CMLL
CMLL (FRI) 06/14/2024 Arena México [CMLL, The Gladiatores (text), The Gladiatores (video), thecubsfan]
1) Calavera Jr. I & Calavera Jr. II b Capitán Suicida & Diamond 
7:56
2) Blue Panther Jr. & Dark Panther b Crixus & Raider
16:25
3) La Catalina, Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard b Kira, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis [Relevos Increíbles]
9:57. Lluvia & Blanchard beat Vaquer & Zeuxis and demanded a tag title shot for Tuesday. Vaquer & Zeuxis accpeted. Catalina, who defeated Vaquer in fall 2, said she’d win the NJPW Strong championship next Friday.
4) Bad Dude Tito, Che Cabrera, Zandokan Jr. b Flip Gordon, Neón, Star Jr.
11:14. Flip Gordon replaced Volador Jr. on Friday. Tito and Cabrera win their CMLL debut.
5) Templario b Michael Oku
13:45. Oku (w/Amira Blair) loses cleanly in his Mexico debut, worked as a rudo.
6) Esfinge, Máscara Dorada, Místico DQ Averno, Euforia, Soberano Jr.
17:02. Mascara Dorada replaced Atlantis Jr. on Friday (leg injury) Straight falls. Euforia unmasked Esfinge for the DQ after ducking out on him all match. Averno and Soberano unmasked Mistico and Dorada after the fact. CMLL announced the Aniversario date directly before this match.
The original design of the main event probably had Soberano Jr. with recent rival Atlantis Jr,’s mask, Averno with forever rival Mistico’s mask and Euforia with Esfinge’s mask, maybe trying to get that match on the same level. There was no special chemistry, it would’ve come off simply as the feud of the week, but suddenly doing an Esfinge/Euforia feud right after the Aniversario show got announced is eyebrow raising.
Templario/Oku was Great, with the two meshing well together. Oku played rudo here and stronger so as the week went on, and Templario’s offense is flashy enough that he always work fine when he’s on the tecnico side. I don’t think the finish came off as intended but it was still impactful enough – and kind of a surprise, with Oku taking a singles loss before he defends his title. Templario made belt motions, so perhaps that’s going somewhere later.
The Zaddy Daddys did well and had a useful group of people to throw around and make big comebacks. The women worked very hard in the time they were given, though the title match came out of nowhere. First two matches weren’t quite as good as they looked on paper.
CMLL officially announced the Aniversario as taking place on September 13th. They announced the 91st Aniversario show 91 days out, just like they announced they 90th Aniversario show 90 days out. I’m kicking myself on this; I saw a reminder of that countdown earlier this week – it tied in with the Tunel – and didn’t think to bring it up or do the math. Assume CMLL will do this every year until they don’t: next year’s announcement will likely come on (Thursdays) June 12th, June 19th or June 26th for those same dates in September.
CMLL also immediately put tickets on sale for the Aniverasario. You should still have plenty of time to get tickets if you’re thinking about going, though the best tickets are scooped up (and probably not on sale.) The ticket prices run from 305 to 3294, slightly higher than last year’s 300 to 3000 prices. That’s probably more fees/inflation than a change in the quality of people involved in the match. Last year’s mask loser was Dragon Rojo (with Angel de Oro losing his hair for the first time), 2022’s loser was Stuka Jr. (with Reina Isis also being unmasked.) The profile is someone who main events occasionally on the secondary show and usually works 4/5 from the top on the other shows. That certainly fits Euforia but I really prefer to table this conversation for a week. FantasticaMania and the Leyenda de Plata are the two places where CMLL might heat something up for that Aniversario. One of those is happening Friday, we may have more info following that, and I’ve got so much else to write about now.
CMLL (SAT) 06/15/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Galaxy b Pequeño Violencia [lightning]
7:34.
2) Eléctrico, Leono, Retro b Grako, Inquisidor, Sangre Imperial
16:51
3) Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray b Futuro, Legendario, Max Star
12:19.
4) Kira, Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard b Hera, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis [Relevos Increíbles]
10:56. Lluvia and Tessa again said they’d beat Vaquer and Zeuxis on Tuesday for the tag titles.
