lucha TV preview for weekend of November 3rd

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The Daylight Savings Time Gap is still in effect until Sunday. There are some stuff I record on Saturday which will be affected, but the big one you care about is ClaroSports: it’ll start at 10:30pm on the US East Coast, 9:30pm in the US Central time zone, 7:30pm Pacific – one hour later than you’re used to in the US.  Everything goes back to normal (except if you’re in Japan!) on Sunday.

The World Series is over – did you hear who won? – so Lucha Libre Retro is back this week. I still have no real sense of how/what is going to air.

AAA’s preview is up and previews those three matches, so that should be correct this time around. They also show Psycho Clown briefly at the beginning – I’m not sure if that means Wagner/Psycho will air (and won’t go long), or if they’ll just do the promo this week to set up the match next week.

I’ll leave CMLL Guadalajara up there for another week, but it’s going away if I can’t record it.

Lucha Underground‘s preview just lists those two matches and nothing more, but I know another match will air that hasn’t been mentioned yet – because it’s a 5v5 qualifier match for Aztec Warfare. Guess it could be another internet exclusive, but I’d bet it airs as part of TV.

Lucha Underground 3×9: Loser Leaves Lucha

this is a video game move
this is a video game move

Matches

Matanza beats Cortez Castro (2:20, Wrath of the Gods, OK)
Son of Havoc beats Dr. Wagner Jr. (5:34, shooting star press, good)
Rey Mysterio defeated Chavo Guerrero in a loser leaves Lucha match (15:22 including the stoppage, springboard splash, good)

Developments

Havocsault
Havocsault

Chavo Guerrero Jr. is gone from Lucha Underground. Rey Mysterio defeated him in this week’s main event, though not without a typical attempt at circumventing the rules from the Guerreros. Chavo Sr. was in attendance for the match, and came to the ring threatening to hit Rey with a chair. He instead hit his son, not to betray him, but to draw a DQ and cost Rey Jr. his career. Dario interrupted, refusing to let his main event end in such a manner, and ordered a restart. Mysterio got the best of both Guerreros, and Chavo was cleanly defeated.

Next week’s show might also be the end of a career. In an in-ring promo, Prince Puma challenged Mil Muertes to a Grave Consequence match next week, vowing to put Mil in a casket as Mil did to Konnan. Catrina wasted no time in accepting, and distracted Puma from a Mil attack. Puma was able to knock Mil out of the ring in a preview for next week.

That show will also include a Famous B/Mascarita Sagrada match, after Dario agreed to the request from Son of Havoc and Sagrada. Dario even upped the ante: the winner of this week’s Havoc/Wagner match would get to name the stipulation. Havoc won, and cleanly, then offered Sagrada the choice himself. Vampiro suggested an All Night Long Iron Man match, but Mascarita Sagrada instead decided to do a Believer’s Backlash. Instead of belts, it’ll be fans bring the weapons for them to use.

eh
eh

That match doesn’t seem like it’ll go well for Famous B. This week’s Dial of Doom didn’t go well for Cortez Castro. The wheel landed on Dario’s Choice and, after teasing picking Mysterio and dismissing it because Rey was already in a match, Dario teased Pentagon Jr. before giving a chance to a man who suffered a broken arm from Pentagon. Cortez has not healed yet and was still in cast. Matanza fixed that by rebreaking Cortez’s arm and the cast. Cortez tried using the cast as a weapon, but still went down without coming close. Dario taunted Cortez while dropping the words “undercover” and “a rat”, making it clear he knew Cortez was police without letting the announcers know. All in all, Cortez ended the episode alive and technically could come back to the Temple, so it could be worse. His cover is totally blown and Dario and Joey Ryan celebrated humiliated Cortez after the match; Dario’s good mood led to the Wagner/Famous B stipulation.

The only vignette was for, of course, the Rabbit Tribe. They’re still coming, and now it’s more definitely a “they” – glimpses of Paul London’s two associates were shown this week. The announcers also suggested an interesting theory for Matanza entering #1 as a good thing: he could beat so people so fast that he would always be waiting for the next guy, and then there’d be no way for everyone to group up on him as if he came in later. (Vampiro did still believe Dario was nuts for putting Matanza number #1)

Thoughts

Show was overall better than last week, though still not one of my favorites. Havoc/Wagner and Mysterio/Chavo were both fine matches, sliding over into Good category for me, but still missing something. Mysterio/Chavo needed the false finish to hit top gear, and Havoc/Wagner really never got to that level.

