AAA vs CMLL in Monterrey (kinda), Atlantis Jr. versus the Chavez Brothers

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 09/02/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Depor Puebla, El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Espíritu Maligno & Rencor b Amnesia & Blue Shark
2) Arkalis, Rey Samuray, Xelhua b Grako, Multy, Vegas 
3) Persephone & Zeuxis b Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard
straight falls, setting up a tag title match
4) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Star Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible, Zandokan Jr.
5) Volador Jr. b Atlantis Jr. 
Volaodr Jr. won cleanly after cheating to beat him last week
6) Esfinge b Hechicero, Euforia, Valiente 
Again worked reverse elimination style, with Hechicero and Valient winning theri way out and then Euforia sneaking in a foul on Esfinge.

In the two preview matches, the two veterans most likely to lose (Euforia, Valiente) have won the final pinfall, while the person who seems most likely to win (Esfinge) has lost both times. These results aren’t typically played up much outside of Puebla; it’s only the most diehard fans who know them.

Tecnico Atlantis losing the lead-up match and then losing the singles match is unusual CMLL booking. The sell-out streak ended last week, but the run of strong turnouts seems to have gotten more local press to cover these shows than in the recent past. There was a point where I couldn’t find results for these shows, and now there are at least three media outlets (plus Porra Fresa) covering it semi-regularly.

CMLL (TUE) 09/03/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora 
6:16
2) Capitán Suicida, Eléctrico, Robin b Grako, Hunter, Inquisidor 
13:34
3) Kira, Skadi, Tabata b Amapola, Metálica, Olympia 
16:58. Tabata return from elbow surgery.
4) Barboza, Difunto, Zandokan Jr. b Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black 
12:57. Rare CDMX appearances for Explosivo and Barboza.
5) Valiente b Bárbaro Cavernario [lightning] 
9:46
6) Atlantis Jr., Neón, Star Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. 
12:03. Angel de Oro again snuck in a foul on Atlantis to give his team a win. Tecnicos wanted a rematch.

I watched this whole show but couldn’t get locked into most of it. It was a me issue. Match four seemed the best of the bunch. They’re still going somewhere with the Angel de Oro/Atlantis stuff, but I’m less sure than ever. Atlantis Sr. once again brought up on Sunday about wanting the tag title match with his son for Aniversario, despite his son being announced for a match. That doesn’t seem like it’s actually happening, but CMLL must have something in mind with all these finishes.

CMLL (TUE) 09/03/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL, Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha]
1) Rav, Shezmu, Temerario b Astro Oriental, Obek, Último Ángel
2) Gallo Jr., Ráfaga, Rafaga Jr. DQ Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Satánico
DQ for mask removal
3) Pelon Encapuchado b Arlequín [lightning]
4) Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. b Bestia Negra & Vaquero Jr.
5) La Catalina, Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard b Dark Silueta, Persephone, Zeuxis
Dark Silueta left with an injury
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Titán b Furia Roja, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr.

CMLL still hasn’t explained why the live Guadalajara streams ended, but they appear dead now. Expect it to turn up on Thursday with music that won’t cause copyright issues.

A rare CMLL spot show in Cabo San Lucas drew a sell-out. Mistico & Atlantis Jr. wrestled Soberano Jr. & Templario in the main event.

CMLL (SUN) 09/08/2024 Arena México
1) Leono & Retro vs Enfermero Jr. & Sangre Imperial
2) Astral, El Audaz, Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Hijo del Pantera vs Hijo de Stuka Jr. [lightning]
4) Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero vs Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido, Vegas
6) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Titán vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

That lightning match is interesting, though AMX rarely airs the Sunday lightning match. (A typical week would have matches 2, 5, and 6 airing.) Vegas gets to team with Los Depredadores but needs more four-man teams to face if Vegas is going to be an actual part of the group.

CMLL (SUN) 09/08/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano & Blue Shark vs Prayer & Sombra Diabólika
2) Astro vs Inquisidor [lightning]
3) Espíritu Negro, Pelon Encapuchado, Stigma vs Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
4) Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard © vs Persephone & Zeuxis [CMLL WOMEN TAG]
first defense
5) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Averno, Niebla Roja
6) Esfinge, Hechicero, Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Soberano Jr., Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]

Normally, the main event would involve the four people in the mask wrestling exclusively against each other. The slight issue is that would mean Ultimo Guerrero and Soberano would have to wrestle, and that still appears impossible. I’m surprised CMLL didn’t swap Averno and Soberano.

Espiritu Negro wrestling without Rey Cometa or Dulce Gardenia feels odd. It may be that way for a while; Rey Cometa (on IG) announced he had surgery on one of his testicles. He described it as precautionary. No idea how long he’ll be out.

