Month: October 2024

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 10/28/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, DeporPuebla, El Sol del Puebla, Grada, Mano a Mano, thecubsfan]
***Dia del Muertos, 2024***
1) Amnesia & Black Tiger b King Jaguar & Sombra Diabólika 
14:22
2) Meyer & Valiente Jr. b Enfermero Jr. & Prayer 
17:47
3) Persephone b India Sioux [lightning] 
6:48
4) Kira, Sanely, Skadi b La Catalina, Samantha Black, Sumika Yanagawa [Relevos Increíbles] 
12:24. Catalina replaced Unagi (rib injury).
5) Xelhua b Rey Samuray, Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma, Multy, Perverso, Guerrero Maya Jr. [Rey del Inframundo, semifinal] 
16:40. Order of elimination: Rey Samuray (via Pegasso), Pegasso (Multy), Arkalis (Stigma), Perverso (Xelhua), Multy (Guerrero Maya), Stigma (Guerrero Maya), Guerrero Maya (Xelhua) leaving Xelhua as the winner. He advances to the final on Friday.
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Star Jr. DQ Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. 
15:48. Angel de Oro fouled Mistico, and Mistico challenged him to a singles match next week.

I think we’ve wanted the choice to watch Arena Puebla weekly on the Fan Leyenda level, but maybe also the choice not to watch Puebla. This was just another OK show, not a top-effort one. Even the cibernetico was just alright, where Xelhua/Maya should’ve felt like a bigger deal than happened in practice. Taking the Dia del Muertos concept to Puebla for the first time did seem to work, it was a strong turnout, but it was not a particularly strong show.

CMLL (TUE) 10/29/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
***Dia del Muertos, 2024***
1) Eléctrico, Robin, Valiente Jr. b Cholo, Grako, Sangre Imperial 
2) Hera & Olympia b Samantha Black & Sumiaka Yanagawa 
12:21
3) Zeuxis © b Reina Isis [CMLL WOMEN] 
13:27. Originally Unagi vs Lluvia for the CMLL JAPAN WOMEN but both were injured. First defense.
4) Difunto b Zandokan Jr., Magnus, Villano III Jr., Crixus, Espanto Jr., El Coyote, Vegas [Rey del Inframundo, semifinal] 
Order of elimination: Espanto (via Zandokan, 10:26), Crixus (Magnus, 13:23), Magnus (15:11), Vegas (Villano, 15:50), Coyote (Difunto, 17:38), Zandokan (Villano, 20:22), Villano (Difunto, 27:22) leaving Difunto as the winner – he advances to the final on Friday.
5) Atlantis Jr., Neón, Templario b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero 
13:03

The cibernetico was much better on this show; I’d rate it Great. I’m not sure why all rudos worked better than all tecnicos, but they also all worked very hard. Difunto and Villano III had the long, dramatic finishing sequence that Maya and Xelhua should’ve had given their issues. Difunto didn’t connect on the ramp running springboard dropkick at the end but made up for it well, and the whole thing is worth watching. The main event was quite good too. Didn’t think the title match was good; Zeuxis isn’t exactly killing it on this title run.

If you are a wrestler and want to work a CMLL Grand Prix, you probably need to have the right people to vouch for you. It would also really help if you were from an exotic country. Samantha Black tried, yet she still was not ready for this level. She wasn’t much better than the indie luchadoras who CMLL banished after one (bad) Arena Coliseo match. The difference was Samantha Black was Costa Rican (and that CMLL didn’t run a match with three Samantha Blacks and one Candela.) CMLL has no shortage of Mexicans or Americans so if you’re an American and want to be in the Grand Prix, go digging in your family tree and find a second country you can represent. If it’s one that hasn’t shown up in CMLL prior, all the better.

Prior to Tuesday’s show, Mack Starke announced a limited edition CMLL branded Leyenda pickleball racket. You have to sign up on Instagram to get the racket, and they don’t exactly say how much it is. The commercial is fun though. There was a press conference in Arena Mexico to sponsor.

CMLL (TUE) 10/29/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL, Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha]
***Dia del Muertos, 2024***
1) Adira, Hatanna, Zorah b Candela, Emperatriz, Magia Azul
2) Lady Shadow & Miss Guerrera b Nexy & Valkiria
3) Futuro, Gallo Jr., Rafaga Jr. b Lince Del Bajio, Prince Drago, Rayo Metálico
4) Dulce Gardenia, Fantástico, Pelon Encapuchado b Cris Skin, Optimus, Trono
5) Barboza b Furia Roja, Gallero, Arlequín, Maléfico, Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Bestia Negra [Rey del Inframundo, semifinal]
6) Brillante Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico b Averno, Euforia, Soberano Jr.

Barboza was the highest ranking guy so it makes sense he won, though other characters would fit better as king of hell. Not a lot of details, not sure if match 3 is setting up a title match at this point.

CMLL (FRI) 11/01/2024 Arena México
1) Galaxy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal, Pequeño Polvora, Pierrothito
2) Brillante Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Pelon Encapuchado vs Disturbio, Felino Jr., Okumura
3) Kira, La Catalina, Tessa Blanchard vs Reyna Isis, Sanely, Zeuxis
4) Bárbaro Cavernario vs Difunto, Xelhua, Barboza [Rey del Inframundo, final]
5) Esfinge, Místico, Neón vs Magia Blanca, Rugido, Volador Jr.

The calendar turns over to November and so the two women’s matches on a show comes to an end. That match 2 is filled with people who haven’t been around Arena Mexico much. Five matches suggests CMLL is going to give that Rey del Inframundo match a lot of time. Difunto seems like the themetacially correct winner. The main event should be good, the opener should be as well.

There’s no Informa list if you’re reading this sentence. It’s safe to guess they’ll have the Rey del Inframundo finalists, Reyna Isis to talk about the Grand Prix, and Ultimo Dragoncito to talk about winning Sunday’s cibernetico. They may reveal the lineup for Sunday’s “everyone gets to wear their masks again” show, though it’s not too hard to work out if you’ve seen the promos.

Pepe S. Caro has an interview with Mascara Dorada.

Box y Lucha 3627 has Reyna Isis on the top of the cover. Reyna Isis wrestles Lady Frost on tomorrow’s ROH show.

Lucha Libre Total announced they’ll have a show with CMLL wrestlers in Aurora, Illinois on 11/23. It’s a some similar names to the MLW show in the same general area a few weeks earlier: Mistico, Atlantis Jr., Mephisto, Averno, Barbaro Cavernario, Villano III Jr., Okumura, Virus, Cancerbero, Persephone, as well as Hijo de Octagon and Super Astro Jr. as non-CMLL wrestlers. One big difference is the ticket price. You can get into the MLW show for as cheap as $10. The cheapest adult ticket for the LLT show is $50 (and $5 more on the day of the show.) MLW is running a significantly bigger building, they theoretically have TV/streaming ways to pay for the show, but that’s a big difference. One advantage of the LLT show is no one has to sit through an entire MLW taping before seeing the CMLL guys (though I’m sure there will be some not great local matches.)

Speaking of, MLW added Ikuro Kwon versus Okumura to the 11/08 MLW taping.

AAA

TNA announced El Hijo del Vikingo’s injury was to his right knee. That’s the same knee he got surgical repaired back in February. TNA said Vikingo would be seeing his doctor in Mexico for further evaluation. There’s been no further ifnromtion.

If Vikingo/Alberto is not going to happen at Guerra de Titanes – and it seems unlike it will – I am not convinced AAA should just run Alberto/Vampiro at Guerra de Titanes. This has been among the worst years of AAA I’ve seen, they should just commit to the bit and run the worst possible title match with Vampiro. It also might be a big deal if properly promoted (like not announced five minutes into the show), with the idea that this is Vampiro’s final chance to become AAA champion. (Vampiro was this week’s Desayunando guest.)

I caught up with the 09/29 Monterrey taping. AAA is silly nonsense, so there were elements of this taping building to the 10/06 Guadalajara show, only AAA aired that show first. There were parts building to matches on the 11/10 Juarez show, though they never came out and officially announced matches. Some notes:

• One of the purposes of the El Ojo group is that they (Dorian, Konnan) want to take AAA out of Mexico and run the promotion in the US instead. The heat is they’re taking AAA away from the Mexican fans. We are told (but never see) that Marisela Pena is standing in the way of that. JBL promised Dorian he’d bring in his rich American friends to buy Marisela out.
  • “AAA runs a bunch of shows in the US” has been their stated plan for years and still is the plan the best anyone knows, but I guess it’s now a heel plan? It would be a better heel plan if AAA worked well.
  • I’m not really sure what wrestling matches this is building to – maybe something for control of the promotion, but there’s no reason for Marisela to put that on the line. Is the resolution that Marisela brings in new (nad maybe real?) investors who promise to keep in AAA in Mexico?
• The two matches I enjoyed on the show were the Vikingo return trios (not extraordinary but fun) and the Solars against the Tigre Universitarios. That one was almost a CMLL match on a AAA show. It was short, but it was clean basic technical wrestling in a satisfying way.
  • Announcers pointed out Solar appeared in 2015 Lucha World Cup but hadn’t been in AAA prior since 1995. These four were there, as well as others – Emperador Azteca, Pierroth – because this was a KAOZ-promoted show, and they’re KAOZ people.
• La Hiedra hit Julissa as hard as she could get away with in their match. Flammer was stiffing Julissa too, and they weren’t taking it easier on Valentina either. It was not exactly Catalina/Zeuxis because Markova/Dalys were involved and not very good, and the match itself was not very good. AAA edited out most of the post match where Hiedra and Julissa kept hitting each other and stopped selling, though they did add in a post match bit where Valentina and Julissa got some revenge on Las Toxicas. The two teams do a good job of projecting that they can’t stand each other, and that seems to be coming from a real place. They’re supposed to wrestle again in Saltillo. Should be fun.
• The only way to enjoy Vipers match is if you get Wheeler Yuta to put a bag over your head long enough to cause some brain damage first. Abismo Negro Jr. cost Psicosis his mask, the Vipers wrestle normally to start the match, and then Psicosis is shocked/upset Abismo and Fiscal aren’t getting along. The match ends with Psicosis teasing kicking Abismo out of the group but not actually doing it. Anyone seeing this in Mexico has already seen Abismo throw fire in Fiscal’s face and seemingly leave the group, except he’s still in the group in Juarez.

