CMLL
Tonight’s show:
CMLL (FRI) 05/10/2024 Arena México
1) Emperador Jr. & Platino Kid vs Calavera Jr. I & Calavera Jr. II
2) Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma vs Difunto, El Coyote, Felino Jr.
3) Lluvia vs Reyna Isis [lightning]
4) Neón, Star Black, Valiente vs Akuma, Soberano Jr., Zandokan Jr.
5) Templario © vs Flip Gordon [CMLL MIDDLE]
2nd defense
6) Esfinge, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Hechicero, Niebla Roja
Templario in a big match should be a good time. The Chavez in the main event again suggests a tag title match, but Volador is already accounted for next week and Dorada will probably be off to the UK by the time this show happens. Maybe it’s just a match.
Match 4 is Soberano’s first Arena Mexico match since Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. Opener is a Torreon/Guadalajara match.
CMLL (SAT) 05/11/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Kaligua & Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) La Vaquerita, Maligna, Tabata vs Amapola, Metálica, Persephone
3) Volcano vs Crixus [lightning]
4) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Dark Magic & Espanto Jr.
5) Brillante Jr., Dark Panther, Fugaz vs El Hijo de Stuka Jr., El Hijo del Villano III, Rey Bucanero
6) Blue Panther, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Mephisto, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr.
Volcano versus Crixus is going to be a thing.
CMLL (SUN) 05/12/2024 Arena México
1) Galaxy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Legendario, Leono, Xelhua vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Dulce Gardenia, Panterita del Ring, Volcano vs Kráneo, Okumura, Sagrado
4) Magia Blanca & Max Star vs Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr.
5) Blue Panther vs Felino [lightning]
6) Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Star Jr. vs Hechicero, Terrible, Último Guerrero
Mostly standard Sunday stuff, with the exception of the odd tag match in spot 4. It’s the same amount of people as usual, just the minis are getting a trios opener instead of two people being added later.
CMLL (MON) 05/13/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Amnesia & Blue Shark vs Dreyko & Sombra Dibaolika
2) Meyer, Novato, Xelhua vs El Perverso, Enfermero Jr., Sangre Imperial
3) La Catalina, La Enigmática, Skadi vs Lady Amazona, Mayahuel, Zeuxis
4) Fugaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Star Black vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Máscara Dorada, Stigma, Templario vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Top 3 airing means the women’s match makes the cut but Xelhua one does not.
I really liked the Hera/Olympia vs Kira/Skadi match from Tuesday. Hera and Olympia have improved greatly in the last year, and they were good opponents for the unusual Kira/Skadi team. I thought that was a match CMLL would go back to because they don’t have many teams, but that’s also a match they ought to go back to because both teams showed a lot. Few things are as exciting in pro-wrestling as young wrestlers figuring things out and showing growth and that match had a bunch of that.
CMLL Informa announced the ten people for the 05/17 Copa Junior block. The entire tournament will be two blocks of ten, each winner determined by cibernetico. That first block is
- Star Jr.
- Guerrero Maya Jr.
- Villano III Jr.
- Niebla Roja
- Volador Jr.
- Soberano Jr.
- Averno
- Dragon Rojo Jr.
- Brillante Jr.
- Zandokan Jr.
Volador Jr. noted this is one tournament he hasn’t won (yet.) The 05/24 block will likely be announced next week.
Satoshi Kojima will return to CMLL on May 24th. Kojima and Okumura are challenging for the MLW tag team titles Saturday and then coming to Arena Mexico next weekend. That may be a hint how that title match is going. Kojima says that 05/24 show is the start of a tour.
CMLL Informa also officially announced Hiromu Takahashi as the last name for 06/21 FantasticaMania Mexico. He will wrestle Mistico in a 1v1 match, which will also be a celebration of the Mistico character reaching 20 years. Mistico and Takahashi wrestled to a draw last August in Arena Mexico for Mistico’s NWA Middleweight Championship. Takahashi was IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion at the time, Mistico couldn’t win without NJPW setting up a match for their title, that wasn’t the plan at the time, and so it ended up as a draw. Takahashi has since lost the title and is on a losing streak against big outside names.
