider
Fuerza Poblana want a shot at the Occidente Trios titles next week.
3) La Catalina, Lady Amazona, Tessa Blanchard b Lady Metal, Lluvia, Skadi [Relevos Increíbles]
13:26. Skadi (replaceing Astoreth) and La Catalina (replaced Hela) were added on Friday.
4) Esfinge b Bárbaro Cavernario [lightning]
9:05. Barbaro Cavernario grasped around blindly for the ropes while in the nudo egipico, but could not find it until after the three count.
5) Rugido, Stigma, Villano III Jr. b Averno, Kojima, Okumura [Relevos Increíbles]
14:05. Rugido replaced Hijo del Villano III
6) Ángel de Oro, Hechicero, Soberano Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Místico, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
16:40. Angel de Oro won via foul on Mistico, then unmasked him after the match.

Nothing notable here. I think Cavernario was meant to grab the ropes and couldn’t find it, but everyone played it off like it was the planned finish. Maybe Esfinge was winning anyway?

CMLL (TUE) 05/28/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Minos & Pequeño Violencia b Angelito & Galaxy
2) Fuego, Legendario, Xelhua b Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, El Gallero
3) Sanely b Olympia [lightning]
4) Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Hijo De Blue Panther
5) Kojima & Okumura © b Magia Blanca & Rugido [MLW TAG]
1st defense
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Flip Gordon b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible

The tag title match was better than Friday – and they even played off the Friday finish with both Depredadores hitting their finish. It didn’t work out for them this time. Still, 2024 Kojima does not fit 2024 CMLL and needs a younger skilled rudo to carry the action. Okumura is not that person, which led to stuff like Magia Blanca helping Kojima catch Rugido’s dive. Match two was the expected fun match.

CMLL (FRI) 05/31/2024 Arena México
1) Capitán Suicida & Valiente Jr. vs Alom & Infarto
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I © vs Chamuel [CMLL MICRO]
1st defense
3) Persephone, Tessa Blanchard, Valkiria vs Reina Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
4) Euforia, Soberano Jr., Templario vs Akuma, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
5) Star Jr. vs Ángel de Oro [Copa Junior VIP, final]
6) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Neón vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Volador Jr.

The focus of the main event will be Magnus and Mistico, but Mascara Dorada & Neon in that spot should be great. The tournament final can go either way. Akuma looks to be in Hijo del Villano III’s spot; maybe Informa will have an update. Match three is a rematch.

CMLL Informa today has

• Tessa Blanchard
• Angel de Oro & Star Jr. (Copa Jr.)
• Kojima & Okumura (title defense)
• Max Star

On Tuesday, CMLL posted a new string of emojis. To me, it appears they’re teasing Mistico, Hechicero and Stephanie Vaquer showing up tonight on AEW Dynamite. But, no one’s saying that officially. I can no longer care about AEW’s finances if they’re bringing in Mistico unadvertised to Los Angeles; if they’re that unconcerned about ticket sales then there’s no reason for anyone else to be concerned.

(A downside to Hechicero showing up in AEW tonight is he can’t show up on Informa  this week and demand answers about why he’s not facing ZSJ at FantasticaMania Mexico.)

In less hard to decipher US trios, MLW announced Rugido is headed to their 06/01 Battle Riot show.

Titan lost his penultimate BOSJ match to Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Kanemaru is one of the guys there to pull upsets, so that wasn’t a big surprise. Titan is now among four wrestlers tied at 10 points (5-3), with TJP right behind at 8. Titan faces TJP on his final block day, Thursday morning. Titan will advance to the playoffs as the bock winner with a win and a Kosei Fujita victory over Blake Christian. (None of the other matches would matter.) It’s possible but not certain. There are other situations where Titan can get in a bigger tiebreak for second, but those never seem to happen in NJPW; the scenario where he wins and Fujita wins is his best hope.

FWIW, DOUKI is still alive in the other block – but it’s really him or Takahashi for the last spot. DOUKI’s got to win and Taiji Ishimori has to beat Hiromu to win. That is possible given the story NJPW’s telling about Takahashi losing a lot this year; I think it’s the more likely outcome but I don’t know any better.

RevPro posted their first designs for CMLL shirts they’re going to sell in the UK. You can also buy CMLL shows through MLW in the US. I don’t think there’s an online way of buying CMLL shirts in Mexico, which is weird unless you follow CMLL.

Former EMLL luchador Sordomudo Rodriguez (David Rodirguez, 90) passed away back on April 7th. Slam Wresting has a bio on him. Rodriguez was an EMLL regular in the 1950s and then again in 1970. He struggled to make much progress there but was notable for being a deaf luchador.

AAA

AAA released their TripleMania Tijuana poster. There were changes, one expected and one not.

AAA TV (SAT) 06/15/2024 Estadio Chevron, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Anubis, Keyra, Mamba, Toto vs Faby Apache, Microman, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa
2) Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla vs Havok, Rosemary, Tasha Steelz
3) Komander, Laredo Kid, Octagón Jr. vs CIMA, Nick Wayne, Willie Mack and D Luxe, Destiny, Noisy Boy
4) Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz vs Dark Scoria, Dark Spíritu, El Mesías
5) Rey Horus vs Bestia 666, Mecha Wolf
6) Brazo De Oro Jr., Negro Casas, Psycho Clown vs Dr. Wagner Jr., Galeno del Mal, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
7) Alberto el Patrón, Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Vampiro vs Parker Boudreaux, QT Marshall, Sam Adonis, Satnam Singh

At the TripleMania press conference, Dr. Wagner Jr. said he’d team with Galeno del Mal and a partner TBA announced because El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr was busy in Japan. I guess he’s suddenly less busy in Japan? I don’t know what that means for NOAH.

Willie Mack has been added to the third match. Blake Christian is also off the show, as anyone paying attention should’ve known was going to happen. It’s ultimately irrelevant, because whoever’s in that spot is just one more guy in a random match that’ll quickly be forgotten,. It’s also AAA show that no matter how many people they draw, they still make the same goofy decisions as a neighborhood indie.

This TripleMania is as weak a lineup for a TripleMania as I can remember. Last year’s show had Omega/Vikingo, as well as the QT Marshall/Pentagon ambulance match and the Psycho/Adonis vs Park/Rush match. The 2022 show had Chik Tormenta losing his mask, the two tournament matches (Psycho/Demon, Psycho/Villano IV) and the main event was supposed to be the Hermanos Lee versus the Hardy Brothers. This is just a bunch of tag matches with no stakes, and one triangle match where there may be stakes but no one understands it. These should be better quality matches than Monterrey, but there’s no compelling reason to make time for this. It’s ridiculous as a $25 USD PPV. I’m sure they’ll be running angles intended to set up matches on the Mexico City show, which would be perfectly fine if this was a free TV show. It’s a PPV.

I still believe AAA will draw fine for Tijuana, because they’ll have sold a lot of tickets for people expecting a lineup last past years. There’s not much here that’s going to move people who are on the fence.

AAA also announced the June 22nd lineup. It’s weird.

AAA TV (SAT) 06/22/2024 Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal
1) Adelicious, Jessy Queen, Nobu San vs Bengala, Black Andrómeda, Chik Tormenta
2) Aerostar, Brazo De Oro Jr., Karis La Momia Jr. vs Abismo Negro Jr., El Fiscal, Taurus
3) Octagón Jr. vs Drago, Dinámico [AAA CRUISER, #1 Contenders]
4) Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz vs Dark Scoria, Dark Spíritu, El Mesías
5) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown vs ?, Scorpió Jr. (original), Zumbido
6) Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Matt Riddle

The main event is a curiosity, two non-AAA wrestlers in a singles match to main event a show. Riddle should get the strong reaction most ex-WWE people get for the first time in. Wagner 3 is over to internet people who’ve followed his NOAH successes, but I’m under the belief that hasn’t broken out much out of that bubble. (He hasn’t gotten any special interest in his rare Mexico indie appearances.) That match seems positioned to set up something for TripleMania Mexico City but it’s not clear what that would be – maybe one or both gets added to the Alberto/Nemeth match? It’s also AAA, so it’s not certain it’s going anywhere. Maybe the AAA fan see it as some big international deal and are excited for it, or maybe they see Psycho Clown as the end of the AAA show and start to the exists. It’s not the match I would’ve put together but I am interested in leaning how it goes.

There are worse ideas than having Hijo del Wagner beat Riddle here, then beat Nemeth a few weeks later to win the title. I don’t know if it would work, I don’t if the fans would take to it, and I don’t know how the rest of AAA would feel about being leapfrogged that way, but it would be a new young top guy in a promotion that could use one. I’d also be surprised if that happened.

