Difunto Rey del Inframundo, AAA/Spain shows officially canceled

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 11/01/2024 Arena México [CMLL, El Grafico, Esquina Caliente, Estadio Deportes, Estrellas del Ring, Excelsior, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores (Text), The Gladiatores (vide), thecubsfan]
***Dia del Muertos, 2024***
1) Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito b Galaxy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito   
7:44. Pierrothito snuck in a foul on Shockercito, setting up a rematch next week.
2) Brillante Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Pelon Encapuchado b Disturbio, Felino Jr., Okumura     
13:45.
3) Kira, La Catalina, Tessa Blanchard b Reyna Isis, Sanely, Zeuxis     
11:06
4) Difunto b Bárbaro Cavernario, Xelhua, Barboza [Rey del Inframundo, final]     
Xelhua submitted Barboza in 7:45, Difunto defeated Xelhua in 9:32, and Difunto defeated Cavernario in 19:34 to win the 2024 Rey del Inframundo
5) Magia Blanca, Rugido, Volador Jr. b Esfinge, Místico, Neón     
19:44. Rugido beat Esfinge and challenged him to a MEX LH title match next week. As Mistico was being carried to hell (Dia del Muertos tradition), a fan tried to pull him to safety, but he was taken out by security.

The Rey del Inframundo was the one match to watch. Difunto put together all the high spots he’s been showing off in trios and lightning matches late for a big match and pulled off nearly all of them. The finishing springboard didn’t work, but he was level-headed enough to add on sentons until Cavernario was good and dead. Difunto is about as weirdly spectacular as CMLL is right now.

The rest was not much. Five matches meant the show went short, even with all the extra Dia del Muertos stuff (and a paddle presentation)—the main event felt like they were asked to kill a few extra minutes. The unplanned post-match bit was the most memorable part.

The minis feud could be setting up the New Year’s Day match. It could also be the title match, but it’s rare that MCLL runs programs for the minis title, especially on a Friday.

CMLL (SAT) 11/02/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Olímpico 
8:01
2) Diamond, Dulce Gardenia, Valiente Jr. b Apocalipsis, Disturbio, Espíritu Negro [Relevos Increíbles] 
11:22
3) Felino b Pantera 
7:39
4) Zeuxis b Princesa Sugehit, Dark Silueta 
Sugehit beat Silueta in 10:44, Zeuxis beat Sugehit in 16:51.
5) Atlantis Jr. b Stuka Jr. 
16:19
6) Místico & Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro & Averno 
17:24

The theme here was seeing all these big rivalries again, but they didn’t feel big. Most of them were worked like regular matches, or with less effort than usual. All the matches, being one fall, seemed to throw off the flow, too, and it felt like the main event was (again) stretched out because the rest of the show went short. Pantera/Felino may have been meant to take up some of that time. Pantera hit the ropes on a through-the-corner tope, then hit the floor hard and short of Felino. CMLL kept the cameras on the ring as the doctors checked on Pantera; he continued the match, but it didn’t go much longer.

Atlantis Jr./Stuka Jr. was the best of the bunch by far. They started hot, they kept on each other, and a loud portion of the crowd got behind Stuka (because he’s pretty good.)

CMLL (SUN) 11/03/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
***Tzompantu de Mascaras, 2024***
1) KeMalito & Periquito Sacaryas b Átomo & Tengu 
10:37.
2) Pequeño Olímpico & Último Dragóncito DQ Mercurio & Shockercito [Relevos Increíbles] 
9:16. Straight falls. Mercurio refused to let go of a Cavernaria on Ultimo Dragoncito, causing the DQ.
3) La Catalina b Reyna Isis, Princesa Sugehit, Dark Silueta, Tabata, Amapola, La Vaquerita, Persephone [Copa Tzompantli] 
Tabata (14:40, via Sugehit), Amapola (16:08, Isis), Vaquerita (18:30, Persephone), Dark Sileta (22:37, Sugehit), Princesa Sugehit (23:10, Isis), Isis (25:08, Catalina), Persephone (28:04, Catalina), leaving La Catlaina as the winner. This was La Vaquerita’s retirement match.
4) Virus b Felino [lightning] 
6:42
5) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja © b Bárbaro Cavernario & Terrible [CMLL TAG] 
16:36. 17th defense (Chavez counting it as 18th)
6) Averno, Euforia, Volador Jr. b Blue Panther, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles] 
12:30

Chavez vs Terrible/Cavernario was good; I think the costuming took me out of it a little bit (though I was distracted for a portion during it.) The cibernetico held together fine. Catalina used three moves on Persephone that would be better finishers, then won with her actual splash. The main event was good.

