Tag: preview

live coverage reminder: I’m doing usual major show chat/live results bit for both H2L tonight and Rey de Reyes Sunday night. Tonight’s chat will start around the start of the show – 8:30pm Central Standard Time, 9:30pm Central Daylight Savings Time. Mask match probably won’t end until after 11pm local, which means early Saturday morning for most of you reading this. East Coast US readers are advised to take a nap.

Match by match…

1) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Tritón vs Felino, Puma, Tiger
2) La Máscara, Máscara Dorada, Valiente vs Averno, Ephesto, Mephisto

Or not match by match, because these two can be easily passed by. They both would be have strong lineups; Felino and Epehsto both greatly vary in levels of performance but are usually motivated to work harder when with other people who want to work hard. They’re liable to be good matches while they last, but probably not last as long as we’d like – the top matches are going to run longer than usual, and they’ve got to fit the presentation of Rayo de Jalisco in here as well.

Triton is the one surprising inclusion on the card. Maybe it was designed to be Titan’s spot and he’s just not ready to come back yet, but CMLL generally seems higher on guys like Angel de Oro and Diamante, who are sitting this out. Puma & Tiger remain a fun team in their rare teamups, and Delta & Guerrero Maya Jr. are a set team who need their own name if they’re not going to be hanging out with Atlantis. The segunda reunites 5/6ths of the Hijos del Averno vs Generacion Dorada feud of 2011; if Sombra has to deal with other matters, Valiente is a pretty good fill in.

My pick is the tecnicos taking the opener to start the night on a positive note. Even though picking Averno to win a match with La Mascara is a risky thing, that seems like a place where the rudos can get a win.

Neither match is expected to air on North American TV, but should eventually surface thru SamuraiTV.

3) Estrellita vs Amapola [hair]

18 months ago, these two had a title match, which I called Estrellita’s best match ever

Much better than I would’ve figured when this feud started, and leagues better than Amapola/Lluvia. … I don’t know what Estrellita’s expectations were for her CMLL stint, but she’ll at least have this match to be proud of.

Someone’s expectations increased. That title program was one CMLL generic ones – two people feud for three weeks, title defense, everyone ignores it until they want to repeat it in another building – but it started Estrellita’s ascent from middle of the pack tecnica to the beautiful star of the company. (This peaked with episode 8 of this past season of El Luchador, where a supposed reality show films Estrellita taking a shower for no apparent reason, and Estrellita is kind enough to leave the shower curtain open.) Marcela is the world champion, the announcers tend to say Amapola is actually the best, but it feels like there’s a strong belief that Estrellita was the most marketable luchadora and CMLL has worked hard to exploit that this past 12 months. It’s a plan I haven’t been high on – I think there’s a better choices and Estrellita is too over the top – but CMLL knows their audience better than I do.

The Amapola/Estrellita feud went on a very long for CMLL feuds – continuously since last Fall, but reaching back towards that first title match and Estrellita’s tecnica turn – and agonizingly ran in place for most of it. It needed some sort of twist or incident in the middle of it to avoid it getting stale. Estrellita has been champion most of this time and they’ve brought up the title during the feud, so it’s strange it didn’t happen and possibly points to a result.

Amapola’s lost her mask in CMLL, back in the long ago time where CMLL used Dark Angel well, and it turned out okay for her in the long run. Amapola lost her hair once when CMLL randomly decided they needed a women’s apuesta match with no build, which didn’t help her but didn’t kill her momentum. If she loses again here, her fans will think she’s for real exactly like Terrible last year. If Estrellita loses, she hits a brick wall. Bald Estrellita would be incredibly sympathetic, but also lose a lot of her reason to exist. Diana La Cazadora, a similar character, lost her hair only when she was wrapping up in CMLL – Estrellita can only be losing hers if the same is true. Estrellita is still national champion and there’s no sense she’s done here, so I think she’s got to be hanging on to her hair.

4) Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Rush, Shocker vs Mr. Niebla, Terrible, Universo 2000
returns for Rayo and Universo

CMLL generally does a poor job of promoting their live events on TV shows. The goals of their television should be to make sure sponsors are visible and to get people in the doors, since those are their only two sources of revenue, and there’s obviously a lot more work done one of those than the others. The most they do are short vignettes going in, and brief liners read on some of the shows which are quickly dismissed. It may be a network directive in some cases, though CMLL’s Fox show seems completely produced by CMLL themselves and has the least amount of promotion for other events. The Terra web broadcast is probably the best about promoting upcoming events, because they use interviews to make up for having no graphics or video features, but it’s also the least watched show by far. I’d be surprised if a 100 people saw it most weeks, it’s not much of a difference maker. CMLL still relies heavily on ancillary methods – lucha magazines, newspapers, Tercera Caida, media interviews elsewhere – to do the heavy lifting as far as getting out word for their shows, while mostly wasting the widest distributed outlet.

