CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 07/26/2024 Arena México
1) Kira, Náutica, Skadi vs Hera, Olympia, Valkiria
2) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
3) Esfinge & Euforia vs Hechicero & Valiente
4) Ángel de Oro vs Star Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, final]
5) Templario & Titán vs Rocky Romero & Último Guerrero
6) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Fénix El Rey, PAC, Penta

The main event should be outstanding. The Lucha Brothers haven’t always turned it to 10 in AEW – Penta famously can be on autopilot a lot -, but they seem a safe bet to work hard on this show. The only worry is they get squeezed a bit on time. There have certainly been teases that this is more than a one-off.

The rest of the CMLL show is really strong. Templario and Ultimo Guerrero will continue their feud with some good partners. Match three is obviously there more for the post-match challenges than what comes before, but they did a good job with it last week. Angel de Oro and Star Jr. did well in their previous title match. It’s probably Oro’s turn to win. Futuro and Max Star have Hombre Bala instead of Neon, yet it should still be a lot of fun against Los Depredadores. The Kira & Skadi versus Hera & Olympia portions of the opener should be fun.

There is some grumpiness among CMLL fans on social media that the Leyenda de Plata tournament is being disrespected by being put in match 4 and that this show is being built around non-CMLL people and is catering more to non-CMLL (or “indie”) fans. It’s hard to get a sense of how serious and widespread this is; my hunch is it’s only a small group of people but I don’t know that for certain. It’s be fair to put the tournament final as match 5 given the importance of that competition. It’d also be fair to put it at three, since the Hechicero/Valiente vs Esfinge/Euforia match is more important for the next six weeks. Anyway, if there really is a significant amount of CMLL diehards unhappy, I hope they show up and root for the home team and boo Death Triangle. It’ll get their voices heard and it’ll make for a great atmosphere.

(Dr. Landru earlier this week brought up an opposite point – an influx indie fans who aren’t fans of the CMLL tecnicos may produce a ‘rudo’ crowd noise. Atlantis Jr. got booed loudly early this year when indie fans were in to see the AEW wrestlers. CMLL also appeared to ignore those reactions and kept Atlantis Jr. a tecnico.)

The floor seats for this show may be sold out by the time you read this; there were around 20 left when I checked Friday afternoon. The balcony seats are all gone and Ticketmaster has a low ticket warning. People on social media – some professionally dumb, some just doing it on an amateur level – have asked what CMLL gets out of the relationship with AEW. CMLL would’ve done OK tonight with an Angel de Oro/Star Jr. main event. CMLL will sell out this show because they got those AEW wrestlers in.

Angel de Oro is looking to join Atlantis as the only person to win both the Leyenda de Plata and the Leyenda de Azul. Angel de Oro won the Azul tournament in 2020. Atlantis won the Leyenda de Azul in 2014 and the Leyenda de Plata in 2005.

Valiente was discussing perhaps switching to the rudo side last week on Informa. This Wednesday, he was discussing fully having switched over to the rudo side (and was mentioned as such on Informa). He’s still technically being booked in tecnico positions, but that’ll probably end soon.

Ring of Honor tonight has Death Before Dishonor. Typically, this show will overlap the first half hour or so of the CMLL show.

• Komander versus the Beast Mortos in a Someone’s Got To Win match (not official stipulation)
• Lee Johnson vs Lio Rush vs Atlantis Jr. (c) vs Shane Taylor vs Johnny TV vs Brian Cage for the ROH TV championship

Komander is still an AAA cruiserweight champion and a very occasional AAA wrestler, as far as I know. He’s only appeared there one time this year, but he hasn’t done any sort of public separation from the promotion. Maybe CMLL has decided they don’t care about streaming shows? Maybe CMLL has whittled down their block list to “every Mexican who doesn’t work for us” to “Rush, and only Rush”?

CMLL (SAT) 07/27/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Angelito & Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) La Maligna, La Vaquerita, Lluvia vs Amapola, Metálica, Persephone
3) Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Volcano vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Rey Bucanero
4) Fugaz vs Espanto Jr. [lightning]
5) Brillante Jr., Dark Panther, Star Black vs Akuma, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
6) Flip Gordon, Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Averno, Dragón Rojo Jr., Stuka Jr.

The semi-main could be good. Maybe the main but less so. That lightning match will likely turn out OK but no one would be surprised by a disaster GIF with those two shaky guys working together.

AEW announced a Deonna Purrazzo versus Willow Nightingale CMLL World Women’s Championship match for their Battle of the Belts show Saturday night. That’s the first time a “CMLL” branded title will have been defended in AEW; Mistico’s defense was one of the “Historic” titles. I have about 24 hours to get to Tony Schiavone and get him to talk about how great champions Marcela and Amapola were during that match. Maybe Dark Angel could help.

Purrazzo is a former AAA Reina de Reinas champion. The only person to win both that title and the CMLL World Women’s championship is Lady Apache. (Apache is also the only person to hold the CMLL title and the Mexican Women’s championship, which was the defacto AAA women’s championship for many years. Apache leaving AAA with that championship is why the Reina de Reinas title became more than an annual tournament.)

CMLL (SUN) 07/28/2024 Arena México
1) Rayo Metálico & Retro vs Grako & Inquisidor
2) Arkalis, Astral, El Audaz vs Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Nitro
3) Kira, Sanely, Skadi vs Hera, Persephone, Reyna Isis
4) Brillante Jr., Hijo de Octagón, Hombre Bala Jr. vs El Hijo de Stuka Jr., Felino Jr., Zandokan Jr.
5) Titán vs Stuka Jr. [lightning]
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible

I so want to see the lightning match and I think they’ll probably air other stuff.

CMLL (MON) 07/29/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Black Tiger & Meyer vs Centella Roja & Hijo de Centella Roja
2) Millenium & Rayo Metálico vs Espíritu Maligno & Rencor
3) Multy, Perverso, Prayer vs Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Grako
4) Flip Gordon, Pegasso, Stigma vs Hijo del Villano III, Sagrado, Villano III Jr.
5) Star Black vs Último Guerrero
6) Hechicero, Místico, Valiente vs Atlantis Jr., Euforia, Magnus [Relevos Increíbles]

Aniversario feuding continued on in the main event. Star Black gets an Ultimo Guerrero match.

CMLL posted the 07/15 Arena Puebla Anniversary show complete late Thursday night for Fan Leyenda members. CMLL did not announce they were doing this, it just showed up randomlly. I checked quickly this morning, and it appeared the YouTube version of Xelhua/Vegas is the same as on TV; they didn’t cut anything out. (I may end up quickly taking down that version from DailyMotion before CMLL gets annoyed enough to strike it.)

CMLL (TUE) 07/30/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Ángel Azteca Jr., Arariel (Laguna), Buffon (Laguna), Kingperio, Shaky (Laguna), Zonik (Laguna) vs Avispón Negro Jr., Fúnebre, Logan, Makara, Mortis, Ponzoña Jr. [cibernetico]
2) Alondra, Lady Shadow, Miss Guerrera vs Adira, Hatanna, Nexy
3) Diosa Roja (Laguna), Emperatriz, Llamarada, Quetzal vs Atenea, Dulce Kitty, Estrella Maldad, Zorah
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther vs Gallo Jr., Ráfaga, Rafaga Jr.
5) Brillante Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Magia Blanca vs Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono
6) Euforia, Hijo del Soberano, Soberano Jr. vs Arlequín, Esfinge, Star Black

CMLL Mexico City advertised the GDL/CDMX show for weeks, CMLL GDL just does a GDL/Torreon show with no notice. High flying prodigy Zonik makes his CMLL debut in the opener.

CMLL Informa announced they’ll fill the vacant CMLL Women’s World Tag Team Championship with a tournament on upcoming Tuesday shows. It’ll be an eight-team tournament, with the first two rounds on 07/30 and a new champion team crowned on 08/06. The eight teams

• Skadi & Kira
• Hera & Olympia
• Reina Isis & Metalica
• Sanely & Nautica
• Dark Silueta & Valkiria
• Zeuxis & Persephone
• Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard
• Princesa Sugehit & La Catalina, both returning from injury.

Sugehit’s been out since May 2023 and underwent neck surgery. Catalina last wrestled in June and was out after getting a cist removed. That team seems like the favorite on paper. CMLL likes to spread the titles around, which means Skadi & Kira (national tag champs) and Lluvia (occidente champ) & Tessa are out. I don’t know if CMLL will give these belts to a new-ish foreigner like Persephone after Vaquer just left. Hera & Olympia would be fun, but I don’t know if CMLL sees them at that level yet.

(CMLL did not mention why the titles were vacant or who held them last, of course.)

CMLL announced the full teams for the 08/23 Gran Prix:

Team Mexico

• Templario
• Ultimo Guerrero
• Atlantis Jr.
• Titan
• Mistico
• Mascara Dorada
• Volador Jr.
• Esfinge
• Euforia
• Valiente

The new Gran Prix tradition is to include the (likely) Aniversario protagonists on the teams. Esfinge, Euforia, and Valiente make the squad (and CMLL made it clear Hechicero could not only because he’s in the UK.) It’s fertile ground for an angle, but they rarely go that far. Templario and Dragon Rojo did not have issues in 2023. It’s the same thing with the guys in the 2022 one.

Team World

• Ikuro Kwon (MLW/South Korea)
• Flip Gordon (CMLL/US)
• Rocky Romero (NJPW US/US)
• Robbie X (RevPro/UK)
• Kyle Fletcher (ROH/Australia)
• Mansoor (AEW/Saudia Arabia)
• Akira (MLW/US)
• Davey Boy Smith Jr. (MLW/Canada)
• YOTA (NJPW/Japan)
• Claudio Castagnoli (AEW/Switzerland)

Castagnoli is the big name, someone who clearly enjoyed his trip in the spring and wanted to come back. He’ll figure to be one of the ones standing in the final minute. YOTA is the old friend returning. Davey Boy Smith Jr. has been wrestling as much in AJPW as in MLW over the last year. His style doesn’t seem a natural fit with CMLL. Mansoor is an ex-WWE wrestler who teamed with (now) Mason Madden as the Maximum Male Models, a lower-card comedy act. They’re starting with a reworked version of that act (MxM) in Ring of Honor this weekend. Prior to that gimmick, Mansoor was WWE’s spotlighted (and only) Saudi Arabian wrestler, seemingly only used in a meaningful way on their bought shows in that country. That happened when I dropped out of watching WWE entirely, but I remember he had positive reviews for his work. AKIRA is a death match wrestler who seems to be an odd fit in CMLL (and maybe hasn’t caught on yet), but there are not a lot of great fits from MLW if you’re insistent on using three of their wrestlers.

It is possible for Castagnoli, Romero, Fletcher, and anyone else to get to AEW’s show in the UK on Sunday. It’s not easy, it probably means losing all of Saturday traveling, but there’s connections that’ll get them there as early as 8:05 AM on Saturday.

Rey Bucanero does the “wrestlers aren’t as tough as they were in my day” interview.

NJPW announced Zack Sabre Jr. versus Titan for their 08/30 Capital Collision show.

AEW set up a Willow Nightingale versus Kris Statlander “CMLL Women’s Title Eliminator” for next Wednesday’s Dynamite. Statlander can earn a title match by defeating the champion. (Statlander lost last time to Nightingale, so she’ll probably get the win to set up the title match.) CMLL would do this setup with a trios match.

