Astral and Olympia Mr. and Mrs. CMLL again, Xelhua defeats Maya, AAA/TUDN

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 11/25/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Curul, El Sold el Puebla, elinanoticas, Mano a Mano, Rupireportero]
1) Astro & Meyer b Dreyko & Hijo del Perverso
2) Valiente Jr. b Multy [lightning]
3) Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Hijo del Pantera b El Perverso, Prayer, Rey Apocalipsis
4) Arkalis, Rey Samuray, Xelhua b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa 
first win for the new version of Fuerza Poblana
5) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Titán b Bárbaro Cavernario, Hijo de Stuka Jr., Terrible 
6) Místico, Stigma, Templario DQ Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero 
Straight falls. UG fouled Templario.

It looks like Ultimo is going to have two singles matches in three days. The El Sol del Puebla recap found this show boring, except for match 4.

CMLL (TUE) 11/26/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Aéreo b Mercurio [lightning]
8:38. Mercurio replaced Aereo.
2) El Audaz, Eléctrico, Robin b Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Nitro
13:47
3) Metálica, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis b India Sioux, Kira, Skadi
10:44.
4) Xelhua b Guerrero Maya Jr.
14:57
5) Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
13:31
6) Dragón Rojo Jr., Máscara Dorada, Templario b Bárbaro Cavernario, Soberano Jr., Terrible
12:41

This is a different crowd than Arena Coliseo and Xelhua versus Guerrero Maya Jr. worked the rematch differently. The first was tecnico versus tecnico as an old school title match. This rematch was heavy rudo versus tecnico, Maya just beating up Xelhua for 1.9 falls, and Xelhua rallying back to outsmart him and get the win. I still would’ve held off on the win for a long time, but that’s not CMLL’s booking style. I still thought it was pretty good, though not as good as the original; Xelhua has room to improve at working to get a reaction from the tourist crowd.

The rest of the show was nothing extraordinary, but it was easy to watch. The opener, the semi, and the main were all fun. There were no challengers in Mercurio/Aereo, which means the minis feud is probably some sort of four team tournament. It doesn’t seem like a cage match.

CMLL was still promoting Aereo/Acero about 30 minutes before Mercurio showed up in Acero’s spot. Alexis Salazar wasn’t at ringside taking photos today, so my guess is they had no one else there to cancel or fix the scheduled tweet.

Not a great production night. Xelhua/Guerrero Maya had the announcers talking about how Maya wasn’t giving up even after Edgar had signaled the match was over. The broadcast was in a replay when Magnus hit his finishing move on Fugaz to win the semi-main. The other interesting production note was two instances of CMLL posting essentially “do not try these moves at home, kids” messages and the ring announcer ending the show with a similar message. CMLL does not want kids doing lucha libre moves, but they’re usually not making statements during the course of a show about it; something happened, or some conversation was had.

CMLL (TUE) 11/26/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha]
1) Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico b Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
2) Emperatriz, Lady Shadow, Miss Guerrera b Hatanna, Nexy, Valkiria
3) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Arlequín, Bestia Negra, Cris Skin
4) Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga b Dark Magic, El Elemental, Yutani
5) La Catalina b Dark Silueta
6) Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Místico b Averno, Difunto, Euforia

Nothing stands out here.

The annual bodybuilding contest took place Wednesday afternoon. I was in and out while working on other stuff; I’ll have to decide if it’s worth going back to see who was listed as a CMLL wrestler and who is just a luchador professional later. This year’s training class was Ultimo Dragoncito’s, which included Full Metal and Pequeno Polvora. There seemed to be a new Celestial in the mix. The bodybuilding contest had a lot of categories, as advertised. Mas Lucha jotted it all down:

