CMLL iPPV: 2017-03-17 

spot of the night

Recapped: 03/20/2017

Matches:

Amapola, Tiffany, Zeuxis beat by DQ Estrellita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit  (falls 2/3, 13:09 [6:34, 3:22, 3:13], ok)

Dragón Lee, Stuka Jr., Titán beat Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja (falls 2/3, 11:52 [3:19, 2:35, 5:58], good)

Kráneo, La Máscara, Rush beat Atlantis, Carístico, Marco Corleone  (straight falls, 8:01 [2:03, 5:40], ok)

Último Guerrero beat Matt Taven  to keep the NWA World Middleweight Championship (falls 1/3, 16:26 [4:51, 2:11, 9:23], good)

Sky Team (Mistico, Valiente, Volador Jr.) defeated  Hechicero, Luciferno, Mephisto  to keep the CMLL World Trios Championship (falls 2/3, 16:01 [2:31, 1:39, 10:27], good)

Diamante Azul defeated Pierroth in a mask vs mask match (falls 2/3, 12:20 [0:46, 2:16, 9:18], below average])

This was a $3 VOD on CMLL’s YouTube channel. All matches were taped the day of the iPPV in Arena Mexico.

What happened:

ouch

Diamante Azul unmasked Pierroth, who was announced as Arturo Munoz, 48. Pierroth took the first fall cleanly, then lost the second by unmasking Diamante Azul. La Mascara tripped Diamante Azul as he ran in the ropes in the third (not that he was any close to winning.) Maximo went after La Mascara, and Marco, Terrible and Rush all got involved in a very brief but intense scrum. Commissioner Rambo, with no help from anyone else, got all five guys to walk to the back. Azul & Pierroth froze to watch this, restarted as they were leaving, and Azul had German suplexed Pierroth for the win before they actually got to the back. Pierroth went after Azul after the match, their feud must continue.

Zeuxis and Princesa Sugehit had issues thru the match, with Zeuxis unmasking Sugehit for the DQ. Zeuxis was wearing a Navarro/Trauma mask and walked out to their music as a tribute to her original maestro. Estrellita slipped climbing the ropes for a dive and fell hard on the floor on her hip (but reported no major injury in the following day.)

Rush stole a pin on Marco Corlone with outside help from La Mascara (not eliminted, but using the ropes.) He and Atlantis had minor issues.

team work makes Niebla Roja hurt

Niebla Roja & Dragon Lee slightly feuded in their match, though you’d have to be looking for it to even notice it was there.

There’s nothing much to note about the title matches, there were no stories or controversy to the results (except the Sky Team briefly forgot Mephisto was the captain.) Fans threw in money after the UG/Taven match. Mephisto dressed in pink, with a pink mask and robe, as a tribute to Villano III.

Villano III was honored prior to the main event, joined by his two sons to accept a plaque. He seemed touched by the fans reaction and his son’s praise, and was moved to tears after removing his mask.

CMLL again cut out the dance segments, showing the Villano III autobiographical interviews instead. We appeared to miss a Pink Panther themed dance before the main event.

Thoughts:

superkick

There’s nothing must see here, with the big title matches falling a little short and nothign really surprised it. You’ll miss nothing that’ll show up on anyone’s MOTYC list if you skipped it becuase there was a price attached or because Azul/Pierroth annoyed you.

The main event was not as terrible as it could be, and not as destructive as Volador/Yoshitatsu, but not at the level of Volador/Ephesto in matches that probably shouldn’t have happened. Pierroth’s offense looked as horrible as usual, Pierroth sucked at catching dives as much as usual, and their best attempt at hiding it was doing a shorter version of a normal CMLL main event. It didn’t work, and Diamante Azul wasn’t great shakes either. The fans whistling came thru much louder on the periscopes I was watching than live, and there was a bigger reaction for the finish than I would’ve thought, but it wassn’t close to the level of a big show main event. My favorite part, also clear on the periscopes than the VOD, is how both men missed top rope moves by so much that the other person didn’t really even have to roll out of the way (maybe because they didn’t trust it happening.) The brawling outside the ring came across as much better than anything did in the actual match.

