AAA Showcenter air date (and next lineup), CMLL upcoming title matches

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 05/24/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Marca, The Gladiatores]
1) Aéreo, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Minos, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Enfermero Jr., Grako, Nitro b Astral, Diamond, Oro Jr.
Rudos took 2/3
3) La Magnifica, Marcela, Skadi vs Amapola, Dalys, Dark Silueta
Skadi replaced Maligna on Monday. Tecnicas took 1/3. Magnifica beat Silueta and challenged her to a MEX WOMEN title match.
4) Dark Panther, Flyer, Panterita del Ring b El Coyote, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
tecnicos took 2/3
5) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado

(Google Drive video links are delayed until late tonight.)

Magnifica, like Angelito, is someone who shows flashes of being able to have a pretty good match but has mostly been drifting in meaningless trios with no sign of getting a bigger chance. Until they both did in a week. A title change would be surprising for either title but getting the chance alone is interesting.

Los Malditos continue to be world trios champions who lose to the actual top teaams.

CMLL (TUE) 05/24/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha]
1) Bello Antuan, Capitán Cobra, Cosmos b Destructor, Relámpago Azul, Tigre Blanco
2) Joker, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Estrella Oriental Jr., Minotauro, Último Ángel
3) Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel, Zandokan b Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico
straight fall
4) Náutica, Stephanie Vaquer, Valkiria b La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sexy Sol
Sexy Sol betrayed her teammates. Vaquer & Sexy Sol challenged for the MEX WOMEN TAG
5) Averno & Mephisto b Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero
6) Satánico © DRAW Atlantis [FLLM MASTER]
3rd defense. Double pinfall draw after a single fall.

Maybe half the matches for that maestro title have ended in double pins. Averno & Mephisto used a mask pull and a foul to get their win.

CMLL (FRI) 05/27/2022 Arena México
1) Cachorro, El Audaz, Suicida vs Disturbio, Okumura, Raider
2) Mercurio © vs Angelito [CMLL MINI]
1st defense
3) Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Fuerza Guerrera vs Atlantis, Blue Panther, Negro Casas
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black and Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido and Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma [MEX TRIOS, seeding battle royal]
5) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [MEX TRIOS, semifinal]
6) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [MEX TRIOS, semifinal]
7) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [MEX TRIOS, final]
8) Místico vs Atlantis Jr. [Copa Junior]

CMLL did add an eighth match, though the notable change is in the title tournament. Los Cancerberos (Virus, Cancerbero and Lucifierno) were announced as in this tournament and are now out. This gets explained on the Saturday lineup. Replacing them is a Puebla-based team, though even there Guerrero Maya Jr. (from Puebla state) seems to be a fill-in for Pegasso (from Puebla city but out with a knee injury.) If Maya was busy I think they might have gone to Leono, so good thing Maya wasn’t busy.

CMLL (SAT) 05/28/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Fantasy, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Polvora
2) La Guerrera, La Vaquerita, Skadi vs La Metálica, La Seductora, Tiffany
3) Hombre Bala Jr., Sangre Imperial, Volcano vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Raider
4) El Hijo del Villano III, Okumura, Pólvora vs Cancerbero, Felino, Luciferno
5) Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro

The semi-main was scheduled to be a rematch with Los Cancerberos, so Felino being in means Virus is off with an injury or a positive test or something along those lines. I’d expect CMLL will just run a Los Cancerberos title challenge later.

CMLL (SUN) 05/29/2022 Arena México
1) Leono & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Eléctrico, Panterita del Ring Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Cholo, Grako, Inquisidor
3) Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Kráneo
4) Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Felino, Terrible
5) Atlantis, Negro Casas, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Euforia, Mephisto

Nothing happens on Sundays.

CMLL Informa has Mistico & Atlantis Jr. to talk about Copa Junior, Atlantis Sr. to talk about Fuerza Guerrera, and the Guadalajara and Puebla trios teams.

Titan defeated TJP to win his first Best of Super Juniors match on Tuesday morning (a free show), then lost to AEW’s Wheeler Yuta on Wednesday morning to go to 1-3. Note that Titan wore a normal mask against Yuta, so this important stat is still valid. CMLL has not mentioned the Titan/Yuta match, but they haven’t post much about the tournament since the first day. Titan also found time to promote his appearance in New York’s La Boom on 06/25.