This is not at all a new criticism if you’ve been reading this site for any length. I bring it up because I think it may be a major problem for this match. The concept of bringing both Rayo de Jaliscos back is to draw from fans who have stopped coming to shows but still care for luchadors of a bygone era. CMLL’s done a strong job of promoting Rayo de Jalisco Senior’s appearance on tonight’s show, but has barely mentioned his son, and done very little to promote his match with Universo. The press conference fight was mentioned but not dwelled on, and their match is only mentioned as one thing in a list of events, never treated as the star return it could be. (In the week leading up to the event, it was really only Rayo de Jalisco Senior promoted on TV; both apuesta matches were downplayed.) We’re seeing a lot of lucha libre events this week which play to the nostalgia fans have for the 80s and 90s – Villano V & El Signo’s retirement shows, the inclusion of older names on the Rey de Reyes card, the entirety of Todo x el Todo – promoters believe there’s a market for these guys. I understand it in the right amounts. I’m not a particular fan of Rayo, but it at least seems like a lot of people might be and would be excited to see him come back to Arena Mexico one more time. I wonder how many know he’s going to be wrestling tonight. I’m sure it’s not as many as it should be.

If you’re going to bring back Rayo and Universo for a short term, you might as well give them a decent spotlight. It’d be nice if the other four guys get something out of this match, but this match exists so people can relive their memories of the Rayo de Jaliscos, and you should give those fans that. Cien Caras & Mascara Ano 2000 are both in town to work on other shows this week, and I’ve got an unsupported hunch that they may get involved here and set something up next week – something to avoid the usual post major show drop off – but Rayo’s side will at least get the win on the record book.

5) La Sombra & Volador Jr. vs Atlantis & Último Guerrero [natl pi, final]

In an ideal world, this isn’t setting up Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero. It’s also not setting up Sombra vs Volador. It’s setting up young guys vs old guys to see who’s actually the best, instead of both pairs mostly continuing on separate tracks. If we skip ahead a few chapters, Ultimo Guerrero vs Atlantis would do very well for one night but not really mean a lot long term. (Ultimo Guerrero is going to be still be Ultimo Guerrero if he wins. It’s not a bad thing to be, but he’s not going to mean a lot more for business; I feel this so strongly that I’m uncertain why anyone assumes Atlantis would be losing a mask match between the two.) Volador vs Sombra would do nearly as well for one night and may mean more over long term – the winner has the first legitimate claim at being the Undisputed Best Guy since peak Mistico – but it wouldn’t count for as much as beating a legend. Sombra vs Ultimo Guerrero? Volador Jr. vs Atlantis? Heck, Volador Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero or Sombra vs Atlantis? Those are the matches with ground shaking force.

This match, the one that’s actually happening as opposed to ones which will only live in an over caffeinated mind, will go along way to determining what match we’re actually getting at Anniversario. We’ve gone over this before – Terrible & Rush broke up in this final last year, in front of one of CMLL’s biggest crowds of the year, and they used to springboard to the hair match in September. It was an easy plan, one that seemed to work fine, and one that’s easily repeatable. Both teams should problems with each other, because all teams have problems with each other in this kind of tournament, but the one that fights last will probably be fighting again in six months time.

There’s plenty of material here to make it a good match before that point. I’m persistent with my dislike of Ultimo Guerrero singles matches the last few years, but he’s much more palatable as a tag team wrestler. Atlantis and Volador had about a year’s worth of good trios matches against each other and should be good together here. Sombra is Sombra. This will be good unless the breakups totally overpower the match.

Sombra and Volador have had an awful lot of singles matches lately, an odd decision if they were just starting on the road to a mask match. Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero have had none. Sombra & Volador win this.

6) Rey Cometa & Stuka Jr. vs Namajague & Shigeo Okumura [mask, hair]
Stuka & Namajague put up their masks, Cometa & Okumura put up their hair

The important difference between this major Rey Cometa feud and the last major Rey Cometa feud – what a weird phrase – is what the feud was about. Cometa and Puma fought simply off who was better at lucha libre. They kept pushing each other to stronger acts, and so we had people getting swung into barricades and diving off stages by the end. This feud is about Sneaky Japanese, cheating and counter cheating. It started with fouls, went thru mask pulling, and is now at mist spots (though none so well enough to get over the mist.)  The luchadors should have an exciting match, but you should expect the finish to be screwy, because the rest of the feud has been as well.

Everyone expects Namajague & Okumura to lose, and they should. It’s not the last match for Namajague – he’s booked at least Sunday & Tuesday in Guadalajara, which suggests they’ve saving his return to Arena Mexico for next Friday. (Stuka is not hidden, back at Arena Mexico Sunday.) NJPW is currently on tour and returning guys typically do not join until the start of a new tour or a big event. That which would be the early April Invasion Attack shows, or the mid April tour, either of which date would allow Namajague to stick around a few more weeks even if he’s losing his mask tonight.