The cibernetico was paused after Vaquerita was pinned so that everyone left in the match could applaud for La Vaquerita, and they got the crowd to applaud her as well. When she put her mask in the chest at the end of the show, she put on a referee shirt to indicate her change in role. It was a nice send off.

The gimmick of this show is that everyone is wearing their old mask again, but it’s not entirely accurate. Everyone’s wearing a Dia del Muertos version of their mask, which is different than others who’ve done this bit. The idea at the end of this show is all these mask losers put their mask back in the sacred trunk until next year. Vaquerita put hers in the trunk for the final time; she put on a referee shirt to show her role change. Ultimo Guerrero was one of the last to go, so he threw his mask into the crowd instead. Many people in the ring reacted like a student just talked back to the teacher and was about to get sent to the principal’s office. Maybe someone in CMLL had a word with everyone about how that was supposed to go, but UG didn’t take it well. Look, he may need that mask before next November if he gets booked in AEW again gotta keep it out of the box.

This is a weird coincidence, but it is still amusing to me. Most of the Arena Mexico Dia del Muertos has been done with the lights turned low (but not off), so the special Dia del Muertos glow-in-the-dark gear the wrestlers wear pops out to the live audience. Next Sunday, AAA’s scheduled to run a Lucha A Oscuras match, where they turn the lights off and the wrestlers wear glow-in-the-dark gear. I’d assume neither AAA nor CMLL knows the other group is doing essentially the same gimmick match.

It’s not much hidden that much of the “talking” to tell the Guardians to drag losers to Hell is pretaped. It’s been live in the past, but even La Catrina’s speeches were dubbed bits. It’s fine, whatever makes for a good show, except it stuck out a bit during the women’s cibernetico when they seemed to play the same generic soundbite every two minutes for an elimination.

CMLL (TUE) 11/05/2024 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Pequeño Polvora, Rostro De Acero
2) Fuego vs El Coyote [lightning]
3) Candela & India Sioux vs Sanely & Tabata [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther vs Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
5) El Hijo de Octagón, Octagón, Star Jr. vs Mephisto, Niebla Roja, Rey Bucanero
6) Templario, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible

It’s back to regular Arena Mexico shows. Fuego is no longer a humanoid candy, merely a humanoid flame. Normal is relative—I have no idea what’s going on in match 3. Rostro de Acero hanging around might be yet another sign they’re building to a minis cage match—CMLL needs even numbers for those, even though it doesn’t matter.

CMLL (FRI) 11/08/2024 Arena México
1) Galaxy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider
3) Esfinge © vs Rugido [MEX LH]
7th defense
4) Flip Gordon vs Villano III Jr., Neón, Guerrero Maya Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Difunto [NWA MIDDLE, #1 Contenders]
last 2 advance to final on following week
5) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Ángel de Oro, Hechicero, Soberano Jr.

That middleweight field is a strange one that explains how we got here; CMLL’s going to have Mistico lose a few times a year, but probably not to any of those six in 2024. There are levels. The sudden rise of Difunto makes him a favorite. I would like to see what Neon and Villano III Jr. might do in a title match but I fear they might not survive. The world is divided into people who saw that lineup as “oh no, Flip Gordon might win a title” (people who don’t watch CMLL) and those who saw it as “oh no, Dragon Rojo might win a title (again)” (people who do watch CMLL.)

Esfinge losing would be surprising. The rest might not go anywhere; Leyenda de Azul is probably starting soon.

