Mistico & Chavez retain their titles, Vikingo doesn’t return, El Hijo del Santo talks retirement

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 09/16/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico b Angelito & Fantasy  
2) Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Legendario b Alom, Hunter, Infarto  
12:43
3) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider b Brillante Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro  
13:44
4) Bárbaro Cavernario, Difunto, Terrible b Magnus, Rugido, Vegas  
13:06
5) Esfinge & Euforia DQ Hechicero & Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]  
10:07. Straight falls, Valiente attacking everyone and unmasking Esfinge for the DQ.
6) Místico © b Máscara Dorada [MLW MIDDLE]  
15:29

Mascara Dorada/Mistico was a lot of call backs to Dorada winning last year, including him going for the same La Mistica finish that had won it. Mistico was able to escape this time and put it on himself. The fans were generally pro-Dorada and anti-Mistico, which appeared to be residual unhappiness with the Aniversario main event. We’ll see if it sticks. I liked the match, but then I got feedback that there were issues with the match that I just wasn’t seeing, so maybe I need to go back and watch it closer. There does seem something with Mascara Dorada that’s not connecting with everyone.

Hechicero had his bad arm heavily wrapped, but wrestled without issue here and wrestled the previous night on a Guadalajara show (not Arena Coliseo) without noticeable issue. CMLL would not have him wrestling with a bicep torn enough to need surgery, so I presume it’s a minor issue if it is one at all.

CMLL did surprise stream this show, though not without issues. CMLL usually streams the Puebla show too, they just keep it private, and both the Arena Mexico shows and the Arena Puebla shows happening at the same time made it tricky to figure out what stream should be public. We are paying $35/month for this service, far higher than any wrestling service anywhere else, it seems like the easy thing to do would’ve been to just make them both public. CMLL instead streamed the opening of the Puebla show, killed that stream, put out a new link, that link was still Puebla, it switched over to Arena Mexico, CMLL killed that stream anyway, and put out a third link that picked up the Arena Mexico opener just as it was ending. It worked out fine for the rest of the show.

CMLL (MON) 09/16/2024 Arena Puebla [DeporPuebla, Grada, Mano a Mano, Porra Fresa]
1) Astoreth & Lady Metal b Enigmática & Lady Amazona 
2) Arkalis, Rayo Metálico, Xelhua b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio 
3) La Catalina b Reyna Isis [lightning]
8:20. The tecnico fans held up Chilean flags to support Catalina.
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma
5) Averno, Hijo de Octagón, Octagón b Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles] 
Averno beat Atlantis after a mask pull. Atlantis wanted one more fall and Averno just unmasked him again.
6) Rocky Romero, Templario, Volador Jr. DQ Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles] 
Niebla Roja unmasked Templario. Rocky Romero and Volador had issues.

The Atlantis/Avenro match doesn’t seem to be followed up next week, or maybe I just got the Atlantis confused in the results. Some matches from this show will air Sunday night.

CMLL (TUE) 09/17/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
1) Full Metal b Acero [lightning] 
5:44
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Eléctrico, Retro, Valiente Jr. 
14:11
3) Crixus, Magia Blanca, Okumura b Hijo del Pantera, Pelon Encapuchado, Volcano 
14:26.
4) Amapola, Sanely, Zeuxis DQ Kira, Persephone, Tessa Blanchard [Relevos Increíbles] 
13:25. Straight falls, the second when Sanely tossed her mask to Tessa (or really tossed it well past her, so Tessa had to turn around and pick it up before the referee turned back.) Tessa demanded a singles match with Sanely.
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Zandokan Jr. b Máscara Dorada, Neón, Volador Jr. 
13:22.
6) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja b Atlantis Jr. & Star Jr. [CMLL TAG] 
20:58. 15th defense.

The rudo teams won every match. A fine day for evil.

The tag title match was very good, though I spent the match thinking about how this title reign can’t end to a random team on a Tuesday match. I was into the near falls but probably not the way they wanted. The Chavez say they’re at 16th defenses; it’s possible there’s one I just haven’t found. It’s not like there’s an official list anywhere. Semi-main was good.

Sanely played cartoon ruda for the entirety of the match, and the announcers pushed the idea this could be a permanent character change. I’m sure CMLL will make it clear next week, or on Informa. She seemed to be having fun with it, anyway.

