DTU (THU) 04/25/2019 Arena Aficion
1) Steel Dragón & Vengadorcito Radioactivo b Kalibus & Mandala 
2) Exótico & Fly Danger b Aaron Sykes & Helio Guerra
3) Jitsu b Adrenalina, Moria
4) Anthony Green b Jimmy, Camuflaje, Kaleth, Pesadilla
5) Demente Extreme, Paranoiko, Tóxico b Hard Boy, Hijo De Dr. Pólux, Tiburón
6) G-Raver & Príncipe Cometa b Aero Boy & Crazy Boy and Crazy King & Orin Veidt
I did not see this match and didn’t see a lot of talk about it. Turnout seemed good for a DTU show.
Both CMLL and AAA are running streams tonight. This will happen next week as well. AAA is listed as starting about 90 minutes into the CMLL show, though it may be a bit later with the usual introduction talking.
This may be a big night for turnout. This is right in the middle of a holiday period for Mexico, which always seems to help. AAA live shows have been drawing well. A sell out tonight would be a crowd around 10,000 people. AAA’s first TV taping in the since 2005 should have some extra interest, though the reason it is the first taping in so long is because lucha libre shows historically haven’t drawn well in Mexicali. The Crash has tried to run one-off shows the last couple of years and couldn’t make it work. If AAA draws well, that show on Azteca7 has to be credited with part of it. CMLL’s show has been promoted more than usual because there’s a number attached to it and the tournament they’re running has been built up into a big thing. CMLL drew 11,500 last week (according to the WON) and tonight might not be that far off it.
The CMLL card is the bigger of the two in name. It is the 63rd Anniversary of the opening of Arena Mexico, celebrated with the finals of the Torneo Increible de Parejas and the Copa Bobby Bonales. I wrote a bunch about the Copa yesterday; the shorter version is it’ll be a ten-minute ceremony somewhere in the middle of the show with Sofia Alonso and you probably won’t think about it again until next year.
The tag tournament final is the draw. Ultimo Guerrero & Volador’s pattern singles matches have been talked about a lot. They’re slightly less predictable in tag matches, but we will definitely see someone try a middle rope huracanrana on Ultimo Guerrero only to be sadly reversed into a super powerbomb. Ultimo Guerrero & Volador have also been so established at the top that it would actually be a big moment for Titan & Barbaro Cavernario to win this tournament over them. UG is the top rudo, Volador is the top tecnico, winning tonight would just confirm what we already know. They’d still be in those spots with a loss, but Cavernario & Titan will have felt like they have actually accomplished something. That’s rare in a promoter where 90% of the matches feel meaningless, and something that could make this one of the more memorable matches of the year. Cavernario has been the standout CMLL regular over the last year at this point and Titan has been surprisingly protected in CMLL booking – he hasn’t lost a singles match this year – so those two pulling the upset still seems plausible.
It is an Anniversary show, but none of the other matches look to have much put into them. The semi-main has a near rematch of the recent Mexican trios title match, with Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, and Soberano Jr. versus Cuatrero, Forastero and Mascara 2000 stepping in for Sanson. Perhaps CMLL doesn’t want to do that rematch so soon, but 50+ Mascara 2000 feels out of place. Valiente takes on Hechicero in a lightning match. CMLL went from seemingly never booking Hechicero on Friday nights again to allow him to do commentary to having him wrestle on every Friday night. Valiente has won two of three lightning matches they’ve had so far.
Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., and Triton face Hijos del Infierno. Atlantis and Triton usually are on much different levels – this is their first time teaming in Arena Mexico since 2012 – but Atlantis is a little lower than usual teaming with his son. Kaho Kobayashi, Marcela and Tae Honma face Amapola, La Comandante and La Seductora. Honma is finishing up here, while Kobayashi and Amapola are heading to a hair match sometime this spring. Coyote & Grako retain their opener rudo spot, facing Super Astro Jr. & Sonic. Last week’s lightning match was good and this might be the same. Super Astro is good all the time. Sonic shows glimpses of it but usually doesn’t get to work with decent people. Coyote & Grako are at least decent.
CMLL will air on Marca and Facebook and I’ll probably stream it on YouTube.
Lucha Central has a preview of the show.
A lot of news sites have articles about the 63rd Anniversary of Arena Mexico. Most lean heavily from the articles CMLL puts out every year. ESTO is the one I liked best.
Leo Riano’s column says that AAA 5.4 million viewers was the record for the AAA Azteca show. The first episode was said to do around five million, though it wasn’t clear exactly where around. On the other hand, Riano says AAA and CMLL are “very even” in the ratings, which does not appear to be the case in the slightest. Azteca has been heavily pushing the Rey de Reyes match itself on social media for today. No idea if they’re doing it on TV as well, but I’ll be interested to see if that means anything for ratings.