5) Bad Dude Tito & Che Cabrera b Dragón Rojo Jr. & Terrible
12:48.
6) Michael Oku b Volador Jr.
14:10. Volador may have had the match won on a backcracker but Amira threw in her shoe as a distraction. Oku later won with a sunset flip grabbing the ropes.
I didn’t like Oku/Volador as much as Oku/Templario; Volador didn’t seem as into it and they didn’t seem to gel as well. The semimain guys didn’t really gel together, but that was to be expected. I thought match three was the best of the bench.
CMLL (SUN) 06/16/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Angelito & Shockercito b Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
joined in progress on the stream
2) Kemalito b Tengu [lightning]
5:49
3) Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard, Valkiria b Náutica, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
10:42. Lluvia & Tessa again said they’d win the tag titles on Tuesday
4) Ángel de Oro, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Bad Dude Tito, Che Cabrera, Michael Oku
13:33
5) El Hijo de Octagón b El Hijo De Blue Panther, El Hijo de Stuka Jr., Felino Jr., Máscara Dorada, Soberano Jr., Valiente Jr. [Copa Dinastias, battle royal]
6) Máscara Dorada & Panterita del Ring b Valiente & Valiente Jr. [Copa Dinastia, quarterfinal]
6:06
7) Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr. b Felino & Felino Jr. [Copa Dinastia, quarterfinal]
8) Euforia & Soberano Jr. b Blue Panther & El Hijo del Blue Panther [Copa Dinastia, quarterfinal]
6:02
9) El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr. b Máscara Dorada & Panterita del Ring [Copa Dinastia, semifinal]
10) Euforia & Soberano Jr. b Hijo de Octagón & Octagón [Copa Dinastia, semifinal]
4:47
11) El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr. DQ Euforia & Soberano Jr. [Copa Dinastia, final]
9:15
The Copa Dinastia was in the range of most recent CMLL one night tournaments. Matches were slightly better than average but the final was slightly worse for the underwhelming finish. Euforia pulling Esfinge’s mask on Friday seemed to heat up a feud, Euforia pulling Hijo del Stuka Jr.’s mask felt like they just needed a way for the Stukas to win but not actually win. It seems reasonable Atlantis and Atlantis Jr. were scheduled to win this and then CMLL shrugged and threw a dart at the wall to choose a winner after Atlantis Jr.’s injury. The Stukas winning do give them some credible win to fall back on as perennial title challengers. The Octagons may have been a more prestigious fall back plan, but Octagon struggled to get through a single three minute match. Hijo del Octagon continues to have moments where there might be something there and then some where he’s completely out of his league.
Almost all of the lineups for this week were previously announced, but since it’s been some time.
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
6) Místico vs Averno
I expect Mistico’s going to draw three very big houses this week.
Match 4 is a rematch off a really great match from last week. (I recorded it, but my Puebla recording is all janky; I’m going to try and see if I can get the Tuesday re-air to go better.) If Neon pins Stigma again, that’ll be a title match next week. Perverso and Prayer have a hair match in Guadalajara the next night; Tuesday is going to be a lot of bus rides for them.
CMLL (TUE) 06/18/2024 Arena México
1) Emperador Jr. & Retro vs Hunter & Infarto
2) Leono, Robin, Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Akuma, Crixus, Felino Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
4) Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis © vs Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard [CMLL WOMEN TAG]
2nd defense
5) Esfinge, Flip Gordon, Star Black vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
6) Michael Oku © vs Ángel de Oro [REVPRO HEAVY]
13th defense
This is the one ‘new’ lineup for the week, though the singles title match was set weeks ago and the tag title one was official on Friday. Angel de Oro talked up his title match with Michael Oku in good English on Sunday’s show; he was far ahead of Andrade. (Andrade is not the bar; the bar is significantly better than Andrade.) Tessa & Lluvia seemed like they had a chance to actually win the belts after their challenge on Friday; winning all the lead up trios suggests otherwise. Vaquer seems likely to pick up two title defenses in a week before heading back to AEW TV. Nothing else really needs to be seen here.
