Volador/new rudo Soberano tonight, CMLL on NJPW in Texas, MLW contracts, MLW

Reminder: DST and all, these shows are one hour earlier than usual if you’re in the US.

CMLL

CMLL put up the 11/05 Dia del Muertos show for members. It’s great members are getting another show – and all four of the Dia del Muertos shows. It’s not great that CMLL built this up by asking people to like and favorite tweets about it, and then put it behind the paywall. That’s just going to antagonize people. I’m going to try to catch up this show this weekend, but there’s a lot people to watch it.

Tonight’s show:

CMLL (FRI) 11/10/2023 Arena México
1) Futuro, Neón, Robin vs Crixus, Raider, Vegas
2) Pequeño Magía, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
3) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther vs Hijo de Stuka Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
4) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Templario, Terrible
5) Averno & Euforia vs Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr.
6) Volador Jr. vs Soberano Jr.

Normally, the first match out on a new side is a big test. Soberano’s spent so much time as a rudo this year that it doesn’t seem like it’ll be much of an adjustment. The semi-main is an interesting battle between rudos teams (and gives Euforia a reason to be around for the main event.) Titan returns to CMLL in match 4. Match 3 is a rematch of a really good match last week. Match 2 might be more minis feuding. Neon and Futuro get another Friday appearance (as does Raider, who should pretend he was in this new class if it gets him booked more often.)

This is the usual Boletia show, back down to the normal 6 USD price.

CMLL spent about as much time promoting the NJPW US show on Friday as much as their own show. It was pretty different. Their new friends AEW will make a point of not promoting any other show unless they have a direct financial interest. They’ve made no mention of the Chris Jericho/Konosuke Takeshita match in DDT this weekend, even though it plays off a current AEW storyline. AAA seemed to promote their wrestlers appearing in AEW early on, but now has dropped it – except for QT Marshall’s storyline. CMLL is much more eager about pushing international trips for their wrestlers, which is always presented as proof they’re an important international brand. I think the CMLL way is better but it depends on the situation and how the wrestlers are going to be used.

That starts at 7 pm, for 20 USD on FITE in English. You can get in Japanese on NJPW World as well, though they’re going through some expected bumps there after launching a new site.

CMLL matches on that show

• Mayu Iwatani vs Stephanie Vaquer for the IWGP Women’s Championship
• Mistico vs TJP
• Atlantis, Tiger Mask, Mascara Dorada vs Ultimo Guerrero, Rocky Romero, Hechicero

Mistico’s obviously winning. Iwatani is probably winning; I don’t know enough to be 100% sure. The trios outcome doesn’t matter much; it’s more about how much they let Dorada shine.

It did occur to me that Hechicero’s here for no real reason, Zack Sabre Jr. is defending (and more likely retaining) the NJPW World TV Championship, and Hechicero’s talked about how he wants a rematch ZSJ once in a blue moon. (They wrestled in PWG previously.) There’s no chance Hechicero/ZSJ is a 01/04 dome match, but ZSJ might not be in the World Tag League and then doesn’t have much to do for the next two months. It’s a low chance of happening but NJPW and CMLL could find time for a Hechicero/ZSJ rematch if they’d like.

NJPW also rolled out their schedule for the next couple of months. They had already given the FantasticaMania dates, but now have announced they’ll be running a big New Beginning show in Osaka on 02/11, the day before the FantasticaMania tour kicks off. That means NJPW will be running three straight nights in the same city, since they have two Fantastica Mania Osaka shows as well. I was already thinking NJPW might load up that second Osaka show more than have for any non-Tokyo FantasticaMania, and that seems even more likely now. It’s possible some of the CMLL guys might show up a day earlier on the undercard of that New Beginning show as well. NJPW’s new announcer Walker Stewart also mentioned he’ll be part of the FantasticaMania tour. That surprised me at first – the English announcers have rarely done FantasticaMania shows – but it makes a lot more sense if he’s going to be there to do New Beginning already.

CMLL (SUN) 11/12/2023 Arena México
1) Diamond & Valiente Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I & Dr. Karonte II
2) Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. vs Inquisidor, Nitro, Sangre Imperial
3) Difunto vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Panterita del Ring, Valiente, Volcano vs Kráneo, Rey Bucanero, Virus
6) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Titán vs Hechicero, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero

That’s a good main event for a Sunday show. Maybe not a good opener.

CMLL (MON) 11/13/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Enigmática & Hela vs Diablita Roja & Mania
2) Centella Roja & Hijo de Centella Roja vs Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika
3) Diamond & Robin vs Perverso & Prayer
4) Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio © vs Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. [MEX TRIOS]
first defense
6) Místico, Stigma, Templario vs Averno, Magnus, Volador Jr.

Will Los Indestructibles lose the titles without a single defense? The main event is a rematch.

CMLL (TUE) 11/14/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Obek, Rav, Último Ángel vs Eclipse Jr., Shezmu, Temerario
2) Ángel Rebelde, Optimus, Trono vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
3) Diablita Roja, Estrellita Mágica, Lady Metal vs Andrómeda, Lady Shadow, Miss Guerrera
4) Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. vs Barboza, Draego, Persa
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel
6) Dr. Karonte I & Místico vs Bestia Negra & Templario

Dr. Karonte in the main event is a hard pill. Semimain could be pretty good.