AAA

AAA on SPACE has nothing new. They’re out of tapings until next week’s live Verano de Escandalo show. Maybe there are some leftovers I’m forgetting, but it’s probably a recap show. AAA on Unimas starts to air TripleMania Tijuana, a month after it happens.

There’s a 2×1 ticket discount for TripleMania Mexico City in some sections. That deal has been out for a week and might be a SuperBoletos-driven deal, but I didn’t notice it until AAA posted about it Thursday. The tickets seem to be moving fairly decently on the SuperBoletos map.

TripleMania Mexico City is three weeks away and there’s nothing to write about this promotion. It’ll get better once the calendar turns in August; this month with no tapings is unusual but business will pick up with Verano de Escandalo. It would help AAA build more interest if there was just more going on.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 07/25/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Fobia & Pitbull b Cosmic & Titanium 
2) Hijo De Seminarista, Kato Xtreme Jr., Samoa Kid b Ángel Kid, Astral (Estado De México), Ratzinger 
3) Súper Boy b Shura King 
4) Black Dragón Jr., Black Dragón Ng, Willy Banderas b Pinky, Skyler, X-Devil 
5) Gravity, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly b Black Shadow II, Mr. Mike, Ovett Jr. 
6) Águila Guerrera, Arceus, Drákula Ng, Príncipe Centauro, Sacro, Shamila, Sky Man b Auzter, Fauno, Histeriosys, Kali, Rey Astaroth, Tornado, Vudu Max  
GYM Fill vs Tryout 2024

There was a marriage proposal after the semi-main. She said yes. If you have a partner willing to go with you to a mid-week Naucalpan show, it must be true love. IWRG is also doing the Kiss Cam bit now. Attendance looked good.

Mas Lucha streamed a rare Thursday night show from Arena San Juan against this one. Midweek San Juan shows were actually regular things in the 90s. AAA had weekly shows there, but that’s a tradition that was long ago. The mat had a “Mas Lucha” logo, so it appeared like they were trying to fight IWRG on a day they were running with just trainees in some way. Maybe the day selection was part of that, but it appears the reason the show existed was to produce footage for another project. The “promoter” was Arewa Producciones, a media company that creates short films and commercials among other work. This show was for a film being called “Erase Una Vez En Un Ring“, Once Upon A Time In The Ring. It looks like they’re doing it with the INJUVE people based on the logos on the poster.

IWRG (SUN) 07/28/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Sacro & Willy Banderas vs Fauno & Súper Boy
2) Freelance, Gravity, Vudu Max vs Histeriosys, Mr. Mike, Rey Halcón
3) Auzter & Iron Kid vs Águila Roja & Puma de Oro
4) Multifacetico Jr. vs Pequeño Centauro
5) Estrella Divina, Máscara Sagrada, Veneno vs Hijo De Silver King, Hijo del Fishman, Misterioso Jr.
6) Látigo & Toxin © vs Hell Boy & Hijo de Canis Lupus [IWRG IC TAG]
first defense

It’s good to see Gravity working but seeing him go from AEW TV to the second match of an Arena Naucalpan match is harsh.

Other Promotions Of Questionable Merit

Todo x el Todo realized they ought to have social media accounts and launched a Facebook page on Wednesday. They used it and the BoboProduction IG page to announce wrestlers for the 08/22 show.

• Texano Jr.
• Hijo de Fishman
• Lady Apache
• Cinta de Oro
• Hija de Fuerza Guerrera
• Fuerza Guerrera
• Solar
• Dr. Wagner Jr.

Wagner at least gives it another big name. I guess Cinta is supposed to be a big name, but I’m not sure he means much outside of Juarez/El Paso. Otherwise, it’s a typical group of indie people. There seems to be a rush to promote this show, which means someone looked at how tickets were (not) selling.

ELITE’s director, Ernesto Santillan, hyped the August show and insisted the promotion will run more regularly for the rest of the year. (He said the same before the April show.) Santillan is planning a big show for September. Tickets went on sale on Ticketmaster for 122 to 610 pesos.

Lucha Libre Real, an indie that vanished after 2020, says it’s returning on 08/16 with a Felino 40th Anniversary show in Mexico City. The only match announced is a four-way match between Felino Jr., Villano V Jr., Hijo del Pantera, and Ciclon Ramirez Jr.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 07/22/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, El Sol de Puebla, Grada]
1) Astoreth & Lady Metal b Diablita Roja & Lady Amazona
2) Periquito Sacaryas & Tengu b Kemalito & Mije
KeMalito was hurt after a dive and Mije lost on his own.
3) Meyer & Rey Samuray b Multy & Rey Apocalipsis
4) Pegasso, Stigma, Xelhua b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora 
5) Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero, Valiente b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black [Relevos Increíbles] 
Ultimo Guerrero snuck in a foul on Star Black
6) Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Místico DQ Euforia, Magnus, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles] 
Euforia pulled Hechicero’s mask

Star Black versus Ultimo Guerrero is a new feud, both in Puebla and in general. Porra Fresa claimed Arena Puebla was fuller this week than last, implying that many of those scalper tickets last week didn’t get bought.

Xelhua/Vegas did end up airing Tuesday, was pretty good.

CMLL (TUE) 07/23/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Lucha Central, thecubsfan]
1) Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito b Galaxy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito 
8:02
2) Dragón de Fuego & Legendario b Hunter & Infarto 
3) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa 
4) Neón © b Bárbaro Cavernario [REVPRO CRUISER]
16:15, though seemed to end early – Cavernario kicked out of Neon’s reverse 270 splash but Edgar counted three. Second defense.
5) Templario b Averno, Flip Gordon, Stuka Jr., Esfinge, Rugido, Valiente, Zandokan Jr. [AEW INTERNACIONAL, #1 Contenders] 
23:35. Elimination order: Rugido (by Stuka Jr.), Zandokan (Averno), Flip Gordon (Valiente), Stuka Jr. (Esfinge), Valiente (Avenro), Esfinge (Templario), Averno (Templario) leaving Templario as the winner – he’ll challenge MJF on 08/02.

Templario will give MJF the best match, though it’s a little strange to see him take this detour while also feuding with Ultimo Guerrero. That match should put Templario in a bigger spotlight (great for him, not sure if it’s as good for the rest of us after the last month.) The cibernetico was run of the mill for most of the way. The extended Averno/Templario segment to close was really good. KeMalito is still hanging out with new tecnico Templario, and Averno beat up the mascot to pull some extra energy into the fight. MJF surely will do the same if KeMalito is there for the title match.

(Templario seemed like he was trying to get around having no idea who MJF is in a post match interview, though he says he’ll catch up a bit before they wrestle. Might be the same the other way.)

The show ended earlier than usual for a Tuesday show. Neon and Cavernario may have had plans to go 3-4 minute longer. Neon’s singles matches have been good but a little underwhelming, though this time it doesn’t seem like it was his fault. Edgar just saw him do his usual finish and thought that was the end. If a wrestler messed up as often as Edgar does, they would be sitting out Arena Mexico shows for a few weeks. (CMLL having only four referees for six shows a week makes it hard to sit anyone out.)

CMLL (TUE) 07/23/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Draego, Persa, Rey Diablo b Maximus, Minotaruo, Rey Urano
debut of Rey Diablo
2) Crixus, Difunto, Raider b Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico
straight falls (second fall was short, seemed to be prematurely ended)
3) Satánico b Virus
4) Adira, Kira, Náutica, Tessa Blanchard b Hatanna, Persephone, Valkiria, Zeuxis
5) Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero b Dark Panther, Furia Roja, Panterita del Ring
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico b Magnus, Mephisto, Soberano Jr.

Virus/Satanico was said to have gone well. Something definitely went wrong in match 2. The CDMX rudos took fall 1, Difunto did his rope walk dropkick about a minute into a fall two, and his opponent just didn’t kick out. He didn’t look hurt or concussed. The referee couldn’t really have done anything about it. Both teams brawled a little bit to make up for the missing time but it was very clear that wasn’t the planned finish.

Satanico, in talking about how his Guadalajara charges did on Saturday, said, “I thought they did good, they could’ve done a little more, but I’m happy and satisfied with their performance.” That is a typical coach speech from Satanico. CMLL ran the ad for the Guadalajara versus Mexico City on every show for weeks – I don’t think they meant to hit it that hard, but they just ended up doing it by announcing the card a month ahead of time – and it made it feel like it was going to be a much more meaningful show than it was.

CMLL Informa guests list

• Templario (MJF)
• Mascara Dorada (Death Triangle)
• Angel de Oro & Star Jr. (Leyenda de Plata)
• Kira & Skadi (Friday match? A title defense on Saturday or Sunday?)
• Neon (RevPro)

The rest of the Gran Prix names will be revealed. The closing words of the show are worth watching; it’s possible they may end the show by saying when the Aniversario main event will be announced.

Atlantis Jr. teams with Lio Rush to face Johnny TV and Shane Taylor on Thursday’s Ring of Honor show. Wrestling Observer Radio mentioned that those four, along with Kyle Fletcher, will be in a five-way for Atlantis Jr.’s ROH TV Championship on Friday’s PPV. ROH has not announced this; I guess they’re waiting until Thursday night to announce the Friday card. (And we think Monday night is far too late to announce a Friday card!)

That same show has a ten-man tag, mostly getting noticed for Fuego del Sol’s return to the AEW/ROH universe. Among Fuego del Sol’s partners is Komander; AEW has a current CMLL wrestler and AAA champion on the same show. I’m unsure if that means the rules are relaxed or if ROH’s tapings are so far underneath anyone’s radar that CMLL will notice. I’d lean towards the latter.

Vanilla Vargas accusations

Vanilla Vargas said she was the victim of an attempted sexual assault while working for AAA. Vargas worked for AAA from 2017 up until the 2020 pandemic shutdown. She moved back to Mexico full-time this month and worked on the Cosas de Vestidor show this past Friday. She made comments on the YouTube podcast associated with the promotion; they posted a clip of it on Instagram and TikTok (and that’s when her story really got noticed). El Grafico has a summary; the story got some pickup on news sites on Tuesday.

Vanilla Vargas says the incident happened when she stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel in Cancun for an AAA show. She had a bag of sweets, says she was the only one who had them, and she was sharing them with many of the wrestlers. One of the male wrestlers asked for a sweet, Vanilla took the bag in and gave it to him, the wrestler suggested they drink at the bar in that room, and she declined. She turned to grab the sweets bag and leave, but he blocked the door and “tried to abuse” her. A male family member of the wrestler – implied to be another wrestler – then arrived in the room. Vanilla believed at first he’d help diffuse the situation, but the other male also started to mess with her. Vanilla felt she couldn’t overpower the men to escape, so she pretended to go along with it long enough for them to let their guard down and then fled the room. The attackers called after her and threatened to ruin her name, but she didn’t care and was in shock besides. Vargas later confronted and got into a fight with at least one of the attackers when they showed up for a party in her hotel room (one her roommate Scarlett had put together without Vanilla knowing what had happened.)

This story is traumatic for Vanilla, but she also tells it in a way where she’s proud of her bravery to escape a horrible situation. It’s unclear if she told AAA about the situation. It’s possible Vanilla was saying she was sharing “sweets” as a replacement word for some other less friendly substance she was sharing with her fellow wrestlers. That’s the vibe I got from how she told the portion of that story, but I can’t be certain.

