Jarrett returns in AAA Dallas, Dr. Karontes in CMLL, Universal tournament looming

AAA

AAA TV (THU) 03/31/2022 Fairmont Hotel, Dallas, Texas [Lucha Central, thecubsfan, Voices of Wrestling]
1) Steve Filip & Tome Filip b Christi Jaynes & Ryan Kidd
Bestia beat Drago.
2) Microman, Niño Hamburguesa, Taya b La Hiedra, Mini Abismo Negro Jr., Rey Escorpión [lumberjack]
Microman beat Mini Abismo Negro Jr. La Empresa came out to yell at Microman for doing anything other than being their mascot, put him a trash can, and carried him away.
3) Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf b Aerostar & Drago [NWA TAG]
La Rebellion retained
4) Aramis, Mr. Iguana, Octagón Jr. b Abismo Negro Jr., Arez, Faby Apache
Iguana beat Abismo
5) Drago Kid, Jack Cartwheel, Pagano b Gringo Loco (Indie), Puma King, Sam Adonis
Pagano beat Gringo.
6) Laredo Kid © b Bandido, Flamita [AAA CRUISER]
12th defense.
7) Psycho Clown b Taurus
La Empresa attacked Psycho Clown after the match, with Jeff Jarrett & Karen Jarrett appearing to reveal Jeff was behind La Empresa and was back in AAA.

This show was fun and seemed well received. It came off as a ‘true’ AAA show, with their particular brand of silliness in the second match, crazy flying in others, and Jeff Jarrett returning like a horror movie villain to end the show. Jarrett coming back to AAA was inevitable once he (very quietly) left WWE – AAA and Jarrett just can’t quit each other – and we probably should’ve figured it was going to happen here in Dallas because Jarrett would’ve already been here for convention stuff. They teased like Jeff and Karen are going to be around a lot more but who knows.

Laredo/Bandido/Flamita seemed like the consensus pick for the best match, with Psycho/Taurus and the Iguana trios way behind. I think it’s worth picking up on FITE, or watching if/when it turns up on YouTube.

The (typical) late start and the added opener caused the last two matches to be a little shorter. The comparison here is The Crash show in New Orleans; that one was fun but had so many matches that everything felt short. This AAA show went a lot smoother overall; the early matches went a little too long if anything. I could’ve used a couple more minutes of the last two matches but there still was plenty there, and the Bandido double move on Laredo and Flamita was the craziest move I saw all day.

Attendance didn’t look strong on video. AAA really had the first two all reserved tickets; everything else was general admission, where people who paid for the convention could also just come by and take a seat. Most people were there for the convention, and some filtered back to the arena area once they got done, meeting wrestlers. The crowd that was there was receptive to the show, though more general wrestling fans with few who seemed familiar with the talent or AAA. Wrestlers would try to start normal lucha libre chants and the crowd just wasn’t picking it up. (Psycho Clown and Taurus were more successful at pounding the mat or objects to get people clapping.) I think this was a reality check for AAA about how many fans they have among English speaking fans, but also this was a day where they picked up a lot of new people.

AAA did bring a lot of merch on sale; I didn’t take a look to see how well it was moving.

I didn’t hear the FITE commentary but what I saw got positive reactions. It’ll be a new team for TripleMania Monterrey, with Lenny Lenoard joining Larry Dallas for that one, with the hope that will be the permanent team. We’ll see. Carlos Cabrera was back on the Spanish team in person.

ProWrestlingTV, a new video network run by the people behind the Create Your Narrative project, announced they’d include AAA on their network as part of their launch announcement Thursday. You can see the brief discussion around 14:30; unsurprisingly it was someone unfamiliar with AAA selling it to fans who were also unfamiliar with AAA, so useful details were slight. Their description sounded like they’re planning to air the same shows PPV that is airing on FITE,- they gave the 04/30 show as the first date. The host also mentioned that those shows would only air on Spanish. (The current English commentary is being paid for by FITE, I believe.) No price has been announced for ProWrestlingTV as far as I can tell; it’s similar to IWTV so a $10/month subscription is the expectation, and that’d save a few dollars off FITE if you only want Spanish. I’m not sure why AAA would make it more confusing to follow their content and undercut FITE, but they haven’t confirmed this is happening yet.

