Month: August 2018

CMLL (MON) 08/27/2018 Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja & Meyer b Ares & Fuerza Chicana 
tecnicos took 2/3
2) Dalys & La Comandante b La Jarochita & Marcela 
rudas took 2/3.
3) Shockercito © b Joker [CMLL MINI] 
Shockercito took falls 2/3 to keep the title. 4th defense
4) Dragón Rojo Jr., Olímpico, Pólvora b Esfinge, Titán, Tritón
Villano III was remembered before the match. Rudos took 1/3.
5) Ángel de Oro, Matt Taven, Niebla Roja b Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Templario 
Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero DQ Cavernario, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush 
Guerreros took 2/3, Rush fouling UG again. Rush & company took Euforia & UG’s mask post-match. No post-match promo.

The only promo from yesterday was Shockercito celebrating his win. I saw part of the match and it seemed just OK. Some match is being set in the match but no one seemed interested in making clear what they’re doing next.

Matt Taven is winning all the unimportant matches, only losing the feud matches (Volador title win, Ultimo Guerrero set up trios, the Rush/Cavernario set up matches.)

Two weeks ago, Stuka Jr. defeated Hechicero for the NWA Light Heavyweight Championship. One week ago, Caristico took the NWA Middleweight Championship away from Ultimo Guerrero. Titan has a chance to make it the third Tuesday with a title change tonight, as he challenges Mephisto for the CMLL Welterweight Championship. Titan’s challenge for the fourth time and is in about the same place as the other challengers. It’s possible he’ll win, but there’s no great feeling a title change is coming. Titan & Mephisto matches have tended to be as good as Titan is willing to take big bumps for Mephisto’s moves (since Mephisto is just doing the same spots every singles match.)

The rest of the show is ordinary fare. Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, and Rey Bucanero take on Mistico, Atlantis, and Volador. An odd grouping of Ephesto, Hechicero & Shocker face Soberano, Stuka, and Valiente. Ephesto is on his own because Mephisto is in the title match, but Rey Bucanero & Shocker are meant to be a team. Not this week. The Panthers teaming with Audaz to take on Kawato, Okumura, and Virus might be interesting. There’s a women’s match, and the opener has some interesting people not seen often (serial killer Yago, Sonic).

Lucha Central has a preview of the show. It’ll air at 7:30pm.

With the title change last week, there’s not much going on this week in Guadalajara.  New champ Caristico teams with Diamante Azul & Matt Taven to take on Cavernario, Bestia and Rush.

PALL, Promotores Asociados Lucha Libre, held an introductory press conference yesterday at Arena Naucalpan. (That video is about 40 minutes long and I’m probably not going to ever watch it. MedioTiempo & R de Rudo have summaries.) PALL is an umbrella promotors group including IWRG, Lucha Memes, Lucha Libre Boom, NOBA, Pleu Sports, MDA, Generacion XXI, GCC and Tortas Super Astros. MDA’s Twitter post about it also mentions Barakal, famed for running that one LA Park/Rush match and almost literally nothing else. NOBA is an Acapulco based promotion, Generacion XXI runs in Guanajuato mostly,  MDA tends to be in Monterrey but will run elsewhere in partnership with Lucha Memes – most every promotion in this group has worked with Memes at some point. I only know of two shows, separated by half a year, that Pleu Sports has run. I know even less about GCC; I think this is a group that promotes in Cancun.

EDIT: GCC is a new name for Barakal! That explains what happened there. They are still mostly promoting around Cancun.

The idea of PALL is to raise the level of indie lucha libre by promotions working together and holding each other to high standards. They’ll coordinate note to run shows against each other and to denounce promoters who don’t pay wrestlers what they’re owed. They’ll share recommended wrestlers, and put together a fund to pay for medical expenses for those hurt on their shows. It’s not particularly big goals, but basic changes could help. This is all in the promotion of a show this Friday at Arena Naucalpan. Mr. Electro spoke from a wrestler point of view at the press conference; he’s not currently on the card but I assume that means he’s going to be.