AAA held many Hard Rock shows over the 2010s, Scarlett and Vanilla only appeared on the Saturday September 8th, 2018 card. It was a non-TV show, which was unusual for Hard Rock shows. The reason AAA didn’t tape at the Hard Rock was because it was a unique AAA weekend; they taped on Friday in Cancun and Sunday in Merida instead of the usual multiday stay at the Hard Rock. Not all the wrestlers worked all three events. The Hard Rock show has the fewest wrestlers booked, but anyone working both the Friday show and the Sunday probably stayed at the hotel on Saturday. (Vargas mentions Lady Shani as being there, and she did not wrestle on the Saturday show.) There is no obvious pair of male family members booked on the Saturday show. However, three members of the same family are booked on the Friday Cancun lineup. It’s also worth considering there could’ve been other family members of wrestlers hanging around that weekend who weren’t on the shows. The lineups are what they are, but they’re not definite proof of who all was present. Vargas never names her attackers, and I want to respect her decision by not going any further.

AAA

AAA announced a new taping on Tuesday.

AAA TV (SAT) 09/07/2024 Auditorio Municipal, Torreón, Coahuila
1) Emperador Azteca, Mini Vikingo, Noisy vs Belcegor, Kamik-C, Skalibur
2) Faby Apache & Sexy Star vs Dalys & Flammer
3) Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa, Octagón Jr. vs Kento, Nobu San, Takuma
4) Dinámico, Drago, Laredo Kid vs ?, Forastero, Sansón
5) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown vs Abismo Negro, El Fiscal, Psicosis
6) Dr. Wagner Jr., Pagano, Vampiro vs ?, El Mesías, Taurus

This is the first official TV taping post-TripleMania, though AAA also announced a Showcenter event on September 1st and hasn’t declared whether it will also be taped. (Depending on that Monterrey show, this taping will start airing on 09/14 or 09/21.)

AAA ran this location around the same date back in 2022. The Takuma/KENTO versus Iguana/Hamburgesa feud was just starting. The only thing that’s changed in two years is that Crazy Boy was involved in the angle back in 2022, and he’s quietly disappeared along the way. The rest of the show looks like to continue the pre-TripleMania feuds. Vipers/Psychos continues on, as does Dalys/Faby. The mystery people may be Fresero Jr., or it may be other people coming in over the next couple of shows. AAA has not used the new Taurus as a main eventer (nor is he ready for that sort of position,) but the old Taurus is from Torreon, and perhaps this is a message of a kind. The old Taurus may be elsewhere this Saturday. His role is the same as the old guy for this night: try to shine up a tecnico team that’s probably not great.

Emperador Azteca quit AAA in May 2023 when Big Lucha had a big tie-up with CMLL. That tie-up lasted one show (all the Big Lucha guys lost), and Emperador Azteca has found his way back to AAA. He wasn’t doing anything more than opener work prior, so fans who are just in AAA may assume he’s another name that gets cycled in and out. What happened to the Money Machine guys?

Latin Lover appeared at the press conference to announce this card, just as he did last week in Aguascalientes to promote that show. Figuring out the behind-the-scenes mechanics is murky – and intentionally so – but the biggest camera facing advantage of Latin Lover is he’s good at these sort of press conferences, he seems to like them, and the press loves him as a former star.

Los Traumas said they haven’t been called by AAA to come in alongside Fresero Jr., but would listen if they were called.

This is probably not AAA, but there’s no good place to put it. A sequence of events:

• Konnan ends a podcast segment threatening, “What comes around goes around“
• WWE signs Stephanie Vaquer, which seemed to be what Konnan was hinting at.
• Konnan posts “what comes around goes around 2”
  • and “if u didn’t learn from first one then u obv dont know“
  • and tells someone mocking him with a GIF to use it on themselves when the news comes out

Konnan’s seemingly been told another person is jumping from the NJPW/AEW/CMLL promotions group to WWE. It could be because AAA and WWE are secretly working together. It could be because there are very few sources people in the US trust to know about Mexican wrestling, and Konnan is one of them, so he’s unofficially talked to whenever WWE has an interest in the area. It could just be that someone told him something. As much as Konnan is currently loathed by fans on social media (check the quote tweets and responses), he seems to have a very high approval rating among people actually inside the wrestling business. Konnan’s comments are too vague to tell us what he knows; he just wants it known that he knew it was happening and that it is seen as revenge on his enemies.

(Stating the obvious: Konnan’s not a news organization. He’s not double-sourcing his stories or holding himself to some news standards – that’s not the deal. He’s hearing gossip from friends and passing along the stuff he feels like passing along. Sometimes it is true stuff, and it’s out first because he’s not waiting to confirm it. Sometimes, it’s false because the story got messed up in the gossip chain. Sometimes, he may just make stuff up, but that’s probably less than the other two. Konnan is making too big of a public point to get this story wrong, but random podcast bits may not get the same personal investment. Konnan’s not the only one doing this.)

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 07/25/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Cosmic & Titanium vs Fobia & Pitbull
2) Ángel Kid, Astral (Estado De México), Ratzinger vs Hijo De Seminarista, Kato Xtreme Jr., Samoa Kid
3) Súper Boy vs Shura King
4) Black Dragón Jr., Black Dragón Ng, Willy Banderas vs Pinky, Skyler, X-Devil
5) Gravity, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Black Shadow II, Mr. Mike, Ovett Jr.
6) Auzter, Fauno, Histeriosys, Kali, Rey Astaroth, Tornado, Vudu Max vs Águila Guerrera, Arceus, Drákula Ng, Príncipe Centauro, Sacro, Shamila, Sky Man
GYM Fill vs Tryout 2024

Same FILL vs Tryout bit as previous shows. Gravity is working the trainee show (though so is Mr. Mike.)

IWRG , LLB (THU) 08/01/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Argus, Fobia, Máscara De Herrio vs Águila Dorada, Ángel Kid, Mr. Koi
2) Wisin El Dog vs Príncipe Centauro, Hijo De Sparta, Pinochito, X-Devil, New Level, Hijo De Brazo De Platino, Águila Oriental, Gravedad Cero
3) Fandango, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Skayler, Sol, Visionario
4) Lunatik Extreme, Súper Boy, Toto vs El Bendito, Fly Star, Lunatik Fly
5) Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Puma de Oro vs Carta Brava Jr. (LLB), Cíclope, Miedo Extremo [super libre]
6) Canek & Canek Jr. vs Hijo de Octagón & Octagón and Fuerza Guerrera & Juventud Guerrera and ? & ??

Defintiely a Lucha Libre Boom show.

Other News

El Hijo del Santo says he wants to write two books about his life, one about his personal life and one about his professional life. He also wants to make two films and open a store in Japan. It’s so strange to me that they sent Santo on this media tour to promote his shows with nothing more than the same dates and locations that were announced two months ago.

Fresero and a bunch of CMLL stories are on the cover of Box y Lucha 3613.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 07/19/2024 Arena México [CMLL, FDDE]
1) Calavera Jr. I & Calavera Jr. II b Capitán Suicida & El Audaz  
8:11
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora  
13:18
3) Lluvia, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard b Hera, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis  
9:48
4) Euforia, Último Guerrero, Valiente b Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Hechicero [Relevos Increíbles]  
10:02. Euforia, Valiente, Hechicero and Esfinge all made threats and challenges for mask matches
5) Templario & Virus b Místico & Titán, Neón, Star Jr., Fugaz, Magia Blanca [Leyenda de Plata, battle royal]
6) Titán b Fugaz [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
4:56
7) Místico b Neón [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
4:41
8) Star Jr. b Magia Blanca [Leyenda de Plata, 8f] 
3:18
9) Templario b Virus [Leyenda de Plata, 8f] 
4:52
10) Místico b Titán [Leyenda de Plata, quarterfinal] 
5:39
11) Star Jr. b Templario [Leyenda de Plata, quarterfinal] 
3:15
12) Star Jr. b Místico [Leyenda de Plata, semifinal]  
6:11. Mistico had an arm hooking the bottom rope but referee Edgar missed it. Star Jr. faces Angel de Oro in the tournament final.

Last week’s Friday night show was disappointing. It’s been a long while since CMLL has had two bad Friday nights in a row and they didn’t this time either. I don’t mean this as if I think they tried to make up for last week in any way; it’s more that CMLL is overall deep and hot enough that they’re going to it’s tough for them to go into a prolonged slump. This Friday show seemed hotter and with a better quality of matches than last week. The tournament final got a little more time but the other matches felt they had a bit more life in them.

The big apuesta feuding was contained to just one match, and pitched more as a four way mask match this week. Ultimo Guerrero walked to the back as soon as he was eliminated. Averno and Voaldor weren’t around and Templario was otherwise occupied. The four way mask match seemed like the most well-received idea CMLL’s hinted at so far, though I have no idea where they’re going to end up.

I do have an idea of when. Past CMLL Anniversary announcement date by year:

• 2023: August 9 Informa
• 2022: August 3 Informa
• 2021: August 6 Informa
• 2020: August 12 Informa

Pencil in news for the August 7th Informa. (Pencil in my news post coming out very late that night.) That means CMLL has two more Fridays to show their hand – and those happen to be the two that’ll get some extra attention with the AEW guests.

Every couple of months, CMLL hits everyone over the head with the news that they’re going with Star Jr. as in the top mix , and then we all forget about it a week later. This tournament final was them hitting us all over the head with it, maybe it’ll sink in. It is a breaking in form for CMLL to run the same final of a tournament so close to each other – these two were the finals of the Copa Junior back in May. Star Jr. won that one. CMLL did give Mistico as big an excuse as possible with him hooking the bottom rope; it was a way to give Star Jr. a tainted win without him doing anything actually heelish. Templario/Virus from the tournament was fun.

The other big news wasn’t in the matches. A video of MJF from Dynamite after his title win appeared, announcing he’d appear on the 08/02 show and defend his newly won AEW International Championship. More on that in a few paragraphs. In a hundred guesses, I would’ve never gotten “American flag emoji means MJF.” Nothing against MJF, that’s just not a connection in my head.

CMLL (SAT) 07/20/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Astral & Eléctrico b Gallo Jr. & Ráfaga Jr. (Jalisco)
9:02
2) Hera & Olympia b Adira (Jalisco) & Náutica
12:15.
3) El Gallero, Explosivo, Halcón Negro Jr. b Espanto Jr., Hombre Bala Jr., Raider [Relevos Increíbles]
15:26
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Leo (Jalisco), Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr.
12:14
5) Bestia Negra, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther
13:19
6) Ángel de Oro, Máscara Dorada, Místico b Bárbaro Cavernario, Esfinge, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
17:56

It’s good to run different things even if the shows aren’t actually better. This show wasn’t actually better. The Guadalajara wrestlers didn’t do anything impressive or interesting with their one yearly chance in Mexico City. The matches were all OK but generally unnoteworthy; I liked the opener more than the rest but it was nothing remarkable. It is unsurprising that the Mexico City guys treat this as a normal card but it’s strange the visitors don’t have anything special prepared.