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, Prínce Drago
2) Adira & Náutica © vs Hatana & Valkiria [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG]
3) Exterminador & Maléfico vs Perverso & Prayer [hair]
4) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring vs Felino, Rey Bucanero, Satánico
5) Brillante Jr., Máscara Dorada, Valiente vs Hechicero, Soberano Jr., Templario
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
7) Místico vs Volador Jr.
Arena Coliseo Guadalajara will move their Tuesday start times from 9:00 pm to 8:30 pm, a permanent change. This wasn’t officially announced until the poster came out Friday; Arena Puebla’s time change was talked about for weeks ahead of time. The start time for Guadalajara has bounced around a bit more than the other arenas: it was 8:45 up until the pandemic shutdown, and 8:30 prior to that. Arena Coliseo Guadalajara has always appeared to be the most heavy drinking of the CMLL buildings and sending them home a little earlier in the night might be a good idea. Or it might just give them time to hit up another bar. The other factor is CMLL’s cut about a half hour off of these Guadalajara shows this year, and perhaps starting earlier will let them go a little longer.
CMLL’s also raising the prices for this show. They were 100 to 500 pesos last week, and they’re now 200 to 800. It’s possible this is just a one week Mistico 20th Anniversary price.
El Informador has an interview with Satanico, who hits 51 years of wrestling as of Monday. He has mentioned no plans of retiring. Satanico is a wrestler because he was enamored with El Santo movies and dreamed of how he would try to defeat him. (He says they wrestled five times, and Santo let Satanico see his unmasked face on the third one.) Satanico says the Guadalajara gym at one point supplied 80% of the wrestlers to the Mexico City based EMLL. There were sure a lot but it would be hard to get to that number unless they greatly expanded the definition of training at the gym. There’s a general history of Arena Coliseo Guadalajara article as well leading into Tuesday’s show.
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
Takahashi showing up here – and not a day prior – makes me wonder if he’s got a sidetrip to AEW this week. Volador does get a chance for revenge in the semi-main (but ZSJ probably isn’t losing.) Catalina is going to have a long painful night.
There’s a Mistico themed Turibus to celebrate his 20th Anniversary. I wonder how much money CMLL and the Mexico tourist department have made for each other on these busses since they started working together; special themed busses suggest they’re doing pretty OK. Mistico says he’d like to face Octagon or Atlantis in a mask match to make his name even bigger. CMLL ain’t running those matches any time soon at the prices they’re charging.
There are no CMLL wrestlers in NJPW’s G1 tournament or their smaller qualifying tournaments for the final spot. This is not a surprise. It does mean it feels time go back to a previous statement and re-evaluate it. Back in December, Soberano Jr. told a group of CMLL press that he had two contracts, one with CMLL and one with NJPW. I found it surprising at the moment – NJPW doesn’t sign typically sign CMLL people and have been slow to put regularly used foreigners under contract – but Soberano brought it up himself and appeared honest about it. Since December, Soberano has only appeared in NJPW Japan’s shows for the CMLL wide FantasticaMania cards. He was additionally appearing on the NJPW US shows until he had visa issues, but Soberano’s not appeared in the G1, in the NJPW Cup, in any other tour besides the one a year that NJPW has with all CMLL wrestlers. I have no additional or new information on Soberano’s contractual status with NJPW, but it seems clear this point that “Soberano says he has a NJPW contract” does not mean what anyone would’ve thought it mean. Maybe plans changed, maybe the US visa issue affected things, maybe whatever’s kept Soberano downplayed in CMLL this Spring has affected his work elsewhere, maybe it’s a classic example of a wrestler telling a tall tale that they think will never come back to hurt them, maybe NJPW really does have Soberano under contract and they’re just not using him now but he’ll pop up around World Tag League again. I don’t have any idea, just that we probably shouldn’t think about “Soberano has a NJPW contract” as a meaningful news item at this point. This topic doesn’t even come up in CMLL circles any more but I did spot it still mentioned around NJPW discussion and I think it’s a dead topic.
AAA – TripleMania Tijuana and other notes
AAA TV (SAT) 06/15/2024 Estadio Chevron, Tijuana, Baja California [AAA, Claro Sports, FDDE, Lucha Azteca, thecubsfan, Triller]
***TripleMania XXXII (Tijuana)***
1) Faby Apache, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa, Pimpinela Escarlata b Anubis, Keyra, Mamba, Toto
12:03. Faby pinned Keyra with a Dragon suplex. Hijo del Tirantes returned as referee in this match.
