Tiger Mask in CMLL, Pagano out hurt?, Tonalli leaving IWRG

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/01/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Diaro Basta, Excelsior, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores]
1) Fuego b Diamond [lightning]    
7:42
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa    
7:50. Straight falls, Disturbio used the ropes to beat Dulce. Hair match challenges followed again.
3) La Catalina, La Jarochita, Lluvia b Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis    
11:48. Catalina submitted Vaquer in their first meeting with Catalina as a tecnica.
4) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible © b Averno, Euforia, Mephisto [CMLL TRIOS]    
14:43. 2nd defense. Cavernario submited Averno. Cavernario said he’d keep his singles title, then go after Averno’s hair.
5) Tiger Mask DQ Último Guerrero   
8:24. Liger and Gran Guerrero were seconds and both interfered in sight of Edgar. Ultimo Guerrero got a pin off a foul, but Edgar then called the DQ and gave the win to Tiger Mask.
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico b Gran Guerrero, Soberano Jr., Templario   
14:43.

The main event was what you’d hope for with those guys in a main event position on a random show. The rest of the show wasn’t really much. The trios match was alright at best but didn’t really click. The other trios matches were forgettable. Tiger Mask somehow looked better against Magnus in Japan than he has in any of his Mexico matches, and they did a lot of non-CMLL things in that just to get through it (and to pay of including Liger.)

Treating Tiger Mask as a towering legend did seem to pay off at the ticket booth. This had a bigger than usual turnout, well over 10K, and Tiger Mask is really the only special thing on this show.

Cholo may have fractured his nose in the match; he’ll get evaluated for surgery. This is a weird sentence to type: “Cholo is an important person in CMLL at the moment and it would be a problem if he were out for a significant amount of time.” They need the full Indestructibles for whatever’s going on with this trios feud but the destination probably isn’t for a month at least.

CMLL (SAT) 03/02/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Grako b Retro [lightning]
2) Amapola & Tiffany DQ La Guerrera & La Maligna
Excessive violence towards Maligna (who was on her feet to get her arm raised, so not sure how much excessive violence there was)
3) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Astral, Futuro, Robin
4) Difunto, Raider, Vegas b Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma
Difunto beat Maya, challenged for a MEX MIDDLE shot
5) Brillante Jr., Neón, Valiente b Felino, Rey Bucanero, Sagrado
6) Flip Gordon, Místico, Tiger Mask b Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr.

The title match seemed to change from Raider to Difunto, but both sound interesting. Coliseo drew big, which again seems due to Tiger Mask (and CMLL’s marketing of him) if there’s a reason at all.

CMLL (SUN) 03/03/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Fantasy & Pequeño Olímpico b Acero & Aéreo
Fantasy replaced Mercurio
2) Felino Jr. b Valiente Jr. [lightning]
3) Dark Panther, El Hijo De Blue Panther, Volcano b Crixus, Kráneo, Misterioso Jr.
4) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
Cancerberos won – clean! Still, challenges followed.
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black b Felino, Gemelo Diablo II, Hechicero
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Tiger Mask DQ Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Templario
Gran Guerrero unmasked Tiger Mask for the DQ.

Tiger Mask finishes up on Monday in Puebla.

Magnus’ participation on the AEW PPV was more or less you’d expect: he got in his three best spots, he got in one really notable teamwork spot (stereo Lionsaults with Chris Jericho), he sold a lot and he didn’t figure in the finish. He did fine for what the role was. Someone like Mascara Dorada might have stood out more, but it would’ve been tough to make a big impression in that match because there was so much stuff in that match.

CMLL came up briefly in the post match press conference. Tony Khan was asked if the CMLL/AEW talent sharing would eventually include female talent, and specifically Stephanie Vaquer. Khan said CMLL women would be included, and said he’d specifically asked “Salvador” about bringing her in. (It’s unusual, at least to Mexican wrestling ears, to hear any Lutteroth referred to on a first name basis.) Khan also said AEW was “very happy” with the CMLL relationship.

CMLL (TUE) 03/05/2024 Arena México
1) Fantasy, Galaxy, Shockercito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Astral, Capitán Suicida, Diamond vs Dr. Karonte I, Grako, Inquisidor
3) Fuego & Hombre Bala Jr. vs El Coyote & Pólvora
4) Brillante Jr., Futuro, Neón vs Crixus, Hijo del Villano III, Raider
5) Flip Gordon, Star Jr., Titán vs Hechicero, Magnus, Zandokan Jr.
6) Místico & Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro & Soberano Jr.

A little bit more loaded Tuesday show, since none of the men are booked for Friday. Magnus is the semi-main sticks out, though there’s no other rudo CMLL would normally put ahead of him. Maybe he and Villano might switch spots, but it’s not a sure thing.

CMLL , DELKING (SUN) 05/12/2024 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) Black Spider Jr. vs Gemelo Tapia, Hijo Del Astro
2) Granada vs Alberto Rios
3) King Rex & Prometeo vs Charro Blanco & Charro Negro
4) Esfinge & Star Black vs Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II
5) Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis vs La Catalina & Lluvia
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto

This is a weird one. Local promoters do bring wrestlers to Monterrey from time to time, but running AAA’s TV venue is something else. AAA’s blocked others who’ve tried to run this building since started taping here. I’m amazed this one got approved and I figure it’ll be quietly canceled or moved. Someone was at least aware of the conflict to use Lucha Time guys but not the ones who’ve already worked AAA tapings. This build is an important relationship for AAA, it’s going to be about a 1/6th of their TV tapings this year as sold shows.