CMLL (SUN) 07/21/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Grako & Infarto b Diamond & Robin
Robin suffered an injury and Diamond was out numbered.
2) Arkalis, Valiente Jr., Xelhua b Dark Magic, Inquisidor, Nitro
3) Hijo de Blue Panther b Okumura [lightning]
4) Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero b Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volcano
5) Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
6) Ángel de Oro, Hechicero, Mephisto DQ Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Valiente
Valiente unmasked Hechicero

Nothing too surprising here.

An hour of the CMLL Sunday shows air on the public TV station “AMX”. It’s channel number 34.2, a sub-channel of TV Mexiquense. They were airing at 10 pm Fridays and 11 AM on Sundays. That Sunday time is still correct, but a new sports show aired in that time slot on Friday. My hunch is the Friday show got moved into earlier in the night but the station doesn’t put out a programming guide for that channel and CMLL doesn’t really mention their TV.

Televisa Puebla has a five minute loop of local programming commercials they air on YouTube whenever there’s something on that they don’t have the rights to stream. That loop aired in place of CMLL Puebla. I don’t think it’s a CMLL issue because it was also airing in place of the Sunday religious mass that leads into the Puebla; I’m pretty sure they’ll never have an issue streaming that one. Maybe there was some big sporting event that’s outside of my radar that pre-empted both of them, or some tech issue. Televisa Puebla repeats their show Tuesday at 5 pm local time – maybe we’ll find out if Xelhua/Vegas aired then.

CMLL (TUE) 07/23/2024 Arena México
1) Galaxy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Dragón de Fuego & Legendario vs Hunter & Infarto
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
4) Neón © vs Bárbaro Cavernario [REVPRO CRUISER]
5) Templario vs Averno, Flip Gordon, Stuka Jr., Esfinge, Rugido, Valiente, Zandokan Jr. [AEW INTERNACIONAL, #1 Contenders]

The two questions to answer in that “winner faces MJF” match

• does the winner of this match need to show up in AEW to continue a story even if they lose to MJF?
• does CMLL care if Templario takes a singles match loss to a foreign name?

Templario’s the highest ranked guy in the match, but he’s only winning that if the answer is “no” to both. There’s no sign his US visa situation has been fixed – he’s probably in the same batch as Mascara Dorada, who said his was getting done soon but not yet – and they did just have him beat Michael Oku when a loss just of the sake of doing it. Esfinge and Rugido would be names who’ve been on AEW TV and would be less of a big deal to beat. I’d like to see Stuka Jr. but I don’t know CMLL sees it that way.

Neon’s scheduled to defend that RevPro Undisputed Cruiserweight Championship in a five way match on 08/24. None of the other participants have been announced yet; RevPro instead said Cavernario will be added to the match (and Neon will stay in it) if Cavernario wins the title here.

CMLL (FRI) 07/26/2024 Arena México
1) Kira, Náutica, Skadi vs Hera, Olympia, Valkiria
2) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
3) Esfinge & Euforia vs Hechicero & Valiente
4) Ángel de Oro vs Star Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, final]
5) Templario & Titán vs Rocky Romero & Último Guerrero
6) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Fénix El Rey, PAC, Penta

CMLL really did just wait until they put up this poster to announce Death Triangle’s opponents. It just happened much earlier on Monday than usual.

Mistico, Volador and Dorada are chalk picks for the Death Triangle opponents. I think I might have swapped Dorada and Titan, because Titan did really well in the Forbidden Door match and Dorada/Rocky is the old (current?) rivalry, but I can’t fault them going this way. Templario and Ultimo Guerrero continue their issue in the semi-main.

Match four is the tournament final. Match three is the four people feuding in mask battles. Match two is the new national trios champions versus contenders (or the national tag champs against contenders.) Match one is the women’s national tag champs versus their usual challengers, with the Guadalajara ladies added on.

The Leyenda de Plata has never been in a fourth match spot before. By year, the final has been

• 2023: main event (Mascara Dorada beats Rocky Romero)
• 2022: main event (Templario beats Soberano)
• 2021: main event (Titan beats Templario)
• 2018: semimain (Cavernario beats King Phoenix)
• 2017: main event (Volador Jr. beats Caristico)
• 2016: main event (La Mascara beats Negro Casas)
• 2015: semimain (Negro Casas beats Dragon Lee)
• 2014: semimain (Negro Casas beats Titan)
• 2011: main (Volador Jr. beats Jushin Lyger)
• 2008: main (Mistico beats Perro Aguayo Jr.)
• 2007: main (Mistico beats Mr. Aguila)
• 2006: main (Mistico beats Atlantis)
• 2005: main (Atlantis beats El Hijo del Santo)
• 2004: main (Perro Aguayo Jr. beats Felino)
• 2003: main (Felino beats Black Warrior)
• 2001: main (Black Warrior beats Negro Casas)
• 2000: main (Negro Casas beats el Hijo del Santo)
• 1999: semimain (Hijo del Santo beats Scorpio Jr.)

I don’t know what names the Lucha Brothers are actually using this time, yet.

In post-match interviews on Tuesday, the Villanos said Barboza could join La Escuadra if he faced each of them and Zandokan in singles matches. Zandokna was told about this possibility and instead said Barboza was already now part of La Escuadra. They are all just riffing and making things up on the fly in these Guadalajara interviews.

Heraldo de Leon has a long interview with Leon native turned Guadalajara wrestler Gallero. It is random how Gallero and Rayo Metalico are both from the same area but ended up in different CMLL branches. Gallero is the very Dinamita looking luchador of that crew, as he was trained by Universo 2000. Satanico encouraged Gallero to consider joining the Arena Coliseo Guadalajara training program after seeing him on a show in Guanajauto in November 2022, and he was traveling between Leon and Guadalajara – a near three hour dive – for nearly a year before moving full time to his new home.

AAA

AAA on Space ended with a frustrated Latin Lover stewing about Konnan and Dorian their unwillingness to make changes in AAA. It came off as if maybe Latin Lover was turning heel or just split with the other two or somehow be behind the eye thing. It was definitely meant to be something to get people talking, but it’s hard to know what to make of anything AAA. File this away as something else that might go somewhere on TripleMania Mexico City.

The show was mostly about the Riddle/Wagner3 main event. AAA aired a clip of each walking into building and did a interview with Wagner and Galeno del Mal about coming to AAA (giving the impression they’d be around more often.) The wrestlers went for a big epic match to get talked about, though the chances are very low of that happening from an AAA TV show. Riddle seemed to work better here than when I saw him on the NJPW show in Chicago though he left any traces of personality on the other side of the border; he was just a guy who doing a lot of moves and kicking out of a bunch of other moves. The Mexico crowd was naturally more behind Wagner, which made the finish – Wagner using a foul to set up his finish – strange. My best guess is AAA really wants to bring in Wagner3 full time and so gave him the win as a way to get him interested, but also didn’t want to beat Riddle since they had him signed for TripleMania already.

Not all the Mexico crowd was behind Wagner; the camera shots AAA used on TV made it clear plenty of AAA fans saw Guapos/Psycho Circus match as the real main event and decided not to stick around for this one. While AAA promoted this June Gimnasio del la Barrerea show as a sell out, the shots they were using on TV showed visible empty seats in the upper levels through the whole taping, and not just back behind the stage.

Psycho Circus/Guapos was a little better than I expected. The Guapos look old but turned in an average AAA brawl, and did better than some of the other names from the past this year. The Vipers attacking Psycho Circus seemed like a set up for the clowns to be added to the cage match but who knows. The opener was a bunch of people kind getting in each other’s way who we may or may not see again. Adelicious has been a ruda in previous appearances, was apparently a tecnica this time around. Nobu San – GLEAT’s Check Shimatani – was off step with the rest of the match, as you’d expect for someone not used to working this style. Black Andromeda got to do his big moonsault. The new Pathfinder was unremarkable and came off as yet another random old gimmick being thrown on TV with no particular plan.

AAA is once again out of unaired TV, so next week’s show will likely be highlights and matches with previous shows.

The AAA YouTube uploaded currently labeled as “Ciudad de Mexico Part 2 | June 2024” is actually part 1. It’s also missing commentary from the four way; it aired on TV with announcers.

Hijo del Vikingo posted a photo of him from an AEW Dynamite taping. Random photos from Mexican wrestlers on IG should not be taken meaningful – like Twitter RT’s, they just post whatever they feel like that day. It’s only the English speaking wrestlers who are using their posts as some sort of chess game. Vikingo did respond to someone in the comments asking if this meant he was returning, Vikingo saying “No, but in a bit.” Back in April, Vikingo seemed set on beating all reasonable expectations and making it back for TripleMania Mexico City. That’s a month from now. If he’s really going to do it, Vikingo may appear on Verano de Escandalo (08/02) or the next TripleMania press conference (probably early the following week.) Vikingo being added to the Alberto/Nemeth match would give that match a stronger appeal, but it also isn’t a great idea for Vikingo to return if he’s not fully healthy.

Nic Nemeth won the TNA Heavyweight Championship on their show Saturday. He still is AAA heavyweight champion, though he hasn’t been seen since TripleMania Monterrey and only gets mentioned in Alberto el Patron promos for their match in Mexico City. My sense is TNA wouldn’t have the same hang ups about Nemeth losing while champion as a NJPW would, but we’ll find out in a few weeks.

Raj Dhesi, the former Jinder Mahal, posted a list of his first post-WWE wrestling matches. Raj Dhesi is wrestling at TripleMania and listed it that on the schedule. With the wrong date. (He has the 7th, it’s the 17th.) Few people seem to have noticed.

The big Facebook lucha libre controversy of the weekend was about an AAA veto of Penta. It seems like a story may not be all of what happened but may actually be true. The veto came out over a booking for FULL Promotions in Chiapas on 08/03, the night after Verano de Escandalo. Penta was scheduled to face Alberto, and both the promotion and Alberto announced Alberto would no longer be appearing. FULL’s press release on Saturday blamed it on an unnamed promotion who has Alberto under contract (AAA) not wanting their guys to be on the same show as Penta any more. A problem with this story is Tijuana’s EMW Promotion was also was said they had Alberto on 08/03, and had that out at least as of Tuesday. It looked like Alberto or AAA just picked the Tijuana show over the Chiapas one. That could be the case, but Penta also was scheduled for a show in Atlixco, Puebla on Saturday and did not appear. Chessman took his place. Penta’s fairly often worked shows with AAA talent this year, even while maintaining no official AAA relationship, so a veto would indicate a big shift. Neither Penta nor AAA has said anything about this situation, and it’s always possible Penta could’ve missed the Atlixco show for other reasons.

That full EMW card, since we’re here:

AAA , EMW (SAT) 08/03/2024 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Anton Carrillo vs Talibán, Tempesad G., Vanderberg
2) Julissa vs Valentina, Sexy Star, Lady Lee, Alex Gracia, Mazzerati
3) Kamik-C & Skalibur vs Arkángel Divino & Último Maldito and Dulce Kanela & Epydeimus
4) Dinámico vs Octagón Jr. ©, Fantastik, Fulgor [AAA LA]
5) Genio del Aire, Jessy Queen, Willie Mack vs Slice Boogie, Toscano, Vito Fratelli
6) Drago, Hijo De Dos Caras, Mecha Wolf vs El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Hijo de Rey Misterio, Marty Scurll
7) El Patrón Alberto & Marco Corleone vs Niño Hamburguesa & Pagano and Pierroth Jr. & Sam Adonis

So many very weird matches. Pagano being listed as wrestling here means he’s maybe returning the night before on Verano de Escandalo and likely getting added to TripleMania.