If tonight goes as planned, it would be Stuka’s third major mask win. There was a discussion, either here or on Twitter, about how Stuka hadn’t moved up CMLL cards as much as hoped. I think that’s true, but I also think it’s beside the point for him. Stuka’s one of the most easily identifiable CMLL luchadors, with a signature look and moves. Stuka’s beaten Flecha and Jeque for the masks, he’s been national champion, he’s been tag team champions for five years in what started out as a trivia fact and finished up being big defenses in Mexico City every few months. Stuka’s gotten to wrestle in Europe, in Japan, in Brazil and now he’s going to be headlining one of the biggest CMLL shows of the year. I’m sure he’d like to have had a bit more money and a bit more fame, but Stuka’s been blessed with the most rare thing in CMLL – frequent feuds and rivalries which actually get resolved. I don’t know Hijo del Fantasma, but I do know he’s been world champion and he’s usually booked higher than Stuka, and I’d believe he’d swap careers with Stuka in a second. Mascara Dorada, who is awesome, has spent most of the last year doing very little. Something like the Arena Coliseo Tag Team titles may be beneath him, but I’m sure he’d gladly take it if it meant he was doing more than meaningless trios. People don’t remember if where you were booked on the average card in the long run, they only remember if you won big or lost big. CMLL gives out precious few opportunities to do either, and Stuka’s pretty blessed to get another one of those opportunities tonight.

site note: chat and live results will start at 5PM with coverage of CMLL on Terra show, and go thru whenever Heroes Inmortales ends (or whenever AAA’s cell battery runs out)

There’s not a lot to talk about this show because they’ve built it so quick. I thought last week’s TV was really good in establishing the key matches. They didn’t make me need to see any of the matches, but at least I should know the top three ones.

Domo Centro de Espectaculos in San Luis Potosi is a 11,000 seat venue. Tickets are cheap for a show of this magnitude. It’s AAA first taping in the area since last May. AAA usually runs the smaller Auditorio Miguel Barragan, so there’s some confidence they’ll have a big number. I really should be out of the attendance guessing game after the Anniversary, but I would guess AA gets a 9,000-10,000 turn out and is happy with it.

1) Dinastía, Mascarita Dorada, Octagoncito vs Mini Histeria, Mini Psicosis, Mini Psycho Clown

Normal minis opener. Every Heroes Inmortales match had a stipulation in previous years, but AAA seems to have dropped the idea this year. It’s for the best, because this one would have probably been weighed down with a glow in the dark or lumberjack stipulation. Instead, they’re just doing about as good a minis trios match as they can put out there (you can quibble with Mini Psycho Clown), a perfectly fine way to open a show. The two minis feuds are Dorada vs Mini Charly Manson and Octagoncito vs Mini Psicosis. No Manson, so Octagoncito pinning Psicosis it is.

2) Atomic Boy & Fabi Apache vs Fenix & Lolita and Gran Apache & Mari Apache and Jennifer Blake & Último Gladiador [AAA MIXED TAG]

If Sexi Star is still supposed to be the referee for this match, it has not been mentioned on TV as yet. (Which could mean anything.) Gran Apache & Mari Apache are the best team, if they’re interested in making these belts mean something, but all the teams set up good possiblities. Halloween should factor into this somehow, and I’ll guess this time it’s costing his new love the match, giving Atomic Boy and Fabi Apache the win.

3) Abyss & Chessman vs Joe Lider & Vampiro [AAA TAG]

No one knows why this is happening, this match is sure to be awful, and someone might get hurt. Get excited! Joe Lider is not feuding with any of these people, he’s feuding with Psicosis (still!), so Psicosis will probably turn up and cost Lider the match. Jarrett’s coming back again, so Abyss is probably coming back in December and they can wait to lose to a ‘real’ team then (though they already should be getting one ready.)

4) El Elegido vs Extreme Tiger, La Parka, Toscano, Daga, Héctor Garza, Juventud Guerrera, Zorro, El Mesías, Heavy Metal, Psycho Clown, Texano Jr. [Copa Antonio Pena]

No idea if Hector Garza is still on this show. He would otherwise make sense as a winner, as would Texano, Mesias, and even Parka. Texano seems like a sure bet to beat Mesias, just not totally sure if they won’t decided that’s enough and hand the win to someone else. They’re running a series of skits with Parka and Octagon leading up to this show, which could lead to Octagon making a tecnico return here, getting some revenge on Consejo. I kind of like that idea, so I’ll pick Parka.

5) Dr. Wagner Jr., Electroshock, LA Park vs Jeff Jarrett, Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Silver Kain

Just killing some time. Jarrett should win if they’re really ending this in December, with whatever they want to be the big kickout spot next time. (Clean, cheating, it doesn’t actually matter.) This probably will be way too long and not something I like.

6) Cibernético, Cuervo, Jack Evans, Ozz, el Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Halloween, Teddy Hart, Psicosis [dome cage, hair]

TV pushed this as Perro vs Cibernetico, but neither are losing a match like this. Ozz was totally ignored in a post match beatdown; him or Cuervo would be seen as rip off, and really Psicosis doesn’t work if he’s going to wear his mask. Jack and Teddy seem like they’ve been just thrown in this to make up the numbers, same as Extreme Tiger & Halloween in the match at TripleMania. I am really suspicious of Halloween suddenly turning up with hair extensions and it’s be easy to have Mari cost him the match as revenge for earlier. I could be convinced otherwise, but Halloween’s my pick for right now.

note: I’ll have live coverage and a chat about the show when it kicks off @ 8:30 pm CT. Check back then for a post.

