Author: thecubsfan

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 09/02/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Depor Puebla, El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Espíritu Maligno & Rencor b Amnesia & Blue Shark
2) Arkalis, Rey Samuray, Xelhua b Grako, Multy, Vegas 
3) Persephone & Zeuxis b Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard
straight falls, setting up a tag title match
4) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Star Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible, Zandokan Jr.
5) Volador Jr. b Atlantis Jr. 
Volaodr Jr. won cleanly after cheating to beat him last week
6) Esfinge b Hechicero, Euforia, Valiente 
Again worked reverse elimination style, with Hechicero and Valient winning theri way out and then Euforia sneaking in a foul on Esfinge.

In the two preview matches, the two veterans most likely to lose (Euforia, Valiente) have won the final pinfall, while the person who seems most likely to win (Esfinge) has lost both times. These results aren’t typically played up much outside of Puebla; it’s only the most diehard fans who know them.

Tecnico Atlantis losing the lead-up match and then losing the singles match is unusual CMLL booking. The sell-out streak ended last week, but the run of strong turnouts seems to have gotten more local press to cover these shows than in the recent past. There was a point where I couldn’t find results for these shows, and now there are at least three media outlets (plus Porra Fresa) covering it semi-regularly.

CMLL (TUE) 09/03/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora 
6:16
2) Capitán Suicida, Eléctrico, Robin b Grako, Hunter, Inquisidor 
13:34
3) Kira, Skadi, Tabata b Amapola, Metálica, Olympia 
16:58. Tabata return from elbow surgery.
4) Barboza, Difunto, Zandokan Jr. b Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black 
12:57. Rare CDMX appearances for Explosivo and Barboza.
5) Valiente b Bárbaro Cavernario [lightning] 
9:46
6) Atlantis Jr., Neón, Star Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. 
12:03. Angel de Oro again snuck in a foul on Atlantis to give his team a win. Tecnicos wanted a rematch.

I watched this whole show but couldn’t get locked into most of it. It was a me issue. Match four seemed the best of the bunch. They’re still going somewhere with the Angel de Oro/Atlantis stuff, but I’m less sure than ever. Atlantis Sr. once again brought up on Sunday about wanting the tag title match with his son for Aniversario, despite his son being announced for a match. That doesn’t seem like it’s actually happening, but CMLL must have something in mind with all these finishes.

CMLL (TUE) 09/03/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL, Fuego en el Ring, Mas Lucha]
1) Rav, Shezmu, Temerario b Astro Oriental, Obek, Último Ángel
2) Gallo Jr., Ráfaga, Rafaga Jr. DQ Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Satánico
DQ for mask removal
3) Pelon Encapuchado b Arlequín [lightning]
4) Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. b Bestia Negra & Vaquero Jr.
5) La Catalina, Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard b Dark Silueta, Persephone, Zeuxis
Dark Silueta left with an injury
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Titán b Furia Roja, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr.

CMLL still hasn’t explained why the live Guadalajara streams ended, but they appear dead now. Expect it to turn up on Thursday with music that won’t cause copyright issues.

A rare CMLL spot show in Cabo San Lucas drew a sell-out. Mistico & Atlantis Jr. wrestled Soberano Jr. & Templario in the main event.

CMLL (SUN) 09/08/2024 Arena México
1) Leono & Retro vs Enfermero Jr. & Sangre Imperial
2) Astral, El Audaz, Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Hijo del Pantera vs Hijo de Stuka Jr. [lightning]
4) Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero vs Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido, Vegas
6) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Titán vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

That lightning match is interesting, though AMX rarely airs the Sunday lightning match. (A typical week would have matches 2, 5, and 6 airing.) Vegas gets to team with Los Depredadores but needs more four-man teams to face if Vegas is going to be an actual part of the group.

CMLL (SUN) 09/08/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano & Blue Shark vs Prayer & Sombra Diabólika
2) Astro vs Inquisidor [lightning]
3) Espíritu Negro, Pelon Encapuchado, Stigma vs Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
4) Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard © vs Persephone & Zeuxis [CMLL WOMEN TAG]
first defense
5) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Averno, Niebla Roja
6) Esfinge, Hechicero, Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Soberano Jr., Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]

Normally, the main event would involve the four people in the mask wrestling exclusively against each other. The slight issue is that would mean Ultimo Guerrero and Soberano would have to wrestle, and that still appears impossible. I’m surprised CMLL didn’t swap Averno and Soberano.

Espiritu Negro wrestling without Rey Cometa or Dulce Gardenia feels odd. It may be that way for a while; Rey Cometa (on IG) announced he had surgery on one of his testicles. He described it as precautionary. No idea how long he’ll be out.

CMLL Informa’s announced guests

• Chris Jericho (Aniversario)
• Mascara Dorada (last week’s Copa Independencia)
• Titan, Dulce Gardenia, Crixus, Hijo del Villano III (this week’s Copa Independencia)
• Reyna Isis (bodybuilding)
• Espanto Jr. & Dark Magic (Ola Negra reshuffling)

Chris Jericho talked to the Mexican press from home on Thursday, so this could be a longer version of that chat or another more recent one. (It surely won’t be live; he’s typically busy on Wednesday.)

Today’s CMLL Informa will also probably round out the Aniversario show. It’s a balancing act: CMLL may not be able to announce the final match if there’s still someone alive on Copa Independencia to be included, but it would also be atypical for CMLL not to have all the matches on the Aniversario card a week ahead of time. Maybe it’ll be as simple as “the last spot in this trio will be determined after Friday”, but the other five names in the match are announced.

That current lineup:

CMLL (FRI) 09/13/2024 Arena México
***CMLL 91st Aniversario***
1) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
2) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
3) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
4) Máscara Dorada vs ?? [Copa Independencia]
5) Atlantis Jr., Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. vs Kojima, Orange Cassidy, Rocky Romero
6) Chris Jericho vs Místico
7) Hechicero vs Esfinge, Valiente, Euforia [mask]

I expect match 2 to be a women’s match—maybe with a guest start. Match 3 is cramming in some of the people who aren’t booked. There isn’t a ten-man tag or battle royal on here, so people will be still left out.

Mistico will face Bad Dude Tito in the semifinals in the MLW Opera Cup on 09/14 in Atlanta. He seems likely to win. The other semifinal is TJP versus KENTA, and Mistico looks to be the favorite to win the entire competition at this point.

Reyna Isis has been wrestling less often lately as she trained for a fitness competition. CMLL noted her participation in the Wellness Bikini Principiantes category, though the press release doesn’t mention any ranking. They also note a Shirly Tirado as finishing third in another category. I don’t know the CMLL connection there.

Atlantis, Sanely, Felino Jr., and KeMaltio appeared at a fundraiser for the Un Kilo de Ayuda charity.

AAA

AAA TV (SUN) 09/29/2024 Gimnasio Nuevo León Unido, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
1) Tiger Universitario Jr. & Tigre Universitario vs Hijo del Solar & Solar I
2) Alan Stone, Bello Stone, Zumbido vs Dulce Kanela, Jessy Queen, Pimpinela Escarlata
3) Dinámico vs Charro Negro, Redimido, Tosscano
4) Dalys & La Hiedra vs Masha Slamovich & Natalia Markova and Julissa & Valentina
5) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown vs Abismo Negro, El Fiscal, Psicosis
6) Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Octagón Jr. vs Belcegor, Emperador Azteca, Taurus
7) Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz vs ?, El Mesías, Pierroth Jr.

This was announced at a press conference Monday. Actually, what happened is AAA said they’d have an announcement at 5 pm, so I made sure to be at my computer ready to absorb all that big AAA news. No news was posted, naturally. AAA’s Facebook posted about a 30-second video, but I just moved on with my life. I was wrong in thinking this would be the Guadalajara announcement, but I can at least show up on time. Mas Lucha posted the press conference on Tuesday and pretended like it was live.

From a viewer’s perspective, there’s not a lot to this taping. Hijo del Vikingo returns against guys who aren’t pushed. Abismo is still teaming with the Vipers despite turning on them in the main event in TripleMania. AAA advertised a mystery rudo teaming with Mesias and Taurus in Torreon. Presumably, the same person will debut three weeks later. Pierroth Jr. (the former El Divo) hasn’t appeared on AAA TV in two years, but that’s a common part of this taping. KAOZ is locally promoting it, and their names are sprinkled in here. They’re probably booking Julissa & Valentina and may be responsible for Slamovich and Markova. Julissa,

The real story is AAA and KAOZ are explicitly running this taping in hopes of “defeating” the CMLL & Alto Voltaje show in Arena Monterrey on the same night. AAA generally seems to have a bee in its bonnet over CMLL praise for having good attendance this year and AAA not getting that same credit. AAA doesn’t get credit because most AAA discussions start and end with how terrible their shows are, but getting to brag about beating CMLL in Monterrey head-to-head will mean a little something to them. AAA may additionally have a particular issue with Alto Voltaje running at the Showcenter last time. AAA believes they have exclusivity on that facility; RIOT had a date in another space at the same venue a couple of years ago, and AAA encouraged the building owners to push RIOT out. Alto Voltaje did end up running the Showcenter, so maybe AAA figures the next best thing is to damage their turnout enough where they might give up running. KAOZ is involved because KAOZ likes to talk about being part of Big Things. This taping also saves KAOZ the effort of putting on their own show, something they have only accomplished once in the last fourteen months.

That CMLL/Alto Voltaje show at Arena Monterrey seemed like a terrible idea to start with (and when Alto Voltaje first said they were running it in June.) It’s been a long time since CMLL shows have drawn really well in Monterrey, they didn’t draw anything special on that May card in the Showcenter, and the lineup isn’t going to draw people in. Mistico versus Hechicero for a title created for that show will probably be good, but it’s not an arena show. I think most people reading this blog would probably rather see the CMLL show than the AAA one, but the fact that on is a taping – so it “matters” – and the other is just a random show- is a big difference to people buying tickets. Superboletos indicates fans have only bought a few hundred tickets so far.

The Alto Votlaje people generally seem like dreamers without wrestling business sense. Their statement referencing the KAOZ show hypes the competition and brags about soon bringing in wrestlers from the US, Japan, and Canada for future shows. The last thing for Alto Voltaje needs do is to put the hype on future shows. They’re implicitly permitting the fans to skip this show for AAA because the even bigger shows are down the road. That’s just not smart.

Running a TV taping on 09/29 is about the most illogical time to run one. AAA will have no fresh TV for 09/28, and could benefit if this show was scheduled a week or two earlier. They also already have a TV for the following week: the Verano de Escandalo special will air live. (This Monterrey taping will air out of order in Mexico, probably not until 10/19.) The only reason to run on this date is to beat CMLL, and they will. They’ll draw about 5,000 to their building, and Alto Voltaje will be lucky to draw a third of that, so AAA can call it a win. Maybe it’s an even useful win if they can use it to convince someone to invest in the company or whatever it is they’re trying to do. Meanwhile, CMLL will have drawn 10,000+ people to Mexico City for the Night of Champions show on Friday prior and will be utterly unconcerned about whatever happens in Monterrey.

(The announcement of this show does explain why the 09/01 show wasn’t announced as a TV taping; they didn’t want to confuse the market, and they would rather the fans who will only go to one TV taping to go this 09/29 show.)

The press conference included Latin Lover as the AAA representative, which was a bit awkward given that the people who run AAA beat him up on the last show. Latin explained the storyline and could’ve saved some time by explaining that it was a cut-and-paste job from WWE. (Ciber started needling Latin about his lengthy explanations.) Marisela Pena is playing the role of Linda McMahon, who still has power over the promotion and is supporting Latin, so he’s still part of the organization and has power. This is also the same as Dorian Roldan’s previous run as a heel owner, where it was Marisela and Joaquin opposing him. Another highlight was Latin explaining the CMLL women train or wrestle three times a week, and that’s why they’re in better shape, but the AAA women will get better. I don’t know how or why he wandered into that, and the KAOZ promoter  (Alonso Botello) sitting next to him immediately jumped into salvage and defended Julissa & Valentina as people who are always training. We can all guess which AAA woman Latin Lover was talking about needing to get in better shape, but – in thinking he was avoiding trouble by not naming names – he said it in such a general way that all of the women could see themselves as targets. Sexy Star had a mildly annoyed response on Instagram on Wednesday. Konnan, Dorian, and Alberto ran this vast conspiracy to humiliate Latin Lover and they probably could’ve just given him some rope and time to let him do it himself.

In the same style, Latin said AAA will be touring the US in the first third of 2024. He’s brought it up as a possibility before, said it was definite here, and it still seems unlikely to happen in any meaningful way. Put aside AAA’s long US history and just look at this year. AAA seems super cautious about running any location with a risk. They’ve run the Mexico City and Monterrey areas 9 times so far and everyone else in the world 6 times. If AAA decided they can’t run Puebla or San Luis Potosi or Veracruz or Merida, how would they feel comfortable running Phoenix or Dallas? It only happens if someone else is paying AAA’s bills. (It also requires applying for work visas, which would probably need to be starting now if AAA is going to lock in early 2025 dates. Or they’re just going to hope the wrestlers do their own work.)

