CMLL (SAT) 01/23/2016 Arena Coliseo
1) Cholo b Bengala
Cholo Driver for the win.
2) Metálico b Flyer
3) Canelo Casas b Magnus
Hombre Bala Jr. moved up on Tuesday and Magnus was added in his place.
4) Súper Halcón Jr. b Arkángel de la Muerte
Pegasso was replaced by Super Halcon Jr. on Tuesday.
5) Tiger b Hombre Bala Jr.
Blue Panther Jr. was replaced by Hombre Bala Jr. on Tuesday.
6) Felino & Pólvora b Soberano Jr. & Tritón
Soberano replaced Rey Cometa.
7) La Máscara, Star Jr., Valiente DQNiebla Roja, Ripper, Terrible
Star Jr. replaced Super Porky (injury). Tecnicos took 2/3, the last when Roja pulled Valiente’s mask off. Valiente wanted a mask vs mask with Niebla Roja. (Nah.)
I’m surprised Porky isn’t hurt more often. His style isn’t the hardest, but he works a lot for his size and age.
CMLL NJPW (SUN) 01/24/2016 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan [NJPW]
Attendance: 1599
1) Guerrero Maya Jr. & The Panther b Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu
5:10. The Panther beat Komatsu with his flash fujiwara armbar. In a post match interview, Panther and Maya said they were happy to make the Arena Coliseo Tag Team titles an international title and were open to possibility of Tanaka & Komatsu getting a shot at them someday. Tanaka & Komatsu thanked the fans for supporting them as Young Lions as they move on their next chapter.
2) Fuego, Kushida, Stuka Jr., Tiger Mask IV b Boby Zavala, Hechicero, Okumura, Yoshihashi
8:09. Titan and Gedo were removed from this match after Saturday’s card changes. Stuka landed the torpedo splash on Okumura (and Mima Shimoda) for the win. In a post match interview, Okumura proudly talked about both the growth of FantasticaMania over the last six years and the growth of the NJPW wrestlers who’ve come to Mexico, hoping the same for Tanaka and Komatsu.
3) Jyushin Thunder Liger b Virus
7:55. Lucha de Maestros, unofficially with no punches (though both men almost broke that promise.) Liger escaped the Motovirus setup and beat Virus with a campana. They shook hands after the match. Liger was happy with the match. Virus said this was a dream match for him, though he was disappointed he lost and will keep working in the gym every day to prove he’s worthy of the title Pequeno Gran Maestro.
4) Bushi, EVIL, Tetsuya Naito b Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi
7:23. Bushi beat Dorada with a cradle after a Naito foul. Naito teased the idea of Komatsu joining Los Ingobernables de Japon, only to immediately turn out him. Evil laid out Komatsu with a lariat. Dorada thanked the NJPW fans for supporting him this year, said he was returning to Arena Mexico, but would like to return and challenge for IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship. In a post match interview, BUSHI (who made belt motions to Dorada after the match) declared he would defeat Kushida for the belt, then nominate Dorada as his first challenger to get his revenge.
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura b Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Titán
13:06. Titan replaced Dragon Lee after the title match was added. Okada pinned Robinson. Hirooki Goto stormed the ring and attacked Okada. The crowd booed the attack. Titan asked to return to NJPW again in post match interviews.
6) Kamaitachi b Dragón Lee [CMLL SL]
Added after Kamaitachi attacked Dragon Lee on Saturday. 18:33. Excellent match, with Kamaitachi winning with via his Canadian Destroyer variation. Dragon Lee falls on his sixth defense. Kamaitachi is the 13th champion. Kamaitachi indicated he had not returned to NJPW full time yet and would be heading back to Japan with Okumura, Tanaka and Komatsu for an indefinite amount of time. Kamaitachi seemed to suggest he was aiming to follow Prince Devitt’s path and be a smaller man challenging for both the IWGP Junior and heavyweight titles, and wouldn’t be returning until he’s ready for that.
7) Mistico b Último Guerrero
17:23. La Mistica for the win.
8) Volador Jr. © b Mephisto [NWA WELTER]
21:06. Volador won with a Spanish Fly about 20 seconds before the TV broadcast ended. Seventh defense. Volador and Mephisto shook hands after the match. Volador thanked the fans on behalf of the CMLL luchadors, and Ivan announced they’d be back for FantasticaMania 2017 next year. The show ended with Mistico shouting “I Love You” to the fans. In a post show interview, Volador suggested Ultimo Guerrero and Virus as challengers.
That’s a lot of text, sorry about that. No surprise Mistico was so happy at the end. He was universally beloved and had his best week of matches since – I’m not sure since when. Obviously since the accident, but this Mistico seemed better still than the guy who was on these shows in 2014. He’s not going to get the same reaction in Arena Mexico, but hopefully he can keep up the same level of performance.
You need to whatever you need to do to watch the Kamaitachi/Dragon Lee match. They topped themselves, and I wouldn’t believe it possible if I had not seen it with my own two eyes. Kamaitachi’s comments definitely suggest the rematch is happening in Mexico (which makes sense if Kamaitachi is just going to end up losing it back), but we should have at least one more match between them.
