Fugaz & Mistico advance in Gran Alternativa, AAA & The Crash/MLW tonight, AAA’s Lucha Capital returning soon

CMLL (FRI) 10/04/2019 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Lucha Central, Marca, Ovaciones, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) La Seductora & Reyna Isis b La Magnifica & Silueta 
16:47. Rudas took 2/3.
2) Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa b Dark Magic, Okumura, Vangellys 
15:37. Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Templario b Soberano Jr. 
14:02. Templario won via powerbomb backcracke, then said he’d do the same Sunday. Soberano challenged for a mask match.
4) Cavernario, Cuatrero, Hijo del Villano III b Flyer, Titán, Valiente 
13:02.
5) Difunto & Retro b Fugaz, Dulce Gardenia, Arkalis, Espíritu Negro, El Coyote, Grako [Gran Alternativa, battle royal] 
3:57.
6) El Coyote & Terrible b Grako & Mephisto [Gran Alternativa, 8f] 
6:18.
7) Dulce Gardenia & Volador Jr. b Espíritu Negro & Mr. Niebla [Gran Alternativa, 8f] 
6:41.
8) Fugaz & Místico b Arkalis & Stuka Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8f]  
3:56.
9) Diamante Azul & Retro b Difunto & Último Guerrero [Gran Alternativa, 8f] 
2:11.
10) Dulce Gardenia & Volador Jr. b El Coyote & Terrible [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal] 
4:22.
11) Fugaz & Místico b Difunto & Último Guerrero [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal] 
2:05.
12) Fugaz & Místico b Dulce Gardenia & Volador Jr. [Gran Alternativa, semifinal] 
7:03. Fugaz & Mistico advance to the final on 10/18.
13) Euforia & Gran Guerrero © b Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja [CMLL TAG] 
12:14. Champs took 2/3. 3rd defense, all against the same team

CMLL promos: Guerreros, Fugaz & Mistico, and Templario all talking about their wins.

Press interviews: Guerreros (Box y Lucha, +LuchaTV), Soberano Jr. (Box Y Lucha, +LuchaTV), Mistico & Fugaz (Box Y Lucha, +LuchaTV), Templario (Box Y Lucha, +LuchaTV, The Gladiatores)

Templario & Soberano is worth going out of your way to watch, their best work in CMLL yet. Their title match is Sunday and will air a week later. The tag title match

The tournament outcome was a surprise, though it makes some sense in context. CMLL wanted to prove they would still feature Mistico and that they can create new stars. Fugaz is a guy most of the people watching had never heard of, he did well, and he probably will get more chances in the future even if he doesn’t win the tournament. He may win it; there’s no strong competition on the other side. Not sure about long term plans after that.

CMLL announced the Dia de Muertos shows take place on 11/01 and 11/03. Two dates are down from running three shows in recent years. Three seemed like one too many, though they’d keep doing them if they were making money. The upcoming Friday schedule looks like

10/11: Gran Alternativa Block B
10/18: Gran Alternativa final
10/25: Rey del Inframundo qualifying match
11/01: Dia del Muerto show 1/Sanson Rey del Inframundo defense

ELITE ran last night.

AAA , ELITE (FRI) 10/04/2019 Arena Naucalpan [+LuchaTV]
1) Ciclón Black & Hijo Del Ángel b Príncipe Aéreo & Shere Khan
2) Faby Apache & La Hiedra b Diosa Quetzal & Rossy Moreno
3) Eclipse & Pimpinela Escarlata b Chico Che & Diva Salvaje
Eclipse replaced Nino Hamburguesa
4) Carta Brava Jr. & Mocho Cota Jr. b Imposible & Trittón
5) Joe Lider & Pagano b Drako & Wotan
5) Dr. Karonte, King Balam, Verdugo b Aerostar, Argenis, Máscara de Bronce
Aerostar replaced Myzteziz (Exatlon.) Argenis betrayed his teammates.
7) Trauma I & Trauma II b Murder Clown & Psycho Clown
win via foul

It seemed like it did ok, but I haven’t seen many photos, much fewer reports on the matches. This card should turn up on AAA’s YouTube later, though there’s no clear release pattern.

AAA proper returns tonight on Twitch. They are scheduled to be around regularly for the rest of the year, with no more than two weeks between tapings even with the LA show off. Tonight’s start time had been listed at 8:00 pm. It keeps slipping back a bit; it was 8:30 pm last time AAA mentioned it. As always, the show will air live on Twitch in both Spanish and English. It’ll be available on VOD as part of the $5/monthly subscription.

