Fantasma/Texano apuesta match at Rey de Reyes, 4 titles change hands at Guerra de Titanes, Terrible still champion

women’s match felt very real

AAA TV (FRI) 01/26/2018 Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal [AAACultIconEstrellas del Ringthecubsfan]
Guerra de Titanes, 2018
1) Australian Suicide b Lanzelot © [AAA CRUISER]
11:47. Austrailan twisted around Lanzelot’s mask to blind him before beating him. Lanzelot falsl on his second defense. Suicide is the 11th champion.
2) Faby Apache b Lady Shani © [Reina De Reinas]
8:24. Faby won the title cleanly with a German suplex. Faby Apache wrestled more rudas, though was still heavily cheered upon winning. Shani falls on her third defense, second defense on TV. Faby is the 24th Champion.
4) Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana b Aerostar, Drago, Raptor and Argenis, Bengala, Máscara de Bronce and Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly © [AAA TRIOS]
16:18. Elimination rules, with Chessman beat to eliminate the OGTs, Raptor to eliminate his team, and Bengala after a foul pinned to give the Poder del Norte the win. They’re 11th champions, this is their second reign. OGT fall on their first defense. They attacked Poder del Norte after the win.
5) Psycho Clown NF Rey Escorpión [bull terrier]
18:06. Psycho appeared to win by DQ when Murder & Monster ran in. AAA’s recap says the match ended with no decision. Two masked man made the save, and revealed themselves to be La Mascara & Maximo, reuniting the Brazos.
5) Dark Cuervo, Dark Scoria, La Parka b Dave The Clown, Monsther Clown, Murder Clown [street]
13:45. La Parka pinned Dave with a urange.
6) Dr. Wagner Jr. b Johnny Mundo © [AAA HEAVY]
19:05. Seconds were Hernandez & Hijo de Dr. Wagner. Vampiro was special referee. The younger Wagner betrayed his father, attacking him and Vampiro from behind with chair shots, then passing the blame to Hernandez. Wagner turned again more obviously later on. It did not affect the outcome of the match. Vampiro beat up the rudos, give Mundo a chokeslam, waited for Wagner to crawl on top, and made replacement referee Copetes count the pin. Mundo faills on his seventh defense (and this appears as though it’s his final match in AAA.) Wagner is 15th champion.
7) Hijo del Fantasma © DQ Texano Jr. [cage, AAA LA]
13:06. Hijo del Tirantes helped Texano three times during the match. Bengala (acknowledged as Texano’s brother) came out to counter, spitting water in his brother’s face. The match was suddenly stopped by Vampiro and the commission. AAA’s explanation is Texano was DQed for Bengala and Tirantes interference. Both men (and Bengala & Tirantes) brawled post match, which included Vampiro making their hair/mask match for Rey de Reyes on 03/04.

Rey Wagner told the press he had no idea why his son turned. There’s no great explanation of the main event finish to be found. AAA’s recap is insistent Faby is 100% ruda now; it didn’t come across that way in the match. Faby was 100% a ruda in her backstage inteview, telling the press she’d accept a hair versus match with Lady Shani because Shani is years away from being anything beyond a rookie.

I could’ve sworn Psycho got his hand raised, I just do not care enough to go back enough to look. Vampiro, responding to criticism about getting involved as a referee, said he can do what he wants. That appears to be true! He also said it’s a one time thing. That appears to be a total lie; he’s already forgotten he did this multiple times last year. And he’ll be doing it again.

This was a fun show until the last two matches, which over shadowed the rest. The Wagner/Mundo match not only featured Vampiro putting Vampiro over as expect, but Hijo del Wagner turning on his father and interfering frequently in a title match. There was no DQ. The final match was Fantasma & Texano in a cage, with Hijo del Tirantes interfering frequently and Bengala interfering once. That was enough to call a DQ, even though cage matches are typically no DQ matches. The end of the match was about as cold as it could be and I have trouble believing anyone thought that was a really good way to send people home or to build up Fantasma & Texano for Rey de Reyes.

We didn’t get a good match out of that main event, but we did get some big questions. Fantasma & Texano is now definitely not the TripleMania apuesta match, and there’s no clear answer on what will be that match. Vampiro & Mundo still were feuding, but Taya said Mundo was done with AAA now. Wagner/Wagner would be strange. There are still a lot of fans who love La Parka, and yet there’s no way Dave/Parka would be an acceptable big show main event. They have plenty of time to figure this out; Wagner/Psycho was announced a year in advance, Pagano/Psycho wasn’t really clear until March. (Psycho also seems the pattern here, and all three Brazos taking on Escorpion/Murder/Monster in a triple apuesta match, or something similar, does not seem out of the question.)

