(This is not intended to be a complete list of matches or things. It’s a list of important things, and probably too many more recent ones.)

2017-08-16

Hijo del Vikingo wrestlers on TripleMania as part of the La Llave de la Gloria competition, marking his official entry into the promotion. Vikingo had wrestled a couple of Llave tryout matches, and a small number of TV matches in between the tryouts. He’d wrestle on indie shows in his hometown of Puebla for the prior few years; none of them turned up on video. He makes a one off Lucha Memes appearance, just part of a carload of Puebla guys on the show, and that doesn’t turned up on video.

Vikingo, Angelikal and Ashley are named the three winners of the La Llave de la Gloria competition – but surprise, everyone in the finals is getting a deal, because AAA is opening a school and they’re all going to be part of it.

(AAA never opens a school.)

rest of 2017

Hijo del Vikingo is around AAA TV, going as far as getting a Cruiserweight title shot against Australian Suicide (and losing.) There’s no real plan for the Llave de la Gloria guys, they’re all just hanging around in the prelim matches. Vikingo seems to be the highest ranked of that group at least.

2018-02-23

Lucha Underground begins taping a fourth season after a lengthy delay. Part of the plan is to bring in a new batch of AAA wrestlers for the season. It doesn’t work out, like a lot of the season 4 plans – those work visa approvals don’t come until after taping is wrapped. I’m fairly certain Vikingo would’ve been on the visa list – LU writer Chris DeJoseph was helping book AAA during this time and Vikingo would’ve fit what he was looking for season 4. No one’s ever officially said it but I’m counting this as Vikingo US Near Miss #1

2018-04-20

Vampiro is out and Konnan is back in as AAA head of creative. Konnan has a crew that was loyal to him while he was out of AAA he’d like to bring in, has no particular allegiance to the La Llave la Gloria crew and others who came in while he was gone, and is ready to do some house cleaning. Before a match in Tijuana, Konnan tells Vikingo, Mascara de Bronce, Dinastia and Lanzeloth that this is their one chance to impress him or they’re gone. Vikingo wins Konnan over. (Dinasita and Lanzeloth hang around but never go far. Bronce, who had the ‘young rising high flyer’ spot during Vampiro’s run, quickly fades out of the promotion and lucha libre entirely.)

rest of 2018

Vikingo sticks around, continues to impress in prelim roles, and is well thought enough to get a TripleMania spot in a mixed tag title match. He is just only filling out early matches without a role.

2018-12-02

Vikingo’s starts to get a direction in fall of 2018, and it solidifies in December. The trio of Angelikal, Laredo Kid, and Hijo del Vikingo get non-title wins over Poder del Norte. Prior to this match, La Parka hands Angelikal the Myzteziz (Jr.) gimmick as a sort of endorsement, and Myzteziz Jr.’s debut comes in taking the trios titles. Vikingo wins his first title, though he’s definitely the low man on the team – a post-match angle has Averno take out Vikingo with a martinete to explain, leaving Laredo and Myzetziz to wrestle the next match without him.

first half of 2019

The trios title reign doesn’t go anywhere right away – AAA is otherwise busy – so Vikingo just hangs out in scrambles and midcard trios matches, often against Poder del Norte and similar rudos. He wins a cruiserweight title shot in one of those midcard trios matches in April, though it’s not played up as a big deal. When it finally comes, it’s not even a one on one match.

2019-06-09

The match is scheduled as Laredo Kid vs Jack Evans vs Hijo del Vikingo. Jack Evans doesn’t appear. This is Vikingo’s first ever singles match on AAA TV. Some guys get a little exposed when they have to go a lot longer individually than in a scramble format. Vikingo goes the other way – it turns out he’s got so much insane stuff that he just hadn’t had a chance to try yet. Laredo Kid is also pretty good! Laredo and Vikingo have an absurdly and unexpectedly great match, the best match of it’s style in Mexico all year. Vikingo immediately rises from “a really promising flyer” to “absolutely one of the best guys in Mexico and maybe beyond”; this is when most people outside of the lucha scene first became aware of Vikingo.

2019-06-29

Laredo Kid versus Hijo del Vikingo is so good and gets so much buzz that when AEW is out one PAC for the Fyter Fest show, they reach out and grab one of those two guys as a replacement – though t turns out to be Laredo Kid. It kinda had to be Laredo Kid, Vikingo didn’t have a US visa at this point. If he did, maybe it’s a coin flip if his debut would’ve shown up four years earlier. (Or maybe they would’ve picked Laredo anyway because he’s very good and they knew him better.)

2019-09-15

No worries, Hijo del Vikingo will just debut in the US on AAA’s show in Madison Square Garden. They even got him a single entry visa. Oh no, the show sold few tickets so it’s now in the MSG Theatre. Oh no, Vikingo hurt his knee weeks before the show, he’s not wrestling. At least he’ll get to wrestle on the AAA show in Los Angeles. (The AAA show in Los Angeles is canceled.)

