CMLL
CMLL (MON) 09/23/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Depor Puebla, Mano 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. 
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
5) Averno, Euforia, Valiente b Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Hechicero [Relevos Increíbles]
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.
- Los Infernales challenging Mascara Dorada, Neon, and Star Jr. [CMLL TRIOS]
- Pierrothito challenging Ultimo Dragoncito [CMLL MINI]
- Villanos challenging Magnus & Rugido [MEX TAG]
- Sanely challenging Reyna Isis [MEX WOMEN]
- Volador Jr. challenging Templario [CMLL MIDDLE]
- Soberano Jr. challenging Atlantis Jr. [NWA LH]
- 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.