FantasticaMania lineups, Azul/Marco in Puebla, Konnan/Crash

i get to use the poster instead of making a GIF, hooray

DTU (SAT) 01/06/2018 Estadio 1ro de Mayo, Tulancingo, Hidalgo [DTU]
1) Zarkot b LuiguiMacizito
Zarkot beat Luigui.
2) Camuflaje b Baby StarBlack FireStell Dragón
Camuflaje beat Black Fire.
3) Billy Gamer & Toto Gammer b Hardy Boy & Irving El Travieso
4) Draztick Boy, Hormiga, Jimmy b Cíclope, Miedo Extremo, Paranoiko
Draztick beat Ciclope

Just an ordinary Three King’s Day show but I’m posting DTU results as long as they’re posting results.

CMLL (MON) 01/08/2018 Arena Puebla [CMLL, CultIconWrestling With GIFs]
1) Ares & Guerrero Espacial b Centella Roja & Vega LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 8 DE ENERO DEL 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Rudos took 2/3.
2) Flyer, Millenium, Pegasso b Fuerza Chicana, Hijo del Signo, Policeman LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 8 DE ENERO DEL 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
tecnicos took 1/3
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. b Hechicero, Pólvora, Universo 2000 Jr. LA MEJOR LUCHA LIBRE EN VIVO DESDE LA ARENA PUEBLA 8 DE ENERO DEL 2018 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
tecnicos took 1/3.
4) Euforia, Felino, Mr. Niebla b Dragón Lee, Soberano Jr., Valiente  (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Euforia replaced Negro Casas, making this a rare match with Soberano & Euforia on opposite sides. Rudos took 1/3.
5) Diamante Azul, Gran Guerrero, Pierroth b Marco Corleone, Rey Bucanero, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Azul won in straight falls, setting up a title match against Marco next week.

This is a show I’ve seen none of, but the recaps have the tercera as the best. Most notable thing here is CMLL did live results for this show for the first time in a long time. I assumed they were just watching the stream, but they posted a photo from ringside (and it read like a different person than the usual people who are running the account now.)

FantasticaMania

The lineups finally came out yesterday. There is no replacement for Negro Casas. There’s no sure hole where he would’ve gone, but I’m wondering if maybe Kojima was plugged in his spot.

There are eight shows on this year’s tour. Four will not be taped: you can see the lineups for Kyoto, Kagawa, Osaka, and Toyama if you’re curious. It is a Japanese promotion, so we’ll still get results for those shows. The four show which will air.

CMLL NJPW (FRI) 01/12/2018 Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall, Aichi, Japan
1) Drone vs Disturbio
2) Fuego & Star Jr. vs Okumura & Puma
3) Ángel de Oro, Jushin Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask vs Cuatrero, Rocky Romero, SHO, YOH
4) Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Sansón
5) Dragón Lee, Hirai Kawato, Kushida, Satoshi Kojima vs Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Rush, Tetsuya Naito
6) Atlantis, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mistico vs Gedo, Kazuchika Okada, Último Guerrero

This show does not air on NJPW World, but is a delayed airing on SamuraiTV. It probably will not surface for about a week. This will be the only broadcast show with Tanahashi, Okada and Lyger included. They are all being kept off the Korakuen Hall shows.

CMLL NJPW (FRI) 01/19/2018 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1) Fuego vs Okumura
2) Dragón Lee, Hirai Kawato, Satoshi Kojima, Star Jr. vs Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Rush, Tetsuya Naito
3) Atlantis, Drone, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Disturbio, Puma, Último Guerrero
4) Ángel de Oro © vs Cuatrero [CMLL MIDDLE]
2nd defense
5) Soberano Jr. © vs Sansón [MEX WELTER]
2nd defense
6) Niebla Roja © vs Gran Guerrero [CMLL LH]
3rd defense

When you see “FRI” up there, that means “very early Friday morning” if you’re in North America. All the Korakuen Hall shows air on NJPWWorld at 4:30AM ET, 3:30AM CT, 1:30AM PT. 

The singles matches are pretty much grouped on to this show. Angel de Oro & Cuatrero were actually feuding already on Sunday’s Arena Mexico show. The other two are obvious rematches from earlier this year.

Puma, Disturbio, Okumura, Fuego, Drone and Star Jr. are opening match guys for most of the tour, but some do get at least one chance in a bigger tag match on this weekend.

SHO & YOH are Raijin & Fujin if you’ve missed the name change. They’ve been back in NJPW since last autumn.

CMLL NJPW (SUN) 01/21/2018 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1) Drone & Star Jr. vs Disturbio & Puma
2) Fuego, Ryusuke Taguchi, Soberano Jr. vs Okumura, SHO, YOH
3) Atlantis, Hirai Kawato, Kushida, Satoshi Kojima vs Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Rush, Tetsuya Naito
4) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero [CMLL Hermanos, semifinal]
5) Dragón Lee & Mistico vs Cuatrero & Sansón [CMLL Hermanos, semifinal]
6) Volador Jr. © vs Bárbaro Cavernario [NWA WELTER]
18th defense, Cavernario’s 3rd challenge in this reign

Note that’s SUNDAY. There is no show Saturday for whatever reason, which is disappointing: the Arena Mexico/Korakuen Hall double header would’ve been a fun way to destroy myself.

