12/13: Mexico results, CMLL plans change, GDL Festival

CMLL (FRI) 12/12 Arena Mexico [superluchas, ESTO, Ovaciones, SoloLucha]
1) Inquisidor & Pólvora b Sombra de Plata & Starman
2) Dark Angel, Lady Apache, Lluvia b Hiroka, Mima Shimoda, Princesa Sujei
3) Terrible b Marco Corleone, Texano Jr., Dos Caras Jr., Atlantis, Mr. Niebla, Shocker, Blue Panther, Rey Bucanero, Toscano, Villano V, Sagrado, Misterioso II, Valiente, Ephesto, Máximo [LdA]
4) Místico DQ Último Guerrero

Main event was a near 20 minute match. UG took the first, Mistico took the second, and the third ended by DQ when Mistico dived towards Ultimo, but Ultimo grabbed Tony The Cartoonist’s canvas and smached with Mistico with it on the way down. SuperLucha has the first fall over in about 3 minutes, which ESTO lists as “less than five minutes.”

People voted for 11 different people to win the Leyenda de Azul. Terrible got no voes and won. Order of elimination is listed above, with Villano V replacing Lizmark. Story of the match was the three Hijos de Averno working together. When it was down to Dos/Marco and Terrible/Texano, the two rudos took out Dos together. Texano got pinned next, but he and Ephesto stayed around ringside to distract Corleone into being fouled by Terrible. SuperLuchas has the match at 36 minutes, I think.

SoloLuchas says attendance was up, but it doesn’t look good from the shot of Mistico and Ultimo Guerrero. They both could be right.

Ovaciones reportes CMLL has changed their minds and will continue to run Arena Mexico Tuesday and Friday for the rest of the year. CMLL is thinking of running big shows on 12/23 and 12/30 (Fridays) and may announce them well in advance, plus Tuesday January 6 will be another fan appreciation day.

I thought IWRG was supposed to be done this week as well, but there’s a mention of them running a 10 man cage match next Sunday with Scorpio Jr., Fuerza Guerrera, Arlequin, Pierroth II, Multifacetico, Zumbido, Cerbero Negro, Tetsuy and Mascara Ano 2000.

Lots of articles on the first day of the Guadalajara Lucha Libre expo
– Local papers Informador, milenio and La Jornada covered the show, as well as a local reporter for MT who filed three different articles: the AAA undercard, on the main event, and on those being honored and what’s to come the next two days.

Milenio says 3000 people showed up for the wrestling portion of the show. It sounds like attendance was not as expected; the show was delayed 30-40 minutes as they waited for “enough” people to move to the bleachers to start the show, and the Milenio article mentioned ticket giveaways. The MT report has a good photo of the setup. Having this outdoors in December did not help, with a lot pointing out how cold it was while watching the events.

AAA (FRI) 12/12 Guadalajara Lucha Libre Festival
5) La Parka Jr., Mesias, Octagón b Jack Evans, Konnan, Teddy Hart

Main event was supposed to be Parka/Octagon vs Mesias/Konnan, but Mesias and Konnan refused to get along based off current storylines and they turned it into a trios. The other matches sound like they happened as scheduled, just no results reported.

The MT article says the idea was great but the execution was horrible. A complete lack of security put the wrestlers in danger. The semimain guys were pelted with drinks for the bleachers. (There were announcements to stop it, but no one actually forcing them too.) After the main event, the crowd jumped the barricade to get close to the tecnicos, who had to fight thru the crowd to get to the back. AAA wrestlers were angry enough to blow off the press after the show.

WagnerMania has video and pictures of the booths and other parts of the show not relating to the AAA show.

SuperLuchas has the first round results of the Latin American tournament in Peru.

News American has an article on San Jose lucha promotion >Pro Wrestling Revolution and includes this line:

According to American wrestler “Strongman” Jon Andersen, Pro Wrestling Revolution is the most successful wrestling promoter in the United States.