Octagon Jr. Latin American title defenses:

• a three way
• a singles match thrown together as a replacement for a three way
• a singles match (non-TV)
• a four way
• a four way
• a four way
• a four way (non-TV)

“Vanderberg” in the opener is apparently NJPW Strong Matt Vandagriff. Great work on spelling his name aside, why do NJPW wrestlers keep taking bookings for these Tijuana groups? Did Rocky Romero not send out a memo by now?

Cibernetico, in talking about reaching 3o years in wrestling, says lucha libre is the most nepotistic sport in Mexico, which made it tough for him to succeed as an outsider. However, he is also a fan of nepotism in general because it’s normal to look out for your family, you just shouldn’t misuse the power. Cibernetico says he will not give his name to a son or other relative, feeling he had to work to make it and doesn’t want to risk someone else tarnishing it.

Faby Apache didn’t win, didn’t get pinned on TNA’s pre-PPV show on Friday, then didn’t appear on their taping Saturday. I have no idea why any of this happened beyond AAA getting to say they have an alliance a US company. (Similiarly, AAA posted the video of Octagon Jr. in GLEAT.)

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 07/21/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Histeriosis & Súper Boy b Dracula Ng & Willy Banderas
2) Auzter, Iron Kid, Tornado b Guerrero Mixtico, Rey Aztaroth, Rey Halcón
3) Gravity, Mr. Mike, Príncipe Centauro b Freelance, Halcón Suriano, Mutifacetico Jr.
Gravity & Halcon Suriano added to the match (that was just announced two days prior). Centauro unmasked Multifacetico after the match.
4) Estrella Divina b Sádika, Ivan Rokov
Ivan Rokov was added to the match for some reason. Divina and Sadika fought in the post match interviews.
5) Águila Roja, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Puma de Oro b Baby Xtreme, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly
Puma de Oro is newly bald, lost his hair the night prior in Neza.
6) Hijo del Fishman, Hijo Del Silver King, Simon Blanco b Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Máscara Sagrada NG
Silver King and Simbon Blanco fouled Hell Boy and Canis Lupus

Other News

Lucha Libre ELITE spend the weekend first teasing and then hurriedly announcing a return card for three weeks from now

ELITE (SUN) 08/11/2024 Frontón México, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal
1) La Hiedra & Lady Flammer vs Julissa & Valentina
2) Gravity vs Rey Horus, Travis Banks
3) Black Warrior Jr. & Verdugo vs Argenis & Tonalli
4) Negro Casas vs Fuerza Guerrera
5) Laredo Kid vs Metalik
6) Pagano vs DMT Azul, ?

This promotion ran in April, said they’d put the video out of the show and run in June, then went completely dark until they started promoting this show. That show built around LA Park/Rush and whatever big names they could get in, and struggled to sell the tickets. They’re going to do the same thing in the same venue but without LA Park and Rush. Many of the comments responding to their social media push have been of the type to troll their promotion. Some people will go to these shows but few take anything they say seriously.

Valentina is former NXT wrestler Valentina Feroz, who partnered with Julissa/Yulisa Leon during their time there. Both are also on the Mas Lucha anniversary show next Sunday and that EMW card. There seemed to be a lot initial interest in Julissa whens he first started wrestling post-NXT but it feels like that’s cooled down.

El Hijo del Santo is still on a media tour to promote shows that have nothing more the dates and locations. ESTO frames their interview around asking why the mask match with Blue Demon Jr. never happened. Santo says the fans would be too sad if either man was unmasked, and he believes both heroes should forever be masked. He mentioned getting challenged to mask matches recently by Cuchillo, Bobby Lee Jr., Hijo de Fishman, and Misterioso Jr. – all people shooting their shots on social media in hopes of getting a payoff – and he still has to determine if it’s worth betting his mask. The one person he will not bet his mask against, or at least think very carefully before agreeing, is Atlantis; he’s just won too many important mask matches for Santo to feel comfortable facing him.

Oraculo resurfaced in The Crash on Friday night, a surprise partner of Mecha Wolf & D-Luxe in the main event. The more interesting thing to me is how The Crash’s attendance looks down after TripleMania. (That crowd looks better in other photos from earlier in the night, but it’s not the sellouts they were doing prior.) Perhaps some of that is still people not wanting to spend money on wrestling so soon, but it’s clear that those The Crash wrestlers appearing on TripleMania didn’t help the local promotion in any meaningful way; the ‘feud’ with AAA seems to have been a negative for attendance. The confusing booking around the Mecha Wolf/Bestia 666 feud probably hasn’t helped.

An interview with indie luchador Barack.

A video story on Los Cholitas.

CMLL

Tonight’s show:

CMLL (FRI) 07/19/2024 Arena México
1) Capitán Suicida & El Audaz vs Calavera Jr. I & Calavera Jr. II
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
3) Lluvia, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard vs Hera, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
4) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Hechicero vs Euforia, Último Guerrero, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Místico vs Titán, Templario, Neón, Star Jr., Fugaz, Magia Blanca, Virus [Leyenda de Plata, battle royal]

I’m not at all excited for the content of the Leyenda de Plata tournament after last week’s weak effort. What gives me a little hope is CMLL’s been better about tweaking things that don’t work. They’re not great at it, but they didn’t do that at all previously. Maybe this show will get laid out a little better this week to allocate more time for the tournament. Templario is the heavy favorite, and any match between him and Mistico or Titan or Neon would be pretty strong if there’s still eight minutes to wrestle at the end of the night. he more likely of the two.

The only other match with a direction is that semimain, where Hechicero, Euforia, Esfinge and Valiente will bring their feuding from other shows on this show. That seems likely to be two falls and/or lots of DQs.

The women’s match is a random combination of people missing their tag team partners. The Chacales have a rare team up in match 2. Match 1 looks like sneaky fun.

CMLL (SAT) 07/20/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Astral & Eléctrico vs Gallo Jr. & Ráfaga Jr. (Jalisco)
2) Hera & Olympia vs Adira (Jalisco) & Náutica
non-title
3) Espanto Jr., Hombre Bala Jr., Raider vs El Gallero, Explosivo, Halcón Negro Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Leo (Jalisco), Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. vs Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
5) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther vs Bestia Negra, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Esfinge, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Máscara Dorada, Místico [Relevos Increíbles]

The Guadalajara/Mexico card was announced a month ago; Hombre Bala kind of looks out of place now. They’re running this card about a year to the day of the first one; there must be a holiday reason that’s flying over my head. Last year’s card didn’t turn out interesting, though this one is better on paper. CMLL is sending the Guadalajara crew all over Mexico City to promote this show; here’s interviews with Furia Roja, Halcon Negro, and Vaquero Jr. Nautica was doing morning TV on Thursday.

CMLL (SUN) 07/21/2024 Arena México
1) Diamond & Robin vs Grako & Infarto
2) Arkalis, Valiente Jr., Xelhua vs Dark Magic, Inquisidor, Nitro
3) Hijo de Blue Panther vs Okumura [lightning]
4) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volcano vs Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
5) Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Valiente vs Ángel de Oro, Hechicero, Mephisto

Hechicero and Valiente matched up again in the main event.

CMLL (MON) 07/22/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Astoreth & Lady Metal vs Diablita Roja & Lady Amazona
2) Kemalito & Mije vs Periquito Sacaryas & Tengu
3) Meyer & Rey Samuray vs Multy & Rey Apocalipsis
4) Pegasso, Stigma, Xelhua vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, Místico vs Euforia, Magnus, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Valiente is on the rudo side in the semimain. He teased the idea of making that a permanent switch on Informa, with that segment ending with the idea that they would see what the fans thought about Valiente changing sides. That probably means he’s going to turn in front of the fans sometime soon.

CMLL (TUE) 07/23/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Draego, Persa, Rey Diablo vs Maximus, Minotaruo, Rey Urano
2) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Crixus, Difunto, Raider
3) Satánico vs Virus
4) Adira, Kira, Náutica, Tessa Blanchard vs Hatanna, Persephone, Valkiria, Zeuxis
5) Dark Panther, Furia Roja, Panterita del Ring vs Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Magnus, Mephisto, Soberano Jr.

Match 2 is the rudo Occidente Trios champions against the most likely challengers. The main event has the Atlantis/Soberano and Magnus/Mistico rivalries.

CMLL announced Death Triangle (Fenix, Penta, PAC) as appearing on their 07/26 CMLL show. No opponents were named. Mistico teamed with Fenix & Penta on the Forbidden Door pre-show, then teased Penta coming back to Arena Mexico to wrestle Mistico in a post match interview. Mistico’s probably one of the opponents, but can’t be announced while he still has a chance to win the Leyenda de Plata and be in that match instead. The rollout of that match announcement is going to be interesting; CMLL’s been dropping that lineup late on Monday nights recently, would seem to want to get that specific match out sooner. Maybe there will be a video released on Friday’s show directly after the main event.

The Lucha Brothers have been to CMLL before; fans are excited to see them, and there’s definitely a group that wasn’t paying attention to CMLL at that point (2018-19) who see this as a novel/new thing. Getting PAC too is an unexpected and welcome surprise. Latin Lover, in one of his interviews promoting AAA, pushed the idea of giving fans more than they expect and CMLL is following those ideals by bringing in the full Death Triangle.

07/26 is the same night as Ring of Honor’s Death before Dishonor. It depends on how long that show goes – one never knows with Ring of Honor – but the last half hour of that PPV typically overlaps with the first half of CMLL’s Friday night show. Atlantis Jr. is probably wrestling on the Ring of Honor show, though probably not in that overlap period.

As always, there was a shell game going on. CMLL talked about revealing the participants for the August 23rd, Gran Prix but not all of the participants. They weren’t lying when it turned out to be half the 20 man field:

Team Mexico
Templario
Ultimo Guerrero
Atlantis Jr.
Titan
Mistico
+5 more TBA “soon”

Team World
Ikuro Kwon (MLW/South Korea)
Flip Gordon (CMLL/US)
Rocky Romero (NJPW US/US)
Robbie X (RevPro/UK)
Kyle Fletcher (ROH/Australia)
+5 more TBA “next week”

Gordon’s a regular, Rocky is Rocky, Robbie X has been seen on the FantasticaMania UK shows, Fletcher was in Mexico recently. Kwon is the one unknown name to CMLL viewers. He’s been a part of MLW’s Contra heel unit – global terrorists who’s goals top out at destroying MLW – and Kwon has typically been a fall guy for the group. Kwon wrestles on the indies as Tristen Thai and seems better regarded there. He is going to be hard to beat as this year’s “obscure foreign wrestlers who made this field” bit. I’m sure CMLL is just happy to get to say they’ve had a South Korean in this competition.

On his podcast, Dave Meltzer mentioned Harry Smith will be on Team World as well.

The Men’s Gran Prix is 08/23. RevPro’s anniversary show is 08/24, and I’m not sure it would be logistiically possible to get from the Gran Prix to the start of that show; you can cross out Hechicero and Zack Sabre Jr. off the Gran Prix participant list. AEW’s All In is a day later, and that one may be possible if someone wanted to be an absolute maniac about travel. (Titan’s schedule over the last few months is proof that wrestlers are maniacs though.)

