FantasticaMania UK this Sunday, Copa Junior starts in CMLL, AAA to Juarez

CMLL

Tonight’s show.

CMLL (FRI) 05/17/2024 Arena México
1) Átomo, Chamuel, Kemalito vs Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Tengu
2) La Catalina, Lluvia, Sanely vs Persephone, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
3) Blue Panther & Hijo de Blue Panther vs Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr.
4) Star Black © vs Akuma [MEX HEAVY]
2nd defense
5) Volador Jr. vs Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Averno, Hijo de Octagón, Niebla Roja, Dragón Rojo Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Villano III Jr., Brillante Jr. [Copa Junior VIP, semifinal]

Volador pointing out, on Informa, that he’s never won this tournament makes him the favorite to come out of this block. On the other hand, it’s Copa VIP and it doesn’t really matter. Copa Junior VIP comes off as one of the least important of the annual tournaments. The Universal tournament, Leyenda de Plata, Leyenda de Azul, even Rey del Aire feel like they brought up more often after the fact. Soberano Jr. over Dragon Rojo Jr. won Copa Junior VIP last year, something that was definitely building towards a three way mask match with Templario – and then Soberano didn’t end up in and the win wasn’t mentioned much. This is just something to get through three more weeks and so there’s a bit more wide opening for an upset than most of these tournaments.

(It is useful as a reminder that it’s late May and there’s no sign of an Aniversario main event. CMLL had a direction last year, even if it changed. Stuka Jr. and Atlantis Jr. were feuding in the 2022 Copa VIP Junior tournament. If there’s a September match being set up, it’s not obvious to me right now.)

Hijo del Octagon would like to be a full time CMLL wrestler. Tonight a rare appearance for him without Octagon involved.

The momentum seems to be all swinging Akuma’s way in the semimain, but CMLL’s consistently been much higher on Star Black than I’ve expected. Panthers versus Stukas could be good, first two matches don’t seem too interesting.

The other Copa Junior Block, to take place May 24th:

• Esfinge
• Hijo del Villano III
• Mephisto
• Mistico
• Felino
• Stuka Jr.
• Dark Panther
• Ángel de Oro
• Atlantis Jr.
• Magnus

Mistico (who has one one of these) and Atlantis Jr. (who has not) are the obvious favorites. Angel de Oro is a regular tournament runner up. Mephisto used to be at the level, and Esfinge may be headed there.

CMLL (SAT) 05/18/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Minos & Pequeño Violencia
2) Capitán Suicida, Diamond, Eléctrico vs Enfermero Jr., Forneo, Sangre Imperial
3) Kira, La Maligna, Sanely vs Amapola, Metálica, Olympia
4) Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Volcano vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Flip Gordon, Fugaz, Valiente vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
6) Volador Jr. vs Soberano Jr.

Not sure Soberano and Volador are going to be giving max effort on a Saturday but they could be fun fooling around. Volcano is the third Atrapsueno with Dulce in the UK. I hope Forneo and Suicida work opposite each other again.

CMLL (SUN) 05/19/2024 Arena México
1) Angelito & Galaxy vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) Leo (Jalisco), Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Kira, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard vs Hera, Sanely, Zeuxis
4) Magia Blanca vs Hijo del Villano III
5) Esfinge, Flip Gordon, Star Black vs Niebla Roja, Terrible, Zandokan Jr.
6) Star Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto

Magia Blanca versus Hijo del Villano III strangely turns out not to be a title match, which also means it’s a rare CMLL 1v1 three fall match. CMLL continues to book Tessa on the tecnica side a lot without committing to the change. La Mafia Tapatia visit from Guadalajara in match 2; Los Indestucitables are still trios champions so a title program is not out of the question.

Some clean up from Tuesday’s Arena Mexico show

• Max Star was announced as the official third person in a trio with Neon and Futuro. They’re Los Viajeros del Espacio, the Space Travelers. I wasn’t quite as high on that match as consensus – it ended too suddenly – but it was the best on the show.
• Flip Gordon’s injury was a planned storyline.
• I was let down by the Panthers/Barbaros trios match. The great Panther matches of the past had great through put into where to put the moves, building to getting the crowd crazy at the end. This was a lot of the same sequence that would be in one of those matches, but without getting the fans excited for them. They had the time – it was a fifteen minute match – but it wasn’t the usual standards for the Panthers in a big match. A missed chance.

Titan hasn’t wrestled a tournament match in the BOSJ since last update; he’s sitting at 3-0 atop the A block. He’s tied there with Blake Christian, and those two will wrestle early Saturday morning. He’ll face Clark Connors on Sunday.