2) Havok, Rosemary, Tasha Steelz b Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla
8:03. Steelz frogsplashed Maravilla. Las Toxicas had been undefeated as a trio since forming.
3) D Luxe, Destiny, Noisy Boy b Komander, Laredo Kid, Octagón Jr. and CIMA, Dinámico, Willie Mack
15:05. Originally announced with Kyle Fletcher (NJPW.) Fletcher replaced by Blake Christian on 05/15, and the match changed to a three way tag match with The Crash team (Destiny, D Luxe, Noisy Boy) added. Match changed once again on 05/28 with Willie Mack replacing Blake Christian (NJPW.) Match changed a final time day of the show, with Dinamico replacing Nick Wayne (AEW/father’s day). D Luxe beat Dinamico after a foul.
4) Dark Scoria, Dark Spíritu, El Mesías b Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz
9:07. Moved up a spot (meaning it made the live Space/HBO/Claro broadcast.) Mesias pinned Ciberentico cleanly after a spear through a table. Cuervo & Ozz helped Ciber away, and it appeared to be the end of the feud.
5) Mecha Wolf b Rey Horus, Bestia 666
13:18. Moved down a spot. Earlier, Bestia and officials from The Crash attempted to present Damian 666 with a plaque, but were interrupted by Mecha Wolf and Konnan. They promised to beat AAA tonight, and Bestia and Mecha brawled. All three men fought as equals, even with Mecha and Bestia (unsucessfully) working together. Mecha defeated Horus.
6) Dr. Wagner Jr., Galeno del Mal, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. b Brazo De Oro Jr., Negro Casas, Psycho Clown
Originally, the final member of team Wagner was said not to be Wagner 3 and to be revelaed in 05/11 Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera. No one was revealed at Gimansio Juan de la Barrera and Wagner 3G was added on 05/28. (A) Silver King Jr. and Simon Blanco appeared with the Wagners as part of the full family. Wagner3 beat Brazo de Oro clean. Psycho fought all three Wagners after the match.
7) Parker Boudreaux, QT Marshall, Sam Adonis, Satnam Singh b Alberto el Patrón, Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Vampiro
13:18. Jeff Jarrett accompanied the foreigners. (Karen did not this time.) Earlier, both Jarrett and Adonis taunted the crowd and Marisela Pena. Faby Apache fought Jarrett off during the match, but was eventually held at bay by Hijo del Tirantes. Latin Lover ran in for the save, then left and stood outside for the last minutes. Jarrett returned to the ring to foul Vampiro. Satnam got the win.
There was no moment you missed by missing this show, no match that everyone was talking about the next day. The Wagners/Casas match was the best of the bunch, a professional trios match that would’ve fit in fine on a CMLL Tuesday show. It was not the kind of match you expect to be the best match on one of the biggest shows of the year, nor was it setting out to be that. The three way trios and three way singles back to back magnified their weaknesses; there were some really cool spots, but no story or flow because the circumstances left the participants with no space beyond taking turns to get in offense. They’ll make for strong highlight package but left me cold in real time. The rest was either fine but forgettable or bad but possibly intentionally so as a heat getting mechanic (the main event.)
Nothing on this show felt important. The foreigners won by foul, same as they’d do on a TV match, same as D Luxe had done earlier in a meaningless match. Mesias pinned of Cibernetico and it was treated with the reverence and meaning of a lame duck late season game between two teams that aren’t coming close to the playoff. The “eye” video played, preceding Konnan and Bestia’s introduction at the start of the show and to suddenly close out the show, reminding people that “story” exists while continuing to not advance an iota since January. The AAA/Crash “score” ended up an unresolved 2-2; you were lonely if you were the one person who cared about that, but you didn’t get anything meaningful there. The Bestia/Mecha/Horus match was specifically booked to make sure that nothing happened, that Horus was the one to take the pin from ally Mecha Wolf so they could run the real meaningful matches later on (on much smaller shows.) All these TripleManias will eventually be packaged into a video package to be shown at future TripleManias and I have no idea what moment they’ll choose that’ll be immediately identifiable as Tijuana 2024. There were a lot of cool dives, but there are always are. Rayo de Jalisco Jr. got honored, but that video package also showed him being honored very similarly last year – it’ll be hard to keep those straight. Maybe it’ll be something as random as Tasha Steelz getting the pin or Rosemary dancing, because who knows if we’ll ever see them again.)
