2004 Coahuila/Durango lineups (and 1965 and other years) added to the luchadb

On Thursday, I added two groups of event lineups/results to the database: all the 2004 lineups I could find from El Siglo de Torreon, and those I could find from #80-88 issues of Lucha Libre. I’d been going back and forth between them and just decided to put what I had up once I finished up 2004. Those results are part of the database now and will show up in searches and such, like all the 2004 Arena Olimpico Laguna shows. I’ve added the info to the wiki where possible.

If you have your own wrestling database or are just curious, I’ve put a plain text export of the 2004 Durango/Coahuila lineups here, and the same for the Lucha Libre magazines.

The searches, especially the 2004 search, had some a few interesting articles. Please remember these are all old articles and not what’s happening right now; I’m hoping no one gets confused on the next paragraph.

In 2004, there was an AIDS scare in lucha in the Laguna region, though it seems like it may have simply been gossip. It started with the standard article we’re used to seeing today: “wrestling is bad now, it’s not like it used to be” one, as part of blaming the local promoters (separate ones in Torreon & Durango.) There’s lots of plans – revitalize the local titles, open a local wrestling center, ban hair matches between masked people – which don’t seem to go anywhere the rest of the year. Offhandedly, one of the commissioners interviewed complains about unlicensed wrestlers not getting medically checked out and says he’s heard there’s two wrestlers who have AIDS. That comments is just one line in a very long article, but it’s also quite a grenade to be tossing out there. The promoters and luchadors fire back the next day saying that. It’s presented as if it’s unethical to reveal a medical issue publicly, but it comes off as if all the luchador’s now have very suspicious and frightened significant others who are concerned they also might be infected. Like most lucha stories, there’s no follow up from there. I recall coming across an article suggesting the make up of the commission later changed, but I don’t have it my list of links and no one directly connected it to this controversy.

All the other are more the standard interviews, and much more of them early in the year. El Hijo del Santo comes to town for matches earlier in the year, and talks about feeling like he’s at the top moment in his career. Santo praises locals Ultimo Guerrero & Stuka I, and notes there’s a plaque at the municipal auditorium honoring he and Espanto Jr. for their feud. Espanto Jr. is also interviewed, talking about his career and his near death. There’s pieces on Espanto II and remembrance of El Santo on the 20th anniversary of his passing, and an obit for Dr. Wagner when he passes away during the year. There’s a good interview with Canek as he’s feuding with Dr. Wagner Jr., before the CMLL Anniversary show before that match turned into a four way.

Women’s wrestling matches are very rare at this time, though there’s a couple LLF shows (while Dark Angel is still a part of the promotion.) Luchadora Letty Rock suddenly retires in June after 18 years; she last wrestled after the start of the year and doesn’t wrestler on her retirement show, it comes off like a health issue. Frequent rival Shira (also Guerrera Azteca) is profiled earlier in the year. Male wrestler Acuario is profiled late in the year; he’s in his mid 50s at that point and had been wrestling for 30 years, saying he plans to wrap up soon. (His name still showed up in matches thru 2012.) He’s got a good story for his name – it’s the zodiac zodiac sign of an girlfriend from long ago. He never changed it when they went different ways.

This year starts a tradition of a December 5K Luchador race, which carries on to this day. The winner of the first one is young Brillante Jr., La Sombra in his first full year of wrestling. He’s working the first couple of matches, though there’s an idea to create a new Gemelos del Ring with a Zafiro Jr. and a Diamante Jr. late in the year. Stuka Jr. is in main events and hyped as a possible CMLL prospect after a title match with Virus in the middle of the year. Misterioso is back and forth from CMLL, and others visit occasionally. Dragon Rojo is nowhere to be seen after being around as Zaracatán Jr. the previous year; it fits with his story of quitting lucha for a while before being talked into coming back..

The Lucha Libre magazines are fun reads, but I didn’t take as many notes – most of it ends up going right to a profile on the luchawiki or mentioned on Twitter. My main ones were on title history stuff that we had written down on the luchawiki but the magazines have different (and probably better reasons.) We don’t know exactly when Huracan Ramirez won the Mexican Welterweight Championship in 1965, but the magazine mentions it was in February in Acapulco as an aside. Rene Guajardo won the NWA Middleweight Championship on March 26, 1965; we had that as April 9th before. Irma Gonzalez’s first title win is specifically mentioned as February 28, 1955 – we didn’t have a specific day prior.

I didn’t get a lot of Coahuila/Laguna results until 2007, so I may go thru the next two years. I’ll try to find time for 10 more Lucha Libre magazines, but I really need to email someone about those. Hopefully another one of these posts before the end of the year. As of right now, there’s 57,788 events listed in the database, with 8,321 added over this course of this year.