WWE informed three wrestlers Friday that they would soon no longer be WWE wrestlers. One of them was Australia’s Samantha De Martin, who wrestled in WWE as Indi Hartwell. La Catalina, who overlapped with De Martin’s time in WWE, immediately brought up the idea of bringing De Martin to CMLL. (De Martin is also of Chilean and Italian heritage.) This wouldn’t mean much except CMLL also RT-ed Catalina’s post later that night. I have not watched much of WWE during Indi Hartwell’s run, but reviews I’ve heard is she’s solid at the backstage skits and not solid in the ring. That’s the reverse of the CMLL’s desired skill set. You could look on the bright side and argue Catalina was good at neither and she (and CMLL) turned it around outside of the WWE system and maybe it’d happen again. The bigger bit is, as I wrote Friday, CMLL is always looking for novel countries to include in the Grand Prix. CMLL’s had male Australians in the Grand Prix, but never in the women’s version of the event. That likely means she’ll at least be considered if she’s still interested and available 11 months from now. (There’s no news peg to it but, for similar reasons as De Martin, I would bet Spain’s Zozaya will turn up in CMLL in 2025 if he doesn’t get scooped up by someone else prior.)

The Chilean embassy in Mexico has an article about La Catalina at the Grand Prix. I didn’t realize her outfit was supposed to be inspired by the Chilean military.

ESTO has an interview with Akira, presumably to promote the MLW show this weekend but it never comes up. The interview teases Akira coming back to Mexico soon. Over on Instagram, Akira mentions he’s going to Japan (for Big Japan) in December and is planning to be there for several months whenever he’s not working MLW.

AAA

The AAA Spain shows were never going to happen from the moment they were announced. They are now officially not going to happen. The 11/21 Madrid, 11/22 Bilbao, and 11/30 Barcelona shows are now listed as canceled on Ticketmaster and LiveNation; Ticketmaster put out saying the organizer (unclear if AAA or the local group) has canceled the shows. Refunds will start arriving on 11/08.

It was absurd for both AAA and the local promoters to believe they could fill big Spanish arenas with a promotion that had no real presence in Spain, but there is no big enough idea that AAA would not try on the chance it might work. (None of them seem to work but that’s beside the point.) In a heel promo on TV this week, Dorian Roldan bemoaned he doesn’t get the credit or credibility for his successes. There’s some truth to that, but you can either have credibility or you can associate yourself with ludicrous often. Can’t do both.

(AAA may attempt to blame the announcement of WWE shows coming to Spain; please remember these shows were dead on arrival months before anyone knew WWE was going to run shows in the country.)

The AAA on Space show was as weird even for a filler episode. No one will give you a deeper breakdown of this show than me. No one else is that silly.

