lucha TV preview for weekend of February 2nd, 2018

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You may note that CMLL Friday show has a different main event suddenly. They made they change sometime Thursday, adding Angel de Oro, Cuatrero and Sanson to the mix. It sure seems like they’re heading in an unlikely direction (the H2L main event feuding starting on FantasticaMania?). We’ll have a better idea after that show.

This is week two of three straight AAA on Twitch Friday nights. This card isn’t nearly as strong as last week (especially if the locally reported main event is what happens) – but CMLL has tournament lucha so that’s not great the best either.

AAA starts on Space this weekend. It’s now even listed on their website! The show airs on Saturdays outside of Mexico, and I wonder if the current Televisa deal requires them to get to air the show before anyone else. I’m also curious if the TV will have much we don’t see live (there was a Bengala/Texano vignette we only seemed to catch part of), and how they’d handle Noti AAA on the show that can’t use Zuniga.

There’s no Sunday IWRG show this week because Chario is running on Monday. It’s strange that Naucalpan won’t let other promotions run on Sundays if they’re still going to rent out the arena to run on Mondays and not run Sundays themselves. I don’t understand the point. Anyway, that means Wednesday’s IWRG show is more likely to air – maybe even in the Saturday spot that’s just had reruns of late.

Note that there’s no obvious rhyme or reason to what Lucha Azteca is airing at this point. And I’m not going to put Teleformula on here unless we can figure out what’s going to air.

Shani/Faby & 4 way cage match for TripleMania, all AAA events to stream on Twitch

coming in 2018

Today’s been a busy day with other things, so I’m just covering the AAA press conference today, and we’ll catch up on IWRG trainee shows and CMLL stuff tomorrow.

This AAA press conference was a sort of mission statement for the year. They had one of these last year which included a Psycho Clown/Dr. Wagner contract signing (and then Wagner’s flight got canceled), and to give out other information while they had the media there. This year’s version had everyone who was supposed to be there, and so can already be seen as a great year to year improvement. Some of the information had been announced or touched on during Dorian Roldan’s Zona Ruda appearance, and some was brand new.

AAA announced the first two matches for TripleMania

  • Lady Shani versus Faby Apache in a mask versus hair match.
  • Psycho Clown versus (the winner of Hijo del Fantasma & Texano Jr. at Rey de Reyes) versus a third person versus a fourth person in a Poker de Ases cage match, last one left in loses their hair or mask.

No date or city or arena was announced for TripleMania. Maybe that was the one thing that didn’t show up for this announcement – weird to be announcing match for a show that’s got no date.

Shani & Faby both talked about an apuesta match after Guerra de Titanes, though it seemed like something which might just be in the moment challenges. There’s an issue here with Faby Apache betting her hair. Back in 2009, when Guerra de Titanes was still a December show instead of a January one, Faby and Sexy Star had their own apuesta match, Faby lost, Faby allowed the barber to cut her hair down from a long haircut to a short one, then she walked to the stage to wave at the crowd and went to the back. The idea was she got the rest shaved of back there. Faby wrestled for a short time with a cap covering her theoretically bald head, only the cap fell off when she was wrestling at a big (non-TV) show Guadalajara, and everyone could see she never shaved her head and just got a stylish short hairdo instead. Faby Apache was (and is) so over as a babyface that all the AAA fans didn’t turn on her for backing out of the deal, but there was negativity then and she’s never been involved in an apuesta match since.

2009 is a long time ago, and AAA’s policy seem to be to ignore these sort of unhappy past situations. (There’s been so much turnover, most people beside Faby & the Roldans might have not been for it or forgot it happened.) I suspect it’s something that’s going to be brought up during the next few months and probably could be addressed head on, though again AAA is more likely to ignore it.

My early guess is Shani’s losing her mask. But it’s still far off.

A lucha libre cage match is only as important as the worst person who is in it. If it’s, to pick some names, Wagner and LA Park as the last two names, that’s a pretty big match. If it’s La Parka and Dave the Clown, then it’s the same problem as all the CMLL cage matches no one cares about. This one will do better because it’s TripleMania and they’re at least starting with some big names in there, it just won’t do great if it’s a method of hiding an apuesta loser no one wants to see.

