Hechicero stays champ, Pagano suffers rib injury

photo by CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 12/29/2017 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara]
1) Black Sugar & Tigre Blanco b Carlo Roggi & Mr. Apolo
2) Joker, Nautilius, Sádico b Rielero, Star Black, Vaquero Jr.
changed from an atomicos (no Esfinge & Rey Trueno), challenges followed for a mask and title match.
3) El Gallito & Microman b Mije & Perico Zakarías
money thrown in
4) El Alteño L TritónExplosivoNeutrónOmar BrunettiPríncipe KishoFrezzerMr. TruenoMaléficoLeón Blanco [cage, hair, mask]
Order of escape: Explosivo, Malefico, Triton, Mr. Tureno, Omar Brunetti, Neutron, Leon Blanco, Principe Kisho, leaving Alteno & Frezzer. Alteno lost to Freezer.

I’m not sure I have that main event result right; the match result takes a right turn to mention “Alejandro Fernandez” as a pop culture reference and I don’t know which guy that is. I did look up Alteno’s facebook and it matches the guy shown getting his head shaved, and I should feel fortunate to get Guadalajara results. I probably will spend some time in the next week going thru all the shows where we got video of a Tuesday GDL match but never actually results.

CMLL (SAT) 12/30/2017 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Pequeño Universo 2000 & Pequeño Violencia
2) Astral, Príncipe Diamante, Starman DQ Grako, Hijo del Signo, Inquisidor
Signo’s first match unmasked. Tecnicos took 2/3, Signo fouling Starman.
3) Felino, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero b Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, Tritón
Rudos took 2/3
4) Hechicero © b Blue Panther Jr. [NWA LH]
4th defense. Coyote & The Panther were seconds. Hechicero took falls 1/3 to retain.
5) Marco Corleone, Niebla Roja, Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Kráneo, Pierroth
tecnicos took 1/3 to win the last CMLL match of 2017

Hechicero is still champ, so 2017 wasn’t completely terrible.

Today (Sunday) is a quite day. Many of the Sunday shows are moved to Monday this year for New Years, but not as many as last week. A lot of places seem to be taking a weekend off and aiming more for next weekend’s Dia de los Reyes celebrations.

Notable shows

It’s probably not happening Monday, but the Guerra de Titanes lineup should be out at any time next week, and we’re expecting to get the FantasticaMania lineups on Friday.

Microman translated Volador Jr.’s post show interview from Friday, where he seems grudgingly open to facing Caristico in an apuesta match for the Anniversary show but clearly still doesn’t like him any more (and CMLL probably can’t get a finish out of that.)

Atlantis was advertised for a show in Veracruz and did make the show, but did not wrestle. I have trouble making out what he’s saying, there’s a lot of noise in the clip, but it does sound like he’s planning to be back in 2018.

AuburnPub has a nice story of Marco Corleone, as local New York state guy who ended up living a crazy life.

Pagano suffered a fractured rib in Torreon last night. It was a spot gone very wrong with Murder Clown, which they’re now turning into a storyline on Twitter. A fractured rib usually takes about four weeks to heal, which means Pagano would be pushing it to be make it back for Guerra de Titanes. AAA hasn’t said anything specific up with Pagano – maybe something with Mr. Aguila – so it wouldn’t disrupt things if he had to sit it out, and they may announce him for a match in hopes he’ll be fine by the time the show rolls around.

MedioTiempo has an interview with Murder Clown, who explains his brother got him into trying wrestling as way to get in shape for a college basketball team tryout. He caught the bug and debuted in 2004. I don’t think we’ve ever figured out what his pre-Killer Clown gimmick was, which is odd because it’s not like many guys his size were wrestling in Mexico.

AAA’s TV show this week is pretty much “the best of 2017 that wasn’t TripleMania.” The women’s match which airs is Ayako/Shani, not Ayako/Taya. I thought they could be showing the World Cup one of these weeks, but they showed the two minute highlight package version from earlier this year, so perhaps not. Maybe it’ll be the earthquake benefit show instead.

