CMLL
CMLL (MON) 08/12/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, En Linea Deportiva, Grada, Mano A Mano, Mas Lucha Jr.]
1) Astro, Meyer, Rayo Metálico b Espíritu Maligno, King Jaguar, Rencor
2) Milenium, Robin, Xelhua b El Malayo, Multy, Raider 
3) Virus b Panterita del Ring [lightning]
Virus beat Panterita close to the 10 minute time limit
4) Kira & Skadi © b Hera & Olympia [MEX WOMEN TAG]
2nd defense
5) Místico, Soberano Jr., Templario b Máscara Dorada, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr.
Moved down a spot.
6) Esfinge, Hechicero, Titán DQ Averno, Euforia, Valiente
Valiente fouled Esfinge, Euforia unmasked Hechicero. Moved to the main event.
It’s unusual to see Mistico in the semimain without a big match on top, but the guys in the Aniversario match are the big match right now. It sounds like the title match went well.
El Sol del Puebla catches up with some tourists visiting Arena Puebla. It doesn’t seem like there’s as many tourists going these shows, but there does seem to be some.
CMLL (TUE) 08/13/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
1) Mercurio & Pierrothito b Angelito & Galaxy 
7:13
2) El Audaz b Capitán Suicida [lightning]
8:59
3) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
14:30
4) Vegas b Dragón de Fuego, Legendario, Retro, Emperador Jr., Rayo Metálico, Infarto, Alom, Hunter, Crixus [cibernetico]
26:06. Order of elimination is Hunter (via Retro, 8:09), Alom (Crixus, 11:47), Emperador Jr. (Legendario, 13:55), Infarto (Vegas, 15:05), Dragon de Fuego (Rayo Metalico, 16:39), Crixus (Retro, 18:50), Retro (Legendario, 19:10), Legendario (Rayo Metaliico, 20:15), Rayo Metalico (Vegas, 27:36) leaving Vegas as the winner and new member of Los Depredadores Vegas becomes the new Depredador.
5) Flip Gordon, Titán, Volador Jr. b Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr., Terrible
14:13
The Depredador Cibernetico was Great, especially compared to expectations. They went as hard as any Torneo Escuelas cibernetico, there were genuine surprise eliminations, and the crowd was into the last few moments. Empeador looked good, Rayo Metalico had his biggest performance in CMLL, and Alom almost landed on his head on a dive. It was a trip.
The Los Deperadores unit was first introduced as Rugido, Magia Blanca, Magnus and Diamond (who’s been replaced by Max Star) – but Volador at the time explained there was meant to be one more. Black Warrior Jr. was meant to be part of the group, but suffered an injury in training that would eventually take his life many months later. I’m unsure if it’s intentional or just a coincidence that the newest member of Los Depredadores happens to be Black Warrior’s prize protege.
Match 3 was a bit of a snooze, but the rest was all right for a Tuesday show.
CMLL (TUE) 08/13/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL, Mas Lucha]
1) Cosmos, Obek, Thunder Boy b Abigor La Peasdilla, Destructor, Eclipse Jr.
2) Draego, Makara, Persa b Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Lince Del Bajio
3) Cris Skin, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr. b Brillante Jr., Felino Jr., Xelhua [Relevos Increíbles]
Gallero beat Xelhua after a mask pull
4) Barboza & Zandokan Jr. b Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa
5) Lluvia, Náutica, Tessa Blanchard b Dark Silueta, Persephone, Zeuxis
Nautica replaced La Catalina.
6) Atlantis Jr. & Místico b Averno & Mephisto
Match 4 was said to be the best on the show.
CMLL Informa is tonight, but CMLL is locked in on not announcing anything for that show until their afternoon taping. This may be the show where they announce the full Aniversario lineup. I expect they’ll also reveal who is wrestling Lluvia & Tessa on the Gran Prix show.
On Thursday, Atlantis Jr. defends the Ring of Honor TV championship against Robbie Eagles.
