Nothing. I liked AJ/Mesias much more than the last time they did it, but it didn’t quite crack the list.
Shows Watched But Nothing Made The List
CMLL Guerreros del Ring on 52MX: 2013-11-16
CMLL on CadenaTres: 2013-11-16
CMLL on Fox Sports (Mexico): 2013-11-16
Lucha Azteca (CMLL): 2013-11-16
AAA on UTDN: 2013-11-21 – though this show was by far the best of the bunch
CMLL (TUE) 12/17/2013Arena Mexico [CMLL, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Akuma & Cholo b Bengala & Camaleón
2) Canelo Casas, Hijo del Signo, Nosferatu b Hombre Bala Jr., Oro Jr., Súper Halcón Jr.
3) Estrellita, Goya Kong, Marcela b Dalys, La Seductora, Princesa Blanca Tecnicas took 1/3.
4) Morphosis, Mr. Águila, Ripper b Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. Straight falls, when Ripper pulled Delta’s mask and got away with it.
5) La Sombra, Rush, Super Porky b Gran Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero Bucanero and UG did some of their old tag spots, including the triple team submission Tormento Guerrero in the first. Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Rey Escorpión b Máximo [CMLL LH] Rey Escorpion is champion. Rudos took 2/3. Escorpion won the third with the Aguijón Negro. Fifth defense.
Main event sounds pretty good. No hair match coming, I’d guess.
CMLL (TUE) 12/17/2013Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [@acogdl]
1) Metatrón b Demonio Rojo Bonus match.
2) Black Metal b Sádico Bonus match.
3) Javier Cruz Jr. & Leo DQ Acertijo & Ráfaga Rafaga replaced Disturbio (delayed in traffic.) Tecnicos took 2/3 by unspecified DQ.
4) Sky Kid & Smaker b Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno [OCCIDENTE TAG] Moved to earlier in the (announced) show due to DF delays. Smaker & Sky Kid are champions. First defense against previous champions. Tecnicos took 1/3 to keep the titles, but ky Kid was hurt and strechered out at the end of the match.
5) Fuego, Gallo, Tritón b Raziel, Sangre Azteca, Shigeo Okumura Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Shocker DQ Euforia, Terrible, Vangellys Tencicos took straight falls, when Vangellys was DQed for excessive violence on Shocker.
7) Máscara Dorada, Mistico, Valiente b Averno, Ephesto, Mephisto [CMLL TRIOS] Estetas del Aire are champions. Tecnicos took 2/3, La Mistica on Averno for the win. Fourth defense.
Usual practice in Guadalajara is to give people extra matches when the guys traveling are delayed, and it seems like a good policy. Expected result in the main event.
Many corrections on the Puebla recap, thanks to Porra Fresa and friends on Twitter.
– Herodes replaced Espanto in the first match
– Magnus! replaced Starman in the second match.
– Virus replaced Namajague in the fourth match, so whoever booked this had no idea Namajague was long gone. Also, since Rush replaced Diamante Azul, that means substitutions in all four tag matches.
– Rush and Shocker teased problems in their match but kept it together.
– both Atlantis and Ultimo Guerrero pulled each other’s masks, and somehow Tirantes decided Atlantis won by DQ.
NJPW apparently announced their 01/04 WrestleKingdom show will have a Spanish language stream. It’s an odd starting point, because there are no CMLL luchadors on that show as of now, but perhaps this is a dry run for the the FantasticaMania shows. No announcers have been announced. Jose & Bernado from TerceraCaida would be excellent broadcasting NJPW and I’m unconvinced anyone else would be prepared and interested in the product on day 1 (and wouldn’t have the same stories they tell every match to fall back on.)
El Rey Network announced a sponsorship deal with car manufacturer GM, which includes product integration. I hoping for at least one luchador to suddenly be named after a car and/or the Infierno Rockers driving a SUV. El Rey Network is supposed to go live on my cable system tomorrow and may have done the same on other networks already, but I don’t think they’re programming the channel yet. It’s a very soft launch – they may begin airing shows, but it seems like the real start date is whenever the TV adaption of From Dusk Till Dawn debut, since that’s the show that might get attention for the network. There’s no announced start for that yet, but articles on suggest first quarter of 2014 which is probably why AAA is being aimed for the same time.
