Mistico/GG in Arena Mexico, Laredo survives in Exatlon, Impact, and a slap

CMLL (FRI) 01/17/2020 Arena México [CMLL, CMLLLucha CentralMarcaR de RudojThe Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Retro & Robin LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 17 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
11:12. Rudos took 1/3.
2) Avispa Dorada, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit DQ Amapola, Metálica, Tiffany LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 17 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
15:33. Tecnicas took 2/3, the last by DQ when an elimianted Amapola came back in to attack Marcela. Metalica was in an out of the match with a leg injury.
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. b Espíritu Negro, Pólvora, Vangellys LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 17 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
15:56. Tencicos took 2/3.
4) Templario b Rey Cometa [lightningLUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 17 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
6:58. Templario won with a super powerbomb
5) Atlantis Jr., Kráneo, Valiente b Ephesto, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 17 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
13:48. Tecnicos took 1/3.
6) Diamante Azul, Místico, Volador Jr. DQ Gran Guerrero, Shocker, Terrible LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 17 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
9:48. Straight falls for a second straight week, this time the tecnicos winning. Gran Guerrero unmasked Mistico for the DQ, setting up a match next week.

CMLL promos: Gran Guerrero, Mistico, Templario, Espiritu Negro.

Press interviews: Espiritu Negro, Templario, Gran Guerrero, and Mistico.

The lightning match was fun and there’s nothing else you need to watch here. It was not immediately clear if Amapola vs Marcela was a real feud. Mistico/Gran Guerrero on the Niebla show seems like a bad idea, Mistico/Gran Guerrero twice in five days seems like a bad idea. CMLL is a promotion afraid to fail by doing something new and so does the same things ever and ever. No wonder I watch every show.

There are two FantasticaMania shows remaining. The first is early Sunday morning (3:30 am) and will have two title matches. We already know Ultimo Guerrero would defend the CMLL Heavyweight Championship match against Satoshi Kojima. Additionally, the Stuka/Okumura match is now a NWA Light Heavyweight championship match. Neither title is expected to change and neither match seems very promising, though Kojima/UG match is at least a unique match up.

The main event is the annual Black Cat/Kuroneko tribute match. Caristico, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tiger Mask team against Barbary Cavernario, Euforia, and Negro Casas, in what has the names to be a pretty good match. This is Tiger Mask’s first match on the tour; he and Caristico were friends/rivals a decade ago. Panico & Skandalo are scheduled to appear as part of the presentation.

With Tanahashi in the main event, Dulce Gardenia instead teams with Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi in his never-ending battles against LIJ. The Chavez team with Titan against NGD in a preview of tomorrow’s title match. Flyer, Guerrero Maya and Soberano face Douki, Kanemaru, and Tiger. Audaz & NJPW young lion Tsuji will wrestle Luciferno and Namajague in the opener.

This show will stream at 3:30 AM on NJPW World in Japanese and English and be available on VOD. I’m going to try to watch it live – who knows, maybe it’ll screw up my sleep enough that I’ll be able to watch the final night too.

Tonight is the second of two nights of Impact tapings in Mexico City. There was an incident between Konnan and Psicosis II outside of Fronton Mexico last night, prior to the start tapings. Back in December, the second Psicosis blamed Konnan for not getting AAA TV work. Konnan replied to him on Twitter, asking Psicosis why he wasn’t working somewhere else if he was such a big star. Konnan did so in a typically blunt fashion. Psicosis replied that they’d continue this discussion face to face in Leon, but apparently decided to do in Mexico City instead. Last night, an unmasked Psicosis yelled at Konnan to say the same to his face. Konnan said nothing – it’s possible he didn’t want to escalate the situation or just forgot the previous discussion. Psicosis did want to escalate, slapping Konnan and putting his hands up for a fight. Konnan backed away as Psicosis continued to yell at him, and eventually calmed down enough to be pulled away. AAA security people were there but never seemed to get involved.

Video of the incident was all over Mexico quickly; the person who uploaded it first must’ve known it was Psicosis because they blurred out his face. Konnan is a polarizing guy with plenty of people who dislike him, but most people seem to be coming down on his side, feeling Psicosis was way over the line by attacking a man having health issues. Konnan was asked about it by the press and said it was nothing. He surprising came off as sympathetic to Psicosis – he’s just a guy upset about the lack of work.

I’ve got results from those Impact tapings here, as best as I could figure last night. The media covering the show is going back and forth between the matches and interviews with the wrestlers, which meant no one had all the results. I may be missing something. Hijo del Vikingo did get a big win over Josh Alexander, where money was thrown in after. Alexander is part of the North, the Impact Tag Team champions, so Vikingo (and sumo Fallah Bahh perhaps?) may be getting a title shot tonight.

Murder Clown & Pagano paid tribute to La Parka after their match, leading a La Parka chant. Dr. Landru points out the same Impact crowd that was honoring La Parka with a chant were also taunting La Parka with a LA Park chant last year.

Karis La Momia Jr. took over La Parka’s column in Record to say goodbye to his father. He mentions AAA will have a mass in La Parka’s honor on January 29th at 3 pm and that Psycho Clown will be taking over the column permanently going forward. I’ve always been suspicious that someone else ghostwrites these columns. The style and tone haven’t changed as it’s gone from Parka, to Psycho to Karis this week.

Space produced a short documentary on La Parka, mostly taken from two recent interviews with him.