Match 5 is the return of Los Guapos. Scorpio Jr. took the concept when he left CMLL (2004) to AAA (2006), with Zumbido, Shocker, Alan Stone, Chris Stone, Super Calo and others over time. Scorpio was pretty washed by that point, but it did introduce micro Guapito and give the world some good Super Porky GIFs. (The one where he’s “hiding” behind a post is from this period.) Alan Stone metioning talking to AAA at the Orizaba show this weekend. I suspect the actual original idea was Shocker, who had been teaming with Scorpio and Zumbido before going to rehab. It may still end up being him, depending on availability. It wouldn’t be a good idea but that hasn’t stopped anyone else.

The big main event angle from TripleMania Monterrey is third from the top here, behind a singles match between two people who don’t work here and a nostalgia return. That angle seemed like a dud, so maybe that’s a right. The three way suggests Komander will defend the cruiserweight belt at some point, but it’s AAA so a multiman cruiserweight title match is much more likely. (AAA hasn’t booked a 1v1 match for the Cruiserweight Title since they were running no fan shows.) Los Vipers are now the trios champions so that could be setting up a title match. Black Andromeda has been missing since participating in the AAA tryout in January but always seemed a good fit for this group. No idea who Nobu San is; I presumed someone from GLEAT but no one seems to match up.

Best guess is this airs in early August. There will probably be some international interest in Wagner 3/Riddle when it happens, and probably less so if everyone has to wait six weeks to see it.

Dorian Roldan will make his annual appearance at the Sports Summit, which takes place on July 3rd/4th. Seeing him described as a “visionary leader and entrepreneur who has revolutionized Mexican Lucha Libre, catapulting it onto the global stage” seems off this year. This is not a shot at Dorian, AAA is drawing well, but the goal this year seems exactly not to revolutionize Mexican Lucha Libre but instead go back to what worked in the past. AAA is less on the global stage than ever, and that also seems part of the plan.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 05/30/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Oriental & Sky Man vs Príncipe Centauro & Súper Boy
2) Águila Roja & Tornado vs Rey Halcón & Sol
3) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
4) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. vs Látigo & Toxin
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo Del Silver King vs Hell Boy & Hijo de Canis Lupus

The “Hijo del Silver King” has been a rented gimmick in the past, so I presume that’s what it is here. Match four coul be good if they want it to be.

Other Notes

06/15 RIOT

• Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Demonio del Aire – first match
• Zuzu Divine vs Dulce Tormenta

That match is billed as Hijo de Canis Lupus RIOT debut, but Fly Warrior did wrestle there a long time ago. Not sure what happened to the guy he wrestled.

Hidalgo lucahdora Dayami talks about her international travels.

Box y Lucha 3605 has El Hijo del Santo on the cover.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 05/24/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Publimetro, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (video), thecubsfan]
1) Átomo, Chamuel, Kemalito b Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Tengu  
7:12. Chamuel beat Micro Gemelo I to set up a title match
2) Persephone, Tessa Blanchard, Valkiria b Kira, La Catalina, Skadi   
12:48.
3) Magia Blanca & Rugido b Kojima & Okumura   
12:41. Okumura was honored by the Japanese embassy and Salvador Lutteroth Lomeli for 20 years in Mexican wrestling. Los Depredadores challenged for a MLW tag title shot and Okumura accepted.
4) Star Jr. b Templario [lightning] 
7:32
5) Ángel de Oro b Místico, Atlantis Jr., Mephisto, Esfinge, Felino, Stuka Jr., Magnus, Dark Panther, Hijo del Villano III [Copa Junior VIP, semifinal]     
28:55. Order of elimination: Villano III (via Felino; Villano III also left injured), Dark Panther (Esfinge), Felino (Atlantis), Mephisto (Magnus), Esfinge (Angel de Oro), Atlantis Jr. (Mistico), Stuka Jr. (Magnus), Magnus (Mistico), Mistico (via Magnus distraction, Angel de Oro foul and Michinoku Driver), leaving Angel de Oro the winner. He will face Star Jr. in the final next week. Magnus continued to attack Mistico and unmasked him after the match.

This Copa Junior Block was better than last week, though still nothing must see. It also appeared Magnus mistimed his interference spot, causing some confusion (and a repeated sequence) for Angel de Oro and Mistico. Star Jr. & Templario was good. The MLW tag team title match was not; it was a heavy Okumura showcase and he’s long past that point of that being a good idea.

The last week has featured

• Magnus costing Mistico a tournament final appearance
• Euforia fouling Atlantis Jr. repeatedly
• an inexplicable Averno/Volador team up for FantasticaMania.

Maybe these are all isolated incidents of not great CMLL booking. Another, probably over thinking it, is there are all the sorts of rivalries that could fill out an apuesta tournament. The comparison is the 89th Anniversario, where the four team tournament had Averno/Ultimo Guerrero, Fuerza Guerrera/Atlantis and Templario/Soberano as other possible finals in a tournament with Stuka Jr. and Atlantis. I don’t think CMLL would headline with any of those other three rivalries, but they’re definitely good enough to fill out a tournament around the one that is happening. (And I have no idea what is so far.)

CMLL (SAT) 05/25/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito b Acero & Aéreo
9:44.
2) Diamond, Leono, Robin b Dragón de Fuego, Inquisidor, Sangre Imperial
12:29.
3) Hera, Olympia, Tessa Blanchard b Amapola, Metálica, Reyna Isis
11:34. Team Tessa took 2/3.
4) Hechicero b Terrible [lightning]
9:58, Hechicero getting the submission right before the time limit.
5) Difunto, Kojima, Okumura b Hijo de Stuka Jr., Magia Blanca, Villano III Jr.
14:11. Magia Blanca (sub for Hijo del Villano) reminded Kojima & Okumura he was coming after the tag titles on Tuesday
6) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Valiente b Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
13:22. Tecnicos took 2/3

The lightning match was good, but otherwise a skippable show. The Kojima match here was better than Friday, the women’s match was worse than usual.

CMLL (SUN) 05/26/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
10:55
2) El Audaz b Legendario [lightning]
8:05.
3) Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b Lluvia, Sanely, Tessa Blanchard [Relevos Increíbles]
11:25. Team Tessa took 1/3.
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo b Brillante Jr., Hombre Bala Jr., Volcano
10:43. Rudos took 1/3.
5) Averno, Kojima, Okumura b Blue Panther, Esfinge, Fugaz
12:36. Rudos took 1/3.
6) Máscara Dorada, Neón, Star Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
11:41. Tecnicos took 2/3.

This was the better show. The main event tecnicos looked really good, and Audaz/Legendario was totally watchable.

CMLL Puebla tonight has Esfinge/Cavernario. CMLL originally said they’d stream the last three matches for the month of May for the top two tiers, which would mean this would be the last week of streaming. Of course, last week they streamed the top four matches and only for the top tier, so they’re making it up as they go.

CMLL (TUE) 05/28/2024 Arena México
1) Angelito & Galaxy vs Minos & Pequeño Violencia
2) Fuego, Legendario, Xelhua vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, El Gallero
3) Sanely vs Olympia [lightning]
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Hijo De Blue Panther vs Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
5) Kojima & Okumura © vs Magia Blanca & Rugido [MLW TAG]
1st defense
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Flip Gordon vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible

Kojima/Okumura vs Los Depredadores will probably turn up on MLW television at some point too. Match 2 could be fun.

CMLL (TUE) 05/28/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Destructor, Javier Cruz Jr., Trono vs Draego, Lince Del Bajío, Persa
2) Exterminador & Maléfico vs El Perverso & Prayer
3) Kira, Náutica, Skadi vs Persephone, Tessa Blanchard, Valkiria
4) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. vs Akuma, Raider, Vegas
5) Star Black © vs Stuka Jr. [MEX HEAVY]
3rd defense
6) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Soberano Jr., Templario

Stuka Jr. hasn’t gotten as many chances at singles matches this year but could make something out of that one with Star Black.

Lucha Libre Alto Voltaje, the promoter saying they were going to run a CMLL show at giant Arena Monterrey, said the show as moving from June 16th to August 4th. They announced this in the comments of their original post. Tickets never went on sale for the June 16th date. It’s hard to believe they’re going to be running on August 4th either.

