Month: November 2016

IWRG (SUN) 11/13/2016 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV]
2) Dragón Fly b Demonio Infernal, Omega, Black Dragón, Diablo Jr., Cadillac, Pantera I, Astro [IWRG IC Light, battle royal]
3) Astro b Black Dragón [IWRG IC Light, quarterfinal]
4) Pantera I b Demonio Infernal [IWRG IC Light, quarterfinal]
5) Diablo Jr. b Omega [IWRG IC Light, quarterfinal]
6) Dragón Fly b Cadillac [IWRG IC Light, quarterfinal]
7) Pantera I b Astro [IWRG IC Light, semifinal]
8) Diablo Jr. b Dragón Fly [IWRG IC Light, semifinal]
9) Pantera I b Diablo Jr. [IWRG IC Light, final]
Killer Jr. showed up post match, pulled Pantera’s mask and challenged for the title.
10) Danny Casas, Imposible, Súper Nova b Dr. Cerebro, Heddi Karaoui, Relámpago
11) Eterno, Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Trauma I b Canis Lupus, Chicano, Golden Magic
Eterno replaced Herodes Jr. (double booked). Canis Lupus and Golden Magic fought post match.

This show may air tonight on AYM. This lightweight title has usually gone to the most senior trainees who are just starting to be booked full time, so 52 year old Pantera I winning it is a bit strange. Even more so since he was just challenging for a different title last week. Killer Jr.’s never stuck me as a lightweight contender either. Golden Magic & Canis Lupis have feuded before when Golden Magic was still here reguarly – and with less Elite shows, maybe Golden Magic’s back.

Today’s Arena Puebla main event is a Relevos Increibles trios. There’s been 46 shows this year in Arena Puebla. 17 of them have had Relevos Increibles matches, or more than one-third of the show. These matches were created to be different than normal matches, but they’re regular enough to feel normal. Tonight is the third in three weeks, and seems to be happening because CMLL can’t decide which side Rush is meant to be on, so everyone has to team with random people. They build towards Rush/Volador last week, but there’s reasons to believe they might not actually follow up on it.

The semimain has Dragon Lee, Maximo and Valiente against Gran Guerrero, Hechicero and Polvora. The tercera is an unusual minis cibernetico, with CMLL regulars Astral, Shockercito, Ultimo Dragoncito, Demus 3:16, and Pequeno Joker joined by locals Astro, Vega, Espiritu Maligno, Mini Joker, and Sauron in a tecnicos versus rudos. The second match is Black Tiger & Tigre Rojo Jr. versus Cancerbero & Raziel, and Meyer & Millenium versus Fuerza Chicana & Guerrero Espacial opens the show.

The show starts at 9pm, and will air on CMLL & YouTube as normal.

Mamba won the (new) EMW middleweight championship in Tijuana. The next AAA/EMW show appears to be a 12/03 show, with a TLC match including Joe Lider, Daga, Damian and Nicho.

Damian & Nicho beat Garza Jr. & Obsesion in Monterrey, which seems to set up a hair match between the two teams on 12/04.

The Puebla lucha libre expo drew 3,000 people over two days. Fans donated over 2,000 toys that’ll be given away to needy children early next year.

Pentagon Jr. lost the PCW heavyweight title to Rob Van Dam this weekend.

CMLL luchadors were in a sports parade. Octagon’s mentioned as being with some CMLL stars. Many Arkangel trainees were in different group.

Men’s Health UK visits the Lucha Libre UK shows from this summer.

CMLL (SAT) 11/12/2016 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Leono & Sensei b Camorra & Cholo
Tecnicos took 2/3
2) Dalys, La Comandante, Metálica b La Jarochita, Sanely, Skadi
Rudos took 1/3.
3) Blue Panther Jr., Fuego, The Panther b El Cuatrero, Okumura, Sansón
Tecnicos took 1/3.
4) Ángel de Oro, Blue Panther, Drone b Bobby Z, Sam Adonis, Vangellys
Tecnicos took 1/3. Adonis had a USA flag with Donald Trump’s face on it.
5) Dragón Lee, Valiente, Volador Jr. DQ Euforia, Niebla Roja, Rey Bucanero
Tecnicos took 1/3, the last when Niebla Roja unmasked Dragon Lee.
6) Último Guerrero b Carístico
UG took 2/3, the last by sneaking in a foul.

That’s the first time UG has defeated Caristico in 7 years. That was by DQ, there was a tournament semifinal before it, you’d have to go – wait, no, you can’t go. Ultimo Guerrero has never beaten Caristico in a three falls singles match by pinfall until Saturday night, as far as I can tell. It’s a good thing for Caristico that he’s managed to keep his relationship with CMLL even while working in Elite, but it’s a strange thing that CMLL has generally treated him like just another guy.