I’d expect it to be a lot more than one. NJPW absolutely has to be bringing back Dragon Lee down the line; the Best of the Super Juniors if not sooner. It sounds like Dorada may resume making guest appearances going forward. Cavernario and Fuego are way over with this crowd and would be logical people to bring back. Titan looked good and openly requested a return. Hechicero seemed to make an significant impression on the NJPW wrestlers and fans, which might get him a look (and it’s probably a better chance if he can pass a junior heavyweight.) Guys like Stuka & Ultimo Guerrero aren’t like to get other tours with NJPW, but definitely seem like they’ll keep coming back for these FantasticaMania shows.
This tour remains strong for wrestling and for business. Those attendance numbers are absolutely down, but there doesn’t seem to be fewer people there (which suggests there’s some change in how they’re reporting the number, but other people would know better than I.) Antecodotle word says the merchandise sales were strong as usual. An interview with the NJPW officials (link I can’t find at the moment, hope I’m hallucinating) said they were going looking at moving this final day of the tour to a bigger building this year, but couldn’t find a suitable location. Maybe look for that next year.
Tanahashi announced he had a shoulder injury picked up on this show, but was unsure if he was taking time off. I suspect he desperately wants to work the Nakamura farewell show.
CMLL ELITE (SUN) 01/24/2016 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO]
1) Amapola & Dalys b La Jarochita & Muñeca De Plata
Jarochita’s debut in the arena, her first match since leaving AAA.
2) Dinamic Black & Imposible b Artillero & Sangre Azteca
Imposible is a tecnico in Elite. His side took 2/3.
3) Delta & Tritón b Eterno & Fresero Jr.
CMLL tecnicos took 1/3
4) Trauma I & Trauma II b Puma & Tiger [Dinastia Elite]
Final of the Dinastia Elite tournament (though Canelo Casas was in Puma’s spot last week.) Traums took 2/3, with Trauma I submitting Tiger with Lo Negro del Negro in the decision fall.
5) Felino & Negro Casas b Juventud Guerrera & Super Crazy
Mexicool defeated Peste Negra when an eliminated Crazy interfered to help Juvi beat Crazy.
6) Carístico, Extreme Tiger, Valiente DQ Euforia, La Máscara, Rush
Tecnicos took 2/3, Mascara unmasking and fouling Caristico.
The Traumas continue to have success on these shows. Caristico continues to either lose or win painfully.
I’m going to write this here and regret it later: I think La Mascara is half decent now. He’s gotten better the last few months, dropping a lot of the bits that weren’t working for his character and continues to be an excellent toady for Rush. There’s places where he can get better (taking Sombra’s running double knee smash helps his meager offense) but he’s not an anchor on team any more.
Quick results from the LuchaMemes show are here. Pagano beat Caifan in the main event, Joe Lider won the Rumble. Seemed like a really strong turnout for the show.
The original Espectrito passed away yesterday, according to his family. He was 49. No cause of death was mentioned.
Espectrito was a small luchador brought in by Antonio Pena, part of the first wave of the modern minis division. While Mascarita Sagrada is better remembered, Espectrito’s rudo bullying act and ability as base was an essential part of the formula to get the minis concept over. Espectrito started in EMLL and jump to AAA at the start of the promotion. His mask match with Espectrito was part of the run of big AAA Los Angeles show during their first era. There was a falling out between that original group of minis and Pena around 1995, and he bounced between all the companies from that point on, lasting being a regular anywhere in CMLL in 2005. Espectrito worked in WWF for a time, using the names Mini Vader and Torito (obviously not the current one.) He also wrestled on an AAA/NJPW tour as Mini Black Cat.
The La Parkita & Especrito II who were murdered in 2009 were his brothers. SuperLuchas, which has a through obituary for Espectritio, mentions their deaths took a big toll on their family and especially their brother.
AAA has a brief remembrance on their Facebook page.
No full results, but Omar Brunetti & Jocker won their semfinal matches, meaning they meet next week for the Occidente Middleweight championship.
WWC announced Rey Mysterio would be coming to their 02/27 show in Caguas, Puerto Rico and facing Mr. 450 in a singles match
Keira is off next weekend’s HUMO main event after appearing on the AAA TV taping. It was an indie vs CMLL main event, so that wasn’t going to work. It’ll be a mystery Japanese luchadora instead. (Ayako Hamada is in Mexico that weekend.) La Jarochita replaces Sadica on the undercard.
Amapola talks about her career, mentions keeping her training secret from her family but injuring her elbow and getting a cast on her arm gave it away.
Taya was profiled by her hometown paper.
Lineups
CMLL (SAT) 01/30/2016 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono vs Inquisidor
2) Sensei vs Espanto Jr.
3) Robin vs Hijo del Signo
4) Soberano Jr. vs Raziel
5) La Vaquerita & Skadi vs Dalys & Zeuxis
6) Máximo Sexy, Super Porky, Titán vs Boby Z, Rey Bucanero, Terrible
7) Valiente vs Niebla Roja
No mask match, but they do get a singles match. I’d be interested in it if was on TV, because Niebla Roja singles matches are a bit rare.