CMLL (SUN) 03/03/2013 Arena Coliseo [@therealfredo, CMLL, ProWresBlog]
1) Apocalipsis & Inquisidor b Freesbe & Oro Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Acero, Pequeño Halcón, Shockercito b Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pequeño Warrior
Pequeno Halcon made his return, replacing Bam Bam. Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Diamante, Rey Cometa, Sagrado b Puma, Sangre Azteca, Vangelis
Tecnicos took 2/3, Cometa Sagrado submitting Sangre Azteca.
4) Misterioso Jr. b Tritón [lightning]
Misterioso avoided the face breaking tornillo and beat Triton with a Gori Driver in 7:55.
5) Namajague & Shigeo Okumura b Fuego & Stuka Jr. [Arena Coliseo TAG]
Namajague & Okumura took the first. Stuka & Fuego rallied to take the second. Okumura pinned Fuego with a German suplex and Stuka pinned Okumura to bring it to Stuka & Namajague for the titles. Stuka had Namajague beat with the torpedo splash, but the ref stopped counting to tell Okumura to get off the apron, then stopped counting again when Fuego protested the first stoppage. Okumura snuck in that time and kicked Stuka in the head. Stuka picked up Namajague again for fireman’s drop, but Namajague reversed it to a crucifix for the win. New champions! Fiebre Amarilla are the 3rd modern champions (and 1st to actually beat the past champions.) Stuka and Fuego fall in their 9th defense, after five years of holding the belts. Stuka yelled at referee Bestia Negra after the match, telling him he was bad at his job and his shoulders weren’t down (which was the case.)
6) Averno, Dragón Rojo Jr., Mr. Niebla b Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Mistico
Rudos took 1/3, cleanly beating Mistico in the third. Crowd booed Mistico again.
There’s some irony in Stuka losing a big match in Arena Coliseo despite his shoulders not being down; that’s how he beat Jeque in their mask match back in 2007. (That time seemed like the ref counted three ‘too soon’, which this seems like the planned finish.) There seemed to be a point in the Stuka/Fuego title reign where it was bad having them as champions; they didn’t team much outside of their title feuds and seemed to be too be paradoxically too high on the card to have them and thus not right to lose them. The championship seem to grow into the champions the last couple few years; they felt like rare CMLL titles that actually meant something, not just an excuse to have a match. I’m not sure what the future of the titles are from here – if Namajague is going home soon, then there’d be two CMLL tag championships marooned in CMLL with no obvious return date if another title match is quickly scheduled. It’s possible they could be vacated for yet another tournament (though since Super Comando will be out six weeks with rib injuries, maybe wait to hold it for seven weeks.)
If you think Mistico II is a fantastic idea, then you must not believe what they’re doing to him. He’s desperately in need of a rehabilitation, not a third fall loss. There was a point where we thought he was headed to a mask match with Mephisto on the Anniversario show. Not only does that seem outlandish at the moment, but there doesn’t seem to be any particular plan for him at all. Maybe they’re just killing time until something happens are H2L, but there’s no point in bringing back Mistico to just kill time. They know enough not to do that with Thunder, which might say something about where Mistico ranks in 2013.
IWRG (SUN) 03/03/2013 Arena Naucalpan [me, people who got to see the finish of the main event]
1) Avisman & Imposible b Alan Extreme & Mr. Leo
Alan Extreme replaced Freelance. Avisman & Impossible took falls 2/3 the last when Alan Extreme decided he had enough of the tecnico thing and turned on Mr. Leo.
2) Chico Che, Dinamic Black, Saruman b Dave The Clown, Niko, Rothen Clown
Saruman replaced Hijo del Pantera (who had said he would not return in 2013.) Team Chico Che took falls 2/3 to win. Fans threw money in on a match that was not that good.
3) Apolo Estrada Jr., Eita, Tomahawk b Centvrión, Dr. Cerebro, Pantera
Rudos took 2/3.
4) Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Super Astro, Veneno b Eterno, Scorpio, X-Fly
Super Astro replaced Negro Navarro, Asrto’s first match here since November. Tecnicos took 1/3, the last one a quick one.
5) Oficial 911 b Trauma II, el Ángel [losers advance]
911 beat Trauma II with a Gori Special and Angel with a layout chestbreaker.
