3 title changes on CMLL Night of Champions, Vikingo/AAA, Mistico back to NJPW

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 09/27/2024 Arena México [CMLL, GradaGraficoKaiser SportsTelediarioThe Gladiatores, thecubsfan, thegladiatores.comVavel]
1) Averno, Euforia, Mephisto b Máscara Dorada, Neón, Star Jr. © [CMLL TRIOSCMLL | Averno, Mephisto y Euforia son nuevos Campeones Mundiales de Tríos (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA NOCHE DE CAMPEONES VIERNES 27 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Euforia, Averno y Mephisto Vs Neón, Máscara Dorada y Star Jr. (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
14:16. Champions fall on 1st defense. Los Infernales become 37th champions and won the title shot over Los Guerreros Laguneros and Atlantis, Blue Panther and Octagon.
2) Último Dragóncito © b Pierrothito [CMLL MINICMLL | Último Dragoncito retiene el Campeonato de Pequeñas Estrellas ante Pequeño Pierroth (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA NOCHE DE CAMPEONES VIERNES 27 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: ¡Hay campeón! En intensa batalla Último Dragoncito da cuenta de Pierrothito (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
10:44. 2nd defense. Pierrothito won shot over Angelito & Mercurio.
3) Magnus & Rugido © b Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. [MEX TAGCMLL - VILLANO III JR. - HIJO DEL VILLANO III VS RUGIDO - MAGNUS /ARENA MÉXICO / 27-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Magnus y Rugido retienen los Campeonatos Nacionales de Parejas ante Los Villanos III'ros (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA NOCHE DE CAMPEONES VIERNES 27 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Los monarcas Rugido y Magnus derrotan al Hijo del Villano III y Villano III Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
11:02. 6th defense. Villanos won shot over Dark Panther/Hijo de Blue Panther and Difunto/Zandokan.
4) Sanely b Reyna Isis © [MEX WOMENCMLL - SANELY VS REYNA ISIS /. ARENA MÉXICO / 27-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Sanely derrota a Reyna Isis y es nueva Campeona Nacional Femenil (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA NOCHE DE CAMPEONES VIERNES 27 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Hay nueva campeona nacional femenil, Sanely derrota Reyna Isis (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
12:48. 6th defense. Sanely won the vote over Hera & Princesa Sugehit. Seconds were Niebla Roja (Isis) and Mano Negra (Sanely.)
5) Templario © b Volador Jr. [CMLL MIDDLECMLL - VOLADOR JR. VS TEMPLARIO / ARENA MÉXICO / 27-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Templario retiene el Campeonato Mundial Medio ante Volador Jr. (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA NOCHE DE CAMPEONES VIERNES 27 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: ¡Guerrero León de oro! Templario Campeón Mundial Medio al vencer a Volador Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
13:11. 2nd defense. Volador Jr. won the vote ahead of Dragon Rojo & Flip Gordon. Seconds were KeMalito and Magnus.
6) Atlantis Jr. © b Soberano Jr. [NWA LHCMLL - SOBERANO JR. VS ATLANTIS JR. / ARENA MÉXICO / 27-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Atlantis Jr. retiene el Campeonato Mundial Histórico Semicompleto ante Soberano Jr. (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA NOCHE DE CAMPEONES VIERNES 27 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Atlantis Jr sigue como Campeón Mundial Histórico Semicompleto al vencer a Soberano Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
12:20. 2nd defense. Soberano Jr. won over Akuma & Barbaro Cavernario. Seconds were Atlantis and Euforia.
7) Rayo Metálico b Futuro © [MEX LIGHTCMLL - RAYO METÁLICO VS FUTURO / ARENA MÉXICO / 27-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Rayo Metálico se corona como nuevo Campeón Nacional Ligero venciendo a Futuro (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA NOCHE DE CAMPEONES VIERNES 27 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Rayo Metálico se vuelve el nuevo Campeón Nacional Ligero derrotando a Futuro (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
11:24. Futuro falls on 2nd defense. Rayo Metalico won the shot over Calavera Jr. I and Electrico. Seconds were Volador (Futuro) and Averno (Rayo Metalico.)

This was an overall successful and enjoyable show. There were some genuine surprises and most everything was entertaining. Nothing rose to the best match of the year level, but everything besides the minis match was at least pretty good. The minis match was two guys who’ve wrestled for 30 years deciding to wing it, and it not going well. It stood out harshly again the other matches. Matches 4 and 7 went the other way; those four wrestlers had seemingly worked very hard at working out their match from the moment they knew it was going to happen and the work showed. Reyna Isis has come through this way a few times now: she’s a mostly forgettable trios wrestler who can deliver a great match if it’s a big occasion and there’s some time to prepare for it.

Rayo Metalico and Futuro had the highest difficulty. The people who vote in CMLL’s fans – the people who vote in most any online poll – are always going to be small percentage of the overall fanbase. Most of the people in Arena Mexico had no idea why these guys were main eventing or even who they were. The match got whistles from the start, which seemed absurd – if you didn’t want to see the match, why wouldn’t you just treat it like the show was over and leave – but they were able to pull the fans in a few times. Rayo Metalico is about the level of a generic high flyer, there is still nothing he does that defines him as Rayo Metalico as opposed to dozens of other guys, but he had a really good night and a mostly clean one. I thought Futuro looked superb, just spectacular in his big moves and felt like the guy making the match work. It was his spots that got the most positive reaction in the match. (Volador and Averno being seconds seemed like a strong hint they may have had a role in putting this together; both Futuro & Metalico train in Volador’s classes.) Metalico winning was a genuine shock; there’s little chances he would’ve held a belt as historically important as the national lightweight championship at this point in his career without winning that fan vote. It’s also a belt that CMLL (and EMLL) historically hasn’t had much use for, so giving it to Metalico makes sense. It’s no real loss if CMLL forgets about it, and it solves the problem of CMLL having few lightweights rudos who would credibly beat Futuro for the title. Futuro should be moving up to bigger things in the welterweight division.

The other two title changes felt important. I’ve got theories about the trios title match (check the Sunday results.) Mano Negra doesn’t appear in Arena Mexico often, so him showing up to second his daughter Sanely was a signal she was winning the belt. I’m still not sold on Sanely as a pushed ruda but her variation of the dragon sleeper looked good as a new finish. That trios match was great, as was Atlantis/Soberano. And the women’s match so overachieved that it made my recommended list. Templario/Volador dragged early, picked up a lot midway through, but they’ve got better in them. Depredaores/Villanos was good but easily could’ve used more time. With seven matches all for titles, it seemed like CMLL just told everyone they had 12 minutes to work with – it was right for some and not exactly right for others.

Rayo Metalico said everything you’d expect about his win—it was the most significant moment of his career. He’d like to defend the lightweight title everywhere, and he will do his best to do so. Euforia emphasized that this wasn’t his win after his mask loss but a Los Inferanels win. The team was good enough to win the trios titles at any time; they finally got the chance. Sanely was as happy as I ever remember seeing her, static. She lived up to her promise of winning this title and taking it home as a prize to her father, who she said was even more excited than her about the win.

Toni Storm will be La Catalina’s opponent on 10/11. CMLL aired a clip of Storm from AEW, though no promo. Catalina and Storm’s stints in NXT overlapped in 2019/2020. They never wrestled but it’s at least possible they’ve gotten in the ring together before this match. (They’re also two people who were very unhappy at the end of their time in WWE, so there might also be a bond there.) Both are using a butt smash as a trademark move. I think Catalina is fine if she loses to Toni Storm; it’s just the overall balance of wins and losses between AEW and CMLL that’ll be a bit concerning. Still, CMLL’s likely to get another win on 10/25.

CMLL seems to favor AEW wrestlers with big personalities who can get over immediately with a casual audience. MJF fits that, PAC does, and Storm does as well. (Fletcher really did not, but CMLL got a title win, so that’s good enough.) I think CMLL will give Toni Storm the full black-and-white Timeless presentation if they can pull it off because that’s why they want her there. I wonder if Timeless Toni Storm ever did a movie with Pedro Infante.

CMLL (SAT) 09/28/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora CMLL - ARENA COLISEO 28 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
11:00. Pequeno Polvora snuck in a foul on Aereo. Aereo demanded a singles match next week.
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Emperador Jr. b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. CMLL - ARENA COLISEO 28 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
16:06.
3) Reyna Isis b India Sioux [lightningCMLL - ARENA COLISEO 28 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
8:19.
4) Barboza, Crixus, Rey Bucanero b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Xelhua CMLL - ARENA COLISEO 28 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
15:44. Straight falls for the rudos, after Xelhua and Guerrero Maya had issues. Maya appeared to be the more rudo of the two.
5) Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black b Akuma, Dragón Rojo Jr., Valiente CMLL - ARENA COLISEO 28 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
13:09
6) Esfinge, Místico, Star Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero, Zandokan Jr. CMLL - ARENA COLISEO 28 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
15:23. Zandokan replaced Stuka Jr. on Tuesday. Mistico hit his close of third fall dive, rolled off screen, and seemingly just left through the front door to make this his next stop as the match finished. His team did win.

Those are some deep-cut angles. Guerrero Maya versus Xelhua is a match I’ve wanted to see since Xelhua became a thing but didn’t see how they were actually going to see it. Maya’s reaction was a lot like Valiente’s before he turned. His post-match promo came off as he still thought of himself as a tecnico, even while saying some rudo things towards Xelhua. Aereo and Pequeno Polvora are good but almost never ever pushed. CMLL does have that “World Short People Day” torneo coming up, and it’s almost about time for them to start building the New Year’s Day match. I don’t know that Aereo/Polvora is certain to be it but that’s about the range of stars usually included.

This show itself is an easy skip. Nothing moved past OK for me.

Mistico’s exit was the most mysterious but he probably didn’t have the toughest travel day. Barboza worked match 4 here, then must’ve gotten on a bus for six hours to get back to Guadalajara to main event the Sunday afternoon charity show there, and then probably got right back on a bus to get to Mexico City to train and wrestle on Tuesday. A rough schedule. The Guadalajara charity show was said to have drawn 2,000 people and raised 20,000 pesos for the children’s medical fun.

CMLL (SUN) 09/29/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Diamond & Leono b Inquisidor & Sangre Imperial
2) El Audaz, Hijo del Pantera, Retro b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
3) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star, Volcano
4) Kira, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard b Dark Silueta, Hera, Sanely
5) Dragón Rojo Jr. b Terrible
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Titán b Ángel de Oro, Euforia, Niebla Roja

The Dragon Rojo stuff continues to play out like a Los Barbaros breakup angle happened, but we’ve never seen one on screen. Dragon Rojo talked post-match about not caring if he was a tecnico or rudo and taking out Terrible before going after Barbaro Cavernario. It sure seems like the programming department had split them up; they lost the belts, teamed once more, and then haven’t teamed on CMLL-booked shows since then. It comes off as CMLL decided they were breaking up Los Barbaros immediately, the tecnico team happened to be available to be champions, and the plan was always that they’d get them back on a rudo team at the first opportunity. (Los Infernales just happened to win the fan vote, it was a lucky coincidence Euforia got a big win after his bigger loss.) It’s totally unclear why CMLL decided it had to break up the trio and why they didn’t do an actual break up angle if they’re now wrestling each other.

Sunday, in a backstage promo at NJPW’s Destruction in Kobe’s show, Hiromu Takahashi demanded/begged for a match with Mistico to take place on NJPW’s 10/14 King of Pro Wrestling show in Ryōgoku Kokugika (Sumo Hall). Takahashi’s claim is that he always loses to La Mistica and he needs to beat Mistico. CMLL put out an emoji tweet Sunday night teasing the match, and then NJPW confirmed it was happening early Monday morning. This is the 20th Anniversary Mistico appearance in NJPW mentioned two weeks back on CMLL Informa. NJPW seems to be trying to load up that King of Pro Wrestling show even beyond a special Mistico guest appearance, especially to get international attention. Mistico/Takahashi is the opener, a rare position for both men. Takahashi would likely win a NJPW match over a CMLL wrestler in a vacuum, but NJPW does have that multi-promotion Wrestle Dynasty show on 01/05/2025 and Mistico figures to be a prominent part of that show.

Mistico will be on NJPW’s tour prior to King of Pro Wrestling. He’ll work four shows starting on 10/08. He’s working the same basic match on all the shows: Mistico & Ryusuke Taguchi versus Hiromu Takahashi & either BUSHI or Yota Tsuji. None of those shows are listed as airing on NJPW World.

The next big NJPW/CMLL announcement would be the teams for the Super Junior Tag League, which runs from 10/24 to 11/02. Titan will work those shows and it’s unclear if a full CMLL duo will be in the tournament. NJPW may not announce the teams until that 10/14 show.

I posted CMLL on Televisa Puebla Monday morning on DailyMotion, but they’re all stuck in the processing purgatory. I’ll re-encode and re-post them later, but none of the matches were all that interesting. No AMX uploads this week or next; CMLL streamed those matches live.

CMLL (TUE) 10/01/2024 Arena México
1) Leono vs Inquisidor
2) Capitán Suicida, Dragón de Fuego, Valiente Jr. vs Enfermero Jr., Grako, Nitro
3) India Sioux & Tabata vs Dark Silueta & Valkiria
4) Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black vs Barboza, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
5) Princesa Sugehit, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard vs Persephone, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
6) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Neón vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

The calendar turns to October, and CMLL’s card changes from (sometimes) 16.66% women’s matches to 33.33% women’s matches. The Guerreros were runners-up in the Noches de Champions fan poll and face the kind of ex-trios champions a few days later. Explosivo and Barboza seem to be sticking around for the moment.

CMLL (TUE) 10/01/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Lince De Baijo & Prince Drago vs Obek & Ray
2) Candela, Centinela, Hatanna, Magia Azul vs Sakura, Universys, Venus (Chihuahua), Zafiro
GDL/CDMX vs Juarez
3) Draego & Persa vs Leo & Omar Brunetti
4) Diablita Roja (Puebla), Lady Amazona, Lady Metal vs Lady Shadow, Llamarada, Miss Guerrera
Puebla versus Comarca Lagunera
5) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider vs Bestia Negra, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
6) Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Flip Gordon vs Averno, Bárbaro Cavernario, Euforia

The CMLL/Alto Voltaje Arena Monterrey show on Sunday drew the expected weak crowd; seemed less than 1,500 based on photos (with a lot of variance on that number.) Hechicero surprisingly beat Mistico in the main event. They teased as mask match for the 92th Aniversario; that will not happen. Alto Voltaje had flyers for an 11/02 date with Octagon, Flip Gordon, Barbaro Cavernario, La Catalina, Templario, and Tabata, They’re running Gimnasio Municipal Jose Navarro in the Monterrey suburbs for that one, a much smaller building.