06/28 CMLL Lady’s Ring (Lucha Fiesta #2) will include:

• Dark Silueta (c) vs Unagi Sayaki [CMLL JAPAN WOMEN]
• Amapola vs Momo Kohgo

AAA

The big focus of AAA’s TV was on the Latin Lover/Konnan in-ring confrontation from the 05/11 taping. AAA had posted the video prior. The gist is Dorian Roldan noted Konnan had often asked for more help in the office, many wrestling organizations have a head of talent and a head of creative, and so Roldan was helping Konnan (and AAA) by bringing in Latin Lover as the head of creative. Konnan remains head of talent. Those can be different jobs in reality, but AAA seems to be treating them both as equal on screen match makers. Konnan, who believes he’s a respected face, wanted to put the past behind both of them and work together. Latin Lover, who believes Konnan is a heel, cut a passionate promo on Konnan for being rotten behind the scenes and said he’d never trust him. Later, when Latin Lover saved Vampiro in the main event, Konnan tossed a barbed wire bat to Latin to help, and Latin discarded it because he doesn’t trust Konnan. The fans are completely on Latin Lover’s side.

The Latin Lover stuff is good, because the fans believe him and like seeing a star from the past come back to voice their complaints with the product and the people who run it. It’s hard to figure out how it’s going to get to a satisfying end: either Konnan wins Latin Lover’s rust (which the fans aren’t going to want to see) or Konnan turns again and there’s yet another power struggle over the control of AAA. But AAA usually isn’t concerned about where an angle is going when they start it.

The other big bit on the show is proof of that. The “eye” video was back. It interrupted the show a couple of times, including after Konnan’s segment with Latin Lover. They went through the trouble of having showing Konnan walk to the back to question Dorian about the video (he said he didn’t know anything about it) and then walk to the production van to ask them (they said they didn’t know what was happening.) Konnan complained that everyone was blaming him for it. I think he’s being too hard on himself – no one cares about this angle at all, so no one’s getting blamed for it. The TV episode ended with the prelim guys having been attacked in the locker room, with the idea it was by the mystery people. That’s exactly the angle they did in January, only they’ve moved it from top guys to bottom guys. Nothing of note has happened in four months.

TV also featured a skit where Alberto asked Latin Lover for a rematch with Nic Nemeth, saying he got cheated in Monterrey. Latin said there was a rematch clause in the contract so Alberto would get his shot, and they implied it’d happen at TripleMania Mexico City. Nemeth posted on Twitter about wanting to defend the AAA title around the world, but has so far made no defenses and has no announced next appearance in AAA.

The actual matches (or the parts I was able to see of them) were alright. Karis, Noisy and Bengala were all over the place but at least entertaining. Brazo de Oro, Vengador and Tigre Blanco were better; Vengador’s skilled at wrestling but has no look. It’s surprising AAA hasn’t pulled another gimmick out of their closet to put him under it already. The Alberto, Vampiro versus Cibernetico, Dr. Wagner Jr. match was not good at all; AAA has a really weak main event scene in terms of having decent matches right now. It also came off as if the Vipers were told to do their run in way early. They got fought off once, disappeared, and turned back up again about eight minutes later to do the same run-in (and get beat up again.) It was truly just a match that existed to set up the Latin Lover spot and give Vampiro his farewell win in this building, it didn’t need to go as long as it did.

The next Mexico City taping is June 22nd, with only Matt Riddle announced. This is about the time in advance where that card comes out, so maybe something to look for this week.

Negro Casas took Scorpio Jr.’s hair in Orizaba.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha World , INJUVE (FRI) 05/24/2024 Monumento a la Revolución, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal [Estrellas del Ring]
1) Black Skayde & Skayde b Dankar & Platino 
2) Diosa Nix, La Brava, Mary Caporal b Ariana Mami, Sairely, Satania
3) Cometa Maya, Morphosis, Radioactivo b Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Shere Khan, Sol
4) Cósmico, Ryu Orochi, Wisin El Dog vs Osiris, Rey Espectrito, Rey Halcón
4) Caballero de Plata, Mexicano, Orbita, Viajero b Atómico Jr., Auzter, Elipse, Vengador
6) Black Shadow II, Súper Nova, Texano Jr. b Emperador Azteca, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Oni El Bendito

Big Lucha streamed one match, then it died, and the rest of us it didn’t go up. It’s probably fine. Photos looked cool. Oni el Bendito (and Black Shadow II) was added to the match. He and Emperador Azteca were wearing Black and White, not the usual black and red Black Generation colors, for whatever it’s worth.

This free show was said to have drawn 15,000 people. That’s an open area near a monument, so it was probably more like 15,000 people passing through during the concert and the show.

IWRG

IWRG again didn’t post results of their show. But, since CMLL took forever to post the Friday lineup, I skimmed through for results.

IWRG (SUN) 05/26/2024 Arena Naucalpan [thecubsfan]
1) Ángel Celestial Jr. & Xtreme Kid b Fobia & Shura King 
2) Arceus, Carnicero, Skanda b Águila Guerrera Jr., Cosmic, Felino Boy 
3) Bumbu & Sacro b Estrella del Ring & Thunder Storm  
4) A. Jolotol, Auzter, Histeriosis, Pequeño Centauro, Rey Astaroth, Sky Man, Tornado, Vudu Max ?? Azteka, Cisne De Plata, Escarlata Negro, Ice Killer Jr., Pentagoncito Black, Príncipe Arión, Rayado, Steel Rock [Torneo FILL 113] 
IWRG vs Lucha Libre CM. No finish known; stream cut off and no results were posted.
5) Bengalee, Estrella Divina, Veneno b Bugambilia, Ivan Rokov, Vangellys 

IWRG didn’t always post results, it used to be that it was the other news sites who would be covering. They’re not there any more – kinda weird for Estrella del Ring to make his IWRG debut without this namesake YouTube channel present – and also nothing IWRG is doing is well worth the effort of figuring out results own my own. If the IWRG section disappears, that’s why.

Other News

CMLL did one of their vague emoji tweets, which has meant someone’s showing up somewhere. This one included a prayer hands (Mistico) and a wizard (Hechicero). CMLL posted this a few minutes before AEW Collision, which led me to believe there’d be some announcement on there. There was not, and neither was there on the PPV. AEW still has that gauntlet match on Wednesday, teasing outside wrestlers but not announcing someone. It is promotional malpractice if Mistico shows up Wednesday in Los Angeles in that match unannounced. Even if AEW announces him Monday night, they’ve missed two chances where they could’ve gotten the word out to larger audiences than social media. I would like to see Mistico on Dynamite, because it would be good and funny, but it would a terrible lapse in judgment if Mistico shows up as a surprise.

Former IWRG wrestler Dragon Fly was accused of elder abuse towards his elderly aunt and uncle. Dragon Fly moved back in with his mother earlier this year, and then had at least incidents with other family members, who live in an connected area. Dragon Fly seems to be out of wrestling; he showed up for the Hip Hop Man Anniversary show last September and hasn’t wrestled since.

CMLL

Tonight’s show.

CMLL (FRI) 05/24/2024 Arena México
1) Átomo, Chamuel, Kemalito vs Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Tengu
2) Kira, La Catalina, Skadi vs Persephone, Tessa Blanchard, Valkiria
3) Kojima & Okumura vs Magia Blanca & Rugido
4) Star Jr. vs Templario [lightning]
5) Místico vs Atlantis Jr., Ángel de Oro, Mephisto, Esfinge, Felino, Stuka Jr., Magnus, Dark Panther, Hijo del Villano III [Copa Junior VIP, semifinal]

Mistico and Atlantis Jr. are nominal favorites, but Star Jt. winning the other block likely means a rudo opponent and a maybe a untraditional final. It may also just mean something else will be the main event next week. Star Jr. should beat Templario and should look good doing it. Los Depredadors winning should not be rules out, since part of the draw here for MLW is getting video of their titles defended in CMLL and that’s a route to a match next week.

CMLL (SAT) 05/25/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) Diamond, Leono, Robin vs Inquisidor, Metálica, Sangre Imperial
3) Hera, Olympia, Tessa Blanchard vs Amapola, Metálica, Reyna Isis
4) Difunto, Kojima, Okumura vs Hijo de Stuka Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
5) Terrible vs Hechicero [lightning]
6) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Valiente vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto

There’s the Hechicero singles match people are asking for.

CMLL (SUN) 05/26/2024 Arena México
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) El Audaz vs Legendario [lightning]
3) Lluvia, Sanely, Tessa Blanchard vs Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Brillante Jr., Hombre Bala Jr., Volcano vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
5) Blue Panther, Esfinge, Fugaz vs Averno, Kojima, Okumura
6) Máscara Dorada, Neón, Star Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

New champ Neon gets a main event. Kojima wrestling Fugaz and Esfinge seems weird.