CMLL (TUE) 09/17/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno b Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
2) KeMalito, Micro Sagrado, Tengu b Átomo, Mije, Periquito Sacaryas
Mije replaced Chamuel on Tuesday morning.
3) Dark Magic, El Elemental, Yutani b Arlequín, Leo, Omar Brunetti
4) Hera, Olympia, Valkiria b La Catalina, Lluvia, Náutica
Valkiria defeated Lluvia and challenged for an OCCIDENTE WOMEN shot.
5) Espíritu Negro, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr. b Fantástico, Fugaz, Star Black [Relevos Increíbles]
Gallero beat Star Black and challenged for a MEX HEAVY shot.
6) Brillante Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Titán DQ Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
DQ for mask removal

Lots of matches set up for next week.

CMLL (FRI) 09/20/2024 Arena México
***Dia de Luchador, 2024***
1) Legendario & Rayo Metálico vs Alom & Infarto
2) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, El Hijo De Blue Panther vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider
3) Flip Gordon, Neón, Pelon Encapuchado vs Magnus, Rugido, Vegas
4) Atlantis Jr., Templario, Titán vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
5) Místico vs Averno [lightning]
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Valiente vs Esfinge, Euforia, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

A good looking Friday show. The main event is the usual mask match rematch; bet the house on Euforia defeating Hechicero. Mistico gets his most favorite opponent after a bad Friday. Rocky seems to be done for now, so no idea when/where the stuff with Flip will get followed up.

CMLL (SAT) 09/21/2024 Arena Coliseo
***Dia de Luchador, 2024***
1) KeMalito & Mije vs Átomo & Chamuel
2) Angelito vs Pierrothito [lightning]
3) Kira, La Catalina, Lluvia vs Persephone, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
4) Neón & Star Jr. vs Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr.
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Felino, Panterita del Ring vs Negro Navarro, Octagón, Pantera, Satánico [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Último Guerrero vs Averno, Soberano Jr., Templario [Relevos Increíbles]

Negro Navarro seemed to be telling people this past weekend that he was retiring. I haven’t seen a statement from him saying so, but this could be his final CMLL match. Match 4 could steal the show.

CMLL (SUN) 09/22/2024 Arena México
1) Hijo del Pantera & Hombre Bala Jr. vs Espanto Jr. & Felino Jr.
2) India Sioux, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard vs Dark Silueta, Hera, Reyna Isis
3) Difunto, Kráneo, Zandokan Jr. vs Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
4) Titán © vs Villano III Jr. [CMLL WELTER]
9th defense
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Flip Gordon, Neón vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Star Jr., Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Euforia, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Esfinge, Valiente, Volador Jr.

Villano III/Titan really makes me wish we had a Sunday live stream; it should air on AMX on 10/03.

CMLL (MON) 09/23/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & Black Tiger vs Prayer & Rencor
2) Arkalis & Rayo Metálico vs El Perverso & Multy
3) Rey Samuray & Xelhua vs Felino & Felino Jr.
4) Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. vs Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
5) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Hechicero vs Averno, Euforia, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Flip Gordon, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

Templario & Niebla Roja probably feud in the main event. The squad is back together in match four.

CMLL Informa has

• Hechicero & Euforia (Aniversario)
• Mistico (Aniversario, MLW)
• Octagon, Atlantis, Pantera, Felino (Dia de Luchador)
• KeMalito (????)
• Zeuxis (title win)
• Sanely (ruda?)

The CMLL Micros championship is vacant, with Micro Gemelo Diablo I’s jump to AAA. The KeMalito bit could be about CMLL addressing that situation.

In the old days, Mistico would speak his mind when things weren’t going well, often not staying on CMLL message. Mistico is a persistently positive person in this go-around, but I am intrigued to see how they talk about last Friday. I expect we’ll get a Hechicero injury update.

CMLL Informa will also probably announce the final matches for Noche de Campeones on 09/27, as determined by fan voting. When I checked this morning, the voting was:

• Atlantis Jr. defending against Soberano Jr. [NWA LH]
• Templario defending against Volador Jr. [CMLL MIDDLE]
• Futuro defending against Rayo Metalico [MEX LIGHT]
• Reyna Isis defending against Sanely [MEX WOMEN]
• Magnus & Rudio defending against Los Villanos [MEX TAG]
• Mascara Dorada, Neon, and Star Jr. defending against Los Infernales [MEX TRIOS]
• Ultimo Dragoncito defending against Pierrothito [CMLL MINI]

It’ll take a big last minute effort to change any of these matches. I haven’t dug into the exact voting totals, but almost all of these are blowouts by percentage. Calavera Jr. I is the only person who’s within 10% of the leader in their category. Akuma used to be a slam dunk in these fan voting, and that appears to have waned. Sanely got votes in part because of her current character and may be a ruda by the time that match happens.

