Caristico & Marco pick up wins, FantasticaMania in Toyama, so much Diamante Azul

Titan

CMLL (TUE) 01/16/2018 Arena México [CMLL, CultIcon]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia b Acero & Aéreo LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 16 DE ENERO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
2) La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Sanely b Dalys, Metálica, Reyna Isis LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 16 DE ENERO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
tecnicas took 1/3.
3) Magia Blanca, Pegasso, Starman b Nitro, Templario, Virus LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 16 DE ENERO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Tecnicos took 2/3
4) Johnny Idol, Sam Adonis, Vangellys b Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 16 DE ENERO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Panthers rolled up Idol & Adonis in seconds when they were still messing around with their flags. Rudos came back to win the final two.
5) Stuka Jr., Titán, Valiente b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 16 DE ENERO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Tecnicos took 2/3. Titan challenged Mephisto to a title match.
6) Carístico b Euforia LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 16 DE ENERO DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Caristico took 2/3.

Main event seemed good from what I saw. Titan did did a stage dive. Fourth match was a very Blue Panther thing.

CMLL (TUE) 01/16/2018 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [@Arena_GDL]
1) Ráfaga & Thunder Boy b Metatrón & Tigre Blanco
Tecnicos took 1/3.
2) Arkángel de la Muerte, Cancerbero, Gran Kenut b Ángel Del Amor, Sensei, Vaquero Jr.
rudos took 2/3.
3) Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Tiger b Astral, Audaz, Oro Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
4) Diamante Azul b Guerrero Maya Jr.EsfingeRey CometaTritónTerribleHechiceroRey BucaneroForasteroPierroth [cibernetico]
Order of elimination: Forastero (hit ref by accident, Triton pulled his mask and rolled him up), Guerrero Maya (Hechicero), Hechicero (Esfinge), Triton (Pierroth; Triton needed medical help), Pierroth (Diamatne Azul), Esfinge & Bucanero went to a double pin, and Terrible won with a foul on Diamante Azul. Diamante Azul wants a rematch next week.
5) Marco Corleone DQ Mr. Niebla
Corleone took 2/3, the last when Niebla tried to toss his mask to Marco to draw the DQ but was caught.

this is driving me crazy so I’ll drive you crazy too by refusing to let it go

01/15: Diamante Azul challenges Marco Corleone for the CMLL Heavyweight Championship
01/21: Diamante Azul versus Euforia
01/23: Diamante Azul versus Terrible (or maybe the week after)
01/26: Diamante Azul versus Terrible for the Mexican Heavyweight Championship, probably

Why. Why can’t this be, like, Hechicero. He’s got a title. He could defend it. Why couldn’t it be four different people? Diamante Azul is probably going to lose half of these, it’s not really helping him either, and it won’t help him of they do all of this and then he’s back to meaningless tags for four months. Is it possible that no one in a position of power in CMLL actually noticed this is happening?

CMLL NJPW (WED) 01/17/2018 Toyama Techno Hall East Hall, Toyama, Japan [CMLLNJPW]
1) Disturbio b Star Jr.
8:33, Disturbio won via front backcracker (now called the Golden Breaker.)
2) Okumura & Puma b Drone & Fuego
8:45. Puma beat Drone via backcracker and casita.
3) Rocky Romero, Sansón, SHO, YOH b Jushin Liger, Kushida, Soberano Jr., Tiger Mask
12:09. Sanson defeated Soberano with his torture rack powerbomb (which may be called Polvo Dinamita now.)
4) Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Niebla Roja b Cuatrero, Gedo, Gran Guerrero
11:01. Angel de Oro defeated Cuatrero via campana.
5) Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Rush, Tetsuya Naito b Dragón Lee, Hirai Kawato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Satoshi Kojima
14:22. Takahashi defeated Kawato via Boston Crab. Rush went after Kojima’s knee with a chair post match.
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mistico, Volador Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Okada, Último Guerrero
11:51. Volador defeated Cavernario via backcracker.

Polvo Dinamita, “Dynamite Powder” would make a lot sense, but I dunno if that’s right.

The FantasticaMania tour is off today, and then the NJPW shows start early Friday morning. I wrote a preview over on Voices of Wrestling about those shows.  All the shows start at 3:30AM CT. I think they’ll be good and I’ll be recapping them live, but I was also pretty messed up sleepwise for a while after the 01/04 show so I’m not sure I can recommend everyone do that. The shows go up on VOD pretty much the moment they finish.

CMLL announced they’ll open Arena Mexico during the day so fans can come by and purchase the 85 Years of Lucha Libre book. On one hand, the idea that there would be people who would want this book and can go to Arena Mexico to buy it but wouldn’t just go during a show seems strange to me. On the other hand, as Arena Mexico turns into a tourist destination, they ought to have a gift shop open 365 days a year in case a foreigner happens by.

The original plan for this book was to make it available in stores in January, but there’s been no mention of that of late and I haven’t found any place selling it. They are pushing the book hard on the streams, which suggests they might not be moving that many of them.

The benefit show being put on Alberto (“Luchando Por Ellos) is this Saturday. The poster is on his website, though the poster says you can buy tickets on Ticketmaster and that does not appear to be the case. (You can buy tickets in person at locations, and people have.) It hasn’t been advertised recently, but the show is also supposed to stream via Claro on Saturday night at 8pm. That’d be a few hours before the second night of FantasticaMania on NJPW World.

RIOT announced their next show will be on 02/03. It’s called No Sabes Quien, and they’re not going to announce the card for the show until that day. (Tickets are cheaper if you buy in advance.) This means RIOT is the only promotion in Mexico we can be sure of isn’t advertising a false lineup.

La Maglina told El Grafico that she’s been most recently training with Ultimo Guerrero.

@ChuckieCHK on Twitter found what appears to be the AroLucha schedule. They’re basically running every third weekend thru April. They start this weekend in Amarillo and Lubbock, run on 02/16 & 17 in Beaumont and Humble, and then have unlocated shows on March 2 & 3, March 23 & 24, and April 13 & 14.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Super Luchas has an interview with DTU champ Crazy King, who’s favorite luchador growing up was Sabu. Probably don’t bring Sabu to DTU to wrestle in 2018, it’ll be a bit sad. (Hanging around and taking photos would be good.)

This coming Saturday has been declared The Day of the Yucatan Luchador in that state.

This article on the upcoming Generacion XXI show lists Martin Landeros Mendiola as the director of the promotion.

El Grafico writes about Valiente & Hechicero.

It’s been a while since a Cholita article, so here’s one in French.

Lineups

CMLL (MON) 01/22/2018 Arena Puebla
1) Hijo de Centella Roja & Meyer vs Policeman & Sombra Diabólika
2) Arkalis, Black Tiger, Tigre Rojo Jr. vs El Malayo, Fuerza Chicana, Perverso
3) Lady Maravilla & Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola & Reyna Isis
4) Esfinge, Rey Cometa, Tritón vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Tiger
5) Diamante Azul, Stuka Jr., Titán vs Hechicero, Johnny Idol, Sam Adonis
6) Carístico, Kráneo, Valiente vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Vangellys [Relevos Increíbles]

Kraneo’s actually explained away as Relevos Increibles this week. They’re heading to Caristico/Terrible on 01/29. This card…maybe the fourth match will be alright. Maybe the third will be the Reina Isis breakout performance. Probably not.