Vikingo, Purrazzo and Escorpion win at Verano de Escandalo, CMLL weekend results, Baby Extreme quits IWRG

AAA TV (SAT) 07/03/2021 Tequisquiapan, Querétaro [Furia de Titanes, Lucha Central, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, Refering, SuperLuchas, Voices of Wrestling]
Verano de Escandalo, 2021
1) Arez & Chik Tormenta b Abismo Negro Jr. & Flammer and Mamba & Mr. Iguana [#1 Contenders, AAA MIXED TAG] 
Mamba replaced Maximo. Villano 3 Jr. and Maravilla stared down the winners post-match
2) Hijo Del Vikingo b Kamikaze, Komander, Aramis, Látigo, Toxin [Alas de Oro]  
No names announced ahead of time. Kamikaze is the debuting Ninja Mack under a different gimmick (but they talked about his background in a specific way to make it obvious and put him over strong in the commentary.) Vikingo got the win and a trophy
3) Deonna Purrazzo b Lady Shani 
Purrazzo would not release her armbar on Shani until Faby Apace made the save.
4) Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana b Faby Apache, Laredo Kid, Niño Hamburguesa 
Hamburguesa took the pin
5) Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown b Rey Escorpión, Taurus, Texano Jr. © [AAA TRIOS] 
brawl started before the match. Escorpion again beat Psycho, putting him through a makeshift table with thumbtacks using the Guerrero Special.

There was also a few La Empresa segments. They arrived early, they beat up Mr. Iguana, Mamba and Arez without being seen, then DMT Azul, Puma King and a bunch of masked goons came to the ring to talk trash after the semi-main. I’m not sure if they had a point they were getting to (besides winning at TripleMania), or AAA going to commercial suddenly was part of selling them as outsiders. It appears the TripleMania team will be Puma King, DMT Azul, and Sam Adonis, they’re not hinting it may be anyone else.

I thought this was a good show, not a great show. The Alas de Oro was the standout match, another exceptional AAA multiman scramble match in a summer increasingly full of them. Hijo del Vikingo won this won, just like he won Copa Perro Aguayo, and should keep winning all of them if he’s going to keep being this good. Ninja Mack/Kamikaze has his uses but came across as the fifth most impressive guy in the match. (Toxin had a bad stretch in the middle, though he did make the most important catch of the night.) Kamikaze’s gear also came off like AAA just came up with the idea for it that day; they’re usually better at looks than he got. Komander & Aramis looked great with each other; there’s no natural avenue for that match to take place but it’d be neat if it did.

(One more thing on Kamikaze. I’m not sure the purpose of bringing in an outsider when there’s no obvious purpose to it. There’s a goal to La Empresa being there. Good for Kamikaze getting his money, but he’s probably not going to be back if/when he takes off in the US, and there’s no obvious short term goal for him being there. He seems there just to for the sake of using a buzzed-about guy who can do flips, but they didn’t even use him in his buzzed-about form. Why bother?)

Purrazzo/Shani was the very technical match that should be expected from Purrazzo. They did it well, but I remain concerned that a solidly worked match with one relatively unknown show will struggle to get a good reaction from a crowd expecting a firework’s show. The top two trios matches were about normal. AAA is doing the Psycho/Escorpion very well and not enough, but it probably won’t matter to do much than TripleMania. The pre-match brawl in the title match did a good job of hiding if AAA found the missing trios belt or not.

The focus out of the show was mostly on the matches, but there were some unexplained production issues that seemed to affect the show. The broadcast was 15 minutes late in starting – Space just aired the same block of commercials over and over again. The first match took place, then there was a long commercial break, then the announcers came on the screen in killing time mode for a few minutes, then another long break before the Alas de Oro started. There was no commercial break between the third and fourth matches, the last two seemed a little hurried and they got out quickly after the finish. The show was scheduled to end at 10 and it was close to 10:20 pm when they went off the air. It got fixed on the replay and the show was positively received, just there’s must be a story to what actually happened that hasn’t come out.

The outdoor taping also dealt with rain, but they had a tent covering the ring unlike the last set of tapings. That tent came into a play with a Vikingo spot that’s been passed around. I keep thinking that the tent must’ve been there all day, because there’s no way Vikingo just thought it was a good idea to do that without testing the beams first, but a delay to set up the tent would explain the last start time.

(My Twitch stream had no audio for the first two matches, but that was an issue with the video providers I was using and had nothing to do with AAA or Space.)

As generally positive the reaction was for this show, I did see some Mexicans fans unhappy with it for not being at the level they’d expect for a major show. This would be a very slight Verano de Escandalo in a normal year. It’s still not a normal year, though those expectations are still there from some looking around and seeing other things come back to normal. I think TripleMania will be better in that regard. The Alas de Oro match also seems like it’s a bigger deal to international fans than it was in Mexico.

