Templario out and Dragon Rojo in for Aniversario, Hell Boy/Caballero de Plata hair match set for 09/16, Flamita/Bandido for Big Lucha championship on 09/23

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/26/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Cronistas del Ring, El Grafico, Estrellas del Ring, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (videos), thecubsfan]
1) Astral & Leono b Grako & Inquisidor 
15:01
2) La Jarochita, La Magnifica, Tiffany b Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Marcela [Relevos Increíbles]  
15:15. Tiffany replaced Amapola. Silueta suffered a knee injury (missed by the cameras) and left the match early.
3) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto b Atlantis, Blue Panther, Negro Casas   
18:18. Both Casas & Panther suffered bad falls on dives in the last few minutes.
4) Fugaz, Stuka Jr., Titán b Atlantis Jr., Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr.  
14:16. Fugaz replaced Soberano Jr. Straight falls. Atlantis Jr. unmasked Stuka in the first, the other four finished the second fall.
5) Averno, Místico, Templario DQ Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]  
17:03. Averno faked a foul. Templario suffered a shoulder injury after an Ultimo Guerrero move.

A disaster of a show. There were injuries in the three matches, with Silueta and Templario leaving their matches and Blue Panther and Negro Casas taking bad falls in their matches. Templario’s injury, coming off a bad Guerrero Special, left him in need of shoulder surgery. He’ll be out at least six weeks (and likely longer), and that mean the CMLL Aniversario main event will change. We don’t know anything at this point beyond Templario definitely being out and Soberano definitely being in; he said he signed to put his mask on the line and doesn’t want to back out. It’s a rough blow for Templario, who would’ve been part of an Aniversario main for the first time ever and isn’t high enough on the card to assure he’ll be back in the same spot again.

CMLL posted a video of Soberano on Sunday saying he signed to put his mask on the line, and he still wants to honor that, even without Templario. Dragon Rojo put his name forward for the spot on Monday. CMLL hasn’t confirmed Dragon Rojo is in the spot, but that appears to be the case that based on the 09/02 lineup. Rojo pointed out he beat Soberano for the CMLL Middleweight Championship back in April, and elevating him to this position makes something of the win over Robbie Eagles. It’s even possible to argue Dragon Rojo makes for a more dramatic match. 2022 Templario is much better than 2022 Dragon Rojo, but Dragon Rojo’s a guy much closer to the end his career – his career was actually over for a while already – and adds another realistic outcome to the tournament. I’m not sure how CMLL fans would react to a replacement losing his mask, even if it’s a known quantity like Dragon Rojo.

Templario missing the Aniversario is the cover of this week’s Box y Lucha.

Silueta’s injury hasn’t been revealed – she was waiting for her own medical report on Saturday – but it’s serious enough that she was taken off the Arena Puebla show. Silueta did a silla to the floor and neither the CMLL cameras or the fan cams what actually happened.

The matches weren’t much good either. The second and third match fell apart near the end due to finishes. Fugaz messed up his ramp spot. Tiffany hasn’t been on a Friday night since May, probably won’t be on another Friday night until CMLL needs women for a tournament, and really shouldn’t be in-ring for a major promotion at this point in his career. She’ll be there as long as CMLL keeps calling (and she may have some behind-the-scenes responsibility in addition.) There’s a lot of ways CMLL isn’t great to wrestlers, I don’t want to paint them as a wonderful promotion, but the best thing you can say about them is they’re very loyal to people who’ve been around forever, and they’ll sacrifice some business sense to keep a lot of people working.

Just a night to forget. The most notable non-injury thing might have been fans throwing in Dr. Simi dolls during a break in the main event. Dr. Simi is the mascot of a ubiquitous chain of Mexican pharmacies, fans started throwing in at concerts as a weird sign of respect, and the bit came to lucha libre. CMLL’s not thrilled with people throwing things to the ring nowadays, and also probably not thrilled with wrestlers throwing those dolls back to the crowd.

CMLL (SAT) 08/27/2022 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha, CMLL]
1) Bengala & Retro b Apocalipsis & Príncipe Odín Jr. 
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita b Hera, Olympia, Tiffany
3) Arkalis, Cachorro, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. 
4) Fugaz, Star Black, Stigma b Hijo del Villano III, Misterioso Jr., Pólvora
5) Panterita del Ring, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible 
Panterita defeated Terrible, asked for a heavyweight title match

I don’t think the title is going to change hands, but this challenge set up the odd possibility of the Panterita father holding the championship in the heaviest division and the son holding the championship in the lightest active division.

