February 9, 2020 – luchablog

AAA TV (SAT) 02/08/2020 Auditorio General José María Arteaga, Querétaro, Querétaro [AAA, Lucha Central, MedioTiempo, thecubsfan]
1) Drago Kid, Iron Kid, Laredo Boy b Látigo, Low Rider, Parkita Negra
9:03. Drago Kid pinned Latigo.
2) Big Mami, Dinastía, Mr. Iguana b La Hiedra, Lady Maravilla, Parka Negra
8:22. Dinastia beat Parka Negra.
3) Myzteziz Jr. & Octagón Jr. b Hijo de LA Park & LA Park Jr. and Súper Fly & Villano III Jr.
12:24. Myzteziz beat Villano III Jr. but was once again attacked by Argenis. Parka Negra also attacked Hijo de LA Park.
4) Hijo Del Vikingo, Puma King, Rey Horus b Rey Escorpión, Taurus, Texano Jr.
13:18. Vikingo beat Taurus, but the rudos beat up the tecnicos after as a prelude to their trios title match at Rey de Reyes. Puma and Taurus are feuding (and apparently had been feuding before this?)
5) Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown b Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
9:31. Monster Clown was the surprise luchador (but was announced as such early in the show). First Psycho Circus match as a team since 2017.
6) La Bestia Del Ring, LA Park, Rush Toro Blanco b Fénix, Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr.
18:12. Laredo Kid returned earlier in the show and was attacked by Los Ingobernables. LA Park said Laredo Kid let down wrestling by not winning on Exatlon, while Rush said his brother Dragon Lee was a much bigger star. This set up Laredo Kid replacing Wagner (who was not mentioned) in the main event. Averno attacked Pentagon Jr. late in the match and Los Ingobernables took Fenix & Laredo’s masks to set up the win. Psycho Circus made the save and challenged Los Ingobernables to a match.

This was a very strong show; nothing was even just average. The fourth and fifth matches were the best, but the effort level for a random middle of the cycle TV taping was very strong. It’s a talented roster but more so a motivated one. There also seems to be more obvious set up for matches ahead of time, though that’ll only really matter if it’s followed through upon.

The turnout seemed good. There weren’t long shots of the show, but it seemed full from what was shown. The Psycho Circus being put together came off strongly and the teased match with Los Ingobernables seemed like a big match.

It’s hard to tell who’s playing what games with Dr. Wagner & AAA, but it appears in retrospect that AAA did not expect Wagner to be on the show for at least a while. Wagner was on the poster – AAA never changes the poster – but they hadn’t promised him by name in social media as they did with other people. Wagner releasing that statement saying he’d be there made sure he wouldn’t look unprofessional for not showing up, but he may have known AAA wasn’t using him by them. No one’s saying anything negative about the other side publicly, which is for the best given Wagner will inevitably be back in AAA again.

03/21 Rey de Reyes so far

Kenny Omega (c) vs TBA for the AAA Mega Championship
Pentagon Jr. & Fenix (c) vs TBA for the AAA Tag Team Championship
Los Jinetes del Aire (Hijo del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagon Jr.) vs Mercenarios (Taurus, Rey Escorpion, Texano) for the AAA Trios Championship
a Rey de Reyes tournament
likely Los Ingobernables versus Psycho Circus
maybe Taya (c) vs Keyra for the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship (but likely with more people involved)

That’s already a pretty full card! It means Rey de Reyes will likely be a gauntlet or a battle royal; the traditional five four-way matches would make this too long. People like Blue Demon, Pagano, Drago, Aerostar, Poder del Norte could either be in other tag matches or part of the tournament.

Averno’s post-match promo makes it clear he wants Penta in a singles match and wasn’t going after the tag titles. That doesn’t quite fit into Rey de Reyes. Neither does the Puma/Taurus issue. Maybe AAA is building to the May show already or maybe these things will just happen along the way.

There was a slight tease of a Laredo Kid/Dragon Lee for Rey de Reyes. There’s a NJPW show earlier that day which Dragon Lee might be on. It also might be better saved for another show which could use the help more. Laredo Kid might be planned to fill one of those spots too. Laredo & Puma King face Daga & Taurua and Fenix & Penta on the next taping, which could easily set up the tag title match. Laredo’s also talked about wanting to challenge for the heavyweight title and would be a reasonable Omega opponent.