Maximo seems to have changed his Twitter handle to “MaXiMo_Sioux” in the last couple of days. Sioux is a reference to his wife, India Sioux. He was MaXiMo_AAA. He was still is working AAA spot shows at last check, though he’s not on any announced TV tapings and wasn’t on them much last year; only one post TripleMania. Mamba going back rudo and feuding with Pimpinela ended the exotico trio they had going with Maximo.

Laredo Kid is still on Exatlon. Laredo has not done particularly well on the show. He’s in his 30s and going against 20-year-old Olympic athletes in obstacle course type events, it’s not something he should be doing well in. It’s a team (red) vs team (blue) overall competition, but most events are held as one person on each team against each other, and Laredo has a poor win/loss record. Friday nights are the elimination round, where the losing side of a team competition has to pick two of their team members to battle among themselves to see who stays. That didn’t happen this time around, the elimination team round strangely went to a draw, and the show simply picked the men who had the least successful weeks to face off in the elimination game. That was Laredo Kid for Team Red.

The elimination game is usually a best of 9 series on an obstacle course with a skill challenge at the end. Dragon Lee was part of a memorable one last year where the skill challenge was throwing rings onto a post from a distance. The elimination game with Laredo Kid went down to the ninth and deciding race around the same course. Reality shows always have weird twists and Exatlon is the same. Some of the competitions they run Monday thru Thursday award medals that can be used to save the holder or a teammate from elimination. Laredo Kid’s team was asked if anyone wanted to use one of their medals before the final race. One teammate offered theirs. Laredo Kid would’ve automatically survived at no cost to himself. Laredo Kid rejected the offer, waving his finger no, and later explaining he didn’t feel he deserved immunity because he had not done enough for his team. Laredo was behind pretty much the entire obstacle course but when they got the skills challenge – knocking small posts into a hole via thrown tennis balls – Laredo got all four of his in before his opponent got one. He won, he survived, and he didn’t need help to do it. The ending scene was Laredo’s team mobbing him in celebration and doing Laredo’s BUYAZZE yell and pose. You can see video of the last bit here.

Laredo Kid’s probably not going to win Exatlon. He’s probably not making a lot of money doing this; reality shows exist in such large numbers because they don’t have to pay the talent all that much. There is a strong case to be made that it wasn’t a great idea for Laredo Kid to leave wrestling in his best moment to do a reality show. People do these reality shows in hopes to make some money and raise your profile, and viewers need a reason to remember who you are if you’re going to raise your profile. This seems like that moment for Laredo – rejecting the easy way out and winning himself was that star moment. “Laredo” was trending on Twitter in Mexico for a while. It does go a long way to justify this four-month (and counting) break.

One more thing that happened last night:

Lucha Time (FRI) 01/17/2020 Arena Lucha Time, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon [@thekoko666, Lo Mejor de Lucha]
1) Mr. Warrior b Vértigo
2) Alex Black & Punk Clown b Insólito & Kratos
3) Epydemius vs Oro NegroCharro Negro
money thrown in
4) Medico Brujo, Muerte Extrema, Sick Boy b Celta, Redemido, The Mummy
Azarel distracted the referee, allowing Medico to foul the Mummy
5) Hijo del Espectro b Baby Xtreme
main event of episode 1
6) T. Rex b InsólitoKratos
start of episode 2
7) Punk Clown b Mr. Warrior
8) Black Raider & Hell Raider b Redimido & Vértigo
a squash
9) Medico Brujo, Muerte Extrema, Sick Boy b Baby Xtreme, Charro Negro, Oro Negro
Baby & Charro had problems leading to the loss.
10) Azrael, El Mafioso, Hijo del Espectro b Celta, Epydemius, The Mummy
ref stop, tecnicos unable to continue, rudos beat them more after (so maybe a DQ the other way?)

Monterrey’s Lucha Time has gone thru a few different concepts and names – this is a Roberto Figueroa project if you’ve lost track. A recent concept was to become their own version of +LuchaTV, putting up shows from various promotions on their La Esquina YouTube channel. It hasn’t gone anywhere yet, so the new idea seems to film their own content. These were matches in front of a standing crowd in a darkly lit warehouse, which were recorded and will be split into two episodes. I believe they had Spanish and English announcing. The shows will go up next week with the next taping on January 31st. It reads like fans were a little confused as to what to expect; the idea here is to concentrate on building local names. All Lucha Time ideas seem to exist for a couple of months and then go away. No idea if this will last longer or even be interesting, but a wrestling promotion making serialized content for the express purpose of putting it on YouTube is still unique in Mexico.

Bandido won the ECCW Championship last night over Artemis Spencer. Bandido is now the champion of Canada’s ECCW, Mexico’s The Crash and the US’s PWG, in addition to the ROH Trios Championship. Bandido defends the title again tonight, so he may not be champion for long.

Lucha shows pick a lot today up after a couple of quiet weekends. AAA is still off for a week, but plenty of others are running

Saturday

  • The Crash kicks off their 2020 with Bestia, Damian and Mecha Wolf vs the Navarros. There’s also some international matches; Flamita & Oraculo take on Lindaman  T-Hawk, while Mesias, Angelico, CIMA and Ryu Lee are scheduled to meet in a four-way. It feels like the last eighteen months of The Crash has been “how is The Crash going to do now that [X] is no longer around?” stories and it still feels like it’s happening. Hope they give the fans something else to talk about..
  • CMLL has a Volador/Mephisto match in Arena Coliseo
  • MexaWresling has one of their Noches de San Juan shows with Apolo Estrada Jr. vs Caballero de Plata listed as the main. I think the card order may change.

