CMLL (FRI) 10/16/2015 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Hombre Bala Jr., Súper Halcón Jr., The Panther DQ Artillero, Sangre Azteca, Súper Comando
Tecnicos took 2/3, the last by DQ when Super Comando unmasked the Panther. They feuded during the match. (Sangre Azteca & Super Comando had issues, though it was less clear if it was intentional.)
2) Amapola, Dalys, Tiffany b Estrellita, La Vaquerita, Marcela
Rudas took 2/3, Estrellita beating Amapola
3) Shockercito b Demus 3:16 [hair]
Shockercito took 1/3 to win. Shockercito took the first with a reinera. Demus won the second with a valagueza. Demus gave Shockercito a valagueza again in the third, then celebrated and walked about the ring for about a half minute instead of covering. Demus put one boot on Shockericto, and Shockercito kicked out at one. Shokercito won soon after.
4) Dragon Lee, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. DQ Boby Z, Kamaitachi, Virus
for reasons unclear, Boby Zavala is now Boby Z. He and Maya continued their issue from the En Busca de un Idolo final, while Kamaitachi and Dragon Lee continued to destroy each other. (Dragon Lee, who greeted a Paralympic athlete before the match, increasingly looks like a mummy.) Great triso match, with the tecnicos take 1/3. Z unmasked Maya for the DQ.
5) La Sombra, Marco Corleone, Rush b Máximo, Valiente, Volador Jr.
Announcers were (uncharacteristically) insistent the Ingobernables were not tecnicos. Tecnicos were fired up to have their revenge and almost got it. Ingobernables took 1/3, the last when Volador had Sombra beat with a Volador Spiral #2, only for Rush to pull out referee Babe Richard. Sombra used the distraction to land the corner double knee smash and get the win. Volador did not move after the match and was stretchered out in a neck brace.
6) Atlantis b Último Guerrero [CMLL Universal, final]
Atlantis won for the first time. He took falls 1/3, the last when Ultimo Guerrero landed the Guerrero Special, but gave up the pin to confront an onrushing Thunder. Despite being ready for him, UG still got punched by Thunder (in front of Tirantes), turned around, and walked into the Atlantida.
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYyNnOBGWP7RppAGv48MAn3TCBBvIMeXn – please note the video quality on the first match becomes terrible, the video drops out before the first fall in the main event, and it may not work on mobile phones right away due to the usual music issues. The middle matches are fine and worth watching.
Recap is one post down. On reflection, I was bothered by the finishes in the two matches. It really broke the fourth wall in the third match, with Demus going on a non verbal monologue: “this is totally fake, but if it was fake in a different way I would’ve won, so I’m going to stand here until you realize that.” The main event was straight out of a bad WWE show, and just as ineffective. You should watch the trios matches.
Feed was geoblocked by ClaroSports again and Hola wasn’t working to get around it. Claro was also airing a boxing event (which was also region blocked), but there’s no rhyme or reason to why some weeks are Mexico only and some are for everyone. There’s definitely no communication from Claro or CMLL about it.
+LuchaTV posted the Mistic 2.0/Elite Lucha Libre press conference. It’s about a half hour. Some highlights which weren’t mentioned in depth yesterday:
- All Elite will take over the CMLL Sunday shows starting 11/08. (They’re already starting 10/25, they’re just skipping 11/01 so CMLL can do Dia Los Muertos.) The shows will continue combining CMLL and indie talent. There’s no mention of what this does to the shows which cover the current CMLL Sunday shows (ClaroSports in Mexico, LATV in the US), though they should be expected to cover other CMLL matches instead.
- Mistic claimed he was not under contract to AAA, and was free to leave at any time. He said he had been asking for a contract every couple months, and they never got back to giving him one. He cited that lack of long term security as why he left. He seemed to think he left on good terms, said he asked permission from Elite to work his final AAA dates, and was shocked/disrespected when they told him not to go to Veracruz or any other shows.