CMLL (TUE) 10/01/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Lince De Baijo & Prince Drago vs Obek & Ray
2) Candela, Centinela, Hatanna, Magia Azul vs Sakura, Universys, Venus (Chihuahua), Zafiro
GDL/CDMX vs Juarez
3) Draego & Persa vs Leo & Omar Brunetti
4) Diablita Roja (Puebla), Lady Amazona, Lady Metal vs Lady Shadow, Llamarada, Miss Guerrera
Puebla versus Comarca Lagunera
5) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider vs Bestia Negra, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
6) Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Flip Gordon vs Averno, Bárbaro Cavernario, Euforia

Guadalajara is running an all-women’s show sometime this month. It’s probably the Tuesday before the Grand Prix, as always, 10/22. Makes sense to bring in some new names to help fill out that show. Universys (sometimes Universis) was in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara last October. The rest of the Ciudad Juarez crew is making their debut. Zafiro was being pushed as a CDMX indie star for a moment – it seemed like it was for her look; promoters insisted she could wrestle too, and then you’d see her matches, and it was definitely for her look. She didn’t stick, retired for a bit, and came back. Sakura and Venus worked the dark match on the AAA TV taping; I guess they won’t be doing that in November. You might remember Venus losing her mask to Lady Shani on an AAA TV taping. Mas Lucha gave Sakura a lot of hype the year she was in Tornea Suprema and then I thought she was just OK. Maybe we’ll see more here. Or you will, I won’t get around to watching Guadalajara.

CMLL (FRI) 10/04/2024 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia
2) Magia Blanca vs Virus [lightning]
3) Kira, Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard vs Hera, Persephone, Sanely
4) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Templario vs Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Princesa Sugehit vs La CatalinaZeuxisAmapolaNáuticaIndia SiouxMalignaOlympiaDark SiluetaMetálica [CMLL Universal de Amazonas, semifinal]

La Catalina and Zeuxis were the final two last year and will probably be the final two in this block. Sugehit is the only other person who has an on-paper chance of advancing. (Only in looking at this lineup did it click that India Sioux got La Vaquerita’s spot; CMLL spaced out the announcements to make that less obvious.

Next week’s Universal block has the six names in match three, plus Tabata, Valkiria, Reyna Isis and then I’m not sure. La Guerrera hasn’t worked in CMLL since the all women’s show in March, which suggests she’s out of CMLL. Marcela is still isn’t ready to return. Sexy Sol hasn’t worked in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara since April and showed up an indie Guadalajara show this weekend, so she might be out of CMLL. There’s a lot of Puebla, Guadalajara or Torreon women who could be back in for that spot. I believe Sexy Star II and AAA are on good terms and she is not jumping. I was thinking about asking the question to Twitter to see who I’m blanking on her but I figured I would get no good responses.

The semi-final and the lighting match should be good. The Mini Sky Team is together in the opener.

Atlantis Jr., Sanely, and Salvador Lutteroth were on N+’s Es La Hora de Opinar, hosted by Leo Zukerman. Atlantis Jr. and Sanely do many of these press because they appear engaging and professional and say nothing controversial. Lutteroth did say a few newsworthy things. They pushed CMLL as family-friendly entertainment put on by athletes who train very hard and something that represents Mexico to the world. Lutteroth said 18% of visitors to CMLL are foreigners. That’s lower than the number they usually give for tourists, but “tourists” could include additional domestic travelers. He also talked about wanting to appeal to children, citing success with their contest on Kid’s Day, where the kids dressed up as their favorite luchadors. He noted that the only thing he missed was that the fans didn’t have the creative (and profane) insults they had in the past because it’s such a polite place. (This may have stretched the truth a bit.) Lutteroth said their real competition is against all forms of entertainment, so the wrestlers must be more professional and train harder. Lutteroth also said strengthening its alliances with foreign partners was important for growing CMLL as a global brand. The most amazing part of the conversation was when Lutteroth revealed that La Cavernaria – the 80-year-old CMLL super fan – brings folders of information on foreign wrestlers and upcoming Mexican wrestlers to Arena Mexico. She’s apparently scouting people she thinks CMLL should bring in. I’m not sure even I’ll be doing that if I make it to 80.

GALLI’s 10/06 show with CMLL wrestlers has some significant changes. Templario, Mascara Dorada, Robin, and Neon are off the show. Blue Panther, Felino, Difunto, and Akuma have been added. This is still the effect of the work visa issues back in the spring; GALLI had been advertising those names on the shared hope that new work visas would arrive by now. No such luck.

MLW added Magnus to the announced talent list for their 11/09 show.

AEW put up a video with Chris Jericho talking about his return to CMLL.

AAA

AAA TV (SUN) 09/29/2024 Gimnasio Nuevo León Unido, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon [@Galactic094, AAA]
1) Hijo del Solar & Solar I b Tiger Universitario Jr. & Tigre Universitario
Tiger Universitario was honored after the match. Possibly a dark match.
2) Alan Stone, Bello Stone, Zumbido b Dulce Kanela, Jessy Queen, Pimpinela Escarlata
3) Dinámico b Charro NegroRedimidoTosscanoDrago
Drago was added to the match.
4) Flammer & La Hiedra b Dalys & Natalia Markova and Julissa & Valentina
Masha Slamovich was scheduled to team with Markova, Dalys teamed with her instead and Flammer was added to team with La Hiedra. Toxicas won when Hiedra put Valentina through a table. Hiedra & Julissa had issues with each other (and stopped selling) after the match.
5) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown b Abismo Negro, El Fiscal, Psicosis
short match with Fiscal being put through a table. Psycho Circus want a trios title match.
6) Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Octagón Jr. b Belcegor, Emperador Azteca, Taurus
Alberto attacked Vikingo prior to the match, and Vikingo joined the match in progress. Laredo pinned Azteca. Mesias and Octagon Jr. brawled earlier in the night and after this match.
7) Alberto el Patrón, El Mesías, Pierroth Jr. b Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz
Prior to match 4, Konnan, Dorian, KAOZ’s Alonso Botello, Valentina, Julissa, Alberto, Latin Lover and Cibernetico all did a in-ring bit. Alberto is apparently Mesias’s new disciple or maybe Mesias is in Alberto’s group. Alberto beat Ozz.

This taping is actually airing in Mexico after Heroes Inmortales, so the big angles they shot – Mesias/Octagon, the trios title match, maybe Alberto/Vikingo – may be for Guerra de Titanes in Juarez. Or they may never go anywhere at all, because it is AAA. Another way of putting it is Vikingo’s matches in GLEAT will take place well before this airs. This is his in-ring debut, if GLEAT airs on YouTube for free as usual, that’ll be the place most people will see him return. (I have no idea which order it’ll air in the US.)

The taping looked close to full in the carefully curated photo, which probably means it was a little less than that.

In the build-up to this show, Roberto Figueroa and Julissa seem to turn Latin Lover’s comments about AAA women into their own storyline. Figueroa talked about how Julissa was an unknown, a sort of “Mrs. X” for the AAA wrestlers. Julissa said that if she was Mrs. X, then La Hiedra was Mrs. XXXL. I don’t know if that had anything to do with the post-match, but Hiedra & Julissa were hitting each other and not really selling hitting each other in a pro-wrestling way. Julissa has had similar questionable moments with Tiffany in this post-WWE run, which came off as something to build towards matches, but no matches happened.

Masha Slamovich ended up working for Prestige Wrestling on Sunday instead, as a late addition. It’s possible that TNA’s changing schedules messed up plans to get her to Mexico, though it seems like getting to Monterrey shouldn’t have been a problem if she could get to Portland. I don’t know that anyone AAA fan missed her – AAA didn’t promote her outside of listing her name in the lineup – but it’s also strange AAA & KAOZ were bringing in someone who could so easily be missed. It’s also strange that Flammer wasn’t booked originally. AAA has talked a lot about how Las Toxicas are AAA’s most popular act with local promoters, they’re in a lot of demand, and then originally didn’t book two of them (Flammer and Maravilla) in their home town.

The “Lucha Libre AAA Border” Tijuana show on Friday looks like a success, much more than The Crash and EMW recently. I believe it’s the one AAA is behind, though you couldn’t necessarily tell from some of the results. They’re running again on 12/06. AAA being in charge would make some of the appearances notable; Keyra being here may mean she’s not working Todo x el Todo dates and could mean something about Myzteziz Jr.’s status with the promotion. (Myzteziz was scheduled to work Saturday in Puebla, and I haven’t found photos of his match.) Sexy Star worked in Tijuana and Puebla. I’m fairly certain her cryptic “I’m leaving you” Instagram post was actually about a personal relationship and not about AAA. If she just explained that she was now single, she would’ve gotten many more likes (and questionable DMs.)

Photos of an empty-looking building for the AAA show in Puebla are floating around. They are misleading. For whatever reason, people were mostly seated on the bleachers on one side of the ring, and almost no one was sat on the other side, so most of the photos show this vacant-looking building that’s unrepresentative of the turnout. (It’s about the same as some recent US TV tapings.) I looked around on Instagram stories, and I can see that the other side is pretty full. The promoter would probably like it better than 60% full, and it does seem like the Vampiro retirement has cooled down as a draw post-TripleMania Mexico City. Still, 60% is probably enough to get by; the local promotion immediately said they’d be running again in November.

AAA on Space was a filler episode, as expected. It was the sixth episode of AAA TV this year where they just didn’t have anything new to show and instead aired clips of old matches. That’s three TV tapings that AAA typically would’ve made money on, gotten work for their wrestlers, and built matches for the future that didn’t happen for reasons no one is explaining. This should be the final filler episode until the traditional holiday break.

There is no AAA on Space episode next Saturday. Space will air part of Heroes Inmortales live on Sunday, starting at 6 pm. AAA still hasn’t announced the full Heroes Inmortales card. It seemed like AAA would do it match by match, but then they just stopped. Maybe they thought it was too confusing with two tapings going on, but they hadn’t officially announced either title match as of Sunday night. The card probably makes little different to the attendance. They’re going to have a great-looking crowd because it’s a big building where most of the people are getting in free with admission to the fair, and the idea is to run important matches not just to draw but to make the winners look like big stars in front of that audience.

AAA will start Desayunado con Quetzalli (Bulnes) will begin a weekly internet interview show show on October 2nd at 10 AM. She did the same concept for WWE Espanol before she was let go a couple of years ago, and it’s a concept that seems to fit well with AAA. I presume it’s an Instagram show. The commercial for that show must’ve been produced by someone else, because it doesn’t look far more modern than AAA TV (or most wrestling) looks like.

Unimas aired part one of the Showcenter card. That show is two weeks behind Space now but will be one week behind soon; they’ve skipped all the filler episodes.

House of Glory announced Nic Nemeth versus Hijo del Vikingo on 10/18. It’ll air on Triller. I’ve been checking out a lot of AAA/CMLL people elsewhere late but I am good on Nic Nemeth matches for the moment.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (SAT) 09/28/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, thecubsfan]
1) Visionario b SkaylerTempo EN VIVO | Big Lucha | Alas de la Independencia 2024 #SomosBigLucha (posted by BIG LUCHA )
Scheduled as Auzter & Skyde vs Platino & Tempo. Skayde quit the promotion on Saturday morning (but probably had already decided he was quitting the promotion since he was in New York at the time.) Skyler & Visionario were introduced as a tag team, but this was a three way match.
2) Iku b Mexicano EN VIVO | Big Lucha | Alas de la Independencia 2024 #SomosBigLucha (posted by BIG LUCHA )
3) Cósmico & Helios b Mil Almas & Platino and Nordico & Reiyel and Bogdan Klimov & El Brujo and Diosa Nix & Marishka and La Bomba & Rey Orochi and Depayseman & Uzumaki and Forneo & Torito Negro [Copa Independecia] EN VIVO | Big Lucha | Alas de la Independencia 2024 #SomosBigLucha (posted by BIG LUCHA )
winner gets a tag title shot. Forneo & Toro returned to Big Lucha as the surprise final team, but were upset by Cosmico & Helios. They earned a tag team title shot later. Forneo said the Hell Flyers were still going after Delta Force.
4) Eli Isom, Kento, Takuma b Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo EN VIVO | Big Lucha | Alas de la Independencia 2024 #SomosBigLucha (posted by BIG LUCHA )
Takuma demanded a shot at the BIG LUCHA MIXA champions Cometa Maya & Radiocativo following the win. Cosmico and Helios interrupted to say they had first rights. Radioactivo agreed, but ended up attacking Kento and Takuma. Mr. Big Lucha made it a three way match.
5) Flamita, Mr. Win, Ricky Marvin, Viajero b Big Tao Tao, Black Skayde, Elipse, Limbo EN VIVO | Big Lucha | Alas de la Independencia 2024 #SomosBigLucha (posted by BIG LUCHA )
show kicked with Big Tao Tao & Limbo explaining Tonalli and their scheduled mystery partner not being there; one was in the US and one was in South America, though they then changed it to South America and Africa. Flamita came out with partners to tell the truth: Tonalli was in Veracruz, Emperador Azteca was in Monterrey, and the surprise partner just didn’t want to team with them. Flamita said 4 v 2 is fair, Tao Tao is so big that he counts as 3. Elipse and Black Skayde joined everyone in the ring to criticize the Black Generation but offered to team with them in the main event since they also hated the tecnicos. Tao Tao and Limbo unhappily accepted. Flamita pinned Tao Tao with a 450; Tato Tao seemed shaken up after the match.

I skimmed through most of this show, but I’d say match 4 is worth making time to watch and match 5 is if you just want something to watch. I like seeing Forneo here if he’s going to be bouncing around places and I’m almost amused he never had to stop wearing the same red gear wherever he went.

Big Lucha said they’d be back in October, and announced a special Dia del Muertos show on 11/02 show. The video and the announcement seemed to hint at various wrestlers using old famous gimmicks from the past. I don’t know how it will go over to have someone as a Kato Kung Lee if it’s not specifically endorsed by Kato Kung Lee, to pick one person shown. They also announced a Big Lucha versus Super X show coming at some point; I’m not sure if that’s the October show or some other date.

Earlier Saturday, Skayde announced he’s decided to move on from Big Lucha. His farewell statement cites being unhappy with how he’s been supported (or not) recently. Skayde’s trained at many places and moves on fairly often, but it’s another signal that Big Lucha is a promotion in flux, at best. The Big Lucha announcers were complimentary towards Skayde during the broadcast, so there was no harsh breakup on their side.

Other News

Mas Lucha has their Mas Lucha Suprema on 10/19.

Mas Lucha (SAT) 10/19/2024 Arena Lopez Mateos
1) Sol vs Black Shadow IIShere KhanManiak CopX-DevilSolarisKundraAlfa Jr.Dragón SuicidaVillareal [Torneo INJUVE]
2) Mary Caporal, Nix, Princesa Azul, Satania vs Bengalee, Julissa, Quimera, Zuzu Divine
3) Hijo del Pirata Morgan & Pirata Morgan vs Demonio Infernal & Fresero Jr.
4) Aeroqueen vs Faby ApacheFlammerIndia MazahuaLola GonzálezRenee MichelleSagitariusVanilla Vargas [Torneo Suprema, torneo]

That’s a normal group of people until you get to 65-year-old Lola Gonzalez and US wrestler Renee Michelle. There’s probably an Apache/Flammer final, which might be better than TripleMania or might have even more interference.

The Mole comic convention took place in Mexico City this weekend, with a lot of luchadoras having booths and doing interviews. At the show, Blue Demon Jr. told La Tijera Lucha libre that he was very hurt by El Hijo del Santo calling him a toxic person, saying that he helped El Hijo del Santo with many issues, supported him when Santo got vetoed from CMLL and AAA. Demon is angry about Santo’s comments and calls him toxic and narcissistic Demon mentions he had surgery for a sports hernia in July and is still a while away from returning.

