Lucha Underground debuts tonight on the El Rey Network. The show will air at 8pm ET and repeat later in the night. The matches scheduled for the show are Blue Demon Jr. vs Chavo Guerrero Jr., Son of Havoc vs Sexy Star and Johnny Mundo vs Prince Puma, though the general feel of the show is likely to be as much a topic of discussion as any the matches. It’s an introduction episode – “Welcome to the Temple” – and we’ll all have a much better idea of how this is going to work by 9pm ET.
AAA’s worked a long time to get to this one hour of TV. The first we heard even hints about this show was a January 2013 announcing AAA’s partnership with Factory Made – the press release didn’t mention specifically TV show, but it did mention El Rey. (The fourth paragraph in that post, tho’.) AAA’s been working to get to the US a lot longer than that – since the failed tour in 2009, since the LLL shows in Texas in 2002, since they fell out with WCW, since they fell out with IWC, since Antonio Pena held that founding press conference (and probably about a half dozen trips into the US I’ve forgotten.) You could look at that as a list of AAA setbacks but I see it as a persistence to make “AAA in the US” work (again.) I’m not sure if Lucha Underground will definitely be the effort that takes, but I know it won’t be a setback for a lack of effort. Even getting this far is an accomplishment – the companion show that was supposed to launch at the same time, Cutting Crew, hasn’t been mentioned by El Rey in months. Everyone involved should celebrate getting Lucha Underground on the air, regardless of what happens next.
I understand El Rey is looking at ratings numbers, but I’m not sure what would be the benchmarks there (and I can’t find any rating source for what ratings numbers El Rey gets normally.) El Rey is so new and little known that the bar should be pretty low: we’ll probably see all 39 scheduled episodes and likely a renewal for a second season as long as there’s no major problems. Both shows El Rey’s this year have been renewed a couple months after they’ve aired. It could be different here since they’re committing to a lot of episodes – they’re running 9 months of Wednesday and then taking the summer off, so perhaps El Rey will want to wait a little longer before committing to all of that. Renewal is a good start here, but the TV show is just a start. The real sign of success is if turns into a launching pad for other deals.
If you don’t have El Rey, it appears you’re out of luck for tonight. The show will air in Unimas on Saturday, and repeat a few times on El Rey (including right before next week’s episode.) There doesn’t appear to be any stream. El Rey and Lucha Underground haven’t announced any plans to put the show up, but they might surprise us yet.
The Mutant Season interviewed Eric Van Wagenen and Chavo Guerrero about the Lucha Underground. Blue Demon Jr. was on Univsion today to promote both airings of the show, el Rey and Unimas. Both networks have been promoting the show frequently. Yahoo TV has clips from the first episode, which appear to give away the finish of the main event more blatantly than even I could do.
My general plan is to overload Twitter with live comments and then somehow post a recap later that night. We’ll see.
CHILANGA MASK (SUN) 10/26/2014 Arena Solidaridad [@terceracaida, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), LuchaMania Monterrey]
1) Draego b Alberto Dos Rios, Keira, Hormiga, Hijo De Centurion Negro, Furia Azteca, Tornado (DF)
Upset win? Draego beat Hormiga with a Spanish Fly.
2) Erik Oritz & Kratoz b Astro Rey Jr. & Psico Kid and Fulgor I & Fulgor II
One of the Fulgors was wrestling significantly hurt after being injured on the Coacalco show. Only match won by a local (though Ortiz is actually from Reynosa.) Psico Kid and Astro Rey want a shot at Fulgor’s title. Fulgor suggested there were better possible challengers in the opener match
3) Marcela b Chik Tormenta, Hija de Karonte
good match
4) Bestia 666 & Herodes Jr. DQ Comandante Pierroth & Sagrado
Bonus CMLL/Indy match. Pierroth & Sagrado were working Monterrey this weekend. This replaced the Tony Rodriguez/Herodes match. They were DQed for excessive violence. Sagrado (best guy in the match) declared he didn’t want to face indy guys (like Bestia) but Herodes challenged both CMLL guys for a triangle match.