Some, but not all of these promotions are participating in a trios tournament with outsider promotions on 09/29.

Flamita faces Rich Swann on 09/08 in Manchester as part of the Revolution Pro British J Cup.

RIOT announced their next show, Fanboy, will take place on 09/29.

MDA will run their ColiseoMania 2018 show the following day, on 09/30.

Segunda Caida really enjoyed the Daniel Makabe vs Negro Navarro match, which is on Twitch at about the two hour mark of this video.

Lucha World has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Critero Hidalgo interviews Tuzo Infernal (I think, his name isn’t ever really mentioned in the body of the article.) He’s over 60, so he’s thinking about retiring soon.

Lineups

Future Legend (FRI) 08/31/2018 Paradise Event Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
1) John Hennigan vs Taya Valkyrie, La Máscara, Black Taurus (Indie), Shane Helms, Santana, Ortiz, Máscarita Dorada, Demus, Black Danger (Baja California), Destino Negro, Douglas James, Famous B, Eli Everfly, Oráculo, Serpentico, El Snowflake, Ultimo Panda
matches to be announced
2) Rey Horus vs Austin Theory, Laredo Kid
3) Chris Adonis, Eddie Edwards, Moose vs Killer Kross, Marty Martinez, Ricky Banderas
4) Penta Zero M, Rey Fénix (LU), Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis, Súper Crazy

Legends of Lucha Libre (SAT) 09/01/2018 Paradise Event Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
1) Fuerza Guerrera vs Skayde, Negro Navarro, El Cobarde, Mano Negra, Ángel Blanco Jr.
mathes to be announced
2) Hijo del Solar & Solar I vs Bestia 666 & Damián 666
3) El Mesías, Tinieblas Jr., Último Dragón vs El Fantasma, Hijo del Fantasma, Pirata Morgan

Expo Lucha announced these two shows will be streaming live on LuchaCentral. The Friday show starts about 10pm CT (so it should be still going as CMLL wraps up), and the Saturday show starts at 4pm CT (so before All In if you’re watching both.) They’ll have both Spanish announcing (Roberto Figueroa) and English (Joe Dombrowski & uh Vampiro again).

CMLL (SUN) 09/02/2018 Arena México
1) Príncipe Diamante & Sangre Imperial vs Grako & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Pegasso, Star Jr., Stigma vs Hijo del Signo, Metálico, Nitro
3) Blue Panther Jr., El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Disturbio, Misterioso Jr., Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Flyer vs Mephisto [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Kráneo, Soberano Jr. vs Ephesto, Felino, Hechicero
6) Carístico, Diamante Azul, Mistico vs Cavernario, Euforia, Gran Guerrero

Not much interesting is happening on CMLL b-shows and this continues that.

WWCI (SUN) 09/16/2018 Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México
1) Imperio Negro & Memo Romero vs Príncipe Deka & Ying Zang
2) India Mazahua & Jessy Ventura vs Óscar El Hermoso & Zafiro
3) Astrolux vs Black Metal
4) Lilith Dark & Mary Apache vs Black Fury & La Magnifica
5) Impulso & Wotan vs Demus & Steve Pain and Drako & Hijo del Fishman

Not a hugely notable show on its own, but it does mean Lucha Memes own 09/16 show must be someplace else. (And does the PALL agreement mean that’ll be the only show that group of promotions runs on 09/16?)

