Lucha Underground 3×29: The Hunger Inside

shotgun

Matches

Fenix beat Pindar in a Cueto Cup quarterfinal (5:17, top rope double stomp, good)

Prince Puma beat Dante Fox in a Cueto Cup quarterfinal (10:55, 630 splash, excellent)

Johnny Mundo beat Dragon Azteca Jr. (8:53, Fin de Mundo, great)

Developments

don’t mess with Dante Fox

(This is another episode way way more GIFs than I could use; you can see them all here.)

The big news was at the end. Johnny Mundo defeated Dragon Azteca cleanly, then went to break his neck with a chair. Rey Mysterio made the save. Mysterio and Azteca got Mundo to back off and left, but Mundo snuck back – he noticed Rey’s family was sitting in the front row. Mundo and Dominic got into a war of words and Mundo called security on Rey’s son. Rey ran back out, and right into an ambush by the rest of Worldwide Underground. (They’d been banned from the match, but now the match was definitely over.) Worldwide Underground held Rey for a belt shot – but Johnny hit Dominic, with his buddies making Rey watch. Their match is now three episodes away.

Taya, Jack and PJ accepted that ban from the match because they were offered a spot in a 3v3 Azteca Medallion match next week by Dario Cueto. I’m not sure what or if Dario promised the same to other people, but there was a noticeable lack of in match interference on the show.

That meant Fenix didn’t have to deal with Marty or Mariposa in his match, and he was able to win and move to the semifinals with Melissa cheering him on. Pindar put up a competitive fight but ended up being no match. As Striker pointed out, Fenix was able to get a little bit of revenge for the Reptile Tribe winning the trios titles. We did catch the Moth later, stalking Melissa in the parking lot again as she and Fenix flirted. Marty’s decided he could break those two off if he could just take Fenix’s mask away.

There was similarly no interference in the Puma/Fox match, an incredible battle that had the crowd cheering for both men who currently posses questionable ethics. Dante Fox lost but was so over by the end that the crowd didn’t much care for Killshot attacking Dante after the fact for some revenge. Killshot confirmed it wasn’t over between them.

Dante Fox finds the most dangerous way to fall

Fenix and Prince Puma will face in the semifinals (in two episodes). They leave these matches for next week:

  • Pentagon Dark vs Texano in a Cueto Cup semifinal
  • Mil Muertes vs Jeremiah Crane in a Cueto Cup semifinal
  • PJ Black, Jack Evans, Taya vs TBA for 3 Aztec Medallions

The show featured a couple more plot check-ins. Matanza appears to be physically healthy as his fall thru the upper level, but Dario has some questions about his mental health. Dario feels his brother hunger for revenge on Rey led him to be weak minded enough to be thwarted again by Mysterio, and more failure will cause the Gods to cast Matanza aside or even destroy him.

Meanwhile, Captain Vazquez has noticed Councilman Delgado is very much dead and knows Cage did it, but she’s more focused on getting the gauntlet than the man himself. Officer Reyes/Cortez Castro/Veneno wants no part of that idea, saying no man alive could get that gauntlet off of Cage right now. Vazquez seemed to have a plan as she looked at her half locket.

Thoughts

watch where Dante’s head ends up

This was one of the best Lucha Underground episodes ever. Prince Puma versus Dante Fox might be the best non-stipulation match they’ve had on this show; I’m only not saying it absolute because I may have forgotten something, but it’s way up there.

The Lucha Underground taping situation makes the show unlike any other wrestling show. They don’t have the luxury of hearing criticism and adjusting their course, because these shows were taped months (over a year now!) before anyone saw them. This is one of those episodes that felt strangely like it broke thru the time barrier, as if they in 2016 traveled forward in time to 2017, heard people complaining about all the interference in recent episodes, and went back to 2016 to very specifically fix it. In reality, I think they must do a good bit of self-criticism (and maybe listening to some Temple regulars) to figure this stuff out. A big part of why this episode worked was that neccesary correction, that purposeful decision to keep the run-ins out of the matches. They still got the same stuff over – and the Mundo/Mysterio build was better for the way they had done it instead of Worldwide Underground just costing someone a match – but they did it while getting out of the way of the matches.

