Hechicero/Stuka tonight, Guerra de Titanes, Ultraclash

CMLL

Tonight’s show.

CMLL (FRI) 11/24/2023 Arena México
1) Brillante Jr., Fuego, Oro Jr. vs Grako, Nitro, Sangre Imperial
2) Arkalis, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
3) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
4) Lluvia, Reyna Isis, Tessa Blanchard vs Dark Silueta, La Jarochita, Stephanie Vaquer [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Hechicero vs Stuka Jr. [Leyenda de Azul, final]
6) Místico & Octagón vs Atlantis & Volador Jr.

Atlantis almost never works Fridays nowadays outside of special shows. I guess the idea of Octagon versus Atlantis is a special match – everyone cheered too loud for them finishing against each other in the Leyendas cibernetico – but also is one that risks exposing his limitations. Blanchard beating Vaquer (again) to set up a title match appears to be a lock. The undercard is a bunch of fine if not great matches.

Hechicero and Stuka feuded from about 2017 to 2019, including three matches for the NWA Light Heavyweight title. (Stuka beat Hechicero for it in 2018.) Both men were publicly angling for a mask match, but CMLL didn’t seem interested in pushing the feud to that degree. It wasn’t clear in the moment who would lose if they did have a mask match. It seems now obvious CMLL decided they’d rather have Atlantis Jr. win Stuka’s mask and that decision seems sound. Hechicero/Stuka was something not seen as much in CMLL now, a midcard feud where the wrestlers were pushing for a mask/mask match the promotion wasn’t going to do. Not everything CMLL teases now gets followed through (Soberano being in the Aniversario), but those unresolved ideas are usually cut off the moment CMLL goes in another direction.

Hechicero/Stuka being an unfinished mask feud means it has some stronger appeal to the diehard fans who still remember it. The luchadors themselves weren’t building it that way. Hechicero, in interviews, said this wasn’t the same as before – he fought a masked tecnico named Stuka Jr. then, and the new Stuka is a different persona. He did still think it’ll be a grea mtach but his goal was gone.

It was also a feud symbolic of the problems of CMLL booking in the late 2010s: the wrestlers wanted to do the feud and were building it up, while the company was barely interested in. (Those sort of empty challenges are less prominent now.)

The show airs on PPV at the usual 6 USD price.  It’ll go up on YouTube on 12/10.

Monday

CMLL (SUN) 11/26/2023 Arena México
1) Acero, Fantasy, Galaxy vs Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral, Robin, Valiente Jr. vs Inquisidor, Raider, Vegas
3) El Audaz, Pegasso, Volcano vs Difunto, Einar El Salvaje, Kráneo
4) Tessa Blanchard vs Zeuxis [lightning]
5) Guerrero Maya Jr. © vs El Coyote [MEX MIDDLE]
first defense
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero

Match 5 is probably the biggest singles match of Coyote’s career. A title change seems unlikely.

Einar el Salvaje is from Costa Rica, wrestling in the CWE promotion that brings in CMLL and other international names. He says he’s been training in CMLL since June (outside a brief return home), with Virus, Volador Jr., Tony Salazar and Hechicero as his Mexican teachers.

(Einar el Salvaje is not to be confused with Einar el Vikingo, a low level Mexico City area wrestler who hit a child ringside in May 2021, subsequently was ostracized from the scene, and may have subsequently snuck back in under a mask. CMLL would normally shorten someone to one name but probably doesn’t want to do so to prevent confusion here; I’m mildly surprised they didn’t make him just change it.)

CMLL (MON) 11/27/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & El Novato vs King Jaguar & Sombra Diabólika
2) Angelito, Galaxy, Pequeño Magía, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal, Mercurio, Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito [cibernetico]
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
4) Tessa Blanchard vs La Catalina [lightning]
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs El Hijo de Stuka Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
6) Ángel de Oro, Euforia, Niebla Roja vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Templario, Terrible

Back to Mondays. Tessa seems to be getting lots of singles match leading up to the one (not yet announced with Vaquer.

