CMLL weekend shows, AAA strong turnouts

CMLL (SAT) 01/28/2017 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Magia Blanca & Marvel b El Coyote & Grako
tecnicos took 2/3
2) Eléctrico, Fantasy, Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
Fantasy replaced Astral (not a mini any longer.) Tecnicos took 2/3
3) Nitro, Sangre Azteca, Skándalo b Oro Jr., Pegasso, Soberano Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
4) Bobby Z, Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora b Ángel de Oro, Fuego, Stuka Jr.
Revolucionarios took 2/3, and took the tecnicos masks after the match.
5) Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero b Mistico, Valiente, Volador Jr.
Rudos took 2/3. Tecnicos wanted one more fall, rudos agreed, and then the rudos walked out.

CMLL (SUN) 01/29/2017 Arena México [+LuchaTV]
1) Leono & Sensei b Artillero & Inquisidor
2) La Jarochita, Marcela, Skadi b La Comandante, Metálica, Reyna Isis
La Metelica replaced La Seductora. Tecnicas took 1/3.
3) Bobby Z, Felino, Virus b Rey Cometa, Soberano Jr., Tritón
Rudos took 1/3.
4) Mephisto, Rey Bucanero, Terrible b Ángel de Oro, Titán, Valiente
Rudos took 1/3.
5) Atlantis, Carístico, Diamante Azul DQ La Máscara, Negro Casas, Pierroth
Tecnicos took 2/3, the last when Casas fouled Caristico. Caristico wants a singles match.

They’ve switched to a Casas/Caristico feud. That means Azul/Pierroth is switched to Friday shows, which is bad news for Friday shows. I’d say Soberano was being punished for getting over in NJPW, but it’s probably too much to assume the CMLL programmers are aware of anything happened on the NJPW shows. They don’t even stick around for their own shows, they’re definitely not caring about shows that are going at 3AM.

CMLL is offering this Sunday Arena Mexico show on VOD for $1. This was never announced ahead of time, never promoted, and is kind of a waste of time given this lineup. They make a little money on this if it doesn’t cost a lot to do these, but it’s a strange choice and presentation.

Euforia beat Mr. Cacao in their match on Cacao’s show.

The Arena Lopez Mateos show on Saturday is said to have been a full house. La Parka won the main event when Pagano fouled Psycho Clown and Parka fouled Pagano. Hijo del Fantasma won the Arena Neza AAA three way, when Dr. Wagner and that same Psycho Clown brawled outside for a countout. That didn’t sell out, but still did pretty good for a Neza show. Octagon’s promotion debut show also looks like it drew well.

Bacanika has a long profile of Groon XXX, who claims to be the luchador who’s suffered the most injuries in the history of lucha libre. There are some points of this bio which seem a bit fictional (the Groon/Gronda program is presented as a shoot where Groon only returned to unmask his replacement and then quit), but Gronda claims he came up with the idea for being painted red and actually painted himself that up for his first meeting with Antonio Pena. The luchadors with white outfits got annoyed with him later on for the red paint rubbing off on them.

Dr. Wagner told The Gladiatores that he respects Fuerza Guerrera, but Fuerza is wrong and he will be at TripleMania.

Luchador Scaflon Jr. was supposed to have a match tonight, but passed away in a car accident Friday night. He was 21. The article lists the match as his debut, but someone by that name has been wrestling in that area since 2014. His organs, including his kidney and coronas, were donated to four people on waiting lists.

Penta is in Texas for Martinez promotions on 02/18 against Violento Jack, and in Arena Lopez Mateos w/Daga Against LA Park & Rey Escorpion on 03/01.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

CultIcon writes about Heavy Metal.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 02/04/2017 Arena Coliseo
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Flyer, Sensei, Star Jr. vs Artillero, Hijo del Signo, Nitro
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis
4) Atlantis, Máximo Sexy, Valiente vs Cavernario, Felino, Mr. Niebla
5) La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

OK: the match on Friday with Rush, Pierroth and Rowe on the same team was NOT listed as Relevos Increibles. The matches with La Mascara on the team are listed as Relevos Incredibles. Is La Mascara still a tecnico? Or is CMLL just totally inconsistent and silly about using that term.