6) Trauma II b el Ángel [mask]
Angel worked more as a rudo thru the match. Both masks were ripped, Angel’s face mostly exposed. Single match went about 9 minutes. 911 got involved at the end, attacking Trauma II and throwing him in, but Trauma II submitted Angel to an armbar to win. Angel was unmasked as Oscar Omar Puentes, 20 years a wrestler, 35 years old, and the former Oscar Sevilla.
El Ángel se llama Oscar Omar Puentes con 20 Años de luchador y 35 de Edad. twitter.com/terceracaida/s…
— Tercera Caída (@terceracaida) March 4, 2013
As Rob pointed out, Angel was created as an AAA answer to Mistico. He was one of many luchadors created in the same mold by various companies during Mistico’s peak and never really got going as much as AAA would’ve hoped. Still, he managed to keep the character going for a long time thru this successful run in IWRG. He’s still middleweight champion and probably isn’t disappearing, but I think everything’s that was down with Angel since he started appearing regularly last year was to get to this point (of Angel losing his mask), and it seemed to work. Crowd was way up in Arena Naucalpan, probably the best non-AAA TV taping attendance they’ve had their since the last Traumas mask match. That building and Arena Coliseo Monterrey (just to pick two we see on TV a fair amount) look near vacant some weeks, but the fans will definitely show up if they believe a match is big enough. Those two fanbases just seem to have quite different ideas of what a big match is (or IWRG has put years into guys the fans are willing to believe in, and Monterrey is far more chaotic.)
CMLL (SUN) 03/03/2013 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [@acogdl]
1) Brillante & Meteoro b Relampago Azul & Thunder Boy
Rudos took 2/3.
2) Halcón de Plata, Metatrón, Smaker b Évola, Exterminador, Gran Kenut
Tecnicos took 1/3. Kenut’s first match here since September.
3) El Alteño & León Blanco b Espectrum & Infierno
Rematch from the previous Sunday. Tecnicos took 2/3, Alteno beating Infierno. The two agreed to a mask match next week.
4) Ángel de Oro & Delta b Niebla Roja & Tiger
Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Pólvora b Máscara Dorada [CMLL WELTER]
Polovra took falls 2/3 to keep the title. Polvora’s third defense. Fans threw money in.
¡Blue Demon Jr. aparece en el Domo de San Luis Potosí! #AAASinLímite twitter.com/Lucha_Libre_AA…
— Lucha Libre AAA (@Lucha_Libre_AAA) March 4, 2013
The big news from today’s AAA taping is a third announced match for Rey de Reyes. Texano’s open challenge offer led to a quick defense over Zumbi, but he was soon interrupted by another challenger – Blue Demon Jr. It’s been 8 years since Blue Demon’s been in AAA (and since it was the gap the current creative team wasn’t around for, it’s never happened!), and Demon’s been off winning NWA and US heavyweight titles in the mean time. The title match was immediately made for Rey de Reyes. This is a pretty good deal; Demon as challenger will get the show some special press and maybe a few more tickets than any regular AAA challenger at this point, Texano beating Demon would mean something, and Texano’s more likely to get a clean (or cleaner) win over Demon than the regular AAA guys. Demon probably gets a nice payday and definitely gets to look like an important star on a national TV program, so this is a win for him. Rest of the card should be announced Monday.
Blue Demon was listed on 04/14 Lucha Libre USA lineup. My guess is Demon’s in for Rey de Reyes and not a long term spot – Demon’s part of a tour for the dancing show he was on, he’s got enough to do where he doesn’t need to be tied to AAA – and he’d still be available to LLUSA. Given the acrimonious history between AAA & LLUSA, anything could be possible.
The other news from the show is the continued lack of Octagon Jr. Angelico took his spot (and Nino Hamburguesa took his in the opener.) Samuray had posted on Twitter he would not be making the show this afternoon, so some slight progress on that front. His upcoming show calender lists him in for Rey de Reyes, though comments by Dorian on Twitter did not seem positive. Octagon Jr. seems on it’s way to becoming a “El Animal” like inside joke for the luchadorks, so here’s a good place to point out he might have only made 1 TV appearance so far, but he did make two other appearances: in Tijuana and Ensenada the middle of last month.