I should note that I’m watching the Space show, which is what goes up on YouTube. The Unimas show is edited to a smaller time slot I’ve been curious about exactly how different, so I did some work. Here’s the difference in one recent episode:

Monterrey Week 1	Space	Unimas
Open (including Latin backstage)	05m38s	04m00s
Pena mass/Upcoming events	02m03s	did not air
Guapos vs Exoticos	13m01s	10m10s
JBL harasses bartender	01m10s	did not air
Upcoming events	00m35s	did not air
In ring gab fest	09m07s	05m10s
Pena mass (2nd time)	01m39s	did not air
Women’s match	11m57s	09m36s
Women’s post match	00m38s	did not air
Alberto/Ciber trios	18m46s	11m16s

(When listing times, I’m talking about the entire segment, not just the bell-to-bell.)

Much of the editing comes in shortening entrances, but they are editing matches as well – that’s a big chunk of the main event. They’re also taking out segments. Notably, the two backstage vignettes with KAOZ promoter Alfonso Botello didn’t air in the US, though they still showed his part of the in-ring segment.

The first part of the Heroes Inmortales card was heavily edited:

Heroes Inmortales Part 1	Space	Unimas
Open	02m44s	04m05s
Backstage: Fiscal, Alberto, Konnan	00m59s	00m54s
Fiscal vs Matt Riddle	18m07s	07m56s
Post match/lots of talking in-ring	25m21s	10m53s
Vampiro match, 2nd Promo	26m02s	13m47s
La Parka teaser	00m33s	did not air
Alberto vs Laredo, Post Match	21m08s	did not air
Dorian/JBL promo	did not air	01m42s

They took 10 minutes of the Riddle/Fiscal match, 13 minutes from the Vampiro segment, and nearly 15 minutes from the talking. They still couldn’t fit the entire show in the hour – doing this helped me realize Unimas is probably getting Heroes Inmortales over 3 weeks, as opposed to two in Space. Heroes Inmortales was a live airing on Space, and AAA has terrible time management skills; the matches may not hit their time, but the promos seem to go long every time. The people in charge get to do those long promos and get distracted trying to rile up the live crowd. No one’s in a position to tell them to wrap it up, as those people likely would if someone else was going long. They’re also a company that, for all its TV ambitions, makes a product that’s focused on the live crowd.

At some point, AAA would probably be smoother if they just made one edit of their TV show instead of two, but I don’t see that as possible any time soon. Maybe if AAA got a second hour on Unimas, but they won’t tighten up how they run things on their own. They’re never going to cut down the Space show to fit the 40 minutes Unimas is giving them a week, and it wouldn’t make sense to do so. If you’re into AAA, you should probably be watching the Space version, which is the version that goes up on YouTube.

Psycho Clown will be part of the WXW 16 Cart Gold 2025 tournament next March. That’ll be an interesting booking. Meanwhile, Psycho Clown hasn’t been on an AAA TV episode since TripleMania Mexico City and is not listed on any remaining tapings this year.

Cibernetico confirmed he was joking about his retirement in a continuing series of goofy Facebook posts.

Other News

Volador/Super Parka had what was billed as his final match in Arena Coliseo Monclova on Friday. It’s not 100% clear, but it may have been meant to be his final match ever. He had a retirement earlier in Monterrey and those are two big cities for Volador, but it’s listed just as his final match in that arena. Volador says he’s 68 and not even a shadow of what he was in his prime, but he hopes the fans remember him as a star.

Sexy Dulce (the first Sexy Star) has been wrestling for Juventud Guerrera’s Super X off and on this year. They gave her their women’s championship, because why not, it’s Super X, everything is as weird as you’d expected in a Juventud Guerrera run promotion, and none of this actually matters. (Technically, she’s wrestling as Sexy Xtar in Super X because all of their gimmicks are X themed.) Last Saturday, Super X had a lightly attended show in Arena Neza, where Sexy Dulce was supposed to put the belt up in a four-way title match. Sexy Dulce still really doesn’t like to lose wrestling matches but that was fine, Super X was apparently going to accommodate by running four way match and have Vanilla Vargas beat someone else to win the belt. Sexy Dulce no-showed the event, kept the the belt, and now Super X is asking their fans to tell Sexy Dulce to return to belt to Vanilla Vargas. Dulce was in Mexico City the next day, wrestling on an outdoor show, so she probably could’ve gotten the belt to Guerrera if she wanted. Dulce just refusing to give a belt back is funny. That someone walked off with a belt from a Juventud Guerrera promotion is hilarious – that’s a move he pulled a couple of times in the 00s.

IWRG has their big annual Castillo of Terror show on Thursday.

After Monday’s post, I was told Bengalee’s social media has been run by someone besides Bengalee for some time. This whole retirement/unmasked photo is indeed someone angry with Benaglee and using her social media against her.

Penta is doing an autograph signing on 11/18 at the Talivsion t-shirt store.

Criterio Hidalgo has an interview with Night Bitch.

A couple of reminders

Mexico doesn’t use DST anymore, but you may still use it. Various European countries turned their clocks back this past weekend, and the US and various North American countries will switch this coming weekend. Whenever your clock switches, the start time for streams coming from Mexico will be one hour earlier.

CMLL has indicated they’ll stream all the Dia del Muertos shows for Fan Leyendas this week. Since it’s Mexican wrestling, we don’t know for sure if they’ll do it live, but keep an eye on CMLL’s YouTube for Puebla tonight if you’re intereste.

CMLL

This was a tough weekend for CMLL injuries.

• Willow Nightingale suffered a concussion on Friday
• Both Lluvia (left eye) and Pequeno Magia (unspecified) left matches on Sunday with injuries
• Sayaki Unagi finished her match, but later revealed she also suffered a broken rib on Sunday

Willow missed the rest of the weekend’s shows. Unagi and Lluvia were scheduled for a title match on Tuesday and are both out. The biggest one is the AAA injury, which I’ll get to later.

CMLL (FRI) 10/25/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Estudio Deportes, Excelsior, Kaiser Sports, Reforma, Telediario, The Gladiadores, thecubsfan]
1) Dulce Gardenia b Difunto [lightning] 
8:43
2) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja DQ Magnus & Rugido 
12:22. non-title match between two champion tag teams. Straight falls; Magnus was eliminated but came back in to save Rugido in the second.
3) Averno © b Zandokan Jr. [CMLL LH] 
2nd defense. Zandokan toped into the barricade when Averno dodged. Doctor and ref tried to stop the match, Averno brought in Zandokan anyway, Averno covered, Zandokan kicked out. Averno covered a second time and got the pin, though the cameras missed it showing a replay. Averno attacked Zandokan as he was loaded onto the stretcher. F1 driver Kimi Antonelli posed with Averno and Mephsito before the match.
4) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario b Cavernario, Euforia, Soberano Jr. 
14:27
5) Amapola, Dark Silueta, Hera, Kira, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit, Reyna Isis, Sanely, Skadi, Zeuxis b Alex Windsor, La Catalina, Persephone, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Tessa Blanchard, Viva Van, Willow Nightingale [Grand Prix de Amazonas] 
Order of elimination: Kira (via Sumika, 20:50), Hera (Catalina, 24:31), Black (Amapola, 29:15), Sumika (Silueta, 32:50), Sanely (Windsor, 35:33), Amapola (Unagi, 38:13), Silueta (Tessa, 40:29), Van (Zeuxis, 41:53), Windsor (Lluvia, 42:49), Isis (Unagi, 44:42), Persephone (Zeuxis , 45:50), Sugeith (Catalina, 47:32), Catalina (Lluvia, 48:34), Tessa (Zeuxis, 50:15), Zeuxis (Nightingale, 51:36), Nightingale (Lluiva, 52:30), Lluvia (Red Velvet, 53:29), Red Velvet (Reyna Isis, 58:25), leaving Reyna Isis as the winner. AEW’s Aubrey Edwards debuted as referee for the match.

This Grand Prix is a hard match to rate.  The crowd was into it, especially to start and and when it got down to the final two. It was also a match with some inescapable flaws, like the mistimed guillotine spot in the final two. Reyna Isis can rise to the occasion in big matches, but I don’t think she really did it here. There was still plenty to like in an hour match, but that length was an issue. Those who did stick around were into it, but it was visibly apparent some decided an hour match was not for them and left early. I think there has to be a real consideration of cutting the fields back to 8 a side or cutting down the pre-elimination portions of the match after this year’s effort to get close to a 40-minute match. This Grand Prix will be interesting to fans of these women but I think they had potential for a better match and didn’t execute to the best of their abilities.

The Zandokan concussion spot appears to have been a bit. Avenro’s done this same bit before, most memorably with Titan early in his career. That time build to a moment where Titan survived another missed dive and came back to beat Averno later for the title, and that may be the long term plan with Zandokan.

Match 4 was the best match of the show, in exactly the ways you’d think it’d be great. Match 2 had good work, but a weird layout. Difunto did very well in the opener, but I’m still not sure he’s a rudo.

CMLL’s hype about the crowd on Friday seemed overinflated.  They teased they were close to a sell-out to move some tickets, but it didn’t seem truly close to a sell-out. There were visible upper level sections completely empty, never having been opened. It still seemed like a pretty good turnout, just not what they were pretending it’d be.

It was a busy weekend for F1/CMLL crossovers. CMLL had an F1 driver in the ring, Mistico met with the Mexican F1 driver, and the race day broadcast kicked off with a scene from Arena Coliseo. AAA was running matches at the venue – the same venue that hosted the AutoLucha shows a few years ago – but didn’t get the same attention. Other CMLL wrestlers (and Salvador Lutteroth) attended a 5/10 KM race at the military camp that AAA’s run tapings from lately.