A documentary called “Quien mato a Shocker?” (Who killed Shocker) will debut at film festival DocsMX in on October 12th and 13rd. I believe the last update was Shocker is in rehab and is not dead, though he may be more about the death of their professional career. Shocker was featured in both the Lucha Mexico documentary and the Los Luchadors reality series, both of which would’ve been taped when he was well trapped by his addictions. Lucha Mexico has him talking a little bit about it in one scene if, I recall right, but in a way where you wouldn’t know the serious of the issue unless you came into the movie with prior information. Shocker having addiction issues was well known for many years, but I don’t think anyone (film-makers and Shocker himself) were eager to put it on screen until life forced it to be that way. Shocker’s descent spilled that problem out in the world, and I suspect this documentary goes into more depth on that.

Sabu did make it to Mexico. To stand in the corner and not physically get involved, but that’s till more than I would’ve guessed.

Segunda Caida writes about recently posted early 90s apuesta matches.

El Grafico has an interview with Ojo de Tigre.

Noche de Campeones, Women’s Gran Prix teams, Soberano talks his contract, AAA in Monterrey, LB

CMLL

The official card order is how I had it on Tuesday. If I was this accurate about polling in general, I could really make something of myself, maybe change my name to Nate.

CMLL (FRI) 09/27/2024 Arena México
1) Máscara Dorada, Neón, Star Jr. © vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto [CMLL TRIOS]
1st defense. Los Infernales won the title shot over Los Guerreros Laguneros and Atlantis, Blue Panther and Octagon
2) Último Dragóncito © vs Pierrothito [CMLL MINI]
2nd defense. Pierrothito won shot over Angelito & Mercurio.
3) Magnus & Rugido vs Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. [MEX TAG]
6th defense. Villanos won shot over Dark Panther/Hijo de Blue Panther and Zandokan/Difunto
4) Reyna Isis © vs Sanely [MEX WOMEN]
6th defense. Sanely won the vote over Hera & Princesa Sugehit.
5) Templario © vs Volador Jr. [CMLL MIDDLE]
2nd defense. Volador Jr. won the vote ahead of Dragon Rojo & Flip Gordon.
6) Atlantis Jr. © vs Soberano Jr. [NWA LH]
2nd defense. Soberano Jr. won over Akuma & Barbaro Cavernario
7) Futuro © vs Rayo Metálico [MEX LIGHT]
2nd defense. Rayo Metalico won the shot over Calavera Jr. I and Electrico

This is year 5 of this concept. In past years:

  • 2023: 1 title change (1 vacant title)
  • 2022: 1 title change
  • 2021: 1 title change (2 vacant titles)
  • 2020: 1 title change

Where’s the title change on this one? The minis title could change forever and it doesn’t seem to matter. There will be a lot of fan support for the tag titles. My guess is Soberano is the new Light Heavyweight champion. Atlantis Jr. is the Ring of Honor TV champion so he’s covered now. Soberano Jr. is the most important rudo in the promotion, he’ll have plenty of people to defend against if he wins, and that’s a place to switch things up. Both that match and Volador/Templario should be great, and so might be the opener if it isn’t worked like an opener. Futuro/Metalico will be fascinating.

Barbaro Cavernario being included as a candidate is weird because he’s probably in the UK as this show is happening. His weekend schedule is the British J Cup on Saturday and a second RevPro show on Sunday. Cavernario faces Lio Rush in the first round, which could finish either way. (Though I’m picturing Lio going for that backwards springboard stunner but instead falling into la cavernaria instead.) He wrestles Zozaya on Sunday.

Julio Cesar Rivera mentioned a new tradition for the Women’s Universal championship on Informa: last year’s winner will face an international opponent the following October. That means La Catalina, the 2023 winner, will face an opponent to be announced at a date to be announced. Catalina said she was excited (for whatever this is.)

There’s certainly a chance that the opponent to be announced is Mercedes Moné. I don’t know it as a fact and am not reporting that, but she seems interested in wrestling in Arena Mexico. I believe CMLL would’ve likely gotten a Mone/Vaquer match sometime in October, and I’m less certain if that’ll still happen with Vaquer moving on elsewhere. Can’t be sure of any of it. I do feel a bit more certain that, whoever and whatever the announcement is, there’s a pretty good chance of coming tonight if it’s a woman with AEW. There are four Fridays in October and it’s an easy logic puzzle.

  • 10/04: ???
  • 10/11: any star from AEW would have to make a very long trip to Tacoma to make their PPV
  • 10/18: CMLL has the Universal tournament final booked as the likely main event
  • 10/25: CMLL has the Grand Prix final booked as the main event

If it is 10/04, CMLL will probably put out a video tonight to explain it.

CMLL announced the complete teams for the 10/25 Grand Prix:

Team Mexico

  • Lluvia
  • Sanely
  • Zeuxis
  • Hera
  • Reyna Isis
  • Amapola
  • Dark Silueta
  • Princesa Sugehit
  • Kira
  • Skadi

Team World

  • Tessa Blanchard
  • La Catalina
  • Unagi Sayaki
  • Red Velvet
  • Samantha Black
  • Sumika Yanagawa
  • Willow Nightingale
  • Viva Van
  • Alex Windsor
  • Persephone

Many outside Team World members will be on shows before and after the 10/25 Grand Prix, but CMLL hasn’t said exactly who will be in and when.

I’m surprised Olympia isn’t on Team Mexico. She’s been the most improved women’s wrestler over the last year; I would’ve picked her over her sister Hera. (It’s a strange enough decision that I wonder if CMLL’s sending her somewhere or she has a bodybuilding commitment.) Samantha Black is the least-known woman included; she’s from the Costa Rica Embassy, but it makes some sense given how often CMLLs sent wrestlers to that promotion. Many people saw Alex Windsor’s name pop up and assumed it related to her partner, Will Ospreay, coming in. I suspect he’ll be by Arena Mexico eventually, regardless, but I believe Windsor is on the list because CMLL wanted a good wrestler with a UK (or England) flag, and she’s a good wrestler. I’ve been thinking about how Ultimo Guerrero is surely working that MLW show in Cicero because Lluvia is booked, so I’m not faulting people for thinking along those lines, but CMLL’s goal with this tournament is to get as many flags as possible represented and work with as many of their partners as they can. Viva Van being a Vietnamese rep and Red Velvet representing Colombia is the stuff that’s really important to CMLL. Velvet came across very well in her interview on Informa. CMLL also likes to have different people involved every year for the novelty of it, even if the previous people get over, but Velvet immediately clicked as someone who they’d be interested in bringing back if she does well.

Tessa Blanchard won last year’s Women’s Grand Prix over Stephanie Vaquer, the first time the match came down to two people on the same team. Claudio Castagnoli won it for Team World in the Men’s Grand Prix. I can’t see Mexico losing three straight of these or two in one calendar year. I also don’t see an obvious winner on the Mexico side. Zeuxis is probably ruled out as champion. Maybe Dark Silueta, maybe Lluvia, perhaps Kira or Skadi if they want to go crazy. I don’t feel strongly about any answer, but it has to be a Team Mexico celebrating with the trophy at the end.

CMLL also aired a new video trailer for Dia del Muertos. The dates aren’t new, but it’s been a month or so CMLL first mentioned them

  • 10/28 Arena Puebla
  • 10/29 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
  • 10/29 Arena Mexico
  • 11/01 Arena Mexico
  • 11/02 Arena Coliseo
  • 11/03 Arena Mexico

Is it really Dia del Muertos if it lasts a whole Semana? Anyway, the actual news here is the trailer states all these shows will air for Fan Leyendas. The 10/28 Puebla and 11/03 Arena Mexico shows are the ones that normally don’t stream. Not sure if this means Guadalajara will return to airing live; I wouldn’t bet on it.

The final CMLL Informa announcement was first on the show: La Vaquerita is retiring. She will wrestle a final match on the 11/03 Dia del Muertos show – the card featuring wrestlers who’ve lost their mask swearing them again for one night – but she’s otherwise done. (Maybe she’ll put her boots in the chest.) The timing of this announcement is because she’s making the same switch Metalico (Tigre Infante) and Olimpico have made in the last few years and becoming a referee, and she’ll start that as part of CMLL’s women’s wrestling month in October. CMLL had Princesa Sugehit and Sanely work as one-night referees on International Women’s Day earlier this year but has not had a full-time female referee in Arena Mexico since Estela Molina from 1994-1996. Molina would only referee women’s matches in a period where CMLL would typically have TV time for only three matches a week; the women’s matches would never make that cut. CMLL has had semi-retired luchadora Super Estrella referee matches in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara in recent years, but also only women’s matches. MicroAngel worked as a referee too, but just for the Micro matches. I presume that’ll be the same situation with La Vaquerita; CMLL didn’t outright say it, but they may have thought it obvious.

La Vaquerita had been in CMLL since 2013, as a ruda for the first few months before switching to the tecnica side. She was around working smaller promotions for a while before that, and says she’s retiring due to accumulated injuries. La Vaquerita was never pushed much and never was in a title match. Her “biggest” days were losing her mask to Zeuxis in a multi-woman cage match and losing her hair to Reyna Isis. She was passable as a depth member of the roster at one point, and that was fine enough when CMLL’s goal with the women’s division was passable matches. That goal seems to have changed (slightly), Vaquerita was booked less often this year, and getting the referee job is a blessing if she wants to stay around CMLL. I will probably not remember many of Vaquerita’s matches. I will remember her wearing pride flag colors on her gear in the last couple of years. CMLL does not acknowledge any of their wrestlers being part of the LGBT+ community or celebrate that identity in the way that do others. CMLL knew what Vaquerita was doing with those colors and didn’t tell her to stop it, which is a point in their favor. It still took a lot of bravery on her part to wear those colors.

(CMLL Informa was back to pretending the show was live…and then someone hit the wrong button and reset the show to the beginning about 10 minutes in. It’s OK if it’s just a taped show, that’s fine. But I’m biased – captions work better if it’s a premiere and that helps me a bit.)

I told myself I didn’t have time to listen to Part 2 of Soberano Jr.’s podcast on Thursday. I had other things to do, so I’d wait until Friday or over the weekend to really dig into it. I hit play at 12:03 AM Friday, so I technically didn’t lie to myself. I lied to my soul but that happens a lot. I’m very tired today, like I stayed up too late and didn’t get enough sleep. Like part 1, there’s a lot in there and we’d be here all day if I tried to write about it all. Soberano Jr. answers all questions while taking long and detailed routes to those answers. Soberano Jr. treats all matches as if they’re a shoot but is incredibly forthcoming on everything else.

  • Soberano Jr. says CMLL offered him a three-year deal last year. He says he wanted a five-year deal, CMLL said no, and he ended up signing the three year one. And then “certain issues have arisen.” Soberano Jr. admits that he’s very outgoing with his emotions – if he’s happy, people see him happy, if he’s angry, people see him angry – and that has gotten him into trouble. He still feels very happy to be in CMLL, to represent those letters. He notes that there are people who say he should go to WWE, but those guys are actors to him, and the only place to be a true luchador is CMLL.
    • I wonder if that three year contract is the answer to that “NJPW contract” Soberano says he signed, like there’s some connection there.
  • Soberano Jr. hints around at that trouble a bit. There’s an admission that something happening (breaking the trophies) at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas was the end of Los Principes and also perhaps why Rocky Romero hasn’t been around as much. (Soberano seems to prefer to wrestle Templario than team with him though.) He also sideways addresses his issues with Ultimo Guerrero, calling him a rival but noting he still respects him as a wrestler and a hard hitter. That’s part of Soberano Jr. bringing up, entirely on own his own, his other big issue of the last few years: going on Twitter and ripping Ultimo Guerrero as having too much influence in the promotion.  Soberano Jr. acknowledged that got him in a lot of trouble with CMLL, and that it was an unprofessional act. All of this stuff requires listeners to know a bit what’s going on, Soberano doesn’t explain it full and they’re not topics Alexis Salazar is looking to bring up, but it’s remarkable to see addressed at all.
    • The Ultimo Guerrero/Soberano beef may go all the way back to Magia Blanca and Bandido coming in. Remember, Soberano truly respects the CMLL veterans who’ve been there forever and the youngsters he’s seen work for a spot in training classes for years. Soberano viewed Bandido & Magia Blanca as being given really good spots without having done that work, because they were training at Ultimo Guerrero’s (outside) school and they were his boys from Torreon. Soberano also felt like those guys were the golden boys and he’d be blamed if anything went wrong while working with them.
    • Those old Torreon issues never fade away. Soberano Jr. said that his first Gran Alternativa as a padrino was with Halcon Suriano Jr., the guy he got into a legit fight with they were both kids. They were professional with each other but Soberano still clearly didn’t like him much. It’s a 180 degree difference when he talks about teaming with Vaquero Jr. the following year, how much fun it was and how he really wanted to do well to help the young guy (who is actually older than him) succeed.
  • Two more stories and then you’ll have to listen to it to find out how Soberano Jr. got good at merch and see if you can decipher which ex-CMLL act he took a shot at
    • Soberano Jr. broke up with his then-girlfriend on the day of Copa Dinastia 2022. (Soberano Jr. says he no longer thinks about meeting someone and falling in love, he’ll be happy if it happens, but he’s really in love with his mask and being Soberano Jr.) Soberano was living with that girlfriend; she was keeping the place, and he rolled up to Arena Mexico with every piece of clothing he owned in the back of his car. Euforia realized something was up, Soberano wouldn’t tell him (because he didn’t want to move back home), and then finally broke down and did so about five minutes before the match. Euforia gave him a pep speech, told him had to separate Soberano Jr. from the guy underneath the mask, and they went out there and won. Soberano Jr. slept that night in a hotel with nothing in his bed except the trophy he had just won.
    • Soberano Jr. dealt with sciatica nerve issues through 2023, though it went away near the end of the year. He wrestled on Christmas Day, went out to dinner with his mother and sister, went to bed, and woke up in extra pain. His left leg was dead, he felt like his back was messed up to where he was a hunchback, everything felt out of place. Soberano called the office, kept canceling bookings and kept trying to get treatment done, but nothing was working. CMLL insisted Soberano come in for the 01/12 show – they’d already postponed Soberano’s match with Templario once. Soberano gives in and does it, and everyone there can see he’s messed up. Alexis says they saw him and thought there was no way he was going to wrestle. Soberano felt terrible, was scared he wouldn’t even make it down the stairs, but started putting on his gear and his oil as the semi-main went on. Something – Alexis and Soberano think “the power of the mask,” and I think “adrenaline” – happened, and Soberano suddenly felt everything move back into place, and he felt back to normal, and everything was fine.
      • This is not a story that reflects CMLL positively. Soberano did note earlier positive changes in CMLL around the time of his 2022 knee injury, saying the “current administration” greatly improved the health care for the wrestlers. He think the “previous administration” cared too, but it’s much more professional now, talking about how he can rehab seven days a week if they want.

MLW adds Hechciero and NAME TO FILL IN ON FRIDAY (Okumura) to their 11/09 show. It remains funny that the person who writes these descriptions for their website doesn’t follow CMLL, as they put together the only introduction to Hechicero that is going to mention him beating Rey Bucanero in 2016 while not mentioning Hechicero’s highly acclaimed mask match a couple of weeks ago. Or it’s on me for not updating the luchawiki.