Havoc/Wagner was still much better than the Ultima Lucha 2 match (referenced this time around), but lacking a dramatic end game that we’ve been trained to expect from big matches. This just wasn’t a big match, and Dr. Wagner losing cleanly in a non-big match is really hard to comprehend to someone used to seeing him in Mexico. Wagner’s the rare LU person who’s probably fine with Lucha Underground not airing in Mexico right now. I’m totally OK with Dr. Wagner being used as a C level player existing to put over other people, but that may just be me being looking for some childish karmic revenge for Wagner stealing attention away from other people in Mexico for years. To someone else not watching as much Wagner, this must just be totally bizarre: Wagner’s essentially taking over Blue Demon Jr.’s role, but is far less protected than Demon. AAA could’ve sent literally anyone else for this role, and it would’ve meant no difference except for the initial reaction of Dr. Wagner showing up (and Brenda’s outfits), and it’s strange they picked a guy who could be a top guy for it.

this looked better
this looked better

Wagner’s usage really struck me earlier than his match. In the opening segment (a match only existing to move along the police storyline), Joey Ryan replaced Killshot on the wheel. Matanza’s beat some people, and some people aren’t on the wheel because they got title shots before, and Rey’s very carefully specifically never been on the wheel to this point, which leaves a motley crew of options. Johnny Mundo is still there, but the rest are no one’s choices for top contenders – Joey Ryan, Ivelisse, Dragon Azteca Jr., Mariposa, Chavo Guerrero, Kobra Moon – and Wagner. Wagner was undefeated until tonight, but he’s also been in a goofball feud with a mini. Wagner would normally fit being a top contender, but his importance far from Mundo and closer to (similarly early undefeated) Kobra Moon. LU could’ve brought back Super Fly and accomplished just about the same thing they’ve done with Wagner, so it seems like a waste of Wagner.

(and, again, it’s Dr. Wagner so I’m kinda OK with it even though I shouldn’t. I’ve seen enough TV built around Dr. Wagner to last me.)

That’s too much about Wagner, but I just find it interesting. The main event was technically sound, but I couldn’t really get into it at all. They tried hard to make Chavo worked as a rudo and it just never connected for me. Too many years of him not being a threat makes it hard to suddenly take him as one, and “his only friend, the chair he calls Amigo” stuff felt forced. The stipulation didn’t help – or more, doing this stipulation with Drago as a way to bring him back three weeks later with new gear really is the problem. They picked ignoring that issue rather than explaining why it wouldn’t happen. I guess you can’t just say “this is definitely not going to happen” on a wrestling show, because years of wrestling has also taught us it will actually happen, but it was tough not to think about that as the announcers were selling the finality of this match. That Drago farewell was also much better presented; there was nothing close to Dario and Drago having one final stare off before Drago turned into a ball of flames.

Mild Spoiler: The irony of this is, even though not believing in the stipulation was a major problem for the match, I know Lucha Underground appears to have lived up to it. This is the final Chavo match from this season that will air. It’s technically not his last match – they taped this feud out of order, so the Azteca/Chavo match that already aired was really his last one – but Chavo doesn’t appear before the live crowd again on this season. He didn’t even wrestle in the last week “everyone in the promotion who isn’t booked” battle royals they ran. I assume Chavo’s still working backstage, and he may turn up in a vignette or return in Season 4, but LU had a real thing they were doing on a very unreal show, and just couldn’t make it feel real.

The set up to the first 619 spot didn’t look much real either, and there was some heroic editing attempted to try and save it. The Chavo Sr. chair shot DQ following – which, in the story, Chavo Jr. didn’t seem to know was coming – was a cute bit to get heat and get one real moment where the fans believed things might end the other way. And the interest did pick up from there, with any near feeling like it could now be it. It was the more gripping of the two matches, but also nothing that feels like it’s going to make the top 30 matches of the season. The reversal of the DQ was a little interesting – it fits Dario’s character, but he’s clearly the face for doing it, and that’s not something they do (especially in front of the live crowd) all that often. Dario’s not a complete evil bad guy – his love for violence overpowers everything else, as seen back in his pep speech to Sexy Star – but it was such a face GM bit.

bye Chavo
bye Chavo

Of all the things hyped for the future, it’s unexpected that Sagrada/Famous B came off the best. They gave that time to be adsorbed. The Grave Consequences is obviously going to be a great match, but the hype wasn’t there for it – maybe we’ve seen Puma get attacked from behind but run people off too many times, maybe the elephant on this one (Mil never seems to win his signature match) is the problem. The third thing, Aztec Warfare is a big thing and should feel like a big thing, but it’s very much in the background with just one week left before the show. I guess that’s all it needed the first time, but they haven’t created the anticipation for the waypoint of the season yet.