CMLL (SUN) 08/28/2022 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO]
1) Átomo & Chamuel b Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II
2) Leono, Neón, Oro Jr. b Cholo, Nitro, Raider
Tecnicos took 1/3
3) Cancerbero, Magnus, Okumura b El Audaz, Flyer, Pegasso
Rudos took 1/3
4) Kráneo, Misterioso Jr., Rey Bucanero b Dark Panther, Star Jr., Volcano
Rudos took 1/3
5) Atlantis, Negro Casas, Panterita del Ring b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Tecnicos took 2/3

Nothing happening here.

CMLL (FRI) 09/02/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Fugaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Star Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
3) Dragón Rojo Jr., Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. vs Averno, El Mesías, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Místico vs Panterita del Ring, Magia Blanca, Star Black, Terrible, Gemelo Diablo II, Dark Panther, Niebla Roja [Copa Independencia, semifinal]

It’s Mistico and a bunch of people who appear to have no shot at winning in the Copa Independencia. We don’t know yet if it’s a single elimination or a cibernetico.

Dragon Rojo goes right into Templario’s spot and seems as much a lock to come out looking strong from his match as Mistico in his. Mesias is making good on his plan of sticking around to be annoying to Ultimo Guerrero. Virus is finally back from injury. It’s nice to see him.

No sign of Atlantis and Fuerza. I wouldn’t risk them taking a bump until 09/16 if it were me.

On a CMLL Lady’s Ring show Sunday in Japan, Tae Honma won a tournament’s finals to earn a trip back to CMLL. She’ll be part of the Gran Prix in October. Before then, she’ll challenge Dalys for the CMLL Japan Women’s championship on 09/25. Stephanie Vaquer is challenging Saori Anou for an Ice Ribbon championship on an upcoming show.

Astral & Olympia represented CMLL at the Mexico City marathon.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara held a private show for families of DHL on Sunday, as Arena Mexico did last week.

AAA

AAA TV aired three matches from Saltillo

• Chik Tormenta defeated Maravilla and Sussy Love
  • a hard-working match, the best Maravilla’s looked in a while. Sussy Love fits in with this crew. Tormenta seemed to hurt an elbow on the finish.
• La Rebellion & Gringo Loco beat Nino Hamburguesa, Mr. Iguana, Crazy Boy and Microman
  • Crazy Boy earlier tried to recuit Hamburguesa into reforming the Mexican Powers, leaning on him that Crazy Boy helped Hamburguesa when other were bullying him. (That was actually Hamburguesa’s introduction vignettes a long time ago.) Hamburguesa and his partners had their own idea for a group and rejected the idea. Crazy Boy was unhappy, though still he waited about 13 minutes into the match to betray Hamburguesa for being ungrateful. Match was generally good but there were two Gringo/Iguana spots (including the finish) that didn’t go well.
• Hijo del Vikingo & Aramis defeated Fenix & Dragon Lee
  • Great match. Slightly under a MOTYC level but still about as good a normal TV match you’ll see. Dragon Lee & Aramis did a lot early for a match that was and ended up being more about their partners. Vikingo did one spot no one else can do, as normal. Fans were very into the match and the back and forth between Fenix & Vikingo at the end.

There was a promo with Fenix saying it should be Vikingo’s dream to face a wrestler the caliber of Fenix as a pitch for the TripleMania match. The real focus for a Vikingo feud was not Omega or Fenix but Gringo Loco. The second match literally paused to show a vignette with Vikingo being concerned about Gringo Loco and Aramis trying to get him to the main event. The close of the show was a Vikingo interview disrupted by Gringo Loco attacking him, sending him through a door and a table. Gringo Loco did specifically say “I’m coming for you after you’re done with Omega and Fenix” but those matches haven’t been pushed to the near degree. Omega’s name keeps getting brought up but there’s no sign of him on AAA TV or any social media hint he’s aware this TripleMania Megachampionship search is going on.

Fenix really shouldn’t be in the running now because he just got cleanly defeated. That was a stunning decision since it seemed like Aramis being in the match made it easy to pick someone to lose. There’s no logic in Fenix being a challenger now. Luckily, AAA doesn’t operate on wrestling logic. I took it as a sign that Fenix is getting that win back soon.

Former AAA luchadora Hades announced on Twitter that she won’t be returning to the ring any time soon. Hades was a very promising luchadora and hasn’t wrestled in the last two years. In an Instagram post, she says she’s very unhappy in life and can’t be a luchadora while going through emotions. She’s been doing a lot of hinting at personal things without actually saying them in her Instagram stories and some of her posts over the last few months on the service. Those Instagram stories have specifically hinted at a tumultuous domestic relationship and her previous Instagram post is a picture with an anti-domestic violence message. There’s been enough there to both speculate and also not enough to know for certain what’s going on.