AAA TV (SAT) 08/25/2018 Arena Ciudad de México, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal [AAA, Cageside Seats, Lucha Central, Marca (mask), Marca (women), Ovaciones, R de Rudo, SuperLuchas, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan, Tribuna]
TripleMania XXVI
1) Astrolux, Dragón Bane, Freelance b Aramis, Draztick Boy, Látigo
a Llave a la Gloria match
2) Sammy Guevara b Australian Suicide ©, Shane Strickland, ACH [AAA CRUISER]
Guevera beat Sucide with a 630 senton to win the title. Suicide falls on 4th defense, 3rd on TV. Killer Kross attacked everyone (Guervera included) before offering Suicide a MAD shirt. Suicide later was with MAD.
3) Big Mami & Niño Hamburguesa © b Hijo Del Vikingo & Vanilla and Dinastía & Lady Maravilla and Angelikal & La Hiedra [AAA MIXED TAG]
3rd defense (2nd televised).
4) Bandido & Flamita b Aerostar & Drago and Golden Magic & Laredo Kid and Andrew Everett & DJZ [Ladder, AAA TAG, #1 Contenders]
Bandido & Flamita earned a shot at the tag team titles (held by Rey Escorpion & Texano)
5) Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana b Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata and Hijo de LA Park, Puma King, Taurus
Poder del Norte beat Hijo de LA Park
6) Jack Evans, Juventud Guerrera, Teddy Hart b Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly [lumberjack]
a confused (and mistimed?) finished included Poder del Norte attacking OGT, only for OGT to still somehow get the win. Chessman & Jack Evans appeared to get in a legit fight, and a fan attacked Carta Brava.
7) La Máscara, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. b Joe Lider, Murder Clown, Pagano [street]
Texano hit Lider with a flaming lasso. Pagano was once again strechered out.
8) Lady Shani b Faby Apache [mask, hair]
Shani’s mask vs Faby Apache’s hair. Moved down a spot. Taurus took out Shani’s second Nino Hamburguesa with a spear. La Parka replaced him and helped counter both Taurus and Hamburguesa to allow Shani to win. Faby Apache got some of her head shaved in the ring and completely shaved out of it.
9) Fénix b Jeff Jarrett ©, Brian Cage, Rich Swann [AAA HEAVY]
Moved up a spot. Fenix beat Jarrett after Dr. Wagner (playing Konnan pretending to be La Parka – layers inside of layers.) Marisela Pena was taken out by a Fenix dive onto Jarrett. Jarrett falls on his first defense.
10) Hijo del Fantasma L Psycho Clown, LA Park, Pentagón Jr. [mask, cage]
Four way mask match in a cage. Pentagon was the first to escape, throwing fire in Psycho’s face while they were both on top of the cage. Psycho recovered to escape next. The cage was removed for the LA Park & Fantasma final, where Tirantes helped Fantasma (at times) but Park still won. Hijo del Fantasma is Jorge Luis Alcantar Bolly, 34, 18 years a wrestler. Dr. Wagner Jr. confronted Park afterward, and the two eventually agreed to a mask versus hair match in next year’s TripleMania.

The show is still up to watch free on the English version. You have to be a subscriber to watch on the Spanish version. I’m not sure that’s ideal but it’s also whatever – you can find plenty of versions on YouTube anyway. AAA might as well make these bigger shows for free VOD on Twitch if possible because they can’t stop the pirating.

+LuchaTV posted video with an unmasked Hijo del Fantasma, Dr. Wagner repeating his challenge, Fenix promising 2019 will be a big year for the megachampionship, and Lady Shani talking about her win.

There were definite problems with the show, but it still was one of the better recent TripleManias. It was far different than any other major promotion show – they went for spectacular even if sometimes sloppy, they went heavy in the rudo referee bits to get heat, they went stronger in hardcore spots with blood and fire than most anyone is going to do on this scale. I thought it was good, but it looks like the usual polarizing show.

I stuck with the Spanish feed. Matt Striker & Vampiro were as terrible as anticipated. What I didn’t anticipate is a fair bunch of people who check in with AAA for TripleMania see it as a trash promotion and having terrible announce team fits in with what they’re looking to get out of the show. It doesn’t seem like the way to expand AAA outside of Mexico, but nothing else on that show felt like something that would easily be transferable outside of Mexico either.

Two big questions I’m wondering about

• What happened between June 3rd, where Wagner did post-show interviews saying he’s quit AAA, and Wagner getting next year’s TripleMania main event? And when did it happen?
• Last week, when CMLL was pushing the idea that LA Park versus Rush could happen at some other point of the year, did they know LA Park had already agreed to face Wagner next year at TripleMania and were lying just to keep fans off their backs, or were they blindsided? LA Park still being on the cards suggest one outcome.