CMLL (MON) 05/27/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Meyer & Millenium vs Black Tiger & Centella Roja
2) Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray vs Crixus, Difunto, Raider
3) Astoreth, Lady Metal, Lluvia vs Hela, Lady Amazona, Tessa Blanchard
4) Esfinge vs Bárbaro Cavernario [lightning]
5) Hijo del Villano III, Stigma, Villano III Jr. vs Averno, Kojima, Okumura [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Gran Guerrero, Místico, Último Guerrero vs Ángel de Oro, Hechicero, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

So many rudos booked. Match 2 is a rematch but not a title match.

Puebla was only available on the Leyenda tier this past week. CMLL originally said they make it available for the Champion Mundial tier as well.

The Xelhua/Judas el Traidor match on the 05/19 Lucha Memes show is up on IWTV.

CMLL Informa announced the lineup from FantasticaMania Mexico. It’s got some drama.

CMLL (FRI) 06/21/2024 Arena México
***FantasticaMania Mexico 2024***
1) Astro Boy Jr., Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II vs Futuro, Max Star, Vegas
2) Magnus & Rugido vs Bad Dude Tito & Che Cabrera
3) Stephanie Vaquer © vs La Catalina [NJPW STRONG WOMEN]
fourth defense when announced
4) Máscara Dorada & Templario vs Rocky Romero & Taiji Ishimori [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Averno & Volador Jr. vs Michael Oku & Zack Sabre Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Hiromu Takahashi vs Místico

The main event is rematch from last August, when Takahashi and Mistico went to a double pin draw for Mistico’s title. Takahashi’s now on a run of losing to non-NJPW wrestlers, so Mistico will surely end the night happy. This is as much a Mistico celebration as a FantasticaMania, with his family in the opener. Both a Mistico 20th anniversary and a FantasticaMania Mexico shows are strong enough concepts that they could’ve been their own shows. It might have been better that way too, but CMLL wanted to do a big Mistico/foreigner match and so this had to be the card.

The attention is really on the semi-main. ZSJ and Hechicero went back and forth in promos this year, and CMLL fans assumed that 1v1 match was happening as soon as ZSJ was announced. That may never have been the plan, but CMLL never did anything to warn their fans it wasn’t happening. The social media response to that match and this show has been intensely negative. It’d actually be the perfect set up for CMLL to say “we’re listening to the fans and making a chance”, but CMLL is also the last company to do something like that. NJPW is heavily hinting they’re going to run that ZSJ/Hechicero match in San Jose, which is only going to make the Mexican fans even angrier. CMLL obviously doesn’t rate Hechicero as high as people on social media, but it’s had to understand why were so tone deaf to not see this reaction coming. There’s a month before this show is happening, maybe those fans will get over it, or maybe they’ll make their voice loudly heard during the match.

Pretend for a moment that Hechicero, Virus, Guerrero Maya, and Xelhua are on a space mission to Mars during FantasticaMania and so can’t exchange llaves with ZSJ. Volador and Averno are still a weird team to put together as the semi-main of a big CMLL show. Volador usually gets to be part of these events, Averno not so much. It’s a rudo spot that makes more sense going to Angel de Oro given his involvement with Oku. It’s a spot that would’ve gone Ultimo Guerrero in past years. It probably should be a Soberano spot this year, except Soberano’s clearly been downplayed since winning the incredible pairs tournament. Averno’s on the list of people for that spot, but he normally wouldn’t be the pick unless there was some other factor to it.

Vaquer/Catalina are having their fourth singles match in the last year in Arena Mexico. Vaquer won the first two, then “lost” by excessive violence in the third match. It makes a lot of sense to defend a NJPW championship on this show but they could’ve used a fresher challenger.

Normal practice is to come as close as possible to split the wins between CMLL and NJPW/outsiders. Mistico and Vaquer are strong bets to win their match. Oku & Sabre will probably win theirs. Dorada is very protected so he and Templario are likely beating Romero & Ishimori, though I wouldn’t wager a lot of money on it. Does that mean the Zaddy Daddys are defeating Los Depredadores to give NJPW a second win? Maybe?

Copa Dinastia returns in June. As last year, it’s a Sunday only tournament featuring families (and all father/son this year). The entire tournament will take place on Father’s Day, June 16th. It’s an eight team tournament, with

• Stuka Jr. & Hijo del Stuka jr.
• Felino & Felino Jr.
• Euforia & Soberano Jr.
• Blue Panther & Hijo de Blue Panther
• Panterita del Ring & Mascara Dorada
• Valiente & Valiente Jr.
• Atlantis & Atlantis JR.
• Octagon & Hijo de Octagon

One more tournament: the Leyenda de Plata returns in July. Block shows on July 12 and 19th, final on 26th. It’s a little bit early to announce a July tournament; maybe Santo being in the news motivated it.

A couple of injury came out through talk on CMLL Informa and Instagram posts. Niebla Roja‘s injury on Friday sounds like a bicep rupture. Angel de Oro described his brother’s injury as Niebla Roja’s bicep rolling up on him. Roja underwent surgery this week to repair. The recovery for that can run between two and six months. The Chavez are the current tag team champions and were attempting to break the defense record. It would be a shame for their title run to end via injury. CMLL’s gone long with titles not being defended, but they may vacate them if an idea comes up.

Tabata is also out of action following surgery. She originally hurt her left elbow wrestling in Japan during FantasticaMania, but then returned to wrestling after coming back to Mexico. It seems like she’s just now getting it taken care of.

AEW’s Double or Nothing is this Sunday. Death Triangle challenges the Bang Bang Gang (real name) for the AEW/ROH Unified Trios Championship. Normally, I’d assume PAC, Penta and Rey Fenix are not winning the titles. The victory rate for Mexicans in AEW is not great, and Forbidden Door season means people CMLL perceives as AAA-aligned tend not to be around, so it’d be tough to make the champs and then have them disappear. (Likewise, Rush has been around now for a bit but has no directly, probably because he’s about to go back on the shelf for a month.)

The flip side is that CMLL people may start popping up again in AEW as soon as this Wednesday. AEW is running a “Forbidden Door Gauntlet Match” on Dynamite. They’ve only done this type of match once before. The idea was a royal rumble format where new people get added every minute or so, but the match ends immediately ends after the first person gets pinned/submitted. For this section’s purposes, the ending isn’t as important as the beginning: “Forbidden Door” implies outside wrestlers, like those from NJPW. I feel safe guessing there will be CMLL involvement as well.

(You could never run this match stip in Mexico, the luchadors would not grasp the concept that not everyone gets to be in the match and do their spots. It’s a factor why every Copa TripleMania Rumbel sucks; everyone has to get in their spots, and it’s impossible to get people to leave the match early.)

Neon will return to RevPro on June 29th and 30th. My guess is he’s not champion by the time the big Rev Pro Anniversary show happens, that RevPro will want it to be bigger names or a battle between “their” guys, but going back this early may mean Neon gets in at least one defense in Rev Pro proper.

RevPro mentioned “FantasticaMania UK is intended to be an annual event.” Again, I may be reading too much into it, but that sounds like 2025 plans are still undecided. RevPro says they also have the license to sell CMLL merch in the UK. MLW similarly says they now have CMLL merchandising rights in the US and will be selling licensed shirts on Pro Wrestling Tees.

Long time Arena Coliseo Guadalajara Willy Estrada is hospitalized and in need of blood donations.

AAA

AAA on Space this week will start the 05/11 taping. It’s unclear what matches will air. The show airs at 3 pm local, three and half hours early.

IWRG

IWRG didn’t post results for Thursday’s show.

Sunday’s show:

IWRG (SUN) 05/26/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Canibal Kid & Xtreme Kid vs Fobia & Shura King
2) Cosmic, Felino Boy, Laberinto Jr. vs Carnicero, Milagaro, Skanda
3) Arceus, Bumbu, Sacro vs Fauno, Terror Golden, Thunder Storm []
4) A. Jolotol, Auzter, Histeriosis, Pequeño Centauro, Rey Astaroth, Sky Man, Tornado, Vudu Max vs Azteka, Cisne De Plata, Escarlata Negro, Ice Killer Jr., Pentagoncito Black, Príncipe Arión, Rayado, Steel Rock [Torneo FILL 113]
IWRG vs Lucha Libre CM
5) Bengalee, Estrella Divina, Veneno vs Bugambilia, Ivan Rokov, Vangellys

Other News

Big Lucha has a show with INJUVE this afternoon. Not sure if this will stream.