Sunday

Lineups

 

 

CMLL on Marca: 2020-01-17

great timing

Recapped: 2020-01-17

Matches:

Akuma & Espanto Jr. beat Retro & Robin
(11:22 [4:13, 3:20, 3:49], 1/3, ok, )

Avispa Dorada, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit beat Amapola, Metálica, Tiffany
(15:33 [7:08, 3:15, 5:10], 2/3 DQ, ok, )

Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. beat Espíritu Negro, Pólvora, Vangellys
(15:56 [6:01, 3:21, 6:34], 2/3, ok)

Templario beat Rey Cometa in a lightning match
(6:58, super powerbomb, good)

Atlantis Jr., Kráneo, Valiente beat Ephesto, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero
(13:48 [4:55, 3:47, 5:06], 1/3, ok)

Diamante Azul, Místico, Volador Jr. beat Gran Guerrero, Shocker, Terrible
(9:48 [5:08, 4:40], 1/2 DQ, ok)

What happened:

this went better for Gran Guerrero than Templario

Gran Guerrero unmasked Mistico this week for the DQ, setting up a singles match next week.

Vangellys & Blue Panther feuded but weren’t involved in the finish. (This was like the recent Angel de Oro/Felino issue.)

Amapola was eliminated in the third fall of her match but broke up a Marcela pin on Tiffany. Metalica suffered a leg injury near the end of the first fall (trying to catch Marcela’s apron dive) and was attended to at the end of the third fall.

Thoughts:

The main event was on the level of last week, maybe a little more since the tecnicos got to do more before they got to the DQ spot, but the same sort of match. The tecnicos did their hot spots late, Gran Guerrero powerbombed Místico hard earlier, Terrible and Shocker also picked up a paycheck. Diamante Azul has done that ramp clothesline for years but isn’t great at the timing when he starts it; everyone had to freeze for a few seconds to wait for him to get there.

The semi-main was a predictable match, though one the crowd comfortably enjoyed. Valiente connected very hard on his tope. Atlantis Jr. has his routine down and varies from it as little as anyone else in CMLL, but it’s still an exciting routine. Mije and Monito being in the same corner was an odd situation.

Templario lost Rey Cometa on a catch powerbomb spot, but they nailed everything else. Their lightning match here held together better from move to move. The handspring Destroyer looked great; I’d say to save it as a finish, but I’m not sure if the timing would be right without anyone beyond Templario. Cometa’s tornillo looked cool, and Templario gave him a big shot on the powerbomb.

Avispa rope work

The Panthers seemed to get the most of their match that was possible. That’s not a high ceiling, but they’ve got their bits down. Black Panther’s tope looked cool, Blue Panther Jr. is using his cartoon physique for impressive power spots, the crowd always gets behind the older Blue Panther. Vangellys & Panther feuding but not being involved finish gives hope a boring feud may go away. Espiritu Negro didn’t look out of place in this match, which seems to be the case when most of the first/second match goes up. There’s not a big difference between them and third/fourth rudos at this point.

Amapola & Marcela didn’t have anything to do with each other until the finish. Metalica’s injury dominated the rest of the match. The disqualification may have been a way to get out of it if Metalica couldn’t do the planned finish. However, that did not appear to be the situation – Avispa’s dive onto Metalica ended the match for both of them. Metalica being so hurt made it more surprising she was able to base for Avispa Dorada’s two great spots. This match was another Dorada appearance where she got in those two spots and no more. It wasn’t because the rest were doing exciting things.

There was no particular speed in the opener and nothing much to take from it. Retro did a big two-person slam, and the tecnicos never got in another move. It’s quite a way to make that move look pointless. At least this opener was over quick.

NGD are the Champions of Families, Cometa/Templario tonight, Impact in CDMX

CMLL

CMLL , NJPW (FRI) 01/17/2020 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan [CMLLLuchaCentralNJPW]
Attendance: 1534
1) Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi b Douki & Luciferno
7:58. Fuego defeated DOUKI
2) Kanemaru, Namajague, Okumura b Flyer, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr.
9:41. Okumura defeated Stuka Jr., then asked for tomorrow’s match to be made a title match. Stuka accepted only if it’s also mask vs hair.
3) Bushi, EVIL, Takagi b Dulce Gardenia, El Audaz, Hiroshi Tanahashi
10:44. EVIL defeated Audaz via scorpion deathlock.
4) Titán b Forastero
13:20. Titan won via springboard double stomp.
5) Carístico & Kojima b Bárbaro Cavernario & Último Guerrero
11:45. Kojima pinned Ultimo Guerrero after lariat.
6) Euforia & Soberano Jr. b Negro Casas & Tiger [CMLL FAMILY, 3rd place]
8:41. Soberano beat Tiger via Canadian Destroyer.
7) Cuatrero & Sansón b Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja [CMLL FAMILY, final]
12:21. Sanson beat Angel de Oro.

A barely standing Titan talks about his win. That sounds like the best match on the show. Soberano & Euforia celebrate third place. Sanson & Cuatrero celebrate their win. This seems to slightly open the door to Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, and Titan finally breaking down the NGD wall Sunday morning to win the trios titles. It’s still hard to bet against the NGD in big matches.