5) Arez, Belial, Impulso b Dralion, Rey Orion, Xtreme Dragon
Indystrongtibles won clean, who were clearly the better team.
6) Rey Hechicero DCOR Black Terry
Started out as a technical match, but devolved into a brawl as they got annoyed with each other. They fought to the outside, trapped each other’s legs in the front row wood chairs, then neither could free themselves to get back in before 20.
7) Dr. Cerebro b Caifan 
Easily best match on the show – not because the others were bad, but because this was incredibly good. Money thrown in after the match.
8) Masada (CZW), Trauma I, Trauma II b Aero Boy, Kaientai, Makabre [super libre]
Billed as super libre, but the only really hardcore spot was Masada stabbing people in the head with his sticks. Fans there for the hardcore aspect were disappointed but it was an otherwise good match.
People are raving about Caifan/Cerbero and Black Terry Jr. put together highlights. They’re now tied 1-1, as Caifan won a 2012 match between them.
CMLL (TUE) 10/28/2014 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Apocalipsis & Inquisidor b Bengala & Metatrón
2) Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito b Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragoncito
Ultimo Dragoncito replaced Bam Bam.
3) Arkángel de la Muerte, Canelo Casas, Guerrero Negro Jr. b Oro Jr., Soberano Jr., Star Jr.
4) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Super Porky b Misterioso Jr., Pierroth, Sagrado
5) Ángel de Oro b Rey Escorpión © [CMLL LH]
Angel de Oro took first, Rey Escorpion tied it up in a short second fall with the sit down powerbomb, and Angel de Oro won the title with the Mecedora. Angel de Oro is the 14th champion and wins . Rey Escorpion falls on 12th defense.
6) Titán, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys
TRT won 1/3.
Angel de Oro was meant to be the new hot star in CMLL around 2012, but hasn’t really accomplished much in recent years, lost a lot of time to injury, and was improbably passed up by his brother. This is a big endorsement for him, even though it’s still reliant on following it up with some good feuds to mean anything. Best case defenses include Rey Escorpion rematch, Hechicero, Mephisto, Ephesto and the like. Worst case is anyone in Sagrado’s trio. Most likely is no defenses…
Rey Escorpion’s career has gone the other way the last few months. Dragon Rojo turning tecnico should not have meant the Revolucionarios were done, but Escorpion and Polvora appear to have been split up instead of given another partner. It might still have worked if Rojo was around to feud with – Escorpion’s next title match is more likely to be for Dragon’s than the one he just lost – but Rojo suffered yet another bad injury and Escorpion’s just been killing time. Rey Escorpion’s previous feud with Maximo also petered out without CMLL bothering to do any particular conclusion (it wasn’t really working, but they coudl’ve still capped it with a non-apuesta three falls singles match and didn’t feel it was worth the effort) Dragon will be back soon (see lineups) so maybe things will get better, but Escorpion right now seems like he’s another talented CMLL guy lost in the mix.
Anyway, looking forward to Angel de Oro losing in 150 seconds in next year’s Universal tournament. The bigger news might be Terrible and crew going on a massive two match winning streak. (In Mexico City only, he lost in Guadalajara.)
CMLL (TUE) 10/28/2014 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [@acogdl]
1) Infierno & Ráfaga b El Brillante & Virgo
Rudos took 2/3
2) Artillero & Súper Comando b Leo & Sky Kid
Rudos took 2/3
3) Estrellita, Goya Kong, Marcela b Amapola, La Comandante, Tiffany
Tecnicos took 1/3
4) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Cachorro b Kamaitachi, Okumura, Tiger
Panthers took 1/3
5) Ephesto, Mephisto, Shocker b Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Rush
Rudos took 1/3, Shocker sneaking in a foul on Marco
Shocker is not quite Averno but it worked.
