CMLL (MON) 05/06/2019 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Lost in Lucha, Lucha Central]
1) Espíritu Maligno & King Rocker b Ares & Guerrero Espacial 
Team King Rocker took falls 2/3 to win the odd rudo/rudo match
2) El Malayo & Fuerza Chicana b Asturiano & Millenium
Rudos took 1/3
3) King Jaguar, Star Jr., Tritón b Disturbio, El Coyote, Nitro
tecnicos took 2/3
4) Esfinge, Kráneo, Volcano b Hechicero, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado
tecnicos took 2/3
5) Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Atlantis, Místico, Soberano Jr.
Rudos took 1/3.
6) Volador Jr. b Carístico
Volador took 1/3, the last with a mask pull.
The main event seemed fine, with Caristico working hard and Volador being a bit less enthused. The normal sequence has Caristico beating Volador but that doesn’t seem like it’ll happen in CMLL at the moment. Caristico can beat Ultimo Guerrero, Volador can lose to Rush, but Volador can’t lose to Caristico.
Tonight’s Arena Mexico main event was announced as a rare Los Ingobernables team up. It will not be because Rush is on tour with Ring of Honor. (This sort of puts the lie to the idea that CMLL & ROH are on equal footing for Rush but I don’t think many people believed that to start with.) Instead, Euforia teams with Bestia del Ring & Terrible against Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, and Caristico.
It’s the usual mismatch of people on the rest of the Tuesday show. Mephisto’s trio takes on Titan, Stuka, and Flyer in Titan’s final match before the BOSJ. Audaz gets a spotlight lightning match, though Misterioso may not be a good match-up for him. The Panther brothers team with Triton against Sagrado, Tiger, and Universo. Pegasso, Stigma and Super Astro are the names pulled out of a hat to face Raziel, Cancerbero and Metalico. A minis match with Acero, Aereo, Mercurio, and Pierrothito opens the show. It airs on CMLL’s YouTube at 7:30 pm.
The Guadalajara show does not have anything much interesting.
Diamante Azul hasn’t been around much – he came back for one match in Puebla after his injury – but he is mentioned among those participating in free photos for mothers on Friday. CMLL continues to advertise Dragon Lee for that show.
Volador Jr. is upset Finn Balor is given credit for the body paint look when he was doing it before him. Arez was doing it before Volador Jr.
Dalys says she works so hard at training that she’s out of people to face, no one else is on her level. I’m not sure this is meant to be an in-character rudo. It is an interview that comes off as very confident or a bit arrogant depending on your feelings. Dalys sees only herself, Marcela, Amapola and Sugehit as the only great women in CMLL. The others have to prove something first and she doesn’t see the desire to do so in some of them. Dalys believes she’s the strongest and wants someone to emerge as a rival but doesn’t seem to have much belief one will. She’d like to go back to Japan to longer, or to the United States or just against independent women to get a sense of what she’s missing from fighting different people. Dalys is headed to Costa Rica next week to face Sonya, who was in CMLL last year.
CMLL Guadalajara local luchador Reycko has been out since November with knee ligament damage but is said to be close to returning.
The NJPW Best of Super Juniors blocks and matches were announced late last night. The two blocks:
Block A: Dragon Lee, Jonathan Gresham, Marty Scurll, Shingo Takagi, SHO, Taiji Ishimori, Tiger Mask, Titan, Yoshinobu Kaneamaru
Block B: Bandido, BUSHI, El Desperado, El Phantasmo, Flip Gordon, Robbie Eagles, Rocky Romero, Ryusuke Taguchi, Will Ospreay, YOH
The big news, as far as lucha libre is concerned, is Dragon Lee & Titan are in Block A and Bandido is all by himself in Block B. NJPW’s made a point of splitting the CMLL wrestlers into separate blocks (when there has been two of them in a tournament), so putting them together is a bit eyebrow raising. It doesn’t seem like CMLL wrestlers facing indie Bandido should be a big deal but maybe it still is. Or maybe they just really wanted Dragon Lee vs Titan (which was great when they last year in California for Pro Wrestling Revolution.)
None of these three wrestlers are going to win the tournament. Dragon Lee’s already champion and champions almost never win this tournament. Titan and Bandido will be struggling just for every win. The matches should still be pretty good. All of them will air on NJPW World. If I’m looking at the schedule right, they’re even all airing live for the first time. NJPW World is also airing the last two Sunday shows in the next few days.
05/24 The Crash
- Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Los Traumas
- Lucha Brothers (c) vs MechaWolf & Bestia 666 in a TLC match for The Crash Tag Team Championship
That show is one night before AEW’s Double or Nothing. This seems like a problem. Penta & Fenix appear to like working for the Crash and The Crash likes working with them, but AEW is the one that’s dangling big money deals for the Lucha Bros so that’s the important relationship. Both Fenix & Penta have picked up injuries in normal matches the last few months, and AEW doesn’t want to see either one of them pick up another in a TLC match one day before their launch show. This would be a great potential match in a vacuum, but I’m concerned it’s either going to be toned down from what people expect or changed before it happens.