It’s buried late in this interview but Zeuxis still hates that La Catalina won the Universal tournament last year. She doesn’t think Catalina was worthy; she thinks CMLL should’ve picked her. La Catalina was told about the comments and called it envy and disrespect.

Titan says he felt his career was going nowhere and he was close to giving up, then he started to go to church, and he started to climb the ranks of CMLL. He remains a big fan of God.

AAA

AAA is pushing tonight’s spot show in Tijuana harder than most tapings, with social media video promos from many wrestlers. I still don’t understand what’s happened there to cause the latest split, but AAA clearly wants it to succeed where the other recent Tijuana shows have struggled to draw.

AAA also has a TV taping on Sunday.

AAA TV (SUN) 09/29/2024 Gimnasio Nuevo León Unido, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
1) Tiger Universitario Jr. & Tigre Universitario vs Hijo del Solar & Solar I
2) Alan Stone, Bello Stone, Zumbido vs Dulce Kanela, Jessy Queen, Pimpinela Escarlata
3) Dinámico vs Charro NegroRedimidoTosscano
4) Dalys & La Hiedra vs Masha Slamovich & Natalia Markova and Julissa & Valentina
5) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown vs Abismo Negro, El Fiscal, Psicosis
6) Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Octagón Jr. vs Belcegor, Emperador Azteca, Taurus
7) Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz vs ?, El Mesías, Pierroth Jr.

Because AAA is a bonkers company, this probably will not air for three weeks until after the next taping. It’s a cross-promotion show with local promoter KAOZ, contributing to the strange lineup. This is the same night as a CMLL show in Arena Monterrey – one CMLL has been promoting slightly more often in recent days. CMLL and AAA could draw the same, and CMLL’s crowd would look much worse because they’re running the giant arena. I doubt CMLL will draw as much; AAA’s show matters in a way that CMLL one does not.

There’s no obvious follow-up to the big eye angle without Alberto around, but Latin Lover and Konnan are listed on the poster, so they’ll do something. The draw of the main event is to find out who Mesias has recruited as a new partner. The semi-main is about Vikingo returning and teaming up with his old partners. Abismo Negro Jr. broke up with his partners back in Mexico City but they’re still trios champions; AAA may just do the title change here as a surprise to get out of that issue. I do not expect a lot from the women’s three-way tag or most of the early matches on the card.

TNA had TV tapings scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Those are now Sunday and Monday due to severe weather. That’s an issue for Laredo Kid, since he’s previously mentioned he was supposed to work both those and this TV taping. I think we all understand that Laredo Kid will likely be used in an enhancement role on those TNA tapings, if he’s used at all. He’d be in one of the featured matches on the AAA taping; they also might run an angle to explain why he’s challenging for AAA’s top title on the next show. I’m not sure which taping he’ll be on.

I watched Jonathan Gresham versus Laredo Kid on Impact Thursday; I hit the cancel button on my TNA+ subscription, but there were still a few days left – like maybe a week or so. The match was good! It was really a showcase for Gresham’s mat skills and style of wrestling. Laredo Kid got a little shine and had the San Antonio crowd behind him, which made it fun enough. He never had a chance of winning and it was about seven minutes; that’s more or less what I was hoping to get out of Laredo Kid/KUSHIDA match from a few weeks back. I did eventually get what I wanted out of the subscription price. It will still be a very long time before I give TNA any more money but I no longer wish for their doom. Seriously, I wanted to note they did make it right for one angry blogger (though I doubt they were doing it for that angry blogger.)

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 09/26/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Celta, Indra, Samodeo b Astralis, Cosmic, Sinapsis
2) Ángel Kid, Samoa Kid, Titanium b Fobia, Pitbull, Shura King
3) Maggie Girl & Miss Fantasy b Dannesa & Shamila
Hijo del Diablo helped his partner Maggie Girl win. Shamila left injured.
4) Águila Oriental, Black Dragón Ng, Hijo De Black Dragón vs Ángel Negro, Rayo De Plata Jr., Rey Anubis
no finish listed.
5) Fauno, Histeryosis, Príncipe Centauro, Rey Aztaroth, Sky Man, Súper Boy, Tornado, Vudu Max b As Negro, Black Extreme, Bogar, Demencia Jr., Escudero Jr., Extreme Fly, Geruz, King Pegasso [Torneo Fill 116]
FILL versus San Luis Potosi. Mamba helped Team FILL win.

The IWRG results are down to mentioning one person who won in the match. They didn’t even do that with the fourth match. It’s not great. I could go through the video and do it myself, but I don’t got the time.

Spider Fly has been released from the hospital.

Sunday’s show is a Lucha Libre Boom card with the Blue Panthers and the Octagons main eventing.

Lucha Brothers

There were always two ways this could’ve gone once it became blindingly obvious the Lucha Brothers had agreed to WWE deals while under AEW contract.

  1. Tony Khan could’ve let Fenix and Penta go when their contracts expired, a pro-labor move but establishing that WWE can actively pursue any AEW talent at any time without consequence
  2. Tony Khan could’ve held Fenix and Penta under AEW contracts as long as possible to send a message about negotiating with another company while still under contract. This is a pro-AEW move but definitely not a pro-labor one.

AEW seems to have chosen option 2. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter today reports AEW will enforce a clause in Fenix’s contract that allows them to extend a contract for the amount of time missed due to injury. That’ll tack nearly a year on Fenix’s AEW contract; he’ll probably be with them until summer 2025. AEW has seemed upset with how this all went down, so taking the harsher choice seemed more likely. It still is a harsh choice. It doesn’t seem like AEW has any plans to actually use Fenix; they’ve taken the Lucha Brothers out of all the videos they use on TV, they seemed to have pulled them out of their official program at the last second. He’s just going to sit home at year.

Which likely means Penta is going to sit at home for a year. He’s still under a AEW contract, he will be out of it soon enough, and everyone expects him to sign with WWE as soon as it’s possible. Nothing stops WWE from putting Penta on TV – except that they thought they were getting a tag team, and he’s not a tag team. They also don’t have many ideas of what to do with Mexican wrestlers outside of sticking him in one of two groups where he’ll be less over by the time Fenix is ready to show up. Penta milling around on WWE Main Event is not a great idea. Penta will get himself over if given a chance. Even if not given it but the outcome here seems much more likely to be “Both Fenix and Penta collect checks at home for months” than “WWE lets go of ingrained stylistic biases and runs with Penta as a big time solo act in the way AEW never did,” as much as we’d all like it to be that second option.

I think it’s more than fair to have hard feelings about AEW messing with the Lucha Brothers like this, but also to have not exactly warm feelings about how the Lucha Brothers have handled the situation. Tony Khan had been public with his anger over WWE messing with contracted AEW talent and made it clear he would fight back somehow. The Lucha Brothers strolled right in the middle of the fight, maybe figuring it wouldn’t affect them and figuring wrong. The Lucha Brothers are under no obligation to AEW beyond whatever is stated in their contracts and do not owe AEW anything beyond that. Still, they also should’ve been aware of the vibe enough to be straightforward with AEW about what their plans were – all the reporting so far suggests AEW management was last to find out. I’m sure we’ll hear more about that, but it seems like the way this breakup was handled is the core issue. Daniel Garcia might also be headed WWE’s way, and AEW saw him out on TV because it appears he was a bit more forthcoming in his internal decision-making. Again, maybe there will be more reporting and we’ll learn more about the details here. I would also rather see wrestlers wrestle than sit on the sidelines. I don’t have an issue with anyone being upset with AEW about this. It just has to be noted the Lucha Brothers seem to have put themselves on the sidelines.

The same thing applies on Konnan on this. Konnan going on his podcast and implying he worked behind the scenes to convince the Lucha Brothers to jump to WWE as revenge for AEW wronging him seemed like a bad idea at the time and worse now. It was probably not a wise decision from someone who always likes to be a master planner, but I’m sure it felt great to do in the moment. Still, the Lucha Brothers are adults – Konnan can nudge them however he wants and say what he wants, but they’re making the decisions to go where they want and how they want, and the responsibility is on them if it did or did not work out well.  Konnan probably shouldn’t have started doing a touchdown dance before getting across the end line because it sure looks like they all got tackled at the one. They’ll get in anyway.

This is at least the third contract that has gone lousy for these two. They had issues with AAA and with Lucha Underground. Those situations were linked, but they’ve acquired much knowledge about contract clauses. If any two people should’ve been cautious in signing any agreements with wrestling promotions, it definitely should be the tag team that has had to change their names every few years. The Lucha Brothers pattern instead has been them making the move that feels right for them and then paying a price later on. It doesn’t look like the right choice today, but it’ll probably turn out fine. They had some hard times dealing with AAA and Lucha Underground and came out of it even stronger and richer. This situation is a setback, and they’ll probably be even better off when they both can sign that WWE deal. It always seems to work out because they’re good at what they do, and few can do it like they can. Maybe this will be the one bad time, but I doubt it.

The one upside here? The Lucha Brothers are in WWE until 2025 anyway, but at least the correct Lucha Brother is free. Fenix has lived in the US long enough now that it’s at least possible he got around to getting citizenship or something, allowing him not to need a foreign work visa. (Nothing is for sure with Fenix, though.) The act would have to wait until at least Penta got off his AEW work visa and onto a WWE one, and that will end up some of the time anyway. I’m unsure if Stephanie Vaquer has gotten hers yet. WWE showed her on NXT this past week to get some buzz, and they’ve done a great job of keeping her name alive while she’s been unable to wrestle in the US. Her caption listed her in Chile. I’m not following NXT gossip closely enough to know if she was truly in Chile or backstage at the WWE PC. It seemed like everyone assumed the later, though I wonder if NXT just wanted a big moment to end their run on USA. That work visa wait is unfairly long and a more significant issue than contract clauses.

Other News

Mas Lucha posted an interview with Aramis from a show in Denver back in August. The big thrust is that Aramis said he was pausing his Mexican appearances because he’s not sure he can fulfill those commitments with other things going on, and he wants to make shows he’s been booked for. This turned out to be correct as an issue; his next scheduled match in Mexico was for Coliseo Coacalco, and he missed that because Hologram was wrestling before a Jaguars game. Both Aramis and interviewer Jose Manuel Guillen talk around the fact that Aramis is Hologram but Aramis is very excited about how his career is going. He reveals that when he went to AAA’s office to give his notice early this year, someone there told him, “Don’t get your hopes up.” Aramis laughs about that and turns it into an inspirational message – people should get their hopes up and dream big, but they must also understand they need to work hard and sacrifice a lot to reach those dreams. He feels he’s sacrificed a lot. I see this as another thing AAA management was wrong about. (Before you go there, Konnan’s usually a remote worker and not AAA’s office – it was likely the other guy.)

El Jornada has an article about the tough conditions of luchadors, but it’s also rife with factual errors. The “Rey Destroller fell wrong and died” is an issue for me – I’ve seen the video, he did not fall on his head – but there’s other stuff that non-blog-people should’ve caught. Fresero Jr. is listed as a former CMLL wrestler, LA Park is claimed to be Queretaro, Dick Angelo 3G is listed as “Black Angelo 3G”, and “Stephanie Baker” is a former Chilean wrestler now with WWE. They quote Tony Salazar as saying a top wrestler can make 70 to 80,000 pesos per match, but I don’t know if that’s right with everything else being off.

The headline of a press release, “The Iconic Mexican Luchador Enters the World of iGaming through SCCG NextGen Initiative“, contains many words that I don’t understand. Still, I’ve discovered that the Santo mask will be plastered on online casinos and sports betting in exchange for a few dollars. I get the explanation of why Hijo del Santo doesn’t want to lower himself to appearing in CMLL (or AAA) again after the way they felt he treated him, but if you’re willing to sell the Santo image in this not-especially great way for a few extra bucks, I wish he would do a thing that would make his fans happy. It’s just not going to happen.

The WON also reports the Todo x el Todo show as “less than 5,000 paid”, with people getting in free after the show started. 4,000 people is a strong number for a non-CMLL/AAA show in the Mexico City area, but not one that warrants running Arena Ciudad de Mexico or coming back in April.

Septimo Dragon won a tournament.

A profile of Mexico State luchador Tom Mix Jr.

ABC 7 Chicago has a profile of Chicago luchadora Paloma Vargas. Paloma is very very loud.

There was a party for luchadors in Fresnilo, Zacatecas to celebrate Dia de Lucha Libre.

CMLL Noche de Campeones match set, AAA Showcenter TV notes

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 09/23/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Depor PueblaMano A Mano, Porra Fresa]
1) Astro & Black Tiger b Prayer & Rencor
2) Arkalis & Meyer b El Perverso & Multy
Meyer replaced Rayo Metailco.
3) Rey Samuray & Xelhua DQ Felino & Felino Jr. Facebook video (posted by )
Felino Jr unmasked Xelhua, who demanded a singles match
4) Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. b Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II Facebook video (posted by )
5) Averno, Euforia, Valiente b Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Hechicero [Relevos IncreíblesFacebook video (posted by )
Valiente pinned Hechicero after a mask pull.
6) Flip Gordon, Templario, Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.
Volador & Templario won in straight falls, setting up a tag title match

CMLL’s building matches more in the building frequently; it’s rare to have a show with nothing happening, and this had two matches set up.

CMLL (TUE) 09/24/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Shockercito b Galaxy [lightning]
7:45
2) Capitán Suicida, Dragón de Fuego, Valiente Jr. b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
18:44
3) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma
16:26.
4) Tessa Blanchard b Sanely
8:58. Sanely loses her first singles match since becoming a ruda.
5) Blue Panther, Flip Gordon, Neón b Stuka Jr., Terrible, Valiente
13:17
6) Esfinge, Templario, Titán b Difunto, Hechicero, Zandokan Jr.
14:51. Straight falls, Esfinge pulled Hechicero’s mask and rolled him up to win the second fall.

Nothing too interesting. The main event was the best if I had to pick. Sanely’s big debut as a ruda saw her lose but the fans cheer her over Tessa the entire match. They also worked lightning match time despite having three falls.

CMLL (TUE) 09/24/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha, Mas Lucha Jr.]
1) Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Draego, Persa b Gallo Jr., Makara, Rafaga Jr., Shezmu
2) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Felino Jr., Hombre Bala Jr., Robin
3) Lluvia © b Valkiria [OCCIDENTE WOMEN]
first defense. Mexican Paralympic athletes Haideé Aceves (2 silvers in backstroke) & José Arnulfo Castorena (also a swimmer), were honored after the match.
4) Atlantis, Pantera, Panterita del Ring b Felino, Rey Bucanero, Satánico
5) Star Black © b Gallego [MEX HEAVY]
fifth defense. Star Black wants a mask/mask match.
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico b Averno, Furia Roja, Soberano Jr.
Soberano may have picked up a leg injury; he left the match early.

Soberano keeps getting hurt, often looking seriously hurt, and then he’s just wrestling normally 24 hours later. We’ll probably find out if there’s anything to this one later tonight.

CMLL closed the Noche de Campeones voting Tuesday evening and surprise matches in between matches on the Arena Mexico stream. I checked out the totals Tuesday morning, and nothing changed as far as the winners. Below is the vote order (from lowest to highest), corresponding to the match order on Friday.

