Tag: Mascara Dorada

All the problems I have with Mascara Dorada going to NJPW, enumerated

thecubsfan 3 Comments

I’m happy for Mascara Dorada. There’s a lot of complaining to follow, but it doesn’t change that I’m happy for Mascara Dorada.

  1. I was totally shocked by it. I’m not sure if you could tell on Twitter, I kept it pretty chill

but it caught me slightly off guard. Seriously, when I saw Sugibayashi in the ring for Dorada’s enterance, I joked to myself they were giving Mascara Dorada an award for being awesome, and then I heard the crowd cheer and saw the red jacket and I knew it was sad times.

Voice of Wrestling’s eBook pointed out Mascara Dorada actually had more matches in NJPW than some guys thought of as “full time” foreigners and I had been told Dorada really likes Japan, so it’s not like there were no signs. Still, usually everyone starts to hear the drumbeat of that sort of move for months before it happens. There were rumors for months before Dos Caras Jr. left for WWE. It wasn’t clear Mistico was going for WWE, but he was clearly unhappy the last six months before he left and it felt like some change needed to happen. Mascara Dorada did very little in CMLL in 2014, but it’s CMLL so you can say that about dozens of people who are used in main events and it didn’t stick out. (Terrible’s 2014: … ) Dorada winning the Welterweight title was the greatest fake out ever, getting hopes up for a better run in 2015 CMLL, only for it to turn out to actually be the end.

Three months from now, it’s just going to be a thing that happened. So far, the emotions went shock -> confusion -> distraction (match was good) -> anger -> high levels of cynicism (so back to normal.)

  1. I’m doubtful Mascara Dorada’s actually coming back to CMLL in 2016. Look, I didn’t know Dorada was going so I surely don’t know what’s going to happen 12 months from now. I’m also skeptical any decision has been made today that can’t just be reversed down the line. My hunch is Mascara Dorada is going to remain great, NJPW is going to like him, and NJPW’s going to continue want to employ him. The only questions are if Mascara Dorada will be comfortable living away from home for long stretches and if NJPW can keep Dorada without damaging their relationship with CMLL. NJPW seems to have a lot of the power in the relationship and CMLL acts like they can find another exciting flyer any time they want, so this may not be as big an obstacle as it seems.

I also kind of expect Dorada to work as much in Mexico between tours as Ricky Marvin did when he was with NOAH – as in rarely. Dr. Wagner Jr.’s own stint with NJPW, where he worked sometimes in CMLL but was obviously taking it down a few notches and saving himself for Japan, might also be a good comparison. Dorada will be back wrestling in Mexico at some point – the 2040 version of the Leyendas Inmortales show will be so weird, yet still have Canek on top – but sticking around in Japan primarily for many years seems likely.

(I could also be completely wrong and Dorada’s a big part of Dos Leyendas 2016. I hope he gets to work where ever he wants to work.)

  1. I’m doubtful is any sort of trade and CMLL will be getting anything (we see) in exchange for ‘loaning’ Dorada. The story I was told CMLL was getting NJPW regulars prior and it stopped because CMLL didn’t want to to take any more NJPW wrestlers. CMLL didn’t need to loan out Dorada to restart that, they just needed to turn the faucet back on. Not everyone is going to be available when they want them and sometimes they’re going to be handed Yujiro, but CMLL didn’t need to trade a luchador to improve that situation.

(It’s probably moot, but I’m not sure Mascara Dorada was actaully under contract for CMLL to bargin with. Few people are, and Dorada’s 2014 didn’t indicate he was one of those few people. NJPW would still want to work out a deal just to keep the greater relationship going, but CMLL might have not had great leverage.)

CMLL’s been mostly quiet on this whole situation. The only mentions that Dorada is gone has been a short discussion on CMLL Informa (when it was the last news item they had time for) and a brief blurb on CMLL’s Facebook. They’re not sweeping this under the rug, but they’re not reacting it like the beginning of a bigger deal between NJPW and CMLL or even promoted it much as a big deal. It’s less important than Mistico, it’s less important than Zeuxis winning the 2nd (or 3rd) most important women’s title.

CMLL’s shown a willingness to sell their matches to any TV outlet who will pay them (and then maybe they’ll remember to take the money.) CMLL’s sold championships to people in the past (Ultimo Dragon). Why wouldn’t they do the same with their wrestlers? If there was a deal here, a money deal fits CMLL’s goals the best.