I watched a few more post-press conference Hijo del Santo interviews. Nothing huge, but there are a couple of small interesting bits. Santo is definite that he’s not wrestling for CMLL or in Arena Mexico. He always does in a way where he’s polite about it, talking about having great experiences there; he’s conscious about not letting the press blow it up to a bigger issue. Santo was also more definite about doing retirement shows in the US in the follow up interviews, like he’s certain that’s going to happen.

If I was in charge of WWE – say if my name was Nick Khan instead of whatever it actually is – I would 100% offer to honor El Hijo del Santo on their upcoming WWE shows. Bring him to the middle of the ring, congratulate them, maybe even let him mention his retirement shows in those same venues if WWE’s local promoter is fine with it. It would be massively disruptive to the local Mexican scene (always a goal) and it would give WWE a little bit more of the credibility they’d need if they’re ever serious about coming into Latin America.

If I was AEW, I would absolutely want to get Hijo del Santo one of their Arlington Collision shows. He’s drawn well there with Martinez Entertainment in the same size rooms, even against a WrestleMania. It’d have to be done carefully not to cause problems with CMLL.

(If I was Impact, I’m probably not reading a blog about lucha libre.)

Flamita, back in Dragon Gate, looks like he’s going to win a shot at their Brave Gave championship tomorrow morning. Flamita held the Brave Gate title in 2014. Dragon Gate has loved to bring him back to challenge for it over the years. He got a title shot in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019.

Mas Lucha has a show from Orizaba on Saturday for their paid subscribers. They’ve been pushing the Negro Casas & Scorpio Jr. versus Alan Stone & Intocable relevos suicida hard. Casas is probably not losing his hair off TV but the other three all have a shot. The match probably doesn’t have much a shot of being good.

Lucka Libre was scheduled to run in Tijuana this Saturday and have now moved that show to July 27th. That’s when they’d normally be expected to run after show, so this may actually be more a cancelation than rescheduling.

GALLI has a CMLL heavy show on October 6th. When Hechicero showed up on the FantasticaMania USA show, I was pretty he had a US visa. I do not have the same confidence here; I was told straight up that some of these people would not be able work this show if it happened today. The good news is it’s not happening today and there’s still a lot of time before this show happens for those visas to get resolved, but keep that situation in mind.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 05/20/2024 Arena Puebla [Porra Fresa]
1) KeMaltio & Tengu b Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II
2) Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray b Crixus, Difunto, Raider 
straight falls, setting up a title match
3) Tessa Blanchard b Zeuxis [lightning] 
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Star Black b Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
5) Fugaz, Star Jr., Valiente b Hijo de Stuka Jr., Stuka Jr., Villano III Jr. 
Villano III Jr. replaced Niebla Roja (injury); Fugaz did wrestle.
6) Averno, Euforia, Soberano Jr. b Esfinge, Flip Gordon, Volador Jr. 

I haven’t watched anything from this week yet. Fugaz and Flip had the more visible injury moments on CMLL, while I couldn’t tell you when Niebla Roja got hurt Friday. It turns out he’s the one who’s out and the other two are back wrestling. Not a great sign for Raider to return immediately in a title program.

CMLL aired the top 4 this week, so airing the top “whatever number” seems fully to be an arbitrary choice. They could air the whole show if they wanted to and we just don’t know why they didn’t want to. They also are no longer sending a CDMX announcer to work with the two Puebla local ones. I wonder if the Televisa Puebla bit is about making money off reusing the YouTube video or perhaps about using a local production crew so few people from Mexico City have to make the late night drive back from Puebla. The shows look differently after Televisa Puebla starts would be the sign.

CMLL (TUE) 05/21/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Fantasy & Pequeño Magía b Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Astral, Capitán Suicida, Valiente Jr. 
3) Fuego, Histórico, Max Star b Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider 
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma b El Coyote, Pólvora, Vegas 
5) Atlantis Jr. b Euforia 
6) Flip Gordon, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Hechicero, Soberano Jr., Terrible
Terrible replaced Niebla Roja on Tuesday afternoon

Atlantis/Euforia was said to be pretty good.

CMLL (TUE) 05/21/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Thunder Boy & Yaky Boy b Amenaza Negra & Maximus
2) Emperatriz, Lady Shadow, Miss Guerrera b Adira, Hatanna, Náutica
3) Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga b Cris Skin, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr.
4) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Hijo de Stuka Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
5) Persephone, Tessa Blanchard, Valkiria b Kira, La Catalina, Lluvia
Persephone beat Kira after a mask pull
6) Star Jr. & Stuka Jr. b Ángel de Oro & Star Black [Relevos Increíbles]
Stuka Jr. beat Star Black, asked for a MEX HEAVY title match

That title match seems to be happening but maybe they’re also doing the women’s match.

NJPW confirmed Hechicero will appear on the FantasticaMania USA show. (They’re not technically calling it “Fantasticamania USA”, just FantasticaMania but I’m going to keep doing it for sanity’s sake.) Their posters tease ZSJ also on the show. It’d be cool if both the Mexico and USA shows got that 1v1 match, but I’d be surprised if they did it twice in a short time. Meanwhile, with Mistico/Hirmou locked in for FantasticaMania Mexico, that means CMLL is either doing the Michael Oku/Angel de Oro or Hechicero/ZSJ match on that show because it’s unlikely they’re running three singles match. It’s still possible Oku/Angel de Oro just happens on a different day and it works out fine. If not, if CMLL is instead running a ZSJ/Bad Dude Tito/Che Cabrera trios match against Hechicero and two partners, they should be prepared for a strongly negative online fan reaction.

CMLL may provide answers today. CMLL Informa guests include Angel de Oro, which likely means a date set for his match with Michael Oku. Other guests include Kojima & Okumura (appearing as a team Friday), Neon (cruiserweight title win), Star Jr. (Copa Jr.) and the family teams of Felino & Felino Jr. and Stuka Jr. & Hijo del Stuka Jr. The CMLL Copa Dinastia took place in June last year to peak at Father’s Day and those guests may be a sign it’s returning for a June 16th final.

Titan is 5-2 in the Best of Super Juniors. Since last I remembered to update him here, he’s lost to Blake Christian and Clark Connors, then gotten wins over Kevin Knight and Kosei Fujita. Titan is leading his block with matches against Yoshinobu Kanemaru and TJP remaining. Desperador is at 10 as well and three people (including the two he lost to) are at 8, so Titan is not secure in the top 2 by any means.

Box y Lucha has 3604 has Mistico and Neon on the cover.

Nitro will make his annual visit to France’s APC for a teaching seminar from July 1st to July 7th. Maybe FantasticaMania France will happen once day.

El Hijo del Santo

The El Hijo del Santo retirement tour press conference took place Tuesday afternoon. The announced dates:

• 09/22 Mexico City (Arena CDMX)
• 10/05 Queretaro (Arena Arteaga)
• 10/06 Leon (Palenque de Leon)
• 10/13 Monterrey (Arena Monterrey)
• 11/01 & 11/02 London (York Hall)
• 11/09 Puebla (Arena CCU)
• 11/10 Veracruz (Arena Veracruz)
• 11/24 Guadalajara (AGDL)
• 12/08 Foro GNP (Merida)
• 03/02/2025 Xalapa (USBI)

I watched the press conference. Do not watch the press conference; it was full of press acting like fans and devoid of content. Who else is on the shows? “No one yet, but there will be surprises.” Will Santo Jr. wrestle on this shows? “His life has taken him down another path but there will be surprises.” What kind of matches will be on this show? “It’ll be like the old Todo x el Todo shows, maybe with a mask tournament, but also surprises.” What will he do after retirement? “You’ll still see me as Hijo del Santo, just not in the ring, but in other projects – I have lots of surprises.” Santo talked about working with Bobo Production because they clicked and had a similar vision for these shows, but there was no vision expressed beyond Santo saying goodbye to fans across Mexico. (One of the higher ups in Bobo Production took El Hijo del Santo to show for his birthday, and that’s where they decided to do this deal.)

I think Mexican wrestling fans would absolutely come to wrestling shows just to say goodbye to El Hijo del Santo. They’d pack them in at 2000-6000 seat buildings at elevated prices, like AAA’s generally doing with Vampiro this year. These shows are running at 12,000-20,000 seat buildings at TripleMania like prices. Maybe the demand is there, but that sure is going to be a test. The simple comparison is the the Que Viva el Rey tour built around Rey Mysterio Jr. in 2015, where AAA and music tour company/producer ZZInc built it around a rare chance to see Rey Mysterio in all these cities with a bunch of TNA/US Indie names at high prices in big venues. The first few shows drew poorly, and many of them just ended up not happening. ZZinc no longer has a website.

