Lucha Memes (SUN) 06/18/2017 Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México [+LuchaTV, Black Terry Jr. (Flickr)]
1) Alas de Acero & Aramis b King Rocker (Puebla) & Rey Samuray (Puebla)
2) Toxin b Arkalis
3) Arez, Belial, Impulso b Blue Tiger (Puebla), Hijo Del Vikingo, Perverso Jr. (Puebla)
4) Rey Apocalipsis b Eterno
5) Demus 3:16 b Iron Kid
Good but hard hitting match. Demus continued to attack Iron Kid after the match until Alas de Acero & Aramis made the save. Demus said he was coming after all three Kamikazes.
6) Multifacetico (Puebla) & Prayer b Sádico & Toxin
Toxin replaced Terry 2000 (might explain why it’s last if they were waiting for him). Prayer suffered a knee injury.
Mexico State went 3-2 over the Puebla team, winning the first three and losing the last two (which again suggest the card order had to be switched around in progress.) Rey Apocalipsis beating Eterno is the surprising upset. I hope this show did well – crowd seemed not packed but nicely filled for a show with these names, showing the Lucha Memes name itself means a bit – because groups of indie guys all piling into a car and going someplace else seems to have been a thing helped grow indie wrestling in the US and maybe it can help in Mexico. Luchadors need that experience wrestling people they don’t normally work with, and the better ones can stand out on different shows. Some of the Puebla guys can be seen pretty regularly Monday nights in Arena Puebla, but CMLL’s made it pretty clear there’s no path to success from there unless you happen to be in a royal family. Maybe they can make another one.
IWRG (SUN) 06/18/2017 Arena Naucalpan [The Gladiatores]
1) Atomic Star & Lunatic Xtreme b Dragón Yuki & Voltar
Dragon Yuki replaced Shadow Boy, making his first appearance here in 10 years.
2) Climax Jr. & Shaolin b Power Bull & Vórtize
3) Black Dragón b Leo, Aramis, Demonio Infernal, Freelance
4) Hip Hop Man, Pibe Alfajor, Villano III Jr. b Dinamic Black, Dragón Fly, Látigo
Latigo replaced Centvrion, but still betrayed his team because Indy Nation doesn’t like Dinamic Black.
5) Emperador Azteca b La Mosca © [IWRG IC WELTER]
Emperador Azteca becomes the 36th champion. La Mosca falls on his second defense after Hip Hop Man interference failed.
6) Internacional Pantera, Pantera del Japon, Pantera I b Diablo Jr., El Hijo del Diablo, Eterno
the debuting Pantera del Japan is probably Kohei Fujimura from Wrestle-1
7) Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro b Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan, Súper Mega
Bloody match. Super Mega needed a stretcher after a martinete. Piratas wanted a rematch in an apuesta match next week and the Oficials said OK.
Emperador Azteca beating Mosca for his title seems a quiet way to end the Argentina run. Azecta has been feuding with Imposible, so maybe that’ll be the feud.
Nights with AAA running a taping at the same time as CMLL airs a streaming show aren’t new. Usually those are Friday nights, but AAA is running a rare Monday taping . Monday is Nuevo Laredo’s usual show day, so the TV taping takes place tonight. The usual CMLL Puebla show starts at 9pm and the AAA show is scheduled to start at the same time (but will be 30-45 minutes later.) The AAA show will not air live; they’re so far ahead in taping that this show won’t start airing for about a month, on July 15th. There’s a good chance you’ll see the results this weekend and have forgotten what exactly happens by the time it finally airs.
This is an AAA TV taping in 2017, so we have both a lineup and an expectation that the lineup doesn’t really matter but everyone listed on the show will show up in one way or other. The main event was announced as Faby Apache, Hijo del Fantasma, Psycho Clown versus Dr. Wagner, Kevin Kross and Taya. The match seemed designed to follow current feuds (with Kross continuing as a stand in for Mundo) but it’s unclear if the Faby/Taya feud is still on. Taya & Faby had run-ins on the Tijuana taping, but Faby beating Ayako Hamada to get a title shot at Taya was not aired on TV.
The other notable missing match from recent TV was the special Lucha Underground match in Tijuana, where Aerstar & Drago beat Killshot & Marty. Killshot didn’t wear his mask for that match, which is my guess for why it didn’t air. We’ll see if he’s masked tonight, or if he’s even there tonight. He was in England as of this morning, which is a long way from Nuevo Laredo. He can make it, it’s just going to be a long day.
The scheduled semimain is OGT vs Ricky Marvin’s friends. OGT previously challenged Poder del Norte for a trios title match, so it’s possible that may happen here instead – or maybe they’ll just set up something for TripleMania with all three teams. (Setting up things for TripleMania should be a goal here, since this will be on one of the last tapings to air before a taping.) Ricky Marvin is still around AAA; an interview with him from the AAA offices aired on Zona Ruda this week. It might have been an older one, but they wouldn’t be airing it at all if he was gone.