Sky Team vs Hechicero/Mephisto/Luciferno was good, but sloppier than usual. Hechicero & Mistico started off really well together, and then didn’t come finish well with a couple of noticable spots. They haven’t worked a lot together, and the big show fans were all over Mistico for existing. The Sky Team did all sorts of dives, and this was as much an exhibition for them as all the Sky Team matches are on big shows, but there’s now been quite a lot of those and this one didn’t quite meausre up to the intensity of those. They went as far to have Volador eliminated in the third fall to tease the title change, but then rushed the match over so quick that the rudos never even got a near fall before Valiente took the win. They could’ve gotten more of that sequence and of this match. It did mean Valiente got another big win on a big show.

they love UG

Ultimo Guerrero vs Matt Taven was just Taven plugged into every UG match. The first two falls were not much at all. It picked up in the third fall, with Taven using some offense (headlock DDT, neckbreaker) that’s at least novel in this part, but otherwise looing not quite as impressive as his match with Rush last September. Crowd got into it because they love Ultimo Guerrero and they billed it as a Mexico vs USA thing, but the quality of the match was just average for this type of match. CMLL really needed one or both of these title matches to come up big to make this show worthwile. Both were good, but neither were special.

first two fall really not much, third fall totally the UG special with Taven’s offense plugged in. Taven looked better close to the end, but rarely came close to winning and ddin’t really stand out. Can’t believe they threw monye in, but that’s part of the bit.

The Ingobernales put together a better match for the big show and the crowd reacted to the big moments (mostly Atlantis related), but the match itself wasn’t really all that memorable. Rush was the star of this match, both on offense and selling dramatically for the técnicos before getting the pin. He made Marco look great before stealing the pin. Caristico sliding in a second too late for a countout and complaining about it was a great Caristico moment.

the main event in a GIF

The segunda was both good and disappointing; I didn’t realize it short than usual (and shorter than opener) until adding up the times, but it did feel like they didn’t get to go as far as usual. What they had time for generally went well, though I was surprised to see Euforia help Dragon Lee with his ramp springboard headscissors rather than let him climb or jump himself. Guess they wanted to make sure that didn’t go wrong on a big stage. I wanted more out of Nieba and Dragon Lee, but the big stuff they all did near the end worked well and the dive counters in the third fall. Still, no near falls, they were just doing the normal midcard match. I was not a big fan of the Guerrero fashion. Neon green and Niebla red don’t work well together, and Gran Guerrero going with plain trunks under the battle skirt feels imcomplete.

The effort was up on the women’s match, but the results were not. Amapola & Marclea looked like they’re getting ready for their ROH matches with better work here, and Sugehit & Zeuxis had a fun last minute (especially the smart way they did the mask pull), but Tiffany struggled as usual and Estrellita wasn’t much good before her blown dive at the end of the match. Zeuxis’ mask looked great and I enjoyed the other rudas being totally supportive of Zeuxis’ decision to unmask Sugehit.

Mephisto defeats Caristico (again), Zeuxis/Sugehit next week, Virus/Maya tonight

marriage proposals in Arena Puebla

IWRG (SUN) 03/19/2017 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, The Gladiatores]
1) Shadow Boy b Araña de Plata
2) Kanon b Skanda
3) Demasiado, Diva Salvaje, Nigma b Heddi Karaoui, Relámpago, X-Fly
Nigma & Relampago made challenges.
4) Demonio Infernal b Black Dragón
Eterno attacked Demonio after the match
5) Acero, Eterno, Hip Hop Man, Keshin Black b Leo, Mike, Rafy, Teelo [lumberjack]
Acero replaced Vortize (injured on Wednesday)
6) Máscara Año 2000 Jr. & Silver King Jr. b Pirata Morgan Jr., Killer Jr., Danny Casas, Hijo del Alebrije, Bobby Lee Jr., Argos, Diablo Jr., Hijo de Pirata Morgan [Rebelion de los Juniors, seeding battle royal]
winner gets a shot at the IWRG Junior de Juniors title, held by Herodes Jr. Rules were first to have a seeding battle royal, with the last two going to getting a bye and immediately having that match. Silver King Jr. and Mascara Ano 2000 Jr. advanced.
7) Máscara Año 2000 Jr. b Silver King Jr. [Rebelion de los Juniors, semifinal]
first show for (a) Silver King Jr. since 2013.
8) Hijo de Pirata Morgan b Argos [Rebelion de los Juniors, 8f]
first Argos appearance since last June
9) Hijo del Alebrije b Killer Jr. [Rebelion de los Juniors, 8f]
10) Pirata Morgan Jr. b Diablo Jr. [Rebelion de los Juniors, 8f]
11) Danny Casas b Bobby Lee Jr. [Rebelion de los Juniors, 8f]
first IWRG show for Lee since November.
12) Hijo de Pirata Morgan b Hijo del Alebrije [Rebelion de los Juniors, quarterfinal]
13) Danny Casas b Pirata Morgan Jr. [Rebelion de los Juniors, quarterfinal]
14) Danny Casas b Hijo de Pirata Morgan [Rebelion de los Juniors, semifinal]
Hijo attacked Danny right after he defeated his brother, but it didn’t work out for him.
15) Danny Casas b Máscara Año 2000 Jr. [Rebelion de los Juniors, final]
Third straight match with Danny, not with a bad knee, but he took advantage of a distraction to beat Mascsara with a casita. He’s earned a match with Herodes Jr.