The other big question is what does a Texano hair versus Fantasma mask match taking place on March 4th mean for their roles in Lucha Underground? The safe bet is Texano is losing, yet it’d really be weird if he was just suddenly bald one week. Maybe that means Fantasma and King Cuerno are losing, which would be odd to choose to lose one of Lucha Underground characters right after also losing another one in Prince Puma. (Though that visual of his ending still makes me think there will be a new Prince Puma at some point.) Maybe LU can cleverly write around this issue, it just seems like the results in one of these two promotions are going to spoil the other one.

The attendance looked good, though there were noticeable empty sections in the upper levels. The fans did seem to be arriving late and leaving early – the main event going on past midnight probably was too much for a heavy family crowd. You could see that in the Twitch viewership numbers too; peaking at around 7500 for the Wagner/Mundo match and dropping after that finish and thru the main event (and really dropping the rest of the way.)

If you watched on Twitch, you heard Hugo Savinovich & Jose Manuel Guillen call the show, not the the usual Televisa announcers. There is a reason for this beyond being on Twitch. AAA’s recap of the event mentions their shows will also start airing on Space channel starting on February 3rd. Space is owned by Turner and looks like it focuses on modern action/fantasy/sci-fi movies. The same channel airs in Mexico and in many Latin American countries, and I do not believe Televisa’s airing elsewhere, so this would gain the promotion visibility in countries they’re hoping to get into in the near future. It’s also possible Space is paying them for the show, which Televisa is believed not too. I don’t think this would mean AAA is giving up the Televisa show any time soon – the visibility of being on a free over the air channel is something they’d be unlikely to give up – but I’d guess Televisa doesn’t want people associated with them to appear on another network and so there will be two different crews for the time being.

Should be noted that Space’s programming guide doesn’t actually list AAA as airing on February 3rd at this point. AAA’s site says the show will air on the channel on Saturdays at 6:30 in Mexico and noon in the rest of the world.

This is also the same network which is working on the Ultima Caida TV show, which will be a fictional luchador series that crosses over into AAA. It makes sense they’d want to air AAA alongside of it to take advantage of what they’re building up. I’d assume this deal goes on as long as Ultima Caida works out.

This was AAA’s first of three straight Friday night tapings, building up TV for the Lucha Underground break. They’re in Toluca for a surprise main event, which will possible now involve La Mascara & Maximo. I’m not sure if they’ll air the show on Twitch as well.

It’s strange AAA is using Maximo and La Mascara by those names given how much time they’ve spent hounding their own former wrestlers for using the names they own. It’s come up before and maybe it’ll be back to being M-ximo once it shows up on posters and on TV. It does make it clear AAA’s not as concerned about the importance of trademark law as much as they are gaining control over people.

CMLL (FRI) 01/26/2018 Arena México [CMLL, CulticonOvaciones]
1) Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Flyer & Robin LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 26 DE ENERO  DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Cancerbero, Nitro, Raziel b Astral, Eléctrico, Star Jr. LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 26 DE ENERO  DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Rudos took 2/3.
3) Audaz, Soberano Jr., Starman b Disturbio, Misterioso Jr., Virus LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 26 DE ENERO  DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
rudos took 1/3, Virus pinning Audaz with a hand on the ropes in what appears to be a regular matchup going forward. Soberano replaced Drone, who appears to be suspended.
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Stuka Jr. DQ Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 26 DE ENERO  DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
There was a moment of remembrance for Sahori before this match. Staright falls, Cuatrero DQed for unmasking Angel de Oro.
5) Terrible © b Diamante Azul [MEX HEAVYLUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 26 DE ENERO  DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Azul weighed in at 110.5 KG, Terrible at 105. Terrible took falls 2/3, the last turning Azul’s ramp leaping clothesline into an armabr for the submission. Second defense, second time versus Diamante Azul. Diamante Azul goes 1-3 in his seris of singles matches.
6) Atlantis, Dragón Lee, Volador Jr. b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 26 DE ENERO  DE 2018 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)

I only really watched the opener and parts of the second match, which were boring. The rest of the show was said to be pretty good. I feel cheated. (I’ll recap it later.)