CMLL (SAT) 08/17/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs KeMalito & Periquito Sacaryas
2) Diamond, El Audaz, Robin vs Doctor Karonte I, Doctor Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Hijo De Blue Panther vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
4) Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero vs El Hijo del Villano III, Sagrado, Villano III Jr.
5) Esfinge vs Euforia [lightning]
6) Flip Gordon, Templario, Titán vs Mansoor, Robbie X, Rocky Romero
AEW originally announced Mansoor would be wrestling for them on Saturday, then aired another vignette just to explain it would instead be airing on Friday (which will be taped on Wednesday). It is fairly obvious that AEW didn’t understand Mansoor’s CMLL schedule and was unaware he was booked on this Arena Coliseo show, so AEW had to backtrack. Here’s a rule of thumb: once CMLL brings in a foreigner, they will use them every day of the week until they leave. If they’re working on Friday, they’re working all weekend.
Someone figured out Mansoor’s Mexico schedule; he’s here through the Gran Prix. The micros and the Karontes in the opener may make for some unwelcome highlights. This is going against TripleMania so that no one may notice.
CMLL (SUN) 08/18/2024 Arena México
1) Fantasy vs Pequeño Polvora [lightning]
2) Capitán Suicida, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Okumura
3) Xelhua vs Pólvora [lightning]
4) Blue Panther, Fugaz, Star Black vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
5) Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero, Valiente vs Euforia, Magnus, Mephisto
6) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada vs Flip Gordon, Mansoor, Robbie X
I’m unsure how often a mini and his main roster equivalent have had lightning matches on the same show.
If you subscribe to CMLL’s Fan Leyenda starting tomorrow, you’ll get both the Gran Prix and the CMLL Aniversario show in a one-month window. 35 USD/month is still really high for a streaming service, but the next 30 days give you the most value for that level. (You may be able to sign up today and get both shows, but I’m not 100% sure how they count days in a month, and there’s also nothing new on there today. Wait one more day.)
Titan, in talking about the Gran Prix, mentioned he admires PAC & AJ Styles, and he’s copied parts of their styles to improve himself.
MLW officially announced Atlantis Jr. versus Mistico for 08/29. That’ll air live for free on their YouTube channel.
Barbaro Cavernario will be in the RevPro British J Cup on 08/28. Mascara Dorada participated in this tournament last year.
Box y Lucha 3616 has the Gran Prix.
AAA
The big Latin Lover/Konnan podcast went up on Monday night. This whole saga – and AAA’s year of booking – stemmed from a Vampiro podcast with Latin Lover, where they both buried Konnan and then the podcast went viral. That podcast’s popularity is why AAA has run a Vampiro retirement tour all year, and it’s the story behind Latin Lover returning to AAA in his Director of Talent role. It will probably be the set-up for Latin Lover or Konnan splitting on-screen at TripleMania in a few days. But, on their podcast together, it was a setup for Latin Lover apologizing to Konnan for being too harsh towards him earlier, and Konnan seemingly accepted that apology.
Konnan was as open about the professional wrestling business on Latin’s podcast as he is on his own, and Mexican wrestling is generally very closed about those things, so this podcast was a rare chance for Mexican wrestling fans to hear a take on how the business of lucha libre works. (Or how it doesn’t work; one of the most repeated clips is Konnan bemoaning promoters today, not being serious business people like they were thirty years ago and wrestling instead filled with fan promoters who are doing harm.) The podcast seems to be very popular among the intended audience. I’m not the right person to do a summary. Infobae repeats one story from the show, where Konnan mentions La Parka (AAA) was kidnapped briefly a few years before he passed away, and Rey Escorpion helped get him out of that situation. The little I know about Rey Escorpion, it did not surprise me to hear he knew how to handle that situation.
The annual AAA pre-TripleMania pilgrimage is underway today. That’s more fun to look at after the photos and videos come out in the next few hours.
Parker Boudreaux is not on TripleMania, and justifiably so; he’s added nothing to the two matches he’s been in and has seemed to be the poor investment of time and plane tickets everyone outside AAA assumed he would be from the moment they brought him in. Yet, he (or his social media team) is still tagging AAA in social media posts, so he expects to return to AAA at some point. Imagine if AAA used some of the money they spent on these longshots to tell English-speaking people they have a PPV this weekend.