CMLL (FRI) 09/14/2012 Arena Mexico
***79th Anniversary Show***
1) Dalis la Caribeña, Goya Kong, Marcela vs Amapola, Princesa Blanca, Tiffany
2) Delta, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Ephesto, Mephisto, Niebla Roja

Neither of these matches have anything going on (at least for this location) and won’t make TV if the main matches are shown. They differ in quality. CMLL’s tecnica squad is weak as always, while the segunda has a nice combiantion of tecnicos and rudos. Outcomes don’t really matter, but they’ll probably split the results anyway. Figure on this show starting with a reversal of how the last one ended (Goya beats Blanca) and Mistico’s personal rudos getting a rare win in the second match.

3) Ángel de Oro, La Sombra, Titán vs Namajague, Shigeo Okumura, Taichi

This match also don’t seem to have a lot of storyline going into it, but maybe it’ll have some coming out. Taichi don’t seem to have a particular purpose so far, and there’s three good candidates for him to feud with. Or this could just be three of the companies biggest high fliers using the guests as target practice. Tecnicos should be able to get a win here.

4) Rey Cometa vs Puma King [mask]

I know Terrible and Rush have a great match in them, but they won’t surpass what these two will pull of here. Puma King is right; winning and losing is not as important as where you go coming out of the match. It’s not about what plans CMLL has at for this moment and at this moment, it’s about what plans they’ll actually do once this match is over.

I’ve been a fan of Puma King ever since he started turning up on CMLL TV. He’s got more charisma and presence than other guys his age and level. Puma and Tiger were a fun tag team, but Puma’s progressed farther after being split off, growing from doing the same usual bits in every match to a more varied (though still occasionally repetitive) repertoire on his own. Puma’s also worked hard at modifying and improving his look; his gear is looks professional, though I wish he kept the silly crown. Long ago, I said Puma could be on of CMLL’s top stars down the line, and he’s kept moving down that path.

Rey Cometa has spent the last four and a half years beating odds. It’s hard for a middle level young guy to make it from one group to the other. Pegasso & Rey Cometa did, but Angel and others left around the same time and got lost along the way. It’s tough to make it up from the openers to relevant matches, especially when you come in as a prefabricated tag team. Messala & Caligula had to wait for a new gimmick. Artillero & Super Comando will probably always be stuck. Rey Cometa’s even busted thru the wall separating those who exist on the margins of ciberneticos and tournaments (Misterioso! Skandalo! Hijo del Fantasma!) to an honest to goodness long term feud. Cometa’s done it because he’s worked so hard and is so talented that CMLL couldn’t deny him. This looks like the farthest Rey Cometa can go, but a lot of other points have looked the farthest he can go, and he keeps going farther.

For all the reasons I’ve gone over before and on the podcast, I think Puma King will win the match.  I’m not as certain about it as the other big match.

Rey Cometa has said he’d like his brother to be his second. Puma has said he’d not like his brother – or the rest of his family – be in his corner. I hope CMLL was listening.

5) Atlantis, Mistico, Prince Devitt vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Negro Casas, Último Guerrero

There are two stories to juggle here; Dragon Rojo and Ultimo Guerrero will not end the match as friends, because they scarcely end any match as friends any more. It’s the substory to Mistico on the Anniversary show, teaming with a legend of Mexico and an International star (and trying to overshadow both.) This is probably another Mistico exhibition match, same as been done since he’s debuted, but it’s getting closer to time to giving him something more to debut. Maybe it’s not here, because Negro seems more likely to end up with Devitt and the other two are busy with themselves, but soon.

6) Rush vs Terrible [hair]

These two have had two big singles matches (and one not as big tournament match) in the last year.  They’ve both been okay, but they’re been missing something. The crowd wasn’t into the first match, the battle for the heavyweight title. That match took place during a period of great disinterest, and the crowd tonight should be much more into it. Rush hinted at blood in the match tonight, which might be the missing element, and is permitted in matches of this level.

I’m a bit concerned they might be too fired up for this match; they both know it’s the biggest match they’ve ever had, they’re going to be in front of a huge crowd, and they’re liable to be very fired up for the match. All they need to be is solid and the atmosphere will take it the rest of the way.

Rush will win because Rush is the guy on the way up, and Terrible is just a roadblock to the future. Terrible will still be the CMLL Heavyweight champion when the night is over, this rivalry will not be over, but there will not a bigger moment between them.

AAA’s will celebrate twenty years of TripleMania today in Arena Ciudad de Mexico. The show does not have the excitement level of previous years, but AAA has strongly built up it’s top matches.

Again, this show will not be airing anywhere. The last few TripleManias have been on PPV in Mexico, but AAA made the decision to keep this year’s show off. It seemed motivated by running a new and larger arena than in years past (22,000 instead of 16,000), but it’s actually never been clear how many people were actually ordering the PPV in Mexico. Mexico does not have widespead PPV adoption, and AAA can’t have been making much money on them if they’re skipping it. AAA’s said the show will be airing in the normal taping order, which would mean starting on TV on 08/19, but they’re also scheduling enough other TV tapings that they could skip it.