The AAA press conference went over AAA’s current media picture. AAA starts this week on Space channel in Mexico and other Latin America commercials. (People watching the channel today told me they started seeing commercials for it.) They also remain on Televisa, and it appears the same episodes will air on the same weekends on both channels, just with different sets of announcers since the main announcers are at least technically Televisa employees. There’s no indication AAA is leaving Televisa in the short term. In the long term, it’s safer to have options.

(Also: having a show without Televisa involvement might make it possible for them to sell that show in the US outside of Televisa’s networks.)

AAA is also going strong into Twitch, so much so that the sort of people who read this site might really not need to pay attention to their TV situation going forward. Their current Spanish language channel will go live 24/7 starting with Friday’s taping in Toluca, and the plan is to air every taping live in the same way CMLL currently does on YouTube. (CMLL has an advantage of taping from the same locations all the time; AAA will be traveling around and I wouldn’t hold it against them if some of these didn’t turn out to be actually live due to internet issues.) AAA says they’ll be running thirty one events in total, which would be up three from the last few years.

When the Twitch channel is not streaming a live event, they’ll be streaming classic content from the AAA archives. This is going to be really exciting if AAA digs into shows from it’s first couple of dates, featuring some big names and matches which might have never been seen since they first aired. It’ll be less exciting if it’s more recent content already available on YouTube. They did go way back in the archive for TripleMania’s marathon, so this has the potential to be interesting and will at least keep the channel warm.

This year is the Gira de Conquest for AAA, and went over their plans for their world conquest:

  • February & March: Lucha Underground
  • August & September: Colombia & Panama
  • September & November: United States
  • October: Japan (probably the Lucha World Cup)
  • and there are talks about going to England, but no date has been agreed upon

Those dates should be seen as flexible; AAA also said they were going to Colombia last year and it just quietly went away. Being on Space will help them in Colombia & Panama if they do make it, and they’re also crediting the success of Lucha Underground for creating a demand for this sort of tour. United States is interesting and impossible to know how successful will be without knowing the venue they’re going and if they’ll be visible in any real way before it. As is, AAA would do fine in the size of arenas AroLucha is running in and maybe not as fine in the arenas NJPW US is trying.

(I would suggest AAA avoid 09/01 as a US date.)

Finally, AAA announced they would continue the La Llave a la Gloria competition in 2017. Last year, they had a sponsorship with a chain of gym and had people come there to tryout. They don’t seem to have that sponsorship this year, and so the idea is to do tryouts before TV tapings and live shows. They’ve already been advertising those before some shows and more details are to come later. Last year’s competition made little sense yet ended up with good people and I suspect the same this year.

That’s pretty much it for details. Dorian did put over La Mascara & Maximo as exclusive signings, and as a sign big stars wanted to work with AAA. He ended the press conference by telling people to expect the unexpected, seemingly hinting at the other two spots in that TripleMania cage match.

2017 Tapatia Awards Results

Hola.

These are the results for 2017 Tapatia Awards, honoring the best in lucha libre. Thanks to everyone who voted, and thanks for those who didn’t for still reading this. We had 60 ballots submitted, far more than we tried this project last decade.

Full results from past years: 2004200520062007, 2008, and 2009. There were no awards from 2010 to 2016.

Best Wrestler

2004: LA Park
2005: Perro Aguayo Jr.
2006: Mistico
2007: Gran Apache
2008: Blue Panther
2009: Negro Casas
2017: Volador Jr.

Name 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place Total Points
Volador Jr. 13 6 8 99
Rey Fénix 10 6 2 72
Soberano Jr. 6 3 9 57
Penta Zero M 5 7 2 50
Dr. Wagner Jr. 7 1 4 46
Psycho Clown 3 3 3 30
Rush 3 3 2 28
Barbaro Cavernario 1 2 4 19
Ultimo Guerrero 1 3 2 18
Niebla Roja 3 1 17
Sam Adonis 3 4 17
Hechicero 1 3 1 16
Dragon Lee 2 1 13
Sanson 3 1 11
Caristico 3 9
Negro Casas 1 2 9
Flamita 2 1 8
Mistico 1 1 8
Andrade Cien Almas 1 1 7
Gran Guerrero 1 1 5
Keyra 1 1 5
Prince Puma 2 4
Demus 1 3
El Hijo del Fantasma 1 3
LA Park 1 3
Microman 1 3
Trauma II 1 3
Zeuxis 1 3
Bandido 1 2
Demonio Infernal 1 2
Imposible 1 2
Johnny Mundo 1 2
Mephisto 1 2
Pagano 1 2

