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.

Programming Note

I’m busy most of Monday until late, so I will try to sneak in updates this weekend. Maybe it’ll happen.

A final reminder that DST means CMLL and AAA are an hour later than you’re used to if you switch your clock.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/17/2023 Arena México
1) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
non-title
2) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
non-title
3) Titán vs Virus [lightning]
4) Hera vs Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, Amapola, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, La Jarochita, Lluvia, La Catalina, Sumie Sakai, Sanely, Valkiria [Copa Irma Gonzalez]
participants to be announced on 02/15. Expected to be a yearly match.
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Místico vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja, Templario
Atlantis replaced Soberano on Thursday
6) Ángel de Oro vs Oráculo, Volador Jr., Rocky Romero [hair]

This will air on TicketmasterLive, and will go up on YouTube on April 2nd.

I wrote a longer preview over on Voices of Wrestling. My guess is most matches will be good and maybe great, but they’re not going to reach the highest possible levels for this show unless Rocky and Volador close the show. I don’t think they’re closing the show. I think CMLL (and Rocky) believe they have more in the feud. They may even be right and it may be worth stretching out in a differently-paced promotion. In the CMLL we’ve known for 90 or so years, a feud like Rocky and Volador has to end either in March or September, and it’s more likely to get lost than resolved in the next five months. Hope I’m wrong one way or another. Angel de Oro looks primed for a surprise hair cut – maybe by Volador or Rocky – by CMLL’s recent policy of the second lowest guy on the totem pole losing.

The rest of the matches seem fine but lack stakes. The tecnicos will probably win the semi-main. I’d guess Princesa Sugehit to take the Copa Irma Gonzalez. Titan seems a safe bet over Virus. The first two matches are both trios champions in non-title matches, and at least one of those should set up a title match next week. I’m guessing Guerreros over Los Infenrales.

CMLL made changes to Homenaje a Dos Leyendas on Wednesday and Thursday. Sanely and Valkyria were added to Copa Irma Gonzalez on Wednesday. Also, Atlantis Sr. will take Soberano Jr,’s spot in the semi-main, teaming with his son and Mistico against Dragon Rojo, Niebla Roja and Templario.

Sanely is wrestling for the first time in 22 months. She talked about going on maternity leave and then also needing ACL surgery. Either one of those alone is a lot to handle, both in success must not have been great. Valkyria was surprised to be included – like everyone else, she thought CMLL announced the full field. CMLL did not release the official poster until Wednesday, so they were aware some changes were possible – maybe they were holding open spots for Sanely and Dark Silueta and one got cleared in time. It is surprising Valkyria got the spot instead of one of the Mexico City-based women not booked.

Soberano is out of action for some reason. Might be an injury, might be a COVID positive, dunno. He’s additionally of the Saturday Arena Coliseo show, with Titan replacing him there. The Soberano Jr. to Atlantis change wasn’t mentioned by CMLL. They just put out a different poster with Atlantis’ name in Soberano’s place. That’s how CMLL handles 99% of changes, but they’ve got to do better than that when they’re changing the semi-main of a major show.

The Guerrero stop on Mexico City’s metro has had a lucha libre exhibit since 2017. I believe there hasn’t been much activity in with it for a numbers of years, predating the pandemic. CMLL and the Mexico City Metro Collective System had a re-inauguration of the exhibit on Wednesday, as part of CMLL’s 90th anniversary celebration. La Jarochita, Oraculo, and Angel de Oro were part of the presentation. Jarochita showed talked about Copa Irma Gonzlez. The trophy looks good, they did a good job on it. Oraculo & Angel de Oro hyped their matches. In turn, CMLL wrestlers are filming PSAs passing riders to respect women on the metro system.