2019-12-04

Hijo del Vikingo wins the men’s bracket of the Lucha Capital tournament. This tournament doesn’t mean a whole lot in isolation. In the big picture, it’s AAA signaling Vikingo is more than just one of a bunch really good wrestlers, but something special.

2020-01-08

Hijo del Vikingo has been part of Impact’s tapings in Mexico City the two prior years. This is his biggest moment, getting a surprise Impact TV win over Josh Alexander. It’s clear Impact thinks Vikingo is awesome; my impression is Impact wanted to sign him, and only didn’t because they didn’t want to cause problems with AAA over it. It’s fine, he can just show up when Impact tapes in Mexico City. (Impact would never again tape in Mexico City.)

~~~pandemic~~~

(And also a period where AAA and Vikingo have a weird falling that’s never explained but causes him to miss all the AutoLuchas shows.)

2020-12-12

Vikingo makes a save in the second match, with the announcers talking about his big return. (No one had acknowledged he was missing.) Vikingo also seconds Laredo Kid in his title match loss to Kenny Omega. In post-match interviews, Kenny Omega first suggests Hijo del Vikingo as his next challenger.

2021-07-03

AAA returns running empty arena shows, and kind of just doing stuff to fill out TV because no one knows when they might get fans again. Their annual big events turn into TV specials. This show is the Verano de Escandalo event, including the return of Alas de Oro high fliers. Vikingo pulls off crazy flying and a couple of signature Kenny Omega spots, though it’s a moment where Vikingo hangs from the tent covering the ring to set up a move that truly goes viral.

Kenny Omega posts both a compliment and a threat to Hijo del Vikingo. Vikingo tells Omega he’s ready. They have to stay ready for about 18 more months.

(AAA is unable to stream shows in the US for most of 2021, including this show. This stuff here goes viral because I’m running an unapproved stream for me and a few thousand of my closest friends on Twitch, and the Omega/Vikingo stuff gets turned up from there. I think they get to Omega/Vikingo eventually – it was already in the water – but I’m not sure if I’m a person writing this story or living in the smallest part of it.)

2021-10-18

A strange run of time culminates when AAA announces Omega/Vikingo for TripleMania Regia in December. Omega’s been publically asking for this match since the TripleMania Mexico in August, and obviously has wanted it before then. AAA’s meanwhile strangely cooled Vikingo off; he doesn’t win a match on TV for four months, and takes the direct pinfall loss a couple of times. He’s a background player in other people’s stories and definitely not being built up to be the top guy in the promotion. Maybe AAA is thinking no one’s going to care how Vikingo was booked after the Omega match, maybe they believe they can convince Omega to stay champion for now, and there won’t be a top guy expectation for Vikingo anyway. It doesn’t matter at the moment, they got the Vikingo/Omega match the world wants to see.

2021-11-22

AAA no longer has the Vikingo/Omega match. Omega is out injured following AEW Full Gear 2022, though it’s apparent he was hurt going into the match and just battling through to finish out the Hangman Page story. He won’t be doing that for AAA. Omega sends out an in-character video promo complaining about being stripped of the title and vowing to beat Vikingo someday. AAA now has no main event for TripleMania and no MegaChampion

2021-12-04

Backed into the corner, AAA pulls out…Bobby Fish. Plus Jay Lethal, Samuray del Sol, and Bandido to join Hijo del Vikingo in a five way for the vacant title. Quantity does not beat quality. Vikingo wins, because there’s really no other choice. No one seems all that ready for Vikingo as the top guy…

2022-04-30

…and he’s not booked as the top guy. AAA’s big idea for 2022 is a Fenix versus Hijo del Vikingo match in Mexico City. It’s a really good idea for a match, but AAA’s layout meant their unproven challenger doesn’t defend the title and doesn’t win on the biggest shows for most of the year. The plan kicks off with the Young Bucks defeating Fenix & Hijo del Vikingo, with Vikingo getting pinned for about six seconds due to typical AAA referee incompetence. The Bucks mock Vikingo on Twitter and on AAA TV, and Vikingo has no real response. (AAA floats a story that the pinfall is setting up a rematch, which never happens.)

2022-06-18

Fenix wins a five way in Tijuana with Taurus, Bandido, Laredo and Taurus. Vikingo doesn’t get pinned this time, but the point of the match is Fenix won and Vikingo did not. (Fenix also wins two belts that never appear again.)  The Young Bucks match was pretty good, this was even better. Still Vikingo is a talented guy who doesn’t win when it counts while also being the top champ, it’s weird.

2022-10-15

Vikingo defeats Fenix to retain the megachampionship, his biggest win since becoming champion. (He had a defense against Johnny Caballero earlier.) It’s a fantastic match, living up to expectations. It’s not the biggest match on the show, but that’s hardly their fault. It’s the kind of win Vikingo desperately needed.

2022-10-23

Eight days later, Vikingo and Laredo have their first TV singles match since their past epic. Like the last one, this is unscheduled – Laredo and Vikingo happen to both win their way to the final of a tournament. They have an equally great if quite a bit more violent match compared the one three years prior, with Laredo Kid again getting the win. Laredo Kid also gets a severe internal injury requiring surgery in the process. He gets better.