  1. CMLL is awful and boring and awfully boring the last month or so. Finding out a guy who’s entertaining is leaving a promotion that’s struggling to be entertaining is no bueno. Rey Bucanero, diminished from his great peak, has been the lead rudo the last couple months. CMLL’s treated Olimpico remembering he had an Egyptian gimmick as a big deal and it almost is because there’s so little else. (Weird they’re both old partners of Ultimo Guerrero.) CMLL decided to build a faction around the lacking Comandante Pierroth (and then had them lose in their first official match of their team.) There’s very transparent cronyism and nepotism going on and that would still be fine if they were having any good. There’s plenty of stuff carried over from previous months that’s been run into the ground by this point – I’d be very happy to never see a Ingobernable vs Peste Negra or Guerreros match again. I think the people in the matches feel the same way, because they’ve all looked so bored. The vacations have made caused guys like Super Porky and Shocker appear on seemingly every show, and they’re not great TV acts to see three times a week. Even the one big new thing they tried – Star/Soberano vs Cholo/Ramstein – completely fell apart at the end because Ramstein wasn’t up to the task. That seems like something the people in charge should’ve known before booking the match, but the reality is it was probably more about getting those rudos the payoff than delivering a good product.

There’s so much CMLL product that there are always problems somewhere, but there’s frequently been good midcard stuff to counter it. There has been this time too, but Titan/Cavernario was a Sabado Retros match which only existed in still pictures for most. Heck, if the Friday Guadalajara shows were airing instead of some of the other stuff, at least we’d have weird/unusual stuff to watch instead of the same people and the same matches.

That’s even putting aside the TV presentation problems (which are many, and getting worse, but not new.) Maybe February will click in and they’ll start trying again, though CMLL is so talent rich they should be able to put together good matches even without even trying. Maybe Rush will come back and things will just be on again, though CMLL has so many depth that one person shouldn’t make such a dramatic difference.

I don’t want to act like an entitled fanboy – that was sort of what I was getting at last month – but I think the promotion has been objectively poor for a while, poor than expected. A poor stretch of product combined with one of their brighter stars looking elsewhere is a depressing situation.

  1. a luchador shouldn’t have to go to Japan full time to improve and make more money. Mascara Dorada is going to do both, and that’s a pretty significant condemnation of CMLL. CMLL runs so many more shows, probably draws a significant more people than NJPW, and yet all but many a couple people are going to make more money in NJPW. NJPW pulls it off because totally different economics, but they also work so much harder at making money and benefit from the work. CMLL benefits greatly from the mystique of Arena Mexico and being the default (if not actual) biggest lucha promotion in Mexico – if they ever lost that, and lost the ability to pay people peanuts for the honor of working in CMLL, they’d have a serious disability in recruiting talent.

I could see the upside of Sombra or Rush ending up in NJPW for a long time. They’ve been decided they want to be heavyweight wrestlers, there are few heavyweight wrestlers they can learn from in Mexico, there are many different heavyweight wrestlers they could be exposed to in Japan, it’s obvious they’d pick up aspects if they were in Japan for a while. Mascara Dorada is a high flying “junior heavyweight” – he’s going to pick up things from working out with the Japanese guys he works out every day, he’s going to learn from the US guys he would have never otherwise faces – but Mascara Dorada is already pretty good and already filled his role in CMLL pretty well. He will gain, but he didn’t need to gain much already. Dorada just needed to be pushed (in all uses of that word) and nothing he’s going to pick up in NJPW is going to get him pushed any more or less.

There’s a thread on PWO debating if CMLL or NJPW is the better promotion. You can argue that on aesthetics, but a guy who actually had that specific choice between the two definitely picked one over the other. Dorada is spending a year in NJPW because it’s better for him to wrestle an ocean away from where his family lives. It doesn’t seem particularly close.

(Also, hand to god, it’s possible to bring good wrestlers to CMLL if that’s what CMLL wanted to expose wrestlers to new styles. Not just NJPW guys either. Most wrestlers accept cash in exchange for work if you want to offer it. But most outside wrestlers aren’t going to take a huge paycut just for the honor of working Arena Mexico either.)

CMLL’s slogan is “el mejor de lucha libre en el mundo”. CMLL comes off as something less than the best wrestling in the world, but something more akin to a minor league promotion. This is not news, it’s made very clear every time a CMLL wrestler turns up for an interview in a NJPW logo shirt. Minor league promotions can be fun, but CMLL should aspire to be more than a minor league promotion. Mascara Dorada aspired to be more than a star for a minor league promotion and I’m happy for him.