Hades hasn’t wrestled in two years because she became a mom. Hijo del Vikingo is believed to be the father. Hades and he were very public about their relationship before and during the pregnancy. They’re not public about their relationship in recent months. Vikingo was previously involved with a woman outside of wrestling from Puebla and has a child with her as well. That Puebla woman posted dramatically (and occasionally erratically) about her relationship with Vikingo via Instagram and other social media and eventually accusing Vikingo of abandoning both him and their child. Vikingo hasn’t talked much about that relationship either.

We shouldn’t assume we know what’s true from Instagram stories and posts about anyone. They’ve tiny slices often intentionally distorted. We also can’t really ignore them when they’re hinting at serious events. I really liked Hades as a luchadora, I hope whatever’s actually going on in her life works out best for herself and her kid.

IWRG

IWRG (SAT) 08/27/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Kaluc & Magic Boy b Adamatio & Rey Fuego
2) Milagro & Osogbo b Cosmic & Nubilus
3) Águila Oriental, Águila Roja, Rey Minos b Súper Cometa, Último Caballero, Yetti
4) Güero De Tijuana & Nativo b Rey Eclipse & Skanda
5) Ajolotl, Genex, Paymon b Kenji, Vértigo, Wagner Kid
6) Alan Extreme, Baby Star, Black Dragón, Cerebro Negro Jr., Hell Boy, Limbo, Rey Halcón, Tortuga Leo b Feroz, John Tito, Noisy Boy, Rey Aztaroth, Sol, Spider Fly, Súper Boy, X-Devil [Copa High Power]
Torneo FILL 99

IWRG’s recently announced when these Saturday show would be airing. They said nothing this time. Not sure if they don’t have a date or if it’s just not turning up. The next Copa Higher Power will be the 100th, which seems like an obvious set up as a big deal.

Caballero de Plata and Hell Boy have been headed to the 09/16 hair match for quite a while, and now it’s official.

IWRG (SUN) 08/28/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Rey Halcón & Vértigo b Sol & Spider Fly 
2) Feroz, Paymon, Tortuga Leo b Alan Extreme, Brillante Rb, Jhon Tito 
3) Caballero de Plata b Hell Boy [super libre]  
These two fought outside the arena before the show, then bled a lot here. They agreed to a hair match on 09/16.
4) Imposible, Relámpago, Tonalli b Acorazado Del Norte, Fly Warrior, Travis Banks 
Acorazado del Norte replaced Puma de Oro (moved up)
5) Jessy Ventura © b Puma de Oro [IWRG IC WELTER]  
3rd defense. Scheduled as Fulgor challenging with Puma de Oro moving up to replace him. Aster Boy got involved.
6) Diva Salvaje, Galeno del Mal, Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Hijo del Fishman, Mafioso, Maniacop 360 

IWRG’s story is Fulgor didn’t show up for the title match; Ventura called Fuglor too scared to show up multiples before and after the match. Fulgor indicated he quit IWRG. A source indicates IWRG wanted Fulgor to sign one of their contracts, Fulgor was not interested in the terms of the contract, and that was the end of the relationship. It’s IWRG and everyone who leaves ends up passing through again someday; Fulgor himself was on his third stint since going through their training school.

Caballero de Plata vs Hell Boy will be a big match on 09/16; I expect they’re selling on the building even running at an overlapping time with Arena Mexico

This Thursday’s show in Arena Naucalpan is the Lucha Libre Boom show with Mistico vs Atlantis Jr. vs Avenro.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (FRI) 08/26/2022 Bandidos Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Estrellas del RIng, Mas Lucha]
1) Cometa Maya, Éxtasis, Radioactivo b Forneo, Sol, Torito   
Sol’s Team wants to be known as “Heel Flyers”
2) Diva Salvaje, Dulce Canela, Jessy Ventura b King, Kong, Tibiri Tabara   
3) El Bandido b Galeno del Mal [BL CHAMP, Block B, semifinal]   
4) Ricky Marvin b Arez [BL CHAMP, Block B, semifinal]   
5) Gravity, Komander, Skayde, Viajero b Accion Jackson, Emperador Azteca, Flamita, Yutani    
Gravity and Komander were surprise wrestlers. Flamita announced he was bringing in Blue Demon to fight Skayde on the 09/23 show.
6) Carito & Tirano b Maximiliano Rivera Romero & Shocko [TLC]   
Romero replaced Potro de Oro (injury). Carito challenged Shocko to a hair vs hair match, Shocko accepted.
7) El Bandido b Ricky Marvin [BL CHAMP, Block B, final]    

Big Lucha originally announced this title tournament ending with the winner of each phase joining other selected international names for a final round as ending on September 16th. It’s now ending on September 23rd with no international names, just a Bandido/Flamtia singles match. That’s going to be a great match but it’s deflating that they set up a more interesting scenario and dropped it. (In typical Mexican indie wrestling fashion, none of these changes have been acknowledged.) Flamita & Bandido also teased a mask match again, which comes off as lame because they’ve made the challenge so many times. It would’ve been more excited if they went the other way and billed the tournament final as the last time we’d see Bandido vs Flamita in Big Lucha for a long time, so there’s some finality to a story.