2022-12-03

Vikingo finally makes it to the US – on AAA spot show in Phoenix. In a tag match against Flip Gordon and Daga for some reason. Which AAA doesn’t tape for some reason. He’s finally there, turning up in places like GCW, PWG, and Defy over the next few months. Eventually, AAA lets people air those matches.

2022-12-28

Vikingo defends his title against Bandido in another great match with another spot that goes viral. (Which is helpful, because this is a Wednesday show that doesn’t seem to be seen by a lot of people, both on the stream or in real life.) Now that the Fenix build is over, Vikingo is just getting the big wins with cool moves that got him over in the first place.

2023-03-01

AEW has a Face of the Revolution Ladder match and wants Vikingo in. Vikingo is wrestling a stretch of shows in southern Mexico and is unavailable. My understanding is AEW wanted both Komander and Vikingo for that show.

AEW, AAA and Vikingo are now all aligned on working together, it’s a matter of figuring out dates that work for everyone in the near future. Vikingo is booked in Mexico on the 8th. AEW is in Canada on the 15th, which wouldn’t have worked smoothly for everyone. Which leaves…

2023-03-22

Dynamite is in Independence, Missouri. Hijo del Vikingo makes his debut on AEW against Hijo del Vikingo. (Hopefully!)

AAA

AAA TV (SUN) 03/19/2023 Estadio Panamericano, Guadalajara, Jalisco [AAA, El Occidental, Latin US, Marca, Record, Slam Wrestling, SuperLuchas, thecubsfan]
1) Alberto el Patrón, Hijo Del Vikingo, Psycho Clown b Carlito, Hip Hop Man, Zumbi [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
Went to a time limit draw. Alberto beat Carlito after a missed apple spit and a backcracker.
2) Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Taurus b Bhupinder Gujjar, Classy Ali, Rage [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
Laredo got the pin
3) Christopher Daniels, Johnny Caballero, Sam Adonis b Kuukai, La Estrella, Nishikawa [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
Daniels got the pin
4) Heddi Karaoui, Joe Hendry, Thomas Latimer b Josh Alexander, Pco, Vampiro [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
Hendry beat PCO when it seemd PCO had it won
5) Deonna Purrazzo, Jordynne Grace, Kamille b Dalys, Natalia Markova, Taya [Lucha Libre World Cup Women, semifinal]
Dalys replaced Christi Jaynes (visa issues) on March 9th. Kamille pinned Markova.
6) La Hiedra, Lady Flammer, Sexy Star b Akino, Emi Sakura, Mayumi Ozaki [Lucha Libre World Cup Women, semifinal]
Went to a time limit draw, Hiedra beat AKINO in the first over time.
7) Christopher Daniels, Johnny Caballero, Sam Adonis b Alberto el Patrón, Hijo Del Vikingo, Psycho Clown [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, semifinal]
Rayo de jalisco was honored before the match. Went to a time limit draw (though there was time left on the clock when Tirantes just refused to count a pinfall.) Jack Fancy distracted the referee to allow Adonis to sneak in a foul to beat Psycho in the first overtime.
8) Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Taurus b Heddi Karaoui, Joe Hendy, Thomas Lattimer [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, semifinal]
Taurus beat Hendry
9) Deonna Purrazzo, Jordynne Grace, Kamille b Flammer, La Hiedra, Sexy Star [Lucha Libre World Cup Women, final]
Team USA won the women’s tournament.
10) Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Taurus b Christopher Daniels, Johnny Caballero, Sam Adonis [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, final]
Pentagon beat Caballero in third OT after earlier failed interference by Jack Fancy.

If you missed this one, it’s fine, you don’t need to go back and see it. This non-TripleMania show lacked the must-see match of Bandido/Vikingo and lacked the news of Dragon Lee’s WWE signing. It was fine, if everyone watched it on Twitch they’d generally go home content if not thrilled. It wasn’t a PPV caliber show. AAA threw all the bells and whistles into the final and it sort of proved this format is never going to produce anything better than “very good” in an era where pretty great is the standard. But, we knew going in AAA was over charging for it and it probably wasn’t going to be a great show so it’s tough being upset.

Let me try some positives first. Caballero and Penta wrestling three straight overtimes did give the feeling of a sports overtime, both with guys leaving everything they had by the end. (It didn’t make any sense that they would do that and AAA has failed to explain what was happening to the announcers as usual, but the wrestler’s performance made up for most of it.) The Laredo Kid, Pentagon Jr., and Taurus team being the winning Team Mexico unit was a welcome twist on the usual format for these. AAA reducing the time limits to 10 minutes and dropping the third-place matches kept the show moving. The men’s matches all seemed planned out to feature a different wrestler each round for variety. Team USA matches went Daniels, Adonis and Caballero, Team Mexico Laredo, Taurus, and Penta. (Vikingo didn’t get a standout match but he didn’t get hurt and that’s all that mattered before Wednesday.) PCO being PCO made a big impression. The Rayo de Jalisco Jr. tribute was well done, as was the medal ceremony at the end. Putting over Team USA Women was definitely the smartest move to get people to check out the show later. Some of their fans might even pay for it. The announcing seemed solid on both the Spanish and English sides. The wrestlers seemed to enjoy it