CMLL (SAT) 11/18/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Lince Del Bajio, Último Ángel vs Eclipse Jr., Obek, Rav
2) Hatana, Katara, Magia Azul vs Estrella Maldita, La Pantera, Yemaya
Hatana return from injury
3) Dulce Gardenia, La Fashion, Star Black vs Gallero, Ráfaga, Stolar
Stolar debut
4) Dark Silueta, La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer vs Mystique, Persephone, Tessa Blanchard
Mystique return from retirement
5) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs Barboza, Difunto, Guerrero de la Muerte
6) Dark Panther, Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Averno, Flip Gordon, Furia Roja

CMLL Guadalajara programming believes Flip Gordon is a rudo. He probably will end up that way; US guy in military fatigues is going to have an uphill battle getting over as a tecnico. It may just be CMLL is getting Soberano going as a rudo and didn’t want Gordon to be doing the same at the same time.

Mystique last wrestled June of 2021, “retiring” with the idea she’d be focusing primarily on her OnlyFans account while still working with CMLL in some capacity. (She did some of the Turiluchas sort of appearances for a while.) OnlyFans keeps a lot of numbers hidden, but it does mention she has about 85 posts since opening it. That’s about one every two weeks, if she was continually active. She hasn’t been promoting on Instagram, so it may be done. (Or at least they’re going to want to do those sorts of deals informally, not on a platform that’s going to take a big chunk of money.)

Mystique might be back full time or might be in a situation like La Maligna and others where she’s got to work her way onto a permanent main roster spot from Guadalajara. I guess we’ll know if she turns up on Informa. (She wasn’t very good prior to her retirement and two years off is unlikely to have made her better.)

Atlantis & Soberano are 2-0 and Yota Tsuji & Zandokan are 1-1 in the World Tag League. Atlantis & Soberano’s next tournament match is Sunday against Lance Archer & Alex Zayne, while Tsuji & Zandokan are in the main event against Hikuleo & El Phantasmo.

Zandoakn, on CMLL Informa, sent in a video talking about surprising everyone as Yota Tsuji’s partner in the World Tag League. They did team once in Guadalajara, but it sounds like they didn’t really become friends until Zandokan moved to Mexico City full time a little bit later. They were both training under Volador and Virus, and bonded weightlifting together.

Rocky Romero defends both the MLW Middleweight Championship and the CMLL World Welterweight Championship versus Mascara Dorada on 12/07. That’s the important part you need to know. The set up was weird. Dorada talked about going the MLW date on CMLL Informa – match was set, focus was more on how much international work Dorada is doing. MLW promoted it instead as “Dorada challenges Romero, how will he respond?”, wagering no one would actually watch the video they were linking to. MLW’s YouTube show on Thursday did have Dorada challenging Romero without getting an answer; I guess maybe that’s happening later. Anyway, this leaves me hoping Romero beats Dorada, because Dorada’s first world title win should come some place more meaningful to CMLL fans than an MLW show on FITE.

On Friday, Stephanie Vaquer was among a group about a dozen of athletes given a plaque and a medal by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). It’s officially the 2023 Premio Estatal del Deportes, designed for those who have excelled in 2022 to 20223. Tinieblas and Alushe are also mentioned as receiving an award and I’m not entirely sure what they’ve done in the last two years to earn that. I presume the government office just asked CMLL for a name and so it’s good for Vaquer that she got to be that name.

AAA

TV this week will finish off Guerra de Titanes

• Forastero & Sanson vs Arez & Komander
• Lady Shani vs Chik Tormenta in a cage match
• Negro Casas & Pentagon Jr. vs La Bestia del Ring & Taurus
  • Taurus didn’t end up wrestling due to a health issue

AAA finishes off 2024’s TV taping on Sunday with the co-promoted Ultraclash. It doesn’t air live, but instead should start airing on Space next week. I don’t have a real good sense of the Impact taping schedule, but it appears they’ve airing their tongue-in-check “IPWF” retro concept starting next Thursday.

(AAA is still running special Luchatitlan shows, including a Thanksgiving one tonight. They’ll probably have another one in December, though this is really just about four extra people.)

This week’s WON explained Sam Adonis & QT Marshall are still supposed to be top rudos as Los Gringos Locos, and Penta and Konnan trashing them as unworthy of that name is apparently supposed to get them over to that goal. What we know about this version of AAA above all is Konnan wants rudos who get ‘real heat’, the Mercenarios angle (where Adonis was also involved) got garbage in the ring, and so it was a successful show by their metrics.