• Escuela A: Radical, Kuukai, Domino (winner), “others”
• Escuela B: Balzephon, Legion, Fly, Mexica (winner), Kimba, Alexius, Huitzil
• Escuela C: Posiedon (winner), Ragnar, Cody 1-8, Star King
• Principantes A: Apocalipsis, Fuego, Oro Jr., Villano III Jr. (winner), Hijo del Villano III, Inquisidor, Neon
• Principantes B: Coyote (winner), Arkalis, Hunter, Titan, Rey Samuray, Magia Blanca, Star Jr.
• Principantes C: Principe Daniel, Sangre Imperial (winner), Max Star, Astro
• Novatos A: Rugido, Vegas, Rav, Valiente Jr. (winner), Lobak
• Novatos B: Infarto, Retro, Legendario, Draego (winner), Dark Magic, Magnus, Fugaz
• Pequeno Estrellas: Pequeno Olimpico, Galaxy, Cosmos (winner), Rostro de Acero
• Women: Olympia (winner),  Sanely, Lluvia, Candela, Lady Metal, India Sioux, Princesa Sugehit
• Micro Estrellas: Kemalito (winner), Tengu, Kemonito
• Advanced less than 80 KG: Astral (winner), Diamond, Dragon Rojo Jr., Angelito, Accion Jackson
• Advanced over 80 KG: Crixus (winner), Valiente, Blue Panther Jr.

Crixus and Astral had a bonus round pose off. Astral won the competition once again, and wife Olimpica was the female winner. Everyone works very hard in these things but Olympia looked like a different species than everyone else.

Reyna Isis was in a separate fitness category separate from the other women. It’s the category she’s doing in other bodybuilding competitions.

CMLL (FRI) 11/29/2024 Arena México
1) Astral & Legendario vs Alom & Hunter
2) Capitán Suicida, Futuro, Max Star vs Crixus, Infarto, Okumura
3) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Hijo De Blue Panther vs Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
4) Neón, Star Jr., Titán vs El Hijo del Villano III, Valiente, Villano III Jr.
5) Flip Gordon, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Rocky Romero
6) Místico vs Hechicero [Leyenda de Azul, final]

Rocky Romero is back in town, seemingly just for this match, and right as Templario and Volador are having issues. Flip also mentioned wanting to defend his new title against someone internationally. Match 2/4 look fun, and Alom & Hunter get another shot against flying tecnicos in the opener.

Box y Lucha 3631 has Mistico and Hechicero on the cover. In his post-Friday interview, Hechicero was critical of Mistico, saying Mistico should’ve picked the best middleweights and defended his title against them to prove he couldn’t be beaten rather than just vacating it cold.

CMLL (SAT) 11/30/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Fantasy vs Acero [lightning]
2) Diamond, Leono, Retro vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Espanto Jr., Kráneo, Okumura
4) Lluvia vs Sanely [lightning]
5) Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Stuka Jr. vs Barboza, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
6) Blue Panther vs Último Guerrero

Panther/UG will be fun if it’s UG just by the numbers and has the possibility of being more than that. Semi-main is an usual rudo/rudo match for this show. Pegasso & Rey Samury are back around, and the two minis who haven’t worked in a while get the opener.

CMLL (SUN) 12/01/2024 Arena México
1) Pequeño Olímpico vs Mercurio [lightning]
2) Fuego, Oro Jr., Volcano vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
3) Brillante Jr., Rayo Metálico, Xelhua vs Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
4) India Sioux & Princesa Sugehit vs Persephone & Reyna Isis
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Star Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Difunto, Hechicero

Oro Jr. suffered a knee injury in a match on February 6th and hasn’t wrestled since. (Lady Metal, who’s also vanished the last few months, was also present.) Oro’s seemed like a guy who could lose his spot soon to a newer wrestler – it may be the history of the Oro name doing the most to keep him around. He could use a strong return.

CMLL will have their Christmas tree lighting ceremony at 3:30 pm before this show starts. This streamed last year.

CMLL (MON) 12/02/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Amnesia & Blue Shark vs Hijo del Perverso & Rencor
2) Meyer vs Disturbio [lightning]
3) Rey Apocalipsis & Volcano vs Rey Samuray & Sagrado [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Arkalis, Pegasso, Rayo Metálico vs Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
5) Templario vs Último Guerrero
6) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Místico vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Zandokan Jr.

I’m surprised Templario/UG is the semi-main. Match 3 is odd and marks the first appearance of Rey Apocalipsis since August. He and Samuray used to feud.