Other news Informa included Angel de Oro mentioning Niebla Roja was 4-6 weeks away from returning to the ring. That’s a quick turnaround for the arm injury he had. CMLL also had a promo from Willow Nightingale talking about her win and coming to Arena Mexico soon. The promo she did directly after her match mentioned Stephanie Vaquer. The promo CMLL used on their show did not.

CMLL posted another one of their emoji teasers, though “time globe american-flag” has me stumped. My best guess is CMLL wrestlers appearing on the upcoming NJPW Strong show, Capital Collision, taking place on August 30th.

Forneo may have finished up with CMLL. His last match was in May. He posted a graphic on Instagram Wednesday announcing he was open for bookings and has posted messages teasing a change in his career. He worked on an indie Arena San Juan show last week (a benefit show where no matches were announced) and has an upcoming trios match against Tonalli, another wrestler who was impressed in CMLL Torneo de Escualas and vanished after. CMLL historically has not paid new wrestlers well; rookies can either work another jump while hoping to move up, or they may just move on. Tonalli was working enough indies pre-CMLL to know what he’d get elsewhere, so maybe he decided that would be better.

Two Tuesday ago, the CMLL stream didn’t start on time, and the CMLL account went into chat to say they’d repost the partially aired match later for subscribers. They have not. Wednesday’s CMLL Informa had an audio sync issue for the second half of the program. A fixed version of that show was immediately reuploaded.

In a recent interview, Lucha Por Lucha asked Mascara Dorada if we’d see him go after Rocky Romero again, either in Mexico or elsewhere. Dorada said he hopes so. He acknowledged he had a problem with his work visa and seemed hopeful about it being resolved shortly – he plans on taking international trips to close out 2024.

AAA

On Wednesday, Latin Lover introduced Fresero Jr. as the mystery person in the Verano de Escandalo cage match. He’ll be teaming with Forastero & Sanson in the three way. Latin Lover had talked positively about bringing Fresero into AAA since the indie wrestler appeared on Latin’s podcast back in May. Fresero claimed more members of his group, El Negocio Traumado, would come to AAA. Latin said that if Fresero won the Verano de Escandalo cage match, he could be added to the TripleMania one. That TripleMania show is an apuesta one, Fresero Jr. is bald, so Latin offered to put his own hair on the line if Fresero Jr. lost. There was no mention of the “eye” attacker angle that Fresero Jr. has been linking towards. Fresero was later insistent he was a free agent, not signed to AAA, and it’s still possible he’ll be working with CMLL people or Hijo del Santo.

El Negocio Traumado has been one of the dominant Mexico City area indie acts since around 2021. All five core members – Trauma I, Trauma II, Fresero Jr., Demonio Infernal and Atomic Star – quit IWRG over issues with pay and where they were allowed to work. The situation was a high profile fiasco at a time where everyone was looking for something to talk about, and the wrestlers cannily used that controversy to reframe themselves as an exciting rebellious group. (Los Traumas had already been seen that way, this was more the other three leveling up.) They wrestle as lesser Paganos or LA Parks – lots of brawling, lots of weapon spots, and finishes where all sides get to claim they’ve were the true winners. They almost never take a real loss; it’s usually Atomic Star who does lose when there’s no choice in the matter. El Negocio Traumado appeal very strongly to the type of fans who come to lucha libre specifically for blood and up-close violence. They appear to be very good at connecting with their fans, and they have a loyal (but small) group that follows them from promotion to promotion. El Negocio Traumado are seen as stars and ticket sellers, so they’re wrestling fairly frequently and there’s a lot of acts trying to copy what they’ve done. Fresero Jr. previously wrestled in AAA in 2013 and 2014, always in the prelims. In a follow up interview (from outside Arena Naucalpan), Fresero Jr. credited his mother for helping him get into AAA at that time and feels proud he was able to return on his own ten years later. El Fresero, his father, was a long time AAA referee. The Fresero and Konnan had some long unclear beef from the past for many years, but social media posts suggest it may have finally been resolved earlier this year. None of the others have been a regular part of AAA before to my knowledge – the Traumas have shown up in angles but never wrestled. Bringing in Fresero does give Latin Lover some evidence he’s changing AAA as promised. Fresero noted that Latin Lover positioned the Verano de Escandalo booking as a trial run for Fresero, but Fresero pushed back to call it a trial run for AAA – to see if it’s a good idea for him to be there.

I wrote that long refresher on El Negocio Traumado because I hardly write about them here despite how ever-present they’ve been for years. They’re not an act where there’s a lot to actually write about them. They don’t have exceptional matches, or at least matches I find interesting. Once you’ve seen their act once, it’s largely the same – and usually worse than others who do the same act. They’re doing Mexican City indie wrestling, so there’s no attempt at storylines or evolving the characters, it’s about just doing the same thing over and over again until some other act gets hot and pushes it’s way to the top. I want to be specific on that there are five core members, because they frequently talk about so-so becoming a new member of the group seemingly as an attempt to pretend new and exciting things are happening. It rarely goes anywhere. There’s also dozens of post match interviews with them where they’ve teased they’re going to AAA and CMLL really soon, and at least one of those are happening. Adding these guys will help AAA’s perception with some of the social media complainers, but it’s another short term fix. Fresero has found his most success by protecting himself and his friends, and I’d be surprised if he was coming in to AAA to put people over or make someone a star. There’s the same concerns with an LA Park (and he’s probably far more of a headache), but at least LA Park appears still capable of having a great match. I’m not so sure the same about these guys.

In that same press conference, Latin Lover claiming that AAA will be touring the US late this year or in 2025. The idea is they’re going to be able to draw off the Unimas show. So far, no one’s reported a rating number for the Unimas show.

AAA on Space finishes off the June Mexico City taping

• Bengala, Black Andromeda, Chik Tormenta, Pathfinder  versus Adelicious, Jessy Queen, Noisy and Nobu San
• Psycho Circus vs Los Guapos
• Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Matt Riddle

AAA on Unimas will finish up the June Juarez taping. They are exactly four weeks behind Space.

Faby Apache will appear on Saturday’s TNA PPV pre-show, in a four way with Giselle Shaw, Xia Brookside, and TripleMania star Tasha Steelz. Yes, Faby’s getting the Laredo Kid spot. I believe this appearance was in the works for a while, but it was announced just in passing at a press conference on Thursday. TNA tapes TV on Sunday so it’s likely she’ll make an appearance there.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 07/18/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, La Tijera]
***IWRG Festival de Mascara 2024***
1) Panterita, Tortuga Leo, Tortuga Mike b Avisman, Bombero Infernal, Puma de Oro 
2) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly DQ Oficial 911 & Oficial AK47 
excessive violence DQ
3) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Jack, Pandemónium Jr. b Cerebro Negro, Internacional Pantera, Veneno, Vudu Max 
4) Arez, Látigo, Toxin b Black Mamba (AAA), Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus [IWRG IC TRIOS]  
1st defense. Earlier, Mala Fama offered Hell Boy and Canis Lupus a trios title match if they could find a partner. They found Black Mamba, Mamba going back to their pre-exotico masked gimmick. Black Mamba appeared to have Latigo ready to submit, but Cerbero Negro and Cerebro Negro got involved and caused a distracting. Mala Fama retained. Las Shotas asked for the next shot.
5) Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool b Mega, Omega, Súper Mega  
La Pandemia attacked the Pigs.
6) Cibernético b Dr. Wagner Jr.  
Cibernetico was honored earlier in the show. Hell Boy and Canis Lupus interfered to counter Hijo de Silver King and Simon Blanco. Cibernetico wants a match with DMT Azul and a hair/hair match with Wagner.

Other News

Guatemalan luchador Zombie (Francisco Aguilar) passed away on Wednesday .

El Hijo del Santo talked to Estadio Deportes for about a half hour. I flipped through portions of it and I didn’t spot anything new; the lineup for his shows are still to come, he may still add more dates but he hasn’t confirmed it. That first show in Arena Ciudad de Mexico is on September 22nd, so it’s about two months away with very little info. It’s tougher to get a full ticket map on Superboletos compared Ticketmaster, but you can click around at many sections and find few if any tickets sold. The announcement of this retirement along wasn’t strong enough to move a lot of tickets at the prices that are being asked, and nothing much else has happened. Maybe it’ll pick up when lineups are actually announced but the signs halfway through this lead up are negative.

The most famous Chilean luchador to people outside of Chile is currently Stephanie Vaquer. The most famous Chilean luchador to people inside of Chile – at least until this past week – is former actor and current AEW Spanish commentator Ariel Levy. Chile’s BolaVIP asked Levy to explain the whole deal with Vaquer going to WWE, for an audience who has very little info on wrestling and their contract battles. Levy believes Vaquer’s signing was in a way a response to AEW “defeating” WWE in battles for Mercedes Mone, Kazuchika Okada and Will Osprey – WWE wanted to get a win. Levy is very high on Vaquer’s chances in WWE, feeling that company has changed in a way that’s more open to non-North Americans than it has in the past, and Vaquer has what it takes to reach the top.

The Puebla commission announced 22 new licensed luchadors: women Amber, Mirvan and Pequena Star, and men Thunder Lion, Havok, King Magic, Zodiaco, Hiena, Kronos, Crazy Santana, War Marchine, Hijo de Policeman, Apostol, Rey Azul, Golden Panther, Magic Dragon, Rey Plata, Metal Spider, Angel de Plata, Pequeno Gato Gris, Bemon, and el Noble

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 07/15/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, El Sol de Puebla, Fuego en el Ring, Grada]
***71st Anniversary***
1) Astoreth, Sanely, Skadi b Amapola, Lady Amazona, Zeuxis
Astoreth helped get the win after her father (Muerte Negra) passed away the previous week.
2) Xelhua b Vegas [CMLL BARROCO, final]
Local Xelhua is the second champion of this new annual tournament. His father (00s regular SWAT) seconded him.
3) Rey Samuray, Stigma, Volcano b Espanto Jr., Rey Bucanero, Sagrado
4) Gran Guerrero b Akuma [lightning]
5) Hijo de Octagón & Octagón b Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. [semifinal]
6) Euforia & Soberano Jr. b Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr. [semifinal]
7) Euforia & Soberano Jr. b Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. [final]
8) Místico © b Volador Jr. [NWA MIDDLE]
9th defense

CMLL reported Arena Puebla was sold out hours before the show. Puebla is a walkup town; there have been sell outs, but they’re usually after the doors open. CMLL was very proud of this achievement. Others weren’t as thrilled. Local fans claimed others purchased large blocks of tickets – one commenter on super fan Porra Fresa’s Facebook page said he saw a woman by 65 seats in the balcony, followed by a man buying 90 seats. Those were scalpers, obviously – the ticket office knows what they’re doing when they’re selling 65 tickets to a single person, if that’s what happened. CMLL make their money off the tickets either way and are unconcerned about feedback. The scalpers did make their money, those seats look full, but it did apparently push out of some of the local fans. It appears Porra Fresa himself decided to skip the show rather than supporting scalpers, so he has no videos of the show. He does mention there’s typically about 8 scalpers working around the show, and there were at least 20 on Monday.

CMLL also didn’t post video clips from this show. as they’ve done for the Arena Puebla shows the last few months. That suggests it wasn’t being streamed to the CMLL  The event should air on TV this upcoming Sunday and there’s really nothing to stay about the matches until someone outside the building can see them.