AAA will bring back the Autoluchas concept on October 11th. Rather, they’ll be doing a sponsored show for sponsor Bardahl on October 11th, and the car oil company will be giving away tickets. Autoluchas was more enjoyable than empty arena lucha during the early portion of the pandemic, but I’m surprised to see the concept come back in 2024—even with a car sponsor involved.

Laredo Kid faces Kushida on Thursday’s Impact. That sounds great. Less fantastic is TNA has removed its YouTube subscription this past week in favor of moving everyone over to their TNA+ service. Will I pay $10/month to watch one probably very good match, trusting that TNA didn’t mess it up some way? Maybe???

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 09/05/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Faunto vs Ikaris
2) Shamila & Vanilla Vargas vs Demonia & Kali
3) Willy Banderas vs Águila Roja
4) Luka, Spider Fly, Tornado vs Abigor, Alan Extreme, Hysteriosis
5) Aquiles, Hell Boy, Veneno vs Cerebro Negro, Látigo, Toxin

At some point, I should probably figure out why there’s someone named Aquiles who’s main eventing these shows suddenly.

Other News

Box y Lucha 3619 has Villano V on the cover. Dr. Lucha also shares his memories of Villano V in his blog this week. He points out that Villano V was doing well as Rokambole before taking the family number and wonders if he may have done better on his own. The mass in Villano V’s memory will take place on Monday.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/30/2024 Arena México [AS, CMLL, Fuego en el RIng, Kasier Sports, Telediario, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito   
9:16
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma, Xelhua b El Coyote, Felino, Felino Jr.    
16:38
3) Lluvia TLDRAW Persephone [lightning]    
time limit draw (though it seemed like Lluvia was meant to have won)
4) Esfinge, Místico, Volador Jr. DQ Averno, Euforia, Yota   
11:37. Straight falls. Tecnicos won the first in 24 seconds, then Euforia ripped off Euforia’s mask and knocked down referee Edgar a couple of times. Euforia said he’d end Esfinge and take his mask on Aniversario.
5) Máscara Dorada b Templario, Neón, Star Black, Stuka Jr., Akuma, Difunto, Villano III Jr. [Copa Independencia, semifinal]   
26:47. Star Black (via Akuma, 10:43), Villano III Jr. (via Neon, 12:37), Difunto (via Stuka Jr., 15:26), Akuma (via Templario, 17:27), Neon (via Mascara Dorada, 18:31), Stuka Jr. (via Templario, 19:48), Templario (via Mascara Dorada, 26:47), leaving Dorada as the winner. He advances to the final on the Aniversario

The main event was Great. Dorada and Templario have fought a lot and could use some new ideas, but they have really good chemistry. (It’s part of why it’s a shame Templario is a tecnico now.) Having those two at the final made for legitimate drama, CMLL could’ve easily picked either of them for the big showcase singles match on 09/13 and every near fall felt real. All these ciberneticos exist in three acts, and the best act of this one was the first, the period before the first elimination. A lot of wild action, people who don’t get a lot Friday main event attention (Star Black, Difunto) getting in big moments, and the flow of the match staying steady throughout.

Mascara Dorada versus Titan feels like the right match for the Aniversario. It’s not completely out of the question CMLL would book Star Jr. or Averno to come out of that block, either would seem likely if this was a tournament ending on any other show. Dorada and Titan have had outstanding matches before, and it’s the big match to do for the biggest show of the year.

Villano III Jr. mentioned honoring Villano V in a mid-show promo, and that was the only direct reference to Villano V I caught on the show. There was no moment of remembrance, even with Villano IV there as a commissioner. CMLL didn’t have a time crunch, they could’ve gotten it in, and just made the decision not to do it. They also obviously didn’t change their booking of the cibernetico, with Villano III Jr. going about as expected. There wasn’t a strong negative reaction to it, and I guess that’s one great advantage of the current CMLL set up. A heavy tourist crowd isn’t going to be informed enough to be upset about something like that.

Euforia’s had a lot of pretty good and great matches in his career. (The three way with Valiente and Esfinge, airing over this past weekend, was another one.) The work Euforia is doing as a rudo, as a personality, in the build to Aniversario continues to be outstanding. He cut Esfinge to pieces in his post match promo, as he continues to do any time he’s asked to talk in ring. No idea if he always had this in him and just never got to do it, or if it’s just getting this close to Aniversario that’s bringing it out of him. Maybe Euforia’s best promo prior to feud was the one where he ripped Ultimo Guerrero for costing him an empty arena Aniversario match by getting COVID and quit Los Guerreros, so perhaps that show truly does mean a lot to him.

Lluvia and Persephone was going fairly well until about the nine and half mark. It was like they suddenly realized they were going long and completely paniced. Persephone blew whatever power move she was going for, then rush and slipped on her springboard frogsplash. I don’t recall her slipping on a springboard ever before. Lluvia set Persephone up for her caught in the ropes dropkick, seemingly the planned finish, but there was absolutely no way she was going to it all done in time. Sure enough, the clock struck 10 just as the three count started. Hitting a winning move as time runs out is a pretty standard draw finish, but it was pretty obvious by reactions of everyone that a draw was not the plan here.

Prisca Awiti, a Mexican silver medalist in Judo, was honored on the show. Mexico doesn’t win a lot of medals at the Olympics – 3 silvers and 2 bronzes this past year – so anyone who does win a medal becomes a big sporting star in that country. Awiti has a Mexican mother and a Kenyan father and grew up in London, so she had choices in which country to represent, and it meant a lot that she picked Mexico. Enough so that her simply showing up and getting a Mistico mask got covered as a new story.

Both of the CMLL matches on the NJPW show were enjoyable. ZSJ/Titan was great. “Zack Sabre Jr. versus luchadors” gets thrown around as a styles clash but it actually is a good mix with the right luchadors. The guys who have good training in the basics and can still do it mesh very well with Sabre’s style. (This worked well with Titan, it’d probably work well with a Mascara Dorada, and it probably won’t work well with a Fugaz.) Hechicero & Virus was another weird mix on paper, but both teams figured out what the other team did well and let them do it. The CMLL guys got over in both matches and they flowed well. 20 USD is a big ask for a show with just two CMLL related matches and where you already know they both lost (Hechicero & Virus are not tag team champions, maybe should’ve led with that) but both are worth checking out if/when they pop up on NJPW World as part of the regular subscription.

CMLL (SAT) 08/31/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Leono b Inquisidor [lightning]
9:51.
2) Enfermero Jr., Infarto, Sagrado b Diamond, Retro, Robin
16:06. Infarto & Sagrado replaced the Dr. Karontes (double booked?)
3) Dark Panther, Hijo del Pantera, Volcano b Kráneo, Rey Bucanero, Vegas
15:33
4) Metálica, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis b La Catalina, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi
14:41. Rudas took 2/3.
5) Averno b Zandokan Jr.
13:56. Averno out-rudoed Zandokan, slipping in a foul for the win.
6) Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Star Jr. DQ Dragón Rojo Jr., Flip Gordon, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
13:37. Valiente unmasked Hechicero, and said he’d beat him on the Aniversario show.

Earlier in the week, Averno talked up his match with Zandokan as showing the up-and-comer heel what a true rudo is like. He lived up to it: Averno jumped Zandokan on the way to the ring, shredded his mask, and won via blatant cheating. It was great. Zandokan didn’t take the loss well. It’s sort of amazing Averno beat Yota and Zandokan in the same week but I’m not complaining.

The main event was good by Sunday standards.

Something is up with these lightning matches. There used to be a fair bit of five minute, six minute and seven minute matches. When even Leono and Inquisidor are teasing the ten minute draw, they’re clearly being told to go long for whatever reason.

CMLL (SUN) 09/01/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Átomo & KeMalito b Chamuel & Tengu
2) Arkalis, Astral, Valiente Jr. b Alom, Grako, Hunter
3) Pelon Encapuchado b Disturbio [lightning]
4) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Mephisto
Mephisto wore a Villano V tribute outfit.
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Máscara Dorada, Titán, Volador Jr.
Naito was shown watching the match from the crowd.

On Wednesday’s Informa, Akuma and Julio Cesar Rivera talked about Akuma no longer being part of Ola Negra. It’s a tricky story to tell, because the entire Ola Negra/Atrapsuenos feud was about Espiritu Negro leaving Ola Negra to go do better thing and his old partners being angry at him. Akuma’s basically doing the same thing but tried to make it clear he was leaving the group on better terms. (The reality is CMLL moved Akuma up to a higher position and aren’t doing it for the other two.) Espanto Jr. & Dark Magic have been teaming with Raider a lot lately, and invited him to join the Ola Negra group after their win here. Raider said he needed time to think about it, and Espanto Jr. warned him not to take too long. In 2024 CMLL, that probably means it’ll be resolved on CMLL Informa this Wednesday. They’re all together against Friday, so that’ll likely be the first official match.

Naito sat in the last row of the floor bleachers, usually reversed for the press. Like most of the press, I can only assume that he’ll post video highlights of each match on his YouTube channel tonight. Naito also popped up in Titan’s post-show promo.

CMLL (TUE) 09/03/2024 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) Capitán Suicida, Eléctrico, Robin vs Grako, Hunter, Inquisidor
3) Kira, Skadi, Tabata vs Amapola, Metálica, Olympia
4) Explosivo, Fugaz, Star Black vs Barboza, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
5) Valiente vs Bárbaro Cavernario [lightning]
6) Atlantis Jr., Neón, Star Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

The main event is almost the trios champions after the tag champs and Soberano. The undercard feels like there’s a third CMLL show going on Tuesday taking away a lot of names. Tabata’s back after elbow surgery, her first match since May. Barboza appeared in the Torneo de Escuelas, disappeared (injury?) soon after, and this is his return to Arena Mexico.

CMLL (FRI) 09/06/2024 Arena México
1) Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma, Xelhua vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider
2) Hera, La Catalina, Tessa Blanchard vs Reyna Isis, Sanely, Zeuxis [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
4) Templario vs Soberano Jr. [lightning]
5) Titán vs Averno, Star Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Dulce Gardenia, Zandokan, Dark Panther, Crixus [Copa Independencia, semifinal]

This week’s cibernetico looks good, if not as strong as last week. The tercera should be great. The mixed up teams in match 2 feel like they should be a prelude to whatever women’s match CMLL Is booking on 09/13, but I can’t figure out the direction.

Templario and Soberano only getting ten minutes seems a crime, though it’s also a rudo act for them to be back fighting after doing the big team up angle six months ago and then dropping it a month later. I would like it better if they were still a team, but I’m asking CMLL to finish the story somehow instead of pretending it didn’t happen because (presumably) they got upset with someone.

CMLL made a point of introducing Xelhua separately from Fuerza Poblana. Perhaps that can also be resolved on Wednesday.

CMLL (SAT) 09/07/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) KeMalito & Micro Sagrado vs Chamuel & Tengu
2) La Vaquerita, Maligna, Tabata vs Amapola, Candela, Olympia
3) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star vs Okumura, Sagrado, Vegas
4) Blue Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther, Volcano vs Kráneo, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero
5) Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr. [lightning]
6) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Neón vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr.

The main event looks good. The semi-main is last year’s Aniversario match. Candela returns in match 2. I think Olympia is the best worker in that match in 2024, which is just wild to think about. Micro Sagrado is still here even if his partners have left.

CMLL matches that didn’t make CMLL’s YouTube this week

from 08/18 Arena Mexico

• Capitán Suicida, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Okumura
• Blue Panther, Fugaz, Star Black vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
• Ángel de Oro, Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada vs Flip Gordon, Mansoor, Robbie X

from 08/26 Puebla

• Yota vs Averno in a lightning match
• Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Templario vs Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr.
• Esfinge vs Euforia vs Valiente

AAA

AAA on Space finished TripleMania Mexico City coverage with the tag title match and the cruiserweight title match. The new content wasn’t that interesting: a Komander promo from before his match, interviews with Cibernetico and the Jarrett team both bragging about their wins, and a teaser of JBL/Dorian/Konnan/Alberto scheming briefly before kicking the cameraman out of the room. I presumed JBL was a one-and-done, and his comments to SlamWrestling about his appearance suggested no set plans past that TripleMania. JBL has since appeared in GCW, TNA, and OVW, so the man’s clearly looking for some work, and that might mean he’ll pop up in AAA again.