AAA brought media to the Verano de Escandalo, which might be the first time there’s been a real media presence outside of TripleMania. (Not even sure how much were there.) Record did some post-match interviews – you can watch a covered-in-blood Arez talking hopefully about his pending mixed tag title match. AS interviewed Hijo del Vikingo, who declared his number one goal is to win the Cruiserweight Championship from Laredo Kid. He’s also asked about the international interest and confirms it’s the lack of a visa holding him up. Vikingo hopes to resolve it this year, though it’s not hard. Kenny Omega took a GIF on Twitter as an opportunity to tease a match again. He and AAA teased in December and it went nowhere, so there’s no reason you should expect differently now.

In a standard “wrestling promotions act weird”, AAA advertised Maximo & Mr. Iguana as a team in the mixed tag, told Space it would instead be Mamba & Mr. Iguana (as that team appeared in a press release), and then continued to promote Maximo & Mr. Iguana for reasons no one will ever know. It makes no difference.

AAA appears to be taping tonight in Amealco, Queretaro. This upcoming week’s TV will probably be matches taped after Verano de Escandalo, Amelaco will be the next two weeks, and AAA probably needs one more weekend of tapings to make it to TripleMania.

La Hiedra & Lady Shani set up a cage match for a 10/01 spot show outside of Toluca. Women’s singles cage matches are exceptionally rare in Mexico, so I presume a lot more people will be added if it happens.

This Faby Apache interview with YouRocket was meant to be read prior to Verano de Escandalo, so it’s a little out of date. Still a fun read for it being purely Faby Apache. It’s a lot of “why would I care about what anyone else does, they’re not as good as me?” quotes. I’d say that if Faby did this character on screen she’d be a great rudo, except everyone would end up agreeing with her.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 07/02/2021 Arena México [CMLL, KasierSport, Lucha Central, Mas Lucha, PubliMetro, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Pierrothito b Shockercito [lightning]  
5:29. Pierrothito asked for a title match
2) Disturbio & Okumura b Drone & Magia Blanca  
6:51.
3) Princesa Sugehit © b Stephanie Vaquer [CMLL WOMEN]  
12:57. Sugehit took 1/3 to retain. 1st defense. Very good match.
4) Espíritu Negro, Pólvora, Rey Cometa b Atlantis Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Flyer [Relevos Increíbles]  
12:27. Team Atrapasuenos took 2/3, then asked for a MEX TAG shot.
5) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible b Euforia, Hechicero, Negro Casas [Relevos Increíbles]  
14:38. straight falls, first by mask pull (Terrible on Euforia), second Niebla Roja using the ropes on Hechicero
6) Carístico, Titán, Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero  
12:04. Tecnicos took 2/3.

This was a really good CMLL show! Nothing to the level of Alas de Oro, but everything was totally watchable. The Sugehit/Vaquer title match was the best CMLL women’s match since I don’t even know; they worked a very technical style early that went well and then expanded on it as they went along. This was a big chance for Vaquer and she really came through with it. Most of the matches were much shorter than usual and the show ended earlier than usual, but the action was a lot better than I thought. This was totally worth the PPV cost in a way few of these shows have been. CMLL also did a better job of setting up matches for the next week than they have in the past. I wish CMLL was like this all the time. Matches from this show air on TV this Saturday then on YouTube on 07/11.

Los (Nuevo) Ingobernables got a new coat of paint or at least new t-shirts that look different than anything the old Ingobernables were using. I still have my doubts about that act, but they’re also an act that exists primarily to get boos from fans and so work a lot better when there are actually fans in the building.

CMLL (SUN) 07/04/2021 Arena México [CMLL, De Lucha TV, Furia de Titanes]
1) Mercurio b Aéreo [lightning]
2) El Coyote & Yago b Arkalis & Sonic
Yago replaced Grako on Saturday
3) Amapola, La Seductora, Metálica b La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Skadi
4) Dark Magic, Sagrado, Vangellys b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma
5) Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus DQ El Audaz, Esfinge, Star Jr.
Cancerberos took 2/3, Raziel sneaking in a foul on Audaz
6) Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. b Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr.
Atlantis took 2/3.

This is the first of a month of Atlantis main events (so good thing they won.)

CMLL (TUE) 07/06/2021 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Robin vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Nitro
3) Drone, El Audaz, Magia Blanca vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Vangellys
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Stuka Jr. vs Luciferno, Pólvora, Terrible
5) Dulce Gardenia, Titán, Valiente vs Euforia, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II

These Tuesday shows haven’t turned up yet on TV and that’s fine. Hechicero was originally in Luciferno’s spot.

Friday’s show is also up

CMLL (FRI) 07/09/2021 Arena México
1) Angelito & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Marcela vs Dalys [lightning]
3) Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Niebla Roja vs Felino, Felino Jr., Templario
4) Atlantis Jr. & Flyer vs Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa [MEX TAG]
5) Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón

These shows have usually had six matches, so maybe something will be added later. The main event is a replay from the Father’s day show. Atlantis Jr. & Flyer have defended the tag titles three times, but this would be the first time with fans. Cavernario has been Los Ingbornable adjacent for both this group and the prior incarnation. No direct follow up to Los Ingobernables cheating Euforia & Hechicero last week.

