Mr. Electro/Mascara 2000 Jr., Puebla preview

IWRG (SUN) 07/03/2016 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, The Gladiatores]
1) Atomic Star b Fireman
2) Dragón Fly, Hijo del Alebrije, the Tiger (Tamaulipas) b Diablo Jr., El Hijo del Diablo, Imposible
Arana de Plata replaced once of the Mariachis.
3) Apolo Estrada Jr., Dr. Cerebro, Relámpago b Emperador Azteca, Freelance, Zatura
After the win, Los Insoportables asked Dr. Cerbero wanted to join. He declined.
4) Eterno, Negro Navarro, Toscano b Black Terry, Chicano, Danny Casas
Danny Casas replaced Super Nova. Chicano’s return (first match since May), back to feuding with Eterno.
5) Canis Lupus & Máscara Año 2000 Jr. b Hijo De Dos Caras & Mr. Electro
Mascara was in a neck brace after taking the martinete last week, but wrestled anyway and the neckbrace ended up as a weapon. Bloody match with a fork being used. Mascara used a foul. Mascara wants a hair match with Mr. Electro.

I guess if you’re going to use Mr. Electro, you might as well get a hair match out of him. On the other hand, I’m not all together concerned AYM doesn’t appear to be airing IWRG of late. (Lots of U21 basketball tournaments and MMA in addition to the normal baseball.)

Tonight’s Puebla show has a strange main event. Mistico teams with Negro Casas & Shocker against La Mascara, Mephisto and Sharlie Rockstar. It’s Mistico with five rudos, it’s Sharlie Rockstar’s first match back in CMLL, and it might even be a tag team title match setup. Arena Puebla’s anniversary show is scheduled to be on 07/18, so whatever is happening here is setting up a match on there.

That also might play into the strange segunda, where King Jaguar is suddenly a tecnico, teaming with Black Tiger & Oro Jr. versus Ares, Inquisidor and Jaguar’s good friend Policeman. Jaguar lost his mask at last year’s Arena Puebla anniversary show, and he and Policeman are the guys who could lose their hair in a big match without it disrupting their career.

Semimain is listed as Kushida, Mascara Dorada and Michael Elgin versus Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and a replacement for Mr. Niebla. That could be rather good depending on who they put in. Tercera – Esfinge, Maya & Cometa against Bobby, Okumura and Virus – should be good as well. Opners local match is Astro, Centella Roja, Paris versus Guerrero Espacial, Mini Joker, and Sauron. This show airs at 9pm CT on CMLL.com & CMLL’s YouTube channel.

Periodico Central writes about Puebla lucha libre, says it’s experiencing a boom. There’s where the Arena Puebla Anniversary date was mentioned.

NJPW announced they would begin Saturday afternoon airings of CMLL on NJPWorld, but they will only be available for Japan viewers. They’re going to start this Friday to test it out and may go weekly from there. This brought a lot of excitement from English speaking people who don’t watch CMLL. It appears to be the exact same stream that’s been available on ClaroSports for the last year, and on Terra prior. The current stream is not region limited in any way, everyone can already watch this show. There’s no mention of the show being broadcast in Japanese, but it’s just a bit easier to find for Japanese fans.

The one advantage is it sounds like NJPW’s doing VOD, which would save myself the pain of trying to figure out how to record the show every week, and it would be a big help on weeks where the feed doesn’t work right for the first hour. It’s specifically a shame the Princesa Sugehit/Zeuxis match isn’t complete and in good quality somewhere. It’ll eventually air on Azteca, but even then it’ll probably be edited down.

CMLL has video ads promoting being able to buy the Grand Prix and Barbaro Cavernario/Rey Cometa, but no word on how that’ll work.

Looks like the next big DTU show is 07/15 in Neza.

Lucha Memes on 07/17 in Coliseo Coacalco
1: Caifan vs Rush
2: Demasiado vs Soberano Jr.
3: Draztick Boy vs Freelance
4: Alas de Acero & Iron Kid vs Dowki & Hanaoka

The Wrap has a photo gallery previewing Ultima Lucha 2. It’s specifically mentioned that we’ll find out more about the limo guy sometime in the next 3 episodes.

SuperLibre had Gallo as a guest.

Fray Tormenta has been accused of sexual abuse by a minor. This is not the first time there’s been this accusation, though the previous one didn’t go anywhere.

Lineup

CMLL (SAT) 07/09/2016 Arena Coliseo
1) Shockercito & Stukita vs Mercurio & Pequeño Nitro
2) Estrellita, Lluvia, Marcela vs Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis
3) Blue Panther Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., The Panther vs Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Virus
4) Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Fujin, Okumura, Raijin
5) Diamante Azul, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Sam Adonis, Tama Tonga, Tangaroa

This isn’t Sabado Retros. It’s unclear if they’re taking a week off from the concept since the NJPW guys are still here, or if it’s done completely. They did do a bigger than usual card last time Arena Coliseo missed two extra weeks, but this is presented like a normal card (and with no explanation, of course.) Of note: Tercera has the Coliseo tag champs.