Camorra wants a mask match with Stigma before the end of the year, and plans to beat Stigma so bad that he’s reduced to selling food outside Arena Puebla.
Silueta believes Chik Tormenta will be a tougher opponent after her trip to Japan, but believes she can still win. She still wants to get the REINA Junior title back from Zeuxis.
Impulso says Sunday’s match against Extreme Tiger on the ChilangaMask show will be very tough, but he’s planning to show heart and have the best match of the year.
CMLL (SUN) 12/22/2013Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Índigo vs El Tapatío
2) El Divino vs Jocker
3) Esfinge & Halcón de Plata vs Demonio Maya & Demonio Rojo
4) Gallo vs Exterminador
5) Black Metal, Pegasso, Solar I vs Espectrum, Herodes Jr., Maléfico
6) Máscara Dorada, Shocker, Valiente vs Kráneo, Mr. Águila, Pierroth
Solar’s hanging around here, which is a nice bonus for the locals. Not a lot otherwise going on.
CMLL (MON) 12/23/2013Arena Puebla
1) Black Tiger & Sensei vs Espíritu Maligno & Toro Bill Jr.
2) Eléctrico & Shockercito vs Pierrothito & Saurón
3) Sagrado & Stigma vs Boby Zavala & Camorra
4) Blue Panther & Delta vs Shigeo Okumura & Virus
5) Atlantis, Máximo, Super Porky vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
6) La Máscara, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Kráneo, Morphosis, Mr. Águila
Camorra has one more week to get this mask match done in 2013. Invasors vs Volador is supposed to be carrying the promotion right now.
CMLL (WED) 12/25/2013Arena Mexico
1) Leono & Metálico vs Akuma & Zayco
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Último Dragoncito vs Demus 3:16, Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico
3) Molotov, Starman, Stigma vs Canelo Casas, Hijo del Signo, Shigeo Okumura
4) Sagrado vs Tiger [lightning]
5) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Valiente vs Euforia, Felino, Pierroth
6) Atlantis, La Máscara, Titán vs Averno, Mephisto, Rey Escorpión
CMLL giving out coal this Christmas. The parts with Titan should be good. Bottom half of the card is quite weak. What happened to Atlantis’ vacation?
CMLL (WED) 12/25/2013Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Camaleón & Robin vs Demonio Maya & Sádico
2) Javier Cruz Jr., Leo, Magnus vs Acertijo, Disturbio, Ráfaga
3) Fuego, Gallo, Tritón vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Nitro, Nosferatu
4) Blue Panther & Solar I vs Arkángel de la Muerte & Negro Casas
5) Shocker, Super Porky, Volador Jr. vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys
They’re doing a Shocker/Vangellys feud! I have rarely been more excited for something I will not see. No offense to Fuego, but we’re all going to be very upset when his match airs on 52MX and the fourth match doesn’t.
The focus of Guerra de Titanes was La Sociedad returning yet again. Weeks of the rudos arguing backstage among themselves (and only themselves) about what side Perro Aguayo was on turned out to be a secret plan where the rudos were all on the same page and had no reason to argue in the first place. Nueva Sociedad appears to be every rudo in the roster. (This includes La Secta and Perros del Mal, who were feuding groups who are just no longer feuding.) Zorro turned rudo to join the group and Sexy Star returned to AAA in time to be included. Pimpinela lost her hair in the cage match (when Yuriko quit rather than lose himself), and Blue Demon and Psycho Circus kept their trios titles in a status quo show. AAA held one more taping as part of a resort vacation and is otherwise done for the year.