The next AAA show is Sunday night. AAA’s upcoming scheduled on their website seems to list 09/30 (Uriangato, Guanajuato) and 10/28 (Puebla) tapings. The 10/02 San Luis Potosi taping is not yet listed.

MicromanFever translated the post-main event promos. LA Park did agree to the mask match, though while also saying Wagner wasn’t worthy of a mask match. I’m really uncertain if people are going to go for it.

AAA can be silly, but I don’t think they’re silly enough to agree to have LA Park win two straight years at TripleMania without a plan for what’ll happen at the third.

CMLL (SAT) 08/25/2018 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito b Aéreo & Fantasy
Rudos took 2/3. Pierrothito got away with a foul on Fantasy.
2) Akuma, El Coyote, Yago b Oro Jr., Príncipe Diamante, Súper Astro Jr.
rudos took 1/3.
3) Universo 2000 Jr. b Magnus [lightning]
Universo beat Magnus with a Martillo Negro
4) Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Tiger b Drone, Fuego, Stigma
Rudos took 1/3. Misterioso cheated to beat Fuego.
5) Blue Panther Jr., Diamante Azul, Stuka Jr. b Forastero, Rey Bucanero, Shocker
tecnicos took 1/3.
6) Carístico, Matt Taven, Valiente b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
tecnicos took 1/3.

There’s an Universo 2000 Jr. promo celebrating his win, and one with the doctor announcing Magnus will be out two weeks after taking the Black Hammer.  So I guess they need a sub for Tuesday’s Guadalajara show? I like how the only time these post-show medical updates have someone out for a specific amount of time is on a kayfabe injury.

This show took place at the same time as TripleMania and didn’t seem any less attended than usual. This is more relevant for the Impact tapings; there’s a lot of people in Mexico City and there are groups who like different styles of wrestling. They can still draw fine against the Anniversario if it’s a show a group of people want to see.

CMLL (SUN) 08/26/2018 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Camorra & Inquisidor b Arkalis & Robin
rudos took 1/3.
2) La Guerrera, Marcela, Sanely b Amapola, La Comandante, Metálica
Sanely’s return from Metalica caused knee injury. Her team took 1/3.
3) Guerrero Maya Jr. b Rey Cometa [lightning]
Maya won with Sacrifica Maya.
4) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. b Disturbio, Dragón Rojo Jr., Okumura
tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Felino, Hechicero, Rey Bucanero b Diamante Azul, Kráneo, Soberano Jr.
tecnicos took 1/3.
6) Atlantis, Matt Taven, Volador Jr. b Euforia, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
tecnicos took 2/3.

Sanely and Guerrero Maya Jr. have post-match promos. Matt Taven is winning a lot.

Explosivo won the Occidente Welterweight championship.

IWRG (SUN) 08/26/2018 Arena Naucalpan [Black Terry Jr. (Flickr), The Gladiatores]
1) Shadow Boy b Holocausto
2) Death Metal & Lunatic Extreme b Mexica & Shaolin 
straight falls
3) Alas de Acero, Black Shadow II, Relámpago b Capricornio, Diablo Jr., Karma
4) Hijo de Canis Lupus, Hijo del Alebrije, Multifacetico 2.0 b Cerebro Negro, Eterno, Violencia Jr.
Villano III was remembered after the match.
5) El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Trauma I, Trauma II b Ciclón Ramírez, Emperador Azteca, Hijo De Dos Caras
mask challenges followed
6) Freelance & Imposible DQ Aramis & Dragón Bane
Aramis accidentally kicked the referee for the DQ. Dragon Bane and Aramis fought backstage, setting up a title match.

Dragon Bane/Aramis should be good if it happens.

Today’s Puebla show is slightly bigger than usual. The main event is Los Guerreros versus Cavernario, Bestia del Ring and Rush in a rematch from last week, which is iether setting up a trios title match or a Rush/UG match. Shockercito defends the minis title against Joker, which is a rare chance to see a minis title match on the stream. The rest of the show is about the normal mix of matches.

