July 13, 2019 – luchablog

CMLL (FRI) 07/12/2019 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Lucha Central, Marca, Ovaciones, thecubsfan]
1) El Coyote & Grako b Halcón Suriano Jr. & Príncipe Diamante
14:28. Rudos took 1/3.
2) Átomo, Gallito Tapatío, Microman b Chamuel, Guapito, Zacarias el Perico
11:45. Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Stuka Jr. DQ Ephesto, Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III
9:42. Tecnicos won in straight falls when Villano unmasked Atlantis Jr.
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Titán, Valiente, Volador Jr.
NGD took 2/3. Paco Alonso was honored before the match.
5) Dragón Lee, Místico, Rush b Gilbert el Boricua, Mr. Niebla, The Chris
13:02. Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Último Guerrero b Ciber the Main Man
8:22. UG took 2/3, the last by DQ. Ciber took out the referee by accident, fouled UG, put him in a crab and was DQed for hitting the referee. Ciber made sure to hit the referee on purpose in response.

CMLL promos: Ciber, Los Munoz, Hijo del Villano III, Atlantis Jr., and the micro tecnicos.

Press room interviews:

Ciber (Box Y Lucha, The Gladiatores)
Los Munoz (Box Y Lucha, The Gladiatores part 1, The Gladiatores part 2)
Mr. Niebla & The Chris (Box y Lucha)
NGD (Box Y Lucha)
Hijo del Villano III (Box Y Lucha)
Atlantis Jr. (Box y Lucha)
the Micro tecnicos (Box Y Lucha)
the Micro rudos (Box Y Lucha)

Not much of a show. CMLL keeps going back to teasing Ciber in a hair match and Ciber is less over every time they try it. They did a face-saving finish to avoid ending this, but the lack of post-match promos suggest they have no strong plans for it in the immediate future. Ciber needs to actually win a feud to get people to see him as a real threat, but his matches aren’t at the level of CMLL main events and it’s hard to put him in a situation where he might win. Then again, in a year of major feuds for La Bestia del Ring and Mascara 2000, Ciber isn’t taking the average down all that much. The rest of the show was not much better.

Francisco “Paco” Alonso was honored with a mass earlier in the afternoon. The Gladiatores has video of the function. Fray Tormenta presiding over it, with Atlantis Jr., Negro Casas, and Amapola participating in parts of the ceremony. Staff and current CMLL luchadors were in attendance, as were wrestlers coming back just for this. I’d expect to see the Octagons and Fantasmas. It stuck out to see people like Rayo de Jalisco, who probably had to get on a flight to be part of this, or Ripper (Psicosis II), who left CMLL two years ago and still wanted to be here for Paco Alonso.

NJPW also honored Paco Alonso before today’s show.

AAA , EMW (FRI) 07/12/2019 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Adrian Quest, Drake, Fantastik b Griff, Kamikaze, Xcalibur
Fantastik beats Xcalibur.
2) Big Mami, Rayo Star, Tony Casanova b Genio del Aire, Keyra, Lady Maravilla
Keyra suffered a knee injury. Big Mami beat Lady Maravilla. Promotion paid tribute to Perro Aguayo after the match.
3) Hijo Del Vikingo & Laredo Kid b Arkángel Divino & Black Boy and Douglas James & Jake Atlas
Vikingo beat Black Boy in a very good match.
4) Mamba, Máximo, Niño Hamburguesa, Willie Mack b Eddie Edwards, El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Gringo Loco (Illinois), Jonathan
Hamburguesa splash on Gringo Loco & Jonathan.
5) La Hiedra, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. b Drago, Lady Shani, Puma King
Rey Escorpion beat Puma King. A fight broke in the crowd after the match.
6) Psycho Clown b Michael Elgin, Murder Clown, Taurus [EMW HEAVY]
Earlier, Psycho Clown got beat up by Elgin, Taurus and Rey Escorpion, with Escorpion demanding to be included in this match. He was not included. Psycho beat Taurus to win the vacant title (last held by Mil Muertes in 2017.)
7) Pagano b Joe Lider, Psicosis I, Nick Gage
bumped up to the main event due to being an extreme match. Pagano beat Joe Lider in a violent match.

Turnout was strong and this was said to be a good show over all. So Cal Uncensored streamed the three-way tag match on Periscope, which is definitely worth checking out. I think Periscope videos disappear after 24 hours, so make it a priority.

Keyra’s knee injury does not look good. She posted an Instagram story this morning with her in a wheelchair at the airport. Keyra being out for a while would have a minimal effect on TripleMania – it’s already a multi-women match with ladders, an easy way to determine a new champ if need be. It would be crushing for Keyra to be out just after she won her first AAA championship.