Last year, Naito, BUSHI, Desperado, Tiger Mask IV and DOUKI ended up coming in for FantasticaMania Mexico on June 30th. Naito and Desperado also wrestled on AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door on 06/25, while DOUKI worked on TV in the days prior. Forbidden Door 2024 is after FantasticaMania Mexico this year, on June 30th, but it does allow AEW to split the flight with CMLL and use the same NJPW people on their shows. It is reasonable to expect Hiromu Takahashi and Zack Sabre Jr. to appear on AEW programs around that time, and it’s possible Tajii Ishimori will appear as well.
NJPW’s Best of Super Juniors kicks off on Saturday (morning Mexico City time.) Titan’s matches over the next few days:
- 05/11: El Desperado versus Titan (the main event and a free show)
- 05/12: Titan versus BUSHI
Titan should be competitive to the final day of the tournamne.
MLW has 05/11 Azteca Lucha
- Mistico (c) versus Barbaro Cavernario for the MLW World Middleweight Championship
- Atlantis Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero
- Atlantis, Jesus Rodriguez, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Felino, Virus, Villano III Jr.
- Star Jr., Fuego vs Averno, Magnus
- One Called Manders & Matthew Justice versus Satoshi Kojima & Okumura for the (vacant) MLW World Tag Team Championship
This will air on TrillerTV as part of it’s TrillerTV+ monthly subscription. The PPV portion will include two non-CMLL matches. One happens to feature Bad Dude Tito (Escondido), who’s heading to Arena Mexico for FantasticaMania Mexico. The other is a Matt Riddle match. This show is a sell out.
One downside here is the PPV is a 9 pm start, something I just realized putting this together. Bell time is 7 pm. MLW typically tapes their YouTube content before and after their live PPVs. Since MLW expected to have a big audience there primarily to see the CMLL wrestlers, they’re going to hold them all until last and tape everything else – lots of non-CMLL related stuff – prior to going live. (There’s a good chance Barbaro Cavernario and Mistico aren’t hitting the ring until 10:45 local, which isn’t great for anyone.)
I bought one of those cheap General Admission tickets, which means I ought out be in the building around an hour early to snag the sort of seat I want (far off in a dark corner), and may need to leave my house an hour prior to that to make it there. Most of the time I think I’d just eat – get there early, watch the stuff that’s good, mess on my phone on the rest, but this week has been rough outside of the blog stuff and next week’s probably not going to be much better. I’ve got very few hours where I can sit in my house and do nothing and I’m reluctant to give some of those for a promotion that might actually be good but I don’t care about much. I could just as easily eat the ticket, buy Triller+ for a month and not go. On the other hand, the actual boss (Salvador Lurreroth Lomeli) is going to be there so the CMLL guys will likely be working hard. It also feels about cheesey to complain about promotions not focusing on luchadors and then not show up to the one that actually does. I don’t know. I’m a game time decision I guess.
MLW announced Okumura will appear on the 06/01 Battle Riot show in Atlanta.
05/19 RevPro FantasticaMania UK
Show 1 (noon)
- Mistico, RKJ, JJ Gale vs Templario, Gabe Kidd, Magnus
- Barbaro Cavernario vs Robbie X
- Hechicero vs Connor Mills
- Stephanie Vaquer vs Kanji
- Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia vs Okumura & Lycos Gym
- Neon, Futuro, Mascara Dorada vs Luke Jacobs & Grizzled Young Vets
- Zozaya & Michael Oku vs Ultimo Guerrero – new
Show 2 (6 pm)
- Zozaya vs Angel de Oro
- Stephanie Vaquer vs Rhio
- Grizzled Young Vets versus Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. for the Undisputed Tag Team Championship
- Jordon Breaks vs Neon for the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship
- Mistico vs Templario
- Robbie X, Dulce Gardenia, Futuro vs Hechicero, Barbaro Cavernario, Okumura
- Mascara Dorada vs Gabe Kidd vs Magnus
- Ultimo Guerrero vs Michael Oku for the Undisputed British Championship – new
RevPro confirmed this is everything. The show will stream live on RevPro’s OnDemand service, then go up in better quality later. (There seemed to be a maybe a day gap between when the live stream ends and the OnDemand stuff goes up.) London is 7 hours ahead of Mexico City.