CMLL (SUN) 07/10/2016 Arena México
1) Acero & Fantasy vs Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Violencia
2) Flyer, Pegasso, Templario vs Forastero, Maquiavelo, Skándalo
3) Ángel de Oro, Súper Porky, Titán vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys
4) Diamante Azul, Johnny Idol, Mistico vs Euforia, Tama Tonga, Tangaroa
5) Último Guerrero vs Kushida

So much for UG/Elgin. There’s been no build up to this main event, Ultimo Guerrero & Kushida haven’t interacted at all. The Sunday shows are still being listed as “taped for television”, even though I don’t know of an outlet that’s actually airing them. Maybe it’ll turn up on NJPW World.

Templario and Forastero get return appearances out of the newish crew; Forastero appeared in March, Templario in April. Maquiavelo (as in Niccolò Machiavelli, “the ends justify the means” seems to be the guiding principle of the wrestling business most times) makes his debut. I don’t have many matches by him, but that’s surely a name being typed wrong – Maquiabelico, Maquianelico, Maquiavelico show up more in my database. There’s a Tijuana luchador from a few years ago with that name, and more recently one who’s shown up in Toryumon (like Fiero) and FILL torneos (Gym Zeus, Gym Hip Hop Man.) MasLucha has highlights of him here.

CMLL (SUN) 07/10/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr. & Micro vs Destello & Quca
2) El Alteño & Javier Cruz Jr. vs Destructor & Diplomático
3) León Blanco, Randy, Star Black vs Demonio Rojo, Exterminador, Gitano
4) Mágico vs Maléfico
5) Esfinge, Flash II, Metatrón vs El Chakal, Espectrúm, Furia Roja

Magico and Malefico were in the main event last night, so they must’ve started something. Esfinge & Furia Roja resume their issue in the main event.

07/03 AAA TV Results (Ecatepec)

AAA

AAA TV (SUN) 07/03/2016 Centro Civico Nueva Aragon, Ecatepec, Estado de México[+LuchaTV, AAA]
1) Atomic Boy, Gotita de Plata, Lanzeloth, Venum b Herodes Jr., Soul Rocker, Súper Fly, Tigre Cota
Venum beat Soul Rocker. Gran Apache wasn’t in the match, but didn’t let that stop him from continuing to attack Venum for no particular reason.
2) Argenis & Australian Suicide DQ Daga & Joe Lider
Los Fronterizos attacked the Perros, which somehow cost the Perros match by DQ.
3) Fénix b Drago, Aerostar [#1 Contenders, AAA CRUISER]
Moved up to the fourth. Aerostar was barely able to participate, left on a stretcher and apologized for his performance, saying he had an ankle injury. Fenix gets a shot at Fantasma at some point, but got attacked by Zorro after the match.
4) Bestia 666, Damián 666, Nicho el Millionario b Bengala, Garza Jr., La Parka
Dropped to the third match from the 5th. Bestia was the surprise rudo, making his return to the promotion in a win.
5) Brian Cage b Texano Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr.
Moved up to the fifth. Cage beat #1 contender Dr. Wagner and wants a title shot of his own.
6) Pentagón Jr. b Psycho Clown © [AAA LA]
To start the show, Psycho Clown came out to talk about his recent losses and Pentagon hit him with a chair. Pentagon is the new champ, Psycho falls on his second defense after Pagano attacked him and Pentagon used the Penta Driver for the win.

Air Date:  07/09 & 07/16 – give or take a week.

Pretty cool to see Pentagon Jr. win a championship, I have to say, though this one was in service of the Psycho/Pagano feud. This was the seventh non-tag (singles/three way) match Psycho Clown’s had this year. He’s lost five of them, and he’s won the time he won this title (where Wagner unmasked him after the match) and he won the LWC qualifying match. Psycho has to be winning in a big way at TripleMania at this point.

Cage getting into the title picture seems like a good use of him. Nice to see Bestia back, and I’m a little curious about the timing in ways I’m not allowed to see due to NDAs. Fenix winning the title shot was expected, though I don’t know why Zorro is still getting involved in there. I wonder if Aerostar has been dealing with this injury for a while; it’d explain what happened with the match length at the AAW show. I’m begging AAA to do one of those filler interview pieces with Apache to explain what’s supposed to be going on with his feud.

It looks like AAA filled the place. It’s not a big building, but AAA ran a lot around Mexico State this weekend – Arena Neza & Arena Lopez Mateos both got shows – and they still did fine.

AAA’s site is currently down – the domain renewal gets them every couple years – but it should be back soon. Their next show is Friday in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera.