CMLL (MON) 05/30/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano & Millenium vs Guerrero Espacial & Sombra Diabólica
2) Arkalis & Diamond vs El Perverso & Prayer
3) Flyer, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Magnus, Okumura, Rugido
4) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Felino, Rey Bucanero, Templario
5) Atlantis & Último Guerrero vs Euforia & Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

This past Monday, UG tried to foul Euforia, Euforia instead fouled him and Soberano unmasked Atlantis. That’s a setup for a rematch.

It’s kind of my gig to know who holds which lucha libre title and even I forgot BOSJ participant Ace Austin is still DTU Alto Impacto champion. To be fair, DTU also seemed to forget about it until about halfway through the BOSJ, when their post reminded all of us. He has not defended the title since 2018. DTU has named three different #1 contenders (Kevin, Kaleth and Fight Panther) in that time. DTU’s main champion is Crazy King, who has not defended the title since 2019 and is more associated with the rival Vanguardia promotion.

BOLA VIP interviewed Atlantis about “Octagon & Atlantis: La Revancha”, a 1992 movie starring the luchadors and I found it pretty interesting. Atlantis says it was actually part of a five movie deal with CMLL, signed by Paco Alonso and Televicine’s Fernando Perez Gavilan. Atlantis said he was scared of acting because he was totally unused to it, but Alonso, the producers assured him – he’d just need to be there to be the draw and they’d surround him with good actors to carry it. Atlantis specifically thanks actors Manuel Ojeda & Salvador Sanchez along with the directors for guiding him through it. He didn’t take time off to film, so he was on a crazy schedule – he’d finish a show at night, and get driven back to the set immediately so he could be ready in the morning to shoot before taking off in the afternoon for another show. Atlantis remembers movies starring Vampiro and Volador & Misterioso lasted just two weeks in cinemas prior to his, and feared his movie would meet the same fate. Instead, his movie stayed fourteen weeks. He didn’t like seeing himself on screen first but grew to like it, and would go see showings of his movie when traveling for wrestling to see how the people reacted. The movie deal apparently fell apart after the AAA split, though Atlantis made two direct-to-video movies. He got other offers for movies but they were at a low price, and an offer to work on a TV show but they were only going to pay him in exposure and he didn’t need that.

Octagon (and maybe Antonio Pena if he was part of it) doesn’t come up at all in Atlantis’ story about this movie. Octagon hasn’t come up in the Fuerza/Atlantis feud either.

Atlantis Jr. says he was a defender in Cruz Azul’s youth program before switching away from futbol.

AAA

The very confusing “Is the Showcenter event airing?” mystery has an answer. Jose Manuel Guillen, on Monday’s Llave y Contrallave, said the event would air starting this week and continuing into next. Space’s online guide also mentions they’re airing the Showcenter event. It seems to me like this was a simple answer that could’ve been peacefully announced last week to save everyone some social media posts.

(I’m not going to be able to stream it live, got something else going on. If it records fine, I’ll post it on Google Drive and maybe stream it later that night.)

Guillen called this past Sunday’s Showcenter event the best AAA show of the year so far, specifically rating the Hermanos Lee match (again Bestia/Toxin and Antifaz/Flamita) the best they’ve had in AAA. Guillin noted there were no run-ins, no tables, and co-host Bernado Guzman jokingly asked if it was really a AAA show. He’s usually pretty honest with his opinions on AAA shows so I think it’s more than just hype. Natalia Marakova’s absence was said to be due to “flight changes.” Elsewhere on the show, the hosts hinted they found out Sussy Love would be on that show on Wednesday when filming the live Big Lucha event; there’s usually not that much advance warning for a typical flight problem.

(AAA airing Showcenter over the next two weeks would limit this weekend’s Puebla show to one week of TV. The second week would be TripleMania Tijuana, and I presume they’re airing that live on Space as they already are on FITE. Maybe I shouldn’t presume?)

AAA got out the next Showcenter lineup right away

AAA TV (SUN) 06/26/2022 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) Villano III Jr. vs Komander
2) Aramis, Laredo Kid, Willie Mack vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
3) Flammer vs Christi Jaynes
4) Arez & Fénix vs Abismo Negro Jr. & Johnny Caballero
5) Dragón Lee vs Jack Cartwheel [Showcenter Tournament, torneo]
6) Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa, Pagano vs Chessman, Sam Adonis, Taurus

The matches look good and will probably change. The one person on the show that’s making news outside of AAA is Fenix, since this is the sem day as AEW/NJPW’s Forbidden Door. It’s probably best not to even think about it until after this weekend’s AAA taping. If Fenix makes it to Puebla, maybe he’s really is working the AAA dates when AEW conflicts. If Fenix is in Las Vegas all weekend, then it’s the opposite story. I have a pretty strong guess at which way it’s going to go, but there’s no need to guess. We’ll know in a few days.