The card has a main event of Dr. Wagner Jr., Pagano, and Psycho Clown vs. Blue Demon Jr., Chessman, and Rey Escorpion. +Lucha’s videocast gave the impression many of the matches will be changes. That’s normal for AAA at this point and a reason not to look too closely at the lineup. The semi-main has a rudo mystery man, probably Abismo Negro Jr. The tercera has a tecnico mystery person, which seems more likely to be Bengala given the position. Maybe not, though, since the tercera has Myzteziz, and he started on Exatlon after this card was announced.

The segunda is listed as Aramis & Toxin vs Ciclope & Miedo Extremo in a TLC match. No one’s ever been sure why that was a TLC match, and it may not end up being one. I suspect Los Macizos have something planned they’d like to do, and Toxin always seems willing for crazy ideas. This will be Aramis’ first match in AAA since his PWG adventure. Dragon Lee’s noted CMLL would not mention stuff like that for him, but I’m sure AAA will do so for Aramis. JMG was on Thursday night during his Lucha Libre Vanguradia appearance.

The opener includes Mr. Iguana making his AAA debut in what’s listed as a three-way with Eclipse and Iron Kid but will likely change with people moved out. Iguana worked a dark match in Saltillo. This appears to be him joining the cast of early match irregulars going forward. His tag partner Fresero Jr. is not coming aboard, which is why they’ve been talking about the end of the team in recent interviews.

This will be the first time AAA’s been on Twitch since ticket holders were told the show had been postponed. AAA has not said a word about the show scheduled to take place eight days from now. I would hope they at least mention it tonight, but you can’t be sure with AAA.

AAA’s got some other show news to mention. It’s positive news, though they may not get to it tonight.  Vampiro’s latest video update mentions the imminent return of Lucha Capital (around the 2-minute mark), with a start date of about ten days from now. Other sources confirm this is accurate. Lucha Capital is set to return this month. Lucha Capital was the Wednesday night two-hour show airing on Facebook from Pinche Gringo BBQ in Mexico City. My understanding is to expect the same set up: Facebook, same location, same Wednesday night despite what else has changed with wrestling TV on Wednesdays. (Facebook was a sponsor of the show, so any announcement may have to be made on that platform and not Twitch.)

The Wednesday night day of the week would mean Penta & Fenix would not be involved, though they were barely part of it last year due to injuries and other reasons. That tournament was part of Laredo Kid’s break out, but now he and Angelikal would also be sidelined. On the other hand, this might be a platform for a lot of those opening match type wrestlers to get more of a focus, hoping for someone to excel as Laredo did.

Cain Velasquez debuted on WWE TV last night. There’s no word on the terms; he may not have put pen to paper even by the time you’ve read this, but he sounds like he’s set on there. Dorian Roldan congratulated Velasquez on Twitter. Velasquez had not agreed to the WWE date until the last day or so. I have guessed maybe Velaquez backed out of the LA show to do this, and that’s why it was canceled. That was a poor guess. It can’t be correct if this deal was made recently. The New York and Los Angeles shows were both planned to be built around him after TripleMania, so that’s another reason to believe the LA show is just not going to happen instead of happening later.

The Crash runs tonight in Tijuana as an MLW taping. I’ve been to The Crash shows, I’ve been to MLW TV tapings, those are generally two far different experiences. The Crash is a normal lucha show, where matches are going to go as long as they need to go with a reasonable expectation of finishing the show before it gets too late. MLW tapings have long matches but also short squash matches and promo segments. My presumption is this will end up looking much more like The Crash show execution, with MLW making it work for their format in the editing room.

The bigger intrigue is the third promotion involved. CMLL is set to send Soberano, Cavernario, Angel de Oro, and Niebla Roja as part of their working agreement with The Crash. CMLL was also meant to send Dragon Lee before that falling out. The Crash says Dragon Lee will still be there. Rush & Toro Blanco will be as well. The promotion is close with Rush, and I’d expect he’s going to be on a lot of their shows going forward. This is going to be the first indication of the new CMLL status quo: are they fine with their wrestlers working on the same show and even matches with the people they’ve exiled, or will they end up pulling people last minute? As of the last check, it seems like everyone’s still on for the show. Dragon Lee was pulled from the Aguascalientes show by now, so maybe everything will be OK.

The card has Bestia, Mecha Wolf, and LA Park versus CONTRA’s Fatu, Josef Samael, and Simon Gotch as the main event, though card order is tough to figure. This is Fatu’s return to the promotion after being part of Rebelion Amarilla for a short time last year, then disappearing without either side saying much about it. The best match with outside wrestlers might be Barbaro Cavernario, Soberano, and Dragon Lee vs. Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith, and Brian Pillman, but everyone’s subject to change in that one. Additionally, the matches with CMLL wrestlers will not air.