CMLL (SAT) 10/26/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Leono & Retro b Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Crixus, El Coyote, Pólvora b El Audaz, Principe Daniel, Valiente Jr.
3) India Sioux, Samantha Black, Tabata b Hera, La Maligna, Olympia
4) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider b Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black
5) Zeuxis b Skadi [lightning]
6) Flip Gordon, Templario, Volador Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Terrible

Sounded like it continued the run of not very good Saturday shows.

CMLL (SUN) 10/27/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) KeMalito & Periquito Sacaryas b Mije & Tengu
2) Sayaka Unagi b Dark Silueta [lightning]
3) Shockercito b Último Dragóncito, Pierrothito, Pequeño Olímpico, Fantasy, Mercurio, Angelito, Pequeño Violencia, Kaligua, Full Metal, Pequeño Magía, Pequeño Polvora, Acero, Aéreo, Galaxy, Rostro De Acero [cibernetico]
elimination order: Aereo (via Galaxy), Acero (Full Metal) Fantasy (Pequeno Olimpico), Pequeno Violencia (Kaligua), Rostro de Acero (Mercurio), Full Metal (Pierrothito), Ultimo Dragoncito (Galaxy), Pequeno Magia (injury), Pierrothito, Angelito (Ultimo Dragonicto), Ultimo Dragoncito (Mercurio), Mercurio (Shockercito), leaving Shockercito as the winner.
4) Lluvia, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis b Persephone, Samantha Black, Sumika Yanagawa
Persephone replaced Willow Nightingale (concussion), Lluvia suffered a left eye injury and left early, but her team still won.
5) Místico, Neón, Volador Jr. b Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.

Neon is back to normal after his dive mishap.

Sanely’s been added to the Arena Puebla show to replace Unagi, though it’s Catalina who takes her place on the team so CMLL can do a Mexico/World trios match.

CMLL (TUE) 10/29/2024 Arena México
1) Eléctrico, Robin, Valiente Jr. vs Cholo, Grako, Sangre Imperial
2) Hera & Olympia vs Samantha Black & Sumiaka Yanagawa
3) Sayaki Unagi © vs Lluvia [CMLL JAPAN WOMEN]
3) Zeuxis © vs Reina Isis [CMLL WOMEN]
4) Zandokan Jr. vs Magnus, Villano III Jr., Difunto, Crixus, Espanto Jr., El Coyote, Vegas [Rey del Inframundo, semifinal]
5) Atlantis Jr., Neón, Templario vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

CMLL officially announced Lluvia and Unagi off the shows on Monday morning, about 18 hours after it happened. It doesn’t take long to get a medical update out to the public, if that’s what you’re interested in doing. CMLL also could’ve replaced that match with any sort of women’s match, and decided to run the current world champion against the person who just won the Grand Prix; definitely a match of equal value or greater.

CMLL (TUE) 10/29/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Adira, Hatanna, Zorah vs Candela, Emperatriz, Magia Azul
2) Nexy & Valkiria vs Lady Shadow & Miss Guerrera
3) Dulce Gardenia, Fantástico, Pelon Encapuchado vs Cris Skin, Optimus, Trono
4) Futuro, Gallo Jr., Rafaga Jr. vs Lince Del Bajio, Prince Drago, Rayo Metálico
5) Furia Roja vs Gallero, Arlequín, Barboza, Maléfico, Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Bestia Negra [Rey del Inframundo, semifinal]
6) Brillante Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Averno, Euforia, Soberano Jr.

I guess Barboza is winning that cibernetico but I really don’t know. Futuro and Rayo Metalico being on opposite sides of match 4 may be setting up something.

I haven’t watched much CMLL this weekend (only the three hour show), but you can watch more CMLL

AMX 10/13 CMLL

• Arkalis & Stigma vs Disturbio & Pólvora
• India Sioux, Náutica, Skadi vs Amapola, La Maligna, Olympia
• Flip Gordon, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

Puebla 10/21 CMLL

• India Sioux vs Samantha Black
• Maligna, Metálica, Olympia, Tabata, Zeuxis vs Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van
• Místico, Stigma, Xelhua vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

Capitan Suicida and Tiger Mask are 0-3 so far in the Supr Junior Tag League so far. They’ve got two more chances to pick up a win.

Fantastica Mania

NJPW announced the roster and schedule for Fantastica Mania 2025

Wrestlers appearing:

• Mistico
• Volador Jr.
• Atlantis Jr.
• Titan
• Mascara Dorada
• Templario
• Stigma
• Ultimo Guerrero
• Hechicero
• Soberano Jr.
• Averno
• Barbaro Cavernario
• Okumura
• Magnus
• Zandokan Jr.
• Neon
• Max Star
• Xelhua
• Rugido
• Raider

Shows

• 02/19 Osaka
• 02/20 Kagawa
• 02/21 Osaka
• 02/22 Nagoya
• 02/23 off
• 02/24 Kyoto
• 02/25 off
• 02/26 Chiba
• 02/27 Korakuen Hall
• 02/28 Korakuen Hall

Eight shows in ten days are going to keep these guys busy. Twenty people are booked, so they’ve got to run a lot to make it work.

The five debuts are all on the younger side of the roster; no Pegasso or Felino Jr. is getting a gold watch tour this time. Xelhua’s started getting some attention out of the CMLL bubble, but Raider’s inclusion strikes me as someone watching the full CMLL shows closely to figure it’s good. Fantastica Mania historically hasn’t done much with the debuting wrestlers; they’re often there just to fill out tag matches. I would caution you not to expect Xelhua to be wrestling Zack Sabre Jr. on these shows. Still, there’s no obvious family tournament this year so maybe they’ll run something else that includes them. (I could guess at a trios tournament: Dorada/Neon/Max, Depradores, Titan/Zandokan/Yota, and then pick three rudos.)

The top half of the card is a lot of familiar faces, which means probably a lot of familiar matches. These shows were originally exciting for CMLL fans because they provided a lot of matches that CMLL itself wasn’t booking. CMLL’s gotten better about that, which means more repeats here. It also doesn’t matter as much to the live fans, who won’t care if NJPW runs Mistico/Averno again in Koruraken after it happened in Mexico already – it’s their chance to see it live.

No luchadoras were announced for this tour, as normal. La Jarochita and Lluvia did end up working a match last year because the separate schedule they were working (for whomever books the CMLL women in Japan) happened to overlap FantasticaMania. If any CMLL women end up going to Japan again during FantasticaMania, they’ll probably be added to a show later on.

Averno versus Mistico is a lock for the final day. That was the final CMLL match on the first version of this tour and the final match Mistico had before surprising CMLL by leaving for WWE. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself. Averno/Mistico doesn’t feel like the tour ending match in 2024. Maybe it’s Volador/Dorada?

CMLL will likely run another Torneo de Escuelas back in Mexico during this tour to fill some of the empty space.

AAA

Hijo del Vikingo left Sunday’s TNA match with an apparent leg injury. The severity has not been reported at the moment. Laredo Kid posted an Instagram reel of the injury and Vikingo being taken to the hospital; his comments suggest Vikingo will be out for a bit. Vikingo did a twisting moonsault to the floor; one of his legs got caught underneath him at a bad angle, and he could not go on. Vikingo himself seemed to be at peace in his Instagram stories.

Hijo del Vikingo is scheduled to headline AAA’s Guerra de Titanes in a title challenge against Alberto. AAA fills that Juarez building every year, usually with weaker main events, so it would be little harm for them to announce Vikingo off this show (if he can’t go.) AAA’s practice is they’ll say zero words about this situation until the show starts and then reveal the main event won’t happen. Maybe they’ll even do it in a way to get heat on the evil ownership. AAA is using Octagon Jr. as the Vikingo understudy so he’d be the logical replacement, but he’s already facing Mesias on the show. Maybe AAA would move up Pagano instead. AAA’s also teased Vampiro challenging for the title a couple of times this year and could just do it, even though the match would likely be awful.

Prior to the injury, Mike Bailey defeated Hijo del Vikingo to keep the X-Division title. My theory for picking Vikingo to win is Bailey is impending free agent who seems likely to go elsewhere and that Vikingo ought to be winning in TNA if AAA’s going to make a big deal out of him going there instead of AEW. What happened is it is TNA and that’s where luchadors go to lose, though Vikingo had a chance to have a better match than Laredo usually does.

(random fact that I don’t think people realize: since Unimas is in so many more homes than AXS TV, AAA probably has more viewers than TNA in the US every week. No one talks about AAA, though.)

I’ll catch up on AAA TV later this week, but there are two common themes to AAA. One is that they’re doing a bunch of skits where the El Ojo group is trying to recruit various people to join their team. They keep asking the good guys, it turns out the good guys don’t want to join the evil faciton, and the evil faction is surprised by this turn of events every time. Riveting stuff. The other bit is AAA trying to put out vignettes on social media to create a buss – like a clip of Konnan and Alberto trashing Latin Lover for continually asking podcast guests to join his team and mocking Fresero Jr. for being a nothing in their eyes. If you want to get social media attention, Fresero Jr. will get his fans to give it to you, but I don’t know if there’s a plan beyond that. There is about a weekly JBL clips saying racist things, seemingly to get people angry enough to respond them. The reaction I see more often is WWE fans of JBL just being happy he’s around without really knowing or caring much about what’s going on. The goal in all of this is attention, not matches, but it’s not really clear to what end attention is going to go – AAA seems to be at least five months away from the next thing they can sell to people who get mad at them on internet.

The funny bit is aggregators have jumped up on the latest promo where JBL talked taking AAA global as part of his heel promo. Back here in the real world, AAA stopped promoting the Spain tour the day after the story came out that the shows would likely be canceled. AAA hasn’t said the shows are canceled, they’re just doing their usual bit of avoiding bad news by pretending it never happened. Ticketmaster Spain still has the tickets on sale at this point.

UK’s Progress Wrestling announced Hijo del Vikingo versus Cara Noir for 11/24. That obviously depends on his health status, and AAA may not want them to say anything until they get around to it. I haven’t seen Cara Noir since pre-pandemic, but it strikes me as a strange match.