La Rebelión debuts, CMLL results, The Crash news

Caristico uses the enviorment

CMLL (FRI) 01/27/2017 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Shockercito & Stukita b Demus 3:16 & Mercurio
16:48. Tecnicos took 1/3.
2) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit b Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis
14:05. Tecnicas took 2/3.
3) Forastero, Máscara Año 2000, Sansón b Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther
12:19. Rudos took 1/3. Forastero replaced Cuatrero.
4) Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy DQ Pierroth, Ray Rowe, Rush
9:22. Straight falls, the last when Pierroth unmasked Diamante Azul. Rowe did not get along with his partners at times during the match (setting up Rowe/Azul in Lucha Memes on Sunday)
5) Mephisto © b Carístico [CMLL WELTER]
11:41. Mephisto took 1/3, cleanly, to keep the title. 4th defense.
6) Dragón Lee, Mistico, Volador Jr. b Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
13:03. Tecnicos took 2/3.

You should go out of you way to see the title match. The show was overall good.

In Arena San Juan, Penta el 0M, Fenix, Daga and Garza Jr. debuted their new team name, “La Rebelión.” They had new t-shirts (on Masked Republic, though they won’t ship until mid-February and new merch to go with it. The name La Rebelion has some history, it was the name of the Perros del Mal TV show. This is allusion to them rebelling against AAA and the legacy they’re carrying on, as they specifically mentioned it being a homage to Perro Aguayo Jr. when unveiling it.

La Rebelion have set up their own Facebook.

They ended up facing and defeating Gallego, Pentagon III, Mr. Condor and Mosco de la Merced (II). The first three were replacing Histeria, Psicosis II, and Manaico. Psicosis posted a video on his Facebook saying the promoter had refused to pay their guarantees. The story going around from the promoter’s side is those guys got to the building, saw how packed it was, and held the promoter up for more money. The promoter, presumably realizing the building was full for La Rebelion, didn’t pay and those guys left. For what it’s worth, pretty much every other match on the show ended up changing during the night.

Konnan’s launched his own Patreon as an extension of his Keepin it 100 podcast. If you sign up for $3/month or more, you’ll get exclusive content, but he’s offering a podcast for $1/month subscribers talking about recent events right now. There’s a lot of talk about TripleMania, the Roldans, PROMELL. Some of it is well trod ground on other podcasts, some of is new, but you should go sign up yourself if you want to hear it all.

There’s no more clarity on the timeline of the jumps. The best we get is “we knew for a while”, and Penta/Daga/Garza were careful not to let AAA know it was happening. This might have all happened 10 months ago, back in March, but someone tipped off Dorian, and MGM’s lawyers threatened the AAA/LU guys with losing their LU deals. Fenix & Sexy Star trickled out on their own, but this had been building since then. They had remained in contract with Konnan and remained frustrated with how they were being used in AAA.

Konnan talks about the Copetes issues (asking women for sex, demanding kickbacks from wrestlers, playing favorites in house show bookings) he’s brought up on Podcast BOOM, and alleges Copetes must have something on the Roldan family to stay there. Konnan says Dorian confirmed it to him once, then denied it another time. The mystery La Chiva is said to be Copetes’ brother, getting booked on shows via Copetes’ influence over people who are actually used on TV.

Konnan believes Paco Alonso is mad at him nowadays primary because Alonso blames Konnan for messing up a deal between CMLL and WCW back in the day, and uses him as an example for others not to cross him. Konnan also thinks there’s issues because he’s badmouthed CMLL on his podcast, leading to CMLL not letting their guys on The Crash’s shows. The “other owner of the Crash”, Nacho, is friends with Rush and Konnan hears from other people in the Office that Nacho isn’t happy when he says bad things about CMLL, but believes he should hear more about when he says good things. Konnan hints he might just get CMLL people to jump Crash instead.

The Crash is planning on running 17 cities in 2017, including Mexico City. Their next big goal is getting on TV. “I really believe I’ll overtake CMLL, Elite, AAA all in a year” after he gets on TV. “I’m surrounding myself with really good people, and Dorian surrounded by straight up idiots and yes-man.”