The usual Volador stunt show is a day earlier than usual. Underneath it is a special brothers only tag team tournament. CMLL loves lucha families and loves tournaments, so this is a way to do something with they can give some importance, instead of the usual title matches (where nothing changes hands.)

CMLL NJPW (MON) 01/22/2018 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1) Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi vs Disturbio & Puma
2) Jushin Liger, Kushida, Star Jr., Tiger Mask vs Okumura, Rocky Romero, SHO, YOH
3) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [CMLL Hermanos, third place]
losers of yesterday’s matches
4) Atlantis & Hirai Kawato vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Gedo
Kawato farewell match
5) Drone, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito
6) Satoshi Kojima vs Rush
7) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [CMLL Hermanos, final]

The tournament will have finals and a third place game, which allows them to announce the rest of the card now instead of having to wait for results. There’s no real need to wait: the final seems likely to be Los Guerreros vs Mistico & Dragon Lee, with the NGD taking on Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja in the third place game. On today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer was bemoaning the lack of usual excellent looking singles matches on the final day of this tour, but I think that severely underrates how good those tag matches might end up being. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d also like to see a tag match we never actually get in Mexico featuring some good people rather than Ultimo Guerrero dragging Dragon Lee thru the 12 stages of every Ultimo Guerrero singles match. The best lucha libre matches are not necessarily singles matches and especially not with this crew that’s been overexposed in those singles matches. (Cavernario/Volador will be Very Good but probably offer no surprises. Surprises are good.)

Kojima & Rush is also something we don’t see that often. Kojima’s kind of the gatekeeper, the most pushed of heavyweights who aren’t really title contenders, so this should be a win for Rush.

Hirai Kawato is 20 year old NJPW trainee who NJPW fans seem to like for his fire & ability. CMLL and NJPW announced he will start in Mexico in late January (and maybe debut a few weeks later.) It appears he’ll wrestle under his real name, which would make him the first NJPW student to do so since Yoshi-Hashi. I think it’s cooler when they wrestle under a mask, but someone must strongly disagree given the way the Raijin/Fujin situation was handled. Similarly, Kawato’s expected to be gone from Japan for a long time, but it’s unclear how long he’ll actually be in Mexico after those quick stints.

Preview for today’s show

There’s a CMLL show today. It’ll be streamed. You may like some of the names. It has a chance to be the least good CMLL show of 2018. The show is loaded with FantasticaMania guys, and they are pretty much going straight from this show to the airport. Everyone who’s going is probably going to be focused on getting on that flight in one piece (and understandable show), and this is something they’re just trying not to get hurt or too messy doing. Tonight’s CMLL show is as low priority as it gets.

The big story as CMLL presents it is Atlantis’ return to action. Atlantis last match was in July. He suffered a torn tendon about his right knee. The recovery timeline is a little bit later than scheduled. It’s not a great sign he’s just getting back in the ring before FantasticaMania, and I would not expect a lot from him on that tour, in this match, or anywhere in the immediate future. Tonight, he’s got to deal with Volador & Caristico as mismatches partners against Los Guerreros. That should be an easy way to get out with running just two falls but it’ll be quick anyway.

Nominal tecnico Rush is teaming with proper tecnicos tonight, his brother Dragon Lee & Soberano against Sanson, Cuatrero and Mascara 2000. Rush is in dire need of opponents which raise his interest, and would’ve had one if Negro Casas was in the match as planned. He actually seems to like facing Mascara 2000, but I’m curious to see how he matches up with the Dinamitas. There may not be a lot going on tonight because of the situation, but it’s a possibly for the future.

The fourth has Sam Adonis making his first streaming appearance since losing his hair. He teams with Okumura & Johny Idol against Niebla Roja, Angel de Oro and Rey Cometa. Disturbio & Puma, who will spend the next couple weeks teaming up often, face off in a lightning match. Drone, Fuego & Star Jr. take on Nitro, Arkangel and Sangre Azteca in the second. The opener is the only match without travel plans, as Magia Blanca & Retro take on Akuma & Yago. The show will air at 7:30pm on CMLL’s YouTube channel.

Alberto, on a media tour promoting his 01/20 tour, says his 2018 plans include possibly an MMA fight (if his family says ok, it wouldn’t be until November at the soonest), maybe another charity show, and a radio program in the US aimed at latinos. It seems highly doubtful Alberto will actually ever have that MMA fight, but he sure likes throwing it out there as a possibility.