Parka Negra announced he would no longer be using that gimmick. His statement is intentionally unclear on any other aspects of that decision; there’s no indication of the reasons why he’s leaving the gimmick or if this means he’s leaving AAA. Parka Negra originally wrestled as Angel Mortal Jr. and came into AAA in the same talent search that brought them Hijo del Vikingo – Vikingo’s called him the best base he’s worked with. Parka Negra seems talented as a rudo and a comedy figure – he’s someone AAA could’ve moved up to Taurus’ old spot, rather than just dropping a Taurus mask on a less experienced wrestler and hoping it would’ve worked out. Instead, AAA’s gone the other way, and Parka Negra has appeared on AAA TV just once in the last year despite a depleted roster. The default here is chalking up the Parka Negra disappearance act to AAA not evaluating their talent optimally, but this Parka Negra situation has been so weird that I’m willing to allow for the chance there’s more to his story that just hasn’t gotten out.

My first guess upon hearing this story was AAA was revamping all the Parka stuff at once. They’re going to introduce a new La Parka, perhaps they want a new (fifth!) La Parka Negra to go with him, and the old guy is getting the boot. Thinking about it more, the best person on the AAA roster to be the new La Parka is actually probably the old evil La Parka. He knows the gimmick, he does some of the bits, he’s a good wrestler. It’s just hard to know what AAA’s thinking here – where they keeping him off TV because they had some problem with him, or where they keeping him off TV so people would forget about the character when they brought him back under a new gimmick? I guess we’ll know if Angel Mortal Jr. shows up in IWRG again soon.

Cibernetico announced on Facebook that he’s retiring from lucha libre immediately. Cibernetico posts a lot of stuff on social media to amuse himself, and there’s been an increase in luchadors posting things on their social media to trick (?) news sites into posting false stories. This may be a joke about Bengalee’s “retirement,” but I don’t think that post should be taken seriously.

During the Monterrey taping, Dorian Roldan sarcastically referred to KAOZ promoter Alonso Botello as “Mr. McMahon de Monterrey.” Because Mexico and AAA is behind the times, this was supposed to be a joke about how Botello’s this big shot successfully wrestling promoter in Monterrey when he actually promotes two or three shows a year (and must not be that successful if he’s doing it that rarely.) In the reality of the United States in 2024, Roldan referring to Botello as a Mr. McMahon de Monterrey implies he’s a promoter who uses his position of power to take advantage of his underlings, especially women. And that’s where we’ll leave this paragraph.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 10/27/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Águila Oriental b Fauno
Aguila Roja seemed to form a team with Aguila Oriental post match.
2) Demonia, Príncipe Centauro, Rey Halcón b Multifacetico Jr., Shamila, Tornado
3) Luka vs Abigor
4) Diva Salvaje, Mamba, Spider Fly b Arez, Látigo, Toxin
5) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Máscara Sagrada b Águila Roja, Hijo del Fishman, Vengador
6) Vangellys © b Jessy Ventura [IWRG Rey del Ring]
Vengador helped Vangellys

IWRG is running a telenovela-ish story with Tornado and Multifacetico trying to win Shamila’s heart. This week’s chapter featured poisoned ice cream.

AEW 

I drove three plus hours to Cedar Rapids on Saturday to watch AEW Collision. Seemed like the thing to do. There’s stuff I’d normally have in this post that I won’t get to until later this week because I spent a lot of time driving through the farmlands of Iowa, so I might as well make up for it by posting some thoughts on that show. It’s a better idea than putting it on Twitter.

• a common refrain of the pontificating class is “AEW needs to run smaller buildings (until they get hotter)”, so that their crowd don’t feel swallowed up by the big buildings. This Cedar Rapids building was in fact a smaller building, and those takes were partially proven right. This was one of the least attended AEW shows (outside of COVID times) but it didn’t feel as empty or depressing as the better-attended show in Dynamite in Champaign I also went to.  The sound bounced around better in the smaller building, and this was a group of fans who were excited to be at the show. The fans were into Johnny TV ROH squash matches before the show even started, that’s what we’re dealing with. Many people left before the ROH tapings concluded, but those who were left had enough enthusiasm to chant for Komander and chant for Abadon/Athena to fight forever. (They did not fight forever, thankfully.)
  • A regular bit at these AEW shows is Tony Khan polling the crowd about how many are returning fans and how many are new fans. The new fans have been a smaller and smaller percentage on the shows I’ve gone to in Illinois and Wisconsin, but it was close to 50/50 in this show. AEW has run Iowa before, but it did seem like there were a lot of people who hadn’t gotten out to one previously.
• The turnout still wasn’t good. The promotion is cold, this wasn’t a strong lineup, and it was happening around the same time as the biggest sporting team in the state, the University of Iowa, was playing a home football game about 30 minutes away. Perhaps AEW should consult college football schedules when planning their fall tour. (If only to help booking hotels.)
  • They should also plan the event posters better. The Cedar Rapids show had 9 people pictured: Willow, Darby, Jericho, Mark Briscoe, Hologram, Orange Cassidy, Daniel Garcia, Thunder Rosa and Kris Statlander. None of those people appeared before the crowd. Thunder Rosa appeared in a pre-tape, which may have been taped that day or may have been taped two weeks ago for all I could tell. I think most people have long figured out the images on those posters are just random people thrown on by a social media person (plus anyone who has ties to the area) and don’t reflect at all who’s going to be on the show, but 0 of 9 in the ring is pretty terrible and shouldn’t be considered acceptable. Either take the photos off the posters or make sure those people are on those shows.
• AEW’s recently found religion about promoting matches for upcoming shows and running video packages to build those matches. Those are good things. This Collision seemed to be a leftover from the before times, with no much built beyond the main event. We spent a fair bit of this episode watching videos for matches that were happening some other time. There were a lot of little things that made it clear we were attending the secondary show. This was a show that really could’ve used a special off camera appearance by top level AEW stars after the live show ended. As much as I enjoyed Athena/Abadon and Komander/Ari Davari, that wasn’t really it.
• Dralistico can do a cool crucifix bomb. I can also show you about four dozen other Mexican wrestlers who can do that spot. He is not great at the other parts of US TV wrestling (like remembering which side of the corner to stand in so your back isn’t facing the hard cam), but he’s Rush’s brother so he’ll be around for a while longer.
• I didn’t like the idea of The Beast Mortos joining LFI because it inherently makes him the second or third most important guy in a group and I think he’s got more potential than that. Sure enough, he was just used as a heater on this show. The other, less safe for Twitter, reason I didn’t like the idea of The Beast Mortos is AEW is unlikely to push LFI besides the middle “beats up on the scrubs, loses to the people who are actually on PPV” level. I am generally leery of groups on US wrestling TV that are all latino or latino-centric, because the history of major US wrestling promotions has to keep them in that exact middle spot no matter the potential. You can see in WWE, where the LWO and Legado factions had a moment and now are stuck being in the middle or lower middle. Those who’ve had the most success in WWE are Dominic Mysterio and Damian Priest, who still have their Latino heritage in the work they do but got in a group where that’s not the sole identity. (And also are tall and/or get a big reaction.) We can come up with our theories as to why this happens, but it’s inescapable that it does happen. The program with FTR & the Outrunners against LFI looks to be ongoing, but it’s hard to believe the LFI is coming out the winners; they’ll be where they are. It may be a waste of Rush, but Rush seems to believe he’ll make it work, and it’s hard to convince Rush of anything else. It’s definitely a waste of Mortos to be on a team that may not make many PPVs.
  • But also, it may be a non-issue since AEW is hammering that Mortos may is not fully committed to LFI – it’s taking them a while to get to wherever they’re going, but they seem to have a destination in mind.
  • What is the high water mark for Mortos in AEW? I feel like he can get close to the Lucha Brothers level – off-month singles title challenger, occasional tag/trios champion, and designated “good match opponent” two weeks before a PPV maybe.
  • The whole Rush beats up Preston Vance to show he’s left LFI makes no sense now, it’s a fairly obvious clue plans were changed along the way. But, more importantly, seeing Preston Vance work ROH matches made me wanted desperately to see him confront Rush during Collision to ask “what the hell, dude?” If they’re running an LFI vs Outrunners/FTR 4v4 match they seemed to be building, LFI needs a fourth guy, and so maybe he’ll be patched back in eventually.
• The Grand Prix win over Red Velvet and the ROH appearances suggest Reyna Isis might be getting a TV title shot soon. I’m not entirely sure that’s the case. Diamante, after a squash win on Saturday, made belt motions and I don’t see her facing Athena.
• There were two other ROH matches building title programs. I thought at least one of them made sense for Final Battle and then I realized – it’s late October and nothing has been said about Final Battle. It’s been a mid December show of late, to space it out from the AEW PPVs, so that’s six weeks away. There’d normally be an announcement of a date and a location by now. It’s kind of strange that there’s nothing, but the interest in the day-to-day of Ring of Honor in 2024 is sadly so small that this doesn’t appear to be a story. Most people who watch Final Battle aren’t going to think about it existing until the week prior to the show anyway, because it’s so off the radar even to AEW fans. I think there is a Final Battle, and I think I could work out about half the matches on the card based on what I saw in Cedar Rapids – it had the feel of one of those tapings where it clicked that a PPV was coming soon and they had to start building to it – but I also think interest is so low that it wouldn’t hurt almost anyone’s feelings if I just spoiled the results on Twitter.
  • I have an affinity towards Ring of Honor and the people who work on it, but the status quo isn’t great. This year’s Final Battle ought to be the end of this iteration of Ring of Honor; either there’s a TV deal and a show formatted with more purpose, or the idea goes on the shelf until they’re in position to do this better than post-Collision matches with half the crowd gone. But, I could’ve said the same thing last time Jericho was ROH champion, nothing much changed then. People seem to expect some news is happening because Jericho is champion again, but it could just be Jericho needed something to do and they’ll have the ROH year end with him losing the title again, nothing more than that.
  • I mean, I’ll still sure buy Final Battle and the show will be good but it feels like Ring of Honor is something that should meaningful exist more than three PPVs a year and it simply does not mean much between them.
• If you do watch ROH, you’ll probably like Abadon/Athena this weekend. Also, if you do watch, you should put a list of like five good ROH matches to watch since the last PPV whenever one happens, because that’s time some people are going to pay up to watch. Others will be grateful. Abadon/Athena might make that list.
• I’m glad I went. I wish I left a little earlier so I could’ve seen more of Cedar Rapids. I spent a lot of Saturday and Sunday driving through the corn fields and backroads of Iowa. I was struck by the thought that presidential candidates travel around these same backroads every four years to build support among a lot of small communities because that’s how our political system works and how utterly bizarre that is in practice.