Mas Lucha’s Bernado Guzman asked about the large venues in a follow up interview with Hijo del Santo. He acknowledged it’ll be a challenge, but he’s always been a great ticketseller, he has confidence in Bobo to promote these shows strongly, and he plans on doing whatever press they need to get the word out about this events. (Also, he has surprises, big surprises.) El Hijo del Santo says he’ll be the one putting together the lineups for the events. Guzman talks about a lot of names he’d like to see Santo in again, hitting on Negro Casas a couple of times. Santo says it’s impossible with Negro Casas working AAA, they won’t give him permission. Guzman points out Santo said anything was possible with Bobo involved and Santo allows that, and seems to say they’ll do their best. He won’t be pinned down to any other names appearing but says the fans will like what they see.

El Hijo del Santo did explain the opening day was chosen to be as close to the day El Santo was born (September 23rd.) There’s also a chance that’s the same weekend as the CMLL Aniversario show; I don’t know for sure. He couldn’t give an answer why it was ending Xalapa – three months after the other shows even – and wasn’t 100% definite that would be the last show. Other dates may be added after. He pushed back on the idea it would be a 3-4 year tour like others, but did say he’d like to go Toluca, Acapulco, and Aguascalientes if he had the right promoter to work with and wouldn’t overexert himself with the schedule. (Preserving his health and wanting to leave in a good way where the reasons given for retirement.) Santo also pushed the idea he’d like to say goodbye to his fans in Japan and Europe if they can make it work. He kept mentioning wanting to go to Europe without mentioning two of the dates were for London; the Guzman interview clarifies that Santo want to extend that trip to other places in Europe if interest. Guzman asks about the US (specifically California) and Santo says he’d also like to that.

The one (almost) definite answer came when someone asked about the possibility of Blue Demon Jr. appearing. El Hijo del Santo said he doesn’t talk or communicate with him, though anything is possible in the future. Blue Demon Jr.’s ranted angrily in the past about how Hijo del Santo will have nothing to do with him, without really giving an explanation. The timing off the falling out seemed to be after the Blue Demon/Dr. Wagner Triplemania match (and could’ve been about working with AAA), but it’s one of those things no one wants to talk about.

In a follow up interview, El Hijo del Santo says he thought about this retirement for two years. He’s asked if he thinks he surpassed his father and gives a definite no: his father transcended wrestling and became a film star in a way he didn’t do. El Hijo del Santo believes his father would’ve been proud of what he did accomplish. Another ESTO article has El Hijo del Santo ruling out returning to Arena Mexico, saying he enjoyed the opportunities but he no longer has any connection to the building.

AAA

This week’s episode on Space will air at 3 pm local, about three and a half hours early. I am going to write about this two posts in a row in hopes of remembering it.

AAA noting a TV time change on a Tuesday is unusual for them; usually I notice first and there’s a mention late Friday night. This is a good improvement! It would be better if they could get it all the way to “mentioning it on the previous show.” These sort of time changes happen to AEW (on sister US WBD networks) often this time of year, and the two consistent things are AEW pushing the time change frequently during their previous broadcast and still a big chunk of viewers doing something else. There is no reliable public information for TV ratings in Mexico that I’ve been able to find, but I wonder the dropoff is whenever AAA gets moved around like this. It would seem to be massive.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 05/23/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Oriental & Príncipe Centauro vs Histeriosis & Sky Man
2) Bengalee & Danessa vs Kali & Mary Caporal
3) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly vs Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr.
4) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. vs Ivan Rokov, Puma de Oro, Vangellys
5) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Máscara Sagrada vs Fishman Jr., Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer

This is a free show, because it’s also a promotional event for local political candidate Isaac Montoya.

Other News

Puebla luchador Rey Komodo (Yonathan Aguilar Ramos) was beaten and stabbed to death Tuesday. The suspect  is known to police but fled the scene and had not been captured.

Masked Republic announced they’ll be creating a merchandise line based on a batch of the Santo and Blue Demon movies.

Segunda Caida writes about 2022 Black Terry.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 05/17/2024 Arena México [CMLL, FDDE, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
1) Átomo, Chamuel, Kemalito b Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Tengu   
9:11. KeMalito snuck in a foul on Tengu. Both teams agreed to a rematch.
2) Persephone, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis b La Catalina, Lluvia, Sanely   
8:22. Zeuxis landed on Lluvia’s face on a tornillo moonsault and Lluvia seemed to suffer a jaw injury. Lluvia stayed in the match until she finished her planned offense in the third fall and then left to the back.
3) Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr. b Blue Panther & Hijo de Blue Panther   
15:28. Hijo de Stuka beat both Panthers in the third fall to win.
4) Star Black © b Akuma [MEX HEAVY]   
12:00. 2nd defense
5) Star Jr. b Volador Jr., Soberano Jr., Averno, Hijo de Octagón, Niebla Roja, Dragón Rojo Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Villano III Jr., Brillante Jr. [Copa Junior VIP, semifinal]     
30:54. Elimination order: Niebla Roja (medical stop due to arm injury), Hijo del Octagon (via Averno), Villano III (Volador), Guerrero Maya Jr. (Volador), Brillante Jr. (Soberano Jr.), Soberano (Dragon Rojo), Dragon Rojo (Averno), Averno (Volador), Volador Jr. (Star Jr.) leaving Star Jr. as the block winner

The main event was one of the rougher ciberneticos CMLL, especially with main roster men’s talent. There were a lot of errors in the first half of the match. Pretty much everyone was involved one way or another. (Hijo de Octagon definitely didn’t earn the full time spot he was hoping for with his performance.) It settled down a bit as it got the last two and Star Jr. winning was a memorable upset, but the whole thing is worth skipping.

This whole show is a skip outside of the Panthers/Stukas match, which was well crafted in the usual Panther match. Akuma slipped on his apron dropkick, a mistake I’ve never seen him make before. That title match got better but never got super memorable. Lluvia being fine to wrestle until it got time for her to sell was highly amusing. The micros match was better than the last micros match but nothing you need to back and watch.

CMLL (SAT) 05/18/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Minos & Pequeño Violencia
11:52.
2) Capitán Suicida, Diamond, Eléctrico b Enfermero Jr., Forneo, Sangre Imperial
15:04
3) Amapola, Metálica, Olympia b Kira, La Maligna, Sanely
13:29
4) Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Volcano b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
14:23
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo b Esfinge, Fugaz, Valiente
10:01. Esfinge replaced Flip on Saturday. Fugaz landed on his head on a running Spanish Fly in the second fall and left the match in some pain.
6) Volador Jr. b Soberano Jr.
Volador took 2/3.

Volador/Soberano was the fair bit off goofing around expected for those two on a b-show but it was still a good match.

Fugaz went head first into the mat; I thought I could see his neck compress. He was off posting Instagram stories the next day but it would surprise me if we saw him again for a few days.

La Maligna has replaced Tiffany as the luchadora consistently having the worst performances. There was a headscisosrs on the floor spot in the third fall that she even knew wasn’t going to happen, and gave utp to an armdrag.

CMLL (SUN) 05/19/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito b Angelito & Galaxy
8:11
2) Leo (Jalisco), Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
13:56
3) Kira, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard b Hera, Sanely, Zeuxis
13:02
4) Magia Blanca b Hijo del Villano III
10:47. Magia Blanca took 1/3.
5) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Star Black b Cancerbero, Terrible, Zandokan Jr.
Dark Panther replaced Flip on Sunday. Cancerbero replaced Niebla Roja (injury on Friday.)
6) Star Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. b Averno, Euforia, Mephisto

Niebla Roja’s injury didn’t look that severe but it must be something if he’s missing shows. I got as through watching the show as far as the Magia Blanca/Villano III match, which was solid with one weird Villano III dive. Skadi, Kira and Hera were back trying things in the third match, some of which needed a little bit more baking. Mafia Tapatia was fine.

CMLL (TUE) 05/21/2024 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral, Capitán Suicida, Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Fuego, Histórico, Max Star vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs El Coyote, Pólvora, Vegas
5) Atlantis Jr. vs Euforia
6) Flip Gordon, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Hechicero, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

The FantasticaMania UK crew filter back in on this show. Atlantis/Euforia follows up from last week. Historico reappears – that’s his first match since October – and feels like a late fill in.. It doesn’t make sense for him to be booked higher than the tecnicos in the second match, but he’s taller and sometimes that’s all there is to it. Raider is also listed back, but he’s been listed back a few times and then got chagned out.