CMLL Informa’s announced guests

• Chris Jericho (Aniversario)
• Mascara Dorada (last week’s Copa Independencia)
• Titan, Dulce Gardenia, Crixus, Hijo del Villano III (this week’s Copa Independencia)
• Reyna Isis (bodybuilding)
• Espanto Jr. & Dark Magic (Ola Negra reshuffling)

Chris Jericho talked to the Mexican press from home on Thursday, so this could be a longer version of that chat or another more recent one. (It surely won’t be live; he’s typically busy on Wednesday.)

Today’s CMLL Informa will also probably round out the Aniversario show. It’s a balancing act: CMLL may not be able to announce the final match if there’s still someone alive on Copa Independencia to be included, but it would also be atypical for CMLL not to have all the matches on the Aniversario card a week ahead of time. Maybe it’ll be as simple as “the last spot in this trio will be determined after Friday”, but the other five names in the match are announced.

That current lineup:

CMLL (FRI) 09/13/2024 Arena México
***CMLL 91st Aniversario***
1) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
2) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
3) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
4) Máscara Dorada vs ?? [Copa Independencia]
5) Atlantis Jr., Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. vs Kojima, Orange Cassidy, Rocky Romero
6) Chris Jericho vs Místico
7) Hechicero vs Esfinge, Valiente, Euforia [mask]

I expect match 2 to be a women’s match—maybe with a guest start. Match 3 is cramming in some of the people who aren’t booked. There isn’t a ten-man tag or battle royal on here, so people will be still left out.

Mistico will face Bad Dude Tito in the semifinals in the MLW Opera Cup on 09/14 in Atlanta. He seems likely to win. The other semifinal is TJP versus KENTA, and Mistico looks to be the favorite to win the entire competition at this point.

Reyna Isis has been wrestling less often lately as she trained for a fitness competition. CMLL noted her participation in the Wellness Bikini Principiantes category, though the press release doesn’t mention any ranking. They also note a Shirly Tirado as finishing third in another category. I don’t know the CMLL connection there.

Atlantis, Sanely, Felino Jr., and KeMaltio appeared at a fundraiser for the Un Kilo de Ayuda charity.

AAA

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 Negro, Redimido, Tosscano
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.

This was announced at a press conference Monday. Actually, what happened is AAA said they’d have an announcement at 5 pm, so I made sure to be at my computer ready to absorb all that big AAA news. No news was posted, naturally. AAA’s Facebook posted about a 30-second video, but I just moved on with my life. I was wrong in thinking this would be the Guadalajara announcement, but I can at least show up on time. Mas Lucha posted the press conference on Tuesday and pretended like it was live.

From a viewer’s perspective, there’s not a lot to this taping. Hijo del Vikingo returns against guys who aren’t pushed. Abismo is still teaming with the Vipers despite turning on them in the main event in TripleMania. AAA advertised a mystery rudo teaming with Mesias and Taurus in Torreon. Presumably, the same person will debut three weeks later. Pierroth Jr. (the former El Divo) hasn’t appeared on AAA TV in two years, but that’s a common part of this taping. KAOZ is locally promoting it, and their names are sprinkled in here. They’re probably booking Julissa & Valentina and may be responsible for Slamovich and Markova. Julissa,

The real story is AAA and KAOZ are explicitly running this taping in hopes of “defeating” the CMLL & Alto Voltaje show in Arena Monterrey on the same night. AAA generally seems to have a bee in its bonnet over CMLL praise for having good attendance this year and AAA not getting that same credit. AAA doesn’t get credit because most AAA discussions start and end with how terrible their shows are, but getting to brag about beating CMLL in Monterrey head-to-head will mean a little something to them. AAA may additionally have a particular issue with Alto Voltaje running at the Showcenter last time. AAA believes they have exclusivity on that facility; RIOT had a date in another space at the same venue a couple of years ago, and AAA encouraged the building owners to push RIOT out. Alto Voltaje did end up running the Showcenter, so maybe AAA figures the next best thing is to damage their turnout enough where they might give up running. KAOZ is involved because KAOZ likes to talk about being part of Big Things. This taping also saves KAOZ the effort of putting on their own show, something they have only accomplished once in the last fourteen months.

That CMLL/Alto Voltaje show at Arena Monterrey seemed like a terrible idea to start with (and when Alto Voltaje first said they were running it in June.) It’s been a long time since CMLL shows have drawn really well in Monterrey, they didn’t draw anything special on that May card in the Showcenter, and the lineup isn’t going to draw people in. Mistico versus Hechicero for a title created for that show will probably be good, but it’s not an arena show. I think most people reading this blog would probably rather see the CMLL show than the AAA one, but the fact that on is a taping – so it “matters” – and the other is just a random show- is a big difference to people buying tickets. Superboletos indicates fans have only bought a few hundred tickets so far.