Tickets are not sold out, but seem to be moving okay. The expected last day walkup should push them over the 75% capacity mark CMLL did Friday. According to the SuperBoletos ticket website, all of the middle price tickets are gone, and all that’s left is are the cheap upper level tickets (which should move fast today) and the very expensive ringside tickets (which may not.)

1) Fabi Apache, Fenix, Octagoncito, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Dark Dragon, Mini Charly Manson, Sexy Star, Yuriko

Standard relevos AAA opener, as seen on a major show. It’s a good match to warm the crowd up with a mix of comedy and wrestling. Fenix beating Dark Dragon to expose them to a bigger crowd is my guess, but it’s the last important (and most random) outcome of the show.

2) Octagón, Semental, Texano, Toscano vs La Parka, Monster Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown

A bundle of the visible Consejo vs Psycho Circus feud and the invisible Octagon vs Parka feud. The rudos are technically supposed to get along based on Joaquin Roldan’s ruling that all rudos have to get along (or else), but maybe what was enforced for Semental and Gran Apache won’t be enforced as much on TripleMania. El Consejo have expressed their great displeasure at teaming with an Octagon (a great traitor to el Consejo!) and it seems likely this match will end up with rudo in-fighting. I’m picking a tecnico win.

The bigger question is if this will prompt Octagon to return back to the tecnico side just as Parka did after similarly not getting any traction as a rudo. Octagon works as a tecnico on spot shows, because that’s still how the fans identify him. On the other hand, AAA doesn’t use him on TV much any way, so maybe there’s no sense in doing angles with him if they won’t be following up on them.

3) Chessman & Juventud Guerrera vs Extreme Tiger & Halloween and Joe Lider & Psicosis and Jack Evans & Teddy Hart [relevos suicidas, cage]

This is a cage match. I’m like 80% sure this is a cage match. They haven’t made it clear in the lead up, and the story they’re telling makes no sense for a cage match, but they keep using the word “jaula” in the build up, so there you go. It’s a cage match because there’s always a cage match on TripleMania (because they paid for a cage?) It’s a match that would be better served in storyline and match quality aspects without a cage, except for those who love people doing spots off the top of the cage. Every single guy in this crew has been willing to do such in the past, and that’s what kind of match this will be.

The rules are the final team left will meet in a hair vs hair (or hair vs mask) match. This needs a bit more explanation in a cage match, because it implies the teams will be together at all times. That would make sense if it’s still pinfall elimination and not escape the cage rules, but there’s no telling if those which are the actual rules.

My hunch for months has been Halloween will take the loss as a reward for staying with AAA (and Perros del Mal). Lider and Psicosis and Teddy and Jack figure to be dragged out longer, as AAA likes to do. There’s a lot of sentiment that Teddy will be the one taking the loss as punishment, but since he’d still be getting the payoff for losing his hair and doesn’t have much to lose, it does not seem like a real punishment.

AAA Hall of Fame

AAA originally announced three wrestlers would be going into their Hall of Fame on this show. They haven’t said much about it lately. If it’s still happening, it’s probably while they’re putting up or taking down the cage. Cien Caras, Mascara Ano 2000, and Universo 2000 would fit the bill, would play in to the mask match, and were very important to AAA in their early days. If they couldn’t get the three, AAA may have just drop this idea.

4) Electroshock & LA Park vs Jeff Jarrett & Kurt Angle [seconds hair]
Park & Electro represent Joaquin. Jarrett and partner represent Dorian.

Abyss, for no particular reason I can figure except someone put him on the poster months ago, is also in Mexico with the Jarretts.

AAA’s directed it’s focus on the top three matches. This is the one with the finish most in doubt. The rudos humiliated LA Park the last time we saw him, and evil boss Dorian getting his head shaved is something they can replayed in every TripleMania history package for the next twenty years. However, AAA downplayed the LA Park attack on TV and says they’re doing more with TNA down the road. It makes no sense for Jarrett or LA Park to lose here if that’s not over, so either Joaquin looks like a fool for choosing Electroshock on his team or AAA paid Kurt Angle a lot of money to come to Mexico and lose. AAA couldn’t pay Sting enough money to have him lose, and AAA loves to keep it’s rudos as strong as possible. I keep going back and forth on this, but at this very moment, I believe the rudos win and Joaquin gets shaved. I may change my mind before the end of the next paragraph.

The match quality is another question mark. This will be the first time the Americans have worked with Electroshock, who the Mexicans sometimes find difficult. The Jarrett’s have been focused on inciting the crowd, which makes for loud live reactions but very tedious matches on television. Kurt Angle has been good in TNA of late, but house show reports often mention how he takes it easy so he’ll have enough left for TNA’s TV. The hope is Angle will see TripleMania as something equally important, but there’s no guarantee  of that. (Especially if he’s going to lose.) This could go a lot of different ways.