I only caught bits and pieces of shows (and didn’t catch up with it like I should’ve over the weekend.) The opener and the main event sound like two matches which went the best. The TLC match was weird, like they had exactly one table and one ladder to use, but also a rope swing that they tried to make into a pinata spot.

This was not a good night for production. Mas Lucha missed the start of the main event while doing interviews. The microphones weren’t working well when close to masks, which is a problem with Flamita & Bandido doing most of the talking.

Tibiri Tabara was a 2000s indie luchador. He claimed he’s been in the Dominican Republic all this time, which translates to him being an indie wrestler who moved around gimmicks.

Other News

Lasser/Gato Volador (Jorge Vega Oriel, 66) passed away Monday. Someone using the “Gato Volador” name has been active in northern Mexico, but I believe the most famous wrestler has been retired for many years; his name recently would come up only when mentioning his health battles. Vega Oriel had been battling diabetes, though he officially died of a brain clot. As Lasser, he was a champion as part of Los Arqueros and as a singles in the early 90s. He was mainly a UWA/LLI/Mora luchador for the best portion of his, though he appeared in EMLL at times through their talent searching. That run as champion in the 90s came as the El Toreo promotion started to go downhill and was sped up by the emergence of AAA. Lasser became one of many refugees from that UWA’s slow collapse, working everywhere under a variety of identites. He was a Sagrado before the current one, he was a Angel Azteca, he was a (Super) Elektra paired with Skayde, he was a Power Ranger and eventually settled on the Gato Volador identity as he became based in Monterrey. Lasser was at the level where he would’ve been forever celebrated as part of his company’s history had the company had a present and a future and sort of quietly slipped from view without the UWA existing. SuperLuchas has a longer obituary.

Apcaulco luchador Super Loco (Alejandro Alvarado Diaz, 52) passed away Monday. He also was listed as Crazy Loco. He had a run as an AAA prelim luchador in 2002 and popped up on other tapings in the area through the years. He’d been active in wrestling as recently as January. He is no relation to Super Crazy but he is mentioned to be part of the same family as Polvo de Estrellas, Butterfly, Kid Silver, Ludwig Star Jr and La Chiva. There was a local Acapulco benefit show for him just this Sunday. AAA acknowledged his passing; he was teaching a school name in Antonio Pena’s name.

Irapuato luchador Maremoto (Raul Salazar Santillan, 50)’s body was found Saturday morning. This was a sad and expected outcome; the note left next to Lepra’s presumed remains indicated the same group had either killed Maremoto or was about to do so. There were more messages left near his body. (I haven’t had the misfortune of seeing those.) The local government says the remains haven’t been identified, which doesn’t say much for the state they’ve been left in. A lucha libre show in Irapuato scheduled for Sunday was postponed, officially out of due to respect to Maremoto and Lepra’s passing. It’s probably hard to feel safe at a lucha libre show right now. Maremoto is the third luchador from that city to be violently killed this year. It appears it’s government officials accused of corruption who are being targeted, not necessarily local luchadors, but the two may be tied enough together that others may be pulled in.

Maximo was knocked out during a match Saturday in Orizaba. A similar thing appeared to happen with him in Arena Neza recently.

Impact’s tapings in Dallas this weekend included a lot of NJPW Strong talent for whatever reason. That NJPW Strong crew included Mascara Dorada. He’s still supposed to be coming to CMLL, just stuck waiting indefinitely for the proper paperwork that’ll allow him to travel freely between Mexico and the US. Dorada originally was being very particular about what bookings he’d take in the US, not wanting to work shows with AAA-affilated wrestlers. This wait to go back to Mexico has dragged on, the work isn’t as available as it once was, and so Dorada found himself working a weekend of tapings with Laredo Kid, Black Taurus and Taya. He didn’t appear to get in the ring with any of them – Dorada faced Alex Zayne on one show and Mike Bailey on another – but he did take part in the usual Mexican group photograph.

La Rebelion are once again NWA World Tag Team champions. They were supposed to face (and likely defeat) Doug Williams and Harry Smith, Smith didn’t appear due to illness, and they defeated Luke and PJ Hawk instead. I think there’s a better chance the NWA Tag Team championship gets defended on TripleMania than the AAA titles.

Nacion Lucha Libre has a deal where buying a ticket for their TV taping gives you a ticket to an auto race on 09/03.

Segunda Caida watched a 1983 El Dandy match.