Saturday night in AAW, Matt Riddle was announced as getting a title shot on their January 20th. (They announced it before the main event, causing me to be sure Jeff Cobb was going to take the title from Rey Fenix to do the Riddle/Cobb match again. It was very sneaky.) Matt Riddle, who has a rep for double booking himself, is currently scheduled to be on the The Crash show on Tijuana. I know AAW was aware of the The Crash booking before they made that announcement. I’m told the The Crash knows Riddle is booked in AAW. Riddle hasn’t talked about this, but my assumption is Riddle is working AAW (where he works frequently) and not Tijuana. I think we’ll just be lucky if The Crash actually announced a change ahead of time, because that’s not been their deal.

WXW announced Rey Fenix & Penta el Zero M were pulled from their March 9-11 shows because hey’re going to be working Lucha Underground instead. That’s unfortunate. Most shows for February and March don’t seem to be announced but there’s probably other sorts of reshuffling going on behind the scenes to accommodate LU’s schedule. On some level, Fenix & Penta probably wouldn’t be getting these sort of bookings without LU – they’d be deserving, but not enough people would be aware of them without an English language outlet to make it worth WXW’s time – but it’s hard to take LU’s side when they’re doing the minimal amount to promote these guys.

Probably worth of more note is Jeff Cobb is announced for the same tournament and hasn’t been pulled. Cobb (Matanza) has been one of the wrestlers most known to be unhappy with his current Lucha Underground situation. LU’s talked about letting unhappy people go as long as they come back to be written out. Maybe this is an indication that’s been agreed upon with Cobb, or maybe nothing’s been agreed upon at all.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update and this week’s Poster-Mania.

Black Terry Jr. has highlights from his trip to Japan.

The Gladiatores has an interview with Sombra Vengadora.

nothing more about lucha libre past this point, just general malarkey 

This wraps up the fourteen year of luchablog, with about ten years of daily updates. Thank you for reading.

If you follow on Twitter too, thanks for putting up with my increasingly cranky and antagonistic posts. I’m aware it’s happening, it’s not a great look, but I can’t seem to stop myself. And thanks to people like Rob and Freddy and Jose and plenty of others for tolerating me personally when I’m being useless and won’t just eat the free post show tacos, and for pushing me to do things I’d never do on my own. What you get here doesn’t really give you a true idea of what kind of nonsense person I am in reality. I’m probably a bit over dramatic (and it’s about to get a lot worse), but there’s are people who went out of their way to make my life easier, and I’m not good at letting them know how much I appreciate it. I really do appreciate it.

There are some things I have to struggle with on my own. With all respect to everyone else, I feel like luchablog is the best place site on Mexican wrestling that exists. I also feel like that means I’m a tiny spec, it’s not nearly enough, not good enough, that there should be some next level I should be getting that I have no idea how to even understand, let alone reach. I feel like I should be doing someTHING, be part of something more, but I don’t know if that more even exists, or if I really should be doing something less. And it’s entirely possible these are just issues with the rest of my life that are just bleeding into this.

Lucha libre is a niche of a niche of a niche, so there’s only so much people will ever care, and lucha libre (and wrestling itself) often seems to repel people against caring. Maybe this is as far as it can be taken, and maybe I should learn to be more content with what I’ve accomplished and what I’m doing. There’s just this nagging part of me I can’t quiet, that says doing this as it is forever is not enough, that I wouldn’t accept the lack of growth in others and I shouldn’t accept it from me. I don’t know. If I had answers, I’d write them. This year, I’m certain I don’t have the answers.

Here’s what I do know: I’ll be back tomorrow with a new update, and a recap if I have time for it. And the day after that, and for a long time to come. And I’m definitely not looking for people saying nice things about me in the comments or on Twitter. I appreciate any thoughts along those lines if when I refuse to acknowledge them, but I’m not looking for those with this. I think I need to work on trying some different things in 2018. If I do, and if they’re any good, save the praise for that.

