RobViper and I talk for about 90 minutes about the big shows. There’s less craziness going on this time, so we talk detail about the FantasticaMania shows, the Guerra de Titanes lineup, and the upcoming Lucha Underground season (with very slight spoilers.) We try to figure out if there’s going to be any title changes in Japan, what might be the best way forward for the AAA heavyweight title and I randomly figure out when Ultima Lucha 2 is airing for no apparent reason.
I’m less sick than I was, but still sick enough to be loudly drinking water on air. Only one moment where I seemed like I might die on air via coughing, so that’s good. No opening music, so you can get straight into the awkward opening. We’ll be back at some point.
CMLL (FRI) 01/08/2016Arena México [CMLL, Notimex, thecubsfan]
1) Camorra & Espiritu Negro b Bengala & Leono 14:17. Rudos took 1/3.
2) Canelo Casas, Okumura, Virus b Esfinge, Pegasso, Stigma 14:48. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Dalys b Silueta [lightning] Dalys won via powerbomb on 8:23.
4) La Máscara, Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy b Kamaitachi, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas 17:26. Tecnicos took 1/3, with Marco and Mascara trying to win (and getting along with Maximo) on this show.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Thunder b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero 9:37. Rey Escorpion was announced, but Polvora was in his place by Friday. Revolucionarios won 1/3. Thunder used brass knuckles to knock out Ultimo Guerrero, then fouled Euforia to get the win. UG was stretchered out. Euforia demanded a singles match with
6) Cibernético & Volador Jr. b Carístico & Rush [Relevos Increíbles] 6:35. Straight fall win for the Cibernetico team, thanks to Rush betraying Caristico and eventually dropping him with the Rush Driver. Both Cibernetico and Caristico wanted matches Rush, who refused them.
Not really any good matches on the show, with the main event being more of an angle than a match. You didn’t miss much if you missed this.
Today’s Arena Coliseo show has Valiente versus Pierroth in a singles match. This is Comandante Pierroth’s first CMLL singles match; I can’t find a singles match under a previous name, but my records might have avoided them. He’s had them on indy shows.
Puma wants to fight The Panther, not forgetting the issue from before the cage match. His next goals are travel to Japan and the US.
Sombra had his debut match last night in NXT. He’s wrestling under his real name and vaguely in his Ingobernable gimmick (same look, white gear) and same double knee smash. I guess he could end up keeping the gimmick, but it’s more likely they just haven’t come up with his WWE character yet or don’t want to debut it. It’s just about getting live ring time for him, and he says he has a lot to learn, including the language. That Twitter message was in Spanish – he’s probably not going to be close to debuting on TV until he’s posting in English. (Not a requirement, just a useful indicator.)
This seemed liked around the time he might first show up, though I would’ve guessed it’d be a few weeks longer: when NXT starts running live tours in bigger venues, it’s probably going to be the crew who’s on TV, meaning (many) people who are signed to WWE but aren’t part of the NXT TV program will now get a chance to work shows in Florida. Debuting now suggests WWE likes what they’ve seen of him so far – or they wanted to sprinkle in the debuts.
CMLL (FRI) 01/15/2016Arena México
1) Shockercito & Stukita vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Estrellita, Marcela, Silueta vs Dalys, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
3) Ángel de Oro, Blue Panther, Rey Cometa vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys
4) La Máscara, Super Parka, Valiente vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Thunder vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja
6) Carístico vs Rush
Caristico versus Rush is the main event as of this afternoon. This morning, it was listed as Cibernetico versus Rush. Even CMLL apparently didn’t know what next week’s main event would be when they left the buildings – the fans definitely had no idea. The bit where the rudo walks out rather the answering a challenge is often entertaining but it’s one completely overdone on CMLL (twice a card like last night is common) and is counter productive when they’re actually trying to sell the match to those fans.
In the case, it seems like CMLL had no idea Cibernetico was already booked in Texas on Friday night.
Caristico versus Rush is one of the bigger matches CMLL could do, one of the bigger first time matches for sure. It’s easy thing to be able to throw out there when the roster depth isn’t as usual (though maybe it’s not a match you should just be throwing out there.)
Probably a one week wait for Thunder/Euforia. Super Parka went from having no future bookings on Wednesday evening to being listed for a show by Saturday morning. Marcela exists again, assuming she actually exists.
Anniversary shows usually do well here. Funcion Estelar, writing about the history of the building, has the capacity at 2846 and they should end up around that number. The semimain should be very good.