I watched this show in HD on VOD; I think it’s the first time I’ve seen the show in full on HD since they were on Unimas. (It worked out nicely this week, since the VOD didn’t have the video issues the El Rey did during the live airing.) The video still looks so much better in HD, but the audio seemed much sharper and clearer too. Maybe too clear: it could very much simply hearing the show a different way, but it sounded like there were more Matt Striker fixed in post production lines than usual. In other things I could be totally over-reading into, the tone of the commentary changed from Matt Striker making references and trying calling every move to Vampiro threatening to break Striker’s table if he made another reference and focusing more on overall themes. The Matanza/Cortez match, for instance, had as much talk about the history of Aztec Warfare and Matazna being in first than the match itself. It wasn’t good or bad, but it was different. It’s also just one show.

AAA on Televisa: 2016-10-15 

Big Mami versus the world
Big Mami versus the world

Recapped: 10/31/2016

What happened: Suicide lost his mask. Pimpinela won Copa Antonio Pena. Johnny Mundo is still champ.

What was good: I didn’t like anything, and this generally felt like a time sink. What was good was this wasn’t an iPPV, because I think we would’ve been frustrated/disappointed with the show had we paid for it (even it aired without issue!)

Where can I watch it: It’s on AAA’s channel, including the match which did not air. Read More

Mascara Dorada reveals farewell plans, Zatura unmasked, Triton

photo by Black Terry Jr.
photo by Black Terry Jr.

CMLL (TUE) 11/01/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [+LuchaTV, Martes de Glamour]
1) Metatrón & Neutrón b Demonio Rojo & Mr. Trueno
Tecnicos took 1/3
2) Joker, Puma, Tiger b Magnum, Soberano Jr., Stigma
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Bobby Z, Sam Adonis, Virus b Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr.
Rudos took 2/3.
4) Johnny Idol, Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy b Cavernario, Euforia, Gran Guerrero
Tecnicos took 2/3
5) Rush b Shocker
Rush took 1/3, the last by sneaking in a foul.

This show wasn’t as Dia de Muertos themed as the Mexico City one, but they still had the referees in face paint and shot off confetti off the big win. Rush wins all his feuds. Edit: except against Ultimo Guerrero.

Zatura lost IWRG’s Castillo of Terror last night. (Full results from the show aren’t available.) Black Terry Jr. has a clip of the unmasking. They made sure not to repeat last year’s issues with a creative finish: Zatura tried the cage dive often seen in these matches, only he crashed and burned. Zatura was too hurt to escape, everyone else realized Zatura was doomed, and they all just quickly escaped to leave him behind – they escaped enough in a pack that it’s not clear who gets credit for the victory. (This is essentially a planned version of what really happened with Laredo Kid in a cage match years ago; it might have been where they got the idea.)

Zatura was announced as Hector Neri, 30 years old, 8 year vet. Zatura was a IWRG midcard guy of note in 2008-2010 thru April of that year. His name was listed on cards in July, but he didn’t wrestle, and he wasn’t spoke of again until turning up back in IWRG this spring. He stuck out as the likely loser, but he did have a cool Starman-ish mask that’ll be sad to see go.

Mascara Dorada hopes to be be finishing in CMLL next Friday, November 11th. Dorada left it slightly opening, saying he hoped that would be his final day, but did not know for certain. He said this after his title match on Tuesday, in an interview with +LuchaTV. LigerFever translated the interview. Dorada says his matches in Puebla and Guadalajara on Monday and Tuesday will be his final matches in those locations, and Paco Alonso told him they’d run a special card to honor him next Friday. CMLL hasn’t acknowledged Dorada’s impending departure to this point. Dorada doesn’t know what the final match will be, but would like to team with Atlantis and face Negro Casas, as they’ve both been important to him in his career. Dorada is advertised on an indie show on the 19th to wrap up, but maybe that match won’t happen.

Octagon may no longer have the rights to call himself Octagon. In his weekly Record column, Leo Riano wrote AAA had defeated Octagon in a court case over the rights to the name. Octagon quickly disputed this on social media, as recapped by rival paper Metro, saying the case has not gone to the court yet and he’ll have the name until he’s dead. Octagon probably will have the name until he’s dead on independent non-TV shows, since they skate by the law often, but it’s the Elite TV appearances where he’d have to make a change. Octagon just happens to be scheduled on the Elite TV taping tomorrow; if the court case happened, then Azteca is going to use a different name for him on TV to avoid getting sued himself. They’ve very done that with Hijo del Octagon in the past and it’ll be hard to miss if they do it again.