On the downside, The matches themselves werne’t as good as the past Mexico version of these shows; there were too many people who didn’t belong. The Qatar Pro Wrestling guys were way out of their depth. The Japanese women and the Mexican women didn’t mesh at all. The hats off winner was Carlito, who clearly wanted to be anywhere but in a wrestling match, wrestled in his warm-up shirt, and spent a half minute trying to find his apple in jacket to set up a very lame finish. The Team USA finishes were built around Jack Fancy – the RGR manager who has never appeared in AAA and was never introduced or explained before just appearing on this show. (There’s a lot of bad discourse this week about people appearing on TV shows with little to no introduction. Vikingo at least is going to get himself over in 15 seconds. Jack Fancy is no Hijo del Vikingo.) It was strange. Not as strange was both Tirantes and Hijo del Tirantes blowing finishes in only-in-AAA fashion. AAA ‘fixed’ the crowd audio issue by turning that sound up on the English side, which did allow us to hear reactions but also meant that audio track heard the Spanish announcers all night.

Maybe the final match is worth a look when it turns up on YouTube. Maybe it was more fun live. It was not terrible but I can’t promise I’ll remember much of it come December.

Slam had a more positive review of the show.

AAA did not release an official attendance number. The QPW promoter said (he was told) it was nearly 10,000 spectators. The turnout looked bad early on, filled in a bit as the night went along, and the size of the baseball stadium makes it harder to figure. 10,000 seems high to me based on how it looked, but I’m bad at guessing. The most emptiest sections seemed to be in the close/expensive seats; there wasn’t more than two rows filled on one side of the ring when the show started. It got better after the start of the show, but it also seemed like a lot of seats were filled by the military band, who probably aren’t paying.

Hugo, at the start of the show and during the main event, pushed “a rumor” that there would be a really big World Cup in two years. I’m not sure what we were supposed to do with that knowledge – was he telling us there’s no World Cup next year? Were we supposed to be excited about this tournament because a bigger show was coming in 2025? Who has the time to make up rumors about the Lucha Libre World Cup??? – but he mentioned it repeatedly so I will dutifully note it here.

The main event of the debut Capital Lucha Libre show was scheduled as Chessman vs Aerostar. It ended up as Parka Negra vs Aerostar instead. The idea is Chessman is still suspended. The reality seems that Chessman is in Monterrey training social media influencer Adrian Marcelo for the upcoming match. A TikTok user posted a video early Sunday morning, from a roof and peering into a building across the street, of what appears to be Marcelo and Chessman practicing in a Monterrey ring. The TikTok user yelled “arriba Chessman” to get his attention, Chessman immediately realizes he’s been made and turns around to hide his identity. (It was too late.) WWE will sometimes curtain off an area of their own training center when they have a celebrity practicing a match to avoid something like this happening. AAA did not go that far, though I don’t think they could’ve expected someone to shoot a video from a neighboring roof. It is a thing that would only happen to and with AAA. The video went viral on TikTok on Sunday; it had over 1.5 million views. It started to get picked up by mainstream media outlets by Monday.

This video exposes the Chessman/Marcelo bit as a work. I think most people knew that, but the video is still very exciting for people who are into that angle and got their proof that it was staged. I still think there’s going to interest in finding out what’s the next step of the story, even if it’s clearly just a story. Those views indicate people care about all of this, still. There’s a decent chance AAA will do something silly to hype it back up.

CMLL

CMLL (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Bengala & Retro b Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Leono, Neón, Valiente Jr. b Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro
Tecnicos took 1/3
3) Oro Jr. b Sangre Imperial [lightning]
4) Astral, Flyer, Volcano b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
Tecnicos took 1/3.
5) Dark Panther, El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Felino, Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III
tecnicos took 2/3
6) Atlantis, Octagón, Valiente DQ Bárbaro Cavernario, Fuerza Guerrera, Último Guerrero
Fuerza unmasked Octagon. Octagon asked for a Octagon/Atlantis vs Fuerza Guerrera/Atlantis Ultimo Guerrero double apuesta match. Ultimo Guerrero responded that he promised that match will happen.

You should never believe a luchador saying they’re going to do a mask match, especially on a Sunday Arena Mexico show, but that’s a bit more definite ‘promise’ than usual. Ultimo Guerrero is really the big boss if he pulls that one off.

CMLL (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena Puebla [Arena Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) El Asturiano & Rayo Metálico b Dark Soul & Rencor
2) Asturiano, Rey Metálico, Rey Samuray b Multy, Perverso, Prayer
Zaeta Roja was scheduled to have his first match here in nearly six years, but hurt his knee jumping in the ring. Asturiano replaced him. Porra Fresa also lists Rayo Meatlico in this match instead of El Novato, may be a typo.
3) La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis b Marcela, Skadi, Sumie Sakai
Irma Gonzalez appeared before the match. 