CMLL (SAT) 02/08/2020 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Fantasy & Kaligua b Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Leono, Oro Jr., Retro b Espanto Jr., Hijo del Signo, Inquisidor
Rudos took the first, then lost the second by DQ when Signo unmasked Oro Jr. and the third when Signo did it again while Espanto fouled Leono
3) Cancerbero, Espíritu Negro, Raziel b Fuego, Magia Blanca, Súper Astro Jr.
rudos took 1/3
4) Misterioso, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr. b Diamond, Pegasso, Stigma
rudos took 2/3
5) Atlantis Jr., Flyer, Volador Jr. DQ Mephisto, Shocker, Terrible
tecnicos took 2/3, the last when Shocker fouled Volador.
6) Bárbaro Cavernario b Ángel de Oro
Cavernario took 1/3

Angel de Oro & Barbaro Cavernario talked about their match.

That second fall finish sounds concerningly like the set up to a double apuesta match. Two straight disqualifications usually means they’re going somewhere with it.

CMLL (SUN) 02/09/2020 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Arkalis & Sangre Imperial b Akuma & Cholo
tecnicos took 2/3
2) Amapola, La Comandante, Tiffany b La Guerrera, La Vaquerita, Skadi
rudos took 2/3
3) Black Panther, Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. b Misterioso, Sagrado, Vangellys
tecnicos took 1/3
4) Hechicero b Drone [lightning]
Drone replaced Rey Cometa, still lost to a conjuro.
5) Kráneo, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
Rudos took 2/3. Tecnicos beat Ephesto in the third fall, but Mephisto was the captain and surprised Soberano with a roll up.
6) Diamante Azul, Valiente, Volador Jr. DQ Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Último Guerrero
tecnicos took 2/3, with a Casas foul on Volador.

Maybe Casas/Volador in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, Hechicero asked for bigger competition.

It wasn’t a great afternoon for Mexisquad in ROH. The Briscoes defeated Bandido & Flamita and Rey Horus lost to Brody King on the Free Enterprise show. That tag match was great, helped by an invested crowd, and is worth tracking down either on Honor Club or whenever it airs on TV.

Ryu/Dragon Lee didn’t far any better in NJPW, but his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match against Hiromu Takahashi was a good addition to their rivalry. It was the same style of match even after Takahashi’s knee injury, including a couple of teases of the same move which injured Takahashi a year and a half ago. (Lee didn’t finish the move; I don’t think he’s actually done the move since that injury and I’d be surprised if he did again.) Lee is under NJPW contract so he’ll be available to work any NJPW tour, but he might be off while they run their heavyweight focused NJPW Cup tour. Dragon Lee’s next known match is on the 22nd for Crash, then on the 28th for ROH.

Bandido is hanging around Mexico wrestling all weekend. He’s in the incredible pairs tournament on Friday, then working a CMLL staffed show in San Luis Potosi on Sunday and now will be on next Sunday’s Arena Naucalpan show. A few weeks later, he’ll be joining Taurus & Puma King in wXw (Germany)’s 16 Carat Gold tournament.

Mascara 2000 promotes a concert for next Sunday. He notes that when he appeared on the Mexico version of The Voice, he got nervous and forgot the lyrics.

DTU announced Hechicero vs Camuflaje for their 02/27 Arena Aficion show.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.j

Recapped: 02/08/2020

Matches:

Drago Kid, Iron Kid, Laredo Boy beat Látigo, Low Rider, Parkita Negra
(9:03, Drago Kid snap huracanrana Latigo, good, 00:22:49)

Big Mami, Dinastía, Mr. Iguana beat La Hiedra, Lady Maravilla, Parka Negra
(8:22, Dinastia twisting splash Parka Negra, good, 00:48:35)

Myzteziz Jr. & Octagón Jr. beat Hijo de LA Park & LA Park Jr. vs Súper Fly & Villano III Jr.
(12:24, Myzteziz moonsault powerslam Villano III, great, 01:08:13)

Hijo Del Vikingo, Puma King, Rey Horus beat Rey Escorpión, Taurus, Texano Jr.
(13:18, Vikingo Cuerno de Vikingo Taurus, great, 01:29:46)

Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown beat Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
(9:31, Monster Clown neckbreaker slam Tito Santana, good, 01:54:00)

La Bestia Del Ring, LA Park, Rush Toro Blanco beat Laredo Kid, Fénix, Pentagón Jr.
(18:12, LA Park & Besita pin Laredo Kid & Fenix, good, 02:12:38)

What happened:

Laredo Kid returned after match one, thanked the fans for supporting him on Exatlon, and was beaten up by Los Ingobernables. LA Park claimed Laredo Kid embarrassed lucha libre by not winning on the show. Rush pointed out his brother Dragon Lee did not lose on the show (he left due to an ear injury) and was a much bigger star.

