Xeluha, Difunto and Barboza advance to the final of Rey del Inframundo, AAA TV notes

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.