Hera and Olympia told ESTO their goal is to reach the standards of the Moreno sisters and other families of women who’ve succeeded in lucha libre.
AAA
AAA tapes Saturday night in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera
AAA TV (SAT) 05/11/2024 Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal
1) Karis La Momia Jr. vs Noisy Boy, Bengala
2) Adelicious, Centella (Aaa), Faby Apache vs Dalys, Flammer, Tiffany
3) Octagón Jr. © vs Dinámico, Taurus, Drago, Australian Suicide, Belcegor [AAA LA]
3rd defense, 2nd on TV
4) Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria vs Abismo Negro, El Fiscal, Psicosis
5) Charly Manson, Mecha Wolf, Pagano vs ?, Electroshock, Zorro
6) El Patrón Alberto & Vampiro vs Cibernético & Dr. Wagner Jr.
Beyond the matches, Latin Lover is supposed to make announcement about TripleMania. Dr. Wagner Jr. is also supposed to reveal who will team with him and Galeno del Mal at TripleMania Tijuana. My math has this show airing on 05/25 and 06/01, as the last new show prior to TripleMania Tijuana. (June 8th will be another ‘preview’ show from the studio if I’m guessing right.)
Match 5 is still being advertised as is even with AAA saying Pagano is out with shoulder surgery. Match 4 should have La Secta implode, but I’m more interested in finding out if the El Fiscal/Abismo Negro Jr. issue is a social media thing or a real thing. Octagon Jr. defends his title against people who are non-factors on TV, though at least it might be good. The new Taurus desperately needs a better performance. Faby Apache & Dalys, oddly missing from the Tijuana lineup, will continue their feud in the second match. Karis la Momia Jr., the son of La Parka AAA, makes his in-ring TV debut in the opener. Noisy Boy too, but Noisy Boy doesn’t have quite the same expectations on him.
The Laredo, Octagon, Komander versus Kyle Fletcher, Nick Wayne and CIMA match seems to have caught the most attention out of anything from that TripleMania Tijuana lineup. Japanese fans seemed to pay attention more than usual because CIMA (and because they thought maybe he’s one step away from being back in AEW.)
I didn’t catch it, but Zona Ruda notes Konnan at the TripleMania Tijuana press conference took a veiled shot at LA Park (and DMT Azul) drawing badly in Tijuana a few weeks back. I believe LA Park will inevitably be back in AAA but it sure comes off as if AAA people are annoyed with him and Rush after last year.
AAA’s given no indication about how long Pagano’s out. Not being on that TripleMania Tijauan lineup may be a tell – or maybe he’ll be added in when the Crash match is added. Something to watch for.
AAA announced the 06/30 Showcenter lineup earlier than usual. It might be motivated by CMLL running the Showcenter on Sunday, or it might just be a coincidence.
AAA TV (SUN) 06/30/2024 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
2) Bomba & Granada vs Oro Negro & Vasco Jr.
3) Drago vs Charro, Epydemius Jr., Ultra
4) El Lider, Toscano, Zorro vs Dulce Kanela, Pimpinela Escarlata, Yaretzi
5) El Elegido & Laredo Kid vs Antifaz & Hator
6) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown vs Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria
Latin Lover will also appear on the show. Scoria teaming Cuervo and Ozz makes no sense given the split two months prior in this same city, but they don’t really exist as anything beyond stooges for someone else to beat up. They’re stooges for the Psycho Circus to fight here, and they’re stooges for Cibernetico and Mesias to beat up at TripleMania Tijuana. They’re not booked as actual people.