Tonight is one more CMLL Friday night with a reduced roster. The FantasticaMania crew will be back on the lineups next Friday, and there are a few people in higher places than usual.

The main event is a rematch of last week, Diamante Azul, Mistico, Volador Jr. against Gran Guerrero, Shocker and Terrible. A Mistico/Gran Guerrero match was teased last week. Perhaps it’ll be changed or dropped since CMLL’s already has it set for Puebla. Next Friday is the Mr. Niebla show, which a Mistico/Gran Guerrero match will not be well received. That show might be better suited for a spotlight Shocker match, given his long history as a partner and rival of Mr. Niebla. A 1v1 Shocker match sounds very challenging but CMLL fans were very forgiving of wresters on the legends show and might be again.

Rey Cometa versus Templario in a lightning match sounds like the best match on the show. They met late last year in another lightning match, and it turned into a race to get in spots before they ran out of time. There wasn’t much connecting them, which is something they could do better this time around.

Nothing too important the rest of the way. Atlantis, Valiente, and Kraneo team against Ephesto, Mephisto, and Rey Bucanero. The Panthers get one more Friday night together against Polvora, Vangellys and a higher than usual Espiritu Negro. Avispa Dorada makes a streaming appearance, teaming with Marcela & Princesa Sugehit against Amapola, Tiffany, and Metalica. Metalica and Dorada have been good opponents in the past. Robin  Retro team up against Espanto Jr. & Akuma.

This show will be streamed on Marca and I’ll stream it on my YouTube to get around the block for Japan and US. (I don’t expect many people with CMLL in Japan to be watching this show, but it’d be something if they just tonight realized that wasn’t possible.) I will not be close to my streaming computer for the next two Fridays; even if I do try to stream, it may not go off without a hitch.

Impact starts two nights of tapings in Mexico City tonight. Both Friday and Saturday shows are at Fronton Mexico, with a listed start time at 8:30 pm. Impact taped two episodes of Impact main TV show and a couple of extra matches for their secondary Xplosion shows. Nothing has been specifically announced for these shows as of yet, outside of some AAA names also being present. I don’t sense any particular buzz for these Impact shows but I never really have and they seem to do fine, so it doesn’t seem like a big concern. Impact is scheduled to return to Mexico City in April.

+LuchaTV interviewed Daga & Tessa to preview these tapings. There was no question about the recent controversy over Tessa’s alleged racial remarks. I’d suspect they were told not to ask. I wrote this earlier this week, but it’s still true: Impact lucked out by having these tapings in Mexico City. Impact might tell the press not the ask, but they tend also be disinterested in out of the ring scandals generated elsewhere.

Mr. Iguana says he’s signed a contract with AAA. No terms mentioned. AAA is in the process of signing a lot of the luchadors were working opening matches as freelancers in the past year. It’s impressive in Iguana’s case; his homestate of Sinaloa has a lucha libre scene but is not one that’s paid attention to much. It’s very hard to get from a place that is not a lucha libre hotbed to regular work with a major promotion. Iguana figured out how to market himself – figuring out a character that sticks out and using social media to promote himself to people outside of his area. He should be the template for others.

In an interview from a recent Monterrey show, Baby Extreme (who’s shown up on AAA once or twice) says he’s hoping to go to CMLL this year.

MLW told the press that Hijo de LA Park was off their show in Dallas due to a late visa renewal issues. He, LA Park and LA Park Jr. will be on future shows. MLW also announced AAA wrestlers for the 02/01 show but did not name anyone.

02/09 Ring of Honor (Baltimore, free show)

  • Bandido & Flamita vs The Briscoes
  • Brody King vs Rey Horus
  • Rush & Nick Aldis vs Marty Scurll & PCO

02/15 Warrior Wrestling (Chicago suburbs, streaming on Highspots)

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Anemix defeated Estrella de Fuego for her mask in Monterrey. Estrella de Fuego is Berenice Abigail Sosa Diaz.

Criterio Hidalgo has an interview with the now retired Dr. Muerte.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 01/18/2020 Arena Coliseo
1) Angelito & Fantasy vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Universo 2000
2) Arkalis, Halcón Suriano Jr., Magia Blanca vs El Coyote, Príncipe Odín Jr., Yago
3) Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Súper Astro Jr. vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
4) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. vs Misterioso, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr.
5) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Valiente vs Felino, Rey Bucanero, Vangellys
6) Volador Jr. vs Mephisto

I’m behind on posting lineups. This is the 16th Volador/Mephisto singles match all-time. It seems like a lot more than that. Volador has won the last 11.

CMLL (SUN) 01/19/2020 Arena México
1) Sangre Imperial & Sonic vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) La Vaquerita, Lluvia, Skadi vs La Comandante, La Infernal, Reyna Isis
3) Drone, Príncipe Diamante, Stigma vs Disturbio, Olímpico, Pólvora
4) Blue Panther, Kráneo, Volcano vs Ephesto, Felino, Rey Bucanero
5) Místico, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Hechicero, Mephisto, Templario
6) Diamante Azul vs Gran Guerrero

The Sky Team reuniting to face Hechicero and Templario is a better main event idea than most of the actual main events during this stretch.