Back when control of CMLL shifted from Sofia Alonso to Salvador Lutteroth III, I and others noted that there was an issue with the CMLL trademarks. For whatever purpose, all of them had been filed in Paco Alonso’s name, not the promotion, and so they passed to someone who was had been pushed out of CMLL. Lutteroth, using the promotion name “PROMOCIONES MÉXICO, COLISEO Y REVOLUCIÓN, S.C.”, filed for those same trademarks in attempt to resolve that issue. I was checking around in the database for other info, and I noticed that action seems to have at least partly succeeded. All of the Alonso trademarks with “CMLL” in them are now “En Tramite” (the trademark office has received them, hasn’t approved them, can be here forever) and the only CMLL trademarks approved are Lutteroth controlled. Some of the Lutteroth trademarks are new ones; some look like they were transferred from Alonso’s account. There’s still a bunch that neither side has control of, but any concern about the name seems a thing of the pass. It’s impossible to know if this resulted from a legal battle or if the two parties worked it out themselves.

CMLL/Lutteroth’s most recent trademarks are for Kira, Tengu, Al Filo de la Butaca, Esto es Lucha,  and “Salon de la Fama CMLL Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre.” None of these have been approved, but that process moves at strange speeds. Kira had the weird name change; it looks like CMLL tried to get both Andromeda and Esterllita Lagunera and those were equally stuck. Al Filo de la Butaca means “On the Edge of your Seat”, and the filing description makes it sound like the name of a TV program. Esto es Lucha is the name of the CMLL podcast. The Salon de la Fama (Hall of Fame) was filed this month. Many of CMLL’s trademark applications have changed their email contact from a generic Hotmail address to the contact email of a IP legal firm in Mexico City.

On CMLL’s booking

Last Friday, I recapped a podcast where SuperLuchas’ Ernesto Ocampo said he believed Julio Cesar Rivera, not Panico, should be considered as CMLL’s booker in the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Booker” meaning. I’ve got feedback from an informed source to that recap, which has a slightly different story. One of their objections is the idea that Panico is not around CMLL much; the other version has Panico around CMLL once a week. That’s a sort of difference where both versions could be saying the same thing, but they just wanted it clear Panico is still a regular. Why that bit is important is because it’s a piece of how CMLL shows are run and why the creative stuff is a mystery. Each weekly show has a CMLL backstage person in charge. (Panico is still in charge, about once a week.) I’m going to call them an “agent” because that’s the old US term, and the responsibility is similar; I don’t know exactly what they call them in CMLL. The agent is responsible for making sure the wrestling portion of show gets off without a hitch, including communicating results to the wrestlers. The agent isn’t making those decisions; they’ve been given those decisions in advance, and they’re the middleman handing out orders. The agents are not allowed to change the results themselves; they must call (or text) someone higher in the food chain with more power if an issue arises. Who are they calling? Well, the agents know, but it might as well be the Wizard of Oz for the wrestlers. They don’t know who is behind that curtain, which is also probably why we don’t know who is behind that curtain. The real purpose of the agents is to ensure the wrestlers have no direct way of complaining to the creative on the day of the show. It also makes those agents the most important to the wrestlers; they need the agents to like them enough to argue their case.

My best guess is that Jose Luis Feliciano is answering the agents’ phone calls, but no one’s quite sure. That buffer and mystery is the intention. It’s also possible that someone like Feliciano is making those snap decisions while someone like Julio Cesar Rivera (or more people) contributes to the company’s long-term direction. Salvador Lutteroth (III) is also part of the process. He’s not the booker either, but he has his ideas about who’s good and who’s he believes will attract fans, and those ideas do make it into the product. Like any owner, any really big idea with the company has to get his approval. It’s not one singular person. These categories really shouldn’t be person-specific in general; the idea of one single person making all the creative decisions without influence from others died out with the territories. The more accurate answer to “Who books CMLL?” for that award is probably best put as “CMLL”, as unsatisfying as that would be.