People reacted to this show as if it was not worth remembering even before it happens. I expected the English speaking internet in TripleMania Tijuana to be low and it was that. It was just the very few people who talk about any major lucha libre shows talking about it; I heard a story that even the pirate sites weren’t interested enough to keep their stream of it working at one point. What was a bit surprising is the visible empty seats. AAA TripleManias, especially the outdoor ones, always start off with a lot of visible empty seats for the first few matches. Those usually fill in by the middle of show. They did not fill in nearly as much here; the overhead angle that AAA kept going showed plenty of floor seats and closer stadium seats empty until it got too dark to see it all. It was more full in cheaper areas, so price for this card was part of the issue, but it appeared to be the lowest attended TripleMania since they started going to Tijuana, and under 10,000 fans easily. I thought the poor TripleManias – and there’s a streak of them going back to last year – would erode attendance slowly. There’s tradition to these things, it’s the one big show a year these cities get, the assumption is they’ll take something not great over nothing. Saturday’s turned suggested the decline is happening a bit faster. Mexico City remains AAA’s strongest city so I expect AAA will do better for that TripleMania. It just doesn’t feel like a sure thing AAA will be back to Tijuana for another one of these in 2025 right now.
Nothing was definitely set for TripleMania Mexico City. There’s vague ideas in multiple directions. The TJ/The Crash stuff was probably just for this show and is staying in TJ. The foreigners will surely wrestle at TripleMania Mexico City but it wasn’t clear again who. Vampiro will retire at TripleMania Mexico City but no one’s going to know until the press conference. Maybe there’s more stuff with the Wagners and Psycho Clown.
An interesting reaction was some disappointment and anger from Mexican fans, but not towards usual heat magnets Konnan or Dorian Roldan. Latin Lover talked about changes and surprises in AAA, and specifically unadvertised people appearing on this show. None of that happened. This was still largely the same AAA show, and those fans expecting an immediate difference felt they Latin had lied to them. There were slight changes – only the main event had a run-in, Hijo del Tirantes did not cheat for the rudos in his matches – but it was not what people had dreamed up based on Latin’s comments. Latin had also remarked that he didn’t get involved in Monterrey’s bad match because he knew it was a bad match and didn’t want to be part of it. Tijuana’s main event was just as bad and Latin Lover was happy to do a heroic run in, which came off as going back on his word. Latin Lover had repeatedly talked about wanting to be behind the scenes and that his time in wrestling is done, but every show since he’s started has included Latin Lover running in on the main event and running through the rudos. (Even when it doesn’t make sense; doing the superman act here made it very silly when he stood outside doing nothing as Vampiro got fouled and pinned.) If you ignore what’s being said and just watch what’s happening, AAA is building to Latin Lover wrestling in Mexico City against Jeff Jarrett and/or his crew. That may be actually what’s happening, AAA may need something like that to draw, but it would expose Latin Lover’s words pretty badly. It’s unfair to expect real changes in a short time, but one of the skills Latin Lover probably needs to pick up is how to manage expectations.
The opening segment was scheduled to be Halloween and Damian being honored and a video aired promoting such. Only Damian appeared. AAA officially said nothing. There is a story that Halloween was there but in no condition to perform. Halloween has a history of those sorts of issues, and has talked about it publicly, which is the only reason I’d pass it on without getting confirmed.
AAA has posted a near two hour Best of TripleMania Tijuana video on YouTube for free. It was blocked in the US due to a music issue, but maybe they’ll see I posted that and fixed it by time you read this. The full show will probably be up later in the week.