  1. Los Infernales challenging Mascara Dorada, Neon, and Star Jr. [CMLL TRIOS]
  2. Pierrothito challenging Ultimo Dragoncito [CMLL MINI]
  3. Villanos challenging Magnus & Rugido [MEX TAG]
  4. Sanely challenging Reyna Isis [MEX WOMEN]
  5. Volador Jr. challenging Templario [CMLL MIDDLE]
  6. Soberano Jr. challenging Atlantis Jr. [NWA LH]
  7. Rayo Metalico challenging Futuro [MEX LIGHT]

That main event jumps out, though it fits patterns from recent years – the key to winning is race that features multiple wrestlers who wouldn’t get this sort of chance otherwise. Rayo Metalico and Calavera I Jr. voters are pushing a normally forgettable title race to the top, because their fans (and family) believe what a big deal a win is for them.

They’re correct to feel that way, not just for a title shot but what winning the main event spot has meant to other careers. CMLL got behind Rey Cometa & Espiritu Negro when they won the first one of these. CMLL started doing more with Jarochita/Lluvia (and the entire division) after they won in 2021. CMLL was probably going to get behind Rugido even before he won in 2022 and Mascara Dorada when he won in 2023, but that didn’t hurt their cause. Rayo Metalico is on the fringes of the CMLL roster as Torneo Escuela guy. He could’ve quickly faded away from the roster – like Vaquero Jr. or the Misteriosos last year – and he may have won a permanent role.

Don’t take that order as final, though. The first three matches were close enough to end up in any order, and the women’s match wasn’t much farther ahead. If Soberano Jr. fans got behind him, they could’ve pushed him to the main event, but it’s pretty unlikely, given the distance they would’ve had to cover unknowingly. These category vote totals are publicly available if you know where to look in the code, but almost no one will seek them out. Soberano fans would have no idea where they were in the rankings, and neither would Rayo Metalico ones.

Tonight’s CMLL Informa will have both the match order for the Noche de Campeones show this Friday and the lineups for the Women’s Grand Prix. (I think CMLL has switched to using “Grand” and I’m still using “Gran”, I’ll try to get that right.) The listed guests on the show are just the poll winners listed above. The foreign names for Grand Prix, especially the women’s one, tend to catch a lot of attention.

CMLL (SUN) 09/29/2024 Arena México
1) Diamond & Leono vs Inquisidor & Sangre Imperial
2) El Audaz, Hijo del Pantera, Retro vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
3) Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star, Volcano vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
4) Kira, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard vs Dark Silueta, Hera, Sanely
5) Terrible vs Dragón Rojo Jr.
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Euforia, Niebla Roja

Dragon Rojo hasn’t been teaming much with Los Cavenarios and doesn’t wear the gear when not teaming with them. I thought last Sunday’s match was to set him being out of the group. A match with Terrible suggests that direction, but nothing actually happened in that match last Sunday.

CMLL (MON) 09/30/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Amnesia, Black Tiger, El Asturiano vs Dreyko, El Malayo, Siky Ozama
2) Arkalis, Meyer, Rey Samuray vs Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Fuego
3) Xelhua vs Felino Jr.
4) Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. vs Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
5) Esfinge, Flip Gordon, Hechicero vs Euforia, Soberano Jr., Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja © vs Templario & Volador Jr. [CMLL TAG]
16th defense (Chavez counting it as 17)

The tag title defense record is 18 (Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero) and the Chavez have talked about reaching it for months. I need to find this extra defense they’re counting but they’re definitely not losing these titles before getting to that 18th defense. Semi-main is Aniversario follow up. Akuma and Zandokan had a little bit of an issue on Monday. Xelhua/Felino Jr. is listed as a full match, not a lightning one. It falls outside the normal TV window, but they’re willing to show match 3 if something is going on. Felino Jr. just praised Xelhua to the media in Guadalajara a few weeks ago, so maybe this is a match he’ll be up for.

Box y Lucha #3622 has Euforia on top.

MLW announced Averno vs Mistico for the MLW Middleweight Championship for their 10/04 show in St. Petersburgh. The two previously wrestled in MLW back in February. MLW says it’ll be “taped only for Bein Sports”, which means it’ll probably air on a YouTube special around October 18th. They’re also up to Mistico, Titan, Lluvia, Atlantis, and Barbaro Cavernario announced for the 11/09 show.

Pep Caro talked with Robbie X about his trip to CMLL (among other topics.)

Only in seeing an Twitter ad for the 09/29 CMLL/Alto Voltage Arena Monterrey show did it click exactly how overloaded that city is with premium events:

  • 09/29 CMLL @ Arena Monterrey
  • 09/29 AAA TV taping @ Gimasnio Nuevo Leon Unido
  • 10/13 Todo x el Todo @ Arena Monterrey

That ad got me to look at tickets for CMLL show. It still looks bad.

AAA

AAA’s posted the cover image for Heroes Inmortales but not the lineup. There’s probably a reason. It’s probably the same lineup. Maybe they’re setting something up on Sunday’s taping, and maybe AAA’s decided that advertising a lineup is meaningless. 

I did catch up with the last two weeks of AAA TV. You don’t really need to do that. The shows covered the 09/01 Showcenter card. These are still mostly non-regular AAA TV performers, though there’s also an increasing amount of non-Monterrey talent. El Original (Rey Leon), Brillante RB, Estrellato, and Epydemius Jr. were all guys coming in from outside the city, some from some far distance. If AAA isn’t paying to fly in more wrestlers from their regular roster for cost savings reasons, I wonder how much they’re paying to those types of guys (and how much of the payment is in the form of “you get to be featured on AAA TV!” exposure.) This was also a taping where neither of the announcers without either of AAA’s (previous) main announcers – Roberto Figueroa and Jesus Zuniga called the show instead – which contributed to a strange feel. Figueroa’s been featured in AAA’s social media often lately, and might be figuring into the Hugo replacement plans.

Kento, Takuma, and Nobu San are going by “Tokyo Bad Boys” now, though the announcers seemed to omit the “Tokyo” part. Their match with Emperador Azteca, Oni el Bendito, and Octagon Jr. (episode 2, will be on YouTube Sunday) was the best on the show, a level above in professionalism. It had a couple of issues and too many rudos, but it was a good TV match. Brillante RB, Reycko, and Black Raven (episode 1) had a very active triangle match, the best of the rest of the taping.

The angles on the Showcenter cards are always minimal. The only bit in front of the fans was the Tokyo Bad Boys attacking Mr. Iguana when he came out in front of the crowd early (Octagon Jr. made the save) and Mr. Iguana (unsuccessfully) trying to get revenge later. Some bits appeared to be taped later, around the press conference on the 09/29 show, and added later. Pierroth Jr. joined Mesias group, while Cibernetico pledged to help Latin Lover against Alberto/Konnan/Dorian. That last one was useful just to remind people that angle was happening; it’s now been six weeks since the big reveal with no follow-up. That’s how AAA TV works.

AAA posted a video promo with Alberto calling Latin Lover out. The footage is remarkably poor quality. I can’t believe they didn’t have him refilm it. However, it still achieved its purpose; when I checked Tuesday night, there were over 500 comments on the video on AAA’s Facebook post. There doesn’t appear to be another recent post with at least 100.

The bigger picture is that AAA is setting up a 2025 Alberto match with Latin Lover, even though he has said he won’t wrestle. It was the only obvious direction coming out of the TripleMania Mexico City angle, and promos like this just re-enforce that plan. AAA probably has the Alberto/Latin scheduled for TripleMania Monterrey and a rematch for TripleMania Mexico City, based on how they usually book things. (It is AAA, and their plans of course don’t always work out..) I think Latin Lover getting back in the ring is the biggest draw AAA could offer right now – he’s a big star out of wrestling, and they’ve spent the last six months making him the top face in the promotion – and Alberto makes much sense as anyone as an opponent. It means everything in AAA should serve to build that match, which translates to an Alberto reign of terror until Latin is finally forced to return to the ring. I can see the business purpose of that and what that means – every notable tecnico losing to Alberto – isn’t going to be something I’m excited to watch.

One aspect of the Keyra/Myzteziz story I ignored on Monday was Keyra putting out an ID photo of Myzteziz in hopes of people being able to find him and then also their child. This seemed normal, not a big deal; the tradition of keeping someone’s masked identity secret for lucha libre reasons seems utterly irrelevant in a situation like this. I did not consider that “ex-partner puts out unmasked photo of luchador” would become a viral story. The “scandal” of revealing a masked luchador’s face proved to be an easier way to get into a story about a custody dispute, and so the situation has gotten picked up in many news outlets. Keyra has gone quiet, and it appears her friends have also stopped pushing for a resolution online. Myzteziz has said nothing.

IWRG

IWRG posted video of Spider Fly being in a hospital – or the Arena Naucalpan medical office – as he recovers from the martinete that Rock Power gave him.

IWRG (THU) 09/26/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Astralis, Cosmic, Sinapsis vs Celta, Indra, Samodeo
2) Ángel Kid, Samoa Kid, Titanium vs Fobia, Pitbull, Shura King
3) Dannesa & Shamila vs Maggie Girl & Miss Fantasy
4) Águila Oriental, Black Dragón Ng, Hijo De Black Dragón vs Ángel Negro, Rayo De Plata Jr., Rey Anubis
5) Fauno, Histeryosis, Príncipe Centauro, Rey Aztaroth, Sky Man, Súper Boy, Tornado, Vudu Max vs As Negro, Black Extreme, Bogar, Demencia Jr., Escudero Jr., Extreme Fly, Geruz, King Pegasso [Torneo Fill 116]
FILL versus San Luis Potosi

There’s a lot of familiar San Luis Potosi wrestlers on this show. Well, familiar if you’ve been entering in a lot of SLP lineups in the last couple of weeks. Notably, the people who’ve actually been in IWRG from San Luis Potosi, like Aster Boy and Dibalo Jr., are not here. “Maggie Girl” is pronounced “Magic Girl”, wrestles as “Magic Girl” in San Luis Potosi but someone heard it and didn’t ask for it to be written down so she’s Maggie Girl here.

Other News

Bobo Produccions posted an interview with El Hijo del Santo talking positively about his debut show. His statements elsewhere suggest he’s definitely doing a show in Japan, it’s just the date that’s uncertain.

Dr. Lucha’s weekly column talk about his recent travels around Mexico; I don’t think I could keep up with this man.

QueMoniito made an appearance in San Luis Potosi over the weekend. He says he’s retiring soon and wants to make it through this year, but he’s not sure if his body will hold up. He mentioned he’d actually be willing to work with CMLL again, though he noted the window to do so is brief.

San Luis Potosi based Bendita Lucha Libre handed out 2024 awards for local luchadors.

  • Best Tecnico: Bogar Jr.
  • Best Rudo: Black Extreme
  • Best Flyer: Illegal Jr.
  • Best Luchadora: Miss Fantasy
  • Best Trio: Colegio del Mal NG
  • Best Team: Power Kid & Strong Panther
  • Best rookie: Black Destroyer
  • Best prospect: Bufalo negro
  • Revelacion of the yar: Nino Sin Amor Jr.
  • Best Referee: El Negro
  • Best Rudo Referee: Sininesto
  • Best Tecnico Referee: Helio
  • Luchador most popular on social media: Estrellita de Plata

There were a lot of other honors, including for wrestlers with 40 or more years of experience: Galaxia 79, Rayo de Plata, Bogar, Zulu (/Kaliman) and Gavilan. In even more San Luis Potosi wrestling coverage, El Sol de San Luis visits (new-ish) Arena Marca.

DDT announced Demus is coming back to the promotion in late October, and it sounds like he’s sticking around for a while.

great match round up, week of 2024-09-17

I’m stuck in a loop, I can’t seem to escape the loop, I’m doing one of these posts to try and break out of the loop, it probably won’t work. This makes no sense to anyone but me but OK.

That one AAA match was probably better live because it was easily a cut above everything else on that taping. Pantera/Stuka is fun, though Mistico/Averno is the better lightning match.

(full year MOTYC list is not close to being updated)

rating matches TV Show taped
great Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Atlantis Jr. & Star Jr. for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship Campeonato Mundial de parejas: Ángel de Oro y Niebla Roja Vs Atlantis Jr y Star Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL | Ángel De Oro y Niebla Roja retienen el Campeonato Mundial de Parejas CMLL (posted by mluchatv) CMLL Angel de Oro y Niebla Roja vs Star Jr y Atlantis Jr ARENA MEXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring) CMLL- MARTES 17 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 - ARENA MÉXICO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2024-09-17 2024-09-17
great Atlantis Jr., Templario, Titán vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero CMLL | Templario, Titán y Atlantis Jr. vencen a Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero y Stuka Jr. (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DEL 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL-STUKA JR-ÚLTIMO GUERRERO-GRAN GUERRERO VS TITÁN-ATLANTIS JR-TEMPLARIO/ARENA MÉXICO / 20-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Templario, Atlantis Jr y Titán derrotan a Último Guerrero, Stuka Jr y Gran Guerrero (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube: 2024-09-20 2024-09-20
great Titán © vs Villano III Jr. for the CMLL World Welterweight Championship CMLL EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO - DOMINGO 22 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Luchota por el campeonato mundial welter CMLL: Titán (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube: 2024-09-22 2024-09-22
good Hijo del Pantera vs Hijo de Stuka Jr. in a lightning match Hijo del Pantera vs Hijo de Stuka Jr. in a lightning match (posted by thecubsfan (DailyMotion)) CMLL on TV Mexiquense: 2024-09-19 2024-09-08
good Flip Gordon, Neón, Pelon Encapuchado vs Magnus, Rugido, Vegas Atlantis Jr , Neón y Star Jr vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja y Soberano Jr. (posted by ) CMLL - VEGAS - RUGIDO - MAGNUS VS PELÓN ENCAPUCHADO - NEÓN - FLIP GORDON / ARENA MÉXICO / 20-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Rugido, Magnus y Vegas vencen a Flip Gordon, Neón y Pelón Encapuchado (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DEL 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Rugido, Magnus y Vegas dan cuenta de Flip Gordon, Neón y el Pelón Encapuchado (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube: 2024-09-20 2024-09-20
good Místico vs Averno in a lightning match CMLL - MATCH RELÁMPAGO / AVERNO VS MÍSTICO / ARENA MÉXICO / 20-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Místico vence a Averno en match relámpago (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DEL 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Místico y la “mística” derrotan a Averno (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube: 2024-09-20 2024-09-20
good Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Valiente vs Esfinge, Euforia, Soberano Jr. in a relevos increíbles match CMLL - VALIENTE - B. CAVERNARIO - HECHICERO VS ESFINGE - SOBERANO JR. -EUFORIA/ARENA MÉXICO/20-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Hechicero, Bárbaro Cavernario y Valiente vencen a Euforia, Soberano Jr. y Esfinge (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DEL 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Hechicero, B. Cavernario y Valiente derrotan a Euforia, Soberano Jr y Esfinge (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube: 2024-09-20 2024-09-20
good Emperador Azteca, Octagón Jr., Oni El Bendito vs Kento, Nobu San, Takuma AAA on Space: 2024-09-21 2024-09-01
good Atlantis Jr., Místico, Último Guerrero vs Averno, Soberano Jr., Templario in a relevos increíbles match CMLL - ARENA COLISEO 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Místico, Atlantis Jr. y Último Guerrero vencen a Soberano Jr., Averno y Templario (posted by mluchatv) Reporte CMLL: Místico, Atlantis Jr y Último Guerrero Vs Templario Averno y Soberano Jr. (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube: 2024-09-21 2024-09-21