AAA is running tonight in Mexicali. That’s the Pacific timezone, so an 8 pm local start is 10 pm Mexico City time. AAA tends to run around 3 hours, so it’ll be a late night if you’re on the eastern side of North America. Today’s the good day to subscribe to AAA on Twitch; it’ll cover all seven shows over the next month. I should get a referral code for all the times I write that it is a good time to subscribe to AAA, but this does seem like the best value point.
The AAA card is subject to change as always. Black Danger’s apparently been gone from AAA for over a month and he’s still listed on this card. Sammy Guevera is currently is in Pakistan, so he’s not working these weekend shows. Jack Evans probably exists but I’m not 100% sure. There still is a ton of talent on this card, some of the more repetitive and least interesting wrestlers are off this weekend. There’s no Blue Demon, there’s no Dr. Wagner, there’s no Pagano, there’s no Joe Lider, there’s no exoticos. All of those are fine in the right doses, but leaving them off for a weekend gives room to a lot of other exciting people.
There still is La Parka, working the main event on Friday. He teams with Psycho Clown and Puma King against Rey Escorpion, Texano Jr. & Chessman in a match sure to have comedy. Psycho and Escorpion’s feud should be the focus, with everyone else a bit adrift from storylines at the moment. The semi-main had Laredo Kid & Brian Cage taking on Taurus & Daga. Cage has been around so infrequently that it still is strange to see him as a tecnico, but that’s a match with some serious potential.
Poder del Norte are scheduled to face Guevera, Jack, and Australian Suicide. No idea what that will be. I assume some of the Tijuana locals might show up to fill gaps on this card (especially since a couple of them are actually Mexicali locals.) Dave the Clown is already listed for Sunday’s show, so he’s a possibility. A four-way with Golden Magic, Hijo del Vikingo, Villano III Jr. and Flamita with the winner getting in line for an AAA Cruiserweight title shot is scheduled. Vikingo seems like the heavy favorite there. Taya & Faby Apache team for what must be the first time, taking on Chik Tormenta and a mystery person. It kind of has to be an important woman to not seem imbalanced. AAA has given no hints. Tessa Blanchard is still my guess, but she hasn’t given it away if it is here. Ayako Hamada mentioned she’s taking bookings again yesterday, so she’s an alternate possibility. Lady Maravilla & Black Danger are supposed to open the show against Big Mami & Nino Hamburguesa. That seems like a spot where Villano III Jr. might get pulled into instead.
The show will stream live on AAA’s Twitch in Spanish and English. This should make it to YouTube about a month from now. However, they’re taping a lot of TV going forward, and that means some matches probably won’t make the YouTube uploads.
Lucha Central has a preview of the show.
The Mexico City lucha libre commission may be homeless this afternoon. The Gladiatores posted a letter the commission received from the mayor of the Venustiano Carranza area of the city, ordering the commission to vacate their offices by noon today. The mayor was responsible for the sudden eviction of El Fantasma from a next-door gym; the only difference is they’re letting people know ahead of time. The offices are at the old abandoned Olympic velodrome and the commission says they have legal documents stating permission to stay there forever from the head of the Mexico government.
RIOT 05/04 (Chicles) in Arena LLF
- Simbolo vs Black Terry
- Caifan II vs Low Rider
- Mr. Iguana vs Madness
- Byron vs Erik Ortiz
- Muerte Extrema vs Hijo del Espectro Jr. vs Golden Boy – new
Dragon Lee is headed to Ring of Honor on June 28th (Baltimore, PPV) and June 29th (Philadelphia, TV taping). If Dragon Lee is working in NJPW thru their Dominion show, he’ll back in Mexico for a few weeks. There is another short NJPW tour after, so it is possible he won’t be back until July. I’d much rather Dragon Lee disappear to NJPW & ROH for long stretches than Dragon Lee disappears to WWE for good.
LuchaWorld has this week’s Lucha Report.
Lineups
CMLL (MON) 04/29/2019 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & Meyer vs Joker & Sombra Diabólika
2) Asturiano & Millenium vs Espíritu Maligno & Toro Bill Jr.
3) Drone, Fuego, Tigre Rojo Jr. vs Disturbio, Policeman, Virus
4) Marcela © vs Metálica [CMLL WOMEN]
2nd defense (first in Mexico)
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Hechicero, Último Guerrero
6) Cuatrero, Cuatrero, Sansón vs Ephesto, Mephisto, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Maybe a good show? I guess we’re going to find out if Metalica can have a good title match. The semi-main looks promising. Policeman lost his hair and gets a better booking than usual.