Day: August 8, 2015

Saturday notes: LU Season 2, CMLL app, TripleMania

thecubsfan

I’d say its a 99.9% chance that a second season is happening

Erik Van Wagenen started off a Reddit AMA with the answer to the question everyone wanted answered after Ultima Lucha. EVW goes onto say they wanted it to be back by October, it probably won’t be, but it should start no later than January 2016. A post on Voices of Wrestling has some selected interesting quotes from the other answers and I’ll write more about this next week. To me, the January 2016 date is the more important part; they can move the goal posts once, but it’ll be tough to move it again. (It’s also a great pressure release, enough info so people won’t be asked about it every five minutes for a while.)

CMLL launched an official app, available for Android and iOS. It’s simply a mobile version of their existing website, and it was created by the same people currently doing the Anniversary ticket give way contest.

There were people also people giving away a glossy oversized eight page weekly program called Estrellas de Lucha Libre. The copyright info mentions it’s being done by O’Farrell Creative, so it’s another project outside of CMLL but licensed in some way. I’m not sure if it’s a current project: the one I got last night was actually from January and their social media accounts are dead, but I did see a sign that they had an Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Escorpion hair vs hair one a few weeks back.

The AP interviewed Rey Mysterio about TripleMania. All the Rey interviews blend together, but the purpose isn’t for all of them to be read together, it’s to make sure as many people are reached as possible. I’m not thrilled with the lineup – you might be able to tell that from the preview I did at Voices of Wrestling! – but I also think the casual Rey fans who don’t really follow AAA will enjoy the big event pagentary, and selling shows as Big Events seems like the most successful move right now. UFC seems to be doing well with one (or two) actual huge names in the main event and not a lot of great stuff underneath, might work for AAA too.

I’m headed out to Cara Lucha in a few hours. Podcast plans haven’t been decided. Internet issues haven’t been resolved; I’ll probably have something up tomorrow, but don’t expect a lot for a couple days.

08/07 Arena Mexico results (Sombra/Atlantis, Thunder/UG)

thecubsfan

CMLL (FRI) 08/07/2015 Arena México
1) Demus 3:16 & Pequeño Olímpico b Eléctrico & Shockercito
Demus Driver on both tecnicos to end the match
2) Dalys, La Comandante, Zeuxis b La Vaquerita, Princesa Sugehit, Silueta
Rudas took 1/3
3) Boby Zavala DRAW Esfinge [En Busca de un Idolo]
Double pin draw. Judges were Mascara (replacing Euforia at the last second when he was announced and didn’t appear), Gladiador, Valiente (in for Shocker) and Tirantes. Esfinge scored a 8, 8, 8, 7 (31) and Zavala a 9, 8, 10, 7 (34)
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. DQ Disturbio [En Busca de un Idolo]
Disturbio pulled Maya’s mask for the DQ. Maya sacred a 7, 7, 5, 6 for 25 and Disturbio a 9, 7, 8, 5 (29)
5) La Máscara, Máximo, Super Porky b Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys
Vangellys replaced Shocker on Tuesday. Conedy match.
6) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero DQ Dragón Rojo Jr., Rey Escorpión, Thunder
Added on Tuesday. Polvora replaced Thunder, who appeared at the end in a sombero to distract UG into a foul from Escorpion. Thunder stomped the sombero and Guerrero challenged him to a mask match.
7) Cavernario, La Sombra, Volador Jr. b Atlantis, Marco Corleone, Negro Casas [Relevos Increíbles]
Main event totally changed around on Wednesday with Mr. Niebla taken off and Sombra returning. Sombra and Atlantis feuded with Sombra pulling the mask to set up the win.

CMLL really pushed Sombra/Atlantis had in the match and the post match. Sombra posed with Atlantis’ mask for a while, Atlantis was stuck laying unmasked in the ring for longer, and everyone else was ushered to the back quickly to not steal the spotlight. It was an obvious tease of an anniversary match, only the crowd reached like it was a normal DQ finish in a main event. The fans were far more into the idea of Thunder/Ultimo Guerrero at this point. My guess is this week’s plan is a cage match, and they’re setting up extra feuds to think you might not get Thunder unmasking.

Thunder again did not wrestle his scheduled match, and again seemed to be walking around fine. Maybe they’ve figured the best way to make Thunder look like an imposing luchador is to have him stop wrestling.

The En Busca de un Idolo standings person gave Esfinge’s week 1 win to Disturbio, a epic screw up. Engine with a 1.5 wins is not going to  advance to the final unless the fan polls radically change. Everyone’s close now, but Esfinge is going to suffer if two more weeks of last place performances are added in. Esfinge and Zavala had the much better match,although giving two guys a mask pull DQ finish is a bit of sabotage. 

Almost every champion had their title belt on the show (which led to an amusing moment of Cavernario & Volador comparing titles during the main event introductions.) That’s an Universal Tournament tease. Guerrero Maya didn’t have his national title, but the En Busca de Un Idolo competition operates in a different world. Negro Casas did not have his belt, and that might be more of a story. Shocker being pulled from cards is said to be a suspension (for the usual reason). It’s unclear how long it would be, but it’s possible CMLL might need to run a tag team tournament really soon and really quickly to fix the situation with the Universal tournament around the corner. (They could also go with a lesser champion or just 15 luchadors, but Casas not having his belt suggested the title may be vacant.)

The entire show aired on YouTube. I’m not sure if that’ll be the way of things going forward, but I do know CMLL’s done with Terra.

Next week’s lineup

CMLL (FRI) 08/14/2015 Arena México
1) Magnus & Soberano Jr. vs Cancerbero & Raziel
2) Shockercito, Stukita, Último Dragoncito vs Demus 3:16, Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia
3) Boby Zavala vs Disturbio [En Busca de un Idolo]
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Esfinge [En Busca de un Idolo]
5) La Máscara, Marco Corleone, Super Porky vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Rey Escorpión
6) Atlantis, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Mephisto, Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero

No UG/Thunder or Atlantis/Sombra. If the idea is a lot of feuds for a cage, Mephisto/Mistico fits. No Rush back yet.