Torneo de Escuelas tonight, FantasticaMania impending, AEW/CMLL

CMLL

Tonight’s show

CMLL (FRI) 02/09/2024 Arena México
1) Acero & Pierrothito vs Angelito & Pequeño Olímpico [Relevos Increíbles]
rematch
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Marcela & Skadi vs Reyna Isis & Tessa Blanchard
4) Max Star, Rugido, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
5) Alom, Astro Boy Jr., Dragón de Fuego, Forneo, Hunter, Legendario vs Emperador Jr., Infarto (Laguna), Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Platino Kid (Laguna), Viento Negro [Torneo de Escuelas, semifinal]

CMLL’s effectively working with split rosters for the next two weeks. Volador’s the only FantasticaMania guy left working this show, and that crew won’t be back until time for the 02/23 Arena Mexico show. (They will be back in this hemisphere by the 02/21 AEW Dynamite show, in case that proves relevant.) CMLL’s heavier focus on fewer names means these cards will feel a lot different when those important names are out of town.

That’s a lot of pressure on the youngsters in the main event. They’ve no doubt been going through that match for some time, but doing it in the first Arena Mexico appearance for most of those names is going to be tough. It’s also going to be a test for the audience. A previous Arena Mexico crowd would’ve treated it like a prelim match and taken off early (or not even showed up.) The tourists may not know better. I think the Comarca Lagunera team is the slight favorite, but this is as much about figuring out who’s actually good as the outcome.

Everything else is just getting through the first Friday with (most of) the FantasticaMania roster not present. Match four could be good, match two is a frequent rematch, and match one may be setting something up. It’s not a strong lineup for star power and there’s a lot of variance in that main event.

This will stream live for the 25 USD tier. It’ll go up for the 9 USD tier on 02/18 (or around then.)

CMLL announced Tony Salazar will be the wrestler honored this year at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. Salazar has been with CMLL for fifty years, as a start in the late 70s/80s, and then a trainer and staff member since leaving the ring. There was some fan push back because other big names haven’t gotten their moment, but Salazar is deserving. Salvador Lutteroth noted that Salazar has been loyal to CMLL all these years, never went anywhere else, and I’m guessing that played a role in the pick.

CMLL uploaded the fixed Reyes del Aire on Wednesdays right before Informa. (I’m traveling this week and haven’t had a chance to watch it yet.) They very briefly mentioned the issue on Inform and moved on. CMLL also announced they’d upload Monday’s Arena Puebla show on Thursday night for all levels. It appeared this was a one off – due to holiday and the title change – and not a ongoing feature.

CMLL (SUN) 02/11/2024 Arena México
1) Robin & Valiente Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I & Enfermero Jr.
2) Fuego & Volcano vs Crixus & Raider
3) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Amapola, Hera, Tessa Blanchard vs Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
5) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Neón vs Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
6) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Star Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible

Informa pushed the idea of Futuro, Neon and Hombre Bala as a team, though it may be a one week idea. That could be a good match.

CMLL (MON) 02/12/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja & Hijo de Centella Roja vs Dreyko & Fénix SO
2) El Novato vs El Perverso [lightning]
3) La Catalina & Stephanie Vaquer vs Lady Frost & Tessa Blanchard
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs El Malayo, Rey Apocalipsis, Siky Ozama
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
6) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Star Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible

Lady Frost returns. She did well in her previous run (October to December 2022), and seemed to be liked well by CMLL. Frost then worked on a US indie show with AAA wrestlers and it seems like CMLL went cold on her. She’s been active on AEW/ROH this past year. This wasn’t billed as Frost coming in from AEW, but obviously the relationship between CMLL and AEW make it smoother. CMLL having a couple of open spots with no Lluvia and Jarochita for a month also helps.

CMLL (TUE) 02/13/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Demonio Maya & Mandala vs Amenanza Negra Jr. & Minotauro
2) Abigor La Pesadilla & Cris Skin vs Guerrero de la Muerte & Shezmu
3) Johnny Dinamo & Princ Drago vs Canalla & Principe Daniel
4) Black Boy, Thunder Boy, Yaky Boy vs Astro Oriental, Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II
5) Gallo Jr., Ráfaga, Rafaga Jr. vs Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Misterioso Jr.
6) Satánico & Trono vs Halcón Suriano & Halcón Suriano Jr.
7) Lady Amazona, Sexy Sol, Skadi vs Andrómeda, La Maligna, Persephone
8) Dulce Gardenia & La Fashion vs Bestia Negra & Furia Roja

The three undercard matches are more Gran Alternativa preview matches. The concept, explaining on Tuesday’s broadcast, is a league style tournament. There will be two groups of six in a round robin matches and a final. The winner gets a trophy. That format, assuming three matches a show, means the tournament will run 11 weeks. It’ll be around for quite a while.