Dragon Lee challenged Niebal Roja to a singles match after teh DQ.

CMLL (SUN) 11/13/2016 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Violencia
Tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Cancerbero, Nitro, Raziel b Oro Jr., Pegasso, Sensei
Rudos took 1/3
3) Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa b Bobby Z, Misterioso Jr., Olímpico
Tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Dragón Lee, Titán, Volador Jr. b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Valiente DQ La Máscara, Pierroth,Rush
Tecnicos took 2/3, Mascara fouling Marco and Ingoberneables unmasking Diamante Azul for good measure.

A show. The Sunday shows seem like they’re more lively than the Tuesday shows, but there’s not any more going on in them. Olimpico appears to have wrestled the entire match in his mask for no particular reason. On the good side, Mije was back.

figuring out the AAA TV schedule (or, maybe AAA’s not doing two Guerra de Titanes this year?)

This week’s AAA TV is up. On the show, they announced a taping in Chilapancingo on 12/17. AAA’s often held end of year tapings in that town, usually saving them to be the first shows to air the follow year. However, the other thing AAA usually does is announce all it’s tapings in order – so this normally means there’s no taping from 11/20 to 12/17, except Guerra de Titanes should be somewhere in there. I guess it could be possible that Guerra de Titanes is now a January show, as it was this year, but they don’t have enough TV right now to make it all the way to Chilpancingo.

Theories:

• they’re just announcing GdT later, out of order, for unclear reasons
• they’re airing Star Battle after Ciudad Juarez (and GdT is a January show)
• they’re going to be off on 12/03 for Televisa’s annual telethon (and GdT is a January show)
• they’re starting the best of stuff earlier (and GdT is a January show)

Star Battle airing is my best guess. The problem with GdT in January is, at least in theory, Lucha Underground is taping some of those weekends as well.

Anyway, the thing we’re supposed to be paying attention to on AAA TV is a new video hyping Dr. Wagner Jr. versus Psycho Clown, mask vs mask as totally no doubt happening. I’m not going to believe until AAA makes it thru the last press conference with it still intact, but AAA should definitely be bringing it up frequently if they really believe it’s going to happen.

Elite’s TV situation

The phrasing they’re going is this upcoming Friday is the “season finale”, and they’ve already got season two plans. It’s a good story, anyway. I haven’t watched this week’s TV closely yet, but it also sounds like it’s gotten no better.

The final TV taping lineup is Friday in Naucalpan

ELITE (FRI) 11/18/2016 Arena Naucalpan
1) Shadow Boy, Solaris, Sonic vs Átomo, Pequeño Warrior, Shaolin
2) Baronessa & Diosa Quetzal vs Muñeca De Plata & Rossy Moreno
3) Hijo del Pantera & Metaleón vs Fresero Jr. & Samoano
4) Golden Magic vs Emperador Azteca, Argos, El Bandido, Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Imposible, Eterno, Flamita, Diamante, Zumbido [ELITE WELTER]
5) Mr. 450 & Mr. Águila vs Black Tauro & Willie Mack
6) Carístico vs Rey Escorpión [Liga Elite, final]

In some amusing timing, the US repeat from May started off by re-explaining the Liga Elite concept: 3 points for a win, 33 weeks of matches (nope), the top four going into a tournament to decide the first champion (nope), the last four going into an apuesta tournament (nope!) Caristico might actually be at the top for being around all year and having the most matches. Maybe they should try for guys who will actually be around (and/or lose) all year if they’re back to try this in 2017.

Cibernetico & Carsitico both won titles this year which have never been defended, so they might as well add a third. They did tease this title coming in long ago, so it’s possible it’s just been sitting around for quite a while and they decided to give it out while they still could. Argos is normally the favorite, though Elite aired a video hyping Golden Magic this week. Flamita is probably the best. Bandido might have a chance too? That match should be good, depending fully on how much Argos is involved.

Willie Mack working an Elite show and not-AAA show is weird, but PJ Black did it without running into any problems from Lucha Undergournd. It also seems random – like, why bother on either side if it’s only one show, unless maybe you’re not following all this and haven’t been told it may just be only one show. We always hope the Elite fly-ins get used for other shows that weekend and it never happens, maybe this will be better.

Octagon was very noticeable left off TV and hasn’t been booked on the other two TV tapings. If Octagon lost the legal right to use his name, even just for the moment, Azteca wouldn’t want to invite a lawsuit to put him on TV.

other things

This is late news, but I watched the 11/01 CMLL show tonight and, if you’re looking for it, it’s clear something is wrong. The whole match only goes five minutes, Niebla does his best to hold onto the top rope at all times (even ignoring Atlantis when it’s his spot to run into a quebradora) and almost never steps foot on the ring in the second fall. Niebla takes a long time getting out of the ring after the match, but they are able to walk him to Hell. There’s not a pratfall that would go viral in a GIF, but everything that happens indicates Niebla wasn’t in condition to be out there, they decided to keep him out there and work around it, and that’s probably why he’s off again. Niebla was working an indie show today, so he’s not hurt.