There’s is one actual announcement. I’m bringing back the Tapatia awards. I’m not going to mention it on Twitter until it’s ready to go, but voting will be open in the next couple of days and be open long enough to let you (or me, mostly me) finish catching up on 2018. They’re going to be stripped down, with less categories and less depth, because I don’t want it to be intimidating. Awards get attention, more attention for lucha libre is good, so this is one of those things I feel like something has to do. And I think that’s the thing you can continue to expect in 2018: if there’s something worth doing about lucha libre that no one else is doing, you can count on me throwing myself at it.

1994 Coahuila/Durango lineups added to the luchadb

10/02 AOL

I added 1994 lucha libre lineups, mostly from the cities Torreon and Gomez Palacio (and an increasing amount from elsewhere), to the luchadb database over the last week. They’re integrated the different pages of this site, and they’re also just available here. This is a slow continuing project to mine the El Siglo de Torreon archive for lucha lineups and results.

I really didn’t expect to get this done in under two weeks. It probably wasn’t the best use of my time, though I guess it was efficient. It was also pretty easy: all those Lerdo/Matamoros/Saltillo that showed up in 1993 disappeared for most of 1994. A few Saltillo snuck in at the end, but it all went way down. More Torreon and Gomez Palacio lineups turned up, but the overall total is down

Events per year:

year events
1984 142
1985 150
1986 154
1987 152
1988 176
1989 189
1990 169
1991 175
1992 181
1993 151
1994 114

That’s the lowest since 1983, when there was only about one show a month. This time, the few accompanying articles suggest it’s not just shows being ignored by the paper (or not paying the ad money to be covered), but a real downtown. AAA comes in fairly regularly, but that’s about it. Elizoando is focusing on Monterrey and other cities as his region shrinks, the UWA essentially becomes an indie, and there’s no CMLL presence. The two different local unions mean there’s about two shows a week, but union vs union matches start popping up near the end of the year, suggesting they may be going back to one union. This is the year Brillante, Diamante and Zafiro suddenly lose their mask and hairs, and the locals from here start to vanish from AAA – maybe the economic issues causes the ideas of allied unions around Mexico to disappear, or maybe it’s already broken apart.

The Mexico city based union does break apart. CMLL wrestlers form their own union, kicking Manny Guzman out. That continues to this day. Guzman threatens to lead boycotts at CMLL events and other events held in Lutteroth buildings, but it doesn’t go anywhere.

Guzman continues to represent the LLI guys, but that’s not much – the article has to shoot down a rumor the LLI owners are splitting. Meanwhile, AAA weekly shows are starting in Queretaro, Aficion and Neza, which were CMLL & LLI buildings. LLI insists they’re only leaving el Toreo temporary. They’d never make it back.

There’s a
rumor of AAA/CMLL/LLI working together but it’s shot down. Pena would like to use the Coliseo/Mexico to at least run his events, doesn’t happen. At the close of the year, Antonio Pena says 1994 was a success, says they’re close to another PPV in LA in 1995. That doesn’t work out. Satillo’s union protests against AAA, upset about AAA only using no more than four AAA wrestlers per show. The situation is problematic: the local lucha commissioner is also the person promoting AAA events.

Love Machine passes away.

Mexico City commission Wolf Rubinski gets his name in the news. At one point, he says he’s working on no more draws in title matches, with all matches having to go to an overtime fourth fall if tied after two matches end in draws. The CDMX commission makes new rules to help luchadoras get work, though none are really specified (and it doesn’t seem to work out.)

An earlier story about the finances of the DF Box Y Lucha commission comes and goes. Among the details is the commission reporting they only gave out 13 new licenses last year in the entirety of 1993, despite the boom in lucha libre. There’s the usual hints of money been kept illegally.