• Vikingo/Alberto was still on whenever this episode was taped. It may have been taped weeks ago. It may have been taped last Wednesday. Do not take any promotion as proof the match is still on; Vikingo’s not supposed to be wrestling until the week after in the most optimistic outcome. AAA’s usual behavior is not to address the situation until the event starts, so they’ll continue to advertise the match until then.
• AAA aired more from the JBL/Dorian sit-down in Guadalajara; getting something with JBL on every episode seems a point of emphasis. Dorian stated that every big idea from AAA since Antonio Pena passed away has been his – the video game, the movie, Lucha Underground – but he doesn’t get the credit or credibility. Dorian considers himself to be carrying on Antonio Pena’s vision by taking AAA out of Mexico. JBL compares Dorian and Marisela to Vince McMahon Sr. and Junior, where Dorian needs to take control of his company to push it to its worldwide success.
  • is it amusing AAA is on TV talking about how close they’re to worldwide success as they’re canceling their only shows outside of Mexico
  • AAA is the only wrestling promotion in 2024 that talks about how great Vince McMahon is. They’re supposed to be heels, but it doesn’t come across as an odd way to get heel heat. They just live in a different world where the outside-the-ring stuff doesn’t matter. That is kind of a Mexican wrestling thing in general, but it still comes across as an alternate universe.
    • This is nothing about nothing, but I was listening to a science podcast this week, and the discussion about how the human body absorbs and recovers from physical trauma drifted into wrestling. Two hosts, neither professional wrestling fans, had seen the Netflix doc and unreservedly referred to Vince McMahon as a horrible monster of a human being. Not a second thought, not a complicated discussion, he just is. If you are deep in the wrestling bubble – and you are if you are reading this blog post – you will hear/read wrestling people also in the bubble try to explain McMahon as some nuanced figure, someone who was very successful or important to their childhood. And if you tried to defend that version of Vince McMahon to a normal person, especially someone who has seen that doc, they’d look at you as insane and quickly run the other way.
  • Marisela appears at the start of each episode but participates in these angles about once a year. That’s probably coming before the end of the year – the JBL/Dorian bit ended with the two deciding to meet with Marisela about JBL’s friends buying her out.
    • Latin Lover has said he has power until the end of the year, so – if we trust AAA to tell a complete story – there is some plot twist coming in the new few weeks.
    • Maybe this is doing Succession instead of the usual WWE-inspired power struggle and Dorian is going to be one of the kids who turns out to never get control of the company? I will turn around on AAA if Marisela tells Dorian he’s not a serious person.
• The other half of this storyline is Latin Lover had an offscreen meeting with Marisela, who agreed to raise the talent budge to bring in some new wrestlers, wrestlers he said AAA fans had been asking for. He did not say who.
• Reina Dorada did a promo against “Jessica Havok.” It was presumably for Guerra de Titanes, though she never actually talked about Guerra de Titanes – you would’ve come away thinking about it being a singles match. The weirder issue is this promo on a Mexican wrestling show by a Mexican was spoken in English and sub-titled in Spanish. There’s almost no one speaking English watching AAA on Space in Mexico, very few people who speak English are going to see it later as far as I can tell, and it’s not like those people are going to be able to figure out what show she’s talking about if they do see it. Good for Reina Dorada to be able to do English language promos, but that was an inexplicable decision.
  • The decision to frame it as a singles match may make more sense; Dorada’s supposed to be teaming with Fiscal, Fiscal is out with an injury, and AAA is incapable of saying someone is out with an injury. Maybe it’ll end up being a singles match, or maybe AAA just taped a promo in English for a Spanish-speaking audience when they hadn’t decided what match would actually happen.
  • Konnan had nothing to say in a promo later but he did a much better job of saying the name and date of the show.
  • Alberto did an interview in which he sarcastically apologized for saying Vikingo was a member of Los Kumbia Kids and then laughed at the idea that Vikingo would be a challenge to him.
• The upcoming events video did not list the 12/07 show in Mexico City. AAA does not run the video listing upcoming events during live shows – maybe it’s too difficult for them to advertise upcoming shows during their biggest events. If they continue that way, they will not mention the Mexico City taping on TV until about two weeks before it happens.

La Tijera Lucha Libre caught up with Psycho Clown at his gym and asked him why he hadn’t been on AAA TV in months. Psycho Clown insists he’s on good terms with AAA and will be forever thankful for what they’ve done in his career, but the AAA TV schedule just hasn’t accommodated his schedule. Psycho goes through his list of bookings, focusing on the international ones, making the case he’s just been too busy to be on AAA TV.

The message is that Psycho Clown is still with AAA, but he’s working on AAA shows (especially TV tapings) only if he can’t find a booking elsewhere. Hugo Savinovich, back when he got let go, said that Dorian Roldan told him to find work elsewhere if he could because AAA could no longer afford him. What Psycho Clown said sounds like he got the same message sometime this year. Psycho Clown is not gone from AAA – he could not still be Psycho Clown if he ever left AAA. However, he’d be working AAA TV tapings if AAA was offering him the best deal on those dates or if they had some contractual power to force Psycho Clown to appear on TV tapings. Neither seems to be true.