 

Santo retirement tour, Titan/Villano III, Soberano, AAA TV schedule

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 09/20/2024 Arena México [CMLL, El GraficoKaiser SportsThe GladiatoresThe Gladiatores (Video), thecubsfan]
1) Legendario & Rayo Metálico b Alom & Infarto CMLL - ALOM - INFARTO VS RAYO METÁLICO - LEGENDARIO / ARENA MÉXICO / 20-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL PRESENTA VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DEL 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Legendario y Rayo Metálico derrotan a los rudos recios Alom e Infarto (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
7:02
2) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Hijo De Blue Panther b Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider CMLL | Blue Panther Jr., Hijo de Blue Panther y Dark Panther vencen a Espanto Jr, Dark Magic y Rider (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DEL 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL-RAIDER-ESPANTO JR-DARK MAGIC VS H DE BLUE PANTHER-B. PANTHER JR-DARK PANTHER/A. MÉXICO/20-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: D.Panther, B.Panther Jr e H. de Blue Panther vencen a Espanto Jr, Raider y Dark Magic (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
15:45.
3) Magnus, Rugido, Vegas b Flip Gordon, Neón, Pelon Encapuchado Atlantis Jr , Neón y Star Jr vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja y Soberano Jr. (posted by ) CMLL - VEGAS - RUGIDO - MAGNUS VS PELÓN ENCAPUCHADO - NEÓN - FLIP GORDON / ARENA MÉXICO / 20-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Rugido, Magnus y Vegas vencen a Flip Gordon, Neón y Pelón Encapuchado (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DEL 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Rugido, Magnus y Vegas dan cuenta de Flip Gordon, Neón y el Pelón Encapuchado (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
15:27.
4) Atlantis Jr., Templario, Titán b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero CMLL | Templario, Titán y Atlantis Jr. vencen a Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero y Stuka Jr. (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DEL 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL-STUKA JR-ÚLTIMO GUERRERO-GRAN GUERRERO VS TITÁN-ATLANTIS JR-TEMPLARIO/ARENA MÉXICO / 20-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Templario, Atlantis Jr y Titán derrotan a Último Guerrero, Stuka Jr y Gran Guerrero (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
5) Místico b Averno [lightningCMLL - MATCH RELÁMPAGO / AVERNO VS MÍSTICO / ARENA MÉXICO / 20-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Místico vence a Averno en match relámpago (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DEL 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Místico y la “mística” derrotan a Averno (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
9:28.
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Valiente DQ Esfinge, Euforia, Soberano Jr. [Relevos IncreíblesCMLL - VALIENTE - B. CAVERNARIO - HECHICERO VS ESFINGE - SOBERANO JR. -EUFORIA/ARENA MÉXICO/20-09-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Hechicero, Bárbaro Cavernario y Valiente vencen a Euforia, Soberano Jr. y Esfinge (posted by mluchatv) CMLL PRESENTA VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DEL 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Hechicero, B. Cavernario y Valiente derrotan a Euforia, Soberano Jr y Esfinge (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
12:19. Straight falls, Euforia unmasking Hechicero for the DQ.

Friday’s show was a good show, if a little inconsequential following week. They worked hard in the main event, even it was the destination was pretty obvious. Mistico and Averno did a nine minute version of their classic match, something far more comfortable than last week. Match four was the super professional match between regular teams, really peaking in the third fall. Match two was all third fall, I didn’t think much of the rest. The tecnicos were fun in match three.

Ultimo Guerrero dropkicked KeMalito off the apron in that match four, a moment intended to evoke UG doing the same to KeMonito two decades ago. (KeMalito didn’t do the flip, but Ultimo Guerrero didn’t hit him the same angle.) The documentary on KeMonito came out on Wednesday and got a fair bit of attention, and it’s probably not a coincidence they did the famous spot a couple of days later.

You’d have to be really paying to notice (or care), but CMLL’s moving on as if the Jericho/Mistico match didn’t happen. There’s a sort of pre-show for the Friday streams where CMLL airs in-house ads and highlights from last week. They didn’t show any highlights from the Jericho/Mistico match, which is very unusual for a main event. Later, during Mistico’s match, the announcers talked about his big weekend – in MLW, not mentioning Aniversario at all. Jericho’s face is still up in Arena Coliseo at least.

CMLL (SAT) 09/21/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, Kaiser SportsThe Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) KeMalito & Mije b Chamuel & Tengu CMLL - ARENA COLISEO 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Kemalito y Mije derrotan a Tengu y Chamuel (posted by mluchatv) Reporte CMLL: Kemalito y Mije Vs Chamuel y Tengu (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
13:56. Tengu replaced Atomo
2) Pierrothito b Angelito [lightningCMLL - ARENA COLISEO 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Pequeño Pierroth vence a Angelito en match relámpago (posted by mluchatv) Reporte CMLL: Angelito Vs Pequeño Pierroth (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
7:44
3) Persephone, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis b Kira, La Catalina, Lluvia CMLL - ARENA COLISEO 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Zeuxis, Reyna Isis y Persephone derrotan a La Catalina, Lluvia y Kira (posted by mluchatv) Reporte CMLL: La Catalina, Lluvia y Kira Vs Persephone, Zeuxis y Reyna Isis (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
12:19.
4) Neón & Star Jr. b Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. CMLL - ARENA COLISEO 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Star Jr. y Neón derrotan a Villano III Jr. e Hijo de Villano III (posted by mluchatv) Reporte CMLL: Hijo del Villano III y Villano III Jr. Vs Neón y Star Jr. (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
18:29.
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Felino, Panterita del Ring b Negro Navarro, Octagón, Pantera, Satánico [Relevos IncreíblesAtlantis, Felino, Blue Panther y Panterita del Ring Vs Pantera, Negro Navarro, Octagón y Satánico (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL - ARENA COLISEO 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Panterita, Blue Panther, Atlantis y Felino vencen a Octagón, N. Navarro, Satánico y Pantera (posted by mluchatv)
12:11.
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Último Guerrero b Averno, Soberano Jr., Templario [Relevos IncreíblesCMLL - ARENA COLISEO 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Místico, Atlantis Jr. y Último Guerrero vencen a Soberano Jr., Averno y Templario (posted by mluchatv) Reporte CMLL: Místico, Atlantis Jr y Último Guerrero Vs Templario Averno y Soberano Jr. (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
16:34. Mistico thanked the fans for supporting lucha libre and luchadors (this day is Dia de Lucha Libre.)

I didn’t think much of this one. Villanos/Neon/Star was fun in a vacuum but underwhelming for both teams – they were on different pages, there were some bad spot misses, they could’ve done better. The main event was good and the rest can safely be skipped.

CMLL wrestlers were also at the Mexico City horsetrack, as a part of a cross promotion for Dia de Luchador.

CMLL (SUN) 09/22/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Hijo del Pantera & Hombre Bala Jr. b Espanto Jr. & Felino Jr. CMLL EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO - DOMINGO 22 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Hijo del Pantera y Hombre Bala Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
10:26
2) India Sioux, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard b Dark Silueta, Hera, Reyna Isis Amazonas CMLL: Tessa Blanchard, Skadi e India Sioux (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO - DOMINGO 22 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
16:01
3) Difunto, Kráneo, Zandokan Jr. b Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II CMLL EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO - DOMINGO 22 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Reporte CMLL: Zandokan Jr, Difunto y Kraneo (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
16:03
4) Titán © b Villano III Jr. [CMLL WELTERCMLL EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO - DOMINGO 22 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Luchota por el campeonato mundial welter CMLL: Titán (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
17:52 9th defense
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Flip Gordon, Neón b Bárbaro Cavernario, Star Jr., Terrible [Relevos IncreíblesCMLL EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO - DOMINGO 22 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Relevos increíbles CMLL: Flip Gordon, Neón y Dragón Rojo Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
17:13
6) Euforia, Místico, Soberano Jr. b Esfinge, Valiente, Volador Jr. CMLL EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO - DOMINGO 22 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2024 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Lucha estelar CMLL: Místico, Euforia y Soberano Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
11:33. Mistico’s partners weren’t much help but he won anyway.

CMLL aired this one live too, free for everyone. It was billed as Dia de Luchador present to the fans. It is interesting that CMLL choose to do a live free stream against the Todo x el Todo show, though CMLL announced they were doing this so late in the day that I’m not sure anyone really picked one or the other.

The CMLL stream ended with Mistico celebrating, but he apparently came back to the ring, got unmasked, then fought Soberano until he got beat up again.

Titan/Villano III Jr. was a much better night for Villano. Everything hung together well, and he was in their with a steadier wrestler. The match was more about Villano surviving for a long time than putting Titan in convincing danger of losing the title, but it was still the most complete singles match I think Villano’s had since jumping over.

CMLL (TUE) 09/24/2024 Arena México
1) Shockercito vs Galaxy [lightning]
2) Capitán Suicida, Dragón de Fuego, Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider
4) Tessa Blanchard vs Sanely
5) Blue Panther, Flip Gordon, Neón vs Stuka Jr., Terrible, Valiente
6) Esfinge, Templario, Titán vs Difunto, Hechicero, Zandokan Jr.

Main event could be fun; unusual to see Difunto and Zandokan above those other rudos. Women’s match is a normal match, opener is a lightning match.

Again, no Friday lineup until Wednesday night.

CMLL (SAT) 09/28/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Emperador Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) India Sioux vs Reyna Isis [lightning]
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Xelhua vs Barboza, Crixus, Rey Bucanero
5) Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black vs Akuma, Dragón Rojo Jr., Valiente
6) Esfinge, Místico, Star Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Sioux mostly worked with Isis in her return match on Sunday, so that’ll probably be a comfortable match. Explosivo, Barboza and Emperador Jr. are in for at least the Saturday.

Barbaro Cavernario is over in the UK for RevPro this weekend. He’ll be in their British J Cup on Saturday (first round opponent TBD) and he’ll wrestle Zozaya on Sunday.

Add Titan to Lluiva and Mistico to the 11/09 MLW taping in Cicero.

Persephone says she has a degree in sports medicine but has put aside that career to wrestle CMLL.

CMLL Puebla matches this week

Atlantis and Octagon aren’t good but the crowd still pops the first time they’re in the ring against each other in any match. That would be a big money feud if they could ever do it (they could not.)

Soberano Jr. on CMLL’s podcast

I caught Soberano Jr’s appearance on CMLL’s podcast. It’s just part 1. I don’t think they went in intended to make a multipart podcast, it is just Soberano gives detailed and thoughtful answers. He also bounces around on the timeline, doesn’t really hold back much, and isn’t afraid to say anyone’s name. (The only people not named are “that referee” Tirantes and “the guy who used to wrestle here as Semental”, and that one may only be because Soberano isn’t sure what his name is right now.) I started to take notes and my notes turned a very long mess. I cut them down and they still seem too much.

  • Soberano Jr. grew up in a wrestling family, with his grandfather (Soberano) and his uncle (Hijo del Soberano) being major influences in his life after his father (Euforia) moved to Mexico City. He would watch Galavision every Saturday and  cites a a Dr. X/La Mascara match as getting him into wrestling (and into the national welterweight championship specifically.)
  • Soberano Jr. identifies the behavior of his family members, and some of the people he’d later train with and learn from, would be called “bullying” by some people. He insists it was the best way for him to learn, to be tough and to figure out solutions from hardship. Soberano speaks very positively about guys like Super Comando, Artillero, Mesala, and Caligula as those who had all these old tricks that he made sure to learn from. He talks about realizing he was supposed to wrestle Arkangel de la Muerte on an early Sabado Clasico card (when they were doing a lot of singles matches and, as Soberano points out, not drawing at all) and having no idea how he’d get through it, but learning a lot from doing it. He even talked about getting an exhibition match with Halcon Suriano Jr. turning into a shoot, and his grandfather taking him aside to teach him little ways to hurt his opponent a lot in case he ever need to protect himself again.
  • Soberano Jr. was told by his father to not come to Mexico City as a teenager – life was going to be hard and he wasn’t going to be ready. Soberano Jr. did not listen, and skipped his middle school graduation (15) to get on a bus to Mexico City. Turned out life was hard and he was not ready – he didn’t know how to cook an egg or do laundry or get around, got mocked for his accent in high school, and hadn’t held a real job. Euforia also wasn’t making money, and there were times were they were struggling to pay for food. Fabian el Gitano and La Sombra get name-checked as helping the family a bit during those times.
    • There’s a side discussion here where Soberano noted he was recently talking with someone who was a stand-by wrestler in Pubela (someone who’d only wrestle if there was a no-show), and was blown away about how much they were getting paid. He remembered CMLL paying him not enough to pay for a meal when he was in that role. He notes there are shows now where the prelim wrestlers are getting paid more than what the main eventers were getting when he was starting out. They’re remarkably forthcoming with the fact that CMLL wasn’t paying people much money (and then something’s changed more recently.)
  • Soberano Jr. also had his struggles in CMLL’s system. They put him with Arturo Beristan, and Soberano Jr. said he learned nothing – less than he was getting in Torreon. He complained to his father, who got him in Satanico’s class – which was good until Satanico decided to move to Guadalajara. CMLL had Virus take over, but they also split the class between the guys working at the top of the card and the prelim ones. Soberano got put with the prelim guys, which turned out to be a blessing – that’s where he trained with all the old guys and Virus, who would be hard on him but make him learn and he learned a lot. Soberano Jr. started got moved to Franco Colombo’s class when the Generacion 2012 idea came about, and noted a lot of the wrestlers in that group didn’t last long – a lot of the new people in 2011/2012/2013 couldn’t handle the down time and left.
  • Soberano Jr. won the 2013 Sangre Nueva tournament, though he didn’t know it – he remembers nothing from taking a Hombre Bala Spanish Fly to the floor until talking with his girlfriend in a restaurant after the show. It was a surprise to him to find the trophy in his bag after. Still, he was frustrated about failing in the Gran Alternativa year after year, and then not even being included it. He saw people like Dragon Lee passing him and thought he’d end up being a new Bengala guy, in the openers forever. (He was 21.) Soberano says he noticed it start turning around for him in September 2016, getting moved up slightly. A couple of month later, referee Edgar pulled him aside, asked him if he was ready, and started to make plane motions and noises. Soberano had no idea what this was about, then woke up a few days later to see on social media that he was going to FantasticaMania.
  • There’s some talk about the En Busca de Un Idolo, though most of it focuses on the judging element. There was an incident where “that referee” Tirantes pointed out Soberano Jr. was wrestling with a hole at the toe of his boot (and they showed the clip.) Soberano said he didn’t have much money, it was like picking between rent or new gear, but grew to understand CMLL wrestlers are expected to look like stars and you can’t do that with a broken boot. “There’s a difference between Arena Mexico and Naucalpan.” It’s informed his Luxury Of Lucha Libre personality.
  • A lot of talk about the Soberano/Star vs Cholo/Ramstein mask match. He was scared of Cholo after he knocked the wind out of him once. Soberano couldn’t afford to go home and buy a plane ticket back to Mexico City, so he had a very sad New Year’s utterly convinced he was going to lose his mask. (He is only the person who thought this. People familiar with the match will appreciate CMLL cutting out pretty much everything that Ramstein did in that match when showing clips; he was terrible.)
  • Soberano Jr. says that many years later, when he was on a tour of NJPW, he got a phone call from Dark Angel. He says he’s never revealed this story before, but Dark Angel put on a hard sell for him to get to the WWE tryouts in Chile. Soberano eventually made up an excuse as to why he couldn’t make that date, and she offered him instead to come to Flordia for a tryout. Soberano doesn’t actually say if he went or didn’t, but talks about instead about that going to WWE for a Mexican wrestler means you become wealthy. He also talks about the struggles there – Andrade explained it to him as “they make you do what you’re not good at doing.” Soberano ultimately decided that while having more money would be nice, he’s pretty happy with how he’s doing now and what he really wants is to be face of CMLL, he wants to be who people think about when they think of luchadors, he wants to be the new Atlantis as the icon of the promotion. His first job was CMLL and he hopes it’s his last job as well.
  • Soberano talks about his matches with Templario as being magic – like seeing fireworks go off in your head. Soberano didn’t think he’d make the anniversary show this year – “the promotion has slowed me down, with reason” – and Alexis suggests the Soberano/Templario lightning match got Soberano onto the show. Still, Soberano is no longer interested in Templario’s mask. He feels Templario ducked him by going with Dragon Rojo but, more so, feels Templario’s mask is not as valuable to him now that they’ve switched sides. Soberano calls every mask match a coin toss, a big risk, and figures he might as well risk it against a legendary name like Mistico or Atlantis (Jr.) if those are now available him – it’s a much bigger deal if he beats them than Templario.