In other (sorta) AEW news, the first show Arena del Valle – Penta’s news building – took place Sunday. LA Park won the trios main event, then challenged Penta to a super libre match. Penta’s worked a little bit in the last few months, though it seemed like finishing agreed-on bookings rather than taking on new work. Penta used to work a lot, but any match he has now feels like news. Anyway, Penta was there at the start of the show but didn’t come out to face LA Park at the end, and it was probably LA Park shooting an angle to try to get another booking, not something that was planned.

Arena del Valle said this show sold out. Whoever’s actually in charge of the shows (I suspect it’s not actually Penta) is ahead of most Mexican wrestling promoters; they had the next lineup out as soon as this show ended. Not sure I would call Komander versus Blue Wind an All Star match though.

Other News

Bengalee posted (and then either deleted or hid) a post with her unmasked face and real name. The post claims she’s retiring because she was intimate with Willy Banderas despite being married to someone else. It’s meant to be sort of an apology, but it certainly can be read as though someone else has control of her social media and is using it to defame her. It’s very messy either way. You can find the picture; given that context, I’m not going to link to it.

Segunda Caida watches some Gigante Silva in CMLL.

CMLL

Tonight’s show

CMLL (FRI) 10/25/2024 Arena México
1) Dulce Gardenia vs Difunto [lightning]
2) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Magnus & Rugido
non-title match
3) Averno © vs Zandokan Jr. [CMLL LH]
2nd defense
4) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario vs Cavernario, Euforia, Soberano Jr.
5) Amapola, Dark Silueta, Hera, Kira, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit, Reyna Isis, Sanely, Skadi, Zeuxis vs Alex Windsor, La Catalina, Persephone, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Tessa Blanchard, Viva Van, Willow Nightingale [Grand Prix de Amazonas]

I typically have a strong take about the person who will win these Grand Prixs, or at least the people in the mix. I’m not always correct, but there’s usually an obvious direction. I had no strong idea who would win when this field was announced and I still have no strong idea on the day of the show. I still presume it’ll be someone on Team Mexico, but the rise of Persephone is a reminder CMLL is more unpredictable than ever. There are a lot of people who could win and match itself should be pretty good, but I can’t tell you how it’s going to turn out.

CMLL revealed AEW’s Aubrey Edwards would be a special referee for this match. I presume, perhaps incorrectly, that La Vaquerita will still be the main referee. These Grand Prixs both do and do not need extra referees. There are typically three of them: one in the ring doing typical referee things, and two outside of the ring who are supposed to be keeping the teams in order (and then utterly fail to do so as the match turns into a riot once or twice.) I presume the real job of those outside referees is to pass messages back and forth should something go wrong and the elimination need to be reworked, and having an extra English speaker may help with that.

CMLL probably won’t have too many big angles the rest of the way. Next Friday will be the Dia del Muertos shows, so there’s no place to follow up. The rest of this show is just good matches to have good matches. Dorada & Templario have been an outstanding team in the past and have good opponents in match 4. I really liked Averno/Zandokan last time though I think this one is liable to be less cheating and more moves. Match 2 is the reliable world tag team champs against the reliable national tag team champions. Difunto’s been really good of late and the opener with Dulce should get over well. This should be a pleasant show.

CMLL pushed out a lot of ads for the Grand Prix meet and greet in the last day or so, including offering YouTube subscribers 50% off on the day of the show. That seems to indicate they didn’t come close to selling out all 50 tickets (and video footage seemed to confirm that.) Tickets for tonight’s show seem to be moving better; there were just scattered single tickets left on the floor when I checked Friday morning. CMLL was pushing the idea that the floor was pretty much sold out, the balcon was sold out, and gradas were mostly sold. CMLL seemed to think they’d sell this one out. It’s not a lock but it’s definitely plasuisble, and it’ll be a big number either way. I don’t really feel the buzz for this show, but it is still working strong as a ticket-selling concept.

CMLL (MON) 10/28/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Amnesia & Black Tiger vs King Jaguar & Sombra Diabólika
2) Meyer & Valiente Jr. vs Enfermero Jr. & Prayer
3) India Sioux vs Persephone [lightning]
4) Kira, La Catalina, Skadi vs Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa
5) Rey Samuray vs Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma, Xelhua, Multy, Perverso, Guerrero Maya Jr. [Rey del Inframundo, semifinal]
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Star Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

This is the start of the Dia del Muertos week. CMLL is still honoring their concept of two women’s matches on every show even with other theme coming in. Match 5 is the first Guerrero Maya Jr. appearance since joining the rudo side. He seems the easy favorite in the match.

Lady Shadow was listed as a CMLL Amazona again this week on the Guadalajara broadcast, so she’s meant to be part of the CMLL roster even though she only works on Guadalajara shows and rarely even those. I wonder if the Andrade family connection has anything to do with it. That Guadalajara show aired for free even though the men’s equivalent show before the Grand Prix was definitely behind a paywall. CMLL never says what they’re actually doing half the time and I try to assume they’ll follow what they did last time, but that’s not always correct.

Bengalee, of the 2 show CMLL run, announced Friday she was quitting lucha libre immediately. I don’t know what’s going on but I assume she’s not had her last match – that perhaps the CMLL failure was a professional/emotional set back but she’ll be back around soon enough. I wonder what the knockoff effect of Bengalee and the other “independent luchadors” having that terrible Arena Coliseo match and eventually being pulled from all lineups has had on CMLL’s plans. India Sioux will have at least 13 matches this month, and probably a few of them would’ve gone to others. Maybe the original plan had Bengalee and others wrestling in Arena Mexico next Tuesday, freeing up more people to strength Guadalajara’s card.

Amapola is the guest on this week’s CMLL podcast.

Mistico also visited with the F1 drivers this week.

AAA

AAA is taping the next three Sundays, which is odd for them, so nothing this week. They do have a Vampiro retirement show in Ensenada, which seems to be promoted by the same “Lucha Libre AAA Border” group that ran that Tijuana show (and appears to be AAA itself presenting itself as a local promoter for whatever reason.)

On video this week

• Unimas will have part 1 of Heroes Inmortales
  • This show is (currently) listed as a 2 pm ET start time.
• Space will have part 2 of Monterrey
• AAA on YouTube will have part 1 of Monterrey

Latin Lover says he’s talked to AAA about bringing in Shocker for some non-wrestling appearances. Latin also mentions he’s bringing Shocker on his podcast soon.

JBL teased a return to the ring on Twitter, following stem cell therapy. It has never made sense for AAA to bring in JBL to be a third evil owner character associated with Alberto, but they keep putting him on TV anyway. (It’s hard to find an indication that’s actually helped AAA in any way, but AAA’s most important metric is how much heel heat they can get a promo, and JBL is willing to be racist in promos to get the desired heat.) Maybe AAA’s belief is they’ll get him in the ring to wrestle at one of the TripleManias next year. AAA’s main event strategy seems focused on either bringing people out of retirement or sending people to retirement.

IWRG

There was no show on Thursday. They announced it earlier in the week.

IWRG (SUN) 10/27/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fauno vs Águila Oriental
2) Multifacetico Jr., Shamla, Tornado vs Demonia, Príncipe Centauro, Rey Halcón
3) Luka vs Abigor
4) Diva Salvaje, Mamba, Spider Fly vs Arez, Látigo, Toxin
5) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Máscara Sagrada vs Águila Roja, Hijo del Fishman, Vengador
6) Jessy Ventura vs Vangellys © [IWRG Rey del Ring]

The full Mala Fama are back here after a few weeks.

IWRG (THU) 10/31/2024 Arena Naucalpan
***Castillo del Terror, 2024***
1) Príncipe Centauro, Rey Astaroth, Rey Halcón vs Caballero de Plata, Felino Boy, Sky Man
2) Gravity vs Águila Roja ©, Águila Oriental, Cerebro Negro Jr., Iron Kid [IWRG IC Light]
3rd defense
3) Keyra & Shamila vs Julissa & Valentina
4) Pig Decapitador, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. © [EdM Trios, lumberjack]
2nd defense
5) ?, Látigo, Toxin vs Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba [IWRG IC TRIOS]
2nd defense. Arez is part of the champions but maybe not part of the defense?
6) Aquiles, Galeno del Mal, Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Abismo Negro Jr., Colmillo de Plata (AAA), Garra De Oro (AAA), Octagón Jr. (AAA)
7) Pig Destroyer vs Bendito, Multifacetico Jr., Abigor, Villano V Jr., Tornado, Luka, Rock Power, Máscara Sagrada NG, Brazo De Oro Jr., Pandemónium, Spider Fly [cage, mask]

Rock Power and Spider Fly have had issues for months and seem most likely to settle the match. Abigor and Luka have feuded more recently and have a shot. Anyone else losing would be a surprise.

Match 6 features guest AAA appearances from people who were IWRG regulars in past lives. Though everyone wrestled in IWRG in a past life.

I’m unsure what Arez is up to on Thursday that he’s not making this show.

This show usually would be behind a paywall, especially if Mas Lucha were still airing it. I wonder if the IWRG channel has reached a viewership level where that’s an option.