Konnan & The Crash

Konnan’s Podcast Boom, his Spanish language podcast, returned for the first time since November, the first time since he left the Crash. Alfredo collected some notable stuff Konnan said. Konnan’s explanation here is Impact wanted to used Fenix/Penta, and believed AAA would continue to block them from being used in the US, so he met quietly with AAA to see if they could work something out. The Crash found out about it, and thought Konnan wasn’t just trying to get back to AAA, but had already started running their TV show. Konnan says The Crash knew about him meeting AAA in advance, and that he pointed out to them that he’s clearly not running AAA because their TV was so bad.

Konnan says he’d like to work with The Crash at some point, though it’s clear he sees it as just one of many irons he’d like to have in the fire: Impact, Arolucha, some one man shows, and a secret project in Mexico in four months. As best anyone can figure, there’s no one person taking over Konnan’s role with The Crash, his responsible are being taken care of by various people. It may be a factor in why the Matt Riddle situation has dragged out as long as it has and I think it leaves an opening for Konnan to be brought back if they struggle without him. The 01/20 show will be interesting.

Konnan using Penta for the Arolucha taping given AAA’s issues seems more strange now, and I believe the WON reported AAA sent Arolucha a threat over using him. It’s possible both Impact and Arolucha don’t think much of AAA’s claim, but Impact’s trying to play nice with a corporate partner and Arolucha doesn’t have that same concern.

Konnan’s still with Impact, which makes it not a big surprise Rey Mysterio is being rumored as coming in. Both Wrestling Observer and PW Insider have mentioned the possibility of Rey being part of the next set of tapings but have also said no deal is done. The next set of Impact tapings start tomorrow. Those tapings are also said to have more AAA involvement than usual, but no names have been mentioned.

Other News

I suspect there will be news from The Crash on the Matt Riddle situation sooner rather than latter.

A show on Friday in Ciudad Madero was scheduled to have Negro Casas & Mr. Niebla versus Carsitico & local wrestler Bronco. Instead, Casas, Niebla and Caristico were replaced by local wrestlers. The promoter said he will not be offering refunds, saying they showed a video of Caristico apologizing and promising to come soon, and anyone who brought tickets to Friday’s show will get in that next show for free. Fans seem understandably skeptical of that working out. This is not the usual big indie Ciudad Madero promoter (KBW) but someone who seems to promote one show a year.

WrestleCircus, in talking about their own return show scheduled for 02/17, mentions that Arolucha is also running that day. Arolucha hasn’t announced that show yet.

Something called Footprint.TV is launching a channel called Mainstream Latinos, and the press release indicated they may eventually have a “Lucha Libre Americano” show, which is billed as lucha from all over but looks like it’s from the Chicago local scene in this preview clip.

I was a guest on the latest Strong Style Story, talking about WrestleKingdom and what we knew about FantasticaMania then. I’m scared I made the same jokes as last year and most of my guesses about what was going to be booked at FantasticaMania seemed very wrong, but it was nice of them to have me on.

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

CMLL’s launched an official Diosas del Ring twitter account.

Segunda Caida reviews Iron Kid vs Demus, making me the last person in the lucha world not to have seen Iron Kid vs Demus. Maybe tonight?

The Winter Palace starts a look back at the 2014 En Busca de un Idolo.

Pushing Upwards talks about Dragon Lee vs Hiromu Takahashi.

Lineups

CMLL (MON) 01/15/2018 Arena Puebla
1) Meyer & París vs Guerrero Espacial & Sombra Diabólika
2) Flyer, Príncipe Diamante, Rey Samuray vs Hijo del Signo, King Jaguar, Perverso
3) Audaz, Lestat, Stigma vs El Malayo, Raziel, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Hechicero [lightning]
5) Carístico, Kráneo, Valiente vs Rey Bucanero, Shocker, Terrible
6) Marco Corleone © vs Diamante Azul [CMLL HEAVY]
6th defense

I have no idea why Kraneo’s a tecnico, except they’re short on them. Maya/Hechicero has a good chance of being a title match people are going to want to see. Audaz makes his debut here.

3 thoughts to “FantasticaMania lineups, Azul/Marco in Puebla, Konnan/Crash”

  1. I watched the whole Peubla card, and Euphoria seemed off in his match. Since CMLL rarely does father/son match-ups, is this the beginning of an angle? Also, with ALL the talent CMLL has, couldn’t they have just plugged in Barbaro, so it was Peste Negre vs technicos?

  2. P.S.
    Concerning Rappongi 3K, I think Raijin & Fujin should have stayed in CMLL a little longer, for more seasoning.
    It seems you’re not the only person to skip/forget their ROH run as the Teriyaki Boyz. Maybe they are better in NJPW than in ROH. I’ve only seen one of their New Japan matches, so I can’t really tell, yet. I’m not surprised the Bucks beat them again. R3K just don’t seem ready yet.

    Concerning the CMLL Hermanos tournament, it looks like something CMLL would do, since they’ve done a trios version at least twice, that i’ve seen.
    Could this be a test to see how it would work in Mexico?

  3. I think Barbaro was in Guadalajara on Monday, so he wouldn’t have been able to be a sub.

    Two versus two matches (outside openers) are so unlike CMLL that it’s probably a NJPW decision just based on the people available.

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