Ludxor says AAA left him Nuevo Laredo for a month, Sexy Star announces boxing career, Santo Jr. debuts

photo by Alexis Salazar/CMLL
photo by Alexis Salazar/CMLL

CMLL (SUN) 07/03/2016 Arena México [+LuchaTV, CMLL]
1) Flyer & Sensei b Akuma & Inquisidor
2) Fiero, Fujin, Raijin b Marvel, Oro Jr., Soberano Jr.
Debuts for Marvel (the GDL luchador) & Fiero. Rudos took 2/3. Thunder was honored after the match.
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr., Titán b Dragón Rojo Jr., Hechicero, Pólvora
Tecnicos took 1/3. Dragon Rojo & Guerrero Maya are still feuding.
4) Marco Corleone b Euforia
Marco took 2/3. Euforia suffered a hand injury during the match.
5) Diamante Azul, Shocker, Último Guerrero DQ Michael Elgin, Tama Tonga, Tangaroa
Tecnicos took 2/3. Tama fouled and unmasked Diamante Azul.

Guerrero Maya & Dragon Rojo continuing to feud is mildly interesting this time of year. Two apuesta matches seems to be Anniversary standard.

Ludxor took to his Facebook to complain about the way he’s been treated by AAA, and it’s pretty horrible if true. If you watch AAA TV, the last you saw of the red half of the Space Cadets is on the April Mexico City taping, where he was clearly dealing with a bad knee injury and struggled to move during the match. On the following TV, the announcers said Ludxor was out of action due to that injury, but he continued wrestling on spot shows for at least another month, probably all the way to a May 30th show in Nuevo Laredo. Ludxor says he was marooned  in Nuevo Laredo for a month, apparently having needed surgery for the knee, but having no way to get home. AAA didn’t pay for the surgery or for the rehab, as promised, and didn’t pay for any transportation to get him home. Ludxor credits the fans and his friends for helping him, and calls out Dorian Roldan for being too busy traveling to help him. Ludxor calls out AAA for not paying him for shows, for awful travel conditions, and for generally humiliating him. Ludxor says everyone, at least among the guys who aren’t stars, has these same problems but everyone’s hoping AAA will make good on their promises eventually. Ludxor sounds like he’s given up on that, and has worked his last AAA match. AAA, as usual, has said nothing about the situation.

Last night, Sexy Star announced she’d be going into boxing. Sexy Star appeared in the ring with her husband (boxer Jhonny Gonzalez) to make the announcement. It’s being reported as an unmasking, but she didn’t physically unmask, she just appeared with out one (as she has at many boxing events the last couple years – this was just the time they put her in the ring.) Sexy Star has been preparing for the career change for well over a year and had been strongly suggesting she’d do a bout for just about as long. No date or opponent was announced.

The announcement was made at a Promociones del Pueblo show last night at Arena Coliseo. They’re the group that’s been running boxing events there about once a month; they’ve already announced they’ll be back the first Saturday of August. They’ll probably be promoting Sexy Star’s eventually first match. It won’t be under that name – AAA owns the rights to “Sexy Star” – and her decision to change her Twitter name to “Sexy Dulce” was in preparation for the announcement to incorporate her real name. Women’s boxing isn’t a huge deal in Mexico, but stars are always a big deal and there will be a good bit of attention on at least her first match.

Sexy Star is believed to still be under contract with Lucha Underground and this should not change her status with that promotion. The sense I got from last week’s Ultima Lucha 3 tapings is Sexy Star wasn’t going anywhere and was going to be around for the foreseeable future unless they’ve taped some very dramatic behind the scenes. (This was much to my surprise, and likely much to the unhappniess of AAA – they seem to want her gone from LU after the way she left AAA.) I’d still expect her to be masked when Season 4 starts, and there’s plenty of time for Sexy Star to have a boxing match (or two!) and return for Season 4 tapings. Sexy Star’s not wrestled in Mexico since leaving AAA. She probably could get away with wrestling masked again if she wanted to, but it’s unclear if she ever will.

Santo Jr. – the grandson of the original Santo and son of Hijo del Santo – debuted under that name on Saturday in London. He got the win teaming with Cielto (Magnifico II) against two unnamed locals. He had his first match under the name “Tempestad” on the previous year’s tour, and wrestled under that name in the first day of the two show tour. He’s not wrestled in Mexico at all – he only shows up in training footage occasionally posted on Twitter.  Santo Jr.’s NOAH training stints were during the summer too; at this point, wrestling seems like something he does just during the months off from school. Which is probably not the best way to become good as a wrestler, but may be the right decision for him.

AAA posted this week’s TV show. It’s not listed as a “Part 1”, which means the rest of the Naucalpan show probably won’t air.

RobViper has highlights of 11/20/15 CMLL.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.