Dr. Cerebro shaves Apolo Estrada

photo by Black Terry Jr.

IWRG (SUN) 12/15/2013 Arena Naucalpan [Black Terry Jr. (flickr), The Gladiatores]
1) Fulgor I & Fulgor II b Alfa & Omega
2) Dragón Celestial, Hip Hop Man, Látigo b Araña de Plata, Kaling Black, Zurdog
3) Douki, Imposible, Oficial 911 b Diva Salvaje, Golden Magic, Miss Gaviota
911 used a ref bump to sneak in a foul on Golden Magic.
4) Alan Extreme, Máscara Púrpura, Veneno b Fuerza Guerrera, Súper Nova, X-Fly
Eterno was in the crowd, on crutches. Super Nova borrowed one of the crutches to play around with before the match, then took Purpura out in the crowd during the match so Eterno could hit him with a crutch. Veneno pinned X-Fly.
5) Dr. Cerebro b Apolo Estrada [hair]
Apolo won a quick first fall. Cerebro rallied back to win fall 2. 911 (Apolo’s second) stole Golden Magic (Cerebro’s second) mask, and Golden Magic went to the back to find a new one. It took him a great deal of time. 911 interfered a lot, Magic came back and moonsaulted 911, and Cerebro beat Apolo with a superbomb. Apolo got a chunk of hair taken off in the ring and more backstage. The Doc would like a title shot next.

Yesterday, I mentioned how Konnan said a planned tecnico turn for him in AAA Mexico was scuttled because the plans for him to be a heel in AAA US. there’s also been a general sense AAA has been holding back and waiting for the US launch to do certain things. I used to think that was a good idea, but I’ve done a 180 on the concept in the last few weeks and now believe it’s not a smart move.

We still don’t know very much about the AAA US promotion (which is kind of amazing given it’s supposed to be 3 months away from launching, but that’s another topic for another slow news day), but what we know about is the El Rey people in charge are approaching it like AAA has zero or nearly zero brand identity in the United States. Possible changes like a different name or making the characters more super-heroic could only be done if there wasn’t a concern about putting off people in the US who were already following the product. They’re starting from scratch decisions, which you can only make once you admit you’re at scratch. There are people in the US who do follow AAA – the kind of people who read this website or tried to purchase TripleMania – but that’s a small amount of people compared to the numbers it’s going to take AAA US to be viable.

If you’re starting AAA US as new for a new audience, then nothing that’s gone on in AAA Mexico matters to that audience. They don’t know it’s been 10 years since Konnan was a tecnico in Mexico, because AAA US just started to exist. They don’t know how big a deal it would be for [luchador X] to win a title or [luchador Y] to betray another and turn tecnico, because they’re unaware of the history or build up to that moment. AAA US could spend effort teaching them that history, but they’ve got get over who these people are first for it to matter. Telling the ending of stories or even the second act of stories will be lost on these new people – they just came in, they didn’t see the first act. AAA US has to be the start of new things.

It also doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to hold things back in the Mexico promotion, or even really treat them as related promotions early on. The number of people who will be following both the US and Mexico wing will be very small. Very few people in the US follow AAA in Mexico, and very few people in Mexico will  be following the US promotion. The inconsistencies are only going to bother a minor group of people, not enough to revolve your booking around. There’s going to be a lot to get across for AAA US when they start up, don’t deal with the baggage of the last ten years of stories at the same time, and don’t handicap the promotion you’re counting on supporting you by waiting for the US audience to catch up. Tell the best stories you can right now, and make them all match up later on if it makes sense then. Give yourself the best chance to succeed and don’t worry about the crossover details.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Mask maker Jade has a new website.

One thought to “Dr. Cerebro shaves Apolo Estrada”

  1. Cubs, I think the problem AAA is encountering here is that Konnan has no ckue how to book a territory, and compounding matters is that no one in AAA’s offices realizes that.

    “Booking” really is a lost art, and the entire industry has moved to the “storyline writers” and “creative teams”, and away from guys who coordinate talent with angles. While this is a shortcoming of Konnan’s, it isn’t necessarily his fault, because that is the environment that he came up thru.

    What AAA needs to do is map out when each of the shows for each “region” will tape/air, and when the Inmajor shows will be. Then figure out what talent is available, and book them in to those towns accordingly.

    In the territory days, you had issues like this often, when a “subterritory” revolved around a promoter having their own tv outlet within the territory. For example, Bruno ran Pittsburgh as a seperate territory from the WWWF, and ran their own angles on the Pittsburgh tv show, but had to keep things aligned with what was going on in NYC. Fred Ward & the Armstrongs both ran their own tv and angles in Georgia, but booked talent & continuity with what GCW was doing in Atlanta.

    AAA just needs to find a way to run the Mexico shows the way they always have, while keeping whatever they are doing with their US outlets logical. Making with region subservient to the other will ruin both.

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