KeMalito debuts with a win, Latin Lover not AAA director of creative, MLW, RevPro

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 04/29/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Grada, Porra Fresa]
1) Hela & Lady Amazona b Astoreth & Enigmática
2) Meyer & Novato b El Malayo & Siky Ozama
3) Arkalis & Okumura b Dark Magic & Rey Samuray [semifinal] 
4) Enfermero Jr. & Pegasso b Fuego & Multy [semifinal]
5) Fuego & Multy b Dark Magic & Rey Samuray [final]
6) Gran Guerrero, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Magnus, Niebla Roja 
7) Hechicero, Titán, Volador Jr. b Averno, Flip Gordon, Templario [Relevos Increíbles] 

Nothing notable in the results. Porra Fresa says attendance was up.

The local announcer who did last week’s Arena Puebla show did this week’s as well. He noted a lot of people asked where they could watch these shows, and he wrote that you could see them on CMLL’s YouTube channel if you subscribed to the “profesional o leyenda” level. That is obiovusly not true, so I assume he’s announcing a show that even he doesn’t know where is airing.

CMLL (TUE) 04/30/2024 Arena México [CMLL, FDDE, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan, thegladiatores.com]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito 
10:24
2) Chamuel, Kemalito, Micro Sagrado b Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Tengu  
13:51. Debut of KeMalito, who won falls 2/3.. Tengu is Micro Dito
3) Hera, Olympia, Persephone b Kira, Skadi, Tabata  
9:00. Hera & Olympica challenged Kira & Skadi to a title match next week.
4) Esfinge, Neón, Volcano b Difunto, Kráneo, Zandokan Jr.  
11:30. Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Titán b Villano III Jr. [lightning]  
9:22.
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico b Magnus, Templario, Volador Jr.  
11:18. Tecnicos took 2/3

This was also up for a Tuesday, but not a huge crowd. It was the expected Kid’s Day type of show, with tecnicos winning fun matches (except for the one match being set up for next week.) Last two matches were the best too.

Both match 2 and 3 had wrestlers trying for things that people in their divisions might not normally try, to mixed result. The women’s match was going along reasonable well and then had a couple of very bad moments in the third fall. The title match next week will be a chance to do better.

KeMalito got a lot of spotlight in his match and pulled off his big moves, but that match lacked consistency and rhythm. It was also surprising to see the Gemelo Diablos do few high spots with their best base Chamuel back; they worked as normal rudos for once. (They also seemed unhappy after the match.) KeMalito got big and positive reactions, but this wasn’t the Microman debut in terms of an all around good match.

CMLL (TUE) 04/30/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Trono b Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico 
2) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Arlequín, Bestia Negra, Cris Skin 
3) Dark Magic, Elemental, Yutani b Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga 
3) Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga b Dark Magic, Elemental, Yutani 
4) La Catalina b Valkiria [lightning] 
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible b Brillante Jr., Flip Gordon, Valiente 
6) Euforia, Hijo del Soberano, Soberano Jr. b Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther 

Attendance looked good here.

CMLL Informa will begin airing at Wednesdays at 8 pm local starting tonight. CMLL’s teasing a surprise for that show, which is a good idea to remind people of the changed start time.

My new rule of “don’t preview a show in back to back posts” means no Friday discussion today but the delayed card is here. There’s no news to it, it’s just a show.

Through means I’m not going to explain, I was able to watch the full 04/14 and 04/28 Sunday shows. These shows are not available on CMLL’s YouTube subscription currently, but what I feel comfortable in sharing is there’s no technical limitation to CML adding the subscription package. I did not go looking for these shows, nor did anyone with CMLL intentionally make these shows available to me, they sort of just fell into my lap. Anyone with CMLL is welcome to reach out to ask what’s happened; there’s a good shot I’ll be able to continue to get these shows until they do. (I don’t think I committed a crime here.)

These Sunday shows are not worth all that international espionage to track down; they’re generally fine half effort events. The Kid’s Day title match was the most memorable of the 12 matches over the two shows, both for the title win and the minute proceeding it. Neon pinned Zandokan for a near fall, Zandokan grabbed the ropes at two, Edgar counted three, and then pointed at the ropes. CMLL production saw the three count and shot off fireworks and the smoke machines, the announcers counted as the finish, and Edgar waved furiously to cut it out. The match went a few more near falls before finish, and they had enough pyro to shoot off again.

For Kid’s Day, Atlantis talked to El Universal about how in important children are as lucha libre fans. In an adjacent article, Atlantis notes his son really wants to be an international star. This is all from a half hour interview with the two; I skimmed through the transcript and didn’t see anything that stood out.