CMLL/FantasticaMania

Satoshi Kojima is off the FantasticaMania tour. He picked up a knee injury in MLW and will miss the next run of shows. Tomoaki Honma picks up some of the dates, with Ryusuke Taguchi filling in on the final.

That FantasticaMania tour actually starts before the next news post. They’ll be airing a show early Monday morning

CMLL, NJPW (MON) 02/12/2024 Osaka Prefectural Gym 2, Osaka, Japan
1) Difunto & Douki vs Gedo & Taiji Ishimori
2) Tiger Mask vs Magnus [lightning]
3) Brillante Jr., Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi, Stigma vs Bushi, Kamaitachi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán
4) Dark Panther, Pegasso, Tomoaki Honma vs Okumura, Strong Machine J, YOH [Relevos Increíbles]
Strong Machine J replaced Master Wato (knee injury) on 01/25. Tomoaki Honma replaced Satoshi Kojima on 02/08 (knee injury)
5) Atlantis Jr., Templario, Volador Jr. vs Hechicero, Rocky Romero, Soberano Jr.
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Francesco Akira, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Magnus wore a Tiger Mask style mask on Informa; he’s going in to this lightning match with respect. The rest is the usual tag matches building up the tour ending singles match.

As a reminder, Monday’s show air on NJPW World. Tuesday and Wednesday’s shows do not air at all. They’re back streaming on Friday (and Saturday, Sunday and Monday.) All shows start at either 1 AM CT or 1:30 AM CT. NJPW puts VOD up after the show, though it may be a little bit of time.

Stardom’s Starlight Kid and Ruaka will be Lluvia and La Jarochita’s opponents on the 02/17 FantasticaMania show.

CMLL wrestlers and Salvador Lutteroth attended a party at the Japanese embassy on Thursday.

I guess this goes in this section? The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports Stephanie Vaquer was slated to win the IWGP Women’s Championship from Giulia at the April NJPW US show in Chicago, but that’s not happening now. Giulia is finishing up with Stardom in March, is going to WWE sometime after, and is highly unlikely to be working for NJPW US in between. I wrote here at the time that it appeared NJPW US was setting up Vaquer as the next challenger on the January show, so the idea it was supposed to happen in April seems plausible. It’s unknown what the plan is now – if Vaquer will end up going to Japan, or if someone else will defeat Giuila or if the title will just be vacant. (Stardom fans would obviously prefer a title win by someone on their roster if Guilia is going to do one more big loss on the way out, but figuring out who’s staying on the Stardom roster in a month’s time as a related mess.) It’s strange NJPW US didn’t do any title change in January, since it appears people behind the curtain knew Giuila wasn’t going to be around by April; perhaps that means there is a contingency plan.

CMLL/AEW

Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Bryan Danielson defeated Hechicero, Mascara Dorada and Volador Jr. on AEW Dynamite. I still think the CMLL team needs to get a win on one of the bigger AEW TV shows, but AEW decided to keep it going by having that win come via unseen foul. Star Jr., Mistico and Esfinge watched the match from ringside and jumped the rail in objection to the manner of winning. More AEW wrestlers ran out to count them.

This all leads to Mistico versus Matt Sydal tonight on AEW Rampage, as well as Star Jr. & Esfinge versus Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley on AEW Collision Saturday. Danielson and the other CMLL wrestlers are all headed to NJPW for shows this weekend. Star Jr. & Esfinge were picked from among the CMLL luchadors who aren’t going to FantasticaMania and do have US visa. I think I would’ve picked Barbaro Cavernario over either Star or Esfinge, but I’m not sure what his status is and it’s possible he has some other commitment on Saturday; he’s not on the Coliseo card.

CMLL being stretchered all over the place is probably a big reason that Coliseo main event is Atlantis, Blue Panther and Flip Gordon against the Hermanos Chavez & Gran Guerrero. There’s obviously an eagerness on AEW’s side to keep this feud going but it may be tough for the next couple of weeks.

Zeuxis wrestled on a dark match on Wednesday’s AEW taping; it sounds like it wasn’t taped for ROH. (It also sounds like it didn’t go well.) Sussy Love was also there and was scheduled to wrestle at one point; it’s possible she’ll turn up Saturday. This is not directly related to the main AEW/CMLL story; I believe the idea is AEW/ROH is casting a wide net for people to include it’s upcoming (or maybe ongoing) Ring of Honor TV tournament.

I know people want to see Stephanie Vaquer also in this mix – either part of Ring of Honor or the greater CMLL/AEW feud. If CMLL has a title on her and NJPW is planning on putting a title on her, it just doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense for her to show up in AEW TV to have well received matches and lose most of them. If the plan is for her still be eventually to be the IWGP women’s champ, it would take an unlikely change in booking philosophy for her to make sense on AEW TV.