One of those 17 cities will be Monterrey.  Llaves y Candados announced they’ll have announced about something The Crash/Rebelion related at the end of their 02/19 show. It’s obviously going to be a show with all those guys. The date is the important part, since we know AAA is already running Rey de Reyes on the 19th. We’ve seen local promotion MDA run Arena Coliseo Monterrey on the same day Rey de Reyes takes place in the bullring in the past, and perhaps we’re headed to the same thing.

The Crash announced Jeff & Karen Jarrett will be their 02/25 February show. This may be part of whatever TNA/The Crash relationship is being worked out, or it may be a separate thing given the history between Konnan and Jeff. Nothing can kill my interest in a lucha libre promotion like bringing in Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett goes about it differently than AAA’s La Parka, but brings the same pluses and negatives to the table today: they both absolutely can get themselves over in front of a Mexican crowd, but they make every match they’re in all about them and worse overall, and they never do good business when it’s time to put someone over. AAA ran big angle with Jeff Jarrett 3 or 4 times, always building him up big, and always with something happening where he couldn’t be there to put his rival over at the end, so the only people who got anything out of it were Jeff & Karen. Maybe every single time is AAA’s fault and Jeff’s totally not at fault (and just as not as fault when he pulled the same thing with NJPW), but Jeff Jarrett caries a stigma of “really bad AAA garbage” in Mexico, and The Crash should be trying to distance themselves as far as possible from really bad AAA garbage. Instead, he’s on their first show after they make news.

Here’s a solution: Penta smashes Jarrett with his own guitar on 02/25. Nothing less. If Jarrett is as good at getting himself over, he won’t be that hurt, he can just get himself back over next time he’s around. This is generally not the time to be slow playing stuff, or building to a big show you don’t even know the date of yet. The Crash just needs to kill it, to build buzz, to get people to put it on TV. Jarrett can’t even get on TV in his home country, he’s not going to help much for Mexico. I suspect Jarrett will be just doing a Trump thing and patriotic Blue Demon will defend Mexico’s honor. However, if Jarrett comes with 10 feet of La Rebelion, it needs to end with the Rebelion stomping on him. Those guys shouldn’t be beat or beat down by anyway in the Crash for a long time.

Fenix & Pentagon are teaming against the Hardys and locals (well, closer to being local) Al-Cold and AXL in Lima, Peru on 03/25. Fenix & Pentagon are already facing the the Hardys at WrestleCon the following weekend. Even without a formal agreement between Crash/TNT, promoters seem very interested in booking that match on it’s own.

CMLL tonight at Arena Coliseo has Mistico, Valiente, Volador Jr. versus Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja, Ultimo Guerrero and Angel de Oro, Fuego, Stuka and Bobby Z, Dragon Rojo and Polvora in a semimain. Both those sound pretty good, but there were no TV cameras at Arena Coliseo last week and I suspect there won’t be any this week either. Lucha Retro is already into repeats, after only 14 episodes, and they may be done already. (Dave Melzter’s news bit from a few weeks ago about how CMLL was close to losing “Azteca” makes more sense if he meant “Fox Deportes”.) The show had actually been doing it’s best ratings numbers of late, with even the repeat episode having more viewers than when it was first run.

Lucha Memes has Chairo8 on Sunday. The hype for it has been lost in the week of Rebelion news. CMLL booking Ray Rowe and having him do teases a fight with Rush probably helps, but not as much as if the announcers were allowed to actually mention the show by name and location. It’s still early days in that relationship, maybe it’ll get there.

The two big matches of note on the Chairo8 show are Rush vs Raymond Rowe and Flystar & Toxin vs Laredo Kid & Ronnie Mendoza. Those matches will be available on VOD for $3USD by Tuesday. The live crowd will get to also see Hechicero & Dr. Cerbero, Keira vs Silueta, and Jack Evans and Rey Horuz leading trios, among other matches.