This was a great week to get out of the way of the matches! Pindar/Fenix was good and Pindar/Fenix was clearly the third best match on the show. I had a little bit higher hopes for it and it didn’t breakout Pindar (that went to someone else!) but got to show a lot more than he had leading into this point. He was finally a luchador who could do some nice stuff, not just Reptile Goon #2, and that’s important progress. He also meshed as well with Fenix as expected, and the double knee drop at the end looked devastating. There’s definitely more there if they go back to it, and I hope they do.

just screaming at this point

Johnny Mundo/Dragon Azteca was even more successful. It hearkened back to those first season Mundo vs X showcase matches, where someone new-ish would push Mundo for about 8 minutes in a fun match before he could put them down. Mundo’s more aggressive as a rudo and controlled a lot of the first few minutes, but Azteca pulled off super move after super move in rallying back. I don’t know that they ever quite got the point where Mundo ever felt truly in trouble, but Azteca showed more in this match than any one prior to it. The post match angle with Dominic was really well done; they probably didn’t need to spend more time on building that Rey/Mundo match, but this was the most effective thing they’ve done.

One of the most memorable moments of this episode was one of the few things which didn’t go well. The Temple crowd was so loud all show long, but so quiet when Killshot came out and dropped their guy Dante Fox. Because Dante really was the Lucha Underground Temple’s guy at that point. It’s tough to credit this as a breakout performance when Fox is breaking out every single match he’s in of late, but he looked every bit as good as Prince Puma in this match. And Prince Puma looked every bit as good anyone in the world this match. This was incredible fast and fluid and dangerous and impressive all at once, a match that you have to see to believe. It was just under 11 minutes, flew by, and packed in twice as much stuff in that time. Fox was so unbelievably good that he turned both the fans and the announcers away from the intended story (Dark Puma’s darkness is making him impossible to beat) into just rooting for Dante Fox to pull off the impossible upset. They really shouldn’t have been surprised as the reaction to Killshot, the last few moments of this match was Dante Fox heroically to keep going in the face of incredible punishment. Maybe the really great thing is they didn’t give Dante Fox the win quite yet, because a big part of the future should be Dante finally getting these sorts of wins.

The other vignettes were fine. The comedy around Jack being unable to talk with his mouth wired show was good (if a little hurt because he actually had his mouth wired shut.) I’m glad they finally got some plots touched on. The downbeat note is the reveal of three Medallions being given out next week. Nothing says the season is starting to wind down than Medallions being quickly handed in time to have a Gift of the Gods match as part of Ultima Lucha 3. The reality is there’s still plenty of episodes left, but I don’t even want to think about the end after a show like this.

just incredible

great match roundup, week of 2017-07-15

Dante Fox over the post

stuff I watched in this “week”

The Crash isn’t listed below but I did update the MOTYC so it’s thrown in there.

This is generally another week where there’s no reason to watch the Monday/Tuesday shows and yet I did for some reason. I think I probably underrated the Niebla Roja/Gran Guerrero match but it’s nothing I’m going to think about the end of the year so it doesn’t much matter.

