Mistico takes on Mistico tonight in Arena Puebla, other much less interesting stuff

 

IWRG (SUN) 04/08/2018 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV, The Gladiatores]
1) Mexica & Shadow Boy b Celestial Boy & Dragón Bane
2) Gallo Frances & Soma b Black Dragón & Dragón Fly
3) Demon Rocker, Devil Rocker, Machine Rocker b Leo, Mike, Rafy
win via foul
4) Teelo b SpectorCapo del Norte
mask match challenges followed
5) Dr. Cerebro, El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Máscara Año 2000 Jr. b Emperador Azteca, Imposible, Internacional Pantera
Medico Asesino beat Imposible to head towards a title match.
6) Ovett, Trauma I, Trauma II DQ Hijo de Canis Lupus, Mr. Electro, Veneno [super libre]
Trauma I came out with a pipe to attack Lupus, in revenge for Lupus injuring him last week. Traumas/Ovett took falls 1/3, the last by DQ (in a super libre match) when Mr. Electro hit Baby Richard with a chair.

You are doing bad things to lucha libre if your “super libre” matches end in disqualifications. I wish the old men who complain about not enough mat work and not enough training would complain about terrible match finishes and other ways promotions defraud their fans. As good as Imposible is, his title match with Medico Asesino/Imposible is probably not going to be worth watching but you know that if you’re going to see the match. I guess you also know that if IWRG advertises a super libre match, you may be getting a DQ finish to get out of anyone taking a pinfall, and that’s maybe why not a lot of people are showing up to see IWRG matches.

I broke down and added Capo del Norte to the database. He’ll definitely get unmasked in the next couple weeks now.

Caristico, the original CMLL Mistico, will face the man who took over the name when he left the promotion for the first time ever in a singles match tonight in Arena Puebla. There’s not too many precedent for something like this happening in CMLL. They’ve reused names over the years – there’s a bunch of La Sombras and there’s another Mascara Dorada if look far enough back to pick two – but usually the previous person under the name is gone and mostly forgotten by the time the name is reycled. Caristico was gone but most definitely not forgotten, and now he’s back. This is more reminiscent of AAA, who had a similar interest in keeping their gimmick in circulation quickly after splitting up with with the people under the masks and then welcoming back the original person later on. AAA’s had two Mosco de la Merced feuding and two (or maybe two and half) Psicosis battling over the names. The most similar match to tonight’s Mistico/Caristico match is AAA’s La Parka (LA Park) vs La Parka Jr., which headlined Palacio de los Deportes in 2010 after months of build as the biggest match of the year. Tonight’s match is happening on about seven days of notice in CMLL’s third or fourth most important building. CMLL’s given this match little extra hype compared to a usual Friday main event, treating this no different than any other Arena Puebla main event, and less important than the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show two weeks ago.

CMLL may not be treating this match like a big deal. The reactions from the Puebla fans, and from the Arena Mexico fans when they were teasing this match, suggests this is still a big deal to them. I suspect it’ll be the same for tonight’s match. The biggest concern is how well they’ll end up working together: Caristico’s most high profile tecnico/tecnico match in Mexico was the TripleMania match versus Rey Mysterio Jr., which didn’t work at all in the building. One of the problems there was the lack of a coherent tecnico/rudo divide for the match. It should not be as much of a problem tonight if the luchadors go with the fan reactions. The crowd has fiercely chosen Caristico over his replacement, so the template of how to work the match is right there. Mistico seems to enjoy working being a rudo and would likely be a Los Ingobernable like his older brother Rush if CMLL allowed it. They should allow it tonight.