Fuerza Guerrera, who may be the all time leader in backing out of mask matches, says Dr. Wagner Jr. doesn’t want to lose his mask and will not show up at TripleMania. It’s not clear if Fuerza actually knows anything or is just speculating like the rest of us. I think it’s a moot point – if AAA’s not going run a larger arena (which would give them more money to pay Wagner) and they were willing to have Pentagon Jr. lose at Guerra de Titanes when they thought he wasn’t going anywhere, then they’ll be totally fine with having Dr. Wagner beat Psycho Clown if it comes to it. It may or may not be their plan at the moment, and it may not be what Psycho Clown wants right now, but they’ll do what they have to get that match delivered. It’s strange in context, because I don’t have a lot of confidence in AAA on a lot of points, but these last few days have made me super confident that match is actually happening as promised.

Lucha Boom teased an upcoming announce with La Liga de la Justica, a Puebla indie promotion.

Mascara Sagrada bemoans the state of lucha libre. The article mentions his real name.

Rey Horuz and Bestia 666 are headed to Puerto Rico on March 18th.

Cancha has a video story on Sam Adonis. Trump Supporter Sam Adonis teaming with Vangellys on Tuesday was kind of amazing but I’m afraid to point it out.

Lineup

CMLL (FRI) 02/03/2017 Arena México
1) Eléctrico & Shockercito vs Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Fuego, Pegasso, Soberano Jr. vs Disturbio, Okumura, Virus
3) Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Bobby Z, Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora
4) Titán vs Cavernario [lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro, Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy vs El Cuatrero, Máscara Año 2000, Sansón
6) Atlantis, Diamante Azul, Volador Jr. vs La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush [Relevos Increíbles]

CMLL calling main events with tecnicos on one side and rudos on the other side “relevos increibles” just makes CMLL look stupid. There’s no other way to stay it. A feud with Diamante Azul & Pierroth doesn’t look much better.

Titan/Cavernario is an old title feud that should be fun. Revolucionarios get their usual rivals.

Euforia, who CMLL wrote on their own website would be back on this show, is not on this show. Strong quality control. He’s back Tuesday anyway.

01/27/2017 AAA TV Results (Toluca)

AAA

AAA TV (FRI) 01/27/2017 Salón Rojo del Club Toluca, Toluca, Estado de México [AAA]
Attendance: 3000
1) Dinastía, Lanzeloth, Máscara de Bronce b Mini Psycho Clown, Parka Negra, Soul Rocker
Mascara de Bronce beat Mini Psycho with a Spanish Fly. Parka Negra replaced Apache.
2) Goya Kong & Lady Shani b Big Mami & Faby Apache
Rudas won thanks to a Chessman distraction on Fabi.
3) Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Súper Fly b Aerostar, Argenis, Bengala
Super Fly put Aerostar thru a table
4) Dave The Clown, Monsther Clown, Murder Clown b Averno, Chessman, Joe Lider
Averno & Chessman replaced Daga & Pentagon on 01/23 and this was moved down a spot. Fabi distracted the OGT team, leading to Monsther beating Lider. Lider & Kahn-Del-Mal were still wearing Perros del Mal shirts. Averno blamed them for the loss and mocked them for being left behind.
5) Angélico, Australian Suicide, La Parka b Dark Cuervo, Dark Scoria, Zorro
La Parka replaced Garza Jr. and this was moved up. Angelico beat Scoria with the Fall of the Angels
6) Hijo del Fantasma, Psycho Clown, Texano Jr. b Dr. Wagner Jr., El Mesías, Pagano
Los Totalmente Traidors (which now appear to officially include Dave) tried to interfere. Piero kicked them out, and Wagner told them to go. Psycho Clown beat Wagner after fouls both way. Mesias & Pagano had problems during the match.

Air Date: 02/11 & 02/18

Show sold out about five hours before bell time. AAA noted it at that time, at the start of the show, and a couple times during the show. It seemed like the most important part of the show. The local promoter said the building could hold the same 3,000 as Gimnasio Agustin Milan (currently undergoing renovations) earlier in the week. AAA didn’t and does not announce numbers. The attendance bit probably was intended to be a message & to partner local promoters: everything is still fine, maybe even better than fine. It still came of as a implied message about those who left: they don’t matter, we’er fine without them. (La Parka, who doesn’t seem to use Twitter all that much, made an effort to note how much the crowd was behind Joe Lider last night. You can go back months without him even mentioning anyone but himself and where he’s going – that’s not how he normally uses Twitter.) That’s great for AAA, and great for the people who work for AAA. It’s not a great message for a person who would like to care about these people and the luchas they’re having, but are being informed repeatedly that pretty much all of them this week (with the possible exception of Wagner & Psycho) are interchangeable and wouldn’t be missed if they were gone tomorrow. This was a good night for the business of the wrestling business but not as good if you’re into it for the wrestling portion.