AAA TV (SUN) 09/01/2024 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon [Lo Mejor de Lucha]
1) Brillante RB b Reycko, Black Raven
2) La Momia b El Original, King Charro
3) Estrellato & Líder b Epydemius & Sayurs
4) Centella & Pimpinela Escarlata b Adelicious & Dulce Kanela
5) Kento, Nobu San, Takuma b Emperador Azteca, Octagón Jr., Oni El Bendito
said to be a great match
6) Dinámico, Drago, Laredo Kid b Antifaz, El Mesías, Pierroth Jr.

This was indeed a TV taping, and AAA simply chose not to announce it as such. It’s a weirdo promotion. Attendance appeared to be down, but it wasn’t a strong lineup. It was about AAA doing the cheapest show they could get away with doing, and then not improving on it once it fell backwards into being a TV taping. Only when entering the results did I remember Dinamico, Drago, and Laredo Kid were meant to be a trio. These matches should air 09/14 and 09/21.

AAA will be back in the Showcenter on 11/03. Last year’s final show of the year was the TNA/AAA Ultraclash show, and the tournament final was the year before. There were no hints this time of any big plans for that date.

AAA TV also advertised Heroes Inmortales as taking place 10/06 with no venue listed. That date is a Sunday, and Space usually carries the show live, so AAA will be airing a day later that week. The no venue bit is weird, but it may make sense a few hours after this goes up. AAA has a press conference at 4 pm to talk about “their next show”, which is this date. The first October show has been part of Jalisco’s “Fiesta de Octubre” fair for the last few years, with AAA running at the big Auditrio Benito Juarez in front of a huge crowd. (It’s a sold show, most of the tickets are free with admission, it looks great on TV.) That Fiesta de Octubre has been holding off announcing the acts for the Auditorio Benito Juarez until September, and it definitely is September now. AAA will probably announce the full lineup for that 10/06 Heroes Inmortales show as well; the big question will be how many of the acts that were pushed strong on TripleMania (Alberto, Riddle, the Indians) will be on the next AAA big show.

AAA on Unimas had part two of Verano de Escnadalo. I don’t remember this bit airing live, but Unimas aired an in-ring segment which just seemed to exist to tell you Latin Lover and Konnan were now friends as a way to set up the ‘surprise’ turn. Not a single person was actually surprised. The second half of the AAA TV tapings usually airs everything that didn’t air live, it’ll be hilarious if they air this angle after they’ve done the split. Unimas aired the mixed tag and Los Guapos/Exoticos match. Both were funny. Crazzy Steve was working so hard in the mixed tag match, seemingly stoked to get to work with Negro Casas and trying to impress to get more bookings here. He was trying to do good while a not-good match was happening all around him. The Guapos match seemingly existed to write Scorpio Jr. out of the act. He suffered a knee injury so Bello Greco (Chris Stone Jr.) could run out and replace him. The Scorpio Jr. injury was obviously a work, but also Scorpio Jr. generally doesn’t move good and isn’t a TV wrestler at this point. Bello Greco got to do this big save, had a great moonsault, and seemed like maybe AAA was doing something – and then he gets submitted by Jesse Queen to lose. Unclear how that works since he wasn’t actually in the match to start, but I guess you can just sub for people whenever you want in AAA.

The Unimas show also airs on US network TUDN – except, after the first few weeks, AAA disappeared from the late night time slot it was advertised in. TUDN still listed it on the spot, but soccer was airing instead. After weeks of this, UTDN finally updated their guide and AAA appears to be on at 3pm ET Mondays. If someone in AAA reads this paragraph, it’ll probably be the first they know of this switch.

In a series of Q&As on his Instagram Stories on Sunday, Karis La Momia Jr. confirmed he wasn’t the La Parka at TripleMania (he was in Monterrey that day), he expects that gimmick will be given to someone else, and he’s out of AAA. My assumption is that AAA believed for years that they could talk Karis Jr. into taking his father’s gimmick, but he continued to insist he wanted to chart his own path, and AAA eventually just decided to cut ties and move on. Karis has not looked TV ready in his debut after many years on live events, but AAA could also just have been frustrated with him for refusing to take the gimmick and creating a headache for them. Karis seems like he’ll have no issue with the person who takes over the La Parka gimmick. It just remains to be seen if the fans feel the same way.

Mucha Lucha Atlanta announced Hijo del Vikingo for their 10/13 show. Right now, the first Vikingo match still appears to be the 09/17 show in Arena Aficion. It stands to reason that if he’s working that show, he’ll probably turn up on the weekend before – those days leading into Mexican Independence Day are among the busiest days of the year in terms of numbers of shows – and just the poster hasn’t turned up yet. He’ll likely be on that 10/07 AAA TV taping. The big question is when he’ll return to the AAA/ROH universe. Or, I guess, if he’ll make his return, given how much closer they’re working with CMLL since Vikingo got hurt in February.

At the WWE PPV this Saturday, WWE wrestlers Dominic Mysterio and Liv Morgan wore gear with the AAA eye symbol. Konnan wore a Judgement Day t-shirt as part of the Eye reveal angle at TripleMania. I don’t follow WWE closely enough to know if this new configuration of the Judgement Day is otherwise using that eye symbol or if it’s supposed to be a wink toward the AAA angle. Very few people picked up on it,; AAA’s big angles just aren’t over to a broad audience and definitely not to people who watch WWE shows. It’ll get more attention when this paragraph gets picked up by different content sites, I suspect.

Laredo Kid did not win the X-Title on TNA’s PPV. The only clip I saw of him in the match was him being press-slammed to the floor.

IWRG

They “sold out” (probably free tickets) another political candidate show on Saturday. The confusing part to me is not the full Arena Naucalpan, but Mexico just had elections in June. This guy already won!

IWRG (SUN) 09/01/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Drakula Ng & Súperboy b Arceus & Fauno
2) Princesa Azul & Shamila b Danessa & Demonia
3) Aquiles, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Hijo Del Silver King b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
4) Cerebro Negro Jr. b Multifacetico Jr.
5) Tornado & Willy Banderas b Águila Roja & Hysteriosis
6) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba b Arez, Látigo, Toxin

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (SAT) 08/31/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Estrellas del Ring, thecubsfan]
1) Peace Man b Pablo Rivas 
2) Brujo & Zenky b Platino & Reiyel 
3) La Brava & Marishka b Lady Wind & Sussy Love 
4) Tempo b Auzter, Estrella de Oro, Uzumaki, Morfosis 
5) Black Skayde, Elipse, Vengador b Cósmico, Helios, Nordico 
Black Skayde is officially part of Luchas Locos and La Brava joined as well.
6) Big Tao Tao, Limbo, Tonalli b Mr. Win, Orbita, Viajero 
14:59. official debut of Tonalli as part of Black Generaction
7) Flamita b Emperador Azteca 
19:01. Black Generation unsuccessfully got involved, then attacked Flamita post match. Viajero, Orbita and Mr. Win made the save.

One of the original themes for Big Lucha was trying to be “Dragon Gate Mexico.” It didn’t work; I’m unsure everyone involved believed that vision, but I’m uncertain if it ever would’ve taken. Still, for at least one night, and with Flamita coming back here from his first Dragon Gate tour in years, that original flavor felt back. The new Big Generation team looked strong as a unit in a better thought-out match than most indie trios matches. Big Tao Tao worked as a monster. Tonalli was just as smooth as a wrestler, a cut above most people in this scene. This was a better place for him to showcase it than most of the random matches he seemed to be doing; there was some organization and direction here. Flamita/Emperador Azteca started off with Flamita running cross ring to boot Emperador Azteca in the face and didn’t let up. I enjoyed goofing around Demonic Flamtia, but very serious killing machine Flamita is even better. The cruficix bomb reversal spot was one of the craziest of the year, but it was mostly a match about Flamtia being one of the best wrestlers in the world at whatever he was doing. The aspect I enjoyed the most in the match is the Black Generation did a few interference spots and it didn’t matter at all. They all hit him with clotheslines, and Flamita was right back on offense. They threw power in his face, and Flamita didn’t even sell it for one second. That Flamita is just on another level, he shrugged off that cheap junk like bullets bouncing off Superman. You want to give the fans someone to cheer about, you do things like that.

I can’t vouch for the rest of the show, didn’t watch it, but the top two are worth your time. Flamita/Emperador Azteca is go out of your way to see.

Todo x el Todo

El Hijo del Santo’s busy media tour took him to Leon over the weekend, where he promoted the 10/06 show. He doesn’t really say anything (or get different questions) than he does in all the other interviews, but they’re making an honest effort to promote them.

Other Notes

According to Box y Lucha, retired micro luchador La Hormiga Atomica (Domingo Rivera) passed away on Sunday. Microman’s gimmick is that he’s only 100 cm tall. Hormiga Atomica was billed as 75 cm, the smaller luchadors ever, tiny even for the batch of micros working at the time, and he suffered physically for it. He did not have a long career, starting in 1988 and ending in 1999, losing time due to injury and coming along just as the style was about change from US-style small-person comedy to Mascarita Sagrada super-heroics. Hormiga Atomica fit in the first character, but not as much the second. As you might figure from the translated name, his gimmick was taken from the Hanna-Barbera character Atom Ant.

Scorpio Cholo, Legionario, Bello Armando, Lalo de Linche, el Olimpico, Avipson Verde, Avispon Verde Jr. will be added to the Ciudad Juarez Hall of Fame on Friday

There’s a new lucha libre photo in Xalapa.

A photo of new Monterrey subway workers went viral because one of the new subway workers appears to be ex-luchador Konnan Big.

Villano V (1962-2024)

Villano V (Raymundo Diaz Mendoza, 62) passed away Thursday. He posted videos on Facebook just a few days ago and seemed to be still working in acupuncture recently. Two of his sons wrestle as Villano V Jr. and Rokambole Jr. (a name V used early in his career.) Those two and a third non-wrestling son posted on Facebook that there would be no burial, per Villano V’s wishes, but they would hold a mass with his ashes. Record reports Mendoza had a lethal heart attack while at home, and those sons discovered the body too late to do anything. Villano V’s wife Chely passed away earlier in March; many of Mendoz’s close friends noted he never recovered from that loss and took some solace in the idea that they were now reunited. Villano V is the last number in the series, but he’s the second-youngest brother. The brothers were only allowed to take on the Villano name when they had completed their education, and the youngest Villano IV got it done quicker than Villano V. AAA and CMLL posted remembrances.

The final time Villano V (or Ray Mendoza Jr., the name he tended to use after his unmasking) came up in the lucha libre news was last spring. Villano V was living in Monterrey and had been appointed as one of the commissioners there. The Monterrey Commission has been among the strictest in the country in recent years, and AAA came to them unprepared. Their big plan to make mainstream waves was to have YouTube content creator Adrian Marcelo wrestle Chessman on the first TripleMania Monterrey. To AAA’s surprise, the Monterrey Commission required Marcelo to take a competency test before giving him a wrestling license and allowing him to get in the ring. Villano V ran that workout and ran it hard. Marcelo instead decided this wasn’t what he had signed up for and quit midway through the test. I don’t believe Villano V specifically wanted Marcelo to fail the test, but he was going to make sure Marcelo earned that license. He wanted Marcelo to work as hard as he and his brothers had to become wrestlers, as expected of all wrestlers when Mendoza broke in the 70s. Villano V entered wrestling in an era where it was supposed to feel and look natural. He enjoyed that moment of protecting wrestling from the spectacle AAA wanted to present. The Villanos were tough-nosed fighters emphasizing the fight, and he demanded to see the same fight out of anyone else who wanted to call themselves a luchador.

Villano V’s style made him both a great fit at times and a tough one at other times. His biggest visibility to English-speaking fans was his time in WCW between 1997 and 2000, years that paid very well and didn’t help his career beyond that. WCW had little idea to do with most Mexican wrestlers, the Villanos included. Brothers IV and V wrestled well and rarely got much to do beyond that. In Mexico, before and after, the two Villanos were successful on their own and as a team with Villanos I and III at different times. The Villanos I, IV, and V triple mask match victory over Los Brazos is an iconic match of its time, and the feud between those families continues to this day. Both families were key parts of the promotion best known as UWA, and would’ve been champions countless times if that promotion didn’t fall apart in the early 90s. Villano V followed his brothers I and III as a singles champion in the dying dates of the promotion. Brothers IV and V made the fortunate decision to get into AAA in 1995, which meant they were along for the ride when a bunch of AAA rosters departed for both Promo Azteca and, eventually, WCW riches.

Like many ex-WCW luchadors, the Villanos floated around Mexico in the early 2000s without much of a set home. The Villanos spent a couple of years in CMLL from 2000-2002, then returned for a longer run in 2007 as sort of rudo outsiders. Villano V was part of the 74th Aniversario, a cage match where Blue Panther took Hijo del Lizmark’s mask. Villano V and Blue Panther started to wrestle constantly in early 2008. CMLL tried to play it up as a three-decade-long feud leading into the big match, which didn’t ring true. There was shared history; Panther had trained under Villano I at one point, and both had long ties back to the UWA.