CMLL (MON) 01/20/2020 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano, Meyer, Millenium vs Black Tiger, Centella Roja, Rey Apocalipsis
2) Rey Samuray, Súper Astro Jr., Tigre Rojo Jr. vs El Malayo, Fuerza Chicana, Policeman
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Stigma vs Kawato San, Perverso, Toro Bill Jr.
4) Kráneo, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Ephesto, Mephisto, Templario
5) Místico vs Gran Guerrero

Perverso and Toro Bill Jr. make it to the tercera on the last Monday of FantasticaMania (and a reduced amount of CMLL DF guys being sent to Puebla.)

CMLL (TUE) 01/21/2020 Arena México
1) Bengala & Sonic vs Cholo & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Magnus, Oro Jr., Robin vs Grako, Hijo del Signo, Nitro
3) Pegasso, Príncipe Diamante, Stigma vs Espíritu Negro, Misterioso, Sagrado
4) Rey Cometa vs Pólvora [lightning]
5) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. vs Máscara Año 2000, Templario, Vangellys
6) Atlantis Jr., Diamante Azul, Volador Jr. vs Ephesto, Hechicero, Mephisto

The FantasticaMania crew may be in Mexico City by the time this show starts, but it does appear they’re getting the night off.

AAA , EMW (FRI) 01/31/2020 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Adrian Quest, Drake, Griff vs Éxtasis, Juve Venegas, Romero
2) Keyra © vs Lady ShaniMiranda Alize [EMW WOMEN]
first defense (won title in December 2018)
3) Jonathan, TJ Boy, Tony Casanova vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana and Danny Limelight, El Hijo del Medico Asesino, Lady Lee
4) Genio del Aire, Kamik-C, Skalibur vs Black Boy, Fantastick, Rayo Star [hardcore]
5) Pagano & Puma King vs Hijo Del Vikingo & Xtreme Tiger and Gringo Loco & Nicho el Millionario
6) Pentagón Jr., Psycho Clown, Rey Horus vs Daga, Monsther Clown, Rey Escorpión

Full show. The main event looks fun. The fourth match is listed as an extreme match though I think I’d rather see those guys in a normal match.

KAOZ (SUN) 02/23/2020 Arena Coliseo Monterrey
1) Baby Love, Charro Negro, Dulce Kanela vs Komander, Mr. Iguana, Perla Lagunera
2) Dulce Sexy © vs ZeuxisMiranda AlizeAlex García? [KAOZ WOMEN]
3) Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria © vs Rico Rodríguez & Vazco Jr. and ? & Silver Tiger and Black Raider & Hell Raider [KAOZ TAG]
4) Emperador Azteca (Indie) © vs TrittónMr. 450 [KAOZ CRUISER]
5) Hijo de LA Park, Hijo del Volador, LA Park Jr. vs Galeno del Mal, Hijo De Wagner, Silver Jr. [KAOZ TRIOS]
6) Ayako Hamada & El Divo vs Daga & Tessa Blanchard [KAOZ MIXED TAG]
7) Rush © vs Rey WagnerRey Escorpión (AAA)Fresero Jr. [KAOZ HEAVY]

This is the first KAOZ show since La Parka’s injury. A lot of meaningless titles as always. NGD were trios champs but aren’t going to be back with this promotion going heavily towards AAA.

lucha TV preview for weekend of 2020-01-16

full size

I’m not really sure why I keep doing these posts. I don’t get much feedback on them. It’s probably inertia. Still, it worked out for me this time; I had it stuck in my head that I could watch CMLL Marca, stay up for a few hours, and then watch a FantasticaMania show. That is not the case! Saturday (morning) is the off day. Friday (morning), Sunday (morning) and Monday (morning) are the correct days. I’m getting up Sunday morning and watching some wrestling and then making some chocolate pancakes.

So many single matches on the regular CMLL shows. Not great 1v1, but lots of them.

AAA returns next week.

CMLL introduces the very Santo-like Diamond, FantasticaMania Tokyo Night 1, Impact/Vikingo, Vamp

Diamond

CMLL , NJPW (THU) 01/16/2020 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan [CMLL, NJPW]
Attendance: 1423
1) Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi b Douki & Namajague
7:22. Fuego beat DOUKI
2) El Audaz & Guerrero Maya Jr. b Kanemaru & Luciferno
10:18. Audaz beat Luciferno via moonsault.
3) Bushi, EVIL, Takagi b Dulce Gardenia, Flyer, Hiroshi Tanahashi
11:01. EVIL defeated Dulce via Pumping Bomber.
4) Forastero & Okumura b Stuka Jr. & Titán
9:06. Forastero beat Titan.
5) Bárbaro Cavernario & Último Guerrero b Carístico & Kojima
13:03. Cavernario submitted Caristico via caverneria
6) Cuatrero & Sansón b Euforia & Soberano Jr. [CMLL FAMILY, semifinal]
9:30 Cuatrero beat Soberano via inverted bear hug
7) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja b Negro Casas & Tiger [CMLL FAMILY, semifinal]
12:55. Niebla Roja defeated Tiger via reverse campana

Promos: Fuego & Taguchi, Euforia & Soberano, Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja,

I heard good things about the NGD/Euforia/Soberano tag match. I’m hoping to watch this tonight.

