Austin Theory wins in CMLL debut, Chavez to Copa Dinastia final, AAA two shows (including Verano de Escandalo) part of a busy weekend

the Austin Theory/Cavernario fight you never thought you’d see (unless you live in Tijuana)

CMLL (FRI) 06/14/2019 Arena México [ESTOLucha CentralMarcaPubliMetraoRecordThe Gladiatoresthecubsfan]
1) Magia Blanca & Star Jr. b Akuma & Espanto Jr. LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 14 DE JUNIO DE 2019 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
10:25. Tecnicos took 2/3.
2) Esfinge, Rey Cometa, Tritón DQ Kawato San, Pólvora, Tiger LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 14 DE JUNIO DE 2019 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
10:52. Straight falls. Tiger unmasked Triton for the DQ, then did it a second time.
3) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Valiente b Cuatrero, Forastero, Hijo del Villano III LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 14 DE JUNIO DE 2019 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
14:09. Tecnicos took 1/3.
4) Euforia b Rey Bucanero [lightningLUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 14 DE JUNIO DE 2019 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
8:47. Euforia won with a vradle.
5) Dragón Lee & Sansón b Ángel de Oro & Gran Guerrero [Copa Dinastia, seeding battle royalLUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 14 DE JUNIO DE 2019 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
1:24.
6) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja b Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero [Copa Dinastia, quarterfinalLUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 14 DE JUNIO DE 2019 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
5:51.
7) Dragón Lee & Místico b Máscara Año 2000 & Sansón [Copa Dinastia, quarterfinalLUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 14 DE JUNIO DE 2019 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
4:40
8) Dragón Lee & Místico b Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja [Copa Dinastia, semifinalLUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 14 DE JUNIO DE 2019 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
12:35. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja advance to face La Bestia del Ring and Rush next week.
9) Austin Theory, Carístico, Volador Jr. b Cavernario, Negro Casas, Rush LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 14 DE JUNIO DE 2019 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
9:32. Tecnicos took 2/3. Austin Theory wins in his CMLL debut.

Good show, with matches 2, 3, and 8 being the standout ones. I didn’t think anything was must see though the crowd was very into the show.

In a post-match interview, Dragon Lee relinquished the CMLL Lightweight Championship. This was inevitable as soon as he won the CMLL Welterweight Championship and only delayed so they could do the bit where Dragon Lee had a lot of the belts. CMLL ran into the same problem with Dragon Lee as they did with Mascara Dorada years ago: the Lightweight Championship is meant to be a midcard belt, but Dragon Lee got so good that they couldn’t imagine having a midcarder beat him. There’s not yet an announcement of when or how they’ll fill the title. I hope they put it on a Tuesday.

Tiger wants a shot at the Arena Coliseo Tag Team Titles but appears short a tag partner. Euforia says he liked facing Rey Bucanero. Niebla Roja & Angel de Oro feel they’re ready for Los Ingobernables. Austin Theory was proud to be in CMLL.

CMLL could make a lot of money with Austin Theory in the Marco Corleone role. Austin Theory could make much more money elsewhere and will be doing so.

AAA has back to back nights of streams, starting in a few hours in Cancun. Saturday’s show is scheduled to start at 8 pm and air on Twitch, and those are the only two things we can be absolutely sure of. The card has Texano Jr. in the main event, Texano Jr. says he’ll be in Texas instead. The card has Faby Apache in the opener, and she’s also in Texas on a different show. Killer Kross, Sammy Guevara, and Scarlett Bordeaux all are coming in. AAA got some buzz from the Laredo Kid/Hijo del Vikingo match and I suspect they’ll be trying to go for a similar match something this weekend to get more.

Sunday’s show is Verano de Escandalo at 5pm to watch. I wrote a long preview over on Voices of Wrestling but, with AAA’s fluid lineups, I’ve been trying to make them more catching up on what has happened in AAA the last few months than focusing on the matches. Not sure how effective that is, not sure what other options I have.