Maybe the Octagon Jr. bit will making a surprising recovery and we’ll all be laughing about this rough start later, but it kind of feels like something that ought to be wrote off for now. In the short term, Octagon Jr. not being there matters a lot less than Blue Demon actually being there. There’s a bigger picture problem question here; the mythical AAA US project appears to include a plan where part of the roster is AAA Mexico guys brought in, and part of the roster are US indy guys. If AAA can’t get one indy guy given a big spot to show up to their shows when promised, how is going to work when they have a roster of ’em? The quality names they’ve been talking about bringing in are going to have the same busy schedules/other opportunities as Samurai, and they’re less likely to have grown up watching lucha or having as strong an affinity for it.
(The counter point is they’ve done alright with Jack – the world just needs more Jack Evans.)
Psycho Clowns kept the trios titles over Consejo. Cibernetico chokeslammed and pinned Perro Aguayo Jr. clean in the main event, so whatever’s happening there seems to be still happening. Full post when AAA posts their recap and probably a lineup post soon after.
Judging from the pictures, the scheduled Villano IV & Hijo del Santo vs Hijo del Solitario & Angel Blanco Jr match went off without a hitch, or at least without any problems arising from the real life issues between the Villanos and Santo. Black Terry Jr. has video of a fight between the main event teams after the match. Another channel has an interview with Hijo del Santo that I’ve got no time to watch.
DTU has announced shows for 03/26 (Arena Aficion), 03/29 (Queretaro), 03/30 (Tulancingo) and 03/31 (TBA).
A polling service says lucha libre is the fifth most popular sport in Mexico. The order goes soccer, boxing, basketball, baseball, lucha libre (last 3 within 5% of each other), american football, auto racing, chess (?!?) and tennis.
A TV station in Saltillo and Arena Pavillon del Norte announced a new reality show where 15 local luchadors will compete for 50,000 pesos and ‘a spot in either CMLL or AAA’. (The first reference only says CMLL, the second says both, and I’d guess it’d more likely a spot in a training class if it’s anything at all. The show is called “1 2 3…Estas Fuera” and premieres Thursday. The network actually has an online feed, but I can’t find an air time.
LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update and a remembrance of the start of Titanes el Ring.
Rob has highlights of mid August 2002 CMLL and early March 2012 Puebla.
Lucha Libre in Germany
Super Crazy b Masada (CZW) [24 Karat Tournament, eigthfinal]
Jonathan Gresham b Ricky Marvin [24 Karat Tournament, eigthfinal]
Ricky Marvin b Jay Skillet
Karsen Beck b Super Crazy [24 Karat Tournament, quarterfinal]
Ricky Marvin & Super Crazy b Chuck Taylor & Ricochet
Super Crazy’s listed on Tuesday’s Arena Aficion show – a super indy thing.
Links
- Los Oficials were victorious in Tijuana.
- DJ Spectro explains the term ‘pistolero‘ in lucha libre, which is a close to the old American shooter/hooker wrestler type.
- There’s an old man tag team tournament next Sunday in Arena Lopez Mateos.
- Cronicas y Leyendas look back at Kurokneko.
- Short interview with Tormento Chino II.
- Lucha libre jewelry.
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I’ll guess the decision to use Blue Demon Jr. ties in to the relationship with WWL, and maybe whatever is planned for the US market.
No surprise Samurai del Sol did not work out. 95% of the time it would work out. But for some reason he seems to really be into his indy rep and convinced he’s going to WWE. Never took the gimmick seriously. And if the US deal happens and he’s available they should still use him if he’s local as SdS.
If AAA still had US tv Samurai might have made more of an effort just because of the tv exposure, hoping WWE or maybe TNA would see him as a star. Also to mark out for himself on national television. Wrestlers think like that.
Ok, it’s El Angel unmasked. I thought it would be a Trauma, so i’m happy :)
I pretty much agree with that Keith. The big red flag for me was when he said he was only going to work as Octagon Jr in AAA, and would keep the Samurai name in the US. Really? The Samurai name is bigger and more well known (and will make more money) than OCTAGON?