CMLL (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena Puebla
1) El Asturiano & Rayo Metálico vs Dark Soul & Rencor
2) El Novato, Rey Samuray, Zaeta Roja vs Multy, Perverso, Prayer
3) Marcela, Skadi, Sumie Sakai vs La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
4) Capitán Suicida, Panterita del Ring, Titán vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Soberano Jr., Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles]

This is a Sunday show due to the holiday. Soberano is still on the lineup at this point but that’ll probably change. Zaeta Roja was a regular here from 2015 to 2017; you would’ve seen him on YouTube at that point. He hasn’t wrestled much the last few years. El Novato is a new name and probably a literal novice. Match 3 is probably setting up a Zeuxis/Marcela match.

Irma Gonzalez will be in attendance. I have here last wrestling in this building in 1992 and first wrestling here in 1966 (but I could be missing appearances either way.)

CMLL (TUE) 03/21/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis and La Catalina & Maligna and Princesa Sugehit & Reyna Isis and Marcela & Metálica and Amapola & Tiffany and Hera & Olympia and La Magnifica & Náutica and Gema Andrade & Sexy Sol and Misteriosa & Valkiria and Atenea & Nexy and Dulce Kitty & Kimy [Occidente WOMEN TAG, battle royal]

It’s really just the tournament to decide the first (as far as anyone knows) Occidente Women’s Tag Team Championship. No other matches. No men are working the show; this is the second all-women’s show on October 25th. Part of this is progressive, part of this is running the same building 52 Tuesdays a year with a pretty stable attendance; you probably should be doing things like this to mix it up.

12 teams means four first-round byes and eleven matches in total if they’re doing it in conventional fashion. Who knows. La Jarochita & Lluvia should go to the final since they’re the long-running national team, but them winning these belts too would seem to defeat the purpose of having them.

CMLL announce the April Arena Mexico show will focus on the men’s Universal Championship. This is the annual champion of champions tournament. They’re following last year’s format, with blocks by types of champions and a three-way final. The champion could still change between now and the start of the tournament.

Irma Gonzalez will be here as well. Forget the holiday, maybe the reason Puebla got moves is to Irma didn’t have to go from a late night Puebla show to Guadalajara in one day. The earliest Irma Gonzalez match I have in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara is 1959. The most recent match is in the early 80s, but that’s mostly because we don’t have great records of the 80s or early 90s for that arena.

April 7th is the Historic champions:

• Rocky Romero (welterweight)
• Mistico (middleweight)
• Atlantis Jr. (light heavyweight)

Last year, they drew balls to determine a preliminary singles match, and the winner faced the left over wrestler.

April 14 is the National champions:

• Sagrado (heavyweight)
• Angel de Oro (light heavyweight)
• Dragon Rojo Jr. (middleweight)
• Magia Blanca (welterweight)
• Panterita del Ring Jr. (lightweight)
• Esfinge (tag)
• Fugaz (tag)
• Rey Cometa (trios)
• Dulce Gardenia (trios)
• Espiritu Negro (trios)

This should be a 10 vs 10 cibernetico

April 21 is the CMLL champions:

• Gran Guerrero (heavyweight)
• Barbaro Cavernario (light heavyweight)
• Templario (middleweight)
• Titan (welterweight)
• Stigma (super lightweight)
• Angel de Oro (tag)*
• Niebla Roja (tag)
• Hechicero (trios)
• Euforia (trios)
• Mephisto (trios)

This also could be a 5v5 cibernetico, but Angel de Oro is an exception. CMLL usually only allows multiple title holders a single birth in this tournament. Angel de Oro argued on Informa he should be allowed in both the national and the CMLL since he holds a title in each. Others have argued in the past to no avail, but the math works in Angel de Oro’s favor.

The micros and the minis do not participate in this tournament. The 04/28 show will also likely double as the Arena Mexico (building) Anniversary show. My guess is we’ll get a Templario/Dragon Rojo final.

CMLL will be collecting keys for a special 90th Anniversary plaque. Fans can donate their unused keys to be part of it in boxes outside Arena Mexico, Coliseo, Puebla, and Guadalajara (you don’t have to go in to drop a key.) This reminds me that the best thing that can happen on tonight’s Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show is CMLL officially announcing a date for the Aniversario. (It’s probably September 22nd but it’s not official until it’s official.)