Taya’s set to appear but not wrestle, which seems strange. Good for Christi Jaynes getting booked but I’m not sure why AAA wouldn’t just put Taya in the match. Only the Lee/Cartwheel match is listed as a tournament match, a tournament that still has no rules or bracket, though maybe the other singles matches are meant to be part of the tournament. The main event makes no sense given AAA’s current stories – Adonis a heel who only likes La Empresa, Chessman and Pagano are partners – but AAA can’t be bothered to care about their own stories, and everyone else should follow that lead. They set up a Toscano/Willie Mack match on the last show, and there’s no sign of it here.

There’s a new ad for the June 24th taping in Ciudad Madero. That poster should turn up at any time.

This Johnny Caballero promo is something. I will start to say something in Spanish then switch to English when I can’t remember the correct words, I can relate. Caballero challenges Laredo Kid to a title match here. Maybe we’re looking at it wrong and real strategy here is to do a thousand match set ups, figuring they’ll inevitably get back to one of them.

Both AAA and CMLL had set-ups as a Mexico tourism expo in Acapulco, a rare time when both promotions are under the same roof in a sort of head-to-head fashion. A story on the setup focuses on the CMLL one, quoting commercial representative Tatiana Clasing that “30% of our ticket buyers are foreigners.” I can’t recall seeing Tatiana Clasing’s name before; her LinkedIn profile mentions her as a Public Affairs Consultant coming aboard in July 2020; her bio also mentions her as a consultant to CMLL (and not necessarily an employee.) AAA announced a partnership with an Acapulco resort hotel chain. The tourism expo will come to Mexico City in 2023, which will likely lead to even stronger involvement by both major wrestling promotions.

Pasala has an interview with Latin Lover, who says he felt ostracized by the other participants when he appeared on the Bailando por un Sueno show, then ostracized by the luchadors when he became a famous dancer.

Other News

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report and this week’s Poster-Mania.

Mas Lucha posted their live schedule for this week:

Wednesday: Big Lucha World (empty arena show)
Thursday: IWRG
Friday: Big Lucha: Big Gate
Sunday: IWRG

Laredo Kid vs Black Taurus will air on Impact’s Before the Impact this Thursday. That airs for free on YouTube.

06/04 RIOT

IWRG (THU) 06/02/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Aero Panther & Fight Panther © vs Sol & X-Devil Jr. [DTU NEXo]
2) Hijo de Payaso Purasanta, Payaso Purasanta, Payaso Purasanta Jr. vs Camuflaje, León Dorado, Shere Khan
3) El Bendito, Elemental, Yutani vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
4) Dulce Kanela © vs Reina Dorada, Jessie Jackson [KAOZ WOMEN]
5) Komander © vs Kempo Jr., Dinámico, Travis Banks, Tonalli, Dark Zorro [KAOZ JUNIOR]
6) Rokambole Jr., Villano III Jr., Villano V Jr. vs Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico Jr., Brazo De Oro Jr.

This is a Mas Lucha Premium show, one that’s listed as IWRG but also featuring a lot of their spotlighted promotions. KAOZ and DTU have titles defended, Big Lucha, Welcome to Mi Barrio, Lucha Madre, 915-656, and Dark Sun are participating.

Big Lucha has a casting call for it’s second group of wrestlers. The first group has turned out well.

A Viva Aerobus plane flying from Villahermosa to Mexico City made a quick u-turn after engine issues. They think a bird got sucked in. Luchadors who wrestled on the 05/22 Robles show in Villahermosa were on board, and the story got some attention on social media. They made it back to Mexico City on a replacement plane.

Saltillo luchador Torito Castillo (Mario Lopez Castillo, 79) passed away Sunday, according to SuperLuchas. He wrestled into the 1950s had three sons who followed him into lucha libre. A longer obit on Facebook mentions he was played baseball and became a local umpire after he got out of lucha libre.

IWTV put up a new Zona 23 show.

Plan de Juego has their pick for best five matches of the year so far.