RevPro FantasticaMania UK 2024:

Show 1 (noon)

• Mistico, RKJ, JJ Gale vs Templario, Gabe Kidd, Magnus
• Barbaro Cavernario vs Robbie X
• Hechicero vs Connor Mills
• Stephanie Vaquer vs Kanji – new
• Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia vs Okumura & Lycos Gym – new

Show 2 (6 pm)

• Zozaya vs Angel de Oro
• Stephanie Vaquer vs Rhio
• Grizzled Young Vets versus Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. for the Undisputed Tag Team Championship
• Jordon Breaks vs Neon for the Universal British Cruiserweight Championship – new
• Mistico vs Templario – new

Everyone in Euro-land seemed shocked and stunned that they were getting a Mistico/Templario match but that’s sort of what a FantastciaMania is – you’re legally required to have a Mistico singles match on the last day so everyone can be happy. (In the event no “Mistico” exists, you’re legally allowed to substitute a “Volador” or a “Mascara Dorada”.) I’m somewhat curious about why Michael Oku hasn’t turned up yet, but I haven’t looked through RevPro lineups to see if there’s a pending title match they’re waiting to get through first.

MLW says their 05/11 show in Cicero, IL sold out and set a gate record. Both those are good things. They also accomplished these things by making the get in price $10, a lot lower than most Chicago indie the show. Lucha Libre Total ran the same building in April and the get in price $30 (plus 5 if you bought at the door). Having CMLL people on the card helps get people in at the $10 price, but both parts of that equation are important.

The 05/12 CMLL show at Monterrey’s Showcenter seemed like something that got might get canceled; it’s AAA’s taping venue, they figure to not want to happen. It’s still on the schedule, but the second best thing for AAA happened: tickets are not really moving at all for the show. The ticket page gives section by section info, and there’s a lot of tickets left for most sections. The AAA shows seem to pick up closer to the show so maybe it’ll happen here as well, but they’re no danger to replacing AAA in the building.

AAA

Latin Lover has already shown some growth in his time as a lucha libre executive: he’s learned not to give away secrets until the boss gives an OK. In an interview after TripleMania with Mas Lucha, Latin Lover said again that there was a plan for him to Director of Creative but they agreed it would be better if he took another position, and he will wait to talk about that role until after Dorian Roldan reveals it. Latin Lover offered that he was unhappy with his the main event went, but liked the rest of the matches. Latin explained his relationship with Roldan and Konnan as him not yet completely trusting them yet. It comes off as Latin Lover wants to help AAA because AAA helped him become a star, but he’s not the guy who’s desperate to keep working in the wrestling industry – he’s doing well and has enough else going on that he’ll be fine leaving if things are going on that he doesn’t like. Latin also talked about apologizing to Canek for implying he was a drug addict on his podcast. (Latin seemed to also be learning about the blowback you get for being too ‘free flowing’ on podcasts.)

Other News

I usually like to have a “here’s how many shows happened on Kida’s Day” total today to compare to prior years, but I’m also about 70 posters behind. And 6000 videos. Maybe Friday.

Stories I am not all interested in but people on Lucha Libre Facebook are obsessed with for the last few days

• Dorian Roldan, during his TripleMania promo, took a mild jab at LA Park and Rush and their unwillingness to actually do their hair/mask. He seemed to have left over feelings over how last year’s TripleMania went, they both acted very offended and very serious about wanting to do the match (while also saying they’re not doing the match any time soon.) Everyone involved will inevitably be working with each other again in the next 12 months.
• La Catalina got booked for an indie show in Monterrey, she didn’t appear at the pre-show meet and greet, and she and the promoter are having an ongoing social media battle over if she agreed to appear at the meet and greet. This is very important to you if you were planning your Sunday around posting a selfie with La Catalina on Instagram captioned as “mi ex-novia” and will be a story I’ll have forgotten all about by June.

05/05 GCW “The Wrld on Lucha”

• Arez, Latigo, Gringo Loco vs Jack Cartwheel, Aramis, Gravity
• Speedball Mike Bailey vs Galeno del Mal
• Dulce Tormenta vs Masha Slamovich
• Pimpinela Escarlata vs Effy
• Mascarita Dorada vs Joey Janela
• Blake Christian vs Laredo Kid for the GCW World Championship – new

Arez & Latigo also challenge for the GCW Tag Team Championship on 05/25 in Chicago.

The Super X show on 05/19 is apparently a TrillerTV+ show. I haven’t seen them advertise this, though I didn’t watch the hourlong press conference.

Republic of Lucha announced a talent list for their 06/01 show at the old Lucha Underground Temple:

• Thunder Rosa
• Lio Rush
• John Hennigan
• Mike Bailey
• Daga
• Rey Fenix
• Jordan Cruz
• Alex Windsor
• Brian Cage
• Arez
• Nic Nemeth
• Adrian Quest
• Konosuke Takeshita
• Rocky Romero
• Penta
• Dante Martin
• (+ surprises)

Tickets are already sold out – they moved quick because of the venue. The promotion said they’re back on Triller with this show, though no link is up yet. Past Republic of Lucha shows on Triller/FITE have gone up on a delay and they’re not explicitly promising this one live yet. If they’re going to have more surprises, I think they would do well with more LU alumni.

Segunda Caida writes about the latest LA Park vs Rush match.

Box y Lucha 3601 has Mascara Dorada and Akuma on the cover.

Octagon, Hijo de Octagon and Octagoncito visited children from Hogares Providencia, an organization that houses children in dagner of being homeless.

Arena GDL seems to be teasing a Marco Corleone appearance on 08/24, so he might be doing a tour of Mexico then. Or he might show up when the Hardy Boys show up in Guadalajara.