One big difference with Jack is that he (and Rocky/Alex/Marco) seems to have basically moved to Mexico. I don’t know how that will work with US talent if the plan is to use them a fair amount int he US instead of nearly all of their bookings being in Mexico.
@Alan: Yeah. Isn’t that odd? Octagon Jr was being flown in for “one-off” dates. They really had faith in him and wanted him to do the gimmick even though there’s a list of reasons why it should have gone to a young local in Mexico.
@Nikita: When Gabe Sapolsky was on MLW with Konnan, they talked about the gimmick and I seem to remember Gabe and Konnan saying they needed to speak privately about Samurai and what gimmick he should use in the US. Judging from Gabe’s tone he clearly wanted Samurai to be Samurai in the US.
Of course Gabe did. With Samurai’s name he could up DGUSA’s attendance from 150 to 151 depending how many people drove with Samurai to the show.
This is the same Gabe who drew flies in LA the same day 5,000 or so went to see that big Lucha show. But Gabe hates luchadors and is happier his match got ****1/2 from Dave Meltzer than actually making the boys money.
I called the Samurai thing from the begining. It’s just depressing. There are a shitload of guys in Mexico who are very talented and begging for the break that he is just pissing away. There are also a shitload of guys on the tiny AIW shows he works that would kill for that opportunity. I understand his goal is WWE (which may happen soon) and he loves his own gimmick so AAA shouldn’t have given him the role and/or he should have turned it down. Either way it’s a mess.
The fact he keeps saying on twitter he won’t be around for shows doesn’t mean much to me when both Konnan and Dorian have recently expressed displeasure with his absence. Is he leading them into thinking he’s coming only to back out when he gets an AIW/EVOLVE booking?
@Rob: I am a Gabe Sapolsky supporter. I admire his accomplishments and determination.
AAA tv deal in US is “depressing”. The PPV situation in Mexico is “depressing”.
I’m glad the Octagon Jr. fail happened sooner than later. He has only made a few appearances on tv, including the vignettes. This allows AAA to debut a better planned out Octagon Jr. without the embarrassment of having someone in the gimmick for years, who then leaves.
They’ll debut a new Octagon Jr., on a bunch of spot shows and lower on the card for tv tapings. Maybe even as a “Fusion brand” talent before being on the main tv show.
Well, Samurai also works AAW (a Chicagoland-based indy fed) and he lost in the finals to ACH in the Heritage title tournament this past Friday. From what I have seen, AAW usually sells out Berwyn (200-250) and they got about 500 for their show last Friday at 115 Bourbon Street, which is a much larger crowd than what AIW draws for Turners Hall in Cleveland.
It was a really good match, but I’m not so sure why Samurai would prioritize AAW or AIW bookings instead of AAA shows (do they run shows that infrequently that Samurai feels better off working those shows instead?) Is it that he gets to keep all money he gets from sales for his character as opposed to AAA which would keep most Octagon Jr merch sales? And to everyone else’s point, why didn’t AAA just repackage one of their in-house luchadores instead?
And Cubs, I’d like to offer a correction to the tercera for the Arena Coliseo show. It was Sagrado who submitted Sangre Azteca with what the commentators called “a kimura.” Rey Cometa took out Puma with a double tornillo leading up to the finishing sequence between Sagrado and Sangre Azteca in the 3rd fall.
@J. Corzo Cubby: Thanks for the correction.
@J. Corzo Cubby: Let me just make sure to say I don’t mean to disparage promotions like AAW & AIW. We need indies and by definition of being an indy they aren’t going to draw well in most cases. I was just merely pointing out when given the chance to work either a relatively large AAA TV Taping or a small US indy show the choice *seems* easy. I gotta figure there are circumstances we don’t know about that influence his decision where to go and perhaps you’re right that it’s more worth his time to just get paid to wrestle and sell his gimmicks.
@J. Corzo Cubby: Not sure why they did not repackage or create a new star in Octagon Jr., but it looks like Samurai is “A Konnan guy”. Konnan has been a power broker for about 2 decades and is responsible for discovering and advancing some of the top stars in Lucha. So if this is on Konnan it’s no biggie.
They’ll probably do Samurai Del Sol vs. Octagon Jr. some day too because AAA is creative like that.