Titan & Cavernario win the incredible pairs tournament, AAA in Mexicali, ratings, “CMLL vs The Crash”

AAA TV (FRI) 04/26/2019 Plaza de Toros Calafia, Mexicali, Baja California[AAA]
Attendance: 6500
1) Black Destiny b Skalibur, Fantastik, Rayo Star, Drake, Genio del Aire[EMW MIDDLE] 
5:53. A video aired with Drago giving up this title before the match. Black Destiny beat Skalibur with a Canadian Destroyer.
2) Big Mami & Niño Hamburguesa b Jonathan & Lady Maravilla 
9:06. Jonathan replaced Black Danger. Tecnicos won despite Hamburguesa refusing to hit Maravilla. Mami tried fainting to get attention from Hamburguesa after the match but he still walked off with Maravilla.
3) Chik Tormenta & Hijo del Tirantes DQ Faby Apache & Taya 
8:59. Hijo del Tirantes, under an Averno mask, was the mystery wrestler. He faked a foul for the DQ after Copetes did not complete a three count for Faby Apache.
4) Hijo Del Vikingo b Golden Magic, Villano III Jr., Flamita [AAA CRUISER, #1 Contenders] 
16:39. An elimination match, though that wasn’t clear to anyone except the people in the match at first. Villano III Jr. was eliminated thru medical stopped (shoulder injury, may have been an angle). Flamita beat Villano III with a superbomb, then was defeated by Hijo del Vikingo by a reverse 450 splash. Vikingo gets a shot at the Cruiserweight Championship (Laredo Kid) at some point, though there is another one these scheduled for Sunday.
5) Brian Cage & Laredo Kid b Killer Kross & Taurus 
11:10. Killer Kross was moved into this match (Daga bumped up). Poder del Norte distracted Laredo Kid into a loss to Taurus. Vikingo made the save post match. Poder del Norte want another trios title match.
6) Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana b Australian Suicide, Daga, Jack Evans 
11:35. Daga replaced Sammy Guevara. Poder del Norte beat Suicide after a Cota splash.
7) La Parka, Psycho Clown, Puma King b Chessman, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. 
17:53. Taurus ran in and speared La Parka, who left the match with an arm injury. Laredo Kid, Hijo del Vikingo and Poder del Norte all got involved, with Murder Clown replacing Parka in the match. Killer Kross also put Puma King thru a table but Psycho beat Escorpion with a torito anyway. Puma challenged Kross to a singles match, but the rudos attacked Puma before he could finish. Taurus joined in and was said to be the newest Los Mercenarios.

This show was good, with the first and fourth match being the ones to seek out. This was a better version of the Tijuana show. The main event set up Puma vs Kross, which is odd since Kross is among those who will be at Impact on Sunday and not on the next AAA TV show. There’s no date for when Vikingo is getting his title shot (and it isn’t listed on the next five shows.)

There’s no update on Villano III Jr.’s status. It was serious at the time but the injury didn’t make sense from the shot he received. Maybe it was something that happened earlier, but we’ll see what happens with him on Sunday.

AAA is back on Sunday at 7 pm Mexico City time. The scheduled card – Laredo, Psycho, and Puma vs Rey Escorpion, Texano and Taurus main event – looks pretty strong. I’m suspicious they may move people around with La Parka & Villano III Jr. having been injured and Sammy Guevera not around. It still looks like worthwhile if not vitally important.

The AAA/Lucha Central/SuperLuchas rating story

SuperLuchas says the viewership for the 04/19 AAA on Azteca 7 was 772,140 viewers. Lucha Central had previously stated it was 5.4 million viewers and has stuck with that number despite the counter story. SuperLuchas reporting suggests the past week AAA ratings were around that much lower number (and the CMLL numbers are lower than that.) Both Record’s Leo Riano (in a column in Record) and AAA themselves (at the Cain Velazquez press conference) have talked about getting AAA’s show was closer to 5 million. SuperLuchas fact-finding on what other shows get makes me think they might have the right set of numbers. At the same time, it is incredible for someone used to US numbers to see a claim that the highest rated show in a country in a week only get around two million viewers. My takeaway is probably not to trust any of these numbers unless I can prove them myself.

Lucha Central has been reporting AAA & CMLL ratings for weeks. No disrespect meant, but no one cared until the Young Bucks were invoked. This really shouldn’t have been about the Young Bucks anyway – they were not promoted for the TV show, they were barely part of it coming out, Psycho Clown was the draw for the live crowd and probably for the TV crowd. It got signal boosted over the pasts weeks because of those names and is getting mocked now because of those same names. This is an AAA story here because a gap of five million people is a pretty big difference in how we view the importance of the Azteca7 deal, but 99% of the internet is talking about has no idea about the show beyond the idea the Young Bucks were on it.