There is no Arena Puebla show tonight after all. This story continues to go all over the place, but the latest word is Arena Puebla got its health insepction done on June 30th, right after it came up in a press conference. The government said they met with Arena Pubela and they both agreed to hold off the show until next week; apparently, it takes a while to get everyone to sign off. I’d presume it’ll be the same lineup as announced tonight.

Guadalajara is running

CMLL (TUE) 07/06/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Estrella De Jalisco Jr., Tigre Blanco vs Jabalí, Ponzoña, Quka
2) Bello Antuan, Capitán Cobra, Reycko vs Fúnebre, Paymon, Thunder Boy
3) Explosivo, Fantástico, Star Black vs Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Misterioso Jr.
4) Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus vs Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Trono
5) Silueta vs Lluvia [OCCIDENTE WOMEN]
6) Atlantis Jr. & Carístico vs Mephisto & Último Guerrero

Those unfamiliar names in the fourth match are Queretaro wrestlers getting a tryout here, through Espiritu Negro & Rey Cometa. With the Misterio sons in the terceras, it helps to no one but it does appear the doors are open here. I believe Mas Lucha said Lola Gonzalez, the last Occidente Women’s champion forty years and one of the most famous Mexican women’s wrestlers of all time, will be there to present the belt to the winner of the fifth match. That’s a cool touch if they can pull it off.

Sacalo del Ring TV has a documentary on the 62th Anniversary of Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. It’s mostly standing and talking to an unseen interviewer, with a heavy focus o Satanico. He is old enough to remember when that building was opened and coming there as a kid to see El Santo matches; it was what got him into lucha libre. He also tells an emotional story about a sick Diablo Velasco coming to see an Atlantis/Satanico match. I’m not sure if he refereed it or if he was just meant to, but Velasco praised it strongly and insisted on them carrying his legacy on.

Indies

Baby Extreme apparently quit IWRG (or PALL or whatever) this weekend. Baby Extreme was originally scheduled for the Lucha Libre Boom show on Saturday in Arena Lopez, facing Bandido. IWRG pulled him, saying LLB wasn’t part of the PALL promotion alliance, and instead scheduled him to defend the IWRG lightweight title on partner promotion MexaWresting’s show. Lucha Libre Boom announced Bandido versus Flamita as the replacement match – only, when the match took place, Baby Extreme showed up and made it a three-way. Trauma I accompanied Baby Extreme and said he was joining the Traumas/Fresero/Demonio “Negocio Traumado” group, made up of people who aren’t happy with IWRG and aren’t working with them. (They’re short a member; Trauma II is apparently out for the next three months with an injury.) Baby Extreme no-showed Sunday’s IWRG show, where Dinamic Black taking his place. This seems to go back to those contracts IWRG is getting people to sign; the indie wrestlers of the moment are used to being able to work with any promoter they want and getting blocked from working a show is a tough adjustment.

An AAA spot show scheduled for July 12 in Nuevo Laredo has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID concerns. A show tonight in Tehuacan, Puebla has also been canceled. I don’t have the maps handy, but the Mexico’s traffic light map shows places that were green a while back now in orange and some that were in doing bad no doing better. COVID cases may just keep going up and down at least until everyone can get vaccinated.

Bandido is on this week’s ROH ROHStrong podcast, talking about this career prior to his title match this Sunday. Bandido speaks English for parts and is translated in other sections.

RIOT has started to announce participants for their La Rina tournament (08/20-21)

1. Erik Ortiz
2. El Mago
3. Jimmy
4. Tromba
5. Demonio del Aire (Baby Xtreme) – new

RIOT also took so long to post their March show that Arez versus Hijo del Vikingo is now available just as people are excited about Vikingo again. That seems like a brilliant plan. I assure you this was closer to dumb luck.

Nacion Lucha Libre says their first episode will be on August 28th. I keep presuming they’ll just air some of the Robles shows that are already happening, though that’s not for sure. If they were going to do their own TV tapings, they’d probably want to do them a couple of weeks before that first episode. They’ve already teased running at the Pepsi Center in Mexico City, though a couple of weeks before August 28th would put their show on TripleMania weekend. They’d have to know better than that.

Violento Jack’s matches in Japan only seem to get noticed when he won a title; Violento Jack won another title. He’s the King of Freedoms champions for the third time, defeating Tōru Sugiura.

Dr. Wagner Jr. told Claro he lost his mask to Psycho Clown because he didn’t take the match seriously enough.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good “Titanes en el Ring is going to restart soon.”

Princesa Sugehit, Blue Demon Jr., and Tiger Mask are on the cover of Box y Lucha 3479.