Site News

I’ve added more than 500 new events to the luchadb from magazines Rob picked up during his trip to Mexico last month. I haven’t done a big compilation of just those ones, but today’s post doesn’t have much to it so I’ll point out the additions to more significant venues:

• Arena Mexico:
  • 06/24/1960 (Friday, only the main event)
  • 09/23/1960 (Friday, only the title matches)
  • 09/30/1960 (Friday, only the main event)
  • 11/07/1960 (Friday; only a note)
  • 11/04/1960 (Friday; only the title match)
  • 11/26/1976 (Friday)
  • 03/04/1977 (Friday)
  • 11/17/1977 (Friday)
  • 03/14/1980 (Friday)
  • 03/21/1980 (Friday)
• Arena Coliseo
  • 07/17/1960 (Sunday)
  • 03/06/1977 (Sunday)
  • 03/11/1980 (Tuesday)
  • 03/23/1980 (Sunday)
  • 01/28/1983 (Friday)
• Pista Arena Revolucion
  • 11/15/1976
  • 11/27/1976
  • 02/26/1977
  • 03/05/1977
  • 03/06/1977
  • 03/12/1977
  • 12/05/1977
  • 05/13/1978
  • 03/20/1980
  • 03/22/1980
  • 01/28/1983
  • 01/29/1983
  • 01/30/1983
• Toreo de Cuatro Caminos
  • 02/27/1977
  • 11/13/1977
  • 11/20/1977
  • 01/23/1983
  • 01/30/1983

There were no new AAA tapings, though I was able to correct a date or two and find some missing venue names. The (impossible) dream remains to one day have a full list of every Friday night EMLL/CMLL show, and we’re at least 10 more closer.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 10/21/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Fuego en el Ring, Grada, Mano a Mano]
1) Blue Shark & Rey Samuray b El Malayo & Siky Ozama
2) Pegasso, Rayo Metálico, Volcano b Kráneo, Multy, Okumura
3) India Sioux b Samantha Black [lightning]
6:50.
4) Maligna, Metálica, Olympia, Tabata, Zeuxis b Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van [cibernetico] 
Order of elimination: Maligna, Sumika Yanagawa, Olimpia, Metalica, Sayaki Unagi, Viva Van, Tabata, Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, leaving Zeuxis as the winner
5) Místico, Stigma, Xelhua DQ Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. 
rudos unmasked the tecnicos, then had a game of baseball with the masks.

The baseball bit was funny. I haven’t been linking the Puebla/MVS stuff here (and I might still be behind in posting it on DailyMotion), but the Neon/Stuka match from last Monday is worth watching. Puebla only aired two matches last week and I suspect it’ll be the same this coming week with the cibernetico. Those hoping to see India Sioux & Samantha Black may be out of luck.

CMLL (TUE) 10/22/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
1) Diamond & Eléctrico b Grako & Inquisidor  
9:50
2) Futuro, Max Star, Volcano b Hunter, Infarto, Kráneo  
11:54. Futuro messed up a springboard and hurt his shoulder on the landing, though he didn’t seek medical attention.
3) Princesa Sugehit b Amapola [lightning] 
6:38
4) Barboza & Zandokan Jr. b Magia Blanca & Vegas  
16:01. Match came down to Zandokan and Vegas, and Zandokan used the ropes to foul Vegas before the winning move.
5) La Catalina, Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard b Persephone, Reyna Isis, Sanely  
13:14
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr.  
14:29

A nothing much to show. I guess the main event was the best. Match 4 had moments but didn’t hang together. There was some fun small/big stuff in Match 2, but everyone looked lost after Futuro got hurt. Tessa always does this bit where she gives a cutter to everyone on the other team, and every single woman took the bump differently. Reyna Isis flipped around to her back somehow.

CMLL (TUE) 10/22/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha Jr.]
1) Magia Azul & Universys b Atenea & Quetzal
2) Hatanna & Zorah b Miss Panther & Queen Panther
Queen Panther replaced Lady Puma
3) Candela & Metálica b Emperatriz & Luna
Luna replaced Alondra
4) Lady Shadow & Miss Guerrera b Adira & Nexy
5) Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van b Dark Silueta, India Sioux, Maligna, Olympia, Tabata, Valkiria
Red Velvet beat Dark Silueta

Team World and Team Mexico split the two lead-up ciberneticos. Red Velvet and Zeuxis are among the bigger names on each team, though their early wins suggest it’ll be someone else holding the trophy.

This show drew worse than a typical Tuesday Guadalajara show, as apparent in videos. I’m not even sure “all women’s wrestling” was the issue as much as the specific women used. There’s Dark Silueta, who is the local star. There’s Olympia, who is halfway pushed. And then there’s India Sioux, Maligna, Tabata, and Valkiria, all of who are among the least popular CMLL women. I’m not sure the bigger main event women would’ve drawn much better, but I think men at a similar level would’ve also struggled. There’s probably some interest in the guest women, but not an overwhelming amount – the “50 people only” meet and greet still hadn’t sold out as of Wednesday. Whatever the reason, CMLL main evented a show with mostly secondary/preliminary women, and it went about as well as it should’ve been expected.

There was a point where CMLL was essentially doing the Grand Prix twice a week, with most of the same names as part of the match in Guadalajara before Arena Mexico. I think someone in CMLL figured out they were giving away the match for free to anyone who had access to YouTube since the Guadalajara shows were always broadcast for free, and so CMLL dramatically cut down on the Mexico star power on these preview matches. But they’ve also put these Guadalajara shows behind a paywall on Grand Prix weeks, so they’re not really giving it away for free. They should look at just shifting back to the original idea if they’re going to keep putting these shows behind a paywall anyway.

I never wrote about the CMLL matches in the UK from the weekend, but there wasn’t much to write. All the matches were ok/good. Mascara Dorada/Tsuji (Lio Rush had travel issues) was more a cool idea than a cool match. The LIJ vs Dorada/TMDK match on Sunday was a lot of LIJ comedy, and then it felt like it ended early, perhaps because they were run out of town. There was a lot more in that match if they went for it, but it was not a show where they were going for it.

Capitan Suicida’s Super Junior Tag League adventure begins tomorrow morning. He and Tiger Mask face BUSHI & Hirmou. Suicida might not win a match on this tour and that is OK.

No CMLL Informa lineup as of yet. CMLL previously said they’d have both Grand Prix teams on this week.

CMLL (SAT) 10/26/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) El Audaz, Principe Daniel, Valiente Jr. vs Crixus, El Coyote, Pólvora
3) India Sioux, Samantha Black, Tabata vs Hera, La Maligna, Olympia
4) Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider
5) Willow Nightingale vs Skadi [lightning]
6) Flip Gordon, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Terrible

No Dragon Rojo/Barbaro Cavernario match after all. Skadi/Willow is exactly the weird match I like to see in these Grand Prixs. Principe Daniel, one of Cavernario’s brothers, makes his first appearance in Mexico City since 2022. He’s barely appeared in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara the last few months so that he may have relocated to Mexico City.

Viva Van, Alex Windsor, and Red Velvet appear to finish up on Friday based on this lineup (so some or all might be on Collision that Saturday.) Unagi & Yanagawa are headed to Monterrey instead, which seems to be an annual bit for the Japanese contingent to the women’s Grand Prix. That show has a bunch of CMLL people on it, which may account for this show being a little weak on star power.

CMLL (SUN) 10/27/2024 Arena México
1) KeMalito & Periquito Sacaryas vs Mije & Tengu
2) Dark Silueta vs Sayaka Unagi [lightning]
3) Último Dragóncito vs Pierrothito, Shockercito, Pequeño Olímpico, Fantasy, Mercurio, Angelito, Pequeño Violencia, Kaligua, Full Metal, Pequeño Magía, Pequeño Polvora, Acero, Aéreo, Galaxy, Rostro De Acero [cibernetico]
4) Lluvia, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis vs Samantha Black, Sumika Yanagawa, Willow Nightingale
5) Místico, Neón, Volador Jr. vs Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.

Rostro de Acero is indeed the last person in the minis cibernetico. CMLL’s promoted that tournament for a month and it is in the same match 3 position as ever. Outside of Mistico & Hechicero, it’s not like there’s a super compelling reason they’re in match 3 either. Silueta/Unagi is a rematch of the CMLL Japan title match.

Reyna Isis faces Viva Van on Thursday’s Ring of Honor show. I guess that’s sort of a Grand Prix preview match. The Brian Cage/Komander ROH TV title match also airs this week. Reyna Isis also taped a match with Lady Frost, which will probably air next week.

MLW 11/04

• Titan vs Averno vs Mistico for the MLW Middleweight Championship
• Esfinge & Kevin Knight & Ultimo Guerrero & Hechicero
• Atlantis, Altantis Jr., Star Jr. vs Barbaro Cavernario, Felino, Magnus
• Lluvia vs Persephone vs Jania Kai for the MLW Featherweight Championship – new

They’re still missing an Okumura match but everyone else is accounted for. At the prior show, MLW taped another full episode of their YouTube show without any luchadors, then sent out the CMLL guys for the live broadcast. I presume this will be the same.

A story on Angelito mentions the CMLL bodybuilding contest will be on 11/27. There’s also a Mr. Mexico bodybuilding contest on 12/01, which sounds like it may include some CMLL wrestlers. Angelito is aiming for top three.

I knew Fernando Valenzuela was a big deal to Mexican fans. I did not expect CMLL to put out a message marking his passing.

AAA

AAA did release that lineup for Saltillo

AAA TV (SUN) 11/17/2024 Lienzo Charro Prof. Enrique Gonzalez, Saltillo, Coahuila
1) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
2) Mr. Iguana & Niño Hamburguesa vs Andrómeda & Belcegor
3) Flammer & La Hiedra vs Chik Tormenta & Dalys and Julissa & Valentynna Reis
4) Dinámico, Drago, Laredo Kid vs Kento, Nobu San, Takuma
5) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown vs Abismo Negro Jr., Psicosis, Taurus [AAA TRIOS]
6) Hijo Del Vikingo & Octagón Jr. vs Alberto el Patrón & El Mesías

Mesias and Octagon are meant to have a title match at some point, but AAA hasn’t made it clear when it’s happening.

The Psycho Circus have vaguely been feuding with the Vipers since before TripleMania Mexico City, but that trios title match is mostly about the Viper falling apart. It was actually Abismo Negro, Psicosis and Toxin won the trios titles. Toxin quit, so Fiscal became a trios champion. Fiscal got hurt, so the new Taurus became a trios champion. (Fiscal is strangely still booked in Juarez the week prior.) The Vipers won the belts because Sanson Cuatrero is currently in jail and AAA needed new champs. NGD won the belts because DMT Azul quit AAA. What I’m saying is these titles are bad luck and Psycho Circus should think twice about winning them.