TJ Sports posted an media scrum with Latin Lover from before TripleMania. He mentions he really needs two or three more weeks to get a grasp on this job, because he’s meeting a lot of people for the first time – including the sons of La Parka and Abismo Negro. He does mention he’d like to some changes already, like no more heel referees especially in big matches. (1) He also talked about wanting to overdeliver for fans by giving them more than was advertised, so people feel rewarded in coming. He says there will be unexpected people who appear on TripleMania Tijuana – unless that’s the owner of the Crash and Violent J, it doesn’t seem to have happened. Latin does caution people that changes are coming, but he isn’t the decider on these things. Latin mentions announcing him as Director of Talent and the Unimas deal at the same time was a Dorian Roldan plan, hoping that the attention would get more attention for the new TV show. I’m not sure it actually worked out that but it was definitely worth a shot.
Latin again mentions two CMLL people who’ve reached out to him about coming aboard and that’s those are Dorian decisions, not part of his powers. He teases one of the people may debut in Mexico City or Aguascalientes. Latin praises CMLL and their wresters, and accurately notes that one big difference is the CMLL shows in Mexico City are different (and better) than the ones CMLL wrestlers are around outside of their arenas, while the AAA show is the same quality no matter what city they go to.
Latin mentions that when Vampiro came to talk about the podcast they did together – the podcast that is partially responsible for AAA’s success this year and that AAA had nothing to do with, it needs to be continued to be said – Latin thought Vampiro was actually getting a hold of him because Vampiro was between apartments and needed a place to live. Latin was going to offer Vamp a room at his gym, but Vampiro was actually fine.
(Aside 1: As mentioned earlier, Hijo del Tirantes returned to TripleMania after missing Monterrey, did outside the ring bits with the Jarrett group, but otherwise called the matches without doing any of his characters bits. This also happens every few years, and then he just starts doing heel referee stuff again and no one seems to stop him.)
AAA has tended to announce the next TripleMania lineup in the week after the last TripleMania ended. It might wait a little big longer this week; there’s no sense in announcing anything until after Saturday’s TV taping in Mexico City. Perhaps they’ll get they’ll announce the Verano de Escandalo and TripleMania Mexico cards at the same time.
Matt Riddle missed his shows this past weekend, saying he got concussion while riding an uber to the airport. He announce this before the shows happened, which was better than most. (Better than the Nick Wayne/AEW situation.) Matt Riddle is also kinda sketchy, to put it charitably. Matt Riddle is schedule to headline that AAA TV taping on Friday. Likely he’ll be there. Likely AAA should already be coming up with an in-house back up plan in case he can not be there. Likely AAA will not come up with an in-house back up plan because they don’t do those sorts of things.
Lucha Libre Online reports that WWE, after making deals with promotions in Japan and the UK, would like to do so with promotions in Puerto Rico and Mexico. I would think that would mean only CMLL and AAA in Mexico – but Puerto Rican wrestling isn’t in a strong place right now. If WWE is really willing to partner with a group there right now, perhaps there’s smaller groups they’d partner with just for the sake of having a partner.
This note is in the AAA section though because that’s the most obvious partner – their relationship with AEW is no more than “we’ll let you book our guys if we don’t need them (but maybe we’ll still need them and you won’t have them.)” There sure seemed an attempt at a AAA/WWE deal around the time of Dragon Lee’s departure but nothing seemed to come from it. That’s it didn’t happen that time and that this is a vague rumor not directly linking WWE to AAA when they’re the glaring obvious partner at least hints there’s other reasons those two groups aren’t working together. To put it more plainly: if there was going to be a WWE/AAA deal, it seems like there either would’ve been one or LLO would’ve specifically telegraphed that was WWE’s preferred partner. There may be a piece we’re not getting.
(AAA would obviously benefit in the short term from a WWE deal. Those deals haven’t worked out in the longer term. It’s a reasonable argument that AEW should’ve worked harder to keep their relationship with AAA while working with CMLL to hamper WWE’s progress in Latin America, but the biggest factor in WWE coming to Latin America is if WWE is serious about it or not.)
It’s worth remember that this is coming from Lucha Libre Online, so their main focus is on the Puerto Rico aspect, but they would be better aware than most of any WWE/AAA direction given Hugo’s involvement.