Elite’s undercard has changed a bit. The main events are still Caristico vs Ciberentico and Rey Escorpion vs LA Park, with a Bobby Lashely & Blue Demon vs Silver King & TBA tag match. The big change is Flamita is off the card; Mr. Aguila replaces him. The women’s opener is Diosa Quetzal & Baronesa vs Muneca de Plata, Rossy Moreno. Estudiante (probably Estudiante Jr.) & Alas de Plata replace Hijo del Pantera & Jinzo in the second match. Baronesa & Estudiante are from Baja California, on the 126F YouTube channel often, and haven’t been around here before.

NJPW’s Tigre Hattori & Naoki Sugabayashi were on CMLL Informa, which Alfredo recapped as part of his latest news update. They usually visit CMLL once a year in person, though usually before the FantasticaMania names get announced. (They may be meeting with CMLL tok work out the matches now.) They mentioned there’s currently six FantasticaMania shows in 2017 but more could be added if there is a demand; that may explain the seventh show CMLL listed. They claimed Blue Panther Jr. was demanded by the fans. Maybe? JCR asked if those FantasticaMania shows could air on Mexico TV, and they indicated that would be difficult – I’m surprised they didn’t turn that into a plug for NJPW World (though it’s even less friendly in Spanish than it is in English.) JCR asked if NJPW wrestlers might come back to Mexico, and they mentioned Naito asks when he can go back to Mexico all the time.

LigerFever caught up with Triton when he was Iowa last week to talk about how he’s doing in the US. Triton mentioned CMLL didn’t want him to go the US but he decided he doesn’t need a big company to be successful. Triton is planning on returning to Mexico in December for a few months and will talk to CMLL then, but he’s not returning to the company there unless he’s can be in top matches and is expecting to return to the US in April.

Misterioso and The Panthe are off to Ring of Honor today.

TKD reviews last night’s Lucha Underground.

+LuchaTV and MedioTiempo has this week’s highlights. +LuchaTV also put up the Rey Fenix/Fly Warrior/Xtreme Tiger match from CaraLucha, the one which ended with Rey Fenix’s injury.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 11/08/2016 Arena México
1) Bengala & Sangre Imperial vs Apocalipsis & Artillero
2) Lluvia, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs La Comandante, La Seductora, Zeuxis
3) Blue Panther Jr., Pegasso, The Panther vs El Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Virus [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Drone, Titán vs Felino, Ripper, Vangellys
6) Dragón Lee, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Terrible

A great tecnico in the main event and also three rudos. Can we get Tiger back into TRT/TGR and have him bring Puma so they can be worked into these matches? The imbalance in age between tecnicos and rudos is unmissable in the top three matches (though at least Guerrero Maya versus Virus is Guerrero Maya versus Virus.)

Third match looks like fun, and it’s great they’ve been moved up to third match instead of the women. There’s a Mexico State/Hidalgo Sangre Infernal who appears to have started out in Coacalco back around 2011, and this might be him debuting in the opener. He hasn’t been seen on any cards since June, which is a little strange.

CMLL (TUE) 11/08/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Nautilius & Neutrón vs Gran Kenut & Ráfaga
2) Astral, Cosmos, Stukita vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Relámpago
3) La Vaquerita, Silueta, Skadi vs Amapola, Metálica, Tiffany
4) Ángel de Oro, Johnny Idol, Valiente vs Cavernario, Hechicero, Sam Adonis
5) Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Máscara Dorada vs La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush

That main event doesn’t seem like the exact best way to spotlight Mascara Dorada in his last match in his home building, but hopefully he’s honored just the same. The semimain has quite the collection of rudos. This is another two women’s match night.

great match roundup, week of 2016-10-08

this is impossible
this is impossible

this week of shows

This was the week Retro started, but it’s unlikely I can catch up if I started to watch it, and they’re also the matches I’m skipping over on other shows. It doesn’t make sense to pick it up right now.

There’s a lot of good matches this week, but not a lot of good ones. The GIF wasn’t hard to figure out.

Recommended matches

rating matches TV Show taped
great Dragón Lee, Guerrero Maya Jr., Máscara Dorada vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2016-10-14 2016-10-14

Other matches watched

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