Best Match

2004: Averno vs Zumbido 09/03
2005: Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero 02/25
2006: Black Warrior vs Mistico 09/29
2007: Mistico vs Dr. Wagner 07/27
2008: Blue Panther vs Villano V 09/19
2009: Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Mesias 06/13
2017: 02-27 Barbaro Cavernario & Volador Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero & El Valiente
Match 1st 2nd 3rd Total
02-27 Barbaro Cavernario & Volador Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero & El Valiente 8 9 1 69
03-11 LA Park vs Rush 7 2 5 51
08-26 Psycho Clown vs Dr. Wagner Jr . 7 2 2 45
06-20 Volador Jr. vs Barbaro Cavernario 4 4 5 42
06-25 Killshot vs Dante Fox 7 1 37
04-28 Zack Sabre Jr. vs Negro Navarro 2 6 1 30
09-16 Niebla Roja vs Gran Guerrero 4 3 29
10-05 Rey Fénix vs Flamita 3 1 2 22
09-16 Princesa Sugheit vs Zeuxis 1 1 4 16
06-16 Carístico & Soberano Jr. vs Sansón & Último Guerrero 1 3 14
09-01 CMLL Gran Prix 1 1 3 14
08-04 Sam Adonis vs Blue Panther 1 1 2 12
07-14 Volador Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero 1 1 1 10
01-06 Hechicero vs Caifan 1 2 9
03-03 Sky Man vs Saturno 1 3 9
06-18 Iron Kid vs Demus 3:16 3 9
12-29 Caristico vs Volador Jr. 3 9
02-11 Dragon Lee vs Hiromu Takahashi 1 1 8
11-03 Copa Inframundo 1 1 8
01-14 Demus 3:16 vs Wotan 1 5
04-07 Torneo Reyes Del Aire 1 5
05-05 Flamita vs AR Fox 1 5
06-26 Johnny Mundo vs Prince Puma 1 1 5
10-13 Leyenda De Plata 1 5
11-29 Rey Fénix vs Flamita 1 1 5
12-15 Mistico, Volador Jr. & El Terrible vs Caristico, El Soberano Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero 1 5
04-21 Ayako Hamada vs Taya 2 4
10-02 Soberano Jr. vs Barbaro Cavernario 2 4
10-20 Sansón & Cuatrero & Forastero vs Niebla Roja & Ángel de Oro & Soberano Jr. 2 4
01-22 Imposible vs Relámpago 1 3
03-18 Penta el Zero M & Rey Fenix vs Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs Matt Sydal & Ricochet 1 3
05-05 Young Bucks vs Lucha Brothers 1 3
07-04 Imposible Vs Super Nova 1 3
07-15 Virus vs Xtreme Tiger 1 3
08-04 Sansón, Cuatrero, Forastero vs Soberano Jr., The Panther, Rey Cometa 1 3
08-26 Hijo del Fantasma vs Texano Jr. vs Johnny Mundo 1 3
10-20 Caristico vs Volador Jr. 1 3
10-28 Dasher Hatfield vs Moose 1 3
11-03 Dalys vs Marcela 1 3
11-21 Dragón Lee vs Bárbaro Cavernario 1 3
01-08 Imposible Vs Relámpago 1 2
04-30 El Gallito & Microman vs El Perico Zakarías & Mije 1 2
05-12 Soberano Jr. vs Rey Cometa 1 2
06-19 Atlantis vs Hechicero 1 2
06-30 Volador Jr. vs Hechicero 1 2
09-13 Flamita vs Fenix 1 2
10-01 Pagano vs El Mesias vs Joe Lider 1 2
10-08 Rush vs Caristico vs Mr. 450 1 2
10-21 Centvrion vs Kalibus vs Low Rider vs Nino de Cobre vs Rafy 1 2
10-27 Sky Team vs Los Guerreros 1 2
11-02 Castillo del Terror IWRG 1 2
11-20 Caifan vs. Mr. Niebla 1 2
11-20 Rush, Volador Jr., Dragon Lee vs Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Euforia 1 2

