Puma King leaves CMLL, Ovett takes X-Fly’s hair, Cuatrero/Angel de Oro tonight in Puebla

IWRG (SUN) 07/15/2018 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, The Gladiatores]
1) Atomic Star & Death Metal b Ángel Estrella Jr. & Shadow Boy 
2) Aramis & Mexica b Hijo del Mosco X-Fly & Lunatic Xtreme
Mosco & Lunatik did not get along
3) Ra-Zhata, Shil-Kah, Teelo b Leo, Mike, Rafy 
4) Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro b Freelance & Relámpago  
5) Danny Casas, Hijo del Alebrije, Imposible b El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Trauma I, Trauma II  
Impossible pinned Medico.
6) Ovett b X-Fly [hair]   
Extreme match with syringes. Lunatik Extreme helped out Ovett. X-Fly needed medical help for an eye injury after the match, and got his hair cut after.

Streaming was back this year, maybe because both +LuchaTV and InterneTV/AYM were both allowed to do it alive. +LuchaTV has the better pictures but the streaming seemed to buffer a lot. AYM showed more of the show, though they inexplicably went to a break for the entirety of the second match. None of this was advertised ahead of time and who knows if it’ll happen again.

Cuartero and Angel de Oro meet once again tonight in Arena Puebla, one of two Chavez brothers versus NGD title matches in two days. Cuatrero and Angel de Oro had never had a singles match before Cuatrero won the CMLL middleweight championship in January. Cuatrero has won all four of their matches so far, including Angel de Oro’s mask. That probably won’t change tonight, but it still should be a good main event.

The semi-main probably won’t be as good. Los Ingobernables face Atlantis, Caristico, and Euforia, in what was appearing to set up an Atlantis/Rush match last week. The tercera has Dragon Lee, Stuka, and Valiente versus Forastero, Sanson, and Hechicero, which might be a good match if they feel up to it. Local Puebla idol Policeman teams with Kawato & Okumura and Drone, Star, and Stigma in another possibly good match. The show opens with Espiritu Maligno, Fuerza Chicana and Rey Apocalipsis and Milenium, Robin and Tigre Rojo Junior. It’s only a five-match show, which should allow the main event to get plenty of time. The show will air at 9pm on CMLL’s YouTube channel.

Puma King has left CMLL and is now an independent. Last Tuesday’s good trios match was his final match in the promotion. CMLL originally listed Puma as working tomorrow’s show, but replaced him; they had known he was going for a least a while. Puma told MedioTiempo that he was leaving on good terms.

This decision seems like it’s been coming for a while. Puma was the youngest person ever to win a mask match at the Anniversario show in 2012. He’s been stuck at roughly the same place for the six years since. He, as well as Tiger and the Panthers, have been having some of the best matches in CMLL over the last couple years. They have seen little benefit from it. Puma’s gotten some opportunities to wrestle in the US over the last year plus. He seems to have liked them, and I think you’ll be seeing him working north of the border more often now. (BOLA weekend, and the springboard PWG has been for indie wrestlers, is going to be a huge factor in how his career goes from here.) Puma will probably still be wrestling in Mexico – and maybe AAA if he can show up without signing a contract in a similar bit to Zeuxis on the ELITE show – but I think this move out of CMLL is about trying to see what the world has to offer rather than just shifting over to any promotion full time.

This seems worth trying for guys at Puma’s level even if there’s no guarantee this is going to work. Wrestling in the same level for years and decades in CMLL tends to kill luchador’s motivations to care. (If only US indie work was an option when Sangre Azteca was good.) CMLL seems willing to take people back if they leave on good terms, and doubly so if they have about a half dozen family members working there. Puma’s father Felino tried something similar to this in 1999, jumping to AAA to join brother Heavy Metal. It didn’t work out, but he was still able to jump back to CMLL six months later and keep his spot. Puma has a little bit of a buzz with some work in the US, and is still young enough to even get a WWE look. He’s got an opening to take this sort of chance, and it makes the sense to try it. People who watch CMLL regularly are going to miss him, and Tiger is really going to miss him, but it’s easy to understand why Puma’s taking this shot.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 07/21/2018 Arena Coliseo
1) Bengala & Retro vs Camorra & Cholo
2) Shockercito, Stukita, Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Universo 2000, Pierrothito
3) La Jarochita, Maligna, Princesa Sugehit vs La Comandante, La Seductora, Metálica
4) Audaz, Niebla Roja, Tritón vs Forastero, Hechicero, Sansón
5) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Valiente vs Mephisto, Shocker, Terrible

Back running here this week. Maybe no program happening if they’re off in two weeks.