CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-08-18 

Monito splash

Recapped: 08/20/2017

Matches:

Astral & Robin beat Cholo & Espíritu Negro
(11:39 [4:43, 2:07, 4:49], 1/3, ok, via 
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Esfinge, Fuego, Stigma beat Cancerbero, Raziel, Universo 2000 Jr.
(11:39 [4:43, 2:07, 4:49], 1/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Sanely beat La Metálica, Tiffany, Zeuxis
(10:32 [3:10, 2:11, 5:11], 2/3, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Stuka Jr. beat Dragón Rojo Jr. in a lightning match
(6:37, torpedo plancha, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. beat Ephesto, Gran Guerrero, Mephisto
(9:24 [3:35, 5:49], 1 DQ/2, ok, via
VideosOficialesCMLL)

Juice Robinson, Marco Corleone, Matt Taven beat Diamante Azul, Valiente, Volador Jr.
(8:55 [2:22, 1:32, 5:01], 1/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)

What happened: 

he’s going to get better at this or break his legs, one of the two

The main event was the debut of Juice Robinson and the return of Matt Taven before the Gran Prix. The foreigner were slightly rudo, and the crowd was totally behind the Mexicans.

Gran Guerrero unmasks Niebla Roja in the first fall, and does it again in the second fall without Edgar noticing. Niebla Roja returns to the back to get a new mask while the rudos take advantage of the numbers. They don’t actually go for the pin or anything, that’d be crazy. Niebla Roja returns with a stage dive onto Gran Guerrero and ends the fall cleanly defeating his rival.

Sugehit & Zeuxis feuded all match, switched masks during the match, and Sugehit took Zeuxi’s mask afterwards.

Robin appeared to suffer a right knee injury in the third fall, but returned and finished the match

Thoughts: 

I think Sugehit might have lost this one

The main had some timing and positioning issues that made it look off at times. There was nothing deadly, and it wasn’t just with Taven & Robinson; Valiente nearly got in the path of Diamante Azul’s big clothesline, and the Mexican tecnicos weren’t as good doing the usual Marco corner punch bit as the rudos have been. Everyone was just not used to wrestling each other, which means it’s a good thing they’ve got a couple weeks to work this out before the big match. The effort was there, especially with Taven and Juice trying to fit in (even if it wasn’t already working), so they should get there by 09/01 and nothing was so bad that it would turn people off this idea.

The semimain served it’s purpose in building up the Anniversary main event, it was a borderline match. Angel de Oro & Soberano looked impressive on their big spots. Making this the semimain helped out too; the two guys feuding came off as the most important people and weren’t overshadowed this time. The second fall was laid out really well to set up Niebla Roja looking like a star, better than they’ve done so far. He was very emotional in his post match promo and could use to show more of that in his matches.

Stuka/Dragon was a turn taking lightning match that didn’t do much for me. They did bigger stuff early on, but then went back to the usual trios moves with these guys. Stuka’s doing the superplex to a suplex spot a lot and I’m not a fan. This was fine for a what it was but nothing needed to see.

Niebla Roja plancha

This woman’s match was a regular. Sugehit & Zeuxis are doing more brawling to signify how close they are to the mask match. It makes sense in that context but it’s not what they do best. Not sure how Sugehit and Zeuxis can end up wearing each other’s masks and it not be a DQ for someone, but I’m thinking about it too much. Everyone else was their usual self, which wasn’t enough to make for a good match.

Ordinary match, one where I had to double check who won a couple days later because it was just sort of unmemorable. Rudos were more giving than usual, técnicos did their normal stuff as well, nothing really jumped out. Universo is not as exciting as his cousins so far. It would probably be a good idea if Stigma had a second finisher so he didn’t have to awkwardly load much bigger guys on his back.

The técnicos tried a bit more than we see in the opener, especially Astral in the first couple falls. His attempts at fancy moves still look clunky and sometimes slow, but it’s more interesting than what we’ve usually got from these. These two rudos are mostly fine about taking offense from the tecnicos but don’t have show a wide variety of stuff they can do on their own, which creates some dead teams when they take over.

cool opener dives?