Blue Panther/Villano V match felt underwhelming as an Aniversario match, even with them feuding all year. 2008 was also Mistico as hot as ever against Perro Aguayo Jr., also incredibly hot with the Perros del Mal behind him. Both Mistico and Perro got hurt in the weeks leading up the Aniversario, which seemed to scuttle the dream apuesta match. Villano V also suffered a shoulder injury leading into the show, which seemed certain to hurt the quality of the match as well. You can read back my preview from the time; I’m pessimistic about the whole Aniversario that year. I’m also dead wrong.

Villano V/Blue Panther is one of the great apuesta matches of the time. Two men slug it out and fight for their lives. Villano V bled from the back of his head after connecting with a chair on the dive, maybe the last time someone bled in a big CMLL match. That also leads to one of the enduring moments of the night – Villano IV coming out to help his brother change masks to clean off the blood, and Mistico accusing the Villanos of performing a diabolical switch to cheat Blue Panther. (It doesn’t appear they actually switched, but it lives on forever as an urban legend.) Villano V blocked a Blue Panther tirabuzon attempt into a unique cradle and shockingly keeps a hold of Panther for the three count. CMLL re-released matches from this Aniversario show during the pandemic and has now put it behind the paywall; that version looks very nice. I implore you to instead watch the lower res version that WarriorX2000 put up in the weeks following the show (or the versions I’ve snuck up on Daily Motion.) If nothing else, jump to the last moments of the match and watch through the next couple of minutes. The re-released CMLL version includes new commentary and some editing; they try their best, it’s professional, and it’s just impossible to meet that moment. The original commentary, the Televisa commentary, is wildly unprofessional – Leobardo Magadan, Leo Riano, and Dr. Alfonso Morales all start talking over each other, the cameras cut to fans going crazy, and it’s bedlam the production is struggling to capture. It’s an out of control moment, with no one believing what they just saw. Only the most diehard Villano fans believed he had a chance; almost everyone had chalked this up as Villano V coming in from the indies to lose his mask in his last moment in the spotlight against a CMLL stalwart. Blue Panther was already a legend and was surely going to keep his mask until the day it was time for him to step aside and help a young wrestler on the way up. There was no way Blue Panther was losing that match, and then the referee counted to three. It is the biggest surprise in the history of CMLL Aniversario shows.

(aside 1: in retrospect, Mistico versus Perro Aguayo wasn’t happening that year even if both men were healthy. Mistico simply could not lose, it made no sense for Aguayo to lose. He was too hot to lose. He was also quitting CMLL days later. The public didn’t know it, but Aguayo had already decided to quit to turn the Perros del Mal group into a Perros del Mal promotion. It would’ve made no sense for him to take the ultimate loss while trying to get his own thing going. No one had any idea though. CMLL also seems to have had plans years in advance – Blue Panther beat Hijo del Lizmark, Villano V beat Blue Panther, Ultimo Guerrero beat Villano V – so the apuesta match was happening regardless of Mistico/Perro.)

(aside 2: in looking through those blog entries, I re-discovered this Aniversario was intended to be a PPV, then CMLL or Sky pulled it in the last days with no explanation. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I believe we listened to an audio-only internet feed of the main event and talked about it in a chat on this blog, not quite believing our ears about the finish. A sports recap show on Sundays named “Accion” would air clips of AAA and CMLL each week, so that’s where we first saw some of the mask match, and the full version aired the following week. We didn’t really know how good it was until then. That part has changed a lot.)

Villano V was hunted by every wrestler from the Torreon region for the next six months, every one of them wanting to avenge their local icon Blue Panther. Ultimo Guerrero cornered him in early 2009, and got the mask match as part of that year’s Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. That match is also great, though it didn’t have the same emotional punch off the Aniversario show. Villano V couldn’t pull the upset this time, history turned back in favor of the CMLL home team. Villano V renamed himself Ray Mendoza Jr. following the mask loss, and stuck around for about a year and a half more. (As still sort of an outsider rudo, he teamed a lot with Naito, Yujiro, and Taichi as they came through Mexico on excursions.) CMLL really didn’t have much for Villano to do, and he exited in 2010 to team with his brothers again and work a lot of legend’s shows. He helped his sons, originally Kaving and Kortiz, later Villano V Jr. and Rokambole Jr., start in the wrestling business. Villano V threw his retirement show in 2013, a big ruleta de la Muerte, where he and his brother shaved Cassandro (a bit) and took Hijo del Pirata Morgan’s mask. The retirement show tanked, leaving Villano V in significant debt after the show that was supposed to see him off – so he took a few more dates. A reunion of Villano III, IV, and V to wrestle Psycho Circus went for TripleMania XXII similarly poorly. PPV viewers were treated with all sorts of production gaffs. People in the building endured the Villanos, especially Villano III, having a terrible night. (Villano IV’s future successes would’ve seemed impossible that day.) Villano V had a handful of more matches, but was essentially retired going into the TripleMania and essentially stayed that way. Villano V was honored this past July and teased fighting the newest version of the Brazos, but it didn’t seem like he was actually returning.

Villano IV, who recently began working as lucha libre commissioner in Mexico City and also runs a candy store, is now the last remaining of the five Villanos brothers. Villano II passed away young, and really I, III and V all never got to enjoy their later years. (The anniversary of Villano III’s death was just a few days ago.) 62 seems old when you’re young, but you figure out it’s not near long enough as you get older.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/30/2024 Arena México
1) Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma, Xelhua vs El Coyote, Felino, Felino Jr.
3) Lluvia vs Persephone [lightning]
4) Esfinge, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Yota
5) Máscara Dorada vs Templario, Neón, Star Black, Stuka Jr., Akuma, Difunto, Villano III Jr. [Copa Independencia, semifinal]

The main event should be great and might be more than that. The semi-main is an Aniversario build with Mistico alongside. The lightning match will determine the difference between Persephone working with Tessa and Persephone working with Lluvia. Xelhua gets to do some holds in the second, and the minis should be good in the opener.

The Villanos have been over as an act since Villano III Jr. jumped over. The fans like their act, their energy, and the history of that name. They seem sure to win their Noche de Campeones fan polling and would’ve done so even before Villano V’s passing. I doubt CMLL planned to have Villano III Jr. win this block, or even last close to the final. Those fans will understandably want something more tonight, and we’ll see if CMLL gives it to them.

NJPW also has Capital Collision on Friday, with the pre-show starting at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time. It’s another 20 USD stand-alone PPV, with Titan vs. ZSJ and Virus & Hechicero vs. TMDK. That show should wrap before CMLL starts, though I never feel safe saying that.

CMLL (TUE) 09/03/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Obek, Último Ángel vs Rav, Shezmu, Temerario
2) Gallo Jr., Ráfaga, Rafaga Jr. vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Satánico
3) Pelon Encapuchado vs Arlequín [lightning]
4) Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. vs Bestia Negra & Vaquero Jr.
5) La Catalina, Lluvia, Tessa Blanchard vs Dark Silueta, Persephone, Zeuxis
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Titán vs Furia Roja, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr.

That’s an odd CMLL CDMX versus CMLL GDL main event. The semi-main is called out as a rematch from last week, but there’s nothing obvious to set up a rematch – Tessa just beat Silueta clean. I can tell you that because the video is now available; CMLL did put up last Tuesday’s show on Thursday night. It appears to be up in full and free, no change in that from usual. It does appear edited; there’s no time between the matches and they’re using the Mexico City graphics instead of the Guadalajara ones. They also replaced the music; the show cuts off after the main event rather quickly, maybe so they didn’t have to replace Mistico’s song. There is no explanation of what happened or if this is a one-time thing. Maybe it was a production issue.

Pelon Encapucahdo makes his way to Guadalajara, so guessing that was an Arena Mexico gimmick only is another wrong stab by me.

Mistico defeated Atlantis Jr. in MLW’s Opera Cup on Thursday. It’s up on their YouTube. The match was good, though it didn’t pull me completely away from the stuff I was working on.

CMLL made a ton of announcements on Informa.

The 09/06 Copa Independencia cibernetico is

• Dark Panther
• Dulce Gardenia
• Star Jr.
• Zandokan Jr.
• Averno
• Crixus
• Titan
• Hijo del Villano III

Tonight will give everyone a better sense of what they’re doing here. If it’s meant to be a big singles match at Aniversario, than Titan’s probably the pick. If it’s meant to showcase younger guys, then maybe a Zandokan or a Star Jr. could be involved.

CMLL added two more matches to Aniversario

• Los Viajeros del Espacio (Futuro, Max Star, Hombre Bala Jr.) versus Los Depredadores (Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido)
• Team CMLL (Atlantis Jr., Volador Jr., Ultimo Guerrero) versus Team Other Promotions (Rocky Romero, Orange Cassidy, Kojima)

That’ll be Orange Cassidy’s debut in Mexico. He’s probably meant to work with Atlantis Jr. based on the pairings, but Ultimo Guerrero being frustrated by this impossible man may be the best way to use him. That other trios match will likely open the show and go shorter than people expect, but be really good while it lasts. I believe CMLL said they would have seven matches for the show, which means probably a women’s trios match and probably one more all star match that’s waiting for people to get eliminated from the Copa.

CMLL also re-announced the Chris Jericho versus Mistico match on Informa. Jericho did press on Thursday, saying he’d consider an apuesta match down the road but wants a classic match with Mistico on the Aniversario. He said he was returning to CMLL as a tribute to Paco Alonso, who’s name doesn’t otherwise get mentioned much around CMLL these days. (Jericho thanked Salvador and Matias too, so he does have lowdown of the place.) Jericho was asked, like every single foreigner, if he would consider coming to Mexico for a longer period of time and visiting more cities. Like every single foreigner, he said sure, he’d love to go back to Guadalajara and Puebla and all the places he wrestled before.

CMLL will take September 15th off, as they do every year. The scheduled Sunday show will become a Monday show (09/16), with a special main event

• Mistico vs Mascara Dorada for the MLW Middleweight Championship

CMLL will also run the usual Arena Puebla show but at a holiday start time of 5 pm. Matches announced for that show:

• Atlantis, Ultimo Guerrero, Atlantis Jr. vs Octagon, Averno, Hijo de Octgon
• Volador Jr., Rocky Romero, Templario vs Soberano Jr., Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja

CMLL’s previously announced Dia de Luchador show on 09/21 now has two matches announced

• Atlantis, Felino, Blue Panther, Pantera del Ring vs Octagon, Satanico, Pantera and Negro Navarro
• Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero and Atlantis Jr. vs Templario, Soberano and Avenro

Negro Navarro has not wrestled since May. It’s well at the point where every match he has in a CMLL ring could be his final one. Yet, it’s also likely part of the reason Navarro (and Pantera) are booked here is to keep them off the Todo x el Todo shows. Note that Solar is working those shows, so he’s not here. (That may also be why there are fewer legends.)

Finally, the Noche de Campeones date is the 09/27 show I had guessed earlier. The rules will be the same as the last four years: CMLL chooses the champions and challengers, fans can vote for their favorites on CMLL’s website, and the title matches will go to the people with the most votes. Votes will determine the match order in the poll.

The seven titles on the line:

• Atlantis Jr.’s Historic light heavyweight championship
  • possible challengers are Soberano Jr., Akuma and Barbaro Cavernario
• Templairo’s CMLL world middleweight Championship
  • possible challengers are Dragon Rojo Jr., Volador Jr., Flip Gordon
• Futuro’s national lightweight championship
  • possible challengers are Calavera Jr. I, Rayo Metalico, Electrico
• Reyna Isis’ national women’s championship
  • possible challengers are Hera, Sanely, and Princesa Sugehit
• Magnus & Rugido’s national tag team championship
  • possible challengers are Los Villanos, Difunto & Zandokan, and Dark Panther & Hijo de Blue Panther
• Mascara Dorada, Neon, Star Jr.’s CMLL world trios championship
  • possible challengers are Los Guerreros Laguernos, Los Infernales, and the legends team of Atlantis, Octagon and Blue Panther
• Ultimo Dragoncito’s CMLL world pequeno estrellas championship
  • possible challengers are Angelito, Pierrothito, Mercurio

These championships are linked by their lack of defenses in CMLL. The trios champions are relatively new champs, but the next most recent defense among these titles is three months ago. The minis title and Atlantis Jr.’s title have not been defended in a CMLL arena this year, and Futuro has never defended the lightweight title in Mexico City since winning it last year. (He did have a defense in Torreon.) These are far from the most interesting titles, though the Magnus/Rugido run has been pretty good.

The Pequeno Estrellas (minis) title is on the line for the third year. There are only five people ever included. In 2022, Mercurio was defending against Pierrothito with Minos and Ultimo Dragoncito in the voting. In 2023, it was Mercurio against defending against Pierrothito, with Minos and Angelito also in the voting. CMLL has prevented the same match for a third year in a row, with Ultimo Dragoncito winning the title. They also can’t include Minos this time after his injury in June. It’s just the other four guys. I swear, there are other interesting people in that division. It will probably be Pierrothito winning the vote for a third year.