El Grafico has an interview with Demus & Super Comando to build up their singles match on the 09/02 Cama Lucha show. I’m unsure with El Grafico has decided to go all in on covering Cama Lucha but I’m not arguing with it.

El Mimo was honored Sunday on the IAW show for 20 years of wrestling, and Tromba wrestled as Mimo Jr. for the day. I did not know they were related.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Record talks to Christian Cymet, who wants to set up a permanent lucha libre exhibit in Mexico City.

A visit to a lucha libre school in Zacatecas.

Cuernavaca’s Tartu el Brujo talks about returning to wrestling.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 09/01/2018 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Camorra
2) Acero, Fantasy, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
3) Astral vs Sangre Azteca [lightning]
4) Drone, Fuego, Súper Astro Jr. vs Cancerbero, Kawato San, Okumura
5) Blue Panther, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Luciferno, Pólvora
6) Atlantis, Kráneo, Mistico vs Máscara Año 2000, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero

Very much a show. Sangre Azteca won a title in Argentina, and I’m not sure if he’s back in time for this mathc.

TripleMania is today. AAA’s annual biggest show of the year takes place in tonight in Arena Ciudad de Mexico. The announced schedule, all in CT.

5:00: pre-pre-show: interviews, vignettes, maybe announcing the opening two matches?
7:00: llave a la gloria match, cruiserweight match, Dr. Alfonso Morales & El Apache added to AAA HOF
8:00: main card
11:00: four way mask match main event starts airing on Televisa (may start earlier in reality)

That is the time AAA is saying now. The problem is, AAA & Dorian Roldan announced a 7:30 start to the pre-show at the press conference on Tuesday, and many people with AAA (including “the producer of the show” and one of the promotions involved) seem to think that’s still the start time. Plus, the tickets say the doors are opening at 7, so no one’s going to be in the building at first. That 7:00-7:30 could go as planned, could have nothing but the same song being played over crowd shots, or could have chickens running around with their heads cut off. It’s very good for the main card if AAA is going to start a half hour sooner, but expect the usual chaos.

The show will stream for free in Spanish on Twitch, where a best of TripleMania marathon is airing now. The show will be available on VOD if you subscribe to their Twitch channel ($5/month or free with Amazon Prime.) If you’re ever going to do that, even if you’re planning on watching live, this would be a great night to do it. Twitch has changed the way they’re handling ads now – they’re longer, they’re more often, and you may still see them if you’re logged in. You should not see them if you’re a subscriber.

There also is an English language feed, but don’t even bother. You are reading this site, so you likely have more interest and knowledge about what’s going on in AAA than you’ll get from that English announcing crew. You’ve probably also listened to the usual Spanish language crew and know you’ll be fine with them. There’s probably some news value in recording the dumb things Vampiro & Matt Striker say, but there’s not going to be any effect from them: AAA will bring them back again next year even if they’re terrible again, and everyone outside of Mexico will pretend it never happened. It also now appears like they won’t be calling the pre-show.

Twitch’s press release says “select” Twitch streamers will also be broadcasting the show. It’ll probably be like the World of Warcraft guys, where they had no idea what was going on but entertained themselves. It might be a way to find the show later on, if you can’t watch it live.

I’ve written a typically too long preview over at Voices of Wrestling. Some additional quick thoughts