Arena Mexico is literally becoming a haunted house. The press release is only on the CMLL.com website for the moment, but they’re turning a basement into a spooky area and giving tours on Friday and Sunday for 35 pesos a person (though you also need a ticket to the show.) Children are not permitted and people with heart issues are warned not attend. It’s only running for 45 minutes those two days which is shame since they might be able to make more as a haunted house than a wrestling venue on some of these Tuesdays. There’s no truth to the rumor that CMLL’s programming group is actually undead and will be returning to their normal jobs for a week, though I suspect this presentation will be more creative than most of the booking. This paragraph could be a 1000 words of cheap jokes.
CMLL and Turibus held a press conference to announce their tourist bus service to Arena Mexico would now officially expand to running service for Tuesday shows. The service starts next Tuesday, running from the Reforma 222 (mall) stop at 6pm. The service, which is now a year old, picks up people around Mexico City on Friday, gives you a ticket to the show, and takes everyone back home on the way out. (It works as a normal tourist bus the rest of the week.) The Friday shows seem to have done well. Tuesday Arena Mexico shows already seem to be most ultra CMLL fans and tourists looking for something to do on a Tuesday night, so it’s the obvious day to add the bus service. Delta, ATlantis and Guerrero Maya were on hand for the announcement and also did an interview for this weekend’s holiday shows
CMLL Informa and Tercera Caida are both on today, though neither has announced guests just yet.
DTU announced Zema Ion for their 11/28 show. Since he’s announced for AAA early in the month, maybe he’s just around Mexico for all month.
LuchaWorld has a recap of 10/25 CMLL Azteca and 40 thru 31 on the top 100 countdown.
Segunda Caida reviews Máximo, Rush, Super Porky vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
Dinastia wants someone to challenge him to a title match already. He may have said it much nicer than than I translated it. (So, there has to be one coming up or they wouldn’t be sending out this interview? Or maybe there’s way too much down time between TV shows and we’re just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks?)
DJ Spectro tells ghost stories.
Soho Mexico writes about “the silly, charming, harmless spectacle of lucha libre.”
Cara Lucha has started promoting it’s 11/01 show with the Clown Corp vs Herodes and the Traumas. Traumas should win in about 10 seconds.
Lineups
Gran Guerrero replaces Pierroth in Guadalajara in Sunday.
CMLL (TUE) 11/04/2014 Arena México
1) Flyer & Sensei vs Cholo & Espiritu Negro
2) Esfinge, Hombre Bala Jr., Súper Halcón Jr. vs Canelo Casas, Hijo del Signo, Metálico
3) Estrellita, Goya Kong, Princesa Sugehit vs La Seductora, Tiffany, Zeuxis
4) Tritón vs Raziel [lightning]
5) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Ephesto, Hechicero, Mephisto
6) Blue Panther, Dragón Rojo Jr., La Sombra vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Rey Bucanero, Terrible
Last feud over, this is the reset button show – with some missing characters who were missing from the party showing up. This would be Dragon Rojo’s latest return from injury (out two months with leg/knee/temporary paralysis issues.) Espiritu Negro is also back for the first time since August…or he’s just down to getting one match every few months, since he hasn’t been booked regularly since April. Espiritu Negro is just alright, which is enough to be a vast improvement over people who’ve been working the openers on Tuesdays of late.
Look it, Hechicero with Ephesto and Mephisto again. I think it’s getting close to a thing, at least as much as the Pierroth/Sagrado/Misterioso trio is a thing. That match could be superb. Lightning match stands to be really good if Triton is feeling okay, though he’s ended up leaving Raziel feeling not okay the previous time they did that match.
CMLL (TUE) 11/04/2014 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Robin & Sky Kid vs Espanto Jr. & Sádico
2) Smaker, Soberano Jr., Starman vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Guerrero Negro Jr., Ráfaga
3) Ángel de Oro, Gallo, Omar Brunetti vs Kráneo, Mr. Águila, Pierroth
4) Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas vs Máximo, Titán, Valiente
5) Marco Corleone vs Shocker
A Marco singles match!