There are no Atrapasuenos or Los Indestuctibles this year. Both literally and figuratively; there’s no first half of the card veteran act that’s far out of the title pictures normally but might be able to change their fortune via voting. CMLL has its favorites, but it will be content with whoever wins. The one slight exception, where a career could still turn on the outcome, is that lightweight match. Maybe Los Calaveras and Rayo Metalico go onto grand careers, but this would be the first time either of them has been challenged for a title in Arena Mexico, and it could turn out to be the only time given their fringe roster status. Electrico was pushed in CMLL in the past and hasn’t been in years – there’s no guarantee he’ll ever get another title match if he fails to win this one.

It sticks out to me that Dark Panther is teaming up with his youngest brother, Blue Panther Jr., which is usually how CMLL does these things. The Legends team getting the trios title shot might draw, and it would be a challenging match. I would rather see Flip Gordon as Templario’s challenger in a fresh match, but campaigning for Flip Gordon to win an internet award is about as bright as throwing a rock at your head.

In past years, I’ve put together daily updates to the poll numbers as this competition goes on. It’s a task that’s not hard, but is time-consuming. (That’s a lot of the luchadb stuff, to be honest.) This year, I wanted to figure out how to automate it, but getting a script to consistently scrape a javascript rendered page has proven to be difficult and even more time-consuming. I spent a lot of time on it Thursday without making great progress. I may keep trying this weekend, but I’m probably not going back the other way – I either figure it out, or I give up on the idea this year.

CMLL officially announced Sayaki Unagi as coming in for the 10/25 Women’s Gran Prix. She’d previously won the spot on a CMLL Japan show, but that’s not exactly followed by most Mexican fans. She joins Tessa Blanchard and Lluvia in the match so far.

The Kris Statlander/Willow Nightingale street fight at All Out is now a non-title match. On Dynamite, Willow briefly explained that CMLL wouldn’t sanction the match. I missed it live, which may be more me than Willow’s audio.

On Sunday, a manic Kris Statlander fan on Twitter kept tweeting me during the All In pre-show about how CMLL Women’s World championship wasn’t on the line between Statlander and Nightingale any longer, that it wasn’t being mentioned in the promos. I pointed out it had been mentioned previously, and that person kept replying and replying without reading what I was writing. I muted him, though now I wonder if some verbiage change signaled a change in plans even before they announced it as a street fight. It’s weird for a CMLL title to be on the line for a street fight, but I’m not sure if CMLL would necessarily get involved; they’ve seemingly let NJPW do what they want with CMLL titles in the past (though they did draw the line at Tanahashi putting the Universal title on the line.) The maniac Statlander fan’s actual was her taking another loss so soon after her heel turn, and she figured there was no way around that outcome if it was a title match. CMLL would probably prefer Willow be the one who inevitably loses the title to a CMLL luchadora, since she’s the one who they’ve introduced to their fans. Maybe the manic Statlander’s concern is AEW’s concern here, too, and why it’s now a non-title match.

AAA

If AAA is turning this Sunday’s Showcenter card into a TV taping, they’ve made no attempt to advertise it.

AAA on Space has part 3 of TripleMania. I guess the big JBL interview will air. Unimas will air part 2 of Verano de Escandalo.

KAOZ is teasing an announcement on Monday with the AAA eye logo and other teases.

Todo x el Todo

The vigorous campaign to get people to pay attention to the El Hijo del Santo retirement shows continues to ramp up. The promotion held a press conference on Wednesday, which was mostly a stage to play out a social media angle for TV cameras. Fuerza Guerrera keeps talking about wanting to challenge El Hijo del Santo for his mask, they’re now partners in the ruleta de la muerte on the show on 09/22, and Fuerza Guerrera crashed the press conference to say he’s going to take El Hijo del Santo’s mask. This group would sell thousands of extra tickets if they were to book a straight up 1v1 El Hijo del Santo versus Fuerza Guerrera match – they’re doing a tournament instead, so that’s surely not the final. There are other matches for that show, but the possibility that Santo might wager on his mask is the only thing they’re really selling.

The full list of teams for that ruleta de la muerte

• Fuerza Guerrera & El Hijo del Santo
• LA Park & Dr. Wagner Jr.
• Cinta de Oro & Bobby Lee Jr.
• Misterioso Jr. & Ciclon Ramirez Jr.
• Solar & Texano Jr.
• Rayman & Cien Caras Jr.
• Mascara Sagrada & Hijo de Fishman
• Super Nova & Canek Jr.

Maybe the Rayman/Cien Caras Jr. team is the favorite to lose. Rayman could lose his hair.

Forneo popped up in the press conference as backing Fuerza Guerrera. Foreno and Hija de Fuerza Guerrera are dating, and that’s a reason Forneo ended up leaving CMLL. The family went with Todo x el Todo, and he decided to go with them. He may end up with a Fuerza Guerrera gimmick. Imposible was about as promising as Forneo, got the Fuerza Guerrera NG gimmick, got booked a fair bit, but never really became a star and his career has gone nowhere since that point. I don’t know if it’ll go any better for Forneo, who is not even booked on these Todo x el Todo shows.

Mas Lucha heavily promoted this press conference and the clip of Fuerza Guerrera crashing it, so maybe they have some deeper involvement with this promotion. Or maybe they just thought it’d be a great viral clip.

There are still two announced shows on the Todo x el Todo tour which don’t have lineups. There is answer on one of them. The tour schedule announced at this press conference seems to indicate the 11/24 show in Guadalajara is now a March 16, 2025 date. There is still no lineup for the 08/09 date in Puebla, but it remains on the schedule.

The London shows are promoted by a different group. That group posted a talent list on Instagram: El Hijo del Santo, Cinta de Oro, El Hijo de Fishman, Bobby Lee Jr, El Verdugo, Xtreme Tiger, Máscara Sagrada, La Hija de Fuerza Guerrera and more. British wrestler Nina Samuels is also listed on the website. Tickets for the 11/01 and 11/02 appear to run from 38.50 to 71.50 GBP (50.60 to 93.98 USD.x)

In the Q&A, El Hijo del Santo was asked if there would be another Santo family member wrestling. The newest explanation on Santo Jr. is he quit wrestling because it was hurting his university work, and then he ended up getting into other things and just didn’t make his way back to wrestling. Santo mentions Santo Jr. is back in training and hopes that his son surprises him on this retirement tour. (Santo Jr. is probably El Hijo del Santo’s unannounced partner on the Monterrey show.) El Hijo del Santo says he doesn’t believe there will be a fourth generation, that the children of his son or daughter will wrestle. I would suspect that when that decision is actually made, he probably won’t be the one making it. El Hijo del Santo says he plans on wrestling through April or maybe July 2025. Maybe “plans” is too firm of a word.

Lady Apache also says she plans on retiring next year.

IWRG

 

There’s a fake heel Noisy Boy who’s been attacking Spider Fly. Original flavor Noisy Boy says it wasn’t him. Maybe IWRG Noisy and AAA Noisy are actually two different people.

There’s an issue where someone is pretending to be an evil Spider Fly.

IWRG (SUN) 09/01/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Drakula Ng & Súperboy vs Arceus & Fauno
2) Princesa Azul & Shamila vs Danessa & Demonia
3) Multifacetico Jr. vs Cerebro Negro Jr.
4) Freelance, Tornado, Willy Banderas vs Águila Roja, Hysteriosis, Puma de Oro
5) Aquiles, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Hijo Del Silver King vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
6) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba vs Arez, Látigo, Toxin

Other News

I took a field trip to AEW Dynamite in Champaign on Wednesday. My upper back has been hurting me for two days, I think because of all the time (2.5 hours each way) I spent driving, but I liked the show otherwise. I’m sure AEW appreciated the extra ticket sold; it was a big building and wasn’t very full. There’s a Konsuke Takeshita versus the Beast Mortos versus Komander versus Lio Rush match taped for tonight’s Rampage that is exactly the very good match you’d expect with all those people. It went about 14 minutes live, but Rampage always seems longer than an hour when I watch in person, so maybe it gets edited down.

Laredo Kid is part of TNA’s Emergence show tonight, which airs on TNA+ (10 USD/month) starting at 8 p.m. ET. He’s in the six-way Ultimate X match. It’s Laredo Kid and TNA, so I presume he’s losing, but it’s a new match type for him and a chance to come up with a cool highlight. My San Antonio talked to him about the show and his recovery from the 2022 near-death.

Aramis, who wrestles a lot like AEW’s Hologram, is still wrestling in Coliseo Coacalco on 09/15.

“KeMonito: La Ultima Caida” is coming to Netflix in Mexico on 09/19. It’s only available in Latin American countries at the moment.

There’s a new lucha libre photography exhibit in Xalapa.

A profile of Sinaloa’s Mercury, who’s also the promotor of the Project Lucha Mazatlan shows.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 08/26/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Blue Shark, Centella Roja, El Hijo De Centella Roja b Dreyko, El Perverso, Rey Apocalipsis
2) Persephone & Zeuxis b Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard 
Rudas used the ropes to win, setting up a rematch.
3) Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible, Zandokan Jr. b Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II 
4) Averno b Yota [lightning]
Averno submitted Yota!
5) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Templario DQ Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr.
Volador unmasked Atlantis Jr., setting up a singles match next week.
6) Esfinge L Euforia, Valiente 
worked as an elimination escape match. Euforia beat Valiente so he escaped the match, then Valiente beat Esfinge.

So much for my theory that Yota couldn’t lose! Looks like Volador Jr./Atlantis Jr. on 09/02, then a women’s tag title match on 09/09.

CMLL (TUE) 08/27/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Grada, thecubsfan]
1) Full Metal, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia b Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía 
10:54
2) Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Valiente Jr. b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio 
14:06
3) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star b Crixus, Okumura, Pólvora 
14:46
4) Fugaz b Vegas 
12:05
5) Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr., Zandokan Jr. b Flip Gordon, Star Jr., Titán 
12:10
6) Ángel de Oro b Atlantis Jr. 
17:44. Atlantis had Angel de Oro up in the Atlantida, but Niebla Roja to distract and Angel de Oro got the win. Atlantis Jr. made various challenges post match, Angel de Oro unmasked him.

The main event was Friday night effort on Tuesday show. I didn’t understand why that was happening until the (ultra-rare) involvement from someone not in the match. All of that only happens if CMLL is setting up something and has some urgency to get it done; like there’s announcement coming tonight on Informa. My wild guess is that the older Atlantis will get his long-requested wish: a father-and-son challenge for the tag titles, and it’ll happen at Aniversario. It also could be a Ring of Honor TV defense happening somewhere; Angel de Oro seems to be the designated challenger for all these foreign titles. It has to be something because that scenario never happens in CMLL without an idea in mind. The match itself is worth checking out too.

Vegas/Fugaz was technically good but neither has much crowd connection. The Viajeros are fully throwing themselves in this concept. Semi-main was alright.

CMLL (TUE) 08/27/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Logan, Thunder Boy, Yaky Boy b Mortis, Ponzoña Jr., Ráfaga
Rafaga replaced Funebre
2) Gallo Jr., Markara, Rafaga Jr. b Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Prince Drago
3) Dr. Karonte I & Dr. Karonte II b Demonio Maya & Principe Daniel
4) Brillante Jr., Neón, Xelhua b Arlequín, Barboza, El Coyote
5) Adira, Kira, Sanely, Tessa Blanchard b Dark Silueta, Hera, Olympia, Persephone
6) Gran Guerrero © DQ Yota [CMLL HEAVY]
Yota got caught fouling Gran Guerrero for the DQ.
7) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario b Furia Roja, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

This was a rare Tuesday Guadalajara show I wanted to watch live because of the title match. It didn’t work out that way. This show wasn’t streamed with absolutely no explanation. I have no idea why, and I have no idea if it will turn up later. It definitely was recorded. The Arena Coliseo Guadalajara Facebook page posted video clips. Still, CMLL’s own social media did not, so it might have been something as simple as a streaming issue from the venue. No one knows because CMLL couldn’t be bothered to address anyone who asked the obvious question. A “Hey, we’re not going to be able to stream tonight” post is free (to CMLL, to AAA, to Mas Lucha, to everyone), but that’s impossible for the people involved.  The most challenging thing to do in Lucha Libre is not to beat El Santo in a mask match; it’s to get a Mexican wrestling promotion to do basic customer service tasks.