Recommended matches

rating matches TV Show taped
great Prince Puma vs PJ Black [Cueto Cup] and [8f] Lucha Underground: 2017-07-19 2016-05-14
good Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana © vs Aerostar, Drago, Raptor for the AAA World Trios Championship AAA Nuevo Laredo Junio 19 2017 El Poder del Norte vs Drago, Aerostar y Raptor (posted by Luis Ordonez) AAA Worldwide desde Nuevo Laredo Parte 1 - Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide - Julio 2017 (posted by Lucha Libre AAA) AAA on Televisa: 2017-07-15 2017-06-19
good Dante Fox vs Son of Havoc [Cueto Cup] and [8f] Lucha Underground: 2017-07-19 2016-05-14
good Blue Panther Jr. & The Panther vs Puma & Tiger LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 21 DE JULIO DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-07-21 2017-07-21
good Blue Panther vs Sam Adonis in a lightning match LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 21 DE JULIO DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-07-21 2017-07-21
good Carístico, Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone vs Kráneo, Pierroth, Rush in a relevos increíbles match LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 21 DE JULIO DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-07-21 2017-07-21
good Copa Natalia Vazquez LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 21 DE JULIO DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-07-21 2017-07-21
good Dragón Lee, Niebla Roja, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 21 DE JULIO DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-07-21 2017-07-21

Other matches watched

rating matches TV Show taped
ok Marty Martinez vs Texano Jr. AAA Nuevo Laredo Junio 19 2017 Texano vs Marty The Moth (posted by Luis Ordonez) AAA Worldwide desde Nuevo Laredo Parte 1 - Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide - Julio 2017 (posted by Lucha Libre AAA) AAA on Televisa: 2017-07-15 2017-06-19
ok Big Mami & Niño Hamburguesa vs Lady Shani & Venum for the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship AAA Worldwide desde Nuevo Laredo Parte 1 - Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide - Julio 2017 (posted by Lucha Libre AAA) AAA on Televisa: 2017-07-15 2017-06-19
ok Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria © vs Hernandez & Máscara de Bronce for the AAA World Tag Team ChampionshipAAA Worldwide desde Nuevo Laredo Parte 1 - Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide - Julio 2017 (posted by Lucha Libre AAA) AAA on Televisa: 2017-07-15 2017-06-19
ok Black Tiger & Meyer vs Fuerza Chicana & Rey ApocalipsisLA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 17 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-17 2017-07-17
ok Astro, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Joker, Pequeño Nitro, Pierrothito LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 17 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-17 2017-07-17
ok Ángel de Oro, Stigma, Stuka Jr. vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 17 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-17 2017-07-17
ok Carístico, Diamante Azul, Euforia vs Mistico, Pierroth, Volador Jr. in a relevos increíbles match LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 17 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-17 2017-07-17
ok Último Guerrero © vs Niebla Roja for the NWA World Middleweight Championship LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 17 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-17 2017-07-17
ok Angelito & Fantasy vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 18 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-18 2017-07-18
ok Flyer, Príncipe Diamante, Robin vs Akuma, Arkángel de la Muerte, Metálico LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 18 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-18 2017-07-18
ok Fuego, Oro Jr., Pegasso vs Disturbio, Nitro, Sangre AztecaDisturbio Cmll Arena México CDMX 18.07.2017 (posted by Princesa Dorada) Disturbio Cmll Arena México CDMX 18.07.2017 (posted by Princesa Dorada) LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 18 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-18 2017-07-18
ok Johnny Idol vs Vangellys in a lightning match LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 18 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-18 2017-07-18
ok Rey Cometa, Titán, Valiente vs Gran Guerrero, Hechicero, Negro Casas LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 18 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-18 2017-07-18
ok Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Mistico vs Mephisto, Rey Bucanero, Terrible LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 18 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-18 2017-07-18
below average Astral, Lestat, Tigre Rojo Jr. vs Hijo del Signo, King Jaguar, Sangre Azteca LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 17 DE JULIO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-07-17 2017-07-17
not rated Cage vs Pindar [Cueto Cup] and [8f] Lucha Underground: 2017-07-19 2016-05-14

 