AAA on Space, which aired a repeat last week, lists two episodes this Saturday. Whatever it is, it starts at 6:10 pm. I think that may work better for me to stream if it actually happens, but we’ll see if it actually happens.

The WON has an AAA source confirming Pimpinela Escarlata is out of AAA; that’s a two-decade run that just quietly ended. Pimpinela has been doing the same match for about the last decade, but was still seemed popular. The Shotas got overin their debut, and maybe they’ve just got the spot.

CMLL

Today’s Friday show is just a normal show. Euforia/Terrible headlines for the national heavyweight title, where Euforia probably retains and it’s probably good. Atlantis Jr. returns from the black hole he was in, teaming with Mephisto and Templario against Negro Casas, Titan and Stuka Jr. This’ll stream on TicketmasterLive. I can not watch this show live and there is no VOD; I will attempt to (illegally?) record the show and watch it later.

Stuka posted a video on Facebook Wednesday afternoon, thanking the CMLL medical team for taking care of him, showing his bloody mask from Tuesday’s injury, and mentioning he plans on wrestling on Friday. That sounds crazy to me, but CMLL updated Friday’s card only removing Polvora to Akuma. I presume a factor in Stuka working is they’re doing something with himself with Atlantis Jr.

CMLL is pushing the Saturday Arena Coliseo 79th Anniversary show much harder than tonight, with various videos talking about the history of the building. We almost never see Arena Coliseo full footage; this is the one show a year that might turn up.

CMLL (SUN) 04/03/2022 Arena México
1) Retro vs Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. vs Grako, Inquisidor, Raider
3) El Audaz, Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Disturbio, Nitro, Okumura
4) Dulce Gardenia, Star Black, Volcano vs El Coyote, Hijo del Villano III, Rey Bucanero
5) Atlantis, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Star Jr., Titán

The Dr. Karontes were introduced in CMLL’s media day and on Informa. I is Argos. II is Mistico’s nephew and NOT the former Mini Monster Clown, who is instead apparently and confusingly still wrestling as Dr. Karonte Junior. Julio Cesar Rivera said the Karontes were supposed to debut in CMLL earlier but the pandemic got in the way. It is immediately believable. Of course CMLL would want to do a medics trio with Enfermero Jr.

Principe Odin Jr. showing up for the first time this year. Retro hasn’t been around much. Raider is still here. Volcano has a new mask on the poster. There are so many rudos.

They are so focused on 50 pesos tickets for children that the title of the Sunday lineup page is now “Ninos $50 pesos”. CMLL is also bringing back their “CMLL Pekes” branding, so kids seems like a current focus.

CMLL (MON) 04/04/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Millenium & Tigre Rojo Jr. vs Black Tiger & King Jaguar
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Mije & Perico Zakarías
3) La Vaquerita & Princesa Sugehit vs Reyna Isis & Stephanie Vaquer
4) Esfinge & Fugaz © vs Magia Blanca & Rugido [MEX TAG]
first defense
5) Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

It’s fun finding out what feuds are going on in Puebla on the lineup and the lineups only. Maybe a women’s title match coming too.

CMLL (TUE) 04/05/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Johnny Dinamo vs Destructor, Gran Kenut, Ponzoña
2) Flash & Gallo vs Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno [super libre]
3) Lluvia, Náutica, Sexy Sol vs Dalys, Dark Silueta, Valkiria
4) Ángel de Oro, Explosivo, Niebla Roja vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel
5) Místico & Soberano Jr. vs Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero

Still no tag title match in that Trueno feud. Maybe they’re trying to stretch this feud as along as possible to do the mask match in June for the building anniversary show? The Johnny Dinamo in the opener is a name that disappeared at the start of the pandemic, appears to be his first match in two years.