CMLL FantasicaMania talent list announced, Noche Briticana show announced

thecubsfan 1 Comment

CMLL released new on two international (related) events in the last 24 hour.

Coming up first is Noche Briticana, a special Arena Mexico show on 12/07. The announcers mentioned it in passing on last night’s Terra broadcast, and Ticketmaster already has some details.

BRITISH NIGHT una lucha con causa… es un evento que están organizando la Embajada Británica y el Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre para recaudar fondos para la Fundación John Langdon Down. Los luchadores Ultimo Guerrero y La Sombra se disputarán “Las Joyas de la Corona” en un ambiente muy británico en la cual, la arena México tendrá música y motivos ingleses. El público podrá ver y tocar el “London Bus” (el camión de doble piso inglés) y verá guardias reales dentro de la arena México. Este evento será el 7 de diciembre a las 8:30 p.m. en la majestuosa Arena México.

As you can read, it’s a copromtoion with the British Embassy, and will include British music, a double decker bus, and Buckingham Palace soldiers. It sounds like an Ultimo Guerrero vs La Sombra singles main event, but I guess they could also be just leading teams.

The John Langdown Down Foundation helps children with Down’s Syndrome. That weekend is the same as the annual Televisa supported “Teleton” to help special needs children, so there’s probably some connection there, though it appears CMLL may be donating a different charity.

That date would seem to mean any major CMLL year end show wouldn’t happen until later in December. However, there’s yet to be any hint of CMLL actually running a major show in December. (I haven’t seen any CMLL TV this weekend yet, so maybe you know something I don’t.) It is possible CMLL says Ultimo Guerrero vs Sombra with British people is enough and calls it a year. We won’t know that for certain for a few weeks, but it’s possible.

In a dream world, Sombra wins the main event when new rudo faction of Rey Escorpion, Dragon Rojo, and Hooligan (british! going for revenge on his old partner!) cost Ultimo Guerrero the match. I dream too much, but Hooligan’s got to be on the card. He’s the only British guy they’ve got! Volador dressing up as one of the Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band alone is not going to be good enough.

CMLL & NJPW also announced the CMLL participation for the three day FantasticaMania event. Tecnicos are Mistico, Titan, La Sombra, Rush, La Mascara, Mascara Dorada, Maximo, and Diamante. Rudos are Volador Jr., Mephisto, Dragon Rojo Jr., Rey Bucanero, Euforia, Misterioso and Okumura. It’s not stated, but I expect Namajague will be back in NJPW in January and would also be on these shows, in addition to the regular NJPW wrestlers. CMLL is also sending ring announcer Ivan and edecan Bruni.

Mistico and Titan are the tecnicos making the NJPW debut. Euforia is the only rudo making his debut here. NJPW also introduces Rey Bucanero, who’s been in NJPW as part of the team with Ultimo Guerrero prior but not in many years (and not under the current regime.) It’s a total of 14 CMLL wrestlers this time, up from 9 on previous shows.

The tour is being promoted around the first appearance of the new Mistico. NJPW mentions the previous one was IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship, setting the bar for this one (though I’d imagine that’s not something happening this year.)

Titan earned this spot by winning En Busca de Un Idolo, but the 2nd (Euforia), 3rd (Mistico) and 4th (Diamante) place finishers all got in as well. That makes the winning a bit cheap (though true to most reality shows), but I’m not certain Titan would’ve made it if he didn’t make the final 2 of the tournament given where he was before the tournament. This is still a win for #porraTitan.

There is plenty of pressure on the younger guys, but La Mascara might have the most to prove. Mascara was embarrassingly poor on the first FantasticaMania shows, looking in no condition to perform on both shows. It was said Mascara was ill and tried to work thru it (and the wrestlers on the show defended him against criticism), but everything he tried looked abysmally bad. Just having OK matches would be a vast improvement, but the Brazos have a great reputation in Japan and I’m certain La Mascara will be motivated to raise his families name back up.