Lucha Underground, La Llave de la Gloria Stage 4, Angel de Oro still champ

Bucanero tried

CMLL (TUE) 08/01/2017 Arena México [Ovaciones]
1) Apocalipsis & Inquisidor b Bengala & Magia Blanca LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 1º DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
CMLL recap lists Espiritu Negro in the match, photos show Inquisidor (moved down!) to replace him.
2) Fantasy, Stukita, Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 1º DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
tecnicos took 1/3
3) El Consejo, Oro Jr., Star Jr. b Arkángel de la Muerte, Luciferno, Metálico LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 1º DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Luciferno replaced Inquisidor. Tecnicos took 1/3.
4) Drone, Fuego, Stigma b Misterioso Jr., Raziel, Sangre Azteca LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 1º DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Sagrado was announced, but double booked. The preview listed Misterioso in the spot. Tecnicos took 1/3.
5) Mistico, Stuka Jr., Valiente b Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 1º DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
tecnicos took 1/3.
6) Ángel de Oro © b Rey Bucanero [CMLL MIDDLELUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 1º DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Angel de Oro took 2/3. first defense.

The main event look good from what I saw and the rest of the show lived down to exceptions. I haven’t heard it for myself yet, but it sounded like the CMLL announcers went with the idea that El Consejo is a new young person, even though he’s dressed in Nitro’s gear and looks exactly like 50 year old Nitro.

CMLL changed Saturday’s lineup to have Chamuel (evil small clown) instead of Chico Temido (blond mohawk) in the micros match, begging the question: Did CMLL book the wrong little person? Note that they had Nitro and Consejo booked on shows at the same time.

In the same vein: Stukita will be headed to women’s wrestling promotion REINA on 08/15. They’re doing male matches in the openers on those shows because they don’t really have enough women left to do a women’s only card, and Stukita will also be working a Fukumenmanía card on the 17th.

CMLL’s website has interviwes with Blue Panther & Sam Adonis. Adonis claims he’s got a friend in Texas who owns a farm, and Sam will talk to his farmer friend about giving Panther a job after he ends his wrestling career on Friday night. What a generous man. Univision is airing a piece on Sam Adonis this Saturday. Blue Panther says he’s looking forward to the crowd chanting Si Se Puede after he wins on Friday. I do wonder how that crowd is going to react if Adonis wins on Friday, if it moves from mostly booing the over the top rudo because it’s fun to mostly being actually seriously upset.

Lucha Underground

Lucha Underground tonight is episode 29, “The Hunger Inside”. Matches announced for the show

  • Fenix vs Pindar in a Cueto Cup quarterfinal
  • Dante Fox vs Prince Puma in a Cueto Cup quarterfinal
  • Johnny Mundo vs El Dragon Azteca Jr.

The preview also mentions catching up with the Dario/Matanza relationship, checking in Captain Vasquez (who hasn’t been on the show in months) and Marty messing with Melissa some more.

The Azteca/Mundo match fits the same mold of all the Cueto Cup quarterfinals: one guy who’s been near the top of Lucha Underground for about the entire run versus one guy who’s come in later and been stuck on the third tier of guys looking for a breakout match. “El Dragon Azteca Jr.” should be an important character in the mythos of Lucha Underground but has been mostly been portrayed as hapless and hot headed sidekick for a couple seasons. His role in the plot and the possible departures of others makes it likely he’ll be leaned on a lot more in any possible future seasons, and he could use a strong performance to get him going again.

If you’re a person who watched AAA when Steve Pain was around, and know that Pindar is Steve Pain, you’re probably pretty excited for that quarterfinal. If you’re the vast majority of people, you’re somewhat surprised about the fourth most important person in the Reptile Tribe making it this far with no discernible character traits. A recent Lucha of the Hidden Table mentioned Cage was having some knee problems at this point, which was the reason the Cage/Pindar match was so short, and maybe the reason why Pindar is wrestling Fenix while Cage gets some time on the sidelines. Hopefully, Pindar gets to make something out of this opportunity.

As far as I can tell, the last time Prince Puma & Dante Fox had a match was 2014 in China for WWN Live. (WrestlingData has their matchups but also spoils the result here.)

