Month: April 2016

CMLL (SUN) 04/10/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring]
1) Guerrero de la Muerte & Mr. Brisa b Capitán Cobra & Linterna
Linterna replaced Rey Halcon, Guerero de la Muerte replaced Diplomatico. Rudos took 2/3.
2) Fugaz & Javier Cruz Jr. b Carlo Roggi & Mr. Apolo
Fugaz’s debut. Randy was also listed as debuting, but Javier Cruz Jr. replaced him. Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Mágico b Sádico [super libre]
Magico submitted Sadico, demanded a title match.
4) El Divino, Magnum, Vaquero Jr. b Espectrúm, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Esfinge, Gallo, Tritón b El Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
Tecnicos took 2/3.

Magico gets his title shot this Sunday. No angle in the main event, the DF guys were just there to be there.

CMLL (MON) 04/11/2016 Arena Puebla [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) El Malayo & Policeman b Black Tiger & Zaeta Roja
14:20. Rudos took 1/3.
2) Asturiano, Shockercito, Stukita b Demus 3:16, Espíritu Maligno, Mini Joker
13:48. Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Kráneo, Olímpico, Ripper b Ángel de Oro, Blue Panther, Súper Porky
12:35. Rudos took 2/3.
4) La Máscara, Rush, Terrible DQ Atlantis, Máximo Sexy, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
10:53. Team Rush took 1/3, the last when Terrible pulled out the referee while UG was pinning La Mascara, and UG was caught fouling Rush (who seemed to be about to the same to him.) UG & Rush feuded thru the match. UG & Gran Guerrero demanded a rematch, kind of talking Atlantis into going with it.
5) Mistico, Valiente, Volador Jr. © b Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Rey Escorpión
6:56. Announced as a CMLL TRIOS defense (would’ve been 7th defense), but turned out not be one for no clear reasons. Sky team took 2/3.

Show was underwhelming, especially the super quick main event. I think changing from a title match to not one for no reason was bad, and not explaining it was annoying, but I probably would’ve gotten over it easier if they had the same quality match we’d expect from a title match. Instead, it was a super rushed match, on one of the earliest ending Puebla shows in a while. They had other places to be and I should’ve had other placed to be too.

LA Park did appear on the AAA Nuevo Laredo show, winning a four way with a unseen foul on Pentagon Jr. Now Canek is listed on the weekly AAA Nuevo Laredo card, following Dr. Wagner & Pagano showing up there before turning up in AAA proper and LA Park being scheduled to do the same. Could just be a fill in for LA Park at this point.

CMLL’s show tonight is a just a show. The Gran Alternativa tournament wrapped up last week, which means something new might start tonight, but there’s no telling what it’d be or if they’ll just run a show with no incidents. The main event is Dragon Lee, Mascara Dorada, Stuka vs the Revolucionarios, which is the same sort of high spot match last night’s main event seemed to set up to be, and will probably last longer than seven minutes. Dorada, Lee & Dragon Rojo are all singles champions and their opposition have logical opponents, if that’s the directions they want to go. It’s also the best chance for a good match on the show; every other match has at least one person who looks likely to bring it down. This is a skippable show. The preview lists Oro Jr. in Star Jr.’s spot,

The bigger CMLL show is in Guadalajara, which has Ultimo Guerrero versus Cibernetico. That’ll be better than the Arena Mexico one, if only because it has to be. A lack of planning is evident – the month of CMLL at Puebla’s fair shows are starting tonight, with a scheduled main event of Cibernetico (who won’t be there), Charly Manson, Psicosis Ripper versus Mistico, Valiente and some guy named Octagon in his first match after Sunday’s incident.

Octagon says he now knows what he did on Sunday to Octagon Jr. was not the right way to act, but he was just so angry that he did it without thinking. This, of course, is a another lie – Octagon went to the restaurant with a cool head, security and camera crews specifically to do what he did. It was not a decision of the moment, but something planned well in advance. Octagon says he’s received many messages of support from wrestlers, but has nothing against Flamita and has always supported youth in wrestling. To that end, he says he’s trained another luchador – just like he’s trained with Kalisto – to be his official successor. He may be going with Hijo del Octagon instead of Octagon Jr., and it’s not clear who it’d be (but it must be someone pretty brave to step into this mess right now.) Octagon says the new person will be announced at a press conference this week, along with more bombs.

Dr. Landru, looking thru the Mexico trademark search, noted Octagon filed for the rights to the name and was denied. AAA is still shown as owner.