AAA – Unimas
AAA kicked off it’s run on Unimas this Saturday with two matches from TripleMania Tijuana:
- Tigre Blanco, Bestia 666, Negro Casas vs Dr. Wagner, Sanson, Forastero
- Nic Nemeth vs Alberto el Patron for the vacant championship
The strategy is transparent: debut with a big show and with names (Alberto, Nemeth, Casas, Wagner) that the average Unimas viewer may already know. There wasn’t anything to explain what was going on in these matches, but this was a new video package to sell the importance of TripleManias and to highlight Alberto and Vampiro. A lot of the before/after the bells, like entrances and in-ring promos, were edited down to move along faster. The matches themselves may have been cut down. I think any match editing was for time reasons rather than quality ones, judging from what was left in.
There’s no new material here on these shows; you’re not missing anything if you’ve been keeping up through AAA’s YouTube or an illicit viewing of one of the many Mexican TV airings of AAA. If you prefer to watch it on Unimas and are unbothered about being weeks behind, you now have that option. This Unimas show is not for the people reading this blog, it’s hoping to find a new audience that hasn’t been paying to attention to AAA in the hopes they stick around. There could’ve been more done on that account – could’ve been done more to alert people that this is a weekly show, not a one time appearance, could’ve pointed people stronger to AAA’s socials for more information, could’ve aired more to explain what was going on in AAA – but evaluating it critically for the on screen portion is beyond the point. The point is for to exist and exist at some professional level. It did both.
A positive sign for AAA is Unimas has no problems in selling ads during this show; there were all sorts of national and big brand commercials during the breaks – one break had Pizza Hurt, Sam’s Club, Macy’s, and Oreos among others. I presume it’s just Unimas selling the entire day or weekend of shows as one package than selling against AAA specifically, but it’s great for AAA if Unimas can just sell it like any other time. That hasn’t been the case for wrestling historically.
Next week’s show has the Mexico/Foreigners match and the Vampiro main event. AAA re-edited the Nemeth/Alberto finish to hide how badly that went. There’s no real reason for me to keep close eye on a show that’s airing repeat material and nothing new, but I am curious in how they try to salvage the finish bit of that Vampiro match.
One curious thing is the onscreen graphics going in and out of breaks promoters “TripleMania Monterrey”, almost as if that was the name of the show. We really don’t know anything about this deal beyond “AAA is on Unimas.” They haven’t said for long, they haven’t said for which episodes. AAA previously had deals to air Best of TripleMania shows on TUDN and just the TripleManias on Estrellas TV. It’s conceivable this is a deal that’s just for the TripleManias and the rest is dependent on how those shows do. It’s also possible this is just a normal long term deal between and AAA/Unimas and those parties decided TripleMania Monterrey was just the best starting point.
Eitehr way, Unimas could and likely will just air TripleManias for quite a while. They’re on pace to get four weeks out of TripleMania Monterrey and could get four weeks out of TripleMania Tijuana following that – it’d be early August before they needed to air anything else beyond TripleMania. Unimas airing two matches a week also means they’ll be forever behind AAA’s Mexico airings and still be picking and choosing what to air. That’s the same situation NJPW has had with their AXS airings and that worked out fine for them when the product was hot. My favorite part of those original NJPW shows were the framing interviews they’d have before and after the matches, talking to one of the wrestlers involved in a calm sitdown interviews about what that match meant to them. That sort of context helps with new viewers. I’m just not sure there’s a lot of coherent context to AAA’s matches to make that work.
I believe Saturday TV ratings numbers tend to turn up on Tuesdays, so that may be when AAA’s numbers will be known. Public ratings sites typically have numbers for the top 150 shows. My guess is AAA will be in that top 150 but I’m be afraid to bet any real money on it. It’s not an AAA issue, it’s just way outside my knowledge.
IWRG
IWRG (SUN) 06/16/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, La Tijera]
1) Puma de Oro b Hysteriosis, Sky Man 
Match was listed as Auzter & Sky Man vs Rey Aztaroth & Simon Blanco
2) Príncipe Centauro & Rey Halcón b Multifacetico Jr. & Tornado Jr.
3) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. b Aramis, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly
4) Misterioso Jr. DQ Pantera
Misterioso Jr. got DQed for shoving the referee (he got the visual pin before the ref raised Pantera’s hand so both could claim victory.)