(If it was a streaming issue, it also should be a simple task to record the show and upload it later. CMLL has not uploaded the show. I don’t want to call this a rip-off of people who are subscribing to the CMLL YouTube subscription channel because that Guadalajara show is free most of the time, but it’s a clear indication of why people are hesitant to trust CMLL with their money. In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe CMLL has a real plan of what they will do if they have a failure streaming on 09/13 because they can’t handle problems on lower pressure days like Tuesday. This is just the gamble you’re taking with your 35 USD a month. CMLL will pay no consequences for this behavior because the product is really good, it’ll just be something people will hold again them in lesser times down the road.)

Last I checked, CMLL Guadalajara also airs on Quiero TV, which streams on Dailymotion. I believe it airs on Friday nights at 11 p.m. local (Mountain Time), but they don’t have a programming grid on their website. I stopped paying attention to the broadcast years ago, because the full show was airing on Facebook (and later YouTube), and the video quality of the TV stream was somehow less. It did seem they were airing the full show, so maybe they still are.

CMLL could not explain what happened here, but they could repost the teaser for an upcoming announcement. Maybe the barrier is that they couldn’t just state the issue in emoji form, and they were stumped at what to do next. I assume that the announcement is coming from Informa tonight. The guests announced for that show are:

• Yota (being in Mexico)
• Averno, Zandokan Jr. (match on Saturday)
• Star Black, Akuma, Difunto (Copa Independencia)

That’s light for that show, so I would expect more to be announced. Julio Cesar Rivera will likely announce the 09/07 Copa Independencia block, that emoji announcement, and maybe more for Aniversario.

Next Monday’s Puebla show:

CMLL (MON) 09/02/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Amnesia & Blue Shark vs Espíritu Maligno & Rencor
2) Arkalis, Rey Samuray, Xelhua vs Grako, Multy, Vegas
3) Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard vs Persephone & Zeuxis
4) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Star Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible, Zandokan Jr.
5) Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr.
6) Hechicero vs Esfinge vs Euforia vs Valiente

The main event is last week’s main event plus one more person. It was a clean finish last week, so it didn’t really need a repeat, but here it is anyway.

Claudio Castagnoli is on the cover of Box y Lucha 3618.

AAA

The 09/07 AAA Torreon TV taping is canceled. Local promoter RCD Media Entertainment had initially hoped to sell 5,000 tickets at the Auditorio Municipal. They had instead sold badly and officially pulled the plug on Monday. Whenever something like this happens, you can reliably scroll back through AAA’s social media feed and figure out when they knew the show was doomed and just stopped including it among their automatically posted social media content. It is always clear AAA had an ample forewarning of the negative announcement. In this case, AAA had last mentioned the Torreon about a week ago, so they probably knew it wouldn’t work out around TripleMania.

(AAA themselves has not acknowledged the show as being canceled; AAA is run like a carny company, so their standard practice is to pretend like the show next existed and rely on fans finding out from the same local promoter. It’s a small-time, short-term thinking attitude that’s symbolic of AAA.)

It’s not a great sign for AAA to struggle for tickets following their biggest show of the year, and an angle that was surely intended to get people excited. And it surely won’t be the only show that will get canceled soon; tickets aren’t moving for the insanely ambitious Spain tour in November, and that local promoter will eventually decide they’d rather lose a little money by canceling the show rather than lose a lot by actually running them. Still, this is one taping in Mexico, and it would be a poor idea to make more of it than an isolated occasion. Dunk on AAA too hard now and risk looking foolish in about five weeks if they fill up the big building in Guadalajara again (as part of a festival, where tickets are pretty much free with park admission.) An Xalapa farewell to Vampiro on 08/23 was reportedly a sell-out, so it’s not like everything AAA touches has suddenly gone bad.

(Speaking of AAA angles, Latin Lover is now spending a small chunk of his interviews with wrestling guests on a storyline of Latin trying to recruit outsiders to come into AAA to help him against Dorian/Konnan/Alberto. Latin is probably just trying to keep AAA’s very fake story feeling real, but if you see people wondering if DMT Azul is suddenly coming back to AAA, that’s what that is about. One of the problems with AAA’s TV taping schedule – an issue far before this year – is that it can be weeks or months before the big stuff that happens on TripleMania gets followed up on. If this was a hot angle, there’s nothing to keep the fire burning for weeks. Latin here has better wrestling sense than most people trying to find a way to keep it going through his podcast.)

AAA’s more immediate problem is that they have no TV, and no TV tapings have been announced. On Space, they will milk one more weekend out of TripleMania and then have the leftovers from Verano de Escandalo. They need fresh TV for the weekend of 09/14, which is when the Torreon show would’ve started airing. AAA hastily turned a non-TV Showcenter card into a TV taping last August, and they could do that again with this Saturday’s Showcenter card. Nothing has been announced yet. It’s not useful for AAA’s TV to have weeks focused on people who won’t be around again for months, but I don’t know that AAA cares about useful TV. (They’re still rolling out the ad with the old start time for Unimas.)

The full lineup for the first Lucha Border show in Tijuana:

AAA , BORDER (FRI) 09/27/2024 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Angelux & Rey Furia vs Anton Carrillo & Psycodelia
2) Anubis & La Parkita vs Gallo Extreme & La Parkita Negra
3) Keyra & La Hiedra vs Estrellita & Faby Apache and Julissa & Valentina Reis and Kitsune & Sexy Star
4) Jessy Queen, Mr. Iguana, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Alan Stone, Tony Casanova, Zumbido
5) Octagón Jr. vs Abismo Negro Jr., El Fiscal, Destiny
6) Cibernético & Psycho Clown vs DMT Azul & El Mesías

This is two weeks prior from the EMW show, which now has removed even the hints of AAA from their logo. EMW doesn’t have a lineup for their 09/14 show, but their teaser poster has a lot of people who’ve worked AAA in the past or work currently. They say they’re working with KAOS and Robles, and maybe that’s where the foreigners are coming in. If you look at those two lineups, the one that looks more like a Konnan-aligned show is the EMW one, not the AAA one. I don’t know what that means, if that means anything. It’s all very weird.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 09/29/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Oriental vs Fauno
2) Sky Man & Willy Banderas vs Hysterious & Príncipe Centauro
3) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly vs Andrómeda & Éxtasis
4) Aquiles, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Hijo De Silver King, Veneno vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
5) Hell Boy vs Vangellys

Hard not to see that main event and wonder “did CMLL start its turnaround the moment we no longer had to watch Vangellys matches in Arena Mexico?” I don’t want to say yes, I don’t want to say no, I’ll leave that up to you. Match 3 is alternate universe Big Lucha.

Other Notes

08/31 RIOT

• Prometeo & Kratoz vs Spider Fly & Noisy Boy
• Erik Ortiz (c) vs Lord Byron [RIOT CHAMP]
• Latigo & Toxin vs Hijo de Canis Lupus & Demonio del Aire
• Aero Boy vs Rene Rocks
• King Rex vs Zonik – new
• Willy Banderas vs Tromba – new

I think that’s the full card.

A profile of Cordoba’s Rockero Tri.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/23/2024 Arena México [AS, CMLL, Esquina Caliente, Estrellas del Ring, Excelsior, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan, thegladiatores.com (videos)]
1) Villano III Jr. b Fugaz [lightning]  
9:13
2) Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard b Kira & Skadi  
14:13.
3) Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Soberano Jr. b Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón   
14:07.
4) Akira, Claudio Castagnoli, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Flip Gordon, Ikuro Kwon, Kyle Fletcher, Mansoor, Robbie X, Rocky Romero, Yota b Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Euforia, Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario, Titán, Último Guerrero, Valiente, Volador Jr. [Gran Prix]  
Order of elimination: Akira (via Ultimo Guerrero, 16:24), Flip Gordon (via Templario, 22:24), Valiente (via Ikuro Kwon, 23:05), Ikuro Kwon (via Euforia, 24:57), Ultimo Guerrero (via Davey Boy Smith, 27:35), Esfinge (via Robbie X, 30:35), Euforia (via Kyle Fletcher, 33:12), Robbie X (via Titan, 36:11), Templario (via Rocky Romero, 40:14), Davey Boy Smith (via Atlantis Jr., 42:38), Mansoor (via Mascara Dorada, 44:10), Titan (via Claudio Castagnoli, 45:23), Yoto (by DQ, 46:32), Mascara Dorada (via Claudio Castagnoli, 48:05), Rocky Romero (via DQ, 51:42), Mistico (via Kyle Fletcher mask pull, 52:32), Kyle Fletcher (via Atlantis Jr., 53:55), Atlantis Jr. (via Claudio Castagnoli, 57:27), Volador Jr. (via Claudio Castagnoli, 1:00:45) leaving Claudio Castagnoli the winner. Breaks a 3 match winning streak (2019, 2022, 2023) for Team Mexico.

The 2024 Gran Prix met the level of past years: it was a lot of hot action in front of a very hot crowd. The two teams generally meshed well, and the atmosphere was maintained throughout the match. The trick to making this a big show is CMLL has steadfastly treated it as Really Important. The wrestlers do it as well; this was worked hard and worked in a way to try to give everyone something along the way. Claudio Castagnoli was the big hero of the match, eliminating Titan, Dorada, Atlantis Jr., and Volador in the closing stretch to win it. Robbie X had his best performance of his run, and Atlantis Jr. had a good night with a crowd in the face of a crowd that wanted to boo him. There was a bit of story in there – Rocky got Flip eliminated, then provided the distraction that set up Mistico’s elimination – but mostly, this was a serious, straightforward match where Castagnoli was the best guy on the night.

The Gran Prix was probably the longest match in Arena Mexico history. The style was so different in the 1930s and 1940s that an hour match seems possible in Arena Coliseo (or the previous Arena Mexico), but nothing I’ve read in magazines past that point seems like they’ve broken the hour mark. No way to prove this, of course.

CMLL eliminated all the Aniversario guys early, probably because that’s just where they are in the CMLL internal depth chart. It’s weird to see, though it’s not exactly going to hurt the Aniverasrio show – they’re six seats away from a sell-out at last check. (Those six seats are the 230 USD seat+meal tickets in the restaurant, so they tend to be the last to go.) Valiente had a near tragedy when he hit the back of his head on a moonsault dive early on; he continued the match, though he was one of the first out. When CMLL runs multiperson apuesta matches, the last two are usually the first two who started feuding. That would be Esfinge and Euforia this time. CMLL’s also deviated from established patterns this year, and Valiente losing his mask might be a necessary change. It might not produce the best possible main event, but he continues to feel like a guy near the end of his run, and they might not be able to wait another year.

Yota getting DQed seemed a clear case of NJPW not wanting him to take a pin in this match. (It was also a bit of Edgar no selling.) He didn’t lose a deciding pinfall in the rest of the matches this weekend, too. (Mistico losing via mask pull was a similar decision and fair enough. It does make Tuesday’s Yota versus Gran Guerrero title match in Guadalajara interesting. Maybe they’ll just go to a draw like Hiromu and Mistico did last year.

CMLL making an effort to get representatives from every embassy of every foreign wrestler probably took a lot of work and a lot of logistics for what turned out to be mostly ten seconds of those people on-screen, but those ten seconds added to the event’s gravity. It probably made it more remarkable for the wrestlers, too. I listened to Michael Oku on the Grappl podcast, and he spoke about how unbelievable it was for him to be invited to the British Embassy while in Mexico (his only tea on the entire trip.) There is representing your country in a wrestling bit, and there is another level of your country supporting you as their representative, and that’s got to feel pretty good.

I never got a good shot of it, but CMLL put the logos up for all six promotions they’re working with—AEW, NJPW, Ring of Honor, MLW, NJPW Strong, and Rev Pro—on the rotating video board during the show. They’ve only had the NJPW logo for years. It’s worth keeping an eye out on Tuesday if that’s a permanent change.

In a post-show interview, Claudio said the win proved he and AEW were #1, but he emphasized that it was a team effort and a team victory. He believes CMLL made the right decision to pass on him all those years ago because he wasn’t as ready as he needed to be. He’s ready now, and he’d like to come back to have singles matches with all the CMLL names from this match—he got bits and pieces of them but wants more. Claudio then got a plane with the trophy and took it all the way to London.

I thought the rest of the show exceeded expectations. Angel de Oro, Barbaro Cavernario and Soberano Jr. made the legend team look so good in the semi-main, and then (cleanly) ultimately stole the win. That should’ve been a perfectly OK match, but somehow, it was much better than that. The women’s tag is now the standard for that division on big shows: they’re going for all the flashy spots they can come up with, some of which will look sloppy, but they’re trying to get some attention and look cool. Fugaz/Villano III Jr. was solid, if not as spectacular as it could be – it also wasn’t a disaster, which is in play with Fugaz’s singles matches. You should just watch the whole show.