Kind of glad no new IWRG aired last night because editing that TV into matches late last night would’ve been rough. I wish I could see what IWRG sees in Danny Casas.

CMLL (MON) 03/20/2017 Arena Puebla [CMLL, CultIcon, Terra]
1) King Jaguar, Rey Apocalipsis, Toro Bill Jr. b Meyer, París, Vega LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 20 DE MARZO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Rudos took 2/3.
2) Cancerbero, Policeman, Raziel b Espíritu Maligno, Rey Samuray, Zaeta Roja LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 20 DE MARZO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Rudos took 1/3? There was a marriage proposal between fans after the match. She said yes.
3) Zeuxis b Princesa Sugehit [lightning] LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 20 DE MARZO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Zexuis challenged for a title match next week and Sugehit said OK.
4) Dragón Rojo Jr., Kráneo, Luciferno b Lestat, Rey Cometa, Stigma LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 20 DE MARZO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Dragon Rojo Jr. replaced Morphosis. Rudos took 1/3. Cometa was stretchered out after taking Kraneo’s corner hipsmash to the head.
5) Diamante Azul, Mr. Niebla, Terrible DQ La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush [Relevos Increíbles] LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 20 DE MARZO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Azul team took 2/3, the last by DQ when he was unmasked by Los Ingobernables.
6) Mephisto © b Carístico [CMLL WELTER] LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 20 DE MARZO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
5th defense. Mephisto took 1/3, and won by dropping Caristico as he went for La Caristica (La Mistica) and simply pinning him.

I watched only the title match live, which came off as a slightly lesser version of their Arena Mexico match with a strange looking finish. It didn’t come off as a finishing spot at all, but I think that was more bad design than the plan going wrong.

Today’s Arena Mexico doesn’t have anything important, but has a lot of matches which could be good if they go for it on a Tuesday. Guerrero Maya and Virus have had great matches before and reunite tonight in a lightning match. The Dinamtias face Drone, The Panther and Triton in what should be an exciting match (though the outcome is not in a lot doubt; Triton seems to be losing ever Arena Mexico match since announcing he was leaving soon.)

There’s also a special rudo/rudo trios, with Mephisto, Polvora and Luciferno versus Negro Casas, Tiger, and Puma. Knowing what we know now, I wonder if this was actually and truly meant to be the trios title match we won’t shut up about. Only, Polvora’s in there because Ephesto is out for a month and that’s something they would’ve known when putting the card together last week. We’ll see if they say anything about the title shot situation or Ephesto’s status in this match.

The main event is Caristico, Dragon Lee and Marco versus the Guerreros (UG, GG, Euforia), which could also be good. The segunda is Starman, Sangre Imperial and Magia Blanca against Nitro, Skandalo and Sangre Azteca, which probably won’t be. The show opens with a Leono & Bengala vs Inquisidor & El Cholo match; you should probably just skip the first 45 minutes.

CultIcon previews this show. It starts at 7:30pm local, which is still one hour later if you’re on Daylight Savings Time.

Guadalajara has it’s own Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show tonight, honoring Ringo Mendoza. The big title match is Hechicero defending the NWA Light Heavyweight Championship against Stuka Jr., where the rudo is expected to retain. The main event is another Ingobernables versus Diamante Azul match, with Volador & Matt Taven filling out the tecnico side.

Perro Aguayo Jr. passed away two years ago today. AAA & Perros del Mal are holding a mass in his honor. ESPN talks to Dorian Roldan & Monster Clown on their thoughts, and many luchadors are sharing their remembrances on Twitter. Record interviews Damain 666, who’s insistent Perro would not have picked another way to die.

The Vice video feature on Sam Adonis is now online.

The replacements for the CMLL luchadors on the 04/01 FEW show in Orlando include Silver King, Rey Horuz, Bestia 666, and Gronda II of all people.

