Volador/Casas in Puebla, Joker wins in Guadalajara, Lucha World Cup

CMLL (SUN) 01/31/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Diplomático & Guerrero de la Muerte b Johnny Dinamo & Micro
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Javier Cruz Jr. & Linterna COR Demonio Rojo & Quca
Lintera replaced Capitan Cobra, Quka replaced Mr. Apolo. Quka was eliminated last, couldn’t return after a Lintera tope.
3) Cancerbero & Raziel b Esfinge & Gallo
Rudos demanded a tag title match.
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Magnum, Neutrón b Kempo Dragón, Príncipe Kisho, Ripper
Tecnicos took 2/3, Neutron beating Ripper after they had feuded.
5) Joker b Omar Brunetti [OCCIDENTE MIDDLE, final]
Joker took 2/3, the last with a piledriver variant, to win the vacant title.

Joker seems like a good choice for champion here – and if he doesn’t go to Mexico City, maybe he’ll defend the championship at some point.

CMLL (MON) 02/01/2016 Arena Puebla [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Asturiano & Black Tiger b Ares & Espíritu Maligno LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE DEL MUNDO EN VIVO 1º DE FEBRERO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
16:25. Tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Rey Apocalipsis & Toro Bill Jr. b Magnus & Metatrón LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE DEL MUNDO EN VIVO 1º DE FEBRERO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
11:53. Batallon de la Muerte took 1/3.
3) Blue Panther Jr., Delta, Stigma b Boby Z, Pierroth, Sagrado LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE DEL MUNDO EN VIVO 1º DE FEBRERO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
10:17. Tecnicos took 1/3.
4) Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto b Ángel de Oro, Titán, Tritón LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE DEL MUNDO EN VIVO 1º DE FEBRERO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
13:27. Rudos took 1/3, the last when Mephisto stole Angel de Oro’s mask and pinned him.
5) Rush b Thunder LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE DEL MUNDO EN VIVO 1º DE FEBRERO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
6:45. Rush took 1/3, the last when Thunder fouled Rush.
6) Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero b Dragón Lee, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE DEL MUNDO EN VIVO 1º DE FEBRERO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
9:41. Rudos took 1/3. Atlantis & La Mascara were replaced by Dragon Lee & Mascara Dorada late Monday (hours after the lineup went up.) Negro Casas sort of powerbombed Volador and put his feet on the ropes for the win. Volador demanded a one fall match with Negro Casas – which happened for a bit, including the crowd counting three after Volador nailed Casas with the running kick to the head. Volador dumped Casas to the outside to end the fight.

The Casas/Volador bit is carry over from Friday. Dorada and Dragon Lee looked good as long as the match lasted, but the ending came off a bit flat. The postmatch seemed like an attempt to salvage the bit.

Rush/Thunder felt like CMLL booked the match, then immediately regretted it. Rush did not mail it in, but this was not a high priority match.

Mephisto/Angel de Oro felt like the start of a title feud. Oro was making title motions before the match – the Hijos del Infierno are still Mexican trios champions, but it felt more like Oro might defend his.

Enuhito says he’s been told the plans for the Lucha World Cup are an expanded two day event in June. It’ll include a Women’s version of the tournament and the number of organizations participating will increase. Last year’s competition got great press for AAA, and it would make sense to do it again. The logistics of getting enough promotions involved is always going to be the challenge.

CMLL Arena Mexico has Gran Guerrero, Mr. Niebla, and Niebla Roja versus Dragon Rojo Jr., Polvora and Thunder as the main event. That sounds terrible! The show is scheduled to stream Tuesday night at 7:30pm on CMLL’s website (thru YouTube), but it’s not a good card at all and the main event is pretty bad. Maybe the semimain will be good if people keep replacing Super Porky, since the rest of the match is Fuego, Guerrero Maya, Felino, Ripper and Tiger. The lightning match is a Hechicero singles against Delta. Those don’t look bad, but the Tuesday shows seemed to have a lesser effort level than other days of the week.

Guadalajara has a more interesting card. Mascara Dorada returns to his home arena to team with Maximo & Volador against Ephesto, Euforia and Mephisto. Rush takes on Kraneo in what is sure to be an entertaining battle. Raijin and Fujin debut, teaming with Okumura vs Esfinge, Rey Cometa and Stuka. That’s a spot higher in the card than the previous debuts been, but it might simply be because the segunda is a minis match on this show.

recent NJPW trainee debuts:
2014-01-31 Arena Mexico (2nd): Kamaitachi, Sangre Azteca, Okumura defeated Fuego, Super Halcon Jr., Triton
2012-02-05 Arena Coliseo (3rd): Misterioso, Namajague, Okumura vs Black Warrior, Sagrado, Sangre Azteca

Rey Mysterio talks about Lucha Underground, and the time Fenix didn’t meet him.

Llaves y Candados announced Rush vs Cibernetico vs Konnan Big is actually happening on 02/28. They teased this match last week.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update and this week’s Poster-Mania.

RobViper has highlights of 07/28/15 CMLL.

Black Terry Jr. has highlights of Black Terry vs Solar, the IWRG opener, and drunk woman at the IWRG show.

Zeuxis talks about her title defenses and her match on the 02/20 show at Gimnasio Hercules.

Psycho Clown wants a match with Dr. Wagner after betraying him in the tag match. They certainly seem to build a mask match here.

This week’s Box Y Lucha includes a Mr. Niebla & Zacarias poster.

Lineups

No Coliseo show on Saturday. There’s a boxing show instead.

CMLL (MON) 02/08/2016 Arena Puebla
1) París & Zaeta Roja vs Guerrero Espacial & Saurón
2) Arkalis & Meyer vs Akuma & Espanto Jr.
3) Black Tiger, Pegasso, Starman vs Fuerza Chicana, Metálico, Policeman
4) Ángel de Oro, Titán, Tritón vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
5) Volador Jr. vs Negro Casas [lightning]
6) Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Mistico vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Último Guerrero

Volador/Casas having a lightning match that lasts eight minutes is probably better than a three fall match last eight minutes.