4) Capitán Suicida, Panterita del Ring, Titán b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Stigma, Templario, Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles] 
Stigma replaced Soberano Jr.

The last Arena Puebla show moved to Sunday drew well. This did not; it looks worse than usual. Zaeta Roja getting hurt was either amazingly poor luck or the most suspicious injury in some time

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha, R de RUdo]
1) Águila Roja b Ángel De Plata, Súper Boy 
2) Lady Lee b Sagitarius, Satania 
3) León Dorado & Mr. Leo b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly and Caballero de Plata & Jhon Tito 
4) Cheese Burger, Joey Marx, Mason Conrad b Aster Boy, Hell Boy, Maniacop 360
Maniacop replaced Tonalli (who may be done here)
5) Hell Boy b Shocko © [IWRG MEXICO]
Puma de Oro was champion, didn’t appear (and wasn’t mentioned). Shocko was declared champion by forfeit. Hell Boy challenged him and won the title in about 9 minutes.
6) Hijo del Alebrije b Galeno del Mal, Hijo de L.A. Park, Príncipe Arkano, Villano V Jr., Apolo Estrada Jr., Brazo De Oro Jr., Cerebro Negro Jr. [La Rebelion de Los Juniors]
Alebrije tossed Galeno del Mal over the top rope to win.

This felt like an odd Sunday to run a subscriber-only show. The recaps have a real feel that Puma de Oro no-showed and isn’t coming back soon.

IWRG (THU) 03/23/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Golden Power & Rey Aztaroth vs Águila Roja & Cheff Benito
2) Avisman vs Cerebro Negro Jr.
3) Imposible vs John Tito
4) Gannicus, Hell Boy, Tonalli vs Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo De Oro Jr.
5) Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Noisy Boy
6) Hijo del Fishman vs Hijo del Alebrije [IWRG JUNIORS]
first defense

That title match is quicker than I thought. I find it hard to believe Tonalli is going to go back between CMLL and IWRG; I wonder if IWRG has a piece of paper that makes them think that’ll happen.

Other News

LuchaWorld is catching up on news.

Leon based luchador Prisonero 13 passed away on Sunday. I don’t have any info on him beyond a local obit mentioning he wrestled for 30 years. He was still wrestling as recently as last June.

Luchadora La Aripa passed away this past weekend. Again, I don’t know much about her; she appear to have wrestled in the late 80s and early 90s briefly.

The Vive Latino is said to have drawn 80,000 fans, so you can squint and stretch and say that was the highest-attended wrestling show of the year. The wrestling was a side show and not all of the 80,000 fans were there while it was going on.

You may remember a note here a few months back about a Hugo Savonivich show in Chile; the novelty to me was it was going to air on the local version of TNT, which meant it’d be a third (AAA, AEW) promotion to air on a WBD/TNT property around the world. Those shows were scheduled for March 25th in Valapariso and March 26th in Santiago. Past tense may be important. The original card included Will Ospreay, Santino Marella, and Natalia Marakova. In late February, those last two names switched to Marty Scurll and Bandido. Ospreay has since picked up an injury and wasn’t going to make it anyway, but Hugo picking Scurll as a replacement may have backfired. Chilean wrestling Instagram account PowerbombCL says local officials have canceled the March 25th show in Valapariso after learning about Scurll’s history. TNT Chile has also removed references to airing the shows. Tickets are still on sale for both shows. Typically Hugo would respond back to this via Lucha Libre Online and I don’t see anything there.

Irma Gonzalez is on the cover of Box y Lucha 3543.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/17/2023 Arena México [AS Mexico, CMLL, ESTO, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Quadratin, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
***Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, 2023***
1) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido 
9:53 (seemed to end early when Rugido failed to break up a pin.) Rey Cometa pinned Magia Blanca, and challenged him to a MEX WELTER title match next week.
2) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
14:30. Guerreros challenged for a CMLL TRIOS match next week.
3) Titán b Virus [lightning] 
6:40.
4) Princesa Sugehit b Hera, Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, Amapola, Marcela, La Jarochita, Lluvia, La Catalina, Sumie Sakai, Sanely, Valkiria [Copa Irma Gonzalez]  
38:50. Battle royal split sides as Reyna Isis, Amapola, Princesa Sugehit, Lluvia, Sumie Sakai, Sanely, Valkiria vs Marcela, La Jarochita, Metálica, Zeuxis, La Catalina, Hera, Stephanie Vaquer. Order of elimination: Metalica (via Sanely), Valkiria (Hera), Amapola (Marcela), Sanely (Reyna Isis), Hera (Sumie Sakai), Marcela (Lluvia), Sakai (Catalina), Catalina (Isis), Lluvia (Jarochita), Jarochita (Sugehit), Vaquer (Isis), Zeuxis (Sugehit), Isis (Sugehit) leaving Sugehit as the winner. Irma Gonzalez was honored before the match, had a moment with each participant as they entered, and presented the trophy to Sugehit. CMLL gave Gonzalez her own trophy and plaque. Planned to be an annual match.
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Místico b Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja, Templario
11:42. Atlantis replaced Soberano on Thursday. Everyone got along, then Dragon Rojo unmasked Templario after Templario took the pin.
6) Rocky Romero L Ángel de Oro, Oráculo, Volador Jr. [hair]   
21:24. Angel de Oro & Orcaulo were eliminated in the first ten minutes, then Romero and Volador fought for about 10 minute before the winning Canadian Destroyer. Rocky got his head shaved in the ring.