Star Jr. replaced Drone on this show, and will also replace him Tuesday in Guadalajara. Drone’s now not listed on any poster. I do not believe CMLL would’ve pulled Drone from their show if they believed it was a simple medicine issue. CMLL normal policy for showing up in no condition to work is a quiet three week suspension. They’ve not at all publicly addressed the situation, but that seems likely what they’ve decided to do here. It also looks like Drone’s Facebook page has been deleted. (An older one is still out there.)

I don’t have full results from The Crash show yet. I do know they’re calling their new facility CARTC (Centro de Alto Rendimiento The Crash) and they drew a lot of people for their free show. They’re opening the center for business on Monday. Maximo & La Mascara did wrestle in the main event before showing up in AAA, and have to be assumed as being done with The Crash going forward. That means Los Ingobernables are back down to Rush & Pierroth everywhere. I have no idea what it means for Arolucha.

The Crash announced Diosa Atenea would get a match on their 02/16 show after impressing them on their tryout.

Times Herald Online has a bio on Payaso del Rodeo.

Lineups

Toryumon Mexico (SUN) 01/28/2018 Gimnasio Cuauhtemoc, Domo del Deportivo Plan Sexenal, Miguel Hidalgo, Distrito Federal
1) Notorius vs Pequeño Olímpico
2) Tortuguillo Karateka I & Tortuguillo Karateka II vs Fiero & Fireman
3) Lluvia & Princesa Sugehit vs Reina Isis & Tiffany
4) Argos, Oro Jr., Súper Ciudadano vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Karonte Jr., Patán
5) Magnus & Último Dragón vs Diamante & Sam Adonis

This is listed on the poster as Nipro Copa. I know a Toryumon Mexico card when I see it. Ultimo Dragon isn’t up to date on Audaz’s new character.

CMLL (FRI) 02/02/2018 Arena México
1) Astral & Eléctrico vs El Coyote & Templario
2) Audaz, Pegasso, Rey Cometa vs Kawato San, Misterioso Jr., Virus
3) Último Guerrero & Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero & Niebla Roja and Blue Panther & Sam Adonis and Hechicero & Soberano Jr. and Mephisto & Mistico and Diamante Azul & Pierroth and Cavernario & Titán and Rey Bucanero & Valiente [natl pi, battle royal]
4) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [natl pi, 8f]
5) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [natl pi, 8f]
6) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [natl pi, 8f]
7) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [natl pi, 8f]
8) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [natl pi, quarterfinal]
9) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [natl pi, quarterfinal]
10) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [natl pi, semifinal]
11) Atlantis, Carístico, Marco Corleone vs Euforia, Shocker, Terrible

First block of the annual tecnico/rudo tournament. UG & Volador, Niebla Roja & Gran Guerero and Mephisto & Mistico stand out as the favorites in this block. Really, it’s tough to figure who would be a challenge to Volador & Ultimo Guerrero in either block given how much those two guys win.

Kawato makes his debut, a few days later than scheduled. (Nitro replaces him on Tuesday. I yelled OH NO at my computer when I noticed that change.) Since Audaz & Virus are a pair, I’m guessing he’ll probably be matched up with Rey Cometa.

Astral & Electrico have much better opponents this week, hopefully they can do something with it.

4 thoughts to “Fantasma/Texano apuesta match at Rey de Reyes, 4 titles change hands at Guerra de Titanes, Terrible still champion”

  1. Who is booking finishes in AAA? I am still confused to no end how spitting water in someones face in a cage match gets a DQ ruled. I really except fraude chants. Hell I didn’t pay and felt hoodwinked. The semi’s finish was far from any better. Up until then it was going so well.

  2. “Out- of -nowhere” turns are so annoying. I can’t believe wrestling promotions still do this. This shit was prevalent back in the WCW days, and I always felt it was an easy and cheap way to shock the audience and build a feud. Vampiro just gave me another reason to stay away from AAA.

  3. Are we sure Russo hasn’t been hired?

    Thought the show was good up until Mundo/Wagner. didn’t think Shani/Apache we’re out there to hurt each other both always seem stiff in their matches so expected that. Shani should have won though

  4. Guerra de Titanes was pretty good, wonder what they will do aside fantasma texano match, hope lady shani recaptures the title soon

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