There was no sign of any real change or effect from the departures, with the only acknowledgement in front of the crowd being the highlighted line to Joe Lider. Prior to the departures, AAA was said to have the first four months of the year already planned out. It appears they’re just sticking to that plan, just with those guys left out. Even the speed isn’t changing: AAA’s going to flip Pagano eventually, but they’re sticking with the timeline they have in mind (Rey de Reyes tournament final?) instead of doing it now to create new matchups. No one stepping up as Mundo’s challenge makes me think we might not know what’s happening there until the Rey de Reyes card is announced. Perhaps Psycho finally got to win a match just to make sure things ended on a positive note, but they caravan is still headed in the same general direction it was a week ago.

If you’re not into Psycho Clown vs Dr. Wagner, you might get Aerostar & Super Fly doing some cool thing in between a lot of interference, and the openers now look like they’re generally going to be fun since the lesser workers have been moved out of them to fill gaps higher on the card, but there’s probably not going to much more than that for you in AAA thru TripleMania. You may be fine with ath if you are into Psycho & Wagner, and you may not if those things aren’t enough, but at least it’s easy to figure out if you’re in or not.

 

Given the current climate, people missing shows without acknowledgement is going to be read into m more than normal when it’s still probably the same nothing. It’s AAA and general lucha libre policy to not acknowledge when people are missing a show, be it for a day or forever. I don’t agree with that policy even normally, but it seems like an especially ill considered idea when many of your fans are wondering who will next to leave. I’m pretty sure Apache is simply injured, because I’m possibly the sole person not employed by AAA who pays attention to AAA spot shows results and he’s been missing those dates (as well as being a 50 year old man who’s wrestled for a long time.) It’s a safe bet Drago had a similar issue, but AAA not acknowledging it makes it a issue where it’s not meant to be one.

Joe Lider still being a Perros del Mal is not much of a surprise, but it’s probably not going to be clear until it airs if the way Lider was humiliated was meant to be a end for the idea, or the start of Lider rallying back (maybe with new partners) to gain revenge.

Next taping is 02/11, a Saturday, in Cuautitlán.

CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-01-27

Panthers & Dinamitas

Recapped: 01/27/2017

What happened: Mephisto kept the welterweight title over Carístico. Carístico noticeably has lost his ability to win big CMLL matches when there’s anything on the line, but the quality of the match was the story.

Raymond Rowe and Rush didn’t get along, but didn’t fight, prior to their Lucha Memes match. (CMLL didn’t mention the show, but they were clearly working an angle to build up that show.) That match actually built up the Diamante Azul/Pierroth rivalry, also taking place this past Sunday, with Pierroth unmasking Azul.

What was good: Most everything. The title match is the one must see match, and the Ingobernables match was the weakest, but this was pleasant overall watch.

Where can I watch it: Check my Twitter feed (except for the opener, where I had stream issues.) Read More

CMLL & AAA taping tonight, notPerros to debut new name

The biggest match on tonight’s Arena Mexico show is the semifinal. Mephisto defends the CMLL Welterweight Championship against Caristico. The original Mistico won many titles during his first turn, including this same championship from this same opponent ten years this April in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. Caristico’s been kept away from championships in his year plus return (this is actually his first Arena Mexico title match since his famous feud with Volador), and it’s an interesting reading on how much Caristico fits in CMLL’s plans. He’s been used as a top star the last few weeks with people out of town, strong enough to win singles main events in some areans. Mephisto appears to be well thought of by CMLL, but this title isn’t that important, and Mephsito might only be champion because Mascara Dorada could no longer be. Caristico seems to love title matches, so this would mean a lot to him if he wins, and would signal CMLL is going to do more with him going forward. (That also might say something about the status of Elite.)