Blue Demon Jr. blamed missing Rey de Reyes on a problem with the airline, and says he’s still an independent luchador who takes dates with AAA – that everything is normal. This is weeks after Rey de Reyes, a little late to say something about this, but I suspect he just got a lot of people sending him only after he didn’t appear on TV this past week. If it was simply a problem with the airline, that easily could’ve been said on air. They could’ve said it even if it wasn’t. They did not. The arrogance of lucha libre promotions regarding changes and never acknowledging them is driving me insane.

AAA previews the Leon card for next Monday, noting the Texano & Cage team is probably not going to end well.

Maquina 45 Jr. took the mask of Black Fish in Ciudad Juarez on Sunday. No name given yet. Black Fish was Hijo del Fishman prior. He had a falling out with Fishman, who took away the name and gave it to someone else.

There’s a proposal to make September 21st an annual Dia de Luchadors & Lucha Libre.

LuchaWorld has Poster-Mania and KrisZ’s news report.

Segunda Caida reviews this week’s Lucha Underground show.

RobViper has highlights of 09/10/15 CMLL.

Box Y Lucha #3228 has LA Park & Pagano on the cover.

Lineups

CMLL (MON) 04/18/2016 Arena Puebla
1) Astro, Centella Roja, París vs El Malayo, Fuerza Chicana, King Jaguar
2) Arkalis, Star Jr., Starman vs Policeman, Rey Apocalipsis, Toro Bill Jr.
3) Fuego, Stigma, Tritón vs Sagrado, Skándalo, Virus
4) La Máscara, Rush, Terrible vs Atlantis, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Cibernético, Mr. Niebla, Rey Escorpión vs Ángel de Oro, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr.

Not Cibernetico’s debut in Arena Puebla: he wrestled here back in 1994 when this was still a UWA building. And probably nothing much going on in the main event with the singles match coming out of the second match.

This doesn’t seem like a strong show. Rey Apocalipsis & Toro Bill haven’t been good lately and they really haven’t been good with Arkalis.

NICE (SUN) 04/24/2016 Arena Coliseo Monterrey
1) Minion I & Minion II vs Flecha & Muerte Guerrera
2) Ángel Justiciero, Capitán America, Nacho Libre, Pedro Navajas vs Bengalí, Demonio De Caribe, Kalaka De Tijuana, Papi Chulo
3) Máximo vs Golden Boy, Dulce Kanela, Último Ninja
4) Caifan vs Pagano
5) Negro Casas vs Rey Hechicero

This would be the first ever Negro Casas versus Hechicero match; they’ve only been on the opposite of the ring in the trios and cibernetico matches of Hechicero’s En Busca de un Idolo year. It might turn up on TV, it’s hard to tell with Monterrey.

Lucha Memes (SUN) 04/10/2016 Arena Jardines, Ecatepec, Estado de México [+LuchaTV, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), Estrellas del Ring]
1) Hantar & Íkaro b Electroser & Troyano
Gym Falcon vs Gym Contreras
2) Freelance, Pantera, Sádico b Arez, Belial, Impulso
Sadico replaced Mike Segura. Money thrown in. Impulso and Freelance challenged for a hair match.
3) Supermega DQ Black Terry
Super Mega fouled Terry, Terry fouled Mega, ref only saw the second.
4) Keira DCOR Toxin
They battled outside to a draw.
5) Aramis b Iron Kid, Alas de Acero
Aramis defeated Iron Kid. Alas de Acero was injured after a tornillo to the floor which flew past the other two.
6) Último Guerrero b Hechicero
Guerrero won with via Pulpo Guerrero in a great match. Money thrown in.

Alas de Acero was doing better backstage. Main event and second match sound like the high matches. Lucha Memes says we have Black Terry Jr. to thank for the main event idea.

IWRG (SUN) 04/10/2016 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV]
1) Kanon & Zatura b Picudo Jr. & Violencia Jr.
straight falls
2) Fireman & Galaxy b Fly Star & Keshin Black
Galaxy replaced Aramis and Keshin Black replaced Toxin Boy (double booked). This was Keshin’s first match on a normal IWRG show since 2011 (though he’s been on some trainee shows of late.)
3) Leo, Mike, Rafy DQ Bombero Infernal, Demonio Infernal, Muerte Infernal
rudos pulled Rafy’s mask for the DQ.
4) Factor, Rayan, Spector b Diva Salvaje, Miss Gaviota, Pasion Kristal
5) Danny Casas, Súper Nova, Veneno b Golden Magic, Mr. Águila, Negro Navarro
Golden Magic is indeed now a rudo, with an evil mask.
6) Diablo Jr., El Hijo del Diablo, Imposible © b Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro [EdM Trios]
Third fall went to a double pin (or maybe double submission). This week (and not last week), the commission allowed one more fall. Mariachis Locos took it for the win. First defense, rematch against ex-champions.

