Puebla, Averno makes an impact, AAA looks for new stars

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 05/30/2011 Arena Puebla [Porra Fresa]
1) Black Tiger & Blue CenterAkron & Ares
Tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico, PierrothitoAereo, Eléctrico, Pequeño Halcón
Rudos took 2/3.
3) Cancerbero, Euforia, RazielDelta, Diamante, Palacio Negro
Rudos took 2/3.
4) Blue Panther, Sangre Azteca, ToscanoEphesto, Felino, Misterioso II
Rudos took the first, tecnicos the second. In the third, Panther (captain) missed a plancha on Felino, and Ephesto and Felino covered for three. Referee Rodolfo Ruiz then went and raised the tecnico’s arms, and no one had any earthly idea why. Still don’t know. Fans chanted mean things at Ruiz, who really had a rough night.
5) La Máscara, La Sombra, Strong ManAtlantis, Mr. Niebla, Shinsuke Nakamura
Tecnicos took 2/3.

CMLL (FRI) 06/03/2011 Arena Mexico [CesarCMLL]
1) Camaleón & MetálicoApocalipsis & Inquisidor
Tecnicos take 2/3.
2) Amapola, Estrellita, La ComandanteDalys la Caribeña, Lluvia, Marcela
Rudas take 1/3.
3) AstralPequeño Nitro [lightning]
Good match. Astral won in 8:35.
4) Atlantis, Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr.Diamante, Hijo del Signo, Negro Casas [Forjando un Idolo]
Shocker introduced Atlantis as his in ring replacement (because he’s still not ready to return and it’s very odd they advertised him) and hung around to manage. Upside is more Shocker as manager, and he managed his trio to a win (taking falls 1/3)
5) Ángel de Oro, Rey Escorpion, Último GuerreroBlue Panther, Fuego, Pólvora [Forjando un Idolo]
The dream team of the Forjando un Idolo winner, the Gran Alternativa winner and whatever competition UG’s won recently took this match, taking falls 1/3. RadioCMLL talked about each winning team getting 3 points, same format as the singles matches, but CMLL.com makes no mention of that.
6) La Máscara, La Sombra, Strong Man DQ Shinsuke Nakamura, Terrible, Texano
Averno had been doing guest commentary all night, and promos from Mascara and him aired during the show. Rudos took the first, tecnicos the second. Mascara got Terrible in the campana, and Averno stormed the ring to smash Averno with a beer tray. Brazo de Oro ran out to protect his son and got beat up. Averno wouldn’t let them stretcher out Mascara, so he had to be kicked out of the building.

CMLL in Japan

NJPW 06/04: Great Sasuke [10] b Mascara Dorada [4] (4:28)

Tough loss. Dorada is only 2 points out of 2nd, but in 7th place due to a lot of ties. He has a good shot at winning the three matches he has left, but it probably won’t be enough. Next match is tomorrow versus the winner of a play-in tournament, Daisuke Sasaki, who only has 2 points.

Other news

On Ras de Lona, Nakamura did his promo in English. Helpful for me! There was the usual talk by all the Forjando un Idolo teams. A lot of Guerrero Maya, doing promos for that, for the Tapatio feud and on Virus. Shocker talked about his injury and wanting to return (footage of him in action included the first shot of Mistico on this show in months, so brief that they must’ve just missed it in editing.) Averno showed off the masks that he’s worn and the masks that he’s won; it seemed like Averno usually kept his head bald, but his hair has grown in quite a bit. La Mascara, his three kids (in Brazo de Oro masks), and Brazo de Oro appeared together for his interview. The kids were cute.

The 7th (Tuesday) and the 12th (Sunday) are Fan Appreciation days in DF. It doesn’t seem like they’re setting up a match on the 12th (unless that’s the mask match with the Tapatios, which would be bad timing.)

AAA, Corona, Comex, CMB (boxing) and Promocions de Pueblo (boxing) held a press conference to announce an initiative to find new luchadors and boxers. This is going to be reality show style; think American Idol. The lucha libre side of the competition will start June 17 & 18th in DF; there are plans to take this around the country, but no dates are mentioned. There will be three divisions (men, women, and minis.) Luchadors must have two years of experience, be between 18-30 years old and be willing to relocate to DF if they don’t already live there. Judges will select 20 finalists from each city they visit, but eventually will cut it down to one winner per division. It sounds like Konnan, Brazo, and Apache will be the judges responsible for cutting down the numbers, and Octagon, Mesias and Silver King will make the final selections. I expect this will start to turn up on AAA TV sometime after TripleMania.

Though he could not speak much, Arturo Rivera did appear at the press conference, his first appearance since going into the hospital. They’re still hopeful of him announcing at TripleMania, though a whole four hour show seems like asking a bit much for his return.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update, this week’s Ras de Lona, and the latest Slammin’ Stan.

Links

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 06/1o/2011 Arena Mexico
1) Astral & Eléctrico vs Demus 3:16 & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Stuka Jr. vs Virus [lightning]
3) Atlantis, Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Blue Panther, Fuego, Pólvora [Forjando un Idolo]
4) Diamante, Hijo del Signo, Negro Casas vs Ángel de Oro, Rey Escorpion, Último Guerrero [Forjando un Idolo]
5) Máximo, Toscano, Valiente vs Ephesto, Felino, Mr. Niebla
6) La Máscara, La Sombra, Rush vs Averno, Mephisto, Shinsuke Nakamura

Atlantis filling in for Shocker means the 06/17 show will have Ultimo Guerrero vs Atlantis. That’ll be interesting (unless Shocker comes back by then.)