The paper declares Atlantis as the 1993 luchador of the year in a headline, but then seems to back down to making it CMLL specific in the article. In CMLL, Atlatnis is best tecnico, Jaque Mate & Masakre best team, Brazos best trio, Negro Casas most spectacular. In LLI, Canek as luchador of the year, Texano best tecnico, Texano & Silver King as best tag team, Villano I/IV/V as best trio, and Pimpinela as much spectacular. In AAA, Hijo del Santo is best wrestler, Blue Panther as best tecnico, Heavy Metal as best rudo, Volador & Misterioso as team, Hermanos Dinamtis a best trio, and Rey Mysterio Jr. as most spectacular.

January in Torreon is really quiet, with the first non-AOL show taking place 01/30, blamed on lack of good local promoters. That doesn’t really change: a few months later, area lucha libre in crisis due to unappealing shows and poor professional of people who are booked. This is repeated six months later: bad promoters have hurt turn out, and now it’s very expensive to fly people out from Mexico City. Newspaper articles in Torreon seem to consistently believe the change from transporting people to Mexico by plane instead of bus really hurt the scene. I don’t know if that adds up, but it sure comes up a lot.

The annual bad promoter story: 11/26 AAA show canceled, promoter does not return money immediately, fans stage a protest. Column says this was a building issue with the local promoter, with things off on each show. refunds are finally offered on 12/07-09, with some of the shame shifted to AAA itself. Except, 12/07 comes and no one’s there to give refunds. The government again says they’re going to do something, but the situation seems to disappear.

A story that seems to get a lot of national press is Konnan 2000 fighting a boxer in a mask/hair match (part 2.) The boxer when Konnan 2000 gives the boxer a martinete. Konnan 2000 unmasks as Dallas’ Scott Putuski, who says the martinete isn’t illegal where h comes from. Konnan AAA is not happy about this whole thing, and also says Dos Caras and others are living in the past. The DF commission ties to get involved, but the Monterrey commission tells they have no power. This seems to set the template for many other version of this same match in Monterrey, though it doesn’t seem to really take hold elsewhere.

There’s some really extensive long bios that I ought to look over for luchawiki info: Rito Romero extended interview and part 2, Diablo Velasco, Deportivo Martinez, Anibal (obit)Rolando Vera, Kukux Klan, Vicente Nuno (obit), Satanico bio ((who wants Perro Aguayo’s hair), Tarzan Lopez, and Blue Panther bio. TIL: he was only a Laguna based guy from 77 to 79, moved to Mexico City by 80.

Juventino Romero (part 2) – accuses Santo of blocking him from making it to Mexico City. And a column about this.

Flanagan wins an apuesta match over Megatron via referee help, commission throws out the match and Megatron keeps his hair. There’s supposed to be a rematch, but it doesn’t turn up in anything I see in 1994.

Other history articles: 8th Anniversary of Solitario’s death, History of Arena Olimpico Laguna at it’s 40th anniversary, Mil Mascaras close to signing with CMLL! (He’d be in for stints in 1995 and 1996, but nothing close to full time), and Zorro Plateado Jr. answers if wrestling is a trick or real – he says real! Usual “TV wrestling is bad” bit. Oro and Apolo Estrada are mentioned as deaths in the ring.

Los Superdioses de lucha libre quick articles

Volador keeps title over Caristico, best of 2017 show, Arolucha Texas talent list

at least this dive connected

CMLL (FRI) 12/29/2017 Arena México [CMLL, Ovaciones, thecubsfan]
1) Metálico & Universo 2000 Jr. b Magia Blanca & Robin LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
11:08. Arkangel replaced Universo 2000 Jr. Rudos took 1/3.
2) Puma, Sagrado, Tiger b Blue Panther Jr., Star Jr., The Panther LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
11:36. Rudos too 1/3.
3) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Ángel de Oro, Rey Cometa, Titán LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
16:08. NGD took 1/3. Rey Cometa replaced Niebla Roja (moved up) on Wednesday.
4) Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas b Johnny Idol, Okumura, Sam Adonis LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
7:59. Adonis’ team was DQed in the first fall for excessive violence, the second for Sam striking and choking Casas with the flagpole. Casas rallied back to choke Adonis.
5) Gran Guerrero, Shocker, Último Guerrero b Marco Corleone, Niebla Roja, Valiente LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
11:34. Rudos took 1/3. Niebla Roja moved up on Wednesday to replace Mistico.
6) Volador Jr. © b Carístico [NWA WELTERLUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 29 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
19:21. Volador took falls 1/3. 17th defense!

