normal CMLL Friday show, Big Lucha Endgame tonight, Laredo/Vikingo Saturday, AAA Tempe

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 12/02/2022 Arena México
1) Bengala & Neón vs Apocalipsis & Difunto
2) Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
3) Avispa Dorada, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Dalys, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

This is the most skippable CMLL Friday show in a while. The matches should generally be good, it’s just bigger shows are coming and there’s nothing here that won’t happen again. The opener is cage match setup. Fuego returning to Arena Mexico will be a nice moment. Top matches could be good and follow up on the Aniversario rivalries.

CMLL will have a Christmas tree lighting ceremony today at 6:45. Televisa personality Raquel Bigorra will help host.

Titan & BUSHI lost to Alex Zayne & El Lindaman in the Super Junior Tag league, dropping them to 4-2. They may need to win out to finish in top 2; the two teams they’ve lost to are ahead of them. BUSHI took the pinfall loss, as he did in the previous loss. The choice of which team member takes the pinfall losses is treated with more importance in NJPW; The booking suggests Titan is ranked ahead of BUSHI right now. The team’s next match is against SHO & Dick Togo early Sunday.

CMLL (MON) 12/05/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Dark Soul & Dreyko vs Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika
2) Alex Gracia, Ivelisse, Lady Frost, Princesa Sugehit vs Avispa Dorada, Dalys, Lluvia, Stephanie Vaquer
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa © vs Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma [MEX TRIOS]
fourth defense, 3rd time Fuerza Poblana challenging
4) Hijo de Octagón, Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Kenny King, Lince Dorado, Matt Taven, Rocky Romero
5) Gran Guerrero © vs Euforia [CMLL HEAVY]
first defense

That’s a loaded Arena Puebla show. More loaded than tonight’s Arena Mexico show. There’s a good chance of a trios title change. Not sure why Hijo del Octagon got the random booking or why they mixed up the women’s sides.

CMLL (TUE) 12/06/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Jabalí, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno vs Exterminador, Maléfico, Thunder Boy
2) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Obelisk vs Black Boy, Persa, Temerario
3) Adrenalina, El Divino, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Barboza, Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr.
4) Bestia Negra, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II vs Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono
5) Magia Blanca © vs Ángel Rebelde [MEX WELTER]
6) Alex Gracia, Avispa Dorada, Ivelisse, Lady Frost vs Lluvia, Maligna, Stephanie Vaquer, Valkiria
7) Kenny King, Lince Dorado, Matt Taven, Rocky Romero vs Averno, Difunto, Dulce Gardenia, Último Guerrero

Guadalajara’s preview graphics made it look like they were doing tag matches, and it’s similar atomicos to those in Puebla instead.

Avispa Dorada & Reyna Isis talked about the Copa Bicentenario with the press earlier this week. The four-team competition appears to be a single elimination tag tournament, as they talked about wanting to face Lady Frost & Dalys in a final. Dorada said she’d like a long stint in CMLL but had not figured out her 2023 plans as of yet.

Virus & Atlantis Jr.’s mask airs Saturday on NJPW World’s “NJPW Strong” show. A highlight of Informa was Virus and Julio Cesar Rivera trying to figure out where and how to watch that match. Virus was more on it than JCR. It certainly wouldn’t hurt NJPW to get Titan or someone else who speaks Spanish to do a video explainer on how to sign up for the NJPW World service prior to Fantasticmania.

Mistico will face Misterioso (California/NJPW version) on 12/11 in Los Angeles. There’s still that lingering issue about the Misterioso name and so it’ll be worth watching to see how CMLL talks about this match. They usually RT any CMLL match in NJPW and did not appear to do it this time, for what it’s worth.

CMLL put up the Ticketmaster Live list of PPVs: you can order 12/02, 12/09, 12/16, and 12/23. The link to 12/30 doesn’t work but I’ve figured out the secret naming scheme (they’re just numbered) and you can buy it early here. I don’t think anyone actually buys these early. All are the normal 100 peso price. I was aware 12/25 was a Sunday, but it still didn’t click that it would mean it wouldn’t be a (Friday) TicketMaster Live PPV. There’s a decent chance it’ll be a Christmas surprise free stream on YouTube as in past years.