Match 4 is a repeat from Juarez the week prior. Vikingo/Alberto in the tag match plays off the title match. Match 3 is the Hiedra/Julissa stuff, which is definitely a storyline and also probably more than a storyline issue. Andromeda got a write-up in the WON following Heroes Inmortales where he didn’t actually do as much as normal, so he appears to be the new Konnan favorite of the moment.

Fuerza Guerrera was Latin Lover’s podcast guest this week and asked Latin Lover if he’s going to wrestle. Latin Lover said he has an offer from Dorian Roldan to return for one match against Alberto on a PPV. Latin made it sound as if he hadn’t made a decision yet. Everything on AAA TV is building towards that match, so either he’s actually said yes or AAA believes they’ll get him to say yes when the time comes. AAA could theoretically run Latin Lover and Alberto without the title, Vikingo winning in Juarez and defending it against someone else, but it’s hard to imagine Alberto losing in AAA any time soon.

(AAA did a TV angle where Latin Lover revealed he could strip Alberto of the Mega title if he’s unprofessional, a play on Alberto’s many outside-the-ring incidents over the last decade. I think that’s more AAA wanting to prove they’ve thought this angle through rather than a setup for a direction; he did beat up and bloody Latin Lover after winning that title and I guess that wasn’t unprofessional enough to lose the belt)

INJUVE officially announced the rules for this year’s Lucha Por El Barrio contest. Participants must be Mexicans between 18 and 29 years old. The first session is November 4th. The winner will get 10,000 pesos and a one-year contract with AAA for 2025. 2nd and 3rd get the same contract and less money. This year’s winners were Dick Angelo 3G -> Taurus, Legendario -> Bengala and Lady Wind, who never wrestled for AAA past the tryout (and local Xalapa bookings.)

El Planchitas column this week speculates on a possible AAA return to Televisa. Nothing he mentions seems different from when this was brought up this past summer around the Unimas start date: there is a synergy to AAA’s US and Mexico programming being with the same broadcaster, and AAA’s pretty much forgotten on Azteca. (They’re on secondary channel A+, a channel so low profile that even just confirming AAA’s still on that channel is tough – the show is listed as Lucha Azteca with no mention of AAA.) AAA’s not going anywhere new over the air until they’ve finished their Azteca contract, and no one’s saying exactly when that contract ends. The news we’ve gotten about the AAA/Azteca deal in the past an end-of-year/early next-year renewal date in the past, so perhaps there’s movement in the last few months. At this point, I would be surprised if AAA stuck with Azteca even if they don’t immediately have a Teleivisa deal in hand; the AAA/Azteca relationship seems poor at this point. Televisa seems to be treating CMLL pretty well and my guess is they wouldn’t boot them to take AAA, it would more likely be a return to the original status quo of the network airing both promotions.

Octagon Jr. gave a mask to F1 Driver Sergio Perez, which will be useful next time he sneaks into an AAA show. Perez was at Heroes Inmortales and AAA didn’t mention on the broadcast; I don’t think even AAA knew he was there until photos came out after the fact. F1 drivers are among the most famous people in the world, Perez is an especially popular Mexican driver, and he was just chilling in the front row under a mask without anyone figuring it out. Perez has a lucha libre themed helmet design this week. (CMLL is also getting on this promotion.)

Quetzalli had (new) Taurus on her show this week.

Other News

Silver King passed away on May 11, 2019 in London, due to a heart attack in a match with Juventud Guerrera on a Todo x el Todo show. The current Hijo de Silver King and Juventud Guerrera were both in the Todo x el Todo tag tournament in Monterrey, which Mas Lucha aired this past week. Mas Lucha is now posting post-match interviews from that show including Hijo de Silver King saying he would avenge his father against Hijo del Santo and Juventud Guerrera. Santo unmasked Silver King, and the idea is Juventud Guerrera killed Silver King in their match. It’s doesn’t have any basis in reality – Juventud Guerrera did nothing to Silver King in that match, and just happened to be the opposition that night – and it’s obviously in terrible taste. Hijo de Silver King is a guy trying to get noticed and not really booked much outside his association with the rest of the Wagner family. (I’m not entirely sure he’s a real son of Silver King, as there have been fake Silver King children, but poking around his social media suggests that’s the case.) For his part, Juventud Guerrera’s post-match interview is shooting an angle for a match with his father against Santo and Santo Jr., and doesn’t bring up Silver King at all. (Most of the TxT post-match interviews are wrestlers pitching their matches, either for the rest of the TxT tour or for other indie promoters who might be interested.) There’s no sense anyone’s interested in booking a Hijo del Silver King/Juventud Guerrera match.

Shocker was released from Julio Cesar Chavez’ rehab clinic and was immediately on TV talking about it on Monday. He seemed to be saying the right things. This was his fourth trip to rehab, first getting sent there by CMLL in 2002/2003 for three months after walking off a commercial shoot, but he didn’t take it seriously. (There’s no obvious 3-month gap for Shocker in that time period; maybe the years are hard to remember. 2007 looks more likely.) He sunk deeper into addiction during the pandemic and mentioned he attempted suicide. Shocker says he was more cooperative this trip through rehab. He says he didn’t know it would last six months and joked he wouldn’t have agreed if he knew it would be that long, but he knew he needed it. He says he may return to wrestling.

GALLI announced Aramis versus The Beast Mortos for their show this Sunday in Waukegan. That match won’t be happening. GALLI posted a video with Aramis announcing that he was missing the show due to injury but it was a short term thing, he hoped to be back in a couple of weeks, and he’d make up to the GALLI fans then. Aramis is Hologram in AEW. The (very brief) shot of him getting beat up by Mortos on Collision this week was meant to be an explanation for him disappearing from their programming for a little bit; the timeline I originally heard had him returning after this PPV cycle, but maybe he’s feeling better a little faster on what he said in the video. The injury came near the end of the Mortos/Hologram match and had so far been unreported.

I was going to let that one sit forever and ever until Aramis or GALLI said anything, just to see if anyone would pick it up (nope!) and because there’s no benefit for me in reporting US news. If I were smarter, I would’ve just buried it in a late paragraph, as usual. There’s not any benefit in me reporting anything ever, to be honest, but I don’t have to deal with two dozen crying emojis quote tweets and aggregates who will just summarize it in their tweet. I get internet cred out of it, but I have all the internet cred I will ever need, and it doesn’t get you much. I can not go to the Internet cred prize booth and redeem it for a Slinky or 1980s KO Magazine or something else equally valuable. The only way to take advantage is to burn it in new and amusing ways. You can occasionally win a prize that way but it’s not a great way to go about it.

Arena Jaguar is billing this Sunday’s show as the final one ever for Volador Sr./Remo Banda/Super Parka in Monterrey. The original Misterioso is scheduled to also appear on the show.

Box y Lucha 3262 has too much on the cover.

Club Lucha has the newest edition of its podcast.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 10/18/2024 Arena México [AS, CMLL, El Grafico, Excelsior, Fuego en el Ring, Kaiser Sports, PubliMetro, Telediaro, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (video), thecubsfan]
1) Futuro, Max Star, Pelon Encapuchado b Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider 
9:59.
2) Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Viva Van b Amapola, Metálica, Olympia, Sanely   
10:22
3) Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard b Sayaka Unagi & Sumika Yanagawa © [CMLL WOMEN TAG]  
14:55
4) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Neón b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero   
16:04. Neon was stretchered out after slipping on his dive
5) La Catalina b Toni Storm    
11:48. Toni Storm, upset about the loss, declared she’d return to CMLL later this year.
6) Persephone b Zeuxis [CMLL Universal de Amazonas, final]   
12:23. Catalina appeared before the match to hand over the belt. Persephone is the winner, Zeuxis fails in the final match for the second straight year.

If you’re going to go with someone, you might as well go with someone. Persephone getting to the final of the Universal tournament would’ve been a nice footnote, a small step up on the ladder, but ultimately a trivia note if that’s as far as she went. (Only total nutcases remember Texano Jr. was the runner-up in the first Universal tournament.) Persephone winning puts her firmly among the top of the division.

I’m just still surprised it was Perse who is getting that shove. I still think I would’ve gone with Kira or Olympia for that moment first, and I’d hear arguments for Skadi or Hera. Persephone is definitely in that mix, and there’s an argument she’s the better choice, but it’s not a clear-cut one. I feel like we’d learn about how CMLL thinks and evaluates their options if we ever heard the story behind this decision because it sure is an interesting one.

The match itself was good, better than Zeuxis/Willow on Aniversario. It suffered from some of the same issues as Rayo Metalico/Futuro – a lot of the crowd didn’t see them as main event players. Neither came off as the strong rooting favorite either – maybe Persephone by default of being the underdog – and this was put in a position where they had to battle uphill. The match was not booed, but it took a lot for the fans to get into it. They got a lot of time and told a unique for CMLL story of Persephone getting the win on her third try at the frog splash; your finish hardly ever works more than once in CMLL’s match style. Zeuxis was not as stiff as last year with Catlina, though she still hit pretty hard.

Catalina defeating Toni Storm wasn’t as big a surprise – Storm similarly lost the big singles match in her Stardom appearance – but it still felt like it meant something for Catalina to win. She still really could use something more impactful than her top rope splash. (She’s a Trish Stratus fan; can she just use Stratus’ Stratusfaction’s bulldog?) I still didn’t get the feeling the average CMLL fan knew or understood Toni Storm’s act, but she put forth a strong effort, and the match was good. CMLL seemed pretty aware of Storm’s character, and touches like the Instagram photos got very positive reactions.

Toni Storm announcing she’d return this year was eyebrow-raising. Storm did well enough as a one-off match, but she also lost, so there’s no obvious reason to bring her back soon for another show built around a Toni Storm match. (If/when Storm wins the AEW title back, it certainly would fit to run Catalina/Storm back as a title match, but I don’t get that sense AEW is getting to that moment before the end of year.) There isn’t much left on CMLL calendar  – the Dia del Muertos shows, the Leyenda de Azul, and the various holiday events. None of those require any international wrestlers. If we are to take Toni Storm’s comments seriously about returning this year (a danger), the only context that works is she’s coming back for an event that CMLL has yet to announce. Perhaps it’s another international tournament, or maybe it’s something specifically AEW-related. I have no idea, do not start asking me about an AEW/CMLL show, but something is up.