MLW announced Mistico versus Star Jr. for the MLW Middleweight Championship on their 06/01 show. (This show appears to air free on YouTube, though maybe not this portion live.) Star Jr. seems to have gotten over well on the MLW shows and he’d be an easy guy for MLW to build around; he doesn’t have a lot keeping him in CMLL. However, Mistico is Mistico.

FantasticaMania UK

It’s this Sunday:

CMLL , RevPro , 1pm (SUN) 05/19/2024 York Hall, London, United Kingdom
1) JJ Gale, Místico, RKJ vs Gabe Kidd, Magnus, Templario
2) Bárbaro Cavernario vs Robbie X
3) Hechicero vs Connor Mills
4) Stephanie Vaquer vs Kanji
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia vs Kid Lykos I, Kid Lykos II, Okumura
6) Futuro, Máscara Dorada, Neón vs James Drake, Luke Jacobs, Zack Gibson
7) Michael Oku & Zozaya vs Ángel de Oro & Último Guerrero

CMLL , RevPro , 6pm (SUN) 05/19/2024 York Hall, London, United Kingdom
1) Zozaya vs Ángel de Oro
2) Stephanie Vaquer vs Rhio
3) James Drake & Zack Gibson vs Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. [Undisputed TAG]
4) Jordon Breaks vs Neón [Undisputed CRUISER]
5) Místico vs Templario
6) Dulce Gardenia, Futuro, Robbie X vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Okumura
7) Máscara Dorada vs Gabe Kidd vs Magnus
8) Último Guerrero vs Michael Oku [Undisputed HEAVY]

Start times:

• Show 1: 1 pm local, 6 am Mexico City time
• Show 2: 6 pm local, 11 am CDMX time.

These will air on RevPro On Demand for about 10 USD. If I remember right from last year, these shows air live but there’s no rewind button and it may be a day or two before they go up as VODs. RevPro is planning on a two hour break between shows. The announcers did a pleasant job of knowing the luchadors and their bigger moves last year.

Beyond the obvious singles matches, match 6 on the early show sticks out as a chance to see what Neon & Futuro will do against people they’re unfamiliar with. Zozaya, a Spanish wrestler, has the best chance of impressing the right people with a good Sunday. Gabe Kidd will likely end up being a top champion in NJPW if he sticks with them for a few more years and it’s going to be weird to look back at him wrestling Mistico and Mascara Dorada (and Magnus too, sure.)

The cards look good, though I’m not thrilled with all the RevPro title matches on the afternoon show. None of those title seem likely to change hands, and CMLL losing three title matches isn’t the strongest way to get over the concept. Maybe I’ll be surprised.

AAA

AAA TV this week should finish out the March 16 AAA TV taping; matches airing will have been taped 63 days earlier:

• Adelicious, Belcegor, Taurus vs Colmillo de Plata, Garra de Oro, Reina Dorada
• Faby Apcahe, La Parkita, Mr. Iguana, Pimpienla Escarlata vs Bengala, Dalys, Jessy QUeen, Parkita Negra
• Oscar Sevilla & Super Calo vs Charly Manson & Nygma

AAA also announced a TV taping in Juarez, part of a local fair. Albert , in the comments, mentioned there was advertising for this already:

AAA TV (TUE) 06/11/2024 Plaza de la Mexicanidad, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua
1) ?, Miss Kath, Ráfaga Jr., Sakura vs Felina, Samuray VIP, Steven Juárez, Venus
2) Aéreo vs Kempo Jr. [JUAREZ ABSOLUTO]
3) Colmillo de Plata & Garra de Oro vs Kamik-C & Skalibur
4) Faby Apache, Pimpinela Escarlata, Sexy Star vs Dalys, Flammer, La Hiedra
5) Dinámico, Drago, Laredo Kid vs Abismo Negro, El Fiscal, Taurus
6) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Octagón Jr. vs CIMA, Sam Adonis, Satnam Singh
7) Negro Casas & Psycho Clown vs Forastero & Sansón [AAA TAG]

Psycho Clown & Negro Casas vs NGD was good last time, though I’m surprised to see them go back to it. CIMA, Adonis and Satnam is an “only in AAA trio.” This show is four days before TripleMania Tijuana so it’ll be easier for people to stick around for both. Don’t know what Dinamico is doing on the tecnico side beyond “we had the Meixcali guys booked and this was the best idea we had.” The poster lists Piero and Hijo del Tirantes as referees, so Suspenders Jr. is apparently back.