CMLL Informa announced Arena Coliseo will take 12/24 and 12/31 off for the holidays. CMLL always skips running those nights, usually moving them to the next day. That doesn’t work when those days fall on a Saturday, the next day already has a show, so they’ll just keep Coliseo dark for a few weeks.

Informa also confirmed the upcoming Puebla move from up an hour for an 8 pm start time is meant to be a permanent change. Informa showed single-cam highlights of Monday’s Arena Puebla show, different from what the Facebook page aired. It may just be a one or two week thing since next Monday’s show is bigger than usual. (Odds just went up of Fuerza Poblana winning the national trios titles on Monday.)

CMLL knows they have a base number of people who will just pay for any CMLL content – that’s the TicketmasterLive buy number – and those same people would probably pay for any subscriber network that included things like “Arena Puebla single cam shows that are already being taped.” I’ve written this too many times, though.

Atlantis and Atlantis Jr.’s interview on Informa continued the push towards them challenging the Chavez for the CMLL tag team titles. Atlantis wanted it on 01/01 and that match does feel right for a holiday show, but it came off like they were just throwing out ideas and nothing was locked in.

NJPW announced the 02/24 Osaka show will have a cheering section. This is common for Japanese shows, where some of the crowd is cheering and others are not due to COVID protocols. Rules aren’t decided for the Korakuen Hall show, and it reads like the other shows will have no cheering.

AAA

AAA on Space at 6:30 pm Saturday

• Myzteziz Jr. vs Octagón Jr. vs Aramis
• Chik Tormenta vs La Hiedra [Showcenter Tournament, final]
• Laredo Kid vs Hijo Del Vikingo [Showcenter Tournament, final]

Laredo Kid versus Hijo del Vikingo could possibly be the match of the year and is definitely the match where Laredo Kid got injured. It’s as important a match as AAA gets now between TripleManias.

AAA’s Tempe show still isn’t listed as airing on FITE. You never know, it’s lucha libre, it could randomly pop up on a YouTube channel as a surprise on Saturday, but I wouldn’t plan around it. Fans would be beside themselves if another international promotion ran a rare show in the US with a former UFC heavyweight champion without selling a stream, but it’s AAA and you either accept them being very weird or you just don’t pay them much attention in the first place. I assume the show is being taped – an interview with Sam Adonis says as much – but it’s possible we’re all just guessing. Jose Manuel Guillen is on the way to Arizona according to his Instagram stories, but AAA’s used their TV announcers for live commentary at the non-televised Showcenter events so even that’s not definite of a taping. It’s AAA; assume nothing.

A ripple to this being a local-only show is the buzz for it on the internet is irrelevant, it only matters if the people in the Phoenix area feel excited enough to go check it on Saturday. I’m not there, I can’t really tell you how it feels. The WON (maybe sourcing WrestleTix) says 1,744 tickets are have either been bought or given away for the show, with a big increase coming after Cain Velasquez being announced. That’s probably enough for the usual carefully framed photo and that seems like the measuring stick of success.

Dorian Roldan was on the Meta podcast “Hablemos del Metaverso”. They talked about the TripleManias being available in Meta’s virtual reality project and the possibilities of lucha libre in a metaverse. It’s a brief segment; the text recap covers most of it.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha has Endgame tonight.

Big Lucha (FRI) 12/02/2022 Bandidos Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Andy Panda Jr., Sussy Love, Viajero vs Elipse, Limbo, Orbita
2) King vs Kong
3) El Potro de Oro vs Skayde
4) Carito vs Máximo
5) Cometa Maya, Éxtasis, Radioactivo vs Forneo, Sol, Torito Negro Jr. [TLC]
6) El Bandido, Komander, Gravity, Galeno del Mal, Rey Horus, Flamita, Emperador Azteca, Elemental, Action Jackson, Bendito, Jack Evans, Scarecrow, Vengador, Aaron Steel, Anarko [cage, mask, hair]

I don’t like lucha libre cage matches, I don’t think the build to this one has been compelling. I am still fascinated/frightening to find out what these guys are going to do with a cage to work with. No one show Komander the Elix Skipper TNA clip.