Part 2 should go up next Thursday.

AAA

There’s an ugly situation this weekend between two current and former AAA wrestlers. Myzteziz Jr. and Keyra were a couple, had a son together, and later split. The child is now three years old and appears to live with Keyra only. Keyra took the boy to the hospital this week for undisclosed reasons, where he stayed for a couple of days and needed a blood transfusion. Myzteziz came to visit while he was in the hospital. Keyra said that visit surprised her, as Myzteziz had not been in the child’s life in the last two years. Keyra came to the hospital to check out her son on Sunday, only to find out Myzteziz had already checked him out. Myzteziz and his family also stopped responding to Keyra’s phone calls. Myzteziz’s side is telling people that the reason the child was hospitalized was Keyra – he was malnourished because of her poor parenting among other issues she’s having; that side sees themselves as rescuing the child from improper living conditions. At any rate, there’s an amber alert in Mexico for information about the child to return him to Keyra, her friends are pushing AAA to get involved somehow, and I hope this works out the best for the kid. I have no idea what that would mean, though.

I still haven’t watching AAA TV. The CMLL extra show threw me! I’ll do it today (maybe.)

AAA’s episode on Space announced a bunch of upcoming tapings. The remaining 2024 taping schedule

  • 09/29 in Monterrey
  • 10/06 in Guadalajara (Heroes Inmortales, will air live)
  • 10/26 in Mexico City – new
  • 11/03 in Monterrey (Showcenter)
  • 11/17 in Juarez – new (Guerra de Titanes, will air live)
  • 12/07 in Mexico City – new

Those will be tapings five and six in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera this year. They’ve only been there more in 1993 – and in 1993, they had a lot more original TV and misguided belief they could end CMLL by running weekly Friday shows in Mexico City. (They definitely wounded CMLL, but CMLL is hard to end.) The attendance has held up well in Mexico City so far, but running that venue so often is a risk they wouldn’t take in other years – it would be safer to sell a taping to a local promoter.

The 11/03 Showcenter isn’t confirmed to be a taping, but AAA needs two more weeks of tapings somewhere in Monterrey and they’ve announced no other cities. If I’m right, that means AAA will run only 19 TV tapings this year.. They will travel to eight metro areas (Mexico City, Queretaro, Monterrey, Saltillo, Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, Aguascalientes, and Guadalajara.) In 2019, they ran 33 TV tapings in 26 different metro areas. The original business case for AAA is that they would tour the country, bringing top-class wrestling to all the places CMLL doesn’t go. That was not the plan this year.

The side effect of AAA repeating so many towns is that Vampiro’s already had his retirement show. It’s just Guadalajara and Juarez as the remaining stops. In theory, and I can’t underline in theory enough, Vampiro’s Mexican retirement tour ends on November 17th in Ciudad Juarez. There has been no advertising thus far pushing that will be Vampiro’s last match (though no one in Juarez was promoting anything beyond their lucha libre festival this past weekend.) Vampiro lived in Guadalajara for a number of years, that would make more sense as a final stop for him and he’d get to do it in front of a bigger crowd. Maybe Heroes Inmortal will end up being the Vampiro last match, and the hold up to AAA announcing that lineup is that they also want Vampiro to announce that final show news. Grasping at straws here.

The Vampiro retirement stop in Tampico on Friday seems to have drawn very well. Not the biggest room, but it appears to be a sell-out. Vampiro did an interview to talk about his future plans – he’s going to work Italy’s NWE, expecting to turn it in to take over Europe. The NWE had a moment a couple of decades ago, fueled by WWE getting on TV in the country and becoming a big thing for a short time. Vampiro says he lived in Europe for six years, understands the market, and will try to combine styles from all the countries.

Mas Lucha caught up with El Hijo del Vikingo. These AAA interviews seem to have been taped Wednesday, since Jose Manuel Guillen talked about seeing him about a day earlier in Arena Aficion. Vikingo says his doctor saw the lineup for that show and gave him the business about returning too soon, so no return. The extra couple of weeks might be for the best mentally too; Vikingo came off as nervous and unsure about his return. He talks about having eight people catch the first dive he tried, and about changing some things up with his style and presentation. It does seem like he’s relatively sure he’ll actually return on 09/29, and he’s very excited for the GLEAT matches. JMG reveals Vikingo’s previous trip to Japan with GCW was such a disaster that he never thought he’d go back – Vikingo missed his first flight out of Mexico City, almost missed his second flight, then got pulled in a security room at a layover in Canada. They thought he must be trafficking something, since he was only going to Japan for a few days. Vikingo explained he was a wrestler, showed him his gear, and then could hear them watch his AAA matches from outside the room. Vikingo knew what they were doing because he could hear JMG’s commentary/yelling, which is how it all tied together. Vikingo had a two hour walk to get where he was going in Japan after he got there; it was just not a good travel experience.

AAA and INJUVE announced they’ll have another edition of their Lucha X el Barrio talent search in the near future. The last one took place in January, with the new Taurus, the new Bengala and the not-seen-again Lady Wind finding top 3. INJUVE also honored various Luchadors and Jose Manuel Guillen from Mas Lucha for their participation in their campaigns.

DTU is promoting an upcoming appearance as “Sexy Star from AAA”, so everyone seems to think she hasn’t left. Selfishly, I hope she doesn’t so I don’t have to try to explain a third Sexy Star to Twitter. That may finally get me to leave the site.

Flammer defended the Reina de Reinas championship in Melbourne, Australia.

AAA will have a mass to honor Antonio Pena on 10/01.

Todo x el Todo

TXT (SUN) 09/22/2024 Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Azcapotzalco, Distrito Federal [Apolo Valdes, ESTOMedioTiempoSuperLuchas]
1) Heddi Karaoui b Cerebro Negro
2) Lady Apache, Shamila, Therius b Hija de Fuerza Guerrera, Ludark Shaitan, Vanilla Vargas
Ludark replaced Keyra (personal)
3) Solar I & Texano Jr. b Ciclón Ramírez Jr. & Misterioso Jr. [ruleta de la muerte, 8f]
4) Bobby Lee Jr. & Cinta de Oro b Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 & Rayman [ruleta de la muerte, 8f]
Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 replaced Cien Caras Jr.
5) Dr. Wagner Jr. & LA Park b El Hijo Del Santo & Fuerza Guerrera [ruleta de la muerte, 8f]
6) Canek Jr. & Súper Nova vs Hijo del Fishman & Máscara Sagrada Ng [ruleta de la muerte, 8f]
7) Ciclón Ramírez Jr. & Misterioso Jr. b Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 & Rayman [ruleta de la muerte, quarterfinal]
8) Hijo del Fishman & Máscara Sagrada Ng DQ El Hijo Del Santo & Fuerza Guerrera [ruleta de la muerte, quarterfinal]
9) El Hijo Del Santo & Fuerza Guerrera b Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 & Rayman [ruleta de la muerte, semifinal]
10) Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 b Rayman [ruleta de la muerte, hairRayman pierde la cabellera ante Hijo de Mascara Año 2000 en el Todo X el Todo (posted by mluchatv)
Máscara saved his mask, Rayman lost his hair. Fuerza Guerrera, Mascara 2000, and Angel Blanco Jr. attacked Hijo del Santo after the match, with Santo Jr. making the save

Mas Lucha says they’ll air this show next Saturday for members only.

The early photos of this building looked pretty poor, but it filled up decently as the night went on. Not TripleMania full, and there’s probably a decent gap between “tickets distributed” and “tickets actually paid for”, but the photos are going to look nice enough. (AS calls it was “just over 10,000” in one article and “15,000” in another article these may not be serious numbers.) Rayman taking the loss is no big surprise. Neither really is Santo Jr.’s return – Hijo del Santo has been teasing it in his interviews and the Monterrey lineup telegraphs it. Santo’s Jr. offense lacked, uh, quality but he was also trying to beat up some old men who couldn’t really do much.

The other planned surprise was Angel Blanco Jr. showing up, one of el Hijo del Santo’s old TxT rivals. Blanco said he was angry Santo didn’t invite him for the the show, Santo said he did but Blanco said he was working for CMLL. I have no idea what Santo is talking about. Santo also explains he was going to defend his WBC championship against a foreign opponent to be named, but now he and Santo Jr. will team in the tag tournament. (He was always listed in the tag tournament.) Santo sends a shout out to Dr. Lucha for coming and says he wants to do a show in Korakuen Hall in March or April.

The real surprise is the promotion announcing a return date for April 6th in Arena Ciudad de Mexico. El Hijo del Santo had pitched this retirement tour as the final visit for every city. It never made much sense – why would he have burned off Mexico City first? Where else was he going to go if he wasn’t going to retire in June. Santo’s tried to walk that back for Mexico City in recent interviews, probably because he knew they were going to do at least one more show here. It does mean Santo’s adhering to his own retirement even less than Vampiro. The difference is I tend to believe Santo will actually be done when this tour ends, and I expect Vampiro to just try to get around his retirement as soon as it becomes inconvenient. I still struggle to figure what Santo is going to put on for an April 6th show. It’s a long time away, but I don’t think people are coming back to say goodbye again without something more than this. Maybe Angel Blanco showing up means they’ll be the ones doing the apuesta match next time.

Mascara 2000 Jr. dedicated his win to Cuatrero, “wherever he is.” The idea is that Cuatrero started the feud with Rayman to get revenge for the Rayo/Cien Caras match and Mascara finished it for him.

Other News

Penta made a surprise appearance as a bonus match on the Ciudad Juarez lucha libre festival, wrestling DMT Azul. This was a twelve hour marathon and there’s few people who could be added to a card that would make fans want to see more wrestling at that point, but Penta did. Thunder Rosa was scheduled on the show but is still out recovering from a concussion.

Mas Lucha’s Torneo Suprema, the women’s tournament, will take place 10/19 in Arena Lopez Mateos. That will also be a member’s only show.

Wrestlers and promoters in Oaxaca are throwing a benefit show for local lucha libre reporter/photographer Julio Sanchez Garcia. He’s battling an illness (“he knows his illness has no cure.) and recently had his right leg amputated.

Arena Union in Veracruz revealed they were moving to a new location, which some people had guessed based on their announcement.

A profile of Los Funebres from Puebla.

A profile of Luz Viva from San Luis Potosi.

Segunda Caida writes about the Aniversario main and some more Monterrey lucha,

CMLL Dia de Luchador show, AAA Heroes Inmoratales, Santo retirement tour begins this weekend

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 09/20/2024 Arena México
***Dia de Luchador, 2024***
1) Legendario & Rayo Metálico vs Alom & Infarto
2) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Hijo De Blue Panther vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider
3) Flip Gordon, Neón, Pelon Encapuchado vs Magnus, Rugido, Vegas
4) Atlantis Jr., Templario, Titán vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
5) Místico vs Averno [lightning]
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Valiente vs Esfinge, Euforia, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

“The guy who lost the Aniversario apuesta match beats the winner on the following Friday show” is one of those facts stuck in my head. It’s also a ‘fact’ that was worth checking out, because it’s been a decade since it was accurate:

  • 2023: Dragon Rojo unmasked Templario for the DQ
  • 2022: Stuka Jr. wins main event but Atlantis Jr. not booked
  • 2021: COVID year/Night of Champions format so no apuesta
  • 2020: COVID year/Night of Champions format so no apuesta
  • 2019: Negro Casas not booked after he lost his hair
  • 2018: neither Volador nor Matt Taven are booked after they lost their hair
  • 2017: Niebla Roha and Gran Guerrero are booked but two weeks of shows are canceled due to the earthquake
  • 2016: La Mascara unmasked Dragon Lee for the DQ
  • 2015: La Sombra beat Atlantis in a trios match

So I guess bet on Euforia unmasking Hechicero for the DQ (or maybe some terrible disaster.)

Mistico/Avenro should be good and should get Mistico cheered, if that’s an issue. Match 4 looks great. Fuego as Pelon has been a lot of fun so match 3 should be good as well. The Panthers will see if Ola Negra can work their formula, and the opener will be a good test of Rayo Metalico’s readiness for what looks to be a big match next week. That 09/27 is the Night of Champions show, so there isn’t much room to set up stuff here.

The most striking portion of this week’s CMLL Informa was the interview with Mistico at the end. I didn’t time this one, but he and Julio Cesar Rivera spent roughly 30 seconds talking about Aniversario and about 5 minutes talking about Misitco’s matches in MLW. Mistico talked about being happy to give the fans the faceoff they wanted to see with him and Chris Jericho. He later obliquely mentioned hearing positive and negative comments and trying to learn from both. Everyone knows the match was not a success, there’s no real attempt to pretend it was something it was not. What they learn from it is up to them, but there’s no point in harping on it any more. It happened, and everyone’s moving on.

Near the end of the interview, Julio Cesar Rivera revealed that Mistico would be going to NJPW to celebrate his 20th anniversary. Details are to be announced “soon.” Mistico on the January 5th, 2025 multi-promotion WrestleDynasty show is the easiest explanation, though I’m not sure that’s going to be announced soon. The most tantalizing idea is NJPW seeing Mistico invent his own title match challenge with DOUKI back at FantasticaMania USA, deciding that wasn’t a bad idea, and bringing Mistico to Japan to do the match there. But who knows, they were very unspecific. (That NJPW announcement and the MLW Opera Cup recap might have been the other intended message of this segment: whatever happened Friday, Mistico is still an international star in demand and doing well.)