Main event was good, but the lame first couple of falls made it feel less than last week, and the way they wrapped it up as something that just existed to kill time during the holiday season was disappointing. The rest of the show was watchable if nothing that had to be watched.

Negro Casas & Sam Adonis fought more in front of the press. The crowd was reacting in a way where that match is going to do pretty good.

Tonight’s Arena Coliseo show has the Hechicero/Blue Panther Jr. title match. It’d be a big surprise if Panther Jr. won, but it’s not impossible. There will be no Arena Coliseo show next Saturday, since they’ll be running Arena Mexico instead.

ESTO writes about Psycho Clown being the wrestler of the year. I think this is the consensus pick for what he did, but what he did didn’t have the impact you’d expect. Dr. Wagner seems like the person who benefited the most from their mask match, and Wagner’s the one in the top feud against Mundo, while Psycho seems lower feuding with Rey Escorpion afterwards. Every one of these lists Psycho & Pagano as winning the Lucha Libre World Cup, but very few people in Mexico have even seen the show and I’m not sure how much that win really matters to any one except the people complying these lists. AAA should show that event today or next Saturday if they want to get any mileage out of it, but it’s not clear that they will.

Pagano talks about now being super friends with Psycho Clown. AAA had lots of TV time in 2017 devoted to things that went nowhere, and spent little time on things that could’ve been better explained (Pagano’s actually a tecnico now without ever having make a tecnico decision.)

Arolucha announced wrestlers for it’s 01/19 & 01/20 Texas show:

Juventud Guerrera, Super Crazy, Carlito, James Storm, Shane Hurricane Helms, Low Ki, Jack Edwards, Laredo Kid, Pierroth, Black Tauros, Taya, Mascarita Dorada, Drastik Boy, Lufisto, Demus, Pirata Morgan Jr., Xtra Talented (Tag Team), Steve Pain, Gringo Loco, Low Rider, and Trey Miguel

Fenix & Rey Mysterio weren’t on lineup for the Crash show on 01/20, which led me to believe the might be here instead, but that does not appear to be the case. No one from the debut show’s main event is here; most of that taping isn’t here. Demus, Mascarita Dorada, Taya, James Storm, Trey Miguel, Shane Helms, and Jack (Evans) Edwards are the only people on both. There are interesting wrestlers here that should provide a good show but, at least a first glimpse, Arolucha seems like it’s going to vary a lot from weekend to weekend.

No matches announced. Arolucha also posted a highlight package (the thing they’ll be using to sell this to TV networks), and it features a horrendous theme song.

Lucha Sorpresa has some recent match recommendations.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 01/06/2018 Arena México
1) Audaz, Flyer, Magia Blanca vs El Coyote, Templario, Yago
2) Pegasso & Titán vs Raziel & Virus
3) Soberano Jr. vs Rey Cometa
rematch of Soberano’s title win.
4) Drone, Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
5) Niebla Roja vs Gran Guerrero
rematch of 2017 Anniversario mask match
6) Cavernario & Volador Jr. vs Último Guerrero & Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
rematch of tournament final

This is a SATURDAY show at 5pm. There is NO SHOW on Friday. This is going to be a tough concept to grasp.

As they did with last year’s Kid’s Day, this is a special Best of last year edition. At least that’s the vague idea. Drone, Esfinge and Guerrero Maya Jr. did team together to face the NGD in a couple unnoteworthy matches, but that’s probably just about getting Sanson and his cousins part of this show. Likewise, Pegasso & Titan and Raziel & Virus did not have a big match you forgot – this will be the first time all four of them will be in the same match – but CMLL must’ve thought they had good 2017s (and were available.)

