Lucha Capital ending shrinks down the TV. No AAA on Twitch this week either. I could’ve listed TripleMania Regia but we still don’t know exactly when that’s airing on YouTube. It should air on Multimedios on Sunday afternoon.
CMLL has the legends show on Marca tomorrow. That should be frightening.
The CMLL Welterweight Cibernetico on the CMLL Domingo shows might be more my speed.
AAA , CAPITAL (WED) 12/04/2019 Pinche Gringo Barbecue, Miguel Hidalgo, Distrito Federal [+LuchaTV, AAA, Lucha Central]
1) Hijo Del Vikingo b Pagano, Psycho Clown, Carta Brava Jr. [semifinal] 
2) Puma King b Bengala [semifinal]
Flamita didn’t appear.
3) Taurus b Rich Swann, Willie Mack [semifinal]
4) Keyra b Lady Shani, Big Mami [final]
Keyra replaced Faby Apache (medical issues) and won the tournament by pinning Big Mami.
5) Hijo Del Vikingo b Puma King, Taurus [final]
Vikingo won the men’s tournament.
This show was said to be great, with the Vikingo matches getting the most attention. This seemed like a pretty successful season; as much as we (I?) complained about the format, there were lots of good matches and a strong turnout for the shows. It’s hard to know if Facebook was satisfied, but hope they liked it enough to sponsor the third season next year.
Flamita missed TripleMania Regia and was also missing from this show. AAA, as by rule, did not address the situation. Flamita, on Facebook (not a public post, can be seen here), said he could not make Sunday’s show due to a family issue. He did show up last night for Lucha Capital but was told he was no longer booked and went back home. Flamita’s status with AAA beyond that is unclear; his next booking would be Friday in Tijuana. He is not currently booked for Guerra de Titanes.
Flamita disappearing from AAA started a rumor/theory that both of Mexablood had jumped to CMLL and that’s why they no-showed TripleMania Regia. Flamtia’s explanation doesn’t match up with that. Also, it is hard to believe, but the situations with Bandido & AAA and Bandido & CMLL are not connected. He did not have to leave AAA to work CMLL – he may have even declined his AAA booking before even agreeing to work CMLL. Bandido was evasive when talking about his status with CMLL on Informa.
The El Planchitas column says AAA is completely paying La Parka’s expenses, even though Pagano is auctioning off gear to raise money for Parka. The Gladiatores has a similar statement and Hijo del Tirantes posted an angry message about on Facebook, adding on that he was with Parka on Sunday and AAA continues to take care of him. There’s still a disconnect there about why they’d be raising the money, but just have to assume that everything’s not going to be explained.
The column also says fans who are concerned LA Park & Rush teaming means no apuesta match in AAA should be patient and teases it for TripleMania. The same column teased the idea of Nacion Lucha Libre doing it last week, so there’s that. (Back to no next show announced for Nacion Lucha Libre, now that they’re on the mind.)
I agree with the overall thought that Rush & LA Park teaming doesn’t reduce their chances of doing the mask/hair match in TripleMania. It increases the chances of it happening, and not really for the “Konnan wants to do a breakup angle” bit Planchitas pushes. The possible barriers to the Rush vs LA Park match happening in AAA are AAA’s willingness to pay for it (which we can’t really know anything about) and Rush & LA Park’s willingness to keep working with AAA. Rush & LA Parka being willing to do an angle, which just happens to be them teaming, means they’re onboard with AAA at this moment.
AAA made their annual Christmas trip visit the children at the La Magia de un Deseo foundation, a Make a Wish like charity organization. Among the AAA wrestlers was Karis La Momia Jr., who said his only wish for Christmas was the health of his father. Karis said his father was improving day by day.
CMLL photograph Alexis Salazar’s work will be featured today in Puebla.
NOAH officially announced their deal with IWRG, with Marco Moreno handing a plaque to Nosawa announcing him as IWRG Japon VP. Arena Naucalpan had announced this deal back in September.
Lineups
CMLL (SUN) 12/08/2019 Arena México
1) Arkalis & Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Akuma & Yago
2) Amapola, Dalys, La Comandante vs La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Fuego vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Atlantis Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Rey Cometa vs Hijo del Villano III, Kawato San, Vangellys
5) Titán vs Soberano Jr. [CMLL WELTER, final]
vacant title after Dragon Lee was cut from CMLL. Winner becomes 34th champ.
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Valiente vs Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
Dulce/Kawato and the title match.