AAA

Hijo del Vikingo did not return to wrestling Tuesday night in Arena Aficion. He appeared at the show to explain he wasn’t medically cleared. Murder Clown replaced him, though Psicosis also was added to the match so they could do another Abismo/Psicosis break up. I had thought Vikingo would be added to a lot of Independence Day shows if he was returning on this date, but I should’ve thought about it the other way: taking only one isolated show in a flood of shows meant he optimistically took that date early and then stopped taking more dates once he wasn’t going to make it. The promotion hadn’t really pushed Vikingo’s return on the show, which seemed like weird Mexican promoting but they might have known it wasn’t actually happening and didn’t feel like updating the poster (another aspect of weird Mexican promoting.)

It’s great that Vikingo’s taking medical advice seriously and is not rushing back early. It would be better if he was healthy enough to return. The next known Vikingo booking (in my incomplete) is the September 29th TV taping.

(AEW’s 2024 program has a lot of active people and some people who have been out for a long time, like Keith Lee, Kota Ibushi, and Penelope Ford. Hijo del Vikingo isn’t in that program. That may mean something, or that may just be a weird merchandise rights issue with AAA.)

The main event of that Arena Aficion show was Mascara 2000, defeating Oriental for his hair. Mascara was always a bigger star than Oriental, so it was not a surprising outcome, but a 66-year-old man picking up hair wins still feels off. It didn’t draw—not the hair match, not the Vikingo return.

Record reports Karis La Momia Jr. is now retiring from wrestling completely. Karis had previously said he left AAA and would be coming up with a non-AAA gimmick but had indicated he’d still continue in wrestling. Maybe he really meant it when he didn’t want to just follow in his father’s footsteps and decided to do something else, or maybe he’s 23 and made a decision he’ll undo later. Record says Karis is one of “13 recognized children of La Parka.” 13 is a considerable number itself, even without throwing the loaded “recognized” adjective in there.

Today’s silly gossip is a random commenter on a Latin Lover Facebook Live claimed he saw Sanson and Forastero near Arena Mexico. That’s about nothing. Latin Lover reacted along the lines of “well, if they go they go, they’ll do good wherever”, which would be meaningful if came from someone who didn’t just say a lot of stuff without thinking about it too much. Latin Lover also said wrestlers are allowed to go where they want, which appears to be the actual situation. Forastero says this story is nothing, saying they were in that area but visiting people and picking up masks. Arena Mexico tends to be a gathering spot for Mexico City based luchadors, both in CMLL and not. I can tell you some non-CMLL wrestlers in the front row of one of CMLL’s shows this past week; it’s expected to see them around, and it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I presume NGD would have difficulty getting back into CMLL (even beyond the Vaquer/Cuatrero situation), but it’s probably also irrelevant.

Today’s other gossip bit is WWE uploading the When Worlds Collide Octagon & Hijo del Santo versus Eddy Guerrero & Art Barr match on their WWE vault match. That event – an AAA show produced by WCW and now owned by WWE – is always a bit of a legal grey area, but WWE’s included it on a best of Eddie Guerrero DVD set and other releases in the past. This is a good bit if you’re deep in the Mexican wrestling space and are grasping for signs of an AAA/WWE relationship, but I don’t think it means much in that way. The video is introduced by Dominic Mysterio, whose current look is obviously influenced by Los Gringos Locos of that time.

That WWC match is the one Mexican wrestling match that got attention from the US tape traders through the 90s. There were other AAA matches nearly as good, maybe better, but they were in Spanish, and so they didn’t get passed around as much as the one that had a WCW crew explaining it. The Aniversario mask match is getting highly praised and is being seen by a lot of people (some of whom have paid for it), but there will always be another level to reach by making good Mexican wrestling available in more languages.

AAA visited with Casa de la Amistad.

El Hijo del Santo

Record’s El Planchitas had an hour-long interview with El Hijo del Santo. He’s done so many of these but I at least skimmed through this to see if there was anything new. There was some stuff. El Hijo del Santo says the Todo x el Todo tour names came from him sitting down and making a list of wrestlers he thought might be independent who he wanted to get involved. He mentions Dr. Wagner Jr. as one name he thought might be an AAA guy, but Wagner assured him he’s not under AAA contract. I’m sure this is a true story is for some of the names; I’m a bit skeptical he came up with Misterioso and Therius in his list. Santo says he would’ve liked to book Negro Casas, Blue Panther, and Ultimo (I think Guerrero), but the problem with wrestlers is they like to be chained to companies and those guys weren’t available. Santo feels AAA and CMLL deciding to work together – and letting their wrestlers work wherever they wanted – would improve the state of lucha libre. Santo believes a national commission of lucha libre should exist, but he doesn’t want any part of doing that work. They start to go through a list of the biggest ticket sellers in the last few decades, and El Hijo del Santo argues Super Muneco is underrated as a draw at his peak. He praises Ciclon Ramirez  Jr. as a young wrestler with skills.