The fans were very into the Volador/Rocky Romero near falls at the end, they gave the fans the Romero/Volador ending fans deserved, and those are the most positive things you can say about Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. It was a mildly disappointing show, and maybe mildly only because the lineup didn’t look impressive on paper. It didn’t live up to those expectations. The first half of the card has issues, the fourth and fifth match were good but not standouts. The four guys in the main event were clearly trying to make something big out of it, but the show was missing the atmosphere of a big show; the recent Copa Escuelas tournament felt more intense than most of this show. CMLL did give us the ‘good’ ending and the Irma Gonzalez segment was done very well. That was enough to dismiss this show, but it was still a so-so affair.

Rocky Romero came to CMLL, appeared to invent a top-level program out of thin air, had a dozen good ideas to keep it going and get it even hotter, and then put over Volador cleanly at the end. There aren’t enough Rocky Romero’s in wrestling. He’s still Historic Welterweight Champion and so this is probably not the end of the story. Hope we get more.

It was strange to include Oraculo and Angel de Oro in this feud if they were going to the singles match in the end. Maybe it’ll make sense later, maybe it’s CMLL trying to improve their image by giving people the big endings when they haven’t before in these situations. Maybe they just think Oraculo is really cool. I don’t know.

The opener absolutely seemed to end early, but this show still went very long for a CMLL show (nearly 3 hours.) Maybe they made up the time in the women’s match, because that got the most time out of anything.

Stephanie Vaquer’s elimination got loud boos from the crowd. She’s the most famous woman in CMLL at the moment. I’m not sure if they absolutely have to turn her face but she’s going to get cheered either way. Catalina had her best night so far in the match; some of the WWE-style character stuff makes her standout a bit among this group.

Ticket sales looked good prior to the show. CMLL never did the big camera shots of the arena, so they must’ve not thought it turned out noteworthy. The crowd noise seemed quiet for most of the show. (I found myself turning down the sound early because the announcers were loud; maybe it was a mixing issues?)

CMLL (SAT) 03/18/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Full Metal, Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia
Pequeno Sky Team took 2/3
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
Team Disturbio took 2/3.
3) Raider b Cachorro [lightning]
Just over 9 minutes.
4) Difunto, Kráneo, Zandokan Jr. b Capitán Suicida, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin
Rudos took 1/3.
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black DQ El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
Tecnicos took 1/3. Okumura fouled Esfinge.
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr. b Euforia, Templario, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
Euforia replaced Atlantis a few hours after it posted it up. Titan replaced Soberano on Thursday. Team Dragon Rojo took 2/3.

A KeMonito short documentary premiered at San Diego Latino Film Festival earlier this week. You can see the trailer here. I did not know this existed, but this seems well produced. It’s focused on his retirement struggles; he’s like to retire, but he may not be able to afford to do so.

Team Mexico (and Tampa Bay) baseball player Randy Arozarena wore a Mistico mask in the dugout before one of the World Baseball Classic games. This got some attention, Mistico noticed and invited Arozarena to Arena Mexico. Arozarena said he’d love to go when he has time and joked that he’s ready to fight Mistico too.

CMLL (TUE) 03/21/2023 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Full Metal & Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral, Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Brillante Jr., Neón, Valiente Jr. vs Raider, Tonalli, Vaquero Jr.
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Dark Panther [lightning]
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Felino, Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III
6) Atlantis, Místico, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Averno, Gran Guerrero, Templario

Should be good. Main event Panterita del Ring Jr. is cool. Maya and Panther is a fun lightning match. Brillante, Tonalli and Vaquero Jr. filtering onto the normal shows (and Noen getting a bump up.)

CMLL (FRI) 03/24/2023 Arena México
1) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. vs Difunto & Inquisidor
2) Audaz, Capitán Suicida, Fuego vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
3) Magia Blanca © vs Rey Cometa [MEX WELTER]
2nd defense
4) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja, Yota
5) Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro [lightning]
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto © vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero [CMLL TRIOS]
2nd defense

Ultimo Guerrero usually has a big role in Universal tournaments, but his team has to win the main event to be part of it. Cometa defeating Blanca would reduce the number of champions by 1, which might be helpful if Angel de Oro isn’t actually doing both the national and CMLL blocks.

AAA