I’m honestly surprised AEW didn’t stop Fenix & Penta from taking a match on 05/24 just to have them in Las Vegas early. They still might. If I was The Crash, I’d have a backup plan ready just in case. They may not need it becuase the Lucha Brothers are crazy people who won’t stop working every day – they’re working the day after Double or Nothing too – but this is a time where a promotion might want to protect themselves.
MDA 06/02 at Arena Naucalpan
- Jack Evans vs Dragon Bane
- Demus vs Hijo de Canis Lupus
- Argenis vs Aramis
- Demasaido vs Pasion Cristal
- Septimo Dragon vs Metaleon
- Auzter, Shadow Boy, Puma de Oro vs Diablo Jr., Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka
- Caristico & Hijo del Fantasma vs Trauma I & Trauma II
Lucha Central has the ratings for the week and a theory about why the numbers are so different.
Flamita was announced as returning to Dragon Gate sometime in June.
Extreme Tiger says he’ll be back soon. He’s recovering from shoulder surgery.
LuchaWorld had this week’s Poster-Mania.
Box Y Lucha 3383 has Cavernario & Titan on the cover.
MedioTiempo has an interview with Jesus Zuniga.
Lineups
CMLL (SUN) 05/12/2019 Arena México
1) Príncipe Diamante & Sonic vs Inquisidor & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Arkalis, Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Akuma, Espíritu Negro, Sangre Azteca
3) Blue Panther Jr. vs Tiger [lightning]
4) Flyer, Metálico, Pegasso vs Dark Magic, Stigma, Virus [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Felino, Rey Bucanero, Vangellys
6) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs Ángel de Oro, Místico, Niebla Roja
Not sure why they’re running a relevos increibles. Turning Metalico after he beat Disturbio would be weird. Maybe he’s taking on Dark Magic next.
Chilanga Mask (SUN) 05/19/2019 Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México
1) Novaosnic vs Rayado, Helio Guerrera, Hijo Del Ángel, Tristen Bellator, Muerte Infernal, ?
2) Furia Azteca & Mini Difunto vs Belial & Impulso
3) Dragón Fly & Movado vs Aron Sykes & Terremoto
4) Aéreo, Draego, Próximo vs Cobra, Diablo Jr., Fly Star
5) Silueta vs La Magnifica
6) Mr. Maldito, The Platino, Wotan vs Cerebro Negro, Difunto I, Hijo De Espectro
7) Jason Kincaid vs Draztick Boy, Arez
8) Gavin Quinn & Juntai vs Cíclope & Miedo Extremo
9) Trauma II vs Makabre
This is ChilangaMask’s Anniversary show, only it seems weird having Anniversary shows when you run just one a year. This is just this year’s ChilangaMask show, using basically the same group of people who’ve worked the last couple. ChilangaMask was a big deal when they were running regularly, and running more super-indie shows when that was less done around Mexico City. Most of that energy seems to have moved onto Lucha Memes or inspired other groups, and now this seems more like a family reunion.
AAA TV (SAT) 05/25/2019 Auditorio General José María Arteaga, Querétaro, Querétaro
1) Dinastía, Eclipse, La Parkita vs Mini Histeria, Mini Monster Clown, Tigger Boy
2) Big Mami, Draztick Boy, Niño Hamburguesa vs La Parka Negra, Lady Maravilla, Villano III Jr.
3) Faby Apache, Lady Shani, Taya vs Chik Tormenta, Keyra, Tessa Blanchard
4) Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Myzteziz Jr. vs Australian Suicide, Jack Evans, Súper Fly
5) Drago, La Parka, Murder Clown vs Chessman, Daga, Taurus
6) Dr. Wagner Jr., Psycho Clown, Puma King vs Blue Demon Jr., Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr.
I didn’t grasp originally that this is running the same time as AEW’s Double or Nothing. I would imagine the key AAA people (Dorian & Konnan for our purposes) are going to be in Las Vegas for that show, and so nothing of that importance is going to be happening on this show. Which is fine, matches 3/4 sound better if everyone else stays out of the way.
It also likely means no one – not Taurus or Rey Escorpion or Psycho Clown or Vikingo – is currently scheduled to be an AAA representative on AEW’s Double or Nothing show. It is an AAA card, they’re obviously capable of taking people off the show without telling someone if another plan comes up. Still, for the moment, the only AAA connection in AEW looks to be Penta, Fenix and those tag titles. And Penta & Fenix aren’t signed to AAA at the moment. They’re signed with Lucha Underground, and the only way to use Lucha Underground contracted people is with AAA’s permission.
Eclipse is probably still the former Lanzelot. It was weird for a while how Lanzelot got to be a regular wrestler and Dinastia had to be a mini even though they’re about the same size. Then they both got to be not-minis. Now they’re both back to being minis, I think.