Those results mean tomorrow morning’s show will be headlined by Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja versus Sanson & Cuatrero in the tournament final. The Chavez brothers should win this leading into the trios title match, but the Chavez brothers winning over NGD is always in doubt. Euforia & Soberano vs Tiger & Negro Casas should be a fun third-place bout. The other spotlight match is Titan versus Forastero. Forastero did have a good singles match with Cavernario, maybe Titan can pull out the same.

The rest is about the same as today. Caristico & Kojima face Cavernario & Ultimo Guerrero in an exact rematch, where we’d expect Kojima to pin UG this time. Audaz jumps into the Dulce Gardenia/Hiroshi Tanahashi team this time around against LIJ. The tecnicos need to pick up a win if they want a title shot, but it seems unlikely. The openers are similar people with the names moved around a bit. The show will start at 3:30 am central on NJPW World and will be available for VOD.

At the very end of CMLL Informa yesterday, CMLL introduced Principe Diamante with a new look and new name. He is now Diamond in familiar silver gear. The immediate takeaway is Hijo del Santo’s mention of reconciliation with CMLL must be dead, because there’s no chance of him returning while CMLL is promoting someone stealing his look. It’s more than just the silver color. The shape of the opening on the mask and the cape are clones of the classic El Santo look, the most famous gear in all of lucha libre.

CMLL tried the same concept last decade: Diamante Azul was reformatted and named changed to appear like Blue Demon, while (now Dragon Gate champion) Diamante got a silver makeover. It did not seem to help either man at all. There’s a chance it may work better now. CMLL’s focus on drawing people who’ve never seen lucha libre may mean those people have a vague knowledge of El Santo and will easily believe Diamond is him or a relative. Those casual fans might also be confused why he’s being booed so heavily because Diamond will be rejected by the diehard fans for being a knockoff. It’d be near impossible for Diamond to reject this character, he’d never escape the early matches otherwise. He just now may never escape the middle matches.

CMLL had sent Principe Diamante out to do media interviews earlier in the day but did not have him promote the name change. The priority was to make news for Informa, the show watched by the least amount of people. (Even the in-studio attendance appeared low this past week.) Principe Diamante is not listed on any upcoming cards at this moment.

La Parka was remembered at Wednesday’s AAA show in San Luis Potosi. LuchaWorld has an extensive La Parka obit.

AAA announced Pagano, Dr. Wagner Jr. and Hijo del Vikingo for the Impact tapings this Friday & Saturday in Mexico City. Psycho Clown’s suggested he’ll be on the shows as well, and I’m sure there will be others. These shows are typically irrelevant for the Mexican talent, just used to fit into the main roster’s storylines, but Vikingo is worth keeping track of. Hijo del Vikingo in AEW is one of those dream concepts since the promotion was announced a year ago. It hasn’t happened yet. Impact has used Vikingo when in Mexico and had some interest in bringing him into WrestleMania weekend last year. They have another show this year and Impact’s all about trying to find a way to get attention in a crowded market. He’ll need a visa to wrestle in the US, Impact can get people, and visas can open up other possibilities for work in the US. It’s worth watching to see if there’s anything set up for Vikingo out of these tapings this time around; Impact likely needs to make a now decision about using him April to accommodate the long time it takes to get a US visa.

I haven’t seen the poster publically posted yet, but this Facebook page has a video promoting AAA taping in Guadalajara on 02/22. That would be the third taping of the year.

AAA posted a video from Mascarita Dorada, asking if he should keep that name or go back to Mascarita Sagrada. There was a bit on Guerra de Titanes where Demus stole Dorada’s mask but a child gave him a Sagrada mask. Mascarita Sagrada has been used by many wrestlers in AAA’s history and it’s an Antonio Pena created character, so their preference is clear.

AAA’s posts a lot of slightly older footage on their Facebook and more La Parka stuff recently. Yesterday, they put the video of La Parka introducing his son from one year ago. I think everyone expects Karis la Momia Jr. to become La Parka Jr. in short order. That seemed like the plan all along. AAA ought to be careful in managing expectations for that.

Last week’s Wrestling Observer had an AAA section was a lot of Konnan explaining his angles to Dave Meltzer and Meltzer transcribing it. The concept behind AAA’s Faccion Ingobernable is they’re meant to be The Best of CMLL (Rush) & The Best of The Indies (LA Park) teaming up to take down AAA, and then they invited Konnan & Kross to be part of it. It makes some sense, but (as I wrote before) including guys who’ve been on AAA TV like Konnan & Kross right away dulls the edge of it being any pseudo-promotion versus promotion war. It’s hard to distinguish between this concept and when WWE put the McMahon children as the heads of the invading WCW & ECW groups.

Konnan believes Kenny Omega was so over in Monterrey because AAA’s announcers had done such a good job of building him up and putting him over as the best guy in the world.

Martinez Entertainment is hosting a Konnan tryout on 02/15. It’s $50 a person. +LuchaTV brought this up on their podcast, saying people could earn spots in AAA, MLW or AEW. I think the last one might be a mistake since Konnan doesn’t seem to work with AEW, though he could surely recommend someone if they asked. This is not related to the tryouts but writing about Martinez reminds me how much JMG has praised Lil Cholo & Mariachi Loco for their work there. They’ve really impressed him.

AAW announced Aramis & Juventud Guerrera vs Jake Crist & Sami Callihan for their January 24th show. Aramis works on Guerrera’s Super X shows so there is a relationship there. I thought AAW would just put Aramis in a scramble so this is a bit more high profile. Another US promotion will be announcing an Aramis match tonight.