On the Way 2 Real podcast this past week, Justin Harvey of the MMM Podcast mentioned his sources say it’s actually MGM who owns the rights to distribute Lucha Underground in the US, not Lucha Libre FMV or El Rey. His version, which probably comes from people who work directly in the production side of Lucha Underground, is MGM is actually selling the rights to the show back to El Rey. I’d always understood it the other way, that El Rey owned the show and MGM just had the international rights. It’s an importance difference – it’d mean that if El Rey doesn’t pick up LU S4, MGM would be free to take the show to another US network.

Edit: I got the general sense of it correct but the details not quite; should’ve listened again before writing. The correct idea is MGM does not have the LU US rights now , but those rights would revert back to MGM should El Rey not agree to renew by a cut off date and MGM would be free to try and sell them elsewhere and may or may not have any success doing so.

Finding networks willing to pick up wrestling shows has been tough for TNA/GFW/Impact (and LU has some content that might be a bigger concern to other networks), but almost any other network would be carried by more providers than El Rey.

This is deep dark guessing at LU future, but – as Justin alludes to – could explain what’s the hold up with the renewal. MGM wants $X per season now, El Rey wants to pay something less than X, and the two sides might be having a staring contest until they get close enough to the drop dead date and a deal gets done. A wrestling only company might be more eager to take what El Rey’s offering because they need to keep the running, but a corporation like MGM isn’t going to be affected to wait six more months if it means they get paid a bit more in the end. This is all assuming is Justin right, which, no slight meant to anyone, but no one person saying something on the internet should be held up as the definite truth of what’s going on.

Ivelisse, who has said some things on the Twitter deal recently that have not exactly been correct, says “filming is resuming soon” in a plug to book her on shows. I think that’s probably just trying to get some urgency in getting bookings, but I’m putting it here just in case it turns out Ivelisse knew it first. I credit everyone here.

Wrestle Corner interviewed Vampiro, which is totally delightful if you want to hear Vampiro explain the history of Japanese wrestling. It was taped as San Diego Comic Con so you maybe can read into something he was saying. He says it was Dorian who called him to work for Lucha Underground way back when.

Lucha Underground Season 2 starts on SamuraiTV this Friday.

La Llave a La Gloria

AAA announced Vendaval, Arabe Jr., Rocky Lobo, Delirius, S/N, Celestial, Cosmico, Pequeno Talisman, Chicano, Dragon del Baijo as the winners of their Round 4 La Llave a la Gloria tryout. Some of these are familiar: Rocky Lobo is overqualified to be involved, having just been on Elite TV last year with experience in NOAH & Dragon Gate – Rocky was even in the 2012 AAA Quien Pinta Por La Corona contest, where he advanced out of Puebla but did not win. Celestial, Cosmico and Pequeno Talisman are the Perros del Mal minis. Chicano is the occasion IWRG luchador who’s based in Chihuahua.

The other names are a bit obscure. There’s a Vendaval around Mexico City, but I suspect this is the one who wrestles in Tabasco. Arabe Jr. is long time early match wrestler in La Laguna, but hasn’t shown up yet on the AMLL channel. (He’s in this match on Facebook.) Delirius wrestles in Queretaro, but there’s not many new videos from there. I have nothing in the database for a Dragon del Baijo, and S/N is literally “sin nombre”; they put his registration number up there so he would know he won, but his identity is a mystery to everyone else.

If we count the people who have appeared in La Llave de la Gloria matches on TV tapings but haven’t actually been listed as finalists in tapings, I believe they’re at 65 people. Even that number is suspect, because there’s obviously another way into the tournament (training with someone associated with AAA?) and we don’t know exactly how many people will get in that way. And maybe some of the people who advanced thru tryout don’t make it to the final for some reason or another. I’m going to go with “there’s a lot of people left.”

The final stage is August 12 at Arena Naucalpan. It starts at 9AM, so it must be an all day thing.

