Dragon keeps title, Oficial shaved in Guerra de Golfo

Toryumon Mexico (SUN) 03/16/2014 Sala de Armas Magdalena Mixhuca, Ciudad México, Distrito Federal [The Gladiatores]
1) Douki & Hanaoka b Íkaro & Príncipe Azteca
2) Demus 3:16 & Pequeño Nitro b Astral & Eléctrico
3) Akuma, Nitro, Yoruba b Hombre Bala Jr., Super Ciudadano, Súper Halcón Jr.
Nitro replaced Hooligan.
4) Arkángel de la Muerte & Olímpico b Brazo de Plata & La Máscara
An Isis distraction set up a foul on La Mascara for the rudo win.
5) Último Dragón b Rey Bucanero [PWF JH NWA IJ?]
Ultimo Dragon is champion. This was the All Japan (PWF) junior heavyweight championship, not the NWA one he’s previously defended here. This was announced as a PWF Junior Heavywight Championship, but the belt in the photos is the NWA International Junior Championship. Seconds were Arkangel and Principe Azteca. Bucanero pulled Dragon’s mask for the DQ, Bucanero won the second. Both luchadors accidentally hit referee Rafael el Maya in the third knocking him out, Olimpico & Arkangel ran in to attack Dragon, Brazo de Plata ‘ran’ them off, and replacement referee Babe Richard took over as Dragon submitted Rey Bucanero for the win. Third defense.

The Observer said this would be taped for Japan TV, for some reason. Next show should be the annual DragonMania show at Arena Mexico, probably 05/10.

IWRG (SUN) 03/16/2014 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del Ring, The Gladiatores]
***Guerra de Golfo, 2014***
1) Hip Hop Man & Látigo b Aztlán & Hanaoka
Aztlan replaced MS1 Jr.
2) Chico Che, Emperador Azteca, La Magnifica b Dowki, Hanaoka, Imposible
Hanaoka replaced Sadica, so it was 3 men vs 2 men & 1 La Magnifica. Emperador Azteca wants a shot at Imposible’s title. Imposible asked a fan, who said no. So, no.
3) Súper Nova b Trauma II [IWRG JUNIORS]
Trauma II falls on third defense, Super Nova wins the title.
4) Tony Rivera L Veneno, El Hijo del Diablo, Trauma I, Toscano, Golden Magic [cage, loser advances]
Order of escape was Trauma I, Toscano, Golden Magic, Diablo and Veneno, leaving Tony Rivera to advance.
5) Oficial AK47 L Black Terry, Apolo Estrada Jr., Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Relámpago, Skayde [cage, loser advances]
Order of escape started Apolo, Skayde, Hijo de Mascara. Terry & Official tied Relampago’s mask to the ropes to trap him, but he just unmasked himself, covered himself with his shirt, and left. Tony Rivera tried to help AK47 so Terry would lose, but it backfired and AK47 lost instead.
6) Tony Rivera b Oficial AK47 [cage, hair]
Tony tied AK47’s boot to the ropes and climbed out for the win. Oficial AK-47’s second hair loss in just over three months. Tony claims this is his 57th hair match win.

CMLL.com interviewed former apuesta victims of Shocker for their predictions on his match with Rush. Mascara Ano 2000, who lost his hair to Shocker in Puebla in 2003, says he hopes Shocker gives Rush a fight even if he doesn’t win. Rey Bucanero said Shocker is his most hated rival, but he’s got to beat Rush in Arena Mexico. Rambo said he just wants to see the match, which is good since that may be his job on Friday. Scorpio Jr. wants Shocker to hold high the name of the Guapos and shave Rush. No word what Yoshi-Hashi thinks of all of this.

Terra usually puts up a short article on Mondays previewing the Friday and Sunday CMLL shows. If CMLL and Terra are planning on streaming the entire show, they’ll make it clear in that article.

Rayo de Jalisco, Rayman and All Carrillo defeated Hijo del Solitario, Angel Blanco Jr. and Cien Caras Jr. by DQ (foul) in the main event of a legends show in Arena Jalisco.

Mascara Dorada defeated Rey Bucanero in a trios match in Couzmel (on Sunday, maybe?) when Bucanero fouled Dorada. The article says they drew 800, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but the promoters sounded happy and planned on bringing in more guys soon.

Ricky Marvin missed the WXW shows in Germany over the weekend, saying his passport expired. He was in NOAH in January, so that must’ve been pretty recent (and you’d think someone would’ve pointed it out when he was using a nearly expired passport.)

LuchaWorld has this week’s PosterMania.

Rey Escorpion still doesn’t like Maximo, still wants to take his hair.

CMLL’s final Cien Caras promo video, talking about his mask match with Rayo de Jalisco.

Porra Fresa preview of tonight’s Arena Puebla show, an Avernos vs Volador/Dorada/Atlantis rematch main event.

Lineups

CMLL (SUN) 03/23/2014 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Índigo vs Relampago Azul
2) William Rock vs Ángel del Mal
3) El Divino & Virgo vs Demonio Rojo & Évola
4) Smaker vs Espectrum
5) Black Metal, León Blanco, Sky Kid vs Acertijo, Demonio Maya, Maléfico
6) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Cachorro vs Puma, Tiger, Vangellys

Vangellys, better Casas than Canelo?