Hell Flyers versus Delta Force have been so close to putting together a great match. The weapons might make everything more messy (like the swing in the Carito match) or they might yet instead do something insane. I think this show is going to be good but it’s really only the top two matches that seem interesting to me and one’s a gimmick I don’t usually like.

It’s Big Lucha’s first show to be part of Mas Lucha YouTube subscriber-only service, 8 USD/month. (1st time subscribers may get a lower sign-up price.) They always seem to stream about half of these shows for free, so you can see how the stream is working before committing.

IWRG

IWRG , EXOTIC (THU) 12/01/2022 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del Ring, IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Rey Halcón Jr. b Jhon Tito, Legado 
2) Baby Star Jr. & Spider Fly b Hijo De Histeria & Histeriosis 
3) Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo De Oro Jr., Hijo del Brazo b Pig Decapitador, Pig Desenterrador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor 
4) Big Mami, Máscarita Sagrada, Microman b Baronessa, Gallito, Guapito 
5) Bugambilia, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata b Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba 
Las Shotas asked for a rematch in a cage
6) Cibernético & DMT Azul b Blue Demon Jr. & Hijo del Fishman 
Cibernetico wrestled in his mask for whatever reason. Demon tried to hit DMT Azul with a chair, the referee pulled it away, DMT Azul cradled Demon to win. Challenges followed.

I’m still not sure which exotico is running Exotic promotions. Whoever did drew a big house; Nuacalpan looked close to full for this show. I’m surprised the Pigs took a loss when they seem headed to a match with La Pandemia, but that may just indicate different people booking these shows.

IWRG (SUN) 12/04/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Roja vs Rey Aztaroth
2) Hijo del Pantera & Pantera Jr. vs Garra Mortal Jr. & Rey Halcón
3) Relámpago vs Tonalli
4) Asterboy, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Rocky Casas
5) Hijo del Pirata Morgan vs Hell Boy
6) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. vs Diva Salvaje, Heavy Metal, Jessy Ventura

A little less star power. I’m interested in seeing how Pirata/Hell Boy goes.

Other News

Lucha Memes’ Donadora campaign wraps up in the 24 hours or so. You can still see their October 16th show for donating about 10 USD. I watched it last night, a bit concerned when I realized Makabre/Virus, Aeroboy/Satanico, and Hechicero/Gresham were all broadly technical matches back to back to back. It worked out fine, the crowd was very into Hechicero, and it made for a strong environment. It’s a very good match between the two, with some good action and a few moments of unfamiliarity. I liked Aeroboy & Satanico too. It’s along the same quality as Satanico’s recent singles match, and Aeroboy did very well. Not much to say about the rest of the card. El Enviado stuck out as someone with skills to be a great highflyer though with obvious places to improve. He’s someone you want to send to Bandido’s Gym for three months and see if it clicks.

Box y Lucha posted another set of a dozen 1969 and 1970 issues. The cost is 500 pesos (25 USD) for 12 issues; you get access to the issues on the website. The number skip around a bit, the missing ones have already been offered for sale. They just posted the previous 12 about two weeks ago and it’s great news if this is just going to be a regular schedule. The issues of this era are light on results (typically only the EMLL Friday show) and lineups, but there’s a great history of Black Shadow series serialized through the last set and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in this bunch.

MLW aired Bandido vs Hammerstone on Thursday and it’s something worth watching. They built to a strong ending and it was totally enjoyable overall. The show opens with a Flammer/Hiedra/Shani/Reina Dorada four way match, which you’d like if you’d like the similar matches on AAA TV this past week.

12/17 RIOT

• Erik Ortiz vs Blake Christian
• Demonio del Aire vs Rey Horus
• Latigo, Bandido, Toxin vs Iron Kid, Arez Jack Evans, Willy Banderas
• Byron & Kaientai vs Prometeo & Kratoz – new

Aramis joins Komander in the field for PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles.

GCW announced the Jersey J-Cup on 02/11, which will include Komander, and Arez.

The KAOZ/The Crash/Robles show in February has announced Enzo, EJ Nduka, Big Mami, Marty Scurll, Cibernetico, Komander, Pimpinela Escarlata, Dralistico, Microman, Mamba, in addition to previously announced Flip Gordon. It’s like they saw the Icon show and wanted all of that.