AAA

AAA has aired on Unimas and TUDN in the US since June. AAA no longer appears on the TUDN schedule. Those TUDN airings haven’t been as promoted by AAA or TUDN, it was just extra airings during the week. TUDN’s programming information is a mess – they’ve moved AAA around without telling people in the past, so it’s possible it’s airing at some time no one knows. It just isn’t listed anywhere on the channel at the moment. It’s the Unimas deal that really matters to AAA, so losing TUDN (if that’s what has happened) isn’t a big deal by itself. The real goal for AAA is move up from Unimas to Univision, and getting dropped from a network like TUDN is a small indicator they’re not doing so great right now.

(I only really figured this out because of that Pagano promo. I recorded shows on my TiVo, ported them to my computer, and then shared them online. Comcast blocked my ability to do that nowadays. I realized I could stream TUDN on my computer and screen record the Pagano promo that way once AAA aired, but AAA just never aired. Ah well. This all comes off as me dunking on AAA or something, but instead, it was me seeing something interesting on AAA and wanting to share it – especially with the Mexican fans who wouldn’t have gotten to see it.)

Mr. Iguana talked to his hometown paper, Debate, about being the first wrestler from Cuilican to go to Japan. GLEAT has only mentioned one show for him so far, but Iguana mentions he’s also working a show on 01/11 in Osaka.

Alberto and Latin Lover did dueling interviews to build up the 12/08 taping and refresh everyone on the feuding owners storyline. Apparently Cibernetico stole the belt from Alberto in Saltillo, something he pushed here but hasn’t been mentioned much by AAA itself. Alberto wants a hair match with Latin Lover, which may happen. Alberto took a random shot at TNA in one of the quotes, saying AAA is a lot bigger than many other international companies, and TNA feels happy to bring 2,000 people to one of their shows. Alberto is doing heavy heel stuff but I guess he’s also not happy about that breakup.

I guess there’s an AEW section today

Mascara Dorada & Mistico will appear on tonight’s AEW tapings in Chicago. AEW already has five matches announced for Dynamite, so they’re mostly appearing on Collision – or Ring of Honor, if AEW is also taping that. (If you got fooled last week and are disappointed about it, don’t get fooled again.) The Beast Mortos will wrestle Kyle Fletcher on Collision as part of the Continental Classic, which will air Saturday afternoon.

(I will also be there, watching the show in one ear and CMLL Informa in another. It should be a fine time.)

Fightful’s update on Penta was that his contract would end in a week. I guess that WWE is interested in Penta and Fenix as a tag team act primarily, and they’d be fine waiting until Fenix is out of his AEW contract (not believed to be happening for several months) to sign both of them. Maybe new WWE management would take a different tact. There’s going to be a lot of speculation about Penta being a Royal Rumble surprise unless he specifically says it’s not happening (and that still won’t stop most people.) The place where Penta would really make the biggest impact right now would be AAA. He’d be the best possible bridge challenger between Cibernetico and Latin Lover, and Penta being there would make news in all the way AAA likes. (Penta could’ve appeared earlier, but it’s less of a political problem once he’s no longer with AEW.) I’m just doubtful Penta will want to risk any injury before signing that WWE deal and he probably can make a lot more in other places for far less effort if he just wants to work. It’d be an all-time favor for Konnan to work at AAA. I’m sure there’s been a conversation. I don’t know if it’s going to happen.

(Aside 1: Tony Khan tagged CMLL in a post about the International Women’s Cup, which meant anyone looking for thoughts about Tuesday’s show instead got many people yelling in Tony Khan’s replies about Ricky Starks. A few people, but not many, also remembered Rey Fenix is in the same situation. People have short memories of these things. I would prefer to see Ricky and Fenix wrestle matches instead of staying at home.)

(Aside 2: Only in going through AAA stuff again did I realize that we’re supposed to believe Latin Lover is the surprise person in Monterrey. Latin Lover wrestling without being advertised would be throwing away money, so I would hope that’s just a tease.)

Other News

Saltillo luchador Sombra Lagunera won his retirement match on Sunday. He’d wrestled for 39 years and also promotes the shows at Arena Obreros; his retirement was a sell out. His final match was against local rudo Argoz Maldita, who beat Lagunera using the ropes in the third fall. The Box y Lucha Commissioner on hand (Max Gonzalez) threw out the fall and ordered them to have a fourth one, which Laugnera won.

Club Lucha has a new edition of their podcast.

El Universal interviews Golden Jr.