Vanguardia (WED) 04/01/2020 Deportivo 11 de Julio, Pachuca, Hidalgo [+LuchaTV, thecubsfan]
1) Miedo Extremo COR Rey Dragón [El Rey del Ghetto, quarterfinal] 
7:08. Rey Dragon took a suplex off the apron from Miedo and could not return.
2) Caballero de Atena b Símbolo Azteca [El Rey del Ghetto, quarterfinal]
10:26. Win via submission.
3) Santy Hernández b Falcón Fire [El Rey del Ghetto, quarterfinal]
4:33. ref stop (elbows to the head)
4) Drastik Boy b Gasparín Jr. [El Rey del Ghetto, quarterfinal]
8:40. Submission (choke)
5) Dragón Boy & Jitsu b Kunay
10:11. Handicap match, Jitsu beat Kunay.
6) Miedo Extremo b Santy Hernández [El Rey del Ghetto, semifinal]
4:18. Cross armbreaker.
7) Caballero de Atena b Draztick Boy [El Rey del Ghetto, semifinal]
6:48. Referee was about to call the match for Draztick Boy via knockout when the lights went out. The lights came back on and Draztick Boy was down, with the implication that Odibia Squad had attacked him.
8) Cíclope b Lobo Blanco Jr. [super libre]
14:35 after a german suplex onto glass shards.
9) Miedo Extremo b Caballero de Atena [El Rey del Ghetto, final]
15:18.
Lucha Libre Vanguardia’s show last will be held up as strong evidence lucha libre should not be allowed to do stipulation matches from other countries because the people involved don’t put enough care to understand how they’re supposed to work. This show, with little explanation given prior, was meant to be a localized version of GCW’s Bloodsport show – a fake MMA/UWFi style, where everything was meant to come off as a more ‘real’ fight. Miedo Extremo and maybe Santy Hernandez got that idea of the matches needing to feel like some cinema version of UFC. Everyone else basically did their usual match without near falls, which made all their matches feel lesser. It was the lesser of two possible worlds: I’m not much into fake MMA (or real MMA) but this wasn’t a good version of that, and it wasn’t a good version of a traditional lucha libre show. It was new wrestling, of a kind, and I think people desperate for any new wrestling might appreciate it for that reason but it was a concept that didn’t work at all.
(There were too many dumb moments to count, but I don’t feel like writing up a recap because I’d have to talk about this show again. Bloodsport show are no-ropes shows because ropes are fake, but the ropes were up here because everyone had to still do their spots until that point. Taking them down in the main event pointed out how silly it was for them to be up. Doing a lights interference spot in a “real” tournament just misses the entire concept of the show. The 2v1 handicap match ending in pinfall somehow lasting longer than matches requiring knockouts made no coherent sense; you can’t mix styles on a show like this.)
Vanguardia is an interesting promotion who does try more new ideas and ongoing storylines, with the people in charge trying to take what they’ve picked up from working US and Japanese groups into Mexico – it’s not the basic “let’s just have some random matches” style of most indies. It’s good to see them trying to get attention to their local names when others might have just run this as a vanity group for the top names; Gasparin Jr. & Caballero de Atena looked like guys to seek out in a normal situation. This show just was a miss.
This show was billed as a no-fans show, urging people to stay at home. It was evident people had that ignored that order to be at this show. The hard cam showed an empty arena, but floor cam shots (especially during the second match) revealed there were a bunch of people trying to stay out of sight behind the camera and consequently closely packed together. I’m guessing it was mostly family, but even family probably shouldn’t have been out. Some of it appeared to be additional media. This was somewhat billed as a benefit show – not as strong as the Lucha Memes show, no bank account info seemed to be given out – but it wasn’t pushed much as one. +LuchaTV mentioned the idea of donating through YouTube’s Superchat once early in the show and never mentioned it again. I did not watch the chat constantly, but I only saw a single donation of 50 pesos from the time I was watching. It’s possible there were more, but it’s unlikely Vanguardia made much money off this show from that method. There are sponsors listed on the poster, so perhaps they were paid off through them instead. This just seemed like Vanguardia was always going to run this night because they had a concept they wanted to do, and they were going to do it no matter what situation was happening.
If Lucha Memes is going to do donations as well, they need to ask that it’s pushed a lot harder on the broadcast. The bank account needs to be on the screen constantly, the announcers need to be plugging the methods to donate to the point of annoyance. It’s the only way those things are a success. (Lucha Memes donation account is Banamex 5256 7860 8442 9798)
Pagano says his 04/19 show will be distributed through his YouTube channel. They’re building it around getting to see Ex-Sin Cara wrestle in Juarez for the first time since leaving WWE. They’re saying “Ex-Sin Cara” will reveal his new identity on the show, which again suggests he might not be using the Cinta de Oro name as previously announced. The show is expected to last two hours. The account to donate is Bancomer 1498182612.
CMLL Informa continues even if nothing else does. This week’s show included Julio Cesar Rivera revealing CMLL planned on honoring Arturo Beristain/Hijo del Gladiador on the Arena Coliseo Anniversary show which would’ve taken place this Saturday. (Beristain recently did an interview talking about wanting to have an official retirement match that didn’t seem to fit with anything, so it likely was planned for this show.) JCR also mentioned an Arena Mexico anniversary at the end of April planned to be a big show and that two more tournaments were planned for this month.
Julio Cesar Rivera explained those plans as if they were not expected to happen. CMLL originally told their luchadors to expect to be out a month – it was reflected in some of their interviews about the break. The last CMLL show was on March 13th, suggesting a mid-April return. JCR talking about a late April Arena Mexico Anniversary show being postponed suggests CMLL expects to be out for much longer than mid-April. It’s not official and it wouldn’t be a total surprise given the situation, but it may be news for some of the people involved.
This is new to me (but might be old to you): ROH’s TV revealed Dragon Lee was scheduled to defend his ROH TV championship against NJPW’s El Phantasmo on the Supercard of Honor show. That match would’ve taken place this upcoming Saturday.
On Keepin’ it 100, Konnan mentions that Rey Horus signing with Ring of Honor does not affect his AAA status at the moment. However, if Horus gets a NJPW deal through ROH, he can no longer work for AAA due to the CMLL/NJPW agreement.
El Imparcial has an interview with out of work Hermosillo luchadors.
A promoter in Saltillo is skeptical the lucha libre business will recover at all during 2020, feeling events with lots of people may be banned for months.
CMLL talks to Negro Casas about his 2016 H2L hair match with Volador Jr.
+LuchaTV has a column worrying about the drain on Mexican wrestling with many luchadors being signed in the US. This is framed as “bigger opportunities for matches outside of Mexico”, but nearly all those people still getting paid while there is no wrestling work while few of their Mexican countrymen are getting paid is probably a bigger difference.
YoDeportivo introduced Misterio Blanco and Misterio Negro, who are the sons of CMLL’s Misterioso Junior. Misterio Blanco is 21, who won a bronze medal in Olympics lucha style in the 2015 Nacional Olympics. Misterio Negro is 22, who won a gold medal in greco-roman wrestling at 2014 Monterrey.
El Sol de Hidalgo talks to Cazador Indio, who will reach 40 years of wrestling.
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