Dorian Roldan and Vampiro have been going back and forth on Twitter about Vampiro appearing on TripleMania. Vampiro attacking Chessman would make the most sense normally, since that’s the match they’re setting up, but the cage bit makes that tough (and Chessman doesn’t seem a logical loser – though it sure would explain why he was added to that match.) There’s no cage stopping Vampiro from interfering in this match, or showing up afterwards to make sure Dorian doesn’t leave without getting his hair cut.

5) El Mesías vs el Hijo del Perro Aguayo [AAA HEAVY]

Perro Aguayo returned to AAA two years ago on this show. The debut might have been his best moment in AAA so far; there’s been a lot of wasted chances and down moments in the meantime. Perro burned off a lot of good will, but has been much more reliable this year. This could be Perro’s new greatest moment. Mesias has had great matches at TripleMania with everyone who’s shown up to work, Perro just needs to hold up his part of the deal. I expect Aguayo to win the title.

There should be the usual Perros del Mal interference. Cibernetico and Hector Garza are expected to be in their allies corners. The Perros have been strongly hinting at some surprise, and playing word games to imply the Traumas will be debuting in AAA here. It is probably just a game; Traumas are booked in Monterrey at a 4pm show today (and they’ve promised they’ll be there), there’s no way they could be in Mexico City unless they no-showed. Zumbi hinted on Twitter that he’d be showing up TripleMania, but it read like he was just making a joke.

6) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Máscara Año 2000 Jr. [mask]

Wagner’s winning! Going out on a limb there, I know. This isn’t really about that, or the bottle that’ll be used in the end. This is even about Wagner, who will win one more big match and add one more big show to his resume. This is really about Mascara Ano 2000 Jr. biggest and last chance to make it. Mascara is not going to vanish tomorrow if he has another disappointing outing, but he will never be in a position like this again in his career (even if things go well!) You can change everyone’s impressions with one great match at one great time. This is the time, this is Wagner at TripleMania. If Mascara has anything at all, it’s got to be here.

Just like the last few matches, and maybe numbingly so, this match also figures to have a lot of interference. Any Dinamitas who wants to show up and help out will be there, as probably will be a lot of Wagner family members. There still might be room for an exciting match in between everything else.

TripleMania starts at 6:30 pm Central Time according to the tickets, though AAA typically starts TV tapings late. I’ll be covering it as best as possible based on Twitter and blog posts. Live coverage will start around 5pm with the CMLL show in Arena Mexico. There will be a chat on the site, though I still need to figure out exactly how I’m pulling that off. Tune in and find out!

I’ve done this before, but one more time can’t hurt. Again, AAA is not putting this show on PPV and so I won’t have a chat. There’s no way to be sure there will be live coverage and the taping is likely to go longer with no SKY PPV limit. There’s no sense in everyone sitting around until 1 AM hoping for a facebook post.

The show is listed as starting at 6pm local Guadalajara time (which would be 8 pm Eastern Daylight Time.) AAA TV tapings often start 30-45 minutes after the listed time. I will try to have live results, on Twitter if not here as well. The upside of this show not being on PPV means it’ll start airing on TV much sooner. The first part will air next week.

(In other TV news, AAA’s website adds a Neza taping to the upcoming schedule.)

AAA TV (SUN) 03/18 Auditorio Benito Juarez, Zapopan, Jalisco
1) El Elegido vs Alan Stone, Aerostar, Pimpinela Escarlata, Pasion Kristal, Yuriko, Mascarita Dorada, Octagoncito, Mini Histeria, Sexy Star, Fabi Apache, La Hechicera [cage, hair, mask]

A lucha cage match – someone will jump off the top of the cage (maybe a few people), people will aimlessly brawl for a few minutes, people will start to climb and be pulled back, and someone will lose their hair. La Hechicera is never on TV but somehow is in this match, which makes her the prime suspect.

2) Billy el Malo, Cibernético, Escoria vs Dark Dragon, La Parka, Tito Santana [lumberjack]

The idea of La Parka & Octagon going rudo (and Cibernetico going to the tecnico side as a result) was to get them a prominent relevant place in AAA than wrestling in segundas. A few months later, and Parka & Cibernetico are wrestling in the segunda again. Octagon is not doing much better. They’ve even acknowledged this slightly on TV, making it a part of the storyline as potential reset button. The character changes themselves haven’t failed, but it didn’t make two guys who had been getting stale fighting against each other feel much fresher.

This is being billed as the end of the feud. The feud ends in a trios match, because a singles match just isn’t a good idea. Making it a lumberjack match is a bit harder to figure. AAA uses that as a comedy gimmick, and this is supposedly a blood feud. Perhaps they feel they need that many distractions to get this one done. It’s amazing, and a testament to their personal charisma and accumulated body of work, that Cibernetico & Parka are still so over given how many crutches they need to get thru a match.

The only way this match can truly be the end of the feud is if one of these guys are leaving or if they’re going to be on the same side, neither of which seems likely (though you may disagree if you put more stock into the Cibernetico/CMLL stuff.) There also doesn’t seem to be any next feud for either of these guys. Both really could use a win, but maybe they can get out of that problem with a lumberjack accidentally costing La Parka the match. This has the chance to be good when the non-Parka/Cibernetico people are in, but the lumberjacks usually detract from the match and it probably won’t be different here.