The opener looks like the best of the young guys. I would’ve put Akuma in over Coyote, but it’s not a bad selection. Audaz is a new name, but a familiar person: Fiero said he was saying good bye to that name and had a surprise in 2018. I’ll miss the taunting meows. CMLL and others have given people the Audaz name (bold/fearless) before and it’s only worked out slightly for a LLI wrestler from the 70s.

It would’ve been the ultimate if CMLL put Zeuxis/Sugehit on this show instead of Roja/Guerrero, but they’re pretty dedicated to getting one of those acts over and aren’t concerned much about the other.

CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-12-29 

another week, another miss

Recapped: 12/29/2017

Matches:

Universo 2000 Jr. & Metálico beat Magia Blanca & Robin
(11:08 [5:08, 3:27, 2:33], 1/3, below average, YouTube)

Puma, Sagrado, Tiger beat Blue Panther Jr., Star Jr., The Panther  
(11:36 [3:21, 3:14, 5:01], 1/3, good, YouTube)

Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón beat Ángel de Oro, Rey Cometa, Titán  
(16:08 [5:22, 3:27, 7:19], 1/3, good, YouTube)

Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas beat  Johnny Idol, Okumura, Sam Adonis
(7:59 [4:25, 3:34], 1 DQ/2 DQ, ok, YouTube)

Gran Guerrero, Shocker, Último Guerrero beat Marco Corleone, Niebla Roja, Valiente
(11:34 [5:25, 2:06, 4:03], 1/3, ok, YouTube
)

Volador Jr. © beat Carístico for the NWA World Welterweight Championship
(19:21, good, YouTube)

  1. Carístico headscissors small package (2:26)
  2. Volador backcracker (0:47)
  3. Volador Canadian Destroyer (16:08)

Gif: 5528/5846/6511

What happened: 

what a chop

Flyer & Titan were the seconds in the title match. That proved pivotal, with Flyer distracting Tirantes as Carístico applied La Mistica for the certain win. (Flyer was probably a sub for Mistico.) Carístico let go, and was soon hit with a Canadian Destroyer for the win.

The post match was a race to see who could take control of the narrative. Volador tried to brag about beating Carístico, but Carístico hurried in to put the belt on Volador to prove he’s a bigger man and also didn’t care all that much about losing. It came off both unprofessional and very clear CMLL was not going any farther with the program any time soon.

The rudos stomped on Casas until they were Dqed in the first, then Adonis used the flag to hit and choke Casas for the DQ in the second fall.

Universo 2000 Jr. replaced Arkangel de la Muerte in the opener

Thoughts: 

enjoying Mr. Niebla while it lasts

The main event felt a bit similar to last week, but Volador is so good at playing subtle heel and the crowd was very into Carístico. It still worked. They used Carístico missing the crowd dive instead of missing the one out of the ring, they varied up the highspots a bit and the moves looked cleaner. It was taken down by the first two falls being such a thumb to the eye of the concept of three falls. The first fall was almost nothing before the finish, the second fall was little more. It takes you out of the match when they put so little into it.

The semimain was a very regular match. Shocker wore camouflage, which fit because the better part of the match as where he blended into the background. Niebla Roja & Gran Guerrero wrestle all the time and no one cares, so it’s like August all over again.

The crowd is ready for the hair match, and the Casas/Adonis match was just about demonstrating. Casas too; the silent angry he showed watching Adonis walk out was really good, as was his selling of the choke. Casas getting the comeback and the choke was probably too soon, but they sold that match big.

Blue Panther Jr. dumped

The NGD put on a very strong performance in the tercera. Forastero stuck out the most of me of the trio, with his reactions and his selling as much as smartly catching a pointing Cometa into an armscissors. Titan & Rey Cometa have good timing with these guys and Angel de Oro runs in place amusingly. It does feel like Angel de Oro is doing the stage dive onto a Dinamita every week but they may be going somewhere with him.