- Mistic talked about why he’s not going to his old names. Mistico is owned by CMLL and he respects the guy who has now (though would fight him, even for the name, if the people wanted it.) Myzteziz is owned by AAA, though he believes he owns the rights to the mask. Mistic believes he owns the Sin Cara name and is currently in a legal battle with WWE for it. He does not plan on taking it back, but wants to give it to one of his brothers, and everyone was making their own decisions about where to work. His new mask will combine the styles of all three, though he’s getting rid of the “horns” from the Mystic and Sin Cara masks.
- Mistic said all his brothers are still working with AAA. He also said he had not talked to anyone about coming with him to Elite.
- Negro Casas, Ultimo Guerrero, Atlantis, Volador, Los Ingobernables (Mistic knew all four, not Naito) were all brought up as possible opponents or rivals.
- Mistic seemed to always refer to “AAA” as the “the other company”, something generally only done by people who are working with CMLL.
- LLE said they’re dropping the Liga Elite tournament due to many issues with people coming and going. They might try something similar in the future.
The name is not good. Everyone’s going to call him Mistic in a two weeks, like how no one calls him “Dragon Rojo Jr.” The third AAA Histeria has been using the name Histeria 2.0 for the last few years in Jalisco, and it’s not really good either there. No one ever says “good or bad, at least people are talking about you” when you’ve made a good decision.
They’re going to have to try something, because the Elite shows have been built around the novelty of seeing different match ups than you can see in CMLL or the indies. The novelty of that will wear off if you’re running weekly shows, and there’s going to have to be something more. (Chilanga Mask and Cara Lucha are also doing CMLL/indy, but they’re doing at smaller crowds and have done more storylines.) The press conference seemed to position Elite as the main place to be able to see Mistic 2.0, which is at least something, but it’s not 2008 and he’s going to need a fresh opponent. If they’re really going to do it for more than three weeks, they’re going to need to start a good feud.
(Everyone keeps expect Averno to rejoin Mistic and leave AAA. He’s said he’s not. Maybe it’ll happen, but it probably isn’t a great idea – the big Averno/Myzteziz was good but their matchups didn’t seem to help attendance much. Look at TxT, look at Leyendas Inmortales, promotions built around nostalgic matchups aren’t doing well right now. Averno/Mistico isn’t nearly as old, but it doesn’t figure to have a lot of legs. Mistic’s people need to get him into a new path, one that’ll make him look good, or people are going to move on quick.)
Mistic not being under contract to AAA would be incredible; they’ve talked about having their guys under contract prior. AAA put Mistic in a position he wasn’t going to be happy with, heading to an outcome he really wasn’t going to be happy with, and didn’t have anything preventing him from walking out at any time. (It’s bad he left now. It’d been a disaster had he waited until April or May.) I tend not to believe Mistic on this point because it’s so strange. Though, if there’s no legal action about it, Mistic is probably correct and that means probably no one else is under contract either. That would explain why, whenever the “is Alberto going to WWE/TNA/whatever” story comes up, no one shoots it down by saying Alberto is under contract and can’t leave. (Averno clearly isn’t under contract, or AAA wouldn’t need to ask if he’s staying.) Mistic is silly if he really thought AAA was going to be fine letting him working for their shows while he’s working for the opposition – he might not have tried to recruit anyone prior, but they couldn’t take the chance of him doing it now.
There is some precedence to someone being able to use their WWE name after WWE. MVP created his character, pitched it to WWE, and was able to keep the rights. Maybe Mistic 2.0’s story is he likewise came up with the name and mask. I don’t think the character is going to do anyone much good – giving it to one of his brothers only works if they’re not in AAA, because AAA’s not going to put that character on their TV.
No one but me and maybe some of you who read this site ever care about the TV shows. It’s amazing how they completely do not exist in the least in conversation of lucha libre in Mexico (though posting those are what I’m far more well known in Mexico than anything I might write in this space.)
