So, sometimes I actually leave my computer screen to go lucha shows. Usually, this happens on a Sunday – but by the time I get home, I’ve got to rush to write a post among a dozen other things. Videos go up on YouTube channel and the results are tucked into the database but I never actually saying much about at the shows. Since my life appears to exist solely to find more content for the website, I’m going to see if I can write a little bit about the couple I saw this past weekend.
CILL (SUN) 06/04/2017 Sierra de Aurora, Aurora, Illinois [thecubsfan]
1) Payaso Loco b Ricky Vidal
Payaso won by convinced Ricky he had a shoe untied and backsliding him
2) Pato 1, Pato 2, Pato 3 b Atómico Jr., Galáctico Kid, Penagono Jr.
Atomico Jr. got a three count on one of the ducks, but insisted it wasn’t three. Pentagono won with a Canadian Destroyer.
3) Furia Roja & Golden Dragón b Pat Monix & Storm Grayson
sort of tecnico/tecnico match. Golden Dragon won via DDT.
4) El Traidor, Fúnebre, Mr. Brisa DDQ Águila Oriental, Atómico, Ojo Blanco
Appeared as if the promoter had enough of the match after too much crowd brawling and called for the DDQ, but possible that was the intended finish of the rudo/rudo match.
5) Mojo Mcqueen, Skayde, Slayer b Billy Star, Golden Star, GPA
turned into a three fall match, with Skayde taking falls 1/3 (the third with Golden Star taping out for about 20 seconds before the referee thought to call it.)
6) Gringo Loco, Penta 0M, Skayde Jr. b Aeroboy, Eros, Tritón 
Penta fouled Aeroboy for the win. Skayde Jr took Aeroboy’s mask, and they agreed to a mask match on the 25th.
I did not know this existed. I would’ve missed it if Aeroboy hadn’t mentioned it on Twitter. I feel like there’s a point in there somewhere.
This was scheduled to be a 12:30 doors open/1:30pm start. It’s an indie lucha libre so I knew enough not to arrive a moment before 1:30 – but if I was actually smart, I wouldn’t have shown up until like 2. The show didn’t get going until nearly 2:30. We all sat in the hot dance hour for a hour, waiting and sweating and listening to very loud music and being told the wrestlers were finally on their way. Their was a Skayde seminar scheduled for 9am and I’m thinking it might have gone long. It also may just be against the luchador code to work a show before 2pm. They did seem to be telling the truth about the guys not being there, and the main eventers had to rush to set up the merch right after the show before they lost everyone.
After the hour wait, the opener was a comedy match with heel stalling and comedy. It was a tough sell. The crowd wasn’t all that reactive on the show, having stewed in the heat so long that they weren’t all that interested in reacting to a guy spinning around on the mat by himself. The first couple of matches were kids still trying to figure lucha libre and their trainers masquerading as clowns and ducks (and a Ninja duck) and not everything worked out well.
Pat Monix has a (his?) phone number on his trunks & Storm Grayson (ex-Rey Furia) has “SLUT” on his. You’d think that means they’re doing some sort of evil womanizing gimmick, but they mostly played it straight here and only a little stronger on the second show. There’s some context I’m totally missing. Mr. Brisa is a name you might have seen in the Arena Coliseo Guadalajara results. I’d seen the mask, but I only realized I’d never really seen him before when this large heavy man came out wearing it. I’m not sure exactly what the deal was with the finish, if the promoter had enough or if the referee had actually counted them out, but he hadn’t been counting any of them out.
The fifth match is the best match I didn’t have room to record this weekend. It was also one where it didn’t appear to be a three fall match until the moment the tecnicos were pinned in the first match without getting any sort of comeback. Golden Star, especially when he’s wearing the green Mexico jersey all weekend, could finish well in Super Crazy look alike competition. Triton had told people he was heading back to Guadalajara for a family issue, and maybe he still is, but I was surprised to see him still around at this point. The main event was leaning towards people having fun rather than a super serious match, but they still Penta get in a lot of his usual big spots and Triton pulling out the springboard moonsault. The garbage can shots were also great, because they sounded so huge while also probably not hurting nearly that much. Catching Pentagon get bowled over by one out of the corner of my camera was a highlight of the night.
I was surprised by the mask challenge: Aeroboy’s not losing his mask just as he’s starting to make US progress, but Skayde Jr. isn’t going to work well as Skayde Jr. without that mask. Maybe he just keeps wearing it anyway, but I feel like there’s out coming. I’ll probably be back on the 25th to see.
Crowd had to be around 80. I wonder if AAA points out shows like this to their wrestlers, ‘warning’ them this would be their fate if they left AAA like Penta. But then, Penta seemed pretty content being there, and maybe that’s a sign about how things were in AAA if he’s probably happier working in front of 80 instead of the thousands AAA drew that day in Juarez.
GALLI (SUN) 06/04/2017 Arena GALLI, Villa Park, Illinois [thecubsfan]
1) Galactic Kid b Atómico Jr., Pentagono Jr.
Galactic Kid win via DDT on Atomico Jr. Pentagono may have been hurt on a superplex/powerbomb spot right before the finish (finish looked improvised.)
2) Ojo Blanco & Traidor b Atómico & Golden Dragón
Traidor won with super DVD. Ojo Blanco announced as from LA.
3) Furia Roja © b Elliot Paul [GALLI JUNIOR]
Paul went for a belt shot but Roja speared him for the win.