Informa announced Barbaro Cavernario, Terrible, Star Black, Hechicero, Ultimo Guerrero and Atlantis for the 11/17 Leyenda de Azul. The idea is they’re going to wait until next Wednesday to announce the other six people who will be wrestling six days later. It’s probably safe just to put Los Malditos and three more on the poster.

Volador Jr. accepted Trent Seven’s challenge for the 12/16 RevPro show on Infrma. Volador doubted Seven’s claims of being the best wrestler in the world; he thought it was absurd anyone in the physical shape Seven is in to claim they were the best.

Morena presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum held a rally in Arena Mexico on Thursday. No CMLL people appeared with her; this is not as much an endorsement of a person political candidate as it is CMLL being very willing to take money for whoever would like to rent out the building. Stories on the event says it started full but emptied out greatly before the end of the ceremony.

Last Friday, UK (Apple TV) reality series A League of Their Own had an event at Arena Mexico, with the hosts doing luchador gimmicks and wrestling exhibition matches. Atlantis Jr. teamed with Jamie Redknapp (as El Guapo) to face Magnus and Micah Richards. In a separate match, Reina Isis teamed with Maisie Adam (El Loco) against Lluvia and Jill Scott (La Leona). Again, CMLL will rent that arena to anyone.

Mundo Deportivo has an interview with Kraneo.

AAA

As of Thursday right, neither Arez nor Aramis had received actual paperwork to release them from their MLW contract. MLW sent out that tweet, but they haven’t heard from MLW beyond that, and AAA hasn’t sent them anything more. Any company wanting use them is apparently going to have to figure out if that is sufficient enough, or if MLW or AAA will fight it later on.

Komander & Hijo del Vikingo face FTR tonight on AEW Rampage. This is a live show for scheduling reasons, though the results (FTR beating Komander) seems as obvious as if it was taped. I’m not really sure what AEW’s plans are for FTR at the moment, since they pointedly fell out of tag team competing. I do know the usual luchador place in AEW’s booking tiers and it’s typically not beating FTR.

AAA finishes off the San Luis Potosi taping this Saturday.

• Brazo de Oro, Drago, Reina Dorada vs Diva Salvaje, Dulce Kanela, Jessy Ventura/
• Octagón Jr. & Willie Mack vs Forastero & Sansón
• Dralistico vs Laredo Kid, Taurus in a Number One Contenders match for the AAA Mega Championship

Maybe the top two will be good? The opener is the only one left where I don’t have a finish, so I’ll be able to finish the results after this show. It’s something to look for.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 11/12/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Oriental & Auzter vs Adrenalina & Súperboy
2) Quetzal & Sagitarius vs Lolita & Satania
3) Caballero de Plata, Tornado, Último Legendario vs Mr. Mike, Rey Aztaroth, Rey Halcón
4) Dr. Cerebro vs Fussion, Cerebro Negro Jr., Gannicus, Yorvak [IWRG IC Light, #1 Contenders]
5) Hijo de Canis Lupus, León Dorado, Mr. Leo vs Mocho Cota Jr., Súper Comando, Tito Santana
6) Hell Boy & Shocko vs Noisy Boy & Spider Fly and Cerebro Negro & Tonalli and Águila Roja & Hijo del Pirata Morgan

Semimian is headed to the triso title match.

IWRG announced Nueva Generación de Talentos shows would resume on Wednesdays, starting next week. This is a few days after they announced Thursday shows were on hiatus until March. The major difference between these shows is inexperienced talent will be focused on.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha World (FRI) 11/10/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Morfosis vs Ryu Orochi
2) Helios vs ?
3) Elipse, Orbita, Vengador vs Payaso I, Payaso II, Payaso III

They’re trying it again: Big Lucha World is scheduled for tonight. It’s the original lineup for last Friday, with Locos Evans back in the main event. This will stream on YouTube.

AEW/Metalik/AAA

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentions a 10/27 Rampage match between Komander versus Metalik was pulled because Metalik refused to lose. I had heard (and was unable to confirm) a similar story. The version I heard had the match as Metalik vs Komander vs Penta, where the winner would face QT Marshall for the AAA Latin American championship. Komander was planned to beat Metalik. The Vikingo, Komander, Penta match on the 11/03 Rempage replaced that, though they took it in a different direction coming out of it. QT instead did a promo to keep the angle warm; they’ll probably get back to that defense or something similar eventually. I was kind of surprised that a story including the detail of a Komander TV win didn’t cause more people to question the story; that guy is only winning on AEW TV if he’s about to lose on another AEW TV show.

Hearing this story (then unconfirmed) made my ears perk up when Metalik referred to AEW in the past tense in that interview with TJ Sports. Metalik was working on a either per-night deal or something very short-term, with the idea that he’d graduate to a full time deal sometime in 2024. Dralistico was in a similar situation, and has now gotten that contract. Metalik wrestled one more match on the Ring of Honor tapings (a fourway where he neither won or took the pin), but the unconfirmed story I’ve heard is that will be his final match in AEW/ROH for now. Metalik referred to his time in AEW in the past tense in an interview with TJ Sports while at The Crash show this past weekend, which fits with that story.