Sanely announced she was officially switching to the ruda side on Informa. She’ll face Tessa next week in a singles match, and she’s on Team Mexico for the Grand Prix. CMLL also announced Zeuxis would be in the competition Grand Prix. On CMLL’s podcast, Zeuxis talked about wanting to be on Team Mexico at some point, so it would free up an additional spot for an international wrestler. Zeuxis has a Puerto Rican father and Mexican mother. I think CMLL intentionally had people like Zeuxis and Dalys on the international side so they wouldn’t have to find and pay to bring in one more international person. The economics has changed this year, so Zeuxis is now Team Mexico.

The Gran Prix teams for now

  • Mexico: Lluvia, Zeuxis, Sanely
  • World: Tessa Blanchard, La Catalina, Sayaka Unagi

The full teams will be announced next week. There are 7 spots left on each team. The national champions (Reina Isis, Skadi and Kira) are a lock for Team Mexico, which leaves four spots. Hera, Olympia, Dark Silueta and Princesa Sugehit seem the safest guesses there. Persephone is from El Paso, so she’d go on the World team, but I think she’s the only other CMLL foreign woman to add. That leaves six spots there. CMLL’s usually booked 3 Japanese women and then filled the spots with random US based wrestlers, but that math may change with AEW, ROH, MLW and RevPro all possibly being included.

Informa also revealed that the Noche de Campeones matches will be announced next week; that means there will be no lineup for that show until less than 48 hours before the show—though we’ll know the champions, and it won’t be hard to figure out the matches from the poll results for the truly possessed. I think CMLL did this last year, and I blanked on it.

There is a rare show in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara this Saturday

Indy (SAT) 09/21/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Amon Ra, Colorado, Giro, Sureño Fly vs Albatros, Ave de Fuego, Golden Silver, Surgeon Clown
Arena GDL
2) Centauro, Demencía, Dragón Kid, Zigma vs Aquiles, Dark Power, Neptuno, Olimpo
Arena Roberto Paz
3) Adira, Dulce Kitty, Náutica vs Atenea, Estrella Maldita, Valkirya
4) Destrucción, Frayle De La Muerte Jr., Reycko vs Destino, Kaiju, Santi Betancourt
Arena Jalisco
5) Astro Oriental, Draego, Makara, Persa vs Eclipse Jr., Rav, Shezmu, Temerario
Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
6) Obek © vs Continental [GDL LIGHT]

This appears to be a commission show for Dia de Luchador, with the four major local arenas participating. The Guadalajara Lightweight championship is an inter-promotional title they’re trying to get going,

CMLL (TUE) 09/24/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Gallo Jr., Makara, Rafaga Jr., Shezmu vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Draego, Persa
2) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Felino Jr., Hombre Bala Jr., Robin
3) Lluvia © vs Valkiria [OCCIDENTE WOMEN]
first defense
4) Atlantis, Pantera, Panterita del Ring vs Felino, Rey Bucanero, Satánico
5) Star Black © vs Gallego [MEX HEAVY]
fifth defense
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Averno, Furia Roja, Soberano Jr.

A rare Pantera appearance in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara; his last match in that building was in 2016 for another promotion.

CMLL announced they’ve opened an Amazon store. There are a lot of designs here. Whoever put this one together put a lot of work in and came up with some great ideas. It’s a limited selection of wrestlers – maybe about a dozen – but it’s much better than the usual logo-only stuff. They appear to be shipping these from the US, which is good if you want to buy them there, but maybe they are a bit pricey if you’re ordering in Mexico.

CMLL’s podcast this week has Soberano Jr. as a guest. I guess recapping these is now mandatory, or maybe more interesting to you all than my AAA recaps. The show was posted late Thursday; I’ll try to catch up on it on the weekend. There are some obvious topics (Ultimo Guerrero and also Ultimo Guerrero) where they probably won’t directly address things, but I want to see what they talk about anyway. These usually have some sort of announcement, and I’m not sure what that would be for Soberano. The teaser has Soberano mentioning WWE saw him on NJPW World and offered him to come to their tryout in Chile. WWE scouts sure don’t like watching Mexican wrestlers in Mexico. Soberano did not appear at that tryout, so there’s probably more to that story.

Jornada decided to do an article about the life and working conditions of luchadors for Dia de Luchador, which is sound enough. They did it by interviewing Octagon about this (seemingly non-existent) union and his (always coming soon, never actually happening) re-possession of AAA’s office after his court victory. This article suggests Octagon is the first luchador to appear in commercials; it is an article entirely reliant on the author’s belief in everything Octagon has to say and do no additional research. (This is normal.) Octagon has been doing these same interviews for about seven years, and they’ve only changed in one significant way – he used to talk about all the big promotions being bad, and now he praises CMLL for how they take care of wrestlers since he’s working with them.

Speaking of unchanging legal issues, KeMonito has been asked about his case against CMLL and says nothing has happened in the year since he announced he was suing. There are much bigger issues with the Mexican court system at the moment than KeMonito, but he remains hopeful for a positive outcome once things get moving again.

MLW is doing daily announcements for their 11/09 show in Cicero. Mistico and Lluvia have already been announced. Lluvia is announced as a CMLL Women’s World Tag champion. Her partner is left unmentioned. MLW is selling GA tickets at $10, which means they’re going to sell out, the gate isn’t too important to them and everyone else in the area might struggle to sell tickets for a while. (I bought a $10 ticket.)

Reina Isis told the press that many great international women wrestlers have come to Mexico, and it’s great that those doors are open, but CMLL needs to make sure they’re still supporting the Mexican wrestlers because they’re the best.

La Fe has an interview with Okumura, who says he converted to Catholicism following his neck injury, and it gave him the strength to continue. He said he was told he’d be out two years after neck surgery but returned in nine months.

LuchaTalk recaps the CMLL Aniversario.

CMLL on AMX (taped)

AAA

Hijo del Vikingo did press at AAA’s office in the last couple of days, saying he’ll be back in the ring by the 09/29 show. (He also said that was his plan on Tuesday, though it wasn’t reported then.) He’s happy and prepared but still nervous about how his moves will go. Mas Lucha also caught up with La Hiedra and, of course, asked her about Latin Lover’s comments about AAA’s women. La Hiedra went with pretending she had no idea what Latin Lover said and didn’t really care, but everyone in AAA knows how strong she is.

AAA TV (SUN) 10/06/2024 Auditorio Benito Juárez, Zapopan, Jalisco
1) Crazzy Steve & Havok vs Abismo Negro & Flammer © [AAA MIXED TAG]
4th defense
2) Dinámico, Myzteziz Jr., Niño Hamburguesa vs Kento, Nobu San, Takuma
3) ? vs ??????????????????????????????????? [Copa Antonio Pena]
4) El Fiscal vs Matt Riddle © [AAA CRUISER]
first defense
5) Mecha Wolf, Negro Casas, Vampiro Canadiense vs El Mesías, Forastero, Sansón
6) Laredo Kid vs El Patrón Alberto © [AAA MEGA]
first defense. Latin Lover and Konnan will be seconds

AAA hasn’t officially announced this lineup. Mas Lucha had it on Wednesday, and others were passing it around. It’s a little strange that AAA hasn’t put it out yet, but maybe it’ll turn up when you see this.

The top 3 matches will air live on 10/06 on Space, and the rest will air on 10/12. Laredo Kid’s role is to get a good match out of a wrestler who seems unlikely to have exceptional matches. Laredo has no chance to win, but will surely do something crazy given a main event. (It’ll be overshadowed by the Eye bit.) It’s going to be weird to have Vampiro back wrestling normal matches after that TripleMania bit.  El Fiscal has limited experience, and most of it is really wrestling the same match over and over again. Matt Riddle has limited experience with people working that style, and is clearly a diminished worker from years ago. I’m sure that match is happening because it’s a numbers thing and because AAA believes they can get heat by having Abismo cost Fiscal a title match, but the reasons people care about that feud aren’t about title matches. It seems like a waste of a plane ticket to fly Riddle in for this, but they get to say he’s actually defending the belt. Likewise, I’m sure Crazzy Steve and Havok will give it their all and good for them to get two paydays out this, but bringing in people to work a mixed tag opener that’s not been promoted much seems like an unwise use of funds for a company making obvious cutbacks. This is one place where CMLL is far ahead of AAA; if they’re going to fly someone in, they’re going to present them as a big star and they’re going to use them in important positions, no matter who it is. The Japanese guys – who may be going by the Tokyo Bad Boys – make two straight TV tapings.

AAA this weekend

  • Space: part 2 of the 09/07 Showcenter card
  • Unimas: part 3 of TripleMania Mexico City
  • YouTube; part 1 of the 09/07 Showcenter card

AAA posted a video update with Roberto Figueroa and Jose Manuel Guillen, talking about upcoming AAA events. There’s nothing new in there, but it’s a good summary of all the stuff AAA has going on (taping in Monterrey, Verano de Escandalo in Guadalajara, GLEAT, Flammer defending her title in Australia, Spain) for people who aren’t paying attention to everything. Most people aren’t, so this stuff is needed and fills a needed gap.

Sexy Star is still mentioning upcoming AAA shows in her Instagram stories. Luchadors are fairly terrible about communicating about what’s going on with them, but it seems like she’s working those shows.

Abismo Negro Jr. and El Fiscal are back to shooting promos on each other in media interviews and on social media. It’s going to be a month and a half between TripleMania and the next time they’re on TV, they might as well do something if the company isn’t going to do much.

Karis La Momia Jr. may be out of AAA and retired, but he’s still showing up in AAA promotional partnerships.

IWRG

The Mexico State Commission has suspended Rock Power for “10 shows.” How you can suspend someone for 10 shows which no one seems to keep track of shows and he’s booked irregularly – is 10 IWRG shows regardless of if he would’ve been booked? Do other Mexico State shows count? (This is why most wrestling suspensions are for days instead of shows.) I’ve put too much thought into this.

IWRG (THU) 09/19/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Águila Oriental & Shamila b Fauno & Kali
2) Avisman b Calibus
3) Multifacetico Jr. & Tornado b Hysteriosis & Rey Halcón
4) Noisy Boy b AquilesBenditoÁguila Roja
5) Hell Boy & Hijo de Canis Lupus © b Jessy Ventura & Mamba [IWRG IC TAG]
first defense

Noisy Boy did a cool dive.

Todo x el Todo

I guess I should flag this lineup since it’s this weekend.

TXT (SUN) 09/22/2024 Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Azcapotzalco, Distrito Federal
1) Heddi Karaoui vs Cerebro Negro
2) Lady Apache, Shamila, Therius vs Hija de Fuerza Guerrera, Keyra, Vanilla Vargas
3) El Hijo Del Santo & Fuerza Guerrera vs Dr. Wagner Jr. & LA Park and Bobby Lee Jr. & Cinta de Oro and Ciclón Ramírez Jr. & Misterioso Jr. (Laguna) and Solar I & Texano Jr. and Cien Caras Jr. & Rayman and Hijo del Fishman & Máscara Sagrada Ng and Canek Jr. & Súper Nova [ruleta de la muerte]

I have no expectations this will stream. Everyone is a little frightened of Santo’s legal actions but I think it’ll turn up on YouTube fancams nevertheless. I probably would pay for this show on PPV but I’m also silly. Rayman looks like the most likely loser but they could go with some other names here.  There are a lot of advertisements for this show around Mexico City and it seems like either those – or some deep discounts on tickets – has caused tickets to move a bit. They’re not going to do as well as WWE or TripleMania, but it still will look fine.

The El Hijo del Santo media tour has reached El Econimista, who aren’t playing around with hiding his real name. El Santo told him son that he could run any business but he should buy real estate, that money will always work for you.

Santo also was less committed to his plan about retiring in June this year, saying maybe it’d be June or maybe he’d do it in May. He’s really doing the old luchador bit of throwing a lot of ideas out there, without really settling or committing to any of them. The announced shows are dates he’s committed to (unless they don’t sell tickets) but the rest is not locked in.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (SAT) 09/28/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Auzter & Skayde vs Platino & Tempo
2) Mexicano vs Iku
3) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
winner gets a tag title shot
4) Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo vs Eli Isom, Kento, Takuma
5) Flamita, Mr. Win, Ricky Marvin, Viajero vs ?, Big Tao Tao, Limbo, Tonalli

I’m unclear why Black Generation is teaming with a mystery person instead of Emperador Azteca, but I will take the risk it might be a plus. Eli Isom is a US wrestler (and ex-ROH wrestler) who was around Big Lucha in 2022 and IWRG in 2023.

Lucha Brothers

Wrestlebuddy announced the Lucha Brothers have signed with WWEPenta told Hugo no, he’s still signed to AEW. Nothing has changed in this story since it broke in August – they’re under an AEW deal and they’re signing with WWE as soon as that changes – and so there’s no point in rediscussing it until they actually show up in WWE or WWE actually admits to signing them.

This is like the AEW TV news this week; I understand why it’s news, but I also have a negative interest in reading a detailed breakdown of the rumored deal when the same people will be doing the same breakdown of the actual detail soon enough.

Other News

Tauro (Antonio Grimaldo, 89) passed away on Wednesday. Two of his brothers were also luchadors. He started under his real name in the early 50s, then switched to the masked Tauro gimmick in the 60s. He wreslted for EMLL from 1964 to 1978, and then spent a couple of years working UWA dates to finish out his career. Tauro was a lightweight when EMLL didn’t have much use for lightweights; he was a decade or so early for the UWA. The magazines seemed to praise him a lot. His biggest break was getting into a mask feud with the popular Estrella Blanca. Tauro lost, but the issue continued, and Tauro ended up winning the national lightweight championship out of it. He kept it for the better part of three years, just missing a six-month switch and back with Dardo Aguilar. Tauro was praised for his skills; El Halcon had his match with Rodolfo Ruiz as the most technical match of 1975. The local paper mentions he ended up promoting back in his home of San Luis Potosi after his in-ring career ended.

There’s a viral video of part of a light tube piercing the arm of a luchador. The video is from the Monday September 16th Arena Queretaro show and a main event of Joe Lider and local wrestler Ursus. Other video of the match shows it was stopped right away to Ursus him medical aid. Ursus posted on Facebook on Thursday, saying he was back home, recovering, and hopes to wrestle again. He thanked everyone for the well wishes.

Masked Republic announced “Lucha Libre Legend of the Mask”, a 2D side-scrolling fighting game scheduled to release March 2025. They’ll use some real people in the game; Mr. Iguana and Konnan are mentioned in the preview art as bosses. It looks good.

The 09/28 MV Promociones show (Metalik vs Dralistico) is said to be canceled. Too many shows and low ticket sales. All the Auditorio shows in Tijuana seem to be struggling the last few months, and this show was from an established promoter who’s previous show had also bombed, coming one day after an AAA spot show and with people those fans don’t see as main eventers. There was little chance it was going to turn out well.

Eduardo Valenzuela, the producer/director of lucha libre movie “El Halcon”, said it debuted in the US theaters with great success on September 13th. Box Office Mojo does not list a move by that name in last week’s gate recipets.

Periodismo & Punta has a story on Martin Karadagain. It’s a bit amazing how often he’s remembered in that culture, given his show went off TV in Argentina in the 1980s, but it is also a lot of writers in their 50s and 60s getting to write about a treasured childhood memory. That also means a lot of writing about their memories and not wanting to look too close at them; in this tale, Karadagain was an undefeated wrestler in the US before returning to his home country.

Imagen Noticias has an interview with retired wrestler El Reo.