Best Promotion

2004: CMLL
2005: CMLL
2006: CMLL
2007: AAA
2008: CMLL
2009: CMLL

2017: CMLL

Promotion Votes
CMLL 24
The Crash 18
AAA 4
Lucha Memes 4
Lucha Underground 4
DTU 1
IWRG 1

Best Rivalary

2004: El Hijo del Santo vs Perro Aguayo Jr.
2005: Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero
2006: Mistico vs Black Warrior
2007: Billy Boy vs Gran Apache
2008: Blue Panther vs Villano V
2009: Negro Casas vs Mistico

2017: Princesa Sugehit vs Zeuxis

Rivalry Votes
Princesa Sugehit vs Zeuxis 9
Psycho Clown vs Dr Wagner Jr. 8
Volador Jr. (& Mistico) vs Carístico 7
LA Park vs Rush (& families) 5
Rey Fénix vs Flamita 4
Sam Adonis vs Blue Panther 4
Soberano Jr. vs Sansón (and related trios) 3
Dante Fox vs Killshot 2
Hijo del Fantasma vs Texano Jr. 2
Niebla Roja vs Gran Guerrero 2
Volador Jr. vs Cavernario 2
Alvarado Family vs Ultimo Guerrero’s car 1
CMLL Bookers vs Logical Booking 1
CMLL Micros 1
Crash vs Rebellion Amarilla 1
Imposible vs Relámpago 1
Negro Casas vs Sam Adonis 1
Sexy Star and Dignity 1
Vampiro vs Logic 1

Best Unit

2004: Guerreros del Infierno (as Best Tag Team and Best Trio)
2005: (no award)
2006: Los Guerreros del Atlantida
2007: Real Fuerza Aerea AAA
2008: Oficiales
2009: Peste Negra
2017: Nueva Generación Dinamita

Unit Votes
Nueva Generación Dinamita 29
Los Ingobernables 6
Lucha Brothers 4
La Rebelión Amarilla 3
Los Traumas/Negro Navarro 3
La Peste Negra 2
OGT 2
Casas Family 1
Guerreros Laguneros 1
La Rebelión Rojo 1
Las Tortuga Ninja 1
Los Divinos Laguneros 1
Los Ingobernables del Japon 1
Los Macizos 1
Microstars 1
Nuevo Poder del Norte 1

Most Improved

2004: Olimpico
2005: Maximo
2006: Black Warrior, Marco Corelone, Mistico (tie)
2007: Super Fly & X-Pac (tie)
2008: Sombra
2009: Mascara Dorada
2017: Soberano Jr.

Most Improved Votes
Soberano Jr. 11
Niebla Roja 6
Sam Adonis 5
Gran Guerrero 4
Sansón 4
Andrade Cien Almas 2
Bandido 2
Flamita 2
Iron Kid 2
Killshot 2
Aramis 1
Argenis 1
Barbario Cavernario 1
Bestia 666 1
Demus 3:16 1
Garza Jr 1
Heddi Karaoui 1
Johnny Mundo 1
Magia Blanca 1
Robin 1
Rush 1
Sagrado 1
Taya Valkyrie 1
Xtreme Tiger 1

Favorite Wrestler

2017:  Barbaro Cavernario & Hechicero (tie)

Favorite Votes
Barbaro Cavernario 6
Hechicero 6
Negro Casas 5
Rush 4
Soberano Jr. 4
Dr. Wagner Jr. 3
Micro Man 3
Penta Zero M 3
Volador Jr. 3
Atlantis 2
Flamita 2
LA Park 2
Ultimo Guerrero 2
Aero Star 1
Caristico 1
Demonio Infernal 1
Diamante Azul 1
Dragon Lee 1
Niebla Roja 1
Sam Adonis 1
Sansón 1
Stuka Jr. 1
Ultimo Panda 1
Virus 1
Zeuxis 1

(Errata: 2 ballots were thrown out; one person appeared to vote twice, and another voted as if this was a more general wrestling awards. I did my best to guess which match people meant, but those of you who just put “Rey Fenix vs Flamita” or “Ultimo Guerrero vs Volador” or “Impossible vs Relampago” or other repeated matches without specifying a date may end up with the wrong one. (I’ll make that a bigger point next year.) I left in PWG, NJPW & CHIKARA matches but threw out the person who voted for Sam Adonis & Negro Casas – save that for next year. I combined some of the feuds to make a little more sense.)