• Most everyone on in the english speaking wrestling sphere thinks the cruiserweight match is a 10 way and it’s pretty much my fault.
• the opening matches remain unannounced. It appears to be a feature, not a bug, opting to reward people who tune in early rather than attract people by actually revealing their match. I think this is dumb but it’s not my money.
• Three title changes seem likely, but none are locks. The cruiserweight champion will be whichever guy is more willing to work AAA dates, and it’s saying something about where AAA is in the global picture that no one’s going crazy for that chance. The mixed titles mean nothing in the overall picture so they can do whatever, but Vikingo & Vanilla are obvious favorites. Fenix as mega champion was definitely the plan, but you can never rule out Jeff Jarrett continuing some nonsense.
• Aerostar & Drago make most sense as #1 tag contenders, but AAA has a history of having people win #1 contender matches and never getting that shot. (I think Fenix is still owed a cruiserweight match.) This undercard seems barely canon as it is, so don’t worry too much about it.
• I assume Shani’s losing. If Faby loses and doesn’t get her head shaved in the ring, everyone will lose their mind.
• The crowd reactions to the main event coming down to Psycho Clown & Fantasma will be fascinating. Not that I expect the crowd to get behind Fantasma strong, but the most likely outcome is also the least exciting one. Fans show “know” it’s coming down to those two just like they know Rush/Park was never officially on, but we’ve seen they can still be plenty unhappy about it.

Lucha Central also has a preview of the show. They’ll be a great place to check for live results since I won’t be doing it here. (It never works out well for this site. Someday, I’m going to pay for decent hosting.) My coverage plans are to post a recap early Sunday morning, and then delete the Twitter app off my phone and take a day off. Do not count on a news update Sunday night.

If you’re only watching AAA on YouTube, it doesn’t appear there will be a new episode this week (unless they just put this up in full.) The Televisa show will air matches from last year’s TripleMania instead of anything new.

CMLL (FRI) 08/24/2018 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Estrellas del Ring, Lucha Central, Marca, Ovaciones, SuperLuchas, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Angelito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Pequeño Nitro 
13:18. Tecnicos took 2/3.
2) El Audaz, Esfinge, Tritón b Kawato San, Templario, Virus 
15:24. Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Ángel de Oro b Titán [lightning] 
9:17. Mecedora
4) Hechicero, Mephisto, Negro Casas b El Hijo de L.A. Park, Flyer, Soberano Jr. 
20:17. Rudos took 2/3.
5) Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rock Star, The Chris b Gran Guerrero, L.A. Park, Último Guerrero 
14:41. Klan Kaoz took 1/3, Ciber getting away with a foul on Ultimo Guerrero
6) Cavernario, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush b Carístico, Matt Taven, Volador Jr. 
8:06. Straight falls. Cavernario used the ropes to beat Taven after earlier doing a splash to the floor on him.

CMLL promos: Rush & Cavernario, Volador & Matt Taven, Klan Kaoz, Hechicero, Negro Casas & Mephisto, and Angel de Oro (who hurt his knee in the match).

They also put up the tribute to Villano III and some words from them. I hope Villano III Jr. wrestles today if he wants to and has a killer match.

Media room promos: Mephisto & Hechicero (Estrellas del Ring, +Lucha), Rush (Estrellas del Ring, +LuchaTV, ), the Villano Family (Estrellas del Ring, +Lucha), LA Park (+Lucha, ), Angel de Oro (+Lucha), Ultimo Dragoncito & Angelito (+Lucha),

This show wasn’t great. The last weeks before the Anniversario show usually seem to have crowds excited and anticipating the upcoming apuesta match. This week’s show felt like it had a gray crowd over, with the audience being muted compared to recent weeks. The 2v2 hair match is a mistake, but the Klan Kaoz/Guerreros title match is not that far behind. There really needed to be one important and exciting match on this show, and a strong secondary match would’ve really helped out the tough sell of a main event. CMLL is running two matches which their fans don’t seem to care about instead. The next few weeks may be a drag, and there’s nothing on this show I’m going to remember beyond the Villano III tribute.

The big topic coming out of the interviews is LA Park explaining his side of the Anniversario situation while trying to make both CMLL & Park out to be good guys done wrong in all of this. Alfredo has a better translation than I can do in this Twitter thread. The big picture story is Park says AAA threated CMLL’s TV partners when they brought in Fenix (perhaps explaining why he quickly became King Phoenix) and CMLL was scared AAA would do it again if they put Park in an apuesta match. Park said CMLL tried to call him to find out if it was ok to put him in a match, but he gets bad cell phone service out at the ranch and they couldn’t reach him. Park says Dorian promised not to sue him for anything, though he may with others, and CMLL reviewed his papers and said Park is totally legal to use.