(I pushed the number too, but more because AAA having that many more viewers than WWE was unbelievable, not AEW. And apparently, it was unbelievable.)

The people on Twitter really need AEW to run a show already so they can war over that rather than everything else tangentially related to it. It is tribal warfare at this point and any logic or sense seems abandoned in favor of trying to score meaningless points. Everyone is mental.

CMLL (FRI) 04/26/2019 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Lucha Central, Marca, Ovaciones, PubliMetro, R de Rudo, Record, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
Arena Mexico 63rd Anniversary
1) El Coyote & Grako b Sonic & Súper Astro Jr. 
15:23. Rudos took 1/3.
2) Kaho Kobayashi, Marcela, Tae Honma b Amapola, La Comandante, La Seductora 
10:32. Straight falls, Amapola again getting DQ-ed for excessive violence on Kaho.
3) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Tritón b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto 
9:51. Tecnicos took 1/3.
4) Valiente b Hechicero [lightning] 
9:24. Valiente submitted Hechicero
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Máscara Año 2000 b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Soberano Jr. 
18:32. Mascara snuck in a foul to beat Niebla Roja.
6) Bárbaro Cavernario & Titán b Último Guerrero & Volador Jr. [Torneo Increible de Parejas, final] 
23:03. Barbaro Cavernario & Titan took falls 2/3. Volador & UG had problems in the third fall and Guerrero attacked Volador after the match.

CMLL promos: Titan & Barbaro Cavernario, Ultimo Guerrero, Dinamitas, Copa Bobby Bonales winners, Valiente, Atlantis & trio, Marcela & trio, and Grako & Coyote.

Media room interviews: Barbaro Cavernario & Titan (Box Y Lucha, +LuchaTV) Ultimo Guerrero (Box Y Lucha, ), Dinamitas (Box Y Lucha, +LuchaTV), Copa Bobby Bonales (Box Y Lucha, +LuchaTV), the Atlantis trio (Box Y Lucha, +LuchaTV), Amapola (+LuchaTV) and the tecnicas (Box Y Lucha, +LuchaTV)

The main event was better than I thought, though short of the top tier bit. The eliminations come really fast, something the AAA elimination match handled out a lot better. The opener was solid, the fifth match was better than expected and Valiente/Hechicero was pretty good.

If you spend a single moment thinking about who wins Copa Bobby Bonales, it is a wasted moment. The winners are happy and it does not matter at all. At least WWE manages to get an extra ticket selling event out of their Hall of Fame.

Guerrero Maya & Stuka take on Bandido & Flip Gordon tonight at 5 pm CT as part of the 2019 NWA Crockett Cup, available on iPPV. That’s the first round in a tournament to decide new NWA Tag Team Champions. I’d be surprised if either team won the titles but it should be fun getting there anyway. I’ve heard there’s an NWA/lucha libre announcement coming soon that is going to to have people talking.

Kid’s Days shows start tonight; there’ll be a lot of street or local festival lucha libre shows with no particular lineup or promotion. The bigger shows include IAW returning to Gimnasio Hercules with an Arez, Aramis, Iron Kid, Latigo, and Dragon Bane five-way match. IWRG also has an Aramis & Imposible tag title defense against Dragon Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus on Sunday. Kaoz is also running Sunday, though those shows haven’t been turning up as any more than clips.

The 05/02 Elite/Gladiadors show will not stream live. Or at least not officially, since there will be a dozen people in the crowd filming it anyway.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 05/03/2019 Arena México
1) Magnus & Oro Jr. vs Akuma & Grako
2) Avispa Dorada, Kaho Kobayashi, La Jarochita vs Amapola, Dalys, Reina Isis
3) Soberano Jr. vs Mephisto [lightning]
4) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Adam Brooks & Mecha Wolf 450
5) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Cuatrero, Máscara Año 2000, Sansón
6) Carístico, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs La Bestia Del Ring, Rush, Terrible

CMLL promoted “CMLL vs the Crash” during the show Friday night. This led people to reasonably start speculating on the many people who’d be seen on the show, including the wrestlers. Everyone expected a few different matches of people. In the end, it is regular Mecha Wolf and guest wrestler Adam Brooks, no more. CMLL would’ve been better just letting it be a surprise, and people who watch CMLL would’ve been better off expecting the minimum. That match is still more interesting than anything else going on this show.

Speaking of expecting the minimum: Titan & Cavernario celebrate their win by getting the week off. No follow up to Volador/Ultimo Guerrero. No follow up to Niebla Roja/Mascara 2000. Amapola/Kaho is the important CMLL feud.