There’s obviously some sort of great deal going on behind the scenes with CMLL & Elite. If you’re not paying close attention , Elite appears to be an offshoot or a second brand of CMLL and it might actually be. No one has ever gotten to taken over one of CMLL’s regular shows, or gets to have guys cut promos for their shows on CMLL’s own. It goes beyond Mistic. Heddi Karaoui has only worked Friday night shows, only against Hechicero, who he happens to be facing on Elite. CMLL’s doing more work building up someone else’s shows than they do for most of theirs. (Likewise, if Mistic doesn’t have own a chunk of Elite and is only working as a contractor, then he’s done something very wrong. He owns the promotion in the figurative sense, they really won’t exist with out him going forward.)
The embargo on talking about Mistic seems to be breaking. Dorian criticized him for not informing AAA he was leaving. AAA tapes TV tonight in Reynosa and, while the matches will be interesting, the one thing everything wants to know is how they choose to react to Mistic’s departure. If you like shows with unnamed people being dumped on in promos and inside references not everyone gets, this may be the show for you. I still don’t know what the main event is supposed to be: Rey & Psycho versus Mundo & Myzteziz was the scheduled one. Maybe Cage gets brought in as a replacement; he doesn’t hint at it on Twitter. (It’s possible, maybe even likely, they’re advertising a new card in Reynosa and AAA social media just hasn’t pushed it out; War City seems to be the local promoters but don’t have anything new on their page.) This show seemed like it was going to be more notable for debuts: Speedball Mike Bailey is listed as starting in the segunda, teaming with Australian Suicide and Aerostar versus Daga, Hijo del Pirata Morgan and Steve Pain. Daga and Suicide started a feud on the last taping. Semimain has Angelico and Jack Evans teaming with a surprise wrestler (probably Garza Jr.) against Hijo del Fantasma, Texano and another surprise wrestler (probably Taurus.)
The show Myzteziz was supposed to work on last night, in Arena Neza, seemed to be close to a sell out without him. Dr. Wagner Jr. was called into replace him. He and La Parka defeated Chessman and Averno in the main event by DQ when Cibernetico pulled Wagner’s mask. (Hijo del Tirantes was ref, had been favoring the Hellbrothers all match long, called the DQ on them anyway.) The local promotion announced Rey Mysterio would be appearing in Arena Neza in December. No date announced, but those are usually Friday or Sunday shows (so we a weekend were GdT or LU isn’t happening.)
Rey Mysterio was in Torreon last night, in a show where the lineup was never announced. He teamed with Zorro to defeat Johnny Mundo and Texano Jr. Doesn’t look like a great turnout. Mysterio brought up Jack Evans and Pentagon Jr. as guys he’s amazed by and praised Blue Panther’s wrestling abilities. That articles notes security around Rey was strong and fans who wanted autographs or pictures couldn’t get them as they might on a local show.
CaraLucha has a show tonight in Arena San Juan. Two more video promos before hand: Hechicero talks up his match with Trauma I, and Astral notes this was the arena he actually started in.
DTU has a deathmatch tournament in Tulancingo. I’m not a fan of deathmatches, but DTU wins my heart by actually announcing brackets beforehand: Violento Jack vs Dance Boy, Ovett vs Miedo Extremo, Paranoiko vs Angel o Demonio and Ciclope versus a surprise wrestler are the first round battles. My guess would be Ciclope beating Violento Jack in the final.
Lineups
CMLL (FRI) 10/23/2015 Arena México
1) Blue Panther Jr., The Panther, Tritón vs Okumura, Sangre Azteca, Súper Comando
2) Blue Panther, Delta, Rey Cometa vs Misterioso Jr., Pierroth, Sagrado
3) Heddi Karaoui vs Hechicero [lightning]
4) Dragon Lee, Máximo, Mistico vs Ephesto, Kamaitachi, Mephisto
5) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Thunder
6) Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs La Máscara, La Sombra, Rush
Tecnicos with “tecnicos” and rudos with rudos allow them to book the same amount of people as pretty much normal. More loaded up guys than usual – the normal first two match crews are mostly getting this show off. If you want to build a match to December (Ultimo Guerrero/Thunder?), this is probably about the time to do it. Heck, if you want to build a match for Three Kings’s Day (01/06), this is also about the time to do it (Panther/Comando? Sangre?)