The result of this match technically means nothing. Neither man has a singles title, and winning a singles match in CMLL does not get you anywhere. (The only way to be a title contender is to beat the champion two weeks in a row on the same day of the week.) The outcome of this match also emotionally feels like it means everything, It’s a very fake decision to decide a very real question about which guy is better. CMLL has been very clear to this point that the new Mistico is even better than the old Mistico. The fans of the old Mistico (and the old Mistico himself) have been pretty passionate that their guys is better than this new guy. It’s tough to imagine CMLL creating an outcome where they’re proven wrong, where Caristico beats Mistico. It’s also tough to imagine Caristico being ok with losing to Mistico two straight weeks in a row. There’s definitely going to be an odd sequence resulting in the finish, it’s just how odd. Last week, I thought Caristico had to get his win back. I’m having a tougher time believing CMLL would OK that, and maybe some sort of draw is the only way out.

There are other matches on this show! It’s hard to believe that to be the case, but it’s the truth. Los Ingobernables make their first appearance in their new configuration, facing Mr. Niebla, Negro Casa and Shocker. It’s a semimain heavy on rudos to balance out the all tecnico main event. Angel de Oro, Dragon Lee and Niebla Roja take on NGD in a rematch. Sanson unmasked Dragon Lee for a DQ last week. It’s possible they’re heading to a singles match. It could also be a trios title match, though challenges for that title would give away the result of NGD’s defense tomorrow night in Guadalajara.

Kaho Kobayashi & Princesa Sugehit face Dalys & Zeuxis. Puebla seems to get more 2v2 women’s matches than anywhere else. Kobayashi’s stint in Mexico seems like it should be up at the end of the month, so it’s about time to start moving towards a singles (title?) match if she’s going to have one. Guadalarsja’s Fugaz, Principe Daniel, and Reyko make their CMLL YouTube debut in the second match, taking on Malayo, Templario and Grako. I keep forgetting this: Principe Daniel is one of Barbaro Cavernario’s brothers. Arkalis, Millenium, Rey Samuray take on Perverso, Fuerza Chicano and Rey Apocalipsis in the opener.

CultIcon also has a preview of the main event. The show will air at 9pm on CMLL’s YouTube channel. The main event should start around 10:35pm (so well after WWE’s show ends, if you’d like to watch that.)

The trailer for The Crash show has popped up on Vimeo after showing up on Facebook earlier. The production company put it up as part of their portfolio.

AAA is back to uploading episodes to YouTube, with content that’s not exactly in the Twitch broadcasts. That includes the upcoming schedule, which says the next two tapings are 04/20 in Tijuana and 05/21 in Tehuacan, Puebla. AAA’s got plenty of TV taped from that crazy stretch of shows, but that’s because this scheduling has been equally as crazy: three tapings in eight days, then one taping in about a 70 day stretch.

Hidalgo luchador Gasparin Jr. had a seizure during a match this weekend. He took a fall from the top rope to the floor, came back in the match, and then suddenly convulsed. They stopped the match to take care of him and he recovered backstage, but still was taken to a hospital.

Tiger is wrestling on the NPWL show in Petaluma, California on 05/19.

The New York Times has a story on lucha libre photographs.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 04/14/2018 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Nitro & Pequeño Violencia
2) Estrellita, La Guerrera, La Maligna vs La Comandante, Metálica, Tiffany
3) Astral, El Audaz, Stigma vs Arkángel de la Muerte, Cancerbero, Raziel
4) Drone vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Hechicero, Luciferno, Okumura
6) Ángel de Oro, Dragón Lee, Niebla Roja vs Kráneo, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero

Kraneo is a rudo on Friday and a tecnico on Saturday. It’s almost like CMLL doesn’t care about any of this.

There’s a La Guerrera in Ciudad Juarez but I have no idea if this is her. We’ve barely seen La Maligna so it may be a while before we see Guerrera in matches, though she’ll surely be on Informa soon.

MDA (SUN) 04/29/2018 Arena Coliseo Monterrey
1) Babe Fox vs Demencia
2) Baby Xtreme vs Apóstol Jr.
3) Azteca Warrior vs Gato Fantasma
4) El Divo & Fuerza Guerrera vs Demus & Panthro
5) LA Park vs El Mesías vs Rush

Mesias debuting with MDA on a less tacked the usual card for them. That main event still seems like worth seeing, with LA Park facing his two best opponents of the last decade.