CMLL announced this year’s CMLL Universal tournament will be a four week tournament, with three rounds of blocks and a three way final. Let’s be clear from the start; No one wants this! No one likes tournament block shows, they’re almost always underwhelming, and adding another one without trying to fix the problem is just obliviousness. And CMLL three way matches aren’t much good either. But, here we are anyway.

CMLL didn’t say how many people will be in it. Normal match would suggest 24 people for three blocks of eight. CMLL currently has 20 champions, and will get to 22 when the Arena Coliseo Tag Team championship is decided. (Both the national heavyweight championship and national tag team championship matches will not affect the total number.) That’s still two short. There’s no sign of the vacant national middleweight title being decided before this starts. Maybe Mercurio and Chamuel get added? Maybe it’s just an odd number? It only really matters for opening round matches, the winner’s probably in this already.

Star Black says he’s headed to Mexico City full time, which was also mentioned on Informa this week. This seemed likely after his success in the recent national heavyweight tournament. There’s no date set for when Star Black is going.

Okumura announced the Ambassadors del Mal are finished. They’d been finished since Dark Magic joined Ola Negra a couple of months ago but I guess now he got to say it. Okumura’s pushing the idea that his samurai look is something totally new and fresh. Ohara, Goto and Okumura did a samurai look when they were all a team in 2006/2007. He’d like to team with Japanese wrestlers once traveling becomes more commonplace. He also hopes to have a big show with many Japanese wrestlers on his 20th anniversary of CMLL, which would be 2024 (so he’s not going anywhere any time soon.)

Kraneo says he’s not turned rudo and frames his match with Volcano as a battle to decide who leads Los Gorillas del Ring. He’d like to have more matches between them.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/31/2022 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Aster Boy & Tonalli b Estrella de Oro & Yorvack [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Hijo de Payaso Purasanta & Payaso Purasanta Jr. b Belial & Impulso
3) Lolita b Reina Dorada
Lolita asked for a FULL WOMEN title match, a title Reina Dorada apparently holds
4) Dinámico © b León Dorado [Mucha Luchas CHAMP]
5) Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro DQ Cíclope & Miedo Extremo
Ciclope DQ for using fire
6) Murder Clown b Joe Lider, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Black Warrior [PDM HEAVY]
Murder Clown beat Black Warrior

I know nothing about this show but they seemed to draw well. How can you get DQ on a Perros del Mal tribute show? Seems wrong. All matches should’ve ended with unseen fouls. You can see the show on Mas Lucha’s subscription.

IWRG (SUN) 04/03/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Mini Canis Lupus, Sagitarius, Sombra Negra vs Jessy Jackson, Mini Spiritu, Rey Halcón
2) Caballero de Plata & Hell Boy vs Puma de Oro & Tonalli
3) Aster Boy © vs Yorvak [IWRG IC Light]
3rd defense
4) Bobby Lee, Príncipe Arkano, The Mummy vs Cerebro Negro, Hijo del Pantera, Internacional Pantera
5) Alpha Wolf, Dragón Bane, Hijo De Dos Caras vs Brad Alexis, Dick Angelo 3G, El Hijo del Medico Asesino
6) Travis Banks © vs Dr. Cerebro [IWRG IC MIDDLE]
2nd defense

The next big IWRG show is 04/17.

Big Chico Che and Big Boy are looking for a new third Big Stripper, now with a wacky vignette.

Other Notes

I also attended the Mark Hitchcock Supershow. Mike Bailey/Bandido was great and won the match of the award prize; it was so overwhelming the voter favorite that I’m not sure they actually needed to count. That match was really good, though I liked the WXW match a little bit better, and liked the Taurus/Alexander/Austin vs Horus/Laredo/Oku match. The fans in the building seemed surprisingly unfamiliar with Oku was given he recently had the much talked about the match with Ospreay; Oku had a handful of spots that were obviously signature bits that the crowd didn’t understand were supposed to be big things, though he was super impressive and got over anyway. Taurus seemed to pick up a lot of people who hadn’t seen him before as well.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Taste of Lucha has a live review of the Republic of Lucha first show.

A Fire Jr. profile. I feel like Marca does this same one once a year.