Arena Mexico reopens for fans, Marvel Lucha Libre event, LA Park/COVID

CMLL return to fans

CMLL , Ticketmaster (FRI) 05/21/2021 Arena México
1) Flyer & Stuka Jr. vs Hijo del Villano III & Templario
Templario replaced Felino Jr. and Stuka Jr. replaced Atlantis Jr. around May 12th.
2) Princesa Sugehit & Reina Isis vs La Jarochita & Lluvia [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Titán vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Hechicero
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Carístico, Euforia, Místico vs Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Tonight’s show is CMLL’s first at Arena Mexico with fans since March 13, 2020, 434 days ago. It’s the longest (by a large amount) CMLL has ever gone without having fans at shows in Mexico City.

CMLL’s had ten shows at secondary arena Arena Coliseo Guadalajara with a limited amount of fans. It’s CMLL’s only twelfth live show in Arena Mexico since the beginning of the pandemic. CMLL is limited to 500 tickets sold by the current Mexico City health rules and sold out a week in advance. If there were no restrictions (and no hesitancy to go to public events), they probably could’ve sold this out.

This show is a TicketMaster PPV for $11.57 USD, if you didn’t buy the discounted amount in advance. It is viewable live only. CMLL’s said in the past these shows will not on TV. They haven’t re-emphasized that point for this show and I remain suspicious it’ll turn up on Televisa before long, but you’d be better off buying if you want to be sure to see it. This lineup is nothing special outside of the fact that fans are back, but that alone may make it worth watching.

CMLL may be returning with a falsely advertised match. Cuatrero is suspiciously missing from NGD in Tuesday’s Arena Coliseo Guadalajara card. (Hijo de Mascara 2000 Jr. becomes an instant main eventer; it’s notable he’s getting a booking at time when those are hard to come by. Also, Universo 2000 Jr. appears missing.) CMLL continues to advertise Cuatrero for this show.

Cavernario did a virtual media interview about how it’s been so long since they’ve been in front of fans that they’re nervous and excited. Caveranrio surprisingly hasn’t worked the Guadalajara shows yet. Euforia’s also in that piece saying he’s open to being a tecnico or a rudo and is waiting to see how the fans react to him before deciding which way to go.

First Marvel Lucha Libre show announced. Sort of.

Alejandro Montes, AAA’s Vice President of Marketing, appears on Xperience Maker’s virtual Beat conference Thursday. His segment starts around 1h52; it’s generally the presentation a prospective AAA sponsor might get on the advantage of working with them. The general theme of the presentation was lucha libre used to be a grimy & bloody mess unsuitable for corporate involvement but now they’ve reimagined the luchadors as Super Heroes. That’s made them more palatable to groups like the NBA or F1 or Record, raising the profile of AAA in the process. This is not too far off from WWE’s myth of “taking wrestling out of smokey arenas and making it mainstream” or CMLL’s own attempts to make wrestling more tourist-friendly. An unsaid difference with AAA is they do eventually end up with the grimy bloody mess at TripleMania anyway.

One of the more interesting slides was AAA charting the value of the “free press” they’ve received with this strategy over time, though only through 2017. AAA rarely takes down fan-uploaded content and I wonder if part of that is they consider it part of their free press strategy.

There was an unexpected scoop in talking about the AAA’s alliance with Disney on the Marvel Lucha Libre characters. Alejandro Montes matter of fact stated the first Marvel Lucha Libre show is scheduled for April 2022 and twenty Marvel Lucha Libre characters will be involved. A show (and spinoff promotion) with the Marvel Lucha Libre characters was pushed as a possibility when the concept was introduced last year, though that seemed like a hopeful destination and not as though they had a firm date. (It’s also AAA and plans for anything past a TripleMania main event, so there’s no guarantee it’ll actually happen in April 2022.)