The rest of this forgettable card will eat up two more weeks of TV, keeping costs low by using Monterrey/northern Mexico drive-ins for the rest of the card. It’s possible that some of these matches may be held back to air as late after TripleMania Mexico City to fill out a week of TV.
This week’s of AAA TV should be the Copa TripleMania from Monterrey and probably one match from the March 16 TV taping to fill out time. It’s intended for people to skip.
Sam Adonis will challenge EC3 for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on May 18th at the Crockett Cup in Forney, Texas. The NWA is using the AAA logo in promoting it, and AAA sent wrestlers to last year’s Crocket Cup. NWA events no longer air live but go up on the CW App at some point; they’ve fallen into a blind spot for me since going to that app.
Takuma & Mr. Iguana seem to be doing a Twitter back and forth to set up Iguana & Nino Hamburgesa showing up in GLEAT. I could be reading too much into it, but I think those AAA guys would get over there as an act.
IWRG
They’ve got a show Sunday, then a Lucha Libre Boom one on Thursday.
IWRG , LLB (THU) 05/16/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Demencia, Macho I, Macho II vs Basuroloco I, Basuroloco II, Mr. Ko
2) Argus, Hijo De Sparta, Oro Blanco, Sparta vs Gravedad Cero, Minos II, New Level, Príncipe Centauro
3) Canis Lupus NG, Carta Brava Jr. (LLB), Paranoiko vs Alas de Oro, Alas De Plata, Miss Gaviota
4) Lunatik Extreme, Súper Boy, Toto, Venganza vs Águila Roja, Fandango, Hell Boy, Puma de Oro [cage, mask, hair]
5) ?, Canek, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool
A similar main event took place in Arena Lopez Mateos. It wasn’t much good and this won’t be either. The Lucha Libre Boom cards are just about booking people they hope will draw and not about good matches or building up anything; they’re impossible to analyze outside of the attendance.
Big Lucha
Big Lucha announced Thursday they were pulling their wrestlers from the 05/12 Lucha Memes show. Nothing stirs up mexican indie wrestling gossip like a Lucha Memes/Big Lucha dispute. The Big Lucha statement doesn’t say what happened, just that still they’re trying to work to resolve the situation. Lucha Memes promoter Daniel Ledesma responded in the comments, implying he found out Big Lucha was off the show only due to a fan pointing him to this gossip, and calling Big Lucha unprofessional and saying working with them was the “worst experience of his life.”
Ledesma also posted a seven minute video explaining his side of the video, which appears to be set for only friends to be able to see. (It’s odd he does it that way.) Ledesma talks about the relationship Lucha Memes has had with other promoters, blaming it in Big Lucha being specifically hard to deal with. (Some of those relationships don’t appear current.) Ledesma bemoans the money had already spent on advertisements. Lucha Memes released a new lineup on Friday. I’m confused because I could’ve sworn the video mentioned Tonalli wouldn’t appear anyway, and now Tonalli is listed in the main event. Also notable is Tirano is added; he announced earlier this week that he was leaving Big Lucha.
If this Big Lucha/Lucha Memes thing reads like a money issue, it because it probably is one. Ledesma briefly mentions Big Lucha wanting to let all their gym members in free. Big Lucha’s side is they did want free tickets, but not to that extent. Big Lucha claims they let in about five or so people from Lucha Memes for free to their show, wanted that same number of free tickets from Memes, and Memes was giving them no free tickets. This is a dispute of about 1000 pesos, 50 USD, though Big Lucha says it was more the attitude behind that caused the issue. There are claims of other unresolved money issues stemming from the first show.
Other News
Daga versus Aramis has been added to the 05/12 Mas Lucha subcriber show from Arena Azteca Budokan.