03/16 AAA TV Results (Rey de Reyes) – La Parka wins for a fifth time

photo by AAA

AAA TV (SUN) 03/16/2014 Plaza de Toros La Monumental, Monterrey, Nuevo León [AAA, MT (cage), MT (else), MT (main)]
***Rey de Reyes, 2014***
1) Alan Stone, Dinastía, Faby Apache, Pimpinela Escarlata b Mamba, Mini Charly Manson, Sexy Star, Silver King
Alan Stone replaced El Elegido. Pimpi beat Mamba. Sexy Star & Pentagon attack Faby Apache to repeat their challenge from previous TV shows. Pentagon Jr. said he would not rest until AAA finally booked the mixed tag title match.
2) Daga b Argenis, Australian Suicide, Súper Fly [AAA CRUISER]
Daga is champion. Taya got on the show by accompanying Daga. Daga beat Argenis, Super Fly (armbar), and Suicide (top rope Destroyer) in order. Pentagon attacked Suicide after the match, and Drago & Faby Apache ran them off. Faby then challenged Daga to a title match. Daga attacked, Faby got the better of him, and Daga got away. Daga’s 4th defense, first on TV.
3) Chessman b Villano IV [AAA LA]
Villano IV replaced Blue Demon Jr., facing Chessman for the vacant title. Demon appeared in a pre-tape, vacating the title and saying he couldn’t be there due to family issues. He’s the second straight champion to vacant (following LA Park, who was champion when his contract expired.) Match was moved to earlier in the card and was a violent bloody match. Seconds appeared to be Fantasma and Alan Stone. Chessman is the 4th Champion.
4) Steve Pain L Fénix, Crazy Boy, Joe Lider, Niño Hamburguesa, Juventud Guerrera, Pentagón Jr., Eterno [cage, domed cage, hair, mask]
They had immense problems setting up the cage; it was 45 minutes between the end of the previous match and the luchadors entering for this one. Ultimo Gladiador replaced Juventued Guerrera (injury, not cleared by doctor.) Order of escape went Gladiador, Hamburguesa (with help from Alan, Argenis, and Suicide), Crazy Boy, Eterno, Joe Lider, Pentagon
5) Angélico & Jack Evans b Hijo del Fantasma & Psicosis and Aerostar & Drago and Demon Rocker & Machine Rocker [AAA TAG]
Angelico, Jack Evans came in as champions. Elimination order went Fantasma/Psicosis, Aerostar/Drago, Rockers. First defense.
6) Cibernético, Electroshock, Psycho Clown b Jeff Jarrett, Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Texano Jr.
Cibernetico beat Jeff Jarrett with a guitar shot after some Roldan/Karen fighting.
7) La Parka b Zorro, el Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Black Warrior [Rey de Reyes, final]
Elimination order went Black Warrior, Zorro and then Perro Junior. Parka’s fifth Rey de Reyes win. He was given the sword by Joaquin Pena and presented it to Marisela Pena to end the show.

Air Date: 03/23 & 03/30.

Very much the status quo show it seemed to be. Attendance looked down from last year in the same venue; the upper most level looked to only have a few rows full on some sides and there might have been less floor seats. Last year’s attendance was reported as 10-11,000, this looked under 10,000.

AAA had a group selling official merchandise, with a partner named Live Show Merchandising. (Note the AAA logo now lists the name as “Lucha Libre Worldwide”.) They promoted a Rey de Reyes shirt, a Blue Demon shirt, a La Parka shirt, and Blue Demon & La Parka water bottles. The designs could be more creative, but it’s been long over due for AAA to be selling this sort of thing. There’s a Coming Soon spot for AAA merchandise in their webstore.

Sexy Star appears to have done a tornillo dive in her match. I can’t wait to see that.

I think the Faby/Daga stuff was just a post match scrum, but I suppose it’s possible it was meant to be a title match (it’s not that different sounding than Texano’s impromptu title matches last year, except Texano won those.)

None of the three missing luchadors – Juvi, Elegido or Blue Demon Jr. – were mentioned as missing the show in advance. They obviously knew about Demon not being on this show well enough in advance to film an interview with him at the belt and to bring in Villano IV. I think it’s a better deal to let people know in advance, but it’s more common in Mexico not to mention it. Demon’s interview pushed the idea that he would automatically get a title shot when he comes back, but there’s no sense when that would be – or even IF that would be, because it’s unclear if AAA’s ever gotten him to sign a full time contract. Chessman being a champion for no particular reason is a fine enough outcome until they figure out what’s next.

Steve Pain, a man with a short hair cut, loses his hair and wasn’t that broke up about it. He shouldn’t be, he’s not listed as appearing on TV for a month and he’ll probably be back to the same hair by then. It did produce a moment of happy Fenix on Twitter.

Not too many reviews of the matches themselves. Apolo @ MT said he liked the show and the only two disappointing matches were the last two. The tag match sounds like it was the best match during the show.

It looked like it started to clear out during the main event, probably more because of the length of the show than the match. The problem with the cage setup added probably an extra half hour to the whole thing. It didn’t seem like they cut any of the matches to get back on time. That’s a big advantage of the show not actually being on iPPV. The Jarrett trios sounds short, but that’s normal for that match.

No Sin Cara, who has not been seen since they were in Mexico City and might not be seen again until they go back. No anyone else jumping. No “the surprise that wasn’t in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera”, unless that was Alan Stone, Villano IV or Ultimo Gladiador (who had a busy night.) The idea that the winner of Rey de Reyes would get a shot at the title at the heavyweight title has not yet been mentioned on screen, so I wouldn’t expect that to necessarily happen. (It wouldn’t be a great match, but it would be Texano beating someone who’s on top.)

AAA can point to Fenix and Daga getting big wins as a success of this show. Daga beating everyone in his match (even with some help from Taya to finish Suicide) was the best use of that match. Fenix can brag about winning a hair for a while. AAA still needs to follow up with these guys to keep them meaning something, but at least they’ve reached a starting point again. A lot of the rest of the show had no real point, but there are a few things to build on.