Twenty Marvel characters sounds about the right number to put on a show, but also not close to the number they’ve introduced so far. Seven (Arcano, Venenoide, Leyenda America, Terror Purpura, Estrella Cósmica, Picadura Letal, and Arana Voladora) have appeared on AAA TV and an additional seven (El Furioso, Héroe Invicto, Garras de Vibranium, Gran Mazo, Animal Indestructible, Chimichanga de la Muerta, and Enganoso) have turned up in merchandise. They’d still need six more. Montes later was asked about the possibility of DC characters also being used and revealed AAA had originally been trying to reach out to DC (through Space/Turner) about the possibility of a partnership but got nowhere. Disney reached out to AAA and now they’re firmly Team Marvel.

In a Q&A section, Montes was asked about when fans would be back at shows. The non-televised show are up to those local promoters and their decisions. AAA anticipates they’ll begin having fans at the televised events in July, though the current plan is to continue the Lucha de Identidad tour to tourist spots and simply add in a number of fans rather than a return to the usual (indoor) arenas. Montes offhandedly seemed to say the plan for TripleMania was 30% capacity, which would put it around 7,000 people. A lot can and will change between now and August.

TV Lineups

05/21 CMLL AMX

• Leono vs Apocalipsis
• Sanely & Skadi vs La Metalica & La Seductora
• Angel de Oro vs Cavernario

This show wraps up a half-hour before the PPV.

05/22 CMLL MVS

• Magia Blanca & Arkalis vs Nitro & Universo 2000 Jr.
• Estrellita & La Guerrera vs Reyna Isis & La Comandante
• Rey Bucanero & Vangellys vs Ephesto & Luciferno

05/22 CMLL Televisa

• Magia Blanca & Sonic vs Grako & Coyote
• La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Dalys & Stephanie Vaquer
• Dulce Gardenia, Audaz, Flyer vs Okumura, Dark Magic, Vangellys
• Mistico, Volador Jr., Valiente vs Sanson, Cuatrero, Forastero

The main event and the women’s match are rematches. There’s probably a women’s tag title match planned next week. I think the main event is headed to a trios title match but I’m not as sure.

05/22 CMLL HT

• Caristico vs Sanson

05/22 AAA

• Venenoide & Picadura Letal vs Arcano & Arana Voladora (Marvel Lucha Libre)
• Poder del Norte vs Laredo Kid, Faby Apache, Myzteziz Jr.
• La Hiedra & Chessman vs Pagano & Lady Shani

This is an early start; it’s listed as 6:15 pm due to a boxing match later that night.

Other Notes

LA Park returned to Twitter to announce both that the “pneumonia” he was missing shows with was actually COVID and he’s better now. Dr. Wagner Jr. also originally announced that he had had pneumonia before revealing he had COVID. Years ago, there was a pattern of announcing “knee injuries” when there were other things actually going on. It’s lucha libre, people are going to tear up their knees, some of those people may have also had knee injuries, but some of those people also had a drinking or substance reason they weren’t wrestling that day. (This came up most memorable with Mr. Niebla, though it’s not like he was the only one.) Anyway, I guess “pneumonia” is going to be the new “COVID” going forward.

I think LA Park is old enough that he’s eligible for a COVID vaccination (55+) in Mexico and probably has the means to get one in the US if he prefers. I’m afraid of finding out LA Park’s thoughts on vaccination.

The WON says Fenix is missing the AEW PPV, though they’re unsure of the injury or the length of the absence and believe he may have gotten in a match in Mexico. Fenix hasn’t wrestled in Mexico since his February AAA TV appearance as far as I know. It’s conceivably possible he’s working an AAA match that hasn’t aired yet or a private show but unlikely; he’s based in the US so he’s probably not making it to Mexico without someone knowing it.

Drago has changed his Instagram name to Dios Drago. His Twitter name hasn’t changed (and he’d lose his blue check if he did) and he’s been pretty positive towards AAA lately there. MLW yesterday announced their borrowed Dario Cueto character will be going by the very boxing name “Cesar Duran” and Mil Muertes is now “King Muertes” to get around Lucha Underground/Lucha Libre FMV copyrights. Drago & Aerostar are likely to be used in Azteca Underground (Konnan connection, have visas), so “Dios Drago” may be his MLW-safe name.

Andrade posted a video showing a bit of where he started or the empty field that used to be Gimnasio Ranchero.