The second was a fun action match that was a drastic improvement over the match that preceded it. The Panthers and the felinos have faced each other so many times but they did manage to mix it up this time. Sagrado handled Star Jr’s slip better than anyone did in the opener. The more power spots Panther does, the better of he is as a way to separate himself from everyone else.

The opener’s first fall was so nothing that I quickly shifted to figuring out what else was going on. This was a good call, because this match ended in a disaster. Robin had a really great idea for an exciting springboard headscissors, it’s too bad he’s not capable of doing it at this point, at least not with Metalico. The ramp run went ever worse. Keep reaching for the stars.

KO kick

great match roundup, week of 2017-12-16

can’t unwatch this

shows watched

I’m so far caught up that I’m actually ahead. It helps that things really are slowing down at this point. The Extreme Tiger/Virus match is the first match I’ve rated excellent in months. There’s still nothing chronology past the 09/01 Gran Prix, but I’ve got at least one more Fenix/Flamita match to watch. The MOTYC list is updated, maybe with some stuff I haven’t posted yet.

This was a good Claro show week and an AAA match that didn’t air. It would be neat to get all the AAA dark matches posted to AAA’s channel instead of me doing dark magic to find them but that’s the way it goes.

Recommended Matches

rating matches TV Show taped
great Carístico vs Volador Jr. LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 22 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-12-22 2017-12-22
good Eslabón Perdido, Poseidón, Rey Infierno vs Cosmos, Kid Lobo, Samuray Eslabón Perdido, Poseidón, Rey Infierno vs Kid Lobo, Samuray, Cosmos (posted by thecubsfan) Facebook video (posted by ) AAA on Televisa: 2017-12-16 2017-12-02
good Volador Jr. vs Sam Adonis LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 19 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-19 2017-12-19
good Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Soberano Jr. vs Puma, Tiger, Virus LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 22 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-12-22 2017-12-22
good Ángel de Oro, Mistico, Niebla Roja vs Cavernario, Cuatrero, Negro Casas LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 22 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-12-22 2017-12-22

Other matches watched

rating matches TV Show taped
ok Angelikal, Fetiche, Hijo Del Vikingo vs Ángel Mortal Jr., Chicano, Pardux Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide en Xalapa Parte 1 (posted by Lucha Libre AAA) AAA on Televisa: 2017-12-16 2017-12-02
ok Argenis, Estrella Divina, Faby Apache, Lady Shani vs Australian Suicide, Goya Kong, Hahastary, Mamba Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide en Xalapa Parte 1 (posted by Lucha Libre AAA) AAA on Televisa: 2017-12-16 2017-12-02
ok Bengala & Sonic vs Artillero & El Coyote LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 19 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-19 2017-12-19
ok Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Nitro, Pierrothito LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 19 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-19 2017-12-19
ok Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Sanely vs Amapola, Dalys, Reyna Isis LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 19 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-19 2017-12-19
ok Blue Panther, Mistico, Valiente vs Johnny Idol, Mr. Niebla, Okumura LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 19 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-19 2017-12-19
ok Pierroth, Rush, Terrible vs Cavernario, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero in a relevos increíbles match LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 19 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-19 2017-12-19
ok Fiero & Oro Jr. vs Raziel & Templario LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 22 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-12-22 2017-12-22
ok Rush vs Mr. NieblaÚltimo GuerreroTerribleShockerSansónKráneoEuforiaMáscara Año 2000Rey BucaneroGran GuerreroForasteroPierrothHechiceroMisterioso Jr.Vangellys in a CMLL Leyenda de Azul Tournament match LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 22 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2017 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2017-12-22 2017-12-22
below average Bengala & Big Mami vs La Hiedra & Villano III Jr. Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide en Xalapa Parte 1 (posted by Lucha Libre AAA) AAA on Televisa: 2017-12-16 2017-12-02
not rated Arkalis, Black Tiger, París vs Ares, Fuerza Chicana, Rey Apocalipsis LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE LUNES 18 DE DICIEMBRE ARENA PUEBLA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-18 2017-12-18
not rated Asturiano, Gemelo Pantera I, Gemelo Pantera II vs Espanto Jr., Espíritu Maligno, Hijo del Signo LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE LUNES 18 DE DICIEMBRE ARENA PUEBLA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-18 2017-12-18
not rated Pantera Blanca Jr., Stigma, Stuka Jr. vs Puma, Sagrado, Tiger LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE LUNES 18 DE DICIEMBRE ARENA PUEBLA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-18 2017-12-18
not rated Pierroth, Rush, Sam Adonis vs Johnny Idol, Terrible, Valiente in a relevos increíbles match LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE LUNES 18 DE DICIEMBRE ARENA PUEBLA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-18 2017-12-18
not rated Carístico, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Mephisto, Último Guerrero LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE LUNES 18 DE DICIEMBRE ARENA PUEBLA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube: 2017-12-18 2017-12-18
watch later Princesa Sugehit © vs Reyna Isis for the Mexican National Women’s Championship Princesa Sugehit © vs Reyna Isis for the Mexican National Women's Championship (posted by thecubsfan) CMLL Guadalajara: 2017-12-16 2017-12-12