FantasitcaMania had four title matches in 2011 involving CMLL wrestlers (and one that was between NJPW & DDT), and two in 2012. FantasticaMania expands to three days this year, and so the title match number is likely to increase. Titan (National Welterweight), Rush (CMLL Light Heavyweight), La Mascsara (National Light Heavyweight), Dragon Rojo Jr. (NWA & CMLL Middleweight), Rey Bucanero (NWA Light Heavyweight) all have major CMLL titles. Dragon Rojo’s already stated he’ll defend against either Jushin Lyger or Prince Devitt on these shows. Lyger makes more sense. Rush being a spotlight match (rematch vs Yujiro? Goto?) seems to fit with CMLL goals, as well as Mascara Dorada getting a big match (Bucanero is not doing much with his belt). Titan vs Euforia would also be a fun showcase for both guys, and it’d be weird if Volador and Sombra weren’t involved in something big. There’s a lot of possibilities. Unless there’s a title change between now and January, there won’t be a CMLL pairs or trios title on the line (though Okumura and Namajague are still facing Stuka & Fuego a lot.)

NJPW and CMLL will announce actual matches at a later time, probably early January, and we’ll likely know if any of these will be an iPPV around the same time. There will also likely be CMLL participation on the 01/04 NJPW Toyko Dome show. That usually includes 1 or 2 guys who don’t end up working these shows.

11/11 CMLL Arena Mexico results – Polvora wins the CMLL Welterweight Championship

thecubsfan 1 Comment
CMLL

CMLL (SUN) 11/11/2012 Arena Mexico [CMLL]
1) Metálico, Metatrón, Molotov b Espanto Jr., Guerrero Negro Jr., Herodes Jr.
Metatron had a new mask. Tecnicos took 1/3. Second fall finish was screwed up somehow – Guerrero Negro was supposed to pin Metalico but Metalico left, so Espanto had Metatron pull off his mask for the DQ but the music guy thought the tecnicos won the fall (or thought it was supposed to be a two fall match. Rest of the match was not much better.
2) Goya Kong, Lady Afrodita, Luna Mágica b Mima Shimoda, Princesa Sugheit, Zeuxis
Sugheit replaced Dalys on Sunday. A Zeuxis tornillo in the second fall was the highlight of the match. Tecnicas took 2/3.
3) Delta, Pegasso, Sagrado b Cancerbero, Hijo del Signo, Raziel
Delta replaced Starman on Tuesday. Terra announcers said Euforia & Polvora were officially out of the group (or, those guys are going places and these guys are staying where they are.) Delta went for the moonsault in the first fall, but rudos cut him off and beat him. Delta’s mask was accidentally pulled off in the second fall (seemed like an actual mistake), then the third fall was a quick tecnico win. Cancerbero suffered a left shoulder injury.
4) Pólvora b Máscara Dorada [CMLL WELTER]
Mascara Dorada is champion. Polvora’s second was his brother Inquisidor, Dorada’s second was former Guadalajara trios partner Metatron. Dorada won the first with a torito, Polvora the second with a powerbomb, and then Polvora won the championship an Inqusidior Storm.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Rey Escorpión, Volador Jr. b Shocker, Super Porky, Valiente
Shocker is now using Gangnam Style. Escorpion powerbombed Valiente for the win.
6) Tama Tonga b Diamante Azul
Tonga pulled Azul’s mask to win again.

I did not see this show! Based on what I’ve read on Twitter – and used up there, thank Rob & Fredo – that sounds like it was a good thing. What I ended up watching was not much better and had a unsatisfying result though not as sad as the fourth match.

CMLL hasn’t had too many plans for Mascara Dorada this year; he’s just been around, and occasionally in Japan. He doesn’t have a set rival – they seemed to head that direction with Psicosis but then dropped it – or a tag or trios partner. The title match last fall with Mephisto seemed like a break thru moment, and Dorada has become a steady main eventer, but he’s one in need of a stronger support by someone in CMLL management. Dorada’s talent is not in doubt, but he hasn’t been able to use it as much as he should this year and this is a sad way to end it.

Perhaps next year will start better for him. He’s on FantasticaMania (and I’ll get to that next), the WON’s reported NJPW is high on him, and those shows are usually filled with title matches.

This had been an interesting year to be Polvora – he spent most of the year as national champion, he was somewhat humiliated in En Busca de Un Idolo, he had a few good title matches, and he ends up as a world champion (with the bodybuilding contest still to come.) This might not be the end of it for him; if you want to start New Mistico off with a full feud with a beatable guy, Polvora is your man. He’s worked well with guys working Mistico’s style, he’s got a title belt New Mistico could win, and he’s really got a mask New Mistico could win (and it’s be the right time for Polvora to lose it.) I would not have picked Polvora as a world champion because there was still mileage in him being an ex-champion trying to win a title back, and there are more deserving rudos to choose from, but this might be a start of a bigger program.