AAA on Space was slightly better than last week. The two notable stories of the show were Aerostar and Parka Negra trying really hard to make their rivalry something in a match also with Aramis & Antifaz, and Anitfaz del Norte beating up Laredo Kid again. Negro Casas also did a promo talking about wanting to go for the Mixed Tag Titles, though just seemed like they had Casas at the show and sent him out to make up a title match to justify having him there. Same thing led to this long Taya/Flammer holding pattern.

The Aerostar/Parka Negra match is interesting, the other two matches didn’t seem as much. (The main event I’ve only seen parts of it due to stream issues.) The story with Centinela seem to be that she trained to wrestle previously back in Tuxtla Guiterrez, joined the military, and was having her first match in five years. Chessman led her through most of her spots. That “Chessman leads unfamiliar wrestler through highspots” part is so close to the endgame with influencer Adrian Marcelo that I wonder if one idea led to the other. It appeared like a good portion of the crowd knew who Centinela was and were cheering loudly for her.

WrestlingInc has an interview with Christopher Daniels on the Lucha Libre World Cup. It’s uncommon to see English language promotion of today’s show. Daniels is asked, in multiple ways, how the relationship between AAA and AEW is going. Daniels says the relationship is in a good position every time. No one’s going to say “eh, our relationship is shaky” in a media interview but Daniels is consistently positive; he wants to focus on the future, not whatever may have happened in the past. Daniels is involved on the talent side for AEW and mentions that his role isn’t to scour wrestling to find AEW talent. It’s more along the lines of Tony Khan bringing up a name, and Daniels looking more into that specific name.

Taya was listed as a “former women’s champion” in her AEW debut on Rampage Friday. That comes off like maybe she’s no longer meant to be AAA Reina de Reinas champion. I think it was meant to come off as “everyone complains AEW has too many belts so we’re going to avoid mentioning the AAA one for now.” I guess it’ll come up today if it’s anything more than that.

I guess I haven’t posted since Hijo del Vikingo versus Keny Omega was announced for Dynamite. I think that will be a good match.

Mas Lucha had a brief interview with Hijo del Vikingo on Saturday, about half on the World Cup and half on AEW. Vikingo said he has never wrestled anyone on first-round opponent Team Latin America (Hip Hop Man, Carlito, Zumbi.) It feels like he must’ve run into Zumbi or Hip Hop Man like on a random Arena Neza show or something, but my records match his memories. Vikingo is rooting for a Mexico/Mexico final, not just so Mexico wins, but because he thinks it’d be a great match. On AEW, Vikingo found out he was facing Kenny Omega when his phone started dinging like crazy from notification noises. He checked it, didn’t believe the Omega match was actually happening and had to check with other people to make sure it was real. It’s a dream match for him, something he’s wanted for a long time. Vikingo is also aware of the comments about the match, both positive and negative, and it’s motivated him to have the best match possible – he promises it’ll be five stars. The Vikingo/Omega match on Wednesday is a non-title match, and Vikingo makes a point of saying he still wants to defend the AAA Megachampionship against Omega at some point.

My hunch is Omega wins in AEW and AAA hopes to get the win back on a TripleMania later. We still don’t have a Vikingo match for Monterrey, that was the place where Omega/Vikingo was supposed to happen the first time and it’d take take advantage of the buzz from the AEW appearance the best.

Other News

El Justiciero (Marcos Sergio Contreras, 68) passed away Friday. He’s been remembers with moments of applause on indie shows around the weekend.

Justicerio broke in with the Pavillon Azteca promotion in the mid-70s, a sort of third promotional competition to then EMLL & LLI/UWA on a similar level to IWRG is now. He started his career wrestling as Magnifico, then changed his name to Justiciero after a tie-up with a magazine. (His son would latter wrestle under the Magnifico name.) He wrestled for both CMLL and the UWA in the 80s, then was one of the founding members of AAA. Justiicero left AAA in less than a year, returned to CMLL for a couple of years, and ended up as an indie wrestler. It’s not a super remarkable career in the record book, and Justiciero’s a guy whose biggest contributions didn’t come on big shows.

Justiciero, in a Mas Lucha interview last year about AAA reaching 30 years of existence, felt he had been incorrectly written out of the promotion’s history. Justiciero said it was him who Televisa reached out to first. A TV executive knew Jusiticero back from his days at Pavillon Azteca – which briefly had Mexico City TV in the 80s before the union shut it down. Luchadors in CMLL and LLI/UWA were all part of a single national wrester’s union through the 80s and to 1992. Justiciero says he was responsible for setting up AAA’s competition unions to all the promotion to employ their own wrestlers legally. Justiciero ran that union until quitting AAA. He felt the AAA paid wrestlers very little while Antonio Pena kept the money for himself. Justicierio talks about a show where no one in AAA got paid, then going to the office and seeing stacks of money sitting behind Antonio Pena when arguing about it. He quit AAA over it. Justiciero seemed to feel founding AAA would make conditions better for wrestlers, regretted it, and was unhappy about the unserious elements AAA brought to wrestling. The popular historic version of AAA’s founding is it just being an Antonio Pena, Konnan and Octagon project (with those wrestlers played up or down depending on how good terms they are with AAA at the moment) and Justiciero mentions that version, but also says it’s not full story.