The Crash has changed it’s 8th Anniversario show to 11/01. That’s a Friday, and it was the Saturday 11/02 prior. The beginning of the year calendar had a 10/19 show in between, though the calendar has changed more as the year has gone on. I think people are expecting the Triple Amenaza/Los Haragnes apuesta match to happen on that Anniversary show. We’ll probably have that answer tonight after their match on this show.

There are new people in charge of the Tijuana Boxing, Wrestling, and MMA Commission. The articles on the change focus on boxing, which is normal. The one quote from the new head of the wrestling side here says he wants to prohibit “luchas mixtas.” That’s not explained, but it could mean no more men versus women matches.

other shows Saturday

• HUMO has a CMLL vs. AAA/NLL main event in Gym Hercules, with Faby Apache & Goya Kong vs. Skadi & Tiffany.
• Angel de Oro tries to rebound with a win over Mephisto in Arena Coliseo
• MexaWrestling has MexaFest, which feels like a random show just to have a show.
• Ultimo Dragon faces Hijo del Santo in Pro Wrestling Revolution. Lady Apache faces Zeuxis in the semi-main.
  • WWE is running a Mae Young Classic tournament again in a few weeks, and I was trying to figure out who might be the usual sole Mexico rep. After looking at this lineup, why not Lady Apache? It’d be a well deserved lifetime achievement award.
    • (they probably already picked someone)
  • PWR isn’t streaming these shows, but Vinnie Massaro is probably going to be hanging out there with Ultimo Panda, and he’s streamed stuff from these shows on Periscope before. He might not this time, people have things to do, but you might want to take a look late tonight just in case you get to see a Santo/Dragon match.

Sunday

• That Soberano/Templario title match happens in Arena Mexico. It’ll air a week later.
• MDA in Naucalpan has Dragon Lee & Carisitco vs. Trauma I & Trauma II, which is another good test of CMLL’s new rules about the Munoz
• Baja Stars USA in LA has a Penta vs. Fenix vs. Extreme Tiger vs. Puma King vs. Danny Limelight
• Mucha Lucha Atlanta includes LA Park and Vampiro.

A match with Latigo & Arez in OWE has turned up on rutube.

Lucha Memes 10/20 in Arena Jalisco

• Toxin Boy vs. Sniper
• Prayer & Multy vs. Reggae Boy & el Gallo

DTU posted its schedule for the year of the year. The big shows are 10/24 in Arena Aficion and 12/15 & 12/17 Anniversary shows.

Guatemalan legend Rayo Chapin passed away Friday. Prensa Libre, Publisport, and Emisoras Unidads have obits.

Segunda Caida watched Super Porky/Mascara 2000 from 98 and Casas/Sasuke from 96.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 10/11/2019 Arena México
1) Eléctrico & Príncipe Diamante vs Espíritu Negro & Grako
2) Átomo, Gallito, Microman vs Chamuel, El Guapito, Perico Zacarías
3) Rey Cometa vs Felino [lightning]
4) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Audaz vs Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Mr. Niebla
5) Súper Astro vs Sonic, Star Jr., Magia Blanca, Yago, Espanto Jr., Furia Roja (Jalisco), Akuma [battle royal, Gran Alternativa]
6) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, 8f]
7) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, 8f]
8) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, 8f]
9) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, 8f]
10) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
11) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
12) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]
13) Súper Astro Jr. & Titán vs Ángel de Oro & Sonic and Star Jr. & Valiente and Magia Blanca & Niebla Roja and Negro Casas & Yago and Cavernario & Espanto Jr. and Furia Roja (Jalisco) & Gran Guerrero and Akuma & Euforia [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]
14) Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Cuatrero, Sansón, Último Guerrero

If CMLL saw any problem with the card going so long last night, it doesn’t show on this lineup. The same amount of matches, including matches (like Felino/Cometa) which don’t seem much neccesary.

Star Jr. would be the favorite in this tournament if a tecnico had not already come out of the other block. I think people would’ve had Super Astro Jr. and perhaps Sonic ahead as picks of Fugaz if the whole tournament had been announced as much. The rudo side isn’t any sure things. Akuma’s been out since the end of July with a leg injury and may not be ready to return. Furia Roja is a long time Guadalajara wrestler who’s big and has ended up in feuds with CDMX guys as a result; he lost his mask to Esfinge, then lost his hair to Niebla Roja last year (in what was meant to be a Diamante Azul feud.) We have his age as 26, though there was a Furia Roja Jr. running around for a little bit. (Maybe it was his brother.) Espanto Jr. is awful and would get exposed if he advanced. CMLL was high enough on Yago to give him a mask win in January. He got hurt in that match and CMLL’s totally forgotten about him since. He does have a new look recently and that may be a clue.