CMLL (TUE) 07/16/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Mas Lucha, thecubsfan]
1) Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito b Kaligua & Pequeño Magía 
9:15
2) Metálica & Valkiria b La Vaquerita & Maligna  
12:56
3) Fuego b Difunto [lightning]  
9:26
4) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star b Cancerbero, Crixus, Vegas  
10:38
5) Atlantis, Brillante Jr., Flip Gordon b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido  
12:29
6) Máscara Dorada, Neón, Star Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible © [CMLL TRIOS]  
13:55. Dorada/Neon/Star become 36th champions. Los Barbaros fall on 4th defense. Despite the loss, Cavernario challenged Neon for his RevPro Cruiserweight Championship title next week, and Neon accepted.

The main event was a better version of the previous week’s match, where the champions kept the match going but really never came close to defeating their young challengers. Running two title changes on two straight Tuesday suggests some urgency in at least getting something done. (Maybe there’s a trios title defense in the plans for Aniversario.)

Neon defending the Rev Pro title in Mexico was also obviously on the To Do list and Cavernario is a name that would mean something to the UK fans in a defense. This title match was good (one big Star Jr. slip near the finish aside) and next week could be better if Cavernario’s up for it.

Match 4 was a good showing by the new champs.

CMLL (TUE) 07/16/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL, Mas Lucha]
1) Ángel Rebelde, Optimus, Torno b Rav, Shezmu, Temerario 
2) Adira, Kira, Sanely b Hatanna, Lady Amazonas, Persephone 
3) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio, Virus b Bestia Negra, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Satánico 
4) Star Black b El Gallero 
5) Barboza & Zandokan Jr. b Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. 
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Soberano Jr. b Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Valiente 
Euforia, Hechicero, Esfinge and Valiente all feuded (and Atlantis and Soberano did on the side.)

Hechicero and Valiente feuding here follows Sunday’s issues. Valiente also has issues with Esfinge from Friday, and Euforia helped boot out Hechicero from Los Inferanles last year. This version of Los Infernales exists in part because Euforia quit Los Guerreros over Ultimo Guerrero getting COVID in 2020 and the whole team getting pulled from that year’s Aniversario as a result. Euforia’s been historically consistent about valuing appearing Aniversario over all else, which fit with his comments last Wednesday on Informa – he doesn’t seem to care particularly about Esfinge but wants that main event. It sure looks like all these guys are going to be part of it this year.

The semmian was pretty good, I think helped by crowd reactions.

CMLL (FRI) 07/19/2024 Arena México
1) Capitán Suicida & El Audaz vs Calavera Jr. I & Calavera Jr. II
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
3) Lluvia, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard vs Hera, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
4) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Hechicero vs Euforia, Último Guerrero, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Místico vs Titán, Templario, Neón, Star Jr., Fugaz, Magia Blanca, Virus [Leyenda de Plata, battle royal]

Hechicero and Valiente are matched up in #4, so that’s another sign of it being a real program. Templario switching to the tecnico side last week makes him a favorite here – but last week’s show makes me not too excited for this show. Those who watch the opener for free on Facebook might end up with the best match of the night. (Or maybe I’m just convincing myself this show isn’t special because I’ve got other plans Friday.)

CMLL Informa has

• Angel de Oro (Leyenda de Plata Block A)
• Templario (a tecnico)
• Mascara Dorada, Neon, Star Jr. (new trios champs)
• Valiente (in a bad mood)
• Fugaz, Magica Blanca (Leyenda de Plata Block B)
• Vaquero Jr., Furia Roja, Espanto Jr., Raider, Gallero, Halcon Negro Jr., Nautica, Adira

Stephanie Vaquer is the cover image of Box y Lucha 3612. I totally forget she was a part of the women’s wrestling mural outside Arena Mexico until a couple of people pointed it out on Tuesday. CMLL will ignore her in many ways going forward but that one might be trickier.

AAA

Latin Lover will be part of a Verano de Escandalo press conference later today. That show is still two Fridays away. There’s still a mystery person scheduled to team with Forastero and Sanson in the main event, and Latin Lover may reveal that identity.

Lucha Libre TM points out Fresero Jr. wears a necklace that looks a lot like the eye symbol AAA’s used for their invaders for months. The three people who attacked Octagon Jr. and Psycho Clown this week sure seemed to the match the sizes of Fresero, Demonio Infernal and Atomic Star. If AAA is spending eight months building up the debut of Los Negocios on TripleMania, I can’t argue that AAA is going to be worse if it becomes about Los Negocios because most of you think it’s fairly terrible as it is, and they would bring a certain energy/excitement from Mexico City fans to replace the Origenes guys. I’ve generally given up watching a lot of Mexico indie wrestling because I’ve got no Los Negocios and their counterparts are the dominant influence in that scene and it’s producing a lot of stuff I have no interest in. I don’t think I can stop watching AAA to avoid them, so I may be stuck. Or I may just walk into the ocean never to return. Hard to say.

Other

The promotion that put on that badly attended AAA reunion show says they’re going to run the same concept a second time. Mexican wrestling economics are impossible to figure out.

Vanilla Vargas talked to ESTO to hype a match against Keyra on 07/19, though at no point does the article mention where the match is happening. (It’s maybe happening on the CVW show that day, though the match isn’t actually being promoted. What useless publicity.)

Shocker appeared on TV Azteca said his rehab is going good and he’s on the path to getting his jaw fixed. He’s been on that path since it was broken seven years ago.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 07/12/2024 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, FDDE, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (videos), thecubsfan]
1) Crixus, Espanto Jr., Vegas b Fuego, Valiente Jr., Xelhua   
8:09
2) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther b Akuma, Difunto, Zandokan    
13:34. Panthers took 2/3, fall 2 by DQ.
3) Averno, Euforia, Soberano Jr. b Esfinge, Titán, Valiente   
9:59. Straight falls. Esfinge hit Valiente twice by accident in the second fall, and Vailente fouled Esfinge on purpose to give Esfinge the win. Valiente stormed off without further explaining his actions.
4) Templario DQ Último Guerrero    
14:25. UG unmasked Templario mid powerbomb for the DQ. Templario declared he could no longer stand to team with the rudos and would be a tecnico going forward. He also challenged Guerrero to a mask versus hair match. UG gave no response.
5) Máscara Dorada & Stigma b Ángel de Oro, Brillante Jr., Flip Gordon, Futuro, Villano III Jr., Volador Jr. [seeding battle royal, Leyenda de Plata]  
6) Flip Gordon b Futuro [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]  
3:41
7) Ángel de Oro b Brillante Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, 8f] 
4:44
8) Volador Jr. b Villano III Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, 8f] 
4:35
9) Máscara Dorada b Stigma [Leyenda de Plata, 8f] 
4:36
10) Ángel de Oro b Flip Gordon [Leyenda de Plata, quarterfinal] 
4:08
11) Volador Jr. b Máscara Dorada [Leyenda de Plata, quarterfinal] 
3:13
12) Ángel de Oro b Volador Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, semifinal]    
5:12

There were a lot of things happening on this show – a surprise tecnico turn, a possible rudo turn, Angel de Oro getting a win over his most recent big rival and over the guy who took his hair last September – but they all sort of rammed into each other collectively. Getting Angel de Oro those two wins meant to turning Leyenda de Plata into a single elimination tournament (for only the second time ever), and one that was gasping for more time. Every match was about four minutes and lacked energy, extra disappointing when they’re doing stuff like “the first ever Mascara Dorada/Volador match.” These block nights are often saved by a great match in the block final, but CMLL was rushing so much that didn’t even happen (and neither man seemed that enthused for trying it anyway.) The tournament would’ve been a drag to a better show and took down one that was mostly building to other things.

Templario has been frequently on the tecnico side of relevos increibles matches for months, and worked as a tecnico in previous singles match (the Oku one stands out), so CMLL had been preparing for this turn for quite some time. Templario’s got the style to work as a tencico, and his team with Mascara Dorada on FantasticaMania was a good example of what he could do. It is still a negating of the big angle from FantasticaMania Japan five months ago, where Soberano and Templario put aside their feud to form Los Principes with Rocky Romero. Are those two going to go back fighting again? Whatever’s happened there, CMLL doesn’t seem to want to talk about it.

Both match 2 and 3 featured very long control periods by the rudos to set up a tecnico comeback; they were onesided matches. The Panthers made their big comeback, the best part of their game, but it felt like the match ended abruptly. The tecnicos sort of got their comeback in match 3, but it was also a lot of Esfinge causing his partner Valiente to lose his mind. I doubt CMLL wrestlers (or other personnel) are talking over their match layouts but that’s one where both would’ve been helped by being a bit different.

CMLL (SAT) 07/13/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Full Metal & Pequeño Violencia b Fantasy & Galaxy
8:14.
2) Pólvora b El Audaz [lightning]
8:31
3) Kira, Skadi, Tessa Blanchard b Hera, Persephone, Reyna Isis
14:48
4) Espíritu Negro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa b Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero
12:12
5) Flip Gordon, Fugaz, Star Black b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Magia Blanca
12:23
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Titán b Ángel de Oro, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr.
14:11

A good show to have in the background doing other stuff. The most interesting parts of this show where the announcers addressing things not on this show. They reacted to the news of the new women’s champion live, pushing the idea that someone on the CMLL roster would have to fight to bring the title back into the home promotion’s hands. Julio Cesar Rivera also brought up Hijo del Pantera’s performance during the Felino’s match and indicated that he’d be back at some point.

CMLL , NJPW (SAT) 07/13/2024 Mt. Pleasant High School, San Jose, California [FDDE, thecubsfan, NJPW] Attendance: 906
1) The DKC b Adrian Quest, Viento, Cucuy
8:31
2) Okumura & Satoshi Kojima b Magnus & Rugido [MLW TAG]
9:32
3) Willow Nightingale b Lluvia, Viva Van [CMLL WOMEN]
10:13. vacant title (Stephanie Vaquer left)
4) Hechicero & Virus b Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr.
13:56
5) Yota Tsuji b Bárbaro Cavernario
14:09
6) Gabe Kidd b Último Guerrero [NJPW STRONG]
12:11. Kidd challenged Lio Rush for his next title match in Washington DC.
7) Douki & Místico b Rocky Romero & Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
24:38. Mistico challenged DOUKI to an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

FantasticaMania was both a hot show in terms of crowd reactions and a hot show in that it appeared scorching in that building. Getting good performances given the conditions was impressive, and there was a lot of good on it. I thought everything on this except for match 2. (Kojima and Okumura didn’t seem like they were keeping up well with their opponents.) The guys in the main event went a lot longer than I thought, going for a an epic match to top a fun evening. Volador and Rocky of course had problems at the end. I’m not too sure how to take the post match challenges because I’m not sure they have a finish there. Mistico’s probably not losing, Mistico’s probably not winning unless NJPW is going crazy hard to build up that multi-promotion WrestleDream show. CMLL did the “Mistico goes to a draw finish with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion” last year with Takahashi.

Guerrero/Kidd was the hard hitting chop battle style of UG match, the type that he used to do a lot when he was wrestling indie matches. It reminded me of those Caifan matches. Other people got more out of the Cavernario/Tsuji match then I did, though I still thought it was good. Hechicero/Virus vs Tito/ZSJ never hit at the mat work level of Virus/ZSJ’s interactions last year or Hechicero/ZSJ this year, yet it still was a really good back and forth intense match.

