TripleMania Tijuana and AAA CDMX lineups, CMLL early week results

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.