CMLL (SAT) 08/24/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Galaxy & Shockercito b Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
9:35
2) Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Fuego b El Coyote, Nitro, Pólvora
18:18
3) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther b Espanto Jr., Hijo de Stuka Jr., Hijo del Villano III
18:25
4) Akira b Difunto [lightning]
9:05
5) Titán, Yota, Zandokan DQ Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
15:02. Zandokan drew the DQ tossing his mask to Averno, setting up a singles match next week.
6) Davey Boy Smith Jr., Flip Gordon, Ikuro Kwon b Esfinge, Máscara Dorada, Soberano Jr.
15:43

A highlight of the main event was Flip pinning Soberano to win the first fall, then having to explain to his teammates that the fall was over and they had won it. Kwon got it, DBS was still processing it for a while. Mexican wrestling is tough.

The not-quite-LIJ team was hyped to beat together – Yota even wear a Zandokan mask and matching pants – but this was just another day at the office for Los Infernales. It picked up considerably in the third fall but wasn’t much until then.

Akira/Difunto was fun. Akira somehow got a big gash on the top of his head, though it didn’t appear to affect him during the match. The other matches were sleepy.

CMLL (SUN) 08/25/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito b Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía
2) Metálica, Reyna Isis, Sanely b Hera, Olympia, Skadi [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Hijo del Pantera, Star Black, Volcano b Akuma, Felino Jr., Kráneo
4) Bárbaro Cavernario b Ikuro Kwon [lightning]
5) Akira & Yota b Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr.
6) Atlantis Jr. b Davey Boy Smith Jr.

This show finishes up everyone but Yota. (The AEW crew had all already wrestled by the time this show started.) I wasn’t expecting a lot from the MLW guys but Kwon and Akira have been enjoyable.

The Brillante Jr., Hijo del Pantera, Hombre Bala versus Cobrade and the Villanos match from 08/11 was good. This Sunday show will air on 09/05.

CMLL (TUE) 08/27/2024 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia
2) Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star vs Crixus, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Fugaz vs Vegas [lightning]
5) Flip Gordon, Star Jr., Titán vs Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr., Zandokan Jr.
6) Atlantis Jr. vs Ángel de Oro

The two singles matches were set up last week. The semi-main would be good on a Friday, or, who knows, on a Tuesday.

CMLL (FRI) 08/30/2024 Arena México
1) Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma, Xelhua vs El Coyote, Felino, Felino Jr.
3) Lluvia vs Persephone [lightning]
4) Esfinge, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Yota
5) Máscara Dorada vs Templario, Neón, Star Black, Stuka Jr., Akuma, Difunto, Villano III Jr. [Copa Independencia, semifinal]

It’s impossible for the main event to be bad, right? Star Black is the least impressive wrestler in that match, and some people rate Star Black highly. Everyone is solid and enjoyable in one way or another, maybe not complete packages but exciting in their weird way, and thoroughly motivated in these situations. I expect Dorada in the final since Templario got the big Aniversario match last year, but I’m not entirely sure where they’re taking this.

Someone keeps booking Volador/Averno against each other, even though that feud seems to have dropped in early August. (They were still feuding on the show where Chris Jericho made his surprise appearance, but haven’t yet – I’ve been wondering if the Jericho/Mistico match replaced it in the Aniversario plans, but I have no proof.)

Xelhua gets a Friday booking with Fuerza Poblana. He’s been referred to as part of the group, but he hasn’t gotten the white and blue gear yet.

After a couple of weeks, Saturday releases of Friday’s schedule seem to have vanished again, but Monday morning still seems to be an improvement.

(This is a quick reminder that Titan, Virus, and Hechicero are off in DC on Friday for an NJPW Strong show. That’s a 20 USD PPV. This reminder may be for my own sake.)

CMLL (SAT) 08/31/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono vs Inquisidor
2) Diamond, Retro, Robin vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) Dark Panther, Hijo del Pantera, Volcano vs Kráneo, Rey Bucanero, Vegas
4) La Catalina, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi vs Metálica, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
5) Averno vs Zandokan Jr.
6) Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Star Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Flip Gordon, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]

Averno/Zandokan was set up last week and will be a rare match for Zandokan as a tecnico. Pantera consistently gets a match a week, so he’s in at least as much as the Torneo de Escuelas guys were in. (They’ve been quietly phased down in the last month; Xelhua sticking around more than the rest is a good sign.)

CMLL (SUN) 09/01/2024 Arena México
1) Átomo & KeMalito vs Chamuel & Tengu
2) Arkalis, Astral, Valiente Jr. vs Alom, Grako, Hunter
3) Pelon Encapuchado vs Disturbio [lightning]
4) Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Raider vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Mephisto
6) Máscara Dorada, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Pelon Encapucado seems to be an Arena Mexico-only character; he didn’t wrestle elsewhere last year, so that must be part of the sponsorship deal. There will be some height differences in match 2.

Esfinge says he got into wrestling even though his family (including the other wrestlers) told him never to do it. He started skipping school at 13-14 to train, which got him into trouble – his parents told him he had to work to contribute to the house at that point. Esfinge mentions he was a taekwondo player back in Jalisco.

AAA

AAA on Unimas aired 1/4/5 from Verano de Escandalo, which meant the women’s six way elimination match aired first in the US instead of Mexico. It was alright, about what you’d expect for those six women. It went ten minutes on Unimas with some very obvious edits (including during a pinfall.) AAA doesn’t update their entrance videos, so the La Hiedra in her entrance video and the La Hiedra wrestling appear to be two very different people these days. Sussy Love lasted to the final three and got eliminated, so maybe she’s back in their good graces – or maybe she won’t be back for months. Unimas will have the rest of Verano de Escandalo next week before it airs in the US. AAA on Space aired the women’s title match and Copa TripleMania, so I believe they’ll have a third part next week with a cruiserweight title match and some other filler.

The big story, though, is Unimas moved AAA an hour earlier, 2p ET/PT. A MLB week in review recap show is now in the 3p start. This appears to be new time for now; gotta figure the baseball show goes away once that season ends, but who knows what else will happen by then. I still don’t have ratings, but moving it earlier in the day suggests Unimas sees AAA as a low priority.

AAA either was unaware or didn’t share the news with their social media team, who were still promoting the previous schedule.

IWRG

IWRG , LLB , CMLL (SUN) 08/25/2024 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del Ring, IWRG]
1) Fobia, Pitbull, Shura King b ?, ??, ??? 
2) Demonio Gato, Karma I, Mr. Koi b Guerrero Jaguar, Ikaris, Pinochito 
3) Argus & Máscara De Hierro b Hijo De Sparta & Príncipe Centauro and Águila Oriental & New Level and Águila Dorada & Nubilus 
4) Águila Roja & Fandango b Sol & X-Devil and Skayler & Visionario 
5) Lunatik Fly, Súper Boy, Toto b Belial, Impulso, Lunatik Fly 
6) Astro Boy Jr., Dr. Karonte II, Hell Boy, Hijo del Alebrije, Puma de Oro b Carta Brava Jr. (LLB), Hip Hop Man, Ivan Rokov, Okumura, Veneno 
7) Místico b Magnus, Soberano Jr., Ángel de Oro 

A complete sell out for Mistico’s appearance here. (Mistico’s Saturday appearance in Sinaloa looks pretty close to a full house as well.) The main event sounds like it wasn’t an entirely serious match.

Other News

PAC won the AEW Trios Championships with Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta. That’d be a fun trio to see in CMLL, but the more important part was the video packages leading up to the match did their best to remove the Lucha Brothers from existence. There was a shot of Penta is you didn’t blink, and their names were never mentioned again. AEW will never confirm that Fenix and Penta are officially done in AEW, but that says they’re gone for now. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer mentions Fenix, Penta, and PAC were originally planned to win the trios titles on this show.

Will Opsreay mentioned in the post-All In press conference that he would like to come to Arena Mexico, and he said in a way that it’s going to happen. He didn’t announce a date, and CMLL hasn’t hinted at one (watch out for emojis) so maybe that part hasn’t been decided yet. I’m going to say the same thing I said about Chris Jericho: the Aniversario is going to sell out with or without Ospreay, they could turn a 8,000 night into a 12,000 night on a different Friday with a Ospreay versus X, maybe save him for November. (Or, if you want to go bonkers, bring back Night of Champions and have a poll to decide who gets to challenge him for the AEW International Championship at the end of September.)

There was no CMLL participation in the show itself. I had thought Hechicero would be in the gauntlet match, but it was probably for the best he didn’t. He would’ve fit in among the wrestling style but he would’ve been a lesser name to that audience in a match with a lot of big names and surprises. The Hechicero/ZSJ match from RevPro on Saturday is absolutely worth seeing out though. it’s an away game and so I don’t think it’ll mean as much to Mexican fans, but the work was still at the same high level and the crowd was as into it as the Coliseo match. I don’t know what RevPro does with Hechicero – he’s already lost a title challenge, he’s lost to ZSJ – but also he’s so over to their audience that they’ll be looking to figure out something. RevPro has their “Global Wars” show on October 19th, which seems logical for Hechicero to pop in.

In “duh” news, Axxel says he will not participate in El Hijo del Santo’s retirement tour. Santo has hated his nephew for decades because he believes Axel diminished the gimmick.

Travis Banks says he’s out for the next few months with a knee injury.

El Universal Colombia has a brief story about the interest in El Santo and Blue Demon in that country in the 1950s based off their films, leading to him wrestling there in the 1960s.

Tacuba talks about his anti-bullying campaign.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 08/23/2024 Arena México
1) Fugaz vs Villano III Jr. [lightning]
2) Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard vs Kira & Skadi
3) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón vs Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Soberano Jr.
4) Akira, Claudio Castagnoli, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Flip Gordon, Ikuro Kwon, Kyle Fletcher, Mansoor, Robbie X, Rocky Romero, Yota vs Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Euforia, Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario, Titán, Último Guerrero, Valiente, Volador Jr. [Gran Prix]

This is the biggest Gran Prix ever, with 20 participants. It might be the longest one ever. I have the 2018 match going 59:57, and this could reasonably break that hour barrier. It’ll for sure be a lot longer than hour with the ceremonies pre and post-match. (The semi-main legends are there to double as people presenting the winner with the trophy.) This match has been good even with weak lineups, because it’s the crowd energy and the top people who end up carrying it along. It gets better if there is chemistry between the two teams, and the Tuesday match was a good sign in that direction. I feel like this is going to be a good one. I still figure Claudio to win; it’ll be a great story of him criss-crossing the globe and coming back with a trophy. (He better take that trophy to All In if he wins it.) Claudio winning setting up one more Claudio match later in the year would also be very alright with me.

Nothing else looks like it will be a threat to steal the show. The semi-main puts the old guys with people to carry them. Match 2 is a special battle between the two women’s tag champs; I hope Kira has a great night in front of fresh eyes, but we’ll see how it goes. The lightning match is super high variance; it could go anywhere from a complete disaster to Ricky Marvin/Sangre Azteca.

The Ticketmaster ticket map shows about a couple dozen tickets left on the floor, and more in the balcony and upper levels. The Aniversario show is 9 tickets away from being completely sold out. AAA put a lot of people in a building for TripleMania. CMLL is going to put a lot of people in their building for two shows within weeks of each other. It’s not close.

Mansoor and Kyle Fletcher did press on Thursday. So did Templario. There’s nothing too much in there, though Mansoor is doing a good job getting over his gimmick to the press. CMLL did a similar interview session on Friday open to the media, though it seemed like all the media questions got filtered through a CMLL person to ask and perhaps screen. No Fletcher for that one; the food got him.

Hechicero rematches Zack Sabre Jr. Saturday at RevPro’s Aniversary show. Neon also defends the RevPro Cruiserweight Championship in a six-way. I don’t like the odds of the CMLL contingent winning either match, but I could be wrong. That show starts at 12:30 pm US Eastern time and will air on their streaming service. It seems to take a day or two for it to go up after, so you may need to see the show live if you want to see it this weekend.

Hechicero isn’t on the SAT/SUN/MON lineups, so he may be sticking around in the UK to be a surprise entrant in AEW’s All In Casino Gauntlet match at Wembley. I guess Neon could be as well. I think that show is going to be good, but I would not buy it solely to see a CMLL wrestler show up for a few minutes.

Signs around Wembley indicate AEW will be running their Forbidden Door show in the UK in 2025. No date is mentioned; it’s possible that show and All In just flipped spots on the calendar and Forbidden Door will be August. I’m not the one doing the visas so I can’t confirm this, but it seems easier to get Mexican wrestlers in the UK than the US right now; maybe all the visa problems that happened this year won’t be as much an issue in 2025.

CMLL (MON) 08/26/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Blue Shark, Centella Roja, El Hijo De Centella Roja vs Dreyko, El Perverso, Rey Apocalipsis
2) Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard vs Persephone & Zeuxis
3) Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible, Zandokan Jr. vs Akuma, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
4) Yota vs Averno [lightning]
5) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Templario vs Magnus, Rugido, Volador Jr.
6) Esfinge vs Euforia,vs Valiente

The non-Hechicero participants have another preview match. The lack of other matches on the Aniversario (with both people being in Mexico) means they just keep running main event preview matches over and over again. Yota/Averno is a unique match. Match 2 may be setting up a tag title rematch.