For the last 25 years, Justiciero was the owner and primary promoter of Arena Coliseo Coacalco, in the Mexico State town. It’s really just a ring in an empty lot, surrounded by gravel and underneath a canvas roof. It wasn’t originally supposed to be a Justicero project. In a different Mas Lucha interview, Justiciero told Hip Hop Man that the Coliseo Coaclaco was originally a project of ten wrestlers. They ran two shows and everyone lost a lot of money; Justicero had to sell a watch to keep it going. Justiciero happened to run into Los Hermanos Dinamita when he took his brother to the airport, they were having an issue with CMLL and offered to work a show for Justiciero instead, and it was a main event of the Dinamtias versus Tarzan Boy, El Dandy and Justiciero himself that got the building going.

The arena improved over those 25 years, but it was the sort of outdoor low budget wrestling set up that exists in a lot of towns around Mexico. Coliseo Coacalco became the most famous of these. Justiciero trained wrestlers and found some gems. Daga, Aramis, and Abismo Negro Jr. got their starts in that ring, and all wrote the last few days about how much Justiciero meant to their lives. The promotion did OK with family shows in front of small crowds. They gained fame off proto-super indie put together by people like current Lucha Memes promoter Danny Ledesma, with video shared to the internet by people like photographer Black Terry Jr.. It was the setting, the wrestlers, and the film style that made it feel like the most authentic lucha libre there was. Justiciero provided the platform for it to happen. Ledesma has said his show on Monday will take place, and that Justicerio’s family is planning on keeping Coliseo Coacalco going in the future.

Mas Lucha (FRI) 03/17/2023 Arena Azteca Budokan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México [Mas Lucha, Record, Zona Ruda]
1) Dark Mayem & Rey Eclipse b Escapulario & Séptimo Elemento
2) Alas de Oro & Alas De Plata b Kauris & Leo Cristiani
3) Camaleón b Belial, Dante, Dinastía, Dinamic Black, Mr. Leo, Saruman, Último Legendario [Copa Perros del Mal 2023]
Camaleon beat Mr. Leo
4) Kundra b Halloween Jr.
Justicero was honored with a moment of remembrance before the match. Jeque helped his son Kundra win. Mask/hair challenge followed.
5) Sakura (Chihuahua) b Ludark Shaitan, Ayako Hamada, Cinthia Moreno [PDM WOMEN]
First women’s champion.
6) Groon XXX b Elemental
7) Bestia 666, Damián 666, Joe Lider, Lizmark Jr. b Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool
Fan cheered for the Pigs over the Perros. Perros won via mask pull.

I don’t see a lot of shows at this arena so context isn’t perfect, but it looked like they drew pretty well with this lineup. I don’t know that it was the Perros del Mal theme that did it though – both reports I saw about the main event mentioned the crowd was much more behind the Pigs and the Perros del Mal concept felt like old news. (It kinda is.)

Mas Lucha mentioned during the show that Belial, Dante, Saruman, Dinastía, Último Legendario and Dinamic Black would be in their upcoming Ruleta de la Muerte tournament. Camaleon was announced previously, so they’re one short. That’s an interesting group of people who felt close to breaking through at one point but never got there. I am intrigued by this idea, we’ll see how it goes.

Big Lucha (SAT) 03/18/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, Mas Lucha]
1) Brujo De Iztapalapa b Reiyel, Andy Panda 
2) Cometa Maya, Radioactivo, Sussy Love b El Machote, Kendy, Máscara Año 2000 Jr. 
3) Black Skyde, Forneo, Skayde, Vórtize b Elipse, Iku, Orbita, Vengador 
Hell Flyers helped Team Skayde won, then betrayed them after the match.
4) Carito & Tirano b Joey Marx & Mason Conrad 
5) Jack Evans & Killer Destro b Gravity & Potro and Mr. Win & Viajero 
Killer Destro is a new unmovable monster. Brujo De Iztapalapa attacked Gravity during the match.
6) El Bandido & Rey Horus b Bestia 666 & Damián 666 
talk about a cage match
7) Emperador Azteca & Flamita b Trauma I & Trauma II 
Flamita beat won via fast count, Traumas beat up the referee, the rest of Negocio Traumado ran in. Bendito (and only Bendito) ran in for the save, then Golden Guns ran in for the save. Flamita & Bandido agreed to work together to get rid of Negocio Traumado.

I didn’t watch this show completely. It seemed fine when I was playing attention to it; nothing to go out of your way to see but also nothing terrible. The Traumas had a Traumas match in the main event. They had fans loudly chanting for them but the turnout didn’t seem to be any bigger than usual (maybe even a little less.) I’m unsure if the angles in the main and semi are meant to set up one big cage match or two separate shows. Carito & Tirano making surprise returns got good reactions. Hell Flyers/Skaydes seems like a new feud, as does Brujo/Gravity. Potro still has the Golden Ticket, but that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere at the moment.

Only Bendito making the run-in at the end for Black Generation is notable. Action Jackson announced he left Big Lucha, and I think Elemental’s left with him. He was off working the Lucha Capital show Saturday instead. They’re all still part of Black Generation (especially since they’re all going together to GLEAT next month), but they seem done here for the moment. There may have been other departures.