Month: August 2016

UWE (SAT) 08/27/2016 Arena Lopez Mateos [Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), Kronosport, R de Rudo]
1) Pegazuz & Príncipe Mexica b Dragón Force & Ironía
2) Felina Metálica & Keira b Diosa Atenea & Lady Maravilla
Felina appeared hurt despite the win.
3) Sensei, Shibata, Yakuza b Kilvan, Shadow, Yoruba and Dante, Euro, Filder
4) Sádico b Flamita, Toxin, Mike Segura, Impulso
Sadico beat Flamita, setting up another round of challenges between the two. Money thrown in. Match was good, very good with the last two. Flamita’s right arm appeared to still be hurt.
5) Caifan, Dr. Cerebro, Virus b Negro Navarro, Trauma I, Trauma II
6) LA Park & Rey Hechicero b Pierroth & Rush

The building looks about 70% full during the main event. This was Flamita’s second match of the night; he had a well regraded match with Freelance at Gimnasio Hercules as a surprise luchador. (It’s the one time where the surprise luchador turned out to be good; he probably wasn’t listed because they weren’t sure of his schedule.) He and Sadico is the Arena Lopez Mateos dream match that never seems to happen.

CMLL (SUN) 08/28/2016 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Canelo Casas & Espanto Jr. b Bengala & Robin
2) Hombre Bala Jr., Oro Jr., Star Jr. b El Cuatrero, Sansón, Skándalo
Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Puma, Tiger, Virus DQ Blue Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa
Straight falls? Tecnicos took first, Virus fouled Blue Panther in the last fall.
4) Dragón Lee, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Euforia, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Máximo Sexy b Mr. Niebla
Maximo took 2/3.
6) Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto © b Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Stuka Jr. [MEX TRIOS]
Rudos took 2/3 to retain. 6th defense

I used that photo up top because it occurred to me that Fantasma & Rambo probably had a discussion about which shows they were going to last night. Rambo almost always goes to CMLL shows and Fantasma is almost always the commission rep at AAA shows, so it probably wasn’t a long discussion, but Rambo appears to be having a much better time than Fantasma did. Fantasma seemed to be hating life when they’d pan to him.

Rambo probably has a lot more space to himself though. Sunday crowd looked nothing special, maybe down a bit from normal. CMLL simply doesn’t have the big of draws that they can throw out A-/B+ lineups in Arena Mexico on no notice and expect a surge of people to show up, especially against a show like TripleMania. Even Maximo/Niebla, which would’ve been a big deal at one point, didn’t seem to mean much now.

Blue Panther/Virus doesn’t seem to go anyway; Virus faces the sons next week.

No Saturday CMLL show. Barbie Juarez lost her boxing match.

Lucha Memes Chairo 5 on 09/25 in Arena Naucalpan.
1: Volador Jr. vs Rey Horuz
2: a Lucha Memes vs IWRG Torneo FILL (8v8 cibernetico).
IWRG: Black Dragon, Kanon, Dragon Fly, Atomic Star, Lilith Dark, Arana de Plata, Fireman and one more
Lucha Memes: Astrolux, Garrobo Punk, Tekilita, Baby Star Jr., Black Metal, Ciber Punk, Tonak and one more
3: to be announced tonight

This week’s AAA TV is up.

Lector 24 talks to Billy Boy about his career at this moment.

LuchaWorld has Sunday’s news update.

Cross Armbreaker reviews Super Porky vs Gran Markus Jr.

Arkangel is teaching a lucha libre seminar in Puerto Rico on 09/15.

