Box y Lucha 207A-211A (March 1956) recap

Box y Lucha is selling these magazines here.

Picking up with issue 207A. I’m not really sure why these issue numbers have A.

EMLL (FRI) 03/02/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 206A, Box y Lucha 207A]
1) Ángel Negro b Chamaco Vega
2) Jalisco González TLDRAW José Macias
30 minute draw
3) Daniel Aldana b Ali Bey
4) Halcón Negro b Black Killer [quarterfinal]
5) Joe Grant b Ray Mendoza [quarterfinal]
6) El Gladiador b Gorilla Flores [quarterfinal]
7) Blue Demon b Fernando Oses [quarterfinal]
8) Halcón Negro b Joe Grant [semifinal]
9) El Gladiador b Blue Demon [semifinal]
10) Halcón Negro b El Gladiador [final]

This is sort of a low wattage Friday. Blue Demon is here, Gladiador is pushed a lot but the one night (battle royal driven) tournament is the biggest draw.

There are more names on the Friday show.

EMLL (SUN) 03/04/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 206A, Box y Lucha 207A]
1) Mar Allah b Rudy Tinoco
2) Ed Mangoetech b Carlos Segura
straight falls
3) Akio Yoshihara DQ Canelo Segura
straight falls, second by DQ
4) Carlos Moreno b Chale Romero
5) El Enfermero & El Santo b Blue Demon & Joe Marín

It appears EMLL is running just Friday and Sundays at this point.

The magazine includes an update with Tarzan Lopez, who says the previous report about his injuries were overplayed. He is hurt, but not seriously, and he’s not in any danger of retiring.

Onto issue 208A

EMLL (FRI) 03/09/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 207A, Box y Lucha 208A]
1) Rogelio De La Paz b Gorila Osorio
2) Fantomas b Juan Diaz
3) Sordomudo Rodríguez b Dientes Hernández
return of Rodirguez
4) Dr. Castro DRAW Oso Negro
return of Oso Negro. Said to be a great match.
5) Fernando Oses b Canelo Segura
6) Joe Marín b Gorilita Flores
7) El Santo & Enfermero b Dorrel Dixon & Joe Grant
Santo gets the win after he and Gori were DQed last week. Article talks about how Enfermero learned his new hold from Buddy Rodgers

Santo gets the win back over Dixon & Grant from two weeks ago, with Enfermero instead of Gory Guerrero. The magazine puts over the new hold Enfermero is using – La Cruzeta – that’s proven effective. Enfermero says he saw Buddy Rodgers using it on a trip to Los Angeles and worked out how to do it in the gym. It’s kind of a figure four with the attacker using his arms to cross the legs rather than his own legs.

Rogelio de la Paz would later become La Sombra Vengadora, after a movie character. Fernando Oses actually did the wrestling scenes in the movie, but was too busy to take the character in the ring. At least one other person would use the character, possibly without permission. It’ll come up later.

A notes column mentions Monterrey promoter Chucho Garza is promoting new versions of Medico Asesino and Enfermero. Everyone, in the magazine and the wrestling industry, is aghast at the idea of putting new people in old gimmicks.

In 209A:

EMLL (FRI) 03/16/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 208A, Box y Lucha 209A]
1) Pery Lopez b Taro Hito
may have taken place after the main event
2) El Pirata b Rogelio De La Paz
3) Eduardo Bonada b Fantomas
4) Oso Negro b Akio Yoshihara
5) Gorilita Flores b Fernando Oses
6) El Mongol b Chico Casasola
debut of Mongol
7) El Enfermero & El Santo b Black Shadow & Blue Demon
Santo & Enfermero took ⅔.

Santo & Enfermero keep on winning.

Box y Lucha notes here the first match listed here (Lopez/Hito) actually took place after the main event. This gets brought up from time to time in other 1956/1957 cards. Other shows just never mention that “opener” result, which makes me think it was probably standard practice that it wasn’t worth bringing up every week (or sticking around for it.) There’s never an explanation for why it’s happening. My theory is crowd control, to keep some of the people in the building so it would be a smaller congestion out the door and onto the streets. These post-main event matches are referred to as “super estrellas”, which is now the name CMLL uses to refer to their actual main events. I’ve kept them listed as the openers because that’s how the cards list them.

EMLL (FRI) 03/23/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 209A, Box y Lucha 210A, Box y Lucha 237A]
1) Kid Vanegas b Bruno Lopez
actually happened after the main event
2) Carnicero Grimaldo b Sordomudo Quiroz
3) Akio Yoshihara b Dientes Hernández
4) Oso Negro b Orquídea
5) Carlos Moreno b Ray Mendoza
best match of the night
6) Chale Romero & El Mongol b Halcón Negro & Joe Marín
Halcon Negro also listed as Halcon Quintana
7) Enfermero CO Black Shadow
Black Shadow has Enfermero beat with a tope but referee Rudy Blancarte is out of the ring due to a neck injury. Shadow tries another tope, Enfermero moves out of the way, and Shadow can not stand before 20.

“Tope”s at this point at more running in the ring headbutts, not the dives that are technically “tope suicida”

Box y Lucha says Black Shadow is filming a movie about his life, which means he’s put his mask back on for scenes for the movie. El Santo was offered a spot in the movie as part of including the mask match but declined. (Box y Lucha implies it was a money issue.) Medico Asesino is instead wrestling as “El Enmascarado de Plata”, the name used in a previous movie.  This is only 1956, so wrestling movies are a thing, but El Santo himself has not appeared in a movie yet. That’s still a couple years off.

EMLL (SUN) 03/25/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 209A, Box y Lucha 210A, Box y Lucha 237A]
1) Mar Ala b Rocky Man
2) Daniel Aldana b Joaquin Murrieta
3) Gorila Macias II DRAW Dr. Castro
4) Dorrel Dixon b Gorilla Flores
5) Blue Demon & Tarzán López b Gladiador & The Black Killer

Blue Demon is having issues with his right eye, an injury originally suffered against Ray Mendoza in Mendoza’s EMLL debut match. Blue Demon end up with a long list of injuries during his career.

Box y Lucha 211 covers the last “Friday” of this match.

EMLL (SAT) 03/31/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 210A, Box y Lucha 211A, Box y Lucha 237A]
1) Taro Hito b Mar Ala
2) Juan Diaz b El Corzo
3) Chico Veloz DRAW Kiko Torres
4) Sordomudo Rodríguez b Orquídea
5) Pepe Mendieta b Black Killer
6) Halcón Negro b El Mongol
7) El Santo & Enfermero b Dorrel Dixon & Joe Grant

This is a Saturday show, which appears to be related to Easter even though Easter is actually April 1st. Box y Lucha calle it a Noche de Judas for the rudos winning the main event, the third match between those teams.

That’s it for March