A visit to the Santo museum in Tulancingo reveals there’s just not enough space for all the stuff they want to exhibit.

Chris Van Vliet has an interview with Vampiro. I wrote about 2,000 words on it, which felt like too much. Give Chris Van Vliet some YouTube time if you want to know everything Vampiro had to say. There is some lucha relevant stuff and I’ll go with that part. This was appears taped a few weeks back.

Vampiro says he was brought into this last year’s TripleMania thinking he was a commentator and surprised to find out he was an announcer. He also says no one knew he was there. If you recall, the situation was Vampiro announced he’d be an announcer, while AAA was quietly telling people Vampiro would not be announcing. Everyone knew he was going to be there, but it is possible (and probable) AAA had Vampiro convinced he was going to be announcing just to make sure he’d get to the building.

Vampiro says Lucha Underground ended because of lack of communication and too many people in charge. Vampiro feels the biggest mistake was not going on tour after Season 1. The talent going elsewhere after season 3, looking out for themselves made sense for them but meant doom for the show. (This is a reasonable take!) He feels Lucha Underground may not have been successful, but there would be no AEW without Lucha Underground. LU opened the fan’s minds to wrestling outside of WWE, to stuff like “the Kenny Omega YouTube videos” and European wrestling “because a lot of them are better than the lucha style.” Puerto Rico went on fire, Japan had a rebirth and he believes that LU was responsible for it all. Vampiro wasn’t allowed to go to WrestleMania weekend after season 1 of Lucha Underground but Matt Striker told him Pentagon was the most over guy there. He thinks Brian Cage is so impressive that it is ruining it for everyone else. Jeff Cobb and Kevin Kross are praised. Vampiro says he and Pentagon had lunch three weeks prior and he’s so proud of how he’s grown and talked about their families. Pentagon thanked him for that match because it gave him a career.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 01/21/2020 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Explosivo, Fantástico, Mr. Samurai vs Joker, Sádico, Vaquero Jr.
2) Avispa Dorada, La Magnifica, Silueta vs La Comandante, Reina Isis, Tiffany
3) Drone, Esfinge, Magia Blanca vs Disturbio, Ráfaga, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Fugaz, Kráneo, Volcano vs Dark Magic, Furia Roja, Olímpico
5) Gran Guerrero, Místico, Shocker vs Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]

The Tuesday card has been slow to turn up for the last few weeks but quick this time. Volador is the missing name from the six who’ve handled most of the main events this stretch, so he’s likely on the Arena Mexico show.

Note the third includes the return of Magia Blanca. He was injured again in November in a match with Nitro. He did wrestler on Christmas back in Torreon.

Templario Rey del Aire, FantasticaMania Korakuen starts tomorrow morning, AAA in Queretaro

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 01/14/2020 Arena México [CMLL, Lucha CentralR de RudoThe Gladiatores]
1) Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia b Acero & Aéreo LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 14 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
2) Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro b Eléctrico, Magnus, Oro Jr. LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 14 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
rudos took 1/3
3) Dark Magic, Misterioso, Sagrado b Blue Panther Jr., Pegasso, Stigma LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 14 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
rudos took 1/3
4) Templario b DroneRey CometaKawato SanPríncipe DiamanteAkumaBlack PantherHijo del SignoStar Jr.VirusEsfingeDisturbio [Reyes del AireLUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 14 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Virus replaced Hijo del Villano III on Monday. Elimination order: Principe Diamante (by Disturbio), Hijo del Signo, Drone, Black Panther (after performing 6 topes), Kawato San, Disturbio (Esfinge), Esfinge (Templario), Virus (Star Jr.), Star Jr. (Templario) leaving Templario as the Rey del Aire.
5) Místico b Mephisto LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 14 DE ENERO DE 2020 FUNCION COMPLETA (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
straight falls, first by DQ, second by Mistica.

CMLL promos: Templario celebrates his win, Mephisto acknowledges Mistico’s win, and Mistico renews his desire for a mask versus mask match.

Press interviews: Star Jr. gives Templario credit for winning, Templario throws a challenge out to Bandido, Mistico wants an apuesta match with someone, anyone, Mephisto is ready for it.

Both the Reyes del Aire (especially the Star/Templario end) and the main event were said to be better than would’ve expected.

CMLL (TUE) 01/14/2020 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [CMLL]
1) Fúnebre & Gran Kenut DQ Flash & Gallo
Funebre replaced Leon Blanco. Rudos took 2/3, Funebre faking a foul from Gallo.
2) Difunto, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte b Joker, Sádico, Vaquero Jr.
Team Furia Roja took 1/3
3) Sanely, Silueta, Súper Estrella b La Comandante, La Infernal, Reina Isis
Super Estrella replaced La Magnifica. Tecnicas took 1/3.
4) Ephesto, Felino, Hechicero b Atlantis Jr., Fugaz, Kráneo
rudos took 1/3
5) Diamante Azul, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Shocker, Terrible
tecnicos took 2/3

Nothing much here. The women’s match would be rare one from here to air (though no idea if I’ll be able to record it.)

The first of four nights of FantasticaMania in Korakuen Hall takes place early tomorrow morning. All shows start at 3:30 AM, stream live on NJPW World, will be available on VOD quickly after they air, and will have Japanese & English commentary. CMLL has at least six commentators, it seems strange they don’t send a couple of them to Tokyo for a week outside the one time Miguel Reducino did it, but that’s more a CMLL issue. Both the English & Japanese announcers will do their best but there’s a missing piece.