Volador and Rocky Romero are not just part of a 10 man tag for NJPW US in Washington DC on 04/15, they’re being pushed as the most important part of it. That seems to me like the feud will still be unresolved by that point.

NJPW announced their annual Best of Super Juniors tournament will take place from May 12th to May 28th. Titan is expected to be in the tournament. Soberano seems likely to be in but no knowing for sure.

AAA

AAA TV (SUN) 03/19/2023 Estadio Panamericano, Guadalajara, Jalisco
***Lucha World Cup, 2023***
1) Alberto el Patrón, Hijo Del Vikingo, Psycho Clown vs Carlito, Hip Hop Man, Zumbi [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
2) Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Taurus vs Bhupinder Gujjar, Classy Ali, Rage [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
3) Christopher Daniels, Johnny Caballero, Sam Adonis vs Kuukai, La Estrella, Nishikawa [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
4) Josh Alexander, Pco, Vampiro vs Heddi Karaoui, Joe Hendry, Thomas Latimer [Lucha Libre World Cup Men, quarterfinal]
5) La Hiedra, Lady Flammer, Sexy Star vs Akino, Emi Sakura, Mayumi Ozaki [Lucha Libre World Cup Women, semifinal]
6) Deonna Purrazzo, Jordynne Grace, Kamille vs Dalys, Natalia Markova, Taya [Lucha Libre World Cup Women, semifinal]
Dalys replaced Christi Jaynes (visa issues) on March 9th.

This is airing on FITE at 6 pm CDT. I wrote a lot on Voices of Wrestling. Don’t know the match order. Kind of don’t know the rules – I’m assuming the same one was last year but how would I know. (I could ask I guess.) I’m not sure if I would bother with this one if I didn’t just get everything but I also think it’ll be fine enough. I hope I catch some enthusiasm for this once the show starts. I guess I’ve got Team USA Women and Team Mexico 1 Men winning the blocks.

I don’t think anyone’s processed how long this show will be. Part of that is because AAA is running a World Cup and they will not explain how a World Cup works until the moment it starts (if even.) This is the only the second time AAA’s run both women and men’s tournament, and they split those over multiple days the first time. If they’re going back to the usual rules, it’s a twelve-match show including third-place matches. They’ll also have long presentations to start and end the show. FITE may have a hard cap of four hours based on past shows, and AAA may need every minute of them.

Alberto looks to have gotten Dr. Wagner Jr’s spot as wrestling columnist in El Milenio. Alberto’s first column is on how great Alberto is, as if he was telling his life story to the kid version of himself. In this version he gets to a peak no one thought any Mexican would get to, only to find out how lonely it was at the top, people betrayed him and brought him down and he found out who were his true friends. The World Cup is the next step in trying to reshape Alberto’s as the greatest wrestling champion of all time.

AAA on Space this week on Saturday:

• Centinela (Military), Drago Kid, Fulgor vs Chessman, Emperador Azteca, Reina Dorada
• Aerostar & Aramis vs Antifaz del Norte & Parka Negra
• Vampiro & Willie Mack vs Puma King & Toscano

At the taping, they explained Centinela is a soldier recently trained to wrestle.

If you’re a person following along AAA on YouTube, a) this is a week to skip and b) this is a week they might skip, as they often do when there’s a live broadcast on Sundays.

Space lists the AAA/NWA show as airing next week. It doesn’t have the “Part 1” designation, so they might just compress it to one week. If so, the World Cup would begin airing on April 1st. (And then I don’t have to be nearly as worried about screwing up the recording while distracted during WrestleMania weekend.)

AEW announced they signed Taya Valkyrie. This probably won’t affect her presence in AAA much; she appeared about as often as Fenix and Penta previously. Sarah Stock (Dark Angel) also started with AEW as a producer. It’s been a long time since she was around Mexican wrestling a lot, but it probably couldn’t hurt current and future luchadors to have two more people with a lucha libre background in AEW.

