the top 6 stories of the last 2 week

1. Dr. Wagner Jr. & Mesias to meet in a dome cage match at Guerra de Titanes, in Mesias’ last shot
2. Texano & Terrible vs No Limit will meet in a hair match is set for 12/04
3. Konnan and Cibernetico to have unsanctioned street fight Guerra de Titanes
4. CMLL & NJPW talk about talent sharing in Mexico, including the 01/04 Tokyo Dome show.
5. CMLL beats AAA in TV ratings, two straight weeks
6. Okumura upset Maximo in a hair match on 11/15

Question of the fortnight: does CMLL even know they beat AAA in ratings two straight weeks?

More on those stories, and others, after the link

1) On the 11/18 AAA TV taping, Mesias and Wagner agreed on one more title match this year, their fourth straight on major shows. The idea is this one will settle for it good: a dome cage, no interference allowed, and it’ll be Mesias’ final shot.

Dome cage matches have always been escape rules in AAA, so Wagner could lose the title without ever taking a pinfall. That’s the most likely outcome; AAA believes in Mesias, even though the fans have generally been against him and for Wagner in this feud. Mesias is expected to win the title back, but then he has the last three times, and Wagner is still champ.

2) After a few weeks of feuding, and a few prior weeks of No Limit feuding with other members of Hijos del Averno, the final major show (No Escape) of CMLL’s year will be Terrible & Texano Jr. versus Naito & Yujiro in a double hair match.

It’s been expected No Limit would lose their hair near the end of their stay with CMLL. Japanese wrestlers on an extended stay almost always lose a mask or hair, because it’s win that can matter a lot for the Mexicans who are staying, and nothing to the Japanese who are leaving. It’s been a certainty since Naito took Toscano’s hair in the end of the Cage of Death. The surprise is it’s Texano & Terrible on the other side. It was set up originally to be Shocker & Hector Garza, but CMLL changed their minds along the way.

Texano is one of the few newer guys to get a big push in lucha libre this year. He’s racked up a hair win over Maximo, a title win over Atlantis, and a surprise final appearance in the CMLL Universal Championship. He’s clearly a guy CMLL is high on for the future, and the future’s coming quick.

What’s not clear is how well all this will draw. While the stipulation means something, none of these four are really draws, and they’ll need a notable semimain to boost it. There’s been teases of a Volador/Sombra vs Mephisto/Epehsto tag title match, but that’s probably not going to help much.

3) In between the two AAA TV tapings this week, Cibernetico held a press conference to talk about Konnan, who naturally interrupted. They ran an angle to set up an unsanctioned match for Guerra de Titantes. AAA takes no responsible for the events of the match, but are more than happy to charge you a ticket and show it on TV. The next day, Cibernetico was destroyed on a TV taping.

They’ve spent a lot of TV time on this feud, probably the most of anything during this last major show cycle, and a street fight type match is the best way to get something out of it. Konnan & Cibernetico in a normal match would be impossible, this allows for stunts and run-ins. It should be a draw, with all of the effort put into it.

This doesn’t seem like the last match in a feud. It’s the first of a longer story, except it’s not clear how it works coming out of it. Cibernetico’s still a rudo, but there’s no one else for him to team with. Everyone else is in the Legion, A WagnerManiac, or a Clown. Either Cibernetico is turning a second time in a short period, or he’s got to bring in some new (or old) friends to team with.

4) Representative of NJPW came to CMLL talk specifics about talent sharing for the next year. Very little of those specifics were made public, but both sides made both of teases. Sombra, Texano, Terrible, Negro Casas, Ultimo Guerrero and Mistico were all mentioned as going to Japan, while Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask IV, Tanahashi, Nakamura, and Yano were among those mentioned headed to Mexico. CMLL participation is expected for the 01/04 Tokyo Dome show, and probably the December Super J tournament. NJPW wrestlers would start appearing in CMLL in February.

This deal illustrates the differences between the ways the two major companies are separating themselves. Both are trying to expand the areas their business covers. CMLL is selling their existing product in new locations, while AAA is trying to sell it’s existing product in new forms (video game, movie.)

5) Last week, it was 3.2 CMLL, 3.0 AAA. This week, it was 4.0 CMLL, 3.9 AAA

We’ve only been tracking these numbers for 7 weeks, so it’s completely unclear what any of this means, or how it’ll affect things going forward (the only part I really care about.) CMLL has always seemed to use Friday night attendance as it’s barometer; it’s only the creeping US influence on AAA that makes this a topic. It’s also worth remembering that differences of .2 aren’t really all that statistically significant.

6) In no other year, Okumura would never beat Maximo in a hair match. It just happened to be the wrong time for a Japanese wrestler to lose to a Mexican, since the final big match of the year is about the Mexicans possibly finally beating the Japanese. This’ll probably go down as the biggest win of Okumura’s win. He’s likely to stay in a good position as the local Japanese wrestler to fill out teams with visiting NJPW wrestlers, if the CMLL/NJPW partnership works as expected.

With two hair loses in a year, Maximo is in danger of becoming like the rest of the unmasked members of his family: lacking credibility in big matches, hoping to have enough charisma to overcome it. Maximo’s is a lot better off in that deal that most, and performance in this match might have been helped, but he’s probably due a big win sometime in 2010.

Other stories of note: CMLL partners with a promtoion to run two shows in France…AAA announces their movie will debut on 01/22…Ultimo Guerrero disbands Guerreros del Atlantida…Los Cancerberos del Infierno (Virus, Euforia, Polvora, Cancerbero, Raciel) are introduced, lose…Flash is now Fuego…Vangelis is suddenly a semimain eventer…Egpicio loses his mask in Gudalajara