El Hijo del Vikingo is listed as wrestling on a September 17th show in Arena Aficion. The semi-main of a show headlined by Oriental versus Mascara 2000 in a hair match is not the most exciting way to return, but perhaps he’ll turn before then. I figure he’ll at least show up to wave at TripleMania on Saturday.
AAA wrestlers appeared on TV Azteca’s Venga la Alegria on Tuesday as part of TripleMania promotion.
Tu Plan de Juego has an interview with Lady Wind. Like Dick Angelo 3G/Taurus and Legendario/Bengala, she finished top 3 in AAA’s talent search earlier this year but she hasn’t been seen on TV since that victory though she is under AAA contract. She is 17 years old, which may be the reason. Hijo del Tirantes recommended her after seeing her on his local Xalapa shows, and she’s trained at Bandido’s Gym. Her grandfather was a boxer, her father wrestled as Viento Negro, and she wanted a name that kept that Viento/Wind connection.
Pentagon Jr.
The probable move of the Lucha Brothers to WWE has turned into a story with life on its own, with people flooding the zone with every bit of gossip they’ve heard about and not really doing the best job of vetting it. Here’s what I got: the Lucha Brothers will probably go to the WWE; the Lucha Brothers have not officially signed with WWE because they’re both under contract to AEW, and they’re so surely going to one place while being under contract is causing some fairly obvious and foreseeable issues. It’s now a story about WWE allegedly tampering with contracted AEW wrestlers and if/how AEW will want to respond. The Lucha Brothers have become pawns in a game by being too open about their plans.
The one part of this story that tracks back to Mexican wrestling is a gossip passed around in the dark corners of direct messages the last few days. That gossip had Penta going to Pittsburgh on Wednesday for his WWE medical tests, then visiting NXT in Orlando on Thursday. That all seems highly unlikely for someone still under an AEW contract on the surface. Because this is (the only?) website that covers Mexican wrestlers having matches in Mexico, I can additionally point out that Penta is scheduled to wrestle in LA Park’s arena in Monclova tonight and in Torreon on Thursday night. Both promotions have recently assured their fans that Penta will be there. Penta – and most definitely his brother – isn’t above missing a promoted indie date, so I can’t be sure he’ll be there. But I doubt he’s going to Pittsburgh today.
That entire story is what Penta’s odd “my present is in AEW” post was trying to explain; he’s still in AEW at the moment, he’s respecting his contract, he’s not going to get a WWE physical, please don’t threaten legal action against him. I’m not sure who’s representing Penta at the moment, but those people really need to help him a bit; a prepared statement of “I’m in AEW now, I’m ready to wrestle for them, my contract is coming up soon, and I haven’t decided what I’m doing, please trust only what I’m saying” would help a lot, true or not. That’s the damage control he’s giving up part of his contract to get. Penta (and Fenix) will get paid no matter what’s going on or who’s upset with them, but people with a vested interest in him getting the most money should be getting involved right now.
Other News
Monday was Cinta de Oro day in El Paso.
08/31 RIOT
Big Lucha is also back on 08/31
Big Lucha (SAT) 08/31/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Platino & Reiyel vs Brujo & Zenky
2) Lady Wind & Sussy Love vs La Brava & Marishka
3) Auzter vs Tempo, Estrella de Oro, Uzumaki
4) Black Skayde, Elipse, Vengador vs Cósmico, Helios, Nordico
5) Mr. Win, Orbita, Viajero vs Big Tao Tao, Limbo, Tonalli
6) Flamita vs Emperador Azteca
There are no outisders on this show, which also kinda exposes the scarcity of familiar names left here. Tonalli’s new, but he’s been meant to be part of this new version of Black Generation for a couple of shows. They seem to have dropped the Orbita/Elipse feud, for at least one show.
A visit to Babe Face’s rice shop. I’ve been. It’s nice.
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