CMLL (TUE) 12/16 Arena Mexico
1) Angel de Oro & Tigre Blanco vs Camorra & Inquisidor
2) Pegasso, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. vs Arkangel de la Muerte, Nitro, Skandalo
3) Hijo del Fantasma, Mascara Dorada, Valiente vs Ohara, Shigeo Okumura, Virus
4) Sangre Azteca vs Dragon Rojo Jr. [MEX WELTER]
5) Blue Panther, Dos Caras Jr., Shocker vs Black Warrior, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas

2009 came early! I suspect this is the beginning of a long series between the ex-Air Force and the Tuareg. Between Cometa and Pegasso making the card and Ohara being back on a proper CMLL show for the first time in a long while (the Leyenda de Plata tournament), I think people are already headed off for vacation.

CMLL (FRI) 12/19 Arena Mexico
1) Ángel Azteca Jr. & Angel de Oro vs Calígula & Méssala
2) India Sioux, Marcela, Princesa Blanca vs Amapola, Hiroka, Medussa
3) Flash vs Pólvora [lightning]
4) Mascara Dorada, Máximo, Valiente vs Felino, Misterioso II, Sangre Azteca
5) La Máscara, Toscano, Volador Jr. vs Ephesto, Terrible, Texano Jr.
6) Dos Caras Jr., Mark Corleone, Shocker vs Black Warrior, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero

That’s a random but fun sounding lightning match. They haven’t done one of those for a while – last one I see is June 30, 2006 between Mascara Purpura & Stuka. A Lightning match is just a 10 minute time limit one fall match, usually between young guys.

Nice that they’re bundling Los Hijo del Averno as a rudo trio, but shouldn’t the guy who won Leyenda de Azul get the main event?

The opener is an ongoing feud. Maybe “ongoing” is too strong, “continuing” without making progress works better.

Mistico is in Tijuana on this night.

While you’re waiting for this week’s shows, here’s last week’s Ras de Lona:

12/06: el Toreo show, Mexico, Lineups

AULL (WED) 12/03 Arena Lopez Mateos [Al Filo del Ring (1) and (2)]
0) Yakuza b Sepulturero I
1) Lady Apache & Martha Villalobos b Rossy Moreno & Vicki Carranza
2) Bronco (UWA) & Romano Garcia b Danny Boy & La Flecha (Skayde)
3) Villano IV & Villano V b Scorpio Jr. & Shu el Guerrero and Super Astro & Ultraman and Kahoz & Rambo [Copa UWA Toreo]
4) Canek & Dos Caras Sr. DQ Dr. Wagner Jr. & Mil Mascaras

Wagner fouled Canek for the DQ, after Canek had already fouled Mil. Though Wagner was somewhat booed, Canek & Dos worked as rudos and Dos was happy with the experience. This show sold out, with a turnaway crowd.

CMLL (FRI) 12/05 Arena Mexico [Ovaciones, ESTO, superluchas]
1) Fabian el Gitano & Molotov b Calígula & Méssala
2) Mr. Aguilita, Pequeño Violencia, Pequeño Warrior b Bam Bam, Pequeño Olímpico, Último Dragoncito
3) Hijo del Fantasma, La Máscara, Valiente b Dragon Rojo Jr., Misterioso II, Virus
4) Dos Caras Jr., Shocker, Toscano b Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Sangre Azteca
5) Atlantis, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero b Blue Panther, Marco Corelone, Mís

In the main event (where Marco did show and Garza did NOT), rudos took the first fall, then lost the second when UG ripped off Mistico’s mask. Mistico went to the back to get a new one and the rudos decided to hide in the cored , becuase they’ve seen this bit before. So, Mistico just jumped off the entrance set on to the Guerreros in the crowd. Fight went back to the ring, everyone else excused themselves, and UG snuck in a foul on Mistico while the refs were distracted. UG pinned for the win. After the match, Mistico demanded a mask vs mask match. He’s only getting a singles match next wek.

