Santo Jr. debuts, Elite back to Sundays, DTU

El Coyote
El Coyote

DTU LLB (SAT) 08/13/2016 Arena Lopez Mateos [+LuchaTV, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), Estrellas del Ring]
1) Hijo Del Mosco, Niño Cobre, X-Zafiro ?? Fly Danger, Hijo De Dr. Pólux Jr., Toto
2) Shadow & Yoruba b El Gio & El Jr. and Fly Star & Toxin Boy and Kastigador & Vengador
3) Aeroboy & Chik Tormenta b Freelance & La Magnifica and Corsario Negro Jr. & Felina Metálica
Aeroboy (off NY show) replaced Fly Warrior (worked Crash instead) and got the win.
4) Drastik Boy & Ronnie Mendoza b Arez & Belial and Mike Segura & Sádico
good match, money thrown in. Arez & Belial want a rematch in Pachuca.
5) Carta Brava Jr. (IWL) & Fantasma de la Ópera b Misterioso Jr. (CMLL) & Pierroth and Ángel o Demonio & Ovett
6) Pesadilla & Rocky Lobo © b Dragón Rojo Jr. & Stuka Jr. and Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro [DTU NEXO]
Dragon Rojo Jr. replaced Titan
7) Masada (Texas) b Sharlie Rockstar, Cíclope, Psicosis II, Paranoiko

Looked like they had a pretty good turnout. Fourth match is the one which got the best reviews. No idea the deal with Titan and DTU is, but it was always strange he was advertised for this one after missing the last one.

The Crash (SAT) 08/13/2016 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [+LuchaTV, The Crash]
1) Danny Lime Light ?? Douglas James
2) Arkángel Divino, Jonathan, Mirage ?? Black Danger, Sargón, Último Maldito
3) Keira b La Jarochita, Lady Maravilla, Candy White
Jarochita & Keira continue to feud.
4) Garza Jr. & Último Ninja b Tony Casanova & Zarco © [The Crash]
Garza Jr. put Tony thru a plastic table (or at least tried) to set up the winning pinfall. Challenges followed.
5) Flamita b Séptimo Dragón, Willie Mack, Lince Dorado, Torito, Laredo Kid, Fly Warrior [The Crash CRUISER]
Vacant title. Fly Warrior was added to the match. Order of elimination went Fly Warrior, Septimo Dragon, Torito (who entered in his Torito gear but wrestled in a silver Mascarita Dorada outfit), Lince Dorado, Willie Mack and Flamita defeated Laredo Kid to win. Great match. Laredo Kid asked for the first title shot.
6) El Hijo Del Santo & Santo Jr. b Ángel Blanco & Rayman
Santo Jr.’s first Mexico based match after appearing on the Lucha Libre London shows in recent years. Tecnicos took 1/3, the last when Rayman fouled Santo. Mask ripping and a little bit of blood. Challenges followed, with the rudos trying to take the tecnicos masks and the tecnicos not letting that occur.

This was streamed on their new website as a surprise (or to make sure no one just stayed home and watched the stream.) I caught up with it during the fourth match, but was unable to record it. It may show up later, and Hijo del Santo has been RT-ing clips from his match tonight. Attendance seemed good if not great, and they obviously saw the Santos as a huge deal. Santo Jr. looked tentative and slower than everyone else, though not nearly as green as you’d expect a guy for his third match. They did a lot stuff to make him look good during the match. I wasn’t sold on him, but he doesn’t seem like a disaster either.

So Cal Uncensored has a positive review of the Viva el Lucha show the same night in San Diego. Rey Mysterio & Fenix (as a surprise) beat Johnny Mundo & Nicho in the main event.

CMLL (SAT) 08/13/2016 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Bengala & Leono b Camorra & Cholo
2) Canelo Casas, Hijo del Signo, Nitro b Magnus, Oro Jr., Star Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi b La Comandante, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
4) Fuego, Rey Cometa, Valiente b Disturbio, Hechicero, Olímpico
Tecnicos took 1/3. Disturbio replaced Bobby Z.
5) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Mistico b Euforia, Mephisto, Último Guerrero
Caristico submitted Mephisto.

A show! Caristico being on the show (and CMLL hyping that fact) seemed to lead to better attendance than usual. I’m not sure how much it’ll actually matter when these become Tuesday-like (see the card below), but even a Tuesday audiece would look better in the smaller Coliseo.