Volador Jr. is now a tecnico. Volador’s been cheered thru his whole rudo reign, but the turn itself was underwhelming – Volador spontaneously decided Mistico was a decent guy and the rudos all hated him for it. TV has made a bad situation worse, as CMLL’s own production crew decided to edit out the moments where Volador’s former partners turned on him. A fan would have no idea why Volador is meant to be a tecnico unless they’re already reading CMLL’s website. Volador’s now feuding with the ex-Psicosis II (a C-level guy who’s not been taken seriously in years, and who gets a new spelling of “Reapper” every week) and still popular Negro Casas (so Volador has gone from cheered rudo to booed tecnico.) The entire situation is one the worst executed developments in quite some time, and it can still possibly get worse once they figure out what they’re doing with Sombra.
Sin Cara is no longer Sin Cara. Mistico not fired, but he’s hanging out in Mexico City until his contract ends. The ex-Incognito has taken over the Sin Cara role, for now.
Apolo Estrada defeated Dr. Cerebro for the vacant WWS Welterweight Championship, but Cerebro beat Apolo for his hair a week later
CMLL continues to tease apuesta matches with Psicosis/Volador, Rey Escorpion/Maximo and Stigma/Camorra and maybe one of them will actually happen. They’re also back to pushing Ultimo Guerrero versus Atlantis hard for no particular reason (and for no apparent reaction.)
Rayo de Jalisco defeated Super Parka in a hair match where Super Parka didn’t get much hair cut off.
Angel de Oro will be out for 6-9 months due to knee surgery.
Rey Bucanero returned from a foot injury.
Golden Magic defeated Canis Lupus for the IWRG Welterweight (red) championship.
Flamita won one third of the Open the Triangle Gate championship in Dragon Gate.
Sombra finished midlevel in NJPW’s tag tournament. Cuervo and Ozz also went to Japan, for some reason.
Namajague finished up in CMLL and went back to Japan.
Xtreme Tiger had a tryout with TNA. (WWL said he signed a contract, but no one credible reported that on their own.)
Tomahawk, who won the DTU Alto Impacto title before right before he returned to Japan, realized he wasn’t coming back to Mexico and gave up the title.
taped 2013-11-03 @ Domo de Parque Solidaridad, Tonala, Jalisco Aerostar, Ludxor, Venum vs Carta Brava Jr., El Apache, Pentagón Jr.: When Aerostar was doing the crazy dives off the light tower before, we used to say he should save them for bigger occasions. This launch of a new Cadetes was a bigger occasion, but that also seemed like a bigger fall! That was so crazy. I would’ve liked to see the técnicos get in more as part of their post-beatdown comeback, but I guess you really can’t follow an Aerostar dive like that with much more than the finish. Ludxor and Venum did impresses in the earlier portion, pulling off some very tricky stuff, and the rudos came off as actually menacing in their beatdown. This was a good debut for the new trio.
Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown vs Dark Cuervo, Dark Scoria, Dark Spíritu: I’m almost willing to believe they’re going something with the Tirantes/Psycho Circus thing, but then it’s Tirantes. Match was fine for a Psycho Circus/La Secta match where one guy got hurt before the end. It definitely felt fresher than the Consejo matches and they covered for being a man down well. Don’t like to see Espiritu get hurt (or Psycho fall on his face when Espiritu gets hurt) but Ozz is probably a better fit anyway.
Cibernético, el Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Fénix vs Chessman, Hijo del Fantasma, Texano: This was a pleasant surprise. Essentially the normal AAA formula, but guys doing more than you’d get out of a normal TV main event and making it a good match. I came away thinking things are going to be working pretty okay. Fantasma and Fenix were great against each other; not only is that a matchup I’d love to see more off, but I’m far less concerned about how Fantasma is going to work out in AAA. He was fine in Heroes Inmortales but really good here. Fenix and Fantasma were really going out of there way to make each other look very good. Perro also looked strong in his new role; he did more than he’s been doing as a rudo, but his antics worked better as a técnico. It would’ve been even better if there had been an actual angle to explain why he was a técnico – he and Cibernético weren’t teaming together to fight La Secta here – but it’s going to work out in the end. Weird but not surprising to see a chair being used many times in front of the ref when that was supposed to be an unfair spot in the previous TV match. Escoria was right, that was a totally clean win.