AAA

AAA this week will have the second part of Rey de Reyes, where they air all the matches that led to the matched you’ve already seen. They’ll also air vignettes teasing directions for wrestlers that they’ll never actually move on. It should be fantastic.

(I’m going to the Dreamwave wrestling show Saturday night so I’m not sure I’ll be able to record this.)

The first part of Rey de Reyes will go up on YouTube on Sunday night and it’s worth checking out at least the main event.

I don’t want to keep harping on this point but – whatever you think of Esfinge and Star Jr., they’re not big CMLL names. They’re not in the top dozen CMLL stars, they may not crack the top twenty. They likely wouldn’t have been the picks if everyone was available, but whatever, they’re going to be on US TV on Saturday and that’s a huge career achievement they may talk about the rest of their lives. I’m a little anxious how that’s going to go – Star Jr. is up and down even in Arena Mexico – but they’re getting that chance to work US TV. AAA has many names who are as big of a stars as those two and better wrestlers, and they didn’t make it to AEW TV. I tried to be clear that the AAA/AEW relationship was never as much a relationship as it was portrayed externally (and internally) once AEW TV got rolling, and you can see the difference in how the CMLL/AEW relationship has worked out. I’m confident there are AAA wrestlers who were convinced to remain AAA wrestlers with a promise that AAA would get them to US TV – be it AAA on their own, or with Impact or AEW or even MLW back when that was a thing. MLW wasn’t a thing for long and didn’t work out for those involved. For whatever reason, Impact has not worked out great for those involved – it’s easy paydays but not much more. Those same guys are watch (or more likely seeing bits on Instagram) guys like Star Jr. and Esfinge get a shot they believed was promised to them, and I’m sure they’re unhappy about it. Those same kind of guy are the cannon fodder of the Origines crew this year, and that’s not going to be a fun experience either. I think Aramis leaving was an effect of that – maybe AAA’s good work but expectations and promises weren’t met and so he thought he might as well see what he can do on his own for a while. No idea if anyone else will make the same move – it’s one thing to talk to friends about doing it, it’s another far scarier thing to actually make that move – but I’m certain that discussion is happening right now.

Big Lucha

They’re back on Friday

Big Lucha World (FRI) 02/09/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Nordico & Sangre Nueva vs Demon Boy & Shere Khan
2) Bendito vs Atómico Jr.
3) Elipse, Iku, Orbita vs Hijo De Thor (Costa Rica), Pegaso (Costa Rica), Quimera Jr. (Costa Rica)
4) Emperador Azteca vs Limbo vs Vengador
5) El Potro de Oro & Flamita vs Hijo del Pirata Morgan & Jack Evans

The main event plays off last week’s title change and post match happenings. Bendito and Atomico could be great, though those two might work better as allies.

Other News

El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. held a press conference Thursday to talk about his GHC Heavyweight Championship win. Wagner 3G felt he had to wrestle outside of Mexico if he ever wanted to escape his father’s shadow. He and Galeno del Mal have both wondered if they’ll ever be able to surpass him; Dr. Wagner Jr. is a superstar and still is one. Wagner 3G feels he could’ve stayed in Mexico and been in main events but he had to go elsewhere if he ever wanted to make his mark. That place was NOAH, where he’s been for the last four years , leading him to becoming champion. Wagner talked about the win being bittersweet; he was champion but his family wasn’t there to share in the moment, he was celebrating alone. Wagner pushed back at social media criticism of this title belt “being like Naucalpan” (of no importance), telling those people to look at the list of those who’ve held this title and the value it’s had. Wagner says he’s signed with NOAH through 12/29, but his contract allows him four months away from Japan. He’s now headed to Europe for a month – to France, London and Germany. His first title defense will be on 03/31.

El Sol del Cordoba has a profile of 16 year old luchadora Diosa del Sol.

AAA EMW Tijuana’s main event on their 02/17 show is Laredo Kid, Octagon Jr., and Pentagon Jr. against Marty Scurll, Matt Cardona, QT Marshall. At one point, this would lead to people being upset with Marshall and Cardona for weeks. No one cares much more past than an angry quote tweet nowadays; there’s not going to be any meaningful pressure on the other wrestlers or the promotion for using them. The volume will be turned up when Scurll is announced for a TripleMania. (Though the difference there is these EMW cards seem more Konnan’s vision and Dorian Roldan seems to have bigger influence on the crucial TripleMania decisions.)

RIOT announced Travis Banks versus Rene Rocks for their 03/02 show. Rocks is the Morelia luchador who works a hard hitting Japanese junior heavyweight style, Banks wrestles similarly. The two had matches in Rocks’ home promotion of SCW, then for DTU, and now they’re taking the bit to RIOT. Travis Banks is getting booked more often again, and RIOT is a pretty high profile place.