I should give up on figuring on how this all airs but I can’t help myself. If my hunch about the 06/22 CDMX show being add late (because the others have done great), then it would make sense if AAA just wiped out two low effort weeks to accommodate it. Verano de Escandalo goes back to being two weeks, and there’s no filler week of TV before TripleMania Mexico City. The schedule would go

• 05/18: remainder of the March CDMX taping
• 05/25 & 06/01: the May CDMX taping
• 06/08: a TripleMania Tijuana preview show
• the rest of June: TripleMania Tijuana
• 07/06 and 07/13: this Juarez show
• 07/20 and 07/27: Verano de Escandalo in Aguascalientes
• 08/03 & 08/10: the June CDMX taping
• 08/17: TripleMania Mexico City

Watch this all be wrong.

Latin Lover did a Facebook live stream on Wednesday. Latin seems very responsive and willing to listen to fan comments, which may not always be in his or AAA’s best interest. The one piece many sites pulled out of this stream was Latin going along with an idea that AAA should bring back retro announcers to go with the retro shows. The idea would be Hugo Savinovich and Jose Manuel Guillen out Jesus Zuniga, Andres Maronas, and Leobardo Magadan (because both Arturo Rivera and Dr. Alfonso Morales are deceased.) The sites reporting this idea like it because those were the voices they heard on AAA shows when they were young and everyone seems to want wrestling to stay exactly as it was when they were nine. It’s an idea that doesn’t make sense beyond that. Magadan works for CMLL. Maronas didn’t get brought along when AAA split with Televisa, and seemed to have hard feelings about it. He’s never been back, even when AAA was making a point of bringing back everyone they could. The collage of AAA past and present they put out a couple days ago to celebrate 32 years of the promotion did not include Maronas.

If you’ve listened to Dave Meltzer for any decent length of time, you’ve heard him tell the tale of Bill Watts: ahead of his time booker in the 80s,  got pushed out of wrestling, and frighteningly out of date when he was brought into WCW in 1992. (Both in booking and in other areas.) Every Latin Lover interview has a Bill Watts in 1992 moment; he hasn’t yet banned moves from the top rope but maybe give him a month or two. Latin Lover getting (perceived) power in AAA is super popular among a vocal segment of the Mexican online fanbase, a bit because it’s Latin Lover and a bit because he’s Not Konnan and that fanbase desperately wants a Not Konnan (and, to a less intense level, a Not Dorian) creative direction. That fanbase, like Latin Lover appears to be, does not seemed attached to the reality of the Mexican pro wrestling business in 2024. I, and I think many people reading this blog, would like to see a Not Konnan direction to AAA. What I fear we’re close to getting instead is a repeat of the damaging Vampiro one year run in that position. The only difference is, so far, AAA hasn’t seemed to empower Latin the same way they’ve did Vampiro. I wish there was a better option than Konnan or Latin Lover.

El Hijo del Santo

The Santo retirement tour press conference is next Tuesday, but Superboletos has already put up two of the dates

• 09/22 Arena Ciudad de Mexico (tickets run from 251-5600)
• 10/13 Arena Monterrey (314 to 3765)

Those are high priced ticket. I’m sure the Mexico City will be loaded up, might have see someone lose their mask to Hijo del Santo one last time, but it’s a big ask. Vampiro’s retirement tour has done amazingly well and El Hijo del Santo is a bigger cultural name than Vampiro, but Vampiro’s shows aren’t costing that much. We’ll see what they have on Tuesday.

IWRG

IWRG , LLB (THU) 05/16/2024 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del Ring]
1) Basuroloco I, Basuroloco II, Demencia b Koi, Macho I, Macho II 
2) Gravedad Cero, Minos II, New Level, Príncipe Centauro b Argus, Hijo De Sparta, Oro Blanco, Sparta 
3) Canis Lupus NG, Carta Brava Jr. (LLB), Paranoiko b Águila Oriental, Miss Gaviota, Sol 
Paranokio left hurt
4) Canek, Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Solar I b Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool 
mask vs mask challenged followed (won’t be happnening)
5) Venganza L Lunatik Extreme, Súper Boy, Toto, Águila Roja, Fandango, Hell Boy, Puma de Oro [cage, mask, hair] 
Venganza lost his hair to Aguila Roja’s hair on the show called Venganza.

Never participate in a cage match on a show named after you, it’s just a bad idea.