Other AAA Things

Leo Riano’s column says it’s a 99% chance TripleMania airs on Televisa. Riano also seems to praise the idea of TripleMania being on the same night as a big boxing show but thinks CMLL should avoid being on the same night as a big boxing show, so I dunno.

EN+CARADOS, +LuchaTV’s podcast, had Lady Shani, el Caifan, Dr. Cerbero, and Hijo de Dos Caras. It’s pretty easy to root for Lady Shani based on some of her comments on this podcast, and there’d be some sound reasons for her to beat Sexy Star: TripleMania is a great place to make a new star and Sexy Star needs some in-house opponents with some credibility. They could even do a double turn, since Sexy Star seems to want to be a tecnica and Shani would rather be a ruda. There’s absolutely zero chance Shani’s going to win; the goal here seems not to be “put on matches people would be interested in seeing” but actually “keep Sexy Star happy”.

On the same podcast, Hijo de Dos Caras said AAA invited Alberto to TripleMania, but he doesn’t think Alberto is going. Alberto himself said he was going last month, so something changed. AAA and Alberto have had a rocky relationship, so it’s not necessarily the recent airport incident, could be any number of things.

Arena Queretaro seems to have sold out for the AAA/TAO show.

Other Things

Alberto el Patron wants you to know that he was a much bigger star than his uncle ever was. OK. He’s also retiring in two years, where two years is not a fixed amount of time.

Queretaro luchador Brujo Maya passed away on Monday. He was only 25. Cause of death isn’t mentioned. Brujo Maya was Canek’s nephew and the son of local luchador Perro del Ring.

In Arena Aficion, Nemesis & Cadillac won the X-LAW Tag Team titles from Aeroboy & Rey Gato and Mini Psycho Clown kept the AAA minis title over Concord.

DTU’s July shows are showing up, in some form, on Smark Mark Video in the US. There’s a trailer up for them and it mentions four shows – maybe it’s full shows, maybe it’s just the GCW matches? It’s coming soon.

Ciclope & Miedo Extremo debut for GCW in New Jersey on 09/16, as part of the DTU/GCW talent sharing. Aeroboy & Drastick Boy are working the ChilangaMask copromoted shows that same weekend and there’s the (Cicero) Chicago show with Hijo del Santo and others that Sunday. I’m kind of surprised how many luchadors are working outside of Mexico that weekend, but I suspect that’s all about the economic differences.

The latest Lucha Talk is up.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

Segunda Caida reviews King Cuerno vs Mil Muertes from Ultima Lucha 2.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 08/06/2017 Arena Naucalpan
1) Celestial vs Lunatic Xtreme
2) Fly Tiger & Shaolin vs Demonio Infernal & Diablo Jr.
3) Mike & Teelo vs Argos & Dr. Karonte Jr.
4) Bombero Infernal, Freelance, Hijo del Alebrije vs Eterno, Kempo Jr., Monaguillo
5) Black Dragón vs Gallo Frances
6) Herodes Jr., Hijo del Pantera, Internacional Pantera vs Emperador Azteca, Golden Magic, Hijo De Dos Caras
7) Hijo de Pirata Morgan & Pirata Morgan vs Black Warrior & Warrior Jr.

These cards getting longer is something I only think about because AYM typically will only tape the last four matches. We’ll never get to see who wins between a Ninja Turtle and a Caristico Brother. Warrior Jr. getting a main event probably years because he’s ready simply because his father is there.

CMLL (TUE) 08/08/2017 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Universo 2000 & Pequeño Violencia
2) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Sanely vs La Seductora, Metálica, Tiffany
3) Rey Cometa vs Forastero [lightning]
4) Drone, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Ephesto, Felino, Luciferno
5) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Titán vs Mr. Niebla, Rey Bucanero, Terrible
6) Mistico, Rush, Valiente vs Cavernario, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero

This is a better card than last night, you can start watching about 40 minutes in. I thought this might be Forastero’s first singles match here but he had one back in November against Fuego. Rush booked as a tecnico because they actually believe that’s the side he belongs on.