Tulancingo’s Black Piston says he advanced to the next round of the AAA tryouts. He actually says he was invited to participate by Crazy Boy. That competition was announced as being open to Mexico City wrestlers only. Crazy Boy encouraging people to tryout in a competition he’s judging doesn’t read great. None of this is much of a surprise.

IWRG

IWRG , NGT (WED) 11/22/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Milagro & Rey Gato Jr. b Acerus & Silver Kid
2) Sagitarius b Danessa
3) Rey Aztaroth & Súper Boy JR. b Águila Oriental & Ryu
4) Centvrión, Gannicus, Rey Espartano b Auzter, Fussion, Tornado
Yorvak interfered to help Gannicus’s team, though they ended up fighting and setting up a singles match
5) Águila Roja & Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly
Pirata’s team won, but then he offered Noisy Boy a title match with Aguila Roja and challenged Spider Fly to a singles match

Both the top two matches finishes were the opposite of what would make sense to set up next week’s matches. I hope this at least helping pay the electrical bill.

IWRG (SUN) 11/26/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Auzter vs Ryu
2) Bengalee & Keyra vs Lolita & Sádika
3) Dr. Cerebro, Freelance, Spider Fly vs Cerebro Negro Jr., Rey Halcón, Yorvak
4) Hijo de Canis Lupus, León Dorado, Mr. Leo vs Imposible, Maniacop 360, Rey Espectro
5) Hell Boy vs Cerebro Negro [bull terrier]
6) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. vs Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr.

The IWRG Aniversario show is coming up and I have no idea what that main event will be. “Maniacop 360” is on the list of “this is why I’m quitting IWRG” Facebook posters this year. Did he change his mind? Did IWRG recast the character to retain the worthless Maniacop 360 IP alive?

Big Lucha

They’re back tonight with a Big Lucha World at 8:30 pm local.

• Mr. Win vs ?
• Limbo vs Reieyl
• Helios & ??? vs Nordico & Sangre Nueva

It’s a low-wattage show where the biggest name is Mr. Win, but maybe the mystery people will be notable. Big Lucha has put up the main event from their last show, but nothing else on YouTube so far.

Other News

Hidalgo referee Mr. Justicia (Manuel Lola) passed away Tuesday.

Mexico State referee El Chiquilin (Juan Antonio Heredia) will be honored Saturday at the Lucha Memes show in Coliseo Coacalco for 34 years in that role. Mistico headlines the show. Besides being a good referee, Chiquilin has a number of behind the scenes roles, from assisting with the matchmaking to choosing which movie played on the promotion bus the one time I traveled with them to Queretaro. He’s not retiring or anything, just being honored.

The “Rey Mysterio versus La Oscuridad” animated series debuts in Mexico (Carton Network, HBO Max) on 12/08. This thing I has been in the pipeline for so long that, when the ad was airing during Guerra de Titanes last week, I couldn’t process if this was new information or an old cartoon I long ago forgot about. You can watch a trailer here. No word on a US release.

For months, perhaps years, I complained that Monterrey’s RIOT promotion wasn’t releasing shows in a timely manner, or at all. After a very long pause between uploads, they put up the 2022 (March) La Rina on their Patreon in September 2023, It’s taken me until November to start to watch it. Maybe I’m actually the problem.

I’ve only gotten through part 2, but I’d already say it’s worth subscribing to the Patreon for the first day. (The Patreon is $5/month; the show is also supposed to go up on IWTV but has not yet.) The whole show is strong, and the main event of Arez, Latigo, Toxin versus Prometo, Kratoz and Iron Kid would’ve been considered one of the best Mexican wrestling matches of 2022 had it been available last year. It’s just all action trios wrestling, with great teamwork and speed. And also a tire for some reason. I liked all the first round tournament matches; Aramis/Gringo Loco was the best but others weren’t far behind. There is no commentary and the venue doesn’t have the right vibe for RIOT but it’s also like two venues behind now so not really worth worrying about. I hope to get to part 2 today after finishing this post.