Speaking of AAA injury news: Brian Cage was removed from the 07/26 DEFY wrestling show due to the leg injury that’s hampered him for the last few months. That’s more than a week later than Cage’s match against Killer Kross for AAA in Aguascalientes. AAA tends not to announce when people are off shows ahead of time, but we can assume he won’t be making that show. I think one of the reasons Cage was booked for this Aguascalientes show is because he missed a previous one due to injury as well; they’re just not having much luck with that. I’m not sure who would replace Cage. AAA’s teased Kross versus Murder Clown in the past and that would be the easiest solution.

Muneca de Plata, one of Brazo de Plata’s daughters, has opened a YouTube channel as Zara Alvarado. She still was wrestling in a mask in the most recent match I’ve seen of her, but I totally forget she actually lost her mask last year.

Shows this weekend:

Saturday

Star Jr. vs Tiger is the most interesting match from Arena Coliseo.
There’s an AAA show in Arena Neza with a cage match main event.
Gym Hercules has a Puma King & Ricky Marvin vs Arez & Latigo main event.
If you’re telling someone you’re going to the lucha libre show in New York, make it clear which one
- LA Park vs Sam Adonis headline a show in Queens, with Laredo Kid, Gringo Loco, Extreme Tiger and Hijo de LA Park also booked.
- Alberto and El Hijo del Santo are among those on the show in the Bronx.
The Crash has their yearly show in Tlaxcala.

Sunday

MexaWrestling takes over Arena Naucalpan with a show full of lots of people. The main event is a cage match with mask and hair on the line.
Los Ingobernables face Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja and Caristico in Arena Mexico.
Gran Guerrero & Ultimo Guerrero are scheduled to headline in Generacion XXI’s arena

I didn’t notice this until it was pointed out yesterday, but the changed date for the Lyger Arena Lopez Mateos show (Thursday to Sunday) meant a fair amount of people got changed from the card. Bandido is off due to Ring of Honor TV, so the main event is now Lyger & Mistico versus Caristico & Ultimo Guerrero. Ricky Marvin is among the guys underneath who are now no longer there, probably because they also had conflicting bookings.

RIOT on 08/23 (“Rina en El Cerro de la Silla”) at Arena Femenil Monterrey

The 08/24 show will have the semifinals (two three-way matches) and the finals (1v1), as well as matches with the eliminated people and perhaps other people as well. There won’t be an announcement of who faces who in the tournament until they come out on Sunday, I believe.

Germany’s WXW announced MexaBlood (Flamita & Bandido) for their 10/04-10/06 World Tag League. The format of that has changed from a round-robin to a straight elimination tag team tournament this year, which means there’s a shot both could end up in singles matches by the end of the weekend.

NJPW announced their 10/16 to 11/03 tour will include the Super Junior Tag League. CMLL teams have been included before and likely will again.

Indio Kikappoo – the one of Saltillo and not Monclova – passed away Wednesday. He was a luchador in the area for about 20 years and then worked as a referee and behind the scenes.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 07/19/2019 Arena México
1) Sonic & Súper Astro Jr. vs Cancerbero & Raziel
2) Ángel de Oro, Esfinge, Niebla Roja vs Ephesto, Hechicero, Luciferno
3) Marcela © vs Amapola [CMLL WOMEN]
3rd defense
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Soberano Jr., Templario [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Hijo de LA Park, LA Park, LA Park Jr. vs La Bestia Del Ring, Místico, Rush
6) Jushin Liger vs Carístico, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero [Relevo CMLL]

Liger’s farewell show is a loaded card. The main event is a four-way match with a funny name. LA Park is back to take on the Munoz. It’s supposedly for a while, but every LA Park run is a week by week situation. I guess I’ll finally have to add LA Park Jr. to the database.

The fourth match is a unique match, a little twist on the national champs versus world trios champs match they’ve run in the past. Soberano fit in well with the Guerreros last time out.

Marcela versus Amapola has no build, but it’s there because CMLL is trying to make this a super card and believes that’s still a super match. Same thing with the second match; it’s there because CMLL thinks it’ll be good.