3) Monster Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown vs Octagón, Silver King, Último Gladiador

I am a little behind on TV, but I don’t believe this match has gotten any particular attention on TV. The last time the Psycho Clowns were on TV (prior to this weekend’s show in Ecatepec), they were talking about a TNA bounty on them. There’s no TNA team here, but maybe Ultimo Gladiador can make himself some money. This will be a lot of Clowns beating up Gladiador & Silver, Silver & Gladiador getting in tag spots, and Octagon occasionally reminding us he’s in the match. The Psychos should win, since they’re champs and all, but this really looks like a CMLL big match on AAA big show: a match to just have people on the show.

4) ? & Chessman vs Joe Lider & Juventud Guerrera and Halloween & Nicho el Millionario and Fenix & Extreme Tiger

Fenix is replacing Daga. Halloween is still scheduled to be in the match, though we’ll all be wondering what shirt he’ll be wearing to the ring.

Abyss was probably supposed to be Chessman’s partner, but Abyss is not around (to further TNA storylines.) AAA usually plays up mystery men when they have someone, but they haven’t said a word about situation. Decnnis would be the most logical person on the roster, but he’s booked out to Xalapa. I’m not sure what Hernandez’s exact status with TNA is – the Observer mentioned a few weeks back that he wanted out of his deal there and back here – but he’d be a logical outside name to fill that spot.

Match looks like a crazy spot fest, and possibly a extreme match with the group involved. This one seems unlikely to hold together as a match with the names involved, but will probably still be entertaining. If the mystery name is someone important, than his team should win. Otherwise, Fenix & Tiger seem the best bet.

5) Dr. Wagner Jr., Electroshock, Heavy Metal vs Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Texano, Toscano

The story here will not be the result. Everyone knows what the result will be, and the guy in charge of making those sort of decisions confirmed it. The story is how they get to that finish, and how the Consejo team looks getting to that finish. They’ve done a great job of making Consejo look strong and threatening, and they’ve got to keep it up here. This is not the greatest mix of luchadors for this sort of story. I’m not concerned about Texano, and Toscano has been looking greatly motivated, no problem with them. This is the most important match of Mascara Ano 2000 Junior’s life, and he’s a guy who hasn’t had to work hard for the big matches previously. Metal was the most unreliable man of 2011. Electroshock has a tendency to make himself look good at his opponent’s expense, but it’s nothing compared to Dr. Wagner Jr., the king of crown. Still, a ton of talent in the ring, and as long as the Consejo guys look like they can hang with the AAA guys (and cheat in the end when they need to), they’re going to get a meaningful win.

Dorain Roldan made a return to Twitter this past week, teasing two mystery people on this show. This is obviously a place for one of them to fit. As long as they’re signifcant names (they’ve already hit the limit on the opening card guys), Consejo can always use more people.

6) el Hijo del Perro Aguayo vs Héctor Garza, Jack Evans, LA Park [Rey de Reyes, final]

This also could be a crazy match. We get Jack Evans working with LA Park, nothing wrong with that. The idea is Perro & Garza will work together, but those two have accidentally kicked each other and fought so many times, I’d be shocked if they made it thru this without another fight.

This finish is probably a weather vane for the main event. On that Figure Four Daily appearance, Konnan mentions the winner of the Rey de Reyes has usually gotten a shot at the title. Usually is about twice in four years, but let’s roll with it and say the winner of this match is going to the next major show for a title shot. Perro & Jack will be fighting each other, so they’re out. The strongest match they’re building that isn’t on this show is Park vs Jeff Jarrett. They have to be doing something with it, here or later, and Park winning and facing Jarrett as the tecnico by default at TripleMania would be a big deal (and continue the streak of big LA Park wins at TripleMania.) If Mesias is champion, then Hector Garza as an opponent – heavyweight champion of the other company, national champ in a related promotion – is an obvious opponent. It’s not quite as strong a match.

or I guess they could have LA Park win and face Mesias in a rematch of last year. Maybe this isn’t an indicator! I’ll just go with Park.

7) El Mesías vs Jeff Jarrett [AAA HEAVY]

This whole Jeff Jarrett title run has been mangeld by the scaricty of appearances, but it might have been saved if the matches were any good. They have not been good, though they also haven’t been his fault. The title change was another bad Zorro match in a bad year for Zorro matches. The thee way match was an extended breakup angle with Park (which still hasn’t took.) The Copa Antonio Pena was about the same, and also a battle royal. I didn’t even remember he had TV matches until I looked at his match results, but one was another LA Park/Jarrett breakup, and the other was one where Abyss was a poor luchador. They’ve proven Jeff Jarrett can’t have a good match in spite of the booking. Mesias is the right opponent for him, and hopefully the booking stays out of the way long enough for those two to have the good match.