CMLL (TUE) 05/21/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Amenaza Negra & Maximus vs Thunder Boy & Yaky Boy
2) Adira, Hatanna, Náutica vs Emperatriz, Lady Shadow, Miss Guerrera
3) Cris Skin, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr. vs Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
4) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Hijo de Stuka Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
5) Kira, La Catalina, Lluvia vs Persephone, Tessa Blanchard, Valkiria
6) Ángel de Oro & Star Black vs Star Jr. & Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Match four seems interesting. Not sure why the main event setup.

CMLL (FRI) 05/24/2024 Arena México
1) Átomo, Chamuel, Kemalito vs Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Tengu
2) Kira, La Catalina, Skadi vs Persephone, Tessa Blanchard, Valkiria
3) Kojima & Okumura vs Magia Blanca & Rugido
4) Star Jr. vs Templario [lightning]
5) Místico vs Atlantis Jr., Ángel de Oro, Mephisto, Esfinge, Felino, Stuka Jr., Magnus, Dark Panther, Hijo del Villano III [Copa Junior VIP, semifinal]

Star Jr. winning probably means Mistico and Atlantis Jr. aren’t advancing to face him. Angel de Oro or Stuka Jr. would work. Templario would normally figure to beat Star Jr. but not the week before he has a big singles match. Match 3 is non-title, though could lead to a title match next week. Persephone, Tessa and Valkiria being a trio on back to back shows might be something. Week 1 is a rematch, and I suppose it could also set up a title match.

Tickets for FantasticaMania USA went on sale today. Notable is they’re no longer running the San Jose Civic Center,  but instead the Mt. Pleasant High School. (Comedian Hasan Masaj has two shows at the San Jose Civic Center instead.) The Wrestling Observer reported the high school gym has a capacity of about 1,000 people. Pro Wrestling Revolution runs their a fair bit and fills it pretty well with a few lucha names, so a full on FantasticaMania show with NJPW people will probably move tickets quick. It might also mean a few less fly-ins, with lesser ticket revenue to pay for it.

Former CMLL luchador Pequeno Nitro (Carlos Rodea Gomez, 40) passed away. The news came out this weekend when Demus (his brother-in-law) mentioned his passing on social media. (Pequeno Nitro married Demus’ sister.) Record reports Pequeno Nitro actually passed away back on May 3rd. Pequeno Nitro was a regular rudo in the CMLL minis division from 2009 to 2020, with a brief absence in 2019. His biggest victory would’ve been taking Aereo’s mask in 2012. He never returned to CMLL after the pandemic hiatus and (normal sized) Nitro unexpectedly gave the Pequeno Nitro gimmick to someone else in 2022. Record’s story is Pequeno Nitro suffered ankle injuries which took him away from wrestling, and a final one in 2023 finished his career. He felt into depression and alcoholism, and ended up living his last days on the streets. His body was found in Toluca on May 3rd, but it wasn’t until May 14th that he was identified by his family. CMLL has not acknowledged Pequeno Nitro’s passing.

FantasticiaMania UK

CMLL , RevPro , 1pm (SUN) 05/19/2024 York Hall, London, United Kingdom [@gadget80, backbodydrop, CMLL]
1) Stephanie Vaquer b Kanji
14:05
2) Bárbaro Cavernario b Robbie X
11:10.
3) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia b Kid Lykos I, Kid Lykos II, Okumura
12:38
4) James Drake, Luke Jacobs, Zack Gibson b Futuro, Máscara Dorada, Neón
15:38
5) Hechicero b Connor Mills
16:23
6) Ángel de Oro & Último Guerrero b Michael Oku & Zozaya
18:17. Angel de Oro beat Michael Oku.
7) Gabe Kidd, Magnus, Templario b JJ Gale, Místico, RKJ
15:24

This first show was largely unwatchable as a live stream; lot of buffering wheels, lots of the stream stopping and starting. The show is now up as an OnDemand show.

From what I saw live, the opener was good, Hechicero/Connor Mills was Great, and I can’t really tell you too many coherent thoughts about the rest. Angel de Oro beating Oku was shocking but immediately made sense with what was next.

CMLL , RevPro , 6pm (SUN) 05/19/2024 York Hall, London, United Kingdom [@gadget80, Backbodydrop, CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Ángel de Oro b Zozaya
12:24
2) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Okumura b Dulce Gardenia, Futuro, Robbie X
13:32
3) Máscara Dorada b Gabe Kidd, Magnus
9:42. Dorada beat Magnus
4) Stephanie Vaquer b Rhio [NJPW STRONG WOMEN]
12:00. Made a title match before the match took place.
5) Neón b Jordon Breaks [Undisputed CRUISER]
8:58. Neon cradled Breaks to win the title. He becomes the 26th champion and the first Mexican wrestler to win this championship.
6) James Drake & Zack Gibson b Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. [Undisputed TAG]
11:36
7) Místico b Templario
20:40
8) Michael Oku b Último Guerrero [Undisputed HEAVY]
17:37. Angel de Oro challenged Oku to defend the title against him when he comes to Mexico in June.

Mistico/Templario was what you’d picture in your mind given that time, and the crowd seemed to like it a lot. UG/Oku is also probably about what you’d think. The rest of the matches on this one as find enough; maybe Angel de Oro/Zozaya was a bit better than that.

The implication was Oku/Angel de Oro on FantasticaMania Mexico, though it doesn’t necessary have to be. That show will already have Mistico/Hiromu so they might save another title match for a different day.

Vaquer match with Kanji of the two, though she came off as impressive in both. She announced she’d be back for the RevPro anniversary show, the same August weekend as All In. (Maybe that’ll be more important later.)

Neon/Breaks didn’t really click until maybe the last thirty seconds. Everyone seemed shocked that title change hands; I think the expectation was the RevPro sides would be winning all of their title matches. I don’t know how or when they’re going to follow up on this; there was no indication of Neon coming back or anyone besides Oku going to Mexico. That same RevPro date as Vaquer would make sense, but RevPro runs often enough that they could slip Neon in earlier if they want.

A Wrestling Observer Radio emphasized differences between the crowd for show 1 and show 2, and how they reacted differently than a normal indie wrestling crowd. That didn’t come across on the (very flawed) stream. They were very enthuastic into the CMLL names, treating Mistico in particular like a big deal, but otherwise came off to me as a normal UK crowd. I don’t watch much UK wrestling though, so maybe it was lost on me.

Attendance seemed down from last year. I may be reading too much into it, but the show-ending speech by Oku referred to expecting FantasticaMania UK would happen again, not a definite promise it would happen in 2025.

AAA

No news from this week’s TV, but that’s for the best for the matches. I thougth the Faby Apache, La Parkita, Mr. Iguana and Pimpienla Escarlata versus Bengala, Dalys, Jessy Queen, and Parkita Negra match was Good, and therefore better than anything that happened on TripleMania Monterrey. The opener (Money Machine & Reina Dorada vs Adelicious, Belcegor, Taurus) had good moments too, though Adelicious seemed completely miscast as a ruda and wasn’t even really trying to be one. The old guys looked old.

The Crash results should go in this section because they tied in:

The Crash (FRI) 05/17/2024 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [The Crash Lucha Libre]
1) Mirage b Anubis, Gallo Extreme, Bamboo, Rey Furia, Ángel Metálico [Trofeo Querubin]
2) El Rey, Keyra, Mamba b Goya Kong, Mr. Maldito, Tony Casanova
3) Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota, Tito Santana b Destiny, Noisy Boy, Toto
sets up Carta Brava challenging for The Crash Cruiserweight Championship
4) Daga b Gringo Loco (Indie), The Beast Mortos, Willie Mack [Copa Hector Garza]
Jeff Cobb was announced, hinted he was off the show immediately, and The Crash just didn’t replace him.
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. b Dinámico & Laredo Kid and Nick Wayne & Timothy Thatcher [The Crash TAG, #1 Contenders]
Wagners face Los Golpeadors for the titles.
6) Bestia 666 b Rey Horus, Mecha Wolf [cage]
Mortos and Daga helped Bestia win.

This streamed on Facebook and is slowly going on YouTube.

