Today’s Christmas Day, a busy day for lucha libre. Notable shows around Mexico City include
- CMLL’s Infierno en el Ring in Arena Mexico, starting at 5pm (three and a half hours earlier than normal), and available on iPPV for $10 (plus fees). The one notable match on the show is the main event 12 man cage match, where the loser will be unmasked.
- Chairo II takes place in Arena Naucalpan. Card order is always subject to change on that show, but the big matches include Atlantis vs Caifan, Negro Navarro vs Virus, Negro Casas vs Dr. Cerbero and Marcela defending the CMLL Women’s championship against Keira. Show starts at 5:30pm
- CaraLucha in Arena San Juan Pantitlan has Flamita & Rayo Star vs Golden Magic & Super Nova. Show starts around 5, with the pre-show t-shirt selling starting at 4.
- Arena Aficion out in Pachuca has a main event of LA Park & Super Crazy vs Pagano & Hijo del Lizmark, which would be one of Hijo’s first matches since his father’s passing. (He might understandably skip the show.) The Simpsons face the Tortuga Mutantes in an undercard apuesta match. Show starts at 5:30.
- Arena Azteca Budokan has Maximo, Oriental and Hombre Bala Jr. vs Mr. Niebla, Monsther, and Emperador Azteca. That show is listed as starting at 6pm.
- Arena Neza has an Elite style main event, with Caristico & La Mascara teaming up to face Sharlie Rockstar & Cibernetico. They start at 6:30, though maybe expect delays for as long as it takes to get people over from Arena Mexico. Mr. Niebla is listed as working the semimain here and the main event in Arena Azteca Budokan, which seems impossible.
- AAA is out in Cuautitlan for a 6:45 show with the Psycho Circus against Pentagon, Fantasma and Taurus.
- Arena Lopez Mateos is the late show starting at 8:30, with LA Park & the Traumas vs Pagano, Violento Jack & Aeroboy. Super Nova and Flamita are opponents earlier in the day, but team with a mystery partner in the semimain here.
If you want more detailed previews about these shows, go check out my article on Voices of Wrestling earlier this week. Polling says people are most interested in the CMLL show (and a lot of people liked to vote for the joke pick.)
I’ve got posters for 28 shows, but there’s probably twice that many mystery shows going on around Mexico today. Maximo advertised three different shows he’s on today, and that’s probably not uncommon. Christmas will be on a Sunday next year and figures to be as much or even more busy.
The cage match tonight in Arena Mexico is the biggest match of the night. Even then, most of the people in the match seem to have little chance of losing.
almost zero chance of losing their mask
Blue Panther Jr.
Tritón
Esfinge
The Panther
Puma
Fuego
Sangre Azteca
Tiger
All are either too early in their careers to lose their mask, or would have much more value in losing in a singles match. If they lost, there’s probably a bigger story about what’s going on with them than the mask loss.
reasonable alternative candidates
Pegasso
Raziel
Cancerbero
CMLL has done mask programs with the Rayo Tapatios, Cholo and Ramstein in recent years, so it’s always possible they could eventually get the mask programs for these three. That’s not a certainty, though, and it’s unlikely any of these three will ever be in a main event of a big show again (unless there’s another cage match coming or a last minute sub.) These three have all been supporting players, seemingly not really involved in the feuds except to inflate the numbers, so they would be unsatisfying losers, but that doesn’t seem to be a concern to CMLL.
Pegasso’s the one who sticks out as most likely of the three. He’s had severe knee injuries over the years, costing him months out of the ring and seemingly coming close to ending his career. He might not have the security of waiting for another occasion. Pegasso is looking healthier of late.
Súper Comando
Súper Comando
He’s an opening match guy in a match with guys much higher than him, and he’s never gotten a real feud prior. The Puma/Panther/Comando feud is the only one they’ve built up, and the match has to end with at least two of those three in for it to be satisfying. Puma and Panther shouldn’t be losing their masks yet, so that leaves Comando. The only way Comando is not going to lose is if CMLL think it’s too predictable of an outcome.
DTU is in Xalapa today. SuperLuchas has an interview with Joe Lider talking about returning to DTU. Lider’s been working with the group for many years, but it’s trickier of late when DTU not working with AAA.
Brillante says he received his Christmas present a month ago, when his son La Sombra joined WWE.
LuchaWorld has a recap of this week’s CMLL Informa.
Segunda Caida reviews La Sombra & Volador Jr. © vs Felino & Negro Casas for the CMLL Tag Team championship.
Cronicas y Lyendas reviews Lizmark & Espectro Jr. and Mil Mascaras vs the Destroyer