Laredo Kid replaced Dr. Wagner in the main event. Wagner was unmentioned outside of appearing in the Nutrideli ad. After Piero was taken out, Averno ran out and attacked Pentagon for reasons no one seemed to know. Los Ingobernables (using that name) pulled Fenix & Laredo’s masks before pinning them. Psycho Circus ran out to make the save and challenged Ingobernables to a match.

Puma & Taurus brawled to start the match and feuded the rest of the way, which the announcers claimed had been an existing issue. (Not in anything we’ve seen, perhaps something taped for TV which hasn’t been shared to the internet.) Mercenarios beat up the tecnicos and essentially pretended they won, promising the same in the trios title match at Rey de Reyes.

Parka Negra attacked Hijo de LA Park after the third match, as did Argenis attacked Myzteziz again. Parka Negra & Myzteziz left together as if a team.

Thoughts:

The overall effort level on this show was very high for an early February TV taping, all the way through to the main event. LA Park & Rush gave everything they could and took everything they could from the tecnicos. It’s night and day the lever of performances Rush is giving in AAA as compared to the last year of CMLL. Laredo didn’t shine as much as his partners but it’s remarkable how much he’s able to pick back up after being out for so long. There’s were a lot of previews of great singles matches which might not actually happen but were still appealing. There’s a certain level of funny business expected in Rush & LA Park finishes. Averno showing up and attacking Pentagon for no given reason (maybe the tag titles?) was a bit too random and took this down a little for me.

The Psycho Circus reunion could’ve gotten by on nostalgia and a squash and instead had a fiercely competitive match. Poder del Norte lost but looked like equals who were just out done in the end. The Clowns worked hard. Murder Clown looking impressive with the press slam over the post and then dive following it. There weren’t as many old spots (no piggy backsplash) but the Psycho Circus still looked impressive as a team, setting them well for their next feud.

Los Mercenarios had another very strong match in usual fashion against a team including Vikingo. They switched some stuff up – flying Escorpion was new! – and everything came off solid. Vikingo was on and the crowd was into him. Horus meshed well with these rudos and the random feud with Puma & Taurus gave them a lot as well. There’s not a lot of deviations from usual Mercenarios matches – except maybe flying Rey Escorpion – but they were sharper in front of an excited crowd. Texano may not want to take that casadora bomb again. It’s strange for the Mercnarios to lose and then act as if they won, but it did take a lot to put Taurus down.

The three-way tag match overachieved. The three teams meshed well and they kept the action going well for one of the longer match times on the show. Myzteziz looked sharp and pulled off big spots thru the shooting star press at the end. Villano III Jr. took the worst of everything as he did, but did get to shine a little bit. The crowd was strongly into this match because of the Parks, but they weren’t against the other teams. These sorts of multiperson matches seem like the best environments for the Parks at the moment, asking them to hit big moves and not carry the action themselves. This had an unbreaking pace like many AAA matches and held together to the finish.

Lady Maravilla probably shouldn’t be doing splashes to the floor in meaningless TV segunda matches, though that seemed much worse for Big Mami than her on that landing. The second match was a solid if a little less spectacular – though they still have space for Dinastia flying all over the place. The tornillo and his splash at the end looked good. They needed a little more time if this was going to be bigger, but it fit the purpose it was intended for.

The opener was the usual chaos, though sloppier than usual. The finish looked impressive and more so given how much Drago Kid was struggling to that point. Credit to Latigo for making it look sharp. Parkita Negra looked like the best guy in this match to that point, though Iron Kid was also really good as well. There are better openers but this was still worth a watch.

Day: February 9, 2020

Psycho Circus versus Los Ingobernables at Rey de Reyes?, CMLL weekend results

AAA on Twitch: 2020-02-08 (Querétaro)