Santo goes over some tour dates; the Puebla one with no lineup is still on the list, though he also skips over some with lineups. He’s still insistent he wants to go the Japan and the US, but he doesn’t want to make too many plans in case he gets hurt and can’t fulfill dates. Santo says the tickets for the show are selling very well. Both Superboletos and word on the ground suggest that’s not accurate. El Hijo del Santo goes over the tour schedule three or four times, making sure that the venues get out as much as the cities. Mano Negra will be the lead referee for the shows, who he insists will call it straight and not be characters.

El Hijo del Santo is, of course, asked about working for CMLL and AAA and explains he won’t work with them because of something he likes to call “dignity”. He feels both promotions threw him out on the street, asking the interviewer how he would feel if Record threw him out if he asked for a raise or disagreed with something they were doing. El Hijo del Santo says he didn’t like AAA because he didn’t like the men versus women or men versus minis matches, and they also didn’t pay him. Santo claims he came up with the Leyenda de Plata tournament, CMLL trademarked it behind his back and then started to block him with promoters when he got angry about it. (The Leyenda de Plata story has come up before, though trademark records show it was Santo’s side who had it trademarked first.) He says he loves Mistico a lot and feels CMLL messed with plans for them to be a tag team on outside shows by lying to promoters about his availability. Santo explains that returning to either is like a bad romantic relationship; he’s broken up with these groups, and he knows it would never work if he went back. He’s asked if he believes he wants to wrestle in Arena Mexico one more time before returning, and Santo says he had great memories from that building, bringing up his late 90s feuds (Scorpio Jr. & Bestia Salvaje name-checked) and trained there when he was started out. Still, he has no dreams or interest in returning. If he were to wrestle anywhere in Mexico City for his retirement match, he’d like it to be at the Plaza de Toros. The interviewer touches on this later – isn’t the Arena Ciudad de Mexico date supposed to be the last Mexico City show? Santo explains that’s the current plan, there’s no guarantee he’ll do a retirement match in Mexico City, just an idea. El Hijo del Santo expands on his reoccurring yarn about why the mask match with Blue Demon Jr. never happened: they feuded and had some great technical matches, never brawls, but they once talked on a plane and decided the lucha libre world would be too sad if one or the other were unmasked. It would be wrong to do it. Santo also admits that his relationship with Blue Demon Jr. fractured and ended. He says it was for reasons outside of wrestling; he respects Demon, but they don’t talk. Santo treats his problems with Demon on the same level as he has with CMLL and AAA and says that he’s learned he must remove toxic people from his life. “It’s better to be alone than around bad company.”

El Hijo del Santo says he’s worked on himself in therapy for the last 42 years. “Mr. Guzman” and El Hijo del Santo have agreed that it is time for El Hijo del Santo to leave the ring, though he has all sorts of ideas of non-wrestling ways to continue the character. Most of it is the usual bit, but el Hijo del Samto mentions that he recorded conversations with his father in college about his career, which have never been released. He’s thinking about putting those out. El Hijo del Santo believes his father would adore his wife Gabriela if she was alive, because she’s done a lot to protect the Santo brand – trademarks, coming up with the store, getting the wax statue of Santo at the store, getting the statue of Santo in Tepito. Santo said he’d made good money working with the national lottery and would spend it on a car (a Jaguar!), but Gabriela said no – it makes him a kidnapping risk. She said he should buy a gift for his father instead. Hijo del Santo was confused about why he’d buy a Jaguar for his deceased father, but she explained the statue idea to him, and he was blown away. Santo notes she’s the ruda of the family, but in a way where she’s looking out for him. Gabriela has that rep among Mexican wrestling people, though they don’t see it as favorably as Santo does.

Cerebro Negro says it’s a great honor to open this show on Sunday. Besides his son Cerebro Negro Jr., he mentions his daughter is the luchadora Sinapsis.