Tonight’s show starts off the CMLL family tournament. Euforia & Soberano face Cuatrero & Sanson in one semifinal. Soberano had plenty of experience facing the Dinamitas; that match may be more of a test to see how Sanson is feeling. Tiger & Negro Casas take on Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja in the other semifinal, and what might be Tiger’s only main event on a CMLL branded show this year.

The rest of the top is build-up tags. Caristico & Kojima face Barbaro Cavernario & Ultimo Guerrero to set up those singles matches. (The same match is happening tomorrow.) Stuka & Titan versus Forasteor & Okumura is another singles match build. EVIL & Shingo Takagi join the tour to team with BUSHI against Dulce Gardenia, Flyer, and Hiroshi Tanahashi in the never-ending LIJ versus Dulce/Tanahashi sequence. Audaz & Maya take on Kanemaru & Luciferno and Fuego & Taguchi partner against Douki & Namajague in the opener.

I think I’m only going to watch the Saturday (early morning) show live, but these shows look like they’ll be pretty easy to get thru later.

The 04/02 Festival de Lucha in Tampa is no more. WrestleCon announced the show is now WrestleCon Worldwide, taking the place of both the Festival de Lucha and Europe vs the World card. A NJPW Lion’s Break (like IWRG’s FILL but more Japanese and less teenagers) show is being added. Back and forth thoughts in the form of lazy bullet points

  • a NJPW show is going to draw better than either of the shows being replaced, this obviously makes sense to do if the option on the table
  • some of the matches planned for Festival de Lucha will end up on WrestleCon Worldwide or other shows that weekend still
  • it feels like it says something about where lucha libre fits in when there will be close to 100 wrestling shows in Tampa that weekend, there will be a handful of Japanese and European shows, and there will be zero all lucha libre shows now. But there was only going to be one prior – can’t be upset with WrestleCon when they were the only people known to be trying.
  • some of that appears to be because wrestlers from other countries are more willing to pay their own to get the WM venue each year while I don’t know of many lucha libre wrestlers who’ve done the same. I’m not sure one way is better than the other, but I suspect a reason why “European Promotion X” will be represented and there’s no lucha one is it’s a lot cheaper and easier to do.
  • some of it is because booking CMLL and AAA people on the same card is impossible at the moment, and some of the more obvious main event people (Dragon Lee, Fenix, Pentagon) are now off-limits. There’s a problem with a lack of star names available for these shows (which is a bit of a circular problem but still a problem.)
  • this may all be much different next year if WrestleMania is in Los Angeles as has been rumored. Local lucha promotions and people traveling via Tijuana should mean there should be much more lucha libre representation, even if they’re not part of the core venues.

It is possible another lucha libre show pops up. I know there were plans for a Mexico based promotion to run this year at one point, but there are plans every year for one group or another, and they rarely actually happened.

AEW & WarnerMedia announced their deal to air Dynamite on TNT is now extended thru 2023. Terms of the deal outside AEW getting a second weekly show at some date.  WarnerMedia seems thrilled how well Dynamite has done after just three months. A successful wrestling show helps create more demand for other wrestling shows, so this could help other people looking around for a deal. It’s unclear if AAA or anyone else is actively looking for a US deal though.

Vaquero de Texas Jr. (Jose Manuel Bartolo Zavala), a San Luis Potosi luchador, passed away at the age of 23 on Tuesday. (This was pointed out by Furia de Titanes.) The reported cause of death was cardiac arrest, which is a shocking thing to happen to a man that young. Vaquero de Texas Jr. wrestled more of his career as Alas de Angel, only changing to the Vaquero de Texas Jr. after Vaquero de Texas (Sr.) passed away last February. They were not actually related.

DragonMania will take place on May 30th this year. Instead of AJPW participation as recent years, Ultimo Dragon being on good terms with Dragon Gate means they’re coming instead; Yamato, Susumu and Yoshino are advertised.

RIOT said they’re planning on running 5-6 events again this year, planning again to have a 2 show weekend with La Riña en el Cerro de la Silla.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania and the latest Lucha Report.

Saltillo lucha libre promoter Marco Zuniga passed away at the age of 75.

Lineups

AAA TV (SAT) 02/08/2020 Auditorio General José María Arteaga, Querétaro, Querétaro
1) Drago Kid, Iron Kid, Laredo Boy vs Látigo, Low Rider, Parkita Negra
2) Big Mami, Dinastía, Mr. Iguana vs La Hiedra, Lady Maravilla, Parka Negra
3) Hijo de LA Park & LA Park Jr. vs Súper Fly & Villano III Jr. and Myzteziz Jr. & Octagón Jr.
4) Hijo Del Vikingo, Puma King, Rey Horus vs Rey Escorpión, Taurus, Texano Jr.
5) ???, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
6) Dr. Wagner Jr., Fénix, Pentagón Jr. vs La Bestia Del Ring, LA Park, Rush Toro Blanco

Second TV taping of the year, two weekends after the first. My impression is there’s only one more February show after this one. Still nothing but six-person matches. No sign of Killer Kross.

The Wagner/Park feud is back. Poder del Norte are higher than normal. Perhaps the mystery person is Monster Clown? Matches 1 and 3 look the best.