CMLL (TUE) 08/08/2017 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno vs Frezzer & Furia Roja
2) Príncipe Diamante, Starman, Stigma vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Disturbio, Inquisidor
3) Lady Maravilla, Silueta, Skadi vs Amapola, Dalys, Zeuxis
4) Blue Panther, Johnny Idol, Stuka Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, Sam Adonis
5) Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Pierroth

No results from last night, but Volador, Diamante Azul & Euforia are the carry overs from that main event so the feud’s in there somewhere. Diamante Azul brings the Occidente Heavyweight Championship with him in every match but has not defended it since May of 2014 – and I think everyone pointed it out when he was in the Universal tournament, so perhaps they’re getting on it.

CMLL Martes de Nuevo Valores: 2017-07-18 

Gran Guerrero puts a stop to Titan

Recapped: 07/20/2017

All matches aired live from Arena Mexico

Matches: 

Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia beat Angelito & Fantasy
(11:56 [4:41, 3:43, 3:32], 1/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Akuma, Arkángel de la Muerte, Metálico beat Flyer, Príncipe Diamante, Robin  
(15:42 [6:15, 3:15, 6:12], 1/3, ok, via 
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Fuego, Oro Jr., Pegasso beat Disturbio, Nitro, Sangre Azteca
(10:51 [3:06, 3:41, 4:04], 2/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Vangellys beat Johnny Idol in a lightning match
(5:41, northern lights suplex, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Gran Guerrero, Hechicero, Negro Casas beat Rey Cometa, Titán, Valiente
(13:06 [5:05, 3:42, 4:19], 1/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

Mephisto, Rey Bucanero, Terrible beat Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Mistico
(13:23 [5:16, 2:17, 5:50], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened: 

Angelito frog splash

Rey Bucanero started a feud with Angel de Oro in the main event.

Johnny Idol clearly had his foot on the ropes on the finishing northern lights suplex pin. CMLL referees are usually reluctant to count pins if someone’s not completely down, but the referee ignored the foot on the ropes here. Idol made sure to point it out, even though it felt like the finish and that he was not actually supposed to do that.

This opener was Angelito’s return after being gone for more than a year. Angelito took a package piledriver from Mercurio as the finish to the opener and went in spasms. They cut away from the ring for a long time and Angelico was quickly being stretchered out when they came back. There was no update and the fans and the promotion treated it like it was nothing important. He continued on with his normal schedule.

Thoughts: 

Pegasso special

Easy show to skip.

The main event was sufficient if not special. Mistico & Caristico are a fun team. I’m interested if Rey Bucanero will be as good with Angel de Oro as he was with Hechicero (which seems unlikely when I type it like that.) You can skip this though.

The semimain has good pace, good action, and people trying. Even if wasn’t the best action, you had them looking good and trying new things. Rey Cometa’s frogsplash is looking better. His spot with Hechicero getting flipped onto the guardrail chest first. This was a fun match on a show with not much fun on it.

Johnny Idol was a better opponent than Pierroth for Vangellys, and it’s not like he or Vangellys were much better. They were just both competent and able to go for longer than three minutes at stretch, so it’s was a setup from the hair match.

Gran Guerrero toss

It’s hard to care about a match with Nitro & Sangre Azteca. Fuego & Pegasso did look good in their runs, Oro treated his win like a big deal, but it’s quickly forgettable.

Arkangel is one of the least fun guys to watch. He’s not good and he’s not good for a long time, as his matches always seem to go longer. Robin and Flyer’s matching Super Sky Team (Sombra/Volador era) gear looked god, and the second fall finished well. I kind of wonder what Akuma would turn into outside this environment. This one of the matches where looked useful but it’s going to be tough for him to get better in these matches.

The minis match was better than usual because of Angelito being back. He had a good fall two and three, and was looking to make an impression. The third fall seemed like it ended early.

Mercurio celebrates a superkick quite a bit