5) DMT Azul, Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus b Arez, Látigo, Toxin
sets up an EDM trios title match
6) Bugambilia L Estrella Divina, Shamila, Miss Gaviota, Sádika, Keyra, Bengalee, Paymon, Zoy Raymunda, Mary Caporal [mask, hair]
Estrella Divina and Bugambilia were the final two, raced down the side of the cage to escape, and Bugambilia idiotically kicked Divina off the cage to cost himself his hair. Sadika replaced Sexy Star
Long ago, IWRG infamously had a similar finish with El Golpeador (father of Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf) and Golden Magic (now Octagon Jr.) were climbing down the cage at the same time and fighting. Golepeador, who was not really built for that kind of spot at that point in his career, slipped and touched the ground before Golden Magic, messing up the finish. IWRG just sort of ignored that, but it killed Golden Magic for a while. They were not going to mess it up the same way this time, but Bugambilia actions – attacking his opponent in a way that could only cost himself the match – makes him come off as the dumbest person alive. The reason IWRG – and most wrestling promotions – do these escape the cage rules is to purposefully have controversial finishes, but the only controversy here is why a purposed sporting event would decide a winner and loser in such a fashion.
I’m sure there are other reasons, but I really enjoy Sexy Star saying she had no interest in wrestling these IWRG people and then no-showing the big cage match. (IWRG had replaced her with Sadika on the poster prior.) Good turn for the IWRG cage matches, as always happens.
IWRG (THU) 06/20/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Sacro vs Fauno
2) Mary Caporal vs Shamila, Kali
3) Spider Fly vs El Bendito
4) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Jessy Ventura vs Khlan, Misterioso Jr., Vangellys
5) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Luka, Pandemónium Jr. vs Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool
Through various mishaps I’ve typed this lineup three times, so I can identify with Spider Fly and Bendito wanting another shot at it. I’m not sure either of us should bbe getting it – the referee messed up in that match, but Spider Fly and Bendito kinda messed up in their reaction. (Also, I think everyone should call him Oni El Bendito, it’s a much better name.)
Other Notes
RIOT (SAT) 06/15/2024 Venue867, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon [@thekoko666]
1) Aero Boy b Iron Kid
2) Dash, Kaientai, Lord Byron DRAW Nossivo, Radar, Ultra
3) Willy Banderas b Gravity (Indie)
4) Hijo de Canis Lupus b Demonio del Aire
5) Dulce Tormenta b Zuzu Divine
6) The Beast Mortos b King Rex
7) Arez, Látigo, Toxin b Kratoz, Prometeo, Vengador (Querétaro)
8) Erik Ortiz © b Travis Banks, René Rocks [RIOT CHAMP]
Matches 4/5/6 sounded like the were the best ones. No idea when/if this will turn up.
Alejandro Zermeno was among four people arrested in Mexico City in association with a bust of a marijuana greenhouse recently. Reporter Carlos Jimenez says Zeremeno has been wrestling as “Diablolico” locally. He posted the photo of Diabolico in his gear so I’m sure that’s true, but I can’t find any lineups with an Diabolico/El Diabolico in it; he’s a very low level guy if he’s active. (Or maybe it’s “[something] Diabolico.”)
Chica Yeye was remembered by his family and friends with a special wrestling show this weekend, one year after Yeye passed away from cancer.
Texano, Super Nova and Sussy Love were interviewed at the Big Lucha show at the racetrack this week. Texano & Super Nova shared memories of their father for Father’s Day. Sussy says getting to wrestle in ROH was a big moment in her career; everything has been going well for her since returning from her long term knee injury. She’d like to return to ROH. Her next big goal is to wrestle either Faby Apache or Lady Apache. A lot of the Mexico City area luchadoras wrestle people of basically the same experience and achievement levels and she wants to instead face some of the best who’ve ever done it.
La Tijera has video of the Mexico City lucha libre licensing exam. This is normal for Mexico but trying to think how it would go if someone filmed some sort of US wrestling exam.
El Sabor del Ring writes about long time San Luis Potosi luchador Asesino Maldito.
A profile of Salamanca’s Kraken.
There was an organized group bike ride (the one you peddle, not motorcycles) to promote a lucha libre show in Oaxaca this weekend. About 100 bikers participated.
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