The main event almost could’ve been on the FantasticaMania tour. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero (not on the tour) and Barbaro Cavernario take on Mistico, Volador and Dragon Lee. (Dragon Lee should be around for at least another week before heading back to NJPW.) That should be a pretty good match, though it may be a situation where it’s a challenge to follow the title match. Maybe more for time than quality reasons, this looks like the better match.

The fourth match includes the debuting Raymond Rowe from Ring Of Honor, making a one shot appearance as part of a split weekend with Lucha Memes. He’s teaming with Rush, his opponent in Naucalpan, and Pierroth against Diamante Azul, Marco and Maximo. The tercera has a more promosing match, with the young Dinamtias trying to carry uncle Mascara 2000 to victory against the Panthers family. The second match is a women’s match with some of the better names (Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis vs la Vaquerita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit) and the show opens with a decent looking minis match (Shockercito, Stukita vs Demus 3:16, Mercurio.)

CultIcon also previews the show. It airs on ClaroSports at 8:30pm.

An article about Euforia’s match with Mr. Cacao mentions he’s expected back on next Friday’s show. I wonder if Okumura is with him, since he hasn’t turned up on lineups since FantasticaMania.

AAA tapes TV in Toluca. This looked like a normal taping eight days ago, and it may still be a quiet one. AAA TV tapings in between major shows don’t usually have much activity. The two biggest news items coming out might just be what shirt Joe Lider wears and how running in Salon Rojo looks different than the usual Toluca home. It seems to me like a chance to show that exciting and surprising things are still happening in AAA. However, AAA’s been treating the departures as if nothing important has happened at all, and no big reaction to them is necessary. That’s probably what we should expect out of tonight’s taping (which is not streamed and will not start until February 11th, when what’s happened will be closer to old news.) AAA does have to figure out who’s taking Daga’s place in the Latin American title match with Johnny Mundo on Rey de Reyes (and I vote for Fantasma and Texano to combine two titles), but it’ll likely still be a slow steady build to TripleMania.

The main event is Fantasma, Psycho and Texano against Wagner, Mesias and Pagano. There was an apparent tease of a Pagano feud with Mesias and a turn at Guerra de Titanes. That actually makes more sense now, AAA sliding Pagano over into Pentagon’s role. The semimain is Angelico, Australian Suicide, and La Parka versus Dark Cuervo, Dark Scoria, Zorro. Parka is a sub for Garza Jr. and the match will be less interesting for the change. Dave the Clown, Monster Clown and Murder Clown team with Averno, Chessman (in for Daga/Pentagon) and Joe Lider in the tercera. There’s no stories to either of these matches, and the biggest deal will be what shirt Joe Lider wears to the ring. Lider still being in the Perros del Mal seems like a poor idea, but AAA definitely left the door open them continuing (something like Kahn-Del-Mal showing up to endorse Lider or a new group.) Penta and friends dropping the name quickly causes me to lean towards believing AAA is planning on keeping it, but we’ll see.

Aerostar an Super Fly continue their feud in the tercera. Argenis, Drago, Carta Brava and Mocho Cota round out the trios, which looks like the best match on the show. There’s a women’s tag match with Faby Apache, Big Mami versus Goya Kong, Lady Shani. Shani’s gotten TV wins, but against meaningless people, after about a year of being treated like a meaningless person herself. She could really use the win over Faby Apache to boost her credibility, and Apache wouldn’t be hurt by it. That seems incredibly unlikely though. Apache’s probably there to interfere in other matches. The opener is Dinastia, Lanzeloth, and Mascara de Bronce versus Apache, Mini Psycho Clown and Soul Rocker, which also could be good. The taping is listed as starting at 8:45, so expect results to start to appear around 9:30.

There’s one other show of note tonight. Promociones Contrereas, which has promoted in Mexico State for years (often with AAA wrestlers, now with the son of the original promoter having taken over in the last few months) had a show full of ex-AAA guys scheduled for Arena San Juan Pantitlan in Neza. The main event is now ex-AAA guys from 7-8 years ago (Histeria, Maniaco, Moco de la Merced and Psicosis (II)) against ex-AAA guys from the last few months (Daga, Garza Jr., Penta el 0M, Fenix el Rey). Garza’s mentioned the group will have their new name and group to debut on this show. Garza Jr. posted a shot of him and Zorro headed to Mexico City. It’s nothing; they’re both flying in from Monterrey and catching a ride out to their shows. As often, the luchadors don’t really have a problem with each other, the problem is with the management.