Sometimes I’m slow, but it finally dawned on me that IWRG turned Golden Magic because the fans are still booing him over the Castillo del Terror finish. It’s so weird that he’s turning rudo just as he starts as a tecnico in CMLL, but it’s an a great example of how insular the different lucha libre fanbases can be in Mexico. The fans of indie groups (and IWRG) don’t seem really affected much by what happens in CMLL, and those people don’t seem to be affected much by what’s happening in AAA, and so on with WWE.

 

Tonight’s Puebla show has the trios titles on the line in the main event, as the Sky Team (Mistico, Valiente and Volador) defend against the Revolucionarios (Dragon Rojo, Polvora and Rey Escorpion.) The rudo challengers have had great matches against tecnico high flying teams, and these tecnicos are going to fly. This will be a match worth going out of your way to see, even if a title change seems unlikely.

The semimain on the show is a relevos incredibles, which puts Terrible with Mascara & Rush against Atlantis, Maximo and Ultimo Guerrero. Terrible would be a better new Ingobernables than Pierroth, but a loaf of white bread would be a better Ingobernable than Pierroth. Super Porky is listed in the tercera and it’ll be news if he’s there; he hasn’t been lately. The second match is a minis match with favorites Stukita, Asturiano and Espiritu Maligno in action. It’s got a good chance of being the second best match of the night. The opener has locals Black Tiger, Zaeta Roja, El Malayo and Policeman.

People corrected me in the comments, but I want to make sure to repeat it here: Maximo’s not in Liga Elite. He was definitely in the group of names thrown out for the tournament, but so were Zumbio and Marco and neither of them are actually in it. The full field is Mascara Dorada, Xtreme Tiger, Rush, Bobby Lashley, Atlantis, La Mascara, Volador Jr., Caristico, LA Park, Cibernetico, Ultimo Guerrero and Negro Casas. Ultimo Guerrero is the one I keep missing, and Negro Casas is the one who’s missing from the tournament. Those two should have a match Wednesday if they’re following a normal schedule, but it’s Ultimo Guerrero against Xtreme Tiger instead.

On today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer gave an explanation for the Rey Mysterio/AAA situation. He said Rey stopped working for AAA when there were two dates left to fulfill on his contract, because AAA was behind on pay. AAA has caught up on pay, so Rey is going to honor those final two dates (and seemed doubtful if there’d be more than that.) He speculated those last two appearances would be Verano de Escandalo and TripleMania.

On his podcast, MVP repeatedly says he was let go for revealing “specific character information” about Lucha Underground. He says all the executive producers were great to him, and it’s a parent company who had him let go.  (Mark Burnett’s company? El Rey? There’s a bunch of companies who could fit, given the shared ownership. AAA’s has let things go on that specific podcast network without firing people in the past so I think I’d rule them out.)

If you live in Mexico, Victoria is holding a contest for a trip to Los Angeles and Lucha Underground tickets. Based on the contact dates, this (like the Time Warner deal) is also for Ultima Lucha.

DTU announced KeMonito & Perico Zacarias would be in for the 05/01 show in Tulancingo, a Kid’s Day weekend show at 1pm. It reads like they’ll be on opposite sides of a trios instead of the same team. That weekend is going to to be among the highest volume of shows all year.

RIOT says they’ll be running 04/30.

Cien Caras was honored in Lagos de Moreno.

Segunda Caida reviews La Sombra versus Averno from the Universal final.

Super Libre had lots of guests, include Sangre Fira Jr., Dorado Jr., Hipnosis and Girfo.

AyTV continues it’s CMLL video interview series with Virus. There is a playlist of all 11 they’ve done so far.

UnoTV has a video story on Miss Gaviota, who works as a hair stylist when not in the ring.

Lineups

IWRG (WED) 04/13/2016 Arena Naucalpan
1) Black Dragón & Guerrero 2000 vs Galaxy & Matrix Jr.
2) Adrenalina & Freyser vs Picudo Jr. & Violencia Jr.
3) Dinamic Black, Hijo del Alebrije, Zatura vs Factor, Rayan, Spector
4) Hijo del Pantera, Pantera I, Pantera II vs Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro
5) Negro Navarro, Trauma I, Trauma II © vs Apolo Estrada, Canis Lupus, Eterno [IWRG IC TRIOS]
Third defense.

Main event follows up from the bloody match between the Traumas & Canis & Eterno last Wednesday (which did air this weekend and will be up tomorrow.) Panteras versus Terrible Cerberos also might be a title match.