Recapped: 07/12/2019

Matches:

El Coyote & Grako beat Halcón Suriano Jr. & Príncipe Diamante
(14:28 [5:26, 4:14, 4:48], 1/3, ok, 00:00:00)

Átomo, Gallito Tapatío, Microman beat Chamuel, Guapito, Zacarias el Perico
(11:45 [4:34, 1:19, 5:52], 2/3, ok, 00:22:00)

Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Stuka Jr. beat Ephesto, Hijo del Villano III, Hechicero
(9:42 [5:02, 4:40], 1/2 DQ, ok, 00:44:13)

Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón beat Titán, Valiente, Volador Jr.
(13:47 [3:32, 4:29, 5:46], 2/3, ok, 01:04:40)

Dragón Lee, Místico, Rush beat Gilbert el Boricua, Mr. Niebla, The Chris
(13:02 [2:13, 2:41, 8:08], 2/3, ok, 01:25:23)

Último Guerrero beat Ciber the Main Man
(8:22, 2/3 DQ, below average, 01:50:59)

Ciber spear (1:56)
UG pulpo guerrero (2:39)
DQ Ciber for ref attack (3:47)

What happened:

Ciber took out referee Edgar with an accidental charge in the third fall of the main event, then fouled Ultimo Guerrero and put him in a crab submission. Edgar recovered and tapped Ciber on the shoulder. Ciber was sure it was to indicate a win. It, of course, was instead a DQ. Ciber harshly shoved Edgar down and out of the ring.

Paco Alonso was remembered prior to the fourth match.

Villano III Jr. unmasked Atlantis Jr. for the DQ in their match.

Thoughts:

This card didn’t look highly promising on paper and didn’t surprise in reality. I kind of just want to write the whole thing off as a group of wrestlers still dealing with the shock and depression of their well-liked boss suddenly passing away. The hardest working people on the show were the Munoz, who was specifically doing it as a tribute. Most everyone else seemed to just be muddling their way thru their state of mind. The Monday and Tuesdays show wasn’t great but they rarely are, it might have had a more noticeable effect here. Next week, with Liger and LA Park around, should be a lot better.

I want to write this show off for me too after spending the first hour of this show trying to figure out why my computer won’t play the audio and sound in sync from YouTube anymore, but I don’t think I get that.

Ciber and Ultimo Guerrero was a boring match devoid of many highlights or entertainment. It was a slog. The very square peg of Ciber didn’t really fit into Ultimo Guerrero’s round hole of a match formula, even the cut down simplified version they did here. UG wasn’t at his best either, slipping on his big leap over the barricade. Ciber was game to take the superbomb, but it wasn’t his night and it’s hard to believe this is going to ever work. The crowd was into this feud only as much as they always like cheering Ultimo Guerrero; there’s no steam in Ciber and the weak finish didn’t help him either. This didn’t work, but it hasn’t worked any time in the last three years. CMLL just can’t let it go for unclear reasons.

The semimain was probably the most fun match of the show, with Mistico, Dragon Lee and Rush enjoying getting to be a team. Their opponents didn’t really add much. Niebla seemed to spend most of the match on the apron while Gilbert and Sharly wrestled as less mobile Hijos del Infierno. This was very much matching making based on trying to get people their promised amount of bookings rather than trying to put together something good and it showed. The one silver lining is Gilbert looked better knocking around Mistico than he has in most of his time in CMLL. He may be still successful as a heavyweight bullying small guys – you know, exactly what he did with Fenix – but that’s not a dynamic CMLL pursues often. The heavyweight battles they want for him aren’t working.

The Volador/NGD trios followed right out of the Paco Alonso tribute. I’m probably projecting things that aren’t really there, but it came off like a purposefully easy match to get the crowd back in. NGD did a new bit of chaining some of their solo finishing moves in series to close out a fall, but most of this was a house main event stuff. They did a “star with a tapatia” fall ending to start and another one that ended directly after the dives, this wasn’t particularly deep. It was fine for what it was.

Atlantis Jr.’s team got beat up and came back to win the first fall of the tercera, which is always a sign the match is probably going two falls. There’s no point in going in so heavy with Hijo del Villano III and Atlantis Jr. at this point, they’re both not completely ready for it and it’d be a tragedy to have them do an actual 1v1 mask match any time soon. CMLL just can’t resist nostalgia in general, and second general rivalries are irresistible nostalgia stuff. Hechicero & Stuka had some good moments. Atlantis continues to struggle to move around.

Microman & Chamuel were really good in the micros match, even with Chamuel not doing a lot to hide how much he was helping at the times. The other four didn’t add a whole lot and occasionally took some away. The match was fine, there are just bigger problems here. The first micro matches showed some progression and growth from the wrestlers. That’s not there anymore, and this match felt like some of them were getting worse. It’s one match but the micros could use a positive sign in general.

Halcon Suriano Jr. seems like a guy who would keep doing moonsaults forever if the situation allowed it, and the situation here just about did. I was most distracted during this match, which seemed like a not great night out of the rudos and about a usual one for the tecnicos. Miguel Linares was very excited to refer to Suriano’s submission as La Lanza de Halcon so I’ll note it as well.

Day: July 13, 2019

Ultimo Guerrero slightly defeats Ciber, AAA/EMW in Tijuana, Liger CMLL farewell show

CMLL on Marca: 2019-07-12