Tony Khan said AEW would be announcing a dream match tonight during Rampage. Rampage is airing very late tonight. It’s listed as 10:30 pm CDT, but it’ll likely be later than that: it’s after whenever the last college basketball game ends and maybe even after a short post-game show too. (If you are a person who likes to DVR Rampage to watch it Saturday morning, make sure you add at least an hour overrun to be safe.) Everyone assumes the “dream match” is a Vikingo thing. I don’t know for sure, and it would not surprise me if it was something else. I don’t know if Khan’s announcement is that. The way it’s gone with Vikingo and the journey to this point so far, I wouldn’t feel safe announcing him on my show until his plane touched down in the Kansas City airport. Vikingo feels much more like it fits the ‘one extra match’ bit announced Wednesday bit, but that’s how I’m wired and Khan often thinks differently.

It would be very funny if AAA tried for years to put together Vikingo/Omega as the main event of a major (10K+) show, and then AEW just announced it first about a quarter to midnight on a Friday night. I think Omega/Vikingo is not happening Wednesday but I’m just speculating on that part.

Komander is listed as wrestling on the 04/22 AAA TV taping in Tijuana.
Komander is listed as wrestling on the 04/22 GCW show in Orlando.

Cuatrero and Stephanie Vaquer

Both El Planchitas and Antonio Nieto reported Cuatrero will be required to remain in jail while the investigation into his domestic violence and femicide charges continues. The judge set a two-month deadline to conclude the investigation. ESPN added Thursday’s meeting lasted five hours, after a three-hour meeting last weekend. Stephanie Vaquer was present for both, in support of her previous statements.

I’m unfamiliar with the Mexican legal system enough to know how strict they are about those deadlines, but that timeline means this story (and Cuatrero) are going away until mid-May. Planchitas also mentions Cuatrero’s head was shaved while in jail.

“Do you strip the trios titles if one of the champions is currently in jail” is a real question AAA has to have in the next week. It’s so low on the priority list but it’s also a question AAA will be asked next time they’re in front of the press. They ought to figure out their answer first. (It really doesn’t matter for booking purposes, AAA can go two months without a title defense easy, but this isn’t a booking issue.)

Other Shows Of Note That Aren’t The Big 2 Shows But Are Also Happening This Weekend For Reasons

Mas Lucha has a Perros del Mal homage show on Friday night. This is for subscribers only.

Mas Lucha (FRI) 03/17/2023 Arena Azteca Budokan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México
1) Escapulario & Séptimo Elemento vs Dark Mayem & Rey Eclipse
2) Alas de Oro & Alas De Plata vs Kauris & Leo Cristiani
3) Belial vs Camaleón, Dante, Dinastía, Dinamic Black, Mr. Leo, Saruman, Último Legendario [Copa Perros del Mal 2023]
4) Kundra vs Halloween Jr.
5) Ludark Shaitan vs Ayako Hamada, Sakura (Chihuahua), Cinthia Moreno [PDM WOMEN]
6) Groon XXX vs Elemental
7) Bestia 666, Damián 666, Joe Lider, Lizmark Jr. vs Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool

It’s a Perros del Mal homage show, though it feels more like a celebration of the period where they were running their own TV show and had their own promotion, which was a bit more ragged. The strength of this lineup is these are different combinations than anyone else is running in the crowded Mexico City arena. No one else is running Groon XXX versus Elemental for sure, though there may be reasons why no one else is running singles matches with 2023 Groon XXX. Maybe the Copa will be the best match on the show? Maybe that’s a sneaky preview to the Relevos Suicidas show Mas Lucha is running next since there seems to be some duplication there.

Record has an interview with Groon XXX to promote this show. He surprisingly sees his brief time in CMLL as a success story. For him, going from talking his way onto early shows when he (admittedly!) wasn’t actually fully trained to getting onto a highly attended Arena Mexico card was a big achievement.