IWRG

IWRG (MON) 09/16/2024 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del RIng, IWRG]
1) Drakula Ng, Felino Boy, Príncipe Centauro, Sacro, Shamila, Sky Man b Fauno, Kali, Rey Astaroth, Rey Halcón, Súper Boy, Tornado [Copa High Power]
2) Multifacetico Jr. © b Cerebro Negro Jr. [IWRG IC WELTER]
3) Aquila, Luka, Spider Fly DRAW Abigor, Hysteriosis, Rock Power
Rock Power gave Spider Fly a martinete.
4) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba b Arez, Látigo, Toxin
5) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. DQ Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool and Medico Brujo, Ovett Jr., Sick Boy
Pigs unmasked Pandemonium
6) DMT Azul, Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus b Hijo del Fishman, Vangellys, Vengador

In the tercera, Rock Power gave Spider Fly a martinete. Spider Fly was taken to the hospital. IWRG says Rock Power is suspended indefinitely. They’re trying to play this up as a real injury, but I presume it’s part of the Fake Spider Fly (or maybe Clone Spider Fly) saga.

IWRG (THU) 09/19/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Oriental & Shamila vs Fauno & Kali
2) Calibus vs Avisman
3) Multifacetico Jr. & Tornado vs Hysteriosis & Rey Halcón
4) Aquiles vs Noisy Boy, Bendito, Águila Roja
5) Hell Boy & Hijo de Canis Lupus © vs Jessy Ventura & Mamba [IWRG IC TAG]
first defense

Other Notes

Sinaloa luchador El Tigre del Ring (Francisco Montero Cota, 99) passed away Monday. He worked as a wrestler, referee, and promoter. The debate bio lists him as the Mexican National Welterweight champion in 1968. My records have that title being held by Humberto Garza and Alberto Munoz. Sinaloa is a region where with little information from that period, maybe there was a title change we didn’t know about, but I have no records of one outside this mention.

Ernesto Ocampo mentioned Tauro (Antonio Grimaldo Martinez) passed away as I was finishing up. I’d like come back to write about him Friday with more time; he was not a big star, but he’s a guy who’s name I saw a lot reading through 70s magazines so it feels like I was seeing him a couple of years ago.

Tribuna de Queretaro has a long interview with Queretaro’s Dragon de Oriente I. He was the original Rey Cometa; he wanted to be Cometa Halley as an astronomy fan, but went with the different name in fear of being rejected. He (Raul), his brother and his friend (Marcelino) went to the commission to get their name changed approved when they decided to become Los Dragones del Oriente. Marcelino came up with the idea but the commission decided to make Raul #1.

The KeMonito short documentary debuts on Netflix (in Latin America only) on Thursday.

Latin Lover’s podcast had promoters Nacho de la O (The Crash), Alonso Botello (KAOZ), and Arturo Serna (Panther) to talk about the ups and downs of the wrestling business. The Crash you may already know, KAOZ runs like three shows a year if even, Panther runs weekly or close to weekly in Reynosa. There is a speedy summary in this post. They praise La Parka (AAA) and Mistico as the best ticket sellers, and Botello and Serna call Penta the most overvalued wrestler. Nacho disagreed with them, saying Penta’s always been good for him in Tijuana. Serna said Penta and Psycho cost the most, and everyone agreed it is actually Hijo del Santo who costs the most but he’s not worth the cost so he sort of costs nothing because no one wants to pay him. Botello and Serna praise Komander as someone good to work with.

The city of Juarez held a press conference to talk about the Lucha Libre festival on Sunday. It runs from noon to midnight; I counted 31 matches on between the two posters. Komander versus the Beast Mortos is listed as the main event, though the last four matches are listed in a way where any of them might be it. They’ll have a tribute to Eddie Guerrero on the show, with Vickie in attendance.

Longtime weekly Veracruz promotion UVLL announced they’re closing down this Sunday. They’ve been running that place for 15 years, since 2009, pretty much every Sunday. The promoter talked about the closing and the history they have there, but hasn’t given a story about what happened (outside of saying it’s for bad reasons.) Some of their fans are hoping it’s just a change of location as a surprise. Stephanie Vaquer sent in a video to promote the show; she wrestled there in a lot in 2014 when she moved from Chile and she and Ricky Marvin were living in his hometown of Veracruz. She’sthe most famous person to come out of that arena.