Sexy Star won her debut match in SHIMMER, defeating LuFisto on Saturday. The reports on the match was they had a total brawl, hitting each other hard, which sounds a bit like the No Mas match. It was a smart idea and it got over well.  She lost to Mercedes Martinez on a taping today.

What name she’ll be promoted by in the future is unclear. AAA’s trademarked Sexy Dulce themselves; it’s filed under serial number 87211792. She was billed as Dulce Garcia on the SHIMMER shows. To have the right to trademark, you must’ve used the name first. It doesn’t AAA has ever used that name, much less in the US, so this’ll get thrown out if it’s fought enough, but that requires the time and expense of fighting that. It looks like someone else beat AAA to Rey Fenix, though AAA may be working on that as well. AAA probably could much more productively redirected the time/money they’re wasting on aggravating ex-employees to their current employees: how many bottles of water could’ve they’ve bought for a $225 trademark fee?

There’s a show in New York City on 12/11 billed as an AAA show, with Psycho Clown, La Hiedra, Taya, Aerostar, Brian Cage, Angelico and Jack Evans. It probably had to be thru AAA if they’re getting Psycho Clown & La Hiedra, since they don’t seem to get outside dates on their own. That’s another good sign for Jack Evans turning up here. AAA and Jack have said nothing about the situation,, but the most likely outcome seems like Jack just ending back in AAA at some point. (It might only take longer because AAA’s limited schedule for the next month.)

Stardom announced Taya will be part of their shows from November 23 to December 4, including challenging for their World of Stardom title versus Io Shirai on that first show. Taya had mentioned she’d be back in Japan after Star Battle, and this appears to be that. This seems like something that might be harder to do if Taya was still in Mexico working a full schedule, though she’s actually wouldn’t miss an AAA taping on this tour.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

DoradaFan has a great Soberano Jr. tribute video.

TKD reviews this week’s Lucha Underground.

Segunda Caida reviews Black Terry vs Wotan vs Canis Lupus vs Caifan.

Box Y Lucha 3259 has Mascara Dorada on the cove. The digital copy of Box Y Lucha hasn’t arrived for at least two weeks for me. It’s disappointing to say the least.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 11/19/2016 Arena Coliseo
1) Bengala & Leono vs Camorra & Cholo
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Fantasy vs Demus 3:16, Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Violencia
3) Blue Panther Jr., Johnny Idol, The Panther vs Okumura, Sangre Azteca, Tiger
4) Diamante Azul, Mistico, Titán vs Euforia, Sam Adonis, Vangellys
5) Dragón Lee vs Niebla Roja

Maybe Roja is too heavy to make lightweight?

If Sam Adonis doesn’t wager his hair in the next 12 months, something’s gone wrong. It’s so easy. For now, he’s managed to be on a show with Johnny Idol and not have to face him.

CMLL (SUN) 11/20/2016 Arena México
1) Flyer & Sensei vs Akuma & Espanto Jr.
2) Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi vs Dalys, La Seductora, Zeuxis
3) Drone, Fuego, Oro Jr. vs El Cuatrero, Sansón, Skándalo
4) Ángel de Oro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Ephesto, Misterioso Jr., Morphosis
5) Marco Corleone, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Kráneo, La Máscara, Pierroth

Maybe they’re doing a Marco versus La Mascara match? Dunno. Third match seems like it could be fun. Women are around but back in the second match spot.

CMLL (SUN) 11/20/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Micro vs Diplomático
2) Cosmos & Javier Cruz Jr. vs Gitano & Relámpago
3) El Alteño & Explosivo vs Gran Kenut & Thunder Boy
4) El Divino, Mágico, Sky Kid vs Exterminador, Maléfico, Rey Trueno
5) Frezzer, Nautilius, Neutrón vs Joker, León Blanco, Mr. Trueno

They seem to be setting up a Neutron/Leon Blanco match.

CMLL LI (SUN) 11/27/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Chik Tormenta & La Pantera vs La Magnifica & Súper Estrella
2) Flash (Jalisco), Flash I, Flash II vs Gallo, Ráfaga, Ráfaga Jr. and Freezer, Furia Nazi, Furia Roja and Antrax, Centinela, Évola [Copa Dinastia Tapatia 2016]
first part
3) Huracán Ramírez Jr., Pantera, Solar I vs Canek Jr., Hijo del Fishman, Septiembre Negro Jr.
4) Huracán Ramírez, Rayman, Solar I vs Fuerza Guerrera, Satánico, Universo 2000 Jr.
5) El Fantasma, Máscara Sagrada, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Canek, Cien Caras Jr., Máscara Año 2000

This is the legends show that’s been teased for a few months. Legend shows are becoming less a reunion and more a brand; no one grew up with memories of Cien Caras Jr. or Hijo del Fishman and are hoping to see them again, they’re just playing a role for a certain typoe of match. I would think fans would be interested in stuff more like the second match, which has local legends come back to the arena, but maybe not.