Semimain was building up Shocker/Mr. Niebla. Not much of angles the rest of the show.

Dos replaced Maximo and Fabian replaced Sensei, but I believe both of those were changed during the week.

Another day, another interview with Cassandro. These were clearly done all on one (phone) conference because everyone has the same quotes.

AAA articles
– ten years ago, Psicosis II was a big star. I guess they’re trying to compare to X-Pac? Or just bored?
Zorro’s won some titles

Al Filo del Ring has a really good interview with Veneno, about his experiences in Mexican lucha libre as a foreigner and what he thinks about other foreigners trying the same thing.

CMLL (TUE) 12/09 Arena Mexico
1) India Sioux & Marcela vs Amapola & Princesa Sujei
2) La Máscara vs Máscara Púrpura, Mascara Dorada, Stuka Jr., Flash, Mictlán, Felino, Black Warrior, Dragon Rojo Jr., Loco Max, Heavy Metal, Virus [? WELTER, ciber]
3) Dos Caras Jr., Marco Corelone, Toscano vs Mr. Niebla, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero

The expected freakout referenced in the comments is me losing my mind every time CMLL adds a new title, and it sort of looks like that here. I’m keeping my sanity by figuring it’s a #1 contenders match for one of the Welterweight titles. This would all be easier to figure if CMLL actually remembered to list WHICH welterweight title on the line, but I would assume they know whom is putting up the title and couldn’t remember which they had last night.

NWA: Sombra (defending it tomorrow vs Ephesto)
CMLL: Mistico (defending it Monday vs Negro)
WWA: el Hijo del Santo (I’m thinking no)
UWA: last seen in DragonDoor?

It’s listed as a World title, which means it’s not Sangre. Though, that’s the title I would do, given how few defenses he’s done here (1 in Arena Mexico) and the other two being already on the line this week. This reminds me, gotta write out my completely useless plan for booking Arena Coliseo shows one day, because that title’s involved.

Anyway, we know it’s a tecnico defending the title. Sombra/Dragon Rojo is logical, Sombra/Virus would be really fun. I could see Mistico with Felino, Metal (bad idea) or Warrior. Maybe Loco Max gets a pin back on Mictlan.

CMLL (FRI) 12/12 Arena Mexico
1) Dark Angel, Lady Apache, Lluvia vs Hiroka, Mima Shimoda, Princesa Sujei
2) Dos Caras Jr. vs Marco Corelone, Blue Panther, Sagrado, Toscano, Shocker, Valiente, Máximo, Atlantis, Mr. Niebla, Lizmark Jr., Terrible, Texano Jr., Misterioso II, Rey Bucanero, Ephesto [LdA]
3) Místico vs Último Guerrero

So much for my thought CMLL wouldn’t bother this week. (And that’s 6! for Mistico.)

Leyenda de Azul tournament history
2000: Blue Panther (cibernetico)
2003: Tarzan Boy (cibernetico)
2004: Universo 2000 (cibernetico)
2005: Lizmark Jr. (tournament)
2006: Rey Bucanero (tournament)

This is the tournament they forget to run some years. There’s no particular favorite here, though they did manage to stick in Shocker & Niebla, plus there’s Marco/Lizmark if they want to do it. Valiente, Maximo, Misterioso and Ephesto would be mild surprises if they won (Ephesto would be less of surprise here than on Sunday), but this is one where anyone could win and it’d work. Wish they gave out tournament brackets so we could play with this more (also wish these tournaments were actually good matches), but hopefully the goal here is to set up a feud or two to at least feuds for the next month. Whatever happens with Mistico and UG (a mask challenge!), it won’t be going down while they’re back in Arena Coliseo.

It’s amusing someone booked two tournaments in the same week. Or, two people had the same idea to book tournaments on their shows and had no idea the other guy was doing it.

Final Reminder: we’re taping the podcast on Sunday, so get your questions in today