The Crash also announced a bunch of stuff for the 06/15 TripleMania Tijuana show:

• Rey Horus vs Bestia 666 vs Mecha Wolf will rematch off of this main event. No stip.
• Team The Crash (Mamba, Keyra, Toto, and Anubis) versus Team AAA (Mr. Iguana w/Microman, Nino Hamburgesa, Faby Apache, Pimpinela Escarlata)
• the previous trios match is now D’Luxe, Destiny, Noisy Boy versus Komander, Laredo Kid, Octagon Jr. vs Blake Christian, CIMA, Nick Wayne

Horus/Bestia/Mecha didn’t seem to be a draw for the Crash; this show was one of their weaker turnouts of the year. I’m not sure if this is just a concept fans weren’t going to be in to regardless, but the angle getting into it wasn’t well done (and seemed rushed as if everyone agreed to do it at the last second.) On paper, that match should be big to the Tijuana fans and the AAA/Crash stuff should be big. It hasn’t turned out that way so far. The three way will probably still be one of the better matches on that TripleMania show.

Blake Christian replaces Kyle Fletcher. Christian probably won’t be working this show. What appears to be happening is wrestlers are taking bookings with The Crash, not knowing/thinking they’re working with AAA, and then NJPW contacts to let them know working with AAA is a no no if they still want to work NJPW. Blake Christian is currently leading the NJPW Best of Super Juniors. He likely will not win, but he – like Fletcher and Cobb – will not throw away future NJPW bookings over a one off random match in Tijuana. AAA and the Crash should be aware of this and stop booking people who are likely to pull off their show.

(There seems like a general theme of outside people working the show because they work for the Crash, not because of AAA. Microman’s worked a lot of The Crash and stopped working for AAA, Nick Wayne’s been on their last few shows.)

Another incomprehensible thing about AAA is how they always believe more is better, despite lots of evidence to the contrary. That three way trios match will be worse for having a third team in it. D’Luxe, Destiny, and Noisy Boy are all good and can contribute to good matches, but it’s going to slice up a time strapped match even more ways. AAA is ending up with a slightly more spectacular version of their same Copa Bardahl, where a lot of will happen and very little of it sinks it because it’s so jammed together. It almost makes sense when it’s trying to reward regular roster members with a TripleMania payoff, but now it’s paying for Nick Wayne to fly to Tijuana to do his cutter and two other spots just to say you booked Nick Wayne. It’s a waste. I think it’d be better at least as a 4v4, so I hope they just don’t replace Christian when he pulls off and move CIMA and Wayne to the other teams.

The Crash’s own next show will be June 28th with Matt Riddle, Hellboy, Tigre Blanco (debuting!), Los Golpedadors, Ninja Mack and Penta. Penta’s also announced for an Robles show in Arena Neza on June 16th against Samuray del Sol in addition to the match they’re doing in Monterrey. Penta’s working a fair bit in Mexico, just not on AAA TV.

Former AAA announcer Andres Maronas is hospitalized and urgently in need of blood donations. This is the same announcer Latin Lover talked about bringing back last week. Social media had indicated Maronas was ill prior to this news, but there’s no word on the cause.

Faby Apache and Lady Flammer appeared on social media video series Si Yo Puedo Todas Podemos. It’s a “television personality learns how to do lucha libre” bit.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha World (SAT) 05/18/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, thecubfsan]
1) Skailer & Visionario b Wisin El Dog & Zenky 
9:35. Rey Espectrito tripped Wisin off the top rope to set up the win. (Wisin actually got beheaded on the finish, but Big Lucha’s cameras did not show the face under the mascot head.)
2) Ishtar, Killer Frost, Marishka DQ Danessa, India Mazahua, Nix 
10:19. Listed as Danessa, Vecinita, and a mystery person, the Big Lucha team ended up as Danessa, Nix, and India. Both sides used weapons and shoved the referee around, but an accidental dropkick to the referee was too far (and allowed team WWS to get a win without anyone having to lose.)
3) Caballero de Plata & Mr. Win b Bogdan Klimov & M2R 
13:17.
4) Platino & Reiyel b Cósmico & Skayde 
14:36. The maestros praised the students.
5) Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo DCOR Big Bulldog, Rocky Bulldog, Terry Bulldog 
14:48. Both teams brawled outside for the draw, then did the obligatory super libre challenges.
6) Mexicano, Orbita, Viajero b Atómico Jr., Elipse, Vengador 
16:00

This stream had just one camera, a floor cam. The floor cam stood in the same corner, seemingly physically able to move but unwilling to do so. The finish to the main event saw Atomico Jr. and Viajero in the ring – they were by far the best combo – going through a bunch of near falls. The sole cameraman panned away from the ring to show Orbita and Elipse rolling around and brawling on the floor. He kept on them even as the announcers called the finish, going back to the ring only as the referee raised Viajero’s hand. There were no replays, no other cameras, so the main event finish was never shown.

That’s this Big Lucha show. None of the matches were good. Some were much worse. The Bulldogs were no good, the women’s match was a mess,  Cosmico had a bad night, the guys on the 2v2 had no rhythm and Caballero de Plata seemed totally confused. Next Friday’s show will have a different vibe as an outdoor show. The one felt like the party’s over, the party’s actually been over for some time, and it’s well past time time to go home. In my head, a Big Lucha show should always have a good match because of the level of the talent – but looking at that lineup, that’s an unfair expectation in 2024. I probably should’ve used the time to watch The Crash show.

Flamita is return to Dragon Gate. He wrestled Kzy in Hong Kong, who invited him to return to the promotion as a part of the Natural Vibes stable. This seems like it’s been in the works as while; probably at least as far back as when Flamita stopped being Demonic Flamita and became a tecnico. I suspect GLEAT and Big Lucha are done (and have been quietly done for a while.) I figure CIMA showing up on AAA shows likely means a deal may be made there instead.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 05/19/2024 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del Ring, IWRG]
1) Histeriosis & Príncipe Centauro b Sacro & Sky Man 
2) Shocko & Vudu Max b Auzter & Huitzil 
3) Soy Raymunda b Estrella Divina, Bengalee, Bugambilia, Bizhota 
4) Abigor, Sangre Azteca, Yorvak b Caballero de Plata, Luka, Multifacetico Jr. 
Yorvak & Abigor used the ropes to win, attacked Caballero de Plata post match and Shocko made the save.
5) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. b Hellboy, Misterioso Jr., Veneno 
La Pandemia beat Misteriso via mask pull. Misterioso put over the Pandemia post match and said he was coming for the IWRG heavyweights
6) Hijo del Fishman © b Máscara Sagrada [IWRG JUNIORS] 
5th defense. Fishman says he’ll defend this title in Canada.

I know nothing of this.

Other news

Saturday, I had about four different streams playing at once. I would not recommend this; you get glimpses of things but really can’t follow much.

I saw a bunch of Super X; it was streamed on Triller and in English for whatever reason. (The Triller chat was very confused by the show starting 40 minutes late, so it was not a lot of Mexican fans watching.) The English announcers were Mas Lucha’s Adrian and Bernardo, reuniting their AAA Twitch team. It also appeared Mas Lucha was doing Spanish commentary, so it’ll probably turn up their own channel at some point. The show itself felt different, more theatrical, than a normal indie show. It was also a Juventud Guerrera vanity project to the maximum; the introduction to the show included four wrestlers dressed as four different eras of Juventud showing off his moves while the actual Guerrara DJ’d in a Purge (or MAD) mask. All the big name – Guerrera, Blue Demon, Dr. Wagner Jr., The Beast Mortos – didn’t add up to a draw. The building seemed at best 1/3rd full. The three watch match between El Iluxionsita vesus Super Xtar versus El Mexkal (all indie wrestlers doing Super X specific gimmicks, and they seem to change over between shows) seemed interesting but the rest of the show was not much. The bulk of the show was a tournament for Super X’s GPCW Monster Championship, with Halcon Suriano Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Jack Evans and Guerrera himself advancing. Super X rarely runs (outside sold shows with car dealerships, who even knows what’s happening there), so I would not better on a resolution to that tournament.

I also had some glimpses of the Lucha Time show on Saturday, which streamed for free on obscure service ShowyTV. It seemed worth the price I paid for it, just a random Texas indie show that happened to have Cinta de Oro and Alberto el Patron involved. They were advertised as facing Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Sam Adonis, it ended up being Super Beast and someone else, with everyone involved on the show getting involved. There were maybe 200 people there. The building was called “Buyers 2 Arena”, but Arena overstates it. 200 people looked good enough, though no one came off as a big star. Alberto has graduated to wrestling without a shirt though.

A visit to Sexy Violeta’s hamburger shop.

Sinaloa luchador Serpiente Marina retired after 37 years.