Looking at the paragraph – LA Park and Jeff Jarrett must be having a match, right? They’ve spent the better part of a year building to this match, they absolutely should be having a match…except, it just feels as strongly that this is the end of TNA in AAA for the moment – no one but Jarrett was brought in, AAA’s been hamstrung by the lack of availability to TNA wrestlers, and they’ve way they’ve moved on to the Consejo storyline makes the TNA issue look like old news. (There’s the tag title left hanging, but that’s not an important title to AAA – this is the only one that matters.) Jeff Jarrett as champion has made no discernible impact on the company. Mesias has had to fight thru people just to get a shot, which usually means he’s going to win.

Still…AAA always loves bringing in foreigners for TripleMania. They never make a difference, but it makes AAA feel worldly and extra important, and TNA’s the most logical place for them to bring people in. And if they’re bringing in TNA people anyway, why not bring in Jeff Jarrett with the title one last time with LA Park as Mexico’s Last Hope?

(well, because, maybe he’ll have a Ring Ka King taping or something equally important.)

As you can tell, I can’t tell which way this is going. I would not bet on this match, but I will guess LA Park costs Jarrett the title, and they just leave it open as to what happens next.

Yep. Not a lot on the line here. There’s no grand story coming to an end here – there’s some big stories that seem like they’re just starting (Bizarros, Super Fly’s turn) and there’s some filler stories just to give people things to do this month. It’s also a lot of the same sort of matches.

1) Gato Eveready, Octagoncito, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Decnnis, Mini Abismo Negro, Polvo de Estrellas

Usual mixed opener which may or may not make TV depending on how long everything else. This should be fine and this will probably end up with the minis involved in the finish (let’s say Octagoncito over Mini Abismo.) Kinda odd that the leader of the Militia is relegated to the opener, but I presume he’s got some big cornerman duties later in the show. Polvo in this match rules him out of being the newest Bizarro. (Jesse is still available.) The real question: how late will this match start? :52 after the start?

2) Aerostar, El Elegido, Octagón vs Alan Stone, Chris Stone, Súper Fly [street fight]

This is a street fight, which means it’s like every other AAA match except perhaps they’ll do pinfalls on the outside? Perhaps. This is Super Fly’s big debut as a rudo match, so his side should win, but this is more his chance to make an impression in his new role. If he’s got any shot of breaking out of his slot, it’s got to happen right away.

If AAA is doing this right, it needs to be Aerostar or Laredo Kid (or, god help us, Elegido) avenging Octagon. I like championships too much, so I’d bring back the middleweight title, have Super Fly beat Octagon for it, and have someone beat Super Fly for it, but a belt is not really the important thing. Super Fly has to get a capital letter WIN over Octagon or they might as well not have even bothered.

3) Silver King & Último Gladiador vs Joe Lider & Nicho el Millionario and El Ilegal & Hernandez [AAA TAG, Ladder]

187 is the only two man team AAA consistently keeps together, and consistently treats them as the biggest deal, so they probably should have the championships. Hernandez and Ilegal are sort of feuding with them, but after being totally belittled as a team in Naucalpan, I don’t think AAA sees much in them. These belts don’t mean much and there’s nothing keeping any of these teams from winning, so I wouldn’t be surprised by any one winning, but 187 is my pick.

Match is likely to be gif worthy. They’ll try hard, but they’ll inevitable try too hard.

4) Espíritu, Extreme Tiger, Jack Evans, La Parka Jr. vs ???, Cibernético, Escoria, Taboo

The pattern for new Bizarros has been guys hanging around the fringes of the roster. (Jesse is still available. So is Mantra.) Espiritu is right there, so I’m pretty sure the Bizarros should find a way to win this. More interesting will be the fan reactions – I’m actually not sure if the Bizarros are meant to be cheered or booed in this match. Starting out with Parka is a good way to get booed.

If only Escoria and Taboo are going to wrestle, why have five Bizarros? I guess the new guy is in the match too.

5) El Mesías vs LA Park

This will be a brawl in a show that looks to be nothing but brawls. This one will probably be bloody. I expect it to be interesting, and parts where I’m bored as they walk around ringside. Mesias seems to lose the first big match of every feud, and this is the first big match.

6) Monster Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown vs Damián 666, Halloween, X-Fly [cage]

Another brawl, this one with weapons. I can’t believe a team with X-Fly is going to end the streak; if there’s any thought Perro Jr. is coming back here, they might as well wait for that. This would actually be a decent win for the Psycho Circus, though it’s probably far too late to matter. This match will probably be messy.

7) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Zorro [AAA HEAVY]

This really needs to not be a brawl to balance out this card, but they needed the same thing last time around and Silver King & Dr. Wagner pulled chairs out of the crowd two minutes in. Just like that match, this has every bit of feeling of a title match because they needed something for Wagner to do this month but really didn’t have any plans. (I’d guess the plans were originally Park/Wagner for this time, then Park left for a while and they didn’t want to waste it with little build.) Maybe they do something where Zorro has the belt temporarily, either by picking up the belt to use it during the match or a finish that’s immediately overturned, just to keep his prophecies going, but he’s not going to be champion at the end of the night.

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