The results from last night taping in Monterrey

AAA TV (SUN) 11/03/2024 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon [Lo Mejor de Lucha]
1) La Fashion & Sexy Andre b ? & Rey Sultan
2) El Original b Sick Boy, King Charro
3) Mr. Iguana & Niño Hamburguesa b Estrellato & Líder
4) Chik Tormenta & Flammer b Dulce Kanela & Pimpinela Escarlata
Chik Tormenta replaced La Fashion (bumped down to the opener)
5) Drago b Epydemius Jr., Antifaz del Norte
Pierrothio was moved up and this was turned into a three way.
6) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown b Galeno del Mal, Pierroth Jr., Taurus
Pierroth replaced Fiscal (nose injury)

Pierroth Jr., who just appeared in AAA one day and was never introduced or explained, has now main evented three of the last four TV tapings. This taping will probably air in the US before it airs in Mexico.

As soon as this event ended, AAA announced a new show on 12/08 in Monterrey’s Giminasio Nuevo Leon Unido. It was presented as if it was a new TV taping, but I believe it’s simply a KAOZ show. That seems like good news if you’re interested in KAOZ – there’s a decent shot it’ll be live on MasLucha’s channel, instead of taped and airing weeks/months down the line.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 10/31/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, thecubsfan]
***Castillo del Terror, 2024***
1) Príncipe Centauro, Rey Astaroth, Rey Halcón b Caballero de Plata, Felino Boy, Sky Man 
2) Águila Roja © b Gravity, Águila Oriental, Cerebro Negro Jr., Iron Kid [IWRG IC Light] 
3rd defense
3) Julissa & Valentina b Big Mami & Shamila  
Big Mami replaced Keyra.
4) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. © b Pig Decapitador, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool [EdM Trios, Ladder] 
2nd defense. They only had one ladder and they had kind of destroyed it before the finish but held it in together long enough to finish the match.
5) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba b Látigo, Noisy Boy, Toxin © [IWRG IC TRIOS]  
2nd defense. Arez is part of the champions but was off in GCW. Noisy Boy was his surprise parnter.
6) Aquiles, Galeno del Mal, Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus b Abismo Negro Jr., Colmillo de Plata (AAA), Garra de Oro (AAA), Octagón Jr. (AAA)  
7) Rock Power L Pig Destroyer, Bendito, Multifacetico Jr., Abigor, Villano V Jr., Tornado, Luka, Máscara Sagrada NG, Brazo De Oro Jr., Pandemónium, Spider Fly [cage, mask]   
Spider Fly defeated rival Rock Power as the final two with help from Noisy Boy (teased betraying his partner but instead helped him out.) Rock Power is Tomas Villar Palomeque, 20 years a wrestler, from Minitalian, Veracruz.

A couple of Facebook sites – not sure who had it first – say Rock Power previously wrestled as Asesino Cervical in Minitalan. I can’t find any lineups with that name, maybe my spelling is wrong, but obviously this is someone who was working with a different name – he said he was wrestling for 20 years but Rock Power showed up just a few months ago.

Other News

El Hijo del Santo’s usual York Hall shows sounded like they were well attended and received well.  (Video here.) Those two shows drew better than the RevPro/CMLL Fantastica Mania shows in the same venue. This show was build around it being El Hijo del Santo’s farewell. Santo Jr. instead announced that, because the shows were so successful, they’d come back in March for El Hijo del Santo’s actual retirement show. That’s the same bit he did in Arena Ciudad de Mexico.

The Mexico-based portion of the tour is supposed to be in Puebla & Veracruz this week. Both those shows and the 12/08 Merida date may have been secretly canceled. Bobo Producciones had an Instagram story up the 03/16 GDL date but not for any of the shows this year. Tickets are still on sale for the Veracrus show, a local media outlet says the show is still on, but LA Park previously hinted the rest of the 2024 events were canceled. Santo hasn’t said anything. Bobo Producciones has typically released an updated lineup the week prior to the show, so maybe we’ll have a better idea in a few days. I had a belief that the El Hijo del Santo retirement tour concept would be handled a bit more dignified last carny than normal Mexican wrestling retirement; that was a dumb belief. At least people are enjoying the shows.

Box y Lucha 3628 goes with the GWAS show as the cover. The GWAS show from 2000.