It was odd seeing both a fourway scramble and a three way match on a CMLL themed show, but such is the way it turned out. The women’s title match worked well enough and the pro-Mexican crowd was still happy to see Willow Nightingale win. The announcers avoided mentioning Stephanie Vaquer’s name during the title match. Nightingale did mention Vaquer by name in her post-match interview, pointing out she did beat Vaquer back at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas as proof she’s a worthy successor to this title. I hadn’t thought about that finish since it happened, but I suppose there’s a chance CMLL planned to do a Vaquer/Nightingale match later this year. CMLL doesn’t always follow up on those things, but it works out. There’s no hurry for CMLL to get Nightingale back in CMLL to defend or lose the title. CMLL has no urgency around any title being defended. (Vaquer’s final defense of this title was in December 2023 against La Jarochita; neither of those women currently are wrestling in CMLL.) She’ll likely participate in the October run of shows, if not sooner, and it’s fairly likely the new CMLL World Women’s championship defense will instead happen outside of CMLL – either in AEW or a NJPW US show.

I’m less certain what’s next after Willow. I don’t think it’s Lluvia – she stepped to Willow post match as if to set up the match, but that seemed more like her doing a usual lucha bit of trying to get heat back after not winning. (See Mistico in the AEW Casino Gauntlet match; I don’t think we’re getting that match with Ospreay.) The bigger picture question is what the purpose is of the CMLL World Women’s title is now. If Stephanie Vaquer doesn’t go to WWE, I think NJPW US uses that belt just like they were using the Strong title, Vaquer defending against a variety of challengers until she met a really big name. Nightingale could slide into that role, if NJPW US still wants to keep doing that bit and Nightingale is not too busy with AEW. I kept thinking Tessa Blanchard would end up getting the title, but that doesn’t seem to work along a plan to use it in NJPW – they’ve shown no interest in using her for obvious reasons. (It’s also possible CMLL will be hesitant to give Blanchard or Catalina a title bit, concerned that non-Mexicans are more likely to leave if a WWE offer comes up.) If NJPW decides to move in a different direction, would CMLL prefer to try to make a star out of someone the fans haven’t seen at the level, or go back to safe hands? Princesa Sugehit should be back soon, was champion until she needed neck surgery, and would be a safe (if unexciting) champion.

The DKC was said to win a spot on the 2025 FantasticaMania with his win here, which was the first – and only – indication that a 2025 show was definitely planned. Drawing 900 people, even with more on PPV, seems tough for the amount of expense it takes to put a show like this together. Hopefully they can build bigger for next year.

CMLL (SUN) 07/14/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Polvora & Pierrothito
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Leono b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
Astral suffered an injury but finished the match
3) El Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Pegasso b Dark Magic, El Coyote, Sagrado
4) Virus b Hijo del Villano III [lightning]
around 9 minutes
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Star Jr. b Magnus, Mephisto, Rugido
6) Gran Guerrero, Hechicero, Stuka Jr. DQ Fugaz, Místico, Volador Jr.
Fugaz replaced Volador. Hechicero and Valiente ripped up each other’s masks, Hechicero eventually got Valiente’s off for the DQ.

If we take the Hechicero/Valiente issue here as meaningful, CMLL’s arrived at four “pairs”, eight overall, the same format they used for the 90th Aniversario.

1. Esfinge & Euforia
2. Volador Jr. & Averno
3. Templario & Ultimo Guerrero
4. Hechicero & Valiente

One issue is this was an angle on a Sunday night show, and Aniversario angles tend to be on Friday shows. Hechicero hasn’t been booked on a Friday night show since May. That fact also hints at other issue: CMLL hasn’t really featured Hechicero as an important person. He seemed much more likely to be left off the Aniversario show than be booked into a main event. Valiente too, but Valiente’s action on Friday indicated something is up with him.

The Friday lineup reveal will be a big indicator – if Hechicero’s on that show and across from Valiente, then maybe there’s more into it. And, if more people get involved, this becomes more likely a tag match.

CMLL (TUE) 07/16/2024 Arena México
1) Kaligua & Pequeño Magía vs Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito
2) La Vaquerita & Maligna vs Metálica & Valkiria
3) Fuego vs Difunto [lightning]
4) Futuro, Hombre Bala Jr., Max Star vs Cancerbero, Crixus, Vegas
5) Atlantis, Brillante Jr., Flip Gordon vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible © vs Máscara Dorada, Neón, Star Jr. [CMLL TRIOS]
4th defense

Four defenses is a good number of this Barbaros unit, and Dorada/Neon/Star as the exciting young flippy team could work. Less certain if CMLL will have title changes on a Tuesday two weeks in a row.

CMLL Mexico City (VideosOficialesCMLL) did file a copyright claim against CMLL Guadalajara (Martes de Glamour) on YouTube, as seen on one of the old videos that had been only on Fan Leyenda, so it was the CMLL on CMLL violence it appeared to be. The Guadalajara side is claiming not to know why that happened and the Mexico City isn’t talking.

Guadalajara’s Optimo, who returned to ring last month, says he was out after knee surgery. He had been training with Franco Colombo and then later with Virus and Hechicero.

AAA

AAA on Space aired half of the June Mexico City taping. Things that aired.

• Vipers (Abismo Negro, Fiscal, Taurus) versus Aerostar, Brazo de Oro, Karis La Momia
  • Slight story of Fiscal having problems with Abismo and walking out the team. Fiscal was back with the Vipers showing no issues in multiple segments the rest of the show. Brazo de Oro Jr. continues to look good in his occasional appearance, especially here against Abismo. Karis and Fiscal looked more shaky. Match over well good, and longer than AAA usually gives these matches.
• Los Vipers told Latin Lover they actually did not like him coming back and had problems with him, Konnan, and the traitor Cibernetico. Hijo del Tirantes suggested he was now the sexiest man in wrestling and attempted to prove it via dance.
• Dinamico was distraught over his fellow Las Canchillas being angry with him about leaving them to join La Fraternidad. He appears to still be a rudo.
• Octagon Jr. won a fourway over Galeno del Mal, Dinamico and Drago, pinning Drago with the moonsault powerslam. It was good but also every fourway ever. Drago and Dinamico briefly worked together and then Dinamico betrayed him to try to sneak a win.
• Mesias, Espiritu and Escoria attacked Octagon Jr. after the match. They’re now the Apostoles del Mesias, and Mesias himself beliefs Octagon Jr. is unworthy of holding the Latin American championship.
• Cibernetico and Cuervo came out to make the save, leading right into their match with the Apostoles. (The cameraman filming the promo was caught unaware, and stood in the ring for a half a minute as the match was going on around him.) It was a generic brawl, with Cuervo taking out the underlings with an attempt at a tope through a table and Ciber pinning Mesias. Los Vipers hit the ring to attack and bloody Cibernetico, with the Apostoles looking a little annoyed but deciding not to get involved.
• Octagon Jr., during a post-show interview about Mesias’ attack, got attacked by three people who are part of the Eye group. (The eye symbol also came up briefly during Latin Lover’s in-ring segment.)  Psycho Clown briefly stopped the attack but then also got beat down.

AAA’s been doing attacks by the “Eye” group for seven months now, but this is the first time they’ve actually done one on camera. The general idea is to keep these identities secret until the big reveal, though one of the attackers was wearing a garish NBA 2023 All Star jacket. It looked like something Los Negoicios would wear or maybe Los Macizos, but those are wild guessing. Wearing a jacket like that also makes sense if the real purpose was to hide some tattoos. One of the other people was wearing the AAA track pants with the promotion logo on it. This is  AAA, so it’s unsafe to assume the people who were the attackers in this angle will be the people revealed to be part of it at the end. Last year, the mystery person angle was two people attacking Pagano, and then the big reveal was just one person (Texano, who was booked in a different state at the time of the original angle.) AAA seems like they’re building to a reveal in Mexico City so at least this is almost done. I almost wrote “at least it’s almost over” but I don’t get the sense this angle is over.

The rest of the TV was clearer than the live reports: the Cibernetico/Mesias feud is done for now, Mesias is moving onto Octagon, Cibernetico is moving onto the Vipers. Secta & Vipers are already in the Mexico City cage match, Octagon and Mesias have no announced match.

Unimas aired the women’s match and main event from Juarez, same as the first episode of that taping on Space. There were intra-show ads promoting that TripleMania Tijuana will start airing on Unimas on 07/27. That’s right on their normal schedule, but you’d otherwise have no idea a TripleMania was coming up in the air order based on the TV.

Space started airing promos for Verano de Escandalo. The second half of the show will air live on 08/02 (Friday), as usual for AAA big shows.

Legend put on an AAA Reunion show Saturday in Arena Lopez Mateos. It was more names from the 90s era of the promotion, with a couple of nice touches. El Fiscal worked as “Winners Jr.” in honor of his father’s original character. Marisela Pena came to the show and was honored. The main event featured at least five different Payasos. No idea what relationship those clowns actually had to the real clowns (and some of the other characters on the show were likely portrayed by non-originals.) The idea of this show was to play off the AAA Origenes nostalgia and ticket boom – except this show didn’t sell tickets at all. Arena Lopez Mateos looked much emptier than normal. Some of that was probably the WWE show happening the same time, though the audience for WWE and 90s AAA seems like a small overlap. My guess is fans will buy tickets to see the older wrestlers in big numbers only when they’re presented in the context of a ‘real’ AAA show, and with a few more big names (Cibernetico, Mesias) than this show.

WWE

WWE sold out Arena Ciudad de Mexico show on Saturday, then did about the same in Monterrey on Sunday. Stephanie Vaquer ended up not simply appearing on the shows, but wrestling as well – she defeated Isla Dawn on both cards. (It seemed an indication of what WWE’s management has seen from Vaquer that they had her do the same promo she did on Mercedes Mone in Arena Mexico.)

Vaquer’s headed to NXT next and – if the contract is as good as it’s said – the plan is likely to keep her in NXT for about the same and then to move her up, same as Dragon Lee. It just may be some time before she shows up in NXT and she may have to return back to Chile while awaiting her work visa.

There was no sign of any AAA involvement on either WWE show.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 07/14/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Histeriosis & Willy Banderas b Calibus & Sacro 
2) Mr. Mike & Rey Aztaroth b Auzter & Iron Kid 
3) Freelance, Luka, Multifacetico Jr. b Abigor, Rey Halcón, Yorvak 
Freelance and Mr. Mike fought post match.
4) Estrella Divina, Veneno, Vudu Max b Diablo Jr., Imposible, Sádika 
5) Hijo de Pandemónium b Vangellys 
sets up a rematch for the IWRG Rey del Ring
6) Látigo & Toxin b Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. © [IWRG IC TAG] 
Cerberos fall on their eighth defense

Other News

A GoFundMe has been set up for Fray Tormenta, who needs money for medical bills. It is linked to on his Facebook page, which is said to be managed by one of his children.

There was the Puebla luchador named Muerte Negra who passed away this past week and an upcoming lucha libre movie named Muerte Negra that (again) got attention, but these are unrelated Muerte Negras.

Segunda Caida has watches a Komanchi Mistico match.