It is too bad CMLL staff doesn’t have access to social media, since LA Park is seemingly always on Twitter despite his poor cell phone service at the ranch. Also, it’s Mexico, LA Park has Whatsapp, every luchador in Mexico is on Whatsapp and you don’t need cell phone service for that. There’s also the slight issue of “LA Park has worked for CMLL many times since King Phoenix started working there, so couldn’t they have asked him about his legal status one of those times?”, but whatever. I’m spending too much time dissecting badly thought out stories. The match isn’t happening at 09/14 no matter.

LA Park – and Rush & CMLL via JCR – are very clear on a few things. They feel they know exactly where the line is between “teasing a match” and “actually promising to do a match”, feel they never crossed that line, and feel like they should be given some sort of award for doing so. (This is another long splitting hairs debate.) The other thing they’re very clear on is this match doesn’t have to be an Anniversario match. In that interview, LA Park goes as far as saying he doesn’t want to wait until next September and will not wait that long for it. JCR pushed that LA Park could work many dates for CMLL and it’s possible the match might happen on another date. My podcast partner RobViper has a theory that CMLL simply did not want an outsider like LA Park to forever be part of the montage of Anniversario main events, that CMLL wants that to be a CMLL guy, and that is less of a deal if LA Park loses his mask at some other point. It requires believing CMLL seeing Matt Taven as a CMLL guy, but that doesn’t seem like a huge stretch at this point. Do not buy any plane ticket, do not get your hopes up, but it seems like a reasonable theory.

Of course, saying “maybe Rush/LA Park will still happen later this year” sure seems to kill the suspense of the Rush hair match he’s got coming up in three weeks. I’m not sure if it can be helped.

The Lucha Libre Expo announced they’ll be streaming their shows live for free on 08/31 and 09/01. No platform has been announced, but you’ll be able to see it thru LuchaCentral next weekend.

LuchaWorld has a great obit for Villano III.

The Winter Palace returns with RobViper talking about recent happenings in lucha libre.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 08/28/2018 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Alteño, Rielero, Vaquero Jr. vs Carlo Roggi, El Chakal, Mr. Apolo
2) Magnus, Oro Jr., Star Black vs Espanto Jr., Espíritu Negro, Guerrero de la Muerte
3) Drone, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Disturbio, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado
4) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Tritón vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
5) Carístico, Diamante Azul, Matt Taven vs Cavernario, La Bestia Del Ring, Rush

Caristico returns to the scene of last week’s title win.

CMLL (FRI) 08/31/2018 Arena México
1) Arkalis & Robin vs Akuma & El Coyote
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Marcela vs Amapola, Dalys, Reyna Isis
3) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Felino, Negro Casas, Tiger
4) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Ciber the Main Man, Scharly Rock Star, The Chris
5) Matt Taven vs Cavernario
6) Bushi, Naito, Rush vs Diamante Azul, LA Park, Volador Jr.

EVIL will be seconding (or valeting?) the Ingobernables trio but not wrestling. The story appears to be that he was hurt in the G1 and so is taking this one off. BUSHI was in as Bushiroad last time because Bushi lost his mask in IWRG nine years ago. Recent memories include the ringside commissioner protesting when Blue Panther & Felino were going to wrestle a match masked, so hopefully, someone’s figured out a way to make this one go smoother – maybe a name change is coming mid-week.

Taven/Cavernario should be good. It’s very notable that Cavernario & Rush are getting the wins so far, since that usually the role of the person or team who’s leaving. It’s far enough away that it means nothing yet, but it will if Cavernario gets the win again here. It would make no sense for Rush to lose his hair in a match like this but you can’t count CMLL out on nonsense.

So should the third. Puebla’s Arkalis makes his Friday night debut, and his first streaming appearance since starting in Mexico City. Openers are not a great places to show off but he’s a positive addition.