I feel relatively sure AAA’s promoted Fenix & Pentagon vs the Young Bucks too much not do it, but just as sure neither team is ultimately going to end up with the tag team belts. Fenix and Penta have singles stuff to focus on. The Jacksons may be back for TripleMania but the interesting thing going forward is if Fenix & Penta are specifically committed to appearing on any upcoming shows themselves. Konnan keeps talking about those two working a lot more in AAA soon and they’re not as of yet on any future lineups. The tag title match is going to be good whatever is going on with it, and we’ll see how many AEW fans seek it out. I assume it’s going to be a significant number but that’s just an assumption.

Wagner & Demon wrestling on the last big show before TripleMania seems like a lock. A bad finish in a Faby Apache versus Hijo del Tirantes also seems like a lock. Maybe the other thing to watch is how many (or if any) feuds along the lines of Faby/Tirantes get challenges for TripleMania. AAA’s turned down the hype on their biggest show of the year the last couple months, but it goes back up loud starting with this show. The TripleMania card, Demon/Wagner and Cain Velazquez (remember him?) are going to sell most of the tickets, but they need a card. They start putting it together here.

Hijo del Vikingo and Myzteziz Jr. were in Cancun early to promote the show.

The local Merida promoter is thrilled to have a show as big as Verano de Escandalo and has a special recycling campaign planned.

Blue Demon now says he’d wrestle one more time – the MSG show – if he lost his mask at TripleMania.

There are other shows this weekend, some of which are already ongoing because this is so late.

Saturday

Sunday

  • IWRG will be honoring Vampiro with a rare Negro Casas appearance and a Dinamitas vs Dinamitas trios.
  • KAOZ in Monterrey has Cibernetico & LA Park vs El Mesias & Rush. LA Park did a promo saying he’ll be Rush’s servant for two months if he loses, so he’s not losing.
  • CMLL Arena Mexico has an ordinary show.

A new Box Y Lucha commission has been installed in Oaxaca.

There are free lucha libre classes in Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 06/21/2019 Arena México
1) Robin & Súper Astro Jr. vs Espíritu Negro & Hijo del Signo
2) Drone, Fuego, Tritón vs Disturbio, Tiger, Virus
3) Audaz, Flyer, Soberano Jr. vs Hechicero, Kawato San, Templario
4) Titán vs Negro Casas [lightning]
5) Ciber the Main Man, Gilbert el Boricua, The Chris vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
6) La Bestia Del Ring & Rush vs Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja [Copa Dinastia]

I think it would be better for CMLL for Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja to win the tournament and I do not expect them to do so.

First CMLL matches for Ciber and The Chris in CMLL since the first day of March. I wasn’t sure they’d be back. I’m unsure why they’re back. Maybe they’re setting up another trios match, maybe Gilbert finally gets his singles match with Ultimo Guerrero again.

Titan versus Negro Casas has been great in the distant past. 2nd and 3rd matches area really good. Kawato continues to show up a lot on Fridays despite the feud with Black Panther being dropped quick.

CMLL on Marca: 2019-06-14

everyone lived

Recapped: 06/14/2019

Matches:

Magia Blanca & Star Jr. beat Akuma & Espanto Jr.
(10:25 [3:50, 2:25, 4:10], 2/3, ok, 00:01:35)

Esfinge, Rey Cometa, Tritón beat Kawato San, Pólvora, Tiger
(10:52 [3:46, 7:06], 1/2 DQ, good, 00:19:02)

Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Valiente beat Cuatrero, Forastero, Hijo del Villano III
(14:09 [3:58, 4:10, 6:01], 1/3, good, 00:39:45)

Euforia beat Rey Bucanero in a lightning match
(8:47, inside cradle, below average, 01:04:02)

The dumb battle royal lasted 1:24

Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja beat Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero in a Copa Dinastia quarterfinal
(5:51, ok, 01:24:02)

Dragón Lee & Místico beat Máscara Año 2000 & Sansón in a Copa Dinastia quarterfinal
(4:40, ok, 01:32:55)

Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja beat Dragón Lee & Místico in a Copa Dinastia semifinal
(12:35, good, 01:40:15)

Austin Theory, Carístico, Volador Jr beat Cavernario, Negro Casas, Rush
(9:32 [2:06, 3:29, 3:57], 2/3, ok, 01:57:25)

What happened:

Sanson welcomes Dragon Lee back

Austin Theory won in his CMLL debut.

Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja advanced to the finals of Copa Dinastia. They will face Rush & La Bestia del Ring next week.

Tiger pulled Triton’s mask for a DQ in the second match. He then took Triton’s replacement mask too.

In post-match promos, Dragon Lee announced he was vacating the CMLL Lightweight Championship.

Thoughts:

Rocket Soberano

This was a better show than the lineup suggested. Copa Dinastia was much better and the midcard matches delivered more than expected.

Austin Theory’s debut went well. He got in a few impressive moves, he got some air on his dropkicks and he stood out. This would’ve been the nice start to a month or two run, though I’m still skeptical we’ll even see him in CMLL again. Maybe it’ll encourage CMLL to continue to bring people in from The Crash. The match itself was definitely on the short side. It was for the best, a long match wouldn’t have worked as well after a length show and a heated match prior.

The Copa Dinastia seems to have been ill constructed. The Dragon Lee/Mistico vs Angel de Oro/Niebla Roja match came off as a worthy final, only instead the Chavez brothers are moving onto face the lesser Munoz team next week. Much like Soberano/Euforia last week, the Guerreros were ushered out in shockingly quick fashion. At least they lost to a better team. Mascara 2000 did not fit in at all in his match, making it a 2 on 1 often even before he was eliminated. Perhaps CMLL didn’t want to beat the Sanson/Cuatrero team (though the teams they did pin are just as protected), but sticking in Forastero or even Universo 2000 Jr. would’ve been an improvement.

The Chavez vs Munoz block final stood out enough that it’s worth a watch even outside of the context of the tournament. They attempted to wrestle tecnico/tecnico style, though the crowd surprisingly turned again the Chavez brothers a bit. Mistico & Dragon Lee again appeared to be a promising team when given a chance to wrestle as a pair. Both teams kept up the action thru a long match by tournament standards. Even if this couldn’t be the final for whatever they’re setting up next week, this would’ve been better as the first week of the tournament. Knowing Dragon Lee & Mistico couldn’t advance (because CMLL’s not going to book them against their father) hurt the drama tremendously for me. It didn’t seem to bug the crowd as much. They were into the show all night long, strongest during this match.

double team magic

Euforia/Bucanero was a mistake on paper that proved to be a bad idea in the ring. Rey Bucanero heroically did his semi-annual crazy dive early on to make this work. It was crazy and it also seemed to exhaust him for the rest of the match. Nothing went seriously wrong, this just moved at a snail’s pace compared to the rest of the show and felt like it lasted forever. I suspect this match was done to get both closer to their promised amount of bookings for a month, not because anyone thought it would be good. It just shows the problems of CMLL’s setup.

The reaction I saw on Twitter was a lot more enthusiastic about the tercera than I came away with it, so maybe I’m just off. I’m still not particularly impressed by the rookies and Valiente didn’t have an especially good night. Still, Soberano was great and this match came together as more of a group effort than anything else. This trios got significantly more time than the matches underneath it (and the ones after it) and squeezed in a lot more highspots for that time.

Tiger & Triton gave the segunda much more of a direction, unexpected as it was. (It was also a relief, given Kawato & Esfinge interacting a lot earlier in the match. I don’t rule that out totally.) Tiger continues to be in great form in this matches when give a chance to do something, though maybe he should be aiming higher than his post-show challenge for the Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship. CMLL seemed to take the restrictions off the second match guys on this show. Cometa’s running Spanish Fly to the was nutty, even more so since Kawato was the guy taking it. Kawato’s kicks are looking good. Hope his knee is as well after that landing.

Espanto Jr. crotched himself on the finish of the opener, so business as usual there. The rest of the match had some good spots and slow speed into and out of them. The other three wrestlers all still show promise but don’t seem like they have any chance of developing here. Magia Blanca could really use a good indie booking for us to find out if he can do more than he’s shown in CMLL since returning from injury.