CMLL (SUN) 08/14/2016 Arena México
1) Apocalipsis & Artillero b Metatrón & Sensei
Metatron was hurt in the first fall. Rudos took 2/3.
2) Cancerbero, El Coyote, Raziel b Ciclón Ramírez Jr., El Bandido, Flyer
Coyote won his debut.
3) Felino, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado b Ángel de Oro, Blue Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr.
4) Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto b Atlantis, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr.
Soberano was Super Porky’s replacement today. Rudos took 2/3.
5) Marco Corleone, Valiente, Vangellys b Pierroth, Rey Escorpión, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Vangellys snuck in a foul on Rey Escorpion.

I’ve last track of how many cowboy hat wearing rancheros which are in this promotion now. Coyote can mean many things, but new guy would’ve had a better shot looking like the animal. (Since we might not see him ever again, I’m not sure it matters.)  I have no idea when or where the Vangellys/Rey Escorpion match might be taking place because…

CMLL’s website says Elite will be running shows on Sunday. They did this before, they decided it didn’t work, they moved to Wednesdays, then Thursdays, then messed with some Saturdays, and we’re right back where it started on Sunday. I’m guessing this might explain why only 1 of the 2 weeks of new Elite TV aired this week (the other is going to be shown this week, because they won’t be running Thursday), but I’m guessing because no one’s explained what’s going beyond a note where the CMLL Sunday card should be. There was no mention of this on either of the TV shows this week, and it’s not even especially clear if this is a one week or full time thing (though the plural “domingos” is a clue.)

Sunday seemed to be Elite’s best day; it never did as well as it should’ve on the lineups, and it’s going to be tougher on schedules since most of the outside booking dates seem to be Sundays, but it’s still probably going to work better than Wednesday or Thursday. Doing it like this, with no warning or promotion, with “todos los Jueves” emblazoned on the ring apron, is not an effective way to do it. That’s Elite.

I did make it to the GALLI show tonight, but I don’t have time to write about the wrestling I actually saw. That’s less irony and more poor time management. Maybe tomorrow.

This week’s AAA TV episode is up. They announced the usual Hard Rock show on September 16th. They could always (and likely will) squeeze in another taping. Still, there’s 2-3 weeks of AAA TV between TripleMania and Heroes Inmortales, and 1-2 of them are going to be the vacation show at the resort. I really hope Heroes Inmortales goes well, but the deck seems stacked against it. AAA could always start setting up stuff for Heroes Inmortales at TripleMania or even the taping this week in Veracruz, but they seem like they’re struggling to keep up at this point. (To that end: TripleMania is two weeks away from today, and there’s been no public mention of iPPV or Mexico PPV details. I’m sure they’ll get done, and it might even be that they’re holding off as to not hurt ticket sales, but recent history makes me concerned they’re scrambling.)

Pentagon says no gringo will be able to stop him at TripleMania. Drago talks about the four way tag title match at TripleMania as possibly being one of the biggest wins of his and Aerostar’s career.

The Santo Jr. match in Torreon on Thursday is changing location due to forecasts of bad weather. It turns out Atlantis, Angel de Oro and Niebla Roja just happen to be working across the city/state. border in Gomez Palacio on the same day.

Gran Metalik counts beating Tajiri was one of the biggest wins of his career.

SuperLuchas interviews Hijo del Medico Asesino.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 08/20/2016 Arena Coliseo
1) Shockercito & Stukita vs Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Magnus, Robin, Templario vs Akuma, Arkángel de la Muerte, Metálico
3) Lluvia, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, La Comandante, Tiffany
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Johnny Idol, Rey Cometa vs Felino, Morphosis, Pólvora
5) Blue Panther, Mistico, Stuka Jr. vs Mephisto, Mr. Niebla, Rey Bucanero

Morphosis in the second match: this is a Tuesday card on a Saturday, minus the lightning match. Which isn’t really much different than the Sabado Retros shows were, except for the formatting. These are slightly better, but I’m not sure what difference it’ll make in the long term.

Templario makes another appearance here. He’s not booked on CaraLucha that night – not sure if that’s luck or if he knew that far in advance.

CMLL (SUN) 08/21/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro & Micro vs Destello & Quca
2) Black Sugar & Fugaz vs Guerrero de la Muerte & Linterna
3) El Divino & Explosivo vs El Chakal & Espectrúm
4) Esfinge, Kempo Dragón, Magnum vs Mr. Trueno, Príncipe Kisho, Rey Trueno
5) El Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © vs Flash II, Star Black, Vaquero Jr. [OCCIDENTE TRIOS]
first defense

Trios title match was set up last week. The Sinaloa guys weren’t quite getting along in their previous run, and seem to have split up this past week.