The last AAA show without a Pentagon replacement is the 03/01 in Arena Queretaro. An interview with the promoter says he’s waiting to hear back about who will replace Pentagon, but is sure it’ll be a top guy. I wonder if that interview is actually a few days old. There’s changes announced for the other AAA show the promotion in Celaya (Joe Lider & Texano in for Daga & Pentagon.) Pentagon and Daga have also been wiped from the AAA cartela page, where they often the graphic for one show or another.

AAA and their local promoters have been swift and efficient in changing to cards with those guys. Not sure if it’s because Pentagon was a bigger deal than other people so an announcement was more necessary, or if they’re just gotten better at doing it.

The newest edition of +LuchaTV’s Usted Querian Lucha includes an interviw with Cibernetico, who says Liga Elite is coming back soon.

ASAD, an association of sports lawyers, mention on Twitter that they’re working with Brazo de Oro on some projects for CMLL. Not sure what this could be, but it looks like they were part of the inauguration of the lucha libre exhibit at the Metro Guerrero stop. Brazo de Oro seems like he’s been busy with CMLL projects, as he was also involved in setting up the Dia de Luchador.

Alberto el Patron was declared Mexican Person of the Year at the Premios Ser award ceremony on Thursday. In an amazing coincidence, Hijo de Dos Caras & Dos Caras Sr. also won awards. (This was more a deal where people could pay to eat dinner with celebrities, so it does say something that they thought Alberto was the biggest one they could get it.)

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

AAW announced Penta el 0M vs AR Fox for 02/04 in LaSalle, Illinois

Fuego en el Ring’s latest podcast is up.

Wrestling With Words begins a look back at Super Astros.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 02/05/2017 Arena Naucalpan
1) Aramis vs Araña de Plata
2) Eterno vs Demonio Infernal
3) Black Dragón & Dragón Fly vs Hip Hop Man & Pibe Alfajor
4) Cerebro Negro © vs Mosca (Argentina) [IWRG IC WELTER]
second defense
5) Dr. Cerebro, Heddi Karaoui, Villano IV vs Herodes Jr., Negro Navarro, X-Fly
6) Máscara Año 2000 Jr. © vs Trauma I [IWRG Rey del Ring]
second defense
7) Mr. Electro & Pirata Morgan vs Golden Magic & Pirata Morgan Jr. [relevos suicidas]
resulting apuesta match will take place on 02/12

Main event is hard to predict, with both Morgans possible to lose the ultimate match. Mascara 2000 Jr. is occasionally in AAA but hasn’t been of late; possible he could be losing his title as part of heading back there. Strange to see Villano IV picking up a random IWRG match. I think I got the Eterno/Demonio Infernal thing wrong at the start (never forming a group, always feuding), though it’s strange to see Eterno that early on an IWRG card.

2016 watch later catch up, part 11 of ∞

Canis Lupus

Matches reviews in this post:

  • Metaleón vs Centvrión, Arena XMW, Ecatepec, Estado de México, 11/12/2016
  • Black Terry vs Wotan, Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México, 08/21/2016
  • Lokillo vs Danger vs Johnny Madrid, Salón Citlalli, Ecatepec, Estado de México, 09/04/2016
  • Canis Lupus vs Trauma I, mask vs mask. Arena Naucalpan, 09/04/2016
  • Ronnie Mendoza vs Aeroboy. 705 W. Kennedale Parkway, Kennedale, Texas, 11/12/2016
  • Delta vs Galactar, mask vs mask. Arena Coliseo Monterrey, 11/27/2016

This is delayed forever because I had trouble communicating exactly what I wanted to say about those two big mask matches. I still don’t think I’ve gotten exactly what I wanted to say – I really liked them, I may have not liked them quite as much as everyone else because neither made my top 10, but I still really liked them – but time forced me to move on.

Even though 2016 is over by any real standards and there’s plenty of 2017 to catch up on, I’m still going to finish out the ones I’ve got on my list. At least that I can get a hold of easily. Read More