Chik Tormenta will wrestle on the 09/25 Diamond Stars show in Tokyo’s Shinkiba 1st Ring, facing Heidi Katrina for the vacant CMLL-REINA Internacional championship. This is the title Narimiya held, not the one Silueta holds, and I’m mildly surprised it exists. I didn’t know Diamond Stars existed before this; this is their first show.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 09/03/2016 Arena Coliseo
1) Aéreo & Fantasy vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Leono, Magnus, Sensei vs Canelo Casas, Hijo del Signo, Metálico
3) Soberano Jr., Starman, Stigma vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Disturbio, Nitro
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Johnny Idol, Titán vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja
5) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Lee, Máximo Sexy vs Mr. Niebla, Rey Bucanero, Terrible

Main event would be (in theory) Dragon Lee’s first unmasked match. Semimain should be pretty fun.

CMLL (SUN) 09/04/2016 Arena México
1) Magnus & Starman vs Cancerbero & Raziel
2) Blue Panther Jr., Súper Halcón Jr., The Panther vs Puma, Tiger, Virus
3) Fuego, Rey Cometa, Titán vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Olímpico, Pólvora
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Bobby Z, Gran Guerrero, Kráneo
5) Atlantis, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Terrible, Último Guerrero

There’s no big match on this show, but they’ve got three usual midcard matches and a usual second match in the opener, so this is CMLL trying hard on Sundays. Maybe they’re hoping people stick around all weekend? I’m not really sure.

CMLL (SUN) 09/04/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr. vs Quca
2) Capitán Cobra & Fugaz vs Diplomático & Guerrero de la Muerte
3) Explosivo, Randy, Reycko vs Exterminador, Gran Kenut, Mr. Apolo
4) Frezzer & Nautilius vs Joker & Sádico
5) Mágico, Neutrón, Omar Brunetti vs Maléfico, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno

Omar (should be tecnico green and) hasn’t been around since May. Maybe an injury?

The four guys in the semimain were in the main event this past week, so something’s being set up.

MDA (SUN) 09/18/2016 Arena Coliseo Monterrey
1) Babe Fox & the Tiger (Tamaulipas) vs Jesse & Psicótico
2) Quinto Elemento & Última Sombra vs Alberto Dos Rios & Gemelo Muerte
3) Delta & Laredo Kid vs Galactar & Pierroth
4) Antifaz, Caifan, La Máscara vs Dragón Lee II, Mistico II, Rush
5) Atlantis & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Máscara Sagrada & Octagón

This came out last week but I didn’t include it. Atlantis will look very young in the main event. The La Mascara/Dragon Lee rematches will last for quite some time. Putting Pierroth in that match with Delta & Laredo Kid is a bad sign on your programming prowess.

When is TripleMania?

Today! (Sunday, August 28th.) The show is scheduled to start at 6pm Central Time and will last for up to 4 hours.

This link will convert the time to your time zone.

What matches are on TripleMania?

This year’s TripleMania will have 7 matches. The matches scheduled to take place, in order:

Faby Apache & Mary Apache versus Averno & Chessman

A men versus women’s special tag match. The Apache’s father, El Apache, is special referee – but he’s been siding with the chauvinistic men.

Copa TripleMania, including La Parka (AAA), El Elegido, Taurus, Hernandez, Pimpinela Escarlata, Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Daga, Súper Fly, Zorro, Australian Suicide, Mamba, and (at least) one more person to be announced

A battle royal (and maybe Royal Rumble) match where the winner will receive a trophy.

Angélico & Jack Evans (champions) versus Matt Cross & Paul London and Aerostar & Drago and Fénix & Hijo del Fantasma for AAA’s World Tag Team Championships

A four-way tag match with the recent kings of the division (Evans/Angelico) defending against a regular Mexican partnership (Aerostar/Drago), a guest American team (Cross/London) and the unusual face/heel team of Fantasma/Fenix.

Pentagón Jr. (champion) versus Johnny Mundo for the AAA Latin American Championship

El Cero Miedo defends AAA’s secondary championship against the man who pinned him to win this year’s Lucha World Cup, Johnny Mundo. Taya may be caught in the middle: she’s allied with Pentagon in AAA, but with Mundo in Lucha Underground.