Tama Tonga & Diamante Azul is more easily understandable. I don’t think Terrible & Tonga are winning the tag titles on Tuesday, but I was so completely wrong about this title match.

Tama Tonga vs Diamante Azul & Polvora vs Mascara Dorada set for next week, AAA TV in Villahermosa

thecubsfan 1 Comment
photo by CMLL

CMLL (SUN) 11/04/2012 Arena Coliseo
1) Herodes Jr. & Ramstein b Bengala & Robin
Robin replaced Camaleon on Tuesday. Rudos took 1/3. Herodes pinned himself while pinning Bengala, but Tigre Hispano did not notice.
2) Hombre Bala Jr., Magnus, Super Halcon Jr. b Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Zayco
Tecnicos took 2/3, Halcon powerslam into the buckles on Disturbio while Bala split legged moonsaulted ayco.
3) Namajague, Shigeo Okumura, Vangelis b Fuego, Stuka Jr., Triton
Rudos took 2/3, Okumura superplexing and sentoning Fuego. Namajague hurt his left shoulder but finished the match.
4) Misterioso Jr. b Diamante [lightning]
Misterioso won in 8:57 via Gori SPecial.
5) Kráneo, Pólvora, Psicosis b Blue Panther, Hijo del Fantasma, Máscara Dorada
Dorada and Polvora feuded the entire match. The announcers suggested a title match between them before it started. Dorada surprised Psicosis with a pinfall in the first, Polvora powerbombed Dorada in the second, and they ripped each other’s masks in the third. A Mije splash beat Panther in the third, Dorada springboard splashed Kraneo to defeat him, and Polvora pinned Dorada for the win after a Valagueza into a low blow. Polvora made the title match challenge after the match.
6) Diamante Azul, La Sombra, Shocker DQ Dragón Rojo Jr., Tama Tonga, Volador Jr.
Tecnicos won by DQ when Tonga unmasked Azul. Azul challenged him to a singles match next week, Tonga accepted.

AAA’s TV announced a TV taping for 11/25 in Villahermosa, Tabasco. That would air the day before Guerra de Titanes. There’s no taping announced between this Friday’s taping in Puebla and this new show, so the Puebla taping is two weeks of taping. AAA doesn’t have to set up the whole card by the end of Puebla, but the main events should be clear.

Rob has highlights of 04/20/12 CMLL.

Mazambula was unmasked in Tijuana.

Dr. Wagner had fans scream insults at LA Park to end the Fusion taping.

SuperLuchas #487 has Fierro, Ultimo Guerrero and Santo on the cover.

Luchas 2000 #645 has Angel, Ultimo Guerrero, and Santo on the cover.

Mascara vs Averno on 06/17, Shocker, AAA TV, Forjando un Idolo, Dorada

thecubsfan 18 Comments

La Mascara will face Averno in a mask vs mask match on June 17th. The show will use the Jucio Final name. The rest of the card will be announced later.

Those two have been feuding for over a month, in mask ripping matches. It’s a surprise that it’s happening in that CMLL loves to start feuds in this direction but often does not follow thru on them to their logical conclusion. Times are tougher and CMLL needed (wanted) a match to compete with TripleMania, taking place the next night, and this is the most meaningful match of any current feud. (Blue Panther/Negro Casas might actually be a bigger match, but those masks are worth more than these hair.) CMLL will still need a notable semimain to sell out Arena Mexico, but this is a better start than Dos Leyendas.

There is no strong favorite here. After five years of feuding with Mistico, it’s hard to believe Averno would lose his mask to La Mascara. Mascara has been pushed harder the last year, but he’s still at least a step below Sombra & Mascara Dorada; either of them would seem better choices for knocking off Averno. La Mascara not having a mask would be weird (though neither Mascara Magica nor Mascara Ano 2000 changed their names after losing theirs.) He’s not a guy near the end of his career cashing in, he’s a guy who probably has many more years in front of him and losing his mask would probably prevent him from moving any higher up. I lean towards Averno winning, setting up a bigger mask match down the road, but I do not feel strongly about it.

La Mascara vs Averno happening now means there’s no obvious ongoing feud set up for Anniversary. It being the June match means the end point of Rayo Tapatios vs Hombre Bala/Guerrero Maya/Dragon Lee is unclear (unless they run that on the Sunday after TripleMania, which I believe is still a real possibility.)