CMLL (TUE) 08/27/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Logan, Thunder Boy, Yaky Boy vs Fúnebre, Mortis, Ponzoña Jr.
2) Gallo Jr., Markara, Rafaga Jr. vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Prince Drago
3) Brillante Jr., Neón, Xelhua vs Arlequín, Barboza, El Coyote
4) Dr. Karonte I & Dr. Karonte II vs Demonio Maya & Principe Daniel
5) Adira, Kira, Sanely, Tessa Blanchard vs Dark Silueta, Hera, Olympia, Persephone
6) Gran Guerrero © vs Yota [CMLL HEAVY]
7) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario vs Furia Roja, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Yota seems to be the last guy sticking around. He challenged Gran Guerrero for this title in May 2023. I thought it would’ve been fun to have him win and take it to Japan for a while. CMLL did their usual thing, racking up a defense against a foreigner as he was leaving town. A title change feels even less likely this time.

This week’s CMLL Informa featured many interviews with the foreigners in for the Gran Prix. That always turns into one of the most out-of-control episodes; this year, Mansoor demonstrated poses, and Robbie X wanted confirmation that his head was shaved and not bald. The show also announced that the Copa Independencia tournament would return, and the final would take place in the Aniversario. There will be blocks on 08/30 and 09/06. The 08/30 block

• Templario
• Mascara Dorada
• Neon
• Star Black
• Stuka Jr.
• Akuma
• Difunto
• Villano III Jr.

The Kaiser Sports media generally gets the CMLL press releases, so, notably, they have “Futuro” listed instead of “Difunto”. Either way, that’s a high profile list of names. CMLL’s general practice is they won’t announce matches while people are still competing in a tournament to get on to the show. That was less of an issue last year, where CMLL used many people in the Copa Independencia who wouldn’t be on otherwise. Templario and Mascara Dorada figure to be on this show even if they don’t win the tournament, so this field may mean CMLL waits until the Saturday before the show to announce a full card. I guess it doesn’t matter if they’re selling out the arena (and they’re very close to selling it out now), but people will complain about it.

CMLL put up a teaser for an upcoming announcement for someone showing up at the 91st Aniversario show. The globe means a foreigner. The timing suggests a video tonight. My guess is CMLL will eventually add a women’s match to the show so the international wrestler would fit in that. There is no rule that there must be a women’s match in every Aniversario. There just has been for the last nine of them, so betting on ten in a row seems safe. CMLL has two singles matches and four-way; anything else being added is probably a trio. Homenaje a Dos Leyendas had Willow, La Catalina, Tessa versus Lluvia, Stephanie Vaquer, and Zeuxis. That can’t precisely happen again, but Willow (or someone else from AEW) would fit and could set up a title match for October’s women’s month.

Informa also mentioned the annual Dia de Luchador show is on 09/21 in Arena Coliseo, and will honor older luchadors as past years.

Honor of Kings confirmed it was Blue Panther Jr. as Lian Po. They meant to stream the match as an ad for their game, but their stream started three minutes into it.

Hechicero hypes the Aniversario show, noting that none have much experience with a four-way match.

Tessa Blanchard, in an interview on the Straight Talk Wrestling YouTube show, mentions she got an apartment in Mexico about a month ago. A running bit in her Informa appearances was Julio Cesar Rivera (on behalf of CMLL) encouraging her to move to Mexico full time and Blanchard considering it while noting she also had things going on in the US.  In talking about how packed the CMLL weekly schedule is, Tessa says the women are training on Thursday mornings with Ultimo Guerrero. After the usual (sort of) explanation of the end of her Impact time and how she coped with it, Blanchard says she’s had talks with other companies about coming in recently. She says it hasn’t felt right to go, and her happiness is her biggest priority. Blanchard talks about having severe anxiety issues as a result of what’s happened, issues that affect her daily life, and contemplated suicide at the worst of it. She credits her ex-husband (Daga) and therapy for helping her pull herself back and figure out who she is beyond wrestling. Blanchard talks about going back to college, joining their ROTC program – basically officer training for the US military – being encouraged by them to sign a six year commitment to go full time into the military, and ultimately deciding that she couldn’t give up her wrestling career yet, that there was something still waiting for her there.

The Tessa Blanchard status wrestling status quit, as expressed by her is that she believes she could wrestle in a notable US company if she wanted to do it, that companies want to bring her in. (Given MLW has a CMLL connection and has a tendency to use people with black marks, it’s entirely plausible they’ve reached out to here.) She also knows that a sizeable backlash will come to if that happens, and she doesn’t think she can handle that – or at least, it’s not worth the tradeoff to her right now. In CMLL, she’s just a wrestler, that particular drama doesn’t exist, she’s having fun, and so she’s will stick around a while. It’s Tessa Blanchard, so people understandably have a hard time believing her, but it at least explains her situation with CMLL – between that, and finally moving to Mexico, it does convince me she’ll be around for the long haul.

AAA

AAA on Space should air the rest of TripleMania. AAA on Unimas – I don’t know. The next episode in their order is the Verano de Escandalo part 1 – the matches that haven’t aired in Mexico yet. No idea if Space has rights to get first airings (or if AAA would even remember to respect those rights.) There’s a decent chance Unimas is a repeat or goes out of order, but it’s a TV show AAA doesn’t care all that much about so it’s no concern.

AAA uploaded their “Lo Mejor de TripleMania XXXII” video, which is 2.5 hours long. I never go through watching that, but I assume that time is all the in-ring time. This video is worse than usual. AAA appears to have put up a version of the show recorded from TrillerTV with a visible mouse cursor for the entire show. That’s the second upload of that video; it went up briefly on Sunday night, got deleted, and then reuploaded a day or two later. Maybe someone spotted the cursor, looked for a better video, and then remembered they worked for Lucha Libre AAA, so terrible performance was expected, and they might as well upload a clean version. If someone from Lucha Libre AAA would like a better capture of the show from Triller without a mouse cursor, they can send my 25 USD back for the show, and I will happily provide it when I get around to it. Contact me via DM.

Alberto el Patron will defend his AAA Mega championship against Nick Nemeth in WWC on 08/31. There have been exactly as many AAA Mega championships in WWC as AAA this year, but since they’re Nemeth and Alberto matches, who cares?

Vampiro had a retirement press conference on Wednesday. He has not retired, but he talked about all the projects he has going on as soon as he retires. He did not mention when he will retire, just saying it ends in 2024. I’ve read about five different news stories, and all of them vary on what was announced, which seems correct for a Vampiro press conference. I could watch it and figure it out, but I’ve written about good and bad uses of time this week, and deciphering a Vampiro press conference is definitely in the bad category. Vampiro promoted his comic book, which will be part of DC Comics; it’ll be released in English, Spanish, and Italian, and television producers have talked about turning it into a show after the great reception it had at New York Comic Con. He’s going to do an occult podcast, he’s going to do a one man show, he says he’s getting married in 2025, and he will be in control of creative for Italy’s NWE promotion so he’ll tape podcast episodes live before a crowd there. (I believe a few parts of those statements are accurate. Vampiro can’t remember what comic con he was actually at and which one he’s going to.) Vampiro also explained that his Alzheimer’s diagnosis was a misdiagnosis all this time – he has a hundred other issues (including memory loss and inability to control his body movements), but not that one with a particular name that people could call him on. Vampiro said he hadn’t watched the Latin Lover and Konnan podcast, but if they said he was a big liar on their show, he agreed. There was notable no AAA mention or visible presence at this Vampiro press conference. Vampiro is scheduled to headline the AAA TV taping on 09/01 in Torreon.

One of the reality shows gripping Mexico right now is “La Casa de los Famosos” – it’s celebrity Big Brother, if it helps. One of the celebrities in the house is 2023 lucha libre reoccurring figure Adrian Marcelo. He’s the YouTuber who was going to wrestle Chessman in Monterrey, then both and AAA got caught off guard by the commission requiring him to actually be licenses – that’s one of those moments of AAA being a promotion run by goofs that gets lost because there are so many other goof moments. Marcelo appears to still be upset with how that went down; there was a conversation in the house about lucha libre, and Marcelo talked about AAA being terrible and CMLL being much better. He said that without even having watched TripleMania! Anyway, Chessman played off it, saying he wants to go into the house and slap Marcelo around.

IWRG

IWRG filled Arena Naucalapan on Wednesday for a show for politician Isaac Montoya. I assume it was a free show. No full results from Thursday’s show. Spider Fly did retain his title and they seem to be setting up a Mala Fama feud with Puma de Oro and the rest of the pirate guys.

IWRG , LLB , CMLL (SUN) 08/25/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Karma I & Mr. Koi vs Ikaris & Rocky Bulldog
2) Forbia & Pitbull vs Ángel Kind & Indra
3) Hijo De Sparta & Príncipe Centauro vs Argus & Máscara De Hierro and Águila Oriental & New Level and Águila Dorada & Nubilus
4) Sol & X-Devil vs Skayler & Visionario and Águila Roja & Fandango
5) Lunatik Fly, Súper Boy, Toto vs ?, ??, ???
6) Astro Boy Jr., Dr. Karonte II, Hell Boy, Hijo del Alebrije, Puma de Oro vs Carta Brava Jr. (LLB), Hip Hop Man, Ivan Rokov, Okumura, Veneno
7) Místico vs Magnus vs Soberano Jr. vs Ángel de Oro

Lucha Libre Boom loves their four-way matches.

TxT

TXT (SUN) 12/08/2024 Foro GNP, Mérida, Yucatan
1) ? & ?? vs ??? & ????
2) Lady Apache & Therius vs Julissa & Valentina
3) Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Hijo de Máscara Sagrada, Huracán Ramírez Jr. vs Hijo del Fishman, Súpernova, Texano Jr.
4) Cinta de Oro vs Bobby Lee Jr. © [IOCW WORLD]
5) El Hijo Del Santo vs Dr. Wagner Jr. vs LA Park

That match is the best-looking match of everything announced so far, though I know in my head these aren’t the same guys they were 5 years ago. (Also, there aren’t great odds we will will be able see this outside of Merida.) The IOCW title is essentially the Cinta de Oro title, and running a title match for it on this show probably gives the answer on who’s actually booking these shows. Lady Apache is going to hate those ex-WWE women; I can already see her post-match interview where she buries them for not being trained properly (in other words, working the way she wants to work.)

The next show to announce is the oddly scheduled Xalapa one in March 2025; might be a while. The tour announcements have skipped the announced 11/24 date in Guadalajara after skipping the 11/09 date in Arena CCU in Puebla. (The York Hall show lineups also haven’t been announced, but that’s probably a different production company.) I wonder if those shows are still happening. The ticket sales for the show in 30 days in Arena Ciudad de Mexico look low on Superboletos. I see a Santo interview posted just about every day, so they understand they have work to do, but I don’t know about the economics of any of this.  This show could’ve done well at 6,000-seat buildings, and they went for 10-15K buildings. Maybe they got a great deal.

Other Notes

08/31 RIOT

• Prometeo & Kratoz vs Spider Fly & Noisy Boy
• Erik Ortiz (c) vs Lord Byron [RIOT CHAMP]
• Latigo & Toxin vs Hijo de Canis Lupus & Demonio del Aire
• Aero Boy vs Rene Rocks – new

Laredo Kid won the qualifier on TNA Impact Thursday, and will be in a six way Ultimate X ladder match on the 08/30 Emergence PPV. That’s on their TNA+ service, at $10/month.

A masked Japanese wrestler in Mexico has been using the name Kurama since last December. They started out in IWRG and have been floating through random indies—teaming a bunch with Kuukai lately. Peps Wrestling says the person under the mask is former NOAH wrestler Yastuaka Yano, who became a former NOAH wrestler in May 2023 after he and fellow wrestler Kinya Okada were arrested for obscenely touching a woman a month prior. We’re getting close to the day when someone could put together an entire show just using foreigners trying to find a place to wrestle after getting booted from their home scenes over sexual misconduct allegations. Yano said the charges were dropped in December in a statement admitting to and apologizing for his actions. Admitting guilt and apologizing puts him ahead of most wrestlers in this situation.

Tinieblas presented his book in Xalapa. That article mentioned that Tinieblas wrestled 9,604 matches, and I’m dying to know where they came up with that number. Tinieblas was active for about 45 years, so he’s saying he wrestled 213 matches a year on average. It would have to be much higher in his peak, because he sure wasn’t doing that at the end or at the start either. I know luchadors wrestle a lot, but it seems high.

Rey Cosmico was honored in Durango. That article has the opposite problem of the Tinieblas article, because they have him down as 500 matches over 35 years; you’re probably not honoring someone who’s had one match a month, it’s got to be more than that.

Ursus Promotions announced they’re going to run a month of shows in Coatepec.