Texano (champion) versus Dr. Wagner Jr. and Brian Cage for the AAA MEga Heavyweight Championship

Texano defends not only the title, but Mexico’s honor against Team Trump member Brian Cage and complete wildcard Wagner in a three way match. Cage pinned both Texano and Wagner in a three way match leading up to this.

Marty Martinez, Matanza, Mil Muertes vs Azteca Dragón Jr., Prince Puma, Rey Misterio Jr.

A special Lucha Underground trios match featuring six wrestlers who are not regularly participating in AAA (at least under those names.) Dragon Azteca is called Aztec Dragon when he wrestles in AAA.

Pagano (hair) vs Psycho Clown (mask) in a hair versus mask match

Long time AAA crowd favorite Psycho Clown has been repeatedly defeating by Pagano, a hardcore wrestling clown from Juarez. Pagano has won their last six matches leading up to this climax. Evil referee Hijo del Tirantes will be referee, as a consequence of the most recent loss.

Is there a more detailed preview available?

Sure is. I wrote many more thousands of words over at Voices of Wrestling.

How can I watch the show?

The only way to watch the show live is via iPPV, at internetvluchalibreaaa.com. The show costs $23, which includes VOD after the show airs. The VOD is usually available immediately after the show’s conclusion, and you are able to rewind a show as it airs.

The show will be broadcast in both English and Spanish. The English announcers will be Matt Striker and Hugo Savinovich.

Anything I should be warned about ahead of time?

AAA’s had a history of techinical issues on recent TripleMania. Their other iPPV generally work fine but something seems to go wrong on theses shows. Cross your fingers.

We’re not 100% Fenix will actually appear. I believe he will be, but he missed AAA’s last show and they did an angle to possibly replace him on the team with Garza Junior . Garza says he’ll be on TripleMania today, though AAA hasn’t announced him in any match. (Ricky Marvin says he’ll be there too, so they could just be adding more people to the show or be using them in other roles.) The most recent information I had is Fenix will be there, but I’m far from certain. AAA hasn’t explained what’s going on, but keep an eye on their social media if this is important to you – they’ll probably post a photo of him getting ready for the show.

Where can I find out more?

I’ll be on twitter, @luchablog, all night. A recap of the show will appear on this site an hour or so far it airs.

CMLL (FRI) 08/26/2016 Arena México [CMLL, Culticon, ESTO, Regeneracion, thecubsfan]
1) Disturbio & Sangre Azteca b Sensei & Starman
13:49. Rudos took 1/3.
2) Fujin, Okumura, Raijin b Blue Panther Jr., Fuego, The Panther
13:19. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Hechicero b Soberano Jr. [lightning]
9:20. Hechicero pinned Soberano after a running knee smash.
4) Golden Magic, Sharlie Rockstar, Súper Crazy b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Rey Bucanero
9:05., Super Crazy took 1/3, and said he’d leave Rey bald next week.
5) Pierroth, Rey Escorpión, Rush b Máximo Sexy, Shocker, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
12:57. Ingobernables took 2/3, losing the first only by DQ (as is the recent pattern with them.)
6) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Mistico DQ La Máscara, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
8:57. Straight falls, Mascara getting DQed for excessive violence. He left Dragon Lee unmasked, and said he’d do the same next week.

Standard build up show, with Hechicero vs Soberano worth seeking out. Crowd was less into both apuesta matches than you’d expect. Maybe just a random crowd, but didn’t feel like a great sign for next week.

Pierroth is awful.

There were no mentions of Elite on the show; Super Crazy no longer had the logo on his boot, Caristico is not being introduced as a CMLL wrestler. Elite is still scheduled to air tonight (and is on the very tentative schedule for next week),  but obviously something is up. I wonder if we’ll get an official announcement of Caristico coming back to CMLL proper on the next CMLL press conference, and I’m not sure where this leaves Cibernetico and everyone else.

CMLL posted a Dragon Lee training vignette for Friday’s match.