The other big news from the press conference is the NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Championship has been vacated. Shocker won that from Texano back on December 13, then injured the knee the following week on a dive. The hope was Shocker would be back around now and be able to participate in next month’s Universal tournament – he was even advertised for Arena Mexico two weekends ago – but apparently he’s not going to be able to make it. (Officially, it’s vacant due to lack of defenses.) The Universal tournament is really the tail that’s wagging the CMLL dog, but this means there will be yet another tournament sometime very soon.

Today is AAA’s TV taping in Toluca. The AAA Trios tournament continues on, with the Perros del Mal vs the Air Force and Bizarros vs team IWRG. Electroshock & Heavy Metal put aside their feud to team up against Maniacos Chessman & Ultimo Gladiador. Main event is scheduled to be Mesias & Wagner vs LA Park & Zorro, but the rudos aren’t much friends and Zorro isn’t much wrestling lately.

Forjando un Idolo

CMLL in Japan
05/26: Best of Super Juniors – Mascara Dorada [3] CO Jushin Lyger [0] (3:18)
Good start! These tiger/lion hybrids are no problem. (Sombra beat Lyger the same way last year.) Mascara Dorada has a few days off to celebrate; no show Friday and he’s got the show off on Saturday. Next match is Sunday vs TAKA Michinoku, who lost his opening match.

This may or may not mean anything, but Ayumi forfeited her NEO titles in preparation to challenge Amapola for her CMLL Women’s title. NEO has closed at the end of the year, but Ayumi had kept the titles until now. Maybe this is just the Mexican ethos, but luchadors are usually reluctant to give up the even the least meaningful titles possible, unless they might be getting a new one.

Other News

Perros del Mal held a press conference to hype Sunday’s third anniversary show this Sunday. (Scroll down for the full lineup.) TVC Deportes announced the show will air live on their channel, which is sometimes broadcast on uStream. (See the sidebar for that.) Perro Jr. figures that being lighter than Clowns is a big advantage, and his team will all climb out first, leaving the Clowns to fight themselves.

On his Facebook page, Rellik (well, Johnny Stamboli) apparently complains Lucha Libre USA isn’t honoring his contract, not paying what they agreed to pay him. I guess he won’t be on the taping this weekend!

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update and Alfredo’s weekly ramblings.

Rob has highlights of the first half of March 2001 AAA.

Links

 

Lineup

PdM (SUN) 05/29/2011 Plan Sexenal
***3rd Anniversary Show***
1) Dinastía vs Drastik Boy
2) Celestial & Cósmico vs Mr. Aguilita & Talisman Jr.
3) el Ángel, Golden Magic, Skayde vs Ek Balam, Maldito Jr., Samot
4) Black Fire & Low Rider vs Pesadilla & Ragde
5) Tony Rivera, Turbo, Zumbi vs Bestia 666, Halloween, X-Fly
6) Monster Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown vs Damián 666, el Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Super Crazy [cage, hair, mask]

I still expect someone not in the main event to lose. Should be a fun show, hope the feed is up.

CMLL (TUE) 05/31/2011 Arena Mexico
1) Freesbe & Trueno vs Camorra & Zayco
2) Fantasy, Mascarita Dorada, Shockercito vs Demus 3:16, Pequeño Universo 2000, Pequeño Warrior
3) Virus vs Tiger Kid, Fuego, Pegasso, Sensei, Metal Blanco, Dragon Lee, Super Halcon Jr. [cibernetico, CMLL SL, semifinal]
4) Sagrado, Sangre Azteca, Stuka Jr. vs Shigeo Okumura, Vangelis, Yoshihashi
5) Máximo, Rush, Super Porky vs Héctor Garza, Psicosis, Volador Jr.

Tough to pick who’s going to advance. Virus is a former champion and would allow for an interesting rudo/tecnico battle. Fuego has been hot lately. Another match with Metal Blanco would build off Forjando un Idolo (impossible!) Dragon Lee exists. Super Halcon Jr. might have been downgraded to Halcon Jr., that’s what they’re using on the posters lately.

06/07 is probably a Fan Appreciation Show, and likely one with two title matches. Besides the Super Light final, main event follows up on this week’s issue between Volador & Rush. It’s been less dramatic than Fantasma (because he is still in main events), but Volador has just been hanging around for months. Maybe the lesson is “don’t appropriate John Cena hand signals for yourself”?