Pagano versus Mesias, a likely TripleMania match, is the other big match listed for the card – but there’s no telling if any of this is going to happen. You can see the scheduled lineup and make your own guesses.
There’s only 3 more scheduled TV tapings after this one prior to TripleMania: 06/30 in Puebla, 07/16 in Monterrey and 07/27 in Aguascalientes. The last one was moved up a week, creating a four week quiet period of no taping activity leading up to TripleMania. AAA’s heading to Colombia one of those weekends, but it’s still strangely large – maybe something else will be added. I’m not sure.
We can be pretty confident about the matches taking place tonight in Arena Puebla. The big match is Hechicero defending the NWA Light Heavyweight Championship against Atlantis. Atlantis is a former champion, but he’s also currently national light heavyweight champion and is unlikely to win tonight, but is an interesting opponent for Hechicero. Hechicero just faced Atlantis’ old rival Satanico in this same arena, Atlantis has faced Hechicero’s old rival Caifan a few times on Lucha Memes shows, but this is the first time they’ve ever met in a singles match. Hechicero is great, especially against the older luchadors, and this could be an interesting match if they go for it.
Semimain might also set up an interesting match with an older luchador. It’s a trios rematch, with Peste Negra (Negro Casas, Mr. Niebla, and Cavernario) versus Carsitico, Dragon Lee and Mistico. Dragon Lee versus Negro Casas was the focus last week, and could set up a lightweight title match for next week.
The rest of the card is the usual filler, with one interesting match among a lot of people scheduled on the card just to get in their weekly work. There’s one match too many on the show, just to reach those numbers, and may work against the main event going too long. Angel de Oro, Stigma & Titan face Dragon Rojo, Polvora and Vangellys in the best chance for another good match on the show. Ares & Espiritu Maligno continue to be booked every week against each other despite not feuding; they’ll team with Black Tiger, Lestat, Arkangel and Rey Apocalipsis. (Puebla’s anniversary show is probably on 07/17, they ran King Jaguar/Black Tiger the week after last year, so something should be brewing among the locals buy now.) Estrellita & Sanely face Amapola & Dalys in a rare women’s 2v2 tag match and the show opens with the Centella Rojas against Fuerza Chicana & Policeman.
A show headlined by Carsitico & Mistico versus Ultimo Guerrero & Volador sold out Mazatlan’s Cancha German Evers (more than 2000 people, largest crowd in some time.) They were also honoring singer Julio Preciado, so he might have had something to do with it. Principe Kisho & Terremoto King Jr. picked up the Pacific Coast Tag Team championship from Vaquero Jr. & Gallo in the semimain.
A new lucha libre documentary (Rudismo) on a local luchador is scheduled to debut in Leon’s film festival on 06/26.
La Jarochita is headed to Japan for REINA on 07/19.
Lineups
CMLL (SUN) 06/25/2017 Arena México
1) Magia Blanca & Sangre Imperial vs Artillero & Templario
2) Astral, Star Jr., Stigma vs Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Virus
3) Drone, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Morphosis, Pólvora
4) Kráneo, Pierroth, Rush vs Diamante Azul, Titán, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Carístico, Mistico, Niebla Roja vs Euforia, Shocker, Último Guerrero
I don’t think CMLL will be streaming this one. UG/Niebla Roja in the main event in the main event.
CMLL (SUN) 06/25/2017 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Patriarca & Owen vs Destello & Destructor
2) Cirujano, Neutrón, Rielero vs Difunto, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
3) Esfinge, Magnum, Metatrón vs Exterminador, Furia Roja, Maléfico
4) Joker © vs Vaquero Jr. [OCCIDENTE MIDDLE]
3rd defense
5) Tigre Blanco vs El Divino, Cosmos, Gran Kenut, Thunder Boy, Linterna, Fantástico, Black Sugar, Relámpago Azul, Guerrero de la Muerte [cage, mask]
This was set up two weeks ago (yesterday was the MDA show, which looked packed – hoping for a full recap to turn up, but I don’t think they’ve gotten to the Tuesday show yet, let me start this again)
These matches were all set up two weeks ago, a big show for the local guys who mostly work just the Sunday show. There’s no strong favorite in the mask match. I’d be surprised if Joker lost his title, but Vaquero is the kind of guy who’d beat him and it’s also a title that’s only defended twice a year anyway.
Cirujano and Owen are the latest new names. There’s a Cirujano wrestling regularly in Tonala (20 minutes away), so maybe it’s him. There was actually an Owen who wrestled a bonus match back in 2009. I’m assuming it’s someone new.