Marco still heavyweight champ, Mexico vs the World, 09/02 The Crash

this was not a good night for dive catching

CMLL (MON) 08/21/2017 Arena Puebla [CMLL]
1) Astro, Asturiano, Meyer b El Perverso, Fuerza Chicana, Joker LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 21 DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
2) Arkángel de la Muerte, Espanto Jr., Rey Apocalipsis b Arkalis, Astral, Tigre Rojo Jr. LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 21 DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
3) Fuego, Johnny Idol, Stigma b Dragón Rojo Jr., Hechicero, Pólvora LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 21 DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
4) Juice Robinson, Matt Taven, Volador Jr. DQ Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Rush LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 21 DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Volador didn’t get along with his partners the entire match. Rush fouled Juice, then Volador joined in stomping down the foreigners post match.
5) Marco Corleone © b Diamante Azul [CMLL HEAVYLA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 21 DE AGOSTO DEL 2017 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
3rd defense. Marco took 1/3 to retain

Matt Taven refused to tag Volador early, but Volador acted like a rudo the rest of the way and it was weird to have all the Mexicans beating up the outnumbered foreigners. Main event seemd fine.

Tonight’s CMLL main event is a reliable Japanese match. Mistico and Ultimo Guerrero have been opponents on the FantasticaMania tours, and again when they were part of at trios for the best of Super Juniors. They’ve done that singles match less in Mexico.

2013-04-16 (Guadalajara): Ultimo Guerrero beat Mistico
2015-03-23 (Puebla): Ultimo Guerrero beat Mistico by DQ (unmasking)
2016-01-24 (Tokyo): Mistico beat Ultimo Guerrero (NJPW World)
2016-10-14 (Mexico City): Ultimo Guerrero beat Mistico in a Universal tournament first round match

This Mistico has never beaten Ultimo Guerrero in a singles match in Mexico. Mistico is a lot better (and healthier) luchador than he was two years ago, and this should be a great showcase for him. I’m not sure if he’ll break that 0 for Mexico though.

Angel de Oro, Titan and Valiente take on Felino, Mr. Niebla and Negro Casas in the semifinal, which should be alright. The matches below it could be great: the Panther Brothers team with Stuka against the NGD, and Puma, Tiger and Virus face Drone, Fuego and Stigma in a likely fast paced match. The opening two matches aren’t much, but the last 1h30m of this show should be pretty watchable. It’ll air on CMLL’s YouTube channel starting at 7:30pm.

Guadalajara has a 5v5 cibernetico as a preview for the Gran Prix. The CMLL team this time is Diamante Azul, Euforia, Rush, Volador Jr. and Pierroth (not in the Gran Prix, apparently not Puerto Rician any more) vs Johnny Idol, Juice Robinson, Marco Corleone, Matt Taven and the returning Michael Elgin. Elgin returned last night. Dragon Lee, who is actually in the Gran Prix, is in the semimain instead. This would be an easy show to put up on YouTbe for a small fee, but you all are going to have to wait until to see if I do it. Maybe I’ll ask $1 for it and send it to Satanico.

CMLL Anniversario tickets are on sale. The listed tickets run from 2352 MXP ($133USD) to 363 MXP ($20.50). Those tickets only include the lower bowl. The upper section will be cheaper. The high end is up 400 pesos from last year’s show, which is surprising to me given the advertising lineup. They’re still cheaper than the recent big years

Most expensive ticket in pesos, Anniversario show

2017: 2352 (Niebla Roja/Gran Guerrero)
2016: 1989 (La Mascara/Dragon Lee)
2015: 3724 (Atlantis/La Sombra)
2014: 3724 (Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero)
2013: 2995 (Volador/La Sombra w/tease of Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero)

CMLL has an article on their luchadors doing well in England. Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero defeated the Briscoes on the last night of the tour, while Mistico & Titan lost to a Los Ingobernables del Japan team.

SuperLuchas has an obituary for Gran Nikolai.

Psycho Clown and Dr. Wagner are in Riviera Maya for a press event to promote TripleMania and the resort weekend on the 16th. Lady Shani was handing out Record papers today. +LuchaTV has an interview with Perros del Mal from last week’s press conference.

The TripleMania reair on UTDN is listed for 3 hours. It seems unlikely they’ll be able to fit the full show (probably with commercials) in a three hour time slot. It’ll either go much longer, or it’ll be edited down to just the big matches they can fit.

Mini Abismo Negro raves about wrestling on TripleMania in Japan in 2000.

Lucha Memes on 09/03 in Coliseo Coacalo
1) Keira vs Makabre
2) Silueta vs Diosa Quetzal
3) Drako, Corsario Negro Jr. vs Alas de Acero, Aramis, Iron Kid
4) Aeroboy vs Virus – new

A generic Sexy Star interview includes her saying she never considered giving up wrestling.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania and the latest Lucha Report.

Segunda Caida reviews matches from CMLL 08/11.