They’re back to a normal show on Sunday:

IWRG (SUN) 05/19/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Sacro & Sky Man vs Hysteriosis & Príncipe Centauro
2) Shocko & Vudu Max vs Auzter & Rey Halcón
3) Caballero de Plata, Luka, Multifacetico Jr. vs Abigor, Sangre Azteca, Yorvak
4) Hellboy, Misterioso Jr., Veneno vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
5) Hijo del Fishman © vs Máscara Sagrada [IWRG JUNIORS]
5th defense

Misterioso ending up in IWRG seems so obvious that I feel dumb for not seeing it ahead of time. Maybe they’ll end up running him and his sons versus La Pandemia.

Big Lucha

They’re streaming on Saturday:

Big Lucha World (SAT) 05/18/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Wisin El Dog & Zenky vs Skailer & Visionario
2) ?, Danessa, Vecinita vs Ishtar, Killer Frost, Marishka
3) Caballero de Plata & Mr. Win vs Bogdan Klimov & M2R
4) Cósmico & Skayde vs Platino & Reiyel
5) Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo vs Big Bulldog, Rocky Bulldog, Terry Bulldog
6) Mexicano, Orbita, Viajero vs Atómico Jr., Elipse, Vengador

Nothing here pops as a must see match; maybe something will surprise, but this seems like one that will get lost for me this weekend.

They also have an outdoor show with INJUVE next Friday

Big Lucha World , INJUVE (FRI) 05/24/2024 Monumento a la Revolución, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal
1) Diosa Nix, La Brava, Mary Caporal vs Danessa, Sairely, Satania
2) Black Skayde & Skayde vs Dankar & Platino
3) Cometa Maya, Morphosis, Radioactivo vs Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Shere Khan, Sol
4) Cósmico, Ryu Orochi, Wisin El Dog vs Osiris, Rey Espectrito, Rey Halcón
5) Caballero de Plata, Mexicano, Orbita, Viajero vs Atómico Jr., Auzter, Elipse, Vengador
6) Súper Nova & Texano Jr. vs Emperador Azteca & Hijo del Pirata Morgan

INJUVE says this is part lucha libre, part music (Lost Acapulco, Rebel Cats, the Evil Ones and La Tremenda Korte.) They’ll have a similiar show in August in another Mexico City location.

The Crash

They’re running tonight.

The Crash (FRI) 05/17/2024 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Mirage vs Anubis, Gallo Extreme, Bamboo, Rey Furia, Ángel Metálico [Trofeo Querubin]
2) El Rey, Keyra, Mamba vs Goya Kong, Mr. Maldito, Tony Casanova
3) Destiny, Noisy Boy, Toto vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota, Tito Santana
4) Daga vs Gringo Loco (Indie), Jeff Cobb, The Beast Mortos, Willie Mack [Copa Hector Garza]
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Dinámico & Laredo Kid and Nick Wayne & Timothy Thatcher [The Crash TAG, #1 Contenders]
6) Bestia 666 vs Rey Horus, Mecha Wolf [cage]

The Crash attempted to stream on YouTube last time around. It didn’t really work. Who knows this time around. They’re probably doing an angle for TripleMania Tijuana, so maybe AAA will put that out (though that’s not sure either.) Jeff Cobb said he was off this show roughly 30 seconds after it was announced is still listed on the poster.

Other News

Republic of Lucha announced their 06/01 show at the set of the old Lucha Underground Temple will no longer take place at that venue. Their story is they got the permits, then the city of Los Angeles had another look and decided it was unusable for a public event. There were countless stories about how run down that building from LU personal at the time; they got fans in there because they billed it as a TV production. It was surprising anyone else would get permission to run an indie wrestling show there. (There’d be a lot more options for indie shows if promoters could use barely functional warehouses for them in general.) Still, if Republic of Lucha got approval to run the show, it’s a bit harsh to pull that back after tickets were sold. (There’s a lot of fans who bought tickets for that show specifically for the venue, and they’re not happy. ROL is not offering refunds, though they did point out there’s plenty of people looking to buy it off people who want to sell their tickets.) The show will take place at the Ukrainian Cultural Center instead. The card includes the Lucha Brothers vs the Nemeth brothers; your guess on Fenix’s status is as good as mine.

Sinaloa Serpiente Marina will have his retirement show tonight.

Record put up the Perro Aguayo documentary on their DailyMotion site. I heard it’s very good.

El Sol de Cordoba interviews transexual luchadora Reina Gitana, who says she struggled to find someone willing to train her at first.

The next Mexico City lucha libre exam is June 15th.