CMLL (MON) 12/09/2019 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano, King Jaguar, Meyer vs Black Tiger, Centella Roja, Espíritu Maligno
2) Akuma, Espanto Jr., Espíritu Negro vs Perverso, Policeman, Rey Apocalipsis
3) Audaz, Black Panther, Drone vs Máscara Año 2000, Universo 2000 Jr., Virus
4) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Felino, Hechicero, Negro Casas
5) Carístico, Star Jr., Titán vs Cuatrero, Ephesto, Forastero
The main event is a rematch, seeming headed to Forastero/Caristico last week. Espiritu Negro makes a rare appearance without Principe Diamante nowadays. This arena seems to be headed towards a rudo versus rudo apuesta match or a similar cage match as their big Christmas match. To be clear, it has not been set up at all in any of the matches to this point, but there’s probably a reason they keep booking those matches.
CMLL (TUE) 12/10/2019 Arena México
1) Angelito & Shockercito vs Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Sangre Imperial vs Grako, Hijo del Signo, Inquisidor
3) Estrellita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, Dalys, Tiffany
4) Esfinge vs Universo 2000 Jr., Black Panther, Espanto Jr., Magnus, Príncipe Odín Jr., Stigma, Robin, Halcón Suriano Jr., Bengala [Copa Jr., semifinal]
5) Carístico, Star Jr., Titán vs Euforia, Shocker, Terrible
Terrible (NJPW), Shocker (injury) and Mercurio (quit?) are all listed as returning.
Black Panther needs to win the Copa Jr. tournament. Halcon Suriano would be good, but unlikely. There’s a lot of people who would be fine but the depth isn’t good here. I guess if CMLL is set on replacing Sanson with Universo, there are worse ideas than having him win this. (Like replacing Sanson with Universo.)
Recapped: 11/27/2019
Matches:
Carta Brava beat Argenis
(10:25, Carta Brava Jr. Air Raid Crash, good, 00:09:25)
Villano III Jr. beat Dave The Clown, Abismo Negro Jr.
(12:00, Villano III Jr. Double Spanish Fly Dave & Abismo, ok, 00:26:31)
Lady Shani beat Keyra vs La Hiedra
(12:13, Lady Shani fujiwara armbar Keyra, great, 00:45:26)
Puma King beat Pagano and Aerostar
(10:29, Puma King armabr Aerostar, good, 01:08:17)
Taurus beat Psycho Clown, Mocho Cota Jr.
(11:47, Taurus foul Psycho Clown, ok, 01:31:32)
What happened:
The show starts with an explanation of how the men’s side is going to work.
Thoughts:
The rhythm of the main event felt off and it felt slow. Psycho Clown’s done more in other matches as well; not sure if the leg injury from Juarez was still bothering him, or if it was just that sort of night. It was not an unwatchable main event and one the crowd was very into, just one to go back and watch.
The Puma King triangle match suffered a bit from feeling like just random moves strung together for a long way, then coming to a halt do Aerostar’s injury angle. The injury did at least pay off into the finish, Puma pulling out a relevant submission not seen from him before. Pagano was all over the place as usual but there was some solid action otherwise. Puma King looked strong in the end.
Lady Shani vs Keyra vs La Hiedra match was outstanding, the best women’s match I’ve seen from Mexico this year. It was hard-fought, it had momentum switches that felt like more than people switching moves, and it played off spots we’d seen before from them in new ways. Lady Shani specifically appeared like she’s level up here, combining the llave spots she’s been doing this year better with more hard-hitting moments. The sequence of going adeptly from hold to hold to put away Keyra was unlike anything done in AAA and put Shani over as a smart killer. This was really a group effort – Keyra kicked people in the face, Hiedra is also a lot improved – but they got Shani over huge by the end and that seems like the goal. The women wrestled this like a big-time tournament match and the only thing missing was the tournament feeling big enough to match it.
Two straight all rudo matches to open up the card was an unusual choice. At least Dave & Abismo attacked Villano off the start to establish him as the guy to root for here. It couldn’t really stick that way over ten minutes and so it was just a lot of spots. There were parts of this match where Abismo Negro Jr. was worse than Dave the Clown, about the most devastating thing you can say about a person. Dave wants to do a lot of things, doesn’t know if they make sense for him (a two-person headscissors?), doesn’t care. The Villano III Jr. double Spanish Fly spot was another moment of wrestlers trying to do something they weren’t really capable of doing, and it could’ve gone very badly.
Poder del Norte delivered consistently in this tournament. Carta Brava once again against Argenis, coming off aggressive while being just on time in the right places for his big dives. The block of the Volador Sprial right into the Air Raid Crash for the finish was smartly done. Brava kept the action going in a ten-minute singles match with Argenis, someone who’s not really shown that aptitude in prior chances. The rudo turn has given him an added dimension – he can still fly a little bit but seems free to do other things. This was a fun opener and I wouldn’t argue with anyone rating it higher.