4) Venus b Chico Suave, Zen, Draconis, Fly Star
Fly Star from Mexico was added to the match. Venus won with a sort of leg lariat.
5) Eros, Golden Star, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Fúnebre, Mr. Brisa, Slayer
Maya beat Slayer with a reverse tope.
6) Guerrerito & Imperio Azteca © b Pat Monix & Storm Grayson [GALLI TAG]
Monix & Grayson’s antics annoyed friend?/manager? Chico Suave. He attacked Grayson, blaming him for the loss, then betrayed Monix as well. They called Suave back to the ring, but were jumped and destroyed by Skayde Jr. & Gringo Loco.
7) Aeroboy & Mojo Mcqueen b Skayde & Skayde Jr.
Skayde fouled Aeroboy, and Skayde Jr. pulled the trunks on the pin, then unmasked him again.
8) GPA b Barry Ryte © [GALLI CHAMP]
3rd and last match. Ryte never seemed to get control of the match at any point without his manager interfering. After every trick in the book, GPA was too busy caning the manager handicufed to the ropes only for Ryte to foul him and drop him with his finisher for the title change.
9) Billy Star b Penta Zero M, Gringo Loco, Isaias Velazquez, Carnalito
Isaias Velazquez and the debuting Carnalito (claimed to be from Mexicali) were additions. Elimination order: Carnalito, Velazquez, Gringo Loco and Penta 0M, with Billy Star pulling off the win. Post match set up Fenix/Penta vs Billy Star/TBA for September.
Again, I was smart enough to realize there was no way GALLI was going to start on time either and I should go eat dinner rather than hurry to the show. However, had I really been smart, I would’ve just taken the quick trip home and freshened up first. There was plenty of time, another 45 minute wait even after I took my time getting there, and lots of heat. (VIP ticket purchases got a giant fan pointed at them, us commoner did not.) I did get to literally sit in the shows at the farthest possible point away from the ring to be hard to find, so at least it was ideal conditions for me. This was closer to 200 (and at higher prices counting the VIP tickets), just about as much as their current set up is going to fit.
My hot take is Atomico Jr. is the best of the luchadors who are not old enough to get a learner’s permit, but he seemed to be quite angry about whatever went wrong on the finish. Ojo Blanco looked more like a Gato Blanco based on his gear and didn’t really impress. Venus is an exotico and the most popular person in the match. I have no idea how Fly Star ended up in Chicago and being added into a multiman match suggests he just kind of was there and they decided to give him a match. He only got to do a little. Guerrero Maya Jr. was surrounded by people looking for photos and merch when I got there – someone’s watching the YouTube streams or the TV shows on small networks, even if it doesn’t seem like it where we travel. He was the best guy in his match by far and it felt like he should’ve gotten more, but being able to sneak him onto a show with a The Crash guy was probably asking enough. (And then there was a long enough intermission that it felt like it could’ve been a seperate show.)
I expected the tag team title match to be better than it was and I was not as positive on the ex-Rey Furia as the last time I saw him, but this was also a match to set up an angle which might end up changing the character. Gringo Loco and Skayde Jr. looked awesome destroying them. Aeroboy & Skayde’s match here repeated the same ground as the match in Aurora, but I might have been the only person to pay for both so that’s probably the way to go. Maybe you can say the same for the GPA/Ryte match – I was hoping for a taste of what current indie style match GPA had done in Freelance, but this was more like an 80s territory title match with the heel getting nothing in that wasn’t set up by his manager doing something. It worked better for the crowd than it did for me. GPA losing the “no rematches” match and stopping in front of the set to look at the crowd made me wonder if he wasn’t going to be around GALLI as much for the immediate future. I dunno.
I was running out of space when the main event came around, so I waited until Penta to save a few minutes and start with the last guy. Carnalito came out after him. I’ve never seen Carnalito before, don’t have in my database. He was advertised as a debuting guy from Mexicali, but I had this very strange feeling I’d seen someone a lot like him before. I’ve racked my brain from the start of the alphabet to the very end, and I definitely can’t say who it is he reminds me. Carnalito was entertained for the short time he hung around in the match I hope we see him again someday. Isaias was good too, but it was really mostly Gringo, Penta and Billy in the end. Gringo must be going to whoever DJZ uses for haircuts, because the work he had going on looked amazing. Billy had a crazy headscissors that didn’t go right, but he some spectacular stuff go right. I think he was just as good in the afternoon match, but the crowd was more into here because it was him and Penta at the end. Penta deserves credit for putting over a guy that not a lot of people outside the Chicago lucha scene know of, and it definitely made me want to come back to see the tag match they set up.
Billy Star reminds me of seeing Samurai del Sol on these shows. He could do spectacular things, and you could knock him for his size or for not being clean in his moves all the time, but he stood out. Same with Billy Star. You may remember him as the Bandolero who showed up in the spectacular lucha match last year in AIW; AIW’s podcast later mentioned they wanted him back, but he wasn’t interested in the long drives to do it. He seems to be on just about every lucha show I end up going to, and I end up wondering what he far he could go if he wanted that. I’m not sure really how much I should be criticizing someone for lack of ambition given I’m writing a blog about lucha libre for free, but I think more highly of his prospects than mine. If he’s happy just doing what he’s doing, he should keep doing it, but it just feels like there’s something there being missed out on.