Mistico, Hechicero, Stephanie Vaquer, Atlantis Jr. and Atlantis are announced for RevPro’s FantasticaMania UK. US visa problems aren’t UK visa problems. RevPro is also better at knowing who are the good people to bring in from CMLL and bring them in. Except Atlantis. I would not be bringing Atlantis overseas to wrestle two matches in one day.

AAA

Not a lot extra on TV that wasn’t evident from the handhelds. Dinamico is back to doing generic promos (he pitched a feud against Drago since they were wrestling that night.) There was a generic Psycho Circus promo too. The matches that aired were the two good undercard ones and the main event, so the show happened to close with Arez, Latigo and Toxin getting laid out by Alberto and Vampiro.

There’s no official word on those three wrestlers yet. They did appear as scheduled in RIOT, and Arez took the mic to say this would be the last time the fans hear them used the catchphrase “the Vipers have arrived.”

Toxin was listed on an AAA spot show in Puebla on Sunday, teaming with Abismo and Psicosis to defend the trios titles. Argenis ended up replacing Toxin, though the trios titles weren’t on the line (and the match had no finish.) Show was said to draw well.

Pagano posted a video of himself in the hospital, and another one of him in left shoulder sling. Pagano seemed to suffer a shoulder injury during his match with Aereo on the 18th, but it’s tough to tell how serious things are with Pagano always and he’s wrestled since. He cites that match as the cause for the injury and it sounds like he’s just tried to wrestle through it until he could no longer. He was scheduled to wrestle in Delicias, Chihuahua last night, so maybe it gave out then. Pagano says the doctors have told him to stop, and I didn’t catch him giving a specific length of how long he’ll be out. Pagano is currently scheduled to challenge NGD for the tag team titles with Psycho Clown on Saturday night’s AAA TV taping. The main event still has Vikingo advertised in it.

BIG LUCHA

Big Lucha World (FRI) 03/01/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Mania Cop & Piraña b Golden Dragón & Helios 
9:53
2) Cometa Maya & Morfosis b Skayler & Visionario and Mr. Win & Tirano 
10:40
3) Atómico Jr., Auzter, Black Skayde, Brujo b Elipse, Iku, Orbita, Vengador 
13:46. Atomico Jr., Auzter and Black Skayde are an unnamed unit (they weren’t great friends with Brujo.) Dito was not with Lokos Evans. Challenges followed. Atomico Jr. and Elipse had issues after the match, with Atomico ripping off Elipse’s mask.
4) Big Tao Tao & Skayde b Emperador Azteca & Platino 
15:46
5) El Potro de Oro, Flamita, Jack Evans b Caballero de Plata, Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan 
15:45. Jack and Flamita had issues. Ricky Marvin broke up a Pirata pin on Flamita, Flamita beat Pirata moments later. Flamita set up singles match with himself and Jack, and Pirata and Marvin for the title. Big Lucha announced it’d be an all singles match show next Friday, also with Platino/Skayde, Potro/Caballero and Emperador Azteca/Ciclon.

The matches were all generally good but also all feeling the same-ish. Even Tao Tao dropped a lot of his power stuff to do lesser flyer stuff. All singles matches is a different gimmick.

IWRG

An odd night for lucha libre result reporting on Sunday. Mas Lucha took the night off. All the other sites I usually check for Naucalpan didn’t do much Sunday either. I though IWRG didn’t post results either – nothing on Twitter or Facebook – but I stumbled across them on Instagram. Still, those are only partial and there’s always changes on shows like this – Puma de Oro won the FILL cibernetico and he wasn’t in the lineup. The IWRG stream itself jumped around a bit in the first couple of matches. I have very bare bones stuff here but I’m certain there’s errors.

(That Lady’s Ring Lucha Fiesta show from a couple of weeks ago is a pretty low tier show for a Japanese show and even it had easy to find listings of who wrestled, who won each match, and how. It’s a cultural thing, Japanese promotions do that because Japanese promotions are expected to it, but it’s worth reflecting how the smallest of Japanese groups come of as more professional in that way than any Mexican promotion.)

The big news from the show was Tonalli announcing he was leaving IWRG. He retained the RGR Middleweight title over Cerbero Negro, then said his IWRG contract had ended and he was leaving on good terms. IWRG said Tonalli was going independent, Tonalli’s speech seemed like he was going somewhere full time. (If he’s looking for most professionalism, he definitely isn’t going independent.) Maybe he shows back up in CMLL, I’m not 100% certain.

Other News

Violent People has a round up of matches they liked from the lucha indies in February.

El Hijo del Santo’s first match in Xalapa in ten years look to have sold out Arena Xalapa. This is billed as part of a retirement tour, but there’s not even a tease of when or where it might finish up; it feels more acknowledging the reality that he’s almost done.

Shows this weekend had a wrestler named “Extreme Liger”, which seemed notable the same weekend actual Liger was coming to Mexico. It looks like little connection; the Extreme Liger gear isn’t anything like the Japanese guy. The name is obviously inspired but otherwise it appears unrealed. Might just be an Extreme Tiger protégé, since they teamed all weekend.

A profile of Sonora luchador Arcangel de la Luz. He says he started training wrestling at 15 years old to impress a girlfriend.

A profile of Mexico City luchador Centellita Azul.