CMLL (FRI) 11/11/2016 Arena México [CMLL, CultIcon, ESTO, MT, thecubsfan]
1) Flyer & Magnus b Akuma & Espanto Jr.
8:45. Tecnicos took 2/3. Espanto Jr. suffered a lower leg/foot/ankle? injury on a baseball slide, while Flyer was hurt on a badly botched springboard in the second fall.
2) Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Stigma DQ Okumura, Sangre Azteca, Skándalo
10:53. Tecnicos took 1/2.
3) Fuego, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. b Dragón Rojo Jr., Hechicero, Pólvora
14:14. Tecnicos took 1/2.
4) Mephisto b Carístico [lightning]
Caristico took it with La Mistica in 8:55.
5) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Máscara Dorada b Cavernario, Felino, Negro Casas
tecnicos took 2/3, the last with Mascara Dorada beating Casas with the casita. The locker room came to the ring to congratulate Dorada and Dorada said farewell to the crowd.
6) Último Guerrero b Rush, Volador Jr. [seeding battle royal]
2:48. Volador tossed Rush, UG tossed Rush nearly at the saem time.
7) La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush DQ Marco Corleone, Máximo, Volador Jr. [semifinal]
Rush fouled Volador and faked his own foul to draw a DQ win.
8) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush [final]
UG blocked Rush’s foul and cleanly beat him with Pulpo Guerrero.

Dorada’s farewell was the best thing on the show. The main event was not any good.

Máscara Dorada told the press he signed a three year contract with WWE. That’s more about WWE being able to keep him for (a standard) three years than Dorada being with WWE for three years; Super Porky signed WWE three year deal once. I think it’ll work out much better for Dorada. Dorada’s been insistent that he’d leave CMLL thru the front door, which he did, and now that he’ll return to CMLL whenever he’s done with WWE.

Caristico versus Ultimo Guerrero is the main event in Arena Coliseo tonight. Based on the way they’re airing episodes, Fox Deportes will show that match sometime around June.

Rey Fenix is off the 10/18 Muchas Luchas card. Metaleon too; Trauma I and Black Terry are coming to Guadalajara instead. The top two matches have been changed around, and a Black Terry vs Makabre match has been added.

Lucha Underground is briefly mention in Variety article about AG Studios getting out of creating content business. The big idea is the studio, which is one of the owners of the promotion/TV show, feels there’s too much content out there, reducing the odds of a success project too low to make it worthwhile. Lucha Underground is mentioned as a studio success, so I don’t think it’s going to be affected. Maybe something to just file away.

Nino Hamburguesa is listed as working on 11/29 Arena Nacionalista show with ex-AAA guys. Is he an ex-AAA guy?

Lucha Libre Boom has a 11/14 show in San Luis Potosi with another four way mystery man main event (which seems to be their current formula.) LA Park posted the mystery person poster. I’m going to take a wild guess that LA Park is one of the people in the match.

El Grafico writes about second generation luchadoras, and the reactions for their families about following their path. They have quotes from Lluvia (Sangre Chicana), Tiffany (La Diabolica & El Vasco), La Magnifica (Gran Cochisse) and Reyna Obscura (father unrevealed.)

Lucha Libre in Japan New Zealand (via purolove.com)

Bad Luck Fale Produce 12/11: Jon Strong Man b Terrible (4:44) – Terrible went all the way New Zealand to have a 5 minute match, pretty cool.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 11/18/2016 Arena México
1) Fuego & Pegasso vs Tiger & Virus
2) Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Bobby Z, Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora
3) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Lee, Volador Jr. vs Cavernario, Felino, Negro Casas
4) Atlantis vs Stuka Jr., Marco Corleone, La Máscara, Máximo Sexy, Diamante Azul, Valiente, Blue Panther, Último Guerrero, Terrible, Máscara Año 2000, Rey Bucanero, Gran Guerrero, Euforia, Hechicero, Kráneo [Leyenda de Azul]

Atlantis is the reigning Leyenda de Azul champion, last time they ran this in 2014. These have been ciberneticos the last few times and I hope his is the same. It’s not a great field and I have no idea why Mascara 2000 is here. This just seems like a tournament to do a tournament. Going to be funny if Valiente is back to being the fourth guy out, like normal.

That’s a really good undercard.