Caristico vs Volador for the NWA belt tonight, New Year’s Day CMLL show to air on Claro

today

Volador and Caristico meet once again in Arena Mexico tonight. Last week’s match was Volador playing more of a strong rudo, this week’s championship match probably means it’s more of a traditional Volador big move match. Caristico winning would be a big surprise and a possible sign of big plans for 2018. Volador winnign would be keeping the status quo with nothing much happening, which is much more CMLL.

The other notable match is the fourth, where Negro Casas & Sam Adonis meet two days before their hair versus hair match. Both men are with usual partners, and the finish is whatever they can do to get people to come out for the hair match (especially after they didn’t really come out for the cage match.)

The rest of the card is the usual mix of names. Mistico is listed up there, but Niebla Roja actually will replace him, teaming with Marco & Valiente against the Guerreros & Shocker. Rey Cometa, Angel de Oro and Titan face NGD, the Panthers & Star Jr. face Sagrado, Puma & Tiger, int wo matches that could be pretty good if the effort is there. The show opens with Magia Blanca & Robin taking on Arkangel & Metalico. Magia Blanca’s cousin got announced for a Dragon Gate tour, but wrestling Arkangel & Metalico is nearly as exciting.

The show will air at 8:30pm on Claro and their facebook page. Claro (Marca) says they’ll be airing the both this show, and Monday’s Sin Salida with Negro Casas & Sam Adonis. That Monday show has a 5pm CT start.

The Jackson Observer has a Sam Adonis story, which is probably from some place more famous than the Jackson Observer but not sure from where.

AAA put Guerra de Titanes tickets on sale. No card yet, though they’ve previous announced Wagner vs Mundo for the title with Vampiro as ref. Tickets are listed from 800 pesos down to 150 – or were, the 800 ring 1 tickets have already sold out today.

Segunda Caida really liked Mr. Niebla vs Caifan.

Lineup

CMLL (TUE) 01/02/2018 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Shockercito vs Pequeño Nitro & Pierrothito
2) Astral, Robin, Starman vs Cancerbero, Hijo del Signo, Nitro
3) La Jarochita, Maligna, Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys, La Metálica, Tiffany
4) Tritón vs The Panther [lightning]
5) Diamante Azul, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
6) Ángel de Oro, Carístico, Niebla Roja vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón

Nothing big being set up but the 4 and 6th matches could be interesting.

My database currently assumes the Nuevo Leon (LLF) Maligna and the one who’s shown up infrequently around Mexico City is the same woman. I’m not sure that’s correct, nor I’m sure if that’s the person debut here, and Maligna is a weird name for a tecnica.

Second match gives you all the Starman/Signo rematching you wanted.