The trios match was good, but it could’ve been better. Neon crashing and burning did put a pale on things. (He seems to be fine.) The tag title match was just right. The women’s 4v4 was one of those matches that felt very planned out and better for it. Amapola and Metalica looked better than usual, the foreigners all fit in, and the match moved in well. The ending set up Red Velvet as the big star of those coming in. Ola Negra seemed overextended in the opener.

CMLL (SAT) 10/19/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Grako & Sangre Imperial b Astral & Astro Boy Jr.
12:14
2) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Rayo Metálico, Stigma, Xelhua
14:05.
3) Villano III Jr. TLDRAW Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
the two were brawling outside as the time ran out
4) Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van b Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis
16:37
5) Alex Windsor, La Catalina, Red Velvet b India Sioux, Princesa Sugehit, Tessa Blanchard
13:03
6) Dragón Rojo Jr., Esfinge, Místico DQ Bárbaro Cavernario, Difunto, Terrible
12:23. Straight falls, Cavernario fouled Rojo. Dragon tried to challenge for a singles match next week but kept getting beat up.

No one cares less about the Dragon Rojo versus Los Barbaros feud than Mistico did on this night. He took his time entering as Dragon Rojo got beat up by his former allies, he ignored that Rojo pinned captain Cavernario to end the first fall to get his pinfall, and he blew off the Cavernario/Dragon Rojo post-match fight to try for a third fall with him and Difunto.

Villano versus Zandokan was the one thing worth watching.

CMLL (SUN) 10/20/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Último Dragóncito b Mercurio [lightning]
2) Cancerbero & Virus b Brillante Jr. & Dark Panther
3) Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa b Amapola, Dark Silueta, Princesa Sugehit
4) Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II b Fugaz, Star Black, Star Jr.
Gemelos pulled a switch to beat Akuma
5) Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Viva Van b India Sioux, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard
6) Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Flip Gordon b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Valiente
Dragon Rojo declared he was officially a tecnico going forward

Dragon Rojo is good for a tecnico turn once a decade. He tried being a tecnico in 2014, but it didn’t work well, and he was back to being a rudo in 2015. It’s hard to believe this will go any better.

The foreign women are generally beating the Mexican women, as typical for Grand Prix week.

CMLL (TUE) 10/22/2024 Arena México
1) Diamond & Eléctrico vs Grako & Inquisidor
2) Futuro, Max Star, Volcano vs Hunter, Infarto, Kráneo
3) Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola [lightning]
4) Magia Blanca & Vegas vs Barboza & Zandokan Jr.
5) La Catalina, Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard vs Persephone, Reyna Isis, Sanely
6) Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Match 4 are the oddballs who may over-deliver on a Thursday.

CMLL (TUE) 10/22/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Magia Azul & Universys vs Atenea & Quetzal
2) Hatanna & Zorah vs Lady Puma & Miss Panther
3) Candela & Metálica vs Alondra & Emperatriz
4) Adira & Nexy vs Lady Shadow & Miss Guerrera
5) Dark Silueta, India Sioux, Maligna, Olympia, Tabata, Valkiria vs Alex Windsor, Red Velvet, Samantha Black, Sayaka Unagi, Sumika Yanagawa, Viva Van

This is an all women’s show and – in an effort to run a different match here than the Grand Prix – one with almost none of the star CMLL women’s names. Dark Silueta is here because it’s Guadalajara, and she’s the big CMLL women’s Guadalajara star. Still, the choices they’ve made to keep the other Grand Prix women away will make this a more challenging draw than even past all women’s shows. It’s a great opportunity for some of the other women, though.

Fightful Select posted something rather anodyne about Stephanie Vaquer and her sudden departure from CMLL to AEW following Forbidden Door. Almost no one discussing it cares all that much about CMLL. It’s just a chance to relitigate her departure in an AEW/WWE scope again. I will not be doing that. The Fightful Select report was AEW people vaguely saying, “yea, we’re going to try to do something so anyone we build up on Forbidden Door sticks around for a bit,” a news bit which sure is worth reporting but also could’ve been reported by “Duh Magazine.” There’s no guarantee anything AEW, CMLL, and the others will try will have any meaningful effect, but of course they’re going to attempt to fix an obvious problem.

AAA

AAA on Unimas aired one hour early. AAA did get the word out. It turns out the baseball game did disrupt the schedule – or more, that Unimas didn’t want to disrupt its usual block of movies, so all the other shows had to move up an hour that day, and AAA just happened to be the first in line.

I tried four times recording AAA this week, and all I got was the opening match and part of the in-ring promo. On Sunday, I got two recordings of The Rundown, the 2003 film starring the Rock, so I guess that’s as good as watching AAA. It’s fine. I’ve got the Unimas version of this taping to watch if I’m in a hurry. I’m not. I need to circle to some of this later this week because I’ve realized there’s something I want to explain in more detail, and it’s better if I have a bit more time.

The one match I got was the Exoticos versus the Guapos. It was okay. About a few minutes in, they stopped shooting the match to show Mesias at the announce desk complaining about Octagon Jr. from an incident they had in June. Octagon, with excellent hearing and speed, came out and brawled with Mesias. The Exoticos were kind enough to wait to return until Mesias and Octagon were done.  They went for longer after the ‘break’; the Guapos did well in that portion, and Pimpinela lost after being tripped off to the top rope.

The part of AAA TV I did included an upcoming show video for the first time in nearly a month.  The previous one listed TV tapings in Mexico City on 10/26 and 12/07. Those are missing from the latest listings, with an 11/17 Saltillo taping added. The Saltillo promoters are the same ones promoting the canceled Torreon show, so maybe there’s a make-good there. That lineup should roll out this week through AAA’s usual efforts. It’ll take care of TV through December 14th, and AAA usually runs repeat/Best of programming through the holidays. AAA will often tape a show in December and hold it over to air in January, so maybe later, Mexico City taping will show back up, or maybe they’ll go back to Acapulco. It is strange and not exactly confidence building that AAA’s shifting tapings around so close to them taking place.

For TV-watching purposes, this schedule means another “preview” episode is coming up on Space on 11/02. Unimas will get the 11/03 Showcenter tapings before they air in Mexico. Space and Unimas will start airing the same episode on the same day, with the Saltillo taping airing on December 7th, though that may not last long. There is no telling what AAA will do with Unimas when they go into their typical Best of programming on Space during the holidays.

That 11/17 Saltillo date is notable because AAA’s old partners BARBA is running a CMLL spot show in that city two weeks later. It’s also notable because Vampiro is already retired in Saltillo. he had his last match back in March. In theory, if Vampiro is truly retiring this year, that means his last TV appearance and his probable last match is the November 10th show in Ciudad Juarez. AAA hasn’t indicated that’s his final date by any means, so it probably isn’t the end.

There’s an AAA spot show tonight in Leon. The big draw is the Vampiro retirement tour, but it’s also notable as the show Sexy Star 2 previously said would be her final date with this promotion.

Other News

Mas Lucha steamed the 10/13 Todo x el Todo show (as if it was live) for paid subscribers on Sunday night. The next Hijo del Santo retirement shows are the 11/01 and 11/02 shows in London, being done by a local promoter. The following Mexico shows are the 11/09 show in Puebla and 11/10 in Veracruz. The Puebla show has never had a lineup, never had ticket information, and has never seemed like it’s happening. The other shows may be in question as well; there’s been a persistent rumor this week that the rest of this tour has been postponed or canceled. There’s not much to back it up beyond a screen grab of an LA Park comment on another post, and who knows if LA Park is ever serious. There doesn’t seem to be recent advertising for this Veracruz show as of yet, though tickets remain on sale, and most of the Todo x el Todo work seems to be done the week of the show. I thought there might be some big promotion following Mas Lucha’s stream of the show, but it doesn’t seem to have happened or at least it didn’t make it out their socials. I wouldn’t say the rest of the tour is off at this point, but it’s a suspicious situation. I’d still buy a ticket to the shows if I wanted to see Santo one last time, but I’d be checking the language on the ticket website about refunds.

Flammer won Mas Lucha’s Torneo Surprema on Saturday. She beat Faby Apache in the final, which meant it was a replay of the TripleMania women’s match. That match memorable was in front of a fraction of the audience because AAA told people the show wouldn’t start until a half hour later (and Mexican fans tend to be a late-arriving crowd anyway.) This rematch was in front of another disappointing crowd; Arena Lopez Mateos looked less than a quarter full for this annual tournament. Mas Lucha will try again in that building with the men’s version, Torneo Supremo, on November 16th. with Aerostar, Bestia 666, Chris Stone Jr., Imposible, Ozz, Rey Escorpion, Sanson and Solar. That’s a good field, but I’d also expect it to be another tournament with lots of interference to “set up matches in other promotions” (or to make sure no one has to really lose.)

This is as good as any since Imposible just came up to mention that Imposible and Trauma I made mask versus mask challenges on the AVE/TC show last weekend, with the idea of it happening in 2025. I’m not 100% sure that a match will happen, but they took it a bit more seriously than usual. This group put together the Wotan/Trauma I match earlier this year. Imposible is a guy who had an indie name, was a prospect for a while, never got a shot in CMLL or AAA, tried to be Fuerza Guerrera NG but never really got anywhere with that gimmick and seems to be fading out of wrestling towards other pursuits – it’s fairly plausible he’d wager his mask at this point in his career. Both Trauma I and Imposible are scheduled to be part of a five team tag match on the 11/09 AVE/TC show.

I was very skeptical Sabu would make it to Cancun for an indie show. In fact, here are photos of Sabu at the wrestling show in Cancun. All credit to Sabu.

There’s a new lucha libre art exhibit in Cuernavaca.

There was a lucha libre workshop in Oaxaca.

A profile of Payaso Pura Santa Jr.