The Alto Votlaje people generally seem like dreamers without wrestling business sense. Their statement referencing the KAOZ show hypes the competition and brags about soon bringing in wrestlers from the US, Japan, and Canada for future shows. The last thing for Alto Voltaje needs do is to put the hype on future shows. They’re implicitly permitting the fans to skip this show for AAA because the even bigger shows are down the road. That’s just not smart.

Running a TV taping on 09/29 is about the most illogical time to run one. AAA will have no fresh TV for 09/28, and could benefit if this show was scheduled a week or two earlier. They also already have a TV for the following week: the Verano de Escandalo special will air live. (This Monterrey taping will air out of order in Mexico, probably not until 10/19.) The only reason to run on this date is to beat CMLL, and they will. They’ll draw about 5,000 to their building, and Alto Voltaje will be lucky to draw a third of that, so AAA can call it a win. Maybe it’s an even useful win if they can use it to convince someone to invest in the company or whatever it is they’re trying to do. Meanwhile, CMLL will have drawn 10,000+ people to Mexico City for the Night of Champions show on Friday prior and will be utterly unconcerned about whatever happens in Monterrey.

(The announcement of this show does explain why the 09/01 show wasn’t announced as a TV taping; they didn’t want to confuse the market, and they would rather the fans who will only go to one TV taping to go this 09/29 show.)

The press conference included Latin Lover as the AAA representative, which was a bit awkward given that the people who run AAA beat him up on the last show. Latin explained the storyline and could’ve saved some time by explaining that it was a cut-and-paste job from WWE. (Ciber started needling Latin about his lengthy explanations.) Marisela Pena is playing the role of Linda McMahon, who still has power over the promotion and is supporting Latin, so he’s still part of the organization and has power. This is also the same as Dorian Roldan’s previous run as a heel owner, where it was Marisela and Joaquin opposing him. Another highlight was Latin explaining the CMLL women train or wrestle three times a week, and that’s why they’re in better shape, but the AAA women will get better. I don’t know how or why he wandered into that, and the KAOZ promoter  (Alonso Botello) sitting next to him immediately jumped into salvage and defended Julissa & Valentina as people who are always training. We can all guess which AAA woman Latin Lover was talking about needing to get in better shape, but – in thinking he was avoiding trouble by not naming names – he said it in such a general way that all of the women could see themselves as targets. Sexy Star had a mildly annoyed response on Instagram on Wednesday. Konnan, Dorian, and Alberto ran this vast conspiracy to humiliate Latin Lover and they probably could’ve just given him some rope and time to let him do it himself.

In the same style, Latin said AAA will be touring the US in the first third of 2024. He’s brought it up as a possibility before, said it was definite here, and it still seems unlikely to happen in any meaningful way. Put aside AAA’s long US history and just look at this year. AAA seems super cautious about running any location with a risk. They’ve run the Mexico City and Monterrey areas 9 times so far and everyone else in the world 6 times. If AAA decided they can’t run Puebla or San Luis Potosi or Veracruz or Merida, how would they feel comfortable running Phoenix or Dallas? It only happens if someone else is paying AAA’s bills. (It also requires applying for work visas, which would probably need to be starting now if AAA is going to lock in early 2025 dates. Or they’re just going to hope the wrestlers do their own work.)

AAA will bring back the Autoluchas concept on October 11th. Rather, they’ll be doing a sponsored show for sponsor Bardahl on October 11th, and the car oil company will be giving away tickets. Autoluchas was more enjoyable than empty arena lucha during the early portion of the pandemic, but I’m surprised to see the concept come back in 2024—even with a car sponsor involved.

Laredo Kid faces Kushida on Thursday’s Impact. That sounds great. Less fantastic is TNA has removed its YouTube subscription this past week in favor of moving everyone over to their TNA+ service. Will I pay $10/month to watch one probably very good match, trusting that TNA didn’t mess it up some way? Maybe???

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 09/05/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Faunto vs Ikaris
2) Shamila & Vanilla Vargas vs Demonia & Kali
3) Willy Banderas vs Águila Roja
4) Luka, Spider Fly, Tornado vs Abigor, Alan Extreme, Hysteriosis
5) Aquiles, Hell Boy, Veneno vs Cerebro Negro, Látigo, Toxin

At some point, I should probably figure out why there’s someone named Aquiles who’s main eventing these shows suddenly.

Other News

Box y Lucha 3619 has Villano V on the cover. Dr. Lucha also shares his memories of Villano V in his blog this week. He points out that Villano V was doing well as Rokambole before taking the family number and wonders if he may have done better on his own. The mass in Villano V’s memory will take place on Monday.