CultIcon starts a countdown of part one of top 25 TripleMania matchespart two of that countdown, and previews tomorrow’s Lucha Underground.

Lineups

CMLL (MON) 08/28/2017 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & Meyer vs Ares & Joker
2) Millenium & Rey Samuray vs El Malayo & King Jaguar
3) Drone & Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Misterioso Jr. & Sagrado
4) Dragón Lee, Mistico, Niebla Roja vs Cavernario, Mephisto, Negro Casas
5) Diamante Azul, Euforia, Rush, Último Guerrero, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Johnny Idol, Juice Robinson, Marco Corleone, Matt Taven, Michael Elgin, Sam Adonis [cibernetico]

CMLL is going to do versions of the Gran Prix in every location (which seems like it might hurt the slight iPPV business a little bit.) This is the 6v6 version, and indicates both Kojima and Kenny King aren’t due in until the show. Semimain looks fun, and the undercard is full of tag matches CMLL wouldn’t book if they didn’t have so many people in the main event.

The Crash (SAT) 09/02/2017 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Lowki vs Laredo KidKeyraDezmond XavierDesi DerataÚltimo Ninja
scheduled to appear, no match announced.
2) Jonathan, K-Mikc, Sombra De Plata vs Mirage, Skalibur, Viento
3) Bestia 666 vs Jack Evans [super libre]
4) Ortiz & Santana vs Dave Crist & Jake Crist and Arkángel Divino & Black Boy and Hijo de Pirata Morgan & Último Maldito [GFW TAG]
5) Oráculo vs Black Danger [mask]
6) Carlito & Daga vs La Máscara & Rey Escorpión (Indie) and Garza Jr. & M-ximo

The big matches had been announced earlier, but the lineup for the tag match is new. Arkangel & Maldito are going to get a chance to do their stuff in a big match.

This is not the full card, since there’s a whole lot of people without matches and Low Ki’s not exactly coming to Tijuana to work an opener. Desi Derata is a person I did not know, but appears to be a west coast basekc aisd women wrestler. Maybe her versus Keyra and the others in a four way, but I think they’d just announced that if it was happening.

I’m not sure which Sombra de Plata this is – there’s none wrestling in Tijuana, though there are a couple elsewhere. K-Mikc is probably a mispelling of absurdly named Mexicali luchador “Kamik-C”.

This is listed as being taped for GFW. I suspect it’s not the whole show that’s airing on Impact, but the GFW tag match and maybe whatever Xavier & Lowki end up doing, but the hope is they tape the whole thing and it gets posted or sold somewhere.

A Jack Evans match airing on Impact would be interesting because he’s a guy who quit was fired by AAA while still under Lucha Underground, and we’re only seeing people who are still on good terms with AAA or Crash people who never were on LU as part of the deal so far.

new lucha videos for the weekend of August 18th, 2017

Late Monday IWRG was a repeat, as will be normal the next month.

IWRG Zona XXI: 2017-08-15
taped 2017-08-13 @ Arena Naucalpan – YouTube/Mega
1) Cerebro Negro & Dr. Cerebro vs Argos & Dr. Karonte
2) Emperador Azteca vs Hijo del Pantera
3) Dinamic Black, Golden Magic, Hijo De Dos Caras vs Herodes Jr., Internacional Pantera, Máscara Año 2000 Jr.
4) Black Dragón vs Gallo Frances for the mask

AAA on Televisa: 2017-08-19
taped 2017-07-16 @ Arena Jose Sulaiman, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon – YouTube/Mega
0) El Monje, El Potro, Hator vs Black Soul, Eclipse, Genocida
1) Bengala, El Elegido, Estrella Divina, Marty The Moth vs Australian Suicide, Mamba, Monsther Clown, Murder Clown
2) Kevin Kross vs Máscara de Bronce
3) Argenis, La Parka, Psycho Clown vs Averno, Chessman, Dr. Wagner Jr.

CMLL Guadalajara: 2017-08-19
taped 2017-08-15 @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara  – YouTube/Mega
1) Lady Maravilla, Silueta, Skadi vs Dalys, La Comandante, La Seductora
2) Blue Panther Jr., Esfinge, Fuego vs Hechicero, Tiger, Universo 2000 Jr.
3) Dragón Lee, Niebla Roja, Volador Jr. vs Felino, Shocker, Terrible

CMLL Lucha Azteca: 2017-08-19
taped 2017-08-11 @ Arena México – Mega
1) Shockercito & Stukita vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Carístico, Soberano Jr., Valiente vs Cavernario, Negro Casas, Sam Adonis
3) Diamante Azul vs Rush