TripleMania is Sunday on iPPV. You can buy it on internetvluchalibreaaa.com for $23 USD. It is not available on traditional PPV, or any app, not even in Mexico this year. (Which is a little odd.) AAA’s said there are English announcers, but hasn’t said who they’d be. Matt Striker is one of them, judging from his Twitter. It’s either Vampiro (in Mexico City) or Hugo Savonvich with him. Both pairs have had struggled in the past and don’t seem to be prepped well, but I guess they’ll be quotable.  You also have a Spanish commentary option, probably with the usual four man crew for big shows (Arturo Rivera, Andres Maroñas, Jesus Zuñiga and Leo Riano.)

I’ve written a preview of TripleMania over at Voices of Wrestling. The main event is not going to be anything I like and probably not good by conventional senses, but the rest of the card looks pretty entertaining and I wish the show was cheaper to get people to take a chance, or more accessible to get people to find  or know about it. The interest in the show is way down from last year, and even down from previous years which doing heavy publicity. A lot of it’s a lucha thing (not a good lucha thing), but I’ve received much more questions about what CMLL is doing for their Anniversary show than TripleMania. Having a rep for running good shows matters. This show should at least help build AAA’s rep.

That’s mostly an internet thing, though. The missing piece, the more important part, is how this show is going to do live. Super Boletos shows a lot of sections still open (as of this morning), but that’s deceptive – the sections I checked usually had only one or two empty seats. The ticket system said there was no place where I could buy four reserved seats together. (The brown areas up top are not open seating, so there’s still room.) It looks like AAA’s going to do OK and maybe even much better than OK, at a cheaper price than past years.

I find myself most interested in the Pentagon/Mundo result. There’s a good case for Mundo winning to build a rematch for the future, because one of AAA’s problems is not having lots of big matches for future. The issue is one of the other AAA problems is their main homegrown guys don’t win much and they’re bad at following up on angles. I don’t trust AAA at executing something complex, and so would rather keep it simple. (Maybe Mundo winning but a match being announced immediately for Heroes Inmortales would be work.)

One correction from yesterday: the photo with Fenix at the pilgrimage was actually from 2015, not this year. I’m still under the impression he’ll be there on Sunday (though it’d be a good move for AAA to post a photo of him being there before the show.)

The AAA sticker album will be packed in with the Reforma newspaper on Monday, and will be available at Sanborns & Mixup starting that day.

Lucha Memes Chairo 5 on 09/25 in Arena Naucalpan.
1: Volador Jr. vs Rey Horuz
2: a Lucha Memes vs IWRG Torneo FILL (8v8 cibernetico).
IWRG: Black Dragon, Kanon, Atomic Star, Lilith Dark
Lucha Memes: Astrolux, Garrobo Punk, Baby Star Jr., Black Metal

Lilith Dark is a luchadora, and I’m not sure they’ve had a woman in any of these Torneo FILLs prior. She’s been working early matches on recent IWRG shows and also wrestles for the WWS promotion.

 

Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada)’s next match in WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic appears as though it’ll appear next Wednesday. You can find the result of his match with Akira Tozawa is you look around (or you might not want to look around if you want to stay spoiler free.)

Titan was announced for the 10/16 Lucha Libre Boom/DTU show at Arena Naucalpan. Caristico was previously announced. Titan has not appeared on the last two DTU shows he was announced on; hope this means they worked everything out, but I hoped that last time too.

Angelico & Jack Evans wrestle in the UK for Preston City Wrestling on 09/24.

Pentagon Jr. faces Rob Van Dam on 11/12 in Torrence, California. (Which, if you’re being very forward looking, means that’s not a LU S4 taping weekend.)

Reporte Indigo has an interview with aspiring boxer Sexy Star. In this one, like most, she portrays her unmasking as her choice and never mentions any issue with AAA. She also says she was into boxing before wrestling.