Llaves y Candados added Rey Fenix, DJZ and X-Fly to their 04/09 ColiseoMania show. Rey Fenix was previously said to specifically not be on the show due to other bookings, so something must’ve changed.

ChilangaMask announced a ruleta de la muerte with Black Terry, Solar, Trauma I, Trauma II, Makabre, Mr. Maldito and the Platino for thier 04/23 show.

Legend announced they’re hosting an AAA TV taping in Arena Aficion on May 16th. That wasn’t on the schedule announced early this year (though there was a taping for the city announced in October.) I’m guessing it replaces the 05/20 show in Contla, Tlaxcala.

A FULL press release makes it sounds like the DistrioMania show on May 21st will be on TV, though no details. Their government sponsored free show on Sunday had a big turnout. FULL always seems to be very good at getting sponsored shows.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

TKD reviews Homenaje a Dos Leyendas.

+Lucha’s podcast has Puma, Argenis, Chik Tormenta and Dragon Fly as guests. Dragon Fly’s interviewed because the mystery Japanese promotion he was going to turned out to be a tryout with Dragon Gate. He debuted on their 03/19 show in Aichi. He wasn’t on the next show and isn’t listed on other cards, so it might have just been a one day thing. I bet I’ll know more if I listen to the podcast.

Aerostar talks about reaching 10 years of wrestling AAA and sounds very happy to be there. He says the company has an infinite amount of talent. Infinity sounds like a lot.

A profile of El Paso’s New Era Wrestling promotion.

Paste Machine writes about the latest version of LA Park vs Rush.

Mascara 2000 has a new album.

Lineup

CMLL (MON) 03/27/2017 Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja & Hijo de Centella Roja vs El Perverso & Sombra Diabólika
2) Black Tiger, Espíritu Maligno, Millenium vs Apocalipsis, Inquisidor, Policeman
3) Fuego, Pegasso, Soberano Jr. vs Misterioso Jr., Skándalo, Toro Bill Jr.
4) Princesa Sugehit © vs Zeuxis [MEX WOMEN]
believed to be second defense (first defense was scheduled to be a bonus match on 03/19 in Arena Coliseo Monterrey)
5) Marco Corleone, Matt Taven, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
6) Diamante Azul, Mr. Niebla, Terrible vs La Máscara, Pierroth, Rush

Main event is a rematch. The one part of the story that’s moved on H2L is now it seems like most everyone (tecnicos/rudos) against Los Ingobernables. I keep thinking every show Taven appears on is going to be his last, but he’s staying around longer. This will be the the third Sugehit/Zeuxis title match in the last month or so, and the first actually taped.

First half of this card looks very iffy. Toro Bill gets a rare tercera without his usual partner. Apocalispis & Inquisidor make rare appearances in Puebla at all; Apocalipsis hasn’t been here since December (only twice last year) and Inquisidor since October.

new lucha videos for the weekend of March 17th, 2017

Only the Wednesday IWRG aired. No CMLL Friday show since that was an iPPV.

YouTube playlist.

03/18 Elite: Cloud Drive

03/18 & 03/19 WWC: Cloud Drive

AAA on Televisa: 2017-03-18
Cloud Drive
taped 2017-03-05 @ Plaza de Toros Rodolfo Rodriguez el Pana, Apizaco, Tlaxcala
1) Lanzeloth, Máscara de Bronce, Venum vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota, Soul Rocker
2) Dark Cuervo & Joe Lider vs Angélico & Australian Suicide, Hijo de Pirata Morgan & Pirata Morgan in a Number One Contenders Match match and for the AAA World Tag Team Championship
3) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Texano Jr. © for the AAA World Heavyweight Championship

CMLL Guerreros del Ring on 52MX: 2017-03-18
Cloud Drive
taped 2017-03-06 @ Arena Puebla
1) Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Stigma vs Canelo Casas, Sangre Azteca, Virus
2) Ángel de Oro, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Bobby Villa, Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora
3) Rush vs Último Guerrero

IWRG Zona XXI: 2017-03-18
Cloud Drive
taped 2017-03-15 @ Arena Naucalpan
1) Lunatic Extreme, Odín, Ovett vs Adrenalina, Atomic Star, Vórtize
2) Alas de Acero, Aramis, Shadow Boy vs Araña de Plata, Keiser Drago, Power Bull
3) Black Dragón, Cadilac, Danny Casas vs Diablo Jr., El Hijo del Diablo, Imposible
4) Emperador Azteca, Freelance, Pantera I vs Demonio Infernal, Heddi Karaoui, Relámpago