AEW did think highly enough of Metalik to put him on TV; not everyone working the ROH shows gets that chance. He’s also not necessary if he’s just on TV to lose; they could move another luchador like Gravity in that spot. (Gravity seems to mostly be working Saturdays, so he wouldn’t have been an option to replace Metalik in that Rampage match.) Metalik has been presented as an important name in his TV appearances but has mostly lost. If this is indeed the end, he’ll end up 1-8 in Ring of Honor singles matches. Metalik didn’t seem to have problems doing jobs as an abstract concept as much as he seems to have reached a breaking point.

You can argue over how Metalik has been used in AEW/ROH, but Metalik has definitely been hard to deal with this year in multiple promotions. He similarly refused to lose to Hijo del Vikingo in GCW over the summer, which ended Metalik’s time there. I don’t know how he felt about losing to Titan in CMLL, but he got left such a bad impression in his return that he was disinvited back. It’s not difficult to see this all from Metalik’s side: he left WWE because they weren’t treating him well, and he doesn’t want to go through that as well. His problem is that WWE run has left him as just a notable name from the past, not a big star that needs to be protected, and his matches haven’t raised his stock. He’ll get to main event indies in Mexico and lucha libre ones in the US if he wants, but he needs to do something new and positive if he ever wants more than that. Metalik, in that interview, still seemed pretty hopeful he’d be going somewhere in Japan in 2023 and I hope that works out for him. Nothing much is working out for him on this side of the Pacific.

While we’re on AEW stuff, the WON also notes AEW wants Komander every Saturday going forward, which would make it hard for him to work AAA TV tapings since many are scheduled the same day. Komander is signed to AEW and not to AAA. Komander and Arez are scheduled to defend the AAA Tag Team championships against Forastero & Sanson next Sunday in Juarez. I’d assumed the NGD were winning the belts as soon as that match was announced. Arez publicly asking for his MLW release in a way that also makes AAA look bad seems to guarantee it. AAA putting the cruiserweight title on Komander just a few week ago makes no sense given this inevitable issue, but that was AAA grasping for a short-term make good for no Komander/Vikingo match without considering the long term ramifications.

The WON bit goes on to say AAA plans to focus on the ‘core’ guys going forward and not the people who are signed to AEW deals – except for Penta and QT Marshall. That doesn’t leave many other AEW people! Fenix is on the outs. Rush hasn’t been back since TripleMania, and will probably be brought back next time they need a TripleMania boost. That just leaves Komander and Dralistico as those under AEW contracts. Vikingo and Gringo Loco don’t appear to have AEW contracts, though they work there often enough. Maybe this means next Sunday’s Dralistico/Vikingo match is a farewell to Dralistico. Maybe this means Marshall somehow beats them both since he’s the one guy AAA seems to want to make time for.

Maybe this isn’t really an “AEW contract” story but an “AAA” one. Maybe AAA would’ve gotten around to La Rebelion versus Arez/Komander match had Komander not needed to go work AEW – but La Rebelion has their own scheduling conflicts with NWA and other indie dates. Maybe AAA would’ve gotten around to booking a Vikingo/Gringo Loco match if Vikingo hadn’t gone to AEW some weeks, but Gringo Loco also was in AEW. Most of the AAA wrestlers, and especially the top half of the card, are taking a lot of outside dates and aren’t around for a lot of TV tapings. Those absences contribute to the bad AAA TV, where feuds drift forever with no ending, luchadors disappear for months, and random people get thrown onto TV just to fill out matches. If AAA were to focus on people who don’t have commitments not just in AEW, but anywhere, they’d get a more coherent TV product. They’d also risk losing or de-emphasizing a lot of their best wrestlers; they’re in demand elsewhere for a reason.

(The flipside is all those guys were around enough that AAA could’ve done many of those matches if they were the most important thing to AAA to get done. It’s not an easy job by any means but there were opportunities. Citing unavailability to AEW shouldn’t absolve AAA of their own faults in bad planning. And even if those matches set up happened, it’s unclear if they would’ve meant much in AAA’s 2023 environment. This post TripleMania period was built around the Texano/Pagano feud as the new thing, there were no issues in availability, and it hasn’t drawn well in Mexico City or San Luis Potosi.)

Other News

GCW next Friday in Seattle on 11/17 has Los Desperados (Latigo, Arez and Gringo Loco) against Aramis, Rey Horus and Laredo Kid. Gringo Loco says ths is the debut of this name. Latigo and Arez had been wrestling as Los Vipers prior, even though Arez hasn’t been in the AAA version of Los Vipers for a year and a half.

ESTO visits Arena Revolucion in Mexico City and local wrestlers Vandalo and Gamboa. They also talk to Extasis, who says his impulsive move to Mexico City was “the worst decision of my life” (because the only place where he could afford to live was problematic), but it’s also brought him lots of good moments. His dream is still to reach Arena Mexico someday.