Travis Banks also recently appeared on the Cosas de Vestidores podcast. The hosts of the show are also promoting a show with Banks on it, and the podcast was billed as Travis Banks “finally telling his side of the story.” It’s a Spanish language podcast though Banks does the interview in English. Both Banks and the hosts assume the listener has some vague impression of Banks being canceled but never explain that situation, instead focusing on the aftermath from Banks’ perspective. Banks feels like he was added to a list of people who did much worse thing than he did, and he doesn’t think it’s right that he’s treated as if he was as bad at them. Banks also believes fans should separate the personal and professional life, and that fans should leave the outside the ring stuff alone. He had invested his life in wrestling, his money in wrestling, and it was the only thing he wanted to do – he didn’t know what his life would be without wrestling. He felt that Banks says he had to leave the UK after being fired from NXT UK “for various reasons” and his visa expiring. He wanted to go to Japan, but they weren’t taking him for reasons and it was hard to get a visa at that time anyway. “Flamita and others I knew from Progress wrestling suggested I go to Mexico.” Banks pushes back at the idea that he only came to Mexico because he couldn’t go elsewhere; he says that’s partially true, but he also wanted to learn lucha libre and be part of it’s history in some way. He wanted to show that he could add value to a show, that he would be professional and not be a problem, and all the bad stuff he did was in his past. Banks credits his hard hitting matches with Los Golpeadors in IWRG – and Black Terry Jr. posting a highlight video of the stiff exchanges – in getting him over with the Mexican fans. He feels like something’s happened in the last few months that’s gotten him more bookings suddenly and he excited about it.

There’s a lot that seems left out. It’s obviously a choice not mention what Travis Banks did to be put on that list, or the “various reasons” he was fired from NXT UK. Banks was accused of using his position as trainer to manipulate an underage wrestler into a relationship with him, then emotionally abused her throughout the relationship and continued to harass her after she tried to break it off. She also alleged other women had similar experiences. WWE parted ways with Banks after those allegations came to light. Banks did not discuss why he would need to travel to Japan or Mexico to continue his wrestling career instead of being able to do it in his home area of New Zealand and Australia. When Banks came up previously, a prominent member of that Oceania wrestling scene reached out to me to let me know they’d also had issues with Banks there, and implied Banks was unwelcome in wrestling in that part of the world. (Banks hasn’t wrestled in Australia or New Zealand since being fired from NXT UK.) Banks talks about the allegations only in terms of how it affected him: that’s it nearly cost him the one thing he wanted most of all, that the unfairness lies in how hard he’s been punished, that he’s a changed guy, and that he shouldn’t have to continue to pay for a mistake he made six years ago. At no point are the words “I did something wrong” or anything like it come out of his mouth. The only remorse shown is for how being on a Speaking Out list has hurt him.

Travis Banks credit girlfriend Jesse Jackson for being the most supportive figure in his life and in convincing him to continue on wrestling. Banks appears to be in a healthier relationship than in the past. He also still appears to have the same manipulative tendencies. His big point if that wrestling fans should only pay attention to the professional life of a wrestler and have no opinion on their personal life. He’s saying this on a podcast where he’s opening up on his personal life – not just about Speaking Out, but attempting to tell charming stories about the adventures he’s had in Mexico. They wrap up the show talking about his podcast and his Instagram and his TikTok, where you can see the real Travis Banks. He’s no different from most every other wrestler; he want to sell you a filtered view of his real life so you’ll bug RIOT to book him for a months or that you’ll buy his shirts at shows. That’s fine, that’s what wrestling is in 2024 and has been some time. It’s also hypocritical to start complaining about people paying attention to your real life when you no longer control the filter. Banks is fine with making that tradeoff until something negative comes out of it.

The point of that interview was to showcase Travis Banks as a friendly guy you should have no problem watching and rooting for it, be it for CVW or for RIOT or forever. It’s a podcast as a permissions structure. I, someone who was heavily skeptical of Banks to begin with, just found more stuff to dislike. Even stuff that was meant to be endearing like Banks talking about how he wanted to be learn lucha libre and the culture felt so fake – how much do you really want to be part of this if you’re doing interviews in English and doing the same UK indie style you’ve been doing all along after two years on this shows? Any case to write off one wrestler in Mexico will inevitably be responded three times over with ‘whatabout’ response; “if you’re canceling him, why aren’t you doing the same to [X]?” In this once case, the answer is easier for me: I just don’t find much to like about him. The more he wants to sell everyone on what a great guy he really is, the faker he seems. I also know my position on all of this is close to immaterial; Mexican fans already generally had no problems with Travis Banks on their shows. This podcast existed just for the few people who had questions and wanted gentle assurances there was nothing to think about here, be it the people watching or the people booking him.