Big Lucha returns on Saturday

Big Lucha (SAT) 03/18/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Reiyel vs Andy Panda, Brujo De Iztapalapa
2) Cometa Maya, Radioactivo, Sussy Love vs El Machote, Kendy, Máscara Año 2000 Jr.
3) Black Skyde, Forneo, Skayde, Vórtize vs Elipse, Iku, Orbita, Vengador
4) Gravity & Potro vs Jack Evans & Killer Destro and Mr. Win & Viajero
5) El Bandido & Rey Horus vs Bestia 666 & Damián 666
6) Trauma I & Trauma II vs Emperador Azteca & Flamita

This is the least interesed I’ve been in a Big Lucha show since they became a thing. The semi-main looks like the best match. The poster has no Mas Lucha logo, but I assume they’re streaming this as usual.

GCW on Friday in New York has Gringo Loco versus Bandido. That’ll air on FITE+.

IWRG has a Rebelion de Los Juniors show on Sunday

IWRG (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Roja vs Ángel De Plata
2) Sagitarius vs Black Fury, Lady Lee
3) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly vs Caballero de Plata & Jhon Tito and León Dorado & Mr. Leo
4) Puma de Oro vs Shocko [IWRG MEXICO]
5) Aster Boy, Hell Boy, Tonalli vs Cheese Burger, Joey Marx, Mason Conrad
6) Galeno del Mal vs Hijo de L.A. Park, Hijo del Alebrije, Príncipe Arkano, Villano V Jr., Apolo Estrada Jr., Brazo De Oro Jr., Cerebro Negro Jr. [La Rebelion de Los Juniors]

That’ll also be a Mas Lucha subscriber-only show. The winner of the 12-person match will face Hijo del Fishman on the 04/02 show, according to IWRG’s news program. Cheese Burger (two word in Mexico) makes his debut.

Cheeseburger, Joey Marx, and Mason Conrad are among those wrestling for Tulancingo’s Luchando Libre on Friday. That usually turns up on Mas Lucha.

Lucha Time, which is theoretically a TV promotion based in Monterrey, has it’s first TV taping in about 14 months in Monterrey on Friday.

Aerostar versus the very suspended Chessman is supposed to headline the debut Capital Lucha Libre show in Arena San Juan on Saturday. That’s likely a fan cam situation.

Fuerza Guerrera returns to CMLL for the first time in three months on Sunday.

The Parks and the Wagners headline Arena Lopez Mateos on Sunday. That’ll be a fancam show on Monday and Mas Lucha some time down the road.

AAA wrestlers used to participate in the Vive Latino festival before switching to Billy Corgan’s group this year. Vive Latino will have independent wrestlers instead. It’ll technically be among the biggest crowds to see a wrestling show in Mexico this year, though most won’t be there to see the wrestling.

Lucha Memes has a usual mix of people on Monday.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

IWRG (THU) 03/16/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Águila Roja & Baby Star b Kenji & Leo 
2) Arcángel Divino, Destiny, Lady Lee b Lolita, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly 
3) Hijo del Fishman & Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Joey Marx & Mason Conrad 
no Medico Brujo & Sick Boy
4) Hijo de Canis Lupus b Coronel Vip 
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Larry Miranda, Mamba DQ Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool 
challenges followed
6) Jessy Ventura b Pimpinela Escarlata 
challenges followed

This show started late and went long, but it looks like it was the best drawing IWRG show in a few weeks.

The Mexico City Secretary of Culture held a press conference to talk about Contra Las Cuerdas, the Netflix series that was taped in Iztapalapa and debuted on the service about a month ago. This was mostly about pushing the idea of filming in Mexico City – you can do well and locals (both wrestlers and non in this case) can get work. They claimed Contras Las Cuerdas was among the top 10 most watched Netflix programs; there’s no context to that, don’t know if they mean just over one week or one month or what